council of war, left Estampes, where they had remained a few days, and
marched to St. Mathurin de Larchant and Moret in Gastinois[101], in which
two villages the Duke of Berry and his Bretons were quartered: but the
Count of Charolois and his men encamped in a large meadow on the banks
of the Seine, and had proclaimed in his army that every horseman should
bring a hook with him to fasten his horse; he also caused seven or eight
small boats to be brought upon carts, with several pipe-staves, in order
to lay a bridge over the Seine, there being no other way of passing it.
The Count of Dunois (who was unable to get on horseback by reason of
the gout) attended him in his litter, and had his colours carried after
him. When they came to the river, they placed the boats which they had
brought together, and got over into a little island in the midst of the
river, and some of our archers landed and attacked a party of horse on
the other side, who were posted there to secure that pass, under the
command of the Marshal Joachim and Sallezard[102]. They were posted in
a place very disadvantageous for their horse, for it was steep and
thick-set with vines; and the Burgundians had a fine train of artillery,
under the command of one Monsieur Gerault, a very famous engineer, who
had been previously on the king’s side, but was taken prisoner at the
battle of Montlhery. In short, the enemy were obliged to abandon their
post, and retire to Paris. The very same night, a bridge was laid quite
to the island, where the Count of Charolois immediately ordered his own
tent to be pitched, in which he lay that night, under a guard of fifty
men-at-arms of his household troops. At break of day, a large number of
coopers were set to work to make pipe-staves of clap-boards, which had
been brought over into the island; and before noon the bridge from the
island to the other side of the river being finished, the count passed
over it immediately, ordered his tents to be pitched (of which he had
abundance), and then passing over all his army and artillery, he encamped
with it on the brow of a hill towards the river, from whence his host
made a fine appearance to those who still remained behind.
The passing over of the count’s forces took up all that day; but the
next morning, by break of day, the Dukes of Berry and Bretagne advanced
with their army to the bridge, which they thought very speedily and
commodiously built; and having passed over it, they encamped also upon
the hill.[103] As soon as it grew dark, we began to perceive a number
of fires at as far a distance as we could well discern. Some were of
opinion that it was the king; but before midnight we were assured it was
John, Duke of Calabria[104] (only son of René, King of Sicily) with about
900 men-at-arms from the duchy and county of Burgundy. He had a good
body of horse, but of foot he had few or none. However, though their
number was small, I never saw a finer company, or men who seemed better
inured to the exercises of war. He had with him about six score men in
complete armour, Italians and others, brought up in the wars in Italy,
among whom were James Galiot[105], the Count of Campobache[106], the
Lord of Baudricourt[107] (now Governor of Burgundy), and several others.
These men-at-arms were all very dexterous and ready, and, to speak
impartially, the very flower of our army, at least compared with an equal
number of the others. He had also, besides these troops, 400 cross-bow
men (whom the Count Palatine[108] had furnished), all well mounted, and
brave soldiers, and with them 500 Swiss infantry, the first that were
ever seen in this kingdom, who behaved themselves with so much courage
and bravery in all the actions they were employed in, as have gained
reputation for all their countrymen that have succeeded them. The next
morning this gallant army drew nearer, and passed over our bridge; so
that one might venture to say, the whole power of France (except what was
with the king) passed over that bridge. This I can affirm, the number of
persons of quality and officers was so great, and the whole army was in
such complete order, and made such a fine appearance, that I could have
wished that both the friends and enemies of the kingdom had been there
to have seen us: for, by that means, the former would have had a just
value and esteem for the kingdom, and the latter would for ever after
have more dreaded its power. The chief of the Burgundian officers were
the Lord of Neufchastel, Marshal of Burgundy, with his brother the Lord
of Montagu, the Marquis of Rottelin, and a great number of knights and
squires, some of whom had been in Bourbonnois, as I said before; and, to
come to us with more security, all had joined with the Duke of Calabria,
who appeared to be a brave prince, and as great a commander as any in the
army, upon which account a great friendship arose between the Count of
Charolois and him.
When the whole army had passed (which, in my judgment, was little less
than 100,000 horse, one with another) the princes resolved to present
themselves before Paris, and joined all their vanguards together. The
Burgundian van was led by the Count of St. Paul; the Duke of Berry’s
and the Duke of Bretagne’s by Oudet de Rye[109], and (as I think) the
Marshal of Loheac: in this order they marched. The princes themselves
were all in the main battle; the Count of Charolois and the Duke of
Calabria rode up and down in full armour, and took abundance of pains to
keep their battalions in order, and showed great readiness to do their
duties; but the Dukes of Berry and Bretagne were at their ease, mounted
on little hackneys, armed only with very light brigandines, or, as some
said, with gilt nails sewn upon satin, that they might weigh the less;
but I cannot positively affirm this. In this order the whole army marched
to the bridge of Charenton, within two short leagues of Paris, where we
attacked and routed an inconsiderable body of frank-archers that were
posted on the bridge; after which the whole army marched over it, and
the Count of Charolois encamped (between that bridge and a house at
Conflans[110]) all along the river, enclosing a large compass of ground
with his waggons and train of artillery, and drawing his whole army into
it; and with him the Duke of Calabria took up his quarters. The Dukes of
Berry and Bretagne were posted with a strong party of their men at St.
Maur-des-Fossez; the rest of the army was sent to St. Denis, also about
two leagues from Paris, in which quarters the whole army lay for eleven
weeks, during which time those things occurred of which I shall speak
hereafter.
The next morning a little skirmishing began at the very gates of Paris;
in which place were the Lord of Nantoillet, High Steward of France (who,
as I have elsewhere observed, did good service to the king), and the
Marshal Joachim. The people were in a great consternation, but many of
the citizens seemed inclinable to admit the Burgundians and the other
lords into Paris; believing (in their judgments) that their enterprise
was for the benefit and advantage of the kingdom. There were others who
declared openly for the Burgundians, hoping, by advancing their interest,
to arrive at some good office or preferment, which, in that city, are
more coveted than in any other part of the world besides; for every man
makes his employment worth as much as he can, and not as much as he
ought; so that there are some offices, with no salary at all belonging
to them, which are sold for 800 crowns; and others, whose wages are very
small, are sold for more than the salary could amount to in fifteen
years; from whence it happens that seldom any man is put out of his
place, and the court of parliament maintains this privilege, and rightly;
but it interferes with almost all things else. Among the counsellors
there is always a great number of honest and able persons, as well as
some very ill-conditioned individuals; but it is so in all conditions of
society.
CH. VII.—A Digression concerning Salaries, Offices, and Ambition,
illustrated by the Example of the English.—1465.
I mention these offices and authorities, because they lead men to desire
changes and revolutions, and are thus the occasion of them; which
evidently appears, not only by what we have seen in our own days, but
also in the time of King Charles VI.[111], in whose reign the wars, which
lasted till the peace of Arras, began; during which wars, the English
had conquered so great a part of France, that at the time of that treaty
(which lasted two months) the Duke of Bedford[112], brother to Henry
V., King of England, and husband to the Duke of Burgundy’s sister, was
Regent of France for the English there, and resided at Paris, and had
20,000 crowns a month at least, to support the grandeur and dignity of
his office. At this treaty of Arras, the King of France sent four or five
dukes and counts, five or six prelates, and ten or twelve councillors
of parliament to take care of his interests. On the Duke of Burgundy’s
side there were more, and those very great persons; and no fewer from
the King of England[113]: besides two cardinals from the Pope[114], to
act as mediators. The Duke of Burgundy being desirous to acquit himself
handsomely towards the English before they parted, on account of the
old leagues and alliances which had been between them, offered the
duchies of Normandy and Guienne to the King of England, for himself and
his lords, upon condition that he would do homage for them to the King
of France, as his predecessors had done before him; and that he would
restore whatever else he held in that kingdom except the said duchies.
