trumpet, to notify the displacing of the master and officers of the mint, and the causes for the same. In their places, the king appointed only four persons, namely, sir Germain de Merle, Nicholas Potier, Denis le Breton, and Simon Ausoran. It was ordered by this edict, that the crowns of gold bearing the stamp of the king, and which had been current for twenty-four sols parisis three deniers tournois, should be current for thirty-five unzains, equivalent to twenty-five sols eight deniers parisis; and that the other crowns that were marked with a crescent instead of a crown, should pass for thirty-six unzains, worth twentysix sols six deniers parisis, and the new twelve-penny pieces were to pass for twelve pennies tournois. This day, by permission from the king, the remains of Regnault Veloux, who had been executed for treason, were collected together, his body from the gibbet of Montfaucon, and his head from the lance to which it had been affixed, fronting the townhouse, and carried to the church of the Cordeliers for interment, where a handsome funeral service was performed for the salvation of his soul, all at the cost and expenses of the friends and relatives of the late Regnault Veloux. On St. Stephen's day, in this year, there appeared before the town-house in Paris a Lombard knight, called sir Boufillé, who had been challenged to mortal combat on foot by an Arragonian knight, but who had failed to keep his engagement on the day appointed for the combat. To obtain such damages as in reason he ought to have, the said Boufillé had come before the count de Dammartin, whom the king had nominated judge, to decide the differences between them. Boufillé appeared in full armour, with his battle-axe on his wrist ready for the combat, and was preceded by his banner and three trumpets, followed by many servants, one of whom bore another battle-axe. After he had stated his case, and made his appeal to the count de Dammartin, he retired to his lodgings at the sign of the Great Cup, near to the town-house. Sunday, the 28th of December, the duke of Alençon, who had long been confined in the prisons of the Louvre, was, by orders from the king, taken thence about six in the evening, to be lodged in any private house that should be by his guards thought sufficiently secure. Sir Denis Hesselin, Jacques Hesselin his brother, and sir John de Harlay, commander of the night-guard of Paris, were appointed to conduct him; which they did, to the house of the late Michael l'Huillier, whither he was preceded by four lighted torches. In the month of January following, the king caused proclamation to be made in Paris, that whereas, from long antiquity, the kings of France had been allowed by the different popes to assemble, every five years, the prelates of France for the reformation of the church; and whereas this had been neglected for some years, the king, desirous to guard and preserve the rights of the Gallican church, now ordered a council of the prelates and churchmen to be holden at Lyon, or in some town near; and for this purpose the king commanded all archbishops, bishops, and other dignitaries, to be resident in their several dioceses, that they might be in readiness to attend this council at whatever place it should be appointed to be holden, under pain of having all their temporal property seized on by the king, should they fail of obeying this edict as to their residence, within six months after the proclamation of the said edict. Another proclamation followed the above, stating, that, whereas the king, to answer some urgent demands respecting the public welfare, had ordered a crown to be paid for every pipe of wine that was exported, and that all other provision was to pay in proportion, which taxes had for some time been neglected to be raised, he therefore ordered the tax of a crown to be paid from one extremity of the kingdom to the other, on every pipe of wine exported, but that the taxes on other provision were to cease and be annulled. Master Laurence Herbelot, king's counsellor, and Denis Chevalier, formerly notary to the Châtelet, were appointed to collect this tax,-although the king had, a little before, nominated master Pierre Jouvelin inspector of accounts, who was now displaced by this new appointment. In the month of February, the king left Tours and Amboise for the Bourbonnois and Auvergne. He there performed a nine-days' devotion at the church of Our Lady at Puy, and afterwards went into the Lyonnois and Dauphiny. During his stay at Puy, he received intelligence that the Swiss had met the duke of Burgundy and his army as they were on their march to enter Swisserland, and had defeated him with the loss of sixteen or eighteen thousand men, and taken all his