Chapter XX: Book THE EIGHTH (9)

On Wednesday, the feast of St. Magdalen, the Duke of Burgundy shamefully raised the siege of Beauvais, after having lain twenty days before it, and bombarded it night and day, without doing any considerable damage to the town, or killing many men. Twice in that time, indeed, he attempted to storm the place, but was as often repulsed, and in both actions lost a considerable number of men; amongst the rest, several persons of note and distinction. In his retreat he lost the greatest part of his artillery, which the garrison of Amiens, who fell upon his rear, took from him. The Duke of Burgundy, being disappointed in his design of taking Beauvais, grew desperate, and commanded his army to burn the standing corn, and to destroy and set on fire all the towns and villages through which they marched in their way to St. Valery near Crotoy, which was immediately surrendered to him, there being but a small garrison in it, and the place itself not being capable of making a long defence against such a powerful army. From thence they marched to Eu, which was also surrendered to him on the same account. On Wednesday, the 29th of July, the Constable of France, with several other officers of the garrison of Beauvais, marched out with eight hundred lances, and took the route towards Arques and Monstiervillier, in the county of Caux, to intercept the Burgundians, who, it was believed, would march that way; and so they did, and encamped between that place, Eu, and Dieppe, near a village called Ferriers, where they lay a long time without doing anything, except taking the new castle of Nicourt, which made no resistance. After staying there three days, and upon their retreat, they set fire to the town and castle, which was a thousand pities, for it was a fine town and castle, and capable of being made a place of great strength. After this the Duke of Burgundy set fire to Longueville, Fahy, and several other towns and villages in the bailiwick of Caux; and all the mighty actions his army performed from their raising the siege of Beauvais, to the 1st of December, 1472, was only burning and destroying wherever they came. In the meantime, the king, who was in Bretagne, with an army of fifty thousand men, lay still and did nothing, being wheedled and cajoled by the smooth words and fair promises of the Duke of Burgundy’s ambassadors, who still flattered him with the hopes of peace; besides, his majesty was tender of the lives of his subjects, and was willing, on any reasonable terms, to prevent the effusion of Christian blood, not delighting in war and slaughter, as the Duke of Burgundy did, who had already given a sufficient demonstration of his bloody and revengeful temper, by the many cruel and inhuman actions he had committed, and the barbarities he was daily guilty of. After the Duke of Burgundy was returned from Caux, where he had burnt and destroyed everything, as you have already heard, and had been vigorously repulsed before Arques and Dieppe, he broke up from that country and marched to Rouen, where he met with a warmer reception than he had hitherto found before any town he had already besieged; so that after some time spent in vain, and a great number of his men being killed and wounded by frequent sallies, he was at last forced to abandon the siege, and shamefully march off towards Abbeville; upon which there was a report that he designed to form the siege of Noyon, whereupon the Lord de Crussol and several others of the king’s officers were immediately sent thither with a good body of troops to garrison the town, who ordered some new works to be thrown up, on which they planted a fine train of artillery and supplied it with ammunition, provision, and whatever else was necessary for putting the place in a good posture of defence. But after all these preparations, the Burgundians never invested the town; however it suffered considerably on their account, for the officers were obliged to burn down the suburbs to hinder them from making a lodgment there.

About this time there was a report that the Burgundians were marching towards Lorraine and Barrois, upon which the king sent a detachment of five hundred lances, with all the nobles of the Isle of France and Normandy, besides a great number of Frank archers under the command of M. de Craon, his lieutenant-general, which were quartered in several towns in Champagne, where they lay above two months, and then marched back without doing anything.

In the meantime the Duke of Burgundy prevailed with the Emperor of Germany to go as far as Luxembourg, and from thence to the City of Metz, to persuade the inhabitants to admit a Burgundian garrison; but his imperial majesty, finding them utterly averse to it, returned to Luxembourg, and from thence to Germany.

About the same time, the Duke of Burgundy sent an agent to Venice to borrow money of the Venetians to pay the six hundred lances belonging to that state, which he had agreed to take into his service for three months. They were forced to march through the Duchy of Milan, and from thence to Upper Burgundy, being too weak to engage the king’s army, which was posted on the frontiers of Burgundy, and hindered them from joining the Duke of Burgundy’s forces any other way.

At the same time, the king married his eldest daughter, Anne of France, who was offered to the late Duke of Calabria, to M. de Beaujeu, the Duke of Bourbon’s brother.

About this time, the Duke of Burgundy, partly by treason, and partly by surprise, entered Nivernois, where he took several places from the Duke of Nevers, as Roche, Chastillon, &c. At that time also the king’s ambassadors that had been assembled before at Senlis, met together at Compiegne in hopes of finding the Duke of Burgundy’s ambassadors there according to their appointment, but they did not come; so that after a long stay there to no purpose, the king’s ambassadors returned to Paris; afterwards they went back again to Compiegne in January, and stayed there till the 5th of that month.