But the English absolutely refused to do any homage, and they suffered
extremely by it afterwards; for, being forsaken by the house of Burgundy,
they soon lost their time, and their influence in that kingdom daily
declined, and dwindled at last to nothing. Soon afterwards they lost
Paris, and by little and little all they were possessed of in France.
Upon their return into England not one of the English lords thought
of lessening his estate; and the whole revenue of the kingdom was not
sufficient to satisfy them all. Wars arose among them for command and
authority, which lasted a long time, and in which Henry VI. (who had been
crowned King of England and France at Paris) was declared a traitor and
imprisoned in the Tower of London[115], where he continued the greatest
part of his life, and was at last put to death. The Duke of York[116],
father of Edward IV., lately dead, proclaimed himself king[117], but in a
few days he was beaten and slain; and the heads of all that were killed
in the battle were cut off; and, among the slain, was the father[118] of
the late Earl of Warwick, who was so famous in England. This last Earl
of Warwick[119] conveyed the Earl of March (since called King Edward) to
Calais by sea, with some few forces which remained of that battle[120]:
the Earl of Warwick espoused the interest of the House of York, and the
Duke of Somerset[121] that of Lancaster; but the civil wars lasted so
long, that all those of the houses of Warwick and Somerset were either
slain in battle or lost their heads. King Edward caused his brother the
Duke of Clarence[122], to be drowned in a pipe of malmsey, charging him
with a design of endeavouring to dethrone him; but after King Edward’s
death, his second brother, the Duke of Gloucester[123], caused his two
sons to be murdered, declared his daughters to be illegitimate, and had
himself crowned king.
Immediately after this, the Earl of Richmond[124], the present king (who
had been many years a prisoner in Bretagne) returned into England, and
in a set battle defeated and slew this bloody King Richard, who had so
barbarously murdered his two nephews. Thus have there been slain in these
civil wars of England, within my remembrance, near fourscore persons of
the blood royal, some of whom I was acquainted with myself, and the rest
I have heard of, by the report of several English gentlemen that resided
at the Duke of Burgundy’s court, during the time of my being in his
service. So that it is not at Paris only, nor in France alone, that the
riches and honours of this world occasion quarrels and disputes. Yet all
monarchs and great princes ought to be very careful and circumspect, and
not permit any faction or party to spring up in their courts, for from
thence the fire spreads, and runs over the whole kingdom. However, I am
of opinion that all these revolutions happen by the divine permission
and appointment; for when kings and kingdoms have enjoyed a long series
of riches and prosperity, and forgotten the fountain from whence those
blessings and advantages proceed, God raises up enemies against them, of
whom they never had the least suspicion, which appears evidently by the
history of the kings mentioned in the Bible, and by the surprising events
that have happened of late years, and do daily happen, both in England,
Burgundy, and other places.
CH. VIII.—How King Louis entered Paris, whilst the Lords of France were
tampering with the Citizens.—1465.
I have dwelt too long upon this subject, and therefore it is now time to
return to my history.
As soon as the princes were arrived before Paris, they all began to
tamper with the citizens, promising them great places and rewards, and
everything that might any ways contribute towards advancing their design.
By that time we had lain three days before the town, there was held a
grand assembly in the Hotel de Ville of Paris, in which, after many and
long harangues, upon hearing the princes’ summons and propositions, which
(as was pretended) were for no other end than the good of the public;
it was unanimously resolved to send commissioners to them to treat of a
peace. Whereupon a great number of substantial citizens went to wait on
the princes at St. Maur; and Maître Guillaume Chartier[125] (a person of
great parts and eloquence, and at that time Bishop of Paris) was their
speaker; and the lords appointed the Count of Dunois to be theirs. The
Duke of Berry, the king’s brother, was president of the council, and
sat in a chair of state, and all the rest of the princes stood round
him: on one hand the Dukes of Bretagne and Calabria, and on the other
the Count of Charolois, completely armed (all but his head-piece and
gauntlets), with a very rich mantle thrown over his cuirass; for he
had come from Conflans, and the Bois-de-Vincennes had in it a strong
garrison for the king, so that it was necessary for him to come with a
strong guard. The request and object of the princes were to be admitted
into Paris, to hold friendly consultation with the citizens about
reformation of the government, of which they sadly complained, and
charged the king with numerous acts of injustice and mal-administration.
The answer of the citizens was full of respect and modesty, yet not
without some hesitation and demur. However, notwithstanding that, the
king was afterwards displeased with the bishop, and with all that went
with him. In this manner the commissioners returned, and great practices
and intrigues were still carried on; for every one of the princes had
a private conference with the citizens; and I believe it was secretly
agreed by some of them, that the lords in their own persons might enter
the town, and their army pass through it in small bodies at a time, if
they desired it. This admission of the princes would not only have been
the means of gaining the town, but of finishing the whole enterprise; for
the whole people would, for several reasons, have easily gone over, in
imitation of their example, to their side, and by consequence the whole
kingdom would have revolted. But God gave the king wise counsel, and he
executed it vigorously: being informed of all their secret practices and
cabals, before the commissioners, who had been to wait on the princes,
had made their report, the king arrived in Paris[126], in the condition
of a prince that came to relieve and animate his subjects; for he came
with a very great company, and brought above 2000 men-at-arms into the
city, all the nobility of Normandy, a great number of volunteers, his
household retainers, his pensioners, and other persons of quality that
were accustomed to attend so great a king upon such occasions. Thus
was the whole design quashed, and the minds of the people entirely
changed; so that not a man, how active soever he had been formerly for
us, durst now speak one word in our behalf. Some of the commissioners,
who had been with us, fared but very ill; some lost their places, and
others were banished; but the king used no farther cruelty or revenge;
for which I think he is highly to be commended, considering that, if
this intended design had succeeded, the best he could have expected had
been to have escaped out of the kingdom; for he has told me many times
since, that if the town had revolted, and refused to admit him, his
resolutions were to have retired, either to the Swiss, or to Francis,
Duke of Milan[127], whom he thought his great friend, and so indeed he
afterwards showed himself to be, by the supplies which he sent him, which
consisted of 500 men-at-arms, and 3000 foot, under the command of his
eldest son Galeas[128] (afterwards duke); who came as far as Forest, in
Auvergne, and made war upon the Duke of Bourbon; but, upon the death of
Duke Francis, they were recalled. His affection to the king appeared,
likewise, by the advice which he gave him at the treaty of Conflans[129],
which was to make a peace with the princes upon any terms whatsoever, in
order to break the confederacy, and separate their forces; but yet still
to keep his own army on foot.
As far as I can remember, we had scarce been three days before Paris,
when the king entered with his troops. Upon whose arrival the war began
very briskly, and they often fell upon us; especially upon our foragers,
whom we were forced to send under a strong guard on account of their
foraging at a great distance from our camp. But it must needs be owned,
that the city of Paris is admirably well placed in the Isle of France,
to be able to supply two such powerful hosts with provisions. As for our
part, we never found a scarcity of anything in the camp; neither did the
inhabitants that were in the town suffer any privation on our account.
Nothing grew dearer except bread, which was sold for only a penny more
than the usual price; and the reason was, because we had not blocked up
the rivers above it, which were three, the Marne, the Yonne, and the
Seine, besides several little rivers which fell into them. To say all in
a word, Paris is surrounded by the finest and the most plentiful country
I ever yet beheld, and it is almost incredible what vast quantities of
provisions are brought to it. Since that time, I have been there with
King Louis, for six months together, and never stirred, lodging in the
Tournelles, eating and sleeping with him very frequently; and besides,
since his death (much to my sorrow) I was a prisoner twenty months in
the Louvre, from whence I could see, out of my window, whatever came
out of Normandy up the River Seine; and on the other side there came in
incomparably much more, which I could never have believed, had I not been
an eye-witness of it.