artillery. It was thus told :-When the duke of Burgundy had won the town of Granson, he marched his army along the lake of Neufchâtel, toward Fribourg, and found means to gain two castles at the entrance of Swisserland. The Swiss, though informed of this as well as of the capture of Granson, kept advancing to meet him; and, on the Friday preceding the first Sunday in Lent, surrounded these castles so effectually that none could come out. They posted two ambuscades in a small wood hard by, and near to the main body of the Burgundians. On the morrow very early, the duke began his march with the artillery; but he had no sooner passed the ambuscades, than the Swiss, who did not amount to more than six thousand infantry armed with culverins, began to fire with such success on the enemy, that the duke's van, panic-struck, took to flight, with very great loss *. The Swiss charged the main body, which fled also; and the duke himself escaped with great difficulty, attended by only four persons: he never stopped, but often looked behind him, until he came to Joigné, which was eight country leagues from the place of his defeat, and equal to sixteen leagues of pretty France, which may God preserve and guard! The duke lost the greater part of his best captains, and there was great slaughter among the Burgundians. After this disgraceful flight, and after the Swiss had taken all his artillery, plate, and baggage +, they won the two castles, and hanged all the Burgundians within them. They also regained the town of Granson, and took down from the gibbets the Swiss and Germans, to the number of five hundred and twelve, whom the duke had caused to be hanged, and buried them. At the same time, they seized on an equal number of Burgundians then in Granson, and tied them up with the same ropes, and at the same places where the Germans and Swiss had been hanged. The king, during the month of March, had sent the lord of Beaujeu to besiege the duke of Nemours, in the town of Carlat in Auvergne, with a considerable force and a large train of artillery. The duke surrendered himself into the hands of the lord of Beaujeu, who conducted him to the king then in Dauphiny; whence he was, by the king's orders, carried prisoner to the castle of Vienne. During the siege of Carlat, the duchess of Nemours, daughter to Charles d'Anjou, duke of Maine, was brought to bed in the castle; but whether from vexation at the situation of her husband's affairs, or from illness in childbirth, she died: it was a pity, for she was a good and honourable lady. The duke was afterwards removed from the castle of Vienne to Pierre-en-cise, near Lyon. In the month of April, the count de Campo Basso ‡, a Lombard or Milanese, who had the command of two hundred Lombard lances at the siege of Nuys, and had also been with the duke at the defeat at Granson, left the duke of Burgundy, and went to Brittany, claiming relationship with that duke, under pretence of going on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint James in Gallicia. The duke of Brittany received him well, and made him handsome presents in money. Campo Basso published abroad, that the duke of Burgundy was cruel and inhuman; that all his enterprises would prove abortive; and that he was only losing time, people, and money by his foolish obstinacy §. * Comines says, that he lost but seven men-at-arms. Louis de Châlons, lord of Château Guyon, was the only man of note killed. The spoils of the duke greatly enriched the poor Swiss, and would have been of more advantage had they known the value of the prize. They sold his silver plates and dishes for pewter. The largest diamond then in the world, having an immense pearl fastened to it, was picked up by a Swiss, replaced in its case, and thrown under a cart, and sold afterward to a priest for a florin, who again resold it for three francs. This diamond was, for some time, the first in the crown of France: it is now the second, and known under the name of Sanci, from having been last in the possession of Nicholas de Harlai, lord of Sanci, celebrated in the reigns of Henry III., Henry IV. Sanci bought it of Don Antonio, prior of Crato, who died at Paris, and his pretensions to the crown of Portugal with him. Varillas in his Hist. of Henry III., makes a fine but false story of this diamond.-COMINES. It used to be said that this diamond was called cent-six, from weighing 106 carats. I believe the emperor Napo leon has it attached to his sword. Count de Campo Basso. "Every author who mentions him calls him by this name; but his true one was Nicholas de Montfort. He probably descended from some lord of the house of Montfort l'Amaury, several of whom established themselves in the kingdom of Naples, and took the title of Campo Basso from lands situated in the province of Molissa of that kingdom. Cifron, maitre d'hôtel to the duke of Lorraine, when made prisoner by the duke of Burgundy, who caused him to be hanged, would have told him of the intended treachery of Campo Basso, but he would not hear him. Louis XI. informed him that Campo Basso was a traitor; but he refused to believe it, thinking it only a device of the king to gain Campo Basso to his service."