Chapter XXVII: Book THE FIFTH (6)

[294] Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and Blanche his wife. She married John, King of Portugal; and died on the 19th of June, or 18th of July, 1415.

[295] There had been twelve, viz., at St. Albans, in 1455; at Bloreheath, in 1459; at Northampton and Wakefield, in 1460; at Mortimer’s Cross, Barnerheath and Towton, in 1461; at Hexham, in 1463; at Banbury and Stamford, in 1470; at Barnet, in 1471; and at Tewkesbury, in 1471.

[296] Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter, was the son of John, Duke of Exeter, and Anne, daughter of Edmund, Earl of Stamford. He married Anne, sister of Edward IV., whom he divorced on the 12th of November, 1472. He was found dead at sea between Dover and Calais, in 1475.

[297] The Duke of Somerset was with the Count of Charolois at the battle of Montlhery; and again, at Ghent, in 1469.

[298] He received this appointment immediately after the first battle of St. Albans, which was fought on the 23rd of May, 1455.

[299] The Earl of Warwick, finding that his influence with Edward was on the decline, excited insurrections in the north of England, in the hope thereby to regain his power. As one of his daughters was married to the king’s brother, the Duke of Clarence, he made common cause with that prince, and they both betrayed Edward’s confidence by marching against him with the troops which they had received orders to levy in his name. This was in March, 1470.

[300] On the 6th of March, 1471.

[301] About the beginning of 1470, the king and the earl were nearly coming to blows, when an attempt was made to reconcile them; while the king, trusting to these negotiations of peace, had relaxed his vigilance, the Earl of Warwick fell suddenly on his camp, and took him prisoner. Edward was conveyed to Middleham Castle, but speedily made his escape from captivity.

[302] Elizabeth Woodville was married 1. to Sir John Grey of Groby, who fell in the second battle of St. Albans, on the 17th of February, 1461; and 2. to Edward IV. She had two children by her first marriage, Thomas, Marquis of Dorset, and Richard. She married King Edward in 1465; and in 1486, was confined in Bermondsey Abbey, where she died some years afterwards.

[303] Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers, married Jacquetta of Luxembourg, widow of the Duke of Bedford, brother of King Henry V. He was taken prisoner in 1469, with his son, John Woodville, and conducted to Northampton, where they were both beheaded.

[304] Isabella, daughter of the Earl of Warwick, and Anne Beauchamp, his wife, was born at Warwick Castle on the 5th of September, 1451. She was married at Calais on the 11th of July, 1469.

[305] John, Lord Wenlock, Chief Butler of England, was appointed lieutenant of Calais in 1470, and was killed at the battle of Tewkesbury on the 4th of May, 1471.

[306] This child probably died very young, for Dugdale makes no mention of him.

[307] On the 28th of June, 1470.

[308] He had been there ever since the 26th of July.

[309] Galhard de Durfort, Lord of Duras, retired to England in 1453, was made a Knight of the Garter, and appointed Governor of Calais. He was recalled to France in 1476, by Louis XI., and was killed in that king’s service in Burgundy, in 1487. He married Anne, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk.

[310] Between Honfleur and Harfleur, in May, 1470.

[311] Louis, Bastard of Bourbon, a natural son of Charles I., Duke of Bourbon, by Jeanne de Bournan, was legitimated in September, 1463; he married Jeanne, a natural daughter of Louis XI., and died on the 19th of January, 1486.

[312] According to Chastellain, it consisted of “sixty fine and powerful ships.”

[313] Edward, son of Henry VI. and Margaret of Anjou. He married Anne, youngest daughter of the Earl of Warwick, and was killed in the battle of Tewkesbury, on the 4th of May, 1471. His widow afterwards married the Duke of Gloucester, who subsequently ascended the throne as Richard III.

[314] George Neville, Chancellor of the University of Oxford, was created Bishop of Exeter on the 25th of November, 1455, before he had attained his twentieth year. He became Lord Chancellor of England in 1460, and Archbishop of York in 1465; and he died on the 8th of June, 1476.

[315] John Neville, Marquis of Montague, married Isabella, daughter of Sir Edmond Ingoldsthrop of Borough Green, and was killed in the battle of Barnet on the 30th of April, 1471.

[316] About four months after their departure from England, in August, the Earl of Warwick, the Duke of Clarence and their retainers landed, some at Plymouth, others at Dartmouth and Exmouth, and thence marched towards London.

[317] Rapin states that Edward was at Lynn at this time.

[318] William, Lord Hastings, son of Richard Hastings, and Alice, daughter of Lord Camoys. He married Catherine, daughter of Richard Neville, last Earl of Salisbury; and was beheaded by order of Richard III. on the 13th of June, 1483.

[319] Anthony Woodville, Lord Scales and Earl Rivers, was the son of Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. He married 1. Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Scales, and 2. Mary, daughter of Henry Fitz Lewes. He was beheaded in 1483.

[320] Easterlings, in French _Ostrelins_, was the name given to the merchants of the Hanseatic League.

[321] Alkmaar, the capital of North Holland, distant about twenty miles from Amsterdam.

[322] Louis de Bruges, Lord de la Gruthuyse, Prince of Steenhuyse, Knight of the Golden Fleece, was the son of Jean de Bruges and Marguerite de Steenhuyse. He was created Earl of Winchester for his eminent services to King Edward IV.; and he died on the 24th of November, 1492.

[323] King Edward arrived at the Hague on the 11th of October, 1470; and the Duke of Burgundy gave him 500 golden crowns per month for his support. Lenglet, ii. 196.

[324] The number of Warwick’s partisans was very great, especially in London. He had obtained them, according to Oliver de la Marche, by three ways, which do honour to his ability, if not to his honesty. “The first, by flatteries, and feigned humility to the people of London, by whom he was much loved. Secondly, he was master of the five ports of England, where he allowed great injury to be done; and never, in his time, was justice done in England to any foreigner who had suffered loss; wherefore he was beloved by the English freebooters, whom he thus contributed to support. And thirdly, he kept the city of London on his side by always owing 300,000 or 400,000 crowns to different citizens; and those whose debtor he was desired his life and prosperity, that they might be paid their dues.” La Marche, ii. 276.

