Marcel had met his reward in the summer of 1358. The next spring Charles received from London the terms of a treaty which his father had made with king Edward III. A large stretch of western territory was to be yielded to England and an enormous ransom to be paid for the king’s release. It is a testimony to the increased strength of the subject in France that Charles submitted this document to a gathering of deputies who surrounded the regent on the great outer staircase of the palace and filled the courtyard below. They rejected with promptness and scorn the proposal to make their enemies a gift of nearly half of France and to ruin themselves by the raising of the exorbitant sum of four million crowns of gold. If any money was to be raised they preferred to spend it in fighting the English, and they offered their services as soldiers.
When Edward learned of France’s refusal to accept the treaty he promptly crossed the Channel. He met with such small success, however, that he was glad to make a compact with Burgundy by which he promised—for a consideration—to let that province alone for two years.
Edward then pressed on to Paris which he approached on the south. Charles, learning of his coming, burned all the villages adjoining the city on that side so that the English army would have to seek far for food. He discouraged any response to Edward’s attempts to draw the French soldiers outside the walls, and at the end of a week, the English, bored and hungry, withdrew.
Not long after, Charles was able to negotiate the Peace of Brétigny, which was all too hard upon France in its demands for the cession of territory and of a large ransom for John, but which the people, weary of war, received with joy. The bells of Notre Dame pealed their satisfaction, and the light-hearted Parisians danced and feasted in the squares, and entertained heartily the four Englishmen who represented King Edward. Each was given a thorn from the Crown of Thorns, the choicest possession of Paris.
Charles had obtained the money to pay part of his father’s ransom from his new brother-in-law, the duke of Milan who had just married his sister Isabelle. It was to secure the payment of the remainder that John’s younger sons, the dukes of Anjou and of Berri, were sent to England as hostages.
John reëntered Paris in December, 1360, four years after the disastrous battle that had cost him his liberty but had had the result of giving his son training which went far to make him one of the greatest kings that France ever has known. Paris was glad to welcome her monarch whose charm they loved and whose weakness they forgot.
The remaining four years of John’s rule was hardly wiser than the early part. He jaunted about the country, everywhere instituting festivals and tournaments. It was now that he gave the duchy of Burgundy to prince Philip as a reward for his pluck at Poitiers.
Then came the breaking of his parole by the duke of Anjou and John’s return to England and death. The stage was clear for the reëntrance of a man who was to treat his task of rulership as one worthy of serious approach.
CHAPTER IX
PARIS OF CHARLES V
KING JOHN’S body was sent over to France from London. As the cortège escorting the coffin drew near to Paris Charles and his brothers went out on foot to meet it, going beyond Saint Denis and then convoying it to the abbey where it was duly buried. The metropolitan of Paris, the archbishop of Sens, sang mass, and after the service the princes with their following of lords and prelates returned to the city.