-COMINES. § To explain the occasions and consequences of the several wars in which the duke of Burgundy was engaged down to the period of his death, would be to overload this meagre chronicle with a profusion of commentary which it hardly seems to deserve. It is better to refer generally to the histories of the times, especially to Comines, for all these particulars. CHAPTER CLXXII.-THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY BORROWS MONEY ΤΟ RAISE FORCES ΤΟ OF BURGUNDY AT MORAT IN SWISSERLAND, AND IN THE COUNTY OF ROMONT*.— [A. D. 1476.] In the month of May, in this year, the duke of Burgundy, smarting from the defeat at Granson, was more eager than ever to be revenged on the Swiss and Germans, and determined to lay siege to the town of Strasbourg; but this he was unable to do without reinforcements of men, and without obtaining a loan of money from his different towns. To succeed in this business, he despatched his chancellor, master William Gounet, and other delegates to the number of twelve, to the principal towns under his government, to relate to them his distress from the defeat at Granson, and to express his determination to be revenged on the Swiss, which induced him to apply to them for money and men. He wanted them to advance him a sixth part of their property, and six men each town, one of whom was to be equipped in armour. The towns in Ghent, Bruges, Brussels, Lille, and the estates of Flanders, replied to this application from the delegates, that in regard to the duke of Burgundy, whom they considered as their natural lord, if he were hardly oppressed by the Germans, or had not a sufficiency of men to return to his own country in safety, they would expose their lives and fortunes in the bringing of him home; but in respect to continuing the they had resolved not to afford him any further assistance in men or money. In this interval, the king of France had made Lyon his chief residence, making good cheer; and thither came to him his uncle the king of Sicily, to whom he gave a cordial reception on his arrival, carrying him to see the fair and the handsome citizens' wives and daughters of Lyon. Thither also came a cardinal, nephew to the pope, who had committed some outrages against the king at Avignon, and also against the archbishop of Lyon legate from the pope. The cardinal waited some time for an audience,-but at length the disputes between him, the king, and the archbishop, were amicably settled. At the same time, the king of Sicily entered into engagements with the king, that the county of Provence, after his decease, should revert, with all its rights and privileges, to the king, and be united for ever to the crown. In return for this, queen Margaret of England, daughter to the king of Sicily, and widow of Henry VI. was released from her imprisonment by the king of France, who paid king Edward fifty thousand golden crowns for her ransom. In consequence, queen Margaret joined in the cession of the county of Provence to the king after her father's death, on having a sufficient pension secured to her annually for her life.t war, On the 13th day of June, the seneschal of Normandy, count of Maulevrier, and son to the late sir Pierre de Brézé, killed at the battle of Montlehery, went to the village of Romiers, near Dourdan, which belonged to him, for the sake of hunting. He took with him his lady, the princess Charlotte of France, natural daughter of the late king Charles VII. by Agnes Sorel. After the chace, when they were returned to Romiers to sup and lodge, the seneschal retired to a single-bedded room for the night. His lady retired also to another chamber, -when, moved by her disorderly passions (as the husband said), she called to her a gentleman from Poitou, named Pierre de la Vergne, who was head huntsman to the seneschal, and made him lie with her. This was told to the seneschal by the master of his household, called Pierre l'Apothicaire; when he instantly arose, and, taking his sword, broke open the door of Romont, a town of Swisserland, in the canton of Fribourg, and capital of an extensive bailiwick, which was formerly a county. †This is entirely a mistake. Queen Margaret had been set at liberty in November 1475, and on the 7th of March following, she renounced all her claims to the county in favour of the king. This was two months before the treaty with king Réné was concluded.