-I-I  h     ~,,,,,:,'Z~!,f...;.;    h'..',;.~!!J
i      ~i,;~~~~~~~~~~~~"'"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'~.~.,                       
11111/;IJJI'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I i'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.;71~~~~~~~~~;:::...
EIVI I~~~ —IL
I     ~    ~   ~    ~:.:..~.!:!;:I. ~::~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i..                             i?;: ~l'  )'/:   ~:~,~,x,'   i'~' ~:..,             __ —
/I,.,....:i:.::~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i:-~'Ir,:::                                                                fi~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~j~~~~~~~~~i-L:;,'''~~~~~~.




HISTO RY
OF
HARLES THE BOLD
DUKE OF BURGU/NDY.
BY
JOHN FOSTER KIRK.
VOL. I.
PHILADELPHIA 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1864.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by
JOHN FOSTER KIRK,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.




TO
JAMES LAWRENCE, ESQUIRE,
OF BOSTON.
MY DEAR Mi. LAWRENCE,
I wish to be permitted to connect your name with this book, as
well on account of the associations which first led you to feel an interest
in its composition as because you, more than any other of my friends,
have known the obstacles in the way, and have done all that friend —
or man -could do to remove them.
}Believe me, dear fMr. Lawrence,
Ever faithfully and affectionately yours,
J. F. KIRK.








PRE   A CE.
FoR the greater number of the works consulted,in
the preparation of this History, the author was indebted to the kindness of the late William H. Prescott,
who employed all the facilities at his command for
procuring the requisite materials.  Circumstances
might be mentioned to explain the generous interest
thus displayed in a doubtful enterprise by one who
knew, because he had himself surmounted them, the
difficulties of historical investigation. But, in truth,
nothing was more characteristic of that distinguished
and lamented man, than his readiness to afford encouragement, counsel, or assistance to the humblest
of his fellow-laborers in an ample and ever widening
field.
Mr. Charles Folsom, of Cambridge, Massachusetts,
whose critical acumen, happily for more than one
generation of literary men, has found less congenial
employment in the public castigation than in the
private correction of faults and inaccuracies, gave
kind and valuable aid in the revision of the press; an
advantage, however, confined unfortunately to the
first volume, owing to a greater rapidity in the printing of the second.
(v)




vi                  PREFACE.
To several other gentlemen  whose merits and
accomplishments are widely known, —to Professor
Parsons of Harvard College, the Reverend William
R. Alger, Mr. James A. Dupee, and in a very particular degree to Mr. James T. Fields,- the writer is
under obligations for various friendly offices which
have facilitated the prosecution of his task. It can
detract nothing from the force of this acknowledgment to add, that the warmth with which such
services were rendered is a national as well as anl
individual trait. All who are well acquainted with
the social condition of the United States will admit
that it is the country where men are best able to
help themselves, and most ready to help others.
The career of Charles the Bold has been commonly
regarded as merely a romantic episode in European
history. That the subject is in truth one of a very
different nature, has, however, been apparent to the
Continental scholars who within the last twenty
years have made a special study of its different portions, and whose researches have done much for the
elucidation of its obscurer features. In the volumes
now submitted to the public, to be completed by a
third which is in  course of preparation, an  attempt has been made to combine in a symmetrical
narrative whatever the chronicles, the documentary
evidence and the fruits of critical inquiry and discussion could fuhrnish for the just appreciation of anz
eventful period. Recent explorations ini Belgiunm,
in Switzerland, in Austria, and other German states,
have brought to light a quantity of material, which




PREFACE.                  Vii
has been rightly considered as claimring for the chief
actors and notable transactions of that period an
ampler presentment, a stricter analysis, and in some
cases a more impartial judgment, than they had
hitherto obtained.  Those, therefore, in whom  the
masterly delineations of Philippe de Cornmines, the
skilfully excuted mosaics of:L. de Barante, or the
fascinating pictures of Scott, may have suggested a
wish for fuller or more accurate information, will not,
it is hoped, be disposed to reject the contribution
here offered. While it might be more satisfactory to
gathler-the results from  the original sources themnselves, the most inquisitive can scarcely be expected.to roam over so wide a field, in sparch of memoirs
and documents scattered among the publications of
Royal Coinmmissions and learned Societies, written in
various and often in obscure dialects, and requiring
for their comprehension a previous familiarity with
details.
That the material has been duly sifted, to the
extent of the author's'ability, need hardly be said,
for the canons of historical composition are now too
well settled and too generally understood to allow of
any wanton negligence on the part of the writer, or
any willing credulity on that of the reader. The
one thing essential to the value of such a composition is a strict conformity with facts, as far as these
can be ascertained.  No one expects from  it the
artistic harmony, the unity and completeness, the
agreement of form  and substance, which give their
highest. charm to products of the pure imagination.




nlll                 PREFACE.
And even that sense of reality which forms the compensatory balance is necessarily imperfect and constantly disturbed.  Apart from the common liability
to errors and oversights, the medium  through which
the story passes will give its own coloring to the
dryest as well as the most brilliant work.  History
at the best is but an echo, a faint reverberation of
the tumult of the world amongst the thoughts and
experiences of a single mind.
London, lNovember, 1863.




CONTENTS OF VOL. 1.
BOOK I.
CHAPTER I.
PA G E
FRANCE AT THE CLOSE OF THE FOURTEENTH, AND IN
THE FIRST HALF OF THE FIFTEENTH, CENTU4RY.   1
CHAPTER II.
DOMINIONS, COURT, AND POLICY OF PHILIP THE GOOD.  48
CHAPTER III.
THE HEIR OF BURGUNDY -THE HEIR OF FRANCE -
ACCESSION OF LOUIS XI. - (1433-1461)..  121
CHAPTER IV.
CHARACTER OF LOUIS - HIS POSITION AND AImIS —EKBROILMIENTS WITH THE NOBLES - (1461-1465).. 18G
CHAPTER V.
WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL  BATTLE OF MONTLHERY
- (1465).......38
CHAPTER VI.
WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL —BLOCKADE OF PARISTREATY OF CONFLANS - (1465)....... 279
VOL. I.      b                         (ix)




CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
CHAPTER VII.
PAGE
LIEGE -ITS HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS -REVOLUTION
UNDER Louis OF BOURBON-THE "PITEOUS PEACE"
- (1466)........ 321
CHAPTER VIII.
HOW THE IKING RECOVERED NORMBANDY - STATE OF
DINANT - (1466)............  362
CHAPTER IX.
FATE OF DINANT - SUBMISSION OF LIEGE - DEATH OF
PHILIP THE GOOD- (1466-1467)......  403
B O OK II.
CHAPTER I.
BRUGES AND G-ENT-THE JOYOUS ENTRY AND THE
" FOOLS OF SAINT LIEIVIN " - RELATIVE POSITIO)NS
OF Louis AND CHARLES - (1467)....... 441.
CHAPTER II.
RENEWED WAR WITH LIEGE - MEDIATION OF SAINTPOL - BATTLE  OF BRUSTEN - SURRENDER  OF
LIEGE - (1467)...........  474
CHAPTER III.
CHARLES'S HOUSEHOLD AND ]MODE OF GOVERN-MIENT —
HIS MARRIAGE WITH MARGARET OF YORK - HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS OF LOUIS - HIS VISIT TO
PERoNN}E  (1468)............                 503
CHAPTER IV.
TREATY OF PERONNE - FINAL RUIN OF LIEGE - (1468) 561




HISTORY
OF
CHARLES THE BOLD.
BOOK I.
CHAPTER I.
FRANCE AT THE CLOSE OF THE FOURTEENTH, AND IN THE FIRST
HALF OF THE FIFTEENTH, CENTURY. 
WHEN the chivalrous but unfortunate King John
of France, in fulfilment of his knightly pledge, was
about to return to the English prison where he
was destined to end his life, he deposited with the
chancellor of Burgundy an instrument whereby he
granted that duchy as a fief to his youngest and
favorite son, Philip surnamed the Bold, who, while
a mere boy, had fought gallantly by his side at
Poitiers, and who had shared the earlier years of
his captivity.
By the monarch's desire, however, this donation
was kept secret until after his death, when it was
published and confirmed by his successor,
Charles the Fifth. It conferred on Philip all
the rights and prerogatives of feudal sovereignty,
VOL. I.      1                        (1)




2              ORIGIN  OF THE BURGUNDIANS.                 [BooK I.
subject to the usual reservation of homage and reversion to the crown.
It was in the fifth century that the Burgundiansa tribe of somewhat uncertain origin, but commonly
supposed to have been a branch of the great Teutonic racel    had  forced  their way across the Rhine
and the Alps, and founded one of those semi-barbarous
kingdoms which arose on the ruins of the Roman
Empire. The existence of this kingdom was of short
duration; but others succeeded, bearing the same
name, though comprising a territory of ill-defined
extent with constantly fluctuating bounds." At length,
through a gradual and obscure process of decay, the
monarchy was broken up, and its dissevered portions
M. de Belloguet, who has dis- tepee, Description gen6rale et parcussed this subject with an erudition  ticulibre du Duch6 de Bourgogne,
surpassing that of his predecessors,  (4 vols. 8vo, Dijon, 1847,) tom. i.
arrives at three conclusions, the first p. 14 et seq.
of which he regards as certain, the    2 According to Plancher, there
latter two as highly probable: 1. were in all five different kingdoms
That the Burgundians were original-  of Burgundy.  Some of them, howly Vandals.  2. That they received  ever, were called also by other names
an infusion of new blood, a race of — Arles, Provence, &c. In fact, the
chiefs, and the name by which alone  Burgundian sovereignty was somethey are known in history, from a  times a separate and independent,
Scandinavian emigration.  3. That, sometimes a tributary, possession.
before their entry into Gaul, they  At the period of its greatest expanhad conquered and enslaved some  sion it comprised the whole country
of the Roman colonists and garri- between the Vosges and the Medisons established in Germany, and, terranean, the Piedmontese Alps
by the subsequent enfranchisement  and the mountains of Vivarais. Hisand affiliation of these captives, had  toire de Bourgogne, (4 vols. folio,
introduced another and altogether  Dijon, 1739-1783,) tom. i. lib. 5.
foreign element into their national  See also Gingins-la-Sarra, M6moires
character and. language.  See the  pour servir h 1'Histoire des Roy" Questions Bourguignonnes," pre-  aumes de Provence et de Bourgogne
fixed to the second edition of Cour-  Jurane, (Lausanne, 1851-1853.)




CHAP. I.]    FRANCE AND THE GREAT FIEFS.
passed into various hands, and so ceased to have a
common history.
One province, the first to attain an independent
existence, but the last to relinquish the common
name, was ruled over, during several successive ages,
by a line of princes connected originally by descent
from the same stock, and subsequently by intermarriage, with the royal house of France. Burgundy
seems, however, never to have been properly a French
fief, until at the death of Philip de Rouvres, the last
duke of what was afterwards to be known as the "s first
race,' it passed, not by reversion but by inheritance,
to King John, by whom it was disposed of, a few
years later, in the manner already stated.
This transfer, though dictated by motives of family
affection, was in strict accordance with the prevailing
ideas and policy of the age. Feudal obligations were
still regarded as the natural ligaments of the monarchy, and were supposed to be strengthened by an
additional tie when the frontier provinces were bestowed as fiefs upon the near relatives of the sovereign.
Yet France hadl already experienced the fatal
effects of that division of her territory whereby the
vital force that should have been equally diffused
throughout the body politic, furnishing energy and
resources to the directing head, had been confined
to certain of the subordinate members. It is,to this
cause, and not to any natural hostility of races or
rivalry of powers, that the long and desolating wars
waged on the French soil, between the monarchs of




4         FRANCE AND THE GREAT FIEFS.   [BOOK I.
England and France, are to be attributed.  The
Plantagenets were vassals of the French crown; they
had a permanent foothold on the French territory;
and this first excited their ambition to establish their
supremacy in France, and enabled them to seize the
opportunity for invasion whenever one kingdom was
united and strong, the other divided and powerless.
But the Norman sovereigns of England were not
related, at least by any close affinity, to the Capetian
race. They had acquired their chief possessions in
France as they had acquired the English crown, not
by grant or inheritance, but by the power of their
arms.  They were foreigners and open enemies;
their only adherents in France were secret traitors
or avowed rebels; and they could not, therefore,
mask their designs against it under the pretext of
serving the nation and reforming the state.
France nourished within her bosom foes more dangerous than Edward the Third or Henry the Fifth.
The monarchy was in peril of being overthrown and
crushed by what had been regarded as its strongest
bulwarks. The dukes of Burgundy were a branch
of the house of Valois.  As princes of the blood
they claimed a part in the management of the affairs
of the kingdom, and more especially the right to
interfere, on behalf of the nation, whenever the
embarrassments or incompetence of the government
occasioned demands for its reform.  At the same
time they exercised in their own dominions, comprising some of the fairest portions of the monarchy,
a sway that was virtually independent. Beyond the




CHAP. I.] STRUGGLES OF FEUDALISM WITH ROYALTY.   5
limits of the monarchy they acquired territory and
dominion, becoming sovereigns of foreign states and
vassals of foreign sovereigns. They used their power
and availed themselves of their position to weaken
the authority of the crown and to convulse the
realm.  They were the authors or abettors of all
the civil dissensions of the time. Their court was
the refuge of the disaffected; their wealth furnished
the resources of rebellion; and under their standard
feudalism maintained its last struggle with royalty
-with the principles that were to form the basis
of civil government and national unity during the
three succeeding centuries.
The history of that struggle forms the main subject of the present work.  The most conspicuous
feature in the career of Charles the Bold is his
rivalry with Louis the Eleventh —the perpetual
war which they waged against each other, by force
and by intrigue, on the battle-field and in foreign
courts —a war never more real or more deadly
than when carried on under the show of peace. In
whatever direction the narrative may wander, it is
still connected with this central point. There is no
digression, no episode, that does not gravitate towards it. In the efforts of Louis to raise the throne
to a loftier position, to establish a firm government,
to concentrate in his own person all the powers of
the state he was confronted at every step by the
mailed figure of his haughty vassal.  Wherever
Charles turned his ambitious glance, whatever spot
was the scene of his daring projects, there his cun



6    STRUGGLES OF FEUDALISM WITH ROYALTY.  [BOOK I.
ning enemy was at work, sowing distrust among his
allies, gaining over his adherents by promises and
gold, rending his plans, mining the ground beneath
his feet, and by secret machinations preparing his
ruin. It was such a contest as writers of romance
are fond of depicting, between combatants dissimilarly armed and contrasted in their methods of
attack, yet not unequally matched;-the  one confident in his -superior strength and stouter weapon,
urgent and daring in his attempts; the other agile
and full of address, warily parrying the heaviest
strokes, recovering himself when hardest pushed,
and returning with his slender rapier swift and
stealthy thrusts  that draw  away the life-blood  of
his foe.
Such being  our subject, it is necessary that we
should enter upon it by a brief account of the leading events of French history —which  is also  the
history of the dukes of Burgundy- at the close of
the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth
century.  A meagre and most imperfect sketch must
serve to recall to the reader's mind the character
of that momentous epoch, so often  illustrated  by
laborious and minute research and by the highest
efforts of historic art.3' It cannot be denied that the French chroniclers and the greater
history - especially the medieval amount of documentary matter — at
history - of France has been far least of such as possesses any genmore carefully explored and copi- eral interest - published in the forously illustrated than that of Eng- mer country, no English writer has
land.  Leaving out of view the embodied the national annals in a
acknowledged superiority of the consecutive narrative with the full



CHAP. I.]              PHILIP THE BOLD.                           7
The  death  of Charles the  Fifth, — justly
[1380.]
called   the Wise," -  under whose skilful rule
the country had in some degree recovered from the
disasters of the preceding reign, must in any event
have been a great calamity to France. Viewed in
connection with the actual consequences, it seemed
like a blow  from  the  hand of a wrathful Providence.
The minority  of Charles the  Sixth, and  his subsequent insanity, the mischievous effects of which were
only aggravated by short but frequent intervals of
lucidity, left the nation for nearly half a century
without a head. Among the princes of the blood,
the duke of Burgundy alone displayed either energy  or  talent.   He  stepped  before  his  two  elder
brothers, the dukes of Anjou and Berrin and assumed
the  largest share  in  the  government of  the  kingness, sagacity, and impartiality of  study in the original sources the peSismondi - or examined the causes riods which he has treated will be
of social and political revolutions  loath to admit, not merely the light
with the learning and philosophy of  which he has shed upon the obscurGuizot - or penetrated the meaning  est points, and the interest which he
and evoked the spirit of the Past has given to the driest details, but
with the vivid imagination of Miche- his extreme accuracy, and the astonlet. The last-mentioned writer has  ishing faculty of condensation which
seldom received from foreign critics  has enabled him to bring together
the tribute justly due to his splendid  within so small a compass all that was
but not less solid genius. He has  essential in the way either of fact or
been called a poet, a dramatist, any  illustration.  Such, at least, are the
thing  but what he, whose pages  characteristics of his earlier volumes,
more than those of any other writer  and especially of the fourth, fifth, and
reflect the life and reality of bygone  sixth- as M. Henri Martin bears
ages, is preeminently entitled to be  evidence, who, in the corresponding
called — a historian. Mr. Hallam, portion of his popular and meritowith greater candor and better ap- rious work, follows closely on the
preciation, styles him " a poet in all track of Michelet, conforming almost
save his fidelity to truth."  No one, always to his ideas and not unfreindeed, who has had occasion to  quently to his language.




8               PHILIP THE BOLD.        [BOOK I.
dom and the guardianship of the royal person. Had
his interests been identical with those of the people
over whom he aspired to rule, a man of so much
resoluteness and ability might have extirpated the
roots of discord before they had struck deep. But
he was only a great feudal chief, more ambitious
and more able than his rivals; and his influence in
the government was mainly directed to the furtherance of projects for the aggrandizement of his family. By his own marriage and the marriages of
his children, he had secured to himself or his descendants the succession to the richest and most
populous provinces of the. Netherlands. He was in
fact laying the foundations of a state destined one
day to be the rival of France; and, while he employed for this purpose the resources of his native
country, he lost no opportunity of strengthening
himself by alliances with other powers. The magnificence of his court and the haughty splendor with
which he appeared before the public eye combined
with his character and position to make him the
most conspicuous personage of the time.  But so
vast were his schemes and the expenditure they
entailed, that in the midst of wealth he was overwhelmed with debt; and at his death, his
widow, Margaret of Flanders, whose nature
was as hard and unflinching as his own, in order
to rescue her personal effects from the hands of
his creditors, had recourse to a form of the feudal
law practised only by persons of an inferior grade,
and publicly laid upon the coffin of her deceased




CHAP. I.]   PRINCES OF THE HOUSE OF VALOIS.                 9
lord her girdle, with her keys and purse attached,
in token that she divorced herself from him, renouncing her rights of dower and her responsibility for
his debts.4
In four generations of the house of Valois, children  and  descendants  of King  John, there  is a
remarkable contrast between the mental characteristics of the eldest and those of the youngest branch.'
The princes of the former line, however unlike in
most respects, resembled  each  other in  a  certain
refinement of organization, sometimes exhibited in
keenness or subtlety of intellect, sometimes in delicacy of feeling or of taste or a peculiar sensitiveness
of the conscience, sometimes in timidity of purpose,
indolence of temperament, or aversion to the conflict and  tumult by which  they  were  surrounded
and in which their own interests were deeply concerned.   At the  height of fortune  there was no
arrogance in their demeanor, no idle pomp or ostentatious luxury in their mode of life; amid the
Monstrelet, (ed. Buchon,) tom. i. p. 142. — Plancher rejects this
account, on the ground that the notarial act, which he prints, while it
establishes the fact of Margaret's renunciation of her claims and liabilities, makes no allusion to the ceremony noticed in the text. Hist. de
Bourgogne, tom. iii. p. 574, and Preuves, p. ccxix.
Eldest Branch.                 Youngest Branch.
Charles V.                          Philip the Bold, of Burgundy.
I            I l
Charles VI.   Louis of Orleans.     John the Fearless,
Charles VII.   Charles of Orleans.  Philip the Good,
Louis XI. Charles of Berri.         Charles the Bold,   i
VOL. I.          2




10       PRINCES OF THE HOUSE OF VALOIS.  [BooKI I.
gloomiest reverses they were never driven to a wild
and reckless despair. Sometimes pliable, always
impressionable, their course was that of a stream
which, unswollen by torrents, follows the windings
of its natural channel. Their success was generally
due to the wisdom of their conceptions, their just
appreciation of means and circumstances, and their
discrimination -in the choice of their agents; when
they failed, it was from lack of energy, weakness
of will, or inability to act, with promptitude and
courage. Charles the Fifth and Louis the Eleventh
were sagacious and adroit politicians; but they
missed, or were thought to have missed, more than
one opportunity of achieving a signal and complete
success from their unwillingness to venture a sufficient stake on the hazards of war.  Charles the
Seventh was, perhaps, not much their inferior in
natural capacity; but, personally indolent and addicted to pleasure, he chiefly evinced his fitness for
affairs by the moderation of his views, the calmness of his temper, and his sagacity in the selection
of his ministers. Both Louis and Charles of Orleans
were highly accomplished men, patrons and cultivators of literature, well suited to adorn a private
station, but destitute of the qualities required for
a great position and the career of public life.
In Charles the Sixth and his grandson, the duke
of Berri, the defects of this character are revealed
in the strongest light: one was driven mad by the
mad conflict of the times; the other, feeble and




CHAP. I.]   PRINCES OF THE HOUSE OF VALOIS.           1l
incompetent, was tossed about like a feather in the
whirlwind of faction and civil war.
If the attempt be thought fanciful to trace a family likeness in persons so variously constituted and
endowed, it will at least be admitted that in none
of them are the features stamped with those rude
and turbulent passions, that boldness of temper and
that ferocity of sentiment, which glare upon us from
so many faces in the long vista of mediaeval history.
Their physiognomy has, so to speak, an altogether
modern air, indicating, in its contrast with that of
their contemporaries, the approach of a new eraa change from what seems the mere contention of
brute force to the finer displays of an intellectual
contest; and that change is, in fact, partly attributable to the example and influence of those who,
foremost in the arena, were victorious by their greater
skill and the superiority of their weapons.6
In the four dukes of Burgundy, on the other hand,
the material of the character was coarser and more
robust -a nature better suited, it might seem, for
a struggle with matter than with mind.  Physically
they were superior to their kinsmen.  Charles the
Seventh, we are told, had an imposing exterior -
when arrayed in a long robe that covered up his
crooked and shrunken legs.7 The mean and meagre
6 See the remarks of Guizot on ganti specie apparebat; sed cum
the substitution by Louis XI. of curta veste indueretur, quod faciemoral for material means. Civili- bat frequentius, panno viridis utens
zation in Europe, (Eng. trans.,) coloris, eum exilitas cruris et tibiap. 321.                     rum, cum utriusque poplitis tumore
7 " Cum togatus esset, satis ele- et versus se invicem quadam velut




12         PRINCES OF THE HOUSE OF VALOIS.    [BOOK I.
person of Louis the Eleventh formed a common subject of derision. Charles the Sixth and Charles of
Berri were almost as feeble in body as in intellect.
But the dukes of Burgundy were cast in a different
mould.  Their limbs were  stout, their  forms were
sinewy  and  compact.   They were  redoubtable  in
the tourney, terrible in the battle-field. Their mental qualities were of the  same hard  and  inflexible
stuff.  Arrogant  audacity, headstrong  impetuosity,
unyielding stubbornness, were their main characteristics. They never won their way by flattery,
sophistry, or cunning, but sought to carry every
point by an overbearing presumption and indomitable will. The epithets affixed to their names
were, " the Bold," v; the Rash," "c the Fearless";8 those
of the other line were, "the Wise," "the Cunning,"
ccthe Well-served."   There was no strain of delicate
and intuitive perceptions in  any of the Burgundian
princes; there was no poet among them like Charles
of Orleans, no scholar, versed in the subtleties of
the schools, like Louis of Orleans, no far-sighted
statesman like Charles the  Fifth, no  master of intrigue like Louis the Eleventh, no shrinking spirit,
inflexione, deformem utcumque os- it has been edited and published for
tentabant." Histoire des Regnes de the first time, has fully established
Charles VII. et de Louis XI., par the identity of the author - a disThomas Basin, lEveque de Lisieux, tinguished Norman prelate and an
(3 vols., Paris, 1855-1858,) tom. 1. p. active partisan in the reign of Louis
312. —This work, one of the most XI.
important though least impartial au-   8 Philip the Good, as we shall see
thorities for the period of which it hereafter, was not indebted for this
treats, is usually cited by French  very different cognomen to any exhistorians under the pseudonym of emption from the peculiarities of his
Amelgardus. M. Quicherat, by whom  race.




CHAP. I.]  PRINCES OF THE HOUSE OF VALOIS.     13
unnerved by scruples, distracted by calamity, like
Charles the Sixth and the duke of Berri. Yet in
some respects their nature was the nobler of the
two. If less acute, they were more ardent; if less
persuasive, they were more logical; if less ductile
and less humane, they were more equitable and
more trustworthy. They were better fathers and
better sons; and if unrelenting in. their hate and
remorseless in their vengeance, they never deserted
an ally, left fidelity unrewarded, or receiving benefits forgot the benefactor.  Their intellect was
vigorous, their conceptions were sometimes lofty,
their plans coherent, their energies untiring. They
labored with strength and skill, but with little light,
building where the ancient dikes had been destroyed, and where the tide was rushing in to sweep
away their work.
These, it will be said, were the general lineaments
of the era that was passing away-its iron force,
its narrow and exclusive spirit. This is true; and
it was because the dukes of Burgundy not only
held the most conspicuous place among feudal
princes, but exhibited alike in their powers and
their defects the complete impress of feudalism,
that its fate became involved in theirs, and was
decided by their overthrow.
In John the Fearless, the successor of Philip the
Bold, the faults inherent in his race assumed their
most repulsive form. His habitual taciturnity masked
a contracted mind and a character singularly audacious and unscrupulous. In such natures ambition,




14       DUKES OF BURGUNDY AND ORLEANS.  [BooK I.
unennobled by conscious power, by patient hopes,
or generous purposes, becomes a sordid  p1assion
which encounters obstacles with a sullen violence,
and regards a competitor with envious and malignant eyes.  Between John  and the object of his
ambition stood a rival, in whose character he saw
with instinctive aversion the opposite of his own.
Louis, duke of Orleans, the brother of the insane
king, had rare endowments of intellect and splendid accomplishments of person and of mind, which
would have opened an easy path to distinction to
one of inferior rank.9  But his vices were as conspicuous as the nobler traits of his character; and,
as they were not such vices as are engendered by
the steady and cautious pursuit of self-interest, they
excited in the public mind not only scandal but
alarm. In concert with the queen, the infamous
Isabella of Bavaria, with whom he was suspected
of maintaining an incestuous intimacy, the duke of
Orleans had for several years attempted to administer the affairs of the kingdom. If it had been
possible to misgovern the nation without calling on
it to defray the cost of misgovernment, the people
would have suffered in apathy. Conscious of its
feebleness, France  did not aspire to  action; it
longed only for repose.  In  the condition of the
royal imbecile, whom it regarded with so much
9 See the character (partial, no intimate knowledge) drawn of him
doubt, since it represents his life as by the Religieux de Saint-Denys,
free from stain after he had attained Chronique, (6 vols. 4to., Paris, 1839
to manhood, but bearing, neverthe- -1852,) tom. iii. p. 738.
less, marks of veracity as well as of




CHAP. I.]  DUKES OF BURGUNDY AND ORLEANS.      15
reverence and affection, with loyalty and with pity
unblended with contempt, it saw  the image  of
its own. It would fain like him have moped in
quiet and inanity; but like him  it was harassed
by quacks and tortured into frenzy.
By the people, and especially by the inhabitants
of Paris and the larger towns, the duke of Orleans
was regarded as the author of their calamities, the
duke of Burgundy as their destined deliverer. The
latter would be able to carry on the government
without taxes. The lord of wealthy Flanders would
not need to wring from the impoverished citizens
their miserable earnings. He had strenuously protested against the imposition of these intolerable
burdens, declaring that the revenues derived from
the royal domain ought to suffice for the ordinary
expenses of the state. If forces were required for
the defence of the realm, his subjects were ready
to obey the summons of the king, and take the
field in numbers sufficient for that purpose. Such
were the representations industriously circulated by
his agents, and received with easy credence by the
people.'~
The people, however, was still too weak to be the
arbiter of such a quarrel.  The duke of Orleans was
supported not only by his own vassals, but by the
great body of the nobility. In military strength the
two parties, as they mustered around the capital,
were nearly equally balanced. Hence they were
10 Religieux de Saint-Denys, tom. iii. 300, 302, 340, et al. - Basin,
tom. i. lib. 1, cap. 3, 4.




16       DUKES OF BURGUNDY AND ORLEANS.  [BooK I.
induced to listen to the proposals of those who
desired to avert the outbreak of civil war. It was
agreed that the two princes should govern in concert, and unite their efforts for the restoration of
order and tranquillity.  And, although events soon
demonstrated the futility of this arrangement, it
was renewed and confirmed by solemn assurances
and pledges of mutual good faith. The princes met
in public and embraced each other; they exchanged
the devices which they had adopted as the symbols
of defiance; they slept in the same bed; they partook together of the communion, and in presence
of the consecrated elements ratified their alliance
by solemn vows.
In this reconciliation the intentions of Louis of
Orleans were perhaps not insincere. He was a man
capable of deeply injuring his dearest friend, but
capable also of forgiving, and from the heart, his
bitterest enemy.ll He had on his conscience the
burden of great sins and disastrous follies. But the
consciousness of guilt had not hardened his heart,
or extinguished its finer feelings. He had recently
recovered from an illness, during which he had meditated upon the errors of his past life, and given
evidence of a sincere contrition. He had especially
manifested a desire, such as men feel when inward
perplexities cause the struggles of the world to fade
11 In his will, made about this dren to the protection of the duke
period, - "testament fort chr6tien, of Burgundy. Michelet, Hist. de
fort pieux, plein de charit6 et de France, tom. iv. p. 141.
penitence," - he commends his chil



CHAX. i.] ASSASSINATION OF LOUIS OF ORLEANS.   17
into insignificance, to live in future at peace with
all men. On the evening of November 23, 1407,
while he was supping with the queen at a small
private mansion which belonged to her in Paris, a
summons was brought him to attend a sitting of
the council. The house stood in an obscure quarter
of the town. He quitted it with an escort of four
or five persons. The night was intensely dark. Preceded by a torchbearer, and followed by the rest of
his attendants, the duke rode along upon his mule,
humming a song and carelessly playing with his
glove. Suddenly he was surrounded by armed men,
who rushed upon him from an ambush. His followers, with the exception of a single page, were
separated from him and put to flight. The inhabitants of the street, summoned to their windows by
a tumult of voices, the clanking of steel and the
glare of torches, were warned by a stern command
to close their lattices and remain within doors. Peering and listening, however, they could distinguish
every sight and sound - the swords and axes brandished by the murderers, their oaths and shouts, the
challenge of the victim after he had been struck," What means this? whence comes this?" -- the
repetition of the blows and thrusts, the struggle, the
fall, the consummation of the bloody deed. A tall
man with a red hat slouched over his eyes made
his appearance to investigate the work and decide
whether it were satisfactorily performed.'2  Another
12 This personage was probably gentleman, who had been deprived
Raoullet d'Actonville, a Norman -by the duke of Orleans of an office
VOL. I.       3




18       ASSASSINATION  OF LOUIS OF ORLEANS.  [BooK I.
stroke was given, to complete the assurance. Then
the assailants hastened away, the lights disappeared,
the narrow street was again silent and dark. The
trembling  spectators, now   thronging  to  the  spot,
found the body of the duke of Orleans, gashed,
mutilated, pierced in a hundred places. The right
arm was severed from the trunk; the left hand, cut
off at the wrist, had been thrown to a distance; the
intestines had gushed forth; the skull was crushed,
and the brains were scattered in the mud. The
page lay stretched across his dead master, not wholly
lifeless, but moaning and about to expire.13
This murder was the source of greater public
calamities than have resulted from any similar event
recorded in history.  Long after it had been signally
avenged, the blood thus shed continued to be the
cause of bloodshed.  It fecundated  the  pestilential
seeds which had lain undeveloped and inert. A
hydra-headed mischief sprang into existence, with
which human energy seemed powerless to cope.'4
And even after this had been destroyed, and when
more than a century had elapsed, the traditional and
conferred upon him by Philip the  der was committed and giving a plan
Bold. (Monstrelet, tom. i. p. 214.) of the locality.
He is mentioned by most of the au-   14 " Caput et origo omnium cathorities as having planned or con- lamitatumin regno.... Seminarium
ducted the affair.              illud pestiferum... adeo alte radi13 See the depositions of the wit- ces miserat, ut vix post annos quinnesses- terribly minute and graphic  quaginta exstirpari atque eradicari
— in the Hist. de l'Acadimie des potuerit; imo certe nec adhuc, his
Inscriptions, tom. xxi. p. 515-540, temporibus, prorsus exstinctum sit,
where M. Bonamy has collected all sed more hydrae serpentis, uno sucthe testimony on the subject, besides ciso capite, alia renascantur." Basin,
identifying the spot where the mur- tom i. p. 11, 44.




CHAP. I.]    JOHN THE FEARLESS CONFESSES.                 19
hereditary quarrel thus commenced served to embitter the relations and perpetuate the rivalry between
the sovereigns of France and of the Netherlands.'5
Nor was the immediate impression on the public
mind less than such a deed was calculated to produce.
Men stood  paralyzed  as they beheld  the  form  so
familiar to their eyes - a form so fair, associated in
their minds with much that was evil, but also with
much that was chivalrous and good - carried bloody
and inanimate through the streets of Paris. If he had
sinned deeply, so much deeper the guilt of those who
had treacherously cut him off in the midst of his
sins. And no one doubted by what hand the blow
had been given. All eyes turned from the corpse of
the murdered man to the kinsman who had so lately
sworn to live with him in fraternal peace.lG When
the officers appointed to search out the guilty parties
appeared before the council, and asked for authority
to pursue their investigations in the households of
the royal princes, John  the  Fearless  turned  pale
and trembled.  Taking the dukes of Berri and Anjou
aside, he confessed to them  that he, "instigated  by
the devil and by evil counsellors," had caused his
15 It is to be remembered, in this point from their remotest origin —
connection, that, about a century  will probably not consider the statelater, the family of Orleans came to  ment in the text exaggerated.
the French throne in the persons of'6 Fenin, after mentioning that
Louis XII. and Francis I.  One the duke of Burgundy was present
familiar with the diplomatic corre- at the burial, adds that blood was
spondence and conferences between  seen to flow through the coffin:
the French and Imperial ministers'" Dont y en eut grant murmure de
in the sixteenth century - when it ceux qui la estoient, et de tels yen eut
was customary to discuss the histor- qui bien se doubtoient de ce qui en
ical questions connected with every estoit." Memoires, (ed. Dupont,) p. 3.




20         JOHN THE FEARLESS CONFESSES.    [Boox I.
cousin to be slain.l7  Then, in the confusion and
shame of avowed guilt, he abruptly quitted the
assembly, and withdrew to his own house.
A great criminal, convicted in the presence of
mankind, but inaccessible  to human justice, has
before him this alternative: to repent of his crime,
to expiate it, to renounce the unhallowed fruits of
it; or to brave his own conscience, to defy the
opinion of his fellow-men, and boldly to seize upon
the prize the hope of which had tempted him  to
the commission of the guilty act. He has incurred
the detestation of the world: if he would avoid its
scorn, he must strike terror into it, or he must surrender his immunities and sue for its forgiveness.
Throughout the Middle Ages there had not been
wanting instances of great nobles and princes who,
midway in a career of guilty ambition, had been
suddenly arrested by the alarms of conscience, and
who, parting with rank and wealth, had spent the
remainder of their days in seclusion, penance, and
remorse.
But in the breast of John the Fearless the voice
of self-reproach  and  self-abhorrence was quickly
stifled. The evil spirit that had instigated him
reassumed its sway.  On the day following that on
which confession had been wrung from  him by a
torture stronger than the rack, he would again have
taken his seat among the princes at the council17 " Instiguante dyabolo." Reli- Chartier. — " Par l'introduction de
gieux de Saint-Denys. —" Par hayne l'ennemi." Monstrelet.
diabolique et maulvais conseil."Alain




CHAP. I.]            EIS JUSTIFICATION.                      21
board, and, being  forbidden  to  enter  the  palace,
sent them word to charge no one else with what
had been done, since he was himself the sole author
of the act.s1 He immediately quitted Paris, and,
though hotly pursued, succeeded in making his escape to Flanders. Here he was not only safe, but
able to turn  upon  his enemies.  Having  collected
a sufficient force  for his protection, he again  took
his way towards the capital, which he reentered
amidst the greetings and triumphant shouts of the
inhabitants. This was not altogether fear, or fickleness, or indifference to the right, but a revulsion
of feeling, to be explained by their long adherence
to  the duke of Burgundy, and  the hopes and  confidence which had centred in him as the champion
of their rights.19 They would have condemned him
still, had he still seemed to condemn himself. But
he was ready now to uphold what he had done,
to justify it by such reasons as showed them to
have been accessories to the deed, and made them
participants in the advantages that were to flow
-- " Affin qu'on ne mescroye mie their affection for the duke of Orde la mort du due D'Orldans, j'ay  leans when they were openly and
faict faire ce qui a estd faict, et non  vehemently the partisans of his murautre." Fenin, p. 4.             derer P"  And he cites their recep19 Hallam  (Supplemental Notes, tion of the duke of Burgundy, on his
p. 57) finds it inexplicable that Mi- return, as sufficient to refute this nochelet should represent the populace  tion. But the inconsistency, if such
of Paris, the adherents of John, as it can be called, belongs not to the
lamenting the death of the duke of historian, but to human nature. Was
Orleans. " What," he asks, " is the  not Byron admired, pitied, and even
meaning of this love for one who, beloved, by those whose censure and
he has just told us, was cursed by  coldness drove him into exile?
the people?  How did they show




22                HIS JUSTIFICATION.           [BOOK I.
from it. While the ghastly spectacle was still exposed to sight,'their faltering spirit had infected his.
They were now called upon to collect their scattered
senses, and recognize in the blow that had been
struck the deliverance which they had expected at
his hands. He had brought with him a learned
theologian, a doctor of the University of Paris, to
act as his spokesman, and set forth the motives by
which he had been governed; to prove that the
duke of Orleans, as a tyrant and a usurper, had
merited death; that any subject, but above all any
member of the royal family, had the right to kill
him; that the duke of Burgundy ought not to have
been restrained by the promises and oaths which
he had made, since these had been prejudicial to
the public welfare; and that the manner of the
killing was indifferent, treachery and secret ambuscade being in such a case the natural means for
its accomplishment. All this was supported and
illustrated by many examples from Holy Writ, and
the conclusion satisfactorily deduced that the act
had been not merely innocent, but in the highest
degree meritorious.0
Yet those who heard this discourse were not altogether satisfied.21  Nor was the  murderer.   The
brazen pride with which he fronted accusation and
reproach was a mask that but half concealed the
traces of his conscious humiliation. Something more
20 The admirable discourse of  21 See the cautiously worded cenMaitre Jean Petit is given at length sure of the Religieux de Saint-Denys,
by Monstrelet, (ed. Buchon,) tom. i. who was present. Chronique, tom.
pp. 241-324.               iii. p. 765.




CHAP. i.]       ANARCHY IN FRANCE.                  23
was necessary to purge his mind of its uneasy sensations. He insisted that the young princes of
Orleans, the children of his victim, should consent
to a reconciliation with him. But, coupled with the
justification which he had put forth, his prayer for
forgiveness sounded like a fresh insult to the dead.
By the perpetration of an enormous crime the
duke of Burgundy seemed to have cut his way
through the sole obstruction in his path, and to
have reached at once the supremacy to which he
had aspired in the government of France. But this
crime had in fact rendered all government impossible. It had let loose a storm of turbulent passions that had long been gathering in the atmosphere; it had stirred up all the hostile elements
of society in a wild vortex of confusion.  What followed was not so much civil war as total anarchy,
the disorganization of the political and social systems. Out of these disorders grew a foreign war,
the invasion and conquest of the country by Henry
the Fifth. A stern and powerful enemy stood over
prostrate France, inflicting wounds from  which the
blood flowed in a perpetual stream.
The light of history becomes here a lurid gleam,
and reveals a stage crowded with demoniacal shapes,
that pursue each other through the mazes of what is
called by a contemporary writer a "C doleful dance." 22
22 a" Non pas un an ne deux, mais en sont morts a glaive, ou par poiil y a ja quatorze ou quinze ans que son, ou par trayson." Journal de
cette danse douloureuse commenga; Paris sous les Rbgnes de Charles VI.
et la plus grant partie des seigneurs et de Charles VII., anno 1421.




24         DEPOPULATION OF THE COUNTRY.    [BOOx I.
The crown rested on the head of a lunatic. The
discord in the royal family and the royal counsels
prevented any serious effort to restore order and
tranquillity. The voice of authority was not merely
unheeded, but unheard.
The administration of the law, so far as the protection of life or property was concerned, was
entirely suspended. Murder and rapine no longer
sought their prey by stealth, or waited for the
darkness to conceal their work. The country was
covered with armed bands, wearing the badges of
Burgundy or the Armagnacs, but subject in fact to
no other leader than him who could best scent the
plunder and guide them  in the pursuit.   These
brigands infested every highway, and ravaged villages and farms, pursuing the work of destruction
without hinderance and without fear. The peasantry,
driven to despair, abandoned at length their ruined
homes and wasted fields, their wives and children,
their life of industry and care, and fled in troops to
the refuge of the thick forests, seeking sustenance
with the wild beasts, crouching from the sunlight
that shone upon an earth of which the devil, they
exclaimed, was about to take entire possession.23
France had never been a commercial country.
It had few great market towns, few public fairs, and
these were scarcely visited by the foreign merchant.
23 ", Disant l'ung'a l'autre,' Que nyer femmes et enffans, et fouir aux
ferons nous? Mettons tout en la boys comme bestes esgarEes."' Jourmain du deable, ne nous chault que nal de Paris, loc. cit. And see Basin,
nous devenions;... il nous fault re- tom. i. p. 15, et al.




CHAP. I.]    DEPOPULATION  OF THE COUNTRY.                       25
But now even domestic trade had disappeared.
Production itself was at a stand-still. Those parts
of the country which had the richest soil, and had
formerly furnished the largest supplies of food, returned to the condition of wild lands. An eyewitness describes the vast and fertile plains of Normandy, Picardy, Champagne, and La Brie as almost
entirely  depopulated, overgrown  with  bushes  and
wild brambles, and even in many parts —so long
did this state of things continue -with dense and
lofty  forests.24   The  fields  were  tilled  only  within
such a distance of towns or castles as allowed the
laborers, when the enemy came in sight, to summon
assistance with  their horns;25 but the  patches from
which a furtive harvest was thus gathered were as
nothing compared with the immense region that
lay sterile and deserted.26
If we enter the walled cities, thus isolated by a
perpetual blockade, a still more fearful spectacle
presents itself.   A  citizen  of Paris, who  in  the  sim24,, Vidimus ipsi Campaniae totius  arbores in morem densissimarum silvastissimos agros, totius Belcise, varum exerevisse."  Basinri, tom. i.
Brise, Gastinati, Carnotensis, Dro-  p. 45. See also p. 118, et al.
censis, Cenomannime et Pertici, Vel-   25 Idem, tom. i. p. 45. - He adds
locassium  seu Vulgacinorum, tam  that the cattle and swine, becoming
Francise, quam  Normannioe, Bello-  accustomed to the signal, fled, withvacensium, Caletensium, a Sequana  out waiting to be driven, to their
usque Ambianis et Abbatisvillam, places of refuge.
Silvanectensium, Suessionum etVa-    26 "Tantillum  illud quod veluti
lisiorum usque Laudunum, et ultra  furtim circum munitiones colebatur,
versus Hannoniam, prorsus desertos, minimum et prope nihil videbatur,
incultos, squalidos et colonis nuda-  comparatione vastissimorum  agrotos, dumetis et rubis oppletos, atque  rum, qui deserti prorsus et sine
illic in plerisque terris, quae ad pro-  cultoribus permanebant."   Idem,
ferendas arbores feraciores exsistunt, p. 46.
VOL. I.       4




26              MASSACRES IN PARIS.             [Boox I.
plest language noted down from day to day the
occurrences that came under his own observation,
has left us the means of making this survey. Terror
reigned in that capital where it has so often sat
enthroned.  Princes and ministers, the University
and the Parliament, the nobles and the bourgeoisie,
having successively failed in the attempt to devise
a practicable system of government, to restore order
and peace, to replace on its original foundations the
structure that had been overturned, the task was
undertaken by the lowest classes of the populace,
the rabble and the outcasts of humanity, brought
up by these strange convulsions from unmentionable depths to the surface and apex of society. The
leaders were chosen for their physical strength, their
superiority  in  courage  or ferocity.   The " short
method" they adopted was massacre.  At first it
was practised with some form and regularity: every
one suspected as a traitor or a foe was apprehended
and put to death.27  But soon a thirst for blood was
awakened that suffered no delay and no selection
of the victims. While the frenzy raged the whole
town presented the aspect of a slaughter-house:
neither age nor youth was spared; neither church
nor convent afforded shelter; and the bodies of
men, women, and children were seen scattered at
short intervals through all the principal streets.28
27 Basin, tom. i. lib. 1, cap. 12.  overpowered, witnessed a succession
28 The summer of 1418, when the of these terrible emeutes. " Si n'eusArmagnacs, who for a while had held siez trouve k Paris rue de nom, ou
possession of the city, were again n'eust aucune occision.... Estoient




CHAP. I.]               FAMINE IN  PARIS.                          27
But there was a panic in the hapless city greater
even than that excited by the fury of the mob or
the tyranny of faction. The armies that hovered
incessantly around the walls had devastated the
country within a circuit of twenty leagues. From
month to month, from year to year, the price of
bread continued to rise, until the scarcity was such
that the bakers' shops were daily besieged by crowds
who  struggled  for admittance, and  only  those were
supplied who had waited at the doors from dawn.29
Troops of destitute wretches wandered about the
streets  in  search  of offal which  the  swine  had  refused, or ran to the fields without the walls to devour
the carcasses of slaughtered dogs.3" Winter- more
rigorous in the same latitude than now31 — had no
pity  on  this  homeless, starving  multitude.   Every
where, every hour, a  terrible  cry was heard, "I am
dying of hunger; I am dying of cold!""32
en tas comme porcs au milieu de la   31 Many facts scattered through
boe.... Dimenche 29 May, a Paris, the chronicles of the fifteenth cenmors a l'esp6e ou d'autres armes en  tury attest this statement. The winmy les rues, sans aucuns qui furent ters of 1407-1408 and 1420-1421
tuez es maisons cinq cens vingt et were peculiarly severe.
deux hommes."  Journal de Paris,   32 " Ouyssez parmy Paris piteux
sub anno.                           plains, piteux crys, piteuses lamen29 Idem, anno 1420. — He gives, tations, et petiz enfans crier:'Je
at intervals, the prices of the differ-  meurs de faim;' et sur les fumiers
ent articles of food, thus exhibiting... pussiez trouver cy dix, cy vingt
the continual and enormous increase.  ou trente enfans, fils et filles, qui l1
There is often a peculiar pathos in  mouroient de faim  et de froit; et
these simple statistics: " Item, les  n'estoit si dur cueur qui par nuyt
petits enffens ne mangerent point de  les ouist crier:' Helas! je meurs de
lait; car pinte coustoit dix deniers  faim,' qui grant piti5 n'en eust. Mais
ou douze."  Anno 1419.              les pouvres mesnaigiers ne leur pou30 Idem, annis 1420, 1421.        vaient aider; car on n'avoit ne pain,




28               TIE "AGONY" OF FRANCE.                  [BOOK I.
War and famine speedily generated pestilence.
"With  this triple  scourge of divine justice," says a
contemporary, too young, indeed, at the time to
know the full extent and import of these calamities,
but writing while the evidence and the effects were
still fresh before his eyes, c" was the country afflicted,
not for a short period, but during many successive
years."33   In 1418 fifty-thousand  persons were  said
to have died in Paris in less than five weeks.34   The
bodies were flung by hundreds into  huge pits dug
for their reception. Packs of famished wolves came
at night and feasted in the cemeteries, and sometimes ventured, in the broad daylight, to seek their
prey among  the living.35   " Such  scenes of misery,"
says the diarist so frequently quoted, " the prophet
Jeremiah saw not when Jerusalem was destroyed."
"Alas!" he exclaims, "never since the time of Clovis,
the first Christian king, was France so divided, so
desolate." 36
It seemed, indeed, as if this were the final agony
of the nation, as if the hour of its dissolution were at
ne ble, ne buche, ne charbon.... de Paris, affermoient qu'entre la NaJour et nuyt  crioient hommes, tivitd de Nostre-Dame etsa Concepfemmes, petiz enffans:' Helas! je  tion, avoient enterr6 de la Ville de
meurs de froit,' l'autre de faim."  Paris plus de cent mille personnes,
Journal de Paris, anno 1420.     et en quatre ou cinq cens n'en mou33 Basin, tom. i. p. 117.      roit pas douze anciens, que tous en34 Journal de Paris, sub anno. To  flens et jeunes gens."
this statement, sufficiently hard of   35 Idem, anno 1421.
credence, - the probable number of   36 "lHelas, je ne cuide mie que
the population not exceeding 300,- depuis le Roi Clovis qui fut le pre000, - is appended another, which  mier Roy Chrestien, que France fust
baffles even the imagination: "Ceulx  aussi disolke et divisee." Idem, anno
qui faisoient les fosses et cymetieres  1419.




CHAP. I.] INDESTRUCTIBLE VITALITY OF FRANCE.  29
hand. Lingering over the record of these horrors,
we forget for a moment that they were not only
suffered but survived; we lose the vision of the
country's after-greatness, and stand as it were mute
and awe-struck in the presence of Death.
But the vitality of France is indestructible. The
French nation is the only one which has maintained
an uninterrupted existence from the fall of the Roman power down to the present day; and this long
career has been marked throughout by the strangest
vicissitudes - alternations of glory and disaster, of
misrule and revolution. France has more than once
been overrun and conquered, and its territory dismembered; it has been a prey to every variety of
civil war-wars of factions, of classes, and of creeds;
its administrative system has been disorganized
under weak governments, its liberties have been
trodden down by despotic governments; it has languishedc for long periods under institutions oppressive and corrupt; it has cut itself loose at a single
stroke from its ancient traditions; it has maintained
an attitude of hostility against the world, and, after
unexampled and intoxicating triumphs, has tasted
the bitter dregs of humiliation and defeat;- yet
all these changes, convulsions, and reverses have
not impaired the foundations of the state or weakened the energies of the people; the oldest of the
powers of Christendom, France is still the first,
exerting a greater influence than any other, exciting greater hopes and greater fears.
With a people so deficient in calmness and solidity,




30        INDESTRUCTIBLE VITALITY OF FRANCE.   [BOOx I.
but so  full of ardor and  intelligence; so  exalted
in victory, but so elastic in defeat; so impatient of
restraint, yet so capable of discipline and of concert;
-with a country so nobly situated and possessed of
so great resources; open to invasion, yet marked out
by nature for the home of a great people and the
seat of an empire; 37 it was not possible that France
should present that spectacle of gradual and' steady
development which England has presented; but
neither was it possible that, like Italy or Spain, it
should sink into hopeless imbecility and lingering
decay. Its convulsive struggles are the throes not
of death, but of regeneration. When torpor seems
already to have crept to the vital parts, it rouses
from its lethargy. At the moment of its greatest
weakness, it is suddenly endued with fresh strength,
and rising like a Titan from the earth, it starts forward on a new career.
In the great'crisis of the fifteenth century, a
period barren of noble characters and noble deeds,
fruitful only of misery and crime, was followed by
one of those epochs in which poetry claims an equal
share with history. The story of the Maid of Orleans
37 In the speeches and writings of tem, the one having all she needs
Burke there is more than one splen- within, herself, the other drawing all
did passage descriptive of the great- from abroad. (Rogers's Table Talk,
ness of France and the immensity  Amer. ed. p. 100.) But the British
of her internal resources; and in  empire is far more than a mere
conversation he is reported —but European power. Its history, its
probably with little correctness - as resources, and its influence are not
having drawn a comparison between  those of a single country, a single
France and England as the sun and  nation, or a single quarter of the
the moon of the general political sys- globe.




CHAP. I.]   REGENERATION OF FRANCE.           31
seems, indeed, to lead us upon ground glorified by
the brilliant atmosphere of romance.  We see the
fervid sentiments that in an earlier age had given
birth to chivalry rekindled by the simple faith and
ardent imagination of a peasant girl. If from such
a quarter hope dawned once more upon a despairing people, it was because the same spirit that
wrought so powerfully in her had silently breathed
itself into them -because their minds had been
prepared by long affliction and utter hopelessness
of human succor to listen to a voice that promised
aid from Heaven.
Joan of Arc represents the religious and heroic
elements of the reaction.  But other elements entered largely into the movement, and contributed to
its final success. Some, sources of disunion in the
kingdom were already dried up. The hostile factions
began to approach each other with overtures of
peace when they found that their animosity had
only given to the one a more powerful enemy, to
the other a master. The English conquest had lost
its main pillar by the death of Henry the Fifth; and
England herself was beginning to be visited by that
train of evils with which her rival had been so long
afflicted   a feeble-minded prince, a long minority,
divided counsels, and civil war. In the same year
in which that dauntless mind, full of lofty ideas, of
energy, and of fortitude, was laid at rest, the
insane king, Charles the Sixth, ended his un- [1422.
happy life. The dauphin, now Charles the Seventh,
was placed by this event in a stronger position for




32          REGENERATION OF FRANCE.       [BOOK I.
claiming the popular support than he had occupied
when denounced as a rebel against his father's
authority, and while destitute of those nominal rights
which exert such an influence over the mass of mankind. Nor did he entirely lack the qualities befitting
one who had to conquer his inheritance and raise
anew the fallen structure of the monarchy. He had,
indeed, great defects-a character suggesting a comparison in some points with that of a monarch whose
fortunes have an ostensible similarity with his -
Charles the Second of England. Like the latter, he
was fond of pleasure, averse to business, ungrateful
in a degree that exceeded the proverbial ingratitude
of princes.  He had also the same imperturbable
temper, the same coolness of judgment, but greater
talents, and a mind capable when aroused of active
exertion, and of firmness mingled with moderation.
From the mass of adherents, of diverse opinions and
discordant characters, that surrounded him, he succeeded at length in sifting out a body of advisers,
some of them men of humble origin, few of them
connected with the great nobility, but admirably
suited by their personal qualities to concoct and
carry out measures that were the best calculated to
restore liberty and prosperity to the kingdom. For
Charles 1"the Well-served" the prouder appellation
was in store of Charles'I"the Victorious."
Thus reanimated and directed, France put forth
all her energies in the struggle in which her independence, her very existence, was at stake. Step
by step the English receded from the line of con



CHAP. I.]  POSITION OF JOHN THE FEARLESS.    33
quest; province after province expelled them from
its bounds; until not only their recent acquisitions, but their earliest possessions -the territory
won by the valor, and still known by the name, of
those northern warriors and sea-kings by whom
Saxon England had since been subjugated and governed; the dowry brought by Eleanor of Guienne to
the wisest of the Plantagenets, a heritage retained
by his descendants for more than three centuries —
were torn from their grasp and lost to them forever.
In Calais alone the standard of Saint George still
floated over French soil.
Before glancing at the pacification of the country,
and its gradual return to a state of order and security under Charles the Seventh, it is necessary that
we should again take up a thread which connects in
a more particular manner the earlier portions of this
chapter with the main body of our narrative.
John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, appears on
the stage of history as a principal figure in the opening act of a great and terrible drama. But he cannot
be said to have played an important part in the
tumultuous and impassioned scenes that followed.
He was the most powerful member of the nobility
and the leader of a faction; but he had almost as
little to do with shaping the course of events as the
meanest of his adherents. He was alike powerless
to remedy the disorders of the government, to crush
the various forces that rose in resistance to his usurpation, and to maintain a commanding influence
VOL. I.   5




34:              IS DESIRE FOR PEACE.           [BooK I.
over the action of his own party.  After struggling
for more than five years amidst the impetuous conflict of opposing currents, he was compelled, in 1414,
to resign the helm into the hands of his enemies and
retire to his own dominions.
But the party of the Armagnacs was equally incompetent to carry on the government. It could
neither maintain war nor reestablish peace.  It was
prostrated at Azincourt, and it was repudiated by the
people.  The duke of Burgundy renewed the contest; in 1418 he again made himself master of the
capital. Then followed various abortive efforts to
bring about a reconciliation between the two parties,
and to unite them in effective resistance to the common enemy. Several treaties with this object were
successively framed, sworn to, and disregarded. They
failed because on the one side there were suspicions,
well-grounded fears, never absent from the breast of
him who in earlier days had won for himself the title
of  the Fearless;"38 because on the other side there
was a fierce hate, a thirst for vengeance only to be
satisfied by blood.
Doubtless the duke of Burgundy longed for a
reconciliation.  He knew well that his present position was untenable, that it was but the elevation of
a wave which, when its force was spent, would fall
away beneath him. The English monarch was ad38 According to some accounts, copolis, when the flower of the Christhis name had been given him, tian chivalry perished in the field,
while count of Nevers, for his cool and the greater number of the prisintrepidity in presence of the Sultan oners were ruthlessly massacred.
Bajazet, after the fatal battle of Ni



CHAP. I.]     IS DESIRE FOR PEACE.         35
vancing upon Paris, and his march was not to be
delayed by negotiations. The dauphin was in the
hands of the Armagnacs; and though only a boy, his
presence seemed to give them as plausible a claim
to exercise the functions of the government as the
duke of Burgundy had derived from his seizure of
the king's person. It was necessary that he should
either make peace with his enemies or unite himself
with the enemies of his country; and, although he
had not hesitated at the commencement of the
troubles to appeal to these latter for assistance, he
was not prepared by direct and absolute treason to
give up France into their possession.
There may have been a still deeper feeling in his
mind which led him to desire peace with the opposite faction. Such a peace was perhaps necessary to
his internal quiet. He may have thought that a
complete and sincere reconciliation would blot out
the foul transaction which had raised against him,
and within him a cry of horror and reproach; he
may have hoped by an earnest cooperation with the
Orleanists in defence of the country to undo the
mischief of which to so large an extent he was the
author. No chronicler will enable us to penetrate
the depths in which, if any where, this feeling had:
its abode. Yet, judging from his language as well as
from his conduct, we may well believe that it existed.
In very despair of knowing whom to trust, he
confided in traitors — in the agents and emissaries
employed to lure him  to destruction.  He consented to have an interview with the dauphin, at




36         THE BRIDGE OF MONTEREAU.      [BOOK I.
which all the impediments that had prevented the
observance of the treaties already made should be
removed. Such of his advisers as were faithful to
him endeavored to dissuade him from so perilous a
step; but, after a season of deliberation, he determined on fulfilling his engagement. "It is my duty,"
he said, 1"to risk my person for the chance of securing so great a blessing as peace. I desire peace at
any sacrifice." And he added, " When peace is made,
I will take the dauphin's people and lead them
against the English. There are amongst them brave
men and able captains. Then we shall see who is
to prevail, Hannotin of Flanders (the nickname given
him by his subjects in the Netherlands) or Henry of
Lancaster."
On his way to the appointed place, the bridge of
Montereau, other warnings reached him; but he put
them aside, as if weary of a long inward struggle,
and resolved to yield to the decision of fate. Accompanied by his suite, consisting of ten persons armed
only with the swords ordinarily worn on occasions
of ceremony, he presented himself before a strong
wooden barrier which had been erected on the
bridge, and, having taken the customary oath, was
admitted through a narrow gate. Those who held the
passage, as if apprehensive that the crowd collected
without might attempt to force an entrance, called
sharply on the duke's attendants to hasten their
steps; and his secretary, who came last, was taken
hold of by the arm and pulled within the enclosure.
The gate was then shut and securely fastened.




CHAP. I.1      THE BRIDGE OF MONTEREAU.                       37
The dauphin, with  an  equal number of followers,
had passed through a barrier at the opposite end of
the bridge, where he still remained, awaiting the
duke's approach.  The latter, after rapidly traversing
the intermediate space, uncovered and knelt before
his sovereign's son, and  in  emphatic language  proclaimed his loyalty to the crown, his desire of devoting himself to the extirpation of the evils with which
the country was oppressed, and his readiness to
enter into such engagements as might be considered
necessary for that object.39   A  courteous answer was
returned; he  was requested  to  rise;  and  the  two
princes, retiring a little apart, engaged in amicable
conversation.
Meanwhile the barrier had been again unfastened
by its treacherous keepers. A small body of men,
in full armor, quitted a place of concealment near
the  river,  and  approached  the  gate.   Tanneguy
Duchatel, the principal contriver of the plot, came
behind the duke, pushed him between the shoulders
with  a  hatchet or small battle-axe, which  he  had
carried without attracting observation, and in a loud
39 " Mondit Seigneur s'en ala mondit Seigneur au dit Daulphin et
devers lui, et osta son aumusse qui a ses gens,' Monsieur et entre vous
estoit de veloux noir, et se inclina  Messieurs, dy-je bien?' Et ces padevant luy d'un genoul jusques a roles dittes luy dist,' Biau-Cousin,
terre, en le saluant moult humble- vous dittes si bien que l'on ne pourment, en lui disant en effet les pa- roit mieulx, levez-vous et vous couroles qui s'ensuivent: c'est assavoir vrez,' en le tenant par la main."
qu'apres Dieu, il n'avoit qu'i servir Deposition de Maistre Jean Seguiet obeir q'au Roy et a luy, et en leur nat, secretaire de Jean, Due de Bourservice,'i la conservation du Roy- gogne,Mdmoires pour servir a l'Hist.
aulme, offrit'a mettre et employer de France et de Bourgogne, (4to.
corps, bien, amis, alliez et bienveil- Paris, 1729,) p. 273.
lans... en disant pour [lors?] feu




38          THE BRIDGE OF MONTEREAU.          [BOOK I.
voice denounced him as a traitor.  This served as a
signal to the assassins, who, with furious cries of
"Kill! kill!" now rushed towards the spot.  The
assault was too sudden to allow of either resistance
or escape. Swords and axes flashed above the duke's
head.  The first stroke laid bare his skull and cheekbone, and nearly severed the arm which he had
raised instinctively to guard his face. Other blows
were given before he fell. His attendants were
made prisoners, with the exception of one; who succeeded in climbing the barrier.  Another, the Sire
de Noailles, had received a mortal wound while
attempting to defend his master. When the tumult
had subsided, a man knelt down beside the duke,
and, perceiving that he still gave signs of life, thrust
a sword far into his body. A last gasp was heard,
and John the Fearless expired.  The vengeance
that had waited twelve years for its opportunity
was satisfied.40
Philip, count of Charolais, the son and successor
of the murdered prince, was at Ghent when the
tidings reached him of this horrible tragedy. c Michelle," he said to his wife, a daughter of Charles
the Sixth, c your brother has assassinated my father."
He summoned: his friends and the Estates of his
provinces, and took counsel as to the course which
he should pursue.  It was now his turn to seek
revenge, and the means of obtaining it were obvious
and easy. A treaty of alliance between the new
40 Meurtre de Jean, dit sans peur, Mdm. pour servir a 1'Hist. de France
et de Bourgogne, pp. 209-354.




CHAP. I.]   JOHN THE FEARLESS AVENGED.      39
duke of Burgundy and Henry the Fifth opened to
the latter the gates of Paris, and placed him in virtual possession of the French crown. Thus France
was again condemned to pay the heavy penalty incurred by its treacherous and blood-stained princes.
As long as Henry lived Philip took an active part
in the prosecution of the war against the dauphin;
and the conqueror's dying charge to the guardians
of his son was to preserve at every cost the friendship of the duke of Burgundy. But the counsel of
the dead had little hold upon a man who, like the
duke of Gloucester, the regent of England, would
have sacrificed a kingdom to the gratification of a
whim. Yet though Philip, disgusted at the slights
he received, gradually cooled towards his allies, and
ceased to afford them an earnest cooperation in the
conduct of the war, it was long before he could be
induced by the persuasions of such of his counsellors
as were friendly to the French cause to listen to the
proposals made to him for transferring his allegiance
to his rightful sovereign. He could not, however, be
uninfluenced by the altered fortunes of the combatants, by the tide that was bearing Charles the
Seventh to his ancestral throne, and breaking up the
foundations of that foreign rule which Philip himself
had so powerfully aided in establishing. Nor was
he unmoved by the spectacle of a nation emerging
from discord, recovering from unheard-of calamities,
and appealing to him to remove the obstacles that
still existed to the restoration of union and internal
peace. His disposition, too, although he had the




40              TREATY OF ARRAS.           [BOOK I.
fiery temper and tenacious purpose of his race, was
not warlike. His states were weary of a fruitless
contest, which, though carried on with little vigor,
interfered with their commerce and exposed their
frontiers to continual annoyance. The Church was
ready to relieve him of his scruples as to a treaty
which conflicted with the terms of his alliance with
the English.  Charles the Seventh offered all possible atonement for a crime in which he declared
himself to have had no share, and which might well
have been washed out by the blood so profusely
shed during an interval of sixteen years. In fine,
Philip's vanity was flattered, in the crisis that awaited
his decision, by the general acknowledgment of his
power implied by the hopes of the one side and
the fears of the other; and he could not fail to
perceive that, while by yielding to the entreaties
of his own subjects, of the French people, and of
the head of the Church, he appeared in the light
of a great and magnanimous prince sacrificing his
private feelings to the public good, on the other
hand, if he rejected this appeal, he might hereafter
lose his present position as the umpire of the war,
and be made to feel its calamitous effects.
The peace thus ardently longed for was secured
by the treaty of Arras, in 1435. This instrument
exhibits in a strong light the unequal terms on
which a feudal sovereign was sometimes compelled
to treat with his powerful vassals. It consists of a
series of concessions and engagements on the part
of Charles, which the duke of Burgundy is gra



CHAP. I.]     TRUCE WITH THE ENGLISH.                 41
ciously pleased  to  accept -moved thereto, as he
states, by compassion for the suffering people of the
realm, and by the request and summons of the holy
father and the ecumenical council assembled at Basel.  By one provision of the  treaty,-  the  only
one that requires notice as bearing on events to
be hereafter relatedl — the king ceded to Philip the
towns and seigneuries lying on both banks of the
Somme, embracing the greater part of Picardy, subject to the usual restrictions of a feudal grant; and
to  a stipulation -inserted  probably  to  save  the
honor of the crown - that these places might hereafter be redeemed by the payment of four hundred
thousand gold crowns.4'
Several years elapsed after the duke of Burgundy
had withdrawn from their support before the English
could be induced to consent to a suspension of
hostilities; and, although the truce made in 1444
was renewed from  time to time, it was not until
their means were crippled and their energies exhausted by the civil wars of Lancaster and York
that they finally desisted from  their efforts to reestablish their dominion in France.
It remains only to say a few words respecting
the condition of that country when the clouds which
41 The treaty- since known as tom. i. p. 254, et seq., and may also
the "first treaty of Arras," to dis- be found,with the confirmation by the
tinguish it from that by which, in Council ofBaseland other documents
1483, the towns of the Somme were relating to the subject, in Dumont,
finally restored to France - is given Corps Diplomatique, tom. ii. pp. 309,
at length by Lamarche, (ed. Petitot,) et seq.
VOL. I.     6




42              THE ECORCHEURS.           [BOOK I.
had settled over it began at length to clear away.
Far from subsiding, the waters seemed to rise higher
as the violence of the storm abated. The foreign
enemy had been vanquished; the two great parties
had laid aside their animosity; but in order that
tranquillity might be restored, that industry might
again flourish, it was necessary that the very army
which had achieved these successes should be conquered and subdued. As it turned from the pursuit
of the retreating foe, it broke up into bands, that
spread themselves over the impoverished country,
gleaning the scattered spoils which remained from
the harvest of their onward march. Passing from
province to province, they established their headquarters in the castles and small fortresses, sallying
forth in quest of booty, extorting ransom from their
prisoners, and exciting by their marvellous rapacity
— their keenness of scent, dexterity of finger, and
ingenious methods of appropriation and compulsion
— the admiration of their victims, who, with wit
inspired by terror, bestowed upon them the names
of the icorcheuzrs (fleecers) and Relondeurs (shearers) —names long preserved in the popular recollection.  Even the walled towns and cities were
menaced with attack; and the inhabitants were
generally glad to compound for the hazards of an
assault by the payment of a heavy fine.
But, happily, though anarchy still prevailed in the
country, it no longer existed in the government.
The machine was once more in motion; and a
clear-sighted and vigorous policy, which marked the




CHAPm I.]       FIRST STANDING ARMY.                43
rise of a new order of statesmen, directed its operation. Schemes of reform were not merely devised,
but carried into execution; laws were not merely
promulgated, but enforced. The natural channels
of revenue were reopened, and the expenses of the
state placed upon an equitable basis. By an ordinance celebrated as the first of the kind in modern
history, the feudal levies- that had taken part in the
war were converted into a standing army, with regular pay, and under officers appointed by the king.
To defray the expense of this establishment, a direct
and perpetual tax, of fixed annual amount, was
imposed by the sole authority of the crown; and
the innovation, though it excited the clamors of a
few, was submitted to without demur by the body
of the nation, who recognized its necessity.42  By
another ordinance the towns were required to raise,
equip, and furnish when needed for the royal service, a body of archers proportioned to the number
of the inhabitants. Such of the brigand-soldiery as
refused to submit to the new organization were
treated as public enemies. These measures did not
indeed go into effect without encountering resistance from the great nobles. The establishment of
a permanent military force was inveighed against
as an arbitrary innovation and a stepping-stone to
tyranny.43   Feudalism, alarmed at the approaching
42," Le Roy Charles... fut ad- faix et charge) que ce qu'ils fussent
vis6... que le peuple aymeroit journellement manges et pilles." Lamieux payer icelle taille par an(qui marche, tom. i. p. 406.
toutesfois estoit grande et de pesant  43 That Basin, after showing the




44                  THE  "KING'S JUSTICE."                 [BOOK I.
strides  of this new  power, whose  hostile  intentions
could not be mistaken, put itself in an attitude of
defence.   But the  time  had  not yet come for the
final trial of strength between the two systems.
The nobility had been greatly weakened by the
bloody struggle through which it had just passed,
and the activity of the government allowed its
enemies no  time for concentration.   The  rebellion
was  suppressed   without  difficulty.    Charles  the
Seventh  travelled  through  his dominions, accompanied not only by his slender court, but by his
artillery, his  gendarmes, and  his  provost-marshals,
battering  the  strongholds  of refractory  chiefs, and
hunting  down  the  -Icorcheurs with  merciless  rigor.
When a gallows was not at hand, they were strung
up to the branches of the trees, or tied in sacks
and  thrown  into  the  rivers.  In  this rude, ambulatory way the c king's justice " once more  showed  its
stern  presence  in  the  land.?42   The  timid  merchant
necessity for these measures and ac- trary power of mere words and comknowledging their efficacy, should  monplace phrases over the thoughts
pronounce an invective against their  and opinions of even penetrating
authors, pretending that the system  minds. - See some remarks on the
of feudal levies offered sufficient first formation of standing armies,
means for the protection of the coun- and its supposed connection with the
try, and branching out into a de- establishment of despotic governclamatoryharangue on the overthrow  ments, postea, Book II. chap. 3.
of popular liberty, (meaning thereby    44 Olivier de Lamarche bears strikfeudal anarchy,) and the evils of des- ing testimony to the zeal and induspotism, illustrated by references to  try with which this needful work was
ancient history, is matter of amuse- prosecuted: " Certifie que la riviere
ment rather than surprise.  That de Sosne etle Doux estoyent sipleins
Sismondi and some other modern de corps et de charongnes d'iceux
writers should have fallen into a sim-  escorcheurs, que maintesfois les peilar tone is an evidence of the arbi-  scheurs les tiroyent en lieu de pois



CHAP.'.]             RETURN  OF PEACE.                          45
ventured back to the  ancient routes.   The peasants
crept from their hiding-places, and looked around
for their ruined dwellings and wasted fields.45
In that part of the country which had been the
chief theatre of the English war the return of peace
was hailed with a peculiar joy. The effect was like
that of the south-west wind so impatiently expected
by the ice-bound voyagers in Arctic climes, which,
when it comes, dissolves in a single night the obstructions to their progress or return. For nearly thirty
years the inhabitants of the north of France, cooped
up in the walled towns, had endured the perils, the
privations, and the anxieties of a continuous siege.
In the chronicles of the time there is no picture
more touching than that of the manner in which
these poor captives welcomed the announcement of
their deliverance. Hastening first to the churches
and the shrines of the saints, they poured forth
the emotions of gratitude with which in that long
looked-for hour every heart was full. Many of
son, deux h deux, trois h trois corps, crumenas auro refertas, quod paulo
lies et accoupl6s de cordes ensem-  ante in secretis nature visceribus,
ble." Memoires, tom. i. p. 291. Some-  proedonum  metu, recondebant, tutimes the sack bore on the outside  tissimum palam deferre et de una in
the significant inscription, "Laissez  alteram patriam proficisci laetantur."
passer la justice du Roi! " At least, Blondel, Assertio Normanniae, cited
an instance - of earlier date, how- by Quicherat in his edition of Baever -is mentioned by Lefevre de  sin, tom. i. p. 173, note. Lamarche
Saint-Remy, (ed. Buchon,) tom. i. speaks of the new military organizap. 52.                             tion as "belle et profitable chose
45 4 Tum publica itinera, absque  pour le Royaume; et par ce moyen
rerum et corporum discrimine, fre-  cesserent les Escorcheurs et les gens
quentare videres; tum omne homi-  de compaignies leur courses et leur
num genus, potissime negociatores, pilleries." MWmoires, tom. i. p. 407.




46                RETURN OF PEACE.                [BOOK I.
them set out at once upon distant pilgrimages, in
fulfilment of vows made during their season of
trial. But the common impulse was that of the
bird escaped from  his cage into the freedom  and
the  air of his native  woods.   The  streets were
thronged with young and old, of both sexes and
of all conditions, who, as soon as the gates were
opened, streamed forth in all directions, eager to
behold the sights and scenes which some remembered vaguely as visions of their childhood, and
others had never visited or gazed upon before.
The meadows, the running brooks, the sylvan glades,
even the wild and desolate features of the landscape, were sources of wonder and of exquisite
delight.46  Yet with these grateful sensations of novelty and new-gained freedom were mingled feelings
of a different cast. Gray-haired men were seen
seeking for the sites of their former dwellings, and
striving to identify the spots associated in their
memory with the cares, the joys, the sacred sorrows,
of a distant past.47 Little remained to assist their
recollections or to aid them in the search. The
ashes of their ruined homes had long since disappeared. The fields they had once tilled were now
covered with woods. Even the highways were no
longer discernible.48  The traces of earlier habitation
46 " Juvabat et silvas videre, et rant, fama dumtaxat, experimento
agros, licet ubique paene squalentes vero nulla notitia habebatur." Baet desertos, virentia prata, fontesque sin, tom. i. p. 162.
atque amnes, et aquarum rivulos in-  47 Lamarche, Memoires.
tueri; de quibus quidem a multis,  48 Basin, tom. i. p. 118.
qui urbium claustra nunquam exie



CHAP. I.]       RETURN OF PEACE.                47
and of later destruction seemed alike obliterated.
Nature, stern and solitary, reigned over a region
which centuries before had been rescued from her
sway by the energies of man, but which, forfeited
by his follies and his crimes, had again become
subject to her claim.




CHAPTER II.
DOMINIONS, COURT, AND POLICY OF PHILIP THE GOOD.
THE existing territorial divisions of France, though
not altogether arbitrary in their arrangement and
nomenclature, do not, like those which they have
superseded in the maps and official records, represent the broader diversities in the geography of
the country, or those distinctions of origin, habits,
dialect, and history which constitute what may be
termed the etymology of the nation.
The names, therefore, of the ancient provinces,
connected with so many familiar associations in the
present and in the past, are not likely ever to fall
entirely into disuse. That of BURGUNDY calls up a
picture of smiling vineyards, sheltered hill-sides
where a climate and a soil peculiarly adapted to
this  species of culture  give  a  golden  beauty  to
the vintage.l It carries the imagination back to
1 The C6te d'Or is usually sup- some connection with the lustre and
posed to have derived its name from  rich color of the wine and of the
the great luxuriance of its vines and grapes. There is a costly species
the value of their yield. The name of Burgundian wine which is called,
may possibly, however, have had from its golden hue, gouttes d'or.
(48)'




CHAP. II.]         DUCHY OF BURGUNDY.                        49
what was most imposing in the manners and institutions of the  Middle Ages-to  rich  abbeys and
lordly castles, to scenes of festive pomp and brilliant feats of arms.  It suggests recollections of the
most fascinating pages in  the  literature  of France
-  the vinous fecundity of sentiment and  easy copiousness of expression that characterize such writers,
dissimilar in  all other respects, as Bossuet, Buffon,
and Lamartine.2
Few  provinces are still so rich in  the traces and
memorials of an illustrious past. The cities, small
but stately, adorned with many fountains and spacious public walks, have an air of faded splendor,
suggestive not of any former state of commercial
activity3 or the vulgar opulence of a prosperous
burgher life, but of the assemblings of princes,
statesmen, soldiers, and ecclesiastics —of the pride
and magnificence of martial courts. The buildings
and  antiquities  are  of  many  races  and  various
epochs —relics of the  mysterious Druidic worship,
temples and statues of the old Roman gods, and
Christian churches in the purest styles of Gothic
architecture. Amidst the granitic fastnesses of the
2 Burgundy has been always pre- tine made use, in the writer's hearing,
eminent among the French provinces of a truly Burgundian metaphor to
for the number and fame of its men  describe the exuberance of the poet's
of letters, and especially of its ora- genius: " He has only to open the
tors. It owed its early distinction  tap, and the poetry runs of itself."
in this, as in some other respects, to    3 At'Dijon, the workshops and
the influence of the Benedictines. dwellings of the artisans were outVoltaire assigned to Dijon the rank  side the walls, and the streets in the
of the second town in France in re- suburbs were called by the names
spect to literary activity.      of the different trades  Courtepee,
A compatriot and friend of Lamar- tom. ii. p. 53.
VOL. I.       7




50                 DUCHY OF BURGUNDY.                    [BOOK I.
mountain  range  that  intersects  the  country  the
Gauls are supposed to have made their last stand
against the conquering legions of Caesar, losing in
a single battle more than eighty thousand men.
During  the  Middle Ages the  soil was the  property
of a  numerous and  powerful nobility, —  whose ruined castles still lie scattered amongst the hills,and of great religious communities, famous beyond
all others in the west of Europe —among them
Cluny, the most renowned of the Benedictine convents; Citeaux, the head of the great Carthusian
order, and the parent establishment of more than
three thousand religious houses; Clairvaux, founded
by Bernard, the most illustrious of Burgundians, and
the most eminent among the fathers of the Gallican
church; and Vezelay, now a ruin in the midst of a
rocky solitude, but once the largest and  most magnificent of monasteries, where the same great orator
and saint aroused by his impassioned eloquence the
drooping  spirit of the  Crusades.4
There is little in the present condition of the
country to dissipate the impression made by the
4 Courtepee, passim.- Hist. de  culture of the grape were also found
Bourgogne, tom. i. pp. 147-152, 302, especially suited to the growth of
304, et al. - Helyot, Dict. des Or- monastic establishments. Many of
dres Religieux. - Lavergne, Mdm. the most noted vineyards of Europe
sur l'PEconomie rurale de la France, still bear the names of the genial
(Seances et Travaux de l'Acad. des fraternities by whom they were first
Sciences morales et politiques, Avril, planted. The truth is, that the monks
1856.)                           were the "model farmers" of the
It is scarcely necessary to draw  Middle Ages, often the earliest piothe reader's notice to the fact, not neers in clearing the soil, always the
exemplified in Burgundy alone, that most skilful and intelligent in develthe situations most favorable to the  oping its resources.




CHAP. II.]           DUCHY OF BURGUNDY.                           51
remains   that  attest  its  former  greatness.    The
animation  of chivalry, the  gayeties  and  ceremonies
of a picturesque age, have vanished; but their
place is not supplied by the industrial activity
or the experimental and inventive spirit of the
nineteenth  century.    Burgundy  is  unsuited  by  its
situation  to  become  the  seat of an  extensive  commerce.   Nor does the  culture  of the vine, requiring
a simple though careful husbandry, call for the aid
of science, or give a stimulus to other branches of
industry. It has occasioned, where the soil is fruit,
ful, an   excessive  subdivision   of landed   property,
with  a  consequent deterioration  in  the  quality  and
relative value of the productions, as well as an
overplus in the number and an absence of any improvement in the condition of the cultivators.5 In
other parts of the province, a large portion of the
surface  is  left wild  and  uncultivated; many  tracts
6 Arthur Young founds his strong-  ever, would render it in fact peculiarly
est arguments against la petite cul- adapted to "peasant properties," but
ture on the condition of the wine-  for the extreme uncertainty of the
growing districts. See, in particular,  crop, frequently resulting in a total
the interesting and striking remarks  loss, and in the consequent destituin his Travels in France, vol. ii. pp. tion of the small proprietors. M. de
221-223.  The enormous product, Lavergne writes, in 1856, "Malheuin favorable years, from a very small reusement, depuis quelques ann6es,
portion of ground, and the fact that les intemperies ont fait disparaitre
no great outlay of capital, or any  h peu pres la r6colte..... Il n'y a
other than manual labor, is required, presque pas d'industrie dans l'Yonne;
while, on the other hand, constant la Cote d'Or en a davantage, mais
care and close attention are indis-  pas assez pour donner un grand espensable, for the successful cultiva-  sor h la production rurale. La moitie
tion of the vine, are the causes of du pays n'est qu'une solitude; dans
that minute division of the land  l'autre regnent la petite proprit8e et
with which it is so often found con- la petite culture." E1conomie rurale
nected.  These circumstances, how-  de la France.




52                   FRANCHE-COMTE.                  [BooK I.
once occupied have been deserted; and that gradual diminution of the rural population which has
of late become noticeable throughout France seems
here to have been a subject of anxiety and  complaint during the last two centuries.6
FRANCHE-COMTE, or the Free County of Burgundy,
— the country of the ancient Sequani, —had' been
the original seat of the Burgundian power in Gaul,
and the nucleus of that kingdom the history and
extent of which were briefly noticed at the beginning of the last chapter. After a long separation
from   the  duchy  of  Burgundy, it  again  became
subject to  the same rule in the early part of the
fourteenth century. It was a fief, however, not of
France, but of the Empire, though situated within
the natural boundaries of France, governed by a
line of princes of French descent, and inhabited by
a people who spoke the French language.  On the
death of Philip de Rouvres, it passed to his widow,
Margaret of Flanders, and formed part of the magnificent dowry which that princess brought to her
second husband, Philip the Bold of Burgundy. Subsequently  to  the  period  of this  history  it was
united to the dominions of the house of Austria,
6 Vauban, the great military engi- similar picture of the present state
neer, himself a native of Burgundy, of things; and his statements seem
wrrote a paper on this subject, which to be confirmed by the statistical rehe presented to the government of turns more recently published. Yet
Louis XIV. Courtdpde, in the eigh- the very continuance during so long
teenth century, makes the same com- a period of this asserted decline
plaints. M. de Lavergne, who men- might lead one to suspect some error
tions the paper of Vauban, draws a or exaggeration.




CHAP. II.]         FRANCHE-COMTE.                   53
and  remained  in  their possession  till conquered
and annexed to France by Louis the Fourteenth,
in the latter part of the seventeenth century.
Bordered by the duchy on the west, and on the
east and south by Switzerland, it presents a gradually ascending surface, that reaches its highest
point in the summits of the Jura. This variety of.elevation occasions a corresponding diversity of climate and productions. On the lower slopes, maize,
and even the vine, are cultivated with success; but
the more mountainous portions, for the most part
wood and pasture lands, offer the thousand aspects
of Alpine scenery, by turns lovely and sublime,
and wanting only the "Ceternal glaciers" to complete the resemblance.7
Nor is the resemblance confined to the appearance of the country; it extends also to the character
and the occupations of the people. If in the duchy
of Burgundy the mingled gayety and sentiment
peculiar to the Gallic race, the love of public shows
and festive meetings, the taste for ornate and
pathetic eloquence and poetry, are more conspicuous than elsewhere, Franche-Comte, on the other
hand, is the home of a sedate and serious people, accustomed to reflection and to solitude. Its
distinguished men have been jurists, statesmen, philosophers, and  critics.8  The  peasantry, noted for
7 Lavergne, Economie rurale de la   8 Among the distinguished natives
France. - Gollut, Memoires histo- of Franche-Comt4, one of the latest,
riques de la Republique Sequanoise, Cuvier, has perhaps acquired the
(ed. Duvernoy, Arbois, 1846,) liv. ii. widest fame. But readers of Robert



54                    FRANCMIE-COMTE.                    [BOOK I.
intelligence, industry, and  thrift, devote  the  long
evenings of the winter months to reading and other
sedentary  pursuits.  Nowhere  has  the  division  of
the soil into small properties been attended with
happier effects than here. The want of large capital in single hands is supplied by the principle of
association. Each village is a little republic, where
the common interests are the object of a sedulous
and  methodical administration.   The  great dairies
for which the country is famous are managed in
the same manner. The owner of a single acre or
a single cow shares the same advantages as his
wealthier neighbors. The eye of the traveller is
every where attracted not merely by the charms
of the landscape, but by the evidences of a simple
prosperity equally diffused and rationally enjoyed.
In the spring, when the snow has begun to melt,
the cattle are seen ascending in long files to the
spare but aromatic pastures of the mountain crevices, where they pass both day and night in the open
air, dispersing at the approach of winter, and returning to the valleys and their accustomed shelter.9
son and of Prescott will recall with  econome, trop 6goiste meme, pour
interest the names of the two Gran- ne point raisonner ses rares mouvevelles - the able and astute minis- ments de g6n6rosite."  He is deters of Charles V. and Philip II. scribed also as a born mathematiA writer in the M6moires de l'In- cian, and as possessing a natural
stitut (Academie des Inscriptions, aptitude for every branch of science.
tom. ix. and xii.) remarks that the  No other province sends yearly so
Franche-Comtois is to the Burgun- large a number of pupils to the Podian what reason is to the imagina- lytechnique.
tion. "II est franc, intelligent, assez    9 These meagre details have been
gai, hospitable, naturellement bon; almost wholly borrowed from  the
d'ailleurs trop homme d'ordre, trop  excellent and graphic sketch of M.




CHAP. II.]             FRANCHE-COMPTE.                           55
In  comparing  the present with  the past condition
of these  provinces, it is hardly necessary to  remind
the reader of the changes that have taken place
in their political and social institutions. At the
period to which our history relates, feudalism still
overshadowed the soil in nearly every part of
Europe. Nowhere had this system, which gave a
military form to the whole structure of society and
made every other pursuit subordinate to that of
arms, struck deeper roots than in Burgundy, a
frontier land, and  the  habitation  from   the  earliest
ages of a warlike race, where every rock had its
castle and every town was a fortress.10 " Our Burgundy," says an old writer, "is not wealthy; it has
no large revenues; it has nothing to tempt attack,
and it is admirably provided with the means of defence; it is trenched by rivers and morasses, scarped
by rocks and mountains, and peopled by men fit
for war, obstinate in combat, resolute to the death.""
de Lavergne. But the elaborate de- proposed to substitute.  Augustin
scription of Gollut, - by far the most Thierry prefers Bu/hr- Gunden, which
valuable and interesting portion of he translates "hommes de guerre
his work, - though not compressi-  conf6d6r6s."  M. de Belloguet conble into a few sentences, is pervaded  tends for Borgundar, (from Bor and
with a charm  rarely found in the  kundar,) " enfants de Bor," or " fils
writings of later topographers.    du Vent," which has at least the
"' The usual derivation of Bur- merit of supporting his theory of a
gundy and Burgundian from  burg,  Scandinavian admixture.
bourg, or burgus, a castle or forti-    1 ", Nostre Bourgogne est en cette
fled place, (or from berg, a hill,) and  condition, car elle n'est riche; elle
wohner, or houde, " dwellers," or n'est de grand reuenu; elle ne pou" keepers," though shaken by the  roit r'embourser les frais qu'un veinarguments of some modern writers, queur feroit sur sa conqueste; elle
will scarcely be exchanged for any  est fornie admirablement de difficulof the etymologies which they have  tes propres a sa deffense; elle est




56                    THE NETHERLANDS.                       [BOOK I.
Its  sovereigns  in  the  fifteenth  century  accounted
for the  slender subsidies which  they  obtained  from
it by its having shared in the calamities that had
befallen France. But, if it did not furnish them
with money, it supplied them with a splendid cavalry amounting to a third of the whole number of
their troops.2
In the NETHERLANDS, the house of Burgundy had
gradually extended its sway over eleven provinces,
some  of them   German  fiefs, and  others French,
comprising the present kingdoms of Holland and
Belgium, with the exception of Gueldres, Friesland,
and the principality of Liege, and including, on the
west, territory that has since been added to that of
France.l3   With  the general features of the country
entrecoup6e et comme retranch&e de  controversy, to his nephew, Philip
riuieres et forestz, armee de rochers  the Good, who had already acquired
et montagnes, asseur6e de destroitz  Namur, by purchase, in 1421. The
ou marescages, fornie tres populeuse-  events which enabled Philip to make
ment d'hommes bons a la guerre, himself master of the rich inheritance
opiniastres au combat, resolus' la  of Jacqueline of Bavaria - the counmort."  Gollut, col. 121.          ties of Hainault, Holland, and Zea12 Gachard, Documents inedits  land- form  one of the most strikconcernant l'Histoire de Belgique, ing episodes in the history of the
tom. i. p. 220.  And see Dunod, fifteenth century. His sovereignty
Hist. du Comte de Bourgogne, (Di-  over these three provinces dated
jon, 1737,) tom. ii. p. 37, et al.  from  1436. Finally, having been
13 The provinces were acquired in  constituted the protector of Luxemthe following order: Philip the Bold  bourg, the possession of his aunt,
inherited the' counties of Flanders  Elizabeth of Gorlitz, he was recogand Artois, on the death of Louis  nized as her successor by the estates
van Male, in 1384. His second son, of that duchy, in 1462. The margraAntony, became duke of Brabant viate of Antwerp and the seigneury
and Limbourg in 1406; and, on the  of Malines (Mechlin) were enclaves
failure of lineal descendants from   of Brabant, and had been transferred
that prince in 1430, both duchies  at the same period and in the same
were adjudged, though not without manner.




CHAP. ii.] CONDITION IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.               57
the reader may be supposed to be familiar, since
no part of Europe has been more fully or more
frequently described. In the middle of the fifteenth
century the traveller who, after traversing France,
crossed  the  frontiers of Flanders, —the  wealthiest
and most important of the provinces,- compared
himself to the Israelites when they had quitted the
Desert and  entered  the  borders  of the  Promised
Land.'4   Behind him  was a country thinly peopled,
almost destitute  of trade, and  wearing  a  general
aspect of poverty and  desolation; while before him
lay a vast level tract, crowded with cities, swarming
with population, teeming with wealth, alive with
the industry and energy of men who had created
the  very soil on which they dwelt, and who seemed
to have monopolized the commerce and manufactures of the world.'5
There can be no doubt that, in the provinces
which now constitute the kingdom of Belgium, the
cities, with scarcely an exception, have declined in
population and importance since the close of the
sixteenth century. Even if history were silent on
14 ic Se povoient mieulx dire terres  oppida tam opulenta... populique
de promission que nulles aultres sei- tanta libertate gaudentes, tam honesgneuries qui fussent sur la terre."  tis vestibus amicti et culti politique
Commines, (ed. Dupont,) tom. i. forent, ut felicitatis atque libertatis
p. 19.                           quoddam specimen cuncta qume illic
15 This contrast was drawn by  viderentur, pramtenderent;... e diLouis XI. in his reply to a petition  verso vero, cum primum regnum inpresented to him by the inhabitants gressus esset, ubique ruinas et diof Rheims, soon after his accession: rutas macerias invenisse, squalentes
"Se quinquennio prope in terris vero agros atque incultos, velut demansisse Burgundionum  ducis, in  sertum quoddam," &c. Basin, tom.
quibus tam magnificee civitates et ii. p. 11.
VOL. I.       8




58                    THE NETHERLANDS.                      [Boox I.
this point, the present aspect of these towns would
afford sufficient evidence of the changes which they
have undergone. But it is a mistake to suppose
that previously to that period the rural districts
had attained a degree of prosperity proportional to
that of the towns —that the country was better
cultivated and more productive than almost any
other part of Europe — that it presented the same
appearance of minute and garden-like husbandry
by which it is at present distinguished. These statements - frequently met with - are the result, in
part of an erroneous impression produced by the
vague eulogies of early writers, which seem descriptive of a state of things such as actually exists, and
in part of an unfounded theory, which assumes a
necessary  connection  between  the  commercial and
the agricultural prosperity of a country, or, in other
words, takes for granted an increased  productiveness
in every region where the demand has increased.l6
16 Thus we are told in M'Culloch's excellence of the Flemish husbandGeographical Dictionary (art. Bel- ry, which has been celebrated for
gium) that "Flanders, in consequence  upwards of six hundred years, it is
of its great commercial prosperity, necessary to keep in view the close
was remarkable for the advanced  connection which in that country exstate of its agriculture long before  ists between the farmer, the manuimprovement in this important art facturer, and the merchant."  Were
was observable north of the Alps  this idea correct, -were the agriculand Pyrenees... The necessity of ture of Flanders thus dependent on
providing for constantly increasing  its trade, -the condition of the runumbers of inhabitants produced  ral districts would have sympathized
the agricultural perfection for which  with that of the towns, and, instead
Flanders has long been renowned.... of constantly and rapidly advancing
The commerce and agriculture of during the last three centuries, would
Flanders grew together; and, in or- have exhibited a corresponding deder to account for the remarkable  cline. The writer goes on to remark,




CHAP. II.]        STATE OF AGRICULTURE.                        59
It  is  with  reference  especially  to  the  present
Belgian  provinces of East and West Flanders17  that
such  assertions  are  made.   It was  there  that the
most truly and most pertinently, that (Flandria Teutonica, Flandre fla"were the whole of Flanders laid  mengant)  and  French  Flanders
out in large farms, and a third or  (Flandre gallicant). Both the presfourth part fallowed every year, or ent Belgian provinces of East and
a half left in natural grass, the pop- West Flanders were embraced in
ulation could not be fed; and in- Teutonic  Flanders, or Flanders
stead of exporting agricultural prod- Proper, which contained, in the sixuce, as at present, a great importa- teenth  century, seventeen walled
tion would be requisite to supply  towns,-among them Ghent, Bruges,
the demand of internal consump- Ypres, Courtray, &c., - and twentytion."  Now this hypothetical case, three "privileged" or incorporated
if somewhat more strongly stated, towns not enclosed by walls, besides
Would be an accurate description of a great number of villages. French
what was really the condition of the  Flanders- so called not only behmost fertile and flourishing district cause the French was the common
in Flanders during the period when  language of the inhabitants, but bethe towns were at the height of their cause this territory had more than
prosperity, and when the excellence  once been seized and annexed to
of the Flemish husbandryis supposed  their domain by the monarchs of
to have been already renowned.    France, though it was not till a far
17 Some of the misconceptions rel- later period that they succeeded in
ative to the topic under discussion  obtaining permanent possession of it
may be attributed to ignorance or — contained but four incorporated
forgetfulness of the changes which  towns, of which Lille was the only
have taken place in the limits and  one comparable for the amount and
divisions of Flanders, (a point sel- value of its manufactures with those
dom elucidated in general histories,)  of Teutonic Flanders. It was to this
as well as to the practice, formerly  small district, forming at present no
so common, of applying this name to  part of Flanders or of Belgium, that,
the whole of the Belgian provinces. as we shall presently see, the comIn the Middle Ages Flanders was mendations sometimes bestowed by
politically divided into two provinces early writers on the Flemish agricul- the county, a French fief, compre- ture were intended to apply. The
hending the district west and south  best account of the former extent
of the Scheldt, and the seigneurie, or and boundaries of Flanders may be
lordship, a small tract on the borders found in Oudegherst, Annales de
of Brabant, which was held of the  Flandre, (ed. Lesbroussart, 2 vols.
Empire. But the more popular di- 8vo., Gand,) tom. ii. cap. 169.
vision was that of Teutonic F]anders




60              THE NETHERLANDS.          [BooK I.
towns were most numerous, and that commerce
and manufactures attained their highest state; it is
there that the familiar examples are now furnished
of an elaborate culture and surpassing productiveness; and the present and the past unite to produce
an illusion, Which will be dissipated by a closer
examination.  For the high condition of Flemish
agriculture and the density of the rural population can be shown to be the effects of changes
which have taken place within the last three centuries; and the opposite notion is contradicted by
facts furnished by the very writers from whose
general phrases it has been derived.  The soil is
for the most part naturally poor, or even absolutely sterile. Much of it was originally submerged.
Those regions which yield the largest crops were
formerly marshes or sandy wastes.  They have
been brought into their present state by the most
laborious and long-continued efforts, by works of
drainage on the largest scale, and the constant
application of powerful fertilizers.  In these provinces agriculture had made but little progress in
the fifteenth, or even in the sixteenth, century. It
was an important branch of industry only in that
small portion of Flanders which now lies within the
confines of France; and even here the wealth of the
inhabitants consisted chiefly in herds of cattle, raised
on extensive natural pastures which have since
almost wholly disappeared. Wheat, now the principal crop, was grown only in the same district, and
not in sufficient quantity for home consumption. It




CHAP. II.]          STATE OF AGRICULTURE.                        61
was largely imported  from  Artois and  the  neighboring French provinces, from  England, Spain, Denmark,
and the shores of the Baltic; 18 while the exportation
18 " Et multis in locis pascuis  ciardini himself adds, "Pascua ejus
Flandria ac pratis quam arvo melior  uberrima, ideoque uberrimus etiam
est, quo fit ut peregrino necesse ha-  qucestus  ex  pecudum  gregibus,"
beat uti frumento. Hoc vicinse gen-  (p. 402.)
tes... affatim suppeditant, ubertate    A more remarkable passage is to
agri laonge nobis feliciores."  Re- be found in an exceedingly rare work
rum Flandricarum Tomi X., auctore  of the Spanish writer Calvete de la
Jacobo Meyero Balliolano, (Brugis, Estrella: "La tierra [in Flanders
1842,) p. 77. - Glanville, an Eng- generally] por la multitud de la genlish monk, who wrote about the mid- te, que tiene, no es muy fertil de
dle of the fourteenth century, de- pan, principalmente de trigo, antes
scribes Flanders as "terra pascuis  por la mayor parte es llena de floresuberrima et pecudibus plena." Reif- tas, de prados, de pastos, y bosques,
fenberg, Commerce des Pays bas aux  lagos, estaques y rios, que aunque
XV et XVI siecles, (M6m. Courou-  sean pequefios, son los mas d'ellos
ndes de l'Acad. de Bruxelles, tom. i. navegables, porque en inuierno no
p. 20.) -" Solum... sationi et seria posible yr por mucha parte
agricultur e in genere quidem satis  d'ella d cavallo, ni Ai pie, ni en carros,
idoneum, ac mediocriterfetile," says  sino fuese por los tales rios y fosos
Guicciardini - a description which  hechos a mano." (Viaje del Principe
would be thought strangely inappli- Don Phelipe, Amveres, 1552, fol. 95
cable at the present day. He goes  verso.) Here we see that Flanders,
on, however, "Alibi vero et prmser-  in the sixteenth century, was still
tim  versus maritima Galliamque,"  in process of malking, its condition
(the neighborhood of Dixmude and  being similar to that of Holland in
the French ddpartement du Nord,)  the seventeenth century, where the
" rarae cujusdam fecunditatis." But  " quaking ground," the " daily delhe particularizes only the richness of uge," and the " people dwelling in
the pastures and the number and size  ships " afforded a fiuitful theme for
of the cattle. Belgice, sive Inferio-  satire to the writers of neighboring
ris Germanise, Descriptio, (12mo., nations.
Amstelodami, 1652,) p. 332. Else-    In both French and Belgian Flanwhere he characterizes French Flan-  ders great numbers of cattle are now
ders as " regio parum ampla, bona  raised, but they are chiefly stall-fed;
tamen et pulchra," and speaks of the  and,while in England three fourths of
soil as "tritici maxime feracissi- the soil are appropriated to the raismum."  Yet we know from  other ing of animals, in the d6partement du
sources that even here the quantity  Nord, where they are proportionally
produced was insufficient for the  more numerous, though inferior in
wants of the inhabitants; and Guic- breed, the products of one quarter of




62                     THE NETHERLANDS.                        [BOOK I.
from the Netherlands of grain or agricultural produce of any description was strictly prohibited by
the   laws.l9    A   great  portion   of  the   surface —
including  the   Pays  de  Waes  and  other  districts
now the most fertile and highly cultivated in the
country, presenting the appearance of a vast garden
whence every stone and weed are carefully removed
-was at the  period  of our history entirely barren;
the road from Dendermonde, except where it passed
through towns and villages, traversed plains of sand
and uninhabitable bogs that extended to the walls
of Bruges; and  it was not till about the year 1530
that the  first attempts  were  made  to  reclaim   and
cultivate the soil even in the vicinity of the principal cities.20
the surface suffice for this purpose. rum Flandricarum Tomi X., p. 78. -
Lavergne, lEconomie rurale de la  Even Guicciardini, writing in the
France, (S6ances et Travaux de  latter half of the sixteenth century,
l'Acad. des Sciences morales et po-  and always inclined to exalt and
litiques, tom. xv. p. 137.)  The su- amplify the resources of the Nethperiority of the English cattle was  erlands, speaks of the soil in Teuacknowledged even in the sixteenth  tonic Flanders as "magna ex parte
century.                            exuccum et sabulosum, sic ut tritici'9 " Triticum  insuper, secale, et parum ferax sit." (p. 336.) He adds
quidquid praeterea frugum est, expor-  that some other kinds of grain, bucktare hinc nefas." Guicciardini, p. 79. wheat and rye, were produced in
20 Des b6hmischen Hernn Leos  abundance, which may be considered
von Rozmital Ritter-, Hof-, und Pil-  as confirmatory of the earlier stateger-Reise durch die Abeniande 1465  ment of Meyer, that this region was,
-1467,beschrieben von zweinen sein-  when he wrote, only beginning to
er Begleiter, (Svo., Stuttgart, 1844.)  be cultivated.  Calvete de ia Es" Nonnullisque in locis, agro pree-  trella says, somewhat contemptuouscipue Brugensi ac Gandensio tantum   ly, " En la parte Oriental [Teutonic
non sterili, ubi tamen nunc vincere  Flanders] lo mas que se coge es cenquidam nituntur soli maliciam, ter-  teno."  Wheat was grown, at least
ramque hactenus incultam et areno-  in any considerable amount, only in
sam in arva redigere."  Meyer, Re-  that portion of Belgium  which is




CHAP. II.]          STATE OF AGRICULTURE.                        63
In such a region agriculture could flourish only
under favorable circumstances and the operation of
a peculiar  stimulus.   But during  the  Middle  Ages
all the circumstances were unfavorable, and conspired  to  produce  the  opposite  result.    The  land,
as elsewhere in Europe, was subject to the burdens
and monopolies of the feudal system. It was cultivated chiefly by a servile class, or by a class whose
condition was but little removed from that of servitude. On the other hand, the situation of the
Netherlands offered peculiar advantages for other
pursuits, which, if not altogether free, were  subject
at least to no degrading conditions, and which
tended, therefore, to  absorb  the  capital and  industrial energies of the inhabitants.2 Even the villages
now included in the dominions of towns, and embellished with gardens
France.  Artois supplied the mar-  and lawns. Had the custom, now
kets  of Brussels, Malines, &c. almost universal amongst this class
(Guicciardini, p. 436, et al.)  Ac- of the population, of occupying rural
cording to  the Venetian  envoy, residences during a portion of the
Frederico Badoero, a greater quan- year been commonly practised, it
tity of grain was raised in Artois  would hardly have escaped mention
than in all the other provinces to- by Italian writers. The citizens of
gether. (Relazioni degli Ambascia- Brussels, as appears from Guicciartori Veneti, Serie I., vol. iii. p. 280.)  dini, (p. 44,) combined the obserSo also Calvete de la Estrella: " En  vance of a religious duty with the
la Occidental [French Flanders] se  gratification of their taste by spendcoge trigo, y bueno, y no tanto que  ing a few weeks in summer " in rebaste para sustentarse los pueblos. treat " at one or other of the monastic
Proveense de Artoes, de Francia, de  houses scattered through the Forest
Dinamarca, Alemafia, y otros partes."  of Soignies, " non minore devotione
(fol.95 verso.) Wild game of all kinds  quam animi sui solatio."
was exceedingly plentiful.  (Idem,    21 Arthur Young, finding the agfol. 95 recto, and Guicciardini, p. riculture "miserable" in the Pays
332.)  WVe meet with no mention of de Caux, (in Normandy,) states, as
villas and " pleasure-houses" owned  the explanation, that it "is a manby the wealthier inhabitants of the  ufacturing country, and farming is




64                    THE NETHEILANDS.                       [BOOK I.
so thickly scattered over some parts of the country
were in fact embryo towns, where the same branches
of industry were carried on as in  the larger places.22
But in the latter half of the sixteenth century, the
trade and manufactures of Belgium — partly from
the effect of great political convulsions, partly
through the competition of still more favored localities and the rising enterprise of England and of
Holland — fell into a decay from which they have
but recently begun to recover. The towns then
discharged   their   superabundant   population,  and
labor and capital were directed into a new channel.
but a secondary pursuit to the cot- in the means of communication and
ton fabric."  Mill (Political Econo-  other facilities for obtaining supplies
my, Amer. ed., vol. i. p. 327) re- from distant and more fertile regions,
marks that " the same district is still which are thereby stimulated to inthe seat of manufactures,... and is  creased productiveness.  Thus we
now... one of the best cultivated  see that in New England, at the presin France." It is to be remembered, ent time, while in the manufacturing
however, that the Pays de Caux pos- towns and their immediate vicinity
sesses a soil of great natural fertility, there is a rapid advance in the popthe best, in fact, in the whole coun- ulation, that of the strictly rural distry.  The general tendency of an  tricts is stationary or declining. It
increase of manufactures in a region  is in vain that the orators at county
not greatly favored in regard to cli- meetings and " fairs " exhort the New
mate and soil is to check the growth  England farmer against a change of
of the agricultural population. This  occupation or removal to the west.
takes place not merely by drawing    22 This fact, attested by various
away labor into more profitable em- passages in the chronicles and docuployment, which would perhaps be  ments of the times, is noticed by the
only a temporary result, (except in  Venetian envoy Vincenzo Quirini,
such cases as that of Flanders in the  whose "relation," the earliest yet
Middle Ages, where a residence in  discovered, bears the date of 1506.
the city offered, besides, social and  " Ne' quali [gli villagi] pur si tespolitical enfranchisement,) but by  sono panni si dalli uomini comme
creating markets which the home  dalle donne, perch6 pochi lavorano
production is inadequate to supply, terre."  Relazioni Venete, Serie I.,
and by the consequent improvement vol. i. p. 11.




CHAP. II.]    STATrE OF AGRICULTURE.           65
Another, and in this connection a still more important change, has been the removal of all burdensome
restrictions on the holding and transfer of landed
property. A great portion of the land is now divided
into small farms, which are cultivated with an assiduity and ardor only to be found where the laborer
is himself the proprietor.
There is probably no part of Europe where, at
the present day, the land is more carefully tilled
and made to produce a larger amount than in the
two Flanders and the plains of Lombardy. In the
latter region the soil is one of natural and almost
unequalled fertility; that of the former may be
described as an artificial soil, created by the skill
and industry of the inhabitants, and liable, if their
efforts should relax, to return to a state of barrenness.  Yet, owing to a preferable system  of
tenure, rather than to any superiority in the methods
or implements employed, the advantage in respect
to actual productiveness is on the side of Flanders.
But it is certain, from the testimony of two highly
intelligent writers, - one of them  a native of Flanders, the other of Lombardy, - that the case was
wholly different three centuries ago. Philippe de
Commines, who visited Lombardy in  1495, after
mentioning that the country, like Flanders, was
intersected by numerous ditches and canals, (though
he fails to notice the distinction in the. purposes
which these were intended to serve -in the one
case chiefly that of draining, in the other that of
irrigating the soil,) tells us that it far surpassed
VOL. I.   9




66                    THE NETHERLANDS.                       [BOOK 1.
Flanders  in  fruitfulness  and   the   abundance  and
excellence of its corn and other productions; and
he  adds  the  significant  fact  that  the  fields were
never  suffered  to  lie  fallowv.2    On  the  other hand,
the Venetian envoy Michele Soriano, writing in
1559, speaks of the agricultural condition of the
Netherlands with extreme contempt. He describes
the country as at once the richest and the least
productive  in  the  world.   "It is  unproductive," he
says, "in  part from   the  unpropitious  character  of
the climate and the soil, and in part through the
fault of the  inhabitants, who  are  devoted  to  other
pursuits, and give little attention to agriculture,
leaving the greater portion of the surface covered
with  pasturage  and  woods."24
23 c" Au descendre de la montaigne, tile and best tilled which he had ever
on veit le plain pays de Lombardie,  seen, and tells us of the unbounded
qui est des beaux et bons du monde, astonishment with which, during his
et des plus habondans, et combien  twenty months' imprisonment in one
qu'il se die plain, si est il mal ays6 i'  of the lofty towers of the royal palchevaulcher; car il est tout fossoy6,  ace, he had watched from his windows
comme est Flandres, ou encores plus;  the transport down the Seine of
mais il est bien meilleur et plus fer-  the immense quantities of provisions
tille, tant en bons formens que en  brought to the capital from the adjabons vins et fruictz, et ne sejournent  cent parts of Normandy. Mdmoires,
jamais leurs terres."  (Commines,  tom. i. p. 74, and Mdlle. Dupont's
tom. ii. p. 459.)-It is worthy of men-  " Notice " prefixed, pp. cv. cvi.
tion that the same historian, though    24 "4 Non a al mondo alcun altro
born in that part of Flanders where  paese che sia insieme piu sterile e pii
the chief advance had then been made  ricco. E piih sterile parte per natura,
in the cultivation of the soil, while  e per il cielo, ch' e freddo ed umido,
he frequently eulogizes the commerce  parte per poca cura degli uomini, li
and riches of his native province, has  quali attendono pii' alla mercanzia e
nothing to say in praise of its agri-  all' altre arti, che all' agricoltura, laculture.  This silence is the more  sciando andare il paese a pascoli e a
significant, since he pronounces the  boschi, come fanno anco gl' Inglesi
country around Paris the most fei- il loro."  (Relazioni Veriete, Serie I.




CHAP. II.]           CIVIC COMMUNITIES.                        67
Yet no one —as we learn from the same authority
as well as from a multitude of others -could doubt
the incomparable prosperity of the Netherlands, after
witnessing the activity of their commerce, which
supplied  them  with  all the  products of the  earth 25
and the  number, size, and  continual bustle  of their
towns. Italy itself, indeed, could boast of no district
vol. iii. p. 355.) —So also Quirini lieving that Picardy, Normandy, and
tells us that agriculture was neglect- some other parts of France, I)enmark
ed because there was little land to  and many portions of Germany, to
cultivate, (i. e., little that would have say nothing of the countries south of
repaid the labor of cultivating it,) the Alps and Pyrenees, had reached
and because the inhabitants were  a more advanced state in this reotherwise employed.  "Yet," he  spect. Even England, decidedly in
adds, "there is an abundance of all the rear of other countries at that
things;" and Badoero assigns the  period, was able occasionally to exreason of this abundance — " per port corn to the Netherlands. In
causa de' mari e de' molti fiumi."  Teutonic Flanders a great portion
Relazioni Venete, Serie I. vol. iii. of the surface was still unreclaimed,
p. 290.                           and the soil was nowhere considered
On the whole, it would seem, as fit for wheat, or as more than
from the facts and citations here  moderately fertile. North Brabant
presented, and others which might was in a similar state. With respect
have been adduced, that the agri- to the southern provinces, the chief
cultural condition of the Belgian  difference to be noted between the
provinces three or four centuries  present appearance of the country
ago bore little resemblance to what and that which it presented at the
it now is, and, instead df being far time of which we write, is the far
in advance of that of most other greater area then covered by the
countries at the same era, might in  natural heath-which still forms a
general be considered as backward. characteristic feature of the landArtois, French Flanders, and the  scape —and by the forests, which
western part of Hainault - compris- around Brussels and other towns
ing a territory which now lies wholly  extended up to the walls.
within the confines of France - were   25 "i E pih ricco per il gran traffico
the only wheat-producing regions; che ha con 1' Inghilterra, con la
and only the first-mentioned prov- Francia, con la Spagna, con la Gerince raised more grain than was re- mania, con 1' Italia e con tutto il
quired for the wants of its own pop- mondo."  Relazione di Soriano.
ulation. There are grounds for be



68                 THE NETHERLANDS.                [BOOK I.
that contained in the same compass as Flanders so
many places, large and small, with so dense and so
industrious a population.26   The Spanish nobles who,
in 1529, visited the province in the train of their
prince, afterwards Philip the Second, when they
beheld the frequent spires that relieved the flatness
of the landscape, exclaimed that "Flanders was all
one city." 27
It is to the first formation of civic communities
that History traces the rise of that emulative and
progressive spirit which has become the dominant
and characteristic passion of civilized man. The
country, without the city, can never rise above
barbarism; its own life is that of a partially organized being, which has neither heart nor brain.
Rural labor is but a silent cooperation with the
reproductive powers of nature. But the city glows
with the mutual fire of mind brought into collision
with mind.  There all is in mutation and fermentation. There the products of the earth are mingled, subtilized, shaped into new forms, exchanged,
and redistributed.  There ideas announce themselves,
and  in the  conflict of thought new  energies are
developed, new modes of activity devised. If the
sensitive spirit of the poet shrinks before the aspect
26 Comparisons were frequently one of Marino Cavalli, Relaz.Venete,
made between the towns of the Neth- Serie I. tom. ii. p. 201. The supeerlands and those of Italy - Bruges riority of the Flemish towns in size
or Antwerp being compared with and commercial importance was conVenice, Louvain with Padua, Brus- ceded by the Italians.
sels with Brescia, Ghent with Vero-  27 Guicciardini, Belgica Descripna, &c. See, for example, the Relazi- tio, p. 334.




