[9] See letter to Boisschot, appended to the Elzevir edition of Busbecq’s letters from France.
[10] See Appendix, [Patent of knighthood].
[11] Ogier is the name of an old Norse hero, who figures prominently in the Carlovingian epic cycle. Jean Molinet says of some Burgundian archers, who displayed great courage at a critical moment, ‘Et n’y avoit celui d’entre eux qui ne montrast mine d’estre ung petit Ogier.’ (Molinet, chap. xxx.) It was Latinised into Augerius, hence some write Auger.
[12] Bousbecque takes its name from a tributary of the Lys, which is still called Becque des bois.
[13] For this and other documents quoted in this section see Monsieur Dalle’s Histoire de Bousbecque.
[14] Some few traces, showing the high position of the early Seigneurs, are still to be found in Bousbecque; among these is the beautiful cross, of which we have been enabled by the kindness of Monsieur Dalle to give a representation in the frontispiece of the Second Volume. Monsieur Dalle considers it to be ‘la croix d’autel mobile qui était sans pied et sans hampe, qui l’on portait de la sacristie à l’autel au moment du saint sacrifice, et qui se plaçait sur un pied préparé d’avance.’—Histoire de Bousbecque, chap. xxxviii.
[15] For the pedigree of the Ghiselins see Monsieur Dalle’s Histoire de Bousbecque, chap. iv. In consequence of there being several seigneurs of the same name it will be necessary to speak of them as Gilles Ghiselin I., &c.
[16] Marie, daughter of Gilles Ghiselin I., became Abbess of Messines. The following is an extract from L. Guicciardini’s Description de tout le Païs Bas, Antwerp, 1567. ‘Messine ha une tres-bonne et tres-ample Abbaye de femmes, de laquelle l’Abbesse est Dame du lieu, et de sa jurisdiction, tant au temporel qu’au spirituel.’
[17] Jeanne de la Clite was married to Jean Halluin (Halewin), Seigneur of Halluin, the relation and near neighbour of the Busbecqs of Bousbecque. The families had been connected from a very early date by the marriage of Roger Halluin to Agnes de Bousbecque; it will be noticed that the grandmother of George and Gilles Ghiselin was also a Halluin; moreover in consequence of this alliance the Busbecqs quartered the Halluin arms. We should have been afraid, however, to state positively that a relationship existed between them and Jean Halluin, husband of Jeanne de la Clite, had not Monsieur Leuridan, who is the chief authority on genealogies in the North of France, most kindly investigated the question for us. The result of his researches has placed the matter beyond doubt; Jean Halluin and George and Gilles Ghiselin had a common ancestor in Jacques Halluin, Seigneur of Halluin in the fourteenth century. As far as mere cousinship is concerned they were but distant relations, still it is easy to understand that two seigneurs, in the fifteenth century, living within two miles of each other, would value and appreciate any blood relationship however slight.
[18] For this battle see Philippe de Comines, book vi. chap. 5, and Molinet, chap. lxvi. Jean Molinet was chronicler to the Court of Burgundy from 1474 to 1506. He is a most painstaking writer, and of great value on account of the graphic details to be found in his narratives. Unfortunately for his reputation as an annalist, he here and there inserts chapters of pedantic nonsense, in which frequent references are made to the saints of the calendar and the heroes of mythology. But it is only fair to observe that the quantity of wheat to be found is greatly in excess of the chaff, and that he keeps his wheat and chaff separate and distinct. In his historical chapters he never indulges in these vagaries. Possibly the court fashion required him to write such pieces, for Molinet was by no means blind to the faults and errors of his patrons, and could also see the humorous side of their misfortunes. The following description of Maximilian’s imprisonment in Bruges, is to be found in Recollection des merveilles advenues en nostre temps, written by Molinet.