the chronicles of enguerrand de monstrelet. 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. iii. london: printed for longman, hurst, rees, orme, and brown, paternoster-row; and j. white and co. fleet-street. . contents of _the third volume_. chap. i. page the king of france sends different captains with troops to harrass the armagnacs on the frontiers. the defeat of the count de la marche chap. ii. the king of france sends ambassadors to england. the lord de croy and the duke of bourbon's children obtain their liberty. of count waleran de st pol chap. iii. the dukes of berry and of orleans, with others of their adherents, send an embassy to the king of england. the consequences of it chap. iv. duke louis of bavaria is driven out of paris by the parisians, and his people robbed. of the cardinal de cambray, and the prohibition of the king of england chap. v. the king of sicily leaves paris. the siege of domfront. the battle of st remy du plain. the siege of bellesme, and other events of the year chap. vi. charles king of france, attended by other princes, marches a large force from paris to bourges. letters from the king of england, and other matters chap. vii. the town of vervins is taken by sir clugnet de brabant, and afterward retaken. the castle of gersies is won by sir simon de clermont chap. viii. the king of france receives certain information that his adversaries had formed an alliance with the king of england. the constable marches into the boulonois chap. ix. the king of france lays siege to fontenay and to bourges. the events that happened while he remained there chap. x. the king of france decamps, and lays siege to bourges on the opposite side. a treaty is concluded between the two parties chap. xi. the princes and lords within the city of bourges wait on the king and the duke of acquitaine, and afterward at auxerre chap. xii. the king of france orders his edict respecting the peace to be sent to his different officers for proclamation in the usual places, and other matters chap. xiii. the war continues in the boulonois. the king returns to paris. the duke of orleans satisfies the english, and other matters chap. xiv. the duke of berry is dangerously ill. he is visited by his daughter the duchess of bourbon, and by the duke of burgundy. notice of other matters chap. xv. the king of france holds a grand assembly at paris on the reformation of abuses in the government. other matters chap. xvi. the duke of acquitaine is displeased with his chancellor. jealousies arise among the great lords, and other matters chap. xvii. henry of lancaster, king of england, who had been a valiant knight, dies in this year. of the alliance between him and the french princes chap. xviii. the king's ministers are greatly alarmed at the arrest of sir peter des essars and of the duke of bar. other proceedings of the parisians chap. xix. the parisians propose whatever measures they please in the presence of the duke of acquitaine and the other princes. cruelties committed by them chap. xx. the count de vertus and several of the nobility leave paris. other regulations and edicts obtained from the king by the parisians chap. xxi. king ladislaus of naples enters rome with a powerful army. the death of sir james de la riviere. the dismission of the chancellor, and other matters chap. xxii. the ambassadors from the king of france return with those from the princes to paris. they are joined by others, who negotiate a fourth peace at pontoise chap. xxiii. the duke of acquitaine orders the prisoners to be liberated. the duke of burgundy leaves paris. several princes arrive there. their actions chap. xxiv. the duke of brittany comes to paris. the duke of burgundy holds a council at lille. the actions of the count de saint pol, and other matters that happened at this time chap. xxv. the duke of burgundy holds many councils to consider of his situation, fearing that his enemies would turn the king against him, which they afterwards did chap. xxvi. duke louis of bavaria marries at paris. of those who had been banished on account of the discords between the dukes of orleans and burgundy, and of many other incidental matters chap. xxvii. the king of france, fearing the peace would be broken, publishes other edicts for its preservation throughout the realm, and also respecting the coin chap. xxviii. the king of sicily sends back the daughter of the duke of burgundy. the duke writes letters to the king of france, containing remonstrances, and other matters chap. xxix. the duke of burgundy goes to antwerp. the arrest of sir john de croy, and other remarkable events that happened about this period chap. xxx. the duke of burgundy marches a large force toward paris. he fixes his quarters at saint denis. the events that happened during this march, and in consequence of it chap. xxxi. on the retreat of the duke of burgundy from st denis, the king of france issues orders throughout his kingdom to raise forces to march against him here beginneth the third volume of the chronicles of _enguerrand de monstrelet_. chap. i. the king of france sends different captains with troops to harrass the armagnacs on the frontiers.--the defeat of the count de la marche. many of the nobles and captains were now sent by the king to the countries of such as were confederates with the duke of orleans and his party. in the number, the count de la marche was ordered into the orleanois, to subject it to the king's obedience, in company with the lord de hambre. aymé de vitry, fierbourd, and others were sent against the duke of bourbon, who had done much mischief to the country of charolois; and having a large force with them, they despoiled the bourbonois and beaujolois. they advanced with displayed banners before the town of villefranche, in which was the duke of bourbon and his bastard-brother, sir hector, a very valiant knight and renowned in war. there was with them a large company of knights and esquires, vassals to the duke, who, seeing the enemy thus boldly advancing, drew up in handsome array and sallied forth to meet them, and the duke himself joined them in their intent to offer battle. a severe skirmish ensued, in which many gallant deeds were done on each side. the bastard of bourbon distinguished himself much in the command of the light troops, and fought most chivalrously. he was, however, so far intermixed with the enemy that the duke was fearful of his being slain or taken, and, sticking spurs into his horse, cried out to his people, 'push forward! for my brother will be made prisoner unless speedily succoured.' great part of his battalion followed him on the gallop toward the enemy, and the battle was renewed with more energy: many men at arms were unhorsed, wounded and slain: at length, the van of the burgundians, under the command of aymé de vitry, was forced to fall back on the main army, which was at a short distance off. the bastard, who had been struck down, was remounted, and returned to the duke. before that day, no one person had ever heard the duke call him brother. about forty were slain on both sides, but very many were wounded. when the skirmish was ended, each party retreated without attempting more,--the duke and his men into villefranche, and the others toward the country of charolois, destroying every thing on their march. other parties were sent to languedoc, acquitaine and poitou, to despoil the countries of the duke of berry, the count d'armagnac, and the lord d'albreth. sir guichard daulphin, master of the king's household, commanded one division; and the two others were under the lord de heilly, marshal of acquitaine, and enguerrand de bournouville. they did infinite damage to the lands of the aforesaid lords; but one day, as the lord de heilly was lodged in a large village called linieres, he was attacked at day-break by a party of the duke of berry, who defeated and plundered great part of his men of their horses and baggage: a few were killed and taken,--but he and the majority of his army saved themselves by retreating within the castle, which held out for the king. i must say something of the count de la marche and the lord de hambre, who, as i have said, were ordered into the orleanois. it is true, they might have under their command from five to six thousand combatants, whom they conducted, destroying all the country on their line of march, as far as yeure-la-ville and yeure-le-chastel. the count de la marche was quartered in the village of puchet, and the lord de hambre in another town. the moment their arrival at yeure-la-ville was known in orleans, where were considerable numbers of men at arms for the guard of the country, about six hundred of them were assembled under the command of barbasan de gaucourt, sir galliet de gaulles, and a knight from lombardy, together with three hundred archers. they marched all night as secretly as they could to yeure-la-ville, to the amount of about a thousand men, under the guidance of such as knew the country well, and where the count was lodged. the count was, however, somehow informed of their intentions, and, having armed his men, posted the greater part of them in and about his lodgings: the others he ordered to keep in a body, and sent to the lord de hambre to acquaint him with the intelligence he had received, that he might be prepared to come to his assistance, should there be any necessity for it. the count and his men were under arms, waiting for the enemy, the whole of the night; but when day appeared, and no news or the enemy arrived, he was advised to repose himself, and to order his men to their quarters. soon after sun-rise, one of the adversary's scouts rode into the town, and, seeing that no watch was kept, hastened back to inform his friends, whom he met near the place, of this neglect. they instantly entered the town, shouting, 'vive le roi!' but soon after, crying out 'vive orleans!' made a general attack on the houses. the greater part hastened to the lodgings of the count, who was preparing to hear mass,--and the tumult became very great, for the count and his people fought gallantly: nevertheless, he was conquered and made prisoner. the whole quarter was carried, and all taken or slain. after this defeat, the count and his men were conducted hastily to orleans. in the mean time, as the lord de hambre was coming to their assistance, he was misled by a man whom he had chosen for his guide, and, on his arrival, found the whole town destroyed, and the count with his men carried off. notwithstanding his grief for this event, he pursued the enemy with all speed, and, by his activity, overtook the rear, upon which he fell manfully, and defeated part of it. he rescued some of the prisoners,--but the count, with about four score (as it was told him), were sent forward as fast as horses could carry them, and were to be confined in the prisons of orleans. the lord de hambre was much troubled that he could not rescue him. there were slain in these two affairs from three to four hundred men on both sides, but the greater part were armagnacs. among others of the party of the count de vendôme that were mortally wounded was guoit le gois, eldest son to thomas le gois, a capital citizen of paris, which caused great sorrow to the parisians. after this affair, the lord de hambre assembled, by the king's orders, a larger force than before, and made a very severe war on the duchy of orleans and all attached to that party, which caused the country to suffer greatly. king louis of sicily arrived at this time at paris from provence, attended by three hundred men at arms well equipped, and was lodged in his own hôtel of anjou. he was grandly received by the king, the duke of acquitaine and the other princes, and united himself with the king and the duke of burgundy, promising to join their party against the family of orleans and their adherents. the duchess of burgundy and her daughter came, nearly at the same time, from burgundy to the bois de vincennes, where the queen and the duchess of acquitaine resided, who received her with much pleasure. thence they went to visit the dukes of acquitaine and burgundy,--and very gay and magnificent feasts were made on their arrival. they remained for a long time with the queen, living at the expense of the king. at this period, the king of france sent the lord de dampierre, admiral of france, with other lords, to boulogne-sur-mer, to meet the english ambassadors who were arrived at calais. they went together to leulinghen, where they agreed on a truce between the two crowns for one year,--after which the admiral and his companions returned to the king at paris, where he was holding a grand assembly of prelates and ecclesiastics for the general reformation of the church. the particular object of this assembly was to select proper delegates to send to the holy father the pope, to request that a convenient place might be appointed for the holding of a general council. but in truth very little was done, for they could not agree on one single point: another meeting was therefore fixed upon, when a greater number of churchmen should be summoned to attend it. the parisians, having loyally served the king and the duke of acquitaine in the late wars, obtained, through the means of the duke of burgundy, that the power of the shrievalty, with all its franchises, of which the city of paris had been deprived by royal authority in the month of january, in the year , should be restored to it fully and freely by letters patent from the king. this created very great rejoicings, and much increased the popularity of the duke of burgundy. chap. ii. the king of france sends ambassadors to england.--the lord de croy and the duke of bourbon's children obtain their liberty.--of count waleran de saint pol. at the beginning of the month of may, the duke of burgundy, with the approbation of the king of france, sent ambassadors to england, namely, the bishop of arras, the provost of saint donas de bruges, and the provost of viefville, to treat of a marriage between one of the duke's daughters and the prince of wales, a matter which had been talked of before[ ]. they found the king of england at rochester, who honourably entertained them, as did the other princes; but the prince of wales was particularly attentive, as their mission more immediately concerned him. in the course of a few days, the bishop had fully explained the object of his coming to the king, his sons, and council; and having received a favourable answer, with very handsome presents to himself and his colleagues, they returned by way of dover to calais, and shortly after arrived at paris. the ambassadors related, in the presence of the kings of france and sicily, the dukes of acquitaine, burgundy and bar, and other great lords of the council, a full detail of their proceedings, and that the king of england and his family were well pleased with their proposals. upon this, the duke of burgundy sent orders to his son the count de charolois, then at ghent, to repair to paris, to be present at the festivals of easter. at this time, by the intercession of the duchess of bourbon, daughter to the duke of berry, with the duke of orleans and others of that party, the lord de croy obtained his liberty from the prison in which he had for a considerable time been confined, and was escorted safely to paris. on his departure, he promised by his faith to make such earnest applications to his lord, the duke of burgundy, that the duke of bourbon's children should be delivered. on his arrival at paris, he was received with joy by the dukes of acquitaine and burgundy, especially by the latter; and a few days after he made the request he had promised, and so successfully that the king and the other lords gave the duke of bourbon's children their liberty. they were sent for to paris from the castle of renty, where they were confined; and they and their attendants were delivered without any ransom to the care of sir john de croy, who escorted them to the territories of the duke of berry. the son of sir mansart du bos, who had been taken with them, remained prisoner in the castle of renty. the lord de croy was nominated governor of the county of boulogne and captain of the castle of braye sur somme, by the king, with the approbation of the duke of berry and the aforesaid duchess. he also obtained, through the recommendation of the duke of burgundy, the office of grand butler of france. to sir peter des essars, provost of paris, was given the office of grand master or waters and forests, which had been held by count waleran de st pol, who was contented to yield it up. the count de saint pol, now constable of france, ordered a large body of men at arms to assemble at vernon sur seine. in consequence, full two thousand armed with helmets came thither, with the design of making war on the inhabitants of dreux, and on the count d'alençon and his people, who had overrun parts of normandy, near to rouen, where they had plundered every thing they could lay their hands on. to provide for the payment of this force, as well as for others in different parts of the country which the king had employed under various captains, a heavy tax was imposed on the whole kingdom, to be paid at two instalments,--the first on the sunday before easter, and the second at the end of june following. this affected the poor people very much; and in addition, the pope had granted to the king a full tenth to be levied, through france and dauphiny, on all the clergy, payable also at two terms,--the one on st john the baptist's day, and the other on all-saints following. the clergy were greatly discontented,--but it was not on that account the less rigorously levied,--and commissioners were appointed to receive it from them. the constable set out in the holy week from paris for vernon, to take the command of the men at arms, and to lead them against the king's enemies. footnotes: [footnote : their passport is, in the foedera, dated january . .] [a.d. .] chap. iii. the dukes of berry and of orleans, with others of their adherents, send an embassy to the king of england.--the consequences of it. at the commencement of this year, the dukes of berry, of orleans, and of bourbon, the counts de vertus, d'angoulême, d'alençon and d'armagnac, and the lord d'albreth, calling himself constable of france, with other great lords, their confederates, sent ambassadors to the king of england, with instructions, under their seals, for them to act according to the occasion with the king of england, his children and ministers. as they were journeying through maine to go to brittany, and thence to england, they were pursued by the bailiff of caen in normandy, who, with the aid of the commonalty, attacked and defeated them, making some of them prisoners, with their sealed instructions and other articles: the rest escaped as well as they could. after the defeat, the bailiff dispatched an account of it to the king and council at paris, and sent the sealed instructions, with the other articles, in a leathern bag, well secured. the king assembled a great council at his palace of st pol, on the wednesday after easter, for the full examination of these papers. he was present, as were the king of sicily, the dukes of acquitaine and burgundy, the counts de charolois, de nevers, and de mortaigne, the lord gilles de bretagne, the chancellor of france, namely, master henry de marle[ ], the bishops of tournay, of amiens, of constance, and of auxerre, the rector of the university, the provost of paris, and several others, as well of the king's council as capital citizens of paris and students of the university. the chancellor of the duke of acquitaine, the lord d'olhaing, lately an advocate in the parliament, then declared, that there had been given to his charge, by the king's ministers, a leathern bag, which had been taken by the bailiff of caen, together with a knight, chamberlain to the duke of brittany, from de faulcon d'encre and friar james petit, of the order of the augustins, and other ambassadors from the lords mentioned in the papers contained in the bag, which had been transmitted by the said bailiff to the king's council. he added, that he had found in this bag four blank papers, signed and sealed by four different persons, namely, berry, orleans, bourbon and alençon. each blank had only the name signed on the margin above the seal. he had also found many sealed letters from the duke of berry addressed to the king of england, to the queen, and to their four sons; and in like manner, from the duke of brittany to the earl of richmond and to other noblemen in england. there were also many letters without any superscription, being credential ones for the aforesaid faulcon and friar james petit, to the king and queen of england. these letters were publicly read, and in them the duke of berry styled the king of england, 'my most redoubted lord and nephew;' and the queen, 'my most redoubted and honoured lady, niece and daughter;' and they were signed with the duke of berry's own hand. in the one to the queen, there were two lines in his own handwriting, desiring her to place full confidence in the said ambassadors. these blanks were publicly displayed,--and the king held them some time in his hand. there was a small article on a single sheet of paper containing the instructions for the ambassadors, which was likewise read aloud, and contained a repetition of the charges made against the duke of burgundy, by the duchess of orleans and her sons, for the death of the late duke of orleans. it recited, that they had frequently demanded justice of the king of france for this murder, but could never obtain it, because the duke of burgundy had prevented and evil counselled the king, by persuading him that the duke of orleans had been a disloyal traitor to his king and country, which was false,--adding, that the duke of burgundy had seduced the commonalty of france, more especially the populace of paris, by asserting that the late duke of orleans wanted to destroy the king of france and his family, which was also a falsehood, for it had never even entered his thoughts. these instructions contained, likewise, that the duke of burgundy had caused the king to be angry with the duke of brittany, because he had obstructed his expedition against calais, and several other attempts which the duke of burgundy had plotted against england; that the duke of burgundy had instigated the people of paris so greatly against the king and the duke of acquitaine that every thing was governed to his will,--and he had now the royal family in such subjection that they dared hardly to open their mouths; that the parisians, under pretext of a bull granted by pope urban v. against the free companies that had ravaged france, had caused them and their adherents to be excommunicated, and had forcibly constrained the official at paris to proceed against them in the severest manner, and to denounce them publicly, as excommunicated, with every aggravation of circumstance. these ambassadors were not to discover themselves to any man in england, unless they were sure of his support; and when they had read the contents of these papers to the king, they were to demand a private audience, and declare from the dukes of berry, of orleans, of bourbon, and from the count d'alençon, that they were most anxious for his welfare and honour, and ready to aid and assist him against the duke of burgundy, as well as against the welsh and irish. they were to add, that if they could not succeed against the scots, which they would attempt, and in case they could not obtain all they wished, they would engage to establish a peace between him and the king of france; and that if there were any lands to which he laid claim, or pretended any right, on their side the sea, they would manage the matter to his full satisfaction. they were also to say, that for want of due justice being administered at home, they were come to claim it from him, in regard to the death of the late duke of orleans; and as bearing the name of king, it belonged to him to do justice; and he would acquire perpetual honour to himself, and great advantages to his subjects, by granting them his aid and support. it was also worthy of his interference, considering the high rank of the late duke of orleans. they were likewise to say, that the undersigned would serve him and his family, as well as their descendants, in all times to come, and which they were enabled to do, even against the most potent in the realm of france. these ambassadors were also to require an immediate aid against the duke of burgundy, of three hundred lances and three thousand archers, who should receive pay in advance for four months. the chancellor of acquitaine next produced a sketch of their intended government of france, containing many articles, which were read aloud. among other schemes, there was to be imposed on every acre a tax called a land-tax; and as there were deposits of salt in the kingdom, there were likewise to be granaries of wheat and oats for the profit of the king: that all lands or houses which were in a ruinous state should be instantly repaired, or otherwise forfeited to the crown: that every commoner should be forced to work or quit the realm,--and that there should be but one weight and one measure throughout the country. item, that the duchies of lorraine and luxembourg should be conquered, as well as the towns in provence and savoy, and annexed to the kingdom of france. item, that the university should be removed from paris, and one erected and nobly endowed for the reception of numbers of discreet men. there were many rolls produced, but not read, as they were of little consequence. after the chancellor of acquitaine had concluded, the provost of the merchants and the sheriffs preferred two requests to the king, by the mouth of a monk of the order of st benedict and doctor of divinity. one was, that the king would be pleased to grant to the city of paris a third of the taxes collected in that city in the same form and manner as had been done during the reign of king charles, whose soul may god receive! for the reparations of the said town and the improvement of the river seine, of which, as the provost of merchants declared, they were in great need; that it would be for the advantage of the king and his good city that certain repairs, very much wanted, should be undertaken, and the place better fortified against the bitter hatred which the dukes of berry, orleans, bourbon, and their faction bore to it. he added, that the town of tournay was the best fortified, and in the most complete repair of any in the kingdom, because the inhabitants allot certain sums for this purpose; and that, if all the king's enemies were to besiege it, they would never be able to injure it. the other was, that orders should be given to the chancellor to seal without opposition the patent of an office vacant, or becoming so, by the demission of one of the armagnacs, which had hitherto been refused. they were told, that on the thursday ensuing, they should have answers to both of these requests. the provost and sheriffs demanded beside, that the chancellor of france should lay before the king such letters as had come to the knowledge of the duke of acquitaine, mentioning that the dukes of berry, orleans, bourbon, and the count d'alençon intended making a new king, to the exclusion of his present majesty and the duke of acquitaine. the chancellor replied, that the subject of their present consideration was the letters contained in the bag; that it was true, he was in possession of letters and other papers mentioning this circumstance, and that he had assured the duke of acquitaine of their contents. the chancellor of acquitaine then declared publicly to the king, that the grand master of his household, sir guichart daulphin, had written to inform the duke of burgundy, that the dukes of berry, orleans, bourbon, and the count d'alençon, had again renewed their oaths of alliance in the city of bourges; that the leaders of the confederacy had met in that city, and had there determined to destroy the king of france, his whole royal family, the kingdom of france, and the good city of paris, or perish themselves in the attempt. the king was much affected on hearing this, and replied with tears, 'we now fully see their wickedness, and we entreat of you all that are of our blood to advise and aid us against them; for the matter not only regards you personally, but the welfare of the whole kingdom is in danger; and we shall therefore expect the support of all present, and of every loyal subject.' the king of sicily then rose, and, falling on his knees before the king, said, 'sire, i entreat, that in regard to your own honour and welfare, as well as for that of your realm, you will order the most efficacious measures to be pursued against these rebels, for there seems to be instant need of it.' in like manner, the dukes of acquitaine and burgundy, and all the other lords, knelt to the king, and proffered him their services to the utmost of their power. when this was done, the assembly broke up, and all that had passed was promulgated through paris: even accounts of it were sent in writing to different bailiffs in the kingdom, to the great astonishment of many. footnotes: [footnote : morery, in his list of chancellors, places arnauld de corbie, lord of joigny, from to , and makes henry de marle, lord of versigny, his successor in the _latter year_.--see _post_, where it is said, that sir reginald (_i.e._ sir arnauld) de corbie was displaced ( ), and eustace de lactre appointed in his place.] chap. iv. duke louis of bavaria is driven out of paris by the parisians, and his people robbed.--of the cardinal de cambray, and the prohibition of the king of england. about this time, duke louis of bavaria, brother to the queen of france, and residing at paris, was much suspected by the parisians of having in secret spoken favourably to the king and queen of the dukes of berry and orleans; and fearing it might be prejudicial to them, knowing how much they were hated by these dukes, they assembled one day in great numbers, and sent to tell duke louis, that they were much displeased with him, for that he was of the orleans-party; and since he was so well inclined to them, he must go and join them. duke louis sent for answer, that he was not of any party, but of that of the king. the matter, therefore, rested in this state for the present; but as he perceived they were dissatisfied with him, and apprehending some insult, he went away with very few attendants to the castle of marcoussy. before his departure, he had a waggon laden with his plate and other most valuable effects, which he sent off under the escort of three gentlemen of his household,--one of whom was a young nobleman of about fifteen years old, of high rank in germany,--and some servants, to the town of valenciennes, intending to follow them speedily. they had not proceeded far on their journey when some of the burgundian party, incited by avarice and cruelty, namely, the bailiff de foquesolle, his brother jacotin, jacques de bracquencourt, and others of their companions, the greater part from picardy, having learnt the value of this convoy, by the treachery of sir morlet de betencourt, followed and overtook it between the rivers seine and oise. they made a sudden attack, which was no way resisted, putting to death most of the attendants, and seizing the waggon, which they carried off, with the young esquire above mentioned, and lodged themselves at a nunnery called premy, near to the city of cambray. when they had tarried there two or three days, they led the young man out of the nunnery by night, and most inhumanly murdered him, and threw him into a ditch full of water.--when he was dead, they drove a stake through his body, to fix it at the bottom of the ditch; and in this state was it found, some days after, by the servants and workmen of the nunnery. he was carried thence and interred in the consecrated ground of the church, where, afterward, was performed a most solemn service for the salvation of his soul, at the expense of his friends, who made great clamours and lamentations when they heard of his fatal end. the burgundians, having well secured their prize, lodged it in the house of an inhabitant of their acquaintance in cambray, and set off from the cambresis to other parts where they had business. on duke louis receiving information of this exploit, he was in the utmost rage and grief, especially for the death of the young esquire, as well as for the loss of his other servants, and his effects, and made heavy complaints of it to the king, the duke of acquitaine, and particularly to the duke of burgundy, whose vassals the perpetrators said they were. the duke of burgundy promised him the restitution of his valuables, and the punishment of the offenders; but, a few days after, duke louis set out from the castle of marcoussy, and was, by orders of the duke of burgundy, escorted by the vidame of amiens, with a considerable force, as far as the town of valenciennes, where he staid a long time. at the end of six weeks, he learnt that the greater part of his effects were deposited in the town of cambray: he therefore wrote to the magistrates, and caused letters also to be sent to duke william of hainault, to whom he was related: in short, he made so much stir that his effects were restored to him,--that is to say, all that had been deposited in cambray. the then bishop of cambray was master peter d'ailly, an excellent doctor of divinity: he was created cardinal by pope john xxiii. and took the title of cardinal of cambray. john de gaures, son to the lord de liquerque, master of arts, who was at that time with the court of rome, succeeded to this bishoprick. at this period, henry king of england caused it to be proclaimed by sound of trumpet in calais, and in all the places bordering on france, that none of his subjects, of whatever rank, should any way interfere between the two factions in france, nor go into france to serve either of them by arms or otherwise, under pain of death and confiscation of fortune. chap. v. the king of sicily leaves paris.--the siege of domfront.--the battle of saint remy du plain.--the siege of bellesme,--and other events of the year. on tuesday the th day of april of this year, the king of sicily, by order of the king and council, marched his men at arms out of paris in handsome array. he was escorted out of the town by the duke of burgundy, the provost of paris, and a very great number of noblemen and others. he hastened to angers, and to his possessions in the county of maine, to defend them against the counts d'alençon and de richemont, who harrassed them much by an incessant warfare. on his arrival at angers, he summoned all his vassals, as well knights and esquires as those who were accustomed to bear arms, and sent them to garrison all his towns which were near to those of the enemy. shortly after, sir anthony de craon, the borgne de la heuse, knight, and other captains were sent by the king to the county of alençon, to subject it to his obedience. they gained the town of domfront, but failed in taking the castle; for it was very strong in itself, and well garrisoned and provided with all necessary stores. they remained, however, before it, annoying the garrison to the utmost of their ability. the garrison sent to the count d'alençon to require instant succours: he was much grieved at the loss of the town of domfront, but answered by one of his heralds, that he would very shortly come and give the enemy battle, if they would wait for him there. sir anthony de craon and the other captains, hearing this, dispatched messengers to the king of france for reinforcements. the king sent instant orders to the constable and marshal of france, who were at vernon with a great armament, to advance to domfront. this they obeyed,--and the king of sicily also sent thither large reinforcements. but on the day fixed for the battle, the count d'alençon neither came himself nor sent any forces. the constable and the other commanders having waited under arms the whole of that day, seeing no signs of their adversaries coming, erected a strong bulwark against the castle, in which they left a numerous garrison, to keep it in check, and oppose any attempts to relieve it, and then departed. the constable marched to besiege the town of st remy du plain, and sent sir anthony de craon, with a large force to vernon, to escort the cannons, bombards, and other military engines, to st remy. there were in company with the constable, his nephew john of luxembourg, sir philip de harcourt and his brother sir james, the lord de beausault, the vidame of amiens, the lord d'offemont[ ], the lord de canny, the borgne de la heuse, roux de neele, raoul son to the vidame of amiens, the lord de lovroy, le galois de renty[ ], sir bort queret, the lord de herbainnes, the lord de saine, and many noble knights and esquires, to the number of twelve hundred helmets, and a large body of archers. they quartered themselves within the town of st remy, and around the castle, which was tolerably strong and well garrisoned with men at arms, and summoned it to surrender to the king's obedience; but on a refusal, some engines were pointed against the walls, which did them much damage. during this time, the lord de gaucourt, sir john de dreues, sir jean de guarenchieres, guillaume batillier, the lord d'argiellieres, john de falloise, with other captains of the orleans and alençon party, assembled a considerable body of combatants, with the intent of making an unexpected attack on the constable and taking him by surprise. in consequence, they marched on the th day of may from their place of rendezvous, and, riding all night, came towards the end of it very near their adversaries. the latter were, however, day and night on their guard, and had spies and scouts dispersed over the country. morlet de mons, galien bastard of auxi, and others, were on guard when the armagnacs approached. they made morlet de mons and galien prisoners; but the rest escaped, and, galloping as fast as their horses could carry them to the main army, shouted out, 'to arms, to arms!' adding, that the armagnacs were advancing in battle-array toward the camp, and had already made prisoners of morlet and galien, with some others. the constable, hearing the noise, ordered his men to arm without delay, and dispatched the lord de st legier and the lord de drucat, two well experienced knights, to examine and report the truth of this alarm. they had not gone far before they saw the enemy advancing, as had been said, on which they returned to inform the constable of it. he immediately caused his banner to be displayed, and his trumpets sounded, and, sallying out of his tent with a part of his men, drew them up in battle-array to receive the enemy, and urged the remainder of his men to make haste to join him. when he had mounted his horse, he rode along the line, to post his army most advantageously, and exhorted the whole, in the kindest manner, to combat boldly the enemies of the king and crown of france. by the advice of the most experienced, his carts and baggage were disposed of in the rear of his army, with varlets to guard them. on each wing of the men at arms were posted the archers and cross-bows, as far as they could be extended. when every arrangement was made, and the enemy was in sight, several new knights were created, as well by the constable as by others present, namely, john of luxembourg, john de beausault, raoul son to the vidame of amiens, alard de herbainnes, le brun de saine, roux de neele, raillers de fransseurs, regnault d'azincourt, and many more. this done, the constable dismounted and posted himself under his banner,--when instantly after the armagnacs entered the town, full gallop, thinking to surprise their adversaries. on perceiving they were prepared for them, they charged the division of archers and cross-bows with great shoutings, and at the first shock killed about twelve: the rest posted themselves very advantageously on the other side of a ditch, whence they made such good use of their bows and cross-bows that they routed the horses, which were unable to withstand the sharpness of their arrows, and flung down many of their riders. the constable then advanced his main battalion, and cried out to them, 'here, you scoundrels! here i am whom you are seeking for: come to me!' but their ranks were so broken, chiefly by the bowmen, that they could not rally, and, consequently, betook themselves to flight. the army of the constable, noticing this, fell on them lustily, shouting their cries, and killed numbers: the archers, being lightly armed, pursued them vigorously, and put many to a cruel death. there was near the field of battle a fish pond, into which many horses ran with their riders, and both were drowned. a valiant man of arms from brittany attacked these archers with great gallantry, expecting to be supported by his companions, but he was soon pulled from his horse and slain. the constable, seeing the defeat of his enemies, mounted several on the fleetest horses, that they might attack them in their flight, and very many were indeed slain and taken: the remnant fled for refuge to alençon and other towns belonging to their party. more than four score prisoners were brought to the constable, who was with his knights, rejoicing on the victory they had gained; and in the number were the lord d'anieres, knight, and sir jaunet de guarochieres, son to the lord de croisy, who was with the constable. when he thus perceived his son led prisoner, he was so exasperated against him that he would have killed him had he not been withheld. those who had made this attack on the constable had brought with them a multitude of peasants, in the expectation of destroying him and his army,--but the reverse happened, for upwards of four hundred of them were killed in the field, and from six to eight score made prisoners. shortly after, the constable returned into the town of st remy du plain, whence he had dislodged in the morning; and this battle, ever since, has borne the name of st remy. he then made preparations to storm the castle; but the garrison, seeing no chance of further relief, surrendered it, and were, by the constable, received to the obedience of the king. the king of sicily had about eight hundred chosen men at arms in the county of alençon,--and when he heard that the armagnacs had collected a large force to march to raise the siege of st remy, he sent four score of his men to reinforce the constable, who arrived at st remy four hours after the action was over. they were overjoyed at the victory, and the surrender of the castle, both of which they were ignorant of; and having thanked god for this good fortune, and congratulated the constable thereon, they returned to the king of sicily. the constable advanced to bellême with his army, accompanied by the marshal of france and sir anthony de craon; and on their arrival, they were soon joined by the king of sicily, with archers, cross-bows, and other implements of war. they instantly formed the siege of the castle,--the king of sicily investing it on one side, and the constable and marshal on the other. their attacks were so severe and incessant that the garrison could not withstand them, but surrendered on terms. having placed a new garrison there in the king's name, the constable marched away toward paris; the marshal returned to dreux; and the king of sicily and his men went for mans, to guard his territories of anjou. on the constable's arrival at paris, he was magnificently feasted by the king, and the dukes of acquitaine and burgundy, as well for the victory he had gained at st remy as for other matters, which, during his expedition, he had brought to an honourable conclusion; and a sum of money was instantly ordered him, for the payment of his men at arms. splendid presents were also made him by the king and the duke of burgundy. while things were thus carried on successfully against the count d'alençon, aymé de vitry and the bastard of savoy[ ] kept up a continued warfare with the duke of bourbon in the beaujolois; and about the middle of april, an engagement took place near to villefranche, when two of the duke's captains, vignier de reffort and bernardon de seres, were defeated, and with them eight score men at arms, knights and esquires: few escaped death or being made prisoners. in another part of the kingdom, the lord de heilly and enguerrand de bournouville were equally successful, and had subjected to the king's authority the greater part of poitou. they had very lately gained a victory over two hundred of the duke of berry's men, near to montfaucon. the grand master of the king's household, sir guichard daulphin, and the master of the cross-bows of france, and sir john de châlon[ ], were sent by the king's orders, with ten thousand horse, to lay siege to st fargeau in the nivernois, which belonged to john son to the duke of bar. while there, they were in daily expectation of a battle, but in vain: however, when they had remained ten or twelve days, with the loss of many men in killed and wounded, the town surrendered, and was by them regarrisoned in the king's name. with similar success did the lord de st george and the nobles of burgundy make war on the count d'armagnac, in gascony. sir elyon de jacques-ville was stationed at estampes, and made daily conquests from the orleans-party, who at this period were very unfortunate, for war was carried on against them on all sides. to provide a remedy, and to enable themselves to make head against their adversaries, they sent a solemn embassy to henry king of england, and to his children, to solicit succours of men and money. the ambassadors, by means of their credential letters and other papers which they brought from these lords of france, treated with king henry so that he consented to send to the dukes of berry, orleans, and their party, eight thousand combatants, under the command of his second son, the duke of clarence. for the confirmation of this, he granted to the ambassadors letters under his great seal, which they carried back to the dukes of berry, orleans, bourbon, and the count d'alençon and others, whom they found at bourges waiting their return. they were much rejoiced on seeing the great seal of the king of england; for they expected to have immediate need of his assistance, as they had information that the duke of burgundy was intending to lead the king in person to subdue and conquer them. footnotes: [footnote : guy de nesle, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : renty was the name of a considerable family in artois. i can find nothing about any of the others.] [footnote : humbert, natural son of amadeus vii. and brother of amadeus viii. counts of savoy.] [footnote : john de châlon, second son to louis i. count of auxerre, and brother to louis ii.] chap. vi. charles king of france, attended by other princes, marches a large force from paris to bourges.--letters from the king of england,--and other matters. the council of state now determined that the king should march in person against his rebellious subjects, to reduce them to obedience. summonses were sent throughout the kingdom for men at arms and archers to assemble between paris and melun; and at the same time, great numbers of carriages were ordered to meet there for the baggage. in like manner, the dukes of acquitaine and burgundy issued their special summonses. when all was ready, and the king on the point of leaving paris on this expedition, a large body of the parisians and members of the university waited on him, and earnestly required, in the presence of his council, that he would not enter into any treaty with his enemies without their being included and personally named therein. they remonstrated with him on the necessity for this, as they were hated by his enemies, because they had loyally served him against them. the king and council granted their request.--the king then left paris in noble array, on thursday the th day of may, and lay the first night at vincennes, where the queen resided: he thence went through corbeil to melun, where he remained some days waiting for his men at arms. on the ensuing sunday, the dukes of acquitaine and burgundy set out from paris to join the king at melun, to which place large bodies of men at arms and archers repaired from all parts of the kingdom. on saturday, the th of may, the king marched his army from melun, accompanied by the dukes of acquitaine, burgundy and bar, the counts de mortain and de nevers, with many other great barons, knights and gentlemen. it had been resolved in council, that the king should not return to paris until he had reduced the dukes of berry, orleans and bourbon, with their adherents, to obedience. he then advanced to moret, in the gatinois, and to montereau-faut-yonne. at this last place, he was wounded in the leg by a kick from a horse, but continued his march to sens, where he was confined by this accident six days. the queen and the duchess of burgundy had hitherto attended him, but they were now sent back by their lords to reside at vincennes. the count de charolois was ordered by his father to return to ghent; and, shortly after, the queen went to melun, where she held her court. during this time the english, on the frontiers of the boulonois, took by storm the fortress of banelinghen, situated between ardres and calais, and the inheritance of the lord de dixcunde[ ], notwithstanding there were sealed truces between the kings of france and england. it was commonly said that the governor, john d'estienbecque, had sold it to the english for a sum of money. the french were much troubled when they heard of this capture, but they could not any way amend it, and were forced to be contented. the governor and his wife resided quietly with the english, which convinced every one that the place had been sold, and also some of his soldiers, who had been made prisoners, were ransomed. this conduct of king henry surprised many; for he had appeared earnest in his desire to marry his eldest son with the daughter of the duke of burgundy,--but he had been turned from it by the offers and negotiations of the ambassadors before mentioned, and had now united himself with them. the king of england wrote the following letter to the towns of ghent, bruges, ypres and the franc, which he sent by one of his heralds. 'henry, by the grace of god, king of england and france, and lord of ireland, to our honoured and wise lords the citizens, sheriffs and magistrates, of the towns of ghent, bruges, ypres, and of the territory du franc, our very dear and especial friends, we send health and greeting. very dear and respected lords, it has come to our knowledge, through a very creditable channel, that under the shadow of our adversary the king of france, the duke of burgundy, count of flanders, is making, or about to make, a speedy march into our country of acquitaine, to wage war upon and destroy our subjects, particularly on our very dear and well beloved cousins the dukes of berry, orleans and bourbon, and the counts of alençon, of armagnac, and the lord d'albreth. 'since, therefore, your lord perseveres in his malicious intentions, you will have the goodness to assure us, on the return of our messenger, by your letters so soon as possible, whether the flemings be willing to conform to the truces lately concluded between us, without any way assisting their lord in his wicked purposes toward us. 'understanding, honoured lords, and very dear friends, that if your town, and the other towns in flanders, be desirous of continuing the terms of the truces, to the advantage of flanders, we are very willing, on our part, to do the same. very dear friends, may the holy spirit have you alway in his keeping!--given under our privy seal, at our palace of westminster, the th day of may, in the th year of our reign[ ].' the flemings sent for answer to this letter by the bearer, that they would no way infringe the truces between the two countries; but that they should serve and assist the king of france their sovereign lord, and their count the duke of burgundy, as heretofore, to the utmost of their power. this letter and answer were sent to the duke of burgundy, who was attending the king in the town of sens in burgundy. at this same time, the duke of berry, by the advice of the count d'armagnac, coined money with the same arms and superscription as that of the king of france, in the town of bourges, to pay his troops, which greatly exasperated the king and his council when they heard thereof. the coins consisted of golden crowns and others, perfectly similar to those of the king. footnotes: [footnote : q. dixmuyde?] [footnote : see this letter, and the treaty with the duke of berry, &c. in rymer, a.d. .] chap. vii. the town of vervins is taken by sir clugnet de brabant, and afterward retaken.--the castle of gersies is won by sir simon de clermont. about this same time, the town of vervins, which was very strong and rich, was taken by treachery, by sir clugnet de brabant and thomas de lorsies, lord of boquiaux, and some other gentlemen, to the amount of six hundred men, from different countries, of the party of the duke of orleans. this was said to have been effected by a butcher who had been for ill conduct banished the town, and in revenge had joined the army of sir clugnet de brabant. the butcher's wife and family had remained in the town; and one day, when it was dusk, they hid themselves near the gate, and about sun-rise, when the guard had quitted the ramparts, and the gate was opened and the drawbridge let down, they made a signal to the enemy, who was in ambuscade. sir clugnet instantly entered the place, sounding trumpets, and shouting out, 'the duke of orleans for ever!' to the great surprise of the inhabitants, who were far from expecting such a morning salute. very few were made prisoners, but all were robbed; and for three days the money and plate of the lord de vervins, who was with the king, or on his road to join him, as well as every thing of value in the different houses, were collected, and sent off by sir clugnet, to the amount of thousands of florins, to the town of ardennes[ ], that those of his countrymen who had joined his party, and those who had accompanied him on this expedition, might be paid. the neighbouring towns were astonished when they heard of this event, and collected a large force to enable them to besiege the enemy in vervins, and retake the town. the bailiff of the vermandois, sir le brun de bairins, the lord de chin, with many other knights and citizens, hastened thither, to the number of four hundred helmets and from six to eight thousand infantry very well armed. the lord de vervins, who was of high rank and a very expert knight, no sooner heard of his loss than he hastened to join the besiegers, and led many brisk attacks on the town. those who had captured it made an excellent defence from the walls with bows and cross-bows, so that the besiegers were twenty-three days before it. on the th of june, the lord de boquiaux, thomas de lorsies, son to the lord de selebes, knights, the bastard d'esne, and those who were with them, considering that their enemies were daily increasing, and that they had done much damage to the walls and houses, were afraid of being killed or taken, and held a council on the best means to escape. they defended themselves with greater vigour than before, the better to conceal their intentions; and when the besiegers were at their dinner in their tents and pavilions, and they had seen their guard posted at one of the gates, they mounted their horses fully armed,--and, having had the gates thrown open, all except three, who were asleep or too negligent, sallied out full gallop, sticking spurs into their horses, and made with all speed for the forest near the town. the besiegers were astonished on seeing this, and, pushing aside their tables, mounted instantly to pursue them, and followed with such haste that they took about forty of them,--and the rest saved themselves by dint of speed. the royalists returned to the town with their prisoners, and found there the three negligent armagnacs and some other wretches of their party, who, by the command of the bailiff of the vermandois, were sent to prison; and when he had heard their confession, they were by him sentenced to be beheaded. the bailiff then set out for laon, whither he carried the other prisoners, well bound, there to suffer a similar punishment. the lord de vervins remained in his town to put it into repair, and the lord de chin and the rest went to their homes. a few days after, the castle of gersies, which was very strong, was taken by some of the army of sir clugnet de brabant, namely, by sir simon de clermont, a captain called millet d'autre, and others, who won it one morning by storm. but shortly after, the bailiff of the vermandois, with some of the aforesaid lords and a large body of the commonalty, regained it by assault. sir simon and millet d'autre, with their companions, were all made prisoners, carried to laon, and beheaded. the castle was new garrisoned for the king. footnotes: [footnote : q. ardres?] chap. viii. the king of france receives certain information that his adversaries had formed an alliance with the king of england.--the constable marches into the boulonois. during the residence of the king of france at sens in burgundy, he received positive intelligence, that the dukes of berry, orleans, bourbon, and their confederates, had formed an alliance with the king of england, who had engaged to send a large army to their assistance, to lay waste his kingdom,--and that part of it had already marched from calais and the other castles on the frontiers of the boulonois, and commenced the war. they had carried away much plunder, and had set fire to the town of merck on the sea-shore, thus infringing the truces which subsisted between them. in consequence of this inroad, the king of france ordered his constable, the count de st pol, to march thither, to assemble all the nobles of picardy, and to garrison and victual the frontier towns, and to use every diligence in opposing the further progress of the english; for the duke of burgundy had carried with him all the youth, and the most warlike men, from the countries of the boulonois, ponthieu, and artois, leaving behind only the superannuated and such as were unable to bear arms. the constable, hearing of the mischiefs the english were doing, more of his own free will than in obedience to the king's, hastened to paris, laying all other matters aside, with the borgne de la heuse and some other knights whom he left there, at the earnest entreaties of the parisians, to carry on the war against dreux. he went then to picardy and to st pol, to visit his lady; thence he went to st omer and to boulogne, inspecting the whole frontier, and providing necessaries where wanted. the whole country was now alarmed and in motion, insomuch that the english retired worsted; but they very soon recommenced their warfare. when the constable saw this, and that they did not abstain, he held a council of his principal officers, such as the lord d'offemont, the lord de canny, the lord de lovroy, sir philip de harcourt and others. at the conclusion of it, he assembled a body of men at arms, to the amount of fifteen hundred, whom he put under the command of the lord de lovroy and one called alin quentin, and ordered them to march toward the town and castle of guines. as they approached the place on foot, the constable sent off, by another road, forty helmets under sir john de renty, who was well acquainted with all the avenues to the town, to make a pretence of attacking it on that side, which was only inclosed with a palisade and ditch, and garrisoned with dutchmen and other soldiers who resided there.--the constable, with six hundred combatants, advanced between the town and calais, to guard that road, and to prevent the english, should they hear of the attack, from sending any considerable reinforcements. thus did he remain between his two battalions so long as the engagement lasted. the infantry, at day-break, began the storm with courage, and continued it a long time, until they had succeeded in setting the town on fire, so that upward of sixty houses were burnt.--those in the castle defended themselves valiantly, and much annoyed the assailants with stones and arrows shot from their cross-bows. perceiving the distress of the townsmen, they opened a gate of the castle to receive them,--and thus they escaped death. by the advice of the said marshal de renty, his division made a retreat to where they had commenced the attack, but not without many being severely wounded: few, however, were killed. the constable, when informed of their retreat, made it known to the whole army, and returned to boulogne, but leaving garrisons along the whole frontier, who daily had some skirmishes with the english. chap. ix. the king of france lays siege to fontenay and to bourges.--the events that happened while he remained there. the king of france having remained some days at sens, and having held many councils on the state of his realm, marched thence to auxerre, and to la charité on the loire, where he staid five days. he then advanced toward a strong castle called fontenay, in the possession of the armagnacs, who, on seeing the great force of the king, instantly surrendered it, on condition of having their lives and fortunes saved. several captains, who had commanded on the frontiers against the armagnacs, entered it,--and the army of the king was greatly increased by troops daily arriving from all quarters. in the number of those that came were the lord de heilly, enguerrand de bournouville, the lord de vitry and others. the king marched from fontenay to the town of dun-le-roi in berry, where he encamped, and had it besieged by his army on all sides, and well battered by his engines. during this siege, hector, bastard-brother to the duke of bourbon, with only three hundred men, made an attack on a body of the king's army when foraging, and killed and took many. after this exploit, he hastened back to bourges, and told the dukes of berry and bourbon of his success. dun-le-roi was so much harrassed by the cannon and engines of the besiegers that, on the ninth day, the garrison offered to surrender, on condition of their lives and fortunes being spared, and that sir louis de corail, lately made seneschal of the boulonois, should return with his men in safety to the duke of berry. these terms were accepted, and the town was delivered up to the king. he remained there for three days, and then departed with his army, leaving sir gautier de rubes, a burgundy knight, governor of the town. the king and his army were quartered, on friday the th day of june, three leagues distant from dun-le-roi, at a town near a wood. on the morrow he continued his march, and came before the city of bourges, which was strong, very populous, and full of every sort of provision and wealth. this city was, in ancient times, the capital of the kingdom of acquitaine, and is situated on the river yeure. through the town, a small rivulet runs from dun-le-roi. the lords within this town, namely, the dukes of berry and bourbon, the lord d'albreth, the count d'auxerre[ ], john brother to the duke of bar, with the inhabitants, showed every appearance of making a strong resistance. there were also in bourges many who had fled their country, such as the archbishops of sens and of bourges, the bishops of paris and of chartres, the lord de gaucourt, barbasan, aubreticourt, le borgne foucault, and fifteen hundred helmets, or thereabout, and four hundred archers and cross-bowmen. when the king's army approached, which was estimated and commonly believed to consist of upward of one hundred thousand horse, some few sallied out of the town well armed, shouting, 'long live the king, and the dukes of berry and bourbon!' at the same time falling desperately on the light troops of the van, so that very many were killed and wounded on each side; but the main army, advancing, soon forced them to retreat. when they had re-entered the town, they set the gates wide open, and gallantly made preparations for defence. the van of the king's army was commanded by the grand master of the household, sir guichard daulphin, and the lords de croy and de heilly, knights, aymé de vitry and enguerrand de bournouville, esquires. the lords de croy and de heilly, in the absence of the marshals of france, boucicaut and de longny, were ordered by the king to exercise the functions of marshals. the rear division was commanded by the lords d'arlay, sir john de châlon, the lord de vergy, marshal of burgundy, the lords de ront and de raisse. in the king's battalion were the dukes of acquitaine, burgundy, and bar, the counts de mortain and de nevers, the lord gilles de bretagne, and a numerous body of chivalry. when the army arrived on the plain in front of the city, they were from three to four hours in arranging their places of encampment, and in dividing the army under the different commanders. then, near to a gibbet, were created more than five hundred knights, who, with many others, had never before displayed their banners. after this ceremony, the army was advanced nearer to the town, and encamped on the marshes on the side of the small river before mentioned, and other flat grounds.--some tents and pavilions were pitched among vineyards, and by the ruins of the houses belonging to the priory of st martin des champs, of the order of cluny, and others near to part of the suburbs which had been destroyed by the inhabitants prior to the arrival of the king's army, and among the large walnut-trees adjoining. it is true, that some from thirst drank water from wells without the town; but whoever did so died suddenly, so that the wickedness and treachery of the besieged were discovered. it was proclaimed by sound of trumpet, that no one should in future drink any well-water, but alway make use of spring or running water, for that the wells had been poisoned. the besieged afterward confessed, isatis that an herb called [greek: isatis] by the greeks, and by the latins _glastum_, had been thrown into the wells, to cause the deaths of all who should drink out of them. though the townsmen could not now pass the marches and cross the fords as usual from fear of the besiegers, they had, by another road, free communication with the country, so that all manner of provision could be brought into the town, to the great vexation of the lords in the king's army. the besiegers had now approached pretty near to the town, and had brought their artillery to bear on it, so that, from the continued cannonading and shooting from cross-bows, they slew many of their adversaries. the townsmen frequently insulted them by their abuse, calling them false burgundian traitors, who had brought the king thither confined in his tent, as if he was not sound in mind. they called the duke of burgundy a treacherous murderer; adding, that they would instantly have opened their gates to the king if he had not been there. the burgundians were not behind hand in their replies, retorting on the armagnacs by calling them false and rebellious traitors to their king, and using various other invectives on each side; but the duke of burgundy, who heard all their abuse, made no reply whatever, but only thought how he might distress them the more. on wednesday the th of june, a truce was agreed on between the two parties, at the solicitation of the duke of berry; but during this time, some of the king's household, incited by treason, sent to the besieged,--'sally forth: now is the time!' well knowing what they would do. when precisely between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, while the king was in his tent, and the dukes of acquitaine and burgundy were reposing, and the greater part of the army disarmed, as not suspecting any thing, about five hundred chosen men at arms sallied out of two gates of the town, and marched on as secretly as they could through vineyards and by-paths to avoid being seen, with the intent of surprising and taking the king and the duke of acquitaine, in their tents, and putting the duke of burgundy to death. what they were afraid of happened; for two pages of the lord de croy, riding their coursers to exercise and to water, perceived this body of five hundred marching toward the army, and instantly galloped back again, bawling out, 'to arms! here are the enemies advancing, who have sallied out of their town.' on hearing this, every one hastened to his tent, and armed. the vanguard drew up in array, and soon met the enemy. the engagement immediately commenced; but the armagnacs were overpowered by their adversaries, who increased every moment, so that they could not withstand them. six score were soon killed, and about forty made prisoners: the rest took disgracefully to flight, making all haste back to bourges, led on by the lord de gaucourt. among the slain were guillaume batiller, who had been taken at the battle of st cloud, and set at liberty, and guillaume de chailus, knight, whose bodies, when stripped, were thrown into the wells said to have been poisoned, to serve them for a grave. in the number of prisoners were the grand master of the household of the duke of berry, an esquire of the lord d'albreth, and also his principal cook, called gastard, who declared in the presence of several, that he would name those who had urged them to make this attempt. in consequence, on the morrow were arrested master geoffry de bouillon, secretary to the duke of acquitaine, and the family of the lord de boissay, first maistre d'hôtel to the king,--and afterward one called gilles de toisy, esquire, a native of beauvais, his servant, and enguerrand de seure, esquire, a norman, who were all on this account beheaded before the king's tent; but as the lord de boissay was only suspected, and no proof brought to convict him, he was imprisoned, and made to witness the punishment of the others. there were a body of english and french in the king's army, consisting of about three hundred, under the command of aymé de vitry, two hundred of whom one day deserted; but, as they were making for the town, they were so closely pursued that numbers of them were slain by lances, swords and arrows, before they could enter the gates. one half of the garrison of gien-sur-loire, consisting of about four hundred helmets, attempted, on the th of june, to enter the city; but, before they could accomplish it, having been observed by the besiegers, they were so vigorously attacked that from one hundred to six score were killed. during the time the king was at this siege of bourges, the foragers were almost daily cut off by the ambuscades of the enemy, they themselves and their horses being slain or taken; and as they were obliged to seek forage at the distance of six or eight leagues, the army suffered much from famine. moreover, the waggons that brought provision from burgundy and other parts, were way-laid by the soldiers of sancerre, and other places in rebellion against the king, and plundered: this caused great distress to the besiegers, and very many were disheartened from want of bread. however it lasted not long, for by the vigilance of sir guichard daulphin, he met the garrison of sancerre convoying provision to the town of bourges, when he attacked them, and forced them to surrender the town and castle of sancerre, which had been more active than any others in preventing forage being brought to the camp; and thus all dread of famine was removed. toward the end of june, about sun-set, four hundred men at arms made a sally from the town, induced thereto by the information of some of their prisoners, that the provost of paris, the admiral of france, and the vidame d'amiens, were coming to the camp with a large sum of money from paris to the king, to enable him to pay his troops. in the hope of defeating and plundering the above, they rode on and posted themselves in a wood, the more readily to surprise them. intelligence of this was however carried to the lord de ront, by some of his spies who had observed them march out of the town; and he instantly made the duke of lorraine and the lord de heilly acquainted therewith. they collected about five hundred men at arms, under pretence of a foraging party, and, leaving the camp, crossed the river by an old bridge which they repaired as well as they could, and took up their quarters in a small vineyard, whence, during the night, they sent off scouts to observe the situation of the enemy. they were found in ambuscade, thinking to take the king's treasure, but were themselves taken,--for no sooner were these lords informed where they were than they instantly attacked them, and killed and took many: among the latter was a gentleman named guistardon de seure: the rest saved themselves by flight. the duke of lorraine and the lords de ront and de heilly returned to the camp with their prisoners, much rejoiced at their victory. the duke of berry, and those with him in bourges, were much grieved at this defeat, and others of a similar nature; for he saw with pain his country ruined, and daily witnessed the deaths of his most valiant knights and esquires. he nevertheless did not slacken in his endeavours to defend himself against all who wished to hurt him,--and it frequently happened that his men retaliated severely on the besiegers. while these things were passing, sir philip de lignac, grand master of rhodes, who had attended the king, exerted himself at various times to bring about a peace between the two parties. the count de savoye had also sent his marshal, and some of his principal knights, to the king and to the duke of berry, to attempt the same thing. they, therefore, united in their endeavours, and, by permission of the king and of the duke of acquitaine, who acted as his lieutenant, they had interviews with each party. by their diligence, a conference was appointed to be holden; and there were added to them as commissioners, the master of the cross-bows, the seneschal of hainault and some others. the commissioners on the part of the armagnacs were the archbishop of bourges, the lord de gaucourt, the lord de tignonville, the lord de barbasan, the lord d'aubreticourt and others, who diligently exerted themselves on each side to bring a treaty to a conclusion. they had frequent consultations on the subject with the different princes of each party; but in fact it was not a matter speedily to be finished, for each of the parties was too much interested and suspicious. it was strongly remonstrated that the besieged had, during a truce, made a treacherous attack on the army; and many arguments were urged by both sides, which greatly retarded the conclusion of a peace. footnotes: [footnote : louis ii. de châlon, count of auxerre, son of louis i. and mary of parthenay.] chap. x. the king of france decamps, and lays siege to bourges on the opposite side.--a treaty is concluded between the two parties. when the king of france had remained with his army for sixteen months before the city of bourges, on the side toward la charité sur loire, without any hope of taking it, and had perceived the town was well supplied with provision on the side opposite to his camp, he broke up the siege, and ordered fire to be set to all his quarters. he marched away, and again encamped on the right of the city, about four leagues distant, on the river, and near to yeure-le-châtel. the besieged, seeing their adversaries thus suddenly decamp, thought it was done from fear of the english, who had promised them their aid, and that they were marching back to france. they were consequently much rejoiced, and some of them sallied forth, with a multitude of peasants, in the expectation of making prisoners,--but it happened otherwise than they looked for. enguerrand de bournouville had, with some other captains, remained behind, with about three hundred men at arms in ambuscade, and, when they saw it was time, issued forth, killed many, and made more prisoners, and returned to the king's army. on the morrow, the king and his whole army crossed the river. one division advanced toward bourges, and another to orleans, to despoil and waste the country in the same manner as they had done on the opposite side. the townsmen of bourges, observing the army to cross the river, hastily set fire to the suburbs on that side, which were very extensive, to prevent the enemy from occupying them, and some churches were also burnt: the more the pity. the king encamped his army round the city on that side, and had his cannons and engines pointed in such wise as effectually to annoy the place. the besieged were not idle in providing for their defence, and the means of preventing the city from being taken, but were very much grieved and cast down at the great damage which had been done to it. the duke of acquitaine, son and lieutenant to the king, saw with regret the destruction of so noble a city, the capital of auvergne and berry, and to which he was heir, and, fearing its total ruin, forbade the cannoneers, and those who had the direction of the other engines, to fire any balls, or to cast more stones into it, under pain of death. the duke of burgundy, on hearing these orders, which counteracted his wish to push matters to extremity, was much displeased and surprised, and suspected the duke of acquitaine had changed his opinion, or was moved with compassion toward his enemies: however, in the conversation that passed between them on the subject, the duke of acquitaine declared positively, that he would put an end to the war. the duke of burgundy most earnestly begged of him, that if he were determined upon it, he would conclude it according to the terms that had been agreed to by the king's ministers at paris, namely, that if their adversaries should present themselves with all humility before the king, and submit themselves to his mercy, he would receive them, but entreated that any terms he should make might not be to his dishonour. the duke of acquitaine replied, that in truth the war had lasted too long; that it was prejudicial to the king and kingdom, and that he in the end might suffer from it,--for those against whom the war was made were his uncles, cousins-german, and others of his kindred, by whom he should be greatly assisted in any cases of need,--but he was desirous that they should submit themselves in the manner proposed in council before he had left paris. the duke of burgundy, in consequence of this and other conversations, humbled himself much toward the duke of acquitaine; for he had discovered that the business had been discussed with some other great lords, of whom he was very suspicious, and particularly of the duke of bar, who had, for some time past, clearly shown he was displeased with him. he, however, told the duke of acquitaine publicly, that he was satisfied that the negotiations for a peace should be continued according to the good pleasure and honour of the king and himself. the commissioners were, therefore, ordered to renew the conferences, which they willingly obeyed. when they had reduced to writing the demands and answers of the two parties, they requested of the princes on each side, that the dukes of berry and burgundy might meet and conclude the treaty; and this was agreed to by the king and the duke of acquitaine, and the leaders of the opposite party. an elevated place was fixed and well secured for the meeting of the uncle and nephew, for neither of them had much confidence in the other. it was for this reason that barriers were erected on a platform, on which the dukes entered at separate ends, having bars between them, and their council behind, whom they occasionally consulted as to the demands and answers. for greater security, a body of their men at arms was stationed near to each, but not so near as to hear any conversation that passed.--they were both completely and handsomely armed. the duke of berry, notwithstanding he was seventy years of age, wore a sword, dagger, and battle-axe: he had on a steel scull-cap, and a rich clasp on his breast,--over his armour a purple jacket, the cross belt of which was bespangled with pearls. after they had been two hours together, they separated, to outward appearance, in good humour; but the duke of berry said peevishly to the duke of burgundy, 'fair nephew and fair godson, when your father, my dear brother, was living, there was no need of any barriers between us: we were alway on the most affectionate terms.' the duke of burgundy replied, 'my lord, it has not been my fault.' the duke of berry then mounted his horse, and returned, with his attendants, to bourges,--and the duke of burgundy, in like manner, to the camp. the knights of the duke of burgundy, on their return, said, that those of the duke of berry, in their common conversations, declared themselves no way rebellious nor disaffected to the king; that their lord had been for some time very unwell, and unable to command them; that had he been otherwise, he would not so long have left the death of his nephew unpunished; that in regard to their having burnt, taken, and destroyed several towns and castles, in different parts of the kingdom, such as st denis and roye, which they had plundered, they replied, that as their lords were of the blood-royal, they had a right to lead their men at arms through any towns in the realm, on their personal wars, for that they had very just cause for attacking the duke of burgundy, and that in so doing they committed no offence against the king; but, in regard to having refused to open the gates of the city of bourges when the king came in person before it, they confessed themselves guilty of contempt, for which they humbly asked his pardon, as was stated in the treaty, and offered him the keys of the town. on the wednesday following, the two dukes again met, with their counsellors, at the barriers in front of the city-gate, and renewed their conference. when it was concluded, they drank wine together, and separated very joyfully. on the next day, all the nobles and knights of the army assembled before the tent of the duke of acquitaine, who appeared in state as the representative of the king. he was attended by the dukes of bar and lorraine, and many others of high rank. the chancellor of acquitaine, sir john de neelle, knight and licentiate of law, and of great eloquence, then recited most notably all the different acts of rebellion committed by john de berry, charles d'orleans, john de bourbon, john d'alençon, bernard d'armagnac and charles d'albreth, and their adherents, declaring their alliance with the king of england, the king's adversary, and detailing all the destruction they had brought on the kingdom,--concluding a long speech by demanding, by orders of the king and of his son the duke of acquitaine, that every person should now promptly deliver his opinion, whether there should be peace or war. many replied, that it were better peace should be made with the above lords, and that they should be reinstated in the king's favour, than otherwise, provided the peace were a solid one; but others were of a contrary opinion,--and thus ended this meeting, which caused much murmuring. it is true, that at this time the heat of the weather was excessive, and great sickness prevailed in the army, insomuch that very many, hearing daily of the deaths of their companions, departed without taking leave. there was a great mortality among the horses, and the stench of their carcases much infected the camp. chap. xi. the princes and lords within the city of bourges wait on the king and the duke of acquitaine, and afterward at auxerre. on friday the th day of july, when all things had been settled, the dukes of berry and of bourbon, the lord d'albreth, the count d'eu[ ], the lord john de bar, brother to the duke of bar, accompanied by many knights and esquires bearing their banners, came forth of the city toward the king's army, and entered the tent of the duke of acquitaine, who was surrounded by many nobles, such as the dukes of burgundy and bar, and other knights and esquires, the king being afflicted with his usual disorder. after the treaty had been read and agreed to, each kissed the other; but when the duke of berry kissed his nephew the duke of acquitaine, tears ran down his cheeks. this treaty contained, among other articles, that the treaty which had been concluded at chartres by the king and his council, between charles duke of orleans and his brothers, respecting the death of their late father, louis duke of orleans, on the one part, and john duke of burgundy on the other, for being an accomplice in the aforesaid death, should be kept inviolable for ever; and that the marriage formerly proposed between one of the brothers of the orleans family and a daughter of the duke of burgundy should take effect. the other articles declared, that the duke of berry and the lords of his party should surrender to the obedience of the king all such towns and castles as the king might demand; and the duke entreated, that the king would excuse and pardon him for not having before submitted to his obedience the city of bourges. and also, that the aforesaid lords would renounce all confederations which had been made between them, as well as all foreign alliances against the duke of burgundy, who in like manner was to renounce the alliances he might have formed against them. that the king would restore to them, fully and completely, all their towns, castles and forts which he might have taken, excepting such as had been demolished or razed, which were to remain in their present state. the articles also declared, that the officers of the aforesaid lords who had been deprived of their places should be reinstated. when they had dined, the duke of berry presented the keys of the city of bourges to the duke of acquitaine, as the representative of the king, and then returned thither with his companions. the duke of acquitaine caused the peace to be proclaimed throughout the army and country in the king's name, acting as his lieutenant. by the same proclamation, it was most strictly ordered, that henceforth no one of either party should personally abuse another, either corporally or in his fortune, nor use any opprobrious language, nor call any one by the names of armagnac or burgundian. on saturday, the th day of the same month, king louis of sicily came from his possessions in anjou and maine, escorted by three thousand two hundred men at arms, knights and esquires, and accompanied by the count de penthievre with his bretons, to assist the king in his siege of bourges. the king of sicily was very much rejoiced when he was informed of the peace that had been concluded with the princes; and on the morrow, attended by the duke of bar and a number of other knights, he went into the city, and was there magnificently entertained at dinner by the duke and duchess of berry. the other lords dined in the duke's palace, and were grandly and plentifully served: after dinner, they all returned to the camp. on the ensuing wednesday, the king of france decamped from before the town, having remained there, at this second siege, forty days, at an immense expense, and with his whole army marched back, the way they had come, to la charité sur loire, where he was lodged. thither came the dukes of berry and of bourbon, and the lord d'albreth, with the commissioners from the duke of orleans and his brothers, who, in the tent of the duke of acquitaine, and in his presence and in that of the principal lords, made oath on the holy evangelists punctually and faithfully to observe the peace that had been concluded at bourges. they promised to swear the same in the presence of the king; and as the duke of orleans and his brothers were absent, they solemnly engaged that they would meet the king, to take this oath personally before him, on any appointed day, at auxerre: when this was done, they returned home. the peace was again proclaimed by the king's orders; and all persons were strictly enjoined, whatever might be their rank, not to molest each other in body or estate, and not to use any defamatory language, or call any one by the name of armagnac. after this, the king of sicily, the dukes of acquitaine, burgundy, and bar, and all the princes, counts, barons and chivalry, departed. the king retained with him a great body of the captains of his army, and their men at arms, and gave permission for all the rest to return to their homes. he went thence to auxerre, and was lodged in the episcopal palace: the king of sicily and the duke of acquitaine were quartered in the town, and their men in the adjacent villages. the lord gilles de bretagne, on his arrival at auxerre, died of a dysentery. in like manner, the count de mortain, brother to the king of navarre, lost his life either at auxerre or at sancerre from the same disorder. his body was carried to paris, and interred in the church of the carthusians. aymé de vitry, sir john de guistelle, john d'jequennie, and several others, died on their road home; and this disorder was so fatal that from one thousand to twelve hundred knights and esquires, not including varlets, died of it, as it was reported to the lords in auxerre. when the marshal de boucicaut, the count de foix and the lord de st george, who were carrying on the war against the count d'armagnac, heard that peace was concluded between the king and his enemies, they disbanded their army, and gave permission for all to return home. during the time the king was at auxerre, he had summoned the greater part of his nobles and prelates thither, as well as the chief citizens of the great towns, to witness the solemn swearing to the observance of the peace. but before they could arrive, other intelligence was brought, which was far from being agreeable, namely, that the english were at anchor, with their whole navy, before the town of la hogue de st vas, in the country of coutantin; that they had made a descent, and spread themselves over the adjacent countries, destroying or plundering every thing they could find, and that their numbers amounted to about eight thousand, of whom two thousand were men at arms, and the rest archers or infantry, and that they were under the command of the duke of clarence, second son to the king of england. these english had landed in consequence of the treaty between the dukes of berry and orleans and their allies, and the king of england, and were on their march to assist in raising the siege of bourges. the counts of alençon and of richemont went to meet them, and received them most joyfully, although they had come too late to do them any effectual service; but, notwithstanding this, they exerted themselves to the utmost to supply them with horses and provision. this force was much increased by the junction of six hundred gascon helmets that had likewise been subsidized by the confederates at bourges. when these forces were united, they overran the country, and committed great destruction. the prisoners confined at lille, as before mentioned, consisted of the lord de hangest, formerly master of the cross-bows of france, sir louis de bourdon, sir charles de gerammes, enguerrand des fontaines, and some others. they were all set at liberty by the count de la marche, on each paying a large ransom to the person who had made him prisoner; and in like manner were all others delivered, by exchange or by ransom. about the feast of the assumption of our lady, those who had been summoned by the king of france arrived at auxerre. in their number, the parisians came in great pomp; and the dukes of berry and bourbon, and the lord d'albreth, also attended. the lord d'albreth, soon after his arrival, wished to resume the office of constable; but the count waleran de st pol would not suffer him, and exercised it himself. many high words passed between them; and the lord d'albreth, having taken the oaths of peace, retired much displeased and indignant. on the ensuing monday, the duke of orleans and his brother, the count de vertus, came to auxerre, escorted by about two thousand combatants. when all the lords were arrived, they assembled on an extensive plain without the city, near to a convent of nuns, where had been erected a handsome scaffolding, richly adorned, on which was the duke of acquitaine, as representative of his father, the king of sicily, the dukes of burgundy, of bar, and others. the duke of burgundy and his party repeated the oaths they had before taken, as also did the duke of orleans and his friends; and the same proposal of marriage as had been made at chartres was again solemnly agreed to take place, between the count de vertus and a daughter of the duke of burgundy, on the terms before mentioned. the aforesaid lords then publicly renounced all confederations and alliances which they had formed with henry king of england, with his sons, or with any others of the english nation, enemies to france, the duke of burgundy having before declared that he had no connexion with them,--and they agreed to write such letters to the king of england as the king and his council should advise. they also promised and swore to renew their oaths respecting the observance of this peace in the king's presence, so soon as he should have recovered his health,--for at that time he had had a relapse,--and to sign such papers as he would please, that they would never again form any confederations or alliances against each other; and that if either of them should attempt to infringe the articles of this peace, the others would unite against him or them to enforce their due observance, and oblige them to listen to reason. at this ceremony, by orders of the king, were some of the members of the parliament, of the chamber of accounts, and of the university of paris, the provosts of paris and of the merchants, the sheriffs and some of the principal citizens, to many of whom this treaty was not very agreeable. there were also present, in consequence of the king's summons, very many from rouen, caen, amiens, tournay, laon, rheims, troyes, langres, tours, and from the chief towns in the kingdom. when this solemnity was over, all the great lords went to dine with the duke of acquitaine at his lodgings. at this entertainment, which was most splendid and abundant, the duke of burgundy served, and the counts de nevers and de st pol, assisted by other noble knights, carried the dishes. after they had dined, the company amused themselves by playing at divers games. these being ended, towards dusk all retired to their lodgings. on the morrow, and for several days following, they continued feasting together, and, according to all outward appearances, were in great harmony with each other. even the dukes of orleans and burgundy rode out together, both on the same horse, in company with other lords, and showed such mutual affection as is becoming brothers and near relations. nevertheless, some wicked tongues were not sparing of them behind their backs, but loudly spoke their minds. with regard to the people, they were in such crowds that it need not be asked if they were pleased,--for they continually shouted out, 'gloria in excelsis deo,' as if they wished to praise the gloriousness of the heavens. it indeed seemed to them a kind of miracle that such bitter hatred as had existed between these great lords should be so speedily appeased. when every thing was concluded, and because this epidemic disorder raged at auxerre, the king and princes departed, and went by sens to melun, where great feasts and entertainments, with justings and dancings, were held by the queen and her court, for joy of the happy reconciliation that had taken place between the princes of the blood royal. in truth, while the king resided at melun, he recovered his health, and then, at the entreaties of the queen, his daughter, the dukes of acquitaine and burgundy, and of the king of sicily, he approved of and ratified the treaty of peace that had been made. in consequence, he delivered up all the castles, towns and lands, which he had seized on account of the rebellion of his nephews and other lords, as well secular as ecclesiastic, and restored them to their free possession. thus they re-entered their towns and castles, but without any restitution for the damages which had been done to them: several of them had been nearly destroyed; and the vineyards, forests and other lands, had suffered greatly, with various mischiefs that had been done to the farms. that this peace might be publicly known, and that no one might plead ignorance, but that it should remain for ever inviolate, the king issued the following edict. footnotes: [footnote : charles d'artois, count of eu, son to the constable d'eu (who died in turkey ) and to mary daughter of the duke of berry. he married twice, but had no issue, and in him ended the royal branch of artois, commencing in robert the good count d'artois, who was killed in egypt in the year , when accompanying his brother st louis.] chap. xii. the king of france orders his edict respecting the peace to be sent to his different officers for proclamation in the usual places,--and other matters. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting.--among the heavy and continued anxieties which we always feel for the preservation of our crown and kingdom, the warmest wish we have is to nourish love and affection among our subjects, and to guard them from all oppressions and other inconveniences which are consequent on civil commotions, that they may live under us in perfect tranquillity. whereas many very serious discords and divisions have arisen within our realm between several of the princes of our royal blood, their adherents and allies, which have caused great mischiefs to ensue, to the detriment of our faithful subjects; and others still more disastrous might have followed, had we not provided a sufficient remedy. these discords have occasioned to us the utmost grief of heart; and for this reason we make known to thee, that, through the grace of the sovereign king of kings, our creator and saviour, and the giver of all peace; and through the diligent exertions of our very dear and well-beloved son the duke of acquitaine, dauphin of vienne, and others who have laboured with him, we have concluded a sound peace with the aforesaid princes, our kindred, and their confederates, in the manner and form expressed in the treaty drawn up for this purpose. 'by this treaty all rancour and malevolence between one party and another are extinguished, and the princes aforesaid have solemnly sworn on the holy evangelists, in the presence of our very dear son, many prelates and other persons, that they will strictly observe every article of it, and no way infringe it, according to the oaths which they had before taken on a similar occasion. 'for this reason, we therefore enjoin, and most strictly command, thee to proclaim this peace in all the squares and public places of amiens, by sound of trumpet, and then to make proclamation of the same in all the villages and other places within thy bailiwick, particularly ordering all our subjects most faithfully to keep this peace, under pain of our highest displeasure, and of being criminally guilty towards our royal person, forbidding any person, whatever may be their rank, in our name, in any wise to offend against any of its articles, on pain of being corporally punished, with confiscation of property. 'we, moreover, enjoin thee, that thou do punish most severely and publicly, according to the exigency of the case, any who shall be found violating this peace in any degree whatever, either by word or deed, who may be regularly accused before thee, so that it may serve as an example to all others. 'given at melun, in the year of grace , and in the d of our reign.'--signed by the king from the report made to him by the council held by my lords the dukes of acquitaine, berry, burgundy, orleans and bourbon, the counts of vertus and alençon, and john de bar, with others present at it. countersigned, 'emau, inspector.' the english, during this time, had advanced, from the coutantin, into the countries of maine and touraine, despoiling the districts they marched through with fire and sword. a grand council was held on this subject at melun, presided by the duke of acquitaine as the king's _locum tenens_, and at which were present the king of sicily, the dukes of berry, burgundy, orleans and bourbon, the count de vertus, the chancellors of france, acquitaine, and of orleans, the lords de torsy, d'offemont, with others, the provost of the merchants, the sheriffs and council of paris,--when it was ordered, that all persons capable of bearing arms, noble or not, should assemble, properly equipped at chartres, on the th day of october ensuing; at which time and place, they should receive pay for the defence of the realm, and to drive the ancient enemies of france out of the kingdom. this edict was copied, and sent to the principal seneschalships and bailiwicks of france sealed with the royal seal, by the aforesaid princes, that a sufficient force might be provided against the th day of october. the parisians, as being more nearly affected, hastened to raise their levies of men at arms and archers at paris or at melun,--and others in the adjacent countries. every one, on the receipt of the king's edict, assembled his quota. had the duke of berry and those of his party kept the engagements they had made with the english, and paid them the large sum of two hundred thousand crowns, according to their promises, they were ready to return to england, either through acquitaine or bourdeaux; but from the melancholy state of the country, they were unable to raise this sum by any means they could offer,--and thus their terms not being fulfilled, the english thought they might pay themselves. the king of sicily returned, however, to anjou, to raise men for the defence of his territories, whither the english were fast advancing. in these days, the duke of acquitaine reinstated the eldest son of the late grand master montagu in his office of chamberlain, and obtained, through his entreaties with the king, that all his estates should be restored, which ought to have descended to him by right of inheritance, so that, with the exception of some trifling confiscations, he regained all the patrimony he would have inherited from his father and mother. he obtained likewise the head of his father; and one evening, about vespers, the provost of paris, with his executioner, attended by twelve guards, or thereabout, holding lighted torches and carrying a ladder, followed by a priest dressed in his robes, came to the market-place, when the executioner mounted the ladder to where the head of the late grand master had been fixed to the end of a lance, and, taking it off, delivered it to the priest, who received it in a handsome napkin. thus wrapped up, he placed it on his shoulder, and carried it, attended by these lighted torches, to the hôtel of the late montagu, grand master of the king's household. the body was in like manner taken down from the gibbet at montfaucon, in the presence of the provost, by his hangman, and brought to paris. it was there joined to the head, placed in a handsome coffin, and carried in great state, attended by his children, and a numerous party of friends, with priests chaunting, and a vast number of lighted torches, to the church of the celestins at marcoussy, which he had founded and endowed in his lifetime and made a convent of monks, and there honourably interred. among other gifts which he had made when alive was the great bell, called st catherine, to the church of nôtre dame at paris, as appears from his arms and crest that are upon it. chap. xiii. the war continues in the boulonois.--the king returns to paris.--the duke of orleans satisfies the english,--and other matters. during this time, king henry of england sent the earls of warwick and kyme, with two thousand combatants, to calais, whence, with other garrisons, they invaded the boulonois, and did much mischief. they burnt the town of saumer-au-bois, took by storm the fort of ruissault, pillaging, robbing, and setting fire to every place they came to. to oppose them, the king ordered to st omer count waleran his constable, the lord de rambures, master of the cross-bows, and the lord de heilly, with a large body of men at arms, who were posted in the various garrisons,--and thus was the country harrassed on all sides. at this period, the king of france returned to paris, and was lodged in his hôtel of saint pol, to the great joy of the parisians, who sang carols in all the streets, lighted bonfires, and had great illuminations, shouting out all night, 'god save the king!' there were, likewise, very magnificent feasts and other entertainments. the king was attended, on his entry into paris, by the dukes of acquitaine, burgundy, bourbon, and the count de vertus. the queen, with the dukes of berry and orleans, had remained at the castle of vincennes, and thence, on the sunday following, made her entry into paris, and was lodged with the king at the hôtel de st pol. the duke of orleans had accompanied her part of the way; but, when he approached paris, he separated from her, and took the road for his county of beaumont. the duke of berry staid at vincennes. although the town of chauny had been surrendered to the king in perpetuity, he restored it to the duke of orleans, and, at the same time, granted him permission to raise from his vassals the sum of sixty thousand florins of gold, by way of tax, for his own private use. but he could never succeed in the attempts which he made to regain his two castles of coucy and pierrefons. when he had been at beaumont a few days, he departed, and went to meet the english under the command of the duke of clarence, who had landed, as has been said, at his request, and satisfied him fully, as to the pay of his men, so far as was in his power; but as he could not then advance the whole that was due for their pay, the duke of orleans gave, as a pledge for the due fulfilment of his engagement, his youngest brother, the count of angoulême, with many other gentlemen, namely, sir marcel le borgne, jean de saveuses, archambault de villiers, guillaume le boutillier, jean david, and others of his dependants. they were all carried away by the duke of clarence, who retired with his english to guienne. the count of angoulême was pledged for the sum of two hundred and nine thousand francs french money. when the duke of orleans had concluded this, he returned to blois; but these bondsmen remained in england a long time, as shall be told hereafter. the duke of orleans sent some of his most able knights to prevail on the king to restore to him his castles of coucy and pierrefons, which were held by the constable; but although the king granted his letters for the surrender of them, the constable refused to obey, giving for answer, that until he should be repaid the money he had advanced to his men at arms for the conquest of them, he would retain them,--adding, that the king had made him a promise of them, and had nominated sir gerard de herbannes governor of coucy, and of pierrefons sir collard de fiennes. the castle of pierrefons, which was a very strong and handsome edifice, was one night burnt to the ground, to the great displeasure of the duke,--but as he could not obtain any redress, he was forced to endure it. the duke of burgundy, who resided at paris, to be near the king, about this time caused sir bourdin de salligny to be arrested, and carried prisoner to flanders, where he was confined some time, and then set at liberty. sir bourdin had been the particular and confidential friend of the duke; and it was reported, that he was inclined to change sides and turn to that of orleans, and had even betrayed some of the duke's secrets. in these days also, some very sharp words passed between the bastard of bourbon and a butcher of paris, called denisot de chaumont, when the bastard said to him, 'peace! hold thy tongue: i shall find thee again another time.' shortly after, denisot, who had great weight among his brethren of the trade, collected a large body, and, with other parisians, they barricaded the streets with chains,--but they were at length appeased by the duke of burgundy. john duke of bourbon, the count d'armagnac and the lord d'albreth were ordered by the king and council into languedoc, to oppose the enterprises of the duke of clarence and the english, who had fixed their quarters in acquitaine, and sorely oppressed all who defended the french interest on the frontiers. chap. xiv. the duke of berry is dangerously ill.--he is visited by his daughter the duchess of bourbon, and by the duke of burgundy.--notice of other matters. the duke of berry, who had come to paris to attend the king his nephew, and a grand council about to be holden, was taken dangerously ill at his hôtel of neele; but by the care and affection of his daughter the duchess of bourbon, who, on hearing of his illness, had come to see him, and by her nursing, he was soon restored to health. he was also very frequently visited by his nephew the duke of burgundy. while the duchess of bourbon was at paris, she obtained from the king, and from the dukes of acquitaine and burgundy, that the body of binet d'espineuse, formerly the knight of her lord the duke of bourbon, should be taken down from the gibbet of montfaucon, and his head from the market-house, where it had been placed some time since by the king's officers of justice. she had it escorted by many of his friends to the town of espineuse, in the county of clermont, where it was honourably interred. the duke of burgundy at this time had the sole government of the kingdom, for nothing was done but by his advice or that of his friends. notwithstanding it had been promised at the peace of auxerre, by the king and the princes of the blood, that every one, of whatever party he might have been, should be reinstated in his property in such offices as had been held by them, very many could not profit of this royal favour; for with all their diligence in suing for reinstatement, they met with nothing but delays, more especially those who had been attached to the orleans-party. this caused much silent bitterness and discontent; and both sides were busily employed underhand on the means of securing the support of the king and the duke of acquitaine,--one party making secret attempts to gain the former, the other the latter. thus, therefore, there was not any sincere love between them; and the war was daily expected to recommence with greater fury than before, as shall be more fully explained. i shall hereafter, towards the end of this year , lay before you all the letters and treaties that passed between king henry of england and his children, and other princes, on the one part, and the dukes of berry, orleans, bourbon, the counts d'alençon, d'armagnac, the lord d'albreth, and their adherents, on the other part, and their mutual engagements to each other. chap. xv. the king of france holds a grand assembly at paris on the reformation of abuses in the government.--other matters. the king of france, by the advice of the duke of burgundy, summoned the greater part of the princes, prelates, heads of universities, and principal citizens of the great towns, to paris, to consider on several matters of great importance to the kingdom in general, and more especially respecting the reformation of his ministers, who had for a long time very ill governed the realm. when this assembly had held many consultations on the subjects laid before it, its members determined that the university of paris should make their report in the name of all,--which report was delivered to the king, at his hôtel of st pol, in manner following. 'to our most high and most excellent prince, our sovereign lord and father. your most humble and devoted daughter the university of paris, your very submissive and obedient subjects the provost of the merchants, the sheriffs and citizens of your good town of paris, lay before you their opinions and advice, as required by you, for the welfare and happiness of yourself and kingdom. 'in the first place, respecting the peace that has been lately concluded between certain princes of your royal blood, according to the terms your majesty has been pleased to lay before us, we say, that all who have sworn solemnly to keep this peace, and have hitherto observed it, ought to continue this same conduct, in pursuance of their intentions sworn to before god: but we think that you should summon certain others of the lords of your blood, and of their principal servants, to swear personally before you to keep the peace; and that for many reasons,--first, because they never yet have taken the said oaths,--secondly, because many among them do not keep the peace. 'it is a notorious fact, that although the english are in your kingdom, and in conjunction with other companies, as well natives as foreigners, daily commit waste on the country, scarcely any attempts have been made to oppose their further progress, and petitions and clamours arise throughout the realm. 'item, the count d'armagnac, who is your subject, pays no regard to the peace; and, so far from observing it, is constantly making war on your more faithful subjects. 'item, for the better observance of this peace, we recommend that your majesty should cause letters to be drawn up, in which all the articles of the treaty shall be incorporated, and sent to the different officers, or to whomsoever else you may please, with orders to make known all transgressors of them, that they may be punished accordingly. 'with regard to the second point on which you, our sovereign lord, demand our advice, having fully considered all that concerns your own honour and welfare, with every thing that may tend to the prosperity of the kingdom, we feel ourselves obliged to make known to you what we perceive to be defects in your government. we must begin by the bad administration of the public finances, to which you, as king, ought to have caused more faithful attention to be paid. we recommend, in the first place, that the revenues of the royal demesne be divided into four parts: one to be distributed in alms, another to defray the expenses of your majesty, those of the queen, the duke of acquitaine, and your household; another to pay the salaries of your officers and servants; another to be applied to the repairs of bridges, roads, mills, castles, causeways, or other public works,--and the overplus to be paid into the king's treasury, as was formerly done. 'item, it clearly appears, that the finances are not at this present time so regulated, which, is the fault of your treasurers, who have the administration of them. the religious of both sexes, as well belonging to convents as to hospitals, are frequently forced to expend their own money on the repairs of their churches, without deriving any assistance from the royal treasury, to their great detriment, to the loss of their personal comforts, the ruin of the churches, and the failure of divine service, to the prejudice of the souls of your predecessors, and to the oppression of your own conscience. 'in regard to alms, it is well known that scarcely any thing is paid; and as to the expenses of yourself, the queen, and the duke of acquitaine, which are regulated by sir pierre de fontenay, and paid by raymond ragnier and jean pie, clerks of the exchequer, they are found to amount to four hundred and fifty thousand francs, as well received from the royal demesnes as from other sources; whereas in former times only ninety-two thousand francs were received for this purpose, and your predecessors kept up a royal state, and the tradesmen were regularly paid, notwithstanding the smallness of the sum: but at present this is far from being the case, for the tradesmen are not only unpaid, but your household and those of the queen and the duke of acquitaine are frequently broken up. 'even so lately as thursday last, this disgrace happened to the household of the queen,--whence it appears, that these sums are not employed for your expenses, but wasted at the will of your ministers, and among their favourites, as we shall more fully explain at a proper time and place. 'in former days, the sum raised for the expenses of the queen's household was but thirty-six thousand francs; but at present, one hundred and forty thousand are raised on this account, from taxes independant of the revenues of her demesnes. this difference proceeds from the fault of the administrators of this department, the principal of whom is raymond ragnier, the treasurer; and he has so managed this money destined for the use of the queen that he has purchased large estates, and built fine houses, as may be seen both in town and country. the management of this part of the finances should be examined into; for beside the regular receipt, other sums are demanded by way of extraordinaries. 'item, there are also great abuses in the offices of the master of your wardrobe, and of the treasury; for those who have the direction receive very large sums of money, and dispose of them otherwise than in the payment of your debts or to your advantage: the salaries of your officers and servants are consequently in arrear, and those who have supplied your table with provision and wine cannot get their money. of course, these sums must be applied to their own use, as is very apparent from the great state they live in, from the number of their horses and other luxuries,--as in the instance of raymond ragnier, who, in purchasing and building, has expended, as it is said, upward of thirty thousand francs. 'charlot poupart, master of the wardrobe, and master william budé, storekeeper, have also made great acquisitions of property, and live at an immense expense, which cannot be done from the salaries of their office, nor from their estates before they had these offices given to them. 'there are likewise great defects in the management of your stables, which is an office of very great receipt, and the prodigious sums that are there expended are not for your honour nor profit. 'item, in regard to the salaries of the officers of your household, they are very ill paid at the treasury; nor are their payments any way regular, so that they suffer very great poverty, and are unable to appear before you so decently dressed as they would wish. there are, however, some favourites among them that are very well paid. 'with respect to the repairs of your castles, mills and other public works, they are all going to ruin; and as for the overplus that should remain to be paid into your private treasury, there is not at this moment one penny,--although in the days of king philip, king john, and king charles, when the receipt was not any thing like what it is now, there were savings, but the treasury was then far better managed. 'we must likewise observe, that this kind of management of the finances has been continued for nearly thirty years,--and that those who have had the administration of them have no way attended to your honour or profit, or to the good of the kingdom, but solely to their own private emolument. 'it therefore befits your said daughter the university of paris to lay before you the following facts, that a better administration of your finances may be adopted. in the first place, you have too many treasurers, who have increased since the time before mentioned, from the additional business in the office; and several have forced themselves into it, who before the expiration of the year have been removed to make way for others of more popularity in the country. god knows, they would not be so eager to be admitted into this office, were it not for the plundering daily going on there; and if a treasurer do not yearly gain from four to five thousand francs, he thinks he is badly off. where formerly there were but two treasurers, there are now five or six from the great increase of business, and at times there are six or seven. thus, it is clear as the day, that you lose every year from sixteen to twenty thousand francs, from the bad conduct of your treasurers. when they are admitted to their office, they pay not any attention to the discharge of the necessary disbursements, nor to the oaths they took on admission, but solely to the enormous grants that have been surreptitiously obtained, which are paid from their general receipt. 'in regard to the other offices where the net receipt is paid, it passes through so many hands that immense fortunes are made from the exorbitant fees claimed by the treasurers: these are andrieu guiffart, burel dampmartin, regnier de bouligney, jean guerin, and the director nicolle bonet, who was clerk to his predecessor in office, jean chayf, and the clerk master guy bouchier, who are all of them useless and guilty of mismanagement, except jean guerin, who has but lately come into the office, and has not as yet misbehaved himself. 'andrieu guiffart is particularly culpable for having wasted all the patrimony he had received from his father. he was appointed, through the influence of the provost of paris, (who is his cousin by the mother's side) to one of the treasurerships, where he has amassed such sums of money that he wears nothing but sapphires, rubies, and other precious diamonds, with the most costly dresses, and rides the best of horses. he lives in the utmost state with his side-boards covered with plate of every description for ornament and use. 'item, formerly it was not necessary to have a treasurer for the criminal prosecutions, but only an occasional counsellor; but now there are four counsellors, who receive very large sums to your prejudice. 'in regard to the administration of those taxes called aides, there are officers appointed for that purpose called generals, through whose hands pass all that is ordered for the carrying on the wars, amounting, one year with another, to twelve thousand francs. the aforesaid treasurers, by the connivance of these generals, manage the finances very badly; for they commonly obtain their places through the influence of friends, to whom the generals make great gifts, to your loss. the salaries of these generals amount to from two to four thousand francs yearly each; and if a general remain in office for two years, he will acquire from nine to ten thousand francs, or some such great sum, by private gifts, and which are sometimes levied on the properties of great lords without their knowledge: particulars of such conduct, and false certificates, were discovered during the late inquiries for the reformation of abuses. 'there is also another office, wrongfully called the treasury of savings, under the government of anthony des essars, for which the sum of about one hundred and twenty thousand francs is taken from the taxes. in former times, this chest for savings was kept under two locks, of which you had one key, to take from it any sum that should be wanting for yourself or your kingdom. those, however, who now have the management of it have so acted that there is not one penny in the chest, nor is it known who in the world has been bettered by it, excepting the administrators, with the consent of those they found in the office, by drawing out false statements of expenses, to your prejudice. 'item, this aforesaid anthony has the keeping of your wardrobe and jewels, and is so negligent that whatever may be wanting for your dress is bought from day to day, of which he alone is culpable. 'item, after this comes another office, called the cofferers, held by maurice de rully, who, in general, receives daily ten golden crowns, which he ought to deliver into your hands to spend according to your pleasure; but the coffers are empty, for he has dissipated their contents,--and under shadow of this office, immense sums have been wasted, as shall be spoken of in proper time and place. 'the manner in which you, the queen and the duke of acquitaine, are pillaged, is easily shown; for when you have need of a speedy sum of money for the war, or for any other urgent necessity, application must be made to certain money-lenders, who, for usury, make a traffic of money, and supply your wants on having your plate and jewels in pawn, and at an exorbitant loss in the interest paid for these loans, insomuch that what may be worth ten thousand francs costs you fifteen or sixteen; and thus your losses are annually very great from these usurious practices and pretended exchanges. you may readily suppose that your officers must be accomplices in this traffic, and that this alone will occasion such an empty treasury. your inferior servants are much distressed and ill treated; and in this manner are not only your own affairs but those of the princes of your blood managed, without any exception. 'item, it is proper that you should be made acquainted with the tricks and deceit of those officers called generals, in the receipt of your finances. when any receiver shall have lent you a sum amounting to five or six thousand crowns over and above his receipt, he is dismissed from his office, to prevent him from reimbursing himself, and another put in his place, who will receive the whole of the taxes in that department. when, therefore, there shall be little or nothing to receive, he that was dismissed will be replaced in his office, provided he has made sufficient presents to his superior officers. by this means, the aforesaid receiver can neither be paid nor pay what he owes; and thus they ride one on another, to the ruin of your finances,--and you drink your wine sour. 'item, when there is an ambassador to be sent, or even a simple canon to be dispatched to a foreign country, money for their expenses must be borrowed from usurers; and it frequently happens that the aforesaid ambassador cannot depart for want of money, which renders the embassy useless, and the kingdom suffers greatly from it. 'item, it is also necessary that you should know what is become of all the money that for these last two years has been raised, as well from the domains of the crown as from the very numerous and heavy taxes and impositions of all sorts, of which the provost of paris has, as is notorious, taken on himself the management, and styled himself director and general superintendant of the finances. 'item, it should likewise be remembered, that other great officers, as well as the provost, have held many offices of importance, which they have sold, and pocketed the amount, to your great disadvantage and contrary to your royal edicts, and also to the prejudice of the kingdom,--for, by this system, ignorant and improper persons are put into the said offices. 'item, the provost of paris, who had held for some time the office of grand master of waters and forests, has now resigned it to the lord de jury, for which six thousand francs have been levied. but beside the provostship of paris, he holds the government of the town of cherbourg and its dependancies, which brings him an annual rent of six thousand francs, with the government of nemours, amounting to two thousand more. your income is also ruined by another mode, namely, by the immense number of receivers, treasurers, clerks, comptrollers and other officers, who swallow enormous sums by way of fees, over and above the regular fees of office, of which the provost and his dependants have the greater share, and which they regard as their own personal property, to your great loss, and to the delay of payments to many of your faithful servants, knights, and counsellors of state. it is daily witnessed, that when a young man has been appointed to any of the above offices, however poor his situation may have been before, or how little versed he may be in the management of public affairs, he soon becomes rich, keeps a grand establishment, and purchases large estates and manors, all at your expense. 'there are great frauds committed by your treasurers of the war department, who are accustomed to take from your knights and esquires blank receipts sealed by them, of which they make a very bad use, as they know to their cost: but they can more fully inform you on this head than we can. it is melancholy to hear their complaints of the delays in the payment of their salaries, which are always much curtailed, at least to the greater part of them. it is consequently now become a rule among your men at arms, when their salary is in arrear, to pay themselves from the countries they are quartered in, saying, that, since they cannot obtain their pay, they must live by their service. 'item, whenever these directors or superintendants of your finances are called upon, they make answer, that they are ready to produce their accounts, as if that were sufficient, and even go so far as to desire commissioners may be appointed to inspect and examine them; but, under correction, this answer is futile,--and if the real culprits are to be discovered, let their original state, and what substance they possessed before they entered into office, be inquired into,--what the amount of their salaries and fees, how much their reasonable expenditure, and then what is their present income, what estates they possess, and what buildings they have erected. it is notorious, that the superior officers are rich and magnificent, but that they were indigent before their appointments to office, and that some of them have purchased houses of great value, namely, master jean chastegnier, guillaume luce, and nicaise bouses. to say the truth, every loyal subject must be astonished and grieved at heart when he witnesses such management, that you, their lawful prince and sovereign, should be thus robbed, and that all your finances should be lodged in such beggarly purses, by the aforesaid, whose purses are swollen out, and by those who have preceded them, without any regard to your own wants, or to those of the state. 'item, since mention has been made of the grand state in which many live, it seems to your daughter, that such a style of living is too generally adopted throughout your kingdom; and she fears, from the evils that daily result from it, lest god may be angered against his people. 'item, in regard to the great councils, they are not held in the manner they ought to be; for generally almost every one is admitted, whereas none but wise and discreet men, such as knights and clerks, should be suffered to enter, to a competent number receiving pay and salaries from you, and from none other,--and these should always have an attentive eye to your personal profit and honour, and to the strengthening of your crown and kingdom. it frequently happens, from the numbers admitted, that business of every sort is neglected or delayed, and that when any good resolution has been made, as now and then will be the case, it remains unexecuted, however nearly it may affect your interests.--foreign ambassadors should have their negotiations terminated, and our own should be dispatched; and whenever any thing conclusive has, by mature deliberation, been settled, it ought not to be broken off by a few persons afterward, as has often happened. 'item, it is very distressing to hear such loud complaints of the debility of your government in protracting business. we even see the lord de mouberon, the viscount de murat, and those of la rochelle, complaining of the delays of your council, although they are employed for the service of your kingdom, and declaring, that if more energy is not exerted, they must necessarily make peace with your enemies,--and thus you may lose many of your faithful vassals. 'in regard to the administration of justice in the realm, your court of parliament, which is the most eminent, is not governed as it is wont to have been. formerly it was composed of excellent lawyers, as well secular as ecclesiastical, of a mature age and learned in the laws; and from its great fame for learning and justice, without partiality to any one, was resorted to, not only by christians of all nations, but even by saracens, who have applied to it for judgment. 'for some short time past, through favour of friends, relations, or other means, many young men have been admitted who are ignorant of the laws and unworthy of such honour, by which the authority and fair reputation of this court is greatly lessened. there are also other inconveniences attending these indiscriminate admissions: for instance, there are in this court many sons, brothers, nephews and relations sitting together, and many others who are lineally connected, as is the case with the family of the first president,--and from this circumstance great injustice may ensue in the decisions of the court. 'item, there are now before the parliament several causes between poor persons, that are, as it were, dead; for the members do not use such expedition in deciding upon them as they in reason should. 'item, respecting the chamber of accounts, nothing is done, for all causes are there buried; for although some new members have been lately admitted, no progress seems to be made. among the new ones is alexander boursier, who has several times been receiver-general of taxes, and whose accounts are said not yet to have been closed. you may, consequently, be a great loser in this business; for he who ought to be narrowly examined himself, is appointed to examine and reduce the accounts of others. 'item, the better to effectuate his own business, this alexander has so well practised that he has got jean vautier, who was his clerk, appointed to succeed him in the office of receiver-general; and notwithstanding the royal ordinances, and the oaths which receivers, and other officers in the receipt of taxes, take on entering their offices, to make the proper payments in regard to alms, they avoid, as it is said, by dissimulation and fraud, these distributions of alms, and frequently infringe the aforesaid ordinances. 'item, respecting the administering of justice on those guilty of crimes against the revenue laws, it appears to us that the great multiplicity of officers is useless in this general dissipation of the substance of the kingdom, as well as the numbers of inferior officers, who, from their salaries and the presents they receive, devour the wealth of the country; for the greater part of these aforesaid officers are intruded on this court by the influence of friends. 'we must also notice the many presidents of the criminal court. during the reign of king charles, there was but one, or two at the utmost,--whereas at present there are seven, who receive each annually one hundred livres, not including the notaries. were we to enter into any detail respecting the masters of requests of the king's household, god knows how far it would lead us. in former times, ancient men, experienced in the laws and customs of the realm, were appointed to such places, who replied to all the petitions presented to them, and signed such as they judged expedient, so that the matter was speedily decided in chancery; but now raw and inexperienced youths are appointed, who expedite nothing but by orders from the chancellor,--and this occasions supernumerary officers to be named, to supply their defects, whose pay is very great, and of course to your loss. 'item, in respect to your chancery, it is well known, that your chancellor of france undergoes great labour, and is very deserving of a large salary, but without prejudice to your realm. although his salary should not amount to more than two thousand livres parisis, he has nevertheless, for these last twenty years, taken, besides these two thousand livres and the gift of two thousand livres for the profits of the great seal, fines on remissions and registerings, of twenty sols parisis, which in the course of a year amount to a very large sum of money. he has also received other two thousand francs from the taxes levied for the support of the war. item, he receives annually for his robes two hundred francs; and also from the treasury, for the use of his chancery, five or six hundred livres parisis. he receives likewise, in addition to the above gifts, to a very large amount, on the different taxes and impositions. he has likewise signed and sealed with too great facility letters patent for large sums, without making any opposition: the particulars of them may be found in the accounts of michel de sabulon and alexander boursier, and in the accounts of several others, who have not failed to make advantage of them. to speak more plainly in regard to this article, there will be found in the above accounts grants, to the amount of six thousand francs, to private persons, sealed by the chancellor, although he well knew that this money was appropriated for carrying on the war.--these grants bring considerable emolument to the chancery, whose finances are managed by master henry machalie and master buder, comptroller of the seal of chancery. they charge double fees on the king's dues, namely, those of notary and secretary, and receive exorbitant salaries and presents; and in such wise is your chancery governed that no great profit comes to you, although the emoluments of it are immense. in regard to the fees of notaries, as they connect themselves with whomever they please, we shall enter more fully into their detail when occasion offers. 'item, there are several offices in the kingdom which are incompatible, and yet are held by the same persons, who serve them by proxy, and thus in different ways pillage your subjects of their money. the debasement of your coin must not be forgotten,--and its weight and value have been lately so much diminished that a crown is now of less worth than two sols were formerly. the penny and twopenny pieces are scarcely worth as many farthings, which is very prejudicial to your people; and thus the good money is carried off,--for the lombards in their exchanges collect all the good, and make payment in the new coin. 'you ought to know by whose advice this debasement of the value of your coin has been made, for it is commonly said to have been thus lowered in value by the provost of paris, the provost of the merchants, and michel lallier, who have taken upon themselves the management of your mint; and although they may have allowed you some profit on this diminution of the coin, the loss that you and the queen will ultimately suffer is incomparably greater, as you may learn from those who are competent to give you information. 'although your daughter and others of your subjects have now briefly laid before you the guilt of the aforesaid, this is not enough, nor will several days suffice, to enter into a full detail of all the wickedness and disgraceful conduct of your ministers and their adherents. very many others, beside those we have named, are equally guilty, but we now pass them over, in the expectation of more amply speaking of them hereafter, for the welfare of yourself and of your kingdom. 'in regard to the aid, advice and support, most sovereign lord, which you demand from your aforesaid daughter, and other loyal subjects, whom you have summoned for the purpose, they pray to god that he would be pleased, out of his grace, to comfort and advise you, for we are willing to expose our lives and fortunes in your service and support: indeed, we are bounden so to do by the solemn resolutions entered into at our last congregation, feeling ourselves greatly obliged to your royal majesty for the innumerable acts of kindness shown to us. 'the first advice we shall give regards your finances, that they may be put under a better administration as speedily as may be. we therefore recommend it as expedient for you to shut the hands of all your treasurers, directors and receivers, without any exception, and to dismiss them from their offices, taking, at the same time, possession of all their fortunes, moveable and immoveable, and having their persons secured, until they shall have rendered you a just account of their administration. 'item, we think it necessary that you should annul all assignments of grants and extraordinary pensions. we advise, that you instantly command, under pain of death and confiscation of goods, all receivers, treasurers, and other officers in the country, as well of your domain as of other taxes, to bring you the whole sums they may have in their hands, and that they make no payment whatever, by way of assignation, to any one, however great his rank, excepting to such as yourself shall then order; that, at the same time, they bring you their books, and all papers concerning their receipt, and that, on their arrival, they have no communication whatever with the aforesaid directors, under pain of the above punishments. 'item, in order the more effectually to establish order in your finances, seeing the great waste and misapplication of the large sums that have been raised for your personal defence, and in support of the war, you will order the whole of the receipt of taxes to be produced before you, as is your right, that henceforth they may be applied according to the true intent of raising them, and as the urgency of events may require. when the great need of such an ordinance is considered, no one ought to be dissatisfied; and on this subject have the goodness to keep in remembrance the prudent conduct of your father king charles, whose soul may god receive! who nobly employed his taxes in driving the english out of his kingdom, and by this means made himself master of fortresses that were not before under his subjection: his officers and army were, at the same time, well paid; and there remained to him an overplus, which served him to purchase many precious jewels. 'item, should these means not be sufficient for your immediate wants, it seems to us that as you have treasuries in different parts, you may justly take from them, for they are alike your own. there are also a number of very rich persons, to the number of sixteen hundred, who can at any time be named to you: these ought to assist in the support of the poor,--for one third of them do not pay, one with another, one hundred francs, which certainly cannot oppress them; but repayments may be made them when the treasury shall be better filled, according to the most advised plan. 'item, we recommend that you nominate for receivers of your finances, as well from your demesne, as from the taxes, prudent persons, fearing god, without avarice, and who were never employed in any such offices, with reasonable salaries, but without any extraordinary presents, by whom your finances will be distributed according to the wants of the state, and the overplus paid into your private treasury. when such are appointed, all deputy-receivers, and tax-collectors, should be ordered to produce their papers and books to them. 'item, we recommend that all the schedules of the common expenses of yourself, the queen and the duke of acquitaine, be carefully examined, so that the annual amount may be exactly known, which we believe does not exceed two hundred thousand francs; for the treasurers do not receive more than that sum from the demesne or taxes. 'item, in regard to the court of parliament, it is necessary that all inefficient members be dismissed, and replaced by others better informed, who shall adhere to ancient usages. the presidents of finances, of the civil and criminal courts, with the greffiers, treasurers and clerks, must be handsomely provided for, but reduced to a competent number. 'item, the chamber of accounts must undergo similar regulations; and the members of it should consist of men of a prudent age, who may inform you of any mismanagement in the finance-department. 'item, in regard to the minor officers, and deputy-receivers of finance, we think that if the whole of this business was put under the management of the presidents, you would gain considerably, whereas these minor officers swallow up great sums in salaries and fees. 'item, it appears to us that you ought to select certain wise men, that they may be solely your council, in conjunction with the princes of your blood, and that they may loyally advise you for the real good of yourself and state, having their attention directed to nothing else, and that, when so doing, they should be strenuously supported by you in such wise that whatever they may propose for the welfare of the state may be instantly put into execution, without any opposition whatever. they should take such oaths as are usually taken, or any more solemn ones, such as you shall think proper. 'item, we recommend that the defence of the frontiers of picardy, of acquitaine, and of other parts, be sufficiently provided for, by allotting adequate sums of money for the payment of men at arms and repairs of castles, so that all danger of invasion, and other inconveniences, may be prevented. 'item, to check as much as possible the daily oppression of the lower orders, by provosts and other inferior officers, it will be necessary to nominate honest and discreet persons, with moderate salaries, to overlook their conduct, and see that these men do not surcharge the poor by exorbitant fines. 'item, there are several other oppressive grievances that have lasted for a considerable time, and which cannot be immediately remedied. your daughter and aforesaid dutiful subjects promise to apply themselves diligently concerning them; and they most humbly and earnestly supplicate you to reform the abuses they have stated to you, and more especially those that relate to your treasury, which has been exceedingly wasted, and that without any cause. they also beg of you to appoint a commission of the princes of your blood, with other well-informed persons, no way connected or related to those who have had the management of your finances, that they may reform and punish all who have been culpable, let their rank be what it may. 'item, we also entreat that you would order the prelates and chief citizens in the different provinces, to impeach those who in their districts have been guilty of any peculations in your finances. all these things, most redoubted lord, have your aforesaid daughter and dutiful subjects laid before you, as being anxiously interested in your honour and welfare, and in the preservation of your crown and kingdom. your aforesaid daughter has not done this through any expectation of worldly profit, but simply as her duty; for it is well known she has not been accustomed to hold offices, nor to seek for such profits, but solely to attend to her studies, and to remonstrate with you on what touches your honour and welfare whenever the case may require it. 'but although she has several times presented herself before you, to remonstrate on some of the before-mentioned grievances, no remedy has been hitherto applied, by which your kingdom is in the utmost possible danger. your faithful and loyal subjects again acquit themselves of their duty; and, that the reformation may now be entered upon in earnest, your aforesaid daughter requires the aid of your eldest son the duke of acquitaine, and of the duke of burgundy, by whom a reform was some time since begun, with heart and hand, without sparing any one, with whom your daughter joined, considering such reformation was so much wanted. 'however, from the great opposition made by those who were interested in checking it, no great progress was made, for they were afraid the consequences would have been fatal to them. they urged every objection to it, as well as those now in power. we demand also the assistance of our much-honoured lords of nevers, of vertus, of charolois, of bar, and of lorraine, of the constable and marshal of france, of the grand master of rhodes, of the admiral, of the master of the cross-bows, and in general of all the chivalry and esquiredom in the realm, whose peculiar duty is to watch for the preservation of your crown, and also of your counsellors and all other your subjects, who, according to their several situations, may wish to acquit themselves toward your majesty. 'it has been publicly said by some, that your aforesaid daughter has made this exposition to your majesty, through hatred to particular persons, and from the reports of five or six. may it please you to know, that she has never been accustomed to gain information by such means, but has learnt the existence of the before-stated grievances from their public notoriety; and there is no man so ignorant as not to be fully sensible of the truths we have asserted, and of the culpability of those we have impeached. she has also received informations from many who are attached to your person, who have not indeed been gainers by it; but in further regard to them, she will be silent, unless you shall order otherwise in a private audience. 'your daughter, therefore, concludes by begging your majesty to pursue diligently, and without delay, an examination and reform of the above grievances, in which she will join without the least personal disrespect to your royal person, otherwise your daughter would not acquit herself properly in regard to your royal majesty.' after this conclusion, the university demanded of the princes, prelates, and lords, then present, that they would avow that what they had declared would be for the honour of the king and the welfare of the kingdom, which they complied with; adding, that they were ready to assist in carrying the aforesaid reforms into execution to the utmost of their power. the king's ministers, more especially those of the finances, were thunderstruck, and fearful of an immediate arrest. among them, master henry de marle, chancellor of france, seeing that he was accused with the others, found means of admission to the king, and by his fair promises, and by engaging to pay a very large sum of ready money within a few days, he contrived to gain his favour. on the following saturday, the d day of march, andrew guiffart, one of the treasurers, was arrested and confined in the châtelet: his associate, john guerin, took refuge in a church,--and thither also fled sir peter des essars, provost of paris, who lately had great command in the expedition to bourges. the duke of burgundy had hitherto supported him, but his affection was cooled, for the provost had lately shown himself more attached to the party of orleans. having formed the resolution of quitting paris, sir peter des essars sent thomelin de brie with five other men at arms to gain possession of the bridge at charenton, that his passage over it might be secured; but they were made prisoners by the inhabitants of charenton, who had received information of their coming, and carried back to the tower of the louvre, wherein they were confined. the provost, learning this, took another road, and escaped to cherbourg, of which place he was the governor, and remained there for some time. shortly afterward, baudrin de la heuse was appointed provost of paris, for the king had now relapsed into his former disorder. the duke of acquitaine, however, took the whole government of the kingdom into his own hands; and many of the king's ministers, particularly those in the treasury, were ordered to be put under arrest, until they should have rendered a faithful account of all their receipts. chap. xvi. the duke of acquitaine is displeased with his chancellor.--jealousies arise among the great lords,--and other matters. in these days, at a full council, of which the duke of acquitaine was president, high words passed between the chancellor of france and the lord d'ollehaing[ ] chancellor of acquitaine, insomuch that the latter told the chancellor his words were not gospel; and the other madly replied, that he lied in his throat.--several other abusive expressions were used by him, and so often that the chancellor of france said, 'you abuse me, who am chancellor of france, and have often done so: nevertheless, i have always borne it patiently, from respect to my lord of acquitaine, who is now present, and shall even still suffer it.' but the duke of acquitaine, hearing these words, arose in a passion, and, taking his chancellor by the shoulders, thrust him out of the council-chamber, saying, 'you are a wicked and proud vagabond, for having thus abused the chancellor of my lord the king in my presence,--and i have no further need of your services.' in consequence, the lord d'ollehaing resigned the seals, which were given to master john de vailly, advocate in the parliament, who was appointed chancellor of acquitaine in his stead. the queen attempted, but in vain, to appease her son, as did the duke of burgundy, who had recommended the late chancellor to him; for he now took the whole government into his hands, and insisted that every thing should be done according to his pleasure. some of his confidential servants encouraged him in this conduct, as the welfare of the kingdom concerned him more than any one else; and since, as he was now of a proper age to govern, it was absolutely necessary for him to take the reins, considering the melancholy state of the king his father. among those who thus encouraged him were the duke of bar, duke louis of bavaria, the count de vertus, and others of that faction then at paris, who visited him often, and desired nothing more than that he would take the government of the kingdom upon himself. the duke of burgundy was duly informed of all these intrigues, and saw clearly that their object was to drive him from the administration, which very much displeased him. he formed different plans, and remembered that the duke of acquitaine had told him, when before bourges, that he would put an end to the war, and was sensible that the treaty of peace then concluded was contrary to the engagements sworn to be observed at the royal council held at paris previous to their march from the capital. nevertheless, he did not openly show that he was hurt by what was passing. at this time, the county of poitou was given to john de touraine[ ], at the instance of duke william of hainault, whose daughter he had married. the poitevins made all the opposition they could, as they preferred being vassals to the king; but it was taken possession of in the name of the duke of touraine, by the lords d'andregines and de mouchas, members of duke william's household, who brought with them the king's grant of this county, which was proclaimed in the usual manner. at the same period, namely, about mid lent, some of the inhabitants of soissons rose suddenly in rebellion, and, advancing to the castle, broke down all the out-walls as well as those which surrounded their city, to open a free entrance on all sides. they also demolished the bridge over the river that gave access to the castle, so that none could gain admittance but by means of boats, which might formerly have been done without their leave. this castle belonged to the duke of orleans, who was much exasperated by their conduct, although at the moment he could not obtain any reparation, notwithstanding he had remonstrated with the king's ministers on the subject. at the request of the duke of acquitaine, the head and body of sir mansart du bos, who had been beheaded at paris, were restored to his widow and children. at ten o'clock at night, his head was taken down from the market-place, and his body from montfaucon: they were united together in a coffin, and carried to the town of rainsseval, in the diocese of amiens, where his remains were honourably interred near the bodies of his father and ancestors. footnotes: [footnote : _sir john de neele_ in the original, and so before. was sir j. de neele lord of ollehaing? it appears so from p. .] [footnote : second son of the king.] chap. xvii. henry of lancaster, king of england, who had been a valiant knight, dies in this year.--of the alliance between him and the french princes. toward the end of this year, died, henry of lancaster, king of england. he had in his time been a valiant knight, eager and subtile against his enemies, as is recorded in history, which also has enregistered the strange and disgraceful manner of his obtaining the crown of england, by dethroning his cousin-german richard, after he had reigned peacefully for twenty-two years. he was before his death sorely oppressed with leprosy, which pitifully put an end to him, and he was royally and honourably interred among his ancestors in westminster abbey. this king left behind him four sons,--namely, henry prince of wales, who succeeded to the throne, thomas duke of clarence, john duke of bedford, and humphry duke of glocester,--and a daughter married to philip barbatus, duke of bavaria[ ]. all the four sons were handsome, well made, and versed in the different sciences,--and in process of time each had great commands, of which mention shall be hereafter made. but we must not omit reporting a conversation that passed between the king and his eldest son at his last moments. he was so sorely oppressed at the latter end of his sickness that those who attended him, not perceiving him breathe, concluded he was dead, and covered his face with a cloth. it was the custom in that country, whenever the king was ill, to place the royal crown on a cushion beside his bed, and for his successor to take it on his death. the prince of wales, being informed by the attendants that his father was dead, had carried away the crown; but, shortly after, the king uttered a groan, and his face was uncovered,--when, on looking for the crown, he asked what was become of it? his attendants replied, that 'my lord the prince had taken it away.' he bade them send for the prince; and on his entrance, the king asked him why he had carried away the crown? 'my lord,' answered the prince, 'your attendants, here present, affirmed to me that you were dead; and as your crown and kingdom belong to me as your eldest son, after your decease, i had taken it away.' the king gave a deep sigh, and said, 'my fair son, what right have you to it? for you well know i had none.' 'my lord,' replied the prince, 'as you have held it by right of your sword, it is my intent to hold and defend it the same during my life.' the king answered, 'well, act as you see best; i leave all things to god, and pray that he would have mercy on me!' shortly after, without uttering another word, he departed this life. after the king's interment, the prince of wales was most honourably crowned king, in the presence of the nobles and prelates of england, no one appearing to contest his right.--when the duke of clarence and the english in the duchy of acquitaine, heard of king henry's death, they returned as speedily as they could to england, for at that moment there was a truce between the two countries. but, notwithstanding this truce, the english on the frontiers of calais continued to make inroads on, and to harrass, the boulonois, insomuch that the constable was obliged to reinforce the garrisons of ardres, gravelines, and other places in the french interest. here follows a copy of the treaty concluded by king henry iv. and his children, on the one part, and the dukes of berry, of orleans, of bourbon, the counts d'alençon, d'armagnac, and the lord d'albreth on the other, on the th day of may, in the year . it was first agreed to by the above lords, or by their commissioners, that they would expose their lives and fortunes in the service of the king of england, his heirs and successors, whenever they should be required so to do, in all their just quarrels,--in which they include the king of england's warfare in guienne as a just quarrel, and maintain that the duchy of guienne and its dependencies belong to him by right of succession, and that by such declaration and assistance they shall no way act contrary to their loyalty. 'item, the aforesaid lords make offer, by themselves or their delegates sufficiently authorised, of their sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, relations, in short, of all their subjects, to contract such marriages as shall be agreeable to the aforesaid king of england. 'item, they likewise make offer of all their towns, castles, treasures, and in general all belonging to them for the assistance of the said king and his heirs in all their lawful quarrels, saving their loyalty, which they have more fully explained in other acts passed between them. 'item, they also make offer of all their friends and adherents, to support the said king in the recovery of his duchy of guienne. 'item, the aforesaid lords are willing, without any fraud or deceit, to acknowledge at the altar, or in any sacred place, the said king's right to the duchy of guienne, in as full a manner as any of his predecessors ever possessed it. 'item, the aforesaid lords acknowledge, by themselves or their delegates, that all the towns, castles, and possessions they may have in guienne, they hold under the king of england, as the true duke of guienne, promising every service due from their homage, to be performed in the best possible manner by them. 'item, they also engage to deliver up to the king of england, as far as lies in their power, all towns and castles, said to have belonged to the king of england, to the number of twenty, as well castles as towns, which are fully detailed in the treaty[ ]. 'in regard to the other towns and fortresses that are not under their obedience, they will gain them, or assist the king of england or his heirs to gain them, at their expense and with a sufficient number of men. 'item, as is more fully detailed in the treaty, that it shall be agreeable to the king of england that the duke of berry, his loyal uncle, subject and vassal, that the duke of orleans, his subject and vassal, and in like manner the count d'armagnac, do hold under him the following lands by fealty and homage. the duke of berry shall possess the county of poitou during his life: the duke of orleans shall hold the county of angoulême for his life, and the county of perigord in perpetuity: the count d'armagnac shall hold four castles specified in the treaty, upon the terms and conditions therein declared. 'item, among the engagements entered into by the king of england as duke of guienne, he was to guarantee them safe possession of the above places, and to defend them against all enemies whatever, and afford them the assistance due from their true and superior lord,--and he was also to aid them in bringing the duke of burgundy to exemplary punishment. 'and the said king was not to make or enter into any treaties with the duke of burgundy, his children, brother, or with any of his adherents, without the previous consent of the aforesaid princes. 'item, the king of england promises to assist the aforesaid lords as his loyal vassals in all their just wars, and to enforce recompense to them by the duke of burgundy for all the damages he may have done to them. 'item, the king of england will instantly send them eight thousand combatants to their aid against the duke of burgundy, who has excited the king of france to march against them with the whole force of his realm.' this treaty of alliance was signed and sealed by the parties on the th day of may, in this year . the aforesaid princes, however, agreed to pay the men at arms, whom the king of england should send to them, and gave sufficient securities for so doing. footnotes: [footnote : monstrelet has forgotten philippa of lancaster, henry's younger daughter, married to eric king of denmark, and died without issue. his elder daughter outliving the duke of bavaria, and her second husband the king of arragon, was married to the duke of bar, but had no issue by any of them.] [footnote : see the original treaty in the foedera. it is dated the th of may, and not the th as in monstrelet.] [a.d. .] chap. xviii. the king's ministers are greatly alarmed at the arrest of sir peter des essars and of the duke of bar.--other proceedings of the parisians. at the beginning of this year, the king's ministers, that is to say, those who had had the management of the finances under their care for twenty years past, were much pressed to give in their accounts. several public and private accusations were made against them, which caused the greater part to fear that they should not escape with honour. many had been arrested, and others had fled, whose fortunes had been sequestrated by the king. they sought, therefore, by divers means, to obtain the protection of those princes who governed the king; and sir peter des essars, who had fled to cherbourg, through the interest of the duke of acquitaine, was remanded to paris. he secretly entered the bastille with his brother sir anthony, but not so privately as to prevent its being known to some of the parisians, who disliked him, and who instantly acquainted the duke of burgundy and his people with it, by whom he was equally hated. a party of the commonalty was soon collected; and headed by sir elion de jacqueville, then governor of paris, and some others of the duke of burgundy's friends, they marched to the bastille, and made prisoners of sir peter des essars and his brother, whom they first led to the castle of the louvre and then to the prison of the palace. when this was done, they again assembled, to the amount of six thousand, under the standard of the aforesaid jacqueville, who was joined by sir robert de mailly, sir charles de lens, and several other men at arms of the household of the duke of burgundy,--and about ten o'clock in the morning they drew up before the hôtel of the duke of acquitaine. the principal instigators of this insurrection of the commonalty were, jeannot caboche, a skinner of the slaughter-house of saint james, master john de troyes, a surgeon at paris, and denisot de chaumont, who, having forcibly entered the apartment of the duke, addressed him as follows: 'our most redoubted lord, here are the parisians, but not all in arms, who on behalf of your good town of paris, and for the welfare of your father and yourself, require that you cause to be delivered up to them certain traitors who are now in your hôtel.' the duke, in a fury, replied, that such affairs did not belong to them, and that there were no traitors in his hôtel. they answered, that if he were willing to give them up, well and good,--otherwise they would take them before his face, and punish them according to their deserts. during this conversation, the dukes of burgundy and of lorraine arrived; and several of the parisians at the same time entered the hôtel, and instantly seized master jean de vailly, the duke's new chancellor, edward duke of bar, cousin-german to the king, sir james de la riviere, the two sons of the lord de boissay, michel de vitry and his brother, the two sons of sir reginald de guiennes, the two brothers de maisnel, the two de geremmes, and peter de naisson. the duke of acquitaine, witnessing this outrage committed before his eyes, turned to the duke of burgundy, and angrily said,--'father-in-law, this insurrection has been caused by your advice: you cannot deny it, for those of your household are the leaders of it. know, therefore, that you shall one day repent of this; and the state shall not alway be governed according to your will and pleasure.' the duke of burgundy replied, by way of excusing himself, 'my lord, you will inform yourself better, when your passion shall be somewhat cooled.' but, notwithstanding this, those who had been seized were carried off, and confined in different prisons. they afterward made search for master raoul bridoul, the king's secretary, who, as they were carrying him away, was struck by one that hated him with a battle-axe on the head, and thrown dead into the seine. they also murdered a very rich upholsterer, who was an eloquent man, called martin d'aue, and a cannon-founder, an excellent workman, but who had been of the orleans-party, whose bodies they left naked two whole days in the square of st catherine. they compelled the duke of acquitaine to reside with the king his father, in the hôtel de st pol, and carefully guarded the gates that he might not quit paris. some said this was done for his amendment, as he was very young, and impatient of contradiction, but others assigned different reasons: among them was one, that he had intended to have tilted on may-day in the forest of vincennes, and that he had ordered sir peter des essars to meet him there with six hundred helmets, and to pay them for one month, and that this order had been executed. it was added, that the duke of orleans and those of his party were collecting large bodies of men at arms to join the duke of acquitaine in the forest of vincennes, which had greatly displeased the duke of burgundy and the parisians. it was melancholy to behold this reign of the mob, and the manner in which they conducted themselves in paris, as well toward the king as toward the other lords. they also wrote letters to the different towns to inform them that what they had done was for the welfare of the king and kingdom, and required of them to give them all aid and advice should there be any necessity for it, and to remain obedient in their fidelity to the king and his eldest son. afterward, that no assembly of men at arms might be made by any lord, the king, at the request of these same parisians, published an edict, addressed to all the seneschals and bailiffs in the realm, of the following tenour. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'whereas, in the divisions and disputes that so lately harrassed our kingdom, we, and our very dear eldest son the duke of acquitaine, dauphin of viennois, have so successfully laboured, that, through god's grace, we have established a solid peace in our realm, for the observance of which the greater part of our liege subjects have given security, and have promised, on their oaths, to keep and preserve it, and not to issue any summons, or to raise any men, without our express permission. 'notwithstanding this, we have heard that some of our blood, and others, are making preparation to raise men, by way of companies, in different parts of our kingdom, which may not only be very expensive to the country, but cause other great inconveniences, unless an immediate remedy be provided. 'these, therefore, are to enjoin you to cause this our prohibition to be most publicly proclaimed in the usual places within your bailiwick, and to forbid any person, under penalty of death and confiscation of goods, whether baron, knight or others, to obey any summons from their superior lord, unless so ordered by us, our son, or our well-beloved cousin the count de st pol, constable of france, or others so commissioned by us. that no doubts may arise in regard to these our intentions, we send you this sealed with our great seal. you will likewise inform all our vassals, that whenever and wherever we, or our son, may send for them, they must obey. 'and because our very dear uncle and cousin the dukes of berry and of lorraine are continually in our service, our intention is not that their vassals or subjects should be prevented going to them whenever they are sent for, or whenever they may employ them in our service; and should any in your bailiwick act contrary to the premises, we will and order that you constrain them to do their duty, by arrest and seizure of goods. 'given at paris the th day of may in the year , and of our reign the d.' it was thus signed by the king, on the report made to him of the council held by the dukes of acquitaine, berry and lorraine, and others, by j. millet. it was then sent off, and proclaimed throughout the kingdom in the usual places. the parisians in those days wore an uniform dress with white hoods, to distinguish all who were of their party. they even made many of the nobles and prelates wear it; and what was more, the king himself afterward put it on, which seemed to many discreet persons very ridiculous, considering the abominable and detestable manner of the parisians, and their cruelties, which were almost beyond bearing; but they were so powerful, and obstinate in their wickedness, that the princes knew not well how to provide a remedy. they were also strengthened in it from the belief that they should be supported by the duke of burgundy and his party, should there be occasion for it. chap. xix. the parisians propose whatever measures they please, in the presence of the duke of acquitaine and the other princes.--cruelties committed by them. on thursday the th of may, the parisians held a great assembly, and made various propositions, in the presence of the dukes of acquitaine, berry, burgundy and lorraine, the counts of nevers, charolois, and many nobles and prelates, with others, wearing white hoods by way of uniform, who were said to exceed twelve thousand in number. toward the conclusion, they presented a roll to the duke of acquitaine, which he would have refused to accept; but they constrained him not only to take it, but to read its contents publicly. sixty persons, as well absent as present, were charged in this roll as traitors: twenty of whom were instantly arrested, and confined in prison. in this number were the lord de boissay, master of the household to the king, michel lallier, and others to the number above mentioned. the absent that had been thus accused were summoned by sound of trumpet, in all the squares of paris, to appear within a few days, under penalty, in case of disobedience, of having their properties confiscated to the king's use. on the th day of this same month, the king recovered his health, and went from his hôtel of st pol to the church of nôtre dame, wearing a white hood like the other princes. when he had finished his prayers, he returned home accompanied by a vast multitude of people. on the monday following, the parisians had their city surrounded by numbers of men at arms, so that no person might leave it without permission: the gates were closely shut, and the bridges drawn up and watched by a numerous guard at each, armed with all sorts of weapons. they also appointed armed divisions of tens in all the streets; and when this was done, the provost of the merchants, the sheriffs, and other leaders marched a large body of armed men to the hôtel of st pol, which they surrounded with a line three deep; and having given their orders how they were to act, they waited on the king, the queen, and the dauphin, who were perfectly ignorant of their proceedings. there was at this time a grand assembly of nobles in paris, namely, the dukes of berry, burgundy, lorraine, and duke louis of bavaria, brother to the queen, who was on the morrow to marry, at the hôtel de st pol, the sister of the count d'alençon, the widow of the lord peter de navarre, count de mortain. the counts de nevers, de charolois, de st pol, constable of france, and many more great barons and prelates, were likewise present. they there ordered a carmelite friar, called friar eustache, to harangue the king, who, having taken for his text 'nisi dominus custodierit civitatem suam, frustra vigilat qui custodit eam,' discoursed well and long upon it, and made some mention of the prisoners, of the bad state of the government of the kingdom, and of the crimes that were committed. when he had ended his speech, the chancellor of france bade him say who were his protectors, when instantly the provost of merchants and the sheriffs acknowledged him. but as there were but few people present, and as they did not speak loud enough, according to the will of the chancellor, some of them descended to the court to call those of the greatest birth and weight that had remained armed below. the principal leaders returned with them to the king's apartment, and with bended knees avowed that what father eustache had said was conformable to their sentiments; that they had the sincerest love for him and for his family, and that their sole wish was to serve his royal majesty with clean and pure hearts; that every thing they had done had been for the welfare of himself and his kingdom, as well as for the preservation of his person and family. while this was passing, the duke of burgundy, noticing the line of armed men that were drawn up three deep, and surrounding the king's hôtel, went down and earnestly entreated of them to retire, demanding of them what they wanted, and why they were thus come armed; for that it was neither decent nor expedient that the king, who was so lately recovered from his illness, should thus see them drawn up, as it were, in battle-array. they replied, they were not assembled with an ill intent, but for the good of the king and his kingdom: they concluded by giving him a roll, and said, they were on no account to depart thence until those whose names were therein inscribed should be delivered up to them, namely, louis of bavaria, brother to the queen, and the following knights: charles de villers, courard bayer, jean de neelle lord d'ollehaing, the archbishop of bourges, master william boisratier, confessor to the queen, jean vincent, colin de pieul, jeannet de cousteville, mainfroy, treasurer to the duke of acquitaine, and a courier of the duke of orleans, who happened accidentally to be in paris, having brought letters from his master to the king; the lady bona d'armagnac, lady of montauban[ ], la dame du quesnoy, la dame d'avelays, la dame de noyon, la dame du chastel, and four other damsels. when the duke of burgundy found that every thing he could say was vain, he went to the queen, and showed her the list they had given to him, telling her what they required. she was much troubled thereat, and, calling her son the dauphin, bade him return with the duke of burgundy, and entreat them most affectionately in her name to desist for only eight days from their present demands, and that on the eighth day she would without fail deliver up her brother, or suffer them to arrest him, and carry him a prisoner to the louvre, to the palace, or whithersoever they should please. the duke of acquitaine, hearing these words from his mother, retired to a private chamber and wept bitterly,--but was followed by the duke of burgundy, who exhorted him not to weep, which he complied with, and wiped away his tears. they descended to the parisians, and the duke of burgundy explained in a few words the request of the queen; but they positively refused to grant it, and declared they would go up to the queen's apartment,--and should those contained in the list be refused to be given up, they would take them by force, even in the king's presence, and carry them away prisoners. the two dukes, hearing this answer, went back to the queen, whom they found in conversation with her brother and the king. they reported their reception from the parisians,--when the duke of bavaria, seeing he could not escape, full of bitterness and distress, descended down to them, and desired that he alone might be taken into custody; that if he were found guilty, he might be punished without mercy,--otherwise that he might instantly have his liberty, and go to bavaria, never more to return to france. the others also, with the ladies and damsels, were forced to surrender themselves, but it was not without great lamentations and effusion of tears. they were directly put two and two on horseback, each horse escorted by four men at arms, and carried, some prisoners to the louvre, and others to the palace, followed by a large body of the parisians under arms. when this was done, the king went to his dinner, and the queen with her son retired in great grief to their apartments. within a short time, the courier was set at liberty,--and so was the lord d'ollehaing, who was reinstated in the office of chancellor of acquitaine, from which he had been dismissed. the duke of burgundy had under his guard his cousin-german the duke of bar, sir peter and sir anthony des essars, with other prisoners confined in the louvre, whom he caused to be attended by his servants, and for whose security he had pledged himself. but he acted quite contrary, and returned them to the parisians, who imprisoned them closely, and caused twelve knights to be nominated by the king as commissaries, and six examiners, to inquire into their offences, and to condemn and punish them according to the heinousness of their crimes and the exigence of the case. in consequence of this, a statement was drawn up by directions of the duke of berry, uncle to the duke of bar, the countess de st pol, and others his friends, and given to the parisians, who sent it to the university of paris for their advice and approbation of what they had done. the university replied, that they would no way intermeddle nor advise in the business; and they moreover declared, in full council before the king, that so far from having advised the arrest of the duke of bar and the other prisoners, they were much displeased that it had taken place. the parisians, therefore, seeing that the university was disunited from them, and fearing that their conduct would, in after times, be examined into, obtained from the king and his council a royal edict, as an indemnity and excuse for their actions, the tenour of which was as follows. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting, on the part of our dear and well-beloved, the provost, sheriffs, citizens and inhabitants of this good town of paris. 'we make known, that for our urgent profit and welfare, and also for that of our very dear son the duke of acquitaine, dauphin of viennois, and for the public welfare, for the security of our good town of paris, and to obviate inconveniences that might have arisen from the malversation of some of our ministers, as well those of justice as others, and in order to prevent such malversations from increasing, certain arrests have lately taken place on divers men and women, as well of our blood and household as of those of our very well beloved consort the queen, of our son, and our very dear daughter the duchess of acquitaine, and countess of charolois, for the effecting of which arrests a large assemblage of men at arms was thought expedient, considering the rank and power of those to be arrested, who are now confined in our prisons of the louvre, of our palace, and in different prisons in our good town of paris. 'the crimes alledged against them are for treasonable practices committed against us, our said son, the welfare of the kingdom and that of our good city of paris, and also concerning the government of our person, of our son, and of the police of our said town and kingdom, for all of which sufficient judges have been appointed, who will examine into their various delinquencies, and punish in such wise as the public good may require, so that our good city of paris, which is the head of our realm, may not again suffer any alarms through their fault, or that of their accomplices, who, fearing the consequences, have escaped out of the city. 'for these causes, and from the great love and loyalty they bear to us, who are their sovereign and natural lord, as well as to our said eldest son, the aforesaid provost, sheriffs, and citizens of paris, have requested these presents, in order that good government may be restored, the security and welfare of our person and state be provided for, and that such arrests and imprisonments may be considered as solely done out of the purity of their loyal intentions towards us, our family, and the public good of the realm. 'we will, therefore, that such arrests and imprisonments be so considered, and that they be regarded as done for the true honour and profit of us and of our crown; and that all who have been abettors or aiding in the above arrests and imprisonments, noble or not noble, shall be deemed praiseworthy; and by the advice of some of our kindred, as well as by that of our great council, we do approve of and avow such acts. 'by the tenour of these presents we acknowledge and hold them for agreeable, and forbid that for these causes, or for any others that may be connected with them, those who have thus acted be any way harrassed or molested in body or estate, or any suit be preferred against them in our courts of justice, by any means or pretext whatever, but that they shall be held acquitted in perpetuity. 'we give this, therefore, in command to all our beloved and faithful counsellors, who now hold or shall hereafter hold our courts of parliament at paris, all masters of requests in our household, and those holding similar situations in our royal palace, all officers in our exchequer, and all commissaries named to inspect our finance and domain, as well as those lately appointed to examine into the charges brought against the prisoners in our castle of the louvre, and elsewhere in our prisons in paris, to the provost of paris, to all our seneschals, bailiffs, provosts, judges and other officers of justice at present and in times to come, and to each as in duty bound, that they do proclaim these presents in the accustomed public places, and that they do see that the commands herein contained be not infringed or disobeyed, so that the engagements we have entered into with the parties demanding these presents may be punctually observed. 'and as the parties may wish hereafter to renew the publicity of these presents, we will that there be exact copies made of them under the seal of the châtelet, or other royal seals, to make them as authentic as the original, and that they may be of equal efficacy. given at paris the th day of may, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' it was thus signed by the king in council; at which were present the dukes of berry and burgundy, the constable of france, the archbishop of bourges, the bishop of evreux, the bishop of tournay, the grand master of the household, the lord de la trimouille governor to the dauphin, sir anthony de craon, sir philippe de poitiers, the chancellor of burgundy, the abbot of st jean, master eustace de la chere, the lords de viefville, de mont-beron[ ], de la rochefoucault[ ], the provost of paris, sir charles de savoisy, the hermit de faye, jean de courcelles, the lord d'allegrez[ ], master mille d'orgemont, raoul le saige, mille d'angeul, jean de longneux, and many others. 'p. naucron.' footnotes: [footnote : bona, eldest daughter of the constable d'armagnac, afterwards married to charles duke of orleans.] [footnote : called before 'mouberon;' but montberon is right. james, son of imbert lord of montberon in angoumois, was made mareschal of france in , in the place of john de villiers de l'isle-adam.] [footnote : guy viii. lord of la rochefoucault, was one of the first lords of guienne who did homage to the crown of france after the peace of bretigny. froissart mentions a duel which took place in between this nobleman and william lord of montferrand, at which he was attended by two hundred gentlemen of his own family. he married margaret de craon, lady of marsillac and montbazon, by whom he had two sons, foulcault iii. lord of la rochefoucault, mentioned hereafter, and aymar lord of montbazon and sainte maure.] [footnote : called 'allaigre' in the original. alegre is the name of a noble and ancient family of auvergue.] chap. xx. the count de vertus and several of the nobility leave paris.--other regulations and edicts obtained from the king by the parisians. during these melancholy times, the count de vertus, indignant at the arrest of the duke of bar and other nobles, secretly left paris, attended by two persons only, without the knowledge of the king or the duke of burgundy, and hastened to his brother the duke of orleans, at blois, to whom he related all the extraordinary events that had passed in paris, as well in the hôtel of the king as in that of the dauphin, and elsewhere, to the great displeasure of the duke of orleans. the duke of burgundy was much vexed at the departure of the count de vertus, for he had hopes to accomplish the marriage that had been for some time agreed on between him and his daughter. many other noblemen quitted paris from fear of the changes that were taking place, namely, sir james de chastillon, eldest son to the lord de dampierre, the lords de croy and de roubaix, coppin de la viefville, master raoul, head provost of st donas at bruges, pierre genstiere, who had lately been provost of merchants, and many more. several were particularly remanded by the duke of burgundy, who returned in great alarm, and not without cause; for of those who had been imprisoned, many were daily, without regard to sex, drowned in the seine, or miserably put to death, without any form of law or justice. on the th day of may, the king went to the parliament, and, at the instance of the duke of burgundy and the parisians, held a royal sitting, and caused several edicts to be published respecting the reformation of abuses. these, and other regulations for the government of the kingdom, were sent to the different bailiwicks, and other usual places, for proclamation. one of them was directed against sir clugnet de brabant, who in company with other captains had assembled in great force on the river loire, to be ready to march to paris,--the tenour of which was as follows. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting.--whereas it has come to our knowledge, that notwithstanding the very great oppressions which our subjects have suffered in various parts of our realm from the assembling of large bodies of men at arms, which the princes of our blood, and other barons, have thought proper, at different periods, to raise on their own authority,--there are still several who now continue such practices, to the great grievance of our faithful subjects. we have caused to be published and proclaimed throughout our realm, as well by messages as by sealed letters, our strict prohibition of such acts, under very heavy penalties; and we have ordered, that none, of whatever rank he may be, subject or foreigner, shall have the boldness to raise any men in future on their own sole authority, whether by way of companies or otherwise, without our special orders, or in obedience to our summons to come to serve us. 'several of our kindred, however, contrary to these our orders, and in opposition to the treaty of peace lately concluded at auxerre by us, to put an end to dissentions which had arisen in our family, and which they solemnly swore to observe, are now preparing to assemble large bodies of men at arms without any authority or licence from us, and to unite them with a numerous army of english and foreigners, to carry into effect their damnable purposes, which they have plotted against us and our government, according to the information we have received. 'we have been repeatedly assured that they are favoured and supported by many in an underhand manner; and to force others to join them, they harrass and despoil all who have served us, more especially those who assisted us in our late expedition to bourges, when we considered them as enemies of the state, and marched thither with the intent of correcting them sufficiently for their outrageous conduct. 'they at this moment, as we have had sufficient information, commit every sort of violence, by killing our subjects, violating damsels, setting fire to houses and villages, and despoiling churches, and many other atrocious crimes, such as the bitterest enemies of the country would commit, and which are such bad examples that they must not longer be suffered. 'in consequence, therefore, of the lamentations and heavy complaints that have been made to us, we are resolved to remedy these grievances, which are so highly displeasing to us, in the most effectual manner: we therefore most expressly enjoin and command you, by these presents, that you instantly make public proclamation, by sound of trumpet, of this our prohibition, for any knight, esquire, or others accustomed to bear arms, of whatever rank they may be,--and we order them, on pain of our severest anger, and on the loyalty they owe us, not to arm themselves, nor to join any bodies that may have assembled in arms within our kingdom without our especial authority, nor to obey the summons of any one related to our person or not, on any occasion whatever, unless they be particularly ordered by us to join them for the good of our service. 'all whom you shall hear of having such intentions, you will command, in our name, to desist, and peaceably to return to their dwellings, or whither else they may please, without doing any harm to our subjects. should they refuse to obey your orders, and persist in their wicked intentions, you will instantly take possession, in our name, of all their castles, dwellings and possessions, causing an exact inventory to be made out, of the real and annual value, which you will place in the hands of safe persons to administer such estates, to render us an exact account of their amount, and to relinquish them whenever we may see good. you will also proceed against them as rebels; for we abandon them to you to imprison and punish according as you shall judge expedient. 'you will likewise, should they have quitted their dwellings, pursue them by every means in your power, shutting them out from all towns, and depriving them of provisions, and harrassing them in every way deserving of their disobedience, and to serve as an example to others. 'it is not, however, our intention that such of the princes of our blood as are now near our person, and in our service, should be prevented from ordering their vassals to come to them, or from employing them for our welfare, as they shall specify in their summons; but they must not, on their march, live on the country, or despoil the inhabitants. should any of them do the contrary, we command you to proceed against them as against the aforesaid; and you will inflict on them such punishments as their demerits require, without paying regard to any letters of protection they may show to you. 'to enable you to execute these our orders, we give you full authority to call upon and assemble all our vassals and subjects to your aid, and as many as you shall think necessary for the occasion, and to lead them to any parts of your bailiwick where you shall hear of any robberies or other rebellious acts being done. and we strictly enjoin, by these presents, all our vassals and subjects, on the faith and loyalty they owe us, and under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of goods, to obey your orders, and to assist you heartily to accomplish the above commands. 'that no one may pretend ignorance of them, you will cause these presents to be proclaimed in all the different parts of your bailiwick, or wherever else you shall judge proper. we also command all our officers of justice, and others having authority under us, and we entreat all our friends and wellwishers, to aid and support you on this service, and diligently to keep up a good understanding with you thereon, and to show you every favour, even allowing their dwellings to be turned into prisons, should the exigency of any case require it,--for we delegate to you full and complete authority, notwithstanding any opposition or appeal made to the contrary. given at paris the th day of june, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' then signed by the king, on the report of his council,--at which were present my lords of berry, burgundy, the constable, the chancellor of burgundy, charles de savoisy, anthony de craon, the lords de viefville, de montberon, cambrilach, d'allegrez, and many others.--'p. naucron.' this edict was sent to the different bailiwicks and seneschalships in the kingdom of france, and proclaimed in the usual places. chap. xxi. king ladislaus of naples enters rome with a powerful army.--the death of sir james de la riviere.--the dismission of the chancellor,--and other matters. this year, ladislaus king of naples and sicily, at the instigation of some false and disloyal traitors, marched a very large army to rome, which he entered without resistance, and began to pillage the whole of it,--at the same time making prisoners the most powerful and rich citizens, who were forced to ransom themselves by paying heavy sums of money. pope john and his cardinals, witnessing these transactions, took flight in the utmost fear, and escaped from castle to castle, until they at length reached bologna, where the pope fixed his court. the greater part of their estates were despoiled by this army of ladislaus, who for a long time reigned in rome; and when, in consequence of certain accommodations, he departed, he carried away many precious jewels from the churches and palaces. sir james de la riviere, brother to the count de dampmartin, was taken prisoner with the duke of bar, in the hôtel of the duke of acquitaine, and carried to the palace-prison, where it was reported, that from indignation at this treatment, he had struck himself so roughly with a pewter-pot on the head as to beat his brains out. his body was thence carried in a cart to the market-place of paris, and beheaded. but the truth was otherwise; for sir elion de jacqueville, knight to the duke of burgundy, visiting him in prison, high words passed between them, and he called him a false traitor. sir james replied, that he lied, for that he was none such,--when jacqueville, enraged, struck him so severe a blow on the head with a light battle-axe which he had in his hand that he killed him. he then spread abroad this rumour of his having put an end to his life himself by means of a pewter pot, which was propagated by others through the town, and believed by very many. shortly after this event, mesnil berry, carver to the duke of acquitaine, and a native of normandy, was led to the market-place, and there beheaded. his head and that of sir james de la riviere were affixed to two lances, and their bodies hung by the shoulders on the gibbet of montfaucon. on the thursday in whitsun-week, thomelin de brie, who had been page to the king, was, with two others, taken from the prison of the châtelet to the market-place, and beheaded: their heads were fixed on three spears, and their bodies hung at montfaucon by the shoulders. these executions took place at the request of the parisians. and because sir reginald[ ] de corbie, a native of beauvais, though an old and discreet man, was not agreeable to them, he was dismissed from his office of chancellor of france, and sir eustache de lactre[ ], at the solicitation of the duke of burgundy, appointed to succeed him. on tuesday, the th of june, philip count de nevers espoused, at the castle of beaumont, the sister of the count d'eu, in the presence of the duchess of bourbon, her mother, and the damsel of dreux, who had been principally instrumental in forming this marriage. after the festivities of the wedding, the new-married couple were conducted by the duchess of bourbon and the damsel of dreux to maizieres, on the meuse, which belonged to the count de nevers. the count d'eu, who had been of the party, soon after returned to his county, where he collected a large body of men at arms, to the amount of two thousand combatants, under the pretext of making war on the lord de croy, in revenge for an attack made upon him some time since, as has been mentioned, by his eldest son sir john de croy; but it was not so, for he marched his army across the seine at pont-de-l'arche, and thence to verneuil in perche, where were assembled king louis of sicily, the dukes of orleans, brittany, and bourbon, the counts de vertus and d'alençon, with many other great barons, lords, and knights, not only on account of the imprisonment of the dukes of bar and of bavaria, or of the other prisoners, but for the deliverance of the duke of acquitaine, who had informed them by letters, which had been confirmed by the count de vertus, that he himself, the king, and the queen were kept as prisoners under the control of the parisians, and that they were not allowed any liberty, which was highly displeasing to them, and disgraceful to royalty. this had caused so large an assembly of these great lords, who, after mature consideration, wrote letters to the king, to his great council, and to the parisians, desiring them to allow the duke of acquitaine to go whithersoever he pleased, and to set at liberty the dukes of bar and of bavaria, and all other prisoners. should they refuse to comply, they declared war against the town of paris, which they would destroy to the utmost of their power, and all within it, except the king and such of his royal blood as may have therein remained. with regard to those that had been murdered, they said nothing of them; for as they were dead, they could not have them back. these letters were laid before the king in council, where it was determined to send ambassadors to these lords to negotiate a peace, who were kindly received by them. on saturday, the st day of july, after his trial had been concluded, sir peter des essars, lately provost of paris, and son to the late philippe des essars, a citizen of that town, was beheaded in the market-place, his head fixed on the market-house, and his body hung at montfaucon in the usual manner. his brother, sir anthony, was in great danger of being also executed; but through the activity of some friends, a delay of his trial was procured, and he afterward obtained his full liberty. in these days, as the king was in good health, he went to the cathedral of paris to say his prayers and hear mass. when it was over, he visited the holy relics: he departed and returned to his hôtel, accompanied by the duke of burgundy and the constable of france, and followed by crowds of people who had assembled to see him. on the morrow, the th of july, it was ordered in the king's council, presided by the duke of acquitaine, that john de moreul, knight to the duke of burgundy, should be the bearer of letters and royal summons to the two bailiwicks of amiens and of vermandois, and to all the provostships within them. he was commanded to assemble all the prelates, counsellors and magistrates of these districts, and then, in full meeting, to read aloud these letters from the king, sealed with his great seal, and dated this th day of july. countersigned, 'john millet,' according to the resolution of council, at which had been present the duke of burgundy, the constable of france, the chancellor of acquitaine, the chancellor of burgundy, and several others. these letters contained, in substance, an exhortation that they would remain steady and loyal in their duty to the king, and be ready to serve him or the dauphin whenever and wherever they should be summoned to march against the enemies of the kingdom and the public weal; that they should place confidence in his knight, counsellor and chamberlain, sir john de moreul, according to the instructions given him under the king's privy seal, which he was to show and give them to read. when he had visited many towns and provostships in these bailiwicks, he came on monday, the th day of july, from dourlens to amiens, and there, in the presence of the nobles, prelates, and principal inhabitants of the great towns within the district, he read his letters and instructions with a clear and loud voice, for he was a man of great eloquence. he explained how much the peace and union of the kingdom had been and was troubled; how the trials of those who had been beheaded at paris were carried on before a sufficient number of able and honest men, as well knights as advocates of the parliament, and other lords and discreet men, who had been nominated for this purpose by the king; and how sir james de la riviere, in despair, had killed himself with a pewter pot in which he had had wine, as well as the manner in which he had done it. the charges which were brought against those who had been beheaded occupied each sixty sheets of paper,--and he assured them, that good and impartial justice had been administered to all who had been executed, without favour or hatred having any concern in their just sentences. he asserted, that the duke of acquitaine had never written such letters to the princes of the orleans-party as they had published; and he concluded,--'know then, all ye present, that what i have just been saying are notorious truths.' after this, he asked whether they were loyal and obedient to the king, and desired they would tell him their intentions. the nobles and prelates, and the rest of the assembly, instantly replied, that they had always been obedient to the king, and were ready to serve him, believing that he had told them the truth. in confirmation of this, he required letters from the provost, with which he returned to paris. in like manner were other knights sent, in the king's name, with similar letters and instructions to the different bailiwicks and seneschalships within the realm, who, being equally successful, returned with letters of the same import. while these things were passing, the english appeared off the coast of normandy with a large fleet of ships, and landed at the town of treport, where having plundered all they could find, and made some prisoners, they set fire to it, and burnt the town and monastery, and also some of the adjoining villages. when they had remained about twenty-two hours on shore, they re-embarked and made sail for england with their booty. footnotes: [footnote : called 'ernault' a little after, which agrees with moreri's arnold.