and might be seen in the evidence on his trial: that it had not depended on him that his treason was unsuccessful, and that he was equally deserving punishment as if his treachery had taken effect. The cardinal concluded by saying, that the king would act in this business with the advice of the princes of his blood, and the members of his council; that the king would have been glad and was desirous of the able assistance of the duke of Burgundy, whose absence he regretted, but that he would act in such wise that the duke of Burgundy and the public should be satisfied with the sentence he would give.

CHAPTER LXXXIX. -THE KING'S SENTENCE ON THE DUKE D'ALENÇON READ IN HIS PRESENCE WHILE SEATED ON HIS JUDGMENT-SEAT, BY HIS CHANCELLOR.

"CHARLES, by the grace of God king of France. Having been duly informed that John duke of Alençon, peer of France, has entered into a treasonable correspondence, by himself and others, with our ancient enemies and adversaries the English,- -we make known, that having personally examined in our chamber of peers, and others for this business called in, the charges and evidence produced against John d'Alençon, together with his confessions, and other facts brought duly forward,—we, by the advice of the aforesaid chamber of peers, have declared, and by these presents do declare, that the said John d'Alençon is guilty of high-treason against us and our crown, for which we have deprived and do deprive him of the honour and dignity of a peer of France, and of all dignities and honours attached thereto. We have also condemned, and do by these presents condemn, him to suffer death according to law, and have declared, and do declare, all the effects of the said John d'Alençon to be confiscated to our use, and to belong to us; saving, however, any further orders or regulations we may make concerning the same."

This sentence having been publicly read, the king declared his will to be, that "the execution of the duke d'Alençon should be deferred until his further pleasure were known that in respect to the confiscation of his effects, &c., although his children ought, according to law and usage, to be deprived of every honour, prerogative, and property, and reduced to such beggary as may be an example to all others, considering the enormity of the crimes of their father,―nevertheless, in remembrance of the services done by their ancestors to the kings and crown of France, and in the expectation that these children will conduct themselves toward the king as good and loyal subjects should do to their sovereign lord, and likewise out of favour to the solicitations of the duke of Brittany*, uncle to the duke of Alençon, the king, out of his grace, declares, that the effects of the duke of Alençon shall remain to the wife and children of the said duke of Alençon; but the king reserves to himself all artillery, arms, and military stores. With regard to the lands and lordships, the king retains the towns, castles, and viscounties of Alençon, Domfront, and Verneuil, as well on one side of the river Aure as on the other, with all their rights, privileges, and dependencies, which from this moment he incorporates into the domain of the crown of France. The king retains also the castlewick and lordship of St. Blansay in Touraine, together with the tolls which the said d'Alençon had and received from the bridges of Tours, to regulate at his pleasure.

“Item, the king reserves to himself all the homage, dues, and acknowledgments, which appertained to the said d'Alençon on account of his country of Perche, on the town of Nogent le Rotrou, with all its dependencies, and all other lands belonging to the count du Maine, in right of the countess du Maine his wife.-Item, in regard to the other lands and effects immoveable, the king wills that they belong to the children of the said d'Alençon,— namely, the county of Perche to be enjoyed by his only son Réné, and his heirs in lawful marriage, without, however, any dignity or prerogative of peerage. As for the other effects of the said d'Alençon, the king wills that they be divided among the younger children, who are to be under the wardship of the king until they become of an age to manage for them

Mary, eldest daughter of John V., and sister of to John I. duke of Alençon, father of the duke hero John VI. and Arthur dukes of Brittany, was married mentioned.

selves, they to enjoy these estates as their own free inheritance, and the said estates to descend to the heirs of their bodies lawfully begotten in marriage, according to the usages of the countries in which those estates are situated."

When this had been finally settled, the king ordered the duke d'Alençon to confinement in the strong prison of the castle of Aiguesmortes *, not far from Avignon.

CHAPTER XC.-THE ENGLISH MAKE AN INROAD ON THE BOULONOIS FROM CALAIS. THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY SENDS AN EMBASSY TO THE POPE, AND FORTIFIES HIS TOWNS AGAINST THE ENGLISH.-ARTHUR OF BRITTANY DIES, AND IS SUCCEEDED IN THE DUKEDOM BY THE COUNT D'ESTAMPES. OTHER EVENTS.

ABOUT this period, eight hundred combatants issued out of Calais and marched to Estaples+, where they found many vessels laden with wines from Poitou, which the Bretons had brought thither to sell, all of which the English made them ransom. They gained also numbers of mules, which some merchants from Languedoc had conducted thither to carry back a cargo of salted herrings: these were also ransomed, and they carried away several prisoners.