The Parisians made frequent sallies every day, which occasioned warm
skirmishes on both sides. Our guards, consisting of fifty lances, were
posted near the Grange-aux-Merciers[130]; but our scouts went as near
the town as they could, and were often attacked and beaten back to our
main guard, sometimes retreating gravely step by step, sometimes at
full trot, with the enemy at their heels, who sometimes drove them to
our very waggons; upon which we used to send a fresh body of troops to
reinforce the beaten party, who very often repulsed the enemy, and drove
them back to the gates of Paris. And this happened daily and hourly,
for there were in the town more than 2500 men-at-arms, well armed and
in complete order, besides a great number of the nobility of Normandy,
and volunteers; whom the sight of the ladies of Paris, who were constant
spectators of their actions, inspired with an emulation of signalising
themselves. On our side we had a very great number of men, but not so
strong a body of horse as the enemy; for we had none but the Burgundian
cavalry, consisting of about 2000 lances, good and bad, who were not so
well disciplined as those in Paris, by reason of the long peace they had
had, as I said before.[131] Besides, 200 of these were with the Duke of
Calabria, at Laigny; but our infantry was numerous, and generally very
good. The Bretons were posted at St. Denis, and ravaged all the country
on that side Paris; the rest of the lords were dispersed, some here, some
there, for better convenience of their provision. At length the Duke of
Nemours, the Count of Armagnac, and the Lord of Albret, came to our camp,
but their forces were left at a good distance behind, because they had
no pay, and it would have starved our army if they had taken anything
without paying. To my knowledge the Count of Charolois gave them money
for their subsistence, to the amount of 5000 or 6000 francs; and it was
resolved that they should come no nearer us; for they were full 6000
horse, and did a marvellous amount of mischief in the country where they
lay.
CH. IX.—How the Count of Charolois and the King cannonaded each other
near Charenton; after which Action, the Count of Charolois laid a second
Bridge of Boats over the River Seine.—1465.
But to return to the army before Paris. It will not be doubted that
scarce a day passed without some loss or gain on both sides, but nothing
considerable on either. For the king would not suffer his forces to sally
out in great bodies, nor would he bring his affairs to the hazard of a
battle; his only desire being for peace, in order to break and divide
our forces as wisely as he could. However, one day early in the morning,
4000 of his frank-archers came and posted themselves along the bank of
the river, over against the Hotel de Conflans. The nobles of Normandy,
and some few of the household troops, were disposed in a village about a
quarter of a league off, with only a fair plain between them and their
infantry, and the River Seine between us and them. The king’s troops
began to throw up a trench over against Charenton, and made a bulwark
there of wood and of earth, all along the front of our army. This ditch
or trench was thrown up (as has been said already) before Conflans, with
the river between us and them, and upon that trench and bastion they
planted a great number of pieces of cannon, which played briskly upon the
Duke of Calabria’s quarters, and at the first firing drove his men out
of Charenton, and forced them to retire in great haste to our camp, with
the loss of some few horses and men. So the Duke of Calabria took up his
quarters in a little house, between the river and the place where the
Count of Charolois lay.
The enemy immediately began to cannonade our camp, which threw the whole
army into consternation; for, upon the first firing, they killed us
abundance of men, and two cannon shots coming through the room where
the Count of Charolois was sitting at dinner, killed a trumpeter on the
stairs, as he was bringing up a dish of meat.
After dinner, the count removed to the ground-floor, but resolved not
to decamp, and had it furnished as best he could. The next morning the
princes called a council of war, which was always held in the Count of
Charolois’ quarters, after which they always dined together. The Dukes
of Berry and Bretagne sat next the wall upon a bench, and the Count of
Charolois and the Duke of Calabria over against them, the count giving
all of them the preference as to matter of place; as indeed was but
right, as he was in his own quarters. Here they resolved to make use of
all the artillery in the army, of which both the Count of Charolois and
the Dukes of Bretagne and Calabria had a very fine and numerous train, in
order to dislodge the king’s troops and dismount his cannon. Accordingly,
we made great holes in the walls, which were along the river, behind the
Hotel de Conflans, and mounted all our best guns, except the bombards and
other large pieces which could not conveniently be drawn, and so were
left in a place where they might do more service; so that on the princes’
side we had many more than there were on the king’s. The trench which the
king’s forces had thrown up was of great length, and carried a great way
towards the city of Paris; yet still they were working at it, throwing up
the earth on the side next us, to shelter themselves from our cannon,
for they wrought still in the ditch, and none of them durst venture so
much as to put out their heads, for the place where they lay was in a
large meadow, as bare as a man’s hand.
I never heard such terrible cannonading for the short time it lasted,
for our design was to dislodge them by dint of cannon; and they daily
received from Paris fresh supplies, both of cannon and ammunition,
neither were they sparing of their powder or pains, but fired upon us
briskly day and night. Several of our soldiers dug pits before their
tents to cover themselves, others had them provided to their hands, their
quarters being in a great stone-quarry, so that all got some shelter or
other; and in this posture we passed three or four days; but the fright
was much greater on both sides than the loss, for no officer of any note
was killed.
When the princes found they could not dislodge the enemy, their failure
seemed to them not only dangerous and disgraceful to themselves, but also
likely to give fresh courage to the Parisians, who were already grown so
confident, that upon a single day’s truce the people flocked out in such
numbers to see us, that one would have thought there had been none left
in the town. It was therefore concluded in council, that a large bridge
of boats should be made, the ends to be coupled together, and the body of
them to be covered with planks, with great anchors behind, to fasten them
into the ground; upon which several flat-bottomed boats were brought down
the Seine in order that we might pass that river, and attack the king’s
forces.
Master Girault, an engineer, had the management and direction of this
affair, who was of opinion, that the trench which the enemy had thrown
up to defend themselves, would be of great advantage to the Burgundians
when once they had passed the river; for the king’s forces would find
themselves as it were under us in their trenches, and would not dare
to march out for fear of our cannon; which opinion greatly encouraged
and animated our soldiers, and made them impatient to begin the attack.
Thus the bridge was finished and made ready, all but the last two boats,
which were there ready to complete it, and all the other boats for
transportation brought together, and when it was ready, one of the king’s
heralds came to tell us we had broken the truce, which was made for that
day and the day before, and that he was come to see the meaning of these
preparations. By accident he met Monsieur de Bueil and some others on the
bridge, to whom he delivered his message. That night the truce ended.
Our bridge was so large that three of our men-at-arms, with their
lances in rest, might pass easily abreast; besides we had got six great
vessels, each of which would carry over a thousand men at a time, and
several smaller for the artillery, which we were to make use of in that
expedition. The draught of such troops as were to be employed in this
enterprise was already made; and the Count of St. Paul and the Lord
Haultbourdin were appointed to command them. Those who were of the party
began to prepare themselves about midnight, and before day all of them
were ready, some of them hearing mass till day appeared, or employing
themselves as good Christians ought to do, upon such an occasion. I was
that night in a great tent in the middle of our army, where the guard
was posted, and to speak truth, I was one of the guard (for nobody was
exempted), which was commanded by Monsieur de Chastel Guyon[132] (slain
afterwards at the battle of Granson). And as we stood there, expecting
when the attack would begin, on a sudden we heard those who were in the
French trenches, cry out as loud as they could, “Farewell, neighbours,
farewell;” and immediately they set fire to their tents, and drew off
their artillery. About day-break the detachment that was to make this
attack had already gained the banks of the river on the other side, at
least in part, and they could descry the French at a good distance,
retiring towards Paris; upon which all of our men disarmed, and were
extremely glad of their retreat. Without dispute the king had sent that
body of troops thither, only to disturb and cannonade us in our camp,
without the least intention of a battle; for, as I said before, it was
not his way to risk anything on a hazard, though otherwise his army
was strong enough to have engaged the united forces of all the princes
together: but his purpose, as he plainly showed, was still to make
peace, and divide the forces of the confederates, without being willing
to expose so important and valuable a concern, as the crown of the great
and obedient realm of France, to the uncertainty of a battle.