About the 20th of January, 1473, the Constable of France, who had turned the Lord de Creton and the whole garrison out of St. Quentin, and taken possession of it for himself, made his peace with the king, and his majesty was very well reconciled to him; and by the agreement that was concluded between them, the constable was to remain in St. Quentin, and to have Meaux and several other places that the king had taken from him, restored again; commissioners were likewise appointed by the king’s order to inquire after those persons that had spoken reflectingly of the Constable concerning the seizure of St. Quentin, in order to have them severely punished; he had also a great sum of money remitted for the payment of his troops, which had been stopped immediately after the taking of St. Quentin. About this time the king came from Amboise to Senlis, and stayed some time in that neighbourhood; during which, the king’s ambassadors and those of the Duke of Burgundy held several conferences, and at last a truce was agreed upon till the middle of May, in hopes that matters might be so ordered in that time, as to have a firm and lasting peace concluded between their two masters.

On Wednesday the 20th of April, 1474, the king ordered all the officers, citizens, and inhabitants of Paris to be reviewed; which was accordingly done, and they were all in arms, and drawn up in order without the gates of Paris, from the Bastille St. Antoine all along the town-ditch as far as the Tower of Billy, and from thence to the Grange-aux-Merciers. On the other side also they were drawn up in the same order of battle, and made a gallant appearance in their red coats with white crosses, and were computed to be in all about eighty thousand men, including those that belonged to the train of artillery, of which there was a great store brought out into the field that day. The king, attended by the Count de Dammartin (who made a great figure that day), Philip de Savoy, M. du Perche, Sallazart, and several other general officers of the army, with all his guards, was at the review. The King of Arragon’s ambassadors were also there to wait upon his majesty; and were extremely surprised to see one city produce such a vast number of men in arms. After the review was over, the king went to the Bois de Vincennes to supper, and took the ambassadors along with him; and some time after presented the two chief ones with two gold cups richly embossed, that weighed forty marks of gold, and cost three thousand two hundred crowns, and after that his majesty returned to Senlis, where he stayed some time; during which he received two embassies, one from the Duke of Bretagne, and the other from the Emperor of Germany. The chief ambassador of the last embassy was the Duke of Bavaria, and the chief of the first was Philip des Essars, Lord of Thieux, the Duke of Bretagne’s steward of his household, who had formerly declared himself against the king; however, his majesty, laying aside all animosities, received him very kindly, gave him a present of ten thousand crowns, and made him inquisitor-general and justice in eyre of Brie and Champagne, turning M. de Chastillon out of that post on purpose to oblige the said Philip des Essars.

About the same time of the king’s being at Senlis, Ermenonville, and thereabouts, the Duke of Burgundy sent his ambassadors to wait on his majesty, who stayed there a great while, but did nothing; and presently afterwards the king went to Compiegne, Noyon, and several other places in that neighbourhood, where the Constable of France came to wait on the king, in order to adjust some difference that was between them. The king and he had an interview in the open field near a certain village thereabouts, and both were attended by a strong guard for the security of their persons. The Constable of France having thus made his peace with the king, who generously forgave and pardoned all his rebellious actions, solemnly swore never to be guilty of the like for the future, but henceforward to obey and serve the king, as a loyal and dutiful subject ought to do, against all invaders and opposers whatsoever.

About this time, the king, who had a singular love for his people, and was willing to prevent the effusion of Christian blood, prolonged the truce with the Duke of Burgundy, his mortal enemy, for another year, and in April 1475, though he had received several embassies from the Emperor of Germany, humbly to intreat his majesty not to make any longer truce with him, but that he would give him leave to enter his territories by force of arms, and make him submit to what terms his majesty should offer; promising, moreover, that whatever conquests or acquisitions he should make in any of the Duke of Burgundy’s dominions, should be made over to the king, without putting him to the expense of either men or money. But notwithstanding all these advantageous offers, a truce was concluded between the king and the Duke of Burgundy, who immediately broke it, and committed several acts of hostility, ruining and destroying abundance of the king’s subjects living in those countries that bordered upon his dominions, for which he never made any reparation, and which was looked upon to be a base and audacious action for a vassal thus to ruin the countries and subjects of his sovereign lord and master.

About this time the Duke of Burgundy (whose restless ambition would not suffer him to sit still), had invaded some part of Germany, and besieged Nuz, a large and strong town, situated upon the Rhine, near Cologne, before which place he lay a considerable time with his whole army, and all his artillery. Not long after this the Burgundians surprised a town in Gastinois called Molins Engelbert, whither his majesty sent also another body of forces with some cannon, in order to retake it. In short, the Duke of Burgundy and his allies (notwithstanding the truce), still continued to make incursions into the king’s dominions, to seize his towns whenever they had an opportunity, and to ruin and destroy his subjects.

About this time Edward IV., King of England, sent his heralds to the king, to demand the duchies of Guienne and Normandy, which he claimed as his lawful right, and upon refusal, to declare war against him. The king returned a very civil answer by the heralds, and also sent King Edward the finest horse he had in his stable as a present.

