the King, and how he sent his Barber, Monsieur Oliver, to treat with the
Citizens of Ghent.—1477.
As the king was upon the road towards us, he received from all parts
the welcome news of the delivering up the castles of Han and Bohain,
and that the inhabitants of St. Quentin had secured that town for him
themselves, and opened their gates to their neighbour, the Lord of Moüy.
He was certain of Peronne, which was commanded by Master William Bische,
and, by the overtures that we and several other persons had made him,
he was in great hopes that the Lord des Cordes would strike in with his
interest. To Ghent he sent his barber, Master Oliver[582], born in a
small village[583] not far off; and other agents he sent to other places,
with great expectations from all of them; and most of them promised him
very fair, but performed nothing. Upon the king’s arrival near Peronne,
I went to wait on his majesty, and at the same time William Bische and
others brought him the surrender of the town of Peronne, with which he
was extremely pleased. The king stayed there that day, and I dined with
him, according to my usual custom, for it was his humour to have seven or
eight always with him at table, and sometimes many more. After dinner he
withdrew, and seemed not to be at all pleased with the admiral’s little
exploit and mine; he told us he had sent his barber, Master Oliver, to
Ghent, and he doubted not but he would persuade that town to submit to
him; and Robinet Dodenfort[584] to St. Omer, as he had great interest
there; and these his majesty extolled as fit persons to manage such
affairs, to receive the keys of great towns, and to put garrisons of
his troops into them. He also mentioned others whom he had employed in
the same negotiation in other places; and with this he upbraided me,
by the Lord du Lude and others. It was contrary to my duty to argue or
expostulate with him; only I told his majesty I had great reason to fear
that Master Oliver, and the others whom he had named, would not be able
to reduce those towns to his obedience so easily as they proposed.
That which occasioned the king to speak to me after this manner was, that
he had changed his mind, and the success which had crowned the beginning
of his affairs, flattered him with the hopes of a speedy surrender of
all the towns in the Duke of Burgundy’s territories: and his majesty was
advised by some persons (who found his inclinations lean that way) to
root out and destroy that family quite, and make a distribution of their
territories among his servants. Upon which he began to declare openly
for whom he designed them. Namur and Hainault, which border upon the
frontiers of his kingdom, he bestowed on his own subjects; Brabant and
Holland, being larger and at a greater distance, he intended for certain
princes of Germany, who, by that means, would be obliged to espouse
his interest, and to assist him in all his enterprises. He was pleased
to impart all his designs to me, because I had formerly recommended
another method, and his majesty was desirous that I should be thoroughly
informed of all the reasons that induced him to the contrary, and
endeavoured to convince me that his design was far more advantageous for
the interest of his kingdom, which had formerly suffered great troubles
on account of the exorbitant power of the house of Burgundy, and the
vast extent of their territories. And certainly, in respect to this
world, there was great plausibility in what he said; but, as to matter
of conscience, I thought it quite otherwise. However the king’s policy
and penetration were such, that neither I nor any of his council, could
see so far into his affairs as himself; for, without dispute, he was
one of the wisest and most subtle princes of his age; but the hearts
of kings being in the hands of God Almighty alone, He disposes them in
such important affairs as is most proper for the events which He, in His
heavenly wisdom, has determined to bring to pass. For, certainly, had
it been His Divine pleasure that our king should have continued in the
resolution which he had formed before the Duke of Burgundy’s death, the
wars which have since occurred, and still continue, would never have
happened. But we were not worthy on either side to receive so lasting
a peace as was prepared to our hands; and that was the true cause of
the great oversight of which our king was guilty, and not any defect in
his judgment or understanding; for, as I said before, he was a prince
of consummate wisdom and experience. I have dwelt the longer upon this
subject, to show how necessary it is, at the beginning of any action of
importance, to debate and deliberate seriously upon its consequences,
in order that the most proper way of effecting it may be chosen, but
especially that the whole affair be recommended to God, and that in our
prayers He be solemnly entreated to direct us, for from Him all events
proceed, as is evident, both by Scripture and experience.
My design is not to upbraid or reflect the least upon the king, when I
say he was mistaken in this business; for, perhaps, others of a greater
judgment than myself were, and still are, of his opinion. However, this
affair was not debated either with us, or anywhere else. Chroniclers
commonly write nothing but what redounds to the praise and honour of
those princes whose actions they record, and they omit, and often ignore
many occurrences that are absolutely necessary to the illustration of
the truth; but, for my part, I am resolved to state nothing but what I
can prove to be matter of fact, either upon my own knowledge, or the
testimony of such persons whose veracity and honour are unquestionable,
without the least regard to the praises of any man; for it is not to be
thought there is any prince so wise, but he must sometimes err, and, if
he lives long, often; and so it will be found perpetually, if one may
be allowed to speak the truth. The greatest senates, and the greatest
governments in the world, have erred, and will err, as is known by daily
experience.
The king having sojourned for some time in a village near Peronne,
resolved the next morning to make his entry into that town, which (as I
said before) had surrendered to him. As all things were ready for his
departure, the king took me aside, and despatched me into Poictou and the
frontiers of Bretagne, whispering me in my ear, that if Master Oliver
failed in his design, and the Lord des Cordes did not come over to him,
he was resolved to destroy with fire and sword all that part of Artois
which borders upon the Lys, and is called La Levée[585], and afterwards
retire to Touraine. I recommended some persons who, by my means, had
already come over to his party, upon promise of pensions and other
advantages from him; he set down their names in writing, and honourably
performed the promises I had made them; and so I took my leave of him for
that time.
As I was just taking horse, the Lord du Lude happened to be near; he was
a person in some things very acceptable to the king, but he was too much
addicted to covetousness, and scrupled not to abuse or delude any man,
and, being easy and credulous himself, he was often imposed upon. He
had been educated with the king in his youth, and knew very well how to
humour his majesty, for he was a jocose man; he said to me, in a jesting
manner (though the counsel was solid enough), “How now, sir, are you
leaving the court, when you should now make your fortune, or never? Do
not you see what great things fall daily into the king’s hands, which
will enable him to advance and recompense his favourites? As for my
part, I expect to be Governor of Flanders, and to be made up of nothing
but gold.” He laughed all the while he was speaking to me, but I had no
such inclination, for I was afraid it had come from the king: I replied,
“That I should be very glad of any good fortune that befell him, and
hoped the king would not forget me;” and so I departed.
Not above half an hour before my departure, a person of some quality came
to me out of Hainault, and brought me news from several to whom I had
written to persuade them to enter into the king’s service. This gentleman
and I are nearly related; but he is still living, and therefore I shall
not mention his name, nor the names of any of the rest. He immediately
made offers to surrender all the chief towns and fortresses in Hainault;
I waited at once on the king, and acquainted him with this overture:
his majesty ordered the gentleman to be admitted to his presence, but
told me, that neither he nor those he came from, were persons whom he
had occasion to make use of. One he did not like upon one account, and
another, upon another; all their offers appeared to him inconsiderable,
and he was of opinion he should gain greater advantages without their
assistance; so I left him, and he ordered the gentleman to confer farther
with the Lord du Lude. The gentleman highly resented it, and left the
court immediately, without any farther treaty, for the Lord du Lude and
he would never have agreed: for he had undertaken the journey in hopes of
advancing himself, and raising his own fortune, and the first question
that the Lord du Lude asked him when he came in, was, “What the towns
would give him to intercede with the king in their behalf?” Wherefore
I am of opinion, that the king’s refusing to hearken to the overtures
that were made him by these gentlemen, was God’s own doing; for I have
since known that he would have refused no honour or employment to have
gained them over to his side; but perhaps, God would not suffer him to be
successful in all places, for the reasons above mentioned; or else He did
not think fit to permit him to usurp the country of Hainault (which is a
fief of the Empire), both because his title was not just, and by reason
of the ancient oaths and alliances between the emperors and the kings of
France. And he seemed afterwards to acknowledge as much; for when he
had possessed himself of Cambray, Quesnoy, and Bouchain, in Hainault,
he delivered up Bouchain[586], and restored Cambray to a condition of
neutrality[587], as it is an imperial town. It is true, I was not upon
the spot, yet I was well informed of all that occurred, and could easily
understand it by my acquaintance and education in both countries, and
I have since been assured of all this by those very persons who were
chiefly employed in the affair.
CH. XIV.—How Master Oliver, the King’s Barber, not succeeding in his
Designs upon Ghent, found out a way to secure Tournay for the King.—1477.
Master Oliver (as you have already heard) was despatched by the king’s
orders to Ghent, with letters to the Lady of Burgundy, Duke Charles’s
daughter, and full power to make certain secret overtures to her, if
she would put herself under the king’s protection. This was not the
main design of his errand, for he knew it would be a difficult thing
to have a private conference with the young lady alone; and, if he had
one, it would be no less difficult to persuade her to do what he wanted.
His chief business was to bring about some innovation in the city of
Ghent, knowing it had been always inclinable to change, and had been
kept in subjection under Dukes Philip and Charles by means of fear,
for the citizens had lost many of their privileges in their wars with
Duke Philip[588], by the articles of peace; besides, another of their
privileges was taken from them by Duke Charles (and that was about
the election of their magistrates), upon occasion of an offence they
committed on the first day of his entrance into their town as duke. As I
have mentioned this already, I shall say no more about it in this place.