There was scarce a day passed, but some artifice or other was made use
of to bring over people from one side to the other; and several times
there were truces, and conferences between both parties in order to an
accommodation, which conferences were held at the Grange-aux-Merciers,
not far from our army. As commissioners from the king, there were the
Count of Maine and several others. For the princes, the Count of St.
Paul, and as many with him. The commissioners met often, but came to
no conclusion. Yet the cessation of arms was continued, and several
persons on both sides, who were acquainted, saw and conversed with one
another, but with a great ditch between them, as it were in the mid-way
between the two armies, which ditch, by the articles of the truce, no
person was to pass.[133] There was not a day passed but, by means of
these interviews, some ten or twelve would come over to us; and some
days as many of ours went away to them, for which reason that place was
afterwards called the Market, because of the bargains driven there. To
speak truth, such liberty of communication is, in my judgment, very
dangerous at such times, especially for that party which is most visibly
declining: for naturally most people are intent, if not upon their
advancement, at least upon their safety, which inclines them more easily
to the strongest side. There are some, indeed, who are above temptations
of this kind, but they are very few, and rarely to be met with. But if
ever such communications are dangerous, it is when a prince himself
makes it his business to oblige and cajole people; which is an excellent
qualification in a prince who knows how to do it well, and renders him
clear from that foolish vice and sin of pride and haughtiness, which all
persons abhor. For which reason, when any treaty of peace is on foot,
it is safest to commit it to the wisest and faithfulest persons about
the prince, and those of competent years; lest otherwise, their want of
experience betray them to some dishonourable compact, or they alarm their
master with groundless fears at their return. If it be possible, such
persons ought to be employed who have received honours or advantages from
their princes, rather than any others; but above all, they ought to be
men of great wisdom and experience, for nothing ever prospered that was
managed by a fool. This kind of treaties ought likewise to be managed at
a distance, and not near his camp; and when his plenipotentiaries return,
he ought to hear them alone, or in as little company as he can, that if
their news should be apt to dishearten the people, he may instruct and
dictate what account they shall give to such as are inquisitive; for
everybody is desirous to hear news from those that come from a treaty,
and many are so conceited as to boast, “Such an one will hide nothing
from me;” but if the plenipotentiaries be such as I have described, and
know their masters to be wise, they will discover nothing to any man.
CH. X.—A Digression concerning some of the Virtues and Vices of King
Louis XI.
The chief reason that has induced me to enter upon this subject, is
because I have seen many deceptions in this world, especially in servants
towards their masters; and I have always found that proud and stately
princes who will hear but few, are more liable to be imposed on than
those who are open and accessible: but of all the princes that I ever
knew, the wisest and most dexterous to extricate himself out of any
danger or difficulty in time of adversity, was our master King Louis XI.
He was the humblest in his conversation and habit, and the most painful
and indefatigable to win over any man to his side that he thought capable
of doing him either mischief or service: though he was often refused, he
would never give over a man that he wished to gain, but still pressed and
continued his insinuations, promising him largely, and presenting him
with such sums and honours as he knew would gratify his ambition; and
for such as he had discarded in time of peace and prosperity, he paid
dear (when he had occasion for them) to recover them again; but when he
had once reconciled them, he retained no enmity towards them for what
had passed, but employed them freely for the future. He was naturally
kind and indulgent to persons of mean estate, and hostile to all great
men who had no need of him. Never prince was so conversable, nor so
inquisitive as he, for his desire was to know everybody he could; and
indeed he knew all persons of any authority or worth in England, Spain,
Portugal, and Italy, in the territories of the Dukes of Burgundy and
Bretagne, and among his own subjects; and by those qualities he preserved
the crown upon his head, which was in much danger by the enemies he had
created to himself upon his accession to the throne. But above all, his
great bounty and liberality did him the greatest service: and yet, as he
behaved himself wisely in time of distress, so when he thought himself a
little out of danger, though it were but by a truce, he would disoblige
the servants and officers of his court by mean and petty ways, which were
little to his advantage; and as for peace, he could hardly endure the
thoughts of it. He spoke slightingly of most people, and rather before
their faces, than behind their backs, unless he was afraid of them, and
of that sort there were a great many, for he was naturally somewhat
timorous. When he had done himself any prejudice by his talk, or was
apprehensive he should do so, and wished to make amends, he would say to
the person whom he had disobliged, “I am sensible my tongue has done me
a great deal of mischief; but, on the other hand, it has sometimes done
me much good; however, it is but reason I should make some reparation
for the injury.” And he never used this kind of apologies to any person,
but he granted some favour to the person to whom he made it, and it was
always of considerable amount.
It is certainly a great blessing from God upon any prince to have
experienced adversity as well as prosperity, good as well as evil, and
especially if the good outweighs the evil, as it did in the king our
master. I am of opinion that the troubles he was involved in, in his
youth, when he fled from his father, and resided six years[134] together
with Philip Duke of Burgundy, were of great service to him; for there
he learned to be complaisant to such as he had occasion to use, which
was no slight advantage of adversity. As soon as he found himself a
powerful and crowned king, his mind was wholly bent upon revenge; but
he quickly found the inconvenience of this, repented by degrees of his
indiscretion, and made sufficient reparation for his folly and error, by
regaining those he had injured, as shall be related hereafter. Besides, I
am very confident that if his education had not been different from the
usual education of such nobles as I have seen in France, he could not so
easily have worked himself out of his troubles; for they are brought up
to nothing but to make themselves ridiculous, both in their clothes and
discourse; they have no knowledge of letters; no wise man is suffered to
come near them, to improve their understandings; they have governors who
manage their business, but they do nothing themselves: nay, there are
some nobles who, though they have an income of thirteen livres, will take
pride to bid you, “Go to my servants, and let them answer you;” thinking
by such speeches to imitate the state and grandeur of a prince; and I
have seen their servants take great advantage of them, giving them to
understand they were fools; and if afterwards they came to apply their
minds to business, and attempted to manage their own affairs, they began
so late, they could make nothing of it. And it is certain that all those
who have performed any great or memorable action, worthy to be recorded
in history, began always in their youth; and this is to be attributed to
the method of their education, or some particular blessing from God.
CH. XI.—How the Burgundians, being drawn up near Paris, and in
Expectation of a Battle, mistook high Thistles for a Body of Lances.—1465.
I have dwelt long upon this subject, but indeed it is of such a nature I
could not easily leave off when I would. However, to return to the war.
You have been informed how the forces that the king had entrenched along
the River Seine abandoned their post, and retreated to Paris, the very
hour we had designed to attack them. The truces never lasted above one
day, or two at the most; at other times the war was pushed on with all
possible vigour, the skirmishes continuing from morning to night; and
though they often beat our scouts home to our guards, yet they never
sallied out of Paris in any considerable body. I do not remember to have
seen one day pass without some small action or other; and I believe the
king would have been contented they should have been greater, but he
was suspicious of many persons, though without any cause: he told me
once, that he found the gate of the Bastille of St. Antoine, towards the
fields, open one night, which made him entertain a great suspicion of
Charles de Melun, whose father[135] was then governor of that place. I
shall say no more than I have done of the said Charles; but certainly
never prince had a better servant than he showed himself all that year.