--see _ante_, p. , note.] [footnote : in moreri's list, henry de marle succeeds arnauld de corbie in , and is succeeded by eustache de _laitre_ in .] chap. xxii. the ambassadors from the king of france return with those from the princes to paris.--they are joined by others, who negotiate a fourth peace at pontoise. on wednesday, the th day of july, the ambassadors whom the king and the dukes of acquitaine, berry, and burgundy, had sent to the princes of the blood, namely, the bishop of tournay, the grand master of rhodes, the lords d'offemont and de la viefville, master peter de marigny, and some others, returned from their embassy. the answer they had brought having been soon after considered in council, the king ordered the dukes of berry and burgundy to go with the aforesaid ambassadors to pontoise, when the king of sicily, the dukes of orleans and of bourbon, the counts d'alençon and d'eu came to vernon, and thence sent their ambassadors to pontoise, to explain to the dukes of berry and burgundy, and the other ambassadors, the causes of their griefs, and the great miseries that must ensue should the war take place that was on the point of breaking out. one of their ambassadors harangued well in clear and good french on the above subjects: the substance of what he said was as follows. 'to explain what has been intrusted to us by our lords, namely, the king of sicily, the dukes of orleans and of bourbon, the counts d'alençon and d'eu, to you, my very redoubted lords of berry and burgundy, and to the gentlemen of the great council of the king and of my lord of acquitaine, now in their company, since it becomes me to speak the words of peace, trusting in him who is the sole author of peace, and in the good will of my hearers, i shall take my text from the d psalm, 'oculi mei semper ad dominum;' that is to say, my eyes are always turned to the lord; and continue my discourse from what the wise plato says, among other notable things, that all princes or others intrusted with the affairs of government should obey the commands of their sovereign in all they shall do for the public welfare, laying aside every private consideration for their own advantage, and regard themselves as part of a whole, the smallest member of which being wounded, the effect is felt by the head or chief lord. 'i consider, therefore, the kingdom of france as a body, of which our sovereign lord the king is the head, and his subjects the members. but in what degree shall i place my lords the princes who have sent us hither, or you, my lords, who hear me? for we know of no other head but our sovereign lord.--i can neither liken you to the head nor to the aforementioned members, on account of your rank; but i think i may compare you to the members nearest to the head, for among them may be counted the eyes, which are of the greatest use to it. i shall consequently compare you to the eyes, and for three singularly good reasons. 'first, the eyes ought to be well placed and formed alike; for should one be placed differently from the other, half closed or awry, the whole person is disgraced and acquires the name of blind or squinter. now, it seems to me, that as my lords who have sent us, and you, my lords, who hear me, have persons handsomely made, you ought to be of one mind, and tending towards good; for you have eyes of a clear understanding, and of real affection, 'oculi sapientis in capite ejus.' 'secondly, the eyes are the most striking parts of the human body, and have a full view over every part of it, as the prophet ezekiel says, in his d chapter, 'speculatorem dedi te domui israel.' just so are our princes of the blood, for from their singular and strong affection to their sovereign lord and his kingdom, they constantly watch over and guard him. 'thirdly, from the nobleness of the eye, which is of a circular form, and of such sensibility that when any other member of the body is hurt, or struck with grief, it weeps, as the prophet jeremiah says in the th chapter, 'plorans, plorabit, et educet oculus meus lachrimam quia captus est grex domini.' in like manner valerius maximus relates, in his th book, that when marcellus the tyrant saw his city despoiled by the enemy, who had taken it by storm, he could not refrain from weeping, which was becoming a real eye. certainly it ought to bewail the pain of its members, as codrus, duke of athens, did, who caused himself to be slain to gain a victory over his enemies, as is related by julius frontinus, and this same valerius maximus in his th book. and because all our lords are and ought to be of the same stamp, i have compared them thereto by saying, 'oculi mei semper ad dominum.' 'as for me, being the spokesman of those who have been charged to come hither by our lords, we do not think of comparing ourselves to eyes, but solely to the very humble servants of the eye, being no greater parts of the members than the nail on the little finger, ready at the calls of our superiors; and from their commands have we been led to speak of such high concerns, which was matter of great grievance to us; but it is for the sake of peace, and in obedience to the eye, 'oculi mei semper ad dominum;' for in all times, every one should obey his lord, more especially when he is in adversity,--as tully says in his treatise on friendship,--come to thy friend in prosperity, when he calls thee; but when he shall be in adversity, wait not to be called. i apply this to all landholders who are not the immediate ministers of a king, or of the lord, according to the apostle st peter, who says in his second chapter, 'submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme,' &c. and again, 'be obedient in the fear of our lord, not only to the good and just but to the ignorant.' thus may every one repeat the text i have chosen, 'oculi mei semper ad dominum.' 'notwithstanding my lords who have sent us hither having the eyes of clear understanding, and affected with a true love to their sovereign as the head of the whole body of this christian kingdom, are fearful that what isaiah says in his th chapter may be applied to them; 'speculatores ejus cæci omnes;' and that they may be said to resemble the hog who devours the fruit that falls from the tree, without ever looking up to the tree whence it falls. nevertheless, they having considered the events that have lately taken place in paris, are full of grief lest the whole body of the kingdom should consequently suffer such destruction as, from its continuation, may be mortal to it, which god, out of his gracious mercy, avert! 'in the first place, they have heard of the arrests and executions of the servants of the king, queen and duke of acquitaine, to whom alone belongs the cognizance of any offences committed by them, and to none others. they have also been informed that the same conduct has been followed in regard to the ladies and damsels of the queen and the duchess of acquitaine, which things, from honour to the queen their mistress, as well as for the respect due to the female sex and to modesty, ought not to have been done. 'the laws declare and command, under heavy penalties, that modest women shall not be publicly handled; and the honour of their families would seem to assure them of not being so treated, for which they make loud lamentations. 'notwithstanding that the cognizance of any crime committed by a prince of the royal blood belongs solely to the king, the duke of bar has been imprisoned, who is cousin-german to the king our lord, which causes much sorrow to our lords, more particularly to the king and queen of sicily (who is his niece), who loudly cry out for his deliverance, as well as for that of duke louis of bavaria, brother to the queen. they are more hurt at the form and manner in which they were arrested; for, according to what has been told them, they were seized by those who were not king's officers, nor had any authority for so doing from him, but merely by a mob of common people, who forcibly broke down the doors of the king's and the duke of acquitaine's apartments, saying to the latter many rude and impudent things, which, as is reported, have greatly displeased him; and they are particularly anxious to know why such disgraceful acts were done, as they are ignorant what could have caused them. 'could any just reasons be alledged, they would not be so much astonished as they now are. but to continue: it has been told them that my lord is even deprived of his liberty, and that he cannot leave his hôtel, or at least that he is not suffered to go out of paris; and that no one of his kindred, or of any high rank, are suffered to converse with him, but only those who guard him, as is done to common prisoners in many cases. this is matter of as serious grief to him and to my said lords, thus to be deprived of the conversation and sight of their sovereign lord on earth, as it would be to be debarred the vision of god in another life. 'item, they complain, that since these events letters have been sent by the town of paris to the aforesaid lords, and to others, and also to the chief towns in the kingdom, to declare that these arrests, imprisonments and executions, have taken place with the approbation of the duke of acquitaine. they therefore lament such letters being sent, for none but the princes of the blood ought to be made acquainted with the acts of government, or with such charges as are made against different lords. there was, beside, no pretence for these letters, for no one had ever interfered with the government of the duke of acquitaine; and it should seem to have been done solely with a view to inflame and instigate the people to some acts prejudicial to the king, to my lord of acquitaine, his whole family, and even against these lords now present. 'they also complain, that through the importunity of these same parisians, orders have been sent to their barons, knights, esquires and vassals, not to obey any summons they may receive from them, but to remain at home until the constable, or some other of the lords within paris, shall send for them; and at this grievance they feel very indignant, for they have never done any thing, or had intentions of so acting, as to deserve to be deprived of the service of their vassals; and when the king should have occasion for them, they should have served in their company, &c. 'item, they likewise complain of many expressions, and other orders, by which several officers take possession of castles and forts, and place in them new governors, dismissing very able captains, noble and valiant knights, who have loyally served their whole life without reproach, and still intend to serve the king. 'these things are very unusual and extraordinary, and create much uneasiness, by the bad example they afford as well to the head as the other members, to the producing of subversion and total ruin. this good kingdom has long been prosperously governed, chiefly by its regular police and strict justice, which are founded on three things, and have caused it to excel all other kingdoms. 'first, by its great learning, by which the christian faith has been defended, and justice and equity maintained. 'secondly, by its noble and gallant chivalry, by which not only this kingdom, but the whole of the faith has been supported and encouraged. 'thirdly, by the numbers of loyal subjects, who, by their subordination and obedience, have given strength to the government. 'but now these three things, by the present perverse mode of acting, will be completely overturned; for all seems running to disorder, and one fills an office suited to another, so that the feet which ought to support the body, head and arms, now want to take the place of the head, and thus every thing will fall into confusion, and all the members quit the situations they were naturally designed for, as the civil law says, 'rerum commixtione turbantur officia.' 'for these reasons, my lords have sent us to supplicate the king, the queen, and my lord of acquitaine, and to request of you, our very dear and redoubted lords, and of you gentlemen of the great council of the king and the duke of acquitaine now present, that each of you would, according to the exigence of the case, apply a sufficient remedy. it seems to my lords, that, according to the opinion of physicians, abstinence is the grand preservative of the body natural from sickness: we therefore pray you, that all such acts as have lately taken place may be put an end to, and that all extraordinary commissions may cease, that honour and justice may have due attention paid to them, and that liberty and the accustomed prerogatives be restored to the king and the duke of acquitaine, as to the eyes of justice; and that they may be preserved from all offence from churchmen, nobility, and people, as the body, the arms, and the legs are bound to guard and defend the head,--for this will be the only and secure means of establishing peace, and as the psalmist says, 'quia justicia et pax osculatæ sunt.' 'st augustin declares, that every one wishes for peace in his house; but justice, who is her sister, lodges in the house of another; and all who wish for true peace must have also her sister justice. should any one say, that abstinence would be dangerous from fear of two different things, such as war and rigorous justice, we reply, in the name of our lords, that they will eschew both to the utmost of their power, and will employ themselves heartily in following this abstinence, and in the expulsion of all such men at arms as shall injure the country by every means they can use. 'in regard to rigorous justice, they intend to follow in this the manner of all princes, keeping in mind the sentence of plato, that when a prince is cruel to the commonwealth, he resembles the guardian who unwisely chastises his ward, whom he had undertaken to watch over and defend. they will carefully imitate the conduct of their predecessors of the most noble house of france, who have been accustomed to show nothing but good humour and kindness, laying aside all rancour against the good city of paris, and all other towns that may have been guilty of improper acts; and they supplicate the king, the queen, and my lord of acquitaine, that an entire oblivion may be passed over what may have been done on one side as well as on the other. 'my lords are particularly desirous that the king, the queen, and the duke of acquitaine should have full liberty to make their residence at rouen, chartres, melun, montargis, or at any other place more suitable than paris, for their loyal subjects to have access to them; not through any malevolence toward this town, or against its inhabitants, but to avoid any sort of riot that might take place between their servants and some of the citizens. 'and i beg the lords now present to consider on the most secure means for the meeting of my lords with their majesties and the duke of acquitaine, and to obviate all pretence of suspicion or alarm, when my lords shall attend at any proper place to provide for the better government of the kingdom, and for the establishment of a solid peace. let this matter be well weighed, for our lords and ourselves are perfectly well inclined to attend to the honour and advantage of the head and of all its members. 'should i have said too little, my lords and companions will be eager to amend it; and should i have said too much, or any thing that may have angered any of my lords here present, they will be pleased to attribute it to my simplicity and ignorance, and to the strong affection i bear to the king, and my earnestness that a firm and lasting peace may be concluded. i am naturally bound to this by my oath of fidelity, and also from the anxiety my lord the king of sicily has to promote this desirable end. should i therefore have said more than was necessary, you will not of course attribute it to any rashness, or disaffection that i may feel; for such has never entered my thoughts, or those of my lord of sicily or his companions.' after this, several propositions for peace were made on each side, that tranquillity might be restored to the kingdom, and an end put to the present disorders. some articles were drawn up, of the following tenour. 'first, there shall be perfect union and love between the princes of the blood, which they will keep, and swear to observe, like affectionate relatives and friends, and shall mutually interchange letters to this purpose; and, for a greater confirmation of the above, the principal officers and servants of each lord shall do the same. 'item, the princes of the blood who have sent ambassadors will cease from all acts of warfare, and will not summon any more men at arms; and if any summonses should have been issued, they will instantly annul them. 'item, they will do every thing in their power to recal those who form the companies of clugnet, louis bourdon, and others their adherents, by every possible means. should these companies refuse to comply, these lords would then unite themselves with the king's forces, and compel them to obedience, or destroy them, and all others the king's enemies, who might wage war against him or his kingdom. 'item, they will promise that they will not bear any malice or revenge for whatever things may have been done in the city of paris, nor do by themselves or others any mischief to that town, or its inhabitants, under pretext of justice, or any other cause whatever; and should any security be required for the observance of this article, they shall suffer it to be given, and even afford every assistance thereto to the utmost of their power. 'item, these princes will make oath upon the true cross of god, on the holy evangelists, and on the word of honour of a prince, that they will strictly observe every article of this treaty, without any fraud or subterfuge, and will give to the king letters containing the above oath, signed with their seals. 'item, on the accomplishment of the above, the ambassadors from the aforesaid princes require, that the king would be pleased to annul and revoke all his summonses for assembling men at arms, and order all warfare to cease in the realm, except against the above mentioned companies. 'item, he will also revoke all orders lately issued, to take possession of different castles and forts, and to dismiss from them the governors appointed by the princes, placing others in their room; and all such castles and forts shall be delivered up in the same state in which they were taken possession of; and, after a certain time, all who for any act by them committed, in opposition to the king's ministers, may have been imprisoned or banished, shall have their liberties, and be recalled home; and this shall take place in the course of the king's ordinary justice, without any commissioners being appointed, or interfering therein. 'item, when all these things shall have been done, the king, the queen, and my lord of acquitaine shall, on an appointed day, come out of paris to a fixed place of meeting, where the princes of either party shall meet, to confirm the good union among them, and to advise on the necessary business for the welfare of the king and his realm; and should any one suspect that these princes, or any of their party, have the intention of instigating the king, the queen, or my lord of acquitaine, to take vengeance on the town of paris, or, in revenge to any of its inhabitants, seize on the government, or to carry off the king and my lord of acquitaine, or that this meeting was proposed with any evil design, they are willing to give whatever security may be thought advisable.' these propositions having been reduced, to writing, and agreed to by the different lords who had been commissioned for that purpose, each party returned to the places they had come from. the dukes of berry and burgundy, with their companions, reported to the king the points of their embassy, as contained in the memorial which had been drawn up for the good of the kingdom. when this matter had been well considered, in a council to which the members of the university and of the municipality of paris had been admitted, it was agreed on by the king and the duke of acquitaine, that what had been settled by the commissioners on each side should be confirmed. in consequence, various ordinances were drawn up, to be transmitted to the bailiwicks and seneschalships in the realm, in order to their promulgation at the usual places, of which copies follow underneath. during this melancholy time, clugnet de brabant, sir louis de bourdon, and other captains of that party, advanced with sixteen thousand combatants, wasting and despoiling the country of the gâtinois, and giving out that they were on their march to make war on the parisians. these latter were much angered thereat, and dispatched sir elyon de jacqueville with sixteen hundred helmets, and a large body of other combatants, to meet them as far as montereau-faut-yonne; but the two armies did not meet,--and that of the parisians was disbanded without fighting. at this time, the constable and admiral of france were, with the bishop of tournay, sent by the king to boulogne-sur-mer, to meet ambassadors from the king of england, namely, the earl of warwick, the bishop of st davids and others, who had arrived at calais. they met at leulinghen, and, after some negotiations, agreed on a truce between the two kingdoms, to last until the ensuing easter, which was proclaimed throughout both realms. here follows a copy of those royal ordinances before mentioned. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, and to each of the inhabitants of that town, greeting.--we make known to you, that on account of the improper and unjust imprisonment of our very dear and well beloved cousin and brother in law, the dukes of bar and of bavaria, with other of our officers, as well as of the households of our dear companion the queen, and of our well beloved son the duke of acquitaine, and other ladies and damsels attached to them; our very dear cousin and nephew, the king of sicily, the duke of bourbon, the counts of alençon and of eu, have made heavy complaints, as well respecting the manner in which these imprisonments were made, as likewise regarding the disgust which these events, and others that have taken place in our good town of paris, have caused to our very dear son; and on this occasion the disaffected princes have lately come to the town of verneuil, whither we sent, on our part, properly-instructed ambassadors, and also with them our very dear uncles the dukes of berry and of burgundy. 'some of the inhabitants of paris went by our orders to pontoise; and our aforesaid cousin and nephews the king of sicily, the dukes of orleans, of bourbon, and the counts d'alençon and d'eu, came to the town of vernon, and thence sent their ambassadors to explain and signify to our aforesaid uncle and cousin the dukes of berry and of burgundy, and to our ambassadors, the cause of their complaints, and to remonstrate on the perils of the war that would speedily ensue unless their grievances were redressed. 'these matters having been fully discussed, proposals of peace and union between all parties were brought forward to avoid the miseries of a civil war. many articles were agreed on: the first was, that a solid peace should be established between the princes of the blood royal, which they were solemnly to swear to observe, and mutually to exchange deeds to this effect; but every one was to have the same liberty as before of declaring his opinion. 'the whole of the articles seemed very reasonable to the members of the university of paris and of our court of parliament, as well as to many of the good citizens of our town of paris, who were ready to examine them more fully, and report their opinion to us on the thursday following. 'but notwithstanding this approbation, there were some of low degree and narrow minds, who by their own authority had seized on the government of the city of paris, and who have been the cause of the war continuing so long, in order the better to keep their authority. these persons excited some of the princes of the blood and others to war by their false machinations, with the hope that their murders and robberies would remain unpunished, and that they should escape the vengeance due to their crimes. in consequence, by persevering in their wickedness, they practised so effectually that the meeting which had been appointed for thursday was put off to saturday the th of the month, in the expectation that they should before that day be enabled, by their base intrigues, to prevent peace from being agreed to,--the truth of which, under the pleasure of god, shall shortly be made public. but through the grace of god, the university of paris, our chambers of parliament and of accounts, the different religious orders, and the principal inhabitants of paris assembled,--and having many fears of the ill-intentioned preventing that peace which they most earnestly wished for, by every attempt to obstruct so great a blessing as peace and union throughout the kingdom, came to us at our hôtel of st pol in the afternoon, and desired an audience for the purpose of remonstrating on the happy effects that would ensue from the establishment of peace. 'they demonstrated the blessings of peace and the evils of war, and the necessity there was for proceeding instantly to the completion of the articles that had been agreed to by the ambassadors on each side,--and demanded, that the saturday which had been fixed on should be anticipated, by naming the ensuing friday, and that proper regulations should be made for the security of the city. 'on the friday, those who were desirous of peace went to the town-house in the greve, thinking to meet their friends, and come with them to us in our hôtel of st pol; but they were prevented by those ill inclined to peace, who, though of low degree, had before come to our said hôtel, and with them some varlets, all armed under authority of the government which they had usurped over the city of paris.--on this account, therefore, these prudent wellwishers to peace assembled in the square of st germain de l'auxerrois in paris, and in other places, in great numbers and with firm courage; and though the others did every thing in their power to throw obstacles in their way, in all their attempts they were baffled. 'this assembly, on breaking up, left st germain in regular order, as they had determined on; and on appearing in our presence, as well as in the presence of our son, our uncle and cousins, the dukes of acquitaine, berry, and burgundy, with others of our council, a peace was agreed on, and the articles ordered to be carried into execution. punishment was at the same time, to the great joy of the sober citizens, ordered to be inflicted, according to reason and justice, on all who had any way attempted to prevent a peace being made. 'immediately after this had been done, and our will declared, our son, our uncle and our cousin aforesaid, mounted their horses, and went to set at liberty our cousin and brother-in-law the dukes of bar and of bavaria, who had for a long time been confined in the louvre, and also many other knights and officers of our own and our son's households, who had been imprisoned for some time in the dungeons of the palace and of the châtelet, by force of the aforesaid evil minded and low persons, who, now perceiving that good government was likely to be restored, according to reason and justice, hid themselves like foxes, or fled,--and since that time, it has not been known where they may be found or arrested. 'this inclines us to fear that they may seduce others to follow their wicked example, by their dangerous and false lies, as they have before done, and that events more pernicious may ensue than what we have lately experienced, and which it concerns every one, through the grace of god, to prevent with all diligence. 'this peace is considered as so advantageous to all parties that the king of sicily, the dukes of orleans, of bourbon, and the counts of alençon and of eu, have since sent their ambassadors to paris, who daily attend to the due execution of all the articles of it, having fully approved of it and of every thing that has been done by us; and the rupture of this peace at this moment would cause the destruction of us, our kingdom, and of all our faithful and good subjects. 'for this cause, we expressly enjoin and command you not to give credence to any thing you may hear to the contrary,--for what we have assured you above is the real truth,--by any of these evil-minded persons who are inimical to the peace, nor to show them any manner of favour,--but, on the contrary, to throw them into prison, and send them to us, that we may inflict such punishment on them as the heinousness of the case may require. 'and you, bailiff, will cause the above to be proclaimed in all the considerable towns and villages within your jurisdiction; and you will also require from the clergy of the different churches, collegiate and others, within your bailiwick, that they do make processions, and offer up devout prayers to heaven, for the effecting of the above peace, and that our lord, through his grace, would incline to make it perpetual. you will also personally be careful that there be no failing on your part in the due execution of this our will and pleasure. 'given at paris the th day of august, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' signed by the king and his council, present the dukes of acquitaine, of berry, and of burgundy, the marshal longny. 'ferron.' another edict was published by the king against men at arms and other warriors, and to secure the people against their inroads, which was sent to all the bailiwicks and seneschalships in the kingdom, of the following tenour. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'it has come to our knowledge, that within a short time many men at arms, archers and cross-bowmen, and other warriors, without any licence from us given, either by written orders or otherwise, have unlawfully assembled, and continue so to do, in very many places and towns of our kingdom, with the intent of marching toward our good city of paris, and pillaging and murdering our poor subjects, and committing other ruinous acts and excesses, by which our faithful subjects are sorely oppressed, in addition to what they had before suffered, as well from the effects of the late war as from the epidemic disorder and mortality which ensued in consequence, causing the country to be deserted, whence great and irreparable evils may fall on us and our kingdom, if not speedily prevented. 'we therefore, desirous of guarding and preserving, to the utmost of our power, our people from such like plunderings and ill treatment, as we are bounden so to do,--and beside seeing a probability that the discords which have taken place between several of our blood and kindred are likely to be put an end to,--shall use (with god's good pleasure) every means in our power to have it accomplished. 'we therefore command and strictly enjoin you, that on the receipt of this letter, you lay aside all other business whatever, and instantly cause our commands to be publicly proclaimed with a loud voice, and with sound of trumpet, in such places where proclamations have been usually made. you will also make this our pleasure known to all our captains, governors, and men at arms within any fort, castle, or forming any garrisons within your said bailiwick; and you will strictly enjoin, that no person shall dare to assemble in arms without our especial licence first had and obtained, under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of goods. and should any such assemblies have taken place within your bailiwick, they must, on hearing the proclamation of this our pleasure, instantly disperse, and return to their homes. 'should any bodies of men at arms have taken possession of a town or fortress within your district, you will command them, in our name, instantly to surrender it to you, and depart thence; and you will renew the garrison with such persons as you shall judge expedient, and take the command of such town or fort yourself, until you shall receive further orders. should they refuse to surrender themselves to you, you will make them your prisoners, and execute such justice upon them as their case may require; and should it seem necessary, you will employ force against them to reduce them to obedience, and summon to your aid all the nobles resident within your bailiwick, taking care to have a superior force to those you are about to attack, and keeping it up so long as you shall judge it right for the maintaining tranquillity in the country. and we order all our nobles, on the fealty they owe to us, to obey your orders whenever the case shall require it. 'should it happen, that during any engagements that may take place between you and our rebellious subjects, any of them be killed or wounded, we will not that such murders be prejudicial to any one employed under your orders, but that they be acquitted and freed from all pursuits for the same hereafter, as we grant them our full pardon. we will likewise, that all arms, horses, or baggage that may be taken from any of our rebellious subjects, shall be converted toward paying the expenses of those who shall have taken and imprisoned such disobedient rebels. 'we therefore give full licence and authority to all our subjects, should they be constrained to employ force against these rebels, to seize and hold possession of any parts of their territories without ever being called to account hereafter for so doing. and we especially command all our civil officers and subjects to afford you every aid in their power, and to obey your commands. 'we also direct, that our well-beloved members of the courts of justice, all masters of requests, as well of our hôtel as of the parliament, all bailiffs and sergeants, and every other dependant on the courts of law, do suspend all processes that may have been proceeding against any of the nobles employed in executing our orders, from the day they shall have set out until fifteen days after their return, without their suffering any thing prejudicial to themselves or their possessions, or to those who may have been securities for them. should any such acts have taken place, you will order every thing to be replaced on the same ground as before the nobles had set out on the expedition; for such is our pleasure, according to the tenour of this present letter,--a copy of which, under our royal seal, we shall send you, because the original cannot be exhibited in all places where there may be occasion for it; and to this copy you will give equal credence as to the original letter. 'given at paris, the th day of august, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' it was signed by the king in council,--present the dukes of acquitaine, berry, burgundy, bar, the duke louis of bavaria, and others. countersigned, 'ferron.' these two edicts were carried to amiens, and proclaimed the th day of the same month. chap. xxiii. the duke of acquitaine orders the prisoners to be liberated.--the duke of burgundy leaves paris.--several princes arrive there.--their actions. on the th day of september, the duke of acquitaine, in consequence of the king's commands, caused all the prisoners confined within the palace to be set at liberty; and, shortly after, the whole of the furniture of john de troyes, then keeper of the palace, and who had gone abroad for some private affairs, was carried out of the same, in pursuance of the orders of the duke of acquitaine, by those parisians who had usually accompanied him. his office of keeper of the palace was taken away, and restored to him who had before holden it. in like manner were several offices in paris restored to their former holders, namely, to anthony des essars, to the two dukes of bar and of bavaria; the former being reinstated in his government of the louvre, and the other in that of the bastille. when the prisoners had been set at liberty, the duke of acquitaine ordered all the bells of the churches to ring together, and two days and nights were passed in the utmost joy and revelling throughout the town, for the re-establishment of peace, which was a delightful sight. the lord de viefville and sir charles de lens, brother to the châtelain de lens, were arrested in the hôtel of the duke of burgundy; but sir robinet de mailly, for fear of being taken, fled,--and the lord de viefville, at the entreaty of the duke of burgundy and his daughter, the duchess of acquitaine, obtained his liberty. sir charles was confined in the prisons of the châtelet,--and the other, who had fled, was banished the realm. the lord de jacqueville, during his absence, was deprived of his government of paris; and, hearing of this while he was at montereau-faut-yonne with some of his principal supporters among the butchers, they all fled to burgundy: at the same time, jean caboche, master jean de troyes and his children, with many others of the parisians, hastened into flanders. master eustace de lactre, the new chancellor of france, fled like the rest from paris,--and in his place was appointed master arnold de corbie, who had before been chancellor of france, but, at his own request, on account of his age, had been deprived of it, when the first president of the parliament of paris was nominated in his stead. master john jouemel, king's advocate, was made chancellor of acquitaine. very many knights, particularly those who had been appointed commissioners to try the late prisoners, quitted paris; and the duke of burgundy, observing the conduct of his son-in-law the duke of acquitaine, began to be apprehensive that he was not well pleased with his former conduct, and that he would remember the outrages which had been committed personally against him, as well in his hôtel as elsewhere, as has been before related, and would have him arrested. he daily saw the most faithful of his adherents quit paris privately, and without taking leave of him: some of them were even made prisoners,--and he was told that there had been guards placed round his hôtel of artois, and that great numbers of those who had been enemies to the duke of acquitaine were now reconciled to him. to prevent any dangerous consequences, and to avoid the perils that might ensue, he prevailed on the king to hunt in the forest of ville-neuve. the lord de st george accompanied him,--and when he found the opportunity favourable, he took leave of the king, saying, that he had received such intelligence from flanders as would force him to return thither instantly, on account of the important business which he would have to transact. on saying this, he set off, and passed the wood of bondis in much fear: he continued his road without stopping, and attended by a small company, to st maixence, where he lay that night. on the morrow, very early, the lord de ront came thither to meet him, with two hundred men at arms, and thence escorted him in a few days to lille in flanders. when his departure was known, the parisians and others attached to the orleans party began loudly to murmur against him, saying that he had fled for fear of being arrested. those of his party who had remained in paris were in great alarm; for daily some of them were imprisoned, and summary justice done upon them. even the two nephews of jean caboche were executed, after having been for some time dragged through the streets; and the host of the hôtel of the 'huis de fer,' named jean de troyes, cousin-german to master jean de troyes, the surgeon, of whom mention has been made, suffered in like manner. in respect to the queen, the dukes of acquitaine, berry, bar and bavaria, they were perfectly pleased and happy that the duke of burgundy had quitted paris, as were many of the great lords: in short, the whole town was now turned against him both in words and deeds. it was not long before the dukes of orleans and of bourbon, the counts d'alençon, de vertus, d'eu, de vaudemont and de dammartin, the archbishop of sens, friar jacques le grand, and the borgne foucault, came in handsome array to paris; and the dukes of berry, bar and bavaria, the bishop of paris, with many nobles and citizens, went out on horseback to meet them, and escorted them, with every sign of joy, to the palace, where the king, the queen, and the duke of acquitaine were waiting to receive them. their reception by the royal family was very gracious, and they all supped at the palace, after which they retired to their different hôtels in the town. on the morrow, the lord charles d'albreth came to paris, when the office of constable was instantly restored to him. on the th day of september following, the king, at the instance of the aforesaid lords, held a grand council in the usual chamber of parliament, and issued the following edict, which was proclaimed throughout his realm. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting. 'whereas, during the discords and dissensions that took place between several of our blood and kindred, many damnable falsehoods have been reported to us; under pretext of which our council have been very much constrained, and our city of paris did not enjoy its usual freedom, and ourself was not advised so loyally as we ought to have been for the honour and general welfare of the public, as it has since appeared, for several acts have been done that were partial and irregular. others of our subjects were under the greatest alarm (and this happened to some of tried courage), for they saw that those were in danger of losing every thing dear to them who should utter the truth. in fact, several of our prelates, nobles, and members of our council were wrongfully arrested, robbed of their wealth, and forced to pay ransoms for their liberty, which caused many of our well wishers to absent themselves from our council, and even to fly from paris. 'many letters patent were unjustly and damnably obtained in our name, sealed with our seal, and sent to our sovereign father, the head of christian princes, at the holy college of rome, and to other monarchs, declaring that these letters were sent with our full knowledge and approbation. 'we have lately been well informed from papers that have been discovered, and laid before us in council, of a fact of which indeed we had our suspicions, that envy and malice were the grounds on which our uncle john de berry, our nephews charles of orleans and his brothers, john de bourbon, john d'alençon, charles d'albreth, our cousins, and bernard d'armagnac, with their accomplices and supporters, were charged with the wicked and treasonable design of depriving us and all our descendants of our royal authority, and expelling us our kingdom, which god forbid! and also with the design of making a new king of france, which is an abominable thing to hear of, and must be painful even in the recital to the hearts of all our loyal subjects. in regard, therefore, to such charges, those who have made them are guilty of iniquitously imposing upon us, and are culpable of enormous crimes as well treasonable as otherwise. 'very many defamatory libels have been written and affixed to the doors of churches, as well as distributed to several persons, and published in different places, to the great dishonour and contempt of some of the highest of our blood, such as our very dear and well-beloved son, our well-beloved nephews and cousins, the dukes of orleans and of bourbon, the counts de vertus, d'alençon, d'armagnac, and d'albreth, constable of france, and against other nobles and barons, our wellwishers, consequently against ourself and our government. 'we, therefore, for these causes, do by these letters patent give permission to our said uncle, nephews, cousins, and to their adherents, to seize on and destroy the lands and property of all who may have been guilty of the aforesaid acts, declaring them to have forfeited to us both their bodies and estates. 'we the more readily consent to their being thus sorely oppressed, because they, under pretence of an ancient bull which had been issued against the free companies forty years ago, without any permission and authority, did raise and assemble companies of men at arms against us and against our realm. this bull could not any way refer, as the simple inspection of it would show, to our said son, uncle, nephew, or cousins, but was applied to them, through wicked counsel, without any authority from our said sovereign father the pope, without any deliberations holden on the subject,--nor was any suit instituted, as was usual in such cases; but without any forms of proceeding that should have been observed, or any preceding admonitions, they were illegally, through force and partiality, condemned as excommunicated, with all their adherents and friends,--which sentence was, in defiance of truth, publicly proclaimed throughout our kingdom. 'they were likewise declared traitors and wicked persons, banished our kingdom, and deprived of all their possessions and offices. on this occasion, many injurious reports were industriously spread abroad against them, and they were themselves treated with the utmost inhumanity. several of them were put to death without any attention being paid to their souls, like to outlaws and beasts, without administration of the sacraments of the holy church, and then thrown into ditches, or exposed in the fields, like dogs, to be devoured by the birds. 'such acts are damnably wicked and cruel, more especially among christians and true catholics, and have been done at the instigation of seditious persons, disturbers of the peace, and illwishers to our said uncle, nephews and cousins, by means of their abominable fictions in order to gain their false and wicked purposes, as we have since been more fully and truly informed. 'we therefore, desirous, as is reasonable, that such false accusations as have been brought against those of our blood and their adherents, should not remain in the state they are now in, to their great disgrace, and earnestly wishing that the real truth should be published, and reparation made for these illegal proceedings, make known that we are fully persuaded, from the information we have received, that our said uncle, son, nephews, cousins, prelates, barons, nobles, and others their partisans, have ever had loyal intentions toward our person, and have been good relatives and obedient subjects, such as they ought to be in regard to us, and that all which has been done has been treacherously, and wickedly, and surreptitiously contrived against truth and reason, at the instances and importunities of these aforesaid seditious disturbers of the peace, by whom all letters and edicts, that any way tend to tarnish their honour, have been procured under false pretences. 'we declare, by these presents, that such edicts and letters patent have been wrongfully and surreptitiously issued, and are of no weight, having been procured by those rebellious disturbers of the peace, authors of the evils that have afflicted our city of paris, and whom we also declare guilty of high treason. 'being desirous that the truth of these crimes should be made public, and that all may be acquainted with the real facts, to prevent any evil consequences that might ensue to us and to our realm, were they to remain in ignorance, as may happen to any prince who has subjects to govern, we therefore make known, and assert it for truth, that we being at our usual residence in paris, in company with our very dear and well-beloved consort the queen, our very dear and well beloved son the duke of acquitaine, our uncle the duke of berry, with several others of our kindred, and such of our servants and councillors as were accustomed to attend on us,--it happened that on the th day of april last past, sir elion de jacqueville, robinet de mailly, charles de recourt, called de lens, knights, william bareau, at that time a secretary, a surgeon, named jean de troyes, and his children, thomas le goys, and his children, garnot de saint yon, butcher, symon de coutelier, skinner of calf skins, bau de bordes, andrieu roussel, denisot de chaumont, master eustace de lactre, master pierre canthon, master diusque françois, master nicolle de saint hilaire, master jean bon, master nicolle de quesnoy, jean guerin, jean pimorin, jacques laban, guillaume gente, jean parent, jacques de saint laurent, jacques de rouen, martin de neauville, martin de coulonniers, master toussaints bangart, master jean rapiot, master hugues de verdun, master laurens calot, jean de rouen, son to a tripe woman of puys nôtre dame, jean maillart, an old clothes-seller, with many others, their accomplices, of divers ranks and conditions, (who had, before this time, held frequent assemblies, and secret conspiracies in many places, both in the day and night-time) appeared in a very large body armed, with displayed standard, by way of hostility, before our said residence of saint pol, without our having any knowledge of such their disorderly intent. 'they proceeded thence to the hôtel of our son the duke of acquitaine, which they would forcibly enter, and broke open the gates of it contrary to the will of our said son, his attendants and servants. having done this, they entered his apartment in opposition to his expostulations and prohibitions; and when there, they seized by force and violence our cousin-german the duke of bar, the chancellor of our said son, with many other nobles our chamberlains and counsellors to our son, and carried them away whithersoever they pleased: some of them they confined in close imprisonment, where they detained them so long as they were able. these excesses raised the anger of our son in so violent a degree that he was in danger of suffering a serious disorder from it. 'the said seditious rebels, persisting in their wicked courses, came to us in our hôtel of st pol, when they proposed, or caused to be proposed, whatever seemed good to them, positively declaring, however, that they would have certain persons, whose names were written down in a small roll, which they had with them, which persons were then in our company.--among the number were louis duke of bavaria, brother to our consort the queen, and many other nobles, our knights, counsellors, the master of our household, with numbers of our servants of different ranks and conditions. these they arrested by force against our will, and carried them to prison, or wherever else they pleased, as they had done to the others. 'after this, they entered the apartments of the queen our consort, and in her presence, and contrary to her will, they seized many ladies and damsels, several of whom were of our kindred, and carried them away to prison, as they had done to the others. this disloyal and indecent conduct so greatly alarmed our dear consort the queen, that she was in great danger of losing her life from the illness that ensued. 'after the imprisonment of these several persons of both sexes, the insurgents proceeded against them, contrary to all law and justice, by very severe tortures, and even put to death many of the nobility in the prisons, afterward publishing that they had killed themselves. their bodies they hung on gibbets, or flung them into the seine. some they beheaded privately while in prison. with regard to the ladies whom they had arrested, they treated them most inhumanly; and although they were urgently pressed to allow the laws to take their course, in regard to these prisoners, and that the court of parliament, as was reasonable, should take cognizance of them, they positively refused every request of the sort, and had letters drawn up as seemed good to them, and to which they had the great seal of our chancery set by force, and, besides, constrained our son to sign all their acts with our seals manual, as approving of their deeds. 'that they might have the chancellor the more under their command, to seal whatever edicts they should please to have proclaimed, they dismissed from that office our well-beloved arnold de corbie, who had so long and so faithfully served us, and put in his place master eustace de lactre, by whom letters were sealed and issued contrary to all truth, but conformable to the acts of these wicked men. we were deceived by them, from want of able counsellors, and from freedom of speech not being permitted, as has before been noticed. 'all these letters, therefore, and edicts mandatory that have been published to the dishonour of our said uncle, nephews, cousins, and their friends and adherents, we holding a bed of justice in our court of parliament, in the presence of many of our blood-royal, prelates, churchmen, as well members of the university of paris, our daughter, as from elsewhere, several great barons, and other able persons of our council, and many principal citizens of paris, do now annul, condemn and for ever annihilate. and we forbid all our subjects, under pain of incurring our highest indignation, to act, by word or deed, any way hereafter contrary to the strict tenour of this our will and pleasure. should any of these disgraceful acts be produced in courts of justice, we forbid any faith to be placed in them, and order them to be torn and destroyed wherever they may be found. 'in consequence whereof, we command our beloved and faithful counsellors of our parliament, our provost of paris, and all others our bailiffs, seneschals, provosts and officers of justice, or their lieutenants, each and all of them to cause this our present edict to be publicly proclaimed by sound of trumpet in the usual places where proclamations are made, that none may plead ignorance of this our will. and we also command, that it be publicly read by all prelates and clergymen, or such as have usually preached to the people, that in time to come they may not again be seduced by similar evil machinations. 'we also order, that as full obedience be paid to all copies of these presents, sealed with our seal, as to the original. in testimony of which, we have set our seal to these presents. given in our great chamber of the parliament of paris, at a bed of justice holden the th day of september, in the year . 'by the king, holding his bed of justice in his court of parliament.' countersigned, 'baye.'--this ordinance was, consequently, proclaimed in amiens[ ] on the th day of december following. chap. xxiv. the duke of brittany comes to paris.--the duke of burgundy holds a council at lille.--the actions of the count de st pol,--and other matters that happened at this time. at this period, john duke of brittany, son in law to the king, came to paris, with his brother the count de richemont. the duke d'evreux[ ] and the earl of rutland arrived there also from england, to treat of the marriage of their king with catherine daughter to the king of france, and to prevent the alliance which the duke of burgundy was desirous of forming between the king of england and his daughter[ ]. these ambassadors, having explained to the king of france and his ministers the cause of their coming, returned to england. the duke of burgundy, during this time, was holding a grand council at lille, which was attended by deputies from ghent, bruges, ypres, the quatre mestiers, and by many nobles: among the latter was count waleran de st pol, constable of france, who had just concluded the negotiation with the english at boulogne and leulinghen. the envoys from england were the earl of warwick and the bishop of st davids, and others, who were commissioned to treat of a truce between the two kings, which was agreed on to last until the feast of st john the baptist next ensuing. the count de st pol, when on this business, received letters from the king of france, ordering him to come to paris and surrender the constable's sword. finding that it was intended to deprive him of this office, he came to ask advice of the duke of burgundy, who counselled him not to obey these orders; and in consequence, he went to his castle of st pol en ternois, where his lady resided, and thence to amiens, and there tarried four days. from amiens, he sent to paris, as ambassadors to the king of france, his nephew the count de conversen and the vidame of amiens, attended by master robert le jeusne, advocate at amiens, to harangue the king on the subject of their embassy. on their arrival, the advocate opened his harangue in full council before the king, the chancellor and the other members of it, saying, that the constable, the count de st pol, his lord and master, had never been of any party which had disturbed the realm; that he had never raised any troops, nor had attacked any of the king's castles, as several others had done. when he had finished his speech, he was required to produce those who would vouch for what he had said, as had been done in similar cases; but the ambassadors would not support him, and he was instantly arrested and confined in the prisons of the châtelet, where he remained for two days; and it was with great difficulty that the duke of bar, brother in law to the count de st pol, by his entreaties, obtained his liberty. on saturday, the day after the feast of st mor[ ], the count de st pol left amiens, and returned dispirited and melancholy to his own county. other royal edicts were now published at paris and sent to all parts of the kingdom for proclamation, complaining of the great disorders that had been committed in the capital by the parisians, to the great displeasure of the queen and the duke of acquitaine.--i shall not particularise these edicts, for the atrocious acts of the parisians have been already sufficiently declared. soon after these proclamations, the duke of orleans, conformably to the articles of the peace, demanded of the king restitution of his castles of pierrefons and coucy, which the count de st pol had refused to surrender to him. his request was granted, and orders were sent to sir gasselins du bos, bailiff of sens, to go thither and receive the homage due to the king,--and thus they were restored to the duke of orleans. on the following saturday, the count d'armagnac, and clugnet de brabant, knight, came to paris with a numerous company of men at arms, and were received by the king, lords and barons, with great joy. all, or the greater part of those who had followed the faction of the duke of orleans, now came to paris,--and the affairs of the nation were governed according to their good pleasure, for the king and the duke of acquitaine were at this time under their management. with regard to the burgundy-faction, they were kept at a distance, and could scarcely ever obtain an audience, how high soever their rank might be, insomuch that such as had remained in the town were forced to hold down their heads, and to hear many things that were neither pleasant nor agreeable to them. footnotes: [footnote : the name of the city of amiens is inserted in this and in most of the former state-papers merely by way of example. it was probably the nearest bailiwick to monstrelet's place of residence, and the edicts, &c. which he inspected were those directed to this particular bailiff.] [footnote : there was clearly no such person as the duke d'evreux; but the earl of rutland himself was also duke of aumerle; and, both being norman titles, monstrelet might have confounded them. but i can find no mention of an embassy in which the earl of rutland was concerned.] [footnote : monstrelet must have mistaken the names of these ambassadors; for in the foedera mention is made of a promise from the king of england, by his commissioners, the bishop of durham, the earl of warwick and doctor ware[ ], 'de non contrahendo, citra certum diem, cum aliqua alia muliere, nisi cum katerina franciæ, matrimonio.'--dated westminster, th january .] [footnote : this, however, seems to refer to the second embassy mentioned after.] [footnote : st mor. q. st maur?] chap. xxv. the duke of burgundy holds many councils to consider of his situation, fearing that his enemies would turn the king against him, which they afterwards did[ ]. the duke of burgundy, while these things were passing, resided in the town of lille, where he had assembled many great lords to consult and have their advice respecting the situation he was then in. he received almost daily intelligence from paris, and learnt how his enemies governed the king and the duke of acquitaine, and were labouring to keep those of his party at a distance from the royal presence, in order to prevent their receiving any marks of favour or benevolence. the duke formed various opinions on this intelligence, and suspected, what indeed afterward happened, that his adversaries would succeed in setting the king and the duke of acquitaine at variance with him, and in the end making war upon him. he was, however, prepared to meet whatever events might befal him. at this period, the earl of warwick, the bishop of st davids, and others, waited upon him, to treat of a marriage between the king of england and a daughter of the duke, notwithstanding the embassy that had been sent to the king of france on a similar subject. these ambassadors and the duke of burgundy could not agree on the terms of alliance, and they consequently returned to england. on the th day of october, the lords d'offemont and de moy came to st pol en ternois, by orders from the king of france, to demand from the count de st pol, that he would surrender to them, or send to the king, his constable's sword. the count replied, that he would never willingly, nor without the advice of his friends, comply with such a request, but that he would refer the matter to the counsel of his friends, and would shortly send such an answer that the king should be satisfied therewith. these lords, having heard this, returned to paris, after having been honourably entertained by the constable, and related to the king and council what they had done, which was not any way agreeable to those who had sent them. this same day, another royal edict was published against all who should not strictly keep the peace, forbidding every one to spread abroad any evil reports that would tend to create discord and commotion, and to call any one by such sirnames as should engender strife, and renew the mischiefs that had so lately desolated the kingdom. it was proclaimed throughout france, and was of the following tenour. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'it has come to our knowledge, that whereas by great and mature deliberation of council, and by the aid and diligence of many of our blood and other discreet men of our realm, we have, by the grace of god, established a peace between several of our kindred, among whom disputes and discords had arisen and continued for a considerable time. we have first shown all the points of the treaties that had been proposed, after mature council, as well to those of our blood and great council as to the prelates, barons, and knights of our different courts of parliament, and to other officers of justice in the court of the conciergerie, and also to our well-beloved daughter the university of paris, the clergy and citizens of our capital, who have been all delighted therewith, and have unanimously supplicated us to complete the peace, which, through the mercy of god, we have done. 'for the greater security of its observance, our very dear and well beloved eldest son, nephews, uncle and cousins,--that is to say, louis duke of acquitaine, dauphin of vienne, the dukes of berry, burgundy, orleans, brittany, bourbon, and of bar,--the counts d'alençon, vertus, richemont, d'eu, vendosme, and many others of our blood,--have promised and sworn in our presence, on the word of a son to a king and a prince, on part of a piece of the true cross, and upon the holy evangelists of god touched corporally by them, never more in any respect to misbehave toward us, but to pay a due regard to their own honour and rank, and henceforward to act toward each other like to kind relations and friends. 'this they declare they have done without any fraud, deception, or mental reservation, and promise most faithfully to observe this union, and to deposit in our hands their several letters patent. 'in like manner have the different ranks of our faithful subjects promised and sworn to the due observance of that affection, loyalty, and service they owe to us, and that they will most strictly keep this aforesaid peace concluded between the princes of our blood,--and that they will, to the utmost of their power, prevent it from being in any way infringed, as is more fully explained in others of our letters patent. 'nevertheless, there are, as we learn, several within your bailiwick full of evil intentions, who, believing that no proceedings will take place against them for any commotions they may excite, and that they may remain unpunished in body or goods, do daily spread abroad reports injurious to the said peace, and by wicked murmurings endeavour to raise discontents against it, and also to make use of such odious sirnames as have been by this peace strictly forbidden, and by other acts and speeches urge on the people to dissensions that may produce fresh warfare; which things are highly, and not without cause, displeasing to us. 'we will, that the aforesaid peace be most strictly kept, and such is our firm intention, that all means of future dissensions may be put an end to, and that every kind of warfare cease in our kingdom, so that each person may henceforward live in peace and tranquillity. we therefore command, that you do instantly cause these presents to be most solemnly proclaimed by sound of trumpet in every part within your bailiwick wherever any proclamations have been or are usually made. 'our will and purpose is, to preserve this peace most strictly inviolate, and to observe it in the manner that has been so solemnly sworn to in our presence, without suffering it to be infringed by any person whatever. and we expressly command that you do most attentively regard its preservation, and that you do make very exact inquiries after all who may in any manner attempt its infringement. we rigorously forbid any factious sirnames to be used, and all other words and expressions that have a tendency to revive past dissensions, under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of goods. and any such whom you shall find disobeying these our commands you will punish in such wise that he or they be examples to deter others from committing the like,--and see that there be no failure in this through any fault or neglect of your own. 'for the due fulfilment of these our commands, we give full powers, as well to yourself as to your deputies and under officers, notwithstanding any letters, edicts, prohibitions, oppositions, or appeals to the contrary. given at paris, the th day of october, .'----signed by the king in his great council, in the presence of the king of sicily, the dukes of berry, orleans, bourbon, the counts de la marche, d'alençon, d'eu, vendosme, armagnac, the constable, the count de tancarville, the grand master of the household, the master of the cross-bows, the admiral, the chancellors of acquitaine and of orleans, the lords d'oyrront[ ], de torcy, de ray de boyssay, de bauquille, l'hermite de la fayette, and many more.--countersigned, 'p. naucron.' this edict was afterwards proclaimed at amiens, and in that bailiwick, on the d day of november in the same year. footnotes: [footnote : at the head of this chapter, in the edition of monstrelet in lincoln's-inn library, (which is the black letter of anthoine verard,--i can find no date), is a curious wooden print, representing, perhaps, the duke of burgundy and his lords in council; but i do not understand what the figures of dead bodies in the back ground are meant for. i should suspect that the print is misplaced, and is meant to describe the bloody entry of the duke into paris some time after.] chap. xxvi. duke louis of bavaria marries at paris.--of those who had been banished on account of the discords between the dukes of orleans and burgundy,--and of many other incidental matters. in these days, duke louis of bavaria, brother to the queen of france, espoused, at the hôtel of st pol, the widow of the lord peter de navarre, formerly count de mortain. at this wedding, the king and many others of the princes tilted, for there were very grand feasts on the occasion. on the morrow, sir robinet de mailly, sir elyon de jacqueville, les goys, namely, father and son, master john de troyes, denisot de chaumont, caboche, and others who have been before mentioned as having suits brought against them in parliament, were for ever banished from paris. the duke of burgundy very soon received information of this, as he was at st omer, where he had assembled the nobility of artois, to deliberate on the subject of taxes, and they had granted him one equal to what the king annually levied. he was not well pleased with this intelligence, for the greater part of those who had been banished were then with him; and they daily urged him to march a powerful army to paris, assuring him, that if he would appear before it, the parisians would instantly declare for him, and drive his enemies out of the town. the duke, however, being otherwise advised, would not comply with their request. about this time there was a violent quarrel between the dukes of orleans and brittany, on the subject of precedency, insomuch that it came to the ears of the king, who decided for the duke of orleans. on this, the duke of brittany left paris in ill humour; but before he departed, he had some high words with his brother-in-law the count d'alençon, in consequence of his telling him that he had in his heart a lion as big as a child of one year old, which greatly angered the duke, and caused a hatred between them. at this period, the borgne de la heuse was, by the king's order, dismissed from the provostship of paris, and master andrieu marchant, advocate in the parliament, appointed in his stead. sir guichart daulphin, grand master of the king's household, the lord de rambures, master of the cross-bows of france, and sir anthony de craon, were also dismissed, by order of the duke of acquitaine, and commanded not to return to paris until the king should send for them. in like manner were three hundred persons, as well men as women, driven out of paris because they were attached to the party of the duke of burgundy. the count de vendosme was made grand master of the cross-bows, and several were restored to their former offices. about this time, sixteen hundred horse, whom the duke had sent for from burgundy, marched through champagne, the cambresis, and thence into artois. the duke was at lille, and with him the count de st pol, who had come thither to consult him whether or not he should surrender the constable's sword. the duke advised him to retain it, and said that he would support him to the utmost of his power. in consequence, the count sent the vidame of amiens again to paris, to inform the king and his council of his intention to keep the constable's sword. another edict, to forbid any persons whatever from bearing arms, was now published, the tenour of which was as follows. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'since, through the divine grace, we have succeeded in establishing a peace between some of our kindred, among whom discords and dissensions had taken place,--on which we ordered, that all foreign men at arms and archers should instantly quit our kingdom, and no longer live upon and harrass our subjects, as they had been accustomed to do, and which was highly displeasing to us,-- 'know ye, that we will that this our order be most strictly obeyed, and that nothing be done to the contrary, to the oppression of our said subjects, or to their hindrance in living under us in peace and tranquillity. for this, and other sufficient reasons which move us, we expressly command you to cause this our pleasure to be publicly proclaimed by sound of trumpet, in all places within your bailiwick where proclamations have been usually made, that no knight or noble esquire, of whatever rank he may be, shall put on arms or attend to the commands of any superior lord whatever to begin and carry on a warfare in any part of our realm, under pain of forfeiture of his goods and estate, unless he shall have our especial commands for so doing. 'all such as you shall find acting contrary to this our order you will punish, so that they may be examples for others; and you will seize on all their goods and chattels for our use, because they have been guilty of disobedience and disloyalty towards us their sovereign lord, without having received our commands. be careful that this order be obeyed, and not neglected through any fault of yours. 'given at the bois de vincennes, the d day of october, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' it was signed by the king in his great council,--present the lord de preaulx[ ], the count de tancarville, the lords de montenay and de cambrillac, pierre de l'esclut, and several others. this edict was proclaimed in amiens the th day of november following. on the monday preceding the feast of all-saints, the duke of burgundy gave a grand entertainment at lille. the monday and tuesday, the knights and esquires tilted, namely, the duke himself, his son the count de charolois, the duke of brabant and the count de nevers, his brothers. soon after this feast was over, and the company departed, the lord de dampierre, admiral of france, the bishop of evreux, and others, came to lille as ambassadors from the king of france, and commanded the duke, in the king's name, by virtue of their royal orders, not to enter into any treaty or agreement with the king of england, for the marriage of his daughter or otherwise, under pain of having his estates confiscated. they summoned him to surrender to the king three castles which were garrisoned by his men, namely, cherbourg, caen, and crotoy,--and ordered him, on his allegiance, to maintain the peace he had so solemnly sworn to observe with the duke of orleans, his brothers, their friends and adherents. the duke, on hearing these commands, made no reply whatever to the ambassadors, but called for his boots, and rode off instantly for oudenarde. the ambassadors returned to rolaincourt le châtel, which belonged to the admiral, on the eve of saint martin, and thence came to paris. footnotes: [footnote : d'oyrront. q. d'orgemont?] [footnote : james de bourbon, grand butler of france, son to james i. count de la marche, and uncle to the present counts de la marche and vendôme, and lord of carency.] chap. xxvii. the king of france, fearing the peace would be broken, publishes other edicts for its preservation throughout the realm, and also respecting the coin. the king of france, suspecting that the peace lately concluded at pontoise would be broken, by several who were endeavouring to excite fresh disturbances by their seditious speeches, published the following edict. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to all those to whom these presents may come, greeting. 'since it is a duty appertaining to our royal majesty, as well as to all princes who have subjects to govern, and consonant to the establishment and ordinance of god, appointed by the divine, canon, and civil law, that a good and strict police should be observed and supported for the well governing and keeping in peace our people, and to avoid all wars and intestine divisions, which we have always had most earnestly at heart, and are determined to prevent as much as shall lie within our power.--it has, however, happened, that quarrels and dissensions have arisen between some of the princes of our blood, whence have sprung intestine warfares, to the great detriment of our subjects residing within towns, as well as of those employed in rural affairs. 'we have, through the wholesome advice of many discreet and wise persons of our blood and council, as well as of our daughter the university of paris, and several of its citizens, concluded a peace between the contending parties, which each has most solemnly sworn, on the holy relic of the true cross, most faithfully to preserve, and not invalidate in the smallest trifle. on this occasion, we have overlooked and pardoned the crimes that have been committed during these divisions in our good city of paris. 'we have also given our letters of pardon, tied with silken cords and sealed with green wax; and this peace, so sworn, we have had proclaimed throughout our kingdom, and wherever else we have thought it necessary, so that no one may plead ignorance of it, and carry on a warfare from partiality or attachment to either of the late contending parties, or by murmurs or seditious words endeavour to infringe this peace, and renew the dissensions that have so much distressed our realm, by any means, or in any measure whatever. 'it has, notwithstanding, come to our knowledge, that many evil-disposed persons, as well within our town of paris as elsewhere, and of various ranks and conditions, do privately murmur, and use many seditious expressions in their secret meetings, in order to overturn this peace, and attempt to excite the commonalty of paris to second their damnable ends and intentions,--to stir up a mortal war to our evident disadvantage, to the peril of our realm and government,--to put an end to all legal justice, and to the destruction of all good and loyal subjects who are desirous of peace. this conduct imperiously demands an efficient and speedy remedy, to prevent the dangers that might otherwise ensue. 'know ye, that we have held divers councils on the above with the princes of our blood, and with our wisest and most prudent counsellors, to provide and to determine on the most effectual means to check such treasonable practices. we therefore order and enjoin, by these presents, that whoever may have knowledge of any person or persons, who, since the signature of the peace at pontoise, have murmured, or do murmur, or spread abroad any factious words or expressions, to excite the populace against the said peace, or shall have knowledge of any conspiracy or damnable secret meetings, and will denounce them to any of our officers of justice, so that legal cognizance may be taken of the same, shall, on the conviction of such persons, receive one third part of the goods and estates that may, in consequence of the sentence or sentences passed on them, be adjudged to ourself. and we further will, that this our edict be published throughout the realm, that all diligence may be used to discover such traitors as are seditiously active in disturbing the peace, so that punishment may be inflicted upon them according to the heinousness of their offences, as violators of the peace, and to serve for an example to others. we will that full credit be given to the copies of these presents, the same as if they were the original. 'we therefore give it in command to our bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, and to all others our officers and subjects within our realm, each as it may behove him, to see that the above ordinance be duly and diligently put into execution, and that it be no way neglected. in witness whereof, we have to these presents affixed our seal. 'given at paris the last day but one of october, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' signed by the king in his great council,--present the king of sicily, the dukes of berry, of orleans, the counts de vertus, d'eu, de richemont, de vendosme, the constable of france, the archbishop of sens, and several others. countersigned, 'gontier.' this edict was proclaimed in amiens the th day of december, in the same year. the king was at this period busied in making some regulations respecting the coin, and in consequence issued an edict, which he ordered to be promulgated throughout the kingdom: the tenour of it was as follows: 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'know ye, that in order to provide for the security of the public welfare of our kingdom, and to obviate the great varieties of coins that for some time have had currency in our realm, we do ordain, after mature deliberation with our council, that a coin be struck of the form of deniers, called gros, which shall be current for twenty deniers tournois, and of five sols to five deniers, the fourth part of a denier of the poids de marc of paris,--and coins of half a gros and half a quarter of a gros, twenty sols six deniers tournois being the value of each,--also small crowns, of the value of fifteen sols tournois each. those gros, half gros, quarter gros, which have been formerly coined, and blancs of ten deniers, and of five deniers, shall have currency with the new money. 'we therefore command and enjoin you to make this our will respecting the regulation of our coin as public as possible, so that no one may plead ignorance of it,--and you will cause this edict to be proclaimed in all the usual places of your bailiwick. you will observe its regulations without favour or affection to any one, and punish such as may act contrary thereto, that they may be examples to others. 'given at paris the th day of november in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' it was thus signed by the king on the report of the council held in the chamber of accounts,--present the archbishop of bourges, the bishop of noyon, the members of the chamber of accounts, the officers of the treasury, the master and monoyers of the mint, and countersigned, 'le begue.' it is true, that the king was fearful beyond measure of the peace being interrupted; and, anxiously desirous of preventing it from being infringed, he issued another edict much stronger than the preceding ones to all the bailiffs and seneschals in his kingdom. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'whereas during the time we were last at auxerre, through the divine providence, and great deliberation of council, we succeeded in the establishment of peace between some of the princes of our blood, and between our subjects, which was afterward confirmed in our good town of paris. our princes then faithfully promised to keep this peace without any way infringing it, or suffering it to be infringed by others. 'we, considering that peace is advantageous to us, our realm, and our subjects, and reflecting upon the manifold and numberless evils that would result should it be broken, are desirous to preserve it with our whole heart, and to prevent it from being in the smallest degree infringed. 'for these and other considerations that move us, we strictly charge you to have these presents publicly proclaimed with sound of trumpet in all the accustomed places within your bailiwick; and that you forbid all persons to obey any summons or proclamations that may have been issued by any of the princes of our blood, in their own or in our name, of whatever rank or condition he may be,--or whether any such shall be issued under pretext of serving us, or on any colour or pretence whatever. and you will strictly charge all vassals not to obey any such summons, or to bear arms accordingly, under pain of forfeiture of body and estate to us, and of suffering such punishment as may be adjudged for their disobedience to us and to our crown. should any vassals be already set out to join their respective lords, or about to do so, you will command them to return instantly to their homes, and not to depart thence until they shall receive our letters patent, under our great seal, to that purpose, signed in our great council subsequent to the date of these presents. 'you will also make proclamation, that for this occasion only we do exempt all our loyal subjects, vassals to any lord, from obeying his summons; and we will that for this their disobedience they do not suffer in body or estate, or be pursued in any courts of justice; but our intention is to guard and preserve them from all oppression by every legal means, or, should it be necessary, by force of arms. 'you will hasten to all places within your jurisdiction where you shall know there are any assemblies of men at arms, and forbid them to proceed any further, commanding them to return to their homes, under the penalties aforesaid. should they refuse to obey you, and become rebellious to your commands, you will force them to obedience by every means in your power; by placing within their mansions, and on their estates, men who shall destroy and waste them, by uncovering their houses, or by any the most rigorous means, even by force of arms, should there be occasion, calling to your aid our good and faithful subjects, so that you may have sufficient power to make yourself obeyed; and we command all our subjects to pay due respect to your orders, so that the end proposed may be obtained. should any who disobey you be killed or wounded in the conflict, we will that no legal steps be pursued against you or your supporters; and should any horses, baggage, or other effects, be taken from these rebellious subjects, we will that they remain in full possession to the captors, or to those who shall have assisted you. 'in regard to such as you shall have had due information of being disobedient to these our commands, you will arrest them any where but in places of sanctuary, and have them conveyed, under sufficient escorts, to our prisons of the châtelet in paris. should you not find them out of sanctuary, you will leave a process of citation at such of their houses as may be within your jurisdiction; otherwise you will summon them with a loud voice, and with sound of trumpet, at the places in which they usually assemble, to appear before us on a certain day at our court of parliament in paris. should it happen to be the vacation of parliament, when there are not any pleadings, they must appear at the next sittings, under pain of confiscation of their goods, their fiefs and tenements, for having committed treason against us, and of being proceeded against by our attorney-general in such wise as he in his judgment shall think fit. 'you will take possession of all the effects, moveable and immoveable, of such as you shall have served processes upon, making out a just inventory of the same, and placing them in such safe hands that, should it be judged expedient, they may be faithfully restored, notwithstanding any opposition or appeals to the contrary, until our faithful counsellors, holding our courts of parliament, shall have determined on what you have done, according to the report which you shall deliver to them under your seal. we shall order these our counsellors, after having heard the parties, not to delay doing strict justice on such as shall have been disobedient to our commands, and to use such diligence that you may not suffer; for should there be any neglect on your part in the execution of these our commands, we shall have you punished for the same, that you may serve for an example to others. 'we have noticed that you have not been active in carrying into effect different orders which we have sent to you on this subject since the peace concluded at auxerre, from which many inconveniences have arisen, which have given us, and not without cause, much displeasure against you. we therefore command you to report to us what you shall have done in the execution of these our orders, the days and places where you shall have proclaimed them, that we may have due information of the measures which you shall take; and you will likewise report to us whether any princes of our blood, or others, are assembling men at arms, and at what places. instantly on such intelligence coming to our knowledge, we will give you further orders, and full powers to carry them into effect; and we shall command all our officers of justice, in the most express manner, to obey and assist you therein to the utmost of their power. they will give you counsel, aid, and the use of their prisons, should need be, and should you call on them for assistance,--for such is our pleasure, and thus we order it, notwithstanding any letters and ordinances surreptitiously obtained to the contrary. 'given at paris, the th day of november, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' signed by the king in his great council,--present the king of sicily, the dukes of berry and orleans, the counts d'alençon, de vertus, the duke of bar, louis of bavaria, the counts d'eu, vendosme, and de richemont, the constable, the chancellor of acquitaine, and several more. this edict was proclaimed in amiens the th day of december, in the same year. here follows another edict of the king of france, to forbid knights or esquires to obey the summons of any lord, under certain penalties. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'it has come to our knowledge, that although the restoration of peace has put an end to all those assemblies of men at arms, and obviated the great inconveniences that usually ensued from them; and that although we have caused it to be proclaimed in our good town of paris, and elsewhere throughout the realm, that no persons whatever should in future hold such assemblies, but that all persons should retire to their own homes under pain of incurring our displeasure, and forfeiting life and estate, yet our subjects, whether in picardy or in other parts, instead of showing due obedience to this our command, have assembled in arms without our licence in the aforesaid country, and elsewhere in the kingdom, as we have had information, disturbing and infringing the peace, and thus acting expressly contrary to our positive commands, to the injury of our subjects and kingdom,--and greater would ensue, were we not provided with a suitable remedy. 'we therefore, after due deliberation of council, do most strictly order and enjoin you, by these presents, that you positively forbid, under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of goods, all nobles or others within your bailiwick, of whatever condition or rank they may be, to arm themselves or to attend any congregations of men at arms, under pretence of serving us, or in consequence of summons from others, without our especial order and licence so to do, by letters from our council of a subsequent date to these presents. should any such assemblies have actually taken place, you will order them instantly to depart in peace, without injuring the country, and return to their homes. 'in case any one should prove rebellious, and refuse compliance with your orders, you will instantly arrest him, and take possession in our name of all his goods, estates, fiefs, and every article of his property, making out an exact inventory of all, which you will intrust to the care of persons sufficiently responsible, so that the whole may be restored, should we see occasion for the same. you will place in their fortresses and castles such persons as shall be wealthy enough to keep them in a proper state, until the matter shall be decided by our great council. you will arrest, imprison, and punish all who shall act contrary to these our commands; and that you may have sufficient force to effect this, you will call to your aid all our loyal subjects and our faithful allies, as well within as without your jurisdiction, and in such numbers as you shall judge expedient. 'we therefore command all our vassals, on their faith and loyalty, and under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of effects, that they do instantly obey your summons, and arm themselves to support you in the carrying these presents into complete execution. you will be careful that there be no failure on your part, for we shall call you severely to account for any neglect. to accomplish this our purpose, we delegate to you full power and authority, and we command all our officers of justice, and others our allies and wellwishers, to attend diligently to your orders, and to afford you every assistance of which you may be in need. 'we also enjoin all our well-beloved counsellors of our parliament, masters of requests in our household, those employed in the courts of request of our palace in paris, the provost of paris, you bailiff, and you lieutenant, and all other officers of justice within our realm and their lieutenants, and each of them as the case may happen, that you do withhold all legal proceedings for quarrels, debts, or other suits that may any way attach such persons, noble or otherwise, as may be in your company for the better executing these presents, for the space of fifteen days after their return home from assisting you, and that you keep an exact account of the time, without suffering any injury to be offered to them or their sureties; and should any thing prejudicial to them be attempted, you will see that all things be replaced precisely in the state they were in at the time he or they came to your aid, for such is our pleasure according to the tenour of these presents,--to the copy of which (for the original cannot be carried every where), under our royal signet, we will that the same credence be given as if it were the original. 'given at paris the th day of november, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' signed by the king in his great council,--present the king of sicily, the dukes of berry, of orleans, and of bar, the counts d'alençon, de vertus, d'eu, de vendosme, de tancarville, the constable, the chancellor of acquitaine, with others. countersigned, 'p. naucron,' it was proclaimed in amiens, the th day of december of the same year. chap. xxviii. the king of sicily sends back the daughter of the duke of burgundy.--the duke writes letters to the king of france, containing remonstrances, and other matters. on the th day of november, in this year, the king of sicily sent back to the city of beauvais, catherine daughter to john duke of burgundy, who had been betrothed to louis, the king of sicily's eldest son, according to treaties that had been entered into between the two parties, and in consequence of which the duke had caused her to be most honourably escorted to angers. but the king afterward sent her back, attended by the lord de longny, marshal of france, and others, to the amount of six score horse, knights, esquires, ladies and damsels, belonging to the duke of burgundy, who had sent them for that purpose. by them she was conducted in great sorrow to amiens, and thence to her father at lille, who was much vexed on the occasion, and conceived thereat a mortal hatred to the king of sicily, which lasted all their lives. shortly after, this lady catherine of burgundy, who was, for her tender years, a very gracious lady, died in ghent, without ever having been married. in this same month, the duke of burgundy sent letters to the king of france at paris, containing his respectful salutations, his complaints and his accusations against his enemies, the contents of which were as follow. 'john duke of burgundy, count of flanders, of artois, and palatine of burgundy: my most-redoubted and dear lord, i recommend myself most humbly to you, being perpetually desirous, as is right, to hear of the good estate of your health,--and may god, in his gracious pleasure, continue it to you in the best possible manner, according to your good desire and wishes! i most earnestly supplicate you, my most-redoubted and beloved lord, that i may as often as possible be ascertained of this from yourself, for god knows how much i wish your prosperity; and i cannot have greater joy in this world than to hear satisfactory news of you,--and may god, out of his holy grace, grant that i may alway hear such as may be agreeable to you, and such as i may wish for myself! should it please you, my most redoubted and dear lord, to know how i am, i was in excellent health on the departure of these letters, thanks to god,--and may he alway continue you in the same! most dear and redoubted lord, i presume that it is in your good remembrance, that by your proclamation, issued by advice of my most redoubted lord the duke of acquitaine, your son, and by my advice also, and by that of many lords of your blood, and of your grand council, and at the earnest and humble request of your daughter the university of paris, and of the clergy of the said city, of the provost of merchants and the sheriffs, and in general of other good people of your said city, were notified certain ordinances, as well of your grand council aforesaid, as of many other great lords and counsellors, of myself, of the university aforesaid, and of the clergy of the aforesaid city of paris, for the effecting of peace and union among the lords of your blood, as the only means for the reparation of the miseries the whole kingdom suffered under, which was in thorough desolation, and must have been destroyed if god had not inspired you with a desire of peace. by these means, each loyal subject of your realm may have the hope of sleeping in peace and tranquillity, as was most notably said and explained in your presence, and before many of the princes of your blood and others, by a very able knight, counsellor to my very dear lord and cousin the king of sicily. 'nevertheless, my most-redoubted lord, although i had sworn to observe this peace in your presence, with a loyal faith and the most upright intentions, as several who attended might have noticed; and notwithstanding, because i did suspect that after my departure some persons might imagine various strange matters, tending to the infraction of the peace, i sent to you, as soon as i could, letters, to assure you of my cordial intentions of maintaining the object of your ordinance,--and in greater confirmation, i sent to you some of my confidential servants, principally on this account, as it may please you to remember; yet notwithstanding this, my most dear lord, and that i have not committed any act to infringe your ordinance, whatever accusations have been brought against me by some people, who (saving the honour and reverence always due to you) have spoken contrary to truth: many things have, in like manner, been done against the sense of your ordinance, to the contempt, prejudice, and scandal of myself and mine, who have been pointed out in the aforesaid ordinance. 'i am, therefore, the less bound to proceed according to your will and that of your very dear son, my redoubted lord, and of the princes of your blood, and members of your grand council; but i am pressed thereto from the instigations and extraordinary importunities of some who have for a long time been contentious, and are still the same, in very strange manner,--whom may god, out of his holy grace, reclaim, and bring to a proper sense of duty, as there is great need, and which i most earnestly desire. 'for a fuller declaration of the above, it is true, my most-redoubted lord, that at the instigation of some persons, shortly after i had sworn to the observance of the peace, several skirmishes with armed men were made in paris, near to my hôtel, which seemed to have been conducted and done in contempt of me, to the prejudice of my character and of the persons of my adherents; for since i quitted paris, no such things have taken place, nor have any congregations of armed men been heard of; but what is worse, if i were to believe what some have told me, it was intended to lay hands on my person before i departed from paris, which is no sign of good peace or union. 'it is a fact, that before and since i left paris, several of your good and faithful servants, and some of mine, have been arrested and imprisoned without having done any thing to deserve such treatment, and others have been obliged, by force and treacherous conduct, to quit paris. 'it is also known, that all who had shown any affection or attachment to me were deprived of their offices, honours and estates, without any thing being proved to their prejudice, excepting that they were too good burgundians, and this is now daily continued. should they declare, that such things were done by me during the time i was at paris in the service of your majesty, and that i was constantly in the habit of making such changes, to this a good and true answer may be given; for supposing this were so, if the terms of your ordinance be considered, they will appear founded particularly on peace, union, and affection; and these late changes that have taken place have been caused by a spirit of revenge, which is the reverse of love and peace, and a strong mark of division. it would therefore have been more conformable to the meaning of your ordinance, and more to the advantage of your realm, if such offices had been filled by persons fairly selected, and not through any spirit of revenge. 'by reason of this same spirit, scarcely any of your servants, my most redoubted lord, or those of my lady the queen, or the princes of your blood, or the university, could venture to speak with those known to be attached to my person and honour, for fear of being severely punished. 'there have also been many assemblies holden, in which harangues have been made highly prejudicial to my honour and contrary to truth, (saving the honour and respect due to you,) and in which expressions have been uttered as having been said by me, but too confusedly for their meaning to be well understood, and positively contradictory to the peace made at chartres as well as at auxerre, and against the terms so lately sworn to, which may be of very bad example, and contrary to the doctrine of cato, tending to provoke dissensions and warfare, which may ultimately, which god forbid, prove of the greatest detriment and destruction to your kingdom. 'many letters have been published in various places, as well within as without your realm, making very light, to all who shall peruse them, of your honour, my most-redoubted lord, of that of my lord of acquitaine, of several princes of your blood, of the university, and of many of the principal inhabitants of paris. 'if it should be advanced by some of the writers of these letters, that they have been published to clear their own honour, which had been stained by other letters, they ought at least to have kept to the truth, and not have laid the blame on those who were well inclined to keep the terms of your edict. 'i have likewise been charged, contrary to the truth, with having entertained men at arms in direct violation of your ordinance, and with having by such means greatly injured and harrassed your subjects. the fact is, what i have before told you, and of which i have sent you information, that by your orders i had a command of a thousand men at arms with my lord and uncle of berry and others, to whom you had given orders to oppose several enterprises that were undertaken by some of the free companies even at the gates of paris, to your great disgrace and scandal. instantly after the proclamation of your edict, i countermanded them, nor have i ever since summoned any, or quartered them on the country. 'should any bodies of men at arms throughout the realm say that they belong to me, they have neither had my summons nor are they under my command, and i am perfectly ignorant of their intentions; but as there are yet several free companies that still keep harrassing the country, they may perhaps have assembled to drive them out of it. 'it is a well-known fact, my most redoubted lord, that there are some who have for a long time maintained, and do so still, large bodies of men at arms, between the rivers loire, seine, and yonne, and elsewhere, directly contrary to your ordinance, to the utter ruin of your people, for they make in their pillage no distinction between churchmen and others; and this also is laid to my charge, as they alledge that they keep these bodies under arms for fear lest i should raise a large force and march it against paris, in direct violation of your ordinance: but this, saving the reverence due to your majesty, is a falsehood; for i have not done this, nor ever thought of doing what would be displeasing to you, in any manner whatever,--nor will i alter this conduct, but, so long as i shall live, will remain your true and loyal relation and obedient subject. 'it is a fact, that several, as i have been informed, have publicly declared, contrary to truth, that i maintained in paris murderers and assassins, ready to put them to death. in answer to this, my most dear lord, i affirm for truth, that i not only never did so, but that i never thought of such a thing; but these are not the first aspersions they have cast upon me. 'many have been banished merely from hatred to me, who declare that they were not deserving such punishment, and are ready to prove it, if they be assured of personal security, and of having fair justice done them. i do not say this from any desire to screen from punishment the wicked or such as may have displeased you, my most-redoubted lord, my lady the queen, or my lord of acquitaine, but in behalf of those who have been so ill treated from contempt to me. 'i must also complain, that several persons have gone to the houses of my poor servants in paris, which are adjoining to my hôtel of artois, and have ransacked them from top to bottom, under pretence that letters had been sent thither by me, to be delivered to different persons near to the market-place, to excite them to raise a commotion in your city of paris, and particularly in the markets,--for which cause many of the wives of my faithful servants have been very harshly treated, and examined at the châtelet on this subject. may it please you to know, most-redoubted lord, that i never have written myself, nor caused to be written by others, any thing that was contrary to your ordinance. 'those who make such accusations against me act wickedly, for they may give you and others a bad opinion of me; and those who know paris are well aware that neither the inhabitants of that or any other quarter would, for their lives, act any way that would be to your dishonour. with regard to me, may god no longer grant me life, when i shall act contrary to your good pleasure! 'i now come to the heaviest charge against me. it is reported, but contrary to truth, saving your reverence, that i have entered into a treaty of marriage with england, and that, as the marriage-portion of my daughter, i am to transfer the castles of cherbourg and caen, with other places mentioned in the said treaty, to the great prejudice of you and your kingdom. such things i have neither done nor even thought of; and i wish to god that all within your realm had always been as loyal in the preservation of your person and progeny, your crown and dignity, as i have been, and shall ever be, during my life. 'other acts, that shall at a proper opportunity and place be declared, have been done contrary to your edict, prejudicial to my own honour and to that of my friends,--but those are already touched upon, and what remain are not only directly against the spirit of your edict, but tend to throw upon my person the utmost possible dishonour; and they are the most effectual means of depriving me not only of your good graces but of those of my lady the queen, and of my lord of acquitaine, whose happiness and prosperity i have ever desired and shall anxiously promote above all earthly blessings. 'however, my most-redoubted lord, i do not write these things to you, as meaning in any way to infringe your ordinance, or to violate the peace of the kingdom, which has of late been so sorely harrassed, in various ways, that the most perverse mind should feel compassion for it. 'should any persons now affirm, that i have intentions of avoiding or disobeying the true meaning of your ordinance, i positively declare, that i have never had such thoughts, nor have ever wished to give any opposition to its being carried into full effect; but on the contrary, i have supported it as much as any of your kindred or subjects have done throughout the realm. it is nevertheless very true, that i have sought for the means of keeping this peace firm and inviolate in your whole kingdom, foreseeing events that might possibly happen should it be infringed. i therefore most humbly supplicate you, my most-redoubted lord, that you would be pleased to redress the above causes of complaint in such wise that those who have been injured may not have further reason to grieve, and that your ordinance may be fulfilled to your own welfare and honour as well as to the good of your realm, so that every one, as has been before said, may sleep in peace and tranquillity,--to the accomplishment of which i am ready to offer all my corporal and worldly effects, together with those of my friends, and every power that god may have granted to me, according as it shall be your good pleasure to dispose of them. 'and, my most dear and redoubted lord, i beseech the blessed son of god to have you in his holy keeping, and to bless you with a long and happy life. written in our town of ghent, the th day of november.' these dispatches were presented, by flanders king at arms, to the king, who received them very kindly; but those who governed him were not well pleased thereat, and would not suffer the king to make any answer in writing. the chancellor of france told the herald, that the king had very favourably received what his lord the duke of burgundy had written, and would consider of it and send an answer at a proper time and place. after this, the king at arms left paris, and returned to his lord in flanders. notwithstanding the letters which the duke of burgundy had written to the king of france in his justification, those who had the management of the king did not in the least abate the rigour with which they were proceeding against the duke. a few days after the departure of flanders king at arms, there was a great assembly of theologians holden at paris, by the bishop of paris and the inquisitor of the faith, to consider on certain propositions maintained before some of the princes of the royal blood and the duke of burgundy, and by him supported, against the late louis duke of orleans, through the organ of master john petit, and to declare whether such propositions be not heretical and erroneous. many were much troubled at this meeting, lest the duke of burgundy should be displeased with them for attending it, and that in time to come they might suffer for it. here follows the form of a schedule that was delivered to some of the doctors in theology. 'on the part of the bishop of paris, the inquisitor and council of faith duly assembled--reverend doctors, be it known, that we have sent to you a schedule containing certain propositions, with their reprobations; and we require from you, under pain of forfeiture, that you deliver your opinions thereon publicly, in writing or by speech, whether these assertions, which have brought notorious scandal on the king's council and on the catholic faith, are erroneous and damnable, that we may proceed thereon as the canon law requires. 'on wednesday, the th day of this month of december, will the first proposition be considered, namely, 'any tyrant legally may and ought to be put to death by any vassal or subject, even by lying in wait for him, by flatteries and adulations, notwithstanding any confederation entered into between them, and after oaths having mutually passed, and without waiting for the sentence of any judge whatever.' this proposition, thus stated generally for a maxim, is, according to the common acceptance of the word 'tyrant,' an error in our faith, contrary to the doctrine of good morals, and contrary to the commandments of god: 'non occides propria auctoritate;' thou shalt not kill of thy own authority; and in the th chapter of st matthew, 'omnes qui accipiunt gladium gladio peribunt.' 'this doctrine tends to the subversion of all public order, and of each prince and sovereign, and opens a road for all licentiousness and every consequent evil, such as frauds, violations of oaths, treasons, lies, and general disobedience between vassals and lords, distrust of each, and consequently perdurable damnation. 'item, he who shall pertinaciously affirm this error, and the others which follow, is an heretic, and ought to be punished as such, even after his death. 'notatur in decretis questione quinta,' the other proposition.--st michael, without any orders or command from god, or others, but moved solely by his natural affections, slew lucifer with everlasting death, for which he is receiving spiritual riches beyond measure. 'this proposition, however, contains many errors of faith,--for st michael did not slay lucifer, but lucifer slew himself by his sin, and god put him to an everlasting death. beside, st michael did receive orders from god to thrust lucifer out of paradise: 'quia omnis potestas est a deo; et hoc sciebat michael, quia constitutus erat a deo princeps, quem honorem non sibi assumpsit. nota quomodo michael non est ausus inferre auditum blasphemiæ, sed dicit, imperet tibi dominus: in epistola judæ.' 'god might also have given him more spiritual riches, and the power of receiving them: therefore he did not obtain such riches through his natural affection. 'with regard to the other proposition,--phineas killed zimri without any command from god, or from moses, and zimri had not committed idolatry. this proposition is contrary to the book containing this history, according to the reading of learned doctors, and according to reason and the nature of things. you will see in the th chapter of the book of numbers, 'dicit moyses ad judices israel, occidat unus quisque proximos suos, qui initiati sunt beelphegor et ecce unus, &c. glosa. josephus dixit, quod zimri et principes in tribu symeon duxerant filias,' &c. again, moses, without any orders, slew the egyptian, so that this assertion is contrary to the text of the bible, actuorum vii. according to the explanation of learned doctors, and according to reason. textus,--'estimabant, autem intelligere fratres, quoniam deus per manum ipsius daret salutem hierusalem,' &c. 'judith did not sin in flattering holofernes, nor jehu by falsely saying that he would worship baal. this is favourable to the error of those who have declared that lies may be lawful on some occasions. st austin writes thus against such doctrine to st jerome, 'si inquit admissa fuerint vel officiosa mendacia tota scripturæ divinæ vacillabit auctoritas.' the other case brought forward to support the proposition, that joab killed abner after the death of absalom, is contrary to the text expressed in the holy scriptures, i regum iii. cap. where it is said, that long before the death of absalom joab slew abner. 'the assertion, that it is not perjury to commit such actions, although oaths of fellowship may have been given on both sides, is false, for it is gross perjury, and unprofitable to such as may swear to treacherous alliances: it is fraud, deception, and clear perjury; and to maintain that such actions are lawful is an error of faith.' when these propositions had been fully discussed, they were condemned as heretical opinions, and errors against the faith. chap. xxix. the duke of burgundy goes to antwerp.--the arrest of sir john de croy,--and other remarkable events that happened about this period. nearly about this time, the duke of burgundy held at antwerp a very confidential council, of his most tried friends, on the state of his affairs, at which were present his brother of brabant and his two brothers-in-law, namely, duke william, and john of brabant bishop of liege, the counts de st pol and de cleves. he had assembled them particularly to know whether they would support him in the war which france was silently meditating against him. they all promised him their aid against his adversaries, excepting the persons of the king of france and his children. when the council broke up, the duke of burgundy returned to artois, in his country of flanders, and the other lords to the places whence they had come. on the feast of the circumcision, a sergeant at arms came to st pol en ternois, and presented to the count letters from the king of france, containing positive orders, under pain of his highest displeasure, not to bear arms nor to assemble any men at arms to accompany the duke of burgundy or others into his kingdom without his especial licence; and that he should give an acknowledgement of the receipt of this royal command, which the count did. while these things were passing, the duke of acquitaine resided in the louvre with his state, and the duchess and her attendants at the hôtel of st pol. on wednesday, the th day of january, the queen, attended by the duchess, went to visit her son. a short time before, by the advice of the king of sicily, the dukes of berry, of orleans, and other princes of the blood, she had caused four knights and many other servants belonging to her son of acquitaine to be arrested and carried away from the louvre, which had so much enraged the duke that he wanted to sally out to call the populace to his aid, in rescuing these prisoners. the princes, his relatives, would not permit him to do this; and the queen his mother appeased his anger in the best manner she could, and then went to the king in the hôtel de st pol, leaving with her son the before mentioned princes, who pacified his anger by gentle and kind words. the four knights who had been arrested were sir john de croy, the lord de broy, sir david de brimeu, sir bertrand de montauban, and some others, who very soon after, on promising not to return to the duke of acquitaine, were set at liberty. sir john de croy was detained prisoner, and carried as such to montlehery. although that the duke of acquitaine pretended to be satisfied, he nevertheless secretly sent one of his servants to the duke of burgundy to desire that he would hasten to paris with all his forces: he afterward wrote to him several letters with his own hand, and without the knowledge of the queen or the princes. when the duke of burgundy received this intelligence, he was well pleased, as he wished for nothing more than such a pretext to march to paris, and instantly issued a summons to men at arms from all countries, appointing a day for them to meet him at espelry, near st quentin in the vermandois. for his exculpation, and that the cause of this armament might be known, he wrote letters to all the principal towns in picardy, a copy of which is as follows: 'very dear and good friends, you must have it in your remembrance how that last year, in the month of august, my lord the king returning from his city of bourges, and tarrying in the town of auxerre, was desirous that peace should be established for ever between the princes of his blood, and commanded that it should not only be sworn to be observed by them, but likewise by the prelates, nobles, universities and principal cities in his realm. you likewise know that all present at auxerre did most solemnly swear to its observance, as well for themselves as for those on whose part they were come thither. 'my lord the king did afterwards issue letters throughout his realm for the more strictly keeping of this peace, and that it might be sworn to; and you also know that we ourself, and others of the princes of the blood, did, by the king's command, take a solemn oath to maintain this peace, according to the schedule drawn up for this purpose at auxerre; in which, among other things, it was ordained that a good and perfect union should subsist between these lords, and that henceforth they should live in a manner becoming good relatives and friends. 'now although this peace has been much wished for by us, and that we have never infringed it, or suffered it to be infringed by others in any degree, nevertheless offensive conduct has been holden toward us by the detestable injuries which many have attempted to do to our most redoubted lady and daughter the duchess of acquitaine, as is notorious to the whole kingdom, without farther entering into particulars. 'very contemptuous conduct has been used toward ourself, and personal injuries have been done us, in banishing from paris every person that was known to be attached to us or to our aforesaid lord of acquitaine; in defaming our honour in several public assemblies and in various places, by sermons and harangues, which, notwithstanding the pain it has cost us, we have patiently borne, and should have continued to do so from our love of peace, which is the sovereign good to this kingdom, and to avert all the miseries and distress that must otherwise ensue, had not our most redoubted lord and son, the duke of acquitaine, made known to us, that, after many injurious excesses which had been committed towards him, to his infinite mortification, he was confined in the louvre like a prisoner, with the drawbridge of the said castle drawn up, which is an abomination that ought not only to be displeasing to us but to every good subject and wellwisher to our lord the king. 'in consequence of this treatment, my most-redoubted lord and son has several times, by messengers and letters, requested our aid and succour to free him from the perilous situation in which he is held; and since we are so intimately connected by blood, marriage, and other confederations, with our said lord the king, and our beloved lord the duke of acquitaine, his son, the loyalty and affection we owe to both will prevent us from failing to comply with his demand of assistance and support. we have, therefore, determined to advance to paris with as large a body of men at arms as we can muster, for the security of our person, and that it may please god that we may see in all good prosperity my aforesaid lord the king, my lady the queen, my much redoubted lord of acquitaine, and my well beloved daughter his duchess; and likewise that we may deliver them from the danger they are in, and set them, as is but reasonable, at full liberty, without having the smallest intentions of violating the peace of the kingdom. 'we signify this to you, very dear and good friends, that you may be acquainted with our object, and act accordingly, as becometh wellwishers, and truly obedient subjects, to my said lord the king. know, therefore, for a truth, that our intentions and will are such as we have said, and none other; and we therefore entreat you most earnestly, from our heart, that in this business, which is of such consequence to my said lords, and for the tranquillity and peace of the realm, you will come forward to our assistance as speedily as possible, that it may be accomplished to our honour and that of my lords the king and the duke of acquitaine, and for the common good of the realm, and that you will so bear yourselves, that your excellent loyalty may be visible toward my lord the king, the duke of acquitaine, to the public welfare, and in like manner to ourself, who are only desirous of peace. 'we have a perfect confidence in you, very dear and good friends,--and may god have you in his holy keeping! 'written in our town of lille the d day of january, in the year of our lord , on the eve of our departure.' the superscription was, 'to my very dear and well beloved the resident burgesses and inhabitants of the town of amiens.' these letters thus sent by the duke of burgundy, and also the levy of men at arms which he was making, were immediately known at paris; and to counteract the enterprises of the duke, a reconciliation took place between the duke of acquitaine and the king's ministers, in consequence of which the duke was prevailed on to write letters to different towns to put an end to the intended expedition of the duke of burgundy. these letters were of the following tenour: 'louis, eldest son to the king of france, duke of acquitaine, and dauphin of vienne, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'whereas it has lately come to our knowledge that our very dear and well beloved father-in-law, the duke of burgundy, has for a short time past begun to raise a large body of men at arms, and still continues to do the same, with the intent, as it is said, of marching them to us, which may be very prejudicial to my lord the king, his realm and subjects, and more especially so to the peace which has been so lately concluded at auxerre between many princes of our royal blood: we have therefore very fully explained ourself to our aforesaid father-in-law by a letter, the contents of which are as under: 'louis, eldest son to the king of france, duke of acquitaine and dauphin of vienne, to our very dear and well-beloved father the duke of burgundy health and affection. 'you know how often my lord the king has repeated his commands to you, both by letter and by able ambassadors, not to raise any bodies of men at arms that might be hurtful to the welfare and profit of his kingdom. you know also what oaths you took, as well at auxerre as at paris. 'it has, nevertheless, come to the knowledge of our lord the king, that, contrary to the terms of the peace concluded between our said lord and yourself, and sworn to at auxerre, you have raised, and continue to raise, bodies of men at arms, with the design, as it is said, of coming to us; and, as a pretence for the levying these men at arms, you have published letters as from us, desiring that you would come to our aid with a large force, which thing we have neither done nor thought of doing. 'because we are truly sensible, that your coming hither at this time would be very prejudicial to the said peace and welfare of the realm, our said lord the king sends you a sergeant at arms of the parliament, with his positive commands not to come hither. 'we therefore require, and also command you in his name, and on the loyalty and obedience you owe him, as well as for the love and affection you bear to him and to us, and for the good of the realm, which you say you have had alway at heart, that notwithstanding any letters or messages you may have had from us, you do for the present lay aside all thoughts of coming to us, otherwise you will incur the anger of our lord the king, and that you do disband any bodies of men at arms which are already assembled, and instantly countermand such as have not yet joined. 'should you have any causes of complaint, or should any thing have happened likely to violate the peace, make them known to my lord, or to us; for we know for a truth, that my said lord will provide such remedies for them as shall give you satisfaction. 'given at paris, the th day of january, in the year . 'we also require and command you, the bailiff of amiens, in the name of my aforesaid lord, to have these presents publicly proclaimed in all usual places where proclamations have been made, within your bailiwick, forbidding, in the king's name, all his vassals and subjects, as has been before notified to them, to obey the summons of our said father the duke of burgundy, either on the pretext stated by him or any other, without his especial order and licence, as may appear in his letters patent, subsequent to the date of these presents. 'given at paris the th day of january, in the year of grace .' signed by the duke of acquitaine, and countersigned 'j. de cloye.' the duke of burgundy, however, in spite of these commands from the king and the duke of acquitaine, would not desist from his enterprise; and the king then issued a summons for men at arms to oppose him, and published the following edict: 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, health and greeting. 'it has come to our knowledge, that our cousin the duke of burgundy, in opposition to the articles of the peace concluded by us, between him and others of our blood, and sworn to at auxerre and at paris, has raised, and continues to raise, large bodies of men at arms, notwithstanding our positive orders to the contrary, as well by letters as by especial ambassadors sent to him for this purpose; and has already quitted his country, and is on the march, as he declares, to come to paris, by which the said peace will be destroyed, and would cause numberless evils and irreparable injuries to our realm and subjects, unless a speedy and effectual remedy be provided against it. 'having, therefore, deliberately weighed the consequences, and the probable means of opposing the enterprises of the duke of burgundy, we have determined to exert our whole power against him, and all others who shall in any way attempt to infringe the said peace, and to call for the aid and support of all our loyal subjects. 'we therefore do command and expressly enjoin you, under pain of incurring our displeasure, to proclaim these presents in a solemn manner, with a loud voice and with sound of trumpets in all towns and other accustomed places within your jurisdiction, commanding all our vassals and liege subjects, on the faith they owe us, to appear in arms on the th day of february next, in our town of mondidier[ ], ready to follow us to our town of paris, or wherever else it may please us to lead them. 'they will find in the town of mondidier sufficient persons authorised by us to receive them, with orders to allow such pay as shall content them; and at the same time, they will inform them whither they are to direct their march. 'you will make this known to all our said vassals and subjects, and forbid them, under the heaviest penalties of corporal punishment and confiscation of effects, and of being counted as traitors to our crown, to comply with any summons, prayers, or entreaties, of the said duke of burgundy, or others, whether of our blood or not, under any pretence or colour of aiding us, to bear or assemble in arms, or in any way to obey them without our especial leave and licence, in letters patent, of a later date than these presents. should any have joined the duke of burgundy or others, you will order them instantly to depart home, even supposing they should be of the kindred or vassals liege of the said duke or others, and had, in consequence of their fiefs, been summoned to assemble in arms; for in this instance we do exempt them not only from obeying such commands, but do promise to guarantee and defend them from any ill consequences that may ensue from their disobedience. 'should it happen, that after the proclamation of these our commands, any of our vassals within your bailiwick shall set out to join the duke of burgundy in arms, or should those who have joined him not return to their homes, but remain in arms with the said duke, or with any others who may have summoned them, we most strictly order and enjoin, that with the least possible delay, and without any excuse or dissimulation whatever, you do seize, in our name, having had a just and true inventory made, all their moveables and immoveables, estates, houses, and all other effects whatever; and that you do put the same under the management of sufficient persons as may, at a fit time and place, render a good account of them, proceeding at the same time to the extremity of the penalties incurred by such for their disobedience. 'you will also arrest and imprison all persons whom you shall discover within your bailiwick endeavouring, by lies and false reports, to sow discord among our loyal subjects, or in any way attempting a breach of the peace; and for this purpose we delegate to you, by these presents, full power and authority for the punishing of all whom you shall find guilty of such disloyal conduct. we likewise command all our other bailiffs, governors of towns, castles and bridges, and all our officers of justice, diligently to assist you in obeying these our commands; and we also enjoin these our aforesaid officers to permit all our loyal subjects to pass free and unmolested with their horses and baggage when travelling to join us, on showing only a certificate from you under the royal seal of your bailiwick, that they are on their march to us, or elsewhere on our service, notwithstanding we may before have ordered them not to suffer any men at arms to pass or repass, whatever may have been their rank or condition, without our especial licence contained in letters patent of a prior date to these presents. 'given at paris the th day of january, in the year .' signed by the king, on the report of a grand council held by the queen,--present the duke of acquitaine. countersigned, 'mauregard.' this ordinance was sent to amiens, and to other towns of france,--and with it the king inclosed other letters to many towns on the line of march which the duke of burgundy would probably take, forbidding him, or any of his people, to pass the frontiers of the realm, under pain of incurring his indignation. footnotes: [footnote : mondidier,--a town in picardy, nine leagues from amiens, twenty-three from paris.] chap. xxx. the duke of burgundy marches a large force toward paris.--he fixes his quarters at st denis.--the events that happened during this march, and in consequence of it. the duke of burgundy, to accomplish his expedition to paris, on leaving arras, made for peronne, intending to enter france; but the inhabitants, who had before received the king's orders not to let him pass, sent to him the lord de longueval, their governor, to excuse them for denying him entrance into their town. although the duke was far from being pleased, he, however, pretended indifference to their conduct, marched his forces beside the town, and crossed the somme at esclusieu[ ], and went to roye in the vermandois. he thence sent forward his brother the count de nevers, who had joined him with a handsome company, to compiegne. the count treated so successfully with the townsmen of compiegne that, notwithstanding the commands of the king, they consented to permit him to pass. the principal reasons for their assenting were the copies of the correspondence between the duke of acquitaine and the duke of burgundy, which were shown to them, and which contained the express wishes of the duke of acquitaine for the duke of burgundy to come to his aid. the tenour of the above and of the certificate was as follows. 'to all who these presents shall see, jean clabault, esquire-keeper for the king of the seal of the bailiwick of vermandois established at roye, greeting. 'know ye, that on the d day of february, of the present year , the most puissant and noble prince my lord duke of burgundy has exhibited to us, and shown three letters sealed and signed by the most excellent and puissant prince the duke of acquitaine, which we have held, seen, and read, word by word,--the contents of which are as follow. 'very dear and well beloved father, we order, that on the receipt of this letter, you lay all excuses aside and come to us, well accompanied for your own proper security; and as you fear our anger, do not fail coming. written with our own hand, at paris, the th day of december[ ].' signed, 'louis.' 'the address was, 'to our very dear and well beloved father the duke of burgundy.' 'another letter was in these terms: 'very dear and well beloved father, i wrote to you some time since, to desire you would come to me very well accompanied. i therefore entreat and order, that you hasten hither as speedily as may be, but well accompanied, for good reasons: do not fail, for i will bear you through the whole matter, as shall be seen. written with my own hand, in paris, the th day of december.' signed by himself, 'louis.' 'the superscription was, 'to our very dear and well beloved father the duke of burgundy.' 'the third letter contained,--'very dear and well beloved father, i have twice written to you to come hither, and you have not complied: i, however, write again, to order that you lay all other considerations aside, and come to me well accompanied for your own security: do not fail to come to me with all possible speed, notwithstanding any other letters you may receive from me to the contrary. we trust that you will instantly obey from the love you bear to us, and from the fear of our displeasure. we have certain causes to desire your company, which affect us in the strongest manner possible. written with my own hand, this d day of december,' and signed by himself, 'louis.' 'the superscription was the same as the foregoing. 'as a testimony that we have seen and read the above letters, we have affixed the seal of this bailiwick (saving the rights of the king and others) to this copy, which we have faithfully collated with the original, in the presence of jean billart, esquire-warden for the king in the provostship of roye, and of the exempted lands of charmy, and of the jurisdiction of roye; and in the presence of pierre de la beane, comptroller of salt in roye, of nicholas d'ardelchanons, of roye, jean pellehaste, master guillaume de la garde, master godefroy baudun, brissart, royal notary, on the day and year aforesaid, and thus signed, brissart.' on the third day, the duke of burgundy left roye, and went to compiegne, where, having prevailed on the principal inhabitants to support his party, he took the road for senlis, whither he had sent forward the lord de robaix, to know if the townsmen would admit him. this they positively refused to do, in consequence of the orders from the king,--and the duke then took the road by baron[ ] to dampmartin[ ], whither the lords of burgundy had advanced with a powerful force to meet him. news was daily carried to paris, to the duke of acquitaine and the other princes of the blood, of the duke of burgundy's march and approach to the capital. when the last intelligence came, the duke of acquitaine was dining with a canon in the cloisters of nôtre dame in paris; and the moment it was known, the king of sicily, the duke of orleans, the counts de vertus, de richemont, d'eu, d'armagnac, with many other great lords, attended by a numerous body of men at arms, assembled in the cloisters, where the duke of acquitaine mounted his horse. this force was divided into three battalions, the van, center, and rear,--which done, they advanced to the front of the church of nôtre dame, and thence marched to the town-house, where they halted. the van was commanded by three counts, namely, those of vertus, of eu, and of richemont, who rode together in front, followed close by their attendants, and at a little distance by the battalion. in the center division were the king of sicily and the dukes of acquitaine and of orleans, followed by a very considerable body of men at arms. the rear battalion was commanded by the count d'armagnac, louis bourdon and the lord de gaule, who, like the other commanders, rode all three in front of their men. the whole was estimated at eleven thousand horse. on their coming to the town-house, a trumpet was sounded, when the chancellor of acquitaine made his appearance, and, by orders of the duke, told the people of paris, who were following them, that he, as eldest son and heir to the king and kingdom of france, thanked them for their loyalty and affection, which they had now shown to him, and that he hoped they would exert themselves to the utmost of their power to oppose the duke of burgundy in his wicked projects, who, in defiance of the king's positive commands, and in violation of the peace, had marched an armed force into the heart of the realm; that he affirmed and assured them, that he had never sent for him, nor written to him to come to paris, notwithstanding he had declared he had received letters from him to the above purport. the chancellor then asked the duke if he would vouch for what he had said, who replied, that he would vouch for it, as he had spoken nothing but the truth. after this had been said, they marched away in the same order as before, to the place du croix du tiroir, where they again halted, when the chancellor from horseback, in front of the duke of acquitaine, repeated to the numerous populace there assembled what he had before said in the place de gréve, which speech was again avowed by the duke of acquitaine, after which he retired to the louvre. the duke of orleans went to the priory of st martin des champs, the king of sicily to the bastille of st anthony, the count of armagnac and louis bourdon to the hôtel d'artois, and the others elsewhere. shortly after, the duke of berry came from his hôtel de neelle to visit the duke of acquitaine in the louvre, and thence retired to the temple, where he and his men had their quarters. the different lords went diligently about the streets of paris to check any tumults that might arise,--and they had all the gates closed excepting those of st anthony and of st james. notwithstanding they were so numerous in men at arms, they were very fearful of the populace rising against them, in favour of the duke of burgundy, more especially those who lived in the quartier des halles. the duke of burgundy advanced from dampmartin to st denis, which was open to him, for the inhabitants had fled. he there quartered his whole army, and lodged himself at the hôtel of the sword. his force might consist of full two thousand helmets, knights and esquires, from artois, picardy, flanders, rethel and burgundy, with from two to three thousand combatants, archers, cross-bows and armed varlets. he was accompanied by sir john de luxembourg, with all the vassals of his uncle the count waleran de st pol. on the third day after the duke of burgundy's arrival at st denis, he sent his king at arms, artois, to paris, bearing letters to the king, the queen, the duke of acquitaine, and the commonalty of the town,--in which he requested that they would permit him to wait on them, to explain the cause of his thus coming to st denis, which, he said, was only with good intentions, no way to make war, nor to demand redress from any person, but solely in obedience to the commands of the duke of acquitaine, whom he was bound to serve and obey. when the king at arms arrived at the gates of paris, he was led to an hôtel,--when shortly after, a man came to him, whom he did not know, and told him to make haste to quit the town, or his person would be rudely treated. perceiving that he should not be heard, nor allowed to deliver his letters, he was mounting his horse, when the count d'armagnac advanced and said to him, that should he or any others come again to paris from the duke of burgundy, he would have their heads cut off. upon this, he returned to his lord the duke of burgundy, at st denis, and related to him all that had passed, and how rudely he had been dealt with, which so much displeased the duke that he resolved, by the advice of his council, to march thither in person with his whole force. on the morrow morning, therefore, the army was drawn up in the fields in battle-array as if they were about to engage an enemy, and thus marched to the gate of st eustache, which was closed; and there they remained in battle-array for a considerable space, which was a handsome sight. the duke again sent his king at arms to the gate of st honoré, which was also closed, to demand from those stationed over the gate that four of his most confidential knights, who were near at hand to the king at arms, might be admitted with him, to explain the causes of his coming, which tended to nothing but a solid peace. he was answered by those above the gate, that if he did not speedily withdraw, they would discharge bolts and arrows at him,--adding, that they would have nothing to say to the duke of burgundy nor to his knights. upon this, they retired to the army. during this time, enguerrand de bournouville, with about four hundred combatants, had dismounted, and, with the standard of the duke, had advanced to the gate of st honoré, to see if he could do any thing; for they had great hopes that the populace would rise in sufficient force to give them entrance through one of the gates, which, however, did not happen. enguerrand, nevertheless, said a few words to bourdon, who was over the gate, but who made him no reply; and, finding nothing was to be done, he retreated to the main body. in his retreat, some cross-bows were discharged at him, and one of his men was wounded, although neither himself nor any of his companions had shown the least offensive intentions, by arrows or otherwise, against those of paris,--for it had been forbidden them by the duke out of respect to the king and the duke of acquitaine. the duke, seeing the matter hopeless, marched his army back to st denis, and caused letters to be written, which, during the night, some of his partisans affixed to the doors of the church of nôtre dame, of the palace, and elsewhere in paris. he sent copies also to the principal towns in france, the tenour of which was as follows. 'we john duke of burgundy, count of flanders and artois, palatine of burgundy, lord of salines and mechlin, make known to all, that by virtue of several letters written and signed by the duke of acquitaine himself, we came toward paris, to employ ourselves for the welfare of the king, by command of my lord of acquitaine, and withal to aid and deliver him from the servitude in which he is held at this moment; in which cause we shall cheerfully exert every power and influence which god may have granted to us in this world; and we signify to all the wellwishers of the king and of my lord of acquitaine, that they shall be set (if we be able) at full liberty to exercise their free will and pleasure,--and those who have thus confined them shall be banished, that it may be known to all that we do not come hither on any ambitious schemes to seize the government of the kingdom, and that we have no desire to hurt or destroy the good town of paris, but are ready to fulfil and maintain every article which we had sworn to observe in the king's edict. 'we are also willing to return to any of our territories, provided others who have sworn to the same ordinance do so likewise,--but they act contrary to it: and we will, that god and all the world know, that until we shall be sensible that my lord the king and my lord of acquitaine enjoy their full liberty, and that those who now manage public affairs have retired to their several countries, and my said lord the king is provided with honest, able, and notable counsellors and knights, as well as my lord of acquitaine, we will never desist from our enterprise, nor quit the kingdom of france; for we had much rather die than witness my lord the king and my lord of acquitaine in such subjection. 'we cannot help being astonished that the citizens and loyal subjects of his majesty can be so hard of heart as to suffer him to remain in this disgraceful slavery; and we are the more surprised that, knowing how nearly we are related to him, they have refused to receive either our knights or our herald, or to permit any one from us to present our letters to my lord the king, my lady the queen, my lord of acquitaine, or to the good town of paris. 'and although we came before the walls of paris without committing any hostile act whatever, by the command aforesaid, in order to treat of matters touching the peace and welfare of the kingdom, our men have been killed and wounded, without listening to any proposals which they might have made. the count d'armagnac even told our king at arms, that if he should return again, his head would be struck off,--which is an insult hard to be borne, when we have come hither with our company, paying for all our expenses, as the near relation and neighbour of my lord the king and my lord of acquitaine, requiring the aid of all good and loyal subjects against those who have kept in servitude and in peril my said lord of acquitaine, signifying to them, at the same time, that we should, in proper time and place, charge them with treason against their sovereign. of this you need not doubt,--for, by the aid of god and our just cause in this quarrel, we will pursue and maintain it, with the utmost of our powers, and with the assistance of very many of the principal towns in the realm, who have attached themselves to us. 'given at st denis, under our privy seal, in the absence of the grand council, the th day of february, in the year .' when these letters were found posted in several of the public places of paris, those who were disaffected to the duke of burgundy had stronger suspicions of his conduct than before; and they took such precautions in the guard of the town that no inconvenience happened. during the time the duke of burgundy remained at st denis, the lord de croy, who had accompanied him, sent twenty of his most expert and determined men at arms, well mounted, to cross the seine near to conflans; thence they rode as secretly as they could, with lance in hand, to the town of montlehery, where they lodged themselves in two inns near to each other, pretending to be of the orleans party. sir john de croy, son to the lord de croy, was prisoner, as has been before said, in the castle of that town, and had received intimation of their coming by a chaplain who had the care of him. he made a pretence of going to hear mass in the church that was hard by the castle, when these men at arms who were ready prepared, and on the watch, mounted their horses, hastened toward sir john, whom they instantly set on a led horse, and thence galloped briskly to pontoise: they afterward took the road to the ford where they had before crossed the seine, and made such good haste that they brought sir john safe to his father in st denis. this enterprise was highly praised by the duke of burgundy and the lord de croy: the principal leaders of it were lamont de launoy, villemont de meneat, jenninet de molliens, jean roussel,--the whole amounting to the number aforesaid. they were, however, sharply pursued by the garrison of montlehery, but they could not overtake them by reason of the variety of roads they took. the duke of burgundy again sent artois, king at arms, to paris, with letters to the king of sicily and to the dukes of orleans and berry, to notify to them the causes of his coming, and to request that they would suffer him, or at least some of his people, to speak with the king and the duke of acquitaine; that he was come with good intentions, for he was willing punctually to keep all he had promised and sworn to, provided they on their part would do the same; adding, that they must allow the king and the duke of acquitaine to rule and govern the kingdom, without keeping them in servitude, more especially the duke of acquitaine, whom they detained to his great displeasure. but when the king at arms came to the gate of st anthony, he was told that he would not be admitted, nor any letters received from him, and that if he did not hasten away, they would treat him disrespectfully. on hearing this, he considered for a few minutes, and then placing the letters at the top of a cleft stick which he stuck in the ground, made off as fast as he could to st denis, when the duke was more discontented than ever. perceiving that he could no way succeed in his object, he deliberated with his council whether he should return to his own country, and within a few days retreated to compiegne by the way he had come. in this town, and in that of soissons, he left strong garrisons of men at arms and archers. he appointed sir hugh de launoy governor of compiegne, with the lords de sainct ligier and de forez, hector and philippe de saveuse, louvelet de mazaheghen, and other expert men at arms, to the amount of five hundred combatants or thereabout. in soissons he placed enguerrand de bournouville, sir colart de phiennes, lamon de launoy, guoit de boutilliers normant, sir pierre de menault, and many more warriors. it was resolved by the aforesaid duke and his chivalry, and by the good towns above mentioned, that until the king and the duke of acquitaine should be at full liberty, and until they should regulate their conduct by the counsel of such good men and true as they themselves should approve, and until the lords aforesaid, who thus kept them under restraint, and the troops in their pay should retire each to his own territory--as he, the duke of burgundy, and those of his party, offered to return to their estates and countries--they would never change their resolution, and would yield no obedience to the command of the king, as issued by the advice of his present counsellors or their abettors. this resolution the duke was to signify to the principal towns, and to all the well-disposed persons in the kingdom, and even to summon them in the names of the king and the duke of acquitaine to unite themselves to his party for the more effectually accomplishing so desirable an object; for by so doing each person would acquit himself of his loyalty, and gain renown for life; and the duke promised to aid and support them to the utmost of his power, for the security of which he issued his especial letters. after this, he departed from compiegne, and returned to arras. he sent his burgundians, to the amount of about seven hundred lances, to quarter themselves in the cambresis, and in tierache, in contempt of the king of sicily, whom he did not love, any more than sir robert de bar[ ], who had refused to assist him in this expedition, although he was his liege-man. he issued orders from arras for the three estates of artois to meet him the d day of may, more particularly the nobles, when a great parliament was holden on the state of his affairs. he there caused to be displayed by the lord d'ollehaing the three letters the duke of acquitaine had written to him, which being read, he declared on his faith, in the presence of all the lords, that they were written and signed by the duke of acquitaine's own hand. when those present had promised to serve him against all but the king of france and his children, he ordered his ministers to write to many of the principal towns letters of the following import, which were sent to amiens. he then departed from arras for his county of flanders, to do the same. 'very dear and good friends, being ever desirous that you and all other loyal subjects of my lord the king, the wellwishers of the duke of acquitaine, dauphin of vienne, should be advertised of whatever may affect his honour and estate, that of his realm and the public good, that efficient remedies may be provided according to the exigency of the case, we in consequence signify to you the very singular request of my said lord of acquitaine, duly made to us by three different letters, written and signed by his own hand, containing in substance, that on the pleasure and service we were ever willing to do him, we should incontinently come to him as well and greatly accompanied as possible. 'we obeyed these his orders, as in duty bound, knowing the bondage and danger he was and still is in, from his confinement in the castle of the louvre by certain persons, contrary to justice and reason, and to his sore and bitter displeasure. we marched an armed force in consequence, not through any ambition or lust of having any part in the government of the kingdom, nor to break or any way infringe the peace we have so lately promised and sworn to keep, which we are above all things desirous of preserving, but solely in obedience to the good will and pleasure of my lord the king and of my said lord of acquitaine, and to obtain for him his just freedom. for this cause did we peaceably advance to the town of st denis, without molesting or despoiling any person, but paying courteously for all that we had need of; and instantly on our arrival there, we sent by our herald, artois king at arms, sealed letters addressed to my lord the king, my lady the queen, my lord of acquitaine, and to the good town of paris,--in which we notified our coming, not with any intent of warfare, or to infringe the peace, but by the orders of my lord of acquitaine, and to obey his good pleasure (as the saying is), requesting at the same time to have audiences of my lord the king and of my lord of acquitaine, to the performance of our duty, and to the accomplishment of their will and pleasure, to which we are bound. 'notwithstanding this, the presentation of our said letters was most rigorously prevented by the count d'armagnac and his adherents, without any reasonable cause, and through contempt and malice to us and our friends. the said count even told our herald, that if he did not instantly depart, or if any of our people should again return on this errand, he would have their heads cut off. in consequence, we marched in person from the town of st denis, grandly accompanied by men at arms and archers, on the saturday, the th of this month, february, to the walls of paris, without doing harm to any person, but with the intent of amicably explaining the reasons for our thus appearing in arms, and with the expectation of receiving a more gracious answer than was given to our herald; but when we had arrived before the town, and had sent to the gate of st honoré, which was the nearest to us, our herald, and after him four of our principal knights, to request an hearing, they were told, that if they did not immediately retire, the guards would shoot at them; and without hearing or saving any more, some cross-bows were discharged, which was, and not without reason, highly displeasing to us. 'although all these disorderly acts were done without the knowledge or consent of the king, or of the duke of acquitaine, and although several of our officers were made prisoners, we most patiently bore the whole, from our love of peace; and from our affectionate duty to the king and my lord of acquitaine, we quietly returned to st denis, where, during our stay, we permitted all sorts of provision to pass free to paris, the same as before our arrival there. we have nevertheless had information, that through malicious instigations, contrary to the honour and interest of my lord the king, my lord of acquitaine, and the public welfare, and against their will and intention, very many letters have been unjustly and wickedly issued, by which the king has, as we are told, banished from his kingdom us and all who attended us before the walls of paris,--notwithstanding that neither we nor they have at present, or at any other time, neglected our duty to him, nor are we of those who formerly besieged him in the town of paris, and who have, in many parts of his realm, damnably set fire to houses, slain his subjects, forced women, violated maidens, pillaged and destroyed churches, castles, towns and mansions, committing at the same time unheard-of cruelties and mischiefs. 'the advisers of this measure, proceeding in their wicked projects from bad to worse, keep my lord the king and my lord of acquitaine under their subjection and control. 'on this account, therefore, my very dear and good friends, and because such things are contrary to the articles of the peace concluded at auxerre, and confirmed at pontoise, we, who are of so great importance, cannot longer suffer them, more especially when we consider the dangerous state in which the king and my lord of acquitaine are held. deputations have been likewise sent from many of the great towns, such as paris, rheims, rouen, laon, beauvais and others, who have solemnly sworn to support and assist all who shall maintain this peace, and strenuously to oppose those who shall infringe it. we affirm these things to you for truth, so that should you hear the contrary you may not give credit to it, but ever remain faithful and loyal subjects to my lord the king and my lord of acquitaine, such as you have ever been, and aid and assist us in the part we have taken, for we have the utmost confidence in your zeal. 'in truth, we expect, through the help of god, and other assistance, for the relief of my lord the king and my lord of acquitaine, that we may obtain for them full and free liberty of government, such as they ought to possess, and that those who now keep them in bondage may be dismissed from their presence, to reside in their own countries, as we are ready to do, for the due observance of the said peace, and the common good of the kingdom, objects of which we are very desirous. 'should there be any things which you may wish to have done, that are within our power, know for certain that we will, with god's pleasure, do them with a hearty good will,--and may he have you in his holy keeping! written in our town of arras, and sealed with our privy seal, the th day of february, in the year .' there was also written on the margin, 'the duke of burgundy, count of flanders and artois; and that you, my very dear and good friends, may be fully assured of the authenticity of the letters from my lord of acquitaine, mentioned in this paper, we send you with these presents true copies of the originals, under an official seal,' and signed 'vignier.' this letter was drawn up on sealed paper, and had for its address, 'to our very dear and well beloved, the resident burgesses and inhabitants of the town of amiens.' footnotes: [footnote : esclusieu,--a village in picardy, near peronne.] [footnote : _december._ so in the original, but it must be a mistake.] [footnote : baron,--a town in picardy, diocese of sens.] [footnote : dampmartin,--a town in the isle of france, nine leagues from paris.] [footnote : count of soissons, mentioned above.] chap. xxxi. on the retreat of the duke of burgundy from saint denis, the king of france issues orders throughout his kingdom to raise forces to march against him. when it was known to the king of france, the duke of acquitaine, the princes of the blood then in paris, and to the members of the council, that the duke of burgundy, on his retreat from st denis, had left large garrisons in the towns of compiegne, soissons, and other places belonging to the king, or at least under his government, they were greatly surprised, thinking he had no just cause for so doing. to obviate the consequences of this conduct, certain royal edicts were instantly dispatched throughout the bailiwicks and seneschalships in the realm, commanding them to raise forces to resist the future proceedings of the duke of burgundy, which edicts, and particularly that addressed to the bailiff of amiens, were as follows. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'to check the many great and numberless evils that have befallen our kingdom, to the prejudice of ourself and of the public welfare, from the quarrels and wars that have arisen between some of the princes of our blood, and that our subjects may live in tranquillity under our government, and that henceforward they may be ruled with justice, which cannot take place but in times of peace,--we have, after mature deliberation, effected an union between these said princes of our blood, which they have most solemnly promised and sworn in our presence to keep inviolate. although it be not lawful for any of our subjects, whether of our blood or not, and even contrary to our express orders, to assemble any bodies of men at arms within our realm, yet it has come to our knowledge that our cousin of burgundy has complained of certain acts done, as he says, to his prejudice, and contrary to the articles of the said peace,--and for this cause he has occupied, or caused to be occupied, several castles and fortresses belonging to us, and against our will; that he has received in his country, and admitted to his presence, several evil doers who have been guilty of treason against us. in consequence, we sent able ambassadors to our said cousin of burgundy, to admonish him to keep the peace, to offer him every legal means of redress, and to cause such reparation to be made him for any infringement of the peace, as the case might require. at the same time we summoned him to surrender the castles to us, as he was bound to do; and we commanded him not to receive any such evil doers in future, enjoining him to send those whom he had admitted to us, that they might undergo such punishments as justice should order. 'these commands he has not obeyed, nor sent any satisfactory answer. having learnt that after this our said cousin of burgundy was assembling a large body of men at arms, we sent one of the sergeants at arms of the parliament with sealed letters to him, to forbid him to raise any forces whatever. notwithstanding this, in defiance of the treaty of peace and of our positive orders, our cousin of burgundy continued to assemble men at arms and archers from all parts; and with this army he has marched from his own country, and, by fraudulent and traitorous means, has, against our will, gained possession of our towns of compiegne and soissons, which he still holds, and has placed therein garrisons of men at arms. he also attempted to gain by force our town of senlis, and has refused to surrender our castles and fortresses aforesaid, which he detains contrary to our commands: he admits to his country and to his presence every person guilty toward us, without ever sending them to us, as we had commanded him to do. he has likewise detained by force our sergeant at arms of the parliament and other messengers from our dearly beloved companion the queen, and from our very dear and well beloved son the duke of acquitaine, bearing letters from them to forbid him to do any acts contrary to the said peace, and without sending to us or to them any answers whatever. 'our said cousin of burgundy, in defiance and contempt of these our orders and prohibitions, has marched a numerous, army near to paris, accompanied by all or the greater part of those criminals who have been found guilty of treason against us, and therefore banished our realm. 'all these said things have been done, committed, and perpetrated by our said cousin of burgundy, his adherents and allies, contrary to our royal will and pleasure, in opposition to the articles of the said peace, against the tranquillity of our subjects and the public good of our kingdom. 'great inconveniences may therefore arise, unless a speedy remedy be applied to this disloyal conduct. wishing to obviate these evils, and to reduce to obedience those of our subjects who may have joined our said cousin the duke of burgundy, whose enterprises we will no longer tolerate, but are determined to repress them with the aid of those of our blood, and our other good and faithful subjects, in such wise that it shall be an example to all others. 'we therefore command and strictly enjoin, that on receiving these presents, you do, with a loud voice and with sound of trumpet, in our name, proclaim the arriere-ban[ ]; and that you do repeat this proclamation throughout your bailiwick, so that no one may plead ignorance of it, enforcing obedience to the same from all nobles and others within your jurisdiction who have been used to arms, or in a state to bear arms, and from all who may hold fiefs or arriere-fiefs of the value of twenty livres tournois. you will see that prompt attention be paid to our command by all nobles, citizens and inhabitants of the towns within your bailiwick, on the faith and homage they owe to us, and under pain of confiscation of estates and goods, should they not join us in all diligence with the greatest possible number of men at arms and archers, without any excuse or denial whatever. 'you will enjoin the inhabitants of your principal towns to send instantly to our good city of paris men at arms and archers, mounted on horseback and sufficiently accompanied,--and we command them thus to do for our service in this matter, and wherever else we may employ them, forbidding them at the same time, under the severest execution of the penalties aforesaid, to obey, in any manner whatever, the summons, orders, or requests of our said cousin of burgundy, or under pretence of serving us, or under other pretexts, to aid or promote his designs. 'should any persons within your jurisdiction have joined him, let them instantly return, and not give him either support or advice. you will arrest all whom you shall know to be favourable to him, or who have joined him, whenever you can lay hands on them. should you not be able to do this, summon them, under pain of banishment; and take possession, in our name, of all their effects, moveable and immoveable, whatever, which you will administer on our behalf. 'you will also make public proclamation in our name, for all prelates, abbots, priors, chaplains and other churchmen, who are bound to supply us with carts, sumpter horses, and other services from their fiefs, instantly to perform them and send them to us. you will, in case of their neglecting the same, seize their temporalities, or use such other measures as are customary in such like cases. 'at the same time, you will strictly forbid in our name, under the aforesaid penalties, all labourers, tradespeople, or others, excepting those before mentioned, to assemble in arms, or to collect together in companies, after the manner of the pillagers in former times, but give orders that they do apply to their labour or trades. should any be found to act contrary, you will imprison them, and inflict on them such punishment as justice may ordain, to serve as examples to others. 'we likewise command and enjoin you to suffer all men at arms and archers, whether from our kingdom or elsewhere, that may be on their march to join us, to pass freely through your bailiwick, without any let or hindrance whatever, notwithstanding any letters or orders from us to the contrary, unless of a subsequent date to these presents, and signed by ourself in council; and you will afford to such person or persons every aid, encouragement, and advice, should need be, in any of our towns, castles, bridges or passes, that may tend to obstruct them on their march. this we order to be done without refusal or contradiction, for such is our will and pleasure; and you will certify to our faithful chancellor your proceedings in this business, that your diligence may be the more apparent; and be careful, under pain of deprivation of office, and of the aforesaid punishments, that there be no neglect on your part. 'we will beside, and command you by these presents, that in regard to all quarrels, suits, debts, or prosecutions for any matters in litigation that may have been brought before you within your bailiwick against those who may have set out to join us in obedience to our summons, you do defer pronouncing any sentence or sentences thereon, until fifteen days be expired after the return home of the parties serving us, and that you do order all provosts, judges, or officers under you, to do the same; and should any sentences have been passed, or further proceedings thereon, you will stay the same, and without delay make every possible reparation. 'for the carrying our said will into execution, we, by these presents, do give you full and ample authority; and by them also we command all officers of justice, and others our subjects, diligently to attend to and obey your orders, issued for the above purposes, and to afford you aid and advice, and even the use of their prisons, should it be found necessary. 'given at paris, the th day of february, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' signed, on the report of the grand council held by the queen, the duke of acquitaine and others, 'jean du chastel.' this edict was sent to amiens, and there proclaimed. it caused great distress to all who had joined the party of the duke of burgundy, as well within paris and its neighbourhood as elsewhere, for very many were arrested and beheaded: others were imprisoned, and their fortunes confiscated. another edict was soon after issued, after great deliberation in council, and published throughout france, by which the duke of burgundy was deprived of all the favours that had formerly been done him, and he and all his partisans were banished the kingdom. this was the tenour of the edict. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting. 'whereas, after the very cruel and damnable murder lately perpetrated by the order and instigation of john our cousin of burgundy, on the person of our very dear and well beloved only brother louis, duke of orleans, of good memory, whose soul may god pardon! the said duke of burgundy came to our good town of paris, attended by a numerous body of men at arms, against our will and in defiance of our commands to the contrary, and there endeavoured to justify himself from this atrocious murder, by means notoriously false, and by many arguments scandalous and offensive to our majesty and to the public weal. 'we, considering the very many evils that might ensue in consequence of this murder to our subjects and kingdom, and being desirous to obviate the same, did order our very dear son and beloved nephew, the present duke of orleans, with our very dear and well beloved nephew the count de vertus, his brother, children to our late brother, and minors, to meet us in our town of chartres, where we formed a pacification between our said nephews and the duke of burgundy; and although the terms of this pacification were extraordinary and harsh to our said nephews, nevertheless they subscribed to them in obedience to us, and from pity to the subjects of the realm, who must have suffered greatly from the intestine wars that would otherwise have taken place. 'notwithstanding the duke of burgundy swore in our hands to the observance of this treaty, and that he would thenceforward be a loyal and sincere friend to our said nephews and their adherents, he very shortly acted contrary to this oath and solemn promise, by revenging himself on some of our servants, whom he suspected to have advised us to have justice done on him for the murder of our said brother the duke of orleans, and also to continue his wicked designs of gaining the sole government of our person and kingdom. this was the true reason for his committing so foul a murder, and for arresting many of our faithful servants,--some of whom he caused to be put to death, and, by unjust and iniquitous means, exacted from others exorbitant and immense sums of money. 'in consequence, our nephews of orleans, seeing that the duke of burgundy was infringing daily, and in various ways, the treaty which he had sworn to keep at chartres, and was regardless of all that he had promised, most humbly but earnestly supplicated us at different times, that we would administer justice on the murderers of their father, as we were bounden to do; but the duke of burgundy, who had deprived us of our most loyal servants, and in their room had placed others attached to him, prevented us from hearing their complaints, and from rendering the justice it became us to administer. and what was worse, our nephews perceiving that they could not obtain any redress from us, through the interference of the duke of burgundy, resolved to make war personally upon him, to revenge the murder of their father, as was natural for them to do. 'the duke of burgundy then accused them (and published falsely, contrary to all resemblance of truth, as we are fully informed and assured), that they and others of our blood, being in their company, wished to deprive us of our royal estate and dignity, and make a new king of france. and under pretence of these lies and charges, contrary to all truth, he raised our people against them, wishing to cover his wicked intentions and quarrel with lies, whence, as every one knows, so many and serious misfortunes have arisen. 'under pretext of this warfare, the duke of burgundy has caused to be arrested and confined in our prison of the châtelet at paris, and elsewhere, numbers of considerable gentlemen, knights and squires, because he charged them with being favourable to the wellwishers of the party of our nephews, or inclined to others of our blood and lineage in their company: many whom he thus imprisoned he made suffer the cruellest tortures, and then put them to death without a shadow of reason or justice. 'some he starved to death in prison, denying them confessors or any of the ecclesiastical sacraments, throwing their bodies into the fields to be devoured by dogs, birds, or wild beasts, without allowing them to have christian burial, or that their new-born children should be baptised, which is expressly against our religion. in these transactions, the most horrid and unheard-of cruelties were committed. 'under cover of this war, which neither was nor ought to have been ours, but his own, and personal to himself, this burgundian caused excessive and extraordinary taxes to be raised on our people, by tallies, loans, and other means; such as seizing the treasures of churches, the deposits in our courts of parliament, châtelet, and elsewhere, which had been there placed for the advantage of widows, and children under age, or for the purpose of completing purchases or repayment of mortgages. 'the said burgundian also made great depreciations in our coin, by which he gained large sums of money, but to the severe loss of us, our people, and the public welfare. by these and other equally fraudulent means has he reaped very considerable profit, and for these two or three years last past has applied to his own benefit the money of our people, amounting to ten hundred thousand golden florins at the least, as has been clearly demonstrated to us by the statement of the accounts, without any part of it being employed for our service. 'this has caused a failure and total stoppage of commerce, so necessary to us and our kingdom, for some time past; consequently the revenues of our domain and taxes have been shamefully diminished, as is notorious to all. 'but not contented with this, and in the design of totally destroying our nephews aforesaid, our very dear and well beloved uncle the duke of berry, and several others of our blood, with the intent of gaining the sole government of our kingdom to himself, the duke of burgundy constrained us and our dearly beloved eldest son the duke of acquitaine to oppose with force of arms our said nephews and their adherents, under colour that the war was ours--whereas it was no such thing--and obliged us to march from paris against them, as if they had not alway been our very loyal and affectionate relatives and subjects. 'in fact, we laid siege to the city of bourges, wherein was our uncle aforesaid; and we were detained before it for upwards of six weeks against our will, and to our very great displeasure. 'we and our son were in great personal danger, as well from the excessive heat of the season as from the attacks made on our army, insomuch that we thought it right to remove to our town of auxerre, where we had assembled our said uncle, nephews, and other princes of our blood. there, by the grace of god and his holy aid, and by the commands of ourself and of our eldest son, certain articles of pacification were drawn up and agreed to by our said uncle, son, and nephews, with their allies, on the one part, and the duke of burgundy and his allies on the other,--which articles both parties solemnly promised and swore before us to keep, without any way infringing them. 'nevertheless, not long after we were returned to our town of paris, the said duke of burgundy, contrary to his promise on oath, came thither, intending to annul the said peace made by us, and sworn to by him, as has been before said, and caused to be drawn up certain letters in our name, which he had attached to our edict concerning the peace, by which he made us repeal and annul the greater part of what had been granted by us and our said eldest son, thus infringing the articles of the peace, namely, the restitution of estates, inheritances, honours and offices, to such as had adhered to the party of our said uncle and nephews, and to others of our blood and lineage, their allies and partisans. he has, moreover, retained, for a long space of time, against our will, and contrary to the agreements we had entered into, and his own oath, the castles of coucy and pierrefons, belonging to our said nephew the duke of orleans, with many other castles, estates, and houses of several of that party, notwithstanding letters of restitution granted by us, and verified by our court of parliament. neither the duke of orleans nor any of his adherents could regain the possession of their lands,--for there was scarcely any one member of our court of parliament who dared to gainsay the will and enterprises of the duke of burgundy or his accomplices, who were solely bent on having the entire management of us, of our dear companion the queen, our well beloved eldest son the duke of acquitaine, and the whole government of the realm. 'to keep us in the greater subjection, the said burgundian raised persons of low rank and consideration in paris to places of trust, who, by his authority and exhortations, and being in his full confidence, undertook the government of our royal self, that of the queen, the duke of acquitaine and the whole kingdom. these persons frequently came to our councils, and those of our court of parliament, in a violent and disorderly manner, menacing our faithful and honest counsellors in such wise that the regular course of justice was stopped; and it was impossible to prevent whatever they should ordain or desire from being agreed to, one way or other. 'in pursuing their wicked courses and damnable designs, it is a fact, that on friday the th day of april last passed, when the said burgundian, his accomplices, adherents, and people of low degree began to perceive that several of our blood and lineage, and others our officers, and those of our well beloved son, the members of the university, wealthy merchants and loyal burgesses of the town of paris, were discontented with their mode of government, suspecting also that they intended even to drive them from their power and authority by force, and then punish them for their malversations, caused a great assembly of the populace to be holden, the most part of whom knew not for what they were thus assembled. 'then, without any justifiable reason, they marched with displayed banners, in a warlike manner, to the hôtel of our said son, whence, against his commands and will, and to his great displeasure, they carried away our very dear and well beloved cousin the duke of bar, with many others the especial counsellors and servants of our said son, according to a written list of names which the duke of burgundy held in his hand, and who had them first conducted to his hôtel of artois, and thence to different prisons. 'not long after, on another day, these same people of low degree, by the practices of the duke of burgundy again returned to our palace of st pol with displayed banners, and with force and violence, contrary to our will and pleasure, as well as in disobedience to the commands of our said queen and eldest son, they seized our very dear and well beloved brother louis duke of bavaria, with other officers of our said son, and also certain ladies and damsels attached to and in the service of our said companion the queen, whom they arrested in her chamber, she being present, and carried to different prisons, where they were long detained in great personal danger. 'this same populace, through the connivance and encouragement of the duke of burgundy, committed a variety of crimes and excesses, such as seizing day and night, without any judicial authority, many of our officers and other inhabitants of our said town of paris, confining them in prisons, murdering some, and throwing the bodies of others into the river, by which means they were drowned, ransoming several for large sums of money, without any one daring to check or punish such atrocious acts. 'all this was done through the practices and support of the duke of burgundy; by which means he has detained us, our companion the queen, and our said eldest son, in such subjection and danger that we had not liberty to do any one thing as we should have pleased; for after these arrests had taken place, he appointed others to fill their places, who were firmly attached to him and his measures. even persons of the lowest order were raised by him to offices,--and this conduct was pursued until it pleased the lord, by means of the activity and diligence of our very dear and well beloved cousin the king of sicily, in conjunction with our dear nephews of orleans, our well beloved cousins the duke of bourbon, the counts d'alençon, d'eu, and others of our royal blood, many prelates, barons, knights, esquires, and several of our court of parliament and of our dear daughter the university of paris, and capital burgesses of that town, to restore us, our dear companion the queen and son, to that liberty which we should reasonably enjoy; and the peace that had been agreed to at auxerre was again confirmed and sworn to by the said burgundian, and others of our blood and lineage. nevertheless, the duke of burgundy, prior to the expedition which our said eldest son made, by means of the populace of paris, on the th day of august last past, exerted himself to the utmost to put an end to this peace, by having it published in several hôtels and other places in paris, that if the people consented to such a peace, it would be the ruin of the town, which was notoriously false. 'since the peace was thus renewed and confirmed, the duke of burgundy has been much discontented; and when some of those disturbers of the peace, persons of low degree, quitted paris under pretence of going to burgundy, though in fact they went to flanders, artois, and other territories of the duke, he received them graciously, criminals as they were, with other traitors and murderers of our said brother the duke of orleans, notwithstanding we had sent him especial ambassadors, who, among other things, required and commanded him in our name that those criminals whom he had received, and who had been convicted of treason against us, and consequently banished the realm for ever, should be delivered up that justice might be done on them. they also demanded restitution of several castles that he kept possession of, by himself or others, contrary to our pleasure, namely, the castles of crotoy, laon, and chinon,--but to all these demands he has been disobedient. 'the worst part of his conduct is, that under colour of the most abominable falsehoods, he has raised as large a body of men at arms and archers as was possible, as well from his own countries of burgundy and savoy as from flanders, artois and elsewhere, which he has marched to the walls of our good town of paris. to gain partisans, and an undisturbed march, he has sent sealed letters to several of our large towns to require aid and support, under colour that he was marching to paris by the command of our said eldest son, to deliver us from the bondage in which, as he said, we were detained, and which is a notorious falsehood,--for we never enjoyed greater liberty than we do at this moment, and have done ever since his departure from paris. 'it is also false that he has had any commands from us on this subject: on the contrary, we and our dear son have, by our letters patent, positively forbidden him, under pain of our displeasure, to dare to come before us with any assemblage of men at arms, which he has not only disregarded and paid no attention to, but has imprisoned one of the sergeants at arms of our court of parliament, whom we had sent with the above letters patent, solemnly to forbid his assembling any bodies of men at arms, and which he properly executed. 'pursuing his evil designs, his conduct from bad becomes worse; and, contemning the orders of us, who are his sovereign, he marched like a rebel, in a hostile manner, toward our town or paris, with the largest force he could collect, in direct opposition to our express commands, thus breaking the peace which he had so solemnly sworn to keep, and rendering himself unworthy of those graces and favours which had been shown him in former times. he has with him, and under his obedience, all those false traitors who on conviction of their treasons have been for ever banished the kingdom, that through their means he may be enabled to stir up sedition in our good town of paris and elsewhere. 'he has gained possession of our town of compiegne, although we had sent orders to the inhabitants not to suffer him to enter it with any body of men at arms, or in an hostile manner, which orders were shown to him; but he held them in contempt, and what is worse he now occupies that town, and has placed therein a garrison contrary to our commands. in like manner has he taken possession of the town of soissons, although the inhabitants had received orders similar to those sent to compiegne, of which the army of the duke of burgundy was assured. 'this burgundian has even advanced his army to st denis, which he has seized and made his head-quarters, contrary to our will and pleasure, forming of it, as it were, a frontier to our good town of paris; and by way of demonstrating his wickedness and infamous designs, he advanced his army with displayed banners, and in a warlike manner, to the very walls of paris, and remained there a long time in battle-array. he even sent his scouts to the very gates, in the hope of raising a sedition among the populace, and then entering the town by force of arms, contrary to our will, and thus acting like an enemy, and being guilty of the crime of high treason toward us, many complaints of which have been and are daily made to us on this subject. 'know ye, that having considered the above acts, and others connected with them, and the whole of the duke of burgundy's conduct since the death of our said brother to this present time, inasmuch as he has been ever ready to proceed by force of arms, and has several times notoriously disobeyed our commands, more especially in this last act, when we positively enjoined him not to march any armed force to paris, and in several others, which he has obeyed or not according to his pleasure. for these causes he is and must be esteemed ungrateful, and undeserving of all the favours that have been shown him by us in former times. 'having therefore held a grand council on the above, to which persons of all ranks were admitted, and having duly considered the same, we declare that the duke of burgundy, and all who shall give him any aid, support or advice, or join his company, contrary to our said edicts, issued by us to forbid the same, shall be, and are by these presents, held and reputed rebels to us, and violators of the peace, consequently enemies to us and to the public welfare of our kingdom. for these causes we have determined to call out our arriere-ban, and to muster such forces of those who have been accustomed to bear arms as may be sufficient to enable us to resist the perverse dispositions and attempts of the duke of burgundy, his accomplices and adherents, to reduce them to that subjection and obedience which they owe to us, and to punish them for their traitorous misdeeds, so that honour may redound to us, and they may serve in future as examples to all others. 'we give it in command by these presents to our well beloved and faithful counsellors, members of our parliament, to the provost of paris, to the bailiff of amiens, and to all other our officers of justice, to their deputies, and to each of them to whom it may appertain, that they do proclaim these presents, or cause them to be proclaimed, in the most public places within their jurisdictions where such proclamations have usually been made, so that no one may plead ignorance of the same. 'commanding also, at the same time, that all our officers and subjects who may have been used to arms do hasten with all possible speed to join and serve us in such things as we may command, with as many men at arms as they can collect, under pain of our highest displeasure and suffering confiscation of effects, or such other punishment as may be awarded against all who shall in any way disobey these our said commands. 'in testimony of which, we have to these presents affixed our seal.--given at paris, the th day of february, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d[ ].' thus signed by the king, on the report of the great council, held by the queen and my lord of acquitaine. countersigned, 'derion.' this edict was proclaimed in amiens, and afterward in the provostships, and throughout the bailiwick by commission from the said bailiff. footnotes: [footnote : _arriere-ban_,--'a proclamation, whereby those that hold of the king by a mesne tenure are summoned to assemble and serve him in his wars,--different from _ban_, whereby such are called as hold immediately of him,--also the whole troop of those mesne tenants or under vassals so assembled.' _cotgrave's dict._--see '_ban_' and '_arriere-ban_.'] [footnote : there is the most extraordinary confusion of dates throughout these state-papers, which it is, probably, utterly impossible to rectify by any conjectural emendations: but it seems right to take some notice of the circumstance, as at first sight it appears a most culpable oversight. it is not only here but throughout the book that this confusion prevails, as is very evident from the challenges of the arragonian esquire in the beginning of the volume.] end of the third volume. at the hafod press, by ja. henderson. transcriber's note: inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original. transcriber's note: a few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text. * * * * * the boke of noblesse addressed to king edward the fourth on his invasion of france in * * * * * with an introduction by john gough nichols, f.s.a. * * * * * [illustration] burt franklin new york * * * * * published by lenox hill pub. & dist. co. (burt franklin) east th st., new york, n.y. reprinted: printed in the u.s.a. burt franklin: research and source works series selected studies in history, economics, & social science: n.s. (b) medieval, renaissance & reformation studies reprinted from the original edition in the university of minnesota library. library of congress cataloging in publication data the boke of noblesse. reprint of the ed. printed for the roxburghe club. . chivalry--history. . hundred years' war, - . . great britain--history--edward iv, - . i. roxburghe club, london. cr .b '. ' - isbn - - - * * * * * the roxburghe club. mdccclx. the duke of buccleuch and queensberry, k.g. president. the duke of hamilton and brandon. the duke of sutherland, k.g. his excellency monsieur van de weyer. marquis of lothian. earl of carnarvon. earl of powis, v.p. earl cawdor. earl of ellesmere. lord vernon. lord delamere. lord dufferin. lord wensleydale. right hon. sir david dundas. hon. robert curzon, jun. sir stephen richard glynne, bart. sir edward hulse, bart. sir john benn walsh, bart. sir john simeon, bart. sir james shaw willes. nathaniel bland, esq. beriah botfield, esq. treasurer. rev william edward buckley. paul butler, esq. francis henry dickinson, esq. thomas gaisford, esq. ralph neville grenville, esq. rev. edward craven hawtrey, d.d. robert stayner holford, esq. adrian john hope, esq. alex. james beresford hope, esq. rev. john stuart hippisley horner, m.a. john arthur lloyd, esq. evelyn philip shirley, esq. william stirling, esq. simon watson taylor, esq. george tomline, esq. charles towneley, esq. * * * * * to the president and members of the roxburghe club this interesting historical treatise, written in encouragement of the invasion of france by king edward the fourth in , is dedicated and presented by their obedient servant, delamere. june , . * * * * * {i} introduction. * * * * * the book of noblesse, which is now for the first time printed, was addressed to king edward the fourth for a political purpose, on a great and important occasion. he was in the midst of his second reign, living in high prosperity. he had subdued his domestic enemies. his lancastrian rivals were no longer in existence, and the potent king-maker had fought his last field. edward was the father of two sons; and had no immediate reason to dread either of his younger brothers, however unkind and treacherous we now know them to have been. he was the undisputed king of england, and, like his predecessors, the titular king of france. his brother-in-law the duke of burgundy, who had befriended him in his exile in , was continually urging, for his own ambitious views, that the english should renew their ancient enterprises in france; and edward, notwithstanding his natural indolence, was at last prepared to carry his arms into that country. the project was popular with all those who were burning for military fame, indignant at the decay of the english name upon the continent, or desirous to improve their fortunes by the acquisitions of conquest. the book of noblesse was written to excite and inflame such sentiments and expectations. its unknown author was connected with those who had formerly profited by the occupation of the english provinces in france, and particularly with the celebrated sir john fastolfe, knight of the garter, whom the writer in several places mentions as "myne autor." sir john fastolfe had survived the losses of his countrymen in france, and died at an advanced age in the year . it seems not at all improbable that the substance of this book was written during his life-time, and that it was merely revised and augmented on the eve of edward the fourth's invasion of france. all the historical events which are mentioned in it date at least some five-and-twenty years before that expedition. the author commences his composition by an acknowledgment, how necessary it is in the beginning of every good work, to implore the grace of god: and then {ii} introduces a definition of true nobility or noblesse, in the words of "kayus' son," as he designates the younger pliny. he next states that his work was suggested by the disgrace which the realm had sustained from the grievous loss of the kingdom of france, the duchies of normandy, gascony, and guienne, and the counties of maine and ponthieu; which had been recovered by the french party, headed by charles the seventh, in the course of fifteen months, and chiefly during the year . to inspire a just indignation of such a reverse, he recalls all the ancestral glories of the english nation, from their first original in the ancient blood of troy, and through all the triumphs of the saxons, danes, normans, and angevyns. of the romans in england he says nothing, though in his subsequent pages he draws much from roman history. the next chapter sets forth how every man of worship in arms should resemble the lion in disposition, being eager, fierce, and courageous. in illustration of this it may be remarked, that froissart, when describing the battle of poictiers, says of the black prince, "the prince of wales, who was _as courageous and cruel as a lion_, took great pleasure this day in fighting and chasing his enemies." so our first richard is still popularly known by his martial epithet of coeur de lyon: and that the lion was generally considered the fit emblem of knightly valour is testified by its general adoption on the heraldic shields of the highest ranks of feudal chivalry. the royal house of england displayed three lions, and the king of beasts was supposed to be peculiarly symbolic of their race-- your brother kings and monarchs of the earth do all expect that you should rouse yourself as did the former lions of your blood. shakspere's henry v. act i. scene . in the following chapter the author proceeds to describe "how the french party began first to offend, and break the truce." this truce had been concluded at tours on the th of may . the french are stated to have transgressed it first by capturing certain english merchant-men on the sea; and next by taking as prisoners various persons who bore allegiance to the english king. of such are enumerated sir giles son of the duke of bretagne[ ]; sir simon morhier, the {iii} provost of paris, taken at dieppe[ ]; one mansel an esquire, taken on the road between rouen and dieppe, in january - [ ]; and the lord fauconberg, taken at pont de l'arche on the th may .[ ] the writer is careful to state that these acts of aggression on the part of the french, or some of them, were committed "before the taking of fugiers," for it was by that action that the english party had really brought themselves into difficulty.