touched upon them, in his treacherous conduct and advice to the queen,
to quit the kingdom for the duchy of Luxembourg.
‘As to my third charge, it is well known, that the duke of Orleans,
persevering in his wicked designs, has personally, and by ambassadors,
often practised with the pope to deprive the king of his crown and
kingdom. To succeed in this damnable conspiracy, he falsely and wickedly
charged the king with crimes affecting his royal progeny, which he gave
the pope to understand were such as required him to declare the king and
his posterity unworthy to hold or succeed to the crown of France. He
also requested the pope to grant absolution to all who should act
contrary to the oath of fidelity they had been constrained to take to
the king, and to declare the next of his blood the successor to the
crown and government of France.
‘The better to secure the pope in his interests, he has always favoured
and supported him by divers ways, as is apparent from his conduct, in
the cession and restitution of the monies from the hospital of Toulouse.
‘Thus the third article of my minor is made clear, notwithstanding there
are very many other horrible crimes of high treason in the third degree,
committed by the late duke of Orleans, unnoticed, which my lord of
Burgundy has reserved to himself, to bring forward or not as he may see
occasion.
‘I now come to the fourth article of my minor, which is, that the late
duke of Orleans, has been guilty of high treason in the fourth degree,
namely, of offending against the public welfare.
‘Although I have before noticed his alliance with the enemies of the
realm, which is acting positively against the public good, I shall show
how he has otherwise committed this crime. In the first place, by
keeping men at arms in different parts of the realm, who did nothing but
plunder the people, rob all travellers, and force women. He moreover,
placed their captains in the strongest castles, and at all the passes,
bridges and fords of rivers, the better to succeed in his wicked
designs, namely, the usurpation of the government.
‘Secondly, He has imposed intolerable taxes on the subjects of the
realm, pretending they were for the carrying on the war against the
enemy, but giving from their amount large sums to the illwishers to the
kingdom, to induce them to become his allies, and support him in his
attempt to seize the crown.
‘Thus it appears that I have proved the duke of Orleans guilty of high
treason in the fourth degree. There are beside many other facts more
wicked and criminal than I have stated; but my lord of Burgundy has
reserved them with others, to bring forward, if it be necessary, more
strongly to convict the duke of Orleans of having had the design of
compassing the king’s death, and the deaths of his royal family, that he
might obtain the crown.
‘Now, if my hearers will unite my minor with my major, it will clearly
follow, that my lord of Burgundy is not deserving of any blame whatever
for what has happened to the criminal duke of Orleans; nor ought the
king our lord to be dissatisfied with him, but, on the contrary, he
should be pleased with what he had done, and requite him for it in three
ways,—namely, in love, honour, and riches, after the example of the
rewards given to my lord the archangel St Michael, and to the valiant
man Phineas, which I have already mentioned in my major.
‘According to my plain understanding, I think our lord and king ought to
declare his attachment to my aforesaid lord of Burgundy, and publish his
good fame both within and without the kingdom, by his letters patent, in
the manner of epistles or otherwise; and God grant it may be so done,
‘Qui est benedictus in secula seculorum. Amen.’
After master John Petit had finished his harangue, he requested of the
duke of Burgundy that he would vouch for all he had said, which the duke
granted, and avowed the whole of what master John Petit had laid to the
charge of the late duke of Orleans, in the presence of the dauphin, who
represented the person of the king, and all the other princes and lords
before particularized. The orator, after this, declared that the duke of
Burgundy had reserved some charges of a deeper nature to lay before the
king personally, when a proper occasion should offer.
The assembly now broke up, and the princes and lords retired to their
different hôtels. The duke of Burgundy was escorted to his hôtel
d’Artois by a large body of men at arms and archers.
There were great murmurings in Paris among all ranks, for the assembly
had been open to all, respecting the charges made against the late duke
of Orleans, and various were the opinions concerning them. Those
attached to the Orleans-party declared they were all false, whilst the
Burgundians maintained the contrary.
Shortly afterward, queen Isabella of France, apprehensive of
consequences to herself and children, set out from Paris with her son
the duke of Acquitaine and the others, accompanied by Louis duke of
Bavaria, her brother, and fixed her residence in the castle of Melun.
