THE TREATY OF PICQUIGNY.
When Edward's victories on Gladsmuir Heath and the banks of the Severn
had rendered the Lancastrians in England utterly incapable of making
head against the house of York, the martial king naturally turned his
thoughts to Continental triumphs, and prepared to avenge himself on
Louis of France for the encouragement which that monarch had openly and
secretly given to the adherents of the Red Rose.
Apart from the friendship shown by the crafty king to Warwick and
Lancaster, Edward had a strong reason for making war on Louis. It
was well known that Louis had not only sneered at his royalty, but
questioned his legitimacy, calling him "the son of the archer," and
keeping alive a story which some envious Lancastrians had invented
about an intrigue of the Duchess of York, the proudest of English
matrons, with Blackburn of Middleham. Besides, Edward was not
insensible to the glory and popularity to be acquired by emulating the
martial deeds of his ancestors on Continental soil. Accordingly, in
the year 1475, after concluding an alliance offensive and defensive
with the Duke of Burgundy, and receiving promises of co-operation from
the Constable St. Pol, Edward dispatched Garter-King-at-Arms to Louis,
demanding the immediate surrender of the kingdom of France.
However startled Louis might be at the message, he did not lose his
presence of mind. After reading Edward's letter and reflecting, he
sent for the Garter-King, brought all his statecraft into play,
expressed his high respect for the English king, deplored that such a
prince should be deluded by so treacherous an ally as Burgundy, and
persuaded the herald to urge his master to settle the matter amicably.
Moreover, he promised Garter a thousand crowns when peace should be
concluded; and, meanwhile, presented him with three hundred crowns.
Garter-King-at-Arms was touched with the munificence of Louis, and
promised his good offices; nay, more, significantly advised the King of
France to open negotiations with the English ministers, whom he knew to
be averse to a war.
Meanwhile, Edward had set himself to the task of providing money
and men for the expedition he meditated; and as the project of a
war with France was sure to make Parliament open the purse of the
nation, a considerable sum was voted. To Edward, however, the amount
appeared insufficient for his purpose, and he resolved upon a system
of exaction practiced in time of Richard the Second, and known as "a
benevolence." But money paid in this way was supposed to be a voluntary
gift, and not likely to come in large sums unless asked for. Edward,
therefore, sent for the wealthiest citizens of London, talked to them
frankly, and pressed them to contribute liberally; and he besides
secured the influence of the city dames, who exerted themselves to the
utmost on his behalf. A story is told of a widow, who was not fond of
parting with money, bringing twenty pounds. "By GOD'S Blessed Lady,"
said Edward, who was present, "you shall have a king's kiss for that
money," and suited the action to the word. "Sire," said she, delighted
with this familiarity, "the honor is worth more money than I have
given:" and the widow doubled her contribution.
Large sums having been obtained, a gallant army was soon raised. In
fact, the sons of the men of Agincourt did not relish the idea of
beating swords into plowshares; and to the royal standard came nearly
twenty thousand men, headed by the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester,
the Marquis of Dorset, the Earl of Northumberland, Lord Stanley,
Lord Hastings, and other men of rank. With these, and attended by
Lord-chancellor Rotheram and the Bishop of Ely, Edward sailed from
Sandwich, and, toward the close of June, landed at Calais, which he
had last visited under the protection of Warwick, between their flight
from Ludlow and their victory at Northampton.
High hopes were at first entertained by the invaders; but it soon
became apparent that they were not destined to add a Cressy or an
Agincourt to England's list of victories. At the very beginning, their
enterprise was ruined by the constable's insincerity and Burgundy's
rashness. The former failed to open the gates as he had promised; and
the latter, instead of joining Edward with a large army, exhausted his
strength before Neuss in a battle with the Swiss.
Louis began to breathe freely; and while the English army lay inactive
at Peronne, French gold circulated freely among the leaders. A general
desire for peace was, of course, the result; and, ere long, Edward
caught the infection. French embassadors soon appeared, and offered to
pay any thing in reason. A sum of seventy-five thousand crowns down,
an annuity of fifty thousand crowns, and the dauphin as a husband for
his eldest daughter--such were the terms submitted on the part of Louis
for the acceptance of the English king. Edward could not resist such
offers; and, after negotiations had gone on for some time, the kings
agreed to a conference.
Picquigny, three leagues from Amiens, on the road from Calais to
Paris, was selected as the scene, and the 29th of August appointed as
the time for this memorable interview. Every precaution was taken to
prevent mischief; and on the middle of the bridge which spanned the
Somme, at Picquigny, were erected two sheds. These fronted each other,
but were divided from top to bottom by a trellis of wood-work. The
space between the gratings was no wider than to admit a man's arm; and
the English king was to occupy one side of the barricade, while the
French king occupied the other.
