you to have these presents publicly proclaimed with sound of trumpet in
all the accustomed places within your bailiwick; and that you forbid
all persons to obey any summons or proclamations that may have been
issued by any of the princes of our blood, in their own or in our name,
of whatever rank or condition he may be,--or whether any such shall
be issued under pretext of serving us, or on any colour or pretence
whatever. And you will strictly charge all vassals not to obey any such
summons, or to bear arms accordingly, under pain of forfeiture of body
and estate to us, and of suffering such punishment as may be adjudged
for their disobedience to us and to our crown. Should any vassals be
already set out to join their respective lords, or about to do so, you
will command them to return instantly to their homes, and not to depart
thence until they shall receive our letters patent, under our great
seal, to that purpose, signed in our great council subsequent to the
date of these presents.
'You will also make proclamation, that for this occasion only we do
exempt all our loyal subjects, vassals to any lord, from obeying his
summons; and we will that for this their disobedience they do not
suffer in body or estate, or be pursued in any courts of justice; but
our intention is to guard and preserve them from all oppression by
every legal means, or, should it be necessary, by force of arms.
'You will hasten to all places within your jurisdiction where you
shall know there are any assemblies of men at arms, and forbid them to
proceed any further, commanding them to return to their homes, under
the penalties aforesaid. Should they refuse to obey you, and become
rebellious to your commands, you will force them to obedience by every
means in your power; by placing within their mansions, and on their
estates, men who shall destroy and waste them, by uncovering their
houses, or by any the most rigorous means, even by force of arms,
should there be occasion, calling to your aid our good and faithful
subjects, so that you may have sufficient power to make yourself
obeyed; and we command all our subjects to pay due respect to your
orders, so that the end proposed may be obtained. Should any who
disobey you be killed or wounded in the conflict, we will that no legal
steps be pursued against you or your supporters; and should any horses,
baggage, or other effects, be taken from these rebellious subjects, we
will that they remain in full possession to the captors, or to those
who shall have assisted you.
'In regard to such as you shall have had due information of being
disobedient to these our commands, you will arrest them any where
but in places of sanctuary, and have them conveyed, under sufficient
escorts, to our prisons of the Châtelet in Paris. Should you not find
them out of sanctuary, you will leave a process of citation at such of
their houses as may be within your jurisdiction; otherwise you will
summon them with a loud voice, and with sound of trumpet, at the places
in which they usually assemble, to appear before us on a certain day at
our court of parliament in Paris. Should it happen to be the vacation
of parliament, when there are not any pleadings, they must appear at
the next sittings, under pain of confiscation of their goods, their
fiefs and tenements, for having committed treason against us, and of
being proceeded against by our attorney-general in such wise as he in
his judgment shall think fit.
'You will take possession of all the effects, moveable and immoveable,
of such as you shall have served processes upon, making out a just
inventory of the same, and placing them in such safe hands that,
should it be judged expedient, they may be faithfully restored,
notwithstanding any opposition or appeals to the contrary, until
our faithful counsellors, holding our courts of parliament, shall
have determined on what you have done, according to the report which
you shall deliver to them under your seal. We shall order these our
counsellors, after having heard the parties, not to delay doing strict
justice on such as shall have been disobedient to our commands, and to
use such diligence that you may not suffer; for should there be any
neglect on your part in the execution of these our commands, we shall
have you punished for the same, that you may serve for an example to
others.
'We have noticed that you have not been active in carrying into effect
different orders which we have sent to you on this subject since the
peace concluded at Auxerre, from which many inconveniences have arisen,
which have given us, and not without cause, much displeasure against
you. We therefore command you to report to us what you shall have
done in the execution of these our orders, the days and places where
you shall have proclaimed them, that we may have due information of
the measures which you shall take; and you will likewise report to
us whether any princes of our blood, or others, are assembling men
at arms, and at what places. Instantly on such intelligence coming
to our knowledge, we will give you further orders, and full powers
to carry them into effect; and we shall command all our officers of
justice, in the most express manner, to obey and assist you therein
to the utmost of their power. They will give you counsel, aid, and
the use of their prisons, should need be, and should you call on them
for assistance,--for such is our pleasure, and thus we order it,
notwithstanding any letters and ordinances surreptitiously obtained to
the contrary.
