THE

CHRONICLES

OF

ENGUERRAND DE MONSTRELET.

H. Bryer, Printer, Bridge-Street, Blackfriars, London

THE

CHRONICLES

OF

ENGUERRAND DE MONSTRELET;

CONTAINING

AN ACCOUNT OF THE CRUEL CIVIL WARS BETWEEN THE HOUSES OF

ORLEANS AND BURGUNDY;

OF THE POSSESSION OF

PARIS AND NORMANDY BY THE ENGLISH;

THEIR EXPULSION THENCE;

AND OF OTHER

MEMORABLE EVENTS THAT HAPPENED IN THE KINGDOM OF FRANCE,

AS WELL AS IN OTHER COUNTRIES.

A HISTORY OF FAIR EXAMPLE, AND OF GREAT PROFIT TO THE FRENCH,

Beginning at the Year MCCCC. where that of Sir JOHN FROISSART finishes, and ending at the Year MCCCCLXVII. and continued by others to the Year MDXVI.

TRANSLATED

BY THOMAS JOHNES, ESQ.

IN THIRTEEN VOLUMES ... VOL. X.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW; AND J. WHITE AND CO. FLEET-STREET.

1810.

CONTENTS

OF

THE TENTH VOLUME.

HERE BEGINNETH

THE TENTH VOLUME

OF THE

CHRONICLES

OF

ENGUERRAND DE MONSTRELET.

[CHAP. I.]

THE KING OF FRANCE COUNTERMANDS HIS SUMMONS TO THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, FORBIDS HIM TO COME TO MONTARGIS, AND ORDERS HIM TO SEND THITHER THREE OR FOUR OF HIS NOBLES TO CONSULT WITH THE OTHER PEERS OF FRANCE.—SLIGHT MENTION MADE OF THE SENTENCE PASSED ON THE DUKE OF ALENÇON IN THE TOWN OF VENDÔME, WITH THE RESERVATION OF THE KING'S APPROVAL.

On the return of Golden Fleece king at arms, about the beginning of June, he told duke Philip his lord, that the king having learnt that he intended coming to Montargis with a very numerous army, which would unavoidably do great damage to the countries they should pass through, on that account held him excused from coming thither in person, and entreated that he would send three or four of his council to represent him.

The duke immediately appointed the count d'Estampes, sir Simon de Lalain, knights, and some clerks of his council, together with Golden Fleece king at arms, as his proxies at the ensuing meeting.

Before this, however, took place, a great meeting was held at Gravelines, between commissioners from England and others sent by duke Philip. Soon after, the count d'Estampes went under a passport to Calais, where he was grandly feasted by the English; and it was reported that a truce was then agreed on between the two countries.

The king of France, considering that Montargis could not hold the numbers of people summoned to attend the judgment of the duke of Alençon, changed the place of meeting to Vendôme, where he appeared in so royal a state that it was a pleasure to see him,—and all who had been summoned were expected to come thither. On the day appointed, only the proxies for the duke of Burgundy appeared before the king, of all the temporal peers: in consequence, by royal authority, he named proxies for the duke of Bourbon, the count de Foix, the count de la Marche, and the count d'Eu, to assist the king in passing sentence on the duke d'Alençon.

When the court had been thus regularly formed in the place prepared for it, master John L'Orfevre, president of Luxembourg, and one of the proxies for the duke of Burgundy, arose, and besought the king that he would be pleased to hear what he had been charged by his lord to say, in defence of the duke d'Alençon. The king having granted him permission to speak, he began an harangue of some length, very well arranged and ornamented, with apt quotations from the Scriptures, containing four propositions which the duke of Burgundy had ordered him to lay before the king, to induce him to incline to a merciful sentence on the duke of Alençon, whom his lord considered as his near relative.

The first proposition was, that it belonged at all times to royal majesty to show mercy, and use clemency.

The second, that the duke of Alençon was nearly related to the king.

Thirdly, that the services which the duke of Alençon himself, and his ancestors, had rendered to the crown of France, should be well considered; and, fourthly, the weakness of mind of the duke of Alençon, which being added to the three foregoing propositions, if duly weighed by the king, might induce him to show clemency to the duke.

The cardinal de Constance answered in the king's name, that his majesty had carefully listened to all the reasons that had just been offered by the duke of Burgundy, to incline him to show mercy on the duke d'Alençon: that in reply to the first proposition, it was true, mercy and clemency properly belonged to kings and sovereign princes,—but to do justice was also an inherent right in them, and it was in virtue of this that kings reigned; for if that were neglected, their kingdoms would be devoured by robbers and thieves.

As to the second point, that the duke d'Alençon was related to the king, he should answer, that so much the more was he bounden to guard the preservation and welfare of the king and his crown.

As to the third point, touching the services done by the duke's ancestors to the crown of France, &c. he should say, that he had not in these instances followed their steps: and since children should not suffer for the evil deeds of their fathers, neither ought they to claim any merit from their services.

With regard to the last point, he should reply, that the lord d'Alençon had clearly shown that he was not very wise; but he was not so simple as had been stated, for he had, in the matters charged against him, proceeded with great subtilty and malice, as was apparent and might be seen in the evidence on his trial: that it had not depended on him that his treason was unsuccessful, and that he was equally deserving punishment as if his treachery had taken effect. The cardinal concluded by saying, that the king would act in this business with the advice of the princes of his blood, and the members of his council; that the king would have been glad, and was desirous of the able assistance of the duke of Burgundy, whose absence he regretted, but that he would act in such wise that the duke of Burgundy and the public should be satisfied with the sentence he would give.

[CHAP. II.]

THE KING'S SENTENCE ON THE DUKE D'ALENÇON READ IN HIS PRESENCE WHILE SEATED ON HIS JUDGMENT-SEAT, BY HIS CHANCELLOR.

'Charles, by the grace of God, king of France. Having been duly informed that John duke of Alençon, peer of France, has entered into a treasonable correspondence, by himself and others, with our ancient enemies and adversaries the English,—we make known, that having personally examined in our chamber of peers, and others for this business called in, the charges and evidence produced against John d'Alençon, together with his confessions, and other facts brought duly forward,—we, by the advice of the aforesaid chamber of peers, have declared, and by these presents do declare, that the said John d'Alençon is guilty of high treason against us and our crown,—for which we have deprived, and do deprive him of the honour and dignity of a peer of France, and of all dignities and honours attached thereto.

'We have also condemned, and do by these presents condemn, him to suffer death according to law, and have declared, and do declare, all the effects of the said John d'Alençon to be confiscated to our use, and to belong to us, saving, however, any further orders or regulations we may make concerning the same.'

This sentence having been publicly read, the king declared his will to be, that the execution of the duke d'Alençon should be deferred until his further pleasure were known: that in respect to the confiscation of his effects, &c. although his children ought, according to law and usage, to be deprived of every honour, prerogative and property, and reduced to such beggary as may be an example to all others, considering the enormity of the crimes of their father,—nevertheless, in remembrance of the services done by their ancestors to the kings and crown of France, and in the expectation that these children will conduct themselves toward the king as good and loyal subjects should do to their sovereign lord, and likewise out of favour to the solicitations of the duke of Brittany[1], uncle to the duke of Alençon, the king, out of his grace, declares, that the effects of the duke of Alençon shall remain to the wife and children of the said duke of Alençon; but the king reserves to himself all artillery, arms, and military stores.

With regard to the lands and lordships, the king retains the towns, castles, and viscounties of Alençon, Domfront, and Verneuil, as well on one side of the river Aure as on the other, with all their rights, privileges, and dependences, which, from this moment, he incorporates into the domain of the crown of France. The king retains also the castlewick and lordship of St Blansay in Touraine, together with the tolls which the said d'Alençon had and received from the bridges of Tours, to regulate at his pleasure.

Item, the king reserves to himself all the homage, dues, and acknowledgments which appertained to the said d'Alençon on account of his country of Perche, on the town of Nogent le Rotrou, with all its dependances, and all other lands belonging to the count du Maine, in right of the countess du Maine his wife.

Item, in regard to the other lands and effects immoveable, the king wills that they belong to the children of the said d'Alençon,—namely, the county of Perche to be enjoyed by his only son Réné, and his heirs in lawful marriage, without, however, any dignity or prerogative of peerage. As for the other effects of the said d'Alençon, the king wills, that they be divided among the younger children, who are to be under the wardship of the king until they become of an age to manage for themselves,—they to enjoy these estates as their own free inheritance, and the said estates to descend to the heirs of their bodies lawfully begotten in marriage, according to the usages of the countries in which those estates are situated.

When this had been finally settled, the king ordered the duke d'Alençon to confinement in the strong prison of the castle of Aiquesmortes,[2] not far from Avignon.

[CHAP. III.]

THE ENGLISH MAKE AN INROAD ON THE BOULONOIS FROM CALAIS.—THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY SENDS AN EMBASSY TO THE POPE, AND FORTIFIES HIS TOWNS AGAINST THE ENGLISH.—ARTHUR OF BRITTANY DIES, AND IS SUCCEEDED IN THE DUKEDOM BY THE COUNT D'ESTAMPES.—OTHER EVENTS.

About this period, eight hundred combatants issued out of Calais and marched to Estaples,[3] where they found many vessels laden with wines from Poitou, which the Bretons had brought thither to sell, all of which the English made them ransom. They gained also numbers of mules, which some merchants from Languedoc had conducted thither to carry back a cargo of salted herrings: these were also ransomed, and they carried away several prisoners.

The duke of Burgundy sent this year, about Christmas, a handsome embassy to pope Pius at Rome, to do him homage for all his states, like a good son of the church, and, shortly afterward, another embassy to the king of France, to avoid a war, which every body conjectured would ensue, because the dauphin resided with the duke contrary to the will of his father, and had refused to return to France.

The English, on the frontier of Calais, made continual inroads on the territories of the duke; and to check them, he strengthened with men at arms the garrisons of Bologne, Ardres, Gravelines, Fiennes and St Omer. They were ordered to oppose force by force, and to hang all whom they should take.

About Christmas died Arthur duke of Brittany, without leaving any male heir: he was therefore succeeded in the duchy by John de Bretagne count d'Estampes, son to the brother of a former duke of Brittany by a sister of the duke of Orleans. Notwithstanding that he was count d'Estampes, John of Burgundy, brother to the count de Nevers, assumed the same title, but without advantage,—for the king held possession of Estampes, and gave the revenue of it to whomsoever he pleased.

At this time, peace was restored between the duke of Burgundy and the count of St Pol, so that the count was on the same familiar terms with the duke and as much beloved by him as before: he was likewise in the good graces of the count de Charolois.

Nearly at this period, an embassy from Greece, of about fifty horsemen, waited on the duke, to request that he would personally attend, or send his proxies, to a meeting appointed by pope Pius, of all the princes of Christendom, touching the welfare of the catholic church. The duke received them honourably, and gave them rich presents, and said, that, under God's pleasure, he would send proxies to the meeting they had mentioned.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Duke of Brittany. Q. if it should not be of Burgundy.

[2] Aiquesmortes,—a town in lower Languedoc, five leagues from Montpellier.

[3] Estaples,—a town in Picardy, at the mouth of the Conche, four leagues from Bologne.

[CHAP IV.]

THE KING OF FRANCE SUMMONS THE TWELVE PEERS OF FRANCE TO THE TOWN OF MONTARGIS, TO HEAR SENTENCE PASSED ON THE DUKE D'ALENÇON.—OF THE DEATH OF POPE CALIXTUS.—THE KING TRANSFERS THE COURT OF JUSTICE FROM MONTARGIS TO VENDÔME.

In the year 1458, the king of France summoned the twelve peers of his realm, secular as well as temporal, and the members of his court of parliament, to assemble in the town of Montargis on the 8th day of June, in which place he intended holding a court of justice, and for considering other matters that greatly affected the welfare of the realm. The most part of those summoned attended, and were there for two months, treating on the condemnation or acquittal of the duke of Alençon, cousin-german to the king, and one of the peers of France.

The duke of Alençon had been imprisoned for certain treasonable acts imputed to him, and of which he was said to be guilty. There were present at this meeting the count de Dunois and de Longueville, the chancellor of France, master Pierre du Reffuge,[4] general of France, and many other great lords and officers. The duke of Burgundy would not appear, although he had been summoned, and was the first of the peers. He had refused to come in consequence of an article in the treaty of Arras, by which he could not be constrained to attend any meeting but at his own free will.

The king remained at Baugency during these two months, always intending to have gone to Montargis; but fearing the epidemic distemper which raged there, and the badness of the air, he dissolved the meeting, and appointed it to assemble within fifteen days afterward at Vendôme.

On the 4th of April, in this year, died pope Calixtus,—and Pius, a native of Italy, was elected in his room.

The 15th of August, all the king's counsellors, as well laics as ecclesiastics, of his court of parliament, who had been summoned, came to Vendôme,—even the bishop of Paris and the abbot of St Denis, who had not appeared at Montargis.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] Reffuge. Q.

[CHAP. V.]

THE DUKE OF ALENÇON IS CONVICTED, AND CONDEMNED TO DEATH FOR HAVING INTENDED TO DELIVER UP HIS STRONG PLACES TO THE ENGLISH, THE ANCIENT ENEMIES OF FRANCE, AND TO INTRODUCE THEM INTO NORMANDY.

'Charles, by the grace of God, king of France, to all to whom these presents may come, health and affection. Whereas we have been duly informed, that John duke of Alençon, a peer of France, has held various treasonable correspondences with our ancient enemies the English; and that for this purpose he has sent divers messengers to England without our leave or licence, and without making us acquainted with the purport of them, to the great danger and prejudice of us and our realm. To obviate the evil effects that might have arisen from such conduct, we provided a remedy, and, in conscience, commanded, under our letters patent given at Chastelier, near Esbrimbe, the 24th day of May, in the year 1456, our dear and well beloved cousin the count de Dunois and de Longueville, our beloved and faithful counsellors and chamberlains Pierre de Brézé, lord of Varennes and grand seneschal of Normandy, John le Boursier, superintendant general of our finances, William Cousinot, knight, bailiff of Rouen, and Odet d'Aidié, bailiff of Coutantin, to lay hands on and arrest our said nephew the duke of Alençon; and for the furtherance of his trial, we issued our orders, dated at Mont Richart[5] the 23d of last May, for our court of parliament, then sitting at Paris, to adjourn to the town of Montargis, on the first day of June last, and to remain there until the whole of the judicial proceedings on this subject should have been brought to a conclusion.

'We also summoned to attend this court of justice, at Montargis, a sufficient number of presidents and counsellors of our said parliament, together with the peers and princes of our blood, the chancellor, some masters of the requests of our household, and others of our council. In consequence whereof, our said chancellor, our well beloved and faithful counsellors, the archbishop-duke of Rheims, the bishops and dukes of Laon and Langres, the bishops and counts of Beauvais, of Châlons and Noyon, peers of France, our said presidents, masters of requests, and counsellors of our court of parliament and the members of our council have regularly assembled in the town of Montargis, and have there taken the preparatory steps for the judgment of the said d'Alençon, by the interrogation of his accomplices and adherents, which occupied them until the 10th day of July last passed.

'These lords did not proceed further, in the expectation of our coming thither to bring the matter to a conclusion in our presence; but we delayed going to Montargis on account of the great mortality that then existed in the towns of Orleans, Sully, and other places around, through which we must have passed; and not only to avoid the consequences that might have arisen from this mortality we deferred going thither, but also having heard that our enemies had fitted out a considerable fleet, with the intent of invading our kingdom on the coasts of Saintonge, Poitou, and lower Normandy. That we might be ready to oppose any such attempts, we, by the advice of our council, transferred this court of justice from Montargis to the town of Vendôme.

'We ordered the members of the said court to assemble at Vendôme on the 15th day of August, then and there to continue sitting until they should have brought this trial to a close.

'We afterward came to Vendôme in person, where were assembled many of the princes of our blood, peers of France, both laics and ecclesiastics, and those before named, with the members of our council and court of parliament, and others for this business summoned thither. While we were seated on our judgment-seat, the court being filled with the whole of its members, the said d'Alençon was brought before it, who, after having had the oath administered to him, to declare the whole truth respecting the crimes with which he was charged, frankly and voluntarily confessed as follows.

'That after lord Shrewsbury had taken Bordeaux, an Englishman called James Hay, attached to sir Richard Woodville, an English knight, came to him at Alençon, under a passport, and made secret proposals to him of a marriage between his daughter and the son of the duke of York: that, as well in regard to this marriage as for other matters they mutually wished to be acquainted with, they held many conversations, and agreed on a certain manner of squeezing the hand and thumb, as a signal that every person was to give before he delivered any message relative to this business, to prevent their being betrayed.

'That about the month of August in the year 1455, he, the said duke of Alençon, sent for a priest living at Domfront, called Thomas Gillet, whom, having sworn to secrecy, he told that he intended to send him to England, and detained him some time with him for this purpose, and carried him to La Fleche in Anjou, expecting to be enabled to send him from thence: that while he was at La Fleche, an English herald, called Huntingdon, came thither, to whom he opened his intentions, and charged him to return to England, and to exhort his countrymen, by every possible means, to make a descent in Normandy, desiring them, by the aid of God, or the devil, to make up their internal quarrels, and not think of any thing else but this invasion: that now was the time or never; and should they allow the present most favourable opportunity to slip by, they would never again find another; for that the king was at a distance, and his army separated in three divisions,—one in Armagnac, another in Guienne, and the third employed against the dauphin: that the nobles and great towns, as well as the people of all ranks, were more discontented than could be conceived; and that he, the duke of Alençon, was himself so displeased with the present government that, if the English would support him, he would aid them to the utmost of his power,—for that he had sufficient stores and artillery to combat for a day ten thousand men. He advised that the king of England should come in person, and with not less than from thirty to forty thousand combatants: that there was in Normandy only one of the king's generals, with but four hundred lances, and that they might conquer the greater part of the country before any resistance could be made.

'He advised that the king of England should, on his landing, issue a proclamation, by sound of trumpet, to forbid any one, under pain of instant death, to take goods or other effects from husbandmen or labourers by force, and to leave every one at peace in their habitations. The king of England was likewise to revoke all the gifts made by his father and by himself, to grant a full pardon to every one, and to proceed as if it were a new conquest.

'In consequence of this treachery, our enemies did land in several parts of our dominions, namely, the king of England and the duke of York in lower Normandy, the duke of Buckingham at Calais, to march through Picardy to the country of Caux, and to cut off all intercourse with us, should we attempt to oppose them. Those of Guienne, according to the duke of Alençon, were much discontented; and if our enemies would support them, they would rise in rebellion against us,—and, in short, we should lose all that part of our country. The enemy was to inform the duke of Alençon three months before they intended to land, that he might provide his places with stores, and prevent us from taking possession of them.

'On their landing, the English commander was to send the herald Huntingdon to the duke to make him acquainted with their numbers and plans, that he might take measures to act in concert with them. The duke particularly insisted, when he sent Huntingdon to England, that king Henry should bring with him as much money as possible; and that he should deliver at Bruges, or elsewhere, twenty thousand crowns, or at least ten thousand, at his disposal, should be there deposited without loss of time, and not longer than a month after their landing, for him to pay his men, and put his artillery on a respectable footing; for he charged the herald to say, that on their landing they would find part of his artillery at Alençon or Domfront.

'The said d'Alençon confessed that he had promised, on oath, to Huntingdon, that he would punctually perform the engagements he had entered into with the enemies of our realm; and he made this herald swear that he would tell all these things to the duke of York, Richard Woodville, and James Hay, and that he would reveal them to none others but them.

'That our enemies might not have any doubts of the truth of the above engagements, the said d'Alençon gave to Huntingdon, on his departure, credential letter addressed to the duke of York, signed with an N, with a stroke through it, containing as follows; 'Gentlemen, have the goodness to believe what the bearer of this shall tell you from me. I thank you for your kind intentions, and it shall not be my fault if they be not farther strengthened.' In saying this, our said nephew had well remembered that he had given to Huntingdon the fullest information respecting his own affairs, as well as those of our kingdom, in order to accomplish his designs, and then had sent him to England.

'The said d'Alençon confessed, that some time afterwards, he had also sent thither Thomas Gillet, the priest before mentioned, and had charged him to acquaint the duke of York or Richard Woodville (having previously made the signal with the thumb) with the state of our kingdom, and the discontent of the people, and to press them to make the invasion as soon as they could, and with as large a force as possible,—to tell them, that they were very thoughtless in not having before attempted it, for they could never have so fair an opportunity of recovering what they had lost; and if they would land twenty thousand men, they would regain the greater part of the country before we could provide any effectual resistance; for we were at a distance, in Berry, on an expedition against our son the dauphin: that there were no forces in that part of the kingdom: that the people were exceedingly discontented, and that now or never was the time for reconquering Normandy. Thomas Gillet said, that the duke d'Alençon was much surprised he had not heard from them, nor from the herald; that they should send him back with intelligence of their intentions; and he told them frankly, that unless they showed more vigour and activity, the enterprise had better be dropped. He spoke to them likewise of the twenty thousand crowns that had been stated as necessary, by the said d'Alençon, to Huntingdon; and the said d'Alençon had bidden him assure the duke of York, that he was the most beloved of all his family in Normandy, and that the people of the country would do more for him than for any one else.

'Thomas Gillet was also charged to tell the English, on their landing, not to forget to issue the proclamations he had mentioned to Huntingdon; and if he were spoken to concerning the marriage of his daughter with the eldest son of the duke of York, to say all he knew and all he had seen of her. The said d'Alençon gave to Gillet letters of the following tenour, to deliver to the duke of York. 'Sir,' &c. 'I commend myself to you, and entreat that you will instantly let me hear from you, and have me in your thoughts. For God's sake, use diligence in his designs: it is time: and acquit yourself manfully, for who waits becomes displeased. Hasten to send me money, for your service has cost me much, and may God grant all your desires.' Written as above, and at the bottom 'always yours, N.' adding a postscript, to say, that a little before Christmas, he would send a person, called Pierre Fortin, to Calais, and would instruct him to make the signal of the thumb, that he might converse with James Hay or Richard Woodville, and know from them if they had any intelligence to give him from the herald or Thomas Gillet.

'The said d'Alençon also confessed, that between Christmas and the Epiphany, Thomas Gillet and the herald returned from England, and reported to him, that the duke of York and the chancellor of England thanked him for his good intentions; that the parliament of England was not as yet assembled, nor the king of England in a situation to send him an immediate and decisive answer,—but that the parliament would shortly be holden, and the matter should then be so arranged that the duke of Alençon should be satisfied, and that he should receive information thereof in the course of the ensuing Lent, by the said Woodville.

'Gillet added, that the duke of York commended himself to the said d'Alençon, thanked him for his good wishes, and begged of him to continue them to him,—and assured him that before the month of September next the duke, accompanied by the greatest lords of England, would invade Normandy with such a large army that the said d'Alençon should be contented; but he was required to secure some good sea-port on that coast for their landing,—and they wished to know whether the dauphin would go into Normandy. A nearly similar message did Gillet deliver from the chancellor of England.

'The said d'Alençon likewise confessed that, on the return of these his messengers, he had dispatched to England a person called master Edmund Gallet, having first sworn him on the Scriptures to secrecy, and then he gave him a letter addressed to the duke of York, signed with his real name 'John,' and sealed with his own signet: it was cut into four pieces, and contained as follows: 'My lords, I commend myself to you. The messages you sent me have been delivered; and I beg to hear further from you as speedily as may be, if you propose undertaking the measures the bearer will explain to you: it is now time, and I will support you in such wise that you shall be satisfied. You may believe all that the bearer shall say to you from me.'

'The said d'Alençon owned that he had charged Gallet to bring him back an answer as to the marriage, and the other things that he had mentioned to the English lords by Gillet and the herald: to tell them that it was now full time to begin the business, if they looked for success; and that he wished they were landed in Normandy in bodies as thick as flies or hailstones.

'That the said d'Alençon was assured that we intended to march against our son the dauphin; and that if they landed and entered into proper engagements with him, the dauphin would join them, and give up to them his artillery and strong places, and every thing else within his power: he repeated, therefore, that they must not delay nor fail to come,—and the twenty thousand crowns must be instantly paid.

'The said d'Alençon said, that being astonished that Gallet was not returned from England, he sent about Easter the said Fortin to Calais, and charged him, after making the usual signs, to talk with the English, and learn whether they intended invading Normandy or not. He added, that Gallet came back from England about Low Sunday, and brought letters signed, as he said, by the king himself, namely, Henry, and that these letters contained in effect as follows: 'Very dear cousin, we thank you for your good will toward us: we shall send commissioners on the first day of next August to Bruges, to propose a truce between us and our fair cousin of Burgundy, where we shall hope that they may meet commissioners from you, to settle every thing between us, and we shall act in such wise as, please God, you may be satisfied.'

'The said d'Alençon said, that Gallet had informed him the king of England had taken the government into his own hands, and that the duke of York had retired into Wales, which had caused the said Gallet to address himself to the king in person, telling him of the good inclinations of the duke of Alençon, for which he thanked him, and said, that he should send ambassadors to Bruges, as he had stated in the said letters, and that the duke d'Alençon should send others from him to meet them; that these ambassadors would settle every thing relative to the twenty thousand crowns, and they would mutually exchange written documents respecting the matters under consideration.

'The said d'Alençon confessed, that because the term for the payment of the said twenty thousand crowns was remote, and because he wished to be made acquainted with the state of preparation of our enemies, he again sent Gallet into England, to press the advance of the money, and to obtain a blank passport, for any one of his people whom he might wish to send thither touching these several matters, should there be any necessity for it; that he told the said Gallet, as the chance of war was uncertain, he wished to secure a retreat in England, should their plans prove abortive, and mentioned the duchies of Bedford, of Glocester, and of the lands which the dukes of the said duchies held for life, that he might speak of them to the king of England.

'That, on the departure of Gallet, the said d'Alençon gave him letters, addressed to the duke of York, containing as follows: 'My lord, I commend myself to you, and am very much surprised that I did not receive any intelligence from you by the bearer of this on his return from England. I entreat that I may speedily hear from you,—and you may safely believe whatever he shall tell you from me.' He wrote also other letters to master Louis Gallet, residing in England, father to this Edmund Gallet, thanking him for his good inclinations toward him, of which he had been informed by his son, to whom he desired that he would always address himself on this business.

'The said d'Alençon added, that as he and master Edmund were conversing on this subject, master Edmund told him that it was the intention of the English to send the duke of Glocester and the son of lord Shrewsbury, to make a landing in Guienne, with ten or twelve thousand men,—while the king, the duke of York, and a large body of nobles should invade our province of Normandy: that the duke of Buckingham, with the earls of Wiltshire and Worcester, should land at Calais, with ten or twelve thousand combatants, and march through Picardy. He likewise confessed that he had spoken on this subject to Fortin, one of the gentlemen of his chamber, to induce him to join him in his plans to support the English, and that he had sent him to Granville,[6] to examine the state of that place, if it were well fortified, and what repairs had lately been made there, especially on the side where it had been formerly taken; and if that Fortin joined the English, as it appears he did, he was to find out some means of delivering up Granville, and as many other places as possible to them.

'The said d'Alençon confessed, that he had been induced by his different messages to excite the English to invade our kingdom by the advice and instigation of a person called Matthew Prestre, whom he knew not otherwise than by name, but who said he was from the country of the Lionnois and attached to the bastard d'Armagnac, and who, (as the said d'Alençon said) had brought him credential letters from our son the dauphin, and from the bastard d'Armagnac. Of the letters from the dauphin, the said d'Alençon said, that he had his suspicions of their reality from their not being in the usual style in which the dauphin was accustomed to write to him: he also suspected the signature was not the dauphin's. On this matter, and at the request of the said d'Alençon several witnesses specified by him, and of his household, have been examined by our commissioners, who have affirmed that they saw the said Matthew Prestre.

'The said Edmund Gallet has also been examined, to whom the said d'Alençon had declared that he had made most ample communications respecting the said Matthew Prestre; and the said Gallet has been confronted with the said d'Alençon, and interrogated respecting the different messages he had carried to England, as well as others of his accomplices, who, it may be supposed, would know if the statement touching this Matthew Prestre were true, who have all denied any knowledge thereof, so that it may be presumed, from their depositions, that the contrary to what the said d'Alençon had said was the fact: besides, the said d'Alençon declares that he never had any letters from our said son, nor any communication from him on these matters, but through the said Matthew, and that he knew not whether he communicated the above from himself or from others,—and that he, the said d'Alençon, had never any instructions from our said son on this subject.

'Several remonstrances having been made to the said d'Alençon on this part of his conduct, it has appeared that the whole was a contrivance to cover his treasonable practices, and to give a colour to them,—for the said d'Alençon said, that he knew not what reply to make to these remonstrances. As a further confirmation, when the said d'Alençon has been interrogated as to this Matthew, he has varied in his answers on many points, as may be clearly seen in the evidence of his trial.

'From all of which, and from the whole of what has been advanced by the said d'Alençon, as well as from the interrogatories of the different witnesses respecting Matthew Prestre and his interference, and from other evidence examined at the request of the said d'Alençon, we have not found any thing wherewith we could accuse our said son the dauphin, nor the bastard d'Armagnac, as any way implicated in the treasons of the said d'Alençon.

'When the whole of the evidence had been gone through, there only remained judgment to be given. And we make known that the court, having fully and maturely examined the different interrogatories and confrontations, together with his voluntary confessions, have declared, and do declare, by these presents, the said d'Alençon guilty of high treason, and, as such, to be deprived of the honour and dignity of the peerage of France and all other dignities and prerogatives, and do, besides, condemn him to death by the public executioner. The court has also declared, and does declare, that all his effects whatever shall be confiscated to our use, and that they shall henceforth be reputed legally to belong to us as we may please to dispose of them.

'Such was the sentence passed by the peers of France and the other members of the court of justice held at Vendôme. We, however, reserved to ourself the power to make whatever changes we should please; and we now declare our will to be, that the capital part of the said sentence, on the said John d'Alençon, be deferred until our further pleasure be known.

'With regard to the effects of the said d'Alençon, considering the enormity of his guilt, his children ought to be deprived of them, and reduced to a state of beggary, to serve as an example to all others. Nevertheless, remembering the good services their ancestors have done to the crown and kingdom of France, and in the hope that these children will behave themselves as good and loyal subjects toward their sovereign; and in consideration of the earnest solicitations for mercy from our very dear and well-beloved cousin the duke of Brittany, uncle to the said d'Alençon, we, out of our especial grace, shall moderate these confiscations,—and declare our pleasure to be, that the moveable effects shall remain to the wife of the said d'Alençon, and to his children, with the exception of his artillery and military stores, which we reserve to ourself.

'In regard to his lands and lordships, we shall moderate the confiscation as follows: We retain the town and castlewick of Domfront, the town, castle, castlewick and viscounty, of Vernueil, on both sides of the river Aure, with all their appurtenances, lordships and dependances, which we from this moment unite, incorporate and adjoin, to the patrimony and domain of our crown.

'We shall likewise retain in our hands the duchy of Alençon, together with its town, castle, lordship, rights, appurtenances, revenues, and immoveable effects, and every claim that might have belonged to the said Alençon as duke thereof, and all rights and duties that may have been granted from our crown as an appanage to the said d'Alençon, with the reserve of the country of Perche, concerning which we shall hereafter ordain, according to our good pleasure.

'We retain also the castle and castlewick of St Blansay in Touraine, together with all the duties the said d'Alençon received for pontage in our town of Tours, and the other rents and revenues he was accustomed to receive from the said town, to order as we may please best. We likewise reserve to ourself the homages appertaining to the said d'Alençon as count du Perche, on the town of Nogent le Rotrou and its dependances, and also on the lands and lordships of our very dear and well-beloved cousin the countess du Maine, wife to the said d'Alençon.

'In respect to the other lands and lordships that did belong to the said d'Alençon, we will that they remain to the children of the said d'Alençon, in manner following,—that is to say, the only son of the said d'Alençon shall have and retain the county, lands, and lordships of Perche, to be freely enjoyed by him and his male descendants, lawfully begotten in marriage, but without any dignity or prerogative of peerage. With regard to the remaining lands, lordships, and other immoveable effects, we will that they belong to the other children, as well males as females, of the said d'Alençon, for them to enjoy the same under our tutelage until they become of a proper age to manage for themselves,—and that they descend to the heirs of their bodies in lawful marriage, according to the usages and laws of the countries these different estates may be situated in. In testimony of which,' &c.

Given at Vendôme, the 10th day of October, in the year of Grace 1458, and of our reign the 37th.

This sentence was pronounced in the absence of the said John d'Alençon, but read to him afterwards in his prison by the first president of the parliament de Thorette, master John Boulanger, counsellor to the king in his court of parliament, master John Bureau, treasurer of France, and others of the king's council, which much astonished and overwhelmed the said John d'Alençon, and not without cause.[7]

In the month of January, in this year, that most noble and potent prince Arthur duke of Brittany departed this life, who, before and after he had succeeded to the dukedom, had been constable of France. He was succeeded by the lord Francis, son to madame d'Estampes, sister to the duke of Orleans, who, in person, conducted him to take possession of the duchy of Brittany.

FOOTNOTES:

[5] Mont Richart, or Mont Tricard,—six leagues from Amboise.

[6] Granville,—a sea-port in Normandy, six leagues from Coutances.

[7] 'John duke of Alençon was condemned to death by a celebrated sentence given by king Charles VII. sitting in a bed of justice, at Vendôme, the 10th of October 1458, which sentence was instantly commuted to perpetual imprisonment. The duke was confined in the castle of Loches until Louis XI. came to the throne in 1461, who granted him a free pardon in the month of October in the same year.

'The duke could not remain quiet, but attempted again to throw the kingdom into confusion,—and Louis XI. had him arrested a second time, the 22d September 1472. Another sentence was passed on him, but its execution was again suspended,—and the duke remained a prisoner in the Louvre, but did not die there, as is supposed. He was transferred to the house of a burgher, as a private prisoner. He died in the year 1476.'

See more in the note from which this is copied, page 595 of the viiith volume of the Memoires de l'Académie.

[A.D. 1459.]

[CHAP. VI.]

THE AMBASSADORS FROM ENGLAND ARE DENIED ACCESS TO THE KING OF FRANCE.—THE DUKE OF CLEVES ATTENDS THE MEETING OF PRINCES AT MANTUA.—THE DAUPHINESS BROUGHT TO BED OF A SON, AT GENAPPE.—THE KING OF SCOTLAND KILLED BY A SPLINTER FROM A BOMB.

This year, ambassadors from England arrived in France, anxious to obtain an alliance with the king by a marriage or truce; but the king would neither hear nor see them. They were, therefore, forced to return without effecting any thing; and what was more, neither lord nor lady would accept of their palfreys, which they had brought with them in numbers, to gain the friendship of the lords and ladies of the court.

In the month of June, in this year, the duke of Burgundy, being very desirous of the welfare of Christendom, sent his nephew the duke of Cleves, as his proxy and ambassador, to Mantua, where the meeting was to take place of the pope and the princes, and cardinals of Europe, to consider on the means of opposing the enterprises of the grand Turk, who was making daily conquests on the Christians, more especially in Greece. The duke of Cleves was nobly received wherever he passed, as well to honour the duke of Burgundy, whose proxy he was, as out of respect to his own personal worth.

About this time, the count d'Estampes, by orders from his uncle the duke of Burgundy, made prisoner, in the town of Amiens, the viscount d'Amiens and lord of Pecquigny, whom he carried prisoner to Vilvorden,[8] on account of his having conducted himself in a manner unbecoming a person of his rank.

Toward the end of July, in this year, the princess Charlotte of Savoy, dauphiness of France, was delivered of a fair son, who was baptised by the name of Joachim. Great rejoicings took place for this event throughout the territories of the duke of Burgundy, wherein the dauphin resided during the time he was in ill estimation with his father king Charles VII. and indeed so long as the king lived, keeping his court at the castle of Genappe in Brabant. These rejoicings were, however, turned to grief, for the child did not long survive its birth.

In the month of August, it happened that while the king of Scotland was pointing a cannon, to try its power, it burst, and the king was so severely wounded by a splinter that he died soon after: it was a melancholy accident. He had married a daughter of the duke of Gueldres, and niece to the duke of Burgundy, by whom he had several children.[9]

A terrible and melancholy transaction took place this year in the town of Arras, the capital of the country of Artois, which said transaction was called, I know not why, Vaudoisie;[10] but it was said, that certain men and women transported themselves whither they pleased from the places where they were, by virtue of a compact with the devil. Suddenly they were carried to forests or deserts, where they found assembled great numbers of both sexes, and with them a devil in the form of a man, whose face they never saw. This devil read to them, or repeated, his laws and commandments, and in what manner they were to worship and serve him; then each person kissed his backside,—and he gave to them, after this ceremony, some little money: he then regaled them with great plenty of meats and wines, when the lights were extinguished, and each male selected a female for amorous dalliance, and suddenly they were all transported back to the places they had come from.

For such criminal and mad acts, many of the principal persons of the town were imprisoned; and others of the lower ranks, with women and such as were known to be of this sect, were so terribly tormented that some confessed matters to have happened as has been related. They likewise confessed to have seen and known many persons of rank, prelates, nobles, and governors of districts, as having been present at their meetings,—such, indeed, as, upon the rumour of common fame, their judges and examiners named, and, as it were, put into their mouths,—so that, through the pains of the torments, they accused many, and declared that they had seen them at these meetings.

