"When the whole of the evidence had been gone through, there only remained judgment to be given. And we make known that the court, having fully and maturely examined the different interrogatories and confrontations, together with his voluntary confessions, have declared, and do declare, by these presents, the said d'Alençon guilty of high treason, and, as such to be deprived of the honour and dignity of the peerage of France and all other dignities and prerogatives, and do, besides, condemn him to death by the public executioner. The court has also declared, and does declare, that all his effects whatever shall be confiscated to our use, and that they shall henceforth be reputed legally to belong to us as we may please to dispose of them. Such was the sentence passed by the peers of France and the other members of the court of justice held at Vendôme. We, however, reserved to ourself the power to make whatever changes we should please; and we now declare our will to be, that the capital part of the said sentence on the said John d'Alençon be deferred until our further pleasure be known.

"With regard to the effects of the said d'Alençon, considering the enormity of his guilt, his children ought to be deprived of them, and reduced to a state of beggary, to serve as an example to all others. Nevertheless, remembering the good services their ancestors have done to the crown and kingdom of France, and in the hope that these children will behave themselves as good and loyal subjects toward their sovereign; and in consideration of the earnest solicitations for mercy from our very dear and well-beloved cousin the duke of Brittany, uncle to the said d'Alençon, we, out of our especial grace, shall moderate these confiscations, and declare our pleasure to be, that the moveable effects shall remain to the wife of the said d'Alençon, and to his children, with the exception of his artillery and military stores, which we reserve to ourself.

"In regard to his lands and lordships, we shall moderate the confiscation as follows: We retain the town and castlewick of Domfront, the town, castle, castlewick, and viscounty of Verneuil, on both sides of the river Aure, with all their appurtenances, lordships and dependencies, which we from this moment unite, incorporate and adjoin, to the patrimony and domain of our crown. We shall likewise retain in our hands the duchy of Alençon, together with its town, castle, lordship, rights, appurtenances, revenues, and immoveable effects, and every claim that might have belonged to the said d'Alençon as duke thereof, and all rights and duties that may have been granted from our crown as an appanage to the said d'Alençon, with the reserve of the county of Perche, concerning which we shall hereafter ordain, according to our good pleasure. We retain also the castle and castlewick of St. Blansay in Touraine, together with all the duties the said d'Alençon received for pontage in our town of Tours, and the other rents and revenues he was accustomed to receive from the said town, to order as we may please best. We likewise reserve to ourselves the homages appertaining to the said d'Alençon as count du Perche, on the town of Nogent le Rotrou and its dependencies, and also on the lands and lordships of our very dear and wellbeloved cousin the countess du Maine, wife to the said d'Alençon.

"In respect to the other lands and lordships that did belong to the said d'Alençon, we will that they remain to the children of the said d'Alençon, in manner following,—that is to say, the only son of the said d'Alençon shall have and retain the county, lands, and lordships of Perche, to be freely enjoyed by him and his male descendants, lawfully begotten in marriage, but without any dignity or prerogative of peerage. With regard to the remaining lands, lordships, and other immoveable effects, we will that they belong to the other children, as well males as females, of the said d'Alençon, for them to enjoy the same under our tutelage until they become of a proper age to manage for themselves, and that they descend to the heirs of their bodies in lawful marriage, according to the usages and laws of the countries these different estates may be situated in.. In testimony of which, &c.

"Given at Vendôme, the 10th day of October, in the year of Grace 1458, and of our reign the 37th."

This sentence was pronounced in the absence of the said John d'Alençon, but read to him afterwards in his prison by the first president of the parliament, de Thorette, master John

Boulanger, counsellor to the king in his court of parliament, master John Bureau, treasurer of France, and others of the king's council; which much astonished and overwhelmed the said John d'Alençon, and not without cause *.

In the month of January, in this year, that most noble and potent prince Arthur duke of Brittany departed this life, who, before and after he had succeeded to the dukedom, had been constable of France. He was succeeded by the lord Francis, son to madame d'Estampes, sister to the duke of Orleans, who in person conducted him to take possession of the duchy of Brittany.

