Part 9
THE PARISIANS ARE REVIEWED BY THE KING.--OF THE ARRAGONIAN AMBASSADORS.--A CONFERENCE BETWEEN THE KING AND THE CONSTABLE.--A TRUCE WITH THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.--OTHER EVENTS.--THE DUKE OF ALENÇON CONDEMNED TO BE BEHEADED AT PARIS.--THE KING TAKES POSSESSION OF ANJOU.--THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY BESIEGES NUYS[48].--HE TAKES SEVERAL TOWNS, NOTWITHSTANDING THE TRUCE BETWEEN THE KING AND HIMSELF.
The king ordered a review of the Parisians on Saturday the 20th of April. They were drawn up from the bastile of St Anthony, along the ditches, to the tower of Billy,--and thence, in battle-array, to the Grange aux Merciers: there was another division formed on the opposite side of the town. They made a brilliant and formidable appearance,--for the whole number was estimated at one hundred and four thousand men, all in uniforms, with red hoods and white crosses. A large train of artillery was also drawn out of Paris, which added much to the beauty of the spectacle.
The king was accompanied at this review by the arragonian ambassadors, who were astonished at the numbers of men under arms that Paris alone had sent forth. The king was attended by his guards, the gentlemen of his household, the count de Dammartin in great pomp, Philip of Savoy count of Bresse, the lord du Perche, Salazart, and several other captains and gentlemen of renown. After the review, the king went to Vincennes to supper, taking with him the arragonian embassy; and shortly after, he gave to the two principal ambassadors two cups of fine gold, embossed with figures, which weighed forty marcs, and had cost three thousand two hundred crowns of gold.
The king left Paris for Senlis, where he made some stay; and during that time two embassies came to him, one from Brittany and another from Germany,--the chief of which last was the duke of Bavaria. With the embassy from Brittany came Philip des Essars, lord of Thieux, master of the household to the duke of Brittany, who had been very active against the king. He was, however, kindly received by him, presented with ten thousand crowns, and appointed general inquisitor and inspector of waters and forests in Champagne and Brie,--which office the lord de Châtillon had held, but it was taken from him to be given to Philip des Essars.
While the king was at Senlis, Ermenonville, and other places in that district, an embassy arrived from the duke of Burgundy, which remained long, but concluded nothing. The king then departed for Compiégne, Noyon, and divers places thereabout,--when a meeting was appointed between him and the constable, to settle some differences between them, near a village[49], where a bridge was thrown over a river, and each had a large party of guards for his personal security. Their mutual accusations were discussed, and particularly the capture the constable had made, by force, of St Quentin, by driving thence the lord de Creton and his garrison,--which had greatly angered the king, who, for this reason, had stopped the payments due to the constable's troop of four hundred lances, for the months of April, May, and June.
After a long conversation, the king ordered the arrears of pay to be made good, and continued as before, and they parted good friends. Peace was likewise made between the constable and the count de Dammartin,--and the king, on his going away, freely pardoned the constable, who promised and swore never to commit any more faults, but to serve him henceforward faithfully against all, without any exception whatever.
During this period, the king passed some time at Senlis, Ermenonville, Pont St Maixence, and other places near. He went almost daily to the abbey de la Victoire, to adore the statue of the Virgin, which was there in great request,--and in honour to her, made the prior very rich gifts, in money, to the amount of ten thousand golden crowns. This year, from his singular love to his people, and his wish to avoid the shedding of human blood, he agreed to a truce with his adversary the duke of Burgundy for one year, to expire the first of April in the year 1475; although several embassies had come from the emperor of Germany, humbly to desire that he would not conclude any truce, for that he would reduce the duke by force of arms to sue for his mercy,--and that whatever conquests the emperor should make, he would give to the king, without his putting himself to the smallest cost. Notwithstanding these flattering proposals, the king assented to a truce with the duke of Burgundy, to the great displeasure of all his good and loyal subjects.
The Burgundians, nevertheless, and in contempt of the truce, at first committed many outrages on the king's territories and subjects, without making any reparation; and it was scandalous thus to see a vassal of the king injure, with impunity, the country and subjects of his sovereign lord.
