plunder, that had remained packed in the street, was destroyed. Those plunderers who attempted to save effects from the fire were miserably burnt; and the flames followed them so closely, that it seemed as if Divine vengeance was resolved to punish the pride and insolence of this town by totally destroying it. * While Dinant was in flames, a large embassy came from Liege to the duke of Burgundy at Bovines, to negotiate a treaty of peace; and the sight of the destruction of Dinant made, a serious impression on them. The count de Charolois, observing that all attempts to put out the fire were ineffectual, determined that the whole should be destroyed, and caused such parts, in the town and suburbs, as had hitherto escaped, to be set on fire, so that all was burnt. He then sent for great numbers of peasants from the neighbourhood, to demolish the walls, towers and fortifications, to each of whom he gave three patars a day, with everything they might find in the ruins. They laboured so diligently, that within four days after the fire had ceased, a stranger ́ might have said, "Here was Dinant!" for there now neither remained gate nor wall, nor church, nor house, for all had been burnt and razed to the ground. It unfortunately happened, that when the great church caught fire, many prisoners of note that had been therein confined were burnt, and such as had retreated to different towers and forts also perished. Thus was destroyed the town of Dinant, by reason of its presumption and folly! 1 CHAPTER CXL. THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF DINANT, MAKES AFTER the destruction of this proud city of Dinant, the duke of Burgundy departed from Bovines, on the first day of September, and returned by the river to Namur, attended by the embassy from Liege, who were pressing for a peace. The whole army passed through Namur, and the bastard of Burgundy quartered his division in the country of Hasbain, two leagues distant from St. Tron. The count de Charolois was posted between Tillemont and St. Tron. Soon after, the count de St. Pol received the surrender of the town of Thuin †, which had been given him by the duke as a recompense for his not having been at the plunder of Dinant; and this town was saved from pillage by means of a sum of money which the inhabitants had given to the count de St. Pol; and as this place and St. Tron had demolished their walls and gates, they both escaped being plundered. The count de Charolois next advanced to lay siege to Tongres; but as he was told that the inhabitants had all fled, he ordered the army to march for Liege, while his father, the duke, remained at Namur. The count advanced as far as Montenac, four leagues from Liege; his army and artillery always in order of battle. There, having heard that the Liegeois had issued out in great numbers to give him battle, he made preparations to receive them, by forming his army into two wings and a centre, and thus waited their coming upwards of three hours. They did come, but sent to demand a truce until ten o'clock the next day, when they promised to comply with whatever he should demand. This satisfied the count, and he consented to a truce for the day, which was the 6th of September. When this had been settled, the count de St. Pol, constable of France, and the bastard of Burgundy, advanced with their men, to observe the situation of the Liegeois, who had come out of their city. They found them posted on the river Gerre; and intelligence was brought them, that those who had escorted the embassy from Liege were skirmishing with the count's foragers; on which they detached a party of their men, who forced the Liegeois to retreat to their army. Toward evening the count's army were within sight of the Liegeois, and drew up in order of battle within less than a quarter of a league from them. The constable crossed the river Gerre to surround them, and ordered a part of his men to dismount; and although it was five o'clock in the evening, they would willingly have attacked the Liegeois ; but the count would not permit it, on account of the truce which he had granted. The whole army was much displeased at his refusal, for they would easily have conquered the enemy without one being able to escape; for they were so surrounded that they could not fly, and they amounted to full two thousand horse, and more than ten thousand foot, as numbers were in an adjoining village, and could not be counted. A division of the count's army was also posted in the large village of Varennes; and as they would not quit it to join their companions, the count ordered it to be set on fire, which forced them to issue forth, and join their main army, but not without losing their baggage by the fire. The count's army remained drawn up in order of battle until ten o'clock at night, when each retired to his quarters. On