The lord de Moy, who was governor of Clermont, from vexation at this loss carried on a severer war than before on Mondidier, which made it necessary to post garrisons of men-atarms in all the towns and castles round to oppose it. Thus did the country suffer greater hardships from both parties than before peace was concluded, as each destroyed it at their pleasure. In another quarter, the English won the castles of St. Germain-en-Laye and Gerberoy by storm, and strongly garrisoned them, to the great annoyance of the Parisians. At this time, a shocking and unheard of crime was detected at a village near Abbeville. A woman was arrested on the charge of having murdered several children, of cutting them in pieces, and of having kept them when salted in her house. She was accused of this crime by some robbers, who, having entered her house by night, had discovered parts of the bodies of these children. She confessed herself guilty, and was publicly burned at Abbeville, according to the sentence of the law. Great quarrels and dissentions now arose between those of Brussels and the towns of Louvain, Mechlin, and other places in Brabant, for having constrained all the farmers within the district of Antwerp to carry to them their corn, in prejudice to the inhabitants of Brussels; which caused a war against Mechlin,—and this last town closed the passage of the river with chains, so that no boats could go to Brussels. They met in arms, and very many were slain and wounded on each side; but the duke of Burgundy and his council found means to appease these discords. CHAPTER COXXXV.—A MEETING IS HELD BETWEEN CALAIS AND GRAVELINES BETWEEN THE CARDINAL OF ENGLAND AND THE DUCHESS OF BURGUNDY, TO DELIBERATE ON THE MEANS OF ESTABLISHING A LASTING PEACE BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND. ABOUT the month of January in this year, the cardinal of England and the duchess of Burgundy met at a place agreed on between them, half way from Calais to Gravelines, to consider on the means of establishing a firm peace between England and France. Tents had been pitched for their meeting; and each party was grandly accompanied by nobles, as well ecclesiastical as secular. The ambassadors from the king of France were a master of the household named sir Regnault Girard, knight and lord of Bazoches, and master Robert Mallien, counsellor and master of accounts, to give their advice and aid toward the conclusion of a general peace, and also to treat of the ransom and deliverance of Charles duke of Orleans from his imprisonment in England. Many proposals were offered on different days, but no conclusion was made, except to adjourn, to inform the respective kings of France and England of these proposals, and hold another meeting when they should have been fully discussed. The time and place for another meeting was to be communicated to the duchess of Burgundy, that she might make it known to each party; and it was agreed that, at that time, the duke of Orleans should be conducted either to Calais or to Cherbourg, as the two parties should fix. When these matters had been settled, they all separated, and returned to the places they had come from. In this year, the duke of Burgundy assembled about sixteen hundred combatants, whom he marched toward Calais, to cover and defend against the English a very great number of pioneers, carpenters and labourers, who had been sent thither to break down and destroy a sea-dyke, in order to drown the town of Calais and the surrounding country. The duke had been made to believe that this was possible to be done, and the town destroyed; but when the pioneers had worked a short space of time, they found that it was a work not easily accomplished, the enterprise was therefore abandoned; but they broke down the bridge of Nieulay, and some small dykes, which did very little harm to the English. CHAPTER CCXXXVI.—THE KING OF FRANCE COMPELS RODERIGO DE VILLANDRAS, WHO WAS COMMITTING GREAT WASTE ON HIS TERRITORIES, TO MARCH AWAY AND MAKE WAR ON THE ENGLISH. KING CHARLES of France, in the course of this year, learned that many of his captains were grievously harassing divers parts of his kingdom, and that they kept large bodies of armed men under their command to overrun the provinces. The principal among them was Roderigo de Villandras, who had upwards of six hundred horse under his orders. The king sent him his commands to quit his territories immediately, and to make war on those of the English, but he refused obedience to them. On this, the king, who was at Bourges in Berry, assembled an army to march against him in person, and force him to obey him; but Roderigo, having had information of the king's intentions, retreated toward Toulouse, and thence advanced into Guienne, where, in conjunction with some of that country, he again collected a considerable force. He carried on a severe warfare against the English, to their great loss, and won from them many towns and castles, which he garrisoned with his own men. He entered Medoc, and advanced as far as Soulac*, destroying the country, which he found very rich in all sorts of commodities. In like manner he conquered the territory of Blanchefort, and came to a fort called Châtel-neuf, belonging to the Captal de Buch, which he took by storm. He was soon after joined by the lord d'Albreth† with a strong power of men-at-arms, when they advanced nearer Bordeaux, and took the church of St. Severin, which is but a bow-shot distant from that city. There they quartered themselves, and in the course of