CHAPTER XCIII.-THE AMBASSADORS FROM ENGLAND ARE DENIED ACCESS TO THE KING OF FRANCE. THE DUKE OF CLEVES ATTENDS THE MEETING OF PRINCES AT MANTUA.-THE DAUPHINESS BROUGHT TO BED OF A SON, AT GENAPPE.—THE KING OF SCOTLAND KILLED BY A SPLINTER FROM A BOMB.

[A. D. 1459.]

THIS year ambassadors from England arrived in France, anxious to obtain an alliance with the king by a marriage or truce; but the king would neither hear nor see them. They were therefore forced to return without effecting anything; and what was more, neither lord nor lady would accept of their palfreys, which they had brought with them in numbers, to gain the friendship of the lords and ladies of the court.

In the month of June in this year the duke of Burgundy, being very desirous of the welfare of Christendom, sent his nephew the duke of Cleves, as his proxy and ambassador, to Mantua, where the meeting was to take place of the pope and the princes, and cardinals of Europe, to consider on the means of opposing the enterprises of the Grand Turk, who was making daily conquests on the Christians, more especially in Greece. The duke of Cleves was nobly received wherever he passed, as well to honour the duke of Burgundy, whose proxy he was, as out of respect to his own personal worth. About this time the count d'Estampes, by orders from his uncle the duke of Burgundy, made prisoner, in the town of Amiens, the viscount d'Amiens and lord of Pecquigny, whom he carried prisoner to Vilvordent, on account of his having conducted himself in a manner unbecoming a person of his rank.

Toward the end of July, in this year, the princess Charlotte of Savoy, dauphiness of France, was delivered of a fair son, who was baptised by the name of Joachim. Great rejoicings took place for this event throughout the territories of the duke of Burgundy, wherein the dauphin resided during the time he was in ill estimation with his father king Charles VII. and indeed so long as the king lived, keeping his court at the castle of Genappe in Brabant. These rejoicings were, however, turned to grief, for the child did not long survive its birth. In the month of August, it happened that while the king of Scotland was pointing a cannon, to try its power, it burst, and the king was so severely wounded by a splinter that he died soon after it was a melancholy accident. He had married a daughter of the duke of Gueldres, and niece to the duke of Burgundy, by whom he had several children ‡.

John duke of Alençon was condemned to death by a celebrated sentence given by king Charles VII. sitting in a bed of justice, at Vendôme, the 10th of October 1458, which sentence was instantly commuted to perpetual imprisonment. The duke was confined in the castle of Loches until Louis XI. came to the throne in 1461, who granted him a free pardon in the month of October in the same year.

"The duke could not remain quiet, but attempted again to throw the kingdom into confusion,-and Louis XI. had him arrested a second time, the 22d September 1472. Another sentence was passed on him, but its execution was again suspended, and the duke remained a prisoner in the Louvre, but did not die there, as is supposed. He was transferred to the house of a burgher, as a private prisoner. He died in the year 1476."

See more in the note from which this is copied,

page 595 of the 8th volume of the Mémoires de l'Académie.

+ Vilvorden,-a town in Brabant, between Brussels and Mechlin.

"While king James was observing the effects of his artillery (at the siege of Roxburgh castle), one of the rudely-contrived cannons of that age, consisting of bars of iron, girded with circles of metal, suddenly burst: a fragment struck his thigh, and the great effusion of blood produced a death almost instantaneous. The earl of Angus, who stood next to James, was wounded.