CHAP. II.]            CIVIC COMMUNITIES.                         69
of the crowded capital with its multifarious variety
of purpose and pursuit, the soul of the philosopher,
rising above the billows of this agitated sea, and
recognizing the real combination and unity of action
that underlie the apparent diversity, exults in the
evidence thus afforded of the powers, the resources,
and the exalted destiny of his race.28
In the cities founded in the Middle Ages, Freedom
became the bride of Industry, and brought with
her a dower richer than that of queens. Then it
was  that not only  commerce  and  mechanical skill,
but science and art, gained their first triumphs over
the  barbarism  which  had  effaced  the  civilization  of
the ancient world. The patronage of the nobles,
who found their condition magically changed, -
their rude and sombre dwellings transformed into
palaces, their life begirt with splendor, their tastes
refined  and  gratified, their broad  lands, the  source
of their dignity and power, become also the source
2s Heinrich Heine has somewhere  that " finest of all prospects," the
a striking train of reflections suggest-  " tide of human life " that poured by
ed by the ceaseless throng and din of  Charing-Cross! Yet Cowper's line
the greatest of modern capitals, which  may suggest a different feeling from
he closes with the emphatic phrase, that which he intended to express;
c" Schicken Sie den Philosoph nach  and most of us, perhaps, are capable
London, aber beym  Gott keinen  of sympathizing on occasion with
Poet!"  What a contrast between  these opposite moods, at one time
Cowper, flying like " a stricken deer rejoicing in the concurrent and comfrom the herd," and proclaiming at plex manifestations of human energy,
once the bitterness of his recollec-  and at another bewildered by the
tions and the soothing pleasures of  seeming incoherence, or depressed
his retirement in the exclamation  and overwhelmed by the hurry and
that " God made the country and  tumult of the scene, contrasted with
man made the town," and Samuel the self-absorption of the actors.
Johnson, delighting to gaze upon




70                    THE NETHERLANDS.                      [BooK I.
of incalculable  wealth, —or  even  that of a Church
enriched  and  lavishly  adorned  by  the  same means,
can be reckoned as of little account in fostering
the  new-born  spirit of invention  and  of enterprise,
compared with the stimulating influences of a scene
where there was a constant interchange of thought
between kindred minds, where all efforts and all
pursuits were  mutually dependent, and  every spark
of life contributed to the common flame.
The  cities  of the  Netherlands  seemed  to  have
been the first and spontaneous products of the soil.
What else  could it have  yielded  to  repay the labor
and the capital expended in reclaiming it — in
unlocking the sandy barriers that refused an outlet
to  the  rivers -  in  constructing  the  huge  ramparts
necessary to defend the newly-gained land from the
incessant assaults of the ocean? These were originally the works not of a thinly scattered agricultural
population, but of communities of traders29  seeking
29 " La faible population de ces  supported by probabilities. The earcampagnes, alors noy6es, malsaines, liest communal charters date from
n'efit jamais fait a coup stur des tra-  the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
vaux si longs et si cofiteux. I1 fal- But, whatever the time of their orilait beaucoup de bras, de grandes  gin, it is certain that their rise was
avances, surtout pouvoir attendre.  sudden and rapid, and nowise conCe ne fut qu'h la longue, lorsque  nected with the progress of agricull'industrie eut entasse les hommes et ture. The state of Flanders in the
i'argent dans quelques fortes villes, fifteenth century, with its many flourque la population debordante put ishing towns, separated from  each
former des faubourgs, des bourgs, other by dreary wastes, and maindes hameaux, ou changer les ha- taining communication chiefly by the
meaux en villes."  Michelet, Hist. rivers and canals, is strong evidence
de France, tom. v. p. 321.         on this point. Michelet has noticed
The pretensions of some of the  the significance of the many names
Belgian cities to a great'antiquity  ending in dyk and dam of towns
are neither susceptible of proof nor now far distant from the sea.




CHAP. II.]      MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS.                 71
access to  the  sea, facilities for transportation, an
enlrepot for their goods,-  taking  possession of the
polders, the islets, the marshy capes, and connecting them by dikes and dams, where they built
their warehouses and quays, and invited the nations
of the world to meet and interchange their commodities.30  Here, too, the fugitive or emancipated
serf was comparatively safe from the tyranny of
the feudal lord.  No rocky eminences, surmounted
by frowning castles, cast their shadows on the rising
towns. Each province was, in a political sense, a
mere aggregate of cities. The burghers possessed
immunities and powers that outweighed those of
the  secular  and  ecclesiastical nobility.   Virtually
they became  the first estate.   In  other parts  of
Europe the privileges granted to the communes
were either overthrown by despotism or were gradually absorbed in the larger political rights acquired
by the mass of the nation. But the history of the
Netherlands is a history of free municipal institutions - their early struggles, their complete and
permanent triumph. They formed the basis- or,
we might rather say, supplied the want- of national
unity and a general political system, both in Belgium
and in Holland, down to a recent period, having
30 Without doubt the Hanseatic of foreigners, the natives contenting
League and many foreign trading themselves, according to Gasparo
companies had a large share in de- Contarini, (Relaz. Venete, Serie I.
veloping the resources of the Neth- vol. ii. p. 22,) with the incomes deerlands. Even in their palmiest days rived from the rents of their houses
the commerce of Bruges and of Ant- and similar sources.
werp was altogether in the hands




72               THE NETHEERLANDS.           [BOOK I.
flourished under the imperial sway of Charles the
Fifth, and resisted the natural but somewhat clumsy
efforts of Philip the Second to establish in their
place a more simple and homogeneous system.
It is true that the Flemish towns did not, like
those of Lombardy and Tuscany, rise to the position
of independent states. But when we reflect on the
history of the Italian republics, - presenting an
exact parallel with that of the ancient Grecian
states, —when we remember that in them  freedom,
though it'put forth glorious blossoms, bore no substantial and enduring fruit; that it never acquired
the character of a legal and heritable possession,
to be guarded indeed with vigilance, but to be
enjoyed in security; that in every town a class of
powerful nobles, who reduced conspiracy to a science,
labored incessantly to undermine its free institutions,
which in the fifteenth century were finally and
completely overthrown; we shall admit that it was
better to be a citizen of Antwerp or of Ghent than
of Florence or of Milan.
But although the Flemish cities were not torn
by internal dissensions, by an internecine war of
classes, their history exhibits many turbulent and
bloody scenes. The people of the Netherlands were
a loyal, but not a servile, race.3' They were sensitive
to the least encroachment of their sovereigns, and
displayed in  their resistance the  same stubborn
resolution as when contending with the elements
31 "Ut nulla gens liberior," re- nulla usquam pertinacior vindex."
marks Meyer, " ita sume libertatis Rerum Flandricarum Tomi X. p. 79.




CHAP. "I.]   MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS.          73
and achieving triumphs over nature.  It was not,
however, till the middle of the sixteenth century,
when the great question of freedom of conscience
had thrown all Europe into agitation, that they
were called upon to defend the fundamental principles of their liberties. Their earlier insurrections
were generally provoked by some infraction of
their charters, or some restriction on their commerce, affecting only a particular locality - a single
province, or more often a single town. For, in the
Middle Ages, freedom was nowhere claimed as a
natural right or regarded as the common property
of any nation. Its existence was an artificial one.
It was confined to a narrow  range.  It seldom
breathed the air of the hills or the open fields, but
was a denizen of the city, surrounding itself with
strong walls, wearing a gold chain and gown of
office, and holding in its hand the charters from
which it derived its origin and which contained the
measure of its powers.
Self-government — strictly but variously limited
— was the vital principle of the communal charters, and except in England, can scarcely be said to
have been otherwise recognized, or established on
any wider basis. The right of jurisdiction- in other
words, of administering justice between man and
man, protecting persons and property, and punishing
crime according to a scale of penalties determined
by the charters- was the one thing common to
all incorporated towns.  In other respects — the
election or appointment of the magistrates, the
VOL. I.    10




74             THE NETHERLANDS.          [BOOK I.
apportionment of political power among the different classes of the citizens, the degree, in short, in
which the democratic principle had been developed
- the widest diversity existed. In general, however,
it may be affirmed that the mass of the people
took part directly or indirectly in the selection of
the municipal government, without being themselves
eligible to office.
Commerce and mechanical industry were subject
to the same restraints as political freedom. No trade
could be pursued, no market held, no commodity
exposed for sale, unless permission had first been
granted by the sovereign. For the most part each
town was confined to a separate branch of industry.
One manufactured tapestries or lace, another iron
or copper ware. One was the emporium of the
trade in wool, another of that in wine. The same
restrictive and exclusive spirit prevailed within the
towns themselves.  It was difficult for a stranger
to acquire the rights of citizenship. It was difficult
for a citizen to change his occupation or mount to
a higher position. Every man was a member of
a guild, or incorporated trade; and every man's
efforts and ambition tended to elevate his guild
rather than himself. The whole community, and
every class of the community, were separated and
fenced about by stringent regulations.  Freedom
was there, rights and immunities were there, but
doled out in fixed proportions to those who had
established a claim  to them, who had purchased
them, who had served and waited for them. They




CHIIAP. II.]  COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES,                   75
were granted as privileges; they were guarded as
monopolies. Those who possessed them were jealous
not merely of any curtailment of them, but of any
extension of them to others.
Thus it was that the peaceful and productive
energies of man had been concentrated in a few
localities, which glowed as with a furnace-heat, but
shed  no  warmth  upon  the  world  without.   No
contrast could  be greater than between  the prosperity and activity of those regions where natural
advantages had at an early period stimulated the
efforts and pointed out the means for improvement, and the absolute dearth and inertia that
existed  every where  else.   The  current of trade
which set from the Asiatic shores, meeting with a
counter current from the north of Europe, found
its chief reservoirs in some parts of Italy and in
the Netherlands, to be thence distributed in slender
rills over the rest of Europe. We read therefore,
with wonder indeed, but without incredulity, the
accounts which have come down to us from former
ages of the number, the size, the opulence, the
thronged avenues, and continual bustle of the Belgian
cities;32 the fleets that daily arrived  at or quitted
32 Some deduction is to be made, tributed to political troubles, but
however, for the different periods at seems to have had its primary cause
which the chief towns attained the in the difficulty found in keeping
zenith of their prosperity. Antwerp, clear the bed of the great canal on
the great commercial capital in the which depended its communication
sixteenth century, was a place of lit- with the sea. (See the Relation of
tle importance in the fifteenth, and  Gasparo Contarini, 1525.) A new
owed its short-lived greatness to the  and more capacious canal was conruin of Bruges, which is usually at- structed after the place had been




76                   THI  NETHERLANDS.                   [BOOK I.
the ports, the multitude of boats that descended
the great rivers, the loaded wains that poured
incessantly through  the streets, the armies of workmen that occupied these citadels of industry, the
wealth and luxurious habits of the higher classes,
the comfort diffused among the lowest, the intelligence and educational advantages common to all.
As a seat of manufactures the Netherlands occupied a higher relative position than as a commercial
emporium. The trade of Venice or of Genoa might
have  maintained  some  comparison  with  that  of
Bruges or of Antwerp.  But in  the extent, variety,
and importance of their manufactures, the Netherlands were not merely unrivalled, but unapproached.
Nothing  reached  their shores but received  a more
perfect form; what was coarse and almost worthless
became transmuted into something beautiful and
valuable.  With  infinitely  more  labor than  is now
requisite for the same amount of production, it was
the chief business of Flanders to furnish clothing
material for the world. Its silken, linen, and woollen
textures were not merely carried to those countries
almost wholly deserted by the for- been turned to the improvement of
eign trading companies. (Guicciar- agriculture. (See Meyer, Commendini, p. 349.)  The manufactures of  tarii sive Annales Rerum FlandricaLouvain, which in 1350 employed  rum, Antverpiae, 1561, fol. 195 recto,
4000 looms and 150,000 work-peo- and Guicciardini, p. 376, et al.) Many
pie, had much declined at the begin- facts relating to the growth and conning of the next century. Dlxmude  dition of the Belgian cities have been
and many of the neighboring towns  collected by Reiffenberg (Commerce
and villages had lost their woollen  des Pays-bas) and Dewez, (Hist. parmanufactures before the middle of ticuliere des Provinces Belgiques, 3
the sixteenth century, and the atten- vols. 8vo., Bruxelles, 1834.)
tion of the inhabitants seems to have




CHAP. II.]          THE FINE ARTS.                   77
with which Belgium  maintained direct commercial
relations, but found their way slowly, by obscure
channels and multiplied exchanges, to remote corners of the globe. The names of the Flemish towns,
attached to their respective fabrics, were familiar
words in regions where  the European had never
set foot, and among races of whose existence he
had scarcely heard.33
F'landcers was something more, however, than the
Lancashire of the medieval world.  In a land where
Nature appeared without any of her charms, and,
far from seeking to captivate the mind of man,
sought rather to excite his aversion and disgust,
Art adorned his life and ministered to his tastes
in a degree which had not yet been reached, and
which has scarcely ever been surpassed, in other
parts of Christendom. In the first half of the
fifteenth century the founders of the Flemish school
of painting produced works which are still among
the masterpieces of the art, and which Italy, though
it had already begun to envy and to imitate them,
was yet unable to rival. Of music, so far as it had
any pretension to be ranked among the arts, the
Flemings had almost a complete monopoly.34 Sculpture was not neglected; and in richness and variety
of architecture the Belgian towns were, as they
33 Strada, De Bello Belgico, (Lug- even at Rome. See Guicciardini,
duni Batavorum, 1645,) p. 25.  p. 56, the Relazioni of Quirini, Ba34 The chapel-masters and other doero, &c., and Reiffenberg's intromusical professors of Belgium were duction to the Memoires de J. Duto be found in every part of Europe clercq, (4 vols. 8vo., Bruxelles, 1835,)
- at Cologne, Toledo, Milan, and tom. i. p. 106.




78                 THE NETHERLANDS.                [BOOK 1.
still are, unequalled by those of any other region
north of the Alps.
The people of the Netherlands seemed gifted,
indeed, with an instinctive knowledge and appreciation of the effects to be produced by the mingling
and contrast of colors, sumptuousness of ornament,
intricacy of arrangement, and the minute elaboration of details. In this sense their artisans and
manufacturers were artists, while art too often
became mechanical and prosaic. The peculiarities
of their genius and taste are exhibited not only in
the brilliant composition, the lavish hues, the wonderful facility of execution and especial superiority
in the literal representation of common objects and
common life, which characterize their painters; or
in the massive and lofty towers, with their exquisite
tracery, and the gables, facades, and entablatures,
with their infinite variety of carvings and projectures,
which excite the admiration but perplex the eye
of the stranger as he passes through the streets
of the Flemish towns; but also in the fineness of
texture and microscopic patterns of their laces; in
their rich  carpets; in  their gorgeous tapestriespictures or mosaics35 executed by the needle or the
loom, some of them requiring the patient labor of
35 Soriano thus describes the Flem- coloi, ma ancora fingono artificiosaish tapestries: " Siccome i maestri mente 1' ombre e ii lumi, mostrando
di mosaico lavorando con piccioli i rilievi delle figure con quella misura
sassetti rappresentano diverse imma- che sanno fare i pittori piu eccelgini di cose, cosi questi con minutis- lenti."  Relazioni Venete, Serie I.
simi filli di lana e di seta non sola- vol. iii. p. 356.
mente adornano 1' opera di varii




CIiAP. II.]        NATIONAL  CHARACTERISTICS.                            79
years, and evincing knowledge of design as well
as of the effective combination of colors; and, finally,
in the exceeding neatness and quaint but not tasteless decoration which are found in the humblest of
their dwellings, and for which they were commended
by foreigners centuries ago.
It is rarely that Flemish art,or Flemish literature
addresses itself to the finest perceptions of the
intellect or embodies the highest conceptions of the
beautiful.  The Belgian mind is ingenious, inventive,
laborious, often subtle, sometimes warm  and animated, but never imaginative and never impassioned.
It is strongly tainted with a coarseness of sentiment,
which reveals itself in the habits and amusements
of the people, and from which even the best productions of their painters and their poets - if poets
they can be said to possess - are seldom altogether
free.37 It even seems to be indicated by their physical
36 See Guicciardini and the Rela-  " QCue j'aime de Teniers les peintures champ&3d veetuepassim.  Ownd Fhe R -  tres!                  [hltres:
zioni Venete, passim.  Owen Fel-  La, ce sont des buveurs, accroupis sons des
tham, in his " Brief Character of the  Le plaisir est eimpreint sur leur front bourLow-Countries," dwells much upon           geonn-.
D'un c't6, celui-ci, sur la table. inclin6,
this trait.  " Every door seems stud-  Suivant du coin de l'ceil la 16g-re fum6e
ded with diamonds.  The nails and  Qu'exhale dans les airs sa pipe bien-aim6e:
Celui-li, savourant sa douce volupt6,
hinges hold a constant lbrightness, as  Son verre devant hli, sa belle i. son crte,
if rust there were not a quality inci-  Et l'entourant d'un bras, sur sa fraichoe maldent to iron.... Not a co.ler.ut         tresse
Fixant des yeux brillans de vin et de tendresse.
has his toyes for ornament.  Were
the knacks of all their houses set to-  Mais quels sont dans ce coin ces quatre solitaires?                    [verres:
gether, there would not be such an-  Ce sont de vieux fermiers, entre-choquant leurs
other Bartholomew-Fair in Europe."  Leur regard est humide: un heureux vermilion
Lusoria, (London, 1677,) pp. 48, 49.  De ses vives couleurs enlumine leur front:
Ils parlent; je crois presque entendre leur ]an37 What can be more characteris-  Le rice 6panoui sur leur large visage, [gage;
tic than the following extract -  ex-  Par son aspect joyeux excite ma galt6,
Et je souris moi-nmlme i leur f6licit6.
cept, indeed, the wo rks which it s Mon celil vole, charm6, de peinture en peinture,
admirably describes P?-                Et sous des traits divers, c'est toujours la nature."  LESBROUSSART, Podme des Belges.




80               THE NETHERLANDS.             [BOOK I.
appearance - the flaming complexion,38 the exuberance of form, the high animal development, which
Rubens found so attractive in his countrywomen.
In their character are united some of the peculiarities of the two races which, without being actually
blended, are here brought so closely in contact;
and neither the phlegmatic slowness of the Teuton
nor the unrestrained self-indulgence of the Gaul is
rendered more attractive by the mixture.
The manners and characteristics of the people of
the Netherlands, as described.by writers of a former
period, are for the most part such as, belong to all
communities where gainful labor quickens and absorbs the energies of every class -- where there is
a rapid circulation of wealth, a free interchange of
ideas, and frequent intercourse with foreigners. In
their common employments and commercial dealings,
the inhabitants of the Flemish towns were equally
distinguished by their intelligence and their probity.
They were said to have originated or perfected all
the improvements in the useful arts which had been
adopted throughout Europe before the middle of the
seventeenth century.39 Though plodding and persistent in the ordinary business of life, they accepted
new opinions with a readiness which was thought
to savor of credulity. Even credulity, however, when
thus displayed, is a mark of inquisitiveness, and of
38 A favorite derivation of Flandre quidam existiment." Meyer, Rerum
and Jlamand was from flamma, a Flandricarum Tomi X. p. 79. See
flame. " Genus maximam partem  also Oudegherst and Guicciardini.
flammeo colore, adeo ut ab flam-  39 Strada, De Bello Belgico, p.
meis cervicibus Flammenses dictos 25.




CHAP. II.]   NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.              81
a desire for information, though not of the ability
for testing it.  Their temper was neither irritable
nor vindictive; but benefits were forgotten by
them  with as much facility as injuries.40  Their demeanor towards strangers was courteous and friendly.
Order and economy reigned in their households;
but a liberal hospitality was universally practised,
and by the merchants and other wealthy burghers
to an extent which was even censured as lavish
and extravagant.
The women are by some writers enthusiastically
commended for their comeliness, their frank yet
decorous bearing, but especially for their intelligence
and skill in the management of their family affairs.
Their love of cleanliness was a species of idolatry,
and the rites were never disturbed by the sneers
of the sceptic or the violence of the iconoclast.
Nowhere else was the wife so emphatically the mistress of the  house.   Within  doors the  husband
made no pretensions to independence, much less to
authority. Nor were the women always satisfied
with their exclusive rule over the home domain.
In the northern provinces particularly, female tongues
and fingers were as busy and as dexterous in the
streets, the market-places, and the shops, as in private dwellings; and the men not unfrequently
transacted their business and performed their allotted tasks as vassals and servants.41
40 " Beneficiorum memoriam cito facile ponunt." Guicciardini, p. 57.
amittunt;... quod vitium tamen - Badoero takes a much less charicontraria rursus virtute pensant, dum table view.
et injurias cito obliviscuntur, et odia  41 " Emptionibus quoque et venVOL. I.    11




82                     THE NETHERLANDS.                       [BOOK I.
This  peculiarity  is  accounted  for by  one  of the
Venetian  envoys as the consequence of a habit
which may be thought inconsistent with'what have
been noticed as the leading traits of the Flemish
character.   He  stigmatizes  the  Netherlanders  as  a
nation of sots, and tells  us that the  faculties of the
men being habitually muddled by drink, they were
compelled to surrender the control of their affairs
into   the   hands  of  their  wives.42    Although  this
remark is colored by the vehement disgust excited
in the Italians by a vice from which they were
themselves peculiarly exempt, it is certain, from
the concurrent testimony of native as well as
foreign writers, that drunkenness prevailed among
all classes of the population to an extent seldom
if ever witnessed  in  any  other part of the  world.43
ditionibus, aliisque virorum  propriis  donne; talmenteche si puo dire con
actionibus sese miscentes, ac non  biasimo loro che le donne abbino in
manum minus, quam linguam inter,  se il governo, o che quelli che goverponentes: et quidem  ea dexteritate  nano siano da esse comandati." Reet promptitudine, ut in multis terree  lazioni Venete, Serie I. vol. iii. p. 292.
Provinciis, Hollandia nominatim at-   43 Barclay (Icon Animorum, cap.
que Zelandia, viri omnium fere rerum   5) seems, in distinction from  other
suarum curam uxoribus seepe relin-  writers, to have rather admired the
quant, qui sane agendi modus, ubi  deep potations of the Flemings, to
ad solemnem illam et foemineo sexui which he attributes the robustness
naturalem  fere dominandi obmur-  of their constitutions and also their
murandique cupiditatem accedit, du-  national prosperity.  Liquor, he rebium esse non potest, quin et impe-  marks, does not stultify their faculriosas eas et fastidiosas, nonnun-  ties, but has the effect of subduing
quam et insolentes'efficiat." Guicci-  them to the degree of calmness suitardini, p. 58. And see the Relazioni able for sedentary and mechanical
of Quirini and Badoero.             pursuits.  He attributes the univer42 I Le faccende della mercanzia  sality of the habit to a practice of
con varj altri negozj e la cura fami-  weaning infants by means of a beerliare, per 1' imbriachezza degli uo-  bottle, which he thus describes and
mini, sono disposte ad arbitrio delle  applauds: " Quippe adhuc ab ubere




CHAP. II.]       NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.                       83
They sought an excuse for this propensity in the
defects of their climate  and  situation-  the dulness
of the skies, the humidity of the atmosphere, rendered more unwholesome by constant exhalations
from marshes and stagnant waters, and the length
and severity of their winter.  But there was a grossness of nature in the Fleming and the Hollander not
to be dissipated by the brightest skies, the dryest
air, or the  most favorable " aspects of nature," and
noted  by  all  travellers  as  a  characteristic  of the
race in the temperate climate of South Africa and
under the burning sun of Batavia and of Surinam.
Their conduct was seldom influenced by any loftiness of spirit — a noble generosity, a nice sense of
honor, or a keen susceptibility to shame. Their life
was too commonly divided between a sordid pursuit
of gain and  a frivolous pursuit of pleasure.44  There
pendentibus, quo paulatim lactis de- jaws, and requiring to be washed
siderium minuat, lagunculas ad si- away by successive draughts.
militudinem uberis effictas, et hor-    4 "Nel far usure da ogni banla
deaceo potu plenas tradunt in manu:t e di ogni vil cosa, sono, non solo
tum rudis et incuriosa wetas subinde  sempre intenti, ma molto avveduti e
ad os referens tard6 meantem potum,  sagaci.... Non si vergognano di
sugendi similitudine capitur, turn eti- ricevere spesso cortesie senza pensaam innocentis otii fastidium levat. re di ricambiarle.... Son faceti, e
Nec utilitate res caret: quippe vali- non si guardano, per indurre a rideda membra succoque lmtissimo ad  re, dal dir c6se disoneste alia prevenustatem  florentia ita institutam  senza di figliuole non maritate. Non
infantiam decorant."               si vede generalmente in essi timor
The same writer -whose name  d' infamia, perche molti, puniti per
must be allowed to carry with it a  giustizia di triste opere commesse,
weight of authority on such points -   sono amichevolmente tenuti in comrnobserves that the Flemish beer pro- pagnia, e da' giovani sono  tolte
voked, instead of quenching, thirst; vecchie per moglie aincora che siano
the grosser particles adhering to the  state meretrici, purche diano loro




84                    THE NETHERLANDS.                      [BOOK I.
was nothing  buoyant in  their  revelry  or  ethereal
in  their enjoyment.    Ostentatious  profuseness  and
prolonged convivialities characterized the festive
meetings of the wealthy.45 The kirnesse, or rustic
denari."  (Relazione di Badoero.)  sationibus... vix ullum pleerique
"Their houses," says the satirical habent modum."   Meyer, Rerum
Feltham, "they keep cleaner than  Flandricarum Tomi X.  " Les contheir bodies, their bodies than their  vis et les bancquetz plus grans et plus
souls."                            prodigues que en nul aultre lieu, dont
Badoero is not less severe in his j'aye eu congnoissance." Commines.
remarks on the manners of the  -" De die nonnunquam  et noctu
women. He describes them  as, in  tanto se potu ingurgitant, ut praeter
many places, scarcely less addicted  alia, quae non raro inde existunt
to intemperance than the men, as  mala,... mortem sibi accelerent."
"' quasi tutte meretrici, per la smisu-  Guicciardini.
rata cupidita del denaro," and as    "To a feast they come readily,"
spending every vacant hour in places  says Feltham; "' but being set once
of public and promiscuous resort. you must have patience: they are
Quirini says, somewhat less strongly, longer eating meat than we prepare' Le donne... hanno costumi tutti ing it. If it be to supper, you conallegri; ed il tempo che lor soprav-  elude timely, when you get away by
vanza tutto lo spendono... in balli, day-break. They drink down the
canti, suoni, ne altro fanno che darsi Evening-star, and  drink  up the
a piacere."  Various matters con- Morning-star."  Yet "the truth is,"
nected with domestic discipline, es- he concludes, " the completest drinkpecially the little restraint imposed  er in Europe is your English Gallant.
upon young females, - who went... Time was, the Dutch had the
abroad, at all hours, unaccompanied  better of it, but of late he hath lost
and without permission, - attracted  it by prating too long over his pot.
the animadversion of the Italian writ-... He drinks as if he were shorters, whose censures sometimes re- winded, and as it were eats his drink
mind us of the pungent strictures on  by morsels, rather besieging  his
the Flemish character in " Villette"  brains than assaulting them. But
and " The Professor."              the Englishman charges home on the
Commines, writing at an earlier  sudden, swallows it whole, and like a
period, tells us of " les baignoiries  hasty Tide, fills and flows himself, till
et aultres festoyemens avec femmes, the mad brain swims and tosses on
grans et desordonnez, et a peu de  the hasty fume. As if his liver were
honte. Je parle," he adds, "des  burning out his stomach, and he
femmes de basse condition."  Me-  striving to quench it drowns it. So
moires, tom. i. p. 20.             the one is drunk sooner, and the
4" " Irn conviviis, epulis, commes-  other longer; as if striving to re



CHAP. II.]      NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.                       85
carnivals, and other holiday celebrations of the lower
classes, were scenes of riot and unbounded license.6
If any portion of the entertainment was of a more
refined or intellectual description, it consisted in
the performance  of some allegorical pantomime, pedantic  in  its  meaning  and  mechanical in  its  construction, or in the recitations of the " guilds of
rhetoric," the  stupefying  effects of which, to judge
from such specimens as have been preserved, can
hardly have been exceeded by those of the most
fiery spirits or the heaviest beer.
Such, then, were  the  Netherlands four centuries
ago- a land of plenty, rich in substance and in
cover the wager, the Dutchman  own age is not a flattering one, gives
would still be the perfectest Soak- a frightful picture of their dissoluteer."  Lusoria, p. 55.             ness at an earlier period. Speaking
Deep drinking may be said to  apparently of the year 1379, he ashave been a characteristic of all serts that, in the space often months,
northern, and particularly of all Teu- the number of homicides committed
tonic, nations. But "the gros et in the taverns and brothels of Ghent
gras Flamand" was commonly re-  amounted to 1400. (Commentarii
garded as the type of coarseness and  sive Annales, fol. 170 recto.)  This
sensuality. Charles the Fifth, a true  statement is certainly incredible.
representative of his countrymen, Lenz (Nouvelles Archives histoowed something of his popularity to  riques) and Gachard (note to Bahis power of draining an imperial rante, Dues de Bourgogne, Bruxflagon of iced beer without once  elles, 1840, tom. i. p. 48) propose to
showing the tip of his nose.      correct the passage by substituting
46 Meyer, Rerum  Flandricarum   4, or, at the most, 14. But it is imTomi X., pp. 78, 79. - Guicciardini, possible, without a total disregard of
pp. 58, 59.- Relazione di Badoero. the context, to attribute the insertion
— Confirmatory passages may be  of three, or even two, numerals to a
found in the chronicles of Chastel- blunder of the copyist or the printer.
lain, Duclercq, and other writers of  Moreover, Flanders, though it may
the fifteenth century.            have been the Promised Land of
Meyer, whose portraiture of the  medieval history, was not exactly
manners of his countrymen in his  an Eden.




86                   THE NETHERLANDS.                    [BOOK I.
people,47  the  workshop  and  the  mart  of Europe,
receiving in its lap the commerce of the world,
supplying  all nations with  the  products of its cunning hands, adorned with the fruits of a material
civilization luxuriant even to rankness.
Here, as elsewhere, the nobles formed a community apart, less exalted and less exclusive than in
other parts of the Continent, but still a distinct and
privileged class, finding ample compensation for the
loss of a barren grandeur in the rapid increase of
their wealth, and in means of enjoyment and facilities
for display to which their brethren in other countries
were still comparatively strangers.48  In mere  splendor and sumptuousness their mode of living has
not, perhaps, been equalled by that of any similar
class in later times, while it was destitute, of course,
of many things now considered indispensable by
those who have  no  pretensions to  rank  or wealth.
In the progress of society luxury precedes comfort,
and the arts that embellish life attain their highest
development while those that minister to its convenience  are  still in  their infancy.49
47 i" Multiplex in sobole et in sub- son's remark,'that "the Frenchman
stantia."  Glanville, cited by Reif- invented the ruffles, and the Engfenberg, Commerce des Pays-bas.   lishman added the shirt."  The feu48 Schassek notices the fact, as pe- dal nobles, in the fourteenth and fifculiar to this region, that the "homi- teenth centuries, dressed in the costnes nobili et claro genere orti non  liest satins and velvets, but seem to
solent in pagis, sed in urbibus habita- have considered clean linen as a luxre. Ideo multifaria oblectamenta et ury, and a night-dress as an absolute
delicias habent." Ritter-, Hof-, und  superfluity. (See Reiffenberg, ComPilger-Reise.                    merce des Pays-bas, and introduction
49 There is, perhaps, nearly as to Duclercq.)
much truth as point in Mr. Emer-   Nor is it mere luxury, or material




CHAP. II.]     COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.                    87
The counts of Flanders had long been preeminent
among the great feudatories and the peers of France
for the amplitude of their resources and the splendor
of their court.   But when  their dominions passed
under the rule of the aspiring house of Burgundy,
a new stimulus was given to the ambition of the
nobles, new  demands were made on  the ingenuity
of the  people, and  the  court of Philip  the  Good
shone with a magnificence unequalled by that of
any sovereign in  Christendom.   When this prince
was in attendance on his liege lord, the king of
France, the number and superb equipments of his
retinue threw royal state completely into the shade.
He made his entrance into a town preceded by
bands of musicians with trumpets and other instruments of silver, and escorted by a numerous troop
of cavaliers and men-at-arms, whose horses were
caparisoned with cloth of gold studded with jewelry
and precious stones. Wherever he fixed his residence, -at  Brussels, at Dijon, or  at Paris,-his
apartments were furnished and adorned with the
costliest productions of Flemish industry and art.
splendor, that precedes the minor tion of a lofty ideal. Poetry, abstract
conveniences of life. Man is, after philosophy, the highest flights of the
all, more noble than he thinks him- imagination, the masterpieces of art,
self: satisfying his physical wants belong to the dawn, not to the noonand desires - "making himself com- day, of civilization. In the days of
fortable " - is not the first, but the  Pericles and of Plato there was not
last object to which he devotes his sufficient mechanical ingenuity in
attention and the powers of his in- Athens to invent a street-door which
tellect. He did not, as some writers should open inwards; a preparatory
seem to imagine, wait for riches and  tap warned the passer-by to stand
leisure before he began to cultivate  aside while the door was opened.
his mind and aspire to the realiza



88               COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.                  [BOOK I.
His palace was  a  scene  of perpetual festivities, of
sumptuous banquets and gorgeous pageantries that
remind us of the early barbaric pomp of Eastern
despots.  His library  consisted  of the  rarest manuscripts and  the  earliest specimens of printed  books
splendidly bound and illuminated -the nucleus of
a collection  which, enriched  by successive  additions,
is now one of the most important in the world.
He had  accumulated  treasure  to  an  almost incredible amount, in gold, silver, and precious stones,
comprising images, crucifixes, reliquaries, plate of
every description, gems of the largest size and
purest water, and  heaps  of glittering  coin.50    His
household - afterwards adopted as a model by the
Spanish sovereigns, the wealthiest and most powerful monarchs of the sixteenth century —embraced
a multitude of officers arranged under four great
50 Leo von Rozmital, who, in 1465  exceeded the famous Venetian col-67, visited the different courts of  lection.  (Ritter-, Hof-, und PilgerWestern Europe, was not only ad- Reise durch die Abendlande. - Port
mitted to a view of Philip's treasure, tions of the Latin narrative of Schasbut was requested, by the duke's or-  sek have been published by M. Isider, to accept as a present any jew-  door Hye in the Messager des Sciels which he might select. The no-  ences historiques, Gand, 4847, and
ble Bohemian declined to profit by  form the subject of an amusing and
this munificence, on the ground that characteristic  article, by the late
he had undertaken his journey not for Richard Ford, in the Quarterly Rethe purpose of acquiring riches,but of view, No. 180.)
perfecting himself in chivalrous exer-    Several inventories of the contents
cises. His suite were overpowered by  of the Burgundian treasury have
the glittering spectacle. Tetzel, the  been preserved.  Two have been
German narrator of the tour, under-  printed by the count de Laborde,
took to reckon up the value of the dif- who has given to a work designed
ferent articles, but soon found it im- to illustrate the state of the arts in
practicable,and contents himself with  the fifteenth century the appropriate
declaring that there was nothing like  title of " Les Ducs de Bourgogne."
it in the whole world, and that it far  (3 vols. 8vo., Paris, 1849-1852.)




CHAP. II.]       CEREMONY AND  ETIQUETTE.                        89
divisions, and  constituting  a  hierarchy  the  grades
of which  ascended  from   the  menial duties of the
kitchen  to  the  highest dignities  of the  state.5
It was an age, indeed, in which every petty
seigneur aped the regal style in his mode of living,
maintained an establishment composed of domestics
of many different grades, was waited upon by valets
and pages of noble birth, observed a rigorous etiquette in his family, and made his castle, in short,
a little court. But what was elsewhere represented
in an abridged form, on special occasions, or with
insufficient means or paraphernalia, was enacted
daily and hourly, in all its fulness and with all its
pomp, at the court of Burgundy. The levee, the
procession, the council, the audience, the service of
spices,52 the  banquet of state, the  countless  usages
of the l"grand  ceremonial,"  relics  of which  are  still
fondly preserved by those who have little conception
51 Lists of the officers and domes- rately described by Lamarche, tom.
tics of the Burgundian household at ii. pp. 479-556.  It has been surdifferent periods may be found in  mised that these usages may origiLabarre, MWm. pour servir a l'Hist. nally have been derived from the Byde France et de Bourgogne.  See, zantine court; but, in truth, they had
also, for similar lists and many cu- grown up naturally out of the ideas
rious particulars relative to the reg-  and sentiments of feudal society.
ulations and usages of the court,   52 The practice, common to all feuMWm. de l'Acad. de Dijon, Annaes  dal courts, of serving tropical spices,
1858-1859; MWm. et Doc. Indd. de  sweetmeats, and preserves, in the
la Franche-Comte, tom. iii.; Du- public audiences to ambassadors and
clercq, tom. i. introduction. The  other distinguished guests, seems to
ceremonial and the duties appropri-  have arisen from the extieme rarity
ated to the different departments -   and costliness of these articles at a
the Panetrie, fJchansonnerie, Cui- time when there was no direct intersine, and Ecurie, and other divisions  course with the East and America
subordinate to these — are elabo- had not yet been discovered.
VOL. I.        12




90              COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.                 [BOOK I.
of their  original meaning, formed  the  routine  of
existence  with  Philip  the  Good  and  his  nobles;
and the chronicles of Olivier de Lamarche and other
writers  who   occupied  places  in  the  Burgundian
household were a storehouse of precedents to
which the masters of the  ceremonies at the  courts
of Paris, Vienna, and Madrid were accustomed to
resort.
Some particulars less frequently described have
been preserved  to us in the careful record  of a lady
whose mother had been maid of honor to the Duchess
Isabella, the third wife of Philip the Good.53 The
laws of precedence and the regulations in regard to
the reception or entertainment of persons of every
rank and degree gave room, of course, for many niceties of construction;54 and the distinctions of privilege
by which the minutest differences were marked-in
the position  at table, in the forms of salutation  and
address, in the decorations of a chamber, in the length
of a lady's train and the manner of carrying it, in the
53 Les Honneurs de la Cour, print-  by Madame de Charolais; and it
ed by Saint-Palaye in his MWm. sur was ordained that, when Mdlle. de
l'ancienne Chevalerie, tom. iii.-The  P. had entered the apartment, and
authoress was Ali6nor de Poitiers, had made the two first obeisances,
vicomtesse de Furness, her mother then Madame de Charolais should
Tsabella de Souza, a Portuguese lady  advance three steps towards her."
of high descent.                    The highest authority, in matters
54 A single instance may be cited. of this kind, was Madame de NaOn occasion of an expected visit mur, who " had a great book where
from Mdlle. de PenthBvre, (a relative  she had written every thing down,"
of the duke of Brittany,) "I re- and who was constantly referred to as
member," says the fair Elinor, "that " la plus grande sqachante de touts
a council was held to determine what dtats, que dame qui fust au royaume
degree of honor should be paid her de France."




CHAP. II.]    CEREMONY AND ETIQUETTE.                 91
stinted courtesies accorded by a superior, and in the
menial services rendered by one however slightly
inferior-present a picture hardly to be equalled
of a strangely artificial state of society. On one
occasion we find a nobleman, a knight of the Golden
Fleece, waiting bareheaded at table on his own
daughter, who had married a man of somewhat
higher rank  than  herself, and  actually falling  on
his knee when he presented the basin and napkin
to her previously to the repast."
When the difference of rank was incontestable,
a great personage would often intimate his courteous
feelings towards one of a lower grade by affecting
to decline the marks of deference to which he was
entitled; and in such cases a somewhat whimsical
struggle occurred  betweeri the  parties —the  one
resolute to perform the customary obligations, the
other to dispense with them. But where the difference admitted of doubt, or an actual equality existed,
the contest was of a different kind.  The duchess
of Burgundy, having gone to  pay a visit to  the
French court, on her way to the queen's apartment
had her train borne by one of her ladies, but, at the
moment of entering, hastily gathered up the rustling
folds with her own hand, as etiquette required her
in the presence of royalty to carry it herself. She
55 This, it seems, was censured the Fearless, though himself a prince
"by the discreet" as an act of folly of the blood, showed similar respect
on the part of the father, who per- to his daughter-in-law, Michelle of
formed it, "et encore plus grande a France, Philip's first wife. He alsa fille de le souffrir." Yet it ap- ways knelt to her, and addressed her
pears from the same work that John as " Madame."




92           COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.         [BOox I.
kissed the hands of the queen and the dauphin;
but when she came to the duchess of Anjou, whose
husband stood in nearly the same affinity as her
own to the majesty of France, the two ladies made
their obeisances at precisely the same angle, and
neither of them, we are told, was in danger of
bursting her aiguilletles in the eagerness of her genuflexions. Isabella then kissed all the ladies of the
royal suite, but only as many of the duchess of
Anjou's  attendants as her rival-on whom  she
kept a sharp eye all the while - saluted of hers.56
But the most singular of these customs — those
which we may suppose to bear the least resemblance
to any existing practices — related to the manner
of evincing grief for the death of a near relative.
Every people has its peculiar etiquette of sorrow;
and in feudal Europe, as in every country and in
every age, the peculiar burden of the mourning ceremonies was borne by the women. The widow of
a Hindoo lays herself upon the burning pile where
his body is consumed; a Christian lady, in the fifteenth century, who had lost her husband, her father,
a brother, or other relative, was expected to take to
her bed, and to remain there for a certain number
of days or weeks, the length of the confinement
being punctiliously proportioned to the rank of the
parties and the nearness of kin. Isabella of Bourbon,
56 Honneurs de la Cour, (Saint- walked behind" her of Anjou; and,
Palaye, tom. iii. p. 199.) - The the latter being equally resolved, they
writer adds that " not for any thing took care not to be together when
would the duchess of Burgundy have there was any walking to be done.




CHAP. II.]   CEREMONY AND ETIQUETTE.             93
the first wife of Charles the Bold, after having attended the obsequies celebrated in honor of her
father, returned to her chamber, where she remained
for six weeks, lying most of that time on her bed,
completely attired, having on a lofty head-dress and
a large mantle trimmed with fur.  The bed was
covered with a white cloth, while the walls of the
apartment were hung with black, and black cloth
in place of a carpet was spread'upon the floor.
These were the solemnities performed by a princess.57
A noble lady of inferior rank kept her bed for the
same length of time when she had been bereaved
of her lord. Only in the case of her receiving a
visit from the wife of her sovereign was it her duty
to rise; but even then she did not leave her apartment. For the death of a parent she remained in
a recumbent posture only nine days; the rest of
the six weeks she passed in sitting on the bed,
which was first covered with black cloth. It may
have been that this "1 mockery of woe," in which the
mourner lay in state as well as the corpse, had its
use in depriving affliction of some portion of its
reality. Sorrow, nursed with solemn pomp, was
changed, perhaps, into a sense of self-importance,
or, at the worst, mitigated into tedium.
Such were, in the fifteenth century, some of the
privileges of illustrious birth —the envied privileges;
for it seems that the lower grades of the nobility,
far from  seeking  to emancipate themselves from
57 A queen of France (so Elinor of the king, to keep her bed for a
heard) was obliged, after the death year.




94              COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.                   [BOOx I
the burdens imposed upon them by this cumbrous
ceremonial, were covetous of the stricter forms appropriated to their superiors. The fair chronicler
from whose pages we have gathered these details
expresses her indignation at the conduct of such
ambitious  persons  as  indulged   in   a  more   rigid
etiquette than their station entitled them to use.
-" If any  one practises these  forms," she  says, "in  a
different manner from what I have here described,
it will now  be evident that this proceeds from  vainglory  and  presumption;  and  such  irregular observances' are  to be regarded  as null, as being  merely
voluntary, and  contrary both  to  rule  and  reason."58
If grief itself was thus turned into a fantastic
spectacle, how grotesque were the devices of gayety,
how  extravagant the "pomp, and  feast, and revelry"
of the Burgundian court!  The example of the sovereign59 was closely imitated  by the  nobles, who vied
58 "c Ce sont les honneurs ordon- she remarks, " are not sufficient to
nez, pr6servez, et gardez en touts  break down ancient and ordained
royaunmes et pays ou l'on doibt user usages."
de raison.... Quiconque en use au-   59 The Bohemian tourists have
trement que diet est, il doibt estre  much to say in praise of Philip's
notoire a chacun que cela se fait par  hospitality.  Tetzel says he gave
gloire et presomption, et doibt estre  them " das aller kostlichst real das
r6put6 pour nul, a cause que ce sont ich all mein tag ie gessen habe....
choses volontaires, ddrdgl6es, et hors  Es war do ein kostliche kredenz aufde raison."  Idem, pp. 263, 266.    gerichtet und unmassen ander kostShe admits, however, that there  lich gezin und wesen uberfliissig, unwere also people who, at the time of  gleublich davon zu schreiben. Und
her writing, (about 1490,) were in-  gab zwey und dreissig essen, almal
dined to rebel against this code of  truog man acht essen mit einander
reason, contending that such things  von gar kostlichen speis, und von
might have suited a former time, allen getrank, das man mag erdenkbut that now "it was quite another  en, des war genug do."  (Ritter-,
world."  " But such allegations,"  Hof-, und Pilger-Reiser.) Somewhat




CHAP. II.]    THE FEAST OF THE PHEASANT.                    95
with each other in a succession of fftes distinguished
by a sumptuous magnificence and an unbounded
conviviality. It was the custom, on an occasion of
this kind, for the host to present a chaplet to  one
of the company, whose turn it became to furnish
the  next  entertainment.60   Among  the  banquets
given by Philip  the  Good one obtained  a peculiar
celebrity from its connection with a project which
continued for more than a century to be the dream
of princes and the aspiration of Christendom. It
took place  at Lille,  in  1454, and was intended  to
give celal to the proclamation of a crusade for the
recovery of Constantinople, the memorable siege of
which had terminated the year before in its capture
by the Turks.  An immense hall, hung with tapestry
representing the labors of Hercules, was surrounded
by five tiers of galleries in the form  of an  amphitheatre.  These were for the accommodation  of the
spectators, who were required to be masked — a
device which would perhaps be approved by the
manager of a modern theatre  as a means of fixing
more than enough, since Schassek, vergunt man jm, und waren mit
unfortunately, was so dazzled and  meinem hernn frolich."
bewildered by the fascinations of the   60 Chronique de Mathieu de Cousduchess and other ladies, that he  sy, (ed. Buchon,) tom. ii. p. 87, 88.
drank too much wine, and could  - Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 163. - Prewith difficulty find his way back to  viously to the entertainment about
his lodgings- " nam potus eram." to be noticed in the text, the chaplet
Tetzel, we may hope, was equally  had been presented to Philip, at the
drunk when he construed the affa- house of the count d'Estampes, by
bility of these high-born dames as a child of twelve years, who recited
a proof that, " wenn mein herr [Leo  some verses, intimating that it was
von Rozmital] wolt, so mocht er die  sent by a lady who bore the title of
mdchtigsten frawen laden allein: die the " Princess of Joy."




96          COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.      [BooK I.
the attention of the audience on the business of the
stage. The tables, three in number, were covered
with ponderous decorations that must have tasked
the ingenuity not only of cooks and confectioners,
but of artificers in every department of mechanics.
Here a fortress, surrounded by walls and ditches,
and flanked by towers, was attacked by a besieging
army; there a lake was to be seen, with castles
and hamlets on its borders, and boats sailing on its
surface. On one table was a church, with its lofty
steeple and stained windows, and within it an organ
and a choir of singers; on another, a mammoth pasty,
in which a band of twenty-eight musicians were
concealed. There were, besides, a forest, filled with
wild animals of every species; a prairie enamelled
with flowers, and surrounded by huge rocks formed
of sapphires and rubies; a grove in which birds flew
from the pursuit of the hunter, and were caught
by sportive ladies and their gallant cavaliers; a
carrack, or galley, larger than the ordinary size,
completely rigged, and manned by sailors, who took
in the cargo, pulled at the ropes, and went through
all the manoeuvres of setting sail; a mountain, with
its summit covered with ice; a desert where tigers
and serpents were engaged in furious combat; and
statues of naked boys, which served as fountains
and scattered rose-water around in streams.  The
bufeet — one of those elaborate pieces of architectural upholstery of which specimens still exist to
attest the mechanical skill and the luxurious habits
of the Middle Ages —was loaded with gold and




CIIAP. II.]   THE FEAST OF THE PHEASANT.                  97
silver vessels  of every form   and size.   On either
side of it was a column, one having attached to it
a female figure, from whose right breast flowed a
stream of ippocras; while to the other a lion —
not, as some writers have supposed, an automatic
figure or mere sculptured representation, but a live
native of the African deserts -was fastened with
an iron chain.6'
On a raised platform at the head of the first
table sat the duke. He was arrayed with his accustomed splendor -  his dress of black velvet62 serving
as a dark ground that heightened the brilliancy of
the precious stones, valued at a million of gold
crowns, with which it was profusely decked. Among
the guests were a numerous body of knights who
had passed the morning in the tilting-field, and fair
Flemish dames whose flaunting beauty had inspired
these martial sports. Each course was composed
of forty-four dishes, which were placed on chariots
painted in gold and azure, and were moved along
the tables by concealed machinery. As soon as the
company was seated the bells in the church began
61 "t Un fort beau lion tout vif." ans devant, ne avoit donne livrde de
De Coussy, tom. ii. p. 99.     robbe synon de noir, feit faire a ses
A collection of veritable lions is gens robbes de couleurs, comme
mentioned among the wonders seen paravant lesdits seize ans il avoit acby the Bohemian tourists at the Bur- coustumd, et lui mesme porta cougundian court.                 leur."  Probably he wore, as was
62 De Coussy describes him as common, a mantle of crimson or
dressed, in the early part of the day, some other bright color. In the
"de velours de couleur sur velours miniatures Philip is almost always
noir." Duclercq also says, "Ledit represented "en noir."
due, ledit jour, qui avoit passe seize
VOL. I.      13




98           COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.            [BOOR I.
to chime, and three little choristers, issuing from  the
edifice, sang with melodious and well-attuned voices
f' a very sweet chanson."  The musicians in the pasty
also performed on various instruments; the swell of
the organ mingled with the dulcet tones of the flutes
and horns; and, to complete the harmony, two trumpeters, seated back to back upon a horse fantastically
caparisoned and made to move backwards through
the hall, blew  lustily from  time to time.
In the intervals of the repast a variety of uncouth
monsters were introduced, such as still move the
wonderment of children at a Christmas pantomime.
Now it was a wild boar, with a griffin mounted on
its back; anon a flying dragon flapped his enormous wings.  To these exhibitions -  entrenzets63 as
they were called — succeeded a more regular dramatic entertainment. A curtain of green silk, at
one end of the apartment, drew up, revealing a
stage on which the story of Jason and the Golden
Fleece  was performed.  At last came the  grand
scene, to which all the rest had been merely preliminary, and which was to announce to the audience
the purpose of the festival. A giant appeared, leading an elephant. On its back was a tower, where
sat a personage in female attire, but no other, in
fact, than the worthy chronicler Olivier de Lamarche,
63 This word seems originally to ployed also to designate the ornahave been confined to the sense in ments and representations placed
which it is here used - that of shows upon the table, -- such objects as
or performances exhibited between were to be looked at, not eaten, -
the courses. At the period of our never, apparently, in the modern.
narrative, however, we find it em- sense, of " side-dishes."




CHAP. II.]   THE FEAST OF THE PHEASANT.                99
representing Holy Mother Church. After the recitation of a long complaint in verse, setting forth
the perils to which she was exposed from the attacks
of the Infidel, this ancient lady appealed to the
noble cavaliers who were present to arm themselves
in her defence. Hereupon, with great ceremony, a
pheasant,64 having around its neck a collar of gold
richly garnished with pearls and other gems, was
brought into the hall by a king-at-arms; and  the
duke caused a paper to be read aloud, in which
he made a vow — to God first, then to the Holy
Virgin, and lastly to the ladies and to the pheasant-that, except in the case of certain contingencies, -  not altogether unlikely to occur,-  he would
himself take part in an enterprise against the
Moslems, and would seize the earliest opportunity
of engaging the Sultan in single combat.  As knight
after knight came forward to take the oath, a sort
of delirious excitement -in which the wine that
had flowed so lavishly, the gay shows, and the charm
of voluptuous glances had a part —took possession
of the assembly. The most whimsical vows were
registered - one impudent cavalier swearing that,
if he did not obtain the favors of his mistress before
he set out on the expedition, he would marry, on
64 The pheasant, the heron, the "Voeux du Paon," &c. In the ropeacock, and the swan were held in mances and fabliaux of the Middle
peculiar estimation, both on account Ages the peacock is spoken of as
of their beauty and as delicacies for the "noble oiseau," the " viande des
the table. The library of the dukes preux," the "nourriture des amants."
of Burgundy contains several manu- Reiffenberg, introduction to Duscripts entitled "Voeux du Hairon," clercq.




100            COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.                [BooK I.
his return, the first woman he should meet with
who had twenty thousand crowns. Then the hall
was cleared; and these incongruous pageants, in
which farcical thaumaturgy was mixed up with
courtly and chivalric ceremonies, ended with the
more graceful and pleasing exhibitions of the
dance.65
One of the narrators of this scene confesses that
he could not refrain from censuring in his own
mind the enormous expense which it entailed, and
the ridicule which such mummeries seemed to cast
upon  a serious undertaking.   But when  he made
this remark to a person high in Philip's confidence,
the latter answered,'C Be assured, my friend, and receive it on my faith as a knight, that these banquets
and festivities are only meant as an earnest to the
world of our noble master's real intention to play
that part which becomes him in the defence of
Christendom."66  The  sentiment thus  earnestly  expressed puts in its true light the fondness for
ceremony and magnificent display so conspicuous
in the Burgundian dukes. Philip the Good was not
65 The most elaborate - and most the ceremony; and he is supposed
wearisome - descriptions of the  also to have written the verses and
"Fete du Faisan" are those given  superintended some portions of the
by De Coussy (tom. ii. pp. 85-174) pageant.  More concise accounts
and Olivier de Lamarche, (tom. ii. may be found in Duclercq, tom. ii.
pp. 167-208.) The different vows are pp. 195-199, and in a letter of
recorded by both at full length. Oli- Jehan de Molesme, printed in the
vier, who, in 1447, had been promot- Col. de Doe. Inedits sur l'Hist. de
ed from the situation of a page to  France, Melanges, tom. iv. p. 457,
that of" &ecuyer pannetier," or squire  et seq.
of the pantry, had, as we have seen,   66 De Coussy, tom. ii. p. 175.
a conspicuous part assigned him Im




CHAP. "I.]          CHARACTER OF PHILIP.                    101
a man of a merely frivolous character, content
with  the  semblance  of power or with  its outward
trappings and adornments. He was a proud, aspiring prince, an ardent and a successful politician.
But his aspirations and his policy assumed a form
that belonged rather to an earlier age than to that
in which he lived. He had no conception of a
government which confined its aims within the
limits of utility, which denuded its acts as far as
possible of ostentation, and which labored to effect
its purposes by  subtle  and  tortuous  methods.  He
knew nothing of statecraft as practised by the Italians and by Louis the Eleventh. Parade and flourish
were with him a necessary part of the exercise
of sovereignty; to fill a conspicuous place in the
eyes  of Christendom   was  a  sufficient  object  for
his ambition; and he would as readily have led
his vassals in a crusade for the recovery of the
Holy Land as to the conquest of a neighboring
province.6      The  eulogy  pronounced  on  him   by
67 Although no crusade was act- ging a general plan of operations.
ually undertaken, the sincerity of  But neither the Emperor Frederick
Philip's intentions and his zeal in  nor any of the electoral princes, with
what was regarded as the common  the exception of the margrave of
cause of Christendom are attested  Brandenburg, had cared to be presby various facts. By a series of or- ent, and the project consequently fell
dinances, promulgated in 1454, he  to the ground.  Notwithstanding
effected a large reduction in the ex- this discouragement, the duke'of
penses of his household, with the  Burgundy subsequently fitted out an
view of providing funds for this en- armament, which he placed under
terprise. In the same year he made  the command of his natural son Ana tour through several of the German  tony, to act in the Mediterranean
states on his way to Ratisbon, to  and on the coast of Asia in conjunctake part in a diet which had been  tion with the fleets of other powers.
convoked for the purpose of arran- Owing to the lukewarmness of the




102           COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.               [BOOK I.
Chastellain  is doubtless colored  by  the noble  hue
of sentiment peculiar to the writer's mind, reflecting
rather an ideal than  an actual character; but it is
at least that ideal which the real Philip would have
been  best pleased  at being  thought to  resemble.
He  is there  represented  as the  "pearl of valiant
men," the star of chivalry, and the champion of
the  Church; as affable  to all, whether of high or
low estate, and especially to women, whom, indeed,
he was apt to regard with glances all' too amiable,
CC quickly surrendering his heart to the wishes of
his  eyes."   He  looked  in  the  faces  of those  to
whom he spoke, used no unseemly language, and
sealed his promise with his word alone. He was
leal and debonnair, of great largess, stern and defiant
to the presumptuous, but clement to such as sued for
his forgiveness. Gold and silver he held as dross;
but he gave his heart to jewels and precious stuffs.
He was rich in vestments, loved feasting and shows,
but was a master of all knightly exercises, a skilful
rider, fond of the chase and bold in the tourney.
His port and semblance were those of one born to
high dignity, and seemed to announce even to the
stranger, L"I am a prince."6s
Venetians, this scheme also was ren- de nature; se monstroit en terre endered abortive, and the Burgundian  tre les princes comme une estoile au
forces were compelled to return with- ciel; et parloit son viaire, ce semout having had the opportunity of bloit, disant,' Je suis prince.'" Deexhibiting their prowess in an en- claration de tous les hauts et glocounter with the Moslems.      rieuses Adventures du Duc Philippe
68 "i Son semblant seulement le de Bourgogne, Chastellain, (Euvres,
jugeait empereur; et valoit de porter (ed. Buchon, 1837,) p. 505.
couronne, seulement sur les graces   In person, according to the same




CHAP. II.]       SUNSET OF CHIVALRY.                103
It is as the stronghold of feudalism, where the
manners and ideas that were elsewhere in a state
of rapid decay still maintained their vigor, that we
must regard  the Burgundian  court.  The  setting
sun of chivalry shone upon it with full splendor.
It was the resort of all who sought to acquire los,
and to assert the beauty and virtue of their mistresses by deeds of high emprise. Hardly a week
went by in which some one or other of the Flemish
towns did not witness the proclamation of a tournament or joust.   As  the  glittering  throng  of
cavaliers passed along the streets, the windows and
balconies were crowded with fair dames, noble as:
well as simple, who waved their kerchiefs, and prayed
that their favored knights might preserve their honor
and renown untarnished.  The lists were filled with
spectators of every rank. When the heralds and
pursuivants cried,'Lachekz, lachez!" the combatants
issued from their pavilions, and mounted their highmettled and richly caparisoned steeds, which pranced
and  caracolled  in  conscious pride.  The  trumpets
sounded; the knights galloped through the arena:;
the ashen spear was shivered against the tempered
steel; the shouts of the spectators proclaimed their
interest in the spectacle; the ladies threw their
gloves and adornments into the lists: a knight was
authority, Philip was of the middle nose long and straight, complexion
height; his limbs firmly set and fine- somewhat dark, eyes full of expresly proportioned; his bones large; sion, hair "between blond and black,"
his veins swelling and "full of eyebrows thick, and "curling up like
blood;" his face long, "like those horns" in moments of passion.
of his ancestors," lips of a deep red,




104         COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.         [BOOK I.
unhorsed, and his opponent sprang to the ground
and raised his battle-axe or sword; but a cry of
pity was heard from every side; the duke threw
down his baton, and the combat was at an end.69
Thus all was gay, voluptuous, purely mimic and
harmless in these encounters; and yet with what
solemnity, what an entire belief in the importance,
the dignity, and the reality of the scene, did the
actors perform their parts! In no age or country
did the fervent and devotional spirit of chivalry
glow with purer lustre in a gallant heart than in
that of Jacques de Lalain, called par excellence " the
good knight," and the brightest ornament of Philip's
court. Trained in virtue and piety from his earliest
years, and in that stately courtesy which was considered as the crowning grace of the accomplished
nobleman, he was inspired, while still a youth, with
the single desire of maintaining by his exploits
that reputation for valor and spotless honor which
had been bequeathed to him with an illustrious
name.  He hears, at Antwerp, that a Sicilian knight
has been seen passing from his hostelry to the
church, with an iron fetter on his left leg, attached
to a chain of gold, intimating that its wearer has
bound himself to perform a certain number of exploits in honor of the mistress of his heart. At
this news the soul of Jacques de Lalain is filled
with joy; "humbly and devoutly he offers thanks
69 See the chronicles of De Cous- lier Messire Jacques de Lalain, (ed.
sy, IDuclercq, Lamarche, and espe- Buchon,) passim.
cially the Chronique du Bon Cheva



CHAP. Xi.]    SUNSET OF CIMVALRY.          105
to our Lord and to his Virgin Mother," and "on
bended knees and with joined hands" beseeches
them  that they will grant him  aid and counsel
in this affair; for it seems to him that the requests
and petitions which he has daily put up are now
about to be granted. He summons the king-at-arms
of the Golden Fleece, and opens to him his intention
to " deliver" this noble cavalier, who had come from
afar to seek the means of accomplishing his vow.
With many ceremonies and courtly rites the "' chapters," or preliminaries of the combat, are arranged.
The day and place are appointed by the duke.
Jacques de Lalain arrives at the spot accompanied
by a brilliant cavalcade of five hundred knights and
noble youths. "Certes," says the chronicler, "they
ran many beautiful courses, and neither of them
failed in a single instance of his aim; although so
large and heavy were their lances, that often they
were not broken in the shock. Notwithstanding
which they ceased not to run and tilt against each
other until night, when the duke requested them
to be contented with the good and valiant manner
in which they had performed their devoir."
Then our gallant Jacques sets out upon a pilgrimage of honor, hangs up his shield at the
"Fountain of Tears" near Chalons, on the high road
from Burgundy to Italy, and holds the pass against
all comers. Afterwards he sends his herald before
him to the court of France to announce his emprise,
and incite some kindred spirit to condescend to his
request-without success, however; the nobles there
VOL. I.   14




106              COURT OF PHILIP THE  GOOD.                 [BOOK I.
having had lately quite enough of real fighting to
keep them in practice, and Charles the Seventh
rather  discountenancing  these   displays.   He  continues his journey into Spain, where he is received
with more honor than is to be paid in a succeeding century to the Knight of La Mancha, of whom
he seems the very prototype; crosses the sea, and
travels through the length and breadth of England
without finding a single opportunity of exhibiting
his prowess —only a Welsh knight hurrying after
him, when lie has taken ship, to arrange the terms
of a meeting  in  Flanders; and, returning unscathed
to his native soil, receives, at the early age of thirtytwo, his final s"deliverance," not from  the  lance  of
a  noble  adversary, but  in  rude  combat with  the
rebellious citizens of Ghent.70
Nor was the court of Burgundy wanting in a fit
historiographer of lofty characters and gallant deeds.
Chastellain-   last and  greatest of chivalric  chroni70 Fantastic as the career of this  claims Saint-Remy, "that he reigned
hero may appear to the modern read- no longer in the world; for the like
er, it is impossible to peruse the bi-  of him was neither known nor could
ography, prolix though it be, written  be found in any land - a more perby Saint-Remy, Toison king-at-arms, feet, valiant, bold, or accomplished
without being to some degree infect- knight. He was the flower of chived with the enthusiastic admiration  alry —beautiful as Paris, pious as
with which "the good knight" was  AEneas, wise as Ulysses, in battle
regarded  by his  contemporaries. ardent and ireful as Hector. Yet
When his death was announced to  never was there man more gentle
the army, clarions and trumpets  and debonnair. He was sweet, humwere hushed; at the distance of a  ble, amiable, and courteous, a great
bow-shot not a sound was audible; almsgiver and very compassionate,
and many faces, that of the sove- ever ready to assist the widow and
reign among others, were bathed in  the orphan."  Chronique du Bon
tears.  "Great pity was it," ex-  Chevalier, pp. 385, 386.




CHAP. II.]           THE GOLDEN FLEECE.                        107
clers —celebrated the departing glory of the Middle
Ages in language  sonorous like  a trumpet,  quaint,
refulgent, rich, like the emblazonments of an armo-:
rial shield.71
But the sentiments thus embodied in literature
as well as in private life were invested with still
higher dignity and grandeur by an institution,
which, though founded by a vassal, not by a sovereign prince, far surpassed in lustre any other of
the kind in Europe. This was the order of the
Golden Fleece, created by Philip the Good on the
occasion of his marriage with the daughter of King
John of Portugal. - The duke had been already
twice wedded, when, in 1428, being a widower and
without  legitimate  heirs, he  sent  ambassadors  to
the Portuguese court to negotiate his marriage with
the Princess Isabella, and in their train the celebrated painter John van Eyck, to paint a likeness
of her for Philip's previous inspection.72 The portrait
71 As a narrator, Chastellain will breeding. Froissart paints the manbear no comparison with Froissart, ners and outward features of an age
or, indeed, with writers much infe- of chivalry; Chastellain is imbued
rior to Froissart.  He has no power with its spirit.
of picturesque description, and no    72 " Lesdits ambaxadeurs, par ung
skill in conducting a story.  His  nommd maistre Jehan de Eyk, varlet
digressions are interminable, his ha-  de chambre de mondit seigneur de
rangues sometimes insufferably wea- Bourgoingne et excellent maistre en
risome. The charm of his writings  art de paillture, firent paindre bien
lies in his unique and magnificent au vif la figure de madite dame l'indiction, so thickly studded with ap- fante Elizabeth."  Copie du verbal
propriate metaphors and conceits, du voyaige de Portugal, &c., Gaand still more in the completeness  chard, Doe. Inedits, tom. ii. p.
with which they reflect the senti-  68.
ments and ideas supposed to apper-   lhi. Gachard remarks that the bitain exclusively to noble birth and  ographers of John van Eyck have




108          COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.           [BooK I.
proving satisfactory, and the proposal meeting with
a ready assent, Isabella quitted her native shores in
November, 1429, and, after a perilous voyage, landed
at the Flemish port of Sluys, where she was welcomed
by such a multitude of persons, of every rank, that it
was with difficulty a way was opened to the lodgings
prepared for her, the road to which had been carpeted with fine woollen cloth. Her reception at
Bruges was characterized by that magnificence which
befitted the occasion and the scene. The streets
through which she passed were hung with tapestry;
and, as her litter made its way slowly through the
press, escorted by a cortege comprising the members
of the nobility, and all the great dignitaries, civil and
ecclesiastical, of the land, even the loud braying of
the trumpets, which made the whole city resonant
with  music, was  drowned  by  the  shouts of the
spectators.   The  marriage  festivities lasted  eight
days; fountains, in different parts of the town, sent
forth perpetual streams of wine, both Rhenish and
Burgundian; and the people celebrated the event
in their usual style, by giving free indulgence to
their national propensity.73
As if to intimate the completeness with which his
expectations had been realized, Philip adopted in
honor of his new spouse the motto, "Autre n'array," —
been unacquainted with the facts that period at which his reputation behe held the post of valet-de-chambre came established.
in the household of Philip the Good,  73 Gachard, Doc. Inedits, tom. ii.
and painted a portrait of the Prin- pp. 63-91. - Saint-Remy, cap. 155.
cess Isabella of Portugal, which set- - Meyer, Annales, fol. 273, 274.tle the much contested point of the Barante, (ed. Gachard,) tom. i. p. 505.




CHAP. II.]           THE GOLDEN  FLEECE.                        109
"I will have no  other," -  clearly meaning, as M. de
Barante has observed, no other wife; for, in respect
to mistresses, the genial prince imposed as little
restraint upon his inclinations after his marriage
as  he  had  done  before.?    Slander even  whispered
that it was the charms not of his bride, but of the
reigning favorite, — one of Bruges's queenly beauties,-that  incited  him   to  proclaim   in  a  solemn
manner his "great and  perfect love  for the  noble
state of chivalry" by creating a new order of knighthood. But this was an idle calumny. The ordinance
in which the regulations of the fraternity are set
forth assign as the date of its institution the 10th
of January, 1430, the  day  of the  duke's marriage,
74 Philip is known to have had  tresses publicly, and in their own
twenty-four mistresses, and sixteen  houses.  The offspring of these unillegitimate children male and fe- lawful amours were educated with
male. The daughters. assumed the  the children born in wedlock, and
veil, and became prioresses, canon- received a share of the inheritance.
esses, &c.  The sons were amply  He deduces a conclusion favorable,
provided for, and formed a -stately  in one respect, to the Flemish chargroup, occupying a position not al-  acter: " In iis enim regionibus non
together in the background in the  sese vituperant et conviciis lacerunt,
tableau of the Burgundian court. uti apud nos."  Ritter-, Hof-, und
The  second  son, Antony -  best Pilger-Reise, p. 28.
known by the honorable title of    Duclercq is less lenient in describ"the Great Bastard of Burgundy,"  ing the general profligacy of the
conferred upon him  after the death  higher classes.  " Car lors c'estoit
of his elder brother, Cornelius -   grande pitie que le pechi6 de luxure
was one of the most redoubted  regnoit moult fort et par especial es
knights and distinguished military  princes et gens marries; et estoit le
leaders of the time, and will fre-  plus gentil compagnon qui plus de
quently be mentioned in the course  femmes scavoit tromper et avoir au
of these pages.                    moment, qui plus luxurieulx estoit;
Schassek informs us that, in the  et mesme regnoit encoires plus icelNetherlands, illegitimacy was not luy pechie de luxure es preslats de
regarded as a stain.  The princes  l'eglise et en touts gens d'eglise."
and nobles maintained their mis-  tom. ii. p. 204.




110           COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.          [BOOK I.
and allude  to  that event in  a manner that can
leave no doubt as to  his motive and  intention."
The number of the members was limited to thirtyone; and it was made incumbent upon those who
were elected that they should at once resign the
badge of any other order to which they belonged.
The dress was originally of woollen cloth; but so
simple a costume, though  in  accordance with the
customs of chivalry, was not calculated to find favor
at the Burgundian court, and was afterwards exchanged for robes of crimson velvet richly trimmed
and embroidered. From the collar, —composed of
precious stones and pieces of gold interlinked and
producing  sparkles, and  hence  heraldically  designated as'"fusils" and  "ccaillout,"- with the  appropriate legend, "Ante feril qzarn famma mical," was
suspended the fleece of gold, from which the order
derived its name.76
The chapters.were held on the day of Saint Andrew,
the patron saint of Burgundy.  Olivier de Lamarche
has described the imposing forms, as he witnessed
them for the first time, at Ghent, in 1445. The
knights, attired in their robes and turbans, passed
in procession through the streets, the youngest
members of the order going first, and the duke, as
" chief and sovereign," (for the title of "cgrand-master" does not seem to have been adopted,) walking
75 There is also an obvious allu- order. Isabella doubtless had her
sion to the embassy sent to woo the guardian dragon -or duenna.
princess and conduct her to the Neth-  76 Reiffenberg, Hist. de la Toison
erlands in the title selected for the d'Or, 4to., (Bruxelles, 1830.)




CHAP. II.]     THE GOLDEN FLEECE.           111
alone and last. At the door of the cathedral church
of Saint John (now that of Saint Bavon) they were
met by the canons and other clergy, and escorted
to the choir, where each knight took his seat beneath
an escutcheon emblazoned with his arms and devices.
Even the vacant seats of members no longer living
occupied their usual places; but the arms above
them were painted on a black ground.
The duke sat beneath a canopy of cloth of gold,
in front of the high altar, where hung the peerless
masterpiece of Van Eyck, the Adoration of the
Spotless Lamb — portions of which, saved from the
felonious grasp of that Spanish sovereign who sought
to rob the Flemings not only of their liberty but
of the productions of their genius, are still the
objects of a scrupulous custody in the ancient edifice which they first adorned. After mass had been
chanted by as many priests as there were members
of the order, the king-at-arms, kneeling thrice before
the duke, presented him with a lighted taper, and,
addressing him by his different titles, (duke of Burgundy, Brabant, and Limbourg, count of Flanders,
Artois, &c.,) summoned him to the offering. Each
member performed the ceremony in his turn; and,
when it came to that of a deceased knight, the
king-at-arms assumed his place, and made the offering in his name.
The business transacted in the chapters was by
no means confined to matters of form. The order
77 Lamarche, tomrn. i. p. 427, et seq.




112          COURT OF PHILIP THE GOOD.         [LooK I.
of the Golden Fleece had a great political significance. It was, in fact, the Burgundian sovereign's
House of Peers. It did not, indeed, exercise the
functions of a legislative assembly; nor was there
in the Netherlands any constituent body invested
with such functions.  But it separated by broader
lines of demarcation the most wealthy and distinguished nobles, to whom alone the badge was given,
from  the other members of their class.  It raised
them to the position of grandees; it conferred upon
them valuable and exclusive privileges. If one of
them was charged with an offence against the laws,
the order became a high court of judicature, before
which alone he could be tried.  In the perplexities
of the sovereign the knights were convoked as a
great council, to aid him with their advice; and such
an assembly, if it had little influence in determining
the course of the government, gave additional dignity to its more important acts. It was the duty
of the brotherhood to reprehend a member whose
life and manners were not strictly governed by the
rules of knightly breeding. They performed this
office even in the case of the sovereign; and we
shall hereafter see the least patient of princes submitting without resentment to such reproofs, when
they touched upon the most sensitive points of
his character and the most glaring of his faults.78
78 So, too, in the sixteenth century, turned a courteous answer, excusing
the Emperor Charles V., when cen- himself and promising amendment.
sured by the order for his dilatory In 1559 Philip II. received a reproof
habits and his niggardliness, re- for disregarding the privileges of the




CHAP. II.]    PHILIP'S POSITION AND POLICY.      113
But if the duke, by his personal submission to its
strictures, exalted the authority of the order to the
highest pitch, so much the more powerful was it
as an element in his dominion, and an engine
of his will. It furnished him with the means of
exercising a stronger influence over the whole mass
of the nobility; it brought the proudest and most
ambitious of his vassals into a closer connection
with him, made them more dependent on his favor,
and enabled him to maintain a closer supervision
over their conduct, and to inflict no ordinary punishment upon those who had become the objects
of his jealousy  or dislike.  The censure  of the
Golden Fleece carried with it a stigma that was
not easily removed; but how impressive was the
scene, when, after sentence of degradation had
been pronounced, the king-at-arms, in the presence
of the full conclave of nobles, erased the insignia
of the unworthy knight, and left his escutcheon
blank!
Thus Philip the Good, though not a king, occupied
a position which, in the language of his eulogist,
there was no king who did not envy.  He ruled
over the wealthiest states in Europe; he was the
acknowledged head of chivalry.  In the chapters
of the proud order which he had created he sat
knights, and for undertaking great ply; and the chapters were thenceaffairs without asking their advice. forth discontinued. Reiffenberg, Hist.
The gloomy Spaniard made no re- de la Toison d'Or, pp. 375, 476, 477.
VOL. I.    15




114            PHILIP'S POSITION  AND  POLICY.                [BOOK 1.
like Arthur among his knights, like Charlemagne
among his peers.
But his position  was a  strangely  anomalous one.
Great  as was  his  power, he  was, after  all, but  a
vassal.   He was the  subject not only of the king of
France, but of the emperor of Germany. In the figurative language  of Chastellain, "he held  the safety
of France in his keeping, and the tranquillity of the
Occident  in  his  hand;"  yet, by  the  terms  of his
feudal investiture, he was " the king's man," bound
to serve him in the field and to attend upon him
in his court. He had expelled his sovereign from
the throne; he had made peace at his own discretion
and on his own terms; and in the midst of his
splendor, whilst sitting at the banquet of the Golden
Fleece, an usher of the Parliament of Paris puts
into his hand a writ which summons him to appear
before that tribunal in person, in a suit instituted
against him   by  one  of his own  subjects.79
79 " Icelui huissier gardant son  ment,...comme pour donner a enexploitjusque aujour Saint-Andrieu, tendre:'Vecy le flayel de vostre
le jour principal de la feste de son  extollacion fire que vous avez prise,
ordre, que lui, le due d'Orleans, et qui vous vient corrigier droit cy et
tous les chevaliers de la Toison d'or, pincier, et vous monstrer qui vous
estoient en leurs manteaux, en la  estes."' Chastellain, p. xix.
gloire et solempnit6 de leur estat, en    He mentions the attempt of ansale, non d'un due par semblant, mais  other usher to break open the prison
d'un empereur, tout prest de asseoir  at Lille, and liberate a prisoner who
a table, et en point de prendre l'eau, had appealed to the Parliament.
vint icelui tout delib6r6 et k inten-  Resistance was made, a disturbance
cion d'esvergonder la compaignie, ne  followed; and the duke, who chanced
say de qui instigu6 ou non, et soy  to be in the town, came up, attended
ruant a genoux le mandement en sa  by several of his suite. He looked
main, fit son exploit et son adjourne-  on, however, in silence, until the peo



CHAP. nI.]     PHILIP'S POSITION AND  POLICY.                  115
His relations with the people of his different
states were also of a peculiar character. He was
the head of feudalism; but commerce and the
arts of peace were antagonistic to feudalism, and
they flourished in the Netherlands while in nearly
every other part of Europe they were feeble and
debased.    He  stood  upon  the  border land  of two
different  eras-   he  himself  looking   towards  the
past, his subjects  looking  towards  the  future.   If
the page of Chastellain was still illuminated  by the
pomp and grace of chivalry, there was at this very
time growing up, under the duke's own eye, a writer
who at no distant period was to touch upon such
themes with caustic irony, and who in a terse and
pointed style, which the modern historian has seldom
rivalled, was to commemorate the anti-chivalrous
and  anti-feudal reign  of Louis the Eleventh.80
ple prepared to throw the officer into  of the Middle Ages," he remarks,
the river -a catastrophe which Philip  " has been already sounded,yet Comprevented, " pour reverence du roy."  mines has no other notions than such
80 Among the French chroniclers  as they had tended to foster."  It is
and memoir-writers the name of  true that Commines did not foresee
Philippe de Commines stands pre-  the Reformation and the consequent
eminent. He is the first in order (as  rise of popular power and popular
well as in rank) of the modern au- institutions; nor do his comments
thors of this class- not, as some  and digressions partake of the charcritics assert, the last of an earlier  acter of philosophical disquisition.
race. With the deepest respect for But no philosopher, standing aloof
Dr. Arnold's extensive scholarship, from the affairs and movements of
and reverence for his character, we  the age, could have more thoroughventure to think his notion, that the  ly appreciated the decay which was
Memoirs of Commines exemplify the  at work in its political customs and
complete unconsciousness of his gen-  institutions, the transfer of political
eration in regard to its position while  power into new hands, and its transtanding on the very verge of a new  sition into a new form. He exhibits
era, singularly incorrect. "The knell the workings and the influence of




116            PHILIP'S POSITION AND  POLICY.               [BOOI I.
Nowhere, too, did  Philip's  sway  rest  upon  that
old hereditary right, which, in an age when a political system was moulded into shape by circumstance
that system of policy of which Ma- by translating bestes "brutes," simchiavelli was the first to expound the  ples gens " people of low degree,"
principles and the theory. The evi-  and gens de cour " persons of qualdence that he represents the prog-  ity," Commines, who never misses
ress and the transitional character  an occasion of sneering at the ignoof the period at which he wrote is  rance of the nobility, - Commines,
to be found in his covert or open  the eulogist and protge' of Louis
contempt for actions, sentiments, XI., of the monarch, that is to say,
and ideas regarded by most of his  who degraded the royal office (accontemporaries with a serious ad-  cording to the estimation of the age)
miration; in his perception of the  by choosing his servants and favortrue functions of government, of the  ites from the meanest class, and by
mutual relations of the different Eu-  habitually and systematically disreropean powers, and of the importance  garding the pretensions of birth,of diplomacy; in his emphatic praise  is represented as the champion of
of the English constitution and dis- aristocracy, and as having compiled
cernment of its peculiar features; in  his memoirs with the Tview of prohis abandonment of the Burgundian  viding entertainment for high-born
court and devotion to the service of  gentlemen and ladies. But the meanLouis XI.; in the nature and purpose  ing of the historian is very different.
of his work, and even in the charac-  He has been saying that he does not
teristics of his style, so little colored  relate the particulars of a certain
with the richly tinted phraseology of  transaction for the purpose of castthe time, so free from its pedantry  ing reproach upon the parties conand prolixity, so clear, masculine,and  cerned, but because he has underchastened by the precision and net- taken to give a faithful narrative of
tete'of the best modern French prose. the events with which he is acquaintOne phrase which he has employed  ed; " and," he adds, - as a reason
is frequently cited, but not, we  why he should enter into such dethink, with a right conception of its  tails, - "I do not count upon these
sense.  The distinguished  author  memoirs being read by the ignorant,
of the "Rise of the Dutch Re- or by persons in private stations;
public," in the introduction to that but I think they will furnish good
admirable work, speaks of " au- hints to princes and court-people,"
thors like Olivier de Lamarche and  (i. e., official persons, who have to
Philippe de Commines, who, in the  deal with such matters.)  In short,
language of the latter,' wrote not  Commines, instead of classing himfor the amusement of brutes, and  self with Lamarche and similar writpeople of low degree, but for princes  ers, intended to distinguish himself
and other persons of quality."' Thus, from them: their books, stuffed with




CHAP. Il.]      PHILIP'S POSITION AND  POLICY.                  117
and time, formed  the  firmest basis of authority.  In
none of his states was he the lineal representative,
through male heirs, of their ancient princes. In
some of them he sat upon the uneasy throne of a
conqueror.   But, for the  most part, the  house  of
Burgundy owed its aggrandizement, like the house
of Habsburg, to its matrimonial alliances; and its
acquisitions went at last, with those of the house of
Habsburg, to  swell the dominions of a monarchy
which had itself been consolidated by the same
means, and which, in the sixteenth century, threatened to absorb the larger part of the European
continent.
Philip the Good ruled, in fact, over a heterogeneous
aggregate of states. His authority over each rested
on a distinct title, and was exercised by distinct
descriptions of pageants and tour-  monly manifested by feudal princes,
naments, were written for the amuse-  " God," he says, " did not establish
ment of idle people, not over-fur-  the office of king, or ruler howsoever
nished with  brains, unacquainted  entitled, to be exercised by the bestes,
with the internal springs of policy  nor by such as out of vainglory say,
and little interested in their opera-' I am no clerk; I leave all to my
tions; his book was meant as a  council; I trust to them."'
manual for statesmen, and was ded-    M. Kervyn de Letterhove, quoticated to Angelo Cato, one of the  ing the same passage as Mr. Motmost learned men of the age, with  ley, and putting the same construca view to its being translated into  tion upon it, thus sharpens the
Latin and enriched by additional par-  supposed antithesis: "I1 meprisa
ticulars gathered from other sources.  fort les bestes et simples gens: ii
That Commines used the word bete  n'6crit que pour les rois."  (Bulin its ordinary signification  (de- 4letins de l'Acad. de Brux. 1859,
noting ignorance and obtuseness,  p. 278.)  Had M. Kervyn ever read
not the brutality of the canaille)  the remarks of Commines on "la
will be apparent from  a citation  bestiality des princes et leur ignonot inapposite on other accounts. rance," in the 18th chapter of the
Speaking of the want of knowledge  5th book, and elsewhere P?
and contempt for learning so com



118       PHILIP'S POSITION AND POLICY.    [BOOK I.
methods. No two of them had precisely the same
laws, the same customs, or the same national history.
The provinces did not constitute a country, and the
inhabitants did not constitute a people.  In the
Netherlands two dissimilar races dwelt side by side;
two totally different languages were spoken; and
each so tenaciously maintained its ancient hold,
that, in a single city, neither was able to gain an
inch of ground, and they have preserved their
respective limits down to the present day.
Nor did Philip's states even constitute a group,
enclosed within a common boundary.  The two
Burgundies were separated from  the Netherlands
by Alsace and by Lorraine. When he travelled
firom one part of his dominions to another, he was
obliged to pass over foreign territory. If the ruler
of that territory were hostile to him, he could perform his journey only at the head of an army. In
time of war his presence would have been equally
necessary at Dijon and at Brussels. But, in such
a case, he was liable to be cut off from the states
which furnished him  with money, or from  those
which furnished him with men.
Out of these elements would it have been possible
to form a monarchy? Philip the Good never made
the attempt. He was wont to assert that he had
jnore than once refused the title of "king" —and
it is at least certain that intimations from the imperial court, pointing in this direction, had been suffered to pass without any response. In spite of his
early hostility to France, he gloried in his French




CHAP. II.]   PHILIP'S POSITION AND POLICY.   119
extraction and in his nearness to the throne- in
his precedence at the court, in his privileges as the
"premier peer" of France, in his right to place the
crown with his own hands upon the king's head,
and to be the first to do homage to him  and to
promise him obedience. He himself was far from
regarding his position as strange. To conquer province after province, to accumulate power and wealth,
seemed to him natural efforts of ambition. But to
take that one step further which would have conducted him to independent sovereignty, to find some
stronger bond of union than the slender and accidental tie by which he had bound one acquisition
with another, to overturn an existing system and
to establish a new one in its place,- this was not
the object of an ambition such as his.
Yet there was every thing in such a project to
kindle the ambition of one who occupied the place
of Philip and possessed the same resources.  To
remove obsolete institutions, to substitute political
order for political chaos, is the proper task of an
able and aspiring statesman. To round the limits.
of his empire, and secure its integrity, must be the
first and strongest desire of a warlike prince. If
the right of appeal to the Parliament of Paris were
cut off, Flanders would cease in all but the name
to be a part of France.  If the interlying provinces were annexed, Burgundy and the Netherlands
would be united. If the sovereign were invested
with the regal dignity, the consolidation of his dominions might be expected to follow as a necessary




120       PHILIP'S POSITION AND POLICY.    [BooK I.
consequence. There had been an ancient kingdom
of Burgundy, extending from the Vosges to the
Mediterranean: why not a modern kingdom  of
Burgundy, extending from the Alps to the German
Ocean?
This project was not long to remain unconceived
or unattempted. It was an idea well suited to a
prince bold in character, stubborn of purpose, warlike in disposition, incited to great attempts not
merely by the love of fame, but by the instincts
and energies of his nature.  Such was not the
character of Philip; and him, therefore, this idea did
not captivate and possess.  But it was to be the
dream —the splendid, the vain, the fatal dream —
of Philip's successor.




CHAPTER  III.
THE HEIR OF BURGUNDY. -THE HEIR OF FRANCE. — ACCESSION
OF LOUIS XI.
1433-1461.
DIJON, the ancient capital of Burgundy, stands at
the confluence of two rivers and at the entrance
of a vast but sheltered and fertile plain. Seen from
the vine-clad elevations of the Cote d'Or, it wears
an aspect of peculiar sternness- a group of massive structures casting frowns upon a smiling landscape. Though it had ceased under the house of
Valois to be the ordinary residence of the dukes,
it was still regarded as their home. Here all save
the first of the line were born; here all save the
last of the line were buried. Just outside the walls
stood the family mausoleum —a great Carthusian
convent, raised by Philip the Bold, the founder of
the dynasty; and in the heart of the town, enclosed
within buildings of more recent date, a single tower
of the old ducal palace may still be found which
was the birthplace of John the Fearless, of Philip
VOL. I.   16                           (121)




122              THE HEIR OF BURGUNDY.                [BOOK I.
the Good, and of the prince with whom this dynasty
became extinct.'
Charles of Burgundy was born on the 10th of
November, 1433.2    The  earlier  offspring  of  the
Duchess Isabella had died in infancy. Her third,
and, as it proved, her last child, was therefore an
object of especial tenderness and  care; and, contrary to the usage of women of exalted rank, his
mother nourished  him  from  her own  breast.  In
his case, however, any excess of maternal solicitude
might safely have been dispensed with. Far from
being a weakling, the boy had been endowed by
nature with a constitution of extraordinary vigor.
On the day of his baptism  he was invested with
the order of the Golden Fleece and with the title
of Count of Charolais.3   Before he was two  years
old  his mother removed with  him  to  the  Netherlands, where, as soon as he had reached a suitable
age, he was placed under the care of a nobleman
distinguished for the integrity and decorum of his
life, to be trained in the habits and accomplishments that were thought to befit an illustrious
station.
Lacuisine, Esquisses Dijonnais, son not of a peasant, but of a prince,
Mem. de l'Acad. de Dijon, 1845, p. the saint's name, bestowed upon him
112.-Court6p6e, tom. ii. pp. 83, 126. according to a common Catholic
2 As this was the Vigil of Saint custom, would have been forgotten
Martin, he received the baptismal ap- in some lordlier prefix.
pellation of " Charles Martin." But   3 The county of Charolais, an arthe second name seems never to have riere-fief of Burgundy, was reserved
been used. Had Luther, who was as an appanage for the heir to the
born on the same anniversary just duchy. It had been purchased by
half a century later, (1483,) been the Philip the Bold.




CHAP. III.]     HIS YOUTH AND EDUCATION.                   123
The lord of Auxy found himself intrusted with no
light or easy charge. The vehement temper of the
young count gave early and constant proof that the
blood of his paternal ancestors flowed in his veins
with  undiminished  impetuosity.4   Yet the  strength
of the  current was  not indicated  merely  by  its
violence.  He  displayed  a persistency  of will that
seemed to mark him out as one destined for laborious undertakings. His power of application was
remarkable; and he acquired a much larger share
of the learning of the age than was commonly possessed by persons of noble birth.  But the works of
the Latin  authors -which he is said to have been
able  to  read  and  understand  without the  aid  of
commentariess - failed at first to interest his mind
in  the same  degree  as the romances of chivalry.6
These, it is true, were but ideal pictures; but they
idealized the life which came under his own observation and in which he was to bear a conspicuous
part; and  his was a mind  that dreamed of realities, and panted for action.
When  he was eighteen  years of age he took his
4 Or, as Lamarche euphuistically  out qualification. Geschichte Carls
expresses it, "II estoit chaud, actif, des Kiihnen, (Niirnberg, 1795,) p.
et despit, et desiroit en sa condition  27. -" I1 apprenoit i Plescole moult
enfantine a faire ses voulontez k bien,.... et retenoit ce qu'il avoit
petites corrections." Me}moires, tom. ouy, mieux qu'autre de son aage."
ii. p. 62.                      Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 62.
5 Barlandus, De Carolo Burgundo,   6 "4 S'appliquoit'i lire et faire lire
(Francofurti, 1585,) p. 298.- Jaeger devant luy du commencement les
remarks that there was no scholar joyeux comptes et faicts de Lancelot
of that age in respect to whom such  et de Gauvain." Idem, loc. cit.
a statement could be received with



124           TUE HEIR OF BURGUNDY.             [BOOR I.
degree in what then constituted the most important branch of education —horsemanship and the
use of the lance -by jousting in public with that
consummate master of martial exercises, Jacques
de Lalain. The duchess, who could seldom be induced to be present on such occasions, witnessed
the encounter, and trembled with apprehension at
the moment of the shock. Philip, however, laughed
at her fears, and saw with complacency the proofs
of skill and  courage  given  by  his son.  "The
mother," says a chronicler, "C thought only of safety,
the father only of honor."7 To Charles himself the
tilting-field was not a place for idle display, but a
school of arms. He became a 1"rude jouster," demeaning himself in the lists like a poor knight
hoping to win favor and fortune by his valor, rather
than like a prince conscious of admiring glances
and secure of easy triumphs.8
The rebellion of Ghent, which broke out in 1452,
gave him an opportunity of displaying his prowess
in enterprises of greater peril. Even Philip would
fain have spared his son so early an acquaintance
with the hazards of war. But the count swore by
Saint George —his common and only oath — that
he would go in his doublet rather than not accompany his father to take vengeance on his rebellious
7,, De ce coup ne fut pas la prince ou un signeur, mais comme
duchesse contente dudict Messire un chevalier dur, puissant, et a
Jacques: mais le bon duc s'en rioit. doubter,... comme si c'eust estd... L'un desiroit l'epreuve et l'au- un pauvre compaignon, qui desirast
tre la seurete." Idem, tom. ii. p. 60.  son avancement a ce mestier." Idem,
8 4" Non pas seulement comme un tom. ii. p. 156.




CHAP. III.]      HIS MARRIAGE.               125
subjects. In the encounters which took place he
displayed the headstrong valor of a young soldier
mingled with the peculiar obstinacy of his race.
He distinguished himself in the battle of Gavre by
cutting his way through a body of Flemings, and
relieving his father, who had been surrounded, from
imminent peril. Having been sent with a party
of troops to surprise the town of Moerbeke, he
found the place strongly defended and prepared
for the attack.  The veteran captains by whom
he was accompanied were unable to convince him
that the project must be abandoned.  "At least,"
he exclaimed, "let us not retreat; let us lie here
to-night in face of the enemy, and wait for artillery
and reenforcements."  And when overruled in this,
he could not refrain from tears of angry disappointment.9
By one of the provisions of the treaty of Arras
the count of Charolais had been betrothed to a
daughter of Charles the Seventh. The lady, however, died before the marriage could be consummated.  Philip then selected as his son's bride
another French princess, a daughter of the duke
of Bourbon.  But the count, influenced by his
mother, manifested a repugnance to this match.
The duchess, who was descended on the maternal
side from the royal house of England, was strongly
desirous that her son should ally himself with that
family. The duke, on the contrary, regarded his
9," Dont il larmoyoit de depit et de courage." Idem, tom. ii.. 113.




126             THE HEIR OF BURGUNDY.              [BOO0 1.
old allies only with feelings of aversion, while his
loyalty to his own sovereign seemed to be strengthened by the recollections of their former enmity.
He summoned Charles into his presence, and sternly
commanded him to lay aside all thoughts of such
a marriage. Though circumstances had compelled
him, in early life, to connect himself with the enemies of France, he.had never, he said, "been English
at heart;"  and  he menaced his son with banishment and disinheritance in case of further resistance.
"As for this bastard," he  added, turning  towards
one of his natural sons, whom he suspected of
having encouraged the count in his opposition, 1"if
I find that he counsels you to set yourself against
my wishes, I will have him tied up in a sack and
thrown into the sea."''0
Charles's marriage with Isabella of Bourbon took
place in 1454. Though a reluctant bridegroom, he
became strongly attached to his wife; and his treatment of her during their union, which lasted eleven
years, was such as gave her no cause for complaint. In a dissolute age, and at a court where
the sovereign himself set an example of open licentiousness, the count of Charolais presented what
was certainly a rare, if not the only, instance of
marital fidelity." His faults, indeed, were not such'1 Duclercq, tom. ii. p. 203.- He   11 " La quelle depuis il aima tant
asserts that the marriage took place que c'estoit beile chose de la belle vie
on the same day, and adds, "Par le touchant marriage qu'ils menoient,
commandement tres expres du due, et disoient pour vray, que pour rien
Charles coucha icelle nuict avec sa icelluy Charles n'eust alle a aultre
femme."                      femme que la sienne." Idem, po 204.




CHAP. III.]         HIS CHARACTER.                   127
as arise from  an inordinate love of pleasure.  He
ate sparingly and of the simplest food, and seldom
tasted wine unless diluted with a much larger proportion of water.' His pleasure was not in luxury
and  self-indulgence,"  says the chronicler,'"but in
labor and  endurance.""2  He hardened himself by
constant exercise and exposure. He excelled in
manly  sports   in  archery  and  in  throwing  the
bar.  He was seldom  absent when  the  chase was
proclaimed in the forest of Soignies, and delighted
especially in the dangerous pastime of hunting the
wild  boar.   But on  the coast of Holland, which
he often visited, he found still stronger attractions
in the pursuit in which so large a number of the
inhabitants were engaged — frequenting the ocean
even in the stormiest weather, and making himself
practically acquainted with the art of seamanship
in its minutest details.13
In the ordinary intercourse of society his manners were courteous but reserved. Pomp and state
he regarded as essential qualities of a princely life;
but he had little relish for the gayeties and excesses of his father's court. He shared, however, in
its more refined tastes, and took part in its more
graceful recreations.   He was a good dancer, and
-He mentions the fact as extraor-  12 "N'estoit enclin a nulles modinary. And see, to the same effect, lesses ne lascivetes: estoit tout d
Chastellain, p. 509, and Lamarche, labeur et a dur." Chastellain, p.
(" Jamais ne rompit son marlage: ny 509.
ne le sceu oncque de luy, ne d'assez   13 Lamarche, tom. i. p. 179, and
suffisans pour ouir parler de tels tom, ii. pp. 62, 156, et ai.
secrets,") tom. ii. p. 157o




128               THE HEIR  OF BURGUNDY.                    [BOOK I.
was reputed  to  be  the  most skilful chess-player of
his  time.   For music  he  had  a  strong  partiality,
cultivating the science, so far as it could be said
to exist, and composing motets, chansons, and other
fashionable strains.14
Though somewhat below the common height,
Charles had a powerful frame. His shoulders were
broad and full, his limbs muscular and firmly knit.
He was insensible to fatigue, and wore his armor as
if he  had  been  born  in  it.'5  "SI never heard  him
complain of weariness," says Philippe de Commines,
s and  never saw  in  him  a sign  of fear."16   In coun14 Idem, ubi supra. - Chastellain.  ously at any coarse jest or piece
It may be as well, at the outset,  of low buffoonery. The faults of
to warn such readers as have gath-  Charles were sufficiently glaring, and
ered their impressions of the events  scarcely admitted of exaggeration;
and personages of this period from  but his breeding had been that of
the pages of Scott that in none of  a prince, not of a boor, his educahis creations has the great master tion had been better than that of
handled his brush with so careless a  other princes of his time, his tastes
hand, and laid on his colors with so  and habits were more, not less, relittle discrimination, as in " Quentin  fined than theirs, and the restraint
Durward." Leaving out of view the  he imposed upon his sensual appeanachronisms and other deviations  tites was as conspicuous a trait as
from historical truth, (which yet are  his sternness and violence.
seldom defensible, inasmuch as not   15 " Estoit (ce sembloit) ne en fer,
merely the facts of history, but the  tant l'aimoit: se ddlectoit en armes
features of the age, are thereby dis-  et en champs floris de harnas."
torted and discolored,) the portrai-  Chastellain, p. 509. -" I1  portoit
tures of character are commonplace  ordinairement [ses armes] sans disconceptions coarsely executed. He  tinction de temps, chalereux ou froid,
attributes to Charles the Bold pre-  car en l'un et en l'autre il trauailloit
cisely those vices from which he was  equalement, sans pouuoir succomber
altogether fiee - representing him  a la peine."  Gollut, col. 1313.
as a drunkard and a gross feeder, as   16 "Deux choses plus je dirai de
dull in his perceptions and vulgar in  luy: I'une est, que je croye que jahis tastes, as seasoning his phrases  mais nul homme ne print plus de
with oaths, and laughing boister- travail que luy, en tous endroictz ou




CIAP. III.]             HIS CHARACTER.                          129
tenance  he  bore little  resemblance  to  his father
the full, red mouth being the only distinctive feature
which they had in common. His face was round;
his complexion a transparent olive, tinted with a
ruddy  glow.   A   wavy  mass  of thick, black  hair
overhung his forehead, and flowed around his neck.
In walking, his looks were habitually directed towards the  ground; but his eyes were "angelically
clear," their glances equally penetrating and expressive, and in moments of excitement terrible.
The tones of his voice were agreeable and distinct.
He was gifted  with  a  natural eloquence, sometimes
impeded at the outset by the ardor of his temperament, but becoming, as he proceeded, not less
logical than  vehement.l7
It is hardly necessary that we should sketch
even the outlines of Charles's character, so plainly
does it reveal itself in  the  most meagre  narrative
of his life.   There  are no  subtleties to  be explored,
ii fault exerciter la personne: l'aul- et rians, et angeliquement clairs;...
tre, que a mon advis je ne congneuz  avoit la bouche du pere grossette et
oncques homme plus hardy. Je ne  vermeille:... portoit un vif teint,
luy ouys oneques dire qu'il fust las, clair brun, beau front et noire cheny ne luy veiz jamais faire semblant velure espesse et houssue, blanc col
d'avoir paour: et si ay este sept an- et bien assis, et en marchant regarnees de reng en la guerre avec luy, doit vers terre.... Avoit faconde;
l'este pour le moins, et en aucunes  telle fois fut en commencement de
l'yver et l'estN."  Commines, tom. i. sa raison empeschie a la bouter dep. 51.                             hors: mais mis en train fut tres 6lo17," Portoit bonnes jambes et quent. Avoit beau son et clair:...
grosses cuisses, longue main et gent estoit sage et discret de son parler,
pied,... un peu grossettes espaules: orne et compasse en  ses raisons... avoit tournure de visage un peu  beaucoup plus que le pere."  Chasplus ronde que le pere, mais estoit tellain, p. 509.
de clair brun: avoit uns yeux vairs
VOL. I.        17




130             THE HEIR OF BURGUNDY.               [BOOI I.
no  strange contradictions to be reconciled.   Fiery
and inflexible; proud, impatient, melancholy; implacable in his enmities, in his judgments rigorous but
just; subject to gusts of passion that settled into
a sullen fixedness of purpose by which flattery
and counsel were alike repelled; ever brooding on
the future or battling stormfully with the present,
Charles the Bold, the Rash, the Warlike, the Terrible,
(for all these epithets were applied to him either
in  his lifetime or by  the generation  immediately
succeeding,) is portrayed on the canvas of history
in lines and colors which the feeblest copyist cannot fail to  seize.  It was thought by  those  who
knew him in his youth, and who were perhaps misled by his meditative habits, that he had no strong
inclination to a military career.  But his first experience  in  arms  aroused  a passion  that was never
afterwards  to  slumber.18   All the  natural desires
of youth were consumed by the intense flames of
his ambition.   It is related  of him, at this period,
that every night, after retiring to bed, he caused
one of his attendants to read aloud some stirring
passage of ancient history; and, as he listened to
the exploits of Alexander, it may have been that
18 Commines assigns a later date member of Charles's household till
-that of the battle of Montlhdry -  some years after the War of Ghent,
as the period when this passion was in which, according to other acfirst developed. -" Estoit tres inu- counts, the ardent courage exhibited
tile pour la guerre paravant ce jour, by the count was not more conspicet n'aymoit nulle chose qui y appar- uous than his attention to military
tinst." (Memoires, tom. i. p. 650.)-  discipline.
But Commines did not become a




CIIHAP. III.]      THE HEIR OF FRANCE.                       131
he was secretly  elated  by  the  recollection  that he
too was the son of Philip.19
In the autumn of 1456, while the duke was absent
in Holland, there arrived at the court of Brussels
a fugitive from France. This person will occupy
a  place in  our pages hardly  less conspicuous than
that of Charles.   His character. however, will be
far more difficult to depict. Easy of access, communicative and familiar, he seems to invite us to
an unreserved intimacy, and to lay himself open
to our inspection. But so mobile are the features,
so shifting and dubious is the expression, that the
portrait, we may fear, will remain a perplexing
study to the last.
It has been  mentioned in a former chapter that
the measures by which Charles the Seventh succeeded in restoring some degree of order in his
dominions excited the discontent of many of the
nobles.  The chief embarrassment of the  insurgents
arose out of the difficulty of finding a leader of
sufficient eminence  to  attract the  people  to  their
standard.   The  duke  of Burgundy, who  had  but
19 In the rude, but often highly  intimation to the like effect occurs
vigorous, ballads which celebrate the  in a letter written by a Flemish novictories of the Swiss and their Al- bleman in 1473. " Hujus rei [the
satian allies, Charles is often taunt- exploits of Alexander] praecipua aded with aspiring to imitate the career miratione, qui curas studiaque sua
of Alexander. For example:       interius norunt, aiunt ipsum teneri."' So muss man in des grossen alexanders le- Lenglet du Fresnoy, Mem. de Comgend lesen,                     mines, avec un Recueil de Traites,
Als ob er meint sin gellchs wesen."  Lettres, Contrats et Instructions,
Chronik des Kaplans Johannes Kne-  (4 vols. 4to., Londres, 1747,) tom.
bel, 2te Abth. s. 220, (Bemerkungen.)  iii. p. 261.
A more explicit and authoritative




132             THE HEIR OF FRANCE.            [BooK I.
lately made a treaty with the king, declined to
give the movement his support. In this emergency,
those who had set the enterprise on foot turned
their eyes upon the heir to the crown.
Louis had then barely completed his sev[1440.]  enteenth  year.  His boyhood  had  been
very unlike that of most princes.  At the time of
his birth his father was living at Bourges, in the
condition of an exile rather than in that of a king.
So slender was the appearance of royal state preserved at his court, that his chamber was open at
all hours to the meanest officer of his army.20 While
his vassal the duke of Burgundy surpassed the
greatest monarchs in Europe in the splendor of his
way of life, Charles the Seventh invited his captains
to a plain though wholesome dinner, consisting of
a leg of mutton and a pair of fowls.21  When the
prince was christened, the funds in the royal treasury were insufficient to pay the chaplain his fee.
The wet-nurse, a "c poor woman of Bourges," received,
several) years afterwards, in lieu of pension, a gratuity of fifteen livres;22 and, when Louis had arrived
at an age at which he was entitled to a purse for
his private pleasures, his allowance was fixed at ten
crowns a month.
Too early an exposure to hardships and mortifications affects differently different minds so far as
moral qualities are concerned. But it seldom fails
20 Lamarche, tom. i. p. 286.    sterdam, 1766,) tom. iii. (Preuves,)
21 Vigiles de Charles VII.  p. 3. -Petitot, Mem. de Cornmines,
22 Duclos, Hist. de Louis XI., (Am- Introduction.




CHAP. III.]    PRECOCITY OF HIS INTELLECT.        133
to  stimulate the development of the intellectual
faculties.  Louis, indeed, possessed  a mind  that
must have ripened early in any atmosphere.  He
had an intuitive perception of his proper field of
action, a happy confidence in his own powers, and
a boundless desire to exert them.  He was often
betrayed  by the subtlety and nimbleness of his
intellect, seldom by the vivacity of his passions.
Of the softer feelings of the heart he was acquainted with the external signs, and his mastery
over these became in time one of his most useful
accomplishments; while he also learned, but with
less facility, how foolish, how dangerous it was, to
hate.23
At seventeen, therefore, he was no longer a boy.
Three years earlier, at the siege of Montereau, he
had made his first essay in arms; and, in the intervening period, he had been actively engaged
in assisting to exterminate the freebooters who
were devastating the country.  HIe readily listened
to the overtures of the disaffected nobles.  He was
not in the least embarrassed by scruples in regard
to  making  war upon  his father.  He  perfectly
appreciated the propriety of his taking the management of affairs of state out of the weak hands
of an indolent monarch. With his brisk intellect
his active habits, his innate love of work, how easy
23,, Comme il se trouva grant et la repentance. Et repara cestefollye
roy couronn6, d'entree ne pensa que et ceste erreur." Commines, tom. i.
aux vengeances; mais tost luy en p. 85.
vint le dommaige, et quant et quant




134                 THE HEIR  OF FRANCE.                    [BooK I.
would  be  the  task  of driving  the  remnant of the
English from the country, and restoring the pristine
glory of France! 24
But, keen as were his instincts, Louis was still
deficient in  that  sagacity  which  the  most happily
constituted mind can acquire only by experience.
His over-eagerness was destined to lead him into
many  and  serious  difficulties,  from  which  no  mortal less dexterous than he could have escaped,
before he learned that most important of all lessons  for the  aspiring  mind, to  wait.   Charles  the
Seventh had been indolent while forced to submit
to the dictation of advisers whose incapacity was
the  object of his careless  contempt.25   But he  was
now surrounded by ministers of his own choice,
and  he  was  prosecuting  enterprises  both  military
and  political with  vigor and  success.  He  scattered
the elements of the  revolt before they had  time  to
coalesce.   One  after  another the  rebellious  nobles
made  terms with  the  king, and  returned  to  their
24 Ipse vero qui juvenis et ani- VII. of France. He submitted withmosus foret... facile talibus incom-  out the slightest expression of anmodis obviaret... remque publicam, noyance to the control of persons for
prorsus dilapsam atque prope ex- whom he had neither affection nor
stinctam, sua vigilantia et industria  respect. "(My cousin," he said to
brevi tempore instauraret, et publi- the constable de Richmont, - who,
cis ejectis hostibus, regnum ipsum  when the king demurred to an apad priscam dignitatis suve ac decoris  pointment, assured him of the rare
gratiam  atque opulentiam  revoca- talents and excellent qualities of the
ret."  Basin, tom. i. p. 136.      person promoted, - "it is you who
2a What Macaulay has said of  make the appointment, and you will
Charles II. of England - that "he  repent of it: I know him better than
was a slave without being a dupe "  you do "-as turned out to have
- would have been equally applica- been the case.
ble, in his earlier days, to Charles




CHAP. III.]    HIS SERVICES AND INTRIGUES.   135
allegiance.  In the course of a few months Louis
was astonished at finding himself abandoned by all
save a few of his own followers — the persons who
had been placed about him by Charles, and who
had been guilty of a double treason in seducing
the prince from his duty. They had no chance of
obtaining mercy except through the intercession
of Louis. They sent him, therefore, to the king, to
solicit their pardon and his own. Charles accorded
to his son the cold forgiveness of one who did not
choose to punish, but who knew that a gracious and
generous reception would be wasted upon such an
offender. The petition of Louis in behalf of his
adherents was rejected with disdain. In this case,
the prince said, he was bound in honor to return
to them, and share their fate.   Louis," replied the
king with his accustomed sang-froid, "c you have come
of your own accord; you are equally free to depart.  If the gate be not wide enough to afford
you a passage, I will have fifteen or twenty yards
of the wall taken down."26  Such an answer could
not fail to make the intended impression upon the
discriminating mind of the person to whom it was
addressed.
It was plain, however, that this unquiet spirit
could be kept in subjection only by continual ern.
ployment. He was sent into Normandy, where a
desultory warfare was then going on, some of the
strong places being still occupied by the English
garrisons. Louis was not endowed with that pecu26 Monstrelet, tom. vii. p. 83.




136           THE HEIR OF FRANCE.          [BooK I.
liar combination of talents which constitutes the
genius of the great commander. But his boldness
and alacrity gave a stimulus to the operations of
the French, which were everywhere crowned with
success. H3[e was afterwards placed at the head of
an army which the king had been induced by his
Austrian allies to send against the Swiss; and,
being on this occasion signally assisted by fortune,
he obtained a great victory, and brought the campaign to a speedy as well as glorious conclusion.
But no sooner had he been recalled to the court,
than he again began to plot against the sovereign
whom he had served with so much zeal and efficiency. It was impossible for him to comprehend
that insuperable obstacles existed to his obtaining
at once the opportunity for which he longed of
exhibiting his ability to manage the affairs of France.
He tampered with the fidelity of the Scottish bodyguard, and opened his treasonable projects to the
celebrated Antony de Chabanne, count of Dammartin, one of the most trusted of Charles's captains.
The design of Louis was to make himself master
of his father's person, and to take the government
into his own hands. He spoke of his arrangements
with a coolness remarkable in the subject, admirable in the son. "I must be on the spot myself,"
he remarked to Dammartin,'" for the others will
be awed in the presence of the king; but, if I am
there to direct them, all will go well."27  The same
27  "Se fera bien la chose, et y veux etre en personne, car chacun




CHAP. III.]   GOVERNMENT IN DAUPHINE.              137
tone of candor and simplicity marked the rest of
the communication, of which the favored recipient
lost no time in unburdening himself.  Several of
the inferior persons concerned in the conspiracy
were executed. But Charles, though he perfectly
understood  his son's character, and was little disposed to be the victim of his own paternal tenderness, had  not the stern  temper of a Philip  the
Second or a Peter the Great.  Instead, therefore,
of putting the prince to death or shutting him  up
in a prison, he committed to him the government
of Dauphine.
This province had already been bestowed upon
Louis as an appanage, and the estates had granted
him  a considerable yearly income.  He was now
invested with the administration of its affairs, subject only to such restrictions as were necessary to
preserve the authority of the crown. To these restrictions he gave not the slightest heed. Dauphine
became to him  a lesser France, where he exercised
the power and assumed the prerogatives of an independent sovereign.  He made wars and treaties with
his neighbors; and, like one who having newly come
into possession of a crown thinks it incumbent on
him to provide for its peaceful transmission, he
prepared to form a matrimonial alliance, and offered
his hand to a daughter of the duke of Savoy.
craint la personne du Roi quand on roient, et en ma presence chacun
le voit; et quand je n'y seroye en fera ce que je voudrai, et tout se fera
personne, je doute que le coeur ne bien." Deposition de Dammartin,
faillit a mes gens, quand ils le ver- D)uclos, tom. iii. p. 54.
VOL. I.     18




138               THE HEIR OF FRANCE.                 [BOOK I.
Louis was  already  a widower.  At the  age  of
thirteen he had been married to Margaret of Scotland, a daughter of James the First. Thanks to
some C touches of nature;' which, in spite of its
authenticity, have ensured its frequent repetition,
few passages in the chronique scandaleuse of those times
are  better known than  the mournful story of this
young princess-a noble creature, full of intellect,
enthusiasm, and quick but generous impulses; loving
poetry 28 tales  of heroism, and  kindly, intelligent
conversation; transplanted from her bleak northern
hills to a warmer but less congenial soil; and illmated with a boy man of the world, precocious in
his keen perception of the practical aims of life,
in his total lack of generous sentiment, and in his
power of bruising every tender spot in those with
whom he came in contact.
Margaret was twelve years old when brought to
France -  a year younger than the dauphin.   She
lived only to the age of twenty, beloved, we are
told, by both king  and queen, and worshipped, as
we can plainly discern in the documents relating
to her fate, by the younger ladies of the court.
28 It is told of her, that, finding  characteristic, is related of Margaret.
Alain Chartier, the poet and royal At a tournament, she turned her
secretary, asleep in a chair, she glance from the more showy cavaliers
stooped and kissed his mouth" —  to a poor knightwhose shabby equip"for the fine words that had come ments served as a foil to the surfrom it," as she explained to her as- rounding splendor, and generously
tonished attendants. Michelet com- presented him with three hundred
plains that there is little in Alain's crowns from her own slenderly furpoetry to prove him deserving of the nished purse.
kiss.  Another anecdote, not less




CHAP. III.]  MARGARET OF SCOTLAND.           139
Shortly before her death venomous whispers began
to be breathed against her- vague hints and innuendoes, for which a certain unconventional but
innocent freedom of manners, perhaps withal, as
often happens in such cases, the very nobleness of
her nature, furnished the incentive and the pretext.
She would sit up half or all the night making ballads and rondecaux, - an amusement of which she
was passionately fond, —sometimes not going to
bed 1" till my lord the dauphin had finished his first
two naps," sometimes even not till dawn. Jamet de
Tillay, bailiff of Vermandois, who held some post
in the royal household, coming into her apartment
one evening "1 about nine o'clock," found her lying
on a couch, conversing with Messire de Blainville,
who leaned upon the couch, and with another gentleman; neither torch nor candle burning, but "a
good fire," which sent forth a cheerful, though, as it
would seem, indecorous, light. Her female attendants were present; but De Tillay, shocked at this
violation of the proprieties in so immaculate a
court, rebuked in coarse and insolent terms the
officer whose duty it was to have seen that lights
were provided, warning him of the scandal that
might arise from such neglect —"'Madame being a
foreigner." 29
So much was acknowledged by the slanderer,shooting his poisoned arrow under the pretence of
protecting her from slander,-when questioned, after
29 Interrogatoire de Jamet de Tillay, Duclos, tom. iii. pp. 34, 47.




