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THE LIFE OF LOUIS XI
BY
Chronological Table
Genealogical Table
I. Louis the Dauphin : His Birth and Lineage
II.
Marriage of the Dauphin to Margaret of Scotland
III. Marguerite of Anjou
Marries Henry VI
IV. Death of Charles VII
V. Marguerite
of Anjou seeks the Help of Louis
VI. “Ligue du Bien Public” against Louis XI
VII. The
Story of Liége
VIII. Aragon offered
to René of Anjou
IX. Louis XI goes to Péronne
X. Birth of the Dauphin (Charles VIII)
XI. Philippe de
Commines enters the Service of Louis
XI
XII. League against Burgundy
joined by the Swiss Confederation
XIII. Treaty of Soleure between France and Burgundy
XIV. Assassination of
Galeazzo, Duke of Milan
XV. Illness of Louis XI
XVI. Review of the
Life of Louis XI
1423. July 3.—Louis XI born.
1424. Battle of Cravant.
1428. The Duke of Bedford wins the Battle of
Verneuil.
Catherine of France
born.
1429. Battle of the Herrings.
Siege of Orleans
raised by Jeanne d’Arc.
1431. Trial and death
of Jeanne d’Arc.
I433- La
Tremoille driven from the Court of Charles VII.
1434. Yolande of France born.
1435. Treaty of Arras.
Naples under the
House of Aragon.
1436. Paris recovered by Charles VII.
Louis the Dauphin
marries Margaret of Scotland.
1437. Siege of Montereau.
Charles VII enters
Paris.
1438. Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges.
1440. Revolt of the
Praguerie, joined by Louis tbe Dauphin.
1443. Madeleine of France bom.
1444. Expedition of the Dauphin, with tbe “
^corcheurs,’’ against the
Swiss Confederation.
Battle of St.
Jacques.
Truce of Tours
between France and England.
1445. Marriage between Henry VI and Marguerite of
Anjou.
Death of the
Dauphine, Margaret of Scotland,
1446. Charles of France born.
Louis the Dauphin
retires to Dauphind
Death of Catherine of
France, wife of Charles Count of Charolois.
1449. Renewed war with England.
1450. Battle of Formigny.
Death of Agnfes
Sorel.
1451. Louis the Dauphin marries Charlotte of Savoy.
Campaign in Guienne.
The English retire
from most of France.
I4S3- The
Earl of Talbot defeated and killed at Chatilion.
End of the Hundred
Years' War.
Constantinople taken
by the Turks.
1455. Battle of St. Albans.
1456. Louis takes refuge at the Court of Burgundy.
Death of Jacques
Cceur.
1457. Birth of Marie, daughter of Charles of
Burgundy.
1458. Pius II (.(Eneas Sylvius Piccolomini) elected
Pope.
Mathias Corvinus,
King of Hungary.
1459. Birth of a son to Louis the Dauphin (Joachim,
who died the same
year).
1460. Battle of Wakefield won by Marguerite of Anjou.
1461. Death of Charles VII. Louis XI succeeds.
Philip Duke of
Burgundy comes to his coronation.
Repeal of Pragmatic
Sanction. Edward IV King of England.
1462. Birth of Anne de France, daughter of Louis XI.
Parliament of
Bordeaux established.
Louis takes
possession of Roussillon.
Marguerite of Anjou
seeks the help of France.
1463. Revolt of Roussillon.
Louis recovers the
towns on the Somme.
John of Calabria
driven from Naples.
Philip of Burgundy
quarrels with his son Charles.
1464. “ Ligue du Bien Public ’’
against Louis XI.
Birth of Jeanne de
France, daughter of Louis XI.
Death of Pope Pius
II. Paul II succeeds him.
Battle of Hexham.
Edward IV marries
Elizabeth Woodville.
Discontent in France
with the King.
1465. Treaties of Conflans and St. Maur.
Beginning of Civil
War. Louis attacks Bourbon.
Battle of Montl’h^ry.
Paris attacked. Rouen
betrayed.
Louis recovers
Normandy. Makes alliance with Li^ge.
The “Piteous Peace.”
John of Calabria
accepts the crown of Aragon.
Death of Isabelle de
Bourbon, second wife of Charles of Burgundy.
1466. Louis XI makes an alliance with Warwick.
Siege and destruction
of Dinant by the Duke of Burgundy.
Death of Francesco
Sforza, Duke of Milan.
1467. Death of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
Succession of Charles
the Bold, his son.
Battle of St. Tron
won by Charles of Burgundy.
Death of Duke Louis
of Savoy, father of Queen Charlotte. The Bretons invade Normandy.
1468. The States-General meet at Tours.
Charles Duke of
Burgundy marries Margaret, sister of Edward IV.
Louis XI invades
Brittany.
Revolt of Li<5ge.
Louis XI at PiSronne.
Treaty with Charles of Burgundy.
Louis compelled to
join in the siege and destruction of Li^ge.
1469. Louis XI gives Guienne to his brother Charles.
Charles of Burgundy
overcomes Ghent.
Edward IV opposed by
Warwick.
Institution of the
Order of Saint Michael.
1470. June 30.—Birth of Dauphin, afterwards Charles
VIII.
Louis XI makes peace
between Marguerite of Anjou and Warwick.
Henry VI of England
restored to the throne.
Louis XI declares war
against Burgundy.
Prince Edward of
England marries Anne Neville.
1471. St. Quentin and Amiens taken by the King of
France.
Truce with Charles of
Burgundy.
Restoration of Edward
IV after battle of Tewkesbury.
League against Louis
XI.
Death of Henry VI.
Pope Sixtus IV
elected.
1472. Death of Charles Duke of Guienne.
Concordat between
Louis XI and Sixtus IV.
Charles of Burgundy
invades France.
Siege of Beauvais.
Louis invades
Brittany.
Truce with Burgundy.
1473. Duke of Burgundy annexes Guelders and Zutpben.
Frederick III meets
Charles of Burgundy.
War in Roussillon.
Pope Sixtus IV
attempts to mediate.
The Swiss oppose
Burgundy.
Charles the Bold
takes possession of Guelders.
1474. Marriage of Anne de France with Pierre Duke of
Bourbon.
Death of Enrique IV
of Castille. Isabel, his sister, succeeds him. War with Burgundy.
Siege of Neuss.
Coalition against
Louis XI.
J47S- War
against Burgundy.
Edward IV invades
France.
Peace of Pecquigny
between England and France.
Peace between Louis
XI and Charles of Burgundy.
Lorraine annexed hy
Burgundy.
1476. Battle of
Granson. Charles defeated by the Swiss.
Battle of Morat won
by the Swiss.
Marriage of Jeanne de
France with Louis of Orleans.
I477-
Battle of Nancy. Defeat and death of Charles of Burgundy. Louis XI takes
possession of the duchy of Burgundy.
Intrigues in the Netherlands.
Revolt of Arras.
Marriage of Marie of
Burgundy with Maximilian of Austria.
1478. Truce with Maximilian of Austria.
Intrigues in Italy
and Spain.
Murder of Guiliano
dei Medici.
1479. Battle of Guinegaste.
Louis XI increases
his army.
Death of Juan II of
Aragon. Succession of Ferdinand and Isabel.
1480. Troubles in the Netherlands.
Failing health of
Louis XI.
Negotiations for
peace.
Death of King Kent’;
the Good, of Provence.
1481. Provence, Anjou, and Bar added to the
possessions of France. Louis XI struck by apoplexy.
Inquisition in Spain.
1482. Death of Marie of Burgundy.
Death of Jeanne de
France, Duchess of Bourhon, sister of Louis XI. Treaty of Arras.
Marguerite of Austria
sent to France as hride of the Dauphin.
1483. Death of Edward IV.
Death of Louis XI.
Anne de France
appointed Regent for Charles VIII.
xiv
It has been
said that “A biographer is bound by a sort of feudal tenure to rehabilitate the
lord under whom he takes service.”1 Yet such was not my intention
when I began the serious study of the life and letters of Louis XI, in the hope
of writing a simple and graphic sketch of that most interesting period. Day by
day the subject has grown in importance and fascination, as I realized the
splendid wealth of material placed within my reach by the patriotic labours of
the Societe de l’Histoire de France, and of which I am probably the first
English writer to avail myself.
Under the auspices of
the Society, an immense mass of Louis XI’s correspondence has been collected
and published ; no less than nineteen hundred and thirty- five “lettres
missives”—original letters written or dictated by the King himself—and over two
hundred “ pieces justificatives ” in nine large volumes. The first volume was
published in 1883, and consisted of the letters of Louis the Dauphin, collected
and annotated by the archivist, M. Etienne Charavay. This heroic pioneer of
historical science had devoted twenty years of his life to the arduous task,
and so completely was he won over to “feudal service of his lord,” that in his
Preface, after enumerating the
1 Freeman’s
Essay on Charles the Bold*
xv
great deeds of
statesmanship and prowess of the Dauphin, M. Charavay is proud to call him “
mon heros.” From these letters we gain a vivid insight into that most
interesting period of Louis XI s life when, as Dauphin, he studied the arts of
governing and of warfare. This will be fully dwelt upon, as it has been but
lightly touched by most historians.
The remaining eight
volumes of Louis the King, 1461-82, have been collected and illustrated with
profound research by the archivist, M. Joseph Vaesen, and have been published
at intervals, the ninth volume having only appeared in 1905, and bringing us
down to within a year of the death of Louis XI. Unfortunately the final volume
with Index and Biographical Notes is still only in progress.
The historian, P. F.
Willert, who wrote a Life of Louis XI in 1876 (Historical Handbooks), regrets
that these letters were not available then, yet in many points he forestalls
the later view therein given of the character of Louis XI, which has also been
so warmly advocated by recent French writers, such as M. Urbain Legeay. He
remarks that a student “may perhaps be perplexed to find Louis presented in a
light so different from that in which, owing to an early acquaintance with
‘Quentin Durward,’ he may have learnt to regard him.”
As we read through
this immense correspondence of the King’s on all possible subjects, showing the
most intimate knowledge of his people’s wants and the most earnest desire to
satisfy them—as we study the royal edicts, the old chronicles of various towns,
and even the carefully kept accounts of the reign, we do indeed learn to
reconsider the unfavourable
verdict on the
character of Louis XI, too much taken in this country as a parti pris alike by
historians and novelists. Perhaps we dimly feel that Sir Walter Scott, from
whom our earliest and strongest impressions are derived, made Louis XI an
unmitigated villain only for his dramatic purpose. We do not like to be robbed
of our villains who provide us with so much excitement on the stage of life.
Yet as we follow the
course of the great Statesman- King through all the tangled politics and feuds
of this “most difficult period of history,” the story becomes one of supreme
interest while we watch “l’homme moderne en lutte contre le moyen age ;
l’organisateur serieux,, le pacificateur reel, contre la discorde eternelle du
monde feodal.”
An attempt will be
made in the last chapter to consider the various contemporary and other
memoirs, chronicles, and histories of Louis XI, their trustworthiness, or the
different reasons which they may have had for prejudice and misrepresentation.
This will permit the life of Louis XI to be retold simply and dispassionately,
from a study of the wealth of authentic documents and undoubted testimony,
without being delayed by constant reference to matters of controversy. “Nothing
extenuate nor set down aught in malice” is my motto.
Jean II the Good,
King of France,
I 1319-64-
Charles
V.
Louis Duke of Anjou.
Charles
VI. Louis II=Yolande of Aragon.
Charles VII=Marie of
Anjou. Ren£ I=Isabelle of Lorraine.
Philip the Hardy>=
Marguerite of Flanders. Duke of Burgundy.
Jean the Fearless.
Philip the
Good=Isabel of Portugal.
Jean Yolande. Marguerite.
Duke of
Calabria. m. C. de Vaudemont. m. Henry VI | | of England.
Nicholas. Ren£ II
of Lorraine.
(1) Catherine of France. Charles=(2) Isabelle
of Bourbon (mother of (3) Margaret of York. Marie).
MARlE=Maximilian of
Burgundy. of Austria.
Louis XI. m. (1)
Margaret of Scotland.
(2) Charlotte of Savoy, mother of
Catherine. Jeanne, m.
Charles of m. Duke of Burgundy. Bourbon.
Yolande. m. Amedde IX
of Savoy.
Madeleine. Charles m. Gaston Duke of de Foix. Guienne.
Philip, m. Juana of
Castille.
Marguerite.
Joacbim. Died young.
Anne, m. Pierre de
Bourbon.
Jeanne, m. Louis XII
of Orleans.
I
Charles VIII. m. Anne
of Brittany.
CHAPTER I
HIS BIRTH AND LINEAGE
1423
Charles
VII and Marie of Anjou — Yolande of Aragon — The Darkest Hour for France — Conquered
by England —Jeanne d’Arc —Relief of Orleans — Turning of the Tide — Coronation
of “Charles the Victorious.”
In the very
heart of old Touraine, within the ancient city of Bourges, rising proudly with
its towers and battlements above the meeting rivers of the plain below, a
notable event took place nearly five centuries ago. On the 3rd of July, 1423,
was born a prince of the royal house of France, the eldest son of Charles VII
and Marie of Anjou, known in days to come as Louis XI, one of the most striking
figures in history. When but a day old, the infant heir was borne to the
baptismal font within the splendid cathedral of Saint Etienne, and the stately
procession of priests and nobles and ladies of the Court passed beneath that
glorious central portal, where still stands forth the sculptured vision of the
Last Judgment.
The child did not
receive the name of his father, for “Charles” was of ill-omen since the
misfortunes of the
previous reign, nor
was he called Jean after his godfather the young Duke of Alenfon, as the long
captivity of King Jean II was still a bitter memory. The well- beloved name of
Louis may not only have recalled the fame of his sainted ancestor, but may have
seemed a happy omen for the boy’s life and character. The old chronicle is so
minute as to tell us the name of his nurse, Clemence Fallone, who is mentioned
on several occasions in the royal account books. Her position was one of honour
and importance, as we realize on seeing, in the ancient church of Saumur, the
monument of another royal nurse of the same family, whose image carved in stone
bears a swaddled babe on each arm— Rene the Good of Anjou, and his sister
Marie, the mother of Louis XI.