the night placed a strong ambuscade among the vineyards close to the town-for the vines there are as high as an arbour-and on the morrow pretended to decamp. The Bordelois, seeing this, sallied out in great numbers, to the amount of full two thousand, and were surprised by those in ambush, when a sharp conflict took place, which lasted a long time, for it was desperately contested by each party; but the French were superior in numbers,—and the English were forced to retire into Bordeaux, after leaving about eight hundred dead on the field. Large detachments of men-at-arms were now posted round Bordeaux, who destroyed, without opposition, that part of the country, which was abundant in all things,-for until then, it had been a long time without suffering the miseries of war. In consideration of these valuable services, and for his courageous actions, the king of France pardoned Roderigo de Villandras‡ all the offences and evil deeds he had done against him. However, in the course of a year, the English reconquered the greater part of these places that had been won from them. CHAPTER CCXXXVII.-POPE EUGENIUS SENDS BULLS TO DIVERS PARTS OF EUROPE.-THEIR TENOR. AT the commencement of this year, pope Eugenius published bulls against the members of the council at Basil, the tenor of which was as follows. "Eugenius bishop, and servant of the servants of God. Every example from the Old and New Testaments admonishes us not to pass over in silence, or to leave unpunished, crimes and misdemeanours,-more especially such as may bring on slander against, or cause a division among, the people committed to our charge. Should we delay pursuing and avenging those faults which have given just offence to God, we should most certainly Soulac, a small town near Bordeaux. Charles II. eldest son and successor of the constable, count of Dreux, &c. married Anne of Armagnac, and died in 1471. Don Roderigo de Villandrado, first count of Ribadeo, was a Castilian by birth, of the town of Valladolid. He married Margaret, a natural daughter of John, duke of Bourbon. Returning to Spain in this year, he performed some essential services for the king of Castile, who in recompense, accorded to him and his descendants, the va luable privilege of eating at the king's table on New Year's Day, and of having the robe worn by the king on that day.-La Mayerne, Hist. d'Espagne, liv. 19. provoke the Divine Wisdom to anger; for the delay of pursuing crimes deserving punishment, according to the judgments of the holy fathers of the church, would be sinful. Those also who contemn the divine commands, and are disobedient to paternal ordinances according to our holy institutions, deserve the severest chastisements, to make others ashamed of similar conduct, that fraternal concord may rejoice, and all take warning from such examples. Should we be remiss in our vigour or solicitude for the welfare of the church, its discipline would perish through our indolence, which would be of the greatest injury to all good and true Christians. To cut off, therefore, the unsound flesh from the sound,-to separate the scabby sheep from the rest, that the whole flock be not infected, is a duty imposed upon us; for as that glorious doctor St. Jerome says, 'Arius, when at Alexandria, was but a spark of fire, but, from not being instantly extinguished, the flame was increased, and spread throughout Christendom." "It was for this cause that our Saviour gave to the bishop of Rome the keys, to bind and unbind such as wandered from the ways of truth, that they may be constrained to return by the bonds of correction and obligation. We may say, therefore, of the apostolical authority, that when, in the judgment of the church, it has consigned those over to Satan who have led others into error, it has exerted its power for the salvation of their souls, and to teach others not to blaspheme. The blessed pope Sixtus says, We keep in our remembrance that we govern under the name of that church in which our greatest pleasure is to glorify our dear Saviour JESUS CHRIST, whose faith nourishes not heresy but totally destroys it.' For this reason, we hold it unlawful to exert our powers, except when the interest of the whole church shall call for it. "In truth, during the latter days, our very beloved sons master Hutin de la Plante, doctor of laws, master John de Plato, doctor of laws, and master Venture du Chastel, licentiate,—all of them presidents at the congregation of the general council of the holy church, the second enjoying the office of proctor, and the last procurator of the said council,have exposed before us the account of the lamentable quarrels that have taken place in the said council, in these words: 'Most holy and reverend father, although this sacred and œcumenical general council has been legally assembled for the preservation of the peace of the catholic and apostolical Roman church, which the blessed Holy Spirit, under the person of our Lord, in the book of Canticles, plainly points out, by saying, "My dove, my undefiled, is but one she is the only one of her mother: she is the choice one of her that bare her." “St. Paul demonstrates the union of the church, and the sacredness of this union, by calling it the body, soul, and hope, of our vocation: one Lord, one faith, one baptism,by baptism, one God; and as the blessed St. Cyprian says, she is the head, a fruitful mother, and, as spouse to JESUS CHRIST, as pure and unadulterated, chaste and holy. The same Cyprian declares, in another place, that there is no