When they were near Beaumont, they sent fourteen of their men in advance, having upright crosses on their breasts, to tell the wardens of the gate that the king had sent them to guard the passes of the Oise against the Burgundians. By their speeches and appearance, they gained belief; but they had no sooner entered than they killed the wardens, and kept possession of the gate. Their whole body attacked the castle, which they took, and slew the governor and his son.
After they had made a great slaughter in the town, and pillaged it of every thing they marched away, but neither set fire to it nor the castle, carrying their plunder and prisoners with them to Mouy in Clermont, wasting all the country they passed through. From Mouy they marched by Montdidier to Nesle in the Vermandois, belonging to the count de Dampmartin. Many other captains there joined them, among whom was sir Mauroy before mentioned. They resolved to storm the town, and succeeded notwithstanding the vigorous defence of the inhabitants, who well performed their duty. Many were killed and wounded, and numbers made prisoners; among the latter was the governor, sir Blanchet du Sollier. The town was plundered of every thing, and it was at the time full of merchandise on account of the fair. After remaining there about a fortnight, to sell their pillage and wait for the ransom of their prisoners, they departed, carrying on carts and cars the remnant of what they had gained, which was immense.
When information of these proceedings was given to the king, the constable, and the grand council, they were much incensed at the duke of Burgundy, to whom they said these captains belonged; and to provide a remedy, the following edict was proclaimed throughout the realm.
'Charles, by the grace of God, king of France, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting.
'Since the most supreme and excellent, the sovereign King of kings Jesus Christ our Creator, has, through his divine grace and clemency, selected us to govern and rule over the very renowned, and most noble kingdom of France, it behoves us to exert our best endeavours to secure peace to our subjects, and that all disturbers thereof should be punished, in order that impartial justice be distributed and our people live in peace and security.
'Whereas it has come to our knowledge, by the report of our council, and by others worthy of belief, and also by the great complaints, and doleful clamours of numbers of our subjects, as well as by the confessions of malefactors, justly put to death, the which we record in great sorrow and bitterness of heart, that Hector de Saveuses, Phillippe de Saveuses his brother, Elyon de Jacqueville, Pierre de Sorel, Gotrant lord de St Leger, Mauroy de St Leger his son, Jacques de Fosseux, Calvin de Clau, Jean d'Aubigny, Fierebourg, Matthieu dès Près, Jean de Poix, Daviod his brother, Camuset de Ligny, Gastellin, Cormeri, of the order of the hospital of St John of Jerusalem, the commander de Sagestre, Panchette, Henri de la Tour, Pierson Tube, Jean de Cauffour, Henri de Cauffour le Valois, Jacques de Calivray, Ramon Marcq, Denisot de Baugis, Guillaume le Glois, Martelet Testart, Jacques le Masson, Benois de Bessin, Guillemot de la Planche de Douay, le Tor d'emprès Douay, Jean Pallemargue, Robinet le vicomte, la barbe de Craon, Jean Jaully Picard, Robinet de Bray, le curé de Vaulx, prestre, Jean Louis de Cumillers, Robin d'Ays, Guillaume Mignot Brebiettes emprès Compiegne, Thomas de Plaisance, le grand Thomas Mignot, Jacquet de Clavin, Perrin de Chevrerieres, Henri de Hailly, Jean de Peresin, Jean Bertrand butcher of St Denis, Guillaume de Cormeuil, Guillaume de Chify du Brunet, master Robert trumpeter to our cousin of Burgundy, Perrin trumpeter to Jean d'Aubigny, Jennet one of the archers of the body guard of our said cousin of Burgundy, Jean de Vienon, Jean de Tourgney governor of Champlost[50], Puissevin d'Aussorros, Charles l'Abbé, the bastard Cognart de l'Aussorrois, the bastard de Launois Guynis, Rousselet le batelier, Philippot Vezis de Sens, Estienne Guyart de Sens, Symon le Vigneron de Joigny, Estienne de la Croix, the son of the host at Sens, Colin de l'hôpital, the bastard de Chaullay, the bastard Guignart, three brothers du Moyne de Collanges sur Yonne, Jean de Duilly, Charlot de Duilly, and a company of fuzelaires, calling themselves Begaux, accompanied by numbers of others, disturbers of the peace, among whom are some whom the laws have for ever banished our kingdom for their wickedness, having assembled themselves in companies contrary to our will and express orders.
'This they daily persevere in doing and in overrunning divers parts of our realm, gaining by force or sublety many towns and castles belonging to us, or to our noble vassals and clergy, and plundering them of all their wealth. Not content with this, they, like to perverse sinners, delighting in the effusion of blood put to death and wound not only such as shall attempt to defend their properties but the peaceable and well-inclined inhabitants of the said towns and castles, who only wish to remain in tranquillity.
'But what has astonished us the most, and which we would not have believed if sad experience had not convinced us of it, they have frequently advanced even to the walls of our good town of Paris, the principal seat of government and justice of our realm, and have attempted to enter it by fraud, to commit similar crimes to those they had done in other towns; and more particularly, a few nights since they made one of these mad and foolish attempts.
'They have also marched large bodies of armed men to the gates of the said town, knowing, at the same time, that we, our very dear companion the queen, and our son the duke of Touraine, with others of our blood, were personally within it. They then endeavoured fraudulently to gain admittance, which, should they have affected, (but through God's pleasure they failed,) murders, thefts, rapines, rapes, and every horrid mischief would have ensued to the ruin of that town, and, consequently, to the destruction of the church and kingdom.
'We point out, therefore, the before-mentioned persons as guilty of these atrocious acts, and call on our faithful and loyal subjects to assist us heartily in putting an end to their very heinous misdeeds. There is very clear evidence of this last fact; for when they found they could not by any means enter our said town of Paris, like madmen they gallopped off for the town of Beaumont-sur-Oise, belonging to our very dear and well beloved son and nephew the duke of Orleans, now prisoner in England, and on their march seized horses from the plough, and robbed and made prisoners every traveller they met. After this, they took the said town and castle by storm, plundered it, and killed or drowned very many of townsmen. In like manner they took the town of Nesle in Vermandois, and had before done the same to our town of Chablis[51], to the castle of Néant, belonging to the monks of La Charité sur Loire, with numbers of other castles, towns and villages, laying violent hands on women of all descriptions, violating them like beasts, pillaging churches and other sacred edifices, of which we are every day receiving the most melancholy accounts and lamentations.