Chapter VI: Part 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 65: Romont,--a town of Swisserland, in the canton of Fribourg, and capital of an extensive bailiwick, which was _formerly a county_.]

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

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

CHAP. XXII.

THE DUKE OF MILAN IS MURDERED.--THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE BURGUNDIAN ARMY, AND DEATH OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, BY THE VICTORIOUS DUKE OF LORRAINE, BEFORE NANCY.--THE REDUCTION OF THE COUNTRIES AND TOWNS THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY HAD USURPED FROM FRANCE, SUCH AS ARRAS, HESDIN, &C.--SEVERAL BEHEADED IN ARRAS, CAMBRAY, AND IN OTHER TOWNS.

In the month of December, and during the feasts of Christmas, the duke of Milan[68] was unfortunately assassinated by a gentleman of that country. He had accosted him in the great church of Milan, under pretence of speaking with him, while he was walking there with a foreign ambassador, and had thrust his knife through the slashes of his robe, three or four times, into his lower belly--so that he fell down instantly dead, without saying a word. The cause of this action was, that the gentleman, his relatives and friends had employed all their money to purchase a vacant abbey for one of their kindred,--and the duke had deprived him of it, to bestow it on another, and would not suffer their relative by any means to enjoy it. The gentleman, having made many fruitless requests to the duke on this business, determined to put him to death, which he did as above related.

Had this gentleman failed, he had a companion bent on the same business, who would have killed the duke of Milan, because he had detained his wife as a mistress against her inclinations. By the judges and nobles of Milan, it was resolved that the whole of the families of these two persons, males and females, should be put to death, wherever they should be found,--their habitations demolished, and razed to the ground,--all their possessions destroyed,--and even their trees bearing fruit should be pulled up by their roots; and this sentence was carried into execution!

In the month of December, the lady Agnes of Bourbon departed this life, at the castle of Moulins, in the Bourbonnois. She was the widow of the late prince Charles duke of Bourbon and of Auvergne, by whom he had a noble issue, as well males as females,--namely, the present noble prince John duke of Bourbonnois and Auvergne, who married the most excellent princess Jeanne of France, eldest daughter to the late king Charles of France; Louis lord of Beaujeu, who died young; Charles archbishop of Lyon, primate of France and cardinal of Bourbon; Pierre lord of Beaujeu, married to the eldest daughter of the present king of France; the prince bishop of Liege; the lord James who died at Bruges; the lady Jeanne, married to the prince of Orange lord of Arlay; the lady Margaret, married to Philip of Savoy lord of Bresse[69]. The defunct lady had long lived a holy life, and her loss was much regretted and bewailed by her children, family and friends, and by all the inhabitants of the Bourbonnois and Auvergne,--and may her soul be blessed! Her remains were interred in the church of Souvigny.

The duke of Burgundy, as before related, had marched to besiege the town of Nancy, and had reduced it to such distress, by famine, that negotiations were opened for its capitulation. But on the eve of Epiphany, the duke of Lorraine arrived with twelve or fourteen thousand Swiss and Germans to raise the siege, combat the Burgundians, and secure Nancy.

Four days before his arrival, which was on the 5th of January, the count of Campo Basso, the lord Ange, and the lord de Montfort, quitted the duke of Burgundy, and abandoned his camp,--and, prior to the battle, the count of Campo Basso carried away with him full nine score men at arms. On the Saturday following, the other two captains, before named, took with them six score men at arms, who were all resolved to turn to the french party,--but this was kept secret on account of the existing truce; and it was ordered, by those to whom they had addressed themselves, that, for the present, they should march into Lorraine. This was done, with the exception of a party which remained for the guard of Condé[70], on the Moselle, through which place all the provisions for the Burgundian army passed, from the vale of Metz and the country of Luxembourg.

The count of Campo Basso[71] joined the duke of Lorraine, and informed him minutely of the exact state of the burgundian force. On this day, the 4th of January, the duke of Lorraine arrived at St Nicholas de Varangeville with his reinforcement of Swiss, who amounted, from an account taken, to ten thousand five hundred. Of Germans, there were also many, beside Lorrainers and other fighting men.

On Sunday, the 5th, the duke of Lorraine dislodged, about eight in the morning, and marched the Swiss to Neuville, and beyond a pond, when they formed their army in array. The Swiss were formed in two divisions; the one commanded by the count d'Abstain and the governors of Fribourg and Zurich,--the other, by the governors of Berne and Lucerne. About midday, the whole began to advance,--one division along the river side, and the other on the great road leading from Neuville to Nancy.