[325] She went to “St Catherine’s Abbey, say some, but others say to the sanctuary at Westminster.” Chastellain, 486.

[326] Edward V., born on the 4th of November, 1470.

[327] The staple of wool at Calais was established by King Edward III. Rapin, iii. 231.

[328] On Wednesday, the 2nd of January, 1471, the Duke of Burgundy left Hesdin and went to Aire, where he met the King of England. He remained there on the 3rd, and returned to Hesdin, after dinner, on the 4th. Lenglet, ii. 197.

[329] Equal to more than 200,000 pounds sterling.

[330] Now Weer, or Ter Veere, a town in the province of Zealand, on the eastern coast of the island of Walcheren.

[331] He embarked at Ter Veere on the 2nd of March, 1471, and landed at Ravenspur on the 14th of the same month.

[332] April 11. 1471.

[333] The battle was fought upon a plain near Barnet, between London and St. Albans, known by the name of Gladsmore Heath.

[334] Edward nevertheless wrote, on the 28th of May, 1471, a letter in which he thanked the duke for the valuable and brotherly assistance he had given him in his distress. See Salazard, iv. 306.

[335] King Henry VI., says Hume, “expired in the Tower a few days after the battle of Tewkesbury, but whether he died a natural or violent death is uncertain. It is pretended, and was generally believed, that the Duke of Gloucester killed him with his own hands; but the universal odium which that prince has incurred, inclined perhaps the nation to aggravate his crimes, without any sufficient authority. It is certain, however, that Henry’s death was sudden; and, though he laboured under an ill state of health, this circumstance, joined to the general manners of the age, gave a natural ground of suspicion, which was rather increased than diminished by the exposing of his body to public view.”

[336] The Earl of Warwick was not personally the cause of their death. Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, lost his life at the battle of St. Albans, on the 23rd of May, 1455, commanding the army opposed to that of which Warwick was the leader. The two sons of this Duke of Somerset, Edmund and John, were slain in the battle of Tewkesbury.

[337] This battle was fought near Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, on the 4th of May, 1471.

[338] “Queen Margaret and her son,” says Hume, “were taken prisoners, and brought to the king, who asked the prince, in an insulting manner, how he dared to invade his dominions? The young prince, more mindful of his high birth than of his present fortune, replied that he came thither to claim his just inheritance. The ungenerous Edward, insensible to pity, struck him on the face with his gauntlet: and the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, Lord Hastings, and Sir Thomas Gray, taking the blow as a signal for further violence, hurried the prince into the next apartment, and there despatched him with their daggers.” Commines says erroneously that he fell on the field.

[339] On the 10th of April, 1471.

[340] See the instructions given by the king to M. du Bouchage on this subject, in Lenglet, iii. 160.

[341] By letters dated June 13. 1472.

[342] Philibert, Duke of Savoy, son of Amadeus IX., Duke of Savoy, and Yolande of France, daughter of Charles VII., was born on the 7th of August, 1465, and succeeded his father on the 28th of March, 1472. In January, 1474, he married Bianca Maria, daughter of Galeazzo Marie Sforza, Duke of Milan; and he died on the 22nd of April, 1482.

[343] Maximilian of Austria, son of Frederick III. and Eleanor of Portugal, was born on the 22nd of March, 1459, elected King of the Romans on the 16th of February, 1486, crowned on the 9th of April following, and succeeded his father in 1493. He married 1. Mary of Burgundy, on the 20th of August, 1477; and 2. in 1494, Bianca Maria, widow of Philibert, Duke of Savoy. In 1489, he was contracted to Anne of Bretagne, but this match was broken off. He died on the 12th of January, 1519.

[344] Vincent de Kerleau, Abbé de Begar, Chancellor of Bretagne, and councillor of Duke Francis II., was appointed Bishop of Leon in 1473, and made his solemn entry into his church on the 10th of June in that year. He died in 1476.

[345] The Castle of Coulonges, between Toulouse and Lectoure.

[346] Jean, Lord of L’Esparre, Baron of Estissac, was the son of Lancelot, Lord of L’Esparre, and Jeanne, Lady of Estissac. His son Geoffroi d’Estissac, Bishop of Maillezais, was one of the patrons of the celebrated Rabelais.

[347] This is an error; for Charles VIII. was born on the 30th of June, 1470.

[348] Charles VIII, son of Louis XI. and Charlotte of Savoy, was consecrated at Rheims on the 30th of May, 1484. On the 13th of December, 1491, he married Anne of Bretagne; and he died on the 7th of April, 1498.

[349] The duke was at Arras on May 16. 1472; at Penonne, June 9.; at Roye, June 14.; and on the 25th of the same month, he encamped outside Maisnil, near Montdidier.

[350] The duke died on the 28th of May.

[351] In these letters, dated from the camp before Beauvais, July 16. 1472, the duke accuses the king of having poisoned his brother by means of a friar named Jourdain Favre, and of Henri de la Roche, esquire of his kitchen.

[352] On Thursday, June 11. 1472.

[353] “Named Le Petit Picard, who was captain of 500 frank-archers, from the Isle of France, who were in that town.” Lenglet, ii. 94.

[354] Pierre d’Oriolle, Lord of Loiré in Aulnis, was the son of Jean d’Oriolle, Burgess and Mayor of La Rochelle, and Collette du Guecharrox; he was appointed Chancellor of France on the 26th of June, 1472, and resigned his office in May, 1483. He died on the 14th of September, 1485.

[355] Gilbert de Chabannes, Lord of Curton, Baron of Rochefort, was the son of Jacques de Chabannes and Anne de Lavieu. He was councillor and chamberlain to the Duke of Guienne, and afterwards to the king, and was made Governor of Limousin in 1473. He died in 1493.

[356] Patrice Foucart was captain of forty archers of the guard of the Duke of Berry and Guienne, and chamberlain to that prince.

[357] Amiens and St. Quentin.

[358] The duke left Nesle for Roye on Sunday, June 14. 1472. Lenglet, ii. 95.

[359] The Burgundians arrived before Beauvais on Saturday, June 27. 1472, and attacked the town in two places, at the Porte de Bresle, and at the Porte de Limaçon, behind the bishop’s palace.