It was one day resolved in Paris that they would sally out and venture a
battle with us (I believe it was only a design of the great officers, and
that the king was not privy to it). The project they had concerted, was
to attack us in three several places at once; in one with a considerable
body of forces that were to sally out of Paris; the other by the bridge
of Charenton (but that party could have done us no great mischief): and
the third, by a brigade of 200 men-at-arms from the wood of Vincennes.
About midnight we were informed of this design by a page, who called to
us over the river, by directions from some friends of the princes who
were in the town, whose names he told us, and immediately returned. Just
at break of day, the Lord Poncet de Rivière appeared before the bridge
of Charenton; and the Lord du Lau[136] on the other side, towards the
wood of Vincennes, charged up as far as our artillery, and killed one
of our cannoneers: the alarm was very great, and everybody concluded it
was the same design of which the page had given us notice in the night.
The Count of Charolois was immediately in arms, but not so soon as Duke
John of Calabria, who, in all alarms, was always the first mounted, his
horse barbed, and himself completely armed: he wore such a dress as the
condottieri usually do in Italy, and indeed he had the air of a prince
and a great general. Whenever he came forth upon any alarm, his first
course was to ride up to the barriers of our camp, to keep our men from
sallying out; and they obeyed his orders as readily as if the Count of
Charolois had been there himself, and, to speak truth, he deserved it.
In a moment our whole army was in arms, and drawn up within our waggons,
all except 200 horse, who were abroad upon the guard: and, unless it
were that day, I never knew any great likelihood of a battle, but then
everybody expected it. By this time the Dukes of Berry and Bretagne were
come in, whom before that time I never saw in arms: the Duke of Berry was
armed at all points, but neither of them had any great body of troops
with them, only they passed through the camp, and went to the Count of
Charolois and the Duke of Calabria, with whom they had a conference. Our
scouts, being reinforced, marched up as near Paris as they could, and
were able to discover several of the king’s party, who were sent out to
learn what was the matter in our army. When the Lord du Lau approached
us, our cannon played briskly upon him; and the king, having a large
train of artillery mounted on the walls of Paris, fired as briskly into
our camp, notwithstanding it was two good leagues off; but I suppose they
mounted their muzzles very high, and shot amongst us at random.
This prodigious cannonading made both sides believe some great design was
in agitation: and, to be sure, we sent out our scouts, and the weather
being cloudy and duskish, those who got nearest the town discovered a
party of horse upon the patrol, and beyond them (as they fancied) they
perceived a great number of lances standing upright, which they imagined
to be the king’s battalions drawn up in the field, and all the people
of Paris with them: which fancy proceeded merely from the darkness of
the day; upon which they retired immediately to the princes (who were
then riding before our camp), acquainted them with what they had seen,
and assured them of a battle. The Parisian scouts seeing ours retreat,
advanced continually upon them, which made their relation seem more
probable. The Duke of Calabria came then where the standard of the Count
of Charolois was pitched, and most of the officers of his household stood
ready to accompany it: his banner was ready to be displayed likewise,
and the guidon, with his arms, which was the custom of that family; and
being come up to us, Duke John said, “Well, gentlemen, we are now where
we desired to be; the king and all his army (as our scouts inform us)
are drawn out of Paris, and marching to engage us; so let each behave
with courage and good will, and as they march out, we will march in,
and measure out their commodities for them by the pike.” And after this
manner he rode from rank to rank, encouraging and animating the soldiers.
By this time our scouts, perceiving the enemy were weak, began to assume
a little more courage, ventured something nearer the town, but still
found the battalions in the same place and posture in which they had left
them, which put them into a new quandary: however, they stole up to them
as near as they could, but could make nothing of them; till at length the
day cleared, and they discovered them to be tall thistles. From thence
they marched up to the very gates, but found no troops posted there, of
which word was despatched to the princes, and they went immediately to
mass, and from thence to dinner. Those who brought the first news were
much out of countenance; but the page’s intelligence in the night, and
the duskishness of the day, did in some measure excuse them.
CH. XII.—How the King visited the Count of Charolois, and talked with
him concerning their Quarrel; and of the Importance of wise Councillors
to a Prince.—1465.
However, the treaty of peace between the king and the Count of Charolois
still went on, and with greater vigour than ever; because the principal
strength of both parties consisted in those two. The princes’ demands
ran very high: the Duke of Berry demanded all Normandy for his share,
which the king positively refused. The Count of Charolois would have all
the towns restored to him which were situated on the River Somme, and
had been delivered up by Duke Philip to the king, about three months
before[137], for 400,000 crowns; which towns had been surrendered to
him upon the treaty of Arras, in the time of Charles VII. These towns
were Amiens, Abbeville, St. Quentin, Peronne, and others. The Count of
Charolois pretended, that during his life they ought not to have been
ransomed, and put the king in mind of the great favours and obligations
he had received from their family; how he had been entertained and
protected by them for six years together, when he was in rebellion
against his father King Charles VII., supplied with money for his
subsistence, attended to Rheims to be inaugurated, and to Paris for his
coronation; wherefore the Count of Charolois took it very ill that he
should offer to redeem the said towns. However, the negotiation went on
so prosperously, that the king came one morning[138], by water, right
over against our camp, having drawn up a good body of horse upon the
bank of the river, but, in the boat with him there were not above four
or five persons besides the boatmen. Among those in the boat, were the
Lord du Lau, the Lord of Montauban (at that time Admiral of France), the
Lord of Nantouillet, and others. The Count of Charolois and the Count of
St. Paul were at the same time upon the bank of the river on our side,
awaiting his majesty. The king saluted the Count of Charolois in these
words,—“Brother [for his first wife was the king’s sister[139]], do you
assure me?” The count replied, “Yes, my lord, as a brother.” I heard
him, and so did many others. Then the king came on shore, and the lords
with him. The Count of Charolois and the Count of St. Paul received him
with great honour (as reason was they should), and he being not sparing,
began in this manner: “Brother, I know now you are a gentleman, and of
the family of France.” “Why so, my lord?” replied the Count of Charolois.
“Because (said the king) when I sent my ambassadors lately to Lisle, to
wait on my uncle your father, and yourself, and that fool Morvillier
talked so saucily to you, you sent me word, by the Archbishop of Narbonne
(who is a gentleman, and, indeed, he has shown himself so, for every
one is pleased with him) that before the year was at an end, I should
repent of what Morvillier had said to you. You have been as good as
your word, and much before your time was expired.” The king spoke these
words smilingly, and in a very pleasant manner, as knowing the humour of
the person to whom he spoke to be such, that he would be delighted with
an expression of that nature; and, indeed, he was wonderfully pleased
with it. Then the king proceeded, “It is with such persons that I would
deal, who are punctual to their promise;” and, afterwards, his majesty
disavowed whatever Morvillier had said, and denied that he had ever given
him any such commission. In short, the king walked a long time between
the two counts, the Count of Charolois’s guards standing by in great
numbers, under arms, and observing their motions. At this interview the
Count of Charolois demanded the duchy of Normandy, the towns situated
upon the Somme, and several other favours for his friends. Some proposals
were made likewise for the good of the commonwealth, but those were least
insisted upon, for the common was now turned into the private wealth. The
king would not consent to part with Normandy upon any terms; but, as for
the towns upon the Somme, his majesty was willing to gratify the Count
of Charolois with them, and, for his sake, to make the Count of St. Paul
Constable of France. After which they took their leave of each other
very kindly. The king went into his boat, and in that to Paris, and the
counts returned to Conflans.
