The Scandalous Chronicle.
THE CHRONICLES OF THE VERY CHRISTIAN AND VERY VICTORIOUS LOUIS OF VALOIS,
LATE KING OF FRANCE (WHOM GOD ABSOLVE), WITH VARIOUS OTHER ADVENTURES
WHICH OCCURRED BOTH IN THE REALM OF FRANCE AND IN NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES,
FROM THE YEAR 1460 UNTIL 1483, INCLUSIVELY.
To the honour and praise of God, our sweet Saviour and Redeemer, and the
blessed glorious Virgin Mary, without whose assistance no good works
can be performed. Knowing that several kings, princes, counts, barons,
prelates, noblemen, ecclesiastics, and abundance of the common people,
are often pleased and delighted in hearing and reading the surprising
histories of wonderful things that have happened in divers places both
of this and other Christian states and kingdoms, I have applied myself
with abundance of pleasure, from the 35th year of my age, instead of
spending my time in sloth and idleness, to writing a history of several
remarkable accidents and adventures that happened in France, and in
other neighbouring kingdoms, as far as my memory would permit me; but
especially from the year 1460, in the reign of Charles VII., to the
death of Louis XI., his son, who died on the 30th of August, in the
year 1483. However, I neither design nor expect that this historical
essay of mine should be called a Chronicle, being wholly unfit for so
bold an undertaking; neither indeed was I ever employed or permitted to
write one; but what I have here ventured to record, is purely by way of
amusement to please and divert those who will give themselves the trouble
of reading it or hearing it read; whom I also humbly entreat to excuse,
and supply my ignorance, by correcting and altering whatever they find
amiss; for abundance of these remarkable accidents have happened after so
very different and so strange a manner, that it would have been a very
difficult task, either for me or any other writer, to have given an exact
and particular account of every thing that happened during so long a
period of time.
1460.
And first of all, then, I must speak concerning the goodness and
fertility of the earth in the year 1460, which was so prodigiously
fruitful throughout the whole kingdom of France, and bore such plenteous
crops of corn, that at the very dearest time a quarter of wheat was sold
for only twenty-four Parisian sols; but there was a great scarcity of
fruit, and as for the vines, there was but little wine, especially in
the Isle of France, so that they had scarce an hogshead to every acre of
ground, but the wine was extraordinarily good, and that which grew in the
fat vineyards round Paris was sold very dear, and bore the price of ten
or eleven crowns a hogshead.
About that time several poor indigent wretches that were guilty of
thieving, sacrilege, house-breaking, and other enormous crimes, were made
an example of, and severely punished at Paris; amongst whom some were
only whipped at the cart’s tail, and afterwards pardoned, as being their
first offence; and others, who were old offenders, and had been often
guilty of crimes of the like nature, were condemned to be hanged, and
executed accordingly.
Much about that time also a certain woman, named Perrette Mauger, was
condemned to be burnt alive for having committed several robberies,
and for harbouring and concealing several notorious thieves and
house-breakers, who had committed divers robberies in and about Paris;
as also for having sold and disposed of the said goods that were stolen
by these thieves, and sharing with them the money that arose from the
sale thereof: for which crimes, and several others besides, which she
confessed at last, she was condemned by M. Robert Destouteville, mayor
of Paris, to be burnt alive at the stake before the gallows, and all her
goods and chattels to be forfeited to the king. From which sentence she
formally appealed to the court of parliament, upon the account of which
appeal her execution was deferred for some time; but after the parliament
had examined into her trial, they confirmed the above-mentioned sentence,
and having declared that the said Perrette Mauger had no manner of
grounds for her appeal, ordered it immediately to be executed; upon which
she declared herself to be with child, which deferred the execution
a little longer; and presently a jury of midwives and matrons was
impannelled, and ordered to search her, who, upon a strict examination,
reported to the judges that she was not breeding, upon which report she
was immediately ordered to be burnt before the gallows by Henry Cousin,
hangman of Paris.
_Strange Adventures that happened in England in the same Year, 1460._
In this year the Pope sent a legate into England, who preached to the
people of that country, but especially in London, the chief city of
that kingdom; where he made several remonstrances to the inhabitants
of that and the adjacent parts, much to the prejudice, and contrary to
the interest of, Henry VI., king of England; which remonstrances the
Cardinal of York, who accompanied the legate, explained in their own
language, with a long exposition on the same. Upon which the common
people, who were wavering and fickle enough at the best, began to rise up
in rebellion against King Henry, and his queen, daughter of René, King
of Sicily and Jerusalem, and their son the Prince of Wales. The common
people chose the Earl of Warwick for their head, who was governor of
Calais, in the room of Richard, Duke of York, who pretended to be king,
and boldly maintained the kingdom of England belonged to him, as being
the next heir of the family of King Richard II. A little time afterwards
the Duke of York, who had assembled a great number of the populace in
arms, took the field, and marched directly to a park where Henry VI. was
attended by several dukes, princes, and other lords, all in arms also.
There were eight avenues that led to this park, and these were guarded
by eight barons of the kingdom, all of them traitors and rebels to King
Henry; who, as soon as they were informed of the Duke of York’s arrival,
immediately gave him admittance into the park, with the Earl of Warwick,
and several others, who went directly to the place where the King was,
whom without any farther ceremony[517] they seized upon. Immediately
after this action, they slew several princes and great lords of the
blood royal that were with him. When the Earl of Warwick had so done, he
took King Henry and brought him directly to London, carrying the naked
sword before him, as if he had been his constable; and, upon his arrival
at London, he led him straight to the Tower, in which there were four
barons of the kingdom of King Henry’s party, that were kept prisoners
there; to whom King Henry some time after, and the Earl of Warwick, gave
very fair words, and released them out of the Tower, after they had
solemnly promised them that their persons should be protected from all
manner of danger whatsoever, and in confidence of these fair promises
they consented to go out of the Tower. But as they were leading these
four barons after King Henry and the Earl of Warwick, there happened to
be an insurrection of the mob, and some of them came and killed one of
the barons, and gave him several blows and contusions; and the next day,
notwithstanding all the fine promises that were made them, the three
other barons were executed on Tower-hill.
At the same time there arose a great quarrel between the king’s officers
belonging to the Court of Aids, and one of the beadles of the University
of Paris, for some affront the said beadle had given to two counsellors
of the same court; for which misdemeanor the said beadle was put into
the common gaol of Paris; which method of proceeding the whole University
highly resented, and were so extremely displeased with it, that, till the
affair was accommodated, and the beadle restored to his liberty, they
refused either to preach, pray, or read to the people; but, upon his
enlargement, they were well satisfied, and performed their usual duty.
About this time a certain person, called Anthony the Bastard of Burgundy,
came into Paris in a disguise, and staid there only one day and a night;
and when the inhabitants of the city were informed of his coming in
that manner, several officers and men of note could not imagine what
should be the meaning of it, and immediately despatched certain persons
to carry the news of it to the king, who spoke very favourably of the
citizens, and declared they were not in the least privy to his coming
in that clandestine way. Upon which the king in all haste sent the
Marshal de Loheac, and M. John Bureau, Treasurer of France, to inquire
into the truth of the relation that was brought him, and to take all the
care imaginable to prevent whatever designs this emissary of the house
of Burgundy might have formed in the city. At the same time also the
citizens of Paris, (to free themselves from all manner of suspicion of
their consenting to his coming _incognito_,) deputed some of the chief of
their citizens, among whom were M. John de Lolive, Doctor of Divinity,
and the Chancellors of the Church of Paris, Nicholas de Louviers, M.
John Clerebourg, Master of the Mint; M. John Lullier, Town Clerk;
James Rebours, Attorney; John Volant, Merchant, and several others, to
represent the matter fairly to the king. His majesty received them very
graciously; and, after they had ended their speech, which was made to
clear their innocence, he was extremely well satisfied with them, and
having given them a very mild and gracious answer, they returned to Paris
with great joy and gladness of heart.
At that time M. Robert Destouteville, who was mayor of Paris, was
committed prisoner to the Bastille, and afterwards to the Louvre, by the
command of the Marshal de Loheac and M. John Bureau; for some injustice
and abuses he had committed in the exercise of his office, though it
was never fairly proved upon him. About that time also several rude
and uncivil actions were committed by M. John Advin, counsellor of the
parliament of Paris, in the house of the said Destouteville, such as
searching of boxes, trunks, and other places for letters; not to mention
the several incivilities he offered to the Lady Ambroise de Lore, his
wife, who was a woman of great virtue, honour, and wisdom.
In this year the rivers Seine and Marne were swollen so prodigiously,
that in one night’s time the Marne rose above six feet high about St.
Maur des-Fossez, and did a great deal of damage in several places; but
among the rest, the river came up so high in a village called Claye, in
which there was a palace belonging to the Bishop of Meaux, that it washed
away all the brick-work of the front of it, where there were two stately
towers newly erected, in which there were fine and large apartments
richly furnished and adorned with tapestry, pictures, &c., but the river
swept all away.
About that time also it happened, that the body of the church of Fecamp
in Normandy was burnt down to the ground by a fiery exhalation that came
from the sea towards the Marches of Cornwall; and caught hold of the
steeple of the said abbey which was quite consumed, and all the bells
melted down, to the great loss and detriment of the abbot and his whole
fraternity.
At the same time there was a great noise and discourse all over the
kingdom of France, and other places, of a young girl of about eighteen
years of age, who lived in the city of Mans, and played several
ridiculous pranks and follies; such as foaming at the mouth, leaping into
the air, screaming out aloud, putting her body into a thousand convulsive
motions, and pretending to be tormented by the devil; by which antic
tricks, and several others too tedious to mention here, she imposed upon
and cheated abundance of people that came to see her. But at last she
was discovered to be an idle hussy, and that she played all her devilish
pranks by the instigation and contrivance of some of the officers
belonging to the Bishop of Mans, who maintained her for that purpose; and
had so far brought her to their beck, that she would do anything they bid
her, and they had trained her up from her infancy to play these pranks.
About the same time it happened in England, some time after the Earl
of Warwick’s seizing upon the person of King Henry, that the Duke of
Somerset the king’s cousin, in conjunction with several young noblemen,
relations and heirs to those who were slain at the taking of King Henry,
having got together a considerable body of men, took the field, and
marched directly against the Duke of York, found him encamped in the
plains of St. Albans[518], where they gave him battle, and cut him and
his whole army to pieces. In this battle the Duke of York was slain
himself, and when his body was found they cut off his head, and by way
of derision, because he pretended to the crown of England, they fixed
it upon the point of a lance, and put a crown of straw in the form of a
royal crown upon it. With him there fell in the battle six and twenty
barons, knights, esquires, and persons of note in the kingdom; besides a
great number of common soldiers, amounting in all to above eight or nine
thousand men.
And on Wednesday the third of February in the same year 1460, were read
and published at Rouen, and in several other places in the duchy of
Normandy, in the public market-places by sound of trumpet, the king’s
letters patent; by which he declared it was his royal will and pleasure
that the whole country of Normandy, together with its seaports, should
be free and open to all English men and women, of what rank or condition
soever; and in what habit soever they shall think fit to wear, (provided
they were of King Henry’s party,) and without having any passport, to
have free liberty of trade and commerce throughout his whole kingdom.
1461.