[360] Jacques, Lord of Montmartin and Loulans, knight, was captain of the archers of the guard of Duke Philip the Good. On the 22nd of January, 1454, he married Guigonne, daughter of Jacques Bouton. In 1475, he was one of the chamberlains of Duke Charles of Burgundy; and he subsequently became a chamberlain and councillor of Louis XI.

[361] The Porte de Bresle.

[362] Louis Gommel, Lord of Balagny, was an esquire, councillor and chamberlain of Louis XI., Captain of Beauvais, and captain-general of the frank-archers.

[363] “Which fire was kept up more than a week afterwards, with wood from the neighbouring houses, to prevent the enemy from entering the town.” Lenglet, iii. 207.

[364] Louis, Lord of Crussol and Beaudiner, Grand Pantler of France, and Seneschal of Poitou, was the son of Geraud Bastet, Lord of Crussol, and Alix de Lastic. He died in August, 1473.

[365] Guillaume de Valée, Esquire, Lord of La Roche-Tesson, in Normandy, was captain of 100 lances, and lieutenant of the Seneschal of Normandy. His wife was Isabeau Tesson.

[366] Mery de Cohé, Esquire, Lord of Fontenailles, councillor and chamberlain of the king, was Captain of the town and Castle of Amboise. He was lieutenant of eighty lances in August, 1470, when he signed the treaty of Ancenis.

[367] Estevenot de Talauresse, surnamed Vignoles, Lord of Aussemont, was Bailiff of Montferrat in 1462, councillor and chamberlain of Louis XI., and Seneschal of Carcassonne. In 1473, the king gave him the barony of St. Sulpice in the diocese of Toulouse.

[368] On the 9th of July, 1472. Lenglet, iii. 212.

[369] Amé Rabutin, Lord of Epery, and Bailiff of Charolois, had been a councillor and chamberlain of Duke Philip the Good. His wife was Claude de Travers, daughter of Pierre, Lord of La Parcheresse.

[370] Jacques d’Orson was a chamberlain of the Count of Charolois, whom he attended at the siege of Audenarde in 1452.

[371] On Wednesday, July 22. 1472. Lenglet, iii. 214.

[372] The duke arrived before Eu on the 28th of July, and remained there until the 9th of August.

[373] On the 30th of August, 1472.

[374] Eu and St. Valery surrendered to the king on composition. It was stipulated by the first town, that the knights should have liberty to depart, “each on a little nag; and all the other Burgundians, who were in number more than 100, departed each with a stick in his hand, and left all their clothes, property, and horses; and payed 10,000 crowns.” The second town surrendered on the same terms, and paid 6000 crowns. Lenglet, ii. 100.

[375] Philippe des Essars, Lord of Thieux, son of Antoine des Essars, was steward to the king in 1464, and afterwards filled the same office in the household of the Duke of Bretagne. He died in 1478.

[376] Guillaume de Soupplainville was steward to Francis, Duke of Bretagne, Vice-admiral of Guienne, Bailiff of Montargis, and Lord of Soupplainville and Villemandeur.

[377] Friar Jourdain Favre, surnamed De Vercors, and Henri de la Roche, esquire of the kitchen.

[378] This truce was concluded on the 3rd of November, 1472; it was to last for five months, from the 3rd of November to the 1st of April following.

[379] The treaty of alliance between the Duke of Bretagne and the King of England had been concluded at Chateauguion on the 11th of September, 1472.

[380] Baudoin de Lannoy, surnamed the Stutterer, Lord of Molembais, Knight of the Golden Fleece, and Governor of Lille, was the son of Gilbert de Lannoy, and Catherine, Lady of Molembais. He died in 1474.

[381] Jean Heberge was appointed Bishop of Evreux in 1473, and took the oaths on the 4th of April, 1474. He died on the 28th of August, 1479.

[382] All the clauses of this agreement, however, recur in the truce for nine years made between the king and the Duke of Burgundy on the 13th of September, 1475.

[383] George, Lord of La Tremoille, Grand Chamberlain of France, and prime minister of Charles VII., was the son of Guy de la Tremoille and Marie de Sully. His favour and influence with the king gained him the hatred of many of the nobles, who arrested him and imprisoned him at Montresor, whence he was liberated only on payment of a heavy ransom. He died on the 6th of May, 1446.

[384] On the 15th of June, the duke encamped near Montfoort, on the Yssel, in the duchy of Guelders. Lenglet, ii. 206.

[385] Adolphus, son of Arnold, Duke of Guelders, and Catherine of Cleves, married his aunt, Catherine of Bourbon, on the 18th of December, 1463, and was killed at the siege of Tournay on the 22nd of June, 1477.

[386] Catherine, daughter of Charles I., Duke of Bourbon

[387] Arnold of Egmont, Duke of Guelders, was the son of John of Egmont and Mary of Arkel. He married Catherine, daughter of Adolphus, Duke of Cleves; and died on the 24th of February, 1473.

[388] In the town of Thiel, on the Waal, in Guelders. Duke Arnold was set at liberty in December, 1470.

[389] Pope Paul IV. and the Emperor Frederick III.

[390] Grave, a strong town on the Meuse, in Dutch Brabant.

[391] The Duke of Burgundy arrived at Doullens on the 17th of January, 1471, and remained there until the 3rd of February following. Lenglet, ii. 197.

[392] Expresses had been sent to Maestricht and Bois-le-Duc, by Duke Charles, on the 10th of February, to order his arrest if he made his appearance in those towns.

[393] He was arrested at Namur, and sent thence, by the duke’s order, to Vilvorde, where he attempted to escape, but was recaptured, and sent to the Castle of Courtray.

[394] Mary of Burgundy.

[395] The Emperor Maximilian, husband of Mary of Burgundy, lost the duchy of Guelders in 1492; and Charles of Egmont, the son of Duke Adolph, was then restored to his inheritance.

[396] The truce was prolonged from the 15th of June, 1474, to the 1st of May, 1475. See Lenglet, iii. 315.

[397] It appears almost certain that Commines here alludes to himself. See Meyer, Annal. Fland., 361.

