[A.D.1476.]

CHAP. XXI.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY BORROWS MONEY TO RAISE FORCES TO RETALIATE ON THE SWISS FOR HIS LATE ILL SUCCESS.—THE ARRIVAL OF THE KING OF SICILY AT LYON, WHERE THE KING OF FRANCE THEN WAS.—WHAT PASSED BETWEEN THEM.—OF THE SENESCHAL OF NORMANDY, WHO MURDERED HIS WIFE AND HIS HUNTSMAN FOR ADULTERY.—THE DUKE OF LORRAINE OPPOSES THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY AT MORAT IN SWISSERLAND, AND IN THE COUNTY OF ROMONT[65].—THE KING OF FRANCE MAKES SEVERAL PILGRIMAGES.—THE DUKE OF LORRAINE RECOVERS THE TOWN OF NANCY.—THE KING OF PORTUGAL ARRIVES IN FRANCE.—OTHER EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE YEAR ABOVE MENTIONED.

Inthe month of May, in this year, the duke of Burgundy, smarting from thedefeat at Granson, was more eager than ever to be revenged on the Swiss and Germans, and determined to lay siege to the town of Strasbourg; but this he was unable to do without reinforcements of men, and without obtaining a loan of money from his different towns. To succeed in this business, he dispatched his chancellor, master William Gounet, and other delegates to the number of twelve, to the principal towns under his government, to relate to them his distress from the defeat at Granson, and to express his determination to be revenged on the Swiss, which induced him to apply to them for money and men. He wanted them to advance him a sixth part of their property, and six men each town, one of whom was to be equipped in armour.

The towns in Ghent, Bruges, Brussels, Lille, and the estates of Flanders, replied to this application from the delegates, that in regard to the duke of Burgundy, whom they considered as their natural lord, if he were hardly oppressed by the Germans, or had not a sufficiency of men to return to his own country insafety, they would expose their lives and fortunes in the bringing of him home; but in respect to continuing the war, they had resolved not to afford him any further assistance in men or money.

In this interval, the king of France had made Lyon his chief residence, making good cheer; and thither came to him his uncle the king of Sicily, to whom he gave a cordial reception on his arrival, carrying him to see the fair and the handsome citizens' wives and daughters of Lyon. Thither also came a cardinal, nephew to the pope, who had committed some outrages against the king at Avignon, and also against the archbishop of Lyon legate from the pope. The cardinal waited some time for an audience,—but at length the disputes between him, the king, and the archbishop, were amicably settled.

At the same time, the king of Sicily entered into engagements with the king, that the county of Provence after his decease, should revert, with all its rights and privileges, to the king, and be united for ever to the crown. In return for this, queen Margaret of Englanddaughter to the king of Sicily, and widow of Henry VI. was released from her imprisonment by the king of France who paid king Edward fifty thousand golden crowns for her ransom. In consequence, queen Margaret joined in the cession of the county of Provence to the king after her father's death, on having a sufficient pension secured to her annually for her life.

On the 13th day of June, the seneschal of Normandy, count of Maulevrier, and son to the late sir Pierre de Brézé, killed at the battle of Montlehery, went to the village of Romiers, near Dourdan, which belonged to him, for the sake of hunting. He took with him his lady, the princess Charlotte of France, natural daughter of the late king Charles VII. by Agnes Sorel. After the chace, when they were returned to Romiers to sup and lodge, the seneschal retired to a single-bedded room for the night. His lady retired also to another chamber,—when, moved by her disorderly passions (as the husband said), she called to her a gentleman from Poitou, named Pierre de la Vergne, who was headhuntsman to the seneschal, and made him lie with her. This was told to the seneschal by the master of his household, called Pierre l'Apothicaire; when he instantly arose, and, taking his sword, broke open the door of the chamber where his lady and the huntsman were in bed. The huntsman started up in his shirt,—and the seneschal gave him first a severe blow with his sword on the head, and then thrust it through his body, and killed him on the spot. This done, he went into an adjoining room where his children lay; and, finding his wife hid under the coverlid of their bed, dragged her thence, by the arms, along the ground, and struck her between the shoulders with his sword. On her raising herself on her knees, he ran his sword through her breast, and she fell down dead. He sent her body for interment to the abbey of Coulons, where her obsequies were performed,—and he caused the huntsman to be buried in the garden of the house wherein he had been killed.

