NEGOTIATIONS AND TREACHERY
1471
All work had ceased at Paris for three days by the king's command,
while praise was chanted to God, to the Virgin, and to all saints male
and female, for the victory won by Henry of Lancaster, in 1470, over
the base usurper Edward de la Marche. From Amboise, Louis made a
special pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Celles at Poitiers to breathe in
pious solitude his own prayers of thanksgiving for the happy event.
The battle of Tewkesbury stemmed the course of this abundant stream of
gratitude, and there were other thanksgivings.[1]
In the spring of 1471, Edward IV. was dating complacent letters from
Canterbury to his good friends at Bruges,[2] acknowledging their
valuable assistance to his brother Charles,[3] recognising his part in
restoring Britain's rightful sovereign to his throne. To his sister,
the Duchess of Burgundy, the returned exile gave substantial proof
of his gratitude in the shape of privileges in wool manufacture and
trade.[4]
Like one of the alternating figures in a Swiss weather vane the King
of England had swung out into the open, pointing triumphantly to fair
weather over his head, while Louis was forced back into solitary
impotence. He seemed singularly isolated. His English friends were
gone, his nobles were again forming a hostile camp around Charles of
France, now Duke of Guienne, who had forgotten his late protestations
of fraternal devotion, and there were many indications that the
Anglo-Burgundian alliance might prove as serious a peril to France as
it had in times gone by but not wholly forgotten.
The two most important of the disputed towns on the Somme were,
however, in Louis's possession, and Charles of Burgundy, ready to
reduce Amiens by siege on March 10, 1471, consented to stay his
proceedings by striking a truce which was renewed in July. This
afforded a valuable respite to the king, and he busied himself in
energetic efforts to detach his brother from the group of malcontents.
Various disquieting rumours about the prince's marriage projects
caused his royal brother deep anxiety, and induced him to despatch a
special envoy to Guienne. To that envoy Louis wrote as follows[5]:
"MONSEIGNEUR DU BOUCHAGE:
"Guiot du Chesney[6] has brought me despatches from Monsg. de
Guienne and Mons. de Lescun and has, further, mentioned three
points to me: First, in behalf of Mme. de Savoy,[7] ... second, in
regard to M. d'Ursé ... third, touching the mission of Mons. de
Lescun to marry Monsg. of Guienne to the daughter of Monsg. de
Foix.... The Ursé matter I will leave to you, and will agree to
what you determine upon. On the spot you will be a better judge of
what I ought to say and what would be advantageous to me, than I
can here.
"In regard to the third point, the Foix marriage, you know what a
misfortune it would be to me. Use all your five senses to prevent
it. I am told that my brother does not really like the idea, and
it has occurred to me that Mons. de Lescun has brought him to
consent in order to further the marriage of the duchess,[8] so
that in taking the sister, the duke will be relieved of this sum,
a condition that would please him greatly because he has nothing
to pay it with. I would prefer to pay both it and all the
accompanying claims and then be through with it. In effect, I beg
you make him agree to another [bride] before you leave, and do not
be in any hurry to come to me. If this Aragon affair[9] can be
arranged you will place me in Paradise.
"_Item._ I have thought that Monsg. de Foix would not approve this
Aragon girl, because he himself has some hopes of the kingdom of
Aragon through his wife. If Monsg. of Guienne were advised of
this, I believe it would help along our case.
"_Item._ It seems to me that you have a splendid opportunity to be
very frank with my brother. For he has informed me through this
man that the duke [of Brittany] has paid no attention to the
representations made him in my behalf, through Corguilleray,
and since my brother himself confides this to me, you have an
opportunity to assure him that I thank him, and that I never
cherish him so highly as when he tells me the truth, and that I
now recognise that he does not desire to deceive me, since he
does not spare the duke [of Brittany] and that, since he sees him
opposed to me, he should return the seal that you know of and
refuse to take his sister [Eleanor de Foix, the sister of the
Duchess of Brittany], or to enter into any other league.
"If he will choose a wife quite above suspicion, as long as I live
I will harbour no misgiving of him and he shall be as puissant in
all the realm of France as I myself, as long as I live. In short,
Mons. du Bouchage my friend, if you can gain this point, you will
place me in Paradise. Stay where you are until Monseigneur de
Lescun has arrived, and a good piece afterwards, even if you have
to play the invalid, and before you depart put our affair in
surety if you can, I implore you. And may God, Monseigneur du
Bouchage my friend, to whom I pray, and may Nostre Dame de Behuart
aid your negotiations. The women[10] of Mme. de Burgundy have
all been ill with the _mal chault,_ and it is reported that the
daughter is seriously afflicted and bloated. Some say that she is
already dead. I am not sure of the death but I am quite certain of
the malady.