In the beginning of July, the king returned to Paris, but only lay there one night. On the morrow, he went to the church of Nôtre Dame, and thence to the holy chapel in the palace. He dined in the apartments of master John de Ladriesche, president of the chamber of accounts, in the conciergerie of the palace; and about four in the afternoon he embarked in a boat at the point of the palace, and went to the tower of Nesle, where he mounted his horse and rode to Chartres, Amboise,--and thence to Nôtre Dame de Behuart, in Poitou.
In this year, the king sent a very large army, with franc-archers and others, and a considerable train of artillery to conquer the kingdom of Arragon. Prayers were offered up that God would give them grace to behave well, and return in health; for it was commonly said, that Arragon was the churchyard of Frenchmen.
Monday, the 18th day of July, the duke d'Alençon was brought before the court of Parliament,--when the chancellor, master Pierre d'Oriole, recapitulated his former crimes, and the sentence that had been passed upon him by the court held at Vendôme, under the late king Charles, (whose soul may God pardon!) and the grace the present king had shown him, not only by granting him his life, but his liberty and estates, for which favours he had shown the blackest ingratitude. The present accusations were then brought forward, when he was found guilty of high treason, and condemned by the chancellor to be beheaded at Paris, saving the good pleasure of the king to order otherwise; and all his effects, hereditary and acquired, were confiscated to the king's use.
The duke, having heard his sentence, was led back to his prison in the Louvre, under the guard of sir Denis Hesselin, sir James Hesselin his brother, sir John de Harclay, commander of the night-guard in Paris, and others appointed by the king for this purpose.
When this affair was finished, the king went toward Angers, and took possession of that town and all other places and lordships in Anjou belonging to the king of Sicily, for certain reasons moving him thereto; and the government and administration of them was given to master Guillaume de Cerisay, greffier civil in the court of parliament. The king then returned through Beauce to Chartres, and to Bois-de-Malesherbes, where he staid a long time, hunting stags, wild boars, and other beasts, of which he found such plenty that he was very fond of this part of his kingdom; although otherwise, it is but a poor country.
On the king's departure, he went to Pont de Chamois, the residence of the lord de Beaujeu, were he remained until the 6th of October, and thence went to Montereau-faut-Yonne. During his absence, the members of his grand council went daily to Pont de Chamois.
The duke of Burgundy had now declared war against the Germans, and had marched an army to lay siege to Nuys, a good town near Cologne, on the Rhine, where he and his army remained long. The king sent an embassy into Brittany, composed of the chancellor, Philip des Essars, and others, who on their return, brought with them sir Pierre de Morvilliers, formerly chancellor of France, who had attached himself to the late duke of Guienne, and on his death had sought an asylum in Brittany.
The Burgundians, notwithstanding the truce, took the city of Verdun, in Lorraine, of which the king was protector; and to recover it, he sent thither three hundred lances, and four thousand franc-archers, under the command of the lord de Craon, and others. The Burgundians took also by storm a town in the Nivernois called Molins en Gibers, whither, likewise, the king sent men at arms and artillery. The Burgundians, however, regardless of the truce, never failed, when any favourable opportunities offered, to oppress the subjects, towns, and countries of the king of France.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 48: Nuys,--a town in the department of the Roer, in the present divisions of France.]
[Footnote 49: A village. The place of meeting was on a barricaded bridge, near to La Fere, three leagues from Noyon.]
CHAP. XVIII.
KING EDWARD SUMMONS THE KING OF FRANCE TO RESTORE TO HIM THE DUCHIES OF GUIENNE AND NORMANDY.--GOOD NEWS FROM THE FRENCH ARMY IN ARRAGON.--SOME ARRAGONIANS BEHEADED.--THE KING'S PHYSICIANS OPEN A MAN ALIVE, AND RECOVER HIM.--OF THE FEAST OF ST CHARLEMAGNE, KING OF FRANCE.--OF THE LOSSES OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY BEFORE NUYS, AND OF THE CONQUESTS GAINED OVER HIM IN PICARDY AND BURGUNDY.--SOME BARONS EXECUTED AT PARIS.--THE REDUCTION OF THE TOWN OF PERPIGNAN.
