Part 12

In the month of May, in this year, the duke of Burgundy, smarting from the defeat at Granson, was more eager than ever to be revenged on the Swiss and Germans, and determined to lay siege to the town of Strasbourg; but this he was unable to do without reinforcements of men, and without obtaining a loan of money from his different towns. To succeed in this business, he dispatched his chancellor, master William Gounet, and other delegates to the number of twelve, to the principal towns under his government, to relate to them his distress from the defeat at Granson, and to express his determination to be revenged on the Swiss, which induced him to apply to them for money and men. He wanted them to advance him a sixth part of their property, and six men each town, one of whom was to be equipped in armour.

The towns in Ghent, Bruges, Brussels, Lille, and the estates of Flanders, replied to this application from the delegates, that in regard to the duke of Burgundy, whom they considered as their natural lord, if he were hardly oppressed by the Germans, or had not a sufficiency of men to return to his own country in safety, they would expose their lives and fortunes in the bringing of him home; but in respect to continuing the war, they had resolved not to afford him any further assistance in men or money.

In this interval, the king of France had made Lyon his chief residence, making good cheer; and thither came to him his uncle the king of Sicily, to whom he gave a cordial reception on his arrival, carrying him to see the fair and the handsome citizens' wives and daughters of Lyon. Thither also came a cardinal, nephew to the pope, who had committed some outrages against the king at Avignon, and also against the archbishop of Lyon legate from the pope. The cardinal waited some time for an audience,--but at length the disputes between him, the king, and the archbishop, were amicably settled.

At the same time, the king of Sicily entered into engagements with the king, that the county of Provence after his decease, should revert, with all its rights and privileges, to the king, and be united for ever to the crown. In return for this, queen Margaret of England daughter to the king of Sicily, and widow of Henry VI. was released from her imprisonment by the king of France who paid king Edward fifty thousand golden crowns for her ransom. In consequence, queen Margaret joined in the cession of the county of Provence to the king after her father's death, on having a sufficient pension secured to her annually for her life.

On the 13th day of June, the seneschal of Normandy, count of Maulevrier, and son to the late sir Pierre de Brézé, killed at the battle of Montlehery, went to the village of Romiers, near Dourdan, which belonged to him, for the sake of hunting. He took with him his lady, the princess Charlotte of France, natural daughter of the late king Charles VII. by Agnes Sorel. After the chace, when they were returned to Romiers to sup and lodge, the seneschal retired to a single-bedded room for the night. His lady retired also to another chamber,--when, moved by her disorderly passions (as the husband said), she called to her a gentleman from Poitou, named Pierre de la Vergne, who was head huntsman to the seneschal, and made him lie with her. This was told to the seneschal by the master of his household, called Pierre l'Apothicaire; when he instantly arose, and, taking his sword, broke open the door of the chamber where his lady and the huntsman were in bed. The huntsman started up in his shirt,--and the seneschal gave him first a severe blow with his sword on the head, and then thrust it through his body, and killed him on the spot. This done, he went into an adjoining room where his children lay; and, finding his wife hid under the coverlid of their bed, dragged her thence, by the arms, along the ground, and struck her between the shoulders with his sword. On her raising herself on her knees, he ran his sword through her breast, and she fell down dead. He sent her body for interment to the abbey of Coulons, where her obsequies were performed,--and he caused the huntsman to be buried in the garden of the house wherein he had been killed.

While the king was at Lyon, he kept a large army, ready for any event, in that neighbourhood,--and there heard that the duke of Lorraine had joined the Swiss, Berners, and Germans, in their opposition to the duke of Burgundy, who, in his madness and folly, had again entered Swisserland. He had with him a considerable train of artillery, and a great number of merchants, who, bringing provisions, followed the army, that was encamped before a little town in Swisserland, called Morat, with the intent to besiege it.

On the 22nd day of June, very early in the morning, the duke of Lorraine made an attack on the duke's van, and defeated the whole of it. This van consisted of more than twelve thousand combatants, and was under the command of the count de Romont[66], who, in great haste, found means to escape with eleven others.

The Swiss that were in Morat now joined the troops of the duke of Lorraine, forced the camp of the Burgundians, and put to death all they met without mercy[67]. The duke of Burgundy was glad to retreat with the few of his army who had escaped this general slaughter, and again fled, frequently looking behind him to Joigné, which was distant fifteen or twenty french leagues from the field of battle. He again lost all his baggage, which consisted of his plate, tapestries, and numberless valuables. The Swiss and Germans, in consideration of the great services the duke of Lorraine had done them, presented him with all the burgundian artillery that had been taken, to make him amends for his artillery which the duke of Burgundy had carried off from Nancy when he had stormed that town.

