'Given at Paris, the 8th day of February, in the year of Grace 1413, and of our reign the 33d.' Signed, on the report of the grand council held by the queen, the duke of Acquitaine and others, 'Jean du Chastel.'
This edict was sent to Amiens, and there proclaimed. It caused great distress to all who had joined the party of the duke of Burgundy, as well within Paris and its neighbourhood as elsewhere, for very many were arrested and beheaded: others were imprisoned, and their fortunes confiscated.
Another edict was soon after issued, after great deliberation in council, and published throughout France, by which the duke of Burgundy was deprived of all the favours that had formerly been done him, and he and all his partisans were banished the kingdom. This was the tenour of the edict.
'Charles, by the grace of God, king of France, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting.
'Whereas, after the very cruel and damnable murder lately perpetrated by the order and instigation of John our cousin of Burgundy, on the person of our very dear and well beloved only brother Louis, duke of Orleans, of good memory, whose soul may God pardon! the said duke of Burgundy came to our good town of Paris, attended by a numerous body of men at arms, against our will and in defiance of our commands to the contrary, and there endeavoured to justify himself from this atrocious murder, by means notoriously false, and by many arguments scandalous and offensive to our majesty and to the public weal.
'We, considering the very many evils that might ensue in consequence of this murder to our subjects and kingdom, and being desirous to obviate the same, did order our very dear son and beloved nephew, the present duke of Orleans, with our very dear and well beloved nephew the count de Vertus, his brother, children to our late brother, and minors, to meet us in our town of Chartres, where we formed a pacification between our said nephews and the duke of Burgundy; and although the terms of this pacification were extraordinary and harsh to our said nephews, nevertheless they subscribed to them in obedience to us, and from pity to the subjects of the realm, who must have suffered greatly from the intestine wars that would otherwise have taken place.
'Notwithstanding the duke of Burgundy swore in our hands to the observance of this treaty, and that he would thenceforward be a loyal and sincere friend to our said nephews and their adherents, he very shortly acted contrary to this oath and solemn promise, by revenging himself on some of our servants, whom he suspected to have advised us to have justice done on him for the murder of our said brother the duke of Orleans, and also to continue his wicked designs of gaining the sole government of our person and kingdom. This was the true reason for his committing so foul a murder, and for arresting many of our faithful servants,—some of whom he caused to be put to death, and, by unjust and iniquitous means, exacted from others exorbitant and immense sums of money.
'In consequence, our nephews of Orleans, seeing that the duke of Burgundy was infringing daily, and in various ways, the treaty which he had sworn to keep at Chartres, and was regardless of all that he had promised, most humbly but earnestly supplicated us at different times, that we would administer justice on the murderers of their father, as we were bounden to do; but the duke of Burgundy, who had deprived us of our most loyal servants, and in their room had placed others attached to him, prevented us from hearing their complaints, and from rendering the justice it became us to administer. And what was worse, our nephews perceiving that they could not obtain any redress from us, through the interference of the duke of Burgundy, resolved to make war personally upon him, to revenge the murder of their father, as was natural for them to do.
'The duke of Burgundy then accused them (and published falsely, contrary to all resemblance of truth, as we are fully informed and assured), that they and others of our blood, being in their company, wished to deprive us of our royal estate and dignity, and make a new king of France. And under pretence of these lies and charges, contrary to all truth, he raised our people against them, wishing to cover his wicked intentions and quarrel with lies, whence, as every one knows, so many and serious misfortunes have arisen.
'Under pretext of this warfare, the duke of Burgundy has caused to be arrested and confined in our prison of the Châtelet at Paris, and elsewhere, numbers of considerable gentlemen, knights and squires, because he charged them with being favourable to the wellwishers of the party of our nephews, or inclined to others of our blood and lineage in their company: many whom he thus imprisoned he made suffer the cruellest tortures, and then put them to death without a shadow of reason or justice.