140                THE HEIR OF FRANCE.                  [BOOR I.
Margaret's death, as to  the  language  in  which he
had spoken of her; as, also, that he had, at various
times and to various persons, insinuated the improbability of her bearing children. But these expressions
he explained away as of harmless import; and other
phrases, which admitted of no such interpretation, he
stoutly denied, affirming "Con the damnation of his
soul" that he had never uttered a syllable against
the honor of the princess, and offering, if his accuser
were a man, to support the denial with his sword.
But the depositions of several witnesses, male and
female, including the queen herself, established the
fact that De Tillay had not only, in direct though
general terms, charged Margaret with looseness of
behavior, but had endeavored, by an Iago-like
method, to instil jealous suspicions into the mind
of the queen.30
The part played by Louis in this obscure affair
seems to  have  been  a purely  negative  one.   He
does not, in fact, make his appearance on the stage
at all.  But his  shadow  falls  for a  moment ominously on the background.  "There was no one in
30 The queen's testimony is con- ferent motive from the one assigned.
fined to a curious conversation she  The queen, however, refrained from
had held with De Tillay when the  exhibiting any emotion, and agreed
court was about removing from Cha- to the proposal of De Tillay that she
ions.  He informed her that the  should conform to the arrangement
king thought it best, on account of without further parley, and should
her delicate situation, that she should  make her preparations for departure.
travel by slow stages; that she was When she spoke to her mcatre d'hoto set out first, and the dauphiness tel, he expressed his disbelief in the
was to remain behind, and go with  statements of I)De Tillay; and it was
the king. All this was communi- found, on inquiry, that no such plan
cated in a manner to suggest a dif- had been proposed.




CHAP. III.]       MARGARET OF SCOTLAND.                      141
the world of whom she stood in such dread as of
my lord the dauphin," was Margaret's remark to
one  of her ladies?3' when  passionately  complaining
of the speeches by which "that valiant officer," as
she ironically called De Tillay, had endeavored to
blast her reputation. She seems to have regarded
this person with mingled fear and abhorrence.
Going one evening to recite her vespers in the
queen's oratory, she caught the sound of his voice
in  the  chamber, where  he was " flouting, as was his
custom," with one of the women, and started back
as if a snake had crossed her path.32
In  the  midst of her troubles Death came
[1445.]
beneficently to her relief. She was taken
ill at Chalons, after walking, one hot day, from the
bishop's palace, where the court was then staying,
to say her prayers in the cathedral.  The physicians
found their medicines of no avail, and declared —
what was evident enough to all - that she." had
some  grief upon  her heart," and  that this and  her
31 Commines, writing more than    Margaret inquired what De Tillay
half a century later, but receiving  had been talking about, and exthe traditions of the French court plained her agitation by saying that
through the purest channels, asserts it was he who had endeavored to
that Louis was married to Margaret deprive her of the favor of the king
against his will and never ceased to  and of her husband.  Some days
feel regret while she lived. Mdmoires, later she told the same witness that
tom. ii. p. 274.                  "the valiant man had begun to
32 " Incontinent elle s'en retourna  shake," that he had sent to request
tout court, sans dire mot, et s'en  an interview with her in order to
yssit dudit retrait, et tantot elle qui excuse himself. "But I know well,"
parle s'en alla apres madite Dame."  she added, " that he spoke the words,
Deposition de Jeanne de Tasse, Du- and those who reported them  are
cldos, tom. iii. p. 21.          ready to assert it before his face."




142             THE HEIR OF FRANCE.              [BOOK I.
long vigils were shortening her days. In her last
moments she talked piteously of the wrongs that
had brought her to so early a grave, and of her
regret that she had ever quitted Scotland.33  Striking her breast, "I take  God and my baptism  to
witness," she exclaimed, "that I have  never been
guilty of any wrong to my lord." After her confession, one of her ladies suggested that some
persuasion should be used to induce her to say
that she forgave De Tillay.   The priest remarked
that she had already done so. " No, no," she cried
out from  her beds "I have  not forgiven him; I
have not forgiven him," and continued to repeat
the same words till told that, unless she forgave
every one, she could not hope to be herself forgiven.  "Well, then," she said, "I pardon him," and
added, "from  my heart."  Some one endeavored to
cheer her with hopes of life.  "Fie upon life!" she
replied; "Ctalk to me of it no more."34
Margaret was at least fortunate in her early
death.  And this was also  a fortunate  event for
Louis.  The contiguity of his dominions with those
of her father rendered Charlotte of Savoy a peculiarly eligible match for him-  so obviously eligible
that he deemed it altogether unnecessary to consult the king before making his proposals.  When
33 Breze, - grand seneschal of  Ah! faux et mauvais Ribault, elle
Normandy and Poitou, and the ablest meurt par toi! "
as well as honestest of Charles's min-  34 See the depositions of the atisters,- who was present and heard tendants, Duclos, tom. iii. pp. 23,
her, exclaimed with indignation, 28, 30, &c.




CHAP. III.]  HIS SECOND MARRIAGE.          143
these had been accepted, and an early day appointed
for the marriage, he gave notice to Charles of the
happy event which was about to take place, and
claimed his congratulations.
Charles, in reply, directed him to break off the
affair. It was his strongest wish, he wrote, to obtain
for his son the hand of an English princess, as a
means of cementing a peace between the two kingdoms, and he had already entered into negotiations
with this object in view. Normandy king-at-arms
was also despatched with letters for the duke of
Savoy, expressing astonishment at the encouragement given to the dauphin's suit before the sentiments of his father had been ascertained.  Louis
had reached Chambery, where the nuptials were to
be solemnized, before the arrival of the messenger;
and the latter had no sooner dismounted from his
horse than he found himself surrounded by the
dauphin's people, who welcomed him as a countryman, provided him with excellent lodgings, exhorted
him to "make good cheer," and inquired the nature
of his business. This he declined to communicate,
his instructions being to deliver his despatches and
message to the duke in person. It was wholly
impossible, he was told, that he should be admitted
to an audience with the duke; and a proposition
was kindly made that he should go to Grenoble,
and C' spend four or five days in amusing himself,"
a promise being generously given to defray all his
expenses. Finding he could do no better, he consented at length, after much wrangling, to present




144           TIE HEIR OF FRANCE.          [BOOK I.
his letters to the chancellor of Savoy. The next
morning he was taken to a church, and [Mar. 10,
seated in a somewhat obscure corner, from 1450.1]
which, however, he contrived to catch a glimpse
of the bridal train, and of "my lord the dauphin,
dressed in a long robe of crimson velvet trimmed
with ermine." Two days later he was sent back
to France, the bearer of a letter from  the duke
of Savoy, who lamented that he had not received
the royal missive until c" after the espousals had been
celebrated with all due solemnity and grandeur."35
The course pursued by Louis during the nine
years of his government in Dauphine excited not
only the displeasure of the king, but the murmurs
of the inhabitants. His activity, and the excellence
of his intentions, were undeniable. He introduced
many reforms in the administrative and judicial
systems, but they were not received with the gratb
itude which he had a right to expect; and, when
he proceeded to impose taxes without the previous
consent of the estates, that body appealed to the
king to protect them in the enjoyment of their
rights.  Charles perceived  that his intervention
ought no longer to be delayed. He summoned
Louis to return to the court. The prince was most
anxious to obey this command, but represented
that he could not do so with safety; that he had
reasons for believing that the royal ministers were
35 Proces-verbal de Normandie du due de Savoye au Roy; Duclos,
Roi d'armes du voyage par lui fait tom. iii. pp. 68-75.
par commandement du Roi; Lettre




CHAP. III.]  EXPULSION FROM DAUPHINE.             145
inimical to him, and were plotting his destruction.
Charles, on the other hand, thought he had a better
right to complain that the dauphin was surrounded
by persons who encouraged him in his disobedience.
He dismissed the envoys of Louis with a curt response. He would not listen to empty assurances.
It was time, he declared, that this state of things
should end; it had lasted too long.'c Let my son,"
he said,' return to his duty, and he shall be treated
as a son. As to the fears which he professes to
have, his security is my word, which my enemies
have never refused to accept."36   Preceded by an
army, the king approached the confines of Dauphine.
Louis was indefatigable in his efforts to avert
the impending blow. He despatched another embassy to Charles, to thank him for his most gracious
answer, and to resume the negotiations which that
answer had so abruptly closed. He invoked the
mediation of the pope, of the duke of Burgundy,
of the king of Castile. He invoked the interposition
of Heaven by vows and offerings made in his name
at the  most celebrated shrines of Christendom.37
Finally, he prepared to make an appeal to arms.
He summoned the nobles of the province to his
aid, and commanded the people to retire with their
property into the fortified towns. If his summons
were obeyed, "he would not," he remarked,' give
36 See the instructions of the dau- usual, with the formal flourishes of
phin's envoy, Courcillon; the king's the official reddacteur;) and other docverbal reply, (the matter sufficiently uments, Duclos, tom. iii. pp. 81-97.
characteristic, but embellished, as  37 Lenglet, tom. i. Preface, p. xxx.
VOL. I.    19




146            THE HEIR OF FRANCE.         [BOOK I.
his father the trouble of coming to seek him; he
would meet him at Lyons." Meantime the count
of Dammartin received orders from  the king to
occupy Dauphine with his troops, and to secure
the person of the prince.  He encountered no resistance as he advanced. The inhabitants everywhere manifested their loyalty to their sovereign,
and their satisfaction with the course which he had
taken. On his march he learned that Louis, whose
passion for the chase was almost as ardent as his
passion for intrigue, had appointed a day for a
great hunt.  Dammartin resolved that the hunter
should be taken in his own toils. He laid his plans
accordingly; but when he arrived at the spot he
found that the game had escaped himnz.38
The prince had mounted his horse at the hour
assigned; but, as soon as the greater number of his
suite had taken their way to the place of rendezvous, he himself accompanied by six of his attendants, rode off in an opposite direction. He crossed
the frontiers of Dauphine, traversed part of Savoy,
and scarcely halted until he arrived at Saint-Claude,
a small town in Franche-Compte much frequented
by devotees. Here he was received by the prince
of Orange and the marshal of Burgundy. He immediately sent a message to Philip, informing him
that he had come to Saint-Claude upon a pilgrimage.  He then  proceeded to  write an  equally
veracious letter to the king, to acquaint him with
3s Duclercq, tom. ii. p. 234. -  uments, in Duclos, tom. iii. pp. 100Letter of Dammartin, and other doc- 102, 185, et seq.




CHAP. III.]   ARRIVAL AT BRUSSELS.           147
his reasons for this sudden journey. He had heard
that his uncle of Burgundy was preparing to set
out upon a crusade against the Turks; and, as he
was himself bound by the oath which he had taken
as "standard-bearer of the Church" to aid in the
defence of Christendom, and had in fact received
an express summons to that effect from the pope,
he proposed to take part in the intended enterprise.39 Having despatched this characteristic epistle,
he resumed his journey, and, on the 10th of September, 1456, arrived at Brussels.
It was eight o'clock in the evening when he
entered the outer court of the palace, to which the
duchess and the countess of Charolais had descended
with their suite to receive him.  As soon as he
appeared these great ladies snatched their trains
from the hands of the gentlemen who bore them,
and knelt to the ground. Hastening forward, the
prince saluted all the fair faces present in due succession of rank.  He then offered his left arm  to
Isabella to escort her into the palace. But, in so
doing, he had assigned her the place of honor, which
she, with her accustomed scrupulousness, declined
to accept. "I fear you mean to mock me, monseigneur," she said, "in giving me a preeminence
to which I am  not entitled."  "Alas, madam," replied the dauphin, " you see before you the poorest
man in all the realm of France. It well becomes
me to pay you honor, for I know not where to find
39 Lettre du Dauphin au Roi, Duclos, tom. iii. p. 103.




148                 THE HEIR  OF FRANCE.                    [BOOR 1.
a protector save in my fair uncle and yourself."
This contest of modesty lasted for more than a
quarter of an hour; but at length the lady, who
stood upon the strong ground both of "rule and
reason," carried  her point.40
It was edifying to witness the humility of this
heir to a kingdom, who had sought an asylum on
the hearthstone of the younger and alien branch
of his family. When he was informed that the
duke, who had  hastened back from  Holland to
welcome him, was about to arrive, no persuasions
could induce him to remain, as etiquette required,
in his own apartment. He stood in the courtyard
beside the duchess, and, as soon as her lord entered,
would have rushed forward to embrace him, if she
had not held him tightly by the arm while Philip
made  the "first two  obeisances." 41
But, although the duke regarded it as a matter
which concerned his own honor to yield due reverence42  and  to  afford  his  powerful protection  to
40 Honneurs de la Cour, Saint-  as being on the left, because he had
Palaye, tom. iii. pp. 209, 210.    on his right the person next in rank.
The sense of the passage is some- Had Louis placed the duchess on his
what obscure. Louis seems at first right hand, he would, of course, have
to have insisted that the duchess  been merely giving her the preceshould walk before him, while she  dence to which she was entitled over
contended that her place was behind. the other persons present, not over
M. de Barante supposes the right to  himself. Her only concession was
have been the place of honor, and  in taking his arm, and walking bethat it was Isabella who yielded. side him.
Basin, (tom. i. p. 228,) by whom he    41 Idem, pp. 212, 213.
was apparently misled, makes a sim-    42 " Car mondit Sieur est ain6
ilar error. But the person high-  fils de France, auquel mondit Sieur
est in station is often mentioned  le Duc, a ce moyen, tant pour l'hon



CHAP. III.]       RECEPTION BY PHILIP.                   149
"the eldest son of France," the representative of
that royal and illustrious line from which he was
himself descended, he was not to be entrapped
into  giving  any  encouragement to  the  dauphin's
schemes. He listened with compassion to this "' desolate prince," this "' prince who appeared before him
as one ruined, dejected, heart-broken,"' who had
come, so poorly attended, by dangerous routes,
from   a  distant  country, to  wit, Dauphine;"  but
when Louis closed his tale with a request that his
fair uncle would assist him in raising an army for
the purpose of compelling the king to dismiss his
obnoxious ministers, Philip answered, CC Monseigneur,
I am ready to serve you with my possessions and
with my body against all the world, your father
alone excepted; but for him, I think him so sage
and discreet a prince, that he knows well how to
regulate his own household without counsel from
any one."43
He determined on sending an embassy to the
king of France, to justify his conduct and solicit a
pardon for the fugitive. Louis, also, gave formal
instructions to the envoys to treat on his behalf.
neur du Roi que de sadite tres-noble presence. Philip always uncovered
maison, dont il est issu, lui doit et and bent the knee when addressing
est tenu lui faire r6verence et hon- him, and, when riding behind him,
neur." Duclos, tom. iii. p. 121.    would not, on any account, have
The punctilious respect paid to  " suffered his horse's head to cross
Louis at the Burgundian court is the tail of the dauphin's."
much commended by Basin and Ali-  43 Ce que les Ambassadeurs de
6nor de Poitiers. The duchess was Monsieur le Duc dirent au Roi, Dunever served with a cover, or had  clos, tom. iii. p. 122.- I)e Coussy,
the dishes tasted before her, in his tom. ii. p. 275.




150             THE HEIR OF FRANCE.             [BOOK I.
c Although  he had  not done, but had  received,
wrong," yet, as "there was no possible thing which
he was not willing to perform in order to obtain
his father's grace," he consented to ask his forgiveness, provided the king would reinstate him in
his government, grant him a pension, and be pleased
to pledge his royal word that he would undertake
nothing against him or any of his servants.4 But,
while he gave this remarkable proof of a contrite
spirit, he did not omit to send forth an edict as
dauphin, forbidding his subjects to render obedience
to the person to whom, at his departure, he had
committed the government, and who, as he heard,
was exercising  authority in "another name than
his.'" 45
The king returned the same answer as before to
the demands which Louis clothed in the language
of concession. He was ready to restore his son to
favor whenever the prince should show by his acts
that he desired to obtain it. But he soon ceased
to indulge in the expectation that his offers would
have any effect.  "Louis," he remarked, 1"has a suspicious nature; it will be long before he returns
to France. As for my cousin of Burgundy, he has
given shelter to a fox that will one day devour his
chickens."46
As  Charles would  neither restore  him  to  his
44 These propositions are entitled  45 Lettres de Louis Dauphin, Du-'Effet des choses de quoi Mon- cldos, tom. iii. p. 132, et seq.
seigneur se contenteroit." Duclos,  46 De Coussy, tom. i. p. 28.tom. iii. p. 129.           Petitot, Introduction to Commines.




CHAP. III.]   MODE OF LIFE AT GENAPPE.            151
former post nor grant him a pension, the dauphin
was fain to be beholden to his fair uncle not only
for protection, but for the means of living. Philip
assigned him the castle of Genappe, in the neighborhood of Brussels, as a residence, and allowed him
three thousand francs a month for his support.  He
had been joined by the dauphiness, as well as by
many of his adherents, whom he had perhaps hoped
to get rid of by his precipitate and secret flight, but
whose regard for their own safety did not permit
them to remain behind. It was no easy matter for
him, out of Philip's bounty, to defray the expenses
of such an establishment.47  He was compelled to
have recourse to the usual shifts of persons in reduced circumstances —to sell or pawn such articles
of value as he had brought with him to the Netherlands.  Yet he bore his misfortunes with a charming equanimity and even cheerfulness of spirit.
His only disquietude arose from the reflection that
he had incurred his father's displeasure, by which,
in spite of his conscious innocence, he was, as Philip
wrote to the king, "marvellously cast down."  His
affability and good-nature gained him  a host of
friends at the Burgundian court.  He was on the
best terms with every one —with the duke's favorites, as well as with their mortal enemy, the duke's
son. The situation of Genappe, on the verge of an
extensive forest, furnished ample facilities for his
47 In addition, however, to the al- of his household had pensions setlowance to the dauphin mentioned tied upon them by Philip. Gachard,
in the text, the principal members note to Barante, tom. ii. 149.




152            THE HEIM  OF FRANCE.         [BOOX I.
favorite recreation. He gathered around him a little
society composed not merely of noblemen, but of
men of learning and science,48 and amused himself
at table by calling upon each of his guests in turn
to relate a merry tale. Many of these stories were,
at a later period, collected and published under the
title of"  The Hundred New Tales," and are still occasionally reprinted. The feverish love of power that
had so long possessed him seemed to have entirely
subsided. To adorn a private station had evidently
become the highest object of his ambition. His
attention to the minor duties of society was exemplary and engaging. The countess of Charolais
[Feb. having given birth to a daughter, Louis
1457.1 officiated as the godfather. He supported the
child's head, and bestowed upon her the name of
Mary, "from his'love for his mother, the queen
of France'" and with tender recollections, we may
surmise, of his own happy and docile childhood.49
How ridiculous to suppose that this amiable prince,
this pattern of the domestic virtues, this frank and
social companion, had a brain full of intrigues and
conspiracies - that he was a " dangerous person,"
in conversing with whom it were well to be on
one's guard, in feasting with whom it were best to
be provided with a spoon of much more than the
ordinary length!
Above all, it was delightful to witness the effusions
8s Naude, Addition a 1'Hist. de  49 Duclercq, tom. ii. p. 240. -
Louis XI., Lenglet, tom. iv. p. 276. Honneurs de la Cour.




CHAP. III.]  MS GRATITUDE AND PIETY.            153
of his gratitude. Doubtless the connection was as
flattering to Philip's pride as it was gratifying to
his generosity.5~ Nor was he, perhaps, insensible to
the advantages to be derived from it. As long as
he had the heir to the crown in his keeping, he
might expect that the king would be very cautious of affording him  any pretext for complaint.
He might look forward to a time when a new
king, indebted for his crown and even for his life
to the duke of Burgundy, would gratefully accept
him as his counsellor and guide, and seize the
opportunity of making a solid return for the favors
which he had received. That he had good right
to count upon such a return was evident from the
warmth of the dauphin's protestations.  Louis, so
unfortunate in the closer ties of nature and of
blood, had found in his protector a real parent,
and was never so happy as when an occasion offered for displaying his more than filial reverence
and affection.  During his residence at Genappe
the dauphiness presented him with a son. He notified this event to the king in a letter full of
piety and gratitude, and to the archbishop and
municipal authorities of Paris by a circular in
which he desired that it should be celebrated with
the usual procession and Te Detum. Charles, in reply,
expressed his satisfaction, though in terms somewhat scant for the occasion, and pointedly reminded
50 Reiffenberg makes some perti- Mem. sur le sejour que Louis Daunent remarks on this point in his phin fit aux Pays-bas.
VOL. I.   20.




154         PHILIP'S DOMESTIC TROUBLES.         [BOOK I.
Louis that he would best evince his thankfulness to
his Creator by observing his commandments.51 Very
different was the manner in which Philip received
the  announcement.  He presented the messenger
with a thousand gold pieces. He ordered public
rejoicings to be made in all the towns in his dominions. No circumstance of pomp was wanting at
the baptism. The duke was himself one of the
sponsors, and his customary munificence displayed
itself in the most costly gifts to the infant prince as
well as to the parents. When the ceremony was
concluded, Louis, with head uncovered, expressed
his thanks.  "LDearest uncle," he said, "lit is impossible I should ever be able to requite the honor
you have done me except by dedicating to your
service myself, my wife, and my child." Every one
present was affected to tears by the warmth of
emotion thus displayed.52
The count of Charolais was not, perhaps, such a
person as Louis would have selected for the companion of his leisure. It is probable, in fact, that
the dauphin —himself so sociable and full of playful vivacity —looked with secret aversion at his
stern cousin, who drank no wine, and had no jest,
no piquant story, to contribute to the common
al "Nous semble bien que de tant complir ses commandemens." Duque Dieu notre Cr6ateur vous donne cldos, tom. iii. p. 152.
plus de graces, de tant plus le devez  52 Duclereq, tom. ii. pp. 354, 355.
louer et mercier, et garder de le - The rejoicings were premature, as
couroucer, et en toutes choses ac- the child lived only a few months.




CHAP. III.1           THE CROYS.                   155
stock.53  Yet there are circumstances which might
tempt us to believe that their intercourse was
more frequent than would be inferred from the
contrariety of their dispositions or the direct statements of the chroniclers.  Opposed as were their
characters in all other respects, there was one point
of resemblance between them. Charles, like Louis,
was impatient to handle the reins of government;
he too, though with better reason, complained of
the laxity of his father's administration; he too regarded his father's ministers as his natural enemies,
and' as obstacles in the way of his ambition.
Philip the Good possessed a will which no prudent
person would have ventured openly. to thwart. But
he had not the self-relying resoluteness of his son.
Fierce in his anger, and obstinate when opposed,
he was yet open to the influence of those who
understood his character, and who knew how to
adapt themselves to his humor. Antony and John
de Croy, members of a family which, three generations back, had occupied the position of wealthy
and respectable burghers at Amiens, but which
traced its descent, at least to its own satisfaction,
from the royal house of Hungary, had risen to preeminence among the nobles of the Burgundian
states and in the counsels of the sovereign. Their
grandfather had owed his patent of nobility to
53 In the v" Cent Nouvelles Nou- courtiers. None of the stories is atvelles" the names of the narrators tributed to the count of Charolais,
are given, including those of the though he is mentioned as an audauphin, the duke, and many of the ditor.




156             PHILIP'S DOMESTIC TROUBLES.                 [BOOK I.
the purchase of an estate. Their father had been
concerned in the assassination of the duke of
Orleans;  their  sister  had  been   the   mistress  of
John  the  Fearless.?4    The  elder  brother,  though
considerably older than Philip, had been the companion and confidant of his boyhood. He now held
the post of first chamberlain, the highest in the
ducal household.  He was governor of Namur, of
Luxembourg, and of Limbourg. He held, besides,
many other lucrative but less important offices;
and pensions and estates had been bestowed upon
him  without stint.  John  de Croy, count of Chimay,
was captain-general and grand-bailiff of Hainault.5
Thus the two brothers exercised direct authority
over all the southern Netherlands; the avenues to
promotion were blocked up by their relatives and
dependents; while such was the ascendancy which
54 Modern Belgian historians sel- first mention of their names to be
dom intimate an opinion relative to  found in history.... Here is the
the claims of this family to royal de-  source of the earliest honors bescent, which, however, have formed  stowed upon them."  He derives
a subject of public controversy, and  their attempt to confound their aneven of judicial investigation, in the  cestry with that of the veritable
present century- the right of its  Hungarian Croys from their having
existing representatives to quarter  obtained the grant of an estate bethe arms of Hungary having been  longing to the latter family; which,
contested by M. de Crouy-Chanel, he remarks, is much the same as if
whose own pretensions to this honor  a member of the bande noire, after
seem to be established.  This gen- getting possession of a castle of the
tleman, in an erudite but somewhat Montmorencies, should assume the
passionate article, published in 1835  arms of that illustrious house.
in the " Drapeau-blanc," recites the    Ad The grants and offices held by
facts noticed in the text, and adds, the different members of the family
with sufficient emphasis, "Such is  are enumerated by Gachard in his
the origin of the noble family of the  Notice des Archives de M. le Due
Croys of Amiens.... This is the  de Caraman.




CHAP. III.]               TME CROYS.                          157
they  had  gradually  obtained  over  Philip's  mind,
that, while he still imagined himself the greatest
and most powerful of princes, the government had
been virtually surrendered into their hands.
They had not, however, escaped the usual responsibilities and penalties of power thus obtained. All
the disorders of the political system, whether local or
general, -the prevalence of crime, the inefficiency of
the laws, the negligence and corruption which during the latter years of Philip's reign had crept into
every  branch  of the  administration,6 -  were  popularly charged upon the Croys. If any one breathed a
murmur against the good duke, "Lay not the blame,"
it was answered, "on that noble old man, but on those
who have abused his confidence, and have basely
taken advantage of the openness and generosity of
his nature."'7  By the great body of the nobility the
Croys were regarded as upstarts, indebted for their
elevation to arts which high-born men disdain to
practise. Foremost among the malecontents was the
count of Saint-Pol, "the wealthiest count in France,"
who was allied by blood or marriage with most of
56 " Ce qui tournoit h grand playe ble that his own veneration for his
h ses pays et subjects, en faict de  master falls little short of idolatry.
justice, en faict de finances, en faict He states the facts, offers the excuse,
de marchandises, et en faict de di- admits its insufficiency, -" since it
verses iniquitis." Chastellain, p. 506. behoves a prince to have personal
- The pages of Duclercq, whose no- knowledge of all his affairs,"- but,
tices of the remarkable occurrences  on the further plea of Philip's failof his time are not confined to camps ing years, concludes by leaving the
and courts, furnish ample confirma- reproach upon his advisers. " Ergo,
tion of this statement.           la malice est devers eux; et l'excuse
57 Chastellain considers this point devers le noble viellart." (CEuvres,
with an impartiality the more lauda- loc. cit.




158        PHILIP'S DOMESTIC TROUBLES.    [BOOK I.
the reigning families of Christendom, whose vast
possessions gave him an almost unlimited sway in
a region where the family of Croy had followed
the ignoble pursuits of industry or filled the petty
offices of a municipal magistracy, and whose haughty
spirit not only rejected with disdain the advances
made to him by men so inferior in origin, but was
secretly chafed by his dependence as a vassal on
the protection of the Burgundian sovereign.
But the brothers were now to encounter a still
more formidable rivalry than that of Saint-Pol.
Others might envy their sudden rise, the honors
and wealth they had accumulated, their monopoly
of favors which might properly have been distributed among many claimants. But it was not for
such things as these that they were envied by
their master's son.  These he did not want; to
these he had no claim. His rivalry extended to
that influence of which these were merely the external indications. He detested the Croys for their
usurpation of a power to which, if it were to be
delegated at all, he himself, and he alone, could
rightfully aspire.
The first intimation of this feeling, the intensity
of which was as yet little suspected by the objects
of it, is of a somewhat doubtful date, but belongs
to the period of the dauphin's residence in the
Netherlands, probably to the winter following his
arrival. Saint-Pol made his appearance at the
French court in the character, according to his
own account, - for he bore no credentials, — of




CHAP. III.]   DISCONTENT OF HIS SON.             1] 59
an authorized agent of the Burgundian heir. He
disclosed a project formed by the latter for forcibly dispossessing the Croys of their authority, and
driving them from the court. No further restraint
was to be imposed upon Philip than what must be
implied in the expulsion of the favorites. His resentment, however, might be expected to be violent,
whatever were the result of the attempt; and SaintPol was instructed to inquire whether the count
of Charolais, if compelled to abandon his father's
dominions, might look for protection in France, and
for military-employment and command.58  The king
gave a civil but evasive reply.   Besides his aversion to violence, which he intimated in his answer,
he was not without suspicions as to the sincerity
of the proposal. He fancied, perhaps, that it bore
the marks of a familiar hand. The project was
dropped.   Had it been  carried  out, the curious
spectacle would have been presented of the heirs
of two great sovereignties living as exiles, each in
the dominions to be one day inherited by the other.
In this case Charles the Seventh, if he had deemed
it consonant with his honor, might have proposed
an  exchange.   But the  coincidence would have
been less surprising in reality than in appearance.
For the details of his scheme the count was obviously indebted, if not to the private suggestions, at
least to the open example, of the dauphin.
58 The only account of this affair dently by a member of the royal
is given in a letter, without date, sig- council for the information of a party
nature, or address, but written evi- interested, probably the sire de Croy.




160         PHILIP'S DOMESTIC TROUBLES.       [BOOK I.
But, while there was a strong similarity in the
situations and conduct of these two princes, whose
fortunes were henceforth to be mutually involved,
the contrast of character was not the less apparent.
In one it was the absence of feeling, in the other
its violent extremes, that formed the distinguishing
trait. Louis had pursued the career of rebellion,
if not with success, at least with a matchless facility,
because he  had  none but external obstacles to
contend with. Charles had to struggle against the
common prejudices of nature - against weaknesses
from which Louis was altogether exempt. After one
of those stormy conflicts which had now  become
of frequent occurrence between the father and son,
Charles was subject to fits of compunction; and he,
who so seldom yielded to the wishes or entreaties
of others, submitted without further demur to the
commands of Philip.
A scene of this kind will illustrate the characters
of all the parties concerned. The count of Charolais
had been ordered to confer a vacant post in his
household on a son of John de Croy. Instead of
complying, he issued an "ordinance" appointing
another person.  Philip sent for him  into his oratory, directing that he should bring with him this
paper, which, as soon as he had entered, his father
took from his hand and threw into the fire, bidding him draw up another, of a. different tenor.59
The count answered with a direct refusal. " You
59 " Dit a son fils,' Or allez querre de nouvelles.'" Lamarche, tom. ii.
vos ordonnances: car il vous en faut p. 224.




CHAP. III.]    A FAMILY QUARREL.            161
may, if you please," he exclaimed, cmake these
Croys your masters; but they shall never be mine."
A lighter provocation would have sufficed to throw
Philip into an ecstasy of rage. He commanded
Charles to depart from his dominions, and, drawing
his dagger, rushed towards him with menacing gestures.60  The duchess - who, anticipating an outburst which she hoped to allay, was present at the
meeting- interposed to protect her son, and followed
him from the apartment.  This very natural proceeding was regarded by her husband as an inexpiable offence. Beside himself with passion, he hastily
descended the stairs, and, calling for his horse, rode
unattended through the park into the adjoining
Forest of Soignies.
It was the month of January. A violent hail-storm
had been succeeded by a not less violent rain. But,
heedless of the tempest, of the approaching night, and
of the direction in which he went, the duke gallopped
furiously along, until his progress was impeded by
the thickness of the woods. His mind was haunted
with gloomy but vague reflections, and with projects
worthy of a truant school-boy. He would abdicate
his power, withdraw from the Netherlands, and spend
the remainder of his days in some wild and secluded
part of Burgundy. Meanwhile his present situation
had become a perilous one. He was compelled to
dismount, and force his way on foot through brambles and underbrush. His face and hands were
60 Duclercq, tom. iii. p. 238.
VOL. I.    21




162        PHILIP'S DOMESTIC TROUBLES.    [BOOR I.
covered with blood. It was long after midnight
when he discovered the fire of a charcoal-burner,
by whom he was guided to the lonely hut of a
huntsman or forester. Here he found shelter and
warmth, and was made welcome to such refreshment
as his host was able to provide. While eating his
meagre supper the unknown guest was edified by
a description of his companion's pursuits, and by
his philosophical and pertinent assurances of the
happiness attendant on a life of solitude and poverty. In the morning the duke was conducted to
Genappe, whence tidings of his safety were speedily
transmitted to Brussels.6"
At the palace the night had, of course, been
passed in the greatest disorder and anxiety. From
hour to hour fresh messengers had been sent out;
but such information as they brought back served
only to increase the alarm. The dauphin arrived,
to console with the afflicted household.  But his
sympathies were so acute, that, far from being competent to the task, he was under the necessity of
accepting comfort from those who had a still nearer
cause for grief. He took the whole blame of the
affair upon himself. It was his unhappy fate, he
explained, that wherever he went his presence was
sure to bring misfortune - even among those whom
he most loved. At length the announcement came
that the duke was on his way home. After the
first moments of relief and satisfaction, the duchess
61 Lamarche.- Duclercq.- Chas- by Kervyn de Letterhove, list. de
tellain, unpublished fragment, cited Flandre.




CHAP. III.] ISABELLA WITHDRAWS FROM THE COURT. 163
and Charles found a new source of embarrassment
in determining the line of conduct which they ought
to adopt. It was known that Philip's mind was still
highly inflamed, and that his resentment was especially directed against his wife.  "Alas!" said the
poor lady, "what could I do?  I knew that my
husband was a prince of a high courage, and dreadful in his wrath. I beseech him to pardon me. I
am a stranger in this land, and have no one but
my son to comfort and protect me."62  She resolved, finally, to withdraw from the court — a resolution which was doubtless the result of a long
endurance of domestic troubles brought suddenly
to a climax. Although she had lived for so many
years in the Netherlands, she was still, as she herself
expressed it, "a stranger."  She had no taste for
the splendors or the festivities of the Burgundian
court, nor does she seem to have possessed that
easiness of disposition which was commended by
foreigners as enabling the Flemish dames to bear
without repining the neglect and infidelity of their
lords. Like so many of her line, she had a natural
inclination to a religious life, and, having founded
a convent of c"Gray Sisters," she took up her residence among them, and, except for a brief interval,
never again made her appearance in the world.
In the deliberations which preceded the duke's
return to Brussels, it was deemed the most prudent
course for the count of Charolais to retire to Den62 Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 225.




164        PHILIP'S DOMESTIC TROUBLES.     [BOOR I.
dermonde, and await a communication from his
father.  The dauphin  undertook  the  office, for
which he was eminently suited, of assuaging Philip's
anger. At first, indeed, the proud and fiery prince
rejected his interference, intimating in emphatic
terms that he needed no man's counsel in the
management of his private affairs. But how was
it possible to resist the entreaties of one who, in
his humility and tenderness of heart, threw himself
at the duke's feet, and, with the tears streaming from
his eyes, addressed him as'"his benefactor and his
father?"63 Charles, as usual, under the influence of
remorse, — a sentiment which he seems to have
experienced acutely on such occasions, but not at
all on others, — was ready to accept whatever
conditions Philip might annex to his forgiveness.
Two of the principal members of his household,
suspected by his father of intermeddling in these
matters, were dismissed from his service, and banished from  the Burgundian states.  One of them,
Guillaume Biche, - originally "c a poor valeton from
Champagne," but a person of remarkable talents
and address, — found employment at the French
court, and secretly transmitted to his former master,
for the benefit of the dauphin, such items of intelligence as he was able to collect respecting a scene
in which Louis, long as he had been absent from
it, still continued to take the: liveliest interest.
For this prince, in his active and ardent sympathy
63 Chastellain, ap. Kervyn, Hist. de Flandre.




CHaP. III.]    DISTRESSES OF THE DAUPHIN.      165
in the domestic concerns of others, had not ceased
to remember his own. He took care, also, that the
king should not forget them. Embassies and messengers were constantly passing to and fro, bearing
the supplications and remonstrances of Louis, and
the briefer but more pointed admonitions of Charles.
The bishop of Arras, employed as the advocate of
the dauphin, painted the distresses, the anxiety, and
the virtues of his client, in a pathetic and interminable harangue, stuffed with citations from Scripture
and from  the philosophers and poets of antiquity."Alas! what shall I say? how shall I speak?  The
dews of heaven are not more grateful to the thirsty
soil than is the thought of paternal love to my lord
the prince.  Tears and lamentations cannot express
his anguish. What heart is there so hard as not to
feel compassion for one born to a state of grandeur
to which no other in the world can be compared, yet
plunged by adverse fortune and the malice of his
enemies into want and tribulation? But, ill the midst
of these calamities, behold his patience    As Job,
when deprived of wealth, when overwhelmed by tempest upon tempest, uttered no blasphemy against his
Maker, so a thousand afflictions have not been able
to extinguish that love and reverence for the king
his father which Monseigneur has in so many instances displayed."64
As all this touching eloquence proved of no avail,
64 Reponse de Monseigneur le parlee et faite par l'Eveque d'Arras,
Dauphin aux Ambassadeurs du Roi, Duclos, tom. iii. pp. 157-178.




166        THE KING'S FATAL DELUSION.     [BooK I.
the patient Louis endeavored to find consolation
in the study of astrology, and consulted the stars
respecting the duration of his father's life.65 Charles
did his son the injustice of suspecting that he had
taken counsel on the same subject with terrestrial
agents. Letters, written with the design that they
should fall into the king's hands, affected to speak
of a good understanding between the dauphin and
the persons whom he publicly professed to consider
as his bitterest enemies. A terrible chimera took
possession of the royal bosom. The monarch who
in early life had encountered real dangers and misfortunes with so much courage and equanimity was
now to fall a victim to the phantoms of his own
brain. He seemed to be surrounded by an invisible web, from which there was no possibility of
escape. That universal dread of poison which had
embalmed itself in one of the commonest ceremonies of the feudal household —no prince or noble
eating of any dish that had not been previously
tasted in his presence —assumed in Charles's mind
the character of monomania. He lost all confidence
in the persons whom  he had most trusted.  He
imprisoned his physicians. At last he refused to eat,
and passed several successive days without taking
any food. After long deliberation, it was resolved
by his council that force should be employed to
save him from the horrible death to which he was
driven by the fear of death.  Nutriment in the
65 Seyssel, Hist. de Louys XII., (Paris, 1615,) p. 80.




CIHAP. III.]       DEATH  OF CHARLES VII.                       167
form of jellies was accordingly administered. But
it was too late. Nature, thus cruelly outraged, refused to rally. Charles the Victorious ex- [July 22,
pired of starvation, in the fifty-eighth year 1461.]
of his age and the thirty-ninth of his reign.66
It has been remarked of this sovereign, whose
career had been so remarkable, and on the whole
so prosperous, — whose natural abilities were so
excellent, and whose temperament was so equable,
— that he might have been accounted happy, if
he  had  had  a different father, a  different mother,
and a different son. The imbecility of one parent
and the crimes of the other were among the causes
which had rendered the outset of his life a period
of strange confusion and calamity; his existence
had been shortened, and its close embittered, by
the conduct of his eldest born, who was to reap
the advantages of his struggles and his triumphs.
66 This account of Charles's death be a momentous one for them; and
is rejected by Sismondi and by therefore the evidence, chiefly negaM. Kervyn de Letterhove as rest-  tive, which has been deduced from
ing on no better foundation than it, cannot with much plausibility be
popular rumor, and as contradicted  opposed to the testimony of Comby the tenor of a letter signed by  mines, who had not, indeed, any perall the members of the royal coun-  sonal knowledge of the matter, but
cil, and bearing the date of July  who had every opportunity of ob17, in which the king's illness is  taining his information from the best
stated to be the effect of an ulcer-  sources, and who speaks of the facts
ated tooth, and no mention is made  stated in the text as being well known
of his voluntary abstinence  from  to Louis and recalled by him when
food.  (Duclos, tom. iii. p. 196.)  his own end was approaching -a
But this letter was addressed to the  point on which the authority is bedauphin; it was written for the evi- yond question or cavil. (Memoires,
dent purpose of conciliating his fa- tom. ii. pp. 215, 542.)
vor, at a crisis felt by the writers to




168               ACCESSION OF LOUIS XI.                [BOOK I.
But, if no one had suffered more by the weakness
and wickedness of humanl nature, none had profited
more by its nobleness and heroism. For him the
inspired peasant girl of Lorraine had passed through
the din of battle and the fires of martyrdom; to
him the fair Agnes Sorel had given the devotion of
a too tender but all-sacrificing heart. Brave knights
like Dunois, wise and honest statesmen like Brez6,
skilful and enlightened financiers like Jean Bureau
and Jacques Coeur, had served him  with fidelity and
been poorly rewarded. A nation had rallied round
him in his need, and now bewailed his death with
no affected sorrow.67
There was one  person, however, whose  habitual
cheerfulness was in no degree disturbed by this
event. Louis, notwithstanding his straitened circumstances, bestowed  a liberal guerdon  on  the bearer
of the welcome news.  His elation was, in fact, too
strong for concealment or control.68   After hearing
a few masses somewhat hastily and informally celebrated for the soul of his deceased father, he donned
his gayest suit of white and red, and, attended by
o7 ", On pria moult par tout le  Chastellain, p. 133.  An evident
royaume pour ledit roy Charles, et intimation, from a source not to be
fust moult ploure et plaint, car il es- lightly discredited, that Louis had
toit aim6 par tout sondit royaume."  tampered with the mysteries of the
IDuclercq, tom. iii. p. 148. - And see black art in the hope of abridging
IDe Troyes, Chroniques de Louis XI., his father's life. This was an accu(ed. Lenglet,) p. 8.            sation of too horrible a nature, in
68, "Ne fut oncques si joyeulx que the estimation of that age, to be
de la mort.... Car il avoit ce que  openly made against the king of
tout son vivant avoit convoite, et France by a person in Chastellain's
pour quoy il avoit pri6 Dieu par in- position, even though an enemy.
tercessions et maniares estranges."




CHAP. III.]     HIS RECEPTION  OF THE NEWS.                     169
a numerous company all attired in the same bright
colors, spent the afternoon as usual in hunting.69
He refused at first to see any one who had put
on mourning for the late king. After a while his
exuberant rejoicings subsided into tranquil gratitude.
He was filled with devout amazement when he reflected on the Providence that had safely led him
through so many dangers and difficulties to the fair
inheritance of which, as he was firmly convinced, it
had been intended to despoil him. He who but
yesterday esteemed himself the poorest and most
unfortunate of princes, — who had been deprived
of his father's love and expelled from his kingdom,
-who had passed so many years in exile, living
upon alms, sitting like an uninvited guest or poor
relation at the table of the duke of Burgundy, where
he was forced to exert all his powers of entertainment lest his host should  weary  of his  company,70
-had  suddenly, and  Was  if  by  the  flitting  of a
69 Basin, tom. i. p. 311. —Du- p. 146.) Alie'nor de Poitiers, an
clercq, while he states the same facts, unquestionable authority, also inputs on one of them at least a dif- forms us that a king of France wore
ferent construction.  "Prestement no mourning except red. But we
la messe du serviche dite et le disner  are not informed that this custom
fait, ledit roy Loys se vestit de pour-  extended to the household; nor can
pre et s'en alla a la chasse, et est la  we suppose that hunting was part
maniere que sitost qu'ung roy de  of the obsequies of a deceased king,
Franche est mort, son fils aisn6, ou  or a mode of proclaiming the advent
son plus prochain, est roy, et n'est of a new one.
point le royaume sans roy; [Le roi   70  Luy falloit entretenir le prince
est mort, vive le roi!] et pour ceste  et ses principaulx gouverneurs, de
cause le nouvel roy ne porte de  paour que on ne se ennuyast de luy
deuil, ains se veste de pourpre ou  a y estre taut." Commines, tom. ii.
de rouge, en signifiant qu'il y a roy  p. 266.
en Franche." (M6moires, tom. iii.
VOL. I.        22




170                ACCESSION  OF LOUIS XI.                  [Boox I.
dream," become the first among kings, a monarch
whose breath was power, whose word was life.7"
In  his eagerness to  grasp  the  sceptre which  was
waiting for him, he omitted, before his departure from
the  Netherlands, to  take  leave  of the  countess of
Charolais, who, since  the  retirement of her motherin-law, might be  considered  as his hostess.   He  left
directions, however, with his queen, who was to follow
more leisurely, to borrow the countess's chariot and
hackneys, in  order  that her journey  into  France
might be made with becoming state.72 For himself,
he would doubtless have preferred to  enter his kingdom, as he was afterwards wont to visit c the good
towns," in the quietest and most unostentatious manner, observing all things without himself attracting
observation. But he was still dubious in regard to
his reception - possessed with the idea that plots
had been formed against him, in his father's lifetime,
with the design of setting him aside and placing his
71 " Hier encore me tenoys pour ment, comme se je partoye d'ung
le plus povre fils de roy qui oncques  songe, Dieu m'a envoy6 nouvel eur;
fust, et qui depuis l'dage de mon en- et en lieu de ma povrete pass6, m'a
fance jusque ad ce jour present n'ay  faict le plus riche et plus puissant
eu que souffrance et tribulacion, po- roy des chrestiens."   Chastellain,
vrete et angoisse en disette, et qui p. 129.
plus est expulsion d'hiretaige et d'a-   72 Idem, p. 135. - He adds, " Si
mour de pbre, jusques a estre con- le fist de grand cuer ladicte comtesse,
strainct de vivre en emprunt et en  nonobstant que la chose lui sembloit
mendicite, ma femme et moy sans  assez estrange, que ung tel noble roy
pieds de terre, sans maison pour  et qui tant avoit rechupt d'honneur
nous respondre, ne pour ung denier et de service en la maison et tant
vaillant, s'il ne venoit de grace et de  promis lerecongnoistre quand l'heure
charit6 de beaulx oncle, qui m'a en- viendroit, se partit sans dire oneques
tretenu ainsi par l'espasse de cinq  mot."
ans; et maintenant, tout souldaine



CHAP. III.]   DEPARTURE FROM THE NETHERLANDS.   171
younger brother on the throne.73  He waited, therefore, on the borders, till Philip should join him with
a body of troops, to escort him to Rheims, where, in
accordance with ancient usage, the ceremony of his
coronation was to be performed.
"The good duke," says a Burgundian chronicler,
C"was very willing to accompany him; for, having
nourished him  five years in his own house and at
his own expense, he desired to show that he had
no thought of deserting him in his necessity."74
Apart from this consideration, Philip was not the
man to miss such an opportunity for making a demonstration of his magnificence and of his intimate
relations with their new sovereign before the eyes
of the French people. He sent forth a summons to
all his vassals to  assemble with  their retainers at
Avesnes; and the summons was obeyed with alacrity, for there was not a petty seigneur in Burgundy
or the Netherlands who did not regard himself as
having been in a certain sense the dauphin's protector-as having given him  food and shelter, and
laid him under heavy obligations. Many of the
nobles had still stronger reasons for expecting favors
73 There is not a particle of proof for altering the succession. The late
that Louis had any real ground for monarch, he says, had even declined
his suspicions. In a letter addressed to invest his second son with the
to him, a few weeks after his acces- duchy of Guienne, on the ground
sion, the count of Foix, one of the that the alienation of a great fief
council, answering certain queries ought not to be made in the absence,
propounded by the king in regard  and without the consent, of the heir
to the intrigues of the court, assev- apparent. Duclos, tom. iii. p. 206.
erates that he had never heard the   74 Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 228.
slightest intimation of any scheme




172            ACCESSION OF LOUIS XI.            [BOOK I.
or rewards.  They had conversed with him; they
had hawked or hunted with him; they had dined
at his table, and been treated by him with the
most condescending familiarity." One remembered
to have been smilingly saluted as "his constable."76
Another had lent him thirty crowns, and had his
bond for the money,77 which would doubtless be
repaid with right royal interest. Louis beheld with
amazement the numbers, from every quarter of
the duke's dominions, that came flocking to the
place of rendezvous. "'Is my uncles" he inquired,
" afraid to trust himself with me in France?"  His
apprehensions took a new  turn.  He prevailed on
Philip to content himself with an escort of three
or four thousand men. If the first orders had not
been countermanded, with the effect of provoking
general disappointment and disgust, the number,
we are told, would have amounted to a hundred
thousand."
As it was, their journey resembled a triumphal procession, in which the duke of Burgundy played the
part of the conqueror, Louis that of the illustrious
captive. The horses' trappings, which descended to
the ground, were of velvet and silk, covered with
precious stones and ornaments of gold, embroidered
with the Burgundian arms, and fringed with silver
75 Chastellain confesses that, on   77 Lenglet prints a bond given by
such pretexts as these, the Burgun- Louis, for this sum, to the sire de
dians looked forward to filling all Sassenage, in1558. Commines,(ed.
the offices in the kingdom. CEuvres, Lenglet,) tom. i. p. 410, note.
p. 156.                       78 Basin, tom. ii. p. 3. - Duclercq,
76 Idem, p. 132.          tom. iii. p. 144. - Chastellain, p. 128.




CHAP. III.]     ENTRANCE INTO RHEIMS.                   173
bells, the constant jingling of which was very agreeable and 1"solacing." A multitude of wagons, overhung with cloth of gold and surmounted by banners,
carried the duke's furniture, his tapestries, his table
equipage, and the utensils of his kitchen. These
were followed by herds of fat oxen and flocks of
sheep, intended for the princes' consumption during
their progress. Philip and his son, with the principal nobles, appeared in their highest splendor,
preceded and followed by pages, archers, and menat-arms, all in gorgeous costumes, and blazing with
jewelry.79
In this state they made their entrance into Rheims;
and the spectacle was pronounced the most magnificent that had ever been witnessed in France. Every
object that met the eye proclaimed the wealth and
power of c" the great duke."  The king, though attired
in crimson satin, would have been one of the least
conspicuous persons in the ovation, if the magistrates
had not come out to welcome and salute him.  He
listened to the long orations and addresses made to
him here and elsewhere on his journey with some
degree of impatience, and in general uttered his
thanks in the fewest possible words.80  He exhibited,
79 Description de l'entree de Phi- des Ursins. In addition to the usual
lippe-le-Bon et Louis XI. a Reims, classical and Scriptural quotations,
Gachard, Doec. In6d., tom. ii. p. 162, an allegory is presented, which, as
et seq. - Chastellain, p. 136.  the orator remarked, he had already
" In what degree his impatience introduced into his history. Wiswas excusable may be judged from  dom, Prudence, Power, and Patience
the harangue delivered before him  figure as "four ladies," who have
by the chancellor of France, Juvenal each a son, named respectively Dico,




174               ACCESSION OF LOUIS XI.                [BooK I.
on the other hand, no dissatisfaction at being eclipsed
by the splendor of his vassal. He spent the night
after his arrival at Rheims —while the princes and
nobles were feasting  and  dancing    in  privacy and
devotion, making his confession, or, in the language
of the time,  "disposing of his conscience."'1 This
was preparatory to his coronation, which was to
take place on the following day.
In the morning he was conducted to the cathedral,
where the ceremony was performed in the presence
of a vast concourse. First Louis, C with bare head,
his palms joined, and humbly on his two knees,"
adored  the " sainie anmpottle" of miraculous oil, which
had been brought with great solemnity, and beneath
a canopy, to the portal of the church.  He was then
placed between curtains, where the duke of Burgundy
and the other princes divested him of his clothes,
stripping him completely naked c down to the navel."
In this state he was escorted to the high altar, where
he again knelt, while the archbishop anointed him
from  the sainte amnpotule on the  forehead, the eyes, the
mouth, the breast, the arms, and the loins. He was
Duco, Facio, and Fero. In order is more certain is, that one of his
that none of these young persons first acts was to dispossess the exmight aspire to rule alone, " the im- cellent Juvenal of his office - a still
perative of each had its tail docked  more striking comment on his " duoff" - " C'est i s9avoir i dico, oh  co, due," but one, it must be added,
en l'impdratif dot avoir dice, il n'y  which the king found reason afteravoit que dic,"&c. (Duclos, tom. iii. wards to repent of.
pp. 208-214.) Louis is said to have   81 Comment, apres l'entr6e du roy,
exemplified his possession of these  ledict seigneur se disposa de sa consymbolical attributes of sovereignty  science," is the title of Chastellain's
by interrupting the orator with the  eighth chapter.
stern command, "Be brief!" What




CHAP. III.]        CORONATION.                175
then arrayed in royal robes of purple velvet embroidered with the fiezur-de-lys, and conducted to a lofty
staging at the further extremity of the church. The
princes, prelates, and nobles, who had assisted in the
ceremonies, now fell back, with the exception of the
duke of Burgundy, "the dean of the peers of France."
Taking the crown in both his hands, Philip ascended
the steps of the scaffold, twenty-eight in number,
took his station behind the king, raised the crown
aloft and held it for several moments suspended
above the royal head; then  slowly and gently
brought it to its resting-place, while his full, sonorous voice gave forth the battle-cry of France," c Vive
Ie Roy, 3Iozjoye Saint-Denis!"  The multitude of spectators raised a responsive shout, and a loud peal
of clarions and trumpets shook swarms of echoes
from the groined roof.82
At the banquet which followed it was still the
duke of Burgundy who appeared as the principal
figure.  Though the king sat at the head of the
table, arrayed in his regal attire, with the crown
upon his head, he was still the guest of his fair
uncle, whose cooks had provided the dinner, whose
plate was displayed upon the sideboards, and whose
servants waited on the company. In the midst of
the repast the doors were thrown open, and porters
entered bearing a costly present for the new sovereign. The good duke, overjoyed at witnessing a
new reign inaugurated in a time of profound peace
82 Chastellain, p. 141. - Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom. ii. p. 168, et seq.




176               ACCESSION  OF LOUIS XI.                [BOOK I.
and with becoming splendor, considered that there
could be no fitter occasion for exhibiting  the  extent
of his riches and the liberality of his soul.83 Such
of the guests as were strangers, except from hearsay,
to the splendors of the Burgundian court, gazed in
astonishment at the images, goblets, miniature ships,
and other articles, of the finest gold and rarest workmanship,-  amounting  in  value  to  more than  two
hundred thousand crowns,- which Philip presented
to the king as an emphatic token of his loyalty and
good-will.  Louis, being  more  accustomed  to  these
displays and better acquainted with the duke's munificence, sat quiet and demure, paying  little  attention to the bustle and the buzzing which circulated
through the hall. Finding the crown too large and
heavy to be worn with comfort, he had it removed
and placed beside him on the table. All the time
of dinner he conversed in low  and confidential tones
with the gentleman who stood behind his chair —
Philippe Pot, seigneur de la Roche, a nobleman of
Burgundy, distinguished at a later period, and in
the councils of France, by his bold advocacy of popular rights.84
8"3, Le bon due qui vdeoit le jour le mieulx le peust faire."  Chastelde la gloire et de la joye que plus tellain, p. 142. -A covert allusion
on avoit desir6 au monde, comme de  is here made to the coronation of
soy trouver paisiblement a la coro- the last king, under the auspices of
nation d'ung roy de France, se d6lita  Jgan of Arc, when the duke of Buren lui ouvrir le tresor de l'amour de  gundy, instead of giving to the cerson cueur et en lui monstrer honneur  emony the sanction of his presence
et liberalite profonde de tout ce que  and cooperation, had been at open
Dieu lui avoit envoye et prestO, pen- war with Charles and the champion
sant jamais le povoir mieulx employ- of a rival claimant.
er, ne jamais soy trouver en lieu oih   84 Idem, loc. cit.




CHIAP. III.]  SOLICITORS FOR OFFICE.          177
Far from meeting with any resistance in his assumption of the title which had rightfully devolved
upon him, Louis found a source of embarrassment
in the eagerness of his vassals to invest him with
the prerogatives of sovereignty, and the pressing
demands which called for his immediate exercise of'
them. The tidings of Charles's death had produced
an excitement throughout the kingdom among a
certain class of the population. Those who held
offices in the gift of the crown, and the infinitely
larger number that coveted these distinctions, were
alike impatient to offer their services to his successor,
whose absence at such a moment was universally
deplored. Even before his departure from the Netherlands, many, whose fortunate proximity or greater
alertness enabled them to outstrip their competitors,
had hastened to greet him and join his train, which
all along the route was swollen by fresh accessions.
At Rheims he found himself surrounded by a faithful
and devoted army of placemen and place-hunters,85
all ranging themselves around him as closely as
possible, watching for the indications of his sovereign
pleasure, and ready to execute his behests. There
were, indeed, some few exceptions to these general
manifestations of loyalty and zeal. Several of the
late king's ministers, instead of taking a prominent
part, as the duties of their station required, in the
reception of the new monarch, chose to absent themselves entirely, and even selected this occasion, when
85 Basin, tom. ii. p. 7.
VOL. [.    23




178            ACCESSION OF LOUIS XI.         [BOOK 1.
all the world had come forth to bask in the glory
of the rising sun, for retiring into the shadows of
seclusion and obscurity. The sire de Breze, seneschal
of Normandy, having found a secure retreat, waited
for an intimation from  his friends, among whom
he was fortunate enough to count the all-powerful
Philip, as to the time when he might most appropriately present himself at the court.  The count
of Dammartin, with still greater diffidence, made his
preparations for going abroad.86 On the other hand,
the Burgundian nobles, being well assured that the
grateful Louis was reserving "' all the offices in the
kingdom" for them, regarded with smiling pity the
hopes and anxieties of the crowd.
Escorted by nearly all the great feudatories and
nobles of the realm, the king made his entrance into
the capital of his dominions on Monday the 31st of
August, 1461.  On this occasion he wore a purpoint
of crimson satin covered by a long robe of white
damask. Mounted on a snow-white palfrey, he rode
beneath a canopy of cloth of gold, upheld, on the
points of their lances, by four of the principal magistrates.  The procession comprised more than fifty
thousand persons, and the number of the spectators
was estimated at half a million. Among the shows
exhibited at different points along the route were
angels who descended through the air by means of
86 Extrait d'un Chronique sur le edwith Dammartin is strongly paintComte de Dammartin, Lenglet, tom. ed. His servants deserted him; his
ii. p. 322, et seq. The panic among friends refused to answer or even to
those who were in any way connect- receive his letters.




CHAP. III.]   ENTRANCE INTO PARIS.           179
machinery and placed crowns and wreaths upon the
king's head, and a group of beautiful girls, entirely
naked, sporting in the waters of a fountain and singing blandishing songs in imitation of Sirens. After
performing his devotions at Notre Dame, Louis proceeded to the royal palace, from which, on the
following day, he removed to a mansion adjoining
the fortress of the Bastille.87
The duke of Burgundy took up his residence at
his'own house, the H6tel d'Artois.  Twenty-six years
had elapsed since his last visit to Paris, then in the
hands of the English. He was greeted with enthusiastic demonstrations by the inhabitants, who still
retained their hereditary attachment to his person
and family. "c Welcome, noble duke!" they shouted;
~ welcome to your good city of' Paris! Thanks for
the care which you have taken of our king!"  His
presence threw an air of gayety over the capital such
as it had not worn for many a year, such as it was
not soon to wear again.  Tournaments and other
brilliant spectacles furnished daily entertainment to
the populace as well as to the higher ranks; while,
at the Hotel d'Artois, which had been sumptuously
fitted up, there was a constant succession of banquets
and balls on a scale of magnificence to which the
French court had been little accustomed. A prince
so splendid in his tastes could not fail to be popular
with all classes. If all were not equally benefited
by his profusion, none could murmur that it was
87 De Troyes, p. 9.- Chastellain, p. 150. - Duclercq, tom. iii. p. 158,
et seq.




180            ACCESSION OF LOUIS XI.         [BOOR I
indulged at their expense. By the ladies, among
whom he distributed jewels and other valuable presents, his generosity was especially applauded. But
what pleased them still more was his gallantry, the
amiable and joyous manner in which he displayed
his devotion to the sex. On one occasion he was
seen riding through the streets on a palfrey, his
niece, the duchess of Orleans, being seated behind
him, and one of her maidens, the most beautiful
damsel in all Paris, mounted on the saddle-bow."8
The king meanwhile employed himself in a different manner.  Notwithstanding his long residenice
in the Netherlands, he seemed to have little liking
for shows or festivities.  Much to the discontent of
his subjects, he was seldom seen in public; but those
who had business to transact with him  made no
complaint of his want of affability.  He was, in fact,
too much occupied with affairs of state to have time
for any thing else except his religious duties, his
attention to which was wonderfully scrupulous. The
same activity which had characterized his government in Dauphine was already conspicuous in his
present and far larger field of labor.  He had dismissed not only the ministers of the late king, but
an immense number of functionaries in every department and of every grade. This was no more than
what had been expected by most, and desired by
s8 Duclercq, tom. iii. p. 174.- vel ung humain prinche! velh ung
"Commencherent a trotter parmy seigneur dont ung monde seroit esles rues, en grand joye de tous les tore de l'avoir tel! "' Chastellain,
voyans, qui alloient disant:'Et p. 170.




CHAP. III.]       NEW  APPOINTMENTS.                 181
many.  But his appointments, in which he seemed
to be governed by a spirit of caprice rather than
any settled principle, occasioned no little surprise.
Those who had the best reasons for anticipating
promotion and rewards found themselves unaccountably forgotten. To one who urged, in a somewhat
vehement tone, the promises made to him in former
years, Louis smilingly remarked, c" That, good friend,
was while I was dauphin; but now I am king." On
the other hand, a monk of Cluny, by name Pierre de
Morvilliers, against whom  a charge  had been preferred  by the  Parliament, and who, in the  royal
presence, boldly demanded justice, refusing in lieu
thereof to accept a pardon, was told in reply that
the king had made him chancellor of France.s9  Such
a method of procedure might well be considered
strange.
Above all, the Burgundian nobles were astonished
and disgusted at the turn which affairs were taking.
Since their arrival at Paris, they were no longer on
terms of daily and familiar intercourse with the
prince whom they had shielded in his adversity, and
who had been so lavish in his acknowledgments.
"c Then he was dauphin; but now he was king;"an immense distance, it would seem, separated these
89 "' Sire,' dict l'autre,'je desire ment de parler, le regarda par mabien estre en vostre grace sans la- niere d'admiration, et contenant sa
quelle je ne puis vivre. Mais au parolle ung peu au premier mot, lui
regard du prochie de quoy me par- diet:'Et je — vous fay chancellier
lez, si ne demande grace nulle, fors de France: soyez preud'homme."
que justice.'... lEt le roy alors, vi- Chastellain, pp. 157, 158.
ant sa constance et grand asseure



182           ACCESSION OF LOUIS XI.      [BooR I.
two positions, although a moment had been sufficient
for crossing it. Of all that glittering and expectant
throng not one, except the sire de Croy, could obtain
either pension or place. The duke was besieged by
the clamorous tongues and discontented faces of his
followers.  He listened with indignation, but his
pride would not permit him to interfere; he disdained to utter reproaches or to become himself a
solicitor.90 He had already begun to appreciate the
"new world " into which he had so suddenly entered.
The celerity, the indifference, the disregard of friends,
the rancor towards fancied foes, which marked all
the acts of a reign so recently commenced, excited
in Philip's mind a deeper feeling than either wonder
or vexation. 1" I foresee," he remarked to his nephew,
the duke of Bourbon,'that this man will not rule
long in peace; he is preparing for himself a marvellously great trouble."9l He had preferred on his
own account only a single complaint - touching the
manner in which the Parliament of Paris had been
accustomed to exercise its authority in his dominions.
Louis, who had already determined to remodel this
tribunal, requested that Philip would himself designate discreet and fit persons to receive the appointments. But when the hew list came out, it was
found that, by some strange oversight, not a single
name suggested by the duke had been inserted in it.
Yet it was precisely in his feelings and demeanor
towards his fair uncle of Burgundy that Louis had
90 Idem, p. 156.
91 Chronique de Dammartin, Lenglet, tom. iii. p. 318.




CHAP. III.]   HONORS RENDERED TO PHILIP.     183
undergone no change in ceasing to be dauphin and
becoming king. In their personal interviews he was
still the same humble and attached friend as when,
he had lived upon the duke's bounty and rendered
delicate attentions to all the members of his family.
His expressions of gratitude were as fluent, and fervent as ever. If Philip made a request,,- not for
himself or his own subjects, but on behalf of the
French people, heavily oppressed with taxes, or of
some old servant of the late monarch who stood in
dread of the royal anger, -he was told in reply
that he could ask for nothing which the king did
not feel himself constrained to grant. He was evidently the man whom  Louis delighted to honor.
Their names, by an express command, were linked
together in the prayers and offices of the church.
The keys of the Bastille were presented to the duke~
with a request that he would place a garrison of
his own in that important fortress. After three,
weeks spent in the capital Louis prepared to make
a progress through Normandy and the other provinces north of the Loire. Before his departure he
paid a visit to the Hotel d'Artois, attended by all
the great officers of the government, the prelates,
the heads of the University and the municipality of
Paris.  In a speech before this dignified assembly
he recited all the favors for which he was indebted
to the good duke, whom he designated as his benefactor and his savior.  It was in vain that Philip
protested against a requital so disproportioned to
his "poor services," in which he had only complied




184             ACCESSION OF LOUIS XI.            [BooK I.
with his obligations as a vassal, and through lack
of ability had fallen far short of his desires.  His
disclaimer only drew from Louis a fresh and more
detailed enumeration of the benefits he had received
and stronger assurances of his gratitude.92
The same scene was repeated, on the following
day, without the walls of Paris, whither the king
had been escorted by the Burgundian prince and
all the nobles of his suite. Their loving and pathetic
farewells moved the spectators to tears, and filled
the hearts of all with sympathetic emotions of mingled tenderness and joy.93
The king being gone, Philip had no longer any
motive for delaying his own return home.  Accordingly, on the last day of September he quitted Paris,
attended by his faithful followers, whose rueful and
angry countenances presented a striking contrast to
their former joyous and contented aspect. Less proud
or less prudent than their master, the Burgundian
nobles made no concealment of their indignation at
the treatment which they had experienced.  They
had, however, one consolation - it was nothing more
than they had all along anticipated.94
The count of Charolais, instead of accompanying
his father, repaired to Dijon, his native place, which
92 Chastellain, p. 175. —Duclercq, rist et ne plouret de joye." I)uclercq,
tom. iii. p. 177.            tom. iii. p. 178.
93 " Tant estoit aimable et piteulx  94 " Dont la pluspart... dirent
leur departement, et tant plaisoit a bien que autant en avoient-ils bien
ceulx qui les veoient, qu'il n'en avoit congneu et doubte en ly des la
guerres d'ung costa ni d'aultre qui premiere heure."  Chastellain, p.
iliecq estoient a qui le coeur ne raten- 174.




CHAP. III.]  THE BURGUNDIANS RETURN HOME.     185
he had not yet visited since his infancy. Though
he had played no conspicuous part in public events
and ceremonies, during his stay in the capital, he
had not been forgotten by the king. He had received the high appointment of lieutenant-general
of Normandy. He was not, indeed, requested to
undertake the duties of the office. But he received
the salary annexed to it, and was invited to pay a
friendly visit to Louis at Tours, where he met with
a most gracious reception, and passed nearly a month
in an agreeable round of diversions and entertainments.95 The prospective arrival of the duke of
Brittany, who had not yet paid his respects to his
new sovereign, suggested a necessity for Charles's
departure.  The king had reasons of his own for not
desiring a meeting, or promoting the formation of
a friendly attachment, between these two young
princes."  The count accordingly took leave, amid
renewed assurances of the royal regard. When he
and Louis next met and next parted, it was to be
on different terms.
95 Duclercq, tom. iii. pp. 193-196.  96 Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 230.
VOL. I.   24




CHAPTER IV.
CHARACTER OF LOUIS. - HIS POSITION AND AIMS. - EMBROILMENTS WITH THE NOBLES.
1461-1465.
BEFORE his departure from  the capital the king
had laid aside his robe and purpoint of satin, and
resumed his ordinary attire. He dressed, we are
told, "so badly that worse was impossible"  — in a
doublet of gray fustian, a mantle of the same coarse
material cut ridiculously short, and a shabby hat,
ornamented not with pearls or diamonds, but with
a leaden image of the Virgin, whom he had selected
as the first if not the exclusive object of his worship.
Round his neck was a rosary composed of large
wooden beads, such as were worn by pilgrims.2
His exterior, in other respects, could hardly be
considered as attractive. His person was lean and
ill-shaped.  His air and demeanor were any thing
but courtly or dignified. His features, though full
"1  Si mal que pis ne povoit."   2 Idem, loc. cit. —Chastellain, p.
Commines, tom. i. p. 166.  189. - Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 7.
(186)




CHAP. IV.]          HABITS OF LOUIS.                    187
of character, were neither handsome nor pleasing.
The eyes, small and keen; the nose, large, prominent, and drooping; the mouth, thin, with the upper
lip somewhat projecting; the cheeks and chin, ample
but flabby, seemed to indicate a prying, sarcastic,
self-complacent, and ignoble mind.3
His style of living was free from pomp, and frugal even to parsimony.4   He travelled without state,
accompanied by only five or six attendants, but
followed, at a distance, by fourscore archers of his
guard, who were stationed at night in the immediate
vicinity of his lodgings.5 In entering a town, he
avoided, if possible, a public reception — sometimes
diverging from  the main avenues in order to elude
the greetings of the crowd, and generally preferring
to take up his quarters with some private citizen
or good ecclesiastic rather than at the more stately
residence which had been prepared for him.6
Wherever he went he was met with the same
petition —that he would be graciously pleased to
abolish the taille and other imposts established in the
last reign. This, he declared, was the very project
which he had himself had  in  contemplation.   He
discoursed in a flattering strain of his desire to do
3 According to Basin, who paints Roi, son trein etoit bien petit en tous
him on all occasions en noir, his per- Etats, tellement que ladite somme
sonal appearance was that of a leper, suffisoit." Duclos, tom. iii. p. 213.
and the expression of his countenance   5 Chastellain, p. 189.
that of a buffoon.               6 The people at length barred up
4 During the first year the ex- the side routes, and compelled the
penses of the royal table amounted king to make his entrance by the
to only 12,000 livres. " En cce temps principal thoroughfares. Basin, tom.
ne se faisoit que un plat pour le iii. p. 167.




188         HE POSTPONES THE MILLENNIUM.            [BOOi. I.
away with the heavy burdens that oppressed the
people, and restore the kingdom to its "ancient
liberties."7 But such an object was not to be attained at once. Time was required. Arrangements
were necessary. He enjoined patience, and, by way
of enforcing the lesson, levied in the mean time
some additional taxes.8
His "c poor subjects," while they listened to his eloquent harangues, imagined that a new era, nay the
millennium itself, was about to commence.9 They
were disposed to be clamorous when they found the
great event indefinitely postponed. In some places
commotions broke out.  At Rheims the tax-collectors
were massacred, their offices pillaged, and the registers burned. But this soon proved to have been an
imprudent procedure. Archers, disguised as laborers,
found their way into the town.  An officer made his
appearance, bearing  the  king's instructions.   The
rioters were apprehended and punished. Some had
their hands, some their heads, cut off. Others were
whipped and banished.
The clergy, who had been greatly edified by the
piety of the new monarch, were suddenly astounded
by the promulgation of " an impious edict" directing
7,"Nihil nempe tantum in desi-  8s "4  ne diminua nuls subsides,
derio se habere asserebat, quantum  tailles ne gabelles au royaume, ains
ut populos regni ipsumque regnum  en mectoit de jour en jour des nouab angariis et immanibus tributorum  velles." Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 8.
atque exactionum oneribus, quibus   9 Or, as Chastellain still more
ipsos esse gravatos cognoscebat, le- strongly expresses it, "cuidoient
vare, et in pristinam atque antiquam  avoir trouv4 Dieu par les pieds."
libertatem instaurare et restituere p. 173.
posset." Basin, tom. ii. p. 11.




CHAP. IV.]  MISCONCEPTION OF HIS CHARACTER.        189
that ecclesiastical property should be taxed in the
same proportion as that of laymen. By a still more
singular ordinance -levelled, it would seem, at the
whole mass of the nobility, whose lands were covered with forests, and who found their chief occupation in the chase- hunting was expressly forbidden
throughout the realm of France. Louis was himself
the most ardent of sportsmen.  Did he desire to
monopolize the game for his own amusement?  But
if he should live to the age of Methusaleh, and apply
himself to this sole pursuit, the woods of the royal
domain were sufficiently extensive to furnish an inexhaustible supply.10
At the commencement of his reign the character
and actions of Louis seem to have been incorrectly
appreciated by his contemporaries. The versatility
of his disposition and the eccentricities of his conduct
gave rise to a suspicion that he had not been too
amply endowed in respect to brain.  "Fickleness"
- proceeding from want of due discernment and
reflection — was the quality generally ascribed to
him. A well-meaning man, perhaps, but deficient in
depth and solidity of understanding.
On the other hand, the Louis of tradition and of
romance is the very incarnation of intellect maliciously and even diabolically active. He is a com10 so Quas, etiam si ipse rex Ma- conjectured, however, that Louis inthusalem Eequaret annos, nec aliud tended by this ordinance to give a
prorsus ageret quam venari, omnes stimulus to the destruction of the
et singulas perlustrare aut exhaurire forests and the consequent progress
venationibus minime posset." Ba- of agriculture.
sin, tom. ii. p. 75. —It has been




190               POPULAR  OPINION  OF HIM.                 [BooK I.
pound  of cunning  and  cruelty.   He  is a tyrant of
the most detestable species, deliberately exerting his
power as an engine of evil, not merely indifferent
to the calamities of others, but delighting to produce
those calamities, and gloating over the misery of
his victims.   His very name, and  all the associations
connected with it, inspire us with horror. His familiar,
the barber Olivier le Mauvais, popularly known as'Olivier le  Diable,"  creeps  with  stealthy  foot and
downcast eye through the crowd of courtiers, who
recede  before  him, unwilling  that even  their  garments should come  in  contact with  his person.   His
trusty agent, the provost-marshal Tristan l'Hermite,
issues from the royal chamber, and is watched with
a  secret horror by  those  who  gather from   his malignant looks the nature of the mission on which he
has been  despatched.ll   The  king's  favorite abode,: It is worthy of remark how lit-  activity in administering justice by
tle is actually known of these two  cord and sack is occasionally noticed
personages, and how seldom their by the chroniclers, still less is disnames are mentioned in the memoirs  coverable, so far as concerns the
and documents of the time. M. de  particulars of his career.  But a
Reiffenberg (in a paper in the M6m.  striking portrait is given of him in
de i'Acad. de Belgique) has collect-  a letter written, in 1464, by Sir
ed the scattered and meagre facts  Robert Neville, a kinsman of the
ascertainable in relation to Olivier  earl of Warwick and his agent in
le Mauvais, or le Daim, - as he ob- transacting business at the French
tained the king's permission, but not court. He describes Tristan as " the
the popular consent, to be called, -   most diligent, brisk, and keen spirit
of which the most interesting is, that in the whole kingdom."  He warns
he was duly hanged, a few months  his correspondent, apparently the
after his master's death, under a sen- governor of Calais, to be on his guard
tence which somewhat vaguely con- if Tristan should go thither - not to
demns him  for his "many great  suffer him  to speak with any one
crimes, delinquencies, and malefac-  alone, or to have any opportunity of
tions." Of Tristan l'Hermite, whose  discovering the weakness of the forts.




CHAP. IV.]     HISTORICALLY CORRECT.               191
at Plessis-lez-Tours, is shunned as a habitation of
demons. The park is surrounded by deep pits planted with steel-traps. An archer stands behind every
tree, with arquebuse unslung, ready to aim at any
unauthorized intruder. The vaults beneath the castle, where no ray of daylight ever penetrates, are
filled with cages, eight feet square, in each of which
a living man has languished through a night of
years, bereft of every solace, of every hope. When
the  morose, suspicious, superstitious  king feels a
necessity for some amusement, some relaxation of
his cares, he descends into this dreary abyss, listens
at the doors of the cages, and smiles inwardly as he
hears the groans of the wretched captives.
We have called this a representation of tradition
and of romance.  Yet we cannot deny that it has
a strong historical basis.  Nay, most of the particulars are indubitable facts.  The cages and the
steel-traps, the cunning, the cruelty, the suspicions,
the  bigotry, are  authentically  established.   But
how shall we reconcile with these things the admiration felt and expressed for Louis by the person
qualified beyond all others, by more intimate knowledge, superior capacity, and even greater freedom
from partiality, to delineate his character? Philippe
de Commines pronounces Louis the Eleventh to have
He will see and understand every let out many things, but the person
thing, the writer adds, and will not you know bid me beware of him."
forget to report what he has seen to Dupont, M6m. de Commines, tom.
his master. "To say truth, he is a iii.,- Preuves, pp. 115-217.
terrible man. Before I knew him I




192      HOw HIS CAREER IS TO BE VIEWED.   [nooR I.
been, of all the princes whom he had known, the
one who had the fewest vices."2 By this remark the
historian has drawn upon himself the censure of
modern writers.  Had he been asked for an explanation, he would perhaps have pointed to the fact
that, while with other princes considerations of policy
were often rendered inoperative through the influence of passion or of some mental infirmity, —by
pride, indolence, folly, or caprice, —Louis scarcely
ever deviated from the line of conduct dictated by
a clear perception of his interests.  In other words,
the remark had no reference to moral defects further.
than these might interfere with the pursuit of ambition and the struggle for power.
And it is in this light that we must examine a
career which, viewed in any other, presents a mass
of contradictions.  In  that career we meet with
scarcely a single trace of good feeling or of right
principle. Yet we see a great and necessary work
accomplished. Feudal anarchy is crushed; the imperilled unity of France is secured. And this is
effected not with the aid of fortune or by a preponderance of strength, but through the efforts of
an intellect ever watchful and never dispirited, contending against enormous difficulties and overwhelming odds-an intellect so keen and so vivacious as
12 i" Tant ose je bien dire de luy, l'avoit cree plus saige, plus liberal
a son loz, qu'il ne me semble pas et plus vertueux en toutes choses
que jamais j'aye congneu nul prince que les princes qui regnoient avec
oh il y eust moins de vices que en luy et de son temps." Tom. ii.
luy." Prologue, p. 3.-" Dieu... p. 252.




CHIIAP. IV.]    VIVACITY OF EIS INTELLECT.  193
to compel our sympathy, and render dormant that
aversion which its choice of means would otherwise
inspire.
A weak mind with the purest intentions can work
nothing but mischief, whatever be the task it undertakes. But a vigorous mind united with a bad
heart is not necessarily an instrument of evil. In
ceasing to be dauphin and becoming king, Louis had
made a greater change of position than was implied by the mere necessity for his throwing off the
shackles of his former dependent state. He was
now placed in circumstances in which his ambition
was no longer a vice, in which his active and subtle
genius could move freely without coming continually
in conflict with laws to which there was no responsive consciousness in his own nature. He fought
against his natural enemies. He punished his rebellious vassals or faithless ministers.  He employed
stealth and duplicity in a contest in which not merely
his own safety, but that of the monarchy, was at
stake. He grasped and exalted authority to which
no one else had a legitimate claim, which no one
else was so fitted to wield.
It deserves to be noticed, too, that, except at the
commencement of his reign, when he was still hampered by the mistakes of his earlier career, he made
no enemy where it was possible to make a friend.
Morally isolated, he was intellectually allied with
every mind possessed of talent and adroitness. On
persons so endowed he acted as a magnet.  He
diligently sought them; he took them wherever he
VOL. I.    25




194            HIS DESIRE FOR SYMPATHY.               [BOOK I.
could find them. He raised them from obscurity;
he drew them from the ranks of his foes. He spared
no pains, he never lost patience, in the endeavor
to disarm the opposition or obtain the support of
such as had the power to injure or to serve him.
He had a boundless confidence in his own powers
of persuasion, in his ability to remove prejudice, to
soften resentment, to render ductile the character
with which he had to deal, not by the constraint of
a stronger will, but by gentle and dexterous manipulation. But he did not trust to the specious influence of words alone.  He asked no favor for which
he was not ready to render a substantial equivalent.
Nay, so different was he from most princes, who
imagine that they have an unlimited claim to the
devotion of their servants, that he chose rather to
bestow great rewards for small benefits, gauging
men's anticipations as well as their abilities, paying them  at their own price as became a generous
monarch.l3
In like manner he strove always to win the sympathy and cooperation of his people-to identify the
nation with himself.  He appealed to public opinion;
he created it.  He granted charters liberally to the
13 He acted on a maxim which the  (pourquoy il luy demoure fort obliEmperor Charles V. and his other g6), que ce ne seroit s'il luy avoit
imitators in the sixteenth century  faict ung si grant service que ledict
seem to have entirely disregarded. prince luy en fust tres fort oblig6;
"Me diet davantaige que, a son ad- et qu'il ayme plus naturellement
vis, pour avoir biens en court, que ceulx qui luy sont tenuz, qu'il ne
c'est plus grant heur a ung homme, faict ceulx a qui il est tenu." Comquant le prince qu'il sert lui a faict mines, tom. i. p. 305.
quelque grant bien a peu de desserte




CHAP. IV.]    EAGERNESS FOPR INFORMATION.          195
communes, in order that they might become bulwarks
against feudalism. He asked counsel from the representatives of all classes, in order that all might be
committed to the maintenance of his cause.  He did
not stand aloof from the world, like ordinary despots,
seeing  nothing, comprehending  nothing, devising
nothing, seeking no community with the mass of
mankind, offering a sullen resistance to the spirit
of progress.  He did not aspire to be regarded as
a god; nor was he content to set in motion a machine. The play of intellect, the conflict of mind
with mind, the bustle, the struggles, the cares and
anxieties of life, were what he delighted in.
l"No man ever lent an ear so readily to others,
or inquired about so many matters, or wished to
make the acquaintance of so many persons."14  He
was never heard to give that answer which daily fell
from the lips of many a petty seigneur whose revenues amounted to a few thousand livres: "Speak
to my people; I do not trouble myself about such
affairs."  He desired to know every thing; he forgot
nothing.15  He desired also to be every where.  He
was never at rest; his labors were incessant; "when
his body reposed his mind was still at work."  "1 To
say truth, a kingdom was too little for him; he was
fit to have the government of a world."16
14 Commines, tom. i. p. 84.  16 "; A la verite, il sembloit mieulx
15 4" Aymoit a demander et enten- pour seigneurir ung monde que ung
dre de toutes choses.... Aussi sa royaulme." Commines, tom. ii. p.
memoire estoit si grande qu'il rete- 273.
noit toutes choses." Idem, tom. i.
p. 158; tom. ii. p. 273.




196          HIS IMPULSIVENESS AND CRAFT.             [BooK I.
He had been tutored by adversity, and it was in
adversity that his sagacity was most conspicuously
displayed.7 He was never so serene, so cheerful, as
when overtaken by misfortune. When he thought
himself secure for the moment, he was too apt to let
people know the real estimate which he set upon
them.  His sarcasms flew  nimbly about, and settled
upon those who were nearest and highest, and whose
skin  was  thinnest.   He  knew  and  confessed  this
infirmity. "s My tongue," he would say, "c has led me
into many a scrape; it has also given me much
pleasure; however, it is right that I should repair
the mischief."
But his greatest fault was his  impatience.  He
had all the craft of a deliberative mind, but all the
impulsiveness of a thoughtless one.  Time and  he
were sworn enemies.  His foresight was continually
running off with him. He defeated his own schemes
by putting them prematurely into execution, and
precipitated misfortunes by rushing forward to avert
them. Such, at least, was the case at the opening
of his reign. —But his situation, and that of the
monarchy, at this period, will require some further
explanation.l8
17 " Jamais je ne congneuz si saige that of Louis. The acuteness, the
homme en adversit6." Idem, tom. i. subtlety, the eye undazzled by pomp,
p. 304.                         undimmed by emotion, uncheated by
1s Three contemporaries of Louis appearances, the nervous vigor, the
have described his character from  sarcastic humor,- the malice, to
personal knowledge and observation. adopt his own more expressive word,
The portrait drawn by Commines was - which distinguish the likeness on
evidently a labor of love. His own the canvas, are also the characterisnature strongly sympathized with tics of the artist himself. Chastel



CHAP. IV.]  STABILITY  OF THE  FRENCH  THRONE.                197
There is, perhaps, no country peopled by different
races in which the various elements have been so
blended, the  original distinctions of language, blood,
and custom so nearly obliterated, as in France. The
germs, too, of political unity, without which even
identity of race does not constitute a nation, had, as we
have noticed in a former chapter, been implanted at a
very early period. The throne established by Clovis,
although it passed  from  one dynasty to another, and
was often occupied by princes who exercised no
authority over the greater portion of the kingdom,
was never overthrown, and  had  gradually  acquired
a  claim  to  the  allegiance  and  submission  of  the
whole   country.    Its  foundations  were   strengthened and extended during several successive ages;
and, had it not been for the disturbing influence of the English wars, monarchical power in
France  would  have  broken  down  all the  barriers
that opposed its progress at a period anterior to
lain, though an enemy, writes with monarch. Basin, on the other hand,
much impartiality, but with far less  treats neither the man nor the office
appreciation. He is the representa- with respect. He assails Louis with
tive of sentiments and ideas which  the heat of a partizan and the rancor
received a fatal shock from the inno- of a personal foe. He excuses himvations of Louis. He mourns over self for having undertaken the task
the disregard of pomp and ceremo- of depicting the reign of the bloody
ny, the sceptical and levelling ten-  and perfidious tyrant by the example
dencies, the tortuous and aggressive  of ancient writers, who have exhibpolicy, which sullied the fountain of  ited Caligula, Nero, Domitian, and
chivalry and honor, and cast a stain  Commodus as warnings to posterupon the fleurs-de-lys. But he never ity. Each of these, however, had
forgets the sacredness of royalty; he  some redeeming quality. Louis had
is guarded in his condemnation; he  none. His capacity consisted in his
acknowledges the sagacity and ap- total lack of conscience.
plauds the activity of the French




198    EFFECTS OF THE ENGLISH INVASIONS.  [BOOK I.
that of our history. In these struggles for its existence it lost much of the ground which it had gained.
It could not resist, it was even forced to encourage,
the reactionary tendencies of feudalism. The mass
of the nobility, it is true, were greatly weakened by
the disasters of this period -by the general impoverishment of the country, as well as by the bloody
defeats of Poitiers and Azincourt. But the great feudatories, profiting alike by the decline or extinction
of many noble families and by the weakness of the
crown, extended their dominions, and rose to a degree of power and independence that threatened to
undo the work of centuries.
We have seen the position occupied by Philip the
Good. Besides his feudal sovereignty over Burgundy,
Flanders, Artois, and other important fiefs, he had
obtained possession, by the treaty of Arras, of the
most important places in Picardy. The house of
Anjou was far less powerful; but it had added to
its original domains Provence, Lorraine, and Bar, and
it derived a certain degree of lustre from its claims
to the kingdom of Sicily. Brittany had always been
untractable. In that great province the amalgamation of races-that fusion of various elements by
which the national character was formed-had made
but little progress. There the ancient language of
Gaul was still in common use, and Celtic customs and
institutions still maintained their vigor. The sovereign acknowledged a very limited dependence on
the French crown. He entitled himself "ccduke by the
grace of God;" he denied the appellate jurisdiction




CHAP. IV.]  POWER OF THE GREAT FEUDATORIES.   199
of the Parliament of Paris, and he refused to take
the oath of allegiance in the usual form, or to be
called the liegeman of the king, of France.
South of Brittany, Guienne had but recently been
recovered from the English, whose rule had been
popular both with the nobility and with the towns.
On the north, between Brittany and Picardy, was
the great province of Normandy -the heritage of
the Plantagenets, associated with the glory of the
English conquerors, filled with the memorials of their
sway, twice wrested from their grasp, to be yet, perhaps, for the second time, regained.
All the provinces of the sea-coast, on the west
and on the north, were either practically independent of the crown or attached to it by new and
feeble ties. France was in the condition of a fortress, whose outworks are already in the hands of
the foe or manned by garrisons of doubtful fidelity.
Louis the Eleventh had ascended the throne only a
few years after the conclusion, or what might rather
be regarded as the temporary cessation, of a waritself the sequel of former wars similar in origin and
in results —during which the fate of France had
been suspended in a trembling balance.  Nothing
was more probable than another alliance between
the foreign enemy and the haughty and uncertain
friend, to be followed by another invasion, another
conquest. In the very year in which Louis began
his reign, the crown of England, after what seemed
the final defeat of the Lancastrians, had been placed
upon the head of a prince, young, brave, ambitious,




200         APPREHENSIONS OF LOUIS.       [Boo00 I.
fond of war, the descendant by an elder branch of
Edward the Third, the friend and companion in arms
of Warwick.  What surer way for the new sovereign to establish his dynasty, to ground himself in
the affections of his people, than by emulating the
achievements which were still that people's proudest
boast?
Charles the Seventh, little inclined by disposition
to a life of conflict and of turmoil, but reared in the
midst of convulsions, had been content to provide
against the dangers and difficulties of the hour, and
to purchase immediate relief by concessions that
were fraught with future peril.  The restless, adventurous, far-sighted, but inexperienced Louis saw
nothing but weakness and insecurity in the position
bequeathed to him by his father. There could be
no safety for France while the towns on the Somme
remained in possession of the duke of Burgundy;
or, if the loyalty and peaceful inclinations of Philip
were a pledge of safety, the more reason for seeking
restitution before Philip's rights were transmitted
with his power to a prince of a different character.
The towns of the Somme were the necessary defences
of the capital. How was it possible for the king to
live tranquilly in Paris while a vassal over whom he
exercised no control was posted at Amiens?
Here, then, was the breach that required to be
closed before any further measures were attempted.
Louis, from the moment of his accession, had fixed
his eyes upon these towns. It had been stipulated
by the treaty that they should be surrendered on




CHAP. IV.]  HIS ALLIANCE WITH THE CROYS.   201
the payment of four hundred thousand crowns. But
no guaranty had been given by which to enforce
compliance with this stipulation.  It could hardly
be imagined that a proposal to redeem them would
be met in any other way than by evasion. It was
even believed that Charles the Seventh had given a
verbal promise that he would not demand their restitution during Philip's lifetime. Nevertheless Louis
was determined that they should be restored. And
here it seemed that his early misfortunes - his exile
and long residence in the Netherlands — had not
been wholly without compensating benefits. His
friendship with Philip, his intimate acquaintance with
the character of the duke and of the members of his
family and court, might now stand him in good stead.
Perhaps at this moment he wished that he had shown
himself somewhat more complying to his fair uncle
during the latter's visit to Paris; that he had been
less lavish of fine words, and less thrifty of substantial gratitude. Yet in one instance he had not been
ungrateful. It does not appear that he had ever
received any service from the Croys; but to them
he had been grateful in anticipation. He had not
forgotten that, however he might treat the duke
himself, it was not politic to slight the duke's favorites. He had bestowed a valuable estate upon
Antony de Croy, and had given him a prospective
claim to the grand-mastership of France, the highest
post in the royal household. He now took the whole
family under his protection. He loaded the younger
members of it with benefactions. He made John de
VOL. I.     26




202         PHILIP'S FAILING HEALTH.     [BOOK I.
Croy his councillor and chamberlain. They were
made to perceive that, however weighty their obligations to their own sovereign, it was no bad thing
to have the friendship of a king of France.
Their disposition to serve him being thus secured, it
remained to be seen whether they had the power -
whether their influence with the duke would extend
so far as to lead him to abandon an advantage the
immense value of which he could hardly have failed
to appreciate. Philip was now approaching the verge
of what has been assigned as the duration of human
life. His constitution was good; but he had never
practised the severe rules by which his son's iron
frame preserved its uniform vigor. His health had
been seriously impaired by the banquets and festivities in which he had indulged, with even more than
his usual freedom, during his visit to Paris; and, after
his return, in the spring of 1462, he had a long and
dangerous illness. The public anxiety, on this occasion, afforded the strongest proof of his popularity.
The good duke, who was only harsh and severe when
his commands were disputed, when his fiery temper
was roused, — whose gay and sumptuous tastes had
furnished the Netherlanders with a constant succession offe"tes, and given the lustre of the most brilliant
court in Christendom to their commercial capital, —
was not to be suffered to leave them if supplications
to Heaven could avail. There was no end of prayers
and processions, in which the inhabitants, of every
rank and age, took part. During his convalescence
his physicians ordered his head to be shaved; and




CHAP. IV.]     PHILIP'S FAILING HEALTH.             203
his complaisant courtiers hastened to make a similar
change in their appearance. If any of the younger
nobles hesitated  to part with  their curling locks,
officers appointed for the purpose seized the unwilling youths whenever they showed themselves in
public, and compelled them to undergo the prescribed
operation on the spot.l9   The Duchess Isabella, informed of her husband's situation, had left her conventual retreat to attend upon him; and the count
of Charolais, during several successive nights, watched
by his bedside with affectionate solicitude.  In his
intervals of consciousness the duke remonstrated
with his son, and urged him to take necessary repose. "Better," he said, "that one should die than
both; better" that I should go than you."20  After
some months' confinement to his chamber he was
able to resume his ordinary mode of life.
But the pith and vigor of his life were gone. He
was growing old; and the world around him, stirred
by a new  influence, instead of declining with  his
decline, or lapsing into stillness in order that he, so
long its paragon and arbiter, might end his days
in comfort and tranquillity, was becoming agitated
and turbulent.  The war between the count of Charolais and the Croys, notwithstanding the gracious
endeavors of Louis to effect a reconciliation, blazed
19 Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 227.-  adds, "Toutesfois sondit fils ne le
"Se trouvarent plus de cinq cens voullut oneques laisser; ains quant
nobles hommes qui pour l'amour du son pere le cuidoit reposant, il estoit
due se firent raire, comme luy."    toujours autour de lui qu'il ne le
20 Duclercq, tom. iii. p. 205.-He veoit point."




204   DISSENSIONS IN THE BURGUNDIAN COURT. [BooK i.
forth openly and fiercely. The country, as well as
the court, was filled with its clamors. Their connection with the king had thrown fresh odium on the
favorites, and increased the difficulties of their position. They were still powerful enough to resist the
attacks directed against themselves, but they were
less able to ward off those which were directed against
their adherents.  One of the duke's chamberlains
was tried and put to death on a charge of having
conspired against Charles's life.  The next blow was
aimed at a higher mark. John of Burgundy, count
of Nevers, a grandson of Philip the Bold, had ranged
himself on the side of the ministers, instigated by
some private disputes with Charles, by an old enmity with the count of Saint-Pol, and, as was commonly suspected, by an ambition loftier than was
consistent with his legitimate pretensions or with
his chances of succeeding to the sovereignty of
the Burgundian dominions. The charge, however,
openly preferred against him was of a darker nature.
He was accused of having in his house three waxen
figures, on which he practised, with the assistance of
an apostate monk, certain diabolical incantations —
his supposed object being to obtain for himself the
favor of the French king and the duke of Burgundy,
and to cause the count of Charolais to waste away
and perish by a lingering death.2' This was a common form of sorcery, in practice as well as in
belief22  Nevers, instead of awaiting his trial by the
21 Duclercq, tom. iii. p. 236, et  22 The story of Elinor Cobham,
seq. Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 392.  wife of the " good Duke Humphrey,"




CHAP. Iv.]    CHARLES RETIRES TO GORCUM.                205
Golden Fleece, threw  up his appointments, and retired into France; while Charles, foiled in some
further attempts against his enemies, sullenly withdrew from the court, and took up his residence at
the castle of Gorcum, on the coast of Holland.
Advantage was taken of his absence, and of his
father's enfeebled condition, to carry out the scheme
for the redemption  of the mortgaged  towns.   By
what arguments the Croys were enabled to win the
consent of Philip we are not informed. The string on
which they played was doubtless his desire to maintain his present peaceful relations with the French
monarch. Now that his faculties were on the wane,
he was fain to purchase by concessions the continuance of that peace which had been purchased of him,
by the like concessions, when his faculties were in
their prime. Or he may have doubted the king's ability to furnish the required sum. But hardly had his
compliance been extorted when half the amount was
placed in his hands, and his written promise obtained
that the towns should be given up on the payment
of the remainder. It was not in the character of
Louis to relax in the pursuit of any object till it was
definitively secured.  Yet to raise on the instant two
furnishes a parallel case, about twen- their own spells as other men dreadty years earlier.  But more than ed them."  Necromancy was not
twenty years later, another duke of merely an art or a profession, but a
Gloucester (Richard III.) made a creed. Its votaries composed a sect,
similar accusation against " that held private assemblies for worship,
witch" his brother's widow. Mack- and offered masses to Satan. A
intosh justly remarks that "the  minute description of these blasphesorcerers themselves doubtless trust- mous rites is given by Llorente, Hist.
ed as much the potent malignity of de l'Inquisition, tom. ii. pp. 432-443.




206        MORTGAGED TOWNS REDEEMED.    [BOO[o I.
hundred thousand gold crowns was, in the fifteenth
century, no easy matter even for a king of France.
The resources of his exchequer were exhausted;
there were no capitalists ready, or indeed able, to
advance the money upon his simple bond. Yet
he could not believe that every one was not as
anxious as himself to complete the transaction, so
necessary for the security of the kingdom, so liable
to be defeated by delay. He refused to listen to
the doubts and demurs started by the officers of
the treasury.  "' He told us," writes a bewildered
functionary to a colleague, "~that there were people
in Paris who would lend the money, and that, in
such a case as this, ten thousand livres might be
found in one place, and thirty thousand in another.
These were all the instructions we could get from
him; and he sent us off with so little deliberation
that we had scarce time to draw on our boots."23
Nor did this irregular mode of conducting business, embarrassing as it was for the poor treasurers,
fail of the desired results. There was no resisting
the whirlwind which Louis had set in motion.  Some
of the wealthy religious establishments, and several
towns which had received from the king an extension of their privileges, were found willing to contribute. As a last resort, violent hands were laid
upon a fund in the possession of the Parliament
-the property of widows and orphans, preserved,
as in an inviolable sanctuary, in the vaults of Notre
23 Lettre du Sieur Chevalier, Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 400




CHAP. IV.]    MORTGAGED TOWNS REDEEMED.             207
Dame.24  Within a month after the payment of the
first instalment, on October 8, 1463, the astonished
and reluctant creditor was called upon to sign a
receipt in full.  c Croy, Croy," he was heard to mutter, " it is hard to serve two masters."25
In fact, the Croys, led onward by their adroit
tempter, had become entangled in a labyrinth of
dangers and perplexities.  Their quarrel with the
count of Charolais - originally a mere private matter, a family dispute, which Philip alone was competent to decide-  had now become an affair of public
policy, in which the subjects of the duke, the people
of Flanders and of Artois, who by the surrender of
Picardy had lost their frontier defences, could not
fail to take an interest.  At their request, Charles
had sent two of the principal members of his household to remonstrate with his father against the step
which he was about to take.  He had also sent a
message to the king, begging him to desist, for the
present at least, from his intentions. These appeals
proving fruitless, it followed, as a necessary result,
that the relations between Charles and Louis began
to assume a clear and determinate shape. Both parties might still dissemble; but it was impossible that
either of them should henceforth be deceived. Up
to this time the king had never ceased to profess the
24 Basin (tom. ii. cap. 21) seizes  25 Chastellain, p. 266.- The docupon this act as a theme for vehe- uments relative to the redemption of
ment declamation.  The "forced the mortgaged towns may be found
loan" was, however, repaid with in- in Lenglet, tom. ii. pp. 392-403.
terest. All governments have not
been as honest.




208   RELATIONS BETWEEN CHARLES AND LOUIS. [BOOK I.
strongest affection for his fair cousin. No ordinary
friendship could satisfy the warmth of his feelings.
Charles was'" the person in all the world whom he
loved the best and whom  he trusted  the most"his chosen counsellor and confidant, "' by whose sole
advice he was resolved to be guided." 26  Who was
the man at the French court admitted to the closest
intimacy by Louis, employed by him on the most
delicate missions, having  access to  his chamber at
all hours whether the king were sleeping or awake?
No other than Guillaume Biche, the former servant
and still the constant visitor of the count of Charolais.27  1"You and your Biche must confer upon this
matter,-  you and no third one,- and give the king
your advice," was a message sent to the count so
late as in April of this year, (1463.)28
And yet from the first Charles could never have
been altogether blinded  by such professions.   The
great fear entertained by Louis was that of a secret
alliance between the heir of the Burgundian dominions and the duke of Brittany.  He had yielded the
point in dispute as to the form  in which the duke
should do homage for his fief.  Then, to give him  a
mark of his confidence, he appointed him  to a post.
26 " Le Roy, ainsi qu'il le m'escript siers d'armes et tous aultres de la
se veult conduire... par vous seul chambre expres commandement du
et non par autre.... Vous estes la Roy que, a toutte heure, feust nuyt,
personne de tout le monde qu'il ayme feust jour, feust le Roy couchie ou
le mieulx, et en qui il se fye le plus." endormy, on lui ouvrist la chamLettre de Charles de Melun au comte bre sans contreddict." Chastellain,
de Charolais, Dupont, Mem. de Com- p. 163.
mines, (Preuves,) tom. iii. p. 200.    28 Dupont, M6m. de Conmmines,
27 ", Avoient les sergens et huis- ubi supra.




CHAP. IV.] RELATIONS BETWEEN CHARLES AND LOUIS. 209
And to what post? That of lieutenant and governor of Normandy, the same which he had already
conferred upon the count of Charolais. Not that he
revoked the appointment of the latter; he left the
matter to be settled between the parties, or rather
to become a source of mutual jealousy and animosity. But a very different result ensued. In this
instance, if the design of Louis were not apparent,
there could be no doubt of his insincerity; and it
was not long before envoys and friendly messages
began to pass between the coasts of Brittany and
Holland.
Louis had, in fact, been obliged to choose between
the friendship of the Croys and that of the count of
Charolais. He could not hesitate between the two.
The advantages were in the one case immediate, in
the other only prospective. But this was not the
chief consideration that decided him. The ministers
might be purchased with honors and emoluments —
gifts which he could well afford to bestow. But the
heir of Burgundy and the Netherlands, the great feudal chieftain, would be satisfied only by the renunciation of a line of policy the pursuit of which must be
the sole motive of Louis in courting any man's friendship. Their interests, in short, were incompatible;
their hostility was inevitable. Louis, it is true, was
provided with an armory of blandishments  fair
promises and flattering speeches. But Charles was
precisely the man on whom such weapons had no
effect. His was a most impracticable character.
The king perceived it to be so, and threw away the
VOL. I.   27




210  RELATIONS BETWEEN CHARLES AND LOUIS. [Boox I.
useless mask. He stopped the payment of Charles's
pension. He placed the government of the newly
recovered towns in the hands of the count of Nevers.
He made strenuous efforts to gain over the count of
Saint-Pol. He encouraged Philip to believe that his
son had rebellious designs against him. He endeavored, in short, to put his enemy in a state of complete isolation.
Yet there was one tie which it was impossible for
the king to sever. The duke of Brittany stood in
the same position towards him as the count of
Charolais. And Louis was tormented with the apprehension that this alliance would be opened to
admit a third party - that the vessels which carried
messages between Brittany and Holland would soon
have occasion to stop at England in their way.
What, at this time, therefore, chiefly occupied his
thoughts, was the means of negotiating at once a
solid treaty with Edward the Fourth. Such a treaty,
he well knew, was not to be obtained by mere formal
methods of diplomacy. A private interview between
himself and Warwick seemed to him an indispensable preliminary.  The "king-maker" was supposed
to exercise an unbounded influence with his king.
It would go hard but Louis would find the means
of obtaining an influence with the "king-maker."
Warwick had engaged to meet him, but, detained in
England by other affairs, failed to keep the appointment. He promised, however, if further delayed, to
send his brother, the bishop of Exeter, in his place,
Lingering in Picardy, in anxious expectation of the




CHAP. Iv.]  THE KING'S VISIT TO HESDIN.          211
arrival of the earl or his deputy, Louis found leisure
to pay a visit to the duke of Burgundy at Hesdin,
in the neighboring province of Artois. He intended,
probably, to bring Philip into the alliance.  At all
events, he knew the importance of nursing his present friendly relations with the duke by those flattering attentions which Philip loved to receive and
which Louis knew so well how to bestow.
The castle of Hesdin was a favorite summer residence of the Burgundian sovereign.  By a stranger,
who accidentally found himself within its walls, it
might have been mistaken for the haunt of whimsical and malicious genii. Its principal gallery was
a complete museum  of diableries, being secretly surrounded by ingenious mechanical contrivances for
putting into operation the broadest practical jokes.
The unsuspicious visitor found himself performing,
quite involuntarily, the part of Pantaloon. If he laid
his hand upon any article of furniture, he was saluted
with a shower of spray, besmeared with soot, or bepowdered with flour. When a numerous company
were assembled, the ceiling, painted and gilded in
imitation of the starry sky, would be suddenly overcast; a snow-storm followed, or a torrent of rain
accompanied by thunder and lightning. The water
even ascended by fountains through the floor, for
the especial discomfort of the ladies.29 The guests,
attempting to escape, only plunged into fresh embar29," Partout dessoubz le pavement Laborde, Les Dues de Bourgogne,
aultres conduitz et engiens pour (lPreuves,) tom. i. p. 271.
moullier les dames par dessoubz."




212          THE KING'S VISIT TO HESDIN.        [BOOK I.
rassments. If they sought egress by the door, they
had to cross a trap, which, being suddenly withdrawn,
dropped them into a bath or into a large sack filled
with feathers. If they opened a window, they were
blinded by jets of water, and the aperture closed again
with a violent noise. Meanwhile they were pursued
by masked figures, who pelted them with little balls
or belabored them with sticks.30  It is not probable
that Louis — although the approaches to his own
castle at Tours presented a much more serious ordeal-was compelled personally to  contribute to
the amusement of his host by undergoing a reception of this kind; but we may well believe that no
one would have witnessed the exhibition at another's
expense with more hearty enjoyment.
His visit afforded Philip a welcome opportunity for
the indulgence of his hospitable inclinations. Every
day he gave a splendid entertainment, followed in
the evening by a ball. But Louis, though not deficient in social powers, had no strong passion for
brilliant gayeties.  He preferred the pleasure of a
quiet conversation with his fair uncle, in which he
sometimes played his old part, and entertained the
duke with lively sallies or allusions to well remembered scenes, and sometimes turned the discussion
to more important topics.
One day, while they were riding together in the
30 A full description of these "ou- his yearly salary - may be found
vrages de joyeusete et plaisance"- in Laborde, Ducs de Bourgogne,
as they are termed by the inventor, (Preuves,) tom. i. pp. 268-271. And
Colart le Voleur, in a receipt for see tom. ii. p. 213.




CHAP. IV.]    THE KING'S VISIT TO IESDIN.               213
forest, he suggested that Philip should intrust him
with the charge of compelling the count of Charolais
to  return  to his father's court and  submit to  his
father's authority. He had previously, through an
indirect channel, given a hint to the same effect.31
The proposal, which had before remained unanswered,
was now civilly declined, on the ground that such
matters were of too trifling a nature to occupy the
attention of so great a prince. The king, however,
persisted in his assurances of the pleasure he should
feel in undertaking the commission, and of the ease
with which  he could execute it.  "cPar la PasqueDiez," he said, "I will engage, whether he be in
Holland or in Friesland, to find the means of making
him  listen to reason.  What say you, fair uncle?"
His pertinacity may have had the effect of recalling to  Philip's mind a train  of events which had
certainly slipped from his own memory. After his
early troubles had been brought to a happy conclusion by his father's death, Louis seems ever to have
regarded with a peculiar horror any example brought
under his notice of filial disobedience.   The duke,
thus pressed, assumed at length an air of haughty
reserve, and replied, with emphasis, "' Monseigneur,
my son is -  MY soN; and I will treat him  as such.
31' " Dira a mondit Sieur de Bour- gogne a l'encontre de M. de Charogogne que le Roy a sceu les entre- lais de tout son pouvoir, sans esparprises que M. de Charolais son fils gner corps ne bien, et qu'il luy semble
fait k l'encontre de luy, dont il a este qu'en bien peu de temps la chose
et est fort desplaisant, et qu'il est sera mise X fin et conclusion," &c.
conclud et delibere de ayder, secou- Instruction a Maistre Estienne Cherir et favoriser mondit Sieur de Bour- valier, Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 393.




214         TIM KING'S VISIT TO HESDIN.        [BOOK I.
And, though he may choose to absent himself from
me at present, I am well convinced that, had I occasion for his services, he would come to me at once."
Then, under pretext of giving due precedence to
his sovereign, he slackened his rein, and fell into
conversation with the gentlemen of his suite.32
Louis was not a man to be disconcerted by a rebuff
of this kind.  It was his favorite maxim that CC when
Pride rides before, Misfortune follows fast behind." 33
After his departure from  Hesdin he sent his queen,
and her sister the princess of Piedmont, to spend a
few  days with the duke.  This well-timed courtesy
restored Philip to his accustomed good-humor.  It
delighted him to exhibit to these illustrious ladies
a scene of gayety and splendor to which they were
wholly unaccustomed; to sit beside them on a dais
while the glittering bevy of dames and cavaliers
passed before them in the circling dance; to watch
the ecstasy with which they were inspired, and listen
to their soft complaints as they drew a comparison
between this paradise and the home to which they
were too soon to return. Never, they exclaimed, had
they known what pleasure was till now, and seven
years hence they should still look back upon this
time with infinite regret. Their ladies also whispered
to each other that a single day of such enjoyment
was worth a whole existence at the court of France.34
32 Chastellain, p. 272.  kind by the garrulity of the Burgun33 Commines, tom. i. p. 147.    dian chroniclers. Old servants of an
34 Chastellain, p. 314. — One is illustrious house, they are listened to
tempted into minute details of this with patience and sympathy while




CHAP. IV.]     AFFIR OF RUBEMPRE.               215
But this amiable state of feeling between the king
and his great vassal was destined to be of short
continuance.  A cotp-de-lhealre was at hand -a transformation as sudden and surprising as the thunderstorms and pitfalls set in operation by the hidden
enginery in the gallery at Hesdin.
In September, 1464, there arrived, one day, at the
port of Gorcum, in Holland, a small bark, of peculiar
swiftness, having a crew of fifty men.  The commander alone went on shore, and, entering a tavern,
fell into a conversation with the hostess and other
persons, in the course of which he made many inquiries about the habits of the count of Charolais, how
often he was accustomed to make excursions on the
water, at what hours and with what escort he went
abroad, and in what directions. Having discussed
these subjects in a tone of assumed carelessness, the
merchant — for such he professed himself to be -
quitted the hostelry, and rambled towards the outskirts of the town. When he reached the castle,
which was now inhabited by the count and his family,
he examined it attentively, and at length climbed
upon the wall and directed his glances towards the
sea.  While making this survey he became aware
that he was himself closely watched by a number
of persons who had gathered near the spot.  As
he prepared to return the throng increased; and,
although no violence was offered to him, he bethey dilate upon its former grandeur tale which he has learned by rote
and faded glories. But we soon wea- and in which his own feelings are
ry of the modern cicerone, telling a little interested.




216              AFFAIR OF RUBEMPRE.               [BOOK i.
came alarmed, and took sanctuary in a neighboring
church.35
It was not merely his inquisitiveness, not unnatural in a stranger, which had excited suspicion. He
had been recognized as the Bastard of Rubempr6 -
an illegitimate member of a noble family in Flanders,
who had belonged formerly to the household of
Charles, but had since taken service under the count
of Nevers.  He was, in fact, a well known adventurer
-  one of those landless cavaliers who sought their
fortune under any standard, and were ready to engage in any enterprise.36
Information of his proceedings was immediately
conveyed to Charles. The vessel was seized; but
the mariners, who after the departure of their commander had dispersed along the shore, succeeded in
making their escape. Rubempr6, on being questioned,
gave contradictory replies. No confession of a hostile
purpose was extorted from him; but public conjecture easily supplied the lack of certain information.37
An attempt had been intended to kidnap the count
of Charolais. The leader of this enterprise was the
Bastard of Rubempre, his employer the count of
Nevers. Therefore the author of the plot could be
3a Chastellain, p. 335.-Duclercq,  37 Duclercq, however, asserts that
tom. iv. p. 66. — Lenglet, tom. ii. Rubempr4 made a full confession.
p. 421. —Extract from a manuscript According to the narrative in Le
narrative in Le Glay, Catalogue De- Glay, papers were found in his posscriptif des MSS. de la Biblioth6que session bearing the signature of the
de Lille.                    king, and promising a reward for
36 "I Ledict bastard estoit homme- the capture of the count of Charode-faict, courageux et entreprenant." lais.
Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 232.




CHAP. IV.]       POPULAR ALARM.                217
no other than the king — the patron of Nevers, the
avowed enemy of Charles. In this definite shape
the rumor flew through the country, exciting the
loyal indignation of the people, and serving as a text
for the highly seasoned discourses of the itinerant
friars, who in the fifteenth century exercised those
functions of censorship and criticism on the topics
of the day which are now exercised with equal zeal
and equal infallibility by the public journalists.
Instead of subsiding, the popular excitement speedily assumed a new form - that of alarm for the safety
of a person still more important, still more dear, than
he who was one day to become the ruler of the Nethlerlands.  The duke was then at Hesdin - having
remained there longer than usual at the request of
Louis, who proposed to honor him before his departure with another visit. The king in Picardy, busily
engaged with Nevers - in what? - scheming, plotting, raising troops, no doubt, waiting for intelligence
that the count of Charolais was in his power;Philip close upon the frontier, at a strong but exposed town, unprotected by his faithful lieges, unsuspicious of danger, ready to welcome the wily guest
for whom he staid and any escort - any armed force
rather - which he might see fit to bring with him:38
- here was a conjunction of suspicious circumstances
that might well set the most sluggish imagination
at work. While the members of Philip's household
were discussing the subject and communicating their
38," Et y devoit mener avecques lui, ce disoit-on, sa grande garde."
Chastellain, p. 342.
VOiL. I.   28




218           AFFAIR OF RUBEMPRE.         [BOOK I.
fears to one another, a message came to him, on a
Saturday, from the king, who had already postponed
his visit much beyond the appointed time, but who
now engaged to arrive at Hesdin on the following
Monday, and begged his fair uncle not to take his
departure till then.  The messenger remained at
the castle all night. Philip said nothing of his intentions to any of his nobles; but, after he had retired
to rest, he desired his valet to give the necessary
orders for his departure on the morrow.  In the
morning Antony de Croy and his nephew, the lord
of Quievrain, were astonished at finding the courtyard filled with horses, and all the preparations completed for the removal of the court. They silently
joined the train, which was already in motion. As
it passed through the gates of the town, the magistrates presented themselves, and requested Philip's
instructions as to putting the place in a state of
defence and forbidding the entrance of strangers.
"We are not at war," replied the duke.  "Guard
the town as usual; and if the king should arrive,
receive him with all proper respect."39
These tidings were a thunder-clap to Louis. Had
he ever conceived the designs imputed to him? Had
he imagined so monstrous an act of treachery as
the seizure of the duke of Burgundy and his only
legitimate son, to be followed up by the establishment, under some thin disguise of a protectorate, of
his own authority over a people rendered helpless
by panic and dismay? The supposition may appear
39 Chastellain, p. 344.