Sunday, the 7th of September, the count formed his army in battle array at the earliest dawn, and thus remained, without crossing the Gerre, until ten o'clock, when the ambassadors returned, and assured the count that the city of Liege and its dependencies were ready to perform everything the duke his father and himself had demanded. They required, therefore, peace at his hands; and offered, for the due execution of the treaty, to deliver up to him fifty persons as hostages, whom it should please the duke to select ; namely, thirty-two men for the city of Liege, six for the town of Tongres, six for St. Tron, and six for the town of Hessel *. This same day, part of the hostages were delivered to the count, who sent them to Judenge + to the duke, who had come thither from Namur to combat the Liegeois with his son. Peace was, therefore, again made between the duke and his son and the Liegeois. By the treaty, they promised to pay six hundred thousand florins of the Rhine in the course of six years; one hundred thousand annually; and they delivered the fifty hostages, such as the duke demanded, who were to return home on the first annual payment being made, and were then to be replaced by fifty others. The duke of Burgundy as duke of Brabant, and his successors, the dukes of Brabant, were to be perpetual mainbrugs of Liege, and governors, of the whole country, without whose advice and consent the Liegeois were not henceforward to undertake any measures of importance. The Liegeois, in this treaty, made many other engagements, which I omit to note down, for within a very short time they broke every promise they had made. At this time, provision was so scarce in the count's army that it was with the greatest difficulty that any could be procured. On the 8th of September, the day this treaty was signed, the Burgundian army arrived to reinforce the count de Charolois, consisting of about four hundred lances, under the command of the lord de Montagu and the marquis de Rothelin. There came also a body of Swiss, of about sixty men ; and the city of Antwerp sent three hundred men to assist the duke in his war against the Liegeois. On the ensuing day, a deputation from the city of Liege waited on the count, and delivered to him the treaty, sealed with the seals of Liege, Tongres, St. Tron, Hessel, and the other towns under their jurisdiction. It was then discussed and settled, that should any of the hostages die within the year, the Liegeois were to replace them with others; and in regard to the interest due to the duke from the sums that were to have been paid, according to the preceding treaty, they offered to pay whatever the duke should be pleased to demand. On the very day of signing this treaty, it was proclaimed throughout the army, that no one should forage or do any mischief to the territories of Liege. When these things were completed, the count de Charolois issued orders for the return of his army. He came, on the Sunday, before a large village called Chasteler, belonging to the chapter of Liege, whither the inhabitants of Thuin came to solicit pardon, and begged for mercy humbly on their knees. One hundred men were ordered thither to demolish the gates and walls of their town, at the expense of its inhabitants. At this place, the count disbanded his army, when each went to his home, and the count to Brussels, whither his father, the duke, was returned. They shortly after sent an embassy to England, to negotiate with king Edward: but the subject of their negotiations I do not mention, because I am ignorant of it. Hessel,-five miles from Bommel. † Judenge, Judoigne, an ancient town formerly belong ing to the dukes of Brabant: it forms now part of France, in the department of the Dyle, twenty-five miles from Licge. This embassy probably respected the marriage of the count de Charolois with Margaret sister to Edward IV. or, perhaps, for the regulations regarding the tilt between the earl Rivers and sir Anthony of Burgundy. CHAPTER OXLI. -SIR ANTHONY, BASTARD OF BURGUNDY, GOES TO ENGLAND, TO TILT WITH [A. D. 1467.) SOON after Easter, in the year 1467, sir Anthony, bastard of Burgundy, crossed over to England, to perform a deed of arms against the lord Scales, brother to the queen of England. He went thither handsomely attended by warriors and artillery; for there were reports which proved true, that there were some pirates on the seas lying in wait to defeat him, under pretence of being Spaniards, although they were French. It happened that the bastard's men took two of these vessels, richly laden and full of soldiers, which were plundered, and then he arrived safely in England. He performed his deed of arms greatly to his credit; but it did not last long; for as it was done to please the king of England, he would not suffer the combat to continue any time, so that it was rather