[398] Herman IV., son of Louis I., Landgrave of Hesse, and Anne, daughter of Frederick I., Elector of Saxony. He was elected Archbishop of Cologne on the 11th of August, 1480, and died in the autumn of 1508.

[399] Robert of Bavaria, Count Palatine, was the son of Louis le Barbu, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and Matilda of Savoy. He died in prison on the 17th of July, 1480.

[400] Nuz, now called Neuss, a town in the regency of Dusseldorf, in the Prussian States. The duke encamped before Neuss on the 30th of July, 1474. See Lenglet, ii. 214; and for details of the siege, Molinet, i. 27.

[401] Henry III., brother of Herman. He married Anne, daughter of the Count of Dietz, and died on the 12th of January, 1483.

[402] He had had it in his possession since 1468. See p. 125.

[403] It had been prolonged for nearly a year. See p. 235.

[404] By the treaty of alliance and confederation made between the King of England and the Duke of Burgundy on the 25th of July, 1474, among other conventions, the duke pledged himself to listen to no proposition of truce or peace without Edward’s consent. Rymer, v. 41.

[405] By letters dated June 12. 1475, King Edward entrusted to John Audley and Galhard de Duras, Lord of Durfort, the command of the fleet destined to succour the Duke of Bretagne. Rymer, v. 3. 64.

[406] Henry, Count of Schwartzburg, was first Bishop of Bremen, and afterwards, in 1467, Bishop of Munster. He died on the 24th of December, 1497. The valorous conduct of this prelate at the siege of Neuss is commemorated in the following passage from his epitaph:—

Cæsareas aquilas infestaque signa, viator,
Suspensa ad tumulum præsulis, oro, vide.
Principis hæc meruit virtus, cum Nussia dura
Burgundi quatitur obsidione ducis.

(Witt, 564, 597.)

[407] “He came so near as to lodge at Zons, and, on the following day, established his artillery at about a league from the siege. He had in front of him a high mountain, the river Rhine on one side, and large and deep trenches on the other, from the mountain-slope to the river.” Molinet, i. 117.

[408] George Hesler, Apostolical and Imperial Prothonotary, Canon and Archdeacon of Cologne, was a native of Wurtzburg in Bavaria. At the solicitation of the Emperor Frederick III., Sixtus IV. created him a cardinal, on the 10th of December, 1477; and he was drowned while attempting to cross the Danube in a boat, in the month of September, 1482.

[409] Jean Tiercelin, Lord of Brosse, chamberlain of Louis XI., and governor of the Duke of Orleans, afterwards Louis XII., was the son of Macé Tiercelin, Lord of Brosse; and married Louise de Longchamp. His mission to the emperor was “to maintain and continue the ancient alliances between the two powers.” Lenglet, iii. 371.

[410] Alexander Nanni, appointed Bishop of Forli in 1470, Vice-Legate and Governor of Umbria in 1474, and Apostolic Nuncio in Germany under the pontificate of Pius IV. He died at Rome in 1485.

[411] At Unterbilk, a little town on the other side of the Rhine, two leagues from Neuss. Molinet, i. 74.

[412] René II., son of Ferri II., Count of Vaudemont, and Yolande of Anjou, succeeded Nicholas, Duke of Lorraine, in 1473, at the age of twenty-two, and died on the 10th of December, 1508.

[413] Pierfort, in the arrondissement of Toul, and department of Meurthe.

[414] The act in which Louis XI. declares himself favourable to the pretensions of the Swiss, is dated Senlis, June 11. 1474. See Lenglet, iii. 312.

[415] Pierre de Hagenbach, knight, councillor and steward to Duke Charles, was High Bailiff of Ferrette, and Lord of Belmont. His name occurs in the narrative of an act of adulation and despotism so singular that we do not hesitate to mention it. Philip, Duke of Burgundy, fell ill, and his head was shaved by order of his physicians. In order not to be the only man in such a plight, he issued an edict that all his nobles should in like manner shave their heads: more than 500 noblemen, for love of the duke, did so; and Pierre de Hagenbach and others, to prove their devotedness, no sooner caught sight of an unshaven nobleman than they forcibly deprived him of his hair. Oliver de la Marche, ii. 227.

[416] The grievances of the inhabitants of the county of Ferrette are set forth in a document quoted by Lenglet, iii. 351.

[417] Blamont, in the arrondissement of Montbelliard, department of Doubs.

[418] Hericourt, in the arrondissement of Vesoul, department of Haute-Saône.

[419] On the 1st of May, 1475. See above, book iv. chap. i.

[420] Montdidier was taken on the 4th of May.

[421] Roye surrendered on the 6th of May.

[422] Louis, Lord of Contay and Forest, was the son of Guillaume de Contay and Marguerite de Sully. During his father’s life-time, he was Governor of Arras. He was also chamberlain to the Duke of Burgundy. He married Jacqueline de Nesle, and was killed at the battle of Nancy on the 5th of January, 1476.

[423] On the 11th of May; the inhabitants fled to Amiens.

[424] On Wednesday, the 27th of June, the admiral came before Arras. Lenglet, ii. 117.

[425] Pierre de Bourbon, Lord of Carency, son of Jean de Bourbon and Jeanne de Vendôme, was born in February, 1424. Louis XI. had him tried and condemned to death for high treason; but in consideration for his family, granted him his life and restored him to liberty, but confiscated his estates, as appears by letters patent of the 20th of April, 1469.

[426] On the 20th of June, 1475. See note, p. 150.

[427] Marie de Savoie, daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy, and Anne of Cyprus, married Louis, Constable of St. Paul, on the 1st of August, 1466. She died in 1475.

[428] Jacques de Luxembourg, Lord of Fiennes, was the son of Thibaud de Luxembourg, and Philippa de Melun; and he died in 1487.

[429] The Duke of Burgundy lay before Nuz from the 30th of July, 1474, to the 27th of June, 1475.

[430] Montdidier, Roye, and Corbie.

[431] This peace was confirmed on the 17th of November, 1475.

[432] “And about midsummer, in the year 1475, King Edward brought his army to Calais in great pomp and triumph. It consisted of about 22,000 men; but the archers were badly mounted, and unused to riding on horseback.” Molinet, i. 139. 141.