The duke of Burgundy had already drawn up his army in battle-array without his camp, having in front a rivulet that was by the hospital called La Magonne, between two strong hedges, and between him and the Swiss. On the great road by which the other division of the Swiss was advancing, he had posted the main body of his artillery. Thus, as the two divisions of the Swiss were advancing, the Burgundians fired on them when within cross-bowshot, and did them some mischief; but that division which had taken the main road, wheeling through a small wood, fell on the duke of Burgundy's flank.

While this was passing, the duke ordered his archers, who were on foot, to wheel and front the Swiss, and formed two wings of his men at arms to give them battle,--one wing under the command of Jacques Galiot, an italian captain, and the other under sir Josse de Lalain, high bailiff of Flanders. When the Swiss found themselves on the duke's flank, and on higher ground, they made as desperate a charge as ever men made, discharging, on their advance, their portable culverins. This discharge (which was not like a tax-gatherer's) threw the duke's army into confusion, and was followed by their flight.

This division of Swiss now attacked the wing commanded by Jacques Galiot, and defeated it instantly. The other wing, under sir Josse de Lalain, had advanced on the Swiss, but were so courageously received that the infantry were soon put to flight, and followed by the cavalry as fast as spurs could make them. They made for the bridge of Bridores, half a league from Nancy, and on the road to Thionville and Luxembourg. But here their hopes of passing were destroyed by the treachery of Campo Basso, who had barricaded the passage of this bridge with carts and waggons, and was with his men drawn up under arms on the opposite side; so that when the Burgundians were thus checked and overtaken by the Lorrainers, who followed at their heels, they were forced to attempt fording the river,--and there the slaughter was much more than on the field of battle, for such as attempted to pass the river were either killed by the Swiss or drowned: very few escaped death, or being made prisoners.

Some, on noticing this ambuscade of Campo Basso, fled to the woods: but they were pursued by the peasants,--and for four leagues round nothing was to be seen but dead bodies. The pursuit after the Burgundians lasted during two hours after nightfall; and the duke of Lorraine inquired, on all sides, what was become of the duke of Burgundy; whether he had fled, was slain, or made prisoner: but at that moment no one could answer his questions. The duke of Lorraine, on this, dispatched a confidential servant to John Dais, town-clerk of Metz, to learn if the duke of Burgundy had passed through that town; and on the morrow, John Dais sent for answer, that assuredly he had not passed that way,--and that no one knew what was become of him, for he had not taken the road to Luxembourg.

On the morrow, Epiphany-day, the count of Campo Basso brought to the duke of Lorraine a page, who had been made prisoner, named Baptiste, a native of Rome, and of the Colonna family, in the employ of the count de Châlon a Neapolitan, who was with the duke of Burgundy. On being interrogated, the page led a large company of Lorrainers to the place where the duke of Burgundy lay dead[72], and naked, with fourteen others in the same state, but at some distance from each other. The duke had received a blow from a halbert on the side of his head, above the ear, which had pierced to his jaw: a pike had been thrust through his thighs, and another pike had passed through his fundament. This body was known to be the duke's from six marks: the first, and principal, was the loss of all his upper teeth, which had been caused by a fall: the second, by the scar of a wound that he had received on the right side of his throat at the battle of Montlehery; the third, by his long nails, which he wore of a greater length than any other person of his court: the fourth, by a scar of a carbuncle, which he had formerly had on his shoulder; the fifth, by an ulcer at the lower part of his belly, on the right groin,--and, sixthly, by a nail that was wanting to one of his toes. By all these marks, he was acknowledged to be the duke of Burgundy by his own physician, a Portuguese, named Matthieu, and also by the grooms of his bed chamber, the great bastard of Burgundy, sir Olivier de la Marche, his chaplain, and others of his court, prisoners to the duke of Lorraine.

The body having been so clearly ascertained to be that of the duke of Burgundy, it was carried into Nancy, washed and cleaned, and then placed on a table, and dressed in a vesture of cloth from the neck to the feet, with a pall of black velvet over the body, in a dark chamber hung with black velvet. Under his head was a pillow of black velvet; and at the four corners of the table were large lighted tapers, with the crucifix and holy water at his feet.

While he lay in this state, the duke of Lorraine came to see him, dressed in mourning, and wearing a large golden beard, that descended to his girdle, in imitation of the ancient Preux, and in honour of the victory he had gained over him. Having taken one of his hands from under the pall, he said,--'May God receive your soul! You have done us many and grievous injuries and vexations.' After-which, he took some holy water and sprinkled it over the corpse. All who pleased now entered to see him; and the duke of Lorraine had him handsomely interred, and caused a solemn service to be said over him.

