Scots formed an alliance with the queen of England and her son, on
condition that the town and castle of Berwick, with its dependances,
then possessed by the English, on the borders of Scotland, should be
restored to them; and the marriage before mentioned was agreed on,--the
Scots thus adventuring their princess to regain Berwick rather than not
obtain it, as it was of very great strength,--although the prince and
princess were both too young to be then united, as neither of them were
more than seven or eight years old.
During these troubles, and prior to the coronation of king Edward, he
had sent his two younger brothers into Holland that they might escape,
should he prove unsuccessful, confiding in the generous mind of the
noble duke of Burgundy. They remained in that country some time in
secret: but the duke no sooner knew who they were than he sent to seek
them, and had them brought to him at Bruges, where he showed them every
honour, and grandly entertained them. When king Edward had conquered
his enemies, he sent to request the duke to cause his brothers to be
escorted home, which the good duke very cheerfully complied with, and
had them honourably accompanied as far as Calais, toward the end of
April, in the year 1461.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 15: The battle of Towton. Ferrybridge is 20 miles only from
York.]
[Footnote 16: Muelle. Q. Nevill?]
[Footnote 17: Those who were employed to number and bury the dead,
(as we are told by a contemporary writer, who lived near the scene of
action, Continuat. Hist. Croyland, p. 533.) declared that their number
amounted to thirty-eight thousand. Amongst these were many persons of
rank and fortune; as the earls of Northumberland, Westmoreland, and
Shrewsbury,--the lords Clifford, Beaumont, Nevil, Willoughby, Wells,
Roos, Scales, Grey, Dacres and Molineux,--besides a prodigious number
of knights and gentlemen!
_Henry's Hist. of England_, vol. v. pp. 137, 138, 4th ed.]
[Footnote 18: Edward did not leave York until after Easter, and was
crowned the 29th of June at Westminster. The dukes of Somerset and
Exeter, seeing the battle lost, fled with the king, queen, and prince
of Wales, and never thought themselves safe until they arrived at
Edinburgh. Henry, on coming to Edinburgh, was only attended by four men
and a boy.
_Note to Pinkerton's Hist. of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 248.--From the
Paston Letters.]
[Footnote 19: 'A marriage between Edward prince of Wales and Mary,
the daughter of Scotland, was proposed and resolved, but delayed by
the youth of the parties, and finally prevented by the misfortunes
and death of the prince. To conciliate the expected aid, Berwick was
surrendered to the Scots: an object, often wished and attempted since
the disgraceful invasion of Edward Baliol. In return, a Scottish army
entered England and laid siege to Carlisle, which held for Edward IV.
but the English, led by lord Montague, raised the siege, and defeated
the Scots with great slaughter.'
_Pinkerton_, p. 248.
The Paston Letters say, that six thousand Scots were slain at Carlisle.
The lord Montague, I imagine, should be sir John Nevel, brother to the
earl of Warwick, created lord Montacute after the battle of Towton.]
[A.D. 1441.]
CHAP. IX.
KING CHARLES OF FRANCE, HAVING BEEN TOLD THAT IT WAS INTENDED TO
POISON HIM FELL SICK AT HEART AND DIED.
About the beginning of July, in this year certain rumours having been
spread abroad by evil-minded persons, that it was intended to poison
the king while he resided at Mehun sur Yevre[20], and these reports
coming to his ears, he never afterward tasted joy. It was told him by
one of his captains, whose attachment he knew,--and therefore he put
such confidence in the tale that he refused to take any kind of food,
because he had not any faith in those about his person; nor could he
be prevailed on to take any nourishment for eight days, until his
physicians told him, that if he pursued this plan, he would die. He
then attempted to eat,--but he had left off so long that his stomach
refused its functions. On this, he confessed himself, and made his
preparations like a good Catholic; and finding himself grow daily
weaker, he devoutly received all the sacraments of the church, and made
his last arrangements and will according to his pleasure. He ordered
his executors to bury him in the same chapel where his father and
grandfather had been interred, in the church of St Denis, and ended his
days on Magdalen-day in the month and year above mentioned, in the town
of Mehun sur Yevre.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 20: Mehun sur Yevre,--a town in Berry, four leagues from
Bourges.]
CHAP. X.