[ ] there is next discussed (p. ) "a question of great charge and weight, whether it be lawful to make war upon christian blood." this is determined upon the authority of a book entitled the tree of batailes, a work which had evidently already acquired considerable popularity whilst still circulated in manuscript only, {iv} and which so far retained its reputation when books began to be multiplied by the printing-press as to be reproduced on several occasions. our author frequently recurs to it, but his references do not agree with the book as it now remains; and it is remarkable that he attributes it, not to honoré bonnet its real author,[ ] but to one dame christine, whom he describes (see his note in p. ) as an inmate of the house of religious ladies at passy near paris. it would seem, therefore, that he made use of a somewhat different book, though probably founded on the celebrated work of honoré bonnet. the fact of wars sometimes originating from motives of mere rivalry or revenge prompts the writer or commentator (whose insertions i have distinguished as proceeding from a "second hand,") to introduce some remarks on the inveterate and mortal enmity that had prevailed between the houses of burgundy and orleans, which led to so many acts of cruelty and violence at the beginning of the fifteenth century. king edward is next reminded "how saint louis exhorted and counselled his son to move no war against christian people;" but, notwithstanding that blessed king's counsel,[ ] it is declared on the other hand that "it is notarily and openly {v} known through all christian realms that our adverse party hath moved and excited war and battles both by land and sea against this noble realm without any justice or title, and without ways of peace showed; and consequently it might be without note of tiranny for the king of england to defend (or drive away) those assailants upon his true title, and to put himself in devoir to conquer his rightful inheritance." the writer then bursts forth into a passionate exhortation to the english nation, to remember their ancient prowess, the annals of which he proceeds to set forth in several subsequent chapters. he enumerates the examples of king arthur, of brennus, edmond ironside, william the conqueror, henry the first, his brother robert elect king of jerusalem, fulke earl of anjou, richard coeur de lyon, philip dieudonné of france, edward the first, and richard earl of cornwall and emperor of almaine. he rehearses how edward the third had the victory at the battle of scluse, gat caen by assault, won the field at the great and dolorous battle of cressy, captured david king of scots and charles duke of bretany, and took calais by siege; how edward prince of wales made john king of france prisoner at poictiers; and how the battle of nazar was fought in spain. in the following chapter it is related how king henry the fifth conquered normandy; under which head a particular account is given of the defence of harfleur against the power of france. here it is that the name of sir john fastolfe is first introduced as an authority, in respect to a circumstance of that siege, which is, that the watchmen availed themselves of the assistance of mastiffs--"and as for wache and ward yn the wynter nyghtys i herd the seyd ser johan fastolfe sey that every man kepyng the scout wache had a masty hound at a lyes (_or_ leash), to barke and warne yff ony adverse partye were commyng to the dykes or to aproche the towne for to scale yt." the chapter concludes with a mention of the battle of agincourt and the marriage of king henry to the french king's daughter. the following chapters (pp. et seq.) contain how in the time of john duke of bedford, who was for thirteen years regent of france, the victory of cravant was obtained by his lieutenant the earl of salisbury; how the duke in his own person won the battle of verneuil in perche; how that the greater part of the county of mayne, and the city of mauns, with many other castles, were brought {vi} into subjection; and how that henry the sixth, by the might of great lords, was crowned king in paris; after which the writer bursts forth into another exhortation, or "courageous recomforting" of the "valiauntnes of englishemen." the author now flies off (p. ) to more remote examples, to the noblesse of that vaillant knight hector of troy, to the deeds in arms of agamemnon the puissaunt king of greece, and to those of ulysses and hercules. he recites, from the book of vegetius on military tactics,[ ] how a conqueror should especially practise three things,--the first, a scientific prudence or caution: the second, exercitacion and usage in deeds of arms: and the third, a diligent regard to the welfare of his people. he next argues how men of noblesse ought to leave sensualities and delights. in the following chapters (p. et seq.), he sets forth the king's title to the duchy of normandy, to the inheritance of anjou, maine, and touraine, and to the duchies of gascoigne and guienne. the "historier" proceedeth (p. ) in his matter of exhortation, strengthening his arguments by the heterogeneous authority of master alanus de auriga, of "the clerke of eloquence tullius," of caton, the famous poet ovid, and walter malexander. the work of the first of these authors, alain chartier, seems to have been at once the source from which many of our author's materials were derived, and also to have furnished the key-note upon which he endeavoured to pitch his {vii} appeals to the patriotism and prowess of his countrymen. alain chartier[ ] had been secretary to king charles the seventh, and wrote his quadrilogue[ ] in the year , in defence of the native party in france, and in opposition to the english usurpation. our author imitates his rhapsodical eloquence, and borrows some of his verbal artillery and munitions of war, whilst he turns them against the party of their original deviser. in the subsequent pages several anecdotes are derived from alain chartier[ ]; and further advice is drawn from the arbre des batailles (pp. , ), and from the treatise of vegetius (p. ). it is related (p. ) how king john lost the duchy of normandy for lack of finaunce to wage his soldiers; and next follows (p. ) a long and important chapter recounting the various truces made between the kings of england and france, and showing how frequently they had been broken by the french party, to the decay of the english power, except when revived by the victories of edward the third and henry the fifth. this part of the discussion is concluded with a representation (p. ) of the lamentable condition of the french subjects of the english crown, when put out of their lands and tenements. "heh allas! (thei did crie,) and woo be the tyme (they saide) that ever we shulde put affiaunce and trust to the frenshe partie or theire allies in any trewes-keping, considering so many-folde tymes we have ben deceived and myschevid thoroughe suche dissimuled trewes!" yet, notwithstanding all these discouragements, a confident trust is expressed that the inheritance of france will at length be brought to its true and right estate. the writer then proposes (p. ) a question to be resolved by divines, how be {viii} it that at some times god suffereth the party that hath a true title and right to be overcome, yet for all that a man should not be discouraged from pursuing his right. he mentions the last unfortunate overthrow sustained at formigny[ ] in , and the consequent loss of guienne and bordeaux. after which follows (p. ) "another exhortation of the historier," addressed to the "highe and myghtifulle prince, king of englonde and of france, and alle y^e other noble princes and other puissaunt lordes and nobles of divers astates olde or yong." a brief recommendation ensues of the deeds in arms of that mightiful prince of renommee henry the fifth and the three full mighty and noble princes his brethren; where, in the commendation of humphrey duke of gloucester, the second hand has inserted a note of his "bokys yovyng, as yt ys seyd to the value of m^l marks, of the vij sciences, of dyvinite, as of law spirituall and cyvyle, to the universite of oxford." allusion is made (p. ) to the order of the garter, "founded (as yt ys seyd) in token of worship that he being in bataile, what fortune fille, shulde not voide the feeld, but abide the fortune that god lust sende;" of which fellowship sir john chandos, seneschal of poictou, had been a right noble exemplar. the historical reminiscences of the author then again lead him on to the disastrous period during which the continental possessions of england had been lost, "within the space of one year and fourteen (fifteen) weeks, that is to wete, from the xv. day of may in the year unto the xv. day of august in the year , that every castle, fortress, and town defensable of the said duchies were delivered up by force or composition to the adverse party." after a break (p. ), in consequence of the loss of a leaf of the manuscript, we find ourselves in the midst of a discussion of the merits of astrology. the author addresses himself to combat the prevalent confidence in prophecies and in the influence of the stars: "which judgments (he avers) be not necessarily true;" but merely contingent or likely, and, he adds, "as likely not to be as to be." for if, he puts the case, "a constellation or a prophecy signified that such a year or within {ix} such a time there should fall war, pestilence, or dearth of vitaile to a country or region, or privation of a country, it is said but dispositively, and not of necessity or certainty; for then it should follow that the prophecies, constellations, and influence of the stars were masters over god's power, and that would soune to a heresy, or else to a great error." after this pious determination upon a question that at that period presented great difficulties, the author adds, that he believed god to have bestowed that sovereignty upon man's soul, that, having a clean soul, he might even turn the judgment of constellations or prophecies to the contrary disposition: to which effect he quotes the bold assertion of the famous astrologian ptolemy, _quod homo sapiens dominatur astris._ with these sentiments, rising superior to the general prejudices of the age, our author proceeds confidently to censure the moral causes of the recent calamities, which in his judgment had ensued "for lak of prudence and politique governaunce in dew time provided," and from "havyng no consideracion to the comon wele, but rather to magnifie and enriche one silfe by singler covetise, using to take gret rewardis and suffering extorcions over the pore peple." on this subject he subsequently speaks still more plainly. this leads him to reflect upon the fate of many realms and countries that had been ruined by sin and misgovernance: as the old bretons were, when driven out of england by the saxons into cornwall and wales. "and where (he exclaims[ ]) is nynnyve, the gret cite of thre daies? and babilon, the gret toure, inhabited now withe wilde bestis? the citeis of troy and thebes, ij. grete magnified citeis? also athenes, that was the welle of connyng and of wisdom?" carthage, "the victorioux cite of gret renomme," had been burnt to ashes by the romans. rome {x} herself had for the greater part been overthrown; and jerusalem had shared the like fate. in the succeeding portions of his work the compiler takes much of his matter from roman history: which he derives from the decades of titus livius, either directly, or through the medium of the "tree of batailes." tullius and cato are also repeatedly cited. it is unnecessary to notice here all the historical anecdotes thus introduced, as they will at once be seen on turning over the pages; but attention should be directed to one of the most remarkable passages in the book, in which the writer quotes the sentiments of "myne autor," sir john fastolfe:-- "i hafe herd myne autor fastolfe sey, when he had yong knyghtys and nobles at his solasse (_i.e._ tuition), how that there be twey maner condicions of manly men, and one ys a manlye man called, another ys a hardye man; but he sayd the manlye man ys more to be comended, more then the hardy man; for the hardy man that sodenly, bethout discrecion of gode avysement, avauncyth hym yn the felde to be hadde couragiouse, and wyth grete aventur he scapyth, voidith the felde allone, but he levyth his felyshyp detrussed (or disordered). and the manly man, hys policie ys that (if) he avaunce hym and hys felyshyp at skirmish or sodeyn racountre, he wulle so discretely avaunce hym that he wulle entend [_i.e._ be sure] to hafe the over-hand of hys adversarye, and safe hymself and hys felyshyp." it was thus that the experienced captain sir john fastolfe distinguished between the rashly daring and those who bravely embarked on some feasible and well conceived exploit. it is evident that the term "hardy" was then sometimes understood in the sense we now call fool-hardy.[ ] the author himself uses the word "fool-hardiesse" in p. . {xi} at p. will be found another anecdote of sir john fastolfe. it shows that the writer had access to those books of accompt which sir john had kept when a captain in france. "i fynde (he says) by his bookes of hys purveonds how yn every castell, forteresse, and cyte or towne, he wolde hafe grete providence of vitaille, of cornys, of larde, and beoffes, of stok physsh and saltfysh owt of england commyng by shyppes." it was because of his good management in this respect that the regent and lords of the council intrusted so many castles to his custody that he yearly had under his command three hundred spears (or mounted men-at-arms) with their attendants. also in like manner he purveyed yearly for his soldiers a livery of red and white; and equipments sufficient for any naked man that was able to do the king and regent service. the good result of this provision was manifested on a memorable occasion, when the duke of exeter was captain of the city of paris, and fastolfe captain of the bastille of st. anthoine. it happened, in consequence of the arrest of the lord de lisle adam,[ ] a favourite with the commons of the city, that they suddenly took arms, and rebelled against the duke of exeter, who found it necessary to repair to the bastille for his defence. {xii} at his coming the first question he asked of fastolfe was how far he was furnished with corn, with wheat, beans, peasen, and aveyn for horse-meat, and with other vitail. fastolfe replied, with sufficient for a half-year or more: which gave the prince great "comfort," or re-assurance. so he made ready his ordnance, and discharged the great guns amongst the rebels, with mighty shot of arrows: by which means, and because the french king and queen, who were in the city, also held against the rebels, the burgesses were in a short time constrained to submit to the mercy of the duke of exeter.[ ] at p. occurs a curious chapter in the praise of agriculture, or "labourage of the londe" as it is there termed, illustrated by a description of the gardens and herbers of king cyrus. but the most important portion of the whole work, in an historical point of view, is the chapter commencing at p. , intended to inforce the wisdom and necessity of making just pay to soldiers, for eschewing of great inconveniences that may otherwise insue. it is here admitted that in this respect there had been more neglect in the english possessions in france than was elsewhere known[ ]: {xiii} that in consequence the people had suffered great oppression from the soldiers taking their vitail without payment, and that such abuses had continued unchecked for ten or twelve years previously to the country being lost. our author advises that the chieftains and captains should be duly paid their wages, either monthly, as had been usual during the time of the regent bedford, or quarterly, and that without any reward of courtesy, bribe, defalcation, or abridgment, or any undue assignation; and that such payments be made content without delay, or long and great pursuit. it appears from the writer's statements, that the royal officers, deputies, and commissioners had not only been guilty of the practices thus denounced, but that those officers themselves had been needlessly numerous, living as they did upon bribery and extortion, and neglecting the exercise of arms necessary for the defence and protection of the territory. oftentimes they had wasted of the subjects'[ ] livelode more than was necessary, and oftentimes had suffered them to be menaced and beaten, and mischieved their beasts with their weapons, so that they were nigh out of their wits for sorrow, and thus enforced "for duresse" to forsake the title and laws of their english sovereign. moreover, they had been so often grievously surcharged with paying of tasques, tails (or tolls), subsidies, and impositions, besides their rents paid either to the crown or their landlords, and many of them dwelling upon the marches having also patised (or compounded?) to the adverse party in order to dwell in rest, that these innumerable charges and divers torments had effected their uttermost undoing. the author cannot quit these reflections without this passionate appeal to the almighty: "oh god! which art most mercifulle and highest juge, soverein and just, how maist thou long suffre this (misery) regnyng without the stroke of vengeaunce and ponisshement commyng upon the depryvyng or yelding up of that dukedom?" the next chapter (p. ) appears to intimate that the writer personally sympathised in the degradation of the clergy. "moreover, (he exclaims,) in way of gret pitee, and in the worship of god, suffre ye not the prelates of the chirche of that lande, as archebisshoppis, bisshoppis, abbatis, priours, denes, archedenes, and their ministrours, to be oppressid, revaled, ne vileyned, as in your predecessour's {xiv} daies they have been accepted in fulle litelle reverence or obedience;" having as he alleges been privily coerced to give to the rulers, governors, and masters of the marches and countries great fees, wages, and rewards, for permission to live at rest upon their livelodes. and oftentimes they were visited by strangers of great estate, both spiritual and temporal, and particularly by those intrusted with the administration of the laws, besides other needless people that wasted and surcharged them, an exaction beyond the intent of their foundation, which was merely to maintain their appointed numbers, praying for their founders, and to feed the poor and needy in case of necessity. the following chapter (p. ) is a remarkable one in respect to ancient chivalric usages. it sets forth "how lordis sonnes and noble men of birthe, for the defense of her londe, shulde exercise hem in armes lernyng." it is urged that "the sonnes of princes, of lordis, and for the most part of alle tho that ben comen and descendid of noble bloode, as of auncien knightis, esquiers, and other auncient gentille men, while they ben of grene age, (should be) drawen forthe, norisshed, and excercised in disciplines, doctrine, and usage of scole of armes, as using justis, to renne with speer, handle withe ax, sworde, dagger, and alle othir defensible wepyn, to wrestling, to skeping, leping, and rennyng, to make hem hardie, deliver, and wele brethed;" ... "and not to be unkonnyng, abashed, ne astonied for to take entrepresis, to answer or deliver a gentilman that desires in worship to doo armes in liestis, (either) to the utteraunce or to certein pointis, or in a quarelle rightful to fight," or in time of war to defend their sovereign and his realm. such was the ancient custom of the kings both of france and of england: as especially of king edward the third, and of henry duke of lancaster. that chivalrous knight, who was accounted "a chief auctour and foundour in law of armes," had (as the writer was told by sir john fastolfe) sent to him from princes and lords of strange regions, as out of spain, aragon, portugal, navarre, and france, their children, young knights, "to be doctrined, lerned, and brought up in his noble court, in scole of armes, and for to see noblesse, curtesie, and worship." this useful custom had been maintained by other noble princes and lords of great birth; but now of late days, (continues our author,) the greater pity is! many that be descended of noble blood and born to arms, as the sons of knights and esquires and of other gentle blood, set themselves to "singuler practik" and to "straunge facultees," as to learn "the practique of law or custom of lands, or of civil matier," and so waste greatly their time in such needless business, as to undertake the holding of manorial courts, to keep and bear out a proud {xv} countenance at the holding of sessions and shire-motes,[ ] and "there to embrace[ ] and rule among youre pore and symple comyns of bestialle contenaunce that lust to lyve in rest." and it is added, that whoever could put himself forward as a ruler in such matters, was, "as the worlde goithe now," more esteemed among all estates than he who had expended thirty or forty years of his life in great jeopardies in the conquests and wars of his sovereign. the author pursues the argument at greater length, as the reader will find, and expresses his decided opinion that the high-born personages in question should rather learn to be good men of arms, chieftains, or captains in the field, than to be a captain or ruler at a sessions or shire-day; leaving such matters to the king's justices and officers,[ ] and that "suche singuler practik shulde not be accustumed and occupied undewly with suche men that be come of noble birthe,"--except (it is added on second thoughts) he be the younger brother, having not whereof to live honestly. the following chapter (p. ) discusses "how officers of the law shulde be {xvi} chosen, welle disposid and temperate men, vertuous in condicion, and they to be protectid by lordis and noble men of birthe." there is nothing however in this chapter so remarkable as in that which has preceded. the author next shows (p. ) "how over gret cost and pomp in clothing shulde be eschewed;" in which respect he asserts that in france "alle costius arraiementis of clothing, garmentis, and bobauncees, and the usaige of pellure and furres they have expresselie put away:" whilst in england the like "costues arraymentis and disguising of clothing, of so many divers facion," had caused impoverishing of the land, and excited great pride, envy, and wrath amongst the people. whether this was truly a national grievance may be doubted. it is, however, more probable that the "pore comyns" of england had really suffered, as set forth in the succeeding chapter (p. ), "gret hurt and inconvenientis because the creditours have not been duelie paid of here lonys and prestis made to high sovereins." this, it is stated, had been oftentimes the case in the reign of henry the sixth. they had advanced loans, "prests of vitails and other merchandise," of which the payment was so long delayed that great part of their property was previously expended, and they were sometimes fain to defalke and release part of their dues, in order to recover the rest. as an alternative for this inconvenience the writer recommends a course that would scarcely have proved more efficacious. "let your riche tresours (he advises the king) be spradde and put abrode, both juellis (and) vesselle of golde and silver, among youre true subgettis, and inespecialle to the helpe and avauncement of youre conquest, and to the relief of your indigent and nedie peple, and inespecialle to tho that have lost theire londis, livelode, and goode in the werres, so that the saide tresoure may be put forthe, and late it be set in money to the remedie and socoure of this gret importunyte and necessite, and to the defens of youre roiaume from your adversaries." in another chapter (p. ), having recommended the king, "after the blessed counceile of saint louis," to cherish and favour the good cities and towns, the author pursues the former argument of raising supplies, urgently exhorting all classes to strain their utmost for that object. "youre saide citesins and burgeis and good comyns if they be tendred shalbe of power and of good courage, and wille withe here bodies and goodes largelie depart to be yoven for to resist the adversaries." those who had not able bodies nor usage in arms, were yet to come forth with a good courage, spiritual men as well as temporal, and, as true englishmen should do, "every man put forthe of his goodes after that his power is." with this strain the epistle terminates, its last chapter (p. ) being an illustration of the same argument from the _punica bella_ of titus livius, consisting of {xvii} "a noble history of the largesse of romaynys, how amplye they departed ther godes yn a tym of urgent necessite, to make an armee yn to the contree of auffrique." these final passages of the book, which so urgently recommend a voluntary contribution in aid of the intended war, were certainly written in the year , with which date the whole composition concludes: for it is recorded by the historians of the day that it was on this occasion that king edward the fourth, after he had already raised all the supplies he could obtain by the ordinary methods of taxation, adopted the new device of a contribution nominally voluntary and its amount optional, and therefore termed a benevolence,[ ] but which eventually, when repeated, was regarded with peculiar repugnance and discontent. after this review of the contents of the work, we will proceed to notice the circumstances of the occasion for which it was professedly composed. the english invasion of france in the year originated in the events of and . the temporary deposition of edward the fourth from his throne had been abetted by the aid which the king-making earl of warwick derived from that forger of all mischief louis the eleventh of france. at that time edward took refuge with his brother-in-law the duke of burgundy, a man as ambitious of aggrandisement as king louis, but whose disposition instigated him to pursue it by the more ordinary path of martial enterprise. his enmity to the king of france was bitter and inveterate; and it doubtless formed the topic of much of his discourse with the exiled english monarch. edward, on his part, vowed an ample revenge when the forces of england should be again at his command: and the result was a mutual understanding between these princes to prosecute their common quarrel at the earliest opportunity. having this object in view, edward summoned a parliament[ ] in the autumn {xviii} of , in order to obtain the requisite supplies; and on the last day of november an act was passed whereby the commons granted to the king a force of , archers (the like number which had been granted to his predecessor in the st year of his reign[ ]), assigning as their motives for so doing, that "for the wele and suerte of this your reame inward, and the defence of the same outeward, to assiste youre roiall astate, ye verraily entendyng, in youre princely and knightly corage, with all diligence to youre highnes possible, all your bodely ease leyde apart, to resiste the seid confedered malice of youre and oure seide ennemyes, in setting outeward a myghty armee, able by the helpe of god to resiste the seid ennemyes." the archers were to abide in the king's service by the space of a year, each receiving the pay of six pence a day; and the commons granted for their support a disme, or tenth part of the income from lands, tenements, and possessions of every temporal person, not being a lord of parliament: but, if the said army held not before the feast of saint michael in , the grant was to be void, and the money repaid. [ ] the lords spiritual and temporal made a similar grant, on the consideration "that the kyng oure soverayn lord is disposed by the grace of god in his owne persone to passe forth of this his seid reame with an armee roiall, for the saufegarde of the same reame, and the subduyng of the auncien ennemyes of hym and of his seid reame."[ ] in the next session, on the th april , the commons granted to the king a fifteenth and a tenth, because, among other causes, "that ye verraily entend, as we understond, to aredye youre self, by all measnes to you possible, in youre moost noble persone to goo, departe, and passe with an arme roiall to the parties outward, to subdue by the myght of god youre and oure auncien enemyes, to the weele of you and prosperite of this youre reame."[ ] notwithstanding these earnest intentions and costly preparations, the season of wore away without any embarkation for france; and, at the close of the session on the st of february - , the chancellor, by the king's command, informed the commons that the parliament was prorogued to the th of may following,[ ] "because in the matter of foreign war the king was not certainly {xix} informed of the disposition of his brother of burgundy, and on that account he had lately sent his ambassadors to his said brother." the treaty with burgundy was concluded in july . the principal documents[ ] respecting it bear date on the th of that month, on which day they were ratified both by king edward and duke charles. the former undertook to land in normandy, or in other parts of france, with more than ten thousand men, before the st of july following (_i.e._ ); and the latter agreed to support the king's part in person and with his forces, in order to accomplish the recovery of the duchies of normandy and aquitaine, and the kingdom and crown of france, from louis, then unjustly occupying them. the king engaged not to treat with louis, without the consent of the duke of burgundy; and the duke in like manner covenanted not to treat with him without the consent of king edward. henceforth louis was to be deemed and proclaimed their common enemy. by further articles, dated on the next following day, the contracting parties agreed that, when either of them waged war, they should have liberty to demand from the other aid to the amount of six thousand armed men; which were to be paid at the expense of the party requiring them, unless the war were in his own defence, in which case he was to pay only three fifths, and the other party two fifths of the soldiers' wages. by a further treaty, also dated on the th july , king edward ceded to the duke of burgundy the duchy of barr, the counties of champagne, nevers, rethelle, eu, and guise, the barony of douzi, the cities of tournay and lingon, with their dependencies, the castle and town of picquigny, all the towns and lordships on either side the somme before pledged to him, and further all the lands and lordships then possessed by louis de {xx} luxemburgh count of st. paul: retaining no feudal sovereignty over the same, but conceding that the duke and his successors should in future be esteemed as the sovereign princes thereof. it was further agreed that edward should be crowned and anointed king of france at rheims, notwithstanding that the county of champagne was ceded to the duke of burgundy. from this time the whole military population of england made constant and earnest preparation for hostilities. they were retained by indenture to serve the king for a whole year in his duchy of normandy and realm of france, each receiving the wages assigned to their respective ranks. these were,--to a duke xiij s. iiij d. by the day, to an earl vj s. viij d., to a baron or banneret iiij s., to a knight ij s., to a man at arms xij d. by the day and vj d. more as of reward, and to an archer vj d. by the day.[ ] {xxi} in december proclamations were made throughout england for all bowyers and fletchers to pursue their labours with the utmost haste and diligence, the latter to make only "shefe arrowes;" and purveyors were sent into several circuits to superintend the delivery of their supplies.[ ] other commissions were issued for impressing into the king's service carpenters, wheelers, cartwrights, masons, smiths, plumbers, and other artificers; and also for taking all ships of the burden of sixteen tons and upwards, for the transport of the army.[ ] for all these expenses the large sums already voted by the lords and commons in parliament, together with those granted by the clergy in their convocation, were not sufficient. it was then that recourse was had to the collections called benevolences, to which allusion has been already made, from their being so strongly advocated by the author of the boke of noblesse. the process by which they were first brought into operation is thus described by fabyan the london chronicler: "he sent for the mayer of london and his brethren the aldermen, and them severally examined and exorted to ayde and assyst hym towarde the sayd great journaye; of whiche the maier (robert drope, draper,) for his parte granted xxxli. and the aldermen some xx marke, and the leest xli. and that done he sent for all the thryfty commoners within the sayd cytie, and theym exortyd in lyke maner, whiche for the more partye granted to hym the wages of halfe a man for a yere, the whiche amounted to iiijli. xjs. iijd. and after that he rode about the more part of the lande, and used the people in suche fayre maner, that he reysed therby notable summes of money, the whiche way of the levyinge of this money was after named a benevolence." "but here (adds the chronicler hall on this subject) i wil not let passe a prety conceyt that happened in this gathering, in the which you shall not onely note the humilitie of a kyng, but more the fantasie of a woman. kyng edward had called before hym a wydow, muche aboundynge in substance, and no lesse grown in yeres, of whome he merely demaunded what she gladly woulde geve him towarde his greate charges. by my treuth, (quod she,) for thy lovely countenance thou shalt have even xxl. the kyng, lokyng scarce for the halfe of that summe, {xxii} thanked her, and lovingly kyst her. whether the flavor of his brethe did so comfort her stommacke, or she estemed the kysse of a kynge so precious a juell, she swore incontinently that he should have xxl. more, which she with the same will payed that she offered it. "the kynge, willing to shew that this benefite was to hym much acceptable, and not worthy to be put in oblivion, called this graunt of money a benevolence, notwithstanding that many with grudge and malevolence gave great summes toward that new-founde benevolence. but the using of such gentill fashions toward them, wyth frendly prayer of their assistance in his necessitie, so tempted theim, that they could not otherwise do, but frankely and frely yelde and geve hym a reasonable reward." in the spring of the season for the campaign had at length arrived; and on the st of may proclamation was made that all "the lordes and capitaignes" who were retained for the army should muster at portsdown in the county of southampton on the th of the same month.[ ] john lord dynham, by letters patent dated the th of april, was appointed to conduct the army across the sea.[ ] the transport of the army to calais occupied the greater part of the month of june. the king, having left london on the th of that month,[ ] proceeded towards the coast through the county of kent. on the th and th he was at canterbury, and on the th at sandwich, where on that day he made his will,[ ] and executed the instruments by which he constituted his son edward prince of wales to be custos and lieutenant of the kingdom during his absence.[ ] there was still some further delay, and the king appears not to have crossed the channel until the th of july,[ ] just one month after his quitting london. the king was accompanied in this expedition by his two brothers, the dukes of clarence and gloucester, by the dukes of suffolk and norfolk, the marquess of {xxiii} dorset, the earls of northumberland, rivers, and pembroke, the earl of ormond, the earl of douglas, and lord boyd, the barons grey of ruthyn, scrope, grey of codnor, stanley, hastings, ferrers, howard, lisle, and probably others[ ]; together with a long train of knights, among whom were sir thomas mountgomery and sir ralph hastings bannerets and knights for the king's body, sir john astley a banneret, sir john parre a knight for the body, sir william parre, and sir richard tunstall. when the king had landed at calais his sister the duchess of burgundy came thither to welcome him, on the th of july. she was followed by the duke her husband on the th; at which time the duchess was at st. omer's with her brothers the dukes of clarence and gloucester. on the th the sovereigns of england and burgundy went together to the castle of guisnes, where the duke was entertained at king edward's expense, as he had been at calais.[ ] {xxiv} meanwhile, (relates molinet,) "the army spread itself through the neighbouring countries, numbering about twenty-two thousand men in the king's pay, of which the archers were badly mounted, and little used to go on horseback. the english were then inflated with high expectations, and thought that france might well tremble before them. they brought a new engine of artillery in the form of a carriage, which required, to put it in action, more than fifty horses, and it was calculated to make at every stroke breaches both deep and wide. many of the english, who were natives of the duchies of guienne and normandy, brought with them the deeds of purchase, and registrations duly sealed, of the inheritances and rents that they used to possess in those duchies before their expulsion, looking forward to recover their title and enjoyment thereof. "the king (continues the same chronicler) drew his army towards fauquenbergh, where he raised the richest tent ever seen; then he moved on rousseauville, and stayed for two nights in the place where king henry, the father of his predecessor, had obtained a glorious victory over the french, in the year --_i.e._ at agincourt; from thence he marched to blangy, and from blangy towards peronne. supplies came to his army from the countries and lordships of the duke of burgundy. the english repeatedly passed and repassed the river somme; and the duke of burgundy, in person departing from valenciennes, (where he had been honourably received, and where many pageants had been exhibited and performed before him in compliment to the king of england and himself,) came to view the army of the english, whom he caused to march and countermarch at his orders, to show his desire to lead them. the duke and king edward, who then kept the field, held a conference for the space of three hours. a dove was observed to remain on the king's tent for a whole day and a half[ ]: and after its departure there {xxv} followed a terrible thunder-storm, which did great damage to the army, by the hail stones which fell, as large as walnuts. from that day forward the english were in trouble enough, and began to murmur, saying that the king had kept badly the promises that had been made to them. the time passed away without anything being accomplished. the duke of burgundy parted from them, and went to lorraine, where he had left part of his forces, to conquer the duchy and county of vaudemont." our own historians have not discoursed at any length of the campaign made in france on this occasion. it has not offered to them the attractions of a creci, a poictiers, or an agincourt; nor even presented any minor achievement that might have inspired their eloquence or stimulated their researches. its laurels in fact withered under the wily diplomacy of louis the eleventh; and, besides the chapter of molinet from which the preceding passages have been taken, it is in the pages of that monarch's vivid biographer, philippe de commines, that we are most fully informed of its transactions. its results were entirely in correspondence with the personal characteristics of the three sovereigns concerned. the obstinate self-will of charles the rash, the luxurious indolence of king edward, and the timid but crafty time-serving of louis the eleventh, all contributed to work out their natural effects. when the english began to land in france, the duke of burgundy, already engaged in warfare with the german princes, was besieging the town of neuss, upon the rhine; and, until he could effect his object there, he would not be persuaded to leave the spot, although other projects of far greater political importance were now at stake. commines states that "the lord scales (meaning anthony then earl rivers, the king's brother-in-law,) was sent twice, with several other ambassadors, to the duke[ ]; but the duke was perverse, as if god almighty had infatuated his senses and understanding; for all his life long he had been labouring to get the english over to invade france, and now, when they were ready, and all things prepared to receive them both in bretagne and elsewhere, he obstinately persisted in an enterprise in which it was impossible for him to succeed." {xxvi} there was an apostolic legate at that time with the emperor, and the king of denmark was quartered in the same neighbourhood, and they both endeavoured to negociate a peace, by which means the duke of burgundy might, if he would, have had honourable terms, and thus have been free to join the king of england, but he would not accept their overtures. to the english he excused himself as plausibly as he could, telling them that his honour was engaged, and it would be a lessening to his reputation to raise the siege of neuss, with other like excuses. "the englishmen (adds the historian) were not the same who had flourished in his father's days, and had conducted themselves with so much valour and skill in the old wars with france; but these were all raw soldiers, utterly unacquainted with french affairs; so that the duke acted very unwisely, if he had any design to make a future use of them, for in that case he ought to have led them on, as it were step by step, at least during the first campaign." the earliest bad consequence that resulted to the duke of burgundy from his lingering at the seige of neuss, was the loss of the three towns of montdidier, roye, and corbie, which were taken by the king of france, shortly after the termination of his truce with burgundy, which expired on the st of may . still the duke would not quit the siege of neuss before the th of june. in the meanwhile, king edward landed at calais. his army is described by commines as "the most numerous, the best mounted, and the best equipped, that ever any king of england had invaded france withal. he was attended by all the lords of england, with few exceptions. he had men of arms, richly accoutred after the french fashion, well mounted, and most of them barded,[ ] and every one of them had several persons on horseback in his retinue. the archers were , , all on horseback; besides a great number of footmen, and others to pitch the tents and pavilions, take care of the artillery, and inclose the camp; and there was not one varlet in the whole army. there was besides a body of men who were to be landed in bretagne." after these particulars, commines repeats his censures of the duke of burgundy's infatuated conduct, in throwing away that advantage of english aid, which he had been labouring all his life to procure. he ought (it is remarked) to have known that it was necessary for him to have made at least one campaign with the english, in order to have instructed them in the method of the french wars; for, though no nation is more raw or undisciplined than the english on their first coming over, yet a little time makes them excellent soldiers, equally brave and skilful. but the duke's conduct was just the reverse; and, among other {xxvii} disadvantages which ensued, the season was almost lost, and his own army so worn out and diminished, that he was ashamed they should be seen, for he had lost before neuss of his soldiers, the very flower of his army. the english were, however, assisted in the transport of their horses by the duke of burgundy providing them five hundred flat-bottomed vessels of holland and zeeland; yet, notwithstanding that large number, and all the vessels king edward could procure from his own ports, the passage of his forces occupied more than three weeks: "from whence one may observe (remarks commines) with what amazing difficulty the kings of england transport their armies into france; and, if the king of france had understood maritime affairs as well as he did those of the land, king edward would never have crossed over, at least that year; but king louis had no skill in naval matters, and those to whom he committed his authority knew less of them than himself; yet one of our men-of-war, belonging to eu, took two or three of their transports. "before the king of england embarked from dover, he sent one of his heralds, named garter, who was a native of normandy,[ ] to the king of france, with a letter of defiance, written in such an elegant style, and in such polite language, that i can scarcely believe any englishman indited it. the contents were, that our king should surrender france to the king of england, as his right and inheritance, to the end that he might restore the church, the nobility, and the people to their ancient liberty, and relieve them from the great oppression and burthens they groaned under; and, if king louis refused, it was declared that all the ensuing miseries and calamities would lie at his door, according to the forms usual upon such occasions. "the king of france read the letter to himself, and then, withdrawing into another room, commanded the herald to be called in; to whom he said,--i am very sensible that your master has not made this invasion of his own seeking, but at the importunity of the duke of burgundy and the commons of england. he then remarked that the season was visibly far spent, and that the duke of burgundy {xxviii} had returned from neuss in so weak and miserable a condition, that he would not be in a capacity to assist the invaders; that, as to the constable,[ ] he was satisfied he held intelligence with the king of england, who had married his niece,[ ] but there was no confidence to be reposed in him, for he would deceive king edward, as he had often deceived himself; and, after enumerating the favours which he had conferred upon him, louis added, 'his plan is to live in eternal dissimulation, to traffic with everybody, and to make his advantage of all.' besides these, the king used several other arguments to induce the herald to persuade his master to an accommodation with him, giving him crowns with his own hand, and promising him more upon the conclusion of the peace; and afterwards, in public, his majesty ordered him to be rewarded with a fine piece of crimson velvet, thirty ells in length. "the herald replied, that, according to his capacity, he would contribute all that lay in his power towards a peace, and he believed his master would be glad to entertain the proposal; but nothing could be done until he was landed in france, and then, if king louis pleased, he might send a herald to desire a passport for his ambassadors, if he had a mind to send any to king edward; but withal garter desired the king to address letters to the lords howard or stanley,[ ] and also to himself, that he might introduce the french herald. "there was a host of people attending outside during the king's private discourse with the herald, all of them impatient to hear what the king would say, and to see how his majesty looked when he came forth. when he had done, (continues commines,) he called me, and charged me to entertain the herald till he {xxix} ordered him an escort, that i might keep him from talking privately with anybody; he commanded me likewise to give him a piece of crimson velvet of thirty ells, which i did. after which the king addressed himself to the rest of the company, giving them an account of the letters of defiance; and, having called seven or eight of them apart, he ordered the letters to be read aloud, showing himself very cheerful and valiant, without the least sign of fear in the world; for indeed he was much revived by what he had learned from the herald." when the duke of burgundy first came to wait on the king of england at calais, he was attended only by a small retinue,[ ] having dismissed his army into the countries of barrois and lorraine to plunder and refresh themselves (the duke of lorraine having declared himself his enemy). the english had expected him to have joined them at their landing with at least men at arms, well provided, and a considerable body of horse and foot; and that he should have opened the campaign in france three months before their descent, when they might have found king louis already harassed with the war and in great distress. king edward (by the stages already described from molinet,) marched to peronne, a town belonging to the duke of burgundy. the english, however, except in small companies, were not received within its gates, but they formed their encampment in the adjacent fields.[ ] at this place a messenger arrived from the constable of france, bringing letters both for the duke and the king.[ ] to the former he made strong professions of friendship and service, declaring that he would assist him and his allies, and particularly the king of england, against all persons and princes whatever. in his letter to king edward he referred his good-meaning to the duke of burgundy's testimony. the duke communicated also to the king the contents of his own letter from the constable, somewhat exaggerating them, and assuring edward that the constable would receive him into the town of st. quentin, and all the other towns under his control; and king edward really believed it, because he had married the constable's niece, and he thought him so terribly afraid of the king of france, that he would not venture to break his promise to the duke and himself. nor was the duke of burgundy less credulous than king edward. {xxx} but neither the perplexities of the constable, nor his dread of the king of france, had as yet carried him so far; his design was only to wheedle and amuse them (according to his custom), and suggest to them such plausible reasons as might prevail with them not to force him to declare himself openly. "the king of england and his nobility (remarks commines,) were not so well skilled in artifice and subtlety as the lords of france, but went more bluntly and ingenuously about their business; so that they were not so sharp at discovering the intrigues and deceptions common on this side of the water. the english that have never travelled are naturally headstrong, as the people generally are in all cold countries." commines next relates how the english, when they attempted to occupy the town of st. quentin, were driven off with the loss of some killed and others taken prisoners; and how on the following morning the duke of burgundy took his leave of king edward, in order to return to his forces in barrois, pretending he would do great feats for the english; but the english, being naturally of a jealous temper, novices on this side of the water, and astonished at this kind of proceeding, began to entertain an ill opinion of their ally, and were not satisfied he had any army at all; besides, the duke of burgundy could not reconcile them to the constable's manner of receiving them, though he endeavoured to persuade them all was well, and that what was done would turn to their advantage; but all the duke of burgundy's arguments did not pacify them, and, being disheartened at the approach of winter, they seemed by their expressions to be more inclinable to peace than war. meanwhile, king louis was thinking upon the suggestions which had been made to him by garter king of arms; and a message he received from the lords howard and stanley by a dismissed prisoner determined him to put them in action. with the assistance of commines, he tutored a clever servant to act as a herald, equipping him for the occasion in a coat of arms formed from the banner of a trumpeter,--for king louis was not so stately nor so vain as to maintain a herald in his train as other princes did. the man was sent off to the english camp, where, on his arrival, he was immediately conducted to the tent of king edward. being asked his business, he said he was come with a message from the king of france to the king of england, and had orders to address himself to the lords howard and stanley. he was taken into a tent to dinner, and very gently entertained. when king edward had dined, he sent for the herald, who then said that his errand was to acquaint his majesty that the king of france had long desired to be at amity with him, that {xxxi} both their kingdoms might be at ease, and enjoy the blessings of peace; that, since his accession to the crown of france, he had never made war or attempted anything against king edward or his kingdom; and, as for having formerly entertained the earl of warwick, he had done that more from opposition to the duke of burgundy than from any quarrel with the king of england. he next proceeded to represent that the duke of burgundy had invited king edward over, only in order to make his own terms the better with france; and, if others had joined with him, it was to secure themselves against their former offences, or to advance their private objects; which when they had once compassed, they would not regard the interests of the king of england, provided they had attained their own ends. he represented likewise the lateness of the season, that winter was approaching, that his master was sensible of the great charges king edward had been at, and that he knew that in england there were many, both of the nobility and merchants, who were desirous of a war on this side of the water; yet, if the king should be inclined to a treaty, his master would not refuse to come to such terms as should be agreeable both to himself and to his subjects; and if the king of england had a mind to be more particularly informed of these matters, on his giving a passport for horse, his master would send ambassadors to him with full instructions: or, if king edward should prefer to depute certain commissioners, king louis would gladly consent to that arrangement, and send them a passport to hold a conference in some village between the two armies. the king of england and part of his nobility were extremely pleased with these proposals; a passport was given to the herald according to his request, and, having been rewarded with four nobles in money, he was attended by a herald from the king of england to obtain the king of france's passport in the same form as the other; which being given, the next morning the commissioners met in a village near amiens. on the part of the king of france, there were the bastard of bourbon admiral of france, the lord of st. pierre, and the bishop of evreux. on the king of england's side, there were the lord howard, doctor morton then master of the rolls and afterwards archbishop of canterbury, william dudley dean of the king's chapel, and thomas selynger.[ ] many overtures passed between these negociators. the english at first demanded, according to their custom, the crown of france; and then gradually fell to normandy and guienne. the french commissioners replied as became them; so that the demands were well urged on the one side, and well refused on the other: yet, from the very first day {xxxii} of the treaty there was great prospect of an accommodation, for both parties seemed very inclinable to hearken to reasonable proposals. king louis was exceedingly pleased when matters had taken this favourable turn, and he employed all his arts to bring the negociation to a peaceful termination. he sent every hour to entertain and wheedle the treacherous constable, and prevent him from doing any harm. he resolved to raise without delay the money required to buy off the invaders,[ ] declaring that he would do any thing in the world to get the king of england out of france, except putting any towns into his possession, for, rather than do that, which had been suggested by the constable, he would hazard all. the conclusion of the terms of the treaty was made on the th of august, king edward being then "in his felde beside a village called seyntre,[ ] within vermondose, a litell from peronne," attended by his brothers the dukes of clarence and gloucester, the dukes of norfolk and suffolk, the bishop of lincoln his chancellor, the marquess of dorset, the earls of northumberland, riviers, and pembroke, the lords grey de ruthyn, scrope, grey of codnor, stanley, hastings, ferrers, howard, the earl douglas, lord lisle, the master of the rolls, the dean of the king's chapel, the deans of wells and westminster, sir thomas mountgomery, sir thomas borough, sir william parre, sir richard tunstall, thomas selynger, and john elkyngton treasurer of the king's wars; most of whom signed the public declaration[ ] of the king's determination, which is stated to have been founded on these three considerations,--"the povertie of his armyes, the nygh approachyng of wynter, and small assistance of his allies." it was at the same time agreed, that the two kings should have an interview, and swear mutually to the performance of certain articles; after which the king of england should return to his own country, upon the receipt of , crowns (as stated by commines, but the amount finally settled was , ), leaving the lord howard and sir john cheyne as hostages until his arrival in england. in addition, pensions amounting to , crowns were promised to the privy councillors {xxxiii} of the king of england, viz. to the lord hastings[ ] crowns a-year, to the chancellor (rotherham) , and the remainder to the lord howard, the master of the horse (cheyne), thomas st. leger, sir thomas mountgomery, and several others, besides a great deal of ready money and plate[ ] that was distributed among the rest of the king of england's retinue. louis contrived to carry his corruption through every grade of his adversaries. he purchased from one of the english secretaries for sixty silver marks two letters which had been addressed by the seigneur d'urfé, who was then in the duke of bretagne's service, (and afterwards master of the horse of france,) one directed to the king of england, and the other to the lord hastings, lord chamberlain of england. they were shown to commines, who noticed in them this, among other expressions, that the duke of bretagne would do more by his intelligence in a month, than the king of england and the duke of burgundy both, with all the force they could make. the duke of burgundy, who was then at luxembourg, having intimation of these negociations, came in great haste to the king of england, attended only with sixteen horse.[ ] king edward was much surprised at his unexpected arrival, and inquired what it was that had brought him, for he saw by his countenance that he was angry. the duke told him that he came to talk with him. the king of england asked whether it should be in public or private? then the duke demanded whether he had made a peace? the king replied, that he had made a truce for nine years, in which the duke of bretagne and himself were {xxxiv} comprehended,[ ] and his desire was that they should accept of that comprehension. the duke fell into a violent passion, and in english, a language that he spoke very well, began to recount the glorious achievements of edward's predecessors on the throne of england, who had formerly invaded france, and how they had spared no pains, nor refused any danger, that might render them famous, and gain them immortal honour and renown abroad. then he inveighed against the truce, and told the king he had not invited the english over into france out of any necessity he had of their assistance, but only to put them in a way of recovering their own right and inheritance; and, to convince them he could subsist without their alliance, he was resolved not to make use of the truce until the king had been three months in england. having unburthened himself in this manner, the duke took his leave, and returned to luxembourg. the king of england and his council were extremely irritated by his language, but others who were adverse to the peace highly extolled it. but, however dissatisfied the duke was with the truce, the constable of france had cause to be still more so: for, having deceived all parties, he could expect nothing but inevitable ruin. he made one more attempt to ingratiate himself with king edward, by offering him the towns of eu and st. valery for winter quarters, and a loan of , crowns; but king louis immediately received intimation of this, and at once ordered the two towns to be burned. king edward returned to the constable this answer, "that the truce was already concluded, and could not be altered; but, had the constable performed his former promise (as to the town of st. quentin), the truce would never have been made." this answer stung the constable to the very soul, and made him desperate on all sides. in order to bring the treaty to a conclusion, king edward advanced within half a league of amiens; and the king of france, being upon one of the gates of the city, (where he had arrived on the d of august,) viewed from a distance the english army marching up. "speaking impartially, (continues commines,) the troops seemed but raw and unused to action in the field; for they were in very ill order, and observed no manner of discipline. our king sent the king of england cartloads[ ] of the best wines in france as a present, and i think the {xxxv} carts made as great a show as the whole english army. upon the strength of the truce, numbers of the english came into the town, where they behaved themselves very imprudently, and without the least regard to their prince's honour; for they entered the streets all armed, and in great companies, so that if the king of france could have dispensed with his oath, never was there so favourable an opportunity of cutting off a considerable number of them; but his majesty's design was only to entertain them nobly, and to settle a firm and lasting peace, that might endure during his reign. the king had ordered two long tables to be placed on either side the street, at the entrance of the town gate, which were covered with a variety of good dishes of all sorts of viands most likely to relish their wine, of which there was great plenty, and of the richest that france could produce, with a troop of servants to wait on them; but not a drop of water was drank. at each of the tables the king had placed five or six boon companions, persons of rank and condition, to entertain those who had a mind to take a hearty glass, amongst whom were the lord of craon, the lord of briquebec, the lord of bressure, the lord of villiers, and several others. as the english came up to the gate, they saw what was prepared, and there were persons appointed on purpose to take their horses by the bridles and lead them to the tables, where every man was treated handsomely, as he came in his turn, to their very great satisfaction. when they had once entered the town, wherever they went, or whatever they called for, nothing was to be paid; there were nine or ten taverns liberally furnished with all that they wanted, the french king bearing all the costs of that entertainment, which lasted three or four days." on childermas day (the th of august[ ]) the license of the english visitors had grown to such a height, that it was. estimated that there were at least of them in the town. the councillors of louis were alarmed, and although on that day the superstitious monarch never spoke upon business, nor allowed any one else to address him thereon, but took it as an ill omen, commines was induced to disturb his devotions, in order to inform him of the state of affairs. the king commanded him immediately to get on horseback, and endeavour to speak with some of the english captains of note, to persuade them to order their troops to retire, and if he met any of the french captains to send them to him, for he {xxxvi} would be at the gate as soon as commines. commines met three or four english commanders of his acquaintance, and spoke to them according to the king's directions; but for one man that they directed to leave the town, there were twenty that came in. in company with the lord of gié (afterwards maréchal of france) commines went into a tavern, where, though it was not yet one o'clock, there had already been a hundred and eleven reckonings that morning. the house was filled with company; some were singing, others were asleep, and all were drunk; upon observing which circumstance, commines concluded there was no danger, and sent to inform the king of it; who came immediately to the gate, well attended, having commanded or men at arms to be harnessed privately in their captains' houses, some of whom he posted at the gate by which the english entered. the king then ordered his dinner to be brought to the porter's lodgings at the gate, where he dined, and did several english captains the honour of admitting them to dinner with him. the king of england had been informed of this disorder, and was much ashamed of it, and sent to the king of france to desire him to admit no more of his soldiers into the town. the king of france sent him word back he would not do that, but if the king of england pleased to send a party of his own guards thither, the gate should be delivered up to their charge, and they then might let in or shut out whomever they pleased, which was done accordingly. in order to bring the whole affair to a conclusion, consultation was now taken for the place that might be most convenient for the proposed interview between the two kings, and commissioners were appointed to survey it,--the lord du bouchage and commines on the french part, and the lord howard, thomas st. leger, and a herald on the english. upon taking view of the river, they agreed upon picquigny, where the somme is neither wide nor fordable. on the one side, by which king louis would approach, was a fine open country; and on the other side it was the same, only when king edward came to the river, he was obliged to traverse a causeway about two bow-shots in length, with marshes on both sides, "which might (remarks commines) have produced very dangerous consequences to the english, if our intentions had not been honourable. and certainly, as i have said before, the english do not manage their treaties and capitulations with so much cunning and policy as the french do, let people say what they will, but proceed more openly, and with greater straightforwardness; yet a man must be careful, and take heed not to affront them, for it is dangerous meddling with them." when the place of meeting was settled, the next business was to build a bridge, {xxxvii} which was done by french carpenters. the bridge was large and strong, and in the midst was contrived a massive wooden lattice, such as lions' cages were made with, every aperture between the bars being no wider than to admit a man's arm; at the top were merely boards to keep off the rain, and the area was large enough to contain ten or twelve men on a side, the bars running full out to either side of the bridge, to hinder any person from passing either to the one side or the other. for passage across the river there was provided only one small boat, rowed by two men. the incident in french history which suggested these extraordinary precautions had occurred fifty-six years before; when, at a similar meeting upon a bridge at montereau fault yonne, john duke of burgundy and his attendants were treacherously slaughtered in the presence of charles the seventh (then dauphin), in revenge for the murder of louis duke of orleans. in the barricade of that fatal bridge there was a wicket, which the duke himself incautiously opened; a circumstance which the timid louis well remembered, and he now repeated the story to commines, and expressly commanded that there should be no such doorway. when the bridge at picquigny was ready, the interview between the two kings took place on the th of august . the description which commines gives of it is highly graphic and interesting: "the king of france came first, attended by about men of arms. on the king of england's side, his whole army was drawn up in battle array; and, though we could not ascertain their total force, yet we saw such a vast number both of horse and foot, that the body of troops which was with us seemed very inconsiderable in comparison with them; but indeed the fourth part of our army was not there. it was arranged that twelve men of a side were to attend each of the kings at the interview, and they were already chosen from among their greatest and most trusty courtiers. we had with us four of the king of england's retinue to view what was done among us, and they had as many of ours, on their side, to have an eye over their actions. as i said before, our king came first to the barriers, attended by twelve persons, among whom were john duke of bourbon and the cardinal his brother.[ ] it was the king's pleasure (according to his old and frequent custom) that i should be dressed like him that day.[ ]" {xxxviii} "the king of england advanced along the causeway very nobly attended, with the air and presence of a king." commines recognised in his train his brother the duke of clarence, the earl of northumberland, his chamberlain the lord hastings, his chancellor, and other peers of the realm; "among whom there were not above three or four dressed in cloth of gold like himself. the king wore a black velvet cap upon his head, and on it a large fleur-de-lis made of precious stones--[probably as a compliment to the french king]. he was a prince of a noble and majestic presence, but a little inclining to corpulence. i had seen him before when the earl of warwick drove him out of his kingdom, in [ ]; then i thought him much handsomer, and, to the best of my remembrance, my eyes had never beheld a more handsome person. when he came within a little distance of the barrier he pulled off his cap, and bowed himself within half a foot of the ground; and the king of france, who was then leaning against the barrier, received him with abundance of reverence and respect. they embraced through the apertures of the barriers, and, the king of england making him another low bow, the king of france saluted him thus, 'cousin, you are heartily welcome! there is no person living i was so desirous of seeing; and god be thanked that this interview is upon so good an occasion.' king edward returned the compliment in very good french[ ]." {xxxix} "then the chancellor of england (who was a prelate, and bishop of lincoln) began his speech with a prophecy (with which the english are always provided), that at picquigny a memorable peace was to be concluded between the english and french. after he had finished his harangue, the instrument was produced containing the articles which the king of france had sent to the king of england. the chancellor demanded of the king, whether he had dictated the said articles? and whether he agreed to them? the king replied, yes; and when king edward's letters were produced on our side, he made the like answer. the missal being then brought and opened, both the kings laid one of their hands upon the book, and the other upon the holy true cross, and both of them swore religiously to observe the contents of the truce. "this solemnity performed, king louis (who had always words at command) told king edward in a jocular way that he should be glad to see him at paris, and that if he would come and divert himself with the ladies, he would assign the cardinal of bourbon for his confessor, who he knew would willingly absolve him if he should commit any peccadillo in the way of love and gallantry. king edward was extremely pleased with his raillery, and made him many good repartees, for he was aware that the cardinal was a gay man with the ladies, and a boon companion. "after some further discourse to this purpose, the french king, to shew his authority, commanded those who attended him to withdraw, for he had a mind to have a little private discourse with the king of england. they obeyed; and those who were with king edward, seeing the french retire, did the same, without waiting to be commanded. after the two kings had conversed together alone for some time, our master (continues commines) called me to him, and asked the king {xl} of england whether he knew me. king edward said that he did, naming the places where he had seen me, and told the king that i had formerly endeavoured to serve him at calais, when i was in the duke of burgundy's service. the king of france demanded, if the duke of burgundy refused to be comprehended in the treaty--as might be suspected from his obstinate answer--what the king of england would have him do? the king of england replied, he would offer it to him a second time, and, if he then refused it, he would not concern himself any further, but leave it entirely to themselves. by degrees king louis came to mention the duke of bretagne, who was really the person he aimed at in the question, and made the same demand as to him. the king of england desired that he would not attempt anything against the duke of bretagne, for in his distress he had never found so true and faithful a friend. louis then pressed him no further, but, recalling the company, took his leave of king edward[ ] in the politest and most flattering terms imaginable, and saluted all his attendants with especial courtesy; whereupon both monarchs at the same time retired from the barrier, and, mounting on horseback, the king of france returned to amiens, and the king of england to his army. king edward was supplied from the french household with whatever he required, to the very torches and candles." by the treaty thus concluded king edward engaged to return to england with his army so soon as king louis had paid him the sum of , crowns. a truce for seven years was concluded between the two sovereigns; and they mutually undertook to assist each other in case either prince should be attacked by his enemies or by his rebellious subjects; and, to make this alliance still closer, charles the son of louis was to wed the princess elizabeth, king edward's eldest daughter, so soon as they were both of marriageable age. by the fourth and last article, the king of france engaged to pay annually to the king of england, in two instalments, the sum of , crowns. commines states that the duke of gloucester, king edward's younger brother, and some other englishmen of high rank, being averse to the treaty, were not present at the interview; though (he adds) they afterwards recollected themselves, and the duke of gloucester waited upon king louis at amiens, where he was splendidly entertained, and received noble presents both of plate and of fine horses. {xli} the chronicler jean de molinet also mentions the duke of gloucester's disapproval of the peace, although, as we have seen, he had signed the preliminary articles of agreement on the th of august. it is by no means inconsistent with the aspiring character of richard duke of gloucester--who at this period was not twenty-three years of age--that he should have affected to place himself at the head of the more martial and chivalrous party of the english nobility, and that commines had good information of his policy in that respect. the same delightful historian, who, not content with barren facts, confidentially introduces his readers into the secret motives and reflections of the actors in his story, supplies some remarkable particulars of the sentiments of his master king louis on the result of this memorable interview, which form as it were the finishing touches of his picture. whilst louis was riding back to amiens, he expressed his misgivings upon two incidents in what had passed. one was that the king of england had so readily caught at the idea of visiting paris. "he is (said louis,) a handsome prince, a great admirer of the ladies, and who knows but that he might find one of them at paris, who would say so many pretty things to him, as to make him desirous to come again? his ancestors have been too often in paris and normandy already; and i do not care for his company so near, though on the other side of the water i shall be ready to esteem him as my friend and brother." louis was also displeased to find the english king so resolute in relation to the duke of bretagne, upon whom he would fain have made war; and to that purpose he made him further overtures by the lord de bouchage and the lord de st. pierre; but when edward found himself pressed, he gave them this short but honourable answer, that if any one invaded the duke of bretagne's dominions he would cross the sea again in his defence. upon which the french king importuned him no more. when louis was arrived at amiens, and was ready to go to supper, three or four of the english lords, who had attended upon the king of england at the interview, came to sup with his majesty; and one of them, the lord howard, told the king in his ear that, if he desired it, he would readily find a way to bring the king his master to him to amiens, and perhaps to paris too, to be merry with him. though this proposition was not in the least agreeable to louis, yet he dissembled the matter pretty well, and began washing his hands, without giving a direct answer; but he whispered to commines, and said that what he had dreaded was really coming to pass. after supper the subject was renewed, but the king then put it off with the greatest quietness and tact {xlii} imaginable, alleging that his expedition against the duke of burgundy would require his departure immediately. thus, (as our pleasant friend remarks,) though these affairs were of the highest moment, and required the gravest caution to manage them discreetly, yet they were not unattended by some agreeable incidents that deserve to be related to posterity. nor ought any man to wonder, considering the great mischiefs which the english had brought upon the kingdom of france, and the freshness of their date, that the king should incur so much trouble and expense to send them home in an amicable manner, and endeavour to make them his friends for the future, or at least divert them from being his enemies. the next day the english came into amiens in great numbers, and some of them reported that the holy ghost had made the peace, producing some prophecy in support of the assertion: but their greatest proof was that during the interview a white dove came and sat upon the king of england's tent, and could not be frightened away by any noise they could make. the less superstitious, however, explained the incident more rationally; a shower having fallen, and the sun afterwards shining out very warm, when the pigeon, finding that tent higher than the others, came thither to dry herself. this was the explanation given to commines by a gascon gentleman named louis de bretailles,[ ] who was in the king of england's service. this gentleman was one of those who saw further than others into the state of affairs, and, being an old acquaintance of commines, he privately {xliii} expressed his opinion that the french were making sport of the king of england. during the conversation, commines asked him how many battles king edward had fought. he answered nine, and that he had been in every one of them in person. commines then asked how many he had lost. bretailles replied, never but one; and that was this, in which the french had outwitted him now; for in his opinion the ignominy of king edward's returning so soon after such vast preparations, would be a greater disgrace and stain to his reputation than all the honour he had achieved in his nine previous victories. commines repeated this smart answer to his master, who replied, he is a shrewd fellow, i warrant him, and we must have a care of his tongue. the next day louis sent for him, had him to dinner at his own table, and made him very advantageous proposals, if he would quit his master's service, and live in france; but, finding he was not to be prevailed upon, he presented him with a thousand crowns, and promised he would do great matters for his brothers in france. upon his going away, commines whispered him in his ear, and desired him to employ his good offices to continue and propagate that love and good understanding which was so happily begun between the two kings. though louis could scarcely conceal his delight and self-gratulation at the success of his policy, yet his timidity was continually revived when he imagined that he had dropped any expressions that might reach the ears of the english, and make them suspect that he had overreached and deluded them. on the morning following the interview, being alone in his closet with only three or four of his attendants, he began to droll and jest upon the wines and presents which he had sent into the english camp, but, turning suddenly round, he became aware of the presence of a gascon merchant who lived in england, and was come to solicit license to export a certain quantity of bordeaux wines without paying the duties. louis was startled at seeing him, and wondered how he had gained admission. the king asked him of what town in guienne he was, whether he was a merchant, and whether married in england. the man replied yes, he had a wife in england, but what estate he had there was but small. before he went away, the king appointed one to go with him to bordeaux, and commines had also some talk with him, by his majesty's express command. louis conferred on him a considerable post of employment in his native town, granted him exemption from duty {xliv} for his wines, and gave him a thousand francs to bring his wife over from england, but he was to send his brother for her, and not go personally to fetch her; and all these penalties the king imposed upon himself for having indulged in too great freedom of speech. as soon as king edward had received his money, and delivered the lord howard and sir john cheyne as hostages until he was landed in england, he retired towards calais by long and hasty marches, for he was suspicious of the duke of burgundy's anger, and the vengeance of the peasants; and, indeed, if any of his soldiers straggled, some of them were sure to be knocked on the head. "uppon the xxviijth daye of septembre folowynge he was with great tryumphe receyved of the mayor and cytezeyns of london at blakheth, and with all honoure by theym conveyed thorugh the cytie unto westmynster, the mayer and aldermen beynge clade in scarlet, and the commoners to the nombre of v c. in murrey."[ ] the treacherous constable of france again turning round, in order if possible to recover his lost favour with his own sovereign,[ ] sent a messenger to louis, offering to persuade the duke of burgundy to join his forces with the king's, and destroy the king of england and his whole army on their return. but this last shift of the baffled traitor only contributed to confirm his ruin. king edward communicated to louis (probably before this offer) two letters which the constable had addressed to him, and related all the proposals he had from time to time made; so that his three-fold treasons were revealed to all the princes with whose rival interests he had endeavoured to play his own game, and they were all alike provoked to join in his destruction. louis contemplated his punishment with the bitterest animosity. when he received the overture above stated, there were only in his presence the lord {xlv} howard the english hostage, the lord de coutay, who was newly returned from an embassy to the duke of burgundy, the lord du lude, and commines, which two had been employed to receive the constable's messenger. the king, calling for one of his secretaries, dictated a letter to the constable, acquainting him with what had been transacted the day before in relation to the truce; and adding that at that instant he had weighty affairs upon his hands, and wanted such a head as his to finish them. then turning to the english nobleman and to the lord de coutay, he said, "i do not mean his body. i would have his head with me, and his body where it is." after the letter had been read, louis delivered it to rapine the constable's messenger, who was mightily pleased with it, and took it as a great compliment in the king to write that he wanted such a head as his master's, for he did not perceive the ambiguity and sting of the expression. we are now arrived at the closing reflections of commines upon the course which events had taken in france at this memorable crisis. "at the beginning of our affairs with the english, you may remember that the king of england had no great inclination to make his descent; and as soon as he came to dover, and before his embarkation there, he entered into a sort of treaty with us. but that which prevailed with him to transport his army to calais was first the solicitation of the duke of burgundy, and the natural animosity of the english against the french, which has existed in all ages; and next to reserve to himself a great part of the money which had been liberally granted him for that expedition; for, as you have already heard, the kings of england live upon their own demesne revenue, and can raise no taxes but under the pretence of invading france. besides, the king had another stratagem by which to content his subjects; for he had brought with him ten or twelve citizens of london, and other towns in england, all fat and jolly, the leaders of the english commons, of great power in their countries, such as had promoted the wars and had been very serviceable in raising that powerful army. the king ordered very fine tents to be made for them, in which they lay; but, that not being the kind of living they had been used to, they soon began to grow weary of the campaign, for they expected they should come to an engagement within three days of their landing, and the king multiplied their fears and exaggerated the dangers of the war, on purpose that they might be better satisfied with a peace, and aid him to quiet the murmurs of the people upon his return to england; for, since king arthur's days, never king of england invaded france with so great a number of the nobility and such a formidable army. but, as you have heard, he returned immediately into england upon the conclusion of the peace, and then reserved for his own private use the {xlvi} greater part of the money that had been raised to pay the army; so that, in reality, he accomplished most of the designs he had in view. king edward was not of a complexion or turn of mind to endure much hardship and labour, and such any king of england must encounter who designs to make any considerable conquest in france. besides, our king was in a tolerable posture of defence, though he was not so well prepared in all respects as he ought to have been, by reason of the variety and multitude of his enemies. another great object with the king of england was the arrangement of a marriage between our present king charles the eighth and his daughter; and this alliance, causing him to wink at several things, was a material advantage to our master's affairs. "king louis himself was very desirous to obtain a general peace. the vast numbers of the english had put him into great alarm; he had seen enough of their exploits in his time in his kingdom, and he had no wish to witness any more of them." when louis went to meet the duke of burgundy's plenipotentiaries at a bridge half-way between avesnes and vervins, he took the english hostages with him, and they were present when he gave audience to the burgundians. "one of them then told commines that, if they had seen many such men of the duke of burgundy's before, perhaps the peace had not been concluded so soon. the vîcomte of narbonne, (afterwards comte of foix,) overhearing him, replied, 'could you be so weak as to believe that the duke of burgundy had not great numbers of such soldiers? he had only sent them into quarters of refreshment; but you were in such haste to be at home again, that six hundred pipes of wine and a pension from our king sent you presently back into england.' the englishman was irritated, and answered with much warmth, 'i plainly see, as everybody said, that you have done nothing but cheat us. but do you call the money your king has given us a pension? it is a tribute; and, by saint george! you may prate so much as will bring us back again to prove it.' i interrupted their altercation, and turned it into a jest; but the englishman would not understand it so, and i informed the king of it, and his majesty was much offended with the vîcomte of narbonne." king edward, being highly disgusted with the duke of burgundy's rejection of his truce, and his subsequent offer to make a distinct peace with the king of france, despatched a great favourite of his, named sir thomas mountgomery, to king louis at vervins, and he arrived whilst the negociation was proceeding with the duke of burgundy's envoys. sir thomas desired, on the behalf of the king his master, that the king of france would not consent to any other truce with the {xlvii} duke than what was already made.[ ] he also pressed louis not to deliver st. quentin into the duke's hands; and, as further encouragement, edward offered to repass the seas in the following spring with a powerful army to assist him, provided his majesty would continue in war against the duke of burgundy, and compensate him for the prejudice he should sustain in his duties upon wool at calais, which would be worth little or nothing in war time, though at other times they were valued at , crowns. he proposed likewise that the king of france should pay one-half of his army, and he would pay the other himself. louis returned edward abundance of thanks, and made sir thomas a present of plate: but as to the continuation of the war, he begged to be excused, for the truce with burgundy was already concluded, and upon the same terms as those which had been already agreed to between them; only the duke of burgundy had pressed urgently to have a separate truce for himself; which circumstance louis excused as well as he could, in order to satisfy the english ambassador, who with this answer returned home, accompanied by the hostages. "the king (adds commines) felt extremely surprised at king edward's offers, which were delivered before me only, and he conceived it would be very dangerous to bring the king of england into france again, for between those two nations, when brought into contact, any trifling accident might raise some new quarrel, and the english might easily make friends again with the duke of burgundy." these considerations greatly forwarded the conclusion of the king of france's treaty with the burgundians. in fact, the duke of burgundy at last overreached his brother-in-law king edward, for he concluded a truce with france for nine years, whilst that of england with france was for seven years only. the duke's ambassadors requested king louis that this truce might not be proclaimed immediately by sound of trumpet, as the usual custom was, for they were anxious to save the duke's oath to king edward (when he swore in his passion that he would not accept of the benefit of the truce until the king had been in england three months), lest edward should think their master had spoken otherwise than he designed. as for edward himself, whatever selfish satisfaction he may have derived from the result of the campaign,--such as commines has already suggested--it must have weakened his popularity both with his nobles and with his people, whilst it terminated the former cordiality that had existed with his brother of burgundy. the king of england had now become the pensioner of france, the great {xlviii} absorbing power of that age, which was soon to swallow up england's nearest and best allies, the duchies of burgundy and britany. the french pension of , crowns was, as commines relates, punctually paid every half-year in the tower of london; and by a treaty made in feb. - it was renewed for the lives of edward and louis, and extended for a hundred years after the death of both princes: which seemed to give it more directly the character of a tribute, a term that commines says the english applied to it, but which the french indignantly repelled. however, after little more than four years longer, it had answered its purpose, and its payment ceased. the english voluptuary then found himself entirely outwitted by the wily frenchman. after the duke of burgundy's death (in ) and that of his only daughter the wife of the archduke maximilian (in ) his grand-daughter margaret of austria was suddenly betrothed to the dauphin, in the place of the lady elizabeth of england. louis caught at this alliance in order to detach the counties of burgundy and artois from the territory of the netherlands, and annex them to the crown of france; and the turbulent citizens of ghent, in whose keeping the children[ ] of their late sovereign lady were, were ready to make this concession, without the concurrence of the children's father, in order to reduce the power of their princes. this infant bride was then only three years and a half old; and had consequently made her appearance on the stage of life subsequently to the dauphin's former contract with the english princess.[ ] commines describes at some length the mortification experienced by king edward when he heard of this alliance,--"finding himself deluded in the hopes he had entertained of marrying his daughter to the dauphin, of which marriage both himself and his queen were more ambitious than of any other in the world, and never would give credit to any man, whether subject or foreigner, that endeavoured to persuade them that our king's intentions were not sincere and honourable. for the parliament (or council) of england had remonstrated to king edward several times, when our king was in picardy, that after he had conquered {xlix} that province he would certainly fall upon calais and guines, which are not far off. the ambassadors from the duke and duchess of austria, as also those from the duke of bretagne, who were continually in england at that time, represented the same thing to him; but to no purpose, for he would believe nothing of it, and he suffered greatly for his incredulity. yet i am entirely of opinion that his conduct proceeded not so much from ignorance as avarice; for he was afraid to lose his pension of fifty thousand crowns, which our master paid him very punctually, and besides he was unwilling to leave his ease and pleasures, to which he was extremely devoted." the enervated temper of edward's latter years is faithfully depicted in the opening lines of one of the best-known works of our great dramatic poet: now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths, our bruised arms hung up for monuments; our stern alarums chang'd to merry meetings, our dreadful marches to delightful measures. grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front, and now, instead of mounting barbed steeds, to fright the souls of fearful adversaries, he capers nimbly in a lady's chamber, to the lascivious pleasing of a lute. _shakspeare's richard the third, act i. sc. ._ in another place commines attributes the death of edward the fourth to the vexation he conceived at the great reverse in his political prospects, which disclosed itself on his loss of the french alliance. this conclusion is probably imaginary, though edward's death certainly occurred whilst the dauphin's new betrothal was in progress. the treaty of arras, by which the arrangement was made, was signed on the d dec. , and the lady margaret was delivered to the french, and met the dauphin at amboise, on the d of june following. king edward died on the intervening th of april, a victim, as is generally thought, to his long course of intemperate living. it is obvious, however, that the failure of the french alliance must have been a very serious loss to edward's family, who were left defenceless on his death, although he had previously contracted his daughters to the heirs of france, scotland, spain, and burgundy. altogether, the ruin of the house of york, if we may credit commines, was the eventual result of the fatal compromise made in the campaign of , and of {l} the enervating and corrupting influences exercised by the french pensions which were then accepted by king edward and his ministers. thenceforward, any hope of recovering the english provinces of france was indefinitely deferred; the very echoes of those martial glories which had once made the english name so dreadful in that country were allowed to die away; the dreams of conquest were dissipated; and the hands of englishmen again turned to internecine contests, which resulted in the total destruction of the royal house of plantagenet, and the ruin of a large proportion of the ancient nobility. the boke of noblesse, after the total failure of those more generous sentiments and aspirations which it was intended to propagate, at once became, what it is now, a mere mirror of by-gone days; and, considering these circumstances, we cannot be surprised that it was never again transcribed, nor found its way to the press. it is with regret that i relinquish to some future more fortunate inquirer the discovery of the author of this composition. the manuscript from which it is printed is certainly not his autograph original; for its great inaccuracy occasionally renders the meaning almost unintelligible. and yet the corrections and insertions, which i have indicated as coming _à secundâ manu_, would seem to belong to the author. i have already, in the first page of this introduction, intimated the possibility of the work having been composed in the lifetime of sir john fastolfe, and merely re-edited, if we may use the term, upon occasion of the projected invasion of france in . there are three circumstances which decidedly connect the book with some dependent of sir john fastolfe:-- . that the writer quotes sir john as "mine autour," or informant, in pp. and , as well as tells other anecdotes which were probably received from his relation. . his having access to sir john's papers or books of account (p. ); and . there being still preserved in the volume, bound up with its fly-leaves, the two letters, probably both addressed to fastolfe, and one of them certainly so, which are printed hereafter, as an appendix to these remarks. sir john fastolfe is not commemorated as having been a patron of literature. in the inventory of his property which is printed in the twentieth volume of the archæologia, no books occur except a few missals, &c. belonging to his chapel. though william of worcestre, now famous for his historical collections, (which have been edited by hearne, nasmith, and dallaway,) was fastolfe's secretary, he was kept in a subordinate position, and valued for his merely clerical, {li} not his literary, services. sir john fastolfe's passion was the acquisition of property; whilst william of worcestre, on his part, followed (as far as he could) the bent of his own taste, and not that of his master; being (as his comrade henry windsore declared) as glad to obtain a good book of french or of poetry as his master fastolfe was to purchase a fair manor.[ ] the translation of cicero de senectute, which was printed by caxton in , is indeed in the preface stated to have been translated by the ordinance and desire of the noble ancient knight sir john fastolfe;[ ] and, though worcestre's name is not mentioned by caxton, we may conclude that it was the same translation which from worcestre's own memoranda we know was made by him.[ ] still, it was but a very slight deference to literature, if the ancient knight approved of his secretary's translating "tully on old age," and did not make any further contribution towards its publication. but on the particular subject of the loss of the english provinces in france, and the causes thereof, there can be no question that sir john fastolfe, the "baron {lii} of sillie le guillem," once governor of anjou and maine, and lord of piron and beaumont, took the deepest interest; considering that he had spent his best days in their acquisition, administration, and defence, and that he was one of the principal sufferers by their loss. he may, therefore, well have promoted the composition of the work now before us. william of worcestre has the reputation of having written a memoir[ ] of the exploits of sir john fastolfe; but this is not traceable beyond the bare assertion of bale, and a more recent misapprehension of the meaning of one of the paston letters. {liii} another person whose name has occurred as having been employed in a literary capacity for sir john fastolfe[ ] is peter basset[ ]; who is commemorated with some parade by bale as an historical writer, but whose writings, though quoted by hall the chronicler, have either disappeared or are no longer to be identified. i have, however, mentioned the names of william of worcestre and peter basset only from the circumstance of their being connected with that of sir john {liv} fastolfe; and not from there being any other presumptive proof that either of them wrote "the boke of noblesse." we have no known production of basset with which to compare it; and as to worcestre his "collectanea" and private memoranda can scarcely assist us in determining what his style might have been had he attempted any such work as the present. altogether, the boke of noblesse is more of a compilation than an original essay. it has apparently largely borrowed from the french; and i have already shown that it was partly derived from former works, though i cannot undertake to say to what extent that was the case. in its general character our book resembles one which was popular in the middle ages, as the _secretum secretorum_, falsely attributed to aristotle,[ ] and which was also known under the title _de regimine principum_. the popularity of this work was so great that ms. copies occur in most of our public libraries, and not less than nine english translations and six french translations are known.[ ] a scots translation by sir gilbert de hay, entitled "_the buke of the governaunce of princis_," is contained in a ms. at abbotsford, accompanying a version of _the tree of batailes_, already noticed in pp. iii. vi. another work of the same class is that of which caxton published (about the year ) a translation entitled _the booke of the ordre of chevalrye or knyghthode_, and of which the scots translation by sir gilbert de hay was printed for the abbotsford club by beriah botfield, esq. in . to his translations of the treatises of cicero on old age and friendship, which caxton printed in , he also appended two "declaracyons," or orations, supposed to be spoken by two noble roman knights before the senate, in order "to know wherein noblesse restith," or, as otherwise expressed in the title-page, "shewing wherin honoure should reste." these imaginary orations were the work of an italian, who styled himself, in latin, banatusius magnomontanus. after a time, the term noblesse, which we here find synonymous with honour, and (in p. xv. _ante_) with chivalry, in the sense of a class or order of society, {lv} became obsolete as an english word. in the former sense, at least, it was changed into our english "nobleness;" and about the year we find published a "book of noblenes," printed by robert wyer, without date.[ ] this work had been translated from latin into french, and "now into english by john larke." i have not seen it, but i imagine it was a far smaller and slighter composition than the present.[ ] ames[ ] mentioned our "boke of noblesse" as a printed work, on the authority of tanner's mss., but this was evidently a misapprehension. it only now remains that i should describe the manuscript, which is preserved in the royal collection at the british museum, and marked b. xxii. it is written in a paper book, which is formed of four quires of paper, each consisting of six sheets, and is of the size of a modern quarto volume. the quires are marked in the lower margin with the signatures of the scribe: the first quire consisting of six sheets, placed within one another, and marked j. ij. iij. iiij. v. vj.; the second also of six sheets, marked .a.i. .a.ij. .a.iij. .a.iiij. .a.v. and .a.vj.; the third, b. . .b. . .b. . .b. . .b. .; the fourth .c. . c. . c. . c. . c. . c. . thus it is seen that the sheet containing the leaf b. . and the attached leaf (b. . as it might be called) is lost: and this loss occasions the defects which will be found in the present volume at p. and p. . in front of the volume are bound three leaves of vellum, on the last of which is fastened a slip of the like material, inscribed, apparently edwarde w [iiij?] wych ys bold on the back of the same leaf is the name of _symond'_ _samson._ at the foot of the first paper leaf is the autograph name of _lumley._ _i. e._ john lord lumley, the son-in-law of the last earl of arundel, into whose {lvi} possession the volume probably came by purchase in the reign of elizabeth or james the first. on the leaf .c. . is the autograph name of _robert savylle_. on the last leaf are many scribblings, and attempts in drawing grotesque heads and figures, apparently done about the time of queen mary. among them occurs again the name of _symeon sampson p._ also those of _richarde dyconson_ and _edward jones of clemente in the jor of_ ---- and these sentences, john twychener ys booke he that stellys thys booke he shall be hangid a pon a hooke and that wylle macke ys necke to brake & that wyll macke ys neck awrye a nyes wiffe & a backe dore makythe } outon tymys a ryche man pore. } in the name of the father of the sonne and the holey gost. so be itt. jhesus nazerinus rex iudior[=u] fillij dei miserere mei. jhesus.) god save the king o^r souu'ain lorde. jhesus nazarinus. god save king p. & mary. o gloryous jesu o mekest jesu o moost sweteste jesu have m'cye on us. quite at the bottom of the page is the name of _edward banyster._ * * * * * letters addressed to sir john fastolfe. (royal ms. b. xxii. f. .) from john appulton, captain of pontdonné and the haye de puis. mon treshonnouré et redoubté sr., toute humble recommendacion primier mise, plaise vous savoir que jay entendu que piecha vous aviez quittie et transporté afin de heritaige a degory gamel vostre terre et seignourie de piron pour le prix de deux mille francs lesquelx il devoit paier a chinq annees enssuit du dit transport, cest assavoir pour la premir ann six cens francs, et le demourant es autres quatres anns ensuit, a chacun par egalle porcion; de la quelle chose j'entens que le dit degory na pas acompli ces termes ne ses {lvii} paiemens, car il nest pas tousjours prest de paier, et est de tel gouvernement que p..... que navez eu que peu de chose de vostre ditte s'rie dempuis quil en a eu le gouvernement. et pour ce, mon treshonnouré et redoubté, janvois grant desir davoir icelle terre afin de heritaige si c'estoit vostre plaisir et volenté. car elle est pres de mes et bien a mon aise. sy vous prie et requier tant humblement comme je puis et comme vostre petit et humble serviteur, qu'il vous pla[ira] que j'aie icelle terre et seigneurie de piron par les prix et condicions dessus desclerés et que l'aviez accordee au dit degory en cas que [sera] vostre plaisir de vous en des faire, et que je la puisse avoir aussi tost que ung autre, et j'en seay a tousjours mais tenu ... car vous estes le seigneur qui vive en monde a qui je suis plus tenu et a qui jay greigno' service, et que elle me soit confe[rmé?] par le roy nostre seigneur tellement que je ny puisse avoir empeschement. et je vous promet que je vous paieray loyalment es termes qui seront assignes sans aucune faulte, et se faulte y avez per moy que le marchie ne fust nul, et sur paine de perdre s ... que jen avoie paié. et sy est ce grant chose pour le present de deux mille francs attendans la guerre qui est a present ou ... a l'occasion de la prinse et perte de la place de grantville. car se remede ny est mis de brief tout le bailliage de costentin est en voie destre destruit, et estre comme le pais de caulx, que dieu ne vueille. car se seroit grant dommaige et grant pitie. et pour ceste cause jenvoie jehan dotton devers vous, qui est vostre serviteur, porteur de ces presentes, auquel jay donné pouvoir et puissance den composer et appointier avecque vous ainsi quil vous plaira, et que regarderez quil sera bon a faire, tout aussi comme se je y estoie present, et lequel vous parlera plus a plain de lestate et gouvernement de vostre ditte seigneurie de piron et comme elle a esté gouvernée. et pour ce que autrefois je vous avoie rescript de vostre terre et seigneurie de beaumont, que jeusse volentiers eue se ceust esté vostre plaisir et volenté, pour ce que ma terre d'asineres est parmys la vostre et joingnent ensemble, et en cas que se ne seroit vostre plaisir que jeusse vostre ditte seigneurie de piron, jentend' encores volentiers a icelle de beaumont, et quil vous pleust la mettre a prix de raison, car je ne scay pas bien que elle peult valloir, mes vous le savez bien, car vous en avez fait fe presn(?) et en avez eu la desclaracion, non obstant que les terres depar de cha sy sen vont en tres grant diminucion pour la cause dessus dict. sy vous plaise de vostre grace a y avoir sur le tout advis, et den faire tant que jen puisse estre tous jours vostre petit et humble serviteur, et comme jay tousjours esté et seray tant que je vivray. et se il vous plaist faire quelque appointe des choses dessus dictes, quil vous plaise a le faire vous mesmes, et que ne menvoiez a raouen ne ailleurs, car les chemins sont trop dangereux, et ne voudroie pas aler a rouen voulentiers pour gaignier deux cens frans. mon treshonnouré et redoubté seigneur, je me recommande a vous tant humblement comme je puis et comme vostre petit et humble serviteur, et se il est chose que faire puisse pour vous, mandez le moy et je l'acompliray de tout mon cuer et volentiers, en priant le saint esprit qu'il soit garde de vous et vous donne bonne vie et longue et acomplisse(ment) de vous nobles desirs. escript a la haie du puis, le derrain jour dé may. {lviii} mon treshonnouré et redoubté seigneur, je vous recommande ma fille qui est demour' veufue, et quil vous plaist qelle soit (en) vostre bonne grace et service, et la conseiller et conforter en tous ses afaires. letout vostre humble serviteur jhon 'appulton, cap(itaine) du pont donne et de la haie du puis. (_directed on the back_,) a mon treshonnouré et tresredoubté sire messire jehan fastouf, chevalier, seigneur de piron et de beaumont en normendie. from the bailiffs of winchester.[ ] right worshipfulle sire,--we recommande ws unto you, latyng you wete of howre taryng that we brynge nat hoppe (up) howre money for howre ferme ys for be cawse that we wholde receyve of howre dewte of the cete, and of the awnage sum of xiij. li.; the wheche money we cannat receyve in to the time that we have a wrette to the mayre and to ws ballys, for the cete scholde have of the awnage as easter terme xx. marcs, for that the cete grant(ed) us to howre eryste ferme, and here a pon we tryst; and now the fermeris of the awnage sey it pleynli that the cete schale nat have a peny in to mighelmas terme but zyffe so be that ye sende us a wrytt that we mowe brynge the fermers in to the cheker, and ther to pay ws thys xx. marcs, for we lacke no money but that, for the fermers makit hyrr a skowsce apon the refuson that was thys tyme thre zere, for they fere laste they schold pay agen, and there for they sey it they whole nat pay us no peni but in the cheker, also howre mayre takyt no hede of ws, nother howe whe schal be servyd of the mony, theirefore we pray you sende a wrett down to the mayre and to ws for to brynge ho(ppe, _i.e._ up) howre ferme for the halfe zere, for dowt hyt nat ze schale be as wel payd of ws as zevr (ever) ye w(ere) of zeny men, for in trowyf we pay of howre money more than xiiij. li. no more, but god kepe you. i-wretyn at wynchester the viij. day of may. by the baillifes of wynchester. (to this letter no address is preserved.) * * * * * {lix} additional notes. page liv. _de regimine principum._--sir john paston (temp. edw. iv.) had a copy of this work, which formed part of a volume which he thus described in the catalogue of his library:-- "m^d. my _boke of knyghthode_ and the maner off makyng off knyghts, off justs, off tornaments, ffyghtyng in lystys, paces holden by soldiers and chalenges, statutes off weere, and _de regimine principum_." (paston letters, vol. iii p. .) it is more fully described by william ebesham, the scribe who had written the book, in his bill of accompt, which is also preserved in the same volume, p. :-- "item as to _the grete booke_. "first for wrytyng of the _coronacion_ and other _tretys of knyghthode_ in that quaire, which conteyneth a xiij. levis and more, ij^d. a lefe ij^s. ij^d. "item for the _tretys of werre_ in iiij. books, which conteyneth lx. levis, after ij^d. a leaff x^s. "item for _othea pistill_, which conteyneth xliij. levis vij^s. ij^d. "item for the _chalenges_ and the _acts of armes_, which is xxviij^{ti}. lefs iiij^s. viij^d. "item for _de regimine principum_, which conteyneth xlv^{ti}. leves, after a peny a leef, which is right wele worth iij^s. ix^d. "item for rubriesheyng of all the booke iij^s. iiij^d. the "treatise of knighthood" here mentioned, may probably have resembled _the booke of the ordre of chyvalrye or knyghthode_ printed by caxton (see p. liv.); and the "treatise of war" may have been a version of _the boke of fayttes of armes and of chyvallrye_, which caxton also published from the _arbre de batailes_, &c. as before noticed in p. vi. the "othea pistill" was certainly the same book which passes under the name of christine de pisan, and which was printed at paris by philippe pigouchet, in to, under the title of "_les cent histoires de troye._ lepistre de othea deesse de prudence enuoyee a lesperit cheualereux hector de troye, auec cent hystoires." in every page of this book there is a _texte_ in french verse, and a _glose_ in prose, which agrees exactly with sir john paston's description in his catalogue (where it appears as distinct from ebesham's "great book,") in this entry,--"item, a _book de othea_, text and glose, in quayers." page . _matheu gournay de comitatu somerset._ this personage, whose name has been inserted by the second hand, was a very distinguished warrior in the french wars, and has been supposed to have been the model of the knight in chaucer's canterbury {lx} pilgrims. his epitaph at stoke upon hampden in somersetshire, which has been preserved by leland, describes him as "le noble et vaillant chivaler maheu de gurney, iadys seneschal de landes et capitain du chastel daques por nostre seignor le roy en la duche de guyene, qui en sa vie fu a la batail de beaumarin, et ala apres a la siege dalgezire sur les sarazines, et auxi a les batailles de lescluse, de cressy, de yngenesse, de peyteres, de nazara, dozrey, et a plusiurs autres batailles et asseges, en les quex il gaina noblement graund los et honour per lespece de xxxxiiij et xvj ans, et morust le xxvj jour de septembre, l'an nostre seignor jesu christ mccccvj, que de salme dieux eit mercy. amen." (see records of the house of gournay, by daniel gurney, esq. f.s.a. p. .) page . _sir john fastolfe's victualling of the bastille._ this anecdote is illustrated by the following passage of one of sir john's books of accompt:-- "item, in like wise is owing to the said fastolfe for the keeping and victualling of the bastile of st. anthony in paris, as it appeareth by writing sufficient, and by the creditors of sir john tyrel knight, late treasurer of the king's house, remaining in the exchequer of westminster of record, the sum of xlij li. (paston letters, iii. .) * * * * * { } the boke of noblesse. [ms. reg. b. xxii.] * * * * * the boke of noblesse, compiled to the most hyghe and myghety prince kynge edward the iiij^{the} for the avauncyng and preferryng the comyn publique of the royaumes of england and of fraunce. first, in the worship of the holy trinite, bring to mynde to calle, in the begynnyng of every good work, for grace. and sithe this litille epistle is wrote and entitled to courage and comfort noble men in armes to be in perpetuite of remembraunce for here noble dedis, as right convenient is soo to bee. and as it is specified by auctorite of the noble cenatoure of rome kayus son, in these termes foloweng: "hoc igitur summum est nobilitatis genus, posse majorum suorum egregia facta dicere, posse eorum beneficiis petere honores publicos, posse gloriam rei publicæ hereditario quodam jure vendicare, posse insuper sese eorum partes vocare, et clarissimas in suis vultibus ymagines ostendere. quos enim appellat vulgus nisi quod nobilissimi parentes genuere." de remedio casus reipublicæ. [sidenote: anglorum nacio originem sumpsit ex nacione trojanorum.] [sidenote: nota j^{o}. quod lingua britonum adhuc usitatur in wallia et cornibea, que lingua vocabatur corrupta greca.] here folowethe the evident examples and the resons of comfort for a reformacion to be had uppon the piteous complaintes and dolorous lamentacions made for the right grete outragious and most { } grevous losse of the royaume of fraunce, duchee[gh] of normandie, of gascoyne, and guyen, and also the noble counte of mayne and the erledom of pontife. and for relevyng and geting ayen the said reaume, dukedoms, [and earldoms,] undre correccion of amendement ben shewed the exortacions and mocions, be auctorite, example of actis in armes, bothe by experience and otherwise purposid, meoved and declarid, to corage and comfort the hertis of [the] englisshe nacion, havyng theire first originalle of the nacion of the noble auncient bloode of troy more than m^l. yere before the birthe of crist; in token and profe wherof the auncient langage of the brutes bloode at this day remayneth[ ] bothe in the princedome of walis and in the auncient provynce and dukedom of cornewale, whiche was at tho daies called corrupt greke. [sidenote: ij^{o}. lingua saxonum alias lingua germanorum.] [sidenote: dux cerdicius applicuit in britania tempore regis arthuri, et sic per favorem regis inhabitavit, et . . ex natione grecorum.] and next after the mighty saxons' bloode, otherwise called a provynce in germayne, that the vaileaunt duke cerdicius arrived in this reaume, with whom[ ] arthur, king of the breton bloode, made mighty werre, and suffred hym to inhabit here. and the saxons, as it is writen in berthilmew in his booke of propreteis, also were decendid of the nacion of grekis. [sidenote: iij^{o}. lingua danorum ex nacione grecorum. rex danorum knott conquestum fecit.] and next after came the feers manly danysh nacion, also of grekis bene descendid, that the gret justicer king knowt this land subdued and the saxons' bloode. and sithen the noble normannes, also of the danys nacion, descendid be william conquerour, of whome ye ben lyniallie descendid, subdued this lande. and, last of alle, the victorius bloode of angevyns, by mariage of that puissaunt erle geffry plantagenet, the son and heire of fouke king of jherusalem, be mariage of dame maude, emperes, soule doughter and heire to the king of grete renoune, henry the first of inglond, and into this day lineally descendid in most prowes. and whiche said englisshe nacion ben sore astonyed and dulled { } for the repairing and wynnyng ayen, uppon a new conquest to be hadde for youre verray right and true title in the inheritaunce of the saide reaume of fraunce and the duche of normandie. of whiche duchie, we have in the yere of oure lorde m^l.iiij^cl., lost, as bethyn the space of xv monithes be put out wrongfullie, tho roughe subtile wirkingis conspired and wroughte be the frenshe partie undre the umbre and coloure of trewis late taken betwyxt youre antecessoure king harry the sext then named king, and youre grete adversarie of fraunce charles the vij^{the}. and where as the saide piteous complaintes [and] dolorous lamentacions of youre verray true obeisaunt subjectis for lesing of the said countreis may not be tendrid ne herde, [they] many daies have had but litille comfort, nether the anguisshes, troubles, and divisions here late before in this reaume be cyvyle batailes to be had, may not prevaile them to the repairing and wynnyng of any soche manere outrageous losses to this reaume, whiche hathe thoroughe sodein and variable chaunces of unstedfast fortune so be revaled and overthrow; the tyme of relief and comfort wolde not be despendid ne occupied so: namely with theym whiche that have necessite of relief and socoure of a grettir avauntage and a more profitable remedie for theire avauncement to a new conquest: or by a good tretie of a finalle peace for the recovere of the same: but to folow the counceile of the noble cenatoure of rome boicius in the second prose of his first booke of consolacion seieng _sed medicine_ (inquid) _tempus est_, _quàm querele_. therfor, alle ye lovyng liege men, bothe youre noble alliaunces and frendis, levithe suche idille lamentacions, put away thoughte and gret pensifnes of suche lamentable passions and besinesse, and put ye hem to foryetefulnesse. and doo not away the recordacion of actis and dedis in armes of so many famous and victorious kingis, princes, dukis, erles, barounes, and noble knightis, as of fulle many other worshipfulle men haunting armes, whiche as verray trew martirs and blissid souls have taken theire last ende by werre; { } some woundid and taken prisonneres in so just a title and conquest uppon youre enheritaunce in fraunce and normandie, gasquyn and guyen; and also by the famous king and mighty prince king edward the thrid, first heriter to the said royaume of fraunce, and by prince edwarde his eldist son, and alle his noble bretherin, [who] pursued his title and righte be force of armes, as was of late tyme sithe the yere of crist m^l.iiij^cxv. done, and made a new conquest in conquering bothe the saide reaume of fraunce and duche of normaundie by the prince of blissid memorie king harry the v^{the}. also be the eide of tho thre noble prynces his bretherne and be other of his puissant dukes and lordis, being lieutenaunt[gh] for the werre in that parties, as it is notorily knowen thoroughe alle cristen nacyons, to the gret renomme and[ ] worship of this reaume. how every good man of [worshyp yn[ ]] armes shulde in the werre be resembled to the condicion of a lion. and therfor, in conclusion, every man in hym silf let the passions of dolours be turned and empressid into vyfnes of here spiritis, of egre courages, of manlinesse and feersnesse, after the condicion of the lion resembled in condicions unto; for as ire, egrenesse, and feersnesse is holden for a vertu in the lion, so in like manere the said condicions is taken for a vertue and renomme of worship to alle tho that haunten armes: that so usithe to be egre, feers uppon his advers partie, and not to be lamentable and sorroufulle after a wrong shewed unto theym. and thus withe coragious hertis putting forthe theire prowes in dedis of armes, so that alle worshipfulle men, whiche oughte to be stedfast and holde togider, may be of one intencion, wille, and comon assent to vapour, sprede out, according to the flour delice, and avaunce hem forthe be feernesse of strenght and power to the verray effect and dede ayenst the untrew reproches of oure auncien adversaries halding uppon the frenshe partie, whiche of late tyme by unjust dissimilacions, undre the umbre { } and coloure of trewis and abstinence of werre late hadde and sacred at the cite of tairs the .xxviij. day of maij, the yere of crist of m^l.iiij^cxliiij^{to}. have by intrusion of soche subtile dissimilacion wonne uppon us bethyn v yeres next foloweng withyn the tyme of [the last[ ]] trieux the said reaume and duchees, so that in the meane tyme and sethe contynued forthe the saide trewes from yere to yere, to this land grete charge and cost, till they had conspired and wrought theire avauntage, as it approvethe dailie of experience. and under this they bring assailours uppon this lande and begynneris of the trewis breking. how the frenshe partie began firste to offende and brake the trewis. [sidenote: tempore regis h. vj^{th}.] first by taking of youre shippis and marchaundises upon the see, keping men of noble birthe undre youre predecessoure obedience and divers other true lieges men prisoneris under arest, as that noble and trew knight ser gilis the duke is son of bretaine, whiche for his grete trouthe and love he hadde to this youre royaume warde, ayenst all manhode ungoodely entretid, died in prison. and also before the taking of fugiers ser simon morhier knight, the provost of paris, a lorde also of youre partie and chief of the kingis counceile, take prisoner by deepe and paieng a grete raunson or he was deliverid. and sone after one mauncelle a squier, comyng fro rone, with .xx. parsones in his company, to deepe, pesibly in the monythe of januarij next before the taking of fugiers, were in deepe taken prisoneris wrongfullie undre the umbre of trewis. and sithen the lord faucomberge take prisoner by subtile undew meanys of a cautel taken under safconduct of youre adversarie at pountelarge the xv day of maij, the yere of crist m^l.iiij^cxlix. and also the said forteresse of pountlarge take the said day be right undew meanys taken uppon the said lorde faucomberge contrarie to the said trewis, { } forging here colourable matieris in so detestable unjust quarellis. for reformacion of whiche gret injuries conspired, shewed, and doone, alle ye put to youre handis to this paast and matier. comythe therfor and approchen bothe kyn, affinitees, frendis, subgectis, allies, and alle wellewilleris. now at erst the irnesse be brennyng hote in the fire thoroughe goode courage, the worke is overmoche kindelid and begonne, thoroughe oure dulnesse and sleuthe slommering many day, for be the sheding of the bloode of good cristen people as hathe be done in youre predecessours conquest that now is lost: is said be the wordis of job: criethe and bewailethe in the feelde, frendis and kyn, take heede pitously to your bloode. a question of grete charge and wighte,[ ] meoved first to be determyned, whethir for to make werre uppon cristen bloode is laufulle. [sidenote: : p^{a}] [sidenote: : ij^{da}] [sidenote: : iij^{d}] but first ther wolde be meoved a question, whiche dame cristyn makithe mencion of in the seconde chapitre of the tree of batailles: whethir that werres and batailes meintenyng and using ben laufulle according to justice or no. and the oppinion of many one wolde undrestond that haunting of armes and werre making is not lefull, ne just thing, for asmoche in haunting and using of werre be many infinite[ ] damages and extorsions done, as mourdre, slaugheter, bloode-sheding, depopulacion of contrees, castelles, citees, and townes brennyng, and many suche infinite damages. wherfor it shulde seme that[ ] meintenyng of werre is a cursid deede: not dew to be meyntened. as to this question it[ ] may be answerd that entrepruises and werris taken and founded uppon a just cause and a trew title is suffred of god, for dame cristen seiethe and moevithe, in the first booke of the arbre of bataile, how it is for to have in consideracion why that princes shuld maynteyne werre and use bataile; and the saide dame cristin saiethe v. causes principalle: thre of them { } bene of righte: and the other tweyne of vallente. the first cause is to susteyne right and justice; the second is to withestande alle soche mysdoers the whiche wolde do foule[ ] greif and oppresse the peple of the contre that the kyng or prince is gouvernoure of; the thrid is for to recuver landes, seignories and goodes [that] be other unrightfully ravisshed, taken away be force, or usurped, whiche shulde apperteine to the kyng and prince of the same seignorie, or ellis to whome his subgettys shuld apparteine [and] be meinteined under. and the other tweyne be but of violence, as for to be venged for dammage or griefe done by another; the othir to conquere straunge countrees bethout[ ] any title of righte, as king alexandre conquerid uppon the romayne: whiche tweine last causes, though[ ] the conquest or victorie by violence or by roialle power sownethe worshipfulle in dede of armes, yet ther ought no cristen prince use them. and yet in the first thre causes, before a prince to take an entreprise, it most be done be a just cause, and havyng righte gret deliberacion, by the conduyt and counceile of the most sage approuved men of a reaume or countre that the prince is of: and so for to use it in a just quarelle as[ ] the righte execution of justice requirithe, whiche is one of the principalle iiij. cardinall virtues. and if that using of armes and haunting of werre be doone rather for magnificence, pride, and wilfulnesse, to destroie roiaumes and countreis by roialle gret power, as whan tho that wolde avenge have noo title, but sey _vive le plus fort_, [that] is to sey, let the grettest maistrie have the feelde,-- [in this place the following insertion is made by a second hand in the margin:] lyke as when the duc off burgoyn by cyvyle bataylle by maisterdom expelled the duc of orlyance partie and hys frendis owt of parys cytee the yere of christ m^l.iiij^cxij, and slow many thowsands and[ ] hondredes bethout title of justice, but to revenge a synguler querel betwen both prynces for the dethe of the duc off orlyans, { } slayn yn the vigille of seynt clement by raulyn actovyle of normandie, yn the yeer of crist m^l.iiij^cvij^o. and the bataylle of seynt-clow besyde parys, by the duc of burgoyn with help of capteyns of england owt of england, waged by the seyd duc, was myghtly foughten and had the fielde ayenste theyr adverse partye. albeyt the duc of orlyance waged another armee sone aftyr owt of england to relyeve the ovyrthrow he had at seyntclowe. and the dyvysyon betwene the duc of orlyance and the duc of burgoyn dured yn fraunce continuelly by .xj. yeerday, as to the yeere of crist m^liiij^cxviij, yn wyche yeere phelip duc of burgoyn, a greet frende to the land, was pyteousely slayn at motreaw, and the cyte of parys ayen taken by the burgonons; lord lyseladam pryncipalle capteyn and the erle of armonak conestable sleyn by the comyns the seyd yere. (_end of the insertion._) in soche undew enterprises theire can be thought no grettir tiranny, extorcion, ne cruelte [by dyvysyons[ ]]. how seint lowes exorted and counceiled his sonne to moeve no werre ayenst cristen peple. [sidenote: seynt lowys. .] and the blissid king of fraunce seint lowes exhortid and comaunded in his testament writen of his owne hand, that he made the tyme of his passing of this worlde the year of crist m^l.cclxx to his sonne philip that reigned after hym, that he shulde kepe hym welle, to meove no werre ayenst no christen man, but if he had grevously done ayenst him. and if he seke waies of peace, of grace and mercie, thou oughtest pardon hym, and take soche amendis of hym as god may be pleasid. but as for this blessid kingis counceile, it is notorily and openly knowen thoroughe alle cristen royaumes that oure[ ] adverse party hathe meoved [and] excited werre and batailes bothe by lond and see ayenst this noble royaume bethout any justice [or] title, and bethout waies of pease shewed; and as forto { } defende them assailours uppon youre true title may be bethout note of tiranye, to put yow in youre devoire to conquere youre rightfulle enheritaunce, without that a bettir moyene be had. a exortacion of a courageous disposicion for a reformation of a wrong done. [sidenote: exclamacio.] o then, ye worshipfulle men of the englisshe nacion, which bene descendid of the noble brutis bloode of troy, suffre ye not than youre highe auncien couragis to be revalid ne desceived by youre said adversaries of fraunce at this tyme, neither in tyme to come; ne in this maner to be rebuked and put abak, to youre uttermost deshonoure and reproche in the sighte of straunge nacions, without that it may be in goodely hast remedied [as youre hyghnesse now entendyth,[ ]] whiche ye have be conquerours of, as ye[ ] to be yolden and overcomen, in deffaute of goode and hasty remedie, thoroughe lak of provision of men of armes, tresour, and finaunce of suffisaunt nombre of goodes, in season and tyme convenable to wage and reliefe them. for were ye not sometyme tho that thoroughe youre gret [prowesse,[ ]] corages, feersnes, manlinesse, and of strenght overleid and put in subgeccion the gret myghte and power of the feers and puissaunt figheters of alle straunge nacions that presumed to set ayenst this lande? how many worthi kinges of this lande have made gret conquestis in ferre contrees in the holy lande, and also for the defence and right of this lande, and for the duche of normandie. [sidenote: arthur.] [sidenote: brenus.] [sidenote: edmondus ironside.] [sidenote: willelmus conquestor.] [sidenote: henricus primus fundator plurimorum castrorum.] [sidenote: robertus frater henrici primi, electus rex de jherusalem, sed renuit.] [sidenote: fulco comes de angeu, rex jerusalem.] [sidenote: .] [sidenote: de ricardo rege primo in terra sancta.] [sidenote: archiepiscopus cant', robertus clare comes glouc', comes cestr'.] [sidenote: philippus rex francie, vocatus deo datus, in terra sancta.] [sidenote: edwardus rex primus.] [sidenote: sanctus lodowicus rex francorum obiit in viagio antequam pervenit ad terram sanctam.] [sidenote: ricardus imperator alemannie et comes cornewayle.] [sidenote: edwardus primus rex.] and for an example and witnes of king arthur, whiche discomfit and sleine was undre his banere the emperoure of rome in bataile, and conquerid the gret part of the regions be west of rome. and many othre conquestis hathe be made before the daies of the said { } arthur be many worthi kinges of this roiaume, as brenus, king belynus' brother, a puissaunt chosen duke, that was before the incarnacion, wanne and conquerid to rome, except the capitoile of rome. and sithen of other victorious kinges and princes, as edmonde irensede had many gret batailes [and] desconfited the danes to safe englond. and what victorious dedis william conqueroure did gret actis in bataile uppon the frenshe partie [many conquestys [ ]]. and also his son [kyng[ ]] harry after hym defendid normandie, bilded and fortified many a strong castelle in his londe, to defende his dukedom ayenst the frenshe partie. and how victoriouslie his brother roberd did armes uppon the conquest of the holy londe, that for his gret prowesse there was elect to be king of jherusalem, and refusid it for a singuler covetice to be duke of normandie, returned home, and never had grace of victorie after. and to bring to mynde how the noble worriour fouke erle of angew, father to geffrey plantagenet youre noble auncetour, left his erledom to his sonne, and made werre upon the sarasynes in the holy land, and for his noble dedis was made king of jherusalem, anno christi m^l.cxxxi. as how king richarde the first, clepid cuer de lion, whiche in a croiserie went in to the holy londe, and baldewyne archebisshop of caunterburie, hubert bisshop of salisburie, randolfe the erle of chestre, robert clare erle of gloucestre, and werreied uppon the hethen paynemys in the company of king philip dieu-donné of fraunce, whiche king richard conquerid and wanne by roiall power uppon the sarrasyns in the yere of crist m^l.c.iiij^{xx}vij^o. and toke the king of cipres and many other gret prisonneris. also put the londe of surie in subjeccion, the isle of cipres, and the gret cite of damask wanne be assaut, slow the king of spayne clepid ferranus. and the said king richard kept and defendid frome his adversarie philip dieu-donné king of fraunce, be mighty werre made to hym, the duchees of normandie, gascoigne, gyen, the countee[gh] of anjou and mayne, tourayne, { } pontyve, auverne, and champaigne, of alle whiche he was king, duke, erle, and lorde as his enheritaunce, and as his predecessours before hym did. also in like wise king edward first after the conquest, being prince, in about the yere of crist m^l.ij^c.lxx, put hym in gret laboure and aventure amonges the sarrasins in the countye of aufrik, was at the conquest of the gret cite of the roiaume of thunes. [yn whiche cuntree that tyme and yeere seynt lowys kyng of fraunce dyed, and the croyserye grete revaled by hys trespasseinte, had not the seyd prince edward ys armee be redye there to performe that holy voyage to jerusalem, as he dyd wyth many noble lordes off england.[ ]] also fulle noblie ententid about the defence and saufegarde of the gret cite of acres in the londe of sirie, that had be lost and yolden to the sarrazins had not [hys armee and[ ]] his power bee, and by an hole yere osteyng and abiding there in tyme of gret pestilence and mortalite reigning there, and by whiche his peple were gretly wastid, where he was be treason of a untrew messaunger sarrasin wounded hym in his chambre almost to dethe, that the souldone of babiloyne had waged hym to doo it, becaus of sharpe and cruelle werre the seide edwarde made uppon the sarrasines, of gret fere and doubte he had of the said prince edward and of his power; whiche processe ye may more groundly see in the actis of the said prince edwarde is laboure. and his father king harry thrid decesid while his son was in the holy londe warring uppon the sarasines. and how worshipfullie richard emperoure of almaine and brother to the said king henry did gret actis of armes in the holy londe uppon the sarasynes and in the yere of crist m^l.ij^c.xl. and overmore the said king edwarde first kept under subjeccion bothe irelond, walis, and scotlond, whiche were rebellis and wilde peple of condicion. and also protectid and defendid the duchees of gascoigne and guyen, his rightefull enheritaunce. { } how king edward [the] thrid had the victorie at the bataile of scluse, and gate cane by assaute, and havyng the victorie at the batelle of cressye [and wanne calix by sege.[ ]] [sidenote: t. regis e. iij^{cii} et ejus filiorum.] [sidenote: comes de ew captus. comes tankervyle captus.] [sidenote: cressye.] [sidenote: comes derbye.] and sithen, over that, how that the most noble famous knighte of renomme, king edwarde the thrid, the whiche, with his roialle power, the yere of christ m^l.ccc.xl. wanne [the day of seynt john baptiste[ ]] the gret bataile uppon the see at scluse ayenst philip de valoys callyng hym the frenshe king and his power, and alle his gret navye of shippis destroied, to the nombre of .xxv.m^l. men and ccxxx^{ti}. shippis and barges. and also after that, in the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.xlvj. the said king philip purposid to have entred into englond and had waged a gret noumbre of genues shippis and other navyes. and the said king edward thrid thought rather to werre withe hym in that countre rather: tooke his vyage to cane withe xij^c. shippis, passed into normandie by the hagge,[ ] wynnyng the contrees of constantine [from chyrburgh[ ]] tylle he came to cane, and by grete assautes entred and gate the towne, and fought withe the capitaine and burgeises fro midday till night; where the erle of eu, connestable of fraunce, the erle of tancarville, and others knightes and squiers were take prisoneris: but the castelle and donjoune held still, where the bisshop of baieux and othre kept hem; and than the king departid thens, for he wolde not lese his peple [by segyng yt.[ ]] and after that the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.xlvj descomfit the said king philip and wanne the feelde uppon hym at the dolorous and gret bataile of cressy in picardie the .xxvj. day of august the said yere, where the king of beame was slayne the son of henry the emperoure, and alle the gret part of the noble bloode of fraunce of dukes, erlis, and barons, as the erle of alaunson king of fraunce is brother, the duke of lorraine, the erle of bloys, the erle of flaundres, the erle of harecourt, the erle of sancerre, the erle of fennes, to the nombre of .l. knightis sleyne, as well as to othre gret { } nombre of his liege peple, as in the . . chapitre of the actis of the said king philip more plainly is historied. and also the full noble erle of darby, havyng rule under the said king edwarde in the duchie of guyen, hostied the said tyme and yere, and put in subjeccion fro the towne of saint johan evangelist unto the citee of peyters, whiche he wanne also, be the said erle of derbye is entreprises. how david king of scottis was take prisoner. [sidenote: david rex scotorum captus est apud doraham.] and in the said king edward tyme david king of scottis was take prisoner, as i have undrestond, at the bataile beside deram upon the marchis of scotlond. [sidenote: karolus dux britanniæ captus est per e. iij^{m}.] [sidenote: calicia capta est eodem tempore per edwardum iij^{m}.] [sidenote: calicia reddita est in manus regis edwardi iij.] [sidenote: edwardus princeps cepit johannem vocantem se regem franciæ a^{o}, d'ni m^{o}ccc^{o}lvj^{o}.] [sidenote: edwardus rex angliæ iij^{us} retribuit xx.m^{l}.li. edwardo principi filio suo.] [sidenote: karolus filius regis johannis fraunciæ ac nominando se pro duce normandiæ captus est.] [sidenote: edwardus princeps navim ascendit cum johanne nominando se pro rege franciæ et applicuerunt prope dover iiij^{o}. die maij, a^{o} d'ni m^{l}. &c.] [sidenote: de redempcione johannis dicentis [se] regem franciæ.] [sidenote: de bello de nazar.] [sidenote: chandos.] [sidenote: beauchamp comes.] [sidenote: d'n's hastyngys.] [sidenote: d'n's nevyle.] [sidenote: d'n's rays.] [sidenote: rad's hastyngys ch'l'r.] [sidenote: tho's felton.] [sidenote: robertus knolles.] [sidenote: courteneyes. tryvett.] [sidenote: matheu gournay.] [sidenote: et quam plures alii milites hic nimis diu ad inscribendum.] [sidenote: bertl's clekyn, locum tenens adversæ partis, captus est prisonarius.] and also the said king kept bretaine in gret subjeccion, had the victorie uppon charles de bloys duke of breteine, and leid a siege in breteine to a strong forteresse clepid roche daryon, and kept be his true subjectis. after many assautes and grete escarmisshes and a bataile manly foughten, the said duke was take, and havyng .vij. woundes was presentid to the said king edward. and he also wanne calix after, by a long and puissaunt sieges keping[ ] by see and be londe; and they enfamyned couthe have no socoure of king philip, and so for faute of vitaile yeldid calix up to king edwarde the .iiij. day of august in the yere of crist m^l.ccc.xlvij. and also put normandie gret part of it in subgeccion. and therto in his daies his eldist sonne edward prince of walis the .xix. day of septembre the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.lvj had a gret discomfiture afore the cite of peyters uppon john calling hym king of fraunce, where the said king was taken prisoner, and in whiche bataile was slaine the duke of bourbon, the duke of athenes, the lord clermont, ser geffrey channy that bare the baner of the oriflamble, and also take withe king johan ser philip duc [le hardye[ ]] of bourgoine his yongist sonne, and for whois raunson and othres certaine lordes { } king edwarde rewarded the prince xx.m^l.li. sterlinges. also taken that day ser jaques de bourbon erle of pontieu [and] charles his brother erle of longville, the kingis cosins germains, ser john meloun erle of tancarvile, ser william meleum archebisshop of sens, the erle dampmartyn, the erle vendosme, the erle vaudemont, the erle salebruce, the erle nanson, ser arnolde of doneham mareshalle of fraunce, and many other knightis and gentiles to the nombre of m^l.vij^c. prisonneris, of whiche were taken and sleine .lij. knightis banerettis. and the kingis eldist sonne charlis calling hym duc of normandie, the duc of orliauns the kingis brother, the duc of anjou, the erle of peiters that after was clepid [johan[ ]] the duc of berrie, the erle of flaundris, withe a few other lordis, withdrewe hem and escapid from the seide bataile. and sone after, the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.lvij. the .xvj. day of aprill the said prince edward with king johan tooke the see at burdeux to englond, and londed the .iiij. day of maij and came to london the .xxiiij. day of maij, the said king edwarde his father meeting withe king johan in the feelde, doing hym gret honoure and reverence. and after in the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.lxvij the month of maij the said king johan was put to finaunce and raunson of thre millions of scutis of golde, that two of them be worth .j. noble, of whiche was paied sex hondred thousand scutis be the said king johan comyng to calix, and in certein yeris after was obliged under gret seurtees, as it is declared in the articulis of the pease finalle made betwene both kingis, to be paied , till the said thre hondred m^l crones[ ] were fullie paied, whiche as it is said was not parfourmed. and, after that, the said prince edwarde and harry that noble duke of lancastre had the bataile of nazar in spaine withe king peter ayenst the bastarde henry callinge hym king of spain, haveng lxiij m^l. fighting men in his host, and hym descomfit, voided the feelde, and many a noble knighte of englonde and of gascoigne and guyen withe many othre worshipfulle gentiles quite hem righte manlie, and amongis { } many goode men of chevalrie ser john chandos avaunced hym chief in that bataile [havyng the avauntgard[ ]], for he had in his retenu m^l.ij^c penons armed and x.m^l. horsmen; and ser william beauchampe the erle of warwik is sonne, lorde hue hastinges, lord nevyle, lorde rais a breton lorde of aubterré, withe many gascoignes there also: ser raufe hastingis, ser thomas felton, ser roberd knolles, withe many other notable of the chevalrie of inglonde, passed the streit high monteyns of pirone by runcyvale in the contre of pampilon, going from the cite of burdeux into spaine, and ser hughe courtney, ser philip courtnay, ser john tryvet, [matheu gournay de comitatu somerset[ ]]. and there was take ser barthilmew clekyn the frenshe kingis lieutenaunt for the werre prisoner, also the mareshalle of fraunce, the besque, with many othre notable lordis. whiche bataile of nazar was in the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.lxvj. the thrid day of aprille. how king henry the v. conquerid [normandy and fraunce[ ]]. [sidenote: de henrico quinto.] [sidenote: nota quomodo rex henricus v^{te}. obtinuit harefleet.] [sidenote: de extrema defensione ville harflue contra potestatem franciæ et de fame ibidem.] [sidenote: nota, qualiter per civitates et mare obtinuit.] [sidenote: bellum supermare et le[gh] carrikes.] [sidenote: nota de bello apud agincourt.] [sidenote: henricus rex duxit in uxorem filiam regis fraunciæ.] and sithe now late the noble prince[ ] henry the v^{te}. how in his daies, withyn the space of .vij. yere and .xv. daies, thoroughe sieges lieng, [[ ] wan the towne of harflete bethyn .xl. days, made thomas beauford then erle dorset hys oncle capteyn of yt. and the seyd erle made ser john fastolfe chevaler his lieutenaunt wyth m^l.v^c soudeours, and the baron of carew, wyth .xxxiij. knyghtys, contynuelly defended the seyd toune ayenst the myghty power of fraunce by the space of one yere and half aftyr the seyd prince herry. v^{te}. departed from hareflue. and the seyd towne was beseged by the frenshe partye by lond and also by see, wyth a grete navye of carekys, galeyes, and shyppis off spayne, tille that yn the meene tyme johan duc of bedfor(d), the erle of marche your moste noble antecessour, accompanyed wyth many other nobles, wyth a puissaunt armee of shypps, fought wyth the carrekys and shypps lyeng at seyn hede before hareflue, were { } taken and many one sleyn and drowned; and so vyttailled harflue yn grete famyn, that a wreched cowys hede was solde for vj s. viij d. sterling, and the tong for xl d., and dyed of englysh soudeours mo then v^c. yn defaut of sustenaunce. and the second voyage after wythynne the tyme before seyd johan erle of hontyndon was made cheif admyralle of a new armee to rescue harflue, beseged of the new wyth a grete navy of shyppys and carekys of the frenshe partye, [which] were foughten wyth and ovyrcom throw myghty fyghtyng; and of the new vitailled hareflue, the seyd erle dorset then beyng yn england at the emperour comyng hedre, called sygemondus. i briefly title thys incident to th'entent not to be foryete how suche tweyn myghety batailles were foughten uppon the see bethyn one yere and half, and how the seyd toune of hareflue was deffended and kept ayenst the puyssaunt power of fraunce beseged as yt were by the seyd tyme; and as for wache and ward yn the wynter nyghtys i herd the seyd ser johan fastolfe sey that every man kepyng the scout wache had a masty hound at a lyes, to berke and warne yff ony adverse partye were commyng to the dykes or to aproche the towne for to scale yt. and the seyd prince herry v^{the},[ ]] albeit that it consumed gretlie his peple, and also by batailes yeveng, conquerid [the towne of harflete[ ]], and wanne bothe the saide duchie of normandie first and after the roiaume of fraunce, conquerid and broughte in subjeccion and wanne be his gret manhode, withe the noble power of his lordis and helpe of his comonys, and so overleid the myghtie roialle power of fraunce be the seide sieges lieng, first in his first viage at harflete, and in the second viage he made manly besegid cane, the cite of rone, falleise, argenten, maunt, vernonsurseyne, melun, meulx, enbrie, and at many other castellis, forteressis, citeis, and townes to long to rehers. also had gret batailes on the see ayenst many grete carekkis and gret shippes that beseiged hareflue after it was englisshe. and had a gret discomfiture at the bataile of agincourt in the yere of crist m^l.iiij^cxv. { } at his first viage, where many dukes, erlis, lordis, and knightis were slaine and take prisoneris that bene in remembraunce at this day of men yet livyng. and after allied hym to the frenshe king charlis .vj.^{te} is doughter, because of whiche alliaunce gret part of the roiaume of fraunce were yolden unto hym his obeisaunce. and now also in the said noble conquest hathe be kepte undre the obediaunce of englisshe nacion from the begynnyng of the said late conquest by .xxxv. yeris be continued and kept by roialle power, as first be the noble and famous prince johan duke of bedforde, regent and governoure of the roiaume of fraunce by .xiij. yeris, with the eide and power of the noble lordis of this lande, bothe youre said royaume of fraunce and duchie of normandie was kept and the ennemies kept ferre of in gret subjeccion. [sidenote: joh'es dux bedforde.] how that in johan duke of bedforde tyme be his lieutenaunt erle of salisburie had the victorie at the batelle of cravant. [sidenote: bellum de cravant.] [sidenote: thomas montagu comes sarum.] [sidenote: will's pole comes suff'.] [sidenote: dominus willughby.] [sidenote: vindicatio mortis ducis clarenciæ.] [sidenote: secunda vice punicio mortis ducis clarenciæ.] in profe wherof how and in the first yere of the reigne of king harry the sixt, at whiche tyme his seide uncle toke uppon hym the charge and the name of regent of the roiaume of fraunce, that had the victorie at the bateile of cravant, where as at that tyme thomas montagu the noble erle of salisburie, the erle of suffolke, the marchalle of bourgoine, the lord willoughebie, withe a gret power of phelip the duke of bourgoine is host, holding the partie of the said johan regent of fraunce, duc of bedford, withe the eide and help of the trew subgettis of this lande, had the overhande of the ennemies assembled to the nombre of .ix. m^l. frenshemen and scottis at the said bataile of cravant in the duchie of bourgoine, where there were slayne of the ennemies to the nombre of .iiij. m^l., beside .ij. m^l. prisonneris take, of whiche gret part of them were scottis, the erle bougham being chief capitein over them;[ ] which late before were the cause of the male-infortuned journey at bougée, where the famous { } and victorious knight thomas duc of claraunce, youre nere cousyn, for the right of fraunce, withe a smale company of his side, withe the scottis to a grete nombre there assembled among hem in the feelde, was slayn, withe many a noble lorde, baron, knightis, squyers of englond, that never so gret an overthrow of lordes and noble bloode was seene in no mannys daies as it was then. aboute the nombre of .ij^c. l. cote-armes slaine and take prisoneris as yt was seyd, be the saide scottis holding withe youre adverse party of fraunce, whiche god of his infinite goodenes sone after at the saide batelle [of] cravant, and after at the bateile of vernell, was sent a chastisement upon the saide scottis for theire cruelltie vengeable and mortelle dethe of the said victorious prince, duke of claraunce, and of other of his noble lordis and knightis. how johan duke of bedforde had yn his owne parsone the batelle of vernelle. [sidenote: .] [sidenote: batelle of cravant.] [sidenote: batelle of vernoyle.] [sidenote: .] also in the said daies, sone after the saide batelle of cravant, in the yere of crist m^l.iiij^c.xxiij., the .iij. yere of king harry the sext, the .xvij. day of august, the said johan duke of bedford had a gret discomfiture and the victorie upon your adversaries of fraunce and of scottis at the batelle of vernelle in perche, where as johan cleping hym duc of alaunson, lieutenaunt for the frenshe partie, was take prisoner that day, and the said erle bougham of scotlonde, marchalle of fraunce, whiche was cause of that noble prince thomas duke of claraunce dethe, was in the said bataile overthrow and sleyne, and the erle douglas made duc of tourayne, aswelle as his sonne and heire that was in the feelde at shrewisburie ayenst king henry the .iiij^{the}, and another tyme being ayenst the said johan duc of bedford at homeldonhille in scotlond, was also slaine at the said batelle, withe many other grete lordis of the frenshe partie slayne and taken prisoneris at the said bataile. { } how that the grettir part of the counte of mayne, the cite of mauns, withe many other castellis, were yolden. [sidenote: mayn.] [sidenote: redempcio joh'is dicentis [se] ducem de allunson pro .clx. m^{l}. salux bene solutis ultra alia onera suarum expensarum.] and, overmore, not long after, youre auncien enheritaunce in the counté of mayne, the cite of maunce, conquerid and brought be the said regent duc of bedforde, withe the power of his lordis and helpers, in subgeccion, [by the erle of salysbery, lord scalys, ser john fastalf, ser john popham, ser n. mongomery, ser wylliam oldhalle, chevalers, and many othyr noble men of worshyppe.[ ]] and whiche counté of mayne was accustomed sithen to be in value yerely to the eide and helpe of the werres of fraunce, and to the releve of the kyng ys subgettis obeisauntes lyvyng uppon the werre for the furtheraunce of that conquest, .x. m^l. li. sterlinges. also the said regent of fraunce, with the power of youre noble bloode and lordes, wanne the feeld at the forseid grete bataile of vernelle in perche ayenst the power of the frenshe adverse party of fraunce, being assembled to the nombre of .xl. m^l. fighters of the frenshe partie; and there johan cleping hymsilf duke of alaunson, lieutenaunt to charles the .vij. calling hym frenshe king, taken prisonner, withe many other lordis, barons, and knightes, and noble men of worship, whiche paied to the said regent duc of bedforde for his raunson and finaunce allone .clx. m. salux, beside his other grete costis and charges, whiche was a gret relief and socoure to the eide of the conquest, whiche bataile was in the yere of crist m^l.iiij^c.xxiiij., the seyd .iij^d. yere of the reigne of king henry sext. [sidenote: nota bene pro titulo regis henrici sexti.] how that henry the sext was crouned king be the might of grete lordes. [sidenote: coronatio regis henrici sexti.] [sidenote: de magna fama regni angliæ tempore regis hen. vi^{th}] and he also, for a gret act of remembraunce to be had in writing, was crouned king of fraunce in the noble citee of paris, in the yere of crist m^l.iiij^c.xxix., the .ix. yere of his reigne, withe right gret solennyte amongis the lordis spirituelle and temporelle, and be the gret mighte and power, as well in goodes and richesse, of his graunt { } oncle henry cardinalle of englande, byshop of wynchester, and by the gret mighte and power of his uncle johan regent of the roiaum of fraunce, duc of bedforde, being present at that tyme to their grettist charge and cost to resist theire gret adversarie of fraunce calling hym dolphin. for sethen the roiaume of englonde first began to be inhabite withe peple was never so worshipfulle an act of entreprise done in suche a case, the renoume of which coronacion spradde thoroughe alle cristen kingis roiaumes. [sidenote: a courageous recomfortyng.] [sidenote: exortacio militaris.] o then ye most noble and cristen prince, for notwithestanding gret conquestis and batailes had in the said roiaume be the famous knight king edwarde the thrid, he never atteyned to that souvraine honoure but by valiauntnes of englishe men, whiche have in prowes avaunced hem, and governed so nobly as is before briefly historied and specified, be youre saide noble, puissaunt, and vailaunt progenitours in divers regions, and inespecialle in fraunce and normandie, and in the duchie of gascoigne and guyen, that this sodenly wern put oute of by usurpacion ayenst alle trouthe and knyghthode. now therfore, in repairing this undew intrusion uppon yow, mantelle, fortifie, and make yow strong ayenst the power of youre said adversaries of fraunce. for now it is tyme to clothe you in armoure of defense ayenst youre ennemies, withe the cotes of armes of youre auncien feernesse, haveng in remembraunce the victorious conquestis of youre noble predecessours, the whiche clothing many histories, cronicles, and writinges witnessithe moo than myn simple entendement can not suffice to reherse in this brief epistle. of the noblesse of ectour and other mighty kinges of grece. [sidenote: nota de exemplis aliorum nobilium.] [sidenote: hector.] [sidenote: agamemnon.] [sidenote: ulixes.] [sidenote: hercules.] [sidenote: . j.] [sidenote: . ij.] [sidenote: . iij.] and also let be brought to mynde to folow the steppis in conceitis of noble courage of the mighty dedis in armes of the vaillaunt knight hector of troy, whiche bene enacted in the siege of troy for a perpetuelle remembraunce of chevalrie [that your noblesse ys decended of[ ]]. also of the dedis in armes of agamemnon the { } puissaunt king of greece, that thoroughe cruell and egre werre ayenst the trojens bethin .x. yere day conquerid the gret cite of troie. in like wise of the famous knight ulixes, that alle his daies dispendid in marciall causis. and of the .xij. puissaunt entreprinses and aventurous dedis that hercules, as it is figured and made mencion in the vij^{the} metre of the .v. booke of boecius, toke uppon hym, putting himself frome voluptuouse delites and lustis, being subget to grete laboure, wynnyng renomme and worship; whiche .xij. entreprinses of hercules, albeit it be thought [but a poesye[ ]] impossible to any mortalle man to doo or take uppon hym, as for to bereffe the skyn of the rampant lion, wrestlid withe antheus and poliphemus, the gret giauntes, and hym overthrew, he slow the serpent clepit ydra, made tame the proude beestis clepid centaurus, that be of halfe man and halfe best, and many soche wonderfulle entreprises as is wreten that hercules did, whiche is writen in figure of a poesy for to courage and comfort alle othre noble men of birthe to be victorious in entreprinses of armes. and how, in conclusion, that there is no power, puissaunce, ne strenght, who so lust manly [wyth prudens[ ]] put forthe hymsilf may resist and withestande ayenst such gret entreprises. how a conquerour shulde use in especialle thre thinges. [sidenote: a conqueroure shuld use iij thinges.] [sidenote: j.] [sidenote: ij.] and, as vegecius in his booke of chevalrie counceilithe that a conquerour shulde use thre thinges in especialle whiche the romains used, and alle that tyme they had the victorie of here ennemies, that is to wete, the first was science, that is forto undrestonde prudence, to seene before the remedies of bonchief, or the contrarie; the second was exercitacion and usage in dedis of armes, that they might be apte and redie to bataille whan necessite fille; the thrid was naturalle love that a prince shulde have to his peple, as doing his trew diligence to doo that may be to the comon wele of his peple, whiche is to be undrestonde in the executing of justice egallie. and for to kepe them in tranquillite and pece within hemsilfe. { } [sidenote: menne of noblenesse shuld lefe sensualites and delites.] how men of noblesse ought lefe sensualitees and delites. let it no lenger be suffred to abide rote, no forto use the pouder and semblaunce of sensualite and idille delites, for water malexander seiethe, that voluptuous delitis led be sensualite be contrarie to the exercising and haunting of armes. wherfor, like and after the example of the boore whiche knowethe not his power, but foryetithe his strenghte tille he be chafed and see his owne bloode, in like wise put forthe youre silf, avaunsing youre corageous hertis to werre, and late youre strenght be revyved and waked ayen, furious, egre, and rampanyng as liouns ayenst alle tho nacions that soo without title of right wolde put you frome youre said rightfulle enheritaunce. and where is a more holier, parfiter, or a juster thing than in youre adversary is offence and wrong-doing to make hym werre in youre rightfull title, where as none other moenys of pease can be hadde. and therfore considering be this brief declaracion that youre right and title in alle this royaumes and contrees is so opyn-- [sidenote: mentio brevis de titulo ducatus normandiæ.] here is briefly made mencion of the first title of normandie, and how frely it holdithe. [sidenote: nota pro titulo ducatus normanniæ.] [sidenote: richardus dux normandiæ cepit in bello lodovicum regem franciæ, qui resingnavit totum titulum ricardo de ducatu predicto.] [sidenote: ccccc.^{th}xxx.v^{te}.] [sidenote: arma ducatus illius.] for as youre first auncien right and title in youre duchie of normandie, it is knowen thoroughe alle cristen landes, and also of highe recorde by many credible bookis of olde cronicles and histories, that william conqueroure descendid frome duc rollo, after cristned and called roberd, that came out of dennemarke aboute the yere of crist .ix^c.xij., was righte duke of normandie by yeft of charlys the symple, king of fraunce, [who] maried his doughter to rollo and gave hym the saide ducdome. and after richarde due of normandie, in the yere of crist .ix^c.xlv. in plaine batelle before the cite of rone toke lowes king of fraunce prisoner, and the said lowes relesid the seide dukedom to the said richarde and to alle his successours to holde frely in souvereinte and resort of none creature but of god, as in act therof is made mencion that was sene and rad uppon this writing. { } and after the said william conquerour being king of englond, of whome ye and youre noble progenitours bene descendid and entitled this .v^c.xxxv. yere, and beere in armes by the saide duchie of normandie in a feelde of gulis .ij. libardis of golde. [sidenote: nota de tempore quo rex angliæ intitulatus ducatui de angew et comitatui mayne.] how long the king is entitled to the righte enheritaunce of angew and mayne. [sidenote: matildis filia et heres henrici primi copulata fuit imperatori, et quo mortuo copulata fuit galfrido plantagenet, et ex ea henricus .ij. natus est.] [sidenote: .] [sidenote: angew. nota, pro titulo ducat' andegav'.] and that as for youre next enheritaunce that fille to youre seide progenitoures and to you in the duchie of anjou and countee of mayne and tourayne, it is also notorily knowen among alle cristen princes and be parfit writing how that dame maude, whiche was doughter and soule heire to that puissaunt king henry the first, that after she weddid was to the emperoure of almayne; after his decese the saide maude emperesse was maried the yere of crist .m^l.cxxvij. to geffry plantagenest son to fouke king of jherusalem, that was erle of anjou, of mayne, and toreyne, by whome the saide maude had issue that most famous king in renome henry the seconde, whiche be right of his moder maude was right king and enheritoure of englonde, also duke of normandie seisid. and be right of his foresaide father geffrey plantagenet was bethout any clayme or interupcion right enheritour and seisid of the said countee of anjou, mayne, toreyne continued this .iij^c.xlvij. yer. [and the noble actys of the seyd erles of angew wyth her lynealle dessentys ben wryten yn the cronicles called _ymago historiarum_ that maister raffe de diceto dene of poulys yn seynt thomas canterbery days wrote notablye. and therfore the armys of the noble erlys that for her prowesse were chosen king of jerusalem wold be worshypped, because yowr hyghnes ys descended of the eyr masle, that ys to wete of geffry plantagenest erle of angew, and the countee of mayne by maryage was unyoned to the erledom of angew to longe to wryte.[ ]] { } [sidenote: gyen.] here is made mencion of the title of gascoigne and guien, and how long agoo passed possessid. [sidenote: nota, pro titulo vasconiæ.] [sidenote: m^{l}.cxxxvij.] [sidenote: alienora et aliciæ filiæ et heredes will'mi ducis guion.] [sidenote: nota, divortio facta inter regem franciæ et alienoram.] [sidenote: henricus ij^{d'} angliæ rex superduxit alienoram filiam et heredem willielmi ducis de guien circa m.cxlvj^{ad}] [sidenote: nota pro titulo henrici ij.] [sidenote: nota bene, karolus vij rex fraunciæ primo intrusionem fecit in ducatum normanniæ, gascon, guion, etc. circa annum m^{l}iiij^clj.] and than for to be put in remembraunce of youre auncien enheritaunce, verray right and title in youre duchies of gascoigne and guien, withe the countrees, baronnyees and seignouries therto belonging. it is in like fourme knowen of highe recorde, enacted in divers cronicles, as amongis many other historialle bookis of auctorite, that aboute the yere of crist .m^l.cxxxvij. william the duke of guien died bethout heire masle, uppon his voiage he made to seint james, havyng .ij. doughters and heires, called alienore, the second alice, and king lowes of fraunce in his yong age, by the agrement of lowys le gros his father, spoused the said alienor, to whome the said duchie was hole enheriter. and after the said king lowes came to yeris of discretion, the archebisshoppis of sens, of rayns, of rone, and of burdeux, withe others barouns, made relacion to the said king lowes that the saide alienor was so neere of his blode that he might not laufullie be the chirche kepe her to wiffe, so be theire counceile they bothe were departed laufully, and the said king lowes maried after that constance the king of spayne doughter. and the said alienor the duches of gascoigne and guien went to burdeux. than came the forsaid king harry the seconde of englande, that was the erle of anjou is sonne and heire, and wedded the said alienor about the yere of crist m^l.cxlvj. by whome he was duke of gascoigne and guien, and his heires after hym, of whom ye bene descended and come right downe. and the said king henry the seconde bare in armes frome that day forthe the saide libarde of golde withe the other two libardis of the same that is borne for duke of normandie. so in conclusion he was, be right of his moder dame maude, the empresse, king of englonde and duke of normandie, and, be right of his father geffry plantagenest, erle of anjou and of mayne and torayne; be right of his wiffe dame alienor, duke of guien; of whiche duchie of gascoigne and guien your noble { } progenitours have continually be possessid and seased of, this .iij^c.xxviij. yere complete, tille that by intrusion of youre said adversarie charlis the vij^{the}. of fraunce have disscasid yow in or about the monithe of june the yere of crist m^l.iiij^c.lj., as he hathe late done of youre enheritaunce of fraunce and normandie and of the counte of mayne, thoroughe umbre of the said fenied colour of trewes, ayenst alle honoure and trouthe of knighthode. how the historier procedithe in his matier of exhortacion. [sidenote: nota bonum concilium.] [sidenote: magister alanus de auriga dicit.] and for to think to alle cristen nacions for to fight in bataile if the cas require it soo, that youre said enheritaunce can not be recuverid by none other due meane of pease, bothe for youre defens for the recuverey of youre roiaume of fraunce, duchie of normandie, and sithen sone after the duchie of gascoigne, that alle cristen princes opynly may know it is youre verray true enheritaunce, and for salvacion of youre enheritaunce by undew menys lost; for that yt ys wryten by [maister aleyn chareter, _id est_ de auriga, in hys boke of quadrilogue, secretaire to charlys le bien amée, the yere of crist . . yn thys termys: "ayenst herry the .v^{th}., named kyng," yn provokyng the adverse partye to werre ayenst the seyd king herry. how[ ]] the famous clerke of eloquence tullius seithe in his booke of retherique that, like as a man recevethe his lyving in a region or in a countree, so is he of naturall reason bounde to defende it; and law of nature, as welle as law imperiall whiche is auctorised by popis and emperours, wol condescend and agre to the same. also caton affirmithe withe the said tullie. therfor late not this gret and importune losses now by infortune and of over grete favoure and trust put to youre adversaries, fallen ayenst this lande undre the umbre and coloure of trewes and abstinence of werre late hadde and taken at towris atwixen charlis the .vij^{th}. youre adversaire of fraunce and your predecessour { } harry the sext, and now uppon the exercise and usaige of bataile and left by so little a tyme, forto discomfort or fere to a new recovere. not so: god defende that! for the famous poet ovide seiethe that who so levithe the pursute and foloweing of good fortune for one mysaventure, it shalle never come to hym. and namely the said water malexander agreithe hym to the same saieng, and affermyng that good courages of hertis be not mynissed, broken, ne lessid for disusage and levyng armes for a litille season, nether for sodeyn recountres and hasty comyng on, be force of whiche one mysadventure may folow. [sidenote: nota quod pro defectu excercicii armorum mala sequentur exercitui romanorum.] how for the defaute of exercise of armes the gret nombre of romains were scomfited by men of cartage. [sidenote: syr alanus de auriga.] [sidenote: notand' est.] [sidenote: nota de cede romanorum.] [sidenote: nota de annulis inventis super digitos romanorum occisorum.] a, mercifulle god! what was the losses of the romayns, whiche in defaute and by negligence lost by a litille tyme left the exercise of armes was fulle gret ayenst the doughty men of cartage, whan alle the puissaunce of the romains were assembled in bataile, where that were so many noble men and coragious peple, the whiche were innumerable, assembled and joyned in bataile, that men say was betwene camos and hanibal prince of cartage, the whiche discomfit before duke camos in puylle be suche power that the ringis of golde take frome the fingers of ded bodies of the said romains, whiche were men of price and renomme, and titus livius seiethe in his booke of romayne batailes were extendid and mesurid to the quantite of mesure of .xij. quarters or more, whiche hanibal brought withe hym to his countre of cartage in signe of victorie. [sidenote: nota de experiencia armorum ex parte romanorum.] how after the seide gret descomfiture that a few nombre of romans expert in werre (_unfinished_) but the worthy romains, for alle that, left not the hope and trust of recovering on another day, whan god lust, onnere and fortune, theyme so exercised daily armes, [and] after accustumyng hem ayene { } to werre, were by experience lerned and enhardid, that, as by the exorting and comforting of one of theire princes, he assembled another time in bataile ayenst the litille residue that were left of the said romayns, and by subtile craft of wise policie and good conduyt in actis of werre they fille and tooke uppon theym and charged theym so moche that by unware of theire purveiaunce met withe the said haniballe at certen streightes and narow places fille into the handis of romains, to the gret discomfiture and destruccion of haniballe his gret oost of cartage. [sidenote: exercitium armorum excedit divicias.] how men of armes welle lerned and excercised is of a grettir tresoure then any precious stones or riche tresour. dame cristen saiethe in the first booke of the tree of batailes that there is none erthely thing more forto be allowed than a countre or region whiche be furnisshed and stored withe good men of armes well lerned and exercited; for golde, silver, ne precious stones surmountethe not ne conquerithe not ennemies, nother in time of pease wardithe the peple to be in rest, the whiche thing a puissaunt man in armes dothe. how a few nombre of the romains that were expert and connyng in the werre descomfited .c.iiij^{xx}.m^l. of frenshemen that the prince of hem tolde and set right litille by. [sidenote: magister alanus de auriga. id est compilam de libro suo.] [sidenote: in multitudine gencium non consistit victoria, ut infra. nota bene.] [sidenote: averaunces. d'n's talbot. d'n's fauconberge. harflete.] [sidenote: j. dux som', ed's dors'. cane.] [sidenote: fastolf. harynton.] [sidenote: nota bene et applica.] also ye may consider by example of king bituitus of the countre of gaule clepid fraunce, the whiche went ayenst the romains withe an hondred and fourescore thousande men of armes; and he saw so few a companie of the romains comyng that he despraised hem, and seid of gret pride that there were not inoughe of the romains for to fede the doggis of his oost: neverthelesse, that few company were so welle excersised and lerned in armes that there were ynoughe whiche overcome and destroied the said king of gaule and alle his gret { } oost; whiche storie may be verified in every bataile or journay atwix youre adversarie of fraunce and youre predecessoures entreprises this .xxxv. yeres that continued in possession frome king [named[ ]] henry the .v. is conquest till it was lost: for at the bataile of agincourt descomfited by seid king henry the .v.^{th} [wyth a few nomber.[ ]] and at the bataile of the see ayenst the carrakes descomfited by johan duke of bedforde and the erle of the marche being principalle cheveteins also in that bataile [wyth a few nombre yn comparison of the grete frensh navye.[ ]] also at the journay of kedecause descomfited be thomas beauforde erle dorset after was duke of eccestre; [the erle of armonak conestable of fraunce beyng aboute x.m^l fyghtyng men ayenst aboute .ix^c. accompanyed wyth the erle dorset.[ ]] also at the bataile of cravaunt descomfited by [johan duc of bedford as by hys lieutenaunt[ ]] thomas montague the erle of salisbury and roberd [lord[ ]] willugheby chiefeteynes. and at the bataile of vernelle fought and descomfited by johan regent duke of bedforde, the said erle of salisbury and the erle of suffolke, [lord wyllughby, lord pownynnys, ser john fastolf, and many other noble men yn armys.[ ]] also at the bataylle of roveraye foughte [ayenst the bastard of burbon, the bastard of orlyance,[ ]] be ser johan fastolfe, ser thomas rempstone, chiefteins, upon the vitailing the siege of orliaunce. also at the rescue of the cite [of] averaunces fought by edmonde duke of somerset and the erle of shrewisburie and lorde fauconberge chiefeteins. and at the second wynnyng of hareflete fought [beseged[ ]] by johan duke of somerset, by edmund erle of dorset, and the erle of shrewisbury, at the rescue of cane fought by ser johan fastolfe and ser richarde harington, and his felouship, [ayenst .xxx.m^l. men.[ ]] and so in many other [sodeyn jorneys and[ ]] sharpe recountres sodenly met and foughten, to long to write here. and also for the gret part at any maner bataile, journey, enterprise, [seges,[ ]] and rescuse of places, it hathe bene alway seen that the power of fraunce have be in nombre of peple assembled ayenst youre power { } by double so many, or by the thrid part, yet youre right and title have bene so goode and fortunat, and men so well lernid and exercised in armes, that withe few peple have descomfited the gret multitude of your adverse partie. how vegesse in his booke of chevalrie also gretly recomendithe exercise in men of armes. [sidenote: vegescius de re militari.] o then, seith vegecius in his booke of chevalrie, therbe none that knowethe the gret merveilles and straunge aventures of armes and knighthode, the whiche be comprehendid and nombred in dedis of armes, to tho that be exercised in suche labouris of armes, that withe wise conduyt prudently can aventure and hardely take uppon theym such sodein entreprinses on hande. [sidenote: animacio.] [sidenote: concideracio.] o then, ye noble englisshe chevalrie, late it no mervaile be to yow, in lessing youre courage ne abating of your hardiesse, they that ye renew youre coragious hertis to take armes and entreprinses, seeing so many good examples before yow of so many victorius dedis in armes done by youre noble progenitoures, and that it hathe be a thing to moche left discorage you not; for, thoughe that ye were in renomme accepted alleway withe the most worthi as in dede of armes, but now at this time ye ben take and accepted in suche marcialle causes that concernithe werre on the left hande, as withe the simplest of price and of reputacion. and it is to suppose that it is rather in defaute of exercising of armes left this .xxiiij. yere day that the londes were lost, thoroughe the said coloure of trewes, and for lak of good provisions bothe of artillery and ordenaunce for the werre and soudeyng to be made in dew season, and for singuler covetice reignyng among some peple endowed with worldly goodes, that can not depart but easily withe finaunce [wagyng[ ]] and soulde theim in tyme of nede, then for defaut of good corage and manhode, whiche is to deme werre never feerser ne corageouser to dedis of armes, so they may be cherished and avaunced therafter, as ben at this day. { } how dame cristen counceilithe to make true paimentis to sowdieris. [sidenote: hic nota optime pro solucione soldariorum.] [sidenote: nota concilium.] [sidenote: nota bene, ne forte.] for ye shalle rede in the first part of the arbre of batailes, where dame cristen exhortithe and counceilithe that every chieftein and capiteyne of men of armes ought to have goode paimentis and sewre for assignacion of paiment for his sowdieris for so long tyme that he trustithe to endure and be souded in that voiage and armes; for to that singlerly before thing alle chieveteyns shulde have regarde, by as moche as it is the principalle and chief cause of the good spede and conduit of here entreprise, and the undoing and mischief of it [the contrarye[ ]], if the paimentis be not duely made to the soudeours; for late it be put in certein that no cheveteyn can not have ne kepe long tyme good men of armes eville paied or long delaied, but discoragethe them as sone as paiment failethe, and takethe theire congie and licence of theire prince, if they can have licence, orellis they departethe bethout licence. and also of overmoche trust and avauntage gyven to your adversaries be this dissimiled trewes as otherwise. and also when that the cheveteins take more kepe to good than to worship [and] using justice. and as welle as in defaute of largesse to youre obeissauntes, not rewarding ne cherisshing youre obeissauntes subgettis yolden and sworne stedfastly abiding under your obeissaunce, but suffring them to be oppressid and charged unduely in divers wises, as well by over gret taskis and tailis rered uppon them, and therto they finding bothe horsmete and mannysmete to youre soudeours riding be the contre without contenting or agreing hem, becaus of nompower of youre said men ben not paide of here wages and soude, by lak of simple payment [caused the rather the ducdom of normandy to be lost.[ ]] [sidenote: nota peroptimum concilium istud.] [sidenote: inquiratur pro libro illo, bonum est.] [sidenote: nota bene, ne forte.] [sidenote: nota bene.] [sidenote: dux bedfordiæ.] [sidenote: nota bene.] [sidenote: exhortacio.] [sidenote: nota bene.] [sidenote: exhortacio ad observandum ordinacionem principis in bello.] [sidenote: verba m'ri alani de auriga.] and the same dame cristen in the .xiiij. chapiter seiethe that a noble good cheveteyn, whiche wolbe a leder of a felowship in werre, he must use justice to goddis pleasure; and that he may stand in the grace and favoure of the worlde, and of his retenu and { } of other peple undre hym, that the said chieftein must pay his men of soude so justly and truly, bethout any defalking [or] abbregging of here wagis, that they have no nede to lyve by pillage, extorcion, and rapyn uppon the countreis of here frendis that be yolden undre obeisaunce of here prince. and be this way the ost may never faut, for then the ost shalbe furnished of alle costis coostis[ ] commyng withe vitailes inoughe; so that it be provided that marchauntes and vitailers may surely passe and come, and that a payne resonable be made, that uppon forfeiting that payne no man take vitaile beforce without payment made in hande, as the proclamacions made by henry the .v^{the}., that victorious prince, in his host. [and also the statutes made by johan regent of fraunce, duc of bedford, by a parlement at cane, yn the .ij^{de}. yeere of [blessed[ ]] henry .vj^{te}., named kyng, uppon the conduyt of the werre, that i delyvered to your hyghenes enseled, the day before your departyng out of london, that remayned yn the kepyng of ser johan fastolfe for grate autoritee, a. iij.[ ]] and that no damage or offence be done to the marchauntes. it is fulle gret jupardie and perille to an oost where as covetise of pillage and rappyne reignithe among men of armes more than theire entencion is to kepe and meinteine the right of theire prince's partie. and the worship of chevalrie and knighthode ys that they shulde peine hem to wynne. and suche as ben of that inordynat condicion of covetise and rappyne oughte rather be clepid pilleris, robberis, extorcioneris, than men of armes chevalerous. in example the said dame cristen puttithe that the men of armes of the countre of gaule, whiche now is fraunce, that had in a tyme a discomfiture and the overhande uppon the romains, being assembled withe a grete oost embatailed upon the river of rosne in burgoyne; and the men of gaule had wonne gret praies and good, as horse harneis, vesselle of golde and of silver gret plente; but as to the worldly goodes they set no count ne prise of it, but cast it into the river. and in semblable wise it was saide of johan duke of bedforde, then regent, that the day he had the victorie at the { } bataile of vernaile, he exhorted, making an oration to his peple, that they attende not to covetise, for no sight of juelx and riches of cheynes of golde or nouches [or] ringis cast before hem or left in the feelde, to take them up, whiche might be the losse of the feeld, tille god had shewed his power and fortune; but onely to worship and to doo that that they come for. and so be the jugement of god had the victorie withe gret worship and riches, be the raunsonyng of prisoneris, and be rewardis of the said regent in londis and goodis to every man for theire welle doing that day, rewarded in lifelode of londes and tenementis yoven in the counte of mayne to the yerely valeu of .x.m^l. marcs yerely, whiche was .lx.m^l.li. turneis, as it is of record to shew; the whiche was don aftyr the romayns' condicion, seeing that thei set so litille by goodis dispising but onely by worship, the whiche the saide romains were gretly astonied and dred her power, for thei saw it never done before. and wolde jhesus for his highe grace that every prince, chieftein, or captein wolde be of so noble condicions as is before made mencion of! i have be credibly enfourmed by tho as were present in bateile withe the fulle noble and victorius prince of renomme king henry the .v^{te}. youre cousin and antecessour, used the saide counceile among his ostes. and also at the bateile of agincourt be the exortacion of that forseyd noble prince henry the .v^{the}. counceiled to set not be no tresure, praies, ne juelx and vesselle of golde and of silver, aswelle of tho that were his there lost, ne of the juelx that he wonne, but only to his right and to wonne worship. and that also fulle noble prince youre cousin johan duke of bedforde, another victorius prince, folowed his steppis tho daies that he was regent of the roiaume of fraunce, and whan his chariottes of his tresoure and vesselle at the bataile of vernelle in perche was bereved frome hym by lombardis and other sowdieris holding youre adverse partie, he comaunded the oost embatailed not forto breke ne remeve [theyr aray[ ]] for wynnyng or kepyng worldly goodis, but only to wynne worship in the right of englonde that day, whiche he hadde the victorie to his grettist renomme. { } but yet it most be suffred paciently the fortune that is gevyn to youre ennemies at this tyme, and late the case be taken for a new lerning, and to the sharping of goode corages, to the refourmyng and amendement of theire wittis. for the saide ovide the lawreat poet saiethe that it happithe often times that mysaventures lernithe tho that bene conquerid to be wise. and so at other times in actis and dedis of armes that for lak of providence or mysfortune were overthrow, enforcethe hem to be conquerours [another seson.[ ]] here is yet noone so gret inconvenient of aventure ne mysfortune falle at this tyme, but that it hathe be seene fallen er now [yn kyng johan dayes and in kyng edward iij^d day, as yn hys gret age put owt of normandye and off many castells and townes yn gyen by kyng charlys the .v^{te}.[ ]] [sidenote: defectus pecuniæ ad solvendum soldarios fuit causa una prodicionis ducatus normanniæ.] how the duchie of normandie for lak of a sufficient arme waged in due time, that king johan [of england[ ]] had not sufficiently wherof to wage [his peple,[ ]] he lost the duchie of normandie. [sidenote: infinita mala ex sensualitate corporis.] [sidenote: . .] for a like mysfortune and overthrow fille unto us for defaute of providence and helpe in dew tyme, and sensualite of lustis of the bodie idely mispendid, and for lak of finaunce and goode[gh] to soude and wage goode mennys bodies over into normandie and other contrees, ande thoroughe the umbre of trewes, the hole privacion of your duchie of normandie, and of angew, mayne, and torayne, and a gret part of gascoigne and guyen, was in king johan daies by king philip dieudonné of fraunce, the yere of crist .m^l.ij^c.iij^o. in the monithe of maij began. { } [sidenote: treugæ pluries infractæ.] how many divers times trewes that were taken betwene king richarde the first, king johan, and king edward the thrid at the finalle peas generalle betwene tho kinges and the frenshe kinges, were afterwarde be the frenshe partie first broken. [sidenote: nota fallacias francorum in rupcione treugarum; vide et attende bene.] [sidenote: treuga pessima a^{o} xp'i .] [sidenote: de infinitis dampnis ex ilia treuga sine pace.] [sidenote: de pluribus treugis sine effectu durationis.] [sidenote: edward ij^{d}.] [sidenote: nota pro titulo regis.] [sidenote: effectus maritagii isabellæ reginæ heredis regni franciæ.] [sidenote: edwardus ij^{us} duxit isabellam filiam et heredem karoli regis franciæ a^{o}. x^{l}. m^{l}.ccc.xxv^{t}i.] and thus undre the coloure of trewes at divers times taken atwixt youre noble progenitoures king henry the seconde, and also divers treties taken betwene the said king johan and king philip, and also sondry tymes trewes taken betwene king richarde the first and the frenshe king philip dieudonné. and notwithestanding so oft tymes trewes and alliaunces taken and made betwene the forsaide kinges of englonde and of fraunce, alle waye whan the frenshe partie coude have and fynde any avauntage or coloure to breke here trewes they did make new werre ayenst this lande. also there was another trewes made at paris the monithe of octobre the yere of crist m^l.cclix. betwene king henry the thrid and lowes king of fraunce, the whiche king lowes haveng grete conscience that he heelde bethout title of right the duchie of normandie, the counté of angew, mayne, and toureyne, out of the handis of the kinges of englonde, therfore toke a trewis withe king henry the thridde; and the saide king lowes graunted and confirmed to the saide king henry and to his heires for ever all the right that he hadd or myght have in the duchie of gascoigne, withe thre eveschies clepid diocesis and citees in the saide duchie, that is to witt, limogensis, caourcensis, and pieregourt. also at[ ] agenois and peito. and a peas to be made atwix bothe kinges undre the condicion that the saide king henry thrid shuld relese unto king lowes alle his right in normandie and in the countre of anjou, of mayne, and toreyne, your verray auncient enheritaunce tailed, whiche albeit if the said king henry thrid had alone made any suche relese it was of none strenght ne effect, for it was never graunted be the auctorite of the parlement of thre astatis of his roiaume. for it is to be undrestande that be no law imperialle ne by no dew reason can be founded { } that a prince may not gyve away his duchees or countees ne his demaynes that is his propre enheritaunces to a straunge parsone, of what astate or degre he is, bethout the agrement and consenting of a parlement of his lordis spirituelle and temporelle, and of his comyns assembled, and a sufficient nombre of every of hem, as it hathe bene accustumed; so in conclusion the relese of king henry thrid to king lowes was and is voide. and if any relese of king lowes to the said king henry in the said duchie of gascoine had be made it standithe of fulle litille effect, becaus it was the said king henry propre enheritaunce by his aiel king henry the second that weddid dame alienor duchesse and heriter of guien, as is before expressid. and so the said king lowes relese was a confirmacion of the said duchie of guien into king henry thrid is possession and a disclayme frome the kinges of fraunce for ever. also ther was another trux and pease made the yere of crist m^l.cclxxix., at amyens, betwen king edwarde first and king philip of fraunce, that the said king edwarde shulde holde peasibly all the saide landes in gascoigne. another trewes and peas made at paris the yere of crist m^l.ij^c.lxxxvj. betwene the said king edwarde first and king philip of fraunce for the saide duchie of guien. another trews made at paris, the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.iij^o., the monithe of maij, betwene king edwarde first and king philip of fraunce, that marchauntes and alle maner men might passe to bothe roiaumes of englond and fraunce bethout empeshement, and heelde not long. another trux made in the yere of crist m^l.cc.xiij., in a towne clept in latyn pissaicus, betwene king edwarde second and king phelip king of fraunce for the said duchie of guien. and in the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.xxiiij. king charles of fraunce and of navarre seased certein townes and forteresses in guien for defaut of homage of the king edwarde second for the said duchie of guien, whiche townes and forteresses after was delivered ayen to the king edwarde by the moyen of edmonde erle of kent, his lieftenaunt. also another pease made in the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.xxv. betwene king edwarde second and king charles de valoys of fraunce, be reason and meane that { } the saide king edwarde weddid dam isabel king charles of fraunce daughter, [soule[ ]] enheriter of fraunce; and at that tyme king edward made edmond his brother erle of kent his lieftenaunt for the duchie of guyen, whiche fulle nobly governed and kept that contre. [sidenote: a^{o}. x^{l}. m^{l}.ccc.xxv^{t}i.] [sidenote: bellum scluse.] also in semblable wise in the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.xl. the .xiij. yere of king edwarde the thrid, after the saide king had wonne the gret bataile of scluse ayenst philip de valois his adversarie, and besieged tourenay in picardie, whan the saide philip de valois and the [kyngis[ ]] frenshe lordis were gretly rebuked and put abak, they desired a trux of king edwarde frome the monithe of septembre tille the feest of saint john next sueng, to the gret damage of the king edwarde conquest. and the bretons making under that colour mortalle werre to this land, but they were kept in subgeccion, and a gret bataile of descomfiture ayenst them had by the erle of northampton, then the kingis lieutenaunt in that parties. also the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.xliij^o., the .xix. day of januarii, another gret trux for the yere take withe philip de valois calling hym king, youre saide adversarie, and his allies, and the saide trux broken be the seide philip bethin thre yeris after, comaunding the bretons to make werre ayenst youre progenitours. [sidenote: obcidio cane.] [sidenote: bellum cressye.] and the noble king edwarde the thrid, seeing that, in the monithe of julie, the yere of crist m^l.ccc.xlvij^o., the .xx. yere of his reigne, disposed hym ayen to werre ayen withe the saide philip, and wanne upon hym the strong towne of cane, [and had[ ]] the sore fought bataile of cressy, the castelle of calix by a harde siege bethin few daies after leide and (_unfinished_.) [sidenote: de pace finali quamvis non sortiebatur diu effectum.] [sidenote: . .] [sidenote: chaundos chevalier.] [sidenote: de magnificencia joh'is chundos.] [sidenote: princeps edwardus.] [sidenote: de pluribus comitatibus in vasconia sub obediencia regis angliæ.] [sidenote: .] how notwithestonding a finalle peas was made solempnely be the fulle assent of king johan of fraunce prisoner, as it is the chief auctorite, and comprehendid in many articles most sufficiauntly grounded by auctorite of the pope, confermed that, for alle that it helde not passe .vij. or .viij. yere after. and so contynued by .xiij. { } yeris fro the saide tyme mortal werre continued tille a final generalle peas was made after by agrement of king johan of fraunce that was take betwene the said noble king edwarde the thrid and the saide king johan the monithe of maij the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.lx., at bretigny, the pope assentyng, and be mediacion of cardinales, archebishoppis, bisshoppis, abbotis, dukes, erles, barons, and lordis, and by the assent of bothe parties of englande as of fraunce, and confermed by the saide pope and the sacramentis of both cristen kinges, made bothe by hemselfe and by here commissaries in suche solempne wise that alle cristen princes wolde have thought it shulde stande ferme and have bene stable for ever, ande whiche finalle peas dured not scant .viij^{the}. yere after, but that it was broke fraudulentlie be feyned causes and colourable quarellis of the frenshe partie, as of the erle of armenak and other lordis of guien. and after king charles the .v^{the}, of fraunce, son to king johan, under colour of the seide trux and fynal peas made be his father, put king edwarde the thrid and his sonnes and other his lieutenauntes out of alle his conquest, aswelle of alle the londis that king edwarde conquerid in fraunce, normandie, burgoyne, and flaundres, and out of many other countee[gh], baronies, and lordshippes, and of a gret part of the duchie of guien, whiche countee[gh] and lordshippes in gascoigne and guien were given utterly and plenerlie to doo none homage, ne sovereinte to holde but of the saide noble king edwarde, and of alle his enheriteris, never to resort ayen in homage ne feute to youre adversaries of fraunce, as it is expresly enacted and recorded in the registres of alle the homagieris of guien and gascoigne, that was made by the erle of armenak, the lorde de la brette, vicecountes, barons, chevalers, and escuiers, and alle other nobles of the saide duchies, made to the saide king edwarde and to prince edwarde the duke of guien the kingis lieutenaunt; that is to wete, in the cathedralle chirche of saint andrieu chirche at burdeux, the .xix. day of juilly, the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.lxiij., present there ser thomas beauchampe erle of warewik, that aventurous and most fortunat knighte in his daies, and ser john chaundos of herfordshire { } vicount de saint saveoure [in normandye,[ ]] whiche had bene in many batailes, and had the governaunce of m^l. speris, and was comissarie for king edwarde, withe a fulle grete ost of multitude of peple well defensid in guien. and so, after that prince edwarde had received alle the homages aboute bourdeux, bordelois, and bassedois, within the seneschalcie of gascoigne, than he and the said comissaries went to alle the countees foloweng and received theire homages and feutees bothe in the name of king edwarde .iij^d., and than in like fourme did homage to the prince as duc of guien. and was no differens betwene the bothe homages doing to the king and to the duc of guien, except that homager at his othe making to the saide duke he reserved the sovereinte and the ressort dew to his highe soverein seigneur king edwarde. [so he] toke the homages of alle the vassallis and subgettis in the seneschalcie of agenois, after in the seneschalcie of landis, after in the counte of bigorre, then in the seneschalcie of pierregort, in the seneschalcie of caoursyn and roergev' and lymosyn, also in the counté of engwillom, also in the seneschalcie of xantonge, than in the counté of poitou and poytiers. by whiche it may be considerid be the said countees and countrees before specified, it was of a wide space and many a thousand peple that were at that tyme and yet ought be under youre obeisaunce. and the saide prince edwarde and the kinges commissaries made here journeis by .viij. monithes day as tille the .iiij^{the}. day of aprille the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.lxiiij., or thei coude receive alle the saide homagiers; whiche now in the yere of crist m^l.iiij^c.li., after that hole normaundie was lost, and also gascoigne and guien yoven up in defaute of socoure [of an armee made[ ]] in season, many of youre saide trew liege peple be overcome by youre adversaries of fraunce, and many a thousand peple of nobles and others coherted and be force ayenst theire hertis wille and entent to become homagiers to youre saide adversarie by the hole privacion of the saide duchie of guien, as of normandie, whiche withe the helpe of almightie god and { } saint george, chief defendoure and protectoure of these youre londis, withe the comfort of youre true subgectis, shalnot abide long in theire possession ne governaunce. [sidenote: de pace finali.] [sidenote: . .] [sidenote: pro titulo regis nota.] and now of late tyme a peas finalle was made and take withe king charlis the sext, and the whiche finalle peas made solempnelie at trois in champayne, the .xxj. day of maij the yere of crist m^l.cccc.xx., and registred in the court of parlement, confermed that alle divisions and debates betwene the roiaume of englande and the roiaume of fraunce shulde for ever cease; and the saide finalle peas heelde not fullie .ij. yeris, but brake sone after the decese of that victorioux prince king harry the .v^{the}., upon his mariage withe quene katerin. [sidenote: de infractione treugarum nota hoc.] and now last of alle the gret trewes taken and made at towris betwene henry the sext, the innocent[ ] prince, and charlis the .vij^{the}., youre adversarie of fraunce, in the said .xxiiij. yere of his reigne, solempnely sworne and sealed, and sone after broken be the frenshe partie. [sidenote: de continuacione hereditatis ducatus normandiæ. rollo dux vocatus robertus filius magnifici d'ni in regno daciæ vocati byercoteferre.] [sidenote: nota causam &c.] [sidenote: nota optime.] and none of alle these trewes hathe ben observed ne kept, notwithstanding any sacremente, othes, [or] promisses made by youre adversarie and be his dukes, erlis, and barones of the seide frenshe partie, but alway brake the saide trewes whan they coude take any avauntage ayenst us, as it shewethe openly, and may be a mirroure for ever to alle cristen princes to mystrust any trewes taking by youre saide adversarie or his allies and subjectis, be it the duke of breteyne, the duke of orliens, or any suche other his complisses: for where as youre noble progenitours were seased and possessid of the said duchie of normandie sithe that duke rollo of the nacion of denmarke, the yere of crist .ix^cxij. conquerid it upon charlis le simple, to whome he gave his doughter in mariage withe the seide duchie, and so hathe continued from heire to heire .cc.iiij^{xx}xj. yere, but after as it may be cast it was .cc.iiij^{xx}xj. yere that it was nevor in no king of fraunce is hande tille it was lost in king johan is daies of englande. and than for suche inconvenientis as was used now be mysfortune under { } [the umbre of trewes and for puttyng down arthur of breteyn,[ ]] it was lost and yoven up to the seide king phelip dieudonné in the yere of crist m^l.cc.iij., about the first [and second[ ]] yere of the seide king johan. and frome the saide first yere of king johan the possession of the saide duchie of normandie discontynued .c.xxxvj. yere, that was to the yere of crist m^l.ccc.xxxix., that youre right and possession was refourmed by youre noble progenitoure king edwarde the thrid, whiche by many yeris leide segis and had batailes withe philip de valois and johan of fraunce, occupieris of that kingdom. how king edwarde the thrid made first grete alliaunces withe gret astatis or he began to make werre in fraunce. [sidenote: nota de auxilio regis edwardi.] [sidenote: conciderand'.] [sidenote: in cronicis frodsard.] [sidenote: pax finalis sperata fuit.] [sidenote: . .] [sidenote: exclamacio.] [sidenote: consideracio.] and therto king edwarde allied hym withe fulle mighty princes to socour and reliefe hym in his werres or he began to set on hem: first withe lowes emperoure of allemayne, to whome he rewardid fifty thousande sak wolle for perveaunce, and soulde men of werre that he shulde make to helpe king edward the thrid in his conquest; and after allied hym to the erle of heynew and to the erle of flaundres, and also withe the duke of bretein; the whiche alliaunces was a fulle gret socoure and helpe to his conquest in fraunce and normandie, for he wanne at the first raise that he made over the see m^l.m^l.v^c. townes and castellis, and soforthe reigned and continued in armes .xxxiiij. yeris, by putting the frenshe king and his allies in gret subgeccion for the right of his enheritaunces, like as who so lust rede the booke [of] his actis clepid [mayster[ ]] froddesarde more plainly may perceyve. and so alle his daies contynued tille unto the tyme that be dissimulacion of the gret peas taken atwix hym and his prisoner king johan of fraunce, made at bretigny the yere of crist m^l.iij^c.lx., that undre umbre of the seid trewes charles le sage his sonne, after the decese of king johan, did put king edwarde thrid out of alle his said conquest in fraunce and normandie, and partie of guyen. and sithen more effectuelle laboures and dedis of armes { } hathe be done by that victorioux prince henry the .v^{the}., he being parsonelly bothe at many sieges, leyng at assautes, at batailes, and journeis frome the second yere of his reigne [exclusyfe[ ]] into the day of his trespassement the space of .vij. yere. whiche labouris parcellis of them briefly bene specified before. and there youre obeisaunt subgeitis and trew liege peple be put owt of their londis and tenementis yoven to hem by youre predecessoures, as wel as be that highe and mighty prince richarde duke of yorke youre father, being at two voiages lieutenaunt and gouvernaunt in fraunce, for service done unto hem in theire conquest, not recompensed ayen to theire undoing. heh allas! thei did crie, and woo be the tyme they saide, that ever we shulde put affiaunce and trust to the frenshe partie or theire allie[gh] in any trewes keping, considering so many folde tymes we have ben deceived and myschevid thoroughe suche dissimuled trewes as is late before specified. and yet not for alle these inconvenientis that have falle to us be conspiring of deceitis undre umbre of suche dissimuled trewes, late it be out of doubte that, thoughe they holde theym never so proude, puissaunt, and strong, ne so sotill and crafty in suche deceitis conspiring, they by goddis might shalbe overcome and brought to the right astate that it oughte be, where as the title and clayme of thenheritaunce of fraunce is verray trew, whan dew diligence have be shewed by us in executing the saide right, as it is verefied briefly by examples here before. [sidenote: divina concideracio enodanda per theologos.] how be it that at som tymes that god suffrithe the partie that hathe a true title and right to be overcome, yet for alle that a man shulde not be discouraged alway to sew his right. [sidenote: . .] [sidenote: infortunium bellum apud fermenye ultima vice.] [sidenote: gyen.] [sidenote: burdeux.] [sidenote: de sancto lodovico rege fraunciæ.] and albeit that at som tymes god suffrethe the partie that hathe right and a trew title, and that livethe after his lawes, to be gretly parsecuted, and to be put to over gret aventure, laboure, and peyne, some tyme to be overthrow, some tyme to be prisoner or slaine in { } bataile be divine providence whan hym lust to be juge, thoughe the peple be never so goode, ne the querelle, title, and right never so trew; and yet not for no suche adversite and as have fallen the yere of crist m^l.iiij^c.l., be the last overthrow of a notable arme at fremyny, where ser thomas kirielle knight, lieftenaunt in that voiage, [was take prysoner wyth many othyrs to the nombre about .ix^c.,[ ]] a grete caus was that the pety capteins wolde not obbey at the day of that journay at that sodeyne recountre to her chieftein, and taried lengir in his voiage after he was londed or he came to any strong holde was present.