According to the accounts of the heralds and pursuivants who examined the field of battle, there were twenty thousand seven hundred men slain this day, as well within as without the encampment.

The Swiss pursued the Burgundians after the defeat, and slew many on their flight to Joigné,--and set fire to and destroyed the whole of the county of Romont, and put to death without mercy all who fell into their hands.

When this business was done, the duke of Lorraine withdrew to Strasbourg, and departed thence with four thousand combatants, to lay siege to his town of Nancy, in which were from a thousand to twelve hundred men in garrison for the duke of Burgundy. Having formed his siege, he went into Swisserland, and returned thither with a strong reinforcement of men.

The king, having made a long stay at Lyon, went to Plessis les Tours, to the queen and dauphin, and remained there some time. He thence made a pilgrimage to the church of our Lady of Behuart, to offer up his thanksgivings that his affairs had prospered so well during his stay at Lyon. He sent also many rich gifts to churches wherein the holy Virgin was particularly worshipped. Among others, he gave two hundred golden crowns to the church of our Lady at Ardembourg in Flanders. On his return from Lyon, he was accompanied by two dames of that town as far as Orleans: one was called La Gigonne, who had been married to a merchant of Lyon,--the other was named La Passefillon, wife to another merchant of the same place called Anthony Bourcier. The king, in order to do honour to these two women, made them very handsome presents,--and married La Gigonne to a young Parisian, named Geoffry de Caulers, to whom he gave money and offices. The husband of La Passefillon he appointed counsellor in the chamber of accounts at Paris, in the room of master John Reilhac, whom, for this purpose, he displaced. On leaving Orleans, he put these women under the protection of Isabeau de Caulers, wife to master Philip le Begue, examiner of accounts in the exchequer at Paris, to conduct them to that city.

The king went from Orleans to Amboise and Tours, where the queen and the dauphin were, and thence on a pilgrimage to our Lady of Behuart, and other places of devotion, and then returned again to Plessis les Tours.

When the town of Nancy had been some time besieged by the duke of Lorraine, it was surrendered to him on capitulation, that the Burgundians should march away in safety with their baggage. It was not more than a month after the duke of Lorraine had revictualled and regarrisoned Nancy, before the duke of Burgundy, who, on his defeat at Morat, had retreated to the town of Rivieres, near Salines, in Burgundy, where he had assembled as large a force as he was able, appeared before it, to besiege it in his turn. The duke of Lorraine, in the mean time, had gone into Swisserland, to collect a sufficiency of troops to succour Nancy, and to raise the siege.

About this period, the king of Portugal, who laid claim to the crown of Spain in right of his queen, left Portugal, and came to Lyon, and thence to Tours, to solicit the aid of the king in the recovery of his lawful rights. He was kindly received by the king, and remained some time at Tours, where he was handsomely feasted by many of the nobles, but all at the king's expense. On leaving the king, he went to Orleans, where he was well received, and thence came to Paris, and made his public entry.

He arrived on Saturday, the 23d of November, between two and three in the afternoon, at the gate of St Jacques; but the different ranks in Paris went out to meet him as far as the windmill, dressed in their holyday clothes, and in the same manner as if he had been king of France. The provost of marchands and the sheriffs issued out first, dressed in robes of cloth and white and red damask, trimmed with martin skins: they were accompanied by the burghers and officers of the town. After them came sir Robert d'Estouteville, provost of Paris, attended by his lieutenants, civil and criminal, the king's counsellors, and practitioners at the Châtelet, who were very numerous, and decently dressed. Then came the lord chancellor d'Oriole, the presidents and counsellors of the court of parliament and of the exchequer, and the officers of the mint and of the treasury, followed by numbers of prelates, archbishops, bishops, and other noble persons.

Thus attended, the king of Portugal entered the gate of St Jacques, where he again met the provost of marchands and the sheriffs, who presented him with a very handsome canopy, emblazoned at each corner with his royal arms, and in the center with the arms of Spain. Having this canopy supported over him, he was conducted to the church of St Estienne des Grecs, where he found the rectors of the university, who harangued him on his welcome to Paris. He then advanced to the church of Nôtre Dame, and was there received most honourably by the bishop. Having finished his prayers, he proceeded across the bridge of Nôtre Dame, and was met at the entrance of Marchepalu by fifty lighted torches, that placed themselves around the canopy. At the end of the bridge of Nôtre Dame, a large scaffold was raised against the house of a mantua-maker, named Motin, on which was represented a pageant, allusive to his arrival at Paris; and then he was conducted to his lodgings, at the house of master Laurence Herbelot, in the rue des Prouvaires, where he was well received.