TWELVE HOUSES ARE BURNT IN THE VILLAGE OF JUCHY, NEAR CAMBRAY.--THE
DUKE OF BURGUNDY HOLDS THE FEAST OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE, AT ST OMER. THE
DAUPHINESS BROUGHT TO BED OF A PRINCESS, AT GENAPPE.--AMBASSADORS FROM
THE HOLY LAND COME TO THE COURT OF FRANCE,--AND THENCE TO THE COURT OF
BURGUNDY.
About this period, twelve houses were burnt in the village of Juchy,
near Cambray. The fire began in the house of a man who had thrice, that
same day, thrust his own mother of it, saying the third time, with
great malice, that he would see his house on fire rather than that she
should remain another day in it. Shortly after, his house took fire, no
body knew how, and was burnt down, with twelve of the adjoining houses,
which seemed to prove the Divine vengeance against this wicked man.
The good duke of Burgundy held his feast of the order of the Golden
Fleece on the first of May, in this year, at St Omer, right nobly. Most
of the knights of the order were present,--among whom were Charles
count de Charolois his son, the duke of Cleves, his brother Adolphus
nephew of the duke of Burgundy, the count d'Estampes, the marshal of
Burgundy, the lord de Croy, his brother, and the lord de Launoy their
nephew the lord de Hautbourdin, the bastard de St Pol, the lord de
Bievres bastard of Burgundy, and many more. The dukes of Orleans and of
Alençon were not present,--but they sent their proxies. Several great
lords from Germany, France, Scotland, and other countries, came to this
feast, which lasted for three days in the usual manner.
Notwithstanding the regulations of this order, that every knight of it
must be without reproach, a knight assisted at the feast as proxy for
the duke of Alençon, whom the king of France had declared guilty of
high treason against him, and for this had sentenced him to perpetual
imprisonment. But the duke of Burgundy held him for a nobleman of
honour, and without reproach,--and said that the king of France had
thus condemned him through the envy and wicked insinuations of others,
and had wrongfully dishonoured him! This language he publicly held
during the three days of the feast!!
As it was the custom, after this feast, to hold a chapter of the order
and to elect new companions in the room of such as had deceased, they
now elected sir Phillip Pot lord de la Roche-Bourguignon, the lord de
Groothuse a Fleming, the lord de Roye a Picard, and also the king of
Arragon, to whom the duke sent the collar of the order, by the lord de
Crequy, notably accompanied.
At the conclusion of the feast, and when all business was done,
the count de Charolois, Adolphus of Cleves, and Anthony bastard of
Burgundy, held a just against all comers, which was followed by another
noble feast.
At this time the dauphiness, consort to the lord Louis, eldest son to
the king of France, was brought to bed of a daughter at Genappe in
Brabant, where he resided for fear of his father, in whose ill graces
he was, as mentioned before.
In this same month of May, there arrived at the court of France
ambassadors from the holy land and other eastern countries. In the
number was a prelate dressed like a cordelier friar, who called himself
patriarch of Antioch,--a knight from the king of Trebisonde,--another
knight from the king of Persia,--one from the king of Georgia and
Mesopotamia, who was more strangely dressed than the rest. He was a
stout, robust man, having two tonsures on his head like to the one our
priests have in France,--and to each ear hung a ring. There was also an
ambassador from the little Turk[21], who said, that if the Christians
would make war on the grand Turk, his lord would join them with fifty
thousand combatants. There was another ambassador from the king of
Armenia, a handsome and genteel knight; and, to conclude, there was
another from Prester-John, who, the others said, was a most learned
man. It was reported, that they had been more than seventeen months
journeying from their own countries before they came to France.
On their presentation to the king of France, they styled him the most
Christian king,--and requested that he would send an army under his
banner against the grand Turk, and assured him that he would have
the assistance of all the kings and princes whose ambassadors were
now before him. They declared, that they wanted not his money, for
of that their lords had enough; but that if the king would send his
banner, under the command of one of his experienced captains, the grand
Turk, and his whole army, would be more alarmed than by one hundred
thousand other persons. I know what answer the king made them, but
he caused them to be grandly feasted and entertained. Shortly after,
they departed from France, for the court of the duke of Burgundy, who
received them most honourably, entertained them well, and made them
many rich presents. It is to be supposed that they made to the duke
a request similar to that which they had made to the king of France;
for the duke replied, that if they could prevail on the king of France
to guarantee his possessions during his absence, he would assist them
personally, and to the utmost of his power.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 21: Little Turk. Q. The cham of the Tartars?]