ecclesiastical ordinance that does not maintain the unity of the Christian church. Pope Pelagius affirms the same from the words of the blessed St. Austin, a celebrated doctor in the church, and that it has an apostolical throne, irradiated by a succession of bishops. "Nevertheless, from the commencement of this church, the wickedness and wanton conduct of mankind have ever sought to deny and destroy the peace thereof,-against which wickedness, according to the authority of the holy fathers, Divine vengeance has been excited. Whoever therefore shall dare sacrilegiously, and with diabolical intention, to deny this spotless unity, the sacred canon points him out as an enemy to the church, and declares that he cannot have God for his father, unless he hold unity of the universal church; for, since CHRIST died for the church, the church is the body of CHRIST-there can therefore be no doubt but that he who divides the church is guilty of dividing and tearing asunder the body of JESUS CHRIST. "When Dathan and Abiram formed a schism against the honour of God, Divine vengeance caused the earth to open and swallow them, and their adherents perished by fire from heaven. The more inseparable the holy sacrament is with the union of the church, the greater guilt do they incur who attempt to divide them, and who, leaving the legal spouse of the church, choose to follow a false doctrine. Examples of similar wickedness, and the punishments that ensued, are displayed in the Book of Kings; for when the Jews made a distinction between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and the other ten tribes, and, laying aside their lawful king, elected another, the Lord was indignant against the seed of Israel, and held them in derision: he also turned away his face from them. The anger of God is always excited against such as create schisms and division. When the prophet was sent to Jeroboam to reproach him for his sins, and to foretell to him the vengeance that God would take on him and on his race, God forbade him to taste meat or drink with Jeroboam. The prophet, however, disobeyed the commandment, and in consequence, on his return was attacked by a lion, who slew him on the road. From these instances, as St. Jerome says, no one can doubt but that the crime of schism will be severely punished by God. "For some time past, and since the holy general council at Constance, this pernicious schism has laboured to afflict the church of God, and the Christian religion, not only in regard to individuals, but whole cities and provinces have suffered persecution for a length of time, to the ruin of their souls; but at last, through the ineffable mercy of God, and by the labours of many kings and princes, as well secular as ecclesiastic, and of many universities and other loyal Christians, this abominable schism was put an end to. The church was then believed to enjoy that perfect peace which every one desired, as well by the election of the late well-beloved pope Martin as after his decease by the undoubtedly canonical and legal choice of your holiness to the apostolical throne. But we are now constrained to exclaim with the prophet Jeremiah, "We have looked for peace but behold tribulation!" and also with Isaiah, "We have looked for light, and behold darkness!" for several children of perdition, few in number, and of little authority in the council of Basil, have done their utmost, by force and deceit, to put an end to these flattering hopes. "This council had been transferred from Basil to Florence*, in the laudable expectation, (so much wished for by every sect of Christians) of the union of the Eastern and Western churches, and went on for some time, through your authority, with vigour. When those before mentioned, who had remained at Basil, had failed in their promises to the Greeks, and perceived from the leaders of the oriental church, that the most noble prince and emperor, John Paleologus, together with Joseph, of happy memory, patriarch of Constantinople, and numbers of prelates and dignitaries of the Eastern church, were about to attend the œcumenical council at the place appointed by your holiness, and that you, with a multitude of prelates and churchmen, were already gone thither at great expense,-in order to prevent the emperor from meeting you at this council, these aforesaid persons published a detestable monitory against your holiness and against our reverend lords the cardinals of Rome. This not having the desired effect of putting an end to the intentions of the emperor to come to Florence, they published a suspension of your holiness from the functions of the papacy. Notwithstanding these iniquitous and sacrilegious proceedings, by your labour and care, together with the energy of the council, and by divers arguments and disputations, every attempt was made to remove this schism between the Eastern and Western churches, which had lasted five hundred years. 