"It is impossible to express the grief of the camp, or of the kingdom, at the premature loss of a beloved sovereign, in the flower of his age, aggravated by the circumstances and the strange fatality of the case. The young regretted a youthful prince, and an ardent leader: the old sighed at the prospect of another minority. Could any consolation

A terrible and melancholy transaction took place this year in the town of Arras, the capital of the country of Artois, which said transaction was called, I know not why, Vaudoisie *; but it was said, that certain men and women transported themselves whither they pleased from the places where they were, by virtue of a compact with the devil. Suddenly they were carried to forests or deserts, where they found assembled great numbers of both sexes, and with them a devil in the form of a man, whose face they never saw. This devil read to them, or repeated, his laws and commandments, and in what manner they were to worship and serve him; then each person kissed his backside; and he gave to them, after this ceremony, some little money: he then regaled them with great plenty of meats and wines, when the lights were extinguished, and each male selected a female for amorous dalliance, and suddenly they were all transported back to the places they had come from. For such criminal and mad acts, many of the principal persons of the town were imprisoned; and others of the lower ranks, with women and such as were known to be of this sect, were so terribly tormented that some confessed matters to have happened as has been related. They likewise confessed to have seen and known many persons of rank, prelates, nobles, and governors of districts, as having been present at their meetings; such indeed as, upon the rumour of common fame, their judges and examiners named, and, as it were, put into their mouths; so that, through the pains of the torments, they accused many, and declared that they had seen them at these meetings.

Such as had been thus accused were instantly arrested, and so long and grievously tormented that they were forced to confess just whatever their judges pleased, when those of the lower ranks were inhumanly burnt. Some of the richer and more powerful ransomed themselves from this disgrace by dint of money; while others of the higher orders were remonstrated with and seduced by their examiners into confessions, under a promise that, if they would confess, they should not suffer in person or fortune. Others again suffered the severest torments with the utmost fortitude and patience. The judges received very large sums of money from such as were enabled to pay them: others fled the country, or completely proved their innocence of the charges made against them, and remained unmolested.

It must not be concealed, that many persons of worth knew well that these charges had been raked up by a set of wicked persons, to harass and disgrace some of the principal inhabitants of Arras, whom they hated with the bitterest rancour, and, from avarice, were eager to possess themselves of their fortunes. They had first maliciously arrested some persons deserving punishment for their crimes, whom they had so severely tormented, holding out promises of pardon, that they forced them to accuse whomsoever they were pleased to name, and them they arrested and tormented as mentioned above. This matter was considered, by all men of sense and virtue, as most abominable; and it was thought that those who had thus destroyed and disgraced so many persons of worth would put their souls in imminent danger at the last day.

CHAPTER XCIV.-SLIGHT MENTION MADE OF THE REBELLION AND DISCORD IN ENGLAND.OTHER INCIDENTS.

[A. D. 1460.]

In this year there were great troubles, civil wars, and murders in England. Some held for the party of king Henry, such as the duke of Somerset and others; and some held for the party of the duke of York, namely, the earl of Warwick, the earl of Salisbury, and others. A severe battle took place, in which numbers of each side fell † ; but it was gained by

have arisen, it must have proceeded from the spirit of the queen, Mary of Gueldres, who, immediately upon the tidings, arrived in the camp with the infant heir of the monarchy, and showing him to the soldiers, while tears gushed from her eyes, she conjured them by every domestie tie, by the memory of their sovereign, by the fame of Scottish valour, not to depart from their design, but to destroy this calamitous fortress. The castle was taken and levelled with the ground."-Pinkerton's Hist. of Scot land, vol. ii. p. 244.

* Vaudoisie,-a nocturnal meeting of sorcerers.-Du CANGE. Supplement. See "Valdenses," in his Glossary.

The battle of Northampton. Those of most note, on the king's side, were Humphrey Stafford, duke of Buckingham, who was succeeded by his son Henry; and John earl of Shrewsbury, lord treasurer of England, grandson to the great Talbot. The battle was fought at two o'clock in the afternoon, on the tenth of July, and is said to have lasted only half an hour.

the duke of York, who made a treaty with the king, in such wise that, on the decease of the king, the duke was to succeed to the crown, to the prejudice of the prince of Wales, son to king Henry and the daughter of Réné king of Sicily.

