inhabitants of Liege, Huy, Dinant and Tongres, and of all the other
good towns in the bishoprick of Liege, excepting the castle of
Bouillon, hearing of the great destruction of their countrymen, and the
power of their enemies, were panic-struck, and, seeing no probability
of any assistance, surrendered themselves to the obedience of the dukes
of Burgundy and of Holland. They sent to them ambassadors to this
effect, and also to supplicate John of Bavaria, their bishop and lord,
that he would graciously have pity upon them, and grant them his pardon.
The bishop, through the intercession of the two dukes, complied with
their request, on condition that such as had been most active in
promoting the rebellion, many of whom were still alive, whose names
they would set down, should be given up to the two dukes, to do by them
as they in their justice should think right; and each of the towns gave
sufficient hostages for the due performance of the terms.
On the ensuing Thursday, the two dukes and the bishop, with the whole
army, broke up the camp, and advanced toward the town of Liege. The
duke of Burgundy was quartered in the town of Flauye, on the river
Meuse, one league distant from Liege, and duke William among the
mountains.
On the following Sunday, the dukes and the bishop held a full council,
to which all their ministers were admitted, on the present state of
affairs. Other councils were continued until the Tuesday, when the
bishop made his entry into Liege, and was received with great humility
by the remnant of its inhabitants. The most culpable in the late
rebellion had been before arrested and thrown into prison in this and
in all the other towns.
The bishop went first to the cathedral church of St Lambert to offer
his prayers, and reconcile himself with the chapter: after this he went
to his palace, when he was most humbly entreated by the people to have
mercy on them, which he granted; and, shortly after, he returned to the
camp of the two dukes.
About two o’clock in the afternoon, on the morrow, the dukes and the
bishop, with several nobles of the army, assembled on an elevated spot
near the camp, whither sir John de Jeumont, marshal to duke William,
by the commands of the two dukes and the bishop, had ordered the heir
of Rochefort, a rich nobleman, John de Saramie[8], knight, and fifteen
other citizens, to be brought from the town, and had their heads cut
off, one after another, by the executioner. Many churchmen, and some
women, were also drowned in the Meuse for having been concerned in the
rebellion!
On the morrow, the dukes and the bishop moved with the army to a town
three leagues distant, called Beaucloquet, where many conferences
were held, on the state of the country. The count de Nevers joined
his brother, the duke of Burgundy, at this place, with four hundred
combatants. Hither also sir John de Jeumont ordered nineteen citizens
from the town of Huy to be brought, who underwent a similar punishment
to those of Liege, and for the same cause; and, as before, many
churchmen and women were drowned[9].
Amé de Viry, a Savoyard, a nobleman well experienced in war, came
hither also to aid the duke of Burgundy, and accompanied by three
hundred helmets from that country. When the dukes and the bishop had
for several days consulted together on the affairs of Liege, it was at
length concluded, with the approbation of John of Bavaria, now surnamed
John the Pitiless, that they should all meet again in the city of
Tournay, on St Luke’s day next ensuing, to determine finally on the
measures to be pursued touching these matters.
After many executions had taken place in the bishoprick of Liege
on those who had been concerned in the rebellion, and when the
fortifications of the towns of Huy, Dinant and others, had been
destroyed, the two dukes began their march homeward, taking with them
a number of persons from Liege, who had been given as hostages for the
observance of all the articles of the treaty that should be made with
them. Some of them were sent by duke William to Mons and Valenciennes,
and some to Lille, Arras, and other places belonging to the duke of
Burgundy, who went to his county of Flanders, and duke William to
Hainault, after they had disbanded their men at arms. The greater part
returned to their homes much enriched by the plunder of the Liegeois,
who, thunderstruck by the misfortune that had befallen them, became
stupified and indolent.