666 At the head of these disturbers of the union of the church was that most disloyal and diabolical Amadeus, late duke of Savoy, who had long before premeditated what he executed, through the instigation of several accursed men and women, who, laying aside all religion, have been converted to Satan by the wicked delusions of devils, who, in common language, are called Sorceresses, Frangules, Straganes or Vaudoyses, of whom there are numbers in this country. By such means, he has for a long time been seduced from the right faith; and in order that he might be elected as the monstrous and deformed head of God's church, he put on the frock of a hermit, aux avichoix†, of a most false hypocrite, that under cover of This council, the eighteenth general council, was first held at Basil, and, after many quarrels had arisen between it and the pope, he transferred it first to Ferrara, and thence to Florence, for the better accommodation of the Greeks. Many of the members of the council, however, remained at Basil, deposed pope Eugenius, and elected Amadeus duke of Savoy pope, under the name of Felix V. See Hist. des Conciles, L'Art de Vérifier les Dates, &c. &c. † Aux avichoix. Denys Sauvage, in his annotations, seems as much puzzled about this word as I have been. He says that, "avichoix" may perhaps mean advice or counsel,—and adds, that the whole of this bull is full of sheep's clothing, he might indulge his wolfish appetite, confident that, in process of time, his adherents in the council of Basil (many of whom were his subjects and the idols of this new Beelzebub) would constitute and elect him pope in opposition to your holiness, the undoubtedly-true vicar of God and legal successor to St. Peter,-to the profanation and pollution of the Christian church. "An unbounded ambition has induced the execrable Amadeus to undertake this diabolical project, which, according to the apostle, is the servitude of devils; and by the advice of a blasphemous synagogue of abandoned men, the stinking abomination of all Christendom, who have deputed for electors certain men, or rather devils disguised under the figures of men, who (like the idol of Nebuchadnezzar) elevated themselves in the true church of God. This Amadeus, in consequence of his profane election, which he gained by means suited to his vast ambition, felt no remorse or horror in clothing himself with a papal vesture, and in exercising the powers of a Roman pontiff, causing himself to be reverenced as such. He has neither been ashamed nor afraid to send his bulls, sealed, to divers parts of the world, in which he styles himself Pope Felix V., proclaiming himself thus the most wretched man on earth, and endeavouring to scatter abroad the poison of his pestilent mind. "Now most holy father, and most sacred council, what should we first seek or demand, or by what tears and groans may we deplore such an unfortunate event, and wipe away the horrid disgrace that must ensue from it to the church? for the greatness of the offence is more than language can express. But we know, most holy and sacred father, that no delay must arise to provide a remedy against the complainings of our dear mother the church, your legal spouse, who, having enjoyed a short peace is again constrained to cry out and lament the loss of it, to the reverend members of this council, saying,-" Have mercy on me, each of you, my friends: my bowels are filled with bitterness, for lions destroy the vineyard of the God of Sabaoth,—and the church, the unsullied robe of Jesus Christ, is rent asunder by the wicked. Let God now arise and destroy his enemies." And thou, holy father, as these things are manifest, and so notorious that they can no longer be concealed, exert thyself in conjunction with this council: judge the cause of thy spouse,—and have in remembrance the reproach cast on thy children. O, most powerful, gird the sword on thy thigh, and verify the words of the Psalmist: "I will pursue mine enemies, to destroy them, and will not return until I shall have laid them all under my footstool, that they no more disturb my peace." Such transgressions ought to be punished with the utmost severity, to prevent any from imitating them in future. 'The words of Moses, the friend and servant of God, should be repeated to the people of Christendom: "Depart all of you from the tabernacles and towns of the wicked." Attend to the example of thy blessed predecessor, who, according to a general council of the church at Ephesus, condemned Dioscorus and his followers to banishment in Calcedonia*. Follow the examples of the holy bishops who have preceded thee on the sacred throne, who have ever exterminated the enemies of God and of his church, from the communion of devout and loyal Christians, and punished them likewise according to their deserts. Avenge, therefore, this new schism that has arisen to thy personal wrong and to that of the Roman church, as well as to the slander of all Christendom, and call to thy aid the powers of this holy œcumenical council to excommunicate from the pale of the church, by the authority of GOD, and of St. Peter and of St. Paul, all the wicked aforesaid, and more especially that grand heresiarch Amadeus, this new antichrist in the church of God, together with all their abettors, and those who have so daringly and illegally taken upon themselves the part of electors. Let them be cast out as the antichrist, and invaders and destroyers of all Christendom, and never, on any account, admit them to thy presence. Let them and their heirs be deprived of all ecclesiastical and worldly dignities, and be condemned to a perpetual sentence of excommunication. Let them be confounded with the wicked, and feel the indignation of the blessed apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, whose church they presume to disturb. May their habitations become a desert, and may no one inhabit their tabernacles! May their children become orphans, and their wives widows, and their existence become so heavy, This was not a general council. It was held at Ephesus in the year 449. The reigning pope was St. Léon.See L'Art de Vérifier les Dates. |