THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY DELIVERS THE CONSTABLE, LOUIS DE LUXEMBOURG, INTO
THE HANDS OF THE KING'S OFFICERS, BY WHOM HE IS CARRIED PRISONER TO
THE BASTILLE? AT PARIS.--THE COUNT DE ROUSSY IS CONDUCTED A PRISONER
FROM BURGES TO MONTILS LES TOURS.--THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE KING
AND HIM.--THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF THE CONSTABLE AT PARIS.--SOME OF
THE OFFICERS IN THAT CITY ARE DISPLACED.--THE DUKE D'ALENÇON DELIVERED
FROM THE LOUVRE.--A COUNCIL ORDERED BY THE KING.--THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY
DEFEATED BY THE SWISS AT GRANSON.--THE DUKE OF NEMOURS MADE PRISONER
AT CARLAT, IN THE KING'S NAME, BY THE LORD DE BEAUJEU.--OTHER EVENTS
IN THIS YEAR OF MCCCCLXXV.
In one of the articles of the truce, between the king of France and the
duke of Burgundy, was a stipulation for the delivery of the constable
de St Pol into the hands of the king's officers. This was complied with
by the duke; and the constable was given in charge to the lord admiral
bastard of Bourbon, the lord de St Pierre, the lord de Bouchaige,
master Guillaume de Cerisay, and others, by whom he was carried
prisoner to Paris. They led him on the outside of the walls to the
entrance of the bastile from the fields; but as that gate was closed,
they took him to the gate of St Anthony, and thence through part of the
town to that fortress.
The constable had on a short cloak of camlet, lined with black velvet,
in which he was wrapped up, and mounted on a small courser in fine
condition. When he dismounted, he was met in the court of the bastile
by the lord chancellor, the first president of the court of parliament,
and all the other presidents and councellors of that court; there was
also sir Denis Hesselin, master of the king's household, to receive
him. Those who escorted him delivered him over to the care of Philip
L'Huillier, governor of the bastile: but the lord admiral, before
their departure, addressed the chancellor and the presidents, in the
presence of the constable, nearly in the following words: 'My lords who
are here present, behold the lord de Saint Pol, whom the king ordered
me to demand from the duke of Burgundy, in consequence of an article in
the last truce concluded between them, and who performed his promise by
delivering him into my hands. I have taken every care of him, and now
surrender him up to you, for you to proceed on his trial with as much
diligence as may be,--for this the king has charged me to say to you.'
After which, the lord admiral quitted the bastile.
The constable being thus left in the hands of his judges, they lost
no time in proceeding to his trial, and examined him on the various
charges laid against him. To the interrogatories he made verbal
answers, as to the different points of his imputed crimes, which were
all put down in writing, copied out fair, and sent to the king.
On the 4th of December, one of the king's heralds, called Montjoye, a
native of Picardy, and who had resided mostly with the count de St
Pol, while constable, came to Paris with his son, to wait on master
John de Ladriesche, president of the chamber of accounts, and treasurer
of France, who was from the country of Brabant. He brought to him
letters from the count de Marle, his wife and children, to induce him
to aid, with all his interest, the constable, father to the count de
Marle.
The president refused to receive the letters brought by the herald,
except in presence of the lord chancellor and the other ministers of
the king,--and, for this reason, carried the herald to the chancellor,
that the letters might be opened and examined. But as John de
Ladriesche remained long in conference with the chancellor, the herald
and his son returned to their lodgings, and, mounting their horses, set
out for Bourget[59]; although they told their host to say, if any one
should inquire after them, that they were gone to sleep at Bourg la
Reine. When John de Ladriesche had quitted the chancellor, he sought
Montjoye, to have the letters, and, not finding him, sent for him
to Bourg la Reine, where he had never been; but two archers of Paris
discovered him at Bourget, and brought him and his son back to Paris.
They were carried to the town-hall, and examined separately by some
of the king's council, and their depositions were reduced to writing
by sir Denis Hesselin. They were then delivered over to the care of
Denis Baudart, an archer of Paris, in whose house they were confined
twenty-five days, and strictly guarded by three archers of Paris.
At the beginning of December, the count de Roussy[60] was conducted,
as a prisoner of war from the great tower in Bourges to Plessis du
Parc, formerly called Montils les Tours, where the king then resided.
