numbers of people who had been banished thence, who requested that
he would restore them to their rights, on his joyous arrival; but he
replied,--'Children, you require from me a grace that is not usual
for the kings of France to grant, and therefore do not depend on my
doing it; for I will not invade the privileges of our fair uncle of
Burgundy.' This was all they could obtain from him. He proceeded to
hear high mass at the church of St Vaast, which being over, he returned
to dinner in the city.
On the next day, Sunday, the king of France again visited the town of
Arras, and examined, at his leisure, the abbey of St Vaast and all its
buildings. He thence went to the market-place; and as he was returning
by the church of St Guy, where the white bell and the town-clock were,
a locksmith, who had the care of this bell, made it sound on the king's
approach, and descended from the steeple in armour, when he seized the
king's horse, like a clown as he was, and demanded money to drink. The
king, seeing an armed man thus seize his horse, was somewhat startled
at first: nevertheless, he ordered money to be given him, and forgave
his misbehaviour to him. Had not the king pardoned him, he would,
probably, have paid the forfeit of his life for his folly.
While this man was descending from the steeple, some children striking
the bell too hardly broke it, which was a great loss to the town,--for
it was the largest and handsomest bell that could be seen: it weighed
from seventeen to eighteen thousand pounds of metal!
The king went into the plain to see the spot where the king his
grandfather was encamped, when he besieged Arras, in the year 1414.
Thence he returned to the city; and on the morrow departed suddenly,
according to his custom, and was followed by his attendants to Tournay,
where he was most honourably received,--for upward of three thousand
men came out to meet him dressed in white, with a border of flowers de
luce round their robes.
At the gate was a model, in paper, of a castle, similar to the
fortifications of Tournay, which was presented to the king with the
keys of the town. From the top of the gate, a virgin (the handsomest
girl in the town) descended by machinery, and after saluting the king,
threw aside the robe from her breast, and displayed a well-made
heart, which burst open, and there came out a golden flower de luce,
of great value, which she gave to the king, in the name of the town,
saying, 'Sire, I am a virgin, and so is this town,--for it has never
been taken, nor has it ever turned from its allegiance to the kings of
France,--for all the inhabitants thereof have a flower de luce in their
hearts.'
The king saw many pageants and histories represented in the streets he
passed through,--and he took his lodgings at the house of a canon. From
Tournay he went to Lille, where he arrived the 18th of February, then
the fourth day of Lent.
The duke of Burgundy came to Lille on the eve of the first Sunday in
Lent, to wait on the king,--and from that day to the Friday following
there were splendid tiltings and other amusements. During their
residence at Lille, the king remonstrated personally, and by the means
of others, so effectually with the duke, on his intended expedition,
that he postponed it for one whole year; when the king promised to
give him ten thousand combatants, paid for four months, to attend him
whither he should be then pleased to go. It was also said, that the
king of England would aid him with a great body of archers. By this
means was the expedition to Turkey broken off, to the displeasure of
the duke of Burgundy, whose whole desire was to go there for once.
When this was settled, the king departed from Lille on his return to
France, and found at St Cloud the duke of Savoy, quite debilitated with
the gout, and his eldest son, who were there waiting for him. It was
rumoured, that they were very unpopular in Savoy, by reason of their
not conducting themselves according to the wishes of their people; and
that they had chosen the duke's third son, Philip, for their lord, who
was reported to be wise, subtle, and valiant in arms.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 32: Arras--is divided into two parts: the cité being the
older, and la ville the new town.
See _Martiniere's Dictionary_]
[A.D. 1464.]
CHAP. XXVII.
OF THE EXPEDITION OF THE BASTARD OF BURGUNDY.--THE KING OF FRANCE
DETAINS PRISONER PHILIP OF SAVOY, NOTWITHSTANDING HE HAD GIVEN HIM A
SAFE CONDUCT.--THE COUNT DE ST POL PACIFIES THE KING OF FRANCE.--A
BATTLE SHORTLY NOTICED TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN ENGLAND.--OTHER MATTERS.