Such as had been thus accused were instantly arrested, and so long and grievously tormented that they were forced to confess just whatever their judges pleased, when those of the lower ranks were inhumanly burnt. Some of the richer and more powerful ransomed themselves from this disgrace by dint of money,—while others of the higher orders were remonstrated with and seduced by their examiners into confessions, under a promise that, if they would confess, they should not suffer in person or fortune. Others again suffered the severest torments with the utmost fortitude and patience.

The judges received very large sums of money from such as were enabled to pay them: others fled the country, or completely proved their innocence of the charges made against them, and remained unmolested.

It must not be concealed, that many persons of worth knew well that these charges had been raked up, by a set of wicked persons, to harrass and disgrace some of the principal inhabitants of Arras, whom they hated with the bitterest rancour, and, from avarice, were eager to possess themselves of their fortunes. They had first maliciously arrested some persons deserving punishment for their crimes, whom they had so severely tormented, holding out promises of pardon, that they forced them to accuse whomsoever they were pleased to name, and them they arrested and tormented as mentioned above. This matter was considered, by all men of sense and virtue, as most abominable; and it was thought that those who had thus destroyed and disgraced so many persons of worth would put their souls in imminent danger at the last day.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] Vilvorden,—a town in Brabant, between Brussels and Mechlin.

[9] 'While king James was observing the effects of his artillery, (at the siege of Roxburgh-castle) one of the rudely-contrived cannons of that age, consisting of bars of iron, girded with circles of metal, suddenly burst: a fragment struck his thigh,—and the great effusion of blood produced a death almost instantaneous. The earl of Angus, who stood next to James, was wounded.

'It is impossible to express the grief of the camp, or of the kingdom, at the premature loss of a beloved sovereign, in the flower of his age, aggravated by the circumstances and the strange fatality of the case. The young regretted a youthful prince, and an ardent leader: the old sighed at the prospect of another minority.

'Could any consolation have arisen, it must have proceeded from the spirit of the queen, Mary of Gueldres, who, immediately upon the tidings, arrived in the camp with the infant heir of the monarchy, and showing him to the soldiers, while tears gushed from her eyes, she conjured them by every domestic tie, by the memory of their sovereign, by the fame of Scottish valour, not to depart from their design, but to destroy this calamitous fortress. The castle was taken and levelled with the ground.'

Pinkerton's Hist. of Scotland, v. ii. p. 244.

[10] Vaudoisie,—a nocturnal meeting of sorcerers.—Du Cange. Supplement. See Valdenses, in his glossary.

[A.D. 1460.]

[CHAP. VII.]

SLIGHT MENTION MADE OF THE REBELLION AND DISCORD IN ENGLAND.—OTHER INCIDENTS.

In this year, there were great troubles, civil wars, and murders in England. Some held for the party of king Henry, such as the duke of Somerset and others; and some held for the party of the duke of York, namely, the earl of Warwick, the earl of Salisbury and others. A severe battle took place, in which numbers of each side fell; but it was gained by the duke of York,[11] who made a treaty with the king, in such wise that, on the decease of the king, the duke was to succeed to the crown, to the prejudice of the prince of Wales, son to king Henry and the daughter of Réné king of Sicily.

This treaty was so contrary to the will and interests of the queen that she raised another army, of all who were inclined to her and her son the prince of Wales, and took the field, to offer battle to the duke of York, who had increased his army as strongly as possible, to defend his rights. On the first day of January, in this year, the battle took place, which was very bloody, and hardly contested; but this time, fortune turned against the duke, who was made prisoner, together with his second son[12] and the earl of Salisbury[13]. Shortly after, the queen had them beheaded, and their heads put on the points of three lances: and on the head of the duke was placed, by way of derision, a paper crown, to denote his eagerness to be king, and his having failed in the attempt. The earl of Warwick[14] found means to escape after the battle, and quit the kingdom, which he did in a small boat, with great danger, and arrived safely at his government of Calais.

In this year, the rector of a village near to Soissons would have the tithes from a farm, near to this village, belonging to some croisaders in the holy land. The farmer refused to pay the tithe,—and the rector instituted a suit against him and the croisaders, which he lost, and, for this reason, conceived a great hatred against the farmer and the farmer's wife.

In this same village resided a sorceress, a woman of very bad fame, and using the black art, who having quarrelled with the farmer's wife for some trifle, complained to every one of the wrong that had been done her, and even made complaint of it to the rector. He, full of hatred against the farmer's wife, said that he wished to be revenged on her if he knew but how; when the sorceress instantly said, that if he would do as she should direct, he would have ample vengeance on her. The rector replied, that there was nothing he would not do to satisfy his revenge. The sorceress then went and brought him an earthen pot, in which was a large toad that she had long kept and fed, and said, 'Take, sir, this animal, and baptize it in the same manner as if it were a child, and christen it John; then consecrate a holy wafer and give it him to eat, and leave the rest to me.'

The accursed priest, blinded by his hatred, baptized the filthy beast by the name of John, and gave it to devour the holy body of our Lord, then returned it to the hag, who instantaneously cut it in pieces, and made a drink of it, with other diabolical ingredients. She then gave it to a young girl whom she had, bidding her carry it to the house of the farmer at his dinner-hour,—and after holding some conversation with the farmer, his wife and children, while they were at dinner, to throw it under the dining-table and come back to her. The girl did as her mother had ordered, when the consequence was, that the farmer, his wife, and one of their sons who was dining at the table, felt themselves suddenly taken with qualms as if they had eaten something nauseous,—and all died within three days.

This coming to the knowledge of the magistrates, the sorceress, her daughter, and the rector, were arrested; and, on the truth coming out, the hag was publicly burnt in the town of Soissons: the girl, being with child, was sent back to the prison, whence she escaped, but was afterward retaken, and carried by an appeal before the parliament. The rector was confined in the prisons of the bishop of Paris, whence he escaped by dint of friends and money. I know not what became of the girl.

FOOTNOTES:

[11] Battle of Northampton.

[12] Second son,—Edmund earl of Rutland.

[13] Battle of Wakefield. For particulars of this reign, see the english historians, particularly Wethamstede, a contemporary writer.

[14] The earl of Warwick—was not present at this battle, for he and the duke of Norfolk had the charge of king Henry and of the city of London: it was from the second battle, of St Alban's, that he fled to Calais.

[CHAP. VIII.]

EDWARD EARL OF MARCHE, ELDEST SON TO THE LATE DUKE OF YORK, DEFEATS IN BATTLE QUEEN MARGARET OF ENGLAND AND OBTAINS THE CROWN BY MEANS OF THE LONDONERS.—THE QUEEN SEEKS AID FROM THE SCOTS.

On Palm Sunday, the 28th of March, in this same year, Edward earl of Marche, eldest son to the duke of York, who had so lately been beheaded, accompanied by the earl of Warwick and other english barons, marched in arms to London, where he was received as king, and was offered the crown, but refused to accept of it, until, as he said, he should drive his enemies out of the kingdom. He thence led his army to York, where the queen, the duke of Somerset, and those of her party, were waiting in great numbers to give him battle.

When the two armies approached, an engagement was agreed on between the parties, to take effect near to a place called Ferrybridge, eight leagues from York[15]; and when the day of battle arrived, the earls of Marche and of Warwick ordered their van to advance, under the command of earl Warwick's uncle, which was severely handled by the Lancastrians, and put to the rout. The duke of Somerset, thinking the battle won, allowed his troops to plunder and strip the dead. News of this was carried instantly to the earl of Marche, whose army, though very large and unbroken, was much alarmed at the intelligence. When the earl saw them thus panicstruck, he had it proclaimed through the ranks, that whoever was frightened might return home, but that all who were willing to share his fortune should, if successful, receive a sum of money; and that whoever fled, after having agreed to remain, the person who put him to death should be handsomely paid for so doing.

The earl of Warwick, hearing that his uncle was slain, and his men defeated, cried out, with tears, 'I pray to God that he would receive the souls of all who die in this battle:' then added, 'Dear Lord God, I have none other succour but thine now in the world, who art my Creator and Redeemer, to apply to: I beg therefore, vengeance at thy hands!' then drawing his sword, he kissed the cross at the handle, and said to his men, 'Whoever chooses to return home, may, for I shall live or die this day with such as may like to remain with me.' On saying this, he dismounted, and killed his horse with his sword.

On the morrow, the main body of each army was so near that a general battle took place, which was most bloody and severe; insomuch that it lasted three days,—and for some time no one could tell which side would be victorious: at length, the queen's party were defeated and almost all killed or made prisoners. Among the principal persons of note who fell that day were the earl of Northumberland, the lord Clifford, the lord Muelle[16], brother to the earl,—the lord Willoughby, the lord Wells, son to the duke of Buckingham, the lord Grey, sir Andrew Trollop, a terrible man at arms, who had done marvellous deeds of valour at this and other battles, and numbers of other valiant gentlemen, and others, to the amount of thirty thousand. Some that were made prisoners were afterward beheaded at York.[17]

After the battle, Edward entered York, and had the heads of his father and of his other friends taken down from the gates and most honourably interred; and magnificent obsequies were performed for their souls in the cathedral. He then returned to London, triumphant after his victory, where he was joyfully received, and soon after crowned king of England.

On the other hand, the queen and the duke of Somerset had retreated to a castle, wherein they remained until they heard that king Edward was marching to besiege it[18]. On this, they fled from the castle, and sought a refuge with Mary queen of Scotland, daughter to the duke of Gueldres. The two queens concerted a marriage between the young prince of Wales and queen Mary's eldest daughter, to secure the aid of the Scots against Edward; but the duke of Burgundy, uncle to Mary, instantly dispatched to her the lord de Groothuse, to break off this marriage, because the king of Sicily, father to queen Margaret, was no friend to the duke,—and thus the match was interrupted[19].

However, soon after the lord de Groothuse had left Scotland, the Scots formed an alliance with the queen of England and her son, on condition that the town and castle of Berwick, with its dependances, then possessed by the English, on the borders of Scotland, should be restored to them; and the marriage before mentioned was agreed on,—the Scots thus adventuring their princess to regain Berwick rather than not obtain it, as it was of very great strength,—although the prince and princess were both too young to be then united, as neither of them were more than seven or eight years old.

During these troubles, and prior to the coronation of king Edward, he had sent his two younger brothers into Holland that they might escape, should he prove unsuccessful, confiding in the generous mind of the noble duke of Burgundy. They remained in that country some time in secret: but the duke no sooner knew who they were than he sent to seek them, and had them brought to him at Bruges, where he showed them every honour, and grandly entertained them. When king Edward had conquered his enemies, he sent to request the duke to cause his brothers to be escorted home, which the good duke very cheerfully complied with, and had them honourably accompanied as far as Calais, toward the end of April, in the year 1461.

FOOTNOTES:

[15] The battle of Towton. Ferrybridge is 20 miles only from York.

[16] Muelle. Q. Nevill?

[17] Those who were employed to number and bury the dead, (as we are told by a contemporary writer, who lived near the scene of action, Continuat. Hist. Croyland, p. 533.) declared that their number amounted to thirty-eight thousand. Amongst these were many persons of rank and fortune; as the earls of Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Shrewsbury,—the lords Clifford, Beaumont, Nevil, Willoughby, Wells, Roos, Scales, Grey, Dacres and Molineux,—besides a prodigious number of knights and gentlemen!

Henry's Hist. of England, vol. v. pp. 137, 138, 4th ed.

[18] Edward did not leave York until after Easter, and was crowned the 29th of June at Westminster. The dukes of Somerset and Exeter, seeing the battle lost, fled with the king, queen, and prince of Wales, and never thought themselves safe until they arrived at Edinburgh. Henry, on coming to Edinburgh, was only attended by four men and a boy.

Note to Pinkerton's Hist. of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 248.—From the Paston Letters.

[19] 'A marriage between Edward prince of Wales and Mary, the daughter of Scotland, was proposed and resolved, but delayed by the youth of the parties, and finally prevented by the misfortunes and death of the prince. To conciliate the expected aid, Berwick was surrendered to the Scots: an object, often wished and attempted since the disgraceful invasion of Edward Baliol. In return, a Scottish army entered England and laid siege to Carlisle, which held for Edward IV. but the English, led by lord Montague, raised the siege, and defeated the Scots with great slaughter.'

Pinkerton, p. 248.

The Paston Letters say, that six thousand Scots were slain at Carlisle.

The lord Montague, I imagine, should be sir John Nevel, brother to the earl of Warwick, created lord Montacute after the battle of Towton.

[A.D. 1441.]

[CHAP. IX.]

KING CHARLES OF FRANCE, HAVING BEEN TOLD THAT IT WAS INTENDED TO POISON HIM FELL SICK AT HEART AND DIED.

About the beginning of July, in this year certain rumours having been spread abroad by evil-minded persons, that it was intended to poison the king while he resided at Mehun sur Yevre[20], and these reports coming to his ears, he never afterward tasted joy. It was told him by one of his captains, whose attachment he knew,—and therefore he put such confidence in the tale that he refused to take any kind of food, because he had not any faith in those about his person; nor could he be prevailed on to take any nourishment for eight days, until his physicians told him, that if he pursued this plan, he would die. He then attempted to eat,—but he had left off so long that his stomach refused its functions. On this, he confessed himself, and made his preparations like a good Catholic; and finding himself grow daily weaker, he devoutly received all the sacraments of the church, and made his last arrangements and will according to his pleasure. He ordered his executors to bury him in the same chapel where his father and grandfather had been interred, in the church of St Denis, and ended his days on Magdalen-day in the month and year above mentioned, in the town of Mehun sur Yevre.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] Mehun sur Yevre,—a town in Berry, four leagues from Bourges.

[CHAP. X.]

TWELVE HOUSES ARE BURNT IN THE VILLAGE OF JUCHY, NEAR CAMBRAY.—THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY HOLDS THE FEAST OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE, AT ST OMER. THE DAUPHINESS BROUGHT TO BED OF A PRINCESS, AT GENAPPE.—AMBASSADORS FROM THE HOLY LAND COME TO THE COURT OF FRANCE,—AND THENCE TO THE COURT OF BURGUNDY.

About this period, twelve houses were burnt in the village of Juchy, near Cambray. The fire began in the house of a man who had thrice, that same day, thrust his own mother of it, saying the third time, with great malice, that he would see his house on fire rather than that she should remain another day in it. Shortly after, his house took fire, no body knew how, and was burnt down, with twelve of the adjoining houses, which seemed to prove the Divine vengeance against this wicked man.

The good duke of Burgundy held his feast of the order of the Golden Fleece on the first of May, in this year, at St Omer, right nobly. Most of the knights of the order were present,—among whom were Charles count de Charolois his son, the duke of Cleves, his brother Adolphus nephew of the duke of Burgundy, the count d'Estampes, the marshal of Burgundy, the lord de Croy, his brother, and the lord de Launoy their nephew the lord de Hautbourdin, the bastard de St Pol, the lord de Bievres bastard of Burgundy, and many more. The dukes of Orleans and of Alençon were not present,—but they sent their proxies. Several great lords from Germany, France, Scotland, and other countries, came to this feast, which lasted for three days in the usual manner.

Notwithstanding the regulations of this order, that every knight of it must be without reproach, a knight assisted at the feast as proxy for the duke of Alençon, whom the king of France had declared guilty of high treason against him, and for this had sentenced him to perpetual imprisonment. But the duke of Burgundy held him for a nobleman of honour, and without reproach,—and said that the king of France had thus condemned him through the envy and wicked insinuations of others, and had wrongfully dishonoured him! This language he publicly held during the three days of the feast!!

As it was the custom, after this feast, to hold a chapter of the order and to elect new companions in the room of such as had deceased, they now elected sir Phillip Pot lord de la Roche-Bourguignon, the lord de Groothuse a Fleming, the lord de Roye a Picard, and also the king of Arragon, to whom the duke sent the collar of the order, by the lord de Crequy, notably accompanied.

At the conclusion of the feast, and when all business was done, the count de Charolois, Adolphus of Cleves, and Anthony bastard of Burgundy, held a just against all comers, which was followed by another noble feast.

At this time the dauphiness, consort to the lord Louis, eldest son to the king of France, was brought to bed of a daughter at Genappe in Brabant, where he resided for fear of his father, in whose ill graces he was, as mentioned before.

In this same month of May, there arrived at the court of France ambassadors from the holy land and other eastern countries. In the number was a prelate dressed like a cordelier friar, who called himself patriarch of Antioch,—a knight from the king of Trebisonde,—another knight from the king of Persia,—one from the king of Georgia and Mesopotamia, who was more strangely dressed than the rest. He was a stout, robust man, having two tonsures on his head like to the one our priests have in France,—and to each ear hung a ring. There was also an ambassador from the little Turk[21], who said, that if the Christians would make war on the grand Turk, his lord would join them with fifty thousand combatants. There was another ambassador from the king of Armenia, a handsome and genteel knight; and, to conclude, there was another from Prester-John, who, the others said, was a most learned man. It was reported, that they had been more than seventeen months journeying from their own countries before they came to France.

On their presentation to the king of France, they styled him the most Christian king,—and requested that he would send an army under his banner against the grand Turk, and assured him that he would have the assistance of all the kings and princes whose ambassadors were now before him. They declared, that they wanted not his money, for of that their lords had enough; but that if the king would send his banner, under the command of one of his experienced captains, the grand Turk, and his whole army, would be more alarmed than by one hundred thousand other persons. I know what answer the king made them, but he caused them to be grandly feasted and entertained. Shortly after, they departed from France, for the court of the duke of Burgundy, who received them most honourably, entertained them well, and made them many rich presents. It is to be supposed that they made to the duke a request similar to that which they had made to the king of France; for the duke replied, that if they could prevail on the king of France to guarantee his possessions during his absence, he would assist them personally, and to the utmost of his power.

FOOTNOTES:

[21] Little Turk. Q. The cham of the Tartars?

[CHAP. XI.]

OF THE DEATH OF CHARLES VII. KING OF FRANCE.—OF THE TROUBLES AND DIFFICULTIES HE HAD TO ENCOUNTER AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF HIS REIGN,—AND OF HIS GLORIOUS AND GREAT FEATS OF ARMS.

On the 22d day of July, in the year 1461, departed this life, at Mehun sur Yevre, king Charles VII. of France, in the 58th year of his age, and the 39th of his reign. Fortune was so adverse to him at the beginning of his career that he lost the whole of that part of his kingdom which extended from the seas of Flanders and England to the river Loire, by the efforts and courage of Henry king of England, who had married his sister, and contended to be king of France through the aid of the duke of Burgundy, because king Charles had been consenting to the murder of his father duke John of Burgundy, at the town of Montereau sur Yonne, notwithstanding they had sworn to keep peace and friendship between them on the holy sacrament, and had divided the wafer between them as a pledge of their amity,—which was a most disgraceful act, and never can be enough condemned.

However, duke Philip of Burgundy, from loyalty to the crown of France, and a dislike to see the English in possession of that country, which they were destroying, at the earnest request and solicitations of king Charles, agreed to a peace, which was signed at Arras in the 35th year of the king's reign.

The English from that moment lost ground in France; and king Charles prospered so much that he reconquered from them the whole of his kingdom, with the exception of Calais, Guines and Hammes, which are situated on the confines of the Boulonois. After these conquests, he always kept on foot fifteen hundred lances, and from five to six thousand archers, on regular pay,—namely, for each man at arms and three horses, fifteen florins, royal money, and for each archer seven florins, per month. These sums were raised by taxes on the inhabitants of the good towns and villages, and, in common, so punctually collected that there was scarcely any delay in the payments.

The men at arms and archers were under such good discipline that no pillager or robber dared to infest the highways for fear of them, as they were continually on the look-out and in pursuit of such with the officers of justice. These men at arms escorted the merchants who travelled with their merchandise from place to place, so that every one was pleased with them; for before their appointment, those called Skinners, from their robbing all who fell in their way, were the sole guides of merchants, whom they plundered.

[CHAP. XII.]

THE DAUPHIN AND THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY MAKE PREPARATIONS TO GO TO RHEIMS, FOR THE CORONATION OF THE DAUPHIN.—OF THE INTERMENT OF THE LATE KING CHARLES.—THE CORONATION OF KING LOUIS XI. AT RHEIMS.—OTHER MATTERS.

As soon as the dauphin heard of the death of his father, he sent off, in haste, a messenger to Hêdin, to inform the duke of Burgundy of this event; but he was already acquainted with it. These two princes now appointed a day for meeting at Avênes in Hainault, thence to proceed to the city of Rheims, for the coronation of the dauphin as king of France. For greater security, the duke ordered all his nobles to be under arms, in and about St Quentin in the Vermandois, on the 8th of the ensuing month of August; and there was not a lord or baron who did not equip himself in the handsomest array, and come attended with, the greatest possible number of archers,—so that, when all assembled, it was a fine sight to be viewed.

But when the dauphin learnt that the duke of Burgundy had collected so numerous an army, he was fearful that all the country it should march through would be ruined and wasted: he therefore requested the duke to disband it, and bring with him only the greater barons of his country in their usual state, armed or disarmed. The duke willingly complied with this request, and dismissed to their homes the greater part of his army, retaining, to attend him, only about four thousand combatants, the best appointed that ever nobles were; but it was said, that if he had not disbanded the army, he would have been escorted by more than one hundred thousand fighting men.

The great lords of France came daily to pay their obedience to the dauphin, and to acknowledge him for their king, as did deputations from the principal towns.

Soon after the news of the late king's death was known to the duke of Burgundy, he set out for Avênes in Hainault, where the dauphin waited for him; and on his arrival, a grand funeral service was performed for king Charles during the second and third days of August. At this service, the dauphin was the chief mourner, dressed in black, supported by the duke of Burgundy and the count of Charolois, and followed by the count d'Estampes, James de Bourbon, Adolphus of Cleves, and many other great lords. When the service was over, the dauphin, whom I shall henceforth call king, immediately dressed himself in purple, which is the custom in France; for as soon as a king there dies, his eldest son, or next heir, clothes himself in purple, and is called king,—for that realm is supposed never to be without a king.

King Louis departed from Avênes, on the 4th day of August, for Laon; and on the next day the duke of Burgundy set out for St Quentin, to meet the nobles of his country, whom he had ordered to assemble there and to accompany him to the coronation of the king.

While these things were going on, the body of the late king was embalmed, placed on a car covered with cloth of gold, and carried to the church of Nôtre Dame in Paris, where a solemn funeral service was performed, and thence carried to St Denis, where another service was performed,—and the body was then interred with the kings his ancestors, who were all buried in the church of this abbey.

On the 14th of August, king Louis made his entry into the city of Rheims, attended by the noble duke Philip of Burgundy, the count de Charolois his son, the duke of Bourbon, the duke of Cleves, his brother the lord of Ravenstein—all three nephews to duke Philip,—the count of St Pol, and such numbers of barons, knights and gentlemen, all richly dressed, that it was a handsome spectacle. There were also present the counts of Angoulême, of Eu, of Vendôme, of Grand-pré, sir Philip de Savoye, the count de Nassau, and numbers of other lords.

The morrow, being the feast of the Assumption of our Lady, king Louis was crowned king of France, by the hands of the archbishop of Rheims, in the presence of all the peers of France, or their proxies. When the king was dressed, and on the point of being mounted, he drew his sword, and, presenting it to the duke of Burgundy, desired that he would make him a knight by his hand,—which was a novelty, for it has been commonly said that all the sons of the kings of France are made knights at the font when baptised. Nevertheless, the duke, in obedience to his command, gave him the accolade, and with his hand dubbed him knight, with five or six other lords, then present,—namely, the lord de Beaujeu, his brother James, both brothers to the duke of Bourbon, the two sons of the lord de Croy, and master John Bureau, treasurer of France.

The duke was then entreated to make all knights who wished to be so, which he did until he was weary, and then gave up the office to other lords, who made so many that it would be impossible to name them all: let it suffice, that it was said that upwards of two hundred new knights were created on that day.

Many fine mysteries were performed at this coronation,—at which were present, besides the twelve peers and great officers of state, the cardinal of Constance, the patriarch of Antioch, a legate from the pope, four archbishops, seventeen bishops, and six abbots.

After the ceremonies in the church, the twelve peers of France dined, as usual, with the king. When the tables were removed, the duke of Burgundy, with his accustomed benevolence and frankness, cast himself on his knees before the king, and begged of him, for the passion and death of our Saviour, that he would forgive all whom he suspected of having been the cause of the quarrel between him and his late father; and that he would maintain all the late king's officers in their places, unless, after due examination, any should be found to have acted improperly in their situations. The king granted this request, with the reserve of seven persons,—but I know not who they were.

After this, the duke said,—'My most redoubted lord, I at this moment do you homage for the duchy of Burgundy, the counties of Flanders and of Artois, and for all the countries I hold of the noble crown of France. I acknowledge you as my sovereign lord, and promise you obedience and service, not only for the lands I hold of you, but for all others which I do not hold of you; and I promise to serve you personally, so long as I shall live, with as many nobles and warriors as I shall be able to assemble, and with as much money in gold and silver as I can raise.'

Then all the other princes, dukes, and counts and lords did homage to the king. From Rheims, the king departed, after the coronation, to Meaux in Brie, and thence to St Denis, to pay his devotions at the sepulchre of his father. In the mean time, the duke of Burgundy went, with a small attendance, from Meaux to Paris, where he arrived on Sunday, the last day but one of August, and found there his son, and the greater part of his attendants, who had arrived eight days before him.

[CHAP. XIII.]

KING LOUIS XI. MAKES HIS PUBLIC ENTRY INTO PARIS.—THE HANDSOME RECEPTION HE MEETS WITH.—THE GREAT MAGNIFICENCE OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY AND HIS ATTENDANTS.

On Monday, the last day of August, the noble duke of Burgundy issued out of Paris, after dinner, grandly accompanied, to meet the king of France, who was waiting for him in the plain of St Denis, to attend him on his entrance into the city of Paris, which was to take place on that day, for the first time since his coronation. After the first compliments on their meeting, they arranged their men, for their entrance, in order following: First rode before all the rest, the lord de Ravenstein, the lord de Baussegines, and the lord de la Roche, abreast, each having six pages behind him so nobly mounted and richly dressed that it was a pleasure to see them. Next came the archers of the count d'Estampes, two and two, in number twenty-four, and well appointed, with two knights as their leaders, followed by the two brothers, the counts de Nevers and d'Estampes, the count d'Estampes having behind him thirteen pages magnificently dressed,—then upwards of thirty of the lords and gentlemen of the household of the count, superbly equipped.

Next came the archers of the duke of Bourbon, amounting to more than twenty-four; then thirty archers of the count de Charolois, very well appointed, having two knights for their captains; then two other knights, leaders of the duke of Burgundy's archers, to the number of one hundred, handsomely dressed; then the lords and gentlemen of his household, with the other great barons who had accompanied him, most magnificently dressed, themselves and their horses, to the amount of upwards of two hundred and forty, with housings trailing on the ground, which was a noble sight.

After them came the admiral and marshal of France, with many great lords and gentlemen of the king's household, with forty very splendid housings; then came the counts d'Eu, de la Marche, and de Perdriac abreast, and without housings, who were followed by the heralds of the king and princes, to the number of seventy-four; then the king's archers, amounting to six score, well equipped, each having a valet on foot beside him; then fifty-and-four trumpeters,—but none sounded excepting those of the king. After the trumpets came the marshal of Burgundy and the lord de Croy, very richly dressed; then Joachim Rohault, master of the horse to the king, bearing the royal sword in a scarf, followed by the son of Flocquet, bearing the king's helmet, having thereon a very rich crown of gold. Between these last and the king was a led horse covered with trappings of blue velvet, besprinkled with flowers de luce of gold; then came the king, mounted on a white steed, dressed in a white silk robe without sleeves, his head covered with a hood hanging down. He was surrounded by four of the burghers of Paris, who bore on lances a canopy over his head of cloth of gold, in the same manner as the holy sacrament is carried from the altar. Behind the king were two men at arms on foot, having battle-axes in their hands. The king was followed by the duke of Burgundy so splendidly dressed, himself and his horse, that the whole of his equipment was valued at ten hundred thousand crowns. Nine pages attended him, magnificently appointed, each having a light but superb helmet, one of which was said to be worth a hundred thousand crowns,—and the frontlet of the duke's horse was covered with the richest jewels. On his left hand was his nephew, the duke of Bourbon, handsomely dressed and mounted, and on his right his son, the count de Charolois, most superbly dressed.

About a stone's cast in their rear came the duke of Cleves, himself and his horse highly adorned with precious stones; then all the other lords of France in such numbers that there were upwards of twelve thousand horse, so finely equipped that it was a pleasure to see them, although not with such splendid trappings as the Burgundians,—for many among them knew not whether they were well or ill in the opinion of the king.

Before this grand entry commenced, a cardinal and the principal burghers of Paris came out of the town to pay their obedience to the king while in the plain. The duke of Orleans did not come out of Paris, as well on account of his age as because he mourned for the death of king Charles, but placed himself at an apartment which looked towards the street, from the windows of which he saw the procession pass, as did the duchess of Alençon with her son the count du Perche, then about fifteen years old, of a noble figure, and in high spirits,—for his father was released from prison immediately on king Charles's death.

At the entrance of the gate of Paris was the representation of a ship elegantly made, from which two small angels descended, by machinery, right over the king as he passed, and placed a crown on his head; which done, they re-ascended into the ship. In the street of St Denis was a fountain that ran wine and hippocras for all who chose to drink. At the corner of a street leading to the market was a butcher of Paris, who, on seeing the duke of Burgundy, cried with a loud voice, 'Frank and noble duke of Burgundy, you are welcome to Paris: it is a long time since you have been here, although you have been much wished for.'

At the entrance of the Châtelet was a representation of the capture of the castle of Dieppe from the English, which had been taken by king Louis while dauphin. In other parts were pageants of the crucifixion of our Lord, and of divers subjects from history. The streets were so crowded with people that with difficulty the procession went forward, although it had been proclaimed by sound of trumpet that no one should be in those streets through which the king was to pass; but the anxious desire thus to see all the nobility of France caused the proclamation to be little regarded,—for the whole of the nobles were there excepting king Réné of Sicily and his brother the count du Maine, who were with the widowed queen their sister.—Neither the duke of Brittany, the duke of Alençon, nor the count d'Armagnac were present, for the late king had banished the two last his kingdom, and confiscated their fortunes. However, soon after, namely, on the 18th day of September, the duke d'Alençon came to the new king at Paris, who received him most kindly, and granted him a free pardon: he then waited on the duke of Burgundy, who gave him a very kind reception.

On the king's arrival at Paris, he went straight to the church of Nôtre Dame, where he paid his devotions, and then took the usual oath which the kings of France take on their first entrance into Paris,—and while in the church, he created four new knights. He then remounted his horse, and went to the palace, which had been highly ornamented for his reception, where he held open court and supped: the peers of France, and those of his blood, sat at the royal table. On the morrow, he fixed his residence at the Tournelles.

The duke of Burgundy was lodged at his hôtel of Artois, which was hung with the richest tapestries the Parisians had seen: and his table was the most splendid any prince ever kept, so that all the world went to see it, and marvelled at its magnificence. Even when he rode through the streets or went to pay his devotions at church, crowds followed to see him, because every day he wore some new dress or jewel of price,—and he was always accompanied by seven or eight dukes or counts, and twenty or thirty of his archers on foot, having in their hands hunting spears or battle-axes.

In the dining hall of his hôtel was placed a square sideboard, with four steps to each side, which, at dinner-time, was covered with the richest gold and silver plate: at the corners were unicorns, so handsome and finely done that they were surprising to behold. In this garden was pitched a superb tent, covered on the outside with fine velvet, embroidered with fusils in gold, and powdered over with gold sparkles. The fusils were the arms of all his countries and lordships, and were very richly worked. In short, whether the duke remained in his hôtel or came abroad, every one pressed to see him, on account of his noble appearance and great riches.

[CHAP. XIV.]

THE KING AND THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY TAKE LEAVE OF EACH OTHER, AND DEPART FROM PARIS.—EVENTS THAT HAPPENED IN DIVERS PARTS.

The king, during his stay at Paris, dismissed some of his officers from their places, and nominated others to fill them. He then made preparations to leave Paris, for Amboise, to visit the queen his mother, who there resided. The day before his departure, he went to the hôtel of Artois, to take leave of his uncle of Burgundy, who was then sitting at dinner; but he rose from table the moment he heard the king was coming, and went out far in the street, and, on meeting him, knelt down to salute him. The king instantly dismounted, and they walked together in the hôtel; and then, in the hearing of the whole company, the king thanked the duke for all the honours and services he had done him, acknowledging that he was indebted to him for every thing he possessed,—for had it not been for his friendship, he would not, perhaps, have been now alive. He then took leave of the duke, and returned to the palace of the Tournelles,—and on the morrow, the 24th of September, set out from Paris, escorted by the duke and all the lords of his company, very far on the road, notwithstanding they had taken leave of each other the preceding day. The king then again thanked him for his friendship and services,—and the duke most honourably offered him his life and fortune whenever called upon.

The king continued his road toward Amboise; and the duke returned to Paris with his noble company, where he remained until the last day of September, and then went to St Denis, staying there two days with his niece the duchess of Orleans. He had a magnificent funeral service performed in the church of St Denis, as well for the soul of the late king Charles as for the souls of all the kings who had been there interred, and from whom he was descended. He gave dinners and banquets to the lords and ladies who had accompanied him thither from Paris.

From St Denis the duke returned by Compiègne, and the places of the count de St Pol, who grandly feasted him, to the town of Cambray; for the king of France, while at Paris, had made up the quarrel between the count and the duke of Burgundy. Peace was also made between the count de St Pol and the lord de Croy, who before hated each other most mortally. At length, the duke arrived at his city of Brussels in Brabant.

His son the count de Charolois took his leave at St Denis, and, with the duke's approbation, went into Burgundy, where he was grandly feasted, for he had never before been in that country, having been brought up in the town of Ghent. Before he left Burgundy, he went to visit the shrine of St Claude[22], on the confines of that country, and thence took the road to wait on the king at Tours.

In this year, the summer was very fine and dry: the wines and corn were good, and the last very cheap. However after August, there were many fevers and other disorders, which, although not mortal, lasted a long time.

About the feast of St Remy, all the gabelles and taxes throughout the realm were proclaimed to be let to the highest bidder. It happened that the populace in Rheims rose against those who had taken them, and killed several; they then seized their books and papers, wherein their engagements were written, and burnt them in the open streets. The king on hearing this, ordered thither a large body of troops, who, dressing themselves as labourers, entered the gates by two and three at a time, so that, soon being assembled in sufficient force, they threw open the gates for the remainder of the army, under the command of the lord de Moy, who instantly arrested from four score to a hundred of those who were the most guilty of this outrage, and had them beheaded,—which so intimidated the rest that they dared not longer oppose the will of the king.

In this year died at Bordeaux, Poton de Saintrailles, seneschal of the Bordelois, who had been in his time wise, prudent, and valiant in arms, and together with another great captain, called La Hire, who died before him, had aided the late king Charles so ably and gallantly, to reconquer his kingdom from the English, that it was said his success was more owing to them than to any others in his realm.

On the 11th of October, in this year the church and town of Encre[23] were almost entirely destroyed by fire in less than half an hour, which was a sad misfortune to the poor inhabitants.

Between September and the 1st of November, marvellous signs were seen in the air like to lighted torches, four fathoms long and a foot thick, where they remained fixed for half a quarter of an hour,—and they were thus seen at two different times. Some said they had observed in the night the appearance of battles in the air, and had heard great noises and reports.

FOOTNOTES:

[22] St Claude, or St Oyen,—a city in Franche-comté: it owes its origin to a celebrated abbey, founded in the fifth century, so called after St Claude archbishop of Besançon.

[23] Encre. Q. Ancre or Abbert? a town in Picardy, seven leagues from Peronne.

[CHAP. XV.]

THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS WAITS ON THE KING OF FRANCE AT TOURS, WHERE HE IS MAGNIFICENTLY ENTERTAINED.—HE LOSES HIMSELF WHILE AT THE CHASE.—HE RETURNS TO ARTOIS THROUGH NORMANDY, OF WHICH THE KING HAD MADE HIM HIS LIEUTENANT.

After the count de Charolois had performed his pilgrimage to Saint Claude, he took the road to Tours, where king Louis resided at that time. The count was accompanied by a number of great lords and nobles, and about three hundred and fifty horsemen.

When the king knew that he was near to Tours, he sent out to meet him the greatest lords of his household, who gave him a joyful reception, and, by the king's commands, led him to dismount at the palace, where he was met by the king and received most honourably by him and his whole court. The king took him for his amusement to all the handsome places around,—and he was grandly feasted at each of them. The king one day took him to hunt a red deer, which showed much sport, but ran so long, the count pursuing him, that when night came, he knew not where he was, and had but four other persons with him. They, however, proceeded, although it was dark night, until they stumbled on a good inn, wherein they were lodged.