In the year 1461, in the month of July, it happened that King Charles
VII. fell sick at the castle of Meun upon the Yevre, of a distemper
that was incurable, and of which he died on Wednesday the 22nd of July,
between one and two o’clock, in the afternoon, much lamented by the whole
kingdom; as being a very wise and valiant prince, and leaving his kingdom
in a very peaceful and flourishing condition.
Immediately after the death of the king was publicly known, the greatest
part of the officers of Paris, and several others of the kingdom, went to
pay their respects to the Dauphin, who resided at the Duke of Burgundy’s
court at Hainault; and who by the decease of his father came to the crown
of France. The occasion of their waiting on him there, was, to know his
royal will and pleasure; and whether they should be continued in the
same posts and employments they enjoyed under his father: At which place
after his death he made a promotion of several officers in the chamber
of accounts or exchequer, at Paris: Amongst the rest, he made M. Peter
l’Orfevre Lord of Ermenonville and Nicholas de Louviers counsellors
of the same exchequer, and M. John Baillet master of the requests and
reporter of the court of chancery: He also confirmed M. Simon Charles,
who was carried in a litter into Hainault, in the place he was possessed
of in the exchequer: and the rest of the officers that came thither
to beg the favour of being continued in their respective posts and
employments, were ordered back to Paris to wait for the king’s coming
thither.
And upon the 24th of July, 1461, M. Etienne Chevalier, who was treasurer
or chief director of the finances in the reign of the late King Charles,
and whom he appointed to be one of the executors of his last will and
testament, and also M. Dreux Budé, the grand audiencier[519] of France,
went from Paris to see the king’s corpse that lay in state at Meun; but
the Lord d’Aigreville, captain of Montargis, at the earnest solicitation
of a certain gentleman named Vuaste de Morpedon, caused them both to be
seized at Montargis; where they remained prisoners for some time, till
the king sent orders for their release, and continued them both in their
respective employments of treasurer and audiencier.
But it was very observable, that on the 23rd of July, in 1461, which
was the next day after the king’s death, a large blazing star was seen
in the sky about seven o’clock at night, which cast such a glaring and
resplendent light through the air, that all Paris seemed to be in a
flame; but Heaven in its mercy has been still pleased to preserve that
good city.
On Thursday the 6th of August, 1461, the body of the late King Charles
VII. was brought from Meun with great solemnity, to the Church of
Notre-Dame in the Fields, without the gates of Paris; and the next day
the clergy, nobility, officers, citizens, and abundance of the populace
repaired thither, and conducted it from thence to Paris, with a great
deal of pomp, ceremony, and respect, as is usual upon such occasions.
The funeral procession was thus regulated. Before the corpse were borne
two hundred wax-candles of four pounds each, adorned and painted with
the arms of France, and carried by two hundred inferior persons dressed
in long mourning robes and black caps. The body was borne in a litter by
the salt-porters of Paris, and it was lined and covered with a rich cloth
of gold, valued at one thousand two hundred crowns of gold; and upon the
top of it was placed the effigies of the late king Charles dressed in his
royal robes, with a crown on his head, holding in one hand a sceptre,
and in the other a regal truncheon. And in this state it was carried to
the great Church of Notre-Dame in Paris; all the bellmen of the city
clothed also in black, and bearing on each side of their gowns the arms
of France, marching before it; and after them came those that bore the
candles, adorned and painted with the same arms, before the litter. After
the litter came the Duke of Orleans and the Count d’Angouleme as chief
mourners, accompanied by the Counts d’Eu and Dunois; M. John Jouvenelle
des Ursins, knight and chancellor of France, and the master of the horse;
all clothed in deep mourning, and mounted on horseback. Next to them
marched all the officers of the household to the late king, on foot,
by two and two, dressed in deep mourning also; and close to the litter
rode six pages in black upon six fine horses covered all over with black
velvet, which was a very dismal and melancholy sight to behold. And
there was such an universal concern and lamentation for his death, that
scarce a dry eye was left in the whole city; nay, it is reported, that
one of his pages took his master’s death so to heart, that for four whole
days together he neither ate nor drank anything. The next day, which was
the 9th of August, his body was removed from the Church of Notre-Dame, in
Paris, about three in the afternoon, and carried with the above-mentioned
pomp and ceremony to St. Denis, where it was deposited, and now lies.
Towards the end of this month our most gracious sovereign Louis XI.,
then only dauphin and eldest son of Charles VII. lately deceased, was
crowned King of France at Rheims by the Archbishop Jouvenal, where he was
attended by the greatest part of the nobility of his kingdom.
Upon the last day of this month of August, the king set out from an hotel
named Les Porcherons, which was in the suburbs near the gate of St.
Honoré, belonging to M. John Bureau, who was knighted at his coronation
at Rheims, in order to make his public entry into Paris; upon which the
whole body of the nobility, clergy, and gentry came out to pay their
homage to him, and welcome him to their city; amongst whom were the
Bishop of Paris named William Chartier, the whole University, the Court
of Parliament, the Mayor of Paris, all the officers of the Exchequer, and
the provost of the merchants, with the aldermen in their damask robes
lined with sables. And the mayor and aldermen, after they had saluted and
paid their respects to the king, presented him with the keys of the city
gates, through which he was to make his entry, which he very graciously
returned; and then the way was ordered to be cleared, to make room
for others to approach his majesty, and make their compliment to him,
of which number he made a great many knights on the spot. As the king
passed through the gate of St. Denis, he found near the Church of St.
Ladre a herald mounted on horseback, and clothed in the city livery, who
presented to him five ladies on the part of the city, richly dressed, and
mounted on five fine horses sumptuously accoutred with rich furniture, on
which were embroidered the city arms; and these five ladies were habited
after a sort of manner representing the five letters of Paris, and every
one of them made a speech to the king, which was prepared for them
beforehand.
There was a very great appearance at the king’s public entry into Paris,
both of his own nobility, and of foreign princes and noblemen, amongst
whom were the Dukes of Orleans, Burgundy, Bourbon, and Cleves, the Count
de Charolois, the Duke of Burgundy’s eldest son, the Counts d’Angouleme,
St. Paul, and Dunois, besides several other earls, barons, knights,
captains, and a great number of persons of note and distinction, who, in
honour of the day, and to augment the splendour and magnificence of the
triumphal entry, had bestowed vast sums in rich and costly furniture,
with which their horses were caparisoned: some of their housings were of
the richest cloth of gold, made after different fashions, and lined with
sables; others were of crimson velvet, lined with ermine or rich damask,
embroidered with gold and silver, and hung round with great silver bells,
which were of a considerable value; and upon the horses rode fine young
pages, the very flower of youth and beauty, richly dressed, and wearing
embroidered scarfs over their shoulders, that hung down to the crupper,
which made a very noble and gallant show.
The Parisians on this occasion caused a very fine ship to be cast in
silver, which was borne aloft upon men’s shoulders, and just as the king
made his entry through the gate of St. Denis, it was placed upon the
drawbridge near the said gate, to represent the city arms. In it were
placed three persons representing the three estates of the kingdom; and
in the stern and the poop sat two more personating justice and equity;
and out of the scuttle, which was formed in the shape of a fleur-de-lis,
issued a king dressed in royal robes, and attended by two angels. A
little farther, at the fountain du Ponceau, there were wild men that
played the parts of gladiators, and near them were placed three handsome
wenches, representing mermaids, sporting and singing gay enlivening airs,
which were humoured and accompanied with the melodious harmony of soft
music. And to comfort and refresh the people, there were several pipes
in the said fountain that ran milk, wine, and hippocras, of which every
one drank what he pleased; and a little below the fountain, the passion
of our Saviour was represented as he was crucified between two thieves.
At a little distance from this crucifix there were posted a band of men
richly dressed, representing hunters that had just run down a stag, whose
death was accompanied with the melodious noise of dogs and horns; and
in the Rue de la Boucherie there were large scaffolds erected in the
form of the Bastile at Dieppe. And when the king had passed by them, the
English who were within the Bastile were furiously attacked by the king’s
soldiers, taken prisoners, and had all their throats cut. Opposite to the
gate of the Chastellet there was a fine appearance of persons of quality;
all the windows were hung with rich tapestry, and the streets through
which the king passed were crowded with a prodigious number of people.
In this pompous manner he proceeded to the Church of Notre-Dame; and
having performed his devotions to the blessed Virgin, he returned to his
royal palace, where he had a splendid and magnificent entertainment, and
lay there that night. The next morning, which was the first of September
in the year 1461, he removed from thence into his Hotel des Tournelles,
near the Bastile de St. Antoine, where he staid some time, during which
he made several acts and ordinances, and turned several of the officers
of his kingdom out of their posts and employments, amongst the rest
the Chancellor Juvenal des Ursins, the marshal, the admiral, the first
president of the Court of Parliament, and the provost of Paris, and put
new ones in their places.
He also made a new regulation in all his courts of justice and offices
belonging to the crown, especially in the Exchequer, Treasury,
and the Mint, turning out abundance of counsellors, secretaries,
receivers-general, clerks, and other officers of an inferior nature, and
putting others in their room.
The 3rd of September, 1461, the king, attended by some of the lords and
gentlemen of his court, was entertained at supper in the house of one
M. William de Corbie, a counsellor of the court of Parliament, whom he
made President of Dauphiny that very night. There were abundance of fine
ladies and honest citizens’ wives to see the king at supper; and during
his stay at Paris he ordered several feasts and entertainments to be made
in divers places of the city on purpose to treat and divert them.
About this time it happened, that a beautiful young woman named Joan du
Bois, wife to a certain officer belonging to the Chastellet of Paris,
made an elopement from her husband, but afterwards, by the counsel and
advice of his intimate friends, he took her home again. She became a
very good woman, and lived a sober and virtuous life with her husband
afterwards.
1462-3.
In the years 1462 and 1463 nothing material or worth recording happened,
and therefore I have passed them over in silence. And as for the year
1463, as I have already observed, there was nothing happened in it worth
taking notice of, unless it was the shortness of the winter and the
length of the summer, which was extremely pleasant, and very favourable
to the vines, so that we had plenty of good wine that year, but a great
scarcity of all other fruits of the earth.
1464.
In the year 1464, upon Tuesday the 15th of May, the king came from
Nogent le Roy, where the queen was brought to bed of a young princess;
and on the same day in the evening supped at the house of M. Charles
d’Orgemont Lord of Mery, and from thence he set out for the frontiers
of Picardy, where he expected to have found the ambassadors whom Edward
King of England had promised to send thither to him, but they never came;
whereupon the king left Picardy and made a progress to Rouen, and several
other places in Normandy. About that time it happened that a small vessel
of Dieppe was seized upon the coast of Holland by some of the Duke of
Burgundy’s ships, in which there was a person named the Bastard of
Rubempré, who, with the rest of the ship’s crew, was immediately clapped
into prison, upon pretence that their design of hovering about those
parts was purely to seize upon the person of the Count de Charolois: and
this report the Flemings spread abroad everywhere, but there was nothing
in it.