Perhaps the most
interesting figure present at the baptism of the royal infant was his grandmother,
Yolande of Aragon, Queen of Sicily as she was popularly called. She plays so
important a part in the life of her daughter’s husband, Charles VII, both
before and after the birth of Louis, that his story would be incomplete without
a brief account of Yolande. The daughter of Juan I of Aragon, she married Louis
II, Duke of Anjou, in the year 1400, at Arles. Their eldest son, Louis, was
betrothed to Catherine, daughter of Jean sans Peur, Duke of Burgundy, by whose
orders the Duke of Orleans, husband of Valentine Visconti, was murdered in
1408. On hearing of this terrible event, the Duke of Anjou sent back the little
princess to her father, with all her splendid dowry, jewels, and presents, as
he refused to be allied with a murderer. The House of Burgundy never forgave
this affront, which was the cause of long intermittent warfare.
On the death of her
uncle, Martin the Humane of Aragon, without an heir, Yolande asserted her claim
to the throne, but she crossed the Pyrenees in vain, for the crown was given to
Fernando, “ Regent of Castile,” the son of the late King’s sister, Leonora.
Soon after this, in October, 1413, a marriage was arranged between her eldest
daughter, Marie, and Charles “ Comte de Ponthieu,” the third son of the King of
France. As Charles VI had one of his fits of madness at the time, it was his
wife, Isabelle of Bavaria, who met Yolande, first at the manoir de Mancoussis
where the preliminaries were settled, and afterwards when the ceremony of
betrothal was performed between the two children at the palace of the Louvre,
with great pomp and splendour.
The motherly
instincts of Yolande were aroused on behalf of this young prince who was to be
so nearly allied to her, and whose wretched childhood had been so neglected,
with a mad father and a mother given up to luxury and every evil pleasure,
leading a dissolute and shameful life. Isabelle is said to have hated her son
Charles, and certainly her later actions justify this accusation. The mother of
his betrothed bride came to the rescue and took away the boy of ten, to treat
him henceforth as one of her own children. Marie was a year younger, and the
little Rene, born in 1409 (afterwards known as the “Good King”), grew up to be
his companion and playfellow, and they remained constant friends through life.
It is interesting to find in old account books—a priceless source of
information —that in the year 1414 the Queen of Sicily took up her abode at
Angers, at Saumur and at Tours, with the “Comte de Ponthieu and her other
children.” In
February, 1416, the “
King and Queen of Sicily, with Monsieur and Madame de Ponthieu,” were in Paris,
and they all had a narrow escape of being massacred by the people of the city.
In 14171 Charles became Dauphin by the death of the second of his elder
brothers, and in April of that year the husband of Yolande, and the father of
Marie, Louis II of Anjou, died, forgiving all who had wronged him, and bidding
his children make peace with the Duke of Burgundy ; but with his last words
advising Charles never to trust him.
Yolande was left
regent for her young son Louis III, aged thirteen, and we find her actively
engaged in defending Anjou and Maine against the English with the help of a
subsidy of 30,000 francs from Charles, who as Dauphin is now in possession of
Berry and Poitou. It was while Yolande was away in Provence, in the autumn of
1419, that the tragedy of the Bridge of Montereau occurred, when Jean sans
Peur, Duke of Burgundy, was murdered by Tanneguy Duchatel, in the presence of
the Dauphin, though without his orders. Isabelle of Bavaria took advantage of
this unfortunate event to induce the new Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, to
conclude with Henry V the infamous Treaty of Troyes, which the unhappy Charles
VI was compelled to sign, without knowing that he thus deprived his son of his
birthright. This was in May, 1420, and it was arranged that Catherine of France
should marry the King of England, who received the title of Regent and
presumptive heir of the throne. The Dauphin, declared unworthy to succeed,
appealed to God and his sword.
But Henry V did not
live long to enjoy his triumph; he died in 1422, and six weeks later was
followed by the poor mad King, Charles VI. Never had the strong and
4
splendid kingdom of
France fallen so low as in that dark hour, when a foreign foe was in possession
of her most prized cities and strongholds, and the young son of the victorious
Henry V was proclaimed King of England and of France. The reign of the hapless
Charles VI had closed in ruin and disaster a year before the birth of Louis,
his grandson, and Charles VII, the father of the new-born prince, was a foolish
pleasure- seeking lad of twenty, too much guided by weak or evil counsellors,
and fiercely opposed by most of his own kinsmen as well as his foreign enemies.
Charles, indeed, was
called in contempt the “King of Bourges,” for nearly all the provinces north of
the Loire, as well as Guienne in the south, owned the sway of the invaders. The
nominal reign of the hapless young King had begun in the most unfortunate
manner, for his armies had been defeated again and again and the whole land was
devastated and laid waste, at the mercy of a reckless and brutal soldiery. So
black was the prospect that there seemed scarcely room for hope, yet the heart
of the nation was still with the descendant of its ancient kings, and only
awaited the clarion call which should summon the men of France to drive the
alien from their soil.
From the memories of
Louis XI in after days we gather that his was no happy childhood. We can
picture the little Dauphin forlorn and neglected in those stately castles of
Touraine, where the air was heavy with rumours of disaster which no wasteful
feasts, and courtly games, and vain pleasures could lighten. In the speech
reported by Chastellain which Louis made on his accession to the throne of
France in 1461, at the age of thirty-eight, he says: “Only
yesterday I held
myself to be the poorest son of a king that ever was, and one who from my
infancy to the present day, have had nought but suffering and tribulation,
poverty, anguish, and want. ...”
In those early years
after the accession of Charles VII, one disaster followed on the heels of
another. In 1423, the Earl of Salisbury, after an obstinate battle, raised the
siege of Cravant on the Yonne. The next year a great victory was won under the
walls of Verneuil, after two days fighting, by the English, who thus gained
possession of the county of Maine. Here the dark sky was pierced by one ray of
light when the gallant young Duke of Alenfon, taken prisoner, refused to
purchase his liberty by agreeing to the shameful Treaty of Troyes. But the
royalists had to grieve for their brave Scottish allies who were almost
exterminated, for after the battle all of them who were taken prisoners were
hung as rebels to their liege lord, the King of England. France was not
ungrateful for their devotion, as the few who survived that fatal day were
enlisted to form the Scots Guard, so famous in after time.
Encouraged by their
success, the English under the Duke of Bedford, who was now master of nearly
the whole territory north of the Loire, made a supreme effort to push
southward. The provincial towns were gaining in strength and courage to resist
the foe, and Montargis stood out bravely during a siege of three months, and
then sent word to King Charles that they had no food or ammunition left. The
Count of Dunois and La Hire set forth at once with about sixteen hundred men to
the rescue, and on the way they met a priest, from whom La Hire begged absolu-
6
tion. He was
naturally bidden to confess his sins first, but the rough captain replied : “I
have no time, for I am in haste to attack the English ; moreover, I have but
done as all soldiers are wont to do.”
The priest having
unwillingly consented to this un- canonical act, La Hire knelt down by the
wayside and prayed thus: “Mon Dieu, I beseech Thee to do this day for La Hire
that which Thou wouldst have La Hire do for Thee, if he were God and Thou La
Hire.” With a conscience at rest, he then continued his journey, made a fierce
onslaught on the English, and forced them to raise the siege of Montargis.
This was in 1427, and
the following year the Duke of Bedford, at the head of an army of ten thousand
men, marched towards Orleans, which was the key of Berry, Poitou, and the
Bourbonnais, and whose possession would be of the highest importance for the
coming campaign. The siege began in October, and the English, realizing how
great an enterprise it was, lost no time in building a series of “ fortilices ”
or small “ bastiles ” around, to prevent the arrival of any succour or
provisions to the beleaguered city. All that winter the siege was carried on
with great vigour, while the garrison, headed by the bravest “routiers,”
Dunois, La Hire, and others, made a stout resistance. The citizens formed
themselves into thirty-four companies to defend the towers which stood out from
the city walls, and they destroyed the suburbs, lest they should afford cover
to the enemy. It is worthy of notice that artillery played a more important
part in this siege than in any other in France, and the men of Orleans appear
to have been better gunners than the English.
There were not
wanting grim touches of sardonic
humour in the story
we are told. Thus it is stated that one day during the pause for the midday
meal, a lad from the town, who was strolling on the ramparts, found a cannon
ready loaded and took it into his head to fire it. The ball shattered the iron
casement of a tower window, from which the Earl of Salisbury was taking a
survey of the fortifications, and he was mortally wounded by the fragments at
the very moment when William Glasdale was saying to him, “ My lord, you see
your city.”
Again, it so happened
that at the beginning of Lent that brave soldier, Sir John Fastolf, was sent by
Bedford in charge of a convoy of provisions, chiefly consisting of salt fish,
for the use of the English army. The besieged heard of this, and resolved to
intercept the convoy, but Fastolf astutely entrenched his men behind the
wagons, and won the day, with a loss to the French of nearly five hundred men,
who could ill be spared. This encounter was called the “Battle of Herrings,”
the fish being strewn in numbers over the field. The fall of Orleans now seemed
to be inevitable.
We cannot pass by the
name of Sir John Fastolf without a brief allusion to his gallant exploits in
the French war, where he rose high in repute under Henry V. He fought at
Agincourt with distinguished valour, was made Governor of Harfleur and Melans,
Baron of France, and Knight of the Garter, and he captured the Duke of Alenfon
at the battle of Verneuil —a great prize, although Sir John never received the
ransom due to him. On his one defeat at Patay, his splendid reputation was
lost, and he became a scapegoat with the English people for the losses in France.
Yet
8
this was not the
worst which befell Sir John Fastolf, the Lord of Caistor Castle, the Privy
Councillor of Henry VI, for if we accept the usual theory that he was the
prototype of Shakespeare’s Sir John Falstaff, what a fate was his, to be held
up to ridicule through the ages, by the incomparable humour of so burlesque a
travesty!
Charles VII was at
last thoroughly roused from his indolent self-indulgence, if indeed his seeming
recklessness may not have been the outward result of hopeless despondency.
Yolande of Aragon—‘ ‘ ma bonne mere ” as he always called her—had strained
every nerve on his behalf. It was through her that Brittany was won to his
cause by an alliance with Arthur de Richemont, brother of the Duke of Brittany,
who had served the English cause, but had reason to be discontented with his
foreign allies. He was made Constable of France and rendered invaluable help to
the young King, who had been unfortunately led away by undeserving favourites,
such as Louvet and La Tre- mouille. We can scarcely exaggerate the value of
Yolande’s influence over his unstable mind, and it is possible that his gentle
Queen, Marie of Anjou—“jeune fille douce et interessante,” a model of all
domestic virtues, deserves more credit than she has received.
It has been the
custom of some historians to attribute the growing energy and spirit of
Charles VII at this time to the patriotic counsels of Agnes Sorel, but in fact
this lady did not enter into his story until some years later, when the tide of
fortune had already turned, and hope reviving had taken the place of despair.
The dominion of
foreigners had become each day
more hateful to the
great mass of the French people, and they were moved by the appeal of the
patriotic writer, Alain Chartier, who called upon the nobility, the clergy, and
the bourgeois to unite in one last effort to save their country. Another
singer, Olivier Basselin, thus encouraged his countrymen to drive out the enemy
from their fatherland :—
“ Entre vous, genz de village,
Qui aimez le roy Fran^oys,
Prenez chacun bon courage,
Pour combattre les Engloys.
Prenez chacun une houe Pour mieux les desracmer.
Ne craignez point, allez battre Ces godonSy panches ci poys,
Car un de nous en vault quatre,
Au moins en vault-il bien troys.’'
(Amongst you, ye
village folk,
Who love the King of
France;
Let each one take
good courage To fight against the English.
Let each one take a
hoe To root them out the better.
Do not fear, go forth
and fight
Those “god-dens”1
paunches full of peas,
For one of us is worth
four of them,
Or at least is well
worth three.)
Charles had appealed
to the nobility and to the States-General and obtained the large sum of 100,000
crowns, but this seemed to have been spent in vain ; and the King was hourly
expecting news of the fall of his devoted city, when he would be driven from
the central parts of France, and be compelled to retire into
1 frGood-day,M
the common English salutation.
10
Dauphine. It seemed
as though a miracle alone could save his unfortunate country, and lo ! at that
very time the people of France came to believe that the miracle had indeed been
granted to them.
In the month of
March, 1429, the Court was at Chinon, on the banks of the River Vienne, in that
wonderful old castle which still stands with its massive walls and huge towers
stretched along a low ridge of rocky hill above the clear, swift river at its
feet. There was a stir of interest amongst the gay lords and fine ladies, for
the rumour had spread that a young woman from the borders of Lorraine had arrived
with a mysterious message, and was to have an audience with the King. Strange
stories had been told about this Jeanne d’Arc, who declared that she had a
divine mission to relieve the city of Orleans and to conduct King Charles to
Rheims to be crowned after the manner of his ancestors. There was a hush of
curiosity as the young peasant girl, clad in a man’s hose and doublet, and
followed by her small escort, was led into the presence chamber, which remains
to this day,—a great hall overlooking the river, with a massive chimney at one
end,—all now in ruins, overgrown with straggling branches of wild rose.
In order to put
Jeanne to the test, the young King stood undistinguished amongst the crowd of
courtiers, but without a moment’s hesitation she went straight to him and knelt
at his feet. “Gentil Dauphin; God grant you a good life,” she said. In vain he
protested at first that he was not the King, then he asked what she wanted. “
Gentil Dauphin [as she always called him before his coronation], I am Jeanne la
Pucelle, and the King of Heaven bids me tell you that you
shall be anointed and
crowned at Rheims, and shall be lieutenant for the King of Heaven, who is King
of France.” We are told that she then whispered a few words and added, “ I tell
you, in God’s name, that you are true heir of France and son of the King.”
To explain the point
of this remark, it is needful to add that the mother of Charles, Isabelle of
Bavaria, had come very young to the corrupt Court of France, and in after years
her conduct had been so disgraceful as to throw doubts upon her son’s
legitimacy. In the Treaty of Troyes, signed by Isabelle herself, he was
described as the “ so-called Dauphin.” We are told that Charles “was much
amazed and very joyous” to hear Jeanne’s assurance. After much strict
questioning by priests and theologians and ladies of the Court, more especially
Yolande of Aragon, who was a strong advocate of Jeanne from the first, the
judgment was thus given : “ Having heard all these reports, the King taking
into consideration the great goodness which was in La Pucelle, and that she
declared herself to be sent by God, it was by the said Seigneur and his council
determined that from henceforward he would make use of her for his wars, since
it was for this that she was sent.”