On the 18th day of March, in the year 1463, the duke of Burgundy,
dissatisfied that the king had prevailed on him to retard his
expedition to Turkey, assembled the three estates of his country at
Lille, and there told them, that the king of France had induced him to
delay going to the east for one year; but that in order that the pope,
and the other Christian princes, might be satisfied with him, he had
the intention of sending thither his bastard Anthony, with two thousand
combatants, accompanied by Baldwin his other bastard, then about
eighteen years old; and that, should it please God, and he be neither
dead nor ill, he would be in person in Turkey by St John's day, in the
year 1465, with the largest army he could possibly assemble.
The king of France, at this time, sent a third summons for the count de
St Pol to appear in person before him, or take the consequences, and
sent him a passport. The count, fearing he should be banished if he
further disobeyed, determined to go to the king; and on his arrival, he
met with so many zealous friends at court that the king received him
with much pleasure, and his peace was made,--and he did homage for the
lands he held under the king. It was said at the time, that king Louis
required that he would no longer serve the count de Charolois,--but
that he had replied in excuse, that it was impossible for him to comply
with this requisition, as he was under obligations, by faith and oath,
to the count de Charolois, and could not break them.
Soon after Easter, in the year 1464, at the command of the king of
France, Philip of Savoy, third son to the duke of Savoy, set out
to wait on him. The king had sent to him his first equerry, with
credential letters, to desire that he would accompany him to France.
These letters were signed by the king himself, and displayed by the
equerry, who assured him, in the king's name, that he should come and
return in perfect safety.
Notwithstanding this, on his near approach to the king, he was
arrested, and carried prisoner to the castle of Loches, in Touraine,
a very strong castle, wherein he remained confined two whole years. I
know not the cause of this, if it were not that the king was envious
that he had greater command in Savoy than the duke, and that the people
more willingly obeyed him than the duke. However, at the end of two
years, the king, of his own accord, had him set at liberty.
At this time, Charles count de Nevers departed this life, without
leaving male heirs, and was therefore succeeded in his counties of
Nevers, Rethel, and other places, by his brother John.
The 20th of May, being Whitsunday, Anthony bastard of Burgundy, with
other knights and esquires of the duke of Burgundy's household, put on
the cross previous to their expedition against the infidels; and on the
morrow they embarked at Sluys, in the presence of the duke. They were,
in the whole, two thousand combatants; and the duke gave sir Anthony,
this day, to defray the expenses of his voyage, one hundred thousand
golden crowns, besides the county of la Roche and other lands.
On occasion of this croisade, numbers of young persons in different
parts of Christendom had put on the cross, to march against the Turks,
and had taken their road to Rome. But as they went without any order or
leader, some ten, some twenty at a time, their intentions failed, and
they returned home, although they would have made a respectable figure
from their numbers, had they been in one body,--but God would not, for
this time, permit it.
In this same month of May, another battle[33] was fought in England,
between the army of king Edward, under the command of the earl of
Warwick, and that of king Henry, commanded by the duke of Somerset, in
the hopes of recovering the kingdom forking Henry, although in breach
of his treaty with king Edward, who had pardoned him, and restored
his lands and honours; but ill fortune attended him,--for he lost
the battle, and his men were either killed or taken: he himself was
made prisoner, and brought to Edward, who instantly ordered him to be
beheaded.
On the 2d day of June, the count de Charolois came to Lille, grandly
attended by the nobles of the country, to wait on the duke his father,
who was then displeased with him; but the lord de Saveuses interfered
with the duke, so that he spoke to his son, and forgave him. It was
said, that the count addressed himself to the lord de Croy, and said,
that when he should behave to him in the manner he ought, he would be
a good lord to him. He could not, however, at this moment, regain the
pension he was wont to receive from his father.
The 20th day of June, Pierre Louvain, one of the king's captains, and
under his protection, was murdered by sir Raoul de Flavy, lord of
Rubencourt, in revenge for the death of his brother William de Flavy,
who had been put to death by his wife, with the knowledge, as was said,
of Pierre Louvain: but no harm whatever was done to those that were in
company with the said Pierre Louvain at the time of his death.