In February following, the Germans who were besieged in Nuz, by the assistance of the inhabitants of Cologne, and some other Germans of the circle of Austria, found out a way to throw some provisions into the town in spite of the Duke of Burgundy, who kept it closely besieged, and had caused several large vessels well manned to come up the Rhine, in order to intercept the convoy, but to no purpose, for it safely arrived in the town, and all his ships (in which were about six or seven thousand Burgundians, who were all drowned), were sunk or split in pieces, and besides those a vast number of them had already been killed before Nuz.

About the same time the city of Perpignan was surrendered to the king, on condition that the garrison should march out with their arms, horses, bag and baggage, leaving only their artillery, of which they had a very fine train, for the king’s use.

On the 7th of April, 1475, the league that had been lately concluded between the emperor and the king was published in Paris, but first of all the king ordered it to be proclaimed before the lodgings of M. du Maine, the Duke of Calabria, and the Duke of Bretagne’s ambassadors. In the same month the king received two embassies, one from the Duke of Tuscany, and the other from the Emperor of Germany, and the ambassadors were nobly treated and entertained not only by the king, but by all the nobility of the court. In the beginning of May the king, attended by the Admiral of France, and the other officers of the kingdom, set out from Paris for Vernon on the Seine, whither his majesty went to consult about the military operations of the ensuing campaign, the truce being expired on the last day of April, and from whence he returned to Paris on the 14th of the same month.

On the feast of the Holy Cross the king’s army invested Montdidier, which had also refused to surrender upon the summons, but afterwards they considered better of it, and finding the king’s forces were actually preparing to storm the town, on Friday the 5th of April, they beat the chamade, and offered to surrender, provided they might march out, and be safely conducted to the next garrison town belonging to the Duke of Burgundy, which was granted on condition of leaving their horses, arms, bag and baggage behind them; so the king’s troops immediately took possession of the town, which they afterwards demolished, as they did Tronquoy.

On Saturday the 6th of May, the town of Roye and the castle of Moreul was surrendered to the king upon the same terms. The taking of these towns in so short a time by the king’s army struck such a terror into the Duke of Burgundy’s subjects, that they either fled before it, or else came in and joined it; so that the king’s army being daily augmented by the Burgundian troops that came over to them, all the cities and towns in Burgundy, Flanders, and Picardy, were soon reduced to the king’s obedience.

In July, notwithstanding the news that the Constable of France had written to the king, his majesty received advice from the emperor, that he had thrown a fresh supply of troops into Nuz, had taken out all the sick and wounded, and provided the town with provisions and all other necessaries for a year longer, and that some action had happened between his forces and the Duke of Burgundy’s, in which the latter had lost great part of his artillery, plate and money, which was sent to pay his army. On Tuesday the 27th of June, the Admiral of France, whom the king ordered to march with a body of men into Flanders and Picardy to plunder and destroy the countries with fire and sword, drew near Arras, and having placed his men in an ambuscade, he ordered forty men at arms to advance towards the city gates, upon which part of the garrison of Arras immediately sallied out and attacked them, who according to their orders retired to the place where the rest of their detachment lay in ambush, who all on a sudden fell so furiously upon the Burgundians, that they entirely broke and defeated them, several of whom were killed, and abundance taken prisoners, and among the latter M. James de St. Paul, Governor of Arras, and several other persons of note and distinction, whom the Admiral of France carried with him when he went to summon the city, and told the inhabitants, that if they would not instantly surrender the town to the king, who was their lawful sovereign, he would certainly behead their governor and the rest of the men of quality he had taken prisoners.

