458

502

503

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THE

CHRONICLES

OF

ENGUERRAND DE MONSTRELET.

CHAPTER CLXXVI.-THE CARDINALS OF SANTA CROCE AND OF CYPRUS COME TO ARRAS, TO ATTEND THE ONVENTION.

N the month of July, two cardinals, sent by the pope and the council of Basil, with many ambassadors of note from divers nations, arrived at Arras, to be present at the ensuing convention for establishing a general peace. On the part of the holy father, came the cardinal of Santa Croce, archdeacon of Metz, attended by some theologians. On that of the council, the cardinal of Cyprus, accompanied by the bishop of Ache*, and a doctor called. Nicholas, ambassador from the king of Poland; and the bishop of Alba, in the same capacity, from the duke of Milan. With them came also the bishop of Uzes and the abbot de Vezelay, and other envoys from various lords in distant countries. They might amount, in the whole, to about eight score masters, and were handsomely received by the bishop of Arras, his clergy, and the inhabitants, as well as by the attendants of the duke of Burgundy, from whom they had had orders to that effect.

The whole of the town went out to meet them on their arrival, with great crowds of people, who escorted them with cries of joy to their hôtels, where many rich presents were made them.

CHAPTER CLXXVII. LOUIS DE LUXEMBOURG, COUNT OF ST. POL, ESPOUSES JOAN OF BAR, COUNTESS OF MARLE AND OF SOISSONS.

Ox Sunday the 16th day of July, in this year, Louis de Luxembourg, count of St. Pol, of Conversan, of Braine, and lord of Anghien, espoused Joan of Bar, only daughter to sir Robert de Bar, countess of Marle and of Soissons, lady of Dunkirk, of Varneston, and of many other valuable places, niece to sir John de Luxembourg, count of Ligny, uncle to the said count of St. Pol. The marriage was celebrated in the castle of Bohaim, and attended by at least one hundred knights and esquires, relatives or friends of the parties, but not one prince of the royal blood of France, to which the countess was very nearly connected.

There came to this convention, according to Stowe, Nicholas Albergat, a Carthusian friar, entitled a priest eardinal of the Holy Cross, and Hugh de Lusignan, a Cyprian (I presume he means Cypriot) Greek bishop

VOL. II.

At

cardinal of Præneste: which, or whether either of these, was the person meant by Monstrelet under the fanciful name of "bishop of Ache," the reader may determine. Q. Auch ?

B

this feast were the dowager countess of St. Pol, mother to count Louis, with several of her children.

The count de Ligny was reported to have paid all the expenses of this feast, which was most abundantly served with every delicacy in food and liquors,-to which were added justings and all kinds of pastimes.

CHAPTER CLXXVIII.-THE

FRENCH

ARE DEFEATED NEAR TO RETHEL, BY THE BASTARD
DE HUMIERES.

Ar this period, some of king Charles's captains guarding the frontiers near Rheims assembled about four hundred combatants to make an inroad toward Rethel, and other parts attached to the duke of Burgundy,-and in fact collected a great number of peasants, cows, horses, and other plunder, which they proposed to carry back with them in safety to their garrisons. The chief of this expedition was Yvon du Puys. News of it, however, came to the bastard de Humieres, governor of Herquery, who instantly called out his men-at-arms, and pursued the French so rapidly that he overtook them, and a combat ensued, in which these marauders were completely defeated, leaving forty dead on the field; the rest saving themselves by flight in the best manner they could. On the part of the bastard, his loss did not amount to more than ten men.

CHAPTER CLXXIX.-AMBASSADORS

FROM THE KING OF ENGLAND ARRIVE AT ARRAS TO ATTEND THE CONVENTION.

Ar this time, the ambassadors from the king of England arrived at Arras, to attend the convention with the council of the duke of Burgundy. They were about two hundred knights, the principal of whom were the archbishop of York, the earl of Suffolk, the bishop of St. David's, sir John Ratcliffe*, keeper of the king's privy seal, the lord Hungerfordt, master Raoul le Saige, official to the archbishop of Canterbury, and some other theologians. They were lodged within the city of Arras, and cheerfully attended to in whatever they might be in want of by the servants of the duke of Burgundy. At the same time, there came from divers nations other ambassadors and mediators. The duke of Gueldres‡, the count Nassau, the bishop of Cambray, the count de Vernambourg§, the bishop of Liege, the count de Vaudemont, the count de Nevers, the count de Salines, the duke of Bar, and in general all the higher nobility of the countries of the duke of Burgundy, came thither to support his claims and pretensions. They were all grandly dressed-and soon after the counts of St. Pol and of Ligny arrived with a handsome retinue.

On the 28th day of July, the duke of Burgundy entered Arras: he had lain the preceding night at his town of Lens in Artois. The whole company in Arras, attached to the embassy from England, went out a league beyond the walls to meet him,— -as did the attendants of the two cardinals,—and when they met the duke, every one was most honourably received by him. The duke's entrance into Arras was well ordered, he having the archers of his body-guard, all dressed in a rich uniform, to precede him,-and wherever he passed, the people sang carols for his arrival. In this state, he went to pay his compliments to the cardinal de Santa Croce, and then to the cardinal of Cyprus, whence he retired to his lodgings in his hôtel at La Cour-le-Comte.

Sir John Ratcliffe was constable of Fronsac in Aquitaine, under Henry V., and seneschal of Aquitaine in 1 H. VI., knight of the garter, &c. He died before 1441, and left a son, John, who succeeded him, and in 1 H. VII. was summoned to Parliament as lord Fitzwalter.

+ Walter, lord Hungerford of Heytesbury, treasurer of England, one of the executors to the will of Henry V. He had summons to Parliament from 4 Hen. VI. to 26 Hen. VI. inclusive, and died in 1449, leaving Robert lord Hungerford his son and successor, who during his father's life-time served in the wars of France with twenty-nine

men-at-arms and eighty archers, and died in 1459.

Arnold, earl of Egmont, succeeded to Gueldres on the failure of the direct line in 1423. His son Adolph (by Margaret, daughter of Adolph IV. duke of Cleves) made war upon him, in consequence of which he was disinherited, and his father made over the duchy to Charles duke of Burgundy,

§ Vernambourg, i. e. Virnemburg or Wirnemburg, the title of a noble house of the duchy of Luxemburg, of whom Robert count of Wirnemburg governed the duchy in the name of Elizabeth of Burgundy.