This treaty was so contrary to the will and interests of the queen that she raised another army, of all who were inclined to her and her son the prince of Wales, and took the field to offer battle to the duke of York, who had increased his army as strongly as possible, to defend his rights. On the first day of January, in this year, the battle took place, which was very bloody, and hardly contested; but this time fortune turned against the duke, who was made prisoner, together with his second son and the earl of Salisbury+. Shortly after, the queen had them beheaded, and their heads put on the points of three lances: and on the head of the duke was placed, by way of derision, a paper crown, to denote his eagerness to be king, and his having failed in the attempt. The earl of Warwick § found means to escape after the battle, and quit the kingdom, which he did in a small boat, with great danger, and arrived safely at his government of Calais.

In this year, the rector of a village near to Soissons would have the tithes from a farm near to this village, belonging to some crusaders in the holy land. The farmer refused to pay the tithe,—and the rector instituted a suit against him and the crusaders, which he lost, and for this reason conceived a great hatred against the farmer and the farmer's wife. In this same village resided a sorceress, a woman of very bad fame, and using the black art, who having quarrelled with the farmer's wife for some trifle, complained to every one of the wrong that had been done her, and even made complaint of it to the rector. He, full of hatred against the farmer's wife, said that he wished to be revenged on her if he knew but how; when the sorceress instantly said, that if he would do as she should direct, he would have ample vengeance on her. The rector replied that there was nothing he would not do to satisfy his revenge. The sorceress then went and brought him an earthen pot, in which was a large toad that she had long kept and fed, and said, “Take, sir, this animal and baptise it in the same manner as if it were a child, and christen it John; then consecrate a holy wafer and give it him to eat, and leave the rest to me.'

The accursed priest, blinded by his hatred, baptised the filthy beast by the name of John, and gave it to devour the holy body of our Lord, then returned it to the hag, who instantaneously cut it in pieces, and made a drink of it, with other diabolical ingredients. She then gave it to a young girl whom she had, bidding her carry it to the house of the farmer at his dinner-hour, and after holding some conversation with the farmer, his wife and children, while they were at dinner, to throw it under the dining-table and come back to her. The girl did as her mother had ordered, when the consequence was, that the farmer, his wife, and one of their sons who was dining at the table, felt themselves suddenly taken with qualms as if they had eaten something nauseous,—and all died within three days.

This coming to the knowledge of the magistrates, the sorceress, her daughter, and the rector, were arrested; and, on the truth coming out, the hag was publicly burned in the town of Soissons: the girl, being with child, was sent back to the prison, whence she escaped, but was afterward retaken, and carried by an appeal before the parliament. The rector was confined in the prisons of the bishop of Paris, whence he escaped by dint of friends and money. I know not what became of the girl.

* Second son,-Edmund earl of Rutland.

Battle of Wakefield. For particulars of this reign, see the English historians, particularly Wethamstede, a contemporary writer.

Together with the queen and the prince of Wales, the dukes of Exeter and Somerset, the earls of Devon and Wiltshire, the lord Clifford and many other great lords, were on the king's side this day. The young duke of Rutland was murdered in cold blood by the barbarous Clifford. The duke of York himself was killed in the field, not made prisoner as in the text. The earl of Salis

bury was made prisoner and carried to the castle of Pomfret, where "he had grant of life for a great ransome, but the common people of the country, who loved him not, tooke him out of the castle by violence, and smote off his head." The earl of March, now duke of York by his father's death, and afterwards king of England, was at Gloucester when this event happened.

The earl of Warwick was not present at this battle, for he and the duke of Norfolk had the charge of king Henry and of the city of London: it was from the second battle of St. Albans that he fled to Calais.

CHAPTER XCV.—EDWARD EARL OF MARCHE, ELDEST SON TO THE LATE DUKE OF YORK, DEFEATS, IN BATTLE, QUEEN MARGARET OF ENGLAND, AND OBTAINS THE CROWN BY MEANS OF THE LONDONERS.-THE QUEEN SEEKS AID FROM THE SCOTS.