On Tuesday the 29th of August the king, attended by the Duke of Bourbon, M. de Lyon, and several other persons of quality, besides a vast number of officers of the army, consisting of one hundred thousand horse, marched from Amiens to Picquigny, which was the place that had been appointed for the interview between his majesty and Edward IV. King of England, who had brought with him his vanguard and his rear, which were drawn up in order of battle near Picquigny. Upon Picquigny bridge, the king had ordered two large pent-houses to be erected opposite to each other, one for himself, and the other for the King of England. In the middle between these two pent-houses was built a large wooden grate somewhat like a lion’s cage, about breast high, so that the two kings might lean over it, and discourse together. The King of France came first to the grate, upon which an English baron, whom King Edward had commanded to wait there for his majesty’s arrival, was despatched in all haste to acquaint King Edward with it, who lay strongly encamped with twenty thousand English at a place about a league from Picquigny, and who came attended only by twenty men at arms of his guards, who were ordered to stay on the other side of the river at the foot of the bridge during the whole conference between the two kings. In the mean time it fell a raining prodigiously, which did a considerable damage to the housings and furniture that the nobility and officers of the French court had prepared on purpose for this interview, and which were rich and magnificent. As soon as the King of England came within sight of the king, he threw himself upon one knee, and so he did twice before he came up and saluted his majesty, who received him with all the marks of honour and respect imaginable. After some compliments had passed between them, they began to discourse about the affair for which this interview was appointed, in the presence of above one hundred persons, among whom were the Duke of Bourbon, M. de Lyon, several other lords, and all the chief officers of the finances. After they had talked together for about a quarter of an hour, the king ordered every one to withdraw, and the two kings had a private conference, which lasted a considerable time, and when it was over, the king openly declared that there was a truce concluded between them for seven years, which was to begin from this day the 29th of August, 1475, and end on the same day in 1482. This truce, which was soon after proclaimed in Paris, and all other cities and towns of the kingdom, related chiefly to trade and commerce; and by this treaty the English, whether armed or unarmed, provided they were not more than one hundred in one company, were permitted to go and come when and where they pleased all over the kingdom of France. As soon as this affair was concluded, the king ordered seventy-five thousand crowns to be remitted to King Edward, made considerable presents to some of the lords that attended on him, and ordered money to be given and distributed among his trumpets and heralds, who highly extolled the bounty and generosity of the king. The King of France besides all this promised King Edward to pay him fifty thousand crowns of gold yearly, and nobly entertained the Duke of Gloucester, the King of England’s brother, to whom he also made considerable presents. King Edward immediately ordered all the English that he had sent to reinforce the garrisons of Abbeville, Peronne, and other towns in the Duke of Burgundy’s possessions, to evacuate those places, and join the army, with which he marched back to Calais, where he embarked for England. M. Herberge the Bishop of Evreux waited on King Edward as far as Calais, where he left two English barons till he had sent the king something out of England that he had promised him. The Lord Howard was one of these barons that were left as pledges for performance of King Edward’s promise, and the Master of the Horse to the king was the other; they were both of them highly valued and esteemed by the King of England, and were very instrumental in concluding the late treaty between the two kings. When the English barons took their leave of the king, his majesty presented them with a set of gold and silver plate, and sent an order to Paris to let them have what quantity of wine they pleased to carry over with them into England, provided they paid for it.

On Monday the 16th of October 1475, the truce in relation to trade and commerce that had been concluded for nine years between the king and the Duke of Burgundy, was solemnly proclaimed by sound of trumpet in all the public streets of Paris, and it was to commence on the 14th of September 1475, and to end on the same day of the month in 1484. By this treaty all the subjects of Burgundy were to have full liberty of trading in any part of France, and during the term of nine years to settle and live there if they pleased.

The Duke of Burgundy having promised by his ambassadors in October last, when the truce was concluded between him and the king for nine years, to deliver up the Constable of France to his majesty, was now forced, much against his inclinations, to do it, and he was accordingly delivered up into the hands of the Admiral of France, M. de Bouchage, M. William de Cerisay, and several others, who brought him to Paris, where he was afterwards beheaded on Tuesday the 19th of December, 1475, and his goods confiscated to the king.

After the Constable of France’s death, it plainly appeared that he had been guilty of several notorious crimes, and the whole course of his villanous and treasonable practices were openly declared in parliament, and all his underhand dealings and correspondence with the Duke of Burgundy were fully discovered. Then we perfectly knew the whole mystery of that affair, and how the Duke of Burgundy and he had often endeavoured to corrupt and debauch the Duke of Bourbon’s principles, and draw him over to their party, and that at last, after many fruitless attempts, how he despatched a subtle agent of his named Hector de l’Ecluse to the Duke of Bourbon, to acquaint him that the English had a design to invade France, and that if he would join with them and the Duke of Burgundy, he questioned not but to conquer the whole kingdom, and that a great part of it should be annexed to his territories as a reward for his assistance. This was the master-piece of his villany and treason: but it seems the Duke of Bourbon had too much honour to hearken to such proposals, and told the said Hector de l’Ecluse that he would have no hand in it, and that he had rather be reduced to beggary, than ever consent to the ruin of either the king or kingdom.

In February, 1476, the king, who was at Tours or Amboise, set out from thence for Bourbonnois and Auvergne, from whence he went to Notre Dame de Puy to perform his devotions, and afterwards into Lionnois and Dauphiny. While the king was at Notre Dame de Puy he received an express that brought him the news of the defeat of the Duke of Burgundy’s army by the Swiss, as he was endeavouring to penetrate into Switzerland, which happened after the following manner. After the taking of Granson the Duke of Burgundy marched with his army along the lake of Verdun towards Friburg, and by the way took two small castles situated upon the mountains, just at the entrance of them; but the Swiss, who had intelligence of his approach, and were also informed of his taking Granson, marched towards him; and on Friday the first of March, towards night, they arrived at the two above-mentioned castles, which they immediately invested after such a manner as to prevent the garrisons from making any sallies, and placed about 6000 men with fire-arms in a little copse between the two castles near the place where the Duke of Burgundy lay encamped with his whole army. The next day very early in the morning, as the Duke of Burgundy was marching forward with all his artillery, bag and baggage, this body of Swiss, upon a signal given them, started out of the ambush where they had lain all night, and all on a sudden made so terrible a fire with their small arms upon most of the Burgundian vanguard, as killed most of the chief officers, and entirely broke and dispersed them; and notwithstanding the Duke of Burgundy did all he could to rally his men, and make them face the enemy once more, their consternation was so great, that he could not bring them up to stand a second charge; and the Swiss being animated by this success, and eager to improve the advantage they had gained over the enemy, as soon as they had discharged their muskets, fell on, sword in hand, and entirely routed the whole army. At last, the Duke of Burgundy finding the battle was lost, and that he was in danger of being taken prisoner, in great agony and confusion mounted his horse, and being attended by only four officers of his army, made his escape to Joigny, which was sixteen French leagues from the place where this defeat happened. In this action, which happened on Saturday the 2nd of March, 1476, the Duke of Burgundy lost the greatest part of the chief officers and men of quality of his army, besides all his artillery, bag and baggage. The Swiss also retook both the castles, and hung up all the Burgundians they found in them. Afterwards they retook the town and castle of Granson, and ordered the Germans to the number of 512, that the Burgundians had hanged, to be cut down, and so many of the Burgundians that were in Granson to be hanged up in the same halters.