After this manner the time was spent, one day in peace, and another
in war: but, though the negotiation between the commissioners, at the
Grange-aux-Merciers, was broken off, and absolutely discontinued, yet the
private transaction between the king and the Count of Charolois went on
still, and several persons passed daily between them notwithstanding the
war; among the rest there was one William Bische[140], and another called
Guillot Duisie[141], both of them servants to the Count of Charolois, and
both persons who had been obliged formerly to the king; for Duke Philip
having banished them[142], at the request of the Count of Charolois, the
king had entertained them. But these messages and correspondences were
not pleasing to everybody; the princes began to be jealous, and to grow
weary; and, had it not been for an accident, which happened a few days
after, they would all have marched shamefully home. I myself saw three
several councils held in one chamber, where they were all assembled;
and I saw one day, that the Count of Charolois was highly displeased
with it, for it was done twice in his presence, which was a thing not
fit to be done, to consult of anything when he was by in the chamber,
and not communicate it to him, as he had the greatest force in the
host: he complained of it to the Lord of Contay, who, being a person of
great wisdom and experience (as I said before), advised him to bear it
patiently for the present; for, if he should anger them, they would make
their peace better than he: and, as he was the strongest, so he persuaded
him to be the wisest, to prevent them from separating and breaking
the confederacy, to keep them together with all possible industry,
and smother his resentment, whatever he thought. However, he told him
that, indeed it raised the wonder of several people (and of some even
about his person) that such inconsiderable persons as those two before
mentioned, should be employed in managing so important an affair; and he
said that it could not but be very dangerous, in respect of the bounty
and liberality of the king. It is true the Lord of Contay hated Bische;
however, he said no more than what others had said before him; and I am
of opinion it was not his passion so much as the necessity of the matter,
that made him speak as he did; however, the Count of Charolois was well
pleased with his counsel, and applied himself to treat and be more merry
with the princes than formerly, and to converse more freely both with
them and their creatures, than he had been used; and, in my judgment,
there was a necessity for this, in respect of the great danger, lest they
should have forsaken him, and the whole confederacy have been dissolved.
In matters of this moment, a wise man is of great importance (but he must
be believed), and then he is not to be purchased at too dear a rate. But
I could never meet with any prince that would distinguish the difference
between men, till his necessity instructed him; and if he did, it was
to no purpose, for they generally distribute their authority to such as
are most agreeable to them, and suitable to their years, or complying
with their humours; and sometimes they are managed by such as are only
subservient to their pleasures. However, those princes who have any
understanding, do quickly recollect themselves when they are in distress,
and find their mistake; and so I observed our king did, as did also the
Count of Charolois at that time, Edward IV., King of England, and several
other princes; but these three especially I have seen in such exigence,
that they have been glad of those very persons whom before they had
despised. As for the Count of Charolois, when he was Duke of Burgundy,
and fortune had exalted him to a greater height of glory and honour than
ever any of his family had arrived at, and made him so great, that he
thought no prince in Christendom equal to him, God was pleased to put a
stop to his glory, and to infatuate him so, that, despising all counsel
but his own, he lost his own life unhappily, sacrificed the lives of many
thousands of his subjects, and brought his family to desolation, as is
now visible to all the world.
CH. XIII.—How Rouen was delivered into the hands of the Duke of Bourbon
to be kept for the Duke of Berry; and the Conclusion of the Treaty of
Conflans.—1465.
Having in the preceding chapters enlarged upon the dangers which occur
in treaties, and the necessity that princes should prudently, and with
circumspection, make choice of such persons as are fit to be employed
in the negotiation of such important affairs, especially if they have
the worst of the game; I shall now give an account of what it was that
induced me to insist upon them so long. Whilst these treaties were
managed by way of meetings and conferences, and liberty allowed to
converse freely one with another, instead of treating of a general peace,
it was proposed privately by some persons, that the duchy of Normandy
should be put into the hands of the king’s only brother, the Duke of
Berry, out of which he should take an equivalent for his patrimony, and
deliver up Berry to the king[143]; and so cunningly was this bargain
transacted, that the widow of the Grand Seneschal of Normandy[144], with
some of her relations and servants who were about her, received John,
Duke of Bourbon, into the Castle of Rouen[145], from whence he entered
into the town, and the town quickly consented to the change (being
desirous to have a prince who would keep his residence in that province),
and most of the towns and places in Normandy followed the example[146];
for the Normans have always thought, and do still think it reasonable,
that so great a duchy as theirs is, should have a duke constantly
resident among them; and, to speak truth, it is very considerable in
respect of the vast sums of money which are raised in it, for I myself
have known it pay 950,000 francs in one year, and some say more.
As soon as the town of Rouen had revolted, all the inhabitants swore to
the Duke of Bourbon to be true and faithful to the Duke of Berry; except
the bailiff named Houaste[147] (who had served the king as his valet de
chambre when he was in Flanders, and had been in great favour with him),
and one Monsieur William Piquart[148] (afterwards General of Normandy);
and also he that is at present Grand Seneschal of Normandy[149] would not
take the oath, but returned to the king, contrary to the persuasion of
his mother, who, as is said before, had the greatest hand in the revolt.
The king no sooner heard the news of the change which had taken place in
Normandy, but finding it was not in his power to remedy what was already
done, he resolved to conclude a peace, and immediately signified to the
Count of Charolois (who was then with his army) that he desired to have
a conference with him, and appointed an hour when he would meet him in
the fields near his camp, which was then about Conflans. Exactly at the
appointed time[150] the king marched out of Paris with about a hundred
horse, most of them his Scottish guards, and very few besides. The Count
of Charolois, attended but by a very few, went to the place without
further ceremony; yet so many followed after him, that by degrees their
number was much superior to the king’s; but the count caused them to
keep at a distance, while the king and he walked alone together a while.
The king told him the peace was concluded, and gave him an account of
what had happened at Rouen (of which the count was utterly ignorant till
then) adding, that by his good-will he would never have given his brother
so large a portion: but since the Normans of themselves had made that
change, he was contented, and would sign the treaty[151] in the same form
as had been insisted upon several days before; and there were few other
things to grant. The Count of Charolois was extremely pleased to hear
it, for his army was in great want of provisions, but more so of money;
and had not this unexpected accident happened, all the princes would
have been forced to break up, and march away with dishonour. However,
either that day or not many days after[152], the Count of Charolois was
reinforced by a supply sent by his father, Philip, Duke of Burgundy,
consisting of sixscore men-at-arms, 1500 archers, and 120,000 crowns
upon ten sumpter horses, under the command of the Lord de Saveuses[153];
besides a great quantity of bows and arrows; which recruited the
Burgundian army pretty well, they being fearful before, that the other
princes would have patched up a peace, and deserted them.
This discourse of peace was so pleasing both to the king and the Count
of Charolois, that (as I have heard him say since), as they were talking
friendly together how the remaining difficulties might be adjusted (not
regarding their way), they walked on towards Paris; and so far they
proceeded, that they were entered into a great bulwark of earth and
wood, which the king had caused to be made at a good distance from the
town, at the further end of a trench, whose other end led into the city.
The count was attended by only four or five persons, who were all of
them extremely surprised when they found where they were. However, the
count put the best face on it that he could; but it is probable that
at that time neither of those two princes had any design in it, for
neither the one nor the other received any prejudice. When the news of
the count’s being got into one of the enemy’s works was brought to the
army, there was a great murmur in the camp, and immediately the Count of
St. Paul, the Marshal of Burgundy, the Lords of Contay and Haultbourdin,
and several other of the chief officers, met together about it, and
unanimously agreed that both the Count of Charolois and those that were
with him had been guilty of a great piece of indiscretion, especially
after the misfortune which had happened to his grandfather[154] at
Montereau-Fault-Yonne, in the presence of Charles VII. Hereupon they
commanded the soldiers that were strolling up and down in the fields
to stand to their arms; and the Marshal of Burgundy (whose surname was
Neufchastel), spoke to this effect: “If this mad hair-brained young
prince has cast away himself, let us not ruin his family, his father’s
interest, or our own. My opinion therefore is, that every man should
retire to his quarters, and be ready, without alarming ourselves, for
anything that may happen; for, keeping together, we are enough to make
our retreat to the frontiers of Hainault, Picardy, or Burgundy, as we
please.”
