called Jeannet de Grouches, whose brother was with the count de Charolois, was killed by a ball from a cannon. When the count de Charolois was assured that the king had retreated to Corbeil, he caused proclamation to be made, by sound of trumpet, that if any one required a renewal of the battle, he was ready to accommodate him; he then had the dead buried,—and had the bodies of sir Philip de Lalain, the lord de Hames, the lord de Varennes, and others, interred in a chapel near to Montlehery; but, soon afterward, some persons came from Paris with passports, to demand of the count the body of the lord de Varennes, and, with his permission, carried it to Paris, where it was handsomely interred in the church of the Franciscans. He was very much lamented by all who were acquainted with his many excellent qualities. After the king had remained a day or two at Corbeil, he went to Paris on the 18th of July,—and he came thither by the side of the river, near to St. Denis, attended by a small company, not consisting of more than about one hundred horse; but soon after, and daily, there came to him, in Paris, the count du Maine*, admiral of France, and his other captains, with men-at-arms in such abundance that the town and the fields on the river side were full of them. The count de Nevers came to the king at Paris, but staid a very short time, and then returned to Peronne. When the king had sojourned some time in Paris, he sent the bishop of Paris, a wise and prudent prelate, to the count de Charolois, to negotiate a peace between the king and the princes. On the bishop's appearing before the count he said, that the king had sent to know what had moved him to enter his kingdom with so large an army; and that the king informed him, that when he went into the countries of his father, he was not accompanied by a great army, but by very few attendants. The count instantly replied to the bishop, and said, that two things had moved him thus to enter the kingdom; first, to keep the engagement made under his seal with the other princes of the blood-royal, namely, to meet together with their forces near Paris, for the general welfare of the kingdom, on St. John Baptist's day last past. Secondly, to secure the bodies of two men who were supported in the kingdom, and that he had brought so large an army with him for the safety of his person, which, in his proper country, as heir to his father, had been attempted by poison, by the sword, and by endeavouring to carry him off to a foreign country: he therefore had determined to come with a sufficient guard for his safety. In answer to what the king had said, that, when he visited his father, he did not come with a large army, he replied, that at that time he had not the power to come with such a force; and that he had been received nobly, magnificently, and peaceably, in those countries, where no attempts had been permitted to be made against his life or personal liberty, although such had been intended. The count added, that he had not entered France with any design of mischief, but for its general welfare, and had strictly enjoined his men to pay for whatever they might want, without aggrieving any one. "In regard," continued he, "to the force I have brought with me, I wish it to be known to all, that I am a man able and desirous to punish my enemies, and to assist my friends." The bishop, having received this answer, returned to the king at Paris. CHAPTER CXXVIII.-THE DUKES OF BERRY AND OF BRITTANY MEET THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS AT ESTAMPES, WHERE THEY ARE ALSO JOINED BY THE DUKES OF BOURBON, OF CALABRIA, AND OF NEMOURS, WITH THE COUNT D'ARMAGNAC AND OTHERS OF THEIR CONFEDERATION. THE KING OF FRANCE LEAVES PARIS FOR ROUEN. THE Count de Charolois, having remained on the field of battle, and in Montlehery, so long as he pleased, marched his army toward Estampes, to wait for the dukes of Berry and of Brittany, who arrived there the 21st of July, with ten thousand combatants and others * The count du Maine was never Admiral of France. It should be thus :-"The count du Maine, the Admiral of France, and his other captains." Upon the death of Pregent de Coetivy, in 1450, John de Bueil, count of Sancerre, was advanced to this dignity. After the acces This sion of Louis XI., he was displaced, and John, lord of well appointed. The count de Charolois advanced to meet them, and great joy was there on this event. They afterward entered Estampes together. While these things were passing, the count de Charny*, who had left Burgundy with fifty lances to aid the count de Charolois, would not put himself under the orders of the marshal of Burgundy, commander-in-chief of that army, and took a route for himself. He was watched by a detachment from the king's army, and made prisoner,—but his men escaped, and saved themselves as well as they could. About eight days after the arrival of the dukes of Berry and Brittany at Estampes, the dukes of Bourbon and Nemours, with the count d'Armagnac, came thither with a fine army; and were soon after followed by the duke of Calabria with a handsome company, among whom were some Suisses, unarmed, but bold and enterprising. At length the marshal of Burgundy arrived with six hundred Burgundian lances, many dagger-men, but few archers. All these lords would have come sooner, had they been able: but they were so closely followed by the king's army that they were afraid to hazard the event: it must likewise be supposed that they were now more emboldened to attempt a junction, as the count de Charolois had opened a passage for them. They now took the