[A.D.1473.]

CHAP. XVI.

THE SIEGE OF PERPIGNAN.—THE DUKE OF ALENÇON DETAINED PRISONER IN THE LOUVRE.—THE DEATH OF THE DUKE OF CALABRIA.—THE EXECUTION OF JOHN HARDY FOR INTENDING TO POISON THE KING.—EDICTS FROM THE KING RESPECTING THE GENS D'ARMES AND THE COIN.—AN EMBASSY FROM THE KING OF ARRAGON.—OTHER EVENTS IN THIS YEAR.

Aboutthe end of April, in the year 1473, the king of Arragon made an attack on the town of Perpignan, and gained it from the lord du Lau, who had the guard of it; but the castle remained unconquered,—andthe garrison held it for the king of France a long time after the capture of the town.

When Lectoure had been destroyed, the king ordered the army to Perpignan, in which were besieged the king of Arragon and his son. With the nobles and captains of this army was the cardinal of Alby who behaved himself most prudently and courageously. This siege lasted long, even until the month of June,—when the king, to hasten it, sent thither a reinforcement of four hundred lances from Amiens and the adjacent towns, together with a large train of artillery and cannoniers.

The duke of Alençon, who had been confined in the castle of Loches, was brought to Paris, and arrived at the castle of the Louvre between nine and ten at night, the 16th day of June. He disembarked from the boats that had brought him from Corbeil, under the guard of the lord de Gaucourt and the lord de la Chaloterie, master of the household to the king, having with them fifty archers of the guards, and twenty-four gentlemenof the household. When they had left him in the castle of the Louvre, they all returned to the king, except the lord de la Chaloterie, who had the care of him,—and he was guarded by the archers of the town of Paris. The first night, he was lodged at the Silver Lion, in the street of St Honoré: and the following day, which was Corpus-Christi-day, he was brought back to the Louvre at the same hour, between nine and ten in the evening.

During this long siege of Perpignan, the king's troops had suffered greatly from the excessive heats, and from want of provisions,—which made them agree to a truce, for a short time, with the besieged, when each party was supplied as to their greatest wants. In this interval the king sent another reinforcement of men at arms, artillery and provisions, under the command of the lord de Gaucourt. He also ordered master John Bouvré and the banker of the treasury to buy up all the provisions they could lay hands on, and send them to Perpignan.

About this time, in the month ofJuly, died the last born child of the king, called the lord Francis duke of Berry. The king was so much grieved that for six hours no one dared to speak to him.

In this same month, the duke of Calabria died of the plague, in his duchy of Lorraine. Immediately after his decease, news was brought, that a german, the commander of the late duke's forces, had taken prisoner the count de Vaudemont heir to the duchy of Lorraine, with the avowal and by the instigation of the duke of Burgundy. In order to obtain the count de Vaudemont's liberty, a youth, nephew to the emperor of Germany, and then a student at Paris, was arrested by way of reprisal, and as an hostage for the count's safety. A conference was appointed to be holden this month at Senlis, between commissioners from the king and the duke of Burgundy, to settle their differences.

The king sent thither the count de Dammartin, who went in great pomp, the lord chancellor, the lord de Craon, the first president of the parliament of Paris, master Guillaume de Cerisay, andmaster Nicholas Bataille, who after remaining there until the middle of August, returned without having done any thing.

At this period, the duke of Burgundy marched an army into Guelderland, to subdue and take possession of it.

On the 8th of August, as the king was coming out of the castle of Alençon, by accident a very large stone fell from the battlements on his sleeve: he narrowly escaped being killed by it, but was saved by his confidence in God, and the blessed Virgin Mary, in whom he put his whole trust.

The commissioners from the king and the dukes of Burgundy and Brittany now left Senlis without having accomplished any of the points they had met on.

In regard to the weather of this year, it was exceedingly hot from the month of June to December, more so than had been felt in the memory of any man living,—which caused the wines to be of such bad qualities that quantities were thrown away,—and there was not any frost until after Candlemas-day.