King Edward about this time, sent his heralds to the king of France, to summon him to restore the duchies of Guienne and Normandy, which he claimed as his property,--and in case of refusal, to declare war against him. The king gave his answer to these heralds, and sent by them, to king Edward, the handsomest courser in his stables; and he, moreover, sent him by Jean de Laslier, his harbinger, an ass, a wolf, and a wild boar, with which the heralds returned to their own country.
In November, the king came near to Paris, and was lodged at Ablon sur Seine, at Vincennes, Haubervilliers, and other places. He thence went to the house of master Dreux Budé, examiner to the court of chancery, called Bois-le-Comte, while the archbishop of Lyon, the lord de Beaujeu, and others of his court, were lodged at Mietry, in the Isle of France. The king, from Bois-le-Comte, went with the above-named lords to Château Thierry, where he made some stay. About the 12th of December, he came to Paris, for the feast of Christmas, and performed his devotions on that day in the church of Nôtre Dame.
Intelligence was brought to the king, on St Stephen's day, that the English were in great force at sea, and near to the coast of Normandy, at St Michel. He instantly ordered a body of archers, which he had just raised, and called The Dauphin's Guard, to mount their horses and hasten into Normandy.
Nearly at the same time, he heard from his army in Arragon, that they had taken a place near Perpignan, called Gonne, in which were several gentlemen, inhabitants of Perpignan, whom they would have put to death, had they not promised to cause the town of Perpignan to be surrendered to the king's arms within a certain time by them named. But as they failed in their promise, some of them were beheaded: in the number was one called Bernard de Douys. Soon after, an agreement was made between the king and the Arragonians, by which Roussillon was again restored to him.
In the month of January, some burgundian adventurers collected together, and made several inroads on France, even so far as Compiégne, plundering or killing all they met. They attempted to build themselves a place of security at Arson, near Roye, whither they had brought a number of pioneers. When the king heard of this, he sent orders for the garrisons of Amiens, Beauvais, and other places, to assemble with the company of the grand master, the cross-bows and archers of Paris, and to put themselves under the command of sir Robert d'Estouteville, provost of Paris, and destroy these Burgundians and their strong hold. But the Burgundians no sooner heard of these orders than they packed up their plunder, and ran away, like thieves as they were.
This same month, a franc-archer of Meudon was confined in the prisons of the Châtelet, in Paris, for divers robberies, and even sacrilege in the church of Meudon. He was condemned, for these crimes, to be hanged at Montfaucon,--but he appealed to the court of parliament, whither he was led for trial. That court dismissed his appeal, and confirmed the sentence of the provost of Paris, to whom he was remanded for execution; but the surgeons and physicians of Paris petitioned the king, that as a variety of persons were afflicted with the stone and other internal disorders, and that as this franc-archer had complaints similar to those of which the lord de Bouchage[50] now lay dangerously ill, it was requisite that the internal parts of a living man should be examined, and that no better subject could have offered than this franc-archer under sentence of death. The physicians and surgeons, in consequence of the king's permission, opened his body,--and having examined his bowels, replaced them, and sewed up the body. By the king's orders, every care was taken of him; and within fifteen days, he was perfectly cured, and was not only pardoned for his crimes but had a sum of money given to him.
On the 28th of January, the king, having a particular affection and reverence for the exalted and devout virtues of St Charlemagne, ordered, that henceforward his feast should on that day be celebrated, which was done in the city of Paris like unto a Sunday, and continued on every succeeding 28th of January.
The town of Nuys was revictualled by the Germans from Cologne, and other places under the obedience of the emperor, notwithstanding the duke of Burgundy had been so long before it, and had placed a considerable fleet on the Rhine to hinder any reinforcements, or stores, from entering the town. The duke's fleet was destroyed, and from six to seven thousand persons, that were on board of it, were killed or drowned. The Burgundians, before this, had suffered great losses in the army that was besieging Nuys.