The duke of Burgundy sent this year, about Christmas, a handsome embassy to pope Pius at Rome, to do him homage for all his states, like a good son of the church, and, shortly afterward, another embassy to the king of France, to avoid a war, which everybody conjectured would ensue, because the dauphin resided with the duke contrary to the will of his father, and had refused to return to France.

The English, on the frontier of Calais, made continual inroads on the territories of the duke; and to check them he strengthened with men-at-arms the garrisons of Boulogne, Ardres, Gravelines, Fiennes, and St. Omer. They were ordered to oppose force by force, and to hang all whom they should take.

About Christmas died Arthur duke of Brittany, without leaving any male heir: he was therefore, succeeded in the duchy by John de Bretagne count d'Estampes, son to the brother of a former duke of Brittany by a sister of the duke of Orleans‡. Notwithstanding that he was count d'Estampes, John of Burgundy, brother to the count de Nevers, assumed the same title, but without advantage,-for the king held possession of Estampes, and gave the revenue of it to whomsoever he pleased.

At this time, peace was restored between the duke of Burgundy and the count of St. Pol, so that the count was on the same familiar terms with the duke, and as much beloved by him as before he was, likewise, in the good graces of the count de Charolois.

:

Nearly at this period an embassy from Greece, of about fifty horsemen, waited on the duke to request that he would personally attend, or send his proxies, to a meeting appointed by pope Pius, of all the princes of Christendom, touching the welfare of the Catholic church. The duke received them honourably, and gave them rich presents, and said that, under God's pleasure, he would send proxies to the meeting they had mentioned.

CHAPTER XCI.

THE KING OF FRANCE SUMMONS THE TWELVE PEERS OF FRANCE TO THE

TOWN OF MONTARGIS, TO HEAR SENTENCE PASSED ON THE DUKE D'ALENÇON.-OF
KING TRANSFERS THE COURT OF JUSTICE

THE DEATH OF POPE CALIXTUS.
FROM MONTARGIS TO VENDÔME.

THE

In the year 1458 the king of France summoned the twelve peers of his realm, secular as well as temporal, and the members of his court of parliament, to assemble in the town of Montargis on the 8th day of June, in which place he intended holding a court of justice, and

* Aiguesmortes,-a town in lower Languedoc, five leagues from Montpellier.

Estaples, a town in Picardy, at the mouth of the Conche, four leagues from Boulogne.

A mistake. He was succeeded by Francis II. son of

his younger brother, Richard, count of Estampes. Richard count of Estampes, who died in 1438, married Margaret daughter of Louis duke of Orleans, and Francis II. was the only son of that marriage.

for considering other matters that greatly affected the welfare of the realm. The most part of those summoned attended, and were there for two months, treating on the condemnation or acquittal of the duke of Alençon, cousin-german to the king, and one of the peers of France. The duke of Alençon had been imprisoned for certain treasonable acts imputed to him, and of which he was said to be guilty. There were present at this meeting the count de Dunois and de Longueville, the chancellor of France, master Pierre du Reffuge *, general of France, and many other great lords and officers. The duke of Burgundy would not appear, although he had been summoned, and was the first of the peers. He had refused to come in consequence of an article in the treaty of Arras, by which he could not be constrained to attend any meeting, but at his own free-will. The king remained at Baugency during these two months, always intending to have gone to Montargis; but fearing the epidemic distemper which raged there, and the badness of the air, he dissolved the meeting, and appointed it to assemble within fifteen days afterward at Vendôme.

On the 4th of April in this year died pope Calixtus; and Pius, a native of Italy, was elected in his room.

The 15th of August, all the king's counsellors, as well laics as ecclesiastics, of his court of parliament, who had been summoned, came to Vendôme,- -even the bishop of Paris and the abbot of St. Denis, who had not appeared at Montargis.

CHAPTER XCII. - THE DUKE OF ALENÇON IS CONVICTED, AND CONDEMNED TO DEATH FOR HAVING INTENDED TO DELIVER UP HIS STRONG PLACES TO THE ENGLISH, THE ANCIENT ENEMIES OF FRANCE, AND TO INTRODUCE THEM INTO NORMANDY.