Jeanne was next
equipped for her perilous expedition, and it is noteworthy that the chief of
her escort, Jean d’Aulon, and her confessor, Jean Pasquerel, both remained
faithful to her until the end. She was clad in armour and carried her own
chosen standard, for as she said in simple words, “ she had no wish to use her
sword and would kill no man.”
The whole marvellous
story of Jeanne d’Arc has been so often retold and is so well known that it
will only be
needful briefly to
refer to those striking events which must have filled the mind and dazzled the
childish imagination of Louis the Dauphin. We follow her to the gates of
Orleans with a regenerated army which has given up strong drink, violence, and
sacrilegious oaths at the word of a young girl. We see her enter the city with
a convoy of provisions and stores provided by Queen Yolande, who sold her
county of Nice to supply the artillery which did such good service. As Jeanne
rides through the streets in shining armour, mounted on a white charger, we do
not wonder that she is greeted with acclamations as an avenging angel. During
seven long months Orleans has been closely beleaguered, but within ten days of
the arrival of La Pucelle, the siege is raised. The tide of success has indeed
changed, for one victory follows another: Jar- geau, Meung-sur-Loire,
Beaugency, and Troyes are taken from the English, and the keys of Chalons are
brought to Charles by the bishop. At length the crowning success was attained,
and the King rode in triumph, with Jeanne d’Arc by his side, into the ancient
city of Rheims for his solemn coronation, on the 16th of July, 1429. We are
told that, outside the choir of the ancient cathedral that Saturday morning,
Charles, in accordance with ancient custom, was presented by his nobles to the
assembled people with the proclamation :—
“Here behold your
King whom we the peers of France crown as King and sovereign lord. If there be
one soul amongst you that would oppose it, let him speak and we will make
answer to him. For to-morrow shall the King be consecrated by the grace of the
Holy Spirit if you have nought to say against it.” And the
!3
people made answer
with echoing cries of “ Noel ! Noel ! ”
The splendid pageant
of the morrow, with gorgeous processions of armoured knights on horseback, of
bishops in their richest robes, of peers and men-at- arms, and an excited
populace, with banners waving and trumpets flaring, may well have left an
indelible impression on the young Dauphin, who was old enough to know that all
this greatness would one day be his. That eventful day was indeed an epoch in
his life, for thereby his inheritance was assured to him ; but the true heroine
of that amazing triumph was the peasant girl from Domremy, Jeanne la Pucelle,
who had fulfilled her promise and knew that her work was done.
Orleans had been
relieved in the hour of its dire extremity, the whole campaign of the Loire had
been one long victory for the armies of France and a chain of disasters for the
English invaders. The Earl of Suffolk had been taken at Jargeau, the brave
Talbot was made prisoner at the battle of Patay, and so great and sudden had
been the misfortunes of the army which a few months before had been assured of
conquest, that the Regent Bedford was not alone in his belief in sorcery. Even
amongst her own people there were many who misjudged poor Jeanne, and,
strangely enough, the Church had always been disposed to look upon her with
doubtful tolerance if not with actual hostility. “Give God the praise ; but we
know that this woman is a sinner,” had been the attitude of certain bishops.
From the day of the coronation a change was visible in the King and many of his
counsellors, who felt a growing jealousy of the girl champion who had
accomplished such mighty works.
14
Still, the people of
France had been successfully roused, and the English steadily lost ground until
they were driven from most of their northern provinces and the towns of Crecy,
Provins, Coulommiers, and Chateau- Thierry expelled their foreign garrisons.
Trusting to the patriotism of the citizens, the generals of Charles marched
against Paris and made an attack upon the gate of St. Honore, but they were
repulsed, and turning back towards Compiegne they were successful in taking it
after a long siege. The Duke of Burgundy in his turn besieged the town, and
Jeanne d’Arc appears to have joined in the defence. She had long felt that her
real mission was at an end, and had warned her friends that her death was near
at hand, entreating their prayers on her behalf. On May 25, 1431, the fatal
event took place during a sortie which she had led, when, either by mistake or
treachery, the drawbridge was raised before she could re-enter the town, and
she was compelled to yield herself a prisoner to a knight of the Duke of
Burgundy. Jeanne was basely sold to the Duke of Bedford for 10,000 livres. No
effort seems to have been made to save her on the part of the King who owed his
crown to her, and, as we all know, the sad tragedy came to an end by the cruel
death of the heroic maiden in the market-place of Rouen. She will ever remain
enshrined one of the noblest characters in the history of the land she loved so
well, and for whose sake she freely gave her life—brave and pure as any of the
army of martyrs.
The death of Jeanne
d’Arc did not improve the position of the English; for although the young Henry
VI was crowned in Paris on December 17, the same year, 1431, the ceremony was
shorn of all
significance by the
absence of all the French nobles, and the want of all the magnificence and the usual
“largesse” and royal generosity on such occasions. A still more serious matter
was that the Duke of Burgundy was growing weary of his foreign allies whom he
had served so well without receiving any return from them. He had never
forgiven the remark of the Duke of Bedford when it was suggested in 1429 that
Orleans should be placed as a neutral city in the hands of Phillip, that “ il
serait bien marry d’avoir battu les buissons et que d’autres eussent les
oisillons.” Moreover, on the death of Anne of Burgundy, the wife of Bedford, in
1432, he had hastened to marry a daughter of the Count of Saint-Pol, without
even consulting his former brother-in-law. Duke Philip felt these affronts
bitterly, and was also well aware that his alliance with England was very
unpopular in his own land.
It was fortunate for
the cause of Charles VII that about this time he was induced to dismiss the
most unworthy and guilty of his favourites, La Tremouille, and to take back
into his favour the Constable of Richemont, whose talents as a politician
equalled his courage as a soldier. Everybody was weary of the long disastrous
war, and in 1435 a general conference was held at Arras to consider the terms
of peace. There were ambassadors from all the states of Europe— the Pope Eugenius
IV, the Emperor Sigismund, the Kings of Castile, Aragon, Portugal, Navarre,
Sicily, Naples, Cyprus, Poland, and Denmark, while the large towns and the
University of Paris sent their delegates. The King of England was represented
by the Cardinal of Winchester and a goodly company
l6
of barons; the King
of France sent the Constable of Richemont and eighteen nobles, and the Duke of
Burgundy appeared in person.
England demanded only
a truce and the marriage of Henry VI with one of the daughters of Charles VII.
At this time there were three princesses living, all younger than
Louis—Catherine, Jeanne, and the baby Yolande. The French Ambassador refused
anything but a permanent peace, on the understanding of Henry giving up all
pretensions to the throne of France and to the provinces which he still
occupied. These terms were rejected with contempt, and the Cardinal of
Winchester announced his intention of at once leaving the council and returning
with his : : company to England.
The Pope’s envoys
appear to have used their influence 1 1 with Philip of Burgundy, who
having received news of the death of the Duke of Bedford, and the expected end
of Queen Isabelle of Bavaria, felt himself released ! 1 from his
former engagements, and was willing to make peace with France. Charles VII was
compelled to consent to most humiliating conditions, as he, first, had to
declare that Duke Jean-sans-peur was unjustly slain : : and that all
who took part in his murder were to be : : exiled from France. Next
he was to yield up the ‘ countships of Auxerre and Macon, the towns of Roye,
Peronne, and Mont-Didier as well as those in the valley • ‘ of the Somme,
besides 400,000 gold crowns. On these
■ ■ terms the Treaty of
Arras was signed, independently
■ ■ of England. By way
of compensation, Charles VII i i was now master of Paris, for the citizens
threw open to 1 1 him the gate of Saint Jacques on the 29th of May,
1436.
There was still an English force of fifteen
thousand men under
Lord Willoughby, who, after vainly endeavouring to defend Paris, shut
themselves up within the fortress of the Bastille.
This was a frequent
occurrence in medieval times, and as in this case, it was often a very
difficult matter for the conquerors of a city to obtain possession of the
citadel. Richemont had no ammunition or artillery sufficiently powerful to take
the fortress by assault, although he would thereby have obtained a rich booty
from the ransom of the numerous noblemen who were serving with the English
army. The Constable was therefore compelled to accept the terms offered by Lord
Willoughby—that he and his army might depart with the honours of war, and all
their possessions, in the company of all the Frenchmen who had joined them.
When these conditions were granted to them, they gave up the Bastille to
Richemont, marched out of Paris by the gate of Saint Antoine, embarked in boats
on the Seine, and made their retreat safely to Rouen. The old Queen Isabelle of
Bavaria died in Paris, wretched and deserted, three days later.
The taking of the
capital may be said to end the first part of the reign of Charles VII, who from
this time, under the advice of wiser counsellors, such as the famous Jacques
Coeur, his banker (argentier), Jean Bureau, Master of the Artillery, and
others, showed himself more worthy of his high position. He was fortunate in
his generals, for Chabannes, Dunois, La Hire, Xaintrailles, Pierre and Jean de
Breze served him with courage and skill on the battlefield. It is worthy of
note as showing a new departure, that almost all of these men belonged either
to the bourgeois class or to the “petite noblesse”; indeed, the only real
member
is
of the “ noblesse ”
in the King’s council was the Count of Richemont. We shall see this policy
carried on in future to a much greater extent.
Charles made his
entry into Paris with great pomp and magnificence, and the citizens received
him with the utmost enthusiasm, hailing him as Charles “the Victorious,” on his
return to the capital of his ancestors after an absence of eighteen years.
CHAPTER II
LOUIS THE DAUPHIN
1436-4S
Margaret
of Scotland and her Father, James I— Marriage of the Dauphin—His Letters—Charles of Orleans—The Dauphin leads
the “ £corcheurs ” out of France—Battle of St. Jacques—Reform of the Army.
It is after
the recovery of Paris in the year 1436 that we first find mention of Louis the
Dauphin being definitely associated with the affairs of the kingdom. Already in
1428 his father had begun to look upon him as a valuable political asset, for
in that year he first formed the idea of an alliance with Scotland by the
marriage of the Dauphin with the daughter of James I of Scotland. He appears to
have sent over an important embassy for that purpose, consisting of the
Archbishop of Rheims, John Stewart, Darnley Constable of the Scots in France,
and the famous man of letters, Alain Chartier. At that time the children were
both too young for more than a betrothal to take place, but decisive
arrangements were made for the future.
At this point it is
very interesting to trace the strong friendship which had so long existed
between France and Scotland, and which was founded to a great extent on their
mutual jealousy and hatred of England. James I had just cause to rue it, for he
was being sent to be
20
educated in France in
the year 1405, that he might escape the fate of his elder brother, starved to
death by his uncle Albany, when he fell into the hands of Henry IV. Accompanied
by some Scotch noblemen, the young Prince had set sail from the Bass Rock at
the mouth of the Frith of Forth, and meeting with rough weather, was driven on
the English coast. Although at the time there was a truce between the two
countries, James was taken by some Norfolk sailors, who brought their prize to
the English King. The Scottish lad had been provided by his father with letters
to King Henry to be used in case of his landing in England, but these were of
no service to him. Henry IV sarcastically remarked that if the Scots had been
friendly they would have sent the boy to him for his education, as he knew the
French language quite as well as Charles VI of France.
The news of this
disaster was fatal to his father, Robert III, and the government of Scotland
now fell into the hands of the Duke of Albany, who was by no means anxious for
the release of his nephew, and James remained for many years a captive in
England. He received an excellent education, and spent many of his long hours
of leisure in writing verse of much charm and interest, such as the “ King’s
Qhuair,” a love poem addressed to the Lady Jane, his future bride. There is
also preserved a poem of his in lighter vein, “Christ’s Kirk on the Green.”
In the year 1421,
after sixteen years of captivity, Henry V took the Scottish King with him to
France, having made a private treaty that in return for help in his campaign he
would give him his freedom. James was required to use his authority in
forbidding the
Scots in France from
fighting against the English, but they would not listen to a captive sovereign.
He took part in the siege of Dreux, which surrendered to him. Henry V died at
Vincennes before he could fulfil his promise, but some years later, in 1423,
when the ambitious Duke of Albany had also passed away, James was at length
set free after an unjust imprisonment of eighteen years. He was to agree to a
treaty by which the kings of England and Scotland were forbidden to take part
with the enemies of each other; and had to pay a ransom of £40,000. In order
the more strongly to cement the friendship with England, he was suffered to
marry the Lady Jane Beaufort, sister of the Duke of Somerset and a cousin
germain of his own, through their common descent from John of Gaunt. He had
already formed a romantic attachment for this lady, and a pretty story is told
of his falling in love with the fair damsel, seen by chance from his prison
window in the keep of Windsor. Some of the poet-king’s most charming lyrics are
written in homage to the lady of his devotion. Much interest and sympathy were
felt in England when the wedding of the princely lovers took place with great
splendour on the nth of February, 1423, and the sum of 10,000 marks was given
as a dower with the Lady Jane, to be deducted from the promised ransom.
The promise of
brighter days appeared to be realized for awhile, when the King and Queen of
Scotland were received with acclamation and crowned on May 21, 1423, in the
land from which he had so long been an exile, and within a year their daughter
Margaret was born. As the destined wife of Louis XI, it is her story which most
concerns us, and we hear that the little princess
22
was brought up in the
cultivated Court of her father with the most careful and learned education.
When she had barely reached the age of twelve, this peaceful happy time came to
an end, for she had to abide by the usual fate of royal ladies in those days.
James was called upon to fulfil his engagement with the King of France, and
send his cherished daughter away from him for ever, to a foreign land, to be
the bride of the Dauphin Louis XI, a boy not much older than herself.
It was in 1436 that poor
little Margaret said good-bye to her parents and set forth from Dumbarton with
a gallant escort on her voyage to France. There was a truce with England at the
time, but the Regent, Richard Duke of York, could not resist the temptation of
sending an expedition to kidnap the young princess. However, the captains of
the fleet were ever ready to do a little piracy on their own account, and when
they met with some vessels from the Netherlands laden with wine, they thought
to make sure of their booty on the way. But the sea at that moment must have
been a much frequented highway, for no sooner was the wine in possession of the
English before a Spanish fleet passed by, lost no time in giving battle, and
carried off the spoil. The Scots bore the Princess Margaret safely into the
port of La Rochelle pursued by English cruisers, but the entrance of the roads
was closed in time by the help of some Castilian auxiliaries, of the embassy of
Don Enrique.