The king, on his return from the chase, not hearing any thing of the count, no one being able to give him the least intelligence what was become of him, was exceedingly vexed and alarmed, and instantly dispatched people to all the adjacent villages, and had lighted torches fixed to the church steeples, that, should the count see them, he might find his road back again to Tours: those who were sent into the forests carried lighted brands or torches.

The king was so troubled, for fear of some accident happening to the count, that he swore he would not drink until he should hear something of him. In the mean time, the count, doubting that the king would be uneasy at his absence, and learning from his host that he was but two leagues from Tours, wrote him an account where he was by one his servants, whom he sent under the guidance of a peasant, and desired him not to be uneasy at his absence, for that he had only lost his way. The king, on the receipt of this letter, was much rejoiced and sent for him very early the next morning.

The duke of Somerset was at this time with the king of France, having been banished England by king Edward, whose enemy he was, and against whom he had made war, in support of queen Margaret's quarrel. He had fled to France to take refuge under king Charles, but, on his arrival, had found him dead. He had been arrested by the officers of the new king, and carried to his hôtel; but at the request of the count de Charolois, the king gave him not only his liberty but handsome presents of gold and silver, for he was a great favourite with the count, because he was his relative, and also because he preferred the party of king Henry to that of king Edward, although he knew well that his father the duke of Burgundy, was of a contrary way of thinking. The duke of Somerset was desirous of retiring into Scotland; but as he was informed that king Edward had put spies to watch his conduct, he withdrew to Bruges, where he remained in private a considerable time.

The count de Charolois, having staid nearly a month with the king, was desirous to take his leave, which the king granted, together with an annual pension of thirty-six thousand francs, and appointed him his lieutenant general of Normandy. The count returned by Blois, where he was handsomely entertained by the duke of Orleans, and thence proceeded through Normandy. He was met by processions from all the principal towns through which he passed, and received as many honours as if he had been the king himself,—for the king had so ordered, by commands which he had sent to the different towns. At Rouen, in particular, he was magnificently received. He passed through Abbeville and Hêdin without stopping any where, until he came to Aire, where his countess was: from Aire he soon after departed, to wait on his father the duke of Burgundy then at Brussels.

About this time, John bishop of Arras, through the instigation of the pope, prevailed on the king of France to abolish the pragmatic sanction[24], which had been established in France for upward of thirty years. In return for having done this, the pope sent him the red hat, and made him a cardinal, under title of Cardinal of Arras. While this pragmatic sanction was in force, the benefices of the kingdom were disposed of at the nomination of the universities, whence arose innumerable law suits,—and this practice was greatly prejudicial to the court of Rome.

At this period died Flocquet, one of the king's commanders, valiant and subtile in war. By his subtilty he won Pont de l'Arche from the English, and was the first cause of the total loss of Normandy to the English.

At this time also died master Nicholas Raullin, at Autun in Burgundy. He had first been an advocate in the parliament, then chancellor to duke Philip, whom he governed very wisely in many difficult affairs during the whole time he held this office, and was a great favourite with the duke; but while he managed his lord's business so well, he was not neglectful of his own,—for he acquired, during his service, upwards of forty thousand francs of landed revenue and many lordships,—so that his sons were rich and great lords, and his daughters married very nobly.

FOOTNOTES:

[24] The title of the Pragmatic Sanction was given to an assembly of the French clergy at Bourges, called by Charles VII. where in the presence of the princes of the blood, and of the chief nobility of the kingdom the canons of the council of Basil were examined and being found, for the most part, to be very wise and just, and perfectly calculated to extinguish the capital grievances that had been so long complained of, they were compiled into a law for the benefit of the gallican church. The power of nominating to ecclesiastical dignities was taken from the see of Rome; and those branches of the papal prerogatives which were not abolished were so curtailed as to be less injurious to the people and detrimental to the monarchy.

[CHAP. XVI.]

DUKE PHILIP OF BURGUNDY DANGEROUSLY ILL, BUT RECOVERS.—OTHER MATTERS WHICH HAPPENED AT THIS PERIOD.

About Candlemas, in this year 1461, the duke of Burgundy was taken so dangerously ill, in the city of Brussels, that the physicians despaired of his life; and the duke, in consequence, sent in haste to his son, then at Quesnoy, who instantly came to him. The count de Charolois, seeing the duke in so great danger, issued orders throughout his father's dominions for the priests and monks of all churches and abbeys to offer up ardent and devout prayers to God, that he would be pleased to restore his father to health. Processions were, therefore, made, and prayers offered up with so much affection that God, full of pity and mercy, restored the duke to health,—for he was beloved by his subjects as much as prince ever was.

His son the count de Charolois, who had no legitimate children, showed his affection in another manner; for he never quitted his bedside, and was always at hand to administer to him whatever was prescribed in his illness. He was three or four nights and days without taking any rest, which rather displeased his father,—and he ordered him frequently to take some repose, because it was better to lose one than both. In short, the prayers for the good duke were so effectual, and his physicians so attentive, that he recovered his health, excepting a debility that always remained, which inclines to a belief that, had it not been for the prayers of some religious and good persons, he had never recovered.

At this time, died the lady of Ravenstein, niece to the duchess of Burgundy,—a very good lady, devout and charitable, and much regretted by all who knew her.

About the beginning of March, the lady of Bar, wife to the count of St Pol, deceased. She left her husband four sons and several daughters. Her eldest son, Louis de Luxembourg, succeeded to the earldom of Marle, the second to that of Brienne, and the third to the lordship of Roussy.—She was a very noble lady, and of high birth.

At this time also died, in Abbeville, a very renowned knight in arms, called sir Gauvain Quieret, the most adventurous of all his fraternity in war, and much beloved by his men.

In this year, the duchess of Orleans, niece to the duke of Burgundy, was brought to bed of a fine boy, to whom the king of France stood godfather, and gave him his name of Louis. The queen of England, wife to king Henry, was the godmother, who had come to require aid from her cousin-german, the king, against king Edward, who had deprived her husband of his crown.

At this time, and three or four years prior to it, all sorts of crimes were committed in the country of Artois with impunity,—such as robberies, thefts, violating of women, even in the great towns, and often under the eyes of officers of justice, who took no notice of the criminals, except, indeed, of some poor persons unacknowledged by any great lord! These crimes were committed in a greater degree within the city of Arras, the capital of Artois, than elsewhere, which was a shocking and infamous example to all the other parts of that country.

[CHAP. XVII.]

A MORE PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE FUNERAL SERVICES PERFORMED AT PARIS AND ST DENIS, ON THE DEATH OF KING CHARLES VII. OF FRANCE.

On Magdalen-day, in the year 1461, as I have before mentioned, died king Charles VII. of France, at the castle of Mehun sur Yevre, whose soul may God pardon and receive in mercy!

On the following Tuesday, a solemn funeral service was performed for him in the church of St Denis, such as has been usually performed yearly for Louis le gros, formerly king of France.

On the Wednesday, the 5th of August, the body of the said king was brought, at ten o'clock at night, to Paris, but left, without the walls, in the church of Nôtre Dame des Champs. Four lords of the court of parliament held the four corners of the pall, clothed in scarlet mantles: many other lords also supported the pall, dressed in crimson robes.

The body was, on the morrow, put on a litter covered with a very rich cloth of gold, and borne by six score salt porters. The duke of Orleans, the count of Angoulême, the count of Eu, and the count of Dunois, were the principal mourners, all four on horseback. They were followed by the car which had brought the body from Mehun, having a black velvet pall thrown across it, which was covered with a white cross of very rich figured velvet. This car was drawn by five horses with trappings of black figured velvet that reached to the ground, and covered them so completely that their eyes only were to be seen. After the car came six pages in black velvet, with hoods of the same, mounted on horses with trappings similar to those of the car. Before the body was the patriarch, then bishop of Avranches, who performed the services at Nôtre Dame and at St Denis, as shall be mentioned hereafter. The clergy of Nôtre Dame, and of all the other parishes of Paris, led the procession; then came the rector of the university, followed by the members of the chamber of accounts dressed in black; then those of the court of requests, the provost of Paris, the court of the Châtelet, and the burghers of Paris, in regular order. In the front of all were the four orders of mendicant monks. The whole was closed by an innumerable quantity of people from Paris and other parts.

There were two hundred wax tapers, of four pounds weight each, borne by two hundred men dressed in black. The church of Nôtre Dame was hung with black silk, besprinkled with flowers de luce.

The body of the king was placed in the middle of the choir, when a service for the dead was performed, and the vigils chaunted. On the morrow, Friday, the 7th day of August, mass was celebrated by the patriarch; and about three o'clock in the afternoon of that day, the lords before named attended the body, which was carried to La Croix-ou-Fiens, which is between La Chappelle-St-Denis and where the Lendit-fair is holden, when a desperate quarrel arose about carrying the body to the church, and it remained there a long time; at length the burghers of St Denis took up the bier as it was, and wanted to carry the body to Saint Denis, because the salt-porters had left it on the road, by reason of a refusal to pay them the sum of ten livres, which they demanded. The master of the horse to the king having promised payment of this sum, they carried the body into the choir of the church of St Denis,—but it was eight o'clock before it arrived there. At this hour, vespers for the dead only were chaunted for the king, and on the morrow, at six in the morning, matins, namely, Dirige, &c.

There were present at St Denis the duke and duchess of Orleans, the counts of Angoulême and of Dunois, the lords de Brosses and de Château-brun, the master of the horse, the bishop of Paris, the court of parliament, the bishop of Bayeux. The bishops of Troyes and of Chartres performed the service, and the bishop of Orleans the office. The bishops of Angers, of Beziers, of Senlis, of Meaux, the abbots of St Germain, of St Magloire, of St Estienne de Dijon, of St Victor, attended the mass,—but only one grand mass was celebrated for the king; after which, the body was interred in the chapel of his grandfather, between the body of the latter and that of his father.

The choir of the church was all hung with black velvet,—and there was a most sumptuous catafalque in the center of the choir, under which was placed the body of the late king, surrounded with as many wax tapers as it could hold. The corpse was in a cyprus-wood coffin, inclosed in another of lead, and then in another of common wood, having a representation of the said king lying between two sheets on a mattress on the pall. This figure was dressed in a tunic and mantle of velvet, embroidered with flowers de luce, lined with ermine, holding in one hand a sceptre of the hand of Justice, and in the other a larger sceptre: it had a crown on the head, under which was a pillow of velvet.

The king's officers had borne a canopy over the coffin, on eight lances, as far as the Croix-ou-Fiens, where they were met by eight of the benedictine monks from St Denis, who would have taken their places; but the equerry refused to allow it, as he said that it was not customary,—for that the canopy was only borne over the body when passing through towns, but not when in the open country.

When the body arrived at the gate of the town of St Denis, it was set down, when three prayers were chaunted over it, as was done at every place where they halted, and then the canopy was given up to the monks, who bore it over the body, but in such wise that every one could plainly see the figure on the coffin.

After the interment, a serious quarrel arose between the master of the horse and the monks of the abbey, respecting the pall that was under the representation of the king, which the master of the horse claimed as his fee; when at last the pall was deposited in the hands of the count de Dunois and the chancellor of France,—when it was determined by them, that the pall, which was of very magnificent cloth of gold and crimson, should remain in the abbey of St Denis, it being declared on behalf of the grand master, that whatever claim he might have to it he gave up to the church of St Denis.

The canopy, with the velvet, wax, and every thing else remained to the church, without any dispute, excepting the velvet and white cross which covered the car: these were carried away.

The count de Dunois and the grand master visited all the chapels wherein were interred any bodies of saints, and presented to each velvet and satin sufficient to cover two altars from top to bottom.

In the middle of the high mass, was a sermon preached by master Thomas de Courcelles, doctor in divinity,—at which all the people bewailed and prayed for the defunct, who was then styled, 'Charles, the Seventh of the Name, most Victorious King of France.'

When the body was let down into the vault, the heralds shouted, 'Long live king Louis! May God have mercy on the soul of Charles the Victorious!' Then the ushers and sergeants broke their rods, and threw them into the grave.

The company, after this, went to dinner in the great hall of the abbey, where was an open table for all comers. When dinner was ended, the count de Dunois and de Longueville arose, and said with a loud voice, that he and the other servants had lost their master, and that every one must now provide for himself. This speech made every one sorrowful, and not without cause, more especially the pages, who wept bitterly.

[A.D. 1462.]

[CHAP. XVIII.]

THE DISGRACEFUL DEATH OF JOHN COUSTAIN, MASTER OF THE WARDROBE TO DUKE PHILIP OF BURGUNDY.—THE CAUSE OF IT.—THE DEATH OF HIS ACCUSER.

On Sunday, the feast of St James and St Christopher, in the month of July, in the year 1462, John Coustain, master of the wardrobe to the noble duke Philip of Burgundy, was arrested and carried prisoner to Rupelmonde, for having intended to poison the count de Charolois,—with which crime he was charged by a poor gentleman from Burgundy, called John d'Juy. The said Coustain had bargained with him, for a large sum of money, to go into Piedmont, and buy for him some poison, and had told him the use he intended to make of it.

When this John d'Juy was returned from Piedmont to Brussels with the poison, he demanded payment as had been agreed on; but Coustain not only refused to give him the money but abused him, in most coarse language,—for this Coustain had not his equal in pride and wickedness. John d'Juy, discontented at such treatment, made his complaints to another gentleman of Burgundy, called Arquembart, and discovered to him the plot. Arquembart, much alarmed, advised him to reveal the whole of it to the count de Charolois, saying, that if he did not instantly do so, he would go and tell it himself.

John d'Juy, without further delay, waited on the count, and, casting himself on his knees, humbly besought him to pardon the wickedness he was about to reveal to him, and then told him the whole truth of the intentions of John Coustain. The count was much astonished and troubled, and, hastening to his father the duke, told him all he had just heard, and demanded justice on John Coustain for his disloyalty and treason. The duke said, he should have instant justice,—on which the count returned to his apartments, and ordered John d'Juy to go and surrender himself a prisoner at Rupelmonde, and wait for him there, as he would speedily follow him.

On the morrow, which was the feast of St James, as I have said, as the duke was ordering the lord d'Auxi and Philip de Crevecoeur to carry John Coustain prisoner to Rupelmonde, he was playing and amusing himself in the duke's park: the duke called to him, and said that he wished he would go to Rupelmonde, with the lord d'Auxi, to answer a gentleman who had made heavy charges against his honour. Coustain answered insolently, according to his custom, that he did not fear any man on earth, and went to boot himself, and mount a fine horse, attended by four others. In this state, he went to the hôtel of the lord d'Auxi, whom he found mounted, together with Philip de Crevecoeur, and fifteen or sixteen of the duke's archers.

When Coustain saw so many archers, he began to fear the consequences: nevertheless, they all rode together through the town of Brussels,—but when they came into the open country, the lord d'Auxi made John Coustain dismount from His war-horse, and mount a small hackney that he rode, which alarmed Coustain more than before; and instantly the lord d'Auxi put his hand on his shoulder, and declared him prisoner to the duke, and then pushed forward, without any stopping, until they came to Rupelmonde. They were scarcely arrived before the count de Charolois came, and took possession of the tower in which John Coustain was confined.

Shortly after, Anthony bastard of Burgundy, the bishop of Tournay, the lord de Croy, and the lord de Goux came thither. No one spoke to John Coustain but the above, and in the hearing of the count de Charolois. When they were assembled, John d'Juy was ordered before them, and related, in the presence of John Coustain, how he had bargained with him to purchase poisons, which he had brought to him,—after which, he had refused to pay him the sum agreed on for so doing. To confirm what he had said, he produced, not one, but many letters to this purpose, written and signed by Coustain.

Notwithstanding these proofs, Coustain denied the whole of the charge, and loaded d'Juy with many reproaches. At length, however, without being tortured, he acknowledged that all was true,—and added, that he himself had been twice in Piedmont since Christmas in the year 1461, to procure poisons, but without success. For that purpose, he had indeed bargained with John d'Juy as he had said, but added, at first, that it was not to poison the count de Charolois, but in order that the count might have him in his good graces, and not deprive him of his place, or of any thing appertaining to him, should the duke chance to die: at last, he owned that the poisons were intended for the count, and that he had proposed to give them at a banquet, which would take place about the middle of August,—which poisons being taken, he would not live longer than twelve months afterward.

When John Coustain had made this confession, he was taken, on the Friday following, to the highest tower of the castle to be beheaded; and while there, he earnestly begged that he might say a few words in private to the count, who, on being informed of it, consented,—and he was some time in conversation with the prisoner alone. None of those present heard what was said; but they saw the count cross himself at almost every word Coustain told him, which caused it to be supposed that he was accusing others in the hope of lessening his own crimes. He entreated the count that his body might not be quartered, but buried in consecrated ground. After this conversation, he was immediately beheaded.

John d'Juy was then called; and the count asked him whether, if Coustain had kept his promise of payment, he would have informed against him. On his replying, that he would not, the count ordered him to be beheaded also.

The fortune of the said Coustain, amounting to more than three hundred thousand francs in the whole, was declared confiscated to the duke; but he, out of his noble and benign nature, gave them back again to the widow and her children. It was afterward commonly reported, that this Coustain had poisoned the good lady of Ravenstein, because she had blamed his wife for her pomp and extravagance, which was equal to that of a princess.

[CHAP. XIX.]

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY CAUSES A NUMBER OF ROGUES AND VAGABONDS TO BE EXECUTED IN HIS COUNTRY OF ARTOIS.—THE DEATH OF THE ABBOT OF ST VAAST AT ARRAS.—OTHER EVENTS.—TAUNTING REPLIES MADE BY THE LORD DE CHIMAY TO THE KING OF FRANCE.

The duke of Burgundy was at length informed of the mischiefs that were doing in his country of Artois by the dependants of different lords, whom the bailiffs, and other officers of the duke, were afraid to arrest or punish, lest they should be ill treated themselves.

In consequence of this, the bailiffs of Amiens, of the Cambresis, and of Orchies, entered the town of Arras as secretly as they could, by two and three at a time, having with them about fifty horse of the body-guard of the count d'Estampes, governor of Picardy, and took possession of different inns. They showed their orders from the duke, which commanded them to arrest and execute all those who had acted so criminally, to whatever lord they might belong, even were they dependants of those of his blood. It is, therefore, to be believed, that had the good prince earlier received information of their wickedness, he would sooner have provided a remedy; but he was surrounded by some who wished not that the truth should come to his ears.

When the above-mentioned bailiffs were come to Arras, they sallied out in the night to the places where they expected to meet these rogues; some they arrested, but many fled and hid themselves. They then advanced into the country, and laid hands on several of bad fame, whom they hanged on the trees by the road side, and this time performed a good exploit.

On the 15th day of September, in this year, died the abbot John du Clerc, abbot of St Vaast in Arras, whose death was much bewailed by the poor; for he was exceedingly charitable, and had governed the abbey for thirty-four years more ably than any abbot had done for the two hundred preceding years, as was apparent from the church and different buildings which he had ornamented and restored in many parts, having, on his election, found them in ruins. Among many good deeds, he did one worthy of perpetual remembrance, namely, when corn was so dear, in the year 1438, that wheat sold for ten francs the septier, or five francs the mencault of Arras, which prevented the poor from buying any, he opened the granaries of his abbey, that were full of corn, and ordered it to be sold to the poor only, at twenty-eight sols the mencault, and but two bushels to be delivered to any person at a time,—so that, if the famine should continue, his corn might last longer. He built the entrance-gate to the abbey, and the nave of the church, and managed the revenues of his abbey better than any abbot had done, and added greatly to them. When he died, he was eighty-six years old. May God pardon and show mercy to his soul!

About this period, the lord de Chimay returned from France, whither he had been sent by the duke of Burgundy, respecting some differences that had arisen between him and the king of France. The most important was, as it was said, that the king granted to have it proclaimed through the territories of the duke that no one should afford aid or support, in any way whatever, to king Edward of England, which the duke would not allow to be done, considering that not only a truce existed between him and king Edward but that he was favourably inclined towards him. King Louis wanted also to introduce the gabelle, or salt duty, into Burgundy, which had not been done for a very long time,—and this the duke likewise refused to permit to be done.

For these and other matters, the lord de Chimay had been sent to remonstrate with the king, and to entreat that, out of his love to him, he would desist from pursuing them further; but the lord de Chimay was long before he could obtain an audience, and would perhaps have waited longer, but one day he stood at the king's closet door until he came out. On seeing the lord de Chimay, he said to him, 'What kind of a man is this duke of Burgundy? is he of a different stamp from the other princes and lords of my realm?' 'Yes, sire,' replied the lord de Chimay (who was of a bold and courageous character), 'the duke of Burgundy is indeed of another sort of metal than the other princes of your realm, or of the adjoining realms; for he received and supported you against the will of king Charles, your father, whose soul may God pardon! and contrary to the will of others, whom this his conduct displeased,—and he did that which no other prince would have dared to do!'

On hearing these words, the king was silent, and, without making any reply, entered again into his closet. Some said, that the count de Dunois then approached the lord of Chimay, and asked how he dared thus speak to the king: when he answered, 'If I had been fifty leagues off, and had supposed that the king would have said to me what he has done respecting my lord and master, I would have instantly returned to make him the answer I did.' He then set out for Brussels, to make his report to the duke of Burgundy.

[CHAP. XX.]

THE DUCHESS OF BOURBON COMES TO RESIDE WITH HER BROTHER THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.—THE KING OF FRANCE GRANTS SUCCOURS TO THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND.—OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED IN DIVERS PARTS.

At this time, the widowed duchess of Bourbon came to visit the noble duke of Burgundy, accompanied by three or four of her sons and two of her daughters,—for she had had by her late husband six boys and five girls. The eldest son, John, succeeded his father in the dukedom; the second was married to a daughter of the king of Cyprus, but died of leprosy before he went thither; the third, Charles, was archbishop of Lyons, on the Rhône, and abbot of St Vaast at Arras; the fourth, named Louis, was bishop of Liege; the fifth was lord of Beaujeu, and married to a daughter of the duke of Orleans; the sixth, James, died when young.

Of the daughters, one was married to the duke of Calabria, by whom she had a fair son, but died shortly after: the second married her cousin-german, the count de Charolois, and had only a daughter, when the good lady died: the third espoused the duke of Gueldres, nephew to the duke of Burgundy: another was afterward married to the lord d'Arquel,—and another was then to be married; for the duke of Burgundy, their uncle, had always very earnestly promoted the advancement of his friends and relatives.

About this period, the king of France sent two thousand combatants to England, to the aid of queen Margaret, under the command of the lord de Varennes, high seneschal of Normandy, who, under the late king's reign, had governed every thing, and it was reported that king Louis had given him this command for the chance of his being slain: nevertheless, he bore himself well, and conquered several places, in the expectation of being joined by the duke of Somerset, who had promised to come to him with a large body of Scots and others; but he failed,—for he had found means to make his peace with king Edward, who had restored to him his estates and honours.

The French were now besieged in the places they had won by the earl of Warwick, and were glad to return to France with their lives spared.—All were not so fortunate, for many were slain or captured in the different skirmishes that had passed between them.[25]

The duke of Burgundy now sent one hundred men at arms and four hundred archers to the aid of the bishop of Mentz, who was engaged in a destructive warfare with one of the princes of Germany, insomuch that the extent of three or four days journey of the flat country was burnt and totally ruined.

On the 21st day of November, in this year, was an eclipse of the sun; and shortly after there were tiltings and other entertainments at Brussels, in honour of the arrival of the duchess of Bourbon, and of her children, whom she had brought with her. To these feasts the duke of Burgundy came with great pomp, and most superbly dressed.

About the same time, the count de Charolois had three men and an apothecary imprisoned at Brussels,—which three men had caused the apothecary to make three images of wax, of the form of men and women; three of each for some sort of sorcery, and even, as it was said, touching the said count de Charolois. This was found out from the apothecary telling some of the count's servants what he had made, and that those who had ordered them would do wonders with them; that they would make these images talk and walk, which would be miraculous: in short, so much was said, that it came at length to the ears of the count, who ordered the three men to be arrested, who belonged to the count d'Estampes. The apothecary was also arrested, but soon set at liberty, because he was ignorant for what purposes these images had been made. A gentleman of the household of the count d'Estampes fled, but was retaken, and carried prisoner to Quesnoy-le-Comte in Hainault: his name was Charles de Noyers. It was rumoured, that these four persons had been closely interrogated, and had confessed wonderful things; but they were kept so secret that few knew what to say about them. The prisoners, however, remained very long in confinement.

FOOTNOTES:

[25] Henry says, that the French fleet appeared off Tinmouth; that many of their ships were driven on shore near Bamborough in a storm; that the French took shelter in Holy Island, where they were attacked and beaten by a superior force; that sir Pierre de Brézé, their commander, and the rest, saved themselves in Berwick.—Hist. of England, A.D. 1461.

[A.D. 1463.]

[CHAP. XXI.]

OF THE MANY DIFFERENT EVENTS THAT HAPPENED DURING THE COURSE OF THE ABOVE YEAR.—OF THE HARD FORTUNE OF MARGARET QUEEN OF ENGLAND.

On the 19th of April, this year, after Easter, died master Robert le Jeune, governor of Arras, aged ninety-two years. He began life as an advocate at Amiens, and was afterward retained of the counsel of king Henry V. of England, who made him a knight, and gave him great riches. After the death of king Henry, the duke of Burgundy made him bailiff of Amiens, in which office, he governed so partially, towards the duke and the English, that he put to death, by hanging, drowning, or beheading, upwards of nineteen hundred persons,—and many more of the French party, called Armagnacs, than of the other,—for which the populace of Amiens so much detested him that he dared not longer abide there, but went to Arras, of which place the duke of Burgundy made him governor! In whatever place he resided, he managed so well for his own interest that his two sons became great and rich lords. One of them was bishop of Amiens, and afterward bishop and cardinal of Therouenne, the richest of all the cardinals, but he died when only forty years old,—and it was said that his death was hastened by poison. The other son was a knight at arms, and a considerable landholder, who had the greater share of the government of the duchess of Burgundy's household, and afterward of that of her son the count de Charolois. The daughter of sir Robert le Jeune was nobly and richly married.

The 6th day of July, the duke of Burgundy came from Bruges to Lille, where he had not been since his severe illness the preceding year. The townsmen received him with greater honours than at any former time; for a procession of upwards of four hundred of them went out of the town to meet him, with lighted torches in their hands, not to mention the principal burghers who went out in numbers. The streets were all hung, and illuminated so brilliantly that it appeared like noon-day, and many pageants and mysteries were exhibited, although it was late, and the night very dark. In this state was the duke escorted to his hôtel.

Duke Philip, ever anxious to fulfil the vow which he had made in the town of Lille, in the year 1454, to attack the grand Turk, and drive him back to his own territories beyond the Straits of St George, would most cheerfully have gone thither in person, had he not feared that, during his absence, the king of France would attack and perhaps conquer his country. For this reason, therefore, he sent a notable embassy to pope Pius, the principal of which were the bishop of Tournay, the lord de Montigny, and the lord de Forestel, knights, to learn the will of the pope respecting his vow, which, as has been said, he was unable to accomplish, making offer, in lieu thereof, to send six thousand good combatants at his own costs and charges against the Turk, in any way the pope might be pleased to order.

I must mention here a singular adventure which befel the queen of England. She in company with the lord de Varennes and her son, having lost their way in a forest of Hainault, were met by some banditti, who robbed them of all they had. It is probable the banditti would have murdered them, had they not quarrelled about the division of the spoil, insomuch that from words they came to blows; and, while they were fighting, she caught her son in her arms and fled to the thickest part of the forest, where, weary with fatigue, she was forced to stop. At this moment, she met another robber, to whom she instantly gave her son, and said,—'Take him, friend, and save the son of a king.'

The robber received him willingly, and conducted them in safety toward the seashore, where they arrived at Sluys, and thence the queen and her son went to Bruges, where they were received most honourably. During this time, king Henry, her husband, had retired into the strongest parts of Wales.

The queen left prince Edward at Bruges, and went to the count de Charolois at Lille, who feasted her grandly, whence she set out for Bethune, to hold a conference with the duke of Burgundy. The duke, hearing that large reinforcements of English were landed at Calais, sent a body of his archers to escort her from Bethune to St Pol, where he went to meet her, notwithstanding he knew well that she had never loved him; but, according to his noble nature, he received her with much honour, and made her rich presents. Some said, that he gave her two thousand crowns of gold, and to the lord de Varennes one thousand, and to each of the ladies that attended on the queen one hundred crowns: he had her also escorted to the country of Bai, which appertained to her brother the duke of Calabria. The queen repented much, and thought herself unfortunate, that she had not sooner thrown herself on the protection of the noble duke of Burgundy, as her affairs would probably have prospered better!

[CHAP. XXII.]

THE KING OF FRANCE GIVES THE COUNTY OF GUISNES TO THE LORD DE CROY.—THE COUNT D'ESTAMPES QUITS HIS ATTACHMENT TO THE HOUSE OF BURGUNDY.—OTHER EVENTS.

During this year of 1463, king Louis of France made a progress through his kingdom, to examine into the state of it. On his return to Paris, he caused proclamation to be made, by sound of trumpet, that he had given to the lord de Croy the county and lordship of Guisnes, having, before this, made him grand master of his household. The lord de Croy had, at this time, left the house of Burgundy, and resided with the king, which seemed to many very strange,—for the lord de Croy had been brought up and educated by the duke and his family, and had been better provided for than any others, being first chamberlain and principal minister to the duke, and had acquired by his services from forty to fifty thousand francs of landed rent, besides the advancement of all his friends, so that there was no one like to him in that whole country. If he had been in the good graces of the duke, he enjoyed the same favour with the king, who refused him nothing that he asked for himself or his friends. The common report was, that he was so much beloved by the king because he had drawn up the plan for the repurchase of the lands and towns on the Somme, from the duke of Burgundy, for four hundred and fifty thousand crowns, and because he had induced the duke to accede to this bargain,—for he listened to him in council more than to any others. The lord de Croy having made some stay at the court of France, returned to that of Burgundy, and exercised his charges the same as before.

During the king's progress through Guienne and the Bordelois, he made up the quarrel between the king of Spain and the count de Foix, which had risen to a great height, although they had married two sisters, daughters to the king of Navarre.

At this time, John of Burgundy count d'Estampes, quitted the house of Burgundy, and attached himself to the king of France,—to which he was instigated, according to report, by his being in disgrace with the duke, and still more with the count de Charolois, on account of those waxen images before mentioned; for it was said the count de Charolois was suspicious of being in his company, for fear of sorcery,—and he now kept the count de St Pol constantly with him, and gave him the principal management of himself and his household. Some said, that this was the reason why the count d'Estampes and the lord de Croy had quitted the noble house of Burgundy,—for it was well known that the count de St Pol loved neither of them.

About this time, the queen of France, Isabella of Savoy, came to the king at Senlis, with but few attendants; for the king was then as saving as possible, in order to amass a sufficient sum for the repayment of the money for which the towns on the Somme had been pledged. His expenses were chiefly for his amusements of hunting and hawking, of which he was immoderately fond,—and he was liberal enough to huntsmen and falconers, but to none others. He was very careless in his dress, and was generally clothed meanly, in second-priced cloth and fustian pourpoints, much unbecoming a person of his rank,—and he was pleased that all who came to him on business should be plainly dressed. He did not diminish any of the taxes, but, on the contrary, added to them, which greatly oppressed his people.

On the 6th of September, the parliament pronounced sentence on sir Anthony de Chabannes lord de Dammartin, who, after the death of king Charles, had fled for fear of his successor; but a year afterward he had sought the king's mercy, and put himself into his hands. The king sent him prisoner to the Conciergerie of the palace, and ordered the parliament to bring him to trial; which being done, he was convicted of high treason against king Louis, and sentenced to death, and his effects confiscated to the crown.

The king, nevertheless, granted him a pardon, on condition that he would transport himself to the island of Rhodes, and remain there for his life; but he was to give security for the performing of this, which not being able to do, he was confined in the bastile of St Anthony.

At this time, king Louis, from his will and pleasure, ordered all nets and engines, to take and destroy the game, to be burnt throughout the Isle of France. No one was spared, whether of noble or peasant, except in some warrens that belonged to the princes. It was said that he did this that no one might hawk or hunt but himself, and that there might be a greater plenty of game,—for his whole delight was in hunting and hawking.

[CHAP. XXIII.]

THE KING OF FRANCE REPURCHASES THE TOWNS AND LANDS ON THE RIVER SOMME THAT HAD BEEN PLEDGED TO THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.—HE MEETS THE DUKE AT HÊDIN.—OTHER MATTERS.

The king of France, having determined to repurchase the towns on the Somme from the duke of Burgundy, made such diligence that he collected a sufficiency of cash; for there was not an abbey or canonry, or any rich merchant in France, who did not lend or give him some sums of money. When he had amassed the amount, he sent it as far as Abbeville to the duke, who had it transported thence to Hêdin, where he then resided.

Shortly after, the king came to Hêdin,—and the duke went out to meet him, received him most honourably, as he well knew how to do, and lodged him in his own proper apartments in his castle. The king then promised the duke, that he would punctually fulfil all the articles of the treaty of Arras, which promise he did not so punctually perform.

While the king and the duke were at the castle of Hêdin, a grand embassy arrived there from England,—the chief of which was a bishop[26], brother to the earl of Warwick, and from three to four hundred horsemen handsomely dressed and equipped.

Before they departed from Hêdin, the duke had sent repeated messages to his son, the count de Charolois, then in Holland, for him to come and pay his respects to the king,—but he refused, saying, that so long as the count d'Estampes and the lord de Croy were with the king (as they then were), he would never appear before him. He knew in what great favour they were with the king; and it was currently reported, that it had been through the counsels of the lord de Croy that the duke had consented to the reimbursement for the towns on the Somme, which was contrary to the will of the count de Charolois, and very prejudicial to his future interests.

It was also said, that the king, during his residence at the castle of Hêdin, had well considered its situation and strength, as the key of the county of Artois, and had demanded it from the duke, offering, in exchange, the towns of Tournay and Mortagne[27], with some other places; but the duke would not listen to it, thinking such offers were made more to his hurt than otherwise.

When the king departed from Hêdin, on the 19th of October, the duke attended him to a considerable distance; and it was said, that the duke, on quitting him, made several requests, and, among others, entreated that he would not turn out his officers from the places to which he had appointed them, in the several towns that were now become the king's,—all of which the king granted, but did not fulfil; for he instantly removed some of the officers in Abbeville, and made the inhabitants and gentlemen in the neighbourhood renew their oaths to him, although many of them had served the duke of Burgundy from their youth; but the king made them swear to serve him against all other men whatever.

He deprived the lord de Saveuses of his government of the cities and towns of Amiens, Arras, and Dourlens, and gave it to the lord de Launoy, nephew to the lord de Croy, who was then governor, for the duke of Burgundy, of Lille, Douay, and Orchies. The king also gave him the government of Mortagne, dismissing from it the lord de Hautbourdin, bastard de St Pol, and made him bailiff of Amiens, instead of the lord de Crevecoeur. In addition to all these places, the king settled on him a yearly pension of two thousand livres. All these favours heaped on the lord de Launoy astonished every one; for he had commenced his career of fortune under the house of Burgundy, and had never done any services to king Louis of France.

FOOTNOTES:

[26] A bishop. George Neville, bishop of Exeter, and afterwards archbishop of York.

[27] Mortagne,—in Flanders, on the conflux of the Scarpe and Scheld, three leagues from Tournay.

[CHAP. XXIV.]

THE DEATH OF THE DOWAGER QUEEN OF FRANCE.—THE KING SUMMONS THE COUNT DE SAINT POL AND THE LORD DE GENLY TO APPEAR PERSONALLY BEFORE HIM.—THE MARRIAGE OF THE SON OF THE DUKE OF GUELDRES.—THE ABOLITION OF THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION.

About this time, the lady Mary of Anjou, queen of France, mother to king Louis now on the throne, departed this life. She was renowned for being a very good and devout lady, very charitable, and full of patience.

The king of France had now summoned the count de St. Pol and the lord de Genly to appear in person before him, on the 15th day of November ensuing, wherever he might then be. The reason of this was currently said to be the different journies the lord de Genly had been remarked to make to the duke of Brittany, to conclude certain treaties between that duke and the count de Charolois, to oppose the king of France should he attempt hostilities against them; for they were in his ill favour, as was apparent from the duke of Brittany having all his places fortified, and his army ready prepared to resist an invasion of his country.

It was likewise said, that the duke of Bourbon and some other princes of France were in alliance with them against the king, on account of the strange manner in which he had treated them.

On the 15th of October, a blaze of light was seen in the heavens,—and it seemed that the clouds opened to show this blaze, for the space of time in which an Ave-Maria could be repeated, and then closed again: it ended with a long flaming tail before it vanished.

The bishop of Tournay returned, at this period, from the embassy on which the duke of Burgundy had sent him to pope Pius at Rome. He reported to the duke, that the pontiff depended on having forty thousand combatants to march against the Turk, which he would lead in person, and put on the cross against the infidels, in case the duke would accompany him with six thousand fighting men, and act under him as his general.

