of rents and revenues intended to return the estate to prosperity and attract workers. After the death of Coucy, his former squire and first cousin Aubert, an illegitimate son of his father's brother, was legitimized by Charles VI. Aubert de Coucy, however, was not involved in a prolonged dispute over the Coucy estate between Coucy's eldest daughter, Marie de Bar, and his second wife, Isabelle of Lorraine (d. 1423). Upon Marie's sudden death in 1405, the vast Coucy lands became part of the royal estates of France. The famous castle was renovated by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century. However, in 1917 it was deliberately blown up with 28 tons of explosives at the order of German General Erich Ludendorff. This apparently was done for no other reason than to spite Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria who had asked Ludendorff to protect the castle from war damage. In later culture The courtship of Coucy and his first wife comprises a large portion of the plot of The Lady Royal, a novel by Molly Costain Haycraft. A fictionalized account of the life of Princess Isabella of England, it paints an extremely romantic portrait of the couple. Coucy and his first wife Isabella of England are supporting characters in the historical fiction novel The First Princess of Wales, by Karen Harper. Coucy's life is the central theme to Barbara Tuchman's 1978 history A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th century. Titles References Sources Further reading "Coucy–Le Château." Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. Volume 7. Cambridge University Press, 1910: page 307. Tuchman Barbara. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. Knopf, 1978. ISBN 978-0394400266 1340 births 1397 deaths 14th-century deaths from plague (disease) 14th-century French people Christians of the Barbary Crusade Christians of the Battle of Nicopolis Earls of Bedford Peers created by Edward III Garter Knights appointed by Edward III