After he had given his opinion in this manner, he and the Count of St.
Paul mounted on horseback, and rode out of the camp, to see if they could
descry anybody coming from Paris. After they had waited some time, they
perceived a body of forty or fifty horse marching towards them; who were
the Count of Charolois, and an escort that the king had sent to guard him
to his camp. When the count saw them coming towards him, he dismissed his
escort, and addressed himself to the Marshal de Neufchastel, of whom he
was most afraid; for, being a true old soldier, and firm to his interest,
he took the liberty sometimes of reprimanding him severely, and ventured
to tell him, “Whilst your father lives, I am your servant only by loan.”
The first thing the count said to him was, “I pray be not angry, I am
sensible of my great folly, but I perceived it not till I was too near
the bulwark to get off.” The marshal replied, “that it was done in his
absence.” The count bowed his head, and gave him no answer, but returned
presently to the camp, where he was joyfully received by the whole army,
and every one highly extolled the king’s honour and generosity; but, for
all that, the count never afterwards would trust himself in his power.
_The Treaty of Peace, called the Treaty of Conflans, between
King Louis XI., on the one part, and Charles, Count of
Charolois, on the other. Paris, October 5. 1465._
Louis, by the grace of God, King of France, &c.
We being desirous, of our own certain knowledge and good-will,
to reconcile to us our dearly beloved cousin and brother,
Charles, Count of Charolois, having regard to the great and
good services, aids, and succours, he can and is willing
to give unto us and our crown, so that our kingdom may be
guarded and preserved on all sides from its ancient enemies
and our other adversaries; peace, union, and tranquillity
being cultivated between us, our said brother and cousin, and
other lords of our blood; all hostilities cease, and justice
be preserved and administered in our said kingdom: and also
in consideration, and for a recompense of the great services
and expenses our uncle the Duke of Burgundy has borne and
performed for us in the life-time of our late most dear lord
and father, whom God pardon, to whom and into whose country we
had withdrawn ourselves, in order to avoid the dangers that
were likely to threaten our person; and as well for the support
of our own state, and that of our most dear and well-beloved
queen, as also upon the account of several notable embassies to
our said lord and father, to the Pope and to other potentates,
in reference to our coming to the crown; as well as other
great charges and expenses our said uncle and our said brother
and cousin have been at to accompany us to our coronation at
Rheims, and at our public entry into Paris; with a great number
of armed men, for fear we might meet with any opposition in
our kingdom: for all which charges, disbursements, and expenses
we have often agreed and promised to satisfy our said uncle,
and our said cousin and brother; besides a pension of 30,000
francs, which we had given and granted by way of recompense to
our said brother and cousin, the payment of which, some time
before our divisions, had been interrupted and stopped; we
have by the advice and deliberation of our brother the Duke
of Normandy, and of our well-beloved cousins the Dukes of
Bretagne, Calabria, Bourbon, and Nemours, the Counts of Maine,
Perche, Eu, and Armagnac, of the members of our privy-council
and of our parliament, and other great men of our kingdom,
given and transferred, and we do by these presents give
and transfer to our said cousin the Count of Charolois,—in
consideration and for a recompense as aforesaid; as also upon
the account that our said brother and cousin has frankly and
freely, so far as in him lay, been very instrumental, with our
said brother and other lords of our blood, in appeasing of the
said troubles and obtaining the good of peace,—to himself,
his heirs, whether male or female, descending from him in a
direct line, and the heirs of his said heirs, also descending
from them in a direct line, for ever, the cities, towns,
territories, fortresses, and signiories, appertaining to us at
and upon the Somme, both on the one side and the other—viz.
Amiens, St. Quentin, Corbin, Abbeville, together with all the
county of Ponthieu, on both sides the said river, Doullens, St.
Riquier, Crevecœur, Arleux, Montreuil, Le Crotoy, Mortagne,
with all their appurtenances and dependencies, and whatever
else may belong to us upon the account of our said crown from
the said River Somme, inclusively on the side of Artois,
Flanders, and Hainault, which our said uncle of Burgundy had
and possessed lately, by virtue of the treaty of Arras, and
before the re-purchase we had made of them; comprehending
also, in reference to the towns situate upon the said river,
the bailiwicks and shrievalties of the said cities, in the
same manner as our said uncle held and possessed them, to be
enjoyed by our said brother and cousin and his said heirs, and
the heirs of his heirs, male or female, with all their profits
and revenues, as well the domain as the aids destined for war,
and also the taillages and all other profits whatsoever, as
our said uncle enjoyed them, without any exception whatsoever,
save the fealty, homage, and sovereignty; which transfer we
have made, and do make, at the re-purchase of 200,000 crowns
of gold, current money: neither can we nor our successors buy
the same again of our said brother and cousin during his life;
but only we and our successors may do it of the heirs of our
said brother and cousin, descending from him in a direct line,
and the heirs of the said heirs, descending also from them in
a direct line, who shall be possessed of these territories,
upon securing and paying to them once the said sum of 200,000
crowns current money; for the securing of which re-purchase,
our said brother and cousin shall grant unto us his letters
patent in due form. And our will and meaning is, that our said
brother and cousin and his heirs descending from him, that
shall be possessed of those territories, may have such power,
and at their pleasure constitute and appoint all such officers,
as shall be necessary to be constituted and appointed, in
reference to the demand of the said cities, towns, fortresses,
lands, and signiories; and that the other officers, which shall
be necessary on account of royal privileges, aids, and taxes,
be made by our successor’s appointment, at the nomination of
our said brother and cousin, and his heirs, to impose and levy
those aids and taxes, as it was in the time that our said uncle
the Duke of Burgundy held and possessed them. Moreover, as by
the treaty of Arras, it was agreed, among other things, that
the county of Boulogne should be and continue in the possession
of our uncle the Duke of Burgundy, and the heirs male of his
body, and that our late lord and father was obliged to make
reparation to those who pretended a right to it; we, from the
above said causes and considerations, and without derogating
from the treaty of Arras, have agreed and declared, and we do
agree and declare to our said brother and cousin, that he and
his male or female children, begot by him in wedlock, during
their lives only, do and may hold and possess the said county
of Boulogne in the same manner and form as our said brother and
cousin by the treaty of Arras might hold and possess and make
benefit thereof as their inheritance; and we hold ourselves
obliged to make compensation to those who pretend a right in
the said county, and to let our said brother and cousin and
his children enjoy it. And we have also promised and agreed,
and we do agree and promise to our said brother and cousin,
that we will transfer and make over, fully, frankly, and
freely to him, and we do from henceforward transfer and make
over the castles, towns, chatellanies, and provostships of
Peronne, Montdidier, and Roye, with all their appurtenances
and appendages whatsoever, discharged of all mortgages and
re-purchases, with the same rights as they were transferred and
made over to our said uncle his father, by the treaty of Arras,
to hold and enjoy them in the same manner as is contained and
declared in the said treaty; and we will cause, and effectually
procure, our most dear and well-beloved cousin, the Count
of Nevers, to transfer and make over to our said cousin and
brother, the Count of Charolois, all that right which he hath,
or pretends to have, to those castles, towns, provostships,
and chatellanies, and he shall surrender all that he possesses
therein, and give possession thereof to our said brother and
cousin the Count of Charolois, or those commissioned by him:
and herewith we have made over and transferred to our said
brother and cousin, for himself, his heirs and successors,
in inheritance for ever, the county of Guisnes, with all its
appurtenances and dependencies, to be enjoyed by our said
brother and cousin, and his heirs and successors, with all
rights, profits, and emoluments whatsoever, as well of the
domain, as the aids, taxes, and incomes whatsoever, without
