amusement.

larly sir Denis Hesselin, to show these two barons all the curiosities in Paris, of which he acquitted himself so as to deserve the king's thanks. They remained in Paris eight days, during which they were daily feasted, and carried to the forest of Vincennes for their Among other entertainments, a grand one was given them at the king's palace of the Tournelles, to which were invited many ladies, damsels, and citizens' wives and daughters, to add to its brilliancy. These two barons now left Paris, to wait on the king at the abbey de la Victoire near Senlis.

This month the king departed from the abbey de la Victoire for the Soissonnois, and stopped at the abbey of Nôtre Dame de Liesse. During this journey, he took possession of the town of St. Quentin, which the constable had seized by driving out the royal garrison; for the constable had now deserted the king, and joined the duke of Burgundy. But what was worse, he had written letters to king Edward, after he had crossed the sea to England, in which he called him a coward, a pitiful and poor sovereign, for having made a treaty with a king who would not keep one of his promises, and that in the end he would find himself completely duped. King Edward, on the receipt of these letters, discovered the treachery of the constable to his sovereign. The king gave his permission for the lord Howard and the master of the horse to return to England, and presented them, on their departure, with many valuable gifts, as well in money as in gold and silver plate. He caused proclamation to be made in Paris, that they were at liberty to carry away with them as much wine as they pleased, on paying for it. The king passed the month of October at Verdun, and other places on the borders of Lorraine, and then returned to Senlis and to the abbey de la Victoire, where ambassadors met him from Brittany, who concluded a peace between him and their duke, on his renouncing all the engagements and alliances he had formed against the king. The duke of Burgundy accepted of a truce similar to that which had been concluded with the English.

On the 16th of October, this truce was proclaimed by sound of trumpet throughout Paris. It was to commence the 14th of the preceding month, and to continue for nine years; and the merchandise of both countries was to have a free passage and entrance in and throughout each of them,—and during this period, every one had liberty to repossess his landed property. The king returned to St. Denis, and thence to Sauvigny near Montlehery, to Malesherbes, to Orleans, Tours, and Amboise.

On the 20th of November, a gentleman called Regnault de Valoux, a native of Poitou, and greatly in the confidence of the count du Maine, was, by sentence of the court of parliament, brought to Paris to be executed and quartered, for having made many journeys to divers great lords of the realm, to induce them to form conspiracies against the king, and to the prejudice of the kingdom and the public welfare. By orders of the court, great attention was paid to the future salvation of the soul of Regnault; for the curate of the Magdalenchurch at Paris, a very able divine, and two learned clerks, Cordelier friars, were allowed him. His members were hung on four of the gates at Paris, and his body on the gibbet.

CHAPTER CLXXI. -THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY DELIVERS THE CONSTABLE, LOUIS DE LUXEMBOURG, INTO THE HANDS OF THE KING'S OFFICERS, BY WHOM HE IS CARRIED PRISONER TO THE BASTILE AT PARIS.-THE COUNT DE ROUSSY IS CONDUCTED A PRISONER FROM BURGES TO MONTILS LES TOURS.-THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE KING AND HIM. THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF THE CONSTABLE AT PARIS. SOME OF THE OFFICERS IN THAT CITY ARE DISPLACED. THE DUKE D'ALENCON DELIVERED FROM THE LOUVRE. A COUNCIL ORDERED BY THE KING. THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY DEFEATED BY THE SWISS AT GRANSON. THE DUKE OF NEMOURS MADE PRISONER AT CARLAT, IN THE KING'S NAME, BY THE LORD DE BEAUJEU.—OTHER EVENTS IN THIS YEAR OF MCCCCLXXV.

In one of the articles of the truce between the king of France and the duke of Burgundy, was a stipulation for the delivery of the constable de St. Pol into the hands of the king's offiThis was complied with by the duke; and the constable was given in charge to the

cers.

