YOUTH
1440-1453
The heir of Burgundy was still in very tender years when he began to
take official part in public affairs, sometimes associated with one
parent, sometimes with the other.
There was a practical advantage in bringing the boy to the fore by
which the duke was glad to profit. With his own manifold interests, it
was impossible for him to be present in his various capitals as often
as was demanded by the usage of the diverse individual seigniories. It
was politic, therefore, to magnify the representative capacity of his
son and of his consort in order to obtain the grants and _aides_ which
certain of his subjects declared could be given only when requested
orally by their sovereign lord. Thus, in 1444, it was Count Charles
and the duchess who appeared in Holland to ask an _aide_.[1] In the
following year, Charles accompanied his father when Philip made one
of his rare visits--there were only three between 1428 and 1466--to
Holland and Zealand.
[Illustration: A CASTLE IN BURGUNDY]
Olivier de la Marche was among the attendants on this occasion, and he
describes with great detail how rejoiced were the inhabitants to have
their absentee count in their land.[2] Many matters could only be
set aright by his authority. Among the complaints brought to him at
Middelburg were accusations against a certain knight of high birth,
Jehan de Dombourc. Philip ordered that the man be arrested at once and
brought before him for trial. This was easier said than done. Warned
of his danger, Dombourc, with four or five comrades, took refuge in
the clock tower of the church of the Cordeliers, a sanctuary that
could not be taken by storm.[2] He was provided with a good store of
food, this audacious criminal, and prepared to stand a siege. There he
remained three days, because, for the honour of the Church, they could
not fire upon him.
"And I remember [adds La Marche] seeing a nun come out and call to
Jehan Dombourc, her brother, advising him to perish defending himself
rather than to dishonour their lineage by falling into the hands of
the executioner. Nevertheless, finally he was forced to surrender to
his prince, and he was beheaded in the market-place at Middelburg,
but, at the plea of his sister, the said nun, his body was delivered
to her to be buried in consecrated ground."
In this same visit Philip presided over the Zealand estates and the
young count sat by his side, not as an idle spectator, but because
usage required the presence of the heir as well as that of the Count
of Zealand.
When Charles was twelve he was present at an assembly of the Order of
the Golden Fleece held in Ghent. It was the first occasion of the kind
witnessed by La Marche, and very minute is his description of the
lavish magnificence of the affair, undoubtedly intended to awe the
citizens into complying with the requests of their Count of Flanders.
Charles played a prominent part in all the functions, and assisted in
the election of his tutor, Seigneur et Ber d'Auxy. Another candidate
of that year was Frank van Borselen, Count of Ostrevant, widower of
Jacqueline, late Countess of Holland.
In 1446, the little Countess of Charolais died at Brussels.
"Honourably as befitted a king's daughter" was she buried at Ste.
Gudule.[4]
"Tireless in their devotion were the duke and duchess in her last
illness, and Charles VII. despatched two skilled doctors to her
aid but all efforts were vain.
"Much bemourned was the princess for she was virtuous. God have
pity on her soul"
piously ejaculates La Marche.
A little item[5] in the accounts suggests that a pleasant friendship
had existed between the two young people:
"To Jehan de la Court, harper of Mme. the Countess of Charolais,
for a harp which she had bought from him and given to Ms. the
Count of Charolais for him to play and take his amusement, xii
francs."[6]
It is easy to surmise that music was not, however, the young count's
favourite amusement. In Philip's court, tournaments were still held
and afforded a fascinating entertainment for a lad whose bent was
undoubtedly towards a military career.
One valiant actor in these tourneys where were revived the ancient
traditions of knighthood, was Jacques de Lalaing, a chevalier with all
the characteristics of times past, fighting for fame in the present.
In his youth, this aspirant for reputation swore a vow to meet thirty
knights in combat before he attained his thirtieth year. Dominated by
a desire to fulfil his vow, Lalaing haunted the court of Burgundy,
because the Netherlands were on the highroad between England and many
points in Germany, Italy, and the East, and there he had the best
chance of falling in with all the prowess that might be abroad. For
stay-at-home prowess he cared naught. A delightful personage is
Messire Jacques and a brave rôle does he play in the series of jousts,
sporting gaily on the pages of the various Burgundian chroniclers,
who recorded in their old age what they had seen in their youth. One
description, however, of these encounters reads much like another and
they need not be repeated.