retaining or reserving anything for ourselves, except the
fealty, homage, and sovereignty thereof: and we hold ourselves
obliged to make compensation to the Sieur de Croy and others
in respect to any right they have, or pretend to have, in the
said county, and to keep our said brother and cousin and his
heirs in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said county
against the said De Croy and all others. All which things
we have and do promise, _bonâ fide_, on the word of a king,
upon our oath, and upon the penalty of all the estates that
we are now or shall be possessed of, for ourselves, our heirs
and successors, to hold, keep, maintain, and execute every
particular in the same manner and form aforegoing, inviolably,
so as never to contravene the same, either by ourselves or
any other; neither shall we suffer any other, directly or
indirectly, to contravene the same, openly or covertly, and
all without any fraud, deceit, or evil design; and for the
accomplishment and execution of the things above mentioned,
and every of them, we do and shall submit to the coercion
and power of our holy father the Pope: and we do and will
consent, for ourselves and successors, in all courts, as well
ecclesiastical as civil, to be constrained to observe all and
every of the things above mentioned, by renouncing all rights,
privileges, ordinances, royal edicts, exceptions, and all
things whatsoever, whereby anything, either in part or in the
whole, shall be done contrary to the premises, as fully as if
all the said rights, ordinances, edicts, exceptions, and other
renunciations, were expressly declared and specified by these
presents. Besides which, we will charge, and expressly command
our well-beloved and faithful chancellor, our councillors
in our council of state, treasurers, superintendents of our
finances, bailiffs, seneschals, and other justiciaries and
officers, or their lieutenants, and every of them, so far as
it relates to them, that they strictly observe, and in every
particular fulfil, these presents and the contents of them;
and that they neither do nor suffer anything to be done to
the contrary; and when anything shall be done to the contrary
hereof, they shall immediately make reparation, and, without
any delay, restore matters to their former state and condition;
and especially these presents shall be verified in parliament,
in the chambers of accounts and finances, which shall cause
the same to be published and registered everywhere they ought
to be; notwithstanding any edicts made against alienating and
putting out of our power the demesnes of our said crown, and
all the restrictions, promises, and oaths, which we or any of
our said officers might have made in general or particular,
under any form of words whatsoever, whereby they might or
would prevent the effecting, fulfilling and accomplishing
all that is contained in these presents; which ordinances,
restrictions, promises, obligations and oaths we will not,
for the sake of peace, as to the present case, have to be
in derogation or prejudice of the transfers and the other
things above mentioned, and of the said promises, oaths, or
other restrictions, which our officers are subject to, in
contradiction to these particulars; but we do, by these
presents, and in fulfilling the contents thereof, hold and
esteem them acquitted and fully discharged of them.
CH. XIV.—Of the Peace that was concluded at Conflans between the King
and the Count of Charolois and his Allies.—1465.
At length all things were accommodated, and the next day[155] the Count
of Charolois made a general muster of his whole army, to see what men he
had left, and what he had lost. On a sudden, without any warning, the
king came thither, attended only by thirty or forty horse, and went from
regiment to regiment to take a view of them all, except the Marshal of
Burgundy’s squadron, who was no friend of the king’s; because, having
given him the government of Espinal[156] in Lorraine, he took it from him
afterwards, and gave it to John, Duke of Calabria, to the great disgust
and mortification of the said marshal. The king at last grew sensible of
his error, and acknowledged he had been wrong in discarding, upon his
first accession to the crown, those worthy and eminent knights that had
faithfully served his father, and who, resenting the injury, had joined
with the princes against him. The king used his utmost endeavours to
retrieve the false step he had made, and by little and little reconciled
himself to them. It was resolved, that the next day all the lords should
repair to the Castle of Vincennes to do homage to the king, and for their
security the Castle of Vincennes should be put into the hands of the
Count of Charolois.
The next day, according to agreement, the king came thither, and not
one of the princes failed to attend him: the porch and gate were lined
and strongly guarded, by a good number of the Burgundian soldiers,
in their arms. The treaty of peace was read, and the Lord Charles of
France did homage to the king for the duchy of Normandy[157]; the Count
of Charolois for the towns he held in Picardy[158]; others for what
they held in other places: and the Count of St. Paul took his oath as
Constable of France. But there never was so plentiful an entertainment,
but somebody rose hungry: some had their utmost ambition gratified, and
others got nothing at all: some honest but inferior persons the king took
to himself, but the greatest part remained with the Duke of Bretagne
and the new Duke of Normandy, who took their leave, and went to Rouen,
to take possession of that town. At their departure from the Castle of
Vincennes, they all took leave of one another, every man retired to his
lodgings, and the letters and pardons, and whatever else was agreed upon
by the peace, were signed and despatched. All the princes departed upon
the same day; the Dukes of Normandy and Bretagne went first to Normandy,
and the Duke of Bretagne afterwards into his own country: the Count of
Charolois retired towards Flanders, and, as he was upon his way, the king
made him a visit, and conducted him to Villiers-le-Bel[159] (a village
some four leagues from Paris), expressing a great desire to maintain a
friendship with him; and that night they lay together in the village.
The king had but a very small party with him, but he had commanded 200
men-at-arms to attend him back again, which being told to the Count
of Charolois as he was going to bed, he immediately entertained great
jealousy and suspicion, and ordered all his guards that were with him
to arm. From whence one may observe, that it is almost impossible for
two great princes to agree long, by reason of the reports and suspicions
which hourly arise: and indeed two great princes, who are desirous to
preserve a more than ordinary friendship, ought never to see one another;
but rather employ such honest and wise men between them, as may cultivate
their amity and palliate their faults.
The next morning the two princes took their leave one of another, and
with very kind and obliging language they parted. The king returned to
Paris under the guard of the 200 men-at-arms that he had ordered for that
purpose; which removed the suspicion the count had conceived of their
coming. The count took the road towards Compiègne and Noyon, and as he
went, all the towns were opened to him by the king’s particular command.
From thence he marched to Amiens, and received homage from that and all
the towns upon the Somme, and what formerly belonged to him in Picardy
was restored to him by virtue of the peace; for which places the king
(as I said before) had paid 400,000 crowns of gold not quite nine months
before.[160] Having despatched his business there, he marched towards
the country of Liege[161], for that state had made war for five or six
months upon his father (during his absence) in the counties of Namur
and Brabant, and had done some mischief in those parts; but, being in
winter, he could not make any considerable progress: yet he burnt several
villages, and made some small incursions into the territories of the
Liegeois: but a peace[162] was concluded between them, and the Liegeois
were obliged, upon the penalty of a great sum of money, to observe it;
after which the Count of Charolois returned into Brabant.[163]
_A Treaty of Peace concluded at St. Maur-des-Fossés between the
Dukes of Normandy, Bretagne, Calabria, and Lorraine, Charles
of Burgundy, the Count of Charolois, the Dukes of Bourbonnois
and Auvergne, the Duke of Nemours, the Counts of Armagnac, St.
Paul, Albret, and Dunois, and Louis XI. of France. October 29.
1465._
1. All hostilities are to cease entirely between the parties,
their subjects, and vassals, and a firm peace and tranquillity
to be restored.
2. No reparation shall be required, upon the account of these
divisions, from the said lords, their subjects, vassals, and
adherents, or prosecutions made by law against them, but they
shall live peaceably both within and without the kingdom,
without molestation from the king or the said lords.
3. The said lords shall not, upon the account of what is past,
renew the war, either by themselves or others, but continue
faithful to the king.