Chapter XIX: Book THE EIGHTH (8)

On Innocents’ day, which was the 28th of December, the Duke of Bourbon, who came by the king’s order to put strong garrisons into his frontier-towns, and to cover his country, that the Burgundians might not penetrate into it, arrived at Paris, and with him the Marshal de Loheac, who, according to common report, was to be lieutenant of the city. The Duke of Bourbon made some stay at Paris; but the Marshal de Loheac set out two days after for Rouen, and several other towns in Normandy, to put them in a posture of defence, according to the king’s orders; where he stayed a considerable time. The Parisians were extremely civil to the Duke of Bourbon, and during his stay there he was caressed by several of the chief citizens, who made feasts and entertainments on purpose for him. In the mean time the city of Alençon, which was in the hands of the Bretons, was surrendered to the king by the Count du Perche, son to the Duke of Alençon, who commanded in the castle at the same time that the Bretons were masters of the town. All this time the king did not stir from Mans; and during his stay there, he sent the Pope’s legate, whom we have already mentioned, Anthony de Chabannes, Count de Dammartin, the Treasurer Ladrische, and several others, on an embassy to the Duke of Berry, to offer terms of accommodation; and at last the king consented to the calling the three Estates of the kingdom. Tours was the place appointed for their meeting, where, according to order, they were assembled on the first of April, 1467, upon which the king left Mans, and came to Montils near Tours, Amboise, and thereabouts.

As soon as the three Estates of the kingdom were assembled, the king came and acquainted them with the occasion of their meeting; and had, from time to time, several debates and conferences with them concerning the affair between him and his brother the Duke of Berry, till the time of their breaking up, which was on Easter Day, 1468. There were present at this assembly, the king, the King of Sicily, the Duke of Bourbon, the Count du Perche, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Cardinal of Angers, several other lords, barons, archbishops, bishops, abbots, and abundance of other persons of quality and condition, besides several ambassadors from all parts of France. And by this august assembly it was agreed and resolved (after a long and mature deliberation, in order to end the dispute between the king and his brother Charles concerning his appanage), that his majesty should allow him twelve thousand livres a-year in land, with the title of count or duke; and that he should be obliged to give and allow him besides, an annual pension in money of sixty thousand livres more, without any prejudice to the rest of his majesty’s children, who hereafter might come to the crown, and be required to give the same appanage. To which the king (being extremely desirous to live in perfect peace and union with his brother) at last consented, and willingly gave him the annual allowance of sixty thousand livres, seeing he generously relinquished the duchy of Normandy, saying it was not in the king’s power to dismember or give away any thing that belonged to the crown. And as for the Duke of Bretagne, who had sided with Lord Charles, and had taken several towns in Normandy, being suspected to hold a correspondence with the English, the ancient enemies of France, it was agreed by the said assembly, that he should be summoned to surrender the towns he was possessed of, and that, upon refusal, and the king’s having certain advice of his having made an alliance with the English, his majesty should immediately endeavour to recover them by force of arms, and the three Estates of the kingdom promised to stand by and support him; the clergy, with their prayers and estates; and the nobility, gentry, and commonalty, with their estates and persons. And, moreover, the king was extremely desirous that justice should be fairly and impartially administered through the whole kingdom; and therefore he proposed to this assembly the choosing some persons of honour and quality out of the three Estates, to regulate and take care of that matter; and the whole assembly were of opinion that nobody was so fit to be employed in that office as the Count de Charolois, who was a peer of France, and nearly allied to the crown. After this debate was over, the king left Tours, and went to Amboise; and a little after he sent to the assembly, then sitting at Cambray, to know how they approved of the resolution that had been taken by the three Estates of the kingdom that were convened at Tours, as you have already heard.

After the king had despatched this affair, he went to Meaux, in Brie, where he ordered a certain person, born in Bourbonnois, to be beheaded for some crimes he had committed, and amongst the rest for discovering the king’s secrets to the English, the ancient enemies of France. Just before this, the king was graciously pleased to grant an act of grace and indemnity; and the Prince of Piedmont, the Duke of Savoy’s son, was sent to Paris with full power and authority to release all the prisoners out of jail.