These passages added much confidence to Master Oliver the barber, who,
following his instructions, tampered with some persons whom he judged
most tractable, and offered them not only that all their old privileges
should be restored, but that new ones should be added. These overtures
were not made in their Town-hall, nor publicly, but in private, as I said
before, for he had a mind to try first what he could do with the young
princess; but they guessed his design.
After Master Oliver had been some days in Ghent, he was conducted to his
audience in the best garb he could possibly procure; and he delivered his
credentials. The Lady of Burgundy was in her chair of state, the Duke
of Cleves on one hand, the Bishop of Liege on the other, and several
other persons of quality attending her. After the lady had read his
credentials, she bade him deliver his message; his answer was, that his
instructions were to deliver it only in private. They replied, that was a
custom never practised among them, and certainly could not be introduced
now with a young lady that was fit for marriage. He persisted in saying,
that by his orders he could communicate his business to nobody else.
Upon which they threatened to compel him by force, and put him into a
terrible consternation. I fancy when he delivered his letters, he had
not provided himself with a speech, for, indeed (as you have heard)
that business was only secondary; however it may be, Master Oliver left
the assembly without any farther conference. Some of the council had a
very contemptible opinion of him, both in respect of the meanness of
his profession, and the uncomeliness of his demeanour and language; but
more especially the citizens of Ghent (because he was born in a pitiful
village near that city), put many affronts upon him, in consequence of
which he took to flight suddenly; for he was informed that if he had
stayed a little longer, they would have thrown him into the river: and
truly I am of opinion that would have been his destiny.
This Master Oliver assumed the title of Count de Meulant, which is a
small town near Paris, of which he was captain. When he had made his
escape out of Ghent, he fled to Tournay, which town, though neutral,
bore a great affection to the king, for it had formerly belonged to his
predecessors, and paid him 6000 Parisian livres a year: in all other
respects it was free, entertaining all comers, and it is a fair and
strong town, as everybody in those countries knows very well. All the
revenues of both their clergy and townsmen lie in Hainault and Flanders,
for it borders upon those two countries; and upon that account in
the wars between Charles VII. and Duke Philip of Burgundy, they paid
constantly 10,000 livres per annum to the said duke, and I have known
them give an equal sum to Duke Charles; but at this time, when Master
Oliver came to them, they paid nothing, but enjoyed great quiet and
repose.
Though the management of the affair which was committed to Master
Oliver’s discretion was far beyond his capacity, yet certainly he was
not so much to be blamed as those who employed him in it; for though his
success was such as might have been easily presaged, yet he gave proof
both of courage and conduct in what he did; for knowing that the town of
Tournay lay so nearly, as I said, between those two provinces that it
would be easy to make inroads into either, if he could contrive to put a
French garrison into it (to which the townsmen were always averse, having
all along preserved their neutrality, and connected themselves neither
with the one nor the other), he sent privately to Monsieur de Moüy (whose
son[589] was bailiff of the town, but not resident there) to come to him
at a certain hour with what forces he could draw out of St. Quentin, and
whatever other troops he could assemble. Monsieur de Moüy came to the
gate at the appointed hour, where he found thirty or forty men, and
Master Oliver at the head of them, who boldly commanded the barrier to
be opened, and partly for love, and partly for fear, they obeyed him.
Monsieur de Moüy marched with his detachment into the town, with which
the people were well enough satisfied; but the magistrates were not
pleased with it, of whom seven or eight were immediately sent to Paris,
and never dared to return during our king’s reign.[590]
As soon as these forces had made themselves masters of Tournay, a more
considerable body was sent to reinforce the garrison, and many barbarous
incursions were made into Hainault and Flanders, in which many fine
houses and villages were plundered and burnt, more to the prejudice of
the inhabitants of Tournay than of anybody else; and these cruelties they
continued so long, that at last the Flemings rose up in arms, released
the Duke of Guelders out of prison, where he had been confined by Duke
Charles, made him their captain, and invested Tournay[591]; but they did
not continue the siege long, for they retired suddenly in great disorder
and confusion, and the Duke of Guelders undertaking to secure the rear,
and not being timely supported, was defeated, many of his men slain, and
he among the rest, of which I shall give you a more particular account
in another place.[592] And thus far the king’s affairs were crowned with
success, and his enemies over-reached by Master Oliver’s management; and
perhaps a man of greater rank and penetration could not have managed
them with so much success. But I have said enough already of so politic
a prince’s employing so inconsiderable a person to conduct so important
an affair; and certainly God had infatuated his understanding at that
time; for, as I said before, had he not looked upon everything as likely
to be easily executed, and given too great a loose to his passion and
vindictiveness against the Duke of Burgundy’s family, there is no
question but all, or the greater part, of their dominions had been at
this day under his power and government.
CH. XV.—Of the Ambassadors whom the Lady of Burgundy, Duke Charles’s
Daughter, sent to the King, and of the Delivering up of Arras, Hesdin,
Boulogne, and the City of Arras, to the King by the Assistance of the
Lord des Cordes.—1477.
The king being in possession of Peronne, which was surrendered to him
by Master William Bisches (a person of obscure parentage, born in
Molins-Engilbert, in Nivernois, but enriched and advanced afterwards by
Charles Duke of Burgundy, who had given him the command of that town,
because it was near a house called Clery, which the said Bisches had
purchased, and fortified very strongly); the king, I say, in this very
town received an embassy from the Lady of Burgundy, consisting of the
principal personages of her court. In my opinion, it was not prudently
done to employ so many, and send them all together; but their terror and
consternation were so great, they knew not what they did. The chief of
the ambassadors were one Messire William Hugonet[593], the chancellor
(a wise and notable man, who had gained a considerable fortune and vast
reputation under Duke Charles), and the Lord of Humbercourt, whom we
have frequently mentioned in these Memoirs, a person of such consummate
prudence and dexterity in the management of great affairs, that I do
not remember any man who exceeded him. There were likewise the Lord de
la Vere[594] a great man in Zealand, the Lord of Gruthuse, and several
other noblemen, besides ecclesiastics and burgesses of great towns.[595]
Before they were admitted to an audience, either public or private, the
king tampered with them, and tried all manner of ways to bring them over
to his party. They all of them returned him very humble and respectful
answers, as became people under affliction; but those whose estates
were remote, and out of danger from the king, refused to gratify him in
anything, unless a marriage were first concluded between the Dauphin
and the Lady of Burgundy. The chancellor and the Lord of Humbercourt
having been long in authority, and desiring to continue to possess it,
and having their estates near the king’s dominions (one in the duchy
of Burgundy and the other in Picardy, near Amiens) were inclined to
accept the king’s offers, upon condition the said marriage proceeded,
which they would endeavour to promote with all their power and interest,
and, when it was consummated, would engage themselves entirely in his
service. Though this was certainly the better method for the king, yet
he was mightily dissatisfied, because they did not join themselves
immediately to his party; but he dissembled this feeling as much as he
could, intending to make use of them in other affairs. The king already
held a correspondence with the Lord des Cordes, who advised his majesty
to press the ambassadors to send orders to him as Governor of Arras, to
deliver up that which they called the city of Arras, between which and
the town there were walls, ditches, and gates, which were formerly kept
shut against the city; but now the case was altered, and the city shut
out the town. After many arguments and difficulties had been started by
the ambassadors, being at last convinced it would be for the best, and
contribute much to the hastening of a peace, they consented, especially
the chancellor and the Lord of Humbercourt; and letters were immediately
despatched to the Lord des Cordes to discharge him of his trust and
command him to deliver up the city to the king. As soon as the king had
got possession of it[596], he threw up works before the gate of the town,
and such other places as he thought would be convenient; upon which the
Lord des Cordes marched with his garrison out of town, and every man went
whither he pleased, and took what side he liked best.
The Lord des Cordes looking upon himself to be free from the service
of his mistress, by virtue of the discharge which the ambassadors had
sent him, resolved to swear allegiance to the king, and enter into his
service for the future, since his name and arms were taken from a place
on this side of the Somme, not far from Beauvais; for his name was Philip
de Crevecœur, second brother to the Lord of Crevecœur; and indeed the
territories which the house of Burgundy had possessed upon the Somme in
the time of Dukes Philip and Charles returned, of course, to the king
in pursuance of the treaty of Arras, by which they were then entailed
upon the said dukes and their heirs male only, and Duke Charles had
left only this daughter. By that means the Lord des Cordes became the
king’s subject immediately, and would not have been to blame in putting
himself and all that belonged to him into the king’s service, had he not
taken a new oath to be true to the young Lady of Burgundy.[597] I know
there are various reports of this affair, and it is a matter of contest
to this very day, and therefore I will say no more about it; only this
I can affirm, that he was educated, advanced, and put into places of
great trust and power by Duke Charles: his mother[598] had some share
in the education of the young Lady of Burgundy; and he was Governor of
Picardy, Seneschal of Ponthieu, Captain of Crotoy, Governor of Peronne,
Montdidier, and Roye, and Captain of Boulogne and Hesdin for the duke
when he died; and at this present time he holds the same governments for
the king, in the same manner and form as our master confirmed them to him.