'Given at Paris, the 11th day of November, in the year of Grace
1413, and of our reign the 33d.' Signed by the king in his great
council,--present the king of Sicily, the dukes of Berry and Orleans,
the counts d'Alençon, de Vertus, the duke of Bar, Louis of Bavaria, the
counts d'Eu, Vendosme, and de Richemont, the constable, the chancellor
of Acquitaine, and several more.
This edict was proclaimed in Amiens the 13th day of December, in the
same year.
Here follows another edict of the king of France, to forbid knights or
esquires to obey the summons of any lord, under certain penalties.
'Charles, by the grace of God, king of France, to the bailiff of
Amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting.
'It has come to our knowledge, that although the restoration of
peace has put an end to all those assemblies of men at arms, and
obviated the great inconveniences that usually ensued from them; and
that although we have caused it to be proclaimed in our good town of
Paris, and elsewhere throughout the realm, that no persons whatever
should in future hold such assemblies, but that all persons should
retire to their own homes under pain of incurring our displeasure, and
forfeiting life and estate, yet our subjects, whether in Picardy or
in other parts, instead of showing due obedience to this our command,
have assembled in arms without our licence in the aforesaid country,
and elsewhere in the kingdom, as we have had information, disturbing
and infringing the peace, and thus acting expressly contrary to our
positive commands, to the injury of our subjects and kingdom,--and
greater would ensue, were we not provided with a suitable remedy.
'We therefore, after due deliberation of council, do most strictly
order and enjoin you, by these presents, that you positively forbid,
under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of goods, all nobles
or others within your bailiwick, of whatever condition or rank they may
be, to arm themselves or to attend any congregations of men at arms,
under pretence of serving us, or in consequence of summons from others,
without our especial order and licence so to do, by letters from
our council of a subsequent date to these presents. Should any such
assemblies have actually taken place, you will order them instantly
to depart in peace, without injuring the country, and return to their
homes.
'In case any one should prove rebellious, and refuse compliance with
your orders, you will instantly arrest him, and take possession in
our name of all his goods, estates, fiefs, and every article of his
property, making out an exact inventory of all, which you will intrust
to the care of persons sufficiently responsible, so that the whole may
be restored, should we see occasion for the same. You will place in
their fortresses and castles such persons as shall be wealthy enough to
keep them in a proper state, until the matter shall be decided by our
great council. You will arrest, imprison, and punish all who shall act
contrary to these our commands; and that you may have sufficient force
to effect this, you will call to your aid all our loyal subjects and
our faithful allies, as well within as without your jurisdiction, and
in such numbers as you shall judge expedient.
'We therefore command all our vassals, on their faith and loyalty, and
under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of effects, that
they do instantly obey your summons, and arm themselves to support you
in the carrying these presents into complete execution. You will be
careful that there be no failure on your part, for we shall call you
severely to account for any neglect. To accomplish this our purpose,
we delegate to you full power and authority, and we command all our
officers of justice, and others our allies and wellwishers, to attend
diligently to your orders, and to afford you every assistance of which
you may be in need.
'We also enjoin all our well-beloved counsellors of our parliament,
masters of requests in our household, those employed in the courts of
request of our palace in Paris, the provost of Paris, you bailiff, and
you lieutenant, and all other officers of justice within our realm and
their lieutenants, and each of them as the case may happen, that you
do withhold all legal proceedings for quarrels, debts, or other suits
that may any way attach such persons, noble or otherwise, as may be in
your company for the better executing these presents, for the space of
fifteen days after their return home from assisting you, and that you
keep an exact account of the time, without suffering any injury to be
offered to them or their sureties; and should any thing prejudicial to
them be attempted, you will see that all things be replaced precisely
in the state they were in at the time he or they came to your aid, for
such is our pleasure according to the tenour of these presents,--to the
copy of which (for the original cannot be carried every where), under
our royal signet, we will that the same credence be given as if it were
the original.