Many great lords attended the duke of Burgundy on this expedition:
among them were, from Burgundy, sir John de Châlons[10], sir Gaultier
de Ruples, the lord de Vergy[11], marshal of Burgundy, the lord de St
George, sir John de la Balme[12], sir William de Champ-divers, sir
James de Courtjambe, the lord de Montagu, and many more. From Picardy,
the lords de Croy[13], de Heilly, de Fosseux, de Vaurin, sir Bort
Guieret and his brothers, the lord of Inchy, the lord of Raisse, the
lord de Brimeu, sir Regnault de Crequy lord of Comtes[14], Enguerrand
de Bournouville, the lord de Ront, sir Raoul de Flandres, the lord de
Poix, sir Wincart de Bours, the lord d’Auxy, the lord de Mailly, the
lord de Thiennes and the lord d’Azincourt. From Flanders, sir John and
sir Louis de Guystelle, the lord de Hames, sir John de Bailleul, sir
Collart de Fosseux, and others, the principal nobles of the country.
In like manner, duke William had assembled his nobles, with many
others, his allies; among whom was sir John de Bethune, brother to the
viscount de Meaux. Common report said, that Anthony duke of Brabant,
brother to the duke of Burgundy, and Waleran de Luxembourg count
de St Pol, had refused their assistance, because they had not been
made acquainted with the terms and agreements entered into by John
of Bavaria on the one part, and the lord de Pier-Yves on the other,
for the resignation of the bishoprick of Liege. They also made other
excuses.
When the day appointed for the meeting of the duke of Burgundy, duke
William and the bishop of Liege, in the town of Tournay, for the final
settlement of the affairs of Liege drew near, the inhabitants of
that town sent them a petition, by ambassadors chosen from among the
principal citizens, to request they would fix on some other town, as
the numbers of their attendants would greatly harrass and impoverish
them, considering the very small stock of provision that was in
Tournay. Their request was granted,--and the town of Lille was chosen
for their meeting on the day that had before been fixed on.
Thither all the hostages from Liege were conducted, and brought into
the presence of the aforesaid dukes and bishop, with several more that
had been deputed to hear what judgment should be given, which was as
follows:
‘The dukes of Burgundy and Holland declare, that this their judgment
shall be punctually fulfilled in every respect, with regard to the
present time, reserving to themselves the power of making any future
alterations in it as often as, and in what manner, they shall please.
‘First, They consent that the inhabitants of Liege, of the towns and
country of that bishoprick, situated within the district of Liege,
the country of Los, the countries of Hasbane, St Tron, the territory
of Bouillon, shall enjoy their customary franchises and privileges.
They order, that the citizens of Liege, and of the other towns above
named, do bring to the monastery des Escolliers, in the town of Mons
in Hainault, on the morrow of Martinmas-day next ensuing, all the
letters patent and charters of their laws and privileges, which they
possess,--which they will deliver into the hands of such as may be
commissioned by the said dukes to receive them. Those who bring them
shall make oath, on the salvation of their own souls, and of the souls
of them who sent them, that they have not fraudulently left behind any
charters of their laws and privileges.
‘Item, the dukes aforesaid declare, that should the city of Liege, or
any other town, neglect to send, or fraudulently retain, any of their
charters, that town so retaining them shall be for ever deprived of its
privileges and particular laws.
‘Item, the lords aforesaid will, that these charters and letters
patent be delivered to the commissioners punctually on the morrow of
Martinmas-day.
‘Item, they likewise ordain, that when these charters and privileges
shall have been duly examined, and new ones drawn up and delivered,
neither the bishop of Liege nor his chapter shall grant any new
privileges to the inhabitants, without the consent of the two dukes or
their successors.
‘Item, they also ordain, that henceforward the commonalty shall not
appoint or nominate, in the aforesaid towns and bishoprick, any
officers, such as governors, masters of trades, doctors of arts,--but
that from this day all such offices be annulled.
‘Item, they ordain, that all bailiffs, provosts, mayors, and others
bearing similar titles, shall be nominated by the bishop of Liege
and the count de Los;--and also, that the sheriffs in such towns as
claim the right of shrievalty shall be renewed yearly, and a certain
number appointed according to the exigency of the case and size of the
towns. In no large town shall father and son, two brothers-in-law, two
cousins-german, the uncle and nephew, nor anyone who has married the
mother of another, be appointed sheriffs at the same time, in order
that no improper favours be shewn from partiality of kindred. All
officers shall swear solemnly on their creation, to preserve and abide
by every article and point contained in the constitution delivered to
them.