The king remonstrated sharply with him on the foolish conduct he had
long persevered in, and the great and manifold outrages he had done to
his country and subjects as marshal of Burgundy for the duke, and how
disgracefully he had been made prisoner, while bearing arms against
his sovereign, by the duke of Bourbon. The count had pledged his word
to the lord de Combronde, from whom the duke of Burgundy had purchased
him for twenty-two thousand golden crowns. Of all this the king
reminded him,--and frightened him so effectually that the count's blood
ran cold.
At length, however, the king agreed to his ransom, for forty thousand
crowns,--but only two months were allowed him for the payment; and he
was assured, that on his failure he would be put to death.
The trial of the constable now proceeded rapidly before the chancellor,
presidents, and councellors of the court of parliament, the lord de St
Pierre, and others nominated for the purpose. It was ordered that on
Tuesday the 19th of December, the constable should appear before the
parliament, to hear his sentence read. On Tuesday morning, the lord
de St Pierre, who had the care of him, came into his chamber, in the
prison of the bastile, and said, 'My lord, what are you about? are you
asleep?' The constable replied, 'Oh no! It is long since I have slept;
but I am amusing myself with thinking, and other fancies.' St Pierre
then said, that he must rise to appear before the court of parliament
to answer some questions which the members wanted to put to him, and
which could not be well done out of court. In saying this, St Pierre
added, that it had been ordered that he should accompany him, as well
as sir Robert d'Estouteville, the provost of Paris. This somewhat
alarmed the constable for two reasons, which he then declared.
First, because he thought it was intended by this measure to take him
from under the guard of Philip L'Huillier, governor of the bastile, by
whom he had been attentively treated, and place him in the hands of
d'Estouteville, whom he reputed his enemy, and who, he thought, would
use him harshly; and, secondly, he was afraid of being insulted, should
he pass through the populace of Paris.
These alarms were removed by the lord de St Pierre, who assured him,
that it was not intended to carry him to another prison,--and he
engaged to convey him, without insult, to the court of parliament.
On this he mounted his horse, and set out from the bastile, and went
to the palace of justice riding between the lords de St Pierre and
d'Estouteville, who made him dismount at the steps, opposite the Porte
aux Merciers in the court.
As he mounted the steps, he met the lord de Gaucourt and Hesselin,
who saluted him, and bade him welcome. The constable returned their
salutes, and, when at the top, was led to the 'tour criminelle' of the
court of parliament, where he found the lord chancellor, who addressed
him nearly as follows:--'My lord of St Pol, you have hitherto been
reputed a knight of the utmost courage and fortitude: since that has
been your character, you will now have greater need to display it
than ever.' He then added, 'My lord, you must take from your neck the
collar of the king's order, which you now wear.' The count replied,
that he would willingly do so, and applied his hand to take it off his
neck; but as it was fastened by a pin behind, he desired St Pierre
to aid him, which he did. He then kissed it, and delivered it to the
chancellor. He was then asked by the chancellor for the sword which
had been given him when he was created constable: he replied, that he
had it not,--for when he was arrested, and carried to the bastile,
every thing was taken from him but what he now appeared in. The
chancellor held him excused for not producing the sword, and departed.
Immediately after came master John de Poupaincourt, one of the
presidents of the court of parliament, and spoke as follows:--'My
lord, you know, that, by the king's orders, you have been confined in
the bastile for certain crimes that have been laid to your charge.
These crimes have been inquired into, and you have been heard, and
you have put in your answers and justification. But after long and
mature deliberations on the evidence on both sides, I am to declare to
you, that in the judgement of the court, you have been guilty of high
treason, and, in consequence, are sentenced to death by the said court,
without delay,--that is to say, you are to be beheaded in the course
of the day, in front of the town-house of this city,--and all your
effects, personal and real, are confiscated to the king's use, together
with all your lordships, and every sort of inheritance, hereditary or
acquired.'
This sentence greatly astonished him, for he did not imagine that
either the king or the parliament would have adjudged him to death; and
he said, 'Ah, God be praised! this is a very harsh sentence,--and I
supplicate and entreat that he would give me the grace to acknowledge
all his bounties this day.' Then, turning to the lord de St Pierre, he
said, 'This is contrary to all you have before told me would happen.'
He was then transferred to four doctors in divinity, one of whom was
a cordelier friar, called master John de Sordun,--another an augustin
monk,--the third, the grand penitentiary of Paris,--and the fourth,
master John Hugh, rector of St André des Arts, and dean of the faculty
of theology in Paris. He requested of them and of the chancellor, that
he might have the sacrament administered to him, which was not granted;
but he had a mass chaunted, with which he was forced to content
himself. They gave him holy water and holy bread, of which he ate
some, but never drank of any thing from that time.