In the month of March, the king ordered four hundred lances from the garrisons of Amiens, Beauvais, and other parts, to make an inroad on the territories of the duke of Burgundy, to retaliate the damages done by his partisans on the country round Roye, Peronne, and Mondidier, in contempt of the truce. The royalists, in consequence, invaded Artois, and advanced even to the suburbs of Arras, in which they lodged one whole night. By means of flails, and portable windmills, they thrashed and ground all the corn they could find in the barns throughout Artois and Picardy; which, together with great numbers of cattle, prisoners, and utensils, were carried off by Salazart and the other captains to Amiens, and their different garrisons.
During this, the king never stirred from Paris, but kept his Lent there, making good cheer, and, as he said, being healthy and well satisfied. In this month, a youth, son to a brigandine maker, who had been partly brought up by a fresh-water fisherman of Paris, named Jean Pensart, knowing that this fisherman had acquired a large sum of money by the sale of his fish during Lent, which he gained by purchasing from different lords the produce of the ponds by wholesale, and being instigated by the devil, entered the house of this fisherman, and seeing where he kept his money, opened the door of the house after midnight to three Scotsmen, in order that they might rob the said Pensart. One was called Mortimer, surnamed the Esquire, and the name of another was Thomas Clark. By the assistance of this youth, they carried off the money, amounting to two thousand five hundred livres tournois.
The fisherman made such diligence to recover his money that, on the same day the youth was found within sanctuary at the Carmelites in Paris. He was instantly dragged thence, and carried to the prisons of the Châtelet, for the weight of his irons prevented his walking,--and he there confessed that the Scotsmen had taken all the money. Great activity was used in seeking them; and Mortimer was seized, and would have been carried to prison, by orders of master Philip du Four, had not two of the scots guards attacked him and his sergeants, and effected the rescue of Mortimer. Thomas Clark was afterward discovered, having taken sanctuary in the church of St Catherine-du-Val-des-ėcoliers, and was made prisoner,--but not before he had courageously defended himself against the officers of the provost of Paris, having wounded several. At length he was over-powered, and confessed, at the prison, that he was guilty of this robbery,--and great part of the money was restored, which he had hidden near St Estienne des Gres.
For this and other offences, the provost condemned him to the gallows; but he appealed from this sentence to the parliament,--which appeal was dismissed, and he was sent back to the provost, who was ordered to execute his sentence, which was done on the 16th of March, on the gibbet of Paris, in the presence of sir Denis Hesselin and master Jean de Ruel, as commissioners for the lieutenant-criminal La Dehors, on account of a severe illness that prevented his personal attendance.
At this time, the town of Perpignan surrendered to the king's obedience; when the inhabitants were permitted to go whither they pleased with their effects,--but the artillery, which was very handsome and of great value, was detained.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 50: Bouchage. Imbert de Balarney, counsellor and chamberlain to Louis XI. and one of his greatest favourites.]
[A.D. 1475.]
CHAP. XIX.
AN ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY AND THE KING OF FRANCE.--AMBASSADORS FROM FLORENCE AND FROM THE EMPEROR.--PRUDENT ACTS OF THE KING.--A DEVOUT PROCESSION AT PARIS.--TRONQUOY, ROYE, MONDIDIER AND OTHER PLACES, ARE TAKEN FOR THE KING.--THE TREACHERY OF THE CONSTABLE.--A GREAT DEFEAT OF THE BURGUNDIANS AND LOMBARDS BY THE DUKE OF BOURBON, WHEN THE COUNT DE ROUSSY AND SEVERAL GREAT LORDS OF BURGUNDY ARE MADE PRISONERS.--THE MEN OF ARRAS SUFFER ANOTHER CONSIDERABLE DEFEAT BY THE KING'S ARMY.--THE DELIVERANCE OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE.--THE FLIGHT AND DECAMPMENT OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY FROM BEFORE NUYS.--A CONFERENCE AND TREATY OF ALLIANCE BETWEEN KING EDWARD OF ENGLAND AND THE FRENCH KING.--OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED AT PARIS DURING THE YEAR MCCCCLXXV.