lord admiral bastard of Bourbon, the lord de St. Pierre, the lord de Bouchaige, master Guillaume de Cerisay, and others, by whom he was carried prisoner to Paris. They led him on the outside of the walls to the entrance of the bastile from the fields; but as that gate was closed, they took him to the gate of St. Anthony, and thence through part of the town to that fortress. The constable had on a short cloak of camlet, lined with black velvet, in which he was wrapped up, and mounted on a small courser in fine condition. When he dismounted, he was met in the court of the bastile by the lord chancellor, the first president of the court of parliament, and all the other presidents and counsellors of that court; there was also sir Denis Hesselin, master of the king's household, to receive him. Those who escorted him delivered him over to the care of Philip L'Huillier, governor of the bastile; but the lord admiral, before their departure, addressed the chancellor and the presidents, in the presence of the constable, nearly in the following words:-" My lords who are here present, behold the lord de St. Pol, whom the king ordered me to demand from the duke of Burgundy, in consequence of an article in the last truce concluded between them, and who performed his promise by delivering him into my hands. I have taken every care of him, and now surrender him up to you, for you to proceed on his trial with as much diligence as may be,—for this the king has charged me to say to you." After which, the lord admiral quitted the bastile. The constable being thus left in the hands of his judges, they lost no time in proceeding to his trial, and examined him on the various charges laid against him. To the interrogatories he made verbal answers, as to the different points of his imputed crimes, which were all put down in writing, copied out fair, and sent to the king.

On the 4th of December, one of the king's heralds, called Montjoye, a native of Picardy, and who had resided mostly with the count de St. Pol, while constable, came to Paris with his son, to wait on master John de Ladriesche, president of the chamber of accounts and treasurer of France, who was from the country of Brabant. He brought to him letters from the count de Marle, his wife and children, to induce him to aid, with all his interest, the constable, father to the count de Marle. The president refused to receive the letters brought by the herald, except in presence of the lord chancellor and the other ministers of the king, —and, for this reason, carried the herald to the chancellor, that the letters might be opened and examined. But as John de Ladriesche remained long in conference with the chancellor, the herald and his son returned to their lodgings, and, mounting their horses, set out for Bourget*; although they told their host to say, if any one should inquire after them, that they were gone to sleep at Bourg la Reine. When John de Ladriesche had quitted the chancellor, he sought Montjoye, to have the letters, and, not finding him, sent for him to Bourg la Reine, where he had never been; but two archers of Paris discovered him at Bourget, and brought him and his son back to Paris. They were carried to the town-hall, and examined separately by some of the king's council, and their depositions were reduced to writing by sir Denis Hesselin. They were then delivered over to the care of Denis Baudart, an archer of Paris, in whose house they were confined twenty-five days, and strictly guarded by three archers of Paris.

At the beginning of December, the count de Roussyt was conducted as a prisoner of war, from the great tower in Bourges to Plessis du Parc, formerly called Montils les Tours, where the king then resided. The king remonstrated sharply with him on the foolish conduct he had long persevered in, and the great and manifold outrages he had done to his country and subjects as marshal of Burgundy for the duke, and how disgracefully he had been made prisoner, while bearing arms against his sovereign, by the duke of Bourbon. The count had pledged his word to the lord de Combronde, from whom the duke of Burgundy had purchased him for twenty-two thousand golden crowns. Of all this the king reminded him, — and frightened him so effectually, that the count's blood ran cold. At length, however, the king agreed to his ransom, for forty thousand crowns,-but only two months were allowed him for the payment; and he was assured, that on his failure he would be put to death.

The trial of the constable now proceeded rapidly before the chancellor, presidents, and counsellors of the court of parliament, the lord de St. Pierre, and others nominated for the Bourget, within a league of Paris.

+ Count de Roussy,-Anthony of Luxembourg, son to the constable.

purpose. It was ordered that on Tuesday the 19th of December, the constable should appear before the parliament, to hear his sentence read. On Tuesday morning, the lord de St. Pierre, who had the care of him, came into his chamber, in the prison of the bastile, and said, “My lord, what are you about? are you asleep?" The constable replied, "Oh no! It is long since I have slept; but I am amusing myself with thinking, and other fancies." St. Pierre then said, that he must rise to appear before the court of parliament to answer some questions which the members wanted to put to him, and which could not be well done out of court. In saying this, St. Pierre added, that it had been ordered that he should accompany him, as well as sir Robert d'Estouteville, the provost of Paris. This somewhat alarmed the constable, for two reasons, which he then declared. First, because he thought it was intended by this measure to take him from under the guard of Philip l'Huillier, governor of the bastile, by whom he had been attentively treated, and place him in the hands of d'Estouteville, whom he reputed his enemy, and who, he thought, would use him harshly; and, secondly, he was afraid of being insulted, should he pass through the populace of Paris. These alarms were removed by the lord de St. Pierre, who assured him, that it was not intended to carry him to another prison,-and he engaged to convey him, without insult, to the court of parliament. On this he mounted his horse, and set out from the bastile, and went to the palace of justice, riding between the lords de St. Pierre and d'Estouteville, who made him dismount at the steps, opposite the Porte aux Merciers in the court.