During his childhood Charles was a spectator only on the days of mimic
battle. In his seventeenth year he was permitted to enter the lists
as a regular combatant, a permission shared by his fellow pupils all
eager to flesh their maiden spears. The duke arranged that his son
should have a preliminary tilt a few days before the public affair in
order to test his ability. All the courtiers--and apparently ladies
were not excluded from the discussion on the matter--agreed that no
better knight could be found for this purpose than Jacques de Lalaing,
who, on his part, was highly honoured by being selected to gauge the
untried capabilities of the prince.[7]
In the park at Brussels with the duke and duchess as onlookers, the
preliminary encounter took place. At the very first attack, Charles
struck Messire Jacques on the shield and shattered his lance into many
pieces. The duke was displeased because he thought that the knight
had not exerted his full strength and was favouring his son. He
accordingly sent word to Jacques that he must play in earnest and not
hold his force in leash. Fresh lances were brought; again did
the count withstand the attack so sturdily that both lances were
shattered. This time the boy's mother was the dissatisfied one,
thinking that the knight was too hard with his junior, but the duke
only laughed.
"Thus differed the parents. The one desired him to prove his
manhood, the other was preoccupied with his safety. With these
two courses the trial ended amid rounds of applause for the
prince."[8]
The actual tourney was held on the market-place in Brussels before a
distinguished assembly. Count Charles was escorted into the arena by
his cousin, the Count d'Estampes, and other nobles. Seigneur d'Auxy,
his tutor, stood near to watch the maiden efforts of the prince and
his mates. He had reason to be proud of Charles, both for his bearing
and his skill. He gave and received excellent thrusts, broke more
than ten lances, and did his duty so valiantly that in the evening he
received the prize from two princesses, and "Montjoye" was cried
by the heralds in his honour. From that time forth, the count was
considered a puissant and rude jouster and gained great renown.
"And that is the reason why I commence my memoirs about him and
his deeds[9] [continues La Marche, on concluding his description
of the tournament], and I do not speak from hearsay and rumour.
As one who has been brought up with him from his youth in his
father's service and in his own, I will touch upon his education,
his morals, his character, and his habits from the moment when I
first saw him as appears above in my memoirs.
"As to his character, I will commence at the worst features. He
was hot, active, and impetuous: as a child he was very eager to
have his own way. Nevertheless, he had so much understanding and
good sense that he resisted his inclinations and in his youth no
one could be found sweeter or more courteous than he. He did not
take the name of God or the saints in vain, and held God in great
fear and reverence. He learned well and had a retentive memory. He
was fond of reading and of hearing read the stories of Lancelot
and Gawain, but to both he preferred the sea and boats. Falconry,
too, he loved and he hunted whenever he had leave. In archery he
early excelled his comrades and was good at other sports. Thus was
the count educated, trained, and taught, and thus did he devote
himself to good and excellent exercise."
That the report of the lavishness and extravagance of the Burgundian
court was no idle rumour, exaggerated by frequent repetitions, is
attested to by every bit of contemporary evidence. Enthusiastic and
loyal chroniclers dwell on the magnificence, and the arid details of
bills paid show what it cost to attain the vaunted perfection, while
the protests from taxpayers prove that this splendour did not grow
like the lilies of the field.
[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE OF AN ACCOUNT-BOOK XVTH CENTURY]
Philip's treasury had many separate compartments. There were many
quarters to which he could turn for his needed supplies, but there
were times when his exchequer ran very threateningly low, and his
financial stress led him to be very conciliatory towards the burghers
with full purses.
In 1445, Ghent had been honoured by the celebration of the feast of
the Order of the Golden Fleece within her gates. Two years later,
Philip appeared in person at a meeting of the _collace_, or municipal
assembly, and delivered a harangue to the Ghentish magistrates and
burghers, flattering them, moreover, by using their vernacular. The
tenor of this speech was as follows[10]:
"My good and faithful friends, you know how I have been brought
up among you from my infancy. That is why I have always loved you
more than the inhabitants of all my other cities, and I have
proved this by acceding to all your requests. I believe then that
I am justified in hoping that you will not abandon me to-day when
I have need of your support. Doubtless you are not ignorant of the
condition of my father's treasury at the period of his death. The
majority of his possessions had been sold. His jewels were
in pawn. Nevertheless, the demands of a legitimate vengeance
compelled me to undertake a long and bloody war, during which the
defence of my fortresses and of my cities, and the pay of my
army have necessitated outlays so large that it is impossible to
estimate them. You know, too, that at the very moment when the war
on France was at its height, I was obliged, in order to assure the
protection of my country of Flanders, to take arms against the
English in Hainaut, in Zealand, and in Friesland, a proceeding
costing me more than 10,000 _saluts d'or,_ which I raised with
difficulty. Was I not equally obliged to proceed against Liege, in
behalf of my countship of Namur, which sprang from the bosom of
Flanders? It is not necessary to add to all these outlays those
which I assume daily for the cause of the Christians in Jerusalem,
and the maintenance of the Holy Sepulchre.