CHAP. XI.
OF THE DEATH OF CHARLES VII. KING OF FRANCE.--OF THE TROUBLES
AND DIFFICULTIES HE HAD TO ENCOUNTER AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF HIS
REIGN,--AND OF HIS GLORIOUS AND GREAT FEATS OF ARMS.
On the 22d day of July, in the year 1461, departed this life, at
Mehun sur Yevre, king Charles VII. of France, in the 58th year of his
age, and the 39th of his reign. Fortune was so adverse to him at the
beginning of his career that he lost the whole of that part of his
kingdom which extended from the seas of Flanders and England to the
river Loire, by the efforts and courage of Henry king of England, who
had married his sister, and contended to be king of France through the
aid of the duke of Burgundy, because king Charles had been consenting
to the murder of his father duke John of Burgundy, at the town of
Montereau sur Yonne, notwithstanding they had sworn to keep peace
and friendship between them on the holy sacrament, and had divided
the wafer between them as a pledge of their amity,--which was a most
disgraceful act, and never can be enough condemned.
However, duke Philip of Burgundy, from loyalty to the crown of France,
and a dislike to see the English in possession of that country, which
they were destroying, at the earnest request and solicitations of king
Charles, agreed to a peace, which was signed at Arras in the 35th year
of the king's reign.
The English from that moment lost ground in France; and king Charles
prospered so much that he reconquered from them the whole of his
kingdom, with the exception of Calais, Guines and Hammes, which are
situated on the confines of the Boulonois. After these conquests,
he always kept on foot fifteen hundred lances, and from five to six
thousand archers, on regular pay,--namely, for each man at arms and
three horses, fifteen florins, royal money, and for each archer seven
florins, per month. These sums were raised by taxes on the inhabitants
of the good towns and villages, and, in common, so punctually collected
that there was scarcely any delay in the payments.
The men at arms and archers were under such good discipline that no
pillager or robber dared to infest the highways for fear of them, as
they were continually on the look-out and in pursuit of such with the
officers of justice. These men at arms escorted the merchants who
travelled with their merchandise from place to place, so that every
one was pleased with them; for before their appointment, those called
Skinners, from their robbing all who fell in their way, were the sole
guides of merchants, whom they plundered.
CHAP. XII.
THE DAUPHIN AND THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY MAKE PREPARATIONS TO GO TO
RHEIMS, FOR THE CORONATION OF THE DAUPHIN.--OF THE INTERMENT OF THE
LATE KING CHARLES.--THE CORONATION OF KING LOUIS XI. AT RHEIMS.--OTHER
MATTERS.
As soon as the dauphin heard of the death of his father, he sent off,
in haste, a messenger to Hêdin, to inform the duke of Burgundy of this
event; but he was already acquainted with it. These two princes now
appointed a day for meeting at Avênes in Hainault, thence to proceed
to the city of Rheims, for the coronation of the dauphin as king of
France. For greater security, the duke ordered all his nobles to be
under arms, in and about St Quentin in the Vermandois, on the 8th of
the ensuing month of August; and there was not a lord or baron who did
not equip himself in the handsomest array, and come attended with, the
greatest possible number of archers,--so that, when all assembled, it
was a fine sight to be viewed.
But when the dauphin learnt that the duke of Burgundy had collected so
numerous an army, he was fearful that all the country it should march
through would be ruined and wasted: he therefore requested the duke to
disband it, and bring with him only the greater barons of his country
in their usual state, armed or disarmed. The duke willingly complied
with this request, and dismissed to their homes the greater part of his
army, retaining, to attend him, only about four thousand combatants,
the best appointed that ever nobles were; but it was said, that if he
had not disbanded the army, he would have been escorted by more than
one hundred thousand fighting men.
The great lords of France came daily to pay their obedience to the
dauphin, and to acknowledge him for their king, as did deputations from
the principal towns.
