Duke of Burgundy, and their bishop, cousin to the Duke of Burgundy, and
brother to the Duke of Bourbon, whom they besieged in Huye, and after a
long siege took the town, but the bishop made his escape; and towards
the latter end of it the king sent four hundred lances under the command
of the Count de Dammartin, Sallazart, Robert de Conychan, and Stevenot
de Vignolles, with six thousand Frank archers, picked and chosen out of
Champagne, Soissonnois, and several places in the Isle of France. As soon
as the Burgundians heard that the Leigeois had taken Huye, they resolved
immediately to take the field with their whole army, and to march against
them and destroy them with fire and sword, to be revenged of them, for
the Burgundians they had slain upon their taking the town. Accordingly
they declared war against them throughout all their dominions by the
ceremony of a naked sword in one hand, and a burning torch in the other,
signifying that this was a war of blood and fire.
About the same time the king sent the Bishop of Evreux, who was lately
made a cardinal at Rome, M. John de Ladrische, treasurer of France, and
several others, on an embassy to the Count de Charolois, to negotiate
some secret affair with that prince.
On Sunday night about nine, there was such terrible thunder and lightning
as had scarce been known in the memory of man; and during the whole month
there were such prodigious heats as surprised every body, which was
looked upon to be very strange and unnatural.
On Thursday the fifteenth of the same month, the king received advice
that a great detachment of Bretons had possessed themselves of the town
and castle of Caen, in Normandy, and from thence marched to Bayeux,
which they also surprised, and turning out the garrison, put some of
their own troops in it. The king was extremely concerned at this news,
and immediately sent the Marshal de Loheac, who had the command of one
hundred lances of Bretagne, into Normandy, to see how affairs stood there.
About this time, M. Anthony de Chasteauneuf (Lord of Lau, great butler
of France, and seneschal of Guienne, great chamberlain to the king, and
the most beloved and rewarded of any favourite the king ever had) was,
by his majesty’s order, moved front the castle of Sully upon the Loire,
where he had been long a prisoner, to the castle of Usson in Avergne,
by M. Tristan l’Ermite the king’s provost-marshal, and William Serisay,
newly chosen register in parliament; and upon this removal there was a
discourse, which lasted some time, that he was executed, but it was a
false report.
On Tuesday, the 20th of October, the king set out from Paris for
Normandy, and lay that night at Villepereux, and the next at Mantes.
Before he left Paris he sent for several of his captains and officers
of his army, and ordered them to get the troops that were under their
command in readiness to follow him into Normandy, or wherever there
should be most occasion for them; and on the same day he published
certain letters and ordinances, by which he declared that it was his
royal will and pleasure that for the future all the officers of his
kingdom, both civil and military, should continue in their places,
and that no place should become vacant but by death, resignation, or
forfeiture, resolving to dispose of no places but what became vacant by
one of the three before-mentioned ways, and therefore it would be in
vain for any one to expect or solicit for a post upon any other terms,
since he designed to do justice to every one. After this declaration,
he set out from Mantes for Vernon on the Seine, where he stayed some
time, during which the Constable of France, who came thither to pay his
respects to the king, found out an expedient how to conclude a peace
between his majesty and the Duke of Burgundy, for six months from the
date of the articles, without including the Liegeois, who were actually
in arms against the Duke of Burgundy, in hopes of being assisted by the
king, as they were promised; but by this treaty they were balked in their
expectations, and left in the lurch. As soon as the treaty was signed and
sealed by the king, the Constable of France went to wait on the Duke of
Burgundy to acquaint him with it.
Soon after this M. John de Balue, Bishop of Evreux, M. John Ladrische,
and the rest that had been sent into Flanders to negotiate an affair at
the Duke of Burgundy’s court, came to Vernon, to give the king an account
of their embassy; immediately after which the king left Vernon, and came
to Chartres, where he stayed till the arrival of the greatest part of
his artillery from Orleans, which was to be employed in the reduction of
Alençon, and several other towns in the same province. And afterwards the
king sent M. John Prevost into Flanders with the articles of peace to the
Duke of Burgundy.
On the 16th the Bishop of Evreux, the Treasurer de Ladrische, M. John
Berart, and M. Jeffery Alnequin, arrived at Paris, in order to review the
banners, and to inspect several other things that the king had given them
in charge. After that the king went from Chartres to Orleans, Clery, and
other towns in that neighbourhood, and afterwards to Vendôme, from whence
he marched with great part of his artillery and a considerable body of
troops to Mount St. Michael. In the mean time the Bretons with a strong
army left their own country, and penetrated into Normandy as far as the
city of Orange, and other towns of that province, and also dispersed
themselves in small bodies all over Normandy, as far as Caen, Bayeux,
Coutances, and other places. About the same time the Duke of Burgundy,
taking advantage of the peace that was concluded between him and the
king, in which the Liegeois were excluded, marches against them with his
whole army, and lays siege to their capital city; and they being balked
in the expectation of those succours that the king promised to send them,
and seeing their ruin near at hand, were at last forced to surrender all
their towns to the Count de Charolois, besides giving him a vast sum of
money, and consenting to have their gates pulled down, and part of their
walls demolished.
On Saturday, the 22nd of November, the Bishop of Evreux, and the rest of
the commissioners appointed for that purpose, reviewed the bands of the
tradesmen as they were drawn up and ranged under their respective banners
in several places in the city. And the very same day the king commanded a
proclamation to be issued out, commanding all persons that were used to
serve in the wars to repair forthwith to certain commissaries appointed
to receive and give them pay. And the next day M. John Prevost returned
from the Duke of Burgundy’s court, whither the king had sent him with the
articles of peace, and brought his majesty back the answer the Count de
Charolois had given him in relation to that affair. On Thursday the 16th
of November, there was another review made of all the banners without the
gates of Paris. As soon as the review was over, the Bishop of Evreux, and
the rest of the commissioners, with M. John de Ladrische, Treasurer of
France, M. Peter l’Orfevre, Lord of Ermenonville, and several other of
the king’s officers, set out from Paris to wait upon the king, who was
between Mans and Alençon with a prodigious army consisting of one hundred
thousand horse, and twenty thousand foot, in order to oppose the Bretons;
upon which his majesty ordered the greatest part of his artillery to be
brought up, to be employed in the siege of Alençon.
During these transactions there were some overtures of peace which
hindered the king from entering upon action; and so by consequence his
army was forced to destroy and eat up all the flat country for twenty
or thirty leagues round Mans and Alençon. In the mean time the Count
de Charolois, who had already destroyed the Liegeois, and overrun the
country, retired to St. Quentin; and ordered a proclamation to be issued
out through his whole dominions, commanding all his subjects that were
able to bear arms, and those forces that were already raised, to repair
to St. Quentin by a certain day upon pain of imprisonment, in order to
be reviewed by certain commissaries appointed for that purpose. The same
proclamation he caused to be published in Burgundy, commanding all his
subjects of that duchy to repair to Montsavion by the 22nd of December,
as a place of general rendezvous, where several commissaries were also
appointed to enlist and enter them in his service; from whence they were
ordered to march and join the forces at St. Quentin, which were to act
in conjunction with those of the Dukes of Berry and Bretagne, against the
king of France. Upon publishing of this proclamation, several merchants
of Paris that were gone into Burgundy to buy up some commodities, made
a quick return, without doing any business; and the Count de Charolois
ordered all his forces to rendezvous at St. Quentin on the 4th of January
following.
On Innocents’ day, which was the 28th of December, the Duke of
Bourbon, who came by the king’s order to put strong garrisons into his
frontier-towns, and to cover his country, that the Burgundians might not
penetrate into it, arrived at Paris, and with him the Marshal de Loheac,
who, according to common report, was to be lieutenant of the city. The
Duke of Bourbon made some stay at Paris; but the Marshal de Loheac set
out two days after for Rouen, and several other towns in Normandy, to
put them in a posture of defence, according to the king’s orders; where
he stayed a considerable time. The Parisians were extremely civil to the
Duke of Bourbon, and during his stay there he was caressed by several
of the chief citizens, who made feasts and entertainments on purpose
for him. In the mean time the city of Alençon, which was in the hands
of the Bretons, was surrendered to the king by the Count du Perche,
son to the Duke of Alençon, who commanded in the castle at the same
time that the Bretons were masters of the town. All this time the king
did not stir from Mans; and during his stay there, he sent the Pope’s
legate, whom we have already mentioned, Anthony de Chabannes, Count de
Dammartin, the Treasurer Ladrische, and several others, on an embassy to
the Duke of Berry, to offer terms of accommodation; and at last the king
consented to the calling the three Estates of the kingdom. Tours was the
place appointed for their meeting, where, according to order, they were
assembled on the first of April, 1467, upon which the king left Mans, and
came to Montils near Tours, Amboise, and thereabouts.
As soon as the three Estates of the kingdom were assembled, the king
came and acquainted them with the occasion of their meeting; and had,
from time to time, several debates and conferences with them concerning
the affair between him and his brother the Duke of Berry, till the
time of their breaking up, which was on Easter Day, 1468. There were
present at this assembly, the king, the King of Sicily, the Duke of
Bourbon, the Count du Perche, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Cardinal
of Angers, several other lords, barons, archbishops, bishops, abbots,
and abundance of other persons of quality and condition, besides several
ambassadors from all parts of France. And by this august assembly it
was agreed and resolved (after a long and mature deliberation, in order
to end the dispute between the king and his brother Charles concerning
his appanage), that his majesty should allow him twelve thousand livres
a-year in land, with the title of count or duke; and that he should
be obliged to give and allow him besides, an annual pension in money
of sixty thousand livres more, without any prejudice to the rest of
his majesty’s children, who hereafter might come to the crown, and be
required to give the same appanage. To which the king (being extremely
desirous to live in perfect peace and union with his brother) at last
consented, and willingly gave him the annual allowance of sixty thousand
livres, seeing he generously relinquished the duchy of Normandy, saying
it was not in the king’s power to dismember or give away any thing
that belonged to the crown. And as for the Duke of Bretagne, who had
sided with Lord Charles, and had taken several towns in Normandy, being
suspected to hold a correspondence with the English, the ancient enemies
of France, it was agreed by the said assembly, that he should be summoned
to surrender the towns he was possessed of, and that, upon refusal, and
the king’s having certain advice of his having made an alliance with the
English, his majesty should immediately endeavour to recover them by
force of arms, and the three Estates of the kingdom promised to stand
by and support him; the clergy, with their prayers and estates; and the
nobility, gentry, and commonalty, with their estates and persons. And,
moreover, the king was extremely desirous that justice should be fairly
and impartially administered through the whole kingdom; and therefore he
proposed to this assembly the choosing some persons of honour and quality
out of the three Estates, to regulate and take care of that matter; and
the whole assembly were of opinion that nobody was so fit to be employed
in that office as the Count de Charolois, who was a peer of France, and
nearly allied to the crown. After this debate was over, the king left
Tours, and went to Amboise; and a little after he sent to the assembly,
then sitting at Cambray, to know how they approved of the resolution that
had been taken by the three Estates of the kingdom that were convened at
Tours, as you have already heard.
After the king had despatched this affair, he went to Meaux, in Brie,
where he ordered a certain person, born in Bourbonnois, to be beheaded
for some crimes he had committed, and amongst the rest for discovering
the king’s secrets to the English, the ancient enemies of France. Just
before this, the king was graciously pleased to grant an act of grace and
indemnity; and the Prince of Piedmont, the Duke of Savoy’s son, was sent
to Paris with full power and authority to release all the prisoners out
of jail.