"Written at Lannoy, Aug. 18th.
"LOYS.
"TILHART."
That the king's professed confidence in his brother did not remove all
suspicions of that young man's steadfastness from his mind is shown
by the following letter, written two days later than the above, to
Lorenzo de' Medici:
"Dear and beloved cousin, we have learned that our brother of
Guienne has sent to Rome to ask a dispensation from the oath he
swore to us, of which we send you a duplicate. Since you are a
great favourite with our Holy Father pray use your influence with
his Holiness so that our brother may not obtain his dispensation,
and that his messenger may not be able to do any negotiating. In
this you will do us a singular and agreeable pleasure which we
will recognise in the future as we have in the past on fitting
occasion....
"Written at St. Michel sur Loire, August 20th.
"LOYS."
Louis does not seem to have taken his own doubts as to the very
existence of Mary of Burgundy very seriously. While he was infinitely
anxious to prevent her alliance with his brother, he made overtures to
betroth her to his baby son, while he reminded her father in touching
phrases that he, Louis, was Mary's loving godfather and hence exactly
the person to be her father-in-law.
The winter of 1471-72 was filled with attempts to make terms between
the king and the duke before the termination of the truce. The king
was very hopeful of attaining this good result, and sweetly trustful
of the duke's pacific and friendly intentions. He sternly refused to
listen to suggestions that Charles meant to play him false and was
very definite in his expressions of confidence. The following epistle
to his envoys at the duke's court was an excellent document to fall by
chance into Burgundian hands[11]:
"To MONSIEUR DE CRAON AND PIERRE D'ORIOLE:
"My cousin and monseigneur the general, I received your letters
this evening at the hostelry of Montbazon where I came because I
have not yet dared to go to Amboise.[12] When I imparted to you
the doubts that I had heard, it was not with the purpose of
delaying you in completing your business but only to advise you of
the dangers that were in the air. And to free you from all doubts
I assure you, that if Monseigneur of Burgundy is willing to
confirm, by writing or verbally, the terms which we arranged at
Orleans[13], I wish you to accept it and to clinch the matter and
I am quite determined to trust to it. As to your suspicion that
he may wish to make the chief promises in private letters without
putting it in a formal shape, you know that I agreed to it by a
pronotary, and when I have once accepted a thing I never withdraw
my decision.
"My cousin and you monseigneur the general, see to it that
Monseigneur of Burgundy gives you adequate assurance of the
letters that he is to issue. When I once have the letter such as
we agreed upon and he is bound, I do not doubt that he will keep
faith. If my life were at stake, I am resolved to trust him. Do
not send me any more of your suspicions for I assure you that my
greatest worldly desire is that the matter be finished, since he
has given verbal assurance that he wishes me well. You write that
the pronotary told you that I was negotiating in every direction.
By my faith, I have no ambassador but you, and by the words that
Monseigneur of Burgundy said to you you can easily solve the
question, for he has only offered you what he mentioned before
when the matters were discussed. It looks to me as though they
were not free from traitors since they have Abbé de Begars and
Master Ythier Marchant.[14]
"A herald of the King of England came here on his way to Monsg. of
Burgundy, who asked for a safe conduct to send a messenger to me
for this truce. Since your departure the council thought I ought
not to give any pass for more than forty days except to merchants.
If it please God and Our Lady that you may conclude your mission,
I assure you that as long as I live I will have no embassy either
large or small without immediately informing Monsg. of Burgundy
and I will only answer as if through him. I assure you that until
I hear from you whether Monsg. of Burgundy decides to conclude
this treaty or not as we agreed together, I will make no agreement
with any creature in the world and of that you may assure him.
"Written at Montbazon, December 11th (1471).
"Loys."
At the same time Louis did not neglect friendly intercourse with the
towns he proposed to cede.
"To the inhabitants of Amiens in behalf of the king: "Dear and
beloved, we have heard reports at length from Amiens and we are
well content with you.... Give credence to all my messengers say.
We thank you heartily for all that you and your deputies have done
in our cause."
At the Burgundian court the duke's friends thought that he would play
the part of wisdom did he keep an army within call, and refrain from
implicitly trusting the king's promises. There was, moreover, an
impression abroad that the latter was not in a position to be very
formidable.