road towards the provinces of Beauce and Gâtinois, for the more easy procuring forage,-and all the towns through which they passed opened their gates to the duke of Berry. On the other hand, the king went from Paris to Rouen, to recruit his army, and to put under arms all his vassals, and every sort of person capable of assisting him against the rebellious princes. After the confederates had refreshed themselves in Beauce and in Gâtinois, they were daily hoping the king would advance and offer them battle; but finding that he was gone to Rouen, they made a bridge at Morett, and crossed the Seine,-then, marching through Brie, passed the Marne by the bridge of Charenton, and quartered themselves near to Paris. The dukes of Berry and Brittany were lodged at Charenton; the count de Charolois in the castle of the count de St. Pol at Conflans; and the van division was posted between Conflans and Paris, while the bastard of Burgundy was quartered with the rear division between Conflans and Charenton. The dukes of Berry and Brittany afterwards moved their quarters from Charenton to St. Maur and Beauté, and round the wood of Vincennes, on the side next the river. The duke of Calabria, with the others, namely, the Burgundians, the Armagnacs, and the Nemours+, remained in Brie, on the opposite side of the river,-and they might amount to about five thousand combatants. During these movements the count de Charolois regained possession of the bridge of St. Cloud, which the royalists had abandoned immediately after the battle of Montlehery. He then caused Lagny-sur-Marne to be taken, and bridges thrown over the river, for the more easy communication of the two divisions of the army, and to besiege Paris, in which was the count du Maine and other captains; but their men were so numerous that they were quartered in the villages on the other side of the Seine, and in blockhouses and small forts which they had erected for quarters. On these bridges being completed, a detachment of the prince's army crossed the river, and advanced so near to Paris that there was but a ditch between them and the royalists, when frequent skirmishes took place, in which many on each side were often killed, wounded, or made prisoners. Among others was slain the son of sir Simon de Lalain §, much regretted by the count de Charolois' army. One day, the princes summoned the town of Paris to surrender, and open its gates to the duke of Berry, regent of France, otherwise they would destroy all their vineyards, houses, and villages, round about, and then attack the town with their whole force. The Parisians Peter de Bauffremont, count de Charny. Moret,-a town of Gâtinois, on the river Loing, about a league from the Seine. James, son of Bernard d'Armagnac, count of La Marche, Castries, Pardiac, &c. a younger son of the constable, was, soon after the accession of Louis XI., rewarded for his services in the wars of Spain, by advancement to the dignity of duke and peer of France. This was at that time, an unprecedented mark of the royal favour, and greatly offended the princes of the blood, as well as the noblemen of the same rank with himself. The policy of Louis was evidently two-fold; first to lessen the supposed dignity of those of his own family by extending it to the families of vassals unconnected with the blood-royal; secondly, to divide the interests of the powerful house of Armagnac, by exciting a subject of jealousy between the elder and the younger branch. § Not, I believe, the lord of Montigny, mentioned before, but another, Simon de Lalain, lord of Chevrain and Descaussins. required a short delay to give their answer; during which, they sent off intelligence of this summons to the king at Rouen, and to signify to him, that, unless he would come to their relief, they would be obliged to surrender. The king, on receiving this news, collected as many men as he hastily could, and made such diligence that he entered Paris the 28th of August. Three days after, he sent the bishop of Paris, with others of his council, and great lords, to the princes, who procured from them a truce for some days; during which, a place was appointed between Paris and Conflans to hold a conference,—and a handsome tent was there pitched for the reception of the deputies on each side, that they might consider on the best means to bring forward a treaty to the satisfaction of all parties. CHAPTER CXXIX.-THE VARIOUS ACCOUNTS OF THE SUCCESS OF THE BATTLE OF MONTLEHERY THAT WERE REPORTED IN DIVERS PLACES. : Or those who fled from the battle of Montlehery at the beginning of the engagement, and could not know the event, some crossed the river Oise, and proclaimed that the count de Charolois had been totally routed others passed by Compiègne, one of whom told the count de Nevers, that indeed the van of the royal army had been thrown into confusion at the beginning, but that the king was victorious; and that the count de St. Pol and the lord de Hautbourdin were slain. He said, that he was ignorant whether the count de Charolois or his brother, the bastard, were killed or taken. This news was immediately written to the duke of Burgundy by the governor of Mondidier; and as the messenger passed through Arras, the intelligence of the count's defeat was soon spread all over the country, which caused much sorrow and lamentation, for they were ignorant how to act. When the lord de Saveuses heard it at Corbie, he set out for Bray-sur-somme, and told the lord de Roubais, the governor, to guard it well; and, if he had not a sufficient garrison, he would send him men enough. He then departed for