About the same time, the Burgundians or the Bretons, who had invaded
Normandy, surprised the Lord de Merville between St. Sauveur de Dive and
Caen, and made him deliver up his castle into their hands, in which there
was a small number of Frank archers. As soon as they had surrendered it,
they hanged the Lord de Merville, plundered the castle, and afterwards
set fire to it. After this the king left Creil, and went to Compiegne,
where he stayed some time, and then returned to Senlis, and from thence
the Duke of Bourbon went to Paris, where he arrived on the Assumption
of Our Lady. Some time before this, the king had sent M. de Lyon, the
Constable of France, and several other lords, on an embassy to the Duke
of Burgundy, to endeavour to adjust the difference between them, without
coming to an open war, notwithstanding he had already sent an army into
Normandy under the command of the Admiral of France, who had been so
successful as in a month’s time to drive the Bretons out of Bayeux.
On Saturday, the 20th of August, 1468, M. Charles de Melun, Lord of
Normanville (who had formerly been steward of the king’s household), was
brought out of the castle of Gaillart, where he had been newly committed
prisoner, under the command of the Count de Dammartin, and publicly
beheaded in the market-place of Andely, according to the sentence that
had been pronounced against him by the provost-marshal. After this,
the king staid some time at Noyon, Compiegne, Chavay, and other places
thereabouts, till the 15th of September, where he received the agreeable
news of the Duke of Bretagne and his brother Charles’s readiness to
consent to the terms of accommodation that his majesty had proposed to
them, and that his brother Charles was ready to accept of his annual
pension of sixty thousand livres tournois, till his appanage could be
fully settled by the Duke of Calabria and the Constable of France, who
were the persons he had chosen to settle and manage that affair. The Duke
of Bretagne, on his part, offered to surrender all the towns he had taken
from the king in Normandy, provided his majesty would restore all those
that his troops were in possession of in Bretagne, to which the king
readily consented.
The king immediately sent an express to the Duke of Burgundy, who
lay encamped between Esclusiers and Cappy, to acquaint him with this
accommodation, but he would give no credit to it till it was farther
confirmed by certain advices from the Duke of Bretagne and Lord Charles;
however, he would not retire with his army, but still continued in the
same post between Esclusiers and Cappy, behind the river Somme. During
his encampment there, several persons of quality were deputed to wait
on the Duke of Burgundy, amongst whom were the Constable of France, the
Cardinal of Angers, and M. Peter Doriolle, in hopes of accommodating
matters amicably between him and the king, which his majesty was
extremely desirous of; but the officers of his army were of another mind,
and begged the king that he would give them leave to attack the Duke
of Burgundy in his camp, not questioning but that they should defeat
him, and oblige him to accept of what terms his majesty should propose;
but the king would not hear of it, and upon pain of death forbade them
to attempt anything against him. And from that time to the 12th of
October there was a great discourse of the king’s having made a truce
with the Duke of Burgundy till the April following; and upon the hopes
of that truce the king resolved to return from Compiegne to Creil and
Pontoise; wherefore he sent harbingers before to prepare his lodgings,
but afterwards he altered his resolution, and went in great haste from
Compiegne to Noyon, where he had been but a little time before. In the
meantime Philip of Savoy, Poncet de Rivière, the Lord du Lau, and several
others that were confederate with them, did abundance of mischief. And on
Saturday, the 8th of October, a proclamation was issued out, commanding
all the nobility and gentry within the precincts of Paris, that held any
lands or tenures by homage or fealty of the crown, to be ready in arms at
Gonesse, and to march from thence, on the Monday following, wherever they
should be commanded; at which several persons at Paris were astonished,
believing, by this preparation, that no truce had been made. After this,
the king left Noyon, and the Duke of Burgundy set out from the army for
Peronne, whither the king, attended only by the Duke of Bourbon, the
Cardinal of Angers, and a few of the officers of his household, went
immediately to pay the Duke of Burgundy a visit, who received him with
all the respect and honour imaginable, as in duty he was obliged to do;
and after a long conference together, the difference that was between
them was amicably adjusted. The Duke of Burgundy, on his part, swore
homage to the king, and vowed never to attempt anything against his
majesty for the future; and the king confirmed and ratified the treaty
of Arras, and several other things; upon which a courier was immediately
despatched to acquaint the nobility, gentry, and commonalty with the
news of this accommodation, and to order the Bishop of Paris to cause a
general procession to be made, and _Te Deum_ to be sung in the church
of Notre Dame, which was accordingly performed; and the night concluded
with bonfires, fountains running with wine, and the usual solemnities on
such occasions. In the meantime news came that the Liegeois had taken
and killed their bishop and all his officers; at which the king, the
Duke of Burgundy, and the Duke of Bourbon, were extremely concerned, and
there was great talk that the king and the Duke of Burgundy would go in
person to destroy the Liegeois, and ruin their country, to be revenged
on them for their late barbarous action of murdering their bishop. But,
immediately, the news of the bishop’s death was contradicted; however,
the Liegeois obliged him to say mass, and afterwards humbly submitted to
him, and acknowledged him for their sovereign lord, being willing to put
an end to those calamities and misfortunes they had already brought upon
themselves.
About this time the king went to Halle, in Germany, where he made but
a short stay; during which, at the Duke of Burgundy’s intercession, he
pardoned Philip of Savoy and the rest of his confederates, and received
them into his favour again. From Halle his majesty went to Namur to
visit the Duke of Burgundy, whom he resolved to accompany to the siege
of Liege, and had his quarters assigned him in the suburbs of that city
during the whole siege, which lasted some time, and he was attended
by the Duke of Bourbon, M. de Lyon, M. de Beaujeu, and the Bishop of
Liege, who were all brothers. It seems the Bishop of Liege was sent out
of the town to wait on the Duke of Burgundy, in order to make terms of
capitulation with him in behalf of the Liegeois, who offered to surrender
the town and all that was in it, provided he would spare the lives of
the inhabitants; but he would not grant them those conditions, vowing
to sacrifice his whole army rather than not force them to surrender
at discretion, and he ordered the Bishop of Liege to be detained,
notwithstanding he told him he had solemnly promised the Liegeois to
return into the city, and live and die with them, if he could not obtain
any honourable conditions for them. As soon as the Liegeois were informed
that the Duke of Burgundy had detained their bishop against his will,
they made several sallies upon the Burgundians and the king’s forces,
and all they took prisoners they put to death. However, notwithstanding
all this, on Sunday, the 30th of October, the Duke of Burgundy ordered
his men to prepare for storming the town, which was done the same day,
and after little or no resistance the king, the Dukes of Burgundy and
Bourbon, with the Lords de Lyon, de Liege, and de Beaujeu, entered it,
out of which the greatest part of the inhabitants that were in health
had retired just before the last attack, leaving only a few old men,
women, children, priests, and nuns, whose throats were all cut by the
soldiers, who committed a thousand other barbarous and inhuman actions,
such as ravishing the women, and killing them afterwards, defiling of
nuns even in the very churches, and murdering the priests while they were
consecrating the host at the altar. And not being satisfied with this
scene of blood and horror, they plundered the town, set fire to it, and
demolished the walls.
After this action was over, the king returned to Senlis and Compiegne,
where he ordered the court of parliament, the exchequer treasurers, and
the rest of the civil officers of his kingdom to attend him, and upon
their arrival he made several laws and ordinances; and having no design
of staying there long, he ordered the Cardinal of Angers to acquaint them
with the terms of accommodation between him and the Duke of Burgundy,
which were specified and contained in forty-two articles, which were
openly read to them by the said Cardinal, who told them that it was
the king’s royal will and pleasure that these articles of peace should
immediately be ratified and confirmed in parliament under such penalties
as he declared to them. The king, having despatched this affair, drew
nearer to Paris, but would not enter the city; however, the Duke of
Bourbon, M. de Lyon, M. de Beaujeu, the Marquis du Pont, and several
other great lords, came and staid there some time.
On Saturday, the 19th of November, the peace between the king and the
Duke of Burgundy was proclaimed by sound of trumpet in all the public
streets in Paris. At the same time there was another proclamation issued
out by the king’s order, commanding everybody for the future not to speak
against or reflect upon the Duke of Burgundy, either by speeches, signs,
pictures, libels, or scandalous verses, under very severe penalties,
which were explained and specified in the said edict.
In February the Duke of Burgundy’s ambassadors arrived at Paris, to
hasten the signing the articles of peace that had been concluded between
the king and him, upon which the king wrote expressly to the mayor and
the rest of the civil magistrates of Paris to treat and entertain them
handsomely; and his majesty’s orders were punctually obeyed, and the
ambassadors were nobly entertained and feasted. In the meantime the
articles of peace we have already mentioned were registered in all the
courts of Paris.
In April 1469, M. John Balue, Cardinal of Angers (on whom the king had
in a short time conferred vast riches and honours, doing more for him
than for any prince of the blood, and whom the Pope, by his majesty’s
recommendation, had advanced to a cardinal’s hat), most shamefully
betrayed the confidence the king had reposed in him; and having neither
God in his thoughts, nor the honour nor interest of the kingdom before
his eyes, basely betrayed his majesty into the Duke of Burgundy’s hands
at Peronne, where he advised him to that ignominious peace which was
there concluded between them, and then persuaded him to accompany the
Duke of Burgundy to the siege of Liege, who had taken up arms against him
purely upon the king’s account; so that, in short, his majesty’s going
thither was the chief occasion of the ruin and desolation of the poor
Liegeois. But to aggravate the matter, the king, the Duke of Bourbon, and
the rest of the nobility that attended his majesty, were very near being
all killed or taken, which would have been the greatest blow the kingdom
of France had ever received since its first establishment. The Cardinal,
not being contented with this piece of villany, immediately contrived how
to do a greater; and therefore, upon the king’s return to Paris, in his
way to Tours, he used his utmost endeavours to induce his majesty to fall
out with his good citizens of Paris, who had hitherto expressed so much
zeal and loyalty for his person. After this he employed all his cunning
arts and stratagems to foment and inflame the difference that was between
the king and his brother Charles. But finding himself disappointed
there, and having certain advice that all matters were amicably adjusted
in the late journey the king made to Tours and Angers, and that they
were perfectly reconciled to each other, he tried to raise jealousy and
misunderstanding between the king and the rest of the nobility, as he
had formerly done. And, in order to create as much trouble and confusion
as he possibly could in the kingdom, he despatched a certain emissary of
his with letters to the Duke of Burgundy, to acquaint him that the peace
or agreement that was lately concluded between the king and his brother
Charles was directly contrary to his interest and advantage, and made
on purpose to turn their arms jointly against him, wherefore he advised
him to stand upon his guard, and immediately take the field, to prevent
their designs. Several other arguments he made use of to induce the Duke
of Burgundy to invade the kingdom of France with a powerful army; but
by good fortune his letters were seized and carried to the king, who,
upon the discovery of his treacherous designs, immediately ordered him to
be sent prisoner to Montbason, where he was committed to the charge and
custody of M. de Torcy and several other officers. After this, the king
seized upon all his goods, lands, and chattels, of which he ordered an
inventory to be made, and also appointed M. Tanneguy du Chastel governor
of Roussillon, M. William Cousinot, M. de Torcy, and M. Peter Doriolle
as commissioners to examine him. The king some time afterwards disposed
of the Cardinal’s goods as his majesty thought fit; his set of plate was
sold, and the money carried into the treasury for the king’s use; the
fine hangings of his palace were given to the governor of Roussillon; his
library to M. Peter Doriolle; a fine piece of cloth of gold, valued at
one thousand two hundred crowns, with a great quantity of sables, and a
large piece of scarlet embroidered with gold, was given to M. de Crussol;
and his robes, with a little more of his furniture, were sold to pay the
clerks and other officers that were employed to take the inventory.