[433] Our English historian, Habington, falls foul of Philip de Commines for this passage, and casts severe censures both on him and his _Memoirs_ for this unjust reflection on our nation.

[434] John Howard, created Duke of Norfolk and Earl Marshal of England on the 28th of June, 1483, was the son of Robert Howard and Margaret, daughter of Thomas de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. He was killed at the battle of Bosworth Field on the 22nd of August, 1485.

[435] Thomas Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby and Lord High Constable of England. He died on the 9th of November, 1504.

[436] Jean de Hangest, Lord of Genlis, was the son of Jean de Hangest and Marie de Sarrbruck. After having served the Duke of Burgundy until the death of that prince, he became a councillor and chamberlain of Louis XI., and was appointed Captain of Rouen. He died in 1490.

[437] The cross of Saint Lo or Saint Loup at Angers, was very celebrated during the reign of Louis XI.; it was a piece of the true cross preserved in the collegiate Church of Saint Lô, in the suburbs of Angers.

[438] That Louis XI. respected this oath, is evident from a letter which he wrote to Tanneguy Duchastel on the 13th of November, 1472. “I have sworn to M. de Lescun on the true cross of Saint Lô that he may come to me in safety; wherefore I beseech you to set no ambushes, for I would not wish to be in danger on account of breaking that oath.” Morice, iii. 250.

[439] He arrived at Calais on the 14th of July. Lenglet, ii. 217.

[440] By the treaty concluded between the two princes on the 27th of July, 1475, it was stipulated that the succour to be given by the Duke of Burgundy to King Edward should consist of not less than 10,000 men, or more than 20,000 men. Rymer, v. 3. 43.

[441] Jacques de Grassay, Esquire, Lord of Yors and Estrée in Bourbonnois, was the son of Regnault Grassay, Lord of Savigny-sur-Brais. He was one of the gentlemen of the king’s body-guard at this period; and he afterwards became esquire-carver to King Charles VIII.

[442] Mezières, in the department of Ardennes.

[443] Gilbert de Grassay, Knight. Lord of Champeiroux, was an equerry to the Duke of Bretagne in 1465. He was taken prisoner at the surrender of Vannes in 1488; and soon afterwards he entered the service of France, and became one of the king’s councillors and chamberlains.

[444] According to Lenglet, this servant’s name was Merindot.

[445] Olivier Merichon, Knight, Lord des Halles de Poitiers, was cup-bearer to King Louis XI. in 1472.

[446] Jean Merichon, councillor of King Louis XI., was Lord of Uré and La Gort, near La Rochelle; he married Marie de Parthenay-Soubise.

[447] Alain Goyon de Villiers, councillor and chamberlain of Louis XI., Captain and Bailiff of Caen, and Master of the Horse of France, was the son of Jean Goyon, Lord of Matignon, and Marguerite de Mauny. He died in 1490.

[448] Jean Blosset, Lord of Saint Pierre, was councillor and chamberlain of the king, Seneschal of Normandy, and Captain of Avranches. He died about 1507.

[449] The ambassadors of the King of England were four in number: the three mentioned by Commines, and William Dudley, dean of the royal chapel.

[450] Thomas Saint Leger, one of the king’s body-guard; he was created a Knight of the Bath on the 5th of July, 1483, by Richard III.; and subsequently beheaded by order of that same prince, for having joined the party of the Earl of Richmond.

[451] John Morton, born at Bere, near Blandford, in Dorsetshire, was originally Rector of St. Dunstan’s Church in London. He was appointed Bishop of Ely on the 8th of August, 1478, translated to the see of Canterbury on the 9th of October, 1486, and created Lord Chancellor on the 8th of August, 1487. Pope Alexander VI. made him a cardinal in 1493; and he died at Knole on the 21st of September, 1500.

[452] The terms finally agreed upon by the Kings of France and England are contained in four distinct acts, reported in Rymer (vol. v. part 3. pp. 65-68), and all dated on the 29th of August, 1475. Their provisions may be thus briefly stated: 1. King Edward engages to return to England with his army as soon as Louis XI. has paid him the sum of 75,000 crowns. 2. A truce of _seven_ years, commencing at the date of the treaty, and finishing at sunset on the 29th of August, 1482, is concluded between the two sovereigns. 3. The Kings of France and England undertake to mutually assist each other in case either prince should be attacked by his enemies or by his rebellious subjects; and to make this alliance still closer, Prince Charles, son of Louis XI., is to wed the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV., as soon as they are both of marriageable age. 4. The King of France engages to pay annually to the King of England, in two instalments, the sum of 50,000 crowns; such payment to continue only during the life-time of either prince.

[453] Elizabeth, born in 1466, married Henry VII., King of England, on the 18th of January, 1486, and died on the 11th of February, 1503.

[454] It will be seen by the previous note, that no reference was made to this demand in the final treaty.

[455] This is a mistake: the truce was to last _seven_ years.

[456] Sir John Cheyne was, at the period of his visit to France, Master of the Horse. He was created a Knight of the Bath by Richard III. on the 5th of July, 1483. He afterwards joined the party of the Earl of Richmond, and was wounded at the battle of Bosworth Field on the 22nd of August, 1485.

[457] Lord Hastings was not always so scrupulous, for he gave receipts for a pension granted him by the Duke of Burgundy in 1471. Lenglet, iii. 617.

[458] See note, p. 276.

[459] Sir Thomas Montgomery was a Knight of the Garter, and one of King Edward’s council. He was created a Knight of the Bath by Richard III. on the 5th of July, 1483.

[460] On the 18th of August, he slept at Peronne, and proceeded on the following day to King Edward’s camp near Saint Christ, on the Somme. Lenglet, ii. 217.

[461] He nevertheless made a proposal for a truce of nine years with the king, on the 13th of September following. See Lenglet, iii. 409.

[462] Louis XI. arrived at Amiens on the 22nd of August. See Dupont, i. 362.

[463] Jean d’Estouteville, Knight, was Lord of Briquebec, Hambie, Gascé, and Mesnil-Seran, and Castellan of Gavre.