In consequence of the death and defeat of the duke of Burgundy and his army, the duke of Lorraine and his captains held a council, and determined instantly to enter the duchy and county of Burgundy, and other parts under the dominion of the late duke, to reduce them to the king's obedience, which was accomplished without any resistance. Those of the country of Auxerre submitted also, and took the oaths of allegiance to the king.--In this battle, the greater part of those who had accompanied the duke were slain. The great bastard of Burgundy was made prisoner, whom the duke of Lorraine afterwards carried to the king of France in Picardy. The bastard Baldwin of Burgundy and several other great lords were also taken prisoners.

The king of France being assured of the death of the duke of Burgundy, and the events that had subsequently taken place, left Tours on a pilgrimage of devotion. He returned by Chartres Villepreux[73] and Aubervilliers[73], to Nôtre Dame de la Victoire, and thence to Noyon and Compiégne. In this interval, very many of the places that had been occupied by the duke of Burgundy, were surrendered to him; such as Mondidier, Peronne, Abbeville, Montrieul sur mer, and others near to Arras. But those in this last town, at first, refused to submit, and fortified themselves with men at arms, provisions and artillery. Many agents were sent by them to the king, who at last succeeded in obtaining a truce; during which, the king made the greatest preparations of gens d'armes, artillery, and of warlike stores, that had been seen, waiting the determination of those in Arras--whether they would submit peaceably, or renew the war. To defray the expenses of so large an armament, the king borrowed great sums from Paris and the other principal towns in his kingdom.

The king, however, found means of gaining possession of the city of Arras[74], into which he made his entry on the 4th of May, and fortified it more strongly against the town of Arres,--into which a number of persons attached to the burgundian party had thrown themselves, and even many from those towns that had lately submitted to the king, who, though for the most part adventurers, and without any leader of note had strengthened the fortifications, and uttered daily blasphemies against the king. To these they added all manner of insults,--such as erecting gibbets in the town and on the walls, on which they hung his badge of the white cross, showing their naked posteriors to him, and other indecencies.

During these insulting follies, some of the inhabitants of the town waited on the king, to endeavour to obtain a pacification; and although these adventurers had persevered over long in their impudence, the king agreed to accept the submission of those in Arras, as offered to their sovereign lord, for neglect of proper homage and of different dues; and that the revenues of the said towns should be collected by his commissioners, and in his name, until the princess of Burgundy should have performed her homage by proxy. The king also promised not to send any body of men at arms into the town of Arras without the consent of the inhabitants.

These matters being settled, the king sent into the town the lord cardinal of Bourbon, the lord chancellor, sir Guiot Pot bailiff of the Vermandois, sir Philip de Crevecoeur lord Desquerdes, governor of the said town, with other nobles, to receive the oaths of the inhabitants of Arras; but while this was doing, some of the townsmen rebelled, and came in arms to the abbey of St Waast, where the cardinal and the other lords were at dinner, bawling out, 'Kill, kill them!' The commissioners were more frightened than they had ever been in their lives,--but at this time no mischief happened.

When they returned to the city of Arras, the king departed to celebrate Easter at Therouenne. He thence went to Hêdin, when the town surrendered: but some pillagers of the Burgundy-party seized on the castle, against which the king ordered his artillery to play, and a wide breach was soon made; but as the royalists were preparing to enter it, those within surrendered on having their lives and fortunes spared, and on being permitted to march away in safety.

A.D. MCCCCLXXVII.

Early in the above year, after Hêdin had been gained, some of the inhabitants of Arras under pretence of going to the king of France, obtained passports from the lord admiral. He, however, suspected their intentions, and caused them to be followed,--when it was found that they were going to Flanders to the princess of Burgundy, and were in consequence arrested and brought back to Hêdin, where they were tried. It was now discovered that the object of their journey was treasonable; and they were accordingly sentenced to be beheaded in the market-place of Hêdin, to the number of eighteen: among them was master Oudart de Bucy, attorney-general of the town of Arras and country of Artois. His head was cut off in a hood of scarlet cloth lined with fur: both were nailed fast to the top of a pole, that the head might not be carried away; and under the hood was written, 'This is the head of master Oudart de Bucy, king's councellor in his court of parliament at Paris[75].'

When these examples had been made, the king went on a pilgrimage to our Lady of Boulogne. He was very indignant at the rebellious conduct of the inhabitants of Arras, and declared that the town should be destroyed. To effect this, he ordered a large force to march and besiege it, which was done, and the artillery began to play on the town, when the king returned to the city about the end of April. The fortifications were much battered, and the bulwark which those in the town had erected against the city was so completely destroyed that the view of the interior of the town was laid open.