[ ] also another gret armee and voiage fordone for defaut and lak of spedy payment this yere of crist m^l.cccclj., whiche were at last redy to goo to gyen, the armee taried upon the see coostis in englande almost a quarter of a yere or theire payment was redie. and the cite of burdeux lost in the meane tyme for lak of rescue. yet god defende that thoroughe suche adversitees we shulde be utterly discoraged. late us take example in according to this. it is wretin in the booke of machabeus, in the .viij. chapitre, how the worshipfull judas machabeus, seeyng goddis peple gretly febled and abashed be divers discomfitures of theym, seide to his knightis, a, a, it is bettir to us to avaunce us forthe and rather to die in bataile then lengre to suffre the gret passions and troubles of oure infortune. and fro thens forthe by the wille of god, good corage and comfort taken to theyme, they were made conquerours and had the victorie in alle theire batailes. also another example by seint lowes king of fraunce, whiche in encresing the cristyn feithe made gret armees into the holy land in [about[ ]] the yere of crist m^l.ij^c.lxx., and suffrethe gret adversiteis among the sarresyns, he and his knightis overthrow and take prisoneris to the soudan of babilon, and the king put to gret raunsom paide, his peple died up by gret mortalite of pestilence, suffred famyne, hungur, and thurst, yet god at the last releved hym, and [he] came into fraunce withe gret worship. { } [sidenote: animacio.] an nother exhortacion of the historier. o ye highe and myghtifulle prince, king of englande and of fraunce, and alle ye other noble princes and other puissaunt lordes and nobles of divers astates olde or yong, of so auncien a stok and of so worthy a lineage, as of the noble trojan is blode descendid, as it is auctorised and may appere by many croniclers and histories of noble doctours enacted and registred, that ye alonly have ever ben halden without note of errour or deformite of the law withe the most puissaunt and of power thoroughe alle regions cristen or hethen, haveng alway under youre regencie and governaunce the habondaunce of noble men of chevalrie, passing alle othir landes after the quantite and afferaunt of youre roiaume, lete then be as a mirrour noted and had before youre eyen by contynuell remembraunce to thentent that the excersising of theire noble actis in conquestis may the more vigorously endeuce you to succede the prowesse and vaillauntnesse of youre highe predecessoures in armes, like as it shewethe welle at this tyme of what worship they have bene by here victorious dedis, for they in difference of other nacions have ever ewred and shewed the renomme and excellence of youre highe and mighty antecessours' corages, aswelle in straunge regions as among the sarrazyns in the region of sirie and turkie, as in the said neere regions of fraunce, spayne, lumbardie, spruce, and other countrees. and therfor ye shulde yeve laude and praisingis alway to god, for, sithe the trespassement of prince edwarde and good henry duc of lancaster that was, [ther wer but few like to hem in armys.[ ]] here is brieflie made mencion of the recomendacion of acyn[ ] worship of henry the .v^{the}. and his bretheryn thomas, johan, and humfrey, .iiij. noble princes. where was he of late daies descendid of noble bloode that was so corageous in dedis of armes as was that mightifull prince of renommee of { } youre noble lynage henry .v^{te}. and his said thre full mighty and noble princes his brethern, and next .ij. cosyns germayns of youre kynne, that in here daies were as the pilours and chief postis of the holders up of the [last conquest, and of the[ ]] possession of youre rightfulle enheritaunce, bothe of youre roiaumes of fraunce as of justice keping, tranquillite and pease in youre roiaume of englonde, also of the duchies of normandie, gascoigne, guyen, and of the counte of mayne. [sidenote: dux clarence.] [sidenote: conciderandum est.] for as for a brief advertisement and remembraunce how thomas the duc of clarence in his yong age, the yere of crist m^l.cccc.iij., lieutenaunt of alle irelonde, and after that lieutenaunt and governoure of youre duchees of gascoyne and guien, defending the true subgettis frome theire adversaries, holding up youre right and keping youre peple and subgettis under youre lawes. and after [the seyd duc,[ ]] in company of the victorioux prince henry the .v^{te}., labourid in armes upon that noble conquest in fraunce and the duchie of normandie, there being lieutenaunt for that marchis, where as he in bataile among youre adversaries in the duchie of anjou at bowgée most worshiplie at a sodeyn recountre fighting withe a few felouship of lordes and nobles, levyng his hoste behynde, not abiding theire comyng, ayenst a gret multitude of fighters, the yere of crist m^l.cccc.xxj. among the frenshemen and scottis was slayne; whiche not long after god thoroughe power suffred the seid capteyns of scottis to be overthrow bothe at the batailes of cravant, also at the bataile of vernelle, and [also[ ]] at the bataile of rouverey. [sidenote: j. dux bedfordie regens regni frauncie.] [sidenote: conquestus comitatus de mayn.] [sidenote: . .] also youre second cousyn johan duc of bedforde, that in his grene age was lieutenaunt of the marchis, werrid ayenst the scottis, keping them in subgeccion, havyng gret journeis and batailes ayenst them. after that made admirall and kepar of the see, havyng a gret mortal bataile and victorie ayenst the carrakes, galeis, and othir gret shippis. beyng also a certayn tyme lieutenaunt and protectoure in this lande; and sethe yeede upon youre said conquest into fraunce and { } normandie, therof being regent and gouvernoure in the daies of the devout prince henry the sext over alle the subgeitis of fraunce and normandie .xiij. yeris, and conquerid the counte of mayne, defending, keping, and gouvernyng the said countreis in gret tranquillite and peace, to the gret worship of bothe roiaumes, and there made his faire ende at rone, where he liethe tombid, the yere of crist m^l.cccc.xxxv., the .xiiij. day of septembre. [sidenote: dux glouc'.] [sidenote: comes de marche. comes suff'.] [sidenote: calix.] [sidenote: . .] [sidenote: . .] and how the thrid brother humfrey duc of gloucestre, withe a notabille power, was upon youre conquest in normandie withe his said brother, and at the bataile of agyncourt was sore woundid, and after he wanne [with help of the noble erle of marche and the erle of suffolk acompanyed,[ ]] brought in subjeccion, beforce of siegislieng among youre adversaries, base normandie, the castelle of chierbourgh, the cite of bayeux, costances, withe all the close of costantyne and averances, seynt lowe, carenten, and valoignez, withe alle othir forteressis and villages in that marcher. and over that sithe he was protectoure and defendoure of your roiaume of englond, in the tyme of the said henry the sext of grene age, keping gret justice, tranquillite, and peace withyn youre saide roiaume. and after whan youre nobille castelle and towne of calix was beseigid in the yere of crist m^l.cccc.xxxvj., without long respit or tarieng, he puissauntly rescued it. and many other souvereyne and princely condicions he used in this youre roiaume of englonde, as in [bokys yovyng as yt ys seyd to the value of m^l. marks of all the .vij. sciences, of dyvinite, as of lawe spirituell and cyvyle, to the universite of oxford, and[ ]] cherisshing the noble clergie of youre said roiaume. and also havyng gret charge and cost aboute the gret tendirnesse and favoure shewed and done to alle straungiers, were they ambassatours, messangiers, and other noblesse that sought worship of armes, that of divers regions visited this lande, for whiche favoure and bounteous chier, withe gret rewardes done to theym, the renome of his noble astate and name sprad thoroughe alle cristyn roiaumes { } and in hethynesse. and after he had by many wyntris lyved in worship, he making his ende at the towne of bury, the yere of crist m^l.cccc.xlvij., the .xxv. day of februarie. and over alle these puissaunt dedis done and meynteyned by the foreseid .iiij. noble princes in theire daies, and now sithen many of youre noble bloode, as cosins germayns and other allie[gh] of youre nere kyn, as dukis, erlis, barons, bene deceasid sithe the tyme of the last conquest of fraunce and normandie. [sidenote: nota de ordine militum de la gartere.] for what cause the knightys of the order and felouship of saint george was ordeigned. [sidenote: non sunt oblivio tradend'.] [sidenote: nobilitas johannis chaundos de comitatu herefordie, senescalli de peytou.] [sidenote: senlys] [sidenote: . .] [sidenote: parys.] and also of the vaillaunt chosen knightes of the noble and worshipfulle ordre of the garter, founded by the right noble prince king edward thrid, and to bere about his legge a tokyn of the garter, in the castelle of wynsore, the .xxiij. yere of his reigne. and [as yt ys seyd[ ]] in token of worship that he being in bataile what fortune fille shuld not voide the feeld, but abide the fortune that god lust sende. whiche for gret prowesse and here manlynesse approved in armes was founded for her gret labouris in werre and vaillaunt dedis of armes be now passid to god and ought be put in memorialle, that in what distresse of bataile or siege that they have ben yn for the righte title in the crowne of fraunce they alway avaunsid hem forthe withe the formost in example of good corage gyvyng to alle theire felouship, to opteyne the overhande of here entreprise. he allas! sethe that none suche were never sene withdrawers or fleers frome batailes or dedis of worship, but rather vigorouslie foryeting theymsilfe, as did the full noble knight, a felow of the garter, ser johan chaundos, as a lion fighting in the feelde [at the bataylle of fizar, yn spayn, wyth prince edward[ ]] of the lion condicion, and defendid youre roiaume of fraunce frome youre adversaries, preservyng theire prince's right and theire subgettis, avaunced youre conquest of fraunce and normandie, angew, and mayne, and the noble duchie of gascoigne and gyen, { } and maynteyned theire honoure and astate, to the welle of youre bothe roiaumes and relief of youre treu subgettis of this lande. and thereto they have ben of the condicions of lyons fighting withe gret strenght, puissauntlie and stifly sett to withestande youre ennemies, notwithestanding gret part of the said adverse partie have voided, fledd, and forsake the feeld and theire felouship at suche tyme as they sought to abide. in example, of the fulle noble jorney late had in the yere of crist m^l.cccc.xxxj., at senlys, where youre lieutenaunt and youre power being present, and charlis the .vij^{the}, youre gret adversarie of fraunce withe alle his power to the nombre of .l^{ti}.m^l. fighters on his side, and embatilled by thre daies in the feeld, fled and voided unfoughten at the said jorney of senlis, youre saide kynnesman johan duc of bedford being then lieutenaunt, and present in the feeld before hym thre daies. and also sone after the saide worshipfull journey of senlis, your saide adversarie of fraunce, after that made his entreprise, comyng before the noble cite of paris, with alle his roialle power to have entred the said cite, and to put out youre saide cosyn duke of bedford; whiche havyng knowlege therof incontinent disposed hym (albeit he had upon so soden warnyng but a few felouship) to mete ayen withe youre saide adversarie, and put hym in gret aventure, and entred in youre saide cite of paris to relief and defende theym as he promised, and sent worde unto hem late before to theire grettist yoie and comfort. and youre said adversarie, that ententid to gete the saide cite, besieging theym withe a grete nombre, mightilie resisted withe men and ordenaunce, so grevously hurt, being fayne to voide incontinent. and as in this maner it shewithe evidently that youre true obeisaunt lordis, and noble chieveteins, also true subgettis, have abandonned theire bodies, putting them in gret jupardie unto the parelle of dethe, or to be taking prisoneris, and yet god hathe served hem soo, that thoroughe his grace and theire manhod withe wise governaunce [they] have had the overhande of youre adversaries, and kept bothe the saide citee and the feelde withe other good men that aboode, whan theire partie contrarie have ben nombred double or treble { } moo than youris, as is before expressid. and at whiche tyme the saide citee was so mightly besegid, ser john radclif knight, withe his felouship, had gret worship. [sidenote: exclamacio.] [sidenote: nota. , .] [sidenote: tempus ultimi conquestus.] [sidenote: de pace finali apud bretygnye.] [sidenote: . .] o ye right noble martirs! whiche that for youre verray righte of the coroune of fraunce, and for the welfare of the kingis highenesse, and for the worship of his bothe roiaumes of englond and fraunce, ye forto susteyne righte and forto wynne worship, have ben often put in gret aventure, as was often tymes of the worshipfulle romayns. and therfore of you may be saide that ye were alway stedfast and obeieng youre souvereyn unto the jupardie and perille of dethe. so wolde jhesus that in the brief seson of the sodeyne and wrecchid intrusion late had by the unmanly disseising and putting oute of fraunce, normandie, angew, and mayne, withe the duchies of gasquien and guyen, whiche is done bethin the space of .j. yere and .xiiij. wekis, that is to wete frome the .xv. day of maij in the yere of crist m^l.cccc.xlix. unto the .xv. day of the monithe of august the yere of crist m^l.cccc.l, that every castelle, forteresse, and towne defensable of the said duchiees [were delyvered upp by force or composicion to the adverse partye.[ ]] and if they had be alway furnished and stuffed withe suche suffisaunt nombre of men of armes, with ordenaunce, vitaile, and wages duely kept and be paied, that they myght couraged and enforced hem to have bene kept stille the possession,[ ] and they so being of the lyonns kynde as to have bene of soo egir courage and so manly and stedfast as they were before this tyme in that parties of normandie, conquering, keping, and defending it as they did by the space of .xxxv. yeris complete and .vij. daies frome the begynnyng of the last conquest the thrid yere of king henry the .v^{the}., and not the whele of fortune turned ayenst this lande as it hathe. notwithestanding king edwarde the thrid occupied not in his conquest of fraunce and normandie passe .xxxiiij. yere, whiche that after undre certayne condicions upon apoyntement of a smalle pease made atwix hym and king johan of fraunce was { } graunted that the saide king johan shulde be seased and possessid ayen of a part of the said roiaume and duchie for certeyne countees, baronnyes, and seignories that we shulde in chief halde in guien and other contrees, whiche is more amplie declared in the saide finalle trety of pease made at bretygny; yet for alle the othes, sacrementis, seles of bothe kingis and here lordis made, the said trety of pease was sone broken by the adverse partie when they couth take theire avauntage, about the yere of crist m^l.ccc.lxxj. [sidenote: exclamacio alia.] [sidenote: de amicicia per maritagia et alias alligancias fienda.] [sidenote: nota bene.] [sidenote: nota et concidera ad honorandum extraneos.] he allas! we dolorous parsones suffring intollerabille persecucions and miserie, aswelle in honoure lost as in oure[ ] lyvelode there unrecompensid, as in oure meveable goodes bereved, what shalle we doo or say? shalle we in this doloure, anguisshe, and hevynesse contynew long thus? nay, nay, god defende that suche intrusions, grete wrongis, and tiranye shuld be left unpunisshed, and so gret a losse unpunysshed and not repared! for one good moyen, undre correccion, may be this, and if youre lordis wolde enforce hem to renew theire olde allie[gh] of straunge regions and countrees, as the romayns did whan they werrid in auffrik ayenst the cartages, and of late daies king edwarde the thrid gafe example and sithe king harry the .v^{te}. in oure daies, and also his noble brothir johan duke of bedford after hym; whiche allies be almost werid out and foryete to oure grete desolacion, whiche and they were renewed by meane of mariages of gret birthe, by cherisshing of lordis, nobles, and marchauntes of the regions that we have been allied unto, or desire to be gyvyng renomme and honoure in armes to the princes that we desire alliaunce, or[ ] sending at suche tymes as the cas shalle require to the princes ambassiatours that be halden worshipfulle men of astate and degree that have sene worship in divers contreis, whiche prudently can purpose and declare the urgent cause and necessite of this royaume, it wolde be to think verralie than that tho yowre[ ] people true subgettis of fraunce were mynusshed or abated as it is, but oure saide allies wolde enforce hem withe alle hir power and might to the { } reformacion of the saide intrusions, and under colour of trewes wrought ayenst us. in example of this matier, it bathe bene specified herebefore, and how it hathe be rad among the romayne stories that, whan haniballe, prince of cartage, had so gret a descomfiture ayenst camos, governour of the romayne ooste, that the men of cartage gaderid of the fingers of the ded romayns three muys fulle of golde ringis. so it shewed that the power of rome was gretly mynusshed and febled. than, whan this tidingis come to cartage, one hamon, a wise man, a senatoure, demaunded if it so were that for alle so gret a discomfiture is [at this place a leaf of the ms., or more, has been lost.] [sidenote: tullius cicero.] [sidenote: boecius.] [sidenote: constellacio non necessitat sed forte disponit mores hominum altor' bene vel contra, ac impressiones aeris et causa mere naturalia concernencia.] [sidenote: contra fiduciam adhibendam in prophesiis. nota conclusionem. nisi fuerit sanctissimis viris.] [sidenote: josephus. orosius. titus livius.] [sidenote: gyldas.] [sidenote: deexpulsione britonum in walliam et cornewaylle propter peccata. destruccio regnorum.] [sidenote: nynyve. babylon. troye. thebes. athenes.] [sidenote: rome.] [sidenote: jerusalem.] [sidenote: picti gentes.] [sidenote: saxones.] [sidenote: danii. normanni. andegavenses.] [sidenote: galfridus plantagenest.] [sidenote: lucius valerius.] [sidenote: boicius.] [sidenote: de republica custodienda.] [sidenote: de justicia.] whiche may noie be, for cicero seicthe in the booke that he made of divinacion, and the famous doctour seint austyn in the book of fre wille, and also boecius in his booke of consolacion, or[ ] comforte ayenst mysfortune, accorden to the same, that we shuld not only trust that the thinges whiche sounethe to adversite or infortune, and the whiche comethe to us adversarily or on the lift side, for oure offenses not keping the lawes of god, that oft tymes comythe, they dyvynyng that they fallithe be casuelte of fortune, by prophesies, orellis thoroughe influence and constellacions of sterris of hevyn, whiche jugementes be not necessarilie true, for and if it were like to trouthe it were but as contingent and of no necessite, that is to sey, as likely to be not as to be. and if a constellacion or prophesie signified that suche a yere or bethin suche a tyme there shulde falle werre, pestilence, or deerthe of vitaile to a contree or region, or privacion of a contre, it is said but dispositiflie and not of necessite or certente, for than it shulde folow that the prophesies, constellacions, and influence of sterris were maistris over goddis power, and that wolde soune to an herisie orellis to a gret erroure. and if suche { } prophesies and influence of the seide constellacions might be trew, yet god hathe gyve that souvereynte in mannys soule that he, havyng a clene soule, may turne the contrarie disposicion that jugement of constellacion or prophesies signified. as it is verified by the famous astrologien ptolome in his booke called centilogie, the capitalle, seieng _quod homo sapiens dominatur astris_, that a man is sovereyn abofe suche domes of constellacions. and therfor ye oughte not deme ne conceyve the gret adversite that fallithe to us is not falle to us by prophesie or by influence of constellacion of sterris, but only for synne and wrecchidnes, and for lak of prudence and politique governaunce in dew tyme provided, and havyng no consideracion to the comen wele, but rathir to magnifie and enriche oure silfe by singler covetise, using to take gret rewardis and suffring extorcions over the pore peple, for whiche inconvenientis by the jugementis and suffraunce of god, and of his divine providence, the whiche by divers and of his secretis and as misteries unknowen to us he hathe suffred this mysfortune among us here, and privacion of the saide roiaume of fraunce and contreis ther to falle upon us. and who so wolle considre welle the histories of olde croniclers, as of josephas, libro antiquitatum, orosius de ormesta mundi, titus livius of the romayne battelis, and such othirs, how that gret chaunge of roiaumes and countreis frome one nacion to another straunge tong hathe be, for synne and wrecchidnesse and mysgovernaunce reignyng in the roiaume so conquerid. and as it is made mencion in the olde historien called gildas that for pride, covetice, and flesshely lustis used amongis the olde breton bloode lordis of this roiaume, god suffred the saxons of duche ys tung, a straunge nacion, to dryve them out of this land in angle in cornewale and walis. and where is nynnyve, the gret cite of thre daies? and babilon, the gret toure, inhabited now withe wilde bestis? the citeis of troy [and] thebes, .ij. grete magnified citeis? also athenes, that was the welle of connyng and of wisdam? and cartage, the victorioux cite of gret renomme, most doubtable, by the romayns was brent to asshes. { } and also rome, so gloriously magnified thoroughe alle the world, overthrow the gret part of it; aswelle as was jerusalem. and to take an example of the many overthrowes and conquestis of this lande by straunge nacions sithen the breton bloode first inhabited, as withe peple callid pictics, commyng out of ferre northe partie of the worlde. then after the saxones drove out the olde breton bloode. than after the danys peple conquerid the saxons, and than the normans conquerid the danys. and sone after the angevyns of highe fraunce, full noble knightis of renomme, geffrey erle plantagenet erle of angew maried withe dame maud, doughter of the duke of normandie and king of englande, harry the second, whych doughter, called dame maude emperesse, and so haldyn stille the normandie bloode and the angevyns into this tyme. and job in his booke seithe that nothing fallithe or risithe on the erthe without a cause, as who saiethe that none adversite fallithe not to us, but only for wikkidnesse of lyvyng and synne that reignithe on us; as pride, envye, singuler covetice, and sensualite of the bodie now a daies hathe most reigned over us to oure destruccion, we not havyng consideracion to the generalle profit and universalle wele of a comynalte. and to bring to mynde how the worshipfulle senatours romayns did gife us many examples, as lucius valerius, and also the noble juge cenatoure of rome boecius, [of the grete lofe[ ]] had alway to the cite of rome. for the saide lucius valerius despendid so gret good upon the comyn profit of the said cite, to kepe and maynteyne the honoure of the citee, defending the cite and contreis about from here ennemies, that he died in gret povertee, but by the cenatours relevyng, and for his worshipfulle dedis they buried hym in the most solempne wise according to his worship. and the said juge boecius loved rightwisnesse to be kept, and the pore comyns of rome in that susteyned and maynteyned that he spared nothir lord ne none astate. but suffred hym to stande in the daunger of the hethyn king of rome, and to be in exile rathir { } than he wolde offende justice. notwithestanding the saide adversite and tribulacions felle unto hem for avaunsing and tendring the comyn wele, and alle men of worship may put hem in worshipfulle remembraunce among worthy princes to here gret renomme and laude. also it is to be noted that was one of the gret causis that the princes romayns were so gret conquerours and helde the straunge roiaumes so long in subjeccion, but only using of trouthe and justice keping in here conquestis. [sidenote: de justicia camilli in obcidionibus historia gloriosa.] a fulle noble historie how that camillus the duke of rome wolde use justice in his conquest. [sidenote: quod princeps debet vincere cicius per justiciam quam per traditionem.] [sidenote: titus livius decade primo.] [sidenote: florens cytee.] [sidenote: camillus.] [sidenote: conciderandum.] [sidenote: proposicio ad romanos gentes.] in example i rede in the romayns stories of titus livius in the booke of the first decade that a prince romayn clepid camillus, whiche did so many victorioux dedis, and loved so welle the comyn profit of the cite of rome, that he was called the second romulus whiche founded first rome, besieged a gret cite of falistes, whiche is nowe as it is saide called florence, to have hem undre the governaunce of the romayne lawes. and as he had leyne long at the siege, and after gret batailes and scarmysshes it fortuned that a maister of sciencis of falliste called now florence, the whiche had all the enfauntes and childryn of the gouvernours and worshipfulle men of the saide citee in his rule to lerne hem virtuous sciencis, thought to wynne a gret rewarde and thank of the noble prince camillus, and by the umbre of treson ayenst justice that the said maistre wolde wirke to cause the senatours of faliste [the rather[ ]] to deliver up the cite to the prince, the said maister by flatering and blandishing wordis meoved his clerkis to desport bethout the cite in the feeldis, and so fedde hem forthe withe sportis and plaies tille he had brought hem withyn the siege and power of camillus, and came to his presence, saiyng to hym that he had brought to hym the sonnes of the chief lordes and governours of the cite of falliste, { } whiche and he wolde kepe the said chyldryn in servage, the faderis of hem wolle deliver hym the cite bethout any more werre making. than saide that just prince camillus that it was not the romayns condicions to werre and punisshe such innocentis as never offendid in werre, ne knew not what werre meoved; and wolde not suffre that the falistes be defrauded of here contre and cite by unjust menes of treason or fals covyn or undew alliaunce, but as naturalle werre wol fortune by manhod and just dede of armes to take the cite. and there the saide prince comaunded the scolemaister for his gret deceite to be dispoilid and to be betyn nakid withe baleese and sharpe roddis withe his owne clerkis into the cite ayen; than the governours and maistres of the cite, havyng consideracion of the gret justice and manhod that he used in his conquest, sent to camillus ambassatours withe the keies of the cite, and purposid unto him, saieng, o ye fathir and prince of justice, wher as the welle honoure and renommee of justice and of victorioux dedis reignithe among you romaynes by using of justice, and that for asmoche they perceyved that princes romayns used feithe and justice, and peyned theym to kepe theire peple conquerid hem to be subgettis to rome by justice, they were fulle joifulle and glad to lyve undre theire lawes, and so delivered hym the [keys and the[ ]] citee, to the gret renomme of the saide prince and to alle the romayns gretly to be magnified. historie of dame cristyn, declaring how a prince and a ledar of peple shulde use prudence and justice by example of the noble cenatoure called fabricius. [sidenote: res publica.] and also as dame cristyn[ ] in the .xv. chapitre of the first partie of hir seid booke of tree of batailes leiethe a noble example that { } among alle vertues that shulde long to a prince, a duke, a cheveteyne, or to a governoure of a contre, citee, or towne, or a leder of peple, rehersithe how it is necessarie that he shulde be a prudent man and a wise and of gret trouthe, as by example it is write of the noble and trew senatoure fabricius, leder of the roman oostis, the whiche for his gret trouthe, vailliaunce, and manhod, and wise governaunce, king pirrus his adversarie offred to gyve hym the .iiij^{the}. part of his roiaume and of his tresoure and goodis, so that the saide fabricius wolde yelden and turne to his partie and become his felow in armes. to whiche pirrus the said fabrisius answerd, that a trew man might not to over moche hate and dispreise tresoure and richesse by treason and falshed evylle getyn, where as by possibilite and alle liklinesse may be honourable and truly vanquisshid and wonne bye armes, and not in noo maner wise by untrouthe and falshed. in whiche matier verifieng, saiethe vigecius in his booke of chevalrie, to a chiefteyne, to whome is commytted so gret a thing as is deliverid hym the charge and governaunce of noblesse of chevalrie, the dedis and entreprises of a prince is office is principally comytted hym for the governaunce of comon publique of a roiaume, dukedom, erledom, barnage, or seignourie, castelle, forteresse, citee, and towne, that is clepid vulgarlie the comon profite, the suerte and saufegarde of alle the saide contreis. and if by the fortune of batailes he might not only have a generall consideracion and cure of alle his ooste or over alle the peple, contree, or citee that he hathe take the charge of, but he must entende to every particuler charge and thing that nedithe remedie or relief for his charge; and any thing myssfortune to a comon universall damage in defaut of oversight of remedie of a particuler and singuler thing or charge, thoroughe whiche might grow to an universall damage, than it is to be wited his defaute. { } and therefore in conclusion of this, late it take example to folow the noble and fructufulle examples of the noble cenatours. and we ought so to kepe us frome the offending and grevyng of oure sovereyne maker not to usurpe ayenst justice as hathe be doo, in suche wise that thoroughe oure synfulle and wrecchid lyvyng ayenst his lawes he be not lengir contrarie to us, suffring us this grevouslie for oure offensis to be overthrow, rebukid, and punished as we bee, but lyve and endure in suche clene life, observyng his .x. preceptis, that he have no cause to shew on us the rod of his chastising as he dothe. [sidenote: deploracio contra iniquos malefactores prevalentes.] another exhortacion to kepe the lawes of god, for in doubte that ellis god wulle suffre oure adversaries punisshe us withe his rodde. [sidenote: nota optime.] o mightifulle god, if it be soo as holy scripture seiethe, the whiche is not to mystrust, have not we deserved cause this to be punished, seeyng so many wrecchid synnes as among us dailie uncorrectid hathe reigned, for whiche we ought know we be righte worthy of moche more chastising and grettir punishement of god, he being just and not chaungeable; for it is wretyn in the booke of paralipomenon that for the gret synnes used be theym of israelle, god of his rightwisnesse suffred the phillistyns that were they never so eville ne in so eville a quarelle to be persecutours and destroiers of the lande of judee and of goddis peple, and the rathir that the saide israelites had a law gyven hem by moises and kept it not. [sidenote: de republica augmentanda.] how every officer spirituelle and temporelle shulde put hym in his devoire to the avaunsing of the comon profite. [sidenote: tullius in nova rethorica.] and it is for to remembre among alle other thingis that is made mencion in this epistille that every man after his power and degre shuld principallie put hym in devoire and laboure for the { } avaunsment of the comon profit of a region, contre, cite, towne, or householde; for, as alle the famous clerkis writen, and inespecialle that wise cenatoure of rome tullius in his booke de officiis [de republica, that novius marcellus makyth mencion of yn dyvers chapiters,[ ]] and in other bookis of his de amicicia, paradoxis, and tusculanis questionibus, that res publica welle attendid and observed, it is the grounde of welfare and prosperite of alle maner peple. and first to wete the verray declaracion of these .ij. termys res publica, as seint austyn seiethe in the .v. booke and .xxviij. chapitre of the cite of god, and the saide tullius the famous rethoricien accordithe withe the same, saieng in latyn termes: "res publica est res populi, res patriæ, res communis; sic patet quod omnis qui intendit bonum commune et utilitatem populi vel patriæ vel civitatis augere, conservare, protegere, salva justicia intendit et rempublicam augere et conservare." and it is forto lerne and considre to what vertues respublica strecchithe, as i rede in a tretie that wallensis, a noble clerk, wrote in his book clepid commune loquium, c^o. ^o. p^e partis, seithe quod, "respublica ordinatur hiis virtutibus, scilicet, legum rectitudine, justiciæ soliditate, equitatis concordia, unanimitatis fidelitate mutua adjuvante, concilio salubri dirigente, morum honestate decorante, ordinata intentione consumpnante." as for the first partie it is verified by tullie in his rethorik the first booke: "omnes leges ad commodum reipublicæ judicis referre oportet, et lex nichil aliud est quam recta racio et anima justa, imperans honesta, prohibens contraria." and it is right expedient that alle tho that be justices, governours, or rulers of contrees, citees, or townes, to a comon profit, must doo it by prudent counceile and good avise of auncien approved men; for a governoure of a comon profit were in olde tyme named amongis the romayns, havyng the astate that at this daies bene used [by] alle tho that bene called to highe digniteis, the emperoure, kingis, princes, dukis, marques, erlis, vicountes, barons, baronettis, consules, chevalers, esquiers, and aldermannes, justices, { } baillifis, provostis, maires, and suche othirs officers. and tullius in the first booke of offices seiethe: "parva sunt foris arma ubi consilium non est domi." how auncient men growen in yeris be more acceptable to be elect for a counceilour, or for to gouverne a cite for a comyn profit, than yong men. [sidenote: tullius de senectute.] [sidenote: examplum amplum.] [sidenote: experiencia, &c.] [sidenote: job.] tullius in his book de senectute saiethe that auncient men that bene growen in age bene more profitable in gyvyng counceile for the avaunsing and governyng a comon profit of a citee, towne, or village, as to bere offices, than othirs that bene yong of age, althoughe he be [of] mighty power of bodie. for an example he puttithe, as there be men in a ship som that be yonge of mighty power halithe up the ankirs, othirs goithe feersly aboute the ropis fastenyng, and some goithe to set up the saile and take it downe as the govenoure the maister avisithe hem. yet the eldist man that is halde wisist among hem sittithe and kepithe the rothir or sterne [of] the ship, and seethe to the nedille for to gide the ship to alle costis, behofefulle to the savyng of the ship frome dangers and rokkis, whiche dothe more profit and grettir avauntage to the vesselle than alle tho yong lusty men that rennen, halithe, or clymethe. wherfor it may be concluded that the auncien approved men by long experience, made governours and counceilours of roiaumes, contrees, citeis, and townes, done grettir dedis by theire wise counceile, than tho that labouren in the feelde, cite, or towne by mighty power of her hand. and it is saide by job, . ^o. that roboam, whiche forsooke the counceile of olde men, and drew after the counceile of yong men, lost the kingdom [of] whiche he had the gouvernaunce; and whiche example is right necessarie to be had in remembraunce in every wise governoure is hert. and so wolde the mightifulle god that every governoure wolde have a verray parfit love to the governaunce of a comon wele by wise and goode counceile, and to folow the pathis and weies and examples { } of the noble senatours of rome, how they were attending to the commyn profit, setting aside singular availe. so tho famous region and citeis aboute undre theire obeissaunce reigned alle that tyme by many revolucion of yeris in gret worship and prosperite, as i shalle in example put here in remembraunce, and is founden writen in divers stories, as of one among othir ys [sidenote: de preferramento rei publice.] how fabius the noble cenatoure set by no worship of vayne glorie, but only laboured for the comon profit of rome. [sidenote: fabius cenator dexspexit vanam gloriam.] [sidenote: quomodo romani gentes fuerant divinatores et auguriste pro conservacione rei publice.] tullius de senectute the first partie maketh mencion of a noble prince romayne clepid fabius, whiche had gret batailes and journeis withe hanibal prince of cartage, to kepe the conquest of romayne contreis, and to see theire libertees and fraunchises observed and kept for the wele of alle maner peple; whiche fabius despraised renommee and vayne glorie, but onlie gafe his solicitude, thought, and his bisy cure about the comon profit of rome; for whiche cause the saide fabius after his dethe was put in gret renomme and more magnified among the romayns than he was in his liffe tyme. and the saide fabius, after the right and usage was in tho daies, did gret diligence to lerne and know by augures and divinacions of briddis and by other causes naturell after the ceasons of the yeris and in what tymes prosperite, welthe, and plente, derthe, or scarsite of cornes, wynes, [and] oilis shulde falle to the contre of romayns, to his grettist comfort for the avauncement of the comon wele. and he delited gretly to rede actis and dedis of armes of straunge nacions, to have a parfiter remembraunce and experience to rule a comon wele, that was moche bettir than before his daies ne sithe was no consulle like to his governaunce except the worthy scipion's. and it were fulle necessarie that princes and lordis shuld know by naturalle cause of philosophie the seasons and yeris of prosperite or adversite falling to the region that he is of, to th'entent he might make his provision thereafter; but more pite is few { } profound clerkis in this lande ben parfitelie grounded in suche workis or they fauten her principales in scolis, so they have no sufficient bookis, orellis they taken upon them the connyng of judicielle mateiris to know the impressions of the heire and be not expertid, and be this maner the noble science of suche judicielle mater in causis naturelle concernyng the influence of the bodies of hevyn ben defamed and rebukid. how lucius paulus fabricius and curius cornicanus, cenatours, in her grete age onlie studied and concellid for the proferring of the comon wele. also to bring to mynde for to folow the steppis of the full noble consulle of rome lucius paulus, whiche the wise caton is sonne maried the doughter of the saide lucius paule. also the senatours clepid fabricius and curiois cornecanois, that they aswelle as the forsaide fabius in her grete age did none othir bisinesse but only by theire counceile and by theire auctorite counceiled, avised, and comaunded that that shulde bee to the comon profit of the saide cite of rome. how appius the highe preest of the tempill of mynerfe, albeit he was blinde, of good corage purposid tofore the romains to make werre withe king pirrus then to be com subjet to her auncient ennemy king pirrus. [sidenote: tullius de senectute.] [sidenote: ennius poeta.] in like wise the [hyghe[ ]] preest of the tempille of mynerve of rome clepid appius, after he was for gret age blinde and feble, whan king pirrus, king of epirotes, werrid so ayenst rome that he had [febled and[ ]] werried them so sore and wan upon hem so gret contreis, that the romains ayenst theire worship wolde have made pease and alliaunces withe hym to her uttermost dishonoure, { } but the said appius purposid tofore the noble senatoures romayn and required hem to doo after the counceile of ennius the wise consul, that the romains shulde take good hert to hem, and not to abate here noble courages, to become subjet to theire auncient adversarie pirrus; and that they shulde take new entreprinses upon pirrus and destroie his gret armees; whiche the saide senatours were revived in theire courages thoroughe the wise exhortacions of appius, and had the victorie of pirrus. [sidenote: de officiis catonis.] this chapitre declarithe how many gret offices of highe dignite caton was called and auctorised for his gret manhode and wisdom, and how he in his age couraged the yong knightis to goo to feelde to venquisshe cartage or he died. also the noble senatoure of rome caton, that was so manlie, prudent, and of holsom counceile, whiche in his yong daies occupied the office of a knight in excersising armes, anothir season he occupied the office of tribune as a chief juge among the romayns, another season was a legat as an ambassatoure into ferre contreis, yet anothir tyme in his gret auncien age, that he might not gretlie laboure, was made consul of rome to sit stille and avise the weies and meenys how the romayns might alway be puissaunt to resist ayenst cartage, whiche he hopid verralie or he died to see the saide cite destroied. and the said caton, in presence of yong scipio and lelius, .ij. noblest yong knightis of rome that visited cato to here of his wise conduit and counceile, he being then of full gret age, tendred so ferventlie the well of comon profit of rome, that he required and besought the immortalle godis[ ] of licence that he might not die till he might know cartage destroied by victorie of bataile, and to be avengid of the servage and miserie of the noble romayns whiche were prisoneris withe quintus fabius in cartage xxxiij yere passed. { } [sidenote: doctor militum in armis.] of a semblable noble condition of quintus fabius according to caton. and quintus fabius, albeit he might not in his gret age laboure, left the usage that he in his youthe taught yong knightis, as to renne, lepe, just withe speris, fight afoote withe axes, yet he had in his olde age alway gret solicitude and thought for the avauncement of the comon profit of the citee by counceile, by reason and by inure deliberacion of hymsilf and of the wise senatoure. the diffinicion of the office that belongithe to the senate. [sidenote: tullius de senectute.] and whiche terme senate is as moche for to say a companie of aged men assembled togither. how caton writithe that citeis and contreis that were governed by men of yong age were destroied, and they lost also theire lifelode wastefullie. [sidenote: ita officia danda juvenibus.] and caton saide that who so wolde rede in auncien histories he shulde finde that citeis whiche were conduit and governed by men of yong age, were destroied and brought to desert, as well rome as othirs, and it was not revived ne encresid ayen, but onlie be the counceile of auncien men. and the saide cato makithe a question to tho saide yong joly knightis, scipion and lilius, demaunding them why they and suche othir yong counceilours had wasted and brought to nought theire inheritaunce callid patrimonie, and the comon profit of theire cite and countre destroied. and nennius the poet made answere for hem and saide, tho that were made counceilours for the { } comon profit of the towne, also suche that were of scipion and lilius counceile, were but new [not expert[ ]] drawen maistris, ignoraunt advocat[gh] and pledours, yong men not roted ne expert in the law ne in policie [of] governaunce, whiche by theire fole-hardiesse and be the proprete and nature of grene age causid the patrimonie of lelius and scipion to be lost, and also the countreis that they hadde to governaunce. and he that wolle have prudent avise and sure conceile must doo by counceile of men of gret age, aswelle in counceile of civile causes as in conduct of armees and oostis of men of armes in werre, for the defence of the comon publique. [sidenote: agamenon.] of the answere and reson of agamenon duke and leder of the greekis hoost ayenst the troiens. for agamenon the noble knight that was leder and governoure of the grekis batailes ayenst the noble troiens, [sidenote: nestor.] of the wisdom of king nestor a troian. [sidenote: de conciliis antiquorum militum in experiencia preferrendorum.] when he herde of king nestor, how he was holden the wisist lyvyng of counceile yevyng and of gret eloquence in his auncien age, [sidenote: ayax.] of the recomendacion of the prowesse of ayax a knight of grece. and in like wise one ayax a knight of grece was halden the best fighter amonge the grekis ayenst the trojens; in so moche that the grekis desired of the immortell goddis to have only but .xl. suche batellous knightis as ayax is to fighte withe the grekis ayenst the troyens, { } how duke agamenon trusted so gretlie in the counceile of agid men, that he required the immortelle goddis to have suche .vj. olde kingis as nestor is, doubted not to wynne troie in short tyme. but that noble duke agamenon required of the goddis six suche wise viellars as was nestor, that then he doubted not within short tyme that troie shulde be take and destroied. [sidenote: publius decius.] how that most noble centoure publius decius, so hardie an entreprennoure in the bataile, whan the romains were almost overthrow, he avaunsid hym silfe so ferre in the bataile, to die to th'entent to make the romains more gret, and felle for his dethe in fighting tille they had the victory. [sidenote: nota bene diversitatem militum.] [sidenote: publius decius non est recomendandus in hoc negocio.] in semblable wise tullius writithe of that vaillaunt citezin romayne publius decius, at a tyme he was chosen consulle and as a chiefteyne among the romayne ostes, he saw how the romayne oost was almost bete downe to grounde, he thought in his soule that he wolde put his bodie in jubardie frely to die, forto make the romains more egir and fellir in that bataile to revive hem silfe thoroughe cruelte of his dethe. he tooke his hors withe the sporis, and avaunsing hym silfe among his adversaries, and at the last was so sore charged withe hem that he was fellid to grounde deede. the romayns, havyng consideracion in theire courageous hertis how knyghtly he avaunsid hym in bataile fighting and suffered dethe for here sake, tooke courage and hert to hem, and recomforting hem foughten so vigorouslie ayenst theire adversaries that they hadde the victorie. [here is added in the margin the following anecdote:] hyt ys to remembre that i hafe herd myne autor fastolfe sey, whan he had yong knyghtys and nobles at hys solasse, how that { } there be twey maner condicions of manly men, and one ys a manlye man called, another ys an hardye man; but he seyd the manly man ys more to be commended, more then the hardy man; for the hardy man that sodenly, bethout discrecion of gode avysement, avauncyth hym yn the felde to be halde courageouse, and wyth grete aventur he scapyth, voydith the felde allone, but he levyth hys felyshyp destrussed. and the manly man, ys policie ys that, or he avaunce hym and hys felyshyp at skirmysshe or sodeyn racountre, he wille so discretely avaunce hym that he wille entend to hafe the ovyr hand of hys adversarye, and safe hymsylf and hys felyshyp. and therfore the aventure of publius decius ys not aftyr cristen lawes comended by hys willefulle deth, nother hys son. how the son of the said publius died in the same case. and the sonne of the said publius, that was foure tyme electe and and chose consul among the romains, put hym in so gret jupardie of bataile, for the helthe, prosperitie, and welfare of the romains, that he died in bataile in like wise. here folowithe the historie of the most noble recommendacion in perpetuite of marcus actilius, a chief duke of the romayne hostes, of his gret providence using in hostes ayenst derthes and scarsetees[ ] of cornes, wines, [and] oilis; and how he of fortune of werre, being prisoner in cartage amongis his dedlie adversaries, albeit he was put to raunson, suffred wilfullie for to die in prison, because he was so gretly aged and wered in bataile, then to the romains to pay so infenite a somme for his finaunce and raunson. [sidenote: autor rei publicæ.] hit is historied also of worshipfulle remembraunce how that verray trew lover of the comon wele of the romains, marcus actilius, that first yave hym to labouragis and approwementis of londes and { } pastures, to furnisshe and store the saide countre withe plente of corne and vitaile; after, for his gret policie, wisdom, and manhod, was made consulle and conestable of the romayne batailes, and fulle often sithis discomfited theire adversaries of cartage. and he, at a tyme, by chaunge of fortune in bataile, was take prisoner into cartage, being of gret age than. and for deliveraunce of whiche actilius the governours of cartage desired hym that he shulde laboure and sende to rome forto deliver out of prison a gret nombre of yong men of werre of cartage that were prisoneris in rome, and he shulde goo frank and quite. and the saide actilius denyed and refused it utterly, but that he wolde rather die in prison than to suffre the werrours of cartage to be delyverid for his sake, for he loved the comon wele and proffit of rome; and becaus that noble actilius wolde not condescende to deliver the prisoneris of cartage, they turmentid hym in prison in the most cruelle wise to dethe; that, and it were expressid here, it wolde make an harde hert man to falle the teris of his yen. the voluntarie dethe of whiche marcus actilius, for the welfare, prosperite, and comon profit of rome, causithe hym to be an example to alle othir, and to be put perpetuelly in remembraunce for worship. how the noble duke scipion affrican put hym in so gret aventure in his gret age ayens the cartages, that he died upon,[ ] rathir than to life in servage. [sidenote: scypio affricanus.] [sidenote: scipio asyanus.] [sidenote: scipio affricanus.] also to have in remembraunce to folow the steppis of the full noble and glorious champions two bretherin scipion africanus and scipion asian, whiche alle their lyve daies emploied and besied hem in divers entreprises of armees and batailes ayenst the affricains, for the saufegarde and defense of the comon wele of theire contre. and the saide scipion affrican wilfully died in armes of chevalrie rathir than to lyve in servage and distresse among his adversaries in cartage. { } how scipion asian, a noble conqueroure for the romayns, yet in his age he was envyed, accused to king antiochus, [and] died pitouslie in prison for his rewarde. and notwithestanding after many triumphes and victories done by scipion asian, that put in subjeccion the contre of asie, and enriched gretlie the tresoure of rome thoroughe his conquestis, he was by envious peple accused falsely to king antiochus, that he hadde withehalde the tresoure of rome, and was condempned to prison, where he endid his daies. [sidenote: lucius paulus.] how lucius paulus, a cenatoure, in defaute that his hoste wolde not doo by counceile, he was slayne in bataile. [sidenote: quod capitanei non debent renunciare concilia peritorum.] also lucius paulus, a noble consul romayne, that spared not hym silfe to die in bataile in puylle withe .ccc. noble romains that were assemblid unwitting the saide lucius paulus, and alle for lak of counceile that the saide .iij^c. nobles romayns wolde not be governed by hym: he seeng anothir consul romayn toke the entreprise, was so overthrowen withe his felouship, the saide lucius paulus avaunced hym wilfully among his adversaries withe the residew of the romains that [were] lefte, and there died withe them, to th'entent that it shulde be noted and know that the saide entreprise was not lost in his defaute. [sidenote: marcus marcellus.] [sidenote: haniballe.] how marcus marcellus, a consul that for the welfare of rome, bethout avise, went hastilie to bataile ayenst haniballe of cartage, and he being so sorie for the dethe of so manlie a duke did hym to be buried in the most worshipfulle wise. also it is [to be] remembrid of marcus marcellus, a consulle romayne that set noughte of dethe, for he upon a tyme, bethout gret { } deliberacion or advisement, desired to fight ayenst haniballe prince of cartage, assemblid withe a gret power ayenst the romains, whiche were feerse [here again a leaf of the manuscript is lost.] [sidenote: res publica.] of man, his beeis for hony, his medewis purveied for sustenaunce of his grete bestis, and every man after his degree to store hym silfe, that whan ther falle by fortune of straunge wethirs, as thoroughe excessife moist, colde, heet, mildewis, or by fortune of bataile and werre, the saide countre, cite, towne, village, or menage so provided and stuffid before shalle mow withe gret ease endure the persecucion of a scarsete or derthe fallen [by] suche straunge menys. and aswelle the terme of res publica, whiche is in englisshe tong clepid a comyn profit, it ought aswelle be referred to the provision and wise gouvernaunce of a mesuage or a householde as to the conduit and wise governaunce of a village, towne, citee, countree, or region. [the following addition is here made in the margin.] hyt ys to remembre thys caase of rebellyon of parys felle in abcence of herry .v^{te}. kyng beyng in england wyth hys queene. and bethoute noote of vaynglory, yff i do wryte of myne autor[ ] i fynde by hys bokes of hys purveours how yn every castelle, forteresse, and cyte or towne he wolde hafe grete providence of vitaille of cornys, of larde, and beoffes, of stokphyshe and saltfyshe owt of england commyng by shyppes. and that policie was one of the grete causes that the regent of fraunce and the lordes of the kyng ys grete councelle lefft hym to hafe so many castells to kepe that he ledd yerly .iij^c. sperys and the bowes. and also yn semblable wyse purveyed yeerly for lyverey whyte and rede for hubes for hys soudeours, and for armurs wepyns redye to a naked man that was hable to do the kyng and the sayd regent service. and yt fille yn the .viij^{te}. yere of herry the .v^{the}., named kyng, when he was capteyn of the bastyle of seynt antonye of parys, and thomas beauford, dux of excestyr, { } beyng then capteyn of the cytee, hyt fortuned that for the arrestyng of the lord lyseladam, who[ ] was yn so grete favour of the cyte that alle the comyns of the seyd cyte [stode] sodanly to harneys and rebelled ayenst the duc of exetyr and ayenst hys armee and felyshyppe; so the duc for more suerte wyth hys felyshype were coherced to take the bastyle for her deffence. and at hys commyng the chieff questyon he demaunded of the seyd fastolf how welle he was stored of greynes, of whete, of benys, pesyn, and aveyn for horsmete, and of othyr vitaille; he seyd for half yere and more suffisaunt. and hyt comforted gretly the prince. then the duc made redy the ordenaunce wyth shot of grete gonnys amongys the rebells and shot of arowes myghtelye, that they kept her loggeyns. and the frenshe kyng and the quene beyng yn the cytee, helde ayenst the rebellys, so yn short tyme the burgeyses wer constreyned to submytt them and put hem yn the duc ys grace. [sidenote: de magnificencia felicitatis cultoribus terrarum adhibenda, specialiter cyro regi.] caton magnifiethe that prince that cherisshith and favourithe erthe tiliers. [sidenote: socrates.] [sidenote: de quodam lysander ph'o.] [sidenote: de ciro rege persarum.] [sidenote: tullius.] and as caton writithe that it is one of the principalle dedis of a prince to maynteyne, kepe, and avaunce labourage of the londe, and of all tho that bee laboureris of the londe, whiche men soo cherisshed most of verray necessite cause a roiaume, countree, or cite to be plenteous, riche, and well at ease. and the philosophur socrates writithe that cirus king of perse was excellent in wit, glorious in seignorie terrien; in the daies [of] whiche cirus one lisander, of the cite of lacedemone in grece, a man halden of gret vertew and noblesse, came owt of ferre contrees to see the saide king cirus, being in the cite of sardes, and presented hym withe clothis of golde, juellis, and othir ricchesses sent by the citezeins of lacedemonois; the whiche king cirus received the saide li[gh]ander full worshiplie in his palais, and, for the grettist ricchesse roialle and pleasure that the said { } king cirus had to doo hym worship and pleasure and chier, he broughte the saide lisander to see his gardins and herbers, whiche gardins were so proporcionallie in a convenient distaunce sett and planted withe treis of verdure of divers fructis, the gardyns so welle aleyed to walke upon, and rengid withe beddis bering fulle many straunge and divers herbis, and the herbers of so soote smyllis of flouris and herbis of divers colours, that it was the joieust and plesaunt sighte that ever the saide citesyn lisander had see beforne. and the saide cirus saide unto lisander that he had devised and ordeined the herbers to be compassed, rengid, and made, and many of the treis planted it withe his owne hande. and the saide lisander, beholding the gret beaute, semlinesse of his parson, [and] the riche clothis he ware of tissue and precious stones, he saide that fortune and felicite mondeyne was joyned and knyt withe his vertue and noblesse roiall, forasmoche as the saide cirus emploied and intentife[ ] besynesse in tymes oportune in tilieng, ering, and labourage of his londis to bere corne and fruit, whiche is the principalle partie of beneurte and felicite mondeyne, that is to wete the naturelle richesse of worldlie joie. also tullius writithe that valerius corvinus, an auncien citesyn romayne, did his gret peyne and diligence to laboure londes and make it riche withe labourage and tilieng upon the londe for the comon wele of the cite of rome, that in tyme and yeris of scarsete the garners in rome shulde be alway furnisshed and stuffid withe greyn, that a meane price of corne shulde be alway hadde. [sidenote: de re publica.] how the noble cenatours of rome avaunced here parsones in gret perille and jubardie ayenst theire adversaries for the comon welfare of the romains. [sidenote: lucius brutus.] [sidenote: lucius romanus.] [sidenote: non est laudendum secundum legem christianorum.] and the saide famous clerk tullius, in the . . disc' of the saide booke, puttithe in remembraunce whiche of the noble and famous { } dukis, princes, and cenatours of romains abandonned her bodies and goodis, only putting them to the uttermost jubardy in the feelde ayenst theire adversaries, for the avauncement and keping in prosperite, worship, and welfare of rome. among whiche, one of the saide romains was lucius brutus, that whan arnus, a leder of peple, assemblid a gret oost ayenst the romains to have discomfit hem and put hem in servage out of her fraunchise, the saide noble lucius, being then governoure of the ooste of romains, thought rathir to die upon the said arnus, so that he mighte subdew hym, rathir than the saide citee shulde stande in servage. he mounted upon his hors, and leide his spere in the rest, and withe a mightie courage renne feerslie upon the saide arnus being in the myddille of his oost, and fortuned by chaunce that bothe of hem wounded[ ] othir to dethe. and whan it was undrestonde in the hooste that the saide arnus, capitalle adversarie to romains, was dede, his gret oost departed out of their feelde, whiche had not soo done had not bene by mightie aventure the wilfulle dethe of the saide lucius brutus. how a prince, be he made regent, governoure, or duke[ ], chieveteyne, lieutenaunt, capetaine, conestable, or marchalle, make alwaie just paiment to her soudeours, for eschewing of gret inconvenientis might falle. [sidenote: autor. notandum est super omnia effectus istius articuli, quoad execucionem justicii.] [sidenote: notandum est de ordinaria solucione joh'is ducis bedfordie.] [sidenote: concidera.] [sidenote: nota multiplicacionem officiariorum.] and overmore, most highe and excellent prince, of youre benigne grace and providence, if it please youre highenesse to have consideracion, in way of justice and keping, to remedie one singuler offence and damage to youre liege people, the whiche by goddis law, and by law of reason and nature, is the contrarie of it righte dampnable,[ ] and which grevous offence, as it is voised accustumablie, rennythe and hathe be more usid under [tho that oughte be[ ]] youre obeisaunce in fraunce and normandie than in othir straunge regions: and to { } every welle advised man it is easy to undrestande that it is a thing that may welle bene amendid and correctid, and to be a gret mene to the recuvere of youre londes in the saide adverse partie; that is to say, that shalle be men of soude and of armes, as well tho that [shalle be[ ]] undre youre lieutenauntis as the chiefteins and capetains, may be duely paide of her wages by the monithe, [lyke as johan regent of fraunce payd,[ ]] or by quarter, bethout any rewarde [of curtesyie of colour[ ]] gyven, bribe, defalcacion, or abreggement, or undew assignacion not levable assigned or made unto them, aswelle in this londe as in normandie, to deceyve hem, or cause hem be empoverisshed in straunge contreis, as it hathe be accustumed late in the saide contreis. and that suche paymentis be made content bethout delaie or nede of[ ] long and grete pursute, upon suche a resonable peyne as the cause shalle require it. and that none of youre officers roialle, nethir hir debitees or commissioneris, shalle darre doo the contrarie to take no bribe, rewarde, or defalke the kingis wagis; wherbie youre souldeours shalle not have cause to oppresse and charge youre obeissauntis and youre peple in taking theire vitaile bethout paieng therfor, whiche gret part of theym in defaut of due payment hathe ben accustumed, by .x. or .xij. yere day contynued, or the saide londes were lost, uncorrectid ne punisshid, [as] turned to the gret undoing of youre saide obeisauntes, and one othir of gret causis that they have turned their hertis frome us, breking theire allegeaunce by manere of cohercion for suche rapyn, oppressions, and extorcions. and also the officers than being nedithe not to have so many lieutenauntis or undre officers as they have hadde, whiche wastithe and destroiethe youre saide peple by undew charges to enriche hemsilfe; and many of the officers have be but esy vaileable to the defense of youre countre, thoroughe negligence of exersising of armes for theire defense and proteccion in tyme of necessite. for it was never seen that any countre, cite, or towne did encrece welle wherover many nedeles officers and governours that onlie wolde have a renomme, and { } undre that colour be a extorcioner, piller, or briboure, was reignyng and ruling over theym. [sidenote: exclamacio.] [sidenote: de lamentabili oppressione subditorum nostrorum in frauncia.] [sidenote: alia exclamacio soldariorum ultimo in normannia commorancium.] [sidenote: deploracio miseriæ.] o mighetie king, and ye noble lordes of this roiaume, if ye were wele advertised and enfourmed of the gret persecucions, by way of suche oppressions and tirannyes, ravynes, and crueltees, that many of suche officers have suffred to be done unponisshed to the pore comons, laborers, paissauntes of the saide duchie of normandie, it is verailie to deme that certe[gh] ye of noble condicions, naturally pitous, wolde not have suffred suche grevous inconvenientis to be redressid and amendid long or the said intrusion fille, and the regalite of justice had be in tho daies in youre possession. for often tymes suche as have pretendid theym officers wastid of youre [predecessour[ ]] is livelode more than nedithe, and often tymes suffred them to be manassed [and] beten, and mischieved theire bestis withe theire wepyns, that they were nighe out of theire wittis for sorow, and so enforced for duresse to forsake youre title and youre lawes, and but esilie relevyd and socoured. and therto they have ben so often surcharged grevouslie withe paieng of tasques, tailis, subsides, and imposicions beside theire rentis, paieng to the somme righte importable sommes, paide to your predecessours for youre demains, and to theire landlordis that halden of you, and many of theym duelling upon the marches patised to youre adverse partie also to dwelle in rest, and this innumerable charges and divers tormentis have ben done to theym to theire uttermost undoing. he allas! and yet seeing they bene christen men, and lyvyng under youre obeissaunce, lawes-yovyng, and yeldyng to youre lawes as trew englisshe men done, by whome also we lyve and be susteyned, and youre werre the bettir born out and mainteyned, why shulde it here after be suffred that suche tormentrie and cruelte shulde be shewed unto theym? o god! whiche art most mercifulle and highest juge, soverein, and just, how maist thow long suffre this regnyng without the { } stroke of vengeaunce and ponisshement commyng upon the depryvyng or yelding up of that dukedom? [sidenote: nota tria.] [sidenote: prima.] [sidenote: .ij^{a}.] [sidenote: .iij. causa.] [sidenote: conciderandum est super omnia.] late it be noted and construed what gret inconvenientis have folow herof. there may be undrestonde to folow .iij. thingis inespecialle of gret hurtis. one is the ire of god and his rod of vengeaunce fallen now upon us by his dyvyne punisshement [of god,[ ]] aswelle in suffring oure saide adversaries to have the overhande upon us, as in destroieng of oure lordis by sodeyn fortunes [of dyvysyons[ ]] in this lande the saide yere and season, the yere of crist .m^liiij^cl. that youre [grete[ ]] adversarie made his intrusion in the saide normandy, for pite of his peple so oppressid, hiring theire clamours and cries and theire curses. the second is theire rebellion, as thoroughe theire wanhope, havyng no trust of hastie socoure and relief of an armee to come in tyme covenable, be turned awaie frome her ligeaunce and obedience to youre adverse partie, seeing theym thus ungoodelie entretid under tho whiche were comytted to kepe, defende, and maynteyn them. the .iij^{de}. is famyn of vitaile and penurie of money, and lak of provision of artillerie and stuffe of ordenaunce, whiche youre saide obeissauntis for faute of these were constreined to flee to youre adverse partie, and to leve rathir theire natife contree, orellis to die for famyn and povertee. [sidenote: ecclesia honoranda.] [sidenote: nota bene.] [sidenote: hospitalitas in ecclesia est preferranda.] [sidenote: lamentacio.] [sidenote: cogita.] an exortacion how princes, lordes, and officers roialle shulde worship and meynteyne the chirche, and defende hem from oppression. and moreover in way of gret pitee and in the worship of god suffre ye not the prelates of the chirche of that lande, as archebisshoppis, bisshoppis, abbatis, priours, denes, archedenes, and theire ministrours, to be oppressid, revaled, ne vileyned, as they have bene in youre predecessour daies accepted in fulle litille reverence or { } obedience, for how that men usurpen in tho daies in surchargeyng them unduelie it is by experience knowen welle ynoughe, as they be manere of a prive cohercion to lyve in more rest withe theire lyvelode, be dryve too forto gyve out to rulers, gouvernours, and maistris of the marchis and contrees that they dwellin upon or have her lyvelode, gret fees and wages and rewardis nedelese. and the peple that were welle set[ ] and often tymes they ben visited withe straungiers of gret astatis, as welle spirituelle as temporelle, and namelie withe tho that have the lawes to mynistre and to kepe, and withe other nedeles peple that waste and surcharge theym, for they were founded to that entent but to kepe theire nombre of fundacion, praieng for theire foundoures, and [kepe hospitalitee for to[ ]] feede the pore and the nedie in case of necessite. a mercifulle jhesu! many auctours rehersithe in her cronicles that pompeus, whiche that was so chevalrous a paynym knighte amongis the romains, the cause of his wofulle dethe and mortalle ende was alonlie that he on a tyme disdeyned to reverence and worship holy places, as chirches and seyntuaries, stabled his hors in salamon is temple, the whiche the saide salamon had edified to be the most sovereyn chirche or temple of the erthe to serve and praise god. and in example of late daies yn king johan of fraunce tyme suche chieveteins as was in his armee before he was take at the bataile of peitiers, as it is saide, avaunted hym silfe to stabille her hors in the cathedralle chirche of salisbury. and after he was take and had sighte of the saide chirche [they[ ]] had gret repentaunce of. and therfor, fulle noble king and ye puissaunt lordis of renomme, let a covenable and a necessarye medecyn be counceiled and yoven to us for provision and reformacion of this infirmite, and that it may be purveied for by so dew meenes that it may be to god is pleasaunce. and that we may withedraw and leve oure wrecchid governaunce that temporelle men wolde so inordinatlie rule and oppresse the chirche. so that now this begon mischiefe and stroke of pestilence in youre { } predecessour daies be not set as a jugement in oure arbitracion as to be decreed, juged, or determyned for oure wele and availe, but as a chastising of oure mysdoeng, so to be take for oure savacion. what saiethe saint jeroyme amongis his dolorous lamentacions upon the prophesie of jooelle? if we have not, (seithe he,) know god in welthe and prosperite, then, at the leest, let us know hym in oure adversite, in suche wise there we have erred and fauted by over gret haboundaunce of suche chargeable crimes and synnes of delites, of suche oppression, covetice, inespecialle pride and envy, &c. let us withedraw us from hem withe goode corage, and to that ende that we be not chastised ne punisshed by the stroke of vengeaunce and pestilence, nor of none suche affliccions as we hafe ben dailie by youre predecessour's daies by youre saide adversaries. [sidenote: quod officium deffencionis adversariorum patriæ est preferrandum quemcunque singularem facultatem sive practicam.] how lordis sonnes and noble men of birthe, for the defense of her londe, shulde excersise hem in armes lernyng. [sidenote: introduccio juvenum nobilium natu.] [sidenote: ser johan fastolf.] [sidenote: optativus modus.] and also moreover for the grettir defens of youre roiaumes, and saufe garde of youre contreis in tyme of necessite, also to the avauncement and encrece of chevalrie and worship in armes, comaunde and doo founde, establisshe, and ordeyne that the sonnes of princes, of lordis, and for the most part of alle tho that ben comen and descendid of noble bloode, as of auncien knightis, esquiers, and other auncient gentille men, that while they ben of grene age ben drawen forthe, norisshed, and excersised in disciplines, doctrine, and usage of scole of armes, as using justis, to can renne withe speer, handle withe ax, sworde, dagger, and alle othir defensible wepyn, to wrestling, to skeping, leping, and rennyng, to make hem hardie, deliver, and wele brethed, so as when ye and youre roiaume in suche tyme of nede to have theire service in entreprises of dedis of armes, they may of experience be apt and more enabled to doo you service honourable in what region they become, and not to be [unkonnyng,[ ]] abashed, ne astonied, { } forto take entreprises, to answere or deliver a gentilman that desire in worship to doo armes in liestis to the utteraunce, or to certein pointis, or in a quarelle rightfulle to fight, and in cas of necessite you[ ] and youre roiaume forto warde, kepe, and defende frome youre adversaries in tyme of werre. and this was the custom in the daies of youre noble auncestries, bothe of kingis of fraunce as of englande. in example wherof, king edwarde .iij^{de}. that exersised his noble son edwarde the prince in righte grene age, and all his noble sonnes, in suche maiestries, wherby they were more apt in haunting of armes. and, [as myne autor seyd me,[ ]] the chevalrous knight [fyrst[ ]] henry duke of lancastre, which is named a chief auctour and foundour in law of armes, had sent to hym frome princes and lordis of straunge regions, as out of spayne, aragon, portingale, naverre, and out of fraunce, her children, yong knightis, to be doctrined, lerned, and broughte up in his noble court in scole of armes and for to see noblesse, curtesie, and worship. wherthoroughe here honoure spradde and encresid in renomme in all londis they came untoo. and after hym, in youre antecessour daies, other noble princes and lordis of gret birthe accustomed to excersise maistries apropred to defense of armes and gentilnes[ ] to them longing. but now of late daies, the grettir pite is, many one that ben descendid of noble bloode and borne to armes, as knightis sonnes, esquiers, and of othir gentille bloode, set hem silfe to singuler practik, straunge [facultee[gh][ ]] frome that fet, as to lerne the practique of law or custom of lande, or of civile matier, and so wastyn gretlie theire tyme in suche nedelese besinesse, as to occupie courtis halding, to kepe and bere out a proude countenaunce at sessions and shiris halding, also there to embrace and rule among youre pore and simple comyns of bestialle contenaunce that lust to lyve in rest. and who can be a reuler and put hym forthe in suche matieris, he is, as the worlde goithe now, among alle astatis more set of than he that hathe despendid .xxx. or .xl. yeris of his daies in gret jubardies in youre { } [antecessourys[ ]] conquestis and werris. so wolde jhesus they so wolle welle lerned theym to be as good men of armes, chieveteins, or capetains in the feelde that befallithe for hem where worship and manhode shulde be shewed, moche bettir rathir then as they have lerned and can be a captaine or a ruler at a sessions or a shire day, to endite or amercie youre pore bestialle peple, to theire [enpoveryshyng[ ],] and to enriche hem silfe or to be magnified the more, but only they shulde maynteyn your justices and your officers usyng the goode custom of youre lawes. and than ye shulde have righte litille nede to have thoughte, anguisshe or besinesse for to conquere and wyn ayen youre rightfulle enheritaunce, or to defende youre roiaume from youre ennemies. and that suche singuler practik shulde [not[ ]] be accustumed and occupied [undewly[ ]] withe suche men that be come of noble birthe, [but he be the yonger brother, havyng not whereof to lyve honestly[ ].] and if the vaillaunt romayns had suffred theire sonnes to mysspende theire tyme in suche singuler practik, using oppressing by colours [of custom of the law, they had not conquered twyes[ ]] cartage ayenst alle the affricans. how officers of the law shulde be chosen, welle disposid and temperate men, vertuous in condicion, and they to be protectid by lordis and noble men of birthe. [sidenote: exclamacio.] hit was in auncient tyme used that suche practik and lernyng of the custumes and law of a lande shulde onlie be comytted to suche parsones of demure contenaunce that were holden vertuous and welle disposid, thoughe he were descendid but of esie birthe to occupie in in suche facultees, and to mynistre duelie and egallie the statutis and custumes of the law to youre peple, bethout meintenaunce ayenst justice. and the saide officers and ministrours of the law to be protectid and meyntened by the princes, lordis, and men of worship when the case shalle require, namelie tho that oughte defende yow and youre { } roiaume that halden theire londis of you by that service onlie, and gyven to that entent by youre noble auncestries. and over this that they be lerned and introducid in the drede of god, and not presumptuously take upon hem to offende theire law, for the whiche, and in example to this purpose, it is wretin in the . . chapitre of the prophete jeremye, because that joachym king of juda despraised the admonestementis, advertisementis, and the doctrines of god, that jeremie had doo set yn certein bookes and quaiers, the whiche he made to be cast in the fire and disdeyned to hire theym, but usid after his owne wilfulnesse and hedinesse and without counceile, therfor god seiethe by the mouthe of the prophete that of hym shuld issew ne come none heire to succeede ligneallie that after hym shulde enjoie and holde his roiaume, and overmore that he shulde visit hym by punisshement, and that aswelle his kynne as hym that had suffred and caused to be so eville inducid. and so it fille after the prophesie. o ye than in the same wise puttithe away the delites of sensualitees of suche inconvenient occupacion as before is specified frome the children of noble men. and late theym be inducid and lerned of youthe that in thingis [of noblesse[ ]] that apparteynithe and belongithe to theym to lerne, as in excercising[ ] of armes and to suche occupacions of worship. these thingis provyded and ordeined oughte not be long delaied, but incontinent stedfastlie to be persevered, that then doubte not but that god, whiche is most mercifulle and allway in every necessite to relief us, despraisithe not the humble and contrite hertis, but that he of his infinite goodenesse wolle accept and take in gree and his grace oure good entent, and shalbe withe us in alle oure gode actis and dedis. how over gret cost and pomp in clothing shulde be eschewed. and therfore in witnesse herof eschew and leve the superfluite and excesse of arraie and clothing. and late everie astate use as { } the worthie romains did, the whiche, in tyme of affliccions and turmentis or anguisshes by occasion of werres and batailes, used one manere clothing, and anothir maner clothing in tyme of prosperite and felicitee reignyng. and the same maner the ryte and custom of youre adverse partie of fraunce hathe used, escheweng alle costius arraiementis of clothing, garmentis, and bobauncees, and the usaige of pellure and furres they have expresselie put away. whiche costues arraymentis and disgising of clothing of so many divers facion used in this youre roiaume, inespecialle amongis youre pore comyners, hathe be one of the gret inconvenientis of the empoverisshing of youre lande, and enforced gret pride, envy, and wrathe amongis hem, whiche hathe holpe broughte them to gret indigence and povertee. how that gret hurt and inconvenientis have fallen to the roiaume because the creditours have not been duelie paide of here lonys and prestis made to highe sovereins. [sidenote: nota optime.] moreover, youre pore comyns, [yn your antecessour dayes,[ ]] not paied holy theire duteis for theire lones, prestis of vitailis and othir marchaundise, as by opyn example was often tymes lent and taken to the behofe of youre predecessoure henry sext, named king, but in sondrie wises be delaied and despende gret part of her goode, or they can nighe her deutees and paiementis, and fayn to suffre to defalke and relese partie of her dutee to receyve the othir part, whiche is the cause of gret charge and hinderaunce of youre peple. and therefore, to voide this inconvenient, righte noble king, withe the discrete avise of youre noble lordis, let youre riche tresours be spradde and put abrode, bothe juellis, vesselle of gold and silver, among youre true subgettis, and inespecialle to the helpe and avauncement of youre conquest, and to the relief of youre indigent and nedie peple. and inespecialle to tho that have lost theire londis, livelode, and { } goode in the werres, so that the saide tresoure may be put forthe, and late it be set in money to the remedie and socoure of this gret importunyte and necessite, and to the defens of youre roiaume from youre adversaries before specified; for it is saide that [an empyre or[ ]] roiaume is bettir without tresoure of golde than without worship, and also bettir it is to lyve a pore life in a riche roiaume in tranquillite and pease than to be riche in a pore roiaume where debate and strife reignithe. and if ye wolle doo thus, every man than in his degree wolle doo the same. and to example of us alle ye [soo[ ]] puissaunt and mighetie men of good counceile and stere,[ ] every man helpe after his degree. [sidenote: nota bene.] how saint lowis, king of fraunce, in his testament writen of his owne hande, counceiled his sonne [that] after hym reigned, to cherisshe and favoure the good citeis and townes of his lande, and use justice and peas. and to doo and werke after the blissid counceile of saint lowes, king of fraunce, [who] declared among othir exhortacions and counceile in his testament, the chapiter where he exhorted and comaundid his sonne phelip that reigned king after hym, that he shulde put and doo alle his diligence that he shulde kepe his peple in pease and justice, and inespecialle to favoure and cherisshe the good citeis and townes of his roiaume, and to kepe theym in fraunchise and fredoms soo as they may encrese and lyve puissauntlie, for if they be tendred, that they be of power and mighetie of goode, the ennemies of youre roiaume or of youre adverse partie wol doubt and be ware to take any entreprise ayenst youre noble mageste. and if the adversaries wolle werke ayen the honoure of youre parsone, and the welfare of youre roiaume, youre saide citesins and burgeis and good comyns shalbe of power and of goode courage, and wille withe here bodies and goodes largelie depart to be yoven forto resist them. and, { } therefore, favoure and forbere the pore peple and namelie the nedie, in signe that ye in youre hertis may bring to mynde and remembre the vengeaunce of hard offensis to this roiaume shewed, and to the recuvere of the worship of the roiaume late lost. and who so hathe not a bodie habille herto, or usage to emploie hym in dedis of armes, or think it long not to hym, as men of religiouste[ ] and spirituelle, temporelle men wolde sey, yet com forthe withe a goode courage, and not by constreint ne in manere of tasque ne of thraldom in tyme to come, but of fre wille withe a bounteuous hert at this tyme that is so expedient and necessarie, as trew englisshe men shulde doo, every man bring and put forthe of his goodes after that his power is. now in the worship of god let this be timelie done. it shall now shew, or it may be shewed, who that shalbe founde goode and profitable to the comonwele, or set hym silfe to the employ and fortheraunce of this dede of gret necessite. and who so hathe no power to ley out finaunce, good, or tresoure, yet put his good wille therto. a noble roiaume of gret price and of noble renomme as thow hast be. whan god lust to shew thy power, and to be victorious, who may noy the? shall thou than suffre the to be confunded withe simpler people of reputacion then thow art, withe the whiche ye and youre noble progenitours have conquerid and overcom diverse tymes before this? it is welle to undrestonde that ye have no protectoure, kepar, ne defendour but it come of god, of the whiche he is witnesse and the leder. som say that the floode of temmys rennythe beting hier than the londe in stormye seasons. yet for alle that, withe goddis mighte and grace, thow art not in the extremitee of tho stormes, ne never mote it come there in suche indigence and necessite. { } how that when the romains were yn that uttermost necessite that bothe mete and money failed hem and here chevalrie destroied, yet tho that [were] left toke goode hert to hem, bothe widowes and othirs, that releved ayen the frauncheis and libertees of rome. and where as the romains fonde theym yn that urgent necessite whan that bothe mete and monney failed theym to susteyne and support theire manhode, neverthelesse noble courage ne goode hope failed not among hem; so that, what time the auncien gentille bloode was wastid in bataile, than they made knightis of theire bounde men, to avaunce theire conquest forto encrese withe theire hoost. and that the goode worshipfulle ladies of rome, and namely the soroufulle widowes, whiche at that tyme were not usid of custom nothing to pay ne yelde to the souding of men of armes, yet at that tyme whan suche necessite fille, they offred and brought right liberallie of theire juellis and goodis, for the whiche they were right gretly thanked and praised, and after the victorie had welle recompensid and contentid. [sidenote: titus livius. a noble historye of the largesse of romaynys, how amplye they departed ther godes yn a tym of urgent necessite to make an armee yn to the contree of auffrique.] [sidenote: lenius.] also i rede of a noble example in titus livius the . . booke of the seconde decade of punica bella, that whan the noble romains, in the tyme of werris long continued ayen theire adversaries of aufrik, what by tasques, tailes, and imposicions had for the defens of theire countree habandonned and yoven largelie of theire goodis meveable, that the saide romains had no more in substaunce to lyve by except theire londes. and it fille soo that the countree of cisiliens and champenois hadde doo purvoie for a gret armee and an oost of peple, as well of men for to defende and kepe the see as the lond. and so the comons of rome had borne so many gret chargis before that they might no more, but if the lordis senatours and counceilours of rome wolde put too theire hande. and in so moche that the comons of rome complained and grugged in open market places { } ayenst the saide gret astatis and governours of rome, seieng but they wolde sille theire bodies and goodis of the comons, they might pay no more tasque ne taile, the saide governours of rome, to appaise the peple, saiden they wolde counceile togither and advise a day to purvey for the comon wele, and seiden in conclusion that, were[ ] it righte or wrong, we senatours, astatis, and governours must put out largelie of oure goodis, and so yeve example to the comons for the defens of the contree of cesille and keping of the lande and see frome ennemies. and one lenius, a noble senatoure, pronounced and saide that, forasmoche the senatours have power of goode and rule of the cite in preferraunce of worship and dignite, in like wise it is reason that they here a charge to defende the comons and yeve example to doo as thow woldist comaunde hem to doo; therfore late us, in yevyng the comons example, to morne yn opyn market place before hem, bring forthe the gret part of the golde and silver of coyne and print money that every of us senatours and statis haven, so that none of us reserve and kepe to his propre use but ringis and nouches for to worship his wiffe and children withalle; so that every officer shulde have noo more silver vesselle but for a chapelle and a cupbourde; and every senatoure to kepe but a pounde of coyned silver; and every weddid man havyng wiffe and children to kepe for every of hem an ounce of silver or suche a litille weight; and every citesyn of havyour and degre to reserve only but .v^{mil}. pens of brasse money, and soo that alle othir golde, silver, and brasse money coyned to be brought to the tresorers of the citee. and aftre than the comons of rome, havyng consideracion that the senatours and governours of rome of here owne fre voulente haboundonned and put out so habundantlie and largelie of her golde and tresour for the comon wele, to the defense and keping of the see withe shippis and maryneris, to the defense and rebutting of her adversaries, that every of the comons of rome, after her power and havyoure, of gret courage brought frelie of gold, silver, and othir coyne money to the { } tresorers and chaungers that were comytted to receyve the money, the prese was so grete that they had no tyme to write the names of the noble citesins, ne forto nombre and telle the quantite and porcion of everie manis part that they broughte; and by this accord and moien the comon profit was soo augmentid that the knightis and men of werre had suffisaunt and more than nedid to defende and kepe the countre of cecilians and champenois, and also to be maistris of the see; and alle thingis and ordenaunces that longid to werre was purveied for and put forthe in onure and worke, that alle the senatours counceilours had no nede to tarie lenger for counseiling, but every of hem wente forthe into her countre to dispose for hemsilfe; and in so gret discomfort stode never the romayns as they did in this urgent necessitee, and was by this moien of largesse repared and brought ayen to worship, prosperite, and welfare. and wolde the mightifulle god that every harde covetouse hert were of suche largesse and distributif of here meveable good and tresoure to the comon wele, as for defending us frome oure adversaries, and keping the see aswelle as the londe, that we may alway be lordis and maistris thereof, as noble governours were before this tyme. here endyth thys epistle, undre correccion, the .xv. day of june, the yeere of crist .m^liiij^clxxv., and of the noble reyne of kyng edward the .iiij^{the}. the .xv^{ne}. * * * * * { } general index. * * * * * acre, actovylle, raulyn, africa, , agamemnon, , agincourt, battle of, , , , ajax, , alencon, duke of ; taken prisoner ; his redemption alexander, king, anjou, the title of, appius, appulton, john, his letter to sir john fastolfe, lvi arms (to do) in lists to the utterance, or to certain points, armonac, earl of, , , arras, treaty of, xlix arthur, king, , ---- of breteyn, astrology depreciated, viii, authors quoted:-- de auriga, alanus, his quadrilogus, , , ; preface iii, vi, vii, ix austyn, of the city of god, ; ---- of free will, ; bartholomeus, de proprietatibus rerum, ; basset, peter, liii; boetius de consolatione, , , , ; cato, , , ; chartier, see auriga cicero, of divination, ; ---- _see_ tullius; cristina, arbre de batailes, _bis_, , , , (her biography _ib._); de diceto, radulphus, ymago historiarum, ; dudley's tree of commonwealth, vii; froissart, ; gildas, ; governance of princes,liv; jeremye the prophet, ; jerome, saint, ; job, , , ; josephus, liber antiquitatum, ; kayus son, ii, ; livius (titus, , , , ; machabeus, ; malexander, walter, , ; nennius, ; novius marcellus, ; orosius de ormesta mundi, ; ovid, , ; paralipomenon, ; philip, the acts of king, (the philippiados), ; pliny the younger, ii; du premier-faict, laurence, li; ptolomy, centilogie, ; _de regimine principum_, liv; socrates, ; tree of batailes, iii, liv; tullius, , _ter_, _bis_, , , , ; vegetius, his book of chivalry (_de arte militari_), , , ; preface, p. vi.; wallensis, commune loquium, ; worcestre, william of, l, averaunces, { } baldwin archbishop of canterbury, basset, peter, an historical writer, liii bastille of st. anthoine, victualling of, xi, lx, beauchamp, sir william, bedford, john duke of, , ; wins the battle of vernelle ; and conquers the county of maine ; other victories ; statutes of ; eulogy on ; defended paris ; his payment of wages benevolence, a voluntary taxation, xvii, xxi bituitus, king, boecius, boke of noblesse, its scope and intention, i; probable date of its composition, _ib._; abstract of its contents, i-xvii; the question of its authorship, l; other books of the same character, liv; the ms. described, lv bonnet, honoré, iv bordeaux, bougée, battle of, , bourbon, the bastard of, xxxi, xxxvii, xxxviii, ---- the cardinal of, xxxi, xxxvii, xxxix brennus, bretagne, charles duke of, ---- giles son of the duke of, ii, ---- the duke of, protected by king edward, xl, xli bretailles, louis de, xlii bretigny, peace of, , , buchan, earl of, burgoyne, duke of, , ---- marshal of, burgundy, charles duke of, i; his designation of _le hardi_, x; brother-in-law both to king louis and king edward, xxviii; interviews with king edward, xxiv, xxix, xxxiii; character of, xxv; suspected by the english, xxx, xlvi; his truce with france, xlvii ---- john duke of, his murder, xxxviii ---- margaret duchess of, xxiii caen, won by assault, , ; rescue of, ; parliament at, calais, siege of, , , camillus, canute (knowt), carew, the baron of, carthage, wars of the romans with, , , cato, caulx, pais de, the destruction of, lvi caxton, works of:-- book of the ordre of chevalrye or knyghthode, liv; fayttes of armes and of chyvallrye, vi; curial, vii; tully on old age, li; dicts and sayings of the philosophers, xliii cerdic, champenois, chandos, sir john, , , charles v. of france, purchased fortresses from the english, xxxii; mentioned, , charles vii. his re-conquest of normandy ii, iii; his secretary alain chartier vii; mentioned , charles le bien amé, charles le simple, charles the sage, chartier; _see_ authors chester, randolfe earl of, cheyne, sir john, xxxii, xxxiii, xliii childermas day, xxxv chirburgh, chivalry, synonymous with noblesse, xv christine, dame; _see_ passy _and_ pisan church, oppressed in normandy, xiii, citizens, their contributions to the war, xxi; their experience in the campaign, xlv clarence, george duke of, his retinue and their pay, xx, xxiii, xxxii, xxxviii clarence, thomas duke of, ; eulogy on, clekyn, sir barthilmew, cleret, pierre, xxxiii clergy oppressed in normandy, xiii, ; { } clothing, cost and pomp in, commines, philippe de, the historian, xvii, xxv; employed by king louis, xxviii, xxx, xxxvi; dressed like his master, xxxvii; characteras an historian, xli commons, or people, termed "bestial", , conquerors, duties of, cornwall, language of, countour, a commissioner of taxes, xv courtenay, sir hugh, ---- sir philip, _ib._ cravant, battle of, , , , cressy, battle of, , cyprus, king of, cyrus, his gardens at sardis, damascus, david king of scots, derby, earl of, dieppe, dorset, edmond earl of, ---- thomas earl of, douglas, earl of, dove, the omen of the, xxiv, xlii dress; _see_ clothing dudley, edmonde, his "tree of common wealth", vii dudley, william, xxxi, xxxii durham ("deram upon the marchis of scotland"), dynham, john lord, xxii education, military, edmond ironside, edward the first, edward the third, , , , , ; he made great alliances, edward prince of wales, , , ; received homage as duke of guienne, , edward the fourth, his prosperous state in his second reign, i; prepares to invade france xvii; salutes the generous widow xxi; lands at calais xxvi; interviews with the duke of burgundy xxiv, xxix; with king louis xxxvi; character of xxv, xli, xlv; his personal appearance xxxviii; ruin of his political schemes and death xlviii elkyngton, john, xxxii english, their character as soldiers xxvi; beat a double or treble number of frenchmen, ennius, , eu, earl of, exeter, thomas duke of , ; captain of paris, xi, xii fabius, , , fabricius, , faliste, fastolfe, sir john, "myne autor", i; anecdotes and sayings of, v, x, xi, xiv; his books of accompt, xi; captain of the bastille of st. anthoine, _ib._; his connection with "the boke of noblesse", l; his services in france, li; mentioned, , , , _ter_, , , fauconberg, lord, ; taken prisoner, iii, felton, sir thomas, ferranus king of spain, fizar, battle, florence, formigny, the battle of, viii, fougeres, the capture of, iii, france, oppression of the english subjects in, vii; its sufferings from quartering soldiers, xii; narrative of the invasion of in , xvii-xliv; difficulties of an english invasion of, xxvii; costly dress put away in, franklin, character of, xv frenchmen, if double or treble in number, beaten by englishmen, fulke earl of anjou, , garnett, richard, xxi garter, the order of the, ; { } gascony, the title of, geoffrey plantagenet, , , gloucester, humphrey duke of, eulogy on, ---- richard duke of, his retinue and their pay, xx, xxiii, xxxii; affects to lead the english chivalry, xli ---- robert clare, earl of, gourney, mathew, lix, grey, thomas, his retainer as the king's custrel, xx guienne, duchy of, treaties respecting, guisnes, castle of, xxiii the hagge, hannibal, , , hardy man, definition of, x harflete, siege of, harington, sir richard, hastings, hugh lord, ---- sir ralph, ---- william lord, accepts pensions both from burgundy and france, xxxiii, xxxviii hay, sir gilbert, liv hector, henry the first, henry the second, henry the fifth, ; how he conquered normandy and france, ; his marriage, ; wins the battle of agincourt, , ; "that victorious prince", , ; praise of him and his brethren, ; his historians, liii henry vi. his coronation at paris, ; "the innocent prince", hercules, homeldon hill, battle of, howard, lord, xxiii, xxviii, xxx, xxxvi; left as hostage with the french, xxxii, xli, xliii, xlvi hubert bishop of salisbury, huntingdon, john earl of, jerusalem, joachym king of juda, john, king, john king of france taken prisoner and brought to england, , , , judas machabeus, kedecause, journey of, kent, edmond earl of, , knollys, sir robert, knowt (canute), kyriell, sir thomas viii, lancaster, henry duke of, ; "a chief auctour and foundour in law of armes," law, the practice of, not worthy of those born to arms, xv, ; choice of officers of, lelius, , lenius, library of sir john paston, lix; of humphrey duke of gloucester, lion, the emblem of knightly valour, and particularly of the royal house of england, ii; men of war should resemble, , , , , l'isle adam, jean de villiers seigneur de, biogr. note on, xi; , loans, xvi. lombards, louis, saint, counsel to his son, v. , , , louis xi. abetted the earl of warwick, xvii; character, xxv; his reception of king edward's defiance, xxvii; kept no herald, xxx; his "disguised apparel", xxxvii; his timidity, xliii; anecdotes of xli _et seq._ lucius brutus, lucius paulus, , lucius valerius, lumley, john lord, lv lysander, maine, county of, the conquest of, , ; the title of, , ; revenues of { } manly man, distinguished from the (fool-)hardy man, mansel, an esquire, iii, march, earl of, , , marcus actilius, marcus marcellus, margaret of austria, her matrimonial alliances, xlviii maude, the empress, , montgomery, sir n., morhier, sir simon, iii, morton, doctor, xxv, xxxi, xxxii montreuil (motreaw), mountgomery, sir thomas, xxiii, xxv, xxxii, xxxiii, xlvi narbonne, the vicomte de, xlvi nazar, battle of, nestor, , neuss, the siege of, xxv neville, lord, noblesse, identical with chivalry, xv; and with honour, liv.; _see_ boke of noblesse normandy, the title of, ; arms of, ; the wretched state of, ; the clergy oppressed, ; its re-conquest by the french, ii, iii, viii oldhall, sir william, orleans; bastard of, ---- duke of, , ---- siege of, paris, , , ; siege of, ; rebellion in, ; bastille of st. anthony, xi, lx, ; in the hands of the english, xi parliament, the english, as described by commines, xvii passy, dame christine of, iv; biographical note upon, paston, sir john, his library, lix peace, the treaty of, in , xxxviii philip, king of france, philip dieu-donné, , , , philip of valois, picquigny, the royal interview at, xxxvi de pisan, christine, vi plantagenet, , , poitiers, battle of, , pompeus, pont l'arche, the capture of iii, popham, sir john, poynings, lord, prophecies, the english always provided with, xxxix, publius decius, pyrrhus, , radcliff, sir john, rais, lord, rempston, sir thomas, respublica, richard emperor of almaine, richard the first, riviers, anthony earl of, his embassies to the duke of burgundy, xxv; his connections with royalty, xxvi. _see_ scales robert, king of jerusalem, rochedaryon, rollo, duke of normandy, romans, their wars with carthage, ; the largess of, to make an army to africa, rome, rotherham, archbishop, xxxiii, xxxviii, xxxix rouen, roveraye, battle of, , runcyvale, st. cloud, battle of, st. leger, sir thomas, xxxi, xxxiii, xxxvi st. pol, louis de luxembourg comte de, brother-in-law to king louis, and uncle to queen elizabeth wydville, xxviii; his temporising and treacherous conduct, xxix; circumstances of his ruin, xxxiv, xl, xliv salisbury, thomas earl of, , , { } scales, lord, ; _see_ riviers sciences, the, vii, scipio, , scipio africanus and scipio asianus, scluse, battle of, , senlys, sensuality, evils of, , , sessions, , shire-days, holding of, xv, , shrewsbury, shrewsbury, earl of, _bis_ sicily, smert, john, garter king of arms, xxvii soldiers, on the just payment of, somerset, edmond duke of, ---- john duke of, stanley, lord, xxiii, xxviii, xxx, xxxi suffolk, william earl of, , , surie (syria), , tancarville, earl of, thames, the flood of, tours, , ; truce of, ii "tree of batailes," a popular work, iii; its author, editions, and manuscripts, iv; quoted, vii troy, , , , truces with france, the history of, ; truce of tours, ii tryvet, sir john, tunis, tunstall, sir richard, xx, xxiii, xxxii ulixes, d'urfé, seigneur, xxxiii valerius corvinus, vernelle, battle of, , , , _bis_, virtues, the iiij principalle cardinall, wales, language of, warwick, thomas earl of, william the conqueror, , , willoughby, robert lord, , winchester, bailiffs of, their letter (to sir john fastolfe), lvii worcestre, william of, the secretary of sir john fastolfe, l; his supposed _acta d'ni joh. fastolff_, lii wyer, robert, liv york, richard duke of, . * * * * * { } glossarial index. * * * * * admonestementis afferaunt aiel amercie approwementis assailours astonyed atwix (betwixt) avaunt aventure aveyn baleese barnage (baronage) batellous be (by) beforce (by force) beforne benecute benevolence xvii, xxi, xxii bestialle , bethout (without) _et passim_ bethyn (within) _et passim_ bobauncees bonchief chevalrie , , clepid , , , congie convenable , costius, costues (costly) cote-armer cotes of armes countour xv covyn croiserie , custrell xx defalke , defend (drive away) deliver (agile) deliver (to fulfil a challenge in arms) depart (part with) , side note detrussed , _detroussé_, unbound devoire , dissimiled (dissembled) , dissimuled dissimulacion dulled egallie (equally) embrace (to take part, or patronise) xv, empeshement enfamyned entendement entreprennour entreprinses _and_ entreprises, , , ering at erst escarmisshes esy (little _or_ scarcely) , esilie (scarcely), ewred fauten feernesse (_for_ feersnesse?) , fellir (more fell) fille (fell) , , , , finaunce , , , , , fole-hardiesse , _see_ hardy fraunchise { } fructufulle grene age hardiesse hardy (or fool-hardy) man, haunting arms , , , havyour herbers (of soote smyllis of flowris and herbis of divers colours) hethynesse historier , hostied hubes infortune , inure joieuest (most joyful) jorney (military expedition) jupardie , , labourage , , lifelode , , , , lust (_verb_) lyes (leash) manassed manly man mantelle masty hound meintenaunce menage messangiers moien mondeyn mow (shall mow endure) muys namelie (especially) , noblesse xv. liv nompower nouches noy obeisaunce _and_ obediaunce , , obeissauntes , onure, oost (host) , , , , , osteyng ovyr hand paast, paissauntes (peasants) , patised payneymys paynym peine hem (take pains) perveaunce piller (thief) , plenerlie practik (singler) , practique of law print money, puissaunt , , , , , , purveonds puttithe away (_plur._) quaiers (of books) lix, raise . chaucer says of his knight, in lettowe had he _reysed_ and in russe. ravyne , recordacion renomme revaled , , , rightwisnesse rothir or sterne servage sille (sell) sleuth (sloth) soude , ; soulde , soudeours , , ; sowdieris soudeyng ; souding, souneth (threaten) synguler (personal) , , { } tailis , , take in gree tasques , , terrein tilieng (tilling) tofore (before) to morne (tomorrow) trespasseinte trespassement , umbre , , , , viellars vileyned voulenté vyfnes wanhope well (easy), "it is well to undrestonde" werreied (made war) wited (considered) yen (eyen _or_ eyes) yoven (given) * * * * * notes [ ] giles brother to francis i. duke of bretagne. having differences with his brother respecting his apanage, he was with the duke's consent arrested by king charles vii.; and, perhaps in consequence of the english taking his part, he was put to death in the year . his fate was commemorated in the "histoire lamentable de gilles seigneur de chateaubriand et de chantocé, prince du sang de france et de bretagne, estranglé en prison par les ministres d'un favory." see daru's histoire de bretagne, , vol. ii. pp. et seq. [ ] sir simon morhier is one of the commissioners named for concluding a treaty with "our adversary of france," dated july . (rymer, x. .) monstrelet relates that at the battle of rouvray, commonly called the battle of the herrings, which took place during the siege of orleans in , the only man of note slain on the english side was one named bresanteau, nephew to simon morhier provost of paris. [ ] i do not find the name of this esquire in the memoirs of the mansel family, privately printed in , by william w. mansell, esq. there were mansels in bretagne as well as in england. [ ] a description of the taking of pont de l'arche will be found in the _histoire du roy charles vii._, by alain chartier. he states that from a hundred to six score englishmen were there either killed or taken prisoners: "entre les autres y fut prins le sire de faucquembergue, qui d'aventure y estoit venu la nuict." this was william neville, lord fauconberg, a younger son of the first earl of westmerland, and uncle to the king-making earl of warwick. dugdale describes his imprisonment on the authority of letters patent ( hen. vi. p. , m. ) whereby he was granted some compensation: "being sent ambassador into normandy, to treat of peace and truce betwixt both realms, he was most perfidiously seized upon by the french, and kept prisoner: in respect of which sufferings he had in hen. vi. an assignation of l. s. ¼d. then in arrears to him for his pay whilst he was governor of roxburgh, to be received out of the customs of wool, cloths, skins, lead, and other commodities, arising in the ports of boston, kingston upon hull, and ipswich." in hen. vi. ( - ) he was still prisoner in france. (baronage of england, i. , .) [ ] fougères was a strongly fortified town, and was considered one of the keys of bretagne. it was taken by surprise, in the night of the - of march , by françois de surienne, on the part of the english: an event which was followed by very important results, for charles vii. made it an excuse for resuming hostilities in order to protect the duke of bretagne as his vassal and ally: the constable of france artur de richemont, who was the duke's uncle, (but who had been opposed to the arrest of his nephew giles,) recovered the captured town; the duke invaded lower normandy, whilst the king of france entered the upper province, and by a rapid series of successes they within fifteen months drove the english out of the country. [ ] honoré bonnet was prior of salon in provence, as is shown by his own dedication of the book to charles vi. written during the sovereignty of louis ii. of anjou in provence, that is, from to . in some of the early editions of the book the author's name was altered to bonnor: its title is "larbre des batailles. sensuyt larbre des batailles qui traicte de plusieurs choses comme de leglise. et aussi des faictz de la guerre. et aussi c[=o]ment on se doyt gouuerner. paris, ." folio. also paris, , to. among the royal collection of manuscripts in the british museum ( c. viii.) is a magnificent copy in large folio, and another, in quarto, has been recently purchased (addit. ms. , .) respecting others at paris see the work of m. paulin paris on "les manuscrits français de la bibliothèque du roi," vol. v. pp. , . on the fly-leaf of the royal ms. is the following inscription in an old hand, the writer of which avowedly followed the note at p. of the present volume: _l'arbre des battailles compose par honore bonet prieur de sallon en prouuence._ note y^t in some authors this booke is termed dame christine of y^e tree of battayles, not that she made yt; but bicause she was a notable benefactour to learned men and perchaunce to y^e autor of this booke. and therefore diuers of them sette furthe their bookes under her name. see y^e booke of noblesse in englishe and chrystines life amongste y^e autors de claris mulieribus as i rem[=e]ber. on the title-page are the autograph inscriptions of two of the former owners of the volume, _sum humfridi lloyd_ and _lumley_: and at the end is inscribed _iste liber constat joh'i gamston' generoso_. it seems not improbable that the entry above extracted was written by lord lumley. [ ] at the end of the life of saint louis by geoffroi de beaulieu, in the _historiens de la_ _france_, tome xx. p. , ( , folio,) will be found the instructions of king louis to his son, in their vernacular language. a copy of them, headed "ce sont les enseignemens que mons^r sainct loys fist a son filz charles roy de france," occurs in the ms. at the college of arms which contains many things about sir john fastolfe. (ms. arundel xxvi. fol. ii v.) [ ] vegetius was a great authority with the writers of the middle ages. monstrelet commences the prologue to the second volume of his chronicles by citing the book of "un trèsrenommé philosophe nommé végèce, qu'il feist de la vaillance et prudence de chevalerie." the treatise of vegetius de re militari had been translated into french about the year , by jean de meun, one of the authors of the roman de la rose. in the fifteenth century it was one of the principal sources of a book entitled "lart de cheualerie selon vegece; lequel trait de la maniere que les princes doiuent tenir au fait de leurs guerres et batailles." this was printed at paris by anthoine verard in ; and it was, at the command of king henry vii. translated by caxton, and printed by him at westminster in the following year, as "the fayttes of armes and of chyvallrye," which (he states in his colophon,) "christian of pise made and drew out of the book named vegecius de re militari, and out of the arbre of battles." now, christina de pisan was a poetess: and it is not likely that she had more to do with this treatise on the art of war than the "dame christine" of our present author had with the arbre des batailles. indeed it is probable that the two misappropriations are connected in their origin. on the actual productions of christine de pisan, which furnished other works to our first english printer, see the description by m. paulin paris of "les manuscrits français de la bibliothèque du roi," vol. iv. , vol. v. - , vi. , : and an "essai sur les ecrits politiques de christine de pisan, suivi d'une notice litteraire et de pièces inédites. par raimond thomassy, ." vo. pp. . [ ] alain chartier was a writer both in prose and poetry. there are separate editions of several of his works: and a collected volume of them was edited by andrew du chesne in . an english translation of his "curial" was printed by caxton without date. see an account of various manuscripts of the works of chartier given by m. paulin paris in his vol. vi. pp. - , vol. vii. pp. - . [ ] the personages speaking in the quadrilogue are france, le peuple, le chevalier, and le clergie, to whose conversation l'acteur, or the author, occasionally interposes some remarks. le chevalier is also the gendarmerie, and described as being identical with the estat de noblesse--an identity which is thus maintained at the beginning of the reign of henry the eighth:--"in all the chevalrie of this realme, wherein be intended all dukes, erles, barons, knightes, esquires, and other gentlemen by office or aucthoritie." i quote this from the tree of common wealth, by edmonde dudley, (written in or ,) printed for the brotherhood of the rosy cross, at manchester, , p. . [ ] "magister alanus de auriga. id est compilam de libro suo." sidenote in p. . [ ] this battle, from which the final loss of normandy ensued, was fought at formigny, between charenton and bayeux, on the th of april . sir thomas kyriell, who was there taken prisoner, was a veteran warrior of agincourt, and had for some years been lieutenant of calais. by a writ of privy seal dated the th august , henry vi. granted the sum of crowns and lent another , out of the bonds due from the duke of orleans, in order to provide for the ransom of sir thomas kyriell. (rymer, xi. .) sir thomas was elected a knight of the garter at the close of the reign of henry the sixth, feb. , - , and beheaded by the victorious yorkists on the th of the same month. [ ] this passage was an abridgment from one in _le quadrilogue invectif_ of alain chartier: which is as follows: "toutes anciennes escriptures sont plaines de mutations, subversions, et changemens de royaulmes et des principaultez. car comme les enfans naissent et croissent en hommes parfaitz, et puis declinent à vieillesse et à mort; ainsi ont les seigneuries leur commencement, et leur accroissement, et leur declin. où est ninive la grant cité, qui duroit trois journées de chemin? qu'est devenue babiloine, qui fut edifiée de matiere artificieuse pour plus durer aux hommes, et maintenant est habitée de serpens? que dira l'en de troye la riche et tres renommée? et de ylion le chastel sans per, dont les portes furent d'ivoire, et les colonnes d'argent; et maintenant à peine en reste le pié des fondemens, que les haulx buissons forcloent de la veue des hommes? thebes qui fut fondée de cadmus le fils de agenor, et la plus peuplée de dessus la terre pour son temps: en laquelle part pourroit en trouver tant de reliques de son nom, que gens se puissent monstrer nez de sa semence? lacedemoine, dont les loix vindrent à diverse nations, desquelles encores nous usons, ne peut oncques tant estroictement garder les loix de licurgus le doicturier, qui furent faictes pour sa perpetuation, que sa vertu ne soit extaincte et aneantie. athenes fontaine de sapience, et source des haultes doctrines de philosophie, n'est elle pas en subversion, et les ruisseaulx de son escole taris et asseichez? carthage la batailleresse, qui domptait les elephans à batailler, et qui jadis fut tant redoubtée aux romains, où a elle tourné sa grant glorie, sinon en la cendre du feu où elle fut arse et embrasée? mais parlons de romme, qui fut derreniere en souveraine majesté, et excellente en vertu. et notons bien la parolle de lucan, qui dit que de elle mesme par sa pesanteur elle decheut. car les trops pesans faiz font les plus griefues cheoistes. par ceste maniere chascune à sa tour et en son ordre se changent, rebaissent, ou soubvertissent les eureuses fortunes, et le bruit des royaulmes. ainsi comme la monarchie du monde et la dignité du souverain empire fut jadis translatée des assiriens aux persans, des persans aux grecz, des grecz aux rommains, et des rommains es mains des françois et des germains." [ ] it was in this sense that the duke of burgundy was called charles le hardi, which was equivalent to the modern _le temeraire_, that is, not only bold, but rash. we find that the author of _l'arbre des batailles_ discusses in his third book, chapter viii., the various causes from which "est ung chevalier bien hardy:" and he asserts them to be many: "car premierement ung chevalier sera hardy pour avoir et conquerir vaine gloire et l'honneur de ce monde: pour ce seulement quil voit les hardis honnourez et le couhars dishonnourez. ung autre chevalier sera hardy pour avoir peur de perdre honneur et proffit de son seigneur, et pour peur destre prins sil estoit couhart. la tierce par usaige; car se ung chevalier a grant temps porté le harnois il seulement qui scaurra bien l'usaige prandra ardement in ce quon ne parle contre lun sil faisoit le contraire. aultre chevalier y a qui est hardy pour ce quil sent son harnois et armeures estre bons et de bonne espreuve. aultre chevalier y a qui est hardy pour son cappitaine quil scet estre bien sage et bien fortuné. aultre chevalier y a qui est hardy par droicte fureur, et par droicte coulere hayreuse. aultre chevalier y a qui est hardy par ignorance: car il est si simple quil ne scet que est vertu de force: mais faite ainsi comme il voit faire au plus avance. aultre chevalier y a qui est hardy par couvoitise de gaigner richesses et non pour aultre chose. or saiches maintenant comme en toutes ces hardiesses na vertu si non en cellui qui est hardy de droicte congnoissance et de droit scavoir, et ayt la voulente entendue a vertu et a justice et ferme voulenté d'attendre et de soustenir toute chose deue et possible par la vertu de force. et te souffise de ceste vertu quant à present." [ ] jean de villiers, seigneur de l'isle adam et de villiers le bel, having joined the party of the duke of burgundy, was by his influence made maréchal of france in . he was arrested by the duke of exeter at paris in , and released by the duke of bedford in , at the request of philip duke of burgundy. by duke charles he was highly favoured, made one of the first knights of the order of the golden fleece, and captain of paris when the duke of bedford left that city in . he was killed during a popular commotion at bruges in . see his life in anselme's histoire genealogique, , vii. . [ ] the account which monstrelet gives of this insurrection entirely corresponds with that of our author. it is as follows: "en apres le duc d'excestre, qui estoit capitaine de paris, pour certaines causes qui à ce le meurent, feit prendre en icelle ville le seigneur de l'isle adam par aucuns de ses anglois: pour laquelle prinse s'assemblerent jusques a mille hommes ou plus du commun de paris, pour le rescourre à ceux qui le menoient en la bastille s. anthoine. mais tantost ledit duc d'excestre à tout six vingts combattans, dont il y avoit la plus grand partie archiers, alla frapper en eux et faire tirer les dessusdits archiers au travers desdites communes: pourquoy tant par la cremeur dudict traict, comme par le commandement qu'il leur feit de par le roy, se retrahirent assez brief en leurs maisons: et ledit seigneur de l'isle adam fut (comme dit est) mis prisonnier, et y demoura durant la vie du roy henry d'angleterre, lequel l'eust faict mourir, ce n'eust esté la requeste du duc de bourgongne." (chroniques de monstrelet, vol. i. chap. ccxxxviii.) [ ] it is very remarkable how entirely these statements correspond with some passages of commines, (book iv. chap. xviii.) in which he describes the conduct of tyrannical princes, and the way in which france especially suffered from quartering soldiers. "to the common people they leave little or nothing, though their taxes be greater than they ought to be; nor do they take any care to restrain the licentiousness of their soldiers, who are constantly quartered throughout the country without paying anything, and commit all manner of excesses and insolencies, as everybody knows; for, not contented with the ordinary provisions with which they are supplied, they beat and abuse the poor country people, and force them to bring bread, wine, and other dainties, on purpose for their eating; and if the goodman's wife or daughter happens to be good-looking, his wisest course is to keep her out of their sight. and yet, where money is abundant, it would be no difficult matter to prevent this disorder and confusion, by paying them every two months at furthest, which would obviate the pretence of want of pay, and leave them without excuse, and cause no inconvenience to the prince, because his money is raised punctually every year. i say this in compassion to this kingdom, which certainly is more oppressed and harassed in quartering soldiers than any in all europe." [ ] this word, or "obeissauntis," which was used in the same sense, may be taken as the original reading of the erasure in p. , in the place of "predecessours," which is an alteration for the worse. [ ] chaucer says of his franklin-- at sessions there was he lord and sire, full often time he was knight of the shire, a sheriff had he been, and a countour. the countour--a term which has been involved in some doubt, was probably a commissioner of taxes, who had to return his accompt to the royal exchequer. [ ] _i.e._ take a factious or unjust part. [ ] sir harris nicolas, in his memoir on the scrope and grosvenor roll (ii. ), has remarked "the slighting manner in which the profession of the law is mentioned, in comparison with that of arms," in the deposition of sir william aton. speaking of sir henry scrope, that witness stated that he was come of noble and gentle ancestry, and yet by the consent of his parents was put to the law, and became the king's justice, but nevertheless used in his halls, on his beds, in windows, and on plate the arms of _azure, a bend or_. at a much later date ( ) sir edmund knightley, though a younger brother and a serjeant at law, is represented in a full suit of armour at fawsley, co. northampton. his epitaph commemorates both his gentilitial and his professional merits: natus erat claro de stemmate et ordine equestri, qui fuit et gentis gloria magna suæ; legis erat patriæ gnarus, compescere lites assuetus vulgi et jurgia seva lenis. but, whilst these passages are certainly indicative of the prevailing chivalric sentiments, it is still to be remembered that very absurd class-prejudices exist in all ages, and they must not always be taken in proof of the general opinions of society. it is indisputable that, from the conquest downwards, the "younger brothers" of some of our greatest families have been bred to the law, and the inns of court were always the resort of young men of noble birth. [ ] the notices which the chroniclers fabyan and hall give of the first benevolence will be found in a subsequent page. [ ] commines gives the following somewhat satirical account of an english parliament. "the king was not able to undertake such an affair without calling his parliament, which is in the nature of our three estates, and, consisting for the most part of sage and religious men, is very serviceable and a great strengthening to the king. at the meeting of this parliament the king declares his intention, and desires aid of his subjects, for no money is raised in england but upon some expedition into france or scotland, and then they supply him very liberally, especially against france. yet the kings of england have this artifice when they want money, and have a desire to have any supplies granted,--to raise men, and pretend quarrels with scotland or france, and, having encamped with their army for about three months, to disband it, return home, and keep the remainder of the money for their own private use; and this trade king edward understood very well, and often practised it." [ ] at that time the parliament first granted the number of , archers, which was afterwards reduced to , . rot. parl. v. , . [ ] rotuli parl. vi. . [ ] ibid. p. . [ ] ibid. p. . [ ] the parliament re-assembled accordingly on the th of may : and during that session, on the th of july, the commons again granted to the king a quinsisme and a disme (a fifteenth and a tenth), and the further sum of , l. s. ¾d. in full payment of the wages of the , archers, who, notwithstanding the condition of the former grants, were still maintained in readiness for the proposed expedition. in making these votes, the commons recited, as before, the king's intention to set outward a mighty army, "as dyvers tymes by the mouth of your chancellors for the tyme beyng hath to us been declared and shewed;" and it was now ordained "that, if the said viage roiall hold not afore the feste of seynt john baptist the year of our lord m cccclxvj. that then aswell the graunte of the forsaid xiij m. men as of all the sommes severally graunted for the wages of the same," should be utterly void and of none effect, (rot. parl. vi. , .) on the re-assembling of parliament in january - a further act was passed to hasten the payment of the disme first voted (ibid. p. ); and again, on the th of march, immediately before the dissolution of the parliament, the commons granted another fifteenth and tenth, and three parts of a fifteenth and tenth, to provide for the before-mentioned sum of , l. s. ¾d. (ibid. pp. , .) [ ] they are printed in rymer's foedera, &c. vol. xi. pp. et seq. [ ] an account of the payment of these wages for the first quarter, is preserved on the pell records of the exchequer, and an abstract printed in rymer's foedera, vol. xi. p. . it includes the names of the dukes of clarence, norfolk, and suffolk, the earls of ormonde and northumberland, the lords grey, scrope, ferrers, stanley, fitzwarren, hastynges, lisle, and cobham, and as bannerets sir ralph hastings, sir thomas mountgomery, and sir john astley; besides the earl of douglas and the lord boyd, noblemen of scotland; with many knights, esquires, and officers of the king's household. the item to the duke of clarence will afford a specimen of these payments: "georgio duci clarentiæ pro cxx hominibus ad arma, seipso computato ut duce ad xiijs. iiij d. per diem, et pro viginti eorum militum quilibet ad ij s. per diem, et xcix aliis hominibus ad arma quilibet ad xij d. per diem et vj d. ultra de regardo, et pro mille sagittariis [ li. summa totalis,] mmmcxciij l. vj s. x d. the payments to the duke of gloucester (omitted by rymer, but extracted in devon's issues of the exchequer, , p. ,) were nearly to the same amount, viz. for men at arms, to himself as a duke at s. d. per day, l. s. d.; for six knights, to each of them s. per day, l. s.; to each of the remainder of the said men at arms d. per day, and d. per day as a reward,-- l. s. d.; and to archers, to each of them d. per day, l. s.--total l. s. d. rymer has also (vol. xi. pp. - ) given at length three specimens of the indentures made with several persons. the first (dated august ) is an indenture retaining sir richard tunstall to serve the king for one whole year in his duchy of normandy and realm of france, with ten speres, himself accompted, and one hundred archers well and sufficiently abiled, armed and arraied, taking wages for hymself of ij s. by the day, for everiche of the said speres xij d. by the day, and rewardes of vj d. by the day for everich of the said other speres, and for everich of the said archers vj d. by the day. the next is an indenture made (on the th november) with thomas grey esquire, "for one whole year, as a custrell to attend about the king our soveraine lord's own persone, and with six archers well and sufficiently abled, armed, and arraied," his pay being xij d. by the day, an additional vj d. by the day by "meane of reward," and vj d. a day for each of his archers. the third is the indenture made with richard garnet esquire, serjeant of the king's tents, who was retained for the like term to do service of war "as a man of armes at his spere, with xxiiij yomen well and sufficiently habiled, armed and arraied," taking wages himself iiij s. a day, for two of the yeomen each xij d. a day, and for the remainder each vj d. a day. [ ] ibid. pp. , . [ ] ibid. pp. , , . [ ] rymer, xi. . [ ] foedera, vol. xii. p. . lord dynham had the principal command at sea by previous appointments in the and edw. iv. see dugdale's baronage, i. . [ ] fabyan says that "upon the iiij day of july (_an error for_ june) he rode with a goodly company thorugh the cytie towarde the see syde." [ ] printed in the excerpta historica, , p. . [ ] they are printed in rymer, vol. xii. pp. , . this was merely a constitutional form, for the prince was then only four years of age. [ ] hall states that "he hymself with his nobilitie warlikely accompaigned passed over betwene dover and caleys the iiij daye of july," his army, horses, and ammunitions of war having in their transport occupied twenty days. [ ] monstrelet in his chronicle attempts to present a list of the principal english lords and knights (the latter more than fifty in number), but every name is so disfigured that they are almost past recognition: as the names he gives to the nobility will show. he calls them, the dukes of sufflocq and noirflocq, the earls of crodale (arundel?), nortonbellan, scersebry, (shrewsbury, and not as buchon his editor suggests salisbury, which title did not then exist,) willephis (wiltshire?), and rivière; the lords stanlay, grisrufis, gray, erdelay, ondelay, verton, montu, beguey, strangle, havart, and caubehem. the last name (cobham) and that of lord fitzwaren are among the indentures printed by rymer in his vol. xi. pp. - , already noticed in the note in p. xx. [ ] these particulars are derived from the diary kept by the _maistres d'hostel_ of the burgundian court, which gives the following minute and curious account of the duke's movements, including the positions, not elsewhere to be found, of the english army during the months of july and august. "le . juillet la duchesse de bourgoyne, qui avoit été presque toujours a gand, arriva a calais vers le roy d'angleterre son frere, qui la deffraya. "le . ce duc arriva à calais vers le roy d'angleterre, qui le deffraya, la duchesse etant pour lors à sainct omer, avec les ducs de clarence et de glocestre ses freres. le . il alla au chasteau de guines avec ce roy, qui le fit deffraiyer. il en partit le , et alla à sainct omer, où il trouva la duchesse. il en partit le ., et alla à fauquemberghe, près l'ost du roy d'angleterre. il y sejourna le ., et en partit le . après déjeuner, et alla disner, soupper, et coucher en la cité d'arras; et ce jour il mangea du poisson, à cause de la veille de sainct jacques. le . il partit d'arras après disner, et alla coucher à dourlens. il en partit le . après disner, et alla voir l'ost du roy d'angleterre, et coucher en le cense de hamencourt: la duchesse partit ce jour de sainct omer, pour retourner à gand, où mademoiselle de bourgoyne étoit restée. "le mardy premier août, ce duc disna en la cense de hamencourt, coucha au village d'aichen, près l'ost du roy d'angleterre. il en partit le . après disner, et coucha à ancre. il en partit le . après disner, et coucha a curleu sur somme, près ledit ost. il y disna le . passa par l'ost du roy d'angleterre, et coucha à peronne. il y resta jusques au . qu'il en partit après disner, passa par l'ost du roy d'angleterre, et alla coucher à cambray. il y disna le . et coucha à valenciennes, d'où il partit le . après disner, souppa à cambray, et alla coucher à peronne. il y disna le . alla encore voir le roy d'angleterre au mesme camp, et alla coucher à cambray. le . il disna à valenciennes, coucha à mons. le . il disna à nivelle, et coucha à namur, où les ambassadeurs de naples, arragon, venise, et autres se rendirent. le . août, entreveue du roy avec le roy d'angleterre, au lieu de pequigny; ces princes convinrent d'une treve entre eux, et que le dauphin épouseroit la fille de ce roy d'angleterre." (mémoires de p. de cominines, edited by lenglet du fresnoy, , vol. ii. p. .) [ ] another version of this omen of the dove will be found in the extracts from commines hereafter. [ ] the fact of earl rivers having repaired to the duke of burgundy _once_, at the end of april, is confirmed by the chronicle formed from the journals of the duke's _maistres d'hoste_: "le . de ce mois (avril) le sire de riviers, ambassadeur du roy d'angleterre, arriva vers ce duc, et en fut regalé." (appendix to the edition of commines, by the abbé lenglet du fresnoy, to. , ii. .) but in the previous january we read, "the king's ambassadors, sir thomas mountgomery and the master of the rolls (doctor morton), be coming homeward from nuys." (paston letters, vol. ii. p. .) [ ] _i.e._ their horses protected by armour. [ ] hall, following this part of commines's narrative, on mentioning this english herald, adds, "whome argenton (meaning commines,) untrewly calleth garter borne in normandy, for the rome of gartier was never geven to no estraunger." the office of garter was at this time occupied by john smert, who was appointed in hen. vi. and died in edw. iv. he was the son-in-law of bruges his predecessor in the office: and there are large materials for his biography in anstis's collections on the heralds, at the college of arms, but containing no evidence either to prove commines's assertion, or hall's denial, of his being a native of normandy. [ ] the constable of france, jacques de luxembourg, comte de st. pol. after temporising between burgundy and france at this crisis, he paid the penalty for his vacillation, the duke surrendering him to louis, by whom he was decapitated before the end of the year (dec. , ). [ ] jacqueline duchess of bedford, the mother of the queen of england, was one of the constable's sisters. the constable was also connected by marriage with king louis, who called him "brother" from their having married two sisters. the relationship of all the principal actors in the transactions described in the text is shown in the following table:-- pierre louis charles vii. richard comte de st. pol duke of savoy. king of france. duke of york. = = = = | | | | +-----+ +-----+-----+ +-----+-+ +-----+ | | | | | | | | | louis comte=mary of charlotte=louis katharine=charles=margaret | | de st. pol, savoy. of savoy. xi. of duke of of york.| | the constable. france. burgundy. | | | jacqueline = richard | duchess of | earl | bedford. | rivers. | +-+------------------------------------+ +-------+ | | | anthony lord scales, elizabeth wydville.=king edward and earl rivers. the fourth. [ ] afterwards the first duke of norfolk and earl of derby of their respective families. [ ] the narrative is continued on the authority of commines. [ ] see the extracts from the register of the burgundian _maistres d'hostel_ already given in p. xxiii. the english camp is described as near fauquemberghe on the d of july, and near aichen on the st of august. its position near peronne is believed to have been at st. christ, on the river somme, and it appears to have remained there for a considerable time. [ ] the duke was at peronne from the th to th of august. see the note on his movements before, p. xxiv. [ ] the last was afterwards the husband of the king's daughter the lady anne of york, and ancestor of the earls and dukes of rutland. [ ] the prudent and conciliatory conduct of louis xi. towards the english at this crisis seems to have had a precedent in that of his ancestor charles v. "le sage roy de france charles quint du nom, quant on lui disait que grant honte estoit de recouvrer des forteresses par pecune, que les anglois à tort tenoient, comme il eust assez puissance pour les ravoir par force, il me semble (disoit-il,) que ce que on peut avoir par deniers ne doit point estre acheté par sang d'homme." (from the end of the twelfth chapter of the second book of the faits d'armes de guerre et de chevalerie par christine de pisan.) [ ] st. christ. [ ] it is printed in rymer's collection, vol. xii. p. . [ ] lord hastings was previously a pensioner of the duke of burgundy. lenglet du fresnoy has published a letter of the duke granting to william lord hastings a yearly pension of crowns of flanders, dated at the castle of peronne, may ; a receipt of lord hastings for that sum on the th july ; and another receipt for livres of flanders, dated th april . (mémoires de p. de commines, , iii. , .) commines, in his sixth book, chapter ii. relates how he had himself been the agent who had secured lord hastings to the burgundian interest, and how he subsequently negociated with him on the part of king louis. hastings accepted the french pension, being double the amount of the burgundian, but on this occasion, according to commines, would give no written acknowledgment. in an interview with the french emissary, pierre cleret, of which commines in his book vi. chapter ii. gives the particulars at some length, he said the money might be put in his sleeve. cleret left it, without acquittance; and his conduct was approved by his master. [ ] in the article of plate "his bountie apperyd by a gyfte that he gave unto lorde hastynges then lord chamberlayne, as xxiiij. dosen of bollys, wherof halfe were gylt and halfe white, which weyed xvij. nobles every cuppe or more." fabyan's chronicle. [ ] this passionate interview must have taken place on the th or th of august: see the note on the duke's movements in p. xxiv. [ ] we are continuing to follow the account of commines. but the truce, which was not yet concluded, was made for seven years only; and the dukes of burgundy and britany were not mentioned in the articles. the duke of burgundy, shortly after, himself made a truce with france for nine years. it was dated on the th of september, only fifteen days after that of the english. [ ] molinet says, "de quatrevingts à cent chariots de vin." [ ] the real childermas day was on the th of december; but sir john fenn, the editor of the paston letters, has suggested that the th of every month was regarded as a childermas day; for the th of june, , being childermas, and consequently a day of unlucky omen, was avoided for the coronation of edward the fourth. from other authorities it appears that the day of the week on which childermas occurred was regarded as unfortunate throughout the year. [ ] molinet mentions three other names, those of the admiral, the seigneur de craon, and the mayor of amiens. [ ] according to our london historian, fabyan, louis's attire was by no means becoming: "of the nyse and wanton disguysed apparayll (he says) that the kynge lowys ware upon hym at the tyme of this metynge i myght make a longe rehersayl: but for it shulde sownde more to dishonour of suche a noble man, that was apparaylled more lyke a mynstrell than a prynce royall, therfor i passe it over." [ ] commines saw king edward at the burgundian court in . on that occasion he gives him this brief character: "king edward was not a man of any great management or foresight, but of an invincible courage, and the most beautiful prince my eyes ever beheld." [ ] the documents which bear date on the day of the royal interview are these, as printed in the edition of commines by the abbé lenglet du fresnoy, , to. vol. iii:-- . the treaty of truce for seven years between edward king of france and england and lord of ireland and his allies on the one part, and the most illustrious prince louis of france (not styled king) and his allies, on the other. (in latin.) dated in a field near amiens on the th august . the conservators of the truce on the part of the king of england were the dukes of clarence and gloucester, the chancellor of england, the keeper of the privy seal, the warden of the cinque ports, and the captain or deputy of calais for the time being; on the part of the prince of france his brother charles comte of beaujeu and john bastard of bourbon admiral of france. . obligation of louis king of the french to pay to edward king of england yearly, in london, during the life of either party, the sum of , crowns. (in latin.) dated at amiens on the th of august. . a treaty of alliance between king edward and louis of france (in latin) stipulating, . that if either of them were driven from his kingdom, he should be received in the states of the other, and assisted to recover it. . to name commissioners of coinage, which should circulate in their dominions respectively. . that prince charles, son of louis, should marry elizabeth daughter of the king of england, or, in case of her decease, her sister mary. dated in the field near amiens, on the th of august. . another part of the treaty, bearing the same date, appointing for the arbiters of all differences, on the part of the king of england his uncle the cardinal thomas archbishop of canterbury and his brother george duke of clarence, and on the part of louis of france, charles archbishop of lyons and john comte de dunois. in april the three years were prolonged by another like term to the th august ; the letters patent relative to which are printed ibid. p. . on the th feb. - the truce was renewed for the lives of both princes, and for one hundred years after the decease of either, king louis obliging himself and his successors to continue the payment of the , crowns during that term: the documents relating to this negotiation are printed ibid. pp. -- . [ ] molinet, in his account of the conference, states that it lasted for an hour and a half, and that a principal topic of discussion was the conduct of the constable, louis showing a letter, in which the constable had engaged to harass the english army as soon as it was landed. [ ] this gascon gentleman is a person of some interest, from his name being mentioned by caxton. he was resident at the english court, as a servant of anthony lord scales (the queen's brother) as early as the year , when in a letter, dated at london, on the th of june, he challenged sir jehan de chassa, a knight in the retinue of the duke of burgundy, to do battle with him in honour of a noble lady of high estimation, immediately after the performance of the intended combat in london between the lord scales and the bastard of burgundy. his letter of challenge, in which he terms the king of england his sovereign lord, is printed in the excerpta historica, , p. ; and that of sir jehan de chassa accepting it at p. , addressed, _a treshonnouré escueire louys de brutallis_. his own signature is _loys de brutalljs_. the encounter is thus noticed in the annals of william of wyrcestre: "et iij^o die congressi sunt pedestres in campo, in præsencia regis, lodowicus bretailles cum burgundiæ; deditque rex honorem ambobus, attamen bretailles habuit se melius in campo:" and thus by olivier de la marche: "on the morrow messire jehan de cassa and a gascon squire named louis de brettailles, servant of mons. d'escalles, did arms on foot: and they accomplished these arms without hurting one another much. and on the morrow they did arms on horseback; wherein messire jean de chassa had great honour, and was held for a good runner at the lance." lowys de bretaylles, as his name is printed by caxton, was still attendant upon the same nobleman, then earl rivers, in , when he went to the pilgrimage of st. james in galicia; and upon that occasion, soon after sailing from southampton, he lent to the earl the book of _les dictes moraux des philosophes_, written in french by johan de tronville, which the earl translated, and caused it to be printed by caxton, as _the dicts and sayings of the philosophers_, in . [ ] fabyan's chronicle. [ ] the former importance and power of the constable are thus described by commines: "some persons may perhaps hereafter ask, whether the king alone was not able to have ruined him? i answer, no; for his territories lay just between those of the king and the duke of burgundy: he had st. quintin always, and another strong town in vermandois: he had ham and bohain, and other considerable places not far from st. quintin, which he might always garrison with what troops (and of what country) he pleased. he had four hundred of the king's men at arms, well paid; was commissary himself, and made his own musters,--by which means he feathered his nest very well, for he never had his complement. he had likewise a salary of forty-five thousand francs, and exacted a crown upon every pipe of wine that passed into hainault or flanders through any of his dominions; and, besides all this, he had great lordships and possessions of his own, a great interest in france, and a greater in burgundy, on account of his kinsmen." [ ] none had actually been made with burgundy by the treaty of the th of august. commines certainly wrote under a misapprehension in that respect, as well as upon the number of years of the truce with england. [ ] besides the lady margaret there were two sons: maximilian, afterwards the emperor maximilian, and philip. there was a contract of marriage in between the latter and the lady anne of england, one of the daughters of edward the fourth. (rymer, xii. .) [ ] margaret herself was eventually rejected by charles viii. who was nearly nine years her senior. when he had the opportunity of marrying the heiress of bretagne, and thereby annexing that duchy to france, margaret was sent back to her father in , and afterwards married in to john infante of castile, and in to philibert duke of savoy. she subsequently nearly yielded to the suit of charles brandon lord lisle, (afterwards the husband of mary queen dowager of france,) who was made duke of suffolk by his royal master in order to be more worthy of her acceptance; but at last she died childless in , after a widowhood of six and twenty years, and a long and prosperous reign as regent of the netherlands. [ ] paston letters, vol. i. p. . [ ] "whiche book was translated and thystoryes openly declared by the ordinaunce and desyre of the noble auncyent knyght syr johan fastolf, of the countee of norfolk banerette, lyvyng' the age of four score yere, excercisyng' the warrys in the royame of fraunce and other countrees for the diffence and universal welfare of bothe royames of englond' and' fraunce, by fourty yeres enduryng', the fayte of armes haunting, and in admynystryng justice and polytique governaunce under thre kynges, that is to wete, henry the fourth, henry the fyfthe, henry the syxthe, and was governour of the duchye of angeou and the countee of mayne, capytayn of many townys, castellys, and fortressys in the said royame of fraunce, havyng' the charge and saufgarde of them dyverse yeres, ocupyeng' and rewlynge thre honderd' speres and' the bowes acustomed thenne, and yeldyng' good' acompt of the foresaid townes, castellys, and fortresses to the seyd' kynges and to theyr lyeutenauntes, prynces of noble recomendacion, as johan regent of fraunce duc of bedforde, thomas duc of excestre, thomas duc of clarence, and other lyeutenauntes." this may be considered as a grateful tribute from william of worcestre, when himself advanced in years (he died in or about ), to the memory of his ancient master, sir john fastolfe, who had died in . the biography of william of worcestre was written by the rev. james dallaway in the retrospective review, vol. xvi. p. ; and reprinted in to. , in his volume entitled "william wyrcestre redivivus: notices of ancient church architecture, particularly in bristol," &c.; but the latest and most agreeable sketch of worcestre's life is that given by mr. g. poulett scrope in his history of castle combe, , to. [ ] he has recorded that in he presented a copy of his translation to bishop waynflete,--"but received no reward!" his version was not made from the original, but from the french of laurentius de primo facto, or du premier-faict: an industrious french translator, who flourished from to . [ ] bale, in his list of the works of worcestre, whom he notices under his _alias_ of botoner, mentions _acta domini joannis fastolf_, lib. i, (commencing) "anno christi , et anno regni--" oldys (in the biographia britannica, , p. ) attributes to worcestre "a particular treatise, gratefully preserving the life and deeds of his master, under the title of _acta domini johannis fastolff_, which we hear is still in being, and has been promised the publick;" but in the second edition of oldys's life of fastolfe (biographia britannica, , v. ), we find merely this note substituted: "this is mentioned in the paston letters, iv. p. ." the letter there printed is one addressed by john davy to his master john paston esquire after sir john fastolfe's death. it relates to inquiries made of one "bussard" for evidences relative to fastolfe's estate; and it thus concludes: "he seyth the last tyme that he wrot on to william wusseter it was beffor myssomyr, and thanne he wrote a cronekyl of jerewsalem and the jornes that my mayster dede whyl he was in fraunce, that god on his sowle have mercy, and he seyth that this drew more than xx whazerys (quires) off paper, and this wrytyng delyvered onto wursseter, and non other, ne knowyth not off non other be is feyth." it appears, i think, very clearly that this passage was misunderstood by oldys, or his informant, and that the historian of the "journeys" and valiant acts of sir john fastolfe was not worcestre, but the person called bussard. it is not impossible that the person whom john davy meant by that name was peter basset, who is noticed in the next page. mr. benjamin williams, in the preface to "henrici quinti gesta," (printed for the english historical society, ,) says of worcestre that "he wrote the _acts of sir john fastolfe_, contained in the volume from which this chronicle is extracted," _i.e._ the arundel ms. xlviii. in the college of arms; but that statement appears to have been carelessly made, without ascertaining that the volume contained any such "acts." "also (mr. williams adds) the _acts of john duke of bedford_ (ms. lambeth);" but those "acts" again are not an historical or biographical memoir, but a collection of state papers and documents relating to the english occupation of france, which will be found described in archdeacon todd's catalogue of the lambeth manuscripts as no. . its contents are nearly identical with those of a volume in the library of the society of antiquaries, mss. no. , as will be found on comparison with sir henry ellis's catalogue of that collection, p. . the latter is the volume which oldys, in his life of sir john fastolfe, in the biographia britannica , has described at p. as a "quarto book some time in the custody of the late brian fairfax esquire, one of the commissioners of the customs," and of which oldys attributes the collection to the son of william of worcestre, because a dedicatory letter from that person to king edward the fourth is prefixed to the volume. another very valuable assemblage of papers of the like character, and which may also be regarded as part of the papers of sir john fastolfe, is preserved in the college of arms, ms. arundel xlviii., and is fully described by mr. w. h. black in his catalogue of that collection, vo. . this is the volume from which hearne derived the annals of william of worcestre, and mr. benjamin williams one of his chronicles of the reign of henry the fifth. it is probable that the lambeth ms. was formerly in the royal library, for abstracts of some of its more important documents, in the autograph of king edward the sixth, are preserved in the ms. cotton. nero c. x. these have been printed in the literary remains of king edward the sixth, pp. - . [ ] from the authority of tanner and oldys, we gather that there was formerly a volume in the library of the college of arms, bearing the following title: "liber de actis armorum et conquestus regni franciæ, ducatus normanniæ, ducatus alenconiæ, ducatus andegaviæ et cenomanniæ, &c. compilatus fuit ad nobilem virum johannem fastolff, baronem de cyllye guillem vel cylly quotem, &c. , per pet. basset armig." (tanner, bibliotheca britannica, , p. ; oldys, biographia britannica, , iii. , again, p. ; and nd edit. , v. .) both tanner and oldys describe this book as being in the heralds' office at london, but it is not now to be found there; and is certainly not a part of the arundel ms. xlviii. the contents of which curious and valuable volume are minutely described in the catalogue of the collection by mr. w. h. black, f.s.a. [ ] bale (scriptores brytanniæ, vii. , folio, , p. ,) describes peter basset as an esquire of noble family, and an attendant upon henry the fifth in his bedchamber throughout that monarch's career. bale states that this faithful esquire wrote the memoirs of his royal master, very fully, from his cradle to his grave, in the english language; and we find that the work was known to the chronicler hall, who quotes basset in regard to the disease of which the king died. it is remarkable, however, that this work, like that formerly in the college of arms, mentioned in the preceding note (if it were not the same), has now disappeared; and the name of basset has been unknown to mr. benjamin williams and mr. charles augustus cole, the editors of recent collections on the reign of henry the fifth for the english historical society and the series of the present master of the rolls, ( and ,) as also to sir n. harris nicolas, the historian of the battle of agincourt, and the rev. j. endell tyler, the biographer of king henry of monmouth ( vols. vo. ). [ ] its real author is supposed to have been Ægidius romanus, or de columna, who was bishop of berri, and died in . see les manuscrits francois de la bibliothèque du roi, par m. paulin paris, , i. . it was printed at rome in , and at venice in : see cave, historia literaria, vol. ii. p. . thomas occleve, the contemporary of chaucer, wrote a poem _de regimine principum_, founded, to a certain extent, upon the work of Ægidius, but applied to the events of his own time, and specially directed to the instruction of the prince of wales, afterwards king henry v. the roxburghe club has recently committed the editorship of this work to mr. thomas wright, f.s.a. [ ] preface to the buke of the order of knyghthede (abbotsford club, ,) p. xxiii. [ ] ames's typographical antiquities, by dibdin, iii. . moule (bibliotheca heraldica, , p. ,) conjectures that this may have been the same with "a treatise of nobility," by john clerke, mentioned by wood, in his athenæ oxonienses, as being also a translation from the french; this was printed in mo, . (ath. oxon. edit. bliss, i. .) in that case the name of _larke_ is an error of ames. [ ] wyer also printed "the boke of knowledge," a work on prognostics in physic, and on astronomy (dibdin's ames, iii. , ), and "the book of wysdome, spekyng of vyces and vertues, ." (ibid. p. .) [ ] typographical antiquities, first edition, iii. . [ ] mr. b. b. woodward, f.s.a. the author of a history of hampshire now in progress, kindly undertook for me to search the records of the city of winchester in order to discover, if possible, any information in elucidation of this document; but he found them in so great confusion, that at present it is impossible to pursue such an inquiry with any hope of success. [ ] _here is written above the line, in a later hand_, yn yo^r most noble persone and [ ] _in ms._ whiche whan [ ] _ms._ of [ ] _these words are inserted by a second hand._ [ ] _inserted above the line by a second hand._ [ ] _sc._ weight [ ] _ms._ infinitee [ ] _ms._ to [ ] _ms._ if it [ ] _ms._ defoule [ ] _ms._ be that [ ] _ms._ they [ ] _ms._ it is [ ] _the words_ thowsands and _are inserted above the line._ [ ] _added by second hand._ [ ] _altered by second hand to_ youre [ ] _inserted above the line by a second hand._ [ ] _qu._? yet [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _added by second hand._ [ ] _this passage is inserted by the second hand._ [ ] _added by second hand._ [ ] _the hague._ [ ] _so the ms._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _ms._ cons. [ ] _inserted by the second hand._ [ ] _the word_ king _has been erased, and altered to_ prince. [ ] _the insertion occupying the ensuing page is written by the second hand in the margin._ [ ] _inserted by the second hand._ [ ] overthrow _in ms._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _added in the margin by second hand._ [ ] _added by second hand in the margin._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _so in ms._ [ ] _inserted by third hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by the second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] ? all. [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _the word_ innocent _is written by some lancastrian over an erasure_. [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _added by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _so in the ms._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _so in ms._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _so in the ms._ [ ] _ms._ youre. [ ] _ms._ of. [ ] _ms._ they owre. [ ] of _in ms._ [ ] _added by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _in the margin is here placed the following note respecting dame christina of passy:--_ "notandum est quod cristina [fuit] domina præclara natu et moribus, et manebat in domo religiosarum dominarum apud passye prope parys; et ita virtuosa fuit quod ipsa exhibuit plures clericos studentes in universitate parisiensi, et compilare fecit plures libros virtuosos, utpote _liber arboris bellorum_, et doctores racione eorum exhibicionis attribuerunt nomen autoris christinæ, sed aliquando nomen autoris clerici studentis imponitur in diversis libris; et vixit circa annum christi , sed floruit ab anno christi ." [ ] _inserted by second hand in the margin._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _ms._ goodis. [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _ms._ startees. [ ] _so in ms._ [ ] sir john fastolfe. [ ] _this word has been in the ms. by error altered to_ stode, _which belongs to the next line_. [ ] _so. in ms._ [ ] _ms._ wounding. [ ] _this word is written on an erasure._ [ ] _so in the ms._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _written over an erasure._ [ ] _ms._ nede or of. [ ] _written on an erasure._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _so in the ms._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _ms._ youre. [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _ms._ gentiles. [ ] _written on an erasure._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _written on an erasure._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _ms._ excersing. [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _inserted by second hand._ [ ] _so in ms. sc._ stir? [ ] _so in ms._ [ ] _ms._ where. * * * * * corrections made to printed original. page xxxvi. "the gate should be delivered up": 'he delivered' in original. page . "the seneschalcie of pierregort": 'of of' (across line break) in original. 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. iv. london: printed for longman, hurst, rees, orme, and brown, paternoster-row; and j. white and co. fleet-street. . contents of _the fourth volume_. page chap. i. the chains are taken away from the streets of paris. the parisians are kept in great subjection. other royal edicts are proclaimed chap. ii. the duke of burgundy holds a grand conference with his nobles in arras, who promise to serve him against all his enemies chap. iii. a grand council held, in the king's name at paris chap. iv. the duke of acquitaine leaves paris, and joins the king of france at senlis. he marches thence to lay siege to the town of compiegne chap. v. the king of france marches his army from compiegne to soissons, which he besieges and takes by storm: it is pillaged and destroyed chap. vi. the king, after the capture of soissons, marches to st quentin, and thence to peronne, to facilitate his entrance into artois chap. vii. the duke of burgundy places garrisons in different towns and castles. the king of france marches his army from peronne to besiege bapaume chap. viii. the inhabitants of arras fortify their town very strongly, and burn and destroy several handsome edifices which were around it chap. ix. charles king of france, having reduced bapaume to his obedience, marches to lay siege to arras, and to subject that city to his power chap. x. the duke of brabant and the countess of hainault visit the king of france when before arras, and negociate a peace for their brother the duke of burgundy and his allies chap. xi. the treaty of peace concluded at arras, which was the fifth, is read in the presence of the duke of aquitaine, and several other princes of the blood-royal, and the oaths that were taken in consequence chap. xii. sigismund of bohemia is elected emperor of germany, and receives the oaths of the greater part of the lords of that country chap. xiii. the death of ladislaus king of naples. his rival king louis sends the marshal of france to naples, and other matters chap. xiv. the duke of burgundy, on the king's departure from before arras, marches a force into burgundy. other events that happened at that period chap. xv. count waleran de st pol marches about six hundred combatants into the duchy of luxembourg. the duke of acquitaine goes to mehun-sur-yevre chap. xvi. the earl of warwick and others from england attend the council of constance. the king of france has solemn obsequies performed for his brother the duke of orleans chap. xvii. the king and his grand council send forces to attack the burgundians. other events that happened chap. xviii. ambassadors arrive at paris from england. the king of france holds a grand festival. the peace is every where preserved chap. xix. three portuguese perform a deed of arms against three frenchmen, in the presence of the king of france. the portuguese are vanquished chap. xx. the peace of arras solemnly sworn to in the presence of the king of france. it is afterwards sworn to in divers other places chap. xxi. the commonalty and clergy of amiens are assembled to swear to the observance of the peace of arras chap. xxii. the count waleran de st pol dies at yvoix, in the county of chiny in luxembourg. the princes of the blood go to melun, by orders from the queen and the duke of acquitaine chap. xxiii. the king of england assembles a large army to invade france. ambassadors sent him from that country. the answers they receive chap. xxiv. the duke of burgundy sends ambassadors to the duke of acquitaine. the answers they receive. he takes the oath chap. xxv. henry king of england makes great preparations to invade france. he sends letters to the king of france at paris chap. xxvi. the king of england, while at southampton, discovers a conspiracy of his nobles against him. he lays siege to harfleur, and wins that town chap. xxvii. the canons of st gery in cambray quarrel with the inhabitants. the duke of burgundy, in consequence, makes war on cambray chap. xxviii. the king of france collects a great body of men at arms from all parts of his kingdom to oppose the english. the summons he issues on the occasion chap. xxix. the king of england makes his entry into harfleur. the regulations which he ordained. he resolves to march to calais. the disposition and government of the french chap. xxx. the king of france and several of the princes of the blood royal hold a council at rouen, and resolve on fighting the english chap. xxxi. the french and english meet in battle on the plains of azincourt. the english gain the victory chap. xxxii. the names of the princes, and other lords from divers countries, who perished at this unfortunate battle, and of those who were made prisoners chap. xxxiii. on the departure of the english, many frenchmen visit the field of battle to seek their friends, whom they bury, and other matters chap. xxxiv. king henry embarks at calais for england, where he is joyfully received on his late successes. the count de la marche goes to italy chap. xxxv. the king of france and his princes are much grieved on hearing the melancholy event of the battle of azincourt. of the duke of burgundy, and other matters chap. xxxvi. the parisians and members of the university of paris wait on the duke of acquitaine to propose certain measures of public safety. the death of the duke of acquitaine. the arrival of the constable in paris chap. xxxvii. the duke of brittany arrives at paris. the duke of burgundy leaves lagny sur marne. the capture of sir martelet du mesnil and ferry de mailly chap. xxxviii. the bishop of arras causes the sentence that had been pronounced against master jean petit to be revoked. the emperor of germany comes to paris chap. xxxix. a heavy tax is laid on the kingdom of france by the government, to the great discontent of the parisians. events that happened in consequence of it chap. xl. the emperor of germany arrives in london. the brother to the king of cyprus comes to paris. the death of the duke of berry. many embassies take place between france and england chap. xli. jennet de poix and others, by command of the duke of burgundy, march secretly to saint denis, and make inroads on different parts of france chap. xlii. lihons, in santerre, pillaged by many captains who had taken up arms. the capture of the castle of beaumont. the storming the castle of neele. and other matters chap. xliii. the duke of burgundy increases his men at arms. the marriage of the lord de la trimouille. the duke of clarence embarks a large army for harfleur chap. xliv. the emperor of germany and the king of england come to calais. duke john of burgundy meets them there. the matters that were then transacted chap. xlv. the duke of burgundy goes to valenciennes, in obedience to a summons which he receives from the dauphin. they mutually swear friendship to each other chap. xlvi. duke william count of hainault carries his son-in-law the dauphin to st quentin, and thence to compiegne, where he dies. the conduct observed on this journey chap. xlvii. the neapolitans rebel against their king, jacques de la marche, and make war on him. they take the queen prisoner. the consequences that follow chap. xlviii. the earl of dorset, governor of harfleur, makes an incursion into the country of caux, and is combated by the french. the emperor creates the count of savoy a duke chap. xlix. duke william, count of hainault, dies at bouchain. john of bavaria declares war against his niece, daughter to the late duke william chap. l. the duke of burgundy sends letters to many of the principal towns in france, describing the state of those who govern the kingdom chap. li. sir louis bourbon, knight, is arrested and executed. the queen of france is banished to blois, and thence to tours chap. lii. the commonalty of rouen put to death their bailiff, sir raoul de gaucourt. they seize the government of the town. the arrival of the dauphin at rouen chap. liii. the death of louis king of sicily. the conduct of the leaders of companies. the overthrow of raymonnet de la guerre. the destruction of the town of aumale chap. liv. the king's garrison in peronne carries on a severe war against the countries attached to the duke of burgundy chap. lv. the duke of burgundy sends ambassadors to many of the king's principal towns, to form alliances with them. the oaths that were made on the occasion chap. lvi. king henry of england returns to france with a large army, and takes many towns and fortresses. the council of constance, where pope martin is elected head of the church chap. lvii. the lord de canny is sent by the king of france ambassador to the duke of burgundy, whom he finds at amiens. the answer he receives from the duke chap. lviii. the lord de canny, on his return from his embassy, to paris, is accused by the royal council. orders are issued against the duke of burgundy chap. lix. the duke of burgundy continues his march toward paris. several towns and forts surrender to him, in which he places captains and governors chap. lx. the duke of burgundy crosses the river oise with his army at l'isle-adam. he besieges and conquers beaumont and pontoise, whence he removes his quarters to l'arbre-sec chap. lxi. the duke of burgundy sends his herald to the king of france in paris. the answer he receives. the siege of montlehery, and other matters chap. lxii. the duke of burgundy lays siege to corbeil. he marches thence to chartres and into touraine, on the summons of the queen of france, who accompanies him on his return chap. lxiii. the queen, on her arrival at chartres, writes to several of the principal towns in france. some new ordinances are made for the better government of the kingdom chap. lxiv. sir elyon de jacqueville is dragged out of the church of our lady in chartres by hector de saveuses and his accomplices, who put him to death chap. lxv. the duke of burgundy marches his whole army to paris to force an entrance. he then carries the queen of france to troyes, and other events chap. lxvi. john of bavaria makes war on the duchess his niece in holland. the conquests of henry king of england in normandy chap. lxvii. sir james de harcourt espouses the daughter of the count de tancarville. the defeat of hector de saveuses. the constable lays siege to senlis chap. lxviii. the king of france sends ambassadors to montereau-faut-yonne to treat of a peace with the queen and the duke of burgundy. the inhabitants of rouen turn to the burgundy faction chap. lxix. the duke of burgundy visits the emperor sigismund. the count de charolois takes the oaths of allegiance to the queen and his father the duke of burgundy, the siege of senlis is raised by the picards here beginneth the fourth volume of the chronicles of _enguerrand de monstrelet_. chap. i. the chains are taken away from the streets of paris.--the parisians are kept in great subjection.--other royal edicts are proclaimed. when the duke of burgundy, as has been said, was returned to his own country, taneguy du châtel, who had lately been appointed provost of paris, and remonnet de la guerre, were commissioned by the dukes of berry and of orleans to take down all the chains that had been affixed to the different streets and squares in paris, and carry them to the bastille of st antoine and to the castle of the louvre. they also seized the arms of the burghers and inhabitants, and carried them to the said fortresses, riding daily through the streets attended by a strong force, and followed by cars and carts, which conveyed the arms and chains to the places appointed for receiving them. there was not, at that period, any burgher who dared even to carry a quarter-staff. the same men at arms kept a very strict watch day and night at the gates and on the walls, at the expense of the inhabitants, without attention being paid to their complaints, or placing the smallest confidence in them. they were consequently very much discontented, and sore at heart, when they saw how they were treated; and many now repented that they had put themselves under the government of the enemies of the duke of burgundy, but dared not shew it openly. in regard to the duke, various edicts were issued against him, charging him with attempting to seduce the king's subjects from their obedience. one, addressed to the bailiff of amiens, was as follows: 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, health and greeting. 'whereas it has come to our knowledge, that john our cousin of burgundy, our rebellious and disobedient enemy, has written, and sent at different times, sealed letters, as well to our good town of paris as to many others within our realm, with the intent to seduce and deceive our subjects, and enable him to accomplish the damnable enterprise which he lately formed of marching a large army into paris. we have, by our letters, expressly commanded, that no one, whatever may be his rank, should receive any of these letters from the duke of burgundy; and should any have been received, that no answer whatever should be made to them, but that they should be sent to us, or to our chancellor, to do by them as we shall think expedient. 'this said duke of burgundy, continuing his damnable projects, has lately sent certain letters-patent, sealed with his privy seal, to our town of paris, which he has caused to be fixed secretly in the night-time to the gates of several churches, and in other public places of the said town, as well as to several others within our realm, as we have heard, by which he declares that he had marched to paris solely with the intention of delivering us and our very dear and well-beloved son, the duke of acquitaine, from the bondage in which he said we were held. the said duke further declared, that he would never abandon his attempt until he should have restored us and our dear son to the full enjoyment of our free will and government. these assertions, and others made by the said duke of burgundy, are, thanks to god, groundless, and notoriously false; for neither ourself nor our dear son have been or are under any subjection whatever, nor are our honour, our justice, or the state of our government, any way wounded or diminished,--but ever since the departure of the duke of burgundy from paris we have governed peaceably, freely, without any hindrance or contradiction. this, however, we were but little able to do, after the horrible murder committed by this said duke on the person of our well-beloved brother louis, duke of orleans, whose sins may god pardon! we do now govern, and have governed, our kingdom, since the departure of the aforesaid duke, according to our pleasure and the right that belongs to us, and have been constantly obeyed in all things, humbly and diligently, by all those of our blood and lineage, like as good relations, vassals and loyal subjects should do to their king and sovereign lord, excepting alway the duke of burgundy, who, contrary to our orders and positive commands, has assembled great numbers of men at arms and archers, and, like an enemy, has marched them to the walls of paris, having in his company many traitors and murderers, and other criminals against our royal majesty. 'with such persons, and others who have been banished our realm for similar crimes, the said duke, persevering in his wickedness, attempted to enter paris, to seize on and usurp (all that he has written to the contrary in his letters notwithstanding) the government of us, of our eldest son, and of the whole kingdom, and to appropriate to himself the finances, as he long did to our very great displeasure, and to the loss of the kingdom, after the said murder by him committed; for the said burgundian and his adherents are known to have had and received sixty hundred thousand francs and upwards,--for which, and various other causes, more fully explained in our ordinances, we have declared him a rebel, a violator of the peace, and, consequently, an enemy to us and to our whole kingdom. 'whereas several of our subjects and vassals may perchance be ignorant of these said things, and therefore not believe them; and because the said burgundian, by his written letters, may publish false and wicked lies as may deceive our said vassals, and prove of the utmost detriment to us, our kingdom, and to our faithful and loyal subjects: we being therefore desirous that every person may be fully ascertained of the truth, and in order to counteract such false and damnable lies, do thus publicly signify and make known, that the matters which the said burgundian has written and published, either by himself or his adherents, are detestable lies, spread abroad to seduce and deceive our people, and to enable him to succeed in his damnable design. 'it is therefore our determination, with the aid of god, to oppose this duke by every means in our power, and to reduce him, his abettors, accomplices and adherents, under such subjection as befits vassals who are disobedient to their lord and sovereign. such is our will, and we shall never depart from it. we therefore command and strictly enjoin, under pain of our displeasure, that you instantly do proclaim, in the most public manner, these presents in every place within your bailiwick where such proclamations are usually made, so that no one may plead ignorance thereof. 'you will likewise forbid, in our name, all our vassals within your jurisdiction, on the faith, loyalty and obedience they owe us, and under pain of being reputed rebels, and suffering the punishments due to such, henceforward to receive any letters from the said duke of burgundy, his adherents or allies. should any letters be sent them, we order that they do not open them, nor make any communications thereof--but that they do bring them sealed up to our trusty and well-beloved chancellor, for him to do therewith as he may judge proper. 'and we, by these presents, do absolutely forbid them, under pain of the aforesaid penalties, in any way to advise, comfort or support, or show favour to the said duke of burgundy, his partisans or allies, that they may prove themselves faithful and obedient subjects to us, as they are so bounden; otherwise, they shall be punished like rebels, to serve for examples to all others. 'given at paris, the th day of february, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' thus signed by the king, on the report of his grand council, and countersigned 'e. mauregard.' shortly after, another edict was issued against the duke of burgundy, and proclaimed throughout the kingdom at the usual places, the tenour of which was as follows: 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'whereas it is so notorious to all our subjects that none can pretend ignorance thereof, that john, our cousin of burgundy, has lately advanced to the walls of our good town of paris, with a large body of men at arms and archers, contrary to our positive orders, and in defiance of our will and pleasure, solemnly made known to him, as well by ambassadors as by sealed letters from us: that he captured the town of st. denis, and made of it a bulwark against our city of paris, marching thence to the walls of our said city with displayed banners, and sending his scouts to the gates thereof: that he has seized and retains the possession of many of our towns by occupying them with a force of men at arms, more particularly compiegne and soissons: that he has now under his orders a very numerous army within our kingdom, to our great prejudice and to the oppression of the realm: that he has published certain declarations, as a colour for this disobedient and rebellious conduct, which are all of them perfectly false and malicious, his intention being to attempt gaining admittance, by fair or foul means, into our good city of paris, to do his pleasure on us, our very dear companion the queen, our well-beloved son the duke of acquitaine, and on others of our blood and lineage within the said city, and consequently to regain the whole government of the kingdom, in like manner as it is notorious he did formerly usurp it, and by his tyrannical domination caused irreparable injuries to those connected with us by blood, the inhabitants of the town of paris, and in general to the whole kingdom. 'for these causes, we have branded him, all his adherents, partisans and allies, as rebels to us and enemies to our kingdom. fie is now departed from our town of st. denis, and we know not what road he has taken; but we have sent you letters to enjoin you to proclaim throughout your bailiwick, that none be so daring, under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of effects, as to serve or join him in the army which he has raised; and should there be any within your jurisdiction who, in defiance of these our orders, shall have joined the said duke, we order you to seize their persons, and confiscate their estates which lie within your bailiwick, for our use. 'notwithstanding these explicit orders, you have been, as we have heard, very dilatory and negligent in obeying them, and have paid but little attention thereto: should this have been the case, we are, and not without reason, much displeased. we therefore again command, and most strictly enjoin, on penalty of dismission from your office, that on the receipt of these presents, you do proclaim them, or cause them to be proclaimed, in all the accustomed places within your bailiwick, so that no one, whatever be his rank, may think of joining or serving the duke of burgundy, in the army which lie has assembled; and that all who may have joined him may instantly return to their homes, under pain of suffering corporal punishment and confiscation of effects. and whereas it is notorious, that many persons within your jurisdiction have joined the duke of burgundy, and that others are his supporters and abettors, who, contrary to our pleasure, have murmured and continue discontented, attempting also to deceive and seduce our people from their allegiance, and endeavouring, as we have heard, by every possible means, to advise and comfort the said duke of burgundy: we therefore enjoin you, under the penalties aforesaid, to take instant possession of all their effects, moveable and immoveable, within your district, and wherever they may be, for us and in our name. you will act in like manner to all whom you may know to be favourable to the said duke of burgundy, and partisans in his abominable and traitorous designs. 'nevertheless, if you can lay hands on any of their persons, you will instantly arrest them wherever they may be, except in sanctuaries, and immediately inflict such corporal punishment on them as they may have deserved. should you not be able to do this, summon them to appear, under penalty of banishment and confiscation of effects. you will also command, by proclamation, all who are bound to serve us, to hasten to join us with as numerous a body of men at arms as possible, that we may effectually oppose the duke of burgundy and his accomplices, reduce them to the obedience they owe us, and punish them according to their misdeeds, and the tenour of those letters which we have before addressed to you. do you be careful to execute punctually and diligently these our orders, that we may not proceed against you for disobedience. 'given at paris the th day of february, in the year of grace , and of our reign the d.' thus signed by the king, on the report of the grand council held by the queen and the duke of acquitaine. countersigned, 'j. du châtel.' it was proclaimed in amiens and its bailiwick by orders of the bailiff and his deputies on the last day of february and the following days. letters patent were also sent to the nobles of artois from the king, and to those who had attended the duke of burgundy in his march to paris from the bailiwicks of amiens, tournay, and the vermandois; and to those who had remained at home were sent letters sealed with the small round seal. the first letters, in the king's name, forbade these nobles, under pain of the before-mentioned penalties, to accompany, or to give counsel or aid, to the said duke of burgundy, and commanded them to prepare themselves and their horses to serve the king against this burgundian and his abettors. by the second, they were ordered to collect as large a force as they could, and advance to paris and join the king there, or wherever else he might be, that he might be enabled to impugn and humble the duke of burgundy, his partisans and advisers. these letters were forwarded to the bailiff of amiens by the chancellor, who sent them, according to orders, to the provostships and bailiwicks, for the guards in each to deliver them to those within their districts to whom they were addressed. these guards were to receive hostages, if possible, and send them to paris, and they were to write word what other securities they had obtained. should they not receive any, nor letters of acknowledgment, they were also to write this, that it might be known who had and who had not received these letters from the king. about this time, the bishop of paris, at the request of the university, sent to the duke of burgundy, to know whether he would avow those arguments which master john petit had advanced by his desire against the late duke of orleans. the duke, in reply, told the messengers, that he would neither avow nor support the said master john, saving his just rights. on this answer being carried to paris, it was ordered by the bishop and the inquisitor of the faith, that the aforesaid arguments should be condemned, and publicly burnt in the presence of the clergy, and of whoever else might choose to witness it. when this was done, it was proposed that the bones of the said master john petit should be sought for in the town of hêdin, where he had died,--for it was intended to burn them in the same place where his arguments had been burnt,--but in the end nothing more was done. chap. ii. the duke of burgundy holds a grand conference with his nobles in arras, who promise to serve him against all his enemies. the duke of burgundy daily received intelligence that the king and the duke of acquitaine were completely turned against him, through the means of those who then governed. in consequence, he assembled all his nobles of artois and picardy at arras. on his appearing among them, he first apologised for having made them wait, saying that he had been at paris in obedience to the commands of the duke of acquitaine, and again caused to be read the letters which he had received from him. he added, that he had left large bodies of his men at arms in the towns of compiegne and soissons, at the request of the inhabitants; for they had learnt that the king, by the advice of his present ministers, was raising a large force to reconquer these towns. he then asked the nobles, whether he might depend on their support. they replied, that they would cheerfully serve him against all his enemies, saving the king of france and his children. this they all promised excepting the lord de ront, who declared that he would serve him even against the king of france. at this period, there raged an epidemical disorder throughout france and other countries: it affected the head, and very many died of it, both old and young. it was called the coqueluche. chap. iii. a grand council held, in the king's name, at paris. on the d day of march, in this year, was held a grand council, at the hôtel of st pol, in the presence of the queen and the duke of acquitaine, (because the king was not then in perfect health,) of many princes and prelates beside the ordinary members of the council. the chancellor of france harangued for a considerable time on the behaviour of the duke of burgundy, and how he had conducted himself toward the king and the princes of the blood at many and divers times, since the death of louis duke of orleans: that lately, in defiance of the commands of the king and the duke of acquitaine, he had marched a powerful force of men at arms and archers, with displayed banners, to the very walls of paris, committing at the same time irreparable damages to the kingdom: he had likewise placed garrisons in the towns of compiegne and soissons, who daily made open war on the subjects of the king, in like manner as our ancient enemies of england would have done: that since he had thus notoriously broken the peace that had been agreed to at auxerre, and confirmed at pontoise, the chancellor earnestly demanded those present, on their allegiance, to declare what measures the king and the duke of acquitaine should pursue against the duke of burgundy. this council consisted of the king of sicily, the dukes of berry, orleans, bourbon and bar, the counts d'alençon, de vertus, de richemont, d'eu, de dampmartin, d'armagnac, de vendôme, de marle and de touraine; the lord d'albreth, constable of france, the archbishop of sens, and many other prelates, with a considerable number of notable barons, knights and esquires of the royal council. when they had for some time deliberated on the chancellor's demand, they replied, by the mouth of the archbishop of sens, that the king might legally and honourably wage war on the duke of burgundy, considering the manner in which he had conducted and continued to conduct himself with regard to him. it was then resolved, that the king should raise a large army, and march in person against the duke and his adherents, to subjugate them, and reduce their country to obedience. the queen, the duke of acquitaine, all the princes, and the whole council, then engaged, and solemnly swore, on their faith and loyalty, that they would never pay attention to any letters or embassy from the said duke, until he and his allies should be destroyed, or at least humbled and reduced to obedience. when the council broke up, clerks were employed to write letters, which were dispatched to divers countries, and throughout france; and the king at this time raised a larger army than he had done during his whole reign,--insomuch, that in a very short time, by the activity of the said princes, and by the king's summons, a very great multitude of men at arms were collected round paris, and in the parts adjacent in the isle of france. some of the captains were dispatched with a large body of men toward the town of compiegne, which, as i have before said, was garrisoned by the duke of burgundy, namely, the lord charles d'albreth, constable of france, sir hector, bastard of bourbon, remonnet de la guerre, the lord de gaucourt and several others,--who, on their forming the siege, had many and severe skirmishes with those of the town, as they made frequent sallies night and day, and at the beginning did them much damage. they were, however, often driven back by the besiegers into the town, which was under the government of sir hugh de launay, the lord de saint legier, and his son, the lord mauroy, hector philippe, le bon de savouses, the lord de sorres, knights, louvelet de malinghen, and many other notable men at arms, by orders of the duke of burgundy. these captains, to prevent the besiegers from quartering themselves at their ease, were diligent in harrassing them, and burnt all the suburbs, with many handsome buildings, as well houses as churches. the besiegers, on their side, were not idle: they threw two bridges over the river oise, to succour each other should there be occasion, and pointed against the walls and gates two large engines, which annoyed them much. the king of france on the saturday in the holy week, the third of april, marched out of paris in a triumphant manner, and with great state, to the town of senlis to wait for his army. he there celebrated the feast of the resurrection of our lord jesus christ. the king and the duke of acquitaine wore, on this expedition, the badge and arms of the count d'armagnac, laying aside that noble and gallant banner which he and his royal predecessors had hitherto borne, for the plain white cross. many of the great barons, knights, and other loyal servants of the king and the duke, were much displeased at this, saying, that it was not becoming the excellence of his royal majesty to bear the arms of so poor a lord as the count d'armagnac, particularly as it was for his own personal quarrel, and within his own realm. this banner, which was now the cause of such rejoicing, had been given to an ancestor of the said count, by the decision of a pope, to be borne for ever by him, and his heirs and successors, as a penalty for certain crimes committed by his predecessors against the church. [a.d. .] chap. iv. the duke of acquitaine leaves paris, and joins the king of france at senlis.--he marches thence to lay siege to the town of compiegne. at the beginning of this year, namely, on easter-monday, the duke of acquitaine set out from paris with a noble company, and went to senlis, to join the king his father. the king then departed from senlis, attended by many princes and prelates, and a grand assemblage of chivalry, to fix his quarters at verberie[ ]. the queen and the duchess of acquitaine, who had come with the duke from paris, went to lodge at meaux in brie. the duke of berry remained behind, as governor of paris and the adjacent country. king louis of sicily went to angiers, and thence returned to paris, and did not attend the king on this expedition. the king of france, on leaving verberie, marched toward compiegne; and when he had approached near, he sent one of his heralds to the gates of the town, to announce to those within that the king was coming, that they might, like loyal subjects, admit him as their lord. the townsmen made answer, that they would very cheerfully admit him and his son, the duke of aquitaine, with their attendants, but no more. the herald carried this answer to the king, who had lodged himself in a small house between the town and the forest, and the duke of acquitaine in the monastery of royaulieu. the other princes and captains quartered themselves as well as they could; and the king's batteries kept constantly playing against the town, to which they did much damage, while skirmishes frequently happened between the two parties. one of them is deserving of notice. when the month of may was near at hand, sir hector, bastard of bourbon, sent to inform the besieged, that on the first of may he would try their courage. on that day, he accordingly mounted his horse, attended by about two hundred able men at arms and some foot-soldiers, having all may garlands over their helmets: he led them to the gate of pierrefons, to present a may garland to the besieged, as he had promised. the besieged made a stout resistance, insomuch that it became very serious, and several were killed and wounded on each side: the bastard of bourbon had his horse killed under him, and was in great danger of being made prisoner or slain. while these things were passing, the duke of burgundy held many conferences with the flemings, to persuade them to levy a certain number of men, that he might raise the siege of compiegne; but they refused, all edging that they could not bear arms against the king of france. the duke of burgundy, to whom his people in compiegne had sent to know if they might expect succours, advised them to make the best terms they could with the king and the duke of acquitaine. on hearing this, they offered to open the gates to the king and his army, on condition that the troops of the duke of burgundy should retire in safety with their effects,--they promising, or their captain for them, that they would never again oppose the king, or the duke of acquitaine, in any town which belonged to them. the king consented to pardon the inhabitants, and to receive them again into favour, without touching their lives or fortunes. thus on monday, the th day of may, at the same time that the troops of the duke of burgundy marched out under passports from the king and the duke of acquitaine to fix their quarters in artois, the royal army marched into compiegne. at this time, waleran count de st pol, who still called himself constable of france, riding from amiens to his castle of st pol, had a severe fall, and broke his leg: the pain was so great that he was carried to st pol; but there was a report current, that he pretended to have been thus sorely hurt in order to be excused from obeying the king's summons, which had been often repeated to him; and also out of regard to the duke of burgundy, whom he saw much distressed, and was perplexed how to assist him in his quarrel. in like manner, sir james de châtillon, lord of dampierre, styling himself admiral of france, remained all this season at his castle of rolaincourt, pretending to be confined with the gout, which often attacked him, in order to be excused, like the constable, from serving in the king's army, or joining the duke of burgundy, of whose success he was very desirous. their dependants, however, who were accustomed to follow them in arms to war, or at least the greater part of them, joined the duke of burgundy and his partisans. this war placed many lords in disagreeable situations and perplexities; for they knew not well how to steer, with honour to themselves, between the two parties. footnotes: [footnote : verberie,--a town in picardy, on the oise, three leagues from senlis, four from compiegne.] chap. v. the king of france marches his army from compiegne to soissons, which he besieges and takes by storm:--it is pillaged and destroyed. the king, having reduced the town of compiegne to his obedience, departed, on the th day of may[ ], with his army, to lay siege to the town of soissons, of which place the brave enguerrand de bournouville was governor. the van division had before advanced thither, under the command of the duke of bar, the count d'armagnac, clugnet de brabant, calling himself admiral of france, the bastard of bourbon, sir aymé de sallebruche, and other able captains. the inhabitants of soissons, perceiving that they should be besieged, acted like to those of compiegne, in destroying their suburbs, with many noble buildings, churches and houses. notwithstanding this, they were, on the arrival of the royal army, very closely besieged. the king, on his coming thither, sent to summon the town to surrender itself to his obedience, otherwise the inhabitants were in the road to destruction; but in defiance of this, they resolved to defend themselves against the king's army, in the hope of receiving reinforcements from their lord and master the duke of burgundy, who had promised to succour them by a certain day. the king fixed his quarters in the convent of st jean des vignes of the order of st augustin: the dukes of acquitaine and of orleans were lodged in the abbey of st quintin, and the other princes and lords in the best manner they could. with sir enguerrand within the town, were sir collart de phiennes, lamon de launoy, sir pierre menau, gilles du plessis, the old lord de menau, full of years and riches, guyot le bouteiller, with many more warriors from the boulonois, artois and picardy. there were also full four hundred english soldiers; but owing to some quarrels, the townsmen and those under the command of bournouville, were not on good terms together, by which their strength was much weakened. the king's forces were very diligent in their daily attempts to annoy the town, by means of bombards, cannon, bricolles, and other engines of destruction. they were also frequently played off during the night against the walls and gates, which greatly damaged them in several places, and harrassed the garrison. at length, on the st of may, the place was vigorously stormed on every side; but before this happened, some new knights were created, among whom were louis duke of bavaria, the count de richemont, and the provost of paris. the van division posted on the opposite side, under the command of the duke of bar, the count of armagnac, and remonnet de la guerre, made their attack at the same time; and the princes and leaders urged their men on with such bravery, that in spite of the obstinate resistance of the besieged, the king's forces made an entry by a large breach which had been effected by the engines, and there the combat raged,--for every inch was disputed with lances, battle-axes and swords, hand to hand. during the storm, the commander of the english forces within the town, having held a parley with some of his countrymen in the king's army, caused a gate leading to the river to be cut down, through which the count d'armagnac's men rushed, and hoisted, on the highest tower, the banner of their count; and the greater part of the english suddenly turned against the townsmen. soon after, the army forced an entrance through the walls, putting all they met to the sword, inhabitants and garrison indiscriminately. during this attack, as enguerrand de bournouville was riding through different parts of the town, to encourage his men, he was pursued through a narrow street which had a chain thrown across it by some of the men of remonnet de la guerre, who pressed on him so much that he was forced to retreat and attempt to leap over the chain; but, in so doing, his horse could not clear it, and remained suspended, when he was made prisoner and led with great joy to remonnet. the others, seeing the town was taken, retired to different parts within the gates, and the towers of the walls,--whence, parleying with their enemies, they surrendered, on promise of their lives being spared. those who defended their posts were slain or made prisoners: in short, including the townsmen with the duke's garrison, there were that day full twelve hundred killed or taken. in regard to the destruction committed by the king's army in soissons, it cannot be estimated; for, after they had plundered all the inhabitants and their dwellings, they despoiled the churches and monasteries. they even took and robbed the most part of the sacred shrines of many bodies of saints, which they stripped of all the precious stones, gold and silver, together with many other jewels and holy things appertaining to the aforesaid churches. there is not a christian but would have shuddered at the atrocious excesses committed by this soldiery in soissons: married women violated before their husbands, young damsels in the presence of their parents and relatives, holy nuns, gentlewomen of all ranks, of whom there were many in the town: all, or the greater part, were violated against their wills, and known carnally by divers nobles and others, who after having satiated their own brutal passions, delivered them over without mercy to their servants; and there is no remembrance of such disorder and havoc being done by christians, considering the many persons of high rank that were present, and who made no efforts to check them: there were also many gentlemen in the king's army who had relations in the town, as well secular as churchmen, but the disorder was not the less on that account. during the storming of the place, several, foreseeing that it must be taken, thought to save themselves by escaping over the walls to the river, and swimming across; but the greater part were drowned, as their bodies were found in divers parts of the stream. some women of rank were, however, in this disorder conducted to the quarters of the king and the duke of acquitaine by their friends, and thus saved from suffering the like infamy with others who could not escape from the place. during the siege, sir hector, bastard of bourbon, as prudent and valiant in arms as any of the king's party, while parleying with enguerrand de bournouville, was so grievously wounded in the face by an arrow that he died; and the duke of bourbon, who much loved his brother, conceived, on account of this act, which he thought was treacherously done, so violent a hatred against enguerrand, and some others of the besieged, that he prevailed on the king and council to have him beheaded, his head placed on a lance, and his body hung by the shoulders on a gibbet. many princes and captains, notwithstanding enguerrand had been their enemy, were greatly displeased at his death, and not without cause, for he was at that time renowned as the flower of the warriors of all france. with him were beheaded sir pierre de menau, one of the governors of the town,--and of the inhabitants, master aussiel bassuel, advocate, and four other gentlemen, whose heads were put on lances, and their bodies hung in the usual manner on the gibbet. master john titet, a wise and learned advocate, by whom all the business of the town had until then been managed, was carried with some others to laon, and there examined: he was afterwards beheaded, and hung by the shoulders on a gallows. fifty-one persons were sent to the châtelet prison in paris, several of whom were beheaded, such as gilles du plessis, knight, and others. very many of the townsmen, english archers, and soldiers of the garrison were hung on a gibbet without soissons: others escaped death by ransoming themselves, namely, the old lord de menau, sir colart de phiennes, lamon de launoy, guyot le bouteiller, and great numbers of gentlemen. those who had taken them allowed them their liberty, on their promising to send the amount of their ransoms by a certain day, so that the king's justice might not be inflicted upon them. after some days had passed, the king caused to be restored, by some of the pillagers, the bones of many bodies of saints, and divers relics; but all the gold and jewels that had adorned them were gone; and even in this state, many were forced to buy them back for large sums, when they were replaced in the churches from which they had been stolen. thus was this grand and noble city of soissons, strong from its situation, walls and towers, full of wealth, and embellished with fine churches and holy relics, totally ruined and destroyed by the army of king charles and of the princes who accompanied him. the king, however, before his departure, gave orders for its rebuilding, and appointed new officers for the defence and support of it,--who, when the army had marched away, recalled as many as possible of the inhabitants who had fled before it was taken. the king also granted a total abolition of taxes, excepting, nevertheless, those who had been principally instrumental in admitting the burgundians within their town. footnotes: [footnote : monstrelet mentions in the preceding chapter, that the king of france made his public entry into compiegne on the th day of may.] chap. vi. the king, after the capture of soissons, marches to st quentin, and thence to peronne, to facilitate his entrance into artois. having done these things at soissons, the king departed, and went to the town of laon, where he was magnificently and joyfully received by the clergy, burghers and inhabitants of that town. shortly after his arrival, philip count de nevers, baron de donsy of the royal lineage, and brother to the duke of burgundy, came thither under the protection of a passport from the king, and was lodged by the royal harbingers, in the abbey of saint martin des premonstrés. he had been informed by some of his friends, that the king intended to send into his county of rethel a large force to seize his person; and for this reason he had come to laon to surrender into the king's hand the lordships and estates he possessed in france, and to solicit mercy and pardon for all his offences, promising henceforward not to assist his brother, the duke of burgundy, openly or secretly, in this quarrel against the king his sovereign lord. what he requested was granted; and the lord de lor with others of his vassals were given as hostages for the faithful observance of these promises. he then departed, with the king's leave, to mezieres on the meuse. while the king remained at laon, he ordered fresh proclamations to be made throughout his realm, to obtain the aid of his knights and others who were accustomed to bear arms for him. on the th day of june he marched to tierrache, thence to ribermont and to st quentin; at which place, the countess of hainault, sister to the duke of burgundy, came to him, with a noble attendance of two hundred horsemen, to endeavour to make peace between the king and the duke of acquitaine and the duke of burgundy. but when the king heard what terms she had to propose, there was an end of the business; and, seeing no prospect of success, she took leave of the king, and left saint quentin, and went to the duke of bourbon and charles d'albreth, constable of france, the commanders of the rear division of the army. four of the king's knights escorted her until she met two hundred burgundian men at arms. this body of troops was under the command of sir gaultier de ruppes, the lords de montagu and de toulongeon, sir guillaume de champ-divers, le veau de bar, bailiff of auxois[ ], and others, quartered at marle[ ], who were on their road towards hainault. the moment the king of france's knights perceived them, they returned with all speed to give information that they had seen the burgundians, in order that they might be encountered. the duke of bourbon, the constable, and many others, instantly made themselves ready, to the amount of four thousand combatants, and galloped away as fast as their horses could carry them, through la chapelle in tierrache, to overtake the burgundians. they continued their pursuit as far as the bridge of verberie over the sambre, near to beaumont, when they came up with the baggage, and killed or made prisoners several of the escort: among the last was veau de bar, bailiff of auxois. they still pursued the burgundians until they came near to nôtre dame de halle, but they had then secured themselves within the suburbs of brussels. finding that all hopes of overtaking them were vain, the french knights retreated through hainault, plundered many of its inhabitants, who little suspected it, and arrived at guise in tierrache, where they met the king and his whole army, who had returned thither to combat his enemies. duke william count of hainault was highly displeased with this expedition, because his country had been overrun and pillaged. soon after, the king marched back to st quentin, and the burgundians, who were before oudenarde, went to douay, where they met the duke of burgundy, who received them as cordially as if they had been his brethren. the lady of hainault, his sister, came thither also, who had endeavoured, as has been said, with all her power, to conclude a peace between the king of france and the duke of burgundy, but hitherto she had been unsuccessful. the king and the princes advanced from st quentin to peronne,--and his majesty was lodged in the castle. he devoutly celebrated the feast of st peter and st paul, in the church of st quentin; and on the morrow of this feast the countess of hainault returned, with her brother the duke of brabant, to renew her propositions for peace. they were royally and magnificently entertained, after which the king inquired the cause of their coming. on the following sunday, the first day of july, the duke of guienne gave the lady and her brother a magnificent dinner, when they were solemnly feasted. this countess was also accompanied by some of the chief citizens of the quatre mestiers, as deputies from the three estates of flanders to the king who graciously received them,--and, on their departure, properly distributed among them presents, of one hundred marcs of silver in gilt plate, which pleased them mightily. but neither the lady nor her brother, the duke of brabant, could at this time obtain peace for the duke of burgundy; on which account, they returned to him at douay dejected and sorrowful. the duke hearing of their ill success, concluded bargains with his captains for their support of him against all his enemies, excepting the persons of the king of france and the duke of acquitaine. after this, the duke departed into his country of flanders. footnotes: [footnote : auxois,--a country in burgundy, of which semur is the capital.] [footnote : marle,--a town in picardy, five leagues from laon, thirteen from soissons.] chap. vii. the duke of burgundy places garrisons in different towns and castles.