Bapaumes, attended by about twenty archers; but at first he was refused admittance, which so irritated him that he said, if they did not instantly open the gate, he would enter by force. On hearing this, they admitted him. This refusal surprised many, for Bapaumes legally belonged to the duke of Burgundy, as part of the county of Artois. From Bapaumes, the lord de Saveuses went to Arras, where he assembled the inhabitants, and remonstrated with them on the necessity there was for the well guarding the town, and to raise men for the defence of the country, and succour their lord with the utmost possible diligence; offering, that if they would lend him twenty thousand francs on the security of his lands, he would immediately employ them to subsidize troops for the assistance of the count de Charolois, and for the security of the country. Notwithstanding this generous offer, he could not find any one that would lend him money on these or on other terms: he, however, assembled as many men as he could, so that they amounted to four or five hundred, horse and foot, well equipped. For these exertions, the duke of Burgundy sent him letters-patent, appointing him governor-general of all Artois, and ordered the whole of the towns within the castlewick of Lille to send to him every man capable of bearing arins; by which means, in less than fifteen days, he had with him more than two thousand combatants, but the greater part were infantry. The lords de Roubais, de Fosseux, and others, who had the guard of Bray, having heard of the proceedings of the lord de Saveuses, abandoned Bray, and joined him, who blamed them much for having quitted their garrison, so that several of them returned thither in less than eight days, when different intelligence was brought them. The governor of Compiègne no sooner heard of the defeat of the count de Charolois than he assembled a body of troops, and took the town of Sainte Maixence, and thence went to attack Roye; but the lord du Fay, the governor, defended it so valiantly that they made no impression, and lost many of their men; but, on their marching off, they said they would soon return again with a larger force. This caused the garrisons of Roye and of Mondidier to send in haste to the duke of Burgundy for succour, when the lord de Saveuses sent them as many men as he could spare, having detachments at Bray and elsewhere. While these things were passing, the rivers Seine and Oise were so strictly guarded by the French that no one could cross them with letters or baggage without being stopped and plundered by them, so that by this means no true intelligence of the battle of Montlehery was known until some Carmelite monks and preaching friars had passed these rivers in a boat, and brought the real history of the event of this engagement, by publishing that the count de Charolois had gained the honour and victory! CHAPTER CXXX.-THE KING OF FRANCE FORMS AN ALLIANCE WITH THE LIEGEOIS, TO MAKE WAR ON THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY AND THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS.-THEY BESIEGE THE TOWN OF LUXEMBOURG. A LITTLE before the battle of Montlehery, namely, in the month of June, the king of France sent an embassy to the Liegeois, the ancient enemies of the house of Burgundy, to conclude an alliance with them, that they might make war on the duke of Burgundy and on his son the count de Charoleis. The terms of this treaty were, that, between the feasts of Saint James and Saint Christopher, the Liegeois were to enter the countries of Brabant and Namur, belonging to the duke of Burgundy, and to do all the mischief they possibly could, as in times of war. The king, on his part, was to assist them with two hundred men-atarms, each having three horses at the least, and invade Hainault; promising them, at the same time, never to make peace with the duke or his allies without their assent, and without their being comprehended in the treaty: for the fulfilment of this, it was commonly reported that the king had given his engagement under his hand and seal. Of all these negotiations the duke of Burgundy was fully informed; and about the 22nd day of August, as the duke was mounting his horse in the city of Brussels to go a hunting, a herald delivered to him letters from the Liegeois, containing, in substance, that they defied his son the count de Charolois with fire and sword, and waited an answer. The duke, after perusing the letters, gave them back to the messenger, and bade him carry them to his son. Hearing this answer, the herald returned to Liege, and, shortly after, came back with defiances from the Liegeois to the duke and to all his allies. They were not long before they marched from Liege and entered the duke's territories, committing every sort of mischief, and advanced to lay siege to the town of Luxembourg. The duke, when informed of these proceedings, sent in haste to his friends and allies, namely, the dukes of Cleves and of Gueldres, his nephews, the count of Nassau, the marquis of Rothelin*, the count of Hornet, and to others bordering on the territories of Liege, who raised a large army, and the duke himself would have gone personally to command it; but when the Liegeois saw the power of the duke so great, notwithstanding the army his son had in France, and that the king had failed in his engagement to send two hundred lances to invade Hainault, they broke up their siege, and marched back to Liege. During this time, the duchess of Cleves, daughter to the count de Nevers, came to the duke of Burgundy at Brussels, but three days passed before he would see her. She