THE WILD BOAR OF ARDENNES
Though the churches and the houses of the clergy had been left
standing, in accordance with the orders given by Charles the Bold in
1468, the town of Liége was ruined. After a time, however, those who
had escaped with their lives began to return, and by degrees a new
Liége arose. The Principality also recovered to some extent; but its
prestige was so much diminished in the eyes of Europe that an alliance
with the bishops was no longer, as of old, an object of ambition to
other states.
On the death of Charles the Bold Louis de Bourbon, who was still
Bishop, made up his mind to devote himself in future to the government
of his Principality. As uncle of the young Duchess Marie, who was the
only daughter of Charles by his second wife, Isabelle de Bourbon, he
had sufficient influence at the Court of Burgundy to obtain important
concessions in favour of Liége. A yearly tribute of 30,000 florins,
which the late Duke had exacted, was remitted, and the Liégeois were
promised the restoration of their ancient charters and privileges.
The Perron, to the possession of which the people attached great
importance, was sent back from Bruges, and the townsmen showed their
gratitude to the Bishop by voting him a substantial sum of money.
When he came to Liége, among the first to greet him was William de la
Marck, head of the ancient house of Arenberg. Two of his ancestors
had been Bishops of Liége, and the family was one of the greatest in
the Principality. This William de la Marck had been a warrior from
his youth. He was one of the handsomest men of his time, but to make
himself an object of fear to his enemies he wore a long shaggy beard,
and imitated the ferocious manners of the brigands who had from time
immemorial haunted the most inaccessible part of the Ardennes. On his
coat of arms there was the head of a wild boar, and, either for that
reason or because of his fierce character, he was nicknamed the Wild
Boar of Ardennes.
[Illustration: A PEASANT WOMAN OF THE ARDENNES]
After the destruction of Liége Louis XI., anxious to raise fresh
troubles in the Principality in order to embarrass Charles of Burgundy
and the Bishop, had employed as his agent de la Marck, who, for
the purpose of picking a quarrel with the Bishop, caused one of the
vicars, against whom he had no cause of complaint, to be murdered
in cold blood. His favourite haunt was the Castle of Aigremont, a
fortalice perched on a hill above the left bank of the Meuse, to the
west of Liége. This place the Bishop destroyed. Thereupon de la Marck,
who let it be understood that he was acting in concert with the King
of France, and by this means obtained a numerous following among the
outlaws whom Charles of Burgundy had banished, declared open war
against both Louis de Bourbon and the Duke.
But when the Bishop returned to Liége, on the death of Charles and the
accession of the Duchess Marie, de la Marck hastened to make peace. The
Bishop granted him a pardon, made him Captain of the Guard and Governor
of Franchimont, rebuilt the Castle of Aigremont, and loaded him with
favours. But it was soon apparent that the Wild Boar was untamed. He
set the rules of the Church at defiance, refused to go to Mass or
confession, insisted on eating what he pleased in Lent, ruled all who
were under his authority with a rod of iron, made himself universally
hated by the nobles, and at last, taking offence at the remonstrances
of the Bishop, resigned his appointments, and left the Court. It
having been discovered that he was in correspondence with Louis XI.,
who was plotting the annexation of the Principality, a sentence of
banishment was pronounced against him as a traitor. He retired into the
Ardennes, where, assisted by gifts of arms and gold from France, he
gathered a strong band of French, German, and Swiss adventurers.
Suddenly, in August, 1482, news came to Liége that the Wild Boar was on
the march at the head of 4,000 horse and foot. The Bishop went forth
to give him battle on the slopes of the Chartreuse, on the right bank
of the river opposite the town. De la Marck, hearing from his spies
that the Bishop was coming on in front of his main body, and attended
only by a feeble escort, lay in wait for him at a difficult part of the
ascent. The surprise was complete, and the escort was cut to pieces.
The Bishop, alone in the hands of his enemy, cried out: 'Grâce! Grâce!
Seigneur d'Arenberg, je suis votre prisonnier!' But one of de la
Marck's followers struck him on the face. De la Marck himself drew his
sword, and wounded him in the neck, and, turning to his men, told them
to make an end of it. In an instant the Bishop fell from his horse
a dead man. They stripped his body, and left it lying in the mud for
hours; and it was with difficulty that the clergy obtained permission
to bury him with the honours due to his station.[58]
De la Marck, now master of the situation, called together the clergy of
the diocese, and pressed them to choose a new Bishop, suggesting his
own son, Jean d'Arenberg, a young man who was not yet a priest, as the
most suitable person. Some of the canons, with whom the election lay,
left Liége to escape voting. Those who remained were terrified into
obedience, and the Wild Boar's son was declared Bishop. De la Marck, at
the same time, appointed himself Governor of the Principality.
The murder of the Bishop, and the election of the murderer's son to
succeed him, led to new commotions. A meeting of the canons who had
fled from Liége, and their brethren who had been coerced into voting,
was held at Namur. In that town, out of the Wild Boar's 'sphere of
influence,' having declared the election of Jean d'Arenberg null and
void, they proceeded to vote again. On this occasion they were divided
into two parties. Some supported Jacques de le Roy, the Count of
Chimay's brother, while others were in favour of Jean de Home, a great
noble who had been made prisoner at the Chartreuse, but had afterwards
escaped.