--the king of france marches his army from peronne to besiege bapaume[ ]. such was the state of affairs on the departure of the duke of burgundy, with the greater part of the burgundians under the command of sir gaultier de ruppes and others, from douay. sir john de luxembourg, then a young knight, was intrusted with the government of arras; but there were appointed, as his advisers, the lord de ront, sir william bouvier, lieutenant governor of arras, the lord de noyelle, surnamed le blanc chevalier, allain de vendosme, with a body of troops to the number of six hundred men at arms and as many archers. those from burgundy were commanded by the lord de montagu, captain in chief, the lord de vienne, the borgne de toulongeon knight, sir william de champ-divers, the bastard of granson, to the amount of six hundred men at arms. the lord de beauford à la barbe was commander of the commonalty; and in all the other towns were appointed able men, according to the good pleasure of the duke of burgundy. these warriors made frequent excursions on the lands of such as were attached to the orleans party; and one day sir john de luxembourg, with a large detachment, advanced to the town of hamme on the somme, belonging to the duke of orleans, which was pillaged and robbed of every thing portable that it contained; and many of the adjacent villages shared the same fate, from the aforesaid cause. in like manner, hector de saveuses, philippe de saveuses his brother, louis de wargis, and some other captains, crossed the river somme at hauges, near to pecquigny, and thence advanced to the town of blangy, near monchiaux, belonging to the count d'eu, which was filled with much wealth. this was soon plundered by the burgundians, who carried away men and all portable effects, and returned with them into artois. such expeditions did the duke of burgundy's partisans often make, to the sore distress of the poor inhabitants. on the th day of july, the king and the princes left peronne, on a pilgrimage to our lady of cuerlu, and proceeding thence, fixed their quarters on the banks of a river, very near to miraumont[ ]. on the thursday following, he came before bapaume, a town belonging to the duke of burgundy; and at this place the count d'auxerre was made a knight by the duke of bourbon, who commanded the van division, and had arrived before bapaume at break of day. the king also created, with his own hand, the count d'alençon a knight, as well as some others. the lords de boissay and de gaucourt at this time exercised the functions of boucicaut and de longny, the two marshals of france. on the king's arrival, he was lodged at a handsome nunnery without the walls, and his army around the place, so that it was soon encompassed on all sides. this town is on an elevated situation, without spring or running water; and as the season was very dry, the soldiers were forced to fetch their water from a rivulet near to miraumont in bottles, casks, and suchlike vessels, which they transported on cars or otherwise the best way they could, so that they and their horses suffered more from thirst than famine. this caused many to sink wells, and in a few days more than fifty were opened, and the water was so abundant that a horse could be watered for four farthings. it happened, that on a certain day the duke of acquitaine sent for the chief captains in the town and castle of bapaume, such as ferry de hangest, sir john de jumont, and alain d'anetus, who on their arrival, being asked by the duke why they did not make some overtures to the king for the surrender of the town and castle to their sovereign lord, replied most humbly, that they guarded it for the king and for himself, the king's eldest son, by the orders of the duke of burgundy. they requested the duke of acquitaine to grant them an armistice until the following tuesday, that they might send to the duke of burgundy for his final orders respecting their conduct, as to surrendering the town and castle. this was granted, and confirmed by the king. they therefore sent to the duke of burgundy, to inform him of the force that was surrounding the town, and the small provision they had for themselves and their horses. the duke, on hearing this, agreed to their surrendering the place to the king and the duke of acquitaine, on condition that their lives and fortunes should be spared. this being assented to, they marched out of bapaume with all their baggage, and were in number about five hundred helmets and three hundred archers. they took the road toward lille, to join their lord; but, as they were on their departure, the varlet caboche, who bore the duke's standard, and two merchants of paris were arrested; one of them was named martin coulommiers; and all three beheaded. martellet du mesnil and galiffre de jumelles were likewise arrested, for having formed part of the garrison in compiegne, but were afterward set at liberty. in these days, it was proclaimed by sound of trumpet, that every one, whatever might be his rank, merchant or otherwise, who should repair to the king's army, should wear the upright cross as a badge, under pain of confiscation of goods and corporal punishment. at this period, also, ambassadors were sent to cambray, the principal of whom were the lord of ivry, and the lord de ligny, a native of hainault, at that time keeper of the king's privy seal, attended by many knights and others, to the amount of two hundred helmets. on their arrival at cambray, they had a conference with the duke of brabant and the countess of hainault, but could not agree on any terms for a peace, on which the ambassadors returned to the king's army, and the duke of brabant and the lady of hainault went back to the duke of burgundy at lille, to signify to him that they had not been able to come to any terms with the king of france. footnotes: [footnote : bapaume,--a strong town in artois, eleven leagues from amiens.] [footnote : miraumont,--a village in picardy, election of peronne.] chap. viii. the inhabitants of arras fortify their town very strongly, and burn and destroy several handsome edifices which were around it. the townsmen of arras, daily expecting to be besieged by the army of the king of france, made great preparations to defend themselves against all adversaries. they erected bulwarks without the walls, and formed barriers of large oak-trees placed one on the other, with deep ditches, so that the walls could not be approached without first having gained these outworks. they planted cannons and veuglaires (veuglaria), with other offensive engines on the walls and towers, to annoy the enemy; and, as i have before said, sir john de luxembourg was governor-general of the place, having under him many very expert captains, whom i have mentioned, and who were always unanimous in their opinions. they resolved to wait for the attack of the king and the princes, and to resist it to the best of their ability; but in the mean time sir john de luxembourg caused proclamation to be made by sound of trumpets throughout the town, that all persons who had wives or families should lose no time in having them and their effects conveyed to other strong places or territories of the duke of burgundy, and that whosoever had not collected necessaries for some months must leave the place. in consequence of these proclamations, many of the inhabitants carried their wives, families and fortunes to the towns of douay, lille, bethune, aire, and other places, according to their pleasure. the governor demolished many handsome buildings and churches that were around the town, namely, the abbey of tieulloy, the churches of the cordeliers, jacobins, and some others. he also burnt on the opposite side of the city the suburbs of baudemont, which were of large extent, and contained many fine edifices, as well inns as other houses; all of which were burnt and destroyed to the confusion of the inhabitants of this suburb. chap. ix. charles king of france, having reduced bapaume to his obedience, marches to lay siege to arras, and to subject that city to his power. king charles of france having, as i have said, reduced the town of bapaume, to his obedience, departed thence on the th day of july with his whole army, and halted at a village called vercourt, situated on a small brook two leagues from arras. he had left his engines of war at bapaume, under the guard of sir gasselin du bos and a sufficient garrison. sir gasselin, as governor of the town, made the mayor, sheriffs and commonalty, take a solemn oath of fidelity to the king, and to him as his governor. from vercourt, the king, passing by arras, was lodged in the town of vailly[ ]; at which place, and before the gates of arras, there were grand skirmishes between the king's army and those within the town. they sallied out of the place in great numbers on horseback against their enemies, of whom they that day, at different times, made sixty or more prisoners, and carried them into the town, with a quantity of baggage. in company with the king were, his eldest son, louis duke of acquitaine, the dukes of orleans, of bourbon, of bar and of bavaria, the counts of vertus, of alençon, of richemont, of vendôme, of auxerre, of la marche, of la marle, of eu, of roussy, the archbishop of sens, the bishop of laon, and the count of armagnac. the lord charles d'albreth, constable of france, was also with the king, and some other knights and esquires of the van division, consisting of three thousand men at arms at least, without including archers, so that the whole of the royal army may be estimated at about two hundred thousand persons of all sorts. the king's quarters at vailly were in a house which had belonged to the templars about a cannon-shot from the town, and the duke of acquitaine was lodged very near him. soon after, the duke of bourbon and others of the van division made an entrance early in the morning into the suburbs of vaudemont, and there established themselves, in spite of the resistance from arras, but it was not without a severe conflict. on another day, the duke of bar, the count de marle and the count d'armagnac, with the rear division, made good a lodgement on the opposite side, in the suburbs of belle-mocte, so that the city of arras was now so completely surrounded that scarcely a single person could venture out without being taken, although, during the siege, there were daily sallies made from the town, sometimes on foot, at others on horseback. the besieged often made sallies from two and even three gates within an hour's time, and on these occasions, as it was afterwards known, they gained more than they lost; for, during the siege, they brought into the place upward of twelve score prisoners, and great numbers were in these sallies always left dead on the field. one particular skirmish took place near the river scarpe, between the suburbs of belle-mocte and the postern of arras, which was very fatal to the besiegers. a party from the vanguard had crossed the river on a plank, one at a time, to the number of six or seven score, purposing to make an attack on the postern; but the besieged instantly sallied forth to combat them, and drove them back to the plank,--when they, finding they could not repass without much danger, rallied and forced their enemies to retreat to the postern. at length by the valour of a man at arms, called perceval le grand, who was the leader of the townsmen, they were again forced to the water's edge, and so vigorously attacked that fifty at least were killed on the spot, or made prisoners: from fifteen to twenty were drowned in attempting to cross the river, whose bodies, in armour, were dragged out on the following day. about twenty of the besieged were killed or taken in their various sallies. among those of name made prisoners were baugeois de la beauvriere, the bastard de belle, the bastard dembrine, and some other gentlemen from burgundy; but they lost the greater part of their best horses in these skirmishes. the castle of belle-mocte, situated near to arras, remained, during the siege, steady to the burgundy party. the guard of it was given to sir fleurant d'ancre and sir symon de behaignon: with them was a man at arms called jean rose, who was strongly suspected of wishing to betray the castle for money,--and on that account was made prisoner and his effects confiscated. this fortress was well defended by the said knights, for the duke of burgundy, although the king's army took great pains to conquer it. to speak of all the different expeditions and incursions the king's troops made during this siege into artois, ternois, and other parts, would make too long a narrative; but i shall notice that which took effect under one of the bastards of bourbon, and other captains, with about one thousand combatants. they went on a foraging party into the county of st pol, from which they gained an immense booty, in peasants, horses, cattle, sheep, and other things: they even advanced to the town of st pol, in which were count waleran, styling himself constable of france, and the countess his wife, sister to the duke of bar. they treated count waleran with much abusive language, and said that he only pretended to be ill, to avoid serving the king, his sovereign lord; and that he had manifested his warm affection to the duke of burgundy by sending his nephew sir john de luxembourg, with the greater part of his vassals, to assist him. notwithstanding the count heard all that was said, he would not suffer any of his men to sally out against them, for fear the king and his council should be more discontented with him, and allowed them to burn a considerable part of the suburbs of st pol: they then returned to the king's army before arras with their plunder. on another day, about twelve hundred combatants assembled, and advanced toward lucheux[ ], ransacking the country as far as the town of hesdin[ ], and committing much destruction; but the garrisons of hesdin, and of other places in the interest of the duke of burgundy, pursued them with such activity and vigour, that they not only recovered several whom they had captured, but made many of them prisoners. thus at different times, were excursions made by the king's forces on parts that held out for the duke of burgundy, by which the poorer people were sorely oppressed and ruined. on the other hand, the garrisons of the duke of burgundy, in his towns of douay, lens[ ], hesdin, maizerolles[ ], and others, made continual excursions and ambuscades against the foragers of the royal forces, and likewise against those who brought provisions to the army from amiens, corbie, and other parts, whom they generally robbed, killed, or made prisoners. hector de saveuses, a very renowned man at arms, was particularly active in his kind of warfare: he usually collected from two to three hundred combatants under his banner, and, by secretly leading them against the king's forces, acquired much fame, and was greatly in the good graces of his lord, the duke of burgundy: his companions were usually philippe and louis de wargis, lamon de launoy, and other expert men at arms. the duke of burgundy, having resolved to relieve arras, sent for all his captains, and, having consulted them, ordered, that on a fixed day they should make an attack on the king's army at vaudemont, where the van division was quartered, under the command of the duke of bourbon; and the garrison was to make a sally to support them, of which they were to be timely informed. these captains assembled a force of about four thousand combatants, whose commanders were the lord de croy, the lord de fosseux, the lord de jumont, the lord de challons, sir gautier de ruppes, and some others, who marched their men to within about four leagues of arras, and thence sent their scouts forward. the names of these scouts were actis, jacques de breumeur, brother to louis de bussy, and others, whose names i have forgotten; but they were all taken by the king's army, and carried to the head-quarters. the duke of burgundy's captains hearing of this, and supposing their intended attack would be known, were much troubled, and, without doing any thing, returned to their garrisons, to the great displeasure of the duke. during the time the king lay before arras, his men took the fortress of avênes le comte, belonging to the duke of burgundy, and villers le châtel from the lord de gournay, both four leagues distant from arras. they were regarrisoned with a considerable force, who much harrassed the adjacent country, and gave the army intelligence of all assemblies of the enemy. all this time the town of arras was constantly attacked by the cannons, veuglaires, bricolles, and other engines, to the great annoyance of its inhabitants, more especially on the side toward vaudemont, and, moreover, several mines were made under the walls. one was particularly directed on this side, with the intent of forming a secret entrance to the city, but it was discovered by a counter-mine of the besieged, and a vigorous skirmish took place within it, each party being armed with lances. the count d'eu fought with sir john de meschastel, lord de montagu, very valiantly, considering his youth: he had been knighted on this occasion by his brother-in-law the duke of bourbon. when this skirmish had lasted some time, both parties retreated to their main army. sir louis bourdon and others were quartered during the siege in the abbey of mount-st-eloy, two leagues off arras: it was surrounded by a strong wall, and consisted of handsome buildings,--the whole, or the greater part of which, were destroyed by them, the gratings, iron, lead, bells, and every thing portable being carried away. thus at this time was the county of artois most severely oppressed by the army of the king of france. footnotes: [footnote : vailly,--a town in picardy, near abbeville.] [footnote : lucheux,--a town in picardy, election of peronne.] [footnote : hesdin,--a strong town in artois on the canche, thirteen leagues from arras.] [footnote : lens,--a town in artois, on the confines of flanders.] [footnote : maizerolles,--a village in artois.] chap. x. the duke of brabant and the countess of hainault visit the king of france when before arras, and negotiate a peace for their brother the duke of burgundy and his allies. on the morrow of st john the baptist's day, the duke of brabant, the countess of hainault, and some deputies from the three estates of flanders, came to the king, to negotiate a peace between him and the duke of acquitaine, and their brother and lord the duke of burgundy. they arrived about two o'clock in the morning, and were graciously received by the king, the duke of acquitaine and others. prior to the negotiation, an armistice was agreed on between the besiegers and besieged, which lasted until the treaty was concluded. this treaty of peace was publicly proclaimed, by sound of trumpet, in front of the king's tent, at eight o'clock in the evening of tuesday the th day of september; and it was strictly ordered, that all persons, under heavy penalties, should lay aside their badges, whether of the party of the king or of the duke of burgundy, who had worn a st andrew's cross, which was instantly done. on the conclusion of the peace, some lords, who were suffering under a flux, left the king's army, namely, louis of bavaria, brother to the queen, the lord charles d'albreth, constable of france, and several more. sir aymé de sellebruche and an infinite number of others, had died of this disorder; and it was this sickness that had caused the king and the princes to listen to terms of peace, that they might return to france. when the peace had been signed, the duke of brabant and the countess of hainault presented to the king, in the name of the duke of burgundy, the keys of the town of arras, promising at the same time that all the towns and castles of the duke within the realm of france should submit themselves to the obedience of the king. it was ordered by the king and council, that the count de vendôme, grand master of the household, should enter the city of arras, to receive the homage of the inhabitants. on his entrance, he had the king's banners placed over the gates; and having received the oaths of the townsmen, by which they promised henceforth to be good and loyal subjects to the king, he appointed the lord de quesnes, viscount de poix, governor of the place, saving and reserving to the duke of burgundy the revenues, and rights of administering justice. the king commanded, by the advice of his council, the duke of brabant, the countess of hainault, and the deputies from the three estates of flanders, to appear on a certain day, which had been agreed on, before him and his council at senlis, to fulfil the covenants, and ratify the peace that had been made by them in the name of the duke of burgundy. on wednesday, the th day of september, some wicked person set fire to the tents of the lord d'alençon, about o'clock at night, and the flames spread so rapidly that with much difficulty he escaped to the tents of the king. the count d'armagnac, seeing the flames, caused his trumpet to be sounded, and ordered the rear division to stand to their arms, who, with the duke of bar, marched out of their quarters in handsome array, and, having set fire to them, drew up in order of battle in different detachments; one in front of the gate of st michael, another before that of st nicholas, another in front of the gate of haisernes; that the enemy might not take advantage of the fire, and make a sally--for though a treaty of peace had been concluded, they had not any great confidence in it. the fire spread with such violence from quarter to quarter that it gained that of the king, and other divisions of the army, so that his majesty and the duke of acquitaine were forced, within one quarter of an hour from its commencement, to escape in a disorderly manner, leaving behind many prisoners, and sick persons, who were burnt to death. several warlike engines, tents, military stores, and many tuns of wine, were all, or the greater part, consumed. the duke of bourbon marched away from vaudemont in a very orderly manner, with the van division of the army; and that same morning, very early, several of the lower ranks in the garrison of the town sallied forth, and seized whatever they could lay hands on, which had belonged to the army, and even robbed many tradesmen, in spite of the orders that had been given to the contrary. those troops who had come from burgundy were particularly active, and, quitting the town in large parties, plundered many of the king's army. in this manner did charles king of france march from arras to bapaume: he thence went to peronne, noyon, compiegne and senlis, where he and his princes remained the whole of the month of september. the peace that had been agreed to before arras, by the interference of the duke of brabant, the countess of hainault, and the deputies from flanders, for the duke of burgundy, was finally concluded at senlis, through the means of louis duke of acquitaine, who had married the daughter of the duke of burgundy, notwithstanding the duke had been the cause of those riots in paris, when the duke of bar and others, his servants, had been arrested against his will. the orleans party had indeed treated him in the same way, by depriving him of his confidential servants, and doing other things which were displeasing to him. he was therefore very anxious that every thing of the sort should be forgotten, and that henceforward the king and himself should be served and obeyed with unanimity by those of their blood and lineage, although he was often remonstrated with on the acts which the duke of burgundy had committed prior to the king's leaving paris; but he frankly replied, that he would put an end to the war, for he saw plainly, that otherwise the king and kingdom were on the road to perdition. the peace, therefore, was concluded on the terms recited in the ensuing chapter. chap. xi. the treaty of peace concluded at arras, which was the fifth, is read in the presence of the duke of acquitaine, and several other princes of the blood-royal, and the oaths that were taken in consequence. the articles of the treaty of peace which had been humbly solicited from the king, on the part of the duke of burgundy, by the duke of brabant, the countess of hainault, and the deputies from flanders, properly authorised by him, were read in the presence of the duke of acquitaine and the members of the king's grand council, and were as follow. 'whereas many mischiefs have been, from time to time, committed against the realm of france, and contrary to the good pleasure and commands of the king, and of his eldest son, the duke of acquitaine, the aforesaid commissioners, duly authorised by the duke of burgundy, do most humbly solicit and supplicate, in the name of the said duke, that all things wherein the duke of burgundy may have failed, or done wrong since the peace of pontois, and in opposition to the will and pleasure of the king and the duke of acquitaine, may be pardoned, and that they would, out of their goodness, receive him again to their graces and favour. 'the said commissioners will deliver to the king, the duke of acquitaine, or to any person or persons they may please to nominate, the keys of the city of arras, and of all the towns and fortified places belonging to the said duke of burgundy within the realm of france, to which the king or his son may appoint governors, or other officers, according to their pleasure, and for so long a time as they may choose, without any way infringing the said peace. 'the duke of burgundy will surrender to the king, or to his commissioner, the castle of crotoy, and replace it in his hands. 'item, the duke of burgundy binds himself to dismiss from his family all who have in any way incurred the indignation of the king or the duke of acquitaine, and no longer to support them within his territories, of which due notice shall be given them in writing. 'item, all the lands or possessions that may have been seized by the king from the vassals, subjects, well-wishers, or partisans, of the duke of burgundy, of whatever kind they may have been, on account of this war, shall be faithfully restored to them. 'in like manner, all sentences of banishment that have been issued for the aforesaid cause shall be annulled; and if the duke of burgundy have seized and kept possession of any lands or possessions of the king's subjects, well-wishers, or of those who may have served the king in this present year, they shall be wholly and completely restored. 'item, notwithstanding the duke's commissioners have affirmed to the king and the duke of acquitaine that he had not entered into any confederation or alliance with the english,--that all suspicions may cease on that head, they now promise for the duke of burgundy, that he will not henceforth form any alliance with the english except with the permission and consent of the king and the duke of acquitaine. 'item, in regard to the reparation of the duke of burgundy's honour, which the said commissioners think has been much tarnished by expressions made use of, and published throughout the realm and elsewhere, in different letters-patent and ordinances,--when the peace shall be fully established and the king is returned to paris, he will consult with his own council, and with such persons as the duke may think proper to send thither, on the best means of reparation, saving the king's honour. item, the duke of burgundy shall engage, on his word, that he will not, by himself or others, persecute or wrong any person who may in this quarrel have served the king personally, or under different captains, nor any burghers of paris, or other inhabitants, by secret or open means, nor procure it to be done. 'item, the king wills and ordains, that his subjects remain in such lawful obedience as they are bound to by the treaty of chartres, or other treaties which may have been afterward made; and should such treaties require any amendment, he orders it to be done, and that they be faithfully observed without the smallest infringement. 'item, for the better security of the observance of these articles by the duke of burgundy, the said duke of brabant, the countess of hainault and the aforesaid deputies, shall swear, as well in their own names and persons as on the part of the prelates, churchmen, nobility and principal towns of their country; that is to say, the said duke of brabant, the countess of hainault and the aforesaid deputies, shall swear, in the name of the said duke of burgundy, for the whole country of flanders, that the said duke of burgundy will strictly observe and keep for ever this good peace, without doing himself, or procuring to be done by others, any act contrary to the true meaning and intent of it. in case the said duke of burgundy shall, by open or secret means, do any thing against the tenour of this peace, then the aforesaid duke of brabant and countess of hainault do engage for themselves not to give him any advice, or assistance of men at arms or money, or in any manner whatever, seeing that the princes of the royal blood, the nobles, prelates, and capital towns in the kingdom, have taken a similar oath. 'the commissioners will also deliver good and sufficient bonds of security, according to the regulation of the king and his council; and they will promise, beside, to use their utmost endeavours that the nobles and others within the town of arras shall loyally make the same oath; and likewise that all who may be at this present under the orders of the duke of burgundy, or in his garrisons in burgundy, artois and flanders, shall do the same when required by the king of france.' when the above articles had been properly drawn up, the different parties swore to their observance. the duke of brabant, the countess of hainault, and the flemish deputies, as being the friends and allies of the duke of burgundy, first took the oath in the presence of the duke of acquitaine, several princes of the blood, and the members of the king's council. the duke of acquitaine then took a solemn oath to keep and preserve every article of the said peace: he then called to him charles duke of orleans, his cousin-german, and desired that he would take this oath; but the duke of orleans, bowing low, replied,--'my lord, i am not bound to swear to it; for i only came, as a king's subject, to serve my lord the king and yourself.' 'fair cousin, we beg that you will swear to the observance of this peace.' the duke of orleans again said, 'my lord, i have not broken the peace, and ought not therefore to take the oath: i entreat you will be satisfied.' the duke of acquitaine a third time required that he would swear,--and the duke of orleans, with much anger, replied, 'my lord, i have not, nor have any of my council, broken the peace: make those who have broken it come hither and take the oath, and then i will obey your pleasure.' the archbishop of rheims, and others, seeing the duke of acquitaine displeased at this last speech, said to the duke of orleans, 'my lord, do what my lord of acquitaine requires of you.' after all this, he did take the oath to maintain the peace, but it was sorely against his will, for he thought that it was the duke of burgundy and his allies who had broken the last peace made at pontoise. the duke of bourbon was next called on to take the oath, who thought to avoid it, like the duke of orleans; but the duke of acquitaine cut him short by saying, 'fair cousin, we beg that you will not say more about it.' the duke of bourbon, and the other princes, then swore without further objection. the prelates did the same, excepting the archbishop of sens, brother to montagu, who when called upon to take the oath by the duke of acquitaine, said, 'my lord, remember what you swore to us all, on our departure from paris, in the presence of the queen.' the duke replied, 'say no more about it: we will that this peace be kept, and that you swear to its observances.' 'my lord,' replied the archbishop, 'since it is your good pleasure, i will do so.' these were the only three among the lords who attended on this occasion that made any objections to taking their oaths. a similar oath was taken in arras by sir john de luxembourg and all the commonalty, and other captains and governors of towns in these parts, before the king and the princes, when they had marched from before arras. during the residence of the king at senlis, many nobles and others died of the flux: among the number were, reminion d'albreth and his brother the lord of hangiers: and several died from the hardships they had suffered during the march and at the siege. when the parisians heard that a peace had been made by the king and the princes with the duke of burgundy, without consulting them, they were much discontented, and went to the duke of berry, their governor, to demand how this peace had been concluded, and what had moved the king and his council to think of it without making them acquainted with their intentions, for it was proper that they should have known of it, and have been made parties to it. the duke of berry replied,--'this matter does not any way touch you, nor does it become you to interfere between our lord the king and us who are of his blood and lineage; for we may quarrel one with another whenever it shall please us so to do, and we may also make peace according to our will.' the parisians, on hearing this answer, returned home without further reply. neither the duke of brabant, the countess of hainault, nor the deputies came to senlis on the day appointed for the ratification of the peace, having been advised to send ambassadors and heralds, namely, the dean of the cathedral church of liege, william blondel, esquire, and others, to appear for them before the king and council as their representatives, at the place and time that had been fixed on. this was done, but they could not obtain any answer to their demands and requests from the grand council, because the king was very ill, and consequently they returned to their lords without having been able to conclude any thing. chap. xii. sigismund of bohemia is elected emperor of germany, and receives the oaths of the greater part of the lords of that country. towards the end of october, sigismund of bohemia, king of hungary, croatia and dalmatia, a valiant man at arms, and a catholic, came with his queen, the daughter of count cilley, a sclavonian, and a grand retinue, to aix la chapelle[ ]. sigismund was first raised by the electors to be king of the romans, and then emperor of germany. on the eighth day of november, he was consecrated and crowned emperor, by the archbishop of cologne, in the church of our lady at aix la chapelle, as is customary; after which ceremony, he was to be confirmed in his dignity by the pope of rome. he and his empress then received the homage and oaths of allegiance from the barons of the empire, promising at the same time that he would attend the general council that was to be holden at constance for the good of the whole church. this council was to have commenced in the month of april in the year , under pope alexander or his successor, but it had been hitherto delayed. this city of constance is seated on the rhine, in the circle of suabia, and its bishop is a suffragan to the archbishop of mentz. it was proclaimed, that the council thus deferred would be held by pope john xxii. successor to the aforesaid alexander. here follow the names of the dukes, prelates, counts, barons, and others, who were present at the coronation of the emperor sigismund at aix la chapelle, on the th of november, . first, duke louis of bavaria, count palatine of the rhine, elector of germany; the duke of saxony, marshal of the empire, another elector of germany; bourgion de nuremburgh, who performed the office of the marquis of brandenburgh, an elector, and other dukes, namely, those of lorraine, gueldres, juliers, and tede, duke of russia: two archbishops, viz. those of cologne and treves, who are also electors of the empire. item, john duke of bavaria, elected prince of liege, duke of bouillon and count of los. item, the council of the king of bohemia, elector of the empire: the council of the archbishop of mentz, another elector of germany. five bishops, namely, those of viseburg[ ], pussau, de st prude d'aylac in hungary, de la cure; the grand master of the german knights-hospitallers, namely of prussia, and the count of cleves. item, accusaire, son to the marquis of montferrat, de meurs, and de saussebourg; the lord de haudeshon and de renuen. item, de dezaine, and three counts de nassau; the count de cassuelbonne and his son; the counts de rayneck, and hanyberck de viectem, de mestan, the count de disby, and with him two other counts; de villestam, de wide, de blancquehem, de samecte, and de viestam; sir john chaule, viscount de milan, the lord de brimor, de bestille, the lord de bavonne. now follow the names of those who came from hungary: first, charles de nicolay, grand palatine of hungary, marcial nicolay his son, count de tenuse, wart lord de strebourg, governor of seven castles, two counts ambassadors from vallanc[ ] of the country of servia, vergufiam, vaida, siandrias, peduricolaus, lasque jacobiadis de vaida, lasqudany his brother, the count john de carnassie, the count george de carnassie, penyemericus, sir laurens de ront de pasto, the lord tarte nicolay, sir chechy nicolay, sir janus vaida, grand master of the household of king sigismund, sir baufil de symon, peron emerick, thomas perisii, resquoy estewan sywaidu desno charpictre, marshal of hungary. item, the barons of bohemia that attended at this coronation were, first, sir william le haze, sir vincelan de douy, sir suit de sida, and three barons of his lineage with him, sir gaspard de douy, the lord d'illebourg, the lord de blentenon, sir andrew balesqui. now follow the names of the barons of lower germany: the lord de hausseberch, the damoiseau d'ercles, sir john de namur, the lords de hainault, de lembourg, vinstghen, de belay, de picquebat, and two other barons with the baron de bendecte, de yussebourg, and two other barons with him, de berdecte, hanrech, de wysebeche, de toncle, sir fulco de honnestam, bougraine, de raynech, the lords de holloch, de vestrebourg, de connebourg, and two other barons with him, sir florin du bos, the lords de horne and derke, sir fucho de cologne mareschal d'absectes, sir othe de l'abecque, the lord de zenemberghe, the lord de marc. the names of those princes and others who sent ambassadors to this coronation: first, the ambassadors from the king of bohemia, the ambassadors from the king of england, the ambassadors from the archbishop of mentz, from the count of hainault, from de posti romaine, from the count of savoy, from the duke of brabant, from the duke of luxembourg, from the abbot of stabuleuse[ ], from the cities of cambray, cologne, toul, and verdun, from the abbot of sainte corneille de compiégne. footnotes: [footnote : sigismund was first married to mary, heiress of hungary, and secondly to barbara, countess of cilley. when emperor, he had john huss and jerome of prague burnt.] [footnote : visebourg. q. if not vissegrade.] [footnote : vallanc,--probably the waivodo. i have given over in despair the making out these names of persons and places.] chap. xiii. the death of ladislaus king of naples.--his rival king louis sends the marshal of france to naples,--and other matters. in these days, intelligence was brought to the king of france, that king ladislaus, the rival to louis king of sicily, was dead. the manner of his death was thus told. he had long had a passion for the daughter of his physician, who was uncommonly handsome, and had made frequent proposals to her father, that he might enjoy her; but the father had as often refused, alledging many sound reasons for it. at length, he was so much pressed by the king that, finding excuses would no longer avail, he pretended to consent, though it was against his will, as the end will shew. he went, in consequence, to his daughter, to command her to prepare to receive the king, for that he had granted his consent,--but he would give her a prescription that should secure her the king's affections for ever; and he presented her with a box of ointment, with which he ordered her to rub her body just before the king's arrival. this she faithfully did; but when the king had cohabited with her, he felt himself as it were all on fire, and the damsel was in like manner affected,--insomuch that they almost instantly died in very great torments. after this cruel deed, the physician fled the country before hands could be laid on him. intelligence of the event being made known to king louis, he issued summonses for a large force to assemble and accompany him to naples; but he sent before him the lord de longny, marshal of france, with a considerable body of men. during the residence of the king at senlis, the duke of acquitaine was appointed by him and the grand council to the whole management of the finances of the kingdom, which was very displeasing to the duke of berry; and in consequence, he assembled the provost of merchants, the sheriffs, the citizens, the members of the university, of the chambers of parliament and of accounts, at a certain place in paris, where he caused them to be harangued by the bishop of chartres, and others of his friends, on the infirmity of the king, and on the youth of his eldest son, who, from that cause, was as yet incapable of holding the reins of government; and that from his near connection by blood, (for he was son, brother, and uncle to kings,) the government of the kingdom of right appertained to him and to none other; and he therefore most affectionately solicited those present to aid and support his pretensions. they replied, that it did not become them to interfere in such matters, but solely to the king and the grand council, and excused themselves to the duke for not complying with his request. at the beginning of september, the king departed from senlis and came to st denis, where he remained until the fourteenth of that month, when he returned to paris in great triumph, attended by his son the duke of acquitaine. he was also accompanied by the dukes of orleans, bourbon, bar, duke louis of bavaria, the counts de vertus, d'alençon, de richemont, d'eu, d'armagnac, de la marche, de vendôme, de marle, de dampmartin, and numberless other barons, prelates, knights and esquires. the duke went out of paris to meet the king, with the provost of merchants, the sheriffs, members of the parliament and of the university, citizens and crowds of common people, who kept a continual shouting for joy on account of his majesty's return to paris. they made great bonfires in all the principal streets and squares, during the ensuing night, eating and drinking, and shouting repeatedly, 'long live the king, long live the queen, long live the king and his son the duke of acquitaine!' footnotes: [footnote : stabuleuse,--stablo, stabletum, stabulum, a celebrated abbey of benedictines, inclosed within the country of liege. the abbot of stablo is a sovereign, and bears the title of prince of the empire.] chap. xiv. the duke of burgundy, on the king's departure from before arras, marches a force into burgundy.--other events that happened at that period. when the king of france had marched his army from before arras, the duke of burgundy had his burgundians quartered in the country of the cambresis, and in tierrache, and went himself to the city of cambray. thither his brother, the duke of brabant, came to meet him, when, after holding a conference with him on the state of his affairs, and giving proper orders concerning them, he took the road toward burgundy, having with him sir robinet de mailly, master eustace de lactre, the late chancellor of france, john legois, master john de troyes surgeon, denisot de chaumont, and several others who had been formerly banished, with their wives and children, from france. he collected all his burgundians, who, with some picards and others, amounted to about twenty thousand horse, to march them into burgundy, following the road through tierrache, where he halted. he thence went to mezieres on the meuse, in the county of rethel, with his whole army. at this place he remained a short time with his brother philippe, and thence made for châlons where he intended to lodge; but the townsmen shut their gates against him, in consequence of orders from the king not to admit him or his people into their town. this was displeasing to the duke of burgundy, for he had made his dispositions to cross the marne at that city. he then marched to vitry, where he was again disappointed, in consequence of the same orders that had been sent to châlons. he was forced to continue his march to st dizier, where he crossed the river; and on the vigil of all-saints, he arrived at dijon, and was received with the utmost joy by all his subjects as their lord and sovereign. during this time, the epidemical flux continued in picardy, which carried off great numbers of persons, nobles and others. the duke of burgundy before he left picardy disbanded the army of his captains of that country, such as sir john de luxembourg, the lords de croy, de beau, vergier, de fosseux, de jumont, de ront, de beaufort, de noyelle, de hymbercourt, hector and philippe de saveuses, louis de warigines, and other leaders; but these lords remained as guards to the country. he appointed on his departure, his only son, philippe count de charolois, sole governor of flanders until his return. on his arrival in burgundy, he had attacked and taken the castle of tonnerre, which was pillaged and destroyed by his people. the count de tonnerre had fled from the castle with his men at arms, not daring to wait the arrival of the duke's forces, who were commanded by sir elion de jacqueville, fierebourg, and some others. shortly after, the duke of burgundy sent letters to the king of france, to inform him of the route he had taken from flanders to burgundy, at what places he had paid his expenses, and where not, with his reasons for not paying. at the same time, he made him acquainted with the destruction of the castle of tonnerre, and that he had destroyed it, because the count, his vassal, had frequently rebelled against him, had defied him, and had made enterprises on his territories, whence he had carried away much booty. this he had explained, lest it might be thought he was breaking the peace lately made before arras, which he was firmly resolved to keep. the duke had besieged also château-belin, in the county of burgundy, which likewise belonged to the count de tonnerre; and although it was very strong, it was won by the great length of the siege. this castle he gave to his son, the count de charolois, who during the lifetime of his father, styled himself count de charolois and lord of château-belin. a council was now held at constance, by many cardinals, patriarchs, bishops, archbishops, prelates and ambassadors from different kings and princes. there was a great schism in the church from the refusal of pietro della luna, entitled pope benedict to resign this dignity, although, for many reasons, the greater part of christendom had withdrawn itself from his obedience. he had no power but in spain and arragon, in which last kingdom he resided, in a strong town on the sea-shore. in this year, the emperor of germany caused the cardinal of bologna, called pope john, to be arrested, and confined in prison in the duchy of bavaria, for various crimes alledged against him. to restore peace to the church, the emperor had caused this council to be holden in constance: it continued for the space of two years, before any persons came to attend it from spain or arragon. in the month of august, in the year , a noble company of prelates and knights being assembled, the election of a true pope was proceeded upon. in the year , the choice fell on the cardinal de colonna, a roman, who assumed the name of pope martin. chap. xv. count waleran de st pol marches about six hundred combatants into the duchy of luxembourg.--the duke of acquitaine goes to mehun-sur-yevre. at this period, waleran count de st pol, still calling himself constable of france, left his county of st pol with about six hundred combatants, men at arms and archers, of whom sixty at least were english. he marched them from his town of bohain to that of laon, but the gates were closed against him. he was much displeased thereat, and fixed his quarters below it. he thence marched by rheims and châlons to his town of ligny in barrois, whither his countess, sister to the duke de bar, speedily followed him; and they there solemnised the feast of all-saints. shortly after, leaving his countess in the castle of ligny, he advanced through luxembourg, to thionville, and to others of the principal towns in that duchy, of which he had been appointed governor, as well as of the county of chigny, by duke anthony of brabant, his son-in-law, then sovereign of it, by right of the duchess his mother. after visiting the chief towns and fortresses in that country, he made preparations, about st andrew's day, to lay siege to the town of neufville on the meuse, in which were some vainglorious and overbearing persons, posted there by john d'authe, lord of orchimont, who were constantly making inroads and plundering the duchy of luxembourg and the county of chigny. they were consequently besieged by the count, who had in his company some notable warriors, namely, garnot de bournouville, sir colart de fiennes, allain de vaudonne, and several others. however, although the besieged were sorely harrassed by the engines of the count, and their bulwark had been taken by storm, they refused to surrender, and he remained for six weeks before the place. other matters demanding his presence elsewhere, he fortified a church, within cross-bow shot of the castle, in which he posted a certain number of soldiers, under the command of a gentleman of that country, called vatier disque, in conjunction with robinet ogier; and they were for another six weeks skirmishing and fighting with their enemies, who at the end of that time submitted themselves to the obedience of the count de st de pol. the count, on quitting the siege of neufville, went to dampvilliers[ ], and thence to yvoix[ ], where he passed the whole of lent with his nephew, sir john de luxembourg, who had come a little before to visit him at the siege. when sir john had remained about a month, he took leave of his uncle, who never saw him afterwards, and went to avignon, to visit and pay reverence to the holy peter of luxembourg, his uncle, who had formerly been a cardinal. at this period, the duke of acquitaine, leaving paris, travelled through melun, and montargis in berry, to bourges, where he arrived on the night of all-saints, and was magnificently received and feasted by the burghers and inhabitants of that town in the palace of the duke of berry. on the morrow he departed, unknown to the inhabitants, and went to the castle of mehun-sur-yevre[ ], which the duke of berry had given to him at paris, and was the cause of his journey into berry. the castle pleased him very much, and, having taken possession of it, he did not return to paris until near the feast of st nicholas. this sudden expedition of the duke of acquitaine, with only seven persons, surprised many; but he was instantly overtaken by the counts de vertus and de richemont, who accompanied him as he went and returned. footnotes: [footnote : dampvilliers,--a town in luxembourg, diocese of verdun.] [footnote : yvoix,--now called carignan, a town in luxembourg.] [footnote : mehun-sur-yevre,--four leagues from bourges.] chap. xvi. the earl of warwick and others from england attend the council of constance.--the king of france has solemn obsequies performed for his brother, the duke of orleans. the earl of warwick, three bishops, four abbots, and other noble knights, clerks and doctors in theology, to the number of about eight hundred, travelled from calais, through flanders, with a handsome retinue, as commissioners from the king of england, his realm, and the university of oxford, to the council of constance. they were well received by the new emperor, whose coronation some of them had attended as ambassadors from the king of england, the pope and the whole council. as the day was drawing near when the countess of hainault and her brother, the duke of brabant, with the deputies from flanders, were to meet to ratify the late peace at senlis, between the duke of burgundy and the king of france; and as the grand council was then very much engaged in business, louis duke of bavaria, sir colart de calville and others were sent as ambassadors from the king to prolong the day. on saturday, the eve of the epiphany, the king ordered a solemn service to be performed in the cathedral church of nôtre dame in paris, for his late brother the duke of orleans, which had not been as yet done. it was celebrated with a multitude of wax lights and torches, and attended by the duke of orleans and the count de vertus, the dukes of berry, of bourbon, louis of bavaria, the counts d'alençon, de richemont, d'eu, de la marche, and many more, all dressed in deep mourning. the duke of acquitaine was not present, he had gone the preceding day to visit the queen his mother, and his sister the duchess of brittany at melun. at these obsequies the sermon was preached by the chancellor of the cathedral, doctor john gerson, much renowned for his theological learning; and it was so strong and bold that many doctors and others present were astonished thereat. when he praised the manners of the deceased duke and his government of the realm, he declared that it had been by far better administered by him than it had ever been since his death. he seemed, in this discourse, more desirous of exciting a war against the duke of burgundy than of appeasing it; for he said, he did not recommend the death of the duke of burgundy, or his destruction, but that he ought to be humiliated, to make him sensible of the wickedness he had committed, that by a sufficient atonement he might save his soul. he added, that the burning, last lent, of the propositions advanced by the duke's advocate, john petit, against the duke of orleans, before the gates of the cathedral, as wicked doctrines, had been well done; but that all that was necessary had not yet been executed. he concluded by declaring, that he was ready to maintain and defend what he had said against the whole world. the king was present, but not in mourning, in an oratory on the right hand of the altar; and near him was the duke of orleans, who took precedence of all others, on account of this service that was performed for his late father; then the duke of berry, the count de vertus, and several princes seated according to their rank, listening to the words of the preacher. two cardinals, namely, those of rheims and of pisa, many bishops, and such crowds of clergy, knights and common people assisted, that the church could scarcely contain them. when the sermon was ended, the dukes of orleans and berry, and the count de vertus, recommended the preacher to the king's notice. on the ensuing monday, the king had similar obsequies performed for the late duke of orleans, in the church of the celestins in paris, where he had been buried. they were attended by all who had assisted at the former ceremony. master john courbecuisse, doctor of divinity, preached the sermon, and pursued the same course of arguments as doctor gerson. the king likewise had vigils, funeral orations and masses, said for his late brother, in the chapel of the college of navarre in paris, at which he and the other relations of the deceased assisted. chap. xvii. the king and his grand council send forces to attack the burgundians.--other events that happened. true it is, that after the destruction of the castle of tonnerre, as has been mentioned, many men at arms and archers, who had been there employed, formed themselves into a company of full seven thousand horse, and committed much mischief on the country around, as well on the territories of the king in the auxerrois as elsewhere. in consequence, the king and council ordered the lord de gaucourt, and gassilin du bos, to march against and conquer them. they obeyed, and so vigorously pursued them that from two to three hundred were killed or made prisoners. these last were carried to paris, and confined in the prisons of the châtelet, whence, after a short time, they were brought to trial, and some of them executed, but not before the king had paid their ransoms to those who had taken them. the commanders of these marauders were jacqueville, fierbourg, and some others, who, when they heard that the king was sending a force against them, retired into the duchy of burgundy. not long after, sir jeninet de pois, nephew to sir james de châtillon, lord de dampierre, and admiral of france, going to the duke of burgundy, attended by only two hundred lances or thereabout, was attacked, killed and robbed of every thing. only one man, named tambullan, of his whole company, escaped, and he saved himself by flight: all the rest were slain or taken. this action was very displeasing to the duke of burgundy. in like manner hector de saveuses, who had made a successful war on the king's forces, when before arras, was captured when on a pilgrimage to liance[ ], and carried to paris: had it not been for the earnest solicitations of the countess of hainault, he would have been executed. philip de saveuses, his brother, had also made prisoners of henry de boissy, lord de chaulle, and eustace dayne, lord de sarton, who had warm friends among the king's ministers; and they exerted themselves so effectually for their liberty, that hector was given in exchange for them. these, and many similar facts, shewed that, notwithstanding the peace of arras, there was very little security in the kingdom for travellers or others: for the orleans party had so surrounded the persons of the king and the duke of acquitaine, that those attached to the duke of burgundy or his allies were deprived of all share in the government, and treated very harshly. this treatment, however, was but a retaliation for what the orleans party had suffered when the burgundians were in power. peace was somehow or other preserved; and the countess of hainault came, with a noble attendance, through the vermandois, noyon and compiegne to senlis: the deputies from flanders followed her, handsomely escorted; and last came the duke of brabant, with the chief ministers of the duke of burgundy, namely, the bishop of tournay, the lord de ront, sir william bouvier, governor of arras, master thierry du roy, and some others. the council of the king of france requested them to proceed to paris, for the purpose of more conveniently discussing the subject, which was complied with by all except the countess of hainault, who had been forbidden by her lord and husband to go farther than senlis, where she had been very honourably received by the dukes of acquitaine and berry, who had come from paris to meet her. she was visited by other princes of the blood, and even by the duchess of bourbon, who with the consent of her duke, had come from clermont to entertain her, and remained in her company until she quitted senlis. footnotes: [footnote : q. if not liannes, a village in picardy.] chap. xviii. ambassadors arrive at paris from england.--the king of france holds a grand festival.--the peace is every where preserved. at this period, there came to paris the earl of dorset, uncle to the king of england, the lord guy, admiral of england, the bishops of durham and norwich, and others, amounting, in the whole, to six hundred horse, as ambassadors to treat of a marriage between the king of france's daughter and the king of england[ ]. they were lodged on their arrival at the temple, and they carried themselves so magnificently, as well at home as when they rode abroad, that the french, and particularly the parisians, were very much astonished. on the th day of february, the king of france gave at paris a very grand festival of eating, drinking, tilting and dancing, at which the english ambassadors were present. the king tilted with the duke d'alençon, whom he had lately raised to that dignity. the duke of brabant tilted in great cordiality with the duke of orleans; and during this festival, which lasted three days, the princes of the blood conducted themselves kindly and honourably toward each other. the queen of france, the duchess of acquitaine, and many other noble ladies and damsels, assisted at the feast. on the th day of february, after many conferences with the duke of brabant and the countess of hainault, as well at paris as at senlis, and with the ministers of the duke of burgundy, the peace was finally concluded, and proclaimed with sound of trumpet through paris, according to royal letters of the following tenor: 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to all present and to come. whereas many acts have been done since the conclusion of the peace at pontoise, to our very great displeasure, and damage to our subjects and kingdom; for which cause we have held our beloved cousin, the duke of burgundy in our indignation and disfavour, and have marched a considerable body of men at arms and archers against the town of arras. during the time, we lay before that town, our well-beloved and dear cousins the duke of brabant and countess of hainault came thither, accompanied by our dearly-beloved the deputies from the three estates of flanders, as commissioners, and having full powers to treat on the part of our said cousin of burgundy, with so much humility and obedience that we were contented therewith. 'in confirmation of the duke of burgundy's willingness to submit himself to our obedience, they offered on the part of the town of arras to display our banner on the walls and towers thereof, and also to place under our subjection all the towns and castles which our said cousin of burgundy held from us. we therefore, in our abundance of affection, have received him back into our good graces. 'our said cousins the duke of brabant and the countess of hainault, and the deputies from flanders, engaged to deliver to us, or to any person whom we might depute, the castle of crotoy, as well as the castle of chinon; and that they would, to the utmost of their power, see that they were fully restored to us, or to any person whom we should commission to receive them. many other matters relative to the restoring of peace were then discussed, and, in consequence, we ourselves withdrew with our army from before arras. for the further consolidation of this agreement for peace, our said cousins of brabant, hainault, and the deputies from flanders have again come to us, as ambassadors from our cousin of burgundy, with whom, in the presence of our dearly beloved son the duke of acquitaine, dauphin of vienne, the preliminaries before mentioned have been confirmed. 'know ye, that from the pity and compassion which we must feel for all who have suffered oppressions and vexations which ever ensue during a state of warfare, and which our faithful and beloved subjects have lately undergone; and that they may cease, so that tranquillity, justice, and legal government may take place within our realm; that labourers may do their work, and tradesfolk travel throughout the kingdom unmolested wherever they shall judge proper, without let or hindrance whatever. considering also the value of peace, which is inestimable, and the great evils that ensue from war, of which we have lately had such bitter experience; and that all creatures may have better opportunities to amend their lives and turn toward their creator, we of our own knowledge, and with full power and royal authority, by the advice of our council, and after the mature consideration of our eldest son, of many of the princes of our blood, prelates, barons and knights of our council and courts of parliament, so will, order and command, that a firm peace be established within our realm, between our subjects, and that all rancour and malice cease, forbidding all persons, whatever may be their rank or condition, under pain of our highest displeasure, to bear arms or to proceed against any one otherwise than by legal means. 'for the better preservation of this peace, and out of reverence to god, wishing to prefer mercy to rigorous justice, we from the plenitude of our power and by our full royal authority, do grant a general and free amnesty to all persons whether natives or foreigners, of whatever rank or condition they be, who shall have aided, abetted, counselled or supported our said cousin, the duke of burgundy, contrary to our royal will and pleasure, since the said peace of pontois until this day,--excepting, however, from this amnesty five persons, who are not noble, nor subjects nor vassals to our said cousin of burgundy, and whose names shall be given to our cousins of brabant and hainault before the feast of the nativity of st john the baptist next ensuing. we likewise except from this general pardon all who may have been banished by our courts of justice by legal processes, with the usual ceremonies and solemnities. 'for the further preservation of this peace, and to avoid all causes of sedition and dispute hereafter, we will and ordain that all persons who may have quitted their dwellings in paris for the space of two years, shall not return nearer than within four or five leagues of our said town of paris, reserving to ourself any favours which we may be inclined to show to the contrary. we will, however, that the said absentees may go any where throughout our realm, excepting to our town of paris, without any molestation whatever, either in body or goods. 'to maintain our subjects in peace and to obviate any disputes of office, which, having formerly happened, may do so again, we will and order, that all offices given by us since the said peace of pontoise, shall remain in our full disposition and power, without those who may have been deprived of them having any claim or pretence of being restored to them. with regard to the prisoners, we will do strict justice; for it is our pleasure that no lord, baron, knight, esquire, or other persons, under pretence of services not performed to us, or for services done to our said cousin of burgundy, shall be prosecuted or molested in body or goods, but that all lands, castles, or any territories whatever, that may have been taken possession of, and held by our officers for us, on account of the late war, shall be fully and completely restored to their true and lawful owners, without any fees or charges claimed in regard to us; and we now impose silence on our attorney-general, although the different cases be not specified particularly by us, in order more effectually to put an end to all disputes and suits at law that may have arisen from the events of the late war. 'we will, order and enjoin, that our said cousin the duke of burgundy do forbear, by himself or others for him, to disturb or any way molest, either by open or secret means, such of our subjects and vassals of every degree, as shall have served us in our warfare against him; and such of his subjects and vassals as, through fear of offending us, have not served him in conformity to the different ordinances issued by us; and that he be particularly cautious, under pain of incurring our displeasure, that this article be truly attended to, for we positively forbid our said cousin of burgundy to take any cognizance whatever of the above acts. 'we likewise forbid all others of our blood and lineage to commit, or cause to be committed by others for them, any acts of hostility against our said vassals and subjects, as well as against those of our said cousin the duke of burgundy; for we strictly ordain, that they do not take any cognizance of offences that may have been caused by the late warfare. 'we will and command, that our said cousin the duke of burgundy do punctually restore all castles, lands, or fiefs that he may have taken from our vassals and subjects, as well as from his own, on account of services performed to us or neglected to have been done to him, and that he order away from him all who may be inclined to disturb the lawful owner in the possession of them. 'we in like manner enjoin all those of our blood and lineage who may have possessed themselves of any castles, lands, or other effects of any lord, baron, knight, esquire, or others, under cover of the late warfare, to restore them instantly to their proper owners, without further molestation, or making them pay any fees or charges for their restitution, in order that this said peace may be faithfully and religiously maintained. 'we likewise will and command, that all the articles of the peace concluded at chartres, and of others which have since been made, be most particularly observed; and we strictly enjoin all those of our blood and lineage, that they do not, on any pretence whatever, form any alliances with the english, or with others, to our prejudice or to the prejudice of this peace; and should any such have been formed, we positively command that all treaties be returned and annulled, and that any person who may have concluded them do deliver to us sufficient security for the due performance of these our orders. 'and we further enjoin, for the better security of this peace, that our said cousin of brabant, the ambassadors from our cousin of burgundy, and the deputies before named from flanders, in the name of themselves, the three estates in that country, and in behalf of our said cousin of burgundy, our very dear and well-beloved cousins the counts de charolois and de nevers, do each of them swear and promise,--those who are now present in our hands, and those absent in the hands of our deputies,--on their faith and oath, and on the cross and holy evangelists of god, that they will loyally and honestly observe this peace, and all the articles of it; and that they will not, by open or other means any way violate or infringe the same, under pain of incurring our highest displeasure and indignation. 'and should it happen that any person, whether noble or not, do interrupt this peace, or act contrary thereto, they shall promise not to give them any encouragement, aid or advice, but shall endeavour to stifle all such attempts before they gain any head. 'copies of these oaths and engagements shall be delivered into our chancery, signed by each party, and sealed with their seals, that a perfect remembrance may be had of this transaction. 'similar oaths and promises shall be taken and made, under the like penalty, by our very dear and well-beloved cousins, uncle, son and nephew, the cardinal de bar, the king of sicily, the dukes of berry, de tours, d'orleans, de bretagne, de bourbon, d'alençon, and de bar; the counts de vertus, d'eu, richemont, de dreux constable of france, de la marche, de vendôme grand master of the household, de marle, le bouteiller de france, d'armagnac, de st pol, de penthievre, and de tancarville, with all others of our blood and lineage, and the members of the three estates in their countries. those present will take the oath in our hands, and the absent in the hands of our deputies: they will each deliver into our chancery copies of their oath and promise, signed and sealed by them, that the remembrance of it may endure for ever. 'we also ordain, that the aforesaid oath and engagement shall be taken before our commissioners, under pain of the above-mentioned penalties, by all prelates, knights, barons, captains, bailiffs, seneschals, provosts, and others our officers, vassals and subjects of all ranks, ecclesiastical and secular, noble and not noble, who shall each of them sign and seal his separate engagement, which shall be transmitted to our chancery for the aforesaid purpose. 'item, our said cousin of burgundy, and all the afore-mentioned princes of our blood, shall send letters to their subjects and vassals, requiring them to take their oaths in like manner. and for the better security of this peace, our said cousin of brabant, the countess of hainault, and the deputies aforesaid, shall exert their utmost power to prevail on our very dear and well-beloved cousins duke william of bavaria, count of hainault, the duke of lorraine, the count of savoy, the bishop of liege, the count of namur, and such others as they think proper, to take a similar oath and promise to observe all the articles of the peace. 'we also will and command, that should any excesses be committed which might endanger the aforesaid peace, it shall not therefore be broken; but the party who shall feel himself injured shall appeal to our courts of justice, when such reparation shall be made him as the case may legally require. 'we consequently, give it strictly in charge to our dear and loyal the constable, the chancellor, the members of our courts of parliament, the marshals of france, the master of the cross-bows, the high admiral, the provost of paris, to all our seneschals, bailiffs, governors, mayors, sheriffs, and all others our officers whatever, to each and to all of them, that they do pay attention to the articles of of the said peace, and that they do not suffer the smallest of them to be in any wise violated or infringed; and should any thing be done contrary to their true tenour and meaning, they will cause such persons to be instantly arrested as disturbers of the public peace, and punish them as guilty of high treason toward us and toward the state, so that they may serve for examples to all others who may be inclined to act in the same way. 'we ordain that these presents be proclaimed in the most public manner in the usual places, that no one may pretend ignorance thereof; and we enjoin all persons who may hear or know of any one that shall utter words in public or otherwise against the honour of the aforesaid persons of our blood and lineage, or to the disgrace of this said peace, that they do denounce him or them to our officers of justice, that punishment may ensue according to the exigence of the case, and that they may be proceeded against as rebels to our commands and ordinances. 'that these presents may have their due weight, we have hereunto set our seal. given at paris in the month of february in the year of grace , and of our reign the th.' signed by the king and his grand council. countersigned, 'estienne mauregard.' as this peace was proclaimed throughout paris, so was it published in divers parts of the kingdom of france. footnotes: [footnote : for particulars of this embassy, &c. see the foedera.] chap. xix. three portuguese perform a deed of arms against three frenchmen, in the presence of the king of france.--the portuguese are vanquished. at this period, there was a combat between three portuguese and three frenchmen, performed at the king's palace of st ouen near to paris. the names of the portuguese were the lord d'alenton, sir jean cousaille knight, and sir peter cousaille. the three frenchmen were sir françois de grignaulx, marigon, and la rocque. the portuguese, as the challengers, were first introduced into the lists by the earl of dorset and the other english lords. the french were conducted by clugnet de brabant, admiral of france, john brother to the duke de bar, and several more. after the accustomed proclamations had been made, in the king's name, the combat began, and was hard fought, but at length the portuguese surrendered themselves as vanquished, to save their lives, to the great indignation and displeasure of the english, who had conducted them to the lists. the portuguese were, by the king's command, put out of the lists, and the french honourably escorted home very much rejoiced at their victory. when the business of the peace had been concluded, the countess of hainault left senlis, and returned to her country and to her lord duke william. the english, about the same time, departed from paris, after having been magnificently feasted and honoured by the king and his princes, and having likewise been presented with rich gifts. they did not, however, succeed in the object of their mission, namely, the marriage of their king with the lady catherine of france, because their demands for her portion were unreasonable and excessive, such as the duchy of normandy, the county of ponthieu, with the duchy of acquitaine, to be held as inheritances for ever. the king of france, in reply, told them that he would shortly send ambassadors to england with his final answer to the request they had made. chap. xx. the peace of arras solemnly sworn to in the presence of the king of france.--it is afterwards sworn to in divers other places. on the th day of march, in this year, the duke of brabant, the bishop of tournay, the lord de ront, sir william bouvier, governor of arras, counsellors and ambassadors from the duke of burgundy, and the deputies from the three estates of flanders, having full powers from the duke of burgundy for this purpose, swore in the name of the said duke, and in his behalf in the presence of the king of france, on the true cross and holy evangelists of god; and in like manner the duke of brabant and the others above mentioned, for themselves in their own private capacities, swore to the full observance and preservation of all the articles of the peace first treated of before arras and confirmed at paris. the dukes of berry, orleans, alençon and bourbon, the counts d'eu, de vendôme, grand master of the household, the lord de prayaux, the chancellor of france, the archbishops of sens, bourges, rouen, the bishops of laon, lisieuz, paris, chartres, the chancellor of acquitaine, the count de tancarville and others, took the same oath in the presence of the king and the grand council. commissioners were then sent by the king from paris, namely, the master of the cross-bows of france, the lord de rambures, and master jean de vailly, first president of the parliament, to tournay, where they arrived in the month of march. the duke of brabant, the countess of hainault, philip of burgundy count of charolois, the nobles and prelates of ghent, and other great towns in flanders, there met them. when the king's letter had been read, the count de charolois, and all present, took the oath required, in the hands of the said commissioners, and in the presence of the duke of brabant and the countess of hainault, promising on their own behalf to keep the said peace, and to pay attention to the contents of the king's letter. in like manner did the prelates, nobility, and others of the town of tournay and the adjacent countries, make oath, delivering their certificates signed and sealed by them, as the count de charolois and the flemings had done to the commissioners, to be carried to estienne mauregard, the master of the rolls, at paris. the count de charolois, after the holy week, convoked, at arras, all the nobility, clergy, and inhabitants of the country of artois and its dependancies, who all swore, and delivered in certificates, as those of tournay had done. commissioners were afterward sent into burgundy, to receive the oaths of the duke and of the estates of the duchy and its dependancies. these commissioners were the lord de tynouville and master symon de vanterre, president, of the parliament, who received the oaths and certificates, and sent them to the master of the rolls at paris; but the duke himself refused to swear, and said he must speak to the king and the duke of acquitaine before he made oath to keep the peace, on certain causes that affected him. [a.d. .] chap. xxi. the commonalty and clergy of amiens are assembled to swear to the observance of the peace of arras. at the beginning of this year, those of amiens wrote such letters as follow. 'the mayor, sheriffs, and commonalty of amiens make known, that on the th day of the month of april, in the year , by orders from master john de vailly, president of the parliament and commissioner in these parts in the name of the king, the inhabitants of this town were collected in the market-place by sound of bell from house to house, when we being present, with the principal inhabitants, this said president caused to be read to us letters from the king of the following purport: 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france,' &c. (and similar to what i have before detailed),--which being ended, we, and all the people assembled, made oath, and faithfully promised on the cross and holy evangelists of god, and we now by these presents do swear and promise punctually to observe and keep all the articles of the peace lately ratified, as far as it shall concern us, and conformably to the will and pleasure of the king our lord, as contained in these his said letters. in testimony whereof, we have to these presents affixed the common seal of the town of amiens. given on the day and year before mentioned.' the substance of the above was copied by two apostolical notaries, who certified that the aforesaid ordinance had been published, and the colleges assembled in the chapter-house of the cathedral of nôtre dame of amiens, who had sworn to the same. these were sealed with the seal of the bishop of amiens, of the chapter, and of the other chapters and colleges, and given to the bailiff of amiens to carry to master estienne mauregard, master of the rolls in paris. the bailiff caused the king's proclamation to be published every where within his jurisdiction, except within the lands of the duke of burgundy: he received the oaths of all ranks of persons to the due observance of the same, and the proper certificates from each prelate, noble, and others resident within his baliwick. thus were these ordinances respecting the peace proclaimed throughout all the bailiwicks and seneschalships in the realm, at the usual places; and then oaths and certificates were demanded by the commissioners from the clergy, nobles, and chief towns, and delivered at paris in the same manner as the others had been. chap. xxii. the count waleran de st pol dies at yvoix, in the county of chiny in luxembourg.--the princes of the blood go to melun, by orders from the queen and the duke of acquitaine. on the th day of april, in this same year , waleran count de saint pol and de ligny, calling himself constable of france, fell ill in the castle of yvoix, in the county of chiny. his disorder, as it was reported, was occasioned by his physician having administered to him too strong a clyster; and about twelve days after, he departed this life, and was buried in front of the great altar in the principal church in yvoix, amidst the tears and lamentations of his attendants,--although he had ordered, by a will made in his lifetime, that his body should be carried to the abbey of cercamp, of which his ancestors the counts de st pol had been the founders. in the course of his illness, he had sent for his countess, the sister to the duke of bar, having an earnest desire to converse with her before his last hour; but, notwithstanding the diligence she made to comply with his request, she did not arrive, accompanied by a niece of the count's, sister to sir john luxembourg, until about two hours after his decease, although they had rode a straddle, on hard-trotting horses, to make the more speed. they were much shocked on hearing of his death. when the countess had remained at yvoix about eight hours, and disbanded the men at arms of her late lord, she returned to ligny-en-barrois, where she had the obsequies of the count celebrated in the cathedral church. she publicly renounced, by her attorney, all the debts and estates of her late lord excepting her dower, by placing on his tomb his belt and purse, of which act she demanded from the public notaries present to have certificates drawn up. the count's heirs were the two sons of the duke of brabant by the daughter of his first wife. in this same month, the princes of the blood then at paris went to melun, by command of the queen and the duke of acquitaine, who were there resident. while they were occupied on business with the queen, the duke of acquitaine set off for paris with few attendants; and thence he sent the princes word that they were not to return to paris until ordered by the king or himself, and commanded them to retire to their estates, and to attend to their own affairs. after this, the duke knowing that the queen his mother had deposited large sums in the hands of three persons in paris, who were her confidents, namely, michault de l'allier, guillaume sanguin and picquit de la haye, suddenly entered their houses with his people, and seized all the money found therein and carried it to his hotel. he then summoned the provosts of paris, the university, and the principal inhabitants to come to him at the louvre, where he caused to be laid before them, by the bishop of chartres, his chancellor, article by article, the whole history of the government of the kingdom, from the coronation of the king his father until that moment, showing how the duke of anjou had seized the treasures of king charles his grandfather, and wasted them in italy, as well as the portions of the dukes of berry and burgundy, last deceased; then mentioning the death of the late duke of orleans and his government, and concluding with the administration of the present duke of burgundy, who had consumed the whole of the finances, and despoiled the kingdom. he then declared, that as duke of acquitaine, dauphin of vienne, and presumptive heir to the crown, he would no longer suffer such waste to be committed on the public revenues, or on his father's demesnes. to this end, therefore, and for the security and welfare of the king and realm, he had thus assembled them, to make known to them, and all the world, his resolution of taking on himself the government of the kingdom, with a firm determination to provide a remedy against such abuses in future. when the above had been eloquently and elaborately explained to the assembly, it broke up, and every one returned to his home. the princes of the blood, on receiving the orders from the duke of acquitaine, took their leave of the queen, and separated from each other. the duke of berry went to dourdan[ ], in his county of estampes, the duke of orleans to orleans, and the duke of bourbon to his duchy of bourbon. the duke of burgundy was before, as has been mentioned, in his duchy of burgundy. the king was very ill at his hotel of st pol at paris. the next step of the duke of acquitaine was to take away his duchess from the company of the queen, which he did in person, accompanied by the count de richemont, and had her placed at st germain-en-laye. footnotes: [footnote : dourdan,--a town in beauce, on the river orge, four leagues from estampes.] chap. xxiii. the king of england assembles a large army to invade france.--ambassadors sent him from that country.--the answers they receive. when the english ambassadors were returned to england, and had reported to the king their ill success, the king, princes, and country were much displeased thereat. after many councils had been holden, it was at length resolved, that the king should raise the greatest possible force to invade france, and so sorely despoil that kingdom that the present king and his successors should be driven from it. to provide a sufficient fleet for the transport of his army, he sent commissioners[ ] into holland and zealand, who, on proper security for good payment, made contracts for the number of vessels that would be wanted. the king of england had prepared all manner of stores and provisions necessary for war; and in regard to the payment of the forces, adequate sums were raised: indeed, there remained an overplus of five hundred thousand nobles, in money or plate. it was determined, that the king himself, attended by the princes and the whole army, should embark to invade france as early as possible. intelligence of this was speedily carried to france. the duke of acquitaine, who now governed the realm in behalf and in the name of the king his father, in consequence, held many councils, and remanded to paris the duke of berry, and some other lords, with whom he had several consultations to know how he should act on this occasion, for the king was then confined by his disorder. it was determined, that men at arms and archers should be assembled in various parts of france ready to march against the english the moment it should be known they were landed; that garrisons should be placed in every town and castle on the coast, and that as large sums of money as possible should be raised with all speed. it was likewise resolved to send a solemn embassy to the king of england, to make him other offers, in answer to the demands of his last ambassadors. those appointed for this business were the count de vendôme, master william bouratier, archbishop of bourges, master peter fennel, bishop of lisieuz, the lords of ivry and bracquemont, master gautier col, secretary to the king, master john andrieu, and some others of the great council[ ]. taking advantage of the existing truce, they set out from paris, and travelling through amiens, montrieul and boulogne, to calais, they there crossed the sea to dover. they were in all three hundred and fifty horsemen, and continued their journey from dover to canterbury, where they were met by the king's harbingers, who conducted them through rochester to london, and thence to winchester, where the king was. the archbishop of bourges explained to the king, in the hall of the bishop of winchester, and in the presence of the dukes of clarence, bedford and gloucester, brothers to the king, and of the lords of the council, clergy, chivalry and populace, the object of his embassy. the archbishop spoke first in latin, and then in the walloon language, so eloquently and wisely, that both the english and french who heard him were greatly surprised. at the conclusion of his harangue he made offers to the king of a great extent of country in france, with a large sum of ready money on his marriage with the princess catherine, but on condition that he would disband the army he had collected at southampton, and at the adjacent sea ports to invade france; and that by these means an eternal peace would be established between the two kingdoms. the assembly broke up, when the archbishop had ended his speech; and the french ambassadors were kindly entertained at dinner by the king, who then appointed a day for them to receive his answer to their propositions, by the mouth of the archbishop of canterbury. in the course of the archbishop's speech, in which he replied, article by article, to what the archbishop of bourges had offered, he added to some, and passed over others of them, so that he was sharply interrupted by the archbishop of bourges, who exclaimed, 'i did not say so, but such were my words.' the conclusion, however, was, that unless the king of france would give, as a marriage-portion with his daughter, the duchies of acquitaine, of normandy, of anjou, of tours, the counties of ponthieu, mans and poitou, and every other part that had formerly belonged to the english monarchs, the king would not desist from his intended invasion of france, but would despoil the whole of that kingdom, which had been unjustly detained from him,--and that he should depend on his sword for the accomplishment of the above, and for depriving king charles of his crown. the king avowed what the archbishop had said, and added, that thus, with god's aid, he would act,--and promised it on the word of a king. the archbishop of bourges then, according to the custom in france, demanded permission to speak, and said, 'o king! how canst thou, consistently with honour and justice, thus wish to dethrone, and iniquitously destroy the most christian king of the french, our very dear and most redoubted lord, the noblest and most excellent of all the kings in christendom. o king! with all due reverence and respect, dost thou think that he has offered by me such extent of territory, and so large a sum of money with his daughter in marriage, through any fear of thee, thy subjects or allies? by no means; but, moved by pity and his love of peace, he has made these offers to avoid the shedding of innocent blood, and that christian people may not be overwhelmed in the miseries of war; for whenever thou shalt make thy promised attempt, he will call upon god, the blessed virgin, and on all the saints, making his appeal to them for the justice of his cause,--and with their aid, and the support of his loyal subjects and faithful allies, thou wilt be driven out of his dominions, or thou wilt be made prisoner, or thou wilt there suffer death by orders of that just king whose ambassadors we are. 'we have now only to entreat of thee, that thou wouldst have us safely conducted out of thy realm; and that thou wouldst write to our said king, under thy hand and seal, the answer which thou hast had given to us.' the king kindly granted their requests; and the ambassadors, having received handsome presents, returned by way of dover to calais, and thence to paris. they reported to the duke of acquitaine in the presence of the members of the grand council, many knights and other persons, the ill success of their embassy. at the same time, the duke of acquitaine and the council received letters from the king of england, dated from winchester, containing his final answer to the proposals that had been made him. footnotes: [footnote : the _commissioners_ were richard clitherow and symon flecte, esquires.--_foedera._ i would refer the reader to this excellent work for the whole detail of the negotiations with france respecting the marriage of catherine. the demands of the english ambassadors are detailed at length, with the handsome proposals on the part of france, in answer to such exorbitant and unjust pretensions.] [footnote : see the foedera.] chap. xxiv. the duke of burgundy sends ambassadors to the duke of acquitaine. the answer they receive.--he takes the oath. the duke of burgundy, tormented by the clamours of those who had been banished from paris and the kingdom france, and whom, as i have noticed, he had taken under his protection, was very desirous of alleviating their distress, and for this purpose sent ambassadors to paris, to his son-in-law the duke of acquitaine, and to the grand council of the king. these ambassadors were sir regnier pot and the lord d'ancre, knights, the bishop of tournay, and an advocate of dijon: they were instructed to solicit the recal of those who had been banished the kingdom by royal authority, and that the five hundred who had been excepted by the articles of the peace should be fully pardoned, and that all which had passed should be forgotten. they were also to insist, that the duchess of acquitaine, whom the duke had sent to reside at st germain en laye, should inhabit the louvre with him, and that he should put away a female friend who lived with him in place of his said wife. if these things were complied with, he promised to take the prescribed oath to preserve the peace,--otherwise not. the duke of acquitaine was so much angered, when he first heard these proposals, that the ambassadors did not experience a very agreeable reception. they waited, therefore, on him another day, in hope of receiving more favourable answers; but finding that they could no way succeed in what had been ordered by their lord the duke of burgundy, they addressed the duke of acquitaine as follows: 'most renowned prince, and very noble lord, with reverence be it known to you, that if you do not grant what our aforesaid lord requires of you, he will never swear to the observance of the late peace; and should the english invade france, neither he himself nor his vassals will bear arms in your service, or for the defence of the kingdom.' the duke, hearing this, was more exasperated than before; but, dissembling his feelings, he replied, that he would advise with his council on the subject of their coming, and within a short time would send an answer to their lord by a confidential person. upon this, the ambassadors returned to burgundy. the duke of acquitaine consulted the grand council on the above; and in consequence, sir guichard daulphin, the lord de viel-pont, and master john de vailly, president of the parliament, were sent, in the king's name, to burgundy, where they treated so effectually with the duke, whom they met at dijon, that he took the same oaths the others had done; and they brought back his certificate under his seal, which was given to estienne mauregard, master of the rolls. the duke of burgundy, however, kept up a very large force of men at arms and archers, in the duchy and county of burgundy, and the adjacent parts, to the great loss of the poor inhabitants, to aid and defend him, should there be occasion. on the d day of july, those five hundred persons whose names had been excepted from the amnesty on the conclusion of the peace between the duke of burgundy and the other princes of the blood, were publicly banished, by sound of trumpet, from france, in the presence of the ambassadors from the duke of burgundy, at that time in paris. chap. xxv. henry king of england makes great preparations to invade france. he sends letters to the king of france at paris. it is proper that we now return to the king of england, who was making vast preparations of warlike stores, and every other necessary, to accomplish his projected invasion of france. he had marched his army to southampton, and to the neighbouring sea-ports; and after the d day of august, when the truce between the two kingdoms expired, the garrisons of calais and other places began to overrun and despoil the country of the boulonois, and divers other parts. the king of france instantly ordered thither, to oppose them, the lord de rambures, master of the cross-bows, and the lord de louroy, with five hundred combatants, for the defence of the country. within a few days after the expiration of the truce, king henry, whose preparations were now completed, sent one of his heralds called glocester[ ], to paris to deliver letters to the king, of which the contents were as follows: 'to the very noble prince, charles our cousin and adversary of france. henry, by the grace of god, king england and of france. to give to every one what is their due, is a work of inspiration and wise council, very noble prince, our cousin and adversary. the noble kingdoms of england and france were formerly united, now they are divided. at that time it was customary for each person to exalt his name by glorious victories, and by this single virtue to extol the honour of god, to whom holiness belongs, and to give peace to his church, by subjecting in battle the enemies of the public weal. but alas! good faith among kindred and brotherly love have been perverted; and lot persecutes abraham by human impulsion, and dissention, the mother of anger, has been raised from the dead. 'we, however, appeal to the sovereign judge, (who is neither swayed by prayers nor gifts from doing right), that we have, from pure affection, done every thing in our power to preserve the peace; and we must now rely on the sword for regaining what is justly our heritage, and those rights which have from old time belonged to us; and we feel such assurance in our courage that we will fight till death in the cause of justice. 'the written law in the book of deuteronomy ordains, that before any person commences an attack on a city, he shall first offer terms of peace; and although violence has detained from us our rightful inheritances, charity, however, induces us to attempt, by fair means, their recovery; for should justice be denied us, we may then resort to arms. 'and to avoid having our conscience affected by this matter, we make our personal request to you, and exhort you by the bowels of jesus christ, to follow the dictates of his evangelical doctrine. friend, restore what thou owest, for such is the will of god, to prevent the effusion of the blood of man, who was created in his likeness. such restitution of rights cruelly torn from us, and which we have so frequently demanded by our ambassadors, will be agreeable to the supreme god, and secure peace on earth. 'from our love of peace, we were inclined to refuse fifty thousand golden crowns lately offered us; for, being more desirous of peace than riches, we have preferred enjoying the patrimony left us by our venerable ancestors, with our very dear cousin catherine, your noble daughter, to iniquitously multiplying our treasures, and thus disgracing the honour of our crown, which god forbid! 'given under our privy seal, in our castle of southampton, the th day of the month of august.' the above letter having been presented by the herald to the king of france, he was told that the king and council would examine it, and consider more at length its contents,--and that the king would provide accordingly, in such time and place as should seem good to him,--and that he might return to his lord the king of england when he pleased. footnotes: [footnote : hollingshed styles him 'antilope, pursuivant at arms.'] chap. xxvi. the king of england, while at southampton, discovers a conspiracy of his nobles against him.--he lays siege to harfleur, and wins that town. while the king of england remained at southampton, to embark his army which was now ready to sail for france, he was informed that many lords of his household had entered into a conspiracy against him, with the intent to place the earl of march, the rightful successor and heir to richard the second, on the throne of england. true it is, that the earl of cambridge, with others, had plotted to seize the persons of the king and his brothers, to accomplish the above purpose, and had revealed their plan to the earl of march, who had discovered it to the king, advising him, at the same time, to be on his guard, or he would be betrayed, and named to him the conspirators. king henry was not long in having them arrested, when the three principal were beheaded, namely, the earl of cambridge, the lord scrope of masham, who every night slept with the king, and sir thomas grey. some others were afterward executed. this matter being ended, the king hastened the embarkation of his army, and put to sea. on the vigil of the assumption of our lady, they made in the night-time a harbour[ ], which lies between harfleur and honfleur, where the river seine enters the sea, and landed without any effusion of blood. their fleet might consist of about sixteen hundred vessels of all sorts, full of soldiers, and every sorts of warlike stores. when the whole of the army was landed, the king fixed his quarters at a a priory in graville[ ], and his brothers the dukes of clarence and glocester near to him. his uncles, the dukes of york and dorset, the bishop of norwich, the earls of windsor, suffolk, earl marshal, warwick and kent, the lords de camber, beaumont, willoughby of trompington, sir john de cornewall, molliflac[ ], with many more, lodged themselves as well as they could. they marched the army to besiege, with vigour, the town of harfleur, the commanding sea-port of all that coast of normandy. the king's army was composed of about six thousand helmets and twenty-three thousand archers, exclusive of cannoneers, and others employed with the engines of war, of which he had great abundance. about four hundred picked men at arms had been sent by the french government, to defend harfleur, under the command of the lords d'estouteville, governor of the town, de blainville, de bacqueville, de hermanville de gaillart de bos, de clerè de bectou, de adsanches, de briautè, de gaucourt, de l'isle-adam, and several other valiant knights and esquires, to the amount aforesaid, who gallantly opposed the english. but their attempts were vain against so superior a force, and in their sallies they had great difficulty to re-enter the town. they took up the pavement, which was between montivilliers and harfleur, to make the road as bad as possible, and carried away the stones. notwithstanding this, the english scoured the country, made many prisoners, and gained much booty, and planted their large engines in the most convenient spots for battering the town, which greatly damaged its walls. the besieged were not slack in their defence, but made such good use of cross-bows and other weapons that many of the english were slain. the town had but two gates, namely, that of caltinant and that of montivilliers, whence they made several vigorous sallies on the enemy; but the english defended themselves well. an unfortunate accident befel the besieged, for a supply of gunpowder sent them by the king of france was met by the english and taken. while these things were passing, the king of france sent against the english a considerable body of men at arms to rouen, and other parts on the frontier under the charge of the constable, the marshal boucicaut, the seneschal of hainault, the lords de ligny, de hamede, sir clugnet de brabant, and several other captains. these commanders so well guarded the country that the english were unable to gain any town or fortress, while part of their army was engaged at the siege, although they took great pains so to do; for they frequently made excursions in large bodies over the low countries in search of provision, and to meet the enemy: they did very great damage wherever they passed, and carried off large booties to their head-quarters. however, by the prudent conduct of the french commanders, the english were very much straitened for provision, for the greater part of the stores they had brought with them had been spoiled at sea. add to this, that an epidemical bowel-complaint raged in their camp, of which upwards of two thousand died. the principal persons thus carried off were, the earl of stafford, the bishop of norwich, the lords beaumonte, willoughby of trompington, burnel and many other noblemen. the king of england, nevertheless, pushed on the siege with great diligence and labour. he had caused three mines to be carried under the walls, and his engines had nearly demolished the gates, which being made known to the inhabitants, and that they were daily liable to be stormed, they offered to surrender themselves to the king, provided they were not within three days succoured from france: they gave hostages for the due performance of this treaty, and thereby saved their lives by paying ransoms. the lord de bacqueville was sent by the captains in harfleur to the king of france and the duke of acquitaine, who were at vernon sur seine, to make them acquainted with their situation, and to tell them, that unless they were succoured within three days, they would lose their town, and all within it. he was in reply told, that the king's forces were not yet assembled, or prepared to give such speedy succour: upon which, the lord de bacqueville returned to harfleur,--and it was surrendered to the king of england, on st maurice's day, to the great sorrow and loss of the inhabitants, and displeasure of the french; for, as i have said, it was the principal sea port of that part of normandy. footnotes: [footnote : probably quillebouef.] [footnote : graville,--a small town in normandy near harfleur.] [footnote : molliflac. q. molins.] chap. xxvii. the canons of st gery in cambray quarrel with the inhabitants.--the duke of burgundy, in consequence, makes war on cambray. at this time, there was a great quarrel between the citizens and inhabitants of cambray and the canons of the chapter of st gery, within that town. the inhabitants, foreseeing that the present war between england and france might be carried on near their country, determined for the greater security of themselves and their town, to repair and enlarge its walls and bulwarks; and consequently, they demolished, by force or otherwise, many walls of the gardens of the townsmen, which had encroached too near them. they particularly destroyed the gardens belonging to the aforesaid canons, taking a large portion of their land without intending to make them any recompence for what they had done. the inhabitants also wanted to prevent the canons selling wine from their cellars, although they had for a long time done so from their own vintage. for these several offences and grievances, the canons having frequently demanded, but in vain, redress from the townsmen, made heavy complaints of what they had suffered, and were still suffering, to the duke of burgundy and his council, because, as earl of flanders, he was the hereditary guardian and defender of all the churches within cambray. for this guardianship a certain quantity of corn was annually paid to the duke, as protector of the churches within the cambresis, and this impost was called the gavenne[ ] of cambresis. the duke of burgundy was very much displeased at this conduct of the cambresians, and sent solemn messengers to inform them, that if they did not make instant and full satisfaction to the canons who were under his protection, for all the damages they had done them, he should take such measures as would serve for an example to all others. not receiving an answer which was agreeable to him, and being then in burgundy, he wrote to his son, philippe count de charolois, in flanders, to order him to secure the canons of st gery from all oppression and violence, and to constrain the inhabitants of cambray to make reparation for the wrongs they had done them. the count of charolois, knowing the temper of his father, again summoned the townsmen to make satisfaction to the canons; and because they sent evasive answers, he secretly advised the canons to leave cambray and go to lille, at which town he would find them a handsome dwelling. the canons, on this, placed the better part of their effects, in safety, and then secretly left cambray and went to lille, or at least the greater number of them. soon after their departure, the count de charolois sent his defiance to the town of cambray by hector de saveuses, who had assembled full three hundred combatants. on the feast-day of the exaltation of the holy cross, he suddenly entered the cambresis, and advanced almost to the gates of cambray, when, it being market-day, he plundered, killed and wounded very many of the town, and perpetrated other cruel deeds. hector did not make any long stay, but departed, with an immense booty, to quarter himself near to braye-sur-somme, saying, that what he had done was by orders from the count de charolois. this attack much astonished those of cambray, and put them in great fear. they conceived a greater hatred than before against the canons of st gery, increased every preparation for the defence of their town, and made daily seizures of the effects of these canons, such as wine, corn, wood and other necessaries of life. the citizens, however, having suffered several inroads, and great losses, and considering that in the end the war must be the destruction of their town, solicited duke william count of hainault, guardian of cambray for the king of france, that he would negotiate a peace for them with his nephew the count de charolois, and that they were willing to make every reasonable restitution to the canons for the losses they might have suffered. by the interference, therefore, of duke william and others, the dispute was referred to some doctors of civil law, who sentenced the citizens to rebuild all the walls they had destroyed of the canons' gardens, and to bind themselves to pay annually to the said canons one hundred francs of royal money, on condition that the said canons were not to sell any wines from their cellars. the citizens were allowed liberty to buy up this annuity of a hundred francs for a certain sum, whenever they shall have the power and inclination so to do. on these and some other terms was the quarrel appeased, and the canons returned to their church in cambray. footnotes: [footnote : gavenne,--the right of protection due to the counts of flanders, in quality of guardians, or gaveniers, of cambresis.--_dict. du vieux language._] chap. xxviii. the king of france collects a great body of men at arms from all parts of his kingdom to oppose the english.--the summons he issues on the occasion. when the king of france and his council heard of the surrender of harfleur to the king of england, they consequently expected that he would attempt greater objects, and instantly issued summonses for raising in every part of the kingdom the greatest possible force of men at arms. the better to succeed, he ordered his bailiffs and seneschals to exert themselves personally throughout their jurisdictions, and to make known that he had sent ambassadors to england, to offer his daughter in marriage to king henry, with an immense portion in lands and money, to obtain peace, but that he had failed; and the king of england had invaded his realm, and besieged and taken his town of harfleur, very much to his displeasure. on this account, therefore, he earnestly solicited the aid of all his vassals and subjects, and required them to join him without delay. he also dispatched messengers into picardy, with sealed letters to the lords de croy, de waurin, de fosseux, de crequi, de heuchin, de brimeu, de mammez, de la viefville, de beaufort, d'inchy, de noyelle, de neufville, and to other noblemen, to order them instantly to raise their powers, under pain of his indignation, and to join the duke of acquitaine, whom he had appointed captain-general of his kingdom. the lords of picardy delayed obeying, for the duke of burgundy had sent them and all his subjects orders to hold themselves in readiness to march with him when he should summon them, and not to attend to the summons of any other lord, whatever might be his rank. this was the cause why the above-mentioned men at arms were in no haste to comply with the king's summons: fresh orders were therefore issued, the tenour of which was as follows. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to the bailiff of amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting. 'whereas by our letters we have commanded you to make proclamation throughout your bailiwick, for all nobles and others accustomed to bear arms and follow the wars, instantly to join our very dear and well beloved son, the duke of acquitaine, whom we have nominated our captain-general of the kingdom. 'it is now some time since we have marched against our adversary of england, who had, with a large army, invaded our province of normandy, and taken our town of harfleur, owing to the neglect and delay of you and others, in not punctually obeying our orders; for from want of succours our noble and loyal subjects within harfleur, after having made a most vigorous defence, were forced to surrender it to the enemy. 'and as the preservation and defence of our kingdom is the concern of all, we call on our good and faithful subjects for aid, and are determined to regain those parts of which the enemy may be in possession, and to drive them out of our kingdom in disgrace and confusion, by the blessing of god, the holy virgin mary, and with the assistance of our kindred and loyal subjects. 'you will therefore, by these presents strictly enjoin every one within your jurisdictions, on the duty they owe us, to lose no time in arming themselves, and in hastening to join our said well beloved the duke of acquitaine; and you will proclaim these our orders in the most public manner, and in the usual places, that no one may plead ignorance of the same; and that under pain of being reputed disobedient, and having their goods confiscated, they fail not to come to our assistance, sufficiently armed and mounted. 'such as, from illness or old age, may be prevented coming shall send in their stead, persons well armed and accoutred, with their powers to join us, or our said son. should any difficulties be made in obeying these our commands, you will enforce obedience by seizing on the lands of such as may refuse placing foragers within their houses, and by every other means employed on such occasions, that they may be induced to join with us in expelling the enemy from our kingdom with disgrace and confusion. 'you will likewise enjoin, in addition to the above, that all cannon, engines of war, and other offensive or defensive weapons that can be spared from the principal towns, be sent to our aid without delay, which we promise to restore at the end of the war. 'you will use every possible diligence in seeing to the execution of these our commands; and should there be any neglect on your part, which god forbid, we will punish you in such wise that you shall serve for an example to all others in like manner offending. 'we command all our officers of justice, and others our subjects, punctually to obey all your directions respecting the above; and you will send an acknowledgement of the receipt of these presents to our loyal subjects the officers of our chamber of accounts in paris, to be used as may be thought proper. 'given at meulan, the th day of september, in the year of grace , and of our reign the th.' thus signed by the king and council. when this proclamation had been published at paris and amiens, and in other parts of the kingdom, the king sent ambassadors to the dukes of burgundy and orleans, to require that they would, without fail, instantly send him five hundred helmets each. the duke of orleans was at first contented to send his quota, but afterward followed with all his forces. the duke of burgundy made answer, that he would not send, but come in person with all the chivalry of his country, to serve the king: however, from some delay or dispute that arose between them, he did not attend himself, but the greater part of his subjects armed and joined the french forces. chap. xxix. the king of england makes his entry into harfleur.--the regulations which he ordained.--he resolves to march to calais.--the disposition and government of the french. the town of harfleur surrendered to the king on the appointed day: the gates were thrown open, and his commissioners entered the place; but when the king came to the gate, he dismounted, and had his legs and feet uncovered, and thence walked barefooted to the parochial church of st martin, where he very devoutly offered up his prayers and thanksgivings to his creator for his success. after this, he made all the nobles and men at arms that were in the town his prisoners, and shortly after sent the greater part of them out of the place cloathed in their jackets only, taking down their names and surnames in writing, and making them swear on their faith that they would render themselves prisoners at calais on the martinmas-day next ensuing,--and then they departed. in like manner were the inhabitants constituted prisoners, and forced to ransom themselves for large sums of money. in addition, they were driven out of the town, with numbers of women and children, to each of whom were given five sols and part of their cloathing. it was pitiful to see and hear the sorrow of these poor people, thus driven away from their dwellings and property. the priests and clergy were also dismissed; and in regard to the wealth found there, it was immense, and appertained to the king, who distributed it among such as he pleased. two towers that were very strong, and situated on the side next the sea, held out for ten days after the surrender of the town; but then they surrendered also. the king of england ordered the greater part of his army home, by way of calais, under the command of his brother the duke of clarence and the earl of warwick. his prisoners and the great booty he had made were sent by sea to england, with his warlike engines. when the king had repaired the walls and ditches of the town he placed in it a garrison of five hundred men at arms and one thousand archers, under the command of the governor sir john le blond, knight[ ]: he added a very large stock of provision and of warlike stores. after fifteen days residence in harfleur, the king of england departed, escorted by two thousand men at arms and about thirteen thousand archers, and numbers of other men, intending to march to calais. his first quarters were at fauville[ ] and in the adjacent places: then, traversing the country of caux, he made for the county of eu. some of the english light troops came before the town of eu, in which were several french men at arms, who sallied out to oppose them: in the number was a most valiant man at arms, called lancelot pierres, who, having attacked one of the english, was struck by him with a lance, which piercing the plates of his armour, mortally wounded him in the belly, and being thus wounded, he was killed by the englishman, to the great grief of the count d'eu and many of the french. thence the king of england marched through vimeu, with the intent of crossing the river somme at blanchetaque, where his predecessor, king edward, had passed when he gained the battle of cressy against philippe de valois; but learning from his scouts that the french had posted a considerable force to guard that ford, he altered his route, and marched toward arraines, burning and destroying the whole country, making numbers of prisoners and acquiring a great booty. on sunday, the th of october, he lodged at bailleul in vimeu,--and thence crossing the country, he sent a considerable detachment to gain the pass of the pont de remy[ ]; but the lord de vaucourt, with his children and a great number of men at arms, gallantly defended it against the english. this constrained king henry to continue his march, and quarter his army at hangest sur somme[ ] and in the neighbouring villages. at that time, the lord d'albreth, constable of france, the marshal boucicaut, the count de vendôme grand master of the household, the lord de dampierre, calling himself admiral of france, the duke d'alençon, the count de richemont, with a numerous and gallant chivalry, were in abbeville. on hearing of the line of march which the king of england was pursuing, they departed thence and went to corbie and peronne, with their army near at hand, but dispersed over the country to guard all the fords of the river somme against the english. the king of england marched from hangest to ponthieu[ ], passing by amiens, and fixed his quarters at boves, then at herbonnieres, vauville[ ], bainviller, the french marching on the opposite bank of the somme. at length the english crossed that river on the morrow of st luke's day, by the ford between betencourt and voyenne[ ], which had not been staked by those of st quentin as they had been ordered by the king of france. the english army were quartered at monchy la gache[ ], near the river of miraumont; and the lords of france, with their forces, retired to bapaume and the adjacent parts. footnotes: [footnote : hollingshed says, that the king appointed the duke of exeter governor of harfleur, and sir john fastolfe lieutenant-governor,--and that the duke of clarence had leave to return to england on account of the epidemical disorder that was so fatal to the army before harfleur.] [footnote : fauville,--a market-town of normandy, in the country of caux, four leagues from fécamp.] [footnote : pont de remy,--a village in picardy, election of abbeville.] [footnote : hangest sur somme,--a small town in picardy, diocese of amiens.] [footnote : ponthieu,--a village near amiens.] [footnote : vauville,--a village near peronne.] [footnote : villages between hamme and st quentin.] [footnote : monchy la gache,--a small town near hamme.] chap. xxx. the king of france and several of the princes of the blood royal hold a council at rouen, and resolve on fighting the english. while these things were passing, the king of france and the duke of acquitaine came to rouen, and on the th day of october a council was held to consider how they should best act, in regard to opposing the king of england. there were present at this council the king of sicily, the dukes of berry and brittany, the count de ponthieu, youngest son to the king of france, the chancellors of france and of acquitaine, with other able advisers, to the amount of thirty-five persons. when the matter had been fully discussed in the king's presence, it was resolved by thirty of the said counsellors, that the king of england should be combated. the minority of five gave substantial reasons against fighting the english army at the time they had fixed on; but the opinion of the majority prevailed. the king of france instantly sent his commands to the constable, and to his other captains, to collect incontinently as large a force as they could, and give battle to the king of england. orders were likewise dispatched through every part of the realm for all noblemen accustomed to bear arms to hasten day and night to the constable's army wherever it might be. the duke of acquitaine had a great desire to join the constable, although his father had forbidden him; but, by the persuasions of the king of sicily and the duke of berry, he was prevailed on to give it up. the different lords now hastened with all speed to unite their men to the army of the constable, who, on his approach toward artois, sent the lord de montgaugier to announce to the count de charolois, only son of the duke of burgundy, the positive orders he had received to give battle to the english, and to entreat him most affectionately, in the king's and constable's name, to make one of the party. the lord de montgaugier met the count de charolois at arras, and was well received by him and his courtiers. when he had explained the cause of his coming to the count in presence of his council, the lords des robais and de la viefville, his principal ministers, replied, that the count would make sufficient haste to be present at the ensuing battle, and on this they parted. now although the count de charolois most anxiously desired to combat the english, and though his said ministers gave him to understand that he should be present, they had received from the duke of burgundy express orders to the contrary, and they were commanded, under pain of his highest displeasure, not to suffer him to go on any account. in consequence, to draw him farther off, they carried him from arras to aire. to this place the constable sent again to request his support; and montjoy, king at arms, was dispatched to him with a similar request from the king of france. however, matters were managed otherwise by his ministers: and they even contrived to keep him secretly in the castle of aire, that he might not know when the day of the battle was fixed. notwithstanding this, the greater part of the officers of his household, well knowing that a battle must be near at hand, set out unknown to him, to join the french in the ensuing combat with the english. the count de charolois therefore remained with the young lord d'antoing and his ministers, who at last, to appease him, were forced to avow the positive orders they had received, not to permit him to be present at the battle. this angered him very much; and, as i have been told, he withdrew to his chamber in tears. we must now return to the king of england, whom we left at monche la gache. he thence marched toward ancre[ ], and quartered himself at forceville[ ], and his army at cheu and the adjacent parts. on the morrow, which was wednesday, he marched near to lucheux[ ] and was quartered at bouvieres l'escaillon; but his uncle the duke of york who commanded the van division, was lodged at fienench, on the river canche: it is true that this night the english were quartered much apart, in seven or eight different villages. they were, however, no way interrupted; for the french had advanced, to be beforehand with them at st pol and on the river aunun. on the thursday, the king of england dislodged from bouvieres, and marched in handsome array to blangy[ ]: when he had there crossed the river, and ascended the heights, his scouts saw the french advancing in large bodies of men at arms to quarter themselves at rousianville and azincourt, to be ready to combat the english on the ensuing day. on this thursday, philip count de nevers, on his return from a reconnoitring party about vespers, was knighted by boucicaut marshal of france, and with him many other great lords received that honour. shortly after, the constable arrived near to azincourt; and the whole french army, being then formed into one body, was encamped on the plain, each man under his banner, excepting those of low degree, who lodged themselves as well as they could in the adjoining villages. the king of england quartered his army at a small village called maisoncelles, about three bow-shots distant from the enemy. the french, with all the royal officers, namely, the constable, the marshal boucicaut, the lord de dampierre and sir clugnet de brabant, each styling himself admiral of france, the lord de rambures, master of the cross-bows, with many other princes, barons and knights, planted their banners, with loud acclamations of joy, around the royal banner of the constable, on the spot they had fixed upon, and which the english must pass on the following day, on their march to calais. great fires were this night lighted near to the banner under which each person was to fight; but although the french were full one hundred and fifty thousand strong, with a prodigious number of waggons and carts, containing cannon and all other military stores, they had but little music to cheer their spirits; and it was remarked, with surprise, that scarcely any of their horses neighed during the night, which was considered by many as a bad omen. the english, during the whole night, played on their trumpets, and various other instruments, insomuch that the whole neighbourhood resounded with their music; and notwithstanding they were much fatigued and oppressed by cold, hunger, and other discomforts, they made their peace with god, by confessing their sins with tears, and numbers of them taking the sacrament; for, as it was related by some prisoners, they looked for certain death on the morrow. the duke of orleans sent, in the night-time, for the count de richemonte, who commanded the duke of acquitaine's men and the bretons, to join him; and when this was done, they amounted to about two hundred men at arms and archers, they advanced near to the quarters of the english, who suspecting they meant to surprise them, drew up in battle array, and a smart skirmish took place. the duke of orleans and several others were, on this occasion, knighted, but the action did not last long,--and the french retired to their camp,--and nothing more was done that night. the duke of brittany was, at this time, come from rouen, to amiens, to join the french with six thousand men, if the battle had been delayed until the saturday. in like manner, the marshal de longny was hastening to their aid with six hundred men. he was quartered that night only six leagues from the main army, and had set out very early the following morning to join them. footnotes: [footnote : ancre or albert,--four leagues from peronne, seven from amiens.] [footnote : forceville,--a village near ancre.] [footnote : lucheux,--a town in picardy, near dourlens.] [footnote : blangy,--a village in picardy, near amiens.] chap. xxxi. the french and english meet in battle on the plains of azincourt. the english gain the victory. on the ensuing day, which was friday the th of october, in the year , the constable and all the other officers of the king of france, the dukes of orleans, bourbon, bar and alençon; the counts de nevers, d'eu, de richemonte, de vendôme, de marle, de vaudemont, de blaumonte, de salines, de grand pré, de roussy, de dampmartin, and in general all the other nobles and men at arms, put on their armour and sallied out of their quarters. then, by the advice of the constable and others of the king of france's council, the army was formed into three divisions, the vanguard, the main body, and the rearguard. the van consisted of about eight thousand helmets, knights, and esquires, four thousand archers, and fifteen hundred cross-bows. this was commanded by the constable, having with him the dukes of orleans and bourbon, the counts d'eu and de richemonte, the marshal boucicaut, the master of the cross-bows, the lord de dampierre admiral of france, sir guichart dauphin, and some others. the count de vendôme, and others of the king's officers were to form a wing of fifteen hundred men at arms, to fall on the right flank of the english; and another wing, under the command of sir clugnet de brabant admiral of france, sir louis bourdon and eight hundred picked men at arms, was to attack the left flank: with this last were included, to break in on the english archers, sir william de saveuses, with his brothers sir hector and sir philippe, ferry de mailly, aliaume de gaspammes, allain de vendôme, lamont de launoy, and many more. the main battalion was composed of an equal number of knights, esquires, and archers as the van, and commanded by the dukes of bar and alençon, the counts de nevers, de vaudemont, de blaumont, de salines, de grand-pré, and de roussy. the rear guard consisted of the surplus of men at arms, under the orders of the counts de marle, de dampmartin, de fauquembergh, and the lord de louvroy, governor of ardres, who had led thither the garrisons on the frontiers of the boulonois. when these battalions were all drawn up, it was a grand sight to view; and they were, on a hasty survey, estimated to be more than six times the number of the english. after they had been thus arranged, they seated themselves by companies as near to their own banners as they could, to wait the coming of the enemy; and while they refreshed themselves with food, they made up all differences that might before have existed between any of them. in this state they remained until between nine and ten o'clock in the morning, no way doubting, from their numbers, but the english must fall an easy prey to them. some, however, of the wisest of them had their fears, and dreaded the event of an open battle. the english on that morning, perceiving that the french made no advances to attack them, refreshed themselves with meat and drink. after calling on the divine aid against the french, who seemed to despise them, they dislodged from maisoncelles, and sent some of their light troops in the rear of the town of azincourt, where, not finding any men at arms, in order to alarm the french, they set fire to a barn and house belonging to the priory of st george at hesdin. on the other hand, the king of england dispatched about two hundred archers to the rear of his army, with orders to enter the village of tramecourt[ ] secretly, and to post themselves in a field near the van of the french, there to remain quiet until it should be a proper time for them to use their bows. the rest of the english remained with king henry, and were shortly after drawn up in battle array by sir thomas erpinghan; a knight grown grey with age and honour, who placed the archers in front, and the men at arms behind them. he then formed two wings of men at arms and archers, and posted the horses with the baggage in the rear. each archer planted before himself a stake sharpened at both ends. sir thomas, in the name of the king, exhorted them all most earnestly to defend their lives, and thus saying he rode along their ranks attended by two persons. when all was done to his satisfaction, he flung into the air a truncheon which he held in his hand, crying out, 'nestrocque[ ]!' and then dismounted, as the king and the others had done. when the english saw sir thomas throw up his truncheon, they set up a loud shout, to the very great astonishment of the french. the english seeing the enemy not inclined to advance, marched toward them in handsome array, and with repeated huzzas, occasionally stopping to recover their breath. the archers, who were hidden in the field, re-echoed these shoutings, at the same time discharging their bows, while the english army kept advancing upon the french. their archers, amounting to at least thirteen thousand, let off a shower of arrows, with all their might, and as high as possible, so as not to lose their effect: they were, for the most part, without any armour, and in jackets, with their hose loose, and hatchets or swords hanging to their girdles: some indeed were barefooted and without hats. the princes with the king of england were the duke of york, his uncle, the earls of dorset, oxford, suffolk, the earl marshal, the earl of kent, the lords cambre, beaumont, willoughby, sir john de cornewall, and many other powerful barons of england. when the french observed the english thus advance, they drew up each under his banner, with his helmet on his head: they were, at the same time, admonished by the constable, and others of the princes, to confess their sins with sincere contrition, and to fight boldly against the enemy. the english loudly sounded their trumpets as they approached; and the french stooped to prevent the arrows hitting them on the vizors of their helmets; thus the distance was now but small between the two armies, although the french had retired some paces: before, however, the general attack commenced, numbers of the french were slain and severely wounded by the english bowmen. at length the english gained on them so much, and were so close, that excepting the front line, and such as had shortened their lances, the enemy could not raise their hands against them. the division under sir clugnet de brabant, of eight hundred men at arms, who were intended to break through the english archers, were reduced to seven score, who vainly attempted it. true it is, that sir william de saveuses, who had been also ordered on this service, quitted his troop, thinking they would follow him, to attack the english, but he was shot dead from off his horse. the others had their horses so severely handled by the archers, that, smarting from pain, they galloped on the van division, and threw it into the utmost confusion, breaking the line in many places. the horses were become unmanageable, so that horses and riders were tumbling on the ground, and the whole army was thrown into disorder, and forced back on some lands that had been just sown with corn. others, from fear of death, fled; and this caused so universal a panic in the army that great part followed the example. the english took instant advantage of the disorder in the van division, and, throwing down their bows, fought lustily with swords, hatchets, mallets and bill-hooks, slaying all before them. thus they came to the second battalion, that had been posted in the rear of the first; and the archers followed close king henry and his men at arms. duke anthony of brabant, who had just arrived in obedience to the summons of the king of france, threw himself with a small company (for, to make greater haste, he had pushed forward, leaving the main body of his men behind), between the wreck of the van and the second division; but he was instantly killed by the english, who kept advancing and slaying, without mercy, all that opposed them, and thus destroyed the main battalion as they had done the first. they were, from time to time, relieved by their varlets, who carried off the prisoners; for the english were so intent on victory, that they never attended to making prisoners, nor pursuing such as fled. the whole rear division being on horseback, witnessing the defeat of the two others, began to fly, excepting some of its principal chiefs. during the heat of the combat, when the english had gained the upper hand and made several prisoners, news was brought to king henry, that the french were attacking his rear, and had already captured the greater part of his baggage and sumpter-horses. this was indeed true, for robinet de bournouville, rifflart de clamasse, ysambart d'azincourt, and some other men at arms, with about six hundred peasants, had fallen upon and taken great part of the king's baggage, and a number of horses while the guard was occupied in the battle. this distressed the king very much, for he saw that though the french army had been routed they were collecting on different parts of the plain in large bodies, and he was afraid they would renew the battle. he therefore caused instant proclamation to be made by sound of trumpet, that every one should put his prisoners to death, to prevent them from aiding the enemy, should the combat be renewed. this caused an instantaneous and general massacre of the french prisoners, occasioned by the disgraceful conduct of robinet de bournouville, ysambart d'azincourt, and the others, who were afterward punished for it, and imprisoned a very long time by duke john of burgundy, notwithstanding they had made a present to the count de charolois of a most precious sword, ornamented with diamonds, that had belonged to the king of england. they had taken this sword, with other rich jewels, from king henry's baggage[ ],--and had made this present, that, in case they should at any time be called to an account for what they had done, the count might stand their friend. the count de marle, the count de fauquembergh, the lords de louvroy and du chin, had with some difficulty retained about six hundred men at arms, with whom they made a gallant charge on the english; but it availed nothing, for they were all killed or made prisoners. there were other small bodies of french on different parts of the plain; but they were soon routed, slain or taken. the conclusion was a complete victory on the part of the king of england, who only lost about sixteen hundred men of all ranks: among the slain was the duke of york, uncle to the king. on the eve of this battle, and the following morning, before it began, there were upwards of five hundred knights made by the french. when the king of england found himself master of the field of battle, and that the french, excepting such as had been killed or taken, were flying in all directions, he made the circuit of the plain, attended by his princes; and while his men were employed in stripping the dead, he called to him the french herald montjoye king at arms, and with him many other french and english heralds, and said to them, 'it is not we who have made this great slaughter, but the omnipotent god, and, as we believe, for a punishment of the sins of the french.' he then asked montjoye, to whom the victory belonged: to him, or to the king of france. montjoye replied, that the victory was his, and could not be claimed by the king of france. the king then asked the name of the castle he saw near him: he was told, it was called azincourt. 'well then,' added he, 'since all battles should bear the names of the fortress nearest to the spot where they were fought, this battle shall from henceforth bear the ever-durable name of azincourt.' the english remained a considerable time on the field, and seeing they were delivered from their enemies, and that night was approaching, they retreated in a body to maisoncelles, where they had lodged the preceding night: they again fixed their quarters there, carrying with them many of their wounded. after they had quitted the field of battle, several of the french, half dead and wounded, crawled away into an adjoining wood, or to some villages, as well as they could, where many expired. on the morrow, very early, king henry dislodged with his army from maisoncelles, and returned to the field of battle: all the french they found there alive were put to death or made prisoners. then, pursuing their road toward the sea-coast, they marched away: three parts of the army were on foot sorely fatigued with their efforts in the late battle, and greatly distressed by famine and other wants. in this manner did the king of england return, without any hindrance, to calais, rejoicing at his great victory, and leaving the french in the utmost distress and consternation at the enormous loss they had suffered. footnotes: [footnote : tramecourt,--a village of artois, bailiwick of st pol.] [footnote : hollingshed says, his throwing up his truncheon was for a signal to the archers posted in the field at tramecourt to commence the battle.] [footnote : see the foedera, where the loss of these jewels, &c, is specified.] chap. xxxii. the names of the princes, and other lords from divers countries, who perished at this unfortunate battle, and of those who were made prisoners. here follow the names of those lords and gentlemen who were slain at the battle of azincourt, on the side of the french. we shall begin with the king's officers: the lord charles d'albreth, constable of france, the marshal boucicaut, carried a prisoner to england, where he died, sir james de chastillon lord de dampierre, admiral of france, the lord de rambures master of the cross-bows, sir guichard daulphin master of the king's household. of the princes were, duke anthony of brabant, brother to the duke of burgundy, edward duke of bar, the duke d'alençon, the count de nevers, brother to the duke of burgundy, sir robert de bar, count de marle, the count de vaudemont, john brother to the duke of bar, the count de blaumont, the count de grand-pré, the count de roussy, the count de fauquenberghe, sir louis de bourbon, son to the lord de préaux. the names of other great lords as well from picardy as elsewhere: the vidame of amiens, the lord de croy, and his son sir john de croy, the lords de helly, d'auxi, de brimeu, de poix, l'estendart lord de crequi, the lord de lauvroy, sir vitart de bours, sir philippe d'auxi, lord de dampierre bailiff of amiens, his son the lord de raineval, his brother sir allain, the lord de mailly and his eldest son the lord d'inchy, sir william de saveuses, the lord de neufville and his son the castellan of lens, sir john de moreul, sir rogue de poix, sir john de bethune lord of moreul in brie, sir symon de craon lord de clarsy, the lord de rocheguyon, and his brother the vidame de launois, the lord de galigny, the lord d'aliegre in auvergne, the lord de bauffremont in champagne, sir james de heu, the lord de saint bris, philippe de fosseux, sir regnault de crequy, lord de comptes, and his son sir philippe, the lord de mannes and his brother lancelot, mahieu and john de humieres, brothers, sir louis de beausault, the lord de ront, sir raoul de manne, sir oudart de renty and two of his brothers, the lord d'applincourt and his son sir james, sir louis de guistelle, the lord de vaurin and his son the lord de lidequerke, sir james de lescuelle, the lord de hames, the lord de hondescocte, the lord de pulchres, sir john baleul, sir raoul de flandres, sir collart de fosseux, the lord de roissimbos and his brother louis de boussy, the lord de thiennes, the lord d'azincourt and his son, sir hustin kieret, le bègue de caien and his brother payen, the lord de varigines, the lord d'auffemont and his son sir raulequin, sir raoul de neele, the lord de st crêpin, the viscount de quesnes, sir pierre de beauvoir, bailiff of the vermandois, sir john de lully and his brother sir griffon, the lord de st symon and his brother gallois, collart de la porte, lord of bellincourt, sir yvain de cramailles, the lord de cerny in the laonnois, sir drieu d'orgiers, lord de bethencourt, sir gobert de la bove, lord de savoisy, the lord de becqueville and his son sir john marthel, the lord d'utrecht, the seneschal d'eu, the lord de la riviere de tybouville, the lord de courcy, the lord de st beuve, the lord de beau-mainnil, the lord de combouchis, the lord de la heuse, the lord viesport, sir bertrand painel, the lord chambois, the lord de st cler, the lord de montcheveul, the lord d'ouffreville, sir enguerrand de fontaines and his brother sir charles, sir almaury de craon lord de brolay, the lord de montejan, the lord de la haye, the lord de l'isle bouchart, sir john de craon, lord de montbason, the lord de bueuil, the lord de laumont sur loire, sir anthony de craon, lord de beau vergier, the lord d'asse, the lord de la tour, the lord de l'isle gonnort, sir john de dreux, sir germain de dreux, the viscount de tremblay, sir robert de bouvay, sir robert de challus, sir john de bonnebault, the lord de mongaugier, sir john de valcourt, the lord de sainteron, sir ferry de sardonne, sir peter d'argie, sir henry d'ornay, the lord des roches, sir john de montenay, the lord de bethencourt, the lord de combourt, the viscount de la belliere, the lord de la tute, sir bertrand de montauban, bertrand de st gille, seneschal of hainault, the lord de la hamecte, the lord du quesnoy, the lord de montigny, the lord de quiervran, the lord de jumont, the lord de chin, sir symon de havrech, the lord de poctes, sir john de gres, sir allemand d'estaussines, sir philippe de lens and sir henry, brothers to the bishop of cambray, sir michel du chastellier and his brother guillaume de vaudripont, ernoul de vaudrigien, pierre de molin, jean de buait, george de quiervran and his brother henry, the lord de saures, sir briffault his brother, le baudrain d'aisne knight, sir maillart d'azouville, palamedes des marquais, the lord de bousincourt, the lord de fresencourt, the lord de vallusant, the lord de hectrus, guernier de brusquent, the lord de moy in the beauvoisis, his son gamot de bournouville and his brother bertrand, louvelet de massinguehen and his brother, sir collart de phiennes, alain de vendôme, lamont de launoy, sir colinet de st py, the lord de bos d'ancquin, lancelot de fremeusent, the lord d'aumont, sir robinet de vaucoux, sir raisse de moncaurel, sir lancelot de clary, the lord de la rachie, sir guerard d'herbaines, sir guerard de haucourt, sir robert de montigny, sir charles de montigny, sir charles de chastillon, philippe de poitiers, the lord de feuldes, the lord de st pierre, guillaume fortescu, burel de guerames, robert de potiaumes, the son to the bailiff of rouen, the provost to the marshals of france. bertrand de belloy, jacques de han, the lord de baisir and martel du vauhuon his brother, jean de maletraicts, raoul de ferrieres, raoul de longeul knight, henry de la lande, sir ernault de corbie, lord d'aniel, jean discoüevelle, sir yvain de beauval, sir brunel fretel, le baudrain de belloy knight, sir regnault d'azincourt, the governor of the county of rethel, ponce de salus knight, lord of chastel-neuf, the lord de marquectes, symmonet de morviller, foleville, butler to the duke of acquitaine, gallois de fougiers, sir lancelot de rubemprè, lyonnet torbis, the lord de boissay, anthony d'ambrine, sir hector de chartres the younger and his two brothers, tauppinet de la nefville, thibault de fay, the lord de beauvoir sur autre, hue des autels, the lord de caucroy and his brother eustace d'aubrunes, lancelot de couchy, jean de launoy, sir collart de monbertant, sir charles boutry, sir guy gourle, with john gourle his brother, le bon de sains, anthony de broly, guillaume de villers, lord d'urendone, floridas du souys, the lord de regnauville, baughois de la beuvriere, and his brother gamart, le plontre de gerboal, pierre aloyer, percival de richebourg, the lord de fiefes and his son the bègue de quenoulles, godfrey de st marc, the lord de teneques, the lord de herlin, symon de monchiaux, sir maillet de gournay and his brother porus, jean de noyelle, pierre de noyelle and lancelot de noyelle, sir carnel de hangiers, jean d'authville lord de vaverans, regnault de guerbauval, william lord de rin, pierre remy, sausset d'eusne, the lord de haucourt in cambresis, sir guichard d'ausne, the lord de raisse, the lord d'espaigny, the lord de cheppon, jean de chaule lord of bretigny, jean de blausel, guillebert de gubauval, haudin de beleval, sir guerard de hauressis, sir louis de vertain, sir estourdy d'ongines with his brother bertrand, sir henry de boissy lord of caule, sir arthur de moy, the borgne de noaille, sir floridas de moreul, sir tristrain de moy, sir bridoul de puiveurs, the lord de verneul, langhois de guerbauval, the viscount de dommart, ponchon de la tour, godfrey de prouville. in short, the numbers of persons, including princes, knights, and men of every degree, slain that day, amounted to upward of ten thousand, according to the estimates of heralds and other able persons. the bodies of the greater part were carried away by their friends after the departure of the english, and buried where it was agreeable to them. of these ten thousand, it was supposed only sixteen hundred were of low degree; the rest all gentlemen; for in counting the princes, there were one hundred and six score banners destroyed. during the battle, the duke of alençon most valiantly broke through the english line, and advanced, fighting, near to the king,--insomuch that he wounded and struck down the duke of york: king henry, seeing this, stepped forth to his aid; and as he was leaning down to raise him, the duke of alençon gave him a blow on the helmet that struck off part of his crown. the king's guards on this surrounded him, when, seeing he could no way escape death but by surrendering, he lifted up his arm, and said to the king, 'i am the duke of alençon and yield myself to you;' but, as the king was holding out his hand to receive his pledge, he was put to death by the guards. at this period, the lord de longny marshal of france, as i have said, was hastening, with six hundred men at arms attached to the king of sicily, to join the french, and was within one league of them, when he met many wounded and more running away, who bade him return, for that the lords of france were all slain or made prisoners by the english. in consequence, longny, with grief at heart and in despair, went to the king of france at rouen. it was supposed, that about fifteen hundred knights and gentlemen were this day made prisoners: the names of the principal are, charles duke of orleans, the duke of bourbon, the count d'eu, the count de vendôme, the count de richemont, sir james de harcourt, sir john de craon lord of dommart, the lord de humieres, the lord de roye, the lord de cauny, sir boors quieret lord of heuchin, sir peter quieret lord of hamecourt, the lord de ligne in hainault, the lord de noyelle, surnamed le chevalier blanc, baudo his son, the young lord of inchy, sir john de vaucourt, sir actis de brimeu, sir jennet de poix, the eldest son and heir to the lord de ligne, sir gilbert de launoy, the lord d'ancob in ternois. chap. xxxiii. on the departure of the english, many frenchmen visit the field of battle to seek their friends, whom they bury,--and other matters. when the king of england had on this saturday begun his march toward calais, many of the french returned to the field of battle, where the bodies had been turned over more than once, some to seek for their lords, and carry them to their own countries for burial,--others to pillage what the english had left. king henry's army had only taken gold, silver, rich dresses, helmets, and what was of value; for which reason, the greater part of the armour was untouched and on the dead bodies; but it did not long remain thus, for it was very soon stripped off, and even the shirts, and all other parts of their dress were carried away by the peasants of the adjoining villages. the bodies were left exposed as naked as when they came into the world. on the saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday and wednesday, the corpses of many princes were well washed and raised, namely, the dukes of brabant, bar and alençon, the counts de nevers, de blaumont, de vaudemont, de faulquemberge the lord de dampierre, admiral, sir charles d'albreth, constable, and buried in the church of the friars minors at hesdin. others were carried by their servants, some to their own countries, and others to different churches. all who were recognised were taken away, and buried in the churches of their manors. when philippe count de charolois heard of the unfortunate and melancholy disaster of the french, he was in great grief, more especially for the death of his two uncles, the duke of brabant and count de nevers. moved by compassion, he caused all that had remained exposed on the field of battle to be interred, and commissioned the abbot de roussianville and the bailiff of aire to have it done. they measured out a square of twenty-five yards, wherein were dug three trenches twelve feet wide in which were buried, by an account kept, five thousand eight hundred men. it was not known how many had been carried away by their friends, nor what number of the wounded had died in hospitals, towns, villages, and even in the adjacent woods; but, as i have before said, it must have been very great. this square was consecrated as a burying ground by the bishop of guines, at the command and as procurator of louis de luxembourg, bishop of therounne. it was surrounded by a strong hedge of thorns, to prevent wolves or dogs from entering it, and tearing up and devouring the bodies. in consequence of this sad event, some learned clerks of the realm made the following verses: 'a chief by dolorous mischance oppress'd, a prince who rules by arbitrary will, a royal house by discord sore distress'd, a council, prejudic'd and partial still, subjects by prodigality brought low, will fill the land with beggars, well we trow. nobles made noble in dame nature's spite a tim'rous clergy fear, and truth conceal, while humble commoners forego their right and the harsh yoke of proud oppression feel: thus, while the people mourn, the public woe will fill the land with beggars, well we trow. ah feeble woe! whose impotent commands thy very vassals boldly dare despise: ah helpless monarch! whose enervate hands and wavering counsels dare no high emprize: thy hapless reign will cause our tears to flow, and fill the land with beggars, well we trow[ ].' i shall here add the names of such principal persons as escaped death or imprisonment in consequence of this battle. first, the count de dampmartin, lord de la riviere, sir clugnet de brabant, styling himself admiral of france, sir louis bourdon, sir galiot de gaules, sir john d'engennes. footnotes: [footnote : i am obliged to my friend, the rev. w. shepherd, for the translation of these verses.] chap. xxxiv. king henry embarks at calais for england, where he is joyfully received on his late successes.--the count de la marche goes to italy. on the th day of november, when king henry had refreshed his army in calais, and when those prisoners who at harfleur had promised to meet him there were arrived, he embarked for dover. the sea on his passage was very rough, so that two vessels full of sir john de cornewall's men were in great danger; and some of the fleet were driven to different parts in zealand, but none of them were lost. the king of england, on his return home from such a victory, and his conquest of harfleur, was most joyfully received by the nobles, clergy, and all ranks of men: he proceeded to london, accompanied by the french princes his prisoners. a little before this unfortunate battle, sir james de bourbon, count de la marche, had gone to italy, magnificently attended, and had married queen johanna of naples, and thus acquired the kingdoms of sicily and naples: indeed, he for some time held quiet possession of them. he appointed sir lourdin de salligny his constable; and one of his captains was sir here de bruneul, lord de thiembronne. chap. xxxv. the king of france and his princes are much grieved on hearing the melancholy event of the battle of azincourt.--of the duke of burgundy,--and other matters. when news was brought to rouen of the unfortunate loss of the battle of azincourt, and the deaths of so many noble persons, the king of france and the princes with him were in the utmost consternation and grief. nevertheless, within a very few days, at a council held in the presence of the king, the dukes of acquitaine, berry, and brittany, the count de ponthieu his youngest son, and some of his ministers, the count d'armagnac was nominated constable of france, and orders were dispatched to him in languedoc, for him instantly to come to the king. duke john of burgundy was in that duchy when he heard of the defeat and loss of the french. he, like the others, was much grieved thereat, particularly for the death of his two brothers, the duke of brabant and the count de nevers. notwithstanding his sorrow, he made preparation to march a large force of men at arms to paris without delay; but as the report of his intentions had reached the king at rouen, he, with the princes, hastened to return thither before the duke should arrive, and came there on the eve of st catherine's day. in company with the duke of burgundy were the duke of lorraine and ten thousand men. the parisians, suspecting the object of the duke in this expedition, sent a solemn embassy to the queen of france at melun, where she lay dangerously ill; but, in consequence of the information she received, she caused herself to be carried in a litter to paris, where she was lodged in the hôtel d'orleans with the duchess of acquitaine, daughter to the duke of burgundy. true it is, that the parisians, and some of the king's ministers who had been favourable to the orleans faction, against that of burgundy, were very much alarmed, because the duke had in his company many who had been banished france, such as sir helion de jacqueville, sir robinet de mailly, master eustace de lactre, master john de troyes, caboche, denisot de chaumont, garnot de sanction and several more. they therefore prevailed on the king and the duke of acquitaine to order sir clugnet de brabant, the lord de barbasan and the lord de bocquiaux, to hasten to paris with a sufficient body of men at arms for its defence, and for the security of the duke of acquitaine. the count d'armagnac was again commanded to push forward to paris as speedily as possible, and with as many men at arms as he could raise. the duke of burgundy, on his march thither, passed through troyes and provins, to meaux in brie, where he was refused admittance by orders from the duke of acquitaine and the council, who had written to the governor on no account to suffer him to enter the town, which displeased him much. upon this he proceeded to lagny sur marne, and quartered himself in the town, and his men in the country around, which suffered severely from them. on the other hand, many captains had raised their forces in picardy, namely, sir martelet de mesnil, ferry de mailly, the brothers hector and philippe de saveuses, sir mauroy de st leger, sir payen de beaufort, louis de varigines, and others. they despoiled all the country they marched through by pont st mard to lagny, whither the duke of burgundy had summoned them. his army was so much increased that it now amounted to twenty thousand horse. the king of sicily, knowing that he was not beloved by the duke of burgundy for having sent back his daughter, left paris in an ill state of health, and went to angers; but before his departure, he was desirous of submitting their differences to the king and his council, provided he should be heard in his defence. the duke of burgundy would not listen to his proposal, and returned for answer, to those who had brought the offer, that for the wrongs and disgrace the king of sicily had done to him and his daughter, he would have his revenge when time and opportunity should serve. while he remained at lagny sur marne, he sent to the king and council at paris, sir john de luxembourg, the lord de st george, and other able counsellors, to explain fully the cause of his coming, and to request that he and his men might be admitted peaceably into paris for the security of his royal person. no other reply was made to this, but that the king would shortly send an answer to their lord the duke of burgundy. john de vailly, president of the parliament, with others of the council were dispatched to the duke; but after various embassies and conferences, he could not prevail on the king or the parisians to admit him into the capital. they told him, that if he would consent to enter paris simply as the duke of burgundy, with his usual attendants, the king and council would not object to it; but this the duke would not do, for he knew that those who governed the king were his mortal enemies, and he would not trust his person with them. chap. xxxvi. the parisians and members of the university of paris wait on the duke of acquitaine to propose certain measures of public safety. the death of the duke of acquitaine.--the arrival of the constable in paris. the parisians, and principally those of the university, seeing the discords and quarrels daily increase between the princes of the blood, to the ruin and the overturning of the kingdom, and the destruction of the people, went one day in a body to the duke of acquitaine; and in the presence of the duke of berry, the count de penthievre, and several nobles and prelates, demanded an audience, and liberty to state their grievances. having obtained this, the first president of the parliament began an oration, choosing for his text, 'domine salva, nos perimus,' from the gospel of st matthew: 'lord save us, or we perish.' he very clearly and eloquently pointed out the various grievances the nation was labouring under, and named several evil doers, who were endeavouring to throw the kingdom into confusion by harrassing and oppressing the people. when he had ended, the duke of acquitaine instantly swore, on the word of a king's son, that henceforth all evil doers, whatever might be their rank, should be indiscriminately punished according to their crimes; that justice should be impartially administered, and the clergy and people be maintained in peace. on this, they departed, perfectly satisfied with the answer of the duke of acquitaine; but he had not time to carry his intentions into execution, for a few days after he was seized with a fever, and died on the th of december, in the hôtel de bourbon. his death occasioned many tears and lamentations among numbers of the nobility, and his servants; and it was reported to have been caused by poison,--for which reason, his body was kept in a leaden coffin four days at the above hôtel. the different orders of clergy came thither to pray beside it; after which, it was carried to st denis, and interred near to his royal ancestors. eight days afterward, the count d'armagnac, who had been sent for by the council, arrived at paris to receive the investiture of his constableship, by receiving from the king the sword of constable, and taking the usual solemn oaths. he thanked the king for the high honour he had conferred on him. the new constable had now a force of six thousand combatants at least, including those whom he found in paris, and very shortly dispatched raymonnet de la guerre with four hundred helmets to garrison st denis, and defend it against any attack from the duke of burgundy. he strengthened in like manner other towns on the seine, and had all the bridges and ferries destroyed. the king, at this period, filled up the vacant offices caused by the misfortune at azincourt, and appointed jean de corssay, a native of berry, master of the cross-bows of france; sir thomas de lersies, bailiff of the vermandois, and the lord de humbercourt, bailiff of amiens; the lord d'aunay, a native of la rochelle, to the same office at senlis; sir mansart d'asne, bailiff of vitry, and sir brunet de bans to the same at tournay, with very many others. chap. xxxvii. the duke of brittany arrives at paris. the duke of burgundy leaves lagny sur marne.--the capture of sir martelet du mesnil and ferry de mailly. the duke of brittany at this time came to paris to treat with the king, that the duke of burgundy with his army might march into brittany, but he was unsuccessful. before he departed from paris, he was violently enraged against sir taneguy du châtel, provost of paris, and abused him much, because he had imprisoned in the châtelet the minister of the mathurins, a doctor of theology, for having, in his presence, harangued the populace in favour of the duke of burgundy. in a few days, however, he gave him his free liberty. when the duke of burgundy had remained at lagny sur marne six weeks without having been able to prevail on the king and his council to permit him to enter paris any otherwise than in his simple state, he marched away to dampmartin, thence toward rheims, and through the laonnois, tierrache and cambresis, to the town of douay, and thence to lille. he was, all the time, accompanied by a strong body of men at arms, who much oppressed the poor people on their march. on his departure from lagny, some of the king's soldiers advanced to pont à vaire, and slew and made prisoners many of his men, at which he was highly displeased. from his long residence at lagny, the parisians, and others attached to the king, called him, in common conversation, jean de lagny. after some short stay at lille, he went to visit his nephews in brabant, namely, john and philip, sons to the late duke anthony of brabant, taking with him philippe maisne, by whom he governed that country. he appointed officers to those places in the counties of ligny and st pol, that had been formerly held by count waleran de st pol, maternal grandfather to these children. when he was returned to flanders, he ordered the lord de fosseux, governor of picardy, to cause his captains and their men at arms to retire from his territories of artois and the adjoining lands; and, as many of these captains harrassed the king's subjects, remonnet de la guerre, the provost of compiegne and the lord de bocquiaux, the king's governor of the valois, secretly assembled, on the night of the th of january, a number of men at arms, and surprised the quarters of sir martelet du mesnil and ferry de mailly, in the country of santerre[ ], where they had posted full six hundred men among the villages, who made havoc on all the country round about. excepting such as escaped by flight, they were all slain or made prisoners: among the last were the two captains, sir martelet du mesnil and ferry de mailly, who were carried to compiegne. on the day of the purification of the virgin mary, the said sir martelet and four other gentlemen, after having been tortured by the king's officers, were hung on the gibbet of compiegne; but ferry de mailly, through the intercession of friends, obtained his free deliverance. footnotes: [footnote : santerre,--a small territory, of which mondidier is the capital.] chap. xxxviii. the bishop of arras causes the sentence that had been pronounced against master jean petit to be revoked.--the emperor of germany comes to paris. in this same year, by the exertions of martin poree, doctor in theology, and bishop of arras, and some other ambassadors from the duke of burgundy, having sufficient authorities from him, the following judgement was obtained from the council of constance. 'by the advice of the clergy, in whose name we issue the following sentence. we pronounce and declare, that the suits, judgments, burnings, prohibitions and executions, ordered by the bishop of paris, against master jean petit, and all consequences that may therefrom have ensued, are null and void, and we now do annul and revoke the same. in regard to the costs that legally attach to this cause, we shall leave them to be taxed on sufficient grounds. in which sentence, i jourdan bishop of alba, i anthony cardinal of aquileia, i francis cardinal of florence, do heartily acquiesce.' thus the sentence of the bishop of paris, against master jean petit, was reversed and condemned by the council of constance, the th day of january . not long after this, two knights arrived at paris from the emperor sigismund, to prepare the lodgings he was to have in that city, and lay in his purveyances. the castle of the louvre was given to them for this purpose; and on the following sunday, being shrove sunday, the emperor arrived at paris, attended by about eight hundred horse. the duke of berry, the cardinal de bar, the constable, the chancellor, the provosts of paris and of the merchants, the sheriffs, and a noble company of the citizens in handsome state, went to meet him, and he was by them conducted to the louvre. some days afterward, he explained to the king and council the cause of his coming, which was to establish union in the whole church: he also made many offers of service to the king and his realm. a doctor of divinity, named master guerrard machet, then harangued him in the name of the king of france, with which he was much pleased. charles king of france was very sensible of the honour of this visit, and the two monarchs eat frequently together. on the first sunday in lent, the king of sicily and his son-in-law, the count de ponthieu came to visit the emperor at paris; and during the emperor's stay there, the highest honour and distinctions were paid him by the king and princes. when many conferences had been holden on the state of the universal church, and on other matters, he set out from paris on the wednesday before palm sunday, and was accompanied by the king of france as far as la chappelle, between paris and st denis, where they separated. the king of sicily, the duke of berry, and the cardinal de bar, attended him to st denis, where he was most honourably received by the abbot and his clergy. he thence rode to beauvais: the bishop of the place and the inhabitants had come out to meet him, and the bishop conducted him to his palace, where he was lodged. the emperor there celebrated easter, in company with the duke of milan, uncle to the duke of orleans, the archbishop of rheims, and others, ambassadors from the king of france to his adversary the king of england. leaving beauvais, he crossed the bridge at st remy, and went to st riquier, because the townsmen of abbeville would not admit his people, although he was in company with ambassadors going to england. from st riquier he went on a pilgrimage to st josse, where the abbot and the whole convent came out in procession to meet him, in the same state they would have done had he been king of france. after offering up his prayers, he made no present to the glorious friend of god saint josse. the emperor was clad in armour, having on the pummel of his saddle a montauban hat, and over his armour a robe, on the front and back part of which was an ash-coloured upright cross, with a latin motto round it,--'o how merciful god is!' most of his attendants were armed, and well mounted; and from st josse, by way of estaples, he went to boulogne, but the townsfolk would not permit him to enter, at which he was so indignant that he would not accept the presents the inhabitants sent to him. after dining in the suburbs of boulogne, he went to lie at calais, whence the governor, the earl of warwick, had come to meet him, accompanied by men at arms and archers. he was there most honourably entertained, at the expense of the king of england, until the ensuing wednesday, when he embarked for england. during the time the emperor was at paris, he one day went to the court of parliament, where the presidents and counsellors shewed him every honour, and seated him, as was right, on the royal throne. the advocates then began to plead such causes as were before the court; and among others, was one of a languedocian knight, called william segnot, respecting the seneschalship of beaucaire. it was claimed by two persons in right of the king's gift; but sir william proved, that no one could hold that office unless he were a knight. the emperor, hearing this, asked the esquire in latin, if he wished to be a knight; and on his replying in the affirmative, the emperor called for a sword, which being given him, he instantly dubbed the esquire a knight, who by this means obtained the office by sentence of the judges of the parliament. the king and his council, however, when they heard of this, were greatly angered against the judges of the court for having suffered it; for it seemed that this act had been done by the emperor, as having superior authority to the king of france, who, had he been present, would not on any account have permitted it. it was nevertheless passed over in silence, and no notice taken of it to the emperor. chap. xxxix. a heavy tax is laid on the kingdom of france by the government, to the great discontent of the parisians.--events that happened in consequence of it. when the emperor had left paris, a very heavy impost was laid on all france, by those who governed the king, namely, the queen, the king of sicily, the duke of berry and others. the populace, more especially such as were attached to the duke of burgundy, were very clamorous against these lords; for many of the duke's friends had remained in the city, who were day and night practising on the means of his restoration to the king's favour, and to the government of the realm. to accomplish this, they had advised him to send secretly to paris some well-informed and prudent persons, to whom they might resort and have advice in case of need. in compliance with their request, he sent thither sir jennet de poix, jacques de fosseux, the lord de st leger, and binet d'auffeu, who brought credential letters, signed by the duke, to those whom he knew to be attached to his party. the parisians, having thus entered into a conspiracy under pretence of the severity of the new tax, swore to rise in a body in the afternoon of good friday, and make prisoners of all that should oppose them. their first object was to seize the provost of paris, and, if he refused to sanction their conduct, they intended to kill him and then seize and confine the king. they were afterward to put to death the queen, the chancellor of france and numberless others, with the queen of sicily; and after dressing the king of sicily and the duke of berry in some old cloaths of the king, and shaving their heads, to carry them through paris on two lean bullocks, and then put them to death. the day of action was however put off by some of the conspirators, who said that many of their intended victims might escape on good friday, from being at their devotions in and out of paris, or at confession in the churches, or on pilgrimages, which would prevent them being found at their houses,--and that it would be better to defer the matter until easter-day, when they all promised to meet for the above purposes. this conspiracy was revealed by the wife of michel lallier, who sent letters to her lover, bureau de dampmartin, advising him to fly instantly from paris. this he did; but, before his departure, sent information of it to the chancellor, as he was at dinner, who lost no time in hastening to the louvre, to advise the queen and princes of the blood to save themselves by flight. his council was followed by all except the provost of paris, who, arming himself and his men, to the number of fifty, suddenly took possession of the market-place, and seized some of the conspirators before they had armed themselves, in their houses, and imprisoned them in the châtelet, which so confounded the other conspirators that an end was put to their project. the provost, being reinforced with men at arms, forced different houses in which he found many gentlemen hidden, who were armed for this massacre. in the number, he seized sir almeric d'orgemont, archdeacon of amiens, dean of tours and canon of paris, with one of the presidents of the chamber of accounts and some masters of requests, robert de belloy, a very rich draper, the host of the hôtel of the bear, at the porte baudet, and many other considerable persons. the chancellor sent information of this conspiracy to the constable and marshal of france, then on the confines of harfleur, who, without delay, dispatched remonnet de la guerre, with eight hundred men, to the assistance of the princes in paris, and concluded a truce with the english in harfleur, from the th day of may to the nd day of june. on saturday, the nd of may, the above-mentioned prisoners were brought to the market-place and beheaded as traitors; but sir almeric d'orgemont, being an ecclesiastic, was, by orders from the council, delivered by the provost of paris to the dean and chapter of nôtre dame, for them to try him: this was soon done; and he was sentenced to perpetual imprisonment on bread and water. the constable, on the conclusion of the truce, came to paris, with three hundred men at arms, and, being attended by the provost with a very strong force, detached the iron chains from the streets, and sent them to the bastille, at the same time taking away all armour and offensive weapons from the parisians. louis bourdon came also to paris with two hundred men at arms, and was followed by clugnet de brabant and the lord de bosquiaux, governor of valois, with another considerable body of men at arms. those in paris who were friendly to the duke of burgundy were now in much perplexity, especially such as had been concerned in the late conspiracy; for they were punished without mercy, some publicly beheaded, others drowned in the seine. the gentlemen whom the duke of burgundy had sent to paris escaped as secretly as they could, and were neither taken nor stopped. when this business was over, numbers of men at arms were collected in the name of the king, by his ministers, throughout france; and in like manner did the duke of burgundy, or permitted it to be done by those under him, so that the clergy and poorer sorts of people suffered greatly in various parts of the kingdom,--for there were few who defended them,--and they had no other support but their earnest prayers to god their creator to take vengeance on their oppressors. [a.d. .] chap. xl. the emperor of germany arrives in london.--the brother to the king of cyprus comes to paris.--the death of the duke of berry.--many embassies take place between france and england. in the beginning of this year, the emperor of germany arrived at london; and the king, accompanied by his princes, nobles, great multitudes of the clergy and citizens, went out to meet him. during his stay, every honour was paid to him, and he was treated with great magnificence. a few days after his arrival, duke william of hainault came thither also, attended by six hundred horse, to endeavour to make a peace between england and france. ambassadors likewise arrived at london from various countries, and in the number were one hundred persons from the duke of burgundy. at this same time, the brother to the king of cyprus, who was count of three cities, came to visit the king of france in paris. the constable, charles son to the duke of bourbon, the provost of paris, and many more went to meet him; and they escorted him to the presence of the king and queen, who received him most graciously. on the th day of may, jennet de poix, jacques de fosseux, the lord de st leger, binet d'auffeu, hue de sailly, master philippe de morvillier, guillaume sanguin, and others of the burgundy faction, were publicly banished at amiens from the kingdom of france, on suspicion of having been concerned in the late plot against the royal family. in these days, the duke of berry, who was now at a very advanced age, was taken ill at his hôtel de neele in paris, and was frequently visited by the king his nephew, at that time in perfect health, and by other princes of the blood. notwithstanding the care of his physicians, he departed this life on the th day of june, without leaving a male heir,--so that the duchy of berry and county of poiteu reverted to the crown, and the king gave them to john de touraine, his eldest son, and godson to the defunct. the heart of the duke of berry was interred at st denis, his bowels in the church of st pierre-des-degrez, and his body was carried to bourges, and there buried in the cathedral church. he left two daughters; the eldest was countess d'armagnac, mother to amadeus duke of savoy, and the youngest was duchess of bourbon. the duke of berry had, during his lifetime, given to his nephew and godson john duke of burgundy, the county of estampes, on certain conditions. on the duke of berry's decease, the king appointed his youngest son charles, afterward dauphin, to the government of paris, under the management of his father in law the king of sicily, and likewise gave him the duchy of touraine. the ambassadors from france, who had accompanied the emperor of germany to england, namely the archbishop of rheims, the lord de gaucourt and others, now returned to the king; but, at the instance of the emperor, the bishop of norwich and sir thomas erpingham, a knight of great renown, grand master of the king's household, attended by seventy horsemen, went with him to calais, as ambassadors from king henry. at calais they received passports from the king of france, and went to montrieul, thence to abbeville and beauvais, where commissioners from the king met and honourably received them. a negociation was opened for a truce to take place between the two kings for a certain time, and also respecting the ransoms of some prisoners who had been carried to england in consequence of the victories of king henry; but nothing was concluded, because the constable had besieged harfleur by sea, and would not break up the siege, in consequence of which the english ambassadors returned home. soon afterward the king of england sent the earl of warwick and others, as ambassadors to the duke of burgundy at lille, who concluded a truce between england and the duke, from st john baptist's day in this year to michaelmas day in , but only for the counties of flanders, artois and the adjacent parts. the duke of burgundy caused this truce to be publicly proclaimed at the usual places, to the great astonishment of many who were surprised that such a truce should have been concluded independantly of france. chap. xli. jennet de poix and others, by command of the duke of burgundy, march secretly to saint denis, and make inroads on different parts of france. in the month of june, sir jennet de poix, with the approbation of the duke of burgundy his lord, collected four hundred men, who, hiding their arms in casks, divided themselves into companies, and went by different roads, disguised as merchants, to the frank fair of st denis. as the king was at st germain-en-laye, and the constable in normandy, many hid themselves on the road-side, and others entered the town as merchants, chiefly with the intention of seizing the chancellor and tanneguy du châtel provost of paris. but while they were eating and drinking, the chancellor and tanneguy passed unmolested through the town and returned to paris. when they heard of this, they hastened back in confusion to picardy, carrying with them some prisoners, and spoils from the king's territories, which greatly incensed the people. on the other hand, ferry de mailly, with many men at arms, invaded the towns of quesnel and hangest, in santerre, where he and sir martelet had been made prisoners, and carried off a large booty with many captives, whom, after they had miserably tortured them, they set at liberty for heavy ransoms. in like manner, sir mauroy de st leger crossed the seine, and during the night, formed an ambuscade near to the castle of chaulnes[ ]; and in the morning when the draw-bridge was lowered, his men rushed into the castle, and made themselves masters thereof, which was full of rich effects. soon afterward, the peasants of lihons[ ], and from other villages who had therein deposited their goods, entered into a treaty with sir mauroy; and, for a considerable sum of money paid him and his people, he surrendered the castle to the lady-dowager, and marched away. footnotes: [footnote : chaulnes,--a town of picardy, election of peronne.] [footnote : lihons,--a town of picardy, election of peronne.] chap. xlii. lihons, in santerre, pillaged by many captains who had taken up arms.--the capture of the castle of beaumont.--the storming the castle of neele.--and other matters. sir mauroy de st leger, soon after his last expedition to chaulnes, made another, in conjunction with jean d'aubigny, to lihons, in santerre, which with the priory they completely plundered, ransoming the inhabitants for large sums, all of which they carried with them into artois. in this manner different companies were formed of nobles or others, but attached to the party of the duke of burgundy, under various standards: the principal leaders were, st mauroy de st leger, sir jennet de poix, his brother david, the lord de sores in beauvoisis, jean de fosseux, hector and philippe de saveuses, ferry de mailly, louis de varigines, sir payen de beaufort, sir louis de burnel, jean de donquerre, guerard, bastard de bruneu, and numbers of others, who, with displayed banners, invaded the territories of france; in particular, the countries of eu and aumale, and those lands in santerre, as far as the river oise, that belonged to such as were favourers of the orleans party. in these parts they committed every sort of ravage, plundering the property, and making the inhabitants prisoners, as would be done to a country against which war had been declared. there were also other companies formed by captains under pretence of their attachment to the duke of burgundy, such as sir gastellin, a lombard knight, jean de gaingy, jean de clau, and lamain de clau, savoyards, jean d'aubigny, the bastard de sallebruche, charles l'abbè, the bastard de thian, matthieu des près, panchette, the bastard penar, and others, who amounted to two thousand horsemen when they were all assembled. they for a long time quartered themselves on the territories of burgundy as well as france, and did incredible mischief to both. sir gastellin and his men even took the castle of oisy in the cambresis, belonging to the daughter and heiress of sir robert de bar, and held it for a long time, using that and its dependances as if they had been his own property. about the same time, the lord de sores, with six hundred combatants, marched to pont avaire[ ], and thence advanced toward paris, and placed themselves in ambuscade at la chappelle[ ] until the gates should be opened. shortly after their arrival, a man rode to them on a white horse from paris, and, having said a few words to the lord de sores, he returned thither the same road he had come. while they remained, they made several men and women prisoners for fear of being discovered by them to the parisians; but seeing their enterprise had failed, they sounded their trumpets and retreated hastily toward beaumont-sur-oise. their object had been to seize the king of sicily by the aid of some of the parisians. when they were near beaumont, they sent fourteen of their men in advance, having upright crosses on their breasts, to tell the wardens of the gate that the king had sent them to guard the passes of the oise against the burgundians. by their speeches and appearance, they gained belief; but they had no sooner entered than they killed the wardens, and kept possession of the gate. their whole body attacked the castle, which they took, and slew the governor and his son. after they had made a great slaughter in the town, and pillaged it of every thing they marched away, but neither set fire to it nor the castle, carrying their plunder and prisoners with them to mouy in clermont, wasting all the country they passed through. from mouy they marched by montdidier to nesle in the vermandois, belonging to the count de dampmartin. many other captains there joined them, among whom was sir mauroy before mentioned. they resolved to storm the town, and succeeded notwithstanding the vigorous defence of the inhabitants, who well performed their duty. many were killed and wounded, and numbers made prisoners; among the latter was the governor, sir blanchet du sollier. the town was plundered of every thing, and it was at the time full of merchandise on account of the fair. after remaining there about a fortnight, to sell their pillage and wait for the ransom of their prisoners, they departed, carrying on carts and cars the remnant of what they had gained, which was immense. when information of these proceedings was given to the king, the constable, and the grand council, they were much incensed at the duke of burgundy, to whom they said these captains belonged; and to provide a remedy, the following edict was proclaimed throughout the realm. 'charles, by the grace of god, king of france, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting. 'since the most supreme and excellent, the sovereign king of kings jesus christ our creator, has, through his divine grace and clemency, selected us to govern and rule over the very renowned, and most noble kingdom of france, it behoves us to exert our best endeavours to secure peace to our subjects, and that all disturbers thereof should be punished, in order that impartial justice be distributed and our people live in peace and security. 'whereas it has come to our knowledge, by the report of our council, and by others worthy of belief, and also by the great complaints, and doleful clamours of numbers of our subjects, as well as by the confessions of malefactors, justly put to death, the which we record in great sorrow and bitterness of heart, that hector de saveuses, phillippe de saveuses his brother, elyon de jacqueville, pierre de sorel, gotrant lord de st leger, mauroy de st leger his son, jacques de fosseux, calvin de clau, jean d'aubigny, fierebourg, matthieu dès près, jean de poix, daviod his brother, camuset de ligny, gastellin, cormeri, of the order of the hospital of st john of jerusalem, the commander de sagestre, panchette, henri de la tour, pierson tube, jean de cauffour, henri de cauffour le valois, jacques de calivray, ramon marcq, denisot de baugis, guillaume le glois, martelet testart, jacques le masson, benois de bessin, guillemot de la planche de douay, le tor d'emprès douay, jean pallemargue, robinet le vicomte, la barbe de craon, jean jaully picard, robinet de bray, le curé de vaulx, prestre, jean louis de cumillers, robin d'ays, guillaume mignot brebiettes emprès compiegne, thomas de plaisance, le grand thomas mignot, jacquet de clavin, perrin de chevrerieres, henri de hailly, jean de peresin, jean bertrand butcher of st denis, guillaume de cormeuil, guillaume de chify du brunet, master robert trumpeter to our cousin of burgundy, perrin trumpeter to jean d'aubigny, jennet one of the archers of the body guard of our said cousin of burgundy, jean de vienon, jean de tourgney governor of champlost[ ], puissevin d'aussorros, charles l'abbé, the bastard cognart de l'aussorrois, the bastard de launois guynis, rousselet le batelier, philippot vezis de sens, estienne guyart de sens, symon le vigneron de joigny, estienne de la croix, the son of the host at sens, colin de l'hôpital, the bastard de chaullay, the bastard guignart, three brothers du moyne de collanges sur yonne, jean de duilly, charlot de duilly, and a company of _fuzelaires_, calling themselves _begaux_, accompanied by numbers of others, disturbers of the peace, among whom are some whom the laws have for ever banished our kingdom for their wickedness, having assembled themselves in companies contrary to our will and express orders. 