'Given at Paris the 14th day of November, in the year of Grace
1413, and of our reign the 33d.' Signed by the king in his great
council,--present the king of Sicily, the dukes of Berry, of Orleans,
and of Bar, the counts d'Alençon, de Vertus, d'Eu, de Vendosme, de
Tancarville, the constable, the chancellor of Acquitaine, with others.
Countersigned, 'P. Naucron,' It was proclaimed in Amiens, the 13th day
of December of the same year.
CHAP. XXVIII.
THE KING OF SICILY SENDS BACK THE DAUGHTER OF THE DUKE OF
BURGUNDY.--THE DUKE WRITES LETTERS TO THE KING OF FRANCE, CONTAINING
REMONSTRANCES, AND OTHER MATTERS.
On the 20th day of November, in this year, the king of Sicily sent
back to the city of Beauvais, Catherine daughter to John duke of
Burgundy, who had been betrothed to Louis, the king of Sicily's eldest
son, according to treaties that had been entered into between the two
parties, and in consequence of which the duke had caused her to be
most honourably escorted to Angers. But the king afterward sent her
back, attended by the lord de Longny, marshal of France, and others, to
the amount of six score horse, knights, esquires, ladies and damsels,
belonging to the duke of Burgundy, who had sent them for that purpose.
By them she was conducted in great sorrow to Amiens, and thence to her
father at Lille, who was much vexed on the occasion, and conceived
thereat a mortal hatred to the king of Sicily, which lasted all their
lives.
Shortly after, this lady Catherine of Burgundy, who was, for her tender
years, a very gracious lady, died in Ghent, without ever having been
married.
In this same month, the duke of Burgundy sent letters to the king of
France at Paris, containing his respectful salutations, his complaints
and his accusations against his enemies, the contents of which were as
follow.
'John duke of Burgundy, count of Flanders, of Artois, and palatine of
Burgundy: my most-redoubted and dear lord, I recommend myself most
humbly to you, being perpetually desirous, as is right, to hear of the
good estate of your health,--and may God, in his gracious pleasure,
continue it to you in the best possible manner, according to your good
desire and wishes! I most earnestly supplicate you, my most-redoubted
and beloved lord, that I may as often as possible be ascertained of
this from yourself, for God knows how much I wish your prosperity;
and I cannot have greater joy in this world than to hear satisfactory
news of you,--and may God, out of his holy grace, grant that I may
alway hear such as may be agreeable to you, and such as I may wish for
myself! Should it please you, my most redoubted and dear lord, to know
how I am, I was in excellent health on the departure of these letters,
thanks to God,--and may he alway continue you in the same! Most dear
and redoubted lord, I presume that it is in your good remembrance, that
by your proclamation, issued by advice of my most redoubted lord the
duke of Acquitaine, your son, and by my advice also, and by that of
many lords of your blood, and of your grand council, and at the earnest
and humble request of your daughter the university of Paris, and of the
clergy of the said city, of the provost of merchants and the sheriffs,
and in general of other good people of your said city, were notified
certain ordinances, as well of your grand council aforesaid, as of
many other great lords and counsellors, of myself, of the university
aforesaid, and of the clergy of the aforesaid city of Paris, for the
effecting of peace and union among the lords of your blood, as the only
means for the reparation of the miseries the whole kingdom suffered
under, which was in thorough desolation, and must have been destroyed
if God had not inspired you with a desire of peace. By these means,
each loyal subject of your realm may have the hope of sleeping in
peace and tranquillity, as was most notably said and explained in your
presence, and before many of the princes of your blood and others, by a
very able knight, counsellor to my very dear lord and cousin the king
of Sicily.
