CHAP. VI.

THE KING ORDERS THE BANNERS OF PARIS TO BE MUSTERED.—OF THE WAR WITH LIEGE.—OF THE PRAGMATIC, WHICH A LEGATE FROM THE POPE AND BALUE ATTEMPT TO ABOLISH.—THE KING PARDONS THE DUKE OF ALENÇON AND THE LORD DU LAU.—THE COUNT DE SAINT POL CONCLUDES A TRUCE BETWEEN THE KING AND THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, WITHOUT INCLUDING THE LIEGEOIS.—OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED IN THE YEAR MCCCCLXVII.

Onthe 14th of September, the king ordered all the banners of Paris to be mustered without the walls; and he issued his commands, that on that day all persons, of whatever rank or condition, should appear under their proper banner properly accoutred for war. Nevertheless, should there be any who had not yet prepared their armour, they must make their appearance with defenceable staves, under pain of death.

It was a fine sight to see the different banners march out of Paris, each handsomely arrayed, and without noise or confusion. They amounted to from sixty to eighty thousand helmets, of which full thirty thousand were armed in brigandines, plain armour, and jackets. When they were drawn up in battle-array, the king and queen and their court, came out to see them, which they did with much pleasure,—for never was seen so numerous an army issue out of any town before. There were seventy-seven banners of the different trades, without including the standards and guidons of the court of parliament, of the chamber of accounts, of the treasury, of the mint, of the tax offices, of the Châtelet, and of the Hôtel de Ville, under which were as many, if not more, able-bodied men than under all the other banners.

Several tons of wine had been brought from Paris, and placed at different spots for those under muster to refresh themselves with, as their heads had been taken off. They occupied a very large tract of ground; for their line extendedfrom the dunghills between the gates of St Anthony and the Temple, along the ditches of Paris, and through the vineyards to St Anthony des Champs, and from the walls of St Anthony des Champs to the Grange of Reuilly, and thence as far as Conflans. From Conflans, it returned by the Grange aux Merciers, along the river Seine to the king's bulwark of the tower of Billy, and from thence along the walls as far as the gate of the bastile of St Anthony. It was a marvellous sight to view the great numbers who appeared at this muster,—and several persons maintained, that as many remained in Paris as had come out.

The king set out from Paris on the 22d of September, in the afternoon, on a pilgrimage on foot to St Denis, having with him the bishop of Evreux, the lord de Crussol[8]. Philip L'Huillier, and others. Between Paris and St Denis, he was accosted by three vagabonds, who demanded pardon for having been thieves, robbers on the highways, and murderers,which the king kindly granted them. He remained the rest of the day at St Denis, until vespers on the morrow, when he returned to his hôtel of the Tournelles, and supped that night at the hôtel of sir Denis de Hasselin, his pantler, and assessor of the taxes at Paris, who had lately become brother-gossip to the king, on account of a daughter his wife had lately been brought to bed of, and to whom the king had been godfather by the proxy of the bishop of Evreux: the godmothers were mesdames de Bueil[9]and de Montglat[10]. The king made good cheer at this supper; and three handsome baths had been prepared for him, richly adorned, in the supposition that he would have taken his pleasure; but he declined doing so, because he had a cold, and because the season was not kindly.

At this time, a serious warfare broke out between the Liegeois and the duke ofBurgundy, in alliance with the bishop of Liege, cousin to the duke of Burgundy and brother to the duke of Bourbon, whom the Liegeois marched to besiege in the town of Huys[11]; and after having been long before it, they gained it,—but the bishop escaped. The king of France, in the mean time, ordered four hundred of his own lances to march to the aid of the Liegeois, under the command of the count de Dammartin, Salazart, Robert de Coniham[12], and Stevenot de Vignoles, together with six thousand franc-archers, taken from Champagne, the Soissonnois, and other parts of the Isle of France.

The duke of Burgundy, hearing of the success of the Liegeois, in the capture of Huys, and that they had killed many Burgundians, assembled his army, with the determination to destroy the wholecountry of Liege with fire and sword, and he had it thus notified in his proclamations.

Those who published this notice held in one hand a naked sword, and in the other a burning torch, to signify, that the war about to commence was to be carried on with fire and sword.

In this month of September, the king gave his letters for the abolition of the pragmatic sanction[13]to a legate come from Rome for that purpose: which letters were read and published in the court of the Châtelet of Paris without any opposition. But when master John Balue, on the first of October, carried them, during the vacations, to the court of parliament to do the same, he found theremaster John de St Romain, the king's attorney-general, who formerly opposed the effect and execution of these letters, which greatly displeased Balue; and he uttered many menaces against St Romain,—telling him, that the king would be much angered at his conduct, and remove him from his office.