After the king had added some new fortifications to the city of Arras, he
marched to besiege Hesdin, carrying the Lord des Cordes with him, who had
been the governor of it but three days before, and the garrison consisted
of none but his own soldiers. At first, they declared they would keep it
for the young princess, alleging that they were bound to do so by their
oath of allegiance, and they fired their guns upon us for several days;
but at last they were prevailed upon by their old master (for to speak
plainly, there was a very good understanding between them), and the town
was delivered to the king, who marched from thence to Boulogne, where his
success was the same, though, perhaps, it did not surrender so soon by a
day. However, this had been a very dangerous way of proceeding, had those
that held the towns for the young princess been able to have assembled
any forces in the country (and the king, in the relation he afterwards
gave me of this affair, admitted as much himself); for there were some
in Boulogne who, perceiving the juggle, endeavoured to throw a body of
troops into the town, and if they had succeeded in their design, they
would have defended it in earnest.
Whilst the king lay before Boulogne (which was about five or six days),
the townsmen of Arras, finding they were deceived, and enclosed on all
sides with great numbers of soldiers and abundance of artillery, laboured
to procure forces if possible, that might garrison the town; to which
purpose they wrote letters to Lisle and Douay. At Douay there were some
few horse commanded by the Lord of Vergy[599], and others, whom I have
forgotten, who had escaped from the battle of Nancy, and were returned
thither. These gentlemen resolved to throw themselves into Arras, and in
order to effect it, assembled a body of about 200 or 300 horse, good
and bad, and about 500 or 600 foot. The inhabitants of Douay, having at
that time more pride than sense, forced this party to march at noon-day,
in spite of their unwillingness, and all that could be urged to the
contrary: which certainly was a great piece of folly and indiscretion,
and the design failed accordingly; for the country between Douay and
Arras is as flat as one’s hand, and not above five leagues, so that if
they had deferred their march till night, they had certainly effected
their design. When they were in the midst of their march, those who were
left in the city (to wit, the Lord du Lude, John du Fou[600], and the
troops of the Marshal de Loheac), having intelligence of their motion,
resolved to sally out, and rather venture an engagement, than suffer
them to get into the town; for they knew that if once this reinforcement
got into the town, they would never be able to defend the city. Their
enterprise was bold and perilous, but they performed it bravely, and
the whole party from Douay was defeated, most of them killed, or taken
prisoners[601], and the Lord of Vergy was among the latter.
The next day the king arrived at Arras in person, and was highly pleased
with their victory; he took the prisoners into his own custody, and
caused several of the footmen to be put to death as a terror to the
rest, who he knew were not numerous in those parts. The Lord of Vergy
was kept prisoner a long time, as he could not be induced to swear
allegiance to the king, though he was kept in irons, and confined very
closely; at length, at the importunity of his mother, after he had been
a prisoner a year or more, he submitted to the king’s good pleasure, and
I think he acted very prudently, for the king restored to him all his
own lands, and all that he had any pretensions to, gave him a revenue of
above 10,000 livres a year, and other considerable employments besides.
Those few that escaped in this action, got into the town. The king
caused his artillery (of which he had a very fine and large train) to be
brought, with which he fired briskly upon the town; and the walls and
fortifications being very weak, and scarce any soldiers in garrison, his
batteries did the town considerable damage, and threw the inhabitants
into terrible consternation. The Lord des Cordes had a party in the town,
and after the delivering up of the city, it was impossible to think of
defending the town any longer. Upon this consideration they capitulated,
and surrendered upon terms[602], but their articles were not performed,
for which the Lord du Lude was partly to blame; for several citizens and
other persons of quality were put to death[603] in the presence of the
Lord du Lude and of Monsieur William de Cerisay[604] (which was much to
their private advantage); for the Lord du Lude told me himself he got at
that time 20,000 crowns, besides rich furniture and furs, and the poor
town was fined 60,000 crowns more to the king, which was an excessive
tax; but I suppose this was remitted, for the citizens of Cambray lent
the king 40,000, which was repaid punctually afterwards; wherefore I
presume all these taxes were restored or remitted.
CH. XVI.—How the Citizens of Ghent, having usurped Authority over
their Princess upon the Death of the Duke of Burgundy her Father, sent
Ambassadors to the King of France in the Name of the Three Estates of
their Country.—1477.
During the siege of Arras, the Princess of Burgundy was at Ghent, in
the power of a rash and inconsiderate people, which proved much to her
disadvantage, but greatly advanced the king’s interest; for there is no
losing without somebody being the gainer. As soon as the Gantois were
informed of the death of Duke Charles, they thought themselves fairly
delivered from their subjection, and seizing upon their magistrates[605]
(who were in all twenty-six), they put most of them to death, under
pretence of revenging the death of a person whom the day before the
magistrates had caused to be beheaded: not but that the person deserved
it, if they had had power to have done it; but the duke being dead,
who gave them their power, their authority, of course, expired with
him. They also put to death several substantial citizens besides, and
others who had been friends or favourers of the duke’s interest, of
which number there were some in my time, who, in my presence, used
their utmost endeavours to dissuade Duke Charles from destroying a
great part of Ghent, which the duke otherwise would have done. These
tumultuous citizens forced the young princess to restore and confirm
their ancient privileges[606], which Duke Philip had taken away in the
peace of Gavre, and also those that Duke Charles had deprived them
of afterwards. They made no other use of their privileges, but as a
cause of quarrel with their prince, and their chief inclination was to
encroach upon and weaken him. During the minority of their princes,
and before they are fit to manage affairs of state, they are extremely
fond of them; but when once they are in possession of the government,
they hate them as mortally. Thus it happened to this young princess,
whom they guarded very carefully, and loved very tenderly, till she came
to the government. Had not the citizens of Ghent preferred their own
seditious designs before the public interest, it may be easily presumed
they would have bethought themselves of defending their country, and
put a strong garrison immediately into Arras, and perhaps into Peronne,
upon the death of their master; but they could think of nothing but
contriving tumults and innovations at home. However, as the king lay
before Arras, ambassadors[607] came to him in the name of the three
Estates of the provinces belonging to the said princess, for there were
certain deputies of the three Estates at Ghent; but the citizens, having
the young princess in their power, managed matters as they pleased.
The king admitted them to an audience; and among other things, they
told his majesty that the overtures which they made tended to a peace,
and proceeded from the sincere desire of the princess herself, who was
resolved to be entirely guided by the advice and consent of the three
Estates of her country; and they desired that the king would desist
from his hostilities in both Burgundy and Artois: that a day might be
appointed, on which they might meet to treat about an accommodation; and
that, in the meantime, all warfare might cease on both sides.
The king now thought he had entirely gained his point, and supposed
his affairs would have taken a much better turn than they did. He had
certain information that a great part of their best soldiers were killed
or dispersed, and many others had revolted from the princess, and in
particular the Lord des Cordes, for whom his majesty had a great esteem,
and not without reason, for he would not have been able by force to
have got that in a long time which, as you have heard, he got in a few
days, by holding correspondence with him. Upon this account he did not
much regard the requests and demands of the ambassadors; besides, he was
informed, and well knew himself, that the Gantois were a people of so
turbulent and seditious a temper, that they would so trouble and confound
their rulers that no orders or direction could be given for carrying on
the war against him; for no man of sense, or any that had borne authority
under their former princes, was consulted in anything, but rather
persecuted, and in danger of being killed. But their hatred was most
bitter against the Burgundians, on account of the great power they had
exercised in former times. Besides, it was not unknown to the king (whose
foresight in state-affairs was as great as any man’s in his kingdom)
what the custom of the Gantois had been in all ages, and how desirous
they are to lessen the power of their princes, provided it brings no
inconvenience upon themselves; for these reasons, the king resolved to
foment and encourage the divisions which existed amongst them already;
for the persons with whom he had now to deal were brutes, and townsmen
for the most part, who had not the least acquaintance or knowledge of
state-affairs. Our king knew well enough how to take advantage of their
ignorance, and did whatever was proper to advance his own object, and
destroy his enemies.
The king took hold of that expression of the ambassadors, where they
said, “That the young princess was resolved to do nothing without the
advice and approbation of the three Estates of her country;” and told
them that they were misinformed, not only of her resolution, but of that
of other people; for he was assured she intended to manage her affairs
by means of certain persons, who had no inclination to peace, and that
what they proposed, he knew would be disowned by the princess. The
ambassadors were extremely concerned at this, and as persons not used to
manage such important affairs, replied with some warmth, that they were
certain of what they said, and if it were necessary, would produce their
instructions. It was answered, that if the king pleased, letters could
be produced under such a hand as they would not dispute, importing that
the princess would commit the administration of her affairs to no more
than four persons; they persisted in stating the contrary. Upon which the
king caused a letter to be produced (which the Chancellor of Burgundy
and the Lord of Humbercourt had brought to him when he was at Peronne),
part of it written by the hand of the young princess, part by the Duchess
Dowager of Burgundy[608] (widow of Duke Charles, and sister to Edward,
King of England), and part by the hand of the Lord of Ravestain, brother
to the Duke of Cleves, and nearly related to the said princess. Though
this letter was under three several hands, yet it ran only in the name
of the young princess, and had been so contrived, to give it greater
weight. The contents of the letter were to recommend the chancellor and
the Lord of Humbercourt, and their whole negotiation, to the king; to
let him know that the intention of the princess was to have her affairs
wholly governed by four persons only—to wit, the duchess dowager her
mother-in-law, the Lord of Ravestain, the chancellor, and the Lord of
Humbercourt; and to desire the king that what affairs soever he should
be pleased to communicate to her, might pass through their hands, and be
addressed to nobody else.
