This being done, the ambassadors returned to their respective princes. The patriarch of Antioch, the bishop of Alet, and sir John le Boursier, took the road to Rome, with the ambassadors from the pope, for the confirmation of all the acts done at Lausanne, and then returned to the king of France with the bulls of confirmation. Thus was this whole assembly broken up, and each went whithersoever he pleased,—and thus was healed that deep wound in the church, by the re-establishment of peace and union, through the indefatigable exertions of the king of France, who had taken great personal pains to bring it about, and had expended very large sums in sending embassies to the different kings in Christendom to unite them in so praiseworthy an object; for the kings of France would never support any schisms,— taking for their guide the Holy Scriptures, which have always led them in the right way. At this time, the king of France ordered every parish throughout his realm to have one archer ready armed to march whithersoever he might be commanded, to make war, should there be occasion; and that they might the more readily obey this order, they would be relieved from paying any future subsidies. The bailiffs were commanded to select the most expert and able in all the parishes throughout their bailiwicks. CHAPTER VIII.-SIR FRANCIS DE SURIENNE, CALLED THE ARRAGONIAN, TAKES THE TOWN AND CASTLE Of fougeres*, belonging to the duke of BRITTANY, NOTWITHSTANDING THE TRUCE BETWEEN THE KINGS OF FRANCE AND OF ENGLAND. THE GREAT MISCHIEFS HE DOES THERE. On the eve of the feast of our Lady in March in this year, sir Francis de Surienne, called the Arragonian, knight of the order of the Garter, and a great captain for the king of England in those parts of France under his dominion, took the town and castle of Fougeres, belonging to the duke of Brittany, situated on the borders of Normandy, notwithstanding the truces were not expired between the kings of England and France, and their allies. This town was of great antiquity, and full of people and wealth. Sir Francis had with him seven hundred men, as well English as from other countries, who committed every mischief by pillaging the houses, killing the inhabitants, and ravishing the women. Not satisfied with this, he overran the adjacent parts of Brittany, making prisoners, and doing every exploit usual in war. other The duke of Brittany was very indignant when he heard of this conduct, and sent the bishop of Rennes to the king of France at Chinon, to complain that the English had, notwithstanding the truce, taken his town and castle of Fougeres, and had despoiled many parts of his duchy, and requesting of him, as his relative, lord paramount and protector, that he would aid him by declaring war against England, for that he was prepared to do so without any way sparing his own personal exertions. The king replied, that he would never abandon him, but make common cause with him, as was just. In order, however, to have Heaven on their side, and to throw the blame wholly on their enemies, he would first demand reparation from the king of England, and also from the duke of Somerset, his lieutenant-general on that side of the sea, for the wrongs that had been done him,—the duke having had full powers to make any reparation for evils that might ensue from the infringement of the truce. The king added, that he hoped the duke would make reparation, to avoid the inconveniences that must ensue from a renewal of war. King Charles sent to England to make this demand, his esquire-carver, Jean Havart, and master John Cousinot, one of the masters of requests of his household,—and to the duke of Somerset, Pierre de Fontenay, equerry of his stables. They brought answers from king Henry and the duke, that they disavowed what sir Francis de Surienne had done, although it had been currently reported that this capture had been made by their order and connivance. The duke of Brittany, who was much interested in this capture of Fougeres, sent his herald at arms to demand a surrender of the place from the duke of Somerset,—that it * Fougeres, a town in Brittany, on the frontiers of Normandy, diocese of Rennes. should be completely repaired, and restitution be made for all the plunder of houses, jewels, and effects, amounting, in the whole, according to a valuation, to the sum of sixteen hundred thousand crowns. The duke of Somerset made answer that he would no way avow any concern in the said capture. When the duke of Brittany's herald was departed, the duke of Somerset, desirous of repairing the fault that had been done in those parts by sir Francis de Surienne, sent ambassadors to the king of France more amply to excuse himself from having been any party in the business, declaring his disavowal of it, and how very unpleasant it had been to him; which was frivolous, for he made no mention of any offer to repair the place, nor of making restitution for the wrong, but requested, for the general safety, that everything might remain on its present footing. The king replied, that if the duke of Somerset was so very much displeased at what had happened he should do his duty, according to the full powers vested in him, and make due restitution for the plunder so unjustly carried away, and restore the place in sufficiently good repair and that if he would not do this, he might be assured that he would support his nephew of Brittany: that in regard to giving up to the English certain places as pledges for the maintenance of peace, he would do no such thing; adding, that his nephew of Brittany was allied to the greatest lords of his realm, and had many able commanders in his duchy, all of whom were very indignant at this capture of Fougeres, and who, it must be believed, would be eager to revenge it, by making conquests from the English: they would, therefore, attend to the guard of their own towns and castles; that for his part, he would take especial care to guard his own. The ambassadors, having had this answer, requested the king to send to Louviers commissioners fully instructed; for that on their return to Rouen, they knew well the duke of Somerset would send persons properly authorised to meet them, and endeavour to bring about an accommodation. The king, ever wishing to avoid the effusion of human blood, and more desirous of employing gentle measures than force, complied with their request, and appointed commissioners accordingly. The English now returned to the duke of Somerset, and told him all that had passed at the court of France, and that the king had sent to Louviers commissioners to settle the dispute respecting the capture of Fougeres. The duke immediately ordered thither commissioners to make up the dispute, if possible, with those of France. This year, the English repaired the town of St. James de Beuvron, which was what they ought not to have done; for by the articles of the truce, no places were to be repaired during its continuance, either by the French or English. In this year also, the English surrendered the towns and castles of Mayenne, and of Juliez in the county of Maine, which they had promised to yield up when they marched away from Mans. THEY CHAPTER IX.-THE POPULACE OF LONDON RISE AGAINST THE KING'S OFFICERS. ABOUT the end of Lent, in this year, there was a great commotion of the populace in the city of London, headed by the mayor of that city. Instigated by their evil inclinations, they inhumanly murdered the bishop of Gloucester, keeper of the king's privy seal,-a good plain man, and very learned. They also arrested the marquis of Suffolk, who was a great lord, and imprisoned him in the Tower of London. This mayor had great influence in the city; and, wherever he went, a sword was borne before him. The king was, at this moment, three miles distant from London, at one of his palaces on the Thames, and greatly astonished when told what was going forward in London. He instantly sent for the lieutenant of the Tower, who lost no time in obeying this order; and, after having heard a true account of what had been done by the mob, he commanded him to bring the marquis of Suffolk in safety to him, without delay, or that his own life should answer for it. The lieutenant found means of delivering the marquis of Suffolk without the knowledge of the mayor or people, and of carrying him to the king's presence. After a short conver sation, the king made the marquis mount his horse and fly toward the northern part of his kingdom, where he might find convenient means for passing over to France. He was, however, met by some of the duke of Somerset's men, who cut off his head, and sent it, with the body, to London. In the mean time, the king summoned the mayor and townsmen of London before him. They were much discontented that he had set the marquis at liberty, and insisted that those of his council who had advised his deliverance should be given up to them, which was done for fear of enraging the populace still more, who instantly had them beheaded. Thus for some time were the citizens appeased*. CHAPTER X.-THREE MALEFACTORS, TWO MEN AND ONE WOMAN, ARE CONDEMNED DEATH BY THE COURT OF PARLIAMENT AT PARIS. [A. D. 1449.] ΤΟ On the 18th day of April, in this year, three malefactors, two men and one woman, were condemned to be hanged. Two high gallows of wood were consequently erected, that the punishment for such evil deeds as they had committed, might be exhibited to the public. They had confessed themselves guilty of thrusting out the eyes of a child of two years old, whom they had in wardship, of putting it to death by running thorns into its body, which was most cruel, and of being great thieves. One gallows was erected without the gate of St. James, on which one of the two men was hanged, and another without the gate of St. Denis, between the chapel and windmill, on which was hanged the other man, who had been a player on the hurdy-gurdy, as also the woman; and although they were both married, they had lived together in double adultery. They were delivered to the executioner from the prison of the Conciergerie, but were attended by almost all the ushers of the parliament, because they had been sentenced by that court. Great multitudes assembled to see the execution, more especially women and girls, from the novelty of the fact; for this was the first instance of a woman being hanged in France. The woman was hanged with her hair all dishevelled, in a long robe, having her two legs tied together below the knees. Some said, that she requested that it should be thus done, as it was the custom of her country; while others said, that she was thus sentenced as a memorial for the longer remembrance of women, and that her crimes were so enormous she was deserving of a severer punishment. Many prisoners were afterwards hanged from the dungeons of the Châtelet, who had been therein detained some time until others of their gang could be apprehended. They had gone to different parts of the kingdom where pardons were obtained, such as the dedication of Saint Denis, that of St. Maur, of St. Fiacre, of St. Mathurin, and elsewhere, and had attacked travellers in forests and on the high roads, under pretence of asking alms; but the greater part of them had been arrested, confronted with their companions, and executed by the king's officers of justice. CHAPTER XI.-IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE CAPTURE OF FOUGERES, THE ALLIES OF THE DUKE OF BRITTANY GAIN THE TOWN AND CASTLE OF PONT-DE-L'ARCHIE FROM THE ENGLISH. -GERBEROY IS AFTERWARDS TAKEN. On the 16th day of May, in this year, while the commissioners from the king of France and the duke of Somerset were assembled, according to appointment, in the town of Louviers, some of the friends and allies of the duke of Brittany found means to gain the town and castle of Pont-de-l'Arche, on the river Seine, four leagues distant from Rouen. This capture * I copy from Fabian what he says of this business."A.D. 1449.-Thomas Chalton, mayor. And continuing the said parliament, the duke of Suffolk was arrested and sent as a prisoner (to content some minds) unto the Tower, where he was kept at his pleasure a month, and after de livered at large, the which discontented many men's minds; for to him was laid the charge of the delivery of Anjou and Maine, and the death of the noble prince Humphrey duke of Gloucester," &c., &c.-For further was owing to a travelling merchant from Louviers observing, in his frequent crossing of Pont-de-l'Arche, that it was but slightly guarded, and giving information thereof to the before-mentioned friends of the duke of Brittany. He offered to take the place, if they would give him a sufficiency of men-at-arms; and having explained his plans, which seemed feasible, they fixed on a day to meet him at a tavern in the suburbs of that town. On the day appointed, several of those who had been ordered on this expedition, came to the said tavern, one after another, to avoid suspicion; two of whom were dressed as carpenters, each with his hatchet swung round his neck. Shortly after, the carrier arrived, with his cart laden with provisions. About midnight they seized the tavern-keeper and his servants, and shut them up in a room, to prevent them from making any discovery, and then told their intentions, with which the master of the house seemed very well pleased, for he said he had been lately beaten by some of the garrison. During the night, the lord de Brésé came thither with some men on foot, whom he placed in ambush near to the gate of St. Ouen; he was followed by the bailiff of Evreux with four or five hundred horse, whom he posted in the wood on the side of Louviers. When these measures had been taken, Jacques de Clermont and the carrier approached the drawbridge with his cart, and entreated the porter to let him pass, as he was in haste to get to Rouen, and return that night to Louviers, offering him, at the same time, a present for so doing. The two pretended carpenters were with him, and the carrier pledged himself for them. The porter, through avarice, called to him another Englishman, and let down the bridge. When the carrier had his cart on the first bridge, he took out of his purse two bretons and a placque*, to pay the Englishmen ; but he let fall one breton to the ground, which the porter stooping to pick up, the carrier drew a dagger and stabbed him dead. In like manner, the two carpenters slew his companion on the second bridge. On a signal that this was done, the ambuscade of horse and foot sallied forth, and passing the bridges, entered the town, shouting, "St. Yves for Brittany!" All the English were asleep when this happened, and were made prisoners, to the amount of a hundred or six score; among whom was the lord Falconbridge, an English knight, who had only arrived the preceding day, and his ransom was worth twenty thousand crowns. He was carried to Louviers for greater safety, and the conquerors remained in the place for its guard, until other arrangements should be made. When the English heard of this capture, they were much troubled and enraged. On its being told to king Charles, as he was desirous of the welfare of his nephew the duke of Brittany, he consented, after many conferences at Louviers, that mutual restitutions should take place, namely, that Fougeres should be given back to the duke of Brittany, with sixteen hundred thousand crowns, according to the estimate of damage done, and Pont-de-l'Arche yielded up to the English, together with the lord Falconbridge, who had been there made prisoner. The English, however, peremptorily refused to agree to such terms, which was a most unreasonable conduct; and the king's commissioners employed apostolical and imperial notaries to draw up the offer they had made, and the English commissioners' refusal of it, that God and all the world might see how handsomely the king had acted, and that if a war should ensue, which God forbid! the blame could not fall on him. The English commissioners departed, on their return to the duke of Somerset, to relate what had been the result of these conferences. The king of France, to proceed with greater security, sent the count de Dunois, and others with ample powers to his nephew of Brittany, whom he met