Margaret was received
with the usual pomp at Tours where she arrived on June 14, and the marriage
with the Dauphin was celebrated by the Archbishop of Rheims in the chapel of
the Chateau, on the day of Saint John. A shadow was cast over the court by the
23
recent death of the
baby-prince Philippe, one of the many children of Queen Marie who scarcely
survived their infancy. Of the young Scotch bride, barely twelve years old,
Monstrelet tells us that she was “une princesse parfaite aux beautes de l’ame
et du corps.”
The marriage between
the two children was apparently a failure. It must always be a great risk to
bring together in such intimate connection, with no choice of their own, two
young creatures, absolute strangers to each other, aliens in race and training,
who have been surrounded by greatly different influences from their birth, and
who do not even speak the same language. There are, of course, great historical
instances where such early marriages have been a success, as in the case of
that most attractive figure of the Italian Renaissance, Vittoria Colonna and her
young husband the Marquess of Pescara. But then, she was one of those rare and
exquisite creatures who are all compact of bright intelligence and tender love
and sympathy. •
Gentle and charming
as the Princess Margaret is represented to us, she may not have been able to
conceal a feeling of contempt for the French boy, who certainly cared nothing
for the poetry and romance which had been the very atmosphere of her life.
Louis, on his side, had excellent practical common sense, a keen knowledge of
facts and numbers, and a passionate love of warlike pursuits, outdoor games,
and, above all, of hunting and falconry. To judge from his later character, we
may without injustice suppose him to have been a somewhat unamiable child, cold
in disposition, obstinately set upon having his own way, violent if opposed,
of precocious sharpness, and already an
24
Photo by
Levy ei ses /i/s, Paris
CHARLES VII, KING OF
FRANCE After the portrait hy Jean
Foucquet
adept in
dissimulation, the protective armour of one who is in the midst of doubtful
friends and secret foes. He was indignant at this marriage, forced upon him so
early, by which his father had asserted control over his future life. Yet even on
this subject, as with everything else which touches upon the character of Louis
XI, it is extremely difficult to find out the truth. Most writers have so
strong a parti pris against him that, like the villain of a melodrama, his
appearance on the stage is at once the signal for hisses and execration. At
every step, therefore, great caution and consideration is needed in the
interest of historical accuracy. Commines tells us that “ Louis regretted the
existence of this princess during the whole of her life ” ; but then, he had no
personal knowledge on the subject, and all this happened long before his time.
On the other hand, Andre Duchesne assures us that “Louis had much love for the
Princess Margaret ” ; Legeay calls it a “menage fort uni,” and Pere Anselme
says that the Dauphin after her death “had a strong desire to marry one of her
sisters.” Still we can quite believe that they were ill-matched, and had few
tastes or sympathies in common. The Scotch Princess loved to sit up through the
long hours of the night writing poetry, while the boy Louis, tired with the
day’s hunting, probably went to bed at a very early hour.
Charles and his son
were too different in temperament and character to be friends and companions,
and yet too near in age for the unquestioning obedience of the younger to
paternal authority, more especially as Louis at the age of thirteen would be
almost a match in intellect for his father at thirty-three. There was always a
certain rivalry between them which did not conduce
to affection. On the
other hand, Charles showed from the first a strong liking for the gentle
Margaret, and it is very interesting to find in the royal account book the
following description of the New Year’s gift which he bestowed upon her in
1437, theyear after her marriage: “A madame la dauphine, le premier jour de
l’an, . . . un miroir d’or a pie garni de perles dont le roy lui a fait present
pour ses estrennes.” This golden mirror adorned with pearls “with feet” was
probably of large size—a splendid present. To monsieur le dauphin he gave, at
the same time, six yards of cloth of gold.
It was only a few
months later that Margaret received the awful news of her father’s cruel murder
at Perth in the Abbey of the Black Friars, on February 20, 1437. This tragedy,
one of the blackest in history, must have been enough to crush the tender heart
of his loving daughter, so far away that she had not even the faint consolation
of being with her bereaved mother in that sad hour. Only one ray of light
stands out in that ghastly story — the heroic devotion of Catherine Douglas,
who thrust her arm across the door to delay the traitors, in place of the bar which
had been removed.
It was an evil day
for Scotland, and a fierce retribution overtook the rebellious and guilty
lords before the young brother of Margaret, a boy of six years old, was crowned
at Holyrood under the title of James II.
We wonder whether, in
her deep affliction, the poor young Dauphiness found any comfbrtjn the use of a
“chapelle portative” which Louis had just bought, “garniede chalice d’argent
dore, deux buretez, une paix d’argent, ung messel, les trois nappes, l’aube,
26
l’amit, la chasuble
de drap d’or, l’autel et contre autel de mesmez drap d’or,” the whole costing
210 livres tournois, and for which the receipt is signed by the Dauphin’s
confessor, Jean Majoris. This was certainly an unusual purchase for a lad of
fourteen.
It was towards the
end of the year 1436 that Louis the Dauphin, at the age of thirteen, began to
accompany his father in his travels and wars. The Duke of Bedford had died in
1435, and the new Regent, Richard Duke of York, although he was appointed too
late to save Paris to the English, showed great activity and retook many towns
and castles before he was recalled at the end of the year to give place to
Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Charles VII and his son had plenty of scope
for their warlike energy in Languedoc, Poitou, and Dauphine, and the next year
they were present together at the siege of Montereau. With the date of 1438
begin the extremely interesting letters of Louis, Dauphin— “lettres missives”
written by him before he became king in 1461, of which one hundred and
twenty-six have been preserved. Besides this, there are one hundred other
documents of the same period which the learned archivist, M. Etienne Charavay,
calls “Pieces justificatives,” and which have been chosen by him from a large
number as most characteristic of the Dauphin’s personality. All these will help
to illustrate fully this most eventful and less-known period of his life.
In 1439 we find the
King showing so much confidence in his young son that he appoints him as
“royal and extraordinary commissioner” in Languedoc, Poitou, and Saintonge,
“pour oster les pil-
27
leries et faire
vuidier les gens de guerre qui estoient en icellui ” (to put an end to the
pillaging and turn out the men of war who were in those parts). Charles VII, in
his letters, gives full powers to “ nostre tres chier et tres ame filz Loys,
daulphin de Viennois,” to put an end to the “ pilleries, roberies, rebellions
et desobeissances, abuz de justice, tors, griefz, exactions et autres crimes et
malefices commis et perpetrez en nosdiz pais. . . .” There was, indeed, a call
for strong measures, as it is almost impossible for us to realize the utter
misery and fearful condition of the country so long ravaged and laid desolate
by constant war and rapine. France, at this time, was overrun by robber bands,
“ecorcheurs,” literally flayers, brutal wretches who not only waylaid and
plundered their victims, but actually stripped them of their clothes, leaving
them almost naked. No rank or condition was safe from these marauders, who
openly defied the Government.
This appears to have
been one development of the awful plague of foreign mercenaries, who, when not
engaged in actual warfare, lived by rapine, pillage, and massacre of the
hapless peasantry and others. We shall have occasion to give fuller details
later— at the period of Charles VII’s master-stroke of policy against the “
routiers ” and “ecorcheurs.”
We have a full
account of all the preparations made for this expedition to Languedoc, which
marks a most important epoch by a new system of reform in the administration of
the realm. The States - General at Orleans were induced, in October, 1439, to
vote a subsidy of 1,200,000 livres to pay a regular body of gendarmerie, thus
placing the armed forces of
28
the kingdom under the
immediate control of the King. This was a stroke of genius of which we cannot
overestimate the importance. Amongst minor details it is curious to notice in
the letters that the Dauphin makes large gifts in money to all the important
members of his company, and that splendid apparel is ordered for Louis by his
father. We read of “ two long robes of cloth of gold lined with marten skins,
one robe of crimson velvet and another of the richest black- velvet also lined
with marten skins,” and of large payments made to a merchant of Toulouse for
velvet and crimson satin, “destines a confectionner des vete- ments pour
monseigneur le dauphin.” Evidently he is to make up by magnificence for the
dignity which may be wanting to a prince of sixteen. Louis writes a very
stately and courteous letter to the Seneschal of Beaucaire expressing his
earnest wish that all the nobles of Languedoc may join him in his expedition,
but at the same time insisting that they are in no way to “be forced or
constrained to do so.”
Both France and
England had grown very weary of the long disastrous war, and the young King,
Henry VI, whose gentle nature made him long for peace, was eager to take the
advice of Cardinal Beaufort, and as means to this end to set free Charles Duke
of Orleans, who had been a captive in England ever since the battle of
Agincourt, 1415. It was hoped that he would have much influence at the Court of
France and might smooth the way for an agreement between the two nations.
Humphrey Duke of Gloucester strongly opposed this measure, and was so indignant
at being overruled that he abruptly left the council and departed in his barge.
The Duke of Orleans was
29
required to take oath
never to bear arms against England, and he was to pay a ransom of 60,000
crowns, of which part was to be excused if he was successful in making peace.
When the Dauphin
Louis heard of these negotiations, he at once generously offered on his honour
to pay 30,000 “saluts d’or ” (equal to French ecus of gold, 25 sols tournois)
towards this ransom of “nos- tre trks chier et tres ame oncle le due d’Orleans,
prisonnier de Henry, soy disant roy d’Angleterre, adversaire de Monseigneur et
de nous . . . pour pour- chacier sa delivrance. ...” This letter, written in
December, 1439, is one of the earliest instances of the life-long policy of
Louis, who, parsimonious to a degree in all that concerned his own private
expenditure, showed a princely liberality in all public matters, pensions,
bribes, etc.
The story of Charles
Duke of Orleans somewhat resembles that of James I, but his was a captivity of
five-and-twenty years since that day of Agincourt when he was drawn forth alive
from beneath a ghastly heap of murdered prisoners. Charles was the son of Louis
Duke of Orleans, who was stabbed in the streets of Paris in November, 1407, by
the instigation of Jean Duke of Burgundy, a crime which had the terrible
consequences of a vendetta. His mother was Valentina Visconti, the rightful
heir of the Visconti family and Milan, whose rights, transmitted to the House of
Orleans, prepared the way for the disastrous interference of foreign princes
in Italian politics. She died of a broken heart for the loss of a husband who
had never returned her love. When Charles succeeded to his father’s title his
whole heart was set on revenging
3°
that treacherous
murder, and he strengthened his party by marriage with Bonne, a daughter of the
Count of Armagnac ; for his young wife, the Princess Isabelle of France, was
dead. This private feud soon became national, and for many years divided the
north and south of France into hostile factions: the young head of the House of
Orleans, now fighting by the Gascon’s side, now making alliances only to break
them, but ever a menace to the peace of his country throughout all his
turbulent youth. Then came the disaster of Agincourt, and the stirring turmoil
of camp and court is changed for the peace and solitude of prison life. For
nearly eight years he must have been prisoner at the same time as the young
James I, and both of them whiled away the long hours of captivity with the
making of verse. The dreamy sentimental poetry of Charles has a certain merit
of its own and has found a place in the literature of his time.
But as time passed on
and one after another of his fellow • prisoners was ransomed and went home, he
became more troubled and restless ; he found the English climate “prejudicial
to the human frame,” he disliked English fruit and beer, and even the fires of
coal. All his thoughts turned towards freedom, and when the chance came to him,
it was with all his heart that he promised to work for peace if he might once
more return to his native land. He was received with enthusiasm on his return
as the type of all that was most chivalrous and patriotic. But there was
nothing heroic about this middle-aged man who came back as the avowed friend of
Philip of Burgundy, and expected to take up his life again where it was broken
off twenty- five years before, with all its princely pomp and dis-
play. Only a
fortnight after his arrival he was married at St. Omer to Mary of Cleves, a
young princess barely fifteen years old, of no great personal attraction. After
the usual gorgeous entertainments and feasting, the Duke] and Duchess travelled
on through Ghent and Tournay, while all the towns through which he passed gave
him offerings of money towards the payment of his ransom, and people thronged
to his service as though he had been the King of France. Followed by a troop of
Burgundian nobles he went to Paris, where King Charles VII offered to receive
him with a smaller retinue, at which the Duke took offence and retreated
through Touraine, where he was warmly welcomed, to his castle at Blois.
Here we may leave him
for a while to his life of courtly ease and pleasure, in the midst of a gay company
who listened to his verses, played chess and other aristocratic games, went
hunting and hawking, and made the pursuit of pleasure a serious study. He was
fond of travelling, and would occasionally make a stately progress to visit
King Rene of Provence at Tarascon, or to the King of France when some great
tournament was going on. On these occasions the Duchess Marie and the Dauphine
Margaret would find much in common, and lend each other romances, but their
brief friendship was severed in 1445 by the death of Margaret. It was not until
many years later that there was born to Marie of Cleves, Duchess of Orleans,
the little son who later succeeded to the throne of France under the title of
Louis 'XII.
We must now return to
the year 1440, when Louis the Dauphin, after successfully carrying out the
King’s commission in Languedoc, lost his head and most un
wisely consented to
head the rebellion against the throne, called the “ Praguerie.” It was a
combination of the great nobles, the Dukes of Bourbon and Alenfon, the Counts
of Dunois and Vendome and others, and the chief leaders of the “routiers,” such
as Antoine and Jacques de Chabannes, Jean Sangliers, and Jean de la Roche.
Their chief cause of complaint was the King’s levy of the Gendarmerie which was
absolutely under his command, and left both the feudal lords and the
mercenaries out in the cold. But Charles had on his side the whole of the
bourgeoisie and the peasants, and the revolt was soon crushed. Louis hastened
to make due submission, and we find that in 1440 the county of Dauphine is
assigned to him, and he sends his chamberlain and viaitre d’hotel to take
possession of it. He shows his practical talent for business by at once making
the most minute inquiries with regard to the money and coinage of Dauphine;
there are several letters of his on the subject, evidently understanding all
about the “ monnaie royale et monnaie delphinale.”