"Once [says Commines][15] I was present when the Seigneur d'Ursé
[envoy from the Duke of Guienne] was talking in this wise and
urging the duke to mobilise his forces with all diligence. The
duke called me to a window and said, 'Here is the Seigneur d'Ursé
urging me to make my army as big as possible, and tells me that we
would do well for the realm. Do you think that I should wage a war
of benefit if I should lead my troops thither?' Smiling I answered
that I thought not and he uttered these words: 'I love the welfare
of France more than Mons. d' Ursé imagines, for instead of the one
king that there is I would fain see six.'"
The animus of this expression is clear. It implies a wish to see the
duke's friends, the French nobles, exalted, Burgundy at the head,
until the titular monarch had no more power than half a dozen of his
peers. Yet Commines states in unequivocal terms that Charles's next
moves were to disregard his friendship for the peers, to discard their
alliance, and to sign a treaty with Louis whose terms were wholly
to his own advantage and implied complete desertion of the allied
interest.
"This peace did the Duke of Burgundy swear and I was present[16]
and to it swore the Seigneur de Craon and the Chancellor of
France[17] in behalf of the king. When they departed they advised
the duke not to disband his army but to increase it, so that the
king their master might be the more inclined to cede promptly the
two places mentioned above. They took with them Simon de Quingey
to witness the king's oath and confirmation of his ambassadors'
work. The king delayed this confirmation for several days.
Meanwhile occurred the death of his brother, the Duke of Guienne
... shortly afterwards the said Simon returned, dismissed by the
king with very meagre phrases and without any oath being taken.
The duke felt mocked and insulted by this treatment and was very
indignant about it."[18]
This story involves so serious a charge against Charles of Burgundy
that the fact of his setting his signature to the treaty has been
indignantly denied. Certain authorities impugn the historian's
truthfulness rather than accept the duke's betrayal of his friends. It
is true that only a few months later than this negotiation, Commines
himself forsook the duke's service for the king's, a change of base
that might well throw suspicion on his estimate of his deserted
master.
Yet it must be remembered that he does not gloss over Louis's actions,
even though he had an admiration for the success of his political
methods, methods which Commines believed to be essential in dealing
with national affairs. In many respects he gives more credit to the
duke than to the king even while he prefers the cleverer chief. That
there is no documentary evidence of such a treaty is mere negative
evidence and of little importance.
The fact seems fairly clear that Charles of Burgundy was at a parting
of the ways, in character as in action. His natural bent was to tell
the truth and to adhere strictly to his given word. He felt that he
owed it to his own dignity. He felt, too, that he was a person to
command obedience to a promise whether pledged to him by king or
commoner. In the years 1469-1472 several severe shocks had been dealt
him. He had lost all faith in Louis, a faith that had really been
founded on the duke's own self-esteem, on a conviction that the weak
king must respect the redoubtable cousin of Burgundy.
The effect on Charles of his suspicions was to make him adopt the
tools used by his rival, or at least to attempt to do so. At the
moment of the negotiation of 1471-1472, the duke's preoccupation
was to regain the towns on the Somme. That accomplished, it is not
probable that he would have abandoned his friends, the French
peers, whom he desired to see become petty monarchs each in his own
territory. There seems no doubt that words were used with singular
disregard of their meaning. It is surprising that time was wasted in
concocting elaborate phrases that dropped into nothingness at the
slightest touch. In citing the above passage from Commines referring
to the treaty, the close of the negotiations has been anticipated.
Whether or not any draft of a treaty received the duke's signature,
the king's yearning for peace ceased abruptly when his brother's death
freed him from the dread of dangerous alliance between Charles of
France and Charles of Burgundy. As late as May 8th, he was still
uncertain as to the decree of fate and wrote as follows to the
Governor of Rousillon[19]:
"Keep cool for the present I implore you. If the Duke of Burgundy
declares war against me, I will set out immediately for that
quarter [Brittany], and in a week we will finish the matter. On
the other hand, if peace be made we shall have everything without
a blow or without any risk of restoration. However, if you can get
hold of anything by negotiating and manoeuvring, why do it. As
to the artillery, it is close by you, and when it is time, and I
shall have heard from my ambassador, you shall have it at once."
Ten days later he is more hopeful.[20]
"Since my last letter to you I have had news that Monsieur de
Guienne is dying and that there is no remedy for his case. One
of the most confidential persons about him has advised me by a
special messenger that he does not believe he will be alive a
fortnight hence.... The person who gave me this information is
the monk who repeated his Hours with M. de G[uienne.] I am much
abashed at this and have crossed myself from head to foot.