The wife of William de Flavy, who was of a noble family, caused her
husband's throat to be cut by his barber while he was shaving him; but
as he did not cut the throat quite through, she seized the same razor,
and completed it,--which was an extraordinary circumstance, as she had
had a fine son by him. In excuse for this her strange conduct, it must
be said, that he was harsh and rough in his behaviour to her, and kept
women of bad fame in the house, with whom he lay, to the neglect of his
wife, who was young and handsome: he had also imprisoned her father,
and kept him so long in confinement that he died in prison.
On the 15th of June, in this year, an extraordinary event happened at
the palace at Paris, during the pleading of a cause between the bishop
of Angers and a rich burgher of that town. The bishop had accused him
of heresy and usury, and maintained that he had said, in the presence
of many persons of honour, that he did not believe there was a God,
a devil, a paradise, or a hell. It happened, that while the bishop's
advocate was repeating the above words, as having been said by the
burgher, the hall they were pleading in shook very much, and a large
stone fell down in the midst, but without hurting any one. However,
all the persons present were exceedingly frightened, and left the
hall, as the cause had been deferred to the next day: but when the
pleading recommenced, the room shook as before,--and one of the beams
slipt out of the mortise, and sunk two feet, without falling entirely
down, which caused so great an alarm, lest the whole roof should fall
and crush them, that they ran out in such haste that some left behind
them their caps, others their hoods and shoes; and there were no more
pleadings held in this chamber until it had been completely repaired
and strengthened!
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 33: The battle of Hexham.]
CHAP. XXVIII.
THE KING OF FRANCE COMES TO HÊDIN A SECOND TIME.--WHAT PASSED AT THE
MEETING BETWEEN HIM AND THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.--THE DEATH OF POPE PIUS
II.
The king of France came again to Amiens in the month of June in this
year, and went thence to St Pol, where he met the duke of Burgundy.
After the count had grandly feasted them, they went together to Hêdin,
where the duke entertained them nobly. During their stay at Hêdin, an
ambassador arrived from king Edward, to whom the duke gave a handsome
reception.
The common rumour was, that, at this meeting, the king of France
required of the duke that he should restore to him the castlewicks of
Lille, Douay, and Orchies, in consideration of two hundred thousand
livres in cash, and ten thousand livres a-year that he would pay
him,--for which sums they had been pledged by a king of France to an
earl of Flanders. The duke replied, that when his grandfather duke
Philip of Burgundy, son to king John of France, married the lady
Margaret, heiress to the earl of Flanders, these castlewicks were given
him by the king of France, to be enjoyed by him and his heirs-male for
ever,---but that, should there be no male heirs, these castlewicks were
to be restored to the crown, on payment of the above sums to the earl
of Flanders. The king, as was said, made other requests to the duke,
who granted none of them, as he thought them unreasonable.
The duke, on his part, made three requests to the king: first, that
he would have in his good graces the count de Charolois, having heard
that the king was displeased with him. Secondly, that he would desist
from constraining such of the nobility as held fiefs under the crown
from taking any other but the usual oaths,--for some of the nobles had
been forced to make oath to serve him against all other men whatever.
Thirdly, that he would finish and fulfil all that he had promised and
sworn to respecting various articles of the treaty of Arras, at the
time he made his payment for the recovery of the towns on the Somme. To
all which requests the king evaded giving any positive answer, and the
next day departed from Hêdin, for Abbeville and Rouen. Shortly after,
namely, about the end of July, the king returned to Nouvion, a village
near the forest of Cressy, where he staid some time; but though the
duke was still at Hêdin, they no longer visited each other,--but the
lord de Croy went often to talk with the king, and then returned to
Hêdin.
While the duke was at Hêdin, he hanged on a gibbet a gentleman called
Jean de l'Esquerre, for many heavy crimes of which he had been guilty,
notwithstanding that he was one of the most valiant men in the county
of Artois, and that his friends made urgent requests to save him; but
all they could obtain was liberty to take his body from the gibbet, and
inter it in the church of the Cordeliers at Hêdin.