CHAP. IV.]   GROUNDS FOR SUSPECTING LOUIS.         219
incredible, but it was not so regarded at the time;
and the opinions of contemporaries are formed in
the presence of a combination of circumstances which
lose much of their importance when merely reviewed
in detail. It is at least plain that the real objects
of the king's insidious proceedings had been to reduce the Burgundian sovereign to a state of tutelage,
to obtain complete control over his dominions, and
to deprive the heir to those dominions of his present,
if not of his prospective, rights.40 An attempt to
effect the same purpose by stealthy violence was repugnant neither to his own character nor to that
of the age. Examples and precedents, more or less
pertinent, were still fresh in the popular recollection.
The assassination of the last Burgundian sovereign,
in the presence, and with the supposed connivance,
of the dauphin, furnished, if not a parallel case, some
points of analogy of especial interest to those who
took the most active share in the discussion.  But
another transaction, of very recent date, was still
more to  the purpose, since it was one in which
Louis himself had been the principal actor, and in
which he had played precisely the part he had lately
volunteered to perform in the domestic drama enacting at the Burgundian court.
His father-in-law, the duke of Savoy, was a person
of feeble intellect, steeped in the grossest sensuality,
40 According to Chastellain, he to the Sire Chevalier, as well as his
had personally proposed to Philip, whole course of conduct, leaves no
at Hesdin, to relieve him of the cares doubt of his hostile intentions with
of government; and the language, regard to Charles.
already quoted, of his instructions




220           AFFAIR OF RUBEMPRE.         [BooK I.
and in affairs of government a puppet in the hands
of his more ambitious and more masculine wife. She,
a foreigner by birth, had disgusted the nobility by
placing her own countrymen in the highest and most
lucrative posts. A powerful party had been formed
against her, headed by one of her sons, the count of
Bresse. She had been compelled to flee the country,
and, with her imbecile husband, had taken refuge at
the court of Louis, and invoked his assistance against
their rebellious son.  To an appeal of this nature
Louis was never deaf. It touched the most sensitive
cord in his sympathizing bosom. By the proffer of
his mediation, and on the guaranty of a safe-conduct,
he had induced the count of Bresse to cross the frontier for the purpose of pleading his cause in person
at the French court.  No sooner had the young
prince entered the French territory than he found
himself a prisoner. He had been hurried off to the
fortress of Loches, near Tours, —a convenient and
secure, but damp and sombre, abode, — where he
was still rigidly immured. The decision of the affair had been postponed. The duke, and his eldest
son, who resembled him in character, were detained
in France, where the former received a pension and
the latter a wife. Louis selected as a suitable helpmate for the heir of Savoy his own sister, the Princess
Yolande, whose penetration and natural talent for
affairs had won for her the largest share of his fraternal regard. When the old sovereign, whose incapacity was notorious, should disappear from the stage,
his successor, equally incapable, but provided with a




CHAP. IV.]    PROTESTATIONS OF LOUIS.              221
competent guardian, might be instated in his rights.
Meanwhile the king himself, in virtue of his position
as arbiter, and by means of agents as trusty and as
serviceable as the Croys, administered the government of Savoy.
It was impossible to feel any remorse for so successful a piece of statecraft; but what could be more
annoying to tthe king than to know that this occurrence was universally accepted by an indiscriminating
public as conclusive proof of his having planned a
still bolder scheme, from which, if it succeeded, he
might hope to derive far more important benefits.
It so happened that the count of Bresse was the godson and namesake of the duke of Burgundy, who
had vainly solicited his restoration to liberty. The
incidents had made a deep impression upon Philip's
mind; and now he had plainly shown, by his premature departure from Hesdin, how strongly his mistrust
had been excited in regard to the king's good faith.
Louis had at first affected to treat the calumnious
rumor with disdain. A He knew nothing of the Bastard of Rubempre — had never before heard of his
existence."41 For himself, he had never done, spoken, or even thought any thing prejudicial to the
house of Burgundy. His obligations to that house
were engraven on his heart  "as on marble."42  He
41 Chastellain, p. 339.   emprime et empraint en son cueur
42 ", Car le Roy congnoissoit bien comme en marbre, et ne l'oublirait
les grans biens et plaisirs que mon- jamais." Discours du chancelier aux
seigneur de Bourgogne lui avoit fait echevins d'Amiens, Dupont,MWm. de
quant il estoit dolphin, et avoit ce Commines,(Preuves,) tom. iii. p. 209.




222           AFFAIR OF RUBEMBRE.         [Boox I.
was most anxious, however, for the suppression of
the scandal, and commanded that all persons who
discussed the subject in taverns or elsewhere should
be arrested and punished. He also caused a message
to be sent by the admiral of France to Antony de
Croy, begging him to exert his influence to disabuse
Philip's mind, and to have Rubempre quietly set at
liberty and suffered to leave the Netherlands.
But the Croys had long been in a position which
seemed to render it inevitable that their influence at
the Burgundian court should decline with that of
the king himself. They had so openly committed
themselves to the support of the royal interests, that
even Philip, when he once began to regard Louis as
an enemy, could not but look coldly on them. In
the general opinion they were as deeply implicated
in this affair as the king. Rubempre was their relative; their intimacy with Nevers was as notorious as
their hostility to Charles. They were at this moment
plunged in the deepest anxiety on their own account,
and disposed to curse the hour when they had linked
their fortunes with those of a restless schemer, the
extent and desperate nature of whose speculations
were known only to himself. "My friend," said Antony to the admiral's messenger, "go back to your
master, and tell him  that those who have brewed
this mixture may drink of it. -It shall be no affair
of mine."43
Thus deprived of the cooperation on which he had
relied for enabling him to escape from his present
43 Chastellain, p. 338.




CHAP. IV.]     SPECIAL EMBASSY.            223
difficulty by the underhand management which he
would have preferred, Louis found it necessary to
assume the lofty tone more becoming in a great
monarch. He expressed his haughty indignation at
the presumption of the count of Charolais, who had
arrested and brought to trial on so frivolous a charge
the servant and officer of his sovereign.  For he
now admitted that Rubempre had been despatched
upon his business -his orders being to intercept the
chancellor of Brittany, sent on a treasonable mission
to England, whence he was instructed to cross over
to Holland, and communicate the result to the count
of Charolais.
A special embassy, consisting of the Chancellor
Morvilliers, the archbishop of Narbonne, and the
count of Eu, the head of the house of Artois, arrived
at Lille, about the beginning of November, to make
these representations to the duke of Burgundy. In
the solemn audience to which they were admitted, in
the presence of the count of Charolais and of the
whole court, the ambassadors opened the proceedings with a long and artful harangue setting forth
the treasonable designs of the duke of Brittany, and
leaving the same imputations to rest by a natural
construction upon Charles, the duke's friend and firm
ally. What, they asked, was the object of this alliance, if it were not directed against the king? They
sneered at the count's "suspicious temper," which had
allowed him to give credence to the absurd suggestion of a design against his person. They were at
a loss, they said, to understand the motives of his




224           AFFAIR OF RUBEMPRE.        [BOOK I.
avowed enmity to their master, unless it was to
be attributed to chagrin at the withdrawal of his
pension.
It was impossible that the fiery spirit against
whom these insinuations were directed should hear
them patiently or in silence. Starting to his feet,
Charles broke in upon the orator with fierce exclamations. "My lord of Charolais," was the cool reply,
"we have no commission to discuss these matters with
you; we are here to treat with your father on behalf
of our dread lord the king." Flinging himself passionately at Philip's feet, Charles besought his permission to refute the calumnies which had been heaped
upon him.  The duke commanded him  to have
patience, telling him that he should be allowed to
answer the envoys at length upon the following day.
The chancellor, who acted as the spokesman of the
embassy, then proceeded with his address. He expressed his regret that Philip should have been so
moved by idle and malicious reports as to forfeit the
promise which he had made to the king to wait for
him at Hesdin. He concluded by making three demands: that Rubempre should be immediately set
at liberty; that Olivier de Lamarche, a servant of
the count of Charolais, accused of having first set the
scandalous rumor afloat, should be sent into France,
to receive such punishment as was meet for traducing the honor of the king; and that the friars who
had declaimed upon so delicate a topic in the pulpits
of Bruges -a city frequented by strangers of every
nation, where nothing transpired that was not speedily




CHAP. Iv.]       SPECIAL EMBASSY.              225
communicated to all parts of Christendom —should
likewise be delivered up.
When the chancellor had finished, the count of Eu,
a person of blunt demeanor but unimpeachable integrity, and one of the last survivors of that splendid
chivalry which had suffered so terribly from  the
English longbows at Azincourt, added some remarks
characteristic of the soldier rather than of the diplomatist. o "Monseigneur," he said, addressing the duke
of Burgundy, "you are well known to be a wise
prince. You have heard these demands, and need
no counsel from others in what manner you ought
to reply.  Therefore it were well to give us our
answer at once."  "tHa, fair brother!"' exclaimed
Philip, c" are you but just come, and in such haste to
depart? To ask and to obtain are two things not
often concluded in an hour. Yet I have good hopes
that I shall be able to make such a response as shall
well content the king."  "Monseigneur," replied the
count sharply, "you will answer according to your
own pleasure; but, if I might advise you, you will
send back the Bastard of Rubempre, and not incur
the peril that must otherwise ensue." " Fair brother,"
said the duke, rising from his seat, as a signal that
the audience was to terminate, "I have often before
heard high and threatening talk, and do not remember
that it moved me much. To-morrow this matter shall
be settled. In the meantime I bid you welcome."'
44 Chastellain, pp. 347-349. —Du- Verbal des Ambassadeurs, Lenglet,
clercq, tom. iv. pp. 71-73. - Com- tom. ii. p. 417, et seq.
mines, tom. i. pp. 7-9. - Proc's
VOL. I.     29




226           AFFAIR OF RUBEMBRE.        [Boox I.
The night was spent by Charles, who considered
himself as put upon his trial at the suit of the king,
in the preparation of his defence. He felt the importance, at this critical moment, of avoiding that
style of expression into which he would have been
led by his natural impetuosity if unrestrained, and
which could do him no good service with the duke.
He therefore committed his speech to writing, carefully weighing the language, and modifying such
phrases as were too strongly seasoned with invective.
In the morning he passed from his lodgings to the
palace, dressed in his richest attire, and surrounded
by a troop of nobles, who welcomed this opportunity of ranging themselves openly as his partisans.
Philip, however, under pretext of other business,
adjourned the audience to the following Friday. In
the interval the whole town was in a state of excitement - the insulting language of the envoys being
commented upon in a spirit of loyal indignation by
the inhabitants of every class.
On the appointed day the duke took his place in
the hall of audience on a raised seat, having around
him the knights of the Golden Fleece and the great
officers of his household. The apartment was thronged
by persons of noble condition. In such an assembly
Philip was well qualified to preside, distinguished as
he was by the natural dignity of his sentiments, by
his commanding appearance, and by the ease with
which long habit invested his assumptions of authority. After the usual formalities the count of Charolais, placing his knee on a velvet stool in front of




CHAP. IV.]      SPECIAL EMBASSY.            227
the dais, entered upon the delivery of an address
characterized by his wonted earnestness, but also, in
the report of Chastellain at least, by something of
the quaintness and prolixity of that venerable chronicler himself. Substantially, however, this version
agrees with other and more concise reports, and,
among them, with that of Commines, then a youth
of nineteen, who, three days before the arrival of
the French embassy, had been received as a page
in the household of the heir of Burgundy, and who
commences with an account of these events what
is perhaps the most remarkable narrative given of
contemporaneous affairs by any modern writer.
The topic most enlarged upon by Charles was the
complaint which had been made of his alliance with
the duke of Brittany. It was true, he said, that, in
accordance with the customs of chivalry, they had
formed a bond of friendship with each other, and
called themselves brothers in arms. But he denied
that there was any thing in this connection preju -
dicial to the authority of the crown. "Methinks,"
he remarked, "it should please the king right well
to see the princes of his blood and the supporters
of his throne bound together in amity and concord.
His predecessors had good cause to lament the dissensions and feuds that existed among their vassals.
He alone has been so fortunate as to see them all
united and at peace; and accursed be the attempt,
by whomsoever made, to sow division and hostility
among them!"
He treated with disdain the intimation that his




228           AFFAIR OF RUBEMPRE.         [BOOX I.
sentiments towards the king had been affected by
the loss of his pension. "I never solicited him," he
said,  either for pensions or honors. What he gave
was given of his own accord; it was his to grant,
and his to withhold. While I enjoy your favor, my
redoubted lord and father, I have no need to seek
the benefactions of any other prince."
He concluded his oration by enumerating the
vexatious acts which Louis, since his accession, had
committed against the house of Burgundy, dwelling
with particular emphasis on the countenance he had
given to its hereditary enemies, the people of Liege.
"It was easy to see," remarks Commines, "'that he
would have spoken far more sharply had he not
been restrained by his father's presence."
The duke could not but listen with pleasure to a
defence so forcible and yet so, temperate. His own
reply to the ambassadors was in a lighter tone, which,
if it gave no additional weight to his reasonings, detracted nothing from the seriousness of his intentions.
They had charged his son with being of a suspicious
nature.'"If this be so," he said, "he does not derive
it from me; for I have never been troubled with
fears of any prince or of any living man. It must
be," he added, with a smile, "' that he has inherited
this quality from his mother, who, as I have often
found occasion to lament, is the most suspicious person in the world." He refused, as was doubtless
anticipated, to set the Bastard of Rubempre at liberty. The arrest had been made in Holland, which
was not a fief of France, and for his government




CHAP. IV.]      SPECIAL EMBASSY.              229
of which he did not hold himself accountable to the
king. As to delivering up the friars whose discourses
had given notoriety to the affair, Philip observed that,
for his part, he was only a temporal prince, and did
not pretend to exercise authority in matters of ecclesiastical discipline. It was certain that there were
many preachers who had very little understanding,
and who were in the habit of speaking indiscreetly;
and it was, moreover, notorious that these friars
wandered from place to place, and, when they were
gone, no one knew what had become of them or
remembered what they had preached. He gave the
same denial to the demand for the surrender of
Olivier de Lamarche, in whose case, if he should be
found to have done any thing amiss, justice should
be administered without partiality. When he came
to touch upon the accusation made against himself,that he had broken his plighted word to the king, 
Philip's manner changed. He hesitated for a moment; then, looking round upon the assembly and
raising his voice, "c Let every one be assured," he said,
L"that I never failed of my promise to living man
when it was possible for me to perform it;" and,
resuming his former tone, he added, C"I never broke
troth in my life, unless it were with a lady." He gave
his reasons - "certain great affairs which demanded
his attention" — for having quitted Hesdin so abruptly, and ended by begging the envoys to make
his excuses on this point to his sovereign.45
45 Chastellain, p. 351, et seq. - clercq, tom. iv. pp. 77-80.- Basin,
Commines, tom. i. pp. 10, 11.-Du- tom. ii. pp. 92, 93.




230         CONFEDERACY OF THE NOBLES.         [BOOX I.
After wine and spices had been served the ambassadors took leave of Philip and the count. Charles,
who stood at some distance from his father, spoke
privately to the archbishop of Narbonne.  " Commend me," he said, "to the king's grace; he has
caused his chancellor here to berate me soundly;
but tell him before a year is past he will have seen
reasons for repenting of it."46  The message was not
forgotten by the person intrusted with it, or- as
we shall hereafter see — by the person to whom it
was sent.
It was, indeed, no idle menace. Although the
alliance between the duke of Brittany and the count
of Charolais did not include the English monarch, it
was not long confined to the original parties. Its
ramifications extended throughout France.  A conspiracy was formed embracing most of the princes
and nobles of the realm, and known to more than
five hundred persons including many ladies; yet no
whisper of it, we are told, reached the ear of the
jealous king. In his own capital, in the great cathedral of Notre Dame, the agents of the confederates
met, towards the close of the year 1464, and, recognizing one another by a silken aizgillette which each
wore at his girdle, conferred together and arranged
a plan of operations.47
The head-quarters of these intrigues were in Brit46', Recommandez moy tres hum- avant qu'il soit ung an il s'en repenblement a la bonne grace du Roy, et tira." Commines, tom. i. p. 12.
luy dictes qu'il m'a bien faict laver  47 Lamarche, tom. ii. pp. 234,
icy par son chancellier, mais que 235.




CHAP. IV.]  FLIGHT OF THE DUKE OF BERRI.     231
tany. The duke himself was a person of slender
abilities, and in no respect qualified to be the leader
of a great enterprise; but his court was the abode
of many accomplished politicians, some of them old
servants of Charles the Seventh, whom Louis, in the
heedless vengeance which marked the commencement
of his reign, had dismissed from their employments.
Early in the spring of 1465 an envoy from Brittany,
Odet d'Aydie, Sire de Lescun, arrived at the court of
France for the ostensible purpose of arranging amicably some questions in dispute between his master
and the king. He found the latter at Poitiers, on
his way to visit the shrine of Our Lady of Puy, in
Anjou. Having received his answer, Odet, instead
of returning at once to Brittany, waited at a place
four leagues distant from Poitiers until the real object
of his mission should have been secured.
It was important that a league formed against the
government by the princes of the realm, under the
usual pretext of rectifying abuses introduced by the
ill-disposed advisers of the sovereign, should have at
its head the person nearest in blood and interest to
the throne. It was not likely that Louis, who had
himself yielded so readily to the seductions employed
on such occasions, should fail to exercise a strict surveillance over his brother, the heir presumptive to
the crown. The young duke of Berri led, in fact, the
life of a prisoner. He was compelled to attend the
restless king in his incessant journeys, and was hardly
suffered to be absent from his sight.48 Yet, on the
48 Basin, tom. ii. p. 100.




232        CONFEDERACY OF THE NOBLES.    [BOOK I.
present occasion, Louis, on resuming his pilgrimage,
left his brother at Poitiers.  Half an hour after his
departure the duke of Berri, pretending a design to
hunt, passed the barriers of the castle with a few
attendants, and hastened to the spot which he had
secretly agreed upon with Odet as a place of meeting. Preparations had been made for his flight, and
he was speedily beyond the reach of pursuit.49
All that was now thought wanting to insure the
success of the movement was the adhesion of the
duke of Burgundy.  His friend and kinsman, the
duke of Bourbon, one of the principal confederates,
visited him  at Lille, and endeavored to obtain his
concurrence. Letters were sent to him from Brittany,
signed by the duke of Berri, in which he was conjured
to unite with the other members of the royal family
in settling the affairs of the kingdom. But Philip
still shrank from the thought of disturbing that peace
which thirty years before he had himself bestowed
upon France, and of renewing in his old age the civil
wars to which an irresistible appeal had forced him
to become a party in his youth. It was his highest
glory that to him the realm was indebted for its
present tranquillity.  That tranquillity he had made
the strongest efforts and the greatest sacrifices to
preserve. At the very moment of his dismissing
the envoys of Louis with an unsatisfactory reply,
we find him, in conversation with an English agent,
expressing his earnest desire to aid in negotiating
49 Letter of the King to the Duke iii. p. 225.- Duclercq, tom. iv. p.
of Bourbon, Duclos, (Preuves,) tom. 109. - Basin, tom. ii. p. 100.




CHAP. IV.]   OVERTHROW OF THE CROYS.               233
such a treaty between the two countries as might
conduce to the interests of both.50 His son, in a
private interview with him, poured forth in passionate strains his complaints against the Croys.  The
duke heard him without anger, but answered pathetically, "Charles, I am  old and feeble.  I have always
endeavored to avoid dissensions in my family; suffer
me still to live in peace.  Be content with the place
which you hold in my affections. These men are
strangers to me; you are my son, my legitimate heir,
my flesh and my blood."
An attempt was made to mediate between the
hostile parties.  Some of the courtiers represented
to Antony de Croy the perilous situation in which
he stood, and would fain have persuaded him  to
accept an offer of grace conditional on his resigning
the offices bestowed upon him by Louis, and lending all his influence with Philip to the support of
the confederates.   The aged minister listened  to
their arguments in a manner that seemed to betoken irresolution.  But he had gone too far to recede
with safety. He felt that by such a course he should
place himself powerless in the hands of his enemies.
When warmly pressed he answered with a blunt
refusal. s I will not," he said, c" exchange the service
of a king of France for that of a count of Charolais.
Pardon me, and adieu!"51  He retired to Tournay,
50 See the Letter of Sir Robert taire ou faire.... Je ne veulx pas
Nevil, November 17, 1464, Dupont, cessier le service d'ung roi de France
(Preuves,) tom. iii. p. 212.  pour ung comte de Charolais. Par51 i" Respondit tout court et comme donnez moi et adieu." Chastellain,
approci6 du point oui il convenoit p. 376.
VOL. I.    30




234          CONFEDERACY OF THE NOBLES.              [BOOK I.
then a French town, though geographically a part of
Hainault. His nephew, the lord of Quievrain, who had
for some time performed his duties as first chamberlain, continued to represent him at Philip's court.
At this critical moment the duke was again attacked by paralysis. His son assumed the reins of
government; and his first act was to wrest from the
Croys the government of Luxembourg and other
provinces.  When Philip had partially recovered he
was induced to confirm what had been done. Quievrain, however, held his ground. On the following
day the confirmation was revoked. The count of
Charolais was refused admittance to his father's presence. But he gathered his adherents round him, and
declared his resolution not to quit the palace.52 He
issued a manifesto, calling upon the towns to support
him in his just pretensions and in the preservation
of his birthright; denouncing the Croys as traitors,
and citing, as evidence of their secret machinations
for the overthrow of the house of Burgundy, their
long hostility to himself, their league with Nevers
and with the king, and their abuse of Philip's confidence as shown in their monopoly of his favors, in
various acts of maleadministration, but especially in
the false and tireasonable representations by which
52 "Avons supplie et requis, en les chevaliers, escuyers et gens de
toute humilit6, a mondit seigneur et conseil notables de son hostel et du
pere, que son plaisir feust nous don- nostre.... Nostre intention est de
ner audience de parler a lui.... Et continuelment nous tenir doresenapour ce que n'avons encore peu par- vant empres lui et en son hostel,"
venir a ladite audience avoir, nous &c. Letter of the count of Chaavons depuis fait assembler devers rolais, March 12, 1465, in Gachard,
nous ceulx de son sang, avec tous Doc. Ined. tom. i. pp. 139,JL40.




CHAP. IV.]    OVERTHROW OF THE CROYS.      235
they had induced the sovereign to weaken his power
and imperil his dominions by giving up the places
in Picardy. The effect of this appeal was to produce a ferment throughout the Netherlands.  The
unpopular ministers saw the necessity of retiring
from the unequal contest. They were permitted to
carry with them into France a portion of their personal effects; but their immense landed possessions
were seized upon and confiscated.
Before his departure Quievrain went to take leave
of the duke. The announcement that his servants
had been discharged without his knowledge or consent, that their lives had been threatened and their
property seized, roused a spark of the ancient fire in
Philip's breast. He snatched up a weapon, and, tottering from the chamber, vowed to take vengeance
on his son. But the time had passed when the gleams
of his wrath excited terror where they fell. The
ladies of the court surrounded him, soothed him with
persuasive words, and disarmed his impotent fury.
Charles did not yet venture to appear before him;
but a plan for effecting a reconciliation was skilfully
arranged. " On the thirteenth day of April, being
Holy Friday, the day on which Our Lord Jesus Christ
suffered death upon the cross, a very solemn preacher
delivered a discourse, in the house of the duke of
Burgundy, in Brussels, upon clemency and mercy,
which was very pitiable to hear; and on the day following, being Easter Eve, the count of Charolais,
attended by the knights of the Golden Fleece and
many other great lords, came before his father, and,




236         CONFEDERACY OF THE NOBLES.         [BOOK I.
throwing himself upon his knees, said,'I beseech
you, my redoubted lord and father, in honor of the
passion of Our Saviour, to pardon what I have done
amiss; for what I have done was in defence of my
own life, and for the preservation of yourself and of
your subjects."' He then proceeded, v"in discreet
and noble language," to explain at length the motives from which he had acted - his father 1" holding
him all the while by the arm, and looking him
steadfastly in the eyes." When he had finished
Philip raised him and "kissed him upon the mouth."
s" Charles, my son," he said, cc I pardon all the offences
you have ever committed against me to the present
hour; be my good son, and I will be your good
father."  As he spoke Philip shed tears, and "most
part of those who were there wept also;" while the
chroniclers hastened to record, in their euphuistic
phraseology, "C how the good duke had pardoned the
maleadroitness of his son."53
The plans of the confederates were now ripe.
Active preparations were made for war. The time
and the place of meeting were appointed. The count
of Charolais proclaimed himself lieutenant-general
of his father, and called upon the estates of Flanders
and of Hainault to grant him a subsidy. But he did
not wait for the deliberative action with which those
bodies were accustomed to answer such demands.
53 "4 Comment le due de Bour- et seq.,) and in a letter of the time
gogne pardonna h son fils son mal printed among the Doc. Ined. sur
talent." See the description of this l'Hist. de France, MWlanges, tom. ii.
scene in Duclercq, (tom. iv. p. 137, p. 227.




CHAP. IV.]  OVERTHROW OF THE CROYS.          237
He sent forth an invitation to all the vassals of the
house of Burgundy to assemble with their retainers. His powerful friend, the count of SaintPol,
aided him in raising and equipping the necessary
force. His numerous allies displayed similar activity; and through the length and breadth of France
the trumpet blast rang out which summoned the
chivalry to arms.




CHAPTER V.
WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL. - BATTLE OF MONTLHE1RY.
146 5.
CIVIL war in France - a violent collision between
the crown and its great vassals- was a matter not
of choice or of chance, but of necessity. Two hostile powers, two irreconcilable principles, had long
aspired to prevail; and the time had arrived when
a trial of strength must be made - when each must
exhibit, in open and strenuous conflict with the other,
the extent of its means, the stability of its position,
its internal force and vitality.
Such conflicts may be long postponed; and the
longer they are postponed the better for the nation,
and for the cause which depends for its ultimate
triumph on the reality and justness of its claims. It
is the part of Prudence to wrestle with Fate -to
mediate for mutual concessions, to frame compromises, to readjust a drooping balance, and appeal to
the slow arbitrament of Time. But, in point of fact,
the question is always tried, if not always solved,
(238)




CHAP. V.]      CAUSES OF THE REVOLT.              239
by readier and swifter methods. Those who are
confident in their right and in their might may be
content to -wait; but they who are weak in resources
or in faith put their trust in Opportunity, seek to
conquer by surprise or by sudden onslaughts, and
are ever the first to unsheathe the sword and make
Fortune the umpire of their quarrel.
In which of these two classes Louis the Eleventh
should be placed might not, perhaps, be easy to determine. His character, even after due elimination
of the moral elements, does not readily yield a pure
residuum  to the ordinary tests.  He was at once
confident and apprehensive, wary and rash, ready by
any aggressions to provoke hostilities, ready by any
sacrifices to avert or to terminate them.  Yet these
seeming inconsistencies cannot be attributed to a lack
of clear perceptions, to instability of purpose, or to
incapacity of endurance. It may rather appear that
his quick and fertile intellect, anticipating remote contingencies, suggesting diverse expedients, and prompting continual experiments, will account at once for
the rapidity of his movements and the tortuousness
of his course, for his temerity and his fears, for his
haste and his hesitancy, for his grasping acquisitiveness and his unrepining submission when compelled to
make restitution, for the indiscretions which involved
him in war, and the anxieties which led him, when at
war, to seek only for the means of obtaining peace.'
"Quant il avoit la guerre, il desi-... Sa complexion estoit telle, et
roit paix ou trefve: quand ii l'avoit, ainsi vivoit." Commines, tom. ii.
a grant peine la povoit il endurer. p. 273.




240        WAR OF TIHE PUBLIC WEAL.     [BOOK I.
Ever since his accession he had been indefatigable
in conciliating the good will of foreign powers, especially of those powers with which his father's relations
had been unfriendly or precarious. He had striven
hard for a peaceful and final settlement with England, and, notwithstanding the late ominous change of
dynasty in that country, and the counter influences
at work, had at least succeeded in getting the truce
extended. He had hastened to close a long existing
breach between the French government and the
pope, by rescinding the Pragmatic Sanction established by Charles the Seventh as a security for his
own independence and the liberties of the Gallican
Church. He had stepped forward, as the friend of
both parties, to mediate between the sovereigns of
Castile and Aragon - not, however, without deriving
some profit from their embroilment. He had, in like
manner, tendered his mediation in the affairs of
Savoy, with the advantageous results already noticed.
He had formed a strict and cordial alliance with
Francis Sforza, duke of Milan - a congenial spirit,
the most despotic and the most politic of the Italian
princes; and he was on terms of almost equal amity
with the Venetian oligarchy, more despotic and more
politic than any prince. But there was one power
with which Louis had concluded no treaty, whose
friendship he had not courted, whose enmity he had
seemed to disregard. And this power was France.
Not France as a unit, as a nation or a people, — for
in this sense its existence was theoretical rather than
real, - but France as it actually existed, divided into




CHAP. v.]      CAUSES OF THE REVOLT.             241
many bodies, represented by many heads; the France
that was not French, but Gascon, Breton, Burgundian,
nay English and anti-French when occasion suited.
How was it possible that this France should regard
the king otherwise than as a foe? What need of
any king where there were so many princes, each
competent to govern his own dominions, each paramount in fact, if not in name, with his own vassals?2
Or, if there were some mysterious attributes of royalty not possible to be dispensed with, these could all
be exercised by a crowned puppet, made to move
and speak at the dictation of the real sovereigns.
As for the present king, not content with usurping
the reality of power, he made a scoff of those emblematical functions which shadowed forth the divinity
of the regal character. Instead of surrounding himself with the magnates of his realm, and acting by
their counsel and through their agency, he shunned
their society, dispensed with all external splendor,
courted obscurity, chose his companions and ministers
among the low-born, and watched the proceedings
of his vassals with the prying eyes of a spy or with
the mocking air of a railleur.  Grievous as had been
his encroachments, it was by his innovations — by
his deviations from established usage, and his visible
want of reverence for the forms, the customs, the
distinctions of rank, which gave to the whole fabric
2 The real aim of the feudal that he loved France so well as to
princes, in this reign, to subvert the wish to give it six kings in place of
monarchy, is plainly intimated in the one.
sarcastic remark of Charles the Bold,
VOL. I.      31




242              WAR  OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.                   [BOOK I.
of society  its harmony  and  C order" —  that he  had
brought this storm upon his head.
Accordingly, in their manifestoes, the confederates, haughtily repelling the charge that their enterprise was unlawful, that they were stirring up a'" rebellion," declared it to be the bounden duty and
solemn obligation of the great feudatories and princes
of the blood to see that the realm was properly governed, and to correct whatever was amiss. They
called upon " all virtuous men" to assist them in
this laudable undertaking.3 It was no private cause
for which they were prepared to L"imperil life and
land," but that of the " Public Weal."   " Order" was
to  be reestablished; the  unworthy persons who had
crept into office, poisoning the fountain of honor and
vitiating the healthful action of its streams, were
to be removed and punished; the taxes were to be
abolished,4  and "C the  poor, oppressed people " set free
from  its intolerable burdens.5   Moreover, there was a
3 " Pour ce que a mectre et don-  l'Hist. de France, M6langes, tom. ii.
ner ordre a l'estat, police et gouverne-  p. 317.
ment dudit royaulme, les princes et    4 " Saches le bon vouloiretla sainte
seigneurs du sang, comme membres  intencion que mondit seigneur de
principaulx de la couronne et par le  Berry a au bien du royaume et i
conseil desquelz et non d'autres se  abatre toutes gabelles, imposicions,
doivent traictier, conduire et consul- mangeries et autres charges indeues
ter les grands et principaulx affaires  du pouvre peuple." Lettre de Guildu roy et dudit royaulme, peuvent laume Hugonet aux ceux d'Amiens,
et sont tenuz eulx emploier et expo- Ibid., p. 307.
ser leurs personnes et leurs biens; et    6 See the manifesto of the duke
en ce tous hommes vertueux les peu-  of Berri, that of the count of Charoent et doivent servir, aydier et con- lais, and other documents of the like
forter, selon bonne coustume et rai- nature, in Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 438, et
son, sans reprehencion quelconque."  al., and Doc. In'd., Melanges, tom.
Lettre du comte de Charolais aux  ii. p. 297, et seq.
habitants d'Amiens, Doc. Ined. sur




CHAP. V.]    CAUSES OF THE REVOLT.           243
private understanding, or contemplated arrangement,
among the leaders of the revolution, that a regency
should be created, as a means of keeping under restraint the eccentric propensities of the sovereign, and
that the post of constable of France, left vacant since
the death of the count of Richemont, who in the
earlier days of Charles the Seventh had long held that
monarch in leading strings, should be suitably filled.6
Supposing Louis to possess the patience and meekness of his beatified ancestor Saint Louis, these virtues
must be sorely tried if such a scheme went into operation. Yet there seemed to be little chance of his
eluding the net prepared for him. The summons of
the princes was joyfully responded to by the whole
of the lesser nobility, a class corresponding in rank
to the country gentlemen of England. This class
had a real grievance to allege -greater than was
endured by any other in the kingdom, the greatest
that human beings are ever called upon to endure.
They were suffering from enmi, the consequence of
the king's prohibition of the chase. Their occupation
was gone; and they had long sat in enforced idleness, looking with half-vacant, half-wistful gaze on the
road that led to Paris - the residence of the king
and of the court, where, in a natural state of things,
they might revolve as satellites around the great
central luminary, whose beams were now obscured
or shed only on clods incapable of reflecting its
light. In no other capital in the world were there
6 Interrogatoire du Seigneur de Crevecoeur, Doc. Inded., Melanges,
tom. ii. p. 352.




244              WAR  OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.                   [BooK I.
so many honorable and lucrative offices in the gift
of the crown. For one of these a man might be
content to exchange the isolated grandeur, the solitary and now silent life of the chacteatu. Should the
duties prove irksome, or demand acquirements more
extensive than befitted a person of high descent,
they could be performed by deputy, or the place
might be disposed of for a sum sufficient to yield
an  annuity hardly inferior in  amount to the salary.7
Besides offices, there was, or should be, an unlimited pension fund at the royal disposal. For what
purpose were the taille and  the gabelle levied  on  the
villain  burghers, if  the  nobles  derived  no  benefit
from these exactions? The noble was the king's
soldier, bound to obey his summons to the field and
to  defend  him  against his enemies.   But, unless his
pension were regularly paid, he was unable even to
keep his arms and equipments in proper condition.
He was loyally desirous, in the present crisis, to fight
7 Concerning the immense num-  offices not strictly political should be
ber of offices and office hunters, the  held not at the pleasure of the crown,
sale of places, and the rapid for- but "on good behavior."  To the
tunes accumulated by the holders, neglect of this fundamental principle
- through the largeness not of the  of a well organized state, more than
salaries, but of the irregular perqui- to any other predisposing  cause,
sites, and the common facilities for may be ascribed the difficulties and
extortion,- consult Basin, tom. ii. perils which the great American recap. 2, 6, 7, and Commines, tom. i. public - so fortunate in its exemnp. 65. It was, perhaps, as much to  tion from  all external sources of
avoid being pestered with solicita-  embarrassment -has had to encountions as from a perception of the  ter. "Je parle de ces offices et aucgreater evils attendant on a system  toritez," remarks the sagacious Comof frequent removals, that Louis  mines, "pour ce qu'ilz font desirer
XI. laid down a rule, though with- mutations, et aussi sont cause d'iout always abiding by it, that all celles."




CHAP. v.]   GENERAL ARMING OF THE NOBLES.              245
on the king's side; but the very suit of armor which
he had intended to purchase for the occasion - only
waiting till he should receive the arrears of his pension-had been bought in the mean while by another
person, - his own brother, in fact, - who had gone
off to join the count of Charolais.8
Such being the situation and the feelings of the
mass of the nobility, no wonder that the appeals of
the confederate princes roused a universal echo, and
that a joyous bustle now filled every courtyard and
moated tower from the rock-bound coast of Brittany
to the sunny plains of Provence. The war-steed —
or, in default of an animal deserving of that name,
the hackney or the plough-horse — was harnessed
for battle.9   The  steel casque  and  cuirass were
taken down from the walls where they had rusted
since the expulsion of the English. A new generation was to wear them. Yet some of the survivors
of the English wars, some of the veteran chiefs of the
Ecorcheutrs, displayed as much alacrity and mettle as
thlose to whom their exploits had first become familiar
in the tales and ballads of the nursery.  Old Dunois,
the famous Bastard of Orleans, who had fought by
the side of Joan of Arc, forgot his gout, as likewise
8 See the letter - highly charac-   9 The sudden rise in the price of
teristic of the sentiments and conduct horses, and the difficulty, amountof the class to which the writer be- ing almost to impossibility, of prolonged - containing the excuses of curing any fit for the field, are noJean d'Arly, a nobleman of Picar- ticed in letters of the time as well as
dy, for not joining the royal stand- by the chroniclers. See, for examard when called upon. Doc. Ined., pie, a letter in the Doc. Ined., MeMelanges, tom. ii. p. 290.    langes, tom. ii. pp. 241, 242.




246          WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.            [Boox I.
a mission which he had undertaken at the king's
request, and went off to join Loheac, Sancerre, and
others of his former companions-in-arms, in Brittany.
A murmur of the distant war-cry reached the chamber in the Bastille where the count of Dammartin
was expiating his imprudence in having decided to
remain in France and claim an impartial verdict from
the royal " justice " —" grace" being, in his case,
something not to be hoped for. Stimulated by the
cheering sound, he contrived to cut a hole in the
thick wall of the tower in which he was confined,
and, escaping into Brittany, received there the welcome due to the ablest and most experienced soldier
of the time.10
There could be no better proof of the general and
instinctive perception that-the real question at issue
was -the existence of feudalism as a rival power to
monarchical authority, than the abandonment of the
royal cause by all who had any interest in the maintenance of feudal independence.  It was not merely
by those whom he had injured, or by those whom he
had slighted, that Louis found himself attacked. He
was deserted or betrayed by such as he had favored
and caressed. In his hostile policy towards his great
vassals he had made an exception in favor of the
Armagnacs, the ancient enemies of the house of
10 " Trouva et feit un troue en ung and demand for "justice," are redes murs de la tour," says Duclercq, counted in the Cabinet de Louis XI.,
(tom. iv. p. 111,) who adds other in the Chronique sur Dammartin,
particulars of his escape. His pre- and in documents printed by Godevious vicissitudes, sudden appear- froy and by Lenglet.
ance before the king at Bordeaux,




CHAP. v.]  INFIDELITY OF THE KING'S FRIENDS.        247
Burgundy. The head of this family, Count John,
whose infambus life was the scandal of Christendom,1
had not only obtained a remission of the sentence of
banishment and confiscation pronounced against him
in the last reign, but had received such tokens of the
royal regard as formed a contrast to the treatment
experienced by persons of a different character. His
brother, too, had been created duke of Nemours, and
stood so high in the confidence of Louis that he was
even designated as'c the favorite."12  Was it possible
that these men had secretly joined the alliance against
the king? Hearing a rumor to that effect, he sent
them a summons to join him, with their levies, in the
Bourbonnais, where the standard of revolt was first
unfurled. They obeyed the call, and, on their arrival,
gave their aid to the enemy.
The course pursued by the count of Nevers was
hardly less extraordinary. He was bound to a strenuous support of the king, and to a strenuous resistance to the most resolute of the king's opponents,
not only by the tie of gratitude, but by the stronger
tie of a common enmity. Yet, notwithstanding that
no overtures were made to him by the count of Charolais,-notwithstanding that his own overtures were
scornfully rejected, —at the moment when he was
soliciting money and supplies to enable him to put
11 Among other instances of his  12 He is called the "mignon de
villany and brazen effrontery was his roy Loys " in the letter of Sir Robert
request for a papal dispensation to Neville's previously cited. The king's
enable him to marry his own sister, early partiality for the Armagnacs
with whom he lived in notorious had its origin in the obscure divisions
concubinage.                 and intrigues of his father's court.




248            WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.              [BOOK I.
the fortresses in Picardy in a state of defence, he was
endeavoring, by abject entreaties and through circuitous channels, to obtain from his implacable kinsman
permission to desert to his standard.3
The house of Anjou, the eldest collateral branch
of the royal family, was in precisely the same situation as the house of Burgundy. Good King Rend
had as little relish for civil war as the good Duke
Philip. But he too had an only son whose temper
was ardent and stern, and who was personally hostile
to the French monarch. John of Calabria, as he was
called from his claim to the Neapolitan duchy of that
name, had the restless and dauntless spirit that distinguished his sister Margaret, the exiled queen of
England. His life, like that of Margaret, was wasted
in stormy but fruitless efforts for the recovery of a
lost kingdom. He had applied to Louis to assist him
in an attempt to get possession of the inheritance
bequeathed to his father by Joanna of Naples; but,
instead of receiving any aid from that quarter, he
had reason to suspect that his plans had been foiled
through information secretly furnished to his rival
by the French court.  He now eagerly embraced the
opportunity for vengeance; and, being the idol of
the Provencal nobility,14 he found no difficulty in'3 Nevers could plead, however, and goodfaith. SeetheDoc. Ined.,
by way of excuse, the general disaf- Mdlanges, tom. ii. pp. 257, 301, et
fection of the nobles of Picardy and al.; Duclercq, tom. iv. pp. 142-146.
the Nivernais, and the flight even   ]4 44 Ilz ont monseigneur de Calaof the members of his household -  bre comme leur Dieu." Lettre de
unless, indeed, these were partly con- Pierre Gruel au Roi, Doec. Ined.,
sequences of his own lack of loyalty Melanges, tom. ii. p. 382.




CHAr. V.]     ISOLATION OF LOUIS.            249
setting aside the pacific policy of Ren6, and enrolling
the vassals of his house in this general gathering of
feudal France.
Thus, at the moment when the contest was about
to commence, the chances of Louis were already desperate. The kingdom was in arms against the king.
The provinces had risen against the capital. The
supporters of the monarchy had combined to overthrow the monarchy. The royal family had determined on the extinction of royalty. The sovereign
stood alone; alone, for of the few who remained
around him not one was to be trusted; alone, for
those who should have made common cause with
him —the inhabitants of the towns, all seeking to
emancipate themselves from the feudal yoke and
to obtain a closer connection with the crown
chose to assume the attitude of passive and indifferent spectators."5
The towns on the Somme had an especial interest
in the quarrel. They had concurred joyfully in the
late transfer of their allegiance to the king, who, to
strengthen their fidelity, had exempted them from
the payment of the laille, and even reduced the imposts which had been levied upon them by the duke
of Burgundy. It was impossible that they should
be deluded by the pretexts and promises of the
confederates. These, as Louis reminded his people,
were the shallow and stale devices employed on
15 ", Sembloient bien," says Com- tassent qui seroit le plus fort ou le
mines, (tom. i. p. 21,) " qu'ilz escou- Roy ou les seigneurs."
VOL. I.    32




250             WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.                   [BOOx I.
many former occasions for convulsing the realm and
spreading calamities and horrors of which the recollection was still fresh, of which the bloody imprint
had  not yet been  erased.l6    The  nobles  had  proclaimed their intention to abolish the taxes.  In the
same breath they had complained that their pensions
were unpaid. How were they to be satisfied on this
latter point without augmenting the burdens they
were so anxious to remove? No one could complain
that the king had appropriated the revenues of the
crown to his personal gratifications. They had been
expended in providing for the ordinary necessities
of the state, in maintaining forces for its protection,
and in redeeming territory which had been alienated
in the preceding reign. What remained had been
distributed among the nobles. The king himself had
lived like a pauper, while, as he proudly averred,
he had toiled more diligently for the benefit of his
people than any monarch of France since Charlemagne.l7
What prevented his appeals from producing their
due effect with  the towns on  the  Somme was the
16 ", Es autres divisions passees il s'en ensuivist la destruction de la
qui ont est6 en ce royaume, tant du  pluspart du royaume,... maux intemps du roy de Navarre, des Mai- finis et innumerables, dont tout le
llez, et de ce qui fut dit et seme par royaume se sent encore et sentira
avant l'an MCCCCXVIII, ceulx qui d'uy a cent ans." Avertissement du
susciterent et meirent sus lesdites  Roy aux Villes d'Auvergne, Doc.
divisions, faisoient telles faulses se- Ined., Melanges, tom. ii. p. 214.
mances et remonstrances pour atraire   17 See various letters and proclale peuple a eulx, qui depuis s'en  mations in the Doc. Ined., ubi supra,
trouva ddceu. Car, ainsi que les et al.; Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 124, et
choses sont assez notoires et connues  seq.; Lenglet, tom. ii. pp. 445-452.
a plusieurs qui les ont veues a l'ueil,




CHAP. V.]  NEUTRALITY OF THE TOWNS.        251
dilapidated state of the fortifications, the want of
garrisons sufficient even to head the resistance, above
all the temporizing and disloyal conduct of the king's
lieutenant. The confederates, on their part, cautiously
abstained from every act that might have provoked
the people to take up arms. Plunder was not permitted to the troops; the traveller was unmolested; the
merchant's bales were as safe on the high road as in
time of peace; supplies were paid for with a scrupulous exactness hitherto unknown in war. Thus, while
a struggle involving the very existence of the French
nation was going on in the heart of the kingdom, the
towns were enabled to maintain a strict neutrality,
and to shut out the destructive element which had
smitten them so terribly in former struggles of the
like nature. The thunder-cloud passed harmlessly
over, to discharge its bolt upon the head of Louis.
It was for him to protect himself as he could.
He had formed originally a bold though simple
plan for encountering his enemies in detail.  His
forces consisted chiefly of the small regular army
first established by his father, and of the feudal levies
of Dauphine' and Savoy. Retaining under his own
command the greater portion of these troops, he had
hastened southward to attack the duke of Bourbon,
- who had imprudently commenced the war before
his allies were on the march, — hoping, as there
were few fortified places in the province, to overrun
it, and crush the rebellion in a few weeks. In the
mean time he expected the count of Maine, a member of the house of Anjou, brother of Rene, to hold




252        WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.       [BOOI  I.
the Bretons in check; while Nevers, in like manner,
was to obstruct the advance of the Burgundian army
through Picardy until the king could go thither in
person. The celerity of his movements and the vigor
of his attack would have ensured the success of this
plan, in spite of the coldness and secret disaffection
of Nevers and Maine, had it not been for the desertion of the Armagnacs. He had struck the halfdrawn sword from the weak hand of his opponent,
when he found himself obliged to turn against his
treacherous friends. The time thus lost rendered his
designs abortive. The count of Maine had no intention of fighting. The part he aspired to play was
that of a mediator. Himself a prince of the blood,
his only desire was to find a means of reconciling
the unhappy differences between the members of the
royal family - in other words, of disarming the king
and placing him at the mercy of his enemies. He
retired before the forces opposed to him; the count
of Charolais encountered as little resistance from
Nevers; and thus from the west and north two
armies were about to effect a junction under the
walls of the capital. If they gained an entrance,
the crown of France was lost to Louis. He must fly
the kingdom. Within it there would be left to him
no hope of succor, no possible chance of obtaining
shelter from his triumphant and rancorous foes.
He had been recently seized with an extraordinary
affection for his fair city of Paris. He had declared,
with truth, that all his hopes centred in the loyalty
of its inhabitants. He was about to send his queen




CHAP. V.]    TIHE KING'S AFFECTION FOR PARIS.                253
to reside with them  -  to be protected by them, to be
carefully watched and attended in her time of need.l?
For he took this opportunity of announcing that she
was pregnant. Whether her expected child would
prove a son, —whether the duke of Berri would long
continue to hold the position of heir-presumptive,
was a matter which Louis was content to leave to
the decision of Heaven -of his patrons the Blessed
Virgin and Saint Francis.19
He was not ignorant, however, that he had many
cold friends, the allies many secret adherents, in
the capital. He had kept a jealous eye upon it while
engaged in active operations in the centre of the
kingdom; and, when informed that hostile armies
were fast approaching, he patched up an armistice
with the Armagnacs, leaving the account between
them to be settled on a future occasion, and once
more turned his face northward.
The forces under the count of Charolais consisted of
fourteen hundred men-at-arms, with their customary
is " Leur mandoit qu'il leur en- de porter des enfans, et est a present
voyeroit la Royne pour accoucher a  enseincte d'enfant, [a slight miscalParis, comme a Ville du monde que  culation, since her next child was not
plus il aimoit." De Troyes, in Len- born till more than two years afterglet, tom. ii. p. 21.             wards,] et de ce qui surviendra en
19 c Le Roy sqait bien que mondit ce cas, le Roy le remet en la disposieur de Berry est son seul frere,... sition de notredit Seigneur, et apres
et au regard d'estre heritier presomp- h Notre-Dame et Saint Frangois."
tif du Roy, le Roy ne dit oncques Responces faites par le Roy aux Arne fit chose dont il eut cause de soy  tides touchant ce qui avoit este pourdouloir,... mais la mercy Dieu, le parle entre le Roy de Sicile et MonRoy est encore jeune et vertueux, et sieur le Duc de Berry et autres,
la Reine est en estat de disposition  Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 449.




254         VWAR OF THIE PUBLIC WEAL.        [BOOK I.
attendants, and eight thousand archers, besides many
pieces of artillery, such as were then in common use,
-" bombards," "veuglaires," "serpentines," &c., —
machines which made a direful noise, and were capable also of doing considerable mischief, sometimes to
an enemy, more often, in the present campaign, to the
inexpert artillerymen. Only a portion of the feudal
levies of the Netherlands were comprised in this array.
The leaders of the expedition - Charles himself, the
count of Saint-Pol, the Sire de Ravenstein, and others
-had sent out invitations to the nobles, requesting
them to assemble at the place of muster with their
friends and dependants. There had been no lack of
zeal; but there was a great deficiency of horses and
of proper arms and accoutrements. Of those who
responded to the summons the larger number were
dismissed as too ill equipped for service.20 Few of
those who remained had had any experience of war.
All, perhaps, were accustomed to the use of weapons;
but they had not been trained to act in concert, or
to obey the voice of their commander in actual conflict. They had been brought together and prepared
for service "in an instant."2' Loans and donatives had
been obtained from wealthy burghers, in anticipation
of a grant from  the estates; the artillery had been
taken from the arsenal of Lille; the cities had furnished tents, and a multitude of wagons not only for
20 "c Quant la monstre fut faicte,  21 "Ceste armee estant preste,
ii y eut plus d faire a les renvoyer qui fut tout d ung instant." Idem,
que a les appeller." Commines, p. 20.
tom. i. p. 19.




CHAP. v.]  MARCH OF THE BURGUNDIAN ARMY.    255
the conveyance of the baggage, but to enclose the
encampment and serve as a defence; and on the
15th of May, less than a month after the note of
war had first been sounded, the army began its
march.
Saint-Pol commanded the vanguard; Ravenstein,
the battle or main corps; Antony, called the Great
Bastard of Burgundy, the rearguard.  The count
of Charolais accompanied Saint-Pol. In his train
were the duke of Somerset, the earl of Buchan, and
other foreigners of rank, besides several old captains, on whose judgment he could rely, but whose
voices were too often drowned by those of the
ignorant and clamorous multitude.  Unfuirling its
gorgeous banners of silk and embroidered gold, on
which were displayed the cross of Saint Andrew
and the devices of the different chiefs, the army,
amounting in the whole to fourteen thousand combatants, all on horseback, crossed the frontier of
Picardy. No enemy appeared to dispute their advance. They took up their quarters in the villages
and smaller towns along the route; dined and supped
like peaceful travellers, paying for whatever they consumed; but maintained always a careful look-out, and
were excited and alert whenever the scouts announced
a distant cloud of dust, or the sentinels cried an alarm
as a party of friendly nobles rode into the camp. In
the neighborhood of Peronne a body of troops were
seen stationed in observation.  These were a few
hundred lances under Joachim de Rouault, marshal
of France, accompanied by Nevers. They speedily




256            WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.               [BOOR I.
disappeared - Nevers returning -into the town, and
the marshal with his men retreating in the direction
of Paris. Occasionally a small party of cavaliers
quitted the line of march, and went off in quest of
adventure, riding up to the walls of a town, and
demanding, in the formal phrase of chivalry, whether
there were within any man of gentle birth who desired to break a lance for his lady's sake.22  But it
was seldom that their ardor for emprise was gratified.
The towns, weakly fortified, deserted by the nobility,
faintly encouraged to resistance by Nevers, and
abandoned by the small force which Louis had been
able to spare for their defence, judged it imprudent
to treat as foes men whose demands were so moderate, and who, after a brief parley, brought up their
serpentines and  pointed them  at the walls.   The
castle of Beaulieu stood a week's siege, but yielded
before the assault. In this easy warfare the month
of June was passed; and on the 5th of July, the appointed day, Charles arrived at Saint-Denis, two
leagues north of Paris, and the place of general rendezvous.23
His allies, more dilatory in their movements, had
not yet made their appearance.  He was not eveh
22 "d Arrivez devant la ville, prin- des Bibliophiles Belges,) tom. i. p.
drent un villageois et luy donnant 20.
quelque argent, l'envoybrent dedans   23 Haynin, tom. i. pp. 15-22. —
Noyon,... dire que s'il y avoit Commines, tom. i. p. 21. —Duclercq,
quelque homme d'arme qui eut en- tom. iv. pp. 147-154.-Extrait d'une
vie de rompre une lance pour sa ancienne Chronique, Lenglet, tom. ii.
dame, qu'il sortist, et qu'il seroit p. 183.- Lettre du comte de Chafourny."  Memoires du Sire de rolais, Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom. ii.
Haynin, (Publications de la Societe pp. 194-196.




CHAP. V.]   THE BURGUNDIANS BEFORE PARIS.        257
reenforced, as he had expected to be, by the lances
of the two Burgundies.  But these disappointments,
instead of damping the enthusiasm  of his followers,
served only to inflame their desire for glory. Why
should not Paris follow the example of other towns,
and, without waiting for the summons of the duke
of Berri, open its gates to the grandson of John the
Fearless, the son of Philip the Good, the representative of a line of princes not less popular in the capital of France than in their own dominions, and
regarded by the mass of the citizens as the champions of popular liberty? The garrison was small,
comprising merely the same troops that had fled
before the army on its march.  Such a force would
avail nothing against the general sentiment of the
inhabitants.  In assured confidence as to the issue,
and with valor corresponding to their hopes, the Burgundian cavaliers advanced towards the outer barrier,
driving before them Rouault and a party of his menat-arms, who had come out to reconnoitre.
However, the walls did not fall down before them;
and they were fain to have recourse to their bombards and serpentines, which produced s" a fine hurlyburly," and even occasioned some casualties, but
without any decisive result.24  Their friends within
did their best to assist them by running wildly
through the streets and crying out that the enemy
had broken in —hoping, by this artful stroke, to cause
24," Lors y eut beau hurtilibus de aucuns de tuez et navrez." De
canons, vulgaires, serpentines, coul- Troyes, Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 25.
verines, et autre traict, dont y eut
VOL. I.    33




258            WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.              [BOOK I.
confusion and frighten the opposite party into submission.   Rouault, however, kept the  gates closed,
and would not even permit an answer to be given
to  the  summons sent by  the  count of Charolais,
who asked merely to be admitted as the lieutenant
of the duke of Berri, and to be supplied with necessaries at fair rates of payment. At this rebuff the
valiant Burgundians, by their own confession, were
greatly astonished and dismayed.25 They caracoled
for five or six hours in front of the walls, by way of
provoking the men-at-arms to come out and skirmish;
but the royalist cavaliers contented themselves with
viewing this exhibition from the ramparts. It was
the opinion of the more experienced chiefs that the
place was not too strong to be carried by a sudden
assault. An entrance gained, the garrison would
easily be overpowered; and the people, even if unfriendly, would count for nothing in a struggle of this
kind. But the risk was too great. The attempt might
fail; and the citizens, alarmed for the safety of their
property and lives, would be roused into decided hostility, and be ready to turn a deaf ear to the proposals
of the confederates when an opportunity had arisen
for negotiation. The war must be carried on in the
25 "Dont plusieurs des nostres lois." Haynin, tom. i. p. 23. -" A
furent esbahis, car l'on pensoit que mondit seigneur trouv6 ceulx de
quancl ceux de Paris verroient la Paris tout aultres que l'en ne cuipuissance du comte de Charrolois, doit; dont il n'est pas bien content... qu'ils ne deussent oser tenir, sur eulx." Lettre d'un officier du
ains incontinent soy rendre a l'obe- comte de Charolais au Bailli d'Auissance dudict due de Berry, et de xerre, Doe. Ined., Mdlanges, tom. ii.
son lieutenant le comte de Charro- p. 350.




CHAP. V.]    COUNCIL AT SAINT-DENIS.           259
name of the Public Weal, for the benefit of the people,
against a single foe - the king. If Louis should be
defeated, the capital would not fail to give admittance to the victors.26
Governed by these considerations, the count of
Charolais returned to Saint-Denis, and consulted with
his principal officers as to the best course to pursue.
The debate, however, was not confined to the councilchamber of the leader; it was carried on by the whole
army, and with a fair prospect of arriving at unanimity of opinion. The cry became loud and general
that it was time to return home. These gallant
gentlemen considered that they had done enough.
Had they not crossed two rivers, the Oise and the
Marne, waved their defiant lances under the stronghold of the foe, taunting him to come forth and do
battle, and so discharged their duty as men of honor
and approved good knights? Their commander, too,
had kept faith with his allies; it was for them  to
bear the penalty of their slackness. What he ought
now to reflect upon was the situation of his own
army, fifty leagues from the frontier of his father's
provinces, with many fortified places in its rear —
places, for the most part, which had not received
garrisons, and which had given no stronger pledge
of their pacific intentions than a promise of neutrality extorted from their fears or granted by their
apathy. Let the Burgundian forces be defeated and
compelled to retreat, and the real value of this
26 Commines, tom. i. pp. 22, 23. - Basin, tom. ii. pp. 116, 117. - Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 155.




260          WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.           [BOOX I.
agreement would speedily become apparent.27   To
remonstrances such as these Charles had nothing to
oppose save his own stubborn resolution.  "'I have
crossed the Oise and the Marne," he said; "and I
will cross the Seine, though I should have but a
single page for my escort."28
In fact the army was not in so forlorn or desperate
a position as it imagined. Paris, it is true, was not
yet ready to surrender. The impatience of the count
of Charolais would not have suffered him, even had
it been politic, to remain longer at Saint-Denis. But
the original combinations were far fromn having failed.
The junction of the confederates could as well be
effected at some point south of the capital as on the
north.  In that direction, indeed, -since Paris had
given the Burgundians a reception so different from
what had been anticipated, — lay the real field of
their operations. The king was now returning, by
forced marches, from the Bourbonnais. On his right
the marshal of Burgundy and the duke of Calabria,
on his left the dukes of Brittany and Berri, were
marching from opposite quarters to the same common
destination.   The duke of Bourbon and the Armagnacs might be expected to hang upon his rear.
To get between him  and the capital, -to cut him
off from his only place of refuge, his only chance of
succor; to drive him  back upon the foes gathering
27 Haynin, tom. i. p. 25. - Com- s'ils ne le vouloient suivre, ii ne le
mines, tom. i. p. 23.      laisseroit pour eulx, voires deust-il
28 "4 Conclud et dict a ses gens qu'il passer avec ung seul page."  Haypasseroit la riviere de Seyne, et que nin, tom. i. p. 26.




CIAP. V.]      MARCH TO MONTLIIERY.               261
on every side, or to complete his discomfiture without
their assistance, — was the clear duty, as well as the
ardent desire, of the Burgundian chief.29
Having crossed the Seine at Saint-Cloud, where he
posted a strong detachment to secure the transmission of a supply of money which he expected from
the Netherlands, and of which he stood in urgent
need, Charles marched towards the south, leaving
Paris at first on his left flank, and afterwards in his
rear, and on the 15th of July arrived at Longjumeau.
The Bretons, with whom he was now in communication, were approaching from the west, and he was
entreated to change his course for the purpose of
meeting them. But he had positive information that
Louis was rapidly advancing; and he determined,
therefore, to take up a position commanding the
approaches to the capital, and to give battle, if necessary or feasible, without waiting for his allies. On the
same evening the scouts got sight of a small troop
of horsemen beyond Montlhery, a village three miles
south of Longjumleau, and already occupied by the
Burgundian vanguard under the count of Saint-Pol.
That chief had quartered his troops in the village,
notwithstanding that the neighboring eminence, from
which it derived its name, was crowned by a castle in
possession of a royal garrison-  having entered into
29 Lettre du marechal de Ga- Lettre d'un officier du comte de
maches au Chancellier; Lettre du Charolais au Bailli d'Auxerre, ]Doc.
comte de Charolais au Due de Bour- Indd., Ml1anges, tom. ii. pp. 346gogne; Mandement du comte de 351. - Commines, tom. i. pp. 23Charolais aux gens de sa maison; 26.




262         WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.         [BOOK I.
an agreement with the commandant that no hostilities should be offered on either side. Hearing, however, of the enemy's approach, of which he gave
immediate notice to Charles, Saint-Pol withdrew at
midnight to the open ground on the north, on the
left hand of the road from Paris, having a forest half
a league off in his rear, Montlhery being at about
the same distance in front.30
The night was short and sultry. Many of the Burgundian cavaliers, too excited for slumber, spent the
few remaining hours of darkness in pacing to and
fro; while others, still more eager and alert, kept
their saddles, ready to charge whenever the signal
should be given.3' With the first gleams of light all
were in motion. The count of Charolais arrived at
seven o'clock with the main body of the army, and
took post on the right of the road, thus prolonging
the line which had been already formed. The wagons, as usual, were ranged in front; and immediately
behind this entrenchment were stationed the archers
on foot, who were also provided with short stakes,
after the manner of the English, to enable them, in
case of need, to raise a temporary defence against
the onset of cavalry. The men-at-arms remained in
the rear; but a great number of cavaliers dismounted
and mingled in the ranks of the archers, both as the
more dangerous and honorable post, and with the
purpose of inciting the courage of the men by their
presence and example.
30 Haynin, tom. i. pp. 27, 28.- Commines, tom. i. p. 27.- Duclercq,
tom. iv. pp. 160, 161.    31 Haynin, tom. i. p. 28.




CHAP. V.]    BATTLE OF MONTLIIHRY.         263
The royal army was now seen filing from the
wooded heights on the south, and forming in line
behind a hedge, very high and thick, which traversed
the slopes of the hill. A body of troops was also
pushed forward to occupy the village, but the count
of Charolais sent out a party to dislodge them, and
after a sharp skirmish, the Burgundians having succeeded in setting fire to several of the houses, the
flames, which were driven towards the enemy, compelled him to retreat. No attempt was made to
folfow up this advantage. Each army had chosen a
position where it could remain on the defensive, and
each waited for the other to open the attack. A few
serpentines were discharged from time to times but
without any great damage to either party.
Clearly it behoved Louis to commence the battle.
A long delay must be fatal to him; for the Burgundians might soon expect to be reinforced by their
allies, if, indeed, these latter, advancing from different
quarters, did not fall upon his flanks and rear. The
object of his march was to throw himself into the
capital, and fix its wavering allegiance: he had failed
to accomplish this design before the arrival of the
Burgundians; and it only remained, therefore, that
he should fight his way through. Yet his situation
was an embarrassing one. His march had been so
rapid that most of his archers and other infantry
were still far behind. His men-at-arms, though better
trained and better equipped than those of the enemy,
were inferior in numbers; and, what was far worse,
with the exception of those under his immediate




264            WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.               [BooI I.
command, he could place no reliance on their fidelity,
or at least on that of their leaders. The count of
Maine, indeed, no sooner received the king's orders
to prepare for battle than he declared that he was
not there for the purpose of fighting against his
cousin of Charolais and  the other members of his
family, but in the hope of restoring peace and amity
between them and the king. Since the latter had
rejected his counsel and was determined to give battle, the count must now  bid him  adieu.  With this
remark he quitted the field, carrying with him the
lances under his command.32
Louis had still less right to count upon the loyalty
of Breze, the seneschal of Normandy, who led the
vanguard of the royal army. Although he had restored this old and distinguished servant of the crown
to the possession of his hereditary dignities, he bore
him  little love, and had treated him with an habitual
lack of confidence. Yet, with an instinctive perception of his honesty of character, he now besought
him to say frankly whether he had not pledged his
faith to the confederates.'"Ay, truly," replied the
seneschal, with his accustomed irony, Cc they have my
seal; but you have my body, and to-day at least it
shall remain with you"33- a promise only partially
32,, I1 luy dit,' Monseigneur, j'e- je m'en vois, adieu vous dis.' Et
tois venu avec vous pour vous servir ainsi se partit avec toute sa compaet accompagner et moyonner quelque gnie." Haynin, tom. i. p. 33.
bon accord entre vous et vostre beau   33 "c Sire, il est vray qu'ils ont
cousin de Charolais et autres princes mon siel par de la, mais aujoud'hui
de nostre sang, et non point pour les vous aurez et le coeur et le corp."
vouloir combattre, et puis qu'il vous Idem, tom. i. p. 39. - " Luy demanplaist faire ainsi, et non autrement, da et luy prioit moult fort qu'il luy




CIIAP. V.]      BATTLE OF MONTLHERY.                 265
fulfilled, for after the action the lifeless body remained with the enemy.
Several hours had now passed without any further
hostilities than. an occasional and almost harmless
exchange of cannon shots. It was high noon; the
weather, in the expressive phrase of one who suffered
from it, was frightfully hot;34 and the Burgundian
troops had scarcely a tree to protect them from  the
sweltering rays of the sun. They had been under
arms since dawn, and most of them had not broken
their fast since the preceding day. It was not to be
expected that men who had but little acquaintance
with the first duties of the soldier should display that
equanimity under a galling inaction which is the
crowning virtue of the veteran. Their murmurs became loud; and Charles, riding through the ranks,
followed by a squire carrying his silken banner of
party black and violet half unfurled, strove to reanimate their drooping spirit. His own impatience, however, was probably as great as theirs; and, leaving
Ravenstein with a small force to guard the encampment, he ordered Saint-Pol to lead, and the other
divisions to support, the attack.
The space between the two armies was a vast open
field, waving with heavy crops of wheat and rye.
The passage was toilsome; and the archers, who led
the van, already jaded by hunger, thirst, and long
dist se ii avoit bailld son selle aux ainsi estoit il accoustume de parler."
princes.... A quoy ledict grant se- Commines, tom. i. p. 30.
neschal respondit que ouy; mais qu'il  34," Le susdit jour seizi6me, il faileur demourroit, et que le corps seroit soit hideuseiaent chaud." tHaynin,
sien: et le diet en gaudissant, car tom. i. p. 32.
VOL. I.     34




266          WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.          [BOOK I.
exposure to the heat,35 staggered forward in loose
array. They had been directed to halt twice during
the march; but this was not permitted by the impatient horsemen pressing on the rear. Soon a cry
arose that the enemy had begun to fly. In fact, the
advanced line of the French had turned and gallopped back to rejoin the main corps.  Then all
notions of order and discipline were at an end.
Each man thought only of being first in the pursuit.
The dismounted cavaliers hastened to regain their
saddles; and the whole body of the men-at-arms,
putting spurs to their horses, burst through the line
of infantry, trampling down and scattering the helpless mass, and advanced, not with the steady front of
martial valor, but with the tumult of a mob, towards
the ascent.36
The royalists, having filed through the openings
in the hedge, descended to meet the attack.  Having
but few archers, they were unable to receive their
assailants with the usual discharge of arrows. It was,
therefore, an equal match; and, with their bristling
spears in rest, the hostile forces rushed together amid
a blinding cloud of dust. The clang of steel along
the front proclaimed the vigor of the shock. But, as
the combat thickened, both armies were broken and
spread over the field in disordered battle or still more
disordered flight. The Burgundian left was at once
severed from the main body; and Saint-Pol, finding
35 "Nos gens estants en cette  36 Commines,tom.i. pp. 38, 39.longue attente se debilitoient de faim, Haynin, tom. i. pp. 34, 35.
de soif, et de soleil." Idem,tom.i.p.33.




CHAP. V.]      BATTLE OF MONTLHERY.               267
himself overmatched and in danger of being surrounded, retreated to the forest, where he remained
inactive, watching the distant eddies of the conflict,
and waiting vainly till they should again roll together
in a single current. The pursuers, meanwhile, wheeling round upon their left, penetrated the encampment,
slaughtered or dispersed its defenders, and captured
the artillery -a prize, however, soon abandoned for
the plunder of the wagons, many of them laden with
valuables belonging to the Flemish nobles.
In the centre, the count of Charolais and the
scanty force that still encircled his standard kept
their faces toward the hill, pressing back the masses
in their front, and staving off the bands of fugitives that drifted past their flanks. The slain were
many; no quarter was given;37 and he who went
down beneath the thrust of the lance or the stroke
of the battle-axe had little chance to rise again. But
those who fled far outnumbered those who fell. The
men of highest rank were among the first to escape.
The king saw himself at length abandoned by all save
his body-guard; and, at their persuasion, he retreated
up the mount, and took shelter in the castle until
the storm should have swept by.38
Charles had now a clear field; and, with slackened
rein, he continued the pursuit until he had left
Montlhery half a league behind. With a mere
37 ", Le grand courroux du comte 28. - Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 171.et de ses gens n'usoit de nulle pitie Theodoricus Pauli, De Cladibus Leny rangon." Haynin, tom. i. p. 38. odiensium, De Ram, Does. relatifs
38 De Troyes, Lenglet, tom. ii. p. aux troubles du pays de Li6ge, p. 183.




268         WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.       [BooKI I.
handful of followers he had given chase in one direction, while the greater portion of his army had fled
in the opposite direction.  His impetuosity would
have carried him into the midst of a numerous body
of the French, who had rallied a little further in advance, if the repeated remonstrances of his officers
had not induced him to stop. Making a circuit, he
returned on the other side of the hill, still putting to
flight such parties of the enemy as crossed his path.
As he passed beneath the castle he was surprised by
the appearance of the royal guard drawn up in
front of the gate. The men-at-arms, riding down,
charged his little troop with irresistible force. His
standard-bearer, Philippe d'Oignies, Sire de Bruay, and
several others, were slain on the spot. Charles himself received a deep sword-thrust in his neck, where
a part of his armor, which had been ill secured, had
fallen off. He was recognized by the French, who
called upon him to surrender; and, though he continued to defend himself with desperate valor, their
grasp was already upon him when two of his companions-one of them  a man of huge frame, and
mounted on a powerful horse - pushed in between
him and his assailants, and gave time for each party
to reform its raiks. A strong countercharge again
cleared the way; and the French retired as they
perceived a small body of troops upon the plain
advancing to the rescue.  It was the Bastard of
Burgundy, with the meagre remnant of the right
wing. His banner, torn to ribands but still firmly
clinched, showed that he at least had not been




CHAP. V.]       BATTLE OF MONTLHERY.                269
recreant to his old renown and the honor of his
house.39
Though bleeding profusely from  his wound, the
count of Charolais mounted a fresh horse, and rode
about the field to collect the scattered relics of his
army. In mild and persuasive language he appealed
to the men not to desert him in his hour of need, but
to rally round the standard of their prince.40 His situation was indeed a critical one. Less than a hundred
men remained together in the centre of the plain;
and those who had displayed conspicuous courage in
the thickest of the fray now surveyed with apprehension their scanty numbers and exposed position,
and were ready to take flight at the first gleam of
a hostile spear.
Saint-Pol and his men were at length seen coming
from the wood in close array, stopping from time to
time to pick up the lances which they had thrown
away in their retreat.  They paid no heed to the
urgent messages which were sent to them to quicken
their march. Having proved the ill effects of haste
and overweening confidence, they now displayed the
most admirable caution.  With these and other deserters, who returned in parties of a dozen or twenty,
Charles found himself, towards evening, surrounded
by a force of some eight hundred men-at-arms.
39 Commines, tom. i. pp. 40-43.-  ceux qu'il trouvoit qui se tiroient au
Haynin, tom. i. pp. 37, 38. —La- large:'Mes enfans et mes amys,
marche, tom. ii. p. 237. - Relation retournez avec moi, et ne me laissez
de la Bataille de Montlhdry, Lenglet, a cette heure,' et par telle douceur
tom. ii. pp. 484-486.        en fit plusieurs retourner." Haynin,
40 cc Allant aval le camp disoit a tom. i. p. 40.




270           WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.             [BOOK I.
But their temper was not such as allowed him to
renew the action. Having run away, they supposed,
naturally enough, that they had been defeated. Their
opponents, reasoning in their own case from the like
premises, had reached a similar conclusion. It had
been a rout on both sides - a rout without a pursuit,
a defeat without a victory. The roads were thronged
with fugitives, flying from  those who had gone with
equal precipitation in  other directions.41   As they
went they spread reports of their disasters: the king
was dead; the count of Charolais was a prisoner.
There was a royalist officer who never drew bridle
till he reached Lusignan, in Poitou; a Flemish cavalier who rode with the same hot haste to his own
house at Quesnoy-le-Comte, in Hainault. These two,
at least, it was remarked, had no thought of doing
each other an injury.42
The evening wore away without any effort, on
either side, to bring to a second trial the doubtful
issue of the fight. Confusion and panic had been
succeeded by stupefaction.  Having reformed their
enclosure of wagons, and thus protected themselves
against a surprise, the Burgundians found courage to
bethink themselves of the vacant condition of their
stomachs. Their supply of provisions was insufficient
41 "Touts les chemins estoient il sembloit que les ennemys fuissent
couverts de bagues, comme malles, a leurs tallons, et sy ne les suivoit
bonges, vaisselles, joyaulx, harnats, on pas." Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 169.
chevaulx, qui laisserent cheoir les  42 ", Ces deux n'avoient garde de
fuyants, et nuls d'eulx n'avoient loi- se mordre l'ung l'aultre "- an exsir de recoueiller de poeur qu'ils pression since become proverbial.
avoient, car d'ung coste et d'aultre, Commines, tom. i. p. 45.




CHAP. V.]      BATTLE OF MONTLHERY.               271
to assuage their hunger; but they dared not enter
the village, where a larger quantity might have been
obtained; for a long line of camp fires was burning
behind the hedge, and a party sent out to reconnoitre returned with intelligence that the royal army
was still in position. Seated on a bundle of straw,
close by a heap of slain, Charles had his wound
dressed, and shared his draft of tisace with a disabled archer, who crawled out from among the corpses.
At midnight the principal officers held a council of
war. Many of them- Saint-Pol among the number
- were in favor of commencing their retreat without
delay towards the frontier of Burgundy or of the
Netherlands. They painted in colors not too strong
for the occasion the dangers of their present situation.  But great as these dangers were, those that
must attend a retreat were still more appalling.
Every town and village along the route would receive them  as enemies.  The stragglers would be
cut off; terror would multiply their perils and complete their dispersion; and the people would seize
the opportunity to give a convincing proof of their
loyalty by exterminating the beaten rebels. These
arguments-which foreshadowed the fate of those
who had already fled43 —converted even the timid
to the opinion of the more courageous. It was determined, as the safest course, to renew the action on
43," Pour brief dire, oneques nul povres compagnons eschapperent...
homme de nom de ceulx qui s'en- touts deschir's et en povres habits."
ffuyoient, n'eschapperent qu'ils ne Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 174.
fuissent prins ou morts;... aulcuns




272          WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.           [BooI I.
the following day, in the spirit of men who had no
means of retreat, and who must conquer or die upon
the field.44
At daybreak the trumpets sounded the reveille.
The troops prepared for battle, though the greater
part looked more inclined for flight. What was their
surprise when a carter, bringing a cask of wine from
the village, announced to them that the enemy had
departed!  The grateful tidings were speedily confirmed. The fires which they had watched all night
without daring to approach were no sooner lighted
than the king had stolen off and continued his march,
by a circuitous route, towards Paris.  In the Burgundian army despondency now gave place to exultation. Its position was not merely a safe, but a
glorious one. Far from having been defeated, it had
actually gained the day: it had kept the field, which
the enemy had quitted.  That the victory was at
the best a barren one -that, if not the battle, yet
the object of the battle had been lost -was a matter
not taken into consideration.  There was some talk
indeed of giving chase; and those who in the night
had been the strenuous advocates of retreat were
now the most urgent in favor of pursuit. But they
were reminded that, to secure the honors of the
victory, the rules of chivalry obliged them to spend
still another day upon the field, to bury their
44 "C Son advis estoit que chascun falloit la vivre ou mourir: et trouse aysast au mieulx qu'il pourroit voit ce chemin plus seur que de
ceste nuict, et que le matin,' l'aube prendre la fuyte." Commines, tom.
du jour, on assaillist le Roy, et qu'iI i. p. 48.




CHAP. V.]         BATTLE OF MONTLIERY.                      273
slain, and to proclaim defiance with sound of trumpet
to all who should desire to dispute their claims.45
More  than  two  thousand  dead  bodies-  already
rifled and stripped by the courageous and industrious
camp-followers — were found strewn over the plain
and on the slopes of the hill46    Breze had fallen in
45 Accounts- most of them by  ing the follies and empty pretensions
eye-witnesses- of the battle of  of his martial contemporaries than
Montlh6ry may be found in Haynin, in celebrating their achievements,
tom. ii. pp. 28-42; Commines, tom. takes his revenge on the youthful
i. pp. 33-50; Duclercq, tom. iv. pp. enthusiasm  that had  kept him
166-172; Lamarche, tom. ii. pp. throughout the day close behind his
236-240; De Troyes, pp. 27-29; master - feeling, he tells us, as little
Basin, tom. ii. pp. 118-121; Rela- fear as he ever felt in his life, and
tion de la Bataille, (the official report only astonished that any one should
to the duke of Burgundy, agreeing  dare to oppose so great a princesufficiently with other narrations, ex- by throwing a slight shade of ridicept that a lame attempt is made to  cule over all the events, bestowing
excuse the disorders and desertions plentiful sarcasms on those who fled
that had tarnished the triumph of  and equivocal commendations on
the Burgundian arms.)  Lenglet, those who fought. His introductom. ii. pp. 484-486.            tion of trivial details - how, for
The descriptions given by the two  example, his horse, an extremely
first named authorities might seem, old and feeble quadruped, thrust his
at a cursory glance, to be intended  sagacious nose into a pail of wine,
for two totally different transactions. and was wonderfully refreshed by
A closer examination will show that the draught - is apparently intendthere is scarcely any discrepancy in  ed for effect. "Admire," he seems
matters of fact. The difference is in  to say, "the sang-froid of this fourthe coloring - in the spirit in which  footed veteran, who had borne himthe narratives were written. Hay- self so gallantly in the'melde, but
nin, a sturdy cavalier, not much ad- did not trouble himself about the
dieted to comments or criticisms, glory, or pique himself on his exgives a literal version of the affair, ploits, like a certain young prince,
and sums up his account by award- or like many bold cavaliers who reing, on the grounds noticed in the  turned, after a discreet flight, to
text, " the honor and victory of the  claim a share in the victory! "
day" to the Burgundians, although    46 "c Deux mil hommes du moins,"
the French had "gained the most"  says Commines, who never exaggerby their capture of the baggage. ates. Other writers say four thouCommines, writing in the decline of  sand; De Troyes, who alone pretends
life, and with more delight in expos- to accuracy, says thirty-six hundred.
VOL. I.       35




2R74           WAR oF THE PUBLIC WEAL.              [BOOK I.
the first charge, while leading the French attack,
with the purpose, as Louis persisted in asserting, of
forcing a battle which the king was desirous to avoid.
On the Burgundian side no one was more lamented
than the youthful Philippe de Lalain, a brother of
the famous Jacques de Lalain, sprung from  a race
that never grudged its blood in the service of its
prince.47
Having remained the usual time upon the field,
and received no answer to the challenge thrice delivered by his heralds, the count of Charolais quitted
Montlhery on the 18th, and set out in search of his
allies. At Etampes he was joined by the Bretons,
and, a few days later, by the duke of Bourbon and
the Armagnacs.  Proceeding eastward to Moret, the
united forces encamped upon the borders of the
Seine, and waited a fortnight longer for the arrival
of the duke of Calabria and the marshal of Burgundy.
As soon as the distant camp-fires to the southward
announced their approach Charles commenced throwing a bridge of boats across the river at a spot where
a small island, dividing the stream, facilitated this
operation. Rouault, who was stationed on the opposite bank with a considerable force, made a show
of disputing the passage, but gave way under the
47'6Une rasse," remarks Com- icier says, "11 estoit encore jeusne,
mines, (tom. i. p. 19,) "dont peu si avoit-il beaucop veu, et beaucop
s'en est trouvd qui n'ayent estd vail- voyage, si comme au Sainct-S6pullans et couraigeux, et presque tous chre, a Sainct-Jacques [de Compomors en servant leurs seigneurs en stella]'a Rome, es Allemaignes, et
la guerre." Another of the family au voyage de Turquie." IHaynin,
perished in the same campaign, -  tom. i. p. 46.
Simon de Lalain, - of whom a chron



CHAP. V.]  COMPOSITION OF THE ALLIED FORCES.         275
fire of the artillery, ably directed by a royal officer
who had been taken prisoner at Montlhery, and who
had easily been induced to receive the pay of the
confederates, and to exert in their behalf the skill
so recently employed for their destruction.
The  difficulty  of procuring  the  large  supplies
necessary for the  forces that were now  assembled
occasioned a long delay before the allies could again
commence their march towards the capital.  It was
there, as all perceived, that the struggle must be
decided.  If Paris should surrender, no further resistance to the revolution was to be dreaded in any part
of the kingdom; and even if it should hold out,
Louis, shut up within its walls, and thus deprived of
the means of carrying on the war, must soon submit
to the terms which his enemies intended to impose.
That their power was adequate to the accomplishment of their purpose seemed scarcely to admit of
doubt.  The army was reckoned at over fifty thousand combatants.48   The feudal levies of more than
twenty provinces, never before marshalled against a
common enemy, were now arrayed against the common sovereign.  Nor was it from  the provinces of
France alone that this motley host had been collected.   The duke of Calabria, in addition to his
father's vassals, had  enrolled  under his standard
4s According to Commines, indeed, tributed: under the count of Charothe estimate amounted to a hundred lais, 25,000; the duke of Brittany,
thousand —  tant bons que mau- 12,000; the count of Armagnac,
vais." A chronicle cited by Petitot 6000; the duke of Calabria, 5000;
gives as the total of the effective the duke of Bourbon, 3000.
force fifty-one thousand, thus dis



276         WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.        [BOOX I.
mercenaries from several different nations. His friend
the Count Palatine had supplied him with a troop of
sc/iwartzreiters, or mounted arquebusiers. A body of
Italian horse, commanded by Nicholas de Montfort,
count of Campobasso, one of the most distinguished
condolltieri of the time, - whose history will be found
fatally and darkly interwoven with the final scenes
of our narrative,- attracted especial admiration by
the beauty of their arms and the practised ease with
which they executed every manoeuvre. In striking
contrast with this phalanx of steel-clad riders was a
little company of infantry, -   a kind of simple people,"- wearing no defensive armor except a narrow
plate of iron strapped across the breast. Their weapons were a pike of enormous length, and a knife to
be used in closer combat.49  They were Swiss; and,
as this was the first occasion on which soldiers of
that nation had been seen in France, —where, however, the fame of their martial valor was not unknown,
- they attracted much curious attention from the
other troops. The Flemish and Burgundian cavaliers
would probably have observed them with still more
scrutinizing glances, had they foreseen the period -
not many years distant —when the hardy Alpine
warriors and themselves would be pitted against
each other in a contest far sterner and deadlier than
that in which they were now engaged upon the
same side.
No attempt was made to organize these forces,
49 Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 181. —Haynin, tom. i. p. 44. — Commines,
tom. i. p. 62.




CHAP. v.]   LEADERS OF THE ALLIED FORCES.     277
exhibiting so great a diversity in their composition
and appearance, into a single army. Such an attempt
would have required, as its necessary condition, unity
in the command; and this it would have been impossible to secure. The duke of Berri, whose rank
might otherwise have entitled him to exercise the
authority of a commander-in-chief, was as little fitted
for the post by his character as by his age. The
poor youth, when he found the members of his family and the nobility of France so ready to redress
his fancied wrongs, trembled at the responsibility
which had been thrust upon him. On beholding the
wounded Burgundians who had been conveyed in
the wagons from Montlhery, he expressed his compassion in terms attributed to faintheartedness by
persons of less sensitive nature. "I had rather," he
said, "that this enterprise had never been commenced than see blood thus shed on my account."~
Turning to the count of Charolais, "You too, fair
cousin," he said, "have received a hurt."  "1 The fortune of war!" replied Charles, who could scarcely
repress his contempt at these unseasonable observations.5"  "What sort of a man must this be," he
remarked to some of his intimates, "who is dismayed
at the sight of a few hundred wounded men — people that do not belong to him, and whom he does
not even know! When the case touches him more
nearly, we shall have little reason to rely upon him,
I ween."52  Throughout the army, indeed, the effem5o Commines, tom. i. p. 56.  52,c Avez vous ouy parler cest
51 Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 179.    homme? 11 se trouve esbahy pour




278           WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.             [BOOK I.
inacy of the young prince and of his friend the duke
of Brittany was a common subject of derision.  They
rode together in the centre, on ambling palfreys, in
a guise that ill accorded with the pomp and circumstance of war. Their outer vests, of rich satin, were
studded with gilt nails; but these, it was whispered,
were mere heads without points, not the fastenings
of breastplate or brigandine beneath.53
In John of Calabria, on the other hand, the count
of Charolais recognized a spirit like his own — the
same eagerness for action, the same desire of renown, the same promptness and assiduity in the
performance of every duty, in enforcing discipline
among the soldiers, and in setting before them on
all occasions an example of vigilance and of valor.
Their friendship led them to continue in company
when the combined forces, having crossed the Marne,
at Charenton, August 20, dispersed to their different
posts in the vicinity of the capital.  The Bretons
occupied the ground about Saint-Maur and the Wood
of Vincennes.  The Gascons were stationed at SaintDenis. The Burgundians remained at Charenton —
their commander taking up his quarters at Conflans,
in a large seignorial mansion standing close upon
the margin of the river.5
sept ou huict cens hommes qu'il voit  54 Commines, tom. i. pp. 63, 64.
blecez allans par la ville, qui ne luy Duclercq, tom. iv. pp. 182, 183.sont riens, et qu'il ne congnoist: il Ancienne Chronique, Lenglet, tom.
s'esbahyroit bientost si le cas luy ii. p. 184.I- Haynin, tom. i. p. 45.touchoit de quelque chose." Corn- Lamarche, tom. ii. pp. 244, 245.
mines, tom. i. p. 56.
53 Idem, tom. i. p. 64.- Haynin,
tom. i. p. 43.




CHAPTER VI.
WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL. - BLOCKADE OF PARIS. - TREATY
OF CONFLANS.
146 5.
THE king had reached Paris on the evening of
July 18, the second day after the battle.  He supped
with the military governor, Messire Charles de Melun,
and described the encounter and his own perils in
so moving and eloquent a strain that the companynobles, ladies, burgesses- were melted to tears.'
In the course of a few days the count of Maine,
- still intent on serving the wilful monarch in his
own despite, and healing the unhappy breach in the
royal family, - Montauban, admiral of France, and
other distinguished fugitives from Montlhery, found
their way into the capital, where they met with a
most gracious reception.  Not a word of reproach
from Louis, whose temper was always smoothest in
"Et en ce faisant dist et declara largement." De Troyes, Lenglet,
de moult beaux mots et piteux, de tom. ii. 29.
quoy tous et toutes plorerent bien
(279)




280           WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.           [BooK I.
the most trying situations, in the flood tide of adversity, when his friends had fallen off, and he must
swim or sink alone.  Then he reined in his splenetic
humors; impatience gave place to prudence, sarcasm
to pathos. On the present occasion there was more
than one individual whose conduct, had not the king
been all serenity and mildness, might have drawn
from him censure or complaint. On the morning of
the 16th, finding himself unexpectedly in presence
of the enemy, he had despatched cc three heralds" to
Paris demanding instant succors. The field was only
five leagues distant; it would have been easy to send
out a party, which, falling at the proper moment on
the enemy's rear, would have changed his dubious
success into utter annihilation. The messengers went
through the streets, with trumpeters before them,
proclaiming the urgent necessities of the sovereign.
But not a soul stirred.2   A  specific demand for a
reinforcement of two hundred lances, under Rouault,
was disregarded by Melun.3  Later in the day, however, when the flying parties of Burgundians were
seen from the walls, the garrison and citizens sallied
forth to the number of thirty thousand, destroyed
the detachment at Saint-Cloud, slew some hundreds
of the runaways, captured several prisoners of rank,
2 Duclereq, tom. iv. p. 173.  qu'il vinst avec deux cens lances,
3,, Ii est accuse d'avoir... em- pour prendre l'ennemy par derriere,
pesche le Mareschal Rouault de sor- ce qui auroit assure une victoire
tir de Paris, quoique le Roy luy eust complete." Extrait du Proces Criescrit que le lendemain il donneroit minel de Charles de Melun, Lenglet,
bataille au comte de Charolais, et tom. iii. p. 14.




CHAP. VI.]    PROCEEDINGS IN THE CAPITAL.          281
and returned with booty valued at two hundred
thousand crowns.4
For these services, and for the loyal answers previously given to the summons of the count of Charolais, Louis now overflowed with gratitude. He
would rather, he declared, have lost the half of his
kingdom than have seen his fair city of Paris entered
and plundered by the enemy. His singular affection
for so faithful a people induced him to issue an edict
abolishing the more odious imposts, reducing others,
granting new privileges, confirming such as had formerly been called in question.5
But the most conspicuous traits in the present demeanor of a monarch charged by his enemies with
perverseness and self-will were his gracious reception of, and readiness to profit by, whatever suggestions or proposals were offered by his subjects in the
capital. He had long since protested his willingness
to make all possible concessions for the sake of
peace. But the princes had given him no opportunity to reveal his conciliatory intentions. Instead
of presenting their remonstrances, they had formed
a secret league, and rushed abruptly into war.6 This
perfidious and violent procedure will not be imitated
in Paris. He is waited upon by a deputation from
the municipality, the Parliament, and the University,
headed by the bishop, —a brother of the chronicler
4 De Troyes, p. 27.       faire des biens a son Ville de Paris
5  Qu'Wil aimeroit mieux avoir per- et aux habitans d'icelle, remit," &c.
du la moiti6 de son Royaume que Idem, pp. 27, 31.
mal ne inconvenient venist en ladite   6 Lenglet, tom. ii. pp. 449, 450,
Ville.... Ayant singulier desir de et al.
VOL. I.      36




282          NWAR OF THE PUBLIC VEAL.             [BOOx I.
and poet, Alain Chartier, - who sets forth their petition in cc very beautiful language," all the well-turned
phrases circling round the same central point. The
king is eloquently besought to allow himself henceforth to be guided in the conduct of his affairs by;Cgood advice."' Louis gives a cheerful assent; he
will take for his advisers the petitioners themselves;
he will enlarge his ordinary council by the addition
of six burgesses, six councillors of the Parliament,
and six clerks of the University. Thus easily and
smoothly is this highly important matter arranged.
The king, in his turn, prefers a small request —
that the citizens will arm and enroll themselves as a
militia for the defence of their own property and
families.  An ordinance to this effect is duly promulgated. But it remains a dead letter. Paris is at this
moment rejoicing over the abolition of the taxes;
bonfires are blazing; the people flock through the
streets, shouting " NVo'Il! "8  It were cruel, at such a
time, to insist upon their performing military service.
Yet something must be done. Rejoicings and
bonfires will not keep out the enemy; the resources
of the government are nowise increased by the reduction of the taxes. The only quarter from which
succors can now be looked for is Normandy.  That
great province is near at hand; and it is under the
direct control of the crown, to which it of course
7,, Moult belles paroles, qui toutes tout le populaire crioient de joye et
tendoient afin que le Roy conduisit de bon vouloir, Noel, Noel. Et en
de la en avant toutes ses affaires furent faits les feux parmy les rues
par bon conseil." De Troyes, p. 29. de ladite Ville." Idem, p. 31.
8," Incontinent apres ledit cry




CHAP. VI.]   NECESSITY OF OBTAINING SUCCORS.          283
reverted after its conquest from the English. There
is now no "' duke of Normandy," able and ready to
answer with a bold defiance the requisition to comply with his feudal obligations by coming with ban
and arriere-ban  to his sovereign's relief.   On the
other hand, there is no person in the province whose
authority and influence are such as can be relied
upon to give effect to the royal orders for raising the
necessary levies. Breze, who was both loved and
feared by the inhabitants,9 lies among the slain at
Montlhery; and his widow  administers the government in the name of her son, the hereditary seneschal. Thanks to the loyal zeal of the count of Eu,
whose estates lie in Normandy, the free archers, or
civic militia, are already armed and equipped. But
the nobles will not move until Louis calls them to
the field in person.  He is in great perplexity.  He
cannot rely upon the fidelity of the capital unless he
remains in it; he cannot obtain the means for its
defence unless he quits it. Luckily the enemy seems
in no haste to approach, retarded by the want of
supplies and still more by the want of union and
of a single directing head.  There may still be time
before the city is invested to bring up the Norman
levies.
9 " Est fort ame et craint de Nor- politician. "Dit.. qu'il avoit
mandie," says the English agent, beaucoup perdu au grand seneschal
Neville, Preuves de Commines, (ed. de Normandie." Proces de Charles
Dupont,) tom. iii. p. 214.  Even de Melun, Lenglet, tom. iii. p. 15.
Louis, at this crisis, could not but -" Fust moult plaint pour le bien
acknowledge the loss he had sus- et valliance de lui," says Duclercq,
tained in this able and experienced tom. iv. p. 175.




284           WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.               [BOOK I.
Yet the king is loath to go, -    right loath," as
Shylock to leave his daughter and his money-bags
while maskers are abroad, albeit he has given orders that his "house's ears" be stopped.  He fears
that, when his back is turned, Jessica will "d clamber
up to the casements;" that the prowler's lingering
steps will be quickened by beckonings and signals
from  within.   He  sets  out, indeed, on  Saturday,
August 10, taking with him the count of Maine,
whose mediatorial propensities are thus debarred the
opportunity for exercise. But the same day he sends
word back to the municipal authorities, assembled
in c"grand council" at the Hotel de Ville, that he has
changed his mind, and will return again on Tuesday.
He sends also directions for quartering and billeting
the Norman archers as fast as they arrive. On the
13th he sends the count of Eu to take command as his
lieutenant in place of Melun, whom he compensates,
however, for this removal, by appointing him to a
higher post, that of grand-master of the household;
from which, three years hence, in reward for his services at this same period, he will elevate him to the
scaffoldcl.'~ On Tuesday the king returns, but stays
only long enough to see that all is quiet and apparently secure, and to witness an exhibition intended
lO Melun was condemned and ex- that he had endeavored to gain an
ecuted on a charge of having main- undue personal influence with the
tained a treasonable correspondence populace of Paris -a circumstance
with the confederates, of which his which justified the king's suspicions
own confession, amounting to little and explains the vindictive feeling
and extorted by torture, seems to so long and secretly cherished. See
have been the chief evidence ad- Doc. Ined., Melanges, tom. ii. pp.
duced. There is stronger proof 371-374.




CHAP. VI.]   PARIS IN THE KING'S ABSENCE.        285
for the amusement, perhaps also for the edification,
of the people. A varlet who made himself conspicuous in raising the false alarm at the time of the
first arrival of the Burgundians is whipped at the
cart's tail by the common hangman. The king, in
a loud voice, admonishes that functionary to lay on
well, for the punishment is richly deserved." Having
given this gentle hint to such as are timorously disposed, he at last sets forth upon his mission.12
The sharp eyes of her suspicious guardian withdrawn from  her, Paris breathes more freely, and
ventures to take a glance at the approaching confederates, the enemies of the king's domestic peace.
They are still far distant, having just completed
their preparations and turned their faces towards the
capital.  But already (August 17) C"many notable
persons, of different professions," wait upon the king's
lieutenant, and represent the propriety of his endeavoring ";to make some good arrangement of peace
and agreement with the princes, which shall tend to
the honor of the sovereign and the consolation and
profit of the realm." Two days later the allies are
close at hand; and the wealthier citizens, who have
their gardens and vineyards in the suburbs, see with
dismay the troops beginning to occupy these pleasant summer quarters. Heralds arrive bearing letters
from the duke of Berri, who styles himself regent, addressed to the clergy, the municipality, the University
" " Le Roy crioit i haute voix au desservy."  De Troyes, Lenglet,
bourreau, batez fort et n'espargnez tom. ii. p. 33.
point ce paillard, car il a bien pis  12 Idem, pp. 32, 33.




286         WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.       [BOOK I.
and the Parliament, wherein he requests that a deputation may be sent to him from each of these bodies,
to whom he will make known the reasons why
he and the members of his family have assembled
in arms, and will satisfy them that it is for no other
object than the c universal good of the kingdom
of France."  Compliance with so fair a request is
demanded by simple courtesy; and accordingly a
selection is made of thirteen persons, -magistrates,
doctors in theology, advocates, and others, --  the
reverend father in God the before named Guillaume
Chartier, bishop of the diocese, having charge to conduct them to the place of conference, and to direct
their proceedings."'3
It is at the Chateau de Beaute that the king's
brother has taken up his residence. Here he receives
the delegation, seated in state, while round him stand
the other c" seigneurs of the blood of France," among
whom the victor of Montlhery is conspicuous, attired,
unlike the rest, in the complete panoply of war.
Dunois is chosen as the orator to explain the motives and the purposes of the allies. He inveighs in
general terms against the tyranny of Louis, urges
the necessity of a reform in the government, hints
at an assembly of the Three Estates as the proper
body to devise efficacious remedies, and finally, adopting a blunter and more characteristic tone, demands
the admission of the confederates into the capital
within two days, threatening a general assault if the
demand be not complied with. The bishop replies
13 Idem, pp. 34, 35.




CHAP. VI.]   PARIS IN THE KING'S ABSENCE.      287
in his usual mild and elegant phraseology, evading a
direct answer until he and his colleagues shall have
rendered their report and received further instructions. When the conference closes, each of the deputies finds himself engaged in private conversation
by one or other of the princes, and is made acquainted
with some particular reasons for exerting his influence
in favor of the concessions demanded by the allies.'4
In truth, the classes which these men represent are
secretly not ill disposed to such a step.  The clergy
and the University have their own grounds of hostility to Louis.  The lawyers, the wealthier tradesmen,
all those persons who from vanity or the prospect of
gain are the natural dependants of an aristocracy,
have a strong desire to see the great hotels again
occupied each with its little court, crowded with suitors, resplendent with hospitality, scattering favors
and the gold of the provinces, and shaming the king
into a style of living befitting his exalted dignity.
Each of the princes has his own agents, his own
adherents, the hereditary clients of his house. The
Burgundian party is especially numerous, animated
by traditional sympathies and by recollections of
the Good Duke Philip and of the magnificent feles
of the Hotel d'Artois.  There is even a sentimental
attachment to the person of the young duke of Berri,
who is reputed to bear a close resemblance to his
father, and to have the same benign disposition and
sagacious intellect.  Finally there are those who,
14 Commines, tom. i. pp. 71, 72. — Haynin, tom. i. p. 45. — Barante,
(ed. Gachard,) tom. i. p. 245.




288         WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.          [BOOK I.
neither the partisans of the confederates nor the
enemies of the king, are more dangerous and unscrupulous than either- men of purely timid character,
who, to remove the present evil, to avert the immediate danger, are ready to yield at once to the demands
of the stronger party, to accept of any peace when
the alternative is war.l1
The notables of the city, assembled (August 24) to
deliberate on these demands, find in them nothing
unreasonable. The proposition for a meeting of the
Three Estates has already been mooted; it forms,
indeed, the burden of the ballads and pasquinades
that have circulated for a month past."6 Nor does it
seem right, or even decorous, to refuse admittance
into the capital to the members of the royal family,
provided they give sufficient guaranties for the peaceable behavior of their followers. It is determined
that an answer shall be sent to them to this effect;
but, before the deputies can set forth, a tumult in the
street announces that there, at least, the proposal to
throw open the gates and allow the enemy to enter
is not so favorably received.  The cause of royalty,
assailed by the princes and the nobles, abandoned
or betrayed by its sworn defenders, is suddenly espoused by the lowest orders of the people, moved
not by any love to Louis, but by a natural instinct of
resistance.  An excited mob has gathered in front of
the Hotel de Ville, and it is found necessary to call
15 Commines, tom. i. p. 65. - Ba- pasquinades in Duclercq, tom iv. pp.
sin, tom. ii. p. 123.     157, 158.
16 See a specimen or two of these




CHAP. VI.]   PARIS IN THE'KING'S ABSENCE.      289
out the civic guard to protect the freedom of debate.
The count of Eu avails himself of this occasion to
hold a review of his troops. Two hundred lances
and ten times as many archers file slowly through
the streets —whether to preserve order among the
people or to remind the municipal authorities that
the king's interests have not been confided solely
to their keeping is a matter for consideration.  The
discussion becomes languid. Voices are heard without demanding the heads of the traitors who have
sold the city to the confederates. To complete the
events of the day, a letter is received from Louis
announcing that he has assembled the Norman levies,
and has already set out upon his return. Montauban,
sent forward with a portion of these forces, is on the
point of arriving. Under these circumstances it is
thought best that the deputies shall carry back a
message that the king's officers will not allow the
gates to be opened without his permission.  It is
observed that the bishop, when he delivers the message, has lost his usual serenity of utterance and
deportment. He stammers, and is half inaudible.
The count of Dunois answers with a fierce reiteration of his former menace. Between these opposite
perils the "1 notables " may well be embarrassed. But
the crisis is happily passed. The city is not assaulted,
and on the 28th Louis arrives.17
Such is the glimpse which we get at the state of
17 De Troyes, pp. 36, 37.- Com- (ed. Gachard,) ftm. ii. p. 246.mines, tom. i. pp. 72, 73. — Barante, Michelet, tom. vi. p. 117.
VOL. I.   37




290          WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.         [BOOK I.
affairs during his absence - an interval of a fortnight.
Apprised of all that was passing, he had collected with
incredible despatch two thousand Norman lances, a
proportionate number of archers, pikemen, and other
infantry, artillery, large supplies of provisions, — all
that was necessary for " recomforting a distressed people," -resolving at the same time that if this final
effort should prove vain, and his return to the capital
- the last stronghold of his power -were cut off, he
would abandon the hopeless struggle, and seek a refuge in Switzerland or Milan.l8  Thanks to his own
vigilance and activity, he was still a king; and those
who had so lately forgotten the fact trembled when
his presence at the head of an army brought it back
to their recollection. But Louis, if a tyrant, was not
one of the ordinary stamp. He sometimes tasted the
sweets of vengeance, but he was not a gourmand. He
sometimes had recourse to the efficacy of terror; but
he used it cautiously, knowing that it was a weapon
with a double edge. On an occasion like the present
it was the last instrument which he would have
chosen to employ. He displayed, on his return, a
more than Christian magnanimity. He knew nothing
of what had taken place, save that the city had been
summoned, and that the good burghers had answered
with a stout defiance.  The warmth of his emotions
made it necessary that he should thank them indi18 l" Plusieur fois ii m'a diet que devers le due de Millan, Francisque,
s'il n'eust peu entrer dedans Paris, qu'il reputoit son grant amy." Comet qu'il eust trouve la ville muee, il mines, tom. i. p. 73.
se fust retire devers les Suisses ou




CHIAP. VI.]    PARIS IN THE KING'S PRESENCE.             291
vidually for this fresh proof of their attachment. He
went his rounds from street to street, from house
to house, dining with one citizen, supping with another, bestowing lavish commendations upon all.9:A few of the public servants were dismissed from
their offices; and four or five of the deputies, who
had taken the most active part in the negotiations
with  the princes, received  a private  intimation  to
remove from the capital. This was the only notice
taken of the intended treason at the time; but Louis,
as we have before remarked, had a long memory.20
His authority in the capital was now undisputed
and supreme. Conspiracy was paralyzed. Those
who had tampered with the functions of royalty
grew  suddenly absorbed by their private affairs.  No
one  felt emboldened  by  the  graciousness  of the
king's demeanor to recommend any further changes
in the government, or to suggest the terms on which
he should sue for peace.21   When he convoked the
magistrates and other principal inhabitants of the city,
and gave them his reasons for not complying with the
demands of the confederates, no voice was raised to
dispute the wisdom of his policy. His present force
was sufficient not only to keep Paris in subjection, but'9 Du Haillant, ap. Petitot, note died, in 1472, on placing upon his
to Commines.                   tombstone a record of the part he
20 The more striking indications had taken in the conferences with
of the tenacity of his memory in con- the confederates. De Troyes, p. 93,
nection with the events of this period   21 "Ainsi fut ceste praticque
will hereafter be noticed. A some- rompue, et tout ce peuple bien mud:
what whimsical instance was his in- depuis ne se fust trouve homme...
sisting, when the bishop -" a person  qui plus eust osd parler de la marof saintly life and great learning " -  chandise." Commines, tom. i. p. 73.




292           WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.            [BooK I.
to repel any attack that might be made by the enemy.
Every morning a troop of Norman nobles sallied out
to skirmish with the Burgundian men-at-arms, or to
cut off the parties of foragers that were scattered
among the neighboring villages. Every evening they
returned to relate their exploits to the ladies, from
whose applauding smiles they drew fresh inspiration
for the encounters of the morrow.22 Sometimes they
brought back with them prisoners of rank, from
whom, after the fashion of the time, they exacted
heavy ransoms. At other times they drove in a herd
of half-naked wretches - camp-followers or such-like
vagrants — who had wandered beyond the lines to
pillage, and who, having no means wherewith to redeem  themselves, were put up at auction, and sold,
like wild fowl, four for a crown.2'
The confederates, on their side, confined themselves to similar enterprises. In spite of their numerical superiority, in spite of their boastful menaces,
they neither laid regular siege to the capital nor
maintained any effective blockade. The market-boats
which descended the  Seine and the  Marne found
their passage uninterrupted; and, while the population of the city was swollen by the addition of a
large military force, supplies were so abundant that
even in the price of bread the rise was scarcely per22 "4 Puis veoient les dames tous Bourguignons, tous nud et mal en
les jours, qui leur donnoient envie point, qui tous furent vendus au bude se monster." Commines, tom. i. tin, et en donnoit-on quatre pour un
p. 75.                      escu, qui est au dit prix six sous six
23 cc Furent pris bien vingt ou deniers parisis la piece." De Troyes,
vingt-quatre paillards Calabriens et p. 41.




CHAP. VI.]  INACTIVITY OF THE CONFEDERATES.              293
ceptible.  The war, instead  of interfering with  the
course of trade, had imparted to it greater freedom
and briskness.24 It is doubtful, however, whether this
inactivity on the part of the allies proceeded from
incapacity or from policy. On the one hand, they
were restrained, by a fear of cutting off their own
supplies and exciting the hostility of the people, from
offering any molestation to commerce25 or inflicting
distress upon the inhabitants of Paris, while it is
equally clear that they were incapable of acting in
concert, and of devising any plan of operations for
driving the king from  his defensive position.  They
kept at a safe distance from the walls, expecting
Louis to act the part of a chivalric hero and lead
forth his forces to battle. They had the best disposition in the world to fight, if they could but get the
opportunity. They were overjoyed, therefore, when,
one night, a messenger —sent, as he pretended, by
their friends in the city —came to the banks of the
river opposite to the head-quarters of the count of
Charolais, and announced the king's intention on the
following day to make an attack upon this point with
his whole army. At an early hour the Burgundians
24 Commines, tom. i. p. 74. - La- consid4racion h l'armee que presenmarche, tom. ii. p. 246.       tement se met sus pour le bien de ce
25 The Gascons were subsidized royaulme et non pas pour empescher
by Charles, to induce them to ab- que marchandise n'eyt cours en icelstain from pillage. (Commines, tom. luy; sqachant ve'ritablement l'inteni. p. 76.) See also the order given  cion de mon tres redoubte seigneur
by the Bastard of Burgundy for the monseigneur de Charrolois estre ainrelease of a company of merchants si fondle; nous vous ordonnons,"
captured by his troops, and the res- &c. Doc. In4d., M6langes, tom. ii.
toration of their property: "En  p. 260.




294          WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.           [BOOK I.
were astir.  The leaders assembled to make their
dispositions; even the dukes of Berri and Brittany
arrived, armed to the teeth.  John of Calabria was
in a fever of expectation.  He acted as Charles's
lieutenant, visited every part of the camp, and, riding
along the ranks, encouraged the men with the assurance that the long wished for hour had arrived. The
morning was dark, the earth covered with fog. A
party of cavaliers, sent across the river to reconnoitre,
returned with intelligence that the enemy's lances
were approaching in great force. Cannon were heard
booming in the distance; and some bullets, thrown
from the walls of Paris, two leagues off; actually fell
within the Burgundian lines.26 How great was the
disappointment felt by all these gallant and excited
hearts when, the fog clearing away, no enemy was
to be seen!   A group of lofty thistles, magnified by
the mist, had been mistaken by the scouts for a troop
of cavalry! 27
On another occasion the royal infantry, several
thousand strong, followed at some distance by the
Norman lances, sallied out at night, threw up an
entrenchment, and constructed a line of batteries
along the river, opposite to Conflans. In the morning they opened fire from a great number of pieces,
forcing the duke of Calabria, whose troops were the
most exposed, to decamp precipitately. The chateau
26 " Le Roy avoit bonne artillerie lieues), mais je croy bien que Pon
sur la muraille de Paris, qui tira avoit leve aux bastons le nez bien
plusieurs coups jusques a nostre ost, hault." Commines, tom. i. p. 89.
qui est grant chose (car il y a deux  27 Idem, tom. i. pp. 87-90.




CHAP. VI.]   SALLIES AND SKIRMISHES.          295
occupied by the count of Charolais was also a prominent mark.  Two of the balls entered the room
where he sat at dinner — one of them killing an
attendant who was carrying a dish to set upon the
table. The Burgundian cannon, with the exception
of some enormous pieces that could not easily be
moved, were placed in position behind a pierced wall;
and a brisk fire — the heaviest, indeed, Commines
tells us, he ever heard —was interchanged throughout several successive days. At the same time Charles
gave orders for the construction of a bridge lower
down the stream, intending to cross with his whole
army and take the enemy in flank. When this work
was completed preparations were made for commencing the passage at the dawn of the following day.
A solemn mass was celebrated; and the soldiers
shrived themselves, and performed the other offices
of good Christians about to encounter a great peril.
In the night, however, those who were awake perceived signs of movement in the opposite trenches.
Presently voices were heard shouting through the
darkness,' Adieu, neighbors, adieu!" and flames
shooting up into the air showed that the royalists
had set fire to the huts which they had constructed
for their temporary accommodation, and stolen back
into the town.28
Nothing, indeed, was farther from  the  king's
thoughts than again to put his cause to the hazard
of a battle.29  He could not afford to lose another
"8 Commines, tom. i. pp. 77-81.-  29 Commines, tom. i. pp. 76, 81.Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 244.  Basin, tom. ii. p. 123.




296        DWAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.       [BOOK I.
army, whether by defeat or by desertion. His policy
was to weary out the patience of his enemies by tantalizing sallies and feigned attacks, trusting to those
natural causes of dissension which could hardly fail
to exist in so heterogeneous a mass for breaking up
the combination and effecting his deliverance. Nor
was he likely to neglect any opportunity that should
present itself of treating separately with such of the
members of the league as he might hope to detach
from it by the employment of those arts of seduction
in which he was so thoroughly versed. To negotiations carried on under his own eye he had no objection; and he empowered Maine, whose tastes seemed
to qualify him for diplomacy rather than for war, to
treat with the counts of Saint-Pol and Dunois, the
commissioners appointed by the princes.  On the
days on which the conferences were held a truce was
proclaimed; and the idlers of both armies flocked to
the place of meeting to interchange gossip and to
purchase the articles brought thither for sale by the
hucksters and camp-followers. Nor was this the only
kind of trade that was carried on. The number on
either side was not inconsiderable of those who were
tempted by the allurements held out to them to dispose of their allegiance, and make profit by a change
of service. A ditch divided the two parties; but this
was a slight obstacle to desertion. Sometimes it was
crossed by a score of royalists; I at other times by as
large a body of the insurgents. The scene of these
transactions received the name of " the Market,"




CHAP. VI.]            NEGOTIATIONS.                     297
which it continued to bear long after it had again
become a solitude.30
In the mean time no progress was made by the
negotiators in arranging terms of peace. The discussions, indeed, were of a friendly character - somewhat too friendly, it might be doubted.  Maine, like
a good diplomatist, had done his best to recommend
himself to the favor of those with whom  he was to
treat, sending as presents to the duke of Berri and the
other princes casks of choice wine and loads of fruits
and vegetables - articles which, it would seem., were
more plentiful in the city than in the camp.31 He
had forgotten, however, that it was on the sovereign's
behalf that he had been authorized to act.  His own
views, his own scruples, his own interests formed the
real subject of discussion. What he required from
the confederates was an explanation in regard to
their design - an assurance that it was not directed
against the king; that it was, in truth, altogether
loyal in its nature, tending to the general benefit of
the nation and of the crown.32   When  his doubts
on these points had been removed,-having received
a further pledge from the allies that they would, in
any event, maintain him in the possession of his
30 Commines, tom. i. pp. 81, 82.  bien du royaulme et chose publicque
31 De Troyes, p. 38.         d'icelluy, sans avoir voulonte de rien
32 ", Certiffions et asseurons a nos- entrerompre ne toucher a la personne
tre tres chier et tres ame oncle et de monseigneur le roy ne a la coucousin le conte du Maine, que nostre ronne." Accord entre les princes
intencion et les causes pourquoy ligu6s et Charles d'Anjou, comte du
sumes joings et unis ensemble, sont Maine, Doc. Indd., Melanges, tom.
tendeues tout a bonne fin pour le ii. p. 384.
VOL. I.      38




298             WAIAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.               [BOOn I.
estates, —he could see no objection to expressing his
concurrence - secretly, that is to say — in their views.
So that, in fact, his negotiations resulted in a treaty,
which, however, he did not at present deem  it necessary to submit for the ratification of tile king.33
Affairs were taking an inauspicious turn for Louis.
His enemies displayed little vigor, it is true; but
they  held  their ground with  dogged  perseverance.
The king was blockaded, if the  city was not.  He
was  debarred  from   all those  healthful excursions
which had become the regular routine  of his existence -  visits to the "1 good towns," pilgrimages to the
shrines of Our Lady, quiet tours of inspection throughout the kingdom, where he saw every thing with his
own eyes, contriving often to remain himself unseen.
Even his imagination was imprisoned. It was impossible for him to see visions of another province added
to the domain of the crown, another strip of territory skilfully purloined from  Aragon and annexed to
France, another stroke of policy like that which had
made him master of Savoy, when his actual possessions had shrunk within the limits of his bodily sight.
In his prison he was still a king, but with no reve33 The agreement bears the date he made to Melun. " He told me
of September 18, the day on which, that his said uncle (of Maine) was a
the chroniclers tell us, negotiations man of a strange character and difwere broken off. (De Troyes, p. ficult to manage; thatit was never41.)  Louis, who had perhaps per- theless necessary to do every posmitted the negotiation as much for sible thing to content him, since, if
the amusement of Maine as with the  he were lost, the king would have
view of sounding the allies, was not no prince of his blood left on his
deceived. His reasons for dissem- side." Proces de Charles de Melun,
bling appear from a remark which  Lenglet, tom. iii. p. 15.




