Which French king ordered a larger Bastille fortification in 1369?

Charles V ordered a larger Bastille fortification in 1369.

The decision reflected the changing military needs of medieval Paris. The city had expanded eastward, while the English threat during the Hundred Years’ War made the area around the Porte Saint-Antoine vulnerable. An earlier fortified gateway and ditch existed on the site, but Charles V instructed his provost, Hugues Aubriot, to create a much larger fortress there.

Construction began in 1370 with additional towers built behind the earlier structure. The completed Bastille eventually had eight towers connected by massive curtain walls, forming a powerful defensive complex on the eastern edge of Paris. Charles V died in 1380, before the fortress was fully finished; his son, Charles VI, completed the work.

The usual confusion is between the king who ordered the enlargement and the king who completed it. Charles V initiated the larger fortification, while Charles VI inherited and finished the project. The Bastille later became a state prison and symbol of royal authority, but it began as a military response to the insecurity of fourteenth-century Paris.