Several tons of wine had been brought from Paris, and placed at different spots for those under muster to refresh themselves with, as their heads had been taken off. They occupied a very large tract of ground; for their line extended from the dunghills between the gates of St Anthony and the Temple, along the ditches of Paris, and through the vineyards to St Anthony des Champs, and from the walls of St Anthony des Champs to the Grange of Reuilly, and thence as far as Conflans. From Conflans, it returned by the Grange aux Merciers, along the river Seine to the king's bulwark of the tower of Billy, and from thence along the walls as far as the gate of the bastile of St Anthony. It was a marvellous sight to view the great numbers who appeared at this muster,—and several persons maintained, that as many remained in Paris as had come out.
The king set out from Paris on the 22d of September, in the afternoon, on a pilgrimage on foot to St Denis, having with him the bishop of Evreux, the lord de Crussol[8]. Philip L'Huillier, and others. Between Paris and St Denis, he was accosted by three vagabonds, who demanded pardon for having been thieves, robbers on the highways, and murderers, which the king kindly granted them. He remained the rest of the day at St Denis, until vespers on the morrow, when he returned to his hôtel of the Tournelles, and supped that night at the hôtel of sir Denis de Hasselin, his pantler, and assessor of the taxes at Paris, who had lately become brother-gossip to the king, on account of a daughter his wife had lately been brought to bed of, and to whom the king had been godfather by the proxy of the bishop of Evreux: the godmothers were mesdames de Bueil[9] and de Montglat[10]. The king made good cheer at this supper; and three handsome baths had been prepared for him, richly adorned, in the supposition that he would have taken his pleasure; but he declined doing so, because he had a cold, and because the season was not kindly.
At this time, a serious warfare broke out between the Liegeois and the duke of Burgundy, in alliance with the bishop of Liege, cousin to the duke of Burgundy and brother to the duke of Bourbon, whom the Liegeois marched to besiege in the town of Huys[11]; and after having been long before it, they gained it,—but the bishop escaped. The king of France, in the mean time, ordered four hundred of his own lances to march to the aid of the Liegeois, under the command of the count de Dammartin, Salazart, Robert de Coniham[12], and Stevenot de Vignoles, together with six thousand franc-archers, taken from Champagne, the Soissonnois, and other parts of the Isle of France.
The duke of Burgundy, hearing of the success of the Liegeois, in the capture of Huys, and that they had killed many Burgundians, assembled his army, with the determination to destroy the whole country of Liege with fire and sword, and he had it thus notified in his proclamations.
Those who published this notice held in one hand a naked sword, and in the other a burning torch, to signify, that the war about to commence was to be carried on with fire and sword.
In this month of September, the king gave his letters for the abolition of the pragmatic sanction[13] to a legate come from Rome for that purpose: which letters were read and published in the court of the Châtelet of Paris without any opposition. But when master John Balue, on the first of October, carried them, during the vacations, to the court of parliament to do the same, he found there master John de St Romain, the king's attorney-general, who formerly opposed the effect and execution of these letters, which greatly displeased Balue; and he uttered many menaces against St Romain,—telling him, that the king would be much angered at his conduct, and remove him from his office.
M. de St Romain paid no great attention to his menaces, and replied, that as the king had given him his office, he would exercise it during the king's pleasure; and that when he should please he might displace him; but that he was determined to lose every thing sooner than consent to any act that was detrimental to his own conscience, to the crown, or to the public welfare. He told Balue, that he ought to be greatly ashamed for having brought forward and supported such a measure.
In consequence of this, the heads of the university waited on the legate, and appealed against these letters to a general council. They went thence to the court of Châtelet, where they made a similar appeal, and had their opposition enregistered.
The king sent this legate and the bishop of Evreux, who had lately been made cardinal[14] with master John Ladriesche, treasurer of France, and others, to the count de Charolois, to execute some commissions he had charged them with.
On the 8th of October, one called Swestre le Moyne, a native of Auxerre, having been imprisoned at Thiron[15], a long time for certain crimes, was this day drowned in the Seine, near the Grange aux Merciers, according to the sentence of sir Tristan de l'Hermite, provost of the marshals of the king's household.