At this time, the countries of the duke of Burgundy suffered much from the destruction caused by the French, in burning towns and laying waste every part they passed through. The king had sent repeatedly for the duke of Bourbon, who at length came to him while he was at Nôtre Dame de la Victoire. The duke arrived at Paris in the month of August, triumphantly accompanied by nobles and gentlemen, to the amount of five hundred horse, and departed thence on the 14th to wait on the king. Having staid some time with him, he set out for Senlis, on his way to Clermont.
The king received, in the month of August, an embassy from the king of England, whose ambassadors were lodged at Lihons in Santerre; and after some conferences had been held with the king, he sent his chancellor, and the minister of his finances, to Paris, to borrow a sum of money under promise of repayment on All-saints-day. The sum lent by the town was seventy-five thousand crowns of gold, which was given to the english ambassadors, in consideration of a treaty which they had concluded with the king. The town of Paris sent him, at the same time, a large body of men at arms well dressed and mounted, and paid by the town.
On the 29th of August, the king in company with the archbishop of Lyon, the duke of Bourbon, and a great body of his nobility and men at arms, to the number, as estimated, of one hundred thousand horse, set out from Amiens to Pecquigny[55], to meet king Edward of England, who came thither, attended by his van and rear battalions (the main army remained behind in battle-array), to hold a conference. Two sheds of wood had been erected for the purpose, by the king's orders, on the bridge of Pecquigny, fronting each other, but divided, from top to bottom, by a trellis of wood-work, through which the two kings might thrust their hands. The king of France came to his shed the first; and instantly an english baron, there in waiting, set off to inform the king of England, who was in his camp, a good league distant from Pecquigny, where were twenty thousand English, well furnished with artillery.
King Edward soon arrived and entered his shed having twenty-two lancemen that had followed him, posted in the river, beside the bridge, the whole time the two kings were in conference. During this, a very heavy fall of rain came on, to the great vexation of the french lords, who had dressed themselves and their horses in their richest habiliments, in honour to king Edward. The king of England, on approaching the king of France, put one knee on the ground twice; and the king of France received him kindly, and made him rise[56]. A general conversation now ensued between the kings, the archbishop of Lyon, the duke of Bourbon, the minister of the finances, and others, to the number of a hundred persons, whom the king of France had with him. After this general conversation, the company retired, and the two kings remained alone for some time in private conference. On their parting, it was published, that a treaty had been concluded on the following terms:—A truce was agreed to for seven years, to commence the 29th day of August, 1475, and to expire on the same day in the year 1482. By this truce, all Englishmen were allowed to enter France, whether armed or not, provided there were not more than one hundred persons in any one company. The truce was proclaimed at Paris, Amiens, and in other parts of the realm. The king of England then acknowledged the receipt of seventy-five thousand golden crowns; and the king made very liberal presents to all the courtiers of Edward, to the heralds and trumpets, who made great rejoicings for the same, crying out, 'Largesse au très noble et puissant roy de France! Largesse, Largesse!' The king of France, moreover, promised to pay king Edward an annual pension of fifty thousand crowns[57] for these seven years.
The king of France paid great court to the duke of Clarence, brother to the king of England, and made him many rich gifts. Edward now collected the troops he had sent to Abbeville, Peronne, and elsewhere, and, having packed up bag and baggage, marched back to Calais, to cross the sea to England. He was escorted to Calais by master Hesberge, bishop of Evreux. King Edward left with the king of France two of his barons the lord Howard, and his master of the horse[58] until certain things that Edward was to send him from England should arrive. These two barons were the confidential servants of Edward, and had been greatly instrumental in negotiating the truce and other treaties between the two kings, and were in consequence much feasted at Paris.
The king of France and his lords before mentioned now left Amiens for Senlis, where he made some stay. While he was there, he ordered the officers of his household, and particularly sir Denis Hesselin, to show these two barons all the curiosities in Paris, of which he acquitted himself so as to deserve the king's thanks. They remained in Paris eight days, during which they were daily feasted, and carried to the forest of Vincennes for their amusement. Among other entertainments, a grand one was given them at the king's palace of the Tournelles, to which were invited many ladies, damsels, and citizens' wives and daughters, to add to its brilliancy. These two barons now left Paris, to wait on the king at the abbey de la Victoire near Senlis.
This month the king departed from the abbey de la Victoire for the Soissonnois, and stopped at the abbey of Nôtre Dame de Liesse. During this journey, he took possession of the town of St Quentin, which the constable had seized by driving out the royal garrison; for the constable had now deserted the king, and joined the duke of Burgundy. But what was worse, he had written letters to king Edward, after he had crossed the sea to England, in which he called him a coward, a pitiful and poor sovereign, for having made a treaty with a king who would not keep one of his promises, and that in the end he would find himself completely duped. King Edward, on the receipt of these letters, discovered the treachery of the constable to his sovereign.
The king gave his permission for the lord Howard and the master of the horse to return to England, and presented them, on their departure, with many valuable gifts, as well in money as in gold and silver plate. He caused proclamation to be made in Paris, that they were at liberty to carry away with them as much wine as they pleased, on paying for it.
The king passed the month of October at Verdun, and other places on the borders of Lorraine, and then returned to Senlis and to the abbey de la Victoire, where ambassadors met him from Brittany, who concluded a peace between him and their duke, on his renouncing all the engagements and alliances he had formed against the king. The duke of Burgundy accepted of a truce similar to that which had been concluded with the English.
On the 16th of October, this truce was proclaimed by sound of trumpet throughout Paris. It was to commence the 14th of the preceding month, and to continue for nine years; and the merchandise of both countries was to have a free passage and entrance in and throughout each of them,—and during this period, every one had liberty to repossess his landed property.