The duke was much rejoiced at this intelligence, and dispatched his letters to all those who had made the vow of going to Turkey, and to all his knights and vassals, to prepare themselves, and assemble at Bruges on the ensuing 15th day of December. On their arrival at Bruges, he had them informed, that it was his intention to march in person against the Turks and infidels, and to be at Aiquesmortes about the middle of next May to embark for the east,—but that he would assemble them again before his departure, to inform them in what manner he should settle the government of his country during his absence on this expedition.

On the 18th of December in this year, the marriage of the eldest son of the duke of Gueldres with a princess of Bourbon, sister to the countess of Charolois, was celebrated in the city of Bruges. They were both equally related to the duke of Burgundy: the bridegroom was the son of a daughter of the duke's sister, the duchess of Cleves, who had deceased about two months before,—and the bride a daughter of his sister, the duchess of Bourbon.

Many lords of the court tilted after the wedding dinner,—among whom the lord de Renty tilted with a young esquire of Picardy, called John, only son to David de Fremessent, who met with a sad misfortune, for he was hit by a splinter of a lance so severely on the head that he died.

On the same day, two other men lost their lives, from the great crowding at this tournament, which must be attributed to their own folly in not taking more care.

About this period, Godfrey, bishop of Alby and cardinal of Arras, waited on the king of France, whom, some little time before, it was said the king did not love: nevertheless, he now received him most handsomely. It was he who, a short time prior to this, had persuaded the king to abolish the pragmatic sanction, which had been established in France by the council of Basil. In return for this, the cardinal had promised the king certain things,—which, however, he failed to perform, and it is not known how he pacified the king. He had promised that the pope should send a legate to France to dispose of the benefices when vacant; that the money for fees should not be sent to Rome, nor carried out of the kingdom; but when the pope had gotten possession of the act for the abolition of the pragmatic sanction, he never thought more of sending a legate to France. The pope had this act of abolition dragged through the streets of Rome, to please the Romans, and published every where, that the Pragmatic was done away.

The report was, that the bishop of Alby had the red hat given him, and had been created cardinal for the pains he had taken to procure this abolition of the pragmatic sanction, which, in truth, was very detrimental to poor clerks and scholars; for it gave rise to numberless questions and examinations before any benefice could be obtained,—and the rich gained benefices from their being able to support the expenses of the suits, which the poorer clerks lost, whatever nominations they might have obtained.

[CHAP. XXV.]

A COOLNESS TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY AND HIS SON THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS.—THE COUNT MAKES HEAVY COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE LORD DE CROY TO THE DEPUTIES OF THE THREE ESTATES ASSEMBLED BY THE DUKE HIS FATHER.

The duke of Burgundy now resided at Bruges, and summoned the three estates of his country to assemble there, in his presence, on the 9th day of January. The count de Charolois was at this time in disgrace with his father, and he summoned the estates to meet him at Antwerp, on the 3d of the same month, to lay before them the reasons of his father's anger, that they might employ their means to bring about a reconciliation. But the duke, hearing of this, forbade any of the members of the estates to go near his son: however, some were already gone to him,—but others, who were on their road to Antwerp, did not go thither.

On the 9th day of January, there was a grand assembly of the estates at Bruges, consisting of three bishops, sixty abbots, a great number of nobles, and deputies from all the principal towns. When they appeared before the duke, he returned them his thanks for their diligence and obedience, by the mouth of the bishop of Tournay, adding, that he had received such intelligence concerning his son, that he was too much troubled to say more to them at that time. The duke, nevertheless, could not help telling them, that he was angered against his son, because he suffered himself to be governed by persons whom the duke did not approve of, and because he would not obey his will. He then gave a paper to one of his secretaries, ordering him to read it to the assembly, saying, that it was what his son had written to him, and it was proper they all should hear it.

The paper contained in substance, that the count de Charolois was in the utmost sorrow that his lord and father was angered against him, and entreated that he would no longer be displeased that he had not come when he had sent for him, and would hold him excused for disobeying his orders; for he could not appear before him so long as he was surrounded by those whom he suspected of intending to poison him, and who were daily seeking his death, of which he had received certain knowledge.

The count thought that the anger of his father had its origin in three things: first, because the count did not love the lord de Croy, for reasons which he had before declared to the duke his father, in the presence of the said lord de Croy; and that he had now less cause to love him than before, for through him and his friends he had procured that the king of France should regain the country and towns that had been mortgaged on the Somme, to the great prejudice of himself and his heirs after him,—which, besides, ought not to have been done, as the king had not fulfilled various articles of the treaty of Arras.

The second reason might, perhaps, be his having retained in his household the archdeacon of Avalon[28], after he had left the service of the count d'Estampes, which ought not to have troubled his father if he were acquainted with the cause, which he was ready to tell him whenever he should be pleased to hear it.

The third was, as the count imagined, because when the duke's archers had been sent into Holland to seek master Anthony Michel, he had him rescued out of their hands, but without the knowledge of the said count, who, if he knew where the said master Anthony was, would send him a prisoner to the duke.

The three estates having listened to the above, the duke gave them permission to retire home until he should summon them again, which would be very shortly after. The greater part returned home; but several remained in Bruges to attempt the bringing about a reconciliation between the father and the son,—and in this number was a very noble clerk, who was exceedingly anxious to succeed in it, the abbot of Citeaux[29].

On the re-assembling of the estates at Bruges, the count de Charolois came to Ghent, and was, soon after, waited on by a deputation from them, with the bishop of Tournay and other counsellors of the duke. The abbot of Citeaux addressed him as the spokesman of the deputation, and having quoted many texts from the Scriptures to prove the obedience a son owes a father, supplicated him to submit in all humility to his father's will, and to dismiss certain persons from his service, the better to please him. When the abbot had ceased speaking, the bishop of Tournay cast himself on his knees before the count, and eloquently pressed him to comply with the proposals of the abbot,—saying, that he was not come to him as the servant of his father, but as bishop of Tournay, to bring about a reconciliation, if possible, and to prevent the many and grievous evils that might arise from their discord. The count here interrupted him, and said, that if he had not been the servant of the lord his father, he would never have risen to his present rank. Then turning to the deputies, he told them, that in their propositions they had only touched on master Anthony Michel, but now they were changing their ground; and he did not believe that the abbot de Citeaux had been commissioned by them to make him such requests. But the deputies avowed what the abbot had said, declaring he had been so charged by them, and that in obedience to his pleasure they were thus come to the town of Ghent. The count then pulled off his cap, bowed to them, and said, he was very happy they were come, and thanked them, as his most faithful friends, for the pain, trouble, and affection they had thus shown him, which he should never forget, but would loudly acknowledge it in all the countries whence the deputies were come.

In return for the warm affection they had shown him, he would not conceal his mind from them, but truly inform them of all the crimes and artifices that had been committed and practised by the lord de Croy and his adherents. In the first place, he said, that when he was last with the lord his father (the countess of Charolois, his lady, being then very ill), the lord de Croy had said, that if he were not afraid of vexing her, he would make him his prisoner, and place him in such security that he should be disabled from doing him or any one else mischief.

Item, the lord de Croy had told a worthy gentleman of the name of Pius, that he cared not for him (the count de Charolois), for that he had nine hundred knights and esquires, who had sworn to serve him until death.

Item, the lord de Croy had said publicly, on seeing the count return to court, 'Here is this great devil coming! so long as he lives, we shall not succeed at court.'

Item, the lord de Croy had declared, on his (the count's) retreat to Holland, that he was much afraid of him,—but that, when he should be inclined to hurt him, he would not be safer in Holland than elsewhere, for that he was like a gaufre between two irons.

Item, the lord de Croy had boasted, that, should a struggle arise between him and the count, he was sure of being assisted by all in Artois, as the whole country was at his command,—adding, 'What does my lord de Charolois mean to do? Whence does he expect aid? Does he expect it from the Flemings, or the Brabanters? if he does, he will find himself mistaken,—for they will abandon him, as they have before abandoned their lord.' 'This I do not believe,' said the count, 'for I consider them as my true and loyal friends,—nor have I the least doubt of the affections of those in Artois and Picardy.'

Item, that the lord de Croy had sent to the provost of Watten[30] the horoscope of his nativity, and that the provost, on examination, had given it as his opinion, that the person to whom it belonged would be miserably unfortunate, and that the greatest misfortunes would befal him,—all of which he had related to the duke, his father, to incense him more against him.

Item, he had also desired the provost of Watten to manage so that the duke his father might always hate him, and keep at a distance from his person.

Item, that he had sufficient evidence that the lord de Croy sought his death by sorcery and other wicked means; that he had caused to be made six images—three in the form of men, and three in the form of women—on which were written the name of the devil called Belial, and the name of him whom they were pointed at, with some other names: these images were to serve three purposes; first, to obtain favour from him to whom the image was addressed; secondly, to cause him to be hated by whomsoever they should please; and thirdly, to keep the person addressed in a languishing state of health so long as they chose: that these images had been baptised by a bishop, prior of Morocq[31] in Burgundy; and that the makers of these images had been two or three servants of the count d'Estampes,—one of whom was his physician, whom the count d'Estampes had sent prisoner to him, as his justification, and to exculpate himself. Then the count concluded by saying to the deputies, 'My friends, do not think that I have any distrust of you, if I name not all the accomplices of those who have sought my death: I abstain from doing so merely to save their honours, and from the horror you would feel were I to name them. I again thank you for your diligent affection, and beg that you would consult together and advise me how to act; for I am sure you would be displeased, should any misfortune happen unto me by my throwing myself into the hands of my enemies. By them I will not be governed, but by good and faithful servants. I entreat, therefore, that you will deliberate maturely on what I have said, for I will not depart hence until I shall have had your answer. May God grant that it may be as satisfactory as I have confidence in you!'

FOOTNOTES:

[28] Avalon,—a town in Burgundy, 11 leagues from Auxerre.

[29] Citeaux,—an abbey in the diocese of Châlous-sur-Saone, near Nuits.

[30] Watten,—a town in Flanders, near St Omer.

[31] Morocq. Q.

[CHAP. XXVI.]

THE ANSWER OF THE DEPUTIES OF THE ESTATES OF FLANDERS TO THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS.—PEACE RESTORED BETWEEN HIM AND HIS FATHER THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.—THE KING OF FRANCE COMES TO ARRAS AND TO TOURNAY.

When the count de Charolois had thus spoken to the deputies from the three estates, they retired together into a chamber apart, and there concluded on the answer they should make him. They then returned to his presence, and cast themselves on their knees, but he made them instantly arise; and the abbot de Citeaux spoke for the rest, and said, that they had fully considered all he had stated to them, and were unanimously of opinion to request him most humbly to regain the good graces and favour of his lord and father, by returning instantly to him, to avoid the evils that would ensue upon their discords. With regard to those he thought his enemies, God had hitherto preserved him from their snares, and would still do so, in consequence of the earnest prayers that all his future subjects would offer up to him for the purpose; and that when his father should see him return, his joy would be so great that he would sufficiently guard him against them. They entreated that, at this time, he would leave certain of his attendants behind, without formally dismissing them, which they thought would be an effectual method of regaining his father's good opinion: they offered, likewise, to exert their utmost power to obtain this desirable end.

The count, in reply, thanked them all, and said, that from love to God, to my lord his father, and themselves, he would comply with their request, and follow their advice,—desiring them, at the same time, to accompany him when he presented himself to his father, and that they would entreat him to restore his servants to his favour. This they willingly promised.

On the Monday following, the count de Charolois, accompanied by a great number of knights, esquires, and these deputies, set out from Ghent for Bruges,—and the principal persons of the duke's household, together with the magistracy of the town, and burghers, came out to meet him. He dismounted at the palace of the duke, and advanced to the presence chamber, where, on seeing the duke, he made three genuflections, and, at the third, said, 'My most redoubted lord and father, I have been told that you are displeased with me for three things, (and then stated these as he had done to the deputies, and made similar excuses): however, if in any of these things I have vexed or angered you, I crave your pardon.'

The duke answered, 'Of all your excuses, I know full well the grounds: say no more on the subject; but, since you are come to seek our mercy, be a good son, and I will be a good father:' he then took him by the hand, and granted him his full pardon. The deputies now retired, greatly rejoiced at the reconciliation that had taken place; and the duke then dismissed them, with orders to re-assemble on the 8th of the ensuing March.

On the day of this reconciliation, the lord de Croy set out very early in the morning from Bruges for Tournay, where king Louis of France then resided.

In this and the following year, corn and all other grain were so cheap in the country of Artois that the oldest persons never remembered them at such low prices.

On the 24th of January, king Louis of France came to the city of Arras[32], where he was most honourably received by the clergy and inhabitants. He dismounted at the gate, and walked on foot to the church of our Lady, where he paid his devotions, and then took up his lodgings at the house of the official, which was a good but small house,—and refused to go to the bishop's palace, although large and convenient; but it was the king's custom to prefer small lodgings to greater.

There were with the king his brother the duke of Berry, the count of Eu, the prince of Piedmont, and some few other nobles. He would not permit any of them to lodge in the town, because the inhabitants would not suffer his harbingers to mark any lodgings until all the inns were filled,—and these inns could hold from four to five thousand horse,—which behaviour was displeasing to the king; and he remained in the city from the Monday to Saturday, without entering the town of Arras until he had seen and had examined the privileges of this town of Arras.

When he entered the town on the Saturday, he found at the gate great numbers of people who had been banished thence, who requested that he would restore them to their rights, on his joyous arrival; but he replied,—'Children, you require from me a grace that is not usual for the kings of France to grant, and therefore do not depend on my doing it; for I will not invade the privileges of our fair uncle of Burgundy.' This was all they could obtain from him. He proceeded to hear high mass at the church of St Vaast, which being over, he returned to dinner in the city.

On the next day, Sunday, the king of France again visited the town of Arras, and examined, at his leisure, the abbey of St Vaast and all its buildings. He thence went to the market-place; and as he was returning by the church of St Guy, where the white bell and the town-clock were, a locksmith, who had the care of this bell, made it sound on the king's approach, and descended from the steeple in armour, when he seized the king's horse, like a clown as he was, and demanded money to drink. The king, seeing an armed man thus seize his horse, was somewhat startled at first: nevertheless, he ordered money to be given him, and forgave his misbehaviour to him. Had not the king pardoned him, he would, probably, have paid the forfeit of his life for his folly.

While this man was descending from the steeple, some children striking the bell too hardly broke it, which was a great loss to the town,—for it was the largest and handsomest bell that could be seen: it weighed from seventeen to eighteen thousand pounds of metal!

The king went into the plain to see the spot where the king his grandfather was encamped, when he besieged Arras, in the year 1414. Thence he returned to the city; and on the morrow departed suddenly, according to his custom, and was followed by his attendants to Tournay, where he was most honourably received,—for upward of three thousand men came out to meet him dressed in white, with a border of flowers de luce round their robes.

At the gate was a model, in paper, of a castle, similar to the fortifications of Tournay, which was presented to the king with the keys of the town. From the top of the gate, a virgin (the handsomest girl in the town) descended by machinery, and after saluting the king, threw aside the robe from her breast, and displayed a well-made heart, which burst open, and there came out a golden flower de luce, of great value, which she gave to the king, in the name of the town, saying, 'Sire, I am a virgin, and so is this town,—for it has never been taken, nor has it ever turned from its allegiance to the kings of France,—for all the inhabitants thereof have a flower de luce in their hearts.'

The king saw many pageants and histories represented in the streets he passed through,—and he took his lodgings at the house of a canon. From Tournay he went to Lille, where he arrived the 18th of February, then the fourth day of Lent.

The duke of Burgundy came to Lille on the eve of the first Sunday in Lent, to wait on the king,—and from that day to the Friday following there were splendid tiltings and other amusements. During their residence at Lille, the king remonstrated personally, and by the means of others, so effectually with the duke, on his intended expedition, that he postponed it for one whole year; when the king promised to give him ten thousand combatants, paid for four months, to attend him whither he should be then pleased to go. It was also said, that the king of England would aid him with a great body of archers. By this means was the expedition to Turkey broken off, to the displeasure of the duke of Burgundy, whose whole desire was to go there for once.

When this was settled, the king departed from Lille on his return to France, and found at St Cloud the duke of Savoy, quite debilitated with the gout, and his eldest son, who were there waiting for him. It was rumoured, that they were very unpopular in Savoy, by reason of their not conducting themselves according to the wishes of their people; and that they had chosen the duke's third son, Philip, for their lord, who was reported to be wise, subtle, and valiant in arms.

FOOTNOTES:

[32] Arras—is divided into two parts: the cité being the older, and la ville the new town.

See Martiniere's Dictionary

[A.D. 1464.]

[CHAP. XXVII.]

OF THE EXPEDITION OF THE BASTARD OF BURGUNDY.—THE KING OF FRANCE DETAINS PRISONER PHILIP OF SAVOY, NOTWITHSTANDING HE HAD GIVEN HIM A SAFE CONDUCT.—THE COUNT DE ST POL PACIFIES THE KING OF FRANCE.—A BATTLE SHORTLY NOTICED TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN ENGLAND.—OTHER MATTERS.

On the 18th day of March, in the year 1463, the duke of Burgundy, dissatisfied that the king had prevailed on him to retard his expedition to Turkey, assembled the three estates of his country at Lille, and there told them, that the king of France had induced him to delay going to the east for one year; but that in order that the pope, and the other Christian princes, might be satisfied with him, he had the intention of sending thither his bastard Anthony, with two thousand combatants, accompanied by Baldwin his other bastard, then about eighteen years old; and that, should it please God, and he be neither dead nor ill, he would be in person in Turkey by St John's day, in the year 1465, with the largest army he could possibly assemble.

The king of France, at this time, sent a third summons for the count de St Pol to appear in person before him, or take the consequences, and sent him a passport. The count, fearing he should be banished if he further disobeyed, determined to go to the king; and on his arrival, he met with so many zealous friends at court that the king received him with much pleasure, and his peace was made,—and he did homage for the lands he held under the king. It was said at the time, that king Louis required that he would no longer serve the count de Charolois,—but that he had replied in excuse, that it was impossible for him to comply with this requisition, as he was under obligations, by faith and oath, to the count de Charolois, and could not break them.

Soon after Easter, in the year 1464, at the command of the king of France, Philip of Savoy, third son to the duke of Savoy, set out to wait on him. The king had sent to him his first equerry, with credential letters, to desire that he would accompany him to France. These letters were signed by the king himself, and displayed by the equerry, who assured him, in the king's name, that he should come and return in perfect safety.

Notwithstanding this, on his near approach to the king, he was arrested, and carried prisoner to the castle of Loches, in Touraine, a very strong castle, wherein he remained confined two whole years. I know not the cause of this, if it were not that the king was envious that he had greater command in Savoy than the duke, and that the people more willingly obeyed him than the duke. However, at the end of two years, the king, of his own accord, had him set at liberty.

At this time, Charles count de Nevers departed this life, without leaving male heirs, and was therefore succeeded in his counties of Nevers, Rethel, and other places, by his brother John.

The 20th of May, being Whitsunday, Anthony bastard of Burgundy, with other knights and esquires of the duke of Burgundy's household, put on the cross previous to their expedition against the infidels; and on the morrow they embarked at Sluys, in the presence of the duke. They were, in the whole, two thousand combatants; and the duke gave sir Anthony, this day, to defray the expenses of his voyage, one hundred thousand golden crowns, besides the county of la Roche and other lands.

On occasion of this croisade, numbers of young persons in different parts of Christendom had put on the cross, to march against the Turks, and had taken their road to Rome. But as they went without any order or leader, some ten, some twenty at a time, their intentions failed, and they returned home, although they would have made a respectable figure from their numbers, had they been in one body,—but God would not, for this time, permit it.

In this same month of May, another battle[33] was fought in England, between the army of king Edward, under the command of the earl of Warwick, and that of king Henry, commanded by the duke of Somerset, in the hopes of recovering the kingdom forking Henry, although in breach of his treaty with king Edward, who had pardoned him, and restored his lands and honours; but ill fortune attended him,—for he lost the battle, and his men were either killed or taken: he himself was made prisoner, and brought to Edward, who instantly ordered him to be beheaded.

On the 2d day of June, the count de Charolois came to Lille, grandly attended by the nobles of the country, to wait on the duke his father, who was then displeased with him; but the lord de Saveuses interfered with the duke, so that he spoke to his son, and forgave him. It was said, that the count addressed himself to the lord de Croy, and said, that when he should behave to him in the manner he ought, he would be a good lord to him. He could not, however, at this moment, regain the pension he was wont to receive from his father.

The 20th day of June, Pierre Louvain, one of the king's captains, and under his protection, was murdered by sir Raoul de Flavy, lord of Rubencourt, in revenge for the death of his brother William de Flavy, who had been put to death by his wife, with the knowledge, as was said, of Pierre Louvain: but no harm whatever was done to those that were in company with the said Pierre Louvain at the time of his death.

The wife of William de Flavy, who was of a noble family, caused her husband's throat to be cut by his barber while he was shaving him; but as he did not cut the throat quite through, she seized the same razor, and completed it,—which was an extraordinary circumstance, as she had had a fine son by him. In excuse for this her strange conduct, it must be said, that he was harsh and rough in his behaviour to her, and kept women of bad fame in the house, with whom he lay, to the neglect of his wife, who was young and handsome: he had also imprisoned her father, and kept him so long in confinement that he died in prison.

On the 15th of June, in this year, an extraordinary event happened at the palace at Paris, during the pleading of a cause between the bishop of Angers and a rich burgher of that town. The bishop had accused him of heresy and usury, and maintained that he had said, in the presence of many persons of honour, that he did not believe there was a God, a devil, a paradise, or a hell. It happened, that while the bishop's advocate was repeating the above words, as having been said by the burgher, the hall they were pleading in shook very much, and a large stone fell down in the midst, but without hurting any one. However, all the persons present were exceedingly frightened, and left the hall, as the cause had been deferred to the next day: but when the pleading recommenced, the room shook as before,—and one of the beams slipt out of the mortise, and sunk two feet, without falling entirely down, which caused so great an alarm, lest the whole roof should fall and crush them, that they ran out in such haste that some left behind them their caps, others their hoods and shoes; and there were no more pleadings held in this chamber until it had been completely repaired and strengthened!

FOOTNOTES:

[33] The battle of Hexham.

[CHAP. XXVIII.]

THE KING OF FRANCE COMES TO HÊDIN A SECOND TIME.—WHAT PASSED AT THE MEETING BETWEEN HIM AND THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.—THE DEATH OF POPE PIUS II.

The king of France came again to Amiens in the month of June in this year, and went thence to St Pol, where he met the duke of Burgundy.

After the count had grandly feasted them, they went together to Hêdin, where the duke entertained them nobly. During their stay at Hêdin, an ambassador arrived from king Edward, to whom the duke gave a handsome reception.

The common rumour was, that, at this meeting, the king of France required of the duke that he should restore to him the castlewicks of Lille, Douay, and Orchies, in consideration of two hundred thousand livres in cash, and ten thousand livres a-year that he would pay him,—for which sums they had been pledged by a king of France to an earl of Flanders. The duke replied, that when his grandfather duke Philip of Burgundy, son to king John of France, married the lady Margaret, heiress to the earl of Flanders, these castlewicks were given him by the king of France, to be enjoyed by him and his heirs-male for ever,—-but that, should there be no male heirs, these castlewicks were to be restored to the crown, on payment of the above sums to the earl of Flanders. The king, as was said, made other requests to the duke, who granted none of them, as he thought them unreasonable.

The duke, on his part, made three requests to the king: first, that he would have in his good graces the count de Charolois, having heard that the king was displeased with him. Secondly, that he would desist from constraining such of the nobility as held fiefs under the crown from taking any other but the usual oaths,—for some of the nobles had been forced to make oath to serve him against all other men whatever. Thirdly, that he would finish and fulfil all that he had promised and sworn to respecting various articles of the treaty of Arras, at the time he made his payment for the recovery of the towns on the Somme. To all which requests the king evaded giving any positive answer, and the next day departed from Hêdin, for Abbeville and Rouen. Shortly after, namely, about the end of July, the king returned to Nouvion, a village near the forest of Cressy, where he staid some time; but though the duke was still at Hêdin, they no longer visited each other,—but the lord de Croy went often to talk with the king, and then returned to Hêdin.

While the duke was at Hêdin, he hanged on a gibbet a gentleman called Jean de l'Esquerre, for many heavy crimes of which he had been guilty, notwithstanding that he was one of the most valiant men in the county of Artois, and that his friends made urgent requests to save him; but all they could obtain was liberty to take his body from the gibbet, and inter it in the church of the Cordeliers at Hêdin.

On the 15th of August, this year, died pope Pius; and on the day of his decease the lightning struck many places in the neighbourhood of Rome, and did great damage: of this event, people spoke differently. After the death of pope Pius II. pope Paul II.[34] as elected in his room.

FOOTNOTES:

[34] Paul II. Pietro Barbo, a Venetian.

[CHAP. XXIX.]

THE BASTARD DE REUBEMPRÉ IS SENT TO HOLLAND, TO ATTEMPT TO TAKE THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS.—HE IS ARRESTED HIMSELF.

During the king of France's stay at Hêdin, the bastard de Reubempré was ordered, by I know not whom, to embark on board a vessel of war, called a ballenier,[35] at Crotoy, with forty picked men, of good courage, and to sail for Holland, where the count de Charolois then resided. None of the crew knew whither the bastard intended to carry them, nor what orders he was charged with, except that they were told they must follow him wherever he should choose to lead them, and implicitly obey his commands.

The bastard, on his arrival at a port in Holland, left his vessel at anchor, and, taking with him three or four of his most trusty companions, advanced within a league of the town in which the count de Charolois was. But notwithstanding the great care he took to proceed as secretly as possible, he was nevertheless discovered while drinking at an alehouse, and the count informed thereof, who caused him and his companions to be arrested and put into prison. The companions were soon after set at liberty, and the bastard remained alone in confinement. The count dispatched officers to seize the vessel and crew; but they had heard of their captain's ill luck, and had put to sea instantly to return to Crotoy.

It was currently reported at the time, that the king of France had ordered the bastard de Reubempré, by letters written with his own hand, and signed by him, to seize the count de Charolois, and bring him to him dead or alive. This plan was laid while the king was at Hêdin, and while he had a powerful army on the Somme; and had it succeeded, he would have made prisoner good duke Philip, who was far from suspecting any thing of the kind, and would have had him led about in his train, like to the duke of Savoy, his brother-in-law, until he should have married the only child of the count de Charolois (a damsel not more than seven or eight years old) to whomsoever he pleased, and should have divided the territories of the duke,—namely, the duchy of Brabant to the count de Nevers, and the rest among his favourites at his pleasure.

But God, who knows the hearts of men, would not permit so great ruin to fall on the noble house of Burgundy, which is the fairest, firmest, and strongest pillar of the French crown! May God, of his especial grace, always keep the two noble houses of France and Burgundy in peace and good harmony! Although I have now written down what was the common report of the time, I can never believe the king of France capable of imagining such schemes of wickedness, against the illustrious house of Burgundy, considering the great honours and services he had received so lately from the heads of it.

As soon as the bastard de Reubempré was arrested, and had confessed his guilt to the count de St Pol, then in Holland, he was put under close confinement; and the count de Charolois sent information of what had passed to his father, then at Hêdin, where he had grandly entertained the queen of France, who had come to visit him from Abbeville and Nouvion.—At this time, the duke of Bourbon waited on the king at Abbeville, in whose good graces he was not, from the report that he, the duke of Brittany, and the count de Charolois had formed a triple alliance, and had mutually sworn to assist each other with the utmost of their power, should the king make any attempts on their persons or property.

Soon afterward, namely, on the 10th of October, the duke of Burgundy received letters from the king, to say, that he would come and see him at Hêdin on the following day. This same day, while at dinner, he had the information from his son of the imprisonment and confessions of the bastard de Reubempré, and also a warning that he was not safe at Hêdin. On hearing this, as soon as he had dined, he instantly mounted his horse, and rode off suddenly from Hêdin to St Pol, where he lay. His attendants followed him thither, leaving for the defence of the town and castle of Hêdin, sir Adolphus of Cleves and the lord de Crequy. The duke, nevertheless, ordered them, if the king came thither, to throw open the gates of the town and castle to him. But the king no sooner learnt that the duke had so suddenly quitted Hêdin than he departed from Abbeville; and the duke of Bourbon came to Lille, to the duke his uncle, passing through Hêdin. From Lille he waited on the count de Charolois at Ghent, and was nobly entertained, at Lille and Ghent, by the father and son.

FOOTNOTES:

[35] Ballenier,—a corsair—privateer. Du Cange, Gloss.

[CHAP. XXX.]

THE KING OF FRANCE SUMMONS DEPUTIES FROM THE TOWNS ON THE SOMME, AND FROM OTHER PLACES TO COME BEFORE HIM.—HIS HARANGUES TO THEM.—HE APPOINTS THE COUNT DE NEVERS GOVERNOR OF PICARDY,—AND SENDS AN EMBASSY TO THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, AT LILLE.

The king, on his arrival at Rouen, summoned those of Tournay, and of all the towns regained on the Somme, to appear before him; and all of them sent deputies, excepting Cambray. He harangued them, by the mouth of his chancellor, on the reports that were current every where, through the territories of Burgundy, and which had vexed him exceedingly, that he had sent the bastard de Reubempré to Holland, to seize the count de Charolois and bring him to him, for which there was not any foundation. True it was, that the duke of Brittany was not so obedient to him as he ought to have been, and had sent his vice-chancellor to England, to form an alliance with his ancient enemies the English, which he should not have done without his permission; and for this reason he had sent the bastard de Reubempré into Holland, to seize the vice-chancellor of Brittany (if it could be done) as he was returning from England through Holland.

He added, that a preacher had publicly declared from the pulpit at Bruges, where Christians assemble from all parts of the world, that he had purposely sent the said bastard to lay hands on the said count, a thing he had never once thought of, and it was his intention to punish most severely all who should spread tales so disgraceful to his honour.

The chancellor concluded by telling them, that the king had thus called them together, to inform them, that he had appointed the count de Nevers his lieutenant and captain-general of all the lately-regained countries, as far as the river Loire, to oppose his ancient enemies, should they make any attempts to invade his kingdom, commanding them, at the same time, to yield obedience to the count de Nevers, as to his own proper person. After this harangue, the deputies returned home again.

The count de Charolois, accompanied by four score or a hundred knights and gentlemen, and fully six hundred horse, arrived at Lille on the 4th of November, which caused great joy throughout that town, and the children sang carols in all the streets. On dismounting, he waited on his father, who received him with much pleasure. The next day came to Lille, the count d'Eu, the chancellor of France, and the archbishop of Narbonne, as ambassadors from the king of France, with a noble company of attendants.[36]

The day following, they had an audience of the duke, to whom, in the presence of the count de Charolois, the chancellor displayed their commission from the king, to remonstrate with the duke on three subjects:

First, the king demanded to have the bastard de Reubempré, then a prisoner in Holland, given up to him.

Secondly, the king demanded satisfaction for the words that had been uttered to his dishonour, as to the cause of the imprisonment of the said bastard.

Thirdly, that the duke of Burgundy should send to the king a gentleman of the household of the count de Charolois, called Olivier de la Marche, by whom the words aforesaid were first published,—and also the preacher who had uttered the same from his pulpit at Bruges, for him to inflict on them such punishments as their crimes were deserving of.

The chancellor, by way of excusing the king of France for sending the said bastard to Holland, declared that it was done to arrest the vice-chancellor of Brittany on his return from England; and added, that the count de Charolois had greatly offended the king by imprisoning the said bastard, and thus preventing him from fulfilling his orders.

At these words, the count de Charolois fell on his knees before the duke, and besought him to permit him to answer what had been just said, for that it greatly affected his honour; observing, that if it pleased God to keep him in his (the duke's) good favour, there was not a man on earth he feared but him, who was his father and lord, and that he marvelled much why the king was thus pressing him. The chancellor of France then said, that they were not charged by the king to make any reply to the count de Charolois; and the duke told his son to desist from saying more until another time. This command the count obeyed, like a good son, but sore against his will.

The chancellor, continuing his harangue, said, that the king had been greatly surprised that the duke so suddenly left Hêdin, as he had said he would not depart thence until he had spoken with the king, nor without his leave,—and he was wont to be punctual to his word.

The duke allowed the chancellor to finish all he had to say, without further interruption, and then replied, article by article: first, then, as to what was said of his son being suspicious, he said, that, if he was suspicious, he had it not from him, for he had never in his life been doubtful of man or prince whatever; and if he had that character, he had it from his mother, who was ever jealous lest he should love any other woman but her. With regard to giving up the bastard of Reubempré, he would not do it, as he was arrested in Holland, of which he, the duke, was sovereign by sea and land, without acknowledging other lord but God, and in or on that country the king has not the smallest right or claim. The bastard had been imprisoned there for crimes which would be judged in that country, and punished according to its laws. He had been always esteemed of a wicked and loose character, and guilty of murder and other crimes.

Respecting Olivier de la Marche, whom the king would have sent to him, for having first uttered the words the king complains of and the preacher who published them from the pulpit at Bruges,—the duke replied, that the preacher was a churchman whom he would not touch, as it was unbecoming him so to do; and that there be preachers who are neither wise nor prudent, and who go from place to place, so that no one knows where to find them; 'but for my part,' he continued, 'I do not believe that any preacher has preached such language. As to Olivier de la Marche, he is of the household of my son; and I do not think that he has done any thing but what he ought to have done or said: should it be otherwise, I shall make proper inquiries, and punish him according to his deserts.

'With regard to not keeping my word, I will that all the world know that I have never promised any thing by my mouth to any one alive, but what I have kept to the very utmost of my power.' This he said rather in a passion; and then, smiling, he said, 'I never failed in my promises but to the ladies, and wish that you may know it; and tell my lord your king, that when I last took leave of him, I indeed said, that if affairs, or any other matters, did not require my presence elsewhere, I should not quit Hêdin until I saw him again, if he wished it; this, and nothing else, did I promise him. Now at the moment of my setting out, news was brought me of the arrest of the bastard de Reubempré, and of other affairs, that made my departure necessary; but I made no very great haste,—for I only travelled four leagues a day until I came to Lille.'

The chancellor of France then said, that considering the great respect and affection he had always borne to the crown of France, and the marked attention the king had shown by selecting for this embassy his relative, the count d'Eu, and himself, who was chancellor of France, he hoped the bastard of Reubempré would be given up, and begged of the duke to weigh this in his mind.

The duke instantly replied, that, in truth, he had ever exerted himself to pay the king every honour and love; 'but of all the things I have asked,' added he, 'he has not only never granted one, but he has failed to keep the promises he made me. Of the lands which he has regained, he promised me the enjoyment during my life; but no sooner were the payments made than he forgot what he had promised, and deprived me of the enjoyment of them, for which I am not the better.'

At these words, master Pierre de Goux, knight and doctor of laws, advanced, and said aloud to the ambassadors, that all might hear him, 'My lords, the duke, my lord, does not hold all his territories from the king of France: he holds from him, indeed, the duchy of Burgundy, the counties of Flanders and of Artois; but he has many fine dominions out of the kingdom of France,—such as the duchies of Brabant, of Luxembourg, of Lembourg, of Austria, together with the counties of Burgundy, Hainault, Holland, Zealand and Namur, and other countries, which he holds from God alone, although he be not a king.'

The duke interrupted him, and said, 'I will that all who hear may know, that if I had wished it, I might have been a king!' without declaring how, or by what means, and then simply added, that before three days were passed, he would give a more ample answer to the ambassadors. They then departed to their lodgings; but on this day, the duke wrote a letter to the king, and sent it by a pursuivant, who delivered it in person, and brought the duke an answer from the king. The pursuivant was not more than ten days in going and returning,—but what the contents of these letters were I am ignorant.

FOOTNOTES:

[36] This embassy consisted of the count d'Eu, Charles d'Artois, a prince of the blood, who had been twenty-three years prisoner of war in England, Pierre de Morvillier, chancellor of France,—and Anthony du Bec-Crespin, archbishop of Narbonne.

The count de Charolois was only restrained by the presence of his father from using severe language; but when the ambassadors took their leave, he said to the archbishop, who went out the last, 'Recommend me most humbly to the good graces of the king, and tell him that he has had me well dressed by his chancellor,—but that, before a year pass, he shall repent of it!'

It was probably from these intemperate speeches of the chancellor that the war of the public good had its origin.

[CHAP. XXXI.]

THE ANSWER OF THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS TO THE AMBASSADORS FROM FRANCE.—THE KING OF FRANCE ORDERS CREVECŒUR, NEAR CAMBRAY, TO BE TAKEN POSSESSION OF.—THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY SENDS AN EMBASSY TO THE KING OF FRANCE.—THE DEATH OF THE DUKE OF ORLEANS.

On the 8th day of November, the French ambassadors were summoned to come into the presence of the duke of Burgundy,—when the count de Charolois, before a great company, coolly replied to the different charges that had been made against him, article by article, without showing the smallest sign of passion or trouble, to the great astonishment of all who heard him,—more particularly to the surprise of the duke, who, on the assembly's breaking up, said to some of his confidential attendants, that he did not imagine his son was so able and so prudent.