When the Gantois and the rest of the ambassadors had seen this letter,
they were highly incensed, and the king’s commissioners well understood
how to improve and take advantage of their passion. Finally, the letter
was given into their hands, and they were despatched without any other
material answer; nor did they indeed desire any other, for their
thoughts were so wholly fixed upon their domestic divisions, and the
reconstruction of their whole system, that they had no leisure to think
of anything so foreign as the loss of Arras, though that, in my opinion,
ought to have concerned them more nearly. But they were for the most part
citizens, as I observed before, and unacquainted with public affairs.
They returned immediately to Ghent, where they found the young princess,
and with her the Duke of Cleves, her near kinsman by the mother’s side.
He was very old, and had been educated in the Duke of Burgundy’s court,
and for a long time had enjoyed a pension of 6000 Rhine florins, so that
he as often waited on the princess to receive his annual allowance, as
out of cousinly affection. The Bishop of Liege and several other great
persons were with her at the same time, to advance their particular
affairs. The Bishop of Liege’s business was to get off the payment of
a tribute of 30,000 florins, or thereabouts, which his subjects had to
pay to Duke Charles by agreement between them after the wars, which I
have mentioned before; all which wars having been undertaken in the
behalf and quarrel of the said bishop, there was no necessity that he,
whose interest doubtless it was to keep the Liegeois poor and humble,
should solicit that favour for them; for though his country was rich and
extensive, he had nothing but some little demesnes of his own and his
ecclesiastical revenue to maintain him. This bishop (who was brother to
the two reigning Dukes of Bourbon, John II. and Peter II.) being a man
addicted wholly to pleasure and a luxurious way of living, and scarce
able to distinguish good from bad, took into his councils Master William
de la Marck[609], a noble gentleman and a brave soldier, but a man of a
cruel and malicious temper, who favoured the citizens of Liege[610], and
had been always an enemy to the Duke of Burgundy’s family, and to the
bishop himself. The Princess of Burgundy gave this De la Marck 15,000
Rhine florins, partly on the bishop’s account, and partly to induce him
to espouse her interest; but it was not long before he openly declared
both against her and his master the bishop, and by the assistance and
favour of our king would have made his own son[611] Bishop of Liege;
after which he encountered, defeated, and with his own hands slew the
bishop in battle[612], and ordered his body to be thrown into the river,
where it was found three days after.
The Duke of Cleves also was at Ghent, soliciting a marriage between his
son[613] and the young princess, which he thought might be convenient
for many reasons; and truly I think it might have succeeded, had the
young gentleman found favour in his person with the young princess and
her ministers; for he was of her own family, held his duchy of the Dukes
of Burgundy, and had been educated in their court; but perhaps the
knowledge and character they had received of him caused his rejection.
CH. XVII.—How the People of Ghent, upon the Return of their Ambassadors,
put the Chancellor Hugonet and the Lord of Humbercourt to Death, against
their Princess’s Consent; after which they, in conjunction with some
other Flemish Troops, were defeated before Tournay, and the Duke of
Guelders, who commanded them, was slain; and the Duchy of Burgundy was
placed in the hands of the King of France.—1477.
As soon as the commissioners returned to Ghent, a council was called, the
Princess of Burgundy was placed in her chair of state, with her servants
attending her, to receive their report. They began with repeating their
instructions from her highness, and insisted chiefly upon what they
thought would serve their own turns best. They told her that, as they
were giving his majesty an account of her highness’s resolution to be
wholly advised and directed by the counsel of the three Estates, the
king had made answer that he was positively assured of the contrary,
and offered to show letters from her to that purpose. The princess was
extremely surprised and angry; and, presuming her letter had not been
seen, strenuously denied it; upon which the person that spoke (who was
the Pensionary either of Ghent or Brussels) put his hand into his bosom,
produced the letter publicly, and delivered it to the council, by which
he showed himself to be a person of no honour or conscience, to have
treated a lady of her rank and quality in such a rude and disrespectful
manner; for, granting she had committed an error, she ought not to have
been vilified or confronted with it in a public assembly. It is not to
be supposed but she was strangely confounded, for she had professed
the contrary to everybody. There were present at the same time the
duchess dowager, the Lord of Ravestain, the Lord of Humbercourt, and the
chancellor.
The Duke of Cleves and others had been hitherto entertained and
amused with hopes of marriage, but, upon this discovery, all of them
were highly incensed, and dissensions began now to break out and
discover themselves. The Duke of Cleves had all along taken the Lord
of Humbercourt to be his friend, and believed him willing to promote
his marriage with the princess; but this letter convinced him to the
contrary, and made him entirely become his enemy. The Bishop of Liege
had a quarrel with him before, for what he had done against him at Liege
(where the Lord of Humbercourt had been governor), and William de la
Marck was his adversary also. The young Count of St. Paul[614], son to
the Constable of France, mortally hated both him and the chancellor,
upon account of their having delivered his father into the king’s hands
at Peronne, as you have already been informed. The Gantois had a spite
against them, not that they had ever injured them in the least, but
merely on account of the great authority which they had borne; and
certainly they were as deserving of the power they exercised as any
ministers of state that ever had the administration of affairs in their
time, having always discharged their trust faithfully and honestly, as
good and loyal servants to their master.
In short, the letter having been shown in the morning, the very same
night[615] the chancellor and the Lord of Humbercourt were arrested
by the people of Ghent; and although they had been informed of their
design, they had no power to attempt making their escape, as it often
happens in such cases. I question not but the Duke of Cleves and
their other enemies, whom I mentioned before, were very active and
instrumental in seizing them. With them they also secured Monsieur
William de Clugny[616], Bishop of Therouenne (who died afterwards Bishop
of Poictiers), and put them all three together into custody. The people
of Ghent, contrary to their old method of revenge, proceeded legally,
as they pretended, against them, and appointed lawyers to interrogate
them, one of whom was of the house of La Marck[617], a mortal enemy
to the Lord of Humbercourt. Their first question was, why they had
commanded the Lord des Cordes to deliver up Arras?[618] but that they
did not much insist on, though indeed they had committed no other action
that was criminal; but their rage did not stop here, for the citizens
were not in the least concerned to see their prince divested of such a
town, nor were their prudence and penetration so great as to foresee the
ill consequences that would attend the loss of so important a place.
They insisted more particularly upon two points; the one was, certain
bribes, which it was urged they had lately taken in a certain cause
between a private person and the city of Ghent, upon account of which
the chancellor had given judgment for the city; but to that charge of
bribery they made a good defence, by alleging that their cause was
good, and their judgment was fair and just: and as for money, they had
never demanded it, or ordered it to be demanded, but the townsmen had
offered it of their own accord, and they had accepted it. The second
article of their charge was, that during their tenure of authority under
their late master Duke Charles, they had done many things contrary
to the privileges and statutes of the town of Ghent, and whoever did
so, was condemned to die by their charter. But this charge was of no
force nor validity against them, for they being neither subjects nor
natives of that city[619], were not bound by their privileges; and if
Duke Charles or his father had infringed or encroached upon those said
privileges, it was by their own act and deed, and they had consented
to it by articles of agreement that had been drawn up between them,
after numerous wars and dissensions; and the remaining privileges which
were confirmed to them (which, indeed, were greater than was necessary
for their advantage) were still preserved inviolably, without the least
diminution. Notwithstanding the defence of these two worthy and eminent
persons to the two charges that were brought against them (for the chief
one, which I have mentioned before, was not insisted on), they were both
condemned to death by the magistrates of the city of Ghent, assembled
in their Town-hall, for infringement of their civic privileges and
receiving bribes. After judgment was given, the two lords were astonished
at their cruel sentence, and not without reason, for being in their
enemies’ hands, there was no possibility of escaping. However, they
thought fit to appeal to the King of France in his court of Parliament
at Paris, hoping at least it would defer their execution for some time,
and, in the meanwhile, give their friends an opportunity of exerting
themselves to save their lives. Before sentence was passed, they had
been put upon the rack, contrary to all law and justice. In six days’
time their whole process was finished, and when sentence was given, in
spite of their appeal, they allowed them but three hours for confession
and the settlement of their temporal affairs, upon expiration of which
they were brought upon the scaffold[620], which had been erected in the
market-place.
As soon as the Princess of Burgundy (since Duchess of Austria) had
received the news of their condemnation, she came herself in person to
the Town-hall to beg their lives; but, finding she could not prevail, she
ran into the market-place, where all the people were assembled together
in arms, and saw the two prisoners upon the scaffold. The young princess
was in mourning, with her head dressed merely with a simple kerchief, on
purpose to move pity and compassion, and, in this posture, with tears in
her eyes, and her hair dishevelled, she begged and entreated the people
to have pity upon her two servants, and restore them to her again. A
great part of the people would fain have complied with her request, and
were willing they should be saved, but others violently opposed it, and
they were at push of pike one with another. At last, those who were for
the execution, being the stronger party, called out to the executioners
to do their office, and immediately both their heads were struck off, and
the poor princess returned to her palace very sad and disconsolate for
the loss of the two persons in whom she chiefly confided.