Soon after the news of the late king's death was known to the duke of
Burgundy, he set out for Avênes in Hainault, where the dauphin waited
for him; and on his arrival, a grand funeral service was performed
for king Charles during the second and third days of August. At this
service, the dauphin was the chief mourner, dressed in black, supported
by the duke of Burgundy and the count of Charolois, and followed by
the count d'Estampes, James de Bourbon, Adolphus of Cleves, and many
other great lords. When the service was over, the dauphin, whom I shall
henceforth call king, immediately dressed himself in purple, which is
the custom in France; for as soon as a king there dies, his eldest son,
or next heir, clothes himself in purple, and is called king,--for that
realm is supposed never to be without a king.
King Louis departed from Avênes, on the 4th day of August, for Laon;
and on the next day the duke of Burgundy set out for St Quentin, to
meet the nobles of his country, whom he had ordered to assemble there
and to accompany him to the coronation of the king.
While these things were going on, the body of the late king was
embalmed, placed on a car covered with cloth of gold, and carried to
the church of Nôtre Dame in Paris, where a solemn funeral service was
performed, and thence carried to St Denis, where another service
was performed,--and the body was then interred with the kings his
ancestors, who were all buried in the church of this abbey.
On the 14th of August, king Louis made his entry into the city of
Rheims, attended by the noble duke Philip of Burgundy, the count de
Charolois his son, the duke of Bourbon, the duke of Cleves, his brother
the lord of Ravenstein--all three nephews to duke Philip,--the count of
St Pol, and such numbers of barons, knights and gentlemen, all richly
dressed, that it was a handsome spectacle. There were also present the
counts of Angoulême, of Eu, of Vendôme, of Grand-pré, sir Philip de
Savoye, the count de Nassau, and numbers of other lords.
The morrow, being the feast of the Assumption of our Lady, king Louis
was crowned king of France, by the hands of the archbishop of Rheims,
in the presence of all the peers of France, or their proxies. When
the king was dressed, and on the point of being mounted, he drew his
sword, and, presenting it to the duke of Burgundy, desired that he
would make him a knight by his hand,--which was a novelty, for it has
been commonly said that all the sons of the kings of France are made
knights at the font when baptised. Nevertheless, the duke, in obedience
to his command, gave him the accolade, and with his hand dubbed him
knight, with five or six other lords, then present,--namely, the lord
de Beaujeu, his brother James, both brothers to the duke of Bourbon,
the two sons of the lord de Croy, and master John Bureau, treasurer of
France.
The duke was then entreated to make all knights who wished to be so,
which he did until he was weary, and then gave up the office to other
lords, who made so many that it would be impossible to name them all:
let it suffice, that it was said that upwards of two hundred new
knights were created on that day.
Many fine mysteries were performed at this coronation,--at which were
present, besides the twelve peers and great officers of state, the
cardinal of Constance, the patriarch of Antioch, a legate from the
pope, four archbishops, seventeen bishops, and six abbots.
After the ceremonies in the church, the twelve peers of France dined,
as usual, with the king. When the tables were removed, the duke of
Burgundy, with his accustomed benevolence and frankness, cast himself
on his knees before the king, and begged of him, for the passion and
death of our Saviour, that he would forgive all whom he suspected of
having been the cause of the quarrel between him and his late father;
and that he would maintain all the late king's officers in their
places, unless, after due examination, any should be found to have
acted improperly in their situations. The king granted this request,
with the reserve of seven persons,--but I know not who they were.
After this, the duke said,--'My most redoubted lord, I at this moment
do you homage for the duchy of Burgundy, the counties of Flanders
and of Artois, and for all the countries I hold of the noble crown
of France. I acknowledge you as my sovereign lord, and promise you
obedience and service, not only for the lands I hold of you, but for
all others which I do not hold of you; and I promise to serve you
personally, so long as I shall live, with as many nobles and warriors
as I shall be able to assemble, and with as much money in gold and
silver as I can raise.'
Then all the other princes, dukes, and counts and lords did homage to
the king. From Rheims, the king departed, after the coronation, to
Meaux in Brie, and thence to St Denis, to pay his devotions at the
sepulchre of his father. In the mean time, the duke of Burgundy went,
with a small attendance, from Meaux to Paris, where he arrived on
Sunday, the last day but one of August, and found there his son, and
the greater part of his attendants, who had arrived eight days before
him.