The ambassadors returned to France, without having obtained any of the articles they had demanded. They passed through Tournay, Arras, and Amiens,—and in these and all the other towns on their road, they assembled the magistracy, and told them, that the king was much angered at the rumours which had been spread abroad of his intending to seize the count de Charolois, which they affirmed the king had never even thought of, and would have disdained to do it, and that he had assured them of this from his own mouth. If, therefore, those who had industriously circulated such reports should continue their calumnies, the ambassadors ordered the magistrates to lay hands on them, that they might be punished according to the pleasure of the king.

The lords de Torcy and de Moy came, on the 15th November, to Crevecœur, near Cambray, and took possession of the town and castle, by virtue of letters-patent which they produced from king Louis, although, a short time before, he had given it and its dependances to sir Anthony of Burgundy, as an inheritance for himself and his heirs. The captain of the castle made some show of resistance, and collected from sixteen to twenty soldiers,—but he was so talked to by one and the other that he agreed to surrender it. He was, however, carried away a prisoner to the king, and, for some time, was in danger of his life,—but at length he was sent back safe.

About the festival of Christmas, the duke of Burgundy sent a notable embassy to the king of France, consisting of the bishop of Tournay, the lord de Crequy, and other nobles, who waited on the king at Tours in Touraine, where he had assembled the princes and great lords of his realm: the principal of them were the king of Sicily duke of Anjou, the duke of Orleans, the counts de Nevers and de St Pol, with numbers of others.

When they were all met in the king's presence, the king addressed them himself, and said, that he had not assembled them to hurt or distress the duke of Burgundy, which many persons had affected to believe; for he was under greater obligations to the duke than he could express,—and so far from doing him any harm, he wished him all happiness and honour. He had called them to his presence to consider of the conduct of the duke of Brittany, who had told, or written, to the count de Charolois, to the duke of Orleans, to the duke of Bourbon, to the king of Sicily, and to other princes of his realm, that the reason why he, the king, remained so much in Picardy, was to conclude a peace with his ancient enemies the English; and to obtain this he had promised to give them the duchies of Normandy and Guienne, that by their assistance he might conquer and destroy the country of Burgundy, of Brittany, of the Bourbonnois, of the Orleannois, and the other territories of the princes of his blood and of his kingdom.

The king affirmed on his oath, that he never thought of such things,—and that if he had, he was unworthy to wear a crown, or to be a king. The reason of his remaining in Picardy was because the duke of Burgundy had an intention to undertake an expedition against the Turk; and on that account he had indeed attempted to conclude a peace with England, that the duke's territories, during his absence, might continue in peace.

The king then demanded of the princes present, if they believed what the duke of Brittany had written to them: when they unanimously replied, they did not. He then demanded, that they would all assist him with their services against the duke of Brittany, who had so grossly injured him; and they assured him they would do so to the utmost of their power.

On the 3d of January, in this year 1464, died Charles duke of Orleans, about seventy years old, who left a son about three years of age, and a daughter of seven or eight years old. He it was who commenced the civil war in France against John duke of Burgundy, in revenge for the murder of his father, which lasted upward of thirty years, to such great loss and destruction of the kingdom that it would be pitiless to relate it, as it may be seen in the Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet.[37]

This duke of Orleans was made prisoner at the battle of Agincourt, and carried to England, where he remained twenty-five years; and it is supposed that he would never have obtained his liberty, if duke Philip of Burgundy had not ransomed him; he also gave him in marriage his niece, a daughter of the duke of Cleves, by whom he had the two children above mentioned.

On his return to France, he led an exemplary and devout life; and on every Friday throughout the year, he gave thirteen poor persons their dinner, in honour of God: he served them in person at table, before he ate any thing himself, and then washed their feet, in imitation of our Saviour, who washed the feet of his disciples on the day of the Passover.

FOOTNOTES:

[37] 'Il semble par la que Monstrelet nie son auteur de la plûpart de ce qui est contenue au 3me volume.'

MS. note in M. du Cangé's copy.

This proves, however, what has been said in the preface, of nearly all the last volume being by another writer than Monstrelet.

[CHAP. XXXII.]

THE MARRIAGE OF KING EDWARD OF ENGLAND, AND THE ALLIANCE HE WISHES TO FORM WITH FRANCE.—THE BASTARDS OF BURGUNDY RETURN FROM THEIR EXPEDITION.—THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY DANGEROUSLY ILL.—THE FAMILY OF CROY ARE DISMISSED FROM THEIR PLACES.

In this year, between Christmas and Easter, Edward king of England, surnamed Long Shanks, one of the handsomest knights of his kingdom, took to wife the daughter of lord Rivers, an English knight of middling rank, who, in his youth, had been sent to France to serve the duchess of Bedford. The duke of Bedford was then regent of France for his nephew king Henry VI. an infant; and his duchess was his second wife, and sister to the count Louis de St Pol,—an exceedingly handsome lady.

After the death of the duke, his widow, following her own inclinations, which were contrary to the wishes of her family, particularly to those of her uncle, the cardinal of Rouen, married the said lord Rivers, reputed the handsomest man that could be seen, who shortly after carried her to England, and never after could return to France for fear of the relatives of this lady. She had several children by lord Rivers,—and among them was a daughter of prodigious beauty, who, by her charms, so captivated king Edward that he married her, to the great discontent of several of the higher nobility, who would, if possible, have prevented the marriage from taking place. But, to satisfy them that the lady's birth was not inferior to theirs, king Edward sent letters to the count de Charolois, to entreat that he would send him some lord of the family of the lady to be present at her wedding.—The count sent him sir James de St Pol, her uncle, grandly accompanied by knights and gentlemen, to the number of more than one hundred horse, who, on their arrival at London, put an end to the murmurings on this marriage, and gave great satisfaction to the king. After the feasts, when they were about to return home, the king presented sir James de St Pol with three hundred nobles; and to each knight and gentleman of his company he gave fifty nobles, beside most handsome entertainment.

It was commonly said at the time, that the count de Charolois had sent so handsome a company of nobles to England to please king Edward, and gain him over to his interests, knowing that the king of France was anxious to form an alliance with Edward to his prejudice, and that the lord de Launoy had been sent by Louis to negotiate a treaty with England. King Edward would not, however, listen to it, and even sent the letters which the lord de Launoy had brought from the king of France to the duke of Burgundy, for his perusal, and likewise wrote to him every thing the lord de Launoy had told him from Louis, which greatly astonished the duke, who from that time became suspicious of the king of France's designs, and of those by whom he was surrounded.

It was also said, that king Edward had charged sir James de St Pol to tell the count de Charolois, that if he wanted men at arms, he would send him as many as he pleased.

In this year, the frost was so severe that wine was not only frozen in the cellars but at table: even some wells were frozen,—and this weather lasted from the 10th of December to the 15th of February. The frost was so sharp for seven or eight days that many persons died in the fields; and the old people said that there had not been so very severe a winter since the year 1407. Much snow also fell; and the rivers Seine and Oise were frozen so that waggons passed over them.

Toward the end of February, sir Anthony and sir Baldwin, bastards of Burgundy, returned from their intended expedition to Turkey. Though there were more than two thousand combatants embarked at Sluys, from four to five hundred died at sea of an epidemical distemper that raged in the fleet. They left their fleet and arms at Marseilles and travelled through Avignon to Burgundy, and thence to Brussels. At this time, also, the bishop of Tournay and the other ambassadors returned from their embassy to France. It was then said, that had they not gone thither, the king was determined to invade the territories of the duke of Burgundy, thinking to have the support of the count de St Pol and the duke of Brittany, but in which he failed.

The duke of Burgundy was now attacked by so severe an illness that every one despaired of his life. The count de Charolois was then at Brussels, but without hope of his father's recovery; and knowing that the lord de Croy and his friends had in their hands the government of the country, and of all its strongest places, and that the lord de Croy had been absent fifteen days with the king of France, he suddenly sent his most confidential friends to Luxembourg, Namur, the Boulonois, Beaumont, Hainault, and other parts, to take instant possession of them, and appoint other governors on whom he could depend. As the physicians gave no hope of the duke's amendment, his son sent orders to all the abbeys and monasteries dependant on him, to offer up their most devout prayers for his restoration to health; and he was so much beloved by his people that their prayers were heard, and he recovered his health. On his recovery, he made his son governor of all his dominions, who instantly dismissed the lord de Quievrain, the duke's second chamberlain, the lord d'Auxi being the first, and appointed the lord d'Aymeries in his room, which displeased the duke so much that he immediately revoked the appointment he had given his son.

The count de Charolois, upon this, called together the great lords of the court, namely, the count de St Pol, sir Anthony his bastard-brother, and the majority of the duke's council, and said to them, 'I will not hide my mind from you,—but wish to tell you now, what I had intended doing before, that you and all my other friends may know that I consider the lord de Croy, his friends and allies, as my mortal enemies.' He then declared his reasons for this opinion, and had the same published throughout all the towns under his father's subjection, by letters, the contents of which shall be hereafter related.

The count, having thus explained himself to his friends, instantly sent three or four knights of his household to the lord de Quievrain, who was first chamberlain in the absence of his uncle, the lord de Croy, ordering him to quit the service of the duke his father as quietly as he could, that his father might not hear of it, nor be troubled thereat. The lord de Quievrain, perplexed at such orders, unwilling to quit so good a situation, and fearing to offend the count de Charolois, followed his own counsel, and went on the morrow morning to the duke, and, throwing himself on his knees, thanked him for all his bounties for the trifling services he had done, and requested his permission to depart, for that the count his son had ordered him to leave the court,—and he was afraid he would not be contented until he was put to death.

The duke, hearing these words, was in a mighty passion, and forbade him to quit his service: then, snatching up a club, he sallied out of his apartment in the greatest rage, saying to his attendants, that he would go and see whether his son would put to death any of his servants. Some of them, however, dreading the consequences of his passion, had the doors closed, and the porter hidden with the keys, so that the duke could not go out, but was forced to wait until the porter was found.

At this moment, his sister, the duchess of Bourbon, accompanied by sir Anthony of Burgundy, and many ladies and damsels, came to him, and remonstrated with him so prudently, that they moderated his anger, and he returned to his apartments. In the mean time, the lord de Quievrain left his house, with only one attendant, as secretly as he could.

The count de Charolois, hearing of his father's anger against him, held daily councils with the duke's chief ministers, to seek the means of appeasing it; and it was concluded, that the count should write letters to all the great towns under the duke's dominion, stating to them his grievances, and the reasons he had for dismissing the lord de Croy and his friends from all the places they had holden under the duke. Similar letters were likewise dispatched to the principal nobles,—and they were ordered to be publicly read, that every one might know the true state of the matter.

[CHAP. XXXIII.]

A COPY OF THE LETTERS WHICH THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS SENT TO THE NOBLES AND PRINCIPAL TOWNS UNDER THE DOMINION OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, TO EXPLAIN THE REASONS WHY HE HAD DISMISSED THE LORD DE CROY AND HIS FRIENDS FROM HIS FATHER'S SERVICE.

'Very dear and well beloved, you know, thanks to God, how long and grandly our lord and father, by the noble virtues inherent in his nature, has exalted the house of Burgundy, of which he is the head, in a much higher degree than it ever was in the memory of man. And although from his great age he has of late been afflicted with illness, to the weakening of his faculties, he has, nevertheless, always endeavoured to preserve his possessions untouched, to maintain his subjects in peace, and to rule them with equity and justice; and we have seen nothing to counteract such happy effects but the fraud and damnable deceptions of the lord de Croy and his friends, who, through an inordinate ambition and insatiable avarice, have attempted to gain to themselves the whole government and the possession of all the strong places so long as our said lord and father should live, and, like ungrateful people, after his decease to ruin and destroy the county, from hatred to us; for ever since we have arrived at years of discretion, they have laboured, to the utmost of their power, by false and wicked reports, that we might incur the anger of our said lord and father, as you and the three estates have been before duly informed, knowing that by such means alone they could succeed in their attempts. They have, likewise, sought other means of destroying us, had it been in their power; for while my lord the king, when dauphin, was in this country, they endeavoured to lay hands on us, and make us their prisoner. This we have been told by the king's own mouth since his coronation, from his love to us,—for which singular affection we hold ourself, and ever shall hold ourself, under the greatest obligations to him.

'Since his majesty's coronation, they have been so much vexed at the favour the king showed us that they have never ceased to intrigue until they had found means to deprive us of his majesty's good graces, and to keep us at a distance from him. By their machinations, the french ambassadors lately, in the presence of our lord and father, made heavy and public accusations against us in the town of Lille, as you may have heard; and the said de Croys have offered their services to the king after the decease of our lord and father, in case he should intend making war on us, which I cannot believe his majesty will do,—for we have not done any thing, nor, please God, will we do any thing, that may induce him to it.

'They have boasted that they would make war on us from the strong places of Bologne, Namur, Luxembourg, and others in their hands, and that they would deliver them up to the power of others than the said duke our father or ourself. These de Croys have, beside, by wicked reports to our great prejudice, incited the king to repurchase the towns and country our said lord had in pledge; and because our said lord made some difficulty in acceding to this plan, because the king required an acquittance for a very large sum, which ought to have been paid at the time of this repurchase, the lord de Croy told him, and caused him to be told, as from the king, that, notwithstanding the repurchase of these said lands, he should remain in the enjoyment of them during his life, which the lord de Croy knew at the same time to be void of foundation, and notoriously contrary to truth.

'The lord de Croy, still further to do mischief to the territories of our said lord and father, has, by himself and friends, strongly aided and supported the pretensions of the count de Nevers, our cousin, against us; and in consequence, the said count has boasted that the king had promised to assist him with four hundred lances, in conjunction with the men of Liege, to invade Brabant after the decease of our said lord and father, and to deprive us of our rights therein.

'To be enabled to do greater harm to us, by giving the count de Nevers further powers, the lord de Croy had made an exchange of the government of the regained country and towns, which had been given him by the king as a reward for his services in that business with our said cousin of Nevers, for a barony in the Rethelois, called Rosay; and it is said that they and their friends had mutually promised, on oath, to assist each other against whoever intended to injure them. Notwithstanding that, very lately, some persons attached to the service of our said lord and father, anxious to make up all the differences between us and the lord de Croy, had waited on us to this purpose, whom we, from our reverence to God our Creator and Author of all peace, and respect to our said lord and father, condescended to grant their desires, without remembering the many injuries and persecutions we had suffered from the said lord de Croy and his friends, and gave them a paper, signed by our own hand, containing in substance, that when the lord de Croy should do us any services, we would hold them for agreeable, and not be ungrateful to him for them,—and that, if, in the performance of such services, he should incur any loss or inconvenience, we would support him against all, in so far as we should be bounden in reason and justice to do,—the lord de Croy, however, paid not any attention to this said paper, but has acted in regard to us, from badly to worse; and when it has been remonstrated to him, that he ought to act differently from what he has done toward us, and that the places he holds under our said lord and father were not his inheritance, he has boldly replied, that they were given to him by my said lord and father, not only for his life, but for the life of his children after him, and it was his intention that they should enjoy them after his decease, even the governments of Namur, Boulogne, and Luxembourg. In fact, he had done all in his power to obtain from our said lord and father a gift of these places, and would have succeeded, had not some of our said father's more faithful counsellors remonstrated with him on the impropriety of such a gift.

'The said lord de Croy, further to trouble the dominions of our said lord and father, has lately attempted to introduce into the castle of Namur a large body of men at arms, under the pretence of defending the place against the men of Liege; but, thanks to God, he failed,—for the good people of Namur, knowing his real intentions, would not suffer it to be done. On finding such opposition to his designs, he went thence to Beaumont in Hainault, where he attempted the same; but the inhabitants behaved in the same loyal manner, and would not permit it to take place.

'On the other hand, he had, a little time before, instigated duke Louis of Bavaria, the count de Valence his son-in-law, and other dependants of the said duke, to appear before the town of Luxembourg with a great army, with a view of becoming masters of that town and castle, and would have succeeded had not proper precautions been taken before their arrival.

'In short, the lord de Croy and his family, forgetful of, and ungrateful for, all the extraordinary honours and wealth they have received from our said lord and father, their lord and sovereign, have done every thing in their power, and still continue their intrigues, to ruin and destroy his country, by causing it and its peaceful and loyal inhabitants to be involved in the calamities of war.

'Having considered all these wicked machinations, and having a sincere love for the loyal people of our said lord, we have provided the surest remedy against the future attempts of the lord de Croy and his family, by taking possession of the towns and castles of Namur, Luxembourg, and Boulogne, which we have intrusted to the guard of valiant and faithful captains, in the name of our said lord, and solely to preserve the poorer ranks from the miseries of war, and for no other purpose whatever. We have, for some days past, supplicated, with the utmost humility, an audience of our said lord and father, that we might declare the aforesaid matters to him, and assure him of our upright intentions in what we have done; but as we have not hitherto been able to obtain an audience, we have assembled before us those of his blood, the knights, esquires, and members of his council, of his household, and of our own, that are at present in this town, to whom we have most fully detailed the matters above mentioned, and our determination to provide, with the aid of God, such remedies as the various cases may require, so that our said lord may enjoy in peace the whole of his dominions, and that they may descend to us unimpaired after his decease. For the preservation of which we are willing to expose our life and fortune, and remain his most loyal and obedient subject, without taking any greater part in the government of his country than he shall be willing to allow us.

'We declared also to this assembly, that to enable us the better to serve our said lord and father as an obedient son should, it was our intention to remain at his palace, and near to his person, without permitting the lord de Croy or any of his family, whom we hold and repute our enemies, to have any longer the government of his household or country, which they have formerly enjoyed: that in regard to the other loyal officers, counsellors, and subjects of our said lord, we consider them as our true and trusty friends, and cherish them as such; and we hope that as they have for some time past displayed their loyal services, they will continue so to do, both in regard to our said lord and father, and to the welfare of his dominions,—and on our part, we intend steadily, and with all our heart, to obey and execute whatsoever our said lord and father shall, after due consideration and counsel, command us, for the good of his country, without, in future, showing any favours to the lord de Croy or to his family, whom, as I have before said, we repute our mortal enemies; and we further requested the said assembly to assist us in the preservation and defence of the dominions of our said lord from the smallest depredation or infringement; which request the whole assembly liberally and unanimously complied with and granted.

'Since these things took place, the lord de Quievrain, nephew to the lord de Croy, has quitted this town, which has much displeased our said lord and father, and greatly angered him against us; but by the good pleasure of God, and the prudent remonstrances of his good and loyal counsellors, we hope that his anger will soon be appeased.

'Of all these matters, very dear and well beloved, we inform you by these presents, as our true and loyal friends, to whom we wish to lay open the secrets of our heart; and that you may be truly informed how things have happened, most earnestly requesting of you that you do not afford any assistance to, or receive, the said lord de Croy, his family or friends, but treat them as the enemies of our said lord and father and of ourself. We beg that you will not give ear to reports or letters that may be made or delivered contrary to the above statement, for we are most desirous of serving, honouring, and obeying, with our whole heart, our said lord and father, in every possible way, as we are bounden to do, and as we have hitherto done,—nor shall he ever have, if it so please God, any cause of reasonable complaint against us. Therefore, without the smallest attempt against his person, or to encroach on his government, we shall employ our whole life, honour, and fortune, for his safety, security, and prosperity, and for the welfare of his country and subjects, against all who shall, at any time, presume to molest, or any way aggrieve, him or them. We therefore entreat and request you most cordially to join in aiding and supporting us in these measures, should there be occasion, for we have the fullest confidence in you. Very dear and well beloved, may the Holy Spirit have you in his good keeping.

'Written at Brussels the 22d day of March, in the year 1464,' and signed 'Charolois.'

'The superscription on these letters was, 'By order of the count de Charolois, lord of Château Belin and of Bethune.'

[CHAP. XXXIV.]

THE DUKE OF BERRY, ONLY BROTHER TO THE KING OF FRANCE, WITHDRAWS HIMSELF FROM THE COURT OF FRANCE, AND TAKES REFUGE WITH THE DUKE OF BRITTANY.—THE COUNT DE DAMMARTIN ESCAPES FROM PRISON.—LETTERS FROM THE DUKE OF BERRY TO THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.

In the beginning of March, in the year 1464, Charles duke of Berry, only brother to the king, and about twenty-eight years old, whom the king kept near his person in a simpler estate than he wished, and much inferior to what he had enjoyed during the life of their father, pretended one day to go to hunt, while his brother was absent on a pilgrimage near Poitiers: instead of which, the duke rose very early in the morning, and, attended by only nine or ten persons, set out with all possible speed to seek an asylum with the duke of Brittany. They broke down all the bridges they crossed, that, if they should be pursued, they might not be overtaken.

It was said at the time, that the two dukes of Berry and Brittany had formed an alliance with the dukes of Bourbon and Calabria, the count de Charolois, and other princes of France, against the king, should he attempt to molest any of them,—for the king was obstinately bent upon executing his own designs, which appeared to many strange and unreasonable.

The king was extremely mortified to find that his brother had so suddenly departed, and sent in haste to all the principal towns and castles, to put them on their guard, and commanding them to keep a good look-out. In addition to this, he took off certain tolls and taxes which the regained towns on the Somme were accustomed to pay, the more effectually to obtain their loves and services.

In this week, which was the first of March, the count de Dammartin, whom the king detained prisoner in the bastile at Paris, found means to make a hole in the wall of one of the towers, through which he escaped to a boat that was waiting for him in the moat, and rowed to the opposite bank, where were horses ready, and, having instantly mounted, made all possible haste to escape into Brittany.

In this same week, the lord de Roubais, by orders from the count de Charolois, went with a body of men at arms to seize the town and castle of Launoy, thinking to take the lord thereof at the same time. The lord de Launoy was then governor of Lille, bailiff of Amiens, and nephew to the lord de Croy; but they neither found him, nor his wife or children,—for having had information of what was intended, he had quitted the place with his family and most valuable effects, and saved himself in the city of Tournay, two leagues distant from his house.

At the same time, the abbot of Havons was arrested, by orders from the count de Charolois, together with one called Pierrechon, the servant and master of the wardrobe to the lord de Croy, and one in whom he had the greatest confidence: they were detained prisoners a long time.

Soon afterward, the count de Charolois made a present of the town and castle of Launoy to James de St Pol, brother to the count de St Pol: in which castle were provisions for the garrison, consisting of six score salted bacons, great abundance of flour, corn and oats, and also a new mill for the grinding of them.

In the month of March, the duke of Berry sent a letter from Nantes to the duke of Burgundy, dated the 15th of that month, of the following tenour:

'Very dear and most beloved uncle, I commend myself to you by all possible means; and may it please you to know that, for some time past, I have, with sorrow, heard the clamours of the greater part of the princes of our blood, and of the nobles of the kingdom, on the wretched state of the government of France, owing to the advice and counsels of those wicked persons by whom my lord and sovereign is surrounded, who, for their own profit, and disorderly ambition, have not only caused a hatred and coolness between my lord and you and me, but also have estranged him from the friendship of the kings of Scotland and Castille, whose alliance with the crown of France has been of so long a date, as is well known to every one.

'I shall not here mention how the affairs of the church, and of justice, have been administered, nor how the nobles have been maintained in their rights and usages, or the poorer ranks guarded from oppression, as I know that you are well informed as to such matters, and as they are so very disagreeable for me to dwell upon, from the nearness of my connexion with my said lord. Wishing, however, to profit from your counsel, and that of those other princes and nobles who have offered me their fullest support in providing a remedy for such crying abuses, and also to escape from personal danger, for I had daily heard such conversations between my lord and his ministers as gave me cause of suspicion, I departed from my lord's court, and have taken refuge with my fair cousin of Brittany, who has given me a reception for which I never can enough praise him, and has promised to support me personally, and with all his powers, for the welfare of the kingdom, and the public good.

'It is, therefore, very dear and beloved uncle, my intention to act with you and the other lords my relatives, whose counsels I shall follow, and none others, for the restoring of this desolated kingdom; for I know you are one of the greatest of its princes,—and in its welfare you are more concerned, as the dean of the peerage, and a prince of such high renown, and who has been so highly displeased with the present disorders in the government. I wish, therefore, that you and my other relatives would assemble to consult on the surest means of bringing about a reformation of the abuses and grievances that exist in every branch of the government, to the relief of the poor people, who are unable longer to bear their burdens, and of restoring order in the better administration of justice and the finances, to the great happiness of the realm, and to the eternal honour of those who shall, with God's pleasure, so usefully employ themselves.

'I, therefore, very dear and beloved uncle, entreat, that, for so good a purpose, you would give me your support and assistance, and employ also my fair brother Charolois, your son, in my aid, as I have been always confident in your friendship,—and that we may speedily meet is my most earnest wish. It is my meaning shortly to enter France, and take the field accompanied by the other princes and nobles who have promised me their assistance: I shall, therefore, beg, that you would, as speedily as may be, raise as large a force as possible to enter France on your side; and should you be unable personally to accompany it, I shall hope that you will send it under the command of the count de Charolois. At the same time, you will depute to me some of your most confidential counsellors, with whom I may advise, in conjunction with the other princes, as to what may be done for the public welfare, and by whom you may have information of my good and just intentions; for I am determined to regulate my conduct after the advice of yourself and the other princes and lords.

'Whatever the count de Charolois shall recommend, in your absence, for the general good, you may be assured that I will support him in, and maintain to my latest breath.

'Very dear and beloved, let me know at all times whatever you may wish to have done, and it shall be accomplished with my whole heart.—I pray God that he may grant you a long life, and accomplish all your desires.

'Written at Nantes, the 15th day of March.' Signed, 'Your nephew, Charles.' The address was, 'To my uncle the duke of Burgundy.'

About this time, James de St Pol returned from England, whither he had been sent by the count de Charolois, as well to do honour to king Edward's marriage as to negotiate for his assistance against the king of France, should there be occasion, or at least to prevent him from being engaged against him; for the king of France had before sent the lord de Launoy to conclude a treaty with king Edward, to the prejudice of the count de Charolois. The king of England, however, would not listen to it, and had even transmitted to the duke of Burgundy the king of France's proposals, which greatly astonished the duke, as well in regard to their contents as that the lord de Launoy had been the bearer of them.

On the 8th day of April, in this year, was a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, whence the learned foretold that great miseries would befal the world.

[CHAP. XXXV.]

A CORRESPONDENCE TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE KING OF FRANCE AND THE DUKE OF BOURBON.—THE KING PUBLISHES OTHER LETTERS THROUGHOUT HIS REALM,—AND THE COUNT DE NEVERS ISSUES PROCLAMATIONS IN ALL THE TOWNS WITHIN HIS LIEUTENANCY FOR THE KING OF FRANCE.

In the month of March, of this year, the king of France sent letters, signed with his hand, to the duke of Bourbon, containing in substance, that his brother, the duke of Berry, had left him, and gone to Brittany without his consent or knowledge. He then added, that, all excuses being laid aside, he commanded him to come to his presence instantly after his letter had been read, and to put faith in whatever Josselin du Boys should tell him now on his part, and to collect immediately one hundred lances, ready to march at a moment's notice.

The duke of Bourbon having read this letter, and heard what Josselin du Boys had to say, wrote an answer to the king, in which he repeated what the king had written to him, and thanked him for the great confidence he had placed in him. He then adverted to the grievances and unjust acts the princes of his blood had witnessed throughout the realm, concerning which the king had received many complaints and remonstrances, as they were nearly affected by them, but without obtaining any redress, by reason of the obstructions of those who surrounded his majesty.

The princes, therefore, seeing that their complaints and remonstrances were not attended to, and that no remedy was thought of for the redress of grievances, had formed a strict alliance by oaths and written agreements, mutually exchanged with each other, to provide such a remedy for these grievances as had not taken place since his majesty's coming to the throne, so that it should redound to the honour of the crown, the utility of the public welfare, and to the eternal glory of them who undertook such wholesome measures.

The duke added, that, after what he had said, it was unnecessary for him to wait on him, as he was engaged, with the other princes of the blood, in promoting the redress of the grievances they had so repeatedly complained of, since he had neglected to do it himself,—begging to be held excused for not coming to him, and expressly declaring that he was of the union with the princes, for the welfare of his majesty and of his kingdom. He besought him, for the honour of God, that he would himself redress these grievances, to avoid the great evils that might otherwise ensue to his kingdom. He concluded by saying, that this union had not been formed against his person, or against the good of the realm, but solely to restore the government to order, for his honour, the welfare of the kingdom, and for the relief of the poor people, which are objects of great praise, and which require immediate attention. This letter was dated Moulins, the 14th day of March.

When the king had received and read this letter, which fully explained the intentions of the confederated princes, he caused letters to be published throughout his realm, containing, in substance, that some persons, excited by wicked hopes and damnable purposes, and not having any regard to the honour of God, or the feelings of a loyal conscience, had formed a conspiracy against him and against the welfare of his realm, being desirous of interrupting the present peace and harmony. For this end they had incited and suborned his brother, the duke of Berry, who was but young in years, and not aware of their evil designs, to separate himself from his care and government; and, the better to succeed, they have most industriously spread abroad reports that he intended to lay hands on, and imprison, his said brother, even the thought of which had never entered his mind. They have formed an alliance under pretext of the public welfare, although they are endeavouring, by every sort of perjury and seduction, to throw the whole kingdom into confusion and trouble, and are to afford an opportunity for our ancient enemies the English to invade our realm, and recommence, by a ruinous warfare, mischiefs similar to those which we have so lately seen put an end to.

These rebels to the king and his crown suspecting that, from their outrageous acts, the king would never pardon them, although they have not required it, prepare for war to maintain their damnable projects by force of arms. The king, nevertheless, assures, by these presents, that all princes, prelates, nobles, or others forming part of this said confederation, who shall quit the same, and return to the king within one month or six weeks from the date hereof, shall be most kindly received, and fully pardoned for all their offences; and their effects shall be restored to such as may, for the above cause, have had them confiscated. The king orders, by these presents, all his governors, judges, officers, and others, to cause this his gracious intention of pardon to be publicly proclaimed within their jurisdictions, and to receive all to favour who shall return and demand it within the aforesaid specified period of one month or six weeks from the date hereof. This letter was given at Thouars, under the great seal of the king, the 16th day of March, in the year 1464.

On this same day, the count de Nevers, lieutenant for the king of all the country between the Somme and the Oise, issued a proclamation throughout those parts, containing the same in substance as the letter of the king, ordering them to keep up a good guard, as otherwise they would answer for it at their peril. He also assembled the vassals of the crown, and put them in a situation to serve the king, under arms, when called upon: he likewise caused proclamation to be made, that all persons who had usually borne arms should keep themselves in readiness for the king's service when ordered, under the accustomed penalties. These proclamations were dated at Mezieres on the Meuse, the 16th day of March, in the year aforesaid.

The count de Charolois also wrote letters to the governor, mayor, and sheriffs of Arras, to say, that he had heard the lord de Croy and his friends were collecting a considerable force, and intended marching it away from the territories of the duke his father, and that they were united with his cousin, the count de Nevers, in their plans to invade and lay waste the said country: to both of which schemes he was determined to apply a remedy, and for this purpose now ordered them to have it publicly proclaimed within their districts, that no persons whatever should join or assist the said lord de Croy, or his said cousin of Nevers, without the express permission of himself, or of the said duke his father, under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of effects. These letters were dated the 25th of March, in the above-mentioned year.

[A.D. 1465.]

[CHAP. XXXVI.]

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY PARDONS HIS SON.—HE ORDERS A LARGE BODY OF MEN TO BE RAISED FOR THE ASSISTANCE OF THE DUKE OF BERRY AGAINST HIS BROTHER THE KING OF FRANCE.—OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED AT THAT TIME.

On Good Friday, a learned friar preached an excellent sermon before the duke of Burgundy and his household, at Brussels, on the blessings of mercy and pity, in order to induce the duke to pardon his son, the count de Charolois, for having offended him, which hitherto he had not been inclined to do. When the sermon was ended, several knights of the Golden Fleece approached the duke, and humbly entreated him, that, in consequence of the able discourse and reasoning of the preacher, he would pardon his son for having offended him,—so that on the morrow, Easter-eve, the count de Charolois came to his father about noon, and, falling on his knee, said in substance as follows: 'My most redoubted lord and father, I beseech you, in honour of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you would be pleased to forgive my having displeased you. What I did was for the preservation of my life, and of your dominions, as I will more fully detail hereafter.' Much more he said, to the edification and satisfaction of all who heard him.

The duke took hold of him by the elbow, and, looking him full in the face, said, 'Charles, my son, for all that you may have done to displease me to this day, I freely forgive you: be my good son, and I will be to you a good father.' In saying these words, the duke's eyes filled with tears,—and those of the company present were in a like situation, notwithstanding that there were there hardy knights, lords, and others out of number.

When the feasts of Easter were over, which commenced the year 1465, the duke ordered the three estates of his country to assemble at Brussels the 24th of April; and when they were met, he bade the bishop of Tournay read to them the letter he had received from the duke of Berry. He then told them, that it was his intention to raise the largest army he had ever done, to assist the duke of Berry, and that he should give the command of it to the count de Charolois, his son, who would require that it should be in readiness to march on the 8th day of May. This could not be done without a great expense; and for this purpose he demanded from the county of Artois eighteen thousand francs, and from his other territories sums in proportion to their abilities. The 12th of May was fixed on for the payments, when the county of Artois granted the eighteen thousand francs, and the other countries each according to its extent and wealth.

During this time, the count Louis de St Pol, his three sons, James de St Pol his brother, the lord de Ravenstein, nephew to the duke of Burgundy, the two bastards of Burgundy, sir Anthony de Baudoin, and almost all the knights and nobles, vassals to the duke in Artois, the Boulonnois, Hainault, Flanders, Brabant, Holland and Zealand, made their preparations to accompany the count de Charolois, and were in such numbers that they were estimated at four thousand combatants, consisting of fourteen hundred lances, eight thousand archers, and cross-bowmen, carbineers, and other warriors, not including those who attended the baggage, who were very numerous, each being armed with a leaden mace. In this army were none from Burgundy, as they were to form a separate body until they joined the count. They amounted to upward of six hundred lances, and other troops, under the command of the marshal of Burgundy, the prince of Orange, the lord d'Arqueil, the lords de Chargny, de Toulongeon, and other great barons of that country.

While these preparations were making, John de Longueval, captain of the archers of sir Anthony de Burgundy, having with him a body of troops, went and took possession of the towns of Arleux and Crevecoeur, which the king had formerly given to the bastard, but had since wrested from him.—He summoned the governor of the castle of Crevecoeur to surrender it amicably, or he would take it by storm; and the governor yielded it up, on having his life and fortune spared, and returned to his own country of Normandy. John de Longueval, having performed this exploit, left a sufficient garrison in each for its defence, and then returned to his other companions with the main army.

When the king of France was assured of this great force which the count de Charolois had raised, he dispatched his chancellor to Amiens, and to Abbeville, where he met the counts d'Eu and de Nevers,—and they issued a proclamation, in the king's name, for all who had been accustomed to bear arms to be in readiness to serve him; and every one was forbidden to bear arms, or to serve any other lord than the king, on pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of effects. Notwithstanding this, many of the knights and nobles of that country, who had always been attached to the house of Burgundy, joined the count de Charolois, leaving it to chance how they were to be treated for what they held under the king. There were others who served the king.

The count de Nevers, knowing that he was in the ill graces of the count de Charolois, sent divers messengers to bring about a reconciliation, but to no effect, for they were not admitted to an audience,—which caused many who served the count de Nevers, and were among the principal of his household, to abandon his service, and to withdraw themselves to the count de Charolois, to preserve his favour.

The count de Nevers, seeing himself thus abandoned, sent to entreat the lord de Saveuses to come and speak with him; but he would not comply, although he was requested by the count several times. But the count, having received information that the lord de Saveuses was to pass through Bray sur Somme, went himself to Bray, where he met him, and entered into a long conversation, to prevail on him to think of some means of making up the quarrel between the count de Charolois and him.

This good lord promised willingly to undertake the business, provided that he, the count de Nevers, would not bear arms for either of the parties, and that he would not introduce any men at arms, as a garrison, into Peronne,—and this he promised to perform. Now it happened, that while the count de Nevers was returning from Bray to Amiens, he received intimation from the inhabitants of Peronne, that the count de St Pol had drawn up his forces before that town, and had summoned them to surrender the place to the duke of Burgundy, or to his son, and that they had demanded three days' delay to give their answer. On receiving this intelligence, the count instantly departed from Amiens, in company with Joachim Rohault, marshal of France. These two noblemen had with them one hundred lances and two hundred of the king's archers,—and they entered Peronne, the 15th day of May, with five or six hundred horse.

It was the common report at that time, that the duke of Burgundy had given to his nephew, the count de Nevers, on his marriage, the lands and castlewicks of Peronne, Mondidier, and Roye, to enjoy during his life, or until they were redeemed for thirty-two thousand crowns of gold, or till he should have other lordships of, equal value to these castlewicks. The count maintained, that he held them in perpetuity, by grants from the king and the duke of Burgundy within a short time after he had entered upon them. But the count de Charolois said, that they now no longer belonged to the count de Nevers, he having since then received other and more valuable lordships, namely, the counties of Rethel and Nevers, with other lordships; from which he concluded that the duke, his father, was entitled to have the three before-mentioned castlewicks restored to him,—since, moreover, when his father had given them to the count de Nevers, it was without his consent, who was his only son and heir. The duke of Burgundy maintained, that he had only given these lands until they were redeemed, or until superior or equal lands should fall to the count de Nevers,—and that, if the count had deeds containing different terms, they were drawn up without his signature or seal.