Many rich presents were made him, as well by the city as by other persons,--and he was carried to see all that was remarkable at Paris and in its neighbourhood. He way first taken to the court of parliament, which was very resplendent,--for all the chambers were adorned and hung with tapestries. In the great chamber, he was met by the lord chancellor d'Oriole, the presidents, prelates, and counsellors, handsomely dressed; and a cause was pleaded before him, touching the patronage of the crown, by master François Hasle, archdeacon of Paris, and the attorney-general, who were opposed by master Pierre de Brabant, advocate in that court, and the curate of St Eustache. The pleadings of the two advocates were very eloquent and pleasant to hear: after which, he was shown the different chambers and apartments of the court.

On another day, he was carried to the hall in the bishop's palace, to be present at a theological disputation; and thence he went to see the prisons and court of the Châtelet, which was likewise hung with tapestry,--and all the officers of the court were dressed each in his official robe.

Sunday, the first of December, all the members of the university passed in procession under the windows of his lodgings, to attend high mass at the church of St Germain l'Auxerrois. In his different visits, he was always attended by the lord de Gaucourt, who gave him, at his hôtel, a magnificently rich supper, to which was invited a very numerous company of both sexes.

In the month of October, it was discovered, at Tours, that a person called Jeanbon, a native of Wales, who had a handsome pension from the king, and who was married to a woman from Mantes with a good fortune, had conspired, at the solicitation of the duke of Burgundy (as he himself had confessed), to poison the dauphin of France. For this crime, he was condemned, by the provost of the king's household, to be beheaded. At the place of execution, he was asked if he wished to say any thing more; he replied, Nothing, except that he hoped the king would be pleased to have compassion on his wife and children. The prisoner was then told, that he might have the choice of being beheaded or of having his eyes put out. He chose the last; and it was done by the provost, who then gave him up to his wife,--and the king ordered that his pension should be continued in her name.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 65: Romont,--a town of Swisserland, in the canton of Fribourg, and capital of an extensive bailiwick, which was _formerly a county_.]

[Footnote 66: Count de Romont. Jacques de Savoye count de Romont, baron de Vaux, son to Louis duke de Savoye and Anne of Cyprus.]

[Footnote 67: In an open building at Morat, the blanched bones of the Burgundians slain at this battle are now shown.]

CHAP. XXII.

THE DUKE OF MILAN IS MURDERED.--THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE BURGUNDIAN ARMY, AND DEATH OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, BY THE VICTORIOUS DUKE OF LORRAINE, BEFORE NANCY.--THE REDUCTION OF THE COUNTRIES AND TOWNS THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY HAD USURPED FROM FRANCE, SUCH AS ARRAS, HESDIN, &C.--SEVERAL BEHEADED IN ARRAS, CAMBRAY, AND IN OTHER TOWNS.

In the month of December, and during the feasts of Christmas, the duke of Milan[68] was unfortunately assassinated by a gentleman of that country. He had accosted him in the great church of Milan, under pretence of speaking with him, while he was walking there with a foreign ambassador, and had thrust his knife through the slashes of his robe, three or four times, into his lower belly--so that he fell down instantly dead, without saying a word. The cause of this action was, that the gentleman, his relatives and friends had employed all their money to purchase a vacant abbey for one of their kindred,--and the duke had deprived him of it, to bestow it on another, and would not suffer their relative by any means to enjoy it. The gentleman, having made many fruitless requests to the duke on this business, determined to put him to death, which he did as above related.

Had this gentleman failed, he had a companion bent on the same business, who would have killed the duke of Milan, because he had detained his wife as a mistress against her inclinations. By the judges and nobles of Milan, it was resolved that the whole of the families of these two persons, males and females, should be put to death, wherever they should be found,--their habitations demolished, and razed to the ground,--all their possessions destroyed,--and even their trees bearing fruit should be pulled up by their roots; and this sentence was carried into execution!

In the month of December, the lady Agnes of Bourbon departed this life, at the castle of Moulins, in the Bourbonnois. She was the widow of the late prince Charles duke of Bourbon and of Auvergne, by whom he had a noble issue, as well males as females,--namely, the present noble prince John duke of Bourbonnois and Auvergne, who married the most excellent princess Jeanne of France, eldest daughter to the late king Charles of France; Louis lord of Beaujeu, who died young; Charles archbishop of Lyon, primate of France and cardinal of Bourbon; Pierre lord of Beaujeu, married to the eldest daughter of the present king of France; the prince bishop of Liege; the lord James who died at Bruges; the lady Jeanne, married to the prince of Orange lord of Arlay; the lady Margaret, married to Philip of Savoy lord of Bresse[69]. The defunct lady had long lived a holy life, and her loss was much regretted and bewailed by her children, family and friends, and by all the inhabitants of the Bourbonnois and Auvergne,--and may her soul be blessed! Her remains were interred in the church of Souvigny.