'Nevertheless, my most-redoubted lord, although I had sworn to
observe this peace in your presence, with a loyal faith and the most
upright intentions, as several who attended might have noticed;
and notwithstanding, because I did suspect that after my departure
some persons might imagine various strange matters, tending to the
infraction of the peace, I sent to you, as soon as I could, letters,
to assure you of my cordial intentions of maintaining the object of
your ordinance,--and in greater confirmation, I sent to you some of my
confidential servants, principally on this account, as it may please
you to remember; yet notwithstanding this, my most dear lord, and that
I have not committed any act to infringe your ordinance, whatever
accusations have been brought against me by some people, who (saving
the honour and reverence always due to you) have spoken contrary to
truth: many things have, in like manner, been done against the sense of
your ordinance, to the contempt, prejudice, and scandal of myself and
mine, who have been pointed out in the aforesaid ordinance.
'I am, therefore, the less bound to proceed according to your will
and that of your very dear son, my redoubted lord, and of the princes
of your blood, and members of your grand council; but I am pressed
thereto from the instigations and extraordinary importunities of some
who have for a long time been contentious, and are still the same, in
very strange manner,--whom may God, out of his holy grace, reclaim, and
bring to a proper sense of duty, as there is great need, and which I
most earnestly desire.
'For a fuller declaration of the above, it is true, my most-redoubted
lord, that at the instigation of some persons, shortly after I had
sworn to the observance of the peace, several skirmishes with armed
men were made in Paris, near to my hôtel, which seemed to have been
conducted and done in contempt of me, to the prejudice of my character
and of the persons of my adherents; for since I quitted Paris, no such
things have taken place, nor have any congregations of armed men been
heard of; but what is worse, if I were to believe what some have told
me, it was intended to lay hands on my person before I departed from
Paris, which is no sign of good peace or union.
'It is a fact, that before and since I left Paris, several of your
good and faithful servants, and some of mine, have been arrested and
imprisoned without having done any thing to deserve such treatment, and
others have been obliged, by force and treacherous conduct, to quit
Paris.
'It is also known, that all who had shown any affection or attachment
to me were deprived of their offices, honours and estates, without any
thing being proved to their prejudice, excepting that they were too
good Burgundians, and this is now daily continued. Should they declare,
that such things were done by me during the time I was at Paris in the
service of your majesty, and that I was constantly in the habit of
making such changes, to this a good and true answer may be given; for
supposing this were so, if the terms of your ordinance be considered,
they will appear founded particularly on peace, union, and affection;
and these late changes that have taken place have been caused by a
spirit of revenge, which is the reverse of love and peace, and a strong
mark of division. It would therefore have been more conformable to the
meaning of your ordinance, and more to the advantage of your realm,
if such offices had been filled by persons fairly selected, and not
through any spirit of revenge.
'By reason of this same spirit, scarcely any of your servants, my most
redoubted lord, or those of my lady the queen, or the princes of your
blood, or the university, could venture to speak with those known to be
attached to my person and honour, for fear of being severely punished.
'There have also been many assemblies holden, in which harangues have
been made highly prejudicial to my honour and contrary to truth,
(saving the honour and respect due to you,) and in which expressions
have been uttered as having been said by me, but too confusedly for
their meaning to be well understood, and positively contradictory to
the peace made at Chartres as well as at Auxerre, and against the terms
so lately sworn to, which may be of very bad example, and contrary to
the doctrine of Cato, tending to provoke dissensions and warfare, which
may ultimately, which God forbid, prove of the greatest detriment and
destruction to your kingdom.
'Many letters have been published in various places, as well within as
without your realm, making very light, to all who shall peruse them, of
your honour, my most-redoubted lord, of that of my lord of Acquitaine,
of several princes of your blood, of the university, and of many of the
principal inhabitants of Paris.