The king, who had been very ill of his disorder for some time, now
recovered: the duke of Burgundy waited on him, and was not only
reconciled but obtained letters sealed with the king’s seal and signed
with his own hand, by which he was pardoned for what had lately happened
to the duke of Orleans, to the astonishment of many great lords and wise
men, but at this moment it could not be otherwise.
CHAP. XL.
THE KING OF FRANCE SENDS A SOLEMN EMBASSY TO THE POPE.—THE
ANSWER THEY RECEIVE.—THE POPE EXCOMMUNICATES THE KING
AND HIS ADHERENTS.
About this period, some persons came to the king and the lords then at
Paris, to inform them, that the pope and his rival would neither of them
resign the popedom, as they had promised in the city of Savona,—but by
various deceitful means kept up the schism that had so long hurt the
true interests of the church. The king, in consequence, wrote letters to
the pope, and sent them by Jean de Château-morant and Jean de Coursen,
knights, his ambassadors, to declare, that if peace were not firmly
established throughout the Christian church by Ascension day next
ensuing, he himself and the clergy, nobles and people of his realm and
of Dauphiny, would no longer obey him or his adversary.
Pope Benedict was not well pleased with the contents of these letters,
nor with the embassy, although he dissembled with the ambassadors. He
made them a short answer, saying he would speedily reply to the letters
they had brought, after which they took leave of him and returned to
Paris, to make the king and council acquainted with all that had passed.
It was not long before a messenger from the pope arrived at Paris, who
went to the hôtel de St Pol, and, understanding the king was in his
oratory at the commencement of the mass, proceeded thither, and
presenting the king with an apostolical letter instantly departed.
When mass was over, the king caused the letter to be opened, and
deliberately read, by which he learnt that he himself and all his
subjects were excommunicated.
Search was instantly made in Paris after the person who had brought this
excommunication, but in vain, for he had quitted the city as secretly
and suddenly as he could. The king and his council, noticing the manner
and form of this act, in compliance with the exhortations of the
university of Paris, the greater part of his council, and the princes of
the blood, who were all much angered with the pope, he withdrew himself
from his obedience to the holy see.
THE APOSTOLICAL LETTER RECEIVED BY THE KING.
‘Benedict, bishop and servant to the servants of God, to his very dear
son in JESUS CHRIST, Charles king of France, sends health and
apostolical benediction.
‘Would to God, very dear son, that thou knewest the love and affection
we bear to thy noble and potent person, and didst understand the purity
of our mind, thou wouldest then be sensible of the great joy we feel in
thy prosperity, and of our grief at any tribulations that befal thee. If
of this thou hadst knowledge, thou wouldest not listen to those
detractors, who by false tales endeavour to set thy heart against us,
but love us, as a son should love a father, and then the disturbances in
thy kingdom, raised up by thy persecutions against our holy church,
would cease.
‘Thou knowest well, glorious prince, and hast also heard from public
report, how constantly and diligently we have laboured to restore union
to the church; and the advances we have made, in order to obtain peace,
toward those who have foolishly encouraged the unfortunate schism, by
claiming the right of enjoying the holy see, and more particularly
toward Angelo Corrario, who calls himself Gregory, and is at present the
adversary to the church. He, however, refuses to perform the promises he
had made in various places to resign his pretensions, and prolongs the
division in the holy church under frivolous and false pretences. It is,
however, notorious, and cannot be denied, that it has not been owing to
any fault in us that peace has not been given to the church, and all
cause for schism annihilated.
‘Notwithstanding this, there are some, we hear, who are very busy in
their endeavours to defame us to thee, and to lessen, in as much as they
can, the purity of our good fame. Others, we learn, are weakening thy
devotion, and that of the princes of thy blood, by unjustly blaming us,
and charging us most falsely with want of diligence in re-establishing
the union of the holy church.
