de la Porte, lord of Bellincourt, sir Yvain de Cramailles, the lord de Cerny in the Laonnois, sir Drieu d'Orgiers, lord de Bethencourt, sir Gobert de la Bove, lord de Savoisy, the lord de Becqueville* and his son sir John Marthel, the lord d'Utrecht, the seneschal d'Eu, the lord de la Riviere, de Tybouville, the lord de Courcy, the lord de St. Beuve, the lord de Beaumainnil †, the lord de Combouchis, the lord de la Heuse, the lord Viesport, sir Bertrand Painel, the lord Chambois, the lord de St. Cler, the lord de Montcheveul, the lord d'Ouffreville ‡, sir Enguerrand de Fontaines and his brother sir Charles, sir Almaury de Craon, lord de Brolay §, the lord de Montejan, the lord de la Haye, the lord de l'Isle-Bouchart, sir John de Craon, lord de Montbason ||, the lord de Bueuil ¶, the lord de Laumont-sur-Loire, sir Anthony de Craon, lord de Beau Vergier **, the lord d'Asse, the lord de la Tour ++, the lord de l'Isle-Gonnort, sir John de Dreux, sir Germain de Dreux, the viscount de Tremblay, sir Robert de Bouvay, sir Robert de Challus ++, sir John de Bonnebault, the lord de Mongaugier §§, sir John de Valcourt, the lord de Sainteron, sir Ferry de Sardonne, sir Peter d'Argie, sir Henry d'Ornay, the lord des Roches, sir John de Montenay, the lord de Bethencourt, the lord de Combourt, the viscount de la Belliere || ||, the lord de la Tute, sir Bertrand de Montauban ¶¶, Bertrand de St. Gille, seneschal of Hainault, the lord de la Hamecte, the lord du Quesnoy, the lord de Montigny, the lord de Quiervran, the lord de Jumont, the lord de Chin, sir Symon de Havrech, the lord de Poctes, sir John de Gres, sir Allemand d'Estaussines, sir Philippe de Lens ***, and sir Henry, brothers to the bishop of Cambray, sir Michel du Chastellier and his brother Guillaume de Vaudripont, Ernoul de Vaudrigien, Pierre de Molin, Jean de Buait, George de Quiervran and his brother Henry, the lord de Saures, sir Briffault his brother, le Baudrain d'Aisne knight, sir Maillart d'Azouville Palamedes des Marquais, the lord de Bousincourt, the lord de Fresencourt, the lord de Vallusant, the lord de Hectrus, Guernier de Brusquent, the lord de Moy in the Beauvoisis, his son Gamot de Bournouville and his brother Bertrand, Louvelet de Massinguehen and his brother, sir Collart de Phiennes, Alain de Vendôme, Lamont de Launoy, sir Colinet de St. Py, the lord de Bos d'Ancquin, Lancelot de Fremeusent, the lord d'Aumont ttt, sir Robinet de Vaucoux, sir Raisse de Moncaurel +++. sir Lancelot de Clary, the lord de la Rachie, sir Guerard d'Herbaines, sir Guerard de Haucourt, sir Robert de Montigny, sir Charles de Montigny, sir Charles de Chastillon §§§, Philippe de Poitiers, the lord de Feuldes, the lord de St. Pierre, Guillaume Fortescu, Burel de Guerames, Robert de Potiaumes, the son to the bailiff of Rouen, the provost to the marshals of France, Bertrand de Belloy ||||||, Jacques de Han, the lord de Baisir and Martel du Vauhuon his brother, Jean de Maletraicts, Raoul de Ferrieres, Raoul de Longeul knight, Henry de la Lande, sir Ernault de Corbie, lord d'Aniel, Jean Discoüevelle, sir Yvain de Beauval, sir Brunel Fretel, le Baudrain de Belloy knight, sir Regnault d'Azincourt, the governor of the county of Rethel, Ponce de Salus knight, lord of Chastel-neuf, the lord de Marquectes, Symmonet de Morviller, William Martel, lord of Bacqueville, often men- a law-family, and Q. if any of the branches were addicted tioned before. He was the last person distinguished by the venerable office of Porte-orisflamme. +++ Robert VI. de Harcourt, lord of Beaumênil. Q. Offrainville? Denis de Longueil, lord of Offrainville, was killed at Azincourt, together with his elder brother, William lord of Longueville, and his son Robert. § Amaury de Craon, lord de Briolé, of the branch of La Suze. John de Craon, lord of Montbazon and viscount of Châteaudun, grand-échanson de France. John, lord of Beuil, master of the cross-bows from 1396 to 1399. to arms? ¶¶ Oliver V., lord of Montauban, a great house in Bretagne, died soon after 1386, leaving five sons,1. William, who died in 1432; 2. Robert, bailiff of Cotentin, at the siege of Orleans in 1420; 3. Bertrand, killed at Azincourt; 4. Renaud, lord of Crêpon; 5. John. *** John de Recourt, castellan of Lens, brother to Charles, admiral of France, was killed at this battle; but I find no others of the family. +++ John Hutin, lord of Aumont, Chars and Chapes, échanson du roi, &c. John, lord of Montcavrel, was killed at this battle. He left only one daughter, in whose right Montcavrel ** Antony, lord of Beauvergier, grand-pannetier de passed into the family of Monchy. France. Agne III., de la Tour, lord of Orliergues. $$ St. Maur, lords of Montgaugier, a house of Touraine. Anthony de Bellievre, ancestor of the Bellievres, presidents and chancellors, lived at this time; but it was §§§ Charles de Châtillon, lord of Sourvilliers and Marigni. Gaspard de Chastillon and Hugh his brother, of the Chastillons, lords of Blois and la Bastie, were also killed. Hugh, lord of Bellay and Giseux, married Isabel de Montigny, lady of Langey. Bertrand his son. He had two other sons, one killed at Crevant, another at Verneuil. presumptive heir to the crown, he would no longer suffer such waste to be committed on the public revenues, or on his father's demesnes. To this end, therefore, and for the security and welfare of the king and realm, he had thus assembled them, to make known to them, and all the world, his resolution of taking on himself the government of the kingdom, with a firm determination to provide a remedy against such abuses in future. When the above had been eloquently and elaborately explained to the assembly, it broke up, and every one returned to his home. The princes of the blood, on receiving the orders from the duke of Aquitaine, took their leave of the queen, and separated from each other. The duke of Berry went to Dourdan*, in his county of Estampes, the duke of Orleans to Orleans, and the duke of Bourbon to his duchy of Bourbon. The duke of Burgundy was before, as has been mentioned, in his duchy of Burgundy. The king was very ill at his hotel of St. Pol at Paris. The next step of the duke of Aquitaine was to take away his duchess from the company of the queen, which he did in person, accompanied by the count de Richemont, and had her placed at St. Germain-en-Laye. CHAPTER CXXXVIII.