was then admitted to his presence, and, falling on her knees, with tears, most humbly implored him to take pity on her father and on herself; for that, if her father was ruined, she must also suffer, as well as her three fine sons, by the duke of Cleves; acknowledging, at the same *The marquis de Rothelin is said by Comines, however, to have been with the confederated princes in the army of the duke of Calabria. Rodolph IV. marquis of Hockberg-Rotelin and count of Neufchâtel in Switzerland, died in 1486, leaving his son and successor Philip; upon whose death in 1503 without issue male, the county of Neufchâtel passed by marriage into the house of Dunois. Longueville and the marquisate of Hockberg-Rotelin reverted (by virtue of a prior contract, to the house of Baden. James I. son of William IX. lord of Hornes, was advanced to the dignity of count of the empire by Frederic III. He died a monk in 1488. His son James II. succeeded him, whose son John II. dying without issue, bequeathed the county of Hornes to Philip de Montmorency, lord of Neville, son of his wife by a former marriage. Floris, the son of Philip, was the count of Hornes so celebrated in the history of the Netherlands, who, together with the count of Egmont, perished on the scaffold in 1570. time, that everything her father and herself possessed came from his bounty, who had educated and raised them so high that it was notorious to every one. The duke was so much affected by this speech that his eyes were filled with tears; but he replied, “Your father has ungratefully repaid what he has received from this house. I sent to tell him to depart from Peronne, and to go into his county of Nevers, or into the Rethelois, and there remain until I should have induced my son to be satisfied with him; but he has done neither, and has armed himself against my lord of Berry, and against my son, doing everything in his power to oppose them. He keeps possession of my inheritances of Peronne, Mondidier, and Roye, as if they were absolutely his own; but it is not so, for he holds them for a sum of money, the repayment of which was offered him, but he would not accept it. I know not if he intends seizing my other inheritances in the same way, but he shall not have them; for, if it please God, I will guard them well." On saying this, he left the lady. Three or four days afterward, the duke of Cleves came to Brussels, to speak with the duke, having left his troops in garrison on the borders of Liege. He had not been with the duke for some time, on account of these family quarrels. The good duke received him most kindly, and entertained him handsomely, as he well knew how to do; for he had with him the duchesses of Bourbon, of Cleves, of Gueldres, and other ladies. In the month of June of this year, about six score houses were burnt in the town of Ardres; and it was commonly said, that it had been done through the wickedness of persons sent thither by the chancellor or others of the party of the king of France, and who were to attempt the like throughout the dominions of the duke of Burgundy. Some of these incendiaries were taken at St. Omer, but the rest escaped out of the country. It was full fifteen days after the battle of Montlehery, before the duke of Burgundy received a true account of the event; for no one dared to mention the reports until the event was certainly known, lest he should have a relapse of his late illness, from which he was not perfectly recovered. When, therefore, he was fully ascertained of the truth, he sent a large sum of money to his son for the pay of his troops, under the escort of the lord de Saveuses, accompanied by all his men, as well cavalry as infantry. He brought it very safe to the count at Conflans, in company with the lord de Hautbourdin, who had been sent with a strong force, for greater security, to meet him at Mondidier,-for the French had intended to attack and plunder him; but on their junction, they durst not meet them. The lord de Saveuses, on approaching Conflans, drew up his men in order of battle, and thus waited on the count, who received him most joyfully, and took great pleasure in seeing the old warrior so well and so handsomely armed,-telling him, that he would have given forty thousand crowns if he had been with him at the battle of Montlehery. CHAPTER CXXXI. THE INHABITANTS * OF THE TOWN OF DINANT INSULT THE COUNT THE KING OF FRANCE MEETS THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS AT CONFLANS.-THE DUKE OF BOURBON TAKES THE TOWN OF ROUEN. In the mean time, the inhabitants of Dinant, mortally hating the duke of Burgundy and his son, trusting to the strength of their town, and to their riches, and calling to remembrance that, although they had been besieged seventeen times by kings and emperors, the place had never been taken, but that they had for a long time pillaged and robbed their neighbours, more particularly the subjects of the duke of Burgundy, and had increased their wealth daily by the riches they brought into the town; foolishly believing in the first news brought them of the defeat of the count de Charolois, determined in their folly to show their old envenomed hatred to the house of Burgundy, by dressing up a resemblance of the count de Charolois in his armour, and carrying it to the town of Bovines hard by, which belonged to the duke of Burgundy as parcel of the county of Namur. They were in great numbers, and in arms, and when they were near to the walls of Bovines, they erected a gibbet, and hung thereon this * Dinant, a town of the bishopric of Liege, on the Maes, sixteen leagues from Liege. |