About that time the king set out from Normandy in his return to Nogent,
from whence he went to visit Tours, Chinon, and Poitiers, at which place
arrived the deputies that were sent by the city of Paris to desire
his majesty to grant them farther privileges; but all they were able
to obtain of him was, only to be exempted from a small tax called the
Foreign Impost, which was no great matter; and even that small gift they
did not enjoy, for the clerks of the Exchequer, to whom their letters
patent were directed, were negligent, and would not despatch their
business in time. The ambassadors of the Duke of Bretagne were likewise
to wait on him there, whom he heard upon several articles that were
brought him in relation to the affair between the duke and him; which
articles, or at least the greatest part of them, were granted and allowed
by his majesty; and by those articles of agreement the said ambassadors
did promise and engage that their master the Duke of Bretagne should
wait on his majesty, either at Poitiers or elsewhere, to confirm and
ratify the said articles. After which, the ambassadors took their leave
of the king, pretending to return into Bretagne; but they did quite the
contrary, as you will find hereafter. The day they set out from Poitiers,
which was Saturday, they went but four leagues, where they stayed till
the Monday following; and upon Sunday the Duke of Berry, the king’s
own brother, departed from Poitiers also, and lay that night with the
ambassadors, who received him with abundance of kindness and civility,
and the next morning early in great haste they all set out together for
Bretagne, fearing lest the king should be informed of his brother’s going
with them, and upon that account follow them: besides the Count de Dunois
was already arrived at the Duke of Bretagne’s court, which would be apt
to give the king a suspicion of some secret designs on foot against him.
Soon after the departure of these ambassadors, the Duke of Bourbon
declares war against the king, and invades his dominions, seizing upon
whatever belonged to the king, in his territories, and putting the Lord
de Croussol, a great favourite of the king’s, under an arrest. This Lord
de Croussol was only passing through his country with his lady and the
rest of his family; however, they were all of them arrested and confined
in the city of Cosne in Bourbonnois.
After this, William Juvenal des Ursins Lord of Traynel, formerly
chancellor of France, and M. Peter Doriolle the late treasurer, were also
arrested in the city of Moulins, where they endured a long imprisonment;
but at last the Duke of Bourbon released them, and gave them liberty to
go back to the king.
On Sunday the 12th of March, in the year 1464, after the Duke of Berry’s
departure from Poitiers, Anthony Chabannes Count de Dammartin, who was
a prisoner in the Bastile de St. Antoine, made his escape and fled into
Berry and Bourbonnois, where he was kindly received. But several who
were suspected to have been accessary to his escape, were immediately
committed to prison.
On Wednesday the 15th of March, M. Charles de Melun the king’s
lieutenant, M. John Balue Bishop of Evreux, and M. John le Prevost,
with the king’s secretary, met together in the Hotel de Ville, where
they caused several articles, that the king had given them in charge,
to be read; and after the reading was over, they made several acts and
ordinances for the better defence and security of the city. Amongst the
rest, there was a particular order to appoint a strong watch to guard the
city gates by night, to shut them at a fixed hour, to have iron chains
fastened at the end of every street, to bar them up upon any occasion;
and several others, which being too long to be inserted here, I shall for
brevity’s sake omit them.
But after the escape of the Count de Dammartin, the king found out a
stratagem to surprise the two strong places of Fourgeau and Morue, which
were defended by Jeffery Cœur, son of the late Jacques Cœur, whom he made
prisoner, and seized upon all the riches he found in them.
As soon as this business was over, the king, attended by the King of
Sicily and the Lord du Maine, marched towards Angers and Pont de Ce,
to demand of those who had so basely deserted him what reasons induced
them to retire and withdraw themselves into Bretagne. He ordered his
army, which was chiefly composed of the standing forces of the kingdom,
and amounted to twenty or thirty thousand men, immediately to follow
him; but after he had been there for some time, and found he could not
possibly finish the war on that side so soon as he expected, he marched
with a strong detachment and some cannon into the duchy of Berry, towards
Yssoudun, Viarzon, Dreux, and other neighbouring towns, leaving the King
of Sicily and the Count du Maine with a good body of troops to defend
and guard the passes, and to hinder the Bretons from penetrating either
into Normandy, or into any other part of his kingdom.
The king made but a short stay in the Duchy of Berry, and from thence
he marched into Bourbonnois, leaving the city of Bourges behind him,
in which there was a strong garrison commanded by Monsieur the Duke of
Bourbon’s bastard, who held it for the Duke of Berry. He marched into
Bourbonnois, where the town and castle of St. Amant Lalier were taken by
storm on the day of our Lord’s ascension, and a little after the town and
castle of Molucon surrendered upon articles of capitulation, in which
were James de Bourbon with about thirty-five lances, who took an oath
never to bear arms against the king again, upon which they were suffered
to march out without being plundered, and had the liberty of going where
they pleased.
Upon Ascension-eve the Chancellor Traynel, M. Estienne Chevalier,
Nicholas de Louviers, and M. John de Molins arrived at Paris, by whom
the king wrote to his good people and citizens of that place, thanking
them for their good inclinations and loyalty to him, exhorting them to
continue firm and steadfast in their allegiance, and commanding them to
conduct the queen safe to Paris, where he would have her lie in, as he
loved that city above any in his kingdom.
1465.
On Thursday the 30th of May, in 1465, it happened that one John de Hure,
merchant of the city of Sens, came with his nephew and some other company
to lodge in a mill, which was called the Little Mill, on the other side
of Moret in Gastinois; and about midnight thirty or forty horse, well
armed, came and beat up their quarters, plundered them of all they had,
and carried away the merchant and his whole company prisoners. At the
same time the king ordered the bridges of Chamois and Beaumont on the
Oise, with several others, to be broken down.
About that time the Bastard of Burgundy and the Marshal of Burgundy,
with a considerable body of the Count de Charolois’s forces, invaded the
king’s dominions, and took from him the towns of Roye and Montdidier.
Upon which the Count de Neversand Joachim Rouault Marshal of France, who
were in Peronne with a garrison of about four thousand men, retired with
part of them to Noyon and Compiegne, leaving some of the nobility with
about five hundred Frank archers in Peronne for its defence.
At the same time the king, who was then in Bourbonnois, left that country
and retired to St. Poursain, whither his sister the Duchess of Bourbon
and Auvergne came also to wait on him, being extremely concerned at the
difference that there was between the king her brother and her husband
the Duke of Bourbon, and she hoped by that means to have accommodated
matters between them; but it was not in her power to do it. In the mean
time, however, the Duke of Bourbon evacuated Moulins, and retired to Riom.
About this time came orders for the besieging of St. Maurice, which the
Count de Dammartin obstinately held against the king. M. Charles de
Melun, Bailiff of Sens, with several others of the same corporation,
had the direction of that siege, but finding the body of men that were
under their command too weak for such an undertaking, M. Anthony Bailiff
of Melun was ordered thither with a strong reinforcement of archers and
cross-bow-men from Paris, and upon the arrival of these forces, the count
beat a retreat, and surrendered the town upon articles of capitulation.
On the 25th of June, it was ordered by the magistrates of Paris assembled
in the Hotel de Ville, that the streets should be unchained, but that the
iron chains should still remain hanging at the corner of every street
to which they belonged, in order to have them in a readiness upon any
occasion; that persons should be deputed to examine what condition they
were in, and if they wanted mending to get them instantly repaired, and
keep them always fit for service; which was accordingly done. There was
also another order issued out, by which every citizen was obliged to take
arms, and to lay in a stock of provision and ammunition for the defence
of the city in case of need; and this order was sent in writing to every
particular housekeeper in Paris.
It was much about this time that a great body of Burgundians,
Picardians, and of other nations subject to the Count de Charolois,
marched into France as far as Pont St. Maxence, which one Madre, who
was the governor of it, delivered up to the Count de Charolois for a
certain sum of money: upon which he advanced with his army into the
Isle of France, where he committed great ravages and devastations,
notwithstanding he pretended this war was undertaken purely for the
public good, and to free the subjects of France from the tyranny of their
king.
Soon after this business of Pont St. Maxence, the Burgundians took
Beaulieu, which a party of the Marshal Joachim’s own regiment had a long
time defended, and held out against them; who at last surrendered upon
articles, and marched out with bag and baggage, and the usual marks of
honour.
And as soon as the Burgundians had entered the Isle of France, they
dispersed themselves in small bodies all over the county, and took
Dammartin, Nantouillet, Villemonble, and several other inconsiderable
places, and afterwards at Laigny they committed great disorders and
outrages, tearing and burning all the papers relating to the public
accounts of the province, ordering that all commodities should be free
from taxes in the town, and commanding the salt which was stored up in
the public granaries for the king’s use, to be given to whomsoever had
occasion for it, upon paying custom for it.
About this time the king, who was in Bourbonnois, laid siege to Riom,
in Auvergne, in which were the Duke of Bourbon and Nemours, the Count
d’Armagnac, the Lord Albret, and several other persons of note. The king
had, at that time when he invested the town, the finest army that ever
was seen; having, in all, including the nobility and persons of note and
distinction, above 24,000 effective men of regular troops.
And, on Wednesday, the 4th of July, in the same year, the king, who was
still before Riom, wrote letters to M. Charles Melun, his lieutenant in
Paris, the Marshal Joachim, and the citizens of Paris, which he sent by
M. Charles de Charlay, the captain of the watch; and in these letters
he heartily thanked his good citizens of Paris for their steadfastness
and loyalty to his person, desiring and exhorting them to continue in
their duty and allegiance, and assuring them that within fifteen days
he would be at Paris, with his whole army. He also ordered the said
Charles de Charlay to acquaint them by word of mouth of certain terms
and articles of agreement that he had made with the Dukes of Bourbon and
Nemours, and the Lords d’Armagnac and Albret, and how by the compact all
and every of them had solemnly and sincerely promised henceforth never
to bear arms against him, but to live and die in his service; and that
the said dukes and lords above-mentioned had faithfully promised to do
their duty, in endeavouring to persuade the other lords that were engaged
in the confederacy to accept of the same terms of accommodation; and
that the four above-mentioned lords had agreed to send, before the feast
of August, their ambassadors to the king at Paris, in order to treat
of peace; and that if they could not induce the other lords engaged in
the same confederacy to hearken to a peace, they had solemnly vowed and
sworn to keep the promise they had made of never bearing arms against the
king, but to live and die in defence of him and his kingdom. And, that,
as a farther confirmation of this promise, the above-mentioned lords had
caused it to be registered by two public notaries at Mossiat, near Riom,
agreeing and consenting to be excommunicated, provided they, or either of
them, should act to the contrary.
On the Friday following, a large body of the Count de Charolois’s forces,
the greatest part of them Burgundians, arrived at St. Denis, from whence
they sent a detachment to Point St. Cloud, in hopes of making themselves
masters of it, but not being able to effect their project, they marched
back to St. Denis.
On Sunday, the 12th of July, 1465, the Burgundians appeared before Paris,
but finding they could not carry their point, they retired to St. Denis
with the loss of a few men, who were endeavouring to scale the walls.
On Monday, the 8th of August, the Burgundians came a second time before
Paris, with all their artillery and heavy cannon; but before their army
appeared in sight of the town, they sent four heralds to the Gate of St.
Denis, at which M. Peter l’Orfevre, Lord of Ermenonville, and M. John de
Pompaincourt, Lord of Cercelles, commanded as captains of the guards
that day. Their pretended message was to demand provision for their army,
and a free admittance into Paris in a peaceful and friendly manner; and
to let the citizens know, that if they refused to grant their demands,
they would enter the town by force, and give it up to be plundered by
their soldiers.