The lord de Saveuses had exerted himself so effectually with the count de Charolois that it was generally believed that the quarrel between him and the count de Nevers would speedily be accommodated; but the intelligence that he had thrown into Peronne a large body of men at arms broke off the whole negotiation.

[CHAP. XXXVII.]

THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS TAKES LEAVE OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, AND MARCHES HIS ARMY AND ARTILLERY TOWARD FRANCE.—HE CROSSES THE RIVER SOMME, AND SUBJECTS TO HIS OBEDIENCE THE TOWNS OF NEELLE[38], ROYE[39], AND MONDIDIER[40].—HE BESIEGES BEAULIEU[41], AND CROSSES THE OISE.

On the 15th of May, the count de Charolois, hearing that his armies in Flanders and in Burgundy were quite ready to march, took leave of the duke his father at Brussels, who is reported to have thus addressed him: 'My son, act well your part in the business you are going upon, and take care of your health: prefer death to flight; and should you be in danger, you shall not long remain therein, if one hundred thousand more warriors can relieve you.'

The count, on taking his leave, went to lie at Quênoy in Hainault, where two embassies were waiting for him: one from Brittany, and one from the king of France. Of this last, the bishop of Mans, brother to the count de St Pol, was the chief; but they had not any great success,—and that from Brittany was soon dismissed.

On the morrow, the count advanced to Honnecourt, between Crevecœur and St Quentin, where he waited for his artillery, which was astonishingly numerous; for two hundred and twenty-six carriages had passed through Arras, from the castle of Lille, full of bombards, serpentines, crapaudeaux, mortars, and other artillery, besides other carriages with military stores from Brabant and Namur, that passed through Cambray. From Honnecourt, the count went to Roseil, two leagues from Peronne, where he staid some days, with all his army and artillery, from which conduct those in Peronne expected to be besieged,—but he had formed different plans. On the 4th of June, the count moved with his army from Roseil toward Bray sur Somme, when the inhabitants came out to offer him the keys of their town. The count de St Pol and the bastard of Burgundy then crossed the river with their men, and advanced to Neelle in the Vermandois, and made pretence of an instant assault, when it was surrendered, on condition that eight men at arms, who were within it, should depart in safety, with their horses and arms, and that the archers, amounting to about six score, should march away in their doublets or jackets, each with a wand in his hand. The lord de Neelle, however, who was found therein, was detained a prisoner.

The lord de Hautbourdin, bastard to the count de St Pol, marched a body of men at arms and archers to the town of Roye, which they made a similar pretence of attacking; but the inhabitants, fearful of the event, surrendered the place to him for the count de Charolois. On their entrance, they found there the countess of Nevers, to whom they offered neither insult nor injury, but afforded her every facility to retire whither she pleased. A few days after, she went to Compiègne, under the escort of the lord de Ravenstein and five or six hundred combatants.

Those of Mondidier surrendered their town, two or three days after, to the count de Charolois, in which was Hugh de Mailly lord de Boullencourt, a valiant and hardy knight, who had always been attached to the house of Burgundy, and he remained governor of the place with the approbation of the inhabitants,—for this town had ever been of the Burgundy-party.

While these towns were surrendering to the count de Charolois, the count de Nevers, fearing he should be besieged in Peronne, departed thence with Joachim Rohault marshal of France, the lord de Moy, and about two thousand combatants, thinking to enter the city of Noyon; but that was not so soon effected, nor until they had promised that their whole troop should not enter, and that they would not do, or suffer any mischief to be done to the inhabitants. Nevertheless, they all entered, and did mischief enough. It happened, that as some of the townsmen were lowering down the portcullis of the gate, it fell on a man at arms and killed him.

About the 15th of June, the count de Charolois left Roye, to besiege the castle of Beaulieu, a strong place belonging to the lord de Neelle. In the castle was a good garrison, who burnt the best part of the town round the castle, which was a pity, for the castle was afterward so battered by cannon that the garrison were glad to surrender on St John Baptist's day, on having their lives and baggage spared. During this siege, the lord de Hautbourdin found means to cross the Oise with a body of men in boats, and entered the town of Pont St Maixence before the inhabitants knew any thing of his coming. This body was part of the van of the count's army, under the command of the count de St Pol. The count de Charolois was with the main body,—and the bastard of Burgundy commanded the rear.

FOOTNOTES:

[38] Neelle,—a town of Picardy, three leagues from Roye.

[39] Roye,—a strong town, seven leagues from Peronne.

[40] Mondidier,—nine leagues from Amiens.

[41] Beaulieu,—near Noyon, in Picardy.

[CHAP. XXXVIII.]

THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS PASSES THE RIVER OISE, ADVANCES TO SAINT DENIS, AND DRAWS UP HIS ARMY IN BATTLE-ARRAY BEFORE PARIS.—THE COUNT DE SAINT POL GAINS POSSESSION OF THE BRIDGE OF SAINT CLOUD, AND CROSSES THE SEINE WITH HIS DIVISION OF THE COUNT'S ARMY.

When the count de Charolois heard that his van were in possession of Pont St Maixence, he advanced the remainder of the army thither, in order to cross the Oise. The inhabitants paid him every obedience, as lieutenant-general to the duke of Berry; and the count had it proclaimed in the name of the duke of Berry, whose lieutenant-general he styled himself, that he abolished all taxes, impositions and subsidies whatever, as he had before done at Mondidier, and in the other towns he passed through, to the great joy of the people.

The count entered the town of Pont St Maixence on the feast-day of St Peter and St Paul, and remained there for some days. He thence marched to St Denis, where he was joyfully received, as well in the name of the duke of Berry as in his own, for they could not make any resistance to him. He waited there, and between St Denis and Paris, with his whole army, the remainder of the month of June, for the arrival of the dukes of Berry, of Brittany, of Calabria, of Nemours, of Bourbon, and the other lords, who had mutually promised each other to meet there. The count, finding that none came, and that the time was elapsed for the meeting, and that his Burgundians, whom he daily expected, had not joined him, because the king's army kept them constantly in check, on the 8th day of July assembled his army, and marched in battle-array so near to Paris that they were plainly seen from the walls. To say the truth, considering the smallness of their numbers, it was the proudest army that could be seen.

Joachim Rohault left Paris to examine it the nearer, having kept on its flanks all the way from Beaulieu and other parts, to make an attack if he should espy a favourable opportunity, but found them always so well prepared that he dared not venture to attack them; and he was now forced to make a hasty retreat, to escape the light troops of the count,—for he would have been completely surrounded by them, had he not so speedily re-entered Paris. Instantly after his entrance, the count fired off two or three serpentines over the town which exceedingly frightened the inhabitants.

The count then, placing himself at the head of the three divisions of his army, halted near a windmill close by the town, which made those within Paris suppose an attack was about to commence; but it was not so, for, in like manner as he had done to other towns, he informed them, that his only object was the good of the kingdom,—that he had come thither at the prayer and request of the duke of Berry, who had promised to join him very shortly, and that his speedy arrival showed his eagerness to serve him. He added, that whatever the duke of Berry should do would be solely for the general welfare, and then summoned them to surrender to him as lieutenant-general to the duke of Berry,—but they would no way comply.

When Joachim Rohault had entered Paris, he met in the streets a canon from Amiens, called Jacques de Villiers, who, having finished his business there, was desirous to return. Joachim asked him whence he came, and whither he wanted to go: he replied, that he was from Amiens, and wanted to go back. Joachim then made him swear, that he would tell the count de Charolois, that he, Joachim, had lately received letters from the king of France, to signify to him for certain, that within four days the king would be returned to Paris, and would advance to meet the count, when it would be seen which was the stronger.

The canon kept his promise, and told the count, word for word, what Joachim had ordered him, while he halted at the windmill. The count replied, that he put no belief in what Joachim said, for before this he had told him things that were untrue.

Having displayed his force before Paris, the count marched his army to where the fair of the Lendit had been held, the booths for which were still standing, and had it surrounded by his baggage-waggons, of which he had an immense number, as well for the service of his artillery as that belonging to the other lords who had accompanied him. While the army was thus posted, the count de St Pol, commander of the van, saw a large boat full of hay going to Paris, which having taken, and emptied of the hay, he entered it, with the whole of his men, and passed over to gain possession of the bridge of St Cloud, which was surrendered by those who guarded it, on having their lives and fortunes spared.

The count de Charolois, on hearing this, ordered the whole of his army to advance thither, cross the Seine, and march for Estampes, in the hope of meeting there the dukes of Berry and of Brittany, who could not pass the Seine by reason of the king's army that was following them. The count crossed the Seine on the 15th of July; and, this same day, the count de St Pol advanced the whole of the van to Montlehery, where he fixed his quarters. Montlehery had a good castle, in which were a party of the royal army,—but neither party seemed inclined to attack the other. The count de Charolois remained with his, that night, within one league of Montlehery; and the bastard of Burgundy, who had the command of the rear division, was quartered in the rear of the count, two leagues from Montlehery.

The count de St Pol sent off scouts from Montlehery, as far as Chastres, three leagues on the road to Estampes, who met messengers from the king to the Parisians, ordering them to be prepared on the morrow to assist him in battle against the count de Charolois. These messengers were brought to the count de St Pol, and assured him that the king and his whole army were at this hour (eleven o'clock at night) at or near to Chastres. On hearing this, the count dislodged from Montlehery, and posted his division lower down, in a valley more toward Paris, and sent information of what the messengers had related to the count de Charolois, that he might instantly advance, or send him orders how to act, for that the king would certainly give him battle the next morning at daybreak. The count, having called a council, immediately after decamped to join the count de St Pol, and sent orders for sir Anthony of Burgundy to hasten the advance of the rear as much as possible, which he did, so that the count de Charolois, and his brother the bastard of Burgundy, formed a junction with the count de Saint Pol on the 16th day of July, in the valley below Montlehery, by sunrise, and there drew up in battle-array, to wait the arrival of the king of France.

The king, who had been engaged in the Bourbonnois, where he had taken several places, and destroyed much of the country, was informed, while there, of the conduct of the princes in raising forces, and held an army in readiness to oppose them. He was fearful lest the army from Brittany should join that of Burgundy, and thus become too strong and dangerous to combat; in consequence, he called the principal captains of his army to a council of war, to ask their opinion, whether he should first offer battle to his brother and the Bretons, or to the count de Charolois. Although their opinions were divided, the majority were for fighting the count de Charolois first; for if he succeeded in overpowering his army, he could with ease conquer his brother and the Bretons at any time, and even all the other lords of the confederacy; and it was the more advisable to fight now before the count was joined by the burgundian army, that had been kept in check, by a detached force from the army of the king. Notwithstanding the majority were for fighting the count de Charolois, the lord de Varennes, seneschal of Normandy, declared loudly against it. He said that he was of a contrary opinion, because he knew that the count de Charolois was not of a character to retreat, nor give up any point,—and that he was so much beloved by the Picards, and the others who formed his army, and who had been accustomed to war, that they would never desert him while they were alive: he was, therefore, for fighting the duke of Berry first, because he had with him some of the great captains who had served the late king Charles VII., and who, when they saw the king advancing in person, would not have the heart to combat against him, but most probably would turn to his side, and the remainder would be at his mercy. The seneschal was told, that his advice was the effect of fear; but he replied, that it was not,—and he would show plainly, if a battle took place, that he was not afraid, and that what he had said was purely from loyalty, in advising the king to the best of his abilities.

[CHAP. XXXIX.]

THE KING DETERMINES TO COMBAT THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS.—A BATTLE TAKES PLACE BELOW MONTLEHERY.—THE EVENT OF IT.

When the king had heard the opinions of his commanders, although they were various, he eagerly determined to combat the count de Charolois, and ordered all, under pain of death, to follow him. He made such diligence that, on the 14th of July, he marched his army, as well by day as by night, twenty-four leagues, and lay at Estampes. On the morrow, he advanced to Chastres, three leagues from Montlehery. On his march, he passed within seven or eight leagues of the army of the dukes of Berry and of Brittany, ignorant that his messengers, whom he had sent to Paris, were made prisoners, or that the count de Charolois was so near him. The king dislodged from Chastres on the 16th, before sunrise, and soon arrived near to Montlehery, whence he saw the enemy drawn up in battle-array below in the valley.

The king instantly formed his army into three divisions: the van was given to the command of the seneschal of Normandy, the son of the lord de Norenton, the lord de Barbasan, Malortie, Flocquet Salzart, and other captains: the main body was commanded by the king in person, attended by many of his great lords: and the rear division, consisting of seven or eight hundred men at arms, was given to the count du Maine: so that the king had in his three divisions, as was commonly reported, two thousand two hundred men at arms, or lances, the best appointed that ever men at arms were, for they consisted of the flower of the king of France's forces. There were also great bodies of archers and infantry, besides many that were ill mounted, and on foot, who had remained behind, but who always followed the train of the king.

The count de Charolois, observing the manner in which the royal army had been drawn up, formed his own into three divisions also. The first was under the count de St Pol,—the second he reserved to himself,—and the bastard, his brother, commanded the third; but he ordered them all into the line, closing his rear with the baggage-waggons, and pointing his artillery in their front. He ordered his archers to plant a sharp stake before them, to check the charge of the cavalry, if they should attempt to break their line,—and in this state they waited the attack of the king. This was not, however, the case; for the two armies remained, without moving, in their different positions for four hours, excepting some slight skirmishes of the light troops, who were within cross-bow shot of each other. As part of the count's army was too distant from the artillery, it was proposed by some to make their horses fall back, keeping their fronts to the enemy; but the lord de Hautbourdin disapproved of this manœuvre, and said, that were he to retire one step from the place where he was, it would be dangerous and disgraceful to him, and give the enemy courage to advance. In the mean time, different pieces of artillery were played off on both sides, to the destruction of numbers.

At length, the count de Charolois, fearful of the Parisians suddenly appearing to aid the king, and, by falling on his rear, attack him on all sides, and that, if he delayed the combat, his men would be starved from want of provision, consulted his principal officers, and resolved to begin the attack. They began their march in excellent order: one division by the side of a wood, the other by the village, and the center having the wood on its rear. The French, seeing this movement, made part of their army advance also, in front of the count's division, and crossed a ditch near the village; but the count's archers attacked them so fiercely with their arrows that they were glad to recross it, the count pursuing them into the village for some distance, having his banner beside him, which was borne that day by the lord du Boys.

While this was passing, and the count had appointed a large body of archers, with a certain number of men at arms to defend them, and to guard the passage against three or four hundred french lances, who were stationed at a breach waiting for an opportunity to break through the archers and attack the count's artillery, it happened that the men at arms, observing the French were repulsed, and that the count was pursuing them even into the village, left their guard and galloped after the count, when the French seeing the archers without any to support them, and neglectful of their stakes, charged them like lightning, and killed or wounded the greater part, which was the severest loss the count suffered on that day. Having routed these archers, the French advanced toward the baggage and artillery, and killed some more, and also made several prisoners; but those who guarded the baggage, armed with leaden mallets, rallied as soon as they could, and turning the carriages round, inclosed these French within them, so that they could not issue out,—and the greater part were knocked on the head with these leaden mallets. Those that did escape having made for the village, met the count and his men returning from it, who instantly charged them, and put the remainder to death,—so that all these French were slain, either by the baggage-guard or by the count's party, notwithstanding that a body of French had followed the count, and had gallantly fought with him.

At this return from the village, Philippe d'Oignies[42] was slain by the side of the count, who was wounded himself in the face, and in great danger of having his throat cut in the confusion of the fight; for when the count had driven the French through the village, the whole rear-guard of the king's army, under the command of the count du Maine and the admiral of France, fled, together with others, to the amount of seven or eight hundred lances,—and they had fled with such haste that they left behind them baggage and armour, although no one was pursuing them. The lord du Boys, observing this, had eagerly advanced with the count's banner, beyond the village, thinking that he was following him, and was made prisoner,—for the count had returned, as has been said, from the village.

On the other hand, when those from Busse had overcome the count's archers, more than a fourth part of his army took to their heels, namely, the lord de Haplaincourt, the lord d'Aymeries, the lord d'Inchy, the lord de Robodenghes, and several more; but when this last had fled about two leagues, he met a herald, who told him that the count had the best of the battle,—upon which, he returned, and made a great many others do the same, who joined the count very opportunely, for he was incessantly rallying his men, and fighting more valiantly than any other knight in the field, encouraging his people by telling them that he would conquer or die—so that, by his valour and exhortations, the van of the king's army was routed and the rear put to flight.

In this conflict, and at its very commencement, were slain on the king's side, the high seneschal of Normandy, Flocquet, Geoffroy La Hire, and other valiant men at arms, to the number of three or four hundred lances. On the part of the count were slain, the lord de Hames, sir Philip de Lalain, and a few more men at arms, but very many archers,—and there were prisoners made on each side.

The king encouraged his men to the utmost of his power, and showed great personal courage; but when he saw his men repulsed, he retreated to the village,—while the count remained on the field, rallying his men, and forming them in proper array, for he was expecting every moment that the king would renew the combat. But this he did not do, and remained in the village from eight o'clock, when the battle ended, until sunset, more vexed than can well be imagined, making inquiries after such as had remained with him, and after those who had run off,—when, on summing up their numbers, he found that those who had fled greatly exceeded those who had staid with him.

Very many of the count's men had hidden themselves in the hedges and wood, but returned, by two and three at a time, and joined their army, which had kept together, expecting the battle would be renewed. In truth, this battle was very hazardous to both parties,—and we must allow, that it was through the mercy of God that the count de Charolois obtained the victory, for his army was not nearly so numerous as that of the king; and had none ran away on either side, the event would have been more disastrous and mortal,—but God, of his goodness, would not suffer it, for which may his Name be praised!

In a very melancholy state did the king of France remain in the village until sunset, and thence went for Corbeil, six leagues distant, and arrived there at ten o'clock at night with few attendants, for the greater part of them had fled; and although no pursuit was made after them, many fled as far as Amboise, saying, in every place through which they passed, that the king was killed, and his army totally defeated.

FOOTNOTES:

[42] Philippe d'Oignies. 'Some call him Gilles. He was lord of Brouay and of Chaunes, son to Anthony and Jane de Brimeu, and grandson to Baudouin d'Oignies, governor of Lille, Douay and Orchies, and of Peronne. He married Antoinette de Beaufort, by whom he had Philippe d'Oignies, father to Louis, knight of the king's orders, and count de Charnes.'—Godefroy.

[CHAP. XL.]

THE CONDUCT OF THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS AFTER THE VICTORY HE HAD GAINED OVER THE KING OF FRANCE.—THE CONSEQUENCES OF IT IN DIVERS PLACES.

The count de Charolois remained with his army all night on the field of battle, thinking the king was in Montlehery, and that he would renew the battle the ensuing day. It was not until sunrise that he heard of the king's departure, when he entered the village with his army, and found the cellars filled with dead bodies, which the royalists had thrown therein, that the numbers of their dead might not be known.

Before the commencement of the battle, the king had sent three heralds to Paris, who, on their arrival there about mid day, summoned the people to arms throughout the city,—and ordered every person capable of bearing arms to march without delay to Montlehery to assist the king, who was engaged in battle with the count de Charolois. Notwithstanding this proclamation, very few marched out, but Joachim Rohault, marshal of France, who was then in Paris, with five or six hundred men at arms. They indeed sallied out on horseback, and advanced to St Cloud, which they found defenceless; for those who had been posted there by the count de Charolois had fled on seeing the lords de Haplaincourt and d'Aymeries, with others in great numbers, who told them that the count had been defeated. The marshal, therefore, took possession of the place without resistance, and made prisoners all who fled that way from the battle, and carried them to Paris. The burgundian lords above mentioned thought to have crossed the Oise at the Pont de St Maixence; but they found there the lord de Mouy, governor of Compiègne, with the garrisons of Creil, Senlis, Clermont, Crespy, and other places, in great numbers, who had assembled there on hearing that the king had gained the victory, and had besieged the bridge on the side leading to Montlehery.

The inhabitants of Pont St Maixence firmly believing that the king was victorious, from the flight of the above-named lords who had gained the town, surrendered, on having their lives spared, at the very first attack. The lords d'Aymeries, d'Inchy, and several more, were taken in the town: the lord de Haplaincourt was made prisoner in the open country, and carried to Paris,—and no man of note who had fled escaped death or imprisonment: only some poor adventurers were so lucky as to get off without either happening to them, but in very miserable conditions. Of those that were carried to Paris, several were executed, or drowned in the Seine.

At the attack on St Maixence, a gentleman of the king's party, called Jeannet de Grouches, whose brother was with the count de Charolois, was killed by a ball from a cannon.

When the count de Charolois was assured that the king had retreated to Corbeil, he caused proclamation to be made, by sound of trumpet, that if any one required a renewal of the battle, he was ready to accommodate him: he then had the dead buried,—and had the bodies of sir Philip de Lalain, the lord de Harnes, the lord de Varennes, and others, interred in a chapel near to Montlehery; but, soon afterward, some persons came from Paris with passports, to demand of the count the body of the lord de Varennes, and, with his permission, carried it to Paris, where it was handsomely interred in the church of the Franciscans. He was very much lamented by all who were acquainted with his many excellent qualities.

After the king had remained a day or two at Corbeil, he went to Paris, on the 18th of July,—and he came thither by the side of the river, near to St Denis, attended by a small company, not consisting of more than about one hundred horse; but soon after, and daily, there came to him, in Paris, the count du Maine, admiral of France, and his other captains, with men at arms in such abundance that the town and the fields on the river side were full of them. The count de Nevers came to the king at Paris, but staid a very short time, and then returned to Peronne.

When the king had sojourned some time in Paris, he sent the bishop of Paris, a wise and prudent prelate, to the count de Charolois, to negotiate a peace between the king and the princes. On the bishop's appearing before the count, he said, that the king had sent to know what had moved him to enter his kingdom with so large an army; and that the king informed him, that when he went into the countries of his father, he was not accompanied by a great army, but by very few attendants. The count instantly replied to the bishop, and said, that two things had moved him thus to enter the kingdom: first, to keep the engagement made under his seal with the other princes of the blood-royal, namely, to meet together with their forces near Paris, for the general welfare of the kingdom, on St John Baptist's day last past. Secondly, to secure the bodies of two men who were supported in the kingdom,—and that he had brought so large an army with him for the safety of his person, which, in his proper country, as heir to his father, had been attempted by poison, by the sword, and by endeavouring to carry him off to a foreign country: he therefore had determined to come with a sufficient guard for his safety. In answer to what the king had said, that, when he visited his father, he did not come with a large army, he replied, that at that time he had not the power to come with such a force; and that he had been received nobly, magnificently, and peaceably in those countries, where no attempts had been permitted to be made against his life or personal liberty, although such had been intended.

The count added, that he had not entered France with any design of mischief, but for its general welfare, and had strictly enjoined his men to pay for whatever they might want, without aggrieving any one. 'In regard,' continued he, 'to the force I have brought with me, I wish it to be known to all, that I am a man able and desirous to punish my enemies, and to assist my friends.'

The bishop, having received this answer, returned to the king at Paris.

[CHAP. XLI.]

THE DUKES OF BERRY AND OF BRITTANY MEET THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS AT ESTAMPES, WHERE THEY ARE ALSO JOINED BY THE DUKES OF BOURBON, OF CALABRIA, AND OF NEMOURS, WITH THE COUNT D'ARMAGNAC AND OTHERS OF THEIR CONFEDERATION.—THE KING OF FRANCE LEAVES PARIS FOR ROUEN.

The count de Charolois, having remained on the field of battle, and in Montlehery, so long as he pleased, marched his army toward Estampes, to wait for the dukes of Berry and of Brittany, who arrived there the 21st of July, with ten thousand combatants and others well appointed. The count de Charolois advanced to meet them, and great joy was there on this event. They afterward entered Estampes together.

While these things were passing, the count de Charny, who had left Burgundy with fifty lances to aid the count de Charolois, would not put himself under the orders of the marshal of Burgundy, commander in chief of that army, and took a route for himself. He was watched by a detachment from the king's army, and made prisoner,—but his men escaped, and saved themselves as well as they could.

About eight days after the arrival of the dukes of Berry and Brittany at Estampes, the dukes of Bourbon and Nemours, with the count d'Armagnac came thither with a fine army,—and were soon after followed by the duke of Calabria with a handsome company, among whom were some Suisses, unarmed, but bold and enterprising. At length, the marshal of Burgundy arrived with six hundred burgundian lances, many dagger-men, but few archers. All these lords would have come sooner, had they been able; but they were so closely followed by the king's army that they were afraid to hazard the event: it must likewise be supposed that they were now more emboldened to attempt a junction, as the count de Charolois had opened a passage for them.

They now took the road toward the provinces of Beauce and Gâtinois, for the more easy procuring forage,—and all the towns through which they passed opened their gates to the duke of Berry. On the other hand, the king went from Paris to Rouen, to recruit his army, and to put under arms all his vassals, and every sort of person capable of assisting him against the rebellious princes.

After the confederates had refreshed themselves in Beauce and in Gâtinois, they were daily hoping the king would advance and offer them battle; but finding that he was gone to Rouen, they made a bridge at Moret,[43] and crossed the Seine,—then, marching through Brie, passed the Marne by the bridge of Charenton, and quartered themselves near to Paris. The dukes of Berry and Brittany were lodged at Charenton; the count de Charolois in the castle of the count de St Pol at Conflans,—and the van division was posted between Conflans and Paris, while the bastard of Burgundy was quartered with the rear division between Conflans and Charenton.

The dukes of Berry and Brittany afterwards moved their quarters from Charenton to St Maur and Beauté, and round the wood of Vincennes, on the side next the river. The duke of Calabria, with the others, namely, the Burgundians, the Armagnacs and the Nemours, remained in Brie, on the opposite side of the river,—and they might amount to about five thousand combatants.

During these movements, the count de Charolois regained possession of the bridge of St Cloud, which the royalists had abandoned immediately after the battle of Montlehery. He then caused Lagny sur Marne to be taken, and bridges thrown over the river, for the more easy communication of the two divisions of the army, and to besiege Paris, in which was the count du Maine and other captains; but their men were so numerous that they were quartered in the villages on the other side of the Seine, and in blockhouses and small forts which they had erected for quarters.

On these bridges being completed, a detachment of the princes' army crossed the river, and advanced so near to Paris that there was but a ditch between them and the royalists, when frequent skirmishes took place, in which many on each side were often killed, wounded, or made prisoners. Among others was slain the son of sir Simon de Lalain, much regretted by the count de Charolois's army.

One day, the princes summoned the town of Paris to surrender, and open its gates to the duke of Berry, regent of France, otherwise they would destroy all their vineyards, houses, and villages, round about, and then attack the town with their whole force. The Parisians required a short delay to give their answer; during which, they sent off intelligence of this summons to the king at Rouen, and to signify to him, that, unless he would come to their relief, they would be obliged to surrender.

The king, on receiving this news, collected as many men as he hastily could, and made such diligence that he entered Paris the 28th of August. Three days after, he sent the bishop of Paris, with others of his council, and great lords, to the princes, who procured from them a truce for some days; during which, a place was appointed between Paris and Conflans to hold a conference,—and a handsome tent was there pitched for the reception of the deputies on each side, that they might consider on the best means to bring forward a treaty to the satisfaction of all parties.

FOOTNOTES:

[43] Moret,—a town of Gâtinois, on the river Loing, about a league from the Seine.

[CHAP. XLII.]

THE VARIOUS ACCOUNTS OF THE SUCCESS OF THE BATTLE OF MONTLEHERY THAT WERE REPORTED IN DIVERS PLACES.

Of those who fled from the battle of Montlehery at the beginning of the engagement, and could not know the event, some crossed the river Oise, and proclaimed that the count de Charolois had been totally routed: others passed by Compiègne, one of whom told the count de Nevers, that indeed the van of the royal army had been thrown into confusion at the beginning, but that the king was victorious,—and that the count de St Pol and the lord de Hautbourdin were slain. He said, that he was ignorant whether the count de Charolois or his brother, the bastard, were killed or taken.

This news was immediately written to the duke of Burgundy, by the governor of Mondidier; and as the messenger passed through Arras, the intelligence of the count's defeat was soon spread all over the country, which caused much sorrow and lamentation,—for they were ignorant how to act.

When the lord de Saveuses heard it at Corbie, he set out for Bray sur Somme, and told the lord de Roubais, the governor, to guard it well,—and, if he had not a sufficient garrison, he would send him men enough. He then departed for Bapaumes, attended by about twenty archers; but at first he was refused admittance, which so irritated him that he said, if they did not instantly open the gate, he would enter by force. On hearing this, they admitted him. This refusal surprised many, for Bapaumes legally belonged to the duke of Burgundy, as part of the county of Artois.

From Bapaumes, the lord de Saveuses went to Arras, where he assembled the inhabitants, and remonstrated with them on the necessity there was for the well guarding the town, and to raise men for the defence of the country, and succour their lord with the utmost possible diligence,—offering, that if they would lend him twenty thousand francs on the security of his lands, he would immediately employ them to subsidize troops for the assistance of the count de Charolois, and for the security of the country. Notwithstanding this generous offer, he could not find any one that would lend him money on these or on other terms: he, however, assembled as many men as he could,—so that they amounted to four or five hundred, horse and foot, well equipped.

For these exertions, the duke of Burgundy sent him letters-patent, appointing him governor general of all Artois, and ordered the whole of the towns within the castlewick of Lille to send to him every man capable of bearing arms,—by which means, in less than fifteen days, he had with him more than two thousand combatants, but the greater part were infantry.

The lords de Roubais, de Fosseux, and others who had the guard of Bray, having heard of the proceedings of the lord de Saveuses, abandoned Bray, and joined him, who blamed them much for having quitted their garrison, so that several of them returned thither in less than eight days, when different intelligence was brought them.

The governor of Compiègne no sooner heard of the defeat of the count de Charolois than he assembled a body of troops, and took the town of Sainte Maixence, and thence went to attack Roye; but the lord du Fay, the governor, defended it so valiantly that they made no impression, and lost many of their men,—but on their marching off, they said they would soon return again with a larger force. This caused the garrisons of Roye and of Mondidier to send in haste to the duke of Burgundy for succour,—when the lord de Saveuses sent them as many men as he could spare, having detachments at Bray and elsewhere.

While these things were passing, the rivers Seine and Oise were so strictly guarded by the French that no one could cross them with letters or baggage without being stopped and plundered by them,—so that by this means no true intelligence of the battle of Montlehery was known until some carmelite monks and preaching friars had passed these rivers in a boat, and brought the real history of the event of this engagement, by publishing that the count de Charolois had gained the honour and victory!

[CHAP. XLIII.]

THE KING OF FRANCE FORMS AN ALLIANCE WITH THE LIEGEOIS, TO MAKE WAR ON THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY AND THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS.—THEY BESIEGE THE TOWN OF LUXEMBOURG.

A little before the battle of Montlehery, namely, in the month of June, the king of France sent an embassy to the Liegeois, the ancient enemies of the house of Burgundy, to conclude an alliance with them, that they might make war on the duke of Burgundy and on his son the count de Charolois. The terms of the treaty were, that, between the feasts of Saint James and Saint Christopher, the Liegeois were to enter the countries of Brabant and Namur, belonging to the duke of Burgundy, and to do all the mischief they possibly could, as in times of war. The king, on his part, was to assist them with two hundred men at arms, each having three horses at the least, and invade Hainault,—promising them, at the same time, never to make peace with the duke or his allies without their assent, and without their being comprehended in the treaty: for the fulfilment of this, it was commonly reported that the king had given his engagement under his hand and seal.

Of all these negotiations the duke of Burgundy was fully informed; and about the 22d day of August, as the duke was mounting his horse in the city of Brussels to go a-hunting, a herald delivered to him letters from the Liegeois, containing, in substance, that they defied his son the count de Charolois with fire and sword, and waited an answer. The duke, after perusing the letters, gave them back to the messenger, and bade him carry them to his son.

Hearing this answer, the herald returned to Liege, and, shortly after, came back with defiances from the Liegeois to the duke and to all his allies. They were not long before they marched from Liege and entered the duke's territories, committing every sort of mischief, and advanced to lay siege to the town of Luxembourg. The duke, when informed of these proceedings, sent in haste to his friends and allies, namely, the dukes of Cleves and of Gueldres, his nephews, the count of Nassau, the marquis of Rothelin, the count of Horne, and to others bordering on the territories of Liege, who raised a large army, and the duke himself would have gone personally to command it; but when the Liegeois saw the power of the duke so great, notwithstanding the army his son had in France, and that the king had failed in his engagement to send two hundred lances to invade Hainault, they broke up their siege, and marched back to Liege.

During this time, the duchess of Cleves, daughter to the count de Nevers, came to the duke of Burgundy at Brussels,—but three days passed before he would see her. She was then admitted to his presence, and, falling on her knees, with tears, most humbly implored him to take pity on her father and on herself; for that, if her father was ruined, she must also suffer, as well as her three fine sons by the duke of Cleves; acknowledging, at the same time, that every thing her father and herself possessed came from his bounty, who had educated and raised them so high that it was notorious to every one.

The duke was so much affected by this speech that his eyes were filled with tears; but he replied, 'Your father has ungratefully repaid what he has received from this house. I sent to tell him to depart from Peronne, and to go into his county of Nevers, or into the Rethelois, and there remain until I should have induced my son to be satisfied with him,—but he has done neither, and has armed himself against my lord of Berry, and against my son, doing every thing in his power to oppose them. He keeps possession of my inheritances of Peronne, Mondidier and Roye, as if they were absolutely his own; but it is not so,—for he holds them for a sum of money, the repayment of which was offered him, but he would not accept it. I know not if he intends seizing my other inheritances in the same way; but he shall not have them,—for, if it please God, I will guard them well.' On saying this, he left the lady.

Three or four days afterward, the duke of Cleves came to Brussels, to speak with the duke, having left his troops in garrison on the borders of Liege. He had not been with the duke for some time, on account of these family quarrels. The good duke received him most kindly, and entertained him handsomely, as he well knew how to do; for he had with him the duchesses of Bourbon, of Cleves, of Gueldres, and other ladies.

In the month of June of this year, about six score houses were burnt in the town of Ardres; and it was commonly said, that it had been done through the wickedness of persons sent thither by the chancellor or others of the party of the king of France, and who were to attempt the like throughout the dominions of the duke of Burgundy. Some of these incendiaries were taken at St Omer, but the rest escaped out of the country.

It was full fifteen days after the battle of Montlehery, before the duke of Burgundy received a true account of the event; for no one dared to mention the reports until the event was certainly known, lest he should have a relapse of his late illness, from which he was not perfectly recovered. When, therefore, he was fully ascertained of the truth, he sent a large sum of money to his son for the pay of his troops, under the escort of the lord de Saveuses, accompanied by all his men, as well cavalry as infantry. He brought it very safe to the count at Conflans, in company with the lord de Hautbourdin, who had been sent with a strong force, for greater security, to meet him at Mondidier,—for the French had intended to attack and plunder him; but on their junction, they durst not meet them.

The lord de Saveuses, on approaching Conflans, drew up his men in order of battle, and thus waited on the count, who received him most joyfully, and took great pleasure in seeing the old warrior so well and so handsomely armed,—telling him, that he would have given forty thousand crowns if he had been with him at the battle of Montlehery.

[CHAP. XLIV.]

THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF DINANT[44] INSULT THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS WITH MOCKERIES.—THE KING OF FRANCE MEETS THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS AT CONFLANS.—THE DUKE OF BOURBON TAKES THE TOWN OF ROUEN.

In the mean time, the inhabitants of Dinant, mortally hating the duke of Burgundy and his son, trusting to the strength of their town, and to their riches, and calling to remembrance, that, although they had been besieged seventeen times by kings and emperors, the place had never been taken, but that they had for a long time pillaged and robbed their neighbours, more particularly the subjects of the duke of Burgundy, and had increased their wealth daily by the riches they brought into the town; foolishly believing in the first news brought them of the defeat of the count de Charolois, determined in their folly to show their old envenomed hatred to the house of Burgundy, by dressing up a resemblance of the count de Charolois in his armour, and carrying it to the town of Bovines hard by, which belonged to the duke of Burgundy as parcel of the county of Namur. They were in great numbers, and in arms, and when they were near to the walls of Bovines, they erected a gibbet, and hung thereon this figure of the count de Charolois; shouting out to those in the town, 'See here, the son of your duke! that false traitor the count de Charolois, whom the king of France will have hanged as you see his representative hanging here. He called himself the son of your duke: he lied,—for he was a mean bastard, changed in his infancy for the son of our bishop, the lord de Haisenberghe, who thought to conquer the king of France.' Many other villainous expressions did they use against the duke of Burgundy and his son, menacing their countries with fire and sword.

By this outrageous and childish conduct, they greatly offended the good duchess of Burgundy, mother to the count de Charolois, who was alway reputed to be the most modest and chaste woman that was in the land of Portugal. When, therefore, these things were told to the duke and the count de Charolois, they were much angered,—and the son swore, that he would make them dearly pay for it, as indeed happened very shortly after.

