CHAP. XLVIII.
HERE FOLLOW THE ARTICLES OF THE TREATY BETWEEN PHILIP THE GOOD, AND THE TOWN OF GHENT.
The treaty of Ghent consisted of the following articles. In the first place, the inhabitants of Ghent, to the number of two thousand men, shall come out, to the distance of one league from that town, to wherever their prince may appoint, barefooted and bareheaded, to beg his mercy. They were to be headed by all the counsellors, sheriffs, and hoguemans of the town, naked, excepting their shirts and small clothes. They were to fall on their knees before the duke, his son, or any other person whom the duke should please to send thither as his representative, saying,—that that they had wickedly and traitorously rebelled against him in arms,—that they had insolently contemned him, and begged his pardon for all their evil deeds.
Item, on every Thursday throughout the year, the gate leading to Oudenarde shall be closed, because it was through that gate they marched to besiege Oudenarde, and that it may remind them thereof.
Item, the gate leading toward Rupelmonde shall be closed for ever, in remembrance of their having issued out of it to offer battle to their lord at Rupelmonde.
Item, they shall pay to the duke, for the losses he may have sustained by this war, two hundred thousand riddes of gold, seventy to the marc.
Item, they shall pay for the restoration of the countries which have been burnt, whatever sums the three estates of Flanders shall determine on; but if the three estates shall decline this arbitration the sum shall be fixed at one hundred thousand riddes.
Item, for the reparation of churches destroyed, they shall pay fifty thousand riddes.
Item, in recompense for the revenue of the prince's domain in Flanders, which has been unpaid by reason of the war, such an imposition shall be laid as the three estates of Flanders shall determine.
Item, there shall be a complete reformation of the laws of Ghent, in the form and manner that has been lately proposed by the ambassadors from king Charles of France, namely, that the commonalty shall elect four magistrates, and the duke, or his officers four others,—and these shall select twenty-six sheriffs before they quit the chamber in which they have been assembled for this purpose.
Item, in regard to the burghers, they will act toward them according to their privileges, without paying attention to the customs or usages of former times.
Item, no one in future shall be banished Ghent without an appeal first had to the bailiff, nor without the cause of his banishment being declared.
Item, they shall no longer issue ordinances or edicts without the knowledge and consent of their lord,—and such as may have been thus issued shall be declared null and void.
Item, the officers of the prince shall no longer acknowledge any obedience to the magistrates in respect to their official capacities.
Item, they shall no longer, in their writings or proclamations, sign themselves lords of Ghent, but give them such title as the magistrates of other towns use.
Item, they shall not in future take any cognizance of the crimes of foreign merchants,—but they shall be decided on by the judges of the places wherein such merchants shall reside.
Item, they shall deliver up all their banners to their lord, for him to do with them as he may please,—and they shall not hereafter make any others in their stead.
Item, white hoods shall no more be worn,—and whoever wears them shall be punished according to the will of their lord.
Item, they shall have no cognizance of any law-causes that may arise in the country of Waes, or in the respective towns of Biervlict[149], Dendermonde, Oudenarde, Courtray or Alost,—but these shall be tried in those places where they have had their origin.
Item, they shall be bounden to keep all the articles of a former treaty concluded by them in the presence of the bishop of Tournay, and others of the great council of the duke.
All these articles, having been declared in the presence of the duke, his son, and great numbers of the nobility, were sworn to, and promised to be observed by the magistrates and commonalty of Ghent, and some notaries called in to witness the act. The deputation then returned to Ghent with the treaty, which, when read to the public, was so joyfully accepted that it astonished every one: they lighted bonfires in all the streets, and gave permission for such of the duke's men as pleased to enter the town, and entertained those who accepted of it most handsomely.