Scarce had the four heralds delivered their message, when the Burgundians
(who thought to have surprised the town, and cut in pieces the guard
that defended the gate of St. Denis, without giving the citizens time
to return an answer) appeared with a considerable body of forces, and
penetrating as far as St. Ladre, were in hopes of getting within the
barriers that led to that gate, which they designed to have forced
with their cannon and other warlike engines: but the citizens made a
vigorous resistance, and the Marshal Joachim with his own regiment gave
them a very warm reception; so that the Burgundians finding that they
could not succeed in their design, retired to their camp, with the loss
of abundance of men killed and wounded. Immediately their whole army
invested the town, in which they did great execution with their cannon,
culverins, and other warlike engines, and killed and wounded a great
many men. During this bombardment, there was a cowardly rascal of a
bailiff named Casin Chollet, that ran up and down the streets, like one
frightened out of his wits, crying out, “Get you into your houses, O
Parisians, and shut the doors, for the Burgundians are entered the town;”
which put the inhabitants into so dreadful a consternation, that several
women with child miscarried, and others died of the fright.
No action happened before Paris on the Tuesday following, only the Count
de St. Paul, who was at St. Denis, with the Count de Charolois, marched
from thence with a detachment of Picardians and Burgundians, in order
to possess himself of Point St. Cloud; but the project failed at that
time. And on the Wednesday following, there arrived in his camp a fine
train of artillery, consisting of about fifty or sixty pieces of cannon,
which the Count de Charolois had ordered to be sent him; and on the same
day, a brigade of M. Peter de Brézé’s regiment marched out of Paris, to
intercept the Burgundians in their march to St. Cloud, two of whom they
killed, and took five prisoners; one of whom received so terrible a blow
as clove his head asunder, and the fore part of it hung down by a bit of
skin upon his breast. The Burgundians also took an archer, servant to M.
John Noyer, of the same regiment; and in the evening they made a vigorous
attack upon St. Cloud, and storming the outworks, put the garrison, who
held it for the king, into such a consternation, that they agreed to
capitulate, and surrendered the town immediately upon condition to be
safely conducted to Paris, and to deliver up the five Burgundians they
had taken that day; and for performance of these articles, hostages were
exchanged on both sides.
On the Friday following, the magistrates of Paris held a great council in
the Hotel de Ville, to advise and consider what answer they should return
to the Burgundians, who required of them to send some commissioners to
treat with the Count de Charolois, who would privately inform them,
by word of mouth, of the reasons that had induced him to take up
arms against the king. At last, after some debate, they resolved to
acquaint the Count de Charolois with their resolution of sending some
commissioners (provided he would send them a passport to Paris), to treat
with him, and to hear what propositions he had to make; letting him know,
at the same time, that they would communicate whatever he had to offer,
either to the king, who was at Orleans, or to his privy council at Paris;
who might return what answer they thought most proper in the present
posture of affairs. The same day, about six in the evening, two heralds
from the Count de Charolois came to the gate of St. Honoré for the answer
you have already heard; who were told, that if the Count de Charolois
would be pleased to come anywhere near Paris, and send a passport,
commissioners should be sent to wait on him, but nothing farther could be
granted. After this, they desired leave to buy some paper and parchment,
which was granted them, but were denied sugar and other things that they
wanted in their camp for their sick and wounded; so that they were forced
to return without these commodities, which they took very ill of the
Parisians.
On Sunday, the 14th of July, 1465, early in the morning, arrived at Paris
the Count de la Borde and M. Cousinot, who brought letters from the king
to his good citizens of Paris; in which the king, as he had done before,
thanked them for their zeal and affection to his person, and for their
brave resistance and defence of his capital against the Burgundians,
desiring them withal to depend upon whatever the said De la Borde and
Cousinot should tell them in his name; the substance of which was, that
the king thanked them heartily for their loyalty and good affection
towards him, desired them to continue firm and steadfast in it, and that
they might depend on his being at Paris (as a place he desired the most
to be in) on the Tuesday following; and that he had rather lose half his
kingdom than any misfortune or inconveniency, that was in his power to
prevent, should happen to his good citizens of Paris; whom he desired by
the said Cousinot to provide lodgings and quarters for his men at arms,
and the retinue that he should bring with him, and to set a reasonable
price on all manner of provision; to which M. Henry de Livre, the mayor
of Paris, immediately consented, and took all the care imaginable to see
it done.
On the Monday following, the Burgundians broke up from St. Cloud, and
marched with all their artillery and heavy cannon to Mont l’Hery, where
they encamped, in order to join the Dukes of Berry and Bretagne, the
Count de Dunois, and several others that were coming in to the Count de
Charolois. The news of this movement was immediately despatched to the
king, who was on this side Orleans on his march towards Paris, and who
in all haste, by long and tedious marches, on Tuesday morning, the 6th
of July, arrived at Chartres, near Mont l’Hery; from whence, without
staying so much as to refresh himself, or to wait for the coming up of
his whole army, which was composed of the finest horse (considering their
number) that ever were seen, he marched directly towards the Burgundians,
whom he attacked with so much vigour and intrepidity (though but with a
handful of men), that at the first charge he broke and entirely defeated
their vanguard, of which a great number were killed and taken prisoners.
As soon as the news of this defeat had reached Paris, above thirty
thousand sallied out of the gates, some of whom being horse, scoured the
country round, defeating and taking several small bodies of the flying
Burgundians, as did also the inhabitants of the neighbouring towns round
Paris. The Burgundians lost in this action great part of their bag and
baggage; and the whole damage they sustained, reckoning everything, was
computed to amount to two hundred thousand crowns of gold. The king, not
being content with defeating the enemy’s vanguard, and hoping to gain
a complete victory over them, without refreshing either himself or his
troops, once more attacked, with only his own guards and four hundred
lances, a strong party of Burgundians, who had rallied under the command
of the Count de St. Paul, who did the Count de Charolois good service
that day. The Burgundians gave the king’s troops a warm reception, and
being drawn up in order of battle, with their cannon playing upon them,
sorely galled them, and killed abundance of them, among whom were several
officers of the king’s own guard, who behaved themselves handsomely
during the whole action, and stood firmly by the king, who was hard put
to it that day, and several times in danger of his own person; for he had
but a handful of men, and no cannon. The king was pressed so hard by the
Burgundians, that he knew not which way to turn himself, and was forced
to charge at the head of his troops during this engagement; and though
he had but a small body with him, yet he still maintained his ground;
and if he had had a reinforcement but of five hundred Frank archers
to have pushed the Burgundians when they began to give way, he would
have gained the completest victory over them that ever was known in the
memory of man. The Count de Charolois lost all his guards, and the king
a great part of his; the Count de Charolois was twice taken prisoner by
Jeffery de St. Belin and Gilbert de Grassay, but was afterwards rescued.
Abundance of men and horses were killed that day, the greatest part of
which were killed by the rascally Burgundian foot, with their pikes
and other weapons tipped with iron, and not a few men of note fell on
both sides. And after the battle was over, the number of the slain was
computed at three thousand six hundred men; and towards night, the Scotch
guards, considering the danger the king was in, and the great loss they
had sustained, and finding that the Burgundians were still pursuing
those squadrons they had already broken, took his majesty, who had been
in arms all day without eating and drinking, and was much fatigued and
dispirited, and conducted him safe to the castle of Mont l’Hery; which
was the reason that several in the army, who knew nothing of the king’s
removing thither, and not knowing where to find him, reported he was
either killed or taken prisoner. Upon the news of which the greatest
part of his army ran away, and among the rest the Count du Maine, the
Admiral de Montauban, the Lord de la Borde, and several other officers,
with about eight hundred lances, without ever being engaged at all that
day; by which means the Burgundians remained masters of the field of
battle, on which were found amongst the slain several persons of quality
and distinction on the king’s side, to wit, M. Peter de Brézé, knight
and seneschal of Normandy; Jeffery de St. Belin, bailiff of Chaumont;
Floquet, bailiff of Evreux, besides several other knights and esquires.
The Burgundians also lost abundance of men, and had more taken prisoners
than they took of the king’s army. After the king had refreshed himself a
little at the castle of Mont l’Hery, he marched with a strong detachment
of his forces to Corbeil, where he stayed till the Thursday following, on
which he arrived very late in the evening at Paris, and supped that night
at M. Charles de Melun’s, his lieutenant-general, with several lords and
ladies of his court, besides several of the chief citizens and their
wives, to whom his majesty related the particulars of the action at Mont
l’Hery in such moving and pathetic terms, as drew tears from the eyes of
the whole company; adding withal, that he designed by the blessing of
God to attack the enemy once more on the Monday following, and either
die on the spot, or drive them out of his dominions; but he was advised
not to hazard another battle, considering the cowardice and desertion of
his troops, that would not stand by him in the late engagement. However,
it was to no purpose, for he was a prince of an undaunted courage and
resolution.
On Friday, the 19th of July, 1465, M. William Chartier Bishop of Paris,
with several counsellors and clergymen, went to wait on the king at his
Hotel des Tournelles, and humbly besought his majesty that he would be
pleased to make choice of some wise and prudent council to aid and assist
him in the administration of public affairs for the future, to which
he graciously consented; and immediately it was ordered that six city
counsellors, six counsellors of the court of parliament, and six doctors
of the University of Paris, should be added to the king’s ordinary
council. And because the king found he had many enemies in his kingdom,
they went upon ways and means to raise more forces, and recruit those
regiments that had suffered most in the late action of Mont l’Hery. In
order to try how many men they could raise in Paris, it was proposed that
the number of the inhabitants of every ward should be taken in writing,
and that each ward should furnish ten men; but there was nothing done in
it.
Upon the king’s arrival at Paris, abundance of his troops were forced
to be quartered in the villages round that city, Brie, and other
neighbouring places, where they committed great disorders, not being
content with eating and drinking on free cost, but also plundering the
inhabitants of all they had, and seizing upon whatever they could find,
though belonging to some of the citizens of Paris. Nay, the king himself
was under some difficulties of raising a sufficient sum of money to pay
those forces he had in Paris, for some of the princes that had taken up
arms against him were in possession of those very towns on which the
taxes assigned for that use were to be levied, and they refusing to let
any be raised in their dominions, he was forced to borrow money of his
officers and wealthy citizens of Paris, some of whom, upon their refusal
to lend him as much as he proposed, were immediately put out of all
their posts and employments, both military and civil: among the rest, M.
John Cheneteau, clerk in parliament, M. Martin Picard, counsellor of the
exchequer, and several others.
On Wednesday, the 24th of July, 1465, the king ordered the bridge of St.
Maxence to be broken down, upon intelligence that the Lord de Saveuses
was marching with a great body of forces in order to beat out the king’s
troops, and put a garrison of his own into it. On the same day his
majesty gave the command of it to John l’Orfevre, who was the governor of
it, and charged him to defend it to the last extremity, which he did with
so much bravery and resolution, that there was no occasion to break down
the said bridge; and on the Friday following the king ordered that two
hundred lances, under the command of the Bastard d’Armagnac, Count de
Comminges, the Sieur Giles de Symon, bailiff of Senlis, the Sieur de la
Barde, and Charles des Mares, should stay at Paris; and on the same day,
at the desire and request of the Mayor of Paris and some churchmen, his
majesty continued M. Charles de Melun in his former post of lieutenant of
the city.