‘In truth, such persons should be answered by stating the real facts,
which would destroy their fictions and falsehoods; and we believe that
they have been the cause why we have not received any thing in our
treasury from thy kingdom for the space of two years, an edict having
been issued from thy court, which has deprived us of our rights, and we
are no longer obeyed in thy realm. We look, however, for consolation and
assistance from thee; for thy predecessors, in times past, have laboured
to destroy the schisms and errors in the church, and to preserve peace
and union. But some in thy kingdom have lately rebelled against the holy
see, by appealing from us, against the constitutions of the canon,—and
they have been permitted to spread abroad divers errors, contrary to the
purity of true religion.
‘In addition to what we have stated, we have been much hurt and affected
by the conduct of thy ambassadors in this town, and in our presence. Our
very dear sons Jean de Château-Morant and Jean de Coursen, noble men and
thy ambassadors, have come to us from thee, and brought us letters
sealed with thy seal, by which thou makest known to us, that if by the
feast of Ascension next coming, union be not established throughout our
holy church, and one pope or pastor of that church be elected, thyself,
the clergy, nobles and people of thy realm, and of the duchy of Guienne,
will observe a strict neutrality, and will not pay obedience to either
of the popes, nor wilt thou suffer thy subjects to pay any attention to
our mandates.
‘Thou mayest consider, very dear son, if we had not cause for grief at
heart, on reading these harsh expressions. They are little proofs of
that love a child owes a father, and have been followed by serious
consequences; for when thou and the princes of thy blood make use of
such expressions, others may carry their meaning to a farther extent,
and may include thee in the perdition that may befal them.
‘Thy good renown has been also wounded by the sin thou hast committed in
wishing to set bounds to divine mercy. The union thou thinkest to obtain
is sinful, and a perseverance in schism; for our adversary and his
followers, swollen up with pride, will not bend nor incline to peace,
but will acquire greater obstinacy from the hopes thy conduct will have
given them, that we shall be deprived of any power over thy subjects and
kingdom. Thus those who were dejected and in despair will, from our
oppressions, regain strength and courage.
‘Truly, most dear son, we to whom God has intrusted the care of his
people, cannot longer suffer such things as may be injurious to the
divine Majesty, and may cause the peril of souls, and tend to keep alive
the schism in the holy church, and to invalidate my election and
reputation.
‘We grieve much at thy deception, and at the wicked counsels thou hast
received,—and we exhort and entreat of thee, in the name of our blessed
Saviour, that thou wouldst not listen to such wicked men, who seek their
own profit from the losses of the church, and from the quarrels they may
excite in thy family.
‘With regard to our proceedings, thou hast had full knowledge of them,
from what we have written to thee on the subject. Consider, therefore,
coolly with thy council, the purity of our intentions: have the goodness
to revoke and annul all edicts that may be injurious to us and to the
church, and use thy endeavours to bring thine and all other kingdoms to
that obedience originally due to us. We also must tell thee, that we
will not act as thou hast written to us, for it does no honour to thy
excellent understanding.
‘If thou wilt obey the mandates and exhortations of thy father, thou
wilt gain great merit with God, and, by inclining thyself to the holy
apostolical see, much praise from man. Beloved son, be on thy guard
against deceivers. We will also, that thou shouldst know, and by these
presents do make known to thee, that beside the pains and punishments
pronounced by the law, we have lately made other constitutions, which we
send thee with our bull, by which thyself and all other such delinquents
and disobedient children (which God avert!) will be punished. We have
done this to preserve thee and other princes from the heinous offence of
high treason, so great is our paternal love toward thee and them, in
order that at the day of judgment we may be blameless, by endeavouring
to prevent, as much as in us lies, any soul from perishing.
‘Given at Porto Venere, in the diocese of Genoa, the 23d day of March,
in the 14th year of our papacy.’
THE BULL OF THE POPE DELLA LUNA, BY WHICH HE EXCOMMUNICATES
THE KING OF FRANCE AND OTHERS.
‘Benedict, bishop and servant of the servants of God, in perpetual
memory of the increase of wickedness among mankind,—We behold the world
daily becoming worse, and the thoughts of mankind so bent on evil that
they add crime to crime,—That the good who may be intermixed with the
bad may not be corrupted through malice and error, and that the boldness
and presumption of vice may be somewhat restrained by fear of
punishment.