'this they daily persevere in doing and in overrunning divers parts of our realm, gaining by force or sublety many towns and castles belonging to us, or to our noble vassals and clergy, and plundering them of all their wealth. not content with this, they, like to perverse sinners, delighting in the effusion of blood put to death and wound not only such as shall attempt to defend their properties but the peaceable and well-inclined inhabitants of the said towns and castles, who only wish to remain in tranquillity. 'but what has astonished us the most, and which we would not have believed if sad experience had not convinced us of it, they have frequently advanced even to the walls of our good town of paris, the principal seat of government and justice of our realm, and have attempted to enter it by fraud, to commit similar crimes to those they had done in other towns; and more particularly, a few nights since they made one of these mad and foolish attempts. 'they have also marched large bodies of armed men to the gates of the said town, knowing, at the same time, that we, our very dear companion the queen, and our son the duke of touraine, with others of our blood, were personally within it. they then endeavoured fraudulently to gain admittance, which, should they have affected, (but through god's pleasure they failed,) murders, thefts, rapines, rapes, and every horrid mischief would have ensued to the ruin of that town, and, consequently, to the destruction of the church and kingdom. 'we point out, therefore, the before-mentioned persons as guilty of these atrocious acts, and call on our faithful and loyal subjects to assist us heartily in putting an end to their very heinous misdeeds. there is very clear evidence of this last fact; for when they found they could not by any means enter our said town of paris, like madmen they gallopped off for the town of beaumont-sur-oise, belonging to our very dear and well beloved son and nephew the duke of orleans, now prisoner in england, and on their march seized horses from the plough, and robbed and made prisoners every traveller they met. after this, they took the said town and castle by storm, plundered it, and killed or drowned very many of townsmen. in like manner they took the town of nesle in vermandois, and had before done the same to our town of chablis[ ], to the castle of néant, belonging to the monks of la charité sur loire, with numbers of other castles, towns and villages, laying violent hands on women of all descriptions, violating them like beasts, pillaging churches and other sacred edifices, of which we are every day receiving the most melancholy accounts and lamentations. 'greater mischiefs our ancient enemies the english would not, nor could not do; but these wretches, perversely wicked, add daily sin to sin, publicly shewing themselves rebels, and disobedient to our positive commands. they thus render themselves deserving of the severest punishments, and unworthy of the smallest grace, by holding ourselves and our sovereign power in perfect contempt. 'in consideration of the many and repeated complaints and lamentations made to us, by such numbers of our vassals and subjects, calling on god, our creator, and on us for vengeance for the innocent blood that has been so cruelly shed,--we foreseeing that unless a stop be put to these atrocities, the whole kingdom will be ruined, and which we firmly believe to be the ultimate object of the before-named persons, have called together the princes of our blood, the members of our grand council and courts of parliament, with other barons and nobles of our realm, that they might advise on the best and most speedy measures to be adopted for the crushing this unnatural rebellion. 'after many consultations on the said matters, we having the utmost dread lest the divine judgement should fall on our head and on our kingdom, for the blood of the just that has been so abundantly and cruelly shed, and being ever desirous that peace and justice may be observed in our realm, do make known, and declare all the aforesaid persons, with their allies and associates, rebels to us and to our government. and because we at this moment are fully employed in the war that exists between us and our enemies the english, who have invaded our country, and cannot therefore act as we should wish against these said rebels and their allies: we therefore give full power and authority to all our loyal subjects to take up arms against them to put them to death, or to confine them in prison to suffer the punishment due to their crimes, and to take full possession of all their properties moveable or immoveable, by force of arms, and to slay such as may oppose them, without their having cause for any letters of pardon whatever. 'we therefore command, by these presents, the bailiff of amiens, or his lieutenant, solemnly to proclaim three times a-week, with sound of trumpet, in all the usual places where proclamations have been made within his district, full licence and authority for any one to seize the persons and effects of the before-named rebels, and to put them to death, should need be, without danger of process or suit being hereafter made against him or them for so doing. the said bailiff, or his lieutenant, will attend to the observance of the above, so that nothing arise through his neglect to our prejudice, or to that of our kingdom. 'that greater confidence may be put in these presents, we order, that exact copies be made, and sent to those parts where the original cannot be proclaimed, and that equal faith be given to them. in testimony whereof, we have had our seal affixed to these presents. given at paris, the th day of august, in the year of grace , and of our reign the th.' thus signed by the king, on the report of his great council, and countersigned 'ferron.' this edict was solemnly proclaimed in amiens the th day of september and thence sent to all the provosts within the bailiwick of amiens, to be proclaimed by them throughout their provostships. the provosts of beauquesnes, of montrieul of st riquier, and of dourleans, through fear of the duke of burgundy, dared only to proclaim it once, and in their own courts, when few people were present. soon after, remonnet de la guerre was ordered by the king and constable to noyon and nesles, to aid sir thomas de lersies, bailiff of the vermandois, in defending the country against the burgundians. war was now openly declared between the contending factions in that and divers other places of the realm. in truth wherever any of the king's officers could lay hands on the partisans of the duke of burgundy, none escaped, whether nobles or not, from being sentenced to death; and more especially all who fell into the hands of the governor of noyon and the parts adjacent were put to death without mercy,--insomuch that many trees near to that town were marvellously laden with such fruits. footnotes: [footnote : pont-avaire. q. if we should not read pont-st. maixence, for the other is not in any map or gazetteer.] [footnote : la chappelle,--a village close to paris.] [footnote : champlost,--a town in champagne, election of st florentin.] [footnote : chablis,--diocese of langres, famous for its wines.] chap. xliii. the duke of burgundy increases his men at arms.--the marriage of the lord de la trimouille.--the duke of clarence embarks a large army for harfleur. the duke of burgundy, when he heard of this edict, so prejudicial and disgraceful to himself and his friends, was more than ever indignant and irritated against those who governed the king. he very much increased the number of his men at arms, and even consented to their quartering themselves on his own territories in the cambresis, tierrache, vermandois, santerre, and the whole country from the somme to the sea-coast, toward montrieul and crotoy. justice was now no longer attended to or maintained in those parts; and the powerful nobles cruelly treated churchmen and the poorer ranks. with regard to the provosts, and others of the king's officers of justice, few, if any of them, dared to do their duty. the tradesmen could not venture abroad with their goods out of the fortified towns without paying tribute for passports, under risk of being robbed and murdered. at this time the widowed duchess of berry espoused the lord de la trimouille, who was not beloved by the duke of burgundy; and because this duchess was in her own right countess of the boulonois, the duke sent the lord de fosseux, then governor of artois, to take possession of the town of boulogne. this was done, but the lord de moruel remained governor of it in the king's name, against the english. at this same period, the duke of clarence, brother to the king of england, sailed from the port of sandwich with three hundred vessels full of english, whom he led to harfleur, and destroyed the french navy under the command of the constable of france, who had for some time besieged that town. many were killed on board the fleet; but when the duke of clarence had revictualled it, and supplied his losses, he sailed back to england much rejoiced at his good success. chap. xliv. the emperor of germany and the king of england come to calais. duke john of burgundy meets them there.--the matters that were then transacted. about the feast of st remy, in this year, the emperor of germany and the king of england came to calais, attended by numbers of nobles. the duke of burgundy there met them, and was most honourably received; and the duke of glocester, brother to king henry went to st omer as hostage for the duke of burgundy, where he was nobly entertained by the count de charolois, and by other great lords appointed for that purpose. however, when the count de charolois visited the duke of glocester the day after his arrival attended by some of the lords of his council, to do him honour, and keep him company, the duke had his back turned towards him as the count entered the apartment, and was so engaged in talking to some of his attendants that he forgot to make the usual salutations to the count, but said, shortly enough, 'you are welcome, fair cousin,' but without advancing to meet him, and continued his conversation with the english. the count de charolois, notwithstanding his youth, was much hurt and displeased at this conduct, although at the moment he showed no signs of it. in the conferences held at calais, the king of england earnestly requested the duke of burgundy not to assist the king of france against him; in which case, he would divide some of his future conquests with him; promising, at the same time, not to attack any of his territories, or those of his allies or well-wishers. the duke refused to agree to this; but the truce that existed between them was prolonged until michaelmas-day in the year . at that time, as i was informed, the duke of burgundy did homage to the emperor for his counties of burgundy and alost. when he had remained in calais nine days, and finished the business on which he had come, he took leave of the king and returned to st omer, whence the duke of glocester came to calais. the king of france and his ministers were much astonished at this visit of the duke of burgundy and believed for certain that he had allied himself with king henry, to the prejudice of the king and kingdom of france. chap. xlv. the duke of burgundy goes to valenciennes, in obedience to a summons which he receives from the dauphin. they mutually swear friendship to each other. on the return of the duke of burgundy from calais, duke william count of hainault sent ambassadors to him, to request that he would meet the dauphin his son-in-law, which he refused, because he had frequently sent to his brother-in-law, duke william in holland, to desire he would bring the dauphin into those parts, and it had not been complied with. the dauphin, nevertheless, wrote letters with his own hand to the duke of burgundy, to come to him at valenciennes, who promised the messengers that he would be there,--and indeed he went thither on the th day of november. duke william went out of valenciennes the length of a league to meet him, carrying with him the dauphin. on the morrow such matters were discussed and agreed on as shall be hereafter mentioned, in the presence of the countess of hainault, the count de charolois, the count de conversan, and many other able knights and esquires, and the ministers of the three parties, namely sir jean de luxembourg, sir jacques de harcourt, the chancellor to the dauphin, baudouin de fresnes treasurer of hainault, robert de vandegrès, jean bastard of blois, master eustace de lactre, the lord d'antoing, the vidame of amiens, the lord de fosseux, the lord d'ancre, the lord de robais, the lord de humbercourt, sir hue de launoy, sir guillaume bouvier governor of arras, sir athis de brimeu, sir andrieu de valines, master philippe de morvillers, and many more. first, the duke of burgundy offered himself and his services to the dauphin, and promised on his oath to serve the king his father and himself, to the utmost of his power, against all their enemies. this promise the dauphin received with pleasure, and, in return, made oath, that he would aid and defend the duke of burgundy against his enemies and all ill wishers to him or to his subjects. the dauphin then affectionately requested the duke to join the king in the defence of his realm against the attacks of the english, which he promised and swore he would. he next required of the duke, that he would keep the peace that had been concluded at auxerre. the duke replied, that he would most willingly do so, for he was very desirous of maintaining that peace, and that he wished ill to no one but to the king of sicily. the dauphin was satisfied with this answer, and made offer to the duke, that if there were any articles in the peace which he wished to have altered, or if he desired others to be added, as well in regard to what had passed then as since, it should be done. all present then made oath to the duke of burgundy for the observance of what had been said, and duke william and the duke of burgundy mutually swore to maintain brotherly affection; and that they would endeavour to establish a good government for the king of france and the dauphin, that they would mutually support each other, as well when absent as present, by risking their persons in maintaining whatever they should have agreed upon. duke william added, that in respect to the war between france and england, his predecessors had no way interfered, and that he intended in this matter to follow their example, lest his countries should suffer for it. duke william afterward promised the duke of burgundy, that he would not intrust the dauphin to the hands of any person of whom he was not sure, for the better security of the engagements just entered into; and that within fifteen days he would visit the queen of france, and would arrange matters with her, so that he should regain her friendship and support for the good of the king and realm. when all these matters had been concluded, the duke of burgundy and his people returned to douay. chap. xlvi. duke william count of hainault carries his son-in-law the dauphin to st quentin, and thence to compiegne, where he dies.--the conduct observed on this journey. on the th day of november, duke william carried back the dauphin to his castle of quesnoy, whither ambassadors of different ranks were sent by the king and queen to recal the dauphin to the presence of the king in paris; but, notwithstanding their remonstrances, he remained at quesnoy until after christmas. duke william then conducted him to st quentin in the vermandois, where they waited for the queen until the epiphany; and because the queen would not come to st quentin, the duke carried the dauphin to compiegne, where he was lodged in the king's palace. shortly after, the countess of hainault came thither with her daughter the dauphiness, and a large company. the queen came in great state from paris to senlis, accompanied by her son the duke of touraine and her son-in-law the duke of brittany, and the great council of the king. at the same time, the young duke d'alençon, and other lords of his age, went to compiegne to pay their court to the dauphin. negotiations now took place between senlis and compiegne. the countess of hainault carried the dauphiness to visit the queen at senlis, when, after spending some time together in much cheerfulness, they went back to compiegne, and the queen returned to paris, whither the negociations were transferred between duke william, the ministers of the dauphin and ambassadors from the duke of burgundy. true it is, that at this time, the dauphin sent letters, sealed with his great seal, to the bailiffs of vermandois and amiens, and other places, commanding them to proclaim a cessation of warfare on all sides, on pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of effects; but they were of little service to the poor people, for the men at arms did not the less overrun and oppress the country. on the last day but one in march, duke william declared in the full audience of the king's council at paris, that he would unite the dauphin with the duke of burgundy or carry the dauphin back to hainault, if measures were not instantly taken for restoring peace to the kingdom. the ministers, hearing this, resolved that the duke should be arrested and confined until he had given up the dauphin to the king his father. the duke was secretly informed of this by a friend; and on the morrow very early, under pretext of performing a pilgrimage to st maur-des-fosses, and returning to paris in the evening, he hastened with only two attendants to compiegne. he found the dauphin most dangerously ill, insomuch that he died on palm sunday: his disorder was an imposthume in the ear, which burst and suffocated him. when dead, he was put into a leaden coffin, and buried at st corneille[ ], in the presence of duke william, his lady, and the dauphiness, who gave large sums for masses to be said for the welfare of his soul. the duke and his family returned in great grief to hainault. it was commonly reported, that the dauphin had been poisoned by some of those who governed the king, because he and his elder brother had been too much attached to the duke of burgundy. footnotes: [footnote : st corneille de compiegne,--an abbey near that town.] chap. xlvii. the neapolitans rebel against their king, jacques de la marche, and make war on him.--they take the queen prisoner. the consequences that follow. this year the neapolitans rebelled against king james count de la marche, and would have made him prisoner, had he not been informed in time of their intentions. they confined the queen, and made a bitter war against him and his supporters. the constable and the lord de st maurice, his father-in-law, were imprisoned. the king, for his greater security, embarked on board a brigantine for the castle del ovo, leaving a good garrison in castel nuovo. this war lasted until the th day of october in the same year, when peace was made on condition that all the french who held any offices in the kingdom should depart and return to their own country, excepting the very few employed personally to serve the king. on the conclusion of the peace, the king and queen returned to castel nuovo, when all persons renewed their oaths of allegiance, promising to consider him as their king during his life, but that he was no way to interfere in the government of the kingdom. his establishment of guards, attendants and horses, were all arranged according to the pleasure of the neapolitans. on the day the king returned to castel nuovo, there were great rejoicings throughout the town, with bonfires, and illuminations on the terraces of the houses; and on the morrow there was a grand ball at the castle. but on the third day, the king was so strictly watched that none were allowed to speak to him but in the presence of those who had seized the government; and the french gentlemen were not permitted to take leave of him on their departure. the rulers of the kingdom soon after obliged the queen to join their party, lest the two when united might be over much for them: however, in conformity to their oaths, they shewed the king and queen all outward respect, but governed the country as they willed. the chief of these usurpers was one of the greatest and richest families, called hannequin mournil, one in whom the king had placed most confidence of all the italians. the king was, for a long time, kept under this restraint: at length he escaped, and fled by sea to tarentum, which had been given to him as a principality,--but he was, soon after, driven out of the kingdom. the duke of anjou, son to king louis, went thither on his expulsion, and was well received in the city of aversa; but it was not long before he was forced out of the realm by the king of arragon. in regard to king james, besides the rebellion of his subjects, the queen likewise, old and capricious, was much displeased and jealous of his being a lover to young ladies of the country and neglecting her. this was also the cause why the nobles whom he had brought from france with him were generally hated. chap. xlviii. the earl of dorset, governor of harfleur, makes an incursion into the country of caux, and is combated by the french.--the emperor creates the count of savoy a duke. at this same time, the earl of dorset, who commanded in harfleur, one day marched three thousand english combatants toward rouen, and thence made a circuit through the country of caux, where he remained three days, doing great mischief with fire and sword. in the mean time, the garrisons and nobles of those parts collected together under the lord de villequier, to the amount of three thousand men also, and met the english near to valmont, who instantly attacked them; but the french defended themselves so valiantly, the english were defeated, and eight hundred left on the field of battle. the remainder retreated with the earl into a garden, surrounded by a strong hedge of thorns, and therein continued the rest of the day, without the french being able to gain further advantage over them, although they took much pains. in the evening, the french retired to a village hard by, to refresh themselves; but the earl of dorset, doubtful of the event on the morrow, marched out of the garden with his men about day-break, and pushed forward to harfleur. the french, perceiving this, pursued them, and overtook them in the marshes, about two leagues from that town, when they renewed the battle; but, as the french were not all come up, they were defeated, and two hundred slain,--among whom was their commander, the lord de villequier, and other nobles of that country. the emperor of germany, on his return home, passed through lyons, where he was desirous of creating amadeus count of savoy a duke,--but the king of france's officers would not permit it. he was very indignant at this, and went to a small castle called moulnet, that belongs to the empire, and he there created him a duke. on his coming to france, through the interference of duke louis of bavaria, brother to the queen of france, and others of the orleans faction, he had been of the opposite party to the duke of burgundy; but on his return, he had changed his sentiments, and liked better the burgundy faction than that of orleans. [a.d. .] chap. xlix. duke william, count of hainault, dies at bouchain.--john of bavaria declares war against his niece, daughter to the late duke william. at the commencement of this year, duke william and his duchess, after their return from compiegne, went to visit the duke of burgundy at douay, when many conferences were holden on the state of public affairs, and on the answers duke william had received from the queen of france and the king's ministers. when these were ended, duke william returned to his castle of bouchain, where he was seized with a violent illness that put an end to his life in a few days. his body was carried to valenciennes, and buried in the church of the minorite friars. he left one only daughter by the duchess, called jacquelina of bavaria, who, as his legal heiress, took possession of all his inheritances, which fell to her on the decease of the duke. nevertheless, john of bavaria, her uncle on her father's side, made opposition to this, on pretence that the succession of the late duke albert, his father had not been fairly divided in regard to him; adding, that jacquelina could not lawfully succeed to the country of holland,--and, with the consent of the inhabitants, he gained possession of dordrecht and some other towns, which acknowledged him for their lord. he soon after declared open war against her, and resigned into the hands of the pope his bishoprick of liege, which bishopric was put into commission. he made this resignation to strengthen his claims against his niece,--and shortly married the duchess of luxembourg, the widow of duke anthony of brabant, brother to the duke of burgundy. chap. l. the duke of burgundy sends letters to many of the principal towns in france, describing the state of those who govern the kingdom. in these days, the duke of burgundy sent letters, open and closed, to many of the chief towns in france, to stir them to rebellion, and to join his faction,--which letters were of the following tenour: 'john duke of burgundy, count of flanders and artois, palatine of burgundy, lord of salines and mechlin, to all to whom these presents shall come, health and peace. 'whereas, by divine grace, we had in former times the government of the kingdom of france; but since we have withdrawn ourselves therefrom, persons of low degree, and of doubtful birth, have seized the management of public affairs, with the sole intent of appropriating to themselves by open or secret means the treasure of the realm,--and so outrageous has been their conduct that my lord the king, his family and officers were kept in the utmost penury. they neither paid nor suffered to be paid the usual royal charities, nor did they see to the repairs and maintenance of the various garrisons, with things absolutely necessary for them; for notwithstanding the immense sums yearly raised by taxes and loans, scarcely any part of them were applied to public uses, or for the welfare of the kingdom. 'we therefore, having fully considered all these matters, and how nearly we are by blood connected with my lord the king, being his cousin-german, and holding from him the duchy of burgundy and counties of flanders and artois, and that we are in a double degree father and dean of the peers of france, and that our various and great obligations to him and to his crown are well known, have determined to provide a sufficient remedy for the above evils, and that restitution be made to the public treasury to the utmost of our power. 'we have had the above facts demonstrated by our ambassadors, in the presence of the grand council at the louvre in paris, presided by our very dear lord and son the duke of acquitaine lately deceased, whose soul may god pardon! requesting at the same time, that from his good sense and for the acquittal of his conscience, he would check these said abuses, and attend to the better government of the state. in this matter we were joined by the members of the university of paris, who sent us letters to that effect, and which were publicly read in the church of st genevieve at paris; and at that time there were appearances that our remonstrances would be listened to. 'but their real intentions were otherwise; for it is notorious that we have met with nothing but tricks and dissimulations of all sorts, and perseverance in their evil government, whence have proceeded these intestine wars; although we have never ceased to urge our remonstrances against the present ministers, by able clerks, as well of the parliament and university as otherwise, by prudent knights, and other wise citizens, in whose presence ordinances were published by our said lord the king, and sworn to in his court of justice, without any novelties being introduced or exception of persons made. 'nevertheless, grievous as it may be to relate, the contrary to these ordinances has been done; and it is a well-known fact, that the wretches have found means to keep me from the presence of our said lord the king. soon after these edicts were annulled, and every sort of disorder was committed, taxes upon taxes were laid, loans on loans, reductions of offices, banishments, beheadings, and innumerable despotic acts done, to the very great dissatisfaction of my said well-beloved lord and son lately deceased, and to which he had resolved to put an end, by ordering us to come to him with a competent number of men at arms, notwithstanding any orders we might receive to the contrary; and, as proofs thereof, i have in my possession three letters written and signed with his own hand, containing the above commands. 'in obedience to these orders, we came to st denis, and advanced toward the town of paris but could not gain admittance to his person; for the affair was become known to the aforesaid evil advisers, who instantly laid hands on our very redoubted lord and his son, confining them in the castle of the louvre for a considerable time, with the draw-bridges raised, and gates closed. they also imprisoned the greater part of the king's servants, thus illegally depriving them of their liberties, although they had certain intelligence upwards of a year prior to this, that the enemies of the kingdom were preparing to invade it; but, through their damnable avarice and concupiscence of wealth, they made no provision whatever to resist them. hence it happened that our said lord and king has lost one of the finest sea ports in his realm, the key to his country, and has suffered the almost total destruction of his chivalry; and none can foresee the infinitive misfortunes that may now ensue, but which god avert. 'we also, bound by our royal duty toward our sovereign, have assembled for his service the greatest possible force we could to defend his kingdom, as we are bounden to do by every tie. but the aforesaid evil advisers have ordered several cities and towns not to permit us to enter them, and have forbidden them to supply our men with provision, as if we had been public enemies; but, notwithstanding such atrocious conduct, our vassals and subjects have been, and still are, strongly attached to his majesty's person. 'they have likewise, heaping grievance on grievance, imprisoned a great number of notable inhabitants of many towns well affected to the king, but who saw with displeasure the miserable state the nation was reduced to by their wicked measures. but the worst part of their conduct has been the poisoning of the said deceased well-beloved lord and son (as the manner of his death plainly shewed,) the moment he was made acquainted with their wickedness, and testified a resolution to remedy the various evils they had caused; and this was done to increase and strengthen their authority. 'when we witnessed their fury, to avoid all manner of quarrel as much as in us lay, we retired to our countries of flanders and artois, and to our very dear brother the count of hainault, to explain to our well-beloved nephew, my lord the dauphin, lately deceased, whose soul may god receive! the honesty of our intentions, and the bad consequences that would infallibly ensue if the present public measures were continued. 'we did not expect to have done this immediately, because our foresaid lord and nephew was in holland, and could not instantly come to us in hainault, from the dangers of the sea: nevertheless, on his arrival at valenciennes we waited on him, and explained fully many matters, and our desire for a general peace with all so inclined, excepting king louis of sicily, with whom we had cause for quarrel that greatly affected our honour and estate: with these explanations he was very well satisfied, as was our aforesaid brother. for the more effectually accomplishing this peace, and for the better considering of other public affairs, they went from valenciennes to st quentin, in the vermandois, and thence to compiegne; but these wicked ministers, by their deceits, attempted to detain our brother in paris, when he was about to proceed on his journey toward compiegne, with an earnest desire of attending to the before-mentioned business, not supposing that any attempt would be made against his person while he was endeavouring to conclude measures of such interesting importance. they would, however, have succeeded in their attempt, had not his good sense provided a timely remedy, by hastily leaving paris with few attendants. he arrived at compiegne early in the day, although the distance from paris is twenty leagues. 'soon after his arrival, a grievous misfortune befel us; for about vespers of that same day, our very dear lord and nephew was taken so dangerously ill that he shortly after expired, having his cheeks, tongue, and lips greatly swelled, and his eyes starting out of his head,--in such wise that it was a most melancholy sight, considering that such are the usual appearances of those who die by poison. 'these aforesaid rapacious ministers, poisoned him, as they had done our very redoubted lord and son his brother, which we now relate with grief, believing firmly that all the honest and good men of the kingdom will be sorely displeased when they shall hear of these deaths. 'in this state remained public affairs while these infamous poisoners, who governed the realm, would not listen to our terms of peace, nor take pity on the poor people of france, destroyed through their quarrels. in truth, the tempers of these men must be wretched, who are only desirous of evil, and who have broken or infringed six treaties, solemnly sworn to, namely, those of chartres, bicêtre, auxerre, pontoise, paris, and of rouvres in burgundy. 'we shall not detail, at this moment, how these treaties have been broken,--for it would take too much time, and it is notorious to every one. we only mention the circumstance, that you may be thoroughly acquainted with the wickedness of these false, disloyal and perjured traitors, who add murder, rapine and poison to their crimes, who are without faith, and made up of treasons and cruelty. 'we also make known to you, that we, in former times, bore patiently, as became us, all the insults and persecutions that were heaped on our person,--having in our memory, what is to be found in history both sacred and profane, that it was usual for the friends of god and of the public good to be bitterly persecuted for their virtuous actions. 'nevertheless, it is our fixed intention to follow up our measures, with the aid of our creator, and our whole force, with that of our relations, friends, vassals, and well wishers to the king and crown of france; and to prosecute to conviction those who are guilty of these poisonings, their accomplices and adherents, so long as god shall grant us life. 'at the same time also, we shall urge on those reforms of grievances already begun by us, that press so heavily on the poor people under the names of gabelles, tythes and other exactions; and we have determined to employ every force we can collect to obtain so desirable an object. 'to this end, we entreat and summon you, on the faith and obedience you owe to my aforesaid lord, and on your love of the public weal, to eschew the crime of high treason,--and require that you, and each of you, do aid, counsel and assist in the punishment of these destroyers of the noble house of france, who are guilty of murders, treasons and poisonings, as you are bounden to do by every law natural and divine. by your conduct, we shall know whether you possess charity, loyalty, virtue, and the fear of god,--and whether you be desirous of repressing cruelty, disloyalty, vanity and avarice. this can alone save the kingdom of france from ruin. by this alone, my lord the king will recover his power, and be obeyed and honoured, which is the utmost extent of our wishes in this world, and which it seems to us you should be most desirous of also. 'thus the kingdom will be at peace, the churches supported, the wicked punished, and the injuries done to the people will cease. surely these are objects more worthy and fit to occupy your attention than seeking the favour of these false and infamous traitors, in contempt of the grace god. 'doubt not of our intention to revenge the insults that have been shewn us; for we promise, on the faith and loyalty we owe to god, to our aforesaid lord, and to the public welfare of his realm, that our sole bent and will is to prevent, to the utmost of our power, my aforesaid lord and his kingdom from being completely destroyed, which these disloyal traitors are compassing to accomplish,--and that satisfactory justice be done on them, according to the advice and opinions of those who shall assist us in these our intentions. for this end, we offer peace to all who shall be inclined to accept of it from us, excepting louis king of sicily, for the better prosecution of our intentions to support the king and his realm,--being resolved to persist in these loyal measures until death, without offering any conciliatory terms to these profligate traitors and poisoners. 'this business has been too long delayed; for it may be clearly seen that the aforesaid traitors are determined on the total ruin of the royal house of france and the whole of the nobility, and that they are resolved to deliver up the kingdom to foreigners; but we have firm reliance and hope in god, who knows the secrets of every heart! that we shall obtain a happy issue to our enterprise by means of the good and faithful subjects of the realm, whom in this case we will support to the utmost of our power, and maintain for ever in the fullest enjoyment of their liberties and franchises. 'we will also exert ourselves that in future no taxes, impositions and gabelles, may be ever again paid in france; and we will proceed against all who shall say or act to the contrary by fire and sword, whether they be universities, corporations, chapters, colleges, nobles, or any others, of whatever condition they may be. 'in testimony whereof, we have signed these presents with our own hand and our privy seal, in the absence of the great seal, in our castle of hesdin, the th day of april, , after easter.' these letters were sent to the towns of montrieul, st riquier, abbeville, dourlens, amiens, corbie, st quentin, roye, mondidier, beauvais, and to many other places; and by their means several principal towns and corporations were strongly excited against those who then governed the king. chap. li. sir louis bourdon, knight, is arrested and executed.--the queen of france is banished to blois, and thence to tours. about this time, while the queen of france resided with her court at the castle of vincennes, she was visited by the king her lord. on his return to paris in the evening, he met sir louis bourdon, knight, coming thence, and going to vincennes, who, on passing very near the king, made a slight inclination of his head as he rode by, and gaily pursued his road. the king instantly ordered the provost of paris to follow and arrest him, and to take especial care to give a good account of him. the provost performed his duty in obeying this command, and confined sir louis in the châtelet of paris, where he was, by command of the king, very severely tortured, and then drowned in the seine. some few days after, by orders from the king, the dauphin, and those who governed in paris, the queen, accompanied by her sister-in-law the duchess of bavaria, was banished to blois, and thence to reside at tours in touraine, with a very private establishment. she was placed under the guard of master willian torel, master john picard, and master laurence du puys, without whose consent she could not do any thing, not even write a letter, however pressing the occasion. she thus lived a considerable time very unpleasantly, expecting, however, daily to receive worse treatment. the dauphin, by the advice of his ministers, took possession of the immense sums of money the queen had placed in different hands in paris. the three above-mentioned warders of the queen had been appointed by those who governed the king and the dauphin to prevent her from intriguing, or plotting any thing to their prejudice. chap. lii. the commonalty of rouen put to death their bailiff, sir raoul de gaucourt.--they seize the government of the town.--the arrival of the dauphin at rouen. in these days, by the instigation of the partisans of the duke of burgundy, some wicked persons of the lower ranks in the town of rouen rose in rebellion. the leader was one alain blanchart, who was afterward governor of the town. they first went armed, and with staves, to the house of the king's bailiff, sir raoul de gaucourt knight, at whose door they knocked loudly, and said to those within, (although it was about ten o'clock at night), 'we want to speak to my lord the bailiff, to deliver up to him a traitor whom we have just arrested in the town,' the servants bade them detain their prisoner in safe custody until the morrow: however, in consequence of their importunity and violence, the door was opened to them. the bailiff instantly arose from his bed, and, having wrapped himself up in a large cloak, came to speak to them; but he had no sooner made his appearance, than some of the party, who had disguised their faces, cruelly murdered him. they then left the house, and went to that of his lieutenant, john leger, whom they also put to death, and thence to different parts of the town, and killed ten other persons; but many of the municipal officers, such as the viscount and receiver-general, having had information, of what was passing, fled to the castle, into which they were admitted by sir james de bourbon the governor. on the morrow-morning, the commonalty again assembled in great numbers, and marched in arms to the castle, with the intent of forcing an entrance, but were prevented by the governor, who had under his command one hundred of the king's troops to defend it. at length, after many parleys, it was agreed that sixteen of the most notable citizens should be admitted, to remonstrate with the governor on some matters that much concerned him. upon their admittance, they offered many excuses for the murder of the bailiff, and of the others, declaring that the whole commonalty of the town would be rejoiced if the perpetrators could be discovered and punished. they were greatly alarmed as to the conduct of the king and the dauphin when they should hear of these deaths, and requested the governor would permit them to have the guard of the castle, but it was refused. they then required that the gate which led to the country should be shut up, which was also refused. upon this they declared, that should the king and the dauphin attempt to enter their town with an army, admittance should be denied,--at the same time beseeching the governor to apologise for them to the king and the dauphin. the governor replied, that he would make excuses for them in proper time and place, provided they did not refuse to admit them into the town should they come thither. after this conversation, the citizens returned home; and, a few days after, what they dreaded came to pass,--for the dauphin marched two thousand men out of paris to pont de l'arche, whence he sent the archbishop of rouen, brother to the count de harcourt, to that town, to exhort the inhabitants to a due sense of obedience. on the archbishop's arrival at rouen, he found several of the canons of the cathedral church under arms, and inter-mixed with the citizens, to whom he displayed the proclamation of the dauphin. they, in answer, said, that it had been unanimously decreed that he should not enter the town with his army; but that if he would come with few attendants, and engage to pay his expenses, they would agree to it, but not otherwise. the archbishop, seeing he could not conclude any thing satisfactory, returned to the dauphin, and related all he had seen and heard. upon this the dauphin sent for sir james de bourbon, and fixed his quarters at st catharine's on the hill. on the arrival of sir james, he said, 'cousin, return to your castle, and admit by the gate leading to the country two hundred men at arms, and as many archers, whom we will send thither.' the townsmen were greatly enraged on hearing of this reinforcement being admitted into the castle; however, within three days, the dauphin, by negotiation, entered rouen with his whole army; he rode straight to the cathedral to offer up his prayers, and thence to the castle, where he was lodged. in the course of eight days, a treaty was made with the townsmen, which confirmed them in their obedience,--for all that had passed was pardoned, with the exception of the actual murderers of the bailiff. the dauphin, having paid his expenses, departed for paris with his army, where he appointed the lord de gamaches bailiff of rouen, with orders to inflict exemplary punishment on such of the murderers as should be duly convicted. some of them were punished; but alain blanchart absented himself for some time; and when he returned to the town, he enjoyed great authority and power, as shall hereafter be related. chap. liii. the death of louis king of sicily. the conduct of the leaders of companies.--the overthrow of raymonnet de la guerre.--the destruction of the town of aumale. in these days, king louis, father-in-law to the daulphin, died, leaving three sons and two daughters,--louis, who succeeded to his crown, rené, afterward duke of bar, and charles. one of his daughters was married to the dauphin, and the other, named yolande, was but two years old. by his death, the dauphin lost an able counsellor and friend; the more to be lamented, as the greatest confusion now reigned in many parts of france, and justice was trampled under foot. the foreigners also that were attached to the party of the duke of burgundy, such as gastellimas quigny, and others before named, robbed and plundered all the countries they marched through, and every person, noble or not, even such as were of the same party as themselves. infinite mischiefs were done by them to poor countrymen, who were grievously oppressed. these foreign companies bent their march toward the boulonois, intending to treat it as they had done to other districts; but some of the inhabitants assembled during the night, under the command of butor, bastard of croy, and made an attack on the quarters of the lieutenant of john de clau, named laurens rose, whom they put to death, with several of his men: the rest were robbed of all they had. in revenge for this insult, the bastard de thian, one of the captains of these companies, seized a very proper gentleman, called gadifer de collehaut whom he hanged on a tree. however, these strangers, seeing they were likely to be strongly opposed, speedily retreated from the boulonois, and, shortly after took the town and castle of davencourt belonging to the heirs of the lord de hangest. when they had rifled it of its furniture, they set it on fire, so that it was totally destroyed, and thence marched to lay siege to neuf-châtel sur eusne. sir raymonnet de la guerre, and sir thomas de lersies bailiff of the vermandois, collected a considerable force in the king's name to raise the siege, and to overpower these foreigners; but as their intentions were known the besiegers marched to meet them, and in the end completely put them to the rout, taking and killing full eight score: the remainder, with raymonnet and sir thomas de lersies, saved themselves by flight, and took refuge in such of the strong towns belonging to the king as they could first gain. after this defeat, those of neuf-châtel surrendered the town, which the foreigners having plundered it of its valuables, set on fire, and then departed for the cambresis, where they did infinite mischiefs. at this same period, but in another part of the kingdom john de fosseux, daviod de poix, ferry de mailly, sir louis de thiembronne, louis de varigines, guerrard bastard de brimeu, and some other captains of companies attached to the duke of burgundy, crossed the somme near to blanchetaque, with full twelve hundred combatants, and, passing through oisemont, went to aumale, belonging to the count de harcourt. they quartered themselves in the town, and then made a sharp assault on the castle; but it was so well defended by the garrison that very many of the assailants were dreadfully wounded. when they were retreating, and during the night, they, through mischief or otherwise, set fire to the town, which, with the church, was completely burnt. it was a great pity, for it was a town that carried on a very considerable commerce. john de fosseux and his accomplices then marched away to quarter themselves in the town of hornoy, and in the adjacent villages in the county of vimeu, which district they totally plundered; and after three days, they conducted their prisoners, with the cattle, sheep and pigs, across the somme, at the place where they had before passed. in like manner, similar excursions were made into the countries of the beauvoisis, vermandois, santerre, amiennois, and other districts under the king's government,--in all of which the inhabitants were grievously oppressed. chap. liv. the king's garrison in peronne carries on a severe war against the countries attached to the duke of burgundy. during these times, the town of peronne situated on the river somme, was strongly garrisoned by forces sent thither by the constable of france, in the king's name under the command of sir robert de loyre. they consisted of one hundred men at arms well appointed, one hundred genoese cross-bowmen, and the same number of other combatants; and they made very frequent excursions, day and night, over the countries attached to the duke of burgundy and his allies, bringing to their garrison considerable plunder of cattle and other effects. in like manner did the garrison of the castle du main, belonging to sir collart de calville, make war in the king's name on all the allies and supporters of the duke of burgundy. the towns of corbie and amiens, suffered much from these continued attacks; and the inhabitants of the latter town, by the command of the duke of burgundy, was forced to banish sir robert d'eusne the king's bailiff, hugh de puys the king's advocate, and some others, because they had acted with too much vigour, and contrary to his good pleasure, against several of his adherents. he had even declared, that he would make war on them if they pretended to support them against his will. they consequently left the town and went to paris, where they made heavy complaints against the duke to the king and council, who were very far from being satisfied with the conduct of the duke, who was urging on matters from bad to worse. chap. lv. the duke of burgundy sends ambassadors to many of the king's principal towns, to form alliances with them.--the oaths that were made on the occasion. the duke of burgundy sent the lords de fosseux, de humbercourt, and master philip de morviller, as ambassadors, to several of the king's principal towns, with letters patent from the duke, addressed to the magistrates and commonalty. they first went to montrieul, which instantly assented to his proposals, then to st riquier, abbeville, amiens and dourlens; and at each place they had their letters publicly read to the commonalty; after which master philip de morviller notably harangued them on the good intentions of the duke to provide for the public welfare, and with such effect that all the above towns formed alliances with the ambassadors, which they solemnly swore to maintain, and mutually exchanged the acts drawn up for this purpose. the tenour of that of the town of dourlens was as follows. 'to all those to whom these presents shall come; john de fosseux lord de fosseux and de nivelle, david de brimeu lord of humbercourt, knights, and philip de morviller, councellors and ambassadors from the very high and puissant prince our much redoubted lord the duke of burgundy, on the one part, and the governor, mayor, sheriffs, and resident burghers of the town of dourlens on the other part, greeting. we make known, that we have entered into and formed a treaty of concord and amity, the terms of which are as follow. 'first, the said governor, mayor, sheriffs, and resident burghers, will aid and support the said duke of burgundy in his endeavours to restore the king our lord to the full enjoyment of his power and liberty, so that his realm may have uninterrupted justice, and commerce an unrestrained course. 'item, they will assist the said duke to the utmost of their power, that the king and his realm may be wisely and well governed and secured against all enemies. they will admit him and his army into their town, allowing him to have a superiority of force, and they will, for money, supply him and his men with whatever provisions or necessaries they may require, they taking on themselves the guard and defence of the town, and permitting all merchants, as well of the town as otherwise, to bring into it, without molestation, whatever merchandises they may please. 'item, during the time the said duke shall remain in possession of the town of dourlens, he shall not arrest, or cause to be arrested, any of the inhabitants, of whatever rank or condition, without a judicial enquiry having previously been held; and should any of the officers of the said duke commit an injury or insult on the inhabitants, he or they shall be severely punished by those to whom the cognizance of such cases belongs. 'item, the townsmen of dourlens, of every degree, shall have free liberty to repair to the countries of the said duke on their affairs, without let or hindrance, either personally or otherwise. 'item, my lord the duke will support and defend the townsmen of dourlens against all who may attempt to injure them, for having entered into this treaty in favour of the king and our aforesaid lord. 'item, it is not the intention of our said lord the duke to place any garrison in dourlens, nor to claim any right of dominion over the said town; but he is contented that the town shall be governed in the king's name, as it has heretofore been, to the honour of the said town, and to the advantage of the public weal. 'the said town engages, on the other hand, never to admit any garrison from the party in opposition to the said duke. 'item, should there be any persons in the said town of dourlens who may any way injure and attempt to retard the operations of the said duke, by speech or action, and the same be proved by legal evidence they will cause such person or persons to be most rigorously punished as it behoves them to do. 'item, since the said town has been of late heavily oppressed in its agriculture, more especially in the harvest of this present month of august; and since many cattle have been carried away by men at arms avowing themselves of the burgundian party, by which the labourer and poor people are much distressed, and unless a remedy be speedily applied, must quit their habitations. we, therefore, the inhabitants of dourlens, most humbly supplicate you, my lords ambassadors, that you would, out of your goodness and discretion, remonstrate with the duke on these matters, that such remedies may be applied as the urgency of the case requires, and the people of dourlens will pray for your present and future welfare. 'item, for the more effectual security of the aforesaid articles, and of each of them, the said ambassadors and the said governor, sheriffs, and resident burghers of the town of dourlens having exchanged the said articles, sealed with their seals, and signed by the sworn clerk of the shrievalty of the said town. 'we the said ambassadors, by the powers vested in us by our very redoubted lord, and we the governor, mayor, &c. have promised, sworn and agreed, and by these presents do punctually promise, swear and agree, to preserve every article of this treaty, without any way the least infringing of it, under penalty of confiscation of our goods, without the smallest diminution. in testimony of which, we have affixed our seals to these presents, in the town of dourlens, the th day of august, in the year of grace .' chap. lvi. king henry of england returns to france with a large army, and takes many towns and fortresses. the council of constance, where pope martin is elected head of the church. king henry of england, accompanied by his brothers the dukes of clarence and glocester, a number of other nobles, and a numerous army, landed at the port of touques in normandy, with the intent to conquer the whole of that duchy. the royal castle at touques was speedily invested on all sides, which caused the governor, sir john d'engennes, to surrender it within four days, on condition that he and the garrison should depart with their effects. within a short time afterward, the following towns and castles surrendered to king henry without making any resistance: harcourt, beaumont le roger, evreux, and several others, in which he placed numerous garrisons. he then opened negotiations for the surrender of the towns of rouen and louviers. the other towns in the duchy were astonished at the facility of king henry's conquests, for scarcely any place made a defence. this was caused by the divisions that existed among the nobles, some taking part with the king and others with the duke of burgundy, and therefore they were fearful of trusting each other. the constable had besides drawn off the greater part of the forces in this district to paris, to be prepared to meet the duke of burgundy, whom he daily expected in those parts with a large army. at this period, by orders from the holy council at constance, italy, france, england and germany, selected four discreet men from each nation, who entered the conclave with the cardinals of the roman court, to elect a pope, on the eve of martinmas-day. during the time they were shut up in conclave, sigismund emperor of germany, and king of hungary and bohemia, was seated on his royal throne without the doors of the conclave, having on his head an imperial crown, and in his hand the sceptre, surrounded by a numerous body of princes, knights, and men at arms. by the grace of the holy spirit (it is to be believed), they unanimously elected for pope the cardinal colonna, a native of rome. he bore for arms a shield vermilion, having a column argent in the center surmounted with a crown or. he was conducted to the cathedral church, and consecrated by the cardinal of ostia, dean of the cardinals, and took the name of martin v. this nomination was instantly published throughout all nations, for which the clergy and people returned thanks to god, with the exception of the city of paris; for they were afraid this new pope and the emperor of germany would be more favourable to the king of england and the duke of burgundy than to the king of france, his son, the count d'armagnac and others of the king's council. chap. lvii. the lord de canny is sent by the king of france ambassador to the duke of burgundy, whom he finds at amiens.--the answer he receives from the duke. the duke of burgundy had been a long time in making his preparations for a successful issue to his enterprise; and when all things were ready, he marched his army from arras on st laurence's day, toward corbie, with the intent to continue his march to paris. on the same evening that he arrived at corbie, raoul de roye, abbot of the place, departed this life, to the great sorrow of the duke. after remaining some days at corbie, he went to amiens, where he was most honourably received by all ranks, and carols were sung in the streets he passed through to his lodgings, at the house of master robert le jeune, his counsellor. before he left amiens, he appointed a new set of officers, namely, the lord de belloy governor, the lord de humbercourt bailiff, andrew clavel attorney general; and he changed others according to his good pleasure. during his stay at amiens, letters were presented to him, signed by the king himself, by sir aubert lord of canny and varennes, who said, 'very noble prince, and renowned lord, it will appear by these letters from the king our lord that i am commanded to enjoin and order you in his name, that you do instantly lay aside the expedition you have undertaken, by disbanding your army, that you return to your own country, and that you write him your reasons why you have raised this army contrary to his orders.' the duke instantly replied, 'you, lord de canny, are, if you please, or if you do not please, of our kindred, by the flanders line; notwithstanding which, in good truth, i have a great mind to have your head struck off for having brought me such a message.' the lord de canny, greatly terrified at this speech, fell on his knees, and humbly begged that he would hold him excused, for that he had been constrained to obey the king's commands, shewing, at the same time, the instructions that had been given him by the king and council. the knights who surrounded the duke taking the part of the lord de canny, he was somewhat appeased, but said he would not inform him of his intentions, and that another should carry his answer to the king; that he should not pay any regard to the prohibitions the king had sent, but would march his army to paris as speedily as he could, and reply, face to face, to his majesty, to all the charges he had made against him. the duke, notwithstanding, ordered his council to draw up separate answers to the articles of the instructions given to the lord de canny, as well as to the different charges made by the king which he gave to the lord de canny, making him at the same time promise that he would deliver this writing into the hands of the king and of none other. it contained also the names of the traitors in the king's council, and such of his officers as wished the destruction of the duke. the lord de canny, having finished his business, left amiens and returned to the king at paris. here follow the instructions given to sir aubert de canny lord de varennes in the name of the king and council, prescribing his mode of proceeding with the duke of burgundy. 'he will first address the duke of burgundy, and say that the king and my lord the dauphin are greatly astonished at his conduct towards the king and his highness, considering how near related to them he is by blood, and under what obligations he lies to them, as he has often avowed by his speeches, and by his various letters. 'he will strongly remonstrate with him on the open warfare which his vassals, subjects and allies are carrying on against the king, by taking towns and castles by storm, and committing numberless cruelties by fire and sword against the liege subjects of the king, as bad or even worse than his enemies the english could have done. 'he will remonstrate with him, that his officers, and others attached to him, make the inhabitants of many of the king's towns swear obedience to the duke of burgundy, forbidding them henceforward to pay any taxes or subsidies which they have usually done to the royal treasury, which is an astonishing act of authority against the honour and dignity of the king. 'he will likewise declare, that the above acts having been done so nearly at the time of the invasion of the english, it has caused many persons to suspect they were committed for their advantage, and to prevent the king from making resistance against them, and that the duke of burgundy is their sworn ally. 'the lord de canny, for these reasons, will, in the king's name, insist that the duke of burgundy do henceforth abstain from such acts, more especially from attacking any of the towns in france, laying siege to them, and forcing the inhabitants to take illegal oaths. 'he will at the same time require, that all the men at arms who have been assembled shall be disbanded, and sent to their different homes; for, considering the manner and time in which they have been collected, the king is firmly persuaded they have been thus raised to afford succour to the english, and to harrass the king and his realm. 'item, to induce the duke to comply, sir aubert, will dilate on the great dishonour he will incur, and the shame and reproach that will fall on him and his family, should he persevere in his present conduct; and at the same time gently entreat him to consider well these matters, and not to inflict such disgrace on the memory of his good father, who was so valiant and loyal, and who enjoined him, on his death-bed, to be ever obedient to the king and to his commands. 'item, sir aubert will, in like manner, remonstrate on all these matters with the barons, knights, esquires, and others who may have accompanied the duke of burgundy, and to whom he may gain access, requiring them, in the king's name, not to fall off from that loyalty which they and their predecessors have alway shewn to the king and his realm, nor to disgrace themselves by listening to evil advisers, or by any act to draw on themselves and successors the opprobrium of being reported in times to come not only disobedient to their king, but even favourers of the enemies of the kingdom. 'item, in the execution of these instructions, sir aubert will act in the most gracious and polite manner,--and, before his return to paris, will request to have answers in writing from all to whom he shall have addressed himself. 'item, should the duke of burgundy, or any of his partisans, say, that those who have at present the government of the king have showered on him, the duke, so many and gross insults that they were not longer to be borne,--sir aubert will reply, that supposing any of those about the king's person should have done any thing displeasing to the duke, that is not a sufficient reason why he should endeavour to destroy the kingdom, as he is daily doing, nor why he should favour and give support to the english, the king's enemies, at the expense of his own honour and that of his posterity; for he might have expressed his dissatisfaction in a more decent and becoming manner. 'item, sir aubert will beside say, that in compliance with the requests of the late lord of hainault, whose soul may god pardon! and from a sincere wish for peace with the duke of burgundy and all others, the king had granted many considerable gifts, which ought to have been very agreeable to the duke for they were much to his profit, and to that of his dependants. nevertheless, the king's hand is not so closed but that he is well inclined to show great courtesy and favours to the duke of burgundy, and all others in his service, should there be occasion, and should they perform that duty they are bounden to do. 'item, should it be necessary, sir aubert shall have given to him copies in writing of the answers which the king made to the complaints of the duke of burgundy, and of the acts that he said had been done to his prejudice, for him to show such answers to the barons, knights, esquires, and others of the nobility who may be attached to, or in the service of the duke of burgundy. 'given at paris, the nd day of august, in the year of grace .' 'signed by the king: countersigned, ferrement.' here follows a copy of the answers which the duke of burgundy made to the articles of the instructions in the name of the king, and given to sir aubert de canny, lord de varennes. 'in the first place, with regard to the astonishment of the king at the conduct which the duke of burgundy holds in opposition to his majesty, considering how nearly related he is to him by blood, and how very much he has been obliged to him,--the duke replies, that he is in truth his relation and vassal, and bound to serve him before all and against all; and it is from his warm affection and attachment that he is so anxious and pressing to procure a reform in the government of the realm, as well in regard to what personally concerns the king, the queen, and his children, as in the repairs of his palaces the maintenance of strict justice, and a more equitable management of the public finances, as may be clearly proved by various royal ordinances. 'these reforms have been solemnly sworn to be pursued by the perseverance of the duke of burgundy, in the presence of the king holding a bed of justice; but, through the intrigues of those who now surround the throne, and who shall hereafter be named, these measures have not only been interrupted, and then laid aside, but the finances of the king, his realm, and in general of all the resident subjects in the kingdom, have been most shamefully dissipated. 'they have even attempted to destroy, in body and estate, the duke of burgundy, his wellwishers, and such of them as they could apprehend; and have employed the arms of the spiritual court against them, to effect the dishonour and damnation of his fair reputation, and of the renown of himself, and posterity; but the duke of burgundy did obtain from the council of constance a sentence in his favour, which clearly demonstrates the upright conduct of the duke, and the wickedness and hatred of his enemies. 'item, with respect to what concerns the subjects of burgundy, and others who avow their attachment to the duke, making open war on the king's towns and subjects, &c.--the duke of burgundy replies, that when he perceived those about the king's person were persevering in their rigorous acts, and that they were unwilling to listen to any wholesome reforms for the welfare of the state, and that insult was added to insult upon him, by every violent means, the duke of burgundy found himself obliged to send notice, by letters patent of these harsh proceedings, to many of the principal towns within the realm, signifying, at the same time, his good intentions, and the means he proposed to remedy them; and it was for this purpose he issued his summonses for assembling men at arms and archers. 'thanks to god, he had now under his command, for the service of the king and the welfare of the kingdom, six thousand knights and esquires, and an army of thirty thousand combatants, all wellwishers to his majesty, his realm, and loyal subjects. 'during the march of this army, the duke approached several large towns, the inhabitants of which, knowing his good intentions, opened their gates to him. this army has forced many places, full of plunderers, to surrender to him in the king's name, and he has regarrisoned them with good and loyal subjects to the king, who are incapable of committing any thing dishonourable to his majesty, themselves, or their country; and this has been done with the full approbation of these towns and the adjoining countries. 'item, respecting the charge that has been made against the officers of the duke of burgundy, for having induced several towns to swear obedience to him, and having afterward forbidden them to pay any taxes to the king, &c, the duke of burgundy replies, that if he has received the oaths of allegiance from any city or town, it has been done that they might persevere in their loyalty toward the king, and for the good of his realm, to the confusion and disgrace of those who prevent a peace being made, and who are the destroyers of the kingdom. such as may have joined the duke of burgundy, and are obedient to him, have been induced so to do from a knowledge of his upright intentions, and a confidence that his love for the king and kingdom exceeds that of all others. 'it is not true, under respect to the king, that such towns have been forbidden to pay any of the taxes due to the crown; but it may have been that they were ordered not to pay them to those false traitors the present ministers, but to reserve them to be employed for the king's service at proper times and places,--and this should be considered as praise-worthy; for of all the immense sums they have received, the greater part have been shamefully mismanaged, and taken from the king to be divided among themselves and the enemies of france, to the irreparable loss of the king, his realm and chivalry, as is well known to all the world. the duke, however intends, when he shall be admitted to the presence of the king, to propose the abolishing of the most oppressive taxes, and that the good subjects of the realm may again enjoy their ancient rights and privileges in a reasonable manner. 'item, in regard to the charge made against the duke of burgundy, that his conduct has been influenced by his friendship for england, and that what he has done has been with a view to support the english in their invasion of france, and that the duke of burgundy is their sworn ally,-- 'the duke replies, that such an imagination could not have been formed in the heart of any honest man. the english have formerly invaded france without opposition, (although the same traitorous ministers governed the king and his realm), and to the great loss of the french chivalry. it is therefore to be supposed that since the english gained such success from the weak administration of his majesty's ministers, they intend to persevere in hopes of further advantages; and they have even taken the town of harfleur, one of the strongest sea-ports in normandy. 'this ought to be treasured up in the memories of all the noble chivalry attached to the duke of burgundy, whom these wicked traitors wish to denounce as being disinclined to make any resistance to the english; and, with all due respect to the king, those who shall say that the duke of burgundy is the sworn ally of the english, lie wickedly and damnably. 'item, respecting the request made to the duke of burgundy, that he would disband and send to their homes the troops he has assembled, the duke replies, that now the false and disloyal conduct of these traitors is very apparent, for every one knows that they have not raised any powers to oppose the english; and that it is at this moment more necessary than ever to have a sufficient force for the defence of the king and kingdom, especially such faithful and loyal knights and esquires as compose the duke's army, instead of disbanding and dismissing them to their homes; and it is clear that the conduct of the ministry tends more to favour the enemy, and oppress the king and country. those noble men who compose the duke's army should particularly observe, that these traitors consider them as disloyal to their king, and enemies to their country. the duke also declares, in the most positive manner, for himself and his companions, that he will not disband his army, but will continue to proceed according to the tenour of his public letters declaratory thereof. 'item, with regard to the dishonour and disgrace in which he, the duke of burgundy, will involve himself and family should he persevere in his present line of conduct, and, according to the remonstrances of sir aubert de canny, cover thereby his worthy and valiant father's memory with infamy, who, on his death-bed, strictly enjoined him to be ever obedient to the king and to his commands,-- 'the duke replies, that his father, of worthy memory, whose soul may god pardon! was, as it is truly said, ever loyal and faithful to the king; and it was from his knowledge of the weak and wicked government of france at the time of his decease, that he ordered his son faithfully to serve the king and crown of france without sparing his person or fortune; and it has been for this reason that the duke of burgundy has adopted the present measures, as the sole means for the reformation and reparation of the king's government. these measures have not been adopted by him of a sudden, but deliberately, and after maturely weighing the consequences with his council; and should he now change his conduct, he would be very justly blamed and reproached,--for this reason, therefore, he is resolved to proceed therein. 'item, with respect to sir aubert de canny remonstrating with the lords, barons, knights and esquires attached to the duke of burgundy, on the above matters,--the duke replies, that the conduct he has hitherto held and proposes to pursue, with god's pleasure, has been with the advice and approbation of his barons, knights, esquires, and other notable persons, and he therefore shall give full liberty for any such remonstrances to be made to them; for the more they shall be conversed with on these matters, the more fully will they be made acquainted with the iniquities of those who prevent a peace, and disturb the good intentions of the duke of burgundy. 'item in regard to the polite and gracious manner in which sir aubert de canny is ordered to make these remonstrances, and to declare the king's prohibitions to him and to his company, &c.-- 'the duke replies, that not having any consciousness that such commands and prohibitions were proper to be made him, knowing for a certainty that they are not the real sentiments of the king, who on the contrary loves him affectionately, and is very earnest to see him, having often demanded his presence, he is aware that these false and wicked traitors have drawn up these instructions in an underhand manner, and that at this moment, when the enemy have landed in the kingdom, it is not a time to obey such orders and prohibitions; but this force, as well as the aid of all loyal subjects, ought now to be exerted in the defence of the country. even supposing the enemies had not effected their invasion, the duke of burgundy would not have suffered such false traitors to hold the government of the kingdom. 'item, respecting what is said of the duke of burgundy and of others in his company, that supposing those who have the management of the king should have done acts displeasing to them, and added insults to insults, these were not sufficient reasons to authorise the duke to endeavour to destroy the kingdom, or to afford aid and advice to the english,--the duke replies, that in addition to what he has before said, and other innumerable instances too long to relate, it is notorious that the present ministers namely, sir henry de marle the bishop of paris, sir tanneguy du châtel, sir burel de dammartin, master stephen de mauregard, master philip de corbie, with several others, have been the principal promoters, and leaders in those iniquitous measures, disturbers of the peace of the realm, and guilty of many other excesses and great crimes, as shall be detailed more at large hereafter. 'the duke of burgundy, therefore, has not assembled his forces to destroy the kingdom, or to favour the english, but to drive the present ministers from power, and from about the person of the king; and he will never desist from this praise-worthy intention so long as life may be granted him,--for they are not such persons as should have authority, not being worthy by birth, knowledge, experience, or loyalty; and it is become a subject of contempt and laughter that persons of such low estate, and of so small a share of knowledge or experience, should have intrusted to them the expulsion of the english. 'the barons and principal persons of the realm should weigh this matter well, and not suffer themselves to be thus supplanted by persons of no understanding or birth; for they have shewn themselves of weak capacity in daily committing acts of the utmost cruelty on the liege subjects of the king, under pretence of maintaining justice and order. 'item, in respect to what relates to the king having (at the solicitations of the count de hainault, whose soul may god pardon!) from a love of peace, granted to the duke of burgundy and those who had served him, many handsome gifts, but which the duke made light of,-- 'the duke replies, that from his anxiety to preserve peace and union in france, which he has ever felt and feels from the bottom of his heart, he waited on my lord the dauphin lately deceased, and my lord of hainault, to whose souls may god shew mercy! and after much conversation relative to a peace, the duke of burgundy offered them a schedule of his terms for the conclusion thereof, with all who may be desirous of partaking of it, with the exception of king louis of sicily, lately deceased, on account of disputes that existed between them: with this proposal, the dauphin and the count de hainault were perfectly satisfied. for the accomplishment of which, they were to meet at compiegne, as every dispatch would be necessary, the sooner to put an end to the miseries of war. however, those traitors who surround the king, by their intrigues, protracted the business for three months, or thereabout, without coming to any final decision. 'the count de hainault at length went to paris, and, by means of the queen, procured from these traitors a sort of agreement to the offers of peace, with which he was satisfied; but during these negotiations, he privately learnt, that it was intended to arrest him and the queen, and imprison them, that they might manage the dauphin as they should please; and this information caused the count de hainault to quit paris precipitately and return to compiegne, where soon after the dauphin was carried off from this life in a most wicked and damnable manner, which has been before related in different letters patent from the duke of burgundy. 'after the dauphin's decease, the count de hainault returned to his own county, whither was addressed the answer of the king's ministers to the proposals for peace, which much displeased him: he said, that since the death of the dauphin, they had changed their minds, and totally altered and perverted what had before been agreed upon. this answer he sent to the duke of burgundy, who, having maturely considered it with his council, found it was highly derogatory to the honour and welfare of the king and his realm, as well as to himself the duke of burgundy, and paid no regard to it. instigated, however, by such conduct, he dispatched into several parts of the kingdom a manifesto, declaratory of the ruin of the country were the present ministers continued in power, and his firm resolution to do every thing to prevent it, by driving them from about the person of the king. 'this declaration he presented himself to the count de hainault during his last illness, who having heard the contents read, was very willing that it should be published throughout his dominions, saying, that it was well done of the duke of burgundy; for the traitors that surrounded the king were worse than imagination could form an idea of, making at the same time an offer of his personal services, should god grant him the grace to recover from his illness; and should sickness detain him, he offered the duke the aid of his vassals, friends, wellwishers, and money. he then swore, by a round oath, that if he had not suddenly left paris, the traitors intended to have arrested the queen and himself, as is now notorious from their subsequent conduct to the queen; for they laid hands on her, and took possession of every thing she possessed, to the great disgrace of the king and of all his family. 'it is likewise true, that when the duke of burgundy was at lagny, the duke of brittany ran great risks at paris, and was forced to depart thence because he was desirous of procuring a peace to france. the count de hainault also added, with a great oath, that were the english at one of the gates of paris, and the duke of burgundy at another, they would permit the english to enter the city rather than the duke of burgundy. all these things did the count de hainault say in the presence of madame de hainault, my lord de charolois, my lord de st pol, the treasurer of hainault, john the bastard, master eustace de lactre, my lord de champdivers, and several others. 'it is very clear that the king's ministers have no inclination to promote the good of the realm; for they have lately caused the declaratory letters of the duke of burgundy to be publicly burnt in the courts of the palace at paris, in which the duke offered peace to all who were willing to accept of it from him, as has been before related. this act is but a poor revenge on their part, and a pitiful weakness thus to burn a few skins of parchment. 'item, to conclude; that all persons may know the will and intention of the duke of burgundy, he thus declares publicly that he shall persist in his present line of conduct until he shall have had a long audience of the king, to remonstrate with him on the enormous abuses committed by the present government, and to lay before him the means of reformation, which are such as must be satisfactory to his majesty, and to every honest man in the kingdom,--notwithstanding the duke had offered, by his declaratory letters, peace to all, but which the king's ministers would not accept, and have persevered in their wickedness. 'the duke of burgundy, desirous of procuring peace to the kingdom, which is in so great want of it, is willing to lay aside all thoughts of revenge for the numerous insults offered him, and again proposes peace on the same terms on which he has before done.' when the duke of burgundy had, as he thought, fully answered all the charges made against him in the paper of instructions given by the king's order to the lord de canny, a fair copy was written thereof, and delivered to the lord de canny, who took leave of the duke and returned to the king at paris, carrying the above answers with him. chap. lviii. the lord de canny, on his return from his embassy, to paris, is accused by the royal council.--orders are issued against the duke of burgundy. previously to the return of the lord de canny to paris, his secretary had given copies of the instructions, and the duke of burgundy's answer, to many of his friends, insomuch that they made them public long before they were laid before the king and his ministers. in consequence, when the lord de canny had an audience, to make his report of the embassy, he was told in full council, 'lord de canny, you have shewn yourself very unworthy of the king's confidence, by thus distributing copies of the king's instructions, and the duke of burgundy's answer, of which this is one of them, that you have dispersed at amiens, paris and elsewhere, among your friends and acquaintance, with no good intent toward the king's service.' the copy was compared with the original, signed by the duke's own hand, and found perfectly similar, to the great confusion of the lord de canny, who, in excuse, said they must have been distributed by his secretary, who had fled from his service. the lord de canny was, notwithstanding, carried prisoner to the bastille of st anthony, where he was confined a long space of time, even until the taking of paris; for the ministers were very much displeased that the duke of burgundy's answers should have been made public in so many places; and whatever they may have affected, they were greatly alarmed at the duke's power, for they had been informed that the greater part of the principal towns, and the commonalty throughout the kingdom, were favourable to him, as well as many of the principal lords and gentlemen. when they found, from the duke's answers, that he was determined to persevere in his enterprise of marching his army to paris, to demand an audience of the king, they were more uneasy at their situation than before; for they knew they would be driven from their places, and many of them, criminally punished, should he succeed in his object. to obviate this as much as in them lay, they caused letters to be written in the king's name, and sent to all the chief towns in france, to command them neither to admit within their walls the duke of burgundy or any of his partisans, nor to pay any obedience to them. they also placed garrisons at all the passes and other important places; and the constable even remanded his men from normandy for the greater security of paris. thus whilst the king of england was making good his landing in france with an immense army, as has been said, he found no difficulties in adding to his conquests,--and, from the effect of these internal divisions, he met with scarcely any resistance. chap. lix. the duke of burgundy continues his march toward paris.--several towns and forts surrender to him, in which he places captains and governors. after the duke of burgundy had remained some days in amiens, and had delegated the government of his dominions in picardy to his eldest son the count de charolois, with an able council to assist him, he departed thence and returned to corbie, and continued his march to mondidier. during this time, the lady of the castle of mouy promised that she would no longer permit her people to make inroads on the territories of the duke. he was accompanied to mondidier by the young count de st pol, sir john de luxembourg, and many other great barons, such as the lord de fosseux and his three brothers, sir philip, sir james, and sir john, sir jennet de poix, hector, philippe, and le bon de saveuses, the lord de rambures, sir burnel, and louis de varigines, and others. he went from mondidier to beauvais,--in which place he was received on certain assurances in the name of the duke of burgundy, in like manner as had been done at amiens. to this town the lord de fosseux had previously marched, and caused the mayor, sheriffs, and commonalty to be harangued by master robert le jeune, advocate and councellor to the duke of burgundy, on the sincere and loyal affection the duke bore to the king and realm, as well as to the whole royal family. he explained the object of the duke's enterprise as being to reform the abuses in the goverment of the kingdom, which had been caused by those persons of low degree and weak understandings, that had usurped the management of the king and his council. the townsmen of beauvais were well satisfied with this harangue, and finally consented to admit the duke, and as large a force as he should please, into their town. the duke, in consequence, marched thither from mondidier, and was most joyfully received, carols being sung in all the streets through which he passed. he was lodged at the bishop's palace, and tarried there eight whole days,--while his army was quartered in the adjacent country, which suffered severely therefrom, although it was abundantly supplied with every necessary. during his stay at beauvais, some of the inhabitants from gournay in normandy were deputed thither by the governor and commonalty, to submit themselves to his obedience, and to offer attachment to his party. the duke received them kindly, and made them swear obedience and loyalty to the king and himself, which they instantly complied with. he acquitted them of gabelles, subsidies, and all taxes, as he had done to those of others of the king's towns that had submitted themselves to him. in the mean time, hector and philip de saveuses, sir elyon de jacqueville, and some other captains made an excursion to beaumont sur oise, in the hope of gaining that pass; but it was well defended by the constable's men within the place, and they were forced to return by the town of chambly le haubergier, where they pillaged from churches and other places, and brought a very considerable booty to the duke their lord at beauvais, who, a few days after, sent great part of his army to quarter themselves at chambly and in the neighbouring villages. shortly after, the duke departed from beauvais with the remainder of his army,--the whole of which was so considerable that it was estimated, by those who ought to know, at sixty thousand horse. by the intrigues and solicitations of a gentleman called charles de mouy, the lord of isle-adam joined the party of the duke of burgundy, and delivered up his town and pass to john de fosseux, hector and philip de saveuses, who placed therein, as a garrison, a sufficient number of their men at arms. when the duke was informed of this, he was very much rejoiced that the lord de l'isle adam had joined him, and delivered up the passage through his town. on the other hand, john de luxembourg crossed the river oise, with a number of men at arms which he had at presy, in small boats, making their horses swim the river; and he quartered them at a village hard by. the morrow, he led the greater part of them to senlis, of which town sir robert d'esne was bailiff for the king, having under him about sixty combatants. he made a sally with his men on foot against those of john of luxembourg, and a grand skirmish took place. however, the majority of the commonalty of the town were not well pleased that sir robert should thus wage war on the friends of the duke of burgundy: and on the ensuing night, when john of luxembourg had retreated, the townsmen rose, seized sir robert d'esne and all his men, after eight or ten had been killed, and carried him to prison; but through the interference of some of the principal inhabitants, he was permitted to leave the town, with his men and baggage,--and he went thence to mont-epiloy. the next day those of senlis sent very early for john of luxembourg, before whom they swore obedience to the duke of burgundy. he received their oaths in the names of the king and duke, promising loyalty and good behaviour, and appointed troullart de moncruel bailiff of senlis, with other officers according to his pleasure. when this was done, john of luxembourg returned to the duke of burgundy. chap. lx. the duke of burgundy crosses the river oise with his army at l'isle-adam.--he besieges and conquers beaumont and pontoise,--whence he removes his quarters to l'arbre-sec. when the duke of burgundy had repaired the bridge at l'isle-adam, the greater part of his army passed over under the command of the lords de fosseux, de vergy, and de salnoe, and were lodged in the open fields, and under hedges and bushes, within the distance of a league from where they had crossed the river. on the morrow they decamped, and marched in battle-array to beaumont-sur-oise, and quartered themselves in the town, and around the castle, in spite of the resistance made by those within it. sir jennet de poix, with four hundred combatants under his banner, advanced to a village a league further, and on the road toward paris, which he fortified, and kept possession of until the whole army was dislodged. the duke of burgundy was encamped on the other side of the river, and had his artillery pointed to batter the castle of beaumont from across the oise; and they kept up so brisk an attack that the castle was damaged in several places. the besieged, seeing they were in danger of being taken by storm, surrendered to the will of the duke of burgundy. fifty two persons were found in the castle, nine of whom were beheaded, and their bodies hung by the arms to trees: the rest or the greater part, were set at liberty on paying a heavy ransom; and the lord de vergy, marshal of the army, received, by right of his office, all the effects that were found in the castle. the duke of burgundy revictualled this castle, and gave the command of it to a burgundian gentleman called john de torsenay. after this conquest, the duke ordered the van, which was on the opposite side of the river, to advance toward paris, and to quarter themselves at the abbey of morbuisson, and other places near to the town of pontoise, while the duke should encamp on the side toward beauvais, and by this means the town would be surrounded on all sides. on their arrival, the garrison made a sally, but were repulsed and driven back; and the duke soon after had his artillery pointed against the gates of pontoise, making other preparations to subdue them. when the townsmen noticed these things, they opened a parley, and, five days after, surrendered the place to the duke, on condition that their lives and fortunes should be spared. they also promised not to bear arms against him until christmas-day ensuing; but this they did not keep, for on his arrival at paris they continued their warfare against him as before. there were within the town three captains having banners, namely, the bastard de s. terre, tromagon and maurigon, natives of gascony, who marched away together under the passport of the duke, and, crossing the bridge at meulan, went to paris. after their departure, the duke, with a few attendants, entered the town to examine it, and was well received by several of the townsmen, who had been long attached to him. when there, he issued a proclamation throughout the army, forbidding all persons to enter the town but such as were especially ordered so to do. to prevent the provisions within the place from being wasted or destroyed, he appointed, in the king's name, and in his own, the lord de l'isle-adam governor of it. when these things were done, the duke marched away, taking the road to meulan, from which place terms were offered him; for the men at arms who had been posted there by the constable had marched away, in company with those from pontoise to paris. the duke ordered his whole army to be drawn up in battle-array between pontoise and meulan, that he might see it in order of battle, as if in the presence of the enemy. the spot where the soldiers were drawn up was a handsome plain at the foot of a hill; and it was a very agreeable sight to him, for there were a number of nobles and gentlemen handsomely equipped, and willing to serve him against all his opponents: the principal, and those of name, were as follows. first, count philip de st pol, son to duke anthony of brabant, and nephew to the duke of burgundy, sir john de luxembourg, the lord d'antoing, the lord de fosseux and his three brothers, the vidame of amiens, anthony lord of croy, the lord d'auxi, sir jenet de poix, the lord d'inchy, the lord de humieres, sir robinet de mailly and two of his brothers, the lord de rambures, sir john de vaucourt and his brother louis, the younger de renty, the lord de varigines, the lord de cohem, sir alliamus de gappamus, sir hue burnel and his son sir louis, robert le roux, robert de bournouville, sir charles disque, the lord de fremeusent, the lord de humbercourt bailiff of amiens, sir charles de lens, the lord de noyelle, the lord de longueval, sir payen de beaufort, sir pierre kieret lord de ramecourt, george la personne, sir hue de launoy and his brother sir guillebert, the lord de briauté, sir david de brimeu and his brother james, the lord de saint-leger and his son sir mauroy, david de bouflers, sir john de courcelles, john de flavy, sir elyon de jacqueville, the lord de mesnil, charlot de dully, the bastard de namur, sir gastellain vas, john de guigny, john d'aubigny, the bastard de thian, charles l'abby, matthew des près, the lord de jaucourt, guerard bastard de brimeu, emard de la riviere and his father philip, gadifer de mazinqhen and his brother thierry. from the county of flanders were the lord d'estenu, the lord de comines, the lord de gruthuse, the lord de roubaiz, robert and victor, bastards of flanders, sir victor de rabbecque, robert de mauvignes, henry de disquemude, sir roland de velereque, hector de venront, the bastard de collequent, and several others. from burgundy were the lord de vergy marshal of burgundy, sir anthony de vergy, louis de châlons son to the prince of orange, the lord de salines, sir john de la trimouille lord de souvelle, sir regnier pot, the lord de montagu, the lord de neuf-châtel, the lord de château-vilain, the lord de château-vieux, the lord de rochefort, the lord de thy, sir john de cotte-brune, the lord d'ancre, the lord de toulongeon, sir william de champdivers, the lord de gastellus, sir john de digonne, sir anthony de toulongeon and his brother andrew, le veau de bar, bailiff of auxi, henry de champdivers, sir gautier de rupes, andrew de salines, regnault de moncouvin, anthony de la marche, sir james de courtjambe lord of st liebault, the lord de rausse, pierre de digonne, sir peter de bauffremont, emard de viene, john and clavin du clau, with many other noblemen from various countries, who, with their men, were drawn up in most handsome array for two hours,--during which time the duke of burgundy, attended by some of his most confidential advisers, rode along the ranks, bowing to each battalion as he passed, and thanking them most graciously for the honour and service they did him. in truth, it was a pleasant spectacle to see so many nobles with the flower of their men at arms thus handsomely drawn out. when the review was over, he marched his army across the seine, at the bridge of meulan; and then john de fosseux and hector de saveuses, with no more than two hundred combatants, advanced by val-de-galie to a castle called bayne, that belonged to the abbot of fécamp, who was within it. he made his peace with them by means of his relation louis de saint-saulieu, who was with hector; and it was agreed that a party of their men should remain in the castle, to guard it against others of the burgundians,--and in consideration of a sum of money, they gave the abbot an agreement signed with their seals; but a few days afterward, by the consent of hector de saveuses, as reported, philip de saveuses, and others in his company carried off all the effects, and did much damage to it. the duke of burgundy continued the march of his army until he came to mont-rouge: whence paris could be plainly seen. he there encamped himself and his army, and the number of tents was so great that they had the appearance of a considerable town. the duke ordered sir john de luxembourg to march his men to st cloud, who, having quartered them near to the bridge, made an attack on a small tower at the end of it, near the town: it was soon taken and set on fire, as well as the mills under the bridge, when some large bombards were pointed against the tower of st cloud, which greatly damaged it in many places; but it was not taken, for continual reinforcements came from paris to defend it. when the duke of burgundy had remained for eight days on mont-rouge, he decamped with his army, and advanced a league nearer to paris, to a hill whereon was a withered tree, on which he fixed his standard, and thence was this encampment called 'the camp of the withered tree.' he remained here also for eight days; and as many of his men were quartered in the villages close to paris, several skirmishes took place between them and the parisians, although no great losses ensued on either side. the foragers from the duke's army scoured the country for eight leagues round, and brought to the camp great booties of horses, cattle, sheep and pigs, to the ruin of the poor peasantry. chap. lxi. the duke of burgundy sends his herald to the king of france in paris.--the answer he receives.--the siege of montlehery,--and other matters. during the time when the duke of burgundy was encamped at the withered tree on mont-chastillon, before paris, he sent one of his heralds called palis, who was afterward flanders king at arms, with letters to the king and the dauphin of france. on his arrival at the gates of paris, he was led to the count d'armagnac and the king's ministers, who bade him address the dauphin, and give to him his letters, for that he could not be admitted to the presence of the king,--which he did, shortly detailing the object of his mission from the duke of burgundy. the dauphin, who had been well instructed what answer he was to make, replied in a great rage, 'herald, contrary to the will of my lord the king and of us, thy lord of burgundy has already destroyed several parts of the kingdom, and, by his persevering in his conduct, he plainly shews that he is not our wellwisher as he signs himself. if he be anxious that my lord and ourself should consider him as our relative, loyal vassal and subject, let him march to combat and conquer the king of england, the ancient enemy of this realm, and then return to the king, when he shall be well received. let him no longer say that my lord the king and ourself are kept in servitude at paris, for we both of us enjoy our full liberty and authority; and do thou be careful that thou repeat what we have just said, aloud to the duke of burgundy, and in the presence of his army.' after this speech, the herald returned to his lord, and repeated to him what the dauphin had said, which made no great impression on the duke, for he considered it as the speech of those who governed the king. when the duke perceived that he could not gain admittance to paris, and that his partisans in that city were unable to perform what they had promised him, he decamped from mont-chastillon, with his whole army, to lay siege to montlehery. the inhabitants, knowing the power of the duke, and thinking they should not be supported, entered into a treaty to surrender the castle, if within eight days they were not succoured by the king or the constable. they sent information of this treaty to the constable, but it was of no avail, for no succours were sent,--and they delivered up the castle conformably to their agreement. in like manner were reduced to the obedience of the duke of burgundy the castles of marcoussy, dourdan, palaiseau, and some other forts in the neighbourhood. during the siege of montlehery, the duke detached a part of his army to the castle of doursay, who lodged themselves in the town, in front of the castle, and there pointed some cannons to batter the walls and conquer it; but a large body of the constable's men attacked their quarters at break of day, and slew the greater part of them. those who escaped fled to the quarters of the duke of burgundy, crying, 'to arms! for that the enemy were marching in great force against them.' the duke instantly drew up his army in battle-array on the plain, as if the enemy had been in sight. the leaders of the detachment sent to doursay were the lord de salines, the lord de toulongeon, and some other captains from burgundy; and at this surprise were made prisoners sir geoffroy de villers, a knight from the rethelois, with fifty other gentlemen. while this was going forward, the duke dispatched sir elyon de jacqueville john de guigny, john du clau, and other captains, with sixteen hundred combatants to chartres,--which place with estampes, gallardon, and other towns and forts, surrendered to the duke of burgundy. jacqueville remained governor of chartres. in like manner, sir philip de fosseux and robert le roux were sent to the lady de la riviere at auniau, who promised that she would not admit any garrisons into her forts of auniau and rochefort, that would carry on war against the duke of burgundy or his wellwishers. at this time, numbers of towns, castles, and noble men joined the duke, in the expectation that he would succeed in his enterprise and obtain the government of the kingdom. in the towns which submitted to his obedience, he would not allow any taxes to be raised excepting that on salt, which gained him great popularity among the inhabitants and peasantry of the countries round. he also sent letters to many of the principal towns in france, of the following tenour. 'john duke of burgundy, count of flanders and artois, palatine of burgundy, lord of salines and mechlin. very dear and good friends, you have known, from melancholy experience, the miserable system of government which is adopted in this kingdom, as well with regard to the king as the country, by those who have seized the management of our lord the king, without respect or care for his royal majesty; but, forgetful of every thing, they have impoverished his estate, and his own personal wealth, which formerly acquired for him great renown among christian princes. his government was, anciently, celebrated for the equity of the courts of justice, which was administered indiscriminately to the poor as well as to the rich; but the present ministers have so greatly neglected it that it has fallen off, and is now directed according to their pleasure, while all parts of his majesty's dominions are in a state of anarchy, and a prey to the bitter enemies of the kingdom, by the destruction of the nobles and other supporters of the dignity of the crown. 'heavy taxes, under various pretences, have been and are raised, to the great vexation and ruin of the nobility, clergy, citizens and commonalty, who groan under them. 'to obviate and reform these and similar abuses, we have taken up arms, as it is well known to you; for we have frequently and publicly summoned these ministers to desist from such practises declaring that otherwise we should ourselves provide a remedy, for the benefit of our said lord the king, so that an adequate provision might be made for his establishment, his kingdom be better governed, and the lost territories recovered. 'and again, while we were lately before paris, we sent our herald to our said lord the king, with sealed letters, in which we repeated the grounds of our conduct, supplicating him that we might be permitted to approach his sacred person, and make offer of our personal services to him as to our sovereign lord; but the present ministry would not allow these letters to be given to our said lord, and sent them back to us. they forbade our herald to return again, and continue their usual mode of government to the destruction of the realm and of all his majesty's loyal subjects, because they know that we are averse to their measures which are daily becoming from bad to worse. it is this which engages us to persevere in our resistance whatever may be the consequences thereof, that they may no longer continue their wicked practices, and that commerce may have free course, and the kingdom may be governed according to justice. such is our firm intention that we may loyally acquit ourselves; for it has been pronounced by the holy court of rome, that it behoves us to attend to the government of the kingdom, considering the unfortunate state of the king and the youth of the dauphin, rather than the count d'armagnac, or those who style themselves council to the king. in confirmation of this, we have annexed to these presents the decree that was pronounced by the holy college in the presence of a very learned doctor, our ambassador to the court of rome. 'we therefore summon you in the name of our said lord, and earnestly request you on our part, that you take the above subjects into your serious consideration, and form such conclusions as may be honourable to our aforesaid lord, and to the preservation of his lineage and dominions; and that all his subjects may enjoy peace and justice, and that these our intentions may be adopted by you, is the earnest object of our wishes. 'we request, that on the th day of october next ensuing, you would depute to us not less than two well-instructed persons, at whatever place we may be, with whom we may advise with sufficient powers to form any treaties in your names, and in those of the prelates, chapters, and all dependances on your jurisdiction. 'be careful that herein you fail not, from the love you bear our aforesaid lord, ourselves and his realm. should you desire any thing from us, you have but to mention it and we will do it to the utmost of our power. written at montlehery, the th day of october.' underneath is a copy of the schedule from the college of cardinals, annexed to the duke of burgundy's mandatory letter. 'i lievin nevelin, doctor en decret, ambassador from the sacred college of cardinals, to the most mighty and puissant prince my lord the duke of burgundy, have presented to him, on the part of the sacred college, letters sealed with three seals, namely, that of the dean of the cardinal-bishops, of the dean of the cardinal-priests, and of the dean of the cardinal-deacons, which are my credential letters, and which i have explained to my lord the duke, by offering to him from the sacred college the words of the holy prophet david, 'domine refugium factus es nobis;' that is to say, 'lord, in times of trouble we seek refuge in thee.' in continuing my discourse from the above text and for many reasons comparing the sacred college to king david, i have laid before my said lord of burgundy the state of the holy council of constance, and the labours of the cardinals to restore union to the church. 'i afterward explained to him, that all christendom was now united, except as it were a single grain in a bushel of wheat, namely, the dominions of the count d'armagnac, who still obey pietro della luna, and whose adherents have been declared schismatics and guilty of heresy. i then explained, that i was sent by the sacred college as ambassadors to him, not simply as duke of burgundy, but as the representative of the crown of france, and to whom the government of that country legally belonged, to make to him certain requests and propositions from the sacred college; and i mentioned the reasons why i was deputed to him, and not to the king, to my lord the dauphin, the count d'armagnac, or to the king's ministers. these reasons were, as the sacred college bade me inform him, because my lord the king was overwhelmed with a sore disorder, because my lord the dauphin was too young in years, and because the count d'armagnac had relapsed into schism, and some of the king's ministers, adherents to the count, were suspected of being schismatics also. 'true it is, that the said count d'armagnac has not been pronounced schismatic; but at the public sessions of the council, when pietro della luna was dethroned and declared schismatic and heretic, he was personally accused by the king of the romans, and the procureur-fiscal of the said council, and has since relapsed into schism, notwithstanding the frivolous excuses made in his behalf by master john gerson. 'i made three requests to my said lord of burgundy; the first was, that he would be pleased to have in his protection the sacred college, the pope, and the proceedings of the said general council, by guarding and maintaining them in their ancient rights, liberties and privileges. secondly, that should any one write, or cause to be written in time to come, any things against the said holy college or pope, he would not give faith to such writings. thirdly, that my said lord would approve of whatever acts the said sacred college should issue, as well touching the election of the pope as the reformation of the holy church.' at the end of this schedule, the said lieven had put his sign-manual. chap. lxii. the duke of burgundy lays siege to corbeil.--he marches thence to chartres and into touraine, on the summons of the queen of france, who accompanies him on his return. when the duke of burgundy had submitted to his obedience the castle of montlehery, and re-furnished it with provision and stores, he marched his army to lay siege to corbeil on the side toward montlehery. he planted many cannons and other engines to batter it in vain; for the constable and the king's ministers had strongly garrisoned the place with men at arms, who made a vigorous defence against the duke, and daily slew his men by their cannon and other shot. the garrison was continually supplied, as well by land as by water, with provision, ammunition, and all other necessary articles. in short, after the duke had remained about three weeks before corbeil, seeing he was unable to conquer it, and that his army was much harrassed by the continued rains, and by an epidemic disorder which carried off many, he raised the siege, and departed from before corbeil on the th day of october, taking the road to chartres. the duke left behind, in his camp, many warlike engines, and great quantities of provision which merchants had brought to his army: all of these things the besieged carried into their town, on the departure of the duke, and were highly rejoiced that their enemies had left them. during the siege of corbeil, sir mauroy de st legier was struck with a bolt from a cross-bow so severely on the leg that he was maimed, and limped all his life after. the real cause of the duke of burgundy's breaking up the siege of corbeil so suddenly, was a private message which he received by a confidential servant from the queen of france, then resident at tours in touraine, to request he would come and release her from her state of confinement, as she thought herself in much danger. the duke, in consequence, had sent one of his secretaries called john de drosay to make further inquiries, and to conclude a treaty with the queen. the queen promised to accompany the duke provided he would come to fetch her; and, for a confirmation thereof she gave the secretary a golden signet to present to his lord. this signet was known by the duke, for he had often seen it; and on his arrival at chartres, on the eve of the feast of all-saints, attended by the greater part of his nobles, and those of the men at arms best mounted and equipped, he suddenly set off, taking the road through bonneval and vendôme to tours. when he was within two leagues of that place, he sent forward the lords de fosseux and du vergy with eight hundred combatants, who posted themselves in ambuscade half a league distant from tours; at the same time dispatching a trusty messenger to inform the queen of the duke's arrival. on hearing this, she called to her master john torel, master john petit and master laurens du puy, her principal wardens, and told them she wished to hear mass at a church without the town, called marmoutier, and that they must prepare themselves to accompany her. they exhorted her to lay such thoughts aside, but in vain, for she shortly after issued out of tours, and carried them with her to the aforesaid church. the lords in ambuscade almost instantly advanced in front of the church, and sent hector de saveuses forward to the queen with about sixty combatants. her warders approached her as she was hearing mass, and said, 'lady, here is a large company of burgundians or english'; but she, like one unsuspicious of what was intended, ordered them to keep near her. hector de saveuses then entered the church, and saluted her in the name of his lord the duke of burgundy. she, in reply, asked where he was,--when he said that he would instantly be with her. after these words, she commanded hector to lay hands on masters john torel, petit and laurens du puy: the last she hated much, for he addressed her very rudely, without raising his hand to his hood, and never bowing to her,--beside, she could not any way act without the consent of laurens du puy. finding he could not escape being arrested if he remained, he flew out of the church and entered a small boat by the back-yard, to cross the river loire, but in such haste that he fell into the water and was drowned: the others were taken prisoners. all this passed about nine o'clock in the morning: at eleven the duke of burgundy waited on the queen and paid her the respect that was her due, which she returned and said, 'most dear cousin, of all men in the kingdom i ought to love you the most, for having laid aside every other thing and complying with my request to come hither and deliver me from prison, and which my dear cousin i shall never forget; for i clearly see that you have always loved my lord, his family, his kingdom, and the public welfare.' they afterward dined together with much cheerfulness in the said church; after which, the queen sent notice to the inhabitants of tours, that she and her cousin the duke of burgundy would make a public entry into their town; but, by the advice of the governor, the inhabitants delayed a little in their answer: however, at last they complied with what had been demanded, when the governor retired into the castle, and the queen and the duke, with their attendants and escort, made their entry. the duke was handsomely received and entertained in tours; after which, the queen sent a passport and orders for the governor to come to her, whom she commanded to deliver up the castle, which he did, though much against his will. when the duke had tarried three days with the queen, he appointed charles l'abbé? governor of the town and castle, with two hundred combatants for its defence. he took an oath carefully to guard and defend it in the name and on behalf of the duke of burgundy; but this oath he was very unmindful of, for in the following year he surrendered both town and castle to the dauphin, while he was continued governor, taking a similar oath. the queen and the duke of burgundy caused proclamation to be made through tours, that no one was to pay any subsidies or taxes but that on salt. they then departed for vendôme, where was issued a similar proclamation, and then continued their route through bonneval to chartres, where they arrived the th day of november. the queen was accompanied by four carriages containing twenty women. she had only one knight with her, called sir robert le cyne, with whose prudence and discretion she was well pleased. chap. lxiii. the queen, on her arrival at chartres, writes to several of the principal towns in france.--some new ordinances are made for the better government of the kingdom. on the queen's arrival at chartres, it was resolved that she should write letters in her own name to all those towns that had submitted to the obedience of the duke of burgundy. a copy of that addressed to the town of amiens now follows. 'very dear and well beloved,--you know that by the intrigues and damnable avarice and ambition of some persons of low degree, who have seized the person and government of my lord and his kingdom, unnumbered mischiefs have arisen, as well by the molestation of those of his royal family as by the destruction and loss of many parts of his realm, more particularly in the duchies of acquitaine and normandy, where the utmost confusion reigns, without these the present ministers any way attempting to check or prevent it,--but, on the contrary, they have conceived a mortal hatred against all that are gallant and loyal, by confiscating their fortunes, or putting them to death. 'they continue in their wickedness, though they know we are anxious to labour for the reparation of all these evils, and to procure peace to the realm; for, through the grace of god, we are competent so to do, as queen and wife to our aforesaid lord, according to the terms that had been begun on by our son and our cousin of hainault, those souls may god receive! but they, knowing our intentions, took care to keep us at a distance, that their iniquities might be hidden, and that they might keep possession of their places. 'by such means do they daily apply to their own profit the whole amount of the revenue, without any part being allotted for the use of my said lord, or for the security and welfare of his kingdom. they have, under false pretences and most disloyally, robbed my said lord, ourself and our son the dauphin, so that we have not wherewithal to maintain our establishments, or to defray our expenses; insomuch that they have acquired so great power that all must obey their wills, and it is very probable that the government of my lord and his realm may fall into the hands of strangers, which god forbid! 'when our very dear and well beloved cousin the duke of burgundy shall have put an end to such shameful abuses he offers peace to all who may be inclined to accept of it, by his letters patent that have been published in various parts of the realm; but those persons above mentioned having refused to accept his terms, our cousin has taken up arms, in company with a large number of knights and esquires, with the intent to drive the above traitors from the government of this kingdom. they, however, to resist the said duke, and prevent him from approaching the person of our said lord, have remanded to paris all the men at arms from their different garrisons, thereby leaving the kingdom a prey to its ancient enemies the english. 'this conduct clearly shows their wicked intentions; but the greater part of the nobility, prelacy, and the chief towns have united themselves to our said cousin, sensible of the loyalty of his conduct, for the good of our said lord and the welfare of his realm. all who are any way related to us by blood should be warmly attached to our said cousin, for it concerns them much; and they should know, that quitting his siege of corbeil, he came to set us at liberty, and deliver us from the hands of our late gaolers. 'we have accompanied our said cousin to the town of chartres, as was reasonable, where we shall advise together on the most effectual means of regaining those parts of the kingdom that have been conquered, and for the preservation of the remainder, without any further dissembling, by the aid and support of all the vassals, friends, allies and subjects of my aforesaid lord. 'for this reason, therefore, very dear and good friends, we ought to have the government of this kingdom, with the advice and assistance of the princes of the blood, and for which we have the authority of letters patent irrevocably passed by the great council, and in the presence of the princes of the blood, such as uncles, cousins-german, and others related to the crown. we have also full and competent knowledge of your good and loyal intentions regarding the dominions of our said lord, and even that you are willing, in conjunction with our said cousin, to use your utmost endeavours, even to the shedding your last drop of blood, for the obtaining so necessary and desirable an object. 'we summon and require you, in the name of my aforesaid lord, and expressly command you from ourselves, that you remain steady to the orders of our said cousin, notwithstanding any letters or commands you may receive to the contrary in the name of my aforesaid lord, or in that of my son the dauphin; and also, that you do not suffer henceforward any sums of money to be transmitted to the present rulers of the realm under any pretext whatever, on pain of disobedience and disloyalty to my said lord, and of incurring the crime of rebellion toward him and toward us. in so doing, you will perform your duty, and we will aid succour and support you against all who shall attempt to injure or hurt you for your conduct on this occasion. 'very dear and well beloved, we recommend you to the care of the holy spirit. given at chartres, the th day of november.' it was afterward determined in the council of the queen and the duke of burgundy, that master philip de morvillers should go to the town of amiens, accompanied by some notable clerks of the said council, with a sworn secretary, and should there hold, under the queen, a sovereign court of justice, instead of the one at paris, to avoid being forced to apply to the king's chancery to obtain summonses, or for any other cases that might arise in the bailiwicks of amiens, vermandois, tournay, and within the seneschalships of ponthieu, with the dependancies thereto attached. a seal was given to master philip de morvillers, having graven upon it the figure of the queen erect, with her hands extended towards the ground: on the right side were the arms of france on a shield, and on the left a similar shield, with the arms of france and bavaria. the inscription around it was,--'this is the seal for suits-at-law, and for sovereign appeals to the king.' it was ordered that the seals should be imprinted on vermilion-coloured wax; and that all letters and summonses should be written in the queen's name, and in the following terms: 'isabella, by the grace of god, queen of france, having the government of this realm intrusted to her, during the king's illness, by an irrevocable grant made to us by our said lord and his council.' by authority of this ordinance and seal, the said master philip de morvillers collected large sums of money. in like manner, another chancellor was appointed for the countries on the other side of the seine, under the obedience of the queen and the duke of burgundy. chap. lxiv. sir elyon de jacqueville is dragged out of the church of our lady in chartres by hector de saveuses and his accomplices, who put him to death. at the time when the duke of burgundy resided in chartres at his hôtel behind the church of our lady, so serious a quarrel arose between sir elyon de jacqueville, knight, and hector de saveuses, that high words passed between them in the presence of the duke. within a few days after, hector collected from twelve to sixteen of his friends, determined men; and in this number were his cousin-german the lord de crevecoeur, his brother le bon de saveuses, hue de bours, and an arrogant fellow called john de vaulx, on whose account this quarrel had arisen between them,--for, a short time before, jacqueville had robbed this de vaulx, who was related to hector. these, with some others to the number before stated, one day, with a premeditated design, entered the church of our lady, and met jacqueville returning from the hôtel of the duke of burgundy: hector and his friend instantly addressed him, saying, 'jacqueville, thou hast formerly injured and angered me, for which thou shalt be punished,' when, at the moment, he was seized by him and his accomplices, and dragged out of the church, and most inhumanly hacked to pieces; during which he most pitifully cried to hector for mercy, and offered a large sum of money for his life, but all in vain, for they never left him until they thought he was dead. they quitted the town of chartres without delay, and went to a village two leagues off, where hector's men were quartered. after their departure, jacqueville caused himself to be carried in the melancholy state he was in to the duke of burgundy, and made bitter complaints of the cruel usage he had met with; adding, that it was in consequence of the loyalty and truth with which he had served him. the duke, on seeing him thus, was greatly affected, insomuch that he immediately armed himself, and, mounting his horse, rode through the streets with few attendants, thinking to find hector and his accomplices, but he was soon informed that they had left the town. many of the nobles now waited on the duke, and appeased his anger as well as they could, such as sir john de luxembourg, the lord de fosseux, the marshal of burgundy and several more. however, he ordered the baggage and horses of hector to be seized, and then returned to his hôtel, whence he sent the most expert physicians to visit jacqueville; but they were of no avail, for within three days he died. numbers were convinced, that could the duke have laid hands on hector and his accomplices, he would have had them put to an ignominious death, for he declared he would never, during his life pardon them: nevertheless, within a few days, hector, somehow or other, made up his quarrel with the duke, who consented to it on account of the important affairs he had now on his hands. chap. lxv. the duke of burgundy marches his whole army to paris to force an entrance.--he then carries the queen of france to troyes,--and other events. when these matters had been concluded, the duke of burgundy marched his army from chartres, through montlehery, toward paris, with the intention of forcing an entrance into that city by means of some of the parisians his partisans. to succeed in his plans, he sent forward hector de saveuses, with his brother philip, the lord de sores, louis de varigines and several other captains, with six thousand combatants to the porte de louvel de chastillon[ ], near to the suburbs of saint marceau; but, a little before their arrival, their coming was betrayed by a skinner of paris to the constable, who instantly reinforced that part of the town with a large body of his troops; so that when hector and his men approached the gate, to enter therein, he was sharply repulsed, and himself wounded on the head by a bolt from a cross-bow. finding he had failed, from his intentions having been discovered, he retreated within the suburbs of st marceau to wait the coming of his lord the duke of burgundy. the constable did not suffer them to remain quiet, but, making a sally with three or four hundred of his men, vigorously attacked the burgundians, killing some and taking others. the burgundians rallied, and renewed the combat so courageously that they forced the enemy to fall back within the town, and rescued some of the prisoners they had made. in this affair, john, eldest son to the lord de flavy, behaved remarkably well: he was the banner-bearer to hector de saveuses, and advanced it to the very gates of paris, for which he was greatly praised by the duke when it came to his knowledge. several of the partisans of the duke were, at this moment, beheaded in paris, while he remained in battle-array half a league distant, waiting for intelligence from those whom he had sent in advance. when he learnt that his attempt had been discovered, he remanded his men from st marceau, and marched his army back to montlehery, attended always by the young count de st pol his nephew. at montlehery, he disbanded all his picards, namely, sir john de luxembourg, the lord de fosseux, and the other captains before-mentioned, ordering them to the different towns on the frontier, until the winter should be passed. to sir john de luxembourg was given in charge the town of mondidier and the adjacent country: hector and philip de saveuses were posted with their men in beauvais; the bastard de thian was appointed governor of senlis; the lord de l'isle-adam had in charge pontoise and meulan; the lord de cohen and several more returned to their own habitations in picardy and the adjoining countries. the duke of burgundy went from montlehery to chartres, where, having ordered governors for that and the neighbouring places, he departed with the queen of france and his burgundians for troyes and champagne, taking the road toward joigny, whither he was pursued by the count d'armagnac, constable of france. the constable followed the duke for a long way with the intention of combating him, should he find a favourable opportunity; and in fact, when the queen and the duke were lodged in joigny, some of his captains, with about three hundred combatants, made an attack on the quarters of the lord du vergy and the burgundians, which much alarmed and dispersed them. the whole of the duke's army were in motion, and soon drawn up in battle array on the plain; and a detachment was ordered to pursue the enemy, who drove them as far as the head-quarters of the constable, about a league distant from joigny. the lord de château-vilain was one of the principal commanders of this detachment, and pursued the enemy the farthest. on their return, a sufficient guard of men at arms was appointed at joigny, where, having remained five days, they continued their march to troyes, and were magnificently and honourably received by the inhabitants and magistrates of that town. the queen was lodged in the palace of the king her lord, and she received all the taxes and subsidies due to the crown by the town of troyes, and from all other places under the obedience of the duke of burgundy. by the advice of the duke, the duke of lorraine was sent for to troyes; on his arrival, the queen appointed him constable of france; and a sword was presented to him, on his taking the usual oaths, thus displacing the count d'armagnac from that office. the duke of burgundy now dismissed the greater part of the burgundian lords, and remained in troyes almost all the winter. he nominated john d'aubigny, john du clau and clavin his brother, commanders on the frontiers of champagne with a large force of men at arms, who carried on a vigorous war on the party of the constable. footnotes: [footnote : see for this in sauval's 'antiquitès de paris.'] chap. lxvi. john of bavaria makes war on the duchess his niece in holland.--the conquests of henry king of england in normandy. during these tribulations, john of bavaria was carrying on a severe warfare against his niece the duchess jacquelina, and his men had conquered the town of gorcum, with the exception of some towers that held out for the duchess. so soon as she heard of this, she assembled a considerable body of men at arms, and accompanied by the countess of hainault her mother, carried them by sea to the town of gorcum, as it is situated on the coast. by the assistance of her garrisons, she gained admittance into these towers, and shortly after gave battle to the troops of john of bavaria with such success that they were totally routed, and from five to six hundred were slain or made prisoners: among the last, the principal was the damoiseau derke. the only one of note that was killed on the side of the duchess was videran de brederode, a man well skilled in war, and commander in chief of her forces, whose loss gave her great pain. she caused several of her prisoners to be beheaded for their disloyal conduct towards her. after this event, philip count de charolois, eldest son to the duke of burgundy, was sent to holland to appease this quarrel. he took much pains with both of the parties, his uncle and cousin-german; but as he found he could not succeed to establish peace between them, he returned to flanders. at this time, the king of england had a large army in normandy, and conquered many towns and castles: indeed, there were few that made any resistance,--for the several garrisons had been ordered by the constable to paris, and to the adjacent parts, to oppose the duke of burgundy, as has been before stated. king henry came before the town of caen, which was very strong and populous, and made many attacks on it, but with the loss of numbers of his men. at length, by continued assaults, he took it by storm, and slew six hundred of the besieged. the castle held out for about three weeks,--in which were the lord de la fayette, the lord de montenay, and sir john bigot, who surrendered it on condition that the king would promise that they should march out with their baggage and persons in security. after this conquest, the king of england caused the strong town and castle of cherbourg to be besieged by his brother the duke of gloucester; it was the strongest place in all normandy, and the best supplied with stores and provision. this siege lasted for ten weeks, when sir john d'engennes, the governor, surrendered on condition of receiving a certain sum of money for so doing, and a sufficient passport for him to go whithersoever he pleased. he went thence to the city of rouen after it had been taken by the english, and, on the faith of some english lords that his passport should be renewed, remained there until the term was expired; but in the end he was deceived, and king henry caused him to be beheaded,--at which the french greatly rejoiced, as he had surrendered cherbourg, to the prejudice of the king of france, through avarice. chap. lxvii. sir james de harcourt espouses the daughter of the count de tancarville.--the defeat of hector de saveuses.--the constable lays siege to senlis. about this period, sir james de harcourt espoused the heiress of the count de tancarville, with whom he had possession of all the count's estates; and he placed garrisons in the whole of his towns and forts, to defend them against the english. at this time also, philip de saveuses being in garrison with his brother hector in beauvais, set out one day with about six score combatants, to make an inroad on the country of clermont, as he had frequently done before. on his return, he passed by a castle called brelle, in which were assembled a body of men at arms belonging to the constable, who suddenly made a sally with displayed banners on philip and his men. the latter were overpowered by numbers, and put to the rout, nor was it in the power of their captain to rally them, so that they were pursued almost to beauvais, and some killed, and the greater part made prisoners. philip de saveuses, grieved at heart for this misfortune, re-entered that town. within a few days after, having recovered some of his men, he went to gournay in normandy, whereof he had been appointed governor, with the consent of the inhabitants. hector de saveuses had some dissentions with the inhabitants of beauvais, and was forced to quit the town shortly after the departure of his brother. on the following candlemas, king charles, attended by the count d'armagnac his constable, and a considerable number of men at arms set out from paris for creil, where he staid many days. as his men were passing near to senlis, which was garrisoned by the duke of burgundy, they were attacked, and several killed and made prisoners, to the great vexation of the constable. the constable, a few days after this, by the king's orders, laid siege to senlis, and had several large engines of war pointed against the walls, which greatly harrassed the inhabitants. they therefore sent messengers to sir john de luxembourg and to the lord de hangest, requiring them, in behalf of the duke of burgundy, to send aid to senlis. these lords having consulted the count de charolois and his council, assembled a large force, and marched to pontoise, and thence toward senlis, with the intent to raise the siege; but they received intelligence that their enemies were too numerous, and they could only detach one hundred men, whom they sent into the town by a gate that had not been guarded by the constable, with orders to tell the besieged to be of good cheer, for that they should, without fail, be speedily succoured. sir john de luxembourg and the the lord de hangest returned, with their men at arms, through pontoise and beauvais to picardy, without attempting any thing further at this time. on the other hand, sir tanneguy du châtel, provost of paris, took the town of chevreuse, and was laying siege to the castle, when he was hastily ordered to leave it, and join the king and the constable at the siege of senlis; on which account he left a part of his men at chevreuse, and obeyed the orders he had received. chap. lxviii. the king of france sends ambassadors to montereau-faut-yonne to treat of a peace with the queen and the duke of burgundy.--the inhabitants of rouen turn to the burgundy faction. shortly after, king charles and his constable sent as their ambassadors to montereau-faut-yonne, the archbishop of rheims, the bishops of paris and of clermont in auvergne, john de harcourt count d'aumale, sir mansart d'esne and sir regnault de merquoiques knights, master guerard marchet, the judge maye, john de lolive, with others, to the number of sixteen, able persons, to treat of a peace between them and the queen and the duke of burgundy. on the part of the queen and the duke, the following ambassadors were sent to bray-sur-seine, the archbishop of sens brother to sir charles de savoisy, the bishops of langres and of arras, sir john de la trimouille lord de jonvelle, the lord de courcelles, sir james de courtjambe, coppen de viefville, master peter cauchon, since bishop of beauvais, john le clerc, since chancellor of france, gilles de clamecy, master thierry le roi, john le mercier, james beaulard and master baudet de bordes. these ambassadors had passports given them from each party; and on their arrival at montereau and bray, they fixed upon the village of la tombe, which was half way between these two towns, as the place to hold their conferences in. to this place the lord de la trimouille was ordered with a body of men at arms for the security of their persons. this conference lasted for about two months,--during which the ambassadors of both sides frequently had recourse to their lords personally, or by writing, in hopes of bringing the business to a happy conclusion. at the same time, union was restored to the universal church; for after the consecration of pope martin he released pope john from prison, who threw himself on the mercy of the reigning pontiff. he was very kindly received by him, and even created a cardinal,--but he died within a few days afterward. about this period also, the inhabitants of rouen, who were very favourable to the duke of burgundy, sent secretly for some of the captains of his party, whom, with a body of men at arms, they admitted into their town; namely, sir guy le bouteiller, lagnon bastard d'arly; and instantly joining them, they made a sharp attack on the castle, which the king's men held out against the town, and continued it so long that the garrison surrendered on condition that they might retreat with safety. sir guy le bouteiller was nominated governor. lagnon d'arly behaved so gallantly at this attack, that he acquired great renown, and the good will of all the inhabitants of rouen. the king of france and his ministers were very much displeased at this event; but, to say the truth, the greater part of france was torn to pieces by intestine wars and divisions: the churches and poor people were ruined, and justice was no where obeyed. [a.d. .] chap. lxix. the duke of burgundy visits the emperor sigismund.--the count de charolois takes the oaths of allegiance to the queen and his father the duke of burgundy.--the siege of senlis is raised by the picards. at the beginning of this year, john duke of burgundy arranged the establishment of the queen of france in troyes; and having ordered some of his captains, such as charlot de dueilly, john du clau, john d'aubigny, and others, with two thousand men at arms, to march to senlis, and combat the army of the king and the constable, he took leave of the queen, and set out from troyes to dijon to visit his duchess and daughters. having resided there some time, he departed for montmeliart, to meet sigismund emperor of germany, with whom he had a conference. this being finished, they separated with many tokens of respect for each other, and the duke returned to burgundy. during this time, philip count de charolois came to arras; and by commands from the queen and his father, he convoked all the barons, knights, esquires and clergy of picardy and other parts under his obedience, to meet him on a certain day in arras. on their being assembled, they were required by master philip de morvillers to swear allegiance to the queen and the duke of burgundy against all persons whatever, excepting the king of france: which oath they all took, namely, sir john de luxembourg, sir james de harcourt, the vidame of amiens, the lords d'antoing and de fosseux, the lord d'auxois, sir emond de lombers, and many more, who declared they would serve him with their lives and fortunes so long as they should breathe. those who had been deputed from the principal towns were required to raise a certain sum of money from their constituents. the meeting was then adjourned to amiens where they were desired to assemble,--for within a few days the count de charolois would go thither, to consult on further measures for the relief of senlis. the different commanders were ordered to raise as many men at arms and archers as they possibly could by that day. the count de charolois was at amiens on the appointed time, whither also came the aforesaid lords, and a number of deputies from the great towns. there were likewise some from rouen, who had been sent to request advice and support from the count as the representative of the duke of burgundy, adding, that they were daily expecting to be besieged by king henry's army; that they had often been under the obedience of the duke, in preference to the king, the dauphin, the constable, and all others; and that should they fail of having succours from him, in whom was their only hope, they could not expect them from any other person. the count by advice of his council, replied by requesting them to nourish such good intentions,--and that within a short time they should have, with god's pleasure, effectual aid. letters, addressed to the magistrates and principal citizens in rouen, were also given them, with which they returned. when this matter had been settled, the count de charolois directed master philip de morvillers to declare to the assembly of nobles and others from the towns, who were collected in the great hall of the bishop's palace, that it would be necessary and expedient for each of the towns to make a free gift in money, and for the clergy to pay half a tenth, for the carrying on the war. this business, however, could not be hastily concluded; and in the mean time messengers arrived from those in senlis, who brought letters to the count, to say that if they were not succoured on or before the th of april, they must surrender the place to the king and constable having given hostages to that effect. the count and his council, on receiving this news, determined to provide a remedy; and he was very desirous of marching thither himself, but his council would not consent to it: he therefore ordered, as principal commanders of the reinforcement, sir john de luxembourg and the lord de fosseux, having under them the whole of the forces in picardy and on the frontiers. these commanders, having collected their men, marched off in haste, and arrived at pontoise on the th of april, when they resolved to proceed during the night of the morrow for senlis. their army might amount to about eight thousand combatants, who gallantly took the field at the appointed time. a body of light troops were ordered to advance to different places on the road, toward senlis, to gain intelligence of the enemy. with sir john de luxembourg and the lord de fosseux were le veau de bar bailiff of auxois, the lord de l'isle-adam, sir emond de bonberch, the lord d'auxois, hector and philip de saveuses, ferry de mailly, louis de varigines, sir philip de fosseux, james and john de fosseux, the lord de cohen, sir janet de poix, the lord de longueval, the lord de miraumont, and in general all the nobles and gentlemen of picardy, who made a handsome appearance with vanguard, rearguard and main battalion, and thus marched to within a league of senlis. the lord d'armagnac, constable of france, was closely besieging the town of senlis, when he received intelligence from his scouts that the nobles of picardy were approaching with a large army to to offer him battle: in consequence he commanded his men to arm without delay, and advance in battle-array to the plain, that he might avoid being attacked in his camp. the besieged, observing about day-break great bustle and confusion in the enemy's camp, with good order and courage made a sally from the town, set fire to the tents and quarters of the constable, killed numbers of the sick, and others, whom they found in the camp, and returned to the town with a large booty in sight of their enemies. the constable, vexed at this, sent them a summons to surrender the town according to their promise, but on their answering that the time was not yet expired, he caused the heads of four of the hostages to be cut off, their bodies to be quartered, and hung on a gibbet. of these four, two were gentlemen, namely guillaume mauchelier and boudart de vingles: the two others were citizens, named guillaume escallot and master john beaufort, king's advocate in the town. the remaining two (for there were six in all), sir john durant priest and a monk of st vincent, were carried prisoners to paris. in revenge, the besieged beheaded sixteen of the constable's men: two were hanged and two women were drowned. the count d'armagnac then marched his army in battle-array to the pas-de-larron between criel and gouvieux, to wait for the enemy; and dispatched some of his captains to seek the king at criel and make him take the road toward paris. sir john de luxembourg and the lord de fosseux had advanced so rapidly with their army that they were rather before hand with the king, and halted at a place called l'estoing, where the king and his army must pass. soon after, the van of the constable made its appearance, and the light troops of both sides began a sharp skirmish, when many lances were broken, and men at arms unhorsed, slain or terribly wounded. upon this, the king and the constable sent two heralds to these lords, to know who they were, and what they wanted. the lord de luxembourg made answer, 'i am john of luxembourg, having with me the lord de fosseux and many other noble men, sent hither by the duke of burgundy to serve the king, and to succour the good town of senlis against the count d'armagnac, whom, and his abettors alone, we are ready to to combat, if he be willing to afford us an opportunity, but not against the king; for we are ready to serve him as his loyal vassals and subjects.' the heralds returned with this answer to the king and the constable, when the latter said aloud, 'since neither the duke of burgundy nor his son be with their army, we cannot gain much by battle: i therefore advise that we retreat, for these are soldiers only anxious for plunder, who have not themselves much to lose.' the constable had already heard that charlot de dueilly and other captains were in great force toward dammartin: therefore he made the king and his army retreat, in order of battle toward paris, ordering a sufficient number of his ablest combatants to his rear, to prevent the enemy from giving them any disturbance. thus, without halting at any place did king charles and his constable, the count d'armagnac, march back to paris, to the great vexation of many of the parisians, who murmured loudly against the constable. sir john de luxembourg and the lord de fosseux returned with their army to pontoise, very much rejoiced to have accomplished their object without any considerable loss or inconvenience. it would take up too much time were i to detail all the skirmishes that took place: suffice it to say, that very many on both sides behaved gallantly. the lord de miraumont commanded the picard archers, and, according to his orders, kept them in handsome array. when these lords had refreshed themselves at pontoise, they all went to their different homes. they were very much esteemed for their good conduct and valour in this expedition by the duke of burgundy, the count de charolois, and by all of that party. the bastard de thian governor-general in senlis, troullart de moncruel, sir mauroy de st legier, and the other captains within the town during the siege, had repaired the towers and walls which had been much damaged by the engines of the constable, and then kept up a more severe warfare against the king's party than before. end of vol. iv. h. bryer, printer, bridge-street, blackfriars, london. notes and emendations. page . line . _châtel._] hervè lord of châtel, a powerful baron of bretagne, was the father of william lord of châtel who was killed on an expedition to the english coast, and is mentioned in the first volume, oliver (who succeeded him as lord of châtel), and tanneguy, chamberlain to the king and provost of paris. page . last line. _coqueluche_.] the coqueluche was a contagious disorder much dreaded in the fifteenth century. its usual symptoms were a violent defluxion on the chest, accompanied with severe pains in the head. _dict. de trevoux._ page . line . _de vertus._] brother to the duke of orleans.--vertus, from which he took his title, was originally a fief of champagne, and fell with that palatinate to the crown of france. king john gave it to john galeas, duke of milan, as the dowry of his daughter isabel, wife to that duke. it descended to valentina, his daughter, and came with her into the house of orleans: afterwards, by the family-partition made in , it passed to margaret of orleans, wife to richard count of estampes, and was given to a bastard-branch of the house of bretagne. page . line . _gaucourt._] john lord of gaucourt died in , leaving raoul v. lord of gaucourt. eustace lord of veri, great falconer of france, and john lord of maisons sur seine. raoul v. was chamberlain to the king, and bailiff of rouen: he was killed in the year , and left a son, raoul vi. who became grand master of france, and is much distinguished hereafter. page . line . from bottom, _saveuses_.] saveuse, an ancient house in picardy. page . line . _or joining the duke of burgundy._] there must be some mistake here in the original. it ought probably to be _against_ instead of _or_. page . line . from bottom, _montagu_.] alexander, son of hugh iii. duke of burgundy, was the first lord of montagu in . from him descended the two branches, of sombernon, extinct in , and of conches. philibert de montagu, lord of conches, lived in . he married into the house of vienne. page . line . _vienne._] william iv. de vienne, lord of st georges, &c. surnamed the wise, was counsellor and chamberlain both to the king and duke of burgundy. he was at the bridge of montereau when the duke was killed in , and died in . there were several junior branches of the house; but i cannot tell which is here meant. page . line . _viscount de poix._] this nobleman was a descendant of walter tyrrel, who killed william rufus in the new forest. john tyrrel, third of the name, lord of poix and mareuil, married margaret de châtillon, daughter to the lord de dampierre. john iv. his eldest son, married jane des quesnes. he died in , and left one son, john v. the viscount de poix here mentioned. he was a counsellor and chamberlain of the king, and was killed at agincourt. page . line . _burgion._] probably frederick of hohenzollern, burgrave of nuremburg, to whom the emperor sigismund gave the electorate of brandenburgh in , and from whom are descended the present royal family of prussia. page . line . _lorraine._] charles the bold, duke of lorraine, reginald iv. duke of gueldres and juliers. (the duchies were at this time united.) page . line . _tede._] george demetrow is named as grand duke of prussia at this period. the meaning of _tede_ i cannot discover. page . line . _treves._] theodoric count of meurs, archbishop of cologne . werner count of konigstein, archbishop of treves . page . line . _bavaria._] john, brother of duke william count of hainault, often mentioned before. page . line . _of prussia._] michael kuckenmeister de hemberg, grand master of the teutonic order, . page . line . _cleves._] adolphus vi. count of marck and cleves. page . line . _acusaire._] theodore palæologus was marquis of montferrat. who his son _acusaire_ can be, it is very difficult to say. page . line . _saussebourg._] saussenburg. page . line . _nassau._] the three counts of nassau were, first, adolphus iii. count of nassau, descended from walram, eldest son of henry the rich; d, adolphus count of nassau dillemburg, descended from otho, youngest son of henry the rich; d, philip count of nassau weilborg, or jarbruck, descended from walram in another line. page . line . _rayneck._] rheineck. page . line . _blancquehem._] blanckenburg? page . note, _vissegarde_.] q. if not rather wurtzburg? pussau is probably passau; and the words 'in hungary' refer only to the last named place. page . line . _d'ercles._] perhaps arckel, the name of a noble family in holland. called in latin arculeas. see post. page . line . _toncle._] q. tongres? page . line . _torments._] some say that this murder was committed at the instigation of the florentines. see giannone, lib. . c. . the whole story, however, looks like a fabrication; and it is at least much more natural to suppose that ladislaus was killed by his debaucheries, which were excessive. he was succeeded by his sister joan ii. page . line . _tonnerre._] louis ii. de châlon, count of tonnerre, nephew of john iv. count of auxerre and tonnerre, who sold auxerre to king charles v. page . line . _sea-shore._] peniscola in valencia. page . line . _pois._] jehannot de poix, second son of john iii. lord of poix and margaret de châtillon, sister of james lord de dampierre. he received the rank of admiral, but never exercised the office. he died of the plague in . see note, p. . page . line . _guy._] a mistake for grey. richard lord grey of codnover was appointed by patent, h. . admiral of the fleet from the mouth of the thames northward. page . line . _chinon._] chiny. page . line . _france._] this ought to be 'de marle, grand butler of france.' robert de bar, count of marle, held that office from the sixth october, , to the time of his death, at the battle of agincourt. page . line . _prayaux._] préaux. james de bourbon, third son of james i. count of la marche, lord of préaux by marriage, and grand butler of france. his sons were, louis, killed at agincourt, peter, lord of préaux in , and james lord of thury. the two latter married two daughters of the grand master montagu. page . line . _tynouville._] q. tignonville. page . line . from bottom, _bar._] bona de bar, second wife of count waleran, by whom he left no issue. page . line . _wife._] waleran, count of st pol, married for his first wife matilda de roeux, by whom he had one daughter, jane, married to anthony duke of brabant. she died before her father, leaving two sons, john and philip, who successively possessed the duchy of brabant as heirs to their father, and the counties of st pol and ligny in right of their mother. guy count of ligny, father of waleran, was also father to john count of brienne, whose son peter succeeded to the county of st pol on the death of philip duke of brabant, in , without issue. page . line . _bourges._] 'a stoute and prowde bishopp,' says grafton, p. . page . line . _requests._] 'the king was nothing vexed nor unquieted with the sayeings and prowde bragges of the unnurtured archbishopp, but well remembering the sayeing of salomon, &c. &c. coldely and soberly answered the bishop, saying, 'my lorde, i little esteem your _french bragges_,' &c.----grafton. it is very easy to bestow the terms of pride and insolence on whichever side of the question it is most convenient. page . line . _clarence._] thomas duke of clarence. page . line . _glocester._] humphry duke of glocester. page . line . _york._] edward duke of york, son of edmund langley, fifth son of edward iii. page . line . _dorset._] thomas somerset, earl of dorset and afterwards duke of exeter, youngest son of john of gaunt by catherine swineford. holinshed commits two errors,--first, in saying that the _marquis_ of dorset was made duke of exeter, whereas the _marquis_ of dorset was a distinct person from the earl, being the _eldest_ son of john of gaunt by the same venter, and forfeited his title by treason in h. .,--secondly, in fixing the date of creation in h. . whereas the earl of dorset was not made duke of exeter till . h. . the year after the battle of agincourt. page . line . _windsor._] there was no earl of windsor.--this is probably a mistake for ralph nevil, earl of westmoreland, who accompanied the king. page . line . _suffolk._] michael de la pole, earl of suffolk, killed at agincourt. page . line . _warwick._] richard beauchamp, earl of warwick, a distinguished warrior, and afterwards regent of france. page . line . _kent._] a mistake for gilbert de umphraville, earl of kyme. page . line . _briautè._] roger iii. lord of la bréautè, &c. chamberlain to charles vi. and vii. the misfortunes of this family almost equal those of the house of stuart. roger, elder brother to this lord of bréautè, was killed at gisors in , when on the eve of marriage. the present lord was made prisoner in normandy, and sold half his estates to ransom himself: of the remainder, he was afterwards deprived by the chance of war. his eldest son, john, was killed at the battle of verneuil in . his second son, also called john, succeeded his father, was three times taken prisoner, and ruined in the efforts made to ransom him: he was at last killed at the battle of montlehery in . james, the third son, was lord of bellefosse, killed at pataye in . roger lord of crouin, the fourth son, was killed in england in . all the members of this unhappy family were distinguished for valour. page . line . _l'isle-adam._] ancel de l'isle-adam, lord of puysieux, vegnai, &c. and grand _echanson_ of france, was killed at agincourt. page . line . _stafford._] another mistake. henry, at this time earl of stafford, was only twenty years old at the accession of henry vi. his father, edmund stafford, was killed many years before at the battle of shrewsbury. hugh stafford, lord bourchier, accompanied the king on this expedition, but did not die till five years after. page . line . _officers._] the custom was not yet fixed of giving precedence to the officers of the crown over the nobility, and even over the princes of the blood; but monstrelet, who wrote under louis xi. when that order was established, adopts it as a matter of course. see more particularly at the beginning of the next chapter, and boulainvilliers on the ancient parliaments of france. page . line . _oxford._] richard de vere, earl of oxford. this nobleman died the year following, and was succeeded by his son, john de vere, then only nine years old. page . line . _earl-marshal._] john lord mowbray, brother of thomas earl of nottingham, and son of thomas duke of norfolk, attainted and banished in the reign of richard ii. henry v. restored to him the title of nottingham, and henry vi. that of norfolk. page . line . _kent._] kyme. page . line . _beaumont._] henry lord beaumont died h. . leaving only one son, an infant, who did not attain his full age till h. . sir thomas beaumont, brother of lord henry, may be the person here meant. page . line . _willoughby._] robert lord willoughby of eresby, distinguished among the english captains for his gallant actions under henry v. and the duke of bedford. page . line . _york._] he was very corpulent, and is said to have been pressed to death in the throng. the earl of suffolk was also among the slain. page . last line. _suffered_.] of the princes, anthony duke of brabant left two sons, philip and john, successively dukes of brabant, and both dying, s. p. philip count of nevers left charles count of nevers, who died, s. p. and john count of estampes and of nevers after the death of his brother. edward duke of bar and john de bar lord of puisaye were brothers, and both died, s. p. robert de bar, count of marle and soissons, was son to henry de bar another brother, and also died s. p. upon these deaths, the succession was disputed between louis, cardinal de bar, the surviving brother, and yoland, queen of arragon, their sister. this dispute was terminated in , when the cardinal resigned his right in favour of réné of anjou, (duke of lorraine, &c.) grandson of yoland. john i. count of alençon, succeeded by his son john ii. ferry count de vaudemont. he was of the house of lorraine, and acquired vaudemont by his marriage with the heiress of vaudemont and joinville. henry ii. count of blamont, of the house of salms. edward ii. count of grandprè, of the house of porcien. john vi. count of roussy and braine, descended from the old counts of rheims. he left one daughter, jane, married to robert de sarreback, count of commercy. he was recognized among the dead by a wound which had made one arm shorter than the other. waleran, eldest son of raoul ii. lord of rayneval and grand pannetier de france, and his wife philippa, daughter of john de luxembourg count de ligny and castellan of lisle. waleran possessed the lands of fauquemberg by the will of his aunt jane de luxembourg, widow of guy de châtillon count of st pol. this count waleran left only a daughter, married to baldwin d'ailly vidame of amiens. page . line . _france._] charles d'albret, count de dreux, succeeded by his son charles ii. page . line . _boucicaut._] boucicaut died in england two years after. he left no issue. page . line . _dampierre._] he married jane de la riviere, and had issue by her one son, james ii. lord de dampierre, who served the dauphin faithfully, and was made grand pannetier de france. page . line . _household._] the name of sir guichard dauphin appears to have betrayed shakespeare into the error of making the dauphin of france present at the battle of agincourt, which he was not,--unless we suppose the error to lie with the editors, in confounding two persons meant by shakespeare to be distinct. in the camp scene before the battle, his dauphin does not hold such a rank in the debate and conversation as is suitable to the heir of the french monarchy, but precisely that which the master of the household might hold with propriety. in one scene, he is thus mentioned, 'enter rambures, châtillon, dauphin and others.' page . line . _croy._] john lord de croy and his _two_ eldest sons, john and archambaud. page . line . _d'auxi._] david lord of auxi. page . line . _crequy._] raoul, surnamed l'estendart, on account of the many standards he had won from the english, son of john iv. lord of crequy. page . line . _dampierre._] philip, brother of david, lord of d_o_mpierre, not d_a_mpierre, which was in the house of châtillon. page . line . _raineval._] raoul ii. lord of rayneval, grand pannetier de france, left four sons, of whom waleran, the eldest, was count of fauquemberg, and killed at this battle; john, the third, was lord de meracourt, also killed here; aubert, the fourth, lord of betencourt, also killed here: raoulequin, lord of cardonnai, was the second;--but there must be some mistake about their father the bailiff of amiens, and also about the brother sir allain. page . line . _mailly._] colard, or nicholas, lord of mailly, and his eldest son colard. page . line . _brie._] john de bethune, lord of mareuil, autrêche, &c. youngest son of john lord of vendeul and vergier. page . line . _clarsy._] simon lord of dommart and claed, son of john de craon lord of dommart, and brother of william lord of nouastre and john lord of dommart, who was also taken prisoner at agincourt, and died in . john the young, lord of midens, brother of john iv. lord of crequy, canaples, &c. was also killed at agincourt. page . line . _rocheguyon._] guy vi. lord de rocheguyon, counsellor and chamberlain to the king. his son, guy vii. was the last male of this illustrious house. i find nothing of his brother. page . line . _d'aliegre._] morinot de tourzel, lord of alegre. but i find in morery, that he lived to the year . page . line . _heu._] heu a family of le pays messin, celebrated in the sixteenth century. page . line . _humieres._] matthew and john de humieres, sons of matthew lord de humieres, and brothers of philip lord de humieres, made prisoner on the same day. page . line . _brothers._] renty, a branch of the house of croy. page . line . _kieret._] henry quieret, lord of tours en vimeu, died in , leaving two sons, guy, and peter lord of haucourt, both _made prisoners_ at agincourt; but i find none of the family _killed_ there. page . line . _d'auffemont._] guy iii. de nesle, of the family of clermont en beauvoisis. page . line . _gallois._] matthieu de rouvroy, and guillaume le gallois, his brother,--descended in the female line from the old counts of vermandois. page . line . _becqueville._] william martel, lord of bacqueville, often mentioned before. he was the last person distinguished by the venerable office of _porte-orisflamme_. page . line . _beau-mainnil._] robert vi. de harcourt, lord of beaumênil. page . line . _d'ouffreville._] q. offrainville? denis de longueil, lord of offrainville, was killed at agincourt, together with his elder brother, william lord of longueville, and his son robert. page . line . _brolay._] amaury de craon, lord de briolé, of the branch of la suze. page . line . _montbason._] john de craon, lord of montbazon and viscount of châteaudun, _grand echanson_ de france. page . line . _bueuil._] john lord of beuil, master of the cross-bows from to . page . line . _beau vergier._] antony lord of beauvergier, grand pannetier de france. page . line . _tour._] agne iii. de la tour, lord of oliergues. page . line . _challus._] probably robert de chabannes, lord of charlus, father of stephen lord of charlus, james lord of la palice, and anthony count of dammartin. page . line . _montgaugier._] st maur, lords of montgaugier, a house of touraine. page . line . _belliere._] anthony de bellievre, ancestor of the bellievres presidents and chancellors, lived at this time; but it was a law-family, and q. if any of the branches were addicted to arms? page . line . _montauban._] oliver v. lord of montauban, a great house in bretagne, died soon after , leaving five sons,-- . william, who died in ; . robert, bailiff of cotentin, at the siege of orleans in ; . bertrand, killed at agincourt; . renaud, lord of crêpon; . john. page . line . _lens._] john de récourt, castellan of lens, brother to charles, admiral of france, was killed at this battle; but i find no others of the family. page . line . _d'aumont._] john hutin lord of aumont, chars and chapes, echanson du roi, &c. page . line . _moncaurel._] john, lord of montcavrel, was killed at this battle. he left only one daughter, in whose right montcavrel passed into the family of monchy. page . line . _chastillon._] charles de châtillon, lord of sourvilliers and marigni. gaspard de chastillon and hugh his brother, of the chastillons, lords of blois and la bastie, were also killed. page . line . _belloy._] hugh lord of bellay and giseux, married isabel de montigny lady of langey. bertrand his son. he had two other sons, one killed at crevant, another at verneuil. page . line . _brothers._] hector de chartres, lord of ons en bray, grand master of waters and forests in normandy, father of renaud, archbishop of rheims and chancellor of france. page . line . _nofville._] perhaps a son of the mareschal neufville, who succeeded to the estates of sir arnold d'andreghen in . page . line . _hangiers._] i can find no such name as _hangiers_; but john v. lord de _hangest_, grand master of cross-bows from to , was killed here. page . line . _vaverans._] john de mailly, lord of authuille and warans, one of the twenty-five sons of giles lord of authuille. this was a branch of the lords de mailly before mentioned. page . line . _raisse._] guy ii. de la val, lord of retz and blazon, is said, by moreri, to have died _before_ . he was father of the infamous marshal de retz by mary of craon. page . line . _barbasan._] arnaud-guilhem, baron of barbazan in bigorre, first, chamberlain to charles vii. afterwards governor of champagne and the laonnois, &c. the king gave him the title of 'chevalier sans reproche,' and permitted him to take the fleurs de lys for his arms. he was seven years prisoner at chasteau gaillard, till delivered in by la hire. he was killed at belleville, near nancy, in , and buried with the highest honours. page . line . _trimouille._] george lord of la trimouille, sully, craon, jonvelle, &c. by descent, count of boulogne, auvergne and guisnes, by marriage with jane, heiress of those counties and widow of the duke of berry. moreri says he was made prisoner at agincourt, though not mentioned in the list of prisoners by monstrelet. he was successively grand master of waters and forests, grand chamberlain of france, and lieutenant-general of the duchy of burgundy. his wife, the duchess of berry, brought him no issue; but on her death, in , he married again, the heiress of l'isle bouchard, and had several children. page . line . _moruel._] thibaud, lord of moreuil and coeuvres, assumed the family-name of soissons from his great-grandmother, wife of bernard v. lord of moreuil. he married margaret de poix d'arcy, by whom he had many children, and died in . his son waleran succeeded, in right of his mother, to the lordships of poix, quesnes, &c. page . _chap. xlvii._] see giannone, lib. . cap. . & for an account of these events, which are not very accurately related by monstrelet. page . line . _gaucourt._] raoul v. lord de gaucourt. his son, raoul vi. was grand master of france. page . line . _bourbon._] q. page . line . _rouen._] louis, archbishop of rouen, brother to john vii. count de harcourt, who was made prisoner at agincourt. page . line . _gamaches._] john de rouault, lord of gamaches and boismenard. page . line . _louis._] louis iii. eldest son of louis ii. king of sicily, &c. by yoland, daughter of john i. king of arragon and yoland de bar. louis iii. was born in , adopted by jane ii. queen of naples, married margaret of savoy, and died, , without issue. page . line . _bar._] réné, born in , duke of lorraine in right of his wife isabel, daughter of charles the bold, and of bar in right of his grandmother, yoland queen of arragon. page . line . _charles._] charles, count of maine, &c. born in . page . line . _dauphin._] mary married to charles, dauphin, in . page . line . _yolande._] yoland married to francis, duke of bretagne, in . page . line . _isle-adam._] charles, son of ancel de l'isle-adam lord of puysieux, and grand echanson of france, killed at agincourt. page . line . _d'antoing._] john de melun, lord of antoing, (son of hugh, son of john i. viscount of melun, grandfather of the count of tancarville.) he was constable of flanders, viscount of ghent, and died very old in . page . line . _of burgundy._] john the great, lord of champlite, marshal of burgundy. he died in . his eldest son, william, died in his lifetime, leaving john iv. lord of champlite, on the death of his grandfather, and seneschal of burgundy. anthony, second son of john the great, was count of dammartin. page . line . _châlons._] john de châlons, prince of orange in right of mary of baux his wife. he died in , and was succeeded by his son, louis the good, here mentioned. page . line . _souvelle._] john de la trimouille, lord of _jonvelle_, was brother to george de la trimouille, who married the duchess of berry, as before mentioned. page . line . _pot._] regnier pot, lord of la prugne. page . line . _neuf-châtel._] thibauld viii. lord of neuf-chastel and blammont, son to the lord of neuf-chastel killed at nicopolis. page . line . _rochefort_.] james lord of rochefort and bussy son of john de rochefort, bailiff of auxois. page . last line, _derke_.] damoiseau derke, _i.e._ william lord of arckel, who was killed at gorcum. page . line . _brederode._] walrave lord of brederode, also killed at gorcum. page . line . _fayette._] gilbert iii. lord of la fayette, marshal of france, counsellor and chamberlain of the king and dauphin, seneschal of the bourbonnois, &c. &c. page . line . _harcourt._] james ii. de harcourt, lord of montgomery, who was taken prisoner at agincourt, married to margaret, only daughter and heiress of william de melun, count of tancarville, killed at agincourt. h. bryer, printer, bridge-street, blackfriars, london. transcibers note: inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original. g.m. 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. vii. london: printed for longman, hurst, rees, orme, and brown, paternoster-row; and j. white and co. fleet-street. . contents of _the seventh volume_. page chap. i. some captains attached to sir john de luxembourg surprise the castle of st martin, wherein they are all taken and slain chap. ii. poton de saintrailles and sir louis de vaucourt are made prisoners by the english chap. iii. maillotin de bours and sir hector de flavy fight together in the town of arras chap. iv. some of king charles's captains make an attempt on corbie chap. v. the lord de barbasan lays siege to the castle of anglure, held by the burgundians chap. vi. the maid of orleans is condemned to be put to death and burnt at rouen chap. vii. the general council is continued at basil, by the solicitations of the emperor chap. viii. the duke of bar enters the county of vaudemont to conquer it by force chap. ix. the duke of bar is combated by the count de vaudemont and defeated chap. x. the young king henry comes from england, with a grand attendance, to paris, to be crowned king of france chap. xi. the detachment the duke of bar had left to blockade vaudemont march away on hearing of the ill success of the battle chap. xii. sir john de luxembourg assembles men at arms and marches into champagne against the french, from whom he conquers several castles. other matters chap. xiii. the duke d'alençon makes the chancellor of brittany prisoner chap. xiv. the french are near taking the castle of rouen chap. xv. the french take the castle of dommart in ponthieu, and carry off the lord de dommart prisoner chap. xvi. sir thomas kiriel, an englishman, is appointed governor of the castle of clermont in the beauvoisis chap. xvii. the inhabitants of chauny-sur-oise destroy the castle of their town chap. xviii. the city of chartres is conquered by king charles's party chap. xix. the cardinal of santa croce is sent by the pope to france, to endeavour to make peace between the contending parties chap. xx. the english conquer the bulwark at lagny-sur-marne chap. xxi. philibert de vaudray, governor of tonnerre, and the lord d'amont wait on the duke of bedford to serve him chap. xxii. the duke of bedford marches a large force to lagny-sur-marne, to support the english and burgundians who had remained there, but retires without making any conquest chap. xxiii. the commonalty of ghent rise against their magistrates chap. xxiv. sir john bastard of st pol and the lord de humieres are taken prisoners by the french chap. xxv. great disorders are committed by the french in the amiennois, santerre and vimeu chap. xxvi. the heir of commercy takes the town of ligny in the barrois, belonging to sir john de luxembourg chap. xxvii. the burgundians, under pretence of being english, gain the castle of la boue, near to laon. other matters chap. xxviii. friar thomas goes to rome.--he is burnt there chap. xxix. the death of the duchess of bedford chap. xxx. some of the french captains cross the river somme and overrun artois chap. xxxi. a benedictine monk attempts to gain the castle of st angelo at rome chap. xxxii. a peace is concluded between the duke of bar and the count de vaudemont chap. xxxiii. the duchess of burgundy is brought to bed of a son in the town of ghent chap. xxxiv. a peace concluded between the duke of bar and the counts de st pol and de ligny chap. xxxv. a war takes place between sir john and sir anthony du vergy and the lord de chasteau-vilain chap. xxxvi. a treaty of peace is concluded between the duke of burgundy and the liegeois chap. xxxvii. the duke of bedford, who styled himself regent of france, marries the daughter of the count de st pol chap. xxxviii. the town of st valery, in ponthieu, is won by the french chap. xxxix. the dukes of bedford and of burgundy go to saint omer chap. xl. the death of john de toisy bishop of tournay. great dissentions respecting the promotion to the vacant bishoprick chap. xli. the french make many conquests on the confines of burgundy chap. xlii. the duke of burgundy reconquers several places which the french had won in burgundy chap. xliii. gilles de postelles is accused of treason to the duke of burgundy, and beheaded chap. xliv. the french win by scalado the town of crespy in the valois. other matters chap. xlv. the duke of burgundy keeps his appointment before passy. he besieges the town and castle of avalon chap. xlvi. pierre de luxembourg, count de st pol, besieges the town of st valery. the death of the count de st pol chap. xlvii. the lord de la trimouille is arrested in the king's palace, and made to surrender his prisoner the viscount de thouars chap. xlviii. william de coroam puts to flight john beaurain. sir john de luxembourg reconquers the castle of haphincourt chap. xlix. the counts de ligny and de st pol keep the appointed day at villiers le carbonel, and afterward defeat the french from the garrison of laon chap. l. la hire and other french captains overrun artois and cambresis chap. li. the duke of burgundy holds the anniversary feast of the golden fleece in the city of dijon. he attends the marriage of the duke of savoy's son chap. lii. a general council is held at basil chap. liii. the town and castle of provins in brie are won by the english and burgundians. the french reconquer the town and castle of st valery chap. liv. the duke of burgundy returns from burgundy to flanders and artois, having with him john son to the count de nevers. other matters chap. lv. john de nevers is ordered to lay siege to moreuil. he has the county of estampes given to him chap. lvi. a quarrel between the romans and pope eugenius, whom they wanted to detain at rome against his will chap. lvii. the abbey of st vincent near laon is demolished. many castles are conquered by the burgundians chap. lviii. the lord talbot returns to france, and conquers many towns and castles chap. lix. the count d'estampes reconquers the town of st valery chap. lx. the french gain the town of hamme on the somme, in the vermandois chap. lxi. the town and castle of chasteau-vilain submits to the obedience of the duke of burgundy chap. lxii. heavy taxes laid on the countries of artois and those adjoining, on account of this war chap. lxiii. the duke of burgundy's captains appear before villefranche, wherein was the duke of bourbon. they afterward besiege belleville, which surrenders to them chap. lxiv. the lord willoughby and mathagon lay siege to st severin, where the english are at first victorious, but are afterwards defeated by the french chap. lxv. la hire treacherously makes the lord d'auffemont a prisoner chap. lxvi. the common people of normandy rise against the english garrisons chap. lxvii. la hire gains the castle of breteuil, in beauvoisis, by storm chap. lxviii. the dukes of burgundy and of bourbon meet in the city of nevers, and agree on terms for a peace chap. lxix. amadeus duke of savoy turns hermit, and resides at ripaille chap. lxx. the common people of normandy assemble in large bodies before caen chap. lxxi. the duke and duchess of burgundy return from that country to flanders and artois chap. lxxii. the french gain the town of rue from the english chap. lxxiii. la hire, poton, philip de la tour, and the lord de fontaines, defeat the earl of arundel before the castle of gerberoy chap. lxxiv. the duke of burgundy is displeased with the inhabitants of antwerp chap. lxxv. the french conquer the towns of st denis from the english chap. lxxvi. the french, after having agreed to a truce with the burgundians on the frontiers of the beauvoisis, overrun the boulonnois and other parts chap. lxxvii. the cardinals of santa croce and of cyprus come to arras, to attend the convention chap. lxxviii. louis de luxembourg, count of st pol, espouses joan of bar, countess of marle and of soissons chap. lxxix. the french are defeated near to rethel, by the bastard de humieres chap. lxxx. ambassadors from the king of england arrive at arras to attend the convention chap. lxxxi. ambassadors from france arrive at arras to attend this convention chap. lxxxii. sir john de mello, a knight of spain, and the lord de chargny, combat each other in the presence of the duke of burgundy at arras chap. lxxxiii. the french and burgundians are on very amicable terms in arras chap. lxxxiv. the cardinal of winchester comes to arras to attend the convention chap. lxxxv. during the meeting of the convention at arras, la hire and poton overrun and forage the country of the duke of burgundy chap. lxxxvi. the kings of arragon and navarre are defeated, and made prisoners, before gaieta, by the army of the duke of milan chap. lxxxvii. the cardinal of winchester and the whole of the english embassy leave arras. other ambassadors arrive there chap. lxxxviii. a peace is concluded between charles king of france and the duke of burgundy, in the city of arras chap. lxxxix. the english lay siege to the town of st denis, which in the end surrenders to them by capitulation chap. xc. isabella, queen of france, dies in the city of paris chap. xci. the cardinals, and the ambassadors from the council, leave arras. the duke of burgundy appoints different officers to the towns and fortresses that had been conceded to him by the peace chap. xcii. in consequence of the peace of arras, the duke of burgundy sends some of his council, and heralds, to the king of england, to remonstrate and explain the causes of the peace he had concluded with the king of france chap. xciii. the populace of amiens rise against the levying of some taxes which were intended to be laid on them chap. xciv. the french overrun and pillage the country of the duke of burgundy after the peace of arras. the marshal de rieux takes many towns and castles from the english in normandy chap. xcv. the english suspect the burgundians who are waging war with them against the king of france: they no longer converse or keep company with them. other matters briefly spoken of chap. xcvi. king henry sends letters to the hollanders, to draw them to his party. a copy of these letters chap. xcvii. the duke of burgundy determines to make war on the english chap. xcviii. the duke of burgundy, by the advice of his privy counsellors, resolves to make an attempt to conquer calais chap. xcix. the city of paris is reduced to the obedience of charles king of france chap. c. arthur count de richemont, constable of france, makes war on the heir of commercy chap. ci. the bishop of liege and the liegeois destroy bousseuvre, and other forts that had made war against them chap. cii. the town and castle of orchimont are destroyed by everard de la marche chap. ciii. the english make excursions from calais toward boulogne and gravelines. la hire conquers gisors, and loses it soon afterwards chap. civ. the men of ghent, and the flemings, make great preparations for the siege of calais chap. cv. sir john de croy, bailiff of hainault, in conjunction with other captains, attack the english and are discomfited by them chap. cvi. the flemings march to the siege of calais--and march back again chap. cvii. sir florimont de brimeu, seneschal of ponthieu, conquers the town of crotoy chap. cviii. humphry duke of glocester arrives at calais with a large armament. he enters flanders, artois, and other territories of the duke of burgundy, and does much damage to them chap. cix. the flemings again take up arms, after their retreat from calais to their towns chap. cx. la hire conquers the town and castle of soissons. other matters chap. cxi. the duchess of bedford, sister to the count de st pol, re-marries of her own free will. the king of sicily negotiates with the duke of burgundy for his liberty. the english recover the town of pontoise here beginneth the seventh volume of the chronicles of _enguerrand de monstrelet_. [a.d. .] chap. i. some captains attached to sir john de luxembourg surprise the castle of st martin, wherein they are all taken and slain. at the commencement of this year, some of the captains attached to sir john de luxembourg, such as sir simon de lalain, bertrand de manicain, enguerrand de crequi, enguerrand de gribauval marched from the borders of the laonnois with four hundred combatants to the abbey of st vincent, near laon, wherein were a body of french. they gained it by surprise, and on their entrance they set up a loud shout, which awakened part of the enemy within a strong gateway, who instantly defended themselves with vigour; and, during this, the lord de pennesac, then in laon, was told what had happened. he immediately collected a force to succour those in the gate, who were gallantly defending themselves; and his men at arms, enraged to find the enemy so near, lost no time in putting on their armour. they soon marched out of laon to the assistance of their friends then fighting; but a part of the burgundians, without finishing their enterprise, or providing for what might happen, had quitted the combat to plunder the abbey. they were, therefore, unexpectedly attacked by these men at arms, and with such vigour that they were totally defeated, and sixty of the principal were left dead on the spot: in the number were bertrand de manicain and enguerrand de gribauval. the last offered a large ransom for his life; but it was refused, by reason of the great hatred the common people bore him for the very many mischiefs he had long before done them. sir simon de lalain was made prisoner, and had his life spared through the means of a gallant youth of the garrison named archanciel, who was much beloved by the commonalty. enguerrand de crequi was taken at the same time with sir simon and a few others; but the remainder, witnessing their ill success, retreated to the places whence they had come. sir john de luxembourg was much afflicted at this event, and not without cause, for he had lost in the affair some of his ablest captains. the brother of the lord de pennesac, called james, was killed. at the same time, the castle of rambures, belonging to the lord de rambures, then a prisoner in england, was won by the french, under the command of charles des marests, who took it by scalado. ferry de mailly was the governor of it for king henry. the french, by this capture, opened a free communication with the country of vimeu and those adjoining, as shall hereafter be shewn. chap. ii. poton de saintrailles and sir louis de vaucourt are made prisoners by the english. in this year, the marshal de bousac, poton de saintrailles, sir louis de vaucourt, and others of king charles's captains, set out from beauvais with about eight hundred combatants to seek adventures, and to forage the country near to gournay. with them was a very young shepherd's boy, who was desirous to raise his name in the same way that the maid had done. the earl of warwick had notice of their march, and collected with all haste about six hundred fighting men, whom he led toward beauvais to meet the enemy. he came up with them, unexpectedly, near to gournay, and commenced a sharp conflict, in which so little resistance was made by the french that they were soon put to the rout, and poton de saintrailles, sir louis de vaucourt, and about sixty combatants, were made prisoners. the rest, with the exception of eight or ten who were slain, made their escape with the marshal to beauvais. the english pursued them to the walls of that town, when the earl of warwick, assembling his men, returned to gournay, happy at his good success; and thence he went to the duke of bedford in rouen, by whom he was joyfully congratulated on his victory. chap. iii. maillotin de bours and sir hector de flavy fight together in the town of arras. on the th day of june in this year, a combat took place in the town of arras, and in the presence of the duke of burgundy, between maillotin de bours, appellant, and sir hector de flavy, defendant. maillotin had charged sir hector, before the duke of burgundy, with having said, that he was desirous of becoming the duke's enemy, and of turning to the party of king charles; and also, that he had required of him to accompany him in his flight, and to seize guy guillebaut, the duke's treasurer, or some other wealthy prisoner, to pay for their expenses. the duke, on this charge, had ordered maillotin to arrest sir hector, and bring him prisoner to arras, which he did in the following manner. having received this order, he went, accompanied by a competent number of men, to a village near corbie called bonnay, and thence sent to sir hector to come to him. sir hector, not knowing that any accusations had been made against him, came thither with a very few attendants, for maillotin had pretended that he wanted only to speak with him; but no sooner did he appear than he laid hands on him, and carried him prisoner to arras, where he remained in confinement a considerable time. however, by the exertions of his friends, he was conducted to the presence of the duke in hesdin,--when he ably defended himself against the charges brought against him, and declared that it was maillotin himself who made the proposals that he had mentioned. words at last ran so high that maillotin threw down his glove, which sir hector, by leave of the prince, took up. the th day of june was fixed on for the combat, and there might be forty days before its arrival. sufficient pledges were mutually given for their due appearance in person on the appointed day. the duke of burgundy came from his palace in arras about ten o'clock of the th of june, grandly attended by his nobles and chivalry, to the seat which had been prepared for him in the centre of the lists, in the great market-square, the usual place for tournaments. the counts de st pol, de ligny, and others of rank, entered the seat with the duke. two handsome tents were pitched at each end of the lists, and without them were two great chairs of wood for the champions to repose in. that of maillotin, as appellant, was on the right hand of the duke, and sir hector's on the left. sir hector's tent was very richly ornamented with sixteen emblazoned quarterings of his arms, and of those of his ancestors, on each side. there was also a representation of a sepulchre, because sir hector had been made a knight at the holy sepulchre of jerusalem. shortly afterward, maillotin was summoned by the king at arms to appear in person and fulfil his engagements. about eleven o'clock, he left his mansion, accompanied by the lord de chargny, the lord de humieres, sir peter quierel lord de ramencourt, and many other gentlemen, his relations and friends. he was mounted on a horse covered with the emblazonments of his arms, having on plain armour, his helmet on and his vizor closed, holding in one hand his lance and in the other one of his two swords; for he was provided with two, and a large dagger hanging by his side. his horse was led by the bridle by two knights on foot; and on his arrival at the barriers, he made the usual oaths in the hands of sir james de brimeu, who had been appointed for the purpose. this done, the barriers were thrown open, and he entered with his companions on foot, who then presented themselves before the duke of burgundy. after this, he rode to his chair, where he dismounted, and entered his pavilion to repose himself and wait his adversary. the lord de chargny, who was his manager to instruct him how to act, entered the tent with him, as did a few of his confidential friends. artois, king at arms, now summoned sir hector de flavy in the same manner as he had done the other; and within a quarter of an hour sir hector left his house and came to the barriers on horseback, fully armed like his opponent, grandly accompanied by gentlemen, among whom were the two sons of the count de st pol, louis and thibault, who led sir hector's horse by the bridle. the other lords followed behind on foot, namely, the lord d'antoing, the vidame of amiens, john de flavy, brother to sir hector, hugh de launoy, the lord de chargny, the lord de saveuses, sir john de fosseux, the lord de crevecoeur, and many more nobles and esquires of rank. on sir hector's arrival at the barriers, he took the oath, and then presented himself to the duke. he went to his chair, dismounted, and entered his pavilion. soon after, they both advanced on foot before the duke, and swore on the evangelists that their quarrel was good, and that they would combat fairly, and then returned again to their pavilions. proclamation was now made by the king at arms for all persons, under pain of death, to quit the lists, excepting such as had been charged to guard them. the prince had ordered that eight persons on each side, relations or friends of the champions, should remain within the lists unarmed, in addition to the eight that had been before appointed to raise them, or put an end to the combat, according to the prince's pleasure. the chairs being removed, proclamation was again made for the champions to advance and do their duty. on hearing this, maillotin de bours, as appellant, first stepped forth, and then sir hector, each grasping their lances handsomely. on their approach, they threw them, but without either hitting. they then, with great signs of courage, drew nearer, and began the combat with swords. sir hector, more than once, raised the vizor of his adversary's helmet by his blows, so that his face was plainly seen, which caused the spectators to believe sir hector had the best of the combat. maillotin, however, without being any way discouraged, soon closed it, by striking it down with the pummel of his sword, and retreating a few paces. the two champions shewed the utmost valour; but at this moment, before any blood had been drawn, the duke ordered further proceedings to be stopped, which was instantly done by those who had been commissioned for the purpose. they were commanded to withdraw to their lodgings, which they obeyed, by quitting the lists at opposite ends; and on the morrow they dined at the duke's table, sir hector sitting on his right hand. when dinner was over, the duke ordered them, under pain of capital punishment, to attempt nothing further against each other, their friends or allies, and to lay aside all the malice and hatred that was between them. in confirmation of which, he made them shake hands. chap. iv. some of king charles's captains make an attempt on corbie. about this time, some of king charles's captains, namely, the lord de longueval, anthony de chabannes, blanchefort, alain guion, and others, advanced to the town of corbie, thinking to take it by surprise. by the activity of the abbot, the place was well defended; and it was also succoured by john de humieres, enguerrand de gribauval, with some more gentlemen in their company, so that the french were repulsed with the loss of many of their men. alain guion was so badly wounded that he was in great peril of death. they caused, however, a very handsome suburb toward fouilloy to be burnt. they retreated to forage the countries on the banks of the somme, where they took the castles of morcourt and lyon belonging to the lord de longueval, committing also much damage to the lands. they soon quitted these castles, for fear of being besieged in them, and returned to the places they had come from; but the duke of burgundy, on their departure, had them razed to the ground. chap. v. the lord de barbasan lays siege to the castle of anglure, held by the burgundians. in this year, the lord de barbasan, who had resided a considerable time with the duke of bar on the borders of champagne, laid siege to the burgundians in the castle of anglure,[ ]--and he had approached so near as to batter the walls with his cannon and other artillery. the duke of bedford, on hearing this, sent to their relief the earl of arundel, with the eldest son of the earl of warwick, the lord de l'isle-adam, the lord de châtillon, the lord de bonneul, and other captains, with sixteen hundred men. after some days march, they came to anglure, and found that the lord de barbasan, having had intelligence of their motions, had retreated to a strong post, which he had also strengthened by outworks. some skirmishes took place, in which from sixteen to twenty men were killed on both sides, and the lord de l'isle-adam was wounded. the english and burgundians, seeing that they could not force the enemy to battle without great disadvantage to themselves, withdrew the garrison, with the lady of the castle, and set fire to it; after which, they returned to paris, and to the other parts whence they had come. the lord de barbasan had been constituted by king charles governor of the countries of brie, the laonnois and champagne. before he laid siege to anglure, he had conquered noeville in the laonnois, voisines and other places. he had remained about a month before this castle of anglure, having with him the lord de conflans, sir john bastard de dampierre, and a great number of common people. when the english and burgundians were on their march to raise this siege, in one of the many skirmishes, the french gained possession of the outworks of the castle,--but were soon driven thence by the english, who in consequence set the castle on fire, as has been related. footnotes: [footnote : anglure, eight leagues to the north of troyes.] chap. vi. the maid of orleans is condemned to be put to death and burnt at rouen. joan the maid had sentence of death passed on her in the city of rouen, information of which was sent by the king of england to the duke of burgundy, a copy of whose letter now follows: 'most dear and well beloved uncle, the very fervent love we know you to bear, as a true catholic, to our holy mother the church, and your zeal for the exaltation of the faith, induces us to signify to you by writing, that in honour of the above, an act has lately taken place at rouen, which will tend, as we hope, to the strengthening of the catholic faith, and the extirpation of pestilential heresies. 