He remained with these his confessors until one or two o'clock after
midday, when he descended from the palace, and mounted his horse,
to go to the town-house, where the scaffolds were erected for his
execution. He was attended by the greffier and ushers of the court of
parliament,--and on his arrival at the town-house, he dismounted, and
was conducted into the office, against which a large scaffold had been
placed, from whence a gallery of wood led to a smaller scaffold, which
was to be the place of his execution. He made, during his stay in the
office, many pitiful lamentations to his confessors, and dictated his
last will, under the good pleasure of the king, to sir Denis Hesselin,
who wrote down his dispositions[61]. Having staid in the office until
three o'clock, he advanced on the scaffold,--and throwing himself on
his knees, with his face to the church of Nôtre Dame, he was long at
his prayers with much devotion and contrition; during which, master
John Sordun held a crucifix before him, which he often kissed with the
utmost reverence, and crying bitterly. When his prayers were ended,
he rose up, and one called Petit Jean, son to Harry Cousin, the chief
executioner at Paris, came to him, and, with a small cord, tied his
hands, which he most patiently suffered; after which, he led him
further on to the small scaffold, where he stopped and looked at the
chancellor, the lord de Gaucourt, the provost of Paris, the lord de St
Pierre, the greffier civil of the parliament, sir Denis Hesselin, and
others the king's officers in great numbers, praying for the king, and
entreating them to pray for his soul,--'not,' as he said, 'if it should
cost them any thing, and be any way injurious to their interests.'
He then turned to the populace, and besought them to pray for his
salvation. Having done this, he placed his two knees on a small woolen
cushion, having on it the arms of the town, and moved it with one of
his feet more conveniently. His eyes were now bandaged by Little John,
while he was praying to God, talking to his confessors, and earnestly
kissing the cross. Little John now took the sword, which was given to
him by his father, and instantly made his head fly from his shoulders
so expeditiously that the body fell at the same time on the scaffold
with the head.
Little John took up the head, and, having washed it in a pail of water
placed there for the purpose, fixed it on the rails of the scaffold
for the view of the spectators, who amounted, as was thought, to more
than two hundred thousand persons. After some little time, the body was
stripped, and, with the head, wrapped in a fine linen cloth, and put
in a wooden coffin which sir Denis Hesselin had caused to be prepared.
A body of cordelier friars now approached, to carry away the corpse,
to inter it in their church at Paris,--to whom sir Denis Hesselin
ordered forty torches to be given, to convoy the body to their church,
where, on the morrow, a handsome funeral service was performed. Another
was also celebrated in the church of Saint John en Grève, where a
grave had been dug, on the supposition that his body would have been
there buried. Indeed, this would have been the case, had not master
John Sordun told the constable, that a countess de St Pol, had been
buried in their church which made it desirable that he should be there
interred likewise. This the count assented to, and prayed his judges
that his body might be carried to the church of the Cordeliers.
After the execution, the whole of the crimes of the said constable,
and the sentence passed on him, were publicly read in the court of
parliament, with open doors, when divers enormous treasons by him
committed, were now divulged. Among others, it was declared, that the
duke of Burgundy in conjunction with the count de St Pol had sent
ambassadors, namely, sir Philip Bouton and sir Philip Pot, knights,
on the part of the duke, with Hector de l'Ecluse, on the part of the
constable to the duke of Bourbon, to prevail on him to join them in
arms against the king, and abjure his allegiance to him; and although
the lord de Fleurac had told them, that their attempt was vain,
for that the duke would rather die than forfeit his loyalty, the
said L'Ecluse had again returned thither with information from the
constable, that the English were about invading France, and, with the
assistance of the duke of Burgundy and the constable, would doubtless
conquer the kingdom. He strongly advised the duke of Bourbon, that,
to avoid the ruin that must ensue to his towns and country, he should
join them as he would find it most profitable so to do,--for should any
misfortunes befal him after this notice, he would have himself solely
to blame for them. The duke of Bourbon replied to L'Ecluse, that he
should not follow his advice,--for that he would rather die, with the
loss of all he possessed, and be reduced to the poverty of Job, than
consent, in art or part, to any thing that should be to the prejudice
of the king or his kingdom. Hector, therefore, went back again as
unsuccessful as before.