-THE KING OF ENGLAND ASSEMBLES A LARGE ARMY ΤΟ INVADE FRANCE. AMBASSADORS SENT HIM FROM THAT COUNTRY.-THE ANSWERS THEY RECEIVE. HENRY V. OF ENGLAND, WITH MILITARY ATTENDANTS, UNDER THEIR APPROPRIATE BANNERS. The figure of the King, from an illumination of the period; the Attendants, from tombs of the heroes of Azincourt; and the Banners from examples engraved in Sir N. H. Nicholas's History of the Battle of Azincourt. WHEN the English ambassadors were returned to England, and had reported to the king their ill success, the king, princes, and country were much displeased thereat. After many councils had been holden, it was at length resolved, that the king should raise the greatest * Dourdan, a town in Beauce, on the river Orge, four leagues from Estampes. possible force to invade France, and so sorely despoil that kingdom that the present king and his successors should be driven from it. To provide a sufficient fleet for the transport of his army, he sent commissioners* into Holland and Zealand, who, on proper security for good payment, made contracts for the number of vessels that would be wanted. The king of England had prepared all manner of stores and provisions necessary for war; and in regard to the payment of the forces, adequate sums were raised: indeed, there remained an overplus of five hundred thousand nobles, in money or plate. It was determined, that the king himself, attended by the princes and the whole army, should embark to invade France as early as possible. Intelligence of this was speedily carried to France. The duke of Aquitaine, who now governed the realm in behalf and in the name of the king his father, in consequence, held many councils, and remanded to Paris the duke of Berry and some other lords, with whom he had several consultations to know how he should act on this occasion, for the king was then confined by his disorder. It was determined, that men-at-arms and archers should be assembled in various parts of France ready to march against the English the moment it should be known they were landed; that garrisons should be placed in every town and castle on the coast; and that as large sums of money as possible should be raised with all speed. It was likewise resolved to send a solemn embassy to the king of England, to make him other offers, in answer to the demands of his last ambassadors. Those appointed for this business were the count de Vendôme, master William Bouratier, archbishop of Bourges, master Peter Fennel, bishop of Lisieux, the lords of Ivry and Bracquemont, master Gautier Col, secretary to the king, master John Andrieu, and some oth rs of the great council. † Taking advantage of the existing truce, they set out from Paris, and travelling through Amiens, Montreuil, and Boulogne, to Calais, they there crossed the sea to Dover. They were in all three hundred and fifty horsemen, and continued their journey from Dover to Canterbury, where they were met by the king's harbingers, who conducted them through Rochester to London, and thence to Winchester, where the king was. The archbishop of Bourges explained to the king, in the hall of the bishop of Winchester, and in the presence of the dukes of Clarence, Bedford, and Gloucester, brothers to the king, and of the lords of the council, clergy, chivalry, and populace, the object of his enibassy. The archbishop spoke first in Latin, and then in the Walloon language, so eloquently and wisely, that both the English and French who heard him were greatly surprised. At the conclusion of his harangue he made offers to the king of a great extent of country in France, with a large sum of ready money on his marriage with the princess Catherine, but on condition that he would disband the army he had collected at Southampton, and at the adjacent sea-ports, to invade France; and that by these means an eternal peace would be established between the two kingdoms. The assembly broke up when the archbishop had ended his speech; and the French ambassadors were kindly entertained at dinner by the king, who then appointed a day for them to receive his answer to their propositions, by the mouth of the archbishop of Canterbury. In the course of the archbishop's speech, in which he replied, article by article, to what the archbishop of Bourges had offered, he added to some, and passed over others of them, so that he was sharply interrupted by the archbishop of Bourges, who exclaimed, “I did not say so, but such were my words." The conclusion, however, was, that unless the king of France would give, as a marriage-portion with his daughter, the duchies of Aquitaine, of Normandy, of Anjou, of Tours, the counties of Ponthieu, Mans, and Poitou, and every other part that had formerly belonged to the English monarchs, the king would not desist from his intended invasion of France, but would despoil the whole of that kingdom, which had been unjustly detained from him,—and that he should depend on his sword for the accomplishment of the above, and for depriving king Charles of his crown. The king avowed *The commissioners were Richard Clitherow and ambassadors are detailed at length, with the handsome Symon Flecte, esquires.