CHAP. VI.] GIDDY BEHAVIOR OF THE PARISIANS.    299
nues flowing into his exchequer, no vassals coming
to do him homage, no envoys arriving from foreign
courts - nothing wherewith to while away the time
but a daily correspondence with his friend Sforza,
who gave him excellent advice, if he could but have
had the opportunity to follow it, for sowing divisions
among his enemies and profiting thereby.34  Nothing
but this  and listening to the murmurs in the
streets, and to the epigrams upon his ministers and
upon himself; of which, in spite of his presence and
that of his army, there was still a perpetual flood.
He was in danger of losing his temper when he
saw how little the giddy Parisians sympathized with
his anxieties, how little they appreciated his efforts
in behalf of the nation. Was a truce proclaimed?
The whole population poured out to view the enemy's encampment, to get news of what was going
on, to trade with the soldiers, to listen to their boastings and persuasions. It was in vain that Louis issued
an order that on these occasions no person should
leave the city. Unless he had turned his artillery
upon them, as he was tempted to do, there were no
means of preventing the inhabitants from indulging
their curiosity. His sole resource was to station
officers at the gates to take down the names of those
who returned! 3 It was not enough for these people
that they paid no taxes; that the army had brought
large supplies with it from Normandy; that the
price of provisions was no higher than in time of
peace. They raised a clamor about every petty
34 Basin, tom. ii. p. 124.    35 De Troyes, p. 39.




300           WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.            [BooK I.
larceny committed by the troops; and if a girl had
chanced to be seduced by an archer of the guard,F
her parents came to the king to demand justice! His
favorite minister, good Bishop Balue, — an invaluable person, whom he was afterwards reluctantly, but
by stern necessity, compelled to shut up in a cage,was assaulted one night in a public street, and beaten
nearly to death. The king was to be held responsible
even for the ravages committed by the enemy outside the walls.  When he strove to cheer the citizens
by promising that they should not long be vexed by
the presence of the confederates, c' Ay, sire," was the
grumbling answer,' but in the mean time they are
eating our grapes and spoiling our vines."  " It is
better," was the sharp and ominous retort, " that they
should eat your grapes and spoil your vines, than
that they should get into your cellars, and find the
hoards of silver that you keep concealed."36
It became more and more evident that in this
trial of endurance Louis was the losing party. He
determined, therefore, to make an attempt in earnest to bring about a settlement; in other words,
he resolved  to open negotiations in person.  To
whom should he address himself? He would doubtless have found it easy to make a satisfactory arrangement with the duke of Berri; but it was not
36," Un nomme Pierre Beron lui et mangeassent lesdits raisins, que
respondit: Voire Sire, mais ils ven- ce qu'ils vinssent dedans Paris prendangent nos vignes et mangent nos dre leurs tasses et vaillant qu'ils
raisins sans y sqavoir remedier. Et avoient mis et mussez dedans leurs
le Roy repliqua qu'il valloit mieux caves et celiers." Idem, p. 40.
qu'ils vendengeassent lesdites vignes




CHAP.vI.] INTERVIEW BETWEEN LOUIS AND CHARLES. 301
to be supposed that the other leaders were simple
enough to permit him to have a private conference
with his brother.  On the other hand, it would
have been a mere waste of time to treat with any
one whose defection from his party would not so
weaken it as to ensure its speedy downfall. There
was no course open to the king but a direct appeal
to the most formidable of his enemies -the most
powerful and the most determined. The army of the
count of Charolais, reenforced by fresh arrivals from
the Netherlands, outnumbered the united forces of
his allies; his father's treasury supplied him with the
means of subsidizing the poorer leaders; and his own
stubborn resolution was the soul of the enterprise,
from which it derived whatever unity and vigor it
displayed. As long as Charles kept the field Louis
must remain shut up in the capital. If the propositions made by Louis were accepted by Charles, the
rest of the confederates would lose no time in making
their submission.
At the hour appointed for the interview the Burgundian leader, surrounded by his principal officers,
took his station at the side of the river in front of
his- quarters, and awaited the arrival of the king's
boat. As it approached the landing-place, Louis, who
had brought with him only four or five attendants,
stood forward, and, addressing the count of Charolais,
said, "My brother, have I assurance for my safety?"
" The assurance of a brother, Monseigneur," was the
reply.  Stepping on shore, the king opened the
conversation in his habitual tone of frankness and




302         WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.         [BOOK I.
good-humor.' My brother, now I know  that you
are indeed descended from this royal house of France.
You sent me word that before a year was gone I
should rue the pleasantries uttered by my foolish
chancellor at Lille; and truly I have found cause
to rue them, and that long before the year is out.
You are a man of your word, my brother; and it
is with such men that I desire to have dealings."
When, on the weaker side, there was this candid
acknowledgment of error and of inferiority, it might
be hoped that on the stronger side a corresponding
magnanimity would be displayed;"7 while the allusion to Charles's fidelity in keeping engagements of
a hostile character was doubtless intended to remind
him of the sacredness of the pacific pledge he had
just given. Referring in a more serious tone to the
invectives which had drawn forth a menace so punctually executed, Louis disavowed his own responsibility in the matter, protesting that he had given no
charge to Morvilliers to make use of language so
offensive. Then, placing himself between the counts
of Charolais and Saint-Pol, he began to walk up and
down, entering into a full and lengthy discussion of
the means of restoring peace.
It was not in his character to have sought such an
interview as the present unless he had been prepared
to make the largest concessions. A war for the public
advantage meant, as he well knew, a war for the
37 " Et diet le Roy ces parolles en telle, qu'il prendroit plaisir ausdictes
bon visaige et riant, congnoissant la parolles."  Commines, tom. i. p.
nature de celluy a qui il parloit estre 93.




CHAP.VI.] INTERVIEW BETWEEN LOUIS AND CHARTES. 303
private advantage of all who could be induced to
embark in it;38 and having once settled in his own
mind the necessity of yielding, of acknowledging his
embarrassments, of announcing his bankruptcy, he
was impatient to extricate himself from his present
intolerable position by settling all demands and obtaining a discharge. Accordingly the personal claims
preferred by the count of Charolais were allowed
without demur. The towns on the Somme should be
given up, with a pledge that no attempt would again
be made to redeem them during Charles's life. The
counties of Boulogne and Guines were to be settled
on him and his heirs in perpetuity. To the count
of Saint-Pol Louis offered the place of constable of
France - an elevation which might well be thought
sufficient to satisfy the ambition of that aspiring
noble, while it could not fail to be in the highest
degree agreeable to his friend. Nor did the king display a different spirit when he came to deal with the
pretensions of the dukes of Brittany, Calabria, and
Bourbon, and with those of the Armagnacs. He expressed his assent to the conditions on which these
powerful vassals were severally ready to lay aside
the sword. The inferior members of the league were
also to be gratified to the full extent of their hopes;
places and pensions were to be distributed without
stint among those who, by their late exertions for
the public weal, had earned the gratitude of the
crown and proved their ability to serve it.
3a " Le bien public estoit converty en bien particulier." Idem, loe. cit.




304         WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.       [BOOX I.
These questions settled, what remained?  The
most difficult of all- that which related to the duke
of Berri. One of the principal motives which had
been alleged by the confederates in justification of
their appeal to arms was their desire to secure to that
prince the position to which he was entitled by his
birth. His brother, it was argued, in making no adequate provision for him had departed from the ordinary practice, and set a precedent dangerous to the
rights of all the members of the royal family. It
was necessary that Charles of France should take his
place at the head of the great vassals-in other
words, that the crown should be despoiled of some of
its fairest possessions in order that another princely
house should rise by the side of those that already
exercised sovereign sway over so large a portion
of the realm. Thus the system was to be perpetuated by which, from generation to generation, the
territory of France was parcelled out among the
princes of the blood, until the monarchy should have
returned to its condition under the feeble successors
of Charlemagne, or until its very name became
extinct.
Yet, even on this point, Louis- ever more inclined to deviate for a time at least from his direct
line of policy than to waste his strength in struggling with insuperable obstacles —had made up his
mind to a sacrifice which might have seemed intended to anticipate the cravings of an exorbitant
cupidity. Nevertheless it did not come up to the
mark drawn by the allies. They had themselves




cArP. vI.] INTERVIEW BETWEEN LOUIS AND CHARLES. 305
made choice of the province which the king was to
bestow upon his brother. What was their selection?
Normandy. Normandy! the largest and the most
productive of his territories; the province which contributed more than one third of all the revenues of
the crown; which had just furnished him with the
means that alone enabled him to make a stand
against his assailants; which in the hands of the enemies of France had so often afforded them the means
of conquering the whole kingdom, and treating it as
a subject state; which had been redeemed after so
long a struggle and at so great a cost of blood;
which was so situated — flanked on the one side by
the duchy of Brittany, and on the other by the dominions of the house of Burgundy; fronting the coast
of England, where ruled the descendants of its former
sovereigns, and commanding the passage from the
sea to the very doors of the capital- that, if severed
from the monarchy, it must become the impregnable
seat of an independent power, fatal to the existence
of the monarchy,- here was a demand by which the
king might well be startled. He had already made
concessions involving the loss of all the ground which
he had gained since his accession and the abandonment of his most cherished- schemes. But he was
now asked to surrender what had been won not by
himself, but by his ancestors; won not through
secret intrigues, but in a popular and glorious war;
won not from native princes and vassals, but from
the foreign aggre sor, the hereditary foe. Impossible 
VOL. I.   39




306          ~WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.           [BOOK I.
Such a surrender would be not defeat alone, not disgrace alone, but ruin.39
But it was in vain that Louis strove with his usual
eloquence to modify the sentiments of his opponent
and to lead him to the consideration of less outrageous terms. In vain he brought forward his counter
proposition - offering, in place of Normandy, Champagne and La Brie, provinces comprising an almost
equal extent of territory, while in other respects less
important. All his arguments were wasted on the
iron temper of the man whom he addressed, among
whose qualities none was so remarkable as the stubbornness of his resolution, his constancy in adhering
to his purposes and plans, the tenacity with which he
clung to the object in his grasp. There were many
reasons why Charles might well have been tempted
to close with the king's proposals. The confederacy,
as he well knew, was bound together by a cord too
slender to endure a constant and prolonged strain.
His own superior power, the victory which he had
gained at Montlhery without their assistance, had
excited feelings of jealousy in the breasts of his
allies. The Armagnacs had begun to negotiate with
Louis on their own account.0~ The duke of Berri, as
had been seen, was not a man in whom to repose confidence. Why risk the successes already achieved on
the chance of obtaining for this timid and vacillating
a9 The king's views on this point January, 1466, to his envoys to the
are to be found, under his own hand, count of Charolais. Doe. Ined., Mein a document from which we shall langes, tom. ii. p. 423, et seq.
hereafter have occasion to quote —  40 De Tro3 -s, p. 38.
the instructions given by him, in




CHAP.-I.] INTERVIEW BETWEEN LOUIS AND CHARLES. 307
prince a position of which he could not appreciate
the advantages, a power which he was not competent to use? The objects with which the count of
Charolais had enlisted in the enterprise were now
attained. He had extorted all, and more than all,
that he had originally sought. It required only his
own concurrence to assure to him the fruits of victory.
He had obtained similar terms for his associates. He
might, therefore, close the campaign in triumph and
with untarnished honor. He had also a strong personal motive for desiring to bring the war to an
immediate conclusion. Every day he received messages from. his father urging him to return home and
take command of an expedition against Liege. The
turbulent people of that state, having formed an
alliance offensive and defensive with the French
monarch, had proclaimed war against the duke of
Burgundy, and ravaged the borders of Luxembourg
and Brabant.  They had already suffered a defeat
from the forces sent against them by Philip; but an
attack by enemies so despicable was itself an insult
to so great a prince for which no chastisement could
be too severe. With the temerity of weakness they
seemed to tempt their doom by renewed preparations, by exultant threats, and by infamous contumelies directed against the illustrious house the weight
of whose power they had so often felt. These events
could not but rouse in Charles's mind as stern a
feeling as in Philip's.  He had vowed, indeed, to
make terrible reprisals; and none could doubt that
this vow would be performed to the letter. —Yet,




308           WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.             [BOOK I.
being thus sure, vengeance might be deferred. The
stroke by which Louis was prostrated and disarmed
would be to his wretched allies an omen of their own
fate. From so wily a foe it was vain to exact conditions that did not carry in themselves the pledge of
their fulfilment. His own terms were liberal because
easy to elude. In Champagne his brother would be
within his reach - to be duped by his professions, to
be caught by his snares, to be crushed, when the
opportunity should arise, by his arms. In Normandy
the prince would be less exposed. There he would be
surrounded by friends. He would be able to maintain
a constant intercourse with his advisers and protectors-  to receive assistance, in any emergency, not
only from the count of Charolais on the one side, but
from the duke of Brittany on the other. Above all,
the king's ambition would thus be effectually bridled.
An unbroken line of hostile spears would forever
confront him. Conterminous provinces, with an uninterrupted line of sea-coast from Flanders to Poitou,
would be in the hands of the confederates.  Their
league would be perpetual. If they needed additional
strength, they had but to invite the king of England
to the dominions of his ancestors, through which
would lie his passage, undefended and unimpeded, to
the throne still claimed as his rightful inheritance.
41 "Existimabant enim [principes tervallo, [and this intermediate teret socii factionis] non imprudenter ritory, it must be remembered, comquod, ubi Normanniam assecutus fo- prised Calais, still in the hands of
ret (quae, sine aliqua intermedia ter- the English, and Picardy, which by
ra, ex uno extremo duci Britanniae, the proposed treaty was to be reex altero vero, modico excepto in- stored to the house of Burgundy]




CHAPI..] INTERVIEW  BETWEEN LOUIS AND CHARLES.  309
Here, therefore, was a vital question at issue - a
conflict not of adverse interests alone, but of hostile
principles.   On  the preservation  of Normandy  depended that of the French monarchy. Restored to
its place among the great fiefs, and firmly cemented
with the others, that province would become the
keystone of the arch that supported the fabric of
feudalism.   It was a  question  which  both  parties
viewed in its true aspect; and when this became apparent,- when each had proved the other's strength
and found him immovable,- it was useless to continue the discussion. In spite of his disappointment,
Louis, in taking leave of the count, preserved the
same tone with which he had at first greeted him.
He invited Charles to visit him at Paris; but the
temerity of the monarch - a strange temerity, that
excited the astonishment of the whole army -was
not to be imitated by a subject.  The count excused
himself on the plea of a vow which forbade him to
enter the gates of a town until he should return to
his father's provinces. Leaving a liberal present to
be distributed among the archers of the Burgundian
guard, Louis entered his boat and returned to Paris.42
terris ducis Burgundie conterminat) ab Anglia possent auxilia obtinere."
ipos tres principes, ita se ipsis vici- Basin, tom. ii. p. 127. - See also the
nantes, facile se contra regem et alios remark of Commines, " La chose du
sibi foederatos posse tutari ac defen- monde qu'il [le comte de Charolais]
dere (cum etiam et littora maris ten- desiroit le plus, c'estoit de veoir ung
uissent, a finibus Flandrie usque  due en Normandie, car par ce moyen
Pictaviam), et per hoc eorum poten- il luy sembloit le Roy estre affoibly
time atque viribus, sic conterminanti- de la tierce partie." Tom. i. p. 109.
bus et conjunctis, regem verisimiliter   42 Duclelrq, tom. iv. p. 205. -
pravalere non posse; contra quem  Commines, tom. i. p. 93,
etiam, si ingrueret necessitas, facile




310          WAR OF THE: PUBLIC WEAL.          [BOOK I.
He returned to Paris - to his prison-house. Were
not the walls closing around him? Had not the air
become stifling?  c" His Normandy! "- must this indeed be the price of liberty? It was but a few
months since all his schemes had appeared to prosper; and now he stood on the brink of destruction.
He would not abandon the negotiation, unpromising as had been the commencement.  He opened
a daily communication with the count of Charolais.
Their messenger was the trusty and sagacious Guillaume Biche - still the servant of Charles, and still
regarded with the same high favor by the king. One
result followed. The other chiefs, taking umbrage
at this private intercourse between the Burgundian
leader and the enemy, affected to regard the former
as no longer entitled to their confidence, and held
councils which he was not invited to attend.  But
this proceeding did not lead to the explosion that
might have been expected.  At so critical a moment
Charles preserved his self-command.  He dissembled
his indignation, and assumed in his bearing towards
his allies a cordiality foreign to his disposition.43 He
knew that measures now in progress would bring
the contest to its final issue - that in a few days
the question still in dispute would be decided.
Did not Louis detect the signs of his approaching
43 " Se mit plus de feste et joyeulx mon advis qu'il en estoit grant beavec ces seigneurs, que paravant, et soing, et dangler qu'ilz ne se en fus-'
avec meilleure chiere; et eut plus sent separez." Commines, tom. i.
communications avec eulx et leurs p. 95.
gens, qu'il n'avoit acoustume; et a




CHAr. VI.]     LOSS OF NORMANDY.              311
fate?  One portent, at least, was visible.  On the
night of September 26 the outer gate of the Bastille,
one of the entrances into the city from the open fields,
was discovered to be unbarred. The cannon were
found to have been spiked. The officer in command
of the fortress was Philip de Melun, father of Charles
de Melun. The town was filled with alarming rumors.
The citizens kept watch and ward throughout the
night, closed the streets with chains, and refused to
disband even at the king's orders.44  His own anxieties were doubtless at their highest pitch. —But they
were soon to terminate.
The next morning brought intelligence that a
party of the confederates had entered Normandy.
Pontoise had opened its gates-the commander of
the garrison, a king's officer, giving the signal for
surrender. A few days later the same scene was
enacted at Rouen, the capital, and the residence of
Madame de Breze. It was she indeed-or rather
her counsellors, the prelates of the province and the
representatives of the great nobility- who had
planned this masterly piece of treachery. They had
disclosed their scheme to the allies, who, grasping
at the offer, had despatched the duke of Bourbon,
with three thousand men, to receive the submission
of the province in the name of Charles of France.
The other principal towns speedily followed the example of the capital —the inhabitants readily con44 De Troyes, p. 44. — Commines, of these circumstances by the king,)
(who was long afterwards informed tom. i. p. 87.




312           WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.            [BOOx I.
senting to  swear allegiance to the prince and to
recognize him as their sovereign.45
This last and greatest treason resolved the king's
doubts. The struggle in his mind was over. He
could not have brought himself to part with Normandy; but now Normandy was lost! 6- There was
no  cause, no  time, for further deliberation.  His
position was no longer tenable. The ground was
heaving beneath him. What had happened in Normandy would happen to-morrow in Paris. Even in
Paris he was surrounded by Normans: the troops
whose fidelity was his sole dependence were the
compatriots of those who had just betrayed his cause
and chosen a sovereign for themselves.  It only remained for Louis to ratify their choice.
He sought another interview with the count of
Charolais, in which he announced to him what had
taken place and his own determination to abide by
it.  "Since the Normans," he said, "wish for a duke,
they shall have one."  It seemed that he was well
pleased to have had the decision of the matter taken
out of his hands. Never had he expressed himself
with greater frankness and vivacity; never had he
said so many flattering things.47  He was eager to
consummate the business, and, as a pledge of his
40 Basin, tom. ii. p. 126. - Com- ceste nouvellete, il en estoit conmines, tom. i. pp. 97, 98.-De Troyes, tent." Commines, tom. i. p. 99.
p. 145.                       47 "M'a dit icelluy monseigneur
46," Disant que de son consente- le roy beaucoup de belles parolles,"
ment n'enst jamais baill6 tel partaige wrote Charles on the same day, (Oct.
4 son frere; mais puisque d'eulx 3,) to his father. Doc. Ined., Memesmes les Normans en avoient faict langes, tom. ii. pp. 391-393.




CHAP. VI.]     LOUIS SURRENDERS.           313
sincerity, insisted on placing in Charles's hands the
castle of Vincennes, — which, though surrounded by
the forces of the confederates, had never been captured by them, —to be held until the treaty should
be executed.
The place of meeting, on this occasion, was in the
open fields between Conflans and Paris. Louis had
come thither attended by a hundred archers of the
Scottish guard, while the count was attended by a
still larger body of followers —most of them, however, merely attracted to the spot by curiosity.
Causing his men to halt, Charles hastened to join the
king, who turned back on the road by which he had
come, and, as usual when engaged in conversation,
walked onwards at a rapid pace. No wonder that
his companion, listening to the gratifying announcenment of his own triumph from the mouth of his vanquished foe, took little notice of the lapse of time or
the direction in which he was going, until he found
himself, to his surprise, within the palisades of an
outwork that formed part of the defences of the
city. Five or six persons of his suite had followed
him at a little distance. With these exceptions he
was surrounded only by troops in the uniform of
the king. No hostages had been given for him;
neither had he asked for or received any safe-conduct. He was thus in the power of an enemy whose
reputation for perfidy was almost unexampled; and
the suspicion flashed upon his mind that his situation was not the result of mere accident. But this
was not the moment to evince a sense of danger.
VOL. I.   40




314        NVAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.       [BOOK I.
Without any change of countenance, therefore, he
continued the conversation. Perhaps Louis was not
displeased to have this opportunity of giving a proof
of his good faith and of the sincerity of the intentions which he had just avowed. He called for wine;
and the attendant who served him was about to offer
the same refreshment to the count of Charolais. But
the king made a gesture for him to desist. "My
cousin," he said, with a smile, "drinks no wine between meals."48  In this delicate manner he saved
Charles from an embarrassment which, in that age,
the circumstances would have fully warranted.
In the mean time the Burgundian camp was in a
ferment of alarm. Nothing less was apprehended
than an instantaneous attack — an attempt to surprise the army in the absence of its leader, who had
been decoyed into an ambuscade. The chiefs assembled for consultation; the stragglers were called in;
the troops were ordered under arms. A murmuring debate arose, in which conjectures as to what
had happened were mingled with recollections of the
darkest story in the annals of the Burgundian house
- the bloody tragedy of Montereau. Those who had
gone with Charles to the place of meeting were vehemently censured for having lost sight of him. The
marshal of Burgundy, an old and trusted servant of
the duke, suffered the greatest share of anxiety, for
it was he who must give an account to Philip of
what had befallen his son. The veteran's feelings
48 "6Ne versez pas, mon beau cousin ne bolt pas entre deux repas."
Haynin, tom. i. p. 50.




CHAP. VI.]       TREATY OF CONFLANS.                  3 15
alternated between fears for the count's safety and
indignation at his imprudence. " If this mad young
prince," he exclaimed, c has gone wilfully to his own
destruction, it is for us to take care that his folly
shall not involve the loss of his father's army and
the downfall of his house. Let us take order for securing our retreat to the marches of Burgundy or of
Hainault."  While he thus talked of leaving Charles
to his fate, he mounted his horse, and, accompanied
by Saint-Pol, rode off in the direction of Paris, impatient to gather tidings from the scouts. A troop of
horse appeared in the distance; it was a party of the
royal guards sent by Louis to escort the count on his
return. The marshal hastened towards him, with a
reproof ready on his lips, and was somewhat disappointed when Charles, who respected the privileges
of his mentor, met him with a prompt acknowledgment of his error.49
The war was now ended; and it only remained to
apportion the spoils among the victors. By a separate treaty with the count of Charolais, signed at
Conflans, October 5, the king resigned possession of
the towns on the Somme, stipulating for their restoration, after Charles's death, on the payment to his
successors of two hundred thousand crowns.   This
limitation, however, did not extend to the seigniories
49 Commines, tom. i. pp. 99-103. with discernment. An act of flagrant
- The instances are not rare in treachery —where the risk was great,
which the character of Louis suf- the advantage doubtful - was not in
fered from the hasty and unjust sus- his line. If capable of the crime, he
picions of those who were little gifted was at least incapable of the fault.




316           WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.            [BOOK 1.
of Roye, Peronne, and Montdidier, which, with the
counties of Boulogne and Guines, were settled upon
Charles and his heirs in perpetuity.
Several weeks were still to elapse before the claims
of the other leaders could be properly adjusted. An
infinite number of grants of lordships and immunities were to be drawn up, scrutinized, and sealed.
There was a general scramble for pensions, in which
not only the princes and nobles, but in some instances
their wives, and even their mistresses, took part. Even
at the last there were not a few who thought they
had cause for dissatisfaction. Yet the king refused
nothing. It was only his own adherents who had
reason to  accuse him  of unfairness.   The persons
among whom had been divided the confiscated estates of Dammartin and others in disgrace were now
called upon for restitution. The count of Eu was
obliged to part with certain of his seignorial rights
in Normandy. The count of Maine, on the other
hand, presented a bill for the services which he had
rendered the king in the negotiations before described; and, as his account was approved by the
confederates, the king could do no less than pay it.50
Feudalism had triumphed; the reaction was complete. What efforts it had cost Louis to regain possession of the towns of Picardy! And now he ceded
them back without even asking restitution of the
50 " Au regard de mondit Seigneur recompense la Terre et Seigneurie
du Maine, pource aussi qu'il s'est de Taillebourg, laquelle le Roy fera
employe i ladite pacification,... delivrer a mondit Seigneur du Maine,
le Roy sera tenu de le recompenser, et recompenser ceux a qui elle apet luy donner et bailler pour icelle partient." Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 517.




CHAP. VI.]          HUJ'MILIATION  OF LOUIS.                    317
four hundred thousand crowns which he had paid
for them!  His money and  his pains had alike been
wasted. Yet what was this loss compared with that
of Normandy? When thie treaty was laid before
the Parliament, that body refused to register it.
The jurists declared  that domains so vast could not
be legally alienated from the crown. A royal order
was necessary to enforce compliance with the usual
forms.5"
One matter alone was overlooked, —that which
had been the original and ostensible pretext for the
war, - the reduction of the taxes, the reform of the
government.  We are wrong: an article was duly
framed setting forth the necessity of devising means
for the  restoration  of the "public weal," and  providing for the appointment of thirty-six " notables," who
were to meet and devise means accordingly.  "I did
often inquire," says an honest chronicler, a who these
thirty-six notable persons were; but who was the
51 The treaties of Conflans and  and pay for five hundred lances for
Saint-Maur des Fosses, with various  six months, to be employed in the
documents relating  to them, are  conquest of Naples, to facilitate which
printed in Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 499, et the king engaged to renounce his alseq. See also the " Pieces de comp- liance with the Aragonese house and
tabilith," exhibiting the enormous in- to reestablish the Pragmatic Sanccrease in the annual expenses of the  tion! To the duke of Bourbon were
state after the war, in the Doc. In6d., assigned a hundred thousand crowns
Melanges, tom. ii. pp. 459-470.    and the government of Guienne; to
A few items, in addition to such  the duke of Nemours, the governas are noticed in the text, will convey  ment of Paris and the Isle of France;
some notion of the extent to which  to the duke of Brittany, the grant
the spoliations were carried.  The  of several arriere-fiefs in that provduke of Calabria, besides the grant ince, with a full renunciation of the
of several lordships, was to receive  royal claim to levy aids, a pension
a hundred thousand crowns down, for the duke's mistress, &c., &c.




318              WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.                   [BooK I.
first or who was the last of them I was never able
to learn."52
While the world wondered at his abasement, Louis
himself had too much hulility to be conscious of his
humiliation. Vivacious and self-possessed as ever, he
watched with curiosity, not unmingled with amusement, the manner in which the booty of which he had
been despoiled was divided and appropriated by the
captors. He freely admitted his inability to contend
with enemies so redoubtable-  with a politician like
his fair brother of Bourbon, with an invincible warrior
like  his fair brother of Charolais.5    What he  now
desired was to gain the friendship of these powerful
princes.  Mounted  on  his little  hackney, and  more
"honorably" dressed than was his wont, he every day
visited the camp, assisted in reviewing the troops, conversed with the different chiefs, and was especially
attentive to those who, on account of former slights,
owed him  a personal grudge.   But it was for Charles
that he reserved the loudest and warmest professions
52 "J'en ay assez inquis, et ne    53 " En apres ledit accord fait et
sceu oncques qui estoyent les trente- passe par aucuns biens preciez au
six, ne qui estoit le premier, ne le  Roy, fut demand6 audit Roy, qui le
dernier: et a mon jugement, le Roy  avoit meu de faire tel Traite k son
se monstra le plus subtil de tous les  prejudice. Et le Roy respondit en
autres Princes." Lamarche, tom. ii. cette maniere, cc a estW en considerp. 249.                           tion de jeunesse de mon frere de
Honest Oliver, however, who is  Berry; la prudence de beau cousin
seldom  very exact, had failed to  de Calabre; le sens de beau frere de
make inquiries in the proper quar- Bourbon; la malice du Comte d'Arter. The thirty-six commissioners  mignac; l'orgueil grand de beau
were duly appointed; but, as their cousin de Bretagne; et la puissance
deliberations led to no material re- invincible de beau frere de Chaxosult, the nation, it seems, soon be- lois."  Lenglet, tom. ii p. 500.
came oblivious of their names.




CHAP. VI.]  SEPARATION  OF THE CONFEDERATES.,  319
of his regard.   He fully  acknowledged  his ingratitude  to  the house  of Burgundy, and  the  error he
had committed in connecting himself with the Croys.
They were now living in Paris under his protection;
but he protested that he would not countenance
them in opposition to their master's son. From this
day, he declared, there was no man on whose loyalty
he should repose such entire confidence as on that
of the count of Charolais.54
It was impossible not to be touched by confessions
so penitent, by a confidence so frank.  "c Gentlemen,"
said Charles to his officers, in  the presence of Louis,
" you and I belong to the king our sovereign lord, and
are bound to serve him  whenever he shall need us."55
At length the arrangements were concluded, the
treaties signed. On the 30th of October Louis rode
to the castle of Vincennes, to complete the forms by
which his vassals were to be invested with their new
dignities  and  possessions, and  to  bid  them  farewell.
Charles of France  did  homage for Normandy; the
count of Charolais, for the  towns and  seigniories in
54 cc Le roy dit qu'il ayme mieulx  vers lu'j par cy-devans comme il demondit seigneur mon maistre que  voit; mais il fera tant cy-apres qu'il
personne qui vive, et qu'il a plus de reparera les faultes passes."  Letter
fiance en luy et en sa ferme loyaute  of Jean Gros, secretary of the count
que en tous les princes du monde; of Charolais, October 15, Doec. In6d.,
et dit de luy, de son bon sens et de  M6langes, tom. ii. p. 397.
sa bonne volont6 tant de biens et   55 "Messeigneurs, vous et moy
d'honneur, qu'il n'est pas a croire;...  sommes au Roy mon souverain Seiet dit le roy: Par la Pasques Dieu! gneur qui cy est present, pour le serquand tout le monde luy courroit vir toutes les fois que mestier en
sus, il se vendra rendre es mains de  aura." De Troyes, Lenglet, tom. iv.
mondit seigneur, et congnoist plaine- p. 49.
ment qu'il ne s'est pas conduit en



320         WAR OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.        [BOOK I.
Picardy; the count of Saint-Pol took the oaths as
constable, and received the sword which was the
emblem of his office. Then all took their leave of
the king.  The duke of Brittany set out for Normandy, taking with him the new duke, whose reign
was to be inaugurated under his protection.  The
Armagnacs, the duke of Calabria, and the other
leaders, departed to their respective homes.  The
count of Charolais was the last to be dismissed.
Louis accompanied him on the first day's march.
He had thought of a mode by which their reconciliation might be cemented, their friendship perpetuated,
their interests identified. Within the last few weeks
Charles had received tidings of the death of his wife,
Isabella of Bourbon. By way of consolation the king
offered him the hand of his own daughter, the infant
Princess Anne. The province of Champagne was to
form a portion of her dowry. A treaty to this effect
was drawn up and signed at Villiers-le-Bel.56
The parting was now over. The tide which had
overwhelmed Louis had rolled away,leaving him still
a king, but stripped and desolate as never king had
been before. Such, then, was the result of his strenuous toils, his plots and devices, his efforts to emancipate the crown, to consolidate the monarchy, to
render his own authority supreme and absolute. Was
he, then, disheartened? He had received a lesson,
and was diligently pondering its application.
5 Commines, tom. i. pp. 104-106. tom. iv. p. 237. — Lamarche, tom.
- Haynin, tom. i. p. 54. — Duclercq, ii. p. 249. - Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 543.




CHAPTER VII.
LIEGE. - ITS HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS. - REVOLUTION UNDER
LOUIS OF BOURBON. - THE "PITEOUS PEACE."
1 4 6 6.
THE ardor of the Burgundian cavaliers was in no
degree diminished by their late exploits and the
triumph that had crowned their arms. They eagerly
turned their steps towards a new field of enterprise.
They had humbled the king of France; they were
now going to chastise the " villain people of Lie'ge."'
Their indefatigable leader allowed them  but a brief
season for repose.  Charles himself did not even
deviate from  the direct route to visit his father at
Brussels. He traversed Champagne, Hainault, and
the southern part of Brabant, gathering fresh levies
as he advanced, and towards the close of December
entered the enemy's territory at the head of a larger
force than had ever before been marshalled under
the standard of his house.
1 " Quant nous aurons fait icy," contre ces villains Li6gois." Doc.
wrote Charles's secretary, Oct. 15, Ined., Melanges, tom. ii. p. 398.
"nous irons commencer de plus belle
VOL. I.    41                             (321)




322                  LIEGE.               [BooK I.
The principality of Liege, embracing a somewhat
more extended territory than the present province of
the same name, belonged to that portion of Belgium
which, though classed among the " Low Countries,"
was geographically a region quite distinct from them.
For here the great alluvial basin terminates, and the
first step is gained of that ascent which, continuing
from ridge to ridge, from mountain chain to mountain
chain, culminates at last in the pinnacles of the Alps.
Instead, therefore, of a dreary uniformity of sandy
downs, marshes, or moorland wastes, which formed
the natural features of the northern and central districts, Liege presents a surface remarkably diversified
and picturesque. Its ranges of wild and rugged hills,
intersected by deep ravines and leaping rivulets, and
its vast forest tracts -outlying domains of the ancient
woodland monarchy of Ardennes, where Saint Hubert's shrine still wears its sylvan trophies, and his
votaries pursue their quest of the roebuck and the
wild boar- are finely contrasted with the softer
features of the scenery, the valleys and gentler undulations, gay with a luxuriant vegetation. Through
its whole extent the country is threaded by a noble
river,- the Meuse, —which, lower down, must creep
with the joyless current of age along the flats of Holland, but which here exhibits the beauty, vigor, and
romance of youth. Sometimes it shoots swiftly past
gigantic limestone cliffs, that rise precipitously from
the water's edge, here overhanging the stream in
broad masses or crags of fantastic shape, there crowning themselves with lofty and isolated peaks; and




rcaAP. vII.]  NATURAL SCENERY AND RESOURCES.                   323
sometimes it lingers and spreads itself towards gently
receding slopes, wearing a verdure of peculiar brilliancy, which, still rising and still retreating, gain at
last a range of heights that encompass and command
a panoramic view.
It was not, however, to the beauties of the surface,
but to the treasures beneath it, that Li6ge was indebted for its early fame and importance. The soil
is rich in many ores, but especially in  iron  and coal;
and from a remote period a swarming and hardy
people has been engaged in the mutually dependent labors of the  mine  and  the  forge.2   The  cap2 According to the monkish legend, Camden Society,) the colliers at Lian angel, in the guise of a venerable  4ge, instead of being assisted in their
sage, first revealed to the peasants  operations by supernatural influence,
the existence of the coal, and made  had to encounter perils of a demothem acquainted with its uses and  niacal origin. " When they meet
the mode of extracting it.  Some  with this mineral they form a spawriters, however, have suggested  cious cavern; but they are not able
that for "angelus" we should read  to throw out the stones [i. e., the
"Anglus " —" ce qui est bien diff,- coal] immediately, for fire on a sudrent," remarks M. Dewez, (Hist. de  den bursts forth and encompasses
Lidge, tom. i. p. 130,) having for- the whole cavern. When the miners
gotten, apparently, the " Non Angli are desirous of extracting the coal,
sed angeli" of Pope Gregory VII., they put on a linen garment which
and little anticipating that, a few  has neither been bleached nor dipped
years later, the industry of Belgium  in water. This covers the frame fiom
was to receive an extraordinary stim- head to foot, leaving only certain
ulus from the genius of an English- apertures for the eyes;... they also
man, the projector of that network  take a staff in their hands.... The
of railways by which the centres of  miner then draws near to the fii'e and
population established on the line of  frightens it with his staff. The fire
the coal formation are now connect- then flies away and contracts by lited with each other and with distant tie and little; having then expended
capitals and outports. (See the Life  itself, it collects together in a surof Stephenson.)                   prising manner, and, becoming very
If we may credit the narrative of  small, remains quite still in a corner.
Nicander Nucius, (published by the  But it behoves the man who wears




324                           LIEGE.                        [BOOK I.
ital,    which  gave  its name  to  the  principality,occupying  the base  and  slopes of an  amphitheatre
of hills that overlook the junction of several tributary streams with the Meuse, is built upon the most
extensive coal tract in the province. The miner pursues his  explorations  under the  foundations of the
houses.   Great foundries  have  been  erected  over
the mouths of the pits. Numberless furnaces send
forth volumes of smoke into the narrow and tortuous
streets, and sully with a murky radiance the purity
of the evening sky. Smaller towns, and villages on
every side present a similar aspect; and the traveller, passing by night through the valley of the Meuse,
imagines himself traversing a country lighted by
volcanic eruptions or by the  devastating flames that
follow the march of a horde of ruthless invaders.3
Liege has a history of its own - as picturesque as
its landscapes, as vivacious as its sparkling river, filled
the linen garment to stand over the  ment magnifique.  Toute la vallee
flame when at rest, always terrifying  semble trou6e de crateres en drupit with his staff. Whilst he performs  tion.  Quelques-uns degorgent derthis service the miners extract the  riere les taillis des tourbillons de
stones; but, as soon as they have  vapeur ecarlate 6toilee d'6tincelles;
left the cave, the dormant fire on a  d'autres dessinent lugubrement sur
sudden bursts forth and environs  un fond rouge la noire silhouette des
the whole cave."  The writer - a  villages; ailleurs les flammes appaGreek traveller of the sixteenth cen- raissent a travers les crevasses d'un
tury - satisfied himself of the real- groupe d'ddifices. On croirait qu'une
ity of these marvels by personal arm6e ennemie vient de traverser le
inspection.                        pays, et que vingt bourgs mis a sac
3 Such is the description given  vous offrent a la fois dans cette nuit
by Victor Hugo of the approach to  tenebreuse tous les aspects et toutes
Liege by night: " Quand on a pass6  les phases de l'incendie, ceux-l emle lieu appel6 la Petite-Flemalle, la  brasds, ceux-ci fumants, les autres
chose devient inexprimable et vrai-  flamboyants." Le Rhin, tom. i. let. 7.




CHAP. VII.]    HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS.               325
with passages of a wild and startling character like
the mingled gloom and glare of its night scenery.
The most eventful period of that history falls within
the scope of the present work. For the details of
an earlier period we must refer the reader to the
pages of the native chroniclers, transferred from
which the narrative would lose not only all its charm,
but half its meaning.4
Ecclesiastical states — a class of which the papal
dominions, the oldest of them all, offer the only existing specimen - owed their origin, for the most
part, to a period when races were emerging from
barbarism under the impulse given to all the faculties
of'man by a newly awakened religious sentiment;
when the Church, far from confining herself to the
sphere of spiritual guidance and instruction, took the
lead in all progressive movements i when forests were
cleared and a systematic husbandry was practised and
taught by adventurous bands of missionary monks;
when the convent or the martyr's shrine gave birth
to a town that grew and flourished under the guardianship of its tutelary saint.
Such was the origin of Liege.  The Church became
early enamoured of these wild hills and lovely valleys,
4 Few of the earlier chroniclers of which our account of the polity of
Liege have yet found their way into  Li6ge has been chiefly derived.
print. Jacques de Hemricourt -  Among the modern authors to whom
whose "Miroir des Nobles de Hes- we have been indebted are Dewez,
baye" is probably the finest as well Gerlache, Bovy, and especially Poas the best known - was also the lain (who has made many citations
author of a valuable treatise, " Li from the original sources) and VilPatron delle Temporaliteit," from  lenfagne.




326                           LIJEGE.                       [BOOK I.
and took them under her own protection. Numerous
convents — oases of civilization in the midst of a
world of barbarism- were planted in the lonely
depths of the Ardennes. The capital owed its existence to the tomb of Saint Lambert, visited at first by
crowds of pilgrims, and in time surrounded by a fixed
population, which found in the vegis of the sanctuary and in the resources of the soil the means of
social enfranchisement, the elements of material prosperity, and the basis of political rights. The modest
chapel that enshrined the saint's remains grew into
a noble temple. Liege became the head of a bishopric. The chapter of Saint Lambert's, represented
by  the  bishop, was the  "c natural lord" -  to  use the
expressive phrase of feudal times -of the land and
the  inhabitants; and, by  successive  imperial grants,
it added  to  its original domain  several counties and
seigniories lying on both banks of the Meuse.5
a The great name in the early his- they were approaching Liege, on
tory of Liege is that of Notger, or their return, Radus suddenly drew
Notker, a bishop of the tenth centu- rein, rubbed  his eyes, and then
ry, to whom the see was chiefly in- remained mute with astonishment.
debted for its temporal aggrandize-  " What is amiss, fair cousin P?" inment. By his skill in diplomacy he  quired the bishop, with a demure,
was enabled to obtain great conces-  sidelong glance at his companion.
sions from  the emperor, while his  "By my faith, SirBishop," exclaimed
mingled craft and boldness made  the amazed baron, "I know  not
him the terror of the lawless nobles, whether I am awake or dreaming.
whom he succeeded in reducing to  Methought a castle of mine stood
complete subjection.  One of his  on yonder height; but now I see
most powerful vassals, Radus des  there not a castle, but a church."
Prez, whose castle occupied the sum-  " Be not troubled, fair cousin," remit of a hill overlooking the capital, plied Notger; "it is true that by
was invited to accompany Notger on  my orders your castle has been dea visit to the imperial court. When  molished, and a church erected in




CHAP. VII.]  ISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS.           327
Armed with spiritual as well as temporal authority,
the government of Liege exercised a certain restraint
over the barbarous and warlike chiefs whose grim
abodes were perched on all the rocky pinnacles of
the country, and whose violent feuds cast a sombre
light on the earlier pages of its annals. It was impossible to abolish altogether the right of private war
claimed universally by the nobles; but this right was
at least subject to restrictions stronger than existed
elsewhere. If it was permitted to slay an enemy,
it was forbidden to burn his house, to devastate
his fields, or to exterminate his family. The bishop
could proclaim a truce of forty days. If the truce
were infringed, or the limits of allowed barbarity
exceeded, those who had cause of complaint appeared
before the episcopal palace, struck upon a massive
brazen ring suspended at the portal, and, the summons being answered, announced the acts of violence
that had been committed, and requested that "my
lord of Liege" would appoint a day to sit in his "Tribunal of the Peace." Before this tribunal the most
powerful offender, when summoned, dared not fail to
appear; for among the penalties he would incur
was one from which there was no escape and against
which there was no defence- the dreaded sentence
of excommunication.
Long before the period of our history, however,
these fires of feudal warfare had burned themselves
out. There was now no part of Europe where the
its place. But what of that? My beyond the Meuse, which he shall
cousin Robert has a fair lordship bestow upon you as an indemnity."




328                    LIEGE.                [BOOK,.
privileges of the nobles were so scanty, their power
so weakened, their haughty spirit so completely broken. Placed between a government that invoked
against them the terrors of religion and a people
inflamed by the pursuit of freedom, they had found
it impossible to maintain their independence of the
one or their dominion over the, other. The chapter
and the people had made common cause against them;
and the long struggle had terminated in the beginning of the fourteenth century, when, after a murderous conflict waged at night in the steep and narrow
streets of the capital, illumined by the fitful glare
of torches, the infuriated populace set fire to a church
in which more than three hundred patricians, the
survivors of their party, had taken refuge, and thrust
back their victims into the flames as often as they
endeavored to escape, until all were crushed beneath
the ruins.6
Thus there existed at Liege in the fifteenth century a state of things quite peculiar in the history
of that period.  The nobles — elsewhere the predominant class - were gone, or reduced to impotence.
The aristocratical element might be said to have disappeared from the political system. For we find
here few traces of that burgher aristocracy - the
enjoyment of exclusive privileges by the wealthier
classes and great corporations, and the monopoly of
the municipal government in the hands of a few6 A spirited account of the " Mal rence, is given by Polain in his ReSaint-Martin," as this event was cits historiques, pp. 95-125.
called from the date of its occur



CHAP. VII.]    HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS.    329
which generally characterized the communes of Flanders as well as those of Germany. On the contrary,
a complete, an almost startling, equality existed. The
smaller guilds had an equal voice with the greater.
The artisan was on a level with the merchant and
the capitalist. The apprentice voted as well as the
master. The municipal government was renewed
yearly, and all native-born or naturalized citizens
above the age of fifteen had the right of suffrage
and were eligible to office.
What may, perhaps, be considered as still more
remarkable was the development of the principles
of constitutional government exhibited in the general institutions of the country. The bishop - elected by the chapter or nominated by the pope —
exercised powers which were strictly defined and
limited. The quintessence of the constitution was
expressed in a single phrase:'"A prince of Liege
makes no change in the laws without the consent
of the estates, and administers justice, only by the
regular tribunals."  The decrees of the sovereign
were countersigned by responsible ministers. When
his prerogatives conflicted with the popular franchises, the question was submitted to the e'cievins, or
superior judges, who gave their opinions after consulting the various charters which formed the basis of
the political system, and which were therefore in no
danger of becoming obsolete. A permanent committee of the three orders - called, from the number of
its members, " the Twenty-two" - watched over the
conduct of the executive and the administration of
VOL. I.    42




330                   LIEGE.                [BooK I.
the laws, and received an appeal from the meanest
citizen who felt himself aggrieved.  Hence a proverbial saying, —to which there is a corresponding
phrase in English, - "The poor man in his own
house is king."
A constitution so closely resembling the present
idea of a perfect political system has naturally attracted admiration from those who in recent times
have examined its features.  But writers of a former
period, familiar with its actual workings, have left
not a single word in praise of it. It wanted the one
element which was wanting in all the constitutions
of the Middle Ages - stability. Nowhere, in those
ages, do we find a government exercising its prerogatives and a people exercising its franchises in
that spirit of mutual forbearance and of self-restraint
without which no safeguards or restrictions have
any vital force. The different powers of the state
were always in conflict. No sacrifices were willingly made to avert a collision; no reliance was
placed upon a dormant strength. In general, the
first appeal was to the ullinma radio; and civil war,might almost be considered as the normal condition
of society.
Moreover, in the principality of Liege the constitution, whatever might be its theoretical excellence,
was practically set aside by the vast privileges and
democratic organization of the communes. Here, in
a greater degree than even in other parts of Belgium, the towns absorbed all the nutritive elements
of the body politic. The estates, enfeebled by the




CHAP. VII.]      HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS.                     331
virtual extinction of the nobility, ceased to exercise
any influence and to hold the balance of power when
disputes had arisen between the prince and the people. Frequent elections, the struggles of parties, the
manoeuvres of rival demagogues, and the turbulent
spirit of the masses, kept the capital, and to a less
extent the other principal towns, in a state of perpetual agitation.
Yet sweet is the air of freedom even in its storms.
Liege, in the middle of the fifteenth century, was one
7 "I Tout chu avient," says Hemri- prendiches ont aultretant de voix en
court, after describing the frequent le syette faisant, comme ont ly maisconvulsions to which the country  tres et ly chief dosteit." 4thly. The
was subject, " par ly movais et in- practice of admitting foreigners who
discreit regiment del citeit de Liege, took up their residence at Liege to... laqueil citeit est case de tous les the rights of citizenship.
mals avenus en pays a mon temps,    Hemricourt, however, wished to
et par quattre poincts tant seulement see established, in place of this sysquy sieroient legiers a remedier si ly  tem, a purely theocratic governcomon peuple nastoit sy fort obsti- ment by the Church. "Would to
neis et aveuleis."  The four points  God," he exclaims, "that the people
which he enumerates are, 1st. The  would consent to yield that reverence
excessive size of the council, com- which reason teaches is their due to
posed of more than two hundred  the venerable clergy, adorned with
persons, where twenty would regu-  all the faculties of science! The
late the affairs of the city far more  Church is the fountain from which
efficiently -" car multitude engen- we imbibe knowledge, the pasture
dre confusion."  2dly. The equal on which we are fed even as sheep,
voice granted to the smallest and  the mother to whom we have releast important guild with the great- course in all our distresses."  And
est, when all were assembled to vote  he reminds his countrymen that they
upon a question submitted by the  are indebted to the clergy not only
council for the decision of the peo- for spiritual food, but also in a great
ple. 3dly. The concession of the  measure for the supply of their temsuffrage to the meanest class of the  poral wants -the larger portion of
inhabitants, and even to those who  the land being held in mortmain. Li
were not of an age, or in a position, Patron delle Temporaliteit, printed
to manage their own private affairs; by Polain at the end of the second
-" Ly garchons servants et ly ap- volume of his Hist. de Li6ge.




332                      LIIEGE.                  [BOOK I.
of the most thriving cities in Europe. The number of
its inhabitants was reckoned at over a hundred and
twenty thousand. Its workshops resounded with the
clang of labor. Its streets were filled with the bustle
of trade. It had commercial treaties not only with
the towns on the Rhine, but with distant countries.
As the privileges of citizenship were granted to foreigners on easy terms, Liege, contrary to what was
usual at this period, received a constant infusion of
new  blood -enjoyed, as it were, a perpetual renovation.8
Yet the city had not lost the stamp of its sacred
origin. It was still L"the daughter of Rome," renowned
for the number and the beauty of its churches, and
for the pomp with which the sacred offices were daily
performed within its walls.9 The cathedral —dedicated to the saint whose blood had sanctified its site
— was regarded with especial pride as the nucleus
of the city and the most splendid of its monuments.
Its vast cloisters had afforded an asylum to numberless fugitives from feudal tyranny. Its richly
decorated shrines were the repositories of a costly
treasure accumulated by the pious offerings of many
generations.  Its canons, sixty in number,- called,
from their vested rights as sovereign proprietors of
the soil, c/kanoines lrefonciers, —were all persons of
s "Nos prendons," complains   9 Guicciardini, Belgicoe DescripHemricourt, " afforains borgois sans tio, p. 497. - Excerpta ex Commennombre et les volons affranchier." tariis Jacobi Piccolominei, De Ram,
It is throwing pearls, he says, before Analecta Leodiensia, p. 382.- Comrnswine.                       mines, tom. i. p. 196.




CHAP. VII.]   HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS.            333
illustrious birth, and many of them of royal descent.10
Above the high altar was suspended the consecrated
standard of Saint Lambert, which, on the outbreak
of hostilities with a foreign power, was carried by the
clergy in solemn procession to the door of the church,
unfurled in the presence of the people, and delivered
to the commander of the forces, who, mounted on a
milk-white charger, and surrounded by a troop of
knights, received the precious charge, and swore to
surrender it only with his life.ll
At a little distance from  the cathedral was the
Violet, or city hall, where the burgomasters and council assembled for deliberation, and from which, in
times of excitement, the party leaders harangued the
populace assembled in the square below. In the
centre of the square, on a pedestal of several steps,
stood a pillar of gilded bronze - its top representing
a pineapple surmounted by a cross. The Perron -
regarded as an emblem of the civic organization
crowned with spiritual sovereignty -  was an object
of patriotic reverence and affection. In front of it
were read the ordinances issued by the magistrates,
as well as the decrees fulminated by the people in
general assembly when their privileges were endangered or had been violated. On these occasions the
tocsin was rung; the deans of the guilds hastened
10 In the year 1145 the chapter Haynin, tom. ii. pp. 148-151. Simwas composed of" nine sons of kings, ilar lists are mentioned by Ernst,
fourteen sons of dukes, thirty sons Lavallaye, &c.
of counts, and seven sons of bar-  n' Villenfagne, Recherches sur
ons." The list of names is given in l'Hist. de Li6ge, tom. i. p. 428.




334                       LIEGE.                   [BOOK I.
with their respective banners to the March', and
planted them beside the Perron; the people followed,
pouring from forge, workshop, and factory, until the
square was filled with grimed and athletic figures,
and the confused shouts of the multitude echoed
through the vaulted cloisters of Saint Lambert's, and
rose like the murmurs of an angry sea around its
lofty spires.
What means, on the other hand, had the government of enforcing its will or resisting the action of,
the people? It had, of course, no regular army in its
pay, and its feudal vassals were scanty in number
and impoverished.   Nevertheless there were at its
command two powerful engines of oppression or defence. In the first place, the bishop was the " fountain of law."  The echevins, or judges, assembled and
sat only on the summons and in the presence of
his officer, the grand-mayor.  At the command of
the bishop the mayor lowered his wand of office -
the law was suspended. The municipal magistrates
might still administer justice in civil suits between
the burghers. But there was no longer any court
for the trial of offences against life or property, any
power to punish crime or even to arrest the criminal.
The elementary principles of an organized society
were in abeyance."2
12 It may be thought that tribu- a frequent resort to force were unitnals improvised by the people would ed with a punctilious regard for legal
have taken the place of those which technicalities. Oppression and revolt
had ceased to act. But this is to were necessary alternations where
mistake the character of the Middle there was nothing to preserve the
Ages, when constant turbulence and equilibrium. Within certain limits




CHAP. VII.]      HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS.                     335
But the chief strength of the government was
derived from the sacred attributes of the prince.
When his temporal authority had been resisted he
had recourse to his spiritual functions. He issued an
interdict suspending the celebration of all religious
rites. The blight of an awful curse then fell upon
the contumacious people. The bells, that with cheerinsurrection for the purpose of restor- ularly appointed would have had as
ing a violated compact was a right, little virtue, so far as the public consometimes — as in Castille and in  science was concerned, as a mass
Brabant - expressly recognized by  performed by a layman. The recharters, always implied by the very  marks of Hemricourt on the elecnature of the feudal tie. In Lidge  tion and functions of the marmbour
it was provided that the people, indicate the limits of what may be
wheli "in debate " or at open war termed a legal revolt. " Se le pays
with the prince, might elect a main-  at debat ou werre overte a son
bour, or guardian, who was to as- saingnor, les bonnes vilhes avecque
sume the reins of government with  le remanant de pays puelent bin, de
the specific object of protecting the  greit et conseilh de capitle sil remacountry against invasion -from be- ne avecque eauz, ou sains ledit capicoming, through its internal dissen- tie, sil est avecque le saingnor, faire
sions, the prey of a foreign enemy. et enlire un capitaine et un conduiBut for this regent to have created  seur, appelleis a chu barons chevaliany office or made any appointment ers et escuwyers de pays, et par leur
in connection with the administra-  accorde et conseilh, qui en tos estats
tion of justice would have been a  de werre les governeroit et condugross usurpation of the prerogatives  roit, et alqueil ilz aroyent recours
of the prince. Violence, of course, comme a leur soverain en cely cas;
was met by violence. The individ-  nequident che capitaine ou mambor,
ual might defend himself; the peo-  se mambor le voloyent appelleir, ne
pie might wreak vengeance on a  poroit estre tant previlegiet de capitraitor. But such proceedings were  tie ne de remanant de tout le pays,
felt to be lawless and anarchical. tant quil y awist eveske, quil powist
Could the regular judges have been  mettre nul offichien ne donneir nul
compelled to execute the law, their  offiche al loy appartenant, car rien
decrees would doubtless have been  ne poroit faire encontre le saingnor
considered valid, just as the sacra- en cely cas ne en nul aultre tochant
ments of the Church celebrated by  le loy, se ce nestoit violeement et de
a priest under compulsion retained  forche, liqueille violenche ly loy ne
all their efficacy. But a sentence  puet consentir."  Li Patron delle
passed or executed by officers irreg-  Temporaliteit.




336                 IIEGE.                [BOOR I.
ful carillons had proclaimed from every spire the passage of the hours, each linked with its appropriate
act or feeling of devotion, were silenced.  The
churches — ever open, not only to the throng that
attended at stated periods, but to the solitary worshipper who stepped aside from the bustle of the
world to pray and meditate amid the sculptured symbols of his faith -were closed.  The chancel no
longer echoed the swelling chant of the priest; the
confessional no longer received the whisper of the
penitent. There was no baptism for the infant, no
sacramental marriage for the betrothed, no unction
for the dying, no Christian burial for the dead.
Thus physical force was balanced by moral fear.
On the one side was a government that maintained
itself in the exercise of its authority by the spiritual
weapons at its command; on the other, a people
accustomed to shrink with dread before the censures
of the Church, yet accustomed also to struggle pertinaciously with the power by which these censures
were wielded and put in force.
Had no extraneous influences interfered with the
adjustment of this balance, the oscillations would in
time have become less violent. But Liege belonged
to a group of petty states, each originally independent
of the others, but exposed by its weakness and its
situation to foreign interference. The beginning of
the fifteenth century was an important epoch in the
history of the Netherlands. The house of Burgundy,
having rooted itself there,- having acquired by marriage Flanders and Artois, - extended its sway over




CHAP. VI.]    HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS.       337
the other provinces, gaining one by conquest, another
by purchase, a third by descent,- a contingency skilfully prepared for by the alliances which it had formed,
— until the geographical integrity of its dominions
in this quarter was broken only by the independence
of a single state. The peculiar character of its institutions saved Liege from the fate of the neighboring
territories. The government was not hereditary, and
could not therefore pass by succession to a foreign
prince. It was an ecclesiastical domain, and could
not therefore be ruled by a layman. Its conquest
and secularization were forbidden by the law of
Christendom, by the inviolable sanctity of every
right on which the Church had placed its seal.
Yet it mattered little for Liege that it might not
be devoured by the monster that lay coiled around
it, since it was at least certain to be strangled by its
folds. It first awakened to a partial consciousness of
its new position in the year 1408, when the bishop,
John of Bavaria, being "in debate" with his people,
appealed for assistance to his kinsman John the
Fearless, duke of Burgundy. This was at the moment when the latter prince, having collected an
army, had entered France to justify the murder of
Louis of Orleans and to assert his claims to the
regency. The occasion was an opportune one for
making a display of his power. He returned for a
brief period to the Netherlands, mustered all his
forces, and, entering the territory of Liege, was encountered on the plains of Othlle by the militia of
the towns, numerous, indeed, and brave, but accusVOL. I.    43




338          $LIEGE.                         [BooK I.
tomed only to the irregular warfare of border forays,
and wholly ignorant of military operations on a larger
scale. A letter is still extant, written by the duke
himself two days after the battle, in which he vaunts
the slaughter of c" twenty-five or twenty-six thousand"
undisciplined and indifferently armed men, but c" as
courageous and enduring as any that were ever seen,"
his own loss amounting to "between sixty and fourscore knights and squires,"  and the whole time occupied by the conflict being an hour and a half. 3 This
defeat of the people of Liege was followed by their
immediate submission.  They made a treaty which,
besides other degrading conditions, bound them  to
the payment of an enormous fine to the victor. The
bishop returned to his capital, and earned for himself,
by the barbarity with which he punished the revolt,
a cognomen even more distinctive and emphatic than
that of his ally.  He is known in history as " John
the Pitiless."
During a long period that followed, while France
was desolated by a civil war first kindled by the ambition of the house of Burgundy, the possessions of
that house were greatly enlarged, and its power rapidly increased. Yet this seemed rather the effect of
a natural law of aggrandizement than of a thirst for
conquest.  Philip the Good availed himself of such
opportunities as offered for enlarging the circle of his
dominions; but he was not driven by a, restless ambition to engage in continual wars. Liege forgot the
]3 Lettre de Jean, duc de Bour- son frere, Gachard, Analectes Belgogne, a Antoine, due de Brabant, giques, pp. 2-6.




CHAP. VI.]   HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS.          339
stern lesson it had received; it continued to have
"debates" with its bishop and predatory wars with
its neighbors, heedless of the provocation it thus
gave to the most potent prince in Christendom.
Gradually, however, almost insensibly, its energies
were becoming paralyzed. The union of the Netherlands under a single head gave a fresh stimulus to
their industry and widened the avenues of their commerce.  From  these advantages Liege was excluded.
It was forced to compete with rivals who were better
protected than itself, and who enjoyed greater facilities in seeking a market for their productions. It
lay in the shadow while brighter rays of prosperity
had fallen upon them.
Politically, too, its condition had changed.  The
people might maintain its privileges, but the prince
had lost his independence.  If Philip could not himself mount the episcopal throne and add to his other
titles that of bishop of Liege, he could at least, by his
influence with the pope, obtain the appointment for
one of his favorites or for a member of his family.
Virtually the see had become a benefice at his disposal.
In 1456, having extorted the resignation of the
reigning bishop, John of Heinsberg, - whose easy
temper and winning manners had rendered him popular with his subjects, but whose excessive partiality
for festive, and especially female, society had led him
to take up his residence at the Burgundian court14 —
14 Heinsberg is described by a gnour qui cent ans devant luy n'avoit
contemporary chronicler as " ly san- eut evesque en chis pays qui fust si




340                            LIEGE.                        [nooK I.
Philip procured the nomination of his nephew, Louis
of Bourbon. At these events the people were struck
with stupor. They foresaw the termination of a history which they had been wont to consider glorious.
Their prince  had  become  the  parasite  of a foreign
sovereign, and existed only by his sufferance. "vIt
were  better,"  they  exclaimed, 1"that we  should  all
become Burgundians together."'5
The new bishop was eighteen years of age, and
had not yet completed his studies at the University
of Louvain. He could not be admitted to holy orders, but he had  obtained a papal dispensation  enabling him to exercise the temporal functions of his
office. Attired in a gay scarlet dress and plumed
"CBurgundian cap," and escorted by a troop of Flemish
gracieux ou si subtilhe de lui en ac- Rerum  Leodiensium  sub Johanne
querant or et argent a ses bonnes  Heinsbergio et Ludovico Borbonio
vilhes et ses subjets par honneur....  Episcopis, in Martene et Durand,
Il amoit et hantoit amoreusement Amplissima   Collectio,  (Parisiis,
damoyselles." Like his famous pred-  1729,) tom. iv. p. 1227.
ecessor, Henry of Gueldres, he was   This collection is rare, and the librathe reputed father of more than six-  ry of Andover Theological Seminary
ty bastards.  (Jean  de Stavelot, is fortunate in possessing what is
ap. Polain, Hist. de Liege, tom. ii. probably the only copy to be found
p. 274, note.)  The last trait de-  in this country.  Michelet, whose
serves notice - not as extraordinary  keen insight and fervid imagination
in a prelate, (for, though the celi-  are conspicuous in all that relates to
bacy of the clergy was the source of Liege, has extracted from the dry,
many virtues, chastity could not be  but minute and accurate, work of
accounted one of them,) but from  Adrianus -  to the importance of
the fact that, in connection with the  which he was the first to call attenbishop's frequent visits to the Bur-  tion — the chief material for the
gundian court and his friendship  most brilliant of his episodes. It is
with the duchess, it gave rise to a  to be regretted that the chronicles
popular suspicion productive, as will and documents collected by De Ram
be seen, of direful consequences.   appeared too late to be submitted to
15  Adrianus  de Veteri-Busco, the same alembic.




CHAP. VII.]  REVOLUTION UNDER LOUIS OF BOURBON.   341
cavaliers, he made his entrance into the capital, was
inducted and enthroned. His accession was the commencement of a prolonged struggle between himself
and his people, the termination and results of which
alone fall within the limits of our subject. On the
one hand, Louis of Bourbon - a mere youth, of the
most frivolous character, ignorant of his duties, with
no capacity for government -provoked the nation
by illegal extortions, by absurd commands, and by
an open disregard of the popular immunities.6 No
sooner did he encounter opposition than he had recourse to the tremendous powers which even the
most arbitrary of his predecessors had appealed to
only in the last resort. Quitting the capital, he retired to Huy, a border town, where he plunged into
a life of gross sensuality, surrounding himself with
creatures who shared and pandered to his appetites,
and whence, with the recklessness of imbecility, he
sent forth decrees that had the effect of unhinging
all the parts of the social fabric."
On the other hand, the people passed through the
various stages of revolution. They appealed against
16 His proceedings excited, at first,  17 The character of Iouis of Boura feeling of surprise among his sub- bon has been leniently treated by
jects, which was thus naively ex- some modern writers, - M. de Bapressed: "Qu'avons-nous fait si tost rante, for example, - taking their
a si joeune homme qui nat point pas- cue from the Burgundian authorisez ung an qu'il est evesque, et il est ties. But the chroniclers of Liege,
si indigne contre sa cite et patrie P " though almost all of them ecclesias(Chronique manuscrite, cited by Po- tics and far from friendly to the poplain, tom. ii. p. 285.) According to  ulace, censure the conduct of the
Adrianus, the financial measures of bishop with candid severity.
the bishop were received with derision.




342                  LIEGE.              [BOOK I.
the interdict from the bishop to his metropolitan, the
archbishop of Cologne; from the archbishop to the
papal legate sent to decide the matter; from the
legate to the pope in person; from the " pope ill
informed to the pope better informed." The chapter
and the wealthier citizens strove to effect an accommodation. Failing in this, they underwent the usual
fate of moderate parties in times of political disturbance; they incurred the hatred of the prince, and
they lost their influence with the people. A violent
faction now obtained the ascendancy, having at its
head a noble, but a noble who, like all of his class in
Liege, could clear a path for his ambition only by descending from his rank, enrolling himself as a member
of one of the guilds, and courting the favor of the
populace. This person-by name Raes de la Riviere,
lord of Heers-possessed in a more than common
degree the requisites of the demagogue -fluency of
speech, laxity of principle, and audacity that passed
for courage. By his skill in swaying the popular
assemblies he was enabled to exercise for a time the
authority of a dictator. But on this uncertain basis
it was impossible to establish any regular government. The country was in a state of anarchy. The
sources of its prosperity were dried up.  Many
thousands of the inhabitants, driven from the towns
by poverty or political proscription, wandered about
gaining a livelihood by plunder, and at length
formed themselves into troops, called 1"Companions
of the Green Tent," because they made their retreat




CEHAP. VII.]  REVOLUTION UNDER LOUIS OF BOURBON.   343
in the forest of Ardennes and were sheltered by its
leafy canopies.18
What seemed singular in all this was that Philip
of Burgundy did not interpose at once to reduce the
rebellious subjects of his kinsman and protgeye to submission.   Openly  he  proffered  only  his mediation.
But there could be no doubt as to which of the two
parties ought to regard him  as a friend, which as an
enemy. It was his influence — the influence of a
powerful prince, the most devoted son of the Church,
the projector of a crusade against the Turks -which
had induced the papal court to confirm the interdict
and  to  fulminate  its censures  against the  people.
Whenever Louis of Bourbon was entreated  by  the
chapter to adopt a more moderate course, he had but
one reply: s" his uncle the duke of Burgundy would
maintain him in the possession of his rights."
Isolated, hemmed in on all sides by the dominions
of its real though as yet undeclared antagonist,
where could Liege look for a protector?   It would
have been idle for it to appeal to its feudal lord paramount, the emperor of Germany — in name and
18 The inefficiency of those pro- admirers of the institutions of Liege
visions in the constitution which  are reported to have pronounced the
have been most highly extolled be- one thing wanting to the perfection
comes apparent in a situation like  of their own. A foreign nobleman,
the present. Some of the questions Mark of Baden, brother of the reignin dispute were laid before the ec7he- ing margrave, was elected mamrbour,
vins, who rendered a decision which  but held the office as a mere tool of
neither party was willing to accept. the revolutionary leaders, and deThe bishop refused to convoke the  serted the country at the first apestates. Not a word is said of the  proach of that peril for which the
" Twenty-two," which some English  office had been expressly created.




344                 LIEGE.               [BooK I.
rank the first among secular princes, but in actual
power one of the least. Nor were the eyes of the
people turned in this direction. They had an ally
who possessed substantial means to aid them - the
head of a nation that belonged to the same race and
spoke the same language as themselves; the sovereign, but the jealous and secretly hostile sovereign,
of the enemy they had so much cause to dread.
Doubtless it was his desire to avoid an open breach
with the king of France that kept Philip so long a
quiescent spectator of the quarrel.
The bond of a common origin had been early
strengthened by commercial treaties permitting a
free interchange of products between France and
Liege.  Under Charles the Seventh these treaties
had been renewed and extended. So strong was the
affection entertained for this monarch by his allies,
that, when his rebellious son had fled from him and
taken up his residence in Brabant, they talked of
an expedition for the purpose of seizing the prince
and sending him back a prisoner to his father's court.
When, therefore, they heard of his accession to the
crown, they were not without fears as to the consequences. A deputation, however, was despatched to
Paris to congratulate the new monarch and to solicit
his friendship. The envoys, much to their surprise,
were received with an extreme graciousness. The
honor of knighthood was forced on one of their
number, a simple burgher, who would fain have declined it. In the warmth of their gratitude they
besought Louis to become the "protector " of Liege,




CHAP. vII.] REVOLUTION UNDER LOUIS OF BOURBON.  345
and to this proposal he readily acceded. The ecclesiastical members of the embassy, representing the
bishop and chapter, demurred, on the ground that
they had not been empowered to prefer such a request. Louis maliciously solved this difficulty by
declaring that his protection should not extend to
the bishop and chapter.19
In his early attempt to narrow the power of the
house of Burgundy, and to cut off the count of Charolais from the means of thwarting his designs, the
politic king had not overlooked the advantages to be
derived from a connection with Liege. With Picardy
redeemed and placed under the government of Nevers, the bitter enemy of Charles; with Liege standing like an advanced post, a hostile fortress, in the
very midst of the Burgundian dominions; with the
adjacent provinces in the hands of the Croys, the
hated favorites of Philip, the secret agents of the
king, - Louis had thought himself secure from any
attempt at opposition in a quarter where opposition
was most to be dreaded. How the barrier was broken
down, - how the count of Charolais by a strong and
sudden effort overturned the Croys, made his own
authority in the Netherlands supreme, and headed
the whole feudal power of France in resistance to the
sovereign, — we have already seen. When the War
of the Public Weal broke out the agents of Louis
19," Unde rex suscepit Leodienses prandium, exceptis dominis de capitsub sua protectione, exceptis domino ulo." Adrianus, Ampliss. Col. tom.
et capitulo. Et quidam de familia ii. p. 1249.
regis invitavit omnes Leodienses ad
VOL. I.   44




346                           LIEGE.                        [BOOK I.
appeared  at  Liege, distributing  money, promising
succors, and inviting the towns of the principality to
enter into a league with the French monarch as the
certain means of securing their own freedom and
independence. This occurred at the moment when
the  revolution had  reached its crisis -when  the  interdict, which, though repeatedly confirmed, had been
as often suspended, was to go into effect, in accordance with the terms of a papal bull pronouncing the
usual anathemas in case its provisions were not complied  with.   The  chapter, after  consultation, made
known the impossibility of further evasion or delay.
On the other hand, Heers and his followers gave public notice that every priest refusing to' chant" would
be  thrown  into  the  river.20   Many  ecclesiastics fled
secretly from the city; but they were captured and
brought back, and  their houses sacked  by the mob.
On the night of July 5, 1465, few  of the inhabitants
20 Protestantism in a latent form that theywere thereby incurring only
has existed in the Roman Catholic  a deeper damnation. They believed
Church in all ages and in all coun-  implicitly in the sacred character of
tries. A distinction has been in- the priesthood, but had a stronger
stinctively perceived, by the laity at faith in the efficacy of its extorted
least, between the truth of religious  blessings than in those of its volundogmas, or the efficacy of religious  tary curses. The real terror of an
rites, and the force of papal decrees. act of excommunication consisted not
Even Charles V. and Philip II. made  in the sentence of eternal perdition,
war upon popes and disregarded  but in the severance of the person
their censures, though either of those  condemned from  communion with
monarchs would rather have lost a  his fellow-Christians and from all the
province than have missed a mass. consolations of religion. These were
In like manner, the people of Liege  tangible and immediate results, the
were ready to compel the adminis- fear of which can scarcely be considtration of the sacraments, though in- ered as superstition.
formed by the head of the Church




CHAP. VII.]    WAR WITH BURGUNDY.                347
of the capital retired to rest. Gangs of people patrolled the streets, or stationed themselves in front
of the different churches, waiting for the hour at
which the bells were always rung for matins. When
it arrived the chimes were heard as usual.  In the
terrible strait to which they were reduced, with souls
and bodies equally imperilled, the clergy found a
loophole for escape. They continued to discharge
their functions "under protest."21
Liege was now become a Pariah among states. All
the princes of Christendom were invited by the Church
to aid in reducing its rebellious vassals; and, what
was more significant and of greater importance, the
duke of Burgundy was especially intrusted with the
task. That he would speedily obey the summons admitted of little doubt. It was natural, therefore, that
Liege should accept without hesitation the alliance
offered by the French king. A treaty was signed
binding the parties to wage common war against
Philip, and to make no peace in which both were not
included.22 No sooner had this treaty been proclaimed
at the Perron than the alarn-bell was rung, the guilds
assembled, and, displaying their banners, marched
out of the city. Crossing the frontiers of Brabant,
they began to devastate the country; castles, villages, and even churches were sacked and burned;
the inhabitants were put to  the sword.  Philip's
21 Adrianus, Ampliss. Col., tom. se Junio 1465 factee, De Ram, pp.
iv. pp. 1275, 1276. -Johannis de 517-522.
Los Chronicon Rerum Gestarum ab  22 Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom. ii.
Anno 1455 adAnnum 1514, DeIRam, 198, et seq.
p. 26. - Depositiones Testium men



348                    LIPGE.                [BOOK I.
lieutenant, the count of Nassau, had no difficulty in
raising a sufficient force to punish and drive back
the undisciplined invaders. But this check had little
effect upon the sanguine and reckless spirit of the
people. They were, in truth, excited almost to madness. During several years they had lived without
the security of law; their industry had been paralyzed; and they were now placed under the awful ban
of the church. They regarded the duke of Burgundy
as the author of their calamities; and they imagined
that the time had arrived when this prince might be
defied with impunity. The earlier tidings brought
to the Netherlands of the state of the war in France
were of a nature to confirm this impression. According to the version of the battle of Montlh6ry given
by those who had been the first to fly from the field,
the Burgundian army had been routed and the count
of Charolais was a prisoner. These rumors, which
were credited even at Brussels, excited boundless
exultation in Liege.  Hostilities were renewed; and
flames and devastation again marked the track of
the marauding bands that sallied across the borders.23
Such acts as these, however, were not the only or
the worst affronts offered to the haughty and powerful house that had cast its shadow over Liege. The
inhabitants of one town were guilty of an offence
against these princes of a deeper dye than the invasion
23 Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco. -  pp. 27, et seq., 145-152.-Duclercq,
Johannis de Los; Henrici de Merica tom. iv. pp. 194, 195, 210. — HayDe Cladibus Leodiensium; De Ram, nin, tom. i. pp. 24, 25, 51, et seq.




CHAP. VII.]   WAR WITH BURGUNDY.             349
of their territory or the destruction of their castles.
Dinant, second only to the capital in population and
importance, was situated at the south-western extremity of the principality, on the right bank of the
Meuse, which here formed the boundary line between
the territory of Liege and the county of Namur. On
the opposite bank, at the distance only of a bowshot,
stood Bouvignes, the competitor of Dinant in an
important branch of trade and manufacture of which
the latter had long been the principal seat. Rivalry
in trade, difference of political sympathies and allegiance, their proximity to each other and comparative
remoteness from other towns, had engendered a bitter
animosity between these two places, although there
had been in times past frequent intermarriages between the inhabitants, with a consequent mixture
of blood.2" The feud was kept alive not only by
every petty species of mutual annoyance, but by
frequent outbreaks of actual hostilities. In the desultory war now raging along the whole frontier,
Dinant and Bouvignes took, of course, an active part.
No strategy was necessary to bring about an encounter. The heights on either side were crowned with
stone towers; and a continual, though probably not
very effective, cannonade was interchanged across
the river.  But there were other modes of warfare, in which the people of both places were much
better skilled than in managing artillery or in carrying on a regular siege. They sallied out in bands
from either town to surprise and capture the traders
24 Commines, tom. i. p. 115.




350                     LIEGE.                  [BooK I.
of the other whose business led them beyond the
walls, or to plant palings in the river to interrupt the
passage of boats laden with provisions. The apprentices, who formed a large proportion of the population and who mingled largely in these skirmishes,
were accustomed to rely as much upon their powers
of ribaldry as on their clubs and other weapons for
disconcerting their opponents.  On one occasion a
troop, composed chiefly, it would seem, of idle youths
and such persons as make up the rabble of large
towns, crossed the river from Dinant, and, appearing
under the walls of Bouvignes, displayed  a figure
stuffed with hay, having a cow-bell suspended from
its neck, and a tattered mantle rudely emblazoned
with the cross of Saint Andrew and other insignia
of the house of Burgundy.  "See," they exclaimed,
C"your count of Charolais! a false traitor, and in truth
no count at all, but the bastard of our old Bishop
Heinsberg foisted on your duke as his son! We are
going to hang him here in effigy, as his master, the
king of France, whom he dared to attack, has already
hung him in person." With these and other insulting
cries, — heedlessly uttered, heedfully listened to,they erected a gibbet, to which they attached the
effigy, and, having riddled it with arrows, left it dangling like a scarecrow in full view of their silent but
indignant foes.25
25 Duclereq, tom. iv. pp. 203, 204. 148. - Chronique manuscrite, ap.
- Gachard, Doc. In6d., tom. ii. pp. Gerlache, Revolutions de Li6ge sous
221, 222. - Henrici de Merica de Louis de Bourbon, p. 63.
Cladibus Leodiensium, De Ram, p.




CHAP. vII.]   WAR WITH BURGUNDY.             351
While the exultation - the frenzy we may call it
- of the people of Liege was at its height, it was
suddenly checked by a rumor brought from France,
and speedily confirmed. The king had been defeated
at Montlhery; he was besieged in his capital. Other
reports followed, still more emphatic and alarming.
Louis had been forced to an ignominious peace; the
count of Charolais was returning with his victorious
army; he was assembling fresh forces; he was about
to march upon Liege. The king himself wrote to
his allies, informing them that they were included in
the treaty, and advising them to make their submission to the duke of Burgundy. A falsehood so gross
and so easily detected might seem unworthy of a
brain like that of Louis; but the case hardly admitted of equivocation; and the plain truth -that even
the name of Liege had not been mentioned in the
negotiations, except with an apology on his part for
having sought the alliance —he was much too amiable
to communicate. But the attitude of the enemy was
such as to dispel illusion, if any had existed. Consternation prevailed throughout the country; the voices
of the demagogues were hushed. The clergy and the
moderate party —those whom an old writer calls "the
good citizens," because they staid away from the popular assemblies when there was a probability of a
tumult26 -ventured once more to proffer their advice.
Their proposal was "peace," and the word was echoed
by the multitude. Where, a short time before, no man
26,, Boni cives absentarunt se a anus, Ampliss. Col., tom. iv. p.
palatio timentes disturbium." Adri- 1284.




352                    LIEGE.                  [BOOK I.
would have dared to mention the existence of Louis
of Bourbon, it was now resolved by the people to
send a delegation to solicit his forgiveness.27 At the
request of the chapter the interdict was put in force.
Two noblemen, vassals both of Burgundy and of Lidge,
were requested to proceed to Brussels, and, if possible, persuade Philip to grant a truce. They returned
without having succeeded in their object, but with
permission for an embassy to be sent fully empowered
to accept such terms as the duke should think proper
to impose.  The persons selected belonged to that
class which had taken little part in the revolt; those
who had been actively concerned in it would probably
have been loath to go on such a mission. Arrived at
the ducal court, the envoys were not admitted to an
audience; but they were furnished with the heads
of a treaty such as it was intended to exact. They
were informed, however, that nothing could be definitively settled until the count of Charolais had completed his arrangements and entered the principality.
As soon as this had taken place the envoys proceeded
to the camp.28
They found Charles in the vicinity of Saint-Trond,
-and their reception by him was more gracious than
they had ventpred to anticipate. He assigned them
lodgings, and supplied them with viands from his
own table.  He had always, he told them, been well
27 "Ubi paulo ante nullus audebat  2s There are some unimportant
Ludovicum de Borbon vivere impu- discrepancies among the authorities
ne confiteri, ibi jam tractabatur," &c. in regard to the details and the orJohannis de Los Chronicon, I)e Ram, der of these events.
p. 30.




CHAP. VII.]     INVADED BY CHARLES.                  353
disposed towards the people of Liege, and he was
prepared, as soon as their present differences were
arranged, to be again their friend. He desired them,
however, to be present while he reviewed the troops,
remarking that, as they had supposed him  to have
lost his forces in France, he wished at least to show
them the remains.29  The sight was one which might
well have convinced them of the folly of resistance.
The army consisted of twenty-eight thousand mounted troopers, besides a multitude of archers and other
foot.30 It was an army, too, different in temper from
that which, seven months before, the count had conducted into France. It was composed, indeed, in a
large proportion of the same troops; but at least
these troops had now the experience of a campaign,
and in that campaign they had been subjected to a
sterner discipline than had ever before been imposed
upon his levies by a feudal prince. The exacting
disposition, the inexorable will, of their leader had
gradually moulded the whole body and reduced it to
more regular habits and a more coherent form. The
clamors of discussion and uncalled for counsel had
been silenced. Although large arrears of pay were
due, and it was now the depth of winter, the murmurs of the men were few  and faint.  In passing
29 Adrianus, Ampliss. Col., tom. field estimated at a hundred and fifty
iv. — Johannis de Los, p. 31.  thousand men - a loose calculation,
30 Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 250. The but not so extravagant as may be
Bohemian tourists, Leo von Rozmi- thought, the number of camp-followtal and his followers, who went out ers in a feudal expedition always far
to meet Charles on his return, heard exceeding that of the combatants.
the whole number present in the Ritter-,Hof-, und Pilger-Reise, s. 23.
VOL. I..45




354                  LIEGE.               [BOOK I.
through Brabant and other Belgian provinces they
had been allowed to quarter themselves at pleasure
on the inhabitants; but as soon as they entered the
territory of Liege they were commanded to abstain
from plunder and to pay for whatever they consumed.
The penalty of disobeying these orders was death.
The meanest offender and the highest were punished
with equal rigor. When he reviewed the army, any
breach of discipline that fell under the notice of the
commander caused his dark and violent temper to
break forth with terrible strength. At such times
he did not hesitate to strike with his baton even
men of rank; and, on one occasion, he had slain'with his own hand a soldier guilty of some petty
irregularity.3l
-New stipulations having been inserted in the
treaty, the envoys returned with it to Liege and
laid it before the people. The public reading gave
rise to a long and vehement debate. One clause
in particular was met by a storm of opposition.
Philip demanded that ten individuals, to be selected
by himself, should be given up, to be dealt with
according to his pleasure. To the revolutionary faction - at least to its leaders- this was a question of
life and death. But the instincts of the great mass
of the citizens revolted at an amnesty in which all
were not included. Furious invectives were directed
against the envoys who had consented to such a
treaty.  "Traitors! sellers of Christian blood!"these and similar cries assailed them from every side.
31 Duclercq, tom. iv. pp. 239, 262.




CHAP. VII.]   THE, PITEOUS PEACE."          355
The principal member of the embassy, Gilles de
Metz, a wealthy and not unpopular man, endeavored to calm  the tumult.  He declared that no
personal harm would befall those to whom the reservation was intended to apply. A temporary exile
was the worst fate to which they would be required
to subinjt. He himself was ready to go with them,
and never to return to the city unless they returned. This explanation seems to have satisfied
a portion of the people, without any rigorous inquiry as to the grounds on which it rested. Representatives of other towns were present, and were
urgent for the acceptance of the treaty in its present shape. Yet, when it was put to the vote, only
eleven out of the thirty-two guilds pronounced in
favor of it. In this dilemma, one of the principal
nobles, who, like others of his rank, had friendly
relations with the court of Burgundy, consented to
undertake a mission to the count of Charolais, and
obtain, if possible, some modification of the terms.32
In the mean time Charles had advanced somewhat
farther into the principality, and spread out his
forces over a larger extent of ground. But, while
he aimed by threatening demonstrations to overawe the people of Liege, he was not prepared for
a slight cause to drive them to desperation. It was
not impossible, if he refused to concede the point
in question, that his nearer approach would unite
them in the determination to brave his power and
to make the most resolute defence.  The time of
32 Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco, Ampliss. Col., tom. iv.




356                  LIEGE.               [BooK I.
year would scarcely have allowed, in such a case,
of his undertaking the siege of so strong and populous a town. His troops had begun to suffer from
the severity of the weather.  Most of them  had
already remained in the field far beyond the usual
term of feudal service. For several weeks they had
received no pay; and further to have prolonged the
campaign would have been too hazardous a trial of
their allegiance and fidelity to a leader whom they
had learned to regard with fear but not with love.33
Influenced, doubtless, by such considerations as
these, Charles agreed to revoke the objectionable
clause on condition that the sum of money which
had been stipulated to be paid as an indemnification
for the ravages committed on his father's territories
during the war should be considerably increased.
Thus altered, the treaty was one which could only
have been dictated by a conqueror and imposed
upon a prostrate foe. The magistrates of the capital, ten members of the chapter, ten nobles, ten
members of each of the guilds, with similar representatives from each of the other towns, were to
appear before the duke at a time and place by him
appointed, and, with bare heads and on bended
knees, acknowledge that it was without provocation
they had declared war against him and attacked his
states and subjects - an offence of which they now
heartily repented. They were to supplicate his forgiveness, and beseech him to receive them into his
33 Haynin, tom. i. p. 61.- "N'y crevecoeur." Duclercq, tom. iv.
avoit point tant d'amour que de p. 162.




CHAP. VII.]       THE  PITEOUS PEACE."                  357
grace.34  The same acknowledgment and; supplication
were to be made to the count of Charolais.  An indemnity of three hundred and forty thousand florins
was to  be paid to Philip,- and one of a hundred and
ninety thousand to Charles.  Liege  engaged to renounce its present alliances with other powers, and
to form  no alliance in future without the consent and
participation of the duke of Burgundy.  He and his
successors were to be recognized as the hereditary
Protectors of Liege; they were to have at all times
a free passage through the principality, whether with
or without an army; their coin was to be received
there at its current valuation  in their own states
no fortresses were to be erected on the Meuse or the
Sambre where those rivers formed the boundary of
the Burgundian territories. Finally, the vanquished
people promised to yield henceforth an unqualified
submission to the mandates of their sovereign.35
Such were the principal stipulations of a treaty
which bears in the registers of Liege the title of the
"Piteous Peace."  Yet, harsh as were the conditions
it imposed, still harsher was the refusal to grant the
same conditions to those who had earnestly entreated
to be allowed to submit to them. On these terms, so
34 ", Diront que, a tort, sans cause seigneur les vueille prandre et receet contre raison, ilz ont commance et voir en sa bonne grace, et leur parcontinu6 ladite guerre;... que ii donner leurs offenses."  Gachard,
leur en desplaist, s'en repentent de Doc. Ined., tom. ii. p. 289.
tout leur cueur, et que, s'ilz lavoient   35 The treaty is printed at length
a commencer, jamais ne le feroient by Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom. ii. p.
ou commenceroient, et supplieront 285, et seq.
en toute humilit6... que mondit




358                      LIEGE.                   [BOOK I.
ran the instrument, there shall be perpetual peace
between the duke of Burgundy and all the towns
of Liege -except Dinant.36   Dinant was excluded
from  the treaty — excluded alike from  the punishment, the degradation, and the pardon.
The treaty having been ratified, on the 24th of
January, 1466, the count of Charolais prepared to
return home. Whatever further enterprise he might
meditate, its execution must be deferred to another
season. Having ordered all his forces to be mustered for review, he passed along the ranks, thanking
each captain and each company in turn for the loyal
service they had  rendered — expressing his regret
that he had not been able to pay them in full, and
assuring them that, when again summoned to the
field, they should have no cause for complaint. Orders were then given for the army to begin its
march.   During two  successive days the gates of
Saint-Trond remained open for the admittance and
egress of the different corps.  Long trains of baggage-wagons and artillery were followed by bands
of archers and other light troops in gay and varied uniforms; and these were succeeded by the
men-at-arms, cased in plates of burnished metal and
armed with ponderous lances, their horses covered
36 ", Par ce moien, bonne paix per- stated by Adrianus that the people
petuelle sera entre mondit seigneur, of the capital made the exclusion of
sesdis pays et subgez, et lesdites cit6, Dinant a ground of objection, but
villes et pays de Liege et de Looz, were quieted by an assurance that... et generalement tout le pays,... the latter town had rejected offers
hors mis ceulx de Dinant." Gachard, of peace.
Doc. In6d., tom. ii. p. 296. — It is




CHAP. VII.]     TIE " PITEOUS PEACE."             359
with rich caparisons, with waving plumes and ornaments of gold; while the shrill peals of the clarions
and the sterner blasts of the trumpets filled the
streets with a continual resonance of martial sounds.37
The inhabitants of the town beheld this brilliant
spectacle with feelings in which fear and hate were
blended with admiration. Which sentiment predominated became apparent when only a single company
remained in the place.  A brawl arose, in which two
or three of the soldiers were slain; and an attempt
was made by the people to close the gates, with
the intention of cutting off and destroying the whole
troop.  The project, however, failed.  One gate was
seized by the enemy, who retained possession of it
until a larger force came up, which, sweeping into
the town with serried ranks, soon cleared the streets,
cutting down such of the citizens as failed to obtain
shelter.  The place would then have been sacked
if the count of Charolais had not arrived and put a
stop to the pillage.  He ordered proclamation to
be made that the inhabitants should remain within
their doors, under pain of death, until the town had
been completely evacuated by his troops. He allowed the seizure of a moderate quantity of spoil,
made prisoners of some of the persons who had commenced the attack, and finally quitted Saint-Trond
on the 30th of January.38
37 "r Ne faisoit-on, durant le temps les rues de ladicte ville, et devant les
que ledict comte y s6journa, autre logis des seigneurs." Haynin, tom. i.
chose que bonne chere, jouer, chan- p. 59.
ter, sonner trompettes et clarions par  3s IDuclercq, tom. iv. pp. 251, 252.




360                      LIEiGE.                  [Boox I.
It was on the evening of the following day that
the citizens of Brussels had notice of his approach.
They hastily prepared an ovation with which to welcome his return. The guilds assembled under their
respective banners, and marched out, with torches,
to receive hinm. The whole town was illuminated;
and his progress through the streets was delayed by
the spectacles and quaint performances common on
such occasions.39
Arrived in front of the palace, Charles dismounted
from his horse, and, taking by the hand Leo von Rozmital, a noble Bohemian, then on a visit at the court,
ascended the steps.   Passing successively through
several halls, in each of which was stationed a guard
of a hundred men, they entered the apartment where
Philip awaited his son. At the door the count knelt.
His father, who was seated in state at the upper end
of the room, took no notice of his presence. Advancing farther into the hall, Charles again fell upon
his knee. Still the duke maintained his attitude of
indifference. It was not until the obeisance had
been again repeated that the stern etiquette of the
Burgundian court allowed the sovereign to embrace,
with tears of joy and pride, the son who had returned to him with a double wreath of victory upon
his brow.40
39 "I Jam nox adventabat, ideo usque in arcem relucebat. Cum per
magna multitude Duci [i. e., Carolo] urbem transiremus, multa et varia
obviam, cum facibus accensis, magno edebantur ludorum spectacula." IRitab urbe intervallo effusa est, viaque ter-, Hof-, und Pilger-Reise, s. 23.
continenta et nusquam interrumpta  40 Ritter-, Hof-, und Pilger-Reise,
per totam civitatem luminnm serie, s. 24. - Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 253. -




CHAP. VII.]      Ti, "PITEOUS PEACE."            361
This wreath, however, was already somewhat faded.
A few weeks after the count of Charolais had quitted
France he had begun to receive messages and letters
from his allies warning him of the insecurity of the
conquests they had made; and, on the 21st of January, three days previous to that on which the treaty
with Liege was ratified by Charles, Louis, in a document of not less remarkable tenor, had announced
the fact, that, for "certain just and reasonable causes,"
he had retaken possession of "his duchy of Normandy." 41
Saint-Simon notices a somewhat sim-   41 Lettres patentes par lesquelles
ilar reception of a duke of Lorraine le Roy Louys XI. reprend la Norby Louis XIV.                mandie, Lenglet, tom. ii. pp. 567.
VOL. I.     46




CHAPTER VIII.
HOW THE KING RECOVERED NORMANDY. - STATE OF DINANT.
1466.
ON the termination of the War of the Public Weal
Charles of France had set out, as already stated, in
company with his friend the duke of Brittany, to
take possession of the great domain which had been
settled upon him as "his appanage." The suite of the
two princes was composed chiefly of the same active
and adroit politicians who had originally planned the
enterprise against the king, and who had formed that
union of the great vassals which he found it impossible to dissolve.' Their number was swollen by
the addition of many persons of the same stamp, —
Dunois, Dammartin, and others, -who had played
conspicuous parts in the last reign, but who had
been treated by Louis with harshness or contempt.
For this treatment they had now obtained compensation; but was not a large debt of gratitude still
Commines, tom. i. pp. 105, 107. IDuclercq, tom. iv. p. 240. - Basin,
tom. ii. p. 141.
(362)




CHAP. VIII.]   LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.     363
due to them from the king's brother, whom they had
rescued from absolute dependence and comparative
obscurity, and raised to eminence and power? At
the court of Francis they had lived only as refugees,
performing whatever services were demanded in
return for the protection afforded to them by that
prince. But in Normandy they expected that this
position would be reversed. They were the patrons;
the duke was the client. They were to shape his
policy and conduct his administration, not by private
suggestions or intrigues, but as his acknowledged
counsellors and ministers.  To prevent any interference with this design, they proposed that Charles
should make all his appointments before his entrance
into the capital of his new dominions.2
His arrival there was impatiently looked for both
by the people and by the nobles. All classes had
hailed with joy the restoration of their province to
its place among the great fiefs. The greatest of all
the provinces in extent and natural resources, inferior
in actual wealth and population only to Flanders,
which contributed nothing to the necessities of the
monarchy,- Normandy had no sooner been wrested from the English than its revenues became the
main support of the French crown. By the manner,
too, in which the taxes were imposed and collected,
the sums that went into the royal exchequer formed,
according to the common opinion, but a small part
of the amount extorted by the fiscal agents.  On
the accession of the present monarch the people of
2 Basin, tom. ii. p. 142.




364        LOUIS RECOVERS' NORMANDY.     [BooK I.
Normandy had urgently remonstrated against these
iniquities; but, though Louis had given the most
gracious and plausible replies and promised a great
scheme of amelioration, the taxes had been largely
increased, and, if we may credit the testimony of a
well informed but strongly prejudiced witness, the
mode of raising them had been rendered still more
oppressive.3 What made the burden heavier was the
fact that the people who contributed thus largely to
the maintenance of royalty were seldom shone upon
by its beneficent rays. The money went abroad or
was expended in private channels, instead of descending in profuse and grateful showers on the
places whence it had been absorbed. Whenever
Louis visited the province he came unattended by
a train, declined any pompous reception, and, aided
by his mean air and vulgar features, was enabled,
when he wished, to maintain a strict incognito.
Now all was to be changed. Rouen was to become
the seat of an independent government, the residence
of a splendid court. Nobles and people were to
share, though doubtless in a very unequal degree, in
the advantages that could not fail to result. Among
the former class were some, preeminent by their
position or their birth, who looked forward with peculiar satisfaction to the establishment of a new order
of things. The Norman bishops and abbots had suffered more than any others of their order from the
arbitrary manner in which Louis had abolished some
of its principal immunities. The great nobles, who
3 Basin, tom. ii. p. cap. 9, 10, 11, et al.




CHaP. VIII.]   LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.                  365
had received from  him  the same treatment as their
compeers in other parts of the realm, treasured the
traditions of a former age when their ancestors had
been the magnates of a court that cared little for the
frowns of a king of France.  The prelates, therefore,
in Normandy, and the heads of the great families,
had long been the bitterest enemies whom Louis
had in his dominions.4 It was they who, in the late
war, had struck the final blow, to which he had succumbed, by betraying the province into the hands of
the confederates. They had proclaimed his brother
duke of Normandy before the king's consent was
extorted.   His assent, indeed, was merely  the  effect and the ratification of their act.  In this view,
it was to them that Charles was indebted for his
present position. They were now assembled at Rouen, and had made preparations for his reception.
They intended to revive on this occasion the ancient
forms with which their ancestors. had been used to
inaugurate the reign of a new  duke; —from  their
hands Charles was to receive the ring with which the
duchy was said to be espoused by its prince; and,
when the ceremonies were completed, they were to
4 This is the party whose senti- nobility in seeking a change of govments are represented with a con- ernment seems to have been a decentrated bitterness by Basin, one sire to emancipate themselves from
of its most distinguished leaders. the tyranny of the robe, peculiarly
He is our chief authority in all that oppressive in a region where, as in
relates to Normandy. His exposi- Scotland, legal astuteness and a litition of the state of that province gious disposition have always been
throughout the reigns of Charles among the most striking characterVII. and Louis XI. is very instruc- istics of the people.
tive.  One strong motive of the




366          LOUIS RECOVERS' NORMANDY.         [BOOK I.
occupy their natural position as the supporters of
his throne and his great officers of state.
Between the friends who accompanied and the
friends who awaited him — these in possession of
his duchy, those of his person, - Charles's position
was that of one who, having, after a protracted and
expensive lawsuit, established his right to an estate,
finds it heavily encumbered with mortgages, while he
is surrounded by Jews and attorneys who had advanced him the means of living and of prosecuting
his claim, and who now present him with their accounts.  There was also on either side a multitude
of inferior suitors, so numerous that, had all the
offices in the kingdom been at his disposal, many of
his adherents must still have been dismissed unrequited.5 The king himself had been involved in the
like embarrassments.  He too, at his accession, had
found himself overwhelmed with obligations and besieged by a host of applicants. But Louis had a way
of meeting difficulties peculiar to himself. With a
thousand polite speeches he had slipped away from
the pressing attentions of his Burgundian friends.
With his own subjects he had not thought it necessary to stand upon ceremony: when leaving Tours,
in December, 1461, on a journey to the south, he
caused it to be proclaimed in the streets, with sound
of trumpet, that no one should follow him, under
pain of death.6
5 " Tantus enim ad curiam ejus portune rogantium, totius regni offipro hisce rebus fiebat undique con- cia suffecissent." Basin, tom. ii.
cursus, ut vix, ad satisfaciendum p. 142.
parve postulationum portioni, et im-   6 Chastellain, p. 189.




CHAP. VIII.]   LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.    367
Such an example Charles of France was not
competent to imitate.  He wanted the adroitness
to evade, the boldness to crush, the obstacles that
thrust themselves upon his path. On his arrival at
Sainte-Catherine du Mont, in the neighborhood of
Rouen, he was informed that the arrangements for
his reception were completed. Yet from day to day
he deferred making his entrance into the capital,
unwilling to break with his present companions and
unable to comply with their exorbitant requests.
From these perplexities he was relieved by no efforts
of his own. His subjects in the city, impatient to
salute him and irritated by the delay, were no sooner
informed by the nobles that their prince was a prisoner in the hands of the Bretons, than they assembled in arms, presented themselves before him at
the place where he was lodged, and carried him off
in triumph. This was an insult which the duke of
Brittany could ill digest. He had pleased himself
with- the idea of appearing before the people of
Normandy as their liberator from the tyranny of
the king. At his court Charles of Fraince had taken
refuge; by him the prince had been supplied with
an army to enable him to vindicate his rights.
Francis had, therefore, expected to be received at
Rouen as Philip of Burgundy had been received at
Paris when he brought back his royal protege' from
exile and placed him on the throne. Disgusted with
the different treatment he had experienced, the duke
refused to listen to the overtures made to him for a
reconciliation, and quitted the neighborhood of the




368         LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.         [BOOI I.
capital. Instead, however, of returning home, he
established himself at Caen, in Lower Normandy,
and took possession of several other towns, while his
troops, spreading themselves over this portion of the
province, treated it as a conquered country, devastated the fields and pillaged the inhabitants.7
Thus the Normans, in their anxiety to have a duke
of their own, had got two. When tidings of these
events reached the king he considered it incumbent
on him to proffer his mediation.
Since the close of the war Louis had been busily
employed. In the first place, he had dismissed nearly all his ministers, and, in most cases, he had taken
back those whom he had formerly removed.8 He had
also made a change, if not of policy, at least in his
tactics. Hitherto, in his attempts to curb the power
of feudalism, he had directed his attacks against the
whole of his great vassals, with scarcely an exception. He had endeavored, it is true, to cover his
approaches by a lavish exhibition of friendliness; but
the mask was too thin to conceal his real designs.
As a natural consequence, all had united against
him; and the result had shown that, when all were
united, he had little chance in a contest with them.
He now determined to follow that course which his
own experience, as well as the counsels of his friend
Sforza, pointed out as more expedient.  He must
endeavor to divide his opponents, and that not by
7 Basin, tom. ii. p. 143, et seq. — De Troyes, Lenglet, tom. ii. p.
Commines, tom. i. pp. 107, 108.- 52.
Duclercq, tom. iv. pp. 240-242.- -     De Troyes, pp. 51, 52.




CHAP. VIII.]   LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.    369
delusive promises, but by real concessions. Among
the members of the confederacy were some whose
ambition he might perhaps gratify by substantial
marks of favor without endangering his vital interests. He incurred little risk by forming an alliance with the house of Anjou and covertly aiding
its enterprises; for these enterprises were directed
against foreign powers, and were more likely to end
in ruin than in success. He might safely encourage
to a higher flight the aspiring spirit of the Constable
Saint-Pol; the loftier his ambition the more galling
would be his dependence on the house of Burgundy.
But the person for whose friendship Louis bid highest
was the duke of Bourbon. The estates of this prince
were situated in the centre of the kingdom, at a distance from those of his allies. He was, therefore, the
one who could be most closely watched and most
easily subdued. While acting in concert with the
others he had inflicted serious damage on the king,
compelling him, as we have seen, to remain absent
from his capital at the moment when from different
quarters the forces of the confederates were marching to attack it. Alone he was not formidable; as
a friend he might be serviceable; and his friendship
was to be purchased at a price which the king could
afford to pay.  Accordingly the duke of Bourbon
now received the appointment of "lieutenant-general," with military command over a large portion of
the kingdom. The government of Languedoc was
bestowed upon him, with a pension of twenty-four
thousand livres; and Louis gave his own illegitimate
VOL. I.   47




370          LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.           [nooKl I.
daughter in marriage to the duke's bastard brother.
At a somewhat later period a union between the
legitimate branches of the two families was destined
to  cement the alliance.  These benefactions were
bestowed partly in anticipation and partly in requital
of valuable services rendered by the duke. Louis
had formed a very favorable opinion of his talents,
applauding the dexterity and spirit with which he
had carried out the views of the confederates in the
conquest of Normandy.  Might not the same skilful
agent be employed in its reconquest?
In company with the chancellor of France and
other officers of state, and bearing a commission
which authorized him to employ his efforts for settling  the troubles in Normandy, Bourbon entered
that province early in December, 1465.  He sent his
credentials to Charles, and requested him to name a
place of meeting.9 But this embassy of peace and
conciliation was escorted by a considerable body of
troops; and the king himself, assembling a stronger
force, followed cautiously in the same direction.
Attended by his principal nobles, Charles of France
arrived at Louviers, six leagues south of Rouen, for
the purpose of holding an interview with Bourbon.
The latter, however, failed to keep the appointment.
Three days passed without his appearance. At length
tidings were received of his movements.  He had
9 Basin, tom. iii. p. 263.- The edited by M. Quicherat. Its account
work here cited is the author's " Apo- of the present proceedings is more
logia," printed during his lifetime, graphic and circumstantial than that
but circulated only among his friends, which the writer has given in his
and wholly forgotten until recently History of Louis XI.




CRAP. VIII.]    LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.                       371
arrived the day before at Evreux, five leagues distant,
and had been received by the authorities with the
distinction suited to his rank and mission. But no
sooner had he entered the town than  he had turned
out the garrison, dismissed all the public functionaries,
and taken formal possession of the place in the king's
name. These news were followed by others equally
strange. Vernon, situated at the same distance as
Evreux but in a different direction, had been seized
in a similar manner; and from both places, forming
with Louviers the vertices of an equilateral triangles
troops were now  rapidly  approaching, while by still
other routes different parties were in motion - showing that the surrounding  country had been suddenly
flooded with invaders. Charles and his counsellors
were  now   awakened  to  their  danger, and  retired
hastily in the direction of the capital; while the
royal army, advancing farther into the country, and
spreading itself over a wider extent, found little difficulty in uprooting a government so recently planted
and in reestablishing the royal authority."
10 " Sunt enim tria hujuscemodi whence  Basin  supposes them  to
velut in triangulo uquilatero prope  have been parties to the plot. His
invicem sita." Basin, tom. iii. p. 266. suspicions are rendered probable by
11 " Erat enim ipse dux Norman- the fact that one of these persons had
nice velut arbor recens plantata in  been in secret communication with
terra sua, quee nondum missis in al- Louis. (See Quicherat's note to this
tum  radicibus solo tenuiter adhuc  passage.) Commines(tom. i. p. 108)
cohmerebat." Basin, tom. iii. p. 270. intimates that the division between
Basin (tom. iii. p. 267) takes credit the dukes of Normandy and Brittany
to himself for having warned Charles  had been fomented by agents of the
of his danger and suggested his re- king. There is also evidence that
treat. The dean of Rouen gave the  the surrender of the towns was partsame advice. Others of the prince's  ly the result of treachery.
counsellors denied the necessity




372        LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.       [BOOK I.
The king now made his appearance on the scene.
His purpose, as he stated, was to have an interview
with the duke of Brittany, and he accordingly proceeded to Caen. Still smarting under the indignity
he had received from the Normans, Francis was easily
induced to give assurance of his neutrality in the
present crisis. He even affixed his signature to a
treaty by which he promised to grant no asylum in
his dominions to any person who should fall under
the royal displeasure.l2 Nor was this the only advantage which Louis derived from his journey to Caen.
He was there brought face to face with men whose
abilities he had lately learned to appreciate at their
true value. We have no account of what took place
in his interviews with them; but it is certain that
from this date began a change in their relations with
him, which led, immediately in the case of some of
these persons, at a later period in that of others, to
their defection from the duke of Brittany and their
return to the court of France, where they enjoyed
even greater favor than in the preceding reign 13
favor proportioned, as their former wrongs had been,
to their several degrees of merit. Dammartin, so
long the especial object of the king's aversion, obtained the first place in his confidence, and was the
person chiefly employed by him in the conduct of
military operations.
From the moment at which the plot had been
fully developed by Bourbon's occupation of Evreux
12 Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 564. - The'3 Commines, tom. i. p. 111.
treaty bears the date of Dec. 20.




CHAP. vIII.]    LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.            373
and other towns, and his advance upon Louviers,
Charles had despatched envoy after envoy to remonstrate with his brother against this flagrant violation
of the treaty.  But where were his associates, who
only two months ago had formed this treaty, having
pertinaciously refused to accept of other terms, and
made the cession of Normandy the siane ua Unon of an
arrangement with the king?  The duke of Brittany,
who had been selected as Charles's guardian and
protector, was now estranged from him. The duke
of Bourbon, -who, at the time of the negotiations,
had warned his allies to put no trust in Louis, for,
whatever conditions he might submit to, he would
assuredly break them,-was now assisting in the fulfilment of his own prophecy. The count of Charolais, to whose resolution and superior resources the
king had chiefly owed his defeat, was now at a distance, exerting his "invincible power" against another
enemy. While at Saint-Trond he received an embassy
from Charles of France urgently soliciting assistance.'4
But neither the state of his operations nor the condition of his army allowed him to think of interfering
by force;5 and he was therefore obliged to content
himself with sending envoys to the king, with a letter
beseeching him to c; take in good part" the representations which they were instructed'" in all humility"
to make.16
14 Basin, who gives the account, and sent to protect Dieppe; but bewas himself the principal member fore this could be done the place surof this embassy.            rendered. Commines, tom. i. p. 109.
l' He, however, gave orders that  16 "Ausquelz j'ay chargi6 vous
a force should be collected in Picardy dire et exposer aucunes choses de




374          LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.             [BOOK I.
In this desolate situation, the duke of Normandy
— if we may give the title to a prince who, having
but just assumed it, was about to lose it —made a
move, which would have been fatal to him even
had there still existed any chances in his favor.
He instructed his envoys to say that he was willing
to refer the question of his appanage to the other
princes or to a certain number of them, provided
the king would engage to abide by their decision.17
This proposal was construed by Louis as an offer to
surrender Normandy, and, by a subtle anachronism,
was made the starting-point and basis of his late proceedings. His brother had expressed a desire to be
relieved of a government the cares of which were too
weighty for him to bear;"s and the king had consented to take the burden again upon his own shoulders.
He acknowledged, however, the justice of the prince's
claim to be indemnified for his loss. What fief was
Louis, then, prepared to bestow in lieu of Normandy?
He did not recur to his former proposition, to establish his brother in Champagne.  He said nothing of
Guienne, which had also been discussed during the
negotiations. What he now offered was the county
of Rousillon, which in fact was not a French province
at all, but a strip of territory on the northern slopes
of the Pyrenees, belonging to Aragon, taken by Louis
ma part en toute humilite, touchant  17 Instructions des negociateurs
laditte matiere.... Si vous supplie envoyds au Roi par le due de Nor-... prendre mon petit advis au fait mandie, Doe. Indd., Melanges, tom.
de mondit seigneur de Normendie en ii. p. 410, et seq.
bonne part." Doc. In6d., Melanges,'s Doe. Ined., Melanges, tom. ii.
tom. ii. p. 421.             pp. 422, note, 430, 432, et al.




CHAP. VIII.]  LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.                 375
as security for the repayment of a loan, and, with the
best will on his part to retain it, not to be counted
upon as a permanent acquisition.l9 These difficulties
were stated by Charles in answer to the proposal;
and, as a further and fatal objection, —the force of
which Louis could not fail to see and acknowledge,he urged that in Rousillon he would be at a great
distance from all his relatives, and especially from
those among them in whom he most confided.20
Before the negotiations had dwindled to this point
the actual recovery of Normandy had been completed. It had been agreed that Charles should
have an interview with the duke of Brittany, —to
whom, in his perplexity and need, his feeble mind
still turned for counsel and assistance,-and the seaport town of Honfleur, about midway between Caen
and Rouen, had been named as the place of meeting.
As all the roads were occupied by the royal forces,
the prince requested and received his brother's safeconduct both for his journey to Honfleur and his
return. Hardly had he quitted the capital when the
king's troops appeared before it, and the inhabitants
of every class immediately united in sending a deputation to Louis inviting him to enter. Having loudly
19 See Mr. Prescott's account of guerre que ne pourrions soustenir.
Rousillon and the disaffection of the Aussi c'est ung lieu hors des limites
inhabitants while under the rule of du royaume, loing de tous noz paLouis XI., Hist. of Ferdinand and rens et amys, et mesmement des
Isabella, vol. i. pp. 50, 130.  principaulx en qui avons nostre con20"Mondit seigneur ne tient le fiance, et ou il n'y a point de seurconte de Roussillon que par forme te." Lettre du due de Normandie
de gagilre;... et pour la garde, a l'Evque de Verdun, Doc. Indd.,
fauldroit grant nombre de gens de M6langes, tom. ii. p. 443.