There were thus three Bishops-Elect, and another civil war broke
out. The Archduke Maximilian[59] sent an army from Brabant into the
Principality, under Philip of Clèves, to avenge the death of Louis de
Bourbon. De la Marck laid waste the lands of Jean de Horne, seized
Tongres and other towns, and marched, at the head of 16,000 Liégeois
and a number of mercenaries, against Philip of Clèves. But his troops
were no match for the trained veterans of Brabant. The mercenaries
were driven back upon the Liégeois, who broke and ran. This defeat did
not quell the spirit of de la Marck; but Louis XI., on whom he relied,
died next year, and the Pope declared in favour of Jean de Horne. De la
Marck then saw that his wisest course was to make peace, and in June,
1484, a convention was signed at St. Trond, the terms of which show
that the Boar of the Ardennes was no mere bandit chief, but an
astute diplomatist, and a man of great influence in the Principality.
An indemnity of 30,000 livres was to be paid him by the town of Liége,
in security for which an assignment was made in his favour of the lands
of Franchimont and the Duchy of Bouillon. If he should be attacked by
any who felt aggrieved by his recent proceedings, the Bishop was to
help him at all costs. Excesses committed by either side were to be
pardoned, and those whose property had been damaged were to have no
claim for compensation.
[Illustration: THE RIVER SAMBRE SEEN FROM THE PONT DE SAMBRE, NAMUR]
When Jean de Horne, now duly accepted as Bishop, made his state entry
into Liége de la Marck rode beside him, and the two soon became
inseparable. They usually dined together at the Bishop's table. They
gave each other presents. If there was a fête, they attended it in
company. They are said to have even slept in the same bed, at that
time a favourite sign of friendship among the great. But, though it
seemed as if they were bent on setting the people an example of mutual
forgiveness and brotherly love, there were some who shook their heads,
and hinted that the friendships of great men who have been estranged
are seldom sincere.
Next year there was a fête at St. Trond in honour of the Bishop of
Liége, at which all the nobles of the Principality, with their wives
and daughters, had assembled. De la Marck, of course, was there.
Feasting and dancing went on till late in the afternoon, when the
Bishop's brothers, Jacques de Horne and Fréderic de Montigny, called
for their horses, saying they must start for Louvain. The Bishop
proposed to de la Marck that they should ride part of the way in
company, and to this he agreed. So the Bishop, his two brothers, and
de la Marck rode together till they reached a level plain, where de
Montigny challenged de la Marck to race him to a wood which was some
distance before them. They started, and left the others behind. De la
Marck, who was mounted on a very swift horse, was soon in front, and
galloped on till he reached the wood. The moment he drew rein a band of
soldiers, who had been lying in ambush, rushed out and surrounded him.
Then de Montigny rode up and said: 'You are my prisoner.' De la Marck,
who was not armed, asked what he meant, on which de Montigny produced
an order for his arrest signed by the Archduke Maximilian, and told him
they must now go to Maestricht. 'Then,' said de la Marck at once, 'it
is to my death.'
They reached Maestricht in the evening, and soon de la Marck was told
that he had only a few hours to live. During the night he was visited
by the Prior of the Dominicans, from whom, having made confession,
he received absolution. Early next morning they brought him to the
scaffold in the market-place. A prodigious crowd had gathered round it,
and in a window close at hand, openly rejoicing at the scene, was the
Bishop of Liége. De la Marck called to him in a loud voice, reproaching
him for his treachery, and uttered a solemn warning that the Wild
Boar's head, then about to fall, would 'bleed for many a day.' He asked
the nearest of the spectators to carry his last farewells to his wife
and children. To his brothers and friends he left the work of avenging
his death. He took off his cloak himself, and threw it to the crowd.
Then, lifting his long beard so that it covered his face, he bent down,
and the executioner struck off his head with one blow.
The Archduke Maximilian had ordered the arrest of de la Marck on the
ground that he was engaged in some fresh plot with France; but the
conduct of the Bishop and his brothers was loudly condemned even in
that age of perfidy. The family of de la Marck swore vengeance, and
the Principality of Liége was once more bathed in blood. Calling
to his aid the common people, who had always loved the Wild Boar,
and assisted behind the scenes by the King of France, who wished to
excite the Liégeois against the Archduke Maximilian, Everard de la
Marck, William's brother, made war against Jean de Horne. A sanguinary
struggle, in which no mercy was shown on either side, went on for seven
years, but at last the Bishop and his friends made up their minds to
sue for pardon.
A conference was agreed to, which took place on a meadow near Haccourt,
on the Meuse between Liége and Maestricht. On the appointed day the
Bishop-Prince, attended by his nobles, but himself unarmed, met the
brother of the man whom he had so treacherously ensnared. Dismounting
from his horse, he approached Everard de la Marck, and said: 'I ask you
to pardon me for the death of your brother William.'
Everard looked on him coldly, and said nothing, whereupon the Bishop
burst into tears, and sobbed: 'Seigneur Everard, pardon me. Pardon me,
I implore you by the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ!' Then
Everard, weeping also, answered: 'You ask pardon for the death of my
brother in the name of God, who died for us all? Well, I pardon
you.' So saying, he gave his hand to the Bishop, and they swore to live
at peace with each other.
[Illustration: LA GLEIZE, A VILLAGE IN THE ARDENNES]
This strange reconciliation, which took place in 1492, was soon
confirmed by the marriage of the Bishop's niece to Everard de la
Marck's son, and thereafter there were no more feuds between the
families of de Horne and Arenberg.
Three years later, in 1495, the Diet of Worms established the Imperial
Chamber, and put an end to the system of private wars.
FOOTNOTES.
[Footnote 58: Bishop Louis de Bourbon was only forty-five at the date
of the murder.]
[Footnote 59: The Duchess Marie of Burgundy, who married the Archduke
Maximilian of Austria, afterwards Emperor, had died at Bruges in March,
1482; and Maximilian then became Regent of the Austrian Netherlands
during the minority of his children.]