In the meantime the King and Queen of Sicily came to pay a visit to the
king at Tours and Amboise, and were nobly and kindly entertained by his
majesty. After which, attended by the Duke of Bourbon and several other
lords of his kingdom, he made a tour to Niort, Rochelle, and several
other places in that neighbourhood, where he met his brother the Duke
of Guienne, and, by the grace of God and the assistance of the blessed
Virgin, a firm union and friendship was settled between them, to the
great joy and satisfaction of the kingdom; upon which _Te Deum_ was
ordered to be sung in the church of Notre Dame in Paris, and bonfires and
rejoicings were made in all the cities and towns in France, and after
that the king came back to Amboise, where he had left the queen, who had
been very instrumental in his late reconciliation. Some time afterwards
the king resolved in council to attempt the reduction of the earldom of
Armagnac, and if the enterprise succeeded, promised to give it to his
brother the Duke of Guienne; and in order to reduce it to his obedience,
he sent a considerable body of forces with some cannon, which were to be
followed, in case of need, by the whole army. After the king had finished
his preparations for this expedition, he went to Orleans, where he
stayed five or six days, and then returned to Amboise again.
On Saturday, the 4th of November 1469, was published, by sound of trumpet
in all the streets of Paris, the league, offensive and defensive, that
had been lately concluded between France and Spain, in the presence of
both the criminal and civil lieutenants of that city, and the greatest
part of the examiners of the Chastellet. And from that time the king,
the Duke of Bourbon, and the rest of the nobility that attended on his
majesty, stayed at Amboise and in that neighbourhood till Saturday the
23rd of December, upon which day the Duke of Guienne, attended by all
the nobility of his duchy, came to wait on the king at his Chateau de
Montils, near Tours, where his majesty was extremely glad to see him.
And as soon as the queen was informed of the Duke of Guienne’s being
there, her majesty immediately left Amboise; and being attended by the
Duchess of Bourbon, her maids of honour, and several other ladies of the
court, came to pay him a visit, and to feast and entertain him. In the
meantime the country of Armagnac was delivered up into the king’s hands
without any manner of bloodshed, and the king, queen, Duke of Guienne,
and Duchess of Bourbon, spent their time at the Chateau de Montils in
feastings and diversions till Christmas. And after the Duke of Guienne
had taken his leave of the king and queen and the whole court, and
was set out for his dukedom, the king went back to Rochelle, St. Jean
d’Angele, and other neighbouring countries, where he called an assembly
of the three Estates of the kingdom to consult about some important
affair, and to appoint new officers in the duchy of Guienne, who might
fairly and impartially administer justice to his subjects. And after the
king had settled that affair, he returned to Amboise, where he stayed
some time, during which he sent his ambassadors to the Duke of Bretagne
with the order of St. Michael, which he had lately instituted, as he had
done to several other lords of his kingdom; but the Duke of Bretagne at
first refused the honour his majesty designed him, and would not wear it,
pretending he could not take the oath belonging to that order, as he had
already accepted of that of the Golden Fleece from the Duke of Burgundy,
and was become his friend and confederate in arms; at which the king,
being highly incensed, and not without cause, immediately ordered a
considerable body of his men-at-arms and archers, with some cannon and
field-pieces, to be ready to march into Bretagne, and lay the country
under contribution; but before those forces were ordered to march, the
king gave the Duke of Bretagne ten days’ time to consider of it, and to
acquaint his majesty with his resolutions.
On Wednesday, the 13th of February, 1470, was published in all the public
streets of Paris the king’s mandate, by which his majesty acquainted the
mayor of Paris that he had received certain advice from England that King
Edward IV., and the nobility, gentry, and commonalty, with whom that
king had been at war for some time, were reconciled to each other, and
that they had unanimously agreed in Parliament to invade the kingdom of
France with a powerful army; wherefore the king (in order to oppose and
prevent their designs) had commanded the ban and the arriere-ban to be
raised, and ordered the mayor of Paris forthwith to summon all nobles
and not nobles, all the privileged persons and not privileged persons,
within the precincts of that city, holding any lands by homage or fealty
of the crown, to be ready in arms on the first of March following, on
pain of imprisonment and confiscation of goods. By the same letters
patent, the mayor of Paris and all other officers belonging to the king
were forbidden, under the same severe penalties, to admit of any excuse
or certificate from any persons whatsoever holding lands or tenures by
homage or fealty of the crown; and that whosoever should refuse to obey
the summons should be looked upon as enemies to the king and government,
and be punished as rebels and traitors to their country. On the same day
news was brought to Paris that the Duke of Burgundy had been seen in
Ghent with a red cross and garter upon one of his legs, which was the
order of Edward IV., King of England; upon which the Duke of Burgundy
was immediately declared an enemy to the kingdom, and looked upon as an
Englishman.
In May, 1470, the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence, with their
ladies, who had been driven out of England by Edward IV., with a slender
retinue, and some ships, landed at Honfleur and Harfleur in Normandy,
where they were kindly received and entertained by the admiral of
France, who lodged the Earl of Warwick, the Duke of Clarence, with their
ladies, and some of the chief of their retinue, in his own palace, and
took care to have their ships laid up safely in the harbours of Honfleur
and Harfleur. A little after the ladies and their attendants removed to
Valognes, where fine apartments were prepared for them.
As soon as the Duke of Burgundy had advice of the Earl of Warwick’s
arrival in France, he immediately sent letters to the parliament to let
them know he was informed that the king had favourably received and
entertained the Earl of Warwick in some of his towns in Normandy, which
was acting directly contrary to the treaty that was concluded at Peronne
between his majesty and him; and humbly desired the court of parliament
that they would make the king sensible of this infringement, and persuade
him not to countenance the Earl of Warwick and his party, whom he had
declared were enemies to the kingdom; otherwise he should be obliged to
seize upon his person wherever he found him, though it was in the very
heart of France; however, the Earl of Warwick stayed at Honfleur till
the latter end of June. In the meantime the king drew his forces out of
several garrisons, and ordered them to march into Normandy and Picardy,
where they ruined and destroyed all the flat country thereabouts. In the
meantime the king still kept about Tours, Amboise, Vendôme, and other
places thereabouts, whither the Queen of England and her son the Prince
of Wales, with several of the English nobility, came to wait upon the
king; and after a long conference with his majesty, the English returned
to Honfleur, Valognes, St. Lo, and other places in Normandy. During
these affairs, the Duke of Burgundy ordered all the effects belonging to
the merchants of France, that were in his dominions, to be seized, till
some restitution was made to the merchants of his country, from whom the
English had taken several ships.
On Saturday, the last of June, 1470, between two and three in the
morning, the queen was brought to bed, at the castle of Amboise, of
a prince, who was christened Charles by the Archbishop of Lyons; the
Prince of Wales, son to the late King of England, Henry VI., standing
godfather, and the Duchess of Bourbon godmother. The birth of this prince
occasioned great joy at court, _Te Deum_ was ordered to be sung at
Paris, and bonfires and rejoicings were made in all the cities and towns
in France. And soon after this the King of Sicily, the Duke of Guienne,
the Duke of Bourbon, the Lords de Lyon and Beaujeu, and several others,
were sent to Angers, Saumur, and other places thereabouts, to endeavour
to accommodate matters between the king and the Duke of Bretagne, where
they stayed some time before they could settle the point; but, at last,
the business was determined to the satisfaction of both of them; upon
which the Duke of Bretagne sent his ambassadors to the Duke of Burgundy
to deliver up the treaty of alliance that had been lately made between
them; and when they informed him of the Duke of Bretagne’s reconciliation
with the king, he seemed highly displeased and out of patience. In the
meantime, while the Earl of Warwick (whom we mentioned before,) was
making all the preparations imaginable in Normandy, to return to England,
the Duke of Burgundy fitted out a great fleet, and having well victualled
and manned it with English, Burgundians, Picardians, and seamen of other
nations, he put to sea, and sailing round by the coast of Normandy,
thought to fall in with the Earl of Warwick’s squadron near Havre, and
fight them; but not finding them there, he dropped anchor, and waited
in expectation of them, during which time the king left Amboise, and
went a pilgrimage to Mount St. Michael; and after he had performed his
devotions there, he returned by Orange, Granville, Coutances, Caen,
Honfleur, and several other places on the coast of Normandy, where the
Admiral of France put in to victual his fleet; on which the Earl of
Warwick, the Duke of Clarence, and their whole retinue, went on board,
together with a few archers and other soldiers that the king had ordered
for the safety and defence of their persons. As soon as they were ready
to set sail, the poor English, Burgundians, and Picardians, who had lain
all this time in expectation of the Earl of Warwick’s squadron, and had
spent all their provision, weighed anchor, and sailed home to their duke
with hungry stomachs, without doing anything; at which his highness
laughed heartily, though he had no reason for it, having spent a great
deal of time and money to no purpose. No sooner was the Burgundian fleet
out of sight, but the Earl of Warwick, attended as you have already
heard, set sail, and, the wind serving, in a little time arrived on the
coast of England, and landed in the night at Dartmouth or Plymouth;
and immediately upon his landing, he sent a party of his men ten miles
up into the country, to seize upon a baron of the kingdom, who little
dreamed of that descent, and was sleeping quietly in his bed; but they
soon roused him, and giving him but just time to put on his clothes,
hurried him away to the Earl of Warwick, who ordered him to be beheaded
the next morning. After this he marched from Dartmouth to a neighbouring
town, where he was well received, and where he had left his artillery
and heavy baggage when he escaped to Normandy. He had scarce been landed
three days, and put what forces he had with him into a little order, when
sixty thousand men in arms, came, voluntarily to him, offering to venture
their lives and fortunes in his service; whereupon he immediately took
the field, and marched directly in search of King Edward, so that it was
above a fortnight from the day of his landing before we could hear any
news of him in France. And then the king received certain advice that
the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence were in full march with a
powerful army in search of King Edward, and that their affairs were in
such a prosperous condition that all the nobility, gentry, clergy, and
commonalty of England (but especially the people of London) had forsaken
King Edward, and were come in to the Earl of Warwick, who had delivered
King Henry VI. out of the Tower, where he had been long a prisoner, and
reinstated him in the possession of his kingdom. Upon which the Earl
of Warwick was made governor and protector of England under Henry VI.,
and immediately marched into the city of London, where the citizens
feasted and entertained him nobly. After which he released all the French
prisoners that were in England, and sent them home without any ransom,
but seized upon all the effects belonging to the Duke of Burgundy’s
subjects. At last King Edward, finding himself abandoned and forsaken
by all his subjects, left his queen in England, and went over to his
brother-in-law, the Duke of Burgundy, with a very slender retinue, to
solicit troops and money to recover his kingdom.
After this the king wrote letters to Paris to acquaint them that
the Queen of England, wife to Henry VI., the Prince of Wales and his
princess, daughter to the Earl of Warwick, the Countess of Warwick her
mother, the Lady Wiltshire, and several other ladies of the English
court, were coming to Paris, attended by the Counts D’Eu, De Vendôme, De
Dunois, Monsieur De Chastillon, and several other noblemen and persons
of quality; and that it was his Majesty’s command that the bishop,
university, court of parliament, and the mayor and aldermen of Paris, in
their robes and formalities, should go out and meet them, and compliment
the Queen of England in his name.
Soon after this the Queen, the Duchess of Bourbon, the maids of honour,
and several other ladies of the court, came along with his majesty to
Paris, where they all stayed till the 26th, and then his majesty set out
from thence for Senlis, Compiegne, and the neighbourhood of those places
where the greatest part of his army that was to act against the Duke of
Burgundy lay.
He ordered a large train of artillery to be brought from Compiegne,
Noyon, and elsewhere, both by sea and land, into Picardy and Flanders;
and published a proclamation by sound of trumpet in Paris, commanding
all the nobility and Frank archers of the Isle of France to be ready
in arms to follow him, and join the rest of the army. During this time
great preparations were making at Paris, and a great quantity of cannon,
ammunition, and provision were getting ready for the army.
