Charles V le Sage (21 January 1337 - 16 September 1381) was King of the French dynasty of Valois (1364 - 1381). He reversed the first phase of the Hundred Years' War and restored France.

Charles V was the son of John II (the Good Man). In 1356, the British captured his father John II at the Battle of Poitiers, and Charles V became the regent of the country. Facts proved that he was much more competent than his father.

In order to raise the ransom that had to be paid for John II's release, Charles reconvened the Council, which had been suspended for many years; but after his demand for money was rejected, he dissolved the Council. In March 1357, at the strong request of all parties, Charles convened another three-level conference and issued the "March Edict" to expand the powers of the conference. However, this imperial order was not implemented in the end. In 1358, Charles was expelled from Paris in a civil uprising led by the businessman Etienne Marseille.

Another great wave of uprisings during Charles V's regency was the Zakre Movement. He relied on the power of his father John II's old enemy, King Charles, the villain of Navarre, to suppress the uprising.

In 1360, King Edward III of England approached Paris, and Charles wisely signed the Treaty of Brettini with the English. The treaty was not good for France, but it allowed Charles V time to reform. He relied mainly on the small nobles and the townspeople as allies, strengthened the tax system, strengthened the royal power, and used some mercenaries to replace the ineffective civilian army. After fully strengthening the French state apparatus, Charles V went to war with England in 1369. His war went well: Poitou and Brittany were recaptured in 1372, and the British army headed south to Bordeaux in 1373. By 1374, only five ports remained in British hands: Calais, Brest, Cherbourg, Bordeaux, and Babayonne. Charles V concluded a three-year armistice with England that year, placing most of the recovered lost territories under the Crown's control. But in 1377, he launched an attack on the British.

It is not advisable to overestimate Charles V's reforms, which were achieved mainly through the concentrated use of limited resources and the deterioration of people's lives. After Charles V's death, various contradictions broke out together, so that Henry V conquered most of France in 1420.

Charles V was the guardian of the University of Paris.

Comments: A very skillful king, but unfortunately his son is too useless.