'We John duke of Burgundy, count of Flanders and Artois, palatine of Burgundy, lord of Salines and Mechlin, make known to all, that by virtue of several letters written and signed by the duke of Acquitaine himself, we came toward Paris, to employ ourselves for the welfare of the king, by command of my lord of Acquitaine, and withal to aid and deliver him from the servitude in which he is held at this moment; in which cause we shall cheerfully exert every power and influence which God may have granted to us in this world; and we signify to all the wellwishers of the king and of my lord of Acquitaine, that they shall be set (if we be able) at full liberty to exercise their free will and pleasure,—and those who have thus confined them shall be banished, that it may be known to all that we do not come hither on any ambitious schemes to seize the government of the kingdom, and that we have no desire to hurt or destroy the good town of Paris, but are ready to fulfil and maintain every article which we had sworn to observe in the king's edict.
'We are also willing to return to any of our territories, provided others who have sworn to the same ordinance do so likewise,—but they act contrary to it: and we will, that God and all the world know, that until we shall be sensible that my lord the king and my lord of Acquitaine enjoy their full liberty, and that those who now manage public affairs have retired to their several countries, and my said lord the king is provided with honest, able, and notable counsellors and knights, as well as my lord of Acquitaine, we will never desist from our enterprise, nor quit the kingdom of France; for we had much rather die than witness my lord the king and my lord of Acquitaine in such subjection.
'We cannot help being astonished that the citizens and loyal subjects of his majesty can be so hard of heart as to suffer him to remain in this disgraceful slavery; and we are the more surprised that, knowing how nearly we are related to him, they have refused to receive either our knights or our herald, or to permit any one from us to present our letters to my lord the king, my lady the queen, my lord of Acquitaine, or to the good town of Paris.
'And although we came before the walls of Paris without committing any hostile act whatever, by the command aforesaid, in order to treat of matters touching the peace and welfare of the kingdom, our men have been killed and wounded, without listening to any proposals which they might have made. The count d'Armagnac even told our king at arms, that if he should return again, his head would be struck off,—which is an insult hard to be borne, when we have come hither with our company, paying for all our expenses, as the near relation and neighbour of my lord the king and my lord of Acquitaine, requiring the aid of all good and loyal subjects against those who have kept in servitude and in peril my said lord of Acquitaine, signifying to them, at the same time, that we should, in proper time and place, charge them with treason against their sovereign. Of this you need not doubt,—for, by the aid of God and our just cause in this quarrel, we will pursue and maintain it, with the utmost of our powers, and with the assistance of very many of the principal towns in the realm, who have attached themselves to us.
'Given at St Denis, under our privy seal, in the absence of the grand council, the 11th day of February, in the year 1413.'
When these letters were found posted in several of the public places of Paris, those who were disaffected to the duke of Burgundy had stronger suspicions of his conduct than before; and they took such precautions in the guard of the town that no inconvenience happened.
During the time the duke of Burgundy remained at St Denis, the lord de Croy, who had accompanied him, sent twenty of his most expert and determined men at arms, well mounted, to cross the Seine near to Conflans; thence they rode as secretly as they could, with lance in hand, to the town of Montlehery, where they lodged themselves in two inns near to each other, pretending to be of the Orleans party. Sir John de Croy, son to the lord de Croy, was prisoner, as has been before said, in the castle of that town, and had received intimation of their coming by a chaplain who had the care of him. He made a pretence of going to hear mass in the church that was hard by the castle, when these men at arms who were ready prepared, and on the watch, mounted their horses, hastened toward sir John, whom they instantly set on a led horse, and thence galloped briskly to Pontoise: they afterward took the road to the ford where they had before crossed the Seine, and made such good haste that they brought sir John safe to his father in St Denis.
This enterprise was highly praised by the duke of Burgundy and the lord de Croy: the principal leaders of it were Lamont de Launoy, Villemont de Meneat, Jenninet de Molliens, Jean Roussel,—the whole amounting to the number aforesaid. They were, however, sharply pursued by the garrison of Montlehery, but they could not overtake them by reason of the variety of roads they took.
The duke of Burgundy again sent Artois, king at arms, to Paris, with letters to the king of Sicily and to the dukes of Orleans and Berry, to notify to them the causes of his coming, and to request that they would suffer him, or at least some of his people, to speak with the king and the duke of Acquitaine; that he was come with good intentions, for he was willing punctually to keep all he had promised and sworn to, provided they on their part would do the same; adding, that they must allow the king and the duke of Acquitaine to rule and govern the kingdom, without keeping them in servitude, more especially the duke of Acquitaine, whom they detained to his great displeasure. But when the king at arms came to the gate of St Anthony, he was told that he would not be admitted, nor any letters received from him, and that if he did not hasten away, they would treat him disrespectfully. On hearing this, he considered for a few minutes, and then placing the letters at the top of a cleft stick which he stuck in the ground, made off as fast as he could to St Denis, when the duke was more discontented than ever.
Perceiving that he could no way succeed in his object, he deliberated with his council whether he should return to his own country, and within a few days retreated to Compiegne by the way he had come. In this town, and in that of Soissons, he left strong garrisons of men at arms and archers. He appointed sir Hugh de Launoy governor of Compiegne, with the lords de Sainct Ligier and de Forez, Hector and Philippe de Saveuse, Louvelet de Mazaheghen, and other expert men at arms, to the amount of five hundred combatants or thereabout.