In May, 1476, the Duke of Burgundy, notwithstanding his defeat near Granson, was resolved still to push on the war against the Germans, and to besiege Strasbourg, but not being in a condition to do it without a fresh supply of men and money, he sent M. William Hugonet and twelve other deputies into his own dominions to acquaint his subjects, that though he had been defeated by the Swiss, yet he was resolved to be revenged on them, and to push on the war with greater vigour; and therefore, being unable to do it without a great supply of men and money, he commanded all his subjects by these deputies of Ghent, Bruges, Brussels, and other towns in Flanders, to exert themselves upon this occasion, and give him the sixth part of their estates, and such a number of men as he should demand. And in order to prevail with them to consent to his demands, he bid the deputies tell them that the Germans were got between him and home, and that without a fresh supply of forces he could not return into his own dominions. To which remonstrance the inhabitants of the above-mentioned towns made answer, that they were resolved to grant no more supplies of either men or money to carry on the war, but that if the German army was too strong for him, and hindered him from coming home, they would venture their lives and all they were worth to bring him safely into his own dominions.

In the mean time the king stayed at Lyons feasting and enjoying himself, where the King of Sicily his uncle came to wait on him, whom his majesty entertained very nobly, showed the diversions of the fair that was kept in that city, and gave several balls and entertainments, to which the handsomest ladies of Lyons were always invited on purpose to divert and entertain him.

Some time after this, the king, who was at Lyons, and had great part of his army with him, received advice that the Duke of Lorraine, in conjunction with the Swiss and Germans, besides a good body of Lorrainers, were in motion to oppose the Duke of Burgundy, who had rashly and imprudently penetrated into Switzerland, and with his whole army was set down before a little town in that country named Morat. And on Saturday, the 22nd of June 1476, between ten and eleven in the morning, the Duke of Lorraine at the head of all those forces we have already mentioned, attacked the Duke of Burgundy, and at the first charge entirely broke and defeated his vanguard, which consisted of twelve thousand men, and the slaughter and confusion was so very great, that the Count de Romont who commanded them had much ado to make his escape. After this defeat the garrison of Morat joined the Duke of Lorraine’s army, which forced the Duke of Burgundy’s entrenchments, where they gave no quarter, but killed all they found in them, so that the Duke of Burgundy was at last forced to retire with the remains of his broken army that had saved themselves by flight; nay, he himself fled as far as Joigny, which was sixteen French leagues from the field of battle, and in this action he lost all his artillery, plate, money, jewels, tents, pavilions, and in short, every thing of value that was in the camp. As soon as the battle was over, the Germans and Swiss returned the Duke of Lorraine many thanks for his care and conduct in the action, and in consideration of the great services he had done them, they presented him with all the Duke of Burgundy’s artillery to make him amends for what he lost at Nancy, when the Duke of Burgundy by force of arms sacked that town, and carried away all the cannon that he found in it. The heralds that were appointed to take an account of the slain, reported that there were twenty-two thousand five hundred Burgundians killed on the spot, besides a vast number in the rout, for the Duke of Lorraine’s army pursued them as far as Joigny, and afterwards burnt and destroyed the whole earldom of Romont in Savoy, putting all to the sword they could meet with, without any distinction of age or sex.

After this the Duke of Lorraine marched to Strasbourg, and from thence with a body of four thousand men detached from the grand army, went and besieged Nancy, in which there was a garrison of one thousand two hundred Burgundians, and after he had given some directions to the officer that commanded a body of troops under him, he returned to Strasbourg again, from whence he sent several convoys of provision and ammunition, and afterwards set out himself for the camp before Nancy, to command at the siege of that place in person.

After the Duke of Burgundy’s defeat at Morat, and the besieging of Nancy, the town was surrendered to the Duke of Lorraine, on condition that the garrison (who were all Burgundians) should march out with bag and baggage, and the usual marks of honour, which was granted them; and as soon as the Duke of Lorraine was master of it, he immediately put a strong garrison of his own troops in it, and provided it with ammunition, provision, and all things necessary for a long defence; and it was well he acted so prudently, for scarce had he been a month in possession of the town, when the Duke of Burgundy, who was retired to Rivière, a town near Salins in Burgundy, with what forces he could raise, came and besieged it again, upon which the Duke of Lorraine marched into Switzerland to solicit more troops, in order to relieve the garrison, and raise the siege of Nancy.