The inhabitants now gave themselves up for lost; but they found means to obtain the king's mercy, although he had abandoned the town to be plundered by his men at arms and franc-archers, who were very much discontented thereat, considering that the pillage of the town had been solemnly promised to them. As the men of Arras had persevered in their rebellion, had insulted the king, and proceeded from bad to worse by killing many of his troops, they thought them undeserving of mercy. However, the capitulation was signed: and the royal army marched into Arras on Sunday, the 4th of May.

This matter being settled, the king went to the abbey of Nôtre Dame de la Victoire; and the lord admiral, the nobles and franc-archers separated for their own homes. While the king was at the above mentioned abbey, news was brought that fifty of his archers had been refused admittance into Peronne, whither they had carried five prisoners in his name. He went, therefore, to Peronne, thinking that a rebellion was intended, and staid there some time. Having had information that the Flemings were arming, with the intent to invade his country, he issued a proclamation, which was published at Paris on Sunday the 18th of May, for all persons, of every description whether privileged or not, to be ready in arms to resist the invasion of the Flemings.

The king went to Cambray, which surrendered on capitulation, and remained there until Trinity Sunday, to recruit his men at arms.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 68: Duke of Milan,--Galeas Maria Sforza. Having indulged his illicit passions at the cost of the most respectable houses in Florence, two injured noblemen, Lampognano and Visconti, assassinated him. His infant son was placed under the guardianship of Ludovico Sforza, surnamed the Moor, who seized the dukedom for himself.

Andrews.]

[Footnote 69: He was afterwards duke of Savoy.]

[Footnote 70: Condé,--within two leagues of Nancy.]

[Footnote 71: Campo Basso, which near to St Nicholas, threw off the red scarf, (the badge of the Burgundians) and surrendered himself to the duke of Lorraine.]

[Footnote 72: Underneath are two epitaphs made on the duke of Burgundy, taken from Heuterus, historian of the Low Countries, and Teschenmacher, in his history of Cleves.

'Te pacis piguit, te tæduit atque quietis,
Carole, sicque jaces? iamque quiesce tibi.'

'Te piguit pacis, teduitque quietis, in urna
Mortue jam Carole, litis amice jace.
Æthera num pateant tibi, vel descensus averni,
Solicitus nec eras, me neque cura premit.']

[Footnote 73: Towns in the isle of France.]

[Footnote 74: The city of Arras. Arras is divided into two parts,--one called the city, the other the town. The city was surrendered to the king by the lord d'Esquerdes, or des Cordes; but it was necessary to gain the town, which was done by negotiation.]

[Footnote 75: The townsmen of Arras had broken the terms of their late treaty, and had revolted. Oudart de Bussy was one of the principal authors of it. He had accepted from the king an office in the parliament of Paris, but instead of exercising it with honour, had rebelled. The king ordered him to be beheaded in his hood, and afterward exposed, as mentioned in the text.]

CHAP. XXIII.

THE KING SUMMONS HIS PARLIAMENT FROM PARIS TO NOYON, TO TRY THE DUKE OF NEMOURS.--A FORGER EXECUTED AT PARIS.--OF THE VICTORY OF THE LORD DE CRAON OVER THE PRINCE OF ORANGE.--OF THE DEATH OF THE DUKE OF GUELDRES BEFORE TOURNAY.--THE DUKE OF NEMOURS EXECUTED AT PARIS.--A PARTY OF FLEMINGS DEFEATED.--SEVERAL PERSONS HANGED AT PARIS FOR HAVING ASSASSINATED THE SON OF THE PUBLIC EXECUTIONER.

The king sent his letters-patent to Paris, to order the presidents and councellors of his parliament, and the masters of requests of his household, to come to Noyon, and form there a court of justice in his presence, and, in conjunction with the princes of his blood, to try the duke of Nemours, who had long been confined in the bastile of St Anthony at Paris. The parliament, in obedience to this order, set out from Paris on the 2d of June, to arrive at Noyon the ensuing day, which had been appointed for this trial.

On the 14th of June, a person who had been of the king's household was imprisoned for having forged the king's signet, and that of one of his secretaries, by which means he had sent letters to divers towns, and obtained large sums of money, which he had appropriated to his own use. He was tried before the provost, or his lieutenant, of the royal household, and sent to Paris, to have the following sentence executed upon him, namely, to be pilloried with a paper cap on his head, then burnt in the forehead, his right hand cut off, to be banished the kingdom, and all his effects and inheritances to be confiscated to the king.

