He, however, acted differently, having been better advised; but it must be observed, that some of his warriors behaved in a most cowardly manner,—for had they all fought with as much courage as the king, he would have gained a complete victory over his enemies.
On the 19th of July, a gentleman, named Laurence de Mory, near Mitry,[74] who had been imprisoned in the bastile of St Anthony, for having favoured the Burgundians, and for having led them to the houses of certain citizens of Paris, in the villages near that city, in order that they might plunder and destroy them, was tried by commissioners appointed for the purpose, who found him guilty of high treason, and consequently sentenced him to be quartered at the market-place of Paris,—and his effects were confiscated to the king's use. Mory appealed to the court of parliament; and, from respect to that body, his execution was deferred for a day. On the morrow, the parliament, having heard the appeal, sentenced Mory to be hanged on the gallows at Paris, which was done that same day.
This same Saturday, the 20th of July, master William Charretier, bishop of Paris, accompanied by other counsellors and churchmen, waited on the king, at his hôtel of the Tournelles, near the bastile of St Anthony, as Gaguin relates,—when the bishop addressed him in an eloquent and wise oration, tending to request, that the king henceforward would have the public affairs conducted and governed by wise counsellors, which the king promised that he would. In consequence of this, eighteen prudent men were selected to be of the king's council, namely, six from the court of parliament, six learned men chosen from the university, and six from the municipal counsellors of the city of Paris.
The king, finding that he had many enemies within his realm, considered on the means of procuring additional men at arms to those he had,—and it was calculated how many he could raise within Paris: for this purpose, it was ordered, that an enrolment should be made of all capable of bearing arms, so that every tenth man might be selected to serve the king. This, however, did not take place,—for such numbers of men at arms now joined the king that there was no need of such a measure.
The king was very much distressed to get money for the pay of these troops, and great sums were wanted; for those towns which had been assigned for the payment of a certain number of men at arms, being now in the possession of the rebellious princes, paid no taxes whatever to the crown, for they would not permit any to be collected in those districts. His majesty was, therefore, constrained to attempt to borrow from some of his officers and others in the city of Paris,—but when the proposal was made to them, they refused, at least to advance the whole of the sum that was demanded. For this refusal, some of them were told, in the king's name, that they were deprived of their offices,—such as master John Cheneteau, clerk to the court of parliament, master Martin Picard, counsellor in the chamber of accounts, and several others. In the interval, other means were employed.
On Friday, the 26th day of July, the king ordered two hundred lances to remain for the defence of Paris, under the command of the bastard d'Armagnac, sir Giles de St Simon, bailiff of Senlis, the lord de la Barde, Charles des Marêts, and sir Charles de Melun, who, at the request of some prelates, of the provosts and sheriffs, was appointed lieutenant for the king of the said town of Paris.
A person, called John de Bourges, clerk and servant to master John Berard, king's counsellor in the parliament, who had been confined a prisoner, together with Gratian Meriodeau and Francis Meriodeau his brother, for having quitted Paris, and gone into Brittany to the duke of Berry, conspiring against the person of the king, was, on the 27th day of July, taken out of the bastile of St Anthony, with his fellow-prisoner, Francis Meriodeau,—and, by sentence of the provost of the marshals, they were drowned in the Seine by the hangman of Paris, in front of the tower of Billy, near to the said bastile. And on the following Monday, the 31st of July, the said Gratian, who had been king's notary in the Châtelet, was likewise taken out of the bastile and drowned at the same place, and in the same manner as the two others had been.
In like manner was drowned a poor man, a mason's labourer, whom the wife of master Odo de Bucy[75] had sent from Paris with letters to her husband, an advocate in the court of the Châtelet, and then at Estampes. Odo de Bucy was attached to the brother of the count de St Pol, and with him at Estampes, with the other rebellious lords. The labourer brought back answers to the letters, and was paid, for each day he had been out, two sols parisis. For this, however, he was imprisoned, and condemned to be drowned at the same place where the others had suffered. On the morrow, the wife of Odo was banished Paris: she went to St Antoine des Champs, where she resided until peace was made between the king and the princes of France.