‘Item, they ordain, that the bishop of Liege may, each year, at the
expiration of the shrievalty, appoint such sheriffs as he shall please,
or re-appoint those of the preceding year, or others according to his
good pleasure, provided they are not any way connected by blood, as
has been before mentioned. All disputes respecting the persons or
fortunes of the inhabitants of the different towns having sheriffs,
shall be brought before their jurisdictions,--and at the end of the
year, the sheriffs shall be bound to render an account of their
administration before their lord, the bishop of Liege, or his deputies,
and before one commissary deputed by the chapter, and another on the
part of the different churches.
‘Item, they ordain, that all guilds and fraternities in the city of
Liege, and in all the other towns, shall henceforth cease and be
annulled; and that the banners of the above guilds in Liege shall be
delivered up to commissaries, on an appointed day that shall be made
known to them; and the banners of the other towns shall be brought
by the inhabitants to a certain place on an appointed day, to the
commissioners named to receive them, and who shall do with them as they
may judge expedient.
‘Item, they also ordain, that in the above city, and in the towns
within the said bishoprick, no one shall be reputed a citizen unless
he shall have really resided within such town in which he shall claim
his right of citizenship. And all such rights of citizenship are for
the present annulled; for although there may be resident citizens in
the aforesaid towns, they cannot, in such right, claim any moveables by
reason of inheritance, without the cognizance of the lords under whom
such persons have lived, and in whose territory such inheritances are
situated.
‘Item, they ordain, that from this moment, and in times to come, the
towns of Huy, Dinant, and others within the territory of Liege, the
country of Los, the country of Hasbane, and all within the jurisdiction
of Liege, shall no longer call together any assembly, or congregation
of people, under pretence of holding councils or otherwise, without the
consent of their aforesaid bishop and lord, or of the chapter of Liege,
should the bishoprick at the time be vacant.
‘Item, they ordain, that the bishop of Liege, or any others having the
government of the said territory and its dependancies, shall never bear
arms against the king or kings of France, their successors; nor against
the two said dukes, their successors in the said duchies and counties;
nor against the count de Namur for the time being, or his successors;
nor against any of the countries, of the aforesaid, except when ordered
by the emperor, and only when the emperor shall be himself present:
provided, nevertheless, that the king of France and the above-mentioned
persons do not invade the territories of the bishop and chapter of
Liege.
‘Item, they likewise ordain, that in perpetual remembrance of this
victory, and the conquest made over them by the above two dukes, they
and their successors shall have a free passage, whenever they may
choose to cross the river Meuse, through all towns in the territory of
Liege, fortified or not, and with a body of men at arms or with few
attendants according to their pleasure,--provided they do not permit
any of the inhabitants of the said towns, villages, or country through
which they shall pass, to be any way molested by their men,--and
provisions shall be found them for their money, without demanding
higher prices for the articles than they are usually sold for.
‘Item, they ordain, that the coin of the aforesaid dukes and their
successors shall have free currency throughout the territories and
dependancies of the bishop and chapter of Liege.
‘Item, they ordain, that a chapel shall be erected on the spot where
the last victory was gained, and funds allotted for the support of four
chaplains and two priests; and the said chapels shall be furnished
with chasubles, chalices, and other ornaments for celebrating mass
and such other divine services as shall be thought advisable for the
eternal welfare of the souls of those who were slain in that battle.
The nomination to the above benefices shall remain with the two dukes,
according to regulations which they shall hereafter make between
themselves,--the Liegeois only to be once at the expense of providing
this chapel with sacred vessels and ornaments. The bishop of Liege
shall allot from his revenues two hundred golden crowns of annual rent
for the support of the four chaplains and two priests; that is to say,
for each chaplain forty crowns, for each priest ten crowns, and for the
repairs of the chapel twenty crowns.