'If it should be advanced by some of the writers of these letters,
that they have been published to clear their own honour, which had
been stained by other letters, they ought at least to have kept to the
truth, and not have laid the blame on those who were well inclined to
keep the terms of your edict.
'I have likewise been charged, contrary to the truth, with having
entertained men at arms in direct violation of your ordinance, and
with having by such means greatly injured and harrassed your subjects.
The fact is, what I have before told you, and of which I have sent you
information, that by your orders I had a command of a thousand men
at arms with my lord and uncle of Berry and others, to whom you had
given orders to oppose several enterprises that were undertaken by
some of the free companies even at the gates of Paris, to your great
disgrace and scandal. Instantly after the proclamation of your edict,
I countermanded them, nor have I ever since summoned any, or quartered
them on the country.
'Should any bodies of men at arms throughout the realm say that they
belong to me, they have neither had my summons nor are they under my
command, and I am perfectly ignorant of their intentions; but as there
are yet several free companies that still keep harrassing the country,
they may perhaps have assembled to drive them out of it.
'It is a well-known fact, my most redoubted lord, that there are some
who have for a long time maintained, and do so still, large bodies of
men at arms, between the rivers Loire, Seine, and Yonne, and elsewhere,
directly contrary to your ordinance, to the utter ruin of your people,
for they make in their pillage no distinction between churchmen and
others; and this also is laid to my charge, as they alledge that they
keep these bodies under arms for fear lest I should raise a large force
and march it against Paris, in direct violation of your ordinance: but
this, saving the reverence due to your majesty, is a falsehood; for I
have not done this, nor ever thought of doing what would be displeasing
to you, in any manner whatever,--nor will I alter this conduct, but,
so long as I shall live, will remain your true and loyal relation and
obedient subject.
'It is a fact, that several, as I have been informed, have publicly
declared, contrary to truth, that I maintained in Paris murderers and
assassins, ready to put them to death. In answer to this, my most dear
lord, I affirm for truth, that I not only never did so, but that I
never thought of such a thing; but these are not the first aspersions
they have cast upon me.
'Many have been banished merely from hatred to me, who declare that
they were not deserving such punishment, and are ready to prove it, if
they be assured of personal security, and of having fair justice done
them. I do not say this from any desire to screen from punishment the
wicked or such as may have displeased you, my most-redoubted lord, my
lady the queen, or my lord of Acquitaine, but in behalf of those who
have been so ill treated from contempt to me.
'I must also complain, that several persons have gone to the houses of
my poor servants in Paris, which are adjoining to my hôtel of Artois,
and have ransacked them from top to bottom, under pretence that letters
had been sent thither by me, to be delivered to different persons near
to the market-place, to excite them to raise a commotion in your city
of Paris, and particularly in the markets,--for which cause many of
the wives of my faithful servants have been very harshly treated, and
examined at the Châtelet on this subject. May it please you to know,
most-redoubted lord, that I never have written myself, nor caused to be
written by others, any thing that was contrary to your ordinance.
'Those who make such accusations against me act wickedly, for they may
give you and others a bad opinion of me; and those who know Paris are
well aware that neither the inhabitants of that or any other quarter
would, for their lives, act any way that would be to your dishonour.
With regard to me, may God no longer grant me life, when I shall act
contrary to your good pleasure!
'I now come to the heaviest charge against me. It is reported, but
contrary to truth, saving your reverence, that I have entered into a
treaty of marriage with England, and that, as the marriage-portion of
my daughter, I am to transfer the castles of Cherbourg and Caen, with
other places mentioned in the said treaty, to the great prejudice of
you and your kingdom. Such things I have neither done nor even thought
of; and I wish to God that all within your realm had always been as
loyal in the preservation of your person and progeny, your crown and
dignity, as I have been, and shall ever be, during my life.