for amusement †. This was a plentiful year in wine, corn, and fruits, which were all good, and the corn of a quality fit for preservation. In this year also, the ladies and damsels laid aside their long trains to their gowns, and in lieu of them had deep borders of furs of minever, martin, and others, or of velvet, and various articles of a great breadth. They also wore hoods on their heads of a circular form, half an ell, or three quarters, high, gradually tapering to the top. Some had them not so high, with handkerchiefs wreathed round them, the corners hanging down to the ground. They wore silken girdles of a greater breadth than formerly, with the richest shoes,, with golden necklaces much more trimly decked in divers fashions than they were accustomed to wear them. At the same time, the men wore shorter dresses than usual, so that the form of their * Anthony Widville earl Rivers, lord Scales and Newsels, and lord of the Isle of Wight. This accomplished nobleman, one of the first restorers of learning to this country, was son to sir Richard Widville, by Jacqueline of Luxembourg, widow to the regent duke of Bedford. Caxtoa printed several of his works. For further particulars, see Walpole's Noble Authors, last edition, by Park. The following extract from Dr. Henry's History of England, vol. v. pp. 536, 537, 4to. edit. will place the event of this tournament in a different light. "The most magnificent of these tournaments was that performed by the bastard of Burgundy and Anthony lord Scales, brother to the queen of England, in Smithfield, A.D. 1467. The king and queen of England spared no expense to do honour to so near a relation; and Philip duke of Burgundy, the most magnificent prince of that age, was no less profuse in equipping his favourite son. Several months were spent in adjusting the preliminaries of this famous combat, and in performing all the pompous ceremonies prescribed by the laws of chivalry. "Edward IV. granted a safe-conduct, October 29, A.D. 1466, to the bastard of Burgundy earl of La Roche, with a thousand persons in his company, to come into England to perform certain feats of arms with his dearly beloved brother Anthony Widville, lord Scales and Newsels; but so many punctilios were to be settled, by the intervention of heralds, that the tournament did not take place until June 11, A. D. 1467. "Strong lists having been erected in Smithfield, one hundred and twenty yards and ten feet long, eighty yards and ten feet broad, with fair and costly galleries all around for the accommodation of the king and queen, attended by the lords and ladies of the court, and a prodigious number of lords, knights, and ladies, of England, France, Scotland, and other countries, in their richest dresses. "The two champions entered the lists, and were con ducted to their pavilions. There they underwent the usual searches, and answered the usual questions, and then advanced into the middle of the lists. The first day they ran together with sharp' spears, and departed with equal honour. The next day they tourneyed on horseback. The lord Scales' horse had on his chaffron a long sharp pike of steel, and as the two champions coped together, the said horse thrust his pike into the nostrils of the bas tard's horse, so that, for very pain, he mounted so high, that he fell on the one side with his master; and the lord. Scales, rode about him, with his sword drawn in his hand, till the king commanded the marshal to help up the bastard, who openly said, 'I cannot hold me by the clouds; for though my horse fail me, I will not fail my encounter, companion:' but the king would not suffer them to do any more that day. The next morrow, the two noblemen came into the field on foot, with two pole-axes, and fought valiantly; but, at the last, the point of the poleaxe of the lord Scales happened to enter into the sight of the bastard's helm, and, by fine force, might have plucked him on his knees; but the king suddenly cast down his warder, and the marshal severed them. The bastard, not content with this chance, required the king, of justice, that he might perform his enterprise. The lord Scales refused not. But the king calling to him the constable and the marshal, with the officer of arms, after consultation had, it was declared, for a sentence definitive, by the duke of Clarence, then constable of England," (John Tiptoft earl of Worcester was the constable, and not the duke of Clarence: see Rymer) "and the duke of Nor folk marshal, that if he would go forward with his attempted challenge, he must, by the law of arms, be delivered to his adversary in the same state, and like condition, as he stood when he was taken from him. "The bastard, hearing this judgment, doubted the sequel of the matter, and so relinquished his challenge."Sec Stowe, &c. buttocks, and of their other parts, was