"CHARLES, by the grace of God king of France, to all to whom these presents may come, health and affection. Whereas we have been duly informed that John duke of Alençon, a peer of France, has held various treasonable correspondences with our ancient enemies the English; and that for this purpose he has sent divers messengers to England without our leave or licence, and without making us acquainted with the purport of them, to the great danger and prejudice of us and our realm. To obviate the evil effects that might have arisen from such conduct, we provided a remedy, and, in consequence, commanded, under our letterspatent given at Chastelier, near Esbrimbe, the 24th day of May, in the year 1456, our dear and well-beloved cousin the count de Dunois and de Longueville, our beloved and faithful counsellors and chamberlains Pierre de Brézé, lord of Varennes, and grand seneschal of Normandy, John le Boursier, superintendant-general of our finances, William Cousinot, knight, bailiff of Rouen, and Odet d'Aidié, bailiff of Coutantin, to lay hands on and arrest our said nephew the duke of Alençon; and for the furtherance of his trial we issued our orders, dated at Mont Richart + the 23d of last May, for our court of parliament, then sitting at Paris, to adjourn to the town of Montargis, on the first day of June last, and to remain there until the whole of the judicial proceedings on this subject should have been brought to a conclusion.

"We also summoned to attend this court of justice, at Montargis, a sufficient number of presidents and counsellors of our said parliament, together with the peers and princes of our blood, the chancellor, some masters of the requests of our household, and others of our council. In consequence whereof, our said chancellor, our well-beloved and faithful counsellors, the archbishop-duke of Rheims, the bishops and dukes of Laon and Langres, the bishops and counts of Beauvais, of Châlons and Noyon, peers of France, our said presidents, masters of requests, and counsellors of our court of parliament, and the members of our council have regularly assembled in the town of Montargis, and have there taken the preparatory steps for the judgment of the said d'Alençon, by the interrogation of his accomplices and adherents, which occupied them until the 10th day of July last passed.

"These lords did not proceed further, in the expectation of our coming thither to bring the matter to a conclusion in our presence; but we delayed going to Montargis on account of the great mortality that then existed in the towns of Orleans, Sully, and other places Mont Richart, or Mont Tricard,-six leagues from Amboise.

* Reffuge. Q.

around, through which we must have passed; and not only to avoid the consequences that might have arisen from this mortality we deferred going thither, but also having heard that our enemies had fitted out a considerable fleet, with the intent of invading our kingdom on the coasts of Saintonge, Poitou, and lower Normandy. That we might be ready to oppose any such attempts, we, by the advice of our council, transferred this court of justice from Montargis to the town of Vendôme. We ordered the members of the said court to assemble at Vendôme on the 15th day of August, then and there to continue sitting until they should have brought this trial to a close. We afterward came to Vendôme in person, where were assembled many of the princes of our blood, peers of France, both laics and ecclesiastics, and those before-named, with the members of our council and court of parliament, and others for this business summoned thither. While we were seated on our judgment-seat, the court being filled with the whole of its members, the said d'Alençon was brought before it, who, after having had the oath administered to him, to declare the whole truth respecting the crimes with which he was charged, frankly and voluntarily confessed as follows.

"That after lord Shrewsbury had taken Bordeaux, an Englishman called James Hay, attached to sir Richard Woodville, an English knight, came to him at Alençon, under a passport, and made secret proposals to him of a marriage between his daughter and the son of the duke of York: that, as well in regard to this marriage as for other matters they mutually wished to be acquainted with, they held many conversations, and agreed on a certain manner of squeezing the hand and thumb, as a signal that every person was to give before he delivered any message relative to his business, to prevent their being betrayed. That about the month of August in the year 1455, he, the said duke of Alençon, sent for a priest living at Domfront, called Thomas Gillet, whom, having sworn to secrecy, he told that he intended to send him to England, and detained him some time with him for this purpose, and carried him to La Fleche in Anjou, expecting to be enabled to send him from thence that while he was at La Fleche, an English herald, called Huntingdon, came thither, to whom he opened his intentions, and charged him to return to England, and to exhort his countrymen, by every possible means, to make a descent in Normandy, desiring them, by the aid of God, or the devil, to make up their internal quarrels, and not think of anything else but this invasion: that now was the time or never; and should they allow the present most favourable opportunity to slip by, they would never again find another; for that the king was at a distance, and his army separated in three divisions,—one in Armagnac, another in Guienne, and the third employed against the dauphin: that the nobles and great towns, as well as the people of all ranks, were more discontented than could be conceived; and that he, the duke of Alençon, was himself so displeased with the present government that, if the English would support him, he would aid them to the utmost of his power,—for that he had sufficient stores and artillery to combat for a day ten thousand men. He advised that the king of England should come in person, and with not less than from thirty to forty thousand combatants: that there was in Normandy only one of the king's generals, with but four hundred lances, and that they might conquer the greater part of the country before any resistance could be made. He advised that the king of England should, on his landing, issue a proclamation, by sound of trumpet, to forbid any one, under pain of instant death, to take goods or other effects from husbandmen or labourers by force, and to leave every one at peace in their habitations. The king of England was likewise to revoke all the gifts made by his father and by himself, to grant a full pardon to every one, and to proceed as if it were a new conquest.