About this time all the handicraftsmen in Paris, such as masons,
carpenters, joiners, and the like, were pressed by the king’s orders;
not excepting those belonging to the towns and cities that had lately
surrendered to his majesty. The command of this body of workmen was
given to M. Henry de la Cloche, the king’s attorney in the Chastellet at
Paris, who was a loyal subject, and was to lead them to the town of Roye,
where they were to be employed in repairing the old fortifications, and
in making new ones; and when they had finished their work there, they
were employed in doing the same in other towns that had lately submitted
to the king, which took up a great deal of time, and kept them employed
till Easter Day, at which time the king made a truce for a little while
with the Duke of Burgundy, who was closely besieged in his camp between
Bapaume and the city of Amiens by the king’s army, and was reduced to so
miserable a condition that had it not been for the truce, both he and
his whole army must certainly have perished, or surrendered themselves
prisoners at discretion. Since the beginning of the war, to the day the
truce was agreed on, the king’s army defeated the Burgundians and the
Picardians in several smart engagements, and took a considerable booty
from them in the duchy of Burgundy, not to mention their incursions into
the countries of Charolois and Maconnois, where they enriched themselves
by the plunder they got, and took a vast number of prisoners, amongst
whom were several persons of quality, who paid handsomely for their
enlargement, besides a greater number killed in several actions that
happened between them. Some persons of quality on the king’s side would
have been prodigious gainers by this war, had not his majesty obliged
them, upon the treaty, to deliver up all they had taken from the enemy;
at which, abundance of the nobility that had a great respect for the
king were highly displeased. During this cessation of arms, the king,
the Duke of Guienne, and several other lords and men of quality went to
Ham, and stayed there with the Constable of France, who was extremely
proud of the honour his majesty did him. During the king’s abode at Ham,
several ambassadors arrived from the Duke of Burgundy, and as many were
sent by the king to the Duke of Burgundy’s camp; but notwithstanding all
their embassies forward and backward, it was a long time before they
came to any resolution. At last, a truce for one year only was agreed
upon between the king and the Duke of Burgundy, and commissioners were
chosen on both sides to accommodate the difference between them, and to
terminate the dispute between the soldiers of each side. As soon as this
affair was settled, every one retired to his own house, and the towns
that had been taken before the treaty were garrisoned by the king’s
soldiers.
About that time great quarrels and contests arose in England between
Henry of Lancaster, King of England, the Prince of Wales his son, the
Earl of Warwick, and the rest of the lords of the kingdom who were of
King Henry’s side, against Edward de la Marche, who had usurped the crown
from Henry. This civil war had occasioned already abundance of murder
and bloodshed, and was not like to be at an end yet; for in June, 1471,
the king received certain advice from England that Edward de la Marche,
with a puissant army of English, Easterlings, Picardians, Flemings, and
other nations that the Duke of Burgundy had sent him, had taken the
field, and was going to oppose King Henry’s forces, which were commanded
by the Earl of Warwick, the Prince of Wales, and several other lords of
that party. In short, the battle was bravely fought, and a vast number
of men were killed and wounded on both sides; but at last Edward de la
Marche gained the victory, and King Henry’s army, partly by the treachery
of the Duke of Clarence, and partly for want of conduct, was entirely
defeated. The poor young Prince of Wales, who was a lovely youth, was
barbarously murdered after the action was over; and the valiant Earl of
Warwick, finding himself betrayed, and scorning to fly, rushed violently
into the thickest of his enemies, and was killed upon the spot. Thus died
this great man, who was so desirous of serving his king and country, and
who had cost King Henry so much money to bring him over and fix him in
his interest.
In July, 1471, died the Count d’Eu, a person of great wisdom, honour, and
probity, heartily devoted to the interest of his country, and one that
faithfully served the king to the utmost of his power. Upon his death the
king took possession of the earldom of Eu, which he gave to the Constable
of France, which was highly displeasing to his brother the Count de
Nevers, who thought to have enjoyed that earldom, with the rest of his
estate, after his brother’s decease, as being his right and lawful heir.
From this month of July to Christmas nothing of importance happened
in the kingdom of France; several conferences, indeed, there were in
the mean time between the commissioners chosen on both sides to adjust
the difference and dispute that were between the king and the Duke of
Burgundy, in order to settle a firm and lasting peace.
In the same year the Duke of Guienne, after his return from Amiens, began
to grow a little dissatisfied with the king, and sent for the Count
d’Armagnac, whom the king had banished the kingdom at the same time
that he deprived him of his earldom. The count, immediately upon that
summons, waited upon the Duke of Guienne, who gave him the greatest part
of his earldom, against the king’s consent and positive commands to the
contrary.
In May, the Duke of Calabria, nephew to the King of Sicily and Jerusalem,
and to whom the king had offered his eldest daughter in marriage, left
his duchy of Lorraine, and went in person to the Duke of Burgundy’s
court, to treat of a marriage with his daughter, which was very strangely
and unaccountably done by him (after the honour which the king, who was
his sovereign lord, had designed him) to think of marrying the Duke of
Burgundy’s daughter, who was only a subject and a vassal to the king.
But before this the Duke of Burgundy had often made war in France in
favour of the Duke of Guienne, pretending his design was to give him
his daughter in marriage; but he never intended it, and did quite the
contrary, deluding him, as he had done several other lords, with fair
promises and hopes of that match.
On Thursday, the 14th of May, 1472, the king received certain advice
from M. Malicorne, a great favourite of the Duke of Guienne, that his
master was dead at Bordeaux. And immediately after M. de Craon, M. Peter
Doriolle, general of the finances, M. Oliver le Roux, and the rest of
the ambassadors that were sent to the Duke of Burgundy, returned, and
gave the king an account of their negotiation, and the truce which was
prolonged till the 15th of June following. However, the Duke of Burgundy,
notwithstanding the truce, took the field with his army, and fortified
his old post between Arras and Bapaume, in a place called Hubuterne, in
Artois.
After this the Duke of Burgundy still continued to play his mad pranks,
and went on in his old obstinate ways, as he had formerly done. On
Tuesday, the 11th of June, 1472, he sent a great detachment of his forces
to summon Nesle, in which there was one named Le Petit Picart, that
commanded five hundred Frank archers of the Isle of France, who refused
to obey his summons, and sent him word that he would defend the town and
castle to the last extremity; upon which the Burgundians made several
attacks, but were always repulsed by Captain Picart and his garrison. The
next day, about five in the morning, the Countess of Nesle, attended by
Captain Picart and the chief of the town, went out to wait on the Bastard
of Burgundy, who commanded that detachment, in order to capitulate and
make some honourable terms for the garrison. At last the Bastard of
Burgundy agreed to spare their lives, provided they would immediately
surrender the town, and march out, leaving their arms, horses, bag, and
baggage behind, to which they were forced to submit. Upon their return
they acquainted the garrison with what hard terms they must submit to;
and accordingly Captain Picart, having drawn up his men in a body in the
market-place, commanded them to dismount and lay down their arms, and
imprudently delivered up the town to the Burgundians before the articles
of capitulation were signed. No sooner were the Burgundians masters of
the town but they immediately fell upon the garrison, who were naked and
unarmed, and killed several of them, not sparing even those that fled to
the churches for protection, without any manner of regard to the promise
they had made them to spare their lives. Towards the latter end of this
barbarous and inhuman action the Bastard of Burgundy entered the church
on horseback, which swam in blood; and when he beheld the pavement all
strewed with the dead bodies of these poor wretches, he said it was a
glorious sight, and was pleased to find he had such good butchers in
his company. Neither did his thirst of blood and vengeance cease here,
for the next day he ordered the captain to be hanged, and the town to
be set on fire. After this glorious expedition they marched the next
day, which was Sunday, to Roye, in which there was a strong garrison,
consisting of one thousand four hundred archers, commanded by Peter
Aubert, bailiff of Melun and Nugon. Besides these forces, there were
several volunteers and captains of the army, and amongst the rest Loisel
de Balagny, governor of Beauvais, M. de Moüy, the Lord de Rubempré, and
several others, who had with them about two hundred lances well armed and
mounted. However, the king had just before caused the old fortifications
of the town to be repaired, and new ones to be made, which had added
considerable strength to the place, and had provided it with everything
necessary for a long defence; yet they surrendered the town on the 16th
of May, to the Burgundians, and marched shamefully out, leaving their
cannon, horses, arms, bag and baggage behind them, after the king had
been at the expense of one hundred thousand crowns of gold in erecting
magazines, and putting it into a posture of defence. After the Duke of
Burgundy had turned out the king’s garrison in this naked and miserable
condition, he took possession of the town, and after some stay there
he came before Beauvais, which he likewise summoned, and upon their
refusing to surrender, he resolved to besiege it; and immediately upon
his arrival, which was on Saturday the 27th of June, 1472, he commanded
his soldiers to storm it on every side, but they were bravely repulsed
by the inhabitants of the same place. The very same night William de
Valce, the Seneschal of Normandy’s lieutenant, came to their relief with
a reinforcement of two hundred lances, just as the Burgundians were
going to make a vigorous attack, upon which they mounted the walls, and
repulsed the Burgundians, who little expected so warm a reception. The
next day, M. de Crussol, Joachim Rouault, Marshal of France, M. de Bueil,
Guerin le Groing, M. de Torcy, and several other noblemen of Normandy,
with a strong detachment, arrived there also, who behaved themselves
handsomely during the whole siege, and gave signal marks of their courage
and conduct. The Parisians were serviceable also to the besieged, and
constantly supplied them with ammunition and provision; and during the
siege several warm disputes and bloody actions happened between the
Burgundians and the king’s troops, in which several of the former were
killed and wounded.
On Thursday, the 2nd of July, the Lord de Rubempré arrived at Paris from
Beauvais and brought letters from the governor of that place directed
to M. Gaucourt, the king’s lieutenant in Paris, and to the mayor and
aldermen, in which he acquainted them with the miserable condition that
the Duke of Burgundy and his whole army were reduced to, that a halfpenny
loaf was sold for threepence in their camp, that the Duke of Burgundy
himself was grown desperate, and was resolved to have the town though
with the loss and ruin of his whole army, and therefore begged of them
that they would immediately send him some of their field-pieces, a body
of their cross-bow men, and a supply of provision and ammunition, which
were accordingly sent him under a guard of sixty cross-bow men of Paris,
commanded by the bastard Rochechouart, Lord of Meru. And on Thursday, the
9th of July, about seven in the morning, the Duke of Burgundy began to
batter the town wall over against the gate of the Hotel Dieu with all his
great and small cannon; and having made a breach, ordered his men to fill
up the ditch with fascines, timber, and hurdles, and to be ready with
their scaling-ladders; which orders were instantly performed, and a party
of Burgundians came with great boldness and resolution, and furiously
attacked that part of the wall that was opposite to the Hotel Dieu, but
they were warmly received and repulsed by M. Robert Destouteville, lord
of Beyne and mayor of Paris, who was posted there with some of the king’s
troops. This attack lasted from seven in the morning till eleven, during
which action the Burgundians had fifteen or sixteen hundred men killed
and wounded; and the number would have been greater, and their loss more
considerable, had not all the gates facing the Burgundian army been so
strongly barricadoed, that in the hurry and confusion of storming the
town they could not get them open to make a sally and fall upon the enemy
at the same time; at which all the noblemen and officers were extremely
concerned, for if they could have come handsomely to have engaged them,
they would certainly have made a terrible slaughter among them, for at
that time the garrison consisted of fourteen or fifteen thousand men,
commanded by the Count de Dammartin, Joachim Rouault, marshal of France,
Sallazart, William de Valce, Mery de Coue, Guerin le Groing, the Lords
de Beyne and Torcy, and several other experienced officers of note and
quality. During the whole action the besieged lost but four men, and
that through their own rashness, as the report goes; neither did the
Burgundians, from their first investing the town to the 9th of July, kill
any more than four soldiers with their cannon, notwithstanding their
constant firing from their batteries. The next day after the attack, M.
Denis Hesselin, mayor of Paris, sent another body of cross-bow men to
Beauvais with arms, ammunition, provision, and some surgeons to dress and
take care of the sick and wounded.