After the Gantois had committed this exploit, they removed from about the
Princess the Lord of Ravestain and the duchess dowager, Duke Charles’s
widow, because both of them were mentioned in the letter which the
chancellor and the Lord of Humbercourt had delivered to the king, as
you have heard; so that the citizens had now the sole authority and
management of the poor young princess; and well may she be called poor,
not only in respect of her great loss of the important towns which had
been taken from her, which were irrecoverable by force, by reason of the
great power and strength of the king, who was now in possession of them
(though by favour, friendship, or composition, she might still hope to
have them restored); but her greatest misfortune was that she was in the
power of the mortal and inveterate enemies of her family. Their actions,
however, in the main proceeded rather from folly than cunning, the
generality of them being stupid and heavy mechanics, who have the sole
power and administration of affairs among the Gantois, though they be
persons of no experience in politics, and no knowledge in the government
of a state. Their cunning consists chiefly in two points; one is always
to desire and endeavour to weaken and retrench the power of their prince;
the other is, that when they have beep guilty of the least false step,
and find themselves not able to defend it, never any persons seek peace
with so much humility and submission as they do, nor give more liberally
to purchase it; for this I will say of them, never any people understood
better how to make their applications, and where to place their bribes,
than the Gantois.
Whilst the king was busy in subduing the towns and places above mentioned
in the marches of Picardy, his army was in Burgundy, under the command,
apparently, of the Prince of Orange[621] (who is still reigning), a
native and subject of the county of Burgundy, but one who had recently,
for the second time, become an enemy of Duke Charles, so that the king
made use of him, because he was a powerful noble in both the county and
duchy of Burgundy, and was likewise well connected and greatly beloved.
But the Lord of Craon was the king’s lieutenant, and had the real charge
of the army, and was the person in whom the king reposed most confidence;
for he was a man of great wisdom, and thoroughly devoted to his master,
though somewhat too fond of gain. This Lord of Craon, when he drew near
Burgundy, sent forward the Prince of Orange and others to Dijon, to use
persuasion, and require the people to render obedience to the king; and
they managed the matter so adroitly, principally by means of the Prince
of Orange, that the city of Dijon and all the other towns in the duchy of
Burgundy, together with many in the county, gave their allegiance to the
king. But Aussonne and some other strongholds held out for the Princess
Mary.
Large estates were promised to the Prince of Orange for that service,
and furthermore, that all the towns in the county of Burgundy should be
placed in his hands, which came to him in succession from the Prince of
Orange his grandfather[622], and concerning which he was in litigation
with his uncles, the Lords of Chasteau-Guyon[623], who he said had been
favoured by the late Duke Charles. For their cause had been solemnly
argued before him for several days[624], and the duke, by advice of
many learned clerks, gave judgment against the prince, at least so he
stated; for which cause he left the duke’s service, and joined the king.
But notwithstanding his promises, when the Lord of Craon found himself
in possession of the places above mentioned, and had in his hands all
the towns and estates to which the prince laid claim as part of his
grandfather’s succession, he would not give them up to the Prince of
Orange for all the solicitation he could make. Wherefore the king wrote
to him on several occasions without any dissimulation, for he knew well
that the Lord of Craon was on bad terms with the Prince of Orange; but
the king was afraid of displeasing the Lord of Craon, for he had all the
country under his control; and his majesty did not think the Prince of
Orange would have courage to stir up Burgundy to revolt, as he afterwards
did to a very great extent. But for the present, I will leave this
subject till a more convenient place.[625]
After the Gantois had taken the government of the young princess into
their hands, and caused her two favourites to be beheaded, and removed
such persons from the court as they thought obnoxious to them, they began
to assume the power of appointing and displacing all officers, both civil
and military; and they plundered and banished all such as had served the
house of Burgundy in any remarkable way, without any respect to their
merit or character; and their malice being more particularly aimed at
the Burgundians, they banished them all, as if they had laboured and
studied as much to force them into the king’s service as his majesty did
to allure them; and he used all the ways of fair words, great presents,
and large promises, besides the terror of his forces, which were very
numerous in their country, to gain them over to his interest. To begin
their authority with a piece of novelty, they released the Duke of
Guelders out of prison, who had been committed by Duke Charles, and
endured a long confinement for reasons previously mentioned. The towns
of Bruges, Ghent, and Ypres, having assembled an army among themselves,
they made the Duke of Guelders general of it, and sent him with orders
to burn and demolish the suburbs of Tournay; but that enterprise proved
little to his advantage. It had been better for him and themselves,
too, if they had sent a body of 200 men to have reinforced the besieged
garrison of Arras, or 10,000 francs to have paid those troops that were
there already (provided they had arrived in time), than ten such armies,
though it consisted of 12,000 or 14,000 well-paid men; because, all they
could hope for by this expedition, was to burn a few pitiful houses of no
importance to the king, as they paid him no tax; but their knowledge in
state affairs was not deep.
The Duke of Guelders having invested Tournay, ordered the suburbs to be
set on fire. There were in the town about 300 or 400 men-at-arms, who
sallied out and fell upon the rear of the besiegers, and they at once
began to fly. The Duke of Guelders, being a valiant prince, thought to
restore the fight and give his men opportunity to retreat; but, not being
vigorously sustained, he was knocked off his horse, and himself, with
a good number of his men, slain, though in the action there were not
many of the king’s soldiers engaged; and therefore with this loss the
rest of the Flemish army retreated. The Princess of Burgundy (according
to report) was very well pleased with their misfortune, and so were
all those who had any kindness for her; for she was credibly informed,
that the Gantois had resolved to force her to a marriage with the Duke
of Guelders; being assured, that by fair means they could never have
prevailed with her, for the reasons mentioned in a previous part of these
Memoirs.
CH. XVIII.—A Digression, serving to demonstrate that Wars and Divisions
are permitted by God for the Punishment of wicked Princes and People,
with various Arguments and Instances which happened in the Author’s
Life-time, chiefly intended for the Instruction of Princes.
I cannot understand why God has preserved the city of Ghent so long,
which has occasioned so much mischief, and which is no good either to
the public, or the country wherein it is seated, and much less to its
prince. It is not like Bruges, which indeed is a place of trade, and of
great resort for foreigners of all nations, in which more commodities
and merchandise are disposed of than in any other town in Europe, so
that to have had that town destroyed, would have been an irreparable
loss; but it seems to me, that God has not made any created being in
this world, neither man nor beast, nor anything else, but He has set up
some other thing in opposition to it, to keep it within just bounds of
fear and humility. In this respect Ghent is admirably well situated,
for certainly the countries round about it are the most luxurious, the
most splendid, and the most addicted to those pleasures to which man is
inclined, of any country in Christendom; yet they are good Christians,
and to outward appearance God is religiously honoured and served. But it
is not the house of Burgundy alone that has a thorn in its side; France
has England as a check: England has Scotland; and Spain, Portugal (I will
not mention Granada[626], for they are enemies to the true faith, though
otherwise Granada has given the kingdom of Castile much trouble to this
very day.) The princes of Italy, who generally have no other title to
their territories but what they derive from Heaven (and of that we can
have no certain knowledge), and who rule their subjects with cruelty,
violence, and oppression in respect to their taxes, are curbed and kept
in check by the commonwealths and free states in Italy, namely, Venice,
Florence, Genoa, Bologna, Sienna, Pisa, Lucca, and others; which are in
a great many respects diametrically opposite, they to the princes, and
the princes to them; and all keep a watchful eye over one another, that
neither of them may grow too powerful for his neighbour. But to come to
particulars in relation to the state of Italy. The house of Arragon has
that of Anjou to curb it; the Visconti Dukes of Milan have the house of
Orleans, and though they be feeble abroad, their subjects hold them in
great dread. The Venetians (as I said before) have the princes of Italy,
but more especially the Florentines, in opposition against them; and
the Florentines, the neighbouring commonwealths of Sienna and Genoa.
The Genoese are sufficiently plagued with their own bad government and
treachery towards each other, not to mention their factions and parties,
the Fregosi, the Adorni, the Dorias, and others; but this everybody knows
so well, that I shall insist no longer on it.
In Germany you are well acquainted with the animosity that rages between
the houses of Austria and Bavaria, and how the house of Bavaria is
subdivided within itself. The house of Austria again has the Swiss for
its enemy, upon the account only of a small village called Switz (not
able to raise 600 men), but now the whole country takes its denomination
from it, and is so increased in power and riches that two of the best
towns belonging to the house of Austria are Zurich and Fribourg, both
of which are in Switzerland. Besides, they have won several memorable
battles, and slain several of the Dukes of Austria in the field. There
are also many other factions and private animosities in Germany; the
house of Cleves against the house of Guelders, and the Dukes of Guelders
against, the Dukes of Juliers. The Easterlings (that remote people in the
north) withstand the Kings of Denmark; and, to speak in general of all
Germany, there are so many fortified places, and so many people in them
ready for all manner of mischief (as plundering, robbing, and killing)
upon every trivial occasion, that it is a wonder to think of it. A
private person, with only one servant to wait on him, will defy a whole
city, and declare war against a duke, that he may have a pretence to rob
and plunder him; especially if he has a little castle, perched upon a
rock, to retreat to, where he can keep twenty or thirty horse, to scour
the country, and plunder according to his directions. Robbers of this
kind are seldom punished by the German princes, who employ them upon all
occasions; but the towns and free states punish them severely whenever
they catch any of them, and have often besieged and blown up their
castles, for which purpose they have generally a certain number of forces
in pay, who are always in readiness to defend them. So that these princes
and towns in Germany are placed in this opposition and discord, that no
one may encroach upon his neighbour—which is absolutely necessary, not
only in Germany, but all the world over.