visible, after the fashion in which people were wont to dress monkeys, which was a very indecent and impudent thing. The sleeves of their outward dress and jackets were slashed, to show their wide white shirts. Their hair was so long that it covered their eyes and face; and on their heads they had cloth bonnets of a quarter of an ell in height. Knights and esquires, indifferently, wore the most sumptuous golden chains. Even the varlets had jackets of silk, satin, or velvet; and almost all, especially at the courts of princes, wore peaks at their shoes of a quarter of an ell in length. They had also under their jackets large stuffings at their shoulders, to make them appear broad, which is a very vanity, and, perchance, displeasing to God; and he who was short-dressed to-day, on the morrow had his robe training on the ground. These fashions were so universal that there was not any little gentleman but would ape the nobles and the rich, whether they dressed in long or short robes, never considering the great expense, nor how unbecoming it was to their situation. * CHAPTER CXLII.-THE DEATH AND INTERMENT OF THE NOBLE DUKE PHILIP OF BURGUNDY, AND THE GRAND OBSEQUIES PERFORMED FOR HIM IN THE CHURCH OF SAINT DONNAST IN BRUGES. On the 12th day of June, in the year 1467, the noble duke Philip of Burgundy was seized with a grievous malady, which continued unabated until Monday, the 15th, when he rendered his soul to God, between nine and ten o'clock at night. When he perceived, on the preceding day, that he was growing worse, he sent for his son, the count de Charolois, then at Ghent, who hastened to him with all speed; and on his arrival, about mid-day of the Monday, at the duke's palace in Bruges, he went instantly to the chamber where the duke lay sick in bed, but found him speechless. He cast himself on his knees at the bedside, and, with many tears, begged his blessing, and that, if he had ever done anything to offend him, he would pardon him. The confessor, who stood at the bedside, admonished the duke, if he could not speak, at least to show some sign of his goodwill. At this admonition, the good duke kindly opened his eyes, took his son's hand, and squeezed it tenderly, as a sign of his pardon and his blessing. The count, like an affectionate child, never quitted the duke's bed until he had given up the ghost. May God, out of his mercy, receive his soul, pardon his transgressions, and admit him into paradise! The corpse of the noble duke was left all that night on the bed, with a black bonnet on his head, and likewise remained there on the morrow until evening; so that there was time enough for all who wished it to see him: it was marvellous the great crowds who went thither, and all prayed God to have mercy on his soul. On Tuesday evening, the body was opened and embalmed, and his heart separated from it. His body and bowels were each put into a well-closed coffin of lead, and placed that night on a bier from five to six feet high, covered to the ground with black velvet, in the chapel of his household, over which bier was a cross of white damask cloth, and at the four corners four thick waxen tapers burning. Masses were daily celebrated there until noon; and, about four or five in the afternoon on the following Sunday, the body was carried to St. Donnast's church in Bruges for interment, until preparations should be made to carry it elsewhere, according to the instructions which he had given when alive. The funeral procession to the church was preceded by sixteen hundred men, in black cloaks emblazoned with the arms of the duke, each with a lighted taper in his hand; four hundred of whom were of the household, and at the expense of the new duke; four hundred from the town of Bruges, four hundred from the different trades of that town, and four hundred from the country of the Franc, each at the expense of those who sent them. Between this line of torches walked full nine hundred men, as well nobles as officers and servants of the late duke: among those were the magistrates of Bruges and of the Franc,† twenty-two prelates: a bishop from Hybernie ‡ was in the Stuffings, mahotoitres.