While the king was at Lyon, he kept a large army, ready for any event, in that neighbourhood,—and there heard that theduke of Lorraine had joined the Swiss, Berners, and Germans, in their opposition to the duke of Burgundy, who, in his madness and folly, had again entered Swisserland. He had with him a considerable train of artillery, and a great number of merchants, who, bringing provisions, followed the army, that was encamped before a little town in Swisserland, called Morat, with the intent to besiege it.

On the 22nd day of June, very early in the morning, the duke of Lorraine made an attack on the duke's van, and defeated the whole of it. This van consisted of more than twelve thousand combatants, and was under the command of the count de Romont[66], who, in great haste, found means to escape with eleven others.

The Swiss that were in Morat now joined the troops of the duke of Lorraine, forced the camp of the Burgundians, and put to death all they met without mercy[67]. The duke of Burgundy was gladto retreat with the few of his army who had escaped this general slaughter, and again fled, frequently looking behind him to Joigné, which was distant fifteen or twenty french leagues from the field of battle. He again lost all his baggage, which consisted of his plate, tapestries, and numberless valuables. The Swiss and Germans, in consideration of the great services the duke of Lorraine had done them, presented him with all the burgundian artillery that had been taken, to make him amends for his artillery which the duke of Burgundy had carried off from Nancy when he had stormed that town.

According to the accounts of the heralds and pursuivants who examined the field of battle, there were twenty thousand seven hundred men slain this day, as well within as without the encampment.

The Swiss pursued the Burgundians after the defeat, and slew many on their flight to Joigné,—and set fire to and destroyed the whole of the county of Romont,and put to death without mercy all who fell into their hands.

When this business was done, the duke of Lorraine withdrew to Strasbourg, and departed thence with four thousand combatants, to lay siege to his town of Nancy, in which were from a thousand to twelve hundred men in garrison for the duke of Burgundy. Having formed his siege, he went into Swisserland, and returned thither with a strong reinforcement of men.

The king, having made a long stay at Lyon, went to Plessis les Tours, to the queen and dauphin, and remained there some time. He thence made a pilgrimage to the church of our Lady of Behuart, to offer up his thanksgivings that his affairs had prospered so well during his stay at Lyon. He sent also many rich gifts to churches wherein the holy Virgin was particularly worshipped. Among others, he gave two hundred golden crowns to the church of our Lady at Ardembourg in Flanders. On his return from Lyon, he was accompanied by two dames of that town as far as Orleans: one was called La Gigonne, whohad been married to a merchant of Lyon,—the other was named La Passefillon, wife to another merchant of the same place called Anthony Bourcier. The king, in order to do honour to these two women, made them very handsome presents,—and married La Gigonne to a young Parisian, named Geoffry de Caulers, to whom he gave money and offices. The husband of La Passefillon he appointed counsellor in the chamber of accounts at Paris, in the room of master John Reilhac, whom, for this purpose, he displaced. On leaving Orleans, he put these women under the protection of Isabeau de Caulers, wife to master Philip le Begue, examiner of accounts in the exchequer at Paris, to conduct them to that city.

The king went from Orleans to Amboise and Tours, where the queen and the dauphin were, and thence on a pilgrimage to our Lady of Behuart, and other places of devotion, and then returned again to Plessis les Tours.

When the town of Nancy had been some time besieged by the duke of Lorraine, it was surrendered to him on capitulation,that the Burgundians should march away in safety with their baggage. It was not more than a month after the duke of Lorraine had revictualled and regarrisoned Nancy, before the duke of Burgundy, who, on his defeat at Morat, had retreated to the town of Rivieres, near Salines, in Burgundy, where he had assembled as large a force as he was able, appeared before it, to besiege it in his turn. The duke of Lorraine, in the mean time, had gone into Swisserland, to collect a sufficiency of troops to succour Nancy, and to raise the siege.

About this period, the king of Portugal, who laid claim to the crown of Spain in right of his queen, left Portugal, and came to Lyon, and thence to Tours, to solicit the aid of the king in the recovery of his lawful rights. He was kindly received by the king, and remained some time at Tours, where he was handsomely feasted by many of the nobles, but all at the king's expense. On leaving the king, he went to Orleans, where he was well received, and thence came to Paris, and made his public entry.