As there were now reports, that theBurgundians were marching for Lorraine and the Barrois, the king sent thither five hundred lances, under the command of the lord de Craon, whom he made his lieutenant-general. He also ordered the nobles from the Isle of France and Normandy, with the franc-archers cantoned in divers parts of Champagne, to advance toward Lorraine, where they remained for more than two months, and then returned without having seen the enemy.

The duke of Burgundy brought the emperor of Germany to Luxembourg, whence he went to the town of Metz, to exhort the inhabitants to admit the duke of Burgundy and his forces: but as they refused to comply, he returned to Luxembourg and thence into Germany.

At this time, the duke of Burgundy sent to Venice to negotiate a loan, that he might subsidize, for three months, six hundred lances from that country. These troops passed through the duchy of Milan, and proceeded to the upper parts of Burgundy, to form a junction with the subjects of the said duke, whose army was not sufficientlystrong to meet that of the king which lay upon his frontiers. The king now married his eldest daughter[46], whom he had promised to the late duke of Calabria, to the lord de Beaujeu, brother to the duke of Bourbon. The Burgundians, by treason and otherwise, suddenly invaded the country of the Nivernois, and took several towns belonging to the count de Nevers, such as La Roche, Châtillon, and others.

The king's commissioners, who had before been at Senlis, now went to Compiégne, in expectation of meeting those from Burgundy, who had promised to come thither; but after waiting some time in vain, they returned to Paris, and went thither again on the 15th of January. It was now currently reported, that the duke of Burgundy, seeing he could not by open force destroy the kingdom of France, notwithstanding all the pains he had taken to accomplish it, had formeda conspiracy to poison the king; in which business he employed a person called master Ythier Marchant, who had been a servant to the late duke of Guienne, and another called John Hardy, servant to this Ythier, who, after the death of the duke of Guienne, had sought protection from the duke of Burgundy.

John Hardy undertook to manage this affair, and consequently, the poisons, were delivered to him, with promises of great wealth on his success: at the same time, fifty thousand crowns were paid him down, for him to distribute among such as he should judge able to, assist him. He had also money given him for his expenses; and this madman, Hardy, not having the fear of God before his eyes, nor foreseeing, that had his plot succeeded, (which, thanks to God, it did not) the whole of the noble realm of France would have been destroyed, set out on his journey to the place of the king's residence.

On his arrival at Amboise, forgetting that the king had formerly kindly received him and given him great sumsof money, in order to execute his damnable enterprise, he addressed himself to a person who had the charge of making sauces in the royal kitchen, with whom Hardy was acquainted during the time they were both in the service of the duke of Guienne. Hardy communicated to him his plan, and offered him twenty thousand crowns if he would assist him to accomplish it. The saucemaker listened to him, but said he could not engage in the business without the consent of Colinet, the king's head cook, who had likewise been in the same service with themselves. He promised to mention the matter to Colinet, and urge him to join them,—but desired Hardy to give him the poisons to show the head cook. Soon after, the saucemaker and head cook having discussed the business together, went and informed the king of the plot, who was very much alarmed, but most honourably and handsomely rewarded them for having discovered it. John Hardy had set out for Paris, but was instantly followed and overtaken near Estampes, where he was arrested and brought back to the king,who interrogated him, and had him examined by others, as to the charges made against him,—all of which he confessed to be true.

To make the matter public, and that his trial might have the greater notoriety, the king set out from Amboise for Chartres, Meulanc, Creil, and other places in the Beauvoisis, followed by Hardy, chained with heavy irons, in a low cart, under the guard of John Blosset, esquire, captain of one hundred archers of the dauphin's guard, fifty of whom always surrounded the cart. Thus guarded, he was sent to Paris, to be delivered up to the provost and sheriffs, where he arrived on Thursday the 20th day of January, about three o'clock in the afternoon; when sir Denis Hesselin, the provost, and others, went out to receive him in the suburbs, beyond the gate of St Denis. With sir Denis were the four sheriffs, their officers and great crowds of people, and the archers of the town in handsome array.

Hardy was placed on a high chair in the middle of the cart, that he might be seen by the populace, who were strictlyforbidden to abuse him by words or deeds. Thus was he conducted along the great street of St Denis, to the town-house, when he was delivered up, by John Blosset, to the provost and sheriffs, under whose guard the king had ordered him to be placed, that they might have the honour of trying and executing him.