-Sec Du Cange, Supplement, hamlets separated from the quartier of Bruges, and has "Maberia." a separate jurisdiction. See La Martiniere. The Franc-consists of a number of villages and Hybernio, an ancient name for Ireland. number, who chaunted the first mass on the ensuing day. Between the prelates and the body were four kings-at-arms, with their heads covered, and clothed in their tabards of arms. The body was borne by twelve knights of name and renown, around whom were the archers of the body of the late duke. It was covered with a pall of black velvet, reaching to the ground, on which was a broad cross of white damask cloth. Over the body was borne a canopy of cloth of gold, on four lances, by the count de Nassau, the earl of Buchan, Baldwin bastard of Burgundy, and the lord de Châlons. Immediately before the body walked the first equerry of the late duke, bearing his sword with the point downward. The chief mourners who followed the body were the new duke Charles, and after him James de Bourbon and Adolphus of Cleves, his two cousins-german; then the count de Marle, Jacques de Saint Pol, the lord de Roussy, and some others of the great lords of the court. In front of all, walked the four mendicant orders of friars, and the clergy of the different parishes in Bruges, in the churches of which the vigils for the dead were that day celebrated, and on the morrow a solemn service for the soul of the deceased. The body was placed on a bier, in the middle of the choir of the cathedral. It had on it a cloth of gold bordered with damask, and a large cross of white velvet, with four large burning tapers, and was surrounded by upwards of fourteen hundred lesser ones, which caused so great a heat that the windows of the church were obliged to be thrown open. The whole of the high altar, and the space above it, was hung with black cloth, the reading-desk, both within and without, with black velvet hanging down, emblazoned with the duke's arms: there were also his pennon of arms and his grand banner. The nave was hung with black cloth, having the top and bottom of black camlet. When the body was to be let down into the vault, no one can describe the groans, tears, and lamentations that filled the church from the duke's officers, and all present. Indeed all his subjects ought to have bewailed his death, for they had lost a prince, the most renowned for virtue and goodness that was in Christendom! full of honour, liberality, courage and prudence, with a mind adorned with every generous virtue, who had preserved his countries in peace as well by his own good sense, and the prudence of his counsellors, as by the point of his sword, without personally sparing himself against any one, however great he might be. He afforded an asylum to those who came to him to seek it, even though they were his enemies, doing good to all, and returning good for evil; and he never had his equal for modesty. Even those who had never seen him, and who had disliked him for any cause, the moment they were acquainted with him, and knew his liberality, had an attachment and affection to him. The heart and body of the duke were each put separately in a flat coffin, covered with a bier of Irish oak. On the morrow, the obsequies were performed, when the bishop of Tournay celebrated the mass; after which, he made a brief harangue in praise of the deceased, in order that all present might offer up their prayers for the salvation of his soul, which may God, out of his most gracious mercy, admit into his holy Paradise! Amen*. *The death of the duke of Burgundy was, in respect to his corporeal suffering, as fortunate as the whole course of his life had been. He had at that time reigned fortyeight years, for the most part in peace, and during the whole with unvarying prosperity over the ample dominions left him by his father, to which, by conquest and alliances he added very considerably himself; and at last he yielded up his soul to God, not (in the words of Pontus Heuterus) e morbo continua intemperantia ascito, sed corpore justæ ætatis pleno decursu confecto, hoc a Deo magno, inter multa alia, ornatus munere, ut non diu mortis vitæque conflictum senserit, sed paucis diebus decumbens, extincto levi continuaque febri, calore naturali, quasi somno oppressus invictus expirarit." He lost the use of bis speech for some time before his dissolution, but his reason did not forsake him to the last. When his son Charles threw himself upon his knees before the bed and submissively asked forgiveness of all his offences, the duke looked upon him with the most affectionate kindness possible and pressed his hand most tenderly, but was then unable to speak. He was first buried at Bruges where he died, but upon the death of his widow Isabella a few years afterwards, his body was removed to be interred by the side of hers at the Carthusians' of Dijon, where those of both his predecessors lay. His character, as given by Pontus Heuterus, is too long for this place; but all his torians bear witness to the justice of the following, as drawn by Du Clos in his life of Louis the Eleventh. "La crainte que les princes inspirent, ne marque que leur puissance, les respects s'addressent à leur dignité: leur gloire veritable nait de l'estime et de la considération personnelles que l'on a pour eux. Philippe jouissoit de ces précieux avantages: il fut surnommé le bon, titre plus glorieux que tous ceux qui ne sont fondés que sur l'orgueil des princes et le malheur dos hommes. U aimoit ses peuples autant qu'il en étoit aimé, et satisfaisoit égale |