'I now come to the heaviest charge against me. It is reported, but contrary to truth, saving your reverence, that I have entered into a treaty of marriage with England, and that, as the marriage-portion of my daughter, I am to transfer the castles of Cherbourg and Caen, with other places mentioned in the said treaty, to the great prejudice of you and your kingdom. Such things I have neither done nor even thought of; and I wish to God that all within your realm had always been as loyal in the preservation of your person and progeny, your crown and dignity, as I have been, and shall ever be, during my life.
'Other acts, that shall at a proper opportunity and place be declared, have been done contrary to your edict, prejudicial to my own honour and to that of my friends,—but those are already touched upon, and what remain are not only directly against the spirit of your edict, but tend to throw upon my person the utmost possible dishonour; and they are the most effectual means of depriving me not only of your good graces but of those of my lady the queen, and of my lord of Acquitaine, whose happiness and prosperity I have ever desired and shall anxiously promote above all earthly blessings.
'However, my most-redoubted lord, I do not write these things to you, as meaning in any way to infringe your ordinance, or to violate the peace of the kingdom, which has of late been so sorely harrassed, in various ways, that the most perverse mind should feel compassion for it.
'Should any persons now affirm, that I have intentions of avoiding or disobeying the true meaning of your ordinance, I positively declare, that I have never had such thoughts, nor have ever wished to give any opposition to its being carried into full effect; but on the contrary, I have supported it as much as any of your kindred or subjects have done throughout the realm. It is nevertheless very true, that I have sought for the means of keeping this peace firm and inviolate in your whole kingdom, foreseeing events that might possibly happen should it be infringed. I therefore most humbly supplicate you, my most-redoubted lord, that you would be pleased to redress the above causes of complaint in such wise that those who have been injured may not have further reason to grieve, and that your ordinance may be fulfilled to your own welfare and honour as well as to the good of your realm, so that every one, as has been before said, may sleep in peace and tranquillity,—to the accomplishment of which I am ready to offer all my corporal and worldly effects, together with those of my friends, and every power that God may have granted to me, according as it shall be your good pleasure to dispose of them.
'And, my most dear and redoubted lord, I beseech the blessed Son of God to have you in his holy keeping, and to bless you with a long and happy life. Written in our town of Ghent, the 16th day of November.'
These dispatches were presented, by Flanders king at arms, to the king, who received them very kindly; but those who governed him were not well pleased thereat, and would not suffer the king to make any answer in writing. The chancellor of France told the herald, that the king had very favourably received what his lord the duke of Burgundy had written, and would consider of it and send an answer at a proper time and place. After this, the king at arms left Paris, and returned to his lord in Flanders.
Notwithstanding the letters which the duke of Burgundy had written to the king of France in his justification, those who had the management of the king did not in the least abate the rigour with which they were proceeding against the duke. A few days after the departure of Flanders king at arms, there was a great assembly of theologians holden at Paris, by the bishop of Paris and the inquisitor of the faith, to consider on certain propositions maintained before some of the princes of the royal blood and the duke of Burgundy, and by him supported, against the late Louis duke of Orleans, through the organ of master John Petit, and to declare whether such propositions be not heretical and erroneous.
Many were much troubled at this meeting, lest the duke of Burgundy should be displeased with them for attending it, and that in time to come they might suffer for it. Here follows the form of a schedule that was delivered to some of the doctors in theology.
'On the part of the bishop of Paris, the inquisitor and council of faith duly assembled—reverend doctors, be it known, that we have sent to you a schedule containing certain propositions, with their reprobations; and we require from you, under pain of forfeiture, that you deliver your opinions thereon publicly, in writing or by speech, whether these assertions, which have brought notorious scandal on the king's council and on the catholic faith, are erroneous and damnable, that we may proceed thereon as the canon law requires.
'On Wednesday, the 20th day of this month of December, will the first proposition be considered, namely, 'Any tyrant legally may and ought to be put to death by any vassal or subject, even by lying in wait for him, by flatteries and adulations, notwithstanding any confederation entered into between them, and after oaths having mutually passed, and without waiting for the sentence of any judge whatever.' This proposition, thus stated generally for a maxim, is, according to the common acceptance of the word 'tyrant,' an error in our faith, contrary to the doctrine of good morals, and contrary to the commandments of God: 'Non occides propria auctoritate;' Thou shalt not kill of thy own authority; and in the 26th chapter of St Matthew, 'Omnes qui accipiunt gladium gladio peribunt.'