About the same time, the Burgundians or the Bretons, who had invaded Normandy, surprised the Lord de Merville between St. Sauveur de Dive and Caen, and made him deliver up his castle into their hands, in which there was a small number of Frank archers. As soon as they had surrendered it, they hanged the Lord de Merville, plundered the castle, and afterwards set fire to it. After this the king left Creil, and went to Compiegne, where he stayed some time, and then returned to Senlis, and from thence the Duke of Bourbon went to Paris, where he arrived on the Assumption of Our Lady. Some time before this, the king had sent M. de Lyon, the Constable of France, and several other lords, on an embassy to the Duke of Burgundy, to endeavour to adjust the difference between them, without coming to an open war, notwithstanding he had already sent an army into Normandy under the command of the Admiral of France, who had been so successful as in a month’s time to drive the Bretons out of Bayeux. On Saturday, the 20th of August, 1468, M. Charles de Melun, Lord of Normanville (who had formerly been steward of the king’s household), was brought out of the castle of Gaillart, where he had been newly committed prisoner, under the command of the Count de Dammartin, and publicly beheaded in the market-place of Andely, according to the sentence that had been pronounced against him by the provost-marshal. After this, the king staid some time at Noyon, Compiegne, Chavay, and other places thereabouts, till the 15th of September, where he received the agreeable news of the Duke of Bretagne and his brother Charles’s readiness to consent to the terms of accommodation that his majesty had proposed to them, and that his brother Charles was ready to accept of his annual pension of sixty thousand livres tournois, till his appanage could be fully settled by the Duke of Calabria and the Constable of France, who were the persons he had chosen to settle and manage that affair. The Duke of Bretagne, on his part, offered to surrender all the towns he had taken from the king in Normandy, provided his majesty would restore all those that his troops were in possession of in Bretagne, to which the king readily consented.

The king immediately sent an express to the Duke of Burgundy, who lay encamped between Esclusiers and Cappy, to acquaint him with this accommodation, but he would give no credit to it till it was farther confirmed by certain advices from the Duke of Bretagne and Lord Charles; however, he would not retire with his army, but still continued in the same post between Esclusiers and Cappy, behind the river Somme. During his encampment there, several persons of quality were deputed to wait on the Duke of Burgundy, amongst whom were the Constable of France, the Cardinal of Angers, and M. Peter Doriolle, in hopes of accommodating matters amicably between him and the king, which his majesty was extremely desirous of; but the officers of his army were of another mind, and begged the king that he would give them leave to attack the Duke of Burgundy in his camp, not questioning but that they should defeat him, and oblige him to accept of what terms his majesty should propose; but the king would not hear of it, and upon pain of death forbade them to attempt anything against him. And from that time to the 12th of October there was a great discourse of the king’s having made a truce with the Duke of Burgundy till the April following; and upon the hopes of that truce the king resolved to return from Compiegne to Creil and Pontoise; wherefore he sent harbingers before to prepare his lodgings, but afterwards he altered his resolution, and went in great haste from Compiegne to Noyon, where he had been but a little time before. In the meantime Philip of Savoy, Poncet de Rivière, the Lord du Lau, and several others that were confederate with them, did abundance of mischief. And on Saturday, the 8th of October, a proclamation was issued out, commanding all the nobility and gentry within the precincts of Paris, that held any lands or tenures by homage or fealty of the crown, to be ready in arms at Gonesse, and to march from thence, on the Monday following, wherever they should be commanded; at which several persons at Paris were astonished, believing, by this preparation, that no truce had been made. After this, the king left Noyon, and the Duke of Burgundy set out from the army for Peronne, whither the king, attended only by the Duke of Bourbon, the Cardinal of Angers, and a few of the officers of his household, went immediately to pay the Duke of Burgundy a visit, who received him with all the respect and honour imaginable, as in duty he was obliged to do; and after a long conference together, the difference that was between them was amicably adjusted. The Duke of Burgundy, on his part, swore homage to the king, and vowed never to attempt anything against his majesty for the future; and the king confirmed and ratified the treaty of Arras, and several other things; upon which a courier was immediately despatched to acquaint the nobility, gentry, and commonalty with the news of this accommodation, and to order the Bishop of Paris to cause a general procession to be made, and _Te Deum_ to be sung in the church of Notre Dame, which was accordingly performed; and the night concluded with bonfires, fountains running with wine, and the usual solemnities on such occasions. In the meantime news came that the Liegeois had taken and killed their bishop and all his officers; at which the king, the Duke of Burgundy, and the Duke of Bourbon, were extremely concerned, and there was great talk that the king and the Duke of Burgundy would go in person to destroy the Liegeois, and ruin their country, to be revenged on them for their late barbarous action of murdering their bishop. But, immediately, the news of the bishop’s death was contradicted; however, the Liegeois obliged him to say mass, and afterwards humbly submitted to him, and acknowledged him for their sovereign lord, being willing to put an end to those calamities and misfortunes they had already brought upon themselves.