376            LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.               [BOOK I.
proclaimed their unalterable fidelity to their duke at
the moment of his departure, they were now smitten
with remorse for having ever acknowledged a sovereign to whom  they had been expressly commanded
by the king to render the same obedience as to himself. They entreated, therefore, that letters of remission might be granted to them for this fault; and
Louis, while he assured them that there was no occasion for such a form, since their conduct was in no
respect blameworthy, complied with their request.
He excepted only six persons, chiefs of that party
which he knew to be especially hostile to him; and
even they were excepted only because, being the
enemies of the duke of Brittany, the king was bound
by his late treaty with that prince to regard them
also as his own.2'
The seizure of Rouen was no infraction of the safeconduct granted  to Charles.  He might still return
thither without danger of being molested on the
way. But when he arrived? — this was a question
that must give him pause. What the unfortunate
prince had now to think of was not the settlement
of his appanage, but his personal security. He had
21 Doc. Ined., Melanges, tom. ii. although in some parts of the provpp. 419, 432, 438, et al.- Basin, ince Tristan l'Hermite was busily at
tom. ii. p. 160, et seq. - Among the work. "Audit temps, furent plupersons thus excepted were two ac- sieurs personnes, officiers et autres
cused by Basin of having been among  dudit pais de Normandie, executez
the accomplices of the king. His et noyes par le prdvost des marestatement, however, is supported  schaulx pour les questions du Roy et
rather than invalidated by this fact, Monseigneur Charles." De Troyes,
since it appears that they shortly af- p. 54.
terwards received letters of grace,




CHAP. VIII.]    LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.             377
no resource but flight, and his first idea was to make
his escape to Flanders. By land he could not hope
to effect it.  The eastern frontier of Normandy was
so vigilantly guarded —as we are told by one who
had just crossed it to find himself in hopeless exile -
that a hare could scarcely have passed in safety.22
The passage by sea, however, was still open; and
Charles went on board of a small vessel then lying
at Honfleur. But the wind was adverse; and his
fears would not allow him to wait for a change. He
returned to land, and set out for Brittany in company
with Francis, who had now awakened to the consciousness that, in gratifying his resentment for a
trivial slight, he had made himself the dupe and the
tool of his natural enemy. Without, therefore, regarding the principal stipulation of the treaty he had
lately signed, he again granted Charles an asylum at
his court, where the two princes had ample leisure for
reflecting on the folly by which their recent triumph
had been brought to so ridiculous a termination.23
Louis entered Rouen about the close of January.
An operation, skilfully planned and skilfully conducted, had been crowned with merited success. Pleased
with the result, he felt a natural desire that others
should sympathize in his pleasure; and it occurred to
22 {C Vias etiam omnes atque itin-  23 " Ces deux ducs," remarks Comera, quibus ad terramin ducis Burgun- mines, "estoient saiges apres le
dive ex Normannia patere potuisset coup "  a proverbial characteristic,
accessus, tam exacta vigilantia ob- he tells us, of the Bretons. Tom. i.
servari fecit, ut vix ex una terra in p. 111.
alteram vel lepus transire potuisset." Basin, tom. iii. p. 274.
VOL. I.         48




378          LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.             [BOOK I.
him that his cousin of Charolais, in particular, might
be glad to have some account of his proceedings and
also some explanation of the reasons for them. He
was the more ready to make such a communication
because it was his settled purpose that the count
should be made acquainted with all his important
affairs, not only as a mark of confidence, but ill order
that his sovereign might have the benefit of his excellent advice.4 In the minute instructions given to his
envoys, baseless assertions, unwarranted assumptions,
and sophistical arguments are interwoven with an
open and forcible statement of the real grounds that
justified his act. He reminded Charles that, when
the demand had been originally made that he should
settle the duchy of Normandy upon his brother, he
had answered it by an absolute refusal, and that subsequently the negotiations had taken a different turn.
In the mean time the province had revolted from
him, and Charles of France had then, in violation of
a truce which had been proclaimed, taken upon himself the title of duke, and under that title exercised
an illegal authority. Resistance would have been of
no avail. The king had therefore yielded. But he
had  yielded passively and  under constraint.   He
had remained silent when Charles did homage to
24 "u Le roy desiroit bien que mon- toutes les grans matieres du roy lui
dit seigneur de Charolois feust bien soient communicquees, pour en avoir
adverty de tout le d6men6 de ces son bon advis et conseil." Instruo.
matieres, tant a ce qu'il sceust comme tions des ambassadeurs envoyes par
tout a estW fait, comme pour la par- le Roi au comte de Charollais, Doc.
faicte amour et fiance qu'il a a mon- In6d., M6langes, tom. ii. p. 424.
dit seigneur de Charolois, et que




CHAP. VIII.]   LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.                    379
him  at Vincennes; he had regarded the grant as of
no validity because a compulsory one; he had secretly protested against it; and hope had never
deserted his heart that he should be able, with the
blessing  of God, to recover Normandy  and to join
it inseparably to the crown.25 No sooner had his
brother entered on the government than he had
found it too weighty a charge for him to sustain.
He had acknowledged it to be so, and had requested
aid from the king. The latter had sent the duke
of Bourbon to treat with  him  amicably on the subject.  Louis himself had gone to Caen, at the request
of the duke of Brittany.  He had made no attempt
to recover the province by arms. But the inhabitants had of their own accord at once acknowledged
him as their king, their sovereign, and their natural
lord.  Normandy  was, in  truth, too  great and  too
important a province to be allowed to remain in
the  possession  of any  subject.   It was the  chief
jewel of the crown. It had been always regarded,
from its extent, its situation, and the fertility of its
soil, the number of its people, the strength of its fortresses, and the revenues that were derived from it,
as equal to one third of the whole realm.26 It was
25  Le roy, pour ce qu'il con- separablement."  Doec. Indd., M&gnoissoit ledit bail non estre raison- langes, tom. ii. 429.
nable et ne se devoir faire, ne perdit   26 "4 Normandie est le principal
oncques en son courage la posses- fleuron de la couronne; et par les
sion dudit pays, et qu'il n'eust you- anciens a tousjours este r6pute (eu
loir, pour le bien de lui et de tout le regard et considdracion a la qualite
royaume, quant Dieu plairoit, la re- et situacion du pays, aux pr6emiprendre et remectre en sa main et nences et autorit4 d'icellui taunt en
l'entretenir joincte h la couronne in- places fortes et subgets dudit pays




380;LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.                   [BOOK I.
exposed to the invasions of the English, the ancient
enemies of France; it was the quarter on which their
attacks were always commenced. The protection and
resources of the crown were necessary for its defence;
its fall would entail the subjugation of the country.27
Former sovereigns, and especially Charles the Fifth,
surnamed the Wise, had expressly forbidden by their
ordinances that the province should ever again be held
as a fief; jurists regarded the alienation of it as illegal; and therefore it was, and to prevent the absolute
ruin of the monarchy, that Louis had taken it again
under his own  rule.  It was his intention, however,
to provide a suitable appanage for his brother, such
as had been usually bestowed upon the principal
members of the  royal family.   He  had  desired  to
confer with Charles upon the subject; but the prince
had thought proper to quit the province; and, although the duke of Bourbon and other persons had
been sent after him, he had persisted in withdrawing
qu'autrement, et en la grant revenue  royaume, et communement quant les
dudit pays) la tierce partie du roy- Anglois ont voulu faire leurs deaume de France: qui n'est pas ap-  scentes en ce royaume depuis cent
panaige convenable pour fre're de roy  ou VIxx ans en qa, ils les ont tousde France, ne raisonnable d'estre sd- jours faictes par le pays de Normanpare de la couronne, ne oncques sem-  die; et si ledit pays de Normandie
blable appanaige ne fut a nul autre  estoit se'par6 de la couronne, il est
fr're de roy."  Doe. Indd., M6lan- impossible qu'il peult estre souffisant
ges, tom. ii. p. 428.              pour soy garder et ddfendre de l'in27,, Quant ledit appanaige eust vasion desditz Anglois; et si ainsi
tenu, il s'en feust peu ensuir la per-  estoit que ledit pays de Normandie
dicion et destruction dudit duchi6 de  feust perdu, chacun peut bien veoir
Normandie, et peut-estre de tout le  et congnoistre quel prejudice ce seroyaume; car le pays de Normandie  roit a tout le royaume, et les inconest voisin d'Angleterre et des An- veniens qui en pourroient ensuir."
glois, qui sont anciens ennemis de ce  Doc. In6d., Melanges, tom. ii. p. 428.




CHAP. VIII.]   LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.      381
into Brittany.  In conclusion, Louis expressed his
satisfaction with the messages he had received from
the count of Charolais recommending him to deal
mildly with his brother. This was precisely what he
had done; mild methods, indeed, were those which
he preferred to use in all his affairs; and he had the
most perfect trust that the count, when informed of
these matters, would continue to manifest his goodwill to the king, and his regard for the honor of the
crown and the welfare of the realm.28
Thus all that the king had done was to revoke a
grant in itself invalid, and to resume a seat already
vacated. Yet there was a possibility that this reasoning, clear and cogent as it was, might fail to satisfy
a mind so peculiar in the fixedness of its views as
that of the count of Charolais. He would perhaps
regard the act simply as a breach of faith; he might
imagine that his absence had been seized upon as an
opportunity for violating a treaty which he had had
the principal share in making; and, as he was not
only hasty in forming his opinions, but obstinate in
adhering to them, it would not be strange if he
should adopt a course of action against which the
milder methods preferred by Louis would be of little
avail. The king lost no time in preparing for this
contingency. He drove his ministers to the verge
of desperation by the shifts to which he compelled
them  to resort for replenishing the treasury.  To
provide material for the construction of new pieces
of ordnance he ordered the bells to be removed from
28 Doe. Ined., Melanges, tom. ii. p. 423-434.




382         LOUIS RECOVERS NORMANDY.      [BOOK i.
the churches, leaving but a single one in each parish.
In the course of the spring he assembled a great
army on the frontiers of Picardy. But these forces
were intended only for defence. He did not design
to make or to provoke an attack. He affected to be
in fear of a new invasion by the English, and gave
out that his preparations were designed for meeting
this danger.29  At the same time he sent envoys to
Calais to negotiate a renewal of the existing truce,
directing that they should visit his cousin of Charolais on the way, and acquaint him with the object of
their mission.
Charles viewed these proceedings with a sullen eye,
conscious that, while his allies had been outwitted,
he himself was outgeneralled. All he could now do
was to strengthen the garrisons in his possessions on
the Somme, whither he had gone, soon after his return to Brussels, to receive the homage of his new
subjects. Instead of following the example of Louis,
who had treated these towns with particular indulgence, he burdened them with heavy imposts. This
was the more impolitic as they had already given
utterance to their discontent in being again separated from the crown. It was reported also that the
king had offered a part of Picardy to the English as
the price of a permanent peace. Absurd as this
rumor was, it presented the count of Charolais with
an occasion for venting some portion of his ill-humor
in a remonstrance which he addressed to Louis.'" Monseigneur," he wrote,% "I have received informa29 Duclercq, tom. iv. pp. 254, 255. — De Troyes, p. 57.




CHAP. VIII.]         STATE OF DINANT.                    383
tion which, if true, ill accords with the many gracious
words you have recently given me both in writing
and by word of mouth.  Of what is your own, Monseigneur, you can dispose according to your good
pleasure; but, in respect to what is mine, it seems to
me that you will do better by leaving it in my possession than by seeking to transfer it into the hands
of the enemies of France.  I pray you, therefore, to
put an entire and immediate stop to such overtures,
and so to act that I may still have reason to remain,
as with all my heart I desire, your most humble servant."30 This letter, dictated by spleen and disappointment, and breathing hostility and menace, was
written  at Namur on  the  16th  of August, when
Charles had already set out on his second expedition
into the principality of Liege.
Fifteen miles south of Namur, but on the opposite
bank of the Meuse, stands Dinant, a place of some
six thousand inhabitants. The limestone cliff behind
it rises precipitously to a height of several hundred
feet, and tapers to a pinnacle surmounted by a citadel
of modern construction. Through the narrow valley
between the river and the base of the cliff runs a
30 Lettre du comte de Charolois, bal statement -is an admirable exDuclos, tom. iii. p. 231. —The king's hibition of assumed simplicity. It
reply - commencing, " Tres-cher et closes with a characteristic touch,
am6 frere," grave, earnest, and elab- expressive of injured innocence and
orate in its disclaimers and denials, wounded honor.  " Quand un tel
fortified with all manner of argu- rapport nous euft et6 fait de vous,
ments, and referring Charles to a nous ne l'eussions pas legerement
special embassy despatched at the cru ne voulu croire." Hist. de Boursame time for a more particular ver- gogne, tom. iv. pp. 346, 347.




384                    STATE OF DINANT.                     [BOOK I.
single street, of length and width sufficient for one
of the principal thoroughfares of a great capital,
but lined only with scattered dwellings, and crossed
only by short lanes that lead to the river's side —
seeming like a giant trunk which has been stripped
of its foliage and shorn of its branches.
In the fifteenth century, down to the year 1466, this
was the site of a populous and thriving town,31 inhabited by a race of industrious artisans, preeminent for
their skill in the manufacture of copper. The excellence of their workmanship is attested by existing
specimens -  organ-screens, baptismal fonts, and other
ecclesiastical decorations.   But the  fame  of Dinant
had been chiefly spread by its production of more
common  and  useful  articles, especially  of kitchen
utensils,- -'pots  and  pans, and  similar wares,"
which, under the name of Dinanderie, were known to
31 Commines calls it "uille tres  towns (Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom. ii.
forte de sa grandeur, et tres riche;', p. 229, et al.) contributed to the
Duclercq, " la plus riche ville que on  wealth and importance of Dinant.
sceust et la plus forte; " and he even  The topographical peculiarities are
asserts that, in these respects, it far well described in the interesting pasurpassed Li6ge itself. Theodoricus  per of M. Adolphe Borgnet, (Annales
Paulus applies to it the epithets " op- de la SociWt6 Archdologique de Naulentissimum, ditissimum  et poten- mur, 1853,) whose remark, however,
tissimum;" and Basin speaks of it respecting the exaggerations of the
as "illud superbum  et opulentum   chroniclers, is itself a much more
Dinantum."  Its fine churches and  palpable exaggeration. They do not,
wealthy monasteries are also noticed, as he pretends, describe " a second
and especially its great foundries, Nineveh."  They all concur in repwith machines and implements worth  resenting Dinant as a very opulent
a hundred thousand florins.        town; and on this point the testiThe natural features of the locality  mony of persons who had witnessed
show that in extent the place can  many scenes of grandeur and prosnever greatly have exceeded its pres-  perity of which the modern Belgian
ent limits. But the population was  perceives only the signs and vestiges
probably dense, and several subject may be safely accepted.




CoIar. viii.]          STATE OF DINANT.                          385
housewives throughout Europe, being regularly exported not only to France and Germany, but to England, Spain, and  other  countries.32   With  England,
especially, Dinant had  maintained  commercial relations for several centuries. Its traders enjoyed in
that kingdom the same privileges as the members
of the Hanseatic League; and an English company
had long been established in the town, where their
nation was held in particular esteem.33
The brass-founders of Dinant held the same position as the clothiers at Louvain and the weavers
at Ghent. They formed what was usually called
the L"great guild," and were a kind of middle class
between the nine inferior guilds and the merchants
and persons of independent means, to whom the
name  of bourgeois was exclusively given.?4   This was
32 " Ouvraiges de cuivre qu'on ap- terre et en pluseurs aultres marches
pelle Dinanderie: qui sont en effect et pays."  Borgnet, Sac de Dinant,
potz et poisles, et choses semblables."  Appendice, VI.
Commines, tom. i. p. 114. -" Les    33 Borgnet, Appendice,. - Dibourgeois et marchans de ceste ditte  nant required the insertion in the:ville," say the magistrates of Dinant treaties with Louis of a clause proin a letter to Louis XI., " ont fre- viding against the danger of a conquentet et communiquiet en vostre  sequent rupture of its commercial
dit roialme et ausi ceulx d'icellui en  intercourse  and friendly relations
icelle, et ce de si longtemps que point with England.
n'est m6more du contraire, en y ex-    34 66 Les bourgeois d'enmi la ville"
erchans marchandieses par especial was the full designation of this class.
de denrees appelees batterie, comme  " Les bourgeois representaient ce papaelles, bachins, chaudrons et autres, triciat qui, depuis un siecle environ,
sur laquelle marchandiese ceste ditte  avait cess6 d'6tre un 6lement preponville est principallement fondde de  derant," says M. Borgnet -an elugrande antiquitet, laquelle n'est pas  cidation which, as too often happens,
tant seulement exercee ou communi- leaves the reader to his own conjecquie en vostre dit roialme, mais ausi tures at the precise point where a
en Espaigne, Allemaingne, Angle-  more certain light is wanted.
VOL. I.       49




386               STATE OF DINANT.              [BOO3 I.
not only a social, but a political division, each of the
three classes having a separate and equal vote in the
election of the council and the decision of such questions as were referred by the council to the popular
assemblies.
The citizens of Dinant are described in the chronicles and other writings of the time as intoxicated
by the pride of wealth and long-continued prosperity;
as eagerly rushing into hostilities with a prince whose
superior power they did not pause to estimate; as
madly tempting a doom decreed by Heaven as the
just punishment of their insensate violence.  Such
a representation of a people assiduously engaged in
the arts of peace, and dependent for their existence
on the security of their commerce, cannot but appear strange. Happily, we have, on this subject,
other and better sources of information. A small
portion of the municipal archives of Dinant is still
in existence.  Scanty as are the documents thus
brought to our aid, — and the marvel is, not that
they are so few, but that even these should have
been preserved, —they afford a glimpse at the interior of the ill-fated town, and excite not only commiseration but respect for the greater number of its
inhabitants.35
Far from plunging headlong into war, Dinant, conscious of its exposed situation, at a distance from its
35 The discovery and publication student of Belgian history. He has
of this interesting series of docu- also supplied M. Borgnet with some
ments are not the least important of links in the series which had eluded
the many and vast obligations which his own earlier researches.
M. Gachard has conferred upon the




CHAP. VIII.]     STATE OF DINANT.               387
confederate towns and almost environed by the dominions of the duke of Burgundy, was with difficulty
induced to join the alliance against him. Although
it had concurred in abjuring the authority of Louis
of Bourbon, it had never fallen under the sway of
the demagogues, or been agitated by that violent
spirit which convulsed the capital.  The municipal
government pursued its ordinary course; and, whatever may have been the inclinations of a portion of
the people, the magistrates were for a time successful
in their efforts to preserve peace. Dinant was, in
fact, forced into the contest by a natural consequence
of its hostile relations with Bouvignes. The latter
place, inferior in all other respects to its rival, exulted
in the protection of a powerful sovereign ready to
support it in every act of aggression. In this quarter, therefore, the war was purely a local matter, the
continuance of an ancient feud stimulated by fresh
provocations. Even the insults-to the house of Burgundy were really aimed at a far lower and nearer
mark.  The people of Bowuvignes had recourse to
similar methods of exasperation.  They hurled over
the walls of Dinant an effigy of the French king, act
companying the act'with opprobrious speeches,which
enraged his allies, but do not seem, when brought to
the ears of Louis, to have had the effect of disturbing
his equanimity.36
Yet it often happens that the report of an event
excites a stronger sensation than was felt at the time
36 Borgnet, Appendice, II. - In-'en France, Gachard, Doc. Ined., torn.
struction pour les deputes envoyes ii. pp. 218-222.




388                STATE OF DINANT.               [BOOK I.
of its occurrence by the actors or spectators, who first
become aware of its importance when made acquainted with the view taken of it at a distance.  Dinant
was unconscious of the enormity of its offence until
warned by its sister towns to lose no time in disavowing  the act and punishing the  guilty  parties.
Rumors of the affair had flown far and wide.  The
people of Bouvignes, indeed, had taken care that the
intelligence should be carried direct to the persons
most concerned.   The aged and good duke Philip
was, of course, violently incensed; and the meek
and pious Isabella, quitting her conventual retreat,
vehemently demanded the ruin of a people in vindication of her spotless virtue.
Dinant was naturally startled at the loud echoes
awakened by its mimic thunder, and an embassy was
despatched to claim assistance from  the French king.
He was requested to send both troops and artillery,
as well as'a "captain" to superintend the preparations
for resisting an attack.  This was in the latter part
of September, 1465, when the prospects of Louis were
at their darkest, and he was in no condition to afford
aid to his allies. Yet the tidings, shortly after, of his
having concluded a peace, had, at first, the effect of
quieting their apprehensions.  Were they not accompanied by the assurance, under his own hand,
37 "Est falme commune que tres son vaillant, fera ruynner cestedite
haute princesse de Bourgoingne, a ville, en metant toutes personnes a
cause desdites injures, at conchut l'espee: pour laquelle chose ententelle haynne sur cestedite ville de dons que soit a l'Escluse." Gachard,
Dinant, qu'elle a jure, comme on Doc. Ined., tom. ii. p. 222.
dist, que, s'il li devoit couster tout




CHAP. VIII.]            STATE OF DINANT.                          389
that the people of Liege had the option of becoming
a  party  to  the  treaty? 38   It was necessary, indeed,
that they should make a proper submission to the
sovereign whom they had so wantonly attacked; and
the citizens of Dinant, with more real unanimity than
those of the capital, embraced the offer and prepared
to comply with the conditions. Notice was [Nov.
given  of  the  cessation  of hostilities;  and,   1465.]
although the people of Bouvignes were only emboldened by this announcement to renew their attacks,
the government of Dinant would not suffer any reprisals to be made, but contented itself with calm
and dignified remonstrances.
Meanwhile the ringleaders in the foolish demonstration under the walls of Bouvignes had been arrested
and secured. One of them, when conveyed to prison,
appealed to the bystanders with the familiar cry,
38 The desperate situation of Louis  aulx amis, et comme nous avons fait
must, we suppose, be accepted as a  a tous noz aultres alliez et adherens;
sufficient excuse for his breach of  nous vous prions que vueilliez d&faith in concluding a separate treaty.  porter et d6sister de la guerre que
Having himself been compelled to  avez encommenchi6 ies pais de nossurrender every thing demanded by  ditz oncle et beau frere. Et quant
his enemies, he could only recom-  ainsy ne se feroit, veu que de premend to his allies the same unquali-  sent la guerre cesse par deqak et qu'il
fied submission. His language indi-  y a appoinctement entre nous et
cates this feeling: " Sommes tres  les dessusditz, feroit a doubter que
contens des bons termes que nous  grosse arm6e et puissance de gens
avez tenus en ces matieres.... tombast sur vostre pais; dont grans
Toutes voyes, veu que l'appoincte-  inconvreniens pourroient ensuir, et'i
ment est prins entre nous et les des-  quoy seroit difficile chose'a vous de
susditz, et mesmement en tout ce  y r6sister, et a nous de vous y sequi puet toucher bel oncle de Bour-  courir." Lettre du Roi aux Li6gois,
gongne et beau friere de Charolois,  Doc. Ined. sur l'Hist. de France, M&
et que audit appoinctement estes  langes, tom. ii. p. 401.
comprins comme noz bons espdci



390             STATE OF DINANT.            [BOoK I.
never heard with indifference by the burghers of a
free town, "Franchises! to the rescue!"  A tumult
arose. The prisoners were liberated from the hands
of the officers, and aided in making their escape;
and a mob having collected in front of the civic hall,
the magistrates, fearing for the safety of those who
had furnished them  with evidence, destroyed the
depositions and abandoned their purpose.  A few
days afterwards, however, a message was received
from Liege advising its ally of the perils which it
must incur by affording the enemy any pretext for
continuing the war.  This communication having
been published, the magistrates, backed by the authority of the capital, recovered their influence; and.the fugitives were again seized and committed to
prison, some of those who had aided in the rescue
being foremost in effecting the recapture.39
The approach of the count of Charolais at the
head of a powerful army speedily dissipated the
hopes founded on the lying assurances of the French
monarch. Dinant, it was bruited abroad, was to be
the first object of attack; and a panic fell upon the
inhabitants, such as is felt by the natives of an African village when by taunts and bravadoes they have
drawn the lion from his lair, and now behold him in
his fury preparing to spring.
[Dec.   A period of suspense followed-two months
Jai65 of anxiety, of terror, of ceaseless prayers and
1466-1 efforts to avert the threatened blow. Letters
and messages were sent in all directions, to invoke,
39 Gachard, D)oc. Ined., tom. ii. pp. 229-237.




cHaP. VIII.]     STATE OF DINANT.              391
not succor or protection, but counsel, sympathy, the
pleadings of some friendly voice: and the warmth
of these appeals is often affectingly contrasted with
the formal tone of even the most favorable replies.
The envoys already sent having failed to gain admittance to the Burgundian princes, the strongest
endeavors were made to secure the mediation of
persons to -whom, it was thought, a hearing could
hardly be denied. The abbot of Saint-Hubert and
other high ecclesiastics residing in the neighborhood
of Dinant were entreated to undertake this mission -the magistrates representing in their letters
that they were ready to make all possible reparation
for an act which they had always disavowed and
which they bitterly deplored, and stating the steps
that had been taken with a view to the punishment
of the offenders. Negotiations were also opened with
some of the Burgundian nobles, who, as it seems,
had expressed a willingness to render their good
offices to the hapless town by interceding with their
stern commander on its behalf. The agents employed
in the affair were supplied with the means that might
be thought the most effectual for stimulating the exertions of these exalted but not wholly disinterested
advocates —to one of whom, the lord of Haubourdin,
we find the magistrates humbly apologizing for an unavoidable delay in the transmission of their memorials,
and acknowledging the receipt of his previous intimation that he cannot spend much time in their affairs.40
40 " Pour quoy, nous intimes vous que porons, car, par aventure, ne
envoier... lesdis noms le plus brief pores mie longuement entendre ne




392                    STATE OF DINANT.                      [BOOK I.
Lastly, the people of Dinant made a direct appeal
to the man on whose single will depended the decision of their fate. Their supplication- addressed
"to the most excellent, high; and puissant prince, and
most redoubted lord, the count of Charolais " — was
expressed in the following terms: "The poor, humble,
and obedient servants and subjects of the  most reverend  father  in  God, Louis  of Bourbon, bishop  of
Liege, and  your little zeighbors and borderers,4   the  burgoinasters, council, and people of the town of Dinant,
humbly represent, that it has come  to  their knowlvacquer en ceste matiere." Gachard, d'icelle proferes touchant leurs perDoc. Ined., tom. ii. p. 270.        sonnes; sur quoy vous advertissons
The tone of these letters is the  que cestedite ville est desdis parlers
same throughout — humble, depre-  amerement dolente, et ne veult les
catory, grateful.  The matter is  delinquans en riens advoer; ainsequally unvaried - the same assur-  chois sont tous les encoulpes que l'on
ances of contrition, the same offers  apeu trouver apprehendes, et sommes
of atonement, the same prayer for d'iceux au deseur, pour en faire telle
mercy: unmanly, perhaps, in a sin- pugnicion qu'il appartenra." " Vous
gle suppliant pleading for himself, plaise a ce tenir la main que puissons
not so in those who were but the  apaisier le couroux de mondit seichannels through which a people, gneur de Charolois, en recouvrant
the helpless as well as the strong, l'amour de lui: en quoy, aveuc ce
uttered their anguish and their fears.  que feres oeuvre meritoire a Dieu,
"Vous prions tant cordialement que  nous fer6s tres singuler plaisir, dont
poons que, pour honneur et reverence  a tosjours vorons avoir memore, pour
de nostre benoit Createur, veullids  le recognoistre a nos possibilites."
ceste nostre presente responce avoir  " Soions tant dolens et desplaisans
agreable, en aiant pasience."  "Ve-  que plus ne poons, et ne volons les
nerable et religieux en Dieu,... delinquans en riens advoer, ainschois
escripvons pardevers vous, advertis- tous les coulpables de ce que l'en a
sant comment par pluseurs sommes  peu trouver soient apprehendes, pour
informdes que tres hauls princes et en faire telles pugnicions et execuciprincesse le duc de Bourgoingne,  ons qu'il plaira a leurstres excellentes
madame sa femme et mons. de Cha-  graces."
rolois, leur filz, sont tres grandement    41 " Vous petis voisins et marchisindignes sur ceste ville, a cause de  sans."  The phrase is expressive,
certains injurieux parlers par aucuns  though not translatable.




CHAP. TIII.]    STATE OF DINANT.             393
edge that the indignation of yoursmost noble grace
has been excited against the said town on account'
of certain injurious words spoken by some of the
inhabitants thereof in contempt of your most nobles
person; for which words the said town is as bitterly
sorry and displeased as it is possible to be, and, far
from desiring to protect the delinquents, has caused
to be apprehended as many of them as could be
found, and now holds them in durance, awaiting such
sentence and such punishment as your most noble
grace may be pleased to decree; wherefore your petitioners, as cordially and affectionately as they can,
do beseech your most noble and excellent grace that,
for the love of God, you will be pleased to suffer
your anger to be appeased, holding the generality of
the people of the said town of Dinant excused, and
resting satisfied with the punishment of the guilty,
inasmuch-ias the said people are bitterly grieved on account of tihe said injurious words, and have, as before
stated, apprehended the persons of the culprits. And,
in respect to any further offence or failure of duty
by which the people of the said town have incurred
your grace's displeasure, in making war upon the
territory of your grace's father, the most excellent,
ligh, and puissant prince, my lord the duke of Burgundy, may it now please your grace to cause hostilities fro cease, and to admit the said town to terms
of peace along with the city of Liege and the other
towns, accepting from it such offers, indemnifications,
and promises of obedience as his grace the duke of
Burgundy may be, pleased to accept from  them;
VOL. I.    50




394                  STATE OF DINANT.                    [BOOK I.
and in  so doing your grace will do well and  charitably, and your said poor and humble petitioners
will ever pray to God for you and for your most
noble lineage."42
These entreaties, piteous and even abject in their
tone, were received  only with a cold and disdainful
silence.  The intercessions of the  abbots and  other
friendly envoys, who had followed the movements of
the army, and attended the morning and evening receptions of the Burgundian leader,43 proved  equally
ineffectual. One after another they returned, bringing
with them  no word of encouragement or hope.44  The
nobles in the camp speedily wearied of a suit in
which their zeal, it is probable, had never been very
ardent or sincere, or which had perhaps been undertaken with the mere object of extorting money; and
some of them were even base enough to make prisoners of the agents sent to them by the town, despoiling them of their property and exacting a pledge
of ransom  before their release.45
In its extremity, Dinant turned a beseeching
glance upon the ally by whom it had already been
42 Gachard, Doc. Indd., tom. ii.  45 c "Non obstant que, par noz letpp. 254, 255.                    tres precedentez, voz avons escript
43 ", En alant a couchier et lever que Jehan de Meurse, seigneur de
dudit tres excellent prince, icelle so- Harse, les avoit fait tres grant avancelicitant."  Ibid., p. 253.       ment et plaisir, entendons presente44," Retournont messire l'abbe de  ment audit Haroy que lui misme,
Florine, sez famillez et Haroy, les- avec autres, lez a prins prisonnier,
quelx n'ont rien besoinginiet." "No- hostant au pater et audit Haroy leurs
ble et honnoure damoisiau Loys de  chevaulx, et avec ce est ledit pater
la Marche, habandonnant... de la- ranchonne a ung mare d'argent."
bourer envers monseigneur de Cha- Lettre des Dinantais a leurs depute's
rolois," &c. Ibid., pp. 263, 268.    a Liege.




CHAP. VIII.]   STATE OF DINANT.             395
deserted and deceived. An embassy was sent to the
French monarch, to remind him that the war had
been undertaken at his solicitation and in full reliance on his royal word that he would make no separate treaty with the common enemy. Subsequently
he had by his own letters and by the declarations of
his messengers informed the people of Dinant that
they were embraced in the treaty which he had found
it necessary to conclude; and he had required them
to abstain from further acts of hostility. This course
they had hastened to adopt; and, notwithstanding
the provocations they had since received, they had
scrupulously adhered to it. They had also offered
reparation for whatever offences they had committed
against the duke of Burgundy and his son. But, far
from having effected an arrangement upon this basis,
they had not even been able to obtain a safe-conduct
for the representatives to whom they had intrusted the negotiation. On the contrary, they had received intelligence, confirmed daily by fresh reports,
that their town would in a short time be assailed by
an irresistible force. Since, then, after God, his "royal
majesty" was their only hope and refuge, they most
earnestly besought him, in consideration of the ancient friendship and singular affection which, from a
time beyond the memory of man, they had always
shown for the crown of France, - or even from mere
ckarity and pity- to interest himself in their behalf
so that the princes of Burgundy might be induced,
out of regard and respect for his most noble person,
to pardon the injuries they had received, or at least




396                 STATE OF DINANT.                 [BOOK I.
to accept the proffered amends as the conditions of
peace.46
It does not appear that Louis took the least notice
of this appeal —that he either replied to it or acted
upon it. In fact, any intervention of the kind suggested would, at the moment, have been extremely
inconvenient. The sacrifice of Liege and of Dinant
was the price he must pay for the recovery of Normandy.  In a military point of view  it served the
purpose of a diversion, keeping the strongest and
most resolute of his enemies at a distance, and placing
the weakest and least capable at his mercy.   In
the way of diplomacy, what plea could he advance
against the proceedings of his cousin of Charolais
that would not be retorted with tenfold force against
his own?   Moreover, his hands were in a manner
tied by his newly formed alliance with the duke of
Bourbon. It was the brother of this prince, the bishop
of Liege, whose cause the house of Burgundy was
supporting against his rebellious subjects.
The only hope now left was that the other towns
would remain true, refusing to accept a treaty from
which Dinant was excluded. Assurances to this effect
were daily received.47   When, therefore, rumor, anticipating the fact, asserted that a treaty of this kind
46 Gachard, ]Doc. Indd., tom. ii. found in the peculiar complications
pp. 280-282..                then existing. Under the pressure
47 These assurances were contin- of necessity the people of the capiued after the treaty had been actu- tal had consented to the treaty, and
ally ratified at Liege. (Gachard, Doc. its action was apparently controlled
Inded., tom. ii. pp. 313, 318, et al.) by the moderate party. But the govThe explanation of this fact is to be ernment elected at an earlier period,




CHAP. VIII.]         STATE OF DINANT.                      397
had actually been signed, the despair and rage of the
people broke forth with irrepressible violence. The
prisons were forced, and the persons whose folly had
brought such heavy calamities on the town were
again liberated.  Yet, after this first burst of desperation, the magistrates, whose conduct throughout a
long period of trials and perplexities claims our admiration, once more succeeded in restoring order and in
recalling their fellow-townsmen to that prudent line
of conduct in which lay their only chance of redemption.48 The difficulties, however, of their situation were
becoming, daily more complicated. The town was
filled with strangers. The c' Companions of the Green
Tent" and other proscribed exiles, rightly discerning
in the reestablishment of the episcopal authority under the avowed protection of the house of Burgundy
their own sentence of extermination, now  flocked to
Dinant,49 which, from  the circumstance  of its equal
peril, had become the asylum, of these outcasts, and
was still further compromised by their presence.
At the last moment, when the count of Charolais
was on the point of quitting the principality, he
deigned to cast an eye upon the kneeling suppliand composed of the heads, or, more the very day on which the treaty was
properly, of the tools of the revolu- signed by the count of Charolais, a
tionary faction, were still in office. popular assembly was held at Li6ge,
Their signatures had been affixed to  and a resolve passed to make comthe "Piteous Peace," but they had  mon cause with Dinant. (Ibid., p.
no intention of executing its condi- 323.)
tions. It was only necessary to re-   48 Gachard, Doe. Indd., tom. ii.
mind the people that their confeder- pp. 283, 284.
ates had been deserted or betrayed   49 Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco, Amto reawaken the spirit of resistance. pliss. Col., tom. iv. p. 1292.
Accordingly, on the 21st of January,




398                   STATE OF DINANT.                     [Boox I.
cants at his feet.  He granted Dinant a truce of eight
days, afterwards extended to May, 1466; and in the
interval it was presented with the project of a treaty
specifying the conditions on which it might expect
mercy. This fact, unnoticed by any contemporary historian, is established beyond a doubt by several documents in the series to which allusion has been already
made. Unfortunately, we are left in complete ignorance  as to  the  nature  of the  requisitions.   They
are described in  a letter of the magistrates as cc excessively stringent, and indeed almost impossible to
execute."50   Compliance with them  was regarded  by
the people as involving c" perpetual servitude." Such
expressions do not seem  applicable to the imposition
of a fine, however large, or to  a demand for the surrender of the persons most obnoxious to the house
of Burgundy - suggested by some writers as the
probable  grounds  on  which  the  treaty  was rejected.5'   Doubtless  it  contained  stipulations  on  both
these points; but Dinant, as we have seen, had itself
offered to leave to the Burgundian princes the pun50 Lettre des Dinantais'a Louis  mais elle-meme, son plus precieux
XI., Gachard, Doc. Inhd., tom. ii. droit, son ep6e de justice?P " (Hist.
p. 337.                            de France, tom. vi. p. 202.)  But
5' Gachard, Doe. Ined., tom. ii. nothing can be more explicit than
p. 337, note. - Borgnet, Sac de Di- the offer of the municipal governnant, p. 20. - Michelet, while adopt- ment - comprising members chosen
ing the conjecture of Gachard, per- from each of the three classes that
ceives, nevertheless, that the ques- formed the community — to deliver
tion was debated as one in which  up the offenders: " Trouvons'i conthe communal liberties were con-  seil d'envoier envers lesdis princes
cerned.  "Justice devait se faire. eulx notifiant et habandonncnt desMais pouvait-elle se faire par un  dis delinquans faire telle pugnicion
souverain ttranger, a qui la ville efit que leur plaira."
livre, non les prisonniers seulement,




CHAP. VIII.]   STATE OF DINANT.             399
ishment of their defamers; and the payment of an
enormous sum by way of indemnification had formed
one of the conditions of the "1 Piteous Peace," which
Liege had accepted, and to which Dinant would most
gladly have been a party.  To us it seems more
probable that the rulers of the Netherlands, following their invariable practice in the treatment of
their own rebellious towns, demanded the surrender of the municipal charters of Dinant, and such
a modification of its privileges as should deprive
the mass of the inhabitants of any voice in the government.  It appears that the wealthier classes —
the bourgeois and the great guild —were willing to
accept the treaty, while it was strenuously opposed
by the inferior guilds. The case would probably
have been reversed had the levy of a fine - in other
words, an augmentation of the taxes  given occasion for the disagreement; whereas, if we suppose
the extinction of the democratic element in the political system to have been the penalty imposed, it was
perfectly natural that the resistance should have been
confined to the lower classes, on whom alone a penalty of this nature would have fallen, while it is difficult to conceive how a penalty of any other nature
should have fallen on them alone. The Burgundian
princes had been entreated to content themselves
with the punishment of the guilty; it was by the
lower orders, or by a portion of them, that the offence
had been committed; and it is at least certain that
they were the chief, if not the exclusive, objects of
the intended chastisement. For we find their fellow



400                     STATE OF DINANT.                       [BOOK I.
[Apr. 22, townsmen,  in  the   discussions  which   took
1466.]  place, deprecating  the  idea  that they  were
influenced, in their support of the treaty, by any
advantages which they might themselves expect to
derive from it. They do not deny the sacrifice which
it entails. But is it not better, they ask, to submit to
a partial and definite sacrifice than to incur the hazard
of total destruction? If a ship be in danger of wreck,
shall we not throw over the cargo? If a house be on
fire, shall we not destroy a part to save the remainder?
What oppression can be worse than the continuance
of a hopeless struggle?   By what other means is it
possible to evade the impending calamities?  How  is
Dinant to resist a power to which Liege  has submitted -to which the king of France himself has been
obliged to succumb? If it be contended that one
portion of the people ought not to aid in reducing
the others to subjection, still less ought any portion
to insist upon bringing absolute ruin upon a11.52
52 Lettre de la bourgeoisie et du  tion with other facts, renders it exmedtier des batteurs de Dinant, tou-  tremely doubtful whether any regular
chant le dissentiment existant entre  government was maintained in Dieux et les neuf bons metiers, Ga-  nant during the last few months of
chard, Doc. Indd., tom. ii. pp. 363-  its existence.  "Nous faisons grans
369.                                doubtes que lne puissons estre mais-' Cette lettre," remarks the editor, tres du grant nombre d'estraingiers
"est la derniere piece contenue dans  qui sont icy soubz umbre d'estre enle registre de Dinant. I1 est fdcheux  voyds de par la citd pour la garde de
que l'on n'ait point les actes postdri-  la ville, dont entendons que les plueurs, jusqu'a la destruction de la  seurs sont expulses et bannis tant
ville." But an extract which he pro-  de ladite citd, comme bonne ville de
ceeds to cite from an earlier letter  THuy, pour leurs demerittes, et ne
suggests a reason for his having sont pas envoyds par election, non
failed to discover any later docu- obstant que soient ausi grant nomments of the kind, and, in connec-  bre ou plus que les esleus."




CHAP. VIII.]           STATE OF DINANT.                        401
But, whatever were the terms on which grace was
offered, neither these arguments in their favor, nor
the will of the majority of the  citizens, to which  on
ordinary  occasions that of the  minority  must have
yielded, were sufficient, in the present crisis, to secure their acceptance. The outlawed bands who had
made Dinant their head-quarters incited the populace
to continued  resistance and to fresh outbreaks.   The
authority of the magistrates was completely set aside.
In the capital the revolutionary party had long since
recovered its ascendancy. As soon as the Burgundian
army had taken its departure the demagogues crept
front their hiding-places, again assembled their myrmidons around them, and, with baseness and cruelty
characteristic of coward minds, impeached and put
to death the persons by whom the treaty had been
negotiated, on the false and idle pretext that they
had  exceeded their instructions.53
The  towns  now  entered  into  a  new  alliance  for
mutual defence; s and, in spite of their past expe53 Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco, Am-  looking the square, was seen to smile,
pliss. Col., tom. iv. p. 1285, et al. -   and one of the burgomasters calling
Johannes de Los, p. 36.- Polain,  out that "the city did not sell its libHist. de Li6ge, tom. ii. p. 304, et erties," the victim perceived the fruitseq. - On the scaffold Gilles de Metz  lessness of his prayers, and submitinvoked the compassion of the peo- ted to the stroke.
ple, reminding them of his long ser-  -54 De Ram, Analecta Leodiensia,
vices and gray hairs, offering to re- p. 557, et seq. - The instrument retire to a monastery, to give up  capitulates the sentence passed on
his property, &c. His appeal was  Gilles de Metz and his associates,
seconded by the avoue, (an officer which is chiefly based on their acwhose duties somewhat resembled  ceptance of a treaty excluding Dithose of a sheriff;) but Raes de  nant. Yet that treaty had been ratHeers, who sat at a window ever-  ified by the solemn vote of Lidge.
VOL. I.        51




402            STATE OF DINANT.          [BOOK I.
rience, they confidently imagined that they should
receive support and assistance from the French king.
Louis might well, in fact, have been expected to
strike a blow on their behalf  Normandy had been
regained; a great army was assembled on the frontiers. But, having thus achieved a triumph and
secured his new position, he could not bring himself to plunge at once into fresh perils for the mere
sake of his allies. The effect, indeed, of the measures by which he had retrieved his own safety,
was to increase the certainty of their ruin. By the
seizure of Normandy he had excited to its highest
pitch the wrath of the count of Charolais; and by
the precautions which he had taken he had averted
from his own head the consequences of that wrath.
So much the heavier would it fall upon his allies.
Retiring from the Somme, where he had found
himself confronted by a foe who was unassailable,
the Burgundian prince turned his arms against one
who was all but defenceless- vowing so to consummate his vengeance that it should be no longer said,
on the borders of the Meuse, 1" There is Dinant," but
" There Dinant was! "




CHAPTER IX.
FATE OF DINANT. - SUBMISSION OF LIEGE. - DEATH OF PHILIP
THE GOOD.
1466, 1467.
CHANGE was impending over the vassals of the
house of Burgundy; its approaches were visible,
its influence was already felt. A long period of
tranquillity, interrupted only by civic mutiny or
the excitement of a border raid, had reached its
close. Twice in a single year had the nobles been
summoned to the field; and now, after an interval
of a few months, they were again commanded, under
pain of death and confiscation, to assemble in arms
with their servants and retainers. A new spirit, a
stern and martial spirit, impatient of festive ease and
idle shows, had taken possession of the government
and begun to direct its policy. Adieu the halcyon
days of peace and pomp, of idleness and luxury, that
had given to the sovereign under whom they had
been enjoyed the title of " the Good!"
Philip's reign, which had now lasted forty-seven
(403)




404              FATE OF DINANT.           [BOOK I.
years, was drawing to its end. It was a reign regarded by his subjects as full of glory. Among the
princes of his time none had occupied so conspicuous
an eminence as the "; Great Duke of the Occident."
Golden pens had celebrated his power and his magnificence, his triumphs over the proud, his generosity
to the vanquished. Touched with pity for distracted
France, he had listened to her supplications, and
sheathed his victorious sword. He had paid the ransom of the duke of Orleans, the son of his father's
enemy, rescued him from his captivity in England,
and lavished on him marks of favor and distinction.
He had given shelter to the exiled son of France,
nourished him in his indigence, and led him to the
throne. He had added nine provinces to his inherited
dominions. His fleets had traversed the Mediterranean, spreading fear among the enemies of Christendom. He had heaped together a priceless treasure,
yet no prince had been so profuse in gifts or expenditure. Thrice he had refused the office of emperor,
and more than once the title of king. He had restored the fading splendors of chivalry, and had
founded an order of knighthood which was an object
of aspiration to the proudest nobles of every land.
His person and character had been in harmony with
his position, had fitted him for the first part in dazzling and imposing scenes - at the banquet, in the
tourney, and on the dais of the hell of state.'
But all this belonged to the past. Philip no longer' See the enumeration of his "glories" in the Eloge of Chastellain.




CHAP. IX.]      FATE OF DINANT.            405
appeared before the eyes of his subjects as the living
personification of the princely character; the world
no longer moved by the direction of his imperious
will. Enfeebled in body and mind by successive
attacks of apoplexy, he had gradually become incapable of exercising the real functions of sovereignty,
though he still retained the semblance of authority,
and was still at times roused from the sluggishness of
disease into one of those vehement bursts of passion
to which he had ever been subject in even a greater
degree than the other princes of his line.
Sitting, one day, at dinner, in the beginning of
July, 1466, he was displeased that a favorite dish had
not been set before him. Ordering the comptrollers
of his household to be summoned, he inquired the
cause of this omission, and was told, in reply, that it
was in accordance with directions given by his physicians. Turning to some noblemen who were present,
he asked whether the troops had assembled that had
been levied for the expedition against Dinant. The
answer was that as yet there were no signs of warlike
preparation; that, during the last campaign, the menat-arms had received only a part of their pay, and
that many of the nobles were too much impoverished
to furnish the equipments necessary for their followers.
"And why have these not been supplied?" demanded
the duke. "I have given orders on my treasury for
the requisite sums. Are my commands no longer
obeyed? Am I tihen, foryotlen?" Rising, as his anger
reached its climax, he overthrew the table, with the
service that had provoked his discontent, and seemed




406             FATE OF DINANT.            [BOOK I.
about to seek some fresh object on which to vent his
wrath. But the next moment he fell senseless on
the floor, his limbs paralyzed, his features distorted.
The efforts made for his restoration were, however,
successful; and, after a short confinement, he again
left his chamber.2
From  this near interview with Death he came
back to the world, his faculties still further shattered,
but one recollection, one purpose, engraven more
deeply than ever on his mind. The crimes of Dinant
were still unpunished; an unforgiven, inexpiable insult was to be wiped out before the expiration of the
brief term  for which his lease of life had been extended. He resolved to be present in person at the
execution of this act -the last in which his name
was to figure before the world. Before setting out
he caused the papal bull by which sentence of excommunication had been issued against the people
of Liege, and in which he himself was invited to aid
in reducing them to submission, to be affixed to the
gates of the principal towns. With this sanction on
his enterprise, what earthly power would dare to
interpose and prevent its accomplishment?
Philip performed the journey in a litter drawn by
horses. On the 14th of August he arrived at Namur,
which, from the convenience of its position, had been
appointed as the place where the army was to muster.
All the chiefs who had served in the previous campaign again made their appearance, having forgotten
their grievances on learning that their sovereign, for
2 I)Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 261.




CHAP. IX.]      FATE OF DINANT.              407
whom their loyal affection was unbounded, was to
take the field in person. Even Saint-Pol, whose relations with the count of Charolais had begun to
assume a dubious aspect, and who, as constable of
France, should have been in attendance on the king
while the latter was himself engaged in military operations, did not deem it proper to plead this excuse
on an occasion that so closely concerned the honor
of the prince who was the first and the nearest object
of his allegiance.
The count of Charolais having assumed the command, the army began its march. Crossing the Meuse
at Namur, it continued its course up the right bank
of the stream, the side on which lay the object of its
destination. In the mean time, Philip, attended only
by a small escort, pursued his journey along the opposite shore until he reached Bouvignes, a station
from which he could command an ample view of the
intended operations.3
Dinant lay before him. Its streets, still alive with
the bustle of an industrious people, were fully exposed to his gaze; the very clang of its ponderous
hammers, wielded by stalwart arms, fell loud upon
his ear; the smoke from  hundreds of hearths
hearths where women, anxious, trembling, it might
be, were still occupied with the cares that belong to every day of human existence, however
sad, however awful — curled'upwards in his sight
towards the overshadowing cliff, towards the overarching heaven.  Thither doubtless, too, unseen,
3 Duclercq, tom. iv. pp. 266-268. - Haynin, tom. i. pp. 66, 67.




408             FATE OF DINANT.           [BooIK I.
unheard by him, rose the tearful gaze of many eyes,
the forlorn prayer of many hearts - hearts that had
proved the falsity of human faith, eyes that were no
longer strained in the vain expectation of human
succor.
But the aspect of the place awakened no sentiment
of pity in Philip's breast. In his eyes it was a nest
of rebels and fanatics, who had braved his power, outraged his person, and slighted his proffered grace.
His dignity, his authority, his honor were to be asserted and vindicated. His career had opened in
vengeance; in vengeance it was to close.
In fact, those among the people of Dinant —and
doubtless they were the larger number of its ordinary
residents -who were fully awake to their peril, and
who would have chosen to throw themselves upon the
mercy of so powerful an enemy rather than provoke
him still further by a useless resistance, no longer
dared to make an open avowal of their wishes. The
outlaws, themselves an army, well provided with
weapons, accustomed to live by violence, and regularly organized in bands under different leaders, had
taken complete possession of the town, and, supported by the lower orders of the populace, established
a government of terror like that which again reigned
in the capital. By vain-confident boasts, by acts of
desperate atrocity, they silenced the murmurs of dissent within the walls, and imagined that by the same
means they could intimidate the enemy withoutk
Several of the chief citizens, who had counselled submission to the demands of the enemy, were publicly




CHAP. IX.]         FATE OF DINANT.                  409
executed. Priests, for refusing to say mass, were
thrown into the river. Bouvignes, alarmed at the
prospect of being occupied by the besieging army,
living at free quarters among the inhabitants, is said
to have proffered its mediation. But its messenger
was instantly put to death; and a child, whose tender
years and innocent looks were thought to ensure him
against harm, being made the bearer of a second
letter of the like purport, was, if the frightful tale be
true, torn limb from limb by the frenzied rabble.4
Had the real courage of these desperadoes been in
any degree proportioned to their violence and cruelty, it seems as if Dinant should at least have been
capable of a stout and protracted defence. The art
of siege was still in its infancy. It was not uncommon even for a small town to baffle all the efforts of
a numerous and well-appointed army; and more than
one instance of the kind will occur in the course of
our narrative. Dinant was regarded as a place of
extraordinary strength.5 According to the tradition,
it had been many times assaulted, but was still a
virgin fortress. On one side ran a deep and rapid
river; on the other it was protected by a wall nine
feet thick, flanked by eighty towers. But its selfconstituted garrison trusted much less to their own
exertions, or even to the strength of the defences,
than to the assistance which had been promised from
4 Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 273.  datum, et hine Mosa fluvio, illinc
5 " Oppidum munitissimum, ac- vero excelsis rupibus forti obsidione
cessu difficile, aspectu inexpugnabile; vallatum." Henricus de Merica, De
vastissimis moenibus in gyro cii'cum- Ram, p. 159.
VOL. I.     52




410               FATE OF DINANT.             [BOOK I.
abroad, or which, in default of promises, they still
chose to expect.  The king of France would himself
march to their relief. Liege was about to send out
an army of forty thousand men to raise the siege.
Vaunts and illusions like these seem to have taken
the place of any serious preparations for resistance.
On the morning of the 17th the advanced guard
of the Burgundians made its appearance before Dinant, and, after some skirmishing, drove in a party
that had sallied out to contest the ground. The main
body followed as rapidly as the transport of the artillery, which was unusually strong, would allow. The
long train of wagons, extending over several leagues
of road, was escorted by the heavy-armed cavalry
in two wings, while the archers, as usual, were in
the van.  The whole force  amounted in number
to thirty thousand men. Various banners were displayed amongst the feudal bands that constituted
this formidable host; but conspicuous among them
all was the sable standard of the count of Charolais
with its gold-embroidered effigy of Saint George in
the act of transfixing the dragon.6
The investment, so far as was considered necessary, was completed without delay. The faubourgs,
including several strong outworks, were stormed,
with little loss on the part of the assailants.'  The
greater portion of the army was kept in reserve, to
give battle to the people of Liege, who, according
6 Duclercq, tom. iv. pp. 268-270. aux magistrats de Malines, Gachard,
- Haynin, tom. i. p. 68.  Doc. Ined., tom. ii. p. 374.- Hay7 Lettre du comte de Charolais nin, tom. i. p. 69.




CHAP. IX.]          FATE OF DINANT.                  411
to rumor, were already on the march; but the celerity with which the siege was opened showed the
determination of the Burgundian prince to lose no
chance of bringing it to a conclusion before any
succor could arrive. As the modern method of approaching fortified places by means of trenched zigzags and parallels had  not come  into  use, it was
customary for the assailants to take advantage of the
obscurity of night in establishing their batteries. But,
on the present occasion, this precaution was disregarded by the officer in command of the artillery -
Peter von iHagenbach, an Alsatian noble and a soldier of fortune, whose vigor and resolution strongly
recommnended  him  to  the favor of a commander
personally so distinguished for these qualities, and
obtained for him ultimately a place in Charles's
confidence productive of fatal consequences to both.
Ordering the field-pieces to be advanced as close as
possible to the walls, Hagenbach, under cover of
their fire, brought up the L"bombards," as the siege
ordnance were called, leading the foremost horse with
his own hand, and succeeded in getting them into
position in broad daylight.8
This operation having been completed, the usual
summons was delivered on the same after- [Tuesday,
noon. It was received by the besieged, or Aug. 19.]
8 " II avoit afustd sa menue artil- n'osoyent mettre la teste hors des
lerie, dont il avoit grand plante, de- portes ne des murailles, et ainsy apvant les portes et la muraille de Di- procha ses bombardes et mena le
nand, et quand il approcha a tout premier cheval par la bride." Lases bombardes, le trait h pouldre marche, tom. ii. p. 257.
voloit si dru, que ceux de la ville




412               FATE OF DINANT.             [BOOK I.
by that portion of them  to whose insane direction
the miserable town was now abandoned, with shouts
of derision. Crowding the walls, they hurled defiance
and every species of insult at such parties of the
enemy as were stationed near the gates. "Is your
old puppet of a duke," they cried, "weary of his life,
that you have brought him here to die a villain's
death? Your Count Charlolel is but a green fledgling.
Bid him go and fight with the king of France at
Montllh6ry.  If he wait here till the noble Louis
comes, or the people of Liege, he will be forced to
decamp right villanously." 9
These taunts and empty boasts were answered by
the roar of the artillery, which now opened from different quarters, from the heights that overlooked the
town and from convenient positions in the faubourgs.
Never had so heavy and so effective a cannonade been
directed against a fortified place.  Except for a brief
interval during the thickest darkness of the night,
the fire was kept up without intermission. It seemed
to the inhabitants of Dinant that their town had become a very hell.10 The houses were riddled, the
churches dismantled of their towers; more than seven
hundred persons were reported to have been killed;
and, by the end of the week, a breach sixty feet long
had been opened in the wall.
On the part of the defenders the struggle seems
9 Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 272.-'o Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 274."Plusieurs aultres villaines parolles, Ancien Chronique, Lenglet, tom. ii.
qui trop longues seroient a racomp- p. 187.
ter, disoient de jour en jour."




CHAP. IX.]            FATE OF DINANT.                       413
to  have been confined to a feeble fire from  the walls
and a few ineffectual sorties.ll Stunned by the suddenness and overwhelming force of the attack, the
self-constituted garrison abandoned all notion of resistance, and now thought only of making good their
own  retreat.   The fate of Dinant mattered  little  to
them — little when they swarmed upon it, ensuring
and accelerating its ruin; little when they deserted
it in  the hour of its greatest need, and, like  scared
birds of prey, winged their flight towards the distant
forest.l2 For these vagrants, encumbered only with
their arms and banners, escape was easy, the passage
of the river above the town being left unguarded by
the  enemy.  But those who  had  their families and
property to protect must stay and abide the issue,
ready to grasp at any chance of saving the homes
which even when despoiled would still be dear to
them, and without which even life and liberty would
cease to be precious.
Relieved of the presence of their pretended allies,
the citizens had now the power and the responsibility
n " Les Dinantois firent deux ou  of the former -in support of which,
trois petites saillies au plain de la  however, nothing further is adduced,
montaigne sans aucun effet." Hay- or can be adduced from any of the
nin, tom. i. p. 69. - And see Com- authorities.
mines, tom. i. p. 116.             12 ", Ad latrocinia fortes, ad proelia
M. Borgnet, indeed, after noticing  pavidi," is the description given of
the vigor of the besiegers, says, " La  them by Foullon, one of the native
defense n'etait pas moins vive. De)s historians of Li6ge; and M. Borgnet,
que les assi6ggs trouvaient le mo- who cites the remark, should have
ment de se faire entendre des Bour- found some better ground for disguignons, ils leur criaient des in- puting its applicability than their
jures."  The latter statement will conduct in the defence of Dinant.
hardly be accept6d as confirmation




414              FATE OF DINANT.           [BOOK I.
of deciding upon their own course of action. Already,
on the 22d, they had offered to capitulate, and requested that negotiations might be opened.  But
this proposal was answered by a brief and stern refusal; they must surrender at discretion or endure
the consequences. On Saturday the fire from the
batteries was suspended; and the count of Charolais
decided to make the assault on Sunday. Philip, however, doubting whether the breach were yet practicable, and anxious that no unnecessary risk should be
encountered, desired that it might be deferred to the
following day. On Monday, therefore, the firing was
resumed and continued for several hours. Then it
again ceased. All was still. Instead of the usual
summons by the trumpet-call, the orders of the general were passed by word of mouth from rank to
rank. The soldiers, each provided with a faggot to
throw into the ditch, made their preparations for the
attack.3
In the mean time the magistrates had convened
all the inhabitants, and called for a decision on the
only alternative presented for their choice. There
seemed little room for discussion. If the place were
stormed, the horrible result was certain. Hope whispered that, even at this hour, submission would avail
to obtain some mitigation of their doom. "The duke,"
it was said, "has ever been reputed a merciful prince;
an appeal to his compassion will not be made in vain."
A solitary voice opposed this delusive expectation.
John de Gerin, the dean of the great guild, and a
13 Duclercq, tom. iv. pp. 275, 276. - Haynin, tom. i. p. 70.




CHAP. ix.]      FATE OF DINANT.              415
former burgomaster of the town, taking in his hand
the civic standard, cried out, "I will trust to no man's
mercy. I am ready to take this standard to the
breach, and there to live or die with you; but, if you
determine to surrender, I will quit the town before
the enemy enters it." 14
Applause followed, such as men readily yield to an
heroic sentiment that has no influence upon their
own course of action. Nor, in truth, can we greatly
wonder that the citizens of Dinant should have failed
to exhibit that instinctive spirit of valor and resolve
which the present occasion ought to have called forth
-that spirit which has so often enabled a desperate people to maintain a post regarded as untenable
against a foe supposed to be irresistible. Their spirit
had been broken, and they had been utterly disorganized, in the crisis through which they had passed
-in the long and vain endeavor to escape from a
labyrinth into which they had been dragged against
their will, and to hinder or suppress the violence
which they were now condemned to expiate.
In season to avert the meditated assault the keys
of the town were carried to the count of Charolais.
As a matter of form  he declined to receive them
before communicating with his father and obtaining
his consent. Late in the evening the Bastard of
Burgundy was directed to take possession of the
conquered place with the troops under his command,
and to garrison the citadel. Orders were issued that
no violence should be offered to the persons or the
14 Adrianus de Yeteri-Bosco, Ampliss. Col., tom. iv. p. 1294.




416                    FATE OF DINANT.                     [BOOK I.
property of the inhabitants, and that they should
only be required to furnish the necessary provisions
for the men. During the first few hours these injunctions were  obeyed.   But at midnight the  soldiers, inflamed probably by wine as well as by the
prospect of a richer harvest than they might expect
to reap when  their comrades had  been  admitted  to
share it with them, could no longer be restrained by
the  bonds  of discipline.  The  work  of rapine was
commenced, and continued throughout the night.l5
It was stopped, however, on Tuesday, at noon,
when the count of Charolais made his entrance, preceded by drums and trumpets, by long files of archers
in brilliant uniforms, by heralds dressed in the quaint
garb that indicated their office, and by mounted
troopers carrying the banners on which were emblazoned the insignia of the different states subject to
the house of Burgundy. Behind came the pages of
the household, the principal nobles, and the deep
squadrons of the  men-at-arms, that constituted  the
bulk and principal strength of the army.16 The in1' "C Ceux qui y entrarent y furent d'office, qui jouaient leur r6le aux
gratieux et paisibles jusques a mi- actes les plus graves, trait6s, prises
nuict, mais apres commencerent a  de possession."  This notion is ridbattre et rompre les huys, coifres, iculed by Borgnet, who thinks it
escrins, et piller tout."  Haynin, more probable that an allusion was
tom. i. p. 70.                   intended -  "dans une intention
16 Idem, p. 71. - Adrianus de Ve- evidement desobligeante "- to the
teri-Bosco, Ampliss. Col., tom. iv. coats of arms worn by the heralds!
p. 1295. - The " mimi " spoken of  Allegorical exhibitions and performby Adrianus as taking part in the  ances -  serious, however, rather
procession are supposed by Michelet than comic - were certainly not unto have been the court jesters or pro- usual in ovations and other public
fessional buffoons -" fols et farceurs  ceremonies.




CHAP. IX.]         FATE OF DINANT.                 417
habitants, who gazed with anxiety and awe on this
imposing display of military force, —far superior to
what their information had prepared them to expect,
— saw nothing in the spectacle, or in the stern glance
and haughty bearing of the conquerors, to encourage
the faint hopes that still glimmered in their hearts.7
It is one of the prerogatives of power, when legitimate in form, however arbitrary in its character, that
it is able to clothe revenge in the solemn garb of justice. That Dinant should have surrendered at discretion, instead of being carried by assault, seemed to
afford the Burgundian princes an opportunity of accomplishing their object in so formal and deliberate a
manner as might render the example more impressive, and give to the world a convincing proof of their
greatness and authority. At a council of war held on
the morning of the 27th (Wednesday) the programme
of the intended proceedings was discussed and arranged. But the impatience of the troops would not
allow of its being carried out in all its particulars in
the order and with the formalities intended.  On the
same day, after dinner, every man, on rising from
table, laid hands on the host with whom  he was billeted, and threatened him with instant death unless
he revealed the place where his most valuable possessions were concealed.18  From that hour the town
presented the same aspect as if it had been taken by'7 4 Ceux de la ville voyantz ceste Bourgogne, laquelle ils avoient jusentree furent fort esbahys, et pen- ques lors vilipendU." Haynin, tom.
soient qu'il n'y avoit plus de gens au i. p. 71.
monde, et commencerent aupremes  18 Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco, Amk cognoistre la puissance du due de pliss. Col., tom. iv. p. 1295.
VOL. I.    53




418                 FATE OF DINANT.                  [BOOK I.
storm.  During three days the sack was carried on
with a systematic thoroughness that might have done
credit to the  eorcheurs of an earlier period.  Every
house, every apartment, in regular turn, was visited
and ransacked.  Even the roofs were invaded, and
stripped of the lead then commonly used as a covering for the better class of buildings. The streets
were filled with horses and with vehicles of every
description engaged in carrying away the booty to
places of security beyond the walls. The river was
covered with boats and small vessels employed in a
similar manner.19   Often what had been taken from
the enemy became an object of contention with the
captors.  Some were slain in defending their prizes,
others in attempting to despoil their more fortunate
comrades. Several of the nobles, gifted, it would seem,
with a peculiar instinct for operations of this kind,
instead of joining in the general rapine, stationed
themselves, with  their retainers, near the  breach,
and, whenever a party inferior in strength sought
egress with their plunder, ravished it from them and
drove them  empty-handed from  the spot.20
Amidst these scenes of tumult and disorder, the
Burgundian commander still retained, to a remarkable extent, that control over his men which had been
19 " Le mardy, le mercredy et le de la ville, et hommes a pieds et a
jeudy on ne feit que butiner, et es- cheval chargirs de biens, car il y avoit
toit toute la riviere de Meuse pleine tant de biens, et se y avoit tant de
de basteaux pleins de biens que on vivres que merveilles, et disoit on
vuidoit de la ville, et sy ne veit on  qu'ils estoient garnis de vivres pour
touts les jours que chars, charettes, trois ans." Duclereq, tom. iv. p. 27.
chevaulx, tonneaulx, brouettes, char-  20 Idem, loc. cit.
gieis de biens qu'on emportoit hors




CHAP. IX.]         FATE OF DINANT.                 419
acquired by the exercise of a rigorous and invariable
discipline.  He issued a proclamation that any outrages to women -a species of crime which he seems
ever to have held in peculiar abhorrence -would be
punished with death, whatever might be the rank of
the offenders. To enforce obedience in this particular, he stationed sentinels at every door; and, being
informed that three archers of his own guard were
dragging away the wife of a citizen towards the cliffs,
he caused them  to be arrested, led thrice through
the principal streets, and then gibbeted in a conspicuous situation.2'
But, while he showed himself thus solicitous and
vigilant in preserving the women of Dinant from dishonor, Charles was exacting vengeance for the infamies
cast upon his own name and his mother's reputation,
in a spirit of remorseless cruelty characteristic indeed
of the age, but preeminently characteristic of himself.
It is not at all certain - it is even highly improbable
-that, among the persons who suffered, any considerable number had joined in the perpetration of the
excesses that furnished the apology- such as it was
— for these terrible reprisals. Those who were conscious of having merited or provoked castigation had
doubtless been the first to avail themselves of the
opportunity for escape.22 But, besides some of the
women of the place who were compelled to give evi21 Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 258.-  ou non nobles, qu'il les feroit mouBasin, tom. ii. p. 171.- Duclercq, rir."
tom. iv. p. 278. — " Car le comte  22," Luebant innoxii, obnoxii
aussi avoit jure, que touts ceulx qui evadebant." Henricus de Merica,
violeroient femmes, fuissent nobles De Ram, p. 159.




420                FATE OF DINANT.                 [BOOK I.
dence, the people of Bouvignes were called to testify
against their hereditary foes, and did not apparently
show themselves too nice in the detection and identification of the guilty. How many victims composed
the holocaust offered to the offended honor of the
house of Burgundy cannot be stated with precision.
But we have the assertion of an impartial eye-witness
-whose recollection alone can have been at fault, if
he has fallen into an exaggeration - that eight hundred men were bound hand and foot, tied together
in pairs, and thrown into the Meuse.23  This was no
uncommon mode of punishment, and may have been
selected in this instance, and executed on this extraordinary scale, in order that the duke, who had
been dissuaded from making his personal appearance
on a scene where his presence would have been construed as a token of intended grace, 24might not want
the gratification of beholding a tragedy of which he
was regarded as the author.  Besides these unfortunates, some were hanged by the orders of the general,
and others butchered in wanton fury by the soldiery.25
Yet the temper of the commander, though stern and
unpitying, did not lead him  to sanction indiscriminate massacre; and, as no resistance seems to have
been attempted by the inhabitants, the slaughter was
23 Commines, tom. i. p. 117.-  these personal enemies of Dinant
He adds that it was done "a la pandered to the revengeful appetite
grande requeste de ceulx dudict Bou- of its conquerors.
vynes "- an expression not perhaps   24 44 11 lui fust conseillie de non y
to be taken literally, but calculated entrer puisque sa vollonte estoit de la
to strengthen the impression left by destruire." Duclereq, tom. iv. p. 277.
the statements of other writers in  25 Henricus de Merica, De Ram,
regard to the eagerness with which p. 159.




CHAP. IX.]             FATE OF DINANT.                          421
probably not so great as often accompanied  the  sack
of a captured city.26
At every  stci   in  these transactions, indeed, the
count of Charolais showed an inclination to draw  the
line between the blindcl fury common on such occasions
and what he himself considered  as strict retribution.
By the usages of war the inhabitants of Dinant were
all captives. Their persons, as well as their property,
were placed  at the absolute  disposal of the victors.27
26 M. Borgnet rejects as improba-  appropriateness. Relating a massable the statement of Commines, that cre on an occasion very similar to
800  persons were put to death. the present, he says, "On y tua
Commines, he remarks, " wrote with plusieurs personnes que hommes que
the avowed intention of exalting  femmes, jeusnes et vieulx, et les ay'
Louis XI. at the expense of his im-  ouy nombrer jusques a ptlus de
petuous rival," and cannot therefore  mille."  (Haynin, tom. i. p. 142.)
be considered as a trustworthy guide; Here we find exactly the same exand he also endeavors to show that pression  employed  by the  same
the statement in question is notmere-  writer to indicate a total much greatly unsupported by, but at variance  er than that of Commines.  Such
with, the accounts given by other  being the case, we are ready to conwriters. He adduces, in proof of  cur with the remark of M. Borgnet,
this, an  expression employed by  that "the account given by Duclercq
Haynin, who, after telling that a few  does not differ from that of Haynin."
individuals, " chiefs of the rebellion,"  It is contained in these words: " Ces
were hanged, adds, " Plusieurs aul- jours durant on prist plusieurs ferntres complices furent noyez en Mose, mes pour sqavoir qui estoient les
les mains et les pieds liez " -a  mauvais, et ceulx qui avoient dit les
phrase considered by M. Borgnet as  blasphemes du duc et son fils, les"far from indicating so high a figure  quelles en accuserent plusieurs, sy
as that of Commines." We venture, feirent ceulx de Bonnynes, en accuhowever, to dissent from the inter-  serent aulcuns, lesquels feurent prins
pretation here given of the word  et jettds deux loyds ensemble en la
"plusieurs," which, in the chronicles  riviere et noyes; et sy feit le comte
of the fifteenth century, will always  pendre le bombardier de Dynant sur
be found to retain its primitive force, la montagne desseure l'eglise. Toutts
and should therefore be translated  aussy que on polvoit sqavoir qu'ils
" many," (plures,) not " several."  avoient este'cause de la guerrefeurent
A single instance, friom Haynin him- jett's en la riviere."
self, may be cited for its remarkable   27 Of the coolness with which




422                    FATE OF DINANT.                      [BOOK I.
Those whose lives were  spared were to be regarded
as a legitimate portion of the spoils. For every man
a ransom  would be fixed, the price which he must pay
for the recovery of his freedom. If unable to discharge it or to furnish security for its payment, he
might, if such  were  the  pleasure  of his captor, be
sold  into  slavery.    But from   these  penalties  the
women and children, and members of the  ecclesiastical profession, were exempted. They were ordered
to quit the  town without delay.   They were  forbidden to  take with them  any effects which they might
perchance  have rescued from  the  general pillage;28
but an escort was provided  to conduct them   on. the
road to Liege.   Thither they would  carry the report
of what had befallen Dinant — admonitory of what
Liege might expect unless it hastened to comply with
the requisitions of its enemy.
It was on the morning of Thursday the 28th that
proclamation was made to this effect, and the mournful exodus took  place on  the same afternoon.   The
trumpets  sounded  the  fatal signal; the  gates were
these unfortunate captives -neither  s'il les r'eut." Haynin, tom. i. p. 72.
pagans nor negroes — were treated    28 The count of Charolais made
and spoken of as mere chattels, an exception in favor of his own
things that might be sold, given  hostess, the wife of a very wealthy
away, stolen and reclaimed, the fol- citizen.'" Donna conge a son hoslowing passage may serve as an ex- tesse d'emporter avec elle tout ce
ample. " Mondict sieur de Charro- qu'elle puys d'argent, accoustrementz
lois avoit donn6 a monsieur de Fi-  et aultres bagues quelconques. Sur
ennes Henri de Huy, [one of the  quel cong6 elle fist oster quelques
richest citizens of Dinant,] son hoste, pierres du pav6 de l'escalier de sa
son fils et l'hostel avec les biens y  maison devant l'estable des chevaux,
estants, mais ledict Henry de Huy  et y tira hors trois ou quatre sachetz
et son fils luy furent destournez par pleins d'or, et les porta et fit porter
autres, et mis hors la voye; ne sqay  avec elle."  Haynin, tom. i. p. 72.




CHAP. Ix.]         FATE OF DINANT.                 423
thrown wide. No more heart-rending scene of human
suffering was ever witnessed; and even the most coldblooded of the spectators gazed upon the spectacle
with pallid countenances. As the despairing, helpless
multitude went forth,-  expelled from  their homes,
cast destitute upon the world, torn from their friends,
their protectors, their beloved, with the full certainty
that they were never to meet again, with as complete
uncertainty of what was to befall those whom they
left behind, — there burst from  them Cc two or three
cries" so piteous and terrible that all who heard the
dismal sounds were thrilled with a sudden horror.29
The next step in this work of ruin was precipitated,
whether through accident or by some wanton act of
mischief is uncertain. On the same night a fire
broke out in the lodgings of the Sire de Ravenstein.
When first discovered, it might without much difficulty  have been  extinguished.  But the soldiers,
roused from their drunken slumbers, gazed at it with
stupid curiosity, doubtful whether to attribute it to
the orders of their commander or to a special manifestation of that divine wrath which they supposed
to have been long brooding over the guilty town.
The doom  of Dinant had indeed been pronounced,
but not with the intention to carry it into effect
while the place was filled with troops, the fate of
the prisoners still undecided, the booty not entirely
29 " Lesquels femmes, petits en- qui le oyrent eurent piti6 et horreur."
fants et gens d'eglise, a l'issir hors Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 279. - And see
la ville, jetterent deux ou trois crys Haynin, tom. i. p. 72.
sy terribles et piteux, que touts ceulx




424                FATE OF DINANT.              [BOox I.
secured, and the images and sacred relics, which it
would have been prodigal as well as impious to destroy, yet unremoved from the churches. On reaching the spot Charles gave directions for arresting the
progress of the flames. But this order came too late.
The soldiers worked with little zeal, or confined their
efforts to the preservation of the spoils. The l6tel
de Ville, where the powder had been stored, blew up,
spreading the devastation far and wide.  The principal church, that of Notre Dame, was next attacked.
A number of prisoners, the persons of chief consideration in the town, who had been placed for safe keeping in the massive tower of the edifice, were burned
to death; but the bones of Saint Perpete, and other
relics, esteemed apparently more precious than the
living inmates, were rescued through the personal
exertions of the general and at the imminent risk
of his life.
In a few hours the conflagration had become general. There was no longer any question of disputing
its march; the only thought was of escaping from
this place of doom. The furious element pursued
the terror-stricken fugitives " as if with talons," and
many who had staid to load themselves with their
ill-gotten gain sank down scorched or suffocated.30
Among the victims were a party of the townspeople,
who, when the place was first occupied, had taken
30," On y cryoit le meurdre, que sus Christ, car le feu suivoit les gens
c'estoit la plus grande cruautW et es- aulx talonts de touts costes." Dubahissement que on veit oneques puis clercq, tom. iv. p. 281.
la vangeance de nostre Seigneur Je



CHAP. Ix.]        FATE OF DINANT.               425
refuge in the towers of the fortifications, and, refusing
every summons to surrender, had determined, but
vainly as it proved, to have life for life in the struggle they anticipated.
The complete destruction of the place was now
inevitable.  But the pride of the conquerors was
galled by the idea that what they had prepared as
a signal mark of vengeance should wear the appearance of an accident - one of those catastrophes that
so often occur when plunder and riot follow in the
track of victory. By some it was even believed that
the conflagration was the work of the inhabitants
themselves, resolved to rob the captors of their prize
and compel them to an ignominious retreat. That
his original purpose might be made manifest, Charles
now gave orders for accelerating the destruction by
setting fire to every quarter of the town. In the
execution of this mandate the people of Bouvignes
were observed to be especially active - eager volunteers in the extirpation of a community which had
long been the object of their envious hate.  The
flames thus kindled at various points soon spread in
broad sheets over the devoted town; and, by the end
of this eventful week, nothing remained of Dinant
but blackened walls and heaps of smouldering ruin.3?
Even yet the desired consummation was far from
having been attained.  For several months these
ruins continued to be the scene of explorations car31 Idem, pp. 280-283. - Haynin, 1295.- Henricus de Merica; Thetom. i. p. 72. - Adrianus de Veteri- odoricus Paulus, De Ram, pp. 159,
Bosco, Ampliss. Col., tom. iv. p. 194, 206. - Basin, tom. ii. p. 172.
VOL. I.    54




426               FATE OF DINANT.             [BOOK I.
ried on by the inhabitants of the neighboring region;
while gangs of laborers, summoned from Namur, were
employed in demolishing the walls and other remains,
and in removing the materials. Officers were commissioned by Philip to superintend the operation, with
authority to take possession of every article of value
that fmight be found, and to dispose of it for the benefit of the ducal treasury.3  Inventories were kept,
in which a description of the articles, their value, and
the names of the purchasers were duly registered.
These accounts are still in existence; and the perusal of the-m seems to bring with a peculiar vividness
before the mind the reality of those events of which
the chroniclers have left so bare and meagre a narration. Here, in a list which occupies some dozen pages,
are the relics of Dinant, of its industry and of its
wealth, grown and multiplied through several centuries, and blasted in a single week. Here are the
memorials of ruined households, of broken hearts,
of perished lives, - still wet with tears, stained with
gore, defaced, mutilated, scorched,- held up for sale,
and yielding so many livres, so many sous, so many
deniers, to the exchequer of Monseigneur the duke
of Burgundy.'11tem, a little chain of silver, with a
little bell attached; ilem, two little silver cups, weighing together one mark; item, a pair of bride's gloves;
ilenm, a little ivory comb; item, an ivory tablet, broken;
itenm, an ivory tablet, partly burnt; itemz, an agnus enchased with silver; item, a necklace, with ten little
paternosters of amber." The greater number of these
32 Gachard, Doe. In6d., tom. ii. p. 375, et seq.




CrAP. IX.]          FATE OF DINANT.                   427
trinkets, with many others of the same description,
are purchased by Jean Esselaire, a broker from Brussels, who has scented in this downfall and extirpation
of a whole community an opportunity for replenishing at a cheap rate his stock of curiosities.  Other
purchasers come from  Bouvignes, Namur, Mezieres,
as to an annual fare or market, make their bargains,
and provide themselves with the copper kettles, saucepans, and candlesticks, for which Dinant was famous.
Several lots consisting mostly of'"hammers, large and
small," and other mechanical implements, are disposed
of to two or three persons belonging to Dinant, who
had searched the rubbish for their own former property, and, are permitted to redeem  it.  These must
have saved something in tihe general wreck; or they
were perhaps furnished by friends in other places
(one of them is mentioned as living in the house of
Jean Gillon at Namur) with the means of discharging
their ransom  and of beginning the world anew.33
Here, too, as we turn the leaf, is an entry which
arrests the eye: CItlenz, found in a wall at the said
Dinant, the place indicated by a poor woman," sundry coins of the value stated;'" of which there were
given to the said poor woman, by way of alms, (pour
Dieu,) 16 aidac s; thus leaving to the profit of Monseigneur 4 livres, 2 sous, 8 deniers."   This C poor
33 Comte rendu, Gachard, Doc. were uninjured. Adrianus de VeteIned., tom. ii. pp. 379-392. -The ri-Bosco, who visited Dinant a few
quantity of silver plate found among days after the fire, found a statue of
the ruins is a strong indication of the Virgin, of beautiful workmanship,
the wealth and luxurious habits of standing entire in the portal of the
the citizens. Many of the articles church. Ampliss. Col., p. 1296.




428                FATE OF DINANT.               [BooK I.
woman" was one of many who wandered back after
the army had departed, and were seen, day after day,
sitting on the piles of rubbish or searching vainly for
some vestige of their former habitations.?3   What was
their ultimate fate?  What was the fate of all that
wretched troop, — many of them nurtured in ease,
tenderly cherished, fondled, and loved, -- all reduced
to a common level of destitution and helplessness?
A chronicler has told it in the briefest possible summary:' On account of the said destruction the inhabitants became mendicants, and some young women
and girls were driven to gain their livelihood by
every kind of vice and sin."35
The task of demolishing the walls, the towers, the
bridges, every thing not destroyed by the fire, was
intrusted to contractors; and the amount of work
executed by each, with the sums paid for it, is carefully set down in documents still extant.3G It was
not until the end of March, 1467, that these labors
were terminated.  Then, at length, the vow of vengeance Inight be regarded as accomplished. The last
heap had been sifted and scattered, the last mound
levelled, the last stone removed. The site of so many
buildings, the spot so long and so recently a scene of
activity and life, was bare and desolate, distinguishable only by its bareness  and desolation from  the
34 Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 284.  peche pour avoir leur vie."  De
35, A cause d'icelle destruction Troyes, Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 59.
devinrent les povres habitans d'icelle  36 Comptes de la demolition de
mandians, et aucunes jeunes femmes )Dinant, Gachard, Doc. In6d., tom.
et filles abandonn6es'a tout vice et ii. p. 395, et seq.




CHAP. ix.]            FATE OF DINANT.                      429
country around.3   Henceforth it should be said,  lHlere
Dinant:was! "38
Of the walls and  the  houses this was indeed  the
end. But if the same vigilant eye that watched over
their destruction, if the  same patient and  diligent
research which we have seen employed in the examination  of the  ruins, had  followed  the  unfortunate
exiles through their subsequent history, tracing their
footsteps, counting up their struggles and their miseries, how  large  a portion  of the  tragic story would
still remain to be told! What is known of the women
- of that band to whom a cruel mercy had been
vouchsafed  by  the  conquerors —has been  already
mentioned.  In regard to the male inhabitants, a few
scanty notices, gleaned from various sources, furnish
the only information we possess.  Carried off by the
soldiery as prisoners of war, some were sold by their
captors,39 others were enabled to furnish security for
their ransom or to redeem themselves by the fruit of
their labor.40  Philip, indeed, regarded this appropriation of the living booty by his troops as an infringement of his own  rights.  As Dinant had not been
taken by the army, but had submitted  to his mlercy,
37, Moenia quoque et turres omnes   39 Henricus de Merica, De Ram,
dejectse sunt, et valium complana- p. 159.
tum, locusque sancitus ne posthac,   40 "Les archives de l'dchevinage
in memoriam sceleratorum civium, et celles de la cour du souverain
quisnam illic uedificare aut habitatio- bailliage a Namur renferment les obnes facere attentaret."  Basin, tom. ligations contractees pour la ranqon
ii. p. 173.                     de plusieurs Dinantais, par des Na38,, Ceulx qui regardoient la place murois, leur parents ou leurs amis."
ou la ville avoit este, pooient dire, Borgnet, p. 59.'cy fust Dynant!'" "' Duclercq, tom.
iv. p. 283.




430                FATE OF DINANT.               [BooK I.
all the inhabitants, he contended, were his special
prisoners, a portion of his private spoils.  Their lives
or their ransoms —whichever he might choose to
exact —belonged to him alone. If he should think
fit, he might, by an act of grace, grant them a free
remission from the penalties they had incurred.41 He
directed, therefore, that inquiries should be instituted,
and that those who had received the price of blood
should be compelled to make restitution.  The prosecution of this claim does not seem, however, to have
been attended with success, since we find the same
orders reiterated at a later period by Philip's successor.
Many of the captives had been left for safe keeping at Namur, the first halting-place after the army
quitted Dinant.  The people of the former town
were not slow to perceive the advantages they might
derive from  the presence of so large a body of mechanics, the most expert in their occupation of any
in the world. They therefore requested and obtained
permission from their sovereign to establish foundries
and engage in the manufacture of copper.42 But,
although the situation was in all respects a favorable
one, the trade does not appear to have flourished in
the soil to which it had been thus violently transplanted. Elsewhere in the Netherlands we find traces
of the people of Dinant, who were permitted to form
41,4 Par ce moien toutes les per- leur faire grace et misericorde, selon
sonnes lors estans dedens ladite ville nostre bon plaisir." Borgnet, Apde Dynant fussent a nous et en nos- pendice, XIII.
tre disposition, pour les faire mourir,  42 Borgnet, Appendices, XIV.,
les mectre a ranchon ou aultrement XV., XVII.




CHAP. IX.]            FATE OF DINANT.                       431
settlements and  to  take  up  their abode  in  certain
towns on condition of their remaining within strictly
prescribed  limits.43   Many, however, wandered away
into France; while a considerable number found the
means of transporting themselves to England —a
country with which  they had long maintained  mercantile relations, and where they now received the
hospitality and protection which on those shores have
ever been accorded alike to the victim of tyranny and
to the fallen tyrant.44
But in  their new  homes the exiles retained recollections of their native place which were the more
vivid and the more dear for the horrors amidst which
they had quitted it and the miseries they had  since
endured.   In  the  year 1472  Charles of Burgundy
gave permission for the erection of a church cc on the
spot formerly called Dinant," and also of a few dwelling houses for the officiating clergy, on condition that
not more  than  two  persons should  reside  in  each
house.45   It was not till many years after his death
43 Reiffenberg, Commerce des making to recover his crown —the
Pays-bas. - A colony of the Dinan- same rights and exemptions in tradtais was established by Charles at ing with England which their ancesMiddlebourg, in Flanders. Gachard, tors had enjoyed. Gachard, ubi suDoc. Ined., tom. ii. p. 376, note.    pra.
44 These refugees, having taken   45 Gachard, Analectes Belgiques,
part with the earl of Warwick when  pp. 318, 319.
the latter revolted against Eldward    The people of Bouvignes, having
IV., were punished by the depriva- at the time of the destruction of
tion of their privileges. Subsequent- Dinant taken possession of the bones
ly, however, Edward, while himself  of " Monseigneur Saint Perpete,"
an exile at Bruges, granted to the  with the shrine containing them,
Dinantais at Middlebourg - in re- were ordered to restore them, in
turn, it may be surmised, for some  1474, when the cathedral had been
assistance in the preparations he was rebuilt. They remonstrated, on the




432              SUBMISSION OF LIEGE.             [BOOx I.
that leave was extorted from  the successors of this
prince for the reestablishment of the commune.  In
1493 a small number of persons —among whose
names is found that of the brave John de Gerinassembled at the foot of the familiar cliff, and by the
banks of the river whose murmurs had in foreign
lands so often mingled with their dreams. Here, in
accordance with  the  terms of their charter, they
formed themselves into a new guild, and endeavored
to revive the trade that had formerly furnished employment for so large a population.4? But this attempt
proved unsuccessful. The merchant had found new
marts for the supply of his wants.  The Dinalnderie
had lost its attractions or the men of Dinant had lost
their ancient skill.
Liege, on receiving the tidings of the fall of Dinant,
was convulsed with grief and rage.  Day by day,
while the attack was threatened, letters had been
received in the capital urging immediate succors.
But the demagogues well knew  the probable issue
of a contest with a force so superior in discipline and
in military resources. They knew that the feverish
spirit which they had themselves excited could not
be relied upon in the hour of danger. The letters,
therefore, were suppressed.  The  people were informed that the peril was not imminent, that Dinant
ground that they had become the judgment delivered by that court,
lawful proprietors of these relics, and they were compelled, in 1476, to surappealed from the reiterated orders render the prize which they had held
of their sovereign to the Parliament with so tenacious a grasp.
of Malines. In accordance with a   46 Borgnet, p. 63.




CHAP. IX.]    SUBMISSION OF LIEGE.         433
had the means of maintaining a long defence. Even
when the guilds had assembled, and demanded to be
led against the enemy, a pretext was found for deferring the expedition. The standard of Saint Lambert,
without which it would be unlawful and impious to
march, could not be delivered to the army in the absence of the chapter, who, at the summons of the
bishop, had at length withdrawn from the rebellious
city.
In the midst of these discussions a messenger arrived to tell that it was too late -that Dinant,
reduced to extremity, hopeless of succor, had surrendered. When the stupor produced by this intelligence had passed a cry for vengeance arose; and the
people poured by a common impulse through the
streets, in search of those by whom they had been
deceived. De Heers escaped, and took sanctuary in
the inviolable precincts of Saint Lambert. One of his
colleagues was not so fortunate; he was caught, and
instantly put to death by the knives of his captors.
While the tumult was at its height a party of fugitives
arrived; among them Jean de Gerin, whose person and
character were well known to the citizens, and around
whom they now gathered with looks that betokened
shame and self-reproach, while they exposed the
treachery by which they had been prevented from
coming to the relief of their countrymen. "Alas,
friends!" replied the noble-hearted man; " it was
better so. Our enemies were too strong; you could
have done nothing for us, and would only have
brought the same ruin on yourselves." These words
VOL. I.  55




434            SUBMISSION OF LIEGE.         [BOOK I.
had the effect of calming the feelings of those to
whom they were addressed. It was now necessary
indeed that Liege should reflect upon its own situation, and prepare at once for submission or defence.47
On the 1st of September, before the embers of
Dinant were yet cold, the count of Charolais, turning
his back upon a scene that bore the ineffaceable
marks of his severity, returned to Namur, whence,
two days later, he set out, at the head of his triumphant troops, for the enemry's capital.  On the 6th
he found himself in presence of a force consisting of
some thirteen thousand infantry and a few hundred
horsemen, strongly posted on the declivity of a hill,
and enclosed on either side by the forked branches
of a river. Instead of offering battle, however, the
leaders of this meagre army sent an embassy to the
Burgundian chief, soliciting him to take pity on cc the
poor people of Liege," and inquiring on what conditions he was willing to admit them to grace.  They
were told, in reply, that this invasion of their territory was for the purpose of enforcing the observance
of the treaty made in the preceding year. Fifty
hostages were demanded of them, to be retained until
the fine imposed upon them by that treaty had been
paid; an additional subsidy was required to defray
the expenses of the present expedition; and Charles
further insisted that an officer of his own should be
admitted into the city to reside there as the representative of the duke in his capacity of "Protector of
47 Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco, Am- hannis de Los Chronicon, De Ram,
pliss. Col., tom. iv. p. 1296. - Jo- pp. 40, 41.




CHAP. IX.]     SUBMISSION OF LIfEGE.          435
Liege." A truce of twenty-four hours was granted,
during which the envoys were to return to the capital and obtain authority from their constituents for
accepting these terms.
In spite of the armistice, some apprehensions were
felt by the Burgundian leaders lest the enemy's
forces should profit by the darkness and their superior knowledge of the ground to make an attack
upon the camp, which, from want of sufficient time
to bring up the wagons, had not been enclosed and
fortified as usual. But the men of Liege, far from
meditating such a project, could with difficulty be
kept together by their chiefs; and on the following
day, when they perceived the ranks of the opposite
army swelled by the arrival of the rearguard, they
broke up in disorder and began to quit the ground.
Some of Charles's captains would have persuaded
him, as the armistice had expired, to make an onslaught on the retreating foe, who must soon have
been overtaken, scattered, and destroyed. But his
natural sentiments of justice and of honor led him
to reject this advice; and, after a short delay, the
envoys made their appearance, instructed to accede
to his demands.
The treaty having been arranged, Guy de Brimeu,
lord of Humbercourt, a member of Charles's household and the most trusted of his counsellors, entered
Liege for the purpose of assuming that authority over
the state which, exercised by the representative of a
foreign prince, might justly be regarded by the people as a badge of conquest and of slavery. The count




436                DEATH OF PHILIP.               [BOOK I.
of Charolais then marched against Thuin and one or
two other towns of the principality, which, warned
by the fate of Dinant, opened' their gates, and, at
the command of the victor, razed their fortifications.
When these operations were completed, the army
was disbanded, and officers and soldiers returned to
their homes, laden with spoils, and loudly expressing
their satisfaction with the profitable results of the
campaign.8
The remainder of the year and the following
spring were spent by the count of Charolais in visiting the different provinces of the Netherlands. In
every town through which he passed he was received
with the honors usually reserved for the sovereign.
The time, indeed, was at hand when he was himself
to assume that title, and to exercise in his own right
the powers which he now wielded as the lieutenant
of his father.
Satisfied with the punishment which he had seen
inflicted upon Dinant, Philip, instead of accompanying the army in its march against Liege, had travelled
homewards by easy stages, and devoted the remainder
of his days to quiet and religious meditation.49  In
the following June, 1467, while residing at Bruges,
he was seized with a fatal illness. His son received
4s Commines, tom. i. pp. 118-120. 399, et seq. - Lamarche, tom. ii.
— Haynin, tom. ii. pp. 73-76. -  p. 260.
Duclereq, tom. iv. pp. 284-291. -    49, Ipse qui senio premebatur,
Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco, Ampliss. vacabat contemplationi, orationibus
Col., tom. iv. p. 1296, et seq. —  et quieti." Theodoricus Paulus, De
Gachard, Doe. Indd., tom. ii. p. Ram, p. 194.




CHAP. ix.]         DEATH OF PHILIP.               437
the intelligence at Ghent, and, instantly quitting that
town, rode with such haste that he outstripped his
escort and arrived at Bruges unaccompanied by a
single attendant.  Hastening to the chamber of the
duke, he gave utterance to a burst of grief, which
those who were present, contrasting it with the settled
sternness of his nature and the rigor of his ordinary
acts, could not behold without amazement.5~  Butthere was no simulation in those tears or in the convulsive agitation of that iron frame.  It is certain
that this man, so cruel and implacable to his foes, so
cold and exacting in his treatment of his dependants,
felt the strongest affection for his father, and looked
back upon their former differences with the deepest
remorse. He remembered how he had thwarted his
father's wishes; how he had shown but too little tenderness for his prejudices and for the tenacity with
which Philip clung to the connections and associations
of his early life; and how, in the eagerness of his ambition, he had taken advantage of the duke's infirmities
and peril to gain immediate possession of a supremacy
so soon to be his by the course of nature.  He called
to mind, perhaps, that night when the old man, baffled
by the opposition of a will even more violent and
stubborn than his own, had rushed forth into the
darkness and the storm, and wandered as if insane
through the pathless thickets of the forest. Stung
50 Idem, ubi supra. —Duclercq, qu'il en monstra; car le cuidoit-on
tom. iv. p. 302.- "N'eust-on h paine plus dur en corage, pour aulcunes
jamais creu par avant qu'il en deust causes passees; mais nature le vainavoir fait le quart ou le quint de dueil quit." Chastellain, p. 394.




438                   DEATH  OF PHILIP;                    [BooK I.
by such recollections as these, Charles threw himself
on his knees at the bed-side, and  besought forgiveness and  a blessing  from  the dying  prince.  Philip
had lost the power of speech; but, adjured by his
confessor to give some token of response to this appeal, he turned his eyes upon the supplicant, and
~feebly returned the pressure of his hand."
On  the 1]5th of June  the duke  breathed  his last,
having lived seventy-two years, and reigned fortyeight.  There is no question that he was beloved by
all classes of his subjects, or that the outward signs of
mourning  generally assumed at his decease were the
indications of a real sorrow.  What they  mourned,
indeed, was not so much  a man  as an era.  Under
Philip the Good the Netherlands had risen to a height
of prosperity that was the  envy  of the world.  We
may dissent from  the judgment of those writers who
attribute this prosperity and the flourishing condition
of the arts during Philip's reign to his wise protection
and enlightened patronage, and who rank him among
great rulers.  But the  union  of the  different provinces had been productive of advantages which were
shared  by  all;  and  one  solid  blessing  Philip  had
5 " Se jetta devant son pere a  a laquelle admonestation, voeulx et
genoulx, tenrement plourant, lui re- prieres de son fils, il retourna ses
querrant sa benediction, et que s'au- yeux sur sondit fils, et le regarda, et
cune chose lui avoit meffait qu'il lui lui esteindit la main, laquelle il avoit
pardonnast; au plus pres du due es- mis sur la sienne, et aultre signe ne
toit son confesseur evesque, lequel lui peut faire ne feit; le comte son
l'admonesta et pria moult, que s'il fils fust toujours empres lui, tant qu'il
avoit encoires entendement qu'il le  rendit l'ame et qu'il fust expire."
monstrat, et que au moins s'il ne  Duclercq, tom. iv. p. 303.
pooit parler, qu'il feit aulcun signe;




CHAP. ix.]         DEATH OF PHILIP.                  439
assuredly bestowed upon the land: he had given it
peace- peace in an age of violence, and at a time
when he might naturally have been expected to engage in war as a means of extending his dominion.
Some years were to elapse before his remains could
be conveyed with fitting ceremony to their final resting place, beside those of his father and grandfather,
in the family mausoleum  at Dijon.  For the present
they were deposited in the Church of Saint Donatus
at Bruges.  Thither they were borne at night amid
the blaze of sixteen hundred torches.  More than a
score of prelates officiated at the obsequies; and the
formalities observed were similar to those that usually
accompanied the interment of a French monarch."2
The heralds broke their batons above the bier, and
proclaimed, in doleful tones, that Philip, duke of four
duchies, count of seven counties, lord of innumerable
lordships, was dead.  Then, raising their voices to the
loftiest pitch, they cried,'1 Long live Charles, duke of
Burgundy, of Brabant, of Limbourg, and of Luxembourg; count of Flanders, of Artois, of Burgundy,
of Hainault, of Holland, of Zealand, and of Namur;
marquis of the Holy Empire; lord of Friesland, of
Malines," &c.   The  multitude  that thronged  the
church responded with a jubilant acclaim.5'
52 Duclercq, tom. iv. pp. 303-307. lamation followed.  Conf. the de- Ancien Chronique, Lenglet, tom. scription, from manuscripts in the
ii. p. 189. —Chastellain, pp. 396, library of the dukes of Burgundy,
397.                         of the ceremonies common at the in53 The mention by Duclercq of terment of a sovereign of the Neththe " white batons" thrown into the erlands, in Marchal, Vie politique de
tomb indicates that the usual proc- Charles-Quint.




440                   DEATH  OF PHILIP.                    [BOOK I.
But he for whom these shouts were raised sat
wrapt in thought and grief, as if some inward prescience mocked the echoing sound, forebodings of the
brief career before him, —its empty triumphs, its
deep humiliations, - of that last, desperate struggle,
that final overthrow, that horrid death, that burial
by hostile hands upon a hostile soil; the exultings,
the curses, not of enemies alone, but of vassals, of
friends, of those, perchance, whose voices were now
the loudest in the loyal cry, CC Long live the duke!" 54
54 See the curious passage in Chas- et seq.) It is somewhat remarkatellain beginning, " Charles, novelle- ble that Chastellain, who died while
ment due de Bourgoigne, ne prince  Charles was still at the height of his
de grande venure et de haulte at- power and reputation, attributes to
tente, fils d'ung pere qui n'a pareil, him, in more than one place, the preet d'ung duc dont le nom ternist les  sentiment of an early death. "( Crecouronne, que sies-tu ici, et te main- moit la mort et la courte vie."'
tiengs morne et pensif?"  (p. 397,




BOOK II.
CHAPTER I.
BRUGES AND GHENT. -THE JOYOUS ENTRY AND THE "FOOLS OF
SAINT LIEVIN." - RELATIVE POSITIONS OF LOUIS AND CHARLES.
14 6 7.
AT the age of thirty-three, in the full vigor of a
mind that seemed incapable of vacillation or of fear,
and of a body that never shrank from labor or felt
fatigue, Charles of Burgundy had come into possession
of an inheritance not surpassed by that of any prince
in Christendom. Other princes might have loftier
titles, a greater nominal authority, or a more extended
dominion; but there was none who ruled with more
substantial power, or whose revenues were derived
from sources so copious and unfailing. The Netherlands were wealthy while other countries were poor;
they had practised the arts of peace while the rest
of Europe was cursed with continual war. England
was still passing through the chaotic struggle of her
rival roses. France was still threatened with disruption. Spain, Italy, and Germany were each divided
VOL. I.  56                           (441)




442                 BRUGES.              [BOOK xI.
into petty states, engaged in perpetual feuds. The
Netherlands alone suffered from no internal causes
of disquiet; their territory was wasted by no foreign
enemy; the inhabitants, content in the enjoyment
of a well secured freedom and of an unparalelled
prosperity, found a sufficient bond of union in loyalty
to their common ruler. He, fortunate among princes,
might sit in undisturbed serenity, exercising a mild
sway, counting his fair towns, his heaps of treasure,
his swarms of traders and artisans.
Bruges, where the late sovereign had just been
entombed amid the same pomp with which he had
surrounded himself in life, was at this time in the
zenith of its prosperity. It was the centre of European
commerce. It was the mart where the commodities
of the three discovered quarters of the world were
brought for exchange and distribution. Here were
to be seen collected the costly gems and fragrant
spices of the East, the drugs and dyes of Italy, the
olives and the wines of France, the wool of England
and of Spain, the corn and other agricultural products of Germany and Scandinavia, and the ivory, the
skins, the feathers, and the gum brought by roving
navigators from the coast of Barbary. Seventeen
incorporated trading companies, from as many different states, were established at Bruges; many foreign
governments sent their factors, or agents, to reside
there; and representatives of all the great commercial houses in Europe met daily on the exchange to
discuss the variations of the agio and the rise or fall
of prices.




CHAP. I.]            BRUGEs.                 443
The habits and style of living at Bruges were singularly festive and luxurious. The residence in the
town of so many men of princely wealth, natives and
foreigners, and the constant influx of strangers having commercial relations with the inhabitants, called
for the exercise of an emulous and unstinted hospitality. The banquets were composed of the rarest
delicacies, the tribute from regions distant and near
to the metropolis of trade; while the board was
graced by the presence of women famed beyond
those of other cities for their personal charms and
arrayed with a magnificence that moved the envy of
queens. The nobles of the country, drawn thither
by these manifold attractions, made Bruges the scene
of many a brilliant spectacle; and often, in the
thronged streets and market-places, the bustle and
the hum of commerce were suspended as the trumpet
breathed forth its martial strains, and knights and
squires went by in all the pomp of chivalry. Here,
too, the sovereign often held his court; and especially
was Bruges selected as the fittest place to celebrate
his nuptials. Here the first Philip had wedded the
haughty Margaret, the heiress of the land, and the
second Philip his southern princess, commemorating
the occasion by the institution of the Golden Fleece,
recognized by Flanders as a type of that industry
which had brought the wealth of the world into
her lap.
In less than half a century this prosperity, raised
apparently on so secure a basis, was to fade and disappear. The spacious streets and squares of Bruges




444                       GHENT.                    [BOOK II.
are now  silent and  grass-grown.  Many tenantless
and vacant spaces are found within the too ample
circuit of its walls. But to the traveller, and especially to the antiquary, it is still the most interesting
city of the Netherlands; for many relics of its former
greatness are still preserved, and the stately houses,
built not with a dull uniformity of aspect, but in
varied styles of architecture, carry back the mind of
the spectator to a period when this was the chosen
residence of men from every land.
From Bruges Charles prepared, some days after
his accession, to take his departure for Ghent, the
metropolis of Flanders, where he was to receive formal possession of the province and to be acknowledged as its count. Ghent was a manufacturing
town. Here the population was homogeneous, and
the  national manners were displayed without any
foreign intermixture. The mode of living was more
simple than in Bruges; the accumulation of wealth
was less; the municipal privileges were greater; and
the mass of the people was more largely endowed
with political rights and power.2
The working population was divided into fifty-two
guilds; but the "great guild," that of the weavers,
1"  Brugenses et Gandenses longe transigens." Meyer, Rerum Flandiversis inter se dissident moribus. dricarum Tomi X., p. 80.
Splendidus, magnificus, delicatus,   2 Something of an aristocratic
liberalis, suisque nonnunquam pro- contempt for mechanical industry is
fusus est Brugensis. Contra Gan- noticeable in the polity of Bruges.
densis paricor, contractior, minor Craftsmen were not eligible to any
suarum  opum  ostentator, minore office unless they had abstained from
strepitu, minorique luxuria vitam  manual labor for a year and a day.




CHAP. I.]                  GHENT.                        445
was supposed to comprise one third of the inhabitants,
and it exercised a proportionate influence in the affairs of the town.  To  these  Flemish weavers and
spinners of the fifteenth century the Lancashire
"operatives" of the  nineteenth  stand  related in a
direct line of descent.   England, whose magnetic,
accumulating, and assimilating power forms the distinctive feature of her earlier history, - as her communicative, diffusive, and irradiating power is the
grand characteristic of her modern and imperial career, - owes more, perhaps, to the Netherlands than
to  all other countries combined.  She succeeded to
the commercial supremacy of which the foundations
were collected and laid by them; she borrowed from
them   the  manufactures which  her own  inventive
genius has perfected and her greater enterprise has
enabled her infinitely to extend. All their troubles
and  disasters enured  to  her advantage;3 while, in
her own convulsions, she parted with nothing she
had received, except to her colonies and dependent
possessions.
If it were possible for one who lived in a former
age to revisit earth, no spectacle would so excite his
3 In the sixteenth centurywe find rial. Granvelle's remedies were, of
Cardinal Granvelle frequently corn- course, prohibitory laws and the
plaining of the change that had taken  compulsory prevention of emigraplace in the commercial relations be- tion. But the duke of Alva, with
tween the two countries - England  whom injury to England was only a
sending to the Netherlands many  secondary consideration, - the ruin
manufactured  articles,  especially  of Flanders being the primary object
woollen, which she had formerly im- of his mission, - did his best to acported from them while supplying  celerate the tide.
them, in return, with the raw mate



446                  GHENT.               [BOOK II.
amazement as the scene of those enormous labors
which Science has imposed upon the forces of Nature
— where matter and the elements appear endowed
with life, with the intelligent and wonder-working
capacity of genii; where man seems reduced to insignificance in the presence of those powers which he
has subdued to his own use, and which he rules on
the condition that he shall ceaselessly watch their
operations, supply their demands, and yield a prompt
submission to their laws, performing his portion of
the task as if himself a lever or a wheel in the machinery which he has created and set in motion.
Could we, on the other hand, look back through four
centuries, and see what were then the great centres
of industry in the fulness of their life, our interest
and admiration might be equally excited, though
from a different cause. The spindles and looms with
which Flanders, in the Middle Ages, furnished linen
and woollen fabrics for the world differed little from.
those that had been in use thousands of years before
on the shores of the Euphrates and the Nile. The
workmen, instead of being congregated by hundreds
in spacious halls, performed their solitary tasks under
their own roofs in small and dimly lighted rooms.
But they were bound together by ties of fellowship
and subordinated to an invisible direction that determined the whole course and manner of their existence, and rendered them parts of a great human
machine complicated in its structure and regular in
its operations. Whether as apprentices, "companions,"
or masters, they were all members of a guild, endowed




CHAP. I.]             GHENT.                  447
with its privileges and subject to its discipline. Under the same organization they were citizens and
soldiers. Let the tocsin sound, let Rolandt send forth
his harsh, imperious summons,  "Als ic layde dann isZ
storm in Vlacederlandt',"- and looms and workshops
are deserted, the fifty thousand able-bodied men of
Ghent pour through the streets, assemble at the appointed station, and constitute a mass united by the
strongest elements of cohesion and governed by recognized principles of order and command.
Class privileges and monopolies, which grew in
time to be so hateful and oppressive, were nevertheless the stepping-stones to that general freedom and
unrestrained competition which are now considered
as the essential conditions of industrial development
and progress. Whatever is one day to be exercised
as a common right by the whole mass must first be
enjoyed as the exclusive privilege of a few. This is
Nature's process. She it was who fashioned the little
republics, the free cities, and trade communities of
the Middle Ages, with their selfish rivalries, their
narrow but ardent spirit of enterprise. They were
the models by which she tried her schemes before
she put them into operation on a scale better suited
to the conception. It needed the jealous sentiment,
the strict union, the pride and conscious superiority
of a favored class, to keep alive the arts of civilization that bloomed in these islets surrounded by an
ocean of anarchy and turbulence. Hence the selfdevotion with which the inhabitants were ever ready
to defend the common interests when assailed; hence,




448                  GHENT.                [BOOK II.
too, the grudging eyes with which they saw the same
blessings extended to their neighbors.
Throughout the Middle Ages Ghent was distinguished above every other town by its mutinous and
stubborn disposition, its tyrannical sway over the
smaller towns and villages of its dependent territory,
its perpetual strife with places regarded as its rivals,
and its frequent revolts against its princes. Its proper
history as a great and free city terminates with the
dreadful chastisement inflicted on it by the Emperor
Charles the Fifth in 1527, from the ruinous effects of
which it never recovered. But already, under Philip
the Good, it had felt the influence of that union and
gradual consolidation of the different provinces which
must in time prove fatal to the too arrogant pretensions of any single town. After a rebellion which
lasted for more than two years Ghent was overpowered and compelled to make submission. Its magistrates appeared before the duke in their shirts and with
ropes about their necks. Three of the principal gates
were nailed up, and condemned to remain forever
closed, in memory of the doom of total destruction
which the place was held to have incurred; the guilds
were deprived of their banners and their weapons;
several hundred persons were hanged, drowned, or
beheaded; and, in lieu of the usual mulct, a tax known
as the cueiflotle, similar in its nature to the octroi of
France and the alcanlara of Castille, was levied upon
every article brought into the city or exposed for sale.
In this war, as already mentioned, Charles of Burgundy had made his first essay in arms. The fiery




CHAP. I.]       THE JOYOUS ENTRY.               449
valor with which he had defended his father's cause
had done him no disservice in the eyes of the people
against whom he had fought.  During his retirement
from the court they had been solicitous in offering
him their sympathy and in assuring him of their
readiness tq support him  in his rights -a circumstance which led Philip to remark that Ghent was
ever loyal to the son of its sovereign, but never to
the sovereign himself. No doubt the citizens anticipated that the prince, on his accession to the throne,
would show his gratitude for this demonstration of
their attachment by relieving them of the penalties
imposed upon them since their last revolt. Nor was
Charles, when the occasion arrived, unprepared to
make some concessions in their behalf. Knowing,
however, the difference that might probably be found
between their expectations and what he was willing
to grant, he made close inquiries of the deputation
which had come to invite him to Ghent in regard to
the present temper of the people.  Being satisfied
with the assurances he received on this head, he took
his departure from Bruges, escorted by a large body
of nobles, and carrying with him not only- his young
daughter, but the immense treasure of jewels and
gold crowns which Philip had left at his decease.4
In accordance with an invariable usage, the duke
halted for the night at the village of Swynaerde, at
a league's distance from Ghent.5 Hither had flocked
a great number of persons who, at different times,
4 Chastellain, p. 401, et seq.    de la joyeuse entree du comte Charles,
5 Rapport de ce qui est arrive lors Gachard, Doe. Ined., tom. i. p. 210.
VOL. I.    57




450                  GHENT.               [BOOx II.
had been banished from the city for political and
other offences, and who had now assembled to present
their petitions to the prince for pardon and the restitution of their civil rights. Exile was then a common punishment even for crimes of no light magnitude; and it was customary for a new sovereign,
on the occasion of his "joyous entry,"-as his first
visit to a place after his accession was called, —to
grant a liberal measure of his grace to those who had
in this manner been deprived of invaluable privileges,
the loss of which, to such as had long enjoyed them,
was second only to that of life itself: The persons
who now hoped to receive the benefit of this custom
spent the night in a neighboring meadow; and Charles
directed that each separate case should be investigated, in order that the more guilty of their number
should be prevented, in the morning, from joining
his train.6
It happened that the following day (Sunday, June
28) was the anniversary of a popular festival - one
of those celebrations, partly religious and partly saturnalian in their character, which were common throughout Catholic Europe, and especially in Flanders, where
they were marked by a greater freedom and coarseness, if not by more hilarity, than elsewhere. It was
the Fete of Saint Lievin, a martyr of the seventh
century, whose bones were still preserved in the cathedral of Ghent. The people were accustomed to
assemble in the morning in front of the church, and,
having received from the canons the shrine contain6 Chastellain, p. 404.




cHiP. I.]      THE JOYOUS ENTRY.             451
ing the precious relics, they carried it in procession
to the village of Houthem, the spot on which the saint
had suffered martyrdom. Here the C; Fools of Saint
Lievin" passed the day and the succeeding night in
revelry and in broils, which were now, however, less
often attended with serious consequences than formerly, when the members of the guilds had been permitted to go armed. The next morning they returned
home, and deposited in his usual resting-place the
saint whose memory they had thus desecrated by their
carousals.' On the present occasion the magistrates,
foreseeing the inconveniences that might arise if the
duke should make his entrance at a time when the
streets were filled with revellers, and all regulations
for the maintenance of order would be set at nought,
had directed that the procession should leave the town
on the Saturday evening, and should not return till
the following Monday.8  In consequence of this wise
arrangement the utmost decorum prevailed on the
morning of Sunday, when Charles, preceded by the
municipal authorities, by the clergy and religious orders, and by the deans of the guilds and the principal
citizens, who had come out to meet him, and followed
by his nobles, and by the pardoned exiles to the number of nearly eight hundred, passed through the gate,
and took his way to the Church of Saint John. Here
he swore, in the usual form, to maintain the privileges
of the county. In like manner an oath was administered to the representatives of the people that they
7 Chastellain, p. 403.  8 Rapport, Gachard, Doc. Ined., ubi supra.




452                  GHENT.               [BooK II.
would be his good and loyal subjects. A cord was
then placed in his hand attached to a bell, which he
sounded, in token that he had assumed the sovereignty of Flanders. When the ceremonies were
concluded he retired, with the members of his suite,
to the lodgings prepared for him.9
In the mean time the lower orders of the people,
indifferent, as it seemed, in regard to the arrival of
their prince, spent the day at Houthem in riotous
festivity. It was not till the afternoon of Monday
that they prepared to return to Ghent. A great
number of them were intoxicated; but there were
others, as it soon appeared, who had occupied themselves with a more serious business than that which
had formed: the ostensible pretext for the assembly,
and who now assumed the direction of the proceedings. When the procession was formed every man
was found to be provided with weapons. Banners,
too, were kept in readiness to be displayed when the
proper moment had arrived. Selecting their route,
they entered the city through a narrow street, in
which stood a house used by the collectors of the
odious cueillolte in the transaction of their business.
Here the procession halted. A cry rang through the
street, "Down with the cueillotte!"  Then ironical
murmurs were heard from those who surrounded the
relics of the saint: "Saint Lievin refuses to go forward; he wishes to go through the house; a passage
must be made for him!" Axes and other instruments
of destruction were procured; and in a short time
9 Ibid., p. 211.




CHAP. I.]       THE JOYOUS ENTRY.             453
the building, which was of no great size, was levelled
with the ground."0
With triumphant shouts the populace resumed
their march.  Instead of taking their way to the
church, they proceeded to the great market-place
(Marche de Vendredi) in front of the Hotel de Ville,
the usual place of assemblage for the guilds. The
body of the saint was placed in the centre of the
square. The people ranged themselves around it in
the order with which they were familiar. Then the
banners - the same in color and form as those which
had been proscribed — were unfurled, and the fact
was thus openly proclaimed that Ghent was in revolt.
By this time tidings of what was going on had
reached the duke. Advised by those about him, he
contented himself at first with sending to inquire the
meaning of the tumult. The messenger failing to
return, Charles mounted his horse and set out, accompanied by his escort, for the scene of action. The
nearer they approached it, the louder rose the swell
of voices and the more dense became the throng of
those who were hurrying in the same direction. It
was not without a feeling of alarm that the nobles
saw themselves gradually hemmed in, and their own
inconsiderable number surrounded by a vast concourse of rude and determined mlen. But still, as
they paused, the people called to them to go forward
without fear; and the crowd, thickening behind them,
cut off all retreat." Charles traversed the square with
10 Commines, tom. i. p. 143.-  chard, Doe. Ined., tom. i. p. 212.
Chastellain, p. 405.- Rapport, Ga-  " "A tous lez affuioient gens




454                      GHENT.                    [BOOK II.
a knitted brow, and his eye sent forth that fiery
gleam which was wont to reveal the intensity of his
kindled wrath.  As he dismounted in front of the
Hotel de Ville, he turned upon the people with sharp
exclamations of anger and disdain; and, singling out
a person who appeared to him to be active in promoting disturbance, he exclaimed, "I know you well,"
and struck him with his baton. But, instead of
shrinking timidly from the blow and from that ireful
and imperious look, as many a stout and valiant soldier had done, the freeman of Ghent vented a loud
imprecation, and, placing himself in a defiant attitude
full before his sovereign, in a hoarse and threatening
tone bade him repeat the blow. The challenge was
not one to be declined by the person to whom it was
addressed. His baton was again raised aloft, when
Louis de Bruges, lord of Gruthuse, a nobleman thoroughly acquainted with the character and habits of
his countrymen, caught the uplifted arm, and exclaimed in a low but earnest voice, " For God's love
do not strike that man again!"12  Then, drawing the
duke into the interior of the building, Gruthuse proceeded to rebuke him  in round terms for his rash
and inconsiderate conduct.  c This is not an occasion,
Monseigneur," he said, "for displaying the courage
and temerity of the battle-field.  What is needed
armes devers le grand flot, a diverses tremblast de peur, et eust volu estre
cohortes; et tant croissoient et a cent lieues loing arriere, caroneques
multiplioient, que c'estoit ung hor- si horrible frayeur n'avoient veue."
reur.... Et ainsy passoient oultre Chastellain, p. 407.
combien qu'en teles paroles et en   12 Idem, p. 408. - Gachard, Doc.
tele mutacion n'y avoit cely qui ne Indd., tom. i. p. 212.




CHAP. I.]       TME JOYOUS ENTRY.               455
now is prudence and a nice discretion, if you would
not bring ruin on your head.  What, think you,
cares this senseless rabble for your menaces and hard
words? I tell you, all our lives hang by a thread
of silk." 13
To such reasoning as this no man, even in the
excited mood of passion, could be deaf. Counselled
by his sagacious vassal, on whose ripe experience he
set a due estimation, Charles adopted a course better
suited to the exigencies of the occasion than that
which his own hasty temper had dictated. Ascending to the balcony in front of the house, he presented
himself in full view of the assembled people. The
tumult was at once hushed; for it was characteristic
of the citizens of Ghent that, with all their readiness
to rebel against their sovereign, they were seldom
unmindful of the reverence due to his person." But,
when he began to speak to them in the Flemish
tongue, and addressed them as his children, they
suddenly remembered that they had not yet greeted him with those expressions of satisfaction which
should have attended his "joyous entrance;" and
loud cries of "Welcome! welcome!" resounded from
all sides of the square. After a short address expressive of the benignity of his feelings towards his
good people of Ghent, Charles left it to the lord
of Gruthuse, who stood beside him, and who possessed a greater familiarity with the language, to'3 Chastellain, ubi supra.  la personne de leur prince ne touche14 " Une chose ont ilz assez hon- ront ilz jamais." Commines, tom. i.
neste, selon leur mauvaisti6: car a p. 144.