The next
mission of the Dauphin appears to us most amazing and almost incredible, for it
was nothing less than to “debarrasser la France des grandes com- pagnies, en
les emmenant guerroyer contre les Suisses . . .” The Dauphin was to rid France
of these “grandes compagnies,” the immense companies of mercenary ruffians who,
when not actually fighting for pay, ravaged and destroyed the land which
harboured them. The curious point was the way in which this was done, for they
were to be gathered together into one army and led away out of France to fight
against the Swiss and thus if possible to be destroyed, or in any case to d 33
be left behind ! A
desperate remedy indeed for an intolerable state of things.
All the chronicles of
the period are full of the horrors committed on defenceless people by these
lawless bands;.they were beyond all restraint, and the only answer made to the
most pitiable complaint was: “II faut qu’ils vivent.” A few instances may give
a faint idea of the misery endured. In the Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris we
have under the date of 1423: “Item. Vint ung grant
compagnie de larrons qui se disaient Arminaz ou de la bande, ausquels rien,
s’il n’estoit trop chaulx ou trop pesant, ne leur eschap- poit, et qui pis est,
tuoient, boutoient feu, efforcoient femmes et filles, pendoient, s’ils ne
payoient ran5on a leur guise, ne marchandise nulle par la ne pouvoit eschapper.
...”
(There came a great
company of robbers who called themselves Armagnacs, or “of the band,” from whom
nothing, unless it was too hot or too heavy, escaped, and what is worse, they
killed, set fire, ill-used women and girls, hung those who would not pay ransom
to their fancy. No merchandise could escape.)
Thus was the land
made desolate, houses burnt, cattle and every living creature carried away, the
corn cut, everything destroyed, and the wretched survivors driven to take
refuge in the towns and beg at the church doors. Can we wonder that the next
entry in that Journal is the following? :
“ Item. 1423. En ce temps venoienta Paris les loups touttes les nuits,
et en prenoit-on souyent trois ou quatre a ungne fois, et estoient portez parmy
Paris pendus par les pies de derriere, et leur donnoit-on de l’argent grant
foison (a ceux qui les avoient pris).”
34
(At that time the
wolves came to Paris every night, and three or four were often taken at one
time, and were carried through Paris hung by their hind feet, and much money
was given to those who had taken them.)
No class was exempt
from the depredations of the “routiers.” We find a certain Jaquin de Nicey,
“escuier,” of Longeance, complain that his house and estate had been ravaged, “
despouillee sa femme toute nue par deux fois,” all his goods, furniture,
cattle, etc., carried away. Poor widows complained that after their husbands
had been ransomed, they were murdered. We find another pathetic deposition of a
poor man.
“Item. Ledit Jacquemin a dit et jurey que les routiers emmenererent ung sien
fils en l’eage de X ans, onques plus ne le vit, et non puet oir nouvelles, et
le voiroit bien ravoir pour la somme de XL florins. . . .”
(The said Jaquemin
has said and sworn that the “routiers” carried away his own son of the age of
ten years, and he has never seen him since and can hear no news of him, and
would desire indeed to have him back if he gave the sum of forty florins. . .
.)
Little children were
constantly taken away and held to ransom for some amount far beyond their
parents’ means. Villages were burnt, churches robbed and destroyed, at fairs
and markets every one was pillaged.
As time passed,
matters grew worse, and when the marriage of Henry VI, King of England, and Marguerite
of Anjou was in contemplation, a truce was made for eighteen months, the army
of adventurers was left unemployed, and the country was in a desperate
extremity. We gain some idea of this from the Journal d’un Bourgeois :—
“Item. 1444. A l’entree de Juillet vint une grande compagnie de larrons
et de murdriers qui se logerent es villaiges qui sont au tour de Paris . . .
nul homme n’osoit aller aux champs, ne venir k Paris, ne osoit cuillir aux
champs quelque chose que ce fust . . . nulle beste prinse, fust asne, vache ou
pourcel, qui ne fust plus ranfonne qu’il ne valloit . . . n,e homme de quelque
estat qu’il fust, fust moyne, prestre ne religieux . . . fust menestrel, fust
herault, fust femme ou enfant de quelque eage, que s’il yssoit (sortait) de
Paris qui ne fust en grand peril de sa vie, mais se on ne luy ostait sa vie, il
estoit despouille tout mi, tous sans ung seul exceptez. ...”
(At the beginning of
July there came a great company of robbers and murderers, who lodged in the
villages round Paris ... no man dared go to the fields, nor come to Paris, nor
dared gather anything in the fields . . . no beast was taken, be it ass, nor
cow nor pig, which was not put to ransom for more than it was worth . . . nor
man of what condition he might be, monk or priest or friar . . . were he minstrel,
herald, or woman, or child of any age, who if he went out of Paris was not in
great peril of his life, and even if he did not lose his life he was stripped
naked, etc. . . .)
The time had come
when it was a matter of life and death to set the land free from these
“ecorcheurs.” The Dauphin had already shown his mettle by leading an army of
them in August, 1443, to raise the siege of Dieppe, which was attacked by Lord
Talbot. But now a far more difficult task was before him, as he received a
royal mandate bidding him collect and master all these undisciplined soldiers
from the open country, and
36
a certain number of
those in garrisons, and lead them forth on a great expedition out of the
country. It so happened that the House of Austria had begged for help in a war
against the Swiss, and Charles VII eagerly seized the occasion to carry out his
desperate undertaking.
While getting rid of
these redoubtable companies who troubled the peace of France, the King gave
scope to the feverish activity of his son; “cet esprit remuant qui le poussait
volontiers a se jeter dans les aventures.” In fact, the perilous expedition
suited him exactly.
Charles Vll sent
orders everywhere that if the “routiers” who made part of the Dauphin’s army
left him or went astray, they were to be punished with exemplary rigour. We
are amazed to find that he scarcely hid his purpose. In writing to the
inhabitants of Rheims, he spoke of sending away the men of war so that they
might no more return to our land ... to purge the soil of France without
exposing to massacre those who might seek to drive them out.”
At length the great
army of gens terribles, ce grand troupeau de voleurs, set forth, in number
about 30,000 at a rough estimate, including a number of hangers-on and
ca*mp-followers of the vilest kind. All countries were represented, and each
company was led by its own captain—French, Lombard, Gascon, Breton, English,
Scotch, Spanish, etc.—and the Dauphin Louis, a lad of twenty-one, was at the
head, with a suite of nobles round him. The passage of this devouring multitude
was a fearful experience for those eastern provinces, and we cannot wonder that
it spread dismay and terror on every side. Philip Duke of Burgundy
made haste to send
Louisa present of fifteen queues1 of the best wine to conciliate
him. Frederick III of Austria inquired why so great an army of barbarians had
come. He began to dread his allies more than his enemies.
The mighty horde
reached the neighbourhood of Basel, and there, almost within sight of the
fathers of Christendom who were holding a council, was fought the great battle
of Saint Jacques, on the 26th August, 1444. A handful of Swiss fought with
heroic courage, until overwhelmed by numbers, on the banks of the river Birse,
and never were men known to sell their lives so dearly. We are told that some
of the conquering host sought refuge that evening at the castle of Jean de
Thierstein, and the warder asked what they wanted so late. “Nous avons lutte et combattu tout ce jour!” replied the trumpeter. “ Qui est
vaincu ? ” was shouted from the battlements. “ Les Suisses sont defaits,” was
the answer. “ Combien des votres sont morts?” “Jusqu’a quatre
mille,” was the trumpeter’s estimate.
Where was the Dauphin
? has been one of the contested points of history. But we have clear evidence
that Louis went to the Chateau of Waltighoffen on the Sunday before the battle
and remained there until the Thursday after. Two friars went to him there from
Basel imploring pity for the city. Indeed, deputations arrived from all quarters,
and he was able to make his own terms, so great was the alarm inspired by this
terrible invasion. But the fighting continued, and at the siege of Dambach, the
Prince was wounded in the knee by an arrow, and had to be carried from thence
to Chatenois and afterwards to Ensisheim
1 Queue, a muid and half a muid of corn, fifty
bushels.
38
(Haut Rhin). Charles
VII appears to have felt much anxiety about his son, as we gather from numerous
letters.
“ Le Roi de France informe de cet accident en eprouva un tel vif
chagrin, il ne put des lors gotiter un instant de repos et fut en proie a des
angoisses continuelles, croyant son fils deja mort. II lui envoya messages sur
messages, lettres sur lettres, le pressant de revenir sans delai aupres de sa
personne, si les jours de son pere lui etaient chers, parceque ce pere ne
ressentirait de joie que lorsqu’il pourrait se rencontrer face de face avec son
fils.”
The Dauphin concluded
a treaty with the Swiss on the 28th of October, while still at Ensisheim, and
it was from this town that he wrote a most indignant letter to the councillors
of Burgundy. He complained that after leaving Montebliard, the garrisons of
Langres and Lure not “only closed their gates and refused to admit him and his
followers, but left them outside in the fields in danger and would sell them no
provisions for gold or silver, to his great discontent.” It was not until
almost the end of the year that he returned to his father, taking only an
escort of two thousand horsemen, while the rest of the army was left in winter
quarters, provided with food and lodging at the expense of the unfortunate
people of Alsace. All the cities of the Empire were naturally up in arms
against the “routiers,” and horrified at the departure of the Dauphin whose
authority had kept them somewhat in order.
During the winter
there were serious negotiations between France and the Empire with regard to
the evacuation of Alsace, which was treated like a con-
quered country. The
audacity of the captains left at Ensisheim actually went so far that they put
up the city for auction ! At length the down-trodden people appear to have
risen in despair against their devouring foes. Five hundred determined
volunteers awaited the passage of an army through the Val de Liepvre by a
narrow pass where two cavaliers could hardly go abreast. They remained in
ambush until the critical moment and then rushing forth won a great victory,
the ‘ ‘ routiers ” being almost entirely destroyed. An immense quantity of
plunder was taken : a quantity of precious plate and articles of value, 60,000
florins, 1416 fine horses, and other booty. This happened on March 18, 1445,
and so great a success encouraged others to follow the example. Scattered bands
of the invaders were attacked and cut in pieces, so that we are told by the end
of April Alsace was free. The public records of the time contain a long list of
remissions or pardons for people who by one means or another had got rid of
the “ecorcheurs.” So this amazing adventure came to an end. In the following
year, on July 17, 1445, Louis writes to “his very dear and well- beloved
churchmen, bourgeois, and inhabitants of the town of Senlis ” to ask for their
contributions towards the expense of this undertaking.
“ De par le daulphin de Viennois,
“Trks chiers et bien ames, vous savez assez comment par le bon plaisir
et voulente de Monseigneur en la saison passee avons fait widier et mettre hors
de ce royaume en grant danger de notre j^rsonne tous les capitaines, routiers
et autres gens de* guerre espandus en icellui a la foule et totale destruction
des pays de
40
mondit seigneur, et iceulx menez et fait vivre par longue saison ou pais
delemaigne a ce que les pilleries poussent cesser et le povre peuple et subgiez
de mondit seigneur demourer et vivre seurement. ...”
(Very dear and
well-beloved, you know how, by the good pleasure and will of Monseigneur [the
King], during the past season we have cleared and put out of the kingdom, to
the great danger of our person, all the captains, “ routiers,” and other men of
war spread about here to the . . . and total destruction of the lands of my
aforesaid seigneur, and have led them out and caused them to live for a long
season in the country of Germany in order that the robberies may cease and the
poor people and subjects of my aforesaid seigneur may abide and live safely. .
. .”)
He then continues to
explain how very expensive this has been, and asks for a grant of what money
the town can afford.
This letter was at
once read at a public meeting in the Hotel de Ville of Senlis. After this
letter had been written in the registers, this was added : “It has been
concluded that for the great love and affection which the town bears to
Monseigneur the Dauphin . . . the town gave him the sum of nil5"
livres tournois, to be paid at the Saint Martin this coming winter.”
Most of the
“6corcheurs” being thus got rid of in this extraordinary and certainly, as
Louis says, dangerous way, Charles was free to carry out his scheme of reform.
The French army was reduced to fifteen companies of one hundred lances, each
lance including the man-at-arms, hispage, three archers and one coutillier
(retainer of lower rank), all mounted. A few years later the French infantry
was thus created. Every
parish in the kingdom
was required to provide a foot soldier well armed and accoutred, who was to be
trained every fete-day, and was to serve the King when needful, at the pay of
four francs a month when on duty. These sixteen thousand men were called “
francs archers,” and although at first they were much laughed at by satirists
like the poet Villon, before many years they distinguished themselves on all
the battlefields of the Continent.
It is interesting to
know that some of the best of the old routiers who had been left in France on
garrison work, were very anxious to join the King’s compagnies cFordonnance,
and they proved most valuable soldiers under strict discipline.
CHAPTER III
LOUIS THE DAUPHIN
1445-61
Marguerite of Anjou
Marries Henry VI—Death of Margaret la Dauphine—Queen Marie and Agnes
Sorel—Departure of the Dauphin from Court—
His Life in Dauphine—His Marriage with Charlotte
of Savoy—Jacques Cceur—Louis Retires to Burgundy—His Life at Genappe.
The
young
King of England, Henry VI, who had chiefly received his political education
from his uncle, Cardinal Beaufort, was of a gentle and pious disposition, with
an ardent desire for peace. He was quite ready to listen to the suggestion of
one of his advisers, William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, who urged upon him a
marriage with Marguerite, the daughter of Rene of Anjou, as a means towards
putting an end to the long war with France. On the other hand, the Duke of
Gloucester had for some time been plotting to marry his royal nephew to one of
the three daughters of the Count of Armagnac, and there are curious letters
extant which show that a painter was employed by Henry to take portraits of the
young ladies who were to be “ painted in their kirtles simple, and their
visages like as you see ; and their stature and their beauty, the colour of
their skin and their countenances.”
43
But the artist
appears to have proceeded in a leisurely way, and meantime Suffolk obtained a
portrait of Marguerite, which gave such a fair image of her charms that the
young King was delighted with it. But the strongest motive which decided him in
favour of Rene’s daughter was the same as that which induced him to set free
the Duke of Orleans. She was a favourite niece of the wife of Charles VII,
Marie of Anjou, and in those days, when alliances were looked upon as
all-powerful, Henry believed that this would be the surest road to a permanent
peace with France. The Earl of Suffolk was sent as ambassador to France that he
might enter into negotiations, and he first met Charles Duke of Orleans at
Tours, with whom he arranged a truce of two years to begin with. Suffolk had a
difficult task, as the first condition of Rene, titular King of Naples and
Jerusalem, was that the provinces of Anjou and Maine, “his hereditary dominions,’’which
were partly in possession of the English, should be at once given up to him.