About this time the king went to Halle, in Germany, where he made but a short stay; during which, at the Duke of Burgundy’s intercession, he pardoned Philip of Savoy and the rest of his confederates, and received them into his favour again. From Halle his majesty went to Namur to visit the Duke of Burgundy, whom he resolved to accompany to the siege of Liege, and had his quarters assigned him in the suburbs of that city during the whole siege, which lasted some time, and he was attended by the Duke of Bourbon, M. de Lyon, M. de Beaujeu, and the Bishop of Liege, who were all brothers. It seems the Bishop of Liege was sent out of the town to wait on the Duke of Burgundy, in order to make terms of capitulation with him in behalf of the Liegeois, who offered to surrender the town and all that was in it, provided he would spare the lives of the inhabitants; but he would not grant them those conditions, vowing to sacrifice his whole army rather than not force them to surrender at discretion, and he ordered the Bishop of Liege to be detained, notwithstanding he told him he had solemnly promised the Liegeois to return into the city, and live and die with them, if he could not obtain any honourable conditions for them. As soon as the Liegeois were informed that the Duke of Burgundy had detained their bishop against his will, they made several sallies upon the Burgundians and the king’s forces, and all they took prisoners they put to death. However, notwithstanding all this, on Sunday, the 30th of October, the Duke of Burgundy ordered his men to prepare for storming the town, which was done the same day, and after little or no resistance the king, the Dukes of Burgundy and Bourbon, with the Lords de Lyon, de Liege, and de Beaujeu, entered it, out of which the greatest part of the inhabitants that were in health had retired just before the last attack, leaving only a few old men, women, children, priests, and nuns, whose throats were all cut by the soldiers, who committed a thousand other barbarous and inhuman actions, such as ravishing the women, and killing them afterwards, defiling of nuns even in the very churches, and murdering the priests while they were consecrating the host at the altar. And not being satisfied with this scene of blood and horror, they plundered the town, set fire to it, and demolished the walls.

After this action was over, the king returned to Senlis and Compiegne, where he ordered the court of parliament, the exchequer treasurers, and the rest of the civil officers of his kingdom to attend him, and upon their arrival he made several laws and ordinances; and having no design of staying there long, he ordered the Cardinal of Angers to acquaint them with the terms of accommodation between him and the Duke of Burgundy, which were specified and contained in forty-two articles, which were openly read to them by the said Cardinal, who told them that it was the king’s royal will and pleasure that these articles of peace should immediately be ratified and confirmed in parliament under such penalties as he declared to them. The king, having despatched this affair, drew nearer to Paris, but would not enter the city; however, the Duke of Bourbon, M. de Lyon, M. de Beaujeu, the Marquis du Pont, and several other great lords, came and staid there some time.

On Saturday, the 19th of November, the peace between the king and the Duke of Burgundy was proclaimed by sound of trumpet in all the public streets in Paris. At the same time there was another proclamation issued out by the king’s order, commanding everybody for the future not to speak against or reflect upon the Duke of Burgundy, either by speeches, signs, pictures, libels, or scandalous verses, under very severe penalties, which were explained and specified in the said edict.

In February the Duke of Burgundy’s ambassadors arrived at Paris, to hasten the signing the articles of peace that had been concluded between the king and him, upon which the king wrote expressly to the mayor and the rest of the civil magistrates of Paris to treat and entertain them handsomely; and his majesty’s orders were punctually obeyed, and the ambassadors were nobly entertained and feasted. In the meantime the articles of peace we have already mentioned were registered in all the courts of Paris.

In April 1469, M. John Balue, Cardinal of Angers (on whom the king had in a short time conferred vast riches and honours, doing more for him than for any prince of the blood, and whom the Pope, by his majesty’s recommendation, had advanced to a cardinal’s hat), most shamefully betrayed the confidence the king had reposed in him; and having neither God in his thoughts, nor the honour nor interest of the kingdom before his eyes, basely betrayed his majesty into the Duke of Burgundy’s hands at Peronne, where he advised him to that ignominious peace which was there concluded between them, and then persuaded him to accompany the Duke of Burgundy to the siege of Liege, who had taken up arms against him purely upon the king’s account; so that, in short, his majesty’s going thither was the chief occasion of the ruin and desolation of the poor Liegeois. But to aggravate the matter, the king, the Duke of Bourbon, and the rest of the nobility that attended his majesty, were very near being all killed or taken, which would have been the greatest blow the kingdom of France had ever received since its first establishment. The Cardinal, not being contented with this piece of villany, immediately contrived how to do a greater; and therefore, upon the king’s return to Paris, in his way to Tours, he used his utmost endeavours to induce his majesty to fall out with his good citizens of Paris, who had hitherto expressed so much zeal and loyalty for his person. After this he employed all his cunning arts and stratagems to foment and inflame the difference that was between the king and his brother Charles. But finding himself disappointed there, and having certain advice that all matters were amicably adjusted in the late journey the king made to Tours and Angers, and that they were perfectly reconciled to each other, he tried to raise jealousy and misunderstanding between the king and the rest of the nobility, as he had formerly done. And, in order to create as much trouble and confusion as he possibly could in the kingdom, he despatched a certain emissary of his with letters to the Duke of Burgundy, to acquaint him that the peace or agreement that was lately concluded between the king and his brother Charles was directly contrary to his interest and advantage, and made on purpose to turn their arms jointly against him, wherefore he advised him to stand upon his guard, and immediately take the field, to prevent their designs. Several other arguments he made use of to induce the Duke of Burgundy to invade the kingdom of France with a powerful army; but by good fortune his letters were seized and carried to the king, who, upon the discovery of his treacherous designs, immediately ordered him to be sent prisoner to Montbason, where he was committed to the charge and custody of M. de Torcy and several other officers. After this, the king seized upon all his goods, lands, and chattels, of which he ordered an inventory to be made, and also appointed M. Tanneguy du Chastel governor of Roussillon, M. William Cousinot, M. de Torcy, and M. Peter Doriolle as commissioners to examine him. The king some time afterwards disposed of the Cardinal’s goods as his majesty thought fit; his set of plate was sold, and the money carried into the treasury for the king’s use; the fine hangings of his palace were given to the governor of Roussillon; his library to M. Peter Doriolle; a fine piece of cloth of gold, valued at one thousand two hundred crowns, with a great quantity of sables, and a large piece of scarlet embroidered with gold, was given to M. de Crussol; and his robes, with a little more of his furniture, were sold to pay the clerks and other officers that were employed to take the inventory.