I have spoken only of Europe, for of the affairs of Asia and Africa I am
not sufficiently informed, though I have heard they are not exempted from
factions and wars, which are carried on even more mechanically than ours;
for I myself have known, that in some places in Africa they have sold
one another to the Christians; as Portugal can witness, which has had,
and still has, abundance of slaves of that nature. But I think, we have
little reason to object on this account against the Saracens, for there
are some places in Christendom where Christians practise the same thing,
but they are either situated under the Turk’s dominion, or else bordering
upon it, as in some parts of Greece.
It may seem, therefore, that these factions and parties which prevail
everywhere, are necessary for the world, and that these contradictions
and oppositions which God has set up against all states, and almost
against every private person, are so many pricks and spurs to enforce
them to be just. For my own part, it seems so to me (who am a person
but of indifferent learning, and will not hold any opinion that is not
obvious to every one’s capacity), and that chiefly upon account of the
brutishness of some princes, and the wickedness of others, who have
judgment and experience enough, but choose to pervert it; for a prince,
or any man else, who has power and authority over those with whom he
resides, and has seen or read more than other people, must of necessity
be greatly improved, or rendered worse by his conversation with men
and books; for wicked men grow the worse for their knowledge, but the
good improve extremely. However, it is probable that learning does
more good than harm to the persons that are possessed of it, for being
conscious within themselves when they act contrary to their reason, it
deters them from doing wrong, or at least from doing it so often as
perhaps they otherwise would; and though they be not really good, it
makes them unwilling to appear bad, or be thought to do injustice to
any one. Of this I have seen many instances among great persons, where
learning has restrained them from putting in practice their mischievous
intentions; and sometimes men are deterred by the prospect and dread of
God’s judgments, of which they have a greater idea than the ignorant,
who have neither observed nor read anything. This, therefore, I will
venture to say, that those princes who do not know themselves, and
for want of a right education, or perhaps through some defect in their
constitution, are indiscreet and rash, cannot have any true knowledge how
far God has extended the power and dominion which He has given them over
their subjects: for they have neither read nor learned it themselves,
nor conversed with any but fawning sycophants, who know nothing of
the matter, and if they did, would be afraid to instruct and admonish
them, for fear they should incur their royal displeasure: and if any
bold-spirited men venture to remonstrate, they are so far from being
encouraged in it, that they are at best looked upon as fools, and many
times their good intentions are misinterpreted.
It is therefore to be concluded, that neither natural reason, nor our own
knowledge, nor the fear of God, nor love of our neighbour, nor anything
else, is always sufficient to restrain us from doing violence to one
another, or to withhold us from retaining what we have got already, or to
hinder us from usurping the possessions of other people by all possible
ways. For if great princes once get possession of any towns or castles,
though they belong to their nearest relations or neighbours, all the
reasons above mentioned will not prevail with them to restore them; and
after they have once published some artful reasons or specious pretence
for keeping them, everybody applauds their reasons, especially those
who are nearest about them, and desirous of being in their favour. I am
not speaking here of disputes between inferior persons, for they have
superiors above them who sometimes do them justice; at least, if a man’s
cause be at all good, his pockets full, and he willing to part with his
money, and unless the court (that is the prince under whose authority he
lives) opposes him. So that it would seem probable that God is as it were
constrained to show many signs, and to chastise us with many rods for our
indolence and perverseness; but the brutishness and ignorance of princes
are very dangerous and dreadful, because the happiness or misery of their
subjects depends wholly upon them. Wherefore, if a prince who is powerful
and has a large standing army, by the help of which he can raise money to
pay his troops, or to spend in a luxurious way of living, or in anything
that does not directly tend to the advancement of the common good, and
if he will not retrench his outrageous extravagances himself, and those
courtiers that are about him rather endeavour to flatter and applaud him
in everything he does, than to dissuade him from doing ill (for fear of
incurring his displeasure), who can apply any remedy in this case but God
alone?
God indeed does not now converse with mankind after the same manner as
He did of old, nor are there any prophets to declare His pleasure, but
His word is sufficiently known and declared, and clear enough to any
that are willing to understand it; so that there will be none excused
for ignorance, especially if they have had time and natural sense to
consider these matters. How, then, shall those great princes escape who
keep their people in such subjection, that they raise what taxes they
please by force, by which they compel their subjects to obedience, and
enforce the least of their commands with penalty of life? Some of them
punish under pretence of justice and have those about them who are always
ready to comply with their wishes, and make a capital crime of what in
itself is a venial offence. If they want sufficient evidence to condemn
a man, they have ways of multiplying interrogatories, and falsifying the
examinations of the witnesses, to weary the defendant, and destroy him
with expenses, delaying his trial, and by that means giving encouragement
to any that will bring a fresh information against him. If that will
not do, and answers not their intentions, they have a shorter method,
by stating the case as they please themselves, and giving out it was
necessary the culprit should be made an example of. To others that are
of a higher quality, and depend upon them, they say, “You have disobeyed
and done contrary to the duty and allegiance you owe me:” and upon that
bare pretence and allegation they proceed, if they can, to seize upon
their estates by force, and reduce them to extreme poverty and distress.
If they have a neighbour that is of a martial temper, they will be sure
not to disturb him: but if his kingdom is in a poor weak condition,
he will never be left at rest: they will assert he has assisted their
enemies, or levied contributions on their countries; or else they will
excite quarrels to give them occasion to ruin him. If that will not
do, they will support their enemies secretly against him, and will
supply them with troops. They think their own subjects live too long,
though they have served their predecessors never so faithfully, and will
displace[627] them to make room for new creatures of their own. They will
molest and quarrel with the clergy upon the score of their benefices, in
order to extort compositions for the enriching of some person recommended
to them by such as are subservient to their looser pleasures, and who
often have great influence upon them. They exhaust their nobility in
preparations for war, which they undertake at their pleasure, without
consulting their council, or such as they ought to advise with before
they enter upon action, though they have employed both their persons and
estates to enable them to undertake it. To the common people they leave
little or nothing, though their taxes be greater than they ought; nor do
they take any care to restrain the licentiousness of their soldiers, who
are constantly quartered throughout the country without paying anything;
and commit all manner of excesses and insolencies, as everybody knows;
for not contented with the ordinary provisions for which they are paid,
they beat and abuse the poor country people, and force them to buy bread,
wine, and other dainties, on purpose for their eating; and if the good
man’s wife or daughter happens to be handsome, his wisest course is to
keep them out of their sight. And yet, where money is plenty, it would
be no hard matter to prevent this disorder and confusion, by paying them
every two months at farthest, which would obviate their pretence of want
of pay, and leave them without excuse, and cause no inconvenience to the
prince, because his money is raised punctually every year. I speak this
in compassion to this kingdom, which certainly is more oppressed and
harassed in quartering soldiers than any in all Europe; nor can anything
but the wisdom of a king redress these injuries. But neighbouring
countries have other modes of punishment.
CH. XIX.—On the Character of the French People, and the Government of
their Kings, with Reflections on the Misfortunes which occur to both
great and small.
But to proceed in my design. Is there any king or prince upon earth
who has power to raise one penny of money, except on his own demesnes,
without the consent of the poor subject who is to pay it, unless it be
by tyranny and violence? It may be objected, that there are some times
in which the assembling of great councils cannot be waited for, and that
their debates would be too tedious. The preparations and beginnings of
war are never so sudden but kings have time enough to consider of it;
and when it is begun with the consent and concurrence of his subjects,
the prince is always more strong and formidable to his enemy. If it be
a defensive war, the storm is seen afar off, especially if it be an
invasion, and then the good subject cannot complain, or refuse anything
that is demanded: nor can any case happen so suddenly, but some important
persons may be called together, to show the necessity of the war, which
is much better than to commence hostilities arbitrarily and feignedly,
with a design only to raise money. Money, I am sensible, is necessary
at all times to secure the frontiers, in times of peace as well as war,
that they may not be surprised; but all should be done with moderation,
and depends much upon the wisdom of the prince; for if he be a good man
he knows what God is, what the world is, what he ought to do, and what
he ought to avoid. In my opinion, of all the countries in the world with
which I was ever acquainted, the government is no where so well managed,
the people no where less obnoxious to violence and oppression, nor their
houses less liable to be destroyed and demolished by war than in England,
for there the calamities fall only upon the authors of them.
Of all the kings in the world our sovereign has the least reason to use
this expression, “I have the privilege to raise what money I please upon
my subjects;” for that is a power neither he nor any prince else has; and
they do him no honour who say so in order to make him appear greater,
for they make him only more terrible and odious to his neighbours, who
would never consent to live under his government. But, if our king or his
courtiers, who are desirous of augmenting his reputation and grandeur,
were to say thus: “My subjects are so good and loyal, that they refuse me
nothing I ask them; I am the most feared, best obeyed, and best served by
my subjects of any prince in the world; my subjects are the most patient
under injury and affliction, and most forgetful of all past sufferings;”
this, in my judgment, is more honourable (and I am sure it is true) than
to say, “I take what I will; I have privilege to do it, and I will keep
it.” Our late King Charles V. used no such expression; nor indeed did
I ever hear it from any king; but I have heard it from their servants,
who thought they had done their masters great service thereby; but they
either mistook the interest of their master, or spoke thus to show their
devotion to his power; if otherwise, they did not know what they said.