On Friday, the 10th of July, which was the next day after the attack,
Sallazart, with a brigade of his own regiment, sallied out of Beauvais,
and by break of day got into the Burgundian camp, where they killed all
they met with, and burnt three fine tents with all that was in them, in
one of which there were two men of quality killed, that offered a vast
sum of money to save their lives. At last the whole camp took the alarm,
and his soldiers shouting out, “A Sallazart, a Sallazart,” made the
Burgundians immediately run to their arms, and in a moment’s time they
were ready with a considerable body to oppose him; upon which Sallazart
thought fit to retire, which he did in very good order, and brought with
him to Beauvais two pieces of cannon, one of which was a fine brass
cannon, named one of the twelve peers, that the king lost at the battle
of Mont l’Hery, and the rest that they could not bring off, they flung
into a ditch by the way. Sallazart was closely pursued, and received
several wounds: his horse was also wounded in several places of the body;
however he made a shift to carry him to Beauvais, where he dropt down
dead immediately upon arriving there. From that sally to the 21st of
July, no great action happened on either side.
On Wednesday, the feast of St. Magdalen, the Duke of Burgundy shamefully
raised the siege of Beauvais, after having lain twenty days before it,
and bombarded it night and day, without doing any considerable damage to
the town, or killing many men. Twice in that time, indeed, he attempted
to storm the place, but was as often repulsed, and in both actions lost a
considerable number of men; amongst the rest, several persons of note and
distinction. In his retreat he lost the greatest part of his artillery,
which the garrison of Amiens, who fell upon his rear, took from him. The
Duke of Burgundy, being disappointed in his design of taking Beauvais,
grew desperate, and commanded his army to burn the standing corn, and to
destroy and set on fire all the towns and villages through which they
marched in their way to St. Valery near Crotoy, which was immediately
surrendered to him, there being but a small garrison in it, and the place
itself not being capable of making a long defence against such a powerful
army. From thence they marched to Eu, which was also surrendered to him
on the same account. On Wednesday, the 29th of July, the Constable of
France, with several other officers of the garrison of Beauvais, marched
out with eight hundred lances, and took the route towards Arques and
Monstiervillier, in the county of Caux, to intercept the Burgundians,
who, it was believed, would march that way; and so they did, and encamped
between that place, Eu, and Dieppe, near a village called Ferriers, where
they lay a long time without doing anything, except taking the new castle
of Nicourt, which made no resistance. After staying there three days,
and upon their retreat, they set fire to the town and castle, which was
a thousand pities, for it was a fine town and castle, and capable of
being made a place of great strength. After this the Duke of Burgundy
set fire to Longueville, Fahy, and several other towns and villages in
the bailiwick of Caux; and all the mighty actions his army performed
from their raising the siege of Beauvais, to the 1st of December, 1472,
was only burning and destroying wherever they came. In the meantime, the
king, who was in Bretagne, with an army of fifty thousand men, lay still
and did nothing, being wheedled and cajoled by the smooth words and fair
promises of the Duke of Burgundy’s ambassadors, who still flattered him
with the hopes of peace; besides, his majesty was tender of the lives of
his subjects, and was willing, on any reasonable terms, to prevent the
effusion of Christian blood, not delighting in war and slaughter, as the
Duke of Burgundy did, who had already given a sufficient demonstration of
his bloody and revengeful temper, by the many cruel and inhuman actions
he had committed, and the barbarities he was daily guilty of. After the
Duke of Burgundy was returned from Caux, where he had burnt and destroyed
everything, as you have already heard, and had been vigorously repulsed
before Arques and Dieppe, he broke up from that country and marched to
Rouen, where he met with a warmer reception than he had hitherto found
before any town he had already besieged; so that after some time spent in
vain, and a great number of his men being killed and wounded by frequent
sallies, he was at last forced to abandon the siege, and shamefully march
off towards Abbeville; upon which there was a report that he designed to
form the siege of Noyon, whereupon the Lord de Crussol and several others
of the king’s officers were immediately sent thither with a good body of
troops to garrison the town, who ordered some new works to be thrown
up, on which they planted a fine train of artillery and supplied it with
ammunition, provision, and whatever else was necessary for putting the
place in a good posture of defence. But after all these preparations, the
Burgundians never invested the town; however it suffered considerably on
their account, for the officers were obliged to burn down the suburbs to
hinder them from making a lodgment there.
About this time there was a report that the Burgundians were marching
towards Lorraine and Barrois, upon which the king sent a detachment
of five hundred lances, with all the nobles of the Isle of France and
Normandy, besides a great number of Frank archers under the command of M.
de Craon, his lieutenant-general, which were quartered in several towns
in Champagne, where they lay above two months, and then marched back
without doing anything.
In the meantime the Duke of Burgundy prevailed with the Emperor of
Germany to go as far as Luxembourg, and from thence to the City of
Metz, to persuade the inhabitants to admit a Burgundian garrison; but
his imperial majesty, finding them utterly averse to it, returned to
Luxembourg, and from thence to Germany.
About the same time, the Duke of Burgundy sent an agent to Venice to
borrow money of the Venetians to pay the six hundred lances belonging
to that state, which he had agreed to take into his service for three
months. They were forced to march through the Duchy of Milan, and from
thence to Upper Burgundy, being too weak to engage the king’s army, which
was posted on the frontiers of Burgundy, and hindered them from joining
the Duke of Burgundy’s forces any other way.
At the same time, the king married his eldest daughter, Anne of France,
who was offered to the late Duke of Calabria, to M. de Beaujeu, the Duke
of Bourbon’s brother.
About this time, the Duke of Burgundy, partly by treason, and partly
by surprise, entered Nivernois, where he took several places from the
Duke of Nevers, as Roche, Chastillon, &c. At that time also the king’s
ambassadors that had been assembled before at Senlis, met together at
Compiegne in hopes of finding the Duke of Burgundy’s ambassadors there
according to their appointment, but they did not come; so that after a
long stay there to no purpose, the king’s ambassadors returned to Paris;
afterwards they went back again to Compiegne in January, and stayed there
till the 5th of that month.
About the 20th of January, 1473, the Constable of France, who had turned
the Lord de Creton and the whole garrison out of St. Quentin, and taken
possession of it for himself, made his peace with the king, and his
majesty was very well reconciled to him; and by the agreement that was
concluded between them, the constable was to remain in St. Quentin, and
to have Meaux and several other places that the king had taken from him,
restored again; commissioners were likewise appointed by the king’s
order to inquire after those persons that had spoken reflectingly of
the Constable concerning the seizure of St. Quentin, in order to have
them severely punished; he had also a great sum of money remitted for
the payment of his troops, which had been stopped immediately after
the taking of St. Quentin. About this time the king came from Amboise
to Senlis, and stayed some time in that neighbourhood; during which,
the king’s ambassadors and those of the Duke of Burgundy held several
conferences, and at last a truce was agreed upon till the middle of May,
in hopes that matters might be so ordered in that time, as to have a firm
and lasting peace concluded between their two masters.
On Wednesday the 20th of April, 1474, the king ordered all the officers,
citizens, and inhabitants of Paris to be reviewed; which was accordingly
done, and they were all in arms, and drawn up in order without the gates
of Paris, from the Bastille St. Antoine all along the town-ditch as far
as the Tower of Billy, and from thence to the Grange-aux-Merciers. On
the other side also they were drawn up in the same order of battle, and
made a gallant appearance in their red coats with white crosses, and were
computed to be in all about eighty thousand men, including those that
belonged to the train of artillery, of which there was a great store
brought out into the field that day. The king, attended by the Count de
Dammartin (who made a great figure that day), Philip de Savoy, M. du
Perche, Sallazart, and several other general officers of the army, with
all his guards, was at the review. The King of Arragon’s ambassadors
were also there to wait upon his majesty; and were extremely surprised
to see one city produce such a vast number of men in arms. After the
review was over, the king went to the Bois de Vincennes to supper, and
took the ambassadors along with him; and some time after presented the
two chief ones with two gold cups richly embossed, that weighed forty
marks of gold, and cost three thousand two hundred crowns, and after that
his majesty returned to Senlis, where he stayed some time; during which
he received two embassies, one from the Duke of Bretagne, and the other
from the Emperor of Germany. The chief ambassador of the last embassy was
the Duke of Bavaria, and the chief of the first was Philip des Essars,
Lord of Thieux, the Duke of Bretagne’s steward of his household, who had
formerly declared himself against the king; however, his majesty, laying
aside all animosities, received him very kindly, gave him a present of
ten thousand crowns, and made him inquisitor-general and justice in eyre
of Brie and Champagne, turning M. de Chastillon out of that post on
purpose to oblige the said Philip des Essars.
About the same time of the king’s being at Senlis, Ermenonville, and
thereabouts, the Duke of Burgundy sent his ambassadors to wait on his
majesty, who stayed there a great while, but did nothing; and presently
afterwards the king went to Compiegne, Noyon, and several other places
in that neighbourhood, where the Constable of France came to wait on
the king, in order to adjust some difference that was between them. The
king and he had an interview in the open field near a certain village
thereabouts, and both were attended by a strong guard for the security of
their persons. The Constable of France having thus made his peace with
the king, who generously forgave and pardoned all his rebellious actions,
solemnly swore never to be guilty of the like for the future, but
henceforward to obey and serve the king, as a loyal and dutiful subject
ought to do, against all invaders and opposers whatsoever.
About this time, the king, who had a singular love for his people, and
was willing to prevent the effusion of Christian blood, prolonged the
truce with the Duke of Burgundy, his mortal enemy, for another year, and
in April 1475, though he had received several embassies from the Emperor
of Germany, humbly to intreat his majesty not to make any longer truce
with him, but that he would give him leave to enter his territories by
force of arms, and make him submit to what terms his majesty should
offer; promising, moreover, that whatever conquests or acquisitions he
should make in any of the Duke of Burgundy’s dominions, should be made
over to the king, without putting him to the expense of either men or
money. But notwithstanding all these advantageous offers, a truce was
concluded between the king and the Duke of Burgundy, who immediately
broke it, and committed several acts of hostility, ruining and destroying
abundance of the king’s subjects living in those countries that bordered
upon his dominions, for which he never made any reparation, and which was
looked upon to be a base and audacious action for a vassal thus to ruin
the countries and subjects of his sovereign lord and master.
About this time the Duke of Burgundy (whose restless ambition would not
suffer him to sit still), had invaded some part of Germany, and besieged
Nuz, a large and strong town, situated upon the Rhine, near Cologne,
before which place he lay a considerable time with his whole army,
and all his artillery. Not long after this the Burgundians surprised
a town in Gastinois called Molins Engelbert, whither his majesty sent
also another body of forces with some cannon, in order to retake it. In
short, the Duke of Burgundy and his allies (notwithstanding the truce),
still continued to make incursions into the king’s dominions, to seize
his towns whenever they had an opportunity, and to ruin and destroy his
subjects.
About this time Edward IV., King of England, sent his heralds to the
king, to demand the duchies of Guienne and Normandy, which he claimed as
his lawful right, and upon refusal, to declare war against him. The king
returned a very civil answer by the heralds, and also sent King Edward
the finest horse he had in his stable as a present.
In February following, the Germans who were besieged in Nuz, by the
assistance of the inhabitants of Cologne, and some other Germans of the
circle of Austria, found out a way to throw some provisions into the town
in spite of the Duke of Burgundy, who kept it closely besieged, and had
caused several large vessels well manned to come up the Rhine, in order
to intercept the convoy, but to no purpose, for it safely arrived in
the town, and all his ships (in which were about six or seven thousand
Burgundians, who were all drowned), were sunk or split in pieces, and
besides those a vast number of them had already been killed before Nuz.
About the same time the city of Perpignan was surrendered to the king, on
condition that the garrison should march out with their arms, horses, bag
and baggage, leaving only their artillery, of which they had a very fine
train, for the king’s use.