After this, the King of Portugal, who laid claim to the kingdom of Castile, and, in short, to all Spain, in right of his queen, left his kingdom and came to the frontiers of France, and from thence to Tours to visit the king; and to desire his majesty to assist him with some troops to recover those kingdoms. He was received by the king with all the marks of honour and respect imaginable, and during his stay at Tours, he was nobly treated and entertained by the king and several of the nobility of the court.

In the mean time the Duke of Burgundy, who, as you have already been informed, had besieged Nancy in Lorraine, put the garrison to such great straits and necessities, that for want of provision they were forced to capitulate, and surrender the town upon articles. And on Sunday the 5th of January, the Duke of Lorraine arrived with an army of twelve or fourteen thousand Swiss and Germans, in order to raise the siege of Nancy, and fight the Duke of Burgundy. On Saturday the 4th of January, the Duke of Lorraine arrived with an army of ten thousand Swiss, besides Germans and Lorrainers at St. Nicholas de Varengeville.

On the Sunday following, the Lords of Switzerland and Lorraine marched from thence to Neufville, and a little beyond that place they halted some time, to consider how they might draw up their forces to the best advantage; and accordingly they divided their army into two bodies, one of which was commanded by the Count d’Abstain, and the governors of Fribourg and Zurich; and the other by the chief magistrates of Berne. About noon, the two bodies began to march at once; one towards the river, and the other along the high road leading to Nancy. The Duke of Burgundy, who had intelligence of their coming, had quitted his intrenchments, and drawn up his army in order of battle ready to receive them. In the front between him and one of the enemies’ bodies there was a little brook and two strong hedges; and on the high road, along which the other was marching to engage him, he had planted all his cannon and field-pieces; and as soon as ever the Swiss came within bow-shot, the Burgundians discharged a whole volley of arrows, which did no execution, upon which that body quitted the high road, and marched higher towards the wood, till they had gained an eminence opposite to the Duke of Burgundy’s army. In the mean time, the Duke of Burgundy commanded his archers (who were all on foot) to face about; and at the same time ordered two squadrons of his men-at-arms, commanded by James Galiot and M. de Lallain, to attack the enemy. As soon as the Swiss had gained the rising ground opposite to the Duke of Burgundy’s army, they immediately faced about; and marching up to him with all the fury and intrepidity imaginable, made such a terrible fire upon the body of foot that he commanded, that they entirely broke and defeated them. The other body of Swiss marched at the same time to engage the two squadrons commanded by James Galiot and M. de Lallain, whom they entirely routed at the first charge. Upon this, the right wing of the Burgundians, who had not yet been engaged, attacked the Swiss, by whom they were repulsed, and at last entirely defeated; so that when the foot began to give ground and run away, the horse presently followed them, and endeavoured to make their escape by the bridge of Bridores, which was about a league from Nancy, in the way to Thionville and Luxembourg. But the Count di Campobasso having secured that pass by a good body of troops, and the Duke of Lorraine and his men following them close at the heels, vast numbers of them threw themselves or were driven into the river, where they were drowned; and the rest were either killed or taken, very few or none making their escape; so that there was a greater number killed in the rout than on the field of battle. Some of the Burgundians, finding they could not get over the bridge, retired to the woods in hopes of saving themselves; but they were pursued thither by the peasants of the country, who killed them as fast as they could find them, so that for four leagues round, the fields and highways were strewed with the bodies of dead men. The pursuit lasted till two hours after night, and then the Duke of Lorraine began to inquire what was become of the Duke of Burgundy, whether he had made his escape or was taken prisoner; but nobody could give any account of him, and immediately the Duke of Lorraine despatched a certain person to one John Dias of the city of Metz, to know if he had passed through that place in his retreat, who sent his highness word the next morning that he had not; that he was not at Luxembourg; neither could any body tell what was become of him. On Monday, which was Twelfth-day, the Count di Campobasso met with a page that was taken prisoner, belonging to the Count de Chalon, who was with the Duke of Burgundy in the battle. This lad, upon examination, confessed the Duke of Burgundy was killed; and the next day, upon diligent searching after him, they found him stripped stark naked, and the bodies of fourteen men more in the same condition, at some distance from each other. The duke was wounded in three places, and his body was known and distinguished from the rest by six particular marks; the chiefest of which was, the want of his upper teeth before, which had been beaten out with a fall; the second was a scar in his throat occasioned by the wound he received at the battle of Mont l’Hery; the third was his great nails, which he always wore longer than any of his courtiers; the fourth was another scar upon his left shoulder; the fifth was a fistula on his right groin, and the last was a nail that grew into his little toe. And upon seeing all these above-mentioned marks upon the body, his physician, the gentleman of the bed-chamber, the Bastard of Burgundy, M. Oliver de la Marche, his chaplain, and several other officers that were taken prisoners by the Duke of Lorraine, unanimously agreed it was the body of their lord and master the Duke of Burgundy.