M. de St Romain paid no great attention to his menaces, and replied, that as the king had given him his office, he would exercise it during the king's pleasure; and that when he should please he might displace him; but that he was determined to lose every thing sooner than consent to any act that was detrimental to his own conscience, to the crown, or to the public welfare. He told Balue, that he ought to be greatly ashamed for having brought forward and supported such a measure.

In consequence of this, the heads of the university waited on the legate, and appealed against these letters to a general council. They went thence to the court of Châtelet, where they made a similar appeal, and had their opposition enregistered.

The king sent this legate and the bishop of Evreux, who had lately been made cardinal[14]with master John Ladriesche, treasurer of France, and others, to the count de Charolois, to execute some commissions he had charged them with.

On the 8th of October, one called Swestre le Moyne, a native of Auxerre, having been imprisoned at Thiron[15], a long time for certain crimes, was this day drowned in the Seine, near the Grange aux Merciers, according to the sentence of sir Tristan de l'Hermite, provost of the marshals of the king's household.

Sunday the 11th, there was a prodigious storm of thunder and lightning, about eight o'clock at night, and before and after it the most extraordinary heat that had been ever felt at that season, which seemed to all persons very unnatural. The following day, the king went from his hôtel at the Tournelles, to hear vespers at Nôtre Dame,—after which, a processionwas made by the bishop and canons of that church, when the king retired to repose himself some time at the hôtel of his first president of the parliament, John Dauvet.

The king did not leave the president's house until dark night, when, looking up, he perceived a bright star over the hôtel, which followed the king until he had entered the hôtel of the Tournelles, when it disappeared, and was not seen again.

News came to the king, on Thursday the 15th of October, that a large body of Bretons, having gained possession of the town and castle of Caen, had thence marched to Bayeux, and held them both against the king, which vexed him much,—and he sent thither instantly the marshal le Lohéac, then with him, to take proper measures respecting these towns as he had under his charge one hundred lances from Brittany.

The duke of Alençon, who had been convicted of high treason during the reign of the late king, at a court of justice held at Vendôme, and of having practised with the English, the ancient enemies ofFrance, had been condemned, in consequence of his confessions, to death, saving the good pleasure of the king. His life had been spared, but he remained a close prisoner in the castle of Loches until the present king's accession, when he was fully pardoned, and all proceedings against him were annulled. It happened, that a lame man had been one of the principal evidences against this duke, and was much afraid of his revenge when set at liberty,—to avoid which, he presented himself before the king, and solicited to be taken under his protection. This the king promised, and personally commanded the duke no way to injure this man, his family or his fortune, as he was under his especial protection. The duke engaged to perform all the king wished; but he soon forgot his promises,—and, having had the lame man seized and brought before him, caused him instantly to be put to death. The wife of the murdered man appeared before the king, to make her loss known, and have redress for her injury; in consequence, the king seized on all the towns and lands of the duke,—but it was not longbefore they were restored, and he was again pardoned. The duke, to show his gratitude for these repeated marks of favour, offered to give up his towns to the Bretons, and to the duke of Berry, in opposition to the interests of the king.

At this time, sir Anthony de Château-neuf, lord du Lau, grand butler of France, and seneschal of Guienne, who had been chamberlain to the king, and more beloved by him than any other courtier, who had amended his fortune by the king's service, to the amount of three or four hundred thousand golden crowns, had fallen into disgrace, and was confined in the castle of Sully sur Loire[16]; but in the month of October, the king sent sir Tristan de l'Hermite, and master Guillaume Cerisay, lately appointed griffier civil to the parliament, to take the lord du Lau from the prisons at Sully, and to carry him to the castle of Usson[17]in Auvergne. While they were thus transporting him, a report wasspread, and long continued, that the lord du Lau was drowned[18].

Tuesday, the 22d of October, the king left Paris to go into Normandy, and this night lay at Villepreux[19], and on the morrow at Mantes. Prior to his departure, he sent off such of his captains as were then near his person to collect the men under their command, and to follow him with them into Normandy or wherever else he might be. He also published an edict, to declare, that henceforth his pleasure was that all officers should remain in peaceable possession of their places, and that there should be no vacation, but by death, resignation, or confiscation; that should he, through importunities, grant any office contrary to this his declaration, he willed, that it should not be valid, but that strict and equal justice should be done to all.

