[A.D. 1460.]
SLIGHT MENTION MADE OF THE REBELLION AND DISCORD IN ENGLAND.—OTHER INCIDENTS.
In this year, there were great troubles, civil wars, and murders in England. Some held for the party of king Henry, such as the duke of Somerset and others; and some held for the party of the duke of York, namely, the earl of Warwick, the earl of Salisbury and others. A severe battle took place, in which numbers of each side fell; but it was gained by the duke of York,[11] who made a treaty with the king, in such wise that, on the decease of the king, the duke was to succeed to the crown, to the prejudice of the prince of Wales, son to king Henry and the daughter of Réné king of Sicily.
This treaty was so contrary to the will and interests of the queen that she raised another army, of all who were inclined to her and her son the prince of Wales, and took the field, to offer battle to the duke of York, who had increased his army as strongly as possible, to defend his rights. On the first day of January, in this year, the battle took place, which was very bloody, and hardly contested; but this time, fortune turned against the duke, who was made prisoner, together with his second son[12] and the earl of Salisbury[13]. Shortly after, the queen had them beheaded, and their heads put on the points of three lances: and on the head of the duke was placed, by way of derision, a paper crown, to denote his eagerness to be king, and his having failed in the attempt. The earl of Warwick[14] found means to escape after the battle, and quit the kingdom, which he did in a small boat, with great danger, and arrived safely at his government of Calais.
In this year, the rector of a village near to Soissons would have the tithes from a farm, near to this village, belonging to some croisaders in the holy land. The farmer refused to pay the tithe,—and the rector instituted a suit against him and the croisaders, which he lost, and, for this reason, conceived a great hatred against the farmer and the farmer's wife.
In this same village resided a sorceress, a woman of very bad fame, and using the black art, who having quarrelled with the farmer's wife for some trifle, complained to every one of the wrong that had been done her, and even made complaint of it to the rector. He, full of hatred against the farmer's wife, said that he wished to be revenged on her if he knew but how; when the sorceress instantly said, that if he would do as she should direct, he would have ample vengeance on her. The rector replied, that there was nothing he would not do to satisfy his revenge. The sorceress then went and brought him an earthen pot, in which was a large toad that she had long kept and fed, and said, 'Take, sir, this animal, and baptize it in the same manner as if it were a child, and christen it John; then consecrate a holy wafer and give it him to eat, and leave the rest to me.'
The accursed priest, blinded by his hatred, baptized the filthy beast by the name of John, and gave it to devour the holy body of our Lord, then returned it to the hag, who instantaneously cut it in pieces, and made a drink of it, with other diabolical ingredients. She then gave it to a young girl whom she had, bidding her carry it to the house of the farmer at his dinner-hour,—and after holding some conversation with the farmer, his wife and children, while they were at dinner, to throw it under the dining-table and come back to her. The girl did as her mother had ordered, when the consequence was, that the farmer, his wife, and one of their sons who was dining at the table, felt themselves suddenly taken with qualms as if they had eaten something nauseous,—and all died within three days.
This coming to the knowledge of the magistrates, the sorceress, her daughter, and the rector, were arrested; and, on the truth coming out, the hag was publicly burnt in the town of Soissons: the girl, being with child, was sent back to the prison, whence she escaped, but was afterward retaken, and carried by an appeal before the parliament. The rector was confined in the prisons of the bishop of Paris, whence he escaped by dint of friends and money. I know not what became of the girl.