In the meantime the King and Queen of Sicily came to pay a visit to the king at Tours and Amboise, and were nobly and kindly entertained by his majesty. After which, attended by the Duke of Bourbon and several other lords of his kingdom, he made a tour to Niort, Rochelle, and several other places in that neighbourhood, where he met his brother the Duke of Guienne, and, by the grace of God and the assistance of the blessed Virgin, a firm union and friendship was settled between them, to the great joy and satisfaction of the kingdom; upon which _Te Deum_ was ordered to be sung in the church of Notre Dame in Paris, and bonfires and rejoicings were made in all the cities and towns in France, and after that the king came back to Amboise, where he had left the queen, who had been very instrumental in his late reconciliation. Some time afterwards the king resolved in council to attempt the reduction of the earldom of Armagnac, and if the enterprise succeeded, promised to give it to his brother the Duke of Guienne; and in order to reduce it to his obedience, he sent a considerable body of forces with some cannon, which were to be followed, in case of need, by the whole army. After the king had finished his preparations for this expedition, he went to Orleans, where he stayed five or six days, and then returned to Amboise again.

On Saturday, the 4th of November 1469, was published, by sound of trumpet in all the streets of Paris, the league, offensive and defensive, that had been lately concluded between France and Spain, in the presence of both the criminal and civil lieutenants of that city, and the greatest part of the examiners of the Chastellet. And from that time the king, the Duke of Bourbon, and the rest of the nobility that attended on his majesty, stayed at Amboise and in that neighbourhood till Saturday the 23rd of December, upon which day the Duke of Guienne, attended by all the nobility of his duchy, came to wait on the king at his Chateau de Montils, near Tours, where his majesty was extremely glad to see him. And as soon as the queen was informed of the Duke of Guienne’s being there, her majesty immediately left Amboise; and being attended by the Duchess of Bourbon, her maids of honour, and several other ladies of the court, came to pay him a visit, and to feast and entertain him. In the meantime the country of Armagnac was delivered up into the king’s hands without any manner of bloodshed, and the king, queen, Duke of Guienne, and Duchess of Bourbon, spent their time at the Chateau de Montils in feastings and diversions till Christmas. And after the Duke of Guienne had taken his leave of the king and queen and the whole court, and was set out for his dukedom, the king went back to Rochelle, St. Jean d’Angele, and other neighbouring countries, where he called an assembly of the three Estates of the kingdom to consult about some important affair, and to appoint new officers in the duchy of Guienne, who might fairly and impartially administer justice to his subjects. And after the king had settled that affair, he returned to Amboise, where he stayed some time, during which he sent his ambassadors to the Duke of Bretagne with the order of St. Michael, which he had lately instituted, as he had done to several other lords of his kingdom; but the Duke of Bretagne at first refused the honour his majesty designed him, and would not wear it, pretending he could not take the oath belonging to that order, as he had already accepted of that of the Golden Fleece from the Duke of Burgundy, and was become his friend and confederate in arms; at which the king, being highly incensed, and not without cause, immediately ordered a considerable body of his men-at-arms and archers, with some cannon and field-pieces, to be ready to march into Bretagne, and lay the country under contribution; but before those forces were ordered to march, the king gave the Duke of Bretagne ten days’ time to consider of it, and to acquaint his majesty with his resolutions.

On Wednesday, the 13th of February, 1470, was published in all the public streets of Paris the king’s mandate, by which his majesty acquainted the mayor of Paris that he had received certain advice from England that King Edward IV., and the nobility, gentry, and commonalty, with whom that king had been at war for some time, were reconciled to each other, and that they had unanimously agreed in Parliament to invade the kingdom of France with a powerful army; wherefore the king (in order to oppose and prevent their designs) had commanded the ban and the arriere-ban to be raised, and ordered the mayor of Paris forthwith to summon all nobles and not nobles, all the privileged persons and not privileged persons, within the precincts of that city, holding any lands by homage or fealty of the crown, to be ready in arms on the first of March following, on pain of imprisonment and confiscation of goods. By the same letters patent, the mayor of Paris and all other officers belonging to the king were forbidden, under the same severe penalties, to admit of any excuse or certificate from any persons whatsoever holding lands or tenures by homage or fealty of the crown; and that whosoever should refuse to obey the summons should be looked upon as enemies to the king and government, and be punished as rebels and traitors to their country. On the same day news was brought to Paris that the Duke of Burgundy had been seen in Ghent with a red cross and garter upon one of his legs, which was the order of Edward IV., King of England; upon which the Duke of Burgundy was immediately declared an enemy to the kingdom, and looked upon as an Englishman.