On the 7th of April, 1475, the league that had been lately concluded
between the emperor and the king was published in Paris, but first of all
the king ordered it to be proclaimed before the lodgings of M. du Maine,
the Duke of Calabria, and the Duke of Bretagne’s ambassadors. In the same
month the king received two embassies, one from the Duke of Tuscany, and
the other from the Emperor of Germany, and the ambassadors were nobly
treated and entertained not only by the king, but by all the nobility
of the court. In the beginning of May the king, attended by the Admiral
of France, and the other officers of the kingdom, set out from Paris
for Vernon on the Seine, whither his majesty went to consult about the
military operations of the ensuing campaign, the truce being expired on
the last day of April, and from whence he returned to Paris on the 14th
of the same month.
On the feast of the Holy Cross the king’s army invested Montdidier, which
had also refused to surrender upon the summons, but afterwards they
considered better of it, and finding the king’s forces were actually
preparing to storm the town, on Friday the 5th of April, they beat the
chamade, and offered to surrender, provided they might march out, and
be safely conducted to the next garrison town belonging to the Duke of
Burgundy, which was granted on condition of leaving their horses, arms,
bag and baggage behind them; so the king’s troops immediately took
possession of the town, which they afterwards demolished, as they did
Tronquoy.
On Saturday the 6th of May, the town of Roye and the castle of Moreul
was surrendered to the king upon the same terms. The taking of these
towns in so short a time by the king’s army struck such a terror into the
Duke of Burgundy’s subjects, that they either fled before it, or else
came in and joined it; so that the king’s army being daily augmented by
the Burgundian troops that came over to them, all the cities and towns
in Burgundy, Flanders, and Picardy, were soon reduced to the king’s
obedience.
In July, notwithstanding the news that the Constable of France had
written to the king, his majesty received advice from the emperor, that
he had thrown a fresh supply of troops into Nuz, had taken out all the
sick and wounded, and provided the town with provisions and all other
necessaries for a year longer, and that some action had happened between
his forces and the Duke of Burgundy’s, in which the latter had lost
great part of his artillery, plate and money, which was sent to pay
his army. On Tuesday the 27th of June, the Admiral of France, whom the
king ordered to march with a body of men into Flanders and Picardy to
plunder and destroy the countries with fire and sword, drew near Arras,
and having placed his men in an ambuscade, he ordered forty men at arms
to advance towards the city gates, upon which part of the garrison of
Arras immediately sallied out and attacked them, who according to their
orders retired to the place where the rest of their detachment lay in
ambush, who all on a sudden fell so furiously upon the Burgundians, that
they entirely broke and defeated them, several of whom were killed, and
abundance taken prisoners, and among the latter M. James de St. Paul,
Governor of Arras, and several other persons of note and distinction,
whom the Admiral of France carried with him when he went to summon
the city, and told the inhabitants, that if they would not instantly
surrender the town to the king, who was their lawful sovereign, he would
certainly behead their governor and the rest of the men of quality he had
taken prisoners.
On Tuesday the 29th of August the king, attended by the Duke of Bourbon,
M. de Lyon, and several other persons of quality, besides a vast number
of officers of the army, consisting of one hundred thousand horse,
marched from Amiens to Picquigny, which was the place that had been
appointed for the interview between his majesty and Edward IV. King of
England, who had brought with him his vanguard and his rear, which were
drawn up in order of battle near Picquigny. Upon Picquigny bridge, the
king had ordered two large pent-houses to be erected opposite to each
other, one for himself, and the other for the King of England. In the
middle between these two pent-houses was built a large wooden grate
somewhat like a lion’s cage, about breast high, so that the two kings
might lean over it, and discourse together. The King of France came
first to the grate, upon which an English baron, whom King Edward had
commanded to wait there for his majesty’s arrival, was despatched in
all haste to acquaint King Edward with it, who lay strongly encamped
with twenty thousand English at a place about a league from Picquigny,
and who came attended only by twenty men at arms of his guards, who
were ordered to stay on the other side of the river at the foot of the
bridge during the whole conference between the two kings. In the mean
time it fell a raining prodigiously, which did a considerable damage to
the housings and furniture that the nobility and officers of the French
court had prepared on purpose for this interview, and which were rich
and magnificent. As soon as the King of England came within sight of
the king, he threw himself upon one knee, and so he did twice before he
came up and saluted his majesty, who received him with all the marks of
honour and respect imaginable. After some compliments had passed between
them, they began to discourse about the affair for which this interview
was appointed, in the presence of above one hundred persons, among whom
were the Duke of Bourbon, M. de Lyon, several other lords, and all the
chief officers of the finances. After they had talked together for about
a quarter of an hour, the king ordered every one to withdraw, and the
two kings had a private conference, which lasted a considerable time,
and when it was over, the king openly declared that there was a truce
concluded between them for seven years, which was to begin from this day
the 29th of August, 1475, and end on the same day in 1482. This truce,
which was soon after proclaimed in Paris, and all other cities and towns
of the kingdom, related chiefly to trade and commerce; and by this treaty
the English, whether armed or unarmed, provided they were not more than
one hundred in one company, were permitted to go and come when and where
they pleased all over the kingdom of France. As soon as this affair was
concluded, the king ordered seventy-five thousand crowns to be remitted
to King Edward, made considerable presents to some of the lords that
attended on him, and ordered money to be given and distributed among
his trumpets and heralds, who highly extolled the bounty and generosity
of the king. The King of France besides all this promised King Edward to
pay him fifty thousand crowns of gold yearly, and nobly entertained the
Duke of Gloucester, the King of England’s brother, to whom he also made
considerable presents. King Edward immediately ordered all the English
that he had sent to reinforce the garrisons of Abbeville, Peronne, and
other towns in the Duke of Burgundy’s possessions, to evacuate those
places, and join the army, with which he marched back to Calais, where
he embarked for England. M. Herberge the Bishop of Evreux waited on King
Edward as far as Calais, where he left two English barons till he had
sent the king something out of England that he had promised him. The Lord
Howard was one of these barons that were left as pledges for performance
of King Edward’s promise, and the Master of the Horse to the king was the
other; they were both of them highly valued and esteemed by the King of
England, and were very instrumental in concluding the late treaty between
the two kings. When the English barons took their leave of the king, his
majesty presented them with a set of gold and silver plate, and sent an
order to Paris to let them have what quantity of wine they pleased to
carry over with them into England, provided they paid for it.
On Monday the 16th of October 1475, the truce in relation to trade and
commerce that had been concluded for nine years between the king and the
Duke of Burgundy, was solemnly proclaimed by sound of trumpet in all the
public streets of Paris, and it was to commence on the 14th of September
1475, and to end on the same day of the month in 1484. By this treaty all
the subjects of Burgundy were to have full liberty of trading in any part
of France, and during the term of nine years to settle and live there if
they pleased.
The Duke of Burgundy having promised by his ambassadors in October last,
when the truce was concluded between him and the king for nine years, to
deliver up the Constable of France to his majesty, was now forced, much
against his inclinations, to do it, and he was accordingly delivered up
into the hands of the Admiral of France, M. de Bouchage, M. William de
Cerisay, and several others, who brought him to Paris, where he was
afterwards beheaded on Tuesday the 19th of December, 1475, and his goods
confiscated to the king.
After the Constable of France’s death, it plainly appeared that he had
been guilty of several notorious crimes, and the whole course of his
villanous and treasonable practices were openly declared in parliament,
and all his underhand dealings and correspondence with the Duke of
Burgundy were fully discovered. Then we perfectly knew the whole mystery
of that affair, and how the Duke of Burgundy and he had often endeavoured
to corrupt and debauch the Duke of Bourbon’s principles, and draw him
over to their party, and that at last, after many fruitless attempts,
how he despatched a subtle agent of his named Hector de l’Ecluse to the
Duke of Bourbon, to acquaint him that the English had a design to invade
France, and that if he would join with them and the Duke of Burgundy, he
questioned not but to conquer the whole kingdom, and that a great part of
it should be annexed to his territories as a reward for his assistance.
This was the master-piece of his villany and treason: but it seems the
Duke of Bourbon had too much honour to hearken to such proposals, and
told the said Hector de l’Ecluse that he would have no hand in it, and
that he had rather be reduced to beggary, than ever consent to the ruin
of either the king or kingdom.
In February, 1476, the king, who was at Tours or Amboise, set out from
thence for Bourbonnois and Auvergne, from whence he went to Notre Dame
de Puy to perform his devotions, and afterwards into Lionnois and
Dauphiny. While the king was at Notre Dame de Puy he received an express
that brought him the news of the defeat of the Duke of Burgundy’s army
by the Swiss, as he was endeavouring to penetrate into Switzerland,
which happened after the following manner. After the taking of Granson
the Duke of Burgundy marched with his army along the lake of Verdun
towards Friburg, and by the way took two small castles situated upon
the mountains, just at the entrance of them; but the Swiss, who had
intelligence of his approach, and were also informed of his taking
Granson, marched towards him; and on Friday the first of March, towards
night, they arrived at the two above-mentioned castles, which they
immediately invested after such a manner as to prevent the garrisons
from making any sallies, and placed about 6000 men with fire-arms in a
little copse between the two castles near the place where the Duke of
Burgundy lay encamped with his whole army. The next day very early in
the morning, as the Duke of Burgundy was marching forward with all his
artillery, bag and baggage, this body of Swiss, upon a signal given them,
started out of the ambush where they had lain all night, and all on a
sudden made so terrible a fire with their small arms upon most of the
Burgundian vanguard, as killed most of the chief officers, and entirely
broke and dispersed them; and notwithstanding the Duke of Burgundy did
all he could to rally his men, and make them face the enemy once more,
their consternation was so great, that he could not bring them up to
stand a second charge; and the Swiss being animated by this success,
and eager to improve the advantage they had gained over the enemy, as
soon as they had discharged their muskets, fell on, sword in hand, and
entirely routed the whole army. At last, the Duke of Burgundy finding the
battle was lost, and that he was in danger of being taken prisoner, in
great agony and confusion mounted his horse, and being attended by only
four officers of his army, made his escape to Joigny, which was sixteen
French leagues from the place where this defeat happened. In this action,
which happened on Saturday the 2nd of March, 1476, the Duke of Burgundy
lost the greatest part of the chief officers and men of quality of his
army, besides all his artillery, bag and baggage. The Swiss also retook
both the castles, and hung up all the Burgundians they found in them.
Afterwards they retook the town and castle of Granson, and ordered the
Germans to the number of 512, that the Burgundians had hanged, to be cut
down, and so many of the Burgundians that were in Granson to be hanged up
in the same halters.
In May, 1476, the Duke of Burgundy, notwithstanding his defeat near
Granson, was resolved still to push on the war against the Germans, and
to besiege Strasbourg, but not being in a condition to do it without a
fresh supply of men and money, he sent M. William Hugonet and twelve
other deputies into his own dominions to acquaint his subjects, that
though he had been defeated by the Swiss, yet he was resolved to be
revenged on them, and to push on the war with greater vigour; and
therefore, being unable to do it without a great supply of men and
money, he commanded all his subjects by these deputies of Ghent, Bruges,
Brussels, and other towns in Flanders, to exert themselves upon this
occasion, and give him the sixth part of their estates, and such a number
of men as he should demand. And in order to prevail with them to consent
to his demands, he bid the deputies tell them that the Germans were got
between him and home, and that without a fresh supply of forces he could
not return into his own dominions. To which remonstrance the inhabitants
of the above-mentioned towns made answer, that they were resolved to
grant no more supplies of either men or money to carry on the war, but
that if the German army was too strong for him, and hindered him from
coming home, they would venture their lives and all they were worth to
bring him safely into his own dominions.
In the mean time the king stayed at Lyons feasting and enjoying himself,
where the King of Sicily his uncle came to wait on him, whom his majesty
entertained very nobly, showed the diversions of the fair that was kept
in that city, and gave several balls and entertainments, to which the
handsomest ladies of Lyons were always invited on purpose to divert and
entertain him.