[464] Jacques de Beaumont, Lord of Bressuire and La Motte-Sainte-Heraye, and Seneschal of Poitou, was the son of André de Beaumont and Jeanne de Torsay. He married Jeanne de Rochechouart. He was one of the chamberlains of Louis XI.

[465] Jean d’Estouteville, Lord of Torcy, Blainville and Ondeauville, and grand master of the cross-bow-men of France, was the son of Guillaume de Torcy and Jeanne d’Ondeauville; he married Françoise de la Rochefoucauld, and died on the 11th of September, 1494.

[466] Pierre de Rohan, Knight, Count of Marle and Porcien, and Lord of Gié, was the son of Louis de Rohan and Marie de Montauban. He was created Marshal of France in 1475, and died on the 22nd of April, 1513.

[467] The Vidame of Amiens, at this time, was Jean d’Ailly, Knight, Baron of Picquigny, Raineval, La Broye, Merancourt, and Poissy, and councillor and chamberlain of King Louis XI. He married Yolande de Bourgogne, a natural daughter of Duke Philip the Good; and died in 1492.

[468] This was in the year 1418.

[469] The frequent attacks of insanity to which King Charles VI. was subject, rendered it impossible for him to govern alone, and the administration of the affairs of the kingdom was therefore entrusted to his brother the Duke of Orleans, and to his cousin the Duke of Burgundy. Neither of these princes was, however, satisfied with a mere share in the royal power; and on the 23rd of November, 1407, the Duke of Orleans was assassinated by order of the Duke of Burgundy. Hence arose a civil war, which lasted until 1435.

[470] This should be _eleven_ years—(1407-1418).

[471] Charles VII. was at this time Dauphin only, as his father did not die until 1422. It was not until after the capture of Rouen by Henry V. that the dauphin and the Duke of Burgundy became reconciled, and signed a peace at Arras on the 11th of July, 1419.

[472] On the 10th of September, 1419.

[473] Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was the son of Henry Percy and Eleanor Poynings. He married Maud, daughter of William Herbert, first Earl of Pembroke. He was killed in a popular riot, during the fourth year of the reign of King Henry VII.

[474] The personage here alluded to by Commines, is Thomas of Rotherham, who was born on the 24th of August, 1423, and became Keeper of the Great Seal, Bishop of Rochester in 1468, Bishop of Lincoln in 1471, and Archbishop of York in 1480. He was appointed Lord High Chancellor of England in 1474, and with an interval of two years, occupied that post until his death, on the 29th of May, 1500. Commines here mistakes _Lisle_ for _Lincoln_.

[475] See above, p. 188.

[476] Our historian Habington states this reply of King Edward somewhat differently, and says he answered resolutely, “That he would never forsake the care of a confederate who had maintained his faith so constantly.”

[477] The other English lords who took presents, or rather pensions from the French king, were, the Lord Hastings, lord chamberlain; the Lord Howard; Sir John Cheyne, master of the horse; Sir Anthony St. Leger, and Sir Thomas Montgomery.

[478] According to Oliver de la Marche, ii. 266, he was a Gascon squire in the service of Lord Scales.

[479] Jean Daillon, Lord du Lude, knight, councillor and chamberlain to Louis XI., and Governor of Dauphiny. He was a _compère_ of the king, who nicknamed him _Maistre Jehan des habiletez_.

[480] This was that John, Lord Howard, who, in consideration of his descent from the Lady Margaret, daughter of Thomas, first Duke of Norfolk, was, by Richard III., created Duke of Norfolk, and lost his life with him at Bosworth Field. From him are descended the Duke of Norfolk, and all the noble families of the Howards now in being.

[481] In these letters he told him that “he was a cowardly, dishonoured and poor king, for having made such a treaty with the King of France, on account of the promises he had made him, none of which he intended to keep.” Lenglet, ii. 120.

[482] The city of London, however, seemed well pleased with this expedition, and the lord mayor and aldermen received the king on Blackheath with great formalities, and conducted him in great pomp to Westminster.

[483] King Edward upon his return from France, caused his eldest daughter Elizabeth to be styled Dauphiness.

[484] Jean de Foix, Viscount of Narbonne, was the son of Gaston IV., Count of Foix, and Eleanor of Arragon, afterwards Queen of Navarre. He married Marie de France, sister of King Louis XII; and died in November, 1500. He assumed the title of Count of Foix in 1483, on the death of his nephew, François Phœbus, Count of Foix and King of Navarre.

[485] This treaty is dated on the 13th of September, 1475, and was to continue from that date until the 12th of September, 1484. Commines does not mention that, by one of the articles, four gentlemen, one of whom was himself, were excluded from all share in the treaty. Lenglet, iii. 409.

[486] This was the main point King Edward endeavoured to prevent, since, by articling apart, the duke showed his independence, and that the English, by their arms, had in no way advanced his affairs.

[487] This arrangement was made by letters dated September 13. 1475. “The king said that his cousin of Burgundy had treated the constable as huntsmen treat a fox; for like a wise man, he had taken the skin, and left him only the carcase, which was worth nothing.” Molinet, i. 181.

[488] It was currently believed in the Netherlands that the constable went to Mons by order of the king. The registers of Ypres state: “The king and the duke agreed on an expedient to obtain possession of the constable’s person. The king proposed to him to go on an embassy to the duke, who was then at Luxembourg about certain matters; which he undertook. The duke sent orders at the same time that his person should be secured as soon as he appeared in any town in his dominions. Accordingly, when the constable arrived at Mons, the gates of the town were shut upon him, and he was kept there a month, after which he was conducted, under a strong escort, to Peronne, and delivered to the officers of the King of France.” Gachard, i. 277.

[489] “The King of France, being informed that the constable was treating for the surrender of St. Quentin to the Duke of Burgundy, marched with 20,000 men to prevent it, and entered the town at about six o’clock in the evening of the 14th September.” Molinet, i. 179.

[490] Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s mother was Jacquetta of Luxembourg, daughter of Pierre de Luxembourg, the constable’s father.

[491] He encamped before that town on the 24th of October, 1475. Lenglet, ii. 218.