As an instance of the affections of the French to their prince, we need
look no further back than our own times. At the meeting of the three
Estates at Tours[628], upon the death of our good master Louis XI. (whom
God pardon!), who died in 1483, that assembly in such a juncture might
be thought dangerous; and some there were (but considerable neither
for their quality nor virtue) who said then, and have often repeated
it since, that it was a diminution of the king’s prerogative, and no
less than treason against him to talk of assembling the Estates; but
it is such as these who commit treason against God, the king, and
their country; and those who use these expressions are in undeserved
authority and reputation, and are wholly unfit for anything but flattery,
whispering lies and stories into the ears of their masters, which make
them afraid of these assemblies, lest they should take notice of them and
their manners, and call them to an account for their villanous practices.
This kingdom was at that time accounted very weak by all people, having
endured for twenty years and upwards, such great and horrible taxes as
exceeded all precedent by above 3,000,000 of francs per annum. For
Charles VII. never in any one year raised above 1,800,000 francs; and his
son, Louis XI., in the very year of his death, raised 4,700,000 francs,
besides what was raised for the artillery and ammunition; and certainly
it was a sad thing to see and hear of the poverty of the people. But
one thing was very commendable in our master; he hoarded up none, but
employed all he raised in building citadels, castles, or fortifications
for the defence of his kingdom; which he performed with more judgment and
profusion than any of his predecessors. He was likewise very liberal to
the church, and in some respects more than was necessary; for he robbed
the poor to give to the rich: but in this world no one can arrive at
perfection.
And yet, in this weak, oppressed, and impoverished kingdom, upon the
death of our king, was there any sedition among the people against the
prince who now reigns? Did either nobles or commons take arms to oppose
him? Was there any one else whom they desired to place on the throne?
Did they endeavour either to deprive, or so much as to restrain him in
his authority, that he should not have the power of a king? Not at all!
and indeed if any had been so conceited as to say yes, they would have
had none to help them, for his subjects acted quite contrary; and all
the nobility, gentry, commons, and citizens, obeyed his summons, made
their personal appearance before him, recognised his power, and swore
allegiance to him. The princes and nobles delivered in their petitions
humbly upon their knees, and a council of twelve were appointed to take
them into consideration, and according to the advice of that council, the
king (being then but thirteen years old) did either grant or refuse them.
In the assembly of the Estates, the king and his council being present,
some requests and remonstrances were made for the good of the kingdom,
with all possible humility and deference to the good pleasure of the king
and his council. Whatever was desired they granted; and whatever was made
appear by written calculation to be necessary for the king’s expense,
they complied with without the least opposition. The sum was 2,500,000
francs (enough in all conscience, and rather too much, unless some new
occasion of expense happened); but, lest that should not be sufficient
the Estates entreated, that at the end of two years they might be
convened again, and in case he should be in want of money, they would
furnish him with as much as he pleased; and if he were invaded, or in any
way affronted, they would be ready with their lives, as well as fortunes,
to support him, and would refuse nothing that he should demand.
Is it to such obedient subjects as these that the king should insist
upon his prerogative, and take at his pleasure what they are so ready
and liberal to give? Would it not be more just, both towards God and
the world, to raise money this way, than by violence and disorder? For
there is no prince who can raise money any other way, unless it be by
tyranny, and contrary to the laws of the church; but many are so stupid
as not to know what rights they have in this respect. On the other hand,
there are people in the world who affront and provoke their princes,
neither obeying their commands, nor supplying their wants, but mutinying,
rebelling, and contemning their authority, wherein they act contrary to
both their allegiance and their duty.
When I say kings and princes, I mean themselves or their deputies; when
subjects, I mean such as are magistrates and bear any rule or authority
under them.
The greatest misfortunes proceed from the most powerful; for those who
are weak are patiently contented. When I speak of great powers, I mean
women[629] as well as men; for sometimes they are placed in authority,
either by the over-fondness of their husbands, or for the administration
of their own or their children’s affairs, or when any territory accrues
by them on their marriage. If I should treat of the inferior states and
conditions of human life, I should be too tedious, and therefore I shall
confine myself to the greater, since by those the power and justice of
God are more visibly made known; for if calamities befall a poor man,
they are imputed to his poverty and imprudence, and nobody cares about
him; if he breaks his neck, or is drowned, it was because he had nobody
with him, and none will give themselves any farther trouble about it.
But when an accident happens to any great city it is otherwise; yet even
that is not so much spoken of as anything which happens to princes. The
reason therefore why the power of God is more conspicuous against princes
and great men, is, because the poor and such as are in distress have
enough to punish them whenever they offend; and are frequently chastised
when they are innocent, either as a terror to other people, or for the
forfeiture of their estates, or not improbably by the wickedness of the
judge. But if the offenders are great, as princes, princesses, governors,
or counsellors of any rebellious town or state, let their exorbitance be
never so enormous, who will dare to inquire into their faults? who will
inform against them? who will question them? who will punish them? I
speak of the bad, not the good; for of good there are but few to be met
with. And what are the motives that induce great persons to commit these
enormities, and many more (which for brevity’s sake I have not mentioned)
without the least regard or consideration of God’s divine power and
justice? In men of learning it is want of faith, in ignorant persons,
it is want of knowledge and faith also; but principally of faith, from
whence (in my opinion) all the mischiefs that are incident to mankind do
spring, and more especially the mischiefs of those who complain of being
injured and oppressed by such as are powerful and strong; for whether a
man be rich or poor, if he puts his trust in God, and is firmly convinced
that the pains of hell are such as they really are; if he is conscious
of any injury that he has done to his neighbour, or that his grandfather
or father came wrongfully by anything that he now enjoys (let it be what
it will, whether a duchy, a county, a town, a castle, moveable goods, a
meadow, a pool, a mill, or anything else); and if he firmly believes,
as we all ought to believe, “I shall never enter into Paradise, if I
do not do what I ought, and restore all that I hold wrongfully from
other people,” it is not to be supposed that any prince or princess, or
in short, any person of what condition soever, would detain anything
from his subject or neighbour, or condemn any innocent person to death,
keep him in prison, or impoverish one to enrich another, or do anything
dishonourable to their parents and relations, to gratify themselves in
their pleasures with women or otherwise. Certainly not: it is incredible.
If, therefore, men had firm faith, and believed what God and the church
have commanded under pain of damnation, knowing that our life is but
short, and the horrible pains of hell eternal and without intermission,
they would never act as they do. We may safely conclude therefore, that
the want of faith is the source of all mischiefs and villany.
But to illustrate this idea by an example:—When a king or prince happens
to be taken prisoner, and is apprehensive of continuing so all the days
of his life, is there any thing so dear to him in the world that he would
not give to purchase his liberty? He will part not only with his own
property, but that of his subjects too, for his redemption; as you may
remember in the case of King John of France, who was taken prisoner by
the Prince of Wales[630] at the battle of Poictiers. This King John paid
3,000,000 of francs, gave away all Aquitaine (at least all that he held
of it), besides other territories and towns, to the extent of a third
part of his dominions (by which means he so impoverished the kingdom,
that for a long time after, the current coin of it was nothing but round
bits of leather with a silver nail in the middle[631]); all which was
given by King John and by his son Charles the Wise for the ransom of his
father; though the English would not have put him to death if they had
given nothing, but at worst would only have made his confinement more
severe; but even if they had put him to death, the pains of the execution
would not have been any way equal to the torments of hell. Why then did
he yield what he did, to the ruin and impoverishment both of his children
and subjects, unless because he believed what he saw, and imagined there
was no other way of obtaining his liberty? But perhaps when he committed
that sin which brought down this judgment upon himself, his children
and subjects, he had no steadfast belief that the doing of it was an
offence against God’s will and commandments. Now, though King John gave
all these territories and towns to his enemies, to redeem himself from
captivity; yet there is not one prince (or at least very few princes),
who, having any town or province that belongs to their neighbours in
their possession, will restore it upon consideration of God’s justice, or
to avoid the torments of hell. I say, therefore, that it is want of faith.
I accordingly asked the question before, Who would inform against great
persons? who would accuse them to the judge? and where would a judge be
found to punish them? The information that will be brought against them
shall be the cries and clamours of the people whom they have in so many
ways injured and oppressed, without the least pity or compassion; and the
mournful complaints of widows and orphans, whose husbands and parents
they have unjustly put to death to their utter ruin and destruction:
and in short, the lamentations of all those whom they have tortured or
persecuted either in their persons or estates. These with their sighs,
their piteous tears, and their groans, shall be an information against
them before our Saviour, the true Judge of the world, who perhaps will
not defer their punishment till the next world, but do them justice in
this; which punishment, as I said before, will proceed from their want of
faith, and a firm trust and belief in God’s commandments.