"Written at Moutils-lès-Tours, May 18th."
This prognostic was correct. In less than a fortnight the Duke of
Guienne lay dead, and the heavy suspicion rested upon his royal
brother of having done more than acquiesce in the decree of fate.
Whether or not there was any truth in this charge the king was
certainly not heartbroken by the loss. Indeed, the event interested
him less than the question of making the best use of the remainder of
his truce with Charles. The following letters to Dammartin and the
Duke of Milan belong to this time.
"Thank you for the pains you have taken but pray, as speedily as
you can, come here to draw up your ordinance for we only have
a fortnight more of the truce. I have sent the artillery and
soldiers to Angers. Monsg. the grand master, strengthen Odet's
forces, do not let one man go, and see to it that the seneschal of
Guienne enrols sufficient to fill his company. Then if there are
more at large, form them into a body and send them to me and I
will find them a captain and pay all those who are willing to
stay.
"As to him,[21] make him talk on the way and learn whether he
would like to enter into an agreement in his brother's name, and
work it so that the duke will leave the Burgundian in the lurch at
all points for ever, and make a good treaty, as you will know how,
for I do not believe that the Seigneur de Lescun left here for any
other reason than to attempt to make an arrangement of some kind.
"Now monseigneur the grand master, you are wiser than I and will
know how to act far better than I can instruct you, but, above
all, I implore you come in all haste for without you we cannot
make an ordinance.
"Written at Xaintes, May 28th.
"LOYS."[22]
"AMBOISE, June 7th.
"Loys, by the grace of God, King of France. Beloved brother and
cousin, we have received the letters you have written making
mention, as you have heard, that in the truce lately concluded
between us and the Duke of Burgundy up to April 1st next coming,
which will be the year 1473, the Duke of Burgundy has mentioned
you as his ally, which you do not like because you never asked the
Duke of Burgundy to do so, and you do not know whether he made
this statement on the advice of the Venetian ambassador who is
with him.
"Therefore, and because you do not mean to enter into alliance or
understanding with the Duke of Burgundy but wish to remain
our confederate and ally and have sworn to that effect before
notaries, and sealed your oath with your seal ... that you are no
ally of the Duke of Burgundy and that you renounce and repudiate
his nomination as such ... also you may be certain that on our
part we are determined to maintain all friendship between us and
you ... and if we make any treaty in the future we will expressly
include you in it and never will do otherwise."[23]
"Monseigneur the grand master, I am advised how while the truce is
still in being, the Duke of Burgundy has taken Nesle and slain all
whom he found within. I must be avenged for this. I wished you to
know so that if you can find means to do him a like injury in his
country you will do it there and anywhere that you can without
sparing anything. I have good hopes that God will aid in avenging
us, considering the murders for which he is responsible within the
church and elsewhere, and because by virtue of the terms of their
surrender [they thought] they had saved their lives.
"Done at Angers, June 19th.
"P.S.--If the said place had been destroyed and rased as I ordered
this never would have happened. Therefore, see to it that all such
places be rased to the ground, for if this be not done the people
will be ruined and there will be an increase of dishonour and
damage to me."[24]
One fact stated by Louis in this letter was true. Charles of Burgundy
broke the truce when it had but two weeks to run, and thus put
himself in the wrong. The death of Guienne made him wild with anger.
Apparently he had not believed in the imminence of the danger,
although he had been constantly informed of the progress of the
prince's illness. But to his mind, it was the hand of Louis, not the
judgment of God, that ended the life of the prince.
"On the morrow, which was about May 15, 1472, so far as I remember
[says Commines] came letters from Simon de Quingey, the duke's
ambassador to the king, announcing the death of the Duke of
Guienne and that the king had recovered the majority of his
places. Messages from various localities followed headlong one on
the other, and every one had a different story of the death.
"The duke being in despair at the death, at the instigation of
other people as much concerned as himself, wrote letters full of
bitter accusations against the king to several towns--an action
that profited little for nothing was done about it.[25]... In this
violent passion the duke proceeded towards Nesle in Vermandois,
and commenced a kind of warfare such as he had never used before,
burning and destroying wherever he passed."
It is interesting to note how smoothly Commines sails by the capital
charges against the king. He neither accepts nor denies the king's
crime, while frankly admitting that Guienne's decease was an opportune
circumstance for Louis. He apologises for mentioning any evil report
of either king or duke, but urges his duty as historian to tell the
truth without palliation.
