JOHN DUKE OF BURGUNDY GOES TO PARIS, AND CAUSES THE DAUPHIN AND QUEEN TO RETURN THITHER, WHOM THE DUKE OF ORLEANS WAS CARRYING OFF,—WITH OTHER MATTERS.
When the duke of Burgundy had concluded his business at Arras, he set out on the vigil of the Assumption of the Virgin towards Paris, accompanied by a body of men, to the amount of eight hundred combatants, secretly armed. He stopped some days at the town of Louvres, in the Isle of France, where letters were brought him, to say, that the king had recovered his health from his late illness, and that the queen and the duke of Orleans were gone to Melun, and thence to Chartres, carrying with them the duke of Acquitaine, dauphin of Vienne.
Having considered the contents of these letters, he went to bed and slept, but ordered his trumpet to sound very early, and left the town with all his men, and hastened to Paris to prevent the dauphin from leaving it. On his arrival, he was told by the Parisians, that he was already departed after his mother, which was true; upon which the duke, without dismounting or making any delay, trotted through Paris with his troops as fast as he could in pursuit of the dauphin. He overtook him between Ville-Juive and Corbeil, where the queen and the duke of Orleans were waiting dinner for him. With the dauphin were his uncle by the mother’s side, Louis of Bavaria, the marquis du Pont, son to the duke of Bar, the count Dammartin, Montagu, grand master of the king’s household[[88]], with many other lords to attend upon him. There was in the litter with him his sister de Priaux, wife to sir James de Bourbon.
When the duke of Burgundy approached the dauphin, he made him the most respectful obeisances, and supplicated him to return and live in Paris, where, he said, he would be better than in any other part of France; adding, that he was desirous of conversing with him on many points which touched him personally.
After this conversation, Louis of Bavaria, seeing the dauphin was inclined to comply with the request of the duke, said, ‘My lord duke of Burgundy, suffer my nephew the dauphin to follow the queen his mother and the duke of Orleans, as he has had the consent of his father for so doing.’
Notwithstanding this speech, and many others that were urged on the same subject, which for the sake of brevity I omit, the duke of Burgundy caused the litter of the dauphin to be turned about, and brought him and all his attendants back to Paris, excepting the marquis du Pont, the count Dammartin, and many more of the household of the duke of Orleans.
These last galloped off toward Corbeil, where they related to the queen and the duke of Orleans how the duke of Burgundy had made the dauphin and his attendants return against their will to Paris. This intelligence alarmed and astonished them,—for they knew not what the duke of Burgundy’s intentions were,—insomuch that the duke of Orleans left his dinner, which was quite ready, and went in haste to Melun, followed by the queen and their households.
The duke of Burgundy, as I have said, conducted the dauphin to Paris; and the king of Navarre, the dukes of Berry and of Bourbon, the count de la Marche, with many more great lords, and an immense crowd of the citizens of Paris, came out to meet him, and escorted him most honourably into the town. The duke of Burgundy, however, and his two brothers, as well as the lords above mentioned, kept very close all this time by the sides of the litter.
They rode on in this state, at a foot’s pace, until they came to the castle of the Louvre, when the dauphin was helped out of his litter by his uncle, Louis of Bavaria, and there lodged. All the lords then retired to their houses except the duke of Burgundy, who likewise lodged there. He shortly after sent many messengers to his different countries, to order men at arms instantly to attend him at Paris. The duke kept his state at the Louvre, in the apartments of St Louis, and in those underneath, which formed part of them. The dauphin and his household were lodged in the chambers above them.
On the morrow, the rector and the soundest[[89]] part of the university came to pay their respects to the duke of Burgundy, and to thank him publicly, with all humility, for his great love and affection towards the king, his family and the whole realm, of which they formed a part, being well assured of his good intentions, which were meant for its reformation and amendment, beseeching him to persevere in these his endeavours, notwithstanding any obstacles he might meet with.