‘Item, the said dukes will, that on the twenty-third day of every month
of September, on which day the battle took place, a mass shall be
celebrated to the blessed Virgin, with great solemnity, by the provost
or dean of the church of St Lambert, in Liege, who shall chaunt it in
the choir and at the grand altar, in commemoration of this victory,
and for the welfare of the souls of those who fell in battle. The same
shall be required of all the churches and chapels to monasteries, as
well for men as women, within the said town of Liege, as of all others
within its jurisdiction.
‘Item, the said dukes require from the bishop of Liege and the chapter,
that they strictly enjoin such services to be regularly performed on
every twenty-third day of September throughout the diocese; and that
all priests, after the performing of this service, shall be suffered
peaceably to return to their homes.
‘Item, they ordain, that the bishop of Liege and his successors, and
such as may have the government of the country in times of a vacancy
in the see, and the members of the chapter of Liege, shall appoint
such governor of the castle of Huy as they shall approve of: in which
castle, likewise, they shall not place a greater garrison, nor more
stores of provision, than they shall judge expedient, like as an
upright lord shall determine. They also insist on having a free ingress
and regress into and from the town of Huy and the adjacent country.
They likewise ordain the same regulations respecting the castles of
Escoquehen[15] and Bouillon, as to their governors, garrisons and
stores.
‘Item, the aforesaid dukes ordain, that should any one, however
high his rank, attempt, by force, or otherwise, to deprive those of
such gifts and preferments in the church, or any other offices for
life, as have been usually granted by the bishops of Liege and their
predecessors, the members of the chapter of Liege shall be bound to
restore, and defend them in, their possessions to the utmost of their
power, without any fraud whatever.
‘Item, as there are still living many perverse conspirators, who are
now fugitives from the territories of Liege and county of Los, and
have retired into the neighbouring countries, where they have been
received, the dukes aforesaid will appoint proper commissioners to
make inquiry whither such wicked persons have gone, and publish their
names. On the discovery of the places to which they have withdrawn,
applications shall be made to the princes and lords thereof, that they
may be surrendered to the bishop of Liege, for him to inflict on them
the punishments due to their deserts, or at least that such princes
and lords may drive them out of their respective countries. But should
these lords refuse to comply, or to do justice on such conspirators,
they shall be for ever banished from the bishoprick of Liege, the
county of Los, and their dependancies, as conspirators and movers of
sedition; and it shall be proclaimed throughout the above countries,
that no one receive them within their houses, but deliver them up
to justice, should any attempt to return, demanding assistance from
their lord, should there be a necessity for it. Should they be unable
to arrest them, they shall denounce them to the nearest officers of
justice, under pain of suffering corporal punishment, and having their
fortunes confiscated, as would have been done to such conspirators
and rebels. While exerting themselves in the performance of this
duty, should they accidentally put to death any of such rebels, no
consequences shall ensue to their loss.
‘Item, they ordain that the walls of the castle of Thuin, with its
gates and towers, be razed, as well the part toward the town as that
toward the mountain, and the ditches filled up.
‘Item, the same to be done to the town of Fosse and to the town
and castle of Commun,--which towns shall not be repaired. And in
like manner shall all the posts on the river Sambre be destroyed,
the ditches filled, and neither they nor the towns shall be ever
again repaired, so that they may serve for places of defence to the
inhabitants, on any pretence, in future times.
‘Item, the gates, walls and towers of Dinant shall be pulled down, as
well on the opposite side of the Meuse as on this; and the inhabitants
shall never rebuild them again.
‘Item, the inhabitants of the said towns of Thuin, Fosse, Commun and
Dinant, or any persons from other towns, shall not rebuild or repair
the fortified places between or on the two rivers Sambre and Meuse, on
the road to Namur.
‘Item, one of the gates of Tongres shall also be razed, namely, that
which leads to Maestricht, with forty feet of wall on each side of the
said gate, without a possibility of its ever being re-erected. The town
of Tongres shall likewise, at its own expense, cause to be filled up
the trenches they had opened before the said town, when they besieged
their lord within it, because they had put the country of Liege under
heavy taxes, and had subjugated it.