As he mounted the steps, he met the lord de Gaucourt and Hesselin, who saluted him, and bade him welcome. The constable returned their salutes, and, when at the top, was led to the "tour criminelle" of the court of parliament, where he found the lord chancellor, who addressed him nearly as follows:-"My lord of St. Pol, you have hitherto been reputed a knight of the utmost courage and fortitude: since that has been your character, you will now have greater need to display it than ever." He then added, "My lord, you must take from your neck the collar of the king's order, which you now wear." The count replied, that he would willingly do so, and applied his hand to take it off his neck; but, as it was fastened by a pin behind, he desired St. Pierre to aid him, which he did. He then kissed it, and delivered it to the chancellor. He was then asked by the chancellor for the sword which had been given him when he was created constable he replied, that he had it not,—for when he was arrested, and carried to the bastile, everything was taken from him but what he now appeared in. The chancellor held him excused for not producing the sword, and departed. Immediately after came master John de Poupaincourt, one of the presidents of the court of parliament, and spoke as follows:-"My lord, you know that, by the king's orders, you have been confined in the bastile for certain crimes that have been laid to your charge. These crimes have been inquired into, and you have been heard, and you have put in your answers and justification. But after long and mature deliberations on the evidence on both sides, I am to declare to you, that in the judgment of the court, you have been guilty of high treason, and, in consequence, are sentenced to death by the said court, without delay, —that is to say, you are to be beheaded in the course of the day, in front of the town-house of this city, and all your effects, personal and real, are confiscated to the king's use, together with all your lordships, and every sort of inheritance, hereditary or acquired." This sentence greatly astonished him, for he did not imagine that either the king or the parliament would have adjudged him to death; and he said, "Ah, God be praised! this is a very harsh sentence, and I supplicate and entreat that he would give me the grace to acknowledge all his bounties this day." Then, turning to the lord de St. Pierre, he said, "This is contrary to all you have before told me would happen." He was then transferred to four doctors in divinity, one of whom was a Cordelier friar, called master John de Sordun,—another an Augustin monk,-the third, the grand penitentiary of Paris,-and the fourth, master John Hugh, rector of St. André des Arts, and dean of the faculty of theology in Paris. He requested of them and of the chancellor, that he might have the sacrament administered to him, which was not granted; but he had a mass chaunted, with which he was forced to content himself. They gave him holy water and holy bread, of which he ate some, but never drank of anything from that time.

He remained with these his confessors until one or two o'clock after midday, when he

Having

descended from the palace, and mounted his horse, to go to the town-house, where the scaffolds were erected for his execution. He was attended by the greffier and ushers of the court of parliament,—and on his arrival at the town-house, he dismounted, and was conducted into the office, against which a large scaffold had been placed, from whence a gallery of wood led to a smaller scaffold, which was to be the place of his execution. He made, during his stay in the office, many pitiful lamentations to his confessors, and dictated his last will, under the good pleasure of the king, to sir Denis Hesselin, who wrote down his dispositions. stayed in the office until three o'clock, he advanced on the scaffold,—and throwing himself on his knees, with his face to the church of Notre-Dame, he was long at his prayers with much devotion and contrition; during which, master John Sordun held a crucifix before him, which he often kissed with the utmost reverence, and crying bitterly. When his prayers where ended, he rose up, and one called Petit Jean, son to Harry Cousin, the chief executioner at Paris, came to him, and, with a small cord, tied his hands, which he most patiently suffered; after which, he led him further on to the small scaffold, where he stopped and looked at the chancellor, the lord de Gaucourt, the provost of Paris, the lord de St. Pierre, the greffier civil of the parliament, sir Denis Hesselin, and others the king's officers in great numbers, praying for the king, and entreating them to pray for his soul,-"not," as he said, "if it should cost them anything, and be anyway injurious to their interests." He then turned to the populace, and besought them to pray for his salvation. Having done this, he placed his two knees on a small woollen qushion, having on it the arms of the town, and moved it with one of his feet more conveniently. His eyes were now bandaged by Little John, while he was praying to God, talking to his confessors, and earnestly kissing the cross. Little John now took the sword, which was given to him by his father, and instantly made his head fly from his shoulders so expeditiously that the body fell at the same time on the scaffold with the head.