456                  GHENT.              [oox II.declare his intentions more at length. The skilful
orator, avoiding all questions in regard to the cause
of the tumult, contented himself with rousing the
sympathies of his audience for a prince who had just
come to the throne, not by conquest or purchase, but
by clear and natural right, and whose sole desire it
was to learn the sentiments of his subjects and to
satisfy their just demands. His harangue was greeted
with general applause, and there was a fair prospect
that the matter would be adjusted by the appointment of a committee of conference, in which case the
people would have dispersed, when, suddenly, one of
the crowd -" a tall, rude villain "- appeared on the
balcony beside the duke, having clambered up from
the outside of the building, and, striking on the window-frame, in order to call attention, with an iron
gauntlet which covered his hand, turned towards the
citizens and thus addressed them: c" My brothers, who
stand below there, and who have come to lay your
complaints and grievances before your prince, you
first desire  do you not? - the punishment of those
who have misgoverned your town, and defrauded
both you and your sovereign." "Ah, yes!" responded
his auditors, as if suddenly recalled from some digression foreign to the purpose to the real object that
occupied their thoughts. "You seek," he continued,
1"do you not? - the suppression of the cueillolle."
"Yes! yes!" "And you wish to have your gates reopened, your banners restored, and all your customs
reestablished as they existed in former days?" "Yes!
yes! " shouted the people, their enthusiasm now kin



CIrAP. I.]           THE JOYOUS ENTRY.                       457
died to a flame. Turning towards the duke, who stood
as if thunder-struck at this practical exhibition of
popular freedom, the  self-elected  deputy  remarked,
"This, in  brief, Monseigneur, is what the  folk  there
below have assembled to request of you and what
you have to provide for. I have declared it in their
name; and, as you hear, they avow the statement as
their own.""5
1"O  glorious majesty of God!" exclaims the  highborn chronicler of these events, " to think that so
intolerable and outrageous a villany should be committed in the very presence of a prince! — that a
man of low and altogether vile condition should set
himself by the very flank of his lord, and there
utter such language in contempt of his sovereign
right and dignity as it would have fretted the heart
of the poorest noble to be compelled to listen to and
to  tolerate!  And  yet,"  he  adds, dejectedly, C this
noble  prince was forced  to  endure it for the  time,
and to cover with a smile the vexation of which he
was ready to die."16
The increasing tumult in the square showed plainly
enough the hopelessness of any further attempt on
15 Chastellain, p. 409.         et de quoy le plus povre noble homme
16 " O glorieuse majeste de Dieu, du monde, par la maniere du faire
et que vecy une oultrageuse et into- eust pu avoir le cuer creve d'annuy
lerable vilenie commise en la face  et de despit de le tollrer et porter.
d'ung prince, et d'ung tout vil bas Et se con-vint toutes-foi que ce noble
homme, que de soi venir mettre et prince le portast et toll6rast pour
joindre empres les flancs d'ung tel ung mieulx a ceste heure, et qu'il le
prince son seigneur, encore et prof&- coulast par une risde, qui en devoit
rer paroles contraires a sa haulteur morir de dueil."  Chastellain, ubi
par contempnement de sa seigneurie, supra.
VOL. I.       58




458                 GHENT.              [BOOK II.
the part of Charles and his noble counsellor to evade
the difficulties of their position. For some moments
they eyed each other with looks expressive of their
embarrassment, each mutely questioning the other
as to the course to be pursued. At length Gruthuse
recovered his accustomed self-possession. Turning
towards the person whose sudden appearance on the
scene had thus interfered with his well contrived
plans, " My friend," said he, in a cool tone of superiority, cc it was not necessary that you should climb
up here, to the place reserved for the prince and his
nobles. You would have been heard very well from
below, and Monseigneur would have given you your
answer. You are a strange fellow, methinks. Come,
descend! descend! Be off with you, you and your
crew! Monseigneur can settle his affairs with his
people without you for their deputy." Somewhat
abashed by this easy assurance in the great personages whom from a sudden impulse he had ventured
to confront, the man instantly obeyed the command,
and slunk away amongst the crowd. Charles then
addressed some words to the citizens, giving them a
promise that their grievances would be taken into
consideration, and, descending to the street, mounted
his horse, and, accompanied by all his suite, returned,
without molestation, to his lodgings.l?
All that night the people remained assembled on
the spot where their banners had been displayed.
The duke, in like manner, ordered his followers to
keep watch and ward, while he passed the hours in
17 Idem, P. 410.




CHAP. I.]      THE JOYOUS ENTRY.            459
consultation with his principal nobles. That he would
be obliged to make the concessions that were required
of him was the inevitable conclusion of these deliberations. He had little cause, indeed, to fear for his
own safety; but what he most dreaded was that his
daughter would fall into the hands of the people and
be held as a hostage until their demands were complied with. The treasure, too, which he had brought
with him from Bruges would scarcely be secure in the
midst of a mutinous population. It was suggested
that some way might be devised of secretly removing
the young princess and the treasure to a place of
safety. But no feasible project was started. The
scanty number of the nobles and their attendants put
forcible resistance out of the question. Charles felt
that he had placed himself, with unsuspecting confidence, in a situation whence there was no loophole
of escape, and where courage and resolution would
prove of no avail. Early in the morning the lord
of Gruthuse made his appearance before the people,
and gave them the assurance for which they waited
by echoing in a loud tone the shout with which they
greeted him: "Down with the cleilolle!"  He then
announced to them that the duke acceded to all their
requests, and desired that a few of their number
should wait on him and receive from his own lips the
confirmation of his envoy's report. When this had
been done the corpse of Saint Lievin was deposited
in the church. The people then marched to the
"condemned gates," which they broke open, leaving
them extended wide. In the course of the day they




460                   GHENT.                [BOOK II.
also demolished a house which, like the former, had
been used for the collection of the odious tax.  The
news of these proceedings fixed more rigidly on
Charles's brow the sullen frown with which he had
submitted to his fate.  On the next day he quitted
Ghent.  The magistrates and the deputies of the
people waited on him and offered their excuses in
the most humble terms for what had occurred. They
assured him of their own innocence, and attributed
the outbreak to the superiority which the mere rabble had acquired in the town over the wealthy and
well-disposed citizens. They besought him, however,
at an early day to confirm in writing the concessions
which he had made, as otherwise fresh riots might be
apprehended. The duke listened to this address in
silence; and, though he adhered to his engagements
and signed the necessary instruments, the triumph of
the people of Ghent was chilled by secret misgivings
- by the consciousness that, at the moment of his
accession, they had made an enemy of their sovereign.'8
It was natural indeed that this insult should sink
deep into the mind of a prince in whom the spirit
of domination rose so high and strong, and whose
will so seldom brooked opposition from any quarter.
At the very outset of his career Charles looked forward not to a peaceful reign, in which the internal
administration of his states was to be the chief object's Chastellain, pp. 411, 412. - Extrait de Wiellant, Antiquit6s de
Gachard, Doec. Ined., tom. i. p. 213. Flandre Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 627.
- Commines, tom. i. pp. 143,144.



CHAP. I.]  POSITIONS OF CHARLES AND LOUIS.  461
of his attention, but to a continual struggle with foreign powers and to the enlargement of his possessions
by foreign conquests. His present dominions he regarded only as the basis of a loftier power and a
wider sway; and it was indispensable that from
them he should receive a constant support - that at
home his supremacy should be undisputed, his commands implicitly obeyed. He feared, and with good
reason, the effects of that example which had just
been set by Ghent. At Malines, Antwerp, and other
places, popular commotions followed - slight, indeed,
and quickly suppressed and punished, but sufficient
to indicate the passage of an electric current such as,
in the same atmosphere, had so often kindled civil
war.  The Estates of Brabant, having been convened at Brussels, debated whether tIey should
acknowledge the right of succession in the son of
Philip the Good, or admit a claim set up by the
count of Nevers as the rightful representative of
Philip's predecessor. The question was speedily decided in Charles's favor, but not without strong opposition on the part of the burghers of the province,
who saw the hazard to which their liberties would
be exposed in his course towards a more extended
empire. In these movements a hand might be detected which had long before been covertly stretched
out to thwart the purposes of the Burgundian prince,
and which was henceforth to be ever busy in strewing embarrassments upon his path. It was the French
monarch who had set Nevers on to reassert pretensions he had already formally renounced; and the




462      POSITIONS OF CHARLES AND LOUIS.  [BooK IT.
agents of Louis were even now employed at Liege
in exciting to a new insurrection the people whom
he had before betrayed, but who had not yet sounded the depths of his perfidy and meanness.
Yet what were the difficulties with which Charles
now had to contend compared with those that tasked
the energies and tried the temper of the king? What,
for example, were the pretensions of Nevers in comparison with those of Charles of France, who still
styled himself "Cduke of Normandy" and waited in
secure shelter till his allies and adherents should be
prepared to support his rights? That negotiations
with this object were already in progress was no secret to Louis. He had even intercepted messengers
passing between the courts of Brittany and Burgundy, and, had dismissed them with expressions of
his high satisfaction with the friendly feelings subsisting among his great vassals. He at the same
time continued his own negotiations with his brother,
and endeavored to convince him of the sincerity of
that affection with which monarchs are accustomed
to regard those who stand nearest to them in the
order of succession.  But these efforts were fruitless; and equally unsuccessful was a mission with
which the duke of Calabria had been intrusted for
secretly abducting the person of the prince.l9 The
only other alternative was to enter Brittany with an
army; but this was a measure which Louis did not
venture to adopt, knowing that it would be followed
19 Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 599.




CHAP..]  POSrrIONS OF CHARLES AND LOUIS.     463
by an immediate declaration of war from Charles of
Burgundy.
Again: that Louis was able to keep alive the mutinous disposition of the people of Liege was, after
all, but a petty annoyance to his rival; while there
floated before his own mind the continual apprehension that England would be drawn into an alliance
against him, and that contest be renewed which had so
often shaken the French monarchy to its foundation.
The duke of Burgundy was himself of English descent -by the Lancastrian line, it is true; but this
had not prevented him from offering his hand to the
Princess Margaret, the sister of Edward the Fourth,
who seemed now to be firmly seated on the throne,
The offer was accepted; and in the spring preceding
Charles's accession he had sent his half-brother Antony to London, at the head of a splendid embassy,
to settle the preliminaries of the marriage. The fame
of the Great Bastard as a valiant soldier and a redoubted jouster gained him a warm reception at the
court of Edward. In a brilliant tournament, of which
minute descriptions both in French and English have
been preserved,20 Antony and the Lord Scales, the
brother of the queen, and, next to Edward himself.
the foremost among English knights, put each other's
prowess to the proof, and conceived a mutual admiration and esteem. By all the nobles of what might
be called the queen's faction the Burgundian alliance
20 The contemporary English ac- It claims the victory for -the English
count of this celebrated tournament knight, as Lamarche does for the
is printed in the Excerpta Historica. Burgundian.




464      POSITIONS OF CHARLES AND LOUIS.  [BOOK II.
was viewed with the highest favor; and the king,
indolent as a politician, but animated by an ardent
sympathy in all the tastes and pursuits of chivalry,
inclined naturally to the same side.
Louis, however, does not seem to have been deeply
troubled by the report of an alliance which was to be
founded on sympathy of tastes and cemented by the
courtesies of chivalry. He imagined that the spring
on which depended the conduct of the English government lay elsewhere, and that the moment had
arrived when it was to be submitted to his own touch.
He knew that Warwick stood at the head of the
English nobility; that he exercised a vast influence
over the people; that he was reputed to be the most
skilful soldier and the most astute politician in the
realm; that his hand was supposed to have placed
Edward upon the throne, and to be strong enough to
unseat him if the pleasure-loving prince should prove
ungrateful.  Of what use to seek an alliance either
with York or with Lancaster?  Neither house had
any true basis of its own in the affections or the prejudices of the nation. Warwick, who to-day upheld
the one, might to-morrow overturn it and reinstate
the other.  The king was but a pageant; with the
kizg-?nalcer resided the substantial power. We have
seen the eagerness with which, in 1463, Louis had
looked forward to a promised interview with the
great English earl. In that year, however, his hopes
were disappointed; Warwick did not visit France.21
21 It is stated by many English to France, in 1463 or 1464, for the
historians that Warwick went over purpose of negotiating a marriage




CHAP. I.]    POSITIONS OF CHARLES AND  LOUIS.                  465
But in the present summer, (1467,) while Philip the
Good lay on his death-bed, while the Great Bastard
was still at the English court, - at a moment, therefore, doubly critical, —the earl crossed the channel
and landed on the shores of Normandy. The king,
accompanied by the queen and her ladies, awaited
him at Rouen, and in the reception which he gave
him was profuse in demonstrations of cordiality and
joy. A solemn procession of the clergy, headed
by the prelates of the province with pontifical cross
and  banner, went forth  to  meet him, and  escorted
him to the cathedral, where service was performed
and thanks were offered up for his safe arrival.22  The
nobles of his suite were sumptuously lodged; and
the merchants of the town had orders to supply them,
at the king's expense, with whatever articles might
please their taste; so that these English, says the
chronicler, who had come over in the meanest attire,
between Edward and the Princess  written by Sir Robert Neville, an
Bonne of Savoy, a sister of the  agent and kinsman of Warwick:
French queen; that, on his return, " Mon beau cousin de Warvy n'est
he found the king already engaged, venu par de ch ainsi comme il avoit
or privately wedded, to Elizabeth  promis."  (Commines, ed. Dupont,
Woodville; and that his resentment tom. iii., Preuves, p. 212.)  The
on this account was the original writer mentions the regret expressed
source of his subsequent breach with  at the court of Burgundy that Warthe Yorkist sovereign. Lingard and  wick had failed to keep the appointSharon Turner have discarded this  ment. Nevertheless the common
story as improbable and as rest-  account - as not unfrequently turns
ing on no contemporaneous author-  out to have been the case - rested
ity. In addition to the arguments  on a foundation of fact, while the
adduced by them, and the silence of conclusions which have been drawn
French writers like Chastellain and  from the detection of its inaccuracy
De Troyes, conclusive evidence may  are essentially unsound. See post,
be found in the language of a let- vol. ii., Book III., ch. 1, note 14.
ter, dated November 17, 1464, and    22 De Troyes,Lenglet, tom. ii. p.63.
VOL. I.       59




466       POSITIONS OF CHARLES AND LOUIS.  [BOOK II.
were seen dressed, at their departure, in the costliest
satins, velvets, and.other rich stuffs.23  Warwick was
accommodated with, apartments in a convent adjoining the royal residence; but, as if the facilities thus
afforded for communication were not sufficient, Louis
ordered a passage to be opened in the partition wall
between the buildings.
Of what passed in their daily and nightly conferences we have no trustworthy account.  But it is
certain that the two parties arrived at a good understanding in regard to the objects which. they
severally had in view; and it is not difficult to
conjecture what these objects were.  Warwick had
reached that point which presents itself in every
great career, where strenuous efforts, crowned with
success, have raised a man to the summit of his desires, but where he discovers that no repose, no secure
enjoyment, is possible for him; that the foundations
of his greatness are unstable; that he has himself
heaped together materials that may be used for his
own destruction; and that a thousand internal hinderances have sprung into activity at the moment
when all outward obstacles have been vanquished
and put down. With irresistible ardor and with irnplacable hostility he had overthrown, pursued, and
all but exterminated the enemies of the house of
York. He had laid the prince whose cause he had
23 "Unde omnes ferme comitis tiosis laneis pannis (quos Rothomaejusdem stipatores, qui cum laneis gum, pro caeteris regni urbibus, mitet communibus venerant vestimentis'tere solet,) in Angliam sunt reveramicti, damasceno et veluto, vel pre-'si." Basin, tom. ii. p. i79.




CHAP.:.]'  POSITIONS OF CHARLES -AND LOUIS.  467
espoused under obligations'too great to be repaid.
He had imagined that, under a sovereign of Edward,'s
temperament, his dream of power would be amply
realized, and he should be able to exercise an undisputed control over' the affairs of the kingdom. Doubtless his line of. policy would, in many respects, have
been advantageous to the interests not only of his
party, but of his country. At'home he would have
firmly established the': power of the reigning house,
and extinguished the last embers of a civil war which
had long distracted the land. By a solid peace with
France, and a free acknowledgment of the rights. of
it's lawful. monarch, he, would have effaced the recollections of much. glory, indeed, but also of much
shame; he.' would have closed a breach which had
originated in a state of things now  happily:extinct; and he would have. stifled illusive dreams of
future conquests which dazzled the national mind
and prevented it from recognizing the changes that
had taken. place. He would, also, by securing the
confidence of the French. king, have deprived the
exiled adherents of Lancaster of the protection which
they received in his dominions, and of the hopes of
assistance:which, from policy, he still' allowed them
to' indulge. But' no sooner had Warwick achieved
those victories that might have: been turned'to such
good account..than he:' lost that ascendancy over
Edward's mind which was the mainspring' of all his
plans.. Edward's.. was- one'of those characters that
require for the development or display of their higher
qualities the pressure of constant opposition, of great




468      POSITIONS OF CHARLES AND LOUIS.  [BOOK-II.
emergencies, of desperate circumstances. In ordinary
situations he displayed neither talent nor resolution;
he sank into sloth and self-indulgence, and willingly
surrendered himself to the guidance of inferior minds
which urged him to no exertion and demanded of him
no sacrifice. By his unsuccessful opposition to the
king's marriage with Elizabeth Woodville, Warwick
not only stimulated into activity the aversion with
which Edward secretly regarded him, but he also gave
occasion for the formation of a strong party in the
court which aimed openly to accomplish his downfall.
He was too powerful to be at once discarded; but he
saw the necessity of seeking new elements of support;
and that alliance with the French monarch which he
had formerly courted in the interests of his sovereign
and his country he now regarded as the anchor by
which his own fortunes were to be saved from shipwreck.
Louis, on his part, had two contingencies in view.
If Warwick were able to maintain his ground against
his enemies, the existing truce between the two countries would be renewed, and the plotted coalition
between Edward and the dukes of Burgundy and
Brittany would fall to the ground. But if Warwick
should be disgraced, what followed? He then became the lever by which the present government,
established by himself, might be overturned, or those
intestine divisions in England be prolonged the continuance of which was the best security for France
against the deadliest of all her perils.24
24 Commines makes a remark to the same effect; but more explicit




CHAP. I.]  POSITIONS OF CHARLES AND LOUIS.    469
On the 18th of June the two confederates separated. Louis returned to his capital, where he received a letter from the new duke of Burgundy
acquainting him with Philip's death. Warwick, on
his return to England, was received by his sovereign
with a burst of indignation and reproach. His mission, undertaken with the trivial pretext of complaining of some violations of the truce, was disavowed;
and the French envoys whom he had brought with
him were with difficulty admitted to a single audience. In fact, the earl, in the step he had just taken,
had committed himself more deeply than he had
anticipated. He might not have meditated treason;
he might not have broached his grievances in the ear
of a foreign monarch, or accepted his suggestions as
to the means of obtaining redress; but the world was
not slow to perceive the real motive with which, at
such a moment, he had visited the French king, and
the consequences, however remote, to which their
interview pointed. It afforded a pretext for depriving
Warwick of his ascendancy in the government, while
it undermined his popularity and thus weakened his
chances of revenge. He had sought the friendship
of a prince who was looked upon by the nobles of
every land as an enemy to their order and to the
consecrated ideas of chivalry; and he had desired to
pledge the nation to an alliance which, preserving
the recollections and traditions of glorious conquests,
confirmation of the view taken in the himself several years later, which
text in regard to the policy of Louis we shall have occasion to cite.
will be found in a letter written by




470     POSITIONS OF.CHARLES AND LOUIS.  [BooK'II.
it still regarded with abhorrence. The duke of Biurgundy, on the other hand,' the mirror of chivalry,:
the founder of the Toison d'Or, the defender of feudal
rights, - was justly entitled to the sympathies of the
English lords; while the extensive commerce carried
on between England and the Netherlands had formed
the ground of peaceful and intimate relations for
many centuries.
Thus the party divisions in France and in England,
long disconnected, were again interwoven with each
other. The time, however, had not yet arrived for
the development of these intrigues. Warwick, by the.
course he had taken, had lost that commanding influence with the masses of the Yorkist faction which he
had acquired by his skill and courage in leading them
to victory. To regain his former power he must begin
his career anew; he must bury the past and induce
the like oblivion. in others; he must seek associates
among those from'whom he was separated. by a sea
of blood. Warwick and Lancaster — how revolting
such- a combination!  The arch-traitor - who had
thrown the realm into confusion, who had heaped
insults on the'sacred person of majesty itself- swearing fealty to Henry, giving counsel to Margaret, exchanging vows of friendship with the Cliffords and
the Somersets, with the exiled representatives of
families whose best blood he had shed on the battlefield -and on the' scaffold, and with whom his name
was a word of infamy and horror - such a union no
head.:'but that of.:Louis could have planned, no hand
but his have' woven.




CHAP. I.}    POSITIONS'OF CHARLES AND  LOUIS.                471
That even a foreign prince, connected by a remote
line of descent with  the house  of. Lancaster, should
be. affianced  to  a daughter: of York, -  that a single
drop from  one of these  streams should  mingle with.
the. current of the  other, —  was a  thing  to  excite
wonder, if not abhorrence.25   A strife.so deadly, handed down from  one generation  to another, seemed to
spring  from   a rabid  fury  incapable  of being  cured
save by the extinction of one or other of the  hostile
races. Charles himself had felt no slight repugnance
to the match proposed for him.20   But this sentiment
was overcome  by  an  aversion  which  in  his breast
was stronger and more deeply rooted - one which
had become the dominant motive of his actions, leading  him  to  shape  and  regulate  his policy with  the
sole aim of thwarting the policy of the French king.
This hostility to Louis had now, indeed, begun to
assume its full proportions. It no longer wore the
appearance  of mere  private  discontent or internal
disaffection. It was the steady resistance of a rival
power, independent. in  its policy, hostile in its ambi25 The strength of this feeling at autre mariage de. sorte a ly, jamais
the Burgundian court reveals itself  ne se fust alie au roy Edouard; car
in the labored attempts of Chastel- avoit este tout parfaitement son conlain -who evidently shared in it -   traire en faveur du sang de Lancasto justify the duke's abandonment tre, dont il estoit.... Accepta le
of the Lancastrian party and his al- mariage, et promist d'aller avant,
liance with the house of York. He  contrer cuer toutesfois, comme lyreturns to the subject again and again, mesmes le confessa'a tel qui le me
laying the blame on Louis, whose in- revela depuis; mbs ce fit-il, par corsidious policy had driven the Bur- rage d'amer mieux fouler et grever
gundian sovereign into this repulsive  autrui, qu'estre gr6ve ne foule."
connection.                       Chastellain, p. 425. - And see Com26,, S'il y eust eu en Angleterre  mines, tom. i, p. 230.




472     POSITIONS OF CHARLES AND LOUIS.  [BOOx II.
tion.  During the last quarter of a century the
French monarchy, loosened from the grasp of the foreigner, had been rapidly recruiting its energies, and
gradually acquiring for itself a more secure position
and a more solid basis. During the same period a
new monarchy had been growing up, partly within
and partly without the boundaries of France, acknowledging a partial subjection to the French crown,
but maintaining, in truth, a separate existence, strong
enough to be dangerous as a neighbor and still more
dangerous as an inmate. Under Charles the Seventh
and Philip the Good the development of these two
powers had proceeded without interruption, but without collision. Neither of these princes had neglected
any opportunity of extending and consolidating his
dominions or aggrandizing his authority. But in both
ambition was tempered by other characteristics -in
Charles by a natural moderation of character not
incompatible with a far-sighted intellect; in Philip
by a more limited range of vision, and by the selfcomplacency of one who had never been compelled
to wrestle with fortune. Both, also, were influenced
by feelings and recollections which led them to treat
with caution such subjects of controversy as arose
out of their mutual relations. Charles had learned
from early experience to believe that his interest lay
in maintaining not only peace but friendship with
the house of Burgundy. Philip, forced at the beginning of his career to ally himself with the enemies
of the French crown, cherished nevertheless the traditional glories of the house of, Valois, and boasted




CHAP. I.]   POSrTIONS OF CHARLES AND LOUIS.        473
that he was a "C son of France."  But the successors
of these princes were impelled by a different spirit.
Louis of France and Charles of Burgundy were alike
absorbed by ambition, alike restless and daring, alike
eager to mount from the level on which they stood
and to push to its final consequences the policy which
each had adopted from instinct rather than from reason. So far they resembled each other —in all other
respects how different!  And the ambition of each
found a constant stimulus in this contrast of character or in the mutual antipathy engendered by it.27
Their hostility was a natural but not inevitable result
of their relative positions. It was sharpened and perpetuated by the opposition of their natures- by the
pride and violence of the one, the craft and duplicity
of the other, breeding continual suspicion and jealousy, inciting to continual aggressions, and baffling
all attempts at reconcilement and peace.   "The
king," remarks Chastellain, "knew  how to recede in
order to gather himself up for a longer spring; he
knew how to grant and to yield in order to recover
double; he knew how to suffer and endure till time
and opportunity brought him his revenge. And the
duke was not less to be feared for his great courage
and resolve, his indifference to danger, his contempt
for menaces, the diligence with which he pursued his
aims, the confidence with which he looked forward to
their attainment."
27,, Entre ces deux princes de tout plus alloient avant les jours, et plus
temps y avoit rancune.... Avoient encheoient en grans diff4rens ensemconditions et meurs incompatibles, ble et en desesperables aigreurs."
et volontes toutes discordantes; et Chastellain, p. 496.
VOL. I.    60




CHAPTER II.
RENEWED WAR WITH LIEGE. - MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.BATTLE OF BRUSTEN. - SURRENDER OF LIEGE.
14 6 7.
LdGE was still in a condition of frantic, hopeless
anarchy.  An incurable malady preyed upon this
little state-a wasting fever, accompanied with delirious ravings, that consumed its vital energies.1 The
bishop still remained at Huy, refusing to return to
the capital, where a violent and blood-stained faction,
without pretending to govern, played a desperate
game, and maintained itself by murders and proscriptions.   The country was ravaged by outlaws, who
burst at times into the neighboring territory of Namur or Brabant, keeping the whole border in a perpetual alarm. The treaty remained unexecuted: the
enormous fine imposed by its stipulations was still
unpaid; and the hour must soon. arrive when the
l Bursts of senseless fury alter- are prolific of miracles. See the
nate with weak moanings and the curious particulars in Adrianus de
fantasies of superstition. The skies Veteri-Bosco and the chronicles pubgleam with prodigies; the shrines lished byDe Ram.
(474)




CHAP. II.]  RENEWED WAR'WITH LIIGE.:        475
inexorable creditor would again present himself, with
a claim made heavier by the. long delay.' The sense
of this impending ruin  the intense fear and hate!
with which Liege, glowing with the spirit of national
life, drunk with freedom, regarded the stern, cold, exacting power by whose waxing greatness it was menaced and foredoomed- had been the original: cause
of its distemper, and furnished the daily visions of its
distraught imagination. And on the other side stood
an insidious tempter urging its frenzy, feeding it with
stimulants, with delusive promises of aid, of a speedy
release from the dread spectre -that oppressed it.
Humbercourt, who had been left at Liege to represent the duke, to remind the people that they were
now virtually subjects of the house of Burgundy, to
warn them of the certain consequences of any infraction of the treaty, soon found himself powerless to
arrest the mischief, and stood aloof from the gang of
desperadoes that managed the popular assemblies, a
silent spectator of the drownings, beheadings, and confiscations by which the ecclesiastics and the wealthier
citizens were kept in terror and submission. Yet he
courted popularity with the masses, enrolled himself
as a member of one of the guilds, and received the.
rights-of citizenship. At the same time he reported
to his sovereign all that occurred, and kept a vigilant
watch on the agents of the French king that were
ever passing to and fro, and on the movements of
the royal troops under Dammartin stationed near the
frontiers. When he perceived that a new crisis was
approaching he returned to Brussels, and acquainted




476        RENEWED WAR WITH LIEGE.       [BOOK II.
Charles that an attack was about to be made on Huy,
the people having resolved to seize their prince and
carry him to the capital, to restore at least the form
of government, perhaps to serve as a hostage for the
forbearance of his kinsman and ally. A small force,
under the Sire de Bossut, was despatched in haste to
defend the town until more adequate assistance could
be sent. The enemy arrived - a confused multitude,
burghers, Companions of the Green Tent, all the wandering bands that scoured the land and were attracted
by the hope of plunder, carrying their various banners, and armed with crossbows, culverins, and pikes.
They were unprovided with cannon for battering the
walls; but parties of picked men, acquainted with
all the defiles and winding paths of the rocky hills
that overlooked the place, patrolled its circuit until
they found an unguarded spot, and obtained possession of the outer defences. Louis of Bourbon turned
pale with terror at the prospect of at last meeting his
subjects face to face. He besought Bossut, instead of.
attempting a defence, to conduct him from the place
while there was yet time for escape. The Burgundian officer, supposing that the main object of his
mission was to protect the person of the bishop, did
not think himself at liberty to refuse this request.
But, on their arrival at Brussels, he met with a reception from his sovereign which undeceived him on this
point. "Your duty," said the duke, "was to regard
my honor, not to listen to the prayers of a cowardly
priest." 2 As for the bishop, Charles treated him with
2 Chastellain, p. 434.




CHAP. II.]  RENEWED WAR WITH LIEGE.           477
unconcealed disdain.' The mitre and the stole were
but a poor excuse for pusillanimity in the successor
of Henry of Gueldres and many another brave soldier, who had ruled the bishopric of Liege in former
times, and whose hands had been more familiar with
the knightly lance than with the pastoral staff. But it
was the honor not of Louis of Bourbon, but of
Charles of Burgundy, that was now at stake; and
preparations were made for renewing the war in a
manner that should show the rebels with whom they
had to deal. The summons to the field was sent
abroad by heralds, who bore in one hand a flaming
torch, in the other a naked sword —tokens of the
merciless spirit in which the contest was to be
waged.3
Was there any reason to suppose that the king of
France would step forward, at this juncture, to fulfil,
at last, the pledges so often broken and so often renewed? He had a large force still on foot in Normandy and Champagne. Dammartin, with several
hundred lances, was posted at Mezieres, in the near
neighborhood of Liege, with the ostensible purpose
of protecting the frontiers against the predatory
bands that infested all the adjacent territory, to whatever party it belonged. His secret instructions, no
doubt, were of a different purport, but obscure in
tenor and expression. The chief object of his presence at this point, as he well understood, must be to
3a, Tenoient en une main une es- de sang." De Troyes, Lenglet, tom.
pen toute nui, et en l'autre une'torche ii. p. 66.
alumee, qui signifoit guerre de feu et




478           ENEWED WEAR WITH LIEGE.'        [BOOK II.
give courage'to' the people of Liege, and to overawe
the aggressor.  But was he, at the decisive moment,
to remain a mere spectator, or to join them in resisting the attack?   This was more than he himself
could tell; and it was in vain that he. applied to
Louis' for more. definite orders.4  The king, however,
was not idle. He' despatched more than one embassy
to Charles requesting him  to. suspend his preparations.  A papal legate resident in France,'was persuaded to undertake a similar mission. It was scarcely
to be expected that these appeals would have any,
effect in shaking the determination of the duke. Nevertheless, in. making. them, the king was perfectly
sincere.. He had the interests of his allies too deeply
at heart to abandon their cause without endeavoring
to obtain a substantial equivalent in return.  With
this object in view he intrusted the matter to. the:
negotiation of the Constable' Saint-Pol..Louis of Luxembourg, count of: Sain-Pol, was the.
representative of a family which had given a line of
kings to Bohemia and of emperors to Germany.' His
vast estates lay chiefly in Picardy, the' border land
of France and Belgium, and, in fact, a debatable land,
having: afforded a subject of contention to the sovereigns of these two countries, and having already
thrice passed from the possession of the one into that
of the- other.' On-':.the last occasion Saint-Pol himself
4 "Envoyez-moy plus ample puis- en toutes autres choses." Lettre de
sance que n'avez fait dernierement, Dammartin au Roy, Lenglet,:tom, ii.
et me mandez comme je m'y gou- p. 632.
verneray, et je le feray, et en cela et




'CHAP. II.]      MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.                 479
had been mainly instrumental in effecting the transfer. By his influence with the nobles of the province,
among whom he: was the first both in rank and wealth,
he had secured their defection from  the royal cause
and their adherence to that of the confederates.
From  childhood he had been trained to war and
familiarized  with  its most cruel and  revolting  features.5   Haughty, stern, ambitious, luxurious in  his
habits, famed for valor and. prowess, and well skilled
in the military tactics of the age, he might have
seemed, at first sight, the very type of the feudal
warrior.  But, whether from  the latent instincts of
his nature or the necessities of his situation, the part
he played in later life was one that demanded a supple disposition, consummate address, and a mind thoroughly versed in all the stratagems of policy.
His personal relations with  the two great rivals
between whom he stood were no less ambiguous than
his position and his character. A vassal of the house
of Burgundy, he had aspired to power and distinction
at the court of Philip the Good. But his pretensions,,founded on lofty birth and hereditary wealth, were
too openly displayed to suit the taste of Philip, who
was ever more ready to remind him of the protection
5 It is related of him that, when  a similar lesson to young David
a boy, he was compelled by his uncle Butler. " Tavie, my dear, you hae
and guardian, a noted partisan-chief- Smelled pouther for the first time
tain, to hew off the heads of a batch; this day - take my sword and hack
of prisoners, as they knelt in the' off Donacha's head, whilk will be
courtyard of his castle.with their coot practice'for you' against the
hands tied behind their backs. Dun- time you may wish to do the same
~can of Knockdunder, as the reader kindness to a living shentleman."
may remember, was desirous to give Heart of Midlothian.




480          MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.      [BOOK II.
for which he was indebted to his sovereign than to
promote his ambitious views. On the other hand, the
Croys, whom Saint-Pol, as we have seen, regarded
with disdain, monopolized the ducal favor and were
advanced to the highest offices in the state. He
therefore attached himself to the count of Charolais,
then brooding over similar repulses, became his chosen
counsellor and confidant, joined him in overthrowing
the Croys, assisted him in raising forces to attack the
king of France, and rendered essential services in the
War of the Public Weal.
His reward for these services had been the sword
of France, bestowed on him by the monarch against
whom his own sword had so lately been unsheathed.
This was a dazzling elevation, but one calculated
rather to stimulate than to satisfy ambition such as
his.  The office of constable, if it were not worn
merely as an empty honor, must bring him into the
closest personal connection with Louis. His place
was at the king's side, in the cabinet and in the
field;" and in this position there was no height of
influence or power which he might not hope to reach.
But he was still the vassal of Burgundy. His sons,
in accordance with a common custom, had been educated at the court of Burgundy, and now filled places
in the ducal household. His estates in Picardy, which
had for a brief period been incorporated with the
domain of France, had again, through his own efforts,
been restored to the Burgundian rule. By the same
6 " C'estoit le seul bras destre du roy, et le vrai coffr'e de son secre."
Chastellain, p. 458.




CHAP. II.]  MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.         481
act he had rendered back his allegiance to the duke
and bound himself by new ties to the king.
To serve two such masters as these might well be
thought impossible. Yet to make an election between
them was not easy. He dared not renounce his feudal obligations to the one; neither'could he turn
away from the bright prospects which the other presented to his view. All that was required'of him by
Charles was the duty of a vassal; all that he could
expect in return was the protection which the suzerain was bound to render to his vassal. Personal
influence over that haughty and self-reliant mind,an admission to participate in its dreams of conquest
and of glory, — he could scarcely hope to obtain.
Louis, on the other hand, overflowed with gratitude
to those who embraced his cause. He - unlocked to
them the secrets of his heart - or seemed to do so.
His fertile intellect devised schemes for their advancement more brilliant than their most daring hopes
could have conceived. In a word, the one looked
coldly on the ambition of his friends, the other fanned
it to a livelier flame.
In the year 146.6, Saint-Pol, being then a widower, had offered his hand to Margaret of Bourbon,
a sister-in-law of Charles, who had been bred at
the Burgundian court, where she still resided. His
proposals were rejected  the lady, perhaps, not
choosing to wed a man whose years nearly doubled
hers, and' the duke having as little inclination' to
see the aspiring blood of Luxembourg united with
a stream in which he had mingled his own.  The
VOL. I.    61




482         MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.     [BOOK II.
king of France had no fear or jealousy of this kind.
In the ducal house of Savoy, with which, as we
have seen, he himself was doubly allied, he found
a wife for Saint-Pol, another for the constable's son,
and a husband for his daughter. He gave him the
lieutenancy of Normandy, the post once held by
the count of Charolais.  Like the manager of a
theatre, who changes the casts of his pieces in. order
to test the various merits of his performers, Louis
now assigned to Saint-Pol the part which had before. been so unskilfully played by Nevers. He was
to be a bulwark against the house of Burgundy, a
check upon its movements, a thorn in its side. Personally he might be made useful as a go-between —
professing equal love to both parties, but in fact devoted to the interests of the king, as those with
which his own ulterior views, if not his present fortunes, were identified.
It was in the guise, therefore, of a mediator, rather
than of an envoy, that Saint-Pol now appeared before
the duke to make such representations as might induce the latter to consent to an accommodation with
his sovereign. The tone he affected was that of a
good and loyal vassal, whose duty it was to tender
his best advice to a young and inexperienced prince,
to whom he was bound alike by the ties of allegiance
and by those of personal affection. He began accordingly by intimating that, in recommencing the war
against Liege, Charles would be giving just cause of
complaint to the king of France, who regarded the
people, of that state as his allies, included in the




CHAP. II.]     MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL,             483
existing treaties, and entitled, in case they should
be attacked, to his assistance and protection.  "Fair
cousin," exclaimed the duke, stopping at once these
diplomatic feints, such as he seldom listened to with
patience, "hold, I pray you, and speak to me no longer
in this strain.  Whatever may be before me, whatever fortune Heaven may design for me, I will set
my army in the field and will march it against: Liege.
I will know, once for all, whether I am to be master
or varlet. Whoever wishes to turn me from this purpose, or to throw any impediment in my way, let him
come, in God's name; I shall be prepared to meet
him."7  This interruption did not put an end to the
constable's meanderings, but merely turned them into
a somewhat different course. The king, he said, could
not be blamed for interposing in behalf of a people
with whoin he was connected by ancient bonds of
friendship and alliance, and who besieged him daily
with petitions and entreaties for assistance, and with
reproaches for the apparent indifference with, which
he had twice already seen them attacked and overthrown. The duke might well content himself with
the triumphs he had already gained, with the blood
that had been already shed. Let him remember the
instability of fortune, and seek glory rather by reestablishing the prosperity of this unhappy people
7 "l Beau cousin, tenez-vous-en k ceste fois se je serai maistre ou vartant et ne m'en parlez plus, car let. Et dont et qui m'en vouldra
quelque chose que avenir me doie, destourner et y mettre empeichene qu'il plaira'a Dieu m'en envoyer, ment, viengne, de par Dieu soit! et
je mettrai mon armde sur les champs, il me trouvera pour respondre."
et la tournerai en Liege; si sqarai a Chastellain, p. 437.




484         MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.      [BOOK II.
than by their utter' ruin and desolation.  Charles
listened  to'the long harangue of which this was the
substance with an air'of moody resolution. Its hypocrisy was too shallow to bewilder so clear an intellect. "The king," he'at length exclaimed, "desires
that the people of Liege should remain at peace.
Why, then, does he not put a stop to the outrages
which' they daily commit? Why does he not restrain
their violence? Is it I who have broken the peace?
What'new provocation have I given them that has
led them to invade my dominions, lay -waste- my territories, and harass my subjects?  But lately they
have seized in Luxembourg a gentleman of the'country, one of my vassals, tortured him, and put him to
death. Enough, fair'Cousin. I shall never again
know joy at heart till I have taken vengeance for
these insults.  There is neither king nor emperor
who shall turn me from this emprise."8
Thus foiled in both attacks, Saint-Pol now shifted
his ground and chose another method of approach.
He turned the conversation on the subject of the
general relations between France and Burgundy,
lamenting the absence of that cordiality which ought
to exist between princes so nearly connected by
blood,'and' hinting that Charles, in seeking an alliance with the English, had estranged himself from
the interests of France, and wounded the honor' of
that royal house from which he was himself descended, and whose rights he was bound to uphold. This
was a reproach to which the duke could not be alto8 Chastellain, p. 438.




CHAP. II.]   MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.         485
gether insensible, conscious as he was that, in imitating the' policy of his grandfather, John the Fearless,
rather than that of his father, Philip the Good, he was
running counter to the instincts of the French nation,
and could scarcely expect to carry with hiin the sympathies even' of his' own vassals. Following up his
advantage, the constable ended with a proposal to
extinguish all present differences between the king
and the duke by a truce of a year's duration, in which
the allies of either party should be included.' The
king's allies!" replied Charles, with undisguised sarcasm, "who are they?  If-Li6ge be meant, I have
already given you an answer."  Then, referring to,the accusation which had touched him  nearest, he,
protested that- it was the course pursued by..the
French monarch'-the hostility he had ever shown
to.the princes of the blood - which had driven him
to a step doubly repugnant to his feelings, compelling a member of the house of Valois to ally himself
with England, a descendant of the house of Lancaster
to intermarry with'that of York. In conclusion, the
most he would consent to was a truce of six months,
provided that it should embrace also the dukes of
Normandy and Brittany. The limit which he set
was a sufficient indication of his ulterior intentions.9
While his envoy remained at Brussels Louis plied
him with messages day after day, making inquiries
in regard to the state of the negotiation. Failing
the proposals he had already sent, there remained
an alternative proposition which he designed to put
9 Chastellain, pp. 438, 439.




486            MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.             [BOOK II.
forward when the proper moment should arrive.
He now summoned the constable to Paris, where he
detained him, however, but a single night, and again
despatched him to his post. Saint-Pol found the duke
preparing to quit Brussels for Louvain, the place appointed for the muster of the different levies; and
thither he accompanied him. The warlike host had
already assembled.10  The fields around the town were
white with tents; while the streets were crowded with
troops and with trains of baggage wagons and artillery.
No other country could, in that age, have. furnished, at
short notice, so numerous and well-appointed an army;
and only in that age, and under the system of military tenure, could such an army have been raised in
a country of no greater extent.  Besides the men-atarms and the mounted archers whom the holders of
fiefs were bound to bring into the field, the towns
had contributed pikemen and other infantry in quotas
proportioned to their population. If we could credit
the statement of a chronicler who served in the campaign, the whole force, including camp-followers,
amounted to a hundred thousand men."1 Words
were no longer needed to proclaim the unalterable
purpose of the duke. But doubtless he would be
well content to learn that, in the execution of. that
10 Chastellain, p. 442.     son armee bien cent mille hommes."
1 "A celle fois le duc avoit trente Haynin, tom. i. p. 82. -" Son armee
mille payes aux champs passez k estoit tres grosse: car tout ce qui
monstre; de quoy il faut deux ar- estoit peu venir de Bourgongne, s'eschers i cheval pour une paye,... toit venu joindre avec luy: et ne luy
sans compter les autres suivants un veiz jamais tant de gens ensemble, B
camp, et dont l'on ne se peut passer, beaucoup pres." Commines, tom. i.
de sorte, que l'on tient qu'il avoit en p. 124.




CHAP. II.]   MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.           487
purpose, he would encounter no opposition from the
king.  This assurance the royal envoy was now prepared to give. He demanded only, in return, that
Charles should remain equally indifferent while Louis
took measures for bringing to a settlement his present differences with the duke of Brittany.  In other
words, he proposed to the Burgundian prince to
imitate his own policy by deserting his allies at the
moment of their necessity. Had Louis himself been
present, plausible and subtle arguments would not
have been wanting to obscure the true character of
this proposal. He had not yet learned how all such
refinements were wasted on a straightforward and
resolute mind. Broached by Saint-Pol, the offer was
met by a sharp and absolute refusal; and, as he continued to press it, Charles turned upon him a warning
glance, and reminded him that, though constable of
France, he was still the subject of the house of Burgundy.'CThe fairest of your possessions," he said,
"lie in my dominions.  Your son is present with
me in the camp. Had I been so minded, I might
have summoned you to the field in person; and that
summons you dared not have disregarded.  Reflect
well on what you do, fair cousin; for assuredly, if
the king meddles with my affairs, it will not be to
your advantage." 12
This menace had for the moment its effect. SaintPol felt that he was treading a slippery path. He
hastened to disavow the mission with which he had
12 C" Si que, pensez bien k vostre fort de ma guerre, si ne sera ce point
cas: car se le roy se veult meller au a vostre preu." Chastellain, p. 442.




488          MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.      [BOOK II.
been intrusted, protested his unfaltering devotion to
his rightful sovereign, and promised, in returning to
France, to employ himself more efficiently in the
service of the duke than if he were to accompany
him in his expedition, by using his best exertions to
prevent the king from violating the existing truce.
The lightning of Charles's eye subsided; but his
mien and language were cold and repellent.  "I
could well desire," he replied, " that the king shouldabstain from taking part against me with these rebellious villains, excommunicated by the express
sentence of our Holy Father. Nevertheless, I leave
him to act as he shall think necessary. And for
you, fair cousin, I do not interfere with your course.
It may be profitable to both parties; but, however
you may shape it, you will receive no instructions
or commands from me." 13
The impression left by this conversation on the
mind of Saint-Pol could not but be that of unqualified
chagrin. Standing between princes thus hostile, thus
matched, and dependent on both, he aspired, by a
dexterous use of his position, to obtain an influence
over each — to be the mediator between them, and
the umpire of their quarrel. Such an influence he
might suppose himself to have gained over the mind
of Louis; for that prince was ready enough to yield
a show of ascendancy to those who, in fact, were
merely the instruments of his designs.  But the
haughty and unbending character of Charles rejected
even the shadow of control; and, while he exacted
13 Idem, p. 443.




CHAP. II.]   MEDIATION OF SAINT-POL.         489
the service that was his due, he:looked with a chilling
indifference on the exuberant demonstrations of an
officious zeal. It. was in this manner that he had
received the excuses and advances of the constable,
when, by a different course, their former amity would
have been restored. Saint-Pol might well contrast
such' treatment with the marks of confidence and
friendship which he was accustomed to receive from
the king. But this thought only deepened his mortification, as he reflected on thle failure of his mission
and the unsatisfactory account which he must carry
back to Paris -a feeling that predominated over every
other when he waited on the duke to take leave of
him, and found him equipped for the field and in the
act, of mounting'his horse. Turning towards the constable with a meaning look, Charles expressed his
desire, in the hearing of those who stood by, that, during' his absence, the king would refrain from offering
any molestation to the duke of Brittany.  "Monseigneur," exclaimed Saint-Pol, "you leave us no choice;
you bid us remain quiet and not attack our enemies,
while you choose your own time to march against
yours. It cannot be; the king will not endure it."
Charles preserved his cool demeanor; but his reply
was trenchant and decisive. "The people of Liege,"
he said, "c are assembled; within three days I expect
to have a battle. If I lose it, I doubt not that you
will act your pleasure; but if I win, you will leave
the Bretons in peace."'4 With this answer, which
14 "Les Liegois sont assemblez, et m'attens d'avoir la bataille avant
VOL. I.    62




490              RENEWED  WAR  WITH  LIEGE.                  [BOOK II.
showed that he clearly understood the state of his
adversary's game, he mounted his horse and rode off.
The first corps, or advanced guard, under the Sire
de Ravenstein, had already crossed the frontier, and
commenced the *ar of "fire and blood" which had
been proclaimed by the heralds.'s The fields were
laid waste, the villages plundered and burned, and the
inhabitants put to the sword. Even convents and
other sacred edifices were not exempted from  pillage
by these defenders of the Church.'6 An attempt was
also made to surprise Huy; but the town had been
strongly garrisoned, and the resistance was animated
by the presence of Pentecote d'Arkel, the wife of
Raes de Heers, a woman of masculine character and
of those martial instincts in which  her husband was
notoriously deficient.l7 Charles, with the main body
qu'il soit trois jours.  Si je la pers,  compellerent....  Dicebant enim
je croy bien que vous ferez a vostre  imperatorie ad illas scurri:'Exuite
guise; mais aussi, si je la gaigne,  vos sine mora.' At illee inexorabiles
vous laisserez en paix les Bretons."  hostes aspicientes, coram facie eorum
Commines, tom. i. p. 123.           exuebant se vestimenta sua ad ca-'5 "Commencerent a brusler de-  missam usque.... Sed quis non obdans le pays de Liege en divers lieux,  stupescat magno Dei munere factum
et mettre tout au sac, espee et flam-  esse, ut cum bona mobilia perdere
me."  Haynin, tom. i. p. 82.        cogerentur, thesaurum  castitatis in16 See the particulars in Henricus  comparabilem integerrime conservade Merica, De Ram, pp. 164, 165. rent, nec illarum ulla, quantumlibet
- He adds, as something scarcely  speciosa, reperta est pati violentiam."
less than miraculous, that the nuns,   17 Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco, Amthough despoiled even of their wear-  pliss. Col., tom. iv. p. 1316. — Joing apparel, were enabled to preserve  hannes de Los, who in his boyhood
their chastity - a fact indicative of  had seen this " Jezebel," as he calls
the influence which Charles's well her, retained a vivid impression of
known sentiments exercised over his  her fierce and haughty bearing. His
followers even in his absence. " Tam   mother, the wife of a wealthy exile,
procax insolentia, ut ancillas Christi went, with her six children, to pread exuendum  vestimenta rigorose  sent a petition to De Heers and his




CHAP. II.]    RENEWED WAR WITH LIEGE.               491
of the army, entered the principality by the same
route as in his first expedition. Crossing La Hesbaye,
which, like the Scottish border-land in the olden time,
had been for ages the scene of a perpetual predatory
warfare, and of which the proverb said that " He who
enters it to-day must expect a combat on the morrow,"'l he prepared to lay siege to Saint-Trond, the
town where he had before made his head-quarters,
but where a garrison of three thousand men, commanded by an experienced officer, now manned the
walls and refused his summons to surrender.
In the mean time a force hastily mustered in the
capital had been sent out to meet the invaders.  It
consisted of some twenty thousand men, nearly all
foot soldiers, armed with long pikes and with culverins -a name then applied not, as at a later period,
to a species of cannon, but to a rude kind of musket.
The chiefs were Raes de Heers, Barre Surlet, and
other prominent agitators.   The Sire de Bierlo, a
man of undoubted bravery, carried the great standard of Saint Lambert.
The two armies reached the neighborhood of SaintTrond almost simultaneously. The duke appeared
before that town on the afternoon of October 27; and
the enemy reached Brusten, a village half a league
distant, on the same evening. On the following
morning Charles drew up his forces in order of battle.
wife. The internecine nature'of the patriam profugati mendicemus prae
struggle of parties in Liege is shown egestate et pereamus inhonest.'" De
by the answer. "' Melius enim esse,' Ram, p. 49.
inquiunt,' quam tu et tui mendicitati  18 "Que nul ne passe le Habsbain,
sint obnoxii et pereant, quam nos qu'il ne soit combatu le lendemain."
nostrique, vobis procurantibus, extra Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 273.




492            BATTLE OF BRUSTEN.           [BOOK II.
It was all-important that, on this occasion, his arms
should meet with no reverse. The king was watching every movement; a royal envoy, the bailiff of
Lyons, was present in the enemy's ranks, and Darnmartin, close at hand, waited only for a signal to take
part in the contest. Moreover, the prestige of victory
was necessary to a new prince leading his vassals to
the field in person. He therefore made his dispositions with the greatest care - no longer, as at MontIhery, ambitious to exhibit his personal prowess, but
aspiring to the reputation of a skilful and experienced
commander.  Mounted on a small horse, he rode
from troop to troop, giving his orders to his officers
from a written paper which he carried in his hand.
The ground was level, but intersected in various
places by an extensive morass. Ditches and hedgerows, which formed the boundaries of the fields around
the village, also offered impediments to the movements of cavalry. A few thousand men, including
five hundred English archers, remained under the
walls of Saint-Trond, in case a- sally should be attempted by the garrison; Ravenstein, with the corps
under his command, was sent forward to the attack;
while the remaining divisions were held in reserve,
but so posted as to form a new front of battle on
ground better suited to the operations of such a force.
In case, therefore, the first corps was driven back, the
further the enemy advanced the greater the resistance
he would encounter and the more certain his defeat.'9
19 Haynin, tom. i. pp. 84, 85. -Lamarche, tom. ii. pp. 273, 274.Commines, tom. i. p. 127.




CHAP. II.]       BATTLE OF BRUSTEN.                 493
The men of Liege were well supplied with artillery;
and, as the Burgundian troops made their approach
through a wood that skirted the road, the branches
crashed around them, and echoes from: every glade
multiplied the reports.20  At:length the open fields
were reached.  A halt was called.  The archers dismounted, and, picking their way across the marsh,
began, with well directed volleys, to drive back the
parties of the enemy posted behind: the hedges and
to capture the artillery.  But, as soon as their arrows
and other missiles were spent, they were forced to
retreat in turn; for the men-at-arms, who should
have advanced to their support, were unable to find
a passage for their horses, and the enemy's pikemen,
closing their ranks, and charging with shouts of triumph, drove all before them, killed a considerable
number, and threw the whole corps into confusion.21
The Burgundian ensigns wavered and turned, and
it seemed as if the day were lost.22  But the excellence of the duke's arrangements was now made
apparent. The archers of the "battle, or main corps,
unsheathing the long two-handed swords which they
used in close combat, raised a loud cheer, and assailed
the advancing pikemen with such impetuosity that
in a moment these half-trained soldiers were discom20 " Le bruict... estoit le plus  2' Commines, tom. i. p. 128. —
hideux que n'oyz jamais, a cause du Haynin, ubi supra.
coup qui en redondoit comme en ser-  22 " Branloient toutes nos enrent le son dedans lesdictz arbres, seignes, comme gens presque deset qui donnoit souvent k l'encontre confitz." Commines, ubi supra.
desdictz arbres et branches." Halvnin, tom. i. p. 86.




494                 BATTLE OF BRIUSTEN.                [~ BOOK II.
fited and scattered.23  The panic soon spread through
the whole- army.  De Heers was among  the  first to
fly. Here and there some more courageous leader
rallied his men and made a momentary stand. Barre
Surlet was slain; Bierlo was wounded; but the great
standard, torn, and soiled with dust, was carried off
by the fugitives. The cannons, tents, and wagons
were all captured. The pursuit, however, soon closed;
for night came on, and the same obstacles which had
prevented  the cavalry from  taking any efficient part
in the battle rendered it impossible for them to follow up the victory.24
The slain were variously estimated at from two to
nine thousand. The lowest number is the most likely
to have been correct.25   But chande alone had  saved
the forces of Liege from  extermination.26   As it was,
their defeat had been  decisive.  As soon  as he had
retired  to his quarters the duke called for his secretary, and dictated a letter to the Constable Saint-Pol
3 Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 274. -   sand as the number reported, adds,
Commines, ubi supra.             "Qui semble beaucoup A toutes gens
24 Lettre du Duc aux magistrats qui ne veullent point mentir," and
d'Ypres; Lettres de Louis Van den  notices the usual tendency to exagRive et Jean de Halewyn; Gachard, geration on such occasions. Two
Doc. Ined., tom. i. pp. 168-172. -   letter-writers firom the Burgundian
Haynin. - Commines. — Lamarche. camp agree in estimating the slain
Henricus de Merica; Theodoricus  on the enemy's side at about four
Paulus; De Ram, pp. 166, 167, thousand. Charles himself says only,
208. - The pusillanimity exhibited  " En y a' eu grant nombre de mors."
by De Heers is noticed by several   26 "N'eust este la nuyt qui surof the authorities. "N'avoit point vint, il eu fut eschappe bien peu."
la grace," remarks Haynin, " estre  Lettre du Duc, Gachard, Doc. Ined.,
renomme pour le plus hardi che- tom. i. p. 169. -" Si ce n'eust est6 la
valier."                         nuict, il en fust mort plus de quinze
25 Commines, after giving six thou- mil."  Commines, tom. i. p. 129.




CHAP. II.]     MARCH AGAINST LILGE.           495
acquainting him with the result of the combat, and
renewing his request, or rather warning, that the king
should refrain from carrying into effect his hostile
designs against the Bretons.27
On the third day after the battle, Saint-Trona,
having no longer any prospect of relief, opened its
gates. A fine was imposed upon the town, several
of the inhabitants were put to death, and the fortifications were ordered to be razed. The army then
resumed its march, scathing the country through
which it passed with flames and devastation.  The
people, fleeing at its approach, sought refuge in the
capital, from which the timid had already begun to
escape in search of a more secure place of shelter.
Tongres and other large towns followed the example
of Saint-Trond, and surrendered at discretion. On the
9th of November the duke reached Othee, at no great
distance from the capital, and the scene of the great
victory which, sixty years before, his ancestor John the
Fearless had gained over the people of the principality.28 Elated with their easy successes, and with the
prospect of the greater conquest that awaited them,
the lords and captains spent the night in revelry,dancing, drinking, and playing at dice,- staking their
respective shares of the anticipated spoils of Liege.
Yet it was still uncertain whether the enterprise
would be crowned with success. As in his first expedition, the lateness of the season and the difficulty of
obtaining supplies made it almost impossible for the
27 Commines, tom. i. p. 130.
28 Ancien Chronique, Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 190.  29 Haynin, tom. i. p. 95.




496           SURRENDER OF LIEGE.         [BOOK II.
duke to hold his forces together, and seemed to forbid
the idea of his laying siege to so strong a place, if
it should meet his summons with defiance.30 He
trusted, however, that the panic and confusion which
prevailed among the inhabitants would prevent their
making any preparations for defence. The whole
city, indeed, was a scene of tumult. Mutual recriminations distracted the counsels of the leaders. The
people no longer obeyed the orders or listened to the
persuasions of those whose audacity was ever conspicuous save in the' hour of danger. The fate which
Dinant had incurred by a hopeless resistance haunted the imaginations of all, and stifled every spark
of patriotism and of'courage. Numbers quitted the
town, and sought safety and concealment in the forests. The men of property clamored for peace; and
the clergy took the initiative by sending some of
their body'to make their peace with the bishop, who
had accompanied the army, and to request his intercession with the Burgundian prince.31
Charles at first demanded an unconditional surrender. But, moved by the entreaties that were made
to him, he at length gave a pledge that the town
should be saved from  destruction and the houses
exempted from pillage. On all other points he reserved the declaration of his will until after his admission. In the mean time he continued to advance,
and, two days later, (November 11,) took up his
quarters at the distance of half a league from the
30 Commines, tom. i. p. 138.    Ampliss. Col., tom. iv. pp. 1317,
31 Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco, 1318.




CHAP. II.]    SURRENDER OF LIEGE             497
walls. Here he was met by a deputation of the principal citizens, come to deprecate his resentment and
to tender submission on behalf of the inhabitants,
But, as it was still doubtful whether this could be regarded as the act of the whole population, Humbercourt, taking with him several of these deputies and
a small body of troops, went forward, on the same
evening, to the gate of Saint-Martin, and demanded
entrance. This being refused, he took his station in
a convent, just outside the wall, as a convenient post
from which to gain some information of the true state
of affairs within. His situation, however, was a critical one; for the ground was rugged, the night dark,
and, if attacked by a superior force, it would neither
be easy for him to retreat nor to receive succor from
the camp. "About nine o'clock," says Philippe de
Commines, who was present with this little party,
"we heard the alarm-bell ring, and suspected that
they were about to sally out upon us. And, in fact,
this suspicion was not unfounded; for they were deliberating on the matter, and some were ready to
assail us, while others opposed it." The sagacious
Humbercourt prepared a conciliatory letter, which he
sent into the town by three of the burghers whom
lie had brought with him. "If we can divert their
attention till midnight," he remarked, " they will grow
tired and sleepy; and those who wish to attack us
will begin to think of providing for their own safety."
"Soon afterwards," continues the narrator, "we heard
the bell of the palace sound, which calls the citizens
together for discussion, and knew that our envoys
VOL. I.    63




498            SURRENDER OF LIEGE.    " [Boof II.
were managing the business according to their instructions. They did not return; but, at the end of
an hour, there was a great noise about the gate, and
a crowd who had collected on the wall assailed us
with. abusive cries. Then my lord of IHumbercourt
perceived that our peril was imminent." He therefore despatched the four other burghers with a long
letter, reminding the people of the friendly terms on
which he had lived with them, assuring them of his
protection, and imploring them not to bring down
utter ruin on their heads by further resistance. The
suspense lasted until two hours after midnight. Then
the bell was again heard - the signal for the citizens'
to disperse. The deliberation had ended; Liege had
resolved upon submission. As soon as the assembly
had broken up De Heers and others of his party, to
the number of four or five thousand, fled precipitately
from the town.32
On the following day the place was formally surrendered. Three hundred and forty of the citizens,
kneeling in their shirts, their heads and feet uncovered, delivered up the keys to the duke, and supplicated him for pardon. But his pride was unsatisfied
with this humiliation. The gates, by his order, were
removed from their hinges and laid on the ground.
A portion of the wall on either side was also taken
down. Across this breach, trampling on the prostrate
gates, the troops made their entrance in all the insolence of conquest. Charles rode in the midst of his
32 Commines, tom. i. pp. 134-137. p. 1319. -Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom.
- Adrianus, Ampliss. Col., tom. iv. i. p. 181.




CHAP. II.]      SURRENDER OF LIEGE.                499
nobles, his sword unsheathed, his armor covered by a
rich mantle of velvet studded with precious stones.
On his right hand was the bishop. The clergy, themselves a multitude in this'Cparadise of priests,"33 lined
one side of the way-, dressed in their surplices, and
bearing lighted candles in their hands. On the opposite side were the people, mute, downcast, yet- expectant, ranged in prescribed order - the cross of Saint
Andrew, the hated badge of Burgundy, displayed on
every breast. The procession lasted from nine in the
morning till four in the afternoon. The only audible
sounds were the orders of the officers and the regular
tramp of men and horses; for, the duke being still in
mourning for his father, the jubilant strains of the
trumpet, usually heard on such occasions, had been
forbidden to swell his triumph.34
The same deliberation and rigorous show of justice
that had before characterized the proceedings of the
Burgundian prince marked his conduct on the present occasion.  The engagements which he had made
were scrupulously observed. The soldiers were forbidden to plunder; and such of them as ventured to
violate the command were instantly hanged.35  It
might even be said that he tempered justice with
clemency. The lives of the inhabitants, in regard to
which he had refused to grant any stipulations, were,
with a few  exceptions, spared.  It was on the city
33 Guicciardini, p. 495.    35 "c Furent deux archers pendqs,"
34 Haynin, tom. i. pp. 96-98. -  complains Haynin, "l'un pour avoir
Commines, tom. i. p. 140. -Meyer, robbe un mouton, l'autre pour choses
Annales Flandrise, fol. 342 verso. -  de gueres meilleure importance."
Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom. i. pp. 179, Tom. i. p. 98.
182.




500            SURRENDER OF LIEGE.         [BOOx II.
itself- on all, at least, that had given to it an existence and a history- that the doom of death was to
be pronounced.  On the morning of the 26th the
bell was rung that had so often called the burghers
together in their usual place of assembly to exercise
the rights of freemen. On an elevated platform sat
the duke in state, the bishop beside him, the principal nobles standing round. Charles's secretary read
" the judgment and sentence" of his master, "word
by word, in a loud and distinct tone." The " customs"
of Liege - that is to say, its constitution and its laws
-were by this instrument pronounced 1"bad," and
were forever abrogated. All the franchises of the
people, their charters and their privileges of every
kind, were declared to be forfeited and annulled.
The existing tribunals were dissolved. The municipal
government was done away with. The guilds were
disincorporated. The walls and fortifications were to
be demolished, so that Liege might henceforth be open,
"like a village or a country-town," on every side.36
In place of the various codes, usages, and methods
of administration, which, whatever their defects, had
been parts of a living body, interwoven with the
thoughts and habits of a people, a very simple system was established. Justice was, in all cases, to be
administered according to the theories and practices
of the "written law,"' the "law of reason" — that is
to say, the civil or Roman law. It was to be executed
by officers appointed by the bishop, who were also to
36 Instrument notarie contenant de Liege, Gachard, Doe. Ined., tom.
la sentence prononce contre le pays ii. pp. 437-472.




CHAP. II.]      SURRENDER OF LIEGE.                501
take an oath of fidelity to the duke. The latter, as
had already been agreed upon by treaty, was to be
the sovereign "Protector" of the state, with the right
to call upon the inhabitants for military service, and
to suppress mutiny and civil commotions.
The reading of the act being finished, the question
was put to the people whether they accepted and
were resolved to abide by it.  The notaries who sign
it make their attestation that no objection was offered
- that, to the best of their belief, all hands and voices
were raised in token of assent.37  Among the charters
thus abolished, without opposition, without a murmur,
were some which had been won in long and despe-.rate struggles and sealed with the blood of thousands.
The bishop and the canons, being called upon in turn,
gave a formal expression of their approval. The duke
then spoke a few words, promising favor and protection if deserved. Of his intentions in the opposite
contingency a significant warning was afforded by
the decapitation, some days later, on the same spot,
of nine persons excepted from the general pardon.38
This warning was the more necessary, since Charles
had no other means of giving effect to his measures
and enforcing a compliance with the treaty than the
terror inspired by his presence and the impression
he might leave at his departure. He had no standing
army in his pay. He could not leave behind him a
37 "4 Adonc ilz respondirent tous a ment d'eulx entretenir, garder et achaulte vois, sans nesun contredisant, complir a la maniere susdicte." Ibid.,
que [comme] il sambloit, disant' oy! p. 470.
oy!' et, leurs mains ainsi levees en  38 Adrianus, Ampliss. Col., tom.
hault, ils juront [jurbrent] solempne- iv. - Haynin, tom. i. p. 100.




502             SURRENDER OF LIEGE.             [BOOR II.
sufficient force to subdue every hope of further resistance and to crush the first symptoms of renewed
disaffection. His levies were raised for a limited term,
for service in actual war, for the purpose of striking
a single blow; and therefore that blow, when struck,
must be vigorous and effectual. Nor could he remain
longer to superintend in person the execution of
his decrees. That counterstroke by which the king,
on a former occasion, in sacrificing Liege had recovered Normandy, had taught his rival the danger of
abandoning his guard even for a single moment.
Leaving Humbercourt behind him, with a fresh commission of the same tenor as the former one, Charles
accordingly quitted Liege, on the 28th of November.
Before his departure he had directed that the Perron,
the symbol of those liberties which he had destroyed,
should be removed from its place in the palace square.
He carried this pillar with him  to the Netherlands,
and caused it to be set up at Bruges, in the centre
of the Exchange — a spot frequented by strangers
from every clime, who would see in it a trophy of
his conquest, and who might read, in the inscription
placed upon its base, a warning to such as drank too
deeply of the cup of Freedom  and grew intoxicated
with its fumes.39
39 c" Desine sublimes vultus attolere in auras,
Disce meo casu perpetuum esse nihil.
Nobilitatis ego Leodis venerabile signum,
Gentis et inuictee gloria nuper eram:
Sum modo spectaclum ridentis turpe popelli,
Et testor Caroli me cecidisse manu."
— Meyer, Annales FlandriEe, fol. 342 verso.




CHAPTER  III.
CHARLES'S HOUSEHOLD AND MODE OF GOVERNMENT. - HIS MARRIAGE WITH MARGARET OF YORK.-HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS
OF LOUIS. - HIS VISIT TO PARONNE.
1 4 6 8.
FROM the moment when intelligence had reached
him of the death of Philip the Good the king had
been engaged in active preparations for a new struggle with his powerful and discontented vassals. A
new league, he doubted not, was forming against him.
The courts of Burgundy, of Brittany, and of England
were in close alliance and constant communication.
The claims of Charles of France were again to serve
as the pretext for hostilities; and Normandy, as before, would be the chief theatre of the contest, and
the prize of the victorious party.
But at least Louis was not again to be taken at a
disadvantage. He had a great army on foot. Normandy was filled with troops, and the frontier on
either side was carefully guarded. Paris was kept
in a posture of defence; and the houses of Bourbon
and Anjou being now attached to the royal cause, no
(503)




504            SCHEMES OF LOUIS.        [BOOK II.
outbreak was to be apprehended in the central or
southern parts of the kingdom.
Nor were the plans of Louis confined to measures
of resistance. If in actual war he commonly stood
on the defensive, in policy he was always bold, always
on the offensive, always busy in contriving schemes
for harassing and weakening his enemies. Through
the agency of Warwick, now his secret pensioner and
ally, he was preparing the materials for another civil
war in England, which might burst forth at any moment, if Edward should give active aid to the confederates or attempt the invasion of France. He had
endeavored, in like manner, to find employment at
home for the duke of Burgundy, by exciting insurrections in Brabant and setting up the count of
Nevers as a pretender to that duchy. He had, unhappily, been more successful in inciting Liege to
another vain and desperate effort for the recovery;of her independence, but without deriving from this
success the fruits which he had expected. He had
failed to shake the alliance between the dukes of
Burgundy and Brittany. He had, indeed, seized the
opportunity of Charles's absence to make a demonstration against Francis, hoping to overawe the latter,
and compel him to deliver up the heir to the crown
and to abandon the league. But the Burgundian
victory at Brusten had dashed his hopes on the eve
of their fulfilment. A few weeks had sufficed for the
reduction of Li6ge. Early in December the duke
had returned to the Netherlands; and his vassals
were summoned to reassemble at Saint-Quentin, in




CHAP. III.]        CHARLES'S COURT.                505
Picardy, on the 16th of the same month.l The king
was therefore obliged to desist from his intended attack, and turn to meet the assault with which he was
himself threatened from an opposite quarter. Charles,
however, content for the moment with having fended
off the blow aimed at his allies, postponed the assembling of his troops, and turned his attention to his
domestic affairs, which, in the first interval of tranquillity since his accession, demanded his immediate
care.
The Burgundian court had never worn so animated an appearance as in the spring and summer
of 1468. It was thronged with envoys from foreign
states, with deputations from provinces and towns,
with solicitors for offices and pensions, for pardons
and rewards. The prince, though still young, was
held in the first consideration among European sovereigns. With the splendor of his inherited position
and the glory he derived from his immediate predecessor were combined the e'lal of his own achievements and the reputation of a bold and aspiring
disposition.2 He was regarded as the representative
of chivalry and the champion of feudalism; but governments like that of Venice, which regulated their
conduct by the nicest rules of a scientific policy, saw
the importance of cultivating  the friendship of a
sovereign whose power was already so considerable,
Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom. i. p. fame, et doubte, et manifi par terre
183.                        et par mer pour ses principes." Chas2 "Avecques gloire paternelle qui tellain, p. 446.
lui reverberoit en face, si estoit-il jh
VOL. I.    64




506           BU1RGUNDIAN HOUSEHOLD.         [BOOK II.
and who had given such proofs of his determination
to extend its limits.
During several months Charles was busily employed in remodelling his household, in regulating
his finances, and in correcting what he considered to
have been the abuses of his father's administration.
He maintained an establishment on the same scale,
indeed, as that of Philip, with the same state, the
same pompous etiquette, the same multitude of officers and personal attendants. But, in place of the
wasteful expenditure, the unbounded gayety, and
festal profusion of the former reign, he introduced a
severe decorum, a strict discipline, an exact outlay, a
rigorous examination of service and compensation.
The salaries were liberal, but proportioned to the
duties demanded and performed. Nothing dropped
from an open hand too careless to select the objects
of its benefactions; nothing was winked at by an
eye that feared or disdained the office of critical investigation.3 Pomp and ceremony which, in Philip's
court, had been so elaborated and diffused as to conceal every other purpose beneath that of decoration,
had now their visible uses as supports of a structure
raised on no irregular or grotesque plan.
There existed in Charles's mind a clear and precise conception of those ideas in which the scheme
of a noble or princely household, with its immense
variety of forms and usages, had originated. In such
3 sc" I en fit comme sage et comme lessie souler et souffert aller h perte,
mieux advise que non y attendre; par estre trop bon." Chastellain,
car son noble pere en avoit beaucoup p. 445.




CHAP. III.]  BURGUNDIAN HOUSEHOLD.           507
a household the regulation of a family was combined
with the transaction of important business, with the
management of a great landed estate, or of what was
in fact the same thing, a state - for the tenancy of
land implied the obligations of vassalage, and the
right to dispose of lands subject to such obligations
implied the feudal notion of lordship or sovereignty.
The sovereign granted his lands to his kinsmen and.dependants as the reward of services rendered, and
on condition of the continuance of those services.
He was not merely the landlord or proprietor of the
soil, — not merely the civil ruler, with the right of
jurisdiction and other natural prerogatives of sovereignty, - but he was the head of a family, of which
all his tenants were in a certain sense members.
Hence the rights of wardship and of marriage, and
various customs of the like nature. Hence also the
absence of a distinction subsequently made between
officers of state and officers of the household, and
the performance by men of the highest birth of
duties which in the palace of the Caesars would have
been considered fit only for slaves. Closely examined, that principle which lay at the basis of the
patriarchal system and of the clan, by which the
body politic was supposed to be only a larger family,
and the authority of the ruler was derived from his
inherited position as its head, will be found to have
existed also among the complicated relations of feudalism.
Every noble household was a court, formed on the
same pattern as that of the monarch, and differing




508           BURGUNDIAN HOUSEHOLD.          [BOOK II.
from it only in degrees of magnitude and splendor.
It was filled with a crowd of retainers, whose various
functions, including those of personal attendance on
the heads of the family, implied not a menial condition of domestic servitude, but a tie of fealty and
honor.  Every service was in the nature of an act
of homage. Every ceremony was symbolical, indicating the nature and the limits of that political tie
which bound together the different classes of society.
The bending of the knee was no abasement; the lord
himself paid the like obeisance to his suzerain.4 The
attendant who waited obsequiously at his table, carved
the viands or poured out the wine, held perhaps the
highest place in his confidence, and acted in war as
his standard-bearer or his lieutenant.  The page who
went upon the lady's errands was himself of gentle
birth, and looked forward to a time when he should
win his spurs in her quarrel or wear her favors in the
tilting-field.  Service in the family of a man of rank
afforded the proper training for noble youth, who,
passing successively through various gradations of
advancement, gained a thorough acquaintance with
the duties. and the accomplishments, as well as with
the manners and the sentiments, which would hereafter be demanded of them in a higher sphere of
action, and which a succeeding generation would acquire from their example.
4 The real nature of such usages kneels in paying homage to his soveis shown in the relics which have reign; but no such marks of honor
survived the overthrow of the feudal are paid to a person, of whatever
system. An English nobleman still rank, by his menial attendants.




CHAP. III.]  BURGUNDIAN HOUSEHOLD.            509
The Burgundian establishment was, as we have
already remarked, the most costly and magnificent
in Europe. Subsequently, under the line of Austria,
the rulers of Spain and of the Netherlands, it was
raised perhaps to a still higher degree of external
splendor; but it seems, at the same time, to have lost
some of its essential characteristics. In the sixteenth
century royalty no longer rested on the same foundations as feudal sovereignty; and a feudal household
no longer symbolized the relations between the crown
and its vassals. It did not bring the monarch into
constant and habitual intercourse with his nobles, or
place him on a conspicuous stage where his subjects
of evbry rank might behold him and have access to
his person. Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second
lived isolated lives in the midst of their courts. They
submitted to the more irksome restraints of an elaborate ceremonial only on special occasions. Their
public audiences were merely formal, and as rare and
brief as possible. They spent most of their time in
the seclusion of their closets. They were seldom or
never present at the sittings of the different councils,
nor were these bodies intrusted with the full knowledge and direction of the matters that nominally
belonged to them. Even the Privy Council, instituted
by these princes as a depositary of their secrets and
a final court of appeal, was soon found to be unsuited
to so delicate an office. Every thing of importance
was reserved for a consulta or secret committee
sometimes for a single minister, who alone possessed
a key to all the mysteries of the government. The




510          BURGUNDIAN HOUSEHOLD.         [BOOK II.
ostensible machinery of the state was in a great degree useless as well as cumbersome; the wheels on
which it really moved were hidden from view.
This was not the system maintained by Charles of
Burgundy. Little influenced by others, he gave no
exclusive confidence, no extraordinary powers, to particular individuals.  The current of his affairs flowed
regularly through channels that were open and direct.
He presided in person at the council-board, where
the business in hand was freely discussed and definitively settled.  His daily life was one of pomp
and publicity. Every morning, after the ceremonies of the grande levee, he attended mass either in
his chapel or in a public church, and was followed
by a long procession of princes and nobles, knights,
equerries, and pages. He dined always in state, surrounded by the whole court, and served by the highest
functionaries, each performing his particular office
with the forms prescribed by a code of etiquette that
embraced a multitude of details. When the banquet
was ended all took their seats, in due order of precedence, on rows of benches along the sides of the hall.
There was no lack of splendid dresses and sparkling
gems, or of whatever else could give brilliancy to the
scene. The duke's chair was on a dais raised three
steps above the floor and carpeted with cloth of gold.
His attire, as became his superior rank, was rich and
magnificent above that of all the rest.5 His bearing
was stately.  His glance, as it ranged over the
5 "Et tousjours, comme prince magnifiquement habitue sur tous."
et chief sur tous, fust richement et Chastellain, p. 448.




CIHAP. III.]      BURGUNDIAN  HOUSEHOLD.                        511
assembly, confessed his pride in that band of noble
vassals, the satellites of his glory, and confidence in
his own capacity as their ruler and their chief.6
Often he discoursed to them, "like an  orator," of the
duties and  obligations annexed  to  their stations, as
well as of fealty and honor, and the other virtues of
the  knightly  character.7   Thrice  in  the  week  the
assembly became a public audience. The meanest
subject might enter to present his petition, which was
read aloud by a secretary kneeling on a footstool in
front of the throne. Whenever he went abroad the
duke  was followed  by  a long  and  brilliant retinue
that courted the public gaze. At night he was. escorted to his chamber by a group of equerries, sixteen
in number, who were in constant and immediate attendance upon his person. They were selected from
the noblest families, and their office was regarded as
peculiarly honorable.8 They were the " companions "'
6 "Les regarda le maistre volen- nique du Bon Chevalier and other
tiers, et y print grand delit. Et luy  works of the same kind. In the sixsembloit bien, puisqu'il estoit puis- teenth century the practice of sendsant et de volonte pour les tenir aises  ing their sons to be educated in a
et tellement comme ly, il estoit bien  friend's family was especially in use
raison que eulx aussi eussent volente  among the English nobility - the
de mesmes, pour lui faire honneur et extent to which it was carried, the
service qui lui peust plaire.  Car a  express surrender for a stated numdire vray, et aussi ses faits le mon- ber of years of the paternal authorstrerent, il aimoit fort gloire." Chas- ity, and the rigor exercised by the
tellain, p. 447.                   guardian, being noticed as peculiar7 It seems to have been customary  ities of the country in some of the
for the head of a household to de- Venetian Relazioni. In Cavendish's
liver solemn harangues to his sons  Life of Wolsey the young earl pf Norand the other members of his family, thumberland is represented as receivwhich were listened to with the ut- ing with exemplary meekness a severe
most deference and submission. In- rating from his master the cardinal.
stances may be found in the Chro-    8 Lamarche, tom. ii. pp. 482, 492.




512               BURGUNDIAN  HOUSEHOLD.                    [BOOK II.
of the prince, waiting upon him at all hours, sharing
his privacy, amusing his leisure after the business of
the day with their conversation, with relations of
warlike exploits and the more difficult achievements
of love, with music or chess, or the reading aloud
of some  grave passage of history or not less stately
romance. When they- withdrew, it was to the adjoining  antechamber, where  they  passed  the  night
- it being a part of their duty to guard their sovereign's rest.9
Such, when he was not engaged in military operations, was Charles's ordinary way of life. There were
exceptions to this routine - days when the duke was
present neither at the council nor the banquet; when
he shut himself from the world, and yielded to the
resistless influx of a melancholy which we have already noticed as belonging to his temperament, sometimes a dejection that had its origin in calamity or
disappointment, often perhaps the mere reaction of
a strain upon the faculties too constant and intense.'0
9 A full account of Charles's court, only attribute it to the recent death
including a minute description of the  of the duke's kinsman, Jacques de
ceremonies of the table, &c., by Oli- Bourbon; but the effects he describes
vier de Lamarche, who held the post seem strangelydisproportioned to the
of maitre d'h6tel under successive  cause: "Le due s'y estoit tellement
princes of the Burgundian and Aus-  altere et devenu perplex, qu'a peine
trian lines, is printed at the end of  osoit-il asseurer de sa vie; et n'y
his Memoires in Petitot's edition. avoit nul, ne medecin ne aultre, qui
See also Chastellain, (especially im- le peust onceques remettre en joie
portant for the spirit and meaning  ne en paix de cuer, tant se donnoit
of this pompous etiquette,) chapters  peur et m6lancolie; toutes-fois n'a141, 142, and his " Eloge de Charles  voit ne se sentoit nullement mal, sile Hardy."                         non ce qu'il s'en donnoit par pensee."'0 Chastellain mentions an instance p. 453.
at this period, (May, 1468,) and can




CHAP. III.]  CHARLES'S MODE OF GOVERNMENT.           513
Every thing in the management of his affairs showed
the concentrated purpose with which he had devoted
himself to the development of his resources and the
extension of his power. Insensible to bodily fatigue,
he labored "outrageously" himself and tasked his
servants to the utmost of their strength.1l The business of the audience or of the council-chamber was
often protracted till a late hour of the night. Whoever exhibited any signs of weariness incurred a
sharp rebuke; whoever was absent from  his station:
found himself mulcted in a corresponding portion of'
his salary. In matters of finance the duke was especially rigorous and methodical. He sat among the
members of the body by which these affairs were regulated, making the same calculations as the others,
scrutinizing every item, permitting no estimate to
pass, no account to be closed, until it had received
the impression of his seal.l2  He " visited" the treasury of his father, caused an inventory to be made of
its contents, and took care that they should suffer no
diminution. These accumulations, as well as the fines
he had extorted from rebellious Liege, he reserved
for extraordinary occasions -  for projects of which
the- conception was yet vague or unformed, for emergencies certain to arise though the nature of them
was yet unforeseen.  The charges of his household
" "Entendoit fort a son affaire; provision du bien public. Perdoit
estoit actif, laborieux par trop, et peu d'heures, et travailloit fort gens:
plus qu'il ne seoit a tel prince: soir mesme soy se travailloit par oulet matin toudis en conseil: toudis trage." Chastellain, p. 509.
en soin d'aucun grand cas, ou en  12 Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 487.finances, ou en faict de guerre, ou en Chastellain, pp. 449, 509.
VOL. I.     65




514            IS. RIGOROUS JUSTICE.     [BOOK II.
were to be defrayed by the revenues of his domain,
and his other ordinary expenses by the grants of his
Flemish subjects. Already he had made demands
upon the Estates more onerous than the boldest of
his predecessors had ever ventured to propose; and
the murmurs of the deputies were overborne by his
inflexible will and the impression which had been
produced by his late victories over a mutinous people.13
In his administration of the affairs of justice he
showed the same diligence, the same zeal for reform,
the same inflexibility of purpose. The states over
which he ruled were neither cemented together by
any of the elements of national unity, nor even connected by a federative bond. They acknowledged,
under different titles, the sway of a common sovereign. In all other respects they were independent
of each other, having no common system of legislation, no court exercising jurisdiction over the whole,
no magistrate or other. civil officer whose act or warrant was valid beyond the limits of a single province.
There was not even any treaty providing for the capture and surrender of escaped criminals. Flight was
therefore the obvious and almost certain means of
evading punishment; the authorities contented themselves with pronouncing sentence of outlawry and
banishment; and exiles were to be found in every
part of the duke's dominions, who, on the easy terms
of a change of residence, and that from no distant
13 See Gachard, Doc. Inbd., tom. i. p. 189, et seq., and Chastellain,
p. 450.




CHAP. III.]   HIS RIGOROUS JUSTICE.           515
quarter, had purchased immunity for a long career
of crime.14 This state of things Charles refused to
tolerate. While he looked forward to more radical
changes in the future, he applied at present a simple
and efficacious remedy, which, though it violated the
provincial charters, seems to have encountered no
opposition. He gave to his provost-marshals — officers accustomed, to the severe and summary procedures of martial law — commissions authorizing
them. to pursue and apprehend fugitives from justice
wherever they had taken refuge. Along the French
frontier —the common haunt of thieves, gipsies, disbanded troopers, and vagrants of every description -
the ordinary forms of law were superseded by a more
arbitrary code; and the zealous functionaries intrusted with its execution administered cord and sack at
their mere discretion.15 This was the same system
which had worked so admirably in France, and which
had made the name of Tristan l'Hermite a word of
terror, not only on every highway, but in the most
secluded nooks. What made a still stronger impression on the duke's subjects was his impartial severity
towards offenders of the highest rank. A nobleman
of Hainault,-an illegitimate member of the house
of Conde, —who, in revenge for some slight indignity, had slain a man of inferior birth, and who, had
Charles himself not interposed, would have been suffered to remain at large, was arrested, brought to
Bruges, and sentenced to death. Neither' his own
14 Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 484.
15 Chastellain, pp. 448, 469.- Lamarche, ubi supra.




516                MHS RIGOROUS JUSTICE.                    [BOOK II.
distinguished services in the field, the supplications
of his powerful friends, the remonstrances of his order,
nor the universal sentiment in his favor availed to
extort pardon or reprieve; they served only to set
in a stronger light the purpose and the character of
his judge. Young and of comely aspect, with beautiful blond locks hanging adown his shoulders, and
dressed in his bravest suit, "as if going to a bridal," the
culprit, as he passed in a cart to the place of execution, through streets where his'proud glance and
prancing steed had often won for him the admiration
of the crowd, was regarded by the citizens with looks
of wonder and commiseration, and followed by a troop
of maidens pleading  clamorously for the observance
of an old custom which permitted a marriage-knot
tied at the gallows to rescue a doomed neck from
the halter.16
15 Chastellain, pp. 459-463.- An- trayed, the wretched widow availed
other story exemplifying Charles's  herself of the duke's arrival in Zeasternness and impartial justice, as  land to fling herself at his feet and
well as his peculiar regard for female  acquaint him with her wrongs. The
honor, is related by Meyer, Pontus  appeal was even more effectual than
Heuterus, and other writers, and  she had expected or desired.  As
forms the subject of one of Steele's  the only possible reparation, Charles
" Spectators."  Ryncault, governor  compelled her seducer to marry her
of Flushing, being enamoured of a  and to settle his property upon her
married woman of that place, and  by will. But the outraged majesty
meeting with no encouragement in  of the law still remained to be vinhis unlawful suit, trumped up a  dicated; and Ryncault, having been
charge of sedition against the hus-  carried from the altar to the scaffold,
band, and had him  condemned to  was immediately beheaded.  This
death.  The wife consented to pur- romantic tale rests, however, on no
chase his life by the sacrifice of  contemporary authority. Lord Maher virtue; but in the mean time  caulay, who alludes to it, rejects, on
the sentence had been secretly car- the same grounds, the similar story
ried into effect. Thus doubly be- told of General Kirke.




CHAP. III.]   COMPLAINTS OF HS VASSALS.                517
There was much in Charles's character, and in the
line of conduct he had adopted, that could not fail to
breed feelings of discontent among his vassals. Reproaches, in some respects not unlike those which
had assailed the French monarch at the commencement of his reign, were now  directed, though in a
lower tone, against the sovereign of the Netherlands.
It was thought unworthy of a great prince to impose
on himself and on his ministers a drudgery so onerous and incessant; to give so large a portion of his
time, and so close an attention, to the minute details
of his affairs; to practise so stringent an economy,
and to hoard the revenues which flowed into his
exchequer, instead of distributing guerdons among
his faithful lieges, and lightening their toils by frequent shows and festive entertainments; to forget so
often, in the sallies of passion, the courtesy due to
men of noble birth; to deal so rigorously with the
faults, and to pay so small a regard to the customary
immunities, of that class of his subjects on whose
fidelity and loyal attachment to his person he must
place his chief reliance." A more general sentiment
of alarm was awakened by the force and tenacity of
his ambitious instincts, evidenced in his arbitrary
mode of government and in his apparent fondness
17 Chastellain is too deeply imbued charge of parsimony, so often alleged
with the sentiments common to his against the duke, his advocate asserts
class to treat their complaints on this that by nature he was most liberal,
topic lightly, while his loyal affection delighting in benefactions, and " givand reverence for the house of Bur- ing with both hands " until constraingundy lead him to offer many apol- ed by the difficulties that beset him
ogies for Charles. In answer to the to put a curb upon his generosity.




518        COMPLAINTS OF HIS VASSALS.    [BooK II.
for war, foreboding peril and exhaustion to a people
long accustomed to tranquillity and ease. Some of
these complaints found utterance in a chapter of the
Golden Fleece held at Bruges in May, 1468, the first
which had been assembled since Philip's death, or,
indeed, for several years. In accordance with the
rules of their order, the knights, passing in review
the conduct and known habits of every member, censured whatever seemed a deviation from the manners
and sentiments of chivalry. Charles, when it came
to his turn to be thus lectured, listened, as became
his position, with exemplary deference to the representations that were made to him.'8 But how vain to
expect that such remonstrances would leave any lasting impression on a mind so ardent and persistentall whose impulses were directed by a single master
passion, and that passion continually stimulated by
the circumstances of the times, by the temptations
and by the necessities of his situation! The great
feudatories of the French crown, however strenuously
they might oppose the innovations of the king, were
naturally led, by the same desire for power as animated him, to attempt similar innovations in the
government of their own states. The greater their
success in emancipating themselves from his authority, the greater their efforts to strengthen their own
authority and to abridge the rights of their immediate
vassals. If this was true of all these princes, it was
especially applicable to the sovereign of the Netherlands. The dukes of Brittany and Bourbon could never
1s Reiffenberg, Hist. de la Toison d'Or, p. 54.




CHAP. III.]    TENDENCY OF HIS AMBITION.     519
aspire to a condition of complete and acknowledged
independence. Their dominions lay wholly within
the limits of the monarchy. Their resources were
contracted. Their strength consisted in their union;
and each, if standing alone, was powerless against the
common enemy. The house of Burgundy, on the
contrary, was subject only in part to the French
crown. Its possessions embraced a wide extent of
territory. The consolidation of the Netherlands into
a single state was a consummation to which their
contiguity, their past history, and the ambition of
their rulers seemed alike to point. Such a state must
become not merely independent of France, but a rival
power. To this result all circumstances and events
were tending; those which looked in an opposite
direction drifted with the current. The free constitutions of the provinces, the long tranquillity they
had enjoyed, and their ever increasing prosperity
had provided the materials for a great effort, and
laid the foundations on which a great and solid power
might well be raised. Philip the Good had never
schemed for such an end; but all his conquests and
intrigues must contribute to its accomplishment.
Charles himself had formed, perhaps, as yet no definite projects of the kind; but the course to which
he was impelled by the mere energies of his nature,
ever craving employment and rising against obstacles,
would lead him, if successful, to that and no other
goal. Charles differed from his father not so much
in opinions and ideas as in the greater force and activity of his intellect. CAutre n'array" — " I will have




520                 HIS IMPLACABILITY.                [BOOX IIo
no  other " —had  been  the  motto  of Philip -  the
sentiment of a satisfied ambition, of a mind content to
repose upon its early achievements. Charles adopted
as his device the words " Je l'ay emnprins " --    I have
undertaken  it."   What had he undertaken?   More
than he yet knew, more than his imagination had
embodied in a tangible form, more than his continual
labors, his energies, his life, would suffice to realize."
The darkest features of Charles's character were
the pertinacity  and  sombre depth of his'vindictive
feelings.   He had  revived, at the  chapter of the
Golden Fleece already mentioned, the infamous prosecution of the count of Nevers for having practised
against his life by diabolical arts. Nevers, too prudent to confront his powerful accuser, contented
himself, when summoned to appear, with sending
back the insignia of the order. This did not prevent
sentence of degradation being passed on him; and,
in the full assembly of the knights, his arms were
erased and an escutcheon painted black was placed
by the king-at-arms above his vacant chair.20 Nor
was there any greater show of magnanimity in the
treatment which, on this same occasion, his old ene-'9 "I1 taschoit v tant de choses and tortured by the anguish of his
grandes, qu'il n'avoit point le temps own reflections. (" Certes, bien dea vivre pour les mettre a fin; et es- voit avoir le cuer estraint d'angoisse
toient choses presque impossibles." et de dur anuy en cestui temps, qui
Commines, tom. i. p. 229.      aux plus sages et aux plus vertueux,
~~ Reiffenberg, Hist. de la Toison  estoit estrange et sauvaige." p. 464.)
d'Or. - Chastellain, p. 451. - Chas- We may suspect that the noble chrontellain represents Nevers as losing icier attributed to cthers a keener
caste in consequence of this disgrace, sense of such indignities than beas shunned by men of rank and hon- longed to any breast besides his
or, abandoned by his formner friends, own.




CHAP. III.]    RETURN OF TEM CROYS.             521
mies, the Croys, experienced at the duke's hands.
Immediately after Philip's death the brothers had
addressed a letter, couched in the most submissive
terms, to his successor, praying that they might be
reinstated in his grace, and professing their desire to
render him faithful and loyal service.21 They now
boldly presented themselves -in person before the
chapter of the Golden Fleece, and demanded a trial
by their peers on the accusations which, several years
before, had been brought against them by Charles.
They were informed, in reply, that these accusations
amounted to a charge of treason, and that, by the
statutes of the order the knights being precluded
from taking cognizance of such an offence, it rested
with the sovereign alone to determine the manner
of their trial.22 They were permitted, however, to
choose between submitting their cause to a tribunal
of his appointment and withdrawing from his dominions. Their election was speedily made. Daunted
by the threatening aspect of the affair, they hastily
quitted Bruges and returned into exile.  Five years
later Antony de Croy, then nearly ninety years of
age, again appeared before the duke, and, prostrating
himself at his feet, addressed to him, in humble and
broken tones, a supplication for pardon. The nobles
of the court unanimously joined in the request.
Charles, seldom gracious even in acts of mercy, after
21 Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom. i. the demand of the Counts Egmont
p. 152.                    and Hoorn to be tried by the Toi22 This was the chief precedent son d'Or.
cited by Alva, in 1568, in rejecting
VOL. I.    66




522         CHARLES'S SECOND MARRIAGE.    [BOOK II.
some hesitation, yielded a cold forgiveness. The family was soon after reinstated in its possessions. In
time it was restored to many of its former honors;
and one of its branches was invested with higher
rank than belonged to any other noble house in the
Netherlands. Its members, indeed, seemed to have
a peculiar faculty for establishing the most intimate
personal relations with their sovereigns. During the
first quarter of the sixteenth century they occupied
their old position at the Belgian court; and the celebrated William de Croy, lord of Chibvres, maintained
the same ascendancy over the minority of Charles
the Fifth as Antony had maintained over the dotage
of Philip the Good.23
Before his departure from Bruges, on a tour through
the northern provinces, the first year of Charles's
reign had ended, —the prescribed period of mourning for his predecessor, - and the time had arrived
for the solemnization of his marriage with the Princess Margaret of York. Regarding this alliance, in
its political aspect, as a triumph over the machinations of the French king, he proposed to celebrate
the event with more than wonted splendor. For
several months the town had been a scene of active
preparations for the nuptial ftle.  The looms had
been driven at their highest speed; the shops had
displayed their choicest fabrics; crowds of workpeople
of every description had been employed about the
palace; and painters and other artists skilful in
23 Gachard, Notice des Archives seq. - Reiffenberg, Hist. de la Toide M. le Duc de Caraman, p. 115, et son d'Or, pp. 45, 46, et al.




CHAP. III.]       NUPTIAL FESTIVITIES.                523
-decoration had been assembled from all parts of the
country.24
Margaret took leave of her brother's court about
the middle of June, and "rode thurgh oute London
behynde the erle of Warwicke,"25 who still kept up
a show of friendly relations with Edward - twirling between his fingers the white rose -which he had
taken from his bosom, ere he threw it in the dust
and trampled on it. She was accompanied in her
embarkation by the Lord Scales and a gallant troop
of knights and gentlemen, and by more than fourscore ladies of rank, including the duchess of Norfolk
and other fair representatives of the great nobility.
A fleet of sixteen vessels, commanded by the lord
admiral of England, conveyed the princess and her
attendants to the Flemish port of Sluys, where she
was received and conducted to her lodgings by a
number of the most distinguished nobles appointed
to serve as her escort. She was immediately waited
upon by the Duchess Isabella and the youthful heiress of the Burgundian states, and, on the evening of
the following day, received a private visit from the
duke, when vows of betrothal were formally exchanged.  At Bruges, meanwhile, the citizens cele24 Compte des ouvrages et aussi  25 Hearne, Fragment, p. 296.des entremetz et paintures faicts a She rode on the same horse with
Bruges, aux nopces de MS le Due him, according to the fashion of that
Charles, Laborde, Ducs de Bour- time. See the contemporary Enggogne, Preuves, tom. ii. p. 293-381. lish account of the nuptials printed
See also Michiels, Hist. de la Pein- in the Excerpta Historica, (London,
ture flamande et hollandaise, tom. ii., 1831.)
and Annales de la Soc. d'iEmulation
de la Flandre, tom. iii.




524            NUPTIAL FESTIVITIES.       [BOOK II.
brated her coming by huge pyramidal bonfires, forty
feet high, which throughout the night lighted up the
quaint, but beautiful and varied, architecture of their
streets.
After a week spent by Margaret and her company
at Sluys, they were conducted in barges, by the slow
navigation of the canal, to Damme, a small town in
the immediate vicinity of Bruges. Early on the next
morning, (Sunday, July 3,) Charles, accompanied by
only five or six of his principal nobles, arrived at her
lodgings; and the marriage ceremony was performed
by the bishop of Salisbury, assisted by a papal legate.
The duke returned immediately, and with the same
privacy, to his palace. The pageantry and ceremony
of the day were reserved for his bride. A procession
awaited her at the gate of Sainte-Croix, composed of
what was fittest to represent the splendor of such a
court and the wealth of such a town — the prelates
and other ecclesiastics, in surplice and stole, carrying
crucifixes and costly reliquaries; the municipal authorities, in their gowns and chains of office; the
members of the ducal household, the meaner sort in
liveries of black and violet, the higher functionaries
in long mantles of black velvet and purpoints of
crimson satin; bands of clarions and trumpets; troops
of archers in showy uniforms; heralds, pursuivants,
and kings-at-arms in coats of blazonry; the nobles in
every variety of rich costume, the trappings of their
horses glittering.with gold and gems and fringed with
silver bells; and the "' nations," or foreign trading companies, among whom the Venetians, the Florentines,




CHAP. III.]    NUPTIAL FESTVITIES.            525
and the Easterlings were conspicuous by their number
and the splendor of their retinues and equipments.
The bridal litter, covered with cloth of gold, and
drawn by horses caparisoned with the same material,
took its place in the centre of this cortege. The princess, attired in cloth of silver, wore on her head a
crown girt with diamonds, above which she had placed
with her own hands a simple chaplet of roses, presented to her by nuns at her entrance into the town.
Her countenance was pleasing; her deportment gracious and serene. A small troop of archers, in the
uniform of the English body-guard, marched in front
of her litter; the knights of the Toison, in their majestic robes, walked on either side. Behind came the
ladies of her suite —the younger and unmarried ones
on snow-white palfreys, the others in gaudy chariots
emblazoned with the arms of England and of Burgundy. The streets were hung with silken tapestries
and cloth of gold, and crossed by triumphal arches,
from which, as the princess passed beneath, white
doves were let loose, that circled round her head and
settled on the poles of her litter. At different points
along the road she was entertained with "Histories "
-a kind of dramatic representation, in which the
poet, generally with good reason, was forced to follow
the inspirations of the machinist; and the walls in
front of the palace were covered with heraldic paintings and devices, emblematical of the power and
grandeur of the two sovereigns now united by so
close a tie.26
26 Lamarche, tom. ii. pp. 299-311. - Haynin, tom. i. p. 106, et seq. -




526             NUPTIAL FESTIVITIES.         [BOOK'II.
An interval of several hours was granted for refreshment and repose. Meanwhile the citizens, who
had gazed on these familiar splendors with unsated
eyes, now began to throng the avenues leading to
the great square, where a passage of arms had been
proclaimed, which the Great Bastard of Burgundy
was to maintain against all comers. The windows
and roofs of the surrounding houses, as well as the
stagings erected at different points for their better
accommodation, were soon occupied by the crowd.
The balconies in front of the Hotel de Ville were reserved for the ladies of the court. A platform on the
opposite side of the square was the station appointed
for the judges, the marshals and pursuivants, and
other officers of the lists; and beside it stood a lofty
pine-tree, with gilded trunk, indicating that the noble
challenger had given to his emprise the title of the
"Tree of Gold."  At one end of the arena an arched
gateway, flanked with towers gorgeously painted and
adorned, and defended by a movable barrier, presented means of access to the contending knights. All
the other approaches were strictly closed. Tapestries
and silken banners waved from every wall; -and a
scene of profuse brilliancy awaited the gaze of the
princess, whose coming was announced by a strain
of martial music, soon drowned amid the swelling
shouts of the vast concourse of spectators.
The Mariage of the Ryght high' and torica, pp. 227-248. - Meyer, fol..
myghty Prince the Duc of Burgoigne 344.- Barlandus, De Carolo Burwith the Right high and excellent gundo. - Gollut, col. 1225.
Princesse Margarett, Excerpta His



CHAP. III.]    NUPTIAL FESTIVITIES.          527
A flourish of trumpets was now heard from the
gate; and a herald on the outside, approaching the
barrier, gave notice that a high and puissant lord,
desirous of accomplishing the adventure of the
Golden Tree, demanded entrance. The blazon of
arms which he presented was that of Adolphus of
Cleves, lord of Ravenstein. The barrier was thrown
open; and a band of drums and clarions led the way,
followed by heralds and pursuivants, and by a sumptuous litter drawn by a pair of black horses of great
size and beauty, with housings of blue velvet and
embroidered gold. The musicians, pages, and other
attendants wore dresses of the same color and material; and the knight himself, who reclined upon the
cushions of the litter, feigning debility and age, was
attired in a suit of tawny velvet, trimmed with ermine, with slashes in the sleeves affording glimpses
of the armor which he wore beneath. His destrier,
caparisoned in cloth of gold fringed with silver bells,
was led behind the litter, and was followed by two
other horses carrying the harness in which he was
presently to be equipped. Having paid his obeisance to the judges of the contest and the ladies in
the balcony, to whom he excused himself, on account
of his infirmities, for. attempting this his last exploit
in arms, the knight retired by a side door to prepare
himself for the combat.
A loud burst of clarions now announced the approach of the challenger; and, the barrier being again
opened, a pavilion of yellow silk, embroidered all over
with the Tree of Gold and other armorial devices, and




528           NUPTIAL FESTIVITIES.       [BOO II.
surmounted by a splendid banner, entered, without
any visible means of motion, and, gliding over the
ground, took its station at the further end of the lists.
It opened in the middle; and the Great Bastard,
equipped in complete armor and mounted on a powerful steed, rode slowly forth into the arena. He was
hailed with acclamations, the due meed of so renowned
a knight; and, having made the circuit of the lists
and exhibited his skill in horsemanship, he returned
to his post and awaited his antagonist. Immediately
the lord of Ravenstein made his appearance, mounted
and armed, his helmet on his head, his shield suspended from his neck. The squires presented the
lances; a blast from a single horn gave the signal
for the encounter; and the knights, setting spurs to
their horses, met at full gallop, and shivered their
strong and heavy spears against each other's armor,
so that the splinters flew far above their heads, and
horse and rider reeled with the shock. Neither of
the combatants, however, lost his saddle, and, amid
thunders of applause, they backed their steeds to
their former stations, and, receiving fresh lances from
the attendants, ran a second course with the same
result. Thus the jousts continued until the sand with
which the ground had been thickly strewn was trampled and dispersed, and the western sun no longer
cast its glory on the polished steel, the silken banners, and all the radiant scenery of the lists. The
signal horn gave notice that the tilting was ended
for the day; and the Knight of the Golden Tree, who
had broken more lances than his opponent, being




CHAP. - III.]  NUPTIAL FESTIVITIES.           529
proclaimed the victor, the spectators rapidly dispersed. The populace wended their way towards
different parts of the town, where spectacles of a less
refined description were provided for their entertainment, and fountains of Burgundy and Rhenish wine
played into stone basins from which all might drink
at pleasure; while the nobles, repairing to their quarters, hastened to change the heavy mantles and other
habiliments which they had worn throughout the day
for garments of a lighter texture, more appropriate
to the festivities of the banqueting-hall.27
The building designed for this purpose was a temporary structure erected in the tennis-court behind
the palace. It was seventy feet in width, a hundred
and forty in length, and more than sixty feet high.
The ceiling was richly painted; the projecting cornices were decorated with banners and heraldic embellishments; and the walls were hung with the
celebrated tapestry representing the adventures of
Jason in quest of the Golden Fleece, and with similar
productions of Flemish ingenuity and art. In the
centre of the hall -rose a buffet of enormous dimensions, supporting a prodigious quantity of plate, of
which the largest, but least costly, articles were piled
on the lower shelves, while goblets of embossed gold,
studded with precious stones, and other articles of
inestimable value, were displayed in a conspicuous
manner on the summit. The apartment was lighted by chandeliers in the form of castles surrounded
by forests and mountains, with revolving paths, on
27 Lamarche. - Haynin.
VOL. I.    67




530            NUPTIAL FESTIVITIES.        [BOOK II.
which serpents, dragons, and other monstrous animals
seemed to roam in search of prey, spouting forth jets
of flame that were reflected in huge mirrors so ar-.
ranged as to catch and multiply the rays. The tables
extended lengthwise on either side iof the hall, except
one reserved for the ducal family and the guests of
highest rank, which crossed it, on a raised platform, at
the upper end, and was overhung by a canopy with
curtains descending to the floor, so as to present the
appearance of an open pavilion. The dishes containing the principal meats represented gayly painted
vessels, seven feet long, completely rigged, the masts
and cordage gilt, the sails and streamers of silk, each
floating in a silver lake between shores of verdure
and enamelled rocks, and attended by a fleet of boats
laden with lemons, olives, and other, condiments.
There were thirty of these vessels, and as many huge
pasties in a castellated shape with banners waving
from their battlements and -towers -besides tents and.
pavilions for the fruit, jelly-dishes of crystal, supported
by figures of the same material dispensing streams of
lavender and rosewater, and an immense profusion
of gold and silver plate.  The repast was enlivened
by interludes, such as were described in a former
chapter; and it was three hours after midnight when
the company retired.28
The festivities were kept up for more,than a week
with unabated splendor and vivacity, each day presenting the same general round of entertainments,
28 Compte des ouvrages, &c., in Laborde, ubi supra. —Lamarche. —
Excerpta Historica.




CHAP. III.]    NUPTIAL FESTIVITiES.:          531
including the tournament, the banquet, and the dance,
but with sufficient change of scenery and variety of
incident to stimulate the spirits both of actors and
spectators. We find one of the English visitors writing to his friends at home that in luxury and magnificence no court in Christendom could compare with
that of Burgundy, which seemed to him a living realization of the stories he had heard and read of King
Arthur and the Round Table.29 Knights from almost
every part of Europe had come to suspend their emblazoned shields from the branches of the Tree of
Gold, and to exhibit their prowess and dexterity on
so fair an occasion for achieving honor and a wide
renown. On the ninth day the duke entered the
lists in person, jousting with the Sire de Ravenstein;
and afterwards taking part in the general tourney,
when fifty knights, ranged in two parties, contended,
with alternate fortune, for victory. When their lances
were broken they had recourse to their swords, the
points of which, however, had been carefully blunted;
yet, as the combatants were dispersed in the melee, so
earnest and exciting did the conflict become, that no
heed was given to the signal of recall, and Charles,
raising his visor, rode about the field, forcing his way
between the' knights, striking down their weapons,
and- commanding them to desist. The banquet on
the same evening was more sumptuous than any that
had preceded it. Among the decorations-of the table
were gardens formed of a mosaic-work of rare and
29 See the letter of John Paston the Younger from Bruges, July 15,
1468, in Fenn's Paston Letters.




532            NIUPTIAL FESTIVITIES.       [BOOK II.
highly polished stones, inlaid with silver, and surrounded with hedges made of fine gold. In the centre
of each enclosure stood a tree of gold, with branches,
fruit, and foliage exquisitely wrought in imitation of
those of the orange, apple, pear, or other tree. Fountains impregnated with various fragrant essences diffused perfume through the air. Before taking their
seats the company moved in procession around the
tables, examining the different marvels. The entremets exhibited were of the most grotesque character.
The monstrous figure of a whale, sixty feet long, and' so high that men on horseback, riding on either
side, would have been unable to see each other across
the back," made its appearance on the floor of the
hall, imitating with its fins and tail the motions of
swimming, and opening its huge mouth, from which
a troop of youths and maidens issued forth habited
in the Moorish costume, and danced to the sound of
the tambourine and other instruments, until interrupted in their sports by giants armed with clubs,
who drove them back into their strange retreat.30
Tuesday the 12th of July was the last day-of the
festival. It was employed, however, by the duke
himself, as well as by most of the company, in preparations for departure. In the evening.the hall presented a brilliant and animated appearance. The
marshals and pursuivants who had performed the
service of the lists went from table to table demanding largesse, which was liberally bestowed. Aspirants
to heraldic office received the baptism of chivalry;
30 Laborde, ubi supra. - Lamarche. - Excerpta Historica.




CHAP. III.]    HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS.              533
functionaries who had served -a certain term  were
promoted to higher grades.- The duke. took leave of
his distinguished  guests, distributing -among  them
costly tokens of his munificence; and a sudden peal
of clarions and trumpets, which echoed through the
hall-and shook the heavy draperies of silk and gold,
gave notice- that the fete, with its attendant ceremonies, was concluded.- 
-We must now -turn our glance on the position and
proceedings of the French king, who, when compelled
in the previous winter to abandon his meditated -as —
sault upon the duke of Brittany, had employed himself in scanning all the features of a situation which
appeared to him to be growing every day more critical and menacing. He would not allow himself to
visit his capital, or leave to his subordinates the:task
of observation on the outposts, but remained where
he might perceive with his own eyes the first indications of a hostile movement -  pacing backwards and
forwards from Compiegne to -Noyon, from  Noyon to
Compiegne,32 like a sentinel on his beat, and in that
alert state of mind which seldom:fails to betray itself
by groundless or premature alarms.  His fears, however, were far from chimerical. Hostile demonstrations were still continued on the side of Burgundy.
31 Lamarche. - Le tiers Mariaige ou peu de temps paravant y avoit
de Monsieur le Duc Charles de Bour- est.... Se tint par certain long
goigne avec Margriete d'Iorc, Hay- temps d Noyon, Compiegne, Chaunin, tom. i pp. 106-132.    ny, et autres places environ." De
32 i" Changea propos, et retourna Troyes, pp. 75,:76.
hastivement de Compiegne k Noyon,




534           HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS.        [BooK It.
A treaty was negotiated binding the king of England
to furnish a body of troops to assist in the recovery
of Normandy, with a stipulation that the strong places
in that province still occupied by the Bretons should
be put in his possession by way of guaranty for the
payment of a subsidy.3   Warlike preparations to
carry this treaty into - effect were making along the
southern coast, and it was given out that Edward
would shortly take the field in person. His chancellor opened Parliament, in May, with a long address,
dwelling chiefly on the foreign policy of the government, its amity with the French princes, and especially the close alliance it had formed with the duke
of Burgundy — declaring it to be the king's intention  to  reconquer the dominions of his ancestors, and calling on the Commons for a sufficient
grant to enable him to raise an army for this purpose.34  True, for every plot Louis had a counterplot
prepared. Jasper Tudor, the exiled earl of Pembroke)
was to be sent over to kindle an insurrectionm in
Wales.  Margaret of Anjou, her still dauntless spirit
inflamed with the prospect of vengeance and redress,
was impatiently awaiting at Harfleur the king's permission to embark, and, what was more important, but
not so easily to be obtained, a loan from his coffers
to defray the expenses of her expedition. The influence and secret disaffection of the Nevilles might
be expected to neutralize in some degree the effect
of Edward's appeal to the martial instincts of his
33 Morice, Hist. de Bretagne, liv.  34 Excerpta Historica, p. 224.xiii. - Rymer, tom. xi. p. 615, et al. Sharon Turner, vol. iii. p. 316.




CHAP. III.]  LOUIS APPEALS TO THE NATION.    535
nobles and the prejudices of his people. Liege, too,
bruised and torpid as it now lay, was to be artfully
stimulated and propped up to receive another and a
final overthrow; and, if all these projects for diverting or paralyzing his enemies should fail, Louis, thoroughly equipped and prepared for war, might commit
himself to the chances of the field with confident
hopes of being able to make good his defence.
But this alternative, prepared for it though he was,
he could not regard without anxiety and dread. He
had taken infinite pains and shown infinite dexterity
in amassing and uniting means and agencies wherewith to act; but he hesitated to put them to the
proof  The threads woven by intrigue snap in the
heavy and sultry atmosphere of an approaching
storm. What was wanting was a moral cohesion 
a national sentiment binding the people in support
of his cause. Louis had least of all men the natural
qualities that kindle such a sentiment; but he saw the
necessity for its existence, and he applied himself to
the task of creating it. He called together [April,
the Estates of his realm, and, having first, pro 1468s.
forma, allowed his chancellor to open the proceedings
with one of those prolix and pedantical harangues
with which the worthy Juvenal was accustomed to
afflict his hearers,35 he next, in a clear and masterly
oration from his own lips, exposed the embarrassments under which he labored. He explained the
reasons why Normandy should remain forever united
with the domains of the crown; but, modestly admit35 Duclos, tom. iii., Preuves, pp. 233-248.




536           HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS.           [BOOeK II.
ting his own deficiencies of judgment, he left it to
the Estates to determine whether these reasons were
sufficient, or what further sacrifices he should make
for the purpose of contenting his brother and the
other princes of his family. "The matter was one
which concerned the universal weal and the perpetuity
of the kingdom, and not the mere interests of the
king, who, being mortal, had but a temporary fee in
the dominions over which he ruled.""36 The assembly
was not unmoved by this frank and forcible statement. It was the first occasion on which a French
monarch had of his free will summoned the representatives of the different classes of his subjects, with
the intent of submitting his measures for their deliberation and advice. Had the precedent been more
often followed, it is probable that the history of the
country in later times would have flowed in a less
vehement and turbid stream. Few, of course, of the
great feudatories were present; but there was a fair
attendance of the lesser nobility, and sixty-four towns
were represented by twice that number of deputies.
It was to his auditors of this latter class that the
king's appeal was specially addressed; and it was by
the members of this body that the response which
he expected was made. It was declared to be intolerable that France should be subjected to enormous
burdens, and harassed by continual levies of troops,
for the purpose of preventing the members of the
36 i" Protesta devant eux tous soi qu'elle touchoit au bien universel de
estre insuffisant ly de ly, et non tout le royatume, et sa perpetuite, et
ydoine pour faire lien en ceste ma- ly n'y avoit que son voyage." Chastere de propre teste, veu encore tellain, p. 455.