Nesle was a little place on a tributary of the Somme which refused
the duke's summons to surrender, sent to it on June 10th. It seems
possible that there was a misunderstanding between the citizens
and the garrison which resulted in the slaughter of the Burgundian
heralds. Whereupon, the exasperated soldiers rushed headlong upon the
ill-defended burghers and wreaked a terrible vengeance on the town.
When the duke arrived on the spot, the carnage was over, but he was
unreproving as he inspected the gruesome result. Into the great church
itself he rode, and his horse's hoofs sank through the blood lying
inches deep on the floor. The desecrated building was full of
dead--men, women, and children--but the duke's only comment as he
looked about was, "Here is a fine sight. Verily I have good butchers
with me," and he crossed himself piously.
"Those who were taken alive were hanged, except some few suffered
to escape by the compassionate common soldiers. Quite a number had
their hands chopped off. I dislike to mention this cruelty but I
was on the spot and needs must give some account of it."[26]
The story of the duke's treatment of the innocent little town of Nesle
is painted in colours quite as lurid as the king's murder of his
brother. There is some ground for the denunciations of Charles,
but the gravest accusation, that the duke promised clemency to the
citizens on surrender and then basely broke his word, does not deserve
credence. He was in a state of exasperation and the horrors were
committed in passion, not in cold blood.[27]
[Illustration: BURGUNDIAN STANDARD PRESERVED AT BEAUVAIS]
It is delightful to note the king's virtuous indignation at his
cousin's proceedings, coupled with his regrets that he himself had not
destroyed the town.
With the terrible report of the events at Nesle flying before his
advance guard, Charles went on towards Normandy. Roye he gained
easily, and then, passing by Compiègne where "Monseigneur the grand
master" had intrenched himself, and Amiens with the good burghers whom
Louis delighted to honour, he marched on until he reached Beauvais, an
old town on the Thérain. Some of the garrison from the fallen Roye had
taken refuge there, but the place was weak in its defences, not even
having its usual garrison or cannon, as it happened.
Disappointed in his first expectation of picking the town like a
cherry, Charles sat down before it. The siege that followed won
a reputation beyond the warrant of its real importance from the
extraordinary tenacity and energy of the people in their own defence.
Every missile that the ingenuity of man or woman could imagine was
used to drive back the besiegers when the town was finally invested.
From June 27th to July 9th Charles waited, then an assault was
ordered. Charles laughed at the idea of any serious resistance. "He
asked some of his people whether they thought the citizens would wait
for the assault. It was answered yes, considering their number even if
they had nothing before them but a hedge."[28] He took this as a joke
and said, "To-morrow you will not find a person." He thought that
there would be a simple repetition of his experience at Dinant and
Liege, and that the garrison would simply succumb in terror. When the
Burgundians rushed at the walls their reception showed not only that
every point had a defender, but also that those same defenders were
provided with huge stones, pots of boiling water, burning torches--all
most unpleasant things when thrown in the faces of men trying to scale
a wall. Three hours were sufficient to prove to the assailants the
difficulty of the task. Twelve hundred were slain and maimed, and the
strength of the place was proven.
Charles was not inclined to relinquish his scheme, but the weather
came to the aid of the besieged. Heavy rains forced the troops to
change camp. More men were lost in skirmishes and mimic assaults,
losses that Charles could ill afford at the moment. Finally at the end
of three fruitless weeks, the siege was raised and the Burgundians
marched on to try to redeem their reputation in Normandy. Had Beauvais
fallen, it would have been possible to relieve the Duke of Brittany,
against whom Louis had marched with all his forces and whom he had
enveloped as in a net. This reverse was the first serious rebuff that
had happened to Charles, and it marked a turn in his fortunes.
Louis fully appreciated the enormous advantage to himself, and was not
stinting in his reward to the plucky little town. Privileges and a
reduction of taxes were bestowed on Beauvais. An annual procession
was inaugurated in which women were to have precedence as a special
recognition of their services with boiling water and other irregular
weapons, while a special gift was bestowed on one particular girl,
Jeanne Laisné, who had wrested a Burgundian standard from a soldier
just as he was about to plant it on the wall. Not only was she endowed
from the royal purse, but she and her husband and their descendants
were declared tax free for ever.[29]
_Charles to the Duke of Brittany_
"My good brother, I recommend myself to you with good heart. I
rather hoped to be able to march through Rouen, but the whole
strength of the foe was on the frontier, where was the _grand
master, of whose loyalty I have not the least doubt_, so that the
project could not be effected. I do not know what will happen.