Little John took up the head, and, having washed it in a pail of water placed there for the purpose, fixed it on the rails of the scaffold for the view of the spectators, who amounted, as was thought, to more than two hundred thousand persons. After some little time, the body was stripped, and, with the head, wrapped in a fine linen cloth, and put in a wooden coffin which sir Denis Hesselin had caused to be prepared. A body of Cordelier friars now approached, to carry away the corpse, to inter it in their church at Paris,-to whom sir Denis Hesselin ordered forty torches to be given, to convoy the body to their church, where, on the morrow, a handsome funeral service was performed. Another was also celebrated in the church of Saint John en Grève, where a grave had been dug, on the supposition that his body would have been there buried. Indeed, this would have been the case, had not master John Sordun told the constable, that a countess de St. Pol had been buried in their church, which made it desirable that he should be there interred likewise. This the count assented to, and prayed his judges that his body might be carried to the church of the Cordeliers. +

After the execution, the whole of the crimes of the said constable, and the sentence passed on him, were publicly read in the court of parliament, with open doors, when divers enormous treasons by him committed were now divulged. Among others, it was declared, that the duke of Burgundy, in conjunction with the count de St. Pol, had sent ambassadors, namely, sir Philip Bouton and sir Philip Pot, knights, on the part of the duke, with Hector de l'Ecluse on the part of the constable, to the duke of Bourbon, to prevail on him to join them in arms against the king, and abjure his allegiance to him; and, although the lord de Fleurac had told them that their attempt was vain, for that the duke would rather die than forfeit his loyalty, the said L'Ecluse had again returned thither with information from the constable, that the English were about invading France, and, with the assistance of the duke of Burgundy and the constable, would doubtless conquer the kingdom. He strongly advised the duke of Bourbon, that, to avoid the ruin that must ensue to his towns and country, he should join them as he would find it most profitable so to do,—for should any misfortunes befall him after this notice, he would have himself solely to blame for them. The duke of Bourbon replied to L'Ecluse, that he should not follow his advice,- for that he would rather die, with the loss of all he possessed, and be reduced to the poverty of Job, than consent, in art or part, to any thing that should be to the prejudice of the king or his kingdom. Hector, therefore, went back again as unsuccessful as before. The duke of Bourbon had, during these negotiations, transmitted the constable's sealed proposals to the king, which clearly discovered the constable's treason in this instance, and also in others which he had confessed on his trial. The examinations were all read,-but, as they were of great length, I omit them for the sake of brevity.

After the constable had confessed himself, and was preparing to mount the scaffold, he told his confessors, that he had sewed up in his doublet seventy half-crowns of gold, which he took out and gave to the Cordelier, to be distributed in charity from his love to God and for the ease of his conscience. The Cordelier replied, that they would be well employed if distributed among the poor novices of his convent: the Augustin said the same. In order to satisfy them, he desired that they would divide the sum among themselves, and make such distribution in charities as their consciences should approve of. He then took a gold ring set with a diamond from his finger, and, giving it to the penitentiary, desired that he would offer it to the image of the Virgin Mary, and place it on her finger, which he promised to perform. Addressing himself to master John Sordun, he said, "Reverend father, here is a stone that I have long worn round my neck, and which I loved much for its virtue of preserving the wearer from all poison and pestilence,-which stone I beg of you to bear to my young son, to whom you will say, that I entreat he will be careful of it, out of love to me." The friar promised to obey his wishes.

After his execution, the chancellor demanded of the four confessors if he had given them anything; and they informed him of the half-crowns, the ring, and the stone. The chancellor said, that in regard to the half-crowns and the ring, they must obey the injunctions of the deceased; but as to the stone, it must be delivered to the king, for him to do with it according to his pleasure. In consequence of the execution of the constable, the following short epitaph was made:

"Mille quatre cens l'année de Grace
Soixante quinze, en la grande place,
A Paris, que l'on nomme Grève,

L'an que fut fait aux Anglois treve,

De Decembre le dix-neuf,

Sur un échauffaut fait de neuf,

Fut amenè le connetable,
Accompagnié grand et notable,
Comme le veut Dieu et raison,
Pour sa grande trahison:
Et là il fut décapité,

En cette très noble cité."

On Saturday, the 23rd of December, an edict was published at Paris, by sound of

Besides these three sons, who were temporal princes, the constable had two others, John his eldest, who was called count of Marle and Soissons, and killed at the battle of Morat, in the life-time of his father, and Charles bishop of Laon, who died in 1509. His daughters were Jacqueline, the wife of Philip de Croy, count of Porcien; Helen, the wife of Janus of Savoy, count of Geneva; Philippa, abbess of Moncel; and Jane, a nun. Of all these

children, Louis and Jane were the offspring of his second marriage with Mary of Savoy, the sister of Margaret the wife of his eldest surviving son Peter. The constable had besides a numerous illegitimate progeny. John, bishop of Angouleme; Jane, married to Anthony d'Ailly, lord of Varennes; Margaret, the wife of Philip d'Inchy, castellan of Douay, &c. &c.