"It is true, however, that, yielding to the persuasions of the
pope and the Council, I have now consented to put an end to the
evils multiplied by war by forgetting my father's death, and by
reconciling myself with the king. Since the conclusion of this
treaty, I considered that while I had succeeded in preserving
to my subjects during the war the advantages of industry and of
peace, they had submitted to heavy burdens in taxes and in
voluntary contributions, and that it was my duty to re-establish
order and justice in the administration. But everything went on as
though the war had not ceased. All my frontiers have been menaced,
and I found myself obliged to make good my rights in Luxemburg, so
useful to the defence of my other lands, especially of Brabant and
Flanders.
"In this way, my expenses continued to increase; all my resources
are now exhausted, and the saddest part of it all is that the good
cities and communes of Flanders and especially the country folk
are at the very end of their sacrifices. With grief I see many of
my subjects unable to pay their taxes, and obliged to emigrate.
Nevertheless, my receipts are so scanty that I have little
advantage from them. Nor do I reap more from my hereditary lands,
for all are equally impoverished.
"A way must be found to ease the poor people, and at the same time
to protect Flanders from insult, Flanders for whose sake I would
risk my own person, although to arrive at this end, important
measures have become imperative."
After this affectionate preamble, Philip finally states that, in order
to raise the requisite revenues, no method seemed to him so good and
so simple as a tax on salt, three sous on every measure for a term of
twelve years. He promised to dispense with all other subsidies and to
make his son swear to demand nothing further as long as the _gabelle_
was imposed.
"Know [he added in conclusion] that even if you consent to it I
will renounce it if others prove of a different opinion, for I do
not desire that the communes of Flanders be more heavily weighted
than any other portion of my territory."
The duke might have spared his trouble and his elaborate
condescension. The answer to his conciliatory request was a flat
refusal to consider the matter at all. Salt was a vital necessity to
Flemish fisheries, and its cost could not be increased to the least
degree without serious inconvenience. The Flemings were wroth at his
imitating the worst custom of his French kinsmen.
Philip departed from Ghent in great dudgeon. After a time he was
persuaded that the indisposition of the town to meet his reasonable
wishes was not due to the citizens at large, but to the machinations
of a few unruly agitators among the magistrates. In 1449, therefore,
he took a high-handed course of trying to direct the issue of the
regular municipal elections, so as to ensure the choice of magistrates
on whose obedience he could rely. The appearance of Burgundian troops
in Ghent, before the election of mid-August, aroused the wrath of the
community, who thought that their most cherished franchises were in
jeopardy.
This was the beginning of a bitter struggle between Ghent and Philip.
The duke found it no light matter to coerce the independent burghers
into remembering that they were simply part of the Burgundian state.
"_Tantæ molis erat liberam gentem in servitutem adigere_!" ejaculates
Meyer in the midst of his chronicle of the details of fourteen months
of active hostilities.[11] Matters were long in coming to an outbreak.
Various points had been contended over, when Philip had endeavoured
to change the seat of the great council, or to take divers measures
tending to concentrate certain judicial or legislative functions for
his own convenience, but in a manner prejudicial to the autonomy of
Ghent. His centripetal policy was disliked, but when his policy went
further, and he attempted to control purely civic offices, dislike
grew into resentment and the Ghenters rose in open revolt.
For a time, their opposition passed in Philip's estimation as mere
insignificant unruliness. By 1452, however, the date of the tourney
above described, it became evident that a vital issue was at stake.
The Estates of Flanders endeavoured to mediate between overlord and
town, but without success. Owing to Philip's interference in the
elections, the results were declared void, and when a new election was
appointed, the Burgundians accused the city of hastily augmenting its
number of legal voters by over-facile naturalisation laws. The gilds,
too, evinced a readiness to be very lenient in their scrutiny of
candidates for admission to their cherished privileges, preferring,
for the nonce, numbers to quality. Occupancy of furnished rooms was
declared sufficient for enfranchisement, and there were cases where
mere guests of a bourgeois were hastily recorded on the lists as
full-fledged citizens.