Some time after this, the king, who was at Lyons, and had great part
of his army with him, received advice that the Duke of Lorraine,
in conjunction with the Swiss and Germans, besides a good body of
Lorrainers, were in motion to oppose the Duke of Burgundy, who had
rashly and imprudently penetrated into Switzerland, and with his whole
army was set down before a little town in that country named Morat.
And on Saturday, the 22nd of June 1476, between ten and eleven in the
morning, the Duke of Lorraine at the head of all those forces we have
already mentioned, attacked the Duke of Burgundy, and at the first charge
entirely broke and defeated his vanguard, which consisted of twelve
thousand men, and the slaughter and confusion was so very great, that the
Count de Romont who commanded them had much ado to make his escape. After
this defeat the garrison of Morat joined the Duke of Lorraine’s army,
which forced the Duke of Burgundy’s entrenchments, where they gave no
quarter, but killed all they found in them, so that the Duke of Burgundy
was at last forced to retire with the remains of his broken army that
had saved themselves by flight; nay, he himself fled as far as Joigny,
which was sixteen French leagues from the field of battle, and in this
action he lost all his artillery, plate, money, jewels, tents, pavilions,
and in short, every thing of value that was in the camp. As soon as the
battle was over, the Germans and Swiss returned the Duke of Lorraine many
thanks for his care and conduct in the action, and in consideration of
the great services he had done them, they presented him with all the Duke
of Burgundy’s artillery to make him amends for what he lost at Nancy,
when the Duke of Burgundy by force of arms sacked that town, and carried
away all the cannon that he found in it. The heralds that were appointed
to take an account of the slain, reported that there were twenty-two
thousand five hundred Burgundians killed on the spot, besides a vast
number in the rout, for the Duke of Lorraine’s army pursued them as far
as Joigny, and afterwards burnt and destroyed the whole earldom of Romont
in Savoy, putting all to the sword they could meet with, without any
distinction of age or sex.
After this the Duke of Lorraine marched to Strasbourg, and from thence
with a body of four thousand men detached from the grand army, went and
besieged Nancy, in which there was a garrison of one thousand two hundred
Burgundians, and after he had given some directions to the officer that
commanded a body of troops under him, he returned to Strasbourg again,
from whence he sent several convoys of provision and ammunition, and
afterwards set out himself for the camp before Nancy, to command at the
siege of that place in person.
After the Duke of Burgundy’s defeat at Morat, and the besieging of
Nancy, the town was surrendered to the Duke of Lorraine, on condition
that the garrison (who were all Burgundians) should march out with bag
and baggage, and the usual marks of honour, which was granted them; and
as soon as the Duke of Lorraine was master of it, he immediately put a
strong garrison of his own troops in it, and provided it with ammunition,
provision, and all things necessary for a long defence; and it was well
he acted so prudently, for scarce had he been a month in possession
of the town, when the Duke of Burgundy, who was retired to Rivière, a
town near Salins in Burgundy, with what forces he could raise, came
and besieged it again, upon which the Duke of Lorraine marched into
Switzerland to solicit more troops, in order to relieve the garrison, and
raise the siege of Nancy.
After this, the King of Portugal, who laid claim to the kingdom of
Castile, and, in short, to all Spain, in right of his queen, left his
kingdom and came to the frontiers of France, and from thence to Tours to
visit the king; and to desire his majesty to assist him with some troops
to recover those kingdoms. He was received by the king with all the marks
of honour and respect imaginable, and during his stay at Tours, he was
nobly treated and entertained by the king and several of the nobility of
the court.
In the mean time the Duke of Burgundy, who, as you have already been
informed, had besieged Nancy in Lorraine, put the garrison to such great
straits and necessities, that for want of provision they were forced
to capitulate, and surrender the town upon articles. And on Sunday the
5th of January, the Duke of Lorraine arrived with an army of twelve or
fourteen thousand Swiss and Germans, in order to raise the siege of
Nancy, and fight the Duke of Burgundy. On Saturday the 4th of January,
the Duke of Lorraine arrived with an army of ten thousand Swiss, besides
Germans and Lorrainers at St. Nicholas de Varengeville.
On the Sunday following, the Lords of Switzerland and Lorraine marched
from thence to Neufville, and a little beyond that place they halted
some time, to consider how they might draw up their forces to the best
advantage; and accordingly they divided their army into two bodies, one
of which was commanded by the Count d’Abstain, and the governors of
Fribourg and Zurich; and the other by the chief magistrates of Berne.
About noon, the two bodies began to march at once; one towards the river,
and the other along the high road leading to Nancy. The Duke of Burgundy,
who had intelligence of their coming, had quitted his intrenchments,
and drawn up his army in order of battle ready to receive them. In the
front between him and one of the enemies’ bodies there was a little brook
and two strong hedges; and on the high road, along which the other was
marching to engage him, he had planted all his cannon and field-pieces;
and as soon as ever the Swiss came within bow-shot, the Burgundians
discharged a whole volley of arrows, which did no execution, upon which
that body quitted the high road, and marched higher towards the wood,
till they had gained an eminence opposite to the Duke of Burgundy’s army.
In the mean time, the Duke of Burgundy commanded his archers (who were
all on foot) to face about; and at the same time ordered two squadrons of
his men-at-arms, commanded by James Galiot and M. de Lallain, to attack
the enemy. As soon as the Swiss had gained the rising ground opposite to
the Duke of Burgundy’s army, they immediately faced about; and marching
up to him with all the fury and intrepidity imaginable, made such a
terrible fire upon the body of foot that he commanded, that they entirely
broke and defeated them. The other body of Swiss marched at the same
time to engage the two squadrons commanded by James Galiot and M. de
Lallain, whom they entirely routed at the first charge. Upon this, the
right wing of the Burgundians, who had not yet been engaged, attacked
the Swiss, by whom they were repulsed, and at last entirely defeated; so
that when the foot began to give ground and run away, the horse presently
followed them, and endeavoured to make their escape by the bridge of
Bridores, which was about a league from Nancy, in the way to Thionville
and Luxembourg. But the Count di Campobasso having secured that pass by
a good body of troops, and the Duke of Lorraine and his men following
them close at the heels, vast numbers of them threw themselves or were
driven into the river, where they were drowned; and the rest were either
killed or taken, very few or none making their escape; so that there was
a greater number killed in the rout than on the field of battle. Some of
the Burgundians, finding they could not get over the bridge, retired to
the woods in hopes of saving themselves; but they were pursued thither
by the peasants of the country, who killed them as fast as they could
find them, so that for four leagues round, the fields and highways were
strewed with the bodies of dead men. The pursuit lasted till two hours
after night, and then the Duke of Lorraine began to inquire what was
become of the Duke of Burgundy, whether he had made his escape or was
taken prisoner; but nobody could give any account of him, and immediately
the Duke of Lorraine despatched a certain person to one John Dias of the
city of Metz, to know if he had passed through that place in his retreat,
who sent his highness word the next morning that he had not; that he was
not at Luxembourg; neither could any body tell what was become of him. On
Monday, which was Twelfth-day, the Count di Campobasso met with a page
that was taken prisoner, belonging to the Count de Chalon, who was with
the Duke of Burgundy in the battle. This lad, upon examination, confessed
the Duke of Burgundy was killed; and the next day, upon diligent
searching after him, they found him stripped stark naked, and the bodies
of fourteen men more in the same condition, at some distance from each
other. The duke was wounded in three places, and his body was known and
distinguished from the rest by six particular marks; the chiefest of
which was, the want of his upper teeth before, which had been beaten
out with a fall; the second was a scar in his throat occasioned by the
wound he received at the battle of Mont l’Hery; the third was his great
nails, which he always wore longer than any of his courtiers; the fourth
was another scar upon his left shoulder; the fifth was a fistula on his
right groin, and the last was a nail that grew into his little toe. And
upon seeing all these above-mentioned marks upon the body, his physician,
the gentleman of the bed-chamber, the Bastard of Burgundy, M. Oliver
de la Marche, his chaplain, and several other officers that were taken
prisoners by the Duke of Lorraine, unanimously agreed it was the body of
their lord and master the Duke of Burgundy.
Immediately after the defeat and death of the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke
of Lorraine and the rest of the generals of the army called a council of
war, the result of which was, that a considerable body of forces should
immediately be sent into the Duchy of Burgundy and other provinces, to
reduce the towns that were garrisoned by Burgundian troops, to the king’s
obedience; which was put in execution, and most of the towns surrendered
without any opposition, as did likewise the country of Auxerre, the
subjects of which took the oath of allegiance to the king.
In June, the Prince of Orange, who had been highly affronted by M. de
Craon, lieutenant-general of the king’s army in Burgundy, was resolved
to be revenged on him and the king also, who, it seems, had taken the
government of a province from him, and given it to M. de Craon; and
therefore, he persuaded all the countries, cities, towns, and other
places, which before had submitted to the king at his request, to revolt
and rise up in rebellion against him. There was a Burgundian knight named
M. Claude de Vaudray, that joined with the prince in this undertaking,
and managed the war with tolerable success against M. de Craon. But at
last, M. de Craon having intelligence that the Prince of Orange was
in a little town called Guy, marched immediately and besieged it, and
about two days after he had invested it, he received advice that M.
Chasteauguyon was marching to relieve it, upon which he left a few troops
before the town, to hinder the garrison from making any sally, and with
the rest of the army, advanced to meet M. Chasteauguyon, the Prince of
Orange’s brother, whom he entirely routed and defeated; and in this
action, there were above one thousand four hundred persons of note and
distinction killed on both sides; and for this victory, the king ordered
general processions to be made in the church of St. Martin in Paris.
In July, 1477, the Duke of Guelders, with about fourteen or fifteen
hundred Germans, came and encamped at Pont d’Epierre near Tournay, with
a design to burn the suburbs of that place, upon which, the garrison
of Tournay made two sallies; in the first, the duke himself was slain,
and in the last, the whole body of Germans and Flemings were entirely
defeated, two thousand of them killed upon the spot, and seven hundred
taken prisoners, for which, the king ordered _Te Deum_ to be sung, and
bonfires to be made in the streets of Paris.
About the same time, the king, who was in Picardy, left that country;
having first made the Bastard of Bourbon, (who was Admiral of France,)
his lieutenant-general, with whom he left a good body of forces to secure
the country, and cover the frontiers of his kingdom. The king’s troops
under the Bastard of Bourbon’s command were quartered in Arras, Tournay,
la Bassee, and in several other towns upon the frontiers of Flanders,
and in those countries that still held out for the Lady of Flanders,
daughter to the late Duke of Burgundy.
May, 1478.—All that the king did during this whole month in Picardy, was
only taking a little town called Condé, which was still in the hands of
the Burgundians, and which stood very incommodiously for the garrison of
Tournay; for all the convoys both of provisions and ammunition must of
course pass by it. There happened to be some German troops belonging to
the Duke of Austria in it, who at first seemed resolved to stand a siege,
but when they saw the prodigious army with which the king had invested
it, they immediately surrendered the town upon honourable terms, as they
did also the castle some time after.
About this time the king, who was gone into Picardy with a design to
reduce all the countries, towns, and places that were in the possession
of the late Duke of Burgundy at his decease, and which belonged to his
majesty, had assembled the greatest army, and provided the largest train
of artillery that ever was seen in France. He forebore entering upon any
action for a long time, in hopes of accommodating matters between him,
the Flemings, and the Duke Maximilian of Austria, whom they acknowledged
for their sovereign, to facilitate which the Duke of Austria sent
ambassadors to Cambray and Arras to treat with the king about it, who
talked mightily of surrendering up to the king the countries of Artois,
Boulogne, Douay, Orchies, St. Omers, and other towns, besides the whole
Duchy of Burgundy; and upon the bare promises only of these ambassadors
the king imprudently delivered up Cambray, Quesnoy, Bouchain, and several
other towns. The Duke of Austria, upon the pretence of being near the
king, and having the conveniency of frequent conferences, came and
encamped with an army of twenty thousand men between Douay and Arras,
where he amused the king with specious words and fair promises till the
end of June; and then, notwithstanding the king had so generously given
up those towns to him, he openly declared he would not stand to the
promises his ambassadors had made in his name, neither was that affair
brought to any conclusion.