"In consequence of this treachery, our enemies did land in several parts of our dominions, namely, the king of England and the duke of York in Lower Normandy, the duke of Buckingham at Calais, to march through Picardy to the country of Caux, and to cut off all intercourse with us should we attempt to oppose them. Those of Guienne, according to the duke of Alençon, were much discontented; and if our enemies would support them they would rise in rebellion against us, and, in short, we should lose all that part of our country. The enemy was to inform the duke of Alençon three months before they intended to land, that he might provide his places with stores, and prevent us from taking possession of them. On their landing, the English commander was to send the herald Huntingdon to the duke to

make him acquainted with their numbers and plans, that he might take measures to act in concert with them. The duke particularly insisted, when he sent Huntingdon to England, that king Henry should bring with him as much money as possible; and that he should deliver at Bruges, or elsewhere, twenty thousand crowns,-or at least ten thousand, at his disposal, should be there deposited without loss of time, and not longer than a month after their landing, for him to pay his men, and put his artillery on a respectable footing; for he charged the herald to say, that on their landing they would find part of his artillery at Alençon or Domfront.

"The said d'Alençon confessed that he had promised, on oath, to Huntingdon, that he would punctually perform the engagements he had entered into with the enemies of our realm: and he made this herald swear that he would tell all these things to the duke of York, Richard Woodville, and James Hay, and that he would reveal them to none others but them. That our enemies might not have any doubts of the truth of the above engagements, the said d'Alençon gave to Huntingdon, on his departure, credential letters addressed to the duke of York, signed with an N, with a stroke through it, containing as follows :"Gentlemen, have the goodness to believe what the bearer of this shall tell you from me. I thank you for your kind intentions, and it shall not be my fault if they be not farther strengthened." In saying this, our said nephew had well remembered that he had given to Huntingdon the fullest information respecting his own affairs, as well as those of our kingdom, in order to accomplish his designs, and then had sent him to England.

"The said d'Alençon confessed, that some time afterwards he had also sent thither Thomas Gillet, the priest before mentioned, and had charged him to acquaint the duke of York or Richard Woodville (having previously made the signal with the thumb) with the state of our kingdom and the discontent of the people, and to press them to make the invasion as soon as they could, and with as large a force as possible,-to tell them that they were very thoughtless in not having before attempted it, for they could never have so fair an opportunity of recovering what they had lost; and if they would land twenty thousand men, they would regain the greater part of the country before we could provide any effectual resistance; for we were at a distance, in Berry, on an expedition against our son the dauphin that there were no forces in that part of the kingdom: that the people were exceedingly discontented, and that now or never was the time for reconquering Normandy. Thomas Gillet said, that the duke d'Alençon was much surprised he had not heard from them, nor from the herald; that they should send him back with intelligence of their intentions; and he told them frankly, that unless they showed more vigour and activity, the enterprise had better be dropped. He spoke to them, likewise, of the twenty thousand crowns that had been stated as necessary by the said d'Alençon to Huntingdon; and the said d'Alençon had bidden him assure the duke of York, that he was the most beloved of all his family in Normandy, and that the people of the country would do more for him than for any one else. Thomas Gillet was also charged to tell the English, on their landing, not to forget to issue the proclamations he had mentioned to Huntingdon; and if he were spoken to concerning the marriage of his daughter with the eldest son of the duke of York, to say all he knew and all he had seen of her. The said d'Alençon gave to Gillet letters of the following tenor, to deliver to the duke of York :-'Sir,' &c., 'I commend myself to you, and entreat that you will instantly let me hear from you, and have me in your thoughts. For God's sake, use diligence in his designs,—it is time, and acquit yourself manfully, for who waits becomes displeased. Hasten to send me money, for your service has cost me much, and may God grant all your desires.' Written as above, and at the bottom 'always yours, N.,' adding a postscript, to say, that a little before Christmas he would send a person called Pierre Fortin to Calais, and would instruct him to make the signal of the thumb, that he might converse with James Hay or Richard Woodville, and know from them if they had any intelligence to give him from the herald or Thomas Gillet.

"The said d'Alençon also confessed, that between Christmas and the Epiphany, Thomas Gillet and the herald returned from England, and reported to him that the duke of York and the chancellor of England thanked him for his good intentions; that the parliament of England was not as yet assembled, nor the king of England in a situation to send him an