While the confederated princes were surrounding Paris, the king left the city in a boat, accompanied by about twenty persons, and rowed down to Conflans, where the count de Charolois was posted. The count, on hearing of the king's approach, went to meet him, when they embraced each other like old and loving friends. A conversation ensued between them; but I know not what passed, except that, shortly after, the count wrote to his father, to say that the king had been to see him, and had used very kind expressions in conversation. The king, on his departure, told the count, that if he would come to Paris he would give him a handsome reception; but the count replied, that he had made a vow not to enter any great town until he was on his march home. He then escorted the king back, attended by his archers, to whom the king gave fifty golden crowns to drink together.

During this truce, the lord de Croy and his friends were at Paris, and laboured most diligently to make their peace with the count de Charolois: even the king exerted himself greatly in their favour,—but the count would not listen to nor hear talk of it, as the lord de Croy had once accompanied the king to Conflans; but the count de Charolois ordered him not to come thither again. The king made frequent visits there; and several secret conversations passed between him and the count, to whom the king showed the greatest appearance of affection and regard, which the truest friend could show another, frequently sending back to Paris his guards, and remaining with the count with few attendants, saying, that he thought himself fully as safe when in his company as if he were in the city of Paris.

While these things were passing, it happened that the governor of the castle of Boulogne sur mer, in conjunction with a sergeant, sold this castle to the English of Calais and Guines, and was to give them possession thereof on the 28th day of August, while they set fire to the lower town, and during the confusion the English were to be admitted. The sergeant, however, told their plan to a companion of his, who betrayed them, and they were both instantly arrested, and, on the fact being proved, were beheaded, the 2d day of September following, and their bodies hung on a gibbet.

It was these two who had found means to displace the son of the lord de Croy from his command in the castle, and replace him with those attached to the count de Charolois, who, on this account, had given them all the effects of the said de Croy that were in the castle. He had also promised them other great favours: nevertheless, they had betrayed him also.

In the month of August, in this year, king Henry VI. of England was taken prisoner by a party of king Edward's. He was mounted on a small poney, and thus led through the streets of London, when, according to the orders of Edward, no one saluted or did him the least honour,—for it had been forbidden, under pain of death. He was carried to the tower of London, in the front of which was a tree, after the manner of a pillory, round which he was led three times, and then confined in the tower. This proceeding troubled many of the citizens of London,—but they dared not show any signs of it, nor open their mouths on the subject.

Toward the end of September, the Bretons took the town of Pontoise, during the night, by means of the governor and other accomplices. The duke of Bourbon also entered the castle of Rouen with a body of men at arms, under pretence, and in the name of the duke of Berry. He placed therein the widow of the late lord de Varennes, in whom, however, the king had great confidence,—and the principal persons in the town had advised her going thither. Shortly after, the duke went to the town-house, where the commonalty waited on him, and submitted themselves to his obedience, on behalf of the duke of Berry, as their lord and duke of Normandy. The duke then went to the other towns in the duchy, as far as Caen, who all surrendered to him for the duke of Berry.

During this time, a destructive warfare was going forward in the countries of the duke of Burgundy and Liege, which were alternately overrun and plundered, more especially by those of Dinant,—so that it was a pity to see the great mischiefs that ensued. Those from Dinant were one day met by a party of Burgundians, who put them to the rout, with great slaughter, and some little loss on their side. Those that escaped made all haste back to Dinant, and, on their return thither, to revenge themselves, ran to the town-prison, in which were three burgundian prisoners, whom they led out, to hang them on the first tree they should find without the town. One of them offered his vows to St James the apostle, when the cord broke, and he escaped unhurt! Instead of him, they seized a youth from Arras, the son of Martin Corneille, as he was returning from his studies; and if some among them had not remonstrated, that, instead of hanging him, they might force his father to pay a large sum for his safety, he would infallibly have been put to death.

FOOTNOTES:

[44] Dinant,—a town of the bishoprick of Liege, on the Maes, 16 leagues from Liege.

[CHAP. XLV.]

THE DEATH OF THE COUNTESS DE CHAROLOIS.—THE COUNT DE NEVERS IS MADE PRISONER IN THE CASTLE OF PERONNE.—THE LIEGEOIS ARE DISCOMFITED AT MONTENAC.[45]—THE TREATY OF CONFLANS, BETWEEN THE KING OF FRANCE AND THE CONFEDERATED PRINCES.

On the 25th day of September, in this year, the countess de Charolois departed this life in the town of Brussels. She was the daughter of the late duke of Bourbon, and a good and devout lady. She left behind only one child, a daughter, named Mary, and had always the grace to be humble, benignant, and full of the best qualities a lady could have, and was never out of humour. The duchesses of Burgundy and Bourbon were present at her decease, and were in great grief for her loss.

A Burgundy-gentleman, named Arkembarc, had made frequent visits to the count de Nevers, in Peronne, for the space of a month, having passports from the lord de Saveuses and from the king: he had likewise been with the count de Charolois and the duke of Burgundy, to find means for the count de Nevers to surrender Peronne. It is to be supposed that there was some secret treaty entered into between them,—for on the 3d day of October, at four o'clock in the morning, the said Arkembarc accompanied by the lords de Roubaix and de Frommeles, and from five to six hundred combatants, advanced to Peronne as secretly as they could.

When he came near the town, he left his companions, and, attended by only twelve persons, approached the bulwark on the outside of the castle, which he entered by scaling ladders, and making prisoners those within, by their means entered the tower and dungeon of the castle. They there found the count de Nevers, the lord de Sally, and some others in bed, whom they laid hands on as day broke; but the count and his companions began shouting so loud that they were heard in the town, and the garrison hastily advanced in arms to enter the castle,—but before this, from sixty to four score of the duke's men had followed their companions into the castle, and, mounting the battlements, harangued those below, declaring they were the duke of Burgundy's men, who had sent them thither, and they now summoned them to surrender the town to the duke. The garrison and townsmen retired apart, to confer together, and, toward the evening, answered, that they were willing to obey the duke, and opened their gates to the lord de Roubaix and all his men.

Thus was the town of Peronne taken, and restored to the obedience of the duke of Burgundy. It was currently reported, that the count de Nevers had wished it to be thus managed, that it might appear to the king, to whom he had sworn allegiance, that it had been won without his consent: it was also added, that it was upon this condition he had made up the disagreements between him, the duke of Burgundy, and the count de Charolois. Whatever truth may have been in these rumours, the count de Nevers was carried a prisoner to Bethune, and Arkembarc remained governor of the town and castle of Peronne.

The 15th of this month of October, about five in the morning, the heavens seemed to open, and the brightest light appeared, resembling a bar of burning iron, of the length of a lance, which turned round, and the end that was at first very thick became suddenly thin, and then disappeared. This was seen, for more than a quarter of an hour, from the town of Arras.

On the 19th of the same month, about eighteen hundred combatants, on the part of the duke of Burgundy, entered the territories of Liege, under the command of the count de Nassau, the seneschal of Hainault, the lords de Groothuse and de Gasebecque, sir John de Rubempré grand bailiff of Hainault, and other knights and esquires. They burnt and destroyed the whole line of their march until they came near to the large village of Montenac, situated five leagues from the city of Liege, and which the Liegeois had fortified and garrisoned with a force of four thousand men, then within it.

These Liegeois, observing the Burgundians march so near, without making any attempt on the place because it was fortified, sallied out, and posted themselves where the duke's men must pass, with the intent to offer them combat. They surrounded themselves on all sides, except the front, with their baggage-waggons,—and there they drew up their artillery in a very orderly manner.

The duke's men, observing their enemies thus posted, and ready for battle, held a council, and determined to attempt drawing them from their strong position, and, in consequence, pretended to retreat from fear. The Liegeois seeing this manœuvre, and mistaking it for fear of them, instantly quitted their post, and began to pursue them. But matters turned out differently from what they had thought; for the duke's men wheeled about, and instantly attacked them with such vigour that they were immediately discomfited and put to flight, leaving dead on the field more than twenty-two hundred men; and as the duke's party lost but one archer, it was a splendid victory to them.

During this time, the king of France remained in Paris, and the confederate princes around it, while the negotiators on each side were busily employed in establishing a treaty of peace between them. This was at length accomplished, in manner following, which I shall relate as briefly as I have been able to collect the articles.

First, it was ordered, that to remedy the grievances of the realm, and to ease the people from the heavy exactions they had borne, the king should appoint thirty-six of the most able and discreet persons of his realm, namely, twelve prelates, twelve knights, and twelve counsellors, well informed as to law and justice, who should have full powers and authority to inquire into the causes of the grievances complained of, and to apply a sufficient and permanent remedy to prevent such in future; and the king promised, on the word of a king, that he would put into execution all that they should recommend on this subject. They were to commence their examinations on the 15th day of the ensuing December, and to finish the whole within forty days afterwards.

Item, all divisions were now to be at an end,—and no one was to be reproached for the part he had taken on either side, nor was any one to suffer for his late conduct. Each person was to have restored to him whatever had belonged to him before open hostilities commenced, notwithstanding any acts to the contrary.

Item, the count de Dunois was to be repossessed of all the lands the king had taken from him.

Item, the count de Dammartin was to have again his county of Dammartin, and all other his lands which the king might have given away as confiscated.

Item, the count d'Armagnac was to have again the lands the king had seized.

Item, the duke of Bourbon was to have all his towns, castles, and lands, which the king had conquered, restored to him; and he was, besides, to receive an annual pension of thirty-six thousand francs, on account of his marriage with the king's sister, and to be appointed captain of the gens d'armes on the king's establishment.

Item, in consideration of the king having failed in his engagements with the duke of Calabria, respecting the conquest of Naples, he was to receive the sum of two hundred thousand golden crowns, and to have the command of three hundred lances of the gens d'armes on the king's establishment.

Item, the duke de Nemours was also to have the command of two hundred of the said lances, and to be appointed governor of the Isle de France.

Item, the count de St Pol was constituted constable of France; and the king invested him with his sword of office, with his own hand, publicly in the palace at Paris.

Item, the duke of Berry, only brother to the king, was to have given him, as his appanage, the duchy of Normandy, for him and the heirs-male of his body, to hold in the same free manner as the dukes of Normandy had anciently held the same from the kings of France; that is to say, by fealty and homage; and thenceforward the dukes of Brittany and Alençon should hold their duchies from the duke of Normandy, as they had done in times passed.

Item, the count de Charolois should have restored to him all the lands which had been repurchased by the king from the duke his father, together with the county of Guines, to be enjoyed by him and his heirs-male, in the manner as shall hereafter be expressed.

Item, the king promises, by this treaty, never to constrain any of the said princes to appear personally before him, whatever summons he may issue, saving on such services as they owe to the king on their fidelity, and for the defence and evident welfare of the kingdom.

Item, all such towns, castles, and forts as may have been taken during these said divisions, on either side, shall be instantly restored to their right owners, with all or any effects that may have been taken from them.

When these matters had been fully settled, each of the princes received letters-patent from the king, confirming all the articles that concerned each personally.

FOOTNOTES:

[45] Montenac,—a village of Messin, near Metz.

[CHAP. XLVI.]

A ROYAL EDICT RESPECTING WHAT THE KING OF FRANCE HAD CONCEDED TO THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS BY THE TREATY OF CONFLANS.

'Louis, &c. Whereas by the advice and deliberation of our said brother of Normandy, and of our very dear and well beloved cousins the dukes of Brittany, Calabria, Bourbon, Nemours,—the counts du Maine, du Perche, and d'Armagnac,—the presidents of our court of parliament, and other able and well informed persons of our realm, we have given, conceded, and yielded up, and by these presents do give, concede, and yield up to our said brother and cousin the count de Charolois, in consideration and in recompence of what has been before stated, and also because our said cousin has liberally and fully supported, as far as lay in his power, our said brother, and the other princes of our blood, in the settlement of the late divisions, and for the restoration of peace, for him and his heirs, males and females, legally descended from him, to enjoy for ever the cities, towns, fortresses, lands, and lordships, appertaining to us on and upon each side of the river Somme,—namely, Amiens, St Quentin, Corbie, Abbeville, together with the county of Ponthieu, lying on both sides of the river Somme, Dourlens, St Ricquier, Crevecoeur, Arleux, Montrieul, Crotoy, Mortaigne, with all their dependances whatever, and all others that may have belonged to us in right of our crown, from the said river Somme inclusively, stretching on the side of Artois, Flanders, and Hainault, as well within our kingdom as within the limits of the empire,—all of which our said uncle of Burgundy lately held and was in the possession of, by virtue of the treaty of Arras, prior to the repurchase we made of them,—comprehending also, in regard to the towns seated on the Somme on the side nearest our kingdom, the bailiwicks and sheriffdoms of these said towns in the same form and manner as our said uncle was possessed of them, to be enjoyed by our said brother and cousin, and by their legal heirs, males and females, descending in a direct line from them, together with all the revenues, domains, and taxes, in the same manner as enjoyed by our said uncle, without retaining to ourself any thing, excepting the faith, homage, and sovereignty, as lord paramount of the same.

'This mortgage we have made, and do make, in consideration of the repayment of the sum of two hundred thousand golden crowns of full weight, and of the current coin, and which neither we nor our successors shall be enabled to recover again, by repayment of the said two hundred thousand crowns, from our said brother and cousin during their natural lives; but it may be lawful for us, or our successors, to recover these lands from the direct heirs of our said brother and cousin, or from their heirs descending in a direct line, who may be in the possession of them, on paying back the said sum of two hundred thousand crowns. For the security of our being enabled to make such repurchase, our said brother and cousin shall deliver to us letters-patent, in due form, for the better confirmation of the same; and we will and understand that our said brother and cousin, and their legal heirs, that may be in the possession of these territories, shall have full powers to nominate and appoint, at their pleasure, all and every officer that shall be necessary for the government and regulation of these said towns and countries; and that such officers as shall be necessary for the collecting of all royal taxes, aids, or impositions, shall be nominated by us, at the recommendation of our said brother and cousin, and their heirs, as was done during the time our said uncle of Burgundy held these towns and countries.

'Whereas, by the treaty of Arras, it was agreed, among other articles, that the county of Boulogne should remain to our uncle of Burgundy, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten,—and whereas our late lord and father bound himself to recompense all who claimed any right to it,—we, for the causes and considerations before mentioned, and without derogating from the treaty of Arras, confirm the above article respecting the county of Boulogne, and declare that our said brother and cousin, their heirs, male or female, lawfully begotten by them, shall hold, during their lives only, the said county of Boulogne, in the form and manner specified in the treaty of Arras, and that they may reap the same advantages from it as if it were their own proper inheritance. And we engage to make those consent to the same, who may claim any right to the said county, and give them such compensation as we shall judge proper, so that our said brother, cousin, and their heirs, shall have peaceable possession of the same.

'We have also promised, and by these presents do promise, our said brother and cousin, that we will cause to be frankly and freely delivered up, as far as in us lies, and we restore, from this instant, the castles, towns, castlewicks and provostships, of Peronne, Mondidier and Roye, with all their dependances, discharged of whatever debts or mortgages may have attached to them, in the same full manner as they were given to our said uncle by our father, in consequence of the treaty of Arras, to enjoy the same in like manner as they were enjoyed before, according to that article in the said treaty; and we will procure that our very dear and well beloved cousin the count de Nevers, shall surrender to our said brother and cousin the right he lays claim to respecting these towns, castles, &c. and that he shall give possession of the same into the hands of our said brother and cousin, or to any commissioners appointed by them. In addition, we have likewise conveyed to our said brother and cousin the county of Guines, as a perpetual inheritance for them, their heirs and successors, to hold and enjoy all rights, taxes, and other emoluments within the same, as and in like manner with the preceding. In respect to any claim on this county made by the lord de Croy, or others who may pretend to such, we engage to satisfy the said lord de Croy and the others, on this head, and to assure to our said brother and cousin the possession of the said county, free from all let or hinderance on the part of the lord de Croy and all others.

'All the above articles we have promised, and do now promise, punctually to perform, on our royal word,' &c.

This ordinance was published at Paris, on the 5th of October, in the year 1465, under the great seal of France, and registered by the parliament on the 11th of the same month.

At the end of this ordinance, the king commands all his judges and other officers to see that these engagements and conveyances are carried into full and speedy effect,—and at the beginning of it were stated the causes and reasons which had moved the king to make such concessions to the count de Charolois.

First, to recompense him for the very great expenses he had been at to raise so great an army to join his brother, the duke of Berry, for the welfare of the kingdom.

Secondly, to appease the discords and divisions then existing between the king and the princes of his realm, in which the count de Charolois had greatly exerted himself.

Thirdly, because, in consequence of these divisions, the Liegeois had raised a considerable force, and had invaded the dominions of the duke of Burgundy, and had done great mischiefs.

Fourthly, respecting the repurchase of the towns and lands on the Somme, that had been mortgaged to the duke of Burgundy, who considered himself entitled to the enjoyment of this country, notwithstanding the repurchase, and that the king had taken immediate possession of the same.

And, lastly, to recompense the count de Charolois for the pension of thirty-six thousand francs, which the king had given him and afterward taken from him.

From all these considerations, the king had made such great concessions to the count de Charolois by the treaty of Conflans; and, in addition, at the request of the said count, the king had increased the jurisdictions of the provostships of Vimeu, of Beauvoisis, and of Fouilloy,[46] to avoid any disputes that might arise between the king's officers and those of the count, as these provostships are included within the bailiwick of Amiens, for the count and his heirs to enjoy on similar terms with those before specified, by letters under the great seal, dated Paris, the 14th day of the same month of October, and enregistered by the parliament on the 16th.

Thus were the quarrels between the king and the princes appeased.[47]

FOOTNOTES:

[46] Fouilloy,—a village in Picardy, near Corbie.

[47] When Louis XI. was asked, how he could make such concessions, and sign a treaty so prejudicial to the interest of the crown, he replied, 'that it was in consideration of the youth of my brother of Berry,—of the prudence of my fair cousin of Calabria,—of the sense of my brother-in law of Bourbon,—of the malice of the count d'Armagnac,—of the great pride of my fair cousin of Brittany,—and of the invincible army of my fair brother of Charolois.'

Proofs to Comines, No. 65.

The chamber of accounts protested against this treaty of Conflans. There are many very curious papers respecting the history of this period in the Proofs to the Memoires de Comines.

[CHAP. XLVII.]

THE KING IS PRESENT AT A REVIEW OF THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS' ARMY.—THE COUNT TAKES LEAVE OF THE KING, AND MARCHES HIS ARMY AGAINST THE LIEGEOIS.—THE DUKE OF BERRY DOES HOMAGE TO THE KING FOR THE DUCHY OF NORMANDY.

When this treaty was concluded between the king and the princes of France, they one day assembled together in the castle of Vincennes, wherein the lord de Saveuses was, for that day, lodged by orders from the count de Charolois, when Charles, the newly-created duke of Normandy, did homage to the king for that duchy; after which the other princes did homage for what each had individually obtained from him in lands or honours,—after which they took their leave of the king, and of each other, to return to their homes.

When these ceremonies were over, the count de Charolois made a review of his men at arms and other troops, as the king wished to see them,-and for this purpose they were drawn up between Conflans[48] and Paris. The king, on seeing them, was astonished, and could not refrain from saying, that he did not imagine the count de Charolois had been so powerful, or had such handsome and well-appointed men at arms.

The review being over, the count took leave of the king and the other princes, and departed from Conflans, the last day of October, with his whole army; but the king would accompany him, in spite of his entreaties to return, as far as Villiers-le-bel.[49] The king had very few attendants; but what was more, they remained together in this village three or four days, making good cheer, and discoursing secretly on their private affairs. The king showed the utmost possible affection for the count, and it was with difficulty that he parted from him.

At length the king returned, and the count proceeded to Senlis, wherein he was most honourably received, and thence to Compiègne and Noyon, where, and in all the other towns of France he passed through, the same honours were shown him,—for such had been the king's orders, and he was to be admitted with whatever company he pleased. He did enter with such a large body that he was superior to any of their garrisons; but his men paid regularly for every thing they wanted, without doing the smallest damage,—for such were the count's commands, on pain of death to all who should act to the contrary.

While the count de Charolois was at Conflans, he received several letters from the duke of Burgundy, to send him five or six thousand combatants to join those whom he was collecting to march against the Liegeois; for that his intention was to command them in person, and offer the Liegeois battle, which made the count the more anxious to leave France, to assist his father and revenge himself on those of Dinant, who had insulted him so grossly, as has been before mentioned.

In consequence of the treaty of Conflans, several of the lords of his army had left him and disbanded their men; but he issued his summons throughout the dominions of his father the duke, for those who had been with him in France, and all others accustomed to bear arms, to John him at Mezieres, on the Meuse,[50] the 15th day of November next, in arms, and as well mounted as possible, under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of effects, whither the count marched with the remainder of those who had accompanied him to France. On the day appointed, the gens d'armes of the states of the duke of Burgundy appeared round Mezieres; but several came thither much against their wills, for they had been badly paid for their expedition to France: of the twenty-two weeks they had there served, they were only paid for seventeen; but they dared not complain, so much was the count redoubted and feared.

There was now in and about Mezieres a larger and better appointed army than had ever been in France; for the large towns under the dependance of the duke sent thither archers and cross-bowmen,—and there repaired thither several knights and esquires of those countries that had been redeemed from the crown of France, and other warriors who had not been of the late expedition, and even some who had been in the late quarrels of the king's party against the count de Charolois.

FOOTNOTES:

[48] Conflans—is on the Seine, six leagues from Paris.

[49] Villiers-le-bel. Q. Villiers-le-basele? in the Isle of France, near Paris.

[50] Mezieres, on the Meuse,—a strong city in Champagne, five leagues from Charleville.

[CHAP. XLVIII.]

THE ENTRY OF THE DUKE OF BERRY INTO ROUEN.—THE KING OF FRANCE GOES INTO NORMANDY AND RETAKES POSSESSION OF THAT DUCHY.—HE CAUSES SOME OF THE LORDS OF THAT COUNTRY, WHO HAD SUPPORTED HIS BROTHER, TO BE EXECUTED AND DROWNED.

When the confederated princes had separated at Conflans, Charles the new duke of Normandy, accompanied by the duke of Brittany, the count de Dunois, and other lords, set out to visit his duchy of Normandy, and went first to Mont St Catherine, above Rouen; for the whole of the country, as has been said, had submitted to his obedience. He was advised to make his public entry into Rouen on the feast of St Catherine,—and the inhabitants had made great preparations for his reception.

The duke of Brittany, however, for some private reasons, had the entry deferred, which much displeased the inhabitants of that town; and finding that the duke had not given any orders for so doing, they assembled in arms, and went to their new duke in a numerous body, to request that he would instantly make his entry into their town. The count de Harcourt, then his principal adviser and favourite, urged him to comply with their request without farther delay; which he assented to, whether the duke of Brittany would or not, and followed the townsmen into Rouen, where he was grandly feasted, to the great vexation of the duke of Brittany, who could not at that time prevent it,—for he had not then his men at arms with him, and was forced to dissemble. He was so much enraged that he departed for Brittany with those he had with him; and, on going away, they carried off the bedding and sheets of the good people where they had been lodged, as if they had been in an enemy's country.

They seized also some of the towns in Normandy, wherein the duke left a party of his men to guard them,—and among others, he took possession of the town and castle of Caen, where he placed a larger force to guard and defend the castle.

On these things coming to the king's knowledge, he hastily assembled as many men as he could, and marched first to Caen, which was surrendered to him by the duke of Brittany; and shortly after, all the other towns in Normandy surrendered to the king, excepting Rouen, Louviers, Pont de l'Arche, and some castles. The new duke resided at Rouen, where those who had received him as their lord had promised to stand by him until death; but the duke perceived clearly that they would not long keep their promises; and for that reason he quitted the town of Rouen, and sought an asylum with the duke of Brittany, who received him with kindness.

Soon after the departure of the duke, those of Rouen surrendered to the king,—and their example was followed by Pont de l'Arche and Louviers; so that the whole of the duchy of Normandy was repossessed by the king, notwithstanding the promises he had made to his brother in the treaty of Conflans.

The king recalled to his person the duke of Bourbon, and attended more to his opinion than to that of any other prince. As soon as he found himself master of Normandy, he began to persecute such as had been of the party of his brother, and had supported him: among others was the lord d'Esternay, whom he caused to be arrested and drowned. This lord had been, during the late reign, general of Normandy, and was exceedingly beloved for his wisdom and moderation,—and he had not his equal in the whole country for devotion. Many other lords the king caused to be executed or drowned, so that several quitted their country, abandoning their houses and estates for fear of his tyranny,—and the king was greatly blamed for these measures by all who heard of them.

[CHAP. XLIX.]

THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS ENTERS THE COUNTRY OF LIEGE WITH HIS ARMY.—THE LIEGEOIS DEMAND AND OBTAIN A TRUCE,—BUT, ALTHOUGH A PEACE IS MADE, IT DOES NOT LAST LONG.

The Liegeois, hearing of the peace concluded between king Louis and the count de Charolois, imagined that they were included in the treaty; but when they learnt the contrary, and that the count was marching an immense army against them, they sent a grand embassy to the duke of Burgundy at Brussels, offering to make great reparations for what they had done. They supplicated, in all humility, for peace with him and the count de Charolois, and were so urgent that they obtained from the good duke a truce for fifteen days.

At this moment, the count de Charolois was at St Tron,[51] a large town belonging to Liege, which surrendered to him as soon as he came before it. On receiving information of this truce, he caused proclamation to be made throughout his army, that no one should do any damage to the territories of Liege, on pain of death, notwithstanding that his men had not received their pay: they were, therefore, obliged to forage the country of the duke of Burgundy that lay nearest at hand, and it suffered very much from it. They even spread as far as Lorraine and other distant countries, to seek provisions,—for so large an army could not otherwise have existed without money.

On the expiration of the fifteen days, the truce was prolonged for eight more, then for another eight days, and at last to the 12th day of January; which caused the adjoining country to be sorely pillaged and devoured, for it was daily overrun for so long a space of time. The count de Charolois, perceiving that the Liegeois were only seeking delays, and did not perform what they had promised, collected his army, and entered the territory of Liege, and wrote to the duke his father to send him as many reinforcements as he could, for that he now intended to combat the Liegeois.

The duke instantly sent back to him the lord de Saveuses with all his men, and wrote him word, that he would shortly join him in person, and that he desired he would not give battle until he should arrive. As the duke was preparing to set out for the army, notwithstanding the severe illness from which he had scarcely recovered, his son wrote him word, that the Liegeois had come to him with a treaty, such as he approved of, sealed with their city-seal,—that they implored his mercy, and begged he would be satisfied with them,—that he had accepted the treaty, provided it were his good pleasure to ratify it. The duke, on receiving this news, remained quiet at Brussels.

On the 20th of January, the Liegeois, knowing that the count de Charolois had entered their country with his army, and that his van, under the command of the count de St Pol, was far advanced, sent from four score to a hundred of the principal persons of the country to wait on the count de Charolois, well mounted and well armed for fear of several who had been banished their city, and other evil-disposed persons, who only wished for war, and hindered the completion of a peace. They met the count between St Tron and Tongres,[52] two good towns belonging to the Liegeois, and presented to him the treaty such as had been agreed to by the city of Liege, and sealed with their seal: the deputation offered, at the same time, to answer with their lives for the consent of the other towns to this treaty.

The terms of this treaty were precisely what the duke of Burgundy and his son had insisted upon,—and the deputies, on their knees, besought the count's mercy and pardon, promising, that henceforward the inhabitants of the whole country would be his faithful servants and good neighbours.

The count, having examined the treaty, accepted it on consideration of the great sums they were to pay by way of recompensing the damages done, and forgave them. The sum for damages was six hundred thousand florins of the Rhine, which they were to pay the duke in the course of six years; and the duke of Brabant and all future dukes of Brabant were to be their mainbrugs, or governors of the whole country of Liege, with a yearly salary of two thousand florins of the Rhine. The Liegeois were not in future to undertake any measures of weight, without having first obtained the consent of their mainbrug. Many other articles were inserted in the treaty, which I omit for the sake of brevity; but, notwithstanding, they soon after broke this treaty, without keeping any one article of it.

The count de Charolois having acceded to the requests of the deputies, peace was proclaimed throughout his army,—and the whole was ordered to appear before him, on the morrow, near to Tongres. This was done that the deputation might see his army in battle-array, to inspire them with fear of his power, and thereby check any future rebellion. The army, when drawn up on the following day, delighted and astonished the ambassadors and those who had come from St Tron, Tongres, and other towns to see it, for they never could have imagined that the count would have been able to raise such a force at once. In truth, according to common report, this army consisted of upwards of twenty-eight thousand horse, not including the infantry, which was very numerous, although many had returned home with leave, and without leave, in default of being regularly paid.

When the army was thus drawn up, the count rode along the line, thanking most courteously all the captains and men at arms, begging they would hold him excused for having so badly paid them, for that he could not now have avoided it,—but he would make them full amends at another time by more regular payments, so that every one should be satisfied.

Addressing himself to the poorer cavaliers, he asked if any of them had been banished the countries of the duke his father, and desired such to come to him at Brussels, when he would make representations of their case to his father, and they should be allowed to return. Saying this, he took his leave of them, and went from St Tron to Hasbain,—and the troops were dismissed to their several homes.

FOOTNOTES:

[51] St Tron,—on the lower Meuse, fourteen miles north west from Liege, the capital of the country of Hasbain.

[52] Tongres,—in the bishoprick of Liege, on the lower Meuse.

[CHAP. L.]

AFTER THE TREATY CONCLUDED AT SAINT TRON, THE INHABITANTS ATTEMPT TO MURDER THE MEN OF THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS, BUT ARE OVERPOWERED.—THE COUNT RETURNS TO HIS FATHER AT BRUSSELS.—THE KING OF FRANCE RAISES A LARGE ARMY,—IN CONSEQUENCE OF WHICH, THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS PUTS HIMSELF ON HIS GUARD.

One Sunday after peace had been made with the Liegeois, and while the count de Charolois was in St Tron, detachments of his army were passing through that town on their road homewards; when the inhabitants, thinking the whole were passed, sought a quarrel with a body of the men at arms attached to the bastard of Burgundy, and killed two of them. Having done this, they closed the gate by which these detachments entered from Tongres, and guarded the others. This conduct seemed as if they intended to put to death all of those who were in the town; but the gens d'armes forced the gate, and marched straight to the market-place, where they formed themselves in order, to resist the mob of the town, who had there assembled with a great noise. They soon drove this mob before them, who fled for safety,—not, however, without having had nineteen or twenty of their companions killed.

Had not the count been timely informed of what was passing, and given proper orders for checking his men, they would probably have destroyed all the inhabitants, and plundered the town; for they were then beginning to break down doors and windows, and enter the houses: however, they lodged themselves wherever they pleased, and took whatever provisions they found within them.

Some of the townsmen, who had begun this riot, had retreated into a kind of fortified house, wherein they were besieged, and at length taken, when the riot ceased. This happened on the 22d day of January, in the year 1465.

The count de Charolois, on leaving St Tron, went strait to Brussels, where he was received by the duke his father with as much joy as ever father received a son. When they had remained some days together, the count set out on a pilgrimage to Boulogne, which he had vowed to perform on foot; and on his return to Brussels, he went to Ghent, Bruges and Saint Omer,—and in all of these towns he was received with the greatest honours. While he was at St Omer, the count de Nevers came to him, and asked his pardon for whatever he might have done to offend him, which was fully granted; and they remained together some time, when the count de Nevers was so much restored to the count's good graces that, on his departure, the count de Charolois wrote to the officers of the different towns he was to pass through, to show him the same honours and attention as if he had come himself in person,—and this was done in all the towns he came to.

From St Omer, the count de Charolois went to Boulogne, and thence to Rue, to Abbeville, to Amiens, to Corbie and to Peronne,—in all which places he was most honourably received, although several of these towns were dissatisfied that they no longer belonged to the king of France.—During the stay he made at Peronne, he was informed that the king was raising a greater army than he had ever done, and that it was marvellous the quantity of artillery he had cast: he had even taken the bells from some steeples to have them cast into serpentines and other artillery. At the same time, the king was writing the most affectionate letters to the count, as to his dearest friend; but the count did not put too much confidence in these appearances, always suspecting the changeful temper of the king. In consequence, he had it proclaimed through his father's dominions, that every one that had been accustomed to bear arms should be ready to join the king on the 15th day of June, in Normandy, to oppose the landing of the English, who would then attempt it with a considerable army.

This was the report the king had caused to be spread over the realm, and that the English were making great preparations to invade the duchy of Normandy the ensuing summer, although he knew to the contrary; but his projects were pointed at other objects than what was generally imagined. He had sent the bastard of Bourbon to England some time before, and, by means of a large sum of money given to the English, had obtained a truce between the two nations for twelve months.

The count, nevertheless, had a conference with the English at St Omer, whither he sent his bastard-brother of Burgundy, as his representative, to meet the earl of Warwick and other lords from England, to obtain the alliance of the king of England and the english nation, should the king of France make war upon him, as, from his preparations, was too apparent.

[A.D. 1466.]

[CHAP. LI.]

THE LIEGEOIS IN DINANT BREAK THE PEACE, AND RECOMMENCE THE WAR AGAINST THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.—DINANT IS BESIEGED AND BATTERED WITH CANNON.

Between Easter and the middle of August, in this year, so many marriages took place in the county of Artois, and the adjoining countries, that the like was not heard of in the memory of man.

Early in this year, those of Dinant, tired of the peace which they had obtained by their humble solicitations from the duke of Burgundy, and having their courage puffed up by those more inclined to war than peace, suffered many evil-disposed persons, that had been banished, to return to their town, who were eager for all kinds of mischief. They soon after sallied out of Dinant, and overrun and pillaged many villages in Hainault and Namur, which they afterward burnt, violated churches and monasteries, committing, in short, every wickedness.

The duke of Burgundy, on hearing this, instantly ordered a greater assembly of men at arms than he had ever before made, to be at Namur on the 28th day of July. But notwithstanding the summons was so pressing, the men at arms delayed as much as possible to equip and prepare themselves; nor did they offer to assist in mounting their poorer brethren, being doubtful of the expense, and remembering, that in the preceding campaign, they had been badly paid. The duke was told of this backwardness while at table, the beginning of July, and was so much vexed that in his passion he kicked the table from him, saying, that he saw clearly how much he was governed, and that he was no longer the master; for that he had paid last year for the army upwards of two hundred thousand crowns from his treasury, and he knew not how they had been spent. The more he spoke, the more angry he grew, insomuch that, at last, he dropped to the ground, from rage and apoplexy. It was, for three days, thought that he could never recover, but it happened otherwise.

He then issued another summons, commanding all to obey it instantly, on pain of death. While this was passing, the count de Charolois was at Peronne, and had renewed the tax on salt, which he had abolished on his march to France, to the great joy of the people; but this renewal changed their joy to grief, and caused great discontents, because the count had ordered the arrears of this tax, during the year it had been abolished, to be collected.

The duke of Burgundy was busily employed in his preparations to march the army against Liege, and had ordered copies of the sentence of excommunication which the pope had given against those of Dinant to be stuck against the doors of all the churches throughout his dominions.—This excommunication had been issued against those of Dinant, their allies and accomplices, as a punishment for the numerous evils they were daily committing, contrary to the treaty of peace, and for their disobedience to the holy apostolical see.

By this sentence, the pope gave permission to the duke of Burgundy and his allies to punish them and force their obedience,—for the doing of which, they would obtain a full pardon for their sins, as ministers of the church. In this sentence, the pope had forbidden divine service to be performed in the churches of Dinant.

Nevertheless, those in Dinant, obstinate in their wills and opinions, and disobedient to the commands of the head of the church, constrained their priests to perform divine service, and to chaunt the mass as before; but, as some priests would not act contrary to the positive interdict of the pope, they drowned them.

Just as the duke's army was ready to march to Dinant, the bastard de St Pol, lord de Hautbourdin, who, like the others, was fully prepared for this march, was suddenly taken ill,—and the disorder became so serious that he died of it, which was a great pity and loss, for he was valiant and prudent, and one of the best warriors the duke had in his army, handsome above all others, and a knight of the Golden Fleece.

Toward the beginning of August, the duke of Burgundy's army was ready to march to Namur, according to the orders he had issued for all who loved him to follow him thither. This was the largest army that had been seen, for it was more than as numerous again as that which had marched to France: indeed, common report said, they were upwards of thirty thousand who received pay.

The principal nobles in it were the count de Charolois, the count de St Pol constable of France, the lord de Ravenstein, the three sons of the count de St Pol, the two bastards of Burgundy, the count de Nassau, and so many barons, lords, knights and gentlemen, that it would be tiresome to name them all. The marshal of Burgundy was also there, but in his private capacity, for the army of Burgundy had remained at home. The duke of Burgundy would likewise be present, and went from Brussels to Namur on the 14th day of August.

The army soon marched from Namur toward Dinant, where a skirmish ensued in the suburbs of that town, between about three hundred of the Burgundians, commanded by the count de Charolois and the marshal of Burgundy, and the townsmen, who sallied out to the attack. This was renewed twice or thrice, but the townsmen were always repulsed. It was horrible to see the engines that were used in the town, although they killed none, and three or four of the townsmen were slain.

