which had been held by count Waleran de St Pol, who was contented to yield it up.

The count de Saint Pol, now constable of France, ordered a large body of men at arms to assemble at Vernon sur Seine. In consequence, full two thousand armed with helmets came thither, with the design of making war on the inhabitants of Dreux, and on the count d'Alençon and his people, who had overrun parts of Normandy, near to Rouen, where they had plundered cvery thing they could lay their hands on.

To provide for the payment of this force, as well as for others in different parts of the country which the king had employed under various captains, a heavy tax was imposed on the whole kingdom, to be paid at two instalments,—the first on the Sunday before Easter, and the second at the end of June following. This affected the poor people very much; and in addition, the pope had granted to the king a full tenth to be levied, through France and Dauphiny, on all the clergy, payable also at two terms,—the one on St John the Baptist's day, and the other on All-saints following. The clergy were

greatly discontented, but it was not on that account the less rigorously levied,—and commissioners were appointed to receive it from them.

The constable set out in the holy week from Paris for Vernon, to take the command of the men at arms, and to lead them against the king's enemies.

At the commencement of this

the dukes of Berry, of Orleans, and of Bourbon, the counts de Vertus, d'Angoulême, d'Alençon and d’Armagnac, and the lord d'Albreth, calling himself constable of France, with other great lords, their confederates, sent ambassadors to the king of England, with instructions, under their seals, for them to act according to the occasion with the king of England, his children and ministers.

As they were journeying through Maine to go to Brittany, and thence to England, they were pursued by the bailiff of Caen in Normandy, who, with the aid of the commonalty, attacked and defeated them, making some of them prisoners, with their sealed instructions and other articles: the rest escaped as well as they could.

After the defeat, the bailiff dispatched an account of it to the king and council at Paris, and sent the sealed instructions, with the other articles, in a leathern bag, well secured. The king assembled a great council at his palace of St Pol, on the Wednesday after Easter, for the full examination of these papers. He was present, as were the king of Sicily, the dukes of Acquitaine and Burgundy, the counts de Charolois, de Nevers, and de Mortaigne, the lord Gilles de Bretagne, the chancellor of France, namely, master Henry de Marle*, the bishops of Tournay, of Amiens,

of Constance, and of Auxerre, the rector of the university, the provost of Paris, and several others, as well of the king's council as capital citizens of Paris and students of the university.

The chancellor of the duke of Acquitaine, the lord d'Olhaing, lately an advocate in the parliament, then declared, that there had been given to his charge, by the king's ministers, a leathern bag, which had been taken by the bailiff of Caen, together with a knight, chamberlain to the duke of Brittany, from de Faulcon d'Encre and friar James Petit, of the order of the Augustins, and other ambassadors from the lords mentioned in the papers contained in the bag, which had been transmitted by the said bailiff to the king's council. He added, that he had found in this bag four blank papers, signed and sealed by four different persons, namely, Berry, Orleans, Bourbon and Alençon. Each blank had only the name signed on the margin above the seal. He had also found many sealed letters from the duke of Berry addressed to the king of England, to the queen, and to

See post, where it is said, that sir Reginald (i. e. sir Arnauld) de Corbie was displaced (1413), and Eustace de Lactre appointed in his place)

their four sons; and in like manner, from the duke of Brittany to the earl of Richmond and to other noblemen in England. There were also many letters without any superscription, being credential ones for the aforesaid Faulcon and friar James Petit, to the king and queen

of England.

These letters were publicly read, and in them the duke of Berry styled the king of England, · My most redoubted lord and nephew;' and the queen, · My most redoubted and honoured lady, niece and daughter;' and they were signed with the duke of Berry's own hand. In the one to the

queen,

there were two lines in his own handwriting, desiring her to place full confidence in the said ambassadors.

These blanks were publicly displayed, and the king held them some time in his hand. There was a small article on a single sheet of paper containing the instructions for the ambassadors, which was likewise read aloud, and contained a repetition of the charges made against the duke of Burgundy, by the duchess of Orleans and her sons, for the death of the late duke of Orleans. It recited, that they had frequently demanded justice of the king of France for this murder, but could never