A COPY OF THE LETTERS WHICH THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS SENT TO THE NOBLES AND PRINCIPAL TOWNS UNDER THE DOMINION OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, TO EXPLAIN THE REASONS WHY HE HAD DISMISSED THE LORD DE CROY AND HIS FRIENDS FROM HIS FATHER'S SERVICE.
'Very dear and well beloved, you know, thanks to God, how long and grandly our lord and father, by the noble virtues inherent in his nature, has exalted the house of Burgundy, of which he is the head, in a much higher degree than it ever was in the memory of man. And although from his great age he has of late been afflicted with illness, to the weakening of his faculties, he has, nevertheless, always endeavoured to preserve his possessions untouched, to maintain his subjects in peace, and to rule them with equity and justice; and we have seen nothing to counteract such happy effects but the fraud and damnable deceptions of the lord de Croy and his friends, who, through an inordinate ambition and insatiable avarice, have attempted to gain to themselves the whole government and the possession of all the strong places so long as our said lord and father should live, and, like ungrateful people, after his decease to ruin and destroy the county, from hatred to us; for ever since we have arrived at years of discretion, they have laboured, to the utmost of their power, by false and wicked reports, that we might incur the anger of our said lord and father, as you and the three estates have been before duly informed, knowing that by such means alone they could succeed in their attempts. They have, likewise, sought other means of destroying us, had it been in their power; for while my lord the king, when dauphin, was in this country, they endeavoured to lay hands on us, and make us their prisoner. This we have been told by the king's own mouth since his coronation, from his love to us,—for which singular affection we hold ourself, and ever shall hold ourself, under the greatest obligations to him.
'Since his majesty's coronation, they have been so much vexed at the favour the king showed us that they have never ceased to intrigue until they had found means to deprive us of his majesty's good graces, and to keep us at a distance from him. By their machinations, the french ambassadors lately, in the presence of our lord and father, made heavy and public accusations against us in the town of Lille, as you may have heard; and the said de Croys have offered their services to the king after the decease of our lord and father, in case he should intend making war on us, which I cannot believe his majesty will do,—for we have not done any thing, nor, please God, will we do any thing, that may induce him to it.
'They have boasted that they would make war on us from the strong places of Bologne, Namur, Luxembourg, and others in their hands, and that they would deliver them up to the power of others than the said duke our father or ourself. These de Croys have, beside, by wicked reports to our great prejudice, incited the king to repurchase the towns and country our said lord had in pledge; and because our said lord made some difficulty in acceding to this plan, because the king required an acquittance for a very large sum, which ought to have been paid at the time of this repurchase, the lord de Croy told him, and caused him to be told, as from the king, that, notwithstanding the repurchase of these said lands, he should remain in the enjoyment of them during his life, which the lord de Croy knew at the same time to be void of foundation, and notoriously contrary to truth.
'The lord de Croy, still further to do mischief to the territories of our said lord and father, has, by himself and friends, strongly aided and supported the pretensions of the count de Nevers, our cousin, against us; and in consequence, the said count has boasted that the king had promised to assist him with four hundred lances, in conjunction with the men of Liege, to invade Brabant after the decease of our said lord and father, and to deprive us of our rights therein.
'To be enabled to do greater harm to us, by giving the count de Nevers further powers, the lord de Croy had made an exchange of the government of the regained country and towns, which had been given him by the king as a reward for his services in that business with our said cousin of Nevers, for a barony in the Rethelois, called Rosay; and it is said that they and their friends had mutually promised, on oath, to assist each other against whoever intended to injure them. Notwithstanding that, very lately, some persons attached to the service of our said lord and father, anxious to make up all the differences between us and the lord de Croy, had waited on us to this purpose, whom we, from our reverence to God our Creator and Author of all peace, and respect to our said lord and father, condescended to grant their desires, without remembering the many injuries and persecutions we had suffered from the said lord de Croy and his friends, and gave them a paper, signed by our own hand, containing in substance, that when the lord de Croy should do us any services, we would hold them for agreeable, and not be ungrateful to him for them,—and that, if, in the performance of such services, he should incur any loss or inconvenience, we would support him against all, in so far as we should be bounden in reason and justice to do,—the lord de Croy, however, paid not any attention to this said paper, but has acted in regard to us, from badly to worse; and when it has been remonstrated to him, that he ought to act differently from what he has done toward us, and that the places he holds under our said lord and father were not his inheritance, he has boldly replied, that they were given to him by my said lord and father, not only for his life, but for the life of his children after him, and it was his intention that they should enjoy them after his decease, even the governments of Namur, Boulogne, and Luxembourg. In fact, he had done all in his power to obtain from our said lord and father a gift of these places, and would have succeeded, had not some of our said father's more faithful counsellors remonstrated with him on the impropriety of such a gift.
'The said lord de Croy, further to trouble the dominions of our said lord and father, has lately attempted to introduce into the castle of Namur a large body of men at arms, under the pretence of defending the place against the men of Liege; but, thanks to God, he failed,—for the good people of Namur, knowing his real intentions, would not suffer it to be done. On finding such opposition to his designs, he went thence to Beaumont in Hainault, where he attempted the same; but the inhabitants behaved in the same loyal manner, and would not permit it to take place.
'On the other hand, he had, a little time before, instigated duke Louis of Bavaria, the count de Valence his son-in-law, and other dependants of the said duke, to appear before the town of Luxembourg with a great army, with a view of becoming masters of that town and castle, and would have succeeded had not proper precautions been taken before their arrival.
'In short, the lord de Croy and his family, forgetful of, and ungrateful for, all the extraordinary honours and wealth they have received from our said lord and father, their lord and sovereign, have done every thing in their power, and still continue their intrigues, to ruin and destroy his country, by causing it and its peaceful and loyal inhabitants to be involved in the calamities of war.