In May, 1470, the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence, with their ladies, who had been driven out of England by Edward IV., with a slender retinue, and some ships, landed at Honfleur and Harfleur in Normandy, where they were kindly received and entertained by the admiral of France, who lodged the Earl of Warwick, the Duke of Clarence, with their ladies, and some of the chief of their retinue, in his own palace, and took care to have their ships laid up safely in the harbours of Honfleur and Harfleur. A little after the ladies and their attendants removed to Valognes, where fine apartments were prepared for them.

As soon as the Duke of Burgundy had advice of the Earl of Warwick’s arrival in France, he immediately sent letters to the parliament to let them know he was informed that the king had favourably received and entertained the Earl of Warwick in some of his towns in Normandy, which was acting directly contrary to the treaty that was concluded at Peronne between his majesty and him; and humbly desired the court of parliament that they would make the king sensible of this infringement, and persuade him not to countenance the Earl of Warwick and his party, whom he had declared were enemies to the kingdom; otherwise he should be obliged to seize upon his person wherever he found him, though it was in the very heart of France; however, the Earl of Warwick stayed at Honfleur till the latter end of June. In the meantime the king drew his forces out of several garrisons, and ordered them to march into Normandy and Picardy, where they ruined and destroyed all the flat country thereabouts. In the meantime the king still kept about Tours, Amboise, Vendôme, and other places thereabouts, whither the Queen of England and her son the Prince of Wales, with several of the English nobility, came to wait upon the king; and after a long conference with his majesty, the English returned to Honfleur, Valognes, St. Lo, and other places in Normandy. During these affairs, the Duke of Burgundy ordered all the effects belonging to the merchants of France, that were in his dominions, to be seized, till some restitution was made to the merchants of his country, from whom the English had taken several ships.

On Saturday, the last of June, 1470, between two and three in the morning, the queen was brought to bed, at the castle of Amboise, of a prince, who was christened Charles by the Archbishop of Lyons; the Prince of Wales, son to the late King of England, Henry VI., standing godfather, and the Duchess of Bourbon godmother. The birth of this prince occasioned great joy at court, _Te Deum_ was ordered to be sung at Paris, and bonfires and rejoicings were made in all the cities and towns in France. And soon after this the King of Sicily, the Duke of Guienne, the Duke of Bourbon, the Lords de Lyon and Beaujeu, and several others, were sent to Angers, Saumur, and other places thereabouts, to endeavour to accommodate matters between the king and the Duke of Bretagne, where they stayed some time before they could settle the point; but, at last, the business was determined to the satisfaction of both of them; upon which the Duke of Bretagne sent his ambassadors to the Duke of Burgundy to deliver up the treaty of alliance that had been lately made between them; and when they informed him of the Duke of Bretagne’s reconciliation with the king, he seemed highly displeased and out of patience. In the meantime, while the Earl of Warwick (whom we mentioned before,) was making all the preparations imaginable in Normandy, to return to England, the Duke of Burgundy fitted out a great fleet, and having well victualled and manned it with English, Burgundians, Picardians, and seamen of other nations, he put to sea, and sailing round by the coast of Normandy, thought to fall in with the Earl of Warwick’s squadron near Havre, and fight them; but not finding them there, he dropped anchor, and waited in expectation of them, during which time the king left Amboise, and went a pilgrimage to Mount St. Michael; and after he had performed his devotions there, he returned by Orange, Granville, Coutances, Caen, Honfleur, and several other places on the coast of Normandy, where the Admiral of France put in to victual his fleet; on which the Earl of Warwick, the Duke of Clarence, and their whole retinue, went on board, together with a few archers and other soldiers that the king had ordered for the safety and defence of their persons. As soon as they were ready to set sail, the poor English, Burgundians, and Picardians, who had lain all this time in expectation of the Earl of Warwick’s squadron, and had spent all their provision, weighed anchor, and sailed home to their duke with hungry stomachs, without doing anything; at which his highness laughed heartily, though he had no reason for it, having spent a great deal of time and money to no purpose. No sooner was the Burgundian fleet out of sight, but the Earl of Warwick, attended as you have already heard, set sail, and, the wind serving, in a little time arrived on the coast of England, and landed in the night at Dartmouth or Plymouth; and immediately upon his landing, he sent a party of his men ten miles up into the country, to seize upon a baron of the kingdom, who little dreamed of that descent, and was sleeping quietly in his bed; but they soon roused him, and giving him but just time to put on his clothes, hurried him away to the Earl of Warwick, who ordered him to be beheaded the next morning. After this he marched from Dartmouth to a neighbouring town, where he was well received, and where he had left his artillery and heavy baggage when he escaped to Normandy. He had scarce been landed three days, and put what forces he had with him into a little order, when sixty thousand men in arms, came, voluntarily to him, offering to venture their lives and fortunes in his service; whereupon he immediately took the field, and marched directly in search of King Edward, so that it was above a fortnight from the day of his landing before we could hear any news of him in France. And then the king received certain advice that the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence were in full march with a powerful army in search of King Edward, and that their affairs were in such a prosperous condition that all the nobility, gentry, clergy, and commonalty of England (but especially the people of London) had forsaken King Edward, and were come in to the Earl of Warwick, who had delivered King Henry VI. out of the Tower, where he had been long a prisoner, and reinstated him in the possession of his kingdom. Upon which the Earl of Warwick was made governor and protector of England under Henry VI., and immediately marched into the city of London, where the citizens feasted and entertained him nobly. After which he released all the French prisoners that were in England, and sent them home without any ransom, but seized upon all the effects belonging to the Duke of Burgundy’s subjects. At last King Edward, finding himself abandoned and forsaken by all his subjects, left his queen in England, and went over to his brother-in-law, the Duke of Burgundy, with a very slender retinue, to solicit troops and money to recover his kingdom.