'it is well known, from common report, and otherwise, that the woman, erroneously called the maid, has, for upward of two years, contrary to the divine law, and to the decency becoming her sex, worn the dress of a man, a thing abominable before god; and in this state she joined our adversary and yours, giving him, as well as those of his party, churchmen and nobles, to understand that she was sent as a messenger from heaven,--and presumptuously vaunting that she had personal and visible communications with st michael, and with a multitude of angels and saints in paradise, such as st catherine and st margaret. by these falsehoods, and by promising future victories, she has estranged the minds of persons of both sexes from the truth, and induced them to the belief of dangerous errors. 'she clothed herself in armour also, assisted by knights and esquires, and raised a banner, on which, through excess of pride and presumption, she demanded to bear the noble and excellent arms of france, which in part she obtained. these she displayed at many conflicts and sieges; and they consisted of a shield having two flower de luces or on a field azure, with a pointed sword surmounted with a crown proper. 'in this state she took the field with large companies of men at arms and archers, to exercise her inhuman cruelties by shedding christian blood, and stirring up seditions and rebellions of the common people. she encouraged perjuries, superstitions and false doctrines, by permitting herself to be reverenced and honoured as a holy woman, and in various other manners that would be too long to detail, but which have greatly scandalized all christendom wherever they have been known. 'but divine mercy having taken pity on a loyal people, and being no longer willing to suffer them to remain under such vain errors and credulities, permitted that this woman should be made prisoner by your army when besieging compiègne, and through your affection she was transferred to our power. 'on this being known, she was claimed by the bishop in whose diocese she had been taken; and as she had been guilty of the highest treason to the divine majesty, we delivered her up to be tried and punished by the usual ecclesiastical judges, not only from respect to our holy mother the church, whose ordinances we shall ever prefer to our own, but also for the exaltation of our faith. 'we were unwilling that the officers of our secular justice should take cognizance of the crime, although it was perfectly lawful for us so to do, considering the great mischiefs, murders, and detestable cruelties, she has committed against our sovereignty, and on a loyal obedient people. 'the bishop having called to his aid in this matter the vicar of the inquisitor of errors and heresies in the faith, with many able doctors in theology and in the canon law, commenced with much solemnity and gravity the trial of the said joan. after these judges had for several days interrogated her on her crimes, and had maturely considered her confessions and answers, they sent them for the opinion of our beloved daughter the university of paris, when they all determined that this joan was superstitious, a sorceress of the devil, a blasphemer of god and of his saints, a schismatic, and guilty of many errors against the faith of jesus christ. 'to recal her to the universal faith of our holy church, to purge her from her pernicious errors, and to save her soul from perpetual damnation, and to induce her to return to the way of truth, she was long and frequently charitably preached to; but that dangerous and obstinate spirit of pride and presumption, which is alway endeavouring to prevent the unity and safety of christians, held the said joan so fast bound that no arguments nor exhortations could soften the hardness of her heart, so that she boasted that all which she had done was meritorious, and that it had been done by the command of god and the aforesaid holy virgins, who had personally appeared to her. but what was worse, she refused to acknowledge any power on earth but god and his saints, denying the authority of our holy father the pope, and of the general councils of the universal church militant. 'the ecclesiastical judges, witnessing her obstinacy and hardness of heart, had her brought forth before the people, who, with the clergy, were assembled in great numbers, when she was again preached to by an able divine. having been plainly warned of the doctrines of our holy religion, and the consequences of heresies and erroneous opinions concerning it to the welfare of mankind, she was charitably admonished to make her peace with the church, and renounce her errors, but she remained as obstinate as before. 'the judges, having considered her conduct, proceeded to pronounce sentence upon her, according to the heinousness of her crimes; but before it was read her courage seemed to fail her, and she said she was willing to return to the church. this was heard with pleasure by the judges, clergy and spectators, who received her kindly, hoping by this means to preserve her soul from perdition. 'she now submitted herself to the ordinances of the church, and publicly renounced and abjured her detestable crimes, signing with her own hand the schedule of her recantation and abjuration. thus was our merciful mother the church rejoiced at the sinner doing penance, anxious to recover the lost sheep that had wandered in the desert. joan was ordered to perform her penance in close confinement. 'but these good dispositions did not last long; for her presumptuous pride seemed to have acquired greater force than before,--and she relapsed, with the utmost obstinacy, into all those errors which she had publicly renounced. for this cause, and that she might not contaminate the sound members of our holy communion, she was again publicly preached to; and, proving obstinate, she was delivered over to the secular arm, who instantly condemned her to be burnt. seeing her end approach, she fully acknowledged and confessed that the spirits which had appeared to her were often lying and wicked ones; that the promises they had made to set her at liberty were false,--and that she had been deceived and mocked by them. 'she was publicly led to the old market-place in rouen, and there burnt in the presence of the people!' this notice of her sentence and execution was sent by the king of england to the duke of burgundy, that it might be published by him for the information of his subjects, that all may henceforward be advised not to put faith in such or similar errors as had governed the heart of the maid. chap. vii. the general council is continued at basil, by the solicitations of the emperor. in this year, a general council of the holy church, which had been moved for during the pontificate of pope martin, was ordered by the pope to be held in the city of basil. basil is a handsome city, abounding in wealth, and seated on the banks of the rhine; whither came crowds from all parts to attend the council, more especially many notable clerks from the university of paris, and numberless ambassadors from the emperor of germany, different kings, princes and prelates. pope eugenius, however, was desirous of deferring this council for a year and a half, and wished to have it transferred to bologna la grassa, for the accommodation of the greeks, who he was in hopes would attend it. the emperor, when he heard of this, wrote letters to the pope, containing in substance as follows. in the first place, he was unwilling that the council should be transferred from basil, or any way delayed on account of the greeks; for as much pains had been taken in vain to unite them with the holy church, it would be better to extirpate reigning heresies. item, the members of the council had written to those of prague called hussites to attend this council,--and he, the emperor, had likewise written to them, and sent them passports for their coming and return. the hussites had shewn intentions of compliance with these requests, for they had suffered great losses in hungary, having been twice defeated by the duke of austria. item, as the hussites knew that this council was chiefly held for the abolition of their heresies, could it be expected that any sincere conversions would take effect, without the points of the disputed doctrines having been fully and publicly argued? item, should it happen that they be converted by force of reason, as the members of the council are from various countries, they will admonish their countrymen when returned to destroy these hussites. item, because the hussites declare their sect to be founded on the holy scriptures, should the council be delayed, they will naturally conclude that this is done through a consciousness of inability to controvert their doctrines, and will become more hardened and obstinate in their errors. item, because common report has bruited it abroad that this council was assembled for the reformation of public manners and the state of the church, it is to be feared that many who have loudly spoken of these matters will say, if the council be adjourned, that it is a mockery and farce, and will end as unprofitably to the church as those of pisa and of constance. item, since this council has been called to appease dissentions that have arisen between the clergy and laity in many towns of christendom,--and since the members have summoned the attendance of several of the chief inhabitants of different towns in saxony, particularly of magdebourg, who had expelled the bishop and his clergy from their town, and of others who had rebelled against their bishops because they leaned to the doctrines of the hussites,--it is to be feared, should the council be deferred, that they will form such strong connexions with the hussites that it will be no longer possible to remedy the mischief. item, although several towns and princes situated amidst these heretics have made truces with them, nevertheless the majority of them are firmly united with the hussites, in hopes that the council will decide on their doctrines; but should they find it is adjourned for so long a time as a year and a half, they will be for ever lost to the church. item, it was hoped that this council would employ itself in the pacification of many kings and princes now waging war against each other, and in taking proper measures for a secure and lasting peace. should it now separate, these princes would continue a cruel warfare, and no hope remain of again assembling it for the prevention of seditions and heresies, and thus very many things profitable to the christian church will be delayed, if not totally obstructed; and greater slanders and mischiefs will arise than he was willing to write. these arguments having been adduced in the letters from the emperor, he thus concludes: 'we therefore require of your holiness, that you instantly write to the president and members of the council, that they do not on any account separate, but that they do accomplish that which they have begun, and for which they have been assembled in the name of the lord,--and that you do recal and annul whatever you may have written to the contrary. have the goodness to consider also that the heretics are increasing in arms, and that if you do not disband them by clerical measures, and replace them in their primitive state, there will not be left a possibility of doing it by any other means whatever. 'those who have advised you to adjourn the council have not assuredly understood the grievous evils that may result from that measure. would to god they were sensible of the dangerous consequences at this moment arising from delay! should they fear that laics would usurp power belonging to the church, they would deceive themselves,--for this is only a subtlety to retard the council; which measure, if carried into effect, would indeed force the laics to act against the church. 'this can only be prevented by continuing the sittings of the council; for then the laics will be effectually restrained, when they shall see the clergy abstain from all considerations of personal profit. you should also consider, that perhaps the holy council will not consent to adjourn itself, and that in this it will be followed by the kings, princes and common people; and your holiness, who has hitherto been held in respect, and considered as spotless by the members of the christian church, will fall under suspicion, and your mandates be disregarded. for this adjournment, without any essential cause, will stain your innocence; and it may be said that you nourish heresies among christians, a perseverance in wickedness and in the sins of the people. disobedience may therefore be consequently expected to the church of god; for there are some who will not scruple to publish that you have been the cause of these evils,--and many more than you are aware of will agree with them. 'it would be very useful and good, if your holiness would attend the council in person; but if that cannot be, send your immediate commands for it to continue its sittings in the manner in which it has commenced; for there are measures before it affecting the very vitals of christianity that can not, and ought not, to suffer a moment's delay. 'should your holiness require, in future, any measures to be discussed that do not demand such haste, such as touching an union with the greek church, another council may be called better inclined towards it; for should this council be now dissolved, it is to be doubted whether another can be assembled within the eighteen months, from events that may arise. 'your holiness will be pleased to weigh maturely all that we have written to you, and give directions for the continuation of this council; and have the goodness to receive our admonitions paternally and kindly, for it has been our conscience, and the great difficulties into which the church of god has fallen, and also our anxiety that your character may not be liable to the least suspicion, that have urged us to make them. this we will more clearly demonstrate to you when we shall be in your presence, which we hope will shortly happen.' this remonstrance had its due effect on the holy father, who re-established the council at basil, which was attended by great multitudes of ecclesiastical and secular lords, ambassadors, princes and prelates, and common people out of number. chap. viii. the duke of bar enters the county of vaudemont to conquer it by force. i have before mentioned that a serious quarrel[ ] had taken place between rené duke of bar and anthony de lorraine count de vaudemont. in consequence thereof, the duke of bar had collected a great body of men at arms, as well from his own duchy as from other parts of germany, to the amount of six thousand men. the principal leaders were the counts de salmes, de salivines and de linanges, the bishop of metz, sir thibaut de barbey, and other noble men of high rank. the duke had also with him that gallant and renowned knight the lord de barbasan, by whose advice he ordered his army,--for he had great knowledge and experience in war. having provided a sufficiency of artillery, provision and stores, the duke marched his army before vaudemont[ ], the capital of that country, which was naturally strong, and had been repaired with additional fortifications, by the count, who had likewise well victualled and garrisoned it, knowing that it was intended to be attacked by his enemies. he had appointed, as governors in his absence, gerard de passenchault, bailiff of the county, and henry de fouquencourt, who made great exertions to put the place in a proper state of defence. they were, however, in spite of their efforts, soon besieged on all sides, by reason of the superior numbers of their enemies. the besiegers also overran and destroyed by fire and sword most part of the county of vaudemont, which, although very vexatious to the count, he could no way resist for the present. he garrisoned all his strong places as well as he could, and resolved to wait on duke philip of burgundy, whose party he had alway supported, and humbly request aid from him to deliver his country from his enemies. he found the duke in flanders, to whom having told his distress, the duke replied, that he would willingly lay the case before his council, and give him a speedy answer, and the best assistance he could afford. a short time before the count's arrival, sir anthony de toulongeon, the marshal of burgundy, and other noble persons from that country, had come to remonstrate with the duke on the state of affairs in that duchy, and on the devastations there done by his enemies the french and bourbonnois, who were daily committing murders and mischiefs by fire and sword, having already conquered some of his towns and castles, and intending further inroads unless they were checked. they earnestly solicited that he would, for the salvation of the country, send thither some of his picard-captains, accompanied by a certain number of men at arms, more particularly archers, of whom, they said, they were in much need. the duke held several councils on these two demands, and on the means of complying with them. they caused many debates,--and his ministers urged the necessity of non-compliance, saying that the french were on the borders of picardy, eager to make an inroad on artois, and the moment they should know that his picards had left their country, they might do him very great mischief. notwithstanding all the dangers that might ensue, it was resolved, as a matter of necessity, that a thousand or twelve hundred combatants should be given to the marshal, who should have the chief command, with the picardy-captains under him; and when they were arrived in burgundy, they should afford the count de vaudemont the strongest support they could. when this had been resolved upon, it was necessary to seek for captains to conduct the expedition; for there were few of any rank willing to undertake it, because it was to a distant country, where the enemy was in great force,--and they did not expect to be well paid, according to the custom in those parts. however, the duke of burgundy, the count of vaudemont, and others of weight in picardy, determined to accept of such as they could find willing to go; and they sounded matthieu de humieres, robinet de huchechien, the bastard de fosseux, the bastard de neufville, gerard bastard de brimeu, and some other gentlemen and men at arms of the middle ranks, who had no great properties in their own country, to know if they were inclined to assemble men at arms, and to follow their leader whither he pleased to seek adventures. some presents and greater promises being added to this proposal, they agreed to accept of the offers. they collected, therefore, about the beginning of may, as many men at arms as they could, in various parts, to the amount of a thousand or twelve hundred, and had the duke of burgundy's commands to keep them on foot for a certain time: the most of them were poor soldiers, accustomed to support themselves by living on their neighbours, when they could not find wherewithal in their own countries, but strong, healthy and vigorous, and accustomed to war. when they were assembled in companies, they marched for the cambresis, and were mustered in a large village called solames, belonging to the abbot of st denis in france. they thence advanced under the command of the marshal, and other burgundian lords, to rethel, where they received a proportion of their pay, and thence returned through st menehould to burgundy, where they remained some little time, waiting until the burgundian forces were ready. in the mean time, while these preparations were going forward, the duke of bar was besieging, with his numerous army, the town of vaudemont. he had remained before it for three complete months, and had greatly damaged the walls by his cannon and other engines. the besieged were in the utmost distress; but, as they had hopes of being speedily relieved by the count, from whom they had secret messages, they bore all with much patience. their two governors made great exertions to defend the place, that their lord might not reproach them with having any way neglected their duty. footnotes: [footnote : the duchy of bar having passed to the house of anjou, réné, in the year , sent his bailiffs from bar and st michel to receive from anthony of lorraine count de vaudemont, his acknowledgment of him as lord paramount. the duke insisted on having full obedience of all places within the county that had been held as fiefs from the dukes of bar, under pain of confiscation. _dict. de martiniere._ this was probably the cause of quarrel.] [footnote : vaudemont,--a small town in lorraine. it had been the capital of the county, but had given up that honour to the little town of vezelize.] chap. ix. the duke of bar is combated by the count de vaudemont and defeated. when the marshal of burgundy had assembled all his men, he marched them toward langres; and thence the burgundians and picards advanced toward the barrois, where they were joined by the count de vaudemont with all the forces he could collect. when united, they might amount to about four thousand combatants; and their chief captains were the said anthony de toulongeon marshal of burgundy, the count de vaudemont, the lord d'antoing, gerard de marigny, the count de fribourg, the lord de mirabeau, the lord de sez, the lord de roland, sir imbert marechal, a savoyard, the bastard du vergy, matthieu de humieres, nephew to the above-mentioned lord d'antoing, sir john de cardonne lord de bichancourt, boort de bazentin, a gallant english knight called sir john ladan, and sir thomas gergeras. sir john ladan was governor of montigny-le-roi, and had with him six score combatants at the least, with many notable gentlemen renowned and expert in war. they advanced in handsome array into the barrois, followed by sixteen or twenty carts laden with stores and provision. they announced their entrance into the barrois by setting fire to different parts of that country; and thus they advanced to a large village called sandacourt, within seven leagues of their adversaries, where they arrived on a saturday night. on the morrow, sunday, they expected an attack from the enemy, and, consequently, they formed their men in order of battle, and remained in this state the most part of that day, having their archers posted behind sharp stakes to prevent the charge of the cavalry. as the enemy did not appear, they retired, about vespers, to the village to refresh themselves, and called a council to consider how they should act. it was resolved, that since from the badness of the roads, and from the country being so intersected with hedges, they could not, without danger, march to meet the enemy, who were superior to them in numbers, they should return through the barrois to burgundy, destroy the country they marched through, and reinforce themselves with men and every thing necessary to enable them to combat the enemy. this resolution was very displeasing to the count de vaudemont, but he was, through necessity, forced to abide by it. the captains then ordered all things to be packed and ready for the march on the ensuing day, monday, the feast of st martin in the summer; but the duke of bar, having heard of their arrival, quitted the siege of vaudemont, leaving a sufficient body to blockade it until his return, and marched his army to offer them battle before they were reinforced. his strength consisted of about six thousand combatants, under some of the highest rank in bar, lorraine and germany, and advanced in handsome array. the scouts of the marshal of burgundy fell in with those of the duke of bar, attacked and conquered them; and this was the first intelligence the marshal had of their intentions. he gave instant notice of the coming of the enemy to his captains, who drew up their men in good order, chiefly under the directions of the english knight. the archers were posted in front, and on the wings, with their stakes before them. the burgundian men at arms wanted to remain on horseback, but the picards and english would not suffer them; and at last it was ordered, that every man, whatever might be his rank, should dismount,--and all who should disobey should be put to death. the horses and carriages were placed in the rear, in such wise as to prevent the enemy from making any attack on that quarter. while this was passing, the duke of bar had advanced his army to within half a quarter of a league of them, and thence sent his heralds and trumpets to announce to them his approach, and to say, that if they would wait for him, he would offer them battle. the burgundian captains sent for answer, that they were ready to receive him, and wished for nothing better than what he had proposed. the heralds returned with this answer to the duke, who then advanced to within cross-bow shot of his enemies, although the lord de barbasan had frequently advised him to avoid an open combat, but to force them to retreat from his country by famine and other means. he added many arguments in support of his advice; but the duke would not listen to them, trusting to superiority of numbers, notwithstanding the greater part of his men had not been accustomed nor experienced in war like to his adversaries, the burgundians, picards, and english. the duke, partly by the advice of the lord de barbasan, drew up his army handsomely; for he had a great desire for the combat, though he had with him but very few archers. when this was done, many new knights were created on his side. preparatory to the battle, the marshal of burgundy and the count de vaudemont had two tuns of wine brought to the front of their line, which, with bread and other victual, were delivered out to their men in what quantity they pleased; and all who had any hatreds made peace with each other. they had also some cannon and culverines on the two wings and in the center of their army, and they remained for two hours fronting each other. while they were thus situated, a stag, as i was informed, came between their battalions, and, stamping thrice with his feet on the ground, paced along the burgundian line,--and then, returning, dashed through that of the barrois, when great shoutings were made after it. some new knights were now created by the burgundians and picards, such as matthieu de humieres, gerard de marigny, his son, and others. the count de vaudemont during this ceremony rode on a small hackney along the line, entreating the men 'to combat bravely, assuring them, on the damnation of his soul, that his cause was good and just,--that the duke of bar wanted to disinherit him,--and that he had ever been strongly attached to the party of duke john and duke philip of burgundy.' the burgundians and picards were well pleased with this address, and determined to remain as they were, and not advance on the enemy. on the other hand, the duke of bar, having finished his preparations, and drawn up his army mostly on foot, observing that the enemy did not move, resolved to begin the combat, and marched toward them, who still remained in their position. when the barrois were advanced to within twelve or sixteen diestres[ ] of their line, they discharged the cannons and culverines before mentioned, and set up a loud shout. this caused such an alarm among the barrois that they flung themselves on the ground, and were greatly frightened. shortly after, the battle raged on all sides, and it might then be about eleven o'clock. the picard-archers made excellent use of their bows, and killed and wounded numbers with their arrows. the violence of the combat lasted about a quarter of an hour, and the two parties were engaged in different quarters; but at length that of the duke began to give way, and to fly in various directions,--which being observed by the enemy, it renewed their courage, and they made fiercer attacks than before. the picard-archers especially killed and wounded an incredible number, so that the disorder and defeat very soon became general on the side of the barrois. the duke of bar was made prisoner by one named martin fouars, belonging to the count de conversan, lord d'enghien, who had all the honour and profit of such a prize, although some said he was not taken with his own hand. together with the duke were made prisoners, the bishop of metz, john de rodemaque, sir everard de salebery, the viscount d'arcy, the lord of rodemaque, sir colard de sausy, sir vilin de la tour, and others, to the amount of more than two hundred. there remained dead on the field of battle, and including those slain in the pursuit, which lasted for two good leagues, from five and twenty hundred to three thousand men. the principal among them were the counts de salmes and de salme-salmes, de linanges, germans,--the lord de barbasan, sir thibault de barbey, two brothers to the bishop of metz, george de banastre and his two brothers, and others, to the amount aforesaid, the greater part of whom were gentlemen. this defeat and pursuit lasted two or three hours; and when all were re-assembled, the burgundian lords, with the count de vaudemont, returned their most humble thanksgiving to their creator for the great victory they had obtained through his means. they did not lose more in killed than forty men, the chief of whom was sir gerard de marigny. they remained that night on the field of battle. the marshal of burgundy was slightly wounded in the face, and the duke of bar above the nose. on the morrow, they marched away for burgundy, carrying with them their prisoners. footnotes: [footnote : diestres. see du cange, supplement, _dextri_.] chap. x. the young king henry comes from england, with a grand attendance, to paris, to be crowned king of france. about the end of november, in this year, the young king henry came from pontoise to st denis, with the intent of proceeding to paris, to be anointed and crowned king of france. he was accompanied from england by his uncles the cardinals of winchester and of york, the duke of bedford, the rich duke of york, the earls of warwick, salisbury and suffolk. he was likewise attended by many of the great lords of france, such as sir louis de luxembourg bishop of therouenne, master peter cauchon, bishop of beauvais, master john de mailly, bishop of noyon, the bishops of paris and of evreux, sir john bastard de st pol, sir guy le bouteiller, the lord de courcelles, sir gilles de clamecy, sir james de painel, sir john de pressi, the lord de passy, the bastard de thian, and several more. king henry was escorted by about two or three thousand combatants, as well from england as from the country round st denis, for the security of his person. he left that town for paris about nine o'clock in the morning, and was met at la chapelle, half way between paris and saint denis, by sir simon morier, provost of paris, with a numerous company of the burghers dressed in crimson-satin doublets with blue hoods, to do him honour and respect: there were also very many of the inhabitants dressed in scarlet. when the provost and his company had made their obeisances, the king was next saluted by persons on horseback representing the nine worthies[ ], armed each according to his manner. then by the commandant of the watch, the provost of merchants, with the officers of the court, dressed in silk and crimson hoods. at a small distance came master philip de morvillers, first president of the parliament, in his robes of ceremony, followed by all the lords of the parliament in flowing robes of vermilion. then came the members of the chamber of accounts, the directors of the finances, the masters of requests, the secretaries, in robes of the same colour. as they advanced, they made their reverences to the king, each according to his rank, and to the lords who accompanied him. with regard to the common people, they were numberless. when the king arrived at the entrance of the gate of st denis, the arms of the town were on so large a scale that in the body of them were inclosed six men, one to represent a bishop, another the university, and a third the burghers: the others personated sergeants. the king was presented, on his passing the gate, with three crimson hearts: in one were two doves; in another, small birds, which were let fly over the king's head; and in the third, violets and other flowers, which were thrown over the lords who accompanied him. the provost of merchants and the sheriffs now brought a handsome azure-coloured canopy besprinkled with flowers de luce, which they bore over the king's head as he passed through the streets. when he approached the little bridge of st denis, a pageant of three savages and a woman continued fighting, in a sort of forest that had been formed there, until he had passed. underneath the scaffold was a fountain of hippocras, with three mermaids swimming round it, and which ran perpetually for all who chose to drink thereat. on advancing to the second gate of the street of st denis, there were pageants that represented in dumb show the nativity of the holy virgin, her marriage, the adoration of the three kings, the massacre of the innocents, and a good man sowing his corn, which characters were specially well acted. over the gate was performed the legendary history of st denis, which was much admired by the english. in front of the church des innocents was formed a sort of forest in the street, in which was a living stag: when the king came near, the stag was hunted by dogs and huntsmen,--and, after a long chace, it took refuge near the feet of the king's horse, when his majesty saved its life. at the entrance of the gate of the châtelet was another scaffold, on which was a representation of king henry clothed in a robe of flower de luces, and having two crowns on his head. on his right hand were figures to personate the duke of burgundy and the count de nevers presenting him with the shield of france: on his left, were his uncle the duke of bedford, the earls of warwick and salisbury presenting him with the shield of england. each person was dressed in his own proper tabard of arms. the king thence went to the palace, where the holy relics were displayed to him and to his company, and was then conducted to the hôtel des tournelles to partake of a repast. when he had dined, he went to visit the queen his grandmother at the hôtel de st pol. on the morrow, he was carried to the castle of vincennes, where he remained until the th day of december, when he returned to the palace. on the th of that month, he went from the palace in great pomp, and attended by a numerous body of nobles and ecclesiastics, to the church of nôtre dame for his coronation. in the nave of the church had been erected a scaffold eight score feet long, and of a proper height, which was ascended from the nave, and led to the entrance of the choir. the king was crowned by the cardinal of winchester, who also chaunted the mass, to the great displeasure of the bishop of paris, who said that that office belonged to him. at the offertory, the king made an offering of bread and wine in the usual manner. the wine was in a large pot of silver gilt, which was seized on by the king's officers, to the discontent of the canons of the cathedral, who claimed it as their perquisite; and they urged their complaints before the king and council, who, after it had cost them much in this claim, caused it to be returned to them. all the other ceremonies usual at coronations were this day performed, but more after the english than the french mode; and the lords before named were about the person of the king, and serving him while in the church according to their several offices. when mass was over, the king returned to the palace, and dined at the table of marble in the midst of the hall. on one side of him were seated the cardinal of winchester, master peter cauchon, bishop of beauvais, master john de mailly, bishop of noyon; and on the opposite side were the earls of stafford, mortimer and salisbury, as representing the peers of france. sir john, bastard de st pol, was grand master of the household; and with him, preceding the meats, were sir gilles de clamecy, sir guy le bouteiller, and sir john de pressy. the lord de courcelles was on that day grand butler, and sir james de painel grand pantler: an english knight, called sir walter hungerford, carved before the king. during the dinner, four pageants were introduced: the first was a figure of our lady, with an infant king crowned by her side; the second, a flower de luce, surmounted with a crown of gold, and supported by two angels; the third, a lady and peacock; the fourth, a lady and swan. it would be tiresome was i to relate all the various meats and wines, for they were beyond number. many pieces of music were played on divers instruments; and on the morrow a gallant tournament was held at the hôtel de st pol, where the earl of arundel and the bastard de st pol won the prizes, and gained the applause of the ladies for being the best tilters. king henry, having made some days' stay at paris, departed, and went to rouen. footnotes: [footnote : _nine worthies._ according to the encyclopedie, vol. iv. supplement, the _neuf-preux_ were named joshua, gideon, samson, david, judas macchabeus, alexander, julius cæsar, charlemagne and godefroy de bouillon. for further particulars, i refer to the encyclopedie, where mention is made of this procession to meet henry vi.] chap. xi. the detachment the duke of bar had left to blockade vaudemont march away on hearing of the ill success of the battle. very soon after the defeat of the duke of bar and his army, news of it was carried to the french before vaudemont by those who had escaped; and it caused such an alarm among them that they instantly took to flight in a most disorderly manner, each man imagining the enemy at his heels, and leaving behind the artillery, stores and provision, that had been intrusted to their guard, and which were in great abundance. the garrison, observing the confusion and disorder in the camp of the besiegers, concluded that the duke of bar had been conquered, and instantly sallying out on horseback and on foot made a great slaughter, and took many prisoners. they gained so much that they were all enriched. intelligence of this defeat was spread throughout the countries of bar and lorraine, and that their lord had been made prisoner, which caused the severest grief to all attached to him. the place where this battle had been fought was called villeman; and from that day it bore the name of the battle of villeman. the count de vaudemont was lavish in his thanks and praises to the marshal of burgundy and the other lords and gentlemen who had so essentially aided him. he then returned to his country, and the marshal, with his burgundians and picards, to burgundy, carrying with him the duke of bar, whom he placed under a good guard at dijon. chap. xii. sir john de luxembourg assembles men at arms and marches into champagne against the french, from whom he conquers several castles.--other matters. in the month of july, of this year, sir john de luxembourg, count de ligny, assembled, by orders from king henry and the duke of burgundy, about a thousand combatants, whom he led into the countries of champagne and the rethelois, to conquer some castles held by the troops of king charles, which had much harrassed those parts. sir john was accompanied by the lord de ternant and the rethelois; and his first attack was on the castle of guetron, in which were from sixty to four score of king charles's men, who, perceiving the superiority of the enemy, were so much frightened that they permitted them to gain the lower court without offering any resistance; and, shortly after, they opened a parley, and proposed to surrender the place on having their lives and fortunes spared. this offer was refused,--and they were told they must surrender at discretion. in the end, however, it was agreed to by the governor, that from four to six of his men should be spared by sir john. when this agreement had been settled, and pledges given for its performance, the governor re-entered the castle, and was careful not to tell his companions the whole that had passed at the conference,--giving them to understand in general, that they were to march away in safety; but when the castle was surrendered, all within it were made prisoners. on the morrow, by orders from sir john de luxembourg, they were all strangled, and hung on trees hard by, except the four or six before mentioned,--one of their companions serving for the executioner. an accident befel one of them, which is worth relating. the hangman was in such haste that the cord, as he was turned off the ladder, hitched under his chin, and thus suspended him, while the executioner went on to complete the sentence on others. some of the gentlemen standing by took compassion on him,--and one of them, with a guisarme, cut the cord: he fell to the ground and soon recovered his senses. the spectators then entreated sir john to have pity on him for the love of god, and to spare his life, which request was at length complied with,--and he went away in safety. sir john de luxembourg, having executed justice on these marauders, marched away with his army, but not before he had demolished the castle of guetron, to the castle of tours en porcien.[ ] he remained before it some days, during which the captain capitulated to deliver it up, with the exception of the cannon, on being allowed to march off unmolested, but without any baggage. some, who had formerly taken the oaths to king henry, were hung, and the castle was razed to the ground. thence sir john marched to a castle called bahin: the captain thereof was one barete, who soon offered to surrender, on condition that he himself and his garrison might have their lives spared, and be allowed to depart with their baggage, which terms were accepted. at this time, the earl of warwick's son joined sir john, with sir gilles de clamecy and four hundred combatants, to assist him should there be occasion; but as the french were not in sufficient force in champagne and those parts to resist, they returned shortly after to meaux in brie, and to the other garrisons whence they had come. sir john reduced to obedience many other places and towns that had been held for king charles,--some by treaty, others by force of arms. at this period, the lord de l'isle-adam, who was decorated with the duke of burgundy's order of the golden fleece, was appointed, by the king of england and his council, marshal of france. he assembled about six hundred fighting men, part of whom were english; and in conjunction with the bastard de st. pol, and one of his own brothers, he led them to the town of lagny sur marne, then possessed by king charles's party, thinking to conquer it by surprise,--but it was too well defended by those to whose guard it had been intrusted. footnotes: [footnote : porcien,--a principality in champagne.] chap. xiii. the duke d'alenÇon makes the chancellor of brittany prisoner. this year, the duke d'alençon made his uncle's chancellor of brittany prisoner, because he would not assist him with money according to his pleasure, for his ransom when captured at the battle of vermeuil in perche, which he looked to obtain from the chancellor. he carried him prisoner to his town of poussay. but in a short time, the duke of brittany, being much exasperated at such conduct, assembled his barons and a large force of men at arms, whom, with some english captains, he marched to the town of poussay, and besieged it all round,--but the duke d'alençon had quitted it from fear of his enemies: he had, however, left there his duchess, daughter to the duke of orleans, then a prisoner in england, who was ill in child-bed, and sorely vexed at these matters. the siege was carried on for some time; but at length, the duke of alençon, on account of the situation of the duchess, and to prevent his town and subjects being further harrassed, made peace with his uncle, and restored to him his chancellor and the others whom he had made prisoners. thus was the siege broken up. the duke had taken the chancellor prisoner at a country-seat which he had near to nantes,--and his object was to get paid a certain sum of money that his uncle, the duke of brittany, was indebted to him. chap. xiv. the french are near taking the castle of rouen. on the d day of february in this year, at the solicitations of the marshal de bousac, the lord de fontaines, sir john foulquet, the lord de mouy, and other captains assembled a force of about six hundred fighting men in the city of beauvais. they marched thence to within a league of rouen, and posted themselves in ambush in a wood. thence the marshal sent off secretly a gentleman called richarville with a hundred or six score combatants, all on foot, except four or five who were mounted on small horses, to the castle of rouen, in which the marshal had for some time kept up a correspondence with a marauder on the part of the english named pierre audeboeuf, a béarn man, who had promised to deliver up the castle to him. when richarville and his detachment approached the castle, he found the béarnman ready to perform his promise; and they all entered, except a few who were left to guard the horses. they instantly made themselves masters of the greater part of the castle, and particularly the great tower, which was well supplied with stores. the earl of arundel and many english were in bed in the castle, most part of whom saved themselves as well as they could over the walls: the others retired within the town, but not without leaving several killed and wounded by the french. when this was done, richarville mounted his horse, and hastened back with all speed to where he had left the marshal, and told him the success of his enterprise, requiring him, at the same time, to advance quickly to the support of his men, when, without doubt, the whole of the castle would be won. but, to make short of the matter,--for all that he could say, and notwithstanding the urgency of the case which he stated to the commanders, he could not prevail on them to march, although the marshal and the principal captains had most faithfully promised to support him, if he should succeed in making a lodgement within the castle: now he had succeeded, they would not fulfil their engagements; and when within one league, as i have said, of rouen, they began to quarrel among themselves about the division of the plunder, which had not as yet been won. these disputes caused them to march back without proceeding further, and leave part of their men in the utmost danger. richarville seeing this, and knowing that he had successfully done his duty, abused them in the coarsest terms, which they very patiently suffered, and hastened their departure. they returned to beauvais and the other places whence they had come, to the great vexation of richarville, who had flattered himself that he should conquer the castle of rouen. he remonstrated with several who had friends and relatives within the town of rouen, but in vain: they marched away with the others to beauvais. while this was passing, the french were exerting themselves to drive the english without the gates of the castle, which they had gained possession of; but when day appeared, and they heard nothing of their army, they began to fear they should not be supported, and that they had been deceived in the promises made them. they were much surprised and cast down; and, on the other hand, the english were hourly increasing, and attacking them with great courage. they were accompanied by many of the townsmen, for fear they might be suspected of favouring the french. the french, finding they were not in sufficient force to defend all they had conquered, with one accord retired to the great tower, with all the provision they could lay hands on, and determined to hold out until death. they were, however, soon attacked on all sides, by the cannon and engines the english brought against it, which damaged it in many places. those within were in a few days much straitened for provision and other things, which forced them, having now no hopes of relief, to surrender at discretion to king henry and his council, after having held out for twelve days. before they were conquered, they had done much mischief to the english by the artillery they found within the tower, and that which they had transported thither. they were all made prisoners, and put under a good guard; and shortly after, one hundred and fifty were beheaded in rouen,--and pierre audeboeuf was quartered, and his body affixed at the usual places. about this period, the duke of burgundy marched a thousand combatants from his country of artois to burgundy, where he remained three days to visit those parts that had been much harrassed by the enemy. while there, he was waited on by the archbishop of rheims and other notable ambassadors from king charles, to treat of a peace between them; but as they could not conclude on terms, they returned to the king. when the duke of burgundy had ordered proper measures for the government of that country he returned to artois, flanders and brabant. chap. xv. the french take the castle of dommart in ponthieu, and carry off the lord de dommart prisoner. in the month of february, a party of king charles's men, to the amount of fourscore combatants, under the command of a noble knight called sir regnault de verseilles, collected from beauvais, breteuil, and other places, crossed the river somme in small boats near to pequigny, and were thence conducted to the castle of dommart in ponthieu, to the walls of which, without being perceived by the guard, they fastened their ladders and gained an entrance. they instantly shouted, 'the castle is won!' and began to batter down doors and windows. this noise awakened the inhabitants, and especially the lord, sir james de craon, who was in bed with his wife. he suddenly arose, thinking to put an end to it, but it was in vain; for his enemies were too powerful, and his men, who were not very numerous, could not collect together. he and the greater part of them were made prisoners: the rest escaped over the walls. the french, after having gained possession, packed up all the moveables they could find within the castle, such as gold and silver plate, furs, clothes, linen, and other things, which, after having refreshed themselves, they carried away, with their prisoners, by the way they had come, leaving the castle in the same outward state as they had found it. in the mean time, the inhabitants of the town of dommart, hearing the noise in the castle, collected together, and sent notice of what had passed to pequigny and to other places. it was not long, before nearly two hundred men of all sorts were assembled, who pursued the french with such haste, that they overtook them at the place where they had before passed the somme, and instantly attacked them. they were soon defeated: part were made prisoners or killed, and the others were drowned in attempting to cross the river. however, sir regnault had crossed the somme before they came up with them, with his prisoner sir james de craon, and carried him, without any opposition, to beauvais, whence he afterward obtained his liberty by paying a large sum of money. chap. xvi. sir thomas kiriel, an englishman, is appointed governor of the castle of clermont in the beauvoisis. this year, through the intrigues of sir john de luxembourg, the strong castle of beauvoisis was given to the command of sir thomas kiriel, an englishman,--which castle had been long held by the lord de crevecoeur, under the duke of burgundy. the duke had consented to this appointment, on sir thomas giving sir john de luxembourg a promise, under his hand and seal, that he would yield it up whenever required. sir thomas soon collected a large company of english, whom he placed in this castle, and carried on a severe warfare against the towns on the french frontier, such as creil, beauvais, compiègne and others. in like manner, did they act in regard to the castlewicks of mondidier and other places under the obedience of the duke of burgundy. in truth, during these tribulations, they made many prisoners, and even carried off women, as well noble as not, whom they kept in close confinement until they ransomed themselves. several of them who were with child were brought to bed in their prison. the duke of burgundy was very angry at such things being done to those under his obedience, but could not obtain redress; for when he demanded the restitution of the castle according to sir thomas's promise and agreement, he put off the matter with different reasons for delay, such as soldiers readily find, who often, on certain occasions, follow their own will. in short, after many delays, the duke of bedford, in compliment to his brother-in-law the duke of burgundy, ordered sir thomas to deliver up the castle of clermont to the lord d'auffremont. chap. xvii. the inhabitants of chauny-sur-oise destroy the castle of their town. about the same time, sir colart de mailly, bailiff for king henry in the vermandois, and sir ferry de mailly, resided at the castle of chauny sur oise, the lawful inheritance of charles duke of orleans, a prisoner in england. sir ferry happened to say some things not very respectful, in regard to the townsmen, which alarmed them lest he might introduce a stronger garrison of english into the castle by the back gate than would be agreeable to them, and reduce them the more under his subjection. they, consequently, held some secret meetings of the principal inhabitants, namely, john de longueval, matthew de longueval his brother, pierre piat and others, who bound themselves by a solemn oath to gain possession of the castle, and demolish it, the first day that sir colart and sir ferry de mailly should be in the town. having arranged their plan, they posted some few of their accomplices near to the gate of the castle, properly instructed how to act. when they saw the two knights, with their attendants, quit the castle to amuse themselves in the town, as was their usual custom, they crossed the drawbridge, the guard having no suspicion of them, and instantly raised it and gained possession of the place. the guard was greatly vexed, but there was no remedy; and those in the secret within the town, instantly on hearing what had passed, rang the alarm bell, and, arming themselves with staves and what weapons they could find, hastened to the castle, wherein they were instantly admitted. some of the principal inhabitants waited on the two knights to assure them they needed not be under any apprehension for their persons or property; that all their effects should be strictly restored to them, for what they were about was for the good and security of the town. the knights, seeing there was no alternative, replied, that since it could not be otherwise, they would act according to their pleasure; and, much discontented with what was passing, they retired with their friends to a house in the town, where all their property was delivered to them. the inhabitants, with one accord, followed up the destruction of the castle, so that within a very few days it was demolished from top to bottom. shortly after, the bailiff of the vermandois and his brother quitted the town of chauny,--and in their stead sir john de luxembourg first sent sir hector de flavy to govern them, and then waleran de moreul; but, after what the inhabitants had done, they found them more inclined to disobedience than before the castle was demolished. chap. xviii. the city of chartres is conquered by king charles's party. on the th day of april, in this year, was won the noble city of chartres by the arms of king charles. this city had followed the party of dukes john and philip of burgundy since the year , when she first attached herself to duke john, and afterward to the english party. the taking of it was owing to two of the inhabitants, named jean conseil and le petit guillemin, who had formerly been prisoners to the french, with whom they had resided a long time, and had been so well treated by them that they had turned to their side. they had made frequent journeys, with passports from the french, to blois, orleans, and other places under their obedience, with different merchandise, bringing back to chartres other articles in exchange. there was also within chartres a jacobin doctor of divinity, called friar jean sarragin, of their way of thinking, who was the principal director of their machinations, and to whom they always had recourse. having formed their plan, when the day arrived for its execution, the french collected in different parts a force amounting in the whole to four thousand men, the principal leaders of which were the lord de gaucourt, the bastard of orleans, blanchet d'estouteville, sir florent de lers, la hire, girard de felins, and other chiefs of inferior rank. they began their march toward chartres, and, when within a quarter of a league, they formed an ambuscade of the greater number of their men. others, to the amount of forty or fifty, advanced still nearer the town; and the two men before named, who were the plotters of this mischief, were driving carriages laden with wine and other things, especially a great quantity of shad fish. some expert and determined men at arms were dressed as drivers of these carriages, having their arms concealed under their frocks. so soon as the gate leading to blois was opened, these carriages advanced to enter, led on by jean conseil and petit guillemin. the porters at the gate, knowing them well, asked what news. they said they knew none but what was good,--on which the porters bade them welcome. then, the better to deceive them, jean conseil took a pair of shad, and, giving them to the porters, said, 'there's for your dinner: accept of them with our thanks,--for we often make you and others wait for us to shut and open the gates and barriers.' while this conversation was passing, those disguised as carters suddenly armed themselves and fell on the porters, killed part of them, and gained possession of the gate. then making the signal that had been agreed on, the whole army that was in ambuscade quickly advanced, and began their march into the town in handsome order, completely armed, and with displayed banners before them. those of the porters who had escaped into the town gave the alarm to the inhabitants, who instantly, and in many places, cried 'to arms!' the burghers and commonalty immediately assembled; but unfortunately the said jacobin friar had been preaching to them in a very popular strain some days before; and had requested that they would hear a sermon of his, which would greatly profit their souls if attended to; and he had fixed on this very morning to preach it, at a remote part of the town, the most distant from the gate where the attempt was to be made. at the moment when the alarm was given, the majority of the inhabitants were attending to the friar's sermon; but on hearing the cries, 'to arms!' often repeated, they were greatly frightened, and hastened to their homes as speedily as they could. very many of them armed, and with staves joined their bishop and their governor, who led them to where the french were, intending to drive them out of the town; but it was too late, for the french were much superior in numbers, well armed, and accustomed to war. they were beside far advanced within the town when the inhabitants met them,--and the french, the more to deceive them, shouted out, 'peace! peace!' as they pushed forward in handsome array, discharging their arrows. some shot passed on each side; but it lasted not long, for, to complete their misfortune, william de villeneuve, captain of the garrison, instead of leading them to battle, perceiving the business was so far advanced, mounted his horse, and, with about a hundred of his men, fled in haste through the opposite gate, and multitudes of people with him. those who remained were soon defeated, without offering further resistance. the french having advanced to the market-place, and seeing none to oppose them, held a council, and detached parties through the streets, to discover if any of the enemy were preparing for resistance; but every one fled before them, and saved himself as well he could. in consequence of this attack, about sixty or four score of the townsmen lost their lives,--the principal person of whom was master jean de festigny, a native of burgundy, the bishop. from five to six hundred were made prisoners: the chief was master gilles de l'aubespine, who governed the town for the english. all who were taken, churchmen or burghers, were forced to pay heavy ransoms,--and every thing that could be turned into money was seized. in regard to rapes and other extraordinary acts, they were committed according to military usage on a conquered town. on the morrow, several who had been partisans of the english were publicly beheaded; and new magistrates were appointed in the name of the king of france, together with a very strong garrison to defend the frontier against the english. the commander in chief within the town, and of this force, was the bastard of orleans. chap. xix. the cardinal of santa croce is sent by the pope to france, to endeavour to make peace between the contending parties. at this time, our holy father the pope sent to france the cardinal of santa croce to appease the quarrel between the king of france on the one part, and henry king of england and the duke of burgundy on the other. the cardinal made great exertions to procure a peace, but in vain: however, he did succeed by his diligence in establishing a truce between the king of france and the duke of burgundy for six years,--and they mutually exchanged assurances of this truce under their hands and seals, drawn up in the strongest manner. the people fondly hoped that this truce would be lasting, and in consequence returned to their agricultural labours, restocking their farms with cattle and other things: but their joy did not long continue, for within the first half year, so bitter were the parties against each other, the war recommenced with greater fury than before. the principal reason for this renewal of war was owing to the french seizing some of the burgundian party with the english; and in like manner, some poor adventurers among the burgundians having joined the english, and wearing a red cross, made war on the french,--so that by these means the truce was broken. justice was no where attended to, and numberless plunderings were daily practised against the lower orders of the people and the clergy; for notwithstanding they paid very large sums to the leaders of the two parties, according to the country they lived in, to enjoy security, and had received from them sealed papers as assurances of not being disturbed, no attention was paid to them, and thus they had none other resource than to offer up their prayers to god for vengeance on their oppressors. chap. xx. the english conquer the bulwark at lagny-sur-marne. during the month of march of this year, the duke of bedford, in conjunction with the council of king henry then at paris, ordered a body of men at arms to march and subject to the king's obedience some castles held by the french on the borders of the isle of france, such as mongay, gournay, and others. they were also commanded to destroy the bridge of lagny sur marne. the chief commanders of this force were the earl of arundel, the eldest son of the earl of warwick, the lord de l'isle-adam, marshal of france to king henry, sir john bastard de st pol, sir galois d'aunay lord d'orville, and others. when they left paris, they were about twelve hundred fighting men, having with them abundance of carts and carriages, with cannon and other artillery. in a few days, they came before the above mentioned castles, which were soon constrained to submit. some of the garrisons marched away in safety, and with part of their baggage; while others remained at the discretion of the english,--many of whom were executed, and others ransomed. after these surrenders, the english took the road toward lagny sur marne; and on their arrival before it, the earl of arundel had a large bombard pointed against the arch of the drawbridge leading to the town, which broke it down at the first discharge, so that all communication with the bulwark at the opposite end of the bridge was cut off. the earl now made a fierce attack on this bulwark, and won it, notwithstanding the few within defended it with much courage and obstinacy. john of luxembourg, one of the bastards of st pol, was killed at this attack, and others wounded. the english broke down the bridge in many places, and, having set the bulwark on fire, retired to their quarters. the english having determined to make an attempt, within a few days, on the town of lagny on different parts at the same time, the earl of arundel remained with a certain number of men for that purpose. when the day arrived, and as the marshal and the other captains were marching to the assault, sir john de luxembourg bastard of st pol, who bore for his device, and on his banner, a brilliant sun, said aloud, in the hearing of many, that he made a vow to god, that if the sun entered the town, he would do the same,--which expression was diversely construed by those who heard it. they advanced gallantly to storm the place; but by the vigilance and intrepidity of huçon queue, a scotsman, sir john foucault, and the other captains in the town, they were boldly received, and very many of the assailants were killed or severely wounded. they lost also four or five of their banners and pennons, which were, by force of arms, drawn into the town by their two ends: one was the banner of the lord de l'isle-adam, and another, having the sun on it, that of the bastard de st pol, who had vowed to enter the place if the sun did. they were forced to retreat to their quarters with shame and disgrace. at the end of three days, the greater part of the men disbanded without leave of their captains,--saying that they were losing their time by a longer stay, for that they ran a greater risk of loss than gain,--and returned to the duke of bedford at paris. these english and burgundians had been eight days before lagny, battering the walls with their artillery, before they made this attack. chap. xxi. philibert de vaudray, governor of tonnerre, and the lord d'amont wait on the duke of bedford to serve him. in these days, philibert de vaudray and the lord d'amont left burgundy with about five hundred men at arms, by command of their lord the duke of burgundy, to aid his brother-in-law the duke of bedford. they took the road through champagne to gain picardy; but the french, hearing of their intentions, had assembled from seven to eight hundred combatants, on their line of march, to combat and to conquer them. they were commanded by yvon de puys, the bastard de dampierre, the borgne de remon, and some others, who drew themselves up in battle-array on the approach of the burgundians. these last immediately dismounted to defend themselves; but when they were on the point of commencing the engagement, the french, who for the greater part had not dismounted, suddenly wheeled about in great confusion and fled, but not without having some few killed and wounded. the burgundians now continued their route unmolested to picardy, where they remained for some time pillaging and devouring the country. they thence marched to join the duke of bedford at paris. about this time, the king of cyprus, in consequence of a long illness that had succeeded to his imprisonment by the saracens, departed this life, after having most devoutly received all the sacraments of the holy church. with the unanimous consent of the estates of that kingdom, he was succeeded by john de lusignan, his only son by his queen charlotte de bourbon, who was crowned in the cathedral church of nicosia. [a.d. .] chap. xxii. the duke of bedford marches a large force to lagny-sur-marne, to support the english and burgundians who had remained there, but retires without making any conquest. at the beginning of this year, the duke of bedford, styling himself regent of france, collected about six thousand combatants from different parts under his obedience, whom he marched against the town of lagny sur marne, held by the supporters of king charles. there might be in that place from eight hundred to a thousand picked and well tried men under the orders of a scots captain, called sir ambrose love, and sir john de foucault, who valiantly conducted those under their banners. with the duke of bedford were the lord de l'isle-adam, marshal, sir john bastard de st pol, the bastard d'aunay, knight and lord of orville, philibert de vaudray, the lord d'amont, and many others of notable estate, who had long laid siege to the town, to reduce it to the obedience of king henry. there were numerous pieces of artillery pointed against the gates and walls, which they damaged in many places, and caused the greatest alarm to those of the garrison,--for in addition, they were much straitened for provisions. the duke of bedford had them frequently summoned to surrender, but they would never listen to it,--for they never lost hopes of being relieved by their party, as in fact they afterward were. the besieged had thrown a bridge of boats over the marne, for their convenience of passing and repassing, and had erected a bulwark at each end, the command of which was intrusted to a certain number of men at arms. while these things were passing, the king of france assembled about eight hundred combatants, whom he dispatched to orleans, under the command of the marshal de bousac, the bastard of orleans, the lord de gaucourt, rodrique de villandras, the lord de saintrailles, and other captains of renown, to throw succours into the town of lagny. they advanced in a body to melun, where they crossed the seine, and thence, through brie, toward lagny, being daily joined by forces from their adjoining garrisons. in the mean time, the duke had so hardly pressed the garrison that they had offered to capitulate when the french forces arrived. the duke prepared with diligence to offer battle to the french, and sent for reinforcements from all quarters. he ordered his heralds at arms to signify to the french his willingness to combat them and their allies, if they would fix on the time and place. to this they returned no other answer than that, under the pleasure of god and of our blessed saviour, they would not engage in battle but when it should be agreeable to themselves, and that they would bring their present enterprise to a happy conclusion. the french advanced in handsome array, in three divisions, to a small river within a quarter of a league of the town; and the duke of bedford, having drawn up his army in three divisions also, marched thither to defend the passage. when the two armies were near, several severe skirmishes took place at different parts: especially on the quarter where the heir of warwick and the lord de l'isle-adam were posted, a sharp attack was made by rodrique de villandras, the lord de saintrailles, and other captains, who were escorting a convoy of provision for the town. in spite of their adversaries, they forced a passage for part of their convoy to the very gates, and drove in from twenty to thirty bullocks, a number of sacks of flour, and a reinforcement to the garrison of about four score men at arms; but this was not effected without great effusion of blood, for very many were killed and wounded on both sides. on the part of the french was killed the lord de saintrailles, eldest brother to poton de saintrailles. in another quarter, where sir thomas kiriel, sir john bastard of st pol, the lord d'amont, and philibert de vaudroy were posted, many gallant deeds were done, and several killed and wounded on both sides. the english lost there a gentleman called odart de remy. these skirmishes lasted nearly till vespers,--and as it was st laurence's day in august, and very hot, the two armies suffered greatly from it. the french captains, perceiving that they could not gain any advantage, for the english and burgundians were strongly posted, retreated with their army to cressy in brie, where they halted for the night, and thence marched to château thierry and to vitry-le-françois, where they staid four days. the duke of bedford, knowing that the french intended entering the isle of france, and fearing they might conquer some of his towns, decamped in no very orderly manner from before lagny, for many things were left behind by him, and advanced towards paris. having collected his men, he followed the french to offer them battle again; but they sent for answer, that they had gained what they had come for. the lord de gaucourt was of infinite service to the french by his wisdom and prudence. the french now left vitry and returned toward lagny, where the lord de gaucourt remained: the other captains led their men to the garrisons whence they had come. the besieged were much rejoiced, and not without cause, at the departure of their enemies,--for the siege had lasted upwards of four months, in which time they had suffered very great hardships from want of provision and other distresses. at this period, the english lost the castle of monchas in normandy, belonging to the count d'eu, prisoner in england, and which they had held for a long time. the captain of it was called brunclay[ ], but he was at the time with the duke of bedford at the siege of lagny. the french delivered all of their party confined in the prisons, and sent in haste to offer its government to sir regnault de fontaines, then at beauvais, who immediately accepted of it, and marched thither with about eighty combatants. by means of this castle, a sharp warfare was carried on in vimeu, and the adjacent parts, against all who supported the party of king henry and of the duke of burgundy. footnotes: [footnote : brunclay. q. brownlow.] chap. xxiii. the commonalty of ghent rise against their magistrates. at this season, the commonalty of ghent rose in arms, to the amount of fifty thousand, against their magistrates. having assembled about ten o'clock in the morning, they went to the square of the market-place, and drew up in front of the hall where the magistrates were. they were obliged instantly to speak with them, or they would have forced an entrance through the doors and windows. when the magistrates appeared, they immediately put to death the deacon of small trades, called john boëlle, one of the sheriffs, named jean daniel van zenere, with one of the counsellors called jason habit. the other magistrates were in fear of their lives from the cruelties they saw committed before their eyes; the mob, however, were contented with what they had done. the commonalty then marched away in a body for the abbey of saint pierre, to destroy a wood that was hard by: from thence they went to st barron, to recover some hereditary rents they had paid the church; but the abbot, by his prudent conduct and kind words, pacified them, and prevented further mischief. he complied with all their requests, and gave them abundantly to eat from the provisions of the monastery. they went away well pleased with the abbot, and then broke into three or four houses of the principal burghers, carrying away all they thought proper, and destroying the rest of the furniture. they threw open the gates of all the prisons of the duke, setting those confined at liberty,--more especially one called george goscath, who was a strong partisan of theirs against the magistrates. after they had thus acted for two days, by the interference of several of the chief men in ghent, they were appeased, and returned quietly to their former occupations. during these riots, the duke's officers left the town, fearful that the mob would put them death, as they had done others; and the duke of burgundy, by reason of the many weighty affairs he had on his hands, was advised to act mercifully toward them. they entreated forgiveness of the duke's council, who, on their paying a fine, pardoned them, and they afterward remained peaceable. chap. xxiv. sir john bastard of st pol and the lord de humieres are taken prisoners by the french. while these things were passing at ghent, sir john bastard de st pol and the lord de humieres marched from artois, with about sixty combatants, to join the duke of bedford in paris. they went to mondidier and to l'isle-adam, thinking to proceed thence in safety to paris; but they were met by a detachment from the garrison of creil, who had received notice of their intended march, and were instantly attacked with such vigour that, in spite of their resistance, they were both made prisoners, with the greater part of their men, and carried to creil. a few saved themselves by flight; and the two knights, after some little time, ransomed themselves by paying a large sum of money to those who had taken them. chap. xxv. great disorders are committed by the french in the amiennois, santerre and vimeu. at this time, blanchefort, who held the castle of breteuil for king charles of france, did infinite mischief to the countries of amiens, santerre and vimeu, by fire, sword and pillaging,--insomuch that most of the inhabitants had deserted the country, and retired within the fortified towns; for they were by these means deprived of the power of paying the tributes levied on them for forbearance. this party had also repaired some of the castles in vimeu such as araines, hornoy and others, in which they posted garrisons, who much annoyed the adjacent parts. they were likewise harassed by those of the burgundy-faction. the poor labourers knew not whither to fly, for they were not defended by the lords of either party; and what added to their distress, sir philibert de vaudray and the lord d'amont, on their return from serving the duke of bedford, took possession of pont de remy, by driving away the lord de saveuses' men, who had the guard of it. the lord de saveuses was very indignant at this conduct, and assembled his friends and dependants to expel them thence; but as he found they were superior to him in numbers, he gave up the attempt,--and they remained in the quiet possession of the post, to the great annoyance of the country round. chap. xxvi. the heir of commercy takes the town of ligny in the barrois, belonging to sir john de luxembourg. in the month of september of this year, the heir of commercy, who had a long standing enmity against sir john de luxembourg, as well for his detaining from him the castle of montague as for other matters of quarrel between them, assembled from divers parts four or five hundred combatants, whom he led secretly to ligny in the barrois, and, through neglect of the guard, took it by scalado. the town was instantly alarmed, and the majority of the inhabitants precipitately withdrew into the castle, which had not been conquered,--whence they defended themselves gallantly against the enemy, who summoned them repeatedly to surrender. they would never listen to the summons, but dispatched messengers in all speed to inform sir john de luxembourg of their distress, and to require his aid. sir john, on hearing this, immediately set clerks to write letters to all his friends and relations, to press them most earnestly, from the affection they bore him, now to hasten to the succour of his town of ligny. many of the nobles and gentlemen to whom he had applied made instant preparations to attend him, and would have joined him in great numbers; but, in the mean time, the young lord of commercy perceiving he could not win the castle, and fearing the great force sir john de luxembourg would march against him, whose power and inclinations he well knew, concluded with those in whom he had the greatest confidence to return whence they had come. having thus determined, they packed up all the moveables they found in the town that were portable: they set the houses on fire, to the grief and dismay of the inhabitants, and then marched away with their prisoners to commercy. intelligence of this was instantly sent to sir john de luxembourg, who was grieved at heart on hearing it; and as his plans were now at an end, he sent letters to countermand the coming of his friends, and gave up his intended expedition. chap. xxvii. the burgundians, under pretence of being english, gain the castle of la boue, near to laon.--other matters. at this same period, the men of the lord de ternant, who resided in rethel, dressed themselves with the red cross, to counterfeit being english, and, on a certain day, won by stratagem the castle of la boue, within two leagues of laon. they were under the command of a man at arms called nicholas chevalier; and, by means of this capture, those of laon, and other places under the obedience of king charles, suffered much. the reason why they put on the red cross was on account of the truce between king charles and the duke of burgundy, which was not then expired. they had always been of the duke's party; and very many mischiefs were done to the poor countrymen by english, french, and burgundians. the count de vaudemont, at this time also, assembled three or four hundred combatants in picardy, whom he conducted to his town of vezelize: one of his captains was the bastard de humieres: and on their arrival, they commenced a severe warfare on the barrois and lorrainers, to whom they did much mischief by fire, sword and plunder. in the month of october, the duke and duchess of burgundy went to holland, escorted by about six hundred combatants from picardy. the duke staid there about a month to examine the country,--and during that time, a treaty was concluded between his counsellors and those of the duchess of bavaria, by which it was settled that the duke of burgundy should from the present enjoy all the honours, profits, and emoluments of the countries of hainault, holland, zealand and frizeland, with their dependancies, as his own hereditary right; but that, should the duke die before the said duchess, all these territories were to return to her as the legal heiress of them. many noble lordships and rich estates were at the same time allotted her together with the county of ostrevant, of which county alone she was now to style herself countess, laying aside all the titles of the above-named places. when these matters had been finally concluded, the duke consented that his cousin the duchess should marry sir françois de borselle, which had been secretly treated of between the parties. the duke of burgundy henceforward styled himself, in addition to his former titles, count of hainault, holland and zealand, and lord of frizeland. on the conclusion of this treaty, he returned to flanders. chap. xxviii. friar thomas goes to rome.--he is burnt there. in this year, friar thomas conette, of the order of carmelites, whom we have before noticed in this history, made many preachings in divers parts of champagne, the which had induced numbers of ladies of high rank to lay aside their ridiculous dresses. he thence journeyed to rome, during the popedom of eugenius iv. and arrived there with the venetian ambassadors. he was lodged at saint paul's, whence the pope ordered him to come before him, not with any evil intentions toward him, but for him to preach, for he had heard much of his renown. he refused twice to attend the holy father, under pretence of being ill; and the third time, the pope sent his treasurer to bring him. friar thomas, seeing the treasurer enter the house, instantly leaped out of the window to escape,--but, being directly pursued, was taken and carried before the pope in his palace. the cardinals of rouen and of navarre were charged to examine him and his doctrines, who, finding him guilty of heresy, and of death, he was in consequence sentenced to be publicly burnt in the city of rome. chap. xxix. the death of the duchess of bedford. in these days, anne duchess of bedford and sister to the duke of burgundy lay ill, at the hôtel of the tournelles in paris, of a lingering disorder, which in spite of all the care of her physicians, of whom she had many, carried her off from this life. she was buried in the same chapel of the celestins where louis, late duke of orleans, had been interred. the duke of bedford was sorely afflicted at her death; as were many of his party; for they feared that the connexion which had been continued by her means with her brother the duke of burgundy would thereby be weakened. when she died, ambassadors from the three parties, namely, king charles, king henry, and the duke of burgundy, were assembled at auxerre, and at melun, to treat of a peace; but as they could not agree upon terms, they separated and returned to their lords. chap. xxx. some of the french captains cross the the river somme, and overrun artois. in the beginning of december, captain blanchefort, sir anthony de chabannes, the lord de longueval, sir carados desquesnes, and others of king charles's party, assembled about eight hundred or a thousand combatants near breteuil, and thence marched to cross the river somme at capy. they advanced during the night for dourlens, whither they had sent spies to learn if they could not win it by scalado: but the lord de humieres, having had notice of their intentions, sent in all haste to inform the mayor and magistrates, that the french were marching to attack their town. upon this, they made every preparation for a good defence, and sent a messenger to the castle of beauval, to make the garrison acquainted with the above intelligence. the messenger was met just before day-break, a quarter of a league from the town by the french scouts, by whom he was taken and examined, and they soon learned from him his errand. they returned to their main body, which was close in the rear, who, hearing what the messenger had said, found their enterprise had failed, and returned to the town of beauquesne. when they had fully refreshed themselves, they re-crossed the somme, and marched back to their garrisons with great numbers of prisoners and a rich pillage. chap. xxxi. a benedictine monk attempts to gain the castle of st angelo at rome. while all these things were passing, a benedictine, surnamed the little monk, who had been a great favourite of pope martin, and had much power during his reign, attached himself, after his decease, to his successor, pope eugenius, and gained the same power under him as he had enjoyed before. notwithstanding the favour he was in with the pope, he conceived the design of betraying him, through the temptations of the devil, as it may be supposed, and had connected himself with the prince of salerno, promising to put him in possession of the castle of st angelo, and even of the city of rome. to effect this, he one day waited on the pope to take his leave, saying, that he was going to avignon to fix his residence there for some time. he then requested of the governor of the castle of st angelo to take charge of his coffers, containing his wealth, until his return, which the governor assented to, not suspecting his treachery. he ordered twelve cases to be made, capable of holding twelve men, which were to be intrusted to the care of two men to each case. when all things were ready, the better to succeed in his enterprise, he sent a page, who was his own nephew, with letters to one of the prisoners confined in the castle of st angelo, which fortunately fell into the hands of the governor, and thus made him acquainted with the whole of the plot. he instantly carried them to the pope, who ordered the monk to be delivered to the secular power, by whom he was put to the torture, and confessed his guilt. he was then condemned to death, and hanged on a gibbet and quartered in the principal market-place of rome. the prince of salerno, having failed in his attempt, did not however refrain from making open war on the pope within a short time after this event. in these days, an adventurer called thomelaire, provost of laon for king charles, won the castle of passavant, by means of certain intelligence with those within it. this was very displeasing to the duke of burgundy, for he was afraid that it would lay open his country to the enemy; and he had the place so strongly besieged that those who had taken it were forced to surrender at discretion. the said thomelaire and some others were put to death, and the castle razed to the ground. chap. xxxii. a peace is concluded between the duke of bar and the count de vaudemont. in this year, a peace was concluded, through the mediation of the duke of burgundy, between the duke of bar and the count de vaudemont. each promised to restore to the other whatever castles or towns they had won; and it was also agreed, that the eldest son of the count should marry the duke's eldest daughter, who was to give her annually six thousand francs, and a certain sum in ready money on the day of her marriage. this treaty having been drawn up by their most able counsellors, was signed by them, and then they mutually pardoned each other for whatever they might have done amiss. the young lady was delivered into the hands of the count, and all the articles of the treaty were duly observed, to the great joy of their subjects, who now found themselves free from all the vexations they had suffered in consequence of the late warfare between their lords. chap. xxxiii. the duchess of burgundy is brought to bed of a son in the town of ghent. on the th of april in this year, the duchess of burgundy was brought to bed of a son in the town of ghent. his godfathers were, the cardinal of winchester, and the counts de st pol and de ligny, brothers,--and the countess de meaux was the godmother. he was christened josse, although neither of the godfathers bore that name, but it had been so ordered by the duke and duchess. they all presented very rich gifts to the child. this year, the duke, with the consent of the estates, renewed the coin; and golden money was struck, called riddes[ ], of the value of twenty-four sols in silver coin called virelans[ ]. all the old money was called in at a fourth or fifth part of its value, and recoined. at this time, there were great quarrels between the towns of brussels and mechlin, insomuch that a severe war took place between them. in like manner, there was much dissention among the ghent-men, so that several officers were banished from the town. chap. xxxiv. a peace concluded between the duke of bar and the counts de st pol and de ligny. a treaty of peace now took place between the duke of bar and the two brothers, the counts de st pol and de ligny, who had for some time been at war,--by which the whole country of guise, parts of which had been conquered by sir john de luxembourg, count de ligny, and which was the hereditary inheritance of the duke of bar, was given up to the said sir john de luxembourg, in perpetuity to him and his heirs. for the greater security of the above, the duke freely gave up the castle of bohain, in the presence of many of his nobles and officers of the county of guise, whom he had ordered thither for the purpose of witnessing it, as well as several imperial and apostolical notaries. there were likewise some discussions relative to joan de bar, daughter of sir robert de bar, count of marle, and the portion of property she was to have in the duchy of bar, in right of her said father. there were also some proposals for a marriage between the second son of the count de saint pol and one of the youngest daughters of the duke of bar: but these two articles were deferred to the next time of meeting. when this negotiation had lasted some days, and the duke had been most honourably and grandly feasted by the two brothers in the castle of bohain, he departed thence, according to appearances, highly pleased with them, and returned to his duchy. footnotes: [footnote : riddes,--of the value of five shillings.--cotgrave.] [footnote : virelans. q.] chap. xxxv. a war takes place between sir john and sir anthony du vergy and the lord de chasteau-vilain. in this same year, a great discord arose between sir john and sir anthony du vergy, burgundian knights, and the lord de château-vilain, which ended in an open war. the lord de château-vilain, the more to annoy his enemies, turned to the party of the king of france, together with sir legier d'estouteville, jean de verpelleurs, and some other gentlemen, who had long been his allies and wellwishers. by this conduct they broke their oaths to the duke of burgundy, their natural lord, with whom the lord de château-vilain had been on the most intimate terms. this lord also returned the badge of the duke of bedford which he had long worn, which made the duke very indignant; and he blamed him greatly in the presence of the person who had brought the badge, saying that he had thus falsified the oath he had made him. the duke of burgundy was likewise very much displeased when it came to his knowledge, and he sent pressing orders to all his captains in burgundy to exert themselves to the utmost in harrassing the lord de château-vilain. in obeying these orders, the country of burgundy suffered much,--for the lord de château-vilain had many castles in different parts of it, which he garrisoned with his friends. by the forces of the duke, assisted by the lords du vergy and others of the nobles of burgundy, he was so hardly pushed that the greater part of his castles were conquered and demolished, namely, graussy, flongy, challancy, villiers le magnet, nully, the castle of st urban, blaise, saint vorge, esclaron, varville, cussay, romay, vaudemont, and lasoncourt. the siege of graussy lasted more than three months under the command of jean du vergy, the principal in this quarrel, having with him sir william de baufremont, william de vienne, sir charles du vergy, and twelve hundred combatants. the lord de château-vilain, with the heir of commercy and robert de vaudricourt, and sixteen hundred fighting men, marched to raise the siege, when a grand skirmish took place, but only one man was killed. the lord de château-vilain, however, finding that he could not attempt to raise the siege without very great danger from the strength of his enemies, retreated to the place whence he had come; and shortly after, sir denis de sainct-flour, who commanded within the castle, capitulated to surrender the place, on the garrison being allowed to march away in safety with their lives and baggage. having concluded this treaty, sir denis went to the king of france, who had him beheaded for several charges that had been made against him, and also for having put his wife to death. at this time, some captains of the duke of burgundy took by storm and by scalado the town of epernai, belonging to charles duke of orleans, a prisoner in england, in which every disorder was committed as in a conquered town. chap. xxxvi. a treaty of peace is concluded between the duke of burgundy and the liegeois. at the end of this year, a peace was concluded between the duke of burgundy and the liegeois. many meetings had been held before the two parties could agree on terms: at last, it was settled that the liegeois should pay the duke one hundred and fifty thousand nobles by way of compensation for the damages they had done to his country of namur by demolishing his castles, and other mischiefs. they also consented to raze to the ground the tower of mont-orgueil, near to bovines, which they held, and which indeed had been the chief cause of the war. they completely fulfilled all the articles of the treaty; and the pledges for their future good conduct were john de hingsbergh their bishop, jacques de fosseux, and other nobles of the country of liege. for the more effectual security of this treaty, reciprocal engagements were interchanged between the parties; and thus the liegeois who had been in very great alarms and fear, were much rejoiced to have peace firmly established throughout their territories. [a.d. .] chap. xxxvii. the duke of bedford, who styled himself regent of france, marries the daughter of the count de saint pol. at the commencement of this year, john duke of bedford espoused, in the town of therouenne, jacquilina, eldest daughter to pierre de luxembourg count de st pol, and niece to louis de luxembourg bishop of therouenne, chancellor of france for king henry, and also to sir john de luxembourg. this marriage had been long negociated by the bishop, who was very eager to bring it about, and he was at that time the principal minister and adviser of the said duke. the duke of burgundy was not in that country when it was solemnized,--but hearing of it on his return, he was displeased with the count de st pol for having thus, without his knowledge or advice, disposed of his daughter. the wedding-feasts were celebrated in the episcopal palace of therouenne; and for the joy and happiness the duke felt in this match (for the damsel was handsome, well made and lively), and that it might be long had in remembrance, he presented to the church of therouenne two magnificent bells of great value, which he had sent thither from england at his own cost. some days after the feasts were over, he departed from therouenne. chap. xxxviii. the town of st valery, in ponthieu, is won by the french. at this time, sir louis de vaucourt and sir regnault de versailles, attached to king charles, accompanied by about three hundred combatants, surprised about day-break, and took by scalado the town of st valery in ponthieu. the town was governed for the duke of burgundy by jean de brimeu, and great mischiefs were done there by the french according to their custom of dealing with conquered towns. the capture of this place alarmed the whole country round, and not without cause; for within a few days they greatly reinforced themselves with men at arms, and commenced a severe war on all attached to the english or burgundians. the most part of those in the neighbourhood entered into an agreement for security with them, for which they paid heavy sums of money. at this time also, by means of perrinet crasset, governor of la charité on the loire for king henry, was that town and castle given up. it was strongly situated, and had not been conquered during the whole of the war. chap. xxxix. the dukes of bedford and of burgundy go to saint omer. toward the end of may in this year, the dukes of bedford and of burgundy went to st omer to confer together on several public matters, and to consider on certain angry expressions that had been used and reported on both sides. the cardinal of england was with the duke of bedford, and very desirous to bring these two dukes to a right understanding with each other. however, though these two noble princes were come to saint omer for this purpose, and though it had been settled that they were to meet at an appointed time without either being found to wait on the other; nevertheless, the duke of bedford expected that the duke of burgundy should come to him at his lodgings, which he would not do. many of their lords went from the one to the other to endeavour to settle this matter of ceremony, but in vain. at length, the cardinal waited on the duke of burgundy, and, drawing him aside, said in an amicable manner, 'how is this, fair nephew, that you refuse to compliment a prince who is son and brother to a king, by calling on him, when he has taken so much trouble to meet you in one of your own towns, and that you will neither visit nor speak to him?' the duke replied, that he was ready to meet him at the place appointed. after a few more words, the cardinal returned to the duke of bedford; and within a short time, the two dukes departed from st omer without any thing further being done, but more discontented with each other than before. chap. xl. the death of john de toisy bishop of tournay.--great dissentions respecting the promotion to the vacant bishoprick. in this year, died in the town of lille, at a very advanced age, master john de toisy bishop of tournay, and president of the duke of burgundy's council. john de harcourt, bishop of amiens, was nominated by the holy father the pope to succeed him, which much displeased the duke of burgundy, for he was desirous to have promoted to it one of his counsellors, called master john chevrot, archdeacon of the vexin under the church of rouen. the duke had spoken on this subject to the bishop of amiens, that when it should become vacant he might not apply for it; and it was reported, that de harcourt had promised not to accept thereof. however, when he had been translated to tournay, the duke ordered all his subjects, in flanders and elsewhere, not to pay him any obedience; and in addition, the whole, or greater part of the revenues of the bishoprick were transferred to the duke, to the great sorrow of the bishop. hoping, nevertheless, to devise some means for a reconcilement, he resided a long time in tournay as a private person, where he was obeyed, and much beloved by the burghers and inhabitants. during this interval, the archbishoprick of narbonne became vacant, and, through the solicitations of the duke of burgundy, it was given to john de harcourt by the pope, and the bishoprick of tournay to the before-mentioned jean de chevrot. this translation was made by the holy father to please all parties, more especially the duke of burgundy; but it was very unsatisfactory to jean de harcourt, who refused to be translated, saying, that the pope had only done it to deprive him of his bishoprick of tournay. the duke, seeing that he would not comply, was more angered against him and the townsmen of tournay than before, and in consequence, forbade his subjects to carry any provisions to tournay, under pain of confiscation and corporal punishment. he had it also proclaimed, that all persons should give to his officers information where any property lay belonging to the burghers of that town, that it might be confiscated. very many mischiefs were done for the space of four or five years, on account of this discord. during which time, the count d'estampes was sent into tournay with a large company of knights and esquires, to take possession of the bishoprick for jean de chevrot, although john de harcourt was in the town. it happened therefore, that when the count d'estampes had ordered master stephen vivien to take possession of the cathedral, the greater part of the townsmen, to shew their discontent at the proceeding, rose in rebellion, and advanced to the cathedral, where vivien, seated on the episcopal throne, was going through all the ceremonies and acts that he had been ordered to do in the name of jean chevrot, in taking possession of the bishoprick. the populace no sooner witnessed what he was about than they rudely pushed him from the throne, and tore his surplice and other parts of his dress. many, in their rage, would have put him to death if the officers of justice had not laid hands on him and carried him off as their prisoner, giving the crowd to understand that he should be judicially punished to their satisfaction. john de harcourt, on whose account this riot had been raised, restrained them as much as he could by gentle remonstrances, and begging of them to return to their houses, for that all would end well, and he would legally keep possession of his bishoprick. after some little time, the commonalty retired, and the magistrates and principal inhabitants made the best excuses they could to the count d'estampes for this riot,--for they were afraid they should fare the worse for it in times to come. the count d'estampes, finding nothing effectual could be done, departed, and returned to the duke of burgundy at arras, and told him all that had passed in tournay. he was much vexed thereat, and issued stricter orders than before to distress the town, so that from this quarrel respecting the two bishops very many persons suffered great tribulations. even after the peace was concluded between king charles and the duke of burgundy, the king was much displeased at the conduct of the duke respecting tournay, and was desirous of supporting the claim of john de harcourt. john de harcourt perceiving that the duke was obstinately bent on having jean de chevrot bishop of tournay, and that he should not be allowed to enjoy peaceably the revenues of the bishoprick, and that withal his lands in hainault had been seized on and confiscated by the duke, departed from tournay, and went with a few attendants to the king, who gave him a most gracious reception, and he then continued his journey to his archbishoprick of narbonne. thus did jean de chevrot gain the bishoprick of tournay, who sent thither, to take possession, a canon of cambray, named master robert d'auclair. he was at this time very courteously received there, and obeyed as his procurator. chap. xli. the french make many conquests on the confines of burgundy. about this time, ambassadors were sent from the three estates of the duchy and county of burgundy to the duke, to remonstrate with him on the great damages the partisans of king charles were doing to his country by fire and sword, more especially his brother-in-law the duke of bourbon. they told him, that they had already taken by force many towns and castles, and were daily making further inroads into the country, which must be totally destroyed unless a speedy remedy was applied. they concluded by requesting most humbly, that he would, out of his grace, raise a sufficient body of men, and that he would personally march to their assistance. the duke, having heard their harangue, assembled his council, and then determined to collect men at arms from all his dependancies in brabant, flanders, artois, hainault and other parts. clerks were instantly employed to write letters to the different lords, knights and esquires, who had usually served him in his wars, to assemble as many men at arms and archers as they could raise, and be ready to march with him at the beginning of the month of may, whither he might be pleased to lead them. the captains, on receiving these orders from their prince, made every diligence to obey them; and several soon brought their men into the field, which harrassed much the countries of picardy, ponthieu, artois, tournesis, ostrevant, cambresis, vermandois and the adjoining parts, for the duke had not been equally diligent in completing his preparations, so that these men remained wasting the countries aforesaid for upwards of a month. at the end of may, the duke having assembled, from divers parts, a great quantity of carriages, stores and artillery, set out from the town of arras on the th day of june, attended by many of his captains. he was also accompanied by his duchess, who had a numerous attendance of ladies and damsels, to the amount of more than forty; and they were lodged in cambray, where sir john de luxembourg met him, and requested that he would come to his castle of bohain, to which the duke assented. on the morrow, when the duke and duchess had heard mass in the church of our lady at cambray, and afterward taken some refreshment, they set out for the castle of bohain, where they were joyfully and honourably received by sir john de luxembourg, count de ligny, and the countess his lady. they and their attendants were plentifully and nobly served with all sorts of provisions that were in season; and they remained there for two days, taking their pleasures in the chace and other amusements. in the mean time, the captains and men at arms advanced into the rhetelois. the duke and duchess, on leaving bohain, went to peronne, and thence through champagne, passing near to rheims. there were with him full six thousand combatants, as well men at arms as archers, the principal leaders of whom were the lord de croy, sir john de croy his brother, sir john de hornes seneschal of brabant, the lord de crequi and his brother, sir john bastard de st pol, his brother louis, the lord de humieres, sir baudo de noyelle, the lord de crevecoeur, robert de neufville, lancelot de dours, harpin de richammes, and many other nobles, as well knights as esquires. when the duke marched through champagne, he formed his troops into a van guard, a main body, and a rear guard. sir john de croy commanded the first under his brother,--and he had with him harpin de richammes. during the march, all the baggage was placed between the van and main body; and the duchess, then far gone with child, was there also, with her women, and near to the duke. the army marched in this array before the town of troyes, that was held by the french, and advanced to cappes on the line to burgundy. many of the burgundian lords now joined him, to whom he gave a gracious reception,--and having called a council of war, resolved on their future proceedings. it was settled that the duchess should fix her residence with her attendants at châtillon-sur-seine, while the duke marched to lay siege to mussi-l'evêque, in the possession of the french. great preparations were made, and many pieces of artillery were pointed against the gates and walls. the garrison once intended making an obstinate defence; but when they saw how numerous and well appointed were the duke's forces, and found they had no hope of succour, after eight days siege, they capitulated to surrender the place on having their lives and fortunes spared. on the conclusion of this treaty, they marched away under the duke's passports for st florentin. when the duke had appointed a new garrison, he went to the duchess at châtillon, and his men at arms advanced toward the county of tonnerre. chap. xlii. the duke of burgundy reconquers several places which the french had won in burgundy. when the duke of burgundy had sojourned some days at châtillon, he ordered the duchess to go to dijon, where she was most honourably received, and he himself went after his army. he had lussigines and passy besieged; and the first was so hard pressed that the garrison surrendered on having their lives spared, but giving up their effects. those of passy also gave hostages to surrender on the first day of september following, unless the duke and his army should be fought withal and beaten by his adversaries before that time. many other castles and forts held by the french, who were much alarmed at the great power of the duke of burgundy, were yielded up to him, namely, danlermoine, herny, coursaint, scealefloug, maligny, saint phalle, sicry, sabelly and others, to the amount of twenty-four. after these surrenders, the duke went to dijon, and his captains and men at arms were quartered over the country. sir john de croy was the commander in chief at all these sieges of places that submitted to the obedience of the duke of burgundy. chap. xliii. gilles de postelles is accused of treason to the duke of burgundy, and beheaded. in this year, a gentleman of hainault was accused of treason against the duke of burgundy. his name was gilles de postelles, who had been brought up as a dependant on the dowager-countess of hainault, aunt to the said duke. he was charged with having practised with divers of the nobles of that country to put the duke to death by shooting him with an arrow, or by some other means, while hunting in the forest, whither he would accompany him. for this cause, he was arrested in the mansion of the countess, at quesnoy, by sir willian de lalain bailiff of hainault. when he had been strictly examined and tortured, he was beheaded and quartered in the market-place of mons, and his quarters were sent to be placed in the four principal towns of that country. one of his servants was beheaded with him; but john de vendeges, to whom he had discovered his plot, fled the country, and afterward, by means of different excuses, and through the interest of his friends, was pardoned by the duke. the countess of hainault was strongly suspected of being implicated in this affair, but nothing was clearly proved against her. chap. xliv. the french win by scalado the town of crespy in the valois.--other matters. while these things were passing, a party of king charles's adherents won by scalado at day-break, the town of crespy in the valois from the english. the bastard de thian was governor; and he, with part of the garrison, and the inhabitants, were made prisoners: innumerable mischiefs were done to the town, for the french treated it in their usual manner to a conquered place. on the eve of the feast of the ascension, in this year, the commonalty of ghent rebelled against the duke's officers and the magistrates. but the principal sheriff posted himself with the banner of the counts of flanders in the market-place well accompanied, before the rebels had time to collect together, who, perceiving that they could not now carry their intentions into effect, fled from the town: some of them, however, were taken, and punished by the magistrates of ghent. in these days, the town of bruyeres, in the laonnois, was won from king charles by sir john de luxembourg's men, commanded by villemet de hainau, governor of montagu. this capture caused great alarm in the adjoining places, for they expected a strong garrison would be posted therein to attack them; and they, consequently, reinforced themselves as much as they could, to be enabled to resist them. chap. xlv. the duke of burgundy keeps his appointment before passy.--he besieges the town and castle of avalon. when the first day of september was come, the duke of burgundy (having previously sent his orders to all those who had been accustomed to serve under him) made his appearance before passy, according to the terms of the capitulation. he was there joined, by orders of king henry, by the lord de l'isle-adam, marshal of france, and sir john talbot, with sixteen hundred combatants. the duke received them joyfully, and made very handsome presents to these lords and to their men. the french, however, did not appear; and the garrison, in consequence, surrendered the place to the duke of burgundy, and marched away under his passports. the duke then sent a detachment to surround avalon, of which was captain one called fort espice, having under him two hundred men at arms, the flower of the army and renowned in war. they made an obstinate defence. the principal burgundian lords among the besiegers were the lord de charny, philibert de vaudray, and others,--from picardy were sir john bastard de st pol, the lord de humieres, and many noblemen, who advanced with great courage and encamped near to the ditches. several engines were pointed against the gates and walls, and damaged them greatly, breaches being made in divers parts. the besiegers now thought to take the place by storm, and made a vigorous attack, but were gallantly repulsed. however, the garrison, foreseeing that they could not hold out longer, and having no hopes of succour, they fled by night in much disorder, through a postern that had been neglected by the enemy. their flight was soon known, and the burgundians lost no time in arming and pursuing them, so that falling courageously upon them, they took and slew many. fort espice and some others saved themselves by flight. the town was now suddenly attacked, and won without resistance. the wife of fort espice was made prisoner, with many of his men and some peasants,--and every thing that was found in the place was plundered and carried away. chap. xlvi. pierre de luxembourg, count de st pol, besieges the town of st valery.--the death of the count de st pol. in the month of july of this year, pierre de luxembourg, count de saint pol, accompanied by lord willoughby, an englishman, and twelve hundred combatants of the two nations, laid siege to the town of saint valery; in which were, on the part of king charles, sir louis de vaucourt, philip de la tour and sir regnault de versailles, with a garrison of three hundred men. they pointed artillery against the walls and gates; and after the siege had lasted for three weeks, the before-named knights entered into treaty with robert de saveuses, who had been commissioned by the count de st pol for the purpose, and agreed that they would surrender the place at a fixed day, should they not be relieved before then, on receiving a sum of money, and liberty to depart in safety with their prisoners and baggage. as no one appeared to their succour, they marched away, under passports, to beauvais. shortly after, sir louis de vaucourt and sir regnault de versailles were met by one called le petit roland, on the road to senlis, who, though of the same party, from a private quarrel, attacked them with the men he was leading to chantilly; and in the end he defeated and robbed them, making sir regnault his prisoner. the count de st pol, having re-garrisoned st valery, gave the command of it to sir robert de saveuses. on marching thence, he fixed his quarters at a large village called blangy, in the county of eu, with the intent to besiege the castle of monchas, held by sir regnault de fontaines for king charles. sir regnault, not wishing to wait the event of a siege, capitulated with the commissioners of the count to surrender the place on the th day of next october, provided that neither king charles nor any of his partisans should be in sufficient force to offer him combat on that day before the castle of monchas, or on the plains of santhois near to villiers-le-carbonel, one league distant from haplaincourt. this treaty was confirmed, the th day of august, by the count, and hostages given on each side for its due performance. on the last day of this month of august, while the count was encamped near to blangy, and giving his orders for besieging the castle of rambures, he was taken suddenly ill, and died almost instantly. his men and all the english captains were grieved at heart for his loss, and retired to the garrisons whence they had come. his household had the body transported to st pol, where it was interred in front of the great altar of the abbey-church of cercamps, of which his ancestors had been the founders. his eldest son, louis de luxembourg, then about fifteen years of age, took possession of all his estates and lordships, and thenceforth was styled the count de st pol. chap. xlvii. the lord de la trimouille is arrested in the king's palace, and made to surrender his prisoner the viscount de thouars. while these things were passing, king charles resided chiefly at the castle of chinon, and with him was the lord de la trimouille, his principal adviser, but who conducted public affairs much to the dissatisfaction of charles d'anjou, and many other great lords. they also hated him from their friendship to the lord d'amboise viscount de thouars, whom he had detained in prison from the time the lord de lessay and anthony de vivonne had been beheaded through his means at poitiers, and also because the constable, by reason of his interference, could not regain the good graces of the king. having therefore formed their plan, the lord de bueil, sir peter de verseil, pregent de coetivy and other barons, to the number of sixteen, entered the castle of chinon, and went to the chamber of the lord de la trimouille, whom they found in bed. they made him prisoner, and carried him away, taking from him the government of the king. he afterward, by treaty, surrendered to them the lord d'amboise, and promised never to return to the king, yielding up many forts that he held as security for keeping the said treaty. shortly after, the constable was restored to the good graces of his monarch, who was well satisfied to receive him, although he was much vexed at the conduct that had been held to the lord de la trimouille: nevertheless, new ministers were appointed for the management of his affairs. at this time, philip lord de saveuses resided in mondidier with a sufficient garrison to oppose the french in compiègne, ressons, mortemer, bretueil, and other places. these had made an excursion to the amount of about one hundred and fifty combatants into the country of santhois, where they were met by the lord de saveuses, who slew or made prisoners the greater part: the rest saved themselves by flight. in this year, died in his town of avesnes, in hainault, the count de penthievre, who had been deprived of the duchy of brittany, as has been elsewhere fully related. a great mortality took place throughout almost all france, as well in large towns as in the country; and there prevailed also great divisions between the nobles and gentlemen against each other, so that neither god, his church, nor justice, were obeyed or feared, and the poor people were grievously oppressed in various ways. chap. xlviii. william de coroam puts to flight john beaurain.--sir john de luxembourg reconquers the castle of haphincourt. about this period, william de coroam, an englishman, in company with villemer de hainault, and some others of sir john de luxembourg's captains, with three or four hundred combatants, overthrew and plundered near to ivoy, between the ardennes and champagne, from five to six hundred men, whom john de beaurain, and divers captains, had assembled in hopes of conquering them. john de beaurain, however, and others, saved themselves by the fleetness of their horses. in the month of september, the castle of haphincourt, seated on the river somme, two leagues distant from peronne, was taken by a partisan of king charles, called martin le lombard, and his accomplices. within the castle was sir pierre de beausault, a noble and ancient knight, with his lady, the mother to sir karados de quesnes. the whole of the country of vermandois was much alarmed at this conquest, for the inhabitants feared it would open an easy entrance for the enemy into those parts. they, however, lost no time in sending notice of it to sir john de luxembourg, who, in a few days, assembled eight hundred picards, and marched them, in company with his nephew the young count de st pol, sir simon de lalain, the lord de saveuses, and other noble captains, to the castle of haphincourt, and had his artillery instantly pointed against the walls. his attacks were so severe on the garrison that they were forced to surrender at discretion, when some were hanged and others strangled. as for martin, jacotin and clamas, they obtained their liberty on paying a heavy ransom. the castle was delivered into the hands of jean de haphincourt, and the knight and lady sent away. after this exploit, sir john de luxembourg returned with his nephew, and the other captains, to the places whence they had come. chap. xlix. the counts de ligny and de st pol keep the appointed day at villiers le carbonel, and afterward defeat the french from the garrison of laon. on the th day of october, the young count de st pol, sir john de luxembourg, count de ligny, with from four to five thousand combatants, whom they had summoned from picardy and hainault, under the command of sir william de lalain, sir simon his brother, the lord de mailly, sir colart de mailly his brother, the lord de saveuses, valleran de moruel, guy de roye, and others expert in arms, marched to keep the appointment at villiers le carbonel, according to the capitulation signed at the castle of monchas in normandy. they were also joined by twelve hundred english, under the orders of the lord willoughby and sir thomas kiriel. neither sir regnault de fontaines, governor of monchas, nor any others on the part of king charles made their appearance at villiers le carbonel; and thus their hostages were left in very great danger. the two counts, however, remained all that day in battle-array on the plain, and toward evening quartered themselves and their men in the adjoining villages, seeing there was not a probability of an enemy shewing himself. on the morrow, they returned, by a short march, to the place whence they had come. within a few days after this, when the two counts were at guise, news was brought them, that the lord de penesach, governor of laon, had made an excursion, with four or five hundred combatants from different garrisons into the country of marle, and had nearly taken vervins, the hereditary inheritance of joan de bar, sir john's daughter-in-law, and had set fire to the suburbs of marle. sir john was much troubled on receiving this intelligence, and instantly mounted his horse, together with the count de st pol, sir simon de lalain, and those of his household. he sent in haste for reinforcements from all his garrisons that were near, and sir simon ordered his men, who were quartered in a village hard by, to follow without delay; so that he had very soon upwards of three hundred fighting men, whom he boldly marched to meet the enemy. he overtook them on their retreat at disy, not far from laon; and although they were very superior in numbers, he no sooner saw them than without waiting for the whole of his men to come up, he most gallantly charged them, and did wonders by his personal courage. the french took to flight, even under the eyes of their commander, excepting a few, who were defeated, and the most part put to death, to the number of eight score. the principals were, gaillart de lille, anthony de bellegarde, de mony, le borgne de vy, henry quenof from brabant, and others, to the number aforestated. from sixty to eighty were made prisoners, the greater part of whom were on the morrow hanged; among them was one named rousselet, provost of laon. a gentleman of arms, called l'archenciel was taken in the engagement, but given up to sir simon de lalain, whose life he had formerly saved at st vincent, as has been related. in return, sir simon was desirous of saving his; but he could not succeed, for sir john de luxembourg caused him to be put to death, which angered greatly sir simon, but he could not remedy himself. the french were pursued as far as laon, and many killed and taken. on this day, the young count de st pol was entered a warrior,--for his uncle made him slay several, in which he took much delight. after the defeat, they all returned to guise in high spirits on account of their happy success. chap. l. la hire and other french captains overrun artois and cambresis. in the month of september, of this year, la hire, with others of king charles's captains, such as anthony de chabannes, blanchefort, charles de flavy, regnault de longueval, and full fifteen hundred combatants, whom they had assembled in beauvais, crossed the somme at cappy into artois, and made a number of peasants prisoners, who were unsuspicious of such an inroad, and returned with them and their plunder to beauvais, where they were all quartered. they also made great seizures of men and cattle in the cambresis, by whose ransoms they acquired large sums of money. they again took the field, but after some little time they divided; and anthony de chabannes with blanchefort and their men went toward cambray, and, passing by it, they took the straight road to haspres, as a free fair had been held the preceding day at the town of ivoy; and because the townsmen would not compound according to their pleasure, they burnt most part of the town and the church. they then advanced to haspres, which was full of people and merchandize, and entered it by surprise. they made many prisoners, but several retired with some monks into a strong tower, which was long attacked in vain by the french. in revenge for not being able to gain it, they plundered all they could lay hands on in the town, and then set it on fire, by which several houses were destroyed, with the church and abbey of st akaire. they also committed other enormous mischiefs. having packed up their plunder, they departed, and, traversing the cambresis, took many prisoners, and burnt numbers of houses, and went to lodge at mont st martin[ ], where la hire was waiting for them. on this same day, la hire had set fire to the town of beaurevoir, the mill, and a very handsome country-seat called la mothe, situated near to the town, and belonging to the countess de ligny. many detachments scoured the country, committing numberless mischiefs without opposition; for sir john de luxembourg was absent with his nephew the young count de st pol on business relative to matters that had happened in consequence of the death of sir peter de luxembourg his father. this was the cause why the french met with no resistance on this expedition wherever they went. from mont st martin they took the road toward laon, carrying with them multitudes of prisoners and great herds of cattle. they halted at cressy-sur-serre, and thence, without any loss, returned to laon, where they divided their spoils, and went to the different garrisons whence they had come. about this period, the lords de croy and de humieres returned, with about two thousand horse, from burgundy, where they had been for a considerable time under duke philip, assisting him in his various conquests from the french. the duchess of burgundy was delivered of a son at dijon, who was knighted at the font: his godfathers were charles count de nevers, who gave him his own name, and the lord de croy. he was also made a knight of the order of the golden fleece, and in addition the duke his father gave him the county of charolois. footnotes: [footnote : mont st martin. q. if not thun-st-martin?] chap. li. the duke of burgundy holds the anniversary feast of the golden fleece in the city of dijon.--he attends the marriage of the duke of savoy's son. at this time, the duke of burgundy held the feast of the golden fleece in the city of dijon; and, shortly after, messengers arrived from the duke of savoy to request that he would come to the wedding of his son the count of geneva, about to marry the daughter of the king of cyprus, which wedding was to be celebrated in the town of chambery in savoy. the duke of burgundy complied with the request; and, having arranged all his affairs about candlemas, he left the duchess at chalons in burgundy, with his army in that neighbourhood, and departed for savoy, attended by about two hundred knights and esquires. after some days travelling, he arrived at chambery, and was met by the duke of savoy and the count de geneva, who received him with every respect. on the day after his arrival, the wedding was celebrated, and the feast was most plentifully served. on the right of the great table were seated the cardinal of cyprus, uncle to the bride, the queen of sicily, consort to king louis and daughter to the duke of savoy, and the duke of burgundy: in the center was the bride, and then the duke of bar, the count de nevers and the heir of cleves. at the second table were placed the duke of savoy, the count de fribourg, the marquis de fribourg, the prince of orange, the chancellor of savoy, with several noble men and ladies. at other tables were many knights, esquires, ladies and damsels, from various countries, all most richly dressed; and every table was abundantly and properly served according to the rank of the guests. this feast lasted for several days, in which the company amused themselves with dancings, and in divers sports and pastimes. the duke of burgundy, after staying three days, presented the bride with a magnificent clasp of the value of three thousand francs,--on which occasion, he was heartily thanked by the duke of savoy and his son,--and, taking leave of the company, returned to burgundy. chap. lii. a general council is held at basil. in the course of this year a general council was held at basil with great pomp. the emperor of germany, and many great lords, as well secular as ecclesiastic, from different countries, were present at the opening thereof. their first object was to send ambassadors to endeavour to appease the quarrels between the king of france on the one hand, and the king of england and the duke of burgundy on the other. during the sitting of this council, the very agreeable intelligence was brought thither, that the men of prague had been defeated, and from eight to ten thousand killed, by the nobles of bohemia, assisted by six hundred men at arms, whom the members of the council had sent to their support. shortly after, two priests, the leaders of the hussite-heretics, were slain; one named protestus du tabouret, and the other lupus, together with six thousand of their sect. the rich city of prague was conquered, and purged of heretics, as well as the greater part of the country. the bohemians sent an embassy to the council to receive absolution, and a confirmation in the catholic faith. the council laid a tax on the clergy of one-tenth. ambassadors arrived at basil in great state from the king of castille and the spaniards: these were attended by full four hundred persons, and two hundred mules. the cardinals de santa croce and de san pietro were sent by the council to philip maria duke of milan, to recover the lands of the church which he had seized, but their labour was in vain. chap. liii. the town and castle of provins in brie are won by the english and burgundians.--the french reconquer the town and castle of st valery. about this time, the town and castle of provins in brie was won by scalado, from the french, by the english and burgundians. their principal captains on this expedition were sir john raillart, mando de lussach, thomas girard, governor of montereau-faut-yonne, richard huçon, and others, with about four hundred combatants. the leader of the scalers was one called grosse-tête. the castle was gained at five o'clock in the morning, although the governor de gueraines, with five hundred fighting men, defended themselves most valiantly for the space of eight hours, to the great loss of the assailants, who had six score or more killed, and in the number was a gallant english man at arms called henry de hungerford. the town and castle were, however, conquered and pillaged, and the greater part of the french put to death. the governor, perceiving all hopes of success were vain, escaped with some others. the command of the place was afterward given to the lord de la grange. in the beginning of the month of january, the partisans of king charles regained the town and castle of st valery, under the command of charlot du marests, governor of rambures, through the negligence of the guards. it had been intrusted to the care of robert de saveuses, but he was then absent,--and there was such a mortality in the town that few ventured to reside therein: the bastard de fiennes, his lieutenant, with others were made prisoners, and the whole country of ponthieu was in great alarm at this event. philip de la tour was also a principal commander on this expedition with charlot du marests. [a.d. ] chap. liv. the duke of burgundy returns from burgundy to flanders and artois, having with him john son to the count de nevers.--other matters. in the beginning of this year, philip duke of burgundy returned from burgundy to his territories of flanders, artois, and other parts, escorted by about six hundred combatants. he left his duchess and young son behind him in burgundy, and all his castles well garrisoned with men at arms. he carried with him john son to the count de nevers, his cousin-german, on his visits to the principal towns, where he sought for succours in men and money to take back with him to burgundy. during this time, sir john de luxembourg, who had posted himself on the frontiers of the laonnois, conquered the strong abbey of st vincent lez laon from king charles's garrison, and made prisoner a notable gentleman called anthony de cramailles, whom sir john caused to be beheaded and his body quartered at ripelmonde. at this attack on the abbey of st vincent, jarnet de pennesach, and eustache vaude lost their lives. sir john re-garrisoned this place, which caused great fears in the town of laon; and to be enabled to resist any attacks from thence, they had strong reinforcements quartered among them of well tried men at arms. in consequence, daily skirmishes took place between them, when many of each party were killed or wounded; and on the side of sir john de luxembourg, a valiant knight, called colart de forges, was slain by a shot from a bow, which passed through his leg. chap. lv. john de nevers is ordered to lay siege to moreuil.--he has the county of estampes given to him. when the duke of burgundy was returned to picardy with john, son to the count de nevers, the duke gave him the county of estampes, which title he bore for a long time after, and was likewise appointed governor of picardy, to take on him the charge of guarding the frontiers. he assembled men at arms to lay siege to the castle of moreuil[ ], in possession of the french, and was joined by the lord d'antoing, sir john de croy, the vidame of amiens, valeran de moreuil, the lord de humieres, the lord de saveuses, the lord de neufville, sir baudo de noyelle governor of peronne, and the governors of mondidier and roye. his force consisted of one thousand combatants, whom the count d'estampes led to the castle of moreuil, and quartered them before it. not more than one hundred fighting men were in the castle, who were, within eight days, so hardly pressed that they were forced to surrender the place on having their lives spared, leaving their baggage and effects at the disposal of the count d'estampes and his commissaries. on the treaty being signed, the french marched away under passports from the count, and the command of the place was given to valeran de moreuil. the count d'estampes conducted his army then to the castle of mortemer, near ressons-sur-mer, which was soon surrendered, and completely demolished. after which the count marched back with his men to the places whence they had come. footnotes: [footnote : moreuil,--a town in picardy, situated between corbie and mondidier.] chap. lvi. a quarrel between the romans and pope eugenius, whom they wanted to detain at rome against his will. at this period, pope eugenius, who resided at rome, had an inclination to fix his abode at florence, which, when known to the romans, troubled them much. they assembled in great multitudes, and went to the pope to say that he should not depart thence, for that he could be no where better than in rome, the fountain of christianity. the pope and cardinals, perceiving the madness and obstinacy of the people, pretended to give up their intentions of removing: nevertheless the romans established sufficient guards at all the gates, that they might not depart without their knowledge. however, by means of the beautiful queen of sicily, who sent the pope some gallies and other vessels, he secretly quitted rome and went to florence, to the great vexation of the romans, who instantly arrested all whom the pope had left behind; and in the number was his nephew, the cardinal of venice. he afterward escaped, disguised like a monk, and thus equipped travelled alone. chap. lvii. the abbey of st vincent near laon is demolished.--many castles are conquered by the burgundians. the duke of burgundy now departed from picardy, on his return to burgundy, attended by about two thousand fighting men, and sir simon de lalain and robert de saveuses. he took his march through the cambresis, and thence to cressy-sur-serre, and to provins. the french were, at this time, assembled in great force at laon, with the intent to besiege the abbey of st vincent, which was garrisoned, as has been before said, by sir john de luxembourg. sir john sent messengers to the duke at vervins to inform him of his situation, and to request that he would march back to cressy-sur-serre, and remain there for three or four days, in order that the french in laon, hearing of his being so near, might give up their intentions of besieging him. the duke complied with the request, and returned to cressy; and in the mean time a treaty was commenced between the count de ligny and the french in laon, when it was agreed that the garrison should march from st vincent with their baggage and other effects, but that the place should be demolished. this being done, the duke continued his march through champagne to burgundy; and while there he greatly reinforced himself with troops from burgundy and picardy. he thence detached a party to besiege the town and castle of chaumont in the charolois, held by the french: the garrison was soon so hardly pressed that it surrendered at discretion to the duke of burgundy, who had upwards of one hundred of them hanged. sir john bastard de st pol commanded the picards in the duke's absence. among those who were hanged was the son of rodrigue da vilandras. those in the castle surrendered themselves to the duke, and were treated in like manner as the townsmen. this detachment afterward besieged beuam, which also surrendered, but on condition that the garrison should have free liberty to depart with staves in their hands. thus by laying siege to several castles and smaller forts they reduced a great many to the obedience of the duke of burgundy. chap. lviii. the lord talbot returns to france, and conquers many towns and castles. in this same year, the lord talbot returned from england to france, bringing with him eight hundred combatants, whom he landed at rouen. marching thence toward paris, he reconquered the fort of jouy, situated between beauvais and gisors, and hanged all the french found within it. he continued his march to paris, where it was determined, by king henry's council, that he should, in company with the lord de l'isle-adam, marshal of france, sir galois d'aunay lord of arville, and the bishop of therouenne, chancellor of france for king henry, march with all their troops to lay siege to the castle of beaumont-sur-oise, which had been much strengthened by amadour de vignolles, brother to la hire. these three knights marched from paris with full sixteen hundred well tried combatants; but when they came before the castle of beaumont they found it deserted; for amadour de vignolles, having heard of their intentions, had abandoned it, and retreated with his men and baggage to the town of creil. the english, having destroyed the fortifications of beaumont, hastened to follow them; and having surrounded creil on all sides, many severe skirmishes took place, in which the besieged made a gallant defence: but in one of them, amadour was mortally wounded by an arrow, which greatly disheartened his men, for they held him to be a courageous and expert man at arms. during this siege, the bishop of therouenne joined the besiegers; and at the end of six weeks, the garrison surrendered, on condition of being allowed to depart with their baggage and effects. after the english had re-garrisoned the town and castle of creil, they advanced to lay siege to the pont de st maixence, held by guillon de ferrieres, nephew to st trailles, who surrendered it on conditions similar to those granted at creil. the english thence marched to neufville en esmoy and to la rouge maison, and then to crespy in valois, which was taken by storm. there were full thirty french within it, under the command of pothon le bourguignon. they then returned to clermont in the beauvoisis, held by the bourg de vignolles, who submitted to them, and thence to beauvais; but perceiving they could not gain any thing further, they retreated to paris and to the other garrisons whence they had come. chap. lix. the count d'estampes reconquers the town of st valery. at the same time with the foregoing expedition, the count d'estampes, accompanied by the lord d'antoing, sir john de croy, the vidame of amiens, and most of the lords who had been with him at moreiul, marched to lay siege to st valery, where they remained about one month. at length, charles du marests and philip de la tour, who had gained the town by surprise, entered into a capitulation to evacuate it within eight days, should they not before then be relieved, on receiving a certain sum of money, and on being allowed to depart in safety with their baggage and effects. on the appointed day, no french forces appeared to offer combat to the count d'estampes; but on the contrary, louis de luxembourg, chancellor of france, came thither to the support of the count, with five hundred english, commanded by the lord willoughby, sir guy le bouteiller, and brunclay governor of eu. the chancellor and his companions were joyfully received by the count d'estampes and the other lords. the french marched away, according to the terms of their treaty from st valery to rambures, whither they were led by charles du marests. on their departure, a barge arrived at the port from st malo, laden with wines for the french, which was instantly seized by the sailors attached to the english party. the chancellor and the english returned to their former quarters at eu, and the count d'estampes was lodged that night in st valery. on the morrow, he began his retreat to artois, having appointed john de brimeu governor of the town and castle, where he disbanded his forces. from the town of eu the chancellor marched the english to lay siege to the castle of monchas, which in a few days surrendered by means of a sum of money given to sir regnault de fontaines, the governor. the whole of this castle was destroyed, although it was the finest castle in the county of eu. during this time, the earl of arundel resided mostly at mantes, and in the district of chartres, and reconquered many forts from the french in those parts, as well as in perche. the duke of bedford was now returned from england to rouen, and thence went to paris, where he resided a considerable time. chap. lx. the french gain the town of hamme on the somme, in the vermandois. in the month of august of this year, a party of french won the town of hamme, which had been held by the count de ligny's men. the townsmen instantly surrendered on the french appearing before it, for the garrison had abandoned the place. the count de richemont, constable of france, the bastard of orleans, la hire, and many other captains came thither with a large body of combatants. the countries of the vermandois, artois, and cambresis were greatly alarmed at the conquest of hamme, which was a strong situation, and gave them the passage of the river somme, and also because their prince was absent in burgundy. however, the counts de st pol, d'estampes, and de ligny used all diligence to collect a sufficiency of troops to oppose any further incursions of the french. a treaty was at the same time set on foot, and the french agreed to restore the town of hamme to its owner, sir john de luxembourg, on receiving the sum of forty thousand crowns. the reason of this treaty being made on such easy terms was the expectation of a speedy peace being concluded between king charles and the duke of burgundy, for negotiations on this subject had already commenced. with the town of hamme the fort of breteuil was also given up to the count d'estampes, which blanchefort had held for a considerable time. at this period, the duke of burgundy caused coulogne-les-vigneuses to be besieged by sir william de rochefort and philibert de vaudrey, with eight hundred combatants. they posted themselves in a block-house,--and at the end of three months, the garrison surrendered, on having their lives and baggage spared. chap. lxi. the town and castle of chasteau-vilain submits to the obedience of the duke of burgundy. on the duke of burgundy's return to that country, he advanced to grantsy, which had for some time been besieged by sir john de vergy and his allies. the inhabitants, seeing no hope of being succoured, concluded a treaty to surrender it to the duke, when the castle was not destroyed, but given to the lord de thil, brother to the lord de château-vilain. when this had been done, the duke ordered sir john de vergy, and the other captains as well from burgundy as from picardy, to advance before the city of langres, and summon the garrison to submit to his obedience. this they not only refused to do but detained the herald, called germole, who had brought the message. the burgundians, finding themselves unable to take the place, returned with the army to the duke. chap. lxii. heavy taxes laid on the countries of artois and those adjoining, on account of this war. in these days, very heavy taxes were laid on the countries of artois, vermandois, ponthieu, amiennois, and others adjoining, to pay the composition-money to the constable of france, which had been agreed to for the surrender of hamme. the poorer ranks were sorely oppressed by them, and began to murmur and be very much discontented with the rulers and ministers to whom the duke of burgundy had intrusted the government of these countries in his absence, but it availed them nothing: for those who refused to pay were arrested, and their effects seized without regard to justice, until their quotas were duly paid. during this time, the lord de saveuses had been ordered by the count d'estampes to demolish the town and castle of breteuil in beauvoisis, which, as has been said, was given up to him by blanchefort, the late governor thereof. the lord de saveuses had brought a number of workmen and labourers from amiens, corbie, and other places, who soon destroyed the whole, excepting a strong gate of the castle that had been well fortified, and which the lord de saveuses filled with provisions and artillery, leaving within it from twenty to thirty of his men, to guard it. in like manner were demolished the tower of vendueil, and some other smaller forts in the country round about. chap. lxiii. the duke of burgundy's captains appear before villefranche, wherein was the duke of bourbon.--they afterward besiege belleville, which surrenders to them. about this time the duke of burgundy sent the greater part of his captains, with a large body of men at arms, to overrun the country as far as villefranche, wherein was charles duke of bourbon. this detachment was commanded by the lord de chargny, sir simon de lalain, sir baudo de noyelle, the lord d'auxi, robert de saveuses, lancelot de dours, harpin de richammes, and consisted of about sixteen hundred combatants, who marched in handsome array toward the parts whither they had been ordered. toward evening, on one of their marches, they fell in with about six hundred of the enemy, who instantly fled to their lord the duke of bourbon; some of the worst mounted were made prisoners by the burgundians and picards. on their arrival before villefranche, they drew up in battle-array, and sent a pursuivant to inform the duke of bourbon of their coming, and to offer him battle. the duke, ignorant of their force, was not inclined to accept their challenge,--but made answer, that since the duke of burgundy was not present on the field, he would not fight them. he dispatched, however, many on horseback and on foot, from his town, to skirmish with them. the duke himself even made a sally, mounted on his excellent war horse, but without arms, and dressed in a long robe, with a wand in his hand, to make his men keep up a steady countenance at the barriers; during which a considerable skirmish took place, but without any great losses on either side. after the burgundians and picards had remained four hours in battle array, seeing that no advantages were to be gained, they retreated in good order, posting their most expert men in their rear by way of guard, and thus returned to their lord the duke of burgundy. the duke ordered them afterward to lay siege to belleville,--in which place the duke of bourbon had put sir james de chabannes and the bailiff of beauvais, with three hundred men, who made instant preparations for defence. nevertheless, the besiegers so pressed them with their engines and continued attacks that, at the end of a month, they surrendered, on having their lives spared, and marched off without arms and baggage, on foot and with staves in their hands, to their lord the duke of bourbon. he was much mortified to receive them in that condition, but he could not amend it. the duke of burgundy placed several of his picardy captains as a garrison in that town, whence they committed innumerable mischiefs all over that part of the bourbonnois. on the other hand, the duke of burgundy sent a detachment from his army in burgundy to dombes, and to the neighbourhood of lyon on the rhône, who took many castles, and wasted the country with fire and sword, carrying back with them a very large booty in plunder. the leaders of this last expedition were, the count de fribourg, the bastard de st pol, the lord de vaurin, and some others. chap. lxiv. the lord willoughby and mathagon lay siege to st severin, where the english are at first victorious, but are afterwards defeated by the french. in this same year of , the lord willoughby, accompanied by mathagon and some other captains, and from eight hundred to a thousand combatants, laid siege to a very strong place in the country of maine called st severin, about two leagues distant from alençon, which was held by the french. the governor was a gallant knight, named sir anthony de loreuil, who, on the arrival of the enemy, made a vigorous defence: nevertheless, the english surrounded the place on all sides, and remained there about six weeks. while this was going forward, the lord de bueil, sir william blesset, the lord de la varenne, and other french captains, assembled about fourteen hundred fighting men, with the intent to force the enemy to raise their siege. they remained for some days at beaumont le vicomte, where part of them were quartered, and the remainder at vivien, four leagues distant from st severin. while at beaumont, they called a council of all the chief captains, to consider how they should act; when, after much noise and debating, they considered themselves not strong enough to fight the english in their present situation, and determined to attempt withdrawing the besieged the back way out of the town. the captains now returned to their different quarters, and established good guards around them during the night, both of horse and foot. the lord de bueil was, on this expedition, lieutenant for the lord charles d'anjou, and had the charge of his banner. this same night, a detachment of the english, having had intelligence of the advance of the french, took the field, and marched in silence until they came near to the town of vivien, whither they sent scouts to reconnoitre the state of the french, who, having twice entered vivien, brought word they were in tolerable good order. the english then made an attack on their quarters about day-break, and easily defeated them without much loss. many were taken and killed: among the last was a valiant man from amiens, but originally from auvergne, called john de belley. when the business was over, the english took the field with their prisoners; but the lords de bueil and de la varenne, who were in beaumont, hearing of this discomfiture from the runaways, made instant preparations to pursue the english, who no sooner saw them than they rejoiced, thinking to defeat them as they had done the others,--and each party met gallantly. many valorous acts were done on both sides; but, in the end, the english lost the day, partly from the prisoners whom they had taken at vivien joining the french. a valiant knight named arthur, was slain, and mathagon made prisoner,--but the bastard of salisbury fled. four hundred, or more, of the english were killed or taken, and the french left masters of the field, very joyful for their victory. when the english who had remained at the siege of st severin heard of the ill success of their companions, they raised the siege, and retreated to the garrisons whence they had come. chap. lxv. la hire treacherously makes the lord d'auffemont a prisoner. during these tribulations, la hire, accompanied by anthony de chabannes, the bourg de vignolles his brother, and about two hundred combatants, passed one day near to the castle of clermont in the beauvoisis, of which the lord d'auffemont was governor. he was no way alarmed at their appearance; and, as a mark of his good will, ordered wine to be drawn, and carried without the postern of the great tower, for them to drink. the lord d'auffemont came also out of the castle, with only three or four of his attendants, to converse with them, and showed great courtesy to la hire and his companions, not having the smallest distrust of their treacherous intentions, which they very soon made apparent; for during the conversation, la hire laid hands on him, and forced him to surrender the castle, putting him withal in irons and in confinement. in this state, he kept him upwards of a month, insomuch that his limbs were greatly bruised and benumbed, and he was covered with lice and all sorts of vermin. at length, he obtained his liberty, and paid for his ransom fourteen thousand saluts d'or, and a horse of the value of twenty tons of wine, notwithstanding king charles wrote several times to la hire to set him at liberty without ransom, for that he was well satisfied with his services,--but it was all in vain. chap. lxvi. the common people of normandy rise against the english garrisons. in this year, the common people in normandy, especially those in the country of caux, rebelled against the english. there were upward of two thousand in one company, who had risen in their own defence, because, contrary to the royal edicts, the english had plundered the poorer ranks. the bailiff and other officers in that country had before advised them (each according to his state) to provide themselves with arms and staves, to enable them to oppose all who should attempt to pillage or oppress them by seizing their effects by force. in obedience to these commands, the peasants had risen and driven back many parties of marauders to their garrisons, having killed and taken captive several, to the great displeasure of their captains. they, however, did not let this appear, but concluded a treaty with the peasants, who foolishly began their retreat in a very disorderly manner, not suspecting the malice of the english, who secretly followed them to st pierre sur dive, near to tancarville, when they attacked them, and slew from a thousand to twelve hundred: the rest saved themselves as well as they could in the woods, and by flight. great complaints were made of this conduct at rouen, and many were banished that had been of this enterprise: but shortly after, it was hushed up, on account of more serious matters that fell out in that country. chap. lxvii. la hire gains the castle of breteuil, in beauvoisis, by storm. when la hire had conquered the castle of clermont, as has been related, he assembled about five hundred combatants from the garrisons in the beauvoisis, and marched them to the castle of breteuil, which was in the possession of saveuses' men. he made a sharp attack on it,--but it was well defended, and several of the assailants were killed. the garrison, however, from the repeated attacks, finding they had lost many men in killed and wounded, and that the fortifications were much damaged, surrendered to la hire at discretion. he had some of them hanged, and sent the rest prisoners to clermont,--and, having re-garrisoned the place, committed numberless mischiefs throughout the adjacent parts in santerre, and toward amiens, corbie, mondidier, and elsewhere. chap. lxviii. the dukes of burgundy and of bourbon meet in the city of nevers, and agree on terms for a peace. a murderous war having been continued for a long time between the duke of burgundy and his brother-in-law, the duke of bourbon, secret negotiations were set on foot, in the hope of pacifying them. they were begun by commissioners from each side meeting in the town of mâcon, where they remained several days. at the commencement, some difficulties arose respecting the precedency of these two dukes, and which should have the honour of being named first. after some dispute, it was settled that the duke of burgundy should be first named, and take the precedency of the duke of bourbon in every instance. when this matter had been determined, they then discussed various proposals for bringing about a peace between them, and appointed another meeting, when the two dukes might have an interview, either at douzy[ ] or in the city of nevers, in the ensuing month of january. this being settled, the commissioners separated, and returned to their respective lords. while these negotiations were passing, the duke of burgundy celebrated the festivals of christmas and twelfth-day, in his town of dijon, in a most magnificent manner; and when the feasts were over, he departed thence grandly attended by the count de nevers, the marquis de rothelin, his nephew of cleves, with many other knights and esquires of note, and a numerous body of men at arms. he journeyed to douzy, and thence to nevers, where he was lodged at the bishop's palace, and waited some days for the arrival of the duke of bourbon and his sister the duchess. at length the duchess came, accompanied by her two sons and a brilliant attendance of knights, esquires, ladies and damsels. the duke of burgundy went out of the palace to meet her, and received her with much affection and joy, for he had not seen his sister for a long time, and showed the same love to his nephews, although they were very young. the duchess, on quitting her carriage, was handed by the duke as far as her lodgings, where he took his leave, and left her to repose for the night. on the morrow, the duchess waited on her brother at the palace: she was received most kindly, and partook of a variety of amusements. there was much dancing, and a numerous party of masqueraders on the part of the duke of burgundy: when wines and spiced had been brought, the company retired to their lodgings. on the next day a council was held, when it was determined that arthur of brittany, constable of france, and the archbishop of rheims, should be sent for. within a few days, the duke of bourbon arrived at nevers, attended by sir christopher de harcourt, the lord de la fayette marshal of france, and many other knights and esquires of renown. the duke of burgundy sent out the lords of his household to meet him; and when he was approaching the duke of burgundy, without the town, he pressed forward,--and the two dukes, on their meeting, shewed the greatest respect and brotherly affection to each other. a knight of burgundy, observing this, said aloud, 'we are very foolish to risk our bodies and souls at the will of princes and great lords, who, when they please, make up their quarrels, while we oftentimes remain poor and in distress.' this speech was noticed by many on each side, for there was much truth in it,--and thus it very frequently happened. after this meeting, the duke of burgundy escorted his brother-in-law to his lodgings, and then went to his own. shortly after, the duke and duchess of bourbon visited the duke of burgundy, when there were again great feastings and pastimes. on the morrow, the two dukes and the duchess heard mass in an oratory; and after dinner a grand council was held at the lodgings of the count de nevers, when a peace was finally concluded between these two dukes on terms that were mutually agreeable; and the utmost satisfaction was now shown on all sides by the principals and their friends and dependants. the whole of the expense of these feasts, or at least the greater part, was defrayed by the duke of burgundy, for he would have it so. as soon as this business was concluded, the constable of france (who had married a sister to the duke of burgundy) and regnault de chartres, archbishop and duke of rheims, chancellor of france, accompanied by some of the principal members of king charles's council, and numbers of knights and esquires, arrived at nevers. the two dukes went out to meet them; and the greatest respects having been paid on each side, they all together returned to the town, where they were lodged in the best manner possible, each according to his rank. within a few days many councils were held respecting a peace between the king of france and the duke of burgundy; and various proposals were made to the duke concerning the murder of the late duke john that were agreeable to him, insomuch that preliminaries were agreed on, and a day appointed for a convention at arras to put a final conclusion to it. when this was done, they separated most amicably; and news of this event was published throughout the realm, and other countries: notice of it was sent to the pope and the council at basil, that all persons who chose might order ambassadors to attend the convention at arras. the duke of burgundy now returned to dijon, and made his preparations for going to artois, to be ready for the meeting at arras; and from this day forward, the borders of burgundy enjoyed more peace than they had done for a long time before. in these times, the young heir of richmond, with seven or eight hundred english and picards, whom sir john de luxembourg had sent him, made an inroad on the country of ardennes, sacking many towns belonging to everard de la marche; and having done great mischiefs there with fire and sword, returned in safety with a very large booty. in this year, renè duke of bar caused the town of commerci[ ] to be besieged, to reduce it to his obedience, on account of the failure of some dues that he claimed from its lord; but through the interference of the constable of france, who was then in the adjoining country, peace was made between the parties, on the lord de commerci promising to pay obedience to the duke of bar. thus was the siege broken up; and during this time the constable reduced many castles in champagne, by capitulation or by storm. footnotes: [footnote : douzy,--a small town in champagne, on the borders of luxembourg.] chap. lxix. amadeus duke of savoy turns hermit, and resides at ripaille.[ ] it was now that amadeus duke of savoy, who was about fifty-six years of age, turned hermit, and fixed his residence at ripaille, about half a league from thonon,[ ] where he had been accustomed to hold his court. this mansion he had greatly improved; and there was adjoining an abbey and priory of the order of saint maurice, which had been founded many years ago by the duke's ancestors. ten years before, the duke had a desire to become a hermit, in the manner he had now done, and had asked two of his most confidential servants if they were willing to follow his example and accompany him so long as he should please to remain a hermit, when they, having considered that he might change his mind, consented. one was sir claude de sexte: the other a valiant esquire named henry de colombieres. the duke having, as i said, improved and properly altered the mansion of ripaille for himself and his companions, left his palace at thonon during the night with few attendants, and went to ripaille, where he put on the dress of a hermit, according to the order of st maurice. it consisted of a grey robe, a long mantle with a grey hood, and a tippet of about a foot long,--a crimson bonnet over the hood, with a golden girdle above the robe, and on the mantle a cross of gold, similar to what the emperors of germany wear. the two noble men joined him within a few days, and remonstrated with him on his manner of quitting thonon, as it was not becoming his rank, and might be disagreeable to the three estates of his country, whom he had not summoned, to declare to them his intentions of becoming a hermit. he replied, that as he was not weakened in understanding or power, he would provide sufficient remedies for their dislike, and that their business was to keep the promises they had made to reside with him and keep him company. on this, seeing nothing better could be done, they were contented, and quickly clothed in similar dresses to what he wore. the duke then summoned the three estates and his son the count of geneva, whom he created prince of piedmont, and surrendered up to him, in the presence of the estates, the government of his country, reserving, however, to himself a power of taking it from him, and bestowing it on whomever he pleased, should he behave ill. he created his second son count of geneva. but although the duke had put on the religious habit, and surrendered up the administration of affairs to his son, nothing of importance was done without his knowledge and approbation. with regard to his personal attendance, he retained about twenty of his servants to wait on him,--and his companions selected also a sufficiency to attend them according to their different ranks; but instead of roots and water, they were served with the choicest wines and most delicate food that could be procured[ ]. footnotes: [footnote : commerci,--on the meuse, five leagues to the westward of toul.] [footnote : ripaille,--a burgh of savoy, in the chablais, and principal commandery of the order of st maurice, founded by amadeus viii. he built there a mansion for six knights-hermits, to keep him company in this solitude, whither he retired in , being a widower of mary of burgundy, and resigned the government of his duchy, &c. to his son.--_la martiniere._ this retirement was supposed to arise from ambition, and the hope of being chosen pope, to which he was elected in , and took the name of felix v. he afterward resigned the popedom, and returned to his solitude.] [footnote : thonon,--the capital of a small country of the chablais.] [footnote : hence, probably, came the french proverb, _faire ripaille_, to make good cheer.] chap. lxx. the common people of normandy assemble in large bodies before caen. the commonalty of normandy had not forgotten the ungenerous conduct of the english when they had last risen in rebellion. they again assembled by the exhortations of the lord de merville and other gentlemen, who offered to lead them to battle, to the amount of about twelve thousand, in the country near to bayeux,--whence their leaders marched them toward caen, with the intent of taking that town by surprise, but it was well defended by the garrison and inhabitants. when they found they could not succeed, they departed thence, making great mockeries of their enemies, and marched to avranches, before which place they remained eight days, in hopes that the duke of alençon would come to their support with a strong force of men at arms,--but in this they were disappointed. the english, in the mean time, collected numbers of men to offer them battle; but their intention being known to the leaders of this commonalty, they marched away toward brittany and fougeres,--and soon after they separated without having done any thing worthy of notice. for this conduct, their captains were banished, and their estates and effects confiscated, together with those of all their accomplices and adherents: but afterward some exceptions were made in regard to several of the commonalty. about this time, william coraon, the english governor of meure, made an excursion as far as yvis, in the country of ligny, with only three hundred combatants,--and was followed by jean de beaurain, with a company of six hundred, to give him battle, when he was defeated, and the greater part of his men taken or slain. la hire now took by storm the old fort of amiens, wherein he remained eight or ten days. when he had pillaged it of all it contained, he returned to breteuil, whence he had come. [a.d. .] chap. lxxi. the duke and duchess of burgundy return from that country to flanders and artois. at the beginning of this year, when the duke of burgundy had with much labour freed his country from enemies, and concluded a peace between himself and the duke of bourbon, he made preparations for his and the duchess's return from burgundy to his territories of flanders and artois, that he might be ready to meet the ambassadors from the king of france at the convention at arras. this convention was appointed to assemble on the d day of july, in the city of arras. the duke left dijon with his whole army, having appointed sir john de vergy governor of burgundy, and advanced toward euchoire[ ], where he was met by a thousand picards, whom he had ordered thither to accompany him on his return. they were under the command of sir john de croy, bailiff of hainault, the lord de saveuses, sir james de brimeu, john de brimeu, and other lords. thence the duke marched toward paris, crossing the river seine at montereau-faut-yonne: he was joyfully received by the parisians, who made very rich presents to him and to his duchess. having staid there some days, he continued his march slowly to arras, and dismissed all his men at arms so soon as he had crossed the somme. he went soon after to visit his countries of flanders and brabant, where he consulted with his ministers on convoking all the nobles and gentlemen of those districts to the convention at arras. he then sent an embassy to england, to inform the king and his council of this convention, and that it was purposely to treat of a general peace between france and england. the principal persons of this embassy were sir hugh de launoy, the lord de crevecoeur, and master quentin mainart, provost of st omer. the king of england and his ministers gave them a handsome reception; and they were told that the king would send ambassadors to the convention. on receiving this answer, they returned to their lord the duke of burgundy. footnotes: [footnote : euchoire. q. not in martiniere.] chap. lxxii. the french gain the town of rue from the english. in the beginning of the month of may, sir john de bressay, lieutenant to the marshal de rieux, bertrand martel, william braquemont, the lord de longueval, charles de marêts, and others of king charles's party, assembled a body of well tried men at arms, amounting to about three hundred. they crossed the somme during the night at blanchetaque, and advanced to the town of rue, which they entered by scalado, and gained complete possession without meeting with much resistance. the noise they made awakened the garrison; and seven or eight englishmen retreated to a bulwark which they defended for some time,--but in the end it was taken by storm, and part of the defenders were put to death: the rest saved their lives on paying a large ransom. many of the inhabitants were made prisoners, and others escaped over the walls. the town was completely plundered; and the countries of ponthieu, artois, boulogne, and others in that neighbourhood, were in great alarms, when they learnt that the enemy was so near them, and so well supplied with all sorts of stores and provision. these alarms were well founded, for, shortly after, having increased their numbers, they overran all those parts, committing infinite mischiefs by fire and sword. they even one day made an excursion toward boulogne, so far as samer-au-bois, when they took many prisoners, and great numbers of horses and cattle. on their return, they burnt the town of estaples, wherein were many handsome houses,--and continued these excursions from rue, doing every sort of mischief to the farmers of those countries. however, in one of the expeditions near to montrieul, sir john de bressay, harpin, and de richammes, were made prisoners; and at another time were taken the little blanchefort and one of the bastards de reully,--and on these accounts the country suffered the more. chap. lxxiii. la hire, poton, philip de la tour, and the lord de fontaines, defeat the earl of arundel before the castle of gerberoy. the duke of bedford was at rouen when he heard of the capture of rue. he was remonstrated with on the great prejudice this would be to those of his party, more particularly to the town and castle of crotoy. to provide a remedy, he wrote to the earl of arundel, then quartered near to mantes, ordering him to collect all his men and to march them to gournay in normandy, thence to neuf-châtel d'azincourt, to abbeville and to ponthieu, instantly to besiege the town of rue. the earl partly obeyed the orders of the duke, and marched eight hundred of his men to gournay, with the intent of continuing the line of march prescribed to him. but from the representations of the inhabitants of gournay, gisors and other places, he changed his mind; for having heard at gournay that the french were repairing an old fortress called gerberoy, between beauvais and gournay, he judged it would be very prejudicial to the english interests were they suffered to finish the works they had begun. in consequence, therefore, of the representations of the towns of the english party that were near to it, he determined to attack the french at gerberoy, and take the fort by storm. he caused a sufficiency of provision and artillery to be collected at gournay, and marched from thence about midnight, accompanied by some of the garrison. at eight o'clock in the morning his van came in sight of gerberoy, and the rest followed with the baggage, not aware indeed that the french were so numerous, or under such captains. the earl posted his men in a field inclosed with hedges, and detached a hundred, or six score, toward the barriers of the castle, that the garrison might not sally forth and surprise them. while this was going forward, poton, la hire, sir regnault de fontaines, philip de la tour, and other valiant captains who had arrived there the preceding night with five or six hundred combatants, held a council how they should act, and whether they should wait or not for the enemy to attack them. this question was long debated by some, who strongly urged their being badly provided with provision and warlike stores, and that if they allowed themselves to be shut up in the castle, they would run great risks: others declared they would not wait a siege, and therefore advised to attack them on their arrival. it was at length unanimously concluded for an immediate attack; and that the three principal captains, namely, poton, la hire, and regnault de fontaines, should be on horseback, with sixty of the best mounted and most expert lances, and that all the remainder, men at arms, archers and guisarmes, should be on foot, excepting a few that were to remain behind to guard the fort. they likewise ordered that when the enemy should advance, but few should at the first appear, in order that their numbers might not be known. having thus arranged their plan, they armed themselves, and made preparations for the combat. when the earl of arundel had properly posted his six score men by way of advanced guard, the remainder were encamping themselves to wait for the arrival of the main body and rear of their army. during this time, the watch the french had placed on the castle observed a very large and thick body of english advancing, by far more considerable than the first, and followed by a long train of waggons. they instantly informed their captains of what they had seen, who now, thinking it a fit opportunity for them to make their attack before the two bodies joined, ordered their infantry to sally out of the castle as quietly as they could, and fall on the english, whom they half surprised, and shortly defeated, putting the greater part to death. then those on horseback (who had sallied out to prevent the earl from assisting his men whom he had posted near the barriers) advanced toward the main body of the english, who were near at hand, and careless of the enemy because their commander was before them, and immediately threw them into confusion, and repeated their charges so vigorously that they could not recover themselves; great part retreated to gournay, or fled to other places, while the rest were either slain or taken. la hire chaced the runaways full two leagues, when many were killed and made prisoners. the infantry had approached the earl of arundel, who, with the remnant of his men, had retired to a corner of the field, having his rear to a thick hedge, and his front guarded by pointed stakes,--so that this fortification could not be forced by the french. seeing this, they had a culverine brought from their fort,--and, at the second shot, hit the earl near the ancle, so that he was grievously wounded and could scarcely support himself. when la hire was returning from the pursuit, with the many prisoners he had made, he observed this body of english under the earl quite entire: collecting more forces, he began to combat them,--and they were soon reduced to a similar state with their companions, the whole of them being killed or taken. among the last, those of name were the earl of arundel, sir richard de dondeville[ ], mondo domonferrant, restandif[ ], and others, to the amount of six score, that remained prisoners in the hands of the french. upward of twelve score were slain,--and the remainder saved themselves by flight where they could. when the business was over, the french collected their men, and found that they had not lost more than twenty. they were very joyful for this signal victory,--and, having devoutly returned thanks for it to their creator, they returned to their castle. the earl of arundel was removed thence to beauvais, where he died of his wound, and was buried in the church of the cordelier-friars. the other english prisoners redeemed themselves by ransoms; and thus those in rue remained unmolested. they daily increased their strength, and made excursions over the countries far and near. footnotes: [footnote : woodville.] [footnote : dondo domonferrant, restandif. q.] chap. lxxiv. the duke of burgundy is displeased with the inhabitants of antwerp. in these days, while the duke of burgundy was in brabant, he collected a large force of men at arms from picardy and other countries under his obedience, whom he intended to march into antwerp, by means of certain connexions which he had established in that town, to punish the magistrates and inhabitants, who had incurred his displeasure. the cause of his anger was, that a long time before, they had seized by force a large vessel belonging to the duke, and filled with his men,--which vessel he had stationed at the mouth of their harbour, so that all vessels trafficking to antwerp must pass close to it, on whom the duke's men laid several taxes that were, as they said, highly prejudicial to their commerce, and contrary to the oaths which the late dukes of brabant had always made on taking possession of the dukedom, and which the duke of burgundy himself had also taken. on this account, the townsmen of antwerp, without giving any notice to the duke, had seized the vessel, and confined those found within it in prison. the duke was so much displeased with their conduct that he had collected the force before mentioned to punish them.--in the mean time, his intentions were known to the men of antwerp, who, though greatly surprised thereat, lost no time in providing men at arms to defend their town, should it be attacked. they went in a body to the abbey of st michael, where the duke was lodged whenever he visited antwerp, having suspicions that some of their enemies were in it; but alter searching every part both above and below, and finding no one, they broke down the walls, to prevent them becoming places of defence. after this, they retired to continue their warlike preparations. when the duke of burgundy found that they had discovered his purposes, and were preparing to resist them, he disbanded his men at arms. at the same time, he caused it to be proclaimed through the principal towns in flanders, brabant, and his other dependances, that no one, under pain of being capitally punished, should carry provision or stores of any kind to antwerp, nor give to the inhabitants any counsel or aid whatever. the antwerpers were in great distress and dismay on hearing of these proclamations,--but they carefully guarded their town, and remained a considerable time in this situation. however, at length a treaty was entered into between them, by which the duke received a very large sum of money, and the magistrates recovered his good graces. chap. lxxv. the french conquer the town of st denis from the english. while these things were passing in brabant, the french won the town of st denis from the english by storm. they were about twelve hundred combatants, under the command of sir john foulcault, sir louis de vaucourt, sir regnault de st jean, and other captains, who put to death some of the english whom they found in the town. the parisians began to be alarmed by this conquest, as it was so near, and would probably cut off all provision coming to paris,--for the french made frequent excursions to their walls. to prevent any supplies being delayed from normandy, they sent deputations to the duke of bedford at rouen, and to louis de luxembourg bishop of therouenne, and chancellor of france for king henry, to request that a sufficiency of men at arms might be ordered to paris, to defend them against the enemy. by the advice of the chancellor, sir john bastard of st pol, louis his brother, waleran de moreul, sir ferry de mailly, robert de neufville, and some other gentlemen, with five hundred men, were sent to them from the frontiers of picardy. they took the road from rouen, and safely arrived in paris, where they were most joyously received; and, with the counsels and aid of the lord de l'isle-adam, governor of paris for king henry, they commenced a sharp warfare with the french in st denis. the french, notwithstanding the resistance they experienced, frequently advanced near to paris,--and many severe conflicts took place between that town and saint denis. they also gained the castle of escouen, near montmorency, from the english, and put to death about thirty whom they found in it. they then marched to the castle of orville, near to louvres, belonging to anglois d'aunay, knight, attached to the party of henry of lancaster. when they had been before it two days, a treaty was concluded for its surrender on a certain day, unless the english should appear there in force to offer the french battle. before the term expired, the lords talbot, scales, and warwick, with george de richammes, the bastard de thian, sir françois l'arragonois, and others, to the amount of three thousand combatants, assembled, and marched to join the lord de l'isle-adam in paris; and, when united, they all came to the castle of orville to keep the appointment made with the french for its surrender; but the french neither appeared nor sent any message, so that this castle remained in the peaceful possession of its lord. henceforward, the english were superior in the field to their enemies in the isle de france, and subjected the whole of the open country to their obedience, reconquering several castles held by the french. chap. lxxvi. the french, after having agreed to a truce with the burgundians on the frontiers of the beauvoisis, overrun the boulonois and other parts. at this time, a truce was concluded by the partisans of the duke of burgundy on the frontiers of santerre and mondidier, with la hire and his men. the last engaged, for a large sum of money paid down, to demolish the strong castle of bretueil in the beauvoisis, which was done. on the conclusion of this truce, the great and little blanchefort,[ ] poton the burgundian, and about six hundred combatants, marched away from the country of beauvais to the town of rue. they had not been long there when they made an excursion, together with the garrison, into the country of the boulonnois. they marched silently by the town of estaples, not to alarm it, and advanced to deure, and thence to samer-aux-bois. the inhabitants of this part of the country were totally unsuspecting of any attack likely to be made on them, and were therefore a defenceless prey to the enemy, who made prisoners of the greater part, bound them, and carried them away with all their most valuable furniture and stock. they ransomed the town of samer for a considerable sum of money,--and on their return spread themselves over the country, destroying every thing with fire and sword without meeting any opposition. having burnt many houses in the town of fresnes, and done unnumbered mischiefs to the boulonnois, they returned with a multitude of prisoners to estaples, where they halted and refreshed themselves for some time; and because the inhabitants had retreated within the castle, and would not ransom their town, they set it on fire, and committed every damage on their departure, which was a grievous loss, for it was well built and very populous. they made their retreat good to the town of rue, notwithstanding that sir john de croy, the lord de crequi, the lord de humieres, and others of the country, had assembled, to the amount of three hundred combatants, in the hopes of cutting off their retreat. it was in vain, for the french rode in such compact order that no advantage could be taken of them,--and they arrived safely at the places whence they had come. when the french had remained some days at rue, and divided their plunder, they made another excursion toward dourlens and hêdin, burning and destroying the countries they traversed, and bringing home many prisoners and great pillage of every thing that was portable. they returned by la broi, and made an attack on the castle; but it was so well defended, by those whom the vidame of amiens had placed therein, that several of the assailants were wounded. perceiving that they were losing time, they retreated to rue with their plunder. they continued these inroads on the territories of the duke of burgundy; but in one of them harpin de richammes made prisoner sir john de bressay, near montrueil. at another time, the little blanchefort was taken by one of the bastards of renty. in this manner did the french destroy those parts that were near to rue: they even burnt the town of cressi on the authie, which was part of the proper domain of the king. footnotes: [footnote : little blanchefort was made prisoner in the lxxiid chapter.] chap. lxxvii. the cardinals of santa croce and of cyprus come to arras, to attend the convention. in the month of july, two cardinals, sent by the pope and the council of basil, with many ambassadors of note from divers nations, arrived at arras, to be present at the ensuing convention for establishing a general peace. on the part of the holy father, came the cardinal of santa croce, archdeacon of metz, attended by some theologians. on that of the council, the cardinal of cyprus, accompanied by the bishop of ache, and a doctor called nicholas, ambassador from the king of poland; and the bishop of alba in the same capacity, from the duke of milan. with them came also the bishop of uzes and the abbot de vezelay, and other envoys from various lords in distant countries. they might amount, in the whole, to about eight score masters, and were handsomely received by the bishop of arras, his clergy, and the inhabitants, as well as by the attendants of the duke of burgundy, from whom they had had orders to that effect. the whole of the town went out to meet them on their arrival, with great crowds of people, who escorted them with cries of joy to their hôtels, where many rich presents were made them. chap. lxxviii. louis de luxembourg, count of st pol, espouses joan of bar, countess of marle and of soissons. on sunday the th day of july, in this year, louis de luxembourg, count of st pol, of conversan, of braine, and lord of anghien, espoused joan of bar, only daughter to sir robert de bar, countess of marle and of soissons, lady of dunkirk, of varneston, and of many other valuable places, niece to sir john de luxembourg, count of ligny, uncle to the said count of st pol. the marriage was celebrated in the castle of bohaim, and attended by at least one hundred knights and esquires, relatives or friends of the parties, but not one prince of the royal blood of france, to which the countess was very nearly connected. at this feast were the dowager countess of st pol, mother to count louis, with several of her children. the count de ligny was reported to have paid all the expenses of this feast, which was most, abundantly served with every delicacy in food and liquors,--to which were added justings and all kinds of pastimes. chap. lxxix. the french are defeated near to rethel, by the bastard de humieres. at this period, some of king charles's captains guarding the frontiers near rheims assembled about four hundred combatants to make an inroad toward rethel, and other parts attached to the duke of burgundy,--and in fact collected a great number of peasants, cows, horses, and other plunder, which they proposed to carry back with them in safety to their garrisons. the chief of this expedition was yvon du puys. news of it, however, came to the bastard de humieres, governor of herquery, who instantly called out his men at arms, and pursued the french so rapidly that he overtook them, and a combat ensued, in which these marauders were completely defeated, leaving forty dead on the field; the rest saving themselves by flight in the best manner they could. on the part of the bastard, his loss did not amount to more than ten men. chap. lxxx. ambassadors from the king of england arrive at arras to attend the convention. at this time, the ambassadors from the king of england arrived at arras, to attend the convention with the council of the duke of burgundy. they were about two hundred knights, the principal of whom were the archbishop of york, the earl of suffolk, the bishop of st david's, sir john radcliffe, keeper of the king's privy seal, the lord hungerford, master raoul le saige, official to the archbishop of canterbury, and some other theologians. they were lodged within the city of arras, and cheerfully attended to in whatever they might be in want of by the servants of the duke of burgundy. at the same time, there came from divers nations other ambassadors and mediators. the duke of gueldres, the count nassau, the bishop of cambray, the count de vernambourg, the bishop of liege, the count de vaudemont, the count de nevers, the count de salines, the duke of bar, and in general all the higher nobility of the countries of the duke of burgundy, came thither to support his claims and pretensions. they were all grandly dressed,--and soon after the counts of st pol and of ligny arrived with a handsome retinue. on the th day of july, the duke of burgundy entered arras: he had lain the preceding night at his town of lens in artois. the whole company in arras, attached to the embassy from england, went out a league beyond the walls to meet him,--as did the attendants of the two cardinals,--and when they met the duke, every one was most honourably received by him. the duke's entrance into arras was well ordered, he having the archers of his body-guard, all dressed in a rich uniform, to precede him,--and wherever he passed, the people sang carols for his arrival. in this state, he went to pay his compliments to the cardinal de santa croce, and then to the cardinal of cyprus, whence he retired to his lodgings in his hôtel at la cour-le-comte. chap. lxxxi. ambassadors from france arrive at arras, to attend this convention. on the sunday following, the last day of july, the embassy from king charles of france arrived at arras. the ambassadors had come from rheims, through laon to st quentin in the vermandois, where they had been joyfully received by the magistrates and townsmen; and to this place the duke of burgundy had sent the count d'estampes, attended by many knights and esquires, to meet and to conduct them to arras. after a few days stay at st quentin, they all departed together for cambray, and thence they journeyed until they came to the wood of mouf-laine, within half a league of arras. the principal persons in this embassy were the duke of bourbon, the count de richemont, constable of france, who had each married a sister of the duke of burgundy, the count de vendôme, the archbishop and duke of rheims chancellor of france, sir christopher de harcourt, sir theolde de valperge, the lord de la fayette marshal of france, the lords de st pierre and du châtel, sir james du bois, sir john de châtillon bastard de dampierre, sir paillaird du fiè, the lord de raillieq, the lord de rommet, the lord de courselles, master adam de cambray first president of the parliament, the dean of paris, named master john tudart, the treasurer of anjou, the borgne blesset, master john chanetier, the lord de cletel, the lord de la motte, master adam le queux, master john de taisè, with many other able men, as well noble as not, accompanied by four or five hundred horsemen, including those who had gone before to prepare their lodgings. the duke of burgundy, attended by his household, the duke of gueldres, and the other princes and nobles in arras, with the exception of the english, went out to meet them. he joined them about a quarter of a league from the town, when great marks of friendship and affection were mutually displayed on both sides, more especially between the duke and his two brothers-in-law, who frequently embraced each other. when the compliments of meeting were over, they all proceeded, in handsome array, at a slow pace, toward arras,--the three dukes, of burgundy, bourbon, and gueldres, riding abreast at the head of the line. they were preceded by six trumpets and clarions, sounding most melodiously, and by numbers of kings at arms, heralds and pursuivants, dressed in tabards, with the arms of the different princes then at arras, among whom montjoye, king at arms for king charles of france, took the lead. next to them, but a few paces before the dukes, rode the constable, the counts de vendôme and d'estampes, and the damoisel de cleves, with a few more of the higher nobility: the remainder of the knights, lords and esquires followed close behind the dukes; and in this order they advanced in front of the town-house, to the small market-place, multitudes of people shouting and singing carols wherever they passed. the duke of burgundy now separated from them, and returned with his household to his lodgings: he would have attended his brothers-in-law to their hôtels, but they insisted he should return, while they made a visit to the two cardinals. having done this, they went to the lodgings that had been prepared for them, and received many rich presents from churchmen as well as from seculars. on the third day afterward, the duchess of burgundy arrived at arras, and the french and english ambassadors went out to meet her, as did all the nobles, and the attendants of the cardinals, most richly clothed. she was carried in an ornamented litter, dressed in cloth of gold, and a variety of precious stones; behind her rode on palfreys six of her ladies and damsels, elegantly and nobly habited, with robes and hood decorated, and covered with wrought silver and gold. next came three three handsome cars, in which were the countess de namur and others of the duchess's ladies and damsels, dressed in similar robes and hoods to the others. near to the litter were the dukes de bourbon and de gueldres, the constable of france, and the count de vendôme,--and the rest of the nobility rode either before or behind the duchess, excepting the english, who had taken their leave of her while in the open country, and were returned to their lodgings in arras. the duchess, thus attended, went to pay her respects to the cardinals; after which she went to the hôtel of her lord the duke of burgundy, who received her most joyfully and honourably, and gave a handsome entertainment to the two dukes and the other nobles who had accompanied her. among the numerous ambassadors that came from divers parts, were those from the city of paris, namely, the abbot of mont st catherine de rouen, master william breton, master john le monstardier, master thomas de courselles, master robert poitevin. there were likewise others from the kings of sicily, spain, navarre, poland, asia, romania, and from the principal towns of holland, zealand, flanders, brabant, hainault, namur, burgundy, whose names it would be tedious to relate: each of them were handsomely lodged by the purveyors of the duke, who, with others, had been especially ordered for this purpose. they were all abundantly supplied with any sort of provision they inclined to buy during the three months they staid in arras. no accident happened during this time,--but there was much alarm, that mischief would have happened from the heat with which disputes were carried on, while the matter of peace was debating. commissaries were appointed to patrole the town night and day to see that no disorders arose, and that no extortions were practised in the markets. the duke had ordered about one hundred gentlemen and two hundred archers to be always armed, under the command of some of the lords of his household, such as the lord de croy, sir john de horne, the lord de crevecoeur, the lord de chargny, john de brimeu and others, as well for his own personal security as to be ready, should occasion require it, to put an end to any affrays. the duke was always attended by fifty archers. chap. lxxxii. sir john de mello, a knight of spain, and the lord de chargny combat each other in the presence of the duke of burgundy at arras. on the th day of august in this year, a combat at arms took place at arras, in the presence of the duke of burgundy as judge of the lists. a handsome scaffold was erected for him in the great market-place, on which were seated behind him the dukes of bourbon and of gueldres, the counts de richemont constable, de vendôme, d'estampes, and many other great lords. the combat was between sir john de mello, a very renowned knight banneret of spain, appellant, without any defamatory quarrel, but solely to acquire honour, against pierre de bauffremont lord of chargny, knight banneret also, a native of burgundy, and knight of the golden fleece. the terms were to break three lances only. when the lord de chargny had acceded to this request, he in his turn demanded from the spanish knight a combat on foot with battle-axes, swords and daggers, until one of them should lose his arms, or place his hands on his knees or on the ground,--subject, however, in all cases, to the decisions of the judge of the field. these proposals having been for some time agreed to by the two knights, on thursday morning, about ten o'clock, the spanish knight appeared in the lists, attended by four others, whom the duke of burgundy had ordered to accompany him,--namely, the lord de l'or, governor of the rethelois, the lord de ligny, the lord de saveuses, and the lord de sainzelles, with four or five of his attendants, one of whom bore on the end of a lance a small banner emblazoned with his arms. the other knights carried his lances; and thus, without more pomp, he made his obeisance to the duke of burgundy, and retired from the lists, by the way he had come, on the left hand of the duke. he waited a considerable time for his adversary, who at length appeared grandly accompanied by the counts d'estampes, de st pol, and de ligny, together with the earl of suffolk, all bearing his lances. behind him were four coursers, richly caparisoned with his arms and devices, with pages covered with robes of wrought silver,--and the procession was closed by the greater part of the knights and esquires of the duke of burgundy's household. having made his bow to the duke, as the spanish knight had done, he withdrew to the right of the lists. when they were ready, they ran some tilts with lances, without any injury on either side. then the spaniard mounted a courser which the duke of bourbon had lent him, for his own shied at a lance. they broke their lances with great courage against each other, until the number agreed on had been performed. neither were wounded, although the helmet of don mello was a little broken. they then quitted the lists, with the assent of the duke of burgundy, and returned to their lodgings accompanied as before. the spaniard wore over his armour a vermillion-coloured mantle, with a white cross on it, like to the badge of the french, which created a disgust in some of the burgundian lords, as it seemed to mark a partiality for their enemies. when he was informed of this, he excused himself by saying, that in consequence of the strict alliance which had so long continued between the kingdoms of france and spain, he could not with propriety wear any other badge. on the morrow, which was a friday, the duke of burgundy proceeded to the lists, between eight and nine o'clock in the morning, grandly attended by his chivalry, and with him came the princes who had accompanied him the preceding day. shortly after, the lord de chargny, the appellant, appeared with the same persons as on the first day, who carried the weapons he was to combat with. he was mounted on a courser covered with housings of his arms, and followed by four pages mounted in like manner, and by the greater part of the knights and esquires of the duke of burgundy's household, with some other nobles. having thus entered the lists, he went to dismount at his pavilion, and thence on foot to make his obeisance to the duke; after which he retired to a seat, where he waited a full hour for his adversary. when he arrived, he was accompanied as on the preceding day,--and the knights and esquires whom the duke of burgundy had appointed to attend him bore his weapons for the combat. behind him were his servants, one of them carrying a small banner at the end of a lance. on his entering the lists, he saluted the duke, and withdrew to his pavilion. while he remained there, he was frequently admonished by the knights that attended him, who gave him the best advice in their power for the success of his combat,--but he paid not any attention to what they said, nor would discover to them his plans, telling them not to be any way concerned about him, for that, with god's good pleasure, he would do his duty. every thing being ready, the king at arms, called golden fleece, proclaimed, in three different parts of the lists, that all who had not been otherwise ordered should quit the lists, and that no one should give any hinderance to the two champions under pain of being punished by the duke of burgundy with death. eight gentlemen armed were appointed to stop or raise up either of the champions, as the judge of the field should direct. when the proclamation was made, the lord de chargny issued out of his pavilion, holding his battle-axe by the middle in his right hand, the iron part toward his adversary, and thus advanced a little forward. the spanish knight advanced at the same time from his pavilion, having a kerchief thrown over his helmet that covered his vizor, which was half raised,--but this kerchief was taken away, when he was advancing, by his servants. they made for each other with vigorous strides, brandishing their lances; but the spaniard all this time had his vizor raised. the lord de chargny, without waiting for his adversary, threw his lance at him as he approached, while the spaniard advanced to throw his, and hit him on the side, where he was wounded, as well as in the arm, for the lance hung in the vambraces of his his armour, whence the lord de chargny soon shook it off on the ground. the two champions now approached with great courage, and handled their weapons very nobly; but the lord de chargny was much displeased that his adversary did not close his vizor. while they were thus combating, the duke of burgundy gave his signal for the battle to cease, and ordered the champions to be brought before him, who seemed very much vexed that an end had been put so soon to their combat,--more especially the spaniard, who twice declared aloud that he was far from being pleased that so little had been done; for that he had come at a great expense, and with much fatigue by sea and land, from a far country, to acquire honour and renown. the duke told him, that he had most honourably done his duty and accomplished his challenge. after this, they were escorted back to their lodgings in the same manner as before. the spanish knight was much noticed by very many of the nobles present, who greatly praised him for his courage, in thus having fought with his vizor raised,--for the like had not been before seen. when this combat was over, the duke of burgundy paid great respect and attention to the spanish knight, by feasting him at his hôtel on the sunday and following days,--presenting him, at the same time, with many rich presents, to reimburse him for all the expenses he had been at. the knight soon afterward took leave of the duke and his company, and departed from arras on his return to his own country. chap. lxxxiii. the french and burgundians are on very amicable terms in arras. on the monday, which was the feast of our lady of the middle of august, the dukes of burgundy, of bourbon, and of gueldres, the counts d'estampes, de richemont, de vendôme, de st pol, de ligny, de meurs and de nassau, with the greater part of their attendant knights and esquires, went on horseback in great concord from the hôtel of the duke of burgundy, to hear the mass of our lady in the city, richly dressed in most splendid habiliments. the poor people, who were there in crowds, were very much rejoiced to see this, as they hoped it would be the forerunner of a general peace that was so much wanted and wished for. after the mass, most part of them returned to the apartments of the duke of burgundy and dined, and were sumptuously served with an abundance and variety of dishes. the english ambassadors were not well pleased at these entertainments; and from the frequent intercourse that took place between the french and the duke, they suspected some treaties were in agitation that would not be for the advantage of their country. chap. lxxxiv. the cardinal of winchester comes to arras to attend the convention. the cardinal of winchester arrived at arras on the th day of august, to be present at the convention, attended by the earl of huntingdon and other noble knights and esquires from england, to the amount of three hundred horsemen. the dukes of burgundy and of gueldres, with the counts de st pol, de ligny, de meurs, and the greater part of the duke of burgundy's nobles, went out of arras to meet him. the duke and cardinal mutually paid each other the greatest respect, as did the other lords; and they returned together to the gate of arras, where they separated, and the cardinal and his attendants went to lodge at the palace of the bishop. ambassadors daily arrived from various nations. the place of meeting for this convention was fixed at the abbey of st vaast, where there were apartments sufficiently spacious and numerous for the purpose,--and there the three parties assembled, in the presence of the two cardinals who had first come thither. the cardinal de santa croce harangued them most eloquently on the great inconveniences all christendom had laboured under from the severity and long continuance of the war,--admonishing them, at the same time, with much feeling, that, from their love to god, they would not separate without concluding a peace, and that they would not insist on any terms but such as each might mutually concede to the other. after this harangue, the convention met on several different days,--and many proposals for a treaty were brought forward, so contradictory that it was difficult to reconcile them. among others, king charles's ministers required that king henry of england should desist from styling himself king of france, on condition of having the sovereignties of guyenne and normandy given up to him,--but to this the english ministers would not agree. chap. lxxxv. during the meeting of the convention at arras, la hire and poton overrun and forage the country of the duke of burgundy. on the th day of this month of august, while the convention was sitting at arras, la hire and poton de saintrailles, with six hundred combatants, six score being lance-men, whom they had assembled on the frontiers of beauvais, rode during the night for the river somme, which they crossed at cappy; thence they retreated, and fell back on dourlens and beauquesne, to forage the country. they divided into smaller bodies, and collected a great booty of peasants, cattle, horses, sheep, and other things, with which they marched back the way they had come to recross the somme. intelligence was brought of this, by the lord de saveuses, to the duke of burgundy, who was much troubled thereat, as he feared the matters that were then under discussion in the convention would be greatly retarded. to provide a remedy, he ordered the counts d'estampes, de st pol, de ligny, with the greater part of his chivalry, to mount their horses, and repel the french. with them went some of the english lords, to the amount of about three hundred horsemen,--so that they were in the whole full sixteen hundred, but most of them were without armour. they hastened toward mailly and attinghen, having sent forward the lord de saveuses, with some scouts, to collect intelligence of the enemy. they soon learnt the line of march the french were following with their plunder to cross the water, and pressed forward with so much diligence that they overtook them near to corbie, at a town called boumay, on the water of helly. the french, hearing of this pursuit, detached a party of their men at arms to guard the passage of this river, and marched to draw up in battle-array on a hill between corbie and helly. in the mean time, sir john de croy was dispatched, with a certain number of men at arms, to gain this passage,--but he was defeated and made prisoner: ten or twelve of the french were slain, but the rest retreated to their main body on the hill. the burgundians and english, having crossed the river, advanced and drew up in order of battle at the foot of the hill, where they remained for a good half-hour, without any intention of combating the french, for they were too slightly armed. while this was passing, the duke of bourbon, and the constable of france, sent from arras messengers to the french, to order them to retreat, and restore the plunder they had taken; so that when the two parties had been for some time drawn up in battle against each other, they separated without coming to action, and returned the way they had come; for the french, in obedience to the orders they had received from their ambassadors at the convention, restored the greater part of their prisoners, and the pillage they had collected,--but it was sorely against their will. they lost about twenty men in killed and prisoners. chap. lxxxvi. the kings of arragon and navarre are defeated, and made prisoners, before gaieta, by the army of the duke of milan. on the th day of august, in this year, the kings of arragon and of navarre, the grand master of the order of st james, their brother, the duke of sessia, and his son the count de fondi, the prince of tarentum, his son sir christopher garganeymè,[ ] surnamed the eagle, the viceroy of sicily, and four hundred knights and esquires, were made prisoners before the town of gaieta, and their army, of four thousand soldiers, defeated. they had been employed in besieging the town of gaieta by sea and land, to the great displeasure of philip maria visconti duke of milan, who had prepared an army and stores in genoa to raise the siege and revictual the place. the commander of this army for the duke of milan was the admiral of genoa, who attempted to enter the port and throw in succours; but the besiegers marched to the shore to combat him,--and though they were far more numerous than he was, fortune favoured him, and he completely routed the arragonian and neapolitan forces. the kings and princes before mentioned were carried by the admiral prisoners to genoa, then under the protection of the duke of milan, and were soon after delivered up to him on certain terms agreed upon between him and the genoese, and also on his promising not to give them their liberty without their consent. this promise, however, he did not keep; for, after he had handsomely entertained them in his town of milan, he gave them their liberty without ransom, or insisting on any terms, and even made them, on their departure, many rich gifts. when this came to the knowledge of the genoese, they were very indignant thereat, and not without reason, for they were their inveterate enemies; and they now withdrew themselves from the obedience and protection of the duke of milan.