NOTES. Page 1.-The Bastard Orleans. "Lewes Duke of Orleance murthered in Paris, by Jhon Duke of Burgoyne, was owner of the castle of Concy, on the frontiers of Fraunce toward Arthoys, whereof he made constable the lord of Cauney, a man not so wise as his wife was faire, and yet she was not so faire, but she was as well beloved of the Duke of Orleance as of her husband. Betwene the duke and her husband (I cannot tell who was father), she conceived a child, and brought furthe a prety boye called Jhon, whiche child beyng of the age of one yere, the duke deceased, and not long after the mother and the lord of Cawny ended their lives. The next of kynne to the lord Cawny chalenged the inheritaunce, which was worth foure thousande crounes a yere, alledgyng that the boye was a bastard: and the kynred of the mother's side, for to save her honesty, it plainly denied. In conclusion, this matter was in contencion before the presidentes of the parliament of Paris, and there hang in controversie till the child came to the age of eight years old. At whiche tyme it was demanded of hym openly whose sonne he was; his frendes of his mother's side advertised hym to require a day, to be advised of so great an answer, which he asked, and to hym it was granted. In the mean season, his said frendes persuaded him to claime his inheritance as sonne to the lorde of Cawny, whiche was an honorable livyng, and an auncient patrimony, affirming that if he said contrary, he not only slaundered his mother, shamed hymself, and stained his bloud, but also should have no livyng, nor any thing to take to. The scholemaster thinkyng that his disciple had wel earned his lesson, and would reherse it according to his instruccion, brought hym before the judges at the daie assigned, and when the question was repeted to hym again, he boldly answered, "My harte geveth me, and my tonge telleth me, that I am the sonne of the noble duke of · Orleaunce, more glad to be his bastarde, with a meane livyng, than the lawful sonne of that coward cuckolde Cawny, with his four thousand crownes." The judges much merveiled at his bolde answere, and his mother's cosyns detested hym for shamyng of his mother, and his father's supposed kinne rejoysed in gaining the patrimony and possessions. Charles Duke of Orleaunce heryng of this judgment, took hym into his family, and gave him greate offices and fees, whiche he well deserved, for (during his captivitie) he defended his landes, expulsed the Englishmen, and in conclusion, procured his deliverance. Hall, ff. 104. There can be no doubt that Shakespear had this anecdote in his mind when he wrote the first scene wherein the bastard Falconbridge is introduced. When the duke of Orleans was so villanously assassinated by order of the duke of Burgundy, the murder was thought at first to have been perpetrated by sir Aubert de Cauny, says Monstrellet (Johnes's translation, vol. i. p. 198), from the great hatred he bore the duke for having carried off his wife; but the truth was soon known who were the guilty persons, and that sir Aubert was perfectly innocent of the crime. Marietta d'Enguien was the name of the adulteress. Page 1.-Cheer'd with the Trobador's sweet minstrelsy. There mightest thou se these flutours, That wel to singin did ther paine; For in Loraine there notis be Full swetir than in this contre. Romaunt of the Rose. Page 2.-Denying what she sought. The following account of JOAN of ARC is extracted from a history of the siege of Orleans, prise de mot à mot, sans aucun changement de langage, d'un vieil exem plaire escrit a la main en parchemin, & trouvé en la maison de la dicte ville d'Orleans. Troyes. 1621. |