On the 15th of August, this year, died pope Pius; and on the day of his
decease the lightning struck many places in the neighbourhood of Rome,
and did great damage: of this event, people spoke differently. After
the death of pope Pius II. pope Paul II.[34] as elected in his room.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 34: Paul II. Pietro Barbo, a Venetian.]
CHAP. XXIX.
THE BASTARD DE REUBEMPRÉ IS SENT TO HOLLAND, TO ATTEMPT TO TAKE THE
COUNT DE CHAROLOIS.--HE IS ARRESTED HIMSELF.
During the king of France's stay at Hêdin, the bastard de Reubempré was
ordered, by I know not whom, to embark on board a vessel of war, called
a ballenier,[35] at Crotoy, with forty picked men, of good courage, and
to sail for Holland, where the count de Charolois then resided. None
of the crew knew whither the bastard intended to carry them, nor what
orders he was charged with, except that they were told they must follow
him wherever he should choose to lead them, and implicitly obey his
commands.
The bastard, on his arrival at a port in Holland, left his vessel
at anchor, and, taking with him three or four of his most trusty
companions, advanced within a league of the town in which the count de
Charolois was. But notwithstanding the great care he took to proceed
as secretly as possible, he was nevertheless discovered while drinking
at an alehouse, and the count informed thereof, who caused him and his
companions to be arrested and put into prison. The companions were soon
after set at liberty, and the bastard remained alone in confinement.
The count dispatched officers to seize the vessel and crew; but they
had heard of their captain's ill luck, and had put to sea instantly to
return to Crotoy.
It was currently reported at the time, that the king of France had
ordered the bastard de Reubempré, by letters written with his own hand,
and signed by him, to seize the count de Charolois, and bring him to
him dead or alive. This plan was laid while the king was at Hêdin, and
while he had a powerful army on the Somme; and had it succeeded, he
would have made prisoner good duke Philip, who was far from suspecting
any thing of the kind, and would have had him led about in his train,
like to the duke of Savoy, his brother-in-law, until he should have
married the only child of the count de Charolois (a damsel not more
than seven or eight years old) to whomsoever he pleased, and should
have divided the territories of the duke,--namely, the duchy of Brabant
to the count de Nevers, and the rest among his favourites at his
pleasure.
But God, who knows the hearts of men, would not permit so great ruin
to fall on the noble house of Burgundy, which is the fairest, firmest,
and strongest pillar of the French crown! May God, of his especial
grace, always keep the two noble houses of France and Burgundy in peace
and good harmony! Although I have now written down what was the common
report of the time, I can never believe the king of France capable of
imagining such schemes of wickedness, against the illustrious house of
Burgundy, considering the great honours and services he had received so
lately from the heads of it.
As soon as the bastard de Reubempré was arrested, and had confessed
his guilt to the count de St Pol, then in Holland, he was put under
close confinement; and the count de Charolois sent information of
what had passed to his father, then at Hêdin, where he had grandly
entertained the queen of France, who had come to visit him from
Abbeville and Nouvion.--At this time, the duke of Bourbon waited on the
king at Abbeville, in whose good graces he was not, from the report
that he, the duke of Brittany, and the count de Charolois had formed
a triple alliance, and had mutually sworn to assist each other with
the utmost of their power, should the king make any attempts on their
persons or property.
Soon afterward, namely, on the 10th of October, the duke of Burgundy
received letters from the king, to say, that he would come and see him
at Hêdin on the following day. This same day, while at dinner, he had
the information from his son of the imprisonment and confessions of the
bastard de Reubempré, and also a warning that he was not safe at Hêdin.
On hearing this, as soon as he had dined, he instantly mounted his
horse, and rode off suddenly from Hêdin to St Pol, where he lay. His
attendants followed him thither, leaving for the defence of the town
and castle of Hêdin, sir Adolphus of Cleves and the lord de Crequy. The
duke, nevertheless, ordered them, if the king came thither, to throw
open the gates of the town and castle to him. But the king no sooner
learnt that the duke had so suddenly quitted Hêdin than he departed
from Abbeville; and the duke of Bourbon came to Lille, to the duke his
uncle, passing through Hêdin. From Lille he waited on the count de
Charolois at Ghent, and was nobly entertained, at Lille and Ghent, by
the father and son.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 35: Ballenier,--a corsair--privateer. Du Cange, _Gloss._]
CHAP. XXX.