CHAP. III.]  LOUIS APPEALS TO THE NATION.   537
royal family and other great princes, who were especially bound to protect the state, from flying into
open rebellion. The whole evil had arisen from the
practice in past times of separating vast territories
from the direct authority of the crown, enabling thepossessors to usurp independent power, and thus
threatening the monarchy with disruption. An: ordinance of Charles the Wise had assigned an estate
yielding an income of twelve thousand livres as a
suitable appanage for a prince of the blood; and if,
in addition to such a grant, the king, as he had generously offered, should allow his brother a pension of
sixty thousand livres, Charles would have no just
grounds of complaint. " For no cause under Heaven
- neither from fraternal affection, nor the obligations
of a promise, nor fear or menace of war - ought the
king to commit the government of Normandy into
any hands but his own." The duke of Brittany, by
fomenting disturbances within the realm and contracting an alliance with its foreign enemies, had
forfeited all claim to be treated with consideration;
he should be summoned to evacuate the places in
Normandy of which he held an usurped possession,
and, if he refused to comply, should be expelled from
them by force. In regard to the duke of Burgundy
the Estates did not venture to use a similar strain
of language. They recommended that that prince
should be solicited to assist in the reestablishment of
order; and they appointed a committee from their
own number to confer with him on the subject.37
37 Chastellain, pp. 455-457. - Lenglet, tom. iii. p. 5, et al.
VOL. I.    68




538          HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS.        [BooK II.
Somewhat reassured by these tokens of the sympathy and concurrence of his people, Louis returned
to his post. And it was not long before the sparks
thus struck kindled a flame throughout the country.
The deputies communicated to their constituents the
description they had received of the imperilled condition of the state, the alarm entertained by the king,
and his vigilant and ceaseless labors. A flood of discussion was let loose; and public opinion, though it
lacked a sufficient organ for its utterance, was yet
able to make itself heard.  The citizens, more freespoken than the Estates, were clamorous in charging
the duke of Burgundy as the chief promoter of the
existing troubles.  "What," it was asked, "has his
house ever wrought but mischief to France?" All
the terrible calamities which the country had experienced in the early part of the century were ascribed
to the ambition of his father and his grandfather.
His own thirst for conquest was insatiable. Why
was he not content with the wealthy provinces, the
great towns, which had come to him by inheritance?
He had Ghent and Bruges; did he look to have Paris
also? He had lands and lordships innumerable; did
he covet the sceptre and the crown?38  It was time
that the territory on the Somme, which he had ravished by violence from the king, should be torn from
his grasp. His alliance with Edward, his marriage
with an English princess, made him the declared
enemy of France.
38 " Veut-il avoir la coronne et le si puissant?... Et a son Gand et
sceptre en main, et qui tant a de son Bruges, que veut-ilP veut-il avoir
seigneuries et de possessions et est encore Paris? " Chastellain, p. 477.




CHAP. III.]   BURGUNDIAN CAMP AT PERONNE.          539'Charles confronted this storm of accusations and
menaces with his wonted air of obstinate defiance.
As for the towns of Picardy, they were, as he had
before declared, the last of his possessions which he
would willingly surrender;39 and he doubted not that
his power was sufficient to enable him to defend himself at all points. It seemed now that, in the impending struggle, his own safety, and not merely that of
his allies, was at stake; and he took his measures
accordingly.  He issued a fresh summons to his vassals to equip themselves for the field; and he ordered
a fortified camp to be formed in the neighborhood of
Peronne, on the Somme, a position in which he could
at once maintain a menacing attitude towards the
king and secure his own line of defence. His preparations were on a more extensive scale than on any
former occasion. All available mieans were put in
requisition for the supply of horses, wagons, tents,
artillery, and equipments. In the course of the summer nearly three thousand pieces of cannon - most
of them, doubtless, of much smaller calibre, and all,
from their inferior construction, of a far less effective
description, than any that are now used in warwere carried forward by various routes to the place
of muster. The camp, surrounded as usual by a barrier of wagons, with an outer defence consisting of
palisades and entrenchments, was regularly laid outin streets and squares, lined with tents as well as with
39 "Vueil bien qu'il s9aiche que je et seront toutes les derraines terres
vouldroie perdre la meilleure ducie et villes que je garderai pour moi."
que j'aye ains que je m'en dtpartisse; Chastellain, p. 459.




540          HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS.       [BOOxK II.
houses built of wood or clay, for the accommodation
not only of the troops, but of an immense number
of sutlers, purveyors, and travelling hucksters, on
whom, in default of a commissariat, the armies of
that day were accustomed to depend in great measure for their supplies. Thus a fortified town seemed
suddenly to have sprung into existence; week after
week fresh levies made their appearance; and, towards
the end of August, Charles, who had been employed,
in different quarters, in urging forward these preparations, arrived on the ground.40
Meanwhile the king had continued at Noyon, on
the Oise, less than thirty miles off. But, while his
face was still turned in the same direction, his hands
were active behind his back. He had one immense
advantage over all his antagonists in the permanent
force originally established by the famous ordinances
of his father, and since his own accession greatly increased and more vigorously disciplined. His artillery
surpassed even that of Charles. The fortifications on
the frontier had been repaired, and every post was
strongly guarded. The allies, too, from the distances
by which they were separated and the obstacles
which each had to overcome, were unable to act with
promptitude or concert. Edward was hindered by
many difficulties, as well as by the indolence of his
*temperament; and, though six thousand archers,
under his brother-in-law, the Lord Scales, were ready
40 Chastellain, pp. 466, 469-471, 475, et al. - Ancien Chronique, Lenglet, tom. ii. p. 192.




CIIAr. III.]   STEALTHY MOVEMENTS OF LOUIS.        541
to: embark,41 it was doubtful whether, amid the present threatenings of a-Lancastrian insurrection, even
this force would be permitted  to leave England.'Louistherefore intrusted the Sire de Beaujeu, admiral of France, and Nicholas of Anjou, a grandson of
King Rene, each with the command of a considerable
body of troops, with instructions to the former to
seize the towns of Lower Normandy where the royal
authority had not been recognized; while the latter,
by a rapid but stealthy movement, was to penetrate
*the frontier of Brittany on the south, and lay siege
to Ancenis. These movements, executed discreetly
and with  success, had  the  effect of intimidating
Francis, who called on his allies, and especially on
the duke of Burgundy, for immediate aid.42 A short
truce was granted by his assailants;43 but they employed the interval in uniting their forces, and, as
soon as it had expired, operations were resumed,
and Ancenis and Chantonceaux were captured.  The
duke saw himself apparently deserted by his allies.
The Burgundians, delayed by the very magnitude of
their preparations, were not yet ready to take the
field. It is probable, also, that among the advisers
of Francis were some who had motives of their own
for counselling submission; for, surrounded by a hardy
and warlike population, he might easily have pro4' Haynin, tom. i. p. 138.- Sha- car il en est temps et le plus deligeron Turner, vol. iii. p. 317.  ment que pourrez venez, et sans plus
42,, Je vous prie sur tout l'amour delay." Morice, Preuves, tom. iii.
et l'alliance d'entre vous et moy, qu'a p. 182.
ce besoing me venez secourir;....  43 Lenglet, tom. iii. p. 8.




542          HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS.       [BOOK II.
tracted his defence. But timidity or treachery prevailed; and he hastened to negotiate a peace, by
which he made a formal surrender of the towns in
Lower Normandy, renounced the alliance of England
and of the duke of Burgundy, and pledged himself
on behalf of Charles of France that the latter should
submit his claims to the arbitration of the duke of
Calabria and the Constable Saint-Pol.44
The treaty of Ancenis, (signed September 10,) by
relieving the king from one source of embarrassment,
seemed to offer him an opportunity of adopting a
bold and decided course of action in a quarter where
he had suffered still greater annoyance and where
his power had so often been defied. The popular
sentiment was in his favor, and urged him to the
stroke. The army, through all its ranks, vibrated
with the same feeling. Now was the time to drive
the duke of Burgundy from the Somme, and compel
that insolent and haughty prince to acknowledge the
supremacy and superior strength of his rightful sovereign. Nor have later critics failed to censure Louis
as exhibiting on this occasion a fatal want of courage
and determination. But such reproaches only indicate that a farsighted and consistent policy had not
been carefully studied or thoroughly appreciated.
The greatest enemy which France had reason to
dread, in the middle of the fifteenth century, was not
the duke of Burgundy or the king of England, but
~44 Hist. de Bourgogne, tom iv., i. pp. 148, 149. - Basin, tom. ii. p.
Preuves, p. ccxcx. - Lenglet, tom. 185, et seq. — De Troyes, p. 75.
iii. p. 9, et seq. - Commines, tom.




CIIAP. III.]  REASONS FOR AVOIDING WAR;                  543
War — the presence of foreign troops.upon her soil,
a state of active and undisguised hostilities, which
must loosen the framework of the monarchy, or at
least expose it to violent and hazardous shocks.5 The
old ruptures were slowly healing; but the time had
not arrived when all the parts could act with freedom
and in unison. A numerous and still powerful nobility
was kept in partial quiet and subordination by the
vigilance of the king, by his daily. increasing strength
and the self-reliant attitude which he had of late been
enabled to assume, and by the constant and dexterous use of all the means at his command for dividing
and neutralizing the elements of opposition. Any
great and prolonged strain upon his resources must
deprive him of the ability to carry on this work. Any
misfortune he might sustain, any manifest weakness,
would set in motion all the treacherous instincts, and
revive all the plottings and cabals, that had so lately
been suppressed.4 The course which he had recently
adopted was that which he must still pursue -dealing
quietly and subtly with the nearest but least active
dangers, maintaining openly a state of preparation
and defence against invasion from abroad or rebellion
45 Such was the explanation given  diet qu'il congnoissoit bien ses subby Louis himself, several years af- jectz, et qu'il les trouveroit bien, si
terwards, of the motives by which he  ses besongnes se portoient mal."
had been influenced on similar occa- Commines, tom. i. p. 315.
sions: "Ne vouloit riens mettre en   41 See the remarks of Chastellain
hazard. Et ne le faisoit pas seulle- (pp. 454, 462, et al.) on the sentiment par la craincte du duc de Bour- ments of the French nobility arising
gogne, mais pour doubte des deso- out of its divided dependence on
beyssances qui pourroient advenir en the crown and on the great feudason royaulme.... Il m'a maintesfois tories.




544            HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS.             [BOOK II.
at home, and waiting patiently till some propitious
chance  should  bring within  his reach  prizes that
might be grasped without the hazard of a grefter
loss. The conquest of Normandy had been a mater
of necessity: deprived of the command of that pro'vince, he lay wholly at the mercy of his foes.  He had
now  completed, in this quarter, the line of defence
which he had planned. But a direct attack on the
duke of Burgundy would be only the commencement
of a long and hazardous struggle.    Utterly to crush
so powerful a prince was a project not to be conceived; and no defeat which Charles might suffer, no
losses he might sustain, would wring from him a single concession, much less compel him to sue for peace.
As long as a province or a town remained to him, as
long as a sword was at his command or his own arm
could wield one, he would assert his rights and continue the contest;48 and during the continuance of
such a contest France must be exposed to great and
unavoidable disasters and to perils incalculable.
While, therefore, all the world anticipated a sudden
and  bloody collision,-  while the traders of either
country who had crossed the frontiers in the transaction of their business hastily packed up their wares
47 ", La guerre entre deux grans y venist le roy et tout l'effort de son
princes est bien aysee X commencer, royaulme, de la ne bougeroit james
mais tres mal aysee d appaiser, pour ne ne reculeroit d'ung pie, ains moles choses qui y adviennent, et qui riroit avant, se besoing le donnoit;
en despendent," remarks Commines, et 1I vivroit et morroit, et tous les
speaking of the present crisis. Tom. siens, jusques k avoir tire du roy ce
i. p. 152.                    pourquoy il y estoit venu." Chastel48 "Jura Sainct-Jorge que apri- lain, p. 473.
esme y tiendroit-il lieu et place; et




cHaP.. III.]  NEGOTIATIONS RESUMED.         545
and retreated like geese before a tempest, -while
Charles himself, in full expectation of an immediate
attack, was straining every sinew to meet it with
becoming vigor, -Louis saw in the present juncture.only a favorable occasion for renewing the negotiations.which had been from time to time commenced
without leading to any satisfactory result. He had
just concluded an amicable arrangement with his fair
cousin of Brittany; why should he not conclude with
his fair cousin of.Burgundy a like amicable arrangement? Charles, on his part, had given out that his
preparations had no hostile design against the.king,
but were intended merely for affording succor to his
allies in accordance with the obligations which he had
long since contracted. Those obligations no longer
existed; the contract had been annulled by the act
of Francis himself at the moment when Charles, in
compliance with a. summons to that effect, stood
ready to execute it. He was free, therefore, to choose
a new line of conduct; and, if secured against aggression, there could be no reason why he should remain
in his present belligerent attitude. He would, perhaps, complain that the menacing demonstrations of
the king had compelled him, at a great cost, to levy
troops and make other needless outlays. For these:
Louis would reimburse him; a hundred and twenty.
thousand gold crowns should be paid over to. him.
without delay — nay, half of the amount was sent
forward by the agents who carried the proposals for
a prolongation of the truce. It was in this prompt,
VOL. 1.   69




546            NEGOTIATIONS RESUMED.            [BOOK II.
open, and business-like manner that the king conducted his affairs.
Such an offer could not well be received without
surprise. The indignation excited in Charles's breast
by the news of the late treaty was at its height. The
herald of Brittany had brought him information of
it, with letters reproaching him for his tardiness, and
explaining the necessity, from want of funds and sufficient troops, which had compelled Francis to yield.
Charles at'first believed, or affected to believe, that the
letters were forged - that the herald, whose journey
had been facilitated by the king, had been seduced
into a betrayal of his sacred' trust; and he threatened
to hang the unlucky functionary for this supposed
act of treason.49 But full confirmation of the evil
news was soon received, and excited the duke to a
burst of furious denunciation against his faithless and
cowardly ally. But alone he would maintain the
contest; alone he had no cause to dread the power
and enmity of a king of France.50 No cause indeed;
for here, in the midst of his wrath, was a king's messenger kneeling at his feet, with the fairest proffers
from his master, and a heavy, jingling bag containing
the first instalment of a tribute which betrayed the
fears and the weakness of the sender. True, there
must be a certain repugnance felt in receiving what
*had somewhat the appearance of a salve for one's
49 Commines, tom. i. p. 150. —  cifies aveucques le roy, et l'avoient
De Troyes, p. 75,.      bandonne,... de ce ne fesoit-il es"50  Quant au regard de ce que time;... il estoit fort et puissant.
les aultres s'estoient deportes et pa- assez, tout seul." Chastellain, p. 473.




CHAP. III.]         INITIATORY STEPS.                  547
wounded feelings, or a bribe for one's connivance in
an act of treachery. But this were to consider too
nicely. The world would see in the transaction only
a proof that the duke was feared by his enemy even
more than he was detested -that the king, instead
of giving the first blow, had crouched before his adversary's uplifted arm.
The initiatory steps having thus succeeded to his
wish, Louis grew more restless, more impatient for
that complete settlement which would place him on
a securer -basis and give to his policy a freer scope.
That Charles was inflamed to such a pitch of wrath
against his old ally concurred most happily with the
king's purpose. The question which had never ceased
to occupy his thoughts was, how to break up the confederacy between his great vassals;' and now a rift
was made in the principal seam, where a wedge, skilfully inserted and driven home, would complete the
separation.52 With the king's money in his hands,
- a generous and spontaneous gift, - Charles could
not but-listen patiently to friendly advice, to a lucid
exposition of his true interests, from the same disinterested quarter.53 He might now be convinced —
by arguments judiciously employed-that such allies
as he had hitherto selected were unworthy of his
51 "Tousjours estoient les fins du Brittany and Normandy. Idem, p.
Roy de les separer."  Commines, 150.
tom. i. p. 149.                 63 "Esperant le gaigner de tous
52 g gIl sembla bien lors au Roy poinctz i sa voulente, veu les mauqu'il estoit h la fin de son intention, vais tours que les deux dessusdictz
et que ayseement il gaigneroit ledict luy avoient faictz, et veu aussi ceste
due a semblablement habandonner grant somme d'argent qu'il luy avoit
les ducz dessus nommez "- i. e., of donne." Idem, ubi supra.




548            NEGOTIATIONS RESUMED.          [BOOK II.
support.  He might be induced to relinquish the
conspiracies of petty princes for an open and cordial
union with his sovereign.  Other fields of enterprise
were open to him, in which the king would raise no
obstacles to his success.  All the present points of
difference between them might be examined in a liberal spirit and definitively arranged.
But to what hands could a negotiation requiring
to be so delicately managed be intrusted? For some
time past Balue, now raised to the dignity of a cardinal, had been employed in carrying messages to
the Burgundian court - probably, also, in cementing
certain relations with some members of the ducal
household; for there can be little doubt that Louis
had secret well-wishers and friends among the most
trusted servants of the duke.  But the "good devil
of a bishop,"5 though sufficiently useful in the common and coarser business of intrigue, was far from
possessing the tact and adroitness necessary for the
matter now in hand. Saint-Pol had already signally
failed in a similar mission, and had, besides, given
deep offence to Charles by assuming, in a late visit
to Bruges, a degree of.state which, however suitable
to the constable of France, was regarded as a mark
of insolent defiance when displayed at the court of
his natural sovereign." In short, there was no person
capable of carrying out the king's design except himf4, 1 est bon diable d'Evesque served by Brantome, -adding, as if
pour a cette heure," Louis had with some prophetical misgivings,
mwritten of him, - in one of the let- " le ne spay ce qu'il sera a l'avenir."
ters to the Sire de Bressiure pre- 5. Chastellain, pp. 457, 458.




CHAP. III.]   RTERVIEW PROPOSED BY LOUIS.   549
self.'Speeches which from an envoy might seem the
mere commonplaces of diplomatic courtesy would fall
with a potent influence from his own lips. Louis
would know how to deal with the peculiarities of his
rival's character, how to guide the discussion in the
channel which he had himself marked out, and how
to grapple with any difficulties that might unexpect —
edly arise. Were he to commit the affair to other
hands, he would be all the while filled with anxieties
and doubts-a prey by turns to agitation and de-'
pression; but no sooner did the -idea of a personal
interview with Charles present itself to his mind than
he seems to have labored -for its realization in that
hopeful, credulous, wilful spirit which in him was so
strangely united with a proneness to jealousy and
alarms, with a capacity for profound calculations and
consummate wiles.
His mode of procedure was in the highest degree
characteristic. Had he followed the course usual on
such occasions, he would have proposed a meeting at
some point midway between the two armies, whither
each party should come with a fixed and equal number of attendants, and where a barrier would have
prevented the possibility of any sudden treachery on
either side. But such precautions would have betrayed the apprehlension of treachery, and would have
formed an insuperable obstacle to the establishment
of a friendly and confidential intercourse. From a
formal conference of this kind Louis could anticipate
no good result. In fact it was by the absence on his
part of all appearance of suspicion, by an ostentatious




550      INTERVIEW PROPOSED BY LOUIS.   [BooK II.
display of confidence and trust, that he must prevent
any doubt as to his own good faith, and prepare the
way for a favorable reception of his proposals. In
former days, when a fugitive and an exile, he had
found protection and security at the Burgundian court.
Since his accession he had paid more than one visit to
Philip; and it was no feeling of distrust shown or entertained by him that had prevented the repetition of
these visits. The time had arrived for establishing the
same relations with Philip's successor. He would seek
no other security than an assurance that the duke
himself would protect him against any possible mischance. At Conflans he had acted in the same manner while hostilities were actually going on; and,
after their cessation, he had made his daily appearance, almost unattended, in the Burgundian camp.
An officer of the duke's chamber was employed to
sound him privately on the subject. Charles, who
doubtless foresaw the torrent of argument and blandishment which was to descend upon him, while
conscious of his own stubborn powers of resistance,
expressed a disinclination to the scheme.56  But
Louis, having once determined on its accomplishment,
was too eager and too sanguine to be chilled by a
slight repulse; and he despatched Balue with an
open and formal proposal, which it was impossible
for Charles to decline. Meanwhile the king's intention had become generally known, and excited among
the mass of his adherents an opinion little favorable
66 Commines, tom. i. pp 150, 151. sin, tom. ii. pp. 188, 189.- Meyer,
-Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 285.- Ba- fol. 345 verso.




CHAP. II.]    INTERVIEW  PROPOSED  BY LOUIS.                  551
to  his  perspicacity  and  prudence.   His' ministers,
being  probably  influenced  by  other considerations
besides mere regard for his safety, seem  to have been
divided in their sentiments. Saint-Pol, alarmed at
the prospect of a war in which he knew not how to
side with either party, and of which, if it now  broke
out, Picardy would be the theatre, was seduced by
these private motives for desiring an immediate and
peaceful arrangement into acting the voluntary and
unprompted part of a decoy - assuring Louis, from
information he pretended to have received, that
Charles had himself becomb impatient for the interview, and was otherwise in a favorable mood for the
success of the  negotiation.    Balue, who  was afterwards suspected of having maintained all along a
secret correspondence with  the Burgundian  court, is
accused in some contemporary accounts, but with
little appearance of truth, not merely of having urged
his master to carry out his design, but of having originally suggested it.57 On the other hand, reports
57 The account given of the meet- sired opportunity of shifting from
ing at Peronne in the relation print-  his own shoulders the responsibility
ed by Mdlle. Dupont (Preuves, p. of a characteristic blunder and its
232, et seq.) is unworthy of the least consequences.  Collusion between
credit, having evidently no better  Balue and Charles would imply, of
foundation than the exaggerated ru- course, a premeditated breach of trust
mors of the time, and being altogeth- on the part of the Burgundian prince
er at variance with the statements  -a supposition not entertained by
of other writers, based upon a per- any modern writer. Michelet (tom.
sonal though limited knowledge of  vi. p. 264, and note) seems to fall
the facts.  The king, it is true, into a self-contradiction on this point;
brought the same charges against for, while intimating a suspicion in
Balue, (Lenglet, tom. iii. p. 74,) but regard to Balue, he expressly admits
not until the cardinal's subsequent that "tout porte a croire que le due
treason had given Louis a long de- ne meditait point un guet-apens."




552         INTERVIEW  PROPOSED BY LOUIS.    [BOOK II.
were freely circulated of disloyal and treacherous
intentions on the part of Charles;58 and the great
military  officers —Dammartin, Loheac, Rouault —.were unanimous in their efforts to dissuade the king
from  putting himself so completely in the power of
an enemy.  These remonstrances, however, produced
no effect.  Louis, perhaps, attributed  them  to  the
common sentiment of the army, shared by all its
chiefs, in favor of active hostilities. Nor was he likely
to. give greater heed to rumor, founded, of course, on
no knowledge of the facts, and always certain, in such
a case, to prognosticate'a tragical conclusion. He
rejected also the advice of Dammartin, that he should
take with him  a body of troops sufficient, for his protection. This would have defeated his plan at the
very outset, by creating an impression exactly opposite to that which he was most desirous to produce.
He chose to be accompanied only by his great officers of state and a single! company of archers, and
requested that the duke would himself furnish an
escort to meet him by the way and conduct him to
PWronne.  Such were the striking  proofs which he
gave of an unlimited confidence -in what? In the
loyalty and chivalric honor of his cousin of Burgundy, or in the sacred immunities of his own person
58;; Ceux qui sont autour du Roy sinon pour faire quelque echec en la
mettent ladite allee en grande doubte, personae du Roy.... Pleust a Dieu
pour les dangers qui peuvent sur- que ce ffit le bien du Roy, et qu'il ne
venir en plusieurs manieres en la passat point outre." Lettre de La
personne du Roy; et hier soir vint Loer, receveur general du Languele vidame d'Amiens, qui amena un doc, ap. Petitot, Mem. de Commines,
homme qui affirma sur sa vie que tom. i. p. 465, note.
Bourgogne ne tend i ceste assemblee,




CHAP. III.]      MEETING AT P]ERONNE.                 553
and royal office?  It were difficult to say.  No:doubt
his mind was chiefly  occupied with the questions
about to be discussed and the mode in which he could
best conduct them  to a satisfactory solution.
He waited now only for the safe-conduct:which he
had: demanded from the duke. This letter, still extant
in the handwriting of Charles himself, bears the date
of October 8, and is thus worded: " Monseigneur, I
commend myself most: humbly to your good grace.
Sir, if it be your pleasure to come to this town of
Peronne in order that we may converse together, I
swear and promise you, by my faith and on my honor,
that you may come, remain and sojourn, and return
in surety to  Chauny or Noyon, according to your
pleasure, and as often as it shall please you, freely
and openly, without-'any hinderance offered either to
you or any of your people, by me or by any other,
for any cause that now  exists or that may hereafter
arise.".9  The language was too full and explicit to
admit of cavil or distrust.  Guillaume Biche, whom
we have before found employed in private negotiations between the two princes, was present when the
letter was written, and, having received it from the
duke, caused it to be immediately transmitted to
Louisi.- In anticipation of its arrival, the king had
59 The letter is printed among the says, " J'ai moi-m6me vu l'original."
pieces justificatives in Salazar, Len- It is preserved among the MSS de
glet, and other collections.  The Baluze, in the Imperial Library at
handwriting was subsequently sworn Paris.
to by several of the Burgundian no-  60 DWposition de Guillaume Biche,
bles. (Lenglet, tom. iii. pp. 18-20, Lenglet, tom. iv. p. 409.
and tom. iv. p. 405, et seq.) Gachard
VOL. I.     70




554          MEETING AT PIRONNE.        [BOOK II.
removed to Ham, whence he set out on the morning
of the following day, (Sunday, October 9,) accompanied by his confessor the bishop of Avranche, by the
duke of Bourbon and his brothers the archbishop of
Lyons and the Sire de Beaujeu- admiral of France,
by the cardinal, the constable, and a small troop of
nobles and cavaliers, and by fourscore archers of the
Scottish guard. He was met on the way by two
hundred lances, under the command of Philippe de
Crevecoeur, seigneur d'Esquerdes, a nobleman of distinguished gallantry, with whom Louis had long been
personally acquainted. Charles himself, attended by
a numerous company of nobles, awaited the arrival
of the royal party by the banks of a small stream at
the distance of a mile or two from Peronne. The
constable was the first to make his appearance; and,
learning from him that the king was near at hand,
Charles, accompanied by his suite, went forward to
receive him. As soon as his sovereign came in sight
he bowed to his saddle-bow, and prepared to dismount. But Louis hastened forward, with head uncovered, and prevented him. Clasping his arms about
the duke's neck, he saluted him several times, and
seemed loath to terminate the embrace. Turning to
the Burgundian nobles, he greeted them individually
with his accustomed air of frankness'and cordiality.
Then he insisted on again embracing Charles, and
held him in his arms "half as long again as before."
Nothing could exceed the lovingness of his demeanor
towards his fair cousin — to whose protection, to




CHAP. III.]    MEETING AT PE'RONNE.             555
whose pledged and sworn faith and honor, he had
now confided his person.61
The two princes rode side by side in the cenitre of
the cavalcade -Louis resting his hand on Charles's
shoulder, his sharp, eager visage covered with smiles,62
his tongue going all the while at its usual rapid
pace. It was somewhat past noon when they entered
the streets of PWronne.  The castle being out of
repair and meagrely furnished, a neighboring house,
which belonged to one of the principal functionaries
of the province, had been prepared for the king's accommodation. Here he dismissed the greater number
of his suite, some of whom were provided with lodgings in another part of the town; while the constable returned to Ham, which was one of his seignorial
possessions. The Scottish archers were quartered in
the suburbs. The duke having also taken leave,
Louis entered the house, accompanied by his confessor, Cardinal Balue, the vicomte de Narbonne, and
a few attendants of inferior rank, some of them persons who, in spite of the meanness of their birth, —
or perhaps on that very account, —were treated by
their master with a singular familiarity.  The windows of his apartment looked down upon the street;
and his attention was presently called to a party of
cavaliers who were preparing to take up their quar61 Lettre 6crite aux magistrats  62 "Tout en riant." Gachard,
d'Ypres, Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom. tom. i. p. 197.- "Le Roy tenant sa
i. p. 196, et seq. — Lenglet, tom. iii. main sur l'espaule du Due." Lenpp. 17, 21, et al. - Haynin, tom. i. glet, tom. iii. p. 17.
p. 139. — Theodoricus Paulus, De
Ram, p. 2156.




b56           MEETING AT PERONNE.       [BOOK II.
ters in the castle. It happened that the lances of
Burgundy, whose arrival had been long expected,
had that morning reached the camp. Their'conzmander, Thibault de Neufchatel, marshal of Burgundy,
after disposing of his troops, had entered the town
almost at the same moment as Louis, but from the
opposite direction.::Besides his principal officers, he
was accompanied by several noblemen, who, though
not subjects of the duke, had, from strong personal
motives, come to enlist themselves in his: service in
the war which they had supposed to be impending.
Among them were the count of Bresse and his brothers the bishop of Geneva and the count of Romont
-princes of Savoy, and the heads of a party in that
state which, opposing a steady resistance to the influence of France and of the Duchess Yolande, the
king's sister, had naturally sought support in an alliance with the house of Burgundy. Romont was the
personal friend of the duke and the companion of
his boyhood. Philip of Bresse, it will be remembered,
had, several years before, tested the sincerity of the
king's professions and his fidelity to his engagements
by accepting his proffered mediation and visiting his
court on the guaranty of a safe-conduct- an act of temerity expiated by a long and rigorous confinement in
the citadel of Loches. Other faces in the group were
those of Frenchmen - subjects and former servants
of the king, but servants who had fallen under his displeasure, subjects who had discarded their allegiance,
fugitives from his anger and declared enemies to his
person. One of them, Poncet de la Riviere, had held




CHAP. III.]  MEETING AT PERONNE.           557
a command in the royal army at the battle of Montlh6ry, and, being removed from his post, had quitted
the country in disgust, and gone on a pilgrimage to
the Holy Land, from which he was but lately returned.
Another, Antoine de Chasteau-Neuf, seigneur du Lau,
seneschal of Guienne, grand chamberlain and grand
butler of France, had also fallen into disgrace during
the;War of the Public Weal, when he was suspected of
maintaining a correspondence with the confederates
and of plotting secretly against the king. After the
conclusion of that war Louis seemed to have forgotten
the treason of those who were openly engaged in it.
He spared no efforts to attach to his cause and person his most active and conspicuous opponents. The
dukes of Bourbon and Calabria, Dammartin, Lohdac,
and many others, then his avowed enemies, were now
his firm adherents and the executors of his plans.
But against the men in whom, at that season of his
greatest peril, he had been compelled to confide, and
who, as he well believed, had played him false, he
had conceived a deep and deadly hate, which was
not the less deadly that it waited patiently for the
time when the luxury of vengeance might safely be
indulged. In the summer of the present year, when
Louis found himself strengthened by the general support of his people, and when he seemed to be on the
eve of another struggle which would test the fidelity
of his adherents, he gave the first indication of a feel.
ing long but secretly cherished by causing Charles de
Melun, the former grand-master of his household, to
be tried, condemned, and executed. For Du Lau, who




558             MEETING AT PERONNE.           [BOOK II.
was already a prisoner in the fortress of Usson, a more
terrible punishment had been devised. The king had
given orders for the construction of an iron cage, in
which his wretched victim, confined within the straitest limits and deprived of every ray of light, was to
linger out the remnant of his days. But this fearful
doom Du Lau contrived to evade.  With the connivance of his keepers he made his escape, and succeeded in reaching Dijon, leaving the governor of
the prison and other persons who had aided him in
his flight to the mercy of Louis and the expert hands
of Tristan l'Hermite.3
Such were the persons now  congregated in the
courtyard of the castle of Peronne, beneath the
window where stood the king.64 Every face was a
familiar one; every breast was decorated with the.cross of Saint Andrew;65 every heart was filled with
a rancorous hate and desire for vengeance, to learn
the nature and the cause of which he needed only to
consult his own. Even the marshal of Burgundy had
private as well as political grounds for regarding him
with detestation-a feeling which he had never given
himself any trouble to conceal. Louis was seized with
a sudden and great fear.", He experienced that revulsion of feeling which follows surely, speedily, but
too late, the commission of an act of rashness, when
facts can be no longer doubted, when arguments can
63 De Troyes, pp. 52, 74, 75. - de sondit logis." Lenglet, tom. iii.
Commines, tom. i. pp. 153, 154.- p. 21.
Lenglet, tom. iii. p. 21. - Gachard,  65 Commines, tom. i. p. 154.
Doc. Indd., tom. i. pp. 197, 198.    66;" Si entra en grant paour."
64," Le Roy present aux fenestres Idem, p1 155.




CHAP. III.]      MEETING AT PERONNE.                 559
be no longer refuted, when escape is no longer possible, when the consequences are plain and inevitable.
He comprehended the position in which he had placed
himself- alone and powerless, and surrounded by
enemies. He dared not spend a single night in his
present abode, in a vicinity so full of danger. He
must place himself more immediately under the protection of the duke, the only protection to which he
could now appeal; and he accordingly despatched a
messenger to Charles, desiring that the castle might
be got in readiness for his reception, and that other
measures might be taken for his better security. His
request was instantly complied with. The marshal
and his company were provided with different quarters; and, on the same afternoon, Louis, with his
scanty suite, passed through the massive portals between a double file of the Burgundian guard.67   It
was in the guise, and it must have been with the
feelings, of a captive that he entered the gloomy edifice. There was little in the aspect of its interior to
reassure his sinking courage. It had been designed
originally for a fortress and a state prison rather than
a seignorial residence. Its thick walls had withstood
many assaults,68 and in its dark and narrow dungeons
many victims of feudal anarchy and feudal tyranny
67 Ludwigs von Diesbach Chronik had recently become a page in the
und Selbstbiographie, Der Schwei- royal household, and accompanied
zerische Gesichtsforscher, B. viii. the king to Pdronne.
s. 173.- The author - a member  6s Peronne -called hence "La
of one of the most distinguished Pucelle " — maintained its fame as
families in Berne, whose intimate re- a virgin fortress until taken by Wellations with the French court will be lington in 1815.
found important at a later period -




560              MEETING AT PERONNE.              [BOOK II.
had languished and expired. Close by the apartment
assigned to the king stood a tower,69 in which, five
centuries before, a predecessor of his own had been
long held in durance by a rebellious vassal, the count
of Vermandois, and where his imprisonment was believed to have terminated in a violent death. The
coincidence was an alarming one.  But a fate less
terrible, though far more humiliating, than that of
Charles the Simple, was now reserved for Louis the
Aslule.
69 A portion of this tower is still (tom. i. p. 161) says expressly, "Se
standing; and one of its apartments veoit logie rasibus d'une grosse
is shown to strangers as that in which tour," &c.
Louis was confined. But Commines




CHAPTER IV.
TREATY OF PERONNE. —FINAL RUIN OF LIEGE.'146 8.
BY the strict theory of feudalism, the sovereign, in
alienating any portion of his domain, divested himself of all direct authority over the inhabitants and
the soil. His power was to be thenceforth exercised
by his immediate vassal, the holder of the fief, from
whom he exacted homage, military service, and such
other obligations as were expressed in the grant or
implied by the nature of the feudal tie.  But, in
practice, it more often happened that some prerogative of sovereignty —the supreme jurisdiction, the
right of imposing a tax, or the control of commerce
and navigation -was reserved; and, even where no
such reservation had been made, it might be deduced
from analogy or precedent. Hence there were always
openings for aggression and for controversy; and in
the fifteenth century, when the struggle for power
had become vehement and universal, such controversies were of perpetual recurrence.. Many such discusVOL. I.   71                         (561)




562          THE KING AT PIRONNE.       [BooK II.
sions had arisen between the duke of Burgundy and
the king, and had been kept alive, rather than concluded, by the negotiations continually going on. It
was the policy of Louis to impose every possible
check on the power exercised by his rival; to remind
him, on every occasion, of his dependent position;
and to maintain a constant agitation of his own
claims, even when he saw no immediate prospect of
being able to enforce them. But any change in the
aspect of his affairs was sure to suggest a new and
entirely different plan of operations. He had now
come to Peronne prepared to surrender by treaty all
the points in dispute. What he required in return
was simply that Charles should bind himself to the
faithful performance of his feudal obligations to adhere to his sovereign and defend his cause against all
his enemies and assailants. How far such a promise
would be effective or sincere, to what extent it could
be relied upon when the necessity should arise, must
depend in some degree on the representations under
which it was obtained, and on the impression which
Louis might be able to produce upon a mind that had
never yet proved susceptible to his influence. But,
at all events, an immediate and real advantage would
be gained. A treaty with the duke of Burgundy of
the same tenor as that which had just been signed
by the duke of Brittany would complete the dissolution of their alliance, deepen their present feelings
of mutual anger and mistrust, and oppose a serious
obstacle to the speedy formation of a similar confederacy. Accordingly, the king brought forward his




CHAP. iv.]   THE KING AT PERONNE.            563
proposal, the day after his arrival, in an interview at
which, besides the principal parties, the cardinal and
Biche seem to have been the only persons present.'
Charles, with his accustomed directness, professed his
willingness to promise aid and allegiance to his sovereign, but only under limitations which must render
such a promise of little value in the eyes of the king.
No offers or persuasions could induce him to renounce
his alliances with other princes, formed for their mutual assistance and defence. However indignant he
might be at the late defection of the duke of Brit,
tany, he knew that it could be only temporary, that
his own position, and not that of Francis, must be
the rallying ground of the league; and this position
he was fully determined to maintain. A second interview, which took place on the following day, led
to no alteration in his sentiments. Louis, therefore,
had. entirely failed in the object of his visit; and such,
doubtless, under any circumstances, would have been
the result. But for this disappointment he had been
prepared from the moment when he awakened to
the perception of his real:situation. An embarrassment which he could neither conquer nor conceal had
chilled his sanguine spirit and checked its versatile
and vigorous play. The negotiation had lapsed into
a mere formality. The impatience he now felt was
to return to his own dominions. But the step'which
he had taken was not to be so easily retraced. It
had brought him to a more critical point than he
was yet aware of; and the issue was to be deterLenglet, tom. iii. p. 21.




564           CONDITION'OF LIEGE.        [BOOK II.
mined by another train of events coming suddenly
into collision with that which has just been nar-rated.
In the repeated chastisements inflicted on the rebellious subjects of the bishop of Liege the duke of
Burgundy had only carried out the sentence pronounced by the pope. But Rome had long been
unused to see its mandates thus literally executed.
When the news of the destruction of Dinant and the
conquest of Liege reached the papal court they excited a universal feeling of compassion and dismay.
The character and conduct of Louis of Bourbon were
now fully understood and freely condemned. A conclave of cardinals was assembled; and Onofrio di
Santa-Croce, bishop of Tricaria, a prelate highly venerated for his illustrious birth and the benevolence
of his character, was intrusted with a legatine commission to examine into the facts, to reconcile.the
people to their prince, and to heal, if possible, the
wounds which, after each brief interval of quiet,
opened and bled afresh.
At the present moment Liege was tranquil in its
weakness and prostration. Its trade was utterly ruined, its population greatly reduced, its vital power
seemingly extinct. Many thousands of its former
inhabitants were roaming through the wild recesses
of the Ardennes, enduring all the wants and miseries
of savage life untempered by the instincts and habits
of a savage race. The Perron was gone; the Violet
was empty and closed. There was no crowd or
perpetual bustle in the streets and markets, no gath



CHAP. IV.]   ARRIVAL OF THE LEGATE.           565
ering or stormy discussion in the great square. The
interdict being -still in force, the churches were silent,
and Sundays and holidays passed by unnoted and
unobserved. The only sign of activity displayed was
in the demolition of the walls and fortifications, which,
under the direction of a Burgundian officer charged
with the superintendence of the work, made slow but
constant progress. Humbercourt, who had assumed
the chief control of affairs, carried out the mandates
of his master in the stern and unrelenting spirit: in
which they had been conceived — confiscating the
property of the fugitives, and executing such of the
more notorious offenders as had remained in the place
or occasionally slunk back to it in the hope of escaping detection.  Meanwhile the pecuniary.demands
of the conqueror were no longer to be satisfied with
the promises and guaranties of an impoverished people; and the ecclesiastical corporations were compelled to mortgage their possessions for the purpose
of raising the requisite amount.2
The legate arrived in April; and, having been met
and escorted into the city by the bishop and a solemn
procession of the clergy and monastic orders, he proceeded to the cathedral, which he purified by aspersion with holy water, and, pronouncing the interdict
dissolved, ordered the bells to be rung and a Te Deum
to be chanted. On the following day Louis of Bourbon
celebrated his first mass - twelve years after he had
assumed the episcopal office. By this revival of the
2 Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco, Ampliss. Col., tom. i. pp. 1224, 1225.




566             CONDITION OF LI~EGE.         [BOOK II.
sacred rites and of that ecclesiastical pomp which, out
of Italy, was nowhere exhibited with such magnificence as at Liege, the legate sought to obliterate some
of the traces of its recent sufferings and to restore
to the city some semblance of its former.splendor
and animation.  Nor did he fail to express: his sympathy with a people so long and so heavily afflicted.
He undertook to mediate on their behalf with the
Burgundian prince, and, after a- visit to Bruges, returned with permission for the bishop, in concert with
certain of the citizens, to draft a project for the reestablishment of the civic government, to be afterwards submitted for the approval of the duke. This
concession, extorted with difficulty, proved, however,
entirely fruitless. Louis of Bourbon, indifferent to
the woes and the wishes of his subjects, after disgusting every eye with a succession of ill-timed festivities, again quitted the capital, on board of a gayly
painted barge, and went to pass the summer at
Maestricht, in the society of his favorites and in the
amusements of a frivolous and dissolute life.3
Such was the state of affairs at Liege when rumors
of impending war, and of immense preparations made
by the king of France with the purpose of crushing
the duke of Burgundy, revived the hopes of those
who, with so much reason, regarded the latter prince
as their enemy and oppressor. Humbercourt was
recalled by Charles to assist him in his measures for
defence.. The fermentation spread through all the
3 Adrianus de Veteri-Bosco, Am- - Excerpta ex Commentariis Jacobi
pliss. Col., tom. iv. p. 1226, et seq. Piccolomini, De Ram, p. 374.




CHAP. IV.]    RETURN OF THE EXILES.          567
border country; and the exiles, collecting together
in bands, poured forth from  the forest at various
points into the valley of the Meuse, which they soon
began to. descend in the direction of.the capital.
Meeting with no opposition, they entered the city,
about the beginning of. September, with shouts of
"Vive le BRoy!"  Their wild and squalid aspect, their
haggard cheeks and matted hair, their half-naked
bodies wasted by famine, struck all beholders.with
amazement and pity. They had ranged themselves
under several leaders, of whom the principal, Jean de
Ville and Vincent de Buren, were men of noble birth,
bred in the manners and sentiments of chivalry, and
distinguished by courage and address. Through the
influence of these chiefs, the legate, now the only
person in the capital invested with high official functions, succeeded in maintaining order, and in persuading the inhabitants to abstain from precipitate action
and to promise an unqualified obedience to their
prince on condition that he should return and establish a regular government. All classes, indeed, though
excited by the prospect of recovering their independence, were weary of civil war, and acknowledged
that it was better to live under any government,
however arbitrary or severe, than in perpetual anarchy. To the exiles it seemed a sufficient happiness
to find themselves in their former abodes, amid kindred and friends, and' the comforts, however scanty,
of a civilized -existence.  "Better.any fate," they exclaimed, "at home, than'to live like beasts of prey
with the recollection that we had once been men!'




568            CONDITION OF LIEGE.        [BOOK II.
Filled with the earnest desire of effecting an arrangement on the terms proposed, the legate went in person to Maestricht, and succeeded in persuading Louis
to set out with him for the capital. But, on their
arrival at Tongres, three leagues from Liege, they
were met by Humbercourt, with a body of troops
despatched by Charles for the protection of the bishop, and with a message that the duke would shortly
come, at the head of all his forces, to suppress and
punish the revolt.
There now remained no chance for a peaceful solution of the difficulty. The bishop, readily abandoning
a scheme which was foreign to his temper and inclinations, and yielding himself up to the direction of
his powerful protector, fixed his residence at Tongres,
and, in full security as to the event, relapsed into his
ordinary habits. When this news was received in
the capital, where his subjects had awaited him with
a feeling of credulous enthusiasm, - preparing to go
forth and meet him in the guise of supplicants, and,
falling with their wives and children at his feet, to
entreat his forgiveness and protection,- fury and
desperation were roused in every breast. There was
to be, then, no end of their calamities —no dawn
after the dismal night!  The merciful intentions of
the Holy Father, who had sent a minister to pronounce their pardon and to alleviate their miseries,
had availed them nothing. A new storm was gathering on the horizon, and well they knew how to
calculate its progress and its strength. The excitement of the popular feeling was fanned by emissaries




CHAP, IV.]  CAPTURE OF TIE BISHOP.         *569
of the king - sent, indeed, at an earlier period, when
the first symptoms of a movement certain to provoke
the anger of the duke of Burgundy had suggested
the use to which it might be turned: before Charles
had consented to prolong the truce, and Louis had
made a corresponding change in his own plans. De
Ville and his associates exerted their influence with
the people not to repress the agitation, —which, indeed, would have been impossible, — but to control
and direct it to some practicable end. Since their
prince had been intercepted in his return by the
forces of the enemy, the most obvious course was to
attempt his liberation, and, if successful, to conduct
him to the capital, and carry out the project to which
he had already given his consent and which had been
sanctioned by the representative of Rome. The plan
was skilfully arranged.. Tongres, like the other towns,
having levelled its defences in accordance with the
recent treaty, every thing depended on the suddenness and stealthiness of the surprise. A party of two
thousand picked men, well armed, and led by Jean
de Ville, —himself a native of Tongres and the former captain of its garrison, - set out from Liege by
night, found the Burgundian troops, though superior
in numbers, wholly unprepared for the attack, and,
after a short conflict, drove them in all directions
from the town. A band was quickly posted around
the houses occupied by Humbercourt and the bishop,
who, roused from their slumbers by the tumult in the
streets, sought in vain some mode of effecting their
escape. The bishop's attendants, who attempted to
VOL. 1.   72




:570           CONDITION OF LIEGE.       [BooK II.
bar the entrance, were speedily overpowered and cut
down. But Bourbon himself was treated by his captors with all the outward tokens of respect and veneration. They couched their determination that he
should return with them to Liege in the language of
a supplication.  The legate, who was present, and
who seemed not altogether dissatisfied with the turn
which the affair had taken, counselled him to compliance. Having, in fact, no other resource, he submitted
with apparent willingness to his fate. He consented
to reestablish the civic government, accepted of De
Ville as his grand-mayor, and declared that he would
henceforth govern in accordance with the wishes of
his people. The safety of his person would have been
imperilled by a different course. The fierce spirit of
a triumphant populace displayed itself in some excesses which the chiefs were powerless to prevent.
Several of the canons of Saint Lambert's, who had long
before been proclaimed traitors at the Perron, were
murdered in the bishop's presence; and the archdeacon, Robert de Morialme, a man especially hated for
his haughty temper and contempt of the people,, was
hewn in pieces, and the fragments of his corpse hurled
in brutal sport and with derisive shouts from hand to
hand among the crowd. Humbercourt, on the contrary, being regarded merely as an open enemy, was
treated with the courtesies of war; and De Ville, to
whom he had surrendered himself and who desired
to avoid the appearance of offering a defiance to the
duke, furnished him with the opportunity'for escape.4
4. Adrianus. - )e Las. Piccolomini. — Commines, &c.




CHAP. IV.]  EXCITEMENT AT PPRONNE.         1571
These occurrences took place on the night of October 9, the very day on which the king arrived
at Peronne. The report was carried thither with a
wonderful celerity. On the evening of the 11th it
was communicated to the duke and circulated through
the town, in a shape which it owed, perhaps, merely
to the plastic hand of Rumor, but which was marvellously well suited to tell with due effect upon the
present conjuncture.  CUnnumbered atrocities had
been committed by the..men of Liege; the bishop,
Humbercourt, the papal legate, had all been murdered; the envoys of the king were present, aiding.
and abetting in the commission of these crimes." That
such a piece of news as this should stir to its depths
a nature so intense and stormy in its passions as that
of Charles -that the tide of his resentment should:
set with vehement and overwhelming force against
the supposed contriver and instigator of the mischief
was natural: the more natural, the more certain,
inasmuch as the king was not now at a distance, inaccessible, leaving others, his tools and victims, to bear
the brunt of that wrath which he had urged them
to provoke, but in the presence of his enemy, at his
hearth, come hither to delude him. with specious
promises and counterfeited friendship, having all the
while treachery and secret, malice in his breast. A
double train had been fired, without concert, yet
simultaneously; and hence the violence of the explosion. At the moment when Louis, with eyes directed
only on the fallacious prey, had broken from his covw
ert, the. bolt was shot that was to reach him just as




572          THE KING AT PFERONNE.     [BooR It.
he discovered his delusion. He had arrived at Peronne in the same hour as the most bitter and inveterate of his personal enemies. He had entered the
castle while the men of Lidge were setting out for
Tongres. Not an eye that watched him to the place
of refuge he had chosen but was fixed in wonderment
and speculation. No one, however sage, however
indifferent, but had asked the questions, - if not of
others, yet of himself, — Would the arch-plotter be
suffered to escape unharmed from this trap of his
own setting?  Would the arch-enemy, who had so
-lately menaced the house of Burgundy with destruction, and who had desisted from an open attack only
that he might first by secret craft undermine its foundations, be permitted, now that this latter purpose was
frustrated, to depart and put in practice his earlier
design? Every thing had conspired to the expectation, and through the expectation to the production,
of a catastrophe. If nothing else, the sudden alarm
which Louis had himself exhibited would have been
sufficient to suggest it — an alarm which betrayed
the instinctive habits of his own mind, which recalled
every well known instance of his own perfidy and
double dealing, and which seemed to anticipate the
opportune and natural retribution.
That Charles should have witnessed this exhibition
of fear, and listened to the surmises, the hints, -nay,
rather to the positive suggestions and instigations, —
of those who had so strong an interest in profiting
by this rare opportunity, without feeling the influence
of the temptation, is scarcely to be supposed. But his




CHAP. IV.]     THE GATES CLOSED.            573
was not a nature to set aside, with cool deliberation
or with an eagerness inspired by the mere facility
of the act, those moral obstacles which stood in the
way. It had needed the flood tide of passion to
sweep down such a barrier; something was wanting
to give an impetus to the current; and now, at the
last moment, that impetus had come. Exclamations
that he had been betrayed —that the king's visit
and pretended desire for peace had been designed
merely to lull him into a false security and to blind
him to the foul villany that was concocting — were
coupled with menaces, with vows that satisfaction'
should be exacted; and thus the first step- that
which was necessary for securing the opportunity ere
it slipped by-was easily made. Orders were issued
that the gates of the castle and of the town should
be closed, the guards doubled, and no one permitted
to enter or depart without the special license of the
duke. Even these measures, however, were not taken
without an indication of his reluctance to commit
himself irrevocably. It was given out that a casket
of jewels had been missed, and that these precautions
were adopted in order that a thorough search might
be made. "A poor pretext," remarks Commines; but
any pretext would have been idle to excuse the violation of a safe-conduct which declared that the king
and his servants should meet with no hinderance or
detention for any cause then existing or that might
thereafter arise.?
We are told that Louis, in his eagerness for the
5 Commines, tom. i. pp. 161, 162.




574            THE KING AT PERONNE.            [BOOK II.
interview, had forgotten the -emissaries whom he had
despatched to Li'ge.6  With so many delicate wires
to watch and govern, it was'not surprising if they
sometimes became tangled and the movements deranged. Yet he had probably no reason for calculating on an outbreak until his own attack should have
given the signal; and the actual -course of events
owed little or nothing to his impulse or direction.
But he'had no sooner received the intelligence than
he foresaw and prepared himself for the effect.  He
gave way to a most natural -outburst of indignation
at crimes so astounding, and protested loudly,:par
la Pasque-Dieu, that,- if: his fair cousin of Burgundy
undertook the punishment of the perpetrators, he
himself should desire to accompany and aid him.7
Meanwhile he found himself a. prisoner, deprived of
the opportunity of giving public expression to these
sentiments, of manifesting his warm and entire sympathy with the general' feeling.  But it needed no
communication from  the outer world to inform  him
of what was there going on.. The- various "murmurs"
throughout the town, the inquiries,.the conjectures,
the'innumerable rumors that passed from  mouth to
mouth,. the closed lips but grave and ominous looks
of the officials, the movements of troops, the departure. and arrival of messengers and couriers, were
audible and visible enough -to a fancy so- suspicious
6 Commines, tom. i. p. 159.  prise, jura la Pasque-Dieu,.que se
7 " S'en esmerveilla fort, -et de,mondit Sieur de Bourgogne vouloit
peur que, mondit- Sieur' le Duc ne aller mettre le- siege'en ladite cite,
doutast qu'il fust occasion de ladite qu'il iroit." Lenglet, tom. iii. p. 21.




CHAP. IV.]   HIS FATE IN SUSPENSE.         575
and alert. Much, too, of what was passing in the
council-chamber- the schemes for disposing of him
and for profiting most largely by his folly: the extreme measures and vehement arguments of his more
violent enemies, the cooler propositions of the more
politic -would find a faithful and fearful echo in his
own brain. He comprehended all the chances of his
fate. He knew that the imprisonment of kings is
seldom of a long duration; if the body be not speedily released, the soul must be set free. His detention
would occasion the establishment of a regency, and
lead to an immediate war; by his death the crown
would at once devolve upon his brother, whose right
there was no one to dispute, whose authority, however foully acquired, must be acknowledged by all;
and who would scarcely be disposed to call to a stern
account those who had opened'his pathway from
exile to the throne. Whatever, therefore, could be
done to influence the decision must be attempted at
once. Louis had provided himself with a sum of
money- fifteen thousand gold crowns-for such occasions of investment in the Burgundian court as
might promise a return in secret intelligence and
other friendly offices. He had now an ample motive
for the outlay. Some of his people, who had been
lodged in the town, obtained permission to visit him,
being admitted through the postern; and to them he
was fain to intrust the distribution. But a great portion of the amount stuck in the pockets of his agents,
who considered that the chance was small of their
ever being summoned to a reckoning. Luckily, there




576            THE KING AT P]ERONNE.         [BOOK II.
were those who, whether in return for past favors, or
in the expectation of future gratitude, or from motives
of an altogether different character, had the inclination and the power to render him essential service
in this most critical position.
During two days he remained in this suspense, and
his fate was still undecided. The debates in the council were earnest and protracted. On one point alone
there was unanimity of opinion.  No one thought of
proposing an unconditional release, a retraction from
the course which had been entered upon under the
impulse of passion, a return to the strict path of
honor and good faith. The first step from that path
was an irrevocable one. The assault had been committed; the risk had been incurred; and even those
who desired that a retreat should be made must look
for a secure route by which to effect it.  Some were
for going boldly forward to a prompt and conclusive
solution. By others it was proposed that Charles of
France should be sent for; that a treaty should be
framed to include all the great princes; that the
kingdom should be governed by them, and the king
remain a prisoner by their authority and at their
discretion. This view, urged by the smaller number
but with the greater vehemence, seemed at one time
about to prevail. Letters were written; and a courier, equipped for travel, waited only to receive his
final orders from the duke.8 But the chancellor of
8 " Furent les choses si pres, que mandie, estant en Bretaigne: et n'atje veiz ung homme house et prest i tendoit que les lettres du duc."
partir, qui ja avoit plusieurs lettres Commines, tom. i. p. 172.
addressantes a monseigneur de Nor



CHAP. IV.]    MIS FATE IN SUSPENSE.          577
Burgundy9 and a majority of the council-men who
had received their training and formed their opinions
and ideas in the service of Philip the Good, to whom
there was still some sacredness in the royalty of
France, some significance in the phrases of chivalry,
some glory in the reputed honor of the house of
Burgundy - were averse to projects of violence and
flagrant treason that must cast even deeper odium
on their sovereign than his grandfather had formerly
incurred, and cause his reign, like that of John, to
be one of turbulence and blood. The course which
they proposed seemed to promise the double advantage of securing the spoils and suppressing the scandal. The king had come to Peronne with the avowed
object of negotiating a treaty with Charles that should
extinguish all existing causes of dissension; and he
had intimated his readiness to make such concessions
as were necessary for that end. Let a treaty, accordingly, be drawn up, with these and other provisions
for satisfying the just demands of the duke, his vassals and allies, granting them redress for past injuries
and security against future encroachments; and let
this instrument be presented to Louis for his signature and-oath. He had, also, of his own free impulse,
declared his wish to assist in the punishment of Liege.
Let the offer be accepted; let him, attended by a body
of his own troops, accompany the Burgundian army
in its expedition against the rebellious city. By such
a course he would clear himself from the imputation
9 Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 286.
VOL. I.    73




578          TIE KING AT PgRONNE.        [BOOK II.
of having instigated the revolt, stifle forever the delusive hopes of the people founded on his former
professions, and convince the world that the enemies
of the house of Burgundy had nothing to gain by
accepting the king of France for their patron or by
seeking his alliance and protection.
The heads of a treaty such as had been suggested
were privately communicated to the king. His ministers attempted vainly to obtain some modification
of the terms. But the question still remained whether
Charles would give his final assent to this arrangement, or yield to the urgings of his more violent
advisers.and to those darker passions of his own
breast which prompted him to a complete and adequate revenge. How intense was the struggle we
may partly gather from the brief but graphic description left us by Philippe de Commines, who was then
in close attendance on the duke's person, and, with
one other chamberlain, remained in his apartment
after the rest of the household had retired. The
nights were sleepless, and passed in a perplexity and
agitation scarcely more tolerable than the anxiety
endured by the king. Sometimes Charles threw himself upon his couch, as if to still the fever that disordered his thoughts and prevented him from choosing
his course with his usual clearness of intellect and
rapidity of will. But, quickly starting from an attitude that was far from bringing him any interval of
repose, he again paced the floor with a swift and heavy
tread, at times venting his passion in broken but
fiery exclamations, and anon turning to his compan



CHAP. Iv.]      SII FATE IN SUSPENSE.              579
ions and discussing, in a less abrupt if not less vehement tone, the provocation: he had received and the
satisfaction which' it was in his power to extort.l~
The historian, who skilfully used these opportunities
for allaying the storm, tells us that, had any of the
personal enemies of the king been present, they
would then have found' little difficulty in effecting
his ruin.  But there was no lack, throughout the
day, of occasions for fanning the flame; and this
private and internal conflict was wholly natural in a
mind so constituted, in-which so much of violence
and sternness was mingled with strong instincts of
equity and honor.  On the third morning (October
14) the fury of the duke's passion seemed to have
attained its height. All were prepared for some terrible determination. But again the waves subsided.
By a strong effort Charles appeared to clutch the
decision which was at once the most politic and the
least criminal; and, as if to allow of no time for the
recurrence of a vacillation so foreign to his habitual
temper, he summoned a few of his attendants, and,
accompanied by them, suddenly presented himself
before the king.
There had been time, however, for "a friend" —
and we can have no hesitation in believing that
Commines here indicates himself —to give warning
privately to Louis of the visit he was about to re10 Commines, tom. i. pp. 162,173. night: "Want ic certiffiere u dat
-A letter, in Flemish, written from  het dezen nacht niet wel claer ghePeTronne, on Oct. 14, to the magis- staen heeft." Gachard, Doc. Indd.,
trates of Ypres, contains an allusion tom. i. p. 200.
to the discussion of the previous




580                THE KING AT PERONNE.                   [BOOK II.
ceive, and of the hazard he would incur by failing to
agree to any proposals that might be made.1l  Thus
prepared, it cost him, nevertheless, a struggle to pre-serve an apparent composure at the abrupt entrance
of the  duke.   His  pallid  look  and  shrinking  attitude betrayed the apprehensions of his mind.  "My
cousin," he asked, "am  I not safe in your dominions
and under your roof?"   "So safe, Monseigneur," was
the reply,' that were I to see an arquebuse aimed at
you, I would place myself before you to receive the
shaft."'2   But the voice which  gave him  this assurance trembled with suppressed passion; and, though
Charles constrained himself to assume the attitude
and  language  that became  a vassal in the presence
of his sovereign, his tones and gestures failed not to
convey the fearful menace that was hovering on his
lips."3  Fixing his eyes on Louis, he inquired whether
it were his pleasure to accept the treaty which had
been submitted to his inspection. The king, acting
on the hint that had been given him, hastened to
declare  that there was nothing  which  he  so much
" The language of Commines him-  peur: et dit au duc,'Mon frere, ne
self is, " Le Roy eut quelque amy  suis je pas seur en vostre maison, et
qui P'en advertit."  Tom. i. p. 174. en vostre pais?' Et le due luy reSee Mdlle. Dupont's note, where,  spondit,' Ouy, Monsieur: et si seur,
however, the date of 1470, instead  que, si je voyoye venir un trait d'arof 1473, is erroneously given as that baleste sur vous, je me mettroye auof the letters patent in which Louis  devant pour vous guarantir."' Laacknowledges the "singular ser- marche, tom. ii. p. 287.
vices " he had received from Com-    13 " La voix luy trembloit, tant il
mines while at Peronne.  (Lenglet, estoit esmeu et prest de se courroutom. iv. par. 2, p. 133.)         cer. I felit humble contenance de
12 s" Si tost qu'il rveit entrer le due  corps, mais sa geste et parolle estoit
en sa chambre, il ne peu celer sa  aspre."  Commines, tom. i. p. 174.




CHAP. IV.]  THE TRUE CROSS OF SAINT-LAUD.    581
desired as to lay this firm foundation of a lasting
peace. Was he also prepared, in accordance with his
previous offer, to join in punishing the treason committed by the people of Liege, in his name and
under color of his alliance, against his own kinsman,
a brother of the duke of Bourbon, a member of the
royal house of Valois?  To this question he again
replied in the affirmative, adding, " Let us first, fair
cousin, confirm with our oaths the peace to which we
have both agreed, and then I am ready to march with
you against Liege with as few or as many troops as
you may desire." The treaty was then produced;
and, at the same time, the king's attendants brought
from his coffers, in which it was always carried, a
piece of the true cross, called the Rood of Victory,
or of Saint-Laud- the latter being the name of the
shrine at Angers in which it had been deposited by
Charlemagne, its original possessor. For this relic
Louis was known to entertain an extraordinary veneration; and rumor attributed to him the belief, that,
were he to break a vow thus witnessed, his life would
end within the year. It was rarely, therefore, as may
well be supposed, that its miraculous virtue was put
to the test. But the present was not an occasion for
any scruple or hesitation -on such a point. The oath
was administered by Cardinal Balue; the notary
affixed his seal with the usual formalities; and, proclamation of the treaty being forthwith made, the bells
of the town were rung in token of rejoicing. Afterwards the two princes dined at the same table, and
rode together through the streets. It was necessary




582            THE KING AT PMRONNE.          [BooK IL.
that the people should witness their cordiality and
the joy of Louis at having effected a settlement the
hope of which had brought him to PWronne.14
The instrument thus sworn to and thus published
contained merely a summary of the various concessions granted by the king, and was in the nature, in
fact, of a preamble to -a more elaborate document, or
series of documents, subsequently prepared-and duly
ratified, wherein all the articles were specified with
the greatest minuteness and with the requisite forms.
A perusal of the whole document carries with it the
conviction that the Burgundian court was not less
amply supplied with skilful lawyers and subtle casuists than with bold warriors or with functionaries
qualified to arbitrate on the nicest points of heraldry
and of etiquette.  No question that had ever been
mooted between Charles or any of his predecessors
and the French king was overlooked.  Many privileges were extorted to which there had been before
no claim or pretence. The border line of the king's
dominions, where they trenched on those of the duke,
was contracted and rigidly defined. Louis was made
to relinquish inherent rights and inalienable prerogatives of his crown.  The courts of Flanders were
relieved from the appellate jurisdiction of the Parliament of Paris. The sanction of the sovereign was
given to the alliance subsisting between his vassal
and the king of England, "our enemy and adversary."
14 Commines, tom. i. p. 175.- Letter of one of the king's attendLamarche, tom. ii. p. 287. — Ga- ants, in Wavrin de Forestel, Anchard, Doc. Ined., tom. i. p. 200. -  chiennes Cronicques, tom. ii.
Lenglet, tom. i. pp. 17, 22, et al. -




CHAP. IV.]     TREATY OF PERONNE.            583
But the most remarkable clauses were those by which
security was taken against any violation of the treaty,
and a mode provided for obtaining redress. Should
Louis fail, in any particular, to carry into effect the
obligations he had contracted, or hereafter rescind
them, or fraudulently evade them, or connive at such
evasion by others, the duke- of Burgundy and his
heirs, their subjects and their states, were to be
thenceforth and forever absolved from their allegiance to the crown of France, relieved from every demand of homage, service, feudal aids, or other mark
of subjection. In the same event, all the princes of
the blood: were authorized and even expressly conmmanded, not merely in these general terms, but by
letters bearing the sign manual and severally addressed to each,-letters which were actually written
and despatched,-to levy war upon the monarch
and to aid the injured party with all the means and
power at their command in the recovery of his rights.
The Church was invited, in the like contingency, to
hurl its interdicts, excommunications, "aggravations
and reaggravations," at the person and dominions of
the Most Christian King, who hereby renounced, for
himself and his successors, the ancient claim of their
line to exemption from ecclesiastical censures. In a
word, the penalties which Louis would incur by any
failure to comply with his engagements would amount
to a forfeiture of his sovereignty and possessions.'5
There was but one flaw to be discovered in the
treaty. It was too carefully, too skilfully, too elabolb Lenglet, tom. iii. pp. 22-64.




584             TUEE KING AT P~LRONNE.            [BOOK II.
rately drawn.  It bore on every line the stamp of its
origin; it revealed the whole story of the circumstances under which it had been framed.  No one
could imagine that this was such an arrangement as
Louis himself had had in contemplation. No one
would be induced to believe that he had descended
from his strong position for the mere purpose of listening to ".the complaints and grievances" of his
cousin of Burgundy, of giving to every statement
seriactim  an unqualified assent, of meeting every demand with an unconditional compliance.16 Though
he himself should be as desirous of hiding his folly
and humiliation as his enemies of concealing their
perfidy and violence, the proofs would be patent and
irrefragable.  Cannons might roar and bonfires blaze
in celebration of the peace;17 but the public eye would
penetrate through the smoke and flame, through the
thick walls of the castle of PWronne, to a dungeon
where the king, surrounded and menaced by his jailors, wrote with a trembling hand whatever they chose
to dictate.
It is remarkable that no mention is to be found in
the treaty of a provision which it is nevertheless certain, from the testimony of well informed writers as
well as from  the subsequent course of events, made'1 " S'ensuivint les doleances, re- Such is the form of the treaty.
monstrances et requestes de nostre-  17 Rejoicings were every where ordit frere et cousin, avec les provi- dered by the king. We find Charles,
sions et responses par nous a luy on the other hand, forbidding the
accordees sur chacune d'icelles.... peace to be celebrated in his dominSur cette article a este repondu de ions till after his return from Liege.
par le Roy, qu'il est content," &c. Gachard, Doc. Ined., tom. i. p. 199.




CHAP. IV.]    TREATY OF PERONNE.             585
an important part of the arrangement. It would
indeed have been strange if the claims of Charles of
France had been overlooked on an occasion like the
present; but, though the terms of the settlement are
known, it is uncertain whether they formed the subject of a separate and secret treaty or of a mere
verbal engagement. The king was not again compelled -perhaps, even in his present circumstances,
could not have been compelled -to surrender Normandy into the hands of his brother. His own former
offer of Champagne and La Brie was now renewed
and accepted, with the more readiness inasmuch as
these provinces marched with the Burgundian dominions, and would be occupied, defended, and controlled
by the forces and authority of the Burgundian prince.
During the absence of Louis the count of Dammartin remained in command of the royal army. His
responsibilities, at such a conjuncture, must be of the
gravest description. He could not be ignorant of
much that was passing at Peronne -of the violation
of the safe-conduct, of the indications that some further movement was in contemplation or in progress.
Yet it was necessary for him to act with the greatest
caution. Any step taken hastily or in the dark would
only have the effect of adding to the embarrassments
and perils of a situation from which there was no possibility of immediate and forcible extrication. While,
therefore, he strengthened himself with fresh reien-'forceinents,l8 and sent notice to the Burgundian court
IS We find a general levy ordered of the meeting at Peronne. (De
in Paris on Oct. 8, on the very eve Troyes, p. 76.) It might be inVOL. I.    74




586                 THE  KING  AT- PERONNE.                 [BOOK II.
of his purpose and preparations to protect or avenge
his master, he  abstained  from   any overt act of hostility.   To letters which  he  received  from  the  king
commanding him  to retire from  the frontier9 -he gave
no heed. Even if genuine, he could not regard them
as voluntary acts of the person whose signature they
bore.  Yet there  can  be little doubt that in  giving
these  orders Louis was perfectly  sincere.20   He was
now  reconciled to his fate.   One effort he had made
to escape what he justly considered as the most grievous of the penalties imposed upon him. He had
endeavored  to  obtain  a release from  his promise  to
accompany Charles to Li6ge21 offering, if  permitted
to  return  to  France, to  exert his influence with  his
allies for the purpose of inducing them  to  make reparation for the wrongful acts they had committed, —
the  nature  and  extent Of  which, were: now  better
ferred that Louis himself, even at Louis is all himself. The style is
the moment of taking this rash leap, very characteristic: " Tenez vous
was not without apprehension as to  seur, que je ne vay en ce voyage du
the result.                        Liege par contrainte nulle, et que je
19 Cabinet de Louis XI.; Len-  n'allay oncques de si bon coeur en
glet, tom. ii. p. 227, et seq.     voyage comme je fais en cettuy-cy.
20 There is a striking difference,.. Monsieur le Grand Maistre, mon
in the style and form of expression, ami, vous m'avez bien monstre que
between the two letters. It does not m'aimez, et m'avez fait le plus grand
follow, however, that the first —so  service que pourriez faire; car les
cold, formal, prolix, and uncharac- gens de Monsieur de Bourgogne
teristic -must, as Michelet suggests, eussent cuide', que je les eusse voulu
have been either forged or written  trompre, et ceux de par-dela eussent
under a compulsory dictation.  It cuide, que j'eusse este perdu prisonseems to indicate rather a temporary  nier; ainsi par defiance les uns des
mental paralysis. The constraint is  autres, j'dstois perdu."   Lenglet,
internal, but it is not the less hard  tom. ii. p. 228.
and benumbing. In the second let-   21  Se voulut repentir de son voyter, of precisely the same purport, age de Liege."  Lenglet, tom. iii.
written some days later, from Namur, p. 22.




CHAP. IV.]    LOUIS RECONCILED TO HIS FATE.                587
known, -  and promising, if he failed in this attempt,
to. return within a stated  time and. fulfil his: original
contract.  He proposed to leave as hostages the. constable, the duke of. Bourbon, and other great nobles
and  ministers of.state, who, though  inwardly  convinced that no. considerations in regard.to their safety
would induce: the king again to jeopardize.his: own
person, professed.in public their willingness to become
his sureties.22.But he who- lies.beneath  the lion's
-paw  does wisely in: refraining from  any.attempt, in
suppressing  even.the  inclination, to, rise.' Warned
of the danger and the hopelessness of further resistance, Louis ceased to struggle with his bonds.  From
that moment he seems to have recovered his habitual
cheerfulness and self-possession.   Every  sign of reluctance and of timidity disappeared.  He  entered
with  alacrity, with histrionic fervor, on, the performance:of his shameful task.  His pages and other attendants were in a state of bewilderment and terror,
expecting every moment to be set upon and slaughtered.23   But there was nothing in the demeanor of
the king himself to indicate the pressure of a terrible
necessity.  It might rather have been supposed that
22 "Ceulx que le Roy nommoit und Lebens by den Burgunern; denn
pour estre ostaiges, se offroient fort, wa sie Ein heimlich mochten verau moins en public. Je ne scay s'ilz  twuschen, das beschach." (Ludwigs
disoient ainsi a part; je me doubte  von Diesbach Selbstbiographie, Der
que non. Et i la verit6, je croy qu'il Schweizerische Geschichtforscher, B.
les y eust laissez, et qu'il ne fust pas viii. s. 173.) An exaggeration, we
revenu." Commines, tom. i. p. 172. may hope. Diesbach, who was then
23 "Warend all Stund warten, a. mere child, retained in his later
wenn man uns an die KJpf schlig. years a vivid recollection of the fears.... Warend in grossen Sorgen Lybs and perils of this journey.




588             MARCH AGAINST LIEGE.            [BOOK II.
the expedition against Liege was a project of his own
conception, the crowning achievement of his negotiations at Peronne.
By the permission — or perhaps by the special
desire - of the duke, he had made a requisition on
his lieutenant for three hundred men-at-arms; and
this small troop was promptly sent as a means, however insufcient, of affording him protection.  On the
17th the two princes set out for Namur.  The lilies
of France were unfurled beside the standard of Burgundy. The royalists, in obedience to their master's
orders, assumed the badge of Burgundy, which he
himself wore conspicuously displayed among the
leaden images on his hat.  Marching "like a mercenary" in the ranks of his foes, - of those whom he
feared and detested, and by whom he was feared and
detested in turn,-  against the most faithful of his
allies, against those who, so often forsaken, had never
forsaken him, he seemed content with his situation,
at ease with his own heart, secure of the good opinion
of the world.  Strange spectacle! strange king! 24
But, while we marvel at the facility and apparent
satisfaction with which he carried his heavy burden
of dishonor, we cannot, like some of his contemporaries, regard this exhibition with feelings of unmixed
contempt. His fortitude and self-command were' not
less conspicuous than his insensibility to shame. Those
24 i" Praeclarum et memorabile fa- Basin, tom. iii. p. 203; and see p.
cinus hujus regis Francorum, cui for- 209 -in both places, a vehement and
tassis vix simile aliud vel in veteri- exulting tirade. Even the exile at
bus annalibus, vel in recentioribus Treves finds consolation and revenge
historiis poterit facile inveniri," &c. in this abasement of the " tyrant."




CHAP. IV.]    SANGUINARY COMBAT.            589
who had presented him with the bitter cup watched
all his words and gestures, and every shadow that
passed across his face.25 Charles had been advised
that it was unnecessary for him to lead his whole
army against an enemy who had so often recoiled
before his attacks.  His forces amounted to forty
thousand men, and it was doubtful whether Liege
could send half that number into the field; while,
in its present state, the city was incapable of enduring a siege, and might be expected to fall at
the first onset. But he refused to dispense with any
of the resources at his command. With such an
ally in his camp, no precaution was superfluous. A
secret missive, a mere hint, would be sufficient to
bring Dammartin upon the scene of action. That
the latter might not wait for any hint was the secret
apprehension of Louis.
The Burgundian army entered the principality in
two divisions — the first, under the marshal of Burgundy, who was accompanied by Du Lau and the
other French refugees, being a day's march in advance. Having captured Tongres and other towns,
and laid waste the surrounding country, the marshal
continued his approach towards the capital. On the
22d he was encountered by a body of twelve thousand men, and a sanguinary engagement took place,
in which the Burgundians were at first overmastered
and compelled to retreat. But reinforcements arriving, under the Sire de Ravenstein, the superiority
in numbers as well as in discipline and arms decided
25 See Commines, tom. i. pp. 185, 186.




590               MARCH AGAINST LI1GE.                 [BOOK II.
the day.:  The men of Liege were utterly routed, and
left behind them  more than  two thousand  slain.  A
party of five' hundred, posted in  a mill, which they
defended with desperate valor, perished to a man26
Two days later,'the bishop, the legate, and one of
the newly elected burgomasters made their appearance in the camp. They had been sent at the suggestion of the legate, in the hope that their intercession
might still avail to obtain some terms of grace.  But
the  sole petition they ventured to prefer-  that the
lives of the inhabitants might-be spared -was scornfully rejected. In the opinion not only of his own
adherents, but of persons not too favorable  to  his
cause, Charles had  already treated Liege with undeserved clemency.27   It was no mere-feat of arms that
he now contemplated, but the complete eradication
of a virulent pest which had proved incurable by
ordinary means. The burgomaster was sent in chains
to Maestricht; the bishop was detained  to bear his
part in the triumph; while the legate, whose humane
proceedings were attributed  to  sinister motives, received a contemptuous dismissal and was conducted
from the principality.2
26,, Furent lo faites de grans vai-   27 See, in particular, the remarks
flances d'une part et d'autre, et se of Commines, (tom. i, p. 201,) who,
vendirent bien les villains, lesquelx'a on the whole, - his peculiar position,
la fin y demeurerent tous mors avec his character, and his intellect, all
leurdict capitaine; et ne print l'on  considered, — is the best representpoint cedict jour ung seul prisonnier, ative of the ideas and opinions, or
ains fut tout mis i l'espee;. -. et fut perhaps we should rather say of the
bralle ledict moustier et villaige."  enlightenment, of his age.
Letter of Jean de Mazilles, a Bur-   28 Piccolomini. - Commines.gundian officer present, Nov. 8, in  After his return to Italy he fell into
Dupont, Preuves, tom. iii. p. 245.   disgrace, in consequence of the ill




CHAP. IV.]       DESPERATE SORTIE.              691
Shorn of its fortifications, Liege was still protected
by a semicircular range of hills enclosing it on the
north and extending on either side to the river.  In
some ~places the slopes were gradual, and. covered,
then as now, with gardens and vineyards.   But, for
the most part, this district could be safely traversed
in the dark only by those who were thoroughly familiar with it. Taking advantage of this circumstance,
and of the cold, autumnal rains which had flooded the
low lands and impeded the operations of the foe, De
Ville, at the head of a picked band, made a sortie, on
the night of the 26th, against the marshal of Burgundy, whose forces were stationed in the suburbs.
The archers, thrown into confusion, lost more than
eight hundred of their number. Humbercourt, the
prince of Orange, and other men of note, were
wounded.  But most of the men-at-arms remained
firm, opened a fire from  their artillery. against one
of the gates, which had been repaired, and through
which the people offered to sally, and, as soon as the
dawn had revealed the inferiority of their assailants,
drove them back with slaughter into the town. De
Ville, mortally wounded in the retreat, expired on
the following day.2
A final and daring effort was made by the besieged
on the night of Saturday, October 29.  The Burgundian troops, posted at their respective stations,
had completed their preparations for the assault,
success of his mission; and the mor-  29 Adrianus, Ampliss. Col., tom.
tification he endured is said to have iv. p. 1339.- Commines, tom. i. p.
occasioned his death. De Ram, p. 316. 179, et seq.




592             RUIN OF MEIGE.          [BOOK II.
"which was ordered for the next morning. When all
was silent and obscure six hundred intrepid men
passed across the ruined walls, descended by a precipitous path and through a watery ravine to the
valley lying between the citadel and the Faubourg
Sainte-Walburge, and, ascending the opposite heights,
directed their march, silently and vigilantly, but with
as much speed as the rugged ground would permit,
towards the quarters occupied by the two princes,
Charles of Burgundy and Louis of France -names
now united in the curses of a downtrodden and expiring people.
They were natives — the persons composing this
adventurous band -of Franchimont, a little mountain territory south of Liege, famous for its black
marbles and other valuable minerals, and inhabited
by a hardy race of people, whose traditions were full
of wild exploits that made nothing seem impossible
to bold hearts and sinewy limbs. Their present enterprise might well have appeared a desperate one;
yet it was, in truth, sagaciously planned, and not
unworthy of men who, in their extremity, had lost
neither hope, nor courage, nor the ability to profit
by the last remaining chances of redemption.
In order to complete the investment on the northern side, and obtain the means of operating simultaneously in the assault, the Burgundian army had
been compelled to extend its lines around the amphitheatre of hills already mentioned; and its communications were lengthened and impeded by deep
chasms, precipitous spurs, and other difficulties of the




CHAP. IV.]      DESPERATE SORTIE.            593
ground. A circuit of full three leagues was necessary
in passing from one to the other of the extreme
wings; while, within the city, the march between
these points was short, direct, and over.streets that
might be considered as broad and level when compared with the winding paths -without.  On this
foundation the plan.had been -formed for the sudden
discomfiture of a foe far too powerful to be encountered in the field, or opposed with any prospect of
success at his intended entrance, in the broad day,
into a defenceless place. The men of Franchimont,
fitted for such a service by the habits of their mountain life, were to penetrate to the hostile camp by a
route so wild and untraversed that there was no ap,
prehension of its being found defended by outposts.
Guided by the owners of the two houses in which
the duke and the king had fixed their quarters, they
were to glide or burst through the guards, make
their way straight to the sleeping apartments of the
princes, and slay them both before succor could arrive. As soon as the event might be supposed to be
determined, or at a signal agreed upon, the people
were to make a general sally by a street or causeway
leading directly to the suburbs, in the hope that the
besieging army, taken by surprise, bewildered by the
darkness, by its want of familiarity with the ground,
and by the confusion and irresolution that would
naturally follow the loss of its commander, might be
thrown into panic and be smitten with irretrievable
disaster.
The little party to whom the chief and most hazVOL. I.     75




5 94             RUIN OF LIEGE.          [BOOK Ire
ardous share of this enterprise had been committed
succeeded in reaching the faubourg - a mere cluster
of farm-houses and cottages -without creating an
alarm. It was still early; but, with the exception of
a few sentinels, who were quickly and silently disposed of, all seemed profoundly, still.  The duke,
having for several previous nights taken little or no
repose, had disarmed and retired to rest. Commines
and one or two other favorite attendants slept in
the same chamber; while, in the room above, some
archers, intrusted with the watch, were engaged
in playing at dice. The house was connected with
a smaller dwelling, where the king lay, by a long
and narrow: building, intended for a granary, but
now occupied by a party of soldiers, who had pierced
the walls so as to command the open space on either
side.. These precautions had been taken, however,
not in anticipation of an attack by the enemy, but
to guard' against any sudden act'of treachery on the
part of Louis, whose Scottish archers were under the
same roof with himself, while his men-at-arms were
scattered through the neighboring village. So pro-'found was the jealousy still entertained of an ally
who, throughout the operations, had preserved the
same frank and cordial demeanor, and given frequent
proofs of the loyalty of his intentions!
Had the' assailants gone straight to the doors, it is
probable- or was at least thought so by those who
were on the spot -that their purpose would have
been accomplished. But coming unexpectedly on a
pavilion belonging to the count of'Perche, and sup



CHAP. IV.]     DESPERATE SORTIE.           595
posing perhaps that it was occupied by a guard, they
pierced it with their pikes and aroused the inmates.
Some-of these were slain, but not without a disturbance that attracted the attention of the archers and
awoke the troops stationed in the granary. Attempting to sally, the Burgundians found themselves engaged with an enemy whose -character and numbers
they were alike unable to conjecture. The. duke,
meanwhile, having hastily donned some portion of
his armor, descended, sword in hand, to the street,
followed by his attendants. So great was the press
around the door that several minutes elapsed before
they could fight their way out. When they succeeded
the tumult had become general. The soldiers from
the village and other stations were hurrying to the
spot; torches were beginning to gleam; the royal
archers, remaining under cover,: as bound to shelter
the king's person, discharged showers of arrows from
the windows, indifferent whether they lighted on
friend or foe; while the war-cries of Burgundy and
France — " Vive Bourgogne!" "Vive le Roy et tuez!"were answered by similar exclamations in the peculiar dialect of Liege. Detected, hemmed in, and overwhelmed by superior numbers, the men of Franchimont could not long maintain the unequal combat.
But they sold their lives dearly -killing above two
hundred of their foes, wounding many more, and
fighting with desperate courage to the last. Whether
any escaped, or sought to escape, remained a matter
of uncertainty. The ground was strewn with corpses,
which no one cared to count; though history may




596                    RUIN  OF LIEGE.                   [BOOK II.
not refuse its meed of glory to the prowess and heroism  of these nameless dead.30
Such  an  act of daring  seemed.to indicate a -more
determined  resistance  than- the  besiegers:had  prepared themselves to encounter. A sortie, as had been
agreed  upon, was also  attempted. by.the main  avenues; and, though easily repulsed by strong bodies
of troops posted  -at those points,. had the  effect of
keeping the whole camp in alarm throughout the
night.  Louis advised -that the assault should be postponed until the spirit of the besieged was more effect,
ually subdued. -He, more than any other, was anxious
for the  complete  success of the  Burgundian  arms.
Liege was the bridge.over which alone he could. hope
to return to his own dominions; and he dreaded  the
effect of any disaster or reverse on the moody, and
violent nature of his kinsman.31    But the duke, still
suspicious in  regard  to  every  suggestion  from  that
quarter, chose  to  attribute  this  advice  to lack  of
physical courage, and intimated that the king, if he
were  so minded, might retire  to  Namur and. await
3o Commines, liv. ii. ch. 12.-  The latter, which is the number given
Adrianus, Ampliss.- Col., tom. iv. by Commines, has received a certain
p.' 1341.- Theodoricus Paulus, De  sanctity from the local traditions.
Ram, p. 220. - Letter of Jean de   31 " Entra le Roy en grant doubte;
Mazilles, Dupont, tom. iii. p. 246.-   et en estoit la cause qu'il avoit paour
Haynin, tom. i. p. 140. - Diesbach, que se ledict duc failloit i prendre
in Der Schweizerische Geschichtfor- ceste cite d'assault, que le mal en
scher, B. viii. s. 173. - Gerlache, tomberoit sur luy, et qu'il en seroit
Revolutions de Liege, p. 133, et seq. en dangier d'estre arreste, ou prins
-Bovy, Promenades Historiques, de tous pointz: carle duc auroit patom. i. pp. 29, 44, et al. - Basin, our que, s'il partoit, il ne luy feist la
tom. ii. p. 201, et seq. The number guerre d'aultre coste."  Commines,
of the Franchimontois is variously  tom. i. p. 192.
stated at from three to six hundred.




CHAP. IV.]    ENTRANCE OF THE TROOPS.                597
the event.: When, however, he found Louis, in the:
morning, at the head of his little: troop, mounted and,
armed, and prepared to take part in the assault, he
endeavored, with  more: courtesy, as well as with
greater sincerity, to dissuade him from thus exposinghis person. The monarch with his accustomed smile,
persisted in his purpose.:"-My brother," he: said, " let
us advance. You are to-day the most fortunate prince::
alive!"32  To his own followers he cried," Forward,:
my. children! Let the word be' Burgundy!"' 33
But the victory was: already achieved, and nothing.
remained but to secure the fruits.  Not:the least re-.
sistance was offered; and the army, in three divisions,:
entered the town from  as many different quarters,
with ranks unbroken, banners flying, trumpets sound-.
ing, and shouts of "-Ville gaignee!" that passed along
the advancing columns from:'front to  rear.:  The
streets leading to the great square had been deserted
by all save. a few stragglers; who were cut down -.
men and women -  by the brutal and impatient soldiery.  The houses, too, seemed vacant;: though the.
tables spread for the: morning repast showed how
recently the occupants had fled.34  The forces under.
the marshal of Burgundy: were the first to reach the:
square, where they planted:their standard and re32 "Ne voulut souffrir que le Roy   33 "Avant, enfans, criez Bourse mist en ce danger; et uy pria de goigne."   Haynin, tom. i.:- p.
demourer jusques il le manderoit; et 142.
j'ouy que le Roy luy dit:' Mon firere,  34 "En chascune maison froumarchez avant, car vous estes le plus vasmes la nappe mise." Comrnmines,
heureux prince, qui vive."' La- tom. i. p. 194.
marche, tom. ii. p. 288.




598                 RUIN OF LIEGE.                [BOOK II.
mained in order of'battle.  The duke, with the main
corps, arrived in the opposite direction,'and -was followed by the king, elate'.with triumph, waving his.
naked sword, and crying c" Vive Bouryogne i" with the
full strength of his lungs.35 As soon as it was. clear
that no further resistance need be apprehended, the
troops were distributed'throughout the'city, a separate district being assigned to each division. Within
those. limits all was to be theirs.  On' a former occasion they had been defrauded of what' they considered
as the proper reward of their achievements.  But
now there was no restriction, no cause for'secresy or
fear. Rapacity, cruelty, lust, — all the. foul desires
of the unbridled heart, —were to rage with license
and impunity.
The greater number of the inhabitants had already
retreated- across the bridge to the southern shore,
with the purpose of seeking refuge in the neighboring woods.  But manyhiad concealed themselves in.
their dwellings; while others, as usual at such times,
had sought sanctuary. in. the sacred edifices, taking!
with them  the most valuable or'least bulky. of their
effects. - There were more than four hundred churches
in Liege,36 where as many masses were recited daily
as in Rome itself. 37  The pompous rite was even then.
proceeding; psalms and anthems, selected for their
3 Adrianus, Ampliss. Col., tom.   37 "J'ay ouy dire i monseigneur
iv. p. 1343. - Letter of Anthoine de de Humbercourt, qui congnoissoit
Loisey, Nov. 4, Lenglet, tom. iii. p. bien la cite, qu'il s'y disoit autant
82. -Letter of Jean de Mazilles, de messes par jour comme il se' faiDupont, tom. iii. p. 248.    soit k Romme." Commines, tom. i.,o Letter of Jean de Mazilles, Du- p. 196.
pont, tom. iii. p. 247.




CHAP. IV]        SACK AND MASSACRE.                599
appropriateness to the occasion, had been chanted by
the priests;38 the swinging censer diffused its clouds,
heavy with odors, above the worshippers; and the
tinkling bell, that announced the elevation of the
host, was followed, as ever, by moments of absorbed
and silent adoration.  The sounds which broke that
silence were not the triumphal notes of praise ascending to Heaven, but the clamors of Hell.  Eyes
flaming with  demoniac  passions glared upon the
scene.  Shrieks and curses succeeded; the clang of
steel; the fall of slaughtered bodies on the marble
pavement. Booty was the primary object; but every
where the'track of the devastators was marked with
blood.  It flowed in rivulets upon the floors.  The
vestments of the officiating clergy were sprinkled
with the crimson drops.' In one church twenty-two
persons were. slain while kneeling in prayer; in
another eleven were killed, and many wounded left
weltering in their gore.  In all, or nearly all, the
same atrocities were enacted. The habits of a superstitious awe were curiously blended with open sacri,
lege. In some instances the celebrants were request,
ed to remove the elements before delivering up the
vessels that contained them.'At the Church of the
Minorites, a soldier was seen waiting for the priest
to complete the consecration ere he snatched the
costly chalice from  his grasp.  Another, at Saint
38 "In matutinis cantatum fuit et in evangelio, Missis exereitibus
Vidi Dominum; et Aspice Domine suis perdidit homines illos, et civiquia desolata est civitas plena divi- tatem eorum succendit." Adrianus,
tiis. Et in introitu majoris missae, Ampliss. Col.,. tom. iv. p. 1342.
Omnia quce fecisti nobis Domine;




600                     RUIN  OF LIaGE.                    [BOOK II.
Peter's, while the priest was in the act of upraising
the host, offered no interruption, but, slipping a hand
beneath the folds of his vestment, dexterously eased
him  of his purse.   The ornaments of the  altars, the
images, the reliquaries, were seized and appropriated.
The monuments were broken, the tombs entered and
despoiled. The convents were forced, the nuns violated. Neither age, sex, nor condition was respected.
Where life was spared, it was in the hope of extorting
ransom, or, more often, in order that death might
be inflicted at greater leisure and with greater barbarity.39
Some  efforts were  made  to  restrain  the  fury  of
the soldiery, which had burst forth with a violence,
39 Adrianus, Ampliss. Col., tom. credence is due to the account writiv. - Theodoricus Paulus, De Ram, ten," petitione aliquorum honestopp. 223, 224. - Joannes de Los, De  rum, sub omni fide," by Theodoricus
Ram, p. 61. - Henricus de Merica, Paulus from the information he had
De Ram, p. 179. -Commines makes received from one of the actors —
no mention of these scenes. He  "ab honesto viro Jacobo Deyn, qui
says that the number slain in the  est juratus balistarius et custos corstreets, on the entrance of the troops, poris principis Karoli, ac etiam baldid not exceed 200. The churches, luis de Arden in comitate de Ghihe says, were sacked, and those who  sen; " (De Ram, p. 231;) or to that
were present made prisoners. But of Henricus de Merica, prior of a
Commines himself was in close at- convent in Louvain, who had ample
tendance on the duke; Saint Lam- means of information, and whose
bert's was the only church he en- narrative bears the date of 1468-9.
tered; and his narrative was written.Haynin says (tom. i. p. 142) that the
many years after the event. It is number slain on the first day, " men
impossible to reject the testimony of and women, old and young," was
Adrianus, who was going about the  above a thousand. Jean de Mazilles,
city during the day to obtain protec- in a letter from Liege dated Nov. 8,
tion for his convent, who kept a di- after describing the assault, says that
ary from which he afterwards com- the prisoners taken during the operposed his work, and who writes in  ation were thrown into the river.
the most impartial, unimpassioned, Dupont, tom. iii. p. 247.
and matter-of-fact style. Hardly less




CHAP. IV.]          SACK AND  MASSACRE.                      601
or had perhaps taken a direction, not altogether anticipated. Humbercourt, who was still suffering from
his wound, caused himself to be carried in a litter to
the Church of Saint Jacques, and succeeded in saving
that sumptuous edifice    " the  marvel of Liege"from  spoliation.   The  duke  went in  person  to  the
cathedral, and expelled the depredators after he had
slain  one  or more  of them   with  his  own  sword.40
With  these and possibly a few  other exceptions, all
the  churches were  completely sacked.    Treasure so
enormous in amount, and so attractive from the dazzling forms in which it was displayed, became naturally the  first prize of the cupidity which  it was so
well adapted to inflame.
A proclamation was issued, on the following day,
permitting aged persons, women, and children of tender years to quit the place. Boats were provided for
conveying the members of the monastic orders and
females of the better classes to Maestricht.42   The re40 Lamarche, tom. ii. p. 289.-  zilles, Nov. 8, Dupont, tom. iii.
Commines, (who saw him kill one,) p. 247.
tom. i. p. 196. -" Evaginato gladio   42 Theodoricus Paulus, De Ram,
vix potuit cohibere, ne frangerent p. 224. - Priests, nuns, monks, begsacristiam."   Adrianus, Ampliss. ging friars, and other ecclesiastics,
Col., tom. iv. p. 1343.-Henricus  departed, taking with them whatever
de Merica, De Ram, p. 181; and  they could snatch from the rapine.
Theodoricus Paulus, Ibid., p. 213.-  Two or three monks remained in
41," Toutes les eglises, ainsi que  charge of each convent. Adrianus
la cite, ont este pillees, reserve Sainct boasts that in his own monastery, that
Lambert, qui est la grant eglise, que  of Saint Lawrence, all remained exmondict seigneur a reservee." Let- cept the abbot and two others, and
ter of Anthoine de Loisey, Nov. 3, that the sacred services were not inLenglet, tom. iii. p. 83.-" Toutes termitted "a single hour" throughles eglises, au nombre de plus de  out the sack or the destruction that
IIIIc, ont este pillees, desrobees, succeeded. Ampliss. Col., tom. iv.
desolees." Letter of Jean de Ma- p. 1344.
VOL. I.       76




602                   RUIN OF LIEGE.'[BOOK II.
maining inhabitants were left entirely to the discretion
of their captors. It was not so much a wanton carnage
that ensued  as a long  series of cold-blooded murders.  Hanging was a favorite mode of disposing of
the prisoners.  Some were thrown from  the roofs of
houses, and the mangled corpses left unburied in the
streets. -But, in general, they were collected in gangs
driven-upon- the bridge, tied  together  -"in twos or
threes," and hurled into the flood beneath.43  It would
be idle to attempt any estimate of the numbers:that
perished.- Some writers have swelled it to an incredible amount.44 - The most trustworthy authorities furnish us with no sufficient data.  Commines, with his
usual lack of interest in such details, contents-.himself
with the statement that "great numbers of the poor
people were drowned"- excusing the cruelty, which
he admits was practised, on the plea of ample and
oft-repeated provocations. A cavalier of noble family,
writing from  Liege, on November 8, to his sister in
Burgundy, after expressing some compassion for the
misery which he had witnessed, says that. the dead
are  reckoned  at between four and five thousand.,'
The discrepancies on this point, however, are of little
43 "Twelke afgriselye ende deer- Excidio Civitatis Leodiensis" was
lyk van ziene was." Gachard, (from  written for the purpose of celebratthe Register of Ypres,) Doc. Indd., ing the unfortunate mission of his
tom. i. p. 202. - And see Adrianus, patron the bishop of Tricaria) is to
De Los, Theodoricus Paulus, &c.   be accepted as such.
44 To forty, and even sixty, thou-   45 " Est moult glant pitie de veoir
sand! Gerlache and other modern  les maulx qui se font... L'on esauthors adopt these statements,which  time estre mors desdicts Lyegois,
rest on no historical authority, unless pour tous poutaiges, de IIII h Vm
the tedious bombast'of Angelus de hommes."  Letter of Jean de MaCurribus (whose Latin poem "De  zilles, Dupont,Preuves, tom.iii.p.247.




CHAP. IV.]    UNFLAGGING SPIRIT OF LOUIS.      6(03
consequence.  What is certain is, that nothing less
was intended and deliberately aimed at than utter
extermination; and that,'whether by the summary
modes already mentioned, or through a slower and
still more horrible process,.-the flight and. expulsion
from  their homes,  at an inclement season,.of vast
multitudes in a wholly destitute condition; their dispersion through the forests, where "many died of
hunger, cold, or weariness;" the chase maintained, not
only by the Burgundian' troops, but by armed'bands
collectedlby the neighboring nobles and prelates with
the view of propitiating the favor of the duke; and,
in fine, the suffering, mental as'.well- as; physical,-of~
which'there remains -no account in any earthly record,- the.object'was at least' approximately attained.
Fate had assigned-to' the:Frentch monarch the fool's
part in this dismal tragedy; and he played it, without
any signs of flagging, to the.close.  Escorted, on his
entrance, to the bishop's palace, he' had, with.his accustomed'modesty, declined "to occupy the state apartments, insisting that these should.be reserved -for. -the
duke,'to whom belonged of right the honors of the
occasion.46  At dinner he was. in. the best of spirits,
and discoursed with extreme vivacity. to his attendants- his only theme, the prowess and happy.fortune
of his fair cousin of Burgundy. Still louder were the
eulogies,.still more fervent the congratulations, when
Charles, returning from Saint Lambert's, joined him
at table. They made "great cheer" together.4'  The
46 Theodoricus Paulus, De Ram,  47 Commines, tom. i. pp. 196,
p. 224.                    197.




604                RUIN OF LI9GE.             [BOOK II.
events of the day seemed to have the effectof com-:
pletely reestablishing the entente cordiale.  The -duke
had a question for his royal guest: What was to be:
done with Liege when evacuated by the troopswhen the city, once so full of life, so noisy and tumul-:
tuous, was empty and silent?  But one reply was
possible  that which might be read in the countenance of the questioner.  But how  ready- the wit
which, at such a moment,` framed this graceful apologue by way of answer!-" My fathers, on a certain
time, had a high tree near his house; and the crows
that built their nest in its branches disturbed his!
slumbers.  He caused the nest to.-be removed, but:
the crows built again; and a second time, but they
still returned.  At last he had the tree cut downat the roots - and after that slept quietly."48
The duke continuing in this serene and amicable
temper, Louis caused him  to be privately sounded
on the subject that was ever uppermost in his own,
mind, carefully as he had hitherto suppressed every
indication of his feelings —his dismissal, with permission to return to France.49  He had faithfully
and loyally complied with all the stipulations of the
agreement. He had accepted of the ignominies that
were heaped upon him, not with an air of sullen resignation, but with looks expressive of gratitude and
pleasure.  He had borne, with unabashed counte48 Adrianus, (Ampliss. Col., tom.  49," N'avoit en son cueur aultre
iv. p. 1343,) who, with his usual scru- desir que s'en retourner en sa roypulousness, mentions this dialogue aulme." Commines, tom. i. p. 196;
as matter of hearsay. He might and see p. 198.
have sworn to its truth.




'CHAP. IV.]      DEPARTURE OF LOUIS.               605
nance, the ill-concealed contempt of those around
him, the open execrations of the wretched people
whom he had outraged and betrayed.~0 His own troops
would return hzome laden with the spoils of Ligqe.51  Even
his reputation for- superior cunning seemed to have
received a fatal wound. His subjects would receive
him with derision, or with ironical pity still harder
to endure.  To the whole world he had become an
object of scorn.  Shorn of power, covered with infamy- yes, he might now be suffered to depart!
Finding that he need not fear to meet with a
repulse, he addressed himself to Charles in person.'He bade the duke, if he had any further occasion for
his services, not-to spare him.  Otherwise he desired
to return to Paris, where he would make proclamation
of the treaty and cause it to be registered by the
Parliament-  until which it could be of no effect.
Charles. consented, —not without some c" murmuring"
in an undertone,-but desired that the treaty should:again be read over: if the king repented of having
signed it, it should even now be annulled.  Shame'at his own perfidy seemed -to be aroused by the. astonishing equanimity with which it had been borne,
and he stammered forth some faint apology for having
forced his sovereign into such a position.52
Louis quitted  Liege  on  the  2d  of November..Crvecoeur, with his lances, had orders to escort him
50 "Multas contumelias a civibus  51 Idem, ubi supra.
passus, qui... in eum miras expro-  52 " Feit quelque peu d'excuse de
brationes perfidive, proditionis, per- l'avoir amened l." Commines, tom.
jurii atque infamie... acclamabant i. p. 198.
et joculabant." Basin, tom. ii. p. 205.




606                  RUIN OF LI GE.                [BOOK. II.
to the frontier.  The duke rode with him  in person
a short'distance from the town, their cordiality undiminished to the last.  The king was so well pleased
with the entertainment he had met with that he declared his purpose to visit Charles. again, in the ensuing. summer, in Burgundy, " when they would spend
a month  together, making  good  cheer."   At the
moment when  they were about to separate Louis
bethought him  of a question which. it were well to
have solvedaby his:fair cousin. "What shall be done,"
*he inquired, "if by any chance my. brother should
refuse to' accept of the settlement which, from  my
love: to you, I have promised to bestow upon him?"
" Do what shall content him," was the reply, (at that'last moment no other could well be made:) "I leave
the matter to be arranged between you."53   So they
parted.  It need scarcely be said that they never
met again.  When Louis reached the confines of his
own dominions he dismounted and pressed his lips
~to the soil, giving devout thanks to Heaven for his
preservation in so great a peril."
A week longer the army remained at Liege, securing. its plunder, disposing of the prisoners that were
daily captured in the neighborhood and brought in
to receive their doom, and otherwise preparing for
53 " Ledict ducluy respondit soub- den Sinen us so grosser Not hat ge-dainement, sans y penser:' S'il ne holfen." (Diesbach, in Der Schweile veult prendre, mais que vous fa- zerische Geschichtforscher, B. viii.
ciez qu'il soit content, je m'en rap- s. 174.) He also thanked his folporte a vous deux."' Idem, p. 200. lowers for their faithful.service dur54 "' Do er an sin Gewarsame kam, ing this trying time, and especially
stand er ab und kusst den Herd, und commended little Diesbach and his
lobt Gott gar 1iblich, das er ihm und brother pages.




CHAP. Iv.]      DEPARTURE OF CHARLES.                   607
the "end" that was to "crown the work" of havoc
and  devastation.55   Several' thousand  laborers had
been summoned from  Luxembourg, and'placed under
the orders of a Burgundian officer, who wasI instructed to commence operations as soon as the army had
withdrawn from  the place.  With the exception of
the churches and:monasteries, and about three hundred houses to be occupied hereafter solely by -ecclesiastics, the whole city was to be destroyed by fire
and the ruins levelled with the ground. Having completed his arrangements, the duke: took his departure
on the morning of the 9th.  Determined that the
object of so many expeditions should'now be thoroughly accomplished, he prepared, before returning
to his own dominions, to lead his forces into Franchinmont and other parts of the'Ardennes, and waste
with fire and sword those breedfing-places of mischief
and sedition.56  Descending  the  Meuse on  the left
bank, he halted for the night at. the Abbey of Vivigniers, about-four leagues from  the  city.   It was
Saint Hubert's day, always celebrated at Liege as the
supposed anniversary of its foundation, but henceforth
to be associated with its destruction. Looking back,' Anthoine de Loisey, a licentiate apres feux;) and, for example, I
of law, writing from Liege to the have not been able to find a sheet
president of Burgundy, says, "In' of paper proper for Writing to you,
the way of justice there is nothing but, with all my, pains, could get
going on except that every day they- nothing but some leaves from an old
hang and drown such of the Lie'gois book." Lenglet, tom. iii. p. 83. -
as are found or have been taken pris- -" Furent noyez en grant nombre les
oners and have no money to ransom  povres gens prisonniers."  Comthemselves. The city is well plun- mines, tom. i. p. 201.
dered, (bien butinde,) for nothing re-   56  Desiroit bien de nettoyer ce
mains in it but rubbish, (riens que trou." Haynin, tom. i. p. 143.




608                RUIN OF LIEGE,              [BooK II.
the soldiers beheld the flames' already rising at different points, illuminating the numerous spires and
casting a crimson glare upon the river, while the
roar and tumult, transmitted along the surface of the
water, were even at this distance distinctly audible.57
Crossing the river at Maestricht, where he ordered
the decapitation of the- former burgomaster of Liege,
-Charles pursued his march in a southerly direction,
-and entered a mountainous tract of country covered
with dense forests, now bare of foliage, and traversed'by many rivulets and wild cascades, which the keen
breath of winter had already arrested in their flow.
Sheltered, only by the leafless woods, the. troops suffered severely.  Hands and feet were frostbitten;
provisions were scant; and the frozen wine was served
out in solid pieces cut with hatchets from  the casks.
But neither the intensity of the cold nor the difficulties of the route interfered with the accomplishment
of'their ruthless purpose. The. small towns and hamlets scattered through this romantic region, and in-.habited by miners, stone-cutters, and workers in iron
and other metals,-the lonely cabins of the woodmen
-and charcoal-burners, where perchance the wandering
exiles of Liege had sometimes gained a refuge from
the storm,- were devastated  and burned.  Mills,
forges, all machines.and implements of labor, were
every where destroyed. The population- men and
57 " Nous oyons le bruict, comme tom. i. p. 202. -The flames were
si nous eussions este sur le lieu. Je visible from the towers of Aix-lane scay, ou si le vent y servoit, ou Chapelle, between thirty and forty
se c'estoit k cause que nous estions miles distant. Bovy, tom. i. p. 32.logiez sur la riviere." Commines, De Ram, p. 228, note.




CHAP. IV.]          MERCILESS SPIRIT.                 609
women, old and young- were put to the sword, or,
flying before the invader, perished in the woods from
exposure and fatigue.  Commines, who observed a
mother and her new-born infant lying lifeless and
frozen by the wayside, mentions it merely as an evidence of the severity of the weather, and refrains
from particularizing other "strange sights" which he
saw, lest his narrative should be considered prolix.5
Having traversed all this portion of the principality
from  east to west, the duke again turned his face
northwards, his progress hastened by the difficulty
of procuring supplies.  At Huy, where he remained
from the 19th to the 26th of November, he ordered
the execution of a number of prisoners that had been
sent thither for safe keeping; and, hearing that some
fugitives had received shelter at Mezieres, within the
territory of France, he sent a peremptory summons
for their surrender, which was prudently complied
with by the authorities of the town. At Louvain he
gave fresh examples of his severity; and, after his
arrival at Brussels, he caused "Wencelin le Streel,:
a gentleman  of Liege," and one of the leaders in
the late revolt, to be publicly beheaded in that
capital.59 In his absence, the spirit which he had
evoked continued to work. Throughout, the winter,
58 " J'Jy veiz choses increables du stranges choses longues a escripre."
froit. II y eut ung gentilhomme qui Commines, tom. i. p. 203.- See also
perdit ung pied,... ung paige a qui Haynin, tom. i. p. 143. - Theodoriil tomba deux doigtz de la main. Je cus Paulus, De Ram, p. 228. - Boveiz une femme morte et son enfant, vy, tom. ii. pp. 63, 68.
dont elle estoit accouchde de nou-  59 Haynin, tom. i. p. 144.
veau.... J'en diroye assez d'eVOL. I.     77




610                RUIN OF LIEGE.              [BOOK II.
small parties of famished, shivering wretches, driven
by a terrible necessity to solicit food and shelter from
their enemies, made their appearance at Maestricht,
Louvain, and other places, and received for mercy
that swift death which. put an end to their miseries
and their wants.
Meanwhile..the.duke's instructions..in regard to
Liege had been duly carried into effect.  The work
of destruction,: had proceeded slowly and systematically-precautions being taken, though not in all
instances effectually, for the isolation of the churches
and of the other edifices which it was intended to
preserve.  Every morning the flames were kindled
at a fresh point,. and more than seven weeks. elapsed
before they were finally suffered to expire.  The
ruins, as at Dinant, were searched, sifted, and levelled.
Every thing portable and of value-was carried. off.
Not a single building which had been used or inhabited solely by laymen was-left standing.. The steeples
and towers which had symbolized:the faith and aspirations of successive generations now rose amid the
waste as monuments of the havoc which they alone
had been permitted to survive.6~
Yet the foundations of Liege, the original elements
of its existence, still remained.  The relics. of Saint
Lambert, defying a sacrilegious purpose to remove
them, continued. to occupy their venerable and. majestic shrine."'  Beneath the devastated soil lay sources
60 Adrianus. - De Los. - De errand, supposed to be indicative of
Merica. - Theodoricus Paulus.   the duke's intention to transfer the
61 The party sent on this profane episcopal seat to Maestricht, had no




CHAP. Iv.] DESOLATION DURING CHARLES'S LIFE.    611
of wealth which were indestructible and inexhaustible. The river, exempt from ravage or decay, flowed
with the same full and even current as when, nine
centuries before, Saint Monulph, looking down upon
the triple valley where the Ourthe and the Vesdre
discharge into the Meuse, had foretold the rise of a
great and populous town. The Past had perished:
its legacies had been squandered or destroyed.  But
there must still be a Future for Liege, based, like the
Past, on what was imperishable and inalienable.
To trace even the dawn of that future forms, however, no portion of our task. While Charles of
Burgundy survived Liege remained unpeopled and
in ashes.  A  remnant of the  former population
found shelter in the caves along the hill-sides. A
few wooden huts were built for the better accommodation of the priests, and of a certain number of mechanics whom they were permitted to retain in their
service. Even these concessions were obtained only
on stringent conditions and after a long negotiation.
Tolls were levied on the vessels passing and repassing what had long been the principal mart for the
products with which they were freighted; and a fortress, constructed in a quarter of the city called "the
Island," which had been ceded to the duke in gratitude for his services in suppressing the rebellion,
commanded both banks'of the Meuse, and forbade
sooner laid hands on the object of ly from the spot; — "Quo audito dux
their unhallowed quest than they miraculo sententiam de transferendis
were smitten with a panic and " con- ecclesiis in melius commutavit." De
fusion of mind," and fled precipitate- Los, p. 62.




612              RUIN OF LIEGE.           [BOOK II.
any attempt to revive the industry and trade so
ruthlessly trampled upon and effaced.62
The war waged by Liege against the house of
Burgundy was neither wisely undertaken nor heroically carried on. It was a natural, but fitful and
frantic struggle to throw off a grasp too powerful
to be thus escaped from, tightened at every fresh
attempt, never loosened until life had become extinct.
It would have fared better with Liege if no bar
had existed to its incorporation with the Burgundian
dominions. In that case, the resistance would probably have ended after the success of the first invasion: for the change of rule would have been found
beneficial; the popular liberties, as in other Belgian
provinces, would have survived the conquest; and
great advantages in respect of commerce would have
flowed from it. We are fain to acknowledge, also,
that, where there was no public opinion to impose
a restraint upon the ambition of princes, the independence of a state possessing no better security for
its maintenance than the forbearance of more powerful neighbors could be esteemed of little value. At
an earlier period of history, the subdivision of Europe into small political communities had saved
society from relapsing into utter barbarism.  The
flame of national life had been too feeble to animate
the vast empire of Charlemagne, or even the kingdoms formed out of its principal parts. The bonds
62 Idem. - Documents in De Ram, p. 576, et seq.




CHAP. IV.]        REFLECTIONS.               613
that knit society together required to be tested and
strengthened before being extended. But the time
had at length arrived when the principle of cohesion
was to become more active. Greater lights were
about to rise, and the stars were fading in the gradual dawn. The extinction of petty sovereignties, the
transformation of states into provinces, the consolidation of provinces into monarchies, are well known
phenomena that preceded or accompanied the general awakening of the human intellect in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries; and, however violently these
changes were effected, or with whatever incidental
disasters to freedom and humanity, they were necessary stages in the development of nations and in the
progress of civilization.
But reflections of this kind are derived from a
wider view than that which our narrative has yet
embraced. In reading a story like this of the ruin
of Liege, we are not inclined to speculate about hidden causes or ultimate results. Every other consideration, every other sentiment, is overpowered by
compassion for the miseries endured and abhorrence
of the cruelty that inflicted them.
It is true that such barbarities were not uncommon
in medieval warfare, and that, in passing judgment
on the transactions of a past age, we are not to overlook the point of view from which they were regarded
by contemporaries.  In the present instance, the
chroniclers and other writers of the time seem to
have considered the whole proceeding as amply justified by the circumstances —as the fit conclusion,




614                 RUIN OF LIEGE.                [BOOx II.
the necessary sequel, of a series of events for which
the Burgundian sovereign was in no degree responsible. The arrogance and presumption of a rebellious
people, its long career of anarchy and impiety, its
continual relapses after each fresh chastisement and
promise of amendment, were urged not merely as an
apology for the -final vengeance, but as evidence that
Heaven had been the arbiter of that vengeance, man
only the instrument.6
It was an act, therefore, sanctioned by the practice,
instigated and excused by the crude ideas, the narrow
prejudices, the blunted sensibilities of the age. But
If the age stamps its character upon the man, it is
also true that the man stamps his own character upon
the age. In no state of society are the instincts of
humanity altogether dormant the voice of conscience
wholly silent, the conflict between good and evil entirely suspended.  What part each man has taken in
that conflict, what share he has had in hastening or
retarding the certain triumph of right over wrong, not
what influences he has undergone, but what influence
he has exercised, are the questions of chief importance in regard to him.
We cannot wonder that the destroyer of Dinant
and of Liege -should have been visited by presenti63 This sentiment is the key-note extending even to that of Commines.
of the popular ballads and other pro- Even in the present century, howductions in verse which commemo- ever, it is more common to discern
rate the misfortunes of Liege. Spe- the action of a controlling Providence
cimens may be found in De Ram  in the evil which is permitted than
and other collections. But the same in the beneficent laws that silently
tone runs through all the accounts, rectify or abolish it.




CHAP. IV.]        REFLECTIONS.               615
ments of his brief career and violent end. It was
written of old, "The man of blood shall not live out
half his days."  "They that take the sword shall
perish with the sword."
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.