But amongst the schemes, disputes, and rivalry of the two parties, one of which put its trust in the Dauphin, and the other fixed its hopes on his brother, the Duc de Touraine, then between fourteen and fifteen years old—a sudden change raised the spirits of the one and filled the other with dismay. The Dauphin began to be ill. Doctors were sent for; we read of “chevaucheurs” sent to ride “haste hastivement” to fetch fruit and medicines from Paris; and prayers and masses said and sung in chapels and convents for his recovery.
Early in April the Comte de Hainault, secretly warned that he would be arrested by the Armagnacs, escaped early in the morning from Paris on pretence of a pilgrimage to St. Maur-des-fossés, in the forest of Vincennes, from whence he rode in haste to Compiègne. But he found the Dauphin ill in bed “with a swollen body and other symptoms of poison,” according to some historians, or, as others say, with an abscess in the ear. At any rate he died in a few days,[265] and there was an outcry of poison, perhaps with more probability than usual, for he had not ruined his health like his brother, and though it could be nothing but an outrageous calumny that the Queen had done it by means of a gold chain she sent him, it was more likely that if there had been foul play at all it came from the Armagnacs who had everything to gain by the death of the Burgundian Jean and the succession of the Armagnac Charles, the son-in-law of the King of Sicily and bitter enemy of Burgundy.
Isabeau was certainly most unlucky in her relations with her sons. Three of them died in early childhood, with Louis she latterly had frequent quarrels, Jean was estranged from her; but the unnatural strife and hatred between her and her remaining son Charles was the crown of all the calamities of her reign. It seems to have been caused in the first place by Armagnac, who, in consequence of the death soon after each other of the King’s two elder sons, the Duc de Berry, the King of Sicily, and the Comte de Hainault, had become exceedingly powerful and, the only person whose power and influence might stand in his way being the Queen, proceeded to make mischief between her, the Dauphin, a weak, characterless boy, and the King, whose mind was now more clouded and his intellect feebler during the intervals between the attacks of his terrible malady.
Added to all this, the King of England threatened that he would soon be in Paris and there were hurried preparations to resist him. All the places that lay on the road by which he would pass were strengthened, moats deepened, walls repaired, batteries of wood and stone made, and stores of provisions laid in. St. Denis was especially fortified, and the monks had to contribute largely to the defence fund, for which purpose they were obliged to sell two large gold crowns and a quantity of silver plate. The holy relics, including the body of St. Denis, were taken by some of the monks to Paris and hidden in a safe but secular place, which, however, caused so much scandal that they had to be brought back again; and the monk who writes of this time says that for eleven months the trumpets of the enemy were continually in their ears.[266]
The Queen was holding her court at Vincennes and had placed in command of the troops who acted as her guards, Louis de Bosredon, and the Sires de Graville and Giac, dissolute young nobles, who spent enormous sums of money and passed their time in feasting, revelry, and in carrying on intrigues with the Queen’s ladies, and, it was rumoured, even with the Queen herself. At least it was said by Armagnac and his party, to whose interest it was to circulate such a report, and who succeeded in making the Dauphin and the King, who then had a lucid interval, believe the story. Being at the same time weak and violent, and so, as is always the case, more dangerous and mischievous than a person who, though violent, is also strong, they listened to the words of Armagnac, and the King riding in haste one evening to Vincennes, passed Bosredon, who instead of dismounting according to the usual etiquette, saluted slightly and rode on. This put a finishing stroke to the anger of Charles, who ordered him to be arrested. He was put to the “question” or torture, and was said to have made compromising confessions respecting the Queen. He was thrown into the Seine and drowned; the other young nobles escaped. It is very likely, whatever admissions were wrung by these iniquitous means from Bosredon, that he was not guilty; as to Isabeau she was about forty-seven years old, had grown fat, and was suffering from gout, which circumstances make such an accusation as far as she was concerned highly improbable, though the disorders of her court were doubtless deplorable. However, the conspiracy had succeeded, she was sent to Tours with the Duchess of Bavaria her sister-in-law, and not allowed as she wished, to go to Melun, where she had much treasure, a great deal of which was seized by the Dauphin, and the part he took in this outrage aroused in the Queen that undying hatred which caused such disaster to him and to France.
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It would have been better for the Dauphin Charles if he had let his mother and her friends and her treasure alone, for Isabeau, though capricious and foolish, was not a woman to submit tamely to such an outrage as this. And Jean Sans-peur was neither capricious, foolish, nor weak, and it was to him that her thoughts turned in this crisis.
For about six months Isabeau led an intolerable life at Tours in close captivity, guarded by Jean Picard, who had been her own secretary, and had betrayed to the Dauphin the existence of a collection of gold, silver, pearls, and diamonds which she had entrusted to the keeping of the Abbot of St. Denis; Guillaume Toreau, her chancellor, and Laurent du Puy, whom she hated more than any of them, as he prevented her from writing or receiving letters without his leave and treated her with disrespect, even speaking to her without taking his hat off.
She managed however to send a secret message to the Duke of Burgundy with her seal. Jean Sans-peur was besieging Corbeil, but he knew that the Queen was worth more to him than the possession of that or any other town, so he raised the siege and rode day and night to Tours where he arrived on the Feast of All Souls.
The Queen meanwhile had signified her intention of performing her devotions at the abbey of Marmoutiers on the banks of the Loire, near Tours. The three gaolers did not venture to object to this act of religion. While prayers were going on they approached the Queen and said that a great company of Burgundians and English were close at hand. Just then Hector de Saveuse, lieutenant of the Duke of Burgundy, having posted armed men all round, entered the church and saluted the Queen in the name of his master who was close at hand. Isabeau pointed to her three gaolers saying, “Arrest these three men.” This was immediately done, but Laurent du Puy, who knew it was all over with him, broke away, ran down to the Loire, tried to jump into a boat that lay moored to the shore, fell into the water and was drowned. In two hours the Queen and the Duke of Burgundy had met and become reconciled; the Queen assumed the regency, and under the powerful escort of the Duke of Burgundy, having been recognised by the authorities of Tours, made a progress through central France with her ladies, and fixed her court and parliament at Troyes. She had a seal engraved with the arms of France and Bavaria and issued proclamations beginning, “Isabelle, par la grace de Dieu Royne de France.” The civil war now raged as fiercely as ever, and the English had conquered most of Normandy and were besieging Rouen.