THE KING OF FRANCE SUMMONS DEPUTIES FROM THE TOWNS ON THE SOMME, AND
FROM OTHER PLACES TO COME BEFORE HIM.--HIS HARANGUES TO THEM.--HE
APPOINTS THE COUNT DE NEVERS GOVERNOR OF PICARDY,--AND SENDS AN
EMBASSY TO THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, AT LILLE.
The king, on his arrival at Rouen, summoned those of Tournay, and
of all the towns regained on the Somme, to appear before him; and
all of them sent deputies, excepting Cambray. He harangued them, by
the mouth of his chancellor, on the reports that were current every
where, through the territories of Burgundy, and which had vexed him
exceedingly, that he had sent the bastard de Reubempré to Holland, to
seize the count de Charolois and bring him to him, for which there
was not any foundation. True it was, that the duke of Brittany was
not so obedient to him as he ought to have been, and had sent his
vice-chancellor to England, to form an alliance with his ancient
enemies the English, which he should not have done without his
permission; and for this reason he had sent the bastard de Reubempré
into Holland, to seize the vice-chancellor of Brittany (if it could be
done) as he was returning from England through Holland.
He added, that a preacher had publicly declared from the pulpit at
Bruges, where Christians assemble from all parts of the world, that he
had purposely sent the said bastard to lay hands on the said count, a
thing he had never once thought of, and it was his intention to punish
most severely all who should spread tales so disgraceful to his honour.
The chancellor concluded by telling them, that the king had thus called
them together, to inform them, that he had appointed the count de
Nevers his lieutenant and captain-general of all the lately-regained
countries, as far as the river Loire, to oppose his ancient enemies,
should they make any attempts to invade his kingdom, commanding them,
at the same time, to yield obedience to the count de Nevers, as to
his own proper person. After this harangue, the deputies returned home
again.
The count de Charolois, accompanied by four score or a hundred knights
and gentlemen, and fully six hundred horse, arrived at Lille on the
4th of November, which caused great joy throughout that town, and the
children sang carols in all the streets. On dismounting, he waited on
his father, who received him with much pleasure. The next day came to
Lille, the count d'Eu, the chancellor of France, and the archbishop of
Narbonne, as ambassadors from the king of France, with a noble company
of attendants.[36]
The day following, they had an audience of the duke, to whom, in the
presence of the count de Charolois, the chancellor displayed their
commission from the king, to remonstrate with the duke on three
subjects:
First, the king demanded to have the bastard de Reubempré, then a
prisoner in Holland, given up to him.
Secondly, the king demanded satisfaction for the words that had been
uttered to his dishonour, as to the cause of the imprisonment of the
said bastard.
Thirdly, that the duke of Burgundy should send to the king a gentleman
of the household of the count de Charolois, called Olivier de la
Marche, by whom the words aforesaid were first published,--and also the
preacher who had uttered the same from his pulpit at Bruges, for him to
inflict on them such punishments as their crimes were deserving of.
The chancellor, by way of excusing the king of France for sending
the said bastard to Holland, declared that it was done to arrest
the vice-chancellor of Brittany on his return from England; and
added, that the count de Charolois had greatly offended the king by
imprisoning the said bastard, and thus preventing him from fulfilling
his orders.
At these words, the count de Charolois fell on his knees before the
duke, and besought him to permit him to answer what had been just said,
for that it greatly affected his honour; observing, that if it pleased
God to keep him in his (the duke's) good favour, there was not a man
on earth he feared but him, who was his father and lord, and that he
marvelled much why the king was thus pressing him. The chancellor of
France then said, that they were not charged by the king to make any
reply to the count de Charolois; and the duke told his son to desist
from saying more until another time. This command the count obeyed,
like a good son, but sore against his will.
The chancellor, continuing his harangue, said, that the king had been
greatly surprised that the duke so suddenly left Hêdin, as he had said
he would not depart thence until he had spoken with the king, nor
without his leave,--and he was wont to be punctual to his word.