The good duke of Burgundy held his feast of the order of the Golden Fleece on the first of May, in this year, at St Omer, right nobly. Most of the knights of the order were present,—among whom were Charles count de Charolois his son, the duke of Cleves, his brother Adolphus nephew of the duke of Burgundy, the count d'Estampes, the marshal of Burgundy, the lord de Croy, his brother, and the lord de Launoy their nephew the lord de Hautbourdin, the bastard de St Pol, the lord de Bievres bastard of Burgundy, and many more. The dukes of Orleans and of Alençon were not present,—but they sent their proxies. Several great lords from Germany, France, Scotland, and other countries, came to this feast, which lasted for three days in the usual manner.
Notwithstanding the regulations of this order, that every knight of it must be without reproach, a knight assisted at the feast as proxy for the duke of Alençon, whom the king of France had declared guilty of high treason against him, and for this had sentenced him to perpetual imprisonment. But the duke of Burgundy held him for a nobleman of honour, and without reproach,—and said that the king of France had thus condemned him through the envy and wicked insinuations of others, and had wrongfully dishonoured him! This language he publicly held during the three days of the feast!!
As it was the custom, after this feast, to hold a chapter of the order and to elect new companions in the room of such as had deceased, they now elected sir Phillip Pot lord de la Roche-Bourguignon, the lord de Groothuse a Fleming, the lord de Roye a Picard, and also the king of Arragon, to whom the duke sent the collar of the order, by the lord de Crequy, notably accompanied.
At the conclusion of the feast, and when all business was done, the count de Charolois, Adolphus of Cleves, and Anthony bastard of Burgundy, held a just against all comers, which was followed by another noble feast.
At this time the dauphiness, consort to the lord Louis, eldest son to the king of France, was brought to bed of a daughter at Genappe in Brabant, where he resided for fear of his father, in whose ill graces he was, as mentioned before.
In this same month of May, there arrived at the court of France ambassadors from the holy land and other eastern countries. In the number was a prelate dressed like a cordelier friar, who called himself patriarch of Antioch,—a knight from the king of Trebisonde,—another knight from the king of Persia,—one from the king of Georgia and Mesopotamia, who was more strangely dressed than the rest. He was a stout, robust man, having two tonsures on his head like to the one our priests have in France,—and to each ear hung a ring. There was also an ambassador from the little Turk[21], who said, that if the Christians would make war on the grand Turk, his lord would join them with fifty thousand combatants. There was another ambassador from the king of Armenia, a handsome and genteel knight; and, to conclude, there was another from Prester-John, who, the others said, was a most learned man. It was reported, that they had been more than seventeen months journeying from their own countries before they came to France.
On their presentation to the king of France, they styled him the most Christian king,—and requested that he would send an army under his banner against the grand Turk, and assured him that he would have the assistance of all the kings and princes whose ambassadors were now before him. They declared, that they wanted not his money, for of that their lords had enough; but that if the king would send his banner, under the command of one of his experienced captains, the grand Turk, and his whole army, would be more alarmed than by one hundred thousand other persons. I know what answer the king made them, but he caused them to be grandly feasted and entertained. Shortly after, they departed from France, for the court of the duke of Burgundy, who received them most honourably, entertained them well, and made them many rich presents. It is to be supposed that they made to the duke a request similar to that which they had made to the king of France; for the duke replied, that if they could prevail on the king of France to guarantee his possessions during his absence, he would assist them personally, and to the utmost of his power.
FOOTNOTES:
[21] Little Turk. Q. The cham of the Tartars?