His body was dressed as usual in such cases, and carried from Plessis to the church of our lady at Clery for interment, as he had thus ordered it before his decease; for he would not be buried with the noble kings of France, his predecessors, in the habitual church of St Denis,—but would never give any reason that induced him to refuse being there interred. It was, however, generally thought that it was owing to his attachment to the church of our lady at Clery, to which he had been a very great benefactor.
During his reign, there were some low persons always about him, such as Olivier le Diable, called le Daim, John de Doyac, and others, who had committed very many acts of injustice, in whom he had greater confidence than in all his ministers or kindred. They had so overloaded the people with taxes that, at the time of his death they were almost in despair; for the wealth he gained from his subjects he expended upon churches, in bestowing great pensions among ambassadors, and people of low degree, to whom he could not resist making great gifts, insomuch that he had alienated the greater part of the domain of the crown.
Notwithstanding the many serious affairs he had had upon his hands during his reign, he brought all his enemies under subjection; and he was so feared and redoubted that there were none so great in France, not even those of his blood, who slept in safety in their houses.
Before his decease, he was sorely afflicted with different disorders,—for the cure of which his physicians prescribed many extraordinary remedies. May these afflictions be the means of preserving his soul, and gain him admittance into paradise, through the mercy of Him who reigns for ever and ever! Amen.
CHAP. XXXV.
THE GREAT CHRONICLES OF THE MOST CHRISTIAN, MAGNANIMOUS, AND VICTORIOUS KING OF FRANCE, CHARLES VIII. COLLECTED AND PUT TOGETHER BY ME, PIERRE DESREY, SIMPLE ORATOR OF TROYES IN CHAMPAGNE.
PROLOGUE.
I cannot sufficiently wonder, when I consider the extraordinary mutability of fortune in this transitory life, nor hinder the tears from filling my eyes. I had determined to write a chronicle of the life of that most illustrious king, prince Charles VIII. of France, in the expectation that it might have been of great length; but although he was a magnanimous prince, full of prowess and victorious, the fickleness of Dame Fortune having allowed him several praiseworthy and triumphant conquests, resigned him into the hands of Atropos in the thirty-eighth year of his age, and in the prime of manhood.
As a commencement to this chronicle, I must say, that king Louis XI. departed this life in the month of August, in the year 1483, and that his only son, king Charles, VIII. succeeded him; who, in his youth, was somewhat tender and of delicate health,—but, as he grew up, he gave signs of a good understanding, that could distinguish between vice and virtue,—and, in the course of a few years, he became a man of greater ability by putting a check to his voluptuousness. From this, it may easily be foreseen how worthy he would probably have become if death had not carried him off so early.
His father, the late king, would not allow him to learn the latin tongue, as he thought polite literature would prove an hinderance to his attending to the well governing of his kingdom,—more especially as the father perceived that his son had quick parts, and being well informed in some things, he thought applying to letters would also prove dangerous in his delicate state of health; for, in his early years, he would have been unable to have gone through any laborious course of study.