The duke of Bourbon had, during these negotiations, transmitted the
constable sealed proposals to the king, which clearly discovered the
constable's treason in this instance, and also in others which he had
confessed on his trial. The examinations were all read,--but as they
were of great length, I omit them for the sake of brevity.
After the constable had confessed himself, and was preparing to mount
the scaffold, he told his confessors, that he had sewed up in his
doublet seventy half-crowns of gold, which he took out and gave to the
Cordelier, to be distributed in charity from his love to God and for
the ease of his conscience. The Cordelier replied, that they would be
well employed if distributed among the poor novices of his convent:
the Augustin said the same. In order to satisfy them, he desired that
they would divide the sum among themselves, and make such distribution
in charities as their consciences should approve of. He then took a
gold ring set with a diamond from his finger, and, giving it to the
penitentiary, desired that he would offer it to the image of the
virgin Mary, and place it on her finger, which he promised to perform.
Addressing himself to master John Sordun, he said, 'Reverend father,
here is a stone that I have long worn round my neck, and which I loved
much for its virtue of preserving the wearer from all poison and
pestilence,--which stone I beg of you to bear to my young son, to whom
you will say, that I entreat he will be careful of it, out of love to
me.' The friar promised to obey his wishes.
After his execution, the chancellor demanded of the four confessors if
he had given them any thing; and they informed him of the half-crowns,
the ring, and the stone. The chancellor said, that in regard to the
half-crowns and the ring, they must obey the injunctions of the
deceased; but as to the stone, it must be delivered to the king, for
him to do with it according to his pleasure. In consequence of the
execution of the constable the following short epitaph was made:
'Mille quatre cens l'année de Grace
Soixante quinze, en la grande place,
A Paris, que l'on nomme Gréve,
L'an que fut fait aux Anglois treve,
De Decembre le dix-neuf,
Sur un échauffaut fait de neuf,
'Fut amenè le connetable,
Accompagnié grand et notable,
Comme le veut Dieu et raison,
Pour sa grande trahison:
Et là il fut décapité,
En cette très noble cité.'
On Saturday, the 23d of December, an edict was published at Paris, by
sound of trumpet, to notify the displacing of the master and officers
of the mint, and the causes for the same. In their places, the king
appointed only four persons, namely, sir Germain de Merle, Nicholas
Potier, Denis le Breton, and Simon Ausoran. It was ordered by this
edict, that the crowns of gold bearing the stamp of the king, and which
had been current for twenty-four sols parisis three deniers tournois;
should be current for thirty-five unzains, equivalent to twenty-five
sols eight deniers parisis; and that the other crowns that were marked
with a crescent instead of a crown, should pass for thirty-six unzains,
worth twenty-six sols six deniers parisis,--and the new twelve-penny
pieces were to pass for twelve pennies tournois.
This day, by permission from the king the remains of Regnault Veloux,
who had been executed for treason, were collected together,--his body
from the gibbet of Montfaucon and his head from the lance to which it
had been affixed, fronting the town-house,--and carried to the church
of the Cordeliers for interment, where a handsome funeral service was
performed for the salvation of his soul, all at the cost and expenses
of the friends and relatives of the late Regnault Veloux.
On St Stephen's day, in this year there appeared before the town-house
in Paris a lombard knight, called sir Boufillé, who had been challenged
to mortal combat on foot by an arragonian knight, but who had failed
to keep his engagement on the day appointed for the combat. To obtain
such damages as in reason he ought to have, the said Boufillé had come
before the count de Dammartin, whom the king had nominated judge to
decide the differences between them. Boufillé appeared in full armour,
with his battle-axe on his wrist ready for the combat, and was preceded
by his banner and three trumpets, followed by many servants, one of
whom bore another battle-axe. After he had stated his case, and made
his appeal to the count de Dammartin, he retired to his lodgings at the
sign of the Great Cup, near to the town-house.
Sunday the 28th of December, the duke of Alençon, who had long been
confined in the prisons of the Louvre, was, by orders from the king,
taken thence about six in the evening, to be lodged in any private
house that should be by his guards thought sufficiently secure. Sir
Denis Hesselin, Jacques Hesselin his brother, and sir John de Harlay,
commander of the night-guard of Paris, were appointed to conduct him;
which they did, to the house of the late Michael L'Huillier, whither he
was preceded by four lighted torches.