It appears that Richard of Gloucester considered the terms of treaty
degrading, and declined to appear at the conference. Nevertheless, on
the appointed morning, Edward, attended by Clarence, Northumberland,
Hastings, and others, proceeded to the Bridge of Picquigny, and
approached the grating. On the other side, Louis had already arrived,
with the Duke of Bourbon, the Cardinal Bourbon, about ten other persons
of the highest rank in France, and Philip de Comines, who had recently
exchanged the service of Burgundy for that of Louis.
One glance at Edward as he advanced along the causeway, with his tall,
graceful form arrayed in cloth of gold, and wearing on his regal head a
velvet cap with a large _fleur de lis_ formed of precious stones, must
have convinced so acute an observer as Louis that the story about the
archer of Middleham was an invention of the enemy; and as the King of
England took off his cap, and bowed with grace, the French monarch, who
had been leaning against the barrier, made a respectful obeisance, and
exclaimed, "Cousin, you are right welcome. There is no person living I
have been so ambitious of seeing." Edward, in good French, returned the
compliment; and the two kings proceeded to business.
Notwithstanding a heavy fall of rain, which "came on to the great
vexation of the French lords, who had dressed themselves and their
horses in their richest habiliments, in honor of King Edward," the
conference proved interesting. The Bishop of Ely, in a set harangue,
quoted a prophecy of Merlin foreshadowing the august meeting; and a
missal and crucifix having been produced, the kings, each placing
one hand on the book and another on the crucifix, swore to observe
religiously the terms of the treaty.
The solemn ceremony of swearing over, Louis became jocose, assured
Edward he should be happy to see him in Paris, and promised to assign
him, as confessor, the Cardinal Bourbon, who would, doubtless, readily
grant absolution for any love affairs. Edward seemed to relish the
prospect; and, knowing the cardinal's morals to be lax as his own, took
the opportunity of displaying his wit in reply. After this the lords
were sent to a little distance; and the kings, having spoken some
words in private, shook hands through the grating, and parted--Louis
riding to Amiens, and Edward to the English camp.
No sooner had Louis left the bridge of Picquigny than he repented
of the invitation he had given Edward to visit the French capital.
"Certes," said the crafty monarch to Comines, as they rode toward
Amiens, "our brother of England is a fine king, and a warm admirer of
the ladies. At Paris he might chance to find some dame so much to his
taste as to tempt him to return. His predecessors have been too often
both in Paris and Normandy already, and I have no great affection for
his company on this side of the Channel."
At Amiens, on the same evening, when Louis was sitting down to supper,
an amusing scene occurred. Sir John Howard, now a baron, and Sir
John Cheyney, Edward's Master of the Horse, had been appointed to
accompany Louis to Paris; and Howard, whose vanity made him, as usual,
ridiculous, whispered to the French king that it would go hard but he
would persuade Edward to come to Paris a while and be merry. Louis
allowed this to pass without returning any direct answer; but afterward
he took occasion to say that the war with Burgundy would render his
presence absolutely necessary in another part of France.
But, whatever his apprehensions, Louis was not doomed to have his
formidable contemporary as a foe or a guest on the banks of the Seine.
Edward, doubtless delighted with the prospect of indulging in hunting,
carousing, and love-making at Shene or Windsor, recalled, without
delay, his soldiers from Peronne, Abbeville, and other places, and,
escorted by the Bishop of Evreux, marched back to Calais. Thence he
embarked for England, but not without being unpleasantly reminded that
he hardly came off with royal honors. In fact, the Constable of St.
Pol, apparently enraged that events had taken such a turn as to profit
him nothing, wrote Edward a furious letter, calling him "a coward, a
pitiful and poor sovereign, for having made a treaty with a king who
would not keep one of his promises."[15]
The Plantagenet sent St. Pol's epistle to the King of France, and
digested the affront; and while Louis, who had already been suspected
of poisoning his brother, Charles de Valois, got rid of another enemy
by beheading the constable, Edward returned to England to expend the
money he had received as a bribe on those pleasures destined to destroy
his health and obscure his intellect. Nor did his nobles come home
empty-handed. Dorset, Hastings, and Howard, Sir John Cheyney and Sir
Thomas St. Leger, had become pensioners of the French king; and the
people were left to complain that the expedition for which they had
paid so dearly had ended in infamy. Perhaps, under such circumstances,
they did drop a tear over the grave of "The Stout Earl," who, had he
been alive, would not have stood quietly by while a king of England
extracted taxes from English subjects to commence an unnecessary war,
and took bribes from a French monarch to conclude a humiliating peace.