This demand was supported by the King of France, and after some demur yielded
by Henry and his council, while, in consideration of King Rene’s poverty,
neither money nor lands were to be demanded as dowry for his daughter. As might
be expected, this marriage treaty was most unpopular in England, and there was
strong opposition from the Duke of Gloucester and his party, but the young King
had his way, and appointed Suffolk to act as proxy for him, writing thus— :
“As you have lately,
by the Divine favour and grace, in our name and for us, engaged verbally the
excellent, magnificent, and very bright Margaretta, the serene daughter of the
King of Sicily, and sworn that
44
we shall contract
matrimony with her, we consent and will that she be conducted to us over seas,
from her country and friends, at our expense.”
The marriage by proxy
was a splendid ceremonial and was solemnized at Nancy in the church of St.
Martin early in the year 1445, before a most distinguished company. King Rene,
his wife, Isabelle of Lorraine, the King and Queen of France, and the
Dauphiness Margaret, the Dukes of Bretagne, Alenfon, and other great nobles,
were amongst the wedding party. The bridal festivities lasted eight days. It is
pleasant to know that Margaret of Scotland shone amidst the other fair ladies,
and that she took her part in the entertainments. We are especially told that
she distinguished herself in a certain stately “ basse danse de Bourgogne, a
figures variees, avec des pas simples, doubles, recules, etc.,” of which the
curious notation has been recently found. It was rather like the more recent
“contredanse.” There were stately tournaments in which the knights wore
garlands of daisies in honour of Marguerite, the fair young bride of fifteen.
When the time came for her sad parting with her family, Charles VII himself
conducted her on her way for two leagues out of Nancy, and took leave of his
niece with great affection. Her eldest brother, John Duke of Calabria, and the
Duke of Alenin accompanied her to England, a long and tedious journey of which
there is a quaint record in the “Breknote Computus.” The young Queen reached
Pon- toise on March 18, on the next day she went to sup with the Duke of York
at Mantes, then to Vernon, where she slept, reaching Rouen on the 23rd, then to
various other places till she reached the port of “ Kiddecaws,” whence she and
her suite crossed to Porchester, arriv-
45
ing in a terrible
storm. She slept in a convent at Portsmouth, and the next day, April ioth, was
rowed to Southampton in great state. Here the poor girl fell ill, but had
sufficiently recovered to be married to King Henry VI in person before the end
of April, when amongst other wedding presents she received a young lion, a very
expensive and awkward pet.
Marguerite had a
splendid reception on her progress through London, the people wearing her
emblem as they crowded to welcome her on her road to Westminster, where she
was crowned with great magnificence.
Of either sex, who doth not now delight To wear the daisy for Queen
Marguerite ?
says the poet
Drayton. We shall meet the hapless Queen of Henry VI again in very different
circumstances.
For a while no one
ventured to speak openly against the King’s marriage, but the terms on which it
had been completed caused deep and growing discontent, and a day of reckoning
was not far off. Although England had given up two rich and important
provinces, the keys of Normandy, to a kinsman of the King of France, only
truces were made from time to time, and difficulties always arose about a final
peace, for which Charles VII was by no means anxious while the English retained
any possessions on French soil.
At the time when the
city of London rang with festive rejoicing for the wedding of Marguerite of
Anjou, there were great entertainments at the French Court, which had moved to
Chalons-sur-Marne. “ L’an mil IIIICXLV la sepmaine devant
l’Ascension la royne de France, seur du roy de Cecile (Rene of Anjou) . . .
46
monsr le
dalphin, son filz, et madame la dalphine, sa femme, fille du roy d’Escosse, et
mons' le due de Calabre ” arrived in the town of Chalons, and the first day of
June, the King our Lord, the King of Sicily above-mentioned, “ messire Charles
of Anjou,” and a long list of noblemen, bishops, great statesmen, and ambassadors
from many lands, all arrived in great state at Chalons. There also came
Isabelle of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, wife of Philip the Good, accompanied
by several noble lords of her country. “ Et la furent
faictes grandes, honorables et sumptueuses joustes ou marchie, a lices, et
apres a grant peine fut faicte pais et accort entre le roy et mondict sieur de
Bourgoingne et aussy entre ledict roy de Cecile et l’edict de Bourgoigne.”
“ Et demoura le roy tant audict Chaalons comme a Sarrey jusques au mardi
XVI Ie jour d’aoust ensuivant, et se party soudainement comme
dolant, courouce et trouble pour le trespassement de madicte dame la dalfine,
qui avoit este trespassee audict Chaalons le lundi precedent environ XI heures
devant minuit, et fut enterree a Saint Estene et fait son service et donnee a
chascun povre de X deniers tournois. . . .
“ Durant la maladis de madicte dame la dalphine on fit cesser le sonner
a toutes les eglises de Chaalons par l’espace devant huit jours.”
(And there were made
great, honourable, and sumptuous jousts and tournaments in the lists, and
afterwards with much trouble there was peace and accord made between the King
and my said Lord of Burgundy, and also between the said King of Sicily and the
said Duke of Burgundy. And the King remained as much at the said Chalons as at
Sarrey
until
Tuesday the 17th day of August following, when he left suddenly, sorrowing,
distressed, and troubled by the death of my said lady the Dauphiness, who had
died at the said Chalons on the preceding Monday at about eleven o’clock,
before midnight, and was buried at Saint Estene, and the service performed, and
there was given to each poor person ten “ deniers ” [farthings] tournois. . . .
During the illness of my said Lady the Dauphiness they ceased ringing the bells
of the churches in Chalons for the space of eight days.) \
We see that this
courtly gathering at Chalons was for the purpose of making peace between
Charles VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy, and also between the Duke and his old
enemy and former prisoner, Rene of Anjou. That explains the presence of the
Duchess of Burgundy and the tournaments and feasting. It was indeed a sad end
of all this merry-making when the gentle Margaret of Scotland was taken ill and
passed away after a very short illness, as the church bells were only silent
for a week. We are told that she went for a pilgrimage on the 7th of August
with the King to Notre Dame de l’Epine, and being overheated she caught a
chill, which on her return to Sarrey brought on inflammation of the lungs. She
had always been physically delicate and frail, and had been sorely troubled of
late by the perfectly unfounded calumny of a certain Jamet du Tillay. From her
last words she would seem to have been weary of life. “ Fi de la vie de ce monde ; ne m’en parlez plus ! ” Scarcely
nine years had passed since she came as a bride from her pleasant home in
Scotland, to pine away unloved and desolate in the cold uncongenial atmosphere
of the
48
MARGARET OF SCOTLAND,
WIFE OF LOUIS XI From an old engraving by Picaet
French Court. History
gives us many glimpses of her short married life. We know that Louis never
cared for her, that she sought the pastime of other imprisoned souls, and
devoted her time to the writing of poetry, sometimes composing as many as eight
or ten rondels in a day.
Every one knows the
romantic tradition that Margaret of Scotland, passing through the great hall of
the palace, saw the aged poet Alain Chartier asleep and bent to kiss him. “ Je n’ai pas baise l’homme, mais la precieuse bouche de laquelle sont
issus et sortis tant de bons mots et vertueuses sentences.” So she
expressed her hero worship to her wondering ladies.
The Princess Margaret
cannot have had long warning of her fatal illness, as there is a letter from
her written on the 2nd July, only six weeks before her death, in which she
acknowledges the receipt from the King, through his banker (argentier) Jacques
Cceur, of 2000 livres tournois, to buy cloth of silk and marten skins “pour
faire robes pour notre personne.” Charles VII appears to have always treated
her with kindness and generosity. In the household accounts of “feue la
Dauphine,” there is a pathetic touch in the item that on the 19th of August,
three days after her death, twenty-four members of her household travelled to
Tournay to meet her two sisters, “ mesdames Jeanne et Helienor d’Ecosse,” who
had in their escort “ le sire de Gray, maistre Thomas Spens, archidiacre de
Saint-Johnston audit pays d’Ecosse.”
On landing in France
these poor girls learnt at the same time the death of their sister, the
Dauphine,
E 49
and of their mother.
Charles VII received them with much kindness and subsequently found husbands
for them. The eldest, Eleanor, was married in 1448 to Sigismund of Austria,
previously betrothed to Madame Radegonde of France, who died. Jane had a Scotch
lord for her husband. Another sister, Isabel, married Franfois de Montfort,
afterwards Duke of Brittany.
On the 20th of October
the same year, Jean Marjoris, confessor of the Dauphin, receives from him the
sum of 400 gold crowns to distribute to the Abbays of St. Antoine de Viennois,
St. Eutrope de Saintes, and St. Fiacre, doubtless for Masses for the repose of
the soul of the Princess Margaret. So she passes out of his life, but it was an
evil day for Louis, as there is no doubt that her gentle influence did much to
smooth over the constant differences between him and his father. Only the next
year we find the Dauphin’s restless spirit engaging in all kinds of
independent action. He corresponds with the Venetians, to whom he proudly
announces that he has been appointed gonfalonier of the Church by Pope Eugenius
IV, he helps to start a new convent for Sister Colette at the request of the
Duchess of Burgundy, and he carries on negotiations for the exchange and sale
of territory with the Duke of Savoy. At length matters become so strained between
himself and the King that, in a mood of discontent and rebellion, Louis
retires into his own domain of Dauphine, there to play the part of an
independent monarch.
Some historians say
that the final breach was caused by his behaving with scant courtesy to Agnes
Sorel, who was at this time—the year 1446—in high favour with Charles VII and
held a far more magnificent
Court than the Queen,
Marie of Anjou, the Dauphin’s neglected mother. The poor lady had never been of
much account; indeed, Commines, who always speaks well of the Queen, remarks in
his memoirs that “although an excellent princess in other respects, she was
not a person in whom a man could take any great delight.”
Marie was a gentle,
affectionate creature, devoted from childhood to her husband, ready to submit
to him in everything with the patience of a Griselda. She had thirteen
children, who must have taken up much of her time and interest, although only
six of them lived to grow up.
These were Louis the
Dauphin, Catherine, the young bride of Charles of Burgundy, who died at
Brussels in July of this year (1446) at the age of seventeen, Jeanne, who
married later Jean Duke of Bourbon, Yolande, who became the wife of Amedee IX,
Duke of Savoy, Madeleine, born in 1443, who was destined to marry Gaston de
Foix, and Charles, the youngest son, who was not born till 1449.
During the lifetime
of her mother, Yolande of Aragon^, the Queen Marie was treated with certain
outward respect, and Charles did not ostentatiously parade his infidelity to
her. Yolande always had great influence over him, and when on November 14,
1442, she died in poverty, having spent all her estates and treasure for the
kings of France and Sicily, Charles VII thus expressed his gratitude to her: “
Feue de bonne memoire Yolande, en son vivant reine de Jerusalem et de Sicile,
m&re de nostre tres chere et tres amee com- pagne la Roine . . . nous ait
en nostre jeune aage faict plusieurs grands plaisirs et services en maintes
51
manieres, que nous avons et devons avoir en per- petuelle memoire . . .
laquelle nostredicte bonne mere, apres que fusmes deboutez de nostre ville de
Paris, nous refut liberalement en ses pais d’Anjou et du Maine et nous donna
plusieurs avis, aydes, secours et services, tant de ses biens, gens et
forteresses, pour resister aux entreprises de noz ennemis et adversaires les
Anglois, que autres. . .
(The late Yolande of
good memory, in her lifetime Queen of Jerusalem and of Sicily, mother of our
very dear and much beloved companion the Queen . . . who in our youth rendered
to us great pleasures and services in many ways, whom we have and should have
in perpetual memory . . . the aforesaid our good mother, after we were turned
out of Paris, received us liberally in her lands of Anjou and Maine, and gave
us much advice, help, succour, and service, alike of her goods, her people, and
her fortresses, to resist the enterprises of our enemies and adversaries the
English, and others. . . .)
After the death of
this noble, generous, and high- spirited woman, poor Marie was indeed of little
account, although her fickle husband appears to have treated her with a sort of
easy kindness. He gave her the Chateau of Melun as a place of retreat when “la
belle Agnes’’was in the height of her short-lived magnificence and prosperity.
But the gentle Queen appears to have preferred the Manoir of Corbeil, where she
spent most of her time after the departure of the Dauphin, to whom she always
gave the greatest share of her tendresse de mere.
Agnes Sorel has been
such a favourite subject of romantic interest—the Nell Gwynne of France she has
52
been called—that we
cannot pase on without a brief allusion to the story of her life. She was born
at Fromenteau, in Touraine, and we first hear of her as one of the ladies of
Yolande of Aragon, from whom she passed to the Court of Isabelle of Lorraine,
wife of King Rene. In the year 1444 she still figures in the household accounts
of Isabelle as receiving a salary of ten livres, although before that time she
was in attendance upon the French Queen Marie. The Journal d'un Bourgeois de
Paris thus mentions her : “ Item. The last week of April there came to Paris a
damoiselle of whom it is said that she is publicly loved by the King of France,
‘ sans foy et sans loy et sans verite ’ to the good Queen whom he had married,
and it is quite apparent that she holds as great state as a countess or a duchess
. . . and the King has given her the most beautiful castle, that of Beaute, the
finest and best situated in all the Isle de France ; and she calls herself and
is named ‘la belle Agnes. . . Beaute sur Marne, near the Bois de Vincennes, had
been a royal residence. It was an excellent centre for hunting, the fashionable
amusement of the period, and we find allusions to it in the letters of Agnes,
who writes that ‘ ‘ her levrier Carpet is not to hunt with her, as he will obey
neither whistle nor call.”
In after years her
memory was very popular in France, as her influence was believed to have made a
victorious hero of Charles VII. Francis I wrote the following quatrain on her
:—
Gentille Agnez, plus de los tu me5ritc
La cause elan I de France recouvrer,
Que tout ce que en cloitre peut ouvrer
Close nonain ni en desert hermite.
We have no space to
enter into the details of her life or the story of her four daughters. She died in piety and penitence at Mesnil in 1450, and we will take
leave of her with the touching epitaph on her tomb at Jumieges : “Ci-gist Agnes
Surelle, noble damoiselle, en son vivant dame de Roque-ferriere, de Beaute,
d’Issoudun et de Vernon-sur-Seine; piteuse entres toutes gens ; qui de ses
biens donnoit largement aux eglises et aux pauvres ; qui trepassa le 9 Fevrier
l’an 1450. Priez
pour elle.”