By these means the popular party waxed very strong numerically. The
sheriffs found themselves quite unequal to holding the rampant spirit
of democracy in check. The regular government was overthrown, and the
demagogues succeeded in electing three captains _(hooftmans)_
invested with arbitrary power for the time being. The decrees of
the ex-sheriffs were suspended, and a mass of very radical measures
promulgated and joyfully confirmed by the populace, assembled on the
Friday market. It was to be the judgment of the town meeting that
ruled, not deputed authority. One ordinance stipulated that at the
sound of the bell every burgher must hasten to the market-place, to
lend his voice to the deliberations.
For a time various negotiations went on between Philip and envoys from
Ghent. The latter took a high hand and insinuated in unmistakable
terms that if the duke refused an accommodation with them, they would
appeal to their suzerain, the King of France. No act of rebellion,
overt or covert, exasperated Philip more than this suggestion. Charles
VII. was only too ready to ignore those clauses in the treaty of
Arras, releasing the duke from homage, and virtually acknowledging his
complete independence in his French territories. The king accepted
missives from his late vassal's city, without reprimanding the writers
for their presumption in signing themselves "Seigneurs of Ghent."[12]
His action, however, was confined to mild attempts at mediation.
It was plain to the duke that his other towns would follow Ghent's
resistance to his authority if there were hopes of her success.
Therefore he threw aside all other interests for the time being, and
exerted himself to levy a body of troops to crush Flemish pretensions.
His counsellors advised him to sound the temper of other citizens and
to ascertain whether their sympathies were with Ghent. Answers of
feeble loyalty came back to him from the majority of the other towns.
Undoubtedly they highly approved Ghent's efforts. They, too, could
not afford to pay taxes fraught with danger to their commerce, nor to
relinquish one jot of privileges dearly bought at successive crises
throughout a long period of years. The only doubt in their minds was
as to the ultimate success of the burghers to stem the course of
Burgundian usurpation. Therefore, they first hedged, and then
consented to aid the duke. This course was pursued by the Hollanders
and the Zealanders, all alike short-sighted.
The Ghenters succeeded in possessing themselves of the castle of
Poucque by force, and of the village of Gaveren by stratagem, taking
advantage in the latter case of the castellan's absence at church.
When every part of his dominions had been canvassed for troops, and
Philip was prepared for his first active campaign against Ghent, he
was anxious to leave his heir under the protection of the duchess,
conscious that the imminent contest would be bitter and deadly. A
pretence was made that the young count's accoutrements were not ready,
and that, therefore, he would have to remain in Brussels.
"But he whose ambitions waxed, hastened the completion of his
accoutrements, and swore by St. George, the greatest oath he ever
used, that he would rather go in his shirt than not accompany his
father to punish his impudent rebel subjects."[13]
The approaching hostilities were watched by foreign merchants in dread
of commercial disaster.
"On May 18th, the _nations_[14] of the merchants of Bruges
departed thence to go to Ghent to try to make peace between that
city and the Duke of Burgundy, and there were _nations_ of Spain,
Aragon, Portugal, and Scotland, besides the Venetians, Milanese,
Genoese, and Luccans."[15]
But the men of Ghent were beyond the point where commercial arguments
could stem their course. The very day that this company arrived in the
city, the burghers sallied forth six or seven thousand strong, fully
equipped for offensive warfare.
Both the actual engagements and guerilla skirmishes that raged over
a minute stretch of territory were characterised by an extraordinary
ferocity. Around Oudenarde, which town Philip was determined to
relieve, men were beheaded like sheep.
In the first regular engagement in which Charles took part, he showed
a brave front and learned the duties of a prince by rewarding others
with the honour of knighthood. Among those slain in the course of the
war, were Cornelius, Bastard of Burgundy, and the gallant Jacques
de Lalaing. Philip grieved deeply over the death of the former, his
favourite among his natural sons, and buried him with all honours in
the Church of Ste-Gudule in Brussels. The title by which he was known,
hardly a proud one it would seem, passed to his brother Anthony.
Lalaing, too, was greatly mourned, thus prematurely cut down in his
thirty-third year.
There was so much fear lest the duke's sole legitimate heir might also
perish in these conflicts where there was no mercy, that Charles was
persuaded to go to visit his mother in the hope that she would keep
him by her side. She made a feast in his honour, but, to the surprise
of all, the duchess, who had wished to protect her son from the mild
perils of a tourney, now encouraged him with brave words to return
to fight in all earnest for his inheritance.[16] He himself was very
indignant at the efforts to treat him as a child.