[492] The duke did not consent to deliver the constable into the hands of the king until the latter had assured to him the complete and entire confiscation of the property of the prisoner, only a portion of which had been assigned to him by the treaty of the 13th of September, 1475. Louis XI. therefore issued new letters, dated 12th November, 1475, by which he not only ratified his former engagements, but left the duke his choice between all the property of the constable, or those towns in Lorraine of which Charles the Bold had taken possession. The duke chose the towns, as is proved by the king’s letters, dated 18th December, 1475, in which he promises not to quarrel with the Duke of Burgundy for his choice. Lenglet, iii. 444-448.

[493] Molinet thus states the reasons which induced the Count of Campobasso to betray his master. That nobleman, he says, “was captain of 400 lances, which he had brought from Italy; but on New Year’s Day, Duke Charles gave 100 of the lances to Signor Angelo, the count’s son, to command, and as many to the count’s younger son, at which the said Campobasso was greatly displeased.” Molinet, i. 77. Oliver de la Marche (ii. 420) says it was because the duke owed him money.

[494] René, surnamed the Good, Duke of Anjou, and King of Sicily, was the son of Louis II., Duke of Anjou, and Yolande of Arragon. He died on the 10th of July, 1480.

[495] Nancy surrendered to the duke on Thursday, November 30. 1475.

[496] The trial began on the 27th November, and the constable was executed on the 19th December, 1475.

[497] Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, born on the 15th of January, 1341, was the son of John, King of France, and Bonne de Luxembourg. He married Marguerite, Countess of Flanders, and died on the 27th of April, 1404.

[498] Charles V., born on the 21st of January, 1337, married Jeanne de Bourbon, and died on the 16th September, 1380.

[499] René II., Duke of Lorraine, who was at that time twenty-five years of age.

[500] The Count of Campobasso.

[501] Louis, Lord of St. Priest, knight, chamberlain of the king, was sent by that prince as his ambassador to Berne on the 2nd of August, 1474. Lenglet, iii. 337.

[502] Louis XI. had nevertheless attempted to induce Campobasso to desert the Duke of Burgundy, and enter his service. See Dupont, i. 405.

[503] “The duke encamped before Granson on the 19th of February, 1476, with an army of 50,000 men or more, of all languages and countries, with a quantity of cannon and other engines of novel construction, and tents and accoutrements all glittering with gold, and a great host of servants, merchants, and courtezans.” Chronique du Chapitre de Neuchastel, p. 386.

[504] “All the garrison were given over to the provost-marshal, who, without pity or mercy, caused them to be hanged on the nearest trees by three executioners, to the number of 400 or thereabout, and the rest were drowned in the lake.” Molinet, i. 191.

[505] Three hundred men of Berne and a hundred of Neufchâtel assembled to march to the relief of Granson, but finding it impossible to penetrate the Burgundian lines, they “returned home groaning.” Chronique de Neuchastel, p. 387.

[506] The Castle of Bomacourt, by which he received supplies of provisions for his army. Molinet, i. 191.

[507] This rout took place on the evening of the 3rd of March, 1476.

[508] A treaty between the Duke of Burgundy and the Duke of Milan had been concluded at Moncalier on the 30th of January, 1475.

[509] Yolande de France, sister of Louis XI., was born on the 23rd of September, 1434, married Amadeus IX., Duke of Savoy, in 1452, became a widow on the 28th of March, 1472, and died on the 29th of August, 1478.

[510] He was brother of Marie of Anjou, the mother of Louis XI.

[511] Louis XI. had made a treaty of alliance with the emperor and the electors in December, 1475. He confirmed it on the 17th of April, 1476. This confirmation is probably what the confederate towns now demanded.

[512] His subjects were, however, beginning to reject his demands. He assembled the Estates of Franche-Comté at Salins, and stated his intention to levy an army of 40,000 men, and to impose a tax of one-fourth of their property on his subjects. In answer, the Estates declared that all they could offer him was a force of 3000 men, “to guard the country.” The Estates of Burgundy declared at Dijon that the war was utterly useless, and that they would not involve themselves in a groundless quarrel, in which they could have no hope of success. And to crown all, the Flemings wrote to him that, if he were surrounded by the Swiss and Germans, and had not men enough to extricate himself, they would come to his relief. See Michelet’s _Louis XI., et Charles le Temeraire_, pp. 129, 130.

[513] The Duchess of Milan, Bona of Savoy, was sister of Charlotte of Savoy, the second wife of Louis XI. She married Galeas Sforza, on the 9th of May, 1468, and died in 1485, after a widowhood of nine years.

[514] This treaty between Louis XI. and the Duke of Milan was concluded on the 9th of August, 1476.

[515] Hugues de Chalon, Lord of Chasteau-Guyon and Nozeroy, was the son of Louis de Chalon. Prince of Orange, and Leonore d’Armagnac. He was a man of distinguished bravery. At the battle of Granson, he twice dashed amidst the enemy’s ranks and nearly succeeded in taking their standard; but his charge was unsupported, and therefore unavailing.

[516] Jean, Lord of Cossé in Anjou, was one of the councillors and chamberlains of King René, and Seneschal of Provence.

[517] Louis XI. undertook to pay René a pension of 60,000 francs yearly during the remainder of his life. Lenglet, iii. 392.

[518] Yolande of France, Duchess of Savoy, and sister to Louis XI.

[519] The following is a list of the spoil taken by the Swiss at Granson, from Peignot’s Amusemens Philologiques:—

“1. Five hundred pieces of heavy artillery, with a quantity of ammunition, and abundance of provisions.

“2. Four hundred tents of great richness, fitted with silk and velvet, and with the duke’s arms embroidered thereon in gold and pearls. Most of these were spoiled by the Swiss, who made them into clothes.

“3. Six hundred banners and standards; 300 helmets; 300 cwt. of gunpowder; 3000 sacks of barley; 2000 baggage wagons; 2000 barrels of herrings, and a quantity of other dried fish, and salted meat, geese and fowls; and abundance of sugar, raisins, figs, almonds, and other things innumerable; and 8000 spiked clubs.

“4. Four hundred lbs. weight of silver plate, which was taken to Lucerne, and divided among the Swiss, to say nothing of that which was carried off by the soldiers.