In this month the king had better success in Upper Burgundy; whither
his majesty had sent a considerable body of forces under the command
of M. d’Amboise, governor of Champagne, to recover some troops that had
revolted from him. M. d’Amboise was so fortunate, that in three weeks
he retook Verdun, Monsauion, and Semur in Auxois, partly by storm and
partly by composition. Afterwards he besieged Beaune, which also was
surrendered to him upon certain articles, the chief of which were, that
the inhabitants should pay forty thousand livres to preserve the town
from being plundered; that they should discharge all their debts that
were owing to the merchants of Paris, and of other cities in the kingdom,
and that the garrison should be allowed to march out with their bag and
baggage, and be conducted to such a place mentioned in the articles.
In July the king, who was at Arras, received two extraordinary embassies,
one from Maximilian, Duke of Austria, and another from the Flemings;
and when the ambassadors had been heard by the king and his council, a
cessation of arms was agreed upon between the king, Duke Maximilian, and
the Flemings, for one year, during which time there was to be a free
intercourse of trade between the subjects of both princes.
In April 1479, the king, who was in the county of Touraine, began to
make preparations for the ensuing campaign, being resolved to push on
the war with vigour as soon as the cessation of arms between him and the
Duke of Austria, which was almost expired, was ended. Besides, the Duke
of Austria had sent no ambassadors to him to treat of a prolongation of
the truce, and therefore his majesty might reasonably conclude that his
intentions were to renew the war as soon as the treaty was expired.
In May following (notwithstanding the truce was not expired) the
inhabitants of Cambray treacherously admitted the Flemings, Picardians,
and other soldiers belonging to the Duke of Austria’s army, into their
city, which his majesty thought had been safe enough in the hands of
so vigilant and loyal a governor as the Lord de Piennes. As soon as
the Duke of Austria’s forces were masters of the town, they drove the
king’s garrison out of the castle, and immediately after a detachment
of three or four hundred Flemings and Picardians presented themselves
before the town and castle of Bouchain, upon intelligence that the
inhabitants would murder the king’s garrison, and open their gates to
them, which accordingly they did upon their first approach, and killed
all the king’s soldiers except one archer, who had the good luck to
escape. The king was extremely incensed and provoked at this unfair and
treacherous manner of proceeding, seeing his troops had not committed
the least act of hostility, nor given them any occasion or pretence for
violating the truce, and therefore he immediately sent a considerable
body of the nobles and Frank archers of the kingdom, with a large train
of artillery, under the command of the governor of Champagne, to reduce
the towns and places in the duchy of Burgundy and Franche-Comté that had
lately revolted from him, who was so very fortunate as to retake the
strong castle of Rochefort by storm, which he plundered, and put all the
garrison to the sword. From thence the governor of Champagne, who was
also the king’s lieutenant-general, marched with his army to Dole, which,
upon their refusing to surrender, he immediately attacked, carried it by
storm, plundered it, put all the inhabitants to the sword, and razed the
city to the ground.
On Saturday the third of July, 1479, the Bishop of Lombes, abbot of St.
Denis in France, arrived at Paris as ambassador extraordinary from the
King of Spain, and was met and complimented without the city gates by
the mayor and aldermen, and all the persons of quality of that city,
whom he afterwards nobly entertained at St. Denis. About the same time a
young prince of the kingdom of Scotland, named the Duke of Albany, who
had been driven out of the kingdom by the king his brother, arrived at
Paris, where he was received with all the marks of honour and civility
imaginable, and treated and entertained at the king’s expense during his
stay in France.
In the year 1480, the Lord Howard, and several other ambassadors from
England, arrived in France, to treat with the king about prolonging the
truce that was concluded between him and the King of England. The king
received the ambassadors very kindly, feasted and entertained them nobly,
and made them considerable presents when they left France in order to
return to England.
During winter, and even till April (at which time the truce between the
king and the Flemings was to expire) nothing was attempted on either
side; for the Flemings had sent ambassadors to the king at Tours to
desire the cessation of arms might be continued a year longer, to which
his majesty readily consented, in hopes some expedient or another might
be found in all that time to settle an honourable and lasting peace
between him and them, which would put an end to a war that had already
been the occasion of spilling so much Christian blood.
About the same time ambassadors from Edward IV., King of England, arrived
in France, to treat with the king about the prolongation of the truce,
and his majesty did them the favour to meet them at Chateau Regnault;
and, as soon as they had despatched the affair which they were sent to
negotiate with the king, they returned into England, and afterwards
the prolongation of the truce between the two kings was proclaimed by
sound of trumpet at Paris. Some time after this the king fell very ill
at Plessis du Parc, near Tours, and his physicians were of opinion that
his majesty was in a dangerous condition, but in a little time he grew
better, and in less than a month was perfectly recovered of his illness.
In the year 1481, notwithstanding the cessation of arms, the king’s
troops in the garrison towns upon the frontiers of Picardy committed
several hostilities, and had frequent skirmishes with the Duke of
Austria’s men, and all the prisoners that were taken on both sides were
immediately hanged, without permitting any, of what degree or rank
soever, to be ransomed.
About the same time the king, who had been very ill at Tours, removed
to Thouars, where his majesty grew worse, and his physicians were of
opinion he was in a dangerous condition, whereupon he made several large
offerings and gifts to abundance of churches in the kingdom, in hopes
to recover his health by these pious acts of charity and devotion. In
his sickness he made a vow to go a pilgrimage to St. Claude, which
he accordingly performed as soon as he recovered strength enough to
undertake the journey. Before he left the county of Touraine, he went to
see the dauphin, whom he had scarce ever seen before, and when he took
his leave of him he gave him his blessing, and having committed him to
the care and tuition of the Lord Peter de Bourbon, whom he had made his
lieutenant-general, he commanded him to obey that lord, and be ruled by
him in everything till his return.
In the year 1482, on Thursday, the 4th of May, between four and five in
the morning, died the most noble and illustrious Princess Joan of France,
wife to John Duke of Bourbon and Auvergne, in the castle of Moulins, in
Bourbonnois, of a violent fever, and was buried at the church of Notre
Dame, at Moulins. She was a lady of great wisdom and piety, and was
extremely lamented by the duke, her husband, her servants, and all the
people of France, upon account of the many extraordinary virtues and
amiable perfections she was endowed with.
In the same year, about October, the king fell violently ill, and thought
he should have died at Plessis du Parc, near Tours; and, therefore, as
soon as his majesty had recovered a little strength, he went to Amboise,
where he made several long remonstrances to the dauphin in behalf of
his servants and officers of his household and kingdom, exhorting and
desiring him to be kind to all of them, but especially to Monsieur
Oliver, his barber, and M. John de Doyac, governor of Auvergne, who had
done him many considerable services, and always been very loyal and
faithful subjects. He also recommended the Lord de Bouchage and the Lord
Guyotpot, bailiff of Vermandois, as being very wise and able counsellors,
and desired the dauphin to make use of their advice in all state affairs.
Moreover, he entreated him to continue all the officers in their posts
and employments, and to have a tender regard to his people, whom he had
already too much harassed and oppressed. Lastly, he recommended the Lord
des Querdes for military affairs, as being an officer of great valour and
conduct, and the fittest person to make a general of any in the kingdom
of France. After this, the king returned to Montils, near Tours.
In October and November several ambassadors arrived from Flanders to
treat of a peace between his majesty and the Flemings, which at last
was concluded to the great joy and satisfaction of both parties, by
a marriage between the dauphin of France and the Duke of Austria’s
daughter, upon which the king immediately ordered _Te Deum_ to be sung,
and bonfires to be made in the public streets of Tours.
In January, 1483, the ambassadors that had concluded the peace between
the king and the Flemings upon the marriage between the dauphin and
the Countess of Flanders, daughter to the Duke of Austria, arrived at
Paris, and were met and complimented in the king’s name by the Bishop of
Marseilles, the mayor and aldermen of the city, and several other persons
of quality, who nobly feasted and entertained them, and the next day
they set out from thence to wait on the king at Amboise, who received
them very kindly, as did also the dauphin; and upon their taking leave
of the king, his majesty presented them with thirty thousand crowns,
and afterwards they returned to Paris, where the articles of peace were
ratified and confirmed in the court of parliament, and afterwards read,
and published by sound of trumpet in all the public streets of that city;
and as soon as the publication was over, Monsieur le Picard, bailiff
of Rouen, treated the ambassadors and all the king’s officers with a
splendid and magnificent dinner.
On Saturday, the 19th of April, 1483, the Lord de Beaujeu and his lady
came to Paris, in order to go into Picardy to meet and compliment the
dauphiness, whom, by the treaty of peace, the Flemings were to deliver to
the Lord de Beaujeu, who was to conduct her to Paris.
In April, Edward IV., King of England, died of an apoplexy, though some
say it was of a surfeit, occasioned by drinking too much of some rich
wines that the king had made him a present of; however, he lived long
enough to settle the affairs of his kingdom, and to leave the succession
of the crown to his eldest son, Edward V.
On Monday, the 2d of June, the dauphiness, accompanied by Madame de
Beaujeu, the Admiral of France’s lady, and several other ladies of
quality, made her public entry into Paris about five in the afternoon,
and all the streets through which the dauphiness passed were lined with
soldiers, hung with tapestry, and crowded with persons of quality, richly
dressed, who came thither on purpose to compliment and pay their respects
to her; and in honour to the day of her arrival, all the prisoners in
Paris were immediately set at liberty.
In July, the nuptial ceremony between the dauphin and the Lady Margaret
of Austria was performed with great pomp and solemnity at Amboise, at
which all the nobility and chief persons of the kingdom were present.
On Monday, the 25th of August, the king fell very ill at Montils, near
Tours, and in two hours’ time lost his speech and his senses, and the
news of his death came to Paris on Wednesday, the 27th of the same month;
upon which the mayor and aldermen ordered the city gates to be shut up,
and a strong guard to be placed at each of them, that none might go out
or in without being examined, which made the common people cry out that
the king was dead; but it was a false alarm, for his majesty was only in
a fit, out of which he presently recovered, and lived till Saturday, the
30th of August, and then died about six or seven in the evening of the
same day.
As soon as he was dead his body was embalmed, and buried in the church
of Notre Dame de Clery, near Montils, having, in his life-time, ordered
it should be so, and positively commanded the dauphin not to bury him in
the church of St. Denis, where three kings of France (his illustrious
predecessors) were interred. He never gave any reason for it, but some
people were of opinion it was for the sake of the church, which he had
liberally endowed, and out of a singular veneration for the blessed
Virgin, who was worshipped there after a more solemn manner than in any
other place in the kingdom. The king had during his whole reign, by the
evil advice of M. Oliver, his barber, M. John de Doyac, and several other
wicked counsellors that were about his person, committed great injustice
in his kingdom, and so miserably oppressed and harassed his people, that
the very reflection of his tyrannical usage of them stung him to the
heart, and almost drove him to despair; so that when he lay upon his
death-bed he sincerely repented of all his sins, and gave prodigious
sums of money to the clergy to pray for his soul, and rewarded them for
their prayers with what he had by violence and extortion gotten of his
subjects. It must be owned that his was a very busy reign, and full of
many great and important actions, yet he managed his affairs so well,
that he forced all his enemies to submit to his mercy, and was equally
dreaded both abroad and at home. He lay for a long time before his death
under very sharp and severe illnesses, which forced his physicians to
make use of violent and painful applications, which though they were not
so successful as to recover his health and save his life, yet, doubtless,
they were very beneficial to his soul, and, perhaps, the chief means of
saving it from eternal damnation, and fixing it in paradise, through His
tender mercy who liveth and reigneth world without end. Amen.