The first truce and negotiations for peace, initiated in the summer of
1452, were broken off because the conditions were unbearable to the
Ghenters. Another year of warfare followed before the decisive battle
of Gaveren, in July, 1453, forced them sadly to succumb. There was
no other course open to them. Not only were they defeated but their
numbers were decimated.[17] With full allowance for exaggeration, it
is certain that the loss was very heavy. Terms scornfully rejected at
an earlier date were, in 1453, accepted with every humiliating detail.
More, the defeated rebels were bidden to be grateful that their kind
sovereign had imposed nothing further to the conditions. As to abating
the severity of the articles, he declared that he would not change an
_a_ for a _b_.[18]
The chief provisions were as follows: The deans of the gilds were
deprived of participation in the election of sheriffs. The privileges
of the naturalisation laws were considerably abridged. No sentence of
banishment could be pronounced without the intervention of the duke's
bailiff, whose authorisation, too, was required before the publication
of edicts, ordinances, etc. The sheriffs were forbidden to place their
names at the head of letters to the officers of the duke. The banners
were to be delivered to the duke and placed under five locks, whose
several keys should be deposited with as many different people,
without whose consensus the banners could not be brought forth to lead
the burghers to sedition. One gate was to be closed every Thursday in
memory of the day when the citizens had marched through it to attack
their liege lord, and another was to be barred up in perpetuity or
at the pleasure of their sovereign. To reimburse the duke for his
enforced outlay, a heavy indemnity was to be paid by the city.
July 30th was the date appointed for the final act of submission, the
_amende honorable_ of the unfortunate city. The scene was very similar
to that played at Bruges in 1440. Two thousand citizens headed by the
sheriffs, councillors, and captains of the burgher guard met the
duke and his suite a league without the walls of Ghent. Bareheaded,
barefooted, and divested of all their robes of office and of dignity,
clad only in shirts and small clothes, these magistrates confessed
that they had wronged their loving lord by unruly rebellion, and
begged his pardon most humbly.
The duke spent the night of July 29th at Gaveren, prepared to march
out in the morning with his whole army in handsome array. Philip was
magnificently apparelled, but he rode the same horse which he had used
on the day of battle, with the various wounds received on that day
ostentatiously plastered over to make a dramatic show of what the
injured sovereign had suffered at the hands of his disloyal subjects.
The civic procession was headed by the Abbot of St. Bavon and the
Prior of the Carthusians. The burghers who followed the half-clad
officials were fully dressed but they, too, were barefoot and
ungirdled. All prostrated themselves in the dust and cried, "Mercy on
the town of Ghent." While they were thus prostrate, the town spokesman
of the council made an elaborate speech in French, assuring the
duke that if, out of his benign grace. he would take his loving and
repentant subjects again into his favour, they would never again give
him cause for reproach.
"At the conclusion of this harangue, the duke and the Count of
Charolais, there present, pardoned the petitioners for their evil
deeds. The men of Ghent re-entered their town more happy and
rejoiced than can be expressed, and the duke departed for Lille,
having disbanded his army, that every one might return to their
several homes." [19]
The joy experienced by the conquered, here described by La Marche, as
he looked back at the event from the calm retirement of his old age,
was not visible to all eye-witnesses. The progress of this war was
watched eagerly from other parts of Philip's dominion. His army was
full of men from both the Burgundies, who sent frequent reports to
their own homes. Some passages from one of these reports by an unknown
war correspondent run as follows:
"As to news from here, Monday after St. Magdalen's Day,
Monseigneur the duke got the better of the Ghenters near Gaveren
between ten and eleven o'clock. They attacked him near his
quarters.... The duke risked his own person in advance of his
company in the very worst of the slaughter, which lasted from the
said place up to Ghent, a distance of about two leagues. The slain
number three or four thousand, more or less, and those drowned in
the river of Quaux about two hundred.... This Tuesday, the date of
writing, the army departs from their quarters to advance on Ghent
to demand the conditions lately offered them, and the bearer of
this letter will tell you what is the result. M. the duke and
his army marched up to Ghent and I have seen the bearing of the
citizens. They are very bitter and despondent. M. the marshall has
been parleying. I hear that matters have been settled. I hear that
the Ghenters' loss is thirteen to fourteen thousand men. I
cannot write more for I have no time owing to the haste of the
messenger."