CHAP. XIII.
KING LOUIS XI. MAKES HIS PUBLIC ENTRY INTO PARIS.--THE HANDSOME
RECEPTION HE MEETS WITH.--THE GREAT MAGNIFICENCE OF THE DUKE OF
BURGUNDY AND HIS ATTENDANTS.
On Monday, the last day of August, the noble duke of Burgundy issued
out of Paris, after dinner, grandly accompanied, to meet the king of
France, who was waiting for him in the plain of St Denis, to attend
him on his entrance into the city of Paris, which was to take place
on that day, for the first time since his coronation. After the first
compliments on their meeting, they arranged their men, for their
entrance, in order following: First rode before all the rest, the lord
de Ravenstein, the lord de Baussegines, and the lord de la Roche,
abreast, each having six pages behind him so nobly mounted and richly
dressed that it was a pleasure to see them. Next came the archers of
the count d'Estampes, two and two, in number twenty-four, and well
appointed, with two knights as their leaders, followed by the two
brothers, the counts de Nevers and d'Estampes, the count d'Estampes
having behind him thirteen pages magnificently dressed,--then upwards
of thirty of the lords and gentlemen of the household of the count,
superbly equipped.
Next came the archers of the duke of Bourbon, amounting to more than
twenty-four; then thirty archers of the count de Charolois, very well
appointed, having two knights for their captains; then two other
knights, leaders of the duke of Burgundy's archers, to the number of
one hundred, handsomely dressed; then the lords and gentlemen of his
household, with the other great barons who had accompanied him, most
magnificently dressed, themselves and their horses, to the amount of
upwards of two hundred and forty, with housings trailing on the ground,
which was a noble sight.
After them came the admiral and marshal of France, with many great
lords and gentlemen of the king's household, with forty very splendid
housings; then came the counts d'Eu, de la Marche, and de Perdriac
abreast, and without housings, who were followed by the heralds of
the king and princes, to the number of seventy-four; then the king's
archers, amounting to six score, well equipped, each having a valet
on foot beside him; then fifty-and-four trumpeters,--but none sounded
excepting those of the king. After the trumpets came the marshal of
Burgundy and the lord de Croy, very richly dressed; then Joachim
Rohault, master of the horse to the king, bearing the royal sword in
a scarf, followed by the son of Flocquet, bearing the king's helmet,
having thereon a very rich crown of gold. Between these last and the
king was a led horse covered with trappings of blue velvet, besprinkled
with flowers de luce of gold; then came the king, mounted on a white
steed, dressed in a white silk robe without sleeves, his head covered
with a hood hanging down. He was surrounded by four of the burghers of
Paris, who bore on lances a canopy over his head of cloth of gold, in
the same manner as the holy sacrament is carried from the altar. Behind
the king were two men at arms on foot, having battle-axes in their
hands. The king was followed by the duke of Burgundy so splendidly
dressed, himself and his horse, that the whole of his equipment was
valued at ten hundred thousand crowns. Nine pages attended him,
magnificently appointed, each having a light but superb helmet, one
of which was said to be worth a hundred thousand crowns,--and the
frontlet of the duke's horse was covered with the richest jewels. On
his left hand was his nephew, the duke of Bourbon, handsomely dressed
and mounted, and on his right his son, the count de Charolois, most
superbly dressed.
About a stone's cast in their rear came the duke of Cleves, himself and
his horse highly adorned with precious stones; then all the other lords
of France in such numbers that there were upwards of twelve thousand
horse, so finely equipped that it was a pleasure to see them, although
not with such splendid trappings as the Burgundians,--for many among
them knew not whether they were well or ill in the opinion of the king.
Before this grand entry commenced, a cardinal and the principal
burghers of Paris came out of the town to pay their obedience to the
king while in the plain. The duke of Orleans did not come out of Paris,
as well on account of his age as because he mourned for the death of
king Charles, but placed himself at an apartment which looked towards
the street, from the windows of which he saw the procession pass, as
did the duchess of Alençon with her son the count du Perche, then about
fifteen years old, of a noble figure, and in high spirits,--for his
father was released from prison immediately on king Charles's death.