It is worthy of
remark that as soon as Louis XI came to the throne, the canons of Loches, in
order to pay court to the King, prayed him to remove the monument of their
benefactress, Agnes Sorel. “ J’y consens, mais vous rendrez
ce que vous tenez d’elle,” was the calm reply. They insisted no
more.
At the time of the
breach between the father and son, which led to the Dauphin’s departure for
Dauphine, Dammartin and Pierre de Breze were the trusted counsellors of Charles
VII. They assured him that Louis had formed a plot against him, and a chronicle
of the time relates that when his son had indignantly denied the accusation,
the King exclaimed: “ Loys, Saint Jehan ! je ne vous crois pas ! Loys, je vous ban- nis pour quatre mois de mon royaulme et vous en allez
en Dauphine ! ” In any case, the Dauphin retired to his appanage, and
they parted never to meet again. Neither the threats nor the entreaties of his
father in after years could persuade Louis again to appear at Court, for the
King refused to banish the ministers who were looked upon by the heir to the
throne as his malignant and dangerous foes.
This alone would tend
to make him a centre of dis
affection, and
amongst other somewhat unwise friendships of the Dauphin, he was much devoted
to his uncle, Charles Duke of Orleans, to whose ransom he had so largely
contributed, and who was always disposed to take part in a mild way with any
one who was in opposition to the Government. This is a letter Louis wrote to
him, probably about this time
“Beaux oncles,—je entendu que vous aves envye d’avoyr ung mulet, mes
qu’yl allast byen ayze, et a ceste cauze, je vous envoye le myen; mes c’est en
esperance que vous me doneres ung levryer ; car on n’en peut pas byen fynes de
bons de par de sa, et sy vous le faytes, et vous prenes playsir en autre
chouze, soyt ne mulle, mullet ou troton, je vous en recompan- sere byen. Et adyeu,
beaux oncles. Escryt de ma main.
“ A beaux oncles d’Orlyens. Loys.”
(Fair uncle,—I have
heard that you would like to have a mule, but he must be a very free-goer, and
for this reason I send you mine ; but it is in the hope that you will give me a
harrier ; for it is not easy to find a good one here, and if you do so, and you
take pleasure in anything else, be it mule, little mule, or “ trotter,” I will
reward you well.
And adieu, fair
uncle. Written by my hand.—Loys.)
We have a very full
and most interesting account in his letters of the young Dauphin’s life in his
own domain, where his active and governing spirit develops, and he acts like an
independent sovereign. We find him coining money, raising taxes, and giving
most special directions as to who shall be exempt from them. He obtains
clerical preferment for various ecclesiastics in
whom he is
interested, bends to his will both the nobles and the clergy, contracts
alliances, and declares war on neighbouring states, receives ambassadors from
most of the kingdoms of Europe, takes part in the affairs and quarrels of
Italian Republics ; in short, he acts as if Dauphine were entirely independent
of France. Louis founded a university at Valence, a parliament at Grenoble; he
took an intelligent interest in the trade and agriculture of his province, and
showed much ability in its administration.
Having been married
once to please his father, he chose a wife for himself in 1451, Charlotte, the
daughter of Louis I, Duke of Savoy, and Anne de Lusignan, Queen of Cyprus, and
received with her the enormous dowry of 200,000 ecus d’or. The consent of the
King of France was not asked, the contract was secretly signed, and the Dauphin
went to Chambery and was married in the chapel of the chateau to the young princess,
who was scarcely seven years old. When news reached Charles VII of the
projected marriage, he was very angry and sent the herald of Normandy in all
haste to forbid it, but the story goes that “on fit la celebration avant
d’ouvrir les lettres.”
In the archives of
Turin there is a very curious declaration, dated March 13, 1451, of Amedee, the
eldest son of the Duke of Savoy, who promises to remain in love and alliance
with the Dauphin, and to uphold him with his body, his goods, and his might,
against any who may oppose him. He also mentions having made espousals in the
presence of Louis with “ma tres chiere et tres amee compagne dame Yolant de
France sa seur ”; and as this marriage actually took place the next year, we
can only suppose that
Charles VII was pacified
by that time. This Prince was called “ le bienheureux Amedee”; his pious soul
was drawn towards the contemplative life and he only married to please his
father and help his country. Of the brave and spirited Yolande we shall hear
more hereafter.
In the careful and
minute accounts kept of all the Dauphin’s expenditure, we have full particulars
of the gifts he bestowed upon the princely household which accompanied little
Charlotte of Savoy to Dauphine. An archbishop, her mother’s confessor, received
eighteen marcs d’argent, her governess, the Countess de Gruyeres, the same
amount, a number of great ladies and officers of the establishment received
money or jewels, and even the child’s nurse was not forgotten. “A dame Loyse de Bethleem qui a nourry et alaicte madicte dame la
daulphine. . . . Mille florins.”
After this
time we have several very interesting letters written by the Dauphin to his
father, offering his services and his fortune to help drive out the English
from Normandy and Guienne, but no notice was taken of them until, in October,
1452, he repeated his offer in the most urgent manner when Talbot landed at Bordeaux
with a large army. . vous offrir mon service et y mectre corps et biens, se
vostre plaisir Test me fayre ceste grace de m’en donner la charge et m’y employer,
comme plus a plain le vous pourra dire ledit sieur de Barry, lequel vous plaise
croyre. En priant le benoist filz de Dieu, mon tres redoubte
seigneur, qu’il vous doint tres bonne vie et longue. . . . Vostre
tr&s humble et tres obbeissant filz. Loys.”
This filial letter
met with a curt refusal. For some years the King had been entirely under the
influence of Breze and Dammartin, both virulent enemies of the Dauphin, and who
had recently pursued to his destruction the former favourite, Jacques Coeur,
the great banker (argentier) of France ever since the year 1440. His public
spirit and genius for finance saved the country at a most critical period,
whose history would be incomplete without a brief account of Jacques Coeur.
He was a merchant at
Bourges where his picturesque house still remains with its motto, “A vaillant
coeur rien d’impossible.” Michelet describes it: “Avance un
peu dans la rue, comme pour regarder et voir venir . . . se tient quasi close
... a ces fausses fenetres, deux valets en pierre ont l’air d’epier les gens.” Early
travels had revealed to his clear mind the secret of the commercial success of
Italy, and he too went to Syria and Egypt, bringing from thence the treasures
of the East until he flourished exceedingly and had a fleet of his own, whose
coming and going he could watch from a princely mansion at Montpellier. Jacques
Coeur rose to the highest favour, had a monopoly of the commerce of France,
exploited mines, managed the coinage and finances, was the King’s right hand,
and lent him, in an evil hour, 200,000 crowns (24,000,000 francs of to-day)
with which to conquer Normandy.
So splendid a
position courted disaster. His watchful enemies took advantage of the King’s
grief on the sudden death of Agnes Sorel in 1450 to bring a false accusation
against the great argentier of having poisoned her. Jacques Coeur was cast into
prison, and once there it was easy to bring various calumnious or
58
trivial charges
against him, such as having sold arms to the infidels, of having forced men to
embark on his ships, of various exactions, etc. etc. We have a very long and
full account of his trial, when he submitted to the good grace of the King, and
placed all he had at His Majesty’s disposal, but after cruel torture he was
condemned, robbed of his immense fortune, and imprisoned at Beaucaire. Charles
VII had not the courage to save his generous friend, whose real fault was
“that he had too powerful a debtor.” After several years of imprisonment he was
rescued by some former clerks of his, and succeeded in reaching Rome, where he
was received with great honour by the Pope. Full of adventurous spirit to the
end, Jacques Cceur lost his life in a sea-fight at Chios, having taken command
of some galleys sent against the Turks.
The disgrace of
Jacques Cceur deprived Louis the Dauphin of a good friend at his father’s
Court, and from that time we find constant accusations brought against him
which he had great difficulty in proving to be false, as we see from his
letters. We cannot wonder that he refused to obey the King’s summons to Paris,
with the fate of the great argentier as a warning. At length, in the summer of
1456, Charles VII lost patience and approached the frontiers of Dauphine with a
large army under the command of Dammartin, his son’s unscrupulous enemy. On
hearing this the Dauphin felt there was no time to lose. On Monday, August 30,
1456, he set off with a hunting party, crossed the mountains to St. Claude in
Savoy where he heard three Masses, and then wrote the following letter to his
father :—
‘ ‘A u Hoi de France.
“ Saint-Claude, • “31 Aout, 1456.
“Mon tres redoubte
seigneur,
“ I recommend myself
to your good favour as much and as humbly as I can. And may it please you to
know, ‘ mon tres redoubte seigneur,’ that as you are aware, my fair uncle of
Burgundy has the intention of shortly going against the Turk for the defence of
the Catholic Faith, and that my wish would be to go also, with your good
pleasure, seeing that our Holy Father has summoned me and that I am Gonfalonier
of the Church, and took the oath at your command (in 1444); I am going towards
my aforesaid fair uncle to know his intention with respect to his going, in
order that I may employ myself in defence of the Catholic Faith, ‘se mestier
fait,’ and also to implore him that he find means for me to remain in your good
favour, which is the thing I desire most in this world. ‘ Mon tres redoubte
seigneur,’ I pray God that he may give you a very good and long life. Written
at Saint Claude, the last day of August.
“ Your very humble
and very obedient son,
“ Loys.”
The Dauphin had
previously shown his intention of joining a crusade against the Turks. In the
Milan register of letters of Dukes of Milan, we read on the date of December,
1455, under a rubric concerning preparations for a crusade, the following
passage about the Dauphin : “ Lo illustrissimo signore del- phyno de Franza ”
has the intention of going in person against the Turk ... as we learn from his
letters.”
After leaving
Saint-CIaude Louis paid a brief visit to the Prince of Orange at Noseroy,
crossed Lorraine and Luxembourg, found a refuge at Louvain, and at length
reached Brussels. Duke Philip was absent, but the Duchess Isabelle gave the
fugitive a warm welcome, and the Duke hastened back and showed the greatest
kindness and cordiality. He offered to write to the King on his behalf, and
Louis himself lost no time before sending many letters and ambassadors to his
father, but he could obtain no favourable reply, although all the letters were
carefully docketed, with the date of their reception. Charles VII at once
proceeded to take possession of Dauphine as a conquered possession, and gave
the administration of the province into the hands of the Marechal de Loheac and
the Admiral Jean de Bueil. He then wrote a circular letter to all the towns of
France announcing the flight of the Dauphin, and enjoining them not to favour
his rebellion.
The little Dauphine
Charlotte of Savoy was left behind with her household at Grenoble, where she
had been established since the state marriage ; but a few years later she was
able to join her husband, the Duke of Burgundy having given them as a home the
chateau of Genappe, near Brussels, “ sur les marches de Haynault, qui est place
plaisante a deduit des chiens et des oyseaults,” says Mathieu d’Escouchy. There
were great forests near in those days—a splendid hunting ground. Philip also
generously allowed him a monthly pension of 2000 francs and later, 1000 gold
crowns per month to the Dauphine besides allowances to his chief attendants;
most timely help, as the Dauphin was in absolute poverty. There is an interest-
6l
ing letter from
Charlotte to her mother the Duchess of Savoy, written the following August,
1457, in which she begs that the arrears due from the income of her dowry may
be paid at once, and she prettily adds: “car il me semble que ne lui devez pour
quelconque chose faillir, veu les bons termes qu’il a tenuz et tient chaque
jour que je vouldroye bien que sceussez, dont je me tiens la plus eureuse femme
que oncques fust, ainsi que plus a plain j’ay charge audit maistre d’ostel vous
dire ...” (for it seems to me that you should not fail him on any account,
seeing the good terms on which he is towards me and continues every day, as I
wish indeed that you knew, whereby I consider myself the happiest wife that
ever was, which I have charged the aforesaid viaitre d'hotel to tell you more
fully . . . .)
Frequent embassies
were sent by Philip of Burgundy and by Louis himself pleading for pardon, while
the kings of Scotland, Castile, and others also tried to make peace between the
father and son, but as Charles VII demanded the unconditional surrender and
return to Paris of the Dauphin, who required that his chief enemies should
first be dismissed from their posts, there was a deadlock, and all efforts at
reconciliation were in vain. Meantime, Louis and his young wife appear to have
found many alleviations in their exile. He was passionately fond of the chase,
and there was good hunting and hawking in Brabant. As Michelet expresses it: “Toute la joie du manoir, tout le sel de la
vie, c’etait la chasse ; au matin le reveil du cor, le jour la course au bois
et la fatigue ; au soir, le retour, le triomphe quand le vainqueur siegeait k
la longue table avec sa bande joyeuse.” Or, as the popu-
62
lar handbook of that
period on the chase, that of Phoebus (Gaston de Foix), declares :—
“There is no man’s
life . . . less displeasable unto God than the life of a perfect and skilful
hunter, or from which more good cometh. The first reason is that hunting
causeth a man to eschew the seven deadly sins. Secondly, men are better when
riding, more just and understanding . . . for the health of man and his soul.
For whoso fleeth the seven deadly sins as we believe, ... he shall be saved,
therefore a good hunter shall be saved.”
In the Dauphin’s
Hunting Book are still to be found all the names of his dogs. No doubt Phoebus
on Hunting was one of the books in the library which the Dauphin, always a
great reader, caused to be sent for from Dauphine, and which contained many of
the earliest printed books. He sent all over Europe for dogs and hawks ; thus
in a letter to the King of Aragon, written in the winter of 1457, he announces
that he is sending his groom, Woustre, with a number of birds, but as there are
no sacres (kind of falcon) in Brabant, and those are the birds in which he
takes the greatest delight, he begs that two may be sent him in return. Later,
he writes from Genappe to the Duke of Milan to thank him for a ger-falcon he has
sent, and to present Francesco Sforza with three falcons in exchange.
It was possibly the
accurate, mathematical mind of Louis which made him so scrupulous about paying
his debts of every kind, for during his whole life it is worthy of remark that,
often as he had need to borrow money, he invariably paid it back in full, both
principal and interest.