This was written July 23d. There is another despatch of July 31st,
giving the last news, which was "very joyous." The public apology had
just been enacted--
"and afterwards, in token of being conquered and as a confession
that my said seigneur was victorious, those of Ghent have
delivered up all their banners to the number of eighty. And on
this day my said lord has created seven or eight knights and
heralds in honour of his triumph, which is inestimable."[20]
The duke's victory was certainly "inestimable" in its value to him,
yet, in spite of the rigour enforced on this defeated people, they
were not as crushed as they might have been had they submitted in
1445. Philip was clever enough to be more lenient than appeared at
first. Ancient privileges were confirmed in a special compact, and the
duke swore to maintain all former concessions in their entirety except
in the points above specified. Liberty of person was guaranteed, and
it was expressly stipulated that if the bailiff refused to sustain the
sheriffs in their exercise of justice, or tried to arrogate to himself
more than his due authority, he should forfeit his office. Lastly, and
more important than all, the duke made no attempt to revive the demand
for the _gabelle_--salt was left free and untaxed. As a matter of
fact, too, the duke was not exigeant in the fulfilment of every item
of the treaty and, two years later, he increased certain privileges.
He had cut the lion's claws but he had no desire to pit his strength
again with Flemish communes. He had taught the audacious rebels a
lesson and that sufficed him.[21]
[Footnote 1: Blok, _Eene Hollandsche stad onder de Bourg.
Oostenrijksche Heerschappij,_ p. 84.]
[Footnote 2: La Marche, ii., 79, etc.]
[Footnote 3: See also _Chronijcke van Nederlant,_ p. 76, and
_Vlaamsche Kronijk,_ p. 203. Ed. C. Piot.]
[Footnote 4: D'Escouchy, _Chronique_, i., 110.]
[Footnote 5: The items of the funeral expenses can be found in
Laborde, i., 380. There were 600 masses at two sous apiece.]
[Footnote 6: In that same year, 1440, in which this gift is recorded,
there is another item showing how Charles took his amusement not only
on the harp but in planning some of the elaborate surprises regularly
introduced between courses in the banquets. "To Barthelmy the painter,
for making the cover of a pasty for the Count of Charolais to present
to Monseigneur on the night of St. Martin in the previous year, v
francs" (Laborde, i., 381).]
[Footnote 7: La Marche, ii., 214.]
[Footnote 8: Gachard puts this tournament in Lent, 1452. Charles's
outfit cost 360 livres.]
[Footnote 9: La Marche, i., ch. 21.]
[Footnote 10: Kervyn, _Histoire de Flandre_, iv. Kervyn quotes from
the _Dagboek des gentsche collatie_, M. Schayes.]
[Footnote 11: Meyer, xvi., 303.]
[Footnote 12: They were charged with using this phrase. Gachard says
that they placed at the top of their letter their titles of
sheriffs and deans, as princes and lords take the title of their
seignories.--(La Marche, ii., 221. _See also_ d'Escouchy, ii., 25.)]
[Footnote 13: La Marche, ii., 230.]
[Footnote 14: Associations of merchants in foreign cities.]
[Footnote 15: Chastellain, _OEuvres_, ii., 221.]
[Footnote 16: La Marche, ii., 312. Chastellain, ii., 278. See also
_Chronique d'Adrian de Budt_, p. 242, etc.]
[Footnote 17: Meyer, p. 313. La Marche, ii., 313. Lavisse, _Histoire
de France_, accepts 13,000 as the number slain. Chastellain (ii., 375)
puts the number at 22-30,000, including those drowned by the duke's
order. Du Clercq lets a certain sympathy for the rebellious people
escape his pen. Chastellain and La Marche treat the antagonism to
taxes as unreasonable.]
[Footnote 18: Chastellain, ii., 387.]
[Footnote 19: La Marche, ii., 331. The Chastellain MS. is lacking for
this event.]
[Footnote 20: _Revue des sociétés savantes des départements_, 7me.
série, 6, p. 209.
These two reports were enclosed with brief notes dated July 31 and
August 8, 1453, from the ducal attorney at Amont to the magistrates
of Baume. The former was one of the highest officials in the
Franche-Comté. The reporter might have been one of his secretaries.
The two notes with their unsigned enclosures were discovered (1881)in
the archives of the town of Baume-les-Dames.]
[Footnote 21: Kervyn, _Histoire de Flandre_, iv., 494.]