After this the king wrote letters to Paris to acquaint them that the Queen of England, wife to Henry VI., the Prince of Wales and his princess, daughter to the Earl of Warwick, the Countess of Warwick her mother, the Lady Wiltshire, and several other ladies of the English court, were coming to Paris, attended by the Counts D’Eu, De Vendôme, De Dunois, Monsieur De Chastillon, and several other noblemen and persons of quality; and that it was his Majesty’s command that the bishop, university, court of parliament, and the mayor and aldermen of Paris, in their robes and formalities, should go out and meet them, and compliment the Queen of England in his name.

Soon after this the Queen, the Duchess of Bourbon, the maids of honour, and several other ladies of the court, came along with his majesty to Paris, where they all stayed till the 26th, and then his majesty set out from thence for Senlis, Compiegne, and the neighbourhood of those places where the greatest part of his army that was to act against the Duke of Burgundy lay.

He ordered a large train of artillery to be brought from Compiegne, Noyon, and elsewhere, both by sea and land, into Picardy and Flanders; and published a proclamation by sound of trumpet in Paris, commanding all the nobility and Frank archers of the Isle of France to be ready in arms to follow him, and join the rest of the army. During this time great preparations were making at Paris, and a great quantity of cannon, ammunition, and provision were getting ready for the army.

About this time all the handicraftsmen in Paris, such as masons, carpenters, joiners, and the like, were pressed by the king’s orders; not excepting those belonging to the towns and cities that had lately surrendered to his majesty. The command of this body of workmen was given to M. Henry de la Cloche, the king’s attorney in the Chastellet at Paris, who was a loyal subject, and was to lead them to the town of Roye, where they were to be employed in repairing the old fortifications, and in making new ones; and when they had finished their work there, they were employed in doing the same in other towns that had lately submitted to the king, which took up a great deal of time, and kept them employed till Easter Day, at which time the king made a truce for a little while with the Duke of Burgundy, who was closely besieged in his camp between Bapaume and the city of Amiens by the king’s army, and was reduced to so miserable a condition that had it not been for the truce, both he and his whole army must certainly have perished, or surrendered themselves prisoners at discretion. Since the beginning of the war, to the day the truce was agreed on, the king’s army defeated the Burgundians and the Picardians in several smart engagements, and took a considerable booty from them in the duchy of Burgundy, not to mention their incursions into the countries of Charolois and Maconnois, where they enriched themselves by the plunder they got, and took a vast number of prisoners, amongst whom were several persons of quality, who paid handsomely for their enlargement, besides a greater number killed in several actions that happened between them. Some persons of quality on the king’s side would have been prodigious gainers by this war, had not his majesty obliged them, upon the treaty, to deliver up all they had taken from the enemy; at which, abundance of the nobility that had a great respect for the king were highly displeased. During this cessation of arms, the king, the Duke of Guienne, and several other lords and men of quality went to Ham, and stayed there with the Constable of France, who was extremely proud of the honour his majesty did him. During the king’s abode at Ham, several ambassadors arrived from the Duke of Burgundy, and as many were sent by the king to the Duke of Burgundy’s camp; but notwithstanding all their embassies forward and backward, it was a long time before they came to any resolution. At last, a truce for one year only was agreed upon between the king and the Duke of Burgundy, and commissioners were chosen on both sides to accommodate the difference between them, and to terminate the dispute between the soldiers of each side. As soon as this affair was settled, every one retired to his own house, and the towns that had been taken before the treaty were garrisoned by the king’s soldiers.