—DU CLOS. the chamber where his lady and the huntsman were in bed. The huntsman started up in his shirt,-and the seneschal gave him first a severe blow with his sword on the head, and then thrust it through his body, and killed him on the spot. This done, he went into an adjoining room, where his children lay; and finding his wife hid under the coverlid of their bed, dragged her thence, by the arms, along the ground, and struck her between the shoulders with his sword. On her raising herself on her knees, he ran his sword through her breast, and she fell down dead. He sent her body for interment to the abbey of Coulons, where her obsequies were performed, and he caused the huntsman to be buried in the garden of the house wherein he had been killed. While the king was at Lyon, he kept a large army, ready for any event, in that neighbourhood, and there heard that the duke of Lorraine had joined the Swiss, Berners, and Germans, in their opposition to the duke of Burgundy, who, in his madness and folly, had again entered Swisserland. He had with him a considerable train of artillery, and a great number of merchants, who, bringing provisions, followed the army that was encamped before a little town in Swisserland, called Morat, with the intent to besiege it. On the 22nd day of June, very early in the morning, the duke of Lorraine made an attack on the duke's van, and defeated the whole of it. This van consisted of more than twelve thousand combatants, and was under the command of the count de Romont*, who, in great haste, found means to escape, with eleven others. The Swiss that were in Morat now joined the troops of the duke of Lorraine, forced the camp of the Burgundians, and put to death all they met without mercy. The duke of Burgundy was glad to retreat with the few of his army who had escaped this general slaughter, and again fled, frequently looking behind him, to Joigné, which was distant fifteen or twenty French leagues from the field of battle. He again lost all his baggage, which consisted of his plate, tapestries, and numberless valuables. The Swiss and Germans, in consideration of the great services the duke of Lorraine had done them, presented him with all the Burgundian artillery that had been taken, to make him amends for his artillery which the duke of Burgundy had carried off from Nancy when he had stormed that town. According to the accounts of the heralds and pursuivants who examined the field of battle, there were twenty thousand seven hundred men slain this day, as well within as without the encampment. The Swiss pursued the Burgundians after the defeat, and slew many on their flight to Joigné,-and set fire to and destroyed the whole of the county of Romont, and put to death without mercy all who fell into their hands. When this business was done, the duke of Lorraine withdrew to Strasbourg, and departed thence with four thousand combatants, to lay siege to his town of Nancy, in which were from a thousand to twelve hundred men in garrison for the duke of Burgundy. Having formed his siege, he went into Swisserland, and returned thither with a strong reinforcement of men. The king, having made a long stay at Lyon, went to Plessis les Tours, to the queen and dauphin, and remained there some time. He thence made a pilgrimage to the church of our Lady of Behuart, to offer up his thanksgivings that his affairs had prospered so well during his stay at Lyon. He sent also many rich gifts to churches wherein the holy Virgin was particularly worshipped. Among others, he gave two hundred golden crowns to the church of our Lady at Ardembourg in Flanders. On his return from Lyon, he was accompanied by two dames of that town as far as Orleans: one was called La Gigonne, who had been married to a merchant of Lyon,-the other was named La Passefillon, wife to another merchant of the same place, called Anthony Bourcier. The king, in order to do honour to these two women, made them very handsome presents,—and married La Gigonne to a young Parisian, named Geoffry de Caulers, to whom he gave money and offices. The husband of La Passefillon he appointed counsellor in the chamber of accounts at Paris, in the room of master John Reilhac, whom, for this purpose, he displaced. On leaving Orleans, he put these women under the protection of Isabeau de Caulers, wife to master Philip le Begue, examiner of accounts in the exchequer at Paris, to conduct them to *Count de Romont. Jacques de Savoye, count de In an open building at Morat, the blanched bones of Romont, baron de Vaux, son to Louis duke de Savoye and the Burgundians slain at this battle are now shown. Anne of Cyprus. that city. The king went from