Immediately after the defeat and death of the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Lorraine and the rest of the generals of the army called a council of war, the result of which was, that a considerable body of forces should immediately be sent into the Duchy of Burgundy and other provinces, to reduce the towns that were garrisoned by Burgundian troops, to the king’s obedience; which was put in execution, and most of the towns surrendered without any opposition, as did likewise the country of Auxerre, the subjects of which took the oath of allegiance to the king.

In June, the Prince of Orange, who had been highly affronted by M. de Craon, lieutenant-general of the king’s army in Burgundy, was resolved to be revenged on him and the king also, who, it seems, had taken the government of a province from him, and given it to M. de Craon; and therefore, he persuaded all the countries, cities, towns, and other places, which before had submitted to the king at his request, to revolt and rise up in rebellion against him. There was a Burgundian knight named M. Claude de Vaudray, that joined with the prince in this undertaking, and managed the war with tolerable success against M. de Craon. But at last, M. de Craon having intelligence that the Prince of Orange was in a little town called Guy, marched immediately and besieged it, and about two days after he had invested it, he received advice that M. Chasteauguyon was marching to relieve it, upon which he left a few troops before the town, to hinder the garrison from making any sally, and with the rest of the army, advanced to meet M. Chasteauguyon, the Prince of Orange’s brother, whom he entirely routed and defeated; and in this action, there were above one thousand four hundred persons of note and distinction killed on both sides; and for this victory, the king ordered general processions to be made in the church of St. Martin in Paris.

In July, 1477, the Duke of Guelders, with about fourteen or fifteen hundred Germans, came and encamped at Pont d’Epierre near Tournay, with a design to burn the suburbs of that place, upon which, the garrison of Tournay made two sallies; in the first, the duke himself was slain, and in the last, the whole body of Germans and Flemings were entirely defeated, two thousand of them killed upon the spot, and seven hundred taken prisoners, for which, the king ordered _Te Deum_ to be sung, and bonfires to be made in the streets of Paris.

About the same time, the king, who was in Picardy, left that country; having first made the Bastard of Bourbon, (who was Admiral of France,) his lieutenant-general, with whom he left a good body of forces to secure the country, and cover the frontiers of his kingdom. The king’s troops under the Bastard of Bourbon’s command were quartered in Arras, Tournay, la Bassee, and in several other towns upon the frontiers of Flanders, and in those countries that still held out for the Lady of Flanders, daughter to the late Duke of Burgundy.

May, 1478.—All that the king did during this whole month in Picardy, was only taking a little town called Condé, which was still in the hands of the Burgundians, and which stood very incommodiously for the garrison of Tournay; for all the convoys both of provisions and ammunition must of course pass by it. There happened to be some German troops belonging to the Duke of Austria in it, who at first seemed resolved to stand a siege, but when they saw the prodigious army with which the king had invested it, they immediately surrendered the town upon honourable terms, as they did also the castle some time after.

About this time the king, who was gone into Picardy with a design to reduce all the countries, towns, and places that were in the possession of the late Duke of Burgundy at his decease, and which belonged to his majesty, had assembled the greatest army, and provided the largest train of artillery that ever was seen in France. He forebore entering upon any action for a long time, in hopes of accommodating matters between him, the Flemings, and the Duke Maximilian of Austria, whom they acknowledged for their sovereign, to facilitate which the Duke of Austria sent ambassadors to Cambray and Arras to treat with the king about it, who talked mightily of surrendering up to the king the countries of Artois, Boulogne, Douay, Orchies, St. Omers, and other towns, besides the whole Duchy of Burgundy; and upon the bare promises only of these ambassadors the king imprudently delivered up Cambray, Quesnoy, Bouchain, and several other towns. The Duke of Austria, upon the pretence of being near the king, and having the conveniency of frequent conferences, came and encamped with an army of twenty thousand men between Douay and Arras, where he amused the king with specious words and fair promises till the end of June; and then, notwithstanding the king had so generously given up those towns to him, he openly declared he would not stand to the promises his ambassadors had made in his name, neither was that affair brought to any conclusion.

In this month the king had better success in Upper Burgundy; whither his majesty had sent a considerable body of forces under the command of M. d’Amboise, governor of Champagne, to recover some troops that had revolted from him. M. d’Amboise was so fortunate, that in three weeks he retook Verdun, Monsauion, and Semur in Auxois, partly by storm and partly by composition. Afterwards he besieged Beaune, which also was surrendered to him upon certain articles, the chief of which were, that the inhabitants should pay forty thousand livres to preserve the town from being plundered; that they should discharge all their debts that were owing to the merchants of Paris, and of other cities in the kingdom, and that the garrison should be allowed to march out with their bag and baggage, and be conducted to such a place mentioned in the articles.

In July the king, who was at Arras, received two extraordinary embassies, one from Maximilian, Duke of Austria, and another from the Flemings; and when the ambassadors had been heard by the king and his council, a cessation of arms was agreed upon between the king, Duke Maximilian, and the Flemings, for one year, during which time there was to be a free intercourse of trade between the subjects of both princes.

