As soon as the dauphin heard of the death of his father, he sent off, in haste, a messenger to Hêdin, to inform the duke of Burgundy of this event; but he was already acquainted with it. These two princes now appointed a day for meeting at Avênes in Hainault, thence to proceed to the city of Rheims, for the coronation of the dauphin as king of France. For greater security, the duke ordered all his nobles to be under arms, in and about St Quentin in the Vermandois, on the 8th of the ensuing month of August; and there was not a lord or baron who did not equip himself in the handsomest array, and come attended with, the greatest possible number of archers,—so that, when all assembled, it was a fine sight to be viewed.
But when the dauphin learnt that the duke of Burgundy had collected so numerous an army, he was fearful that all the country it should march through would be ruined and wasted: he therefore requested the duke to disband it, and bring with him only the greater barons of his country in their usual state, armed or disarmed. The duke willingly complied with this request, and dismissed to their homes the greater part of his army, retaining, to attend him, only about four thousand combatants, the best appointed that ever nobles were; but it was said, that if he had not disbanded the army, he would have been escorted by more than one hundred thousand fighting men.
The great lords of France came daily to pay their obedience to the dauphin, and to acknowledge him for their king, as did deputations from the principal towns.
Soon after the news of the late king's death was known to the duke of Burgundy, he set out for Avênes in Hainault, where the dauphin waited for him; and on his arrival, a grand funeral service was performed for king Charles during the second and third days of August. At this service, the dauphin was the chief mourner, dressed in black, supported by the duke of Burgundy and the count of Charolois, and followed by the count d'Estampes, James de Bourbon, Adolphus of Cleves, and many other great lords. When the service was over, the dauphin, whom I shall henceforth call king, immediately dressed himself in purple, which is the custom in France; for as soon as a king there dies, his eldest son, or next heir, clothes himself in purple, and is called king,—for that realm is supposed never to be without a king.
King Louis departed from Avênes, on the 4th day of August, for Laon; and on the next day the duke of Burgundy set out for St Quentin, to meet the nobles of his country, whom he had ordered to assemble there and to accompany him to the coronation of the king.
While these things were going on, the body of the late king was embalmed, placed on a car covered with cloth of gold, and carried to the church of Nôtre Dame in Paris, where a solemn funeral service was performed, and thence carried to St Denis, where another service was performed,—and the body was then interred with the kings his ancestors, who were all buried in the church of this abbey.
On the 14th of August, king Louis made his entry into the city of Rheims, attended by the noble duke Philip of Burgundy, the count de Charolois his son, the duke of Bourbon, the duke of Cleves, his brother the lord of Ravenstein—all three nephews to duke Philip,—the count of St Pol, and such numbers of barons, knights and gentlemen, all richly dressed, that it was a handsome spectacle. There were also present the counts of Angoulême, of Eu, of Vendôme, of Grand-pré, sir Philip de Savoye, the count de Nassau, and numbers of other lords.
The morrow, being the feast of the Assumption of our Lady, king Louis was crowned king of France, by the hands of the archbishop of Rheims, in the presence of all the peers of France, or their proxies. When the king was dressed, and on the point of being mounted, he drew his sword, and, presenting it to the duke of Burgundy, desired that he would make him a knight by his hand,—which was a novelty, for it has been commonly said that all the sons of the kings of France are made knights at the font when baptised. Nevertheless, the duke, in obedience to his command, gave him the accolade, and with his hand dubbed him knight, with five or six other lords, then present,—namely, the lord de Beaujeu, his brother James, both brothers to the duke of Bourbon, the two sons of the lord de Croy, and master John Bureau, treasurer of France.
The duke was then entreated to make all knights who wished to be so, which he did until he was weary, and then gave up the office to other lords, who made so many that it would be impossible to name them all: let it suffice, that it was said that upwards of two hundred new knights were created on that day.