About that time great quarrels and contests arose in England between Henry of Lancaster, King of England, the Prince of Wales his son, the Earl of Warwick, and the rest of the lords of the kingdom who were of King Henry’s side, against Edward de la Marche, who had usurped the crown from Henry. This civil war had occasioned already abundance of murder and bloodshed, and was not like to be at an end yet; for in June, 1471, the king received certain advice from England that Edward de la Marche, with a puissant army of English, Easterlings, Picardians, Flemings, and other nations that the Duke of Burgundy had sent him, had taken the field, and was going to oppose King Henry’s forces, which were commanded by the Earl of Warwick, the Prince of Wales, and several other lords of that party. In short, the battle was bravely fought, and a vast number of men were killed and wounded on both sides; but at last Edward de la Marche gained the victory, and King Henry’s army, partly by the treachery of the Duke of Clarence, and partly for want of conduct, was entirely defeated. The poor young Prince of Wales, who was a lovely youth, was barbarously murdered after the action was over; and the valiant Earl of Warwick, finding himself betrayed, and scorning to fly, rushed violently into the thickest of his enemies, and was killed upon the spot. Thus died this great man, who was so desirous of serving his king and country, and who had cost King Henry so much money to bring him over and fix him in his interest.

In July, 1471, died the Count d’Eu, a person of great wisdom, honour, and probity, heartily devoted to the interest of his country, and one that faithfully served the king to the utmost of his power. Upon his death the king took possession of the earldom of Eu, which he gave to the Constable of France, which was highly displeasing to his brother the Count de Nevers, who thought to have enjoyed that earldom, with the rest of his estate, after his brother’s decease, as being his right and lawful heir.

From this month of July to Christmas nothing of importance happened in the kingdom of France; several conferences, indeed, there were in the mean time between the commissioners chosen on both sides to adjust the difference and dispute that were between the king and the Duke of Burgundy, in order to settle a firm and lasting peace.

In the same year the Duke of Guienne, after his return from Amiens, began to grow a little dissatisfied with the king, and sent for the Count d’Armagnac, whom the king had banished the kingdom at the same time that he deprived him of his earldom. The count, immediately upon that summons, waited upon the Duke of Guienne, who gave him the greatest part of his earldom, against the king’s consent and positive commands to the contrary.

In May, the Duke of Calabria, nephew to the King of Sicily and Jerusalem, and to whom the king had offered his eldest daughter in marriage, left his duchy of Lorraine, and went in person to the Duke of Burgundy’s court, to treat of a marriage with his daughter, which was very strangely and unaccountably done by him (after the honour which the king, who was his sovereign lord, had designed him) to think of marrying the Duke of Burgundy’s daughter, who was only a subject and a vassal to the king. But before this the Duke of Burgundy had often made war in France in favour of the Duke of Guienne, pretending his design was to give him his daughter in marriage; but he never intended it, and did quite the contrary, deluding him, as he had done several other lords, with fair promises and hopes of that match.

On Thursday, the 14th of May, 1472, the king received certain advice from M. Malicorne, a great favourite of the Duke of Guienne, that his master was dead at Bordeaux. And immediately after M. de Craon, M. Peter Doriolle, general of the finances, M. Oliver le Roux, and the rest of the ambassadors that were sent to the Duke of Burgundy, returned, and gave the king an account of their negotiation, and the truce which was prolonged till the 15th of June following. However, the Duke of Burgundy, notwithstanding the truce, took the field with his army, and fortified his old post between Arras and Bapaume, in a place called Hubuterne, in Artois.

After this the Duke of Burgundy still continued to play his mad pranks, and went on in his old obstinate ways, as he had formerly done. On Tuesday, the 11th of June, 1472, he sent a great detachment of his forces to summon Nesle, in which there was one named Le Petit Picart, that commanded five hundred Frank archers of the Isle of France, who refused to obey his summons, and sent him word that he would defend the town and castle to the last extremity; upon which the Burgundians made several attacks, but were always repulsed by Captain Picart and his garrison. The next day, about five in the morning, the Countess of Nesle, attended by Captain Picart and the chief of the town, went out to wait on the Bastard of Burgundy, who commanded that detachment, in order to capitulate and make some honourable terms for the garrison. At last the Bastard of Burgundy agreed to spare their lives, provided they would immediately surrender the town, and march out, leaving their arms, horses, bag, and baggage behind, to which they were forced to submit. Upon their return they acquainted the garrison with what hard terms they must submit to; and accordingly Captain Picart, having drawn up his men in a body in the market-place, commanded them to dismount and lay down their arms, and imprudently delivered up the town to the Burgundians before the articles of capitulation were signed. No sooner were the Burgundians masters of the town but they immediately fell upon the garrison, who were naked and unarmed, and killed several of them, not sparing even those that fled to the churches for protection, without any manner of regard to the promise they had made them to spare their lives. Towards the latter end of this barbarous and inhuman action the Bastard of Burgundy entered the church on horseback, which swam in blood; and when he beheld the pavement all strewed with the dead bodies of these poor wretches, he said it was a glorious sight, and was pleased to find he had such good butchers in his company. Neither did his thirst of blood and vengeance cease here, for the next day he ordered the captain to be hanged, and the town to be set on fire. After this glorious expedition they marched the next day, which was Sunday, to Roye, in which there was a strong garrison, consisting of one thousand four hundred archers, commanded by Peter Aubert, bailiff of Melun and Nugon. Besides these forces, there were several volunteers and captains of the army, and amongst the rest Loisel de Balagny, governor of Beauvais, M. de Moüy, the Lord de Rubempré, and several others, who had with them about two hundred lances well armed and mounted. However, the king had just before caused the old fortifications of the town to be repaired, and new ones to be made, which had added considerable strength to the place, and had provided it with everything necessary for a long defence; yet they surrendered the town on the 16th of May, to the Burgundians, and marched shamefully out, leaving their cannon, horses, arms, bag and baggage behind them, after the king had been at the expense of one hundred thousand crowns of gold in erecting magazines, and putting it into a posture of defence. After the Duke of Burgundy had turned out the king’s garrison in this naked and miserable condition, he took possession of the town, and after some stay there he came before Beauvais, which he likewise summoned, and upon their refusing to surrender, he resolved to besiege it; and immediately upon his arrival, which was on Saturday the 27th of June, 1472, he commanded his soldiers to storm it on every side, but they were bravely repulsed by the inhabitants of the same place. The very same night William de Valce, the Seneschal of Normandy’s lieutenant, came to their relief with a reinforcement of two hundred lances, just as the Burgundians were going to make a vigorous attack, upon which they mounted the walls, and repulsed the Burgundians, who little expected so warm a reception. The next day, M. de Crussol, Joachim Rouault, Marshal of France, M. de Bueil, Guerin le Groing, M. de Torcy, and several other noblemen of Normandy, with a strong detachment, arrived there also, who behaved themselves handsomely during the whole siege, and gave signal marks of their courage and conduct. The Parisians were serviceable also to the besieged, and constantly supplied them with ammunition and provision; and during the siege several warm disputes and bloody actions happened between the Burgundians and the king’s troops, in which several of the former were killed and wounded.