In April 1479, the king, who was in the county of Touraine, began to make preparations for the ensuing campaign, being resolved to push on the war with vigour as soon as the cessation of arms between him and the Duke of Austria, which was almost expired, was ended. Besides, the Duke of Austria had sent no ambassadors to him to treat of a prolongation of the truce, and therefore his majesty might reasonably conclude that his intentions were to renew the war as soon as the treaty was expired.

In May following (notwithstanding the truce was not expired) the inhabitants of Cambray treacherously admitted the Flemings, Picardians, and other soldiers belonging to the Duke of Austria’s army, into their city, which his majesty thought had been safe enough in the hands of so vigilant and loyal a governor as the Lord de Piennes. As soon as the Duke of Austria’s forces were masters of the town, they drove the king’s garrison out of the castle, and immediately after a detachment of three or four hundred Flemings and Picardians presented themselves before the town and castle of Bouchain, upon intelligence that the inhabitants would murder the king’s garrison, and open their gates to them, which accordingly they did upon their first approach, and killed all the king’s soldiers except one archer, who had the good luck to escape. The king was extremely incensed and provoked at this unfair and treacherous manner of proceeding, seeing his troops had not committed the least act of hostility, nor given them any occasion or pretence for violating the truce, and therefore he immediately sent a considerable body of the nobles and Frank archers of the kingdom, with a large train of artillery, under the command of the governor of Champagne, to reduce the towns and places in the duchy of Burgundy and Franche-Comté that had lately revolted from him, who was so very fortunate as to retake the strong castle of Rochefort by storm, which he plundered, and put all the garrison to the sword. From thence the governor of Champagne, who was also the king’s lieutenant-general, marched with his army to Dole, which, upon their refusing to surrender, he immediately attacked, carried it by storm, plundered it, put all the inhabitants to the sword, and razed the city to the ground.

On Saturday the third of July, 1479, the Bishop of Lombes, abbot of St. Denis in France, arrived at Paris as ambassador extraordinary from the King of Spain, and was met and complimented without the city gates by the mayor and aldermen, and all the persons of quality of that city, whom he afterwards nobly entertained at St. Denis. About the same time a young prince of the kingdom of Scotland, named the Duke of Albany, who had been driven out of the kingdom by the king his brother, arrived at Paris, where he was received with all the marks of honour and civility imaginable, and treated and entertained at the king’s expense during his stay in France.

In the year 1480, the Lord Howard, and several other ambassadors from England, arrived in France, to treat with the king about prolonging the truce that was concluded between him and the King of England. The king received the ambassadors very kindly, feasted and entertained them nobly, and made them considerable presents when they left France in order to return to England.

During winter, and even till April (at which time the truce between the king and the Flemings was to expire) nothing was attempted on either side; for the Flemings had sent ambassadors to the king at Tours to desire the cessation of arms might be continued a year longer, to which his majesty readily consented, in hopes some expedient or another might be found in all that time to settle an honourable and lasting peace between him and them, which would put an end to a war that had already been the occasion of spilling so much Christian blood.

About the same time ambassadors from Edward IV., King of England, arrived in France, to treat with the king about the prolongation of the truce, and his majesty did them the favour to meet them at Chateau Regnault; and, as soon as they had despatched the affair which they were sent to negotiate with the king, they returned into England, and afterwards the prolongation of the truce between the two kings was proclaimed by sound of trumpet at Paris. Some time after this the king fell very ill at Plessis du Parc, near Tours, and his physicians were of opinion that his majesty was in a dangerous condition, but in a little time he grew better, and in less than a month was perfectly recovered of his illness.

In the year 1481, notwithstanding the cessation of arms, the king’s troops in the garrison towns upon the frontiers of Picardy committed several hostilities, and had frequent skirmishes with the Duke of Austria’s men, and all the prisoners that were taken on both sides were immediately hanged, without permitting any, of what degree or rank soever, to be ransomed.

About the same time the king, who had been very ill at Tours, removed to Thouars, where his majesty grew worse, and his physicians were of opinion he was in a dangerous condition, whereupon he made several large offerings and gifts to abundance of churches in the kingdom, in hopes to recover his health by these pious acts of charity and devotion. In his sickness he made a vow to go a pilgrimage to St. Claude, which he accordingly performed as soon as he recovered strength enough to undertake the journey. Before he left the county of Touraine, he went to see the dauphin, whom he had scarce ever seen before, and when he took his leave of him he gave him his blessing, and having committed him to the care and tuition of the Lord Peter de Bourbon, whom he had made his lieutenant-general, he commanded him to obey that lord, and be ruled by him in everything till his return.

In the year 1482, on Thursday, the 4th of May, between four and five in the morning, died the most noble and illustrious Princess Joan of France, wife to John Duke of Bourbon and Auvergne, in the castle of Moulins, in Bourbonnois, of a violent fever, and was buried at the church of Notre Dame, at Moulins. She was a lady of great wisdom and piety, and was extremely lamented by the duke, her husband, her servants, and all the people of France, upon account of the many extraordinary virtues and amiable perfections she was endowed with.