ON Palm Sunday, the 28th of March, in this same year, Edward earl of Marche, eldest son to the duke of York, who had so lately been beheaded, accompanied by the earl of Warwick and other English barons, marched in arms to London, where he was received as king, and was offered the crown, but refused to accept of it, until, as he said, he should drive his enemies out of the kingdom. He thence led his army to York, where the queen, the duke of Somerset, and those of her party, were waiting in great numbers to give him battle. When the two armies approached, an engagement was agreed on between the parties, to take effect near to a place called Ferrybridge, eight leagues from York*; and when the day of battle arrived, the earls of Marche and of Warwick ordered their van to advance, under the command of earl Warwick's unclet, which was severely handled by the Lancastrians, and put to the rout. The duke of Somerset, thinking the battle won, allowed his troops to plunder and strip the dead. News of this was carried instantly to the earl of Marche, whose army, though very large and unbroken, was much alarmed at the intelligence. When the earl saw them thus panic-struck, he had it proclaimed through the ranks, that whoever was frightened might return home, but that all who were willing to share his fortune should, if successful, receive a sum of money; and that whoever fled, after having agreed to remain, the person who put him to death should be handsomely paid for so doing.

The earl of Warwick, hearing that his uncle was slain, and his men defeated, cried out, with tears, 66 I pray to God that he would receive the souls of all who die in this battle:" then added, "Dear Lord God, I have none other succour but thine now in the world, who art my Creator and Redeemer, to apply to: I beg, therefore, vengeance at thy hands!" Then drawing his sword, he kissed the cross at the handle, and said to his men, "Whoever chooses to return home may, for I shall live or die this day with such as may like to remain with me." On saying this, he dismounted, and killed his horse with his sword.

On the morrow, the main body of each army was no near that a general battle took place, which was most bloody and severe; insomuch that it lasted three days,- and for some time no one could tell which side would be victorious: at length, the queen's party were defeated and almost all killed or made prisoners. Among the principal persons of note who fell that day were, the earl of Northumberland ‡, the lord Clifford, the lord Muelle§, brother to the earl, the lord Willoughby, the lord Wells, son to the duke of Buckingham, the lord Grey, sir Andrew Trollop, a terrible man-at-arms, who had done marvellous deeds of valour at this and other battles, and numbers of other valiant gentlemen, and others, to the amount of thirty thousand. Some that were made prisoners were afterward beheaded at York ||.

After the battle, Edward entered York, and had the heads of his father and of his other friends taken down from the gates and most honourably interred; and magnificent obsequies were performed for their souls in the cathedral. He then returned to London, triumphant after his victory, where he was joyfully received, and soon after crowned king of England. On the other hand, the queen and the duke of Somerset had retreated to a castle, wherein they remained until they heard that king Edward was marching to besiege it ¶. On this

The battle of Towton. Ferrybridge is twenty miles only from York.

+ Probably Ralph Nevil, earl of Westmoreland, who is named among the slain at this battle.

Henry Percy, the second earl of that name and family, who fell in this long contest. The former was killed at the first battle of St. Albans, mentioned before. I believe that no earl of Shrewsbury fell on this occasion, and that the continuator of Croyland in this point confounds the battle of Towton with that of Northampton, mentioned above.

§ Muelle. Q. Nevill.

Those who were employed to number and bury the dead, (as we are told by a contemporary writer, who lived near the scene of action, Continuat. Hist. Croyland, p. 533,) declared that their number amounted to thirty-eight thousand. Amongst these were many persons of rank and fortune; as the earls of Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Shrewsbury, the lords Clifford, Beaumont, Nevil, Willoughby, Wells, Roos, Scales, Grey, Dacres, and Molineux,-besides a prodigious number of knights and gentlemen !—Henry's Hist. of England, vol. v. pp. 137, 138, 4th ed.

¶ Edward did not leave York until after Easter, and