In this month of June, the king gave the command of an army to the lord de Craon[76], to march into the country of Burgundy, and make war on the prince of Orange[77] for some injuries which the lord de Craon had complained of having been done him by the prince, who was not of the same family with himself. The king, also, who had appointed the prince governor of that country, displaced him, and gave it to the lord de Craon, although he had been the means of reducing it to the king's obedience.

The prince of Orange detached into Burgundy a knight of that country called sir Claude de Vaudray, who made head against the lord de Craon for some time, until it was known that the prince had entered a town called Guy[78], when the lord de Craon advanced to besiege it. He remained before it two days,--when learning that the lord de Château Guyon[79], brother to the prince of Orange, was marching to his relief, he advanced in battle-array to meet him, and a great conflict ensued, insomuch that there were killed on both sides from fourteen to fifteen hundred combatants. To return thanks for this defeat, the king ordered a general procession to be made at Paris, to the church of St Martin des Champs.

In the course of the month of July, the duke of Gueldres had marched from fourteen to fifteen hundred Germans against the town of Tournay, thinking to burn the suburbs, and quarter himself at Pont d'Epierre, near the town. Two sallies were made from the town: in the first, the duke was mortally wounded, and his body was carried into Tournay. In the second sally, four hundred of the king's lances and some of the townsmen attacked and put to flight the Germans and Flemings,--two thousand of whom were slain, and seven or eight hundred made prisoners. Te Deum laudamus was chaunted at Paris, and bonfires were made in all the streets for this signal victory.

On Monday, the 3d day of August of this year, messire Jacques d'Armagnac, duke of Nemours and count de la Marche, having been conducted as a prisoner to the bastile of St Anthony on the 4th day of August in the preceding year, by reason of certain offences and crimes by him committed and perpetrated,--during which time of his imprisonment in the said bastile, many interrogatories were put to him concerning the said charges, to which he answered verbally and in writing, on many different days, as well before the chancellor of France, named Pierre d'Oriole, as others, the presidents and counsellors of the court of parliament, and also before certain great clerks of the kingdom, dwelling in divers cities and towns of the said kingdom, summoned and assembled for this purpose in the city of Noyon, with and in company of the said officers of the parliament, and in presence of the lord de Beaujeu, then representing the person of the king,--the proceedings held by the court aforesaid against the said duke of Nemours were examined, and also the defence by him made, and, after mature deliberation, it was decreed, that sir John le Boulenger, first president of the parliament, accompanied by the greffier criminel of the court and sir Denis Hesselin, master of the king's household, should instantly set out for the bastile, and declare to the duke of Nemours, that the court, having fully considered the charges laid against him, and the whole of his defence and confessions, have found him guilty of high treason, and sentence him to be beheaded for the same, this day, in the market-place at Paris, and all his effects and inheritances to be confiscated to the king. The execution took place at three in the afternoon of that day, on a scaffold erected in the market-place. After he was beheaded, the corpse and head were put into a bier, and delivered to the cordelier friars, to be buried in their church. About seven or eight score Cordeliers came in procession to fetch the body, and forty torches were given to them to escort the bier to their church.

The king was this month at Therouenne, and thence detached part of his army to drive away a body of Flemings who had encamped near to Blanfossé[80]. They no sooner heard of this order than they immediately decamped, but not before the royalists arrived, and slew upwards of two thousand of them. They were also pursued far into Flanders; and the king's army passed by Mont de Cassel to Fiennes and other places, which they razed, or took possession of, and killed full two thousand more of the Flemings. Many solemn processions were made at Paris for these successes.

In the month of August, the son of Henry Cousin, the chief executioner at Paris, called Petit John, (who had already done several notable deeds in the way of his profession, and, among others, had beheaded the late constable of St Pol) was murdered in Paris at the instigation of a carpenter, named Oudin du Bust, a native of Picardy. This Oudin had conceived a mortal hatred against Petit John, because he had some time before beaten him, in consequence of a quarrel that had arisen between them. The cause of this quarrel was Oudin having demanded the amount of a deed for money he had lent Petit John which had been repaid all but the expenses of the bond. To be revenged, Oudin had formed an acquaintance with three disorderly youths of Paris; one was called l'Empereur du Houlx, sergeant at mace; the other, Jean du Foing, a plumber,--and the third, Regnault Goris, a silversmith and son to Martin Goris, broker of jewelry. All these four having determined on their plan, waylaid Petit John, and attacked him at the corner of the rue des Grenelles, near the hôtel of the Moulinet.

