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A.D. 1420. party, that Charles, King of France, should give to Henry, King of England, his younger daughter Catherine in marriage, and should adopt him and his heirs as the true heirs of his kingdom generally after his death, excluding from the succession his own son, Charles, the dauphin and Duke of Touraine, and thus annulling the statute formerly made with great deliberation by the noble kings and peers of France, to wit, that the glorious kingdom of France should never devolve on or appertain to a woman. And even if it happened that the said King Henry should have no heir of this marriage, still he was, in virtue of this treaty and agreement, to remain heir of the crown of France, to the great prejudice of all the royal persons who in time to come could or ought to succeed to it in direct line.

All the things above mentioned were granted by King Charles, who for a long time had not been in his right mind, and so was willing to agree and negotiate in everything according to the opinion of his council, whether to his injury or otherwise.

These arrangements being made in the manner you have heard, the English ambassadors returned, avoiding the ambuscades of the dauphinists as best they could, and got on so well that they arrived without accident at Rouen, where they found the King of England, to whom they showed a copy of the treaty, which pleased him much and was very agreeable to him, seeing that by it he attained the leading object of his design; and therefore to settle as soon as possible his affairs in Normandy, he collected his men-at-arms to go to Troyes and confirm this treaty, and Sir Louis de Robessart remained at the court of the French king to take care of the Lady Catherine of France, the future wife of his lord the King of England.

During these occurrences Sir John of Luxemburg went against Alibaudières, where he took the bulwark,

but not without much previous fighting, after which A.D. 1420. exploit the said Sir John of Luxemburg withdrew to Troyes to Duke Philip of Burgundy, who was making preparation to receive King Henry of England.

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How the dauphin sent large garrisons to all the good towns and castles attached to his party. CHAPTER XXXIII.

WHILE these alliances were forming to the great injury of the Duke of Touraine, the dauphin, he and his council1 heard certain news of the said treaties, and were greatly concerned as to how they could resist the enterprises and endeavours of the two parties, to wit, the King of England and the Duke of Burgundy, knowing that through the said alliances he was in danger of losing his sovereignty and the expectation which he had of the crown of France. Nevertheless, the said dauphin, being then at Bourges, in Berry, was advised to look after his own and defend himself to the best of his ability; so he supplied with armed men several towns and fortresses situated on the frontiers of his enemies, and appointed as captains all the most faithful of his partisans, among whom he placed the Lord of Barbasan at Melun, with a great following; at Monterau, the Lord of Guitry; at Montargis, Sir Robert de Loirre; at Meaux en Brie, Pieron de Lupel, Lord of Gamaches; and at Compiegne and other places in like manner; and besides he provided a great number of armed men to be always near his person, in expectation of what might happen to him from day to day.

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A.D. 1420.

During that time that was reckoned as 1421, the Duke of Burgundy sent the Count of Conversan, Sir John of Luxemburg, his brother, the Lord of Croy, and others of his captains, to Alibaudières, before which there took place many fine skirmishes, and passages of arms, by the besieged as well as by the besiegers. Finally, by perseverance in cannonading and powerful assaults, those within were obliged to surrender, with only their lives, except that some succeeded in taking each a small horse. So they went away in this condition, and after their departure the property was pillaged and the place demolished. On leaving this place, one set of the men-at-arms withdrew to Troyes, to the Duke of Burgundy, the rest went to Picardy; and soon afterwards the said duke sent some of the captains who had remained with him to the country of Auxerre, to subdue to the Kings of France and England and himself several fortresses supporting the dauphin's people. These were These were taken by the said captains, among whom were the Lord of Lisle-Adam, Sir Anthony de Croy, Bauldet de Noyelles, Robert de Saveuse, Robert de Brimeu, the bastard of Thian, and some others. So they demolished several of the said forts, at which the dauphin and his helpers were greatly troubled, but then they could do nothing to mend it, so they had to suffer it.

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Of the arrival of the King of England at Troyes, and of the marriage between him and Lady Catherine of France.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Ar the time that was still reckoned 1420, King Henry A.D. 1420. of England set out from the town of Rouen to go to Troyes, having in his company the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, his brothers, the Earls of Huntingdon, Warwick, and Kent, with several great noblemen of England, and fully 15,000 fighting men, of whom the greater part were archers. From Rouen he went to Pontoise, and from that to St. Denis; then crossed the bridge of Charenton, where he left some of his men to keep the passage; and thus by Prouvins he proceeded to Troyes. And in order to do him honour, the Duke of Burgundy and several other great lords went to meet him, and attended him to the house where he lodged within the town, and the princes with him; but his men-at-arms lodged in the neighbouring villages. Soon after the King of England had arrived at the said place of Troyes, he went to the King of France, the Queen, and Lady Catherine, their daughter; and they paid great honours to each other. And there was concluded the final peace between them, by means of the alliance above mentioned; for the points which before were not agreeable to King Henry were there all corrected according to his wish; and finally the future bride and bridegroom were affianced together, to wit, King Henry and Lady Catherine; and the day after Trinity Sunday they were married in the church of the parish within which the king lodged, at which nuptials the lords and ladies made great and pompous display, especially those on the English side;

A.D. 1420. so that the like had never been seen in France; such clothes, and valuable rings, and jewels, so the French and Burgundians marvelled greatly where such abundance of gold and precious stones could have been obtained.

But the Duke of Burgundy, by whom these alliances had been negotiated, made good amends on the French side, for he was on his side largely attended by nobility, such as the Count of Conversan, Sir John of Luxemburg, his brother, the Prince of Orange, the Lord of Jonvelles,, the Lord of Chastel Villain, the Lord of Montagu, Sir Regnier Pot, the Lord of Chastelus, Le Veau de Bar, Sir Jacques de Courteauville, Sir John de Catebrune, Marshal of Burgundy; and from Picardy there were the Lord of Croy, the Lord of Humbercourt, the Lord of Longeval, Sir Athis de Brimeu, and Sir David, his brother; the Lord of Roubaix, Sir Hugh de Lannoy, Sir Gilbert, his brother, and many other knights and esquires of the territories of the Duke of Burgundy, with some prelates also and churchmen, ainong the eldest of whom was Maitre John de Thoisi, Bishop of Tournay and Chancellor of Burgundy, Maitre Eustace de Latre, Maitre John de Mailly, and others, who, as all together with their lord the duke, were consenting parties to the said treaties, and promised to keep them permanently. Of which [treaty] the following is a

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Charles, by the grace of God King of France, to “all our baillies, seneschals, provosts, and other heads "of our justice or their lieutenants, greeting! We "make known how by final agreement a perpetual peace is this day made and sworn in this our town "of Troyes by us and our very dear and beloved son, Henry, King of England, heir and Regent, for us " and himself, of France, the crowns of France and

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England, as well by his union with our well-beloved

daughter, Catherine, as by several points and articles

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