“5. Three hundred complete services of magnificent silver plate; and so great a quantity of coined money that it was distributed by handfulls; four wagon-loads of crossbows and strings; and three wagon-loads of bed-linen.

“6. The coffer containing the duke’s archives, and his great diamond.

“7. The duke’s rosary, with the apostles in massive gold.

“8. The duke’s sword, adorned with seven large diamonds and as many rubies, with fifteen pearls of the size of a bean, and of the finest water; 160 pieces of cloth of gold and silk; with innumerable relics in rich shrines; the duke’s gilded chair, and his gold ring, and the ring of his brother Antony, and two large pearls set in gold, each as large as a nut.”

[520] This famous diamond, called the _Sancy_ diamond, was sold by the last-mentioned purchasers to M. de Diesbach, for 5400 Rhine florins; he sold it to a Genevese jeweller for 7000 Rhine florins; it was next sold to the Duke of Milan for 11,000 ducats; then to Pope Julius for 20,000 ducats; and in 1835, it was purchased by Prince Demidoff for 20,000_l._ It is said to weigh 53½ grains.

[521] Of this sum, 9000 francs were given to certain private individuals, and the remainder was thus divided: 6000 francs to Berne, 3000 to Lucerne, and 2000 to Zurich. Lenglet, iii. 379.

[522] The duke reached Lausanne on the 29th of April, 1476, and remained there until the 27th of May.

[523] The principality of Tarentum was not actually conferred on Don Frederic of Arragon until 1485, but he appears to have enjoyed the titular dignity for some time previously. He became King of Naples in 1496, and died on the 9th of November, 1504.

[524] Ferdinand I., natural son of Alphonso, King of Naples, succeeded his father in 1458, and died on the 25th of January, 1494.

[525] On the 21st of June, 1476.

[526] According to some commentators, the person here referred to is the Duke of Ascoli, but as the name of that nobleman was Orso Orsino, it is impossible that he can be identical with “Count Julio,” who, as Commines tell us, possessed the dukedom in question. It is more probable that our author alludes to Giulio Antonio Aquavivá, Duke of Atri, a distinguished statesman and warrior, known in Neapolitan history as “Count Giulio.” The Duke of Atri, moreover, had been chosen by King Ferdinand to accompany Prince Frederic of Arragon on his visit to the Court of Burgundy.

[527] Angelo Catto was celebrated as a physician and astrologer.

[528] Four years after the battle a chapel was erected on the field with this inscription: “_Deo Optimo Maximo. Inclyti et fortissimi Burgundiæ Ducis Exercitus, Moratum obsidens, ab Helvetiis cæsus, hoc sui Monumentum reliquit._” In 1822 a handsome stone obelisk was set up, in a commanding position overlooking the lake, also in commemoration of this victory.

[529] La Rivière is a small town in the arrondissement of Pontarlier, in the department of Doubs. The duke arrived there on the 22nd of July. Lenglet, ii. 220.

[530] This is a mistake; the battle of Granson occurred three months and nineteen days before that of Morat. The former was fought on the 3rd of March, and the latter on the 22nd of June, 1476.

[531] Charles I., born on the 29th of March, 1408, succeeded his brother Philibert in 1482. He married Blanche of Montferrat, and died on the 13th of March, 1489.

[532] In the department of the Cote-d’Or. This expedition was entrusted to Oliver de la Marche, who had to answer for its performance with his head. See his Memoirs, ii. 417,418.

[533] “Geoffroi, Lord of Riverol, a Piedmontese gentleman, rescued the duke from the hands of those who had seized him. Louis de Villette, a gentleman of Savoy, saved his brother.” Guichenon, ii. 142.

[534] Jean de Montchenu, Commander of St. Antoine de Ranvers, became Bishop of Agen in 1477, and was translated to the see of Vivier in 1478. In previous editions, he has been erroneously termed a Commander of _Rhodes_.

[535] Jacques Louis de Savoie, Count of Geneva and Marquis de Gex. He died at Turin on the 27th of July, 1485, without issue.

[536] “The Bishop of Geneva forced the Governor of Montmeillan to surrender the place, wherein were all the treasures and jewels of the Regent.” Guichenon, ii. 143. This must, therefore, be the castle to which Commines refers in the succeeding paragraph.

[537] Geoffroi de Riverol, mentioned in a preceding note. The duchess had previously sent her secretary Cavorret to the king; but Louis XI. had put him in arrest because he was dressed in the Burgundian fashion.

[538] Oliver de la Marche says that the Lord of Chaumont took with him 200 lances.

[539] These papers are dated on the 2nd of November, 1476. The king thereby pledged his word to defend and support his sister and her son against the attacks and pretensions of Charles of Burgundy.

[540] The garrison of Nancy consisted of about 1000 or 1200 Burgundian troops. Duke René laid siege to the town on the 15th of September, 1476.

[541] Jean de Rubempré, Lord of Bièvre, was appointed Bailiff of Hainault in 1473, and created a Knight of the Golden Fleece in 1475. He was killed in the battle of Nancy.

[542] Molinet (i. 208.) says: “The besieged ran so short of provisions that they were glad to eat horse-flesh. The townspeople were so false and disloyal to them, that if the captains had made a sortie, they would not have been admitted again into the town. And furthermore, two bombards, one culverin, and several serpentines, were continually firing on them, as many as twenty-one shots a day, by which means a gate was broken through, and the dilapidated wall was razed to the ground.”

[543] The Lord of Fay, Lieutenant of Luxembourg, collected a body of forces, and marched with the Count of Campobasso to the relief of Nancy. But instead of proceeding thither at once, they spent a considerable time in deciding on the route they should take, and in waiting for reinforcements. This delay arose chiefly from their expectation that they would get but little booty in Lorraine; and their allegiance to Duke Charles had been greatly shaken by his defeats at Granson and Morat, 60 that, says Molinet, “their succour, which should have been prompt and zealous, was very tardy and unwillingly given.”

[544] According to Molinet (i. 207.) the duke had 10,000 Swiss, horse and foot.

[545] On the 6th of October, 1476.

[546] On the 10th of October the Duke of Burgundy came up with Duke René at Pont-à-Mousson. Lenglet, ii. 220.

[547] On the 22nd of October, 1476.