Realising this, I have given subject for thought elsewhere and
I have pitched my camp between Rouen and Neufchâtel, intending,
however, to return speedily. If not I will exploit the war in
another quarter more injurious to the enemy, and I will exert
myself to keep them from your route. My Burgundians and
Luxemburgers have done bravely in Champagne. I know, too, that you
have done well on your part, for which I rejoice. I have burned
the territory of Caux in a fashion so that it will not injure you,
nor us, nor others, and I will not lay down arms without you, as
I am certain you will not without me. I will pursue the work
commenced by your advice at the pleasure of Our Lord, may He give
you good and long life with a fruitful victory.
"Written at my camp near Boscise, September 4th.
"Your loyal brother,
"CHARLES."[30]
The duke's course was marked by waste and devastation from the
walls of Rouen to those of Dieppe, but nothing was gained from this
desolation. By September, keen anxiety about his territories led him
to fear staying so far from his own boundaries, and he decided to
return. Through Picardy he marched eastward burning and laying waste
as before.
Hardly had he turned towards the Netherlands, when Louis marched into
Brittany against his weakest foe. There was no fighting, but Francis
found it wise to accept a truce. Odet d'Aydie, who had ridden in hot
haste to Brittany, scattering from his saddle dire accusations of
fratricide against Louis--this same Odet became silenced and took
service with the king.[31] When reconcilations were effected, most
kind to the returning ally or servant did Louis always show himself.
On November 3d, a truce was struck between Louis and Charles, which,
later, was renewed for a year. But never again did the two men come
into actual conflict with each other, though they were on the eve of
doing so in 1475.
The period of the great coalitions among the nobles was at an end.
Charles of France was dead and so, too, were others who were strong
enough to work the king ill. The Duke of Brittany showed no more
energy. When again within his own territories, Charles of Burgundy
became absorbed in other projects which he wished to perfect before he
again measured steel with Louis.
"The Duke of Berry, he is dead,
Brittany doth nod his head,
Burgundy doth sulky sit,
While Louis works with every wit."[32]
Such was the tenor of a doggerel verse sung in France, a verse that
probably never came to Charles's ears--though Louis might have
listened to it cheerfully.
Infinitely disastrous were the events of that summer to Charles of
Burgundy. Not only had he lost in allies, not only had he squandered
life and money uselessly in his reckless expedition over the north of
France, but his own retinue was diminished and weakened by the men
whom Louis had succeeded in luring from his service. The loss that
Charles suffered was not only for the time but for posterity. Among
those convinced that there was more scope for men of talent in France
than in Burgundy was that clever observer of humanity who had been at
Charles's side for eight years. In August of 1472, Philip de Commines
took French leave of his master and betook himself to Louis, who
evidently was not surprised at his advent.
The historian's own words in regard to this change of base are
laconic: "About this time I entered the king's service (and it was
the year 1472), who had received the majority of the servitors of his
brother the Duke of Guienne. And he was then at Pont de Cé."[33] This
passing from one lord to another happened on the night between the 7th
and 8th of August, when the Burgundian army lay near Eu.
The suddenness of the departure was probably due to the duke's
discovery of his servant's intentions not yet wholly ripe, and those
intentions had undoubtedly been formed at Orleans, in 1471, when
Commines made a secret journey to the king. On his way back to
Burgundy, he deposited a large sum of money at Tours. Evidently he
did not dare put this under his own name, or claim it when it was
confiscated as the property of a notorious adherent of Louis's
foe.[34]
When the fugitive reached the French court, however, he was amply
recompensed for all his losses.[35] For, naturally, at his flight, all
his Burgundian estates were abandoned.[36] It was at six o'clock on
the morning of August 8th that the deed was signed whereby the duke
transferred to the Seigneur de Quiévrain all the rights appertaining
to Philip de Commines, "which rights together with all the property of
whatever kind have escheated to us by virtue of confiscation because
he has to-day, the date of this document, departed from our obedience
and gone as a fugitive to the party opposed to us."[37]
There are various surmises as to the cause of this precipitate
departure. Not improbable is the suggestion that Charles often
overstepped the bounds of courtesy towards his followers. Once, so
runs one story, he found the historian sleeping on his bed where he
had flung himself while awaiting his master. Charles pulled off one of
his boots "to give him more ease" and struck him in the face with it.
In derision the courtiers called Commines _tête bottée_, and their
mocking sank deep into his soul.