On Thursday, the 2nd of July, the Lord de Rubempré arrived at Paris from Beauvais and brought letters from the governor of that place directed to M. Gaucourt, the king’s lieutenant in Paris, and to the mayor and aldermen, in which he acquainted them with the miserable condition that the Duke of Burgundy and his whole army were reduced to, that a halfpenny loaf was sold for threepence in their camp, that the Duke of Burgundy himself was grown desperate, and was resolved to have the town though with the loss and ruin of his whole army, and therefore begged of them that they would immediately send him some of their field-pieces, a body of their cross-bow men, and a supply of provision and ammunition, which were accordingly sent him under a guard of sixty cross-bow men of Paris, commanded by the bastard Rochechouart, Lord of Meru. And on Thursday, the 9th of July, about seven in the morning, the Duke of Burgundy began to batter the town wall over against the gate of the Hotel Dieu with all his great and small cannon; and having made a breach, ordered his men to fill up the ditch with fascines, timber, and hurdles, and to be ready with their scaling-ladders; which orders were instantly performed, and a party of Burgundians came with great boldness and resolution, and furiously attacked that part of the wall that was opposite to the Hotel Dieu, but they were warmly received and repulsed by M. Robert Destouteville, lord of Beyne and mayor of Paris, who was posted there with some of the king’s troops. This attack lasted from seven in the morning till eleven, during which action the Burgundians had fifteen or sixteen hundred men killed and wounded; and the number would have been greater, and their loss more considerable, had not all the gates facing the Burgundian army been so strongly barricadoed, that in the hurry and confusion of storming the town they could not get them open to make a sally and fall upon the enemy at the same time; at which all the noblemen and officers were extremely concerned, for if they could have come handsomely to have engaged them, they would certainly have made a terrible slaughter among them, for at that time the garrison consisted of fourteen or fifteen thousand men, commanded by the Count de Dammartin, Joachim Rouault, marshal of France, Sallazart, William de Valce, Mery de Coue, Guerin le Groing, the Lords de Beyne and Torcy, and several other experienced officers of note and quality. During the whole action the besieged lost but four men, and that through their own rashness, as the report goes; neither did the Burgundians, from their first investing the town to the 9th of July, kill any more than four soldiers with their cannon, notwithstanding their constant firing from their batteries. The next day after the attack, M. Denis Hesselin, mayor of Paris, sent another body of cross-bow men to Beauvais with arms, ammunition, provision, and some surgeons to dress and take care of the sick and wounded.

On Friday, the 10th of July, which was the next day after the attack, Sallazart, with a brigade of his own regiment, sallied out of Beauvais, and by break of day got into the Burgundian camp, where they killed all they met with, and burnt three fine tents with all that was in them, in one of which there were two men of quality killed, that offered a vast sum of money to save their lives. At last the whole camp took the alarm, and his soldiers shouting out, “A Sallazart, a Sallazart,” made the Burgundians immediately run to their arms, and in a moment’s time they were ready with a considerable body to oppose him; upon which Sallazart thought fit to retire, which he did in very good order, and brought with him to Beauvais two pieces of cannon, one of which was a fine brass cannon, named one of the twelve peers, that the king lost at the battle of Mont l’Hery, and the rest that they could not bring off, they flung into a ditch by the way. Sallazart was closely pursued, and received several wounds: his horse was also wounded in several places of the body; however he made a shift to carry him to Beauvais, where he dropt down dead immediately upon arriving there. From that sally to the 21st of July, no great action happened on either side.