AN EMBASSY ARRIVES FROM THE KING OF ENGLAND TO THE KING OF
FRANCE.--THE KING ISSUES A COMMISSION AGAINST THE DUKE OF
BOURBON.--THE CARDINAL OF ST PIETRO AD VINCULA COMES TO FRANCE AS
LEGATE.--THE KING SETS THE CARDINAL BALLUE AT LIBERTY.--A BODY OF
SWISS TROOPS SUBSIDISED INSTEAD OF THE FRANC-ARCHERS.--A VERY SEVERE
WINTER.--TRUCES ARE ESTABLISHED BETWEEN THE FLEMINGS AND THE ENGLISH.
At the commencement of this year, the lord Howard, a prothonotary, and
other ambassadors from England, crossed the channel to wait on the king
of France respecting the maintaining of the truce. They were handsomely
received, and magnificently feasted by the king, who, on their return,
made them rich presents in money and in silver plate.
In this year, the king issued a commission to master John Avais,
counsellor in his court of parliament, and to John Doyac of the town
of Cusset[94], in Auvergne, to examine into different charges that
had been made against the duke of Bourbon his towns, officers, and
subjects. These two men accepted their commission with pleasure, in the
hope of destroying the duke of Bourbon, against all truth and justice,
but in order to gain the good graces of the king, and to force the
duke into banishment. In obedience to the commission, they summoned
all the principal officers of the duke, such as his chancellor, his
attorney-general, the captain of his guard, and others, to appear
personally before the court of parliament on an appointed day, when
they were severally interrogated by commissaries, and detained long in
Paris. Master Francis Hasle, the king's advocate, pleaded against them,
and wanted stronger measures to be pursued,--but they were all set at
liberty by the court, and returned to their homes.
Master John Hebert, bishop of Constance, was next summoned to
appear before the parliament, to answer to certain crimes of which
he was accused. On his appearance, he was examined, and, by orders
of the court, was committed as a prisoner to the prisons of the
Conciergerie,--and all his temporal effects were confiscated to the
king's use.
In the month of August, a truce was concluded with the duke of Austria
for seven months: during three of them a free intercourse was to be
allowed for merchants and merchandise to pass and repass from each
country: three others were to be void of all warfare,--and the seventh
for consideration as to war or peace.
Monday the 4th of September, the cardinal of St Pietro ad vincula[95],
legate from the pope, arrived at Paris, and was most honourably
received there by all ranks of people, who went out to meet him by
the gate of St Jacques. All the streets through which he passed to
the church of Nôtre Dame, where he made his devotions, were hung
with tapestry. When these were finished he proceeded to the lodgings
that had been prepared for him at the college of St Denis near the
Augustins, accompanied by the cardinal of Bourbon.
On the Tuesday master Olivier le Diable, called le Daim, the king's
barber, feasted the legate, the cardinal of Bourbon, and many other
prelates and nobles, as grandly as possible. When dinner was over, he
carried them to the park of Vincennes, to amuse themselves in hunting
deer; after which, they returned to their different homes.
On Thursday and Friday, the vigil and feast of the nativity of the
blessed Virgin, the legate attended vespers in the church of Nôtre
Dame; and great crowds were there to see the ceremonies observed on the
occasion, which were solemn and magnificent.
On Sunday the legate dined and supped with the cardinal of Bourbon
at his hôtel. There were present, at these entertainments, many
archbishops, bishops, and nobles of high rank; such as the archbishops
of Besançon and Sens, the bishops of Chartres, Nevers, Therouenne,
Amiens, Aleth[96], and others; the lord de Curton, Moireau, master of
the household to the king, and many more.
Monday the 14th, the legate went to St Denis, where he was feasted by
the abbot, and thence into Picardy and Flanders, to attempt bringing
about a peace between the king and the duke of Austria. He staid some
time at Peronne, thinking he should have an easy access into Flanders,
whither the king sent master Francis Hasle, the provost of Paris, and
others, who returned without having done any thing.
The legate came back to Paris on the 21st of December, and went to the
hôtel of Bourbon, where he was entertained by the cardinal at supper,
and lay there that night. On the morrow he left the hôtel of Bourbon by
the golden gate, and crossed the river to the hôtel of Neelle, where
he mounted his horse, which was waiting for him, and proceeded, with
his attendants, to Orleans, and there remained until the king had set
at liberty the cardinal Ballue, who came to the legate at Orleans.
The king had remained almost the whole of the winter in Touraine. About
the Epiphany he went to Poitiers, and other places, and returned to
Tours, and to Forges[97], the end of January. It was about this time
that the king reduced the whole body of franc-archers in France, and
substituted, in their place, the Swiss with their pikes; and he caused
a prodigious quantity of pikes, halberds, and large daggers, to be
made, by all the cutlers in his kingdom.
The winter, this year, began late: there was no frost until St
Stephen's day, and it lasted only until the 8th of February. But,
if it began late, it was most severe; for the oldest persons did
not remember the frost so sharp: the river Seine, Yonne, Marne, and
all that fell into the Seine, were so hard frozen that all kinds of
carriages passed over, as on dry land. Great mischiefs were done to
several bridges by the thaw: some were quite ruined, and carried
away on the before-named rivers,--and large pieces of ice drove many
boats against the bridges of Nôtre Dame and Saint Michel at Paris.
They, however, for some hours, formed a rampart, and perhaps saved
these bridges; but the danger was thought so great that all who lived
upon them carried away every thing of value out of their houses. The
ice broke seven of the large piles at the Temple-mill. During this
hard weather, no floats of wood came down the river,--which raised
the price excessively, insomuch that the billet cost seven or eight
sols parisis. To relieve the poorer sorts, the country people of the
neighbouring villages daily brought green wood in carts or on horses'
backs to Paris. The wood would have been dearer if the astrologers had
told truth, for they predicted that this frost would last until the
8th of March: the thaw, however, began three weeks sooner than they
had foretold,--but the weather continued extremely cold until May was
far advanced, which destroyed all the buds of the early vines, and the
fruit-blossoms were cut off.
In the course of the winter, and even during the month of April,
when the truce with the Flemings expired, no hostilities took place;
for the duke of Austria, had sent an embassy to the king, at Tours,
and a prolongation of the truce was agreed on for one year, in the
expectation that in the interval means might be found for a general
peace. Another embassy came likewise from England respecting the truce;
and the king took the trouble of going as far as Château Regnault[98],
to meet the ambassadors and hear their business. This being settled,
they returned to king Edward,--and on their departure, it was publicly
said, that the truce between France and England had been renewed for a
very long time.
In the month of March, the king was suddenly taken ill while at Plessis
le Parc, near Tours, and was for some time in very great danger; but,
by the grace of God, his health was restored, and he was soon perfectly
recovered.