From Mantes, he went to Vernon sur Seine, where he staid some time;during which the constable there joined him, and found means to obtain from the king a truce for six months with the count de Charolois, without including the Liegeois, who had already made war against the count, in the expectation of being supported by the king, according to the promises he had made them, and they now found themselves quite abandoned by him. The constable returned to the duke of Burgundy with the intelligence of the truce being signed.

Soon after this, the cardinal of Evreux, and the others who had been sent by the king to Flanders, came to him at Vernon; and he thence went to Chartres, whither he sent for the greater part of his artillery from Orleans, that it might be transported to Alençon, and the other towns of which he wanted to gain the possession. The king again sent master John Prevost to Flanders, with a copy of the aforesaid truce to the duke of Burgundy.

On the 16th of November, the cardinal, the treasurer Ladriesche, master John Berart, and master Geoffry Alnequin, came to Paris to review their banners,and to execute other commissions given them by the king.

The king left Chartres and went to Orleans, Clery, and other towns thereabouts, and thence to Vendôme and Mont St Michel, having a large train of artillery with him, and a great number of men at arms. During this time, the Bretons issued out in arms from their country, and gained Avranches and other towns in Normandy. They spread over the whole of that part of the country, as far as Caen, Bayeux and Coutances.

The duke of Burgundy, in consequence of the truce with France, wherein the Liegeois were not mentioned, entered that country unmolested,—when, finding that they had been deserted by the king, and that they should be destroyed, they surrendered all their towns to the count de Charolois, on condition of paying him a large sum of money, and having parts of the gates and walls of their towns pulled down.

FOOTNOTES:[8]Louis lord de Crussol,—grand pantler of France.[9]De Bueil. Jeanne, natural daughter to the king married to Anthony de Bueil count de Sancerre, son to John admiral of France.[10]De Montglat. Germaine Hesselin, wife of John Beauveau lord of Montglat.[11]Huys,—according to modern France, is in the department of the Ourthe, on the Meuse.[12]Robert de Coniham. Probably an officer, or the commander, of the scots brigade in the service of France, Robert Coningham. He and his men were defeated by sir Charles de Melun, in Normandy, when on their march to aid the duke of Berry.[13]Pragmatic sanction. A confirmation of a decree made in the council of Basil, whereby (among other things established for the reformation of the ecclesiastical state) the election of prelates, and collation to benefices, during vacancy, as also the decision of suits concerning them, (usurped, some time before, by the court of Rome) was restored unto the canons, priests, or monks of the diocese. This information was published by an edict of Charles VII. in the year 1438.—Cotgrave.—See a former note, vol. x. p. 94.[14]Cardinal. He was created cardinal 1464, according to Ciaconius.[15]Thiron,—a small town in Beauce, election of Chartres.[16]Sully sur Loire,—eight leagues from Orleans.[17]Usson,—four leagues from Brionde[18]The lord du Lau did not die until 1483 or 1484.[19]Villepreux,—two leagues from Versailles.

[8]Louis lord de Crussol,—grand pantler of France.

[9]De Bueil. Jeanne, natural daughter to the king married to Anthony de Bueil count de Sancerre, son to John admiral of France.

[10]De Montglat. Germaine Hesselin, wife of John Beauveau lord of Montglat.

[11]Huys,—according to modern France, is in the department of the Ourthe, on the Meuse.

[12]Robert de Coniham. Probably an officer, or the commander, of the scots brigade in the service of France, Robert Coningham. He and his men were defeated by sir Charles de Melun, in Normandy, when on their march to aid the duke of Berry.

[13]Pragmatic sanction. A confirmation of a decree made in the council of Basil, whereby (among other things established for the reformation of the ecclesiastical state) the election of prelates, and collation to benefices, during vacancy, as also the decision of suits concerning them, (usurped, some time before, by the court of Rome) was restored unto the canons, priests, or monks of the diocese. This information was published by an edict of Charles VII. in the year 1438.—Cotgrave.—See a former note, vol. x. p. 94.

[14]Cardinal. He was created cardinal 1464, according to Ciaconius.

[15]Thiron,—a small town in Beauce, election of Chartres.

[16]Sully sur Loire,—eight leagues from Orleans.

[17]Usson,—four leagues from Brionde

[18]The lord du Lau did not die until 1483 or 1484.

[19]Villepreux,—two leagues from Versailles.

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