-Fœdera. proposals on the part of France, in answer to such exorbitant and unjust pretensions. I would refer the reader to this excellent work for the whole detail of the negotiations with France respecting the marriage of Catherine. The demands of the English "A stoute and prowde bishopp," says Grafton, See the Fadera. p. 447. what the archbishop had said, and added, that thus, with God's 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, "O king! 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 thy 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 Aquitaine, 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 Aquitaine 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. CHAPTER CXXXIX.-THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY SENDS AMBASSADORS TO THE DUKE OF AQUITAINE.-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 of 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 Aquitaine, and to the grand council of the king. These ambassadors were sir Regnier Pot and the lord d'Ancre, knights, the bishop 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 Aquitaine, 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. If these things were complied with, he promised to take the prescribed oath to preserve the peace, otherwise not. The duke of Aquitaine 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 Aquitaine 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 "The king was nothing vexed nor unquieted with the sayeings and prowde bragges of the unnurtured archbishopp, but well remembering the sayeing of Salomon, &c. &c., coldely and soberly answered the bishop, saying, My lorde, I little esteem your French bragges,' &c." It is very easy to bestow the terms of pride and insolence on whichever side of the question it is most convenient. 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 Aquitaine 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-atarms 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. On the 23d day of July, those five hundred persons whose names had been excepted from the amnesty on the conclusion of the peace between the duke of Burgundy and the other princes of the blood, were publicly banished, by sound of trumpet, from France, in the presence of the ambassadors from the duke of Burgundy, at that time in Paris. CHAPTER CXL.- -HENRY, KING OF ENGLAND, MAKES GREAT PREPARATIONS ΤΟ INVADE FRANCE. HE SENDS LETTERS TO THE KING OF FRANCE AT PARIS. Ir is proper that we now return to the king of England, who was making vast preparations of warlike stores, and every other necessary, to accomplish his projected invasion of France. He had marched his army to Southampton, and to the neighbouring sea-ports; and after the 2d day of August, when the truce between the two kingdoms expired, the garrisons of Calais and other places began to overrun and despoil the country of the Boulonois, and divers other parts. The king of France instantly ordered thither, to oppose them, the lord de Rambures, master of the cross-bows, and the lord de Louroy, with five hundred combatants, for the defence of the country. Within a few days after the expiration of the truce, king Henry, whose preparations were now completed, sent one of his heralds called Gloucester *, to Paris, to deliver letters to the king, of which the contents were as follows. "To the very noble prince, Charles, our cousin and adversary, of France. Henry, by the grace of God king of England and of France. To give to every one what is their due, is a work of inspiration and wise council, very noble prince, our cousin and adversary. The noble kingdoms of England and France were formerly united, now they are divided. At that time it was customary for each person to exalt his name by glorious victories, and by this single virtue to extol the honour of God, to whom holiness belongs, and to give peace to his church, by subjecting in battle the enemies of the public weal. But alas! good faith among kindred, and brotherly love, have been perverted; and Lot persecutes Abraham by human impulsion, and Dissention, the mother of Anger, has been raised from the dead. We, however, appeal to the sovereign Judge, (who is neither swayed by prayers nor gifts from doing right), that we have, from pure affection, done every thing in our power to preserve the peace; and we must now rely on the sword for regaining what is justly our heritage, and those rights which have from old time belonged to us; and we feel such assurance in our courage that we will fight till death in the cause of justice. The written law in the book of Deuteronomy ordains, that before any person commences an attack on a city, he shall first offer terms of peace; and although violence has detained from us our rightful inheritances, charity, however, induces us to attempt, by fair means, their recovery; for should justice be denied us, we may then resort to arms. And to avoid having our conscience affected by this matter, we make our personal request to you, and exhort you by the bowels of Jesus Christ, to follow the dictates of his evangelical doctrine. Friend, restore what thou owest, for such is the will of God, to prevent the effusion of the blood of man, who was created in his likeness. Such restitution of rights cruelly torn from us, and which we have so frequently demanded by our ambassadors, will be agreeable to the supreme *Hollingshed styles him "Antilope, pursuivant at arms." |