at Rennes, where he had assembled the greater part of his connexions, prelates, barons and knights of the duchy. A treaty was concluded, by which the duke promised to serve the king in person against the English, by sea and land, and never to make peace or any alliance with them, but with the approbation of the king; in confirmation of which, he gave letters patent, signed with the hands and seals of himself and the barons of the duchy. The said relatives and barons also promised, by putting their hands within the hands of the count de Dunois, punctually to maintain all the articles contained in the above-mentioned letters-patent; and the count de Dunois engaged that the king should ratify the said treaty, which he afterwards did by * Two bretons and a placque,small coins of Brittany and France. letters to the duke. In these he promised to make the quarrel his own, and not to conclude any treaty with the enemy without comprehending him and his duchy, nor until the English should have restored what they had taken from him. In case the English should not, before the end of the ensuing month of July, surrender to the duke the town and castle of Fougeres, with an adequate sum for the plunder, the king would openly declare war against them. At this time, the town of Gerberoy*, in the Beauvoisis, was taken by scalado, by the lord de Mouy, governor of that country; and all the English within it, to the number of thirty, were put to the sword. Their captain was John Harper, who that day had gone to Gournay +. Thus was the place reduced under the obedience of the king of France. A short time after this, the town of Conches was won by Robert de Flocques, called Flocquet, bailiff of Evreux. About the same period, a Gascon gentleman called Verdun, by the advice and consent of the duke of Brittany, took by storm the towns of Coignac § and St. Maigrin||, under the command of an esquire, called Mondoch de Lansac, for the king of England. He himself was made prisoner, as he was coming from Bordeaux to Coignac, for he imagined that it was still under his command as before. In both towns many prisoners were taken. When the English heard of these towns being lost, the archbishop of Bordeaux and the magistrates sent a pursuivant-at-arms to the king of France at Chinon, to request that Coignac and St. Maigrin might be restored, and that he would send them passports, pretending that they would come to him ; but nothing was done, for reasons known to the king and his council. In like manner, the duke of Somerset and lord Talbot sent to the king at Chinon, to require that the towns of Pont-de-l'Arche, Conches, Coignac and St. Maigrin should be restored; to which the king answered, that if they would restore to his nephew of Brittany his town of Fougeres, and the effects taken away from thence, he would exert his endeavours that the duke of Brittany should give back the places that had been won by him, or by those who had taken them on his advice. The English ambassadors said that they had no powers to interfere in the surrender of Fougeres, and therefore returned to the duke of Somerset at Rouen, without effecting anything. Soon afterwards, another conference was holden at the abbey of Bonport ¶, when the commissioners from France made offer to those on the part of England, that if they would, on a day to be appointed, surrender, for the duke of Brittany, the town and castle of Fougeres into the hands of the king of France, and pay the sum of sixteen hundred thousand crowns, the estimated value of the damages, all places that had been taken from the English should be restored, and even the lord Falconbridge, who had been made prisoner at Pont-del'Arche, and that all hostilities should cease on both sides. This the English refused; and the French commissioners returned to their king as before. King Charles, having heard the report of all that had passed, and examined the instruments drawn up by the apostolical notaries, stating the damages the English had done to his relative the duke of Brittany: that they had very frequently infringed the truce, without making any reparations or restitution of places or effects, and their peremptory refusal of all the offers he had made them for the preservation of peace and the satisfaction of his conscience, resolved, after mature deliberation, that having done his duty most loyally, and the English obstinately refusing all his offers for peace, he was fully justified in taking every proper step for the defence of his country and of his allies, as well as for the recovery of such places as had been conquered from him or from his predecessors, the possession of which the English had so long usurped. He was advised to declare war against them, which would be just in the eyes of God, of reason, and of his conscience, otherwise he would not do his duty. It was concluded that he should send ambassadors to the duke of Brittany to concert measures accordingly. *Gerberoy, a town in the Isle of France, four leagues from Beauvais. Gournay, a town in the Isle of France, on the Marne, three leagues from Paris. Conches, a market-town in Normandy, four leagues from Evreux, sixteen from Rouen. § Coignac, a town of the Angoumois, on the Charente, seven leagues and a half from Saintes. || St. Maigrin,-a town in Saintonge, near Grolle. ¶ Bonport,—an abbey founded by Richard I., king of England, in the diocese of Evreux, in Normandy. |