The count de St Pol, sir James his brother, with numbers of other lords, advanced on the other side of the Meuse in all diligence,—while the lord de Saveuses was posted at Bovines, a tolerably good town in the county of Namur, about half a league from Dinant.

News was brought to the army, that the Liegeois had mustered their forces, which amounted to full forty thousand combatants, of whom they had sent four thousand to Dinant, and had boasted in Liege, that if Dinant were besieged, they would raise the siege or die in the attempt.

On the 18th of August, the whole of the burgundian army moved toward Dinant, having their baggage in the center. The lord de Cohen bore the standard of the bastard of Burgundy, who commanded the van, the count de Charolois having the main body under his orders,—and the count de Marie, grandly attended, had charge of the rear battalion. On its near approach to Dinant, the garrison briskly played off their artillery, while a detachment made a sally, and set fire to a large farm-house above an abbey; but they were roughly treated on their return: they hastened to the town as quickly as they could, and abandoned their suburbs, so that the duke's men were near entering the town with them. In this manner were the suburbs of Dinant won, although inclosed by a ditch and good walls as strong as those of a town. In these suburbs was a handsome church of the Franciscans, a nunnery, a parish church, and beyond them an abbey of white monks.

In gaining this advantage, the count de Charolois lost not more than five or six men. When these suburbs had been won on the side toward Bovines, those in the town lost no time to set fire to those on the opposite side, before the count de St Pol could advance thither, and made it impracticable for any lodgement to be made there. On the following night, the count de Charolois fixed his quarters in the abbey of white monks, and had a bombard pointed against the gate of the town; and within the inclosures of the Franciscans a large detachment was posted, who kept up a good guard during the night. This bombard battered the gate so well that it broke it down,—but the inhabitants lost no time in walling of it up with stones and bags of earth. In another quarter, the constable, who was quartered on the river side, below the mountain, battered down with his artillery a corner tower that terminated that side of the wall.

[CHAP. LII.]

DINANT IS FORCED TO SURRENDER TO THE WILL OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.—THE TREATMENT IT RECEIVES, FOR A PERPETUAL EXAMPLE TO OTHER TOWNS IN A LIKE SITUATION.

On the ensuing Tuesday, all the walls of the abbey of the Franciscans, and the other inclosures, were thrown down, to erect a battery against the town; and the artillery was briskly played on both sides. Four of the count de Charolois' men were killed by arrows from the walls, and among others the master-cannonier of the bombard, as he was picking up a rod from the ground. The burgundian army now advanced nearer the walls, and the count de Charolois posted himself at the Cordeliers, only a stone's cast from the gate,—and this day the duke his father came from Namur to Bovines.

Provision was now so dear in the army that a twopenny loaf sold for twelve pence, and other food in proportion,—and they were forced to go three or four leagues to seek forage for their horses.

The batteries having been completed, the town was summoned to surrender to the duke of Burgundy; but they within replied, that they had no such intention, continuing their abusive language against the duke and his son even more than before. Speaking of the duke, they said, 'What has put it in the head of that old dotard, your duke, to come hither to die? Has he lived long enough to come and die here miserably! and your count, little Charley, what! he is come to lay his bones here also? Let him return to Montlehery and combat the king of France, who will come to our succour: do not think that he will fail, in the promise he has made us.—Charley is come hither in an unlucky hour: he has too yellow a beak; and the Liegeois will soon make him dislodge with shame.'

With such villainous language did the Dinanters address the duke and his son,—and they made use of many other expressions tiresome to relate, and which they incessantly continued, proceeding from bad to worse. Those of Bovines, as good neighbours, sent letters to Dinant before the siege commenced, to advise them to surrender to the duke, before a siege took place; but, out of spite, they had the messengers who brought these letters publicly beheaded.

Notwithstanding this outrage, those of Bovines, desirous to save them, sent an innocent child with other letters to the magistrates, by which they again admonished them to make their peace with the duke before he approached nearer, to avoid the evil consequences that would inevitably follow their obstinacy. The wicked people, instead of listening to such friendly counsel, put the innocent child to death, from spite to the duke and the townsmen of Bovines. Some say, that, in their rage, they tore the poor child limb from limb.

Other outrages and insults they had committed before they were besieged; but when they knew that a siege would commence, once, in particular, they went in a large body to Bovines, and over the town-ditch, which was stinking, and full of all kind of filth and venomous creatures, they threw a plank, on which they seated an effigy of the duke of Burgundy, clothed in his arms, bawling out to those in Bovines, 'See! here is the seat of that great toad your duke!' Of this and many other villainous insults on the father and son, they were duly informed, which only served to irritate them the more, and to make them the more eager to take vengeance on such wicked people.

When the batteries began to play on the town, which they did in a most terrible manner, for three or four hours together, neither man nor woman therein knew where to shelter themselves. The smoke was so thick, and the fire so terrible, that it resembled a hell, and very many were killed by the balls. In the mean time, the duke had constructed, at Bovines, two bridges of wood, to throw over the Meuse, to surround and attack them on all sides.

On Friday, the walls and towers were so greatly damaged that eight of the principal inhabitants came, under passports, to the army, hoping to negotiate a peace,—but they could not succeed. On the Saturday, it was ordered, that every man should be prepared to storm the town on the morrow, and provide himself with a faggot to fill the ditches. But when the day arrived, the duke would not have it then stormed, but ordered the batteries to continue their fire. This was so severe that the garrison now despaired of their lives, and fled. The inhabitants would now have surrendered, on having their lives spared, but the duke would not grant it! At this moment happened an unfortunate accident, by a spark falling into a barrel of powder, which had been left uncovered. The explosion killed twenty or thirty of the count's men, and burnt or wounded many more; but they afterward recovered.

The bishop of Liege, then resident at Huy,[53] sent information to the duke his uncle, that thirty or forty thousand men had left Liege, with the intent to raise the siege of Dinant, and advised him to be on his guard. The duke, on this, called a council of war,—and he was advised to storm the town before the Liegeois could come to its relief; and orders were given to this effect, although it was about five o'clock in the afternoon.

The townsmen, however, fearful, from the demolition of their walls and towers, that they could not make any defence, if stormed, and that, if they were taken, they would be all put to death, surrendered to the duke, bringing the keys to the bastard of Burgundy, who sent them to the count de Charolois,—but he would not receive them until he had had the consent of his father.

This same night, the bastard of Burgundy took possession of the castle of Dinant, which was delivered up to him. The marshal of Burgundy and other lords took possession of the different gates, and, with their men, entered the town, which they guarded that night. The count de Charolois would have entered the place on the morrow, at mid-day; but he wished first to know the intentions of his father concerning it, and would have waited on him for that purpose; but he was advised to the contrary, as he was told the duke had resolved to destroy it!

The count, on hearing this, abandoned the town to plunder, when a scene of the greatest confusion ensued; for each wanted to save the pillage to himself, and to guard it in his respective quarters; but the strongest had the advantage, and murder and every sort of misery were now exhibited throughout the place. Each made his host prisoner, although he had been robbed before of his whole fortune,—and immensely rich was the plunder made, for Dinant was one of the most wealthy and strongest towns in all those parts; and this enormous wealth was the cause of its ruin, for it had filled the inhabitants with pride and insolence, so that they feared not God, nor the church, nor any prince on earth,—and this may be supposed to be the cause why God suffered them to be thus punished.

The Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday were wholly employed in plundering the town,—and boat-loads of effects were on the river,—and the streets were crowded with waggons full of goods,—and every man was carrying off on his back all that he could bear. Many of the men at arms gained riches enough to support them for three or four years. Inquiry was then made after those in the town who had been the most forward in their insulting language to the duke and his son. Some were discovered, who were tied back to back, and thrown into the Meuse, where they perished. The count ordered the chief cannonier of the town to be arrested, and hung on the mountain above the church, and those who had been most culpable in renewing the war to be drowned in the river.

From the moment the town had been given up to pillage, the count de Charolois had it proclaimed, that whoever should violate a woman should be instantly punished with death; but, notwithstanding this, three were arrested, and found guilty of this crime. The count ordered them to be marched thrice along the ranks, that every one might take warning from them,—and then they were hanged on a gibbet. He swore, at the same time, that should any others be guilty of the like crime, whether noble or not, they should suffer a similar punishment, which prevented any woman, in future, being forced against her will.

The count ordered all the women and children out of the town, and had them escorted as far as the city of Liege; but it was most melancholy to hear and see their pitiful lamentations, on being driven from their town, and there was no heart so hardened but had compassion on them.

On Friday, the 28th day of August, when the town was quite emptied of its wealth, and the houses and churches unroofed, and the lead carried away, a fire burst out at the lodgings of the lord de Ravenstein, near to the church of our Lady, about an hour after midnight; but it was not known whether it had happened accidentally or had been done on purpose, to force the men at arms out of the place, or to burn such as remained. The count, however, ordered it to be extinguished by all who could assist, and great exertions were made to accomplish it; but, in the mean time, it spread to the town-house, in which was a magazine full of powder, that caught fire, and exploded with such force as to break through the roof of the church of our Lady; but, as this was arched with stone, the fire did not extend rapidly,—and some relics, and the ornaments of the church, were saved: all of them that came to the count's knowledge he had carried to Bovines,—for many had been stolen and taken away before he came thither. Great numbers were burnt by this fire, and their plunder, that had remained packed in the street, was destroyed. Those plunderers who attempted to save effects from the fire were miserably burnt,—and the flames followed them so closely that it seemed as if Divine vengeance was resolved to punish the pride and insolence of this town by totally destroying it.

While Dinant was in flames, a large embassy came from Liege to the duke of Burgundy at Bovines, to negotiate a treaty of peace,—and the sight of the destruction of Dinant made a serious impression on them. The count de Charolois, observing that all attempts to put out the fire were ineffectual, determined that the whole should be destroyed, and caused such parts, in the town and suburbs, as had hitherto escaped to be set on fire, so that all was burnt. He then sent for great numbers of peasants from the neighbourhood, to demolish the walls, towers and fortifications, to each of whom he gave three patars[54] a-day, with every thing they might find in the ruins.

They laboured so diligently that, within four days after the fire had ceased, a stranger might have said, 'Here was Dinant!' for there now neither remained gate nor wall, nor church, nor house, for all had been burnt and razed to the ground. It unfortunately happened, that when the great church caught fire, many prisoners of note that had been therein confined were burnt, and such as had retreated to different towers and forts also perished. Thus was destroyed the town of Dinant by reason of its presumption and folly!

FOOTNOTES:

[53] Huy,—on the Meuse, 12 miles from Liege.

[54] Patars,—a low-country coin: five are equal to sixpence sterling.—Cotgrave.

[CHAP. LIII.]

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF DINANT, MAKES DISPOSITIONS TO MARCH HIS ARMY INTO THE TERRITORIES OF LIEGE.—SEVERAL TOWNS SURRENDER TO HIM.—A PEACE IS CONCLUDED BETWEEN THEM.

After the destruction of this proud city of Dinant, the duke of Burgundy departed from Bovines, on the first day of September, and returned by the river to Namur, attended by the embassy from Liege, who were pressing for a peace. The whole army passed through Namur, and the bastard of Burgundy quartered his division in the country of Hasbain, two leagues distant from St Tron. The count de Charolois was posted between Tillemont and St Tron. Soon after, the count de St Pol received the surrender of the town of Thuin[55], which had been given him by the duke as a recompence for his not having been at the plunder of Dinant; and this town was saved from pillage by means of a sum of money which the inhabitants had given to the count de St Pol,—and as this place and St Tron had demolished their walls and gates, they both escaped being plundered.

The count de Charolois next advanced to lay siege to Tongres; but as he was told that the inhabitants had all fled, he ordered the army to march for Liege, while his father, the duke, remained at Namur. The count advanced as far as Montenac, four leagues from Liege,—his army and artillery always in order of battle. There, having heard that the Liegeois had issued out, in great numbers, to give him battle, he made preparations to receive them, by forming his army into two wings and a center, and thus waited their coming upwards of three hours. They did come, but sent to demand a truce until ten o'clock the next day, when they promised to comply with whatever he should demand. This satisfied the count, and he consented to a truce for the day, which was the 6th of September.

When this had been settled, the count de St Pol, constable of France, and the bastard of Burgundy advanced, with their men, to observe the situation of the Liegeois, who had come out of their city. They found them posted on the river Gerre,—and intelligence was brought them, that those who had escorted the embassy from Liege were skirmishing with the count's foragers; on which they detached a party of their men, who forced the Liegeois to retreat to their army. Toward evening, the count's army were within sight of the Liegeois, and drew up in order of battle within less than a quarter of a league from them. The constable crossed the river Gerre, to surround them, and ordered a part of his men to dismount; and although it was five o'clock in the evening, they would willingly have attacked the Liegeois,—but the count would not permit it, on account of the truce which he had granted. The whole army was much displeased at his refusal, for they would easily have conquered the enemy without one being able to escape; for they were so surrounded that they could not fly, and they amounted to full two thousand horse, and more than ten thousand foot, as numbers were in an adjoining village, and could not be counted.

A division of the count's army was also posted in the large village of Varennes; and as they would not quit it to join their companions, the count ordered it to be set on fire, which forced them to issue forth, and join their main army, but not without losing their baggage by the fire.

The count's army remained drawn up in order of battle until ten o'clock at night, when each retired to his quarters. On Sunday, the 7th of September, the count formed his army in battle-array at the earliest dawn, and thus remained, without crossing the Gerre, until ten o'clock, when the ambassadors returned, and assured the count that the city of Liege and its dependances were ready to perform every thing the duke his father and himself had demanded.—They required, therefore, peace at his hands; and offered, for the due execution of the treaty, to deliver up to him fifty persons as hostages, whom it should please the duke to select,—namely, thirty-two men for the city of Liege, six for the town of Tongres, six for St Tron, and six for the town of Hessel.[56] This same day, part of the hostages were delivered to the count, who sent them to Judenge[57] to the duke, who had come thither from Namur to combat the Liegeois with his son. Peace was, therefore, again made between the duke and his son and the Liegeois.

By the treaty, they promised to pay six hundred thousand florins of the Rhine in the course of six years,—one hundred thousand annually,—and they delivered the fifty hostages, such as the duke demanded, who were to return home on the first annual payment being made, and were then to be replaced by fifty others. The duke of Burgundy as duke of Brabant, and his successors, the dukes of Brabant, were to be perpetual mainbrugs of Liege, and governors of the whole country, without whose advice and consent the Liegeois were not henceforward to undertake any measures of importance.

The Liegeois, in this treaty, made many other engagements, which I omit to note down, for within a very short time they broke every promise they had made.

At this time, provision was so scarce in the count's army that it was with the greatest difficulty that any could be procured.

On the 8th of September, the day this treaty was signed, the burgundian army arrived to reinforce the count de Charolois, consisting of about four hundred lances, under the command of the lord de Montagu and the marquis de Rothelin. There came also a body of Swiss, of about sixty men; and the city of Antwerp sent three hundred men to assist the duke in his war against the Liegeois.

On the ensuing day, a deputation from the city of Liege waited on the count, and delivered to him the treaty, sealed with the seals of Liege, Tongres, St Tron, Hessel, and the other towns under their jurisdiction. It was then discussed, and settled, that should any of the hostages die within the year, the Liegeois were to replace them with others; and in regard to the interest due to the duke from the sums that were to have been paid, according to the preceding treaty, they offered to pay whatever the duke should be pleased to demand. On the very day of signing this treaty, it was proclaimed throughout the army, that no one should forage or do any mischief to the territories of Liege.

When these things were completed, the count de Charolois issued orders for the return of his army. He came, on the Sunday, before a large village called Chasteler, belonging to the chapter of Liege, whither the inhabitants of Thuin came to solicit pardon, and begged for mercy humbly on their knees. One hundred men were ordered thither to demolish the gates and walls of their town, at the expense of its inhabitants.

At this place, the count disbanded his army, when each went to his home, and the count to Brussels, whither his father, the duke, was returned. They shortly after sent an embassy to England, to negotiate with king Edward: but the subject of their negotiations I do not mention, because I am ignorant of it.[58]

FOOTNOTES:

[55] Thuin,—fourteen miles from Mons.

[56] Hessel,—five miles from Bommel.

[57] Judenge, Judoigne,—an ancient town formerly belonging to the dukes of Brabant: it forms now part of France, in the department of the Dyle, 25 miles from Liege.

[58] This embassy probably respected the marriage of the count de Charolois with Margaret sister to Edward IV. or, perhaps, for the regulations regarding the tilt between the earl Rivers and sir Anthony of Burgundy.

[A.D. 1467.]

[CHAP. LIV.]

SIR ANTHONY, BASTARD OF BURGUNDY, GOES TO ENGLAND, TO TILT WITH THE LORD SCALES,[59] BROTHER TO THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND.

Soon after Easter, in the year 1467, sir Anthony, bastard of Burgundy, crossed over to England, to perform a deed of arms against the lord Scales, brother to the queen of England. He went thither handsomely attended by warriors and artillery; for there were reports, which proved true, that there were some pirates on the seas lying in wait to defeat him, under pretence of being Spaniards, although they were French. It happened, that the bastard's men took two of these vessels, richly laden and full of soldiers, which were plundered, and then he arrived safely in England.

He performed his deed of arms greatly to his credit; but it did not last long,—for, as it was done to please the king of England, he would not suffer the combat to continue any time, so that it was rather for amusement.[60]

This was a plentiful year in wine, corn, and fruits, which were all good, and the corn of a quality fit for preservation.

In this year also, the ladies and damsels laid aside their long trains to their gowns, and in lieu of them had deep borders of furs of minever, martin, and others, or of velvet, and various articles of a great breadth. They also wore hoods on their heads of a circular form, half an ell, or three quarters, high, gradually tapering to the top. Some had them not so high, with handkerchiefs wreathed round them, the corners hanging down to the ground. They wore silken girdles of a greater breadth than formerly, with the richest shoes, with golden necklaces much more trimly decked in divers fashions than they were accustomed to wear them.

At the same time, the men wore shorter dresses than usual, so that the form of their buttocks, and of their other parts, was visible, after the fashion in which people were wont to dress monkies, which was a very indecent and impudent thing. The sleeves of their outward dress and jackets were slashed, to show their wide white shirts. Their hair was so long that it covered their eyes and face,—and on their heads they had cloth bonnets of a quarter of an ell in height. Knights and esquires, indifferently, wore the most sumptuous golden chains. Even the varlets had jackets of silk, satin, or velvet; and almost all, especially at the courts of princes, wore peaks at their shoes of a quarter of an ell in length. They had also under their jackets large stuffings[61] at their shoulders, to make them appear broad, which is a very vanity, and, perchance, displeasing to God; and he who was short-dressed to-day, on the morrow had his robe training on the ground. These fashions were so universal that there was not any little gentleman but would ape the nobles and the rich, whether they dressed in long or short robes, never considering the great expense, nor how unbecoming it was to their situation.

FOOTNOTES:

[59] Anthony Widville earl Rivers, lord Scales and Newsels, and lord of the Isle of Wight. This accomplished nobleman, one of the first restorers of learning to this country, was son to sir Richard Widville, by Jacqueline of Luxembourg, widow to the regent duke of Bedford. Caxton printed several of his works.

For further particulars, see Walpole's Noble Authors, last edition, by Park.

[60] The following extract from Dr. Henry's Hist. of England, vol. v. pp. 536, 537, 4to. edit. will place the event of this tournament in a different light.

'The most magnificent of these tournaments was that performed by the bastard of Burgundy and Anthony lord Scales, brother to the queen of England, in Smithfield, A.D. 1467. The king and queen of England spared no expense to do honour to so near a relation,—and Philip duke of Burgundy, the most magnificent prince of that age, was no less profuse in equipping his favourite son. Several months were spent in adjusting the preliminaries of this famous combat, and in performing all the pompous ceremonies prescribed by the laws of chivalry.

'Edward IV. granted a safe conduct, October 29, A.D. 1466, to the bastard of Burgundy earl of La Roche, with a thousand persons in his company, to come into England to perform certain feats of arms with his dearly beloved brother Anthony Widville, lord Scales and Newsels; but so many punctilios were to be settled, by the intervention of heralds, that the tournament did not take place until June 11, A.D. 1467.

'Strong lists having been erected in Smithfield, 120 yards and 10 feet long, 80 yards and 10 feet broad, with fair and costly galleries all around for the accommodation of the king and queen, attended by the lords and ladies of the court, and a prodigious number of lords, knights, and ladies, of England, France, Scotland, and other countries, in their richest dresses.

'The two champions entered the lists, and were conducted to their pavilions. There they underwent the usual searches, and answered the usual questions, and then advanced into the middle of the lists. The first day they ran together with sharp spears, and departed with equal honour. The next day, they tourneyed on horseback. The lord Scales' horse had on his chaffron a long sharp pike of steel,—and as the two champions coped together, the said horse thrust his pike into the nostrils of the bastard's horse, so that, for very pain, he mounted so high that he fell on the one side with his master; and the lord Scales rode about him, with his sword drawn in his hand, till the king commanded the marshal to help up the bastard, who openly said, 'I cannot hold me by the clouds; for though my horse fail me, I will not fail my encounter, companion:' but the king would not suffer them to do any more that day. The next morrow, the two noblemen came into the field on foot, with two pole-axes, and fought valiantly; but, at the last, the point of the pole-axe of the lord Scales happened to enter into the sight of the bastard's helm, and, by fine force, might have plucked him on his knees; but the king suddenly cast down his warder, and then the marshal severed them. The bastard, not content with this chance, required the king, of justice, that he might perform his enterprise. The lord Scales refused not. But the king calling to him the constable and the marshal, with the officer of arms, after consultation had, it was declared, for a sentence definitive, by the duke of Clarence, then constable of England,' (John Tiptoft earl of Worcester was the constable, and not the duke of Clarence: see Rymer) 'and the duke of Norfolk marshal, that if he would go forward with his attempted challenge, he must, by the law of arms, be delivered to his adversary in the same state, and like condition, as he stood when he was taken from him.

'The bastard, hearing this judgment, doubted the sequel of the matter, and so relinquished his challenge.'

See Stowe, &c.

[61] Stuffings,—mahotoitres. See Du Cange. Supplement. 'Maheria.'

[CHAP. LV.]

THE DEATH AND INTERMENT OF THE NOBLE DUKE PHILIP OF BURGUNDY, AND THE GRAND OBSEQUIES PERFORMED FOR HIM IN THE CHURCH OF SAINT DONNAST IN BRUGES.

On the 12th day of June, in the year 1467, the noble duke Philip of Burgundy was seized with a grievous malady, which continued unabated until Monday, the 15th, when he rendered his soul to God, between nine and ten o'clock at night. When he perceived, on the preceding day, that he was growing worse, he sent for his son, the count de Charolois, then at Ghent, who hastened to him with all speed; and on his arrival, about mid-day of the Monday, at the duke's palace in Bruges, he went instantly to the chamber where the duke lay sick in bed, but found him speechless. He cast himself on his knees at the bedside, and, with many tears, begged his blessing, and that, if he had ever done any thing to offend him, he would pardon him. The confessor, who stood at the bedside, admonished the duke, if he could not speak, at least to show some sign of his good will. At this admonition, the good duke kindly opened his eyes, took his son's hand, and squeezed it tenderly, as a sign of his pardon and his blessing.

The count, like an affectionate child, never quitted the duke's bed until he had given up the ghost. May God, out of his mercy, receive his soul, pardon his transgressions, and admit him into paradise!

The corpse of the noble duke was left all that night on the bed, with a black bonnet on his head, and likewise remained there on the morrow until evening,—so that there was time enough for all who wished it to see him: it was marvellous the great crowds who went thither, and all prayed God to have mercy on his soul.

On Tuesday evening, the body was opened and embalmed, and his heart separated from it. His body and bowels were each put into a well-closed coffin of lead, and placed that night on a bier from five to six feet high, covered to the ground with black velvet, in the chapel of his household, over which bier was a cross of white damask cloth, and at the four corners four thick waxen tapers burning.

Masses were daily celebrated there until noon,—and, about four or five in the afternoon on the following Sunday, the body was carried to Saint Donnast's church in Bruges for interment, until preparations should be made to carry it elsewhere, according to the instructions which he had given when alive. The funeral procession to the church was preceded by sixteen hundred men, in black cloaks emblazoned with the arms of the duke, each with a lighted taper in his hand,—four hundred of whom were of the household, and at the expense of the new duke,—four hundred from the town of Bruges, four hundred from the different trades of that town, and four hundred from the country of the Franc, each at the expense of those who sent them. Between this line of torches walked full nine hundred men, as well nobles as officers and servants of the late duke: among those were the magistrates of Bruges and of the Franc,[62] twenty-two prelates: a bishop from Hybernie[63] was in the number, who chaunted the first mass on the ensuing day. Between the prelates and the body were four kings at arms, with their heads covered, and clothed in their tabards of arms.

The body was borne by twelve knights of name and renown, around whom were the archers of the body of the late duke. It was covered with a pall of black velvet, reaching to the ground, on which was a broad cross of white damask cloth. Over the body was borne a canopy of cloth of gold, on four lances, by the count de Nassau, the earl of Buchan, Baldwin bastard of Burgundy, and the lord de Châlons. Immediately before the body walked the first equerry of the late duke, bearing his sword with the point downward. The chief mourners who followed the body were the new duke Charles, and after him James de Bourbon and Adolphus of Cleves, his two cousins-german,—then the count de Marle, Jacques de Saint Pol, the lord de Roussy, and some others of the great lords of the court.

In the front of all, walked the four mendicant orders of friars, and the clergy of the different parishes in Bruges, in the churches of which the vigils for the dead were that day celebrated, and on the morrow a solemn service for the soul of the deceased.

The body was placed on a bier, in the middle of the choir of the cathedral. It had on it a cloth of gold bordered with damask, and a large cross of white velvet, with four large burning tapers, and was surrounded by upwards of fourteen hundred lesser ones, which caused so great a heat that the windows of the church were obliged to be thrown open.

The whole of the high altar, and the space above it, was hung with black cloth, the reading-desk, both within and without, with black velvet hanging down, emblazoned with the duke's arms: there were also his pennon of arms and his grand banner.

The nave was hung with black cloth, having the top and bottom of black camlet.

When the body was to be let down into the vault, no one can describe the groans, tears, and lamentations that filled the church from the duke's officers, and all present. Indeed all his subjects ought to have bewailed his death, for they had lost a prince, the most renowned for virtue and goodness that was in Christendom! full of honour, liberality, courage, and prudence, with a mind adorned with every generous virtue, who had preserved his countries in peace as well by his own good sense, and the prudence of his counsellors, as by the point of his sword, without personally sparing himself, against any one, however great he might be. He afforded an asylum to those who came to him to seek it, even though they were his enemies, doing good to all, and returning good for evil,—and he never had his equal for modesty. Even those who had never seen him, and who had disliked him for any cause, the moment they were acquainted with him, and knew his liberality, had an attachment and affection to him.

The heart and body of the duke were each put separately in a flat coffin, covered with a bier of irish oak.

On the morrow, the obsequies were performed, when the bishop of Tournay celebrated the mass; after which, he made a brief harangue in praise of the deceased, in order that all present might offer up their prayers for the salvation of his soul, which may God, out of his most gracious mercy, admit into his holy Paradise! Amen.

FOOTNOTES:

[62] The Franc—consists of a number of villages and hamlets separated from the quartier of Bruges, and has a separate jurisdiction.—See La Martiniere.

[63] Hybernie,—an ancient name for Ireland.

[CHAP. LVI.]

PROLOGUE TO THE CHRONICLES OF THE MOST CHRISTIAN, MOST MAGNIFICENT, MOST VICTORIOUS, AND MOST ILLUSTRIOUS KINGS OF FRANCE, LOUIS XI. OF THE NAME, AND HIS SON CHARLES VIII.[64]

Considering the saying of Seneca, that it is right to follow the ways of our elders and governors, provided they have acted properly,—and remembering the words of the sage, in his proverbs, that right foolish is he who follows Idleness, for, according to Ecclesiasticus, she leads to wickedness,—I have collected, with the utmost diligence, several facts relative to the reigns of those illustrious princes, Louis XI. and Charles VIII. his son, kings of France, that seemed to me worthy of remembrance; together with many marvellous events that happened during their reigns, as well in the kingdom of France as in the duchies of Brittany, Burgundy, Normandy, Savoy and Lorraine,—the counties of Flanders, Artois, and Burgundy; including likewise what may have passed extraordinary in the adjacent countries, and also in the kingdoms of England, Spain, and Sicily, at Rome, in Lombardy, and the duchy of Milan, according to that famous chronicler, eloquent orator, and excellent historian, the late Robert Gaguin,[65] during his lifetime doctor en decret, and general of the order of the Holy Trinity.

I have also collected materials from other sources, and have attentively perused and examined the works of those renowned chroniclers master Jean Froissart and Enguerrand de Monstrelet; which last I have followed in what he has written concerning the acts of some of our kings, to the reign of Louis XI. inclusively,—and, with reverence be it spoken, I have recapitulated some things omitted by him relative to the actions of king Louis, because, peradventure, he had not been truly informed of them, for it is very difficult to acquire a true knowledge of all the gallant and courageous deeds of such magnificent princes as the kings of France.

From these causes, I have deliberately determined (soliciting the aid of an all-powerful God, who can do every thing,) to write and publish several things worthy of remembrance, while I am now in this far-famed and populous town of Paris, not with a view to correct or amend the said Enguerrand de Monstrelet or others, for I do not undertake that charge, but like a faithful and loyal Frenchman, and as such I wish to remain, to avoid idleness, the parent and nurse of iniquity, and to exhibit the acts of our sovereign princes, which ought to be remembered, if done justly and rightly.

There are likewise many who take delight in hearing of the noble deeds, prowess, and marvels that have happened in different parts of the world, that they may take example from them, by following the good, and avoiding the bad, as precedents to be eschewed.

I have, therefore, composed this small work, trifling in regard to the author, but great in regard to the acts and triumphs of princes. I do not, however, wish that it may be styled a Chronicle,—for that would be unbecoming in me, for I have solely written it for an amusement and recreation to readers, praying them humbly to excuse and supply my ignorance by correcting whatever passage shall be found badly written.

Many strange events which I have described have happened in such distant countries that it is difficult for me or for any one else to know the exact truth of the facts I have related: however, without any partiality, I have endeavoured to describe the whole truly, according to the before mentioned authors, and shall begin where Enguerrand de Monstrelet left off, having first recapitulated some parts of his chronicle where there may have been any omissions, until the deaths of the aforesaid kings Louis and Charles.

FOOTNOTES:

[64] See the preface to the first volume, respecting these additions to the Chronicle of Monstrelet.

[65] Robert Gaguin—was born at Amiens, and died at Paris 1501, having been employed in divers embassies by Charles VIII. and Louis XII.—See Moreri, &c.

[CHAP. LVII.]

SOME RECAPITULATIONS OF THE DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE OF MONTLEHERY BY MONSTRELET,—WITH THE ADDITION OF FACTS WHICH HE HAD OMITTED.

That master chronicler Enguerrand de Monstrelet, having described in his third volume the acts of several kings and gallant knights, concludes his work by relating the death and magnificent funeral of Philip duke of Burgundy, father to duke Charles, lately deceased in the town of Nancy in Lorraine.

In the course of his chronicle, he has given an account of the pompous coronation of king Louis XI. at Rheims, and of his joyous entry into Paris, the capital of France. He afterward amply treated of the war and battle of Montlehery, which he has perhaps spoken of and described with partiality, according to his pleasure and feelings; for I have read, besides what he has related, that at this battle of Montlehery, which was fought on Tuesday the 6th day of July, in the year 1465, the king of France, coming with all haste from beyond Orleans to Paris, halted at early morn at Chastres, under Montlehery, and that having taken scarcely any refreshment, and without waiting for his escort, which was, for its number, the handsomest body of cavalry ever raised in France, he so valiantly attacked the army of the count de Charolois and his Burgundians that he put to the rout the van division. Many of them were slain, and numbers taken prisoners. News of this was speedily carried to Paris, whence issued forth upward of thirty thousand persons, part of whom were well mounted; and in scouring the country they fell in with parties of Burgundians who were flying, and made them prisoners. They defeated also those from the villages of Vanvres, Issi, Sevres, St Cloud, Arcueil, Surennes and others.

At this rencounter, great booty was gained from the Burgundians, so that their loss was estimated at two hundred thousand crowns of gold. After the van had been thus thrown into confusion, the king, not satisfied with this success, but desirous to put an end to the war, without taking any refreshments or repose, attacked the main body of the enemy with his guards and about four hundred lances: but the Burgundians had then rallied, and advanced their artillery, under the command of the count de St Pol, who did on that day the greatest service to the count de Charolois.

The king was hard pressed in his turn, insomuch that at times he was in the utmost personal danger, for he had but few with him, was without artillery, and was always foremost in the heat of the battle; and considering how few his numbers were, he maintained the fight valiantly and with great prowess. It was the common report of the time, that if he had had five hundred more archers on foot, he would have reduced the Burgundians to such a state that nothing more would have been heard of them for some time in war.

The count de Charolois, on this day, lost his whole guard,—and the king also lost the greater part of his. The count was twice made prisoner, by the noble Geoffroy de St Belin and Gilbert de Grassy, but was rescued each time. Towards evening, the Scots carried off the king, that he might take some refreshments; for he was tired and exhausted, having fought the whole of the day without eating or drinking, and led him away quietly, and without noise, to the castle of Montlehery.

Several of the king's army not having seen him thus led off the field, and missing him, thought he was either slain or taken, and took to flight. For this reason, the count du Maine, the lord admiral de Montaulban, the lord de la Barde, and other captains, with seven or eight hundred lances, abandoned the king in this state, and fled, without having struck a blow during the whole of the day. Hence it is notorious, that if all the royal army who were present at this battle had behaved as courageously as their king, they would have gained a lasting victory over the Burgundians,—for the greater part of them were defeated, and put to flight. Many indeed were killed on the king's side, as well as on that of the enemy,—for after the battle was ended, there were found dead on the field three thousand six hundred, whose souls may God receive!

I shall not say more respecting this battle of Montlehery, as related by Monstrelet; for it has been amply detailed by him, although he may have been silent as to the whole truth of it.

I have somewhere read, that, prior to this battle, the Burgundians arrived at the town of St Denis, on a Friday, the 5th day of July, in this same year, and attempted to cross the bridge of St Cloud (as Monstrelet says), but were this time repulsed by the gallant resistance of the nobles and other valiant French. The Burgundians then made an attempt on the following Sunday, the 7th of July, to alarm Paris,—but they gained nothing, for some of their men were slain by the artillery on the walls, and the rest returned in haste to St Denis. The next day they appeared again before the walls of Paris, and some with all their artillery; but before they displayed the whole of their force, they sent four heralds to the four different gates. Over the gate of St Denis, as commanders for the day, were master Pierre l'Orfevre, lord of Ermenonville, and master Jean de Poppincourt, lord of Cercelles, from whom the heralds required provision for their army, and permission for it to march through Paris. These demands they made with haughtiness and menaces; and while the captains were listening to them, and before they could give any answers, the Burgundians (thinking to surprise the parisian guard, and those who were posted at the gates and barriers,) advanced with a great body of men at arms as far as St Ladre and even farther, intending to gain the newly-erected barriers in the suburbs, and in front of that gate,—firing at the same cannons, serpentines, and other artillery; but they were so valiantly resisted by the inhabitants of Paris, and others resident therein, that they were repulsed. Joachim Rohault came in person with his men to this conflict, in which many of the Burgundians were slain and wounded, which caused them to make a precipitate retreat without attempting any thing more. They were afterward drawn up in battle-array before Paris, as has been already related by Enguerrand de Monstrelet.

[CHAP. LVIII.]

A TRUE ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL EVENTS THAT HAPPENED DURING THE REIGNS OF KING CHARLES VII. AND HIS SON LOUIS XI. WHICH HAVE BEEN OMITTED, OR SLIGHTLY MENTIONED, IN THE CHRONICLE OF ENGUERRAND DE MONSTRELET.

In order to make a regular report of many events that happened in France and in the adjoining countries, I shall begin at the year 1460, during the reign of king Charles VII. of France. At the commencement of this year, the rivers Seine and Marne were greatly swelled; and the Marne, near to St Maur des Fossés, rose in one night the height of a man, and did very great damage to all the country round.

This river caused such an inundation at the village of Claye[66] that it swept away a mansion of the bishop of Meaux, which had lately had two handsome towers added to it, with fair apartments, having glass windows and mats, and richly furnished with beds, tapestry, and wainscotting,—all of which the river destroyed and carried away.

An unfortunate accident happened at the same time to the steeple of the church of the abbey of Fêcamp, in Normandy, by lightning striking it and setting it on fire, so that all the bells were completely melted into one mass, which was a heavy loss to that abbey.

At this same time, all France was wondering at the intelligence of a young girl about eighteen years old, doing many wonderful things in the town of Mans. It was said, that she was tormented by the devil, and from this cause she leapt high in the air, screamed, and foamed at the mouth, with many other astonishing gestures, by which she deceived all who came to see her. At length, it was discovered to be a trick of a wicked mad girl, instigated to these follies and devilments by certain officers of the bishop of Mans, who maintained her, and did with her as they pleased, which they wished to conceal, by means of those tricks which they had induced her to play.