After the battle of Mont l’Hery, the lords and princes that were engaged
in the confederacy against the king retired to Etampes, where they stayed
for the space of fifteen days, and upon their breaking up from thence,
they marched towards St. Mathurin de l’Archant, Moret in Gastinois,
Provins, and the neighbourhood of those countries; upon which the king,
having intelligence of their motions, throws small bodies of forces with
some cannon into Melun, Montereau, Sens, and other neighbouring towns, to
reinforce the garrisons, and make frequent sallies whenever they had an
opportunity of falling upon the enemy.
On Saturday, the 3rd of August, 1465, the king, being willing to oblige
his good city of Paris by some singular act of grace and favour, changed
the tax of the fourth penny on retailed wines to that of the eighth, and
granted to all the inhabitants the same privileges they enjoyed in the
reign of his father Charles VII. He also took off all the taxes that
had formerly been levied in the city, except those on wood, cattle,
and cloth, sold by wholesale, which were let out to the farmers of the
revenue; and on the same day it was proclaimed by sound of trumpet in all
the public streets of Paris, by Denis Hesselin, chief collector of the
subsidies; upon the news of which the common people were so overjoyed,
that they flocked together from all parts of the city, and filled the
streets with bonfires and acclamations of joy.
About this time the Bretons and Burgundians passed the Seine and the
Yonne upon a bridge of boats, which were brought from Moret in Gastinois
and other places. M. Sallazart, with a brigade of Marshal Joachim’s
regiment, had posted himself on the other side to dispute the passage
with them; but finding himself too weak, and having no cannon (of which
the enemy had great store), he thought fit to retire upon their approach.
The Burgundians, to favour the passage of their troops, cannonaded the
enemy all the while, and killed abundance of the king’s men; at last a
random shot took off a page’s arm, struck a gentleman named Pamabel, a
relation of Marshal Joachim’s, in the belly, and killed three soldiers
afterwards.
On Thursday, the 8th of August, the Lord de Pretigny, one of the king’s
counsellors, and president of the exchequer, and Chrisstofle Paillart,
a counsellor, also of the same court, arrived at Paris with an answer
to some letters that the king had sent by them to the Duke of Calabria,
who was then in Auxerrois; and on Saturday the 10th of the same month,
the king set out from Paris in order to visit Rouen, Evreux, and several
other places in Normandy, and lay that night at Pontoise; but before he
left Paris, he ordered several companies of Frank archers that were newly
arrived from Normandy, and about four hundred lances drawn out of the
regiments of the late Floquet, of the Boulonnois, of the late Jeffery de
St. Belin, of the Lord de Craon, and the Lord de la Barde, to remain in
garrison for the defence of the city.
About this time M. John Berard, counsellor of the court of Parliament,
went over to the Duke of Berry, who was then in Bretagne, being highly
disgusted at his wife’s being committed to prison, and afterwards
banished the city for holding correspondence with the said duke and the
rest of the princes, who were the king’s open and professed enemies.
About this time M. Charles de Melun, who had hitherto been the king’s
lieutenant in Paris, resigned his place, which was immediately given to
the Count d’Eu; but the king, in consideration of the many services M.
Charles de Melun had done, made him steward of his household, and gave
him the government of the bailiwick and towns of Evreux and Honfleur.
About this time also a party of Burgundians and Bretons, who had been
refreshing themselves in the town of Provins, returned to Laigny upon the
Marne, and the Friday following they came and took up their quarters at
Creteil, a house upon the Seine, Sheelle, Saincte, Bapteur, and several
other places in that neighbourhood. And because the Parisians were
fearful that the Burgundians would once more invest Paris, there being
a report that M. Gerauld, their chief engineer, had given out that he
designed to erect a battery in the lay-stall before the gates of St.
Denis and St. Anthony, in order to bombard the town, and at the same time
to make a breach in the walls, they caused an order to be immediately
published, by which every one was obliged to repair the next morning to
the lay-stall with a pick-axe and shovel, to break it up, and render
it unfit to erect a battery on, and accordingly the order was put in
execution; but what they did signified little or nothing, so that they
were forced to build a great many sheds, erect bulwarks, and throw up
trenches to cover and defend the city, as also the soldiers employed in
its defence.
On the Monday following, the same party of Burgundians and Bretons that
were quartered at Creteil and thereabouts, being joined by some more
forces of their own country, came to Pont de Charenton, where they
erected a battery; and began to play upon the tower that defended it,
upon which the garrison, without making the least opposition, retired to
Paris, and the Burgundians and Bretons took possession of it, and in the
evening of the same day they appeared before Paris, in which several of
them were taken prisoners, and two of the Frank archers of Caen killed.
And that night a body of Burgundians and Bretons, amounting to about
four thousand men, came and encamped in a park belonging to the Bois de
Vincennes. The Tuesday following, the Count d’Eu sent one M. de Rambures
to the princes to know their intentions, and the next day he returned to
Paris, but the answer they made him was kept very secret; and the same
day the Burgundians came before Paris, upon which the Parisians made a
sally, but scarce any action happened between them, only one of the Frank
archers of Alençon happened to be killed by a random shot.
On Thursday, the 22d of August, the Duke of Berry, who had taken up his
head quarters at Beaulcé, with several other princes near allied to him,
sent his heralds with four letters to Paris, one to the citizens, one to
the university, and one to the ecclesiastics, and one to the court of
parliament. The contents of which were, in short, that he and the rest
of the princes engaged in the same confederacy had taken up arms for the
public good of the kingdom, and that if they would make choice of five
or six able men in the character of commissioners to treat and confer
with them, he would let them know the reasons that had induced him
and the rest of the princes to appear in this open and hostile manner.
Accordingly, in pursuance of these letters, the following commissioners
were deputed to wait on the princes to hear what they had to propose. On
the part of the city were chosen M. John Choart, the civil lieutenant
of the Chastellet of Paris, M. Francis Hasle, advocate in parliament,
and Arnold Lullier, banker at Paris. The church of Paris made choice of
M. Thomas de Courcelles, Dean of Paris, M. John de Lolive, doctor of
divinity, and M. Eustace Lullier, advocate in parliament. For the court
of parliament were chosen M. John de Boulenger, M. John de Sellier,
Archdeacon of Brie, and M. James Fournier. And by the university for the
sciences in general were chosen M. James Minglisant, for divinity, M.
John Lullier, for the law, M. John Montigny, and for physic, M. Auerant
de Parenti; and all these commissioners were introduced and presented to
the princes by William Chartier, Bishop of Paris.
On Saturday following, all the above-mentioned commissioners sat in
the Hotel de Ville, where several persons of quality and distinction
were assembled on purpose to hear what proposals the princes had made
them, but they came to no manner of conclusion that morning; however,
it was agreed that in the afternoon the whole body of the university,
church, court of parliament, and the chief magistrates, should meet
together, to take into consideration what the princes had proposed to
the commissioners. At this meeting, after some debate, they unanimously
agreed, that the calling an assembly of the three estates of the kingdom,
which was the chief thing the princes insisted on, was highly just and
reasonable; that they would consent to supply their army with provisions
for money, and that they should have free admittance into Paris, provided
they could give them security that neither they nor their soldiers would
commit any act of hostility within the town to the prejudice of the
inhabitants; and the king consented to it. After which the commissioners
went a second time to wait on the princes, and acquaint them with their
final resolution. During the whole time that this assembly were sitting
in council, all the cross-bow men and archers were drawn up before the
Hotel de Ville, to hinder the mob from crowding and disturbing them, as
they would certainly have done, had they not been prevented by this means.
On the same day there was a review made of all the king’s forces in
Paris, which made a very fine appearance. First of all marched the
archers of Normandy on foot; these were followed by the archers on
horseback; and last of all came the men-at-arms belonging to the
companies of the Count d’Eu, the Lord de Craon, the Lord de la Barde, and
the Bastard of Maine, which might make in all about five hundred men,
well armed and mounted, without reckoning the foot, which were about
one thousand five hundred, or more. And on the same day the king wrote
letters to Paris, by which he acquainted the inhabitants of his being at
Chartres with his uncle the Duke du Maine, and abundance of soldiers with
him, and of his resolution of coming to Paris on the Tuesday following.
In the afternoon the Admiral de Montauban arrived at Paris with a good
body of troops, and towards the evening the Duke of Berry broke up from
Beaulcé, and marched towards St. Denis; but being told by some of his
officers that were with him that Beaulcé was a much safer place for him
to be in than St. Denis, which lay too near the enemy, and upon hearing
the news of the king’s coming to Paris, he marched back to his old
quarters.
On the Wednesday following the king came to Paris, attended by his uncle
the Duke du Maine, the Lord de Pantheure, and several other officers of
note; he also brought back the fine train of artillery he carried with
him, and a great number of pioneers from Normandy, who were all quartered
in his Hotel de St. Paul. And when the king made his entry into Paris, he
was received with the universal shouts and acclamations of the people;
and the next day, very early in the morning, the Burgundians and the
Bretons, planting themselves over against the tower of Billy, saluted
him with a triple discharge of their cannon, accompanied with drums,
trumpets, clarions, and other warlike instruments of music. The same
thing they did also over against the bastille St. Anthoine, shouting
and huzzaing, and crying out, “To arms, to arms!” which put the whole
city into a dreadful consternation, and immediately they mounted the
walls, and prepared all things for a vigorous defence. In the afternoon
the Burgundians and Bretons appeared again before Paris, upon which a
considerable body of the king’s regular forces, with some cannon and
field-pieces, were immediately ordered to march out of Paris to beat off
the enemy, who, falling in with a party of them, killed and took several
prisoners that day.
On Saturday, the last of August, the king went with a strong guard as far
as the tower of Billy, to take a view of the enemy, and commanded the
four hundred pioneers that came from Normandy to cross the Seine, and
throw up a trench over against the English port, and before the Hotel de
Conflans, which was directly opposite to the place where the Burgundians
were posted, quite down to the river Seine. And because the Burgundians
had given out that they designed to pass that river, the king ordered
a good body of troops to be posted there, to hinder them from laying a
bridge over it, and to dispute the passage with them; and as soon as the
pioneers had passed the river, the king passed it also in a ferry-boat
without alighting from his horse.
On Sunday, the first of September, the Burgundians laid a bridge over the
Seine at the English port; and just as they were preparing to pass it, a
great number of Frank archers, and other soldiers of the king’s party,
arrived there, who, immediately planting some cannon and field-pieces at
the end of the bridge, fired briskly on the Burgundians, and obliged them
to retire, with the loss of several men killed and wounded; and a certain
Norman swam across the river, and cutting the ropes with which the bridge
was fastened, it went cleverly down the stream. Abundance of cannon was
fired that day from several batteries that the Burgundians had erected,
but from one especially, which played so briskly on the king’s troops
that were posted at the English port, that they were forced to retire.
And on the Tuesday following, ambassadors were chosen by the king and
the Burgundians, in order to adjust the difference between them. On the
king’s side were chosen the Duke du Maine, M. de Pretigny, president
of the exchequer, and M. John Dauvet, president of the parliament of
Toulouse; and the Burgundians chose the Duke of Calabria, the Count de
St. Paul, and the Count de Dunois. And as soon as they were nominated,
and had received their instructions, they went immediately upon the
business of accommodation; and there was a truce granted till the
Thursday following, during which no acts of hostility were committed on
either side; but both parties took care, in the mean time, to fortify
themselves, and make what preparations they could, not knowing how
matters might happen.