[ ] footnotes: [footnote : garganeymè. q.] [footnote : 'in the year , the town of gaieta, in the kingdom of naples, offered to submit itself to the protection of the genoese, to avoid falling into the hands of alphonso king of arragon. in consequence, francisco spinola and ottolino zoppo are sent with a good garrison to defend the place. alphonso hastens to besiege it,--and gaieta, ill provided with provision, is reduced to great distress. 'the genoese, informed of the situation of the garrison, send thither, on the d july, a fleet under the command of luca aseréto, a famous captain, to their relief. alphonso, hearing of this, embarks on board his own fleet, with all the nobility and eleven thousand combatants. the fleets meet near to the island of ponza on the th august, and the battle lasts from sun-rise to night, but victory is on the side of the genoese. it could not be more complete: the king of arragon, his two brothers, john king of navarre, the infant don henry, with a quantity of nobles, are made prisoners; and of fourteen vessels, only one escaped. 'the besieged, on learning this event, make a sally, drive the enemy from their lines, and deliver the place. the prisoners are carried from on board the fleet to milan, where the duke entertains the king of arragon magnificently, enters into a league with him, and gives him and his companions their liberty without ransom. this generosity causes the genoese to lose the fruit of their victory, and enrages them against the duke of milan. on the th december, they rise in arms, kill the governor, drive away the milanese, and shake off the yoke of the duke.' _art de verifier les dates._] chap. lxxxvii. the cardinal of winchester and the whole of the english embassy leave arras.--other ambassadors arrive there. the cardinal of winchester, and the english embassy, left arras on the th day of september for england, without concluding on any terms with the french, although there had been conferences for several days between them for this purpose, and although the duke of burgundy had interfered with his council as much as possible to accommodate their differences. the english, notwithstanding, departed for calais, and thence to england, suspecting greatly, what happened soon after, that charles king of france and the duke of burgundy would make peace; for they had perceived, while at arras, that great cordiality existed between the duke and the french, which was far from pleasing to them. ambassadors continued to arrive at arras from the kings of navarre, of dacia, of spain, of cyprus, of portugal, the constable duke of la puglia, the duke of milan, the king of sicily, the king of norway, and the duke of brittany. the archbishop of auch came thither, as did the bishops of alby, of usez, of auxerre, of alba, of vicenza, the abbot of vezelay, the archdeacon of metz in lorraine, procurator for the holy council of basil, the archdeacon of la puglia, with numbers of others of note and of authority. chap. lxxxviii. a peace is concluded between charles king of france and the duke of burgundy, in the city of arras. when the ambassadors from king henry had quitted the city of arras, without agreeing to any preliminaries for a peace, the two remaining parties, of the king of france and duke of burgundy, met for some few days at the accustomed place, when, by the exhortations and interference of the cardinals de santa croce and of cyprus, and other prelates and nobles, a peace was finally concluded between them on the following terms. 'we philip, by the grace of god, duke of burgundy, austria, brabant and limbourg, count of flanders, artois, burgundy, palatine of hainault, holland, zealand and namur, marquis of the holy empire, lord of frizeland, salins and mechlin, make known to all to whom these presents shall come, that many assemblies and conventions have been holden for the procuring of a general peace, as well in the cities of auxerre and corbeil as latterly in our city of arras for this desirable purpose. 'to this place our very-redoubted lord, king charles, has sent our most dear and well beloved brothers and cousins, the duke of bourbon and auvergne, the count de richemont, constable of france, the count de vendôme, grand master of the household, the very reverend father in god the archbishop and duke of rheims, chancellor of france, christopher de harcourt, gilbert lord de la fayette, marshal of france, master adam de cambray, first president of the parliament, master john tudart, dean of paris and master of requests of the king's household, william charetier, stephen moreau, counsellors of the parliament, john chastignier and robert marlier, secretaries to the said king, as his ambassadors. 'on the part of our very dear lord and cousin, the king of england, there came the most reverend fathers in god the cardinal of winchester and the archbishop of york, our well beloved cousins the earls of huntingdon and suffolk, the reverend fathers in god the bishops of norwich, st david's, and lisieux, and many other churchmen, as his ambassadors. 'we also came thither in person, attended by many of our blood, and great numbers of our faithful and loyal subjects. our holy father the pope sent also to this convention the most reverend father in god, and our especial friend, the cardinal de santa croce, invested with sufficient powers from him. in like manner, the sacred council at basil sent thither, as its ambassadors, the most reverend father in god, our dear and well beloved cousin the cardinal of cyprus, the very reverend fathers in god the bishops of verona, of alby, nicholas provost of cracovia, hugh archdeacon of metz. 'in the presence of the above ambassadors from our holy father the pope, and from the sacred council at basil, we, as well as the ambassadors from france and england, have appeared as often as it was thought expedient, and have mutually made overtures and presents to each other. and although the ambassadors from the king of france made great and handsome proposals for the conclusion of a general peace, and such as were thought by the cardinals and prelates to be just and reasonable, and which ought not to have been refused,--and although the cardinals de santa croce and of cyprus, together with the other envoys from the pope and council, even pressed the english ambassadors to accede to these terms, remonstrating with them, that in case they would not listen to the conclusion of a general peace, they had been charged by their holy father, and by the sacred council, to summon us to conclude a private peace with our lord the king, in so far as the whole of our personal interests were concerned. 'nevertheless, the english ambassadors, continuing obstinate, in refusing the terms offered them, quitted our city of arras without coming to any conclusion, or fixing any period for their return thither. for this cause, the cardinal legates, and the other ministers from the pope and council, exhorted and required of us to conclude a private peace with our said lord the king, provided that satisfactory proposals should be made touching the death of our very dear lord and father, whose soul may god pardon! by the ambassadors from him, and in his name, so that we should be contented therewith. 'the following proposals from our said lord the king were delivered in a written roll to the said cardinal legates, and other ambassadors from our holy father the pope and sacred council, and by them given to us. 'these are the offers made by us charles duke of bourbon and of auvergne, arthur count de richemont constable of france, louis de bourbon count de vendôme, regnault de chartres archbishop and duke of rheims, great chancellor of france, gilbert lord de la fayette marshal of france, adam de cambrai first president of the parliament, john tudart dean of paris, counsellor and master of the requests of the king's household, william chartier and stephen moreau counsellors, john chastignier and robert morlier secretaries, ambassadors from charles king of france, now in the city of arras, for and in the name of our sovereign lord king charles, to my lord the duke of burgundy and brabant, respecting the death of the late lord john duke of burgundy, his father, and likewise touching other matters, that a treaty of peace and concord may be concluded between them. 'in the first place, the king will declare, or others sufficiently authorised by him shall declare, to the said lord the duke of burgundy, that the death of the late lord john duke of burgundy, his father, (whose soul may god pardon!) was iniquitously and treacherously caused by those who perpetrated the deed, and through wicked counsel, which was alway displeasing to him, and continues to be so in the sincerity of his heart. that if he had been aware of the consequences, and of an age to have judged of them, he would have prevented it; but at the time he was very young, having little knowledge, and inconsiderately did not prevent it. he shall entreat my lord the duke of burgundy that what hatred and rancour he may have conceived against him for this cause may cease, and that henceforward good faith and peace may exist between them,--express mention of which shall be made in the articles that shall be drawn up in consequence. 'item, the king will deliver up all who may have perpetrated the said wicked deed, or were consenting thereto, and will use all diligence to have them apprehended wherever they may be found, so that they may be punished in body and goods. should they not be discovered, he will irrevocably banish them the realm of france and dauphiny, with confiscation of effects, and exemption from profiting by any treaty. 'item, the king will not permit any of them to be received or favoured in any place under his obedience; and will cause it to be proclaimed in all parts of france and dauphiny, where proclamations have been usually made, that no persons do receive or favour them, under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of effects. 'item, the aforesaid lord, the duke of burgundy, shall, so soon as he conveniently can after the signing of the treaty, name those who he has been informed perpetrated the said wicked deed, or were consenting thereto, that they may be proceeded against with diligence on the part of our said lord the king. and whereas the said duke of burgundy may not at this present moment be sufficiently acquainted with the names of all who were concerned in, or who actually perpetrated, the aforesaid wicked act, at all times, that he may receive additional information, he may signify the names of such persons, by his letters patent, or otherwise, to the king, who shall be bound to pursue them, in his royal courts of justice, in the most summary manner. 'item, the following edifices and religious foundations shall be made for the repose of the souls of the late john duke of burgundy, of the late sir archambault de foix, count de noailles, who was put to death with him, and for those of others who have been slain on this occasion, or in the wars that took place in consequence of this event,--namely, in the church of montereau, where the body of the late duke john of burgundy was first buried, shall be founded a chapel and chapelry, in which a low mass of requiem shall be daily chaunted; which chapel shall be endowed with an annual income of sixty livres parisis in mortmain, and furnished with a chalice, and all other ornaments sufficiently handsome, at the sole expense of the king. the presentation to this chapel shall be vested in my lord of burgundy, and in his successors the dukes of burgundy, for ever. 'item, within the said town of montereau, or as near to it as well may be, shall be constructed and endowed by the king, and at his expense, a church, with a convent of carthusians, to consist of a prior and twelve monks, with cloisters, halls, refectories, granges and all other necessary buildings. this monastery, consisting of a prior and twelve religious, shall be founded by the king with well secured rents in mortmain, to the amount of eight hundred livres parisis, for the maintenance of the monks, the keeping up religious worship, and for the repairs of the convent, church and buildings, according to the advice of the reverend father in god the lord cardinal de santa croce, or whomsoever he may nominate in his stead. 'item, on the bridge of montereau, where this murder was committed, shall be erected a handsomely-sculptured cross, according to the device of the said lord cardinal or those commissioned by him, at the king's expense, and kept continually in perfect repair by his majesty. 'item, in the church of the carthusians at dijon, where at present reposes the body of the said duke john of burgundy, shall be founded by the king, and at his expense, a high mass of requiem, which shall be daily chaunted for ever at the high altar of this church, at such an hour as may hereafter be determined upon. and this foundation shall have secured to it good annual rents, in mortmain, of one hundred livres parisis, and shall be provided with chalices and other suitable ornaments. 'item, these said buildings and foundations shall be begun upon, and take effect, so soon as conveniently may be,--and the masses shall particularly commence the instant the treaty shall be signed. but with regard to the intended buildings at montereau, they shall be begun three months after that town shall be reduced to the king's obedience, and diligently continued without interruption until the whole of them be perfectly completed within the term of five years. 'in respect to the said foundations, proper measures shall be taken concerning them so soon as conveniently may be; and the moment the treaties shall be signed, the high mass in the carthusian convent at dijon, before mentioned, shall commence,--and the monks shall be provided with books, chalices, and all other necessary articles. and when the town of montereau shall be reduced to the king's obedience, the daily low mass shall be sung, at the sole expense of the king of france. within three days after this town shall have submitted itself, a sufficient sum of money shall be paid to the lord cardinal de santa croce, or to whomsoever he may appoint to receive the same for the commencement of the said edifices, and to purchase chalices, books, and every other necessary article. and at the same time the annual income, before declared, of eight hundred and sixty livres parisis, shall be firmly established on lands, in mortmain, as near to the town of montereau as possible. this income, however, does not include the rent of a hundred livres parisis allotted for the foundation of a high mass at the carthusian convent at dijon. 'item, as a compensation for the jewels, and other personalities that were either stolen or lost at the time of the decease of our late lord john duke of burgundy, and for the purchase of others, the king of france consents, well and truly, to pay to the duke of burgundy the sum of fifty thousand golden crowns, old weight, of sixty-four to the marc of troyes, eight ounces to the marc, having twenty-four karats of aloy, or other current money, by instalments, as follow: namely, fifteen thousand on easter-day twelvemonth, which will begin the year ; fifteen thousand on the easter-day in the following year,--and the balance of twenty thousand on easter-day in the year . the duke of burgundy shall not be prevented by this from persevering in his researches after the rich collar of his late lord and father, nor in his suits against those he may suspect to have it, as well as other valuable jewels, in order to recover them, over and above this said sum of fifty thousand crowns. 'item, the king, from affection to the duke of burgundy, agrees that the following lands and lordships shall be firmly settled on the said duke, his direct heirs and successors, whether male or female, namely, the city and county of mâcon and st jangon, as far as the boundaries thereof, with all the towns, villages, lands and revenues thereto belonging, which at this moment appertain to and are dependant on the domain of the crown of france, without any reservation, excepting the homage due from these fiefs to the crown, and the patronage of the churches and royal foundations, included in the droit de regale, and all other royal prerogatives which may belong from ancient times in this bailiwick to the crown of france. in all other respects the said duke of burgundy shall hold the county of mâcon, with its towns, villages, and dependances, and his heirs and successors, for ever, on paying the usual homage to the king and crown of france, as a peerage under the jurisdiction of the king and his court of parliament in a similar manner, and with all the rights and prerogatives attached to the peerage of france. 'item, on the part of the king shall be yielded up to the duke of burgundy and to his heirs and successors, to whom, after his decease, shall devolve this county of mâcon, all profits and emoluments whatever that shall become due from the royal towns of mâcon and st jangon, whether from rights attached to royalty or from bailiwicks in compensation for protection, or by confiscations, fines, profits from the coinage; and all rights of every other description, shall be enjoyed by the said duke and his heirs, during their respective lives, on the terms and conditions following,--that is to say, on the nomination of the said duke of burgundy, and his heirs after him, of a bailiff of mâcon, the king shall appoint the same as his royal judge and commissary, to take cognisance of all crimes and suits appertaining to his sovereign jurisdiction throughout the county of mâcon and its dependances, according to the usual form and manner in which the royal bailiffs of mâcon and saint jangon have acted in former times,--but henceforth the bailiwick of st jangon shall be abolished. and in like manner, on the recommendation of the said duke and his heirs, shall the king appoint all officers necessary for the good government of this county, such as governor, castellan, provosts and receivers, who shall exercise such appointments in the king's name, but to the profit of the said duke of burgundy and his heirs. 'item, in like manner, all profits from taxes shall be transferred from the king to the said duke, together with the duties on salt, on wines sold by retail, and every other imposition that may have been established in the elections of mâcon, chalons, autun, and langres, so far as these elections may extend into burgundy or the county of charolois, and throughout the whole county of the mâconnois, included within the boundaries of the aforesaid duchy or county, to be enjoyed by him and his heirs for ever. 'the recommendation of all officers necessary for the government of the county of mâcon and its dependances shall belong to the said duke of burgundy and his heirs, but the commission and institution shall remain with the king of france. 'item, in like manner shall the king of france transfer to the duke of burgundy and to his heirs, whether male or female, for ever, as a perpetual inheritance, and as held in chief, the city and county of auxerre, with all its dependances and appurtenances whatever, in regard to the administration of justice, domains, fiefs, patronage of churches, collations to benefices, as held by the king of france and his court of parliament, with the same rights, franchises, and prerogatives, as the other peers of france. 'item, and together with this cession the king of france shall transfer to the said duke of burgundy, and his heirs for ever, all revenues payable by the city of auxerre and its dependances, in as ample manner as has been before stated when speaking of the county of mâcon, as has been already declared. and also, that on the nomination of the duke of burgundy and his heirs, of persons to fill up the various offices that may become vacant, the king of france shall confirm their nominations, and issue sufficient commissions and authorities accordingly; so that the bailiff of auxerre nominated by the duke of burgundy shall have a royal commission to judge and decide on all actions competent to his tribunal within the city of auxerre and its dependances, in the same form and manner as has been heretofore done by the bailiff of sens instead of auxerre; which bailiff of sens shall not any more interfere in these matters during the lives of the said duke of burgundy, his legal heirs and successors, but shall refer the same to the bailiff of auxerre, he having a royal commission for his authority. all the revenues of taxes, and of every sort of imposition shall be transferred to the said duke of burgundy in a manner similar to what has been before declared in the article relative to the cession of the same in the county of mâcon and its dependances. 'item, in like manner shall the king of france cede to the duke of burgundy and to his heirs, whether male or female, descending in a direct line for ever, as a perpetual inheritance, the castle, town, and castlewick of bar-sur-seine, with all its domains, jurisdictions, fiefs, patronage of churches, with all other rights and emoluments, for him the duke to hold them under the king as a peerage of france, under the royal sovereignty and jurisdiction of the parliament, on his fealty and immediate homage to the king of france. the king shall likewise transfer to the said duke and his heirs all profit from taxes and other impositions, to be received by him from the receivers, who, having been nominated by the said duke, shall be confirmed in their offices by the king. 'item, the king of france shall yield up to the duke of burgundy and his heirs the county of burgundy, as a perpetual inheritance to be enjoyed by him and them for ever, together with the patronage of the church and abbey of luxeuil, with all profits arising therefrom, which the count of champagne claims as belonging to him, (although the counts of burgundy, predecessors to the present duke of burgundy, have pretended the contrary as a cause of quarrel) saying and declaring that this abbey, which is without the kingdom of france and the limits of the county of burgundy, ought to be under his patronage and protection. to obviate, therefore, all future cause of quarrel, and for the public welfare, the king of france now consents that the patronage of this abbey shall remain wholly with the duke of burgundy and his heirs. 'item, the king of france shall cede to the duke of burgundy, and to his legal heirs, whether male or female, in perpetuity, the castles, towns, castlewicks, provostships of fairs, of peronne, mondidier and roye, with all their domains, rights, and jurisdictions whatever, with every dependance and appurtenance, to hold them from the king of france as a peerage within his sovereign jurisdiction and that of his parliament, on doing him immediate homage. the king shall also yield up to the said duke of burgundy, and his heirs, all right to the taxes and other impositions, together with every other claim of profit, in as ample a manner as has been before declared in the preceding articles respecting the counties of mâcon and auxerre. 'item, the king of france shall yield up to the duke of burgundy, and to the person whom after his decease the said duke shall have declared his heir to the county of artois, the collection of taxes from the said county of artois and its dependances, amounting at this time to fourteen thousand francs of annual revenue or thereabout, without hinderance to the said duke or his heir from receiving any further gratuities from the said king or his successors. the duke of burgundy and his heir shall have the power of nominating such officers for the due gathering of these taxes, as shall be agreeable to them,--and when thus appointed, the king shall grant them letters in confirmation of the same. 'item, the king shall transfer to the said duke of burgundy and to his heirs, for ever, all the cities, towns, castles, forts, lands and lordships now belonging to the crown of france, above and on each side the river somme, namely, st quentin, corbie, amiens, abbeville and others,--the whole of the county of ponthieu, on both sides of the said river somme,--the towns of dourlens, st riquier, crevecoeur, arleux, mortaigne, with all their dependances whatever. and all the lands now belonging to the crown of france, from the said river somme inclusively, comprehending the whole of the towns, as well on the frontiers of artois, flanders and hainault, as on those of the realm of france and of the empire of germany, the duke of burgundy and his heirs to have them in possession for ever, and to receive all the profits of taxes, rights, privileges and honours attached to them, without the king retaining any thing, saving and except the fealty and homage due to him as their sovereign lord, or until this grant shall be bought by the crown of france, on payment of the sum of four hundred thousand crowns of gold, old coin, at the weight of sixty-four to the marc of troyes, eight ounces to the marc, with twenty-four karats of alloy and one karat for waste, or in any other current coin of equal value. 'the duke of burgundy shall give sufficient securities for himself and heirs, that they will abide by the terms of this grant, and be ready and willing to receive the said sum for the release of the said cities, towns, &c. whenever it may please the king of france to make an offer of the same, and surrender to the king, or to such as he may commission for the purpose, all the said cities, towns, castles, forts, lands and lordships specified in the said grant. and also the duke of burgundy shall acknowledge, for himself and heirs, his willingness to receive the said sum at two instalments,--that is to say, two hundred thousand crowns at each payment; but nevertheless he shall not be bound to surrender to the king any of the said cities, &c. until the last of the four hundred thousand golden crowns be paid. 'during the whole time these said cities, towns, lands, &c. shall be in the possession of the duke of burgundy or his heirs, he and they shall receive the taxes, and enjoy every right and privilege attached to them, without the smallest deduction or abatement whatever. be it understood, however, that in this grant of the king, the city and county of tournay and the tournesis, and of st amand, are not included, but are to remain under the jurisdiction of the king,--with the exception of mortaigne, which is to be placed in the hands of the duke of burgundy, as has been before said.--but although the city of tournay is not to be given to the duke of burgundy, the sums of money that had been before agreed to be paid, according to the terms of a treaty between him and the inhabitants for a certain number of years, shall be duly reserved,--and these sums the inhabitants shall be bound punctually to pay him. 'item, forasmuch as the said duke of burgundy pretends to have a claim on the county of boulogne-sur-mer, which he has the possession of, the king of france consents, that for the sake of peace, and for the public good, it shall remain to him and his heirs-male only, lawfully begotten by him, with the full and free enjoyment of all its revenues, rights and emoluments whatever. but in default of this issue male, the county shall devolve to him who shall have the just right thereto. the king shall engage to satisfy all claimants on this said county, in such wise that they shall not cause any trouble to the duke of burgundy, or to his heirs, respecting it. 'item, in regard to the town, castle, county and lordship of gien sur loire, together with the lordships of dourdan, which, as it is said, have been transferred with the county of estampes by the late duke of berry and the late duke john of burgundy, they shall, _bona fide_, be placed by the king of france in the hands of the duke of bourbonnois and auvergne, for their government during the space of one whole year, and until john of burgundy count d'estampes, or the present duke of burgundy for him, shall have laid before the king or his council a copy or copies of this grant from our late lords of berry and of burgundy. when after due examination, should this grant be found good, we duke of bourbonnois and auvergne bind ourself to restore the said town, castle and lands of gien-sur-loire, without other form of law, to the count d'estampes or to the duke of burgundy, for him as his legal right from the grant of the late dukes of berry and of burgundy, without the king alleging any thing to the contrary, or any prescriptive right from the lapse of time since the decease of the said duke of berry, and notwithstanding any opposition from others who may lay claim to the county of gien, if any such there be, whose right to pursue their claims by legal means shall be reserved to them, against the count d'estampes. 'item, the king shall restoration make and pay to the said count d'estampes, and to the count de nevers his brother, the sum of thirty-two thousand two hundred crowns of gold, which the lately deceased king charles is said to have taken from the church of rouen, wherein this sum was deposited, as the marriage-portion of the late lady bona of artois, mother to these noblemen, unless it shall clearly appear that the above sum has been accounted for, and allowed in the expenditure of the late king and for his profit; otherwise these thirty-two thousand two hundred golden crowns shall be paid at such terms as shall be agreed on, after payment has been made of the fifty thousand crowns before mentioned to the duke of burgundy. 'item, in respect to the debts which the duke of burgundy says and maintains are due to him from the late king charles, whether from pensions unpaid, or from gifts and monies advanced by him for the king's use, the said duke shall have free liberty to sue for the recovery of the same in any of the courts of justice. 'item, the said duke of burgundy shall not be bound to do homage nor service to the king for the lands he now holds in france, nor for any others that may fall to him by right of succession; but shall remain during his life personally free from all subjection, homage and obedience, to the crown of france. after the decease of the present monarch, the said duke of burgundy shall do the usual homages and services to the king's sons and successors to the crown of france, as belong to them of right; and should the said duke of burgundy depart this life before the present king, his heirs, after showing cause, shall do the usual homages and services to the crown of france. 'item, notwithstanding the duke of burgundy shall have acknowledged, by writing and speaking, the king as his sovereign, and received the before named ambassadors from the king, this shall not be of the smallest prejudice to the personal exemption before stated of the said duke during his life. this said exemption shall remain in full force, as contained in the above article, and shall extend to all lands now in the possession of the said duke within the realm of france. 'item, with regard to the vassals and subjects of the duke of burgundy, in the lordships he now holds and will possess by this treaty, and of those that may fall to him by succession in the kingdom of france during the king's life and his own, they shall not be constrained to bear arms by orders from the king or his officers, supposing that they may hold lands from the king together with those of the duke. but the king is contented that whenever it may please the duke of burgundy to order his vassals to arm, whether for internal or external wars, they do obey his commands without attending to any summonses from the king, should he at the time issue such. and in like manner shall all the officers of the said duke's household, and his familiars, be exempted, even should they not be his subjects or vassals. 'item, should it happen that the english shall make war on the said duke of burgundy, his subjects or allies, on account of the present treaty or otherwise, either by sea or by land, the king of france engages to march to his succour with a sufficient force, and to act as if it were his own proper cause. 'item, the king declares, for himself and his successors, that neither he nor they, nor any princes of his blood, shall enter into any treaty of peace with his adversary of england, without having first informed thereof the said duke of burgundy and his immediate heir, nor without their express consent thereto and comprehension therein, provided they may wish to be comprehended,--provided always, that similar promises shall be made to the king of france by the duke of burgundy and his heir apparent, touching war and peace with england. 'item, whereas the said duke of burgundy and his faithful vassals have heretofore borne a cross of st andrew as their badge, they shall not be constrained to bear any other badge, whatever army they may be in, whether within or without the realm, or in the presence of the king or of his constable, whether in the royal pay, as soldiers, or otherwise. 'item, the king shall make all reasonable restitution for whatever losses such as may have been made prisoners on the day of the death of duke john, whose soul may god pardon! have suffered, as well as the repayment of their ransoms. 'item, a general oblivion shall take place of all acts done and committed in consequence of the divisions in the realm, excepting what regards those who perpetrated the said murder of duke john of burgundy, or were consenting thereto,--for they shall ever remain excepted in whatever treaties may be concluded. henceforth all persons shall return to their different homes,--namely, churchmen to their churches and benefices, and seculars to their houses and possessions within the realm, excepting such lands and lordships as may be within the county of burgundy, and which are held by the present lord of burgundy, or have been in the possession of the late duke, or such as may have been given by either of them to others as confiscations arising from the intestine divisions within the kingdom; for these lands, notwithstanding the present treaty, shall remain in the possession of those who now hold them. but in every other instance, all persons shall return to their houses and lordships, without being called upon by any person or persons for any damages or repairs whatever,--and each shall be held acquitted of all rents from the time he ceased to enjoy them; and in regard to any furniture that may have been taken and carried away by either party, all pursuit after it and any quarrels on the subject are absolutely forbidden. 'item, it is ordained by this present treaty that all quarrels and rancour, which may have arisen in consequence of the troubles that afflicted the realm, do now absolutely cease; and all private wars are strictly forbidden, without reproach to either party, under pain of being punished as transgressors of this article, according to the heinousness of the offence. 'item, in this present treaty shall be included, on the part of the said duke of burgundy, all churchmen, the inhabitants of the principal towns, and others, whatever may be their rank, who have followed his party, or that of the late lord his father; and they shall enjoy the benefit of this said treaty, as well in regard to the general oblivion of all acts done and committed within the realm of france as in the peaceable enjoyment of whatever possessions, moveable and immoveable, they may have within the kingdom or in dauphiny, which are now withheld from them by these said troubles, provided they be willing to accept of the terms contained in the said treaty, and loyally fulfil them. 'item, the king will renounce the alliance he had formed with the emperor against the duke of burgundy, as well as all others with different princes and lords to the same effect, provided the duke of burgundy shall do the same with his alliances; and the king will also hold himself bounden, and will promise the duke of burgundy to assist and support him against all who may be inclined to make war against him or otherwise injure him. and in like manner shall the duke of burgundy engage his promise, saving, however, the exemption of his personal service as has been before declared. 'item, the king consents to grant letters, that in case he shall violate the articles of the present treaty, his vassals and subjects shall be no longer bound to obey and serve him, but shall be obliged to serve and assist the duke of burgundy and his successors against him. in this case, all his subjects shall be absolved from their oaths of fidelity toward king charles, without at any time hereafter being called to account for so doing; and from this moment king charles absolves them from all fidelity to him, in case such violation of the treaty shall take place,--and that the duke of burgundy shall do the same in regard to his vassals and subjects. 'item, all these promises, obligations, and submissions, of king charles, respecting the due fulfilment of this treaty, shall be made before the lord cardinal of santa croce, legate from the holy father the pope, the lord cardinal of cyprus, and the other ambassadors from the holy council of basil, in the most ample manner that can be devised, and on pain of excommunications, interdicts, and all the most weighty punishments of the church, to the utmost power which the said lords cardinals may possess from the pope, provided that the duke of burgundy shall act in a similar manner. 'item, the king will give to the duke of burgundy not only his own declaration, sealed with his seal, but the declarations and seals of the princes of his blood and under his obedience,--namely, the seals of the duke of anjou, his brother the lord charles, the duke of bourbon, the count of richemont, the count of vendôme, the count of foix, the count of auvergne, the count of perdiac, and others,--which declarations of the princes shall be incorporated with that of the king, who shall with them promise faithfully to maintain the contents of the said declarations; and should they be infringed on the part of the king, they do severally promise to aid and assist the said duke of burgundy and his friends against the king. in like manner shall the duke of burgundy deliver in his declarations. 'item, the king shall also cause to be given to the duke of burgundy similar declarations under the seals of such churchmen, nobles, and principal towns of the realm under the king's obedience as the duke of burgundy shall name, under penalties both corporal and pecuniary on failure, together with such securities for the due performance of their engagements as the lords cardinals and prelates commissioned by the pope may think proper and advisable. 'item, should it happen hereafter that omissions, infractions, or attempts to infringe any of the said articles should arise, notwithstanding the present treaty, they shall remain in full force and vigour, and the peace shall not be considered as broken or annulled; but such omissions, infractions and attempts, shall be instantly amended and corrected, according to the virtual meaning of what has been before declared,--and the guarantees thereof shall see that it be done. 'item, as we have been again earnestly exhorted and pressed by the said cardinals, and by the ambassadors from the holy council, to incline our ears and attend to the proposals made to us respecting a peace,--which proposals they think just and reasonable, and such as ought not to be refused by us,--remonstrating also with us, that we should make peace with king charles of france from our love to god, and according to reason and honour, notwithstanding any alliances, oaths or engagements entered into with our very beloved and dear lord the king of england lately deceased,--the said cardinals and others, ambassadors from the holy council of basil, urging us to a compliance by many reasons and arguments,-- 'we, therefore, principally through reverence to god, and from the pity and compassion we feel for the poor people of france, who have been such great sufferers in these troubles and divisions within that realm, and in compliance with the admonitions and urgent entreaties of the said cardinals, and the ambassadors from our holy father the pope and the council, which we consider as commands to a catholic prince and obedient son of the church, have, after calling to our aid and council the highest lords of our blood and lineage, with others of our most faithful vassals and counsellors, made for ourselves and our successors a firm, loyal, and solid peace and re-union with our lord the king and his successors, according to the tenour of the articles above recited, which, on the part of the said king, he and his successors are bounden to fulfil toward us. 'the whole of these articles, so far as they regard us, we approve of and accept; and from this moment consent to and make all the renunciations, promises, submissions, and every other concession demanded from us in the above articles; and we acknowledge our aforesaid lord king charles of france as our sovereign lord, in as much as regards the lands and lordships we hold in that kingdom, promising for ourself and our heirs on our faith and bodily oath, on the word of a prince, on our honour, and on the loss of our expectations in this world and in that to come, to hold inviolate this treaty of peace, and the whole of the articles contained in the said treaty, without attempting to invalidate the same either by word or deed, openly or secretly. 'for the further maintenance of this peace by ourself, and by all others, we submit ourself and them to whatever regulations and ordinances it may please our holy father the pope, and the holy council now assembled at basil, to promulgate by the lords cardinals and the ambassadors from the said council now present; and we are willing to suffer any censures from the church, should we fail in the due fulfilment of all the articles contained in the said treaty. we renounce all exemptions, whatever may be alleged to the contrary, more particularly to that rule in law which declares that a general renunciation is not equally valid with an especial one, the whole to be fulfilled without fraud, deceit, or any chicanery whatever. 'that this treaty may have every due formality, and be perfectly stable, we have caused our signet to be affixed to these presents. given at our town of arras the st day of september, in the year .' it was also signed by the duke of burgundy, in the presence of his council. when the two parties had finally concluded a peace with each other, and when every formality of signing and sealing was finished, the peace was proclaimed with great solemnity through the town of arras. we need not inquire if this caused the utmost joy, and spread happiness among the people. in general, the clergy, nobles, citizens, and a multitude of peasants who had entered the town, were not content with one day's rejoicing, but made many, shouting and singing carols through the streets. very grand entertainments were given at the palace of the duke of burgundy to the knights, esquires, the ladies and damsels of both parties, as well in eating and drinking as in dancings and other amusements. in the apartment where this business had been concluded, the cardinal of santa croce, having placed the holy sacrament on an altar and a cross of gold on a cushion, made the duke of burgundy swear thereon, that he would never more call to his remembrance the death of his late father, and that he would evermore maintain peace with king charles of france, his sovereign lord, and his allies. after which, the duke of bourbon and the constable of france, touching the cross with their hands, begged pardon, in the king's name, of the duke of burgundy for the death of his said father, who gave them his pardon for the love of god. then the two cardinals, having laid their hands on the duke, absolved him from the oath he had made to the english. in like manner were absolved many great lords of his party, who, with others of the duke's alliance, swore to be on friendship with king charles and with his allies. in the number was the lord de launoy, who said aloud, 'here i am who have heretofore taken oaths for the preservation of peace five times during this war, not one of which has been observed,--but i now make promise to god, that this shall be kept on my part, and that i will not in any degree infringe it.' chap. lxxxix. the english lay siege to the town of st denis, which in the end surrenders to them by capitulation. during the time the english and their allies were in the isle de france, they besieged the town of st denis with a very powerful force. the principal commanders of this enterprise were the marshal de l'isle-adam, the lords talbot, willoughby, and scales, george de richammes, waleran de moreul, sir john bastard of st pol, his brother louis de luxembourg, sir ferry de mailly, robert de neufville, the bastard de thian a french knight, the arragonian, with other notable and expert men at arms of france and england, having under them about six hundred combatants. they carried on their attacks with great diligence, and pointed many cannons against the walls and gates to batter them down. they were frequently visited by louis de luxembourg, bishop of therounne, chancellor of france for king henry, and governor of paris and the surrounding country, who was their chief adviser, and urged them on to the completion of the business. within the town, on the part of the king of france, were the marshal de rieux, sir john foucault, sir louis de vaucourt, sir regnault de saint jean, artus de la tour, and many more valiant men at arms, together with six hundred combatants. on the approach of their enemies, they made every preparation for resistance; and the greater part lodged themselves on the walls, where they remained day and night, to be always ready for their defence. the walls and gates, however, were greatly damaged by the cannon of the english in so many places that their captains resolved to make several attacks on the town at the same time, with the hope of gaining it by storm. in consequence, having armed their men, they formed several divisions, and marched, with scaling ladders and other warlike instruments, to the ditches, which were filled with water. these the men at arms crossed, though the water was up to their necks, and, carrying their ladders with them, placed them against the walls, which they ascended without sign of fear. the besieged seeing this, and considering that if the place were taken by storm, they should not only lose the town but their lives also, began to prepare for a vigorous defence. the marshal de rieux had posted on different parts of the ramparts detachments under captains, with orders not to quit their posts whatever they might see or hear,--and he had a body of men at arms ready to succour such places as should be distressed. the attack was very fierce and bloody, and lasted for two hours, when many gallant acts were done on both sides. the new knights created on this occasion were louis de luxembourg, bastard of st pol, who behaved excellently well, jean de humieres, robert de neufville, and some others. when the assailants had had about four score men, or more, slain in the ditches and under the walls, they perceived they could not carry their point without too serious a loss, and their captains sounded a retreat, carrying off their dead and wounded. the besieged suffered also greatly, and were much alarmed lest the enemy, by continuing the attack, should constrain them more. they nevertheless, in hopes of succour from the constable of france, who was attending the convention at arras, with many of his officers, repaired the walls and gates, that had been broken, and prepared to defend themselves as well as circumstances would permit. the constable, on the conclusion of the peace at arras, departed thence, accompanied by numbers of the nobility, and went to senlis. he was anxious to collect a sufficient force to raise the siege of st denis; but when he examined his powers, he found that he was unable to do so. the marshal de rieux, therefore, knowing that the constable was unable to afford him relief, entered into negotiations with the english that he and his captains would surrender the place, on having their lives and fortunes spared, and would also give up the prisoners they had made, among whom was the new knight sir jean de humieres. this offer was acceded to,--and the french marched off, escorted by about sixteen hundred cavalry. the english army likewise broke up, and returned to different towns under their obedience, leaving behind such of their captains and men as had been killed in st denis. among the first were sir louis de vaucourt, sir regnault de st jean, artus de la tour, one called josselin, and others, whose deaths caused great grief. the town of st denis was now under the government of king henry. shortly after this event, the picards, who had been informed of the peace concluded between the duke of burgundy and king charles, took leave of the english captains as soon as they could, and returned without loss to their own country. at the same time, the french took by storm the bridge of meulan, and put to death about twenty english who guarded it. this success much vexed the parisians, because it cut off the communication with normandy, and would prevent them from receiving hence any provisions. chap. xc. isabella, queen of france, dies in the city of paris. in the month of september of this year, isabella queen of france, and mother to king charles then on the throne, was taken grievously ill at her apartments in the king's hôtel of st pol. she had for some time lived in great poverty, owing to the distresses and troubles of the war,--and her disorder increased so much that it caused her death. she was buried in the church of st denis, but not with the solemnity and state usual at the funerals of queens of france. when the duke of burgundy heard of her decease, he had a grand and solemn service performed for her in the church of st waast at arras, which he personally attended, dressed in mourning. the duke was supported by the count d'estampes, the count de vendôme, the heir of cleves, and many other ecclesiastical and secular lords in mourning. the service was performed by the bishop of arras. chap. xci. the cardinals, and the ambassadors from the council, leave arras.--the duke of burgundy appoints different officers to the towns and fortresses that had been conceded to him by the peace. soon after peace had been proclaimed in arras, the cardinals, and those who had accompanied them, departed thence, after having been most honourably entertained by duke philip. in like manner did all those who had come thither as ambassadors from the holy council and from king charles. the duke now, while in arras, appointed many new officers to the towns and castles on the river somme and to those within picardy, which had long appertained to the crown of france, but had been yielded to him by king charles, according to the articles of the treaty lately concluded. prior to this peace, arras was in the hands of king henry; but now the duke appointed other officers, displacing those of king henry at his pleasure, laying hands on all the public money, nominating new receivers, and causing the inhabitants to swear allegiance to him. the english officers were much surprised at these proceedings of the duke, for it was through his means that king henry had obtained possession of the town, and he had lately acknowledged him for his legal and sovereign lord. seeing that they could no way prevent it, they suffered patiently all that was done. among others, master robert le jeune, who had for a long time been bailiff of amiens, and had ruled with a high hand all picardy in favour of the english, and had even been their council at the convention of arras, and their chief adviser, finding that the tide was now turning against them (through means procured by money) managed so well that he continued in favour with the duke of burgundy, who made him governor of arras in the room of sir david de brimeu, who had held that appointment. thus in a few days was a total change made in the public affairs of france and england, and just contrary to what had before been. chap. xcii. in consequence of the peace of arras, the duke of burgundy sends some of his council, and heralds, to the king of england, to remonstrate and explain the causes of the peace he had concluded with the king of france. on the conclusion of the peace at arras, the duke of burgundy sent his king at arms of the order of the golden fleece, with another of his heralds called franche-comté, to england with letters from the duke to king henry. these letters contained strong remonstrances to induce the king and his council to conclude a peace with the king of france,--and were also explanatory of the causes which had induced the duke, by the exhortations of the legates from the holy see and from the council of basil, in conjunction with the three estates of his dominions, to make a peace with king charles his sovereign lord, and to renounce the alliance he had formerly concluded with the late king henry of england. they were accompanied by a mendicant friar, a doctor of divinity, who had been charged by the two cardinal-legates to remonstrate publicly with the king of england and his council on the infinite cruelty of prolonging so bloody a war, which laid waste christendom, and to harangue on the blessings that would ensue if a lasting peace could be concluded between the two kings. they all three travelled together as far as calais, and crossed the sea to dover; but there they received orders from king henry, forbidding them to proceed further. their letters were demanded, given up, and carried to the king at london,--and soon after they were conducted thither. they were met on the road by a herald and a secretary to the lord treasurer, who escorted them to their lodgings in london, at the house of a shoemaker, where they remained, and only went to hear mass, under the care of some heralds and pursuivants at arms, who visited them often; for they were forbidden to stir out of their lodgings without a licence or permission. they were therefore very much alarmed lest they might personally suffer for the disagreeable news they had brought. notwithstanding the mendicant friar and the two heralds had made many requests to those who attended on them, that they might be permitted to address the king and council on the subjects they had been charged with by the two cardinals and their lord, they never could obtain an audience. the lord treasurer of england, however, to whom the letters from the duke of burgundy had been given, assembled, in the presence of the king, the cardinal of winchester, the duke of glocester, with many other princes and prelates, members of the council, so that the meeting was numerously attended, and laid before them the letters which the duke of burgundy had written to the king and his council,--but their address and superscription were not in the style he was wont to use. in this, he simply styled him king of england--high and mighty prince--his very dear lord and cousin; but forbore to acknowledge him as his sovereign lord, as he heretofore always had done in the numerous letters he had sent him. all present were very much surprised on hearing them read; and even the young king henry was so much hurt at their contents that his eyes were filled with tears, which ran down his cheeks. he said to some of the privy counsellors nearest to him, that he plainly perceived since the duke of burgundy had acted thus disloyally toward him, and was reconciled to his enemy king charles, that his dominions in france would fare the worse for it. the cardinal of winchester and the duke of glocester abruptly left the council much confused and vexed, as did several others, without coming to any determination. they collected in small knots and abused each other as well as the duke of burgundy and the leading members of his council. this news was soon made public throughout london; and no one who was well bred was sparing of the grossest abuse against the duke of burgundy and his country. many of the common people collected together and went to different parts of the town to search for flemings, dutchmen, brabanters, picards, hainaulters, and other foreigners, to use them ill, who were unsuspicious of deserving it. several were seized in the heat of their rage and murdered; but, shortly after, king henry put an end to this tumult, and the ringleaders were delivered up to justice. some days after, the king and his council assembled to consider on the answers they should send to the duke of burgundy's letters, when their opinions were divided: some would have war declared instantly against the duke, while others would have him regularly summoned, by letter or otherwise, to answer for his conduct. while this was under discussion, news was brought to the king, that in consequence of the pacification between the duke and king charles, the duke was to have given up to him the towns, lordships, castles and forts, of st quentin, corbie, amiens, st riquier, abbeville, dourlens and montrieul, which had been in the possession, and under the obedience of king henry, who had received their oaths of fidelity, and had appointed officers for their government. this intelligence made bad worse, and the council determined not to send any answer. upon which, the lord treasurer went to the three messengers at their lodgings, and told the heralds, toison and franche-comté, that the king, with the princes of his blood and his council, had seen and examined the letters they had brought,--and that they had been equally surprised at their contents as at the conduct of the duke, for which, if it pleased god, the king would provide a remedy. the messengers were very anxious to have an answer in writing,--but could not obtain one, although they frequently made this request. they were told, they might return to their own country,--and finding they could not do more, re-crossed the sea, and reported verbally to their lord the duke every thing that had passed. the mendicant doctor went to those who had sent him, without having had an opportunity of employing his talents. the messengers were very much afraid they should have been ill treated,--for on their journey home, they heard in several places their lord much and loudly abused by the common people, who did not receive them with that civility they used formerly to do. chap. xciii. the populace of amiens rise against the levying of some taxes which were intended to be laid on them. at this period, the inhabitants of amiens deputed an advocate, called master tristan de fontaines, to the duke of burgundy, to endeavour to obtain the remission of a sum of money which the town owed to the duke, or to some of his partisans,--but he was unsuccessful. king charles and the duke issued new ordinances, ordering that the taxes and subsidies which that place had before paid should be continued on the same footing as formerly. master tristan, on his return to amiens, had these ordinances proclaimed at the usual places,--when a large body of butchers and others of the populace, being discontented thereat, suddenly collected together, with arms and staves according to their condition. they went thus armed to their mayor, and plainly told him, that they were determined not to pay these taxes, for he well knew that good king charles would not that they should pay more than other towns under his obedience. the mayor, seeing their rude and bold behaviour, assented to all they said, appeasing them by gentle words; and as they were the masters, he agreed to go with them wherever they pleased through the town. they made captain over them one honoré cokin, and went first to the house of master tristan, with the intent to put him to death; but he, having had from his friends intelligence of this, had escaped. they broke, however, many doors and windows in search of him,--and thence went to the house of one called pierre le clerc, provost of the beauvoisis, who, during the time that master robert le jeune was bailiff of amiens, had enjoyed great power, committed many extortions, and ill treated several of the inhabitants of that place and the country about, which had caused him to be much hated. they sought him every where, but in vain,--for, having heard of the tumult, he had hidden himself. they demolished his house and furniture, and drank in one night eighteen pipes of wine which he had in his cellars. they also made his nephew their prisoner, and confined him in the belfry. they committed numerous disorders in the town; and went in large bodies to the houses of the rich, who were forced to give them great sums of money, but more particularly meat and wine. pierre le clerc was all this time hidden in the hen-roost belonging to a poor man; but he was discovered to the mob, who went in great solemnity to seek him, and confined him in the town prison, whence they soon after dragged him to the market-place and cut his throat: his nephew suffered the like death. there was not a man now in amiens who dared to oppose their will and pleasure. news of these proceedings were carried to the duke of burgundy, who sent to amiens john de brimeu, the new bailiff, and shortly after the lord de saveuses, who had been lately appointed the governor, with orders to inquire into and correct these abuses. they were followed by the count d'estampes, with many knights, esquires and cross-bows; and again the lord de croy was sent thither with a large force: he also carried with him the archers of the duke's household. forces from different parts drew toward amiens, and all the principal lords of picardy, under pretence of besieging the castle of bonnes, whither had retreated a body of pillagers. honoré cokin did not securely rely upon his companions, and was doubtful if they would not play him false, notwithstanding that they had been with the count d'estampes, the governor and bailiff, to excuse themselves and him for what had passed. they had received courteous answers, and promises, that if they would behave well for the future, they should obtain their pardon. the lords having deliberated on the business, and taken possession of the belfry, with a sufficient guard, (who were to ring the alarm bell on the first sign of tumult, when all the commonalty were to assemble and join them) advanced to the market-place, having sent detachments to various parts of the town well armed, to prevent any disorders in future. the lord de saveuses and the bailiff were then ordered to scour the streets with the troops, and to arrest all who refused to retire to their homes. when these regulations had been made, the count d'estampes, attended by many noble lords and knights, remained in the market-place, which was filled with multitudes of people, and caused a new ordinance to be proclaimed in the names of king charles and the duke of burgundy, ordering the late subsidies and taxes to be continued, and, at the same time, pardoning all past offences, with the reserve of some few of the ringleaders, who would be named and punished. when this proclamation was made, perrinet chalons, one of the principal rioters, was present, and, hearing its contents, took to his heels,--but orders were instantly given to seize him. he was pursued into the church of saint germain, and found kneeling beside a priest saying mass; but, notwithstanding this, he was taken and carried to the belfry. on the other hand, honoré cokin, knowing of this meeting, had armed himself, with some of his associates, to attend it; but he was met by the governor and the bailiff, who instantly arrested him and sent him also to the belfry. twenty or thirty other rebels were made prisoners, in different parts of the town; and this same day honoré with seven others, his companions, had their heads cut off with a cooper's adze. perrinet chalons and two others were hanged and quartered on a gibbet: one was drowned, and about fifty banished the town. there were, afterward, several executed, for the same cause, at different times; and among them a celebrated pillager, who had been very active in his occupation. these executions brought the inhabitants of amiens under the most perfect obedience. chap. xciv. the french overrun and pillage the country of the duke of burgundy after the peace of arras.--the marshal de rieux takes many towns and castles from the english in normandy. when the french ambassadors were returned to king charles, and had shown him the treaty they had concluded at arras with the duke of burgundy, by which, among other articles, the duke acknowledged the king as his sovereign lord, he was much pleased, and ordered peace to be proclaimed in all the usual places. soon after, the french in the town of rue marched away,--and the government of it was given up to the commissaries of the duke of burgundy. another party of french, however, collected in santerre, and in the amiennois, where they plundered many places belonging to the duke of burgundy and his friends: they even robbed all they met in those parts, nobles and others. the duke, therefore, ordered some troops to march against these marauders, who, hearing of it, retreated from that country. the english at this period laid siege to the bridge of meulan, which the french had lately won, but, from some obstacles that arose, gave it up. in another quarter, the marshal de rieux and charles des marêts gained the town of dieppe, and some others in normandy, in the following manner. soon after the conclusion of the peace at arras, several valiant french captains, such as the marshal de rieux, gaucher de boussach, the lord de longueval, and others, having with them from three to four hundred tried soldiers, marched, by the invitation of charles des marêts, on the friday preceding all-saints-day, to escalade the strong town of dieppe, seated on the sea-coast, and in the plentiful country of caux. charles des marêts entered the town secretly, with about six hundred combatants, on the side toward the harbour, and thence hastened to destroy the gate leading toward rouen,--by which the marshal watered with his men at arms on foot, and with displayed banners. it was about day-break when they arrived at the market-place, shouting out, 'town won!' which cry greatly surprised the inhabitants, who began to shoot and to throw stones from the house-tops. as there were many in the town and on board of the vessels in the harbour, the french waited until nine or ten o'clock before they began to attack the houses,--but they were all won, with little loss to the french. the lieutenant-governor, mortimer, fled with many others of the english, but the lord de bloseville was taken. at the first onset, only three or four of the english garrison were killed,--but several were made prisoners, with all those who had supported their party. the property of the inhabitants was confiscated, excepting, however, those willing to take the oaths of fidelity and allegiance to king charles. there were in the harbour numbers of vessels, the greater part of which fell into the hands of the french. the day the town was taken, proclamation was made for all foreigners to leave it, except such as were willing to take the oaths,--and charles des marêts was unanimously appointed governor for the king of france. the whole of the english throughout normandy were greatly troubled and vexed at this capture, and not without cause, for the town of dieppe was wonderous strong and excellently situated in one of the most fertile parts of that country. shortly after, a body of french cavalry, to the amount of from three to four thousand, arrived at dieppe and in the neighbourhood, under the command of anthony de chabannes, blanchefort, poton le bourguignon, pierre regnault and other captains. they were soon joined by poton de saintrailles, john d'estouteville, robinet his brother, the lord de montrieul bellay, with other noble lords and commanders. to them came also a leader of the common people, called le kirennier, with about four thousand of the norman peasantry, who united themselves with the french forces, and took oaths, in the presence of the marshal de rieux, to wage a perpetual warfare against the english. when these troops had been properly arranged, they took the field in good array on christmas-eve, and marched to fécamp,[ ] which by means of the lord de milleville was surrendered to the marshal, on promise of remaining unmolested. john d'estouteville was made governor thereof; and on the morrow of christmas-day the army advanced to monstier villiers, which was also surrendered by a gascon called jean du puys, who had been placed there by the english. the marshal made a person called courbenton its governor. the successes were now increasing on all sides in normandy,--and many of the nobles took the oaths of fidelity to the marshal. the army was now marched to harfleur, and made on it a vigorous assault; but they were repulsed by the garrison, with the loss of forty of their men killed,--the principal of whom were the lord de monstrieul-bellay and the bastard de langle. the marshal had determined to renew the attack on the morrow; but the townsmen concluded a treaty to surrender, on condition that the four hundred english in the place should depart in safety with their baggage and property. the english captain, called william minors, conducted his men and baggage out of the town,--and the inhabitants took the oaths of allegiance. at the same time, the following towns surrendered to the king's obedience, le bec crespin, tancarville, gomerville, les loges, valmont, grasville, longueville, lambreville, and very many forts, with little loss to the french. the count de richemont, constable of france, now joined this army, to whom, on his arrival, the towns and castles of charles-maisnil, aumarle, st germain sur cailly, fontaines le bourg, préaux, blainville and others, surrendered, in all of which garrisons were placed; and thus, at this season, was the greater part of the country of caux conquered by the french. it is true, that they were forced from want of provision to leave these parts,--but their captains, before they departed, posted strong garrisons along the frontier. charles des marêts and richarville were present at all these conquests: they took the field from dieppe, and joined the marshal de rieux, the lord de torsy, poton le bourguignon, broussart, blanchefort, john d'estouteville, and other captains renowned in war. to them, likewise, attached himself le kerennier with six thousand of the peasantry, to accomplish their work of driving the english out of the country. footnotes: [footnote : fécamp,--a city of normandy by the sea, diocese of rouen.] chap. xcv. the english suspect the burgundians who are waging war with them against the king of france: they no longer converse or keep company with them.--other matters briefly spoken of. when the english in france were perfectly assured that a treaty had taken place between the duke of burgundy and king charles, they became very suspicious of the burgundians, and guarded as much against them as they had done before against the french. notwithstanding they had been on the greatest intimacy together, they had no longer confidence in each other,--and although there was no open warfare between them, the english and burgundians were mutually taking measures in secret to gain advantages over each other. the english guarding the frontier toward calais even attempted to take the town of ardres by surprise,--and the burgundians in ponthieu made a similar attempt in regard to the castle of crotoy, keeping outwardly fair appearances. each were, however, much displeased at these attempts, and made preparations for open war. during this time, la hire was quartered at gerberoy;[ ] and, in conjunction with poton de saintrailles and sir regnault de fontaines, collected about six hundred combatants, whom they led toward rouen, in the hope of entering that town by means of friends within it,--but they failed in their enterprise. they and their men, being much tired, retreated to a large village, called le bois, to refresh themselves, but not without sir thomas kiriel, and the other english captains in rouen, gaining intelligence thereof. he and his companions therefore speedily armed, and fell on the french at this village unexpectedly, with about a thousand combatants, who soon put them to the rout; for the french had not time to mount their horses, nor draw up in battle-array. the greater part fled the way they had come,--but a few of their leaders, attempting to rally them, were conquered by the english. among the prisoners were the lords de fontaines, alain geron, alardin de monssay, jean de bordes, garnarde and many others, to the amount of upward of sixty. eight or ten only were killed: the rest saved themselves by flight. la hire was wounded, and lost his equipage. the english gained almost all their horses,--for the greater part dismounted, and escaped into a wood hard by. at this time, king henry of england sent an embassy to the emperor of germany; but the ambassadors, passing through brabant, were arrested by the officers of the duke of burgundy: they were, however, as i was informed, soon set at liberty, because the king of england and the duke had not declared war against each other. about this time also, by the exertions of sir john de vergy, and some french captains under him, the english were driven out of the two strong towns they held in champagne, on the frontiers of bar, namely, nogent le roi and montigny. in like manner, those of pontoise surrendered their town into the hands of the lord de l'isle-adam, which had before been under the command of the english; for though this lord de l'isle-adam had carried on the war for the english, and had even been made marshal of france by king henry, within a short time he had turned against him. the english lost also the castle of vincennes, and other places they held in the isle de france, and now began to perceive how much they suffered from the duke of burgundy having quitted them, and from his union with france. they therefore conceived a greater hatred against him and his friends than against their ancient enemies the french. footnotes: [footnote : gerberoy,--in the isle de france, four leagues from beauvais.] chap. xcvi. king henry sends letters to the hollanders, to draw them to his party.--a copy of these letters. in this year, king henry of england sent letters, sealed with his seal, to the mayor, sheriffs, counsellors, burghers and commonalty of the town of ziric-zee, to entice them over to his party against the duke of burgundy, a copy of which follows. 'henry, by the grace of god, king of england, lord of ireland, to our very dear and great friends the burgomasters, sheriffs, counsellors and commonalty of the town of ziric-zee, health, and perpetual love and affection. very dear and great friends, how much advantage and profit arises to kingdoms from an uninterrupted alliance and confederation between kingdoms and great lords their prosperity fully evinces, and of which you have had experience. in recalling to mind the very ancient friendship and alliance that has so long subsisted between our predecessors the kings of this realm and the princes who have ruled over holland, zealand and frizeland, we have observed that commerce has flourished and public tranquillity been preserved through means of this friendship, to the overthrow of hatreds, jealousies, and internal divisions. 'being most heartily desirous that such an alliance and friendship may continue, we shall pursue the steps of our predecessors, as well through affinity of blood as from old attachment to those princes of zealand, who have worn our order of the garter in the same manner that emperors and other royal persons, through affection to us, have done. 'having taken this opportunity of notifying to you that our friendship and love continue the same, and which we shall ever cultivate, preferring old friends to the making of new ones, as being far more honourable as well as profitable,--we frankly inform you, that we understand that, under pretence of a peace, divers novelties and changes have taken place in our kingdom of france, to the great prejudice of us and of our state, by infringing the general peace of the two realms, so loyally and faithfully concluded between our late very dear lords, our father and grandfather, the kings henry and charles lately deceased, whose souls may god pardon! and between the greatest nobles of the two kingdoms, as we have in full remembrance. 'from this cause, various rumours are abroad, as if some countries were about to break off their confederations and alliances with us, but for which we know not of any reasons that should induce them so to do. we are anxious, therefore, for our satisfaction, to learn your intentions on this subject, as we make known ours to you,--and most affectionately entreat you to accept of our wish that our former friendship may be preserved, and that you will inform us of your intentions by the bearer of these presents, whom we send purposely to you; or should you be willing to send any envoys to notify to us your inclinations, we shall attend to them with a hearty good will. very dear and great friends, may the holy spirit have you under his protection. 'given under our privy seal, at our palace of westminster, the th day of december, in the year of grace , and of our reign the th.' the address on the letter was, 'to our very dear and great friends the burgomasters, sheriffs, counsellors and commonalty of the town of ziric-zee.' on the receipt of this letter, the only answer the burgomasters gave the messenger was, that they would consider of it,--and then they sent it to the duke of burgundy and his council, who were very much displeased at the conduct of the english toward him and his country, in this as well as in other matters. chap. xcvii. the duke of burgundy determines to make war on the english. while affairs were growing worse every day between the english and burgundians, the duke and some of his most able counsellors thought that it would be more advisable to consider on some private means to prevent the two countries going to war,--for that it would be better for all parties the duke should remain in peace, and neuter as to the war with france. to accomplish this, sir john de luxembourg count de ligny, who had not as yet taken the oaths of fidelity to king charles, was sent for to the duke. at his request, sir john offered to write to his brother the archbishop of rouen, who was one of the principal advisers of king henry, and his chancellor for the kingdom of france. the business was immediately commenced, and the archbishop dispatched to king henry in england. it was there resolved, that for the welfare of the two countries, they would remain in peace; and the archbishop sent word to his brother, that his request would be complied with,--and that england would give good security not to undertake any enterprise against the territories of the duke of burgundy, provided the duke would give similar security to king henry. sir john de luxembourg, on receiving this information in writing, sent it to the duke of burgundy, and desired to know by the messenger whether he were willing to proceed further in the matter. the duke made answer, by the bishop of tournay, that he would not; for that the english had of late behaved in a very hostile manner toward him and his subjects, and in various parts had defamed his person and his honour. they had overthrown from four to five hundred of his combatants on the borders of flanders, and had also attempted to gain the town of ardres by surprise. this had been confessed by four of the party who had been beheaded for it in that town. they had also done many other acts of hostility, which could not longer be passed over in silence. when the bishop of tournay had given this answer to the messengers from the count de ligny, they requested of the duke to have it in writing, which he complied with, and signed it with his own hand; but before the messengers were departed, the duke was strongly exhorted, by several of his council, to make preparations for a war against the english, in defence of his honour. in consequence, he shortly after had letters written and sent to king henry of england, in which he stated the acts done on his part against himself and his subjects since the signing of the peace at arras, which were so disagreeable and offensive to his honour that they could not longer be borne nor dissembled. he added, that if any thing should have been done inimical by him, no one ought to be surprised; for he had received too many insults and neglects not to warrant him therein, which had been very displeasing to him. when these papers had been examined by king henry and his council, they were perfectly convinced that a war with the duke of burgundy was inevitable, and gave immediate orders for the reinforcement of all the frontiers of the boulonnois and of crotoy, and warned those countries to be ready for whatever attempts might be made on them. in like manner did the duke of burgundy strengthen all his towns on the frontier. the king of england sent declaratory letters to several parts of france, and the principal towns, to explain the cause of quarrel between him and the duke of burgundy, which in substance contained excuses for the charges made against him by the duke, of the hostilities carried on against himself and subjects. he also stated the letter sent to ziric-zee, as an instance of his wish to avoid any quarrel. with regard to the alliance he was desirous of forming with the emperor of germany, he had a right so to do without being called to an account for it; and as for the summons that had been issued to raise a large army to wage war against the duke, he did not deny but that such summons was issued, though no cause for it was mentioned,--and he had a right to assemble an army, and employ it wheresoever he pleased. he concluded by saying, that the charges made against him by the duke of burgundy were groundless, as would be apparent to all from the acts done against him and his subjects by the said duke and his allies. this declaration shall, if it please god, be thrown back on him from whom it came. chap. xcviii. the duke of burgundy, by the advice of his privy counsellors, resolves to make an attempt to conquer calais. soon after the duke of burgundy had sent his dispatches to england, charging king henry and his subjects with the many hostile acts they had done against him, he knew that a war must take place, and held many councils to consider on the best means of conducting it. the council were much divided in their opinions: some were for the duke beginning the war, and assembling the whole of his forces, not only to oppose the english but to make an attempt to conquer calais, which was his own inheritance. others were of a different opinion, for they thought again and again on the commencement, and what might be the end of the war,--saying, that the english were so near many parts of their country that they could invade it with advantage whenever they pleased; and they knew not what dependance and aid could be expected from king charles, his sovereign, and the princes he was now connected with, in case any misfortunes should befal him. this matter having been debated for many days, it was at length determined that the duke should commence hostilities, and require the assistance of his countries of flanders, holland, and the rest, to aid him in the conquest of calais and the county of guines. the principal advisers of this measure were master jean chevrot bishop of tournay, the lord de croy, master jean de croy his brother, sir jean de hornes, seneschal of brabant, the lord de chargny, the lord de crevecoeur, jean de brimeu, bailiff of amiens, and many others. several great lords, who had constantly served the duke of burgundy in his wars, were not called to this council,--such as sir john de luxembourg, the lord d'antoing, the vidame of amiens, the bastard of st pol, the lord de saveuses, hugh de launoy, the lord de mailly, and several others of high rank and power, as well in picardy as in the other territories of the duke, who thought that, since they had been thus neglected, they were not bound to serve with their vassals in the ensuing war with that alacrity they would have done had they been summoned. when war had been resolved on, the duke went to ghent, and assembled in the banqueting hall the sheriffs and deacons of the trades. he caused them to be harangued by master goussenin le sauvage, one of his counsellors at the castle of ghent, how the town of calais had belonged to his predecessors, and that it was his lawful inheritance, as part of his county of artois, although the english had long held it by force, and against his right: of this they might be truly informed, by examining the report formerly made by collart de comines, high bailiff of flanders, or by others of his counsellors: that the english, since the peace of arras, had done many hostile acts against him and his subjects, which had much vexed him; and that they had, in various proclamations, defamed his person and honour, which he could not longer, without disgrace, suffer from them. for this reason he had visited them, to request that they would afford him aid in men and money to conquer the town of calais, which, as master goussenin added, was very prejudicial to all flanders; for that the flemings who went thither to purchase wool, tin, lead or cheese, were forced to pay in money according to what alloy the english pleased to put on it, or in ingots of refined gold and silver, which was not done in other countries, and this the deacons of the trades vouched to be true. when this harangue, which was very long, was concluded, the majority of the sheriffs and deacons, without deliberation, or fixing a day to consult with the other members of their body, consented to support the war, and would not listen to some wise and ancient lords, who were of a contrary opinion. but what is more, when news of this was spread through the other towns of flanders, the whole country was eager for war; and it seemed to many to proceed too slowly,--for they were impatient to display how well provided they were with arms and warlike habiliments. they proceeded thus arrogantly and pompously,--for in truth it seemed to them that calais could not be able to withstand their arms. the duke of burgundy made similar applications to the other towns and castlewicks in flanders for their aid in the war, and all liberally supported him. he also went to holland, to solicit from the hollanders shipping against calais, who complied with the greater part of his demands. he thence returned home to make great preparations for his war against the english, and to conquer calais. while these matters were going forward, several enterprises had been undertaken by the english and burgundians against each other. the duke of burgundy on his return to picardy sent thence six hundred combatants, under the lord de ternant, sir simon de lalain and other captains, to reinforce the lord de l'isle-adam at pontoise, and to guard the frontier against the english, who were making a sharp attack on that town, although it was but lately won from them by the lord de l'isle-adam. a party of french joined these picards, and made frequent attempts to gain the city of paris. during this time, king charles's queen was brought to bed of a son, to whom the king gave the baptismal name of philip after the duke of burgundy. the sponsors for the duke were charles duke of bourbon and charles d'anjou, brother to the queen. when the christening was over, the king sent a pursuivant with letters to the duke of burgundy, to inform him of what he had done, and to express a wish that it might be agreeable to him. the duke was much pleased with the news, and made the pursuivant presents becoming a prince. the duke, in the mean time, continued to make requests throughout his dominions for succours of men and money, to carry on with effect his war against the english. [a.d. .] chap. xcix. the city of paris is reduced to the obedience of charles king of france. at the beginning of this year, the count de richemont, constable of france, the bastard of orleans, the lords de la roche, de l'isle-adam, de ternant, sir simon de lalain, his brother sausse, with other french and burgundian captains, collected a force of about six thousand combatants, and marched from pontoise toward paris, in the hope of gaining admittance through the intrigues of the lord de l'isle-adam with the partisans of the burgundian faction within that city. having remained there from four to five hours, seeing they could not succeed, they quartered themselves at aubervilliers, montmartre, and other places around. on the morrow, they attacked the town of st denis, wherein were from four to five hundred english, and won it by storm.--about two hundred english were slain,--and the rest fled to the abbey, where they were besieged, but soon surrendered on having their lives spared, with the reservation of some of the natives, who were to remain at the discretion of the conquerors. the next day, which was a thursday, sir thomas beaumont, lately arrived at paris with six hundred fighting men from normandy, marched from paris to st denis, to inquire into the state of the french. when they perceived him, they made a sally with a large force, and almost immediately defeated him. three hundred and eighty were killed or made prisoners, and among the last was sir thomas: the rest escaped by flying to paris, pursued to the very gates. the parisians most inclined to the duke of burgundy, namely, those in the quarter of the market-place, and some few of the university, with michael lallier and others of the principal citizens, seeing the great loss the english had suffered, and so large a force of french and burgundians under their walls, assembled in parties, and resolved to drive out the english and admit the others into their town. this they made known to the lord de l'isle-adam, that he might inform the other captains of their intentions. he sent notice thereof to the constable and the nobles, who, eager to gain paris, marched from st denis in handsome array, very early on the friday morning. in the mean time, louis de luxembourg, bishop of therouenne, the bishops of lisieux and of meaux, the lord willoughby, and others of the english party, suspecting that the commonalty were about to turn against them, posted their men in the street of st antony, near to the bastille, which they filled with provision and warlike stores. they kept their men armed, and on their guard, to retreat thither should there be occasion. when the french and burgundians were come before paris, to the gate of st james, on the other side of the seine toward montlehery, they sent the lord de l'isle-adam to hold a parley with the inhabitants on the ramparts. he displayed to them a general amnesty from king charles for all that was passed, sealed with his great seal,--admonishing them, at the same time, to surrender instantly to their lawful king and lord, at the request of the duke of burgundy, as they were now reconciled, for that they had been ever steadily attached to the duke, and under his government they would still remain. the parisians, hearing these soft speeches from the lord de l'isle-adam and his confederates, were so much pleased, that they agreed, shortly after, to admit them into the city. ladders were now hastily placed against the walls, by which the lord de l'isle-adam mounted and entered the town. he was followed by the bastard of orleans and numbers of their men. a large body of the burgundy-faction and of the commonalty met them, shouting, 'peace! long live king charles, and the duke of burgundy!' soon after, the gates were thrown open, and the constable entered, with the other lords and their men at arms. they advanced toward the bastille, whither the bishops, and those of the english party, had retreated, with a show of making some resistance; but it was vain, for their enemies were too numerous. they were, therefore, repulsed at the first onset, and a few killed and made prisoners. barriers were now erected before the gate of the bastille with large timber, and men at arms posted in the tournelles and adjoining parts, to prevent the english from making any sallies. all their effects were now seized and plundered,--and those who had been their principal supporters were imprisoned, and their property confiscated. new officers were also appointed, in the name of king charles, for the government of the town. the bishop of therouenne, lord willoughby, and the others in the bastille, held a parley with the french; and, by means of the lord de ternant and sir simon de lalain, it was concluded that, on the surrender of the bastille, those within should be allowed to depart in safety, with all their effects. they had a passport from the constable, under which they went by land and water to rouen. the parisians, at their departure, set up a grand shouting at them, crying out 'à la queue[ ]!' thus was the city of paris reduced to the obedience of king charles. the english, after passing the gate leading to the country, went round to embark at the back of the louvre. the bishop of therouenne lost all the rich ornaments of his chapel; and the greater part of his jewels and valuable rings fell to the lot of the constable. however, he was much favoured by the lord de ternant and sir simon de lalain; and they restored to him some of his wealth, which was dispersed in different parts of the town. the standard of the duke of burgundy was displayed at all the gates, as an inducement for the parisians to turn to his party. some new knights were created on this occasion by the constable, from the country of picardy, namely, sausse de lalain and robert de neufville, with others of the french. the constable remained for a long time in paris after this conquest,--and with him the lord de ternant, who was made provost. the aforesaid sir sausse de lalain, the bastard of orleans, and others of the french and picards, now returned to the places they had come from. footnotes: [footnote : in the french dictionary of richelet, it is thus explained: _à la queue leu leu_, (_continenti serie ludere_) a kind of play, which means, 'the tail of the wolf.' to play _à la queue leu leu_, is said when children place themselves in a file, and the leader, making a half-wheel round, drags the rest after him, endeavouring to catch hold of the last in the file.] chap. c. arthur count de richemont, constable of france, makes war on the heir of commercy. in this year, the count de richemont, constable of france, advanced into champagne with a large body of troops to make war on the heir of commercy and others, who were disobedient to king charles, and had greatly annoyed that and the surrounding countries. on his arrival, he took laon, some leagues from rheims, and thence marched to braine[ ], belonging to the lord of commercy; but as it was too strong and well garrisoned, and refused to submit, he passed on to saint menehoud, in the possession of henry de la tour, who gave it up on capitulation. the constable was here joined by the youth everard de la marche, who made an agreement with him for his men to lay siege to chavensy[ ]. the constable gave him several of his captains and their men: with these he commenced the siege of chavensy about eight days after easter, by erecting a strong block-house, wherein he quartered about four hundred of his troops and a number of common people, who came thither at times from the low countries. everard had with him the constable's lieutenant named jean de malatrait, sir john geoffry de conurant, and the provost of the marshals, tristan de l'hermite, and also pierre d'orgy, yvon du puys, the arragonian, estienne diest, le grand pierre, and others, men of renown, who remained full four months carrying on a severe war against this garrison, which, nevertheless defended themselves with prudence and ability. while this was going forward, a party of the besieging army kept the open country, with the intent of harrassing in other places the heir of commercy, who was always on his guard, and well attended by men at arms. he learnt from his spies, that his adversaries were quartered at the village of romaigne[ ], in champagne; and before they could be prepared to resist him, he made a sudden attack on them at eight of the clock in the morning, and totally defeated them. about sixty were slain, among whom were alain geron bailiff of senlis, geoffry de morillon, pierre d'orgy, alain de la roche, olivier de la jouste, the bastard of villebranche, and many other gentlemen. six score were made prisoners,--and in the number was one blanchelaine. the heir of commercy retreated after this defeat,--and when news of it was carried to the besiegers of chavensy, they were greatly surprised. everard de la marche was not cast down by this misfortune, but gained to his party the count de vernembourg, who in person, attended by his two sons, and accompanied by four or five hundred combatants, went to this siege. he carried with him, likewise, sir hugh tauxte and sir herault de gourgines, governors of ainville[ ], the children of brousset, and many more great lords, who remained at this siege until the night of st john's day,--when the besieged made a grand sally, and set fire to the quarters of the besiegers. they were successful in throwing the enemy into confusion, and slew from two to three hundred, among whom were estienne diest and the arragonian. another skirmish took place, when one of the sons of the count de vernembourg was killed, and the great block-house set on fire by means of rockets. the besiegers, having suffered severely in these sallies, decamped, when their quarters were burnt. angillebert de dolle and girard de marescoup commanded in chavensey, during this siege, for the lord de commercy, with about two hundred fighting men. during this time, the constable had reduced to obedience the towns of nampteuil-sur-aine[ ], han-les-moines[ ], bourg[ ], and other castles, on his presenting himself before them. footnotes: [footnote : braine,--near compiégne.] [footnote : chavensy. q.] [footnote : la romaigne,--near rethel in champagne.] [footnote : ainville, on the frontiers of champagne and lorraine.] chap. ci. the bishop of liege and the liegeois destroy bousseuvre[ ], and other forts that had made war against them. at the end of the month of april, the bishop of liege raised a large force to combat and reduce to obedience several forts in the forest of the ardennes, held by a set of plunderers, who had done much mischief to the inhabitants of his territories. the principal leaders and supporters of these marauders were jean de beaurain, philipot de sergins, the lord d'orchimont and others, who made the castle of boussenoch, villers opposite to mousson, aubigny, beaurain, orchimont, and several other castles in these parts, their retreats. some of them gave out that they were attached to the king of france, others to the duke of burgundy, but the greater part to sir john de luxembourg, count de ligny; while two of them, john de beaurain and philipot de sergins, made war on their own account, to recover sums due to them for services they had done the liegeois. the bishop, through the aid of the nobles of the country, assembled from two to three thousand horse, and from twelve to sixteen thousand infantry, well equipped, and armed each according to his rank: he had also three or four thousand carts laden with provision, military engines, and stores of all kinds. the bishop, on quitting liege, advanced to dinant[ ], and thence across the river meuse. having marched through woods for five leagues, his forces halted two days at rigniues,[ ] to wait for the baggage, which travelled slowly on account of the badness of the roads. at this place, the bishop formed his army into four divisions, namely, two of cavalry, and the same number of infantry,--and, riding down their fronts, admonished every one to perform his duty well. he dispatched part of his cavalry to post themselves before the castle of boussenoch, while he followed with the main body, and on his arrival surrounded it on all sides, placing his bombards and engines against the walls and gates of the castle, in which were about twenty pillagers, greatly surprised to see so large an army before the gates. the liegeois set instantly to work, and soon drained the ditches by sluices which they cut, while others brought faggots and filled them, so that they began to storm the place with such vigour that the bulwark was instantly won. those within retreated to a large tower, and defended themselves for a long time; but it was of no avail, for they were overpowered by fire and arrows, and surrendered at discretion to the bishop, who had them all hanged on trees near to the castle, by a priest who acted as their captain,--and he, after hanging his companions, was tied to a tree and burnt, and the castle razed to the ground. the bishop, after this exploit, marched away toward the upper châtelet; but many of his army wanted to march to hirson[ ] and other places of sir john de luxembourg,--because, they said, he was the supporter of those they were now making war on. but this same day the bastard of coucy met the bishop, and said that he was sent by sir john de luxembourg to assure the bishop that sir john was only desirous of living on neighbourly terms with him, and to request that he would not suffer any injuries to be done to his country or vassals; that if any thing wrong had been done to the liegeois by those who gave out that they were dependant on him, he wished to be heard in his defence, and would refer the matter to friends of either side as arbitrators. at the same time, letters were brought from the duke of burgundy to the bishop, to require that he would not do any injury to sir john de luxembourg, nor to the lord d'orchimont, which put an end to their intended plan. the bishop, with a part of his army, then marched to the castle of aubigny, when, finding that the garrison had fled through fear of him, he ordered the castle to be burnt. from aubigny he went to upper châtelet, wherein a body of his men were, for the garrison had abandoned it,--and it was destroyed as the others had been. the bishop had intended marching to villiers; but his intention being known to the inhabitants of mousson and ivoy, they destroyed the castle of villiers, fearful of the damages that would be done to the country should the liegeois once enter it. on hearing this, the bishop took the road to beaurain, which castle john de beaurain, its lord, had lately repaired and strengthened with the addition of four towers: one he called hainault, another namur, the third brabant, and the fourth rethel, because it was from those countries he had gotten the money to build them. however, when he heard of the march of the liegeois, he was afraid to wait their coming, and fled with his men, but not before he had set the castle on fire. this did not prevent the bishop from completely demolishing it to its foundations; then, without proceeding further, he marched his men back to their own country, and went himself to the city of liege. at this season, the town of gamaches in vimeu, which had long been held by the english, surrendered to the lord d'aussi and to sir florimont de brimeu, seneschal of ponthieu, by means of certain friends they had in the town. the seneschal re-garrisoned it with men at arms for the duke of burgundy. in like manner, the english were driven out of aumarle, which surrendered to a gentleman called david de reume, attached to king charles. about the same time, the constable laid siege to creil, in the possession of the english, and erected a block-house at the end of the bridge on the road to the beauvoisis, wherein he remained for a long time, but at length marched away in disgrace, which grieved him much,--for he had lost many men, together with very large quantities of military stores and artillery. footnotes: [footnote : nampteuil,--near rheims.] [footnote : han,--near rheims.] [footnote : bourg,--near rheims.] [footnote : bousseuvre,--is called afterward boussenoch.] [footnote : dinant, on the meuse, sixteen leagues from liege.] [footnote : rigniues. q.] [footnote : hirson,--or herisson, a town in picardy, election of guise.] chap. cii. the town and castle of orchimont are destroyed by everard de la marche. bernard de bourset kept quiet possession of the town of orchimont and its castle,--but one day, having as usual sent out a detachment of about fifty to lay waste and plunder the country of liege, they were observed and pursued by the liegeois, under the command of the provost of rebogne. their passage being cut off on the way they meant to have returned, they fled for dinant, and entered bouvines, thinking they should be safe there, but were mistaken, inasmuch as they were detained prisoners. although the officers of justice from liege made frequent applications to those of bouvines to have them punished according to their deserts, they were set at liberty, for these two towns did not much love each other. while this matter was passing, everard de la marche, who was in alliance with the bishop of liege, and had also many subjects of complaint against these pillagers, assembled in haste as many men as he could,--and, being joined by some forces from dinant and the surrounding country, advanced to orchimont, and took the town by storm. bernard had at this moment but few men with him, and therefore retreated to the castle, whither he was gallantly pursued by the liegeois. they pressed him so hardly that, at the end of four days, he surrendered, on capitulation, to everard de la marche. the castle and town were after this razed to the ground, to the great joy of all the neighbouring country,--for they had been inhabited by a set of wicked vagabonds, who had annoyed all within their reach. chap. ciii. the english make excursions from calais toward boulogne and gravelines.--la hire conquers gisors, and loses it soon afterwards. while the war was on the point of breaking out between the english and burgundians, for each party was now watching the other, the english suddenly came before boulogne, thinking to win it by surprise,--but it was too well defended. they burnt part of the shipping in the harbour, and then retreated to calais with all they could collect, without loss. shortly after, they again assembled a force of five or six hundred combatants, and set out on a foraging party toward gravelines. the flemings in that quarter collected, and attacked the english, contrary to the will and advice of the gentlemen who commanded them, namely, georges des ubes and chery hazebrouch. the consequence was, that they were conquered,--from three to four hundred killed, and full six score prisoners, whom the english carried with them and their forage to calais, and to other places under their obedience. the remainder saved themselves by flight as speedily as they could. at this time, la hire was posted at beauvais and gerberoy,--and, by means of intelligence which he had kept up in the town of gisors, he gained admittance, with the forces under his command, and won the place. part of the garrison retired into the castle, and hastily sent off messengers to rouen, and to other towns, to state their situation and demand succours. on the third day, so strong a reinforcement came, the town was reconquered,--and la hire and his companions marched off at a quicker step than a pace, with the exception of twenty or thirty who had remained behind. these were put to death or detained prisoners by the english, together with a great number of the inhabitants, because they had afforded assistance to their enemies. chap. civ. the men of ghent, and the flemings, make great preparations for the siege of calais. the men of ghent were not idle all this time. they issued a summons throughout their castlewicks and dependances, for all burghers, whatever their rank might be, (reserving, however, the vassals of their prince) to appear within three days before the sheriffs of ghent, and have their names and surnames inrolled, under pain of losing their franchises. they were also ordered to provide themselves with arms and all necessary habiliments for war. they likewise caused it to be proclaimed, that those who had for their misdeeds been condemned to perform certain pilgrimages, would be excused from doing them until their return from the war, and fourteen days after; and also that those who had quarrels should be placed under the safeguard of the law, and all who dared to infringe it should be punished according to the custom of the town of ghent. it was also forbidden for any one of that country, whatever his rank, to carry, or have carried away, any armour, or habiliments for war, under pain of banishment for ten years. when these proclamations were issued, there was much bustle in ghent and its dependances in preparations for the war,--and every town and village knew exactly how many men they were to provide to make up the quota of seventeen thousand, which the city of ghent had promised to deliver to their prince in the course of the present year; and each family knew also the exact amount of the taxes it was to pay for the support of the war. summonses were next issued through their castlewicks, that a third more carts and waggons were to be provided than had been necessary for the late expedition to hamme on the somme; and these demands were proclaimed in all the usual places by officers sent from ghent. but as these matters did not seem to the men of ghent to be pushed forward with the expedition they expected, they sent another proclamation to their officers, declaring, that if within three days from the date thereof there were not sent to their commissary in ghent the number of carriages required, they would order the deacon of the black hoods and his attendants to the different towns and villages to seize on all the best carts and carriages without exception, and at the expense of those who should neglect to send them to ghent by the time specified. this second proclamation caused such an alarm among the farmers and peasants, lest the black hoods should be sent, that they made such dispatch in forwarding their carriages to the appointed place that the townsmen of ghent were well satisfied with them. the regulations for their arms were as follow: each was to provide himself with a short mallet of lead or iron, having points on its head and a lance; that two mallets would be reckoned as equal to one lance; that without such arms they would not pass muster,--and those who should be found defective would be punished. the inhabitants of bruges, and the other towns, made likewise very grand preparations to join the army; and for two months the majority of such as had been ordered on this service had not done a single day's work at their trades. thus the greater part of their time was occupied in spending their money in large companies at taverns and ale-houses, which very frequently caused quarrels, when several were killed or wounded. the duke of burgundy, in the mean while, was busily employed in preparing for his attack on calais. during this time, there lived one hannequin lyon, a native of dunkirk, but who, for his demerits, had been banished from ghent, and, becoming a fugitive, turned pirate, and, by his good fortune and activity, increased in wealth, so that he now possessed eight or ten vessels, well armed and victualled, under his command. he made war indiscriminately on the flags of all nations, and was much feared on the coasts of holland and flanders. he called himself the friend of god and the enemy of all mankind. at length, he met with the fate that people of his way of life generally experience,--for, when he was at the highest pinnacle of his fortune, he lost his life and his wealth in a tempest at sea. chap. cv. sir john de croy, bailiff of hainault, in conjunction with other captains, attack the english and are discomfited by them. at this time, sir john de croy, bailiff of hainault, assembled, on the borders of picardy and the boulonnois, about fifteen hundred combatants, the principal leaders of whom were the lord de waurin, sir baudo de noyelle, sir louis de thieubronne, robert de saveuses, richard de thieubronne, the lord deulez, the bastard of roucy, with several more, well experienced in war. they intended to march them against calais and other places dependant on the english, and for this reason had their rendezvous at a village called le wast, two leagues from st omer. they marched thence one night to forage the country of the enemy,--but this same night the english had formed an expedition to do the like in the boulonnois, to the amount of about two thousand men. neither of them knew of the other's intent, nor did they take roads likely to meet; but on sir john de croy's approaching the english border, he dispatched some expert men at arms, well acquainted with the country, to gain intelligence. they fell in with the rear of the english detachment near the bridge of milay, about day-break, and, on reconnoitring them, found that they were very numerous. when returned to sir john, they made him acquainted with what they had seen, and that the english were advancing toward the boulonnois. a council of the captains was called to determine how they should act, when it was resolved to pursue and attack them during the time they would be engaged in plundering the villages, if they could overtake them in time--otherwise to combat them wherever they should meet. it was ordered that sir john de croy, accompanied by a body of the most able men at arms, should advance with the greater part of the archers, and that the main body should follow near, under the banner of sir louis de thieubronne. scouts were again sent forward, who rode long before they saw the fires which the enemy had made by burning different villages and small towns. some prisoners whom they had taken had given information to the english of their being abroad, who in consequence had collected their men on a small eminence between gravelines and campagne[ ]. it might be at this time about ten o'clock, but the greater part of the english were assembled lower down, and could not well be seen. the main body of the burgundians, on perceiving the enemy, were very eager for the combat, because the advanced party had already begun the engagement, and from sixty to eighty of the english on the hill were slain and the others put to flight; but when, on advancing, they perceived so large a body on the other side of the declivity rallying the runaways, they were surprised and fearful of the event, and halted for the arrival of the main body. in the mean time, the english recovered courage on seeing the enemy afraid to follow up their victory, and made a well ordered and firm charge upon them. the burgundians could not withstand the shock, were thrown into confusion, and, instantly wheeling round, fled in haste for the castles under their obedience. the english, who had been half conquered at the first onset, pursued them, full gallop, as far as the town of ardres, and even within the barriers. upwards of a hundred were slain or made prisoners: among the first was robert de bournonville, surnamed the red. in the last were jean d'estreves, bournonville, galiot du champ, maide, houttefort, barnamont, and many others, men of note. the english pursued their enemies with such eagerness that five or six were killed close to the ditches of the town,--and among them was one of very high rank. the lord de waurin, sir baudo de noyelle, sir louis de thieubronne, robert de saveuses, who had that day been knighted, and several more, saved themselves in ardres. sir john de croy had been wounded by an arrow at the first onset, and his horse killed. he and the lord deulez retired to the abbey of lille, much troubled and hurt at his defeat. the others escaped to divers forts and castles in the neighbourhood. when the english had ceased pursuing, they collected together, and returned with their prisoners to calais, and to other places under their government. the count de mortaigne came out of calais to meet them, and gave them a most joyful reception, blaming greatly, at the same time, those who by flying had put them in such imminent danger. footnotes: [footnote : campagne-les-boulonnois,--a village of artois, near st omer.] chap. cvi. the flemings march to the siege of calais--and march back again. at the beginning of the month of june, duke philip of burgundy having completed his preparations for the siege of calais, as well in men as in warlike stores, went without state to ghent and other places in flanders, that he might hasten the march of the troops from that country. on the saturday after corpus-christi-day, a general muster was made in ghent before the duke, of all who were to join his army from that town and its dependances, namely, from the towns of alost, grammont, dendermonde and mene[ ], (with those of the five members of the county of alost, containing seventy-two country towns and lordships) of boulers, sotengien, tournay, gaures and rides, with those from regnaits, and the regalles of flanders, situated between grammont and tournay. these troops remained in the market-place, where they had been mustered, from eight o'clock in the morning until noon, when they marched out of the town, taking the road to calais. the duke accompanied them as far as the open country, where he took leave of them and went to bruges, to hasten their contingent of men. the weather was so exceedingly oppressive that two of the ghent captains died of the heat. they were named jean des degrez, deacon of the watermen, and gautier de wase-reman, captain of westmonstre, with several others of low degree. the commander in chief of this division of the flemish army was the lord de comines; of that of bruges, the lord de fienhuse; of those from courtray, sir girard de guistelles; of those from the franc, the lord de merque; of those from ypres, jean de comines. the first night they halted at deijnse and peteghem, which are not far distant from ghent, and remained there on the morrow to wait for their baggage and stores. on the ensuing monday they departed, and continued their march until they came to the town of armentieres, when they quartered themselves in the meadows without the town with those from courtray and oudenarde, who were within the castlewick of ghent, and had joined them on the march. the lord d'antoing was their leader and commander in chief, as being hereditary viscount of all flanders. when they remained at armentieres, twenty-one of their men were arrested, and hung on trees in front of head-quarters, for having robbed some peasants. the ghent division then advanced to hazebrouch, in the country of alleu, where they destroyed the mill of d'hazebourch, because he had, as they said, led on the flemings ungallantly when they were lately defeated by the english near to gravelines; but he excused himself by declaring, they would not attend to his advice, nor obey his orders. thence they advanced to drinchaut[ ], where they were met by their prince the duke of burgundy, and the count de richemont, constable of france, who had come thither to wait on the duke. both of them visited the ghent men, and partook of a collation at their head-quarters. the army marched through bourbourg, and quartered themselves near to gravelines, where they destroyed the mill of georges de wez, for the same reason they had done that of cherry de hazebourch. at this place they were joined by the forces from bruges, ypres, the franc and other towns in flanders, and formed an handsome encampment, placing the tents regularly according to the towns they came from--which made a fine sight, and at a distance had the appearance of a large town. the carriages were innumerable to convey these tents, baggage and stores; and on the top of each was a cock to crow the hours. there were also great numbers of peasants to drag the culverines and other engines of war; and the majority of the flemings wore plain armour, according to the custom of their country. on their departure, they all mustered under arms before the duke and constable, who viewed them with much pleasure,--and on this day a wolf ran through the ranks of the division from bruges, which caused a great alarm and a cry of 'to arms!' on which the whole took the field, when there might be full thirty thousand wearing helmets. they crossed the river at gravelines, and fixed their quarters at tournehem, not far distant. the weather was at this time dreadfully severe, with rain and such high winds that they could not pitch their tents, but were forced to lie on the ground. three picards were arrested and hanged by the ghent men, for robbing the landlord of an hôtel of his provisions. the count d'estampes here joined the army of flanders with the men at arms the duke of burgundy had ordered on this expedition,--and on a friday the whole encamped before the castle of oye[ ], in possession of the english. this place soon surrendered to the duke and to the men of ghent, who ordered nine and twenty to be hanged the same day in front of the castle; and afterward twenty-five suffered the like sentence, with the exception of three or four that were respited at the request of the duke. the castle was on its surrender burnt, and razed to the ground. with regard to the picards and burgundians now with the army, although very expert plunderers, they could not lay hands on any thing; for the flemish commanders would on no account suffer such things, or, when known, pass them over with impunity,--and, what was worse, when they chanced to get any things from the enemy, it often happened that, with their spoil, their own private property was taken from them also. when they complained of this, they only received additional blows, which obliged them to be silent and suffer all, from the greater power of the flemings, but it was most impatiently. the flemings were so presumptuous that they thought nothing could be done without them, and even imagined that the english, from fear of them would abandon calais and fly to england. this was frequently the subject of their conversations with the picards, adding, that they well knew that, when the english should be informed of their lords of ghent being in arms against them, they would not run the risk of being conquered by them, but make a timely retreat; that it was negligence in the fleet not to have advanced prior to their arrival, before the port of calais, to cut off their escape. they needed not have been so uneasy on this head, for the english were well inclined to defend themselves,--and in truth, king henry and all england would just as soon have lost their thirty-year's conquests in france as the single town of calais, as i have been credibly informed, and as they full well showed by their defence shortly afterward. when the castle of oye had been demolished, the whole army decamped, to take post between the castle of marque and calais. at the same time, the duke of burgundy and his men at arms made an excursion before the town of calais, whence issued out a party of horse and foot, and a considerable skirmish took place,--but in the end the english were repulsed, and the picards and flemings drove away a large booty in cows, sheep, horses, and other things. the duke staid with his men at arms some time near calais, until the armies were returned to their quarters, and then went to his own tent before the castle of marque, as the picards were about to make a serious attack on it. the bulwark was won, to the great astonishment of the garrison, who displayed on the side toward calais the banner of st george, ringing at the same time all their bells, and making the most horrid noises and cries. the assailants, fearful that the garrison would escape by night, placed a strong guard all around; and, on the morrow, pointed many great engines against the walls, which damaged them in several places. they were then jointly attacked by the picards and flemings; but they defended themselves obstinately by throwing down stones from the battlements, with which and with arrows they killed and wounded so many that the assailants were glad to retreat. the besieged demanded a truce for a parley, which was granted them, when they offered to surrender to the duke on the sole condition of not being hanged,--but that they would submit in other respects unconditionally. these terms were accepted, and all persons forbidden to enter the castle under pain of death, unless ordered so to do. the garrison was conducted by the four chief flemish officers to the head-quarters of the ghent division; and it was determined to make reprisals, in order to have some flemish prisoners in calais exchanged. in consequence, one hundred and four english were delivered over to the bailiff of ghent, who carried them thither to be imprisoned. the greater part of the common men now entered the castle and took whatever they could find; but some of the ghent men, placing themselves at the gates, seized on all articles that had been taken, as they repassed, and laid them in a heap, saying they were so ordered by the sheriffs of ghent,--but, when night came, they loaded the whole on carts, and carried it whithersoever they pleased. they were, however, charged with this before the sheriffs, and were banished from ghent, and the country of flanders, for fifty years. this sentence raised great murmurings, and was nearly the cause of a general mutiny among the flemings. on the following day, several men were beheaded because they had been taken with the english: six were flemings, and the seventh a hollander; after which, the castle was demolished and razed to the ground. the army now decamped, and fixed their quarters on the spot where, it was said, jacques d'artavelle was formerly encamped when king edward won calais after the decisive battle of cressy. duke philip was encamped hard by with his chivalry and men at arms, but nearer to calais. a severe skirmish took place this day with the english, in which many were killed and wounded on both sides. la hire, who had come to visit the duke of burgundy, was wounded by an arrow in the leg. many engines were also pointed, to throw stones and balls into the town of calais, which were returned with such interest from the ramparts, that the enemy were glad to retreat to a greater distance. the duke of burgundy was encamped on the downs, among the sand hills; and as he was one day riding, with few attendants, to reconnoitre the towns, a cannon-shot fell so near him that it killed a trumpeter and three horses, one of which belonged to the lord de saveuses. the english made frequent sallies on horseback and on foot, and many severe skirmishes happened between the two parties, the details of which would be tedious to relate, or to make mention of those who behaved the worst or best: but i have heard from very good authority, that the lords de habourdin, de crequi, and de waurin, were much applauded for their conduct in these several skirmishes, as well as other valiant men of note from picardy. the english, however, carried off the palm of the day. at times, the picards repulsed them back to the barriers, in visible confusion. with regard to the flemings, they were not much afraid of these english,--and thought, that if there were but three flemings against one englishman, they should easily gain their point. the duke of burgundy was attended, on this occasion, by his nephew of cleves, the count d'estampes, the lord d'antoing, commander of the flemings, the lord de croy, the lords de crequi, de fosseux, de waurin, de saveuses, de habourdin, de humieres, d'inchy, de brimeu, de launoy, de huchin, the brothers de hastines and de fremessen, with numbers of other lords and gentlemen of his household from burgundy, flanders, brabant, hainault, artois and other parts of his dominions; but the duke had not assembled half of his forces from picardy, in regard to men at arms. he had even sent back great part of those who were mustered, to the surprise of many who wished him well; for they thought that it would have been more to his advantage to have retained them than double the number of common men. sir john de croy, who commanded in the boulonnois, was ordered to quarter himself and men nearer to calais, on the other side, toward the bridge of nieullay, when much conversation took place between them and those in the town. the duke, shortly after, countermanded him, and sent him before guines, where he quartered his detachment near to the walls and gates, and pointed many large engines against them, which damaged them much. sir john de croy was accompanied by sir galois de rancy, robert de saveuses, and other men of note, who attacked the enemy so vigorously that, for fear of being taken by storm, they abandoned the town and withdrew into the castle, whither they were pursued,--and the attack was renewed with more courage than ever. before they came to guines, the fortress of vauclingen had surrendered to sir john, on condition that the english should retire in safety, with part of their baggage. on similar terms was sangate-castle yielded up to robert de saveuses, who had marched thither during the siege of guines,--and he re-garrisoned it with his men. during all this time, the duke of burgundy was encamped before the strong town of calais, wondering what was become of his fleet, which ought to have arrived some time. the flemings were also much discontented, and began loudly to complain of the duke's council, and against the admirals of the fleet, namely, sir john de hornes, seneschal of brabant, and the commander de la morée; but the duke appeased them with gentle words, saying that they would soon arrive, as he had lately had letters from them,--and that hitherto the wind had been against them, which had prevented their sailing sooner. there came daily vessels from england to calais, in sight of their enemies, some days more, others less, laden with fresh provisions, reinforcements of men, and warlike stores; and the opposite parties were not so near each other but that the english turned out every day their cattle to graze, which vexed their adversaries very much, and was the cause of frequent skirmishes, in hopes of seizing some of them. the lords and men of ghent, perceiving that the picards were in the habit of carrying off these cattle, thought within themselves that they were strong, well made and armed, and might as well have their share also. on a certain day, therefore, about two hundred assembled, and went as secretly as they could toward the marshes before calais, to forage; but they were seen and known from their dress by the english, who were not well pleased at the attempt to carry off that whereon they lived, and instantly attacked them with such courage that twenty-two were killed on the spot and thirty taken prisoners. the remainder fled in haste to their quarters, saying they had suffered a great loss, and caused much confusion, for they thought they had narrowly escaped. there were frequent alarms in the quarter of the flemings, for at the smallest noise they were on the alert and under arms, to the great vexation of their lord the duke of burgundy,--but he could not prevent it, for they would have all things according to their good pleasure. at this time, a herald, called cambridge, came from england to the duke, and, having saluted him very respectfully, said, 'that his lord and master, humphry, duke of glocester, made known to him, by his mouth, that, with god's pleasure, he would very shortly combat him and his whole army, if he would wait his arrival,--and, should he decamp thence, that he would seek him in his own territories,--but he could not fix on any day for coming, as that would depend on the winds, which are unsteady, and he could not cross the sea at his pleasure.' the duke replied, 'that there would be no necessity for the duke of glocester to seek him in any other place but where he was, and that, unless some misfortune should happen, he would there find him.' after these words, the herald was magnificently feasted,--and rich gifts were made him, with which he returned to calais. on the morrow, the duke of burgundy went to the head-quarters of the flemings, where, having assembled their captains and the nobles of flanders, he caused them to be harangued by master gilles de la voustine, his counsellor in the courts of ghent, on the challenge he had received from the duke of glocester, by his herald, and the reply he had made,--on which account, he requested them, as his dear friends, to remain with him and assist him in the defence of his honour. those present immediately promised to comply with his demand in the most liberal manner,--as did those from bruges and the other towns of flanders. it was also determined at this meeting to erect a high block-house on an eminence near calais, to enable them to view from it the proceedings of those in the town. it was instantly begun with oak and other wood,--and some cannon were placed thereon, to fire into calais, and a strong guard ordered for its defence. the english were not well pleased at this, for they were afraid lest their sallies should be cut off: to obviate which, they made an immediate attack on it with a large body of men; but it was well defended by the flemings, under the conduct of some able warriors (le bon de saveuses was one) who had gone thither; and as numerous reinforcements to the flemings were continually pouring in, the english retreated to calais without effecting any thing, and leaving some dead behind them. on the morrow and following days, there was much skirmishing at the palisades of the town. in one of them, a half-witted knight, the lord de plateaux, was made prisoner: notwithstanding his folly, he was a determined and brave man at arms. on thursday, the th of july, the fleet, which had been so anxiously expected, was discovered at sea. the duke of burgundy mounted his horse, and, attended by many lords and others, rode to the sea-shore. when a barge having advanced as near as the surf would permit, a man jumped out, and, coming to the duke, informed him that the fleet in sight was his own. this spread universal joy throughout the army, and several ran to the downs to see it,--but their captains made as many return to the camp as they could. the following evening-tide commissioners, appointed for this purpose, quitted the fleet, and sunk four vessels in the mouth of the harbour of calais, that were filled with immense stones, well worked together and cramped with lead, in order to choak up the entrance, and prevent any supplies from entering the harbour from england. the fleet kept up, in the mean time, a constant fire against the vessels in harbour, and sunk one. the next day two other vessels, filled with stones like the others, were also sunk at the mouth of the port. but, to say the truth, all these sunken vessels were so improperly placed that when the tide was out many remained on the sand, scarcely covered with water. the english hastened from the town at ebb tide, as well women as men, and with strong efforts, pulled them to pieces, and what wood they could not convey into the town they burnt and destroyed, notwithstanding a continual fire from the fleet, to the great astonishment of the duke and his admirals. sir john de hornes, seneschal of brabant, the commander de la morée, and other lords from holland, set sail with the fleet on the morrow, and were soon out of sight, on their return to whence they had come; for indeed they could not with safety remain long before calais, on account of danger from sea, which sailors say is more imminent between calais and england than elsewhere. they had also received information that a fleet was on the point of sailing from england, against which they would be unable to make head. the flemings were much discontented at their sailing away, and murmured among themselves, saying they were betrayed by the ministers of their prince,--for they had been promised, on leaving flanders, that calais should at the same time be besieged by sea and land,--so that their leaders had difficulty enough to pacify them. in the mean time, the duke of burgundy had sent to summon men at arms from all parts of his dominions, and was impatiently expecting their arrival to assist him in opposing the troops that were coming from england. he ordered the ground to be examined by such as were well acquainted with those parts, for a spot whereon he might best offer battle to his enemies on their arrival; and to be better prepared for every event, he summoned a grand council of his advisers, together with the principal leaders of the commonalty, on the th of july, and laid before them the whole of his intended operations, with which they were perfectly satisfied. but these were wholly deranged, a few days afterward, by the commonalty from ghent; for on the day the council was held, the english made a grand sally from calais, both horse and foot, and advanced unexpectedly to the block-house before mentioned: the cavalry were posted between the camp and the block-house, so that no immediate aid could be sent thither. there were from three to four hundred flemings in the block-house,--and the cries of 'to arms!' were re-echoed through the army, which caused great confusion and alarm. multitudes rushed from all sides to relieve the block-house, and even the duke of burgundy himself went thither on foot. but the english made a most vigorous attack, and the defence was but indifferent, so that the block-house was won before assistance could arrive.--about eight score flemings were killed, and the greater part of the rest made prisoners,--and full half of them were put to death before the gates of calais, because the flemings had slain an english knight whom the picards had taken prisoner while on horseback at this rencounter. the capture of the block-house and its consequences were grievous to the duke of burgundy,--and the flemings retreated to their camp disconsolate and vexed at the death and capture of their friends and companions. this same day, they collected together in different parts, and said among themselves that they were betrayed, for that not one of the promises which had been made them were kept; that they daily had some of their number killed, without their nobles attending to it, or endeavouring to prevent it. in short, they worked upon themselves so much by this kind of conversation that they determined, in spite of every remonstrance, to decamp and return home; and some of them wanted even to put to death several of the duke's ministers. the duke, on hearing of their intentions, was much troubled, and vexed at the disgrace that would fall on him should he now decamp, after the challenge sent him by the duke of glocester by his herald and the answer he had returned. he went, therefore, to the head-quarters of the ghent division, and there assembled a large body of the malcontents, whom he entreated in the most pressing manner to remain with him until the arrival of the english, which it was now ascertained could not be long; adding, that should they depart without waiting for the enemy and offer him battle, they would cover themselves and him with indelible disgrace, and such as no prince ever had incurred. with such language did the duke and his council harangue the ghent men, but it was all in vain, for they were most obstinately bent on departing, and listened with a deaf ear to all that was said; notwithstanding, some of their captains answered courteously for them, making excuses for their conduct,--but for which the lower ranks little thanked them. the duke, perceiving the difficulty in which these commoners had involved him, and the blame which would be cast on him for their departure, it need not be asked whether he was grieved at heart, for hitherto all his undertakings had succeeded to his wish, and this, which was of the greatest consequence, he failed in. he was, however, obliged to endure the rudeness and folly of the flemings,--for he could not alter their dispositions, although he made repeated attempts to detain them for a few days only. when he perceived that it was labour in vain to make further requests, he agreed with the lords of his council to decamp with the flemings,--and informed them, that since they would not remain longer, he wished them to wait until the morrow, when they should pack up their baggage, and march away in good order, with their arms, that they might not be harrassed by the enemy, and that he would escort them as far as the river of gravelines. they returned for answer, that they would comply with this order; but the greater number said, that they were in sufficient force not to need any escort. several of the ringleaders of this mutiny were anxious to go to the duke's quarters, to put to death the lord de croy, sir baudo de noyelle, jean de brimeu bailiff of amiens, and others of the ministers, saying, that it was by their advice that this enterprise had been undertaken, which was not possible, as they affirmed, to be achieved, considering the manner in which the business had been carried on. these three lords, hearing of the mutiny of the flemings and the plots against their lives, left the army privately, with few attendants, and hastened to the quarters of sir john de croy before guines. the flemings began on the saturday and sunday to strike their tents, and to load their baggage for the march. the ghent men were the principals in the mutiny,--and after their example, the whole of the army and its followers packed up their baggage; but from the suddenness of the departure, a very great quantity of provision and wine were left behind,--and it was necessary to stave many pipes of wine, and of other liquors, to the great loss of the merchants. several large engines of war and other stores belonging to the duke of burgundy were lost, because there were not enough of carts or waggons to carry them away; and for the like cause, a number of things belonging to the flemings remained behind. they broke up their camp with loud shoutings, bawling together, 'we are betrayed! _gaubbe, gaubbe!_' which words signified nearly, 'let us return to our own country.' having set fire to their huts, they began their march toward gravelines in a most disorderly manner. the duke, overwhelmed with sorrow, put himself and his men at arms in battle-array to cover the retreat of the flemings, and kept on their rear until they were at a sufficient distance, to prevent them from being attacked by the english in calais sallying out against them. he formed his men at arms into a rear-guard, and thus followed the army, which was already advanced as far as the castle of marque. the flemings then marched, in a mere orderly manner, to quarter themselves near to gravelines, on the same spot they had occupied before. the men of bruges were, however, very much displeased at this shameful retreat, and from not having horses to carry away their large cannon and other engines of war which they had brought with them: they put them on carts, and had them drawn by men to their former encampment near to gravelines. this day the duke sent orders to sir john de croy to break up his siege of the castle of guines, and join him with his men at arms without delay. sir john, on receiving this order and hearing of what had passed in the main army, made instant preparations to obey it, and marched off in good array, but was forced to leave behind many large engines, and a quantity of other things, from want of means to convey them off. the garrison of guines were very much rejoiced at their departure, for they were hardly pressed, and would have been obliged to surrender in a few days had the burgundians remained. they made a sally when the enemy was marching away, shouting after them. the garrison of calais were likewise well pleased at their departure, and issued out of the town to collect what had been left behind, and made a considerable booty. they also sent messengers to england with information of this event. the duke of burgundy was lodged in gravelines, very much mortified at what had happened, and complained bitterly of the disgrace the flemings had put on him to those of his lords who had accompanied him. they consoled him as well as they could, and advised him to bear it patiently, as it was the chance of fortune in this world. at the same time, they recommended him to reinforce all his towns on the frontier with steady men at arms, stores and provisions, as soon as possible, to resist his enemies, who were daily expected from england, and who would, as he might suppose, make every attempt to injure him, in return for what he had done to them; and that he himself should retire to one of the towns in the interior. the duke of burgundy issued summonses for all bearing arms to be ready prepared to defend such parts of his dominions as should need it. he then entreated some of the nobles present that they would remain in the town of gravelines, which, unless well guarded, would, if taken, be very prejudicial to the whole country, promising them, on his honour, that should they want assistance, or be besieged, he himself would come to their succour, cost what it would. the lord de crequi, the lord de saveuses, sir simon de lalain, his brother sir sausse, philibert de vaury, and other valiant men at arms, complied with his request, and remained in gravelines. on the other hand, sir louis de thieubronne with his brother guichart were sent to ardres, and others into the boulonnois where the towns and castles were garrisoned according to their strength and importance. some lords of the council were present at this meeting who had advised the expedition to calais, but greatly hurt at its unfortunate termination, which they could not help: they were, nevertheless, forced to hear many severe observations made thereon. when the council broke up, and the above dispositions for the defence of the country had been arranged, the duke again solicited the flemings to wait a few days longer for the arrival of the enemy,--but they refused to remain from the fear they now had of the english; and some of their captains waited on the duke the last day of july, to demand leave to return to their own country. the duke, seeing that he could no way detain them, gave permission for their departure; for he was satisfied they would never act well against the enemy from want of courage. they marched from gravelines, by short days marches, to their different towns; but those from ghent refused to enter their town unless each man had a robe given him at the expense of the magistrates. this was an ancient usage on the return of the townsmen from war; but now the magistrates refused compliance, because it seemed to them that they had behaved very ill. on receiving this answer, they did enter the town, but much discontented and with murmuring. on marching from before calais, they had set fire to and destroyed the forts of balinghen[ ] and of sangate. the duke of burgundy, on leaving gravelines, went to lille, and thence issued a proclamation for every person who had been accustomed to bear arms to hold himself ready to march whithersoever he might please to order, to oppose his adversaries the english, who were about to disembark at calais. in truth, the duke of glocester arrived with his army before calais just after the burgundian army had decamped. footnotes: [footnote : mene. q. mechlin, or menin?] [footnote : drinchaut,--a village near dunkirk.] [footnote : oye,--a small town and territory between gravelines and calais.] [footnote : balinghen--is called before vauclingen.] chap. cvii. sir florimont de brimeu, seneschal of ponthieu, conquers the town of crotoy. while the duke of burgundy was employed on the expedition against calais, sir florimont de brimeu, seneschal of ponthieu, richard de richaumes, governor of the town of rue, robert du quesnoy, governor of st valery, and others in the neighbourhood of crotoy, collected together about four hundred combatants, and marched them by night to an ambuscade on the shore near the town and castle of crotoy. robert du quesnoy ordered about thirty of his men to embark very early in a boat and row towards the town, to induce the english to pursue them. this they executed,--and when they thought that they were within sight of the enemy, they made pretence as if their boat were aground, and that they could neither advance nor retire, notwithstanding the efforts ten or twelve of the crew pretended to make to get her afloat. the english, observing this from the ramparts, thought to take advantage of their situation, and made a sally, in hopes of taking them prisoners; but they were immediately surrounded by those in ambush, who attacked them with vigour, killing on the spot more than sixty-four, and making prisoners from thirty to forty. the party of the seneschal lost several. thus was the garrison of crotoy much weakened,--and when the seneschal learnt from his prisoners that but few men at arms were in the town, he collected a reinforcement of men from the adjoining parts, and within a few days made an attack on crotoy, which he took by storm with little loss of men. the townsmen retreated to the castle,--before which the seneschal fixed his quarters, and pointed his engines against it, but without doing any damage, for it was wonderous strong. when the seneschal had remained before it some length of time, finding his attempts to conquer it vain, he dislodged, after he had destroyed the fortifications of the town, and marched back his men to the places they had come from, carrying with them all the plunder they had gained in crotoy. the english had afterward at crotoy two boats, called 'gabarres,'[ ] with which they much harrassed the town of abbeville, and especially the fishermen. in consequence, the inhabitants of abbeville sent by night a party toward crotoy in a boat, whence some of the crew by swimming fastened grappling irons to each of these gabarres,--the cords of which being fixed to the abbeville boat, they towed them to abbeville, to the vexation of the english. footnotes: [footnote : gabarre--is a flat-bottomed boat, used in holland and on canals.] chap. cviii. humphry duke of glocester arrives at calais with a large armament.--he enters flanders, artois, and other territories of the duke of burgundy, and does much damage to them. a few days after the decampment of the duke of burgundy and the flemings, the duke of glocester arrived at calais with about ten thousand fighting men to combat the duke of burgundy, had he waited for him. since that it was otherwise, he followed the duke to gravelines, and thence marched into flanders, and through several towns and large villages, namely, poperingues, bailleul and others, whose suburbs he burnt and destroyed, for no one opposed him,--but the people fled on all sides, and none of the flemings dared wait his coming. he drove, therefore, away great numbers of cattle, with little or no loss of men,--but they suffered much from want of bread. he passed le neuf-châtel, and burnt rimesture and valon-chapelle. having entered artois, he advanced to arques[ ] and blandêques,[ ] where some skirmishing passed,--and he set fire to every town and village that lay in his way. marching through the jurisdiction of st omer, he committed great waste on all sides; and when near to tournehem, esprelecques and bredenarde,[ ] some skirmishes took place between him and the different governors: cavart and other companions of de langle were wounded. many captains were expelled by force from their castles; and there were more killed and wounded near to ardres than had been in all flanders. the duke of glocester now retreated toward guines and calais, on account of sickness in the army, occasioned from want of bread, of which they had not a sufficiency; and many good women saved their houses by giving bread, and even got in return cattle, of which the army had plenty, and which they were driving from flanders. they were rather embarrassed with them; for, not finding water to give them, they wandered abroad and were lost,--and those who went in search of them were very frequently surprised by the enemy when at a distance from their vanguard. while these things were passing in artois and flanders, sir thomas kiriel and lord faulconbridge assembled at neuf-châtel d'incourt about a thousand combatants, whom they led across the somme at blanchetaque, and quartered at forest-montier; thence they advanced to broye, on the river authie, where they remained four days, and took the castle by storm, which, however, was not very strong, nor of much value,--but it belonged to the vidame of amiens. part of the garrison were slain, and from five to six of the english. this capture created great alarm in the country round; for they feared the enemy would keep possession, as at the time there were but few men at arms in those parts. the english having found in this and in other towns much wealth, and made many prisoners, they returned, by way of blanchetaque, the same road they had come, to their different garrisons, without any loss worth mentioning; but they committed very great waste on the lands of their enemies. footnotes: [footnote : arques,--diocese of st omer.] [footnote : blandêques,--diocese of st omer.] [footnote : bredenarde,--diocese of st omer.] chap. cix. the flemings again take up arms, after their retreat from calais to their towns. not long after the flemings were returned home, news was brought them that a large fleet of english ships was off the flemish coast, near to biervlict, with intent, as was supposed, of invading the country. the principal towns remanded the men who had been disbanded, and instantly marched with a powerful army and artillery toward biervlict, and encamped near the sea to wait for the english, who were off the coast. this fleet, however, was not stationed there for the purpose of covering an invasion, but merely to alarm the flemings, and prevent them from opposing the duke of glocester, who was with his army in the neighbourhood of poperingues and bailleul. it had on board no men at arms, but only mariners to manage and defend it, which made them no way anxious to enter any of the enemy's ports; and, after hovering along the coast for a few days, it made sail for calais. when the fleet was gone, each company of flemings marched back to its town, excepting those from ghent, who being discontented at the blame thrown on them, for being the principal cause of the retreat from calais, would not lay down their arms, and wanted to introduce many reforms, and were in so mutinous a state that it was necessary for their prince to go thither. on the duke of burgundy's arrival in ghent, he ordered their remonstrances to be laid before him. some contained demands why calais had not been besieged by sea as well as by land, according to a promise made,--and why the english fleet had not been burnt as had been determined on. to these demands the duke ordered answers to be given, that it was impossible, as every seaman knew, to besiege calais on the sea-side, by reason of the danger of the vessels being driven on shore and captured by the enemy. add to this, that the hollanders had not kept their promise of assisting him in this business with their shipping. with respect to burning the english fleet, the men and vessels ordered on this service at sluys had been constantly wind-bound in that harbour, during the whole time. in regard to their other demands, namely, to order three governors of ghent to make a procession through the country, with a sufficient force to regarrison all their towns with native flemings, and to put an end to the quarrels between bruges and sluys, and several other points insisted on by them, the duke made such satisfactory answers that they were contented with them; and each laid down his arms, and retired to his home, although they had shown great signs of violence at the beginning. they caused the duke's archers to lay aside their staves, saying that they were strong enough to guard him. sir roland de hautekirque, sir collart de comines, sir gilles de la voustine, enguerrand auviel and john daudain, were afterward banished ghent, because they had declined to appear with the other citizens to remonstrate; and the ghent men wrote to their castlewicks, that whoever would arrest any one of the above persons, and deliver him into their hands, should receive three hundred livres tournois as a reward, besides all reasonable expenses. many ordinances were published for the more effectual guard and defence of the country; and several governors were appointed, under the chief command of the lord d'estrenhuse, such as the lord de comines at ghent, sir gerard de tournay at oudenarde, and sir gerard de guystelles at courtray. other nobles and men at arms were posted in different towns, according to their rank, as well on the frontier toward calais as elsewhere, and on board of their fleet. it was also proclaimed, that no person should, on account of the war, quit the country, under a heavy penalty,--and that everyone should provide himself with arms suitable to his rank; that all the principal towns and forts should be repaired, and well supplied with provision and warlike stores; and likewise that the ditches and ramparts should be examined, and where weak strengthened and rebuilt at the charge of the country, or of those who were bounden to keep them in proper repair. it was at last necessary, in order to keep the commonalty in good humour, that the duke should say publicly to them, that he was perfectly satisfied with their departure from before calais, and that they had returned by his permission and by his orders. they were most anxious to have this disgrace wiped away from them, because they knew full well that all cried shame on them for it. when all things had been restored to order, the duke of burgundy returned to lille, whither came to him the lord de chargny, with other noble and valiant men, bringing with them from near boulogne about four hundred combatants, who were dispersed in the garrisons on that frontier. shortly after, the lords d'ansy and de warembon came thither, with three or four hundred men, who did much mischief to the countries of artois and cambresis, near to tournay. the lord de warembon led them afterwards to garrison pontoise, where they remained for a considerable time. throughout all france, the poor people and the church were sorely oppressed by this war, for they had no defenders; and notwithstanding the peace concluded at arras, the french and burgundians in the countries of beauvoisis, vermandois, santois, laonnois, champagne, and in the rethelois, made frequent wars on each other on the most unreasonable pretences, by which the country was wasted and destroyed,--and the inhabitants suffered more than before this peace was made. the poor labourers had no other resource than pitifully to cry out to god, their creator, for vengeance on their oppressors. but the worst was, when they had obtained letters of favour from any of the captains, they were frequently not attended to by others, even though of the same party. about this time, sir john de hornes, seneschal of brabant, who had had, with the lord de la morée, the command of the duke of burgundy's fleet before calais, was met near the sea-coast, by a party of flemings, where he was attending his private affairs, and accompanied by a few servants, who put him to death, to the great sorrow of the duke of burgundy. when the duke had appeased the disaffected flemings, as has been told, and when he thought all was harmony among them, the men of bruges suddenly rose in arms, and marched with a large body to besiege sluys, near to which place they remained a long time. they began by murdering one of the officers of their prince, called vaustre d'estembourg, because he would not join the commonalty in arms before sluys, where they remained upwards of six weeks. their leaders were peter de bourgrane and christopher myneer; and one among them, named george vauderberques, made the duchess of burgundy and her son quit their carriage, in order that they might search it,--when they arrested the lady of sir john de hornes, which much troubled the duchess, although the lady did not suffer any thing further. sir william and sir simon de lalain were with these ladies,--but by some negotiation between them and the duke, they returned to their homes, and were pardoned for this and other offences, because he thought that he should want their services hereafter. chap. cx. la hire conquers the town and castle of soissons.--other matters. la hire about this period won the town and castle of soissons by storm, from the governor, guy de roye, on the part of sir john de luxembourg, who, not having taken the oaths to king charles as the other burgundian captains had done, conformable to the peace at arras, was considered by the french as an enemy. the king, however, had granted him a delay for a certain time, to consider of it, and had during that period forbidden his captains to make war on sir john, provided he and his party should abstain from war also. when news of this event reached sir john de luxembourg, he was much angered,--for the greater part of soissons and its dependances appertained by legal descent to his daughter-in-law, jane de bar, countess of st pol. he reinforced all his other castles with men and stores, to prevent any similar accident from befalling them. on the other hand, guy de roye, who held the castle of maicampre, between chargny and noyon, placed a strong garrison within it, and carried on a severe warfare against la hire, in the soissonnois, laonnois, and other parts attached to king charles. similar reprisals were made by la hire and the king's friends on those of sir john de luxembourg,--and thus was the country oppressed and ruined, as well by one party as by the other. after the duke of york had gained the town of fécamp, by the surrender of john d'estouteville, it was reconquered by the french from the english,--and nearly at the same time the duke of york gained, after a long siege, st germain sur cailly[ ], when about twelve of the french were hanged. in like manner were the towns of fontaines sur préaux[ ], bourg,[ ] blainville,[ ] préaux,[ ] lillebonne,[ ] tancarville,[ ] and other strong places reconquered, and the greater part destroyed by the english. after this, they continued to waste all the corn countries round harfleur, with the intent of laying siege to it as speedily and as completely as they could. footnotes: [footnote : st germain-sur-cailly,--in normandy, diocese of rouen.] [footnote : fontaines-sur-préaux,--diocese of rouen.] [footnote : bourg baudorion,--diocese of rouen.] [footnote : blainville,--diocese of rouen.] [footnote : préaux,--diocese of rouen.] [footnote : lillebonne,--diocese of rouen.] [footnote : tancarville,--near lillebonne.] chap. cxi. the duchess of bedford, sister to the count de st pol, re-marries of her own free will.--the king of sicily negotiates with the duke of burgundy for his liberty.--the english recover the town of pontoise. in this year, the duchess of bedford, sister to the count de saint pol, married, from inclination, an english knight called sir richard woodville, a young man, very handsome and well made, but, in regard to birth, inferior to her first husband, the regent, and to herself. louis de luxembourg, archbishop of rouen, and her other relations, were very angry at this match, but they could not prevent it.[ ] about the end of the following november, jacquilina of bavaria, who had married franche de borselline, died, after a long and lingering illness. she was succeeded by the duke of burgundy in all her possessions. the king of sicily, duke of anjou, the duke of bourbon, the constable of france, the chancellor, and many other noble princes and great lords, visited the duke of burgundy, about st andrew's day, at lille, where he held his court. he received them most honourably. during their stay, a treaty was proposed for the liberty of the king of sicily, for he was still a prisoner to the duke of burgundy, as has been before mentioned,--and some of his children were hostages for him in burgundy. this treaty was concluded, on condition that the king of sicily would engage to pay a certain sum of money for his ransom, for the security of which he was to pledge four of his towns and castles in his duchies of lorraine and bar, namely, neuf-châtel in lorraine, clermont in argonne, princhy[ ] and louye,[ ] which were to be given up to the duke when demanded. the duke of burgundy, shortly after, placed his own garrisons and captains in these towns and castles. thus did the king of sicily recover his liberty and his children; but he had only the two eldest sent to him at first, with a promise that the two others should follow, provided there was not any default of payment. in order that no delays might arise, sir colard de saussy and john de chambly bound themselves, with the king of sicily, for the due performance of all the articles of the treaty. when this business was over, the constable of france treated with sir john de luxembourg, who was then at lille, that all matters in dispute between him and la hire, on the subject of the capture of soissons, should be referred to arbitrators, and that an end should be put to the warfare now raging between them. the term for taking the oaths of allegiance to the king of france, or for declaring for one or other of the parties, was prolonged for sir john de luxembourg until st john baptist's day ensuing, on his promising to abstain from all hostilities during that time. during these feasts, william de flavy, who had been driven out of compiégne by the constable of france, found means to re-enter it, with a large body of men at arms, and kept possession a long time; in which at length he was confirmed by king charles, in spite of all the attempts of the constable to reconquer it. at this period also, the english regained by storm the town of pontoise. the attack commenced at day-break, when great part of the garrison, consisting of about four hundred combatants of the lord de l'isle-adam and de warembon's men, saved themselves by flight, leaving their baggage and effects behind them: which conquest was very hurtful to the country of the isle de france and the adjoining parts, for the english placed a very strong garrison in pontoise, whence detachments made excursions, and frequently to the very gates of paris. footnotes: [footnote : sir richard woodville paid a fine of £ to the king for marrying the duchess of bedford without a licence. he was afterwards created earl of rivers, and was father to the lady elizabeth, queen to king edward iv.--_parl. hist._] [footnote : princhy,--princy, in the gatinois, near montargis.] [footnote : louye,--in maine, diocese of mans.] end of vol. vii. h. bryer, printer, bridge-street, blackfriars, london. notes and emendations. page . line . _simon de lalain._] either simon de lalain lord of montigny, younger brother of the lord de lalain, or another simon de lalain, lord of chevrain, son of a great uncle of the former, who married a lady of the house of luxembourg, daughter to the count de ligny. page . line . _enguerrand de crequi._] enguerrand de crequi, called _le begue_, second son of john ii, lord of crequi, and uncle of john iv, who was killed at agincourt. page . line . _rambures._] andrew ii, master of woods and waters in picardy, son of david who was killed at agincourt and was master of the cross bows of france. page . line . _ferry de mailly._] ferry de mailly, th son of john maillet de mailly, lord of talmas, &c. who on the death of all his brothers without issue, succeeded to their lordships and also to the lordship of conti, which came into the family by the marriage of colart, third son of john maillet, to the heiress isabel. the lords of talmas were a younger branch of the house of mailly. page . line . _bousac._] jean de brosse, descended from the ancient viscounts de brosse in the angoumois, was lord of st severe and boussac, and a marshal of france. he signalized himself in many actions, particularly at the siege of orleans, and at the battles of patai and la charité, and died in . his son, of the same name, who succeeded him, was equally celebrated in the history of the day. he married nicole de blois only daughter and heir of charles, last count of penthievre, and transmitted her large possessions to his descendants. page . line . _lord de chargny._] peter de bauffremont, lord of chargny, a noble burgundian, knight banneret, and of the golden fleece. see post, p. . page . line . _lord de humieres._] matthew ii, second son of philip lord of humieres, who was made prisoner at the battle of agincourt. page . line . _lord de crevecoeur._] james lord of crevecoeur, and thois, chancellor and chamberlain to the duke of burgundy. page . line . _anthony de chabannes._] anthony, third son of robert lord of charlus killed at agincourt. stephen, his eldest son, was killed at crevant in . james the second, was lord of la palice; seneschal of toulouse, and grand master of france, and was killed at castillon in . this anthony was at first, lord of s. fargeau. he was born in , and served as page to the count of ventadour and to the great la hire. he was at the battle of verneuil . in , he married margaret de nanteuil, countess of dammartin, and assumed the title of count de dammartin by virtue of that marriage. he was grand master, governor of paris, &c., and died in . page . line . _lord de châtillon._] perhaps charles de chàtillon lord of sourvilliers, son of charles lord of sourvilliers killed at agincourt. page . line . _lord de bonneul._] another charles de châtillon, of a younger branch, was lord of bonneuil. page . line last. _quarrel._] renè claimed the duchy of lorraine in right of his wife isabella, only daughter of charles the late duke; and heuterus, relating the cause of this quarrel, says that anthony count of vaudemont, brother of the deceased refused to admit renè's pretensions, alledging that the duchy could not descend to the heirs female. for some reasons, however, it would appear probable that heuterus is mistaken, and that the dispute related to the affairs of the county of vaudemont only. page . line . _count de fribourg._] the county of freyburg became united with that of neufchàtel by the marriage of egon xiv, count of furstenburg and freyburg, with verena heiress of neufchàtel. their grandson john count of freyburg, &c. married a daughter of the prince of orange, but died without issue. page . line . _lord de mirabeau._] henry de bauffremont married jane, sister and heir to john last lord of mirabeau of the family of vergy, about . page . line . _gilles de l'aubespine._] giles baron d'aubespine was of a noble family in beauce, and ancestor of the marquisses of chateauneuf, verderonne, and aubespine, many of whom were distinguished characters in the two following centuries. page . line . _lord d'orville._] robert d'aunoy seigneur d'orville, master of the woods and waters in the year , who died the year following, was son of philip d'aunoy, maitre d'hotel to king charles v, and present at the battle of poitiers. john, the son of robert, is the lord here mentioned; he was grand echanson of france, and died in . _le galois_ was a common surname of the lords d'orville. page . line . _magistrates._] the cause of this commotion was the baseness of the gold and silver coin struck in the duke's name. the sedition lasted twelve, not two days only, and was appeased by the promise of a new coinage. _pontus heuterus_ in vit: philippi boni. page . line . _blanchefort._] perhaps, guy iii. de blanchefort, lord of st clement, &c. a chamberlain of the king, and seneschal of lyons, who died in . page . line . _lord d'amont._] this must be james lord of aumont, counsellor and chamberlain to the duke of burgundy, son of john lord of aumont, grand echanson, who was slain at agincourt. page . line . _flanders._] monstrelet appears to have been but imperfectly informed of these transactions. in the year , the countess being besieged in gouda by the burgundian forces, submitted to a peace, by which she acknowledged philip as her heir to hainaut, holland, zealand, and friezland, appointing him protector of the said states during her life-time. it was also stipulated that she should not marry without the consent of philip and her states. upon the conclusion of this treaty, the duke departed, leaving francis de borselle, a nobleman of high rank attached to the burgundian party, lieutenant of the provinces. _in july _, says, the historian of holland, the countess married this gentleman in violation of her engagement, upon which the duke entered the country, caused him to be apprehended, and confined him in the tower of rupelmonde. it was rumoured that he would be beheaded; and jacqueline alarmed for his safety, conveyed absolutely the whole of her estates to philip for his liberation, in consideration of which the _generous_ robber assigned to his late prisoner the county of ostervant, the lordships of brill and south beveland, with the collection of certain tolls and imposts, on which they lived together but a short time before death put a period to her eventful history, in the month of october . _barlandi hollandiæ comitum historia et icones._ page . line . _thomas conette._] this unfortunate heretic was a breton by birth. being seized with an inordinate desire of reforming the dress of the ladies and the manners of the clergy, he left rennes and travelled into the low countries where he preached with so much success that the towers of gauze and ribbons called _hennins_, which were then the rage, disappeared wherever he went. perhaps he was spared the mortification of hearing that they were resumed several _stages_ higher, immediately after his departure. from flanders he travelled into italy, reformed the order of carmelites at mantua, and made himself famous for his zeal and eloquence at venice. the papal ambassadors reported his praises at rome; but his ardour for reform which had captivated many others alarmed pope eugenius, who justly dreaded the consequences of his strenuous assertions, that marriage ought to be allowed to the clergy, and that flesh might be eaten by them without risk of damnation. it was not long after his arrival at the pontifical city, that a process was instituted against him for these and other heretical doctrines, and father thomas was at last burnt for not knowing how to confine his eloquence to the harmless subject which first called it forth. he suffered with great constancy, and was by some, even among the catholics, reputed a martyr. for further particulars, consult bayle, art. conecte. page . line . _daughter_.] frederick and iolante. the marriage thus agreed upon was concluded; and the duchy of lorraine and county of vaudemont were afterwards united in their persons. page . line . from the bottom. _chasteau-vilain._] william lord of chateauvilain held the office of _chambrier de france_ in and died in . page . line . _john de hingsbergh._] john son of the lord de hynsberch lewenborch, archdeacon of champagne. he was an adherent to the duke of burgundy, was present at some of his campaigns, and is celebrated as a prelate of vast magnificence. page . line . _william de lalain bailiff of hainault._] of this family, "a family," says comines, "of great and brave men, who for the most part found their deaths in fighting for their native princes" was otho lord de lalain, who died in at the advanced age of years. his eldest son william, who succeeded him in his honours, and was bailiff of hainault and holland is the person here mentioned. he died in . sansay, the second son of otho, married the heiress of the family of robesarte: and simon the third son, has been already mentioned at the commencement of the volume, unless that be another simon, the first cousin of otho. see ante p. . page . line . _sir john talbot._] this is the great talbot, created earl of shrewsbury in . page . line . _lord willoughby._] robert, lord willoughby of eresby, one of the greatest heroes of the english army--present at the battles of agincourt and verneuil, and at almost all the celebrated actions of the day, was in , dignified with the title of earl of vendosme, beaufort, &c. and died in , leaving only a daughter joan the wife of sir richard welles knight. dugdale. page . line . _viscount de thouars._] louis d'amboise, viscount of thouars, prince of talmont, &c. &c., had been deprived of his lands for adherence to the english party, but was afterwards restored to them, and served the king of france in his conquest of guienne. he was grandson of ingerger, surnamed the great, who married isabel, heiress of thouars, and widow of the marshal de nesle, and was made prisoner at the battle of poitiers. page . line from the bottom. _lord de bueil._] john v, count of sancerre, son of john lord de bueil, killed at agincourt, and of margaret countess of sancerre. he was a celebrated commander, and called _le fleau des anglais_. page . line last. _pregent de coetivy._] coetivy, the name of an ancient family of lower brittany. pregent vii, lord of coetivy, was eldest son of alan iii. killed at the siege of st james de beauvron in , and of catherine daughter of hervè lord of chàtel, killed at jersey. this pregent married mary de laval, daughter of the infamous marshal de retz. he was chamberlain in , governor of la rochelle, and in promoted to the high office of admiral of france. he was killed at cherbourg in . "ce fut un gran dommage et perte notable pour le roi, car il etoit tenu des vaillans chevaliers et renommé du royaume, fort prudent et encor de bon age." hist. du roi charles vii. page . line . _count de penthievre._] oliver de bretagne, or de blois, grandson of the famous competitor of john de montfort, had been deprived of his large counties of penthievre, limoges, &c. &c. but never of the duchy of brittany, to which he pretended no claim. his brother john lord de l'aigle was restored to penthievre soon after, and died . charles, the third brother succeeded, whose only daughter and heir, nicole de blois, marrying jean de brosse, the county of penthievre passed into that family. page . line from the bottom. _william de coroam._] should be coram. page . line . _sir pierre de beausalt._] peter de montmorency, lord of plessis cacheleu, son of john ii, lord of beausalt, and uncle of anthony, who was slain at verneuil, and of john in whom the direct line of this younger branch ended in . page . line from the bottom. _king of cyprus._] lewis, count of geneva, eldest son of amadeus duke of savoy, married charlotte, only daughter of john king of cyprus and helen of montferrat. page . line from the bottom. _count de nevers._] charles, count of nevers, eldest son of philip count of nevers killed at agincourt, was born in the year preceding his father's death, and died in . his mother was bona d'artois, daughter of philip count of eu. page . line . _sect._] here is a vast confusion of names, as usual, in the affairs of distant countries. tabouret is evidently an invention of monstrelet's derived from taborite, the general name by which the religious insurgents were then distinguished, from tabor a town in bohemia, founded by their leader john zisca. protestus may, very probably, be a mistake for procopius, surnamed "of the shaven crown," a celebrated leader and bishop among these taborites during the reign of sigismund, who was slain in a bloody battle near prague. of lupus i can say nothing. page . line . _lord de la grange._] john de la grange, ancestor of the lords of vesvre and montigni, and of the marquisses of arquien. marshal de montigni, celebrated under henry the third, was fifth in descent from him. page . line . _john._] john of burgundy, a posthumous son of philip, and brother to charles, count of nevers. he succeeded to the estates of his brother in , assumed the title of duke of brabant, and died in . elizabeth his daughter married the duke of cleves, and brought the earldom of nevers into that family. his first wife was daughter of the vidame of amiens mentioned immediately afterwards. page . line . _vidame of amiens._] raoul d'ailly, sieur de pequigny, and vidame of amiens. page . line . _mathagon._] this can be no other than matthew gough, an english captain of those days, and one of the commanders in the town of st denis when it was won by the french. page . line from the bottom. _fled._] john bastard son of the great earl of salisbury, to whom in his will he bequeathed marks. see _dugdale_. page . line from the bottom. _sir christopher de harcourt._] christopher de harcourt lord of avrech, grand master of the woods and waters in , was third son of james de harcourt lord of montgomery. page . last line. _woodville._] richard de widvile, was seneschal of normandy under henry v; constable of the tower in ; lieutenant of calais in ; and , served the king in his wars with men at arms and archers. in , he married the duchess of bedford (jacqueline de luxembourg) without license, for which he was condemned to pay a fine of _l._ in he was created lord rivers; and in edward iv. (his daughter being then queen of england) was advanced to the dignity of earl rivers, constable of england. three years after he was beheaded by the lancastrian insurgents at northampton. _dugdale._ page . line last. _restandif._ q.] restandif, is sir ralph standish, who was killed in this battle. _stow_ and _holinshed_. mondo domonfarrant is only an error of the press for mondo de montferrant, who occurs again vol. . p. . page . line . _bishop of ache._] there came to this convention according to stowe, nicholas albergat, a carthusian friar, entitled a priest cardinal of the holy cross, and hugh de lusignan, a _cyprian_ (i presume he means cypriot) greek, bishop cardinal of præneste: which, or whether either of these, was the person meant by monstrelet under the fanciful name of "bishop of ache," the reader may determine. q. auch. page . line . from the bottom.] sir john ratcliffe was constable of fronsac in aquitaine, under henry v, and seneschal of aquitaine in h. . knight of the garter, &c. he died before and left a son, john, who succeeded him, and in h. . was summoned to parliament as lord fitzwalter. page . line from the bottom. _lord hungerford._] walter lord hungerford of heytesbury, treasurer of england, and of the executors to the will of henry v. he had summons to parliament from h. , to h. inclusive, and died in , leaving robert lord hungerford, his son and successor, who during his father's life-time served in the wars of france with men at arms and archers, and died in . page . line . _duke of gueldres._] arnold earl of egmont succeeded to gueldres on the failure of the direct line in . his son adolph (by margaret daughter of adolph iv, duke of cleves) made war upon him, in consequence of which he was disinherited, and his father made over the duchy to charles duke of burgundy. page . line . _count de vernambourg._] vernambourg i.e. virnemburg, or wirnemburg, the title of a noble house of the duchy of luxemburg, of whom robert count of wirnemburg governed the duchy in the name of elizabeth of burgundy. page . line . _du châtel._] oliver lord du châtel, chamberlain of bretagne; son of hervè lord du châtel, killed at jersey, and brother to the famous tanneguy. page . line . _sir paillard du fiè_.] q. fai? john genevois bouton, lord of fai, chamberlain of burgundy, _bailiff_ of dole, was a commissary sent by the duke on this occasion. it is not impossible that an error of the press may have converted his office of _bailli_ into the disgraceful appellation of _paillard_. page . line from the bottom. _cleves._] john, who succeeded his father adolph iv. duke of cleves in . page . line . duke of milan.] the death of joan queen of naples followed closely upon that of louis of anjou, king of sicily, in . the following year, alphonso passed over from arragon and commenced the siege of gaeta; and during that siege the battle was fought of which this account is given. the personages here mentioned to have been taken prisoners, are the king alphonso, his brothers, john king of navarre, and don henry grand master of st james, the prince of tarento, john anthony de marzan, duke of sessa, christopher gaetano, count of fondi, &c. the name of garganeymé, i conjecture to be a blunder for gaetano; but it is a gross mistake to call him son to the prince of tarento. page . line . _lord de bloseville._] qu. bonvile? sir william bonvile served under henry v, and again under henry vi, in the year with men at arms and archers. he was then seneschal of guienne, but may possibly have been in normandy at this time. in , he was summoned to parliament as lord bonvile of chuton. he afterwards joined the york party, and was beheaded after the second battle of st. alban's. page . line . _lord de torsy._] william d'estouteville, lord of torsy, made prisoner at the siege of harfleur, in , ransomed himself by the alienation of great part of his estates, and died in . john d'estouteville, here also mentioned, was his son, and succeeding him in his lordship was made provost of paris and master of the cross-bows. page . line . _duke of burgundy._] this prince, the second son of charles vii. died in his infancy. page . line . _commercy._] robert de sarbuck, lord of commercy, (son of amé lord of commercy and mary daughter of john lord of chateauvilain) married in jane countess of roucy and braine; and john, their eldest son, here called the heir of commercy became count of roucy and braine by the donation of his mother in . page . line from the bottom. _everard de la marche._] everard iii, de la marck, lord of aremberg, &c. and, by marriage of sedan, was of a younger branch of the family of the counts of la marck, dukes of cleves, &c. page . line . _lord d'aussi._] john iv, son of david, _sire et ber_ d'auxi, killed at agincourt, and of margaret de la trimoille. he was lord of fontaines sur somme, _seneschal of ponthieu_, knight of the golden fleece, and finally master of the cross bows of france. page . line . _everard de la marche._] everard de la marck. see before. page . line . _sir louis de thieubronne._] should be louis lord of thiembrune. page . line . _lord de croy._] anthony lord de croy and renti, count of porcean, guisnes, &c. son of john ii, killed at agincourt, was grand chamberlain of burgundy and grand master in . page . line . _sir john de croy._] brother of anthony lord de croy, made count of chimay in , before which he was lord of thou sur marne. page . line . _seneschal of brabant._] john de hornes, lord of baussignies, &c. admiral and grand chamberlain to the duke of burgundy, descended from the grandfather of william lord of hornes, who was killed at agincourt. page . line . _franche de borselline._] francis, or frank de borselle. see above. page . line . _duke of anjou._] renè, duke of bar, who had been made prisoner as related to p. : soon afterward succeeded to the duchy of anjou and to the claims of this house on sicily and naples, by the death of his brother, louis iii. printed by h. bryer, bridge-street, blackfriars, london. transciber's note: original spelling has been retained.