In the month of January following, the king caused proclamation to be
made in Paris, that whereas, from long antiquity, the kings of France
had been allowed by the different popes to assemble every five years,
the prelates of France for the reformation of the church; and whereas
this had been neglected for some years, the king, desirous to guard
and preserve the rights of the gallican church, now ordered a council
of the prelates and churchmen to be holden at Lyon, or in some town
near; and for this purpose the king commanded all archbishops, bishops,
and other dignitaries, to be resident in their several dioceses,
that they might be in readiness to attend this council at whatever
place it should be appointed to be holden, under pain of having all
their temporal property seized on by the king, should they fail of
obeying this edict as to their residence, within six months after the
proclamation of the said edict.
Another proclamation followed the above, stating, that whereas the
king, to answer some urgent demands respecting the public welfare, had
ordered a crown to be paid for every pipe of wine that was exported and
that all other provision, was to pay in proportion, which taxes had for
some time been neglected to be raised: he therefore ordered the tax of
a crown to be paid from one extremity of the kingdom to the other, on
every pipe of wine exported, but that the taxes on other provision
were to cease and be annulled. Master Laurence Herbelot, king's
counsellor, and Denis Chevalier, formerly notary to the Châtelet, were
appointed to collect this tax,--although the king had, a little before,
nominated master Pierre Jouvelin inspector of accounts, who was now
displaced by this new appointment.
In the month of February, the king left Tours and Amboise for the
Bourbonnois and Auvergne. He there performed a nine-days devotion at
the church of our Lady at Puy, and afterwards went into the Lyonnois
and Dauphiny. During his stay at Puy, he received intelligence that
the Swiss had met the duke of Burgundy and his army as they were on
their march to enter Swisserland, and had defeated him with the loss of
sixteen or eighteen thousand men, and taken all his artillery.
It was thus told:--When the duke of Burgundy had won the town of
Granson, he marched his army along the lake of Neufchâtel, toward
Fribourg, and found means to gain two castles at the entrance of
Swisserland. The Swiss though informed of this as well as of the
capture of Granson, kept advancing to meet him, and, on the Friday
preceding the first Sunday in Lent, surrounded these castles so
effectually that none could come out. They posted two ambuscades in a
small wood hard by, and near to the main body of the Burgundians. On
the morrow very early, the duke began his march with the artillery;
but he had no sooner passed the ambuscades than the Swiss, who did
not amount to more than six thousand infantry armed with culverins,
began to fire with such success on the enemy that the duke's van,
panicstruck, took to flight with very great loss[62]. The Swiss charged
the main body, which fled also; and the duke himself escaped with great
difficulty, attended by only four persons: he never stopped, but often
looked behind him, until he came to Joigné, which was eight country
leagues from the place of his defeat, and equal to sixteen leagues
of pretty France, which may God preserve and guard! The duke lost the
greater part of his best captains,--and there was great slaughter among
the Burgundians. After this disgraceful flight, and after the Swiss
had taken all his artillery, plate, and baggage[63], they won the two
castles, and hanged all the Burgundians within them. They also regained
the town of Granson, and took down from the gibbets the Swiss and
Germans, to the number of five hundred and twelve, whom the duke had
caused to be hanged, and buried them. At the same time, they seized on
an equal number of Burgundians then in Granson, and tied them up with
the same ropes, and at the same places where the Germans and Swiss had
been hanged.
The king, during the month of March had sent the lord of Beaujeu to
besiege the duke of Nemours, in the town of Carlat in Auvergne, with a
considerable force and a large train of artillery. The duke surrendered
himself into the hands of the lord of Beaujeu, who conducted him to
the king then in Dauphiny,--whence he was, by the king's orders,
carried prisoner to the castle of Vienne. During the siege of Carlat,
the duchess of Nemours, daughter to Charles d'Anjou duke of Maine,
was brought to bed in the castle,--but whether from vexation at the
situation of her husband's affairs, or from illness in childbirth, she
died: it was a pity, for she was a good and honourable lady. The duke
was afterwards removed from the castle of Vienne to Pierre-en-cise,
near Lyon.
In the month of April, the count de Campo Basso[64], a Lombard or
Milanese, who had the command of two hundred lombard lances at the
siege of Nuys, and had also been with the duke at the defeat at
Granson, left the duke of Burgundy, and went to Brittany, claiming
relationship with that duke, under pretence of going on a pilgrimage
to the shrine of Saint James in Gallicia. The duke of Brittany
received him well, and made him handsome presents in money. Campo
Basso published abroad, that the duke of Burgundy was cruel and
inhuman,--that all his enterprises would prove abortive,--and that he
was only losing time, people, and money by his foolish obstinacy.