The chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Vol. 10 [of 13]

by Enguerrand de Monstrelet

'The said d'Alençon said, that being astonished that Gallet was not returned from England, he sent about Easter the said Fortin to Calais, and charged him, after making the usual signs, to talk with the English, and learn whether they intended invading Normandy or not. He added, that Gallet came back from England about Low Sunday, and brought letters signed, as he said, by the king himself, namely, Henry, and that these letters contained in effect as follows: 'Very dear cousin, we thank you for your good will toward us: we shall send commissioners on the first day of next August to Bruges, to propose a truce between us and our fair cousin of Burgundy, where we shall hope that they may meet commissioners from you, to settle every thing between us, and we shall act in such wise as, please God, you may be satisfied.'

'The said d'Alençon said, that Gallet had informed him the king of England had taken the government into his own hands, and that the duke of York had retired into Wales, which had caused the said Gallet to address himself to the king in person, telling him of the good inclinations of the duke of Alençon, for which he thanked him, and said, that he should send ambassadors to Bruges, as he had stated in the said letters, and that the duke d'Alençon should send others from him to meet them; that these ambassadors would settle every thing relative to the twenty thousand crowns, and they would mutually exchange written documents respecting the matters under consideration.

'The said d'Alençon confessed, that because the term for the payment of the said twenty thousand crowns was remote, and because he wished to be made acquainted with the state of preparation of our enemies, he again sent Gallet into England, to press the advance of the money, and to obtain a blank passport, for any one of his people whom he might wish to send thither touching these several matters, should there be any necessity for it; that he told the said Gallet, as the chance of war was uncertain, he wished to secure a retreat in England, should their plans prove abortive, and mentioned the duchies of Bedford, of Glocester, and of the lands which the dukes of the said duchies held for life, that he might speak of them to the king of England.

'That, on the departure of Gallet, the said d'Alençon gave him letters, addressed to the duke of York, containing as follows: 'My lord, I commend myself to you, and am very much surprised that I did not receive any intelligence from you by the bearer of this on his return from England. I entreat that I may speedily hear from you,—and you may safely believe whatever he shall tell you from me.' He wrote also other letters to master Louis Gallet, residing in England, father to this Edmund Gallet, thanking him for his good inclinations toward him, of which he had been informed by his son, to whom he desired that he would always address himself on this business.

'The said d'Alençon added, that as he and master Edmund were conversing on this subject, master Edmund told him that it was the intention of the English to send the duke of Glocester and the son of lord Shrewsbury, to make a landing in Guienne, with ten or twelve thousand men,—while the king, the duke of York, and a large body of nobles should invade our province of Normandy: that the duke of Buckingham, with the earls of Wiltshire and Worcester, should land at Calais, with ten or twelve thousand combatants, and march through Picardy. He likewise confessed that he had spoken on this subject to Fortin, one of the gentlemen of his chamber, to induce him to join him in his plans to support the English, and that he had sent him to Granville,[6] to examine the state of that place, if it were well fortified, and what repairs had lately been made there, especially on the side where it had been formerly taken; and if that Fortin joined the English, as it appears he did, he was to find out some means of delivering up Granville, and as many other places as possible to them.

'The said d'Alençon confessed, that he had been induced by his different messages to excite the English to invade our kingdom by the advice and instigation of a person called Matthew Prestre, whom he knew not otherwise than by name, but who said he was from the country of the Lionnois and attached to the bastard d'Armagnac, and who, (as the said d'Alençon said) had brought him credential letters from our son the dauphin, and from the bastard d'Armagnac. Of the letters from the dauphin, the said d'Alençon said, that he had his suspicions of their reality from their not being in the usual style in which the dauphin was accustomed to write to him: he also suspected the signature was not the dauphin's. On this matter, and at the request of the said d'Alençon several witnesses specified by him, and of his household, have been examined by our commissioners, who have affirmed that they saw the said Matthew Prestre.

'The said Edmund Gallet has also been examined, to whom the said d'Alençon had declared that he had made most ample communications respecting the said Matthew Prestre; and the said Gallet has been confronted with the said d'Alençon, and interrogated respecting the different messages he had carried to England, as well as others of his accomplices, who, it may be supposed, would know if the statement touching this Matthew Prestre were true, who have all denied any knowledge thereof, so that it may be presumed, from their depositions, that the contrary to what the said d'Alençon had said was the fact: besides, the said d'Alençon declares that he never had any letters from our said son, nor any communication from him on these matters, but through the said Matthew, and that he knew not whether he communicated the above from himself or from others,—and that he, the said d'Alençon, had never any instructions from our said son on this subject.

'Several remonstrances having been made to the said d'Alençon on this part of his conduct, it has appeared that the whole was a contrivance to cover his treasonable practices, and to give a colour to them,—for the said d'Alençon said, that he knew not what reply to make to these remonstrances. As a further confirmation, when the said d'Alençon has been interrogated as to this Matthew, he has varied in his answers on many points, as may be clearly seen in the evidence of his trial.

'From all of which, and from the whole of what has been advanced by the said d'Alençon, as well as from the interrogatories of the different witnesses respecting Matthew Prestre and his interference, and from other evidence examined at the request of the said d'Alençon, we have not found any thing wherewith we could accuse our said son the dauphin, nor the bastard d'Armagnac, as any way implicated in the treasons of the said d'Alençon.