On the 7th day of April, in this year, an alliance was concluded between the emperor of Germany and the king,--which he ordered to be proclaimed first in front of the hôtels of monsieur du Maine, duke of Calabria, and of the ambassadors from Brittany, and then throughout the streets and squares of Paris. There arrived at Paris, in the course of this month, two embassies; one from Florence, and the other from the emperor of Germany; which were most honourably received and feasted, as well by the king as by other great lords of his court.
Early in April, the king left Paris for Vernon-sur-Seine, where he had appointed the rendezvous for the admiral and his other captains, to determine on the manner of concluding the war that was about to take place, for the truce would expire the last day of April. He then returned to Paris on the 14th,--and on the 25th he departed for Pont St Maixence, to prepare his army. The king took with him, besides the officers of his household, eight hundred lances well equipped, and a large train of great and small artillery, in which were five very large bombards: four of them were named London, Brabant, Bourg-en-Bresse, and St Omer. In addition to the above, he had his french and scots guard, his gentlemen, and a great company of franc-archers from the Isle of France and Normandy. Provisions were sent from all parts, for the constant supply of the army.
On the first of May, the king departed from the abbey of La Victoire, whither he had gone from Pont St Maixence, to arrange the plan of his war against the Burgundians; and detachments were sent against Tronquoy[51] and Mondidier. On the 10th, the archbishop of Lyon joined the king from Paris, where he had been appointed the king's lieutenant in the council, and reported, that a very devout and general procession had taken place at Paris on the 3d, the feast of the holy Cross.
All the children in Paris walked in procession, each holding a taper in his hand to fetch the holy Innocent, and carry it to Nôtre Dame. The archbishop of Lyon and the chancellor walked beside each other, followed by the lord de Gaucourt, lieutenant for the king in Paris, the provosts and sheriffs, the presidents and counsellors of the parliament and chamber of accounts, and such numbers of the populace that they were estimated at more than one hundred thousand persons. The holy Innocent was borne, in this procession, by the first president of the parliament, Nanterre president in the same court, Ladriesche president of the chamber of accounts, and by the provost of marchands. All the archers of the town were drawn out to preserve order, and prevent noise and rioting.
The 2d of May, the king sent to summon the town of Tronquoy to surrender,--but the Burgundians killed those who summoned them; upon which the king ordered the batteries to be opened,--and the artillery played with such success that, by five in the evening of the same day, a breach was made, and the town taken by storm. All within were killed or hanged except one, called Motin de Caulers, whom the king caused to be spared, and made him an assessor extraordinary at Paris. The place, however, was not taken without having made a strong defence, by which the governor of Pontoise, who was said to have been an excellent officer, and many of the king's troops were killed. The town was afterward destroyed and razed to the ground.
On the 3d, the royal army marched for Mondidier, because it had refused to surrender,--and on the 5th it was won by capitulation, on condition that the inhabitants might depart in safety, leaving their effects behind. This place was also destroyed. On the 6th, Roye surrendered,--and the Burgundians marched away with their baggage in safety. The castle of Moreul followed the example of Roye.
These victories caused such dismay that had the king marched his army further he would soon have reduced to his obedience all the towns of the duke of Burgundy, as well in Flanders as in Picardy, for every one fled before him. To interrupt the career of this grand army, the king received information from different quarters, and even from the lord constable, that it would be necessary for him to look to the defence of Normandy, for that the English were preparing to make a landing on that coast. The constable likewise wrote to him, that he might boldly advance to Normandy without paying any attention to Abbeville and Peronne, for that during his absence he would reduce these towns to his obedience. The king followed this advice, and went into Normandy, taking with him the lord admiral, five hundred lances, and the nobles and franc-archers: the rest of the troops were disbanded and sent to their homes. But when he arrived in Normandy he heard nothing of the English, although he went along the coast to Harfleur, Dieppe, Caudebec, and other places. During this excursion, nothing was done for the king, as was promised by the constable: on the contrary, his subjects on the borders suffered very much from his absence, by the inroads of the Burgundians.