‘It has come to our knowledge by public report, that certain children of
perdition, as well churchmen as seculars, who, ambitious of rising
higher than becomes them, may thence dangerously fall, having been
deceived by him who changes himself into the form of an angel of light
that he may afterward deceive others, have given great scandal to the
simple and weak, and much offence to those of firmer minds, from their
attempts to destroy and divide the catholic church by schism, and to
prevent the re-union of it, which was taking place when we were elected
sovereign and apostolical bishop.
‘Two years before this period, when we were of mature age[122], we
laboured hard to put an end to this schism, which has divided the church
of God for nearly thirty years, to the great grief of all sincere
Christians, and it still continues through the perverseness of man.
‘We have declared to Angelo Corrario, (who has thrust himself into the
apostolical chair, and is called by those under his obedience by the
name of Gregory,) the mode of renunciation frankly and sincerely offered
by us, and which in our apostolical letters, given at Marseilles the 2d
day of February of the aforesaid year of our papacy, is more fully
explained. We have again offered to Angelo Corrario to appear in person
at a proper and convenient place, that measures may be the more speedily
adopted for the success of so desirable an event as the re-union of the
holy church.
‘Notwithstanding this, the sons of iniquity exert all their powers, by
means of fraud and hypocrisy, to prevent us and our brother cardinals
from executing so salutary an object, despising the bonds of the holy
church, and pretending an ardent desire for its union, while they
wickedly withdraw themselves from its obedience, and in their defence
appealing from us, which, however, they have not the right to do.
‘We have patiently suffered all this, in the hope it may excite in them
repentance and a desire to return to their duty: nevertheless, they
persevere with greater boldness and presumption.
‘In order, therefore, to check this, we, having duly considered the
weightiness of the matter, do, according to the powers vested in us,
pronounce sentence of excommunication against all who knowingly shall
obstruct the union of the holy church, or shall impede ourself and our
venerable brethren the cardinals in the execution of the aforesaid
things offered by us, and agreed to by Angelo Corrario or his
ambassadors, or all who may appeal against us or our successors, bishops
of Rome, legally elected to that dignity, or whoever may countenance and
support such appeals, substractions or perturbations, under any pretence
or colour.
‘We likewise include in this our sentence those who may perversely
affirm they are not bound to obey our mandates, whatever may be their
rank, whether cardinal, patriarch, archbishop, bishop, or of imperial or
kingly dignity, and of whatever rank in church or state. From this
sentence none can be absolved but by the pope, excepting when in
‘articulo mortis.’ And should it happen that any may thus have received
absolution, and recover their health, we will and command, that
instantly on their recovery, they present themselves before the holy see
to receive absolution again, and to make such satisfaction as may appear
reasonable and conformable to justice.
‘Should this sentence be endured through obstinacy and hardness of heart
for the space of twenty days, by any one of any estate or degree above
mentioned, be the same a prince or other secular of any description
whatsoever, we subject him to the interdict of the church, with all the
lands, towns, cities and castles, and every sort of inheritance that may
belong to him. Universities continuing in the same perverseness shall be
also subject to this interdict of the holy church.
‘And as it has been found necessary, through the ingratitude of men,
sometimes to revoke benefices, all such and each of them, as well
churchmen as seculars, who shall give aid or counsel against this
sentence, and suffer it to remain for the space of twenty days, shall be
deprived of the benefit of all indulgences, privileges, and other graces
granted to them by the holy apostolic see. Such clerks will likewise be
deprived of all benefices and dignities in the church, whether with or
without cure; and should their rank be that of cardinals, patriarchs,
archbishops or bishops, or other dignities, we declare them, by full
authority and power vested in us, deprived of the same; and their
vassals or other dependants, who have been bound on oath to serve them,
we declare absolved from such oaths, and their fiefs, honours and
dependencies on the church, whether moveable or immoveable, shall revert
to the governors thereof, for them to dispose of according to their will
and pleasure.
‘No judicial hearing will be granted to the sinners and transgressors
above mentioned, and their suits, if proceeded on by public notaries,
will be null and void.