The first that came up to him was l'Empereur du Houlx, who, under the mask of friendship, took him firmly under the arm; telling him not to be afraid of the others, for they would do him no mischief. As he said this, Regnault Goris approached, and hit Petit John on the head with a stone, that made him stagger. His pretended friend then let go his hold,--and John du Foing thrust a javelin through his body, so that he fell dead on the spot. When he was dead, Oudin du Bust came and cut off his legs, and then they all four separated and took sanctuary within the church of the Celestines; whence, on the following night, they were taken, by orders from sir Robert d'Estouteville, provost of Paris, and the members of the council, in consequence of the informations that had been laid before them, clearly proving the murder to have been committed by a preconcerted plan. The Celestins appealed against this, as a breach of their privileges, but the court of parliament dismissed their appeal, and declared the murderers incapable of being received in sanctuary. The bishop afterward claimed them as his clerks; but the parliament published an edict, to declare that they should not enjoy the privilege of clerks, and returned the matter to the provost, who sentenced them all to be hanged.

They appealed against this sentence to the court of parliament, who confirmed it,--and they were all four executed on the gibbet of Paris by the hands of Henry Cousin, father to the late Petit John, who was thus avenged on them for the murder of his son, the 28th day of August. They were hanged in a row: first, l'Empereur du Houlx, then John du Foing, Regnault Goris, and, last of all, Oudin du Bust. The three first were handsome youths; and for this business a young son of a shoemaker was publicly flogged and banished the realm, for having conspired the death of Petit John, although he was not actually present when he was killed.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 76: Lord de Craon. George de la Trimouille lord of Jonvelle, baron of Craon, first chamberlain to the king, with whom he was a great favourite, and held the governments of Champagne, Brie, Burgundy and Touraine. He obtained the county of Ligny from the confiscations of the constable of St Pol and had the governments of other towns in the kingdom. The barony of Craon in Anjou fell to his lot.]

[Footnote 77: Prince of Orange,--John de Châlon, second of the name.]

[Footnote 78: Guy. Q. if not Gray? on the Soane, ten leagues from Besançon.]

[Footnote 79: De Château Guyon,--Louis or Hugh de Châlons half brothers to the prince of Orange.]

[Footnote 80: Blanfossé,--a village in Picardy, near Breteuil.]

CHAP. XXIV.

THE CARDINAL OF ST GEORGE IS DETAINED PRISONER AT FLORENCE, WHERE THE ARCHBISHOP OF PISA IS STRANGLED, AND SEVERAL OTHERS PUT TO DEATH, FOR HAVING MURDERED GIULIANO DE MEDICI.--RHODES BESIEGED BY THE TURKS.--OF ST SYMON AND ANOTHER THAT WERE CRUCIFIED.--OF A DEVOUT HERMIT WHO LIVED FIFTEEN YEARS ON THE HOLY WAFER.--OF A MONSTER, BORN IN THE TOWN OF VERONA.--OF A MARVELLOUS COMET.--AND OTHER EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS.

About this time, and soon after the death of the duke of Milan, a violent conspiracy was formed in the city of Florence, by the family of Pazzi, of which Francesco di Pazzi was the leader, against the family of the Medici. Francesco, accompanied by several of good family in Florence, and other conspirators, assassinated, with a dagger, Giuliano de Medici in the church of Santa Maria di Fuori, during the celebration of the mass. His elder brother, Lorenzo de Medici, was also wounded but recovered[81].

For this crime the reverend father in God Nicholas, cardinal of Saint George, and nephew[82] to count Jerome, was detained in close confinement; and Francesco Salviati, archbishop of Pisa, was publicly hanged in his archiepiscopal robes at the gates of the Medici-palace. Several of the conspirators, and their relatives, were hanged at the same time and place, and others executed in divers manners.

Pope Sixtus IV. in revenge for these executions, fulminated, in the name of the cardinals in consistory, an excommunication and interdict against the city of Florence, and incited a cruel war against Tuscany, in the name of the church,--in which war numbers lost their lives.

During this time, an ambassador from the republic of Venice obtained the liberty of the cardinal of St George, who returned to Rome: nevertheless, the war was still continued between the church and the Florentines, but it was at length ended, and the excommunication and interdict were taken off.

The Jews, about this time, stole a child of twelve years of age, called Symon, in the city of Trent, whom they crucified, and caused to suffer the mysteries of the passion, in ridicule of what our Saviour had suffered,--for which they were most severely punished, according to their deserts. The body of the child was carried in procession, as a martyr, to the cathedral, whither great crowds of people flocked from all parts; for through the devotion of this child many miracles were performed in remembrance of the passion of our Lord.