Contemporary writers make little of the chronicler's defection.
These crossings from the peer's to the king's camp were accepted
occurrences. But by Charles they were not accepted. There is
a vindictive look about the hour when he disposes of his late
confidant's possessions, only explicable by intense indignation not
itemised in the deed approved by the court of Mons.[38]
More loyal was that other chronicler, Olivier de la Marche, though to
him, also, came intimations that he would find a pleasant welcome at
the French court. He, too, had opportunities galore to make links with
Louis. The accounts teem with references to his secret missions
here and there, and with mention of the rewards paid, all carefully
itemised. So zealous was this messenger on his master's commissions,
that his hackneys were ruined by his fast riding and had to be sold
for petty sums. The keen eye of Louis XI. was not blind to the quality
of La Marche's services, and he thought that they, too, might be
diverted to his use.[39]
"Monsieur du Bouchage, Guillaume de Thouars has told me that
Messire Olivier de la Marche is willing to enter my service and
I am afraid that there may be some deception. However, there is
nothing that I would like better than to have the said Sieur
de Cimay, as you know. Therefore, pray find out how the matter
stands, and if you see that it is in good earnest work for it with
all diligence. Whatever you pledge I will hold to. Advise me of
everything.
"Written at Cléry, October 16th [1472].
"To our beloved and faithful councillor and chancellor, Sire du
Bouchage."[40]
But La Marche was not tempted, and was rewarded for his fidelity
by high office in a duchy which, shortly after these events, was
"annexed" to his master's domain.
[Footnote 1: _Journal de Jean de Roye_, i., 258.]
[Footnote 2: Commynes-Dupont, iii., 202.]
[Footnote 3: Plancher, iv., cccvi., May 28th.]
[Footnote 4: Rymer, _Foedera_, xi., 735. _Pro Ducissa Burgundiæ super
Lana claccanda_.]
[Footnote 5: _Lettres de Louis XI._, iv., 256.]
[Footnote 6: One of Guienne's retinue who, later, passed to Louis's
service.]
[Footnote 7: Louis's sister Yolande.]
[Footnote 8: The Duke of Brittany had married the third daughter of
the Count de Foix.]
[Footnote 9: This was an allusion to a proposed marriage between
Guienne and Jeanne, reputed daughter of Henry IV. of Castile. Vaesen
cannot explain the use of Aragon. Various documents relating to this
negotiation are given. (Comines-Lenglet, iii., 156.)]
[Footnote 10: Vaesen gives _femmes_, Duclos _filles_. The king was
above all afraid that his brother might marry Mary of Burgundy.]
[Footnote 11: Lettres de Louis XI._., iv., 286.]
[Footnote 12: There was a pestilence raging at Amboise.]
[Footnote 13: At Orleans, in the last days of October and the first of
November, there was a conference wherein the king apparently promised
to restore St. Quentin and Amiens to Charles, if he would renounce his
alliance with the dukes of Brittany and Guienne and would betroth his
daughter to the dauphin.]
[Footnote 14: Ythier Marchant negotiated the proposed marriage between
Guienne and Mary of Burgundy. He had received "signed and sealed
blanks" from the two princes in order to enable him to hasten matters.
(_Lettres de Louis XI._, iv., 289.)]
[Footnote 15: III., ch. viii.]
[Footnote 16: "Cette paix jura le Due de Bourgogne et y estois
présent."]
[Footnote 17: The king's envoys who had spent the winter in the
Burgundian court. _See_ letter to them in December.]
[Footnote 18: _See_ Kervyn, _Bulletin de l'Academie royale de
Belgique_, p. 256. _Also_ Kirk, ii., 160; Commynes-Mandrot, i., 234.]
[Footnote 19: Louis to the Vicomte de la Belliére, _Lettres_, etc.,
iv., 319.]
[Footnote 20: Louis to Dammartin, _Ibid_., 325. _Mars_ was written
first and then replaced by _Mai_.]
[Footnote 21: Odet d'Aydie, younger brother of the Seigneur de
Lescun.]
[Footnote 22: _Lettres, XI_., iv., 328. Louis to Dammartin, 1472.]
[Footnote 23: _Lettres_, iv., 331. Louis to the Duke of Milan.]
[Footnote 24: _Lettres_, etc., v., 4. Louis to Dammartin. _See also_
Duclos, v., 331. There are slight discrepancies between the two texts,
but the differences do not affect the narrative.]
