CHAP. LXVII.
THE BURGUNDIAN LORDS ASSEMBLE IN ARMS TO CONDUCT THITHER THEIR DUKE FROM PICARDY.—OTHER MATTERS.
THE BURGUNDIAN LORDS ASSEMBLE IN ARMS TO CONDUCT THITHER THEIR DUKE FROM PICARDY.—OTHER MATTERS.
Aboutthis time, in consequence of summonses from the duke and duchess dowager of Burgundy, the nobles of that duchy assembled in arms, and went to the duke in Picardy, to escort him thither, where his presence was much desired by the duchess, to consult on public affairs that were very pressing.
They amounted to six thousand horse, and began their march under the command of the prince of Orange, the lords de St George and de Château Vilain, sir John de Coquebrune marshal of Burgundy, and other lords and captains, through Champagne, to near Lille in Flanders. The principal lords left their men in the adjacent villages, and waited on the duke in Lille, who received them with joy.
As the duke was not quite ready to set out, they were requested by sir John deLuxembourg to join him, and make an attack on the lords de Moy and de Chin, who were Dauphinois, and had greatly destroyed his own estates, as well as those of his daughter-in-law the countess of Marle. They agreed to his proposal; and, as he had assembled about eight hundred combatants, they advanced to St Quentin, where they lay the first night, and then continued their march. When they approached the castle of Moy, the usual residence of the lord of that name, they were told that he was absent, but had left it well provided with men, stores and provisions: he had also burnt the lower court, and several houses of the town that joined the castle.
The Burgundians, foreseeing that the castle could not be won without a long siege, and great loss of men, concluded among themselves, notwithstanding the entreaties of sir John de Luxembourg, to return to Douay and Lille. They did great mischiefs to all the countries they passed through, as well going as returning, and during their stay, of which heavy complaints were made to the duke by churchmen and others, more particularly fromPicardy: to all these clamours he replied, that he would very shortly deliver them from their oppressors, by remanding them to Burgundy.
Sir John de Luxembourg, vexed and cast down by the burgundian lords leaving him, disbanded his own forces, and retired to his castle of Beaurevoir.
On the 16th day of December, the duke and duchess of Burgundy arrived at Arras with count Philip de St Pol and a grand suite of chivalry. Soon after, sir John de Luxembourg came thither, and the burgundian lords; and on the third after his arrival the duke went to visit his aunt the countess of Hainault at Douay, and conducted her and her household to Arras, where she was honourably received by the duchess and the lords and ladies of her court. She remained there three or four days, during which many grand entertainments were made for her. Having held some conferences with her nephew, she returned to Quesnoy le Comte in Hainault, where she generally resided.