A similar crime was committed by the Jews in the city of Opiterge[83], within the principality of Venice, where they martyred a youth in like manner. They were brought to Venice, and having confessed their guiltiness of this abominable crime, were burnt alive between the two marble columns in the place of St Marco.

At this time, a girl was born at Verona, which had one head, two feet, and four arms: two were larger than the others, which she could move,--but the others were smaller, and motionless. She had two bellies joined to the stomach, and two openings through which she passed her excrements, and other natural superfluities. In this state, she was carried throughout Italy, begging money of all that were desirous to see and examine her.

About this time, there were great inundations with very high winds, that overthrew many buildings.

The grand Turk now led a numerous and puissant army by sea and land to besiege the city of Rhodes, which he bombarded at several places, and slew very many Christians. He surrounded the city on all sides, and advanced even to the tower of St Nicholas, which was thought impregnable; but he was on the point of taking it, and ready to shout, 'Town won!' when the grand master displayed from the walls a great banner, painted with the representation of the blessed cross; which banner was no sooner displayed than the Turks became blinded, and, by the Divine aid of our blessed Saviour, were repulsed. They made no further attempts on the city,--but there were numbers slain on both sides.

The Turks, on their ill success at Rhodes, invaded part of the kingdom of Sicily, and gained many towns. They put the inhabitants to death, and seized their effects, so that they were become a cruel pestilence to Christendom. They took the city of Otranto, and slew almost all the inhabitants, on account of their religion, which they suffered with singular patience for the honour of God,--and at length they seized the archbishop, whom they put to death by sawing him in two.

A devout Hermit, who resided in Swisserland near Underwalden, subsisted for the space of fifteen years on the holy wafer, which he received at the monthly sacrament, without taking any other food. This has been attested by many persons, witnesses of the fact.

I have forgotten to mention a marvellous comet that appeared in the year 1477, on St Agnes-day, in the month of January,--and therefore the bloody wars that took place between different princes, with the great miseries that ensued, need not be wondered at. This comet was visible at Cologne, in the opposite direction to the constellation Libra, having an immense tail, thirty degrees in length. On St Blaise's day, the 3d of February, it remained stationary in the constellation of Aries, throwing its tail to the eastward, near the Pleiades. It was of different colours,--sometimes white, at others all on fire, inclining to a lemon colour. The astrologers considered it as indicative of battle, epidemic disorders, and plagues: and in consequence, the following summer was hotter than had been remembered by any then living. In some parts, subterraneous fires broke forth, from the vehemence of which may God preserve us!

We will now return to notice events that happened in France, Flanders, Burgundy and England, at the period we quitted them to make mention of the surprising circumstances contained in this chapter.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 81: For further particulars, see Scipione Ammirato, and other italian historians,--and particularly the Life of Lorenzo de Medici, by W. Roscoe, esq.]

[Footnote 82: Cardinal of St George. Q. if it should not be 'of _Riario_, and nephew to the pope Sixtus IV.?']

[Footnote 83: Opiterge. The ancient latin name was Opitergium,--the modern Oderso: it is in the venetian state twelve miles from Trevigio.

_Martiniere._]

CHAP. XXV.

THE KING, ON HIS RETURN FROM PICARDY, SETS AT LIBERTY THE PRISONERS IN THE CHASTELET.--OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE AND SIR CLAUDE DE VAUDRAY IN THE COUNTRY OF BURGUNDY.--THE STATUES OF ST LOUIS AND ST CHARLEMAGNE REMOVED.--THE KING HAS TWELVE GREAT BOMBARDS MADE.--EDWARD KING OF ENGLAND CAUSES HIS BROTHER THE DUKE OF CLARENCE TO BE DROWNED IN A BUTT OF MALMSEY.--AN ACCUSATION IS LAID AGAINST DANIEL THE SERVANT TO OLIVIER LE DAIM.--ON THE RETURN OF THE KING FROM PICARDY, GREAT ENTERTAINMENTS ARE GIVEN AT PARIS IN THE YEAR MCCCCLXXVIII.

The king of France, before he left Picardy, appointed the lord bastard of Bourbon, admiral of France, his lieutenant-general for the management of the war in that country. He assigned, for the cantonments of his men, the cities and towns of Arras, Tournay, Lens, La Bassée, and other places on the frontiers of Flanders, which still held out for the princess of Flanders, daughter to the late duke of Burgundy. Having arranged these matters, the king went to pay his devotions to Nôtre Dame de la Victoire, whose image was richly ornamented, and thence proceeded to Paris. As he arrived on the feast-day of St Denis, from his reverence to the saint, he delivered all the prisoners confined in the Châtelet.

