On the Sunday following, the duke and all his people removed from the Louvre; and he established himself at his hôtel of Artois,—and in the adjacent streets he had strong fortifications made of palisades and barriers, to prevent any annoyance from his adversaries. He also prevailed on the king and the great council, that the chains in the Louvre, which had formerly been taken away, should be restored, and affixed to the streets as they before had been. The duke of Burgundy gained much popularity with all the Parisians for having obtained this for them.
The castle of the Louvre remained under the guard of sir Regnault d’Angiennes, to whom it had formerly been intrusted by the king. The bastille of St Anthony was committed to the care of Montagu, grand master of the king’s household, on his making oath that he would not suffer any man to enter it, but when the king’s council was there assembled. The dauphin, by orders of the king and council, was placed under the care of the duke of Berry.
The duke of Burgundy and his two brothers now presented a petition to the king and council, of which the contents were as follows:
‘John duke of Burgundy, Anthony duke of Limbourg, and Philip count of Nevers, brothers, your very humble subjects, relations, and obedient servants, fully sensible, by reason and justice, that every knight of your realm is bound, after God, to love, serve and obey you. We feel ourselves not only obliged to do you no harm, but held to notify to you personally whatever may be proposed against your honour or advantage. In like manner are bound all those your relations who hold great lordships under your favour. We are, as we shall make appear, very sensible of this obligation,—for we are subjects of your realm, as well as cousins-german to your blood.
‘And I John, by the grace of God and your favour, am duke of Burgundy, peer of the kingdom of France and dean of the peerage, count of Flanders and Artois,—and I Anthony, count of Rethel[[90]],—and I Philip, count of Nevers and baron de Doussy,—and withal by the consent of you, our very redoubted lord, and with that of our much redoubted lady the queen, and of all the royal family, has the marriage been confirmed between the duke of Acquitaine, dauphin of Vienne, your son, and the daughter of me, duke of Burgundy,—and also that between the lady de Charolois, your daughter, and Philip, count de Charolois, my son. We have also been commanded by our late redoubted lord and father, at the time of his decease, who then made us promise that we would inviolably preserve our fidelity toward you and your kingdom, which we shall wish ever to do during our lives.
‘In order, therefore, to prevent any of our actions from being suspected, which may bring down on us the divine indignation, it seems necessary that we declare what is frequently done contrary to your honour and advantage, and principally, according to our judgment, in four points.
‘The first respects your person. Before you recovered from this last illness, by which you are not the only one who suffered, but all those who had a real affection for you, and whom you loved, suffered great affliction on your behalf, seeing matters were transacted in your council against your honour, though coloured over with a pretence of being advantageous. Many unreasonable requests were made, to which, though you had given a denial, some of the members of your council have taken on themselves to grant them, so that the requests, however unreasonable, have been complied with.
‘You have, besides, neither robes, jewels, nor plate, becoming your royal state; and when any small quantity is bought for use, it is very shortly after pawned. Your servants have not audiences from you, nor have they any profit. They are afraid of mentioning to you such things as we now state, and which so much affect your honour, although very desirous of so doing.
‘The second point regards the administration of justice throughout this realm, which was wont to excel all other kingdoms in the ministring strict justice, which is the foundation-stone of your government.
‘In former times, your officers of justice were chosen, after mature deliberation, from among the wisest of your subjects, who defended your rights, and did equal justice to the lowest as well as to those of the highest rank; but now your rights are greatly infringed upon, and daily diminished, by which the people are very much oppressed.