On Monday, the ninth of September, the Bretons and Burgundians marched
into the territories of Clignancourt, Montmartre, La Courtille, and
other vineyards about Paris, where they spoiled and destroyed the whole
vintage, cutting down all the grapes, green as they were, to make wine
for present drinking; upon which the Parisians were forced to do the same
with all their vineyards round Paris that had escaped their fury, though
the grapes were scarce half ripe, and it was not the usual season for
their vintage; besides, it was the worst year for vines that had been
known in France for many years; so that they called the wine of this
year’s growth by the name of Burgundy.
About this time several of the nobility of Normandy arrived at Paris to
serve the king in his wars, all which had their quarters assigned them
in the Faubourg de St. Marcel, amongst whose retinue there were some
particular persons that committed great thefts and disorders, two of
whom were seized by some of the citizens as they were forcing their way
into the city; and upon the citizens stopping them, the Normans began
to abuse and rail at the citizens, calling them traitors and rebellious
Burgundians, vowing to be revenged of them, and telling them that they
came from Normandy with no other design but to plunder and destroy the
whole city. Of which words a complaint being made, and an information
given by the said citizens to the mayor of Paris, the principal offender,
who spoke these dangerous words, was condemned to the ignominious
punishment of walking barefoot and bareheaded, with a lighted torch in
his hand, through the streets, and in the public market-place before the
Hotel de Ville, in this shameful condition, to acknowledge his offence
before the town-clerk, and to ask the good citizens of Paris pardon
and forgiveness for what he had falsely and maliciously spoken, and
afterwards to be bored through the tongue, and banished the city.
On the Monday following, the Burgundians came and showed themselves
before Paris, amongst whom was the Count de St. Paul, to meet whom
the king went out of Paris, and they had a conference together, which
lasted two hours; and as a surety for the Count’s safe return, the king
delivered up the Count du Maine, who staid in the Burgundians’ army till
the return of the said Count de St. Paul.
And on the same day a great council was held in the exchequer-chamber,
at which, amongst the other officers and magistrates of that court,
the sixteen quarteniers[520], the cinquanteniers[521], and some of the
councillors belonging to the court of parliament, were present; to whom,
by the king’s order, Morvillier, chancellor of France, made a speech, in
which he acquainted them how honourably his majesty had acquitted himself
towards the princes, and what generous offers he had made them upon their
demanding the duchy of Guienne, Poitou, with the country of Saintonge, or
the duchy of Normandy, as an appanage for the Duke of Berry. He farther
told them that the king’s council, who were there present, had informed
the princes that it was not in his majesty’s power to give away or
dismember anything belonging to the crown; and that since he was pleased
to offer the countries of Champagne and Brie, reserving only to himself
Meaux, Montereau, and Melun, in lieu of the said appanage, they were of
opinion that the Duke of Berry ought not in reason and honour to refuse
it. After this the assembly broke up, and (all hopes of an accommodation
being vanished) the young seneschal of Normandy was ordered out with
six hundred horse to skirmish with the Bretons and Burgundians, who
were drawn up in order of battle on the other side of the Seine, and,
firing upon them, killed a gentleman of Poitou belonging to M. Panthieu’s
regiment, called John Canreau, Lord de Pampelie.
On the Saturday following, at break of day, one Lewis Sorbier, whom
Marshal Joachim Rouault had left in Pontoise as his lieutenant, basely
and treacherously betrayed his trust, and suffered the Bretons and other
troops belonging to the enemy to possess themselves of the town, having
agreed with them beforehand, that whoever of the Marshal Joachim’s
regiment refused to enter into their service, should have the liberty
of marching out with their bag and baggage, without being examined or
molested. And as soon as he had delivered up Pontoise into the enemy’s
hands, he marched with some of his confederates to Meulan, where, not
believing that his treason was already known, he thought that, by showing
Marshal Joachim’s colours, he would get an easy admittance; but upon his
arrival at the gates, the inhabitants of Meulan, who had been informed of
his treachery, and were in arms upon the walls, cried out, “Get you gone,
vile and despicable traitor,” and fired their cannon upon him and his
party, which obliged him to retire with the utmost shame and confusion
to Pontoise; and on Sunday, by break of day, the enemy came and gave the
city an alarm on the side of St. Anthony’s gate, and a great body of them
penetrated as far as St. Anthoine des Champs; and in order to dislodge
them, several cannon, field-pieces, and culverins were fired, but there
were no sallies made.
About this time the Bretons and Burgundians who lay before Paris made
songs, ballads, lampoons, and other scandalous verses, on some of the
chief officers of the court, which set the king so against them, that he
turned them out of their places. Neither did the king’s own soldiers, who
were quartered in Paris, behave themselves much better, but spent their
time in all manner of lewdness, debauching and seducing the hearts of
several wives, maids, and widows, who left their children, husbands, and
places to follow and live with them.
In the evening, M. Balue, Bishop of Evreux, was set upon by some people
that owed him a spite, in the Rue de la Barre du Bec, who at the first
stroke beat the two torches that were carried before him out of the
servants’ hands, and afterwards they came up to the bishop, who, being
mounted on a stout mule, carried him off cleverly to his own hotel in
the cloister of Nostre-Dame; by which means he saved his life, for his
servants, who were afraid of being knocked down, had quite forsaken him;
however, before he made his escape he received two wounds, one in his
hand, and another in one of his fingers. The king was extremely concerned
at this accident, and ordered a strict inquiry to be made after the
assassins; but they were never discovered.
On the Thursday following, there was a great complaint made in the Hotel
de Ville by some of the citizens against the soldiers for having spoken
and published certain words and speeches of a dangerous consequence to
the inhabitants. Among other things, they boldly affirmed that neither
the city of Paris nor anything in it belonged to the inhabitants, but to
them who were quartered in it; that they would have the citizens know
that the keys of their houses were at the soldiers’ disposal; that they
would turn out the present possessors, and live in them themselves; and,
in short, if the citizens pretended to make resistance, they should find,
to their sorrow, they were able to conquer them. And the very same day a
foolish Norman said openly at St. Denis’s gate that the Parisians were
very weak to think that chaining up their streets would signify anything
against the forces of their country. A report of these dangerous and
insolent words being made to some of the officers of the Hotel de Ville,
they immediately issued out an order commanding several streets to be
chained up, and that every quartenier of Paris should cause great fires
to be made in every ward under his jurisdiction, and that one of them
should be in arms upon the watch before the Hotel de Ville all night,
which was accordingly done. And that very night there was a hot report
that the gate of the Bastille St. Anthoine was left open on purpose to
let the Bretons and the Burgundians into the town; and, to confirm it the
more, several cannon were found nailed up, and rendered unfit for service.
On the Friday following, two pursuivants-at-arms arrived at Paris; one
was despatched from Gisors to acquaint the king of the weak condition of
that place, which was wholly unprovided with everything necessary for
its defence, and to let his majesty know that if he did not send them
a speedy supply of men, arms, ammunition, and provision, they must be
forced to surrender to a body of six hundred horse that lay before the
town. The other pursuivant was sent by one Hugh des Vignes, a man-at-arms
belonging to M. de la Barde’s regiment, and who at that time was at
Meulan, to inform the king that he was assured from very good hands that
the Bretons had a design of surprising Rouen as they did Pontoise, if
they were not prevented. And on the same day the ambassadors that were
chosen on both sides dined together at St. Anthoine des Champs without
Paris; and on the next day the same ambassadors on both sides were
assembled again, but in two distinct parties, that is to say, the Duke du
Maine and those of his party, who were for the king, with the rest of the
lords and princes, were all of them together at the Grange-aux-Merciers.
There were also several others nominated by the king, who were at St.
Anthoine des Champs; but notwithstanding this meeting, very little
business was despatched this day.
In the afternoon the king received letters from the widow of the late
Peter de Brézé, by which she informed his majesty of her having caused
the Lord Broquemont, captain of the palace at Rouen, to be apprehended
upon suspicion of not being well affected to his government, and having a
design to deliver it up to the Bretons; but that he need not give himself
the least pain about Rouen, for he would certainly find all the citizens
hearty and true to his interest. The same day, in the afternoon, arrived
the unwelcome news of the taking of Rouen by the Duke of Bourbon, who
entered the town by the castle of Rouen, which was the weakest side, and
lay towards the fields.
As soon as the princes that lay before Paris heard of the taking of
Rouen, they sent to acquaint the king that his brother, the Duke of
Berry, who was before contented with Champagne and Brie, would accept
of no other appanage than the duchy of Normandy; so that the king was
forced, notwithstanding the former agreement, to give the Duke of Berry
the duchy of Normandy, and reserve for himself that of Berry. The Count
de Charolois had for his share the towns of Feronne, Roye, and Mondidier,
for him and his heirs for ever; besides, the king gave him during his
life all the lands and towns that were lately redeemed for four hundred
thousand crowns, and had been pawned to his father Philip, Duke of
Burgundy, to which he added the countries of Guynes and Boulogne, to
be enjoyed by him and his heirs for ever. He also gave to the Duke of
Calabria a great sum of money, and lent him a certain number of troops,
which were to be paid by the king, and to be employed wherever the Duke
of Calabria thought fit. The Duke of Bourbon was to have the same
pension, and the same quota of troops allowed him that he formerly had in
the reign of the late King Charles, besides the remainder of his wife’s
marriage dower, which was left unpaid; and this was all he demanded. The
Count de St. Paul was restored to all his places that had been taken from
him during this unhappy rupture between the king and the princes, and a
considerable pension settled upon him for life. The Count de Dammartin
was also restored to all his lands and possessions that were confiscated
by a decree in Parliament, and had considerable presents made him by the
king. As for the other lords, they had every one of them a large share,
and departed well satisfied with what they had got.
And on Tuesday, the 1st of October, a peace was proclaimed between the
king and the princes, and that day the Count de St. Paul came to Paris,
and, having dined with the king, was conducted into the Hotel de Ville,
where he was created Constable of France, and took the oaths accordingly.
And on the same day the king ordered a proclamation to be issued out, by
which free leave was granted to all the inhabitants to supply and furnish
the Bretons and Burgundians with whatever necessaries they wanted; upon
which proclamation several merchants of Paris immediately sent a great
quantity of all sorts of provision into the fields before St. Anthony’s
gate, which was quickly bought up, especially the wine and the bread, by
the whole army, who instantly repaired thither half starved, and in a
miserable condition, with their thin, lank cheeks over-grown with hair,
and full of lice and nastiness, and the greatest part of them without
stockings or shoes. But every one will be amazed at the inconceivable
strength and richness of Paris, which was able to maintain four hundred
thousand horse, including the Burgundians, Bretons, Calabrians,
Picardians, and the rest of the enemy’s forces for a long time, and
plentifully to supply them, without ever raising the price of any manner
of provision; nay, immediately after the enemy had left it, things were
sold cheaper than they were before; and the whole Thursday following was
spent in victualling the Burgundian camp. The same day the king went
to make a private visit to the Count de Charolois near Conflans, which
was looked upon by all persons that had a respect and concern for his
majesty, as a very indiscreet action; nay, the very Picardians themselves
and the rest of the army could not forbear reflecting upon him, and
breaking their jests upon the Parisians after this manner: “Here, take
your king, who has at last submitted to the Count de Charolois, and
meanly condescended to visit him in private; in a little time we shall
have him at our command.”