The king made no long stay in Paris, but went to Tours, Amboise, and places in that district, where he the more willingly resided.

During this interval, the Burgundians and other enemies to the king, under the prince of Orange, and sir Claude de Vaudray, committed great devastations in Burgundy, and defeated many parties of the royal forces, more especially at the town of Gray sur Saone, wherein they were quartered. The Burgundians killed a number of gentlemen of the companies of Salazart and Coninghame, a scots captain.

The king had this year great devotion for St Louis and St Charlemagne, and ordered that their statues of stone, which had been placed in their rank with those of the other kings of France in the great hall of the palace, should be removed and placed beside the chapel at the upper end of the said hall,--which was done, and the expenses of their removal were paid by Robert Cailletel, receiver of taxes in the city of Paris.

In the month of December, the king, to increase his artillery, ordered twelve great bombards to be cast of a prodigious length and weight. Three of them were to be cast at Paris, three at Tours, three at Orleans, and three at Amiens; and at the same time a quantity of iron bullets were cast at the founderies at Creil, of which charge was given to master John de Reilhac his secretary. In the quarries near to Peronne, were also made many stone bullets for the bombards,--and great stores of scaling ladders and small pieces of ordnance were constructed, for the attack of several towns in Flanders and Picardy that remained to be reduced.

At this period, king Edward of England, having been assured that his brother the duke of Clarence had intentions of crossing the sea to give assistance to his sister. The widowed duchess of Burgundy, ordered him to be arrested and confined in the tower of London, where he remained for some time. During his confinement, the king assembled his council, who condemned him to be drawn on a sledge from the tower to a gibbet, and thereon hanged,--after which, his entrails were to be thrown into a fire, his head cut off, and his body quartered. But this sentence was changed at the intercession of his mother, and the execution deferred until the month of February following, when he was taken out of prison, and, after he had confessed himself, was thrown alive into a butt of malmsey Madeira, which had one of its ends taken off, and held therein, with his head downwards, until he expired. He was then taken out: his head was cut off, and carried to be buried at the Carmelite's church, beside his duchess, daughter to the late earl of Warwick, who had been slain at the battle of Coventry, at the same time when the prince of Wales, son to the sainted Henry of Lancaster, fell[84].

An event happened at this time, at Paris, that made some noise. Daniel de Bar, servant to master Olivier le Daim[85], first barber and valet de chambre to the king, was arrested and imprisoned by the court of parliament, in consequence of several informations laid against him, and especially on the complaint of Marion, the wife of Colin Panier, and another dissolute woman, who charged the said Daniel with having forced them and with having committed upon them the beastly and abominable sin of sodomy. When the parliament and the provost began to examine more minutely into these charges, the women contradicted themselves, and denied the facts, confessing that they had been induced to make such accusations at the instance of Panier, the husband of Marion, and of another called Janvier, enemies of the said Daniel, in order to be revenged on him. The two women were therefore sentenced, by the provost, to be whipped naked and banished the realm; and their effects were to be confiscated to the king, out of which sufficient damages should first be taken for the said Daniel, as an indemnification for these false charges. This sentence was executed in all the squares of Paris, on Wednesday, the 11th day of March.

In this month, the king came from Tours toward Paris, and staid two days at Ablon sur Seine, at the house of Marc Senamy, assessor of Paris; whence he came to his palace of the Tournelles, and on the morrow morning, paid his devotions at the cathedral to the blessed virgin Mary. This done, he went to Louvres, and places in that neighbourhood, where he staid some time, and then proceeded to Hêdin, Amiens, and other towns in Picardy. While he was there, the lord Howard came to him from the king of England, to endeavour to conclude a peace between him and the Flemings. The king appointed the lord de St Pierre to confer with him on the subject; and in the interval, the king marched the whole of his army and artillery into Picardy.

A.D. MCCCCLXXVIII.

After Low Sunday, in the month of March of the above year, the duchess of Orleans arrived at Paris, in company with the duke of Orleans,--a young son of the duke of Cleves, nephew to the duchess,--madame de Narbonne, daughter to the late duke of Orleans, and wife to the viscount of Narbonne, son to the count of Foix,--the son of the count of Vendôme, and a number of lords, gentlemen, ladies and damsels, who were twice most magnificently feasted in the city of Paris.