THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY SENDS LETTERS TO MANY OF THE PRINCIPAL TOWNS IN FRANCE, DESCRIBING THE STATE OF THOSE WHO GOVERN THE KINGDOM.
In these days, the duke of Burgundy sent letters, open and closed, to many of the chief towns in France, to stir them to rebellion, and to join his faction,—which letters were of the following tenour:
'John duke of Burgundy, count of Flanders and Artois, palatine of Burgundy, lord of Salines and Mechlin, to all to whom these presents shall come, health and peace.
'Whereas, by divine grace, we had in former times the government of the kingdom of France; but since we have withdrawn ourselves therefrom, persons of low degree, and of doubtful birth, have seized the management of public affairs, with the sole intent of appropriating to themselves by open or secret means the treasure of the realm,—and so outrageous has been their conduct that my lord the king, his family and officers were kept in the utmost penury. They neither paid nor suffered to be paid the usual royal charities, nor did they see to the repairs and maintenance of the various garrisons, with things absolutely necessary for them; for notwithstanding the immense sums yearly raised by taxes and loans, scarcely any part of them were applied to public uses, or for the welfare of the kingdom.
'We therefore, having fully considered all these matters, and how nearly we are by blood connected with my lord the king, being his cousin-german, and holding from him the duchy of Burgundy and counties of Flanders and Artois, and that we are in a double degree father and dean of the peers of France, and that our various and great obligations to him and to his crown are well known, have determined to provide a sufficient remedy for the above evils, and that restitution be made to the public treasury to the utmost of our power.
'We have had the above facts demonstrated by our ambassadors, in the presence of the grand council at the Louvre in Paris, presided by our very dear lord and son the duke of Acquitaine lately deceased, whose soul may God pardon! requesting at the same time, that from his good sense and for the acquittal of his conscience, he would check these said abuses, and attend to the better government of the state. In this matter we were joined by the members of the university of Paris, who sent us letters to that effect, and which were publicly read in the church of St Genevieve at Paris; and at that time there were appearances that our remonstrances would be listened to.
'But their real intentions were otherwise; for it is notorious that we have met with nothing but tricks and dissimulations of all sorts, and perseverance in their evil government, whence have proceeded these intestine wars; although we have never ceased to urge our remonstrances against the present ministers, by able clerks, as well of the parliament and university as otherwise, by prudent knights, and other wise citizens, in whose presence ordinances were published by our said lord the king, and sworn to in his court of justice, without any novelties being introduced or exception of persons made.
'Nevertheless, grievous as it may be to relate, the contrary to these ordinances has been done; and it is a well-known fact, that the wretches have found means to keep me from the presence of our said lord the king. Soon after these edicts were annulled, and every sort of disorder was committed, taxes upon taxes were laid, loans on loans, reductions of offices, banishments, beheadings, and innumerable despotic acts done, to the very great dissatisfaction of my said well-beloved lord and son lately deceased, and to which he had resolved to put an end, by ordering us to come to him with a competent number of men at arms, notwithstanding any orders we might receive to the contrary; and, as proofs thereof, I have in my possession three letters written and signed with his own hand, containing the above commands.
'In obedience to these orders, we came to St Denis, and advanced toward the town of Paris but could not gain admittance to his person; for the affair was become known to the aforesaid evil advisers, who instantly laid hands on our very redoubted lord and his son, confining them in the castle of the Louvre for a considerable time, with the draw-bridges raised, and gates closed. They also imprisoned the greater part of the king's servants, thus illegally depriving them of their liberties, although they had certain intelligence upwards of a year prior to this, that the enemies of the kingdom were preparing to invade it; but, through their damnable avarice and concupiscence of wealth, they made no provision whatever to resist them. Hence it happened that our said lord and king has lost one of the finest sea ports in his realm, the key to his country, and has suffered the almost total destruction of his chivalry; and none can foresee the infinitive misfortunes that may now ensue, but which God avert.
'We also, bound by our royal duty toward our sovereign, have assembled for his service the greatest possible force we could to defend his kingdom, as we are bounden to do by every tie. But the aforesaid evil advisers have ordered several cities and towns not to permit us to enter them, and have forbidden them to supply our men with provision, as if we had been public enemies; but, notwithstanding such atrocious conduct, our vassals and subjects have been, and still are, strongly attached to his majesty's person.