‘All persons who may aid and abet, openly or secretly, those who,
through perverseness of mind, shall resist this sentence, be they single
individuals, cities, castles or places, shall undergo the same
punishment of excommunication; and we will and command that the
penalties ordained by our predecessors for similar crimes shall have
their full effect and force, notwithstanding any constitutions,
ordinances, liberties, graces, or apostolical indulgences that may have
been formerly granted to these transgressors by us, or by our
predecessors the bishops of Rome,—all which we revoke, as being contrary
to the tenor of this present bull. It is unlawful, therefore, for any
person to oppose or infringe this our declaration, by any way or means
whatever; and should any dare attempt it, they shall know that they will
incur the indignation of an all-powerful God, and of his blessed
apostles St Peter and St Paul.
‘Given at St Victor de Marseilles, the 23d of March, in the 13th year of
our papacy.’
[A. D. 1408.]
CHAP. XLI.
THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS DECLARES AGAINST THE POPE DELLA
LUNA, IN THE PRESENCE OF THE KING OF FRANCE.—KING LOUIS
OF SICILY LEAVES PARIS.—OF THE BORGNE DE LA HEUSE.
At the beginning of this year, the university of Paris declared against
pope Benedict, in the manner following, by master Jean Courteheuse, a
native of Normandy. The assembly was held in the great hall of the
palace, in the presence of the kings of France and Sicily, the dukes of
Berry, Burgundy, Bar and Brabant,—the counts de Mortaign[123], de
Nevers, de St Pol, de Tancarville[124],—the rector of the university,
with deputies from that body,—the earl of Warwick from England,
ambassadors from Scotland and Wales, and a great multitude of clergy and
people of Paris.
Master Jean Courteheuse took his text from the 7th Psalm: ‘Convertetur
dolor in caput ejus, et in verticem ipsius iniquitas ejus descendet.’
Which is, For his travail shall come upon his own head, and his
wickedness shall fall on his own pate.
He divided his speech into six conclusions. First, That Pietro della
Luna was obstinately schismatic, not to say an heretic, a disturber of
the peace and union of the church.
Secondly, That the said Pietro ought not to bear the name of Benedict,
pope, cardinal, or any other title of dignity,—and that he ought not to
be obeyed as pastor of the church, under penalty of suffering the
sentences pronounced against those who favour schismatics.
Thirdly, That the provisions, sentences and declarations of the bull,
and the pains and penalties therein threatened, are of no value.
Fourthly, That the contents of the said bull and letter are wicked,
seditious, full of deceit, and tending to disturb the king’s peace.
Fifthly, That no one whatever may pay the smallest attention to them,
without being guilty of the crime of favouring schismatics.
Sixthly, That such as may favour or support their contents may be
lawfully proceeded against in the courts of justice.
After master Jean Courteheuse had made all his conclusions, he offered
certain requests on the part of the university of Paris to the king of
France. The first was, That great diligence should be used in searching
after copies of Pietro della Luna’s letter, and that all who might
conceal them should be punished according to their deserts; that many of
his supporters existed within the kingdom, whom the university would
denounce in due time and place.
The second request was, That henceforward neither the king nor any of
his realm would receive letters from Pietro della Luna.
The third, That the king would command his daughter the university to
preach the true doctrine throughout the kingdom.
The fourth, That the bishop of St Flour, who had been sent ambassador to
the aforesaid Pietro, should be arrested and imprisoned, together with
master Pierre de Courselles, Sansien le Leu, the dean of St Germain
d’Auxerre, and punished according to their demerits,—and that the bull
should be torn to pieces, as injurious and offensive to the royal
majesty.
The university declared, that it would proceed to greater objects
touching the faith, and demonstrate and explain these things before
those whom it might concern in proper time and place.
The king instantly assented to the requests made by the university; and
then the bull was torn in pieces by the rector of the university, in the
presence of the whole assembly. The dean of St Germain d’Auxerre, being
there, was arrested, and put into confinement.
Shortly after, the abbot of Saint Denis, master Jean de Sains, formerly
secretary to the king, and many others of name, were imprisoned at the
Louvre.