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aid, he would act, and promised it on the word of a king. The archbishop of Bourges then, according to the custom in France, demanded permission to speak, and › said, • Oking!: how canst thou, consistently with honour and justice, thus wish to dethrone, and iniquitously destroy the most Christian king of the French,our very dear and most redoubted lord; the noblest and most excellent of all the kings in Christendom. O king with all due reverence and respect, dost thou think that he has offered by me such extent of territory, and so large a sum of money with his daughter in marriage, through any fear of thee, thy subjects or allies? By no means; but, moved by pity and his love of peace, he has made these offers to avoid the shedding of innocent blood, and that Christian people may not be overwhelmed in the miseries of war; for whenever thou shalt make thŷ promised attempt, he will call upon God, the blessed virgin, and on all the saints, making his appeal to them for the justice of his cause, -and with their aid, and the support of his loyal subjects and faithful allies, thou

wilt be driven out of his dominions, or thou wilt be made prisoner, or thou wilt there suffer death by orders of that just king whose ambassadors we are.

"We have now only to entreat of thee, that thou wouldst have us safely conducted out of thy realm; and that thou wouldst write to our said king, under thy hand and seal, the answer which thou hast had given

to us.'

The king kindly granted their requests; and the ambassadors, having received handsome presents, returned by way of Dover to Calais, and thence to Paris. They reported to the duke of Acquitaine in the presence of the members of the grand council, many knights and other persons, the ill success of their embassy. At the same time, the duke of Acquitaine and the council received letters from the king of England, dated from Winchester, containing his final answer to the proposals that had been made. him.

CHAP. XXIV.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY SENDS AMBASSA

DORS TO THE DUKE OF ACQUITAINE. THE ANSWER THEY RECEIVE. HE TAKES THE OATH.

THE duke of Burgundy, tormented by the clamours of those who had been banished from Paris and the kingdom France, and whom, as I have noticed, he had taken under his protection, was very desirous of alleviating their distress, and for this purpose sent ambassadors to Paris, to his son-in-law the duke of Acquitaine, and to the grand council of the king. These ambassadors were sir Regnier Pot and the lord d'Ancre, knights, the bishop 1 of Tournay, and an advocate of Dijon: they were instructed to solicit the recal of those who had been banished the kingdom by royal authority, and that the five hundred who had been excepted by the articles of the peace should be fully pardoned, and that all which had passed should be forgotten. They were

also to insist, that the duchess of Acquitaine, whom the duke had sent to reside at St Germain en laye, should inhabit the Louvre with him, and that he should put away a female friend who lived with him in place of his said wife.

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If these things were complied with, he promised to take the prescribed oath to preserve the peace, otherwise not.

The duke of Acquitaine was so much angered, when he first heard these proposals, that the ambassadors did not experience a very agreeable reception. They waited, therefore, on him another day, in hope of receiving more favourable answers; but finding that they could no way succeed in what had been ordered by their lord the duke of Burgundy, they addressed the duke of Acquitaine as follows: • Most renowned prince, and very noble lord, with reverence be it known to you, that if you do not grant what our aforesaid lord requires of you, he will never swear to the observance of the late peace; and should the English invade France, neither he himself nor his vassals will bear arms in your service, or for the defence of the kingdom.'

The duke, hearing this, was more exasperated than before; but, dissembling his feelings, he replied, that he would advise with his council on the subject of their coming, and within a short time would send an answer to their lord by a confidential person. Upon this, the ambassadors returned to Burgundy.

The duke of Acquitaine consulted the grand council on the above; and in consequence, sir Guichard Daulphin, the lord de Viel-pont, and master John de Vailly, president of the parliament, were sent, in the king's name, to Burgundy, where they treated so effectually with the duke, whom they met at Dijon, that he took the same oaths the others had done; and they brought back his certificate under his seal, which was given to Estienne Mauregard, master of the rolls.

The duke of Burgundy, however, kept up a very large force of men at arms and archers, in the duchy and county of Burgundy, and the adjacent parts, to the great loss of the poor inhabitants, to aid and defend him, should there be occasion.