Orleans to Amboise and Tours, where the queen and the dauphin were, and thence on a pilgrimage to our Lady of Behuart, and other places of devotion, and then returned again to Plessis les Tours. When the town of Nancy had been some time besieged by the duke of Lorraine, it was surrendered to him on capitulation, that the Burgundians should march away in safety with their baggage. It was not more than a month after the duke of Lorraine had revictualled and regarrisoned Nancy, before the duke of Burgundy, who, on his defeat at Morat, had retreated to the town of Rivieres, near Salines, in Burgundy, where he had assembled as large a force as he was able, appeared before it to besiege it in his turn. The duke of Lorraine, in the mean time, had gone into Swisserland, to collect a sufficiency of troops to succour Nancy, and to raise the siege. About this period, the king of Portugal, who laid claim to the crown of Spain in right of his queen, left Portugal, and came to Lyon, and thence to Tours, to solicit the aid of the king in the recovery of his lawful rights. He was kindly received by the king, and remained some time at Tours, where he was handsomely feasted by many of the nobles, but all at the king's expense. On leaving the king, he went to Orleans, where he was well received, and thence came to Paris, and made his public entry. He arrived on Saturday, the 23rd of November, between two and three in the afternoon, at the gate of St. Jacques; but the different ranks in Paris went out to meet him as far as the windmill, dressed in their holiday clothes, and in the same manner as if he had been king of France. The provost of marchands and the sheriffs issued out first, dressed in robes of cloth and white and red damask, trimmed with martin skins: they were accompanied by the burghers and officers of the town. After them came sir Robert d'Estouteville, provost of Paris, attended by his lieutenants, civil and criminal, the king's counsellors, and practitioners at the Châtelet, who were very numerous and decently dressed. Then came the lord chancellor d'Oriole, the presidents and counsellors of the court of parliament and of the exchequer, and the officers of the mint and of the treasury, followed by numbers of prelates, archbishops, bishops, and other noble persons. Thus attended, the king of Portugal entered the gate of St. Jacques, where he again met the provost of marchands and the sheriffs, who presented him with a very handsome canopy, emblazoned at each corner with his royal arms, and in the centre with the arms of Spain. Having this canopy supported over him, he was conducted to the church of St. Estienne des Grecs, where he found the rectors of the university, who harangued him on his welcome to Paris. He then advanced to the church of Notre-Dame, and was there received most honourably by the bishop. Having finished his prayers, he proceeded across the bridge of Notre-Dame, and was met at the entrance of Marchepalu by fifty lighted torches, that placed themselves around the canopy. At the end of the bridge of Notre-Dame, a large scaffold was raised against the house of a mantua-maker, named Motin, on which was represented a pageant, allusive to his arrival at Paris; and then he was conducted to his lodgings, at the house of master Laurence Herbelot, in the rue des Prouvaires, where he was well received. Many rich presents were made him, as well by the city as by other persons, and he was carried to see all that was remarkable at Paris and in its neighbourhood. He was first taken to the court of parliament, which was very resplendent, for all the chambers were adorned and hung with tapestries. In the great chamber, he was met by the lord chancellor d'Oriole, the presidents, prelates, and counsellors, handsomely dressed; and a cause was pleaded before him, touching the patronage of the crown, by master François Hasle, archdeacon of Paris, and the attorney-general, who were opposed by master Pierre de Brabant, advocate in that court, and the curate of St. Eustache. The pleadings of the two advocates were very eloquent and pleasant to hear: after which, he was shown the different chambers and apartments of the court. On another day, he was carried to the hall in the bishop's palace, to be present at a theological disputation; and thence he went to see the prisons and court of the Châtelet, which was likewise hung with tapestry,-and all the officers of the court were dressed each in his official robe. Sunday, the 1st of December, all the members of the university passed in procession under the windows of his lodgings, to attend high mass at the church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois. In his different visits, he was always attended by the lord de |