He arrived on Saturday, the 23d of November, between two and three in the afternoon, at the gate of St Jacques; but the different ranks in Paris went out to meet him as far as the windmill, dressed in their holyday clothes, and in the same manner as if he had been king of France. The provost of marchands and the sheriffs issued out first, dressed in robes of cloth and white and red damask, trimmed with martin skins: they were accompanied by the burghers and officers of the town. After them came sir Robert d'Estouteville, provost of Paris, attended by his lieutenants, civil and criminal, the king's counsellors, and practitioners at the Châtelet, who were very numerous, and decently dressed. Then came the lord chancellor d'Oriole, the presidents and counsellors of the court of parliament and of the exchequer, and the officers of the mint and of the treasury, followed by numbers of prelates, archbishops, bishops, and other noble persons.

Thus attended, the king of Portugal entered the gate of St Jacques, where he again met the provost of marchands andthe sheriffs, who presented him with a very handsome canopy, emblazoned at each corner with his royal arms, and in the center with the arms of Spain. Having this canopy supported over him, he was conducted to the church of St Estienne des Grecs, where he found the rectors of the university, who harangued him on his welcome to Paris. He then advanced to the church of Nôtre Dame, and was there received most honourably by the bishop. Having finished his prayers, he proceeded across the bridge of Nôtre Dame, and was met at the entrance of Marchepalu by fifty lighted torches, that placed themselves around the canopy. At the end of the bridge of Nôtre Dame, a large scaffold was raised against the house of a mantua-maker, named Motin, on which was represented a pageant, allusive to his arrival at Paris; and then he was conducted to his lodgings, at the house of master Laurence Herbelot, in the rue des Prouvaires, where he was well received.

Many rich presents were made him, as well by the city as by other persons,—and he was carried to see all that was remarkableat Paris and in its neighbourhood. He way first taken to the court of parliament, which was very resplendent,—for all the chambers were adorned and hung with tapestries. In the great chamber, he was met by the lord chancellor d'Oriole, the presidents, prelates, and counsellors, handsomely dressed; and a cause was pleaded before him, touching the patronage of the crown, by master François Hasle, archdeacon of Paris, and the attorney-general, who were opposed by master Pierre de Brabant, advocate in that court, and the curate of St Eustache. The pleadings of the two advocates were very eloquent and pleasant to hear: after which, he was shown the different chambers and apartments of the court.

On another day, he was carried to the hall in the bishop's palace, to be present at a theological disputation; and thence he went to see the prisons and court of the Châtelet, which was likewise hung with tapestry,—and all the officers of the court were dressed each in his official robe.

Sunday, the first of December, all the members of the university passed in processionunder the windows of his lodgings, to attend high mass at the church of St Germain l'Auxerrois. In his different visits, he was always attended by the lord de Gaucourt, who gave him, at his hôtel, a magnificently rich supper, to which was invited a very numerous company of both sexes.

In the month of October, it was discovered, at Tours, that a person called Jeanbon, a native of Wales, who had a handsome pension from the king, and who was married to a woman from Mantes with a good fortune, had conspired, at the solicitation of the duke of Burgundy (as he himself had confessed), to poison the dauphin of France. For this crime, he was condemned, by the provost of the king's household, to be beheaded. At the place of execution, he was asked if he wished to say any thing more; he replied, Nothing, except that he hoped the king would be pleased to have compassion on his wife and children. The prisoner was then told, that he might have the choice of being beheaded or of having his eyes put out. He chose the last; and it was done by the provost, who then gave him up to his wife,—andthe king ordered that his pension should be continued in her name.

FOOTNOTES:[65]Romont,—a town of Swisserland, in the canton of Fribourg, and capital of an extensive bailiwick, which wasformerly a county.[66]Count de Romont. Jacques de Savoye count de Romont, baron de Vaux, son to Louis duke de Savoye and Anne of Cyprus.[67]In an open building at Morat, the blanched bones of the Burgundians slain at this battle are now shown.

[65]Romont,—a town of Swisserland, in the canton of Fribourg, and capital of an extensive bailiwick, which wasformerly a county.

[66]Count de Romont. Jacques de Savoye count de Romont, baron de Vaux, son to Louis duke de Savoye and Anne of Cyprus.

[67]In an open building at Morat, the blanched bones of the Burgundians slain at this battle are now shown.

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