The duke of Burgundy, as before related, had marched to besiege the town of Nancy, and had reduced it to such distress, by famine, that negotiations were opened for its capitulation. But on the eve of Epiphany, the duke of Lorraine arrived with twelve or fourteen thousand Swiss and Germans to raise the siege, combat the Burgundians, and secure Nancy.

Four days before his arrival, which was on the 5th of January, the count of Campo Basso, the lord Ange, and the lord de Montfort, quitted the duke of Burgundy, and abandoned his camp,--and, prior to the battle, the count of Campo Basso carried away with him full nine score men at arms. On the Saturday following, the other two captains, before named, took with them six score men at arms, who were all resolved to turn to the french party,--but this was kept secret on account of the existing truce; and it was ordered, by those to whom they had addressed themselves, that, for the present, they should march into Lorraine. This was done, with the exception of a party which remained for the guard of Condé[70], on the Moselle, through which place all the provisions for the Burgundian army passed, from the vale of Metz and the country of Luxembourg.

The count of Campo Basso[71] joined the duke of Lorraine, and informed him minutely of the exact state of the burgundian force. On this day, the 4th of January, the duke of Lorraine arrived at St Nicholas de Varangeville with his reinforcement of Swiss, who amounted, from an account taken, to ten thousand five hundred. Of Germans, there were also many, beside Lorrainers and other fighting men.

On Sunday, the 5th, the duke of Lorraine dislodged, about eight in the morning, and marched the Swiss to Neuville, and beyond a pond, when they formed their army in array. The Swiss were formed in two divisions; the one commanded by the count d'Abstain and the governors of Fribourg and Zurich,--the other, by the governors of Berne and Lucerne. About midday, the whole began to advance,--one division along the river side, and the other on the great road leading from Neuville to Nancy.

The duke of Burgundy had already drawn up his army in battle-array without his camp, having in front a rivulet that was by the hospital called La Magonne, between two strong hedges, and between him and the Swiss. On the great road by which the other division of the Swiss was advancing, he had posted the main body of his artillery. Thus, as the two divisions of the Swiss were advancing, the Burgundians fired on them when within cross-bowshot, and did them some mischief; but that division which had taken the main road, wheeling through a small wood, fell on the duke of Burgundy's flank.

While this was passing, the duke ordered his archers, who were on foot, to wheel and front the Swiss, and formed two wings of his men at arms to give them battle,--one wing under the command of Jacques Galiot, an italian captain, and the other under sir Josse de Lalain, high bailiff of Flanders. When the Swiss found themselves on the duke's flank, and on higher ground, they made as desperate a charge as ever men made, discharging, on their advance, their portable culverins. This discharge (which was not like a tax-gatherer's) threw the duke's army into confusion, and was followed by their flight.

This division of Swiss now attacked the wing commanded by Jacques Galiot, and defeated it instantly. The other wing, under sir Josse de Lalain, had advanced on the Swiss, but were so courageously received that the infantry were soon put to flight, and followed by the cavalry as fast as spurs could make them. They made for the bridge of Bridores, half a league from Nancy, and on the road to Thionville and Luxembourg. But here their hopes of passing were destroyed by the treachery of Campo Basso, who had barricaded the passage of this bridge with carts and waggons, and was with his men drawn up under arms on the opposite side; so that when the Burgundians were thus checked and overtaken by the Lorrainers, who followed at their heels, they were forced to attempt fording the river,--and there the slaughter was much more than on the field of battle, for such as attempted to pass the river were either killed by the Swiss or drowned: very few escaped death, or being made prisoners.

Some, on noticing this ambuscade of Campo Basso, fled to the woods: but they were pursued by the peasants,--and for four leagues round nothing was to be seen but dead bodies. The pursuit after the Burgundians lasted during two hours after nightfall; and the duke of Lorraine inquired, on all sides, what was become of the duke of Burgundy; whether he had fled, was slain, or made prisoner: but at that moment no one could answer his questions. The duke of Lorraine, on this, dispatched a confidential servant to John Dais, town-clerk of Metz, to learn if the duke of Burgundy had passed through that town; and on the morrow, John Dais sent for answer, that assuredly he had not passed that way,--and that no one knew what was become of him, for he had not taken the road to Luxembourg.