On Friday, the fourth of the same month, the king gave orders for the
admittance of the Burgundians into the city through St. Anthony’s gate,
who, upon that permission, came in large bodies, and committed several
riots and disorders, which certainly they would never have done had they
not been encouraged by the king’s late condescension in visiting the
Count de Charolois in so private a manner.
On the Sunday following several men of quality and officers of the army
came and supped with the king at Paris in an hotel belonging to M. John
Lullier, the town-clerk, at which entertainment several ladies of quality
and distinction were also present.
And in this month of October a detachment of the Count de Charolois’s
troops came before Beauvais, and summoned the town to surrender; upon
which the inhabitants set down the summons in writing, and sent it to the
king, who immediately sent it to the Count de Charolois, with whom he had
lately concluded a peace. The Count de Charolois sent back word to the
king that he knew nothing of the summons; and that whosoever had done it,
did it without his knowledge or order. The king returned a very civil
answer to the Count de Charolois, and told him it was not a fair way of
proceeding; that for the future, in pursuance of the articles of peace
that had been lately concluded between them, he must forbear committing
such acts of hostility; and that if he had a mind to Beauvais, he should
have it.
On the Thursday following, several waggon-loads of gold and silver, for
the payment of the Count de Charolois’s troops, arrived in the Burgundian
camp, under a strong convoy both of horse and foot, commanded by the
Lord de Saveuses; and on the same day the Duke of Bretagne and the king
came to an agreement in relation to the affair that was between them, by
which compact the king was obliged to restore the county of Montfort and
several others; besides a vast sum of money to pay that very army which
he, in conjunction with the rest of the princes, had raised to invade the
king’s dominions. The next day M. John le Boulenger, president of the
court of parliament, was sent by the king’s order to the Hotel de Ville
to acquaint the mayor and aldermen of Paris that the Burgundians had a
design to review their army that day before the city gates, and to desire
them to acquaint the common people with it, lest they should be surprised
and astonished to see them thus drawn up against the town. But after all,
the review was not made in sight of Paris that day, but from the Pont de
Charenton to the Bois de Vincennes, whither the king, attended only by
the Count de Charolois, the Duke of Calabria, and the Count de St. Paul,
very imprudently went to see the review. As soon as the review was over,
the king came back by water to Paris; and the Count de Charolois, upon
his taking leave of his majesty, in the presence of those lords that
attended the king thither, made the following acknowledgment in these
words:—“My lords, you and I are subjects to the king here present, our
lord and sovereign, and ought to serve him whenever he pleases to command
us.”
Not long before this, the king had received a private information of a
design formed by some of his enemies either to kill him or seize upon
his person; upon which he immediately ordered his guards to be doubled,
great fires to be made every night in the streets, the number of the
watch to be augmented, as well upon the walls as in the streets, and
took all the care imaginable to prevent their designs and secure his own
person; and upon hearing of the surrender of Caen and several other towns
in Normandy, he immediately reinforced the garrison of Mantes with a
considerable body of men-at-arms and Frank archers.
On Tuesday, the 22d of October, the king made a private visit to the
princes at the Grange-aux-Merciers, where all but the Duke of Berry were
met together; and the next day the Duke of Bourbon had a long conference
with the king in a place without the gates of Paris, on this side of the
ditch of the Grange de Ruilly.
On the Saturday following, the Count de Charolois, with a small
detachment, left the army, having first caused an order to be published
in his camp, by which all soldiers were obliged, under pain of death, to
hold themselves in readiness to march against the Liegeois, who with fire
and sword had invaded his territories. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday the
Duke de Berry lay ill of a fever at St. Maur des Fossez; but being pretty
well recovered of his illness by Wednesday, the 30th of October, and able
to go abroad, he went to wait upon the king at the Bois de Vincennes,
where he did homage to him for the Duchy of Normandy, which the king
gave him for his appanage; and on the same day the articles of peace
between the king and the princes were read and published in the court of
parliament, and ordered to be registered in the same court.
And on the Thursday following, the Duke of Berry, the Count de Charolois,
and the rest of the princes, separated, and went different ways. The Duke
of Berry, whom the king waited on some part of the way to Pontoise, went
into Normandy; and afterwards the king and the Count de Charolois retired
to Villiers le Bel, where they stayed two or three days, and from thence
the count marched with all speed through Picardy to make war upon the
Liegeois.
On the Monday following, M. Robert Destouteville, Lord of Beine, who
was mayor of Paris in the reign of the late King Charles, and had been
displaced by the king upon his accession to the crown, was restored to
his former office, which had been given to James de Villiers, Lord of
Lisle Adam, and that day he sat in the Hotel de Ville as mayor, and
despatched a great deal of the king’s business.
On Thursday, the 7th of November, 1465, M. Robert Destouteville was
conducted to the Chastellet of Paris by M. Charles de Melun and M. John
Dauvet, first president of the parliament of Toulouse, whom the king had
acquainted with the said Robert Destouteville’s having taken the oaths
already as mayor of Paris in the room of James de Villiers, whom, upon
his first accession to the crown, he had advanced to that office. And
after the letters patent, by which the king appointed and constituted the
said Robert Destouteville mayor of Paris, were read, he was immediately
put into possession of his office, without giving the said Villiers any
time to lodge an appeal against him.
On Saturday, the 9th of November, M. Peter Morvillier, Chancellor of
France, resigned the seals, and was succeeded in the chancellorship by
Juvenal des Ursins, who was in the same post at the death of the late
King Charles VII.
About this time also the king made several alterations and promotions in
his court; amongst the rest, he turned M. Peter Puy out of his office of
Master of the Requests, and gave it to M. Regnault des Dormans.
After the settling of this affair the king went to Orleans and took
with him Arnold Lullier, banker and citizen of Paris, whom he commanded
to attend him during his stay there; he also carried along with him M.
John Longuejoye the younger, who was newly married to Madame Genevieve,
daughter of M. John Baillet, and made him one of his counsellors of
state. Before he left Paris, he made M. Charles d’Orgemont, Lord of Mery,
Treasurer of France, Arnold Lullier Treasurer of Carcassonne, and M.
Peter Ferteil Comptroller of his Household.
The king during his stay at Orleans, made several acts, laws, and
ordinances, turned out several officers of the army, and gave their
commissions to others; amongst the rest he took away the command of a
hundred lances from Poncet de Rivière, and made him Bailiff of Mont
Ferrant, upon which, in disgust, he went beyond sea, and visited
Jerusalem, and the Holy Hill of St. Catharine. Several other officers
had their commissions taken from them, and given to others that did not
so well deserve them. The king also restored Monsieur de Loheac, Marshal
of France, to all his former places in the government, some of which had
been given to the Count de Comminges, Bastard of Armagnac; and after
he had settled these regulations, he left Orleans, and marched with
his whole army and artillery directly into Normandy towards Argentan,
Exmes, Falaise, Caen, and other places, in order to reduce them to his
obedience, where he found the Duke of Bretagne, who stayed there some
time with his majesty.
A little after this, the Duke of Berry went from Rouen to Louviers,
thinking to find the Duke of Bourbon there, but being disappointed of
meeting him, he immediately came back again. Upon his return to Rouen,
he was with great pomp and ceremony conducted into the town-hall by
the magistrates of the city, who, according to the usual custom of
the place, acknowledged him for their duke by putting a ring on his
finger; afterwards he took an oath to maintain and support them in their
privileges and franchises, and immediately remitted to them half the
taxes they were formerly used to pay. This act of generosity won the
hearts of the whole city, and so firmly united them to his interest, that
the nobility, gentry, clergy, and the common people, vowed to sacrifice
their lives and fortunes in his service, and to remain his faithful and
loyal subjects for ever. And afterwards they presented him an old book
of records that was in the town-hall, and made him read an article in it
aloud before all the people, which gave an account of a king of France
heretofore who at his death left two sons, the eldest of whom succeeded
his father, and the youngest had the duchy of Normandy for his appanage:
how that the elder brother, as soon as he was settled in his kingdom,
demanded a restitution of the said duchy, and being denied, how he made
war upon his younger brother, and thought to have taken it from him by
force, but his subjects unanimously joining with him, they dethroned his
brother the King of France, and set up their duke for king. After he
had done reading, they boldly told him they feared nothing; that their
fortifications were strong and in good repair; that they had great store
of cannon, arms, ammunition, and provision, and could upon occasion make
a brave defence, assuring him they would one and all to a man stand by
him, and defend him, themselves, and the town, against any opposers
whatsoever.
On the 30th of December of the same year the king in his return from
Lower Normandy arrived at Pont Audemer, and from thence marched into the
county of Neufbourg, from whence he detached the Duke of Bourbon with a
body of forces to summon Louviers, which surrendered on the Wednesday
following, and the Duke of Bourbon took possession of it for the king,
into which his majesty made a public entry the same day after dinner.
From Louviers the king marched to a town called Pont des Arches, about
four leagues from Rouen, which he formally besieged.
On Monday, the 6th of January, 1466, a proclamation was issued at Paris,
commanding all the sutlers that were used to supply the army with
provisions, to repair immediately to the camp before Pont des Arches,
and all the prisoners were ordered to be ready by the next morning, to
set out for the same place, under the command of M. Denis, one of the
four aldermen of the city, who was appointed to take care of them.
On the Wednesday following the king entered Pont des Arches, and M. John
Hebert with several others who were in the town retired to the castle,
which three days after was also surrendered to the king. After the
surrender of the town and castle, the citizens of Rouen sent deputies to
treat of an accommodation, who highly complained of the Dukes of Bourbon
and Bretagne. And amongst other requests and remonstrances that the said
deputies were ordered to make to the king, one was, that his majesty
would be pleased to be reconciled to them, notwithstanding what they had
done; that he would openly declare that they had not been wanting in
their duty, nor acted contrary to his interest; and that he would grant
them the same privileges and immunities he had granted his good city of
Paris; to which his majesty answered, he would consult his council about
it.
Whilst this affair was in agitation, several of the king’s party had
free admittance into Rouen, and conversed familiarly with the citizens;
in the mean time, the Duke of Berry and several of his adherents retired
to Honfleur and Caen, where they stayed for some time. During these
transactions, M. John de Lorrain thought to have made his escape into
Flanders, but was taken and brought before the king, who disposed of
most of the officers belonging to the duchy of Normandy, putting in new
officers, and turning out the old ones. And after the Duke of Berry’s
leaving Rouen, the city was reduced to the king’s obedience, upon which
the king dismissed all his Frank archers from his service till the 1st of
March following, sent all his artillery to Paris, and retired to Mount
St. Michael in Lower Normandy. About that time the king gave the command
of one hundred lances which belonged to M. Charles de Melun to the Count
de Dammartin, who was with him, and not long after deprived him of his
office of high steward of his household, and gave it to M. de Craon;
however, several people were of opinion that M. de Melun had done the
king signal services, and been very faithful to him, especially in his
great care and defence of Paris in the king’s absence in Bourbonnois,
which he managed and regulated so well, that many sincerely believe that
the preservation of that city and the whole kingdom is in some measure
owing to his conduct and vigilance in that affair.
About that time the king commanded Chaumont upon the Loire (belonging
to M. Peter of Amboise, lord of the same place) to be burnt; and it was
accordingly done.
