Charles was born into an old Gascon family, the son of Arnaud, Lord of Albret, and Margaret de Bourbon. He served under Bertrand du Guesclin as a young man and fought at the battle of Roosebeke. He was made the constable of France by Charles VI in 1403, but dismissed when the Burgundian faction gained power at court. He was restored to his office in 1413 when the Armagnac faction regained power. An important figure at the French court, he is the subject of two of Christine de Pizan's Autres Ballades. Although nominal commander of the French army in the Agincourt campaign together with MarshalBoucicaut, the two professional soldiers could not exercise effective control over the higher-ranking French nobles on the day of the battle. Constable d'Albret was killed at Agincourt during the battle on 25 October 1415, against the English troops led by King Henry V. He was interred at the Friary church inHesdin.
Family
He married, Marie de Sully, daughter of Louis de Sully and Isabel de Craon, on 27 January 1400 and had issue:
Jeanne d'Albret, married in 1422 John I, Count of Foix. She was his second wife; the only one of his three wives who bore him issue.
Constable Charles d'Albret plays a significant role in William Shakespeare's play Henry V, as one of the leading enemies of the English. As he does not die on stage, his death is portrayed in very different ways in film adaptations of the play. Constable d'Albret was portrayed by Leo Genn in the 1944 film Henry V. The film sets up d'Albret as the most military worthy of the French warriors, but with a sneering manner and a "fierce and inhuman appearance" in black armour with a pointed visor. He is killed in single combat with Henry, played by Laurence Olivier. His distinctive black armour is later taken and worn by Ancient Pistol. He is played by Richard Easton in the 1989 filmHenry V. Constable d'Albret's death at Agincourt is vividly depicted in the film which starred Kenneth Branagh in the title role. He is rescued mortally wounded from the muddy battlefield, only to die in shamed despair among other shocked French aristocrats. In the 2012 TV film of Henry V, concluding the series The Hollow Crown, he is played by Maxime Lefrancois. His death is portrayed in an unheroic light. In a wood away from the main action, he stabs the Duke of York in the back during the final stages of the conflict, only to be shot in the back by a longbowman as he prepares to kill the only witness, a young page. The page is later revealed to be the Chorus, remembering the events as an old man after the disasters of Henry VI's reign.