‘And whereas it is notorious, that very great losses have attended this
subjugation, the aforesaid dukes will, that an aid be levied on this
city, and the towns before mentioned, to the amount of two hundred and
twenty thousand golden crowns, which shall be raised as soon as may be,
being levied in proportion to the comparative riches of each inhabitant.
‘Item, in case any of the hostages shall die before all the articles
of this treaty are completed, the aforesaid lords will, that the town
or district whence such hostage or hostages shall have been sent, do
instantly furnish others of the same rank and property as those who
have died.
‘Item, they ordain, that when this treaty shall be properly engrossed,
the bishop of Liege, his chapter, and the principal inhabitants, shall
come to sign it, and engage, that should any articles of it be not
completed according to the exact tenor of the terms, then for each
omission or neglect the bishop, his successors, the chapter and chief
towns shall forfeit two hundred thousand golden crowns of the coin of
the king of France, or other florins of gold of France, of the value
of the aforesaid crowns. That is to say, fifty thousand to the then
emperor or king of the Romans; to the king of France fifty thousand;
and to each of the said dukes the like sum;--the whole to be levied on
the lands and moveables of the said Liegeois, by seizure of their goods
and bodies wherever they may be.
‘They are likewise to signify their consent, that should obstacles be
thrown in the way by any of the said towns to prevent the articles
of the said treaty from being carried into effect, the bishop of
Liege, and the archbishop of Cologne for the time being, shall be the
arbitrators between such towns,--and their decision shall be final.
‘When a legal pope shall be elected, and his authority over the whole
church of God be acknowledged, then such as make opposition to the
execution of the above treaty shall be laid under an interdict, which
shall not be taken off, until sufficient reparation be made, and the
aforesaid pecuniary forfeitures be paid.
‘Should any of the towns, or their inhabitants, offer any insult, in
contradiction to the above treaty, to either of the said dukes or
their successors, the bishop of Liege, or his vicar in his absence,
the chapter and citizens shall be required to constrain the offenders
to make full reparation within one month from the time of complaint
being made. And should such reparation not be made within the month,
as aforesaid, after the summons to that effect has been delivered, the
country shall be liable to the same fines as before mentioned.
‘The dukes of Burgundy and of Holland order, that all these articles be
fairly engrossed, and then sealed with their seals, and then given to
the lord bishop of Liege, or to his chapter, with a copy for the city
of Liege and one for each principal town. In return, the bishop and the
towns shall give to the dukes aforesaid letters signed with their great
seals acknowledging the receipt of the above treaty, and promising
obedience to all the articles of it, and binding themselves to the
fines therein mentioned.
‘As many noble persons and others, as well secular as ecclesiastic,
have presented many petitions to complain of the great losses they have
suffered during the late rebellion, and specifying their particular
grievances,--the dukes aforesaid, not having had time to examine them
with the attention they deserve, will have them examined with all
possible speed, and will attend to each of them.’
The whole of the above, having been written out fair, was, by the
command of the two dukes aforesaid, publicly proclaimed in the great
hall at Lille, and in their presence, the 24th day of October, in the
year 1408.
CHAP. IV.
THE KING OF FRANCE HOLDS A GRAND COUNCIL AT PARIS, TO CONSIDER
ON THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING AGAINST THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY FOR
THE MURDER OF THE DUKE OF ORLEANS.
During the expedition of the duke of Burgundy against the Liegeois, a
great many of the principal lords were, by the king’s orders, assembled
at Paris. Among them were, Louis king of Sicily, Charles king of
Navarre, the duke of Brittany, the duke of Bourbon, and several others,
the greater part of whom were friendly to the duchess-dowager of
Orleans and her children in their prosecution of the duke of Burgundy.
Many councils were held as to the manner in which the king should
proceed against the duke of Burgundy, who was the principal actor in
this murder, as has been before explained.
It was at length determined in these councils, that a most rigorous
prosecution, in conformity to the laws, should be carried on against
him; and should he refuse to obey, the king, with all his subjects
and vassals, should march, with as great a force as could be raised,
against him, to bring him and his abettors to due obedience.