It must be acknowledged, therefore, that God is forced to show tokens
and examples, that princes and the rest of the world may be convinced,
that the enormity of their actions and the weakness of their faith have
drawn those heavy judgments upon them; and that they may understand that
it is God who exercises His power and justice to punish them, because
their offences are above any other cognizance but His. But the judgments
of God, at first, seldom produce any amendment, how great or how lasting
soever they may be. However, they never fall upon any prince, minister
of state, or magistrate, but the consequences are very dangerous and
dreadful for the subject. When I speak of misfortunes, I mean only such
as are detrimental to the subject; for, if a prince falls from his horse,
breaks his leg, or falls into a violent fever, he is cured again, and
it makes him wiser for the future. I call them misfortunes, when God
is so highly provoked that He can endure no longer, but will manifest
His Divine justice and power, and then His method is first to infatuate
their understanding (which is a great punishment where it is inflicted),
then He visits their family, and suffers murmurs and dissensions to
arise in it; then the prince himself is so far abandoned and given
over by God that, in the height of his indignation and folly, he shuns
and despises the counsels and conversation of wise men, and consults
none but irrational fiery upstarts without either merit, virtue, or
estate, but who will flatter him and comply with whatever he says. If
he proposes to raise one penny, they say two: if the prince threatens a
man, they advise him to hang him; and so in everything else, spurring
him still on to make himself feared, and behaving themselves in the
meantime proudly and insolently, in hopes to strike awe and terror into
the people, as if authority had been their inheritance. Those whom
such princes, by the advice of such evil counsellors, have deprived of
their posts and employments, after having served in them a long time,
and contracted friendship and acquaintance in their dominions, are very
much disgusted, and all their relations and well-wishers are equally
dissatisfied; and perhaps they are pressed so far as to stand upon their
defence, or else enter into the service of some neighbouring prince, who
possibly may be at enmity with him that discarded them, by which means
the dissatisfaction within the country may give opportunity to bring
in a foreign army. Is there any plague or persecution so horrible as
war between friends that are provoked? or is any hatred so mortal and
pitiless? Foreign enemies are easily repelled when a nation is unanimous
at home, because the invaders want intelligence and correspondence.
Can you imagine that an imprudent prince, surrounded with such silly
advisers, can foresee calamities that are remote, when he cannot discern
domestic divisions, nor comprehend how they can hurt him, nor conceive
they proceed from God? His table is as well served, he sleeps as well as
ever in his bed, his stables and his wardrobe are the same, and the pomp
and splendour of his court is much increased; for he attracts persons
by promises, divides among them the spoils and estates of those whom he
has banished, and lavishes away abundance of his own to increase his
renown. But, when he thinks least of it, God will raise him up an enemy
whom perhaps he never heard of: then melancholy thoughts will arise, and
suspicions of those whom he has offended, and he will be afraid even of
his very friends; yet will he not make God his refuge, but will have
recourse to arms.
CH. XX.—Examples of Misfortunes that have happened to Princes, and
Revolutions that have been brought to pass in States by the Judgment of
God.
Have we not seen in our own days such examples among our neighbours? Have
we not seen King Edward IV. of England, the head of the house of York,
supplant the house of Lancaster, under which his father and he had lived
a long time; and though he had actually sworn allegiance to Henry VI.,
who was of the Lancastrian line, yet afterwards this Edward kept King
Henry a prisoner for many years in the Tower of London (the metropolis of
that kingdom), and at last put him to death?
Have we not seen the Earl of Warwick, the chief manager of all King
Edward’s affairs (after having put all his adversaries to death, and
particularly the Dukes of Somerset), at length turn rebel against his
master King Edward, marry his daughter to the Prince of Wales, son to
King Henry VI.; endeavour to restore the house of Lancaster; and return
into England, where he was defeated, and slain in battle himself, his
brothers, and relations; besides many others of the nobility of England,
who not long before had vanquished and put to death their adversaries?
Afterwards, times changed, and the children revenged the destruction of
their parents. It is not to be imagined that such judgments proceeded
from anything but the Divine justice. But (as I observed before) England
enjoyed this peculiar mercy above all other kingdoms, that neither the
country, nor the people, nor the houses, were wasted, destroyed, or
demolished; but the calamities and misfortunes of the war fell only upon
the soldiers, and especially on the nobility, of whom they are more than
ordinarily jealous; for nothing is perfect in this world.
As soon as King Edward had settled his affairs in this kingdom, he
received of our master 50,000 crowns a year[632], constantly paid him in
the Tower of London, and was grown as rich as his ambition could desire,
on a sudden he died[633] (and as was supposed) of melancholy for our
present king’s[634] marriage with Margaret[635], the Duke of Austria’s
daughter (his distemper seizing him upon the news of it), for then he
found himself outwitted as to his own daughter[636], to whom he had
given the title of Dauphiness. Upon this marriage the pension, which he
called tribute, was stopped, though indeed it was neither pension nor
tribute, as I have declared before. King Edward left his wife with two
sons (one called the Prince of Wales, and the other the Duke of York)
and two daughters. The Duke of Gloucester, King Edward’s brother, took
upon him the protectorship of his nephew, the Prince of Wales (who was
then about ten years old), swore allegiance to him as his sovereign,
and brought him to London, pretending to crown him; but his design was
only to entice the Duke of York out of the sanctuary[637], where he was
at that time with his mother, who had conceived some suspicion of his
intentions. In short, the conclusion was this; by the assistance of the
Bishop of Bath[638], (who had been formerly King Edward’s chancellor,
but falling afterwards into disgrace, had been removed from his place,
thrown into prison, and paid a round sum for his ransom), he executed his
designs, as you shall hear by and by.
This bishop discovered to the Duke of Gloucester that; his brother King
Edward had been formerly in love with a beautiful young lady[639], and
had promised her marriage, upon condition he might lie with her; the
lady consented, and, as the bishop affirmed, he married them when nobody
was present but they two and himself. His fortune depending upon the
court, he did not discover it, and persuaded the lady likewise to conceal
it, which she did, and the matter remained a secret. After this King
Edward married the daughter of an English gentleman, called the Lord
Rivers; this lady was a widow, and had two sons. The Bishop of Bath, as I
said before, discovered this matter to the Duke of Gloucester, and gave
his assistance in the execution of the barbarous designs of the duke, who
murdered his two nephews, and made himself king, by the name of Richard
III.[640] He caused the two daughters to be declared illegitimate by
parliament[641], took their coats of arms from them, and put all his
brother’s faithful servants to death, at least all he could get into his
power. But his cruel reign did not last long; for, being at the height of
his pride, in greater pomp and authority than any King of England for a
hundred years before, when he had beheaded the Duke of Buckingham[642],
and assembled a numerous army under his own command, God Almighty raised
him up an enemy that destroyed him, and that was the Earl of Richmond, a
person of no power, and one who had been long prisoner in Bretagne; but
he is now King of England, and is of the house of Lancaster, though, as I
am informed, not the next heir to the crown.
This Earl of Richmond told me, not long before his departure from this
kingdom, that from the time he was five years old he had been always a
fugitive or a prisoner. He had endured an imprisonment of fifteen years
or thereabouts in Bretagne, by the command of the late Duke Francis, into
whose hands he fell by extremity of weather, as he was escaping out of
France with his uncle the Earl of Pembroke.[643] I was at Duke Francis’s
court at the time when they were seized; the duke treated them very
handsomely for prisoners, and at King Edward’s death, supplied the Earl
of Richmond liberally both with men and ships; and having intelligence
with the Duke of Buckingham (who died for it afterwards) he sent him to
land his forces in England; but, meeting with foul weather and contrary
winds, he was driven into Dieppe, and from thence went back by land into
Bretagne. Being returned into Bretagne, he was afraid, having 500 English
in his train, of becoming burdensome to the duke, and feared he might
thereby induce him to make some agreement with King Richard[644], to his
prejudice and disadvantage, for he had some intimation that there were
secret practices on foot to that purpose; and therefore, he and his whole
retinue went away privately, without taking leave of the duke. Not long
after, our present king paid for the passage of 3000 or 4000 men, gave
him and his companions a considerable sum of money, and some pieces of
artillery, and sent him out of Normandy to land in some part of Wales,
where he was born. King Richard marched immediately to fight him, but
an English gentleman, called the Lord Stanley, who had married the Earl
of Richmond’s mother, joined the earl with 26,000 men. They came to a
battle[645], and the issue was, King Richard was slain, and the Earl
of Richmond crowned King of England on the field of battle, with the
crown that King Richard had brought along with him. Will you say this
is fortune? Certainly it is the just judgment of God. But, to make it
the more evident, not long after the murder of his nephews, as you have
heard, he lost his wife[646], (some say he made her away); he had but one
son, and he died presently after. This would have come in more properly
hereafter when I shall have to speak of King Edward’s death (for he was
alive at the time of the occurrences of this chapter), yet I thought it
not unseasonable here, as being pertinent to my discourse.
In like manner, it is not many years since we have seen as strange
revolutions in Spain, upon the death of the late King Henry of that
kingdom, who was married to the late King of Portugal’s sister, and by
her had a beautiful daughter; yet that daughter was not suffered to
succeed to the throne, but was deprived of the crown under pretence of
illegitimacy. But this business did not pass over without controversy
and blood; for the King of Portugal, assisted by several of the nobility
of Castile, took part with his niece: but King Henry’s sister carried
the kingdom in spite of all their opposition, and enjoys it to this
very day, having married the son of John, King of Arragon; so that this
judgment and decree was made in heaven, where many of the same nature are
undoubtedly made.
You have seen likewise, not many years since, the King of Scotland[647]
at war with his son[648], who was not above thirteen or fourteen years of
age. The son won the battle, and the king was killed upon the spot. This
king was accused of having caused the death of his brother and several
other persons of quality. You see also the duchy of Guelders out of the
right line, and you have heard of the late duke’s unnatural usage of his
father. I could instance many other cases of the like nature, that might
easily be known to be Divine chastisements, which are the sources of
war, and from whence proceed mortality and famine; and all evils arise
from want of faith. It must therefore be acknowledged (considering the
wickedness of mankind, and especially of great persons, who neither know
themselves, nor believe there is a God) that there is a necessity that
every prince or great lord should have an adversary to restrain and keep
him in humility and fear, or else there would be no living under them,
nor near them.