One day the King, recovering suddenly from an attack of insanity, and finding everything in a state of confusion and discomfort, began to inquire the meaning of this condition of things. The Queen and the Duc d’Orléans were away, so he questioned the governess of the Dauphin, who told him that she really could not get proper clothes and scarcely proper food for the Dauphin and his brothers and sisters, that the Queen would not attend to the matter, and she did not know what to do. Charles was exceedingly angry and grieved, for he was very fond of his children, and he sent for the Dauphin and asked him if it were true. The boy hesitated, but after a little persuasion told his father that it was, only that his mother had by caresses and entreaties made him promise not to tell his father. Charles then asked him how long it was since he had been with his mother, to which he replied, about three months. The King thanked the governess for her faithfulness, begged her to take care of the children, gave her a gold cup he had been drinking from to reward her services, promising to do more for her afterwards. Then he called a council and sent for the Duke of Burgundy.[212]
The Queen and the Duc d’Orléans, when they heard he was coming, fled to Melun and fortified themselves there; which was easy enough as it was a very strong place on an island in the Seine. It had been the headquarters of the party of Navarre, as it had belonged to Queen Blanche in the reign of Jean and Charles V.[213]
In order to prevent the Dauphin from falling into the hands of the Duke of Burgundy, they sent word to Ludwig of Bavaria, the Queen’s brother, to bring not only him but the children of Burgundy also, to the Queen’s country house at Pouilly, where they went to wait for them. But the Parisians got to hear of it, and sent in haste to meet the Duke of Burgundy and tell him to come as fast as he could, for the Queen had sent for the Dauphin and they were afraid she was going to take him to Germany. Jean Sans-peur, at the head of a strong body of armed men, pushed on at full speed, but found when he got there that they had already started. He rode after them and caught them up at about a league and a half from Paris. They had been taken by boat to Vitry and had slept at Villejuif. It was pouring with rain. The Duke of Bavaria represented that the Queen had sent for the children and begged the Duke of Burgundy, who had much the stronger party of the two, not to prevent his obeying her orders. The Duke of Burgundy rode up to the Dauphin’s litter, and, opening the portière, asked him if it were by his own free will that he had left Paris. The Dauphin replied that he would much rather go back there to his father; upon which the Duke of Burgundy ordered him to return at once, and himself took hold of the bridles of the horses and turned them back towards Paris. The Duke of Bavaria accompanied him, and the Dauphin was soon lodged in the Louvre while the Duke of Burgundy fortified himself in his hôtel d’Artois.
{1406}
The rest of the party returned to Pouilly, where they found Isabeau and Louis just going to dinner. But on hearing what had happened they were so alarmed that, without even waiting to dine, they fled to Melun and took refuge there.[214]
There was now open war between the Queen and Duc d’Orléans and the Burgundian party, and the royal family was divided and perplexed. The King of Sicily and Duc de Bourbon tried to make peace and came to Melun for that purpose, but it was no use; the Queen would not see them and the Duc d’Orléans would not listen to them. He said the capture of the Dauphin was an insult to the Queen and to himself. They went back in despair, and begged the Duc de Berry to try. He also went to Melun, but it was no use; the Queen would not go back to Paris.
She was at this time very angry with some of the members of her household who had been spreading scandal about her. She dismissed several of her maids-of-honour, among them one who had been her great favourite, whom she often consulted, and who kept her seal. She put two of the gentlemen of her household in prison and kept them there for some time, in spite of the entreaties of their friends that they might be brought to trial.[215]
However, a conference was held at Vincennes, peace was patched up, and they all returned to Paris, where the Queen took up her abode again with the King at St. Paul, the Duc d’Orléans at his hôtel near the Bastille, the Duke of Burgundy occupied the hôtel d’Artois, the King of Sicily the hôtel d’Anjou, and the Duc de Berry the hôtel de Nesle. Each of these hôtels was a fortress, and all the streets around them were defended with chains and wooden doors.
Meanwhile, the King had another attack worse than ever. He was very fierce, so that no one dared go near him, and refused to undress or wash. This went on so long, and he got into such a dreadful state, that the doctor said it must be stopped somehow. Ten or twelve men therefore disguised themselves, wore armour under their clothes, and blackened their faces. Then they rushed into the King’s room, “terrible to see,” as the chronicler remarks. The King was so frightened that he let them get close to him, and then they seized him, undressed and washed him, and put clean clothes on him. He soon began to get better, but for some time did not know any one but Juvenal des Ursins, who used to go to see him, and whom he would recognise and talk to. Shortly after he recovered his senses.[216]
On the 16th of June, 1406, there was a total eclipse of the sun between six and seven in the morning. It lasted half an hour, “and,” says the chronicler, “nothing whatever could one see, any more than if it had been night and there had been no moon.” People crowded into the churches, and every one thought the world was coming to an end. “However, the thing passed off, and the astronomers assembled and said that the thing was very strange and the sign of a great evil to come.”[217]