[Footnote 25: Odet d'Aydie, whom Louis had hoped to have converted to
his cause, was the man to spread the charge against Louis broadcast
over the land. The truth of the death is not proven. Frequent mentions
of Guienne's condition occur through the letters of the winter '71-72.
The story was that the poison, administered subtly by the king's
orders, caused the illness of both the prince and his mistress, Mme.
de Thouan. She died after two months of suffering, December 14th,
while he resisted the poison longer, though his health was completely
shattered and his months of longer life were unutterably wretched and
painful, a constant torture until death mercifully released him in
May. Accusations of poisoning are often repeated in history. In this
case, there was certainly a wide-spread belief in Louis's guilt. In
his manifestos, (Lenglet, ii., 198) Charles declares that the king's
tools in compassing his brother's death were a friar, Jourdain Favre,
and Henri de la Roche, esquire of his kitchen.
The story told by Brantôme _(OEuvres Complètes_ de Pierre de
Bourdeille, Seigneur de Brantôme, ii., 329. "Grands Capitaines
Francois." There is nothing too severe for Brantôme to say about Louis
XI.) is very detailed. A fool passed to Louis's service from that of
the dead prince. While this man was attending his new master in the
church of Notre Dame de Cléry, he heard him make this prayer to the
Virgin: "Ah! my good Lady, my little mistress, my great friend in whom
I have always put my trust, I pray thee be a suppliant to God in my
behalf, be my advocate with Him so that He may pardon me for the death
of my brother whom I had poisoned by this wicked Abbé of St. John. I
confess it to thee as to my good patron and mistress. But what was to
be done? He was a torment to my realm. Get me pardoned and I know well
what I will give thee."
Brantôme tells further that the fool, using the privilege of free
speech accorded to his class, talked about Guienne's death at dinner
in public and after that day was never seen again. On the other hand,
the young duke's will was all to his brother's favour. Louis was
made executor and legatee, "and if we have ever offended our beloved
brother," dictated the dying man, "we implore him to pardon us as we
with _débonnaire_ affection pardon him." Mandrot, editor of Commynes
(1901), i., 230, considers the whole story a malicious fabrication of
Odet d'Aydie, and other authorities refer the cause to disease. The
very date of the death varies from May 12th to May 24th.]
[Footnote 26: Commines, iii., ch. ix.]
[Footnote 27: There is a curious document in existence (see _Bulletins
de L'Hist. de France_, 1833-34) dated fifty years after the event. It
is the deposition of several old people who had been just old enough
to remember that awful experience of their youth. Fifty years of
repetition gave time for the growth of the story.]
[Footnote 28: Commines, iii., ch. x.]
[Footnote 29: Legend makes it that Jeanne Laisné, called _Fouquet_,
chopped off the hands of the standard-bearer with a hatchet. Hence
her name was changed to _La Hachette_, and she is represented with a
hatchet.]
[Footnote 30: Barante, vii., 333.]
[Footnote 31: _See_ Lavisse, iv^{ii.}, 368.]
[Footnote 32:
"Berri est mort,
Bretagne dort,
Bourgogne hongne,
Le Roy besogne."
Le Roux de Lincy, _Chants historiques et populaires du temps de Louis
XI_.]
[Footnote 33: Commines also mentions here "the confessor of the Duke
of Guienne and a knight to whom is imputed the death of the Duke of
Guienne." (iii., ch. xi.)]
[Footnote 34: Kirk (ii., 156) thinks that this confiscation was only
Louis's way of prodding him up to act.]
[Footnote 35: Dupont (Commynes, iii., xxxvi). The fugitive did not
enter immediately into his new possessions. The king's gift of the
principality of Talmont, dated October, 1472, was not registered in
_Parlement_ until December 13, 1473, and in the court of records May
2, 1474. Prince of Talmont did Commines become at last, and as such he
married Helen de Chambes, January 27, 1473.]
[Footnote 36: It is strange that La Marche does not mention this
defection.]
[Footnote 37: See document quoted by Gachard, _Études et Notices_,
etc. ii., 344. The original is in the Croy family archives preserved
in the château of Beaumont.]
[Footnote 38: _See also_ Comines-Lenglet, i., xcj., for discussion of
this event. He asserts that the court of Burgundy was too corrupt for
honest men to endure it.]
[Footnote 39: _See_ Stein. _Étude_, etc., _sur Olivier de la _Marche_.
(Mém. Couronnés) xlix.]
[Footnote 40: Letter of Louis XI. in Bibl. Nat.: _Ibid._, p. 179.]