While the king was at Creil, he issued an edict respecting the gens d'armes of his realm, by which he declared that each lanceman should not have more than six horses,—namely, three horses for himself, his page and his armour-bearer; the two archers have two horses, and one for the varlet; but they were no longer to have panniers to carry their arms. They were not to remain longer than one day in any village when on their march. And proclamation was made to forbid all merchants from selling or affording to any of the gens d'armes cloths of silk or camlets, on pain of forfeiting the money these gens d'armes might give or owe for them; and no woollen cloths were to be sold them of a higher price than thirty-two sols parisis the ell.

At the same time, he issued another edict touching the coin, and ordered the grands blancs to be exchanged for eleven deniers although before they had only been worth ten deniers,—the targes, eleven deniers tournois, that had been worth twelve,—the crown, thirty sols three deniers tournois; and so on with the rest, for the whole value of the coin was changed.

On the 20th of January, a reconciliation took effect between the king and the constable. He had possessed himself of the town of St Quentin, and driven out the lord de Creton, who there commanded one hundred lances for the king. By this reconciliation, the constable remained not only master, as before, of St Quentin, but the town of Meaux and other places were given up to him, of which he had before been deprived. Commissioners were also appointed to inquire after those who had spoken disrespectfully of the constable relative to his taking St Quentin, that they might be brought to punishment. Money was likewise given him for the pay of his troops, whichwas the means of preventing his town of St Quentin from being taken.

The king about this time, left Amboise for Senlis, where he remained while his commissioners and those from Burgundy were labouring to bring about a peace. At length, the truce was prolonged to the middle of the ensuing May, in the expectation of a more lasting agreement being concluded before then. The king went from Senlis to Ermenonville in Santerre, belonging to master Pierre L'Orfevre, counsellor in the chamber of accounts where he staid a month,—during which time, the duke of Bourbon, whom the king had repeatedly sent for, came at last, but did not remain more than ten or twelve days, and returned, with the king's leave, to his own country, to celebrate Easter, promising to come back the Sunday after Easter which he did.

On the 30th of March, John Hardy, before mentioned, was condemned by the court of parliament to be taken to the gate of the prisons of the Conciergerie, and there put into a tumbrel and drawn before the town-house, where a scaffoldhad been erected for the quartering of his body, according to the sentence, which was executed. His head, placed on the point of a lance, was to remain in front of the town-house, and his four quarters were sent to four of the principal towns, at the extremities of the kingdom,—on each of which an inscription was to be put, declaring the cause why they were thus placed,—and the body was ordered to be burnt, and reduced to cinders at the place of execution. All the houses of the said John Hardy, particularly that in which he had been born, were to be razed to the ground, and no buildings were to be thereon erected in future; an inscription was also to be placed on the spot, declaratory of the enormity of the offence, and why these buildings had been destroyed. Hardy was executed in the presence of the lord de Gaucourt, king's lieutenant, the first president of the parliament Boulenger, the two provosts, and sheriffs, and other principal persons of the town; and he had a celebrated doctor in divinity, called doctor Hue, assigned to him for the care of his soul. Onthe Saturday following, the head of Hardy, which had been placed on a lance before the town-house, was taken down, nobody knew how, and thrown into a cellar hard by.

This day, a handsome embassy came to Paris from the king of Arragon, and was honourably received there by the count de Penthievre[47], the lord de Gaucourt and others, who feasted them well in divers parts of Paris until Palm Sunday, when their festivities ceased on account of the approaching Passion-week. The king arrived at Paris after Easter, the 16th day of April, in the year 1474.

FOOTNOTES:[46]Eldest daughter. Anne of France, a most accomplished woman. She made a great figure in the succeeding reign.[47]Count de Penthievre—Jean de Brosse—had, by his wife Louisa de Laval, Réné, who married Jeanne, only daughter to the historian Philip de Comines.

[46]Eldest daughter. Anne of France, a most accomplished woman. She made a great figure in the succeeding reign.

[47]Count de Penthievre—Jean de Brosse—had, by his wife Louisa de Laval, Réné, who married Jeanne, only daughter to the historian Philip de Comines.

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