On Monday, the 3rd of February, one Gauvain Manniel lieutenant-general
of the bailiwick of Rouen, was taken in the city and carried prisoner to
Pont de l’Arche, and there, upon a scaffold erected near the town bridge,
was beheaded by the provost-marshal for high treason, his head fixed on a
lance on the same bridge, and his body thrown into the river Seine. Just
after this the Dean of Rouen and six canons were banished the city, and
expelled the duchy of Normandy.
After this the king went to Orleans, where he stayed a considerable time
with the queen, and then retired to Jargeau and the neighbourhood of that
place, where ambassadors from several potentates upon different affairs
came to wait upon his majesty. And about that time he resolved to send an
embassy to the King of England; and accordingly the Count de Roussillon
Bastard of Bourbon and Admiral of France, the Lord de la Barde, the
Bishop and Duke of Langres, M. John de Pompaincourt, and M. Oliver le
Roye one of the counsellors of the exchequer, were chosen to go in that
embassy, and they set out for England in April, 1466.
On Saturday, Whitsun Eve, an order was published by sound of trumpet
in all the public streets of Paris, by the command of the Constable
of France, in which order was inserted the royal mandate he had newly
received from the king, the substance of which was, that the king (having
received certain advice that the English, his ancient enemies, had a
design to invade the kingdom of France with a powerful army, and for
that descent were fitting out a strong squadron of men-of-war,) was
resolved to make what preparations he could to oppose and defeat their
designs, and therefore had given full power and command to his Constable
of France to make proclamation of it in all the cities, towns, villages,
and hamlets of the kingdom, in order that all the nobility and gentry
holding any lands by homage or fealty of the crown, not excepting the
Frank archers, should be ready in arms by the 15th of June following,
under pain of imprisonment and confiscation of goods.
At the same time a peace was concluded with the English both by sea and
land, which was publicly proclaimed; and about that time also, the Duke
du Maine was for some secret reason turned out of his government of
Languedoc by the king, which was given to the Duke of Bourbon.
After the consummation of marriage between the Admiral of France and the
king’s natural daughter, the king gave the said admiral the castle of
Usson in Auvergne, which was looked upon to be the strongest place in the
whole kingdom, with the government of Honfleur, and several other places
in Normandy.
In July, several prelates, lords, churchmen, and counsellors, that the
king had sent for to make some new regulations in all the courts of
justice, and to reform some abuses, arrived at Paris, to whom the king
gave full power and authority; and by virtue of the same, he nominated
and appointed twenty-one commissioners, of which M. Charles d’Orleans,
and the Counts of Dunois and Longueville were chief commissioners; and
even these commissioners had no powers of acting, unless thirteen of
them, besides their presidents the Counts de Dunois and Longueville, were
assembled together; and in pursuance of the commission that had been
granted them, they began their sittings on Tuesday the 16th, and were
called by the people the reformers of the nation. This was just a year
since the battle between the king and the Count de Charolois at Mont
l’Hery.
About this time a war broke out between the Liegeois and the Duke of
Burgundy, upon which he immediately took the field with his whole army,
and being a little indisposed, was carried in a litter, commanding his
son the Count de Charolois, with all the nobles and officers that were
with him, to march forward with a strong detachment to invest Dinant,
and leave him to come up with the rest of the army. Upon his arrival the
town was formally besieged, which occasioned several sallies and bloody
actions on both sides, much to the disadvantage of the Burgundians in the
beginning of the siege, but at last, whether by force of arms or treason,
the town was taken by the Burgundians, who, only reserving a few of the
chief citizens, whom they made prisoners of war, turned out men, women,
and children, and gave the town up to be plundered by their soldiers.
Nor were they contented with this; they set fire to the churches and the
houses, and having burnt and consumed everything they could lay their
hands on, they ordered the walls to be demolished, and the fortifications
to be blown up, by which means the poor inhabitants were reduced to
extreme want and necessity, and abundance of young women were forced to
betake themselves to a vile and shameful way of living.
In August and September in the same year, the heats were so violent as to
breed the plague and several other contagious distempers in France, which
swept away, in a little space of time, above forty thousand people in
Paris and the neighbouring towns. Some persons of note and learning died
also of it, amongst whom we may reckon M. Arnoul, the king’s astrologer,
a very worthy, learned, and facetious person, several eminent physicians,
and abundance of officers belonging to the city.
During the plague, the king and his council stayed at Orleans, Chartres,
Bourges, Meun, and Amboise, and during his abode in that neighbourhood he
received several embassies from foreign princes and states, especially
from England and Burgundy; and it was there he declared in council his
resolution of making war upon the Duke of Burgundy, and his son, the
Count de Charolois, upon which the ban and arriere-ban were ordered to be
raised, and a considerable augmentation to be made to the body of Frank
archers.
After this affair was despatched, the king made several new ordinances
and establishments for the better defence of his kingdom, and the
garrisoned towns in it, and accordingly he made the Marshal de Loheac
his lieutenant of Paris and the Isle of France, M. de Geilon had the
government of Champagne, and the government of Normandy was given
to the Count de St. Paul, Constable of France, who formerly was the
king’s enemy, and had joined with the Duke of Burgundy and the Count de
Charolois.
Some time after this, in February 1467, an ambassador from Bretagne
arrived at Paris, who, after he had had audience of the king, set out
for Flanders, to wait on the Duke of Burgundy and the Count de Charolois
his son. The many civilities that the king showed this ambassador made
some persons of note imagine that the affair between the king and his
brother was amicably adjusted, at which they were extremely glad.
Immediately after this, the king set out from Paris, in order to visit
Rouen and several other places in Normandy, and during his stay at Rouen
he sent for the Earl of Warwick out of England, and went by water,
attended by several of his nobility, as far as Bouillé, to meet him,
which was situated on the Seine, about four leagues from Rouen. He
arrived there on the 7th of June, 1467, about dinner-time, where he found
a magnificent entertainment ready prepared for him and his nobility,
and after dinner the Earl of Warwick came to pay his compliments to
the king, after which he went to Rouen by water, and the king and his
nobility by land. The magistrates of Rouen, in their formalities, were
ordered to go out to meet the Earl of Warwick, and receive him, upon
his landing, at the Key-Gate of St. Eloy, with abundance of pomp and
ceremony, bearing before him crosses, banners, holy-water bottles, and
the relics of several saints, attended by the priests in their copes; and
after this manner he was conducted to the church of Notre Dame, where he
made his offering, and from thence to a magnificent apartment prepared
for him in one of the religious houses. Soon after this, the queen and
the young princesses came to Rouen, and the king stayed there with the
Earl of Warwick about a fortnight; after which the earl took leave of his
majesty, and returned to England, accompanied by the Admiral of France,
the Bishop of Laon, M. John de Pompaincourt, M. Olivier le Roux, and
several others, whom the king had ordered to wait on him thither.
The king presented the Earl of Warwick, during his stay at Rouen, with
several valuable and rich presents, amongst the rest a piece of gold
plate, and a large gold cup set with precious stones. The Duke of Bourbon
also presented him with a fine diamond, and several other things of
value; besides which, he and his whole retinue had all their expenses
borne by the king from their first landing in France to their embarking
for England. After the earl’s departure the king returned from Rouen to
Chartres, where he stayed some time; and in this month died Philip, Duke
of Burgundy, and his body was carried with great solemnity to Dijon, and
interred in the church of the Carthusians.
Immediately after this, the king ordered a proclamation to be published,
by which (in order to repeople his good city of Paris, that had been
greatly diminished by war, sickness, and other misfortunes) his
majesty gave leave to strangers of all nations, of what crimes soever
they had been guilty, except high-treason, to come and settle in the
city, suburbs, or precincts thereof, promising to grant them the same
privileges as his own subjects, and to defend and protect them, even not
excepting those that had been banished to St. Maloes and Valenciennes.
At the same time, also, by sound of trumpet, was published an order,
commanding all the nobles and gentry holding any lands or tenures by
homage or fealty, even not excepting those in the Isle of France, as well
in Paris as elsewhere, to be ready in arms by the 15th of August.
About this time, the Admiral of France, and those that were ordered by
the king to wait on the Earl of Warwick into England, returned, where
they had stayed a long while without doing any thing, and brought with
them some hunting-horns and leathern bottles, as a present from the King
of England to the King of France, in return for all the valuable gifts
his majesty and the Duke of Bourbon had made the Earl of Warwick at his
departure from Rouen. And on Friday, the 18th of August, the king arrived
at Paris, about nine at night, attended by the Duke of Bourbon and
several of the nobility.
On Tuesday, the 1st of September, the queen also came from Rouen to
Paris by water, and landed at Notre Dame, where her majesty was received
by all the presidents and counsellors of the court of parliament, the
Bishop of Paris, and several persons of quality in their robes and
formalities. There was also a certain number of persons richly dressed
to compliment her on the part of the city, and abundance of the chief
citizens and counsellors of Paris went by water to meet her majesty in
fine gilded boats covered with tapestry and rich silks, in which were
placed the choristers of the Holy Chapel, who sang psalms and anthems
after a most heavenly and melodious manner. There was also a great
number of trumpets, clarions, and other softer instruments of music,
which altogether made a most harmonious concert, and began playing when
the queen and her maids of honour entered the boat; in which the citizens
of Paris presented her majesty with a large stag made of sweetmeats,
besides a vast quantity of salvers heaped up with spices and all sorts
of delicious fruits, roses, violets, and other perfumes being strewed in
the boat, and as much wine as every body would drink. After the queen
had performed her devotions to the blessed Virgin she came back to her
boat, and went by water to the Celestines’ church-gate, where she found
abundance of persons of quality ready to receive her majesty, who,
immediately upon her landing, with her maids of honour, mounted upon fine
easy palfreys, and rode to the Hotel des Tournelles, where the king was
at that time, and where she was received with great joy and satisfaction
by his majesty and the whole court; and that night there were public
rejoicings and bonfires in Paris for her majesty’s safe arrival.
On the 14th of September, the king, who had ordered the Parisians to make
standards, published a proclamation, commanding all the inhabitants,
from sixteen to sixty, of what rank or condition soever, to be ready to
appear in arms that very day in the fields, and that those that were not
able to provide themselves with helmets, brigandines, &c., should come
armed with great clubs, under pain of death; which orders were punctually
obeyed, and the greatest part of the populace appeared in arms, ranged
under their proper standard or banner, in good order and discipline,
amounting to eighty thousand men, thirty thousand of whom were armed with
coats of mail, helmets, and brigandines, and made a very fine appearance.
Never did any city in the world furnish such a vast number of men, for it
was computed there were sixty-seven banners or standards of tradesmen,
without reckoning those of the court of parliament, exchequer, treasury,
mint, and chastellet of Paris, which had under them as many or more
soldiers than what belonged to the tradesmen’s banners. A prodigious
quantity of wine was ordered out of Paris, to comfort and refresh this
vast body of men, which took up a vast tract of ground, extending
themselves from the end of the Lay Stall, between St. Anthony’s gate and
that of the Temple, as far as the Town-ditch upwards to the Winepress,
and from thence along the walls of St. Antoine des Champs, to the Grange
de Ruilly, and from thence to Conflans, and from Conflans back again by
the Grange-aux-Merciers, all along the river Seine, quite to the Royal
Bulwark over against the tower of Billy, and from thence all along the
Town-ditch on the outside to the Bastile and St. Anthony’s gate. In
short, it was almost incredible to tell what a vast number of people
there were in arms before Paris; yet the number of those within was
pretty nearly as great.