Michelet’s account of
the exiled prince at the Court of
63
the Duke of Burgundy—“ cet humble et doux dauphin, nourri chez Philippe
le Bon des miettes de sa table . . . il lui fallait rire et faire rire, etre
bon compagnon, jouer aux petits contes, en faire lui-meme . . . —may be
correct, but there is no doubt that he was treated with great honour and
respect. When
a daughter was born to the heir of Burgundy, Charles Comte of Charolois, and
his second wife, Isabelle de Bourbon, it was the Dauphin of France who
supported the head of the infant princess at the font, as her godfather, when
she was held in the arms of her grandmother, and he gave her the name of Marie,
for the sake of his mother, Marie of Anjou.
This was in February,
1457, and began his earliest connection with Marie of Burgundy, who was
destined to be sole heir of her father’s vast domains, and to meet her gentle
compere on far other terms.
More than two years
later we have a most interesting letter in which Louis announces to his father
the birth of his first child. It is dated July 27, 1459, and is written from
Notre-Dame de Hal. “ ‘ Mon tres redoubte seigneur. . . . ’ it has pleased our
blessed Creator and the glorious Virgin His mother to deliver on the morning
of this day my wife of a fine son, for which I praise my Creator, and thank Him
most humbly for that in His clemency it has pleased Him to visit me so benignly
and to give me true knowledge of His infinite grace and goodness, which things,
‘ mon tres redoubte seigneur,’ I signify to you in all humility, in order that
I may always give you my news, and likewise when they are good and joyful, as
there is reason and I am bound to do. ...” "
Charles VII received
this letter on August 5, and two
64
Photo by
Hau/staengl
JOHANN ARNOLFINI
After the portrait by J. Van Eyck
days afterwards wrote
his congratulations. The Dauphin also sent letters to announce the birth of
his heir to his brother, Prince Charles, then a boy of thirteen, and also to
the city of Paris, of Lyons, and other places, to request that the usual
rejoicings should take place, and that there should be public thanksgiving in
the churches. The authorities applied to the King, who appears to have
permitted the festivities. Several friendly letters are preserved which passed
between Charles VII and the gentle Charlotte, the daughter-in- law whom he
never saw.
As for the infant
son, he received the name of Joachim at the stately christening when Philip
Duke of Burgundy was his godfather, but he died the following November, to the
great disappointment and grief of his parents. Early in the year 1461 a daughter
was born to them, the great Anne of France, afterwards Regent of the kingdom.
We do not dwell upon
the troubled and complicated politics of the Court of Burgundy, where father
and son were almost as much opposed to each other as the King of France and his
heir, because in this struggle for supremacy Louis the Dauphin took no part,
and kept on good terms with every one. Charles VII’s remark on this diplomatic
conduct is well known : “ Our brother Philip has taken home a fox who will eat
his chickens.”
The letters
of the exiled prince during this period show the interest which he took in
foreign affairs. He writes often to the Duke of Milan, also to Pope Pius II, to
the King of Navarre, and “in most friendly” style to Don Carlos, Prince of
Navarre, to his sister the Duchess Yolande of Savoy, and to various ecclesi- f 65
astical bodies with
regard to appointments, one of the latest being to the Chapter of Saint Martin
de Tours, asking them to give the first canonry vacant to Henri Cceur, the son
of the famous Jacques Coeur, the disgraced argentier. As Michelet describes the Dauphin Louis : “ Ne dans les affaires memes,
tres spirituel et tres instruit, a quatorze ans il faisait deja la guerre,
menait les armees ; c’etait un roi tout pret. . .
As an illustration of
this lively intelligence we find Louis the centre of a kind of literary
society, where the men of letters and other members of his small Court met
together, either to read or invent short amusing contes in imitation of the
popular Decameron of Boccaccio, and much in the same style as the later
Heptameron of Marguerite of Navarre. They were witty, satirical, even
burlesque, and by no means refined, but according to the taste of the period.
At least seven are attributed to the Dauphin himself, and Duke Philip is
supposed to have contributed three of the “ Cent nouvelles nouv- velles ” as
they were called. They were collected and published for the first time in i486,
after the death of Louis XI.
Amongst other very
interesting letters written by the Dauphin during his abode at Genappe, we have
several addressed to John Arnolfini, the merchant of Lucca, probably the same
who was painted at Bruges as a young man by John Van Eyck. Louis calls him
“Jehan mon amy,” and asks him to send forty-three yards of a very special
crimson velvet, promising to pay him well for it in the future (as he did, with
interest). Arnolfini appears to have been a banker also, as he pays over a
large sum of money for him later.
The whole story of
the Dauphin’s life has been fully
66
dwelt upon here, as
it has received but little attention from historians generally, although during
these thirty- eight years of action and endurance, the character of the future
king was gradually built up, and “il se prepara a fonder l’unite franfoise.”
CHAPTER IV
1461-2
Death of Charles
VII—Accession of Louis XI—He travels to Paris with the Duke of Burgundy— State
of France—The Great Nobles—Concerning the Pragmatic Sanction—Louis XI supports
the House of Anjou at Naples—Don Carlos of Viana— Madeleine of France marries
Gaston de Foix.
On
Wednesday, July 22nd, 1461, the King of France, Charles VII the Victorious,
came to a miserable end. For some time he had been in ill-health—the penalty of
a life of dissipation, aggravated of late by constant anxiety and suspicion of
all who surrounded him. His heir, the Dauphin Louis-, was an honoured guest at
the Court of Philip Duke of Burgundy, with whom the King had always cause for
enmity, and father and son had not met for fifteen years since Louis retired to
his appanage of Dauphine. This was a constant source of annoyance to Charles,
but as his favourite and trusted minister, Dammartin, was the open enemy of the
Dauphin, the young Prince was probably wise in keeping out of his reach.
The Chronique
Martinienne states that Louis wrote a letter addressed to Mademoiselle de
Villequier, the King’s mistress, in which he spoke of her and Dammartin as his
secret allies, on purpose that it might be intercepted by the King. But the
great archivist,
68
M. Charavay, who
devoted more than twenty years to collecting the correspondence of the Dauphin,
points out that the date given—August 30th, 1461—must be wrong, as Louis was
then King, also he has not seen the letter and cannot answer for the “veracity
of this mysterious story.” This has been often repeated as a proof of the
Dauphin’s treachery, and also to justify the unfortunate King’s cruel suspicion
that he was in danger of poison. So strong became this dread— probably a touch
of his father's insanity—that Charles refused to touch any food at the last,
and died of starvation in the castle of Mehun-sur-Yevre, about two miles from
Bourges. Only a few faithful friends remained with him to the last, as most of
the courtiers hastened to worship the rising sun.
The tidings soon reached the new King, Louis XI, and Chastellain thus
expresses his feeling: “ Hier encore me tenoys pour le plus povre filz de roy
qui oncques fust . . . et maintenant, tout soul- dainement, comme se je partoye
d’ung songe, Dieu m’a envoye nouvel eur; et en lieu de ma povret£ passee, m’a
faict le plus riche et plus puissant roy des chrestierns.”
Louis wrote at once
to the Archbishop of Rheims to make preparation for his coronation, and also
sent word to all the chief authorities in France, princes, governors, generals,
clergy, and town dignitaries, announcing his succession and expressing his
desire to work actively for the good of his country with the help of all his
people. He at once prepared for his journey, in which the Duke of Burgundy
offered to accompany him with all his great nobles and vassals. It was a
splendid opportunity, and so numerous a
69
company assembled,
that Louis had to damp the zeal of his friends by suggesting that the Lord of
Burgundy should be content with an escort of three or four thousand followers.
At Avesnes a solemn funeral service was held, and at the close of the ceremony
Louis put on the royal purple, but his equipage was very modest compared with
the gorgeous show of Duke Philip’s triumphal procession. He and his son,
Charles Count of Charolois, with the chief nobles of Burgundy, wore magnificent
costumes blazing with jewels, and the knights, archers, men-at-arms, heralds,
and pages proclaimed his wealth and power. Even the trappings of the horses
were of velvet and silk embroidered in gold with the arms of Burgundy and
fringed with silver bells. A multitude of wagons, covered with rich brocades
and banners, carried the tents and furniture, and were followed by oxen and
sheep and other provision for the way. Charlotte of Savoy, when she set forth
t« be Queen of France, was glad to borrow the horses and chariots of the
Countess of Charolois.
If the new King had
any doubts as to the reception he would receive, these were soon set at rest,
for he was met by a constant stream of deputations from the chief cities, from
the great lords and those who wished to be continued in their offices. At
Chateau-Thierry, amongst others, Thomas Basin, Bishop of Lisieux, came to
welcome and congratulate the new King, with whom in later days he was to have
so deadly a feud and was to paint in the blackest hues.
The coronation took
place at Rheims, and was a most imposing ceremony, in which, after the anointing
with holy oil, Philip of Burgundy played the most important part, that of
placing the massive crown on the King’s
70
head and proclaiming
him with the battle cry of France, “Vive le Roy, Montjoye Saint Denis!” The
people shouted in response amid the peal of trumpets and clarions. The Duke
then humbled himself to do homage for the fiefs which he held from the Crown of
France. The Duke of Bourbon followed, then the counts of Nevers, of Vendome,
and other peers knelt to vow fealty to their liege lord. From Rheims the King
travelled onwards to Meaux and thence to Saint Denis, where a solemn service
was celebrated at his father’s tomb. On the 31st of August he entered Paris
with a stately procession and was welcomed with magnificent festivities, in
which the Duke of Burgundy was distinguished for his profusion and
extravagance. He was very popular with the inhabitants, who exclaimed as they
saw him parading the streets covered with his priceless jewels and sometimes
with a fair lady at his saddle-bow: “ Et vela ung humain prinche ! vela ung
seigneur dont ung monde seroit estore de l’avoir tel! ” (Here is a human prince
! Here is a lord whom a world would rejoice to have thus !)
Louis, on the
contrary, never appealed by outward magnificence to the popular taste. He was
glad to put off his regal purpoint of crimson satin and long robe of white
damask for a doublet and short mantle of grey fustian. The gorgeous brocades of
Venice, the costly tapestries of Arras, only aroused in him a keen desire that
his own country should produce them. He had already started looms at Lyons
years before, and he now sought to encourage these splendid industries at Tours
; he sent to the south of France, to Italy, and even to Greece for weavers and
dyers with all their tools, and later he planted mulberry trees in his park at
7*
Plessis and wherever
he could persuade people to have them.
After an absence from
Paris of fifteen years, during which he had been of no account, ever spoken of
at Court with contempt, the new King found it necessary to dismiss all the
chief ministers in order to assert his authority. Many of these he replaced
later, but he also chose men for himself, such as the monk of Cluny, Pierre de
Morvilliers, against whom a charge had been made, but when in the royal
presence he was offered pardon, he boldly demanded justice only. “Je vous fait chancellier de France : soyez preud’homme,” said the King.
Another minister who had always been opposed to him, Pierre de Breze, when
informed that Louis XI had put a price on his head, “ se decida a le porter
lui-meme, et le roi, qui avait beaucoup d’esprit, le re9ut a merveille,” says
Michelet.
Before he set forth
on the 24th of September to visit his mother, Marie of Anjou, at Amboise, Louis
took leave with great friendliness of the Duke of Burgundy, who behaved with
ostentatious humility. We are told that Philip and his nobles were disappointed
with the rewards which they had received from the King, as they had formed the
wildest expectations. Yet Louis had refused the Duke nothing; he had made
satisfactory arrangements about the payment of ancient debts and the free
intercourse in trade between the two states, with very great privileges for
subjects of the Duke, and many favours to his ministers. His son the Count of Charolois
had received the appointment of Lieutenant-General of Normandy, or at least the
salary of 36,000 livres attached to the post; the Seneschal of Burgundy had the
countship of Charni, Antoine de
72
Croy received a
valuable estate and a future claim to the Grand Mastership of France, while
Jean de Croy was given the emoluments of Counsellor and Chamberlain. Charles of
Burgundy was also invited to pay the King a visit at Tours, where he was most
graciously received and spent a month, during which great entertainments and
hunting parties were given in his honour. On one occasion the Count pursued “
une bete rousse” so far that he lost his way, and there was the utmost alarm
and dismay at the castle of Tours, the King making a vow that he would neither eat
nor drink until his guest’s return. However, Charles had only taken refuge in a
village inn, as it was a dark night.
One of the first acts
of Louis XI had been to set free Jean Duke of Alentpon, his godfather, who was
imprisoned for rebellion in the prison of Loches. All his “rights, honours, and
estates” were restored to him, but the King reserved the privilege of arranging
marriages for the Duke’s sons and daughters; always a subject in which he
showed the greatest interest. Louis considered that the dower of his mother was
insufficient, and he bestowed upon her various lands and rights, of which the
income amounted to 50,000 livres tournois. He did not forget his younger
brother, Charles, who had no suitable appanage, and assigned to him the duchy
of Berry, with all its cities, fortresses, patronage, etc., adding to it a
yearly allowance of 12,000 livres. He also extended a pardon to the unworthy
Jean of Armagnac, paid with interest all debts owing by the late King and
incurred by himself in the days of his poverty, and he gave large gifts to
various churches and abbeys.
73
It is very important
to consider the position in which Louis XI found himself at his accession with
regard to the great nobles of France, who almost resembled so many petty kings.
The whole country was indeed like a fortress with all its outworks in the hands
of independent rulers who were usually foes. A study of the map of France in
the fifteenth century proves this very clearly. The great possessions of the
Duke of Burgundy close in France to the east and the north ; the duchy of
Burgundy (Yvonne, Cote d’Or, Nievre, and Saone-et-Loire) having been originally
given as an appanage to Philip, the youngest son of John the Good, who
distinguished himself at the battle of Poictiers. To this had been added one
province after another from beyond—Brabant, Luxembourg, Flanders, Hainault,
Holland, Zeeland, Franche-Comte, Artois, and others—by conquest, alliance, or
purchase, but the whole amazing record of successful ambition has been so fully
told elsewhere1 that it need not be repeated here. Enough that the
Duke of Burgundy was ever a rival to the King of France, and the very existence
of so powerful a vassal was a constant menace.
The next in
importance was the duchy of Brittany, which, like Burgundy, was exempt from
royal taille and aide, was not bound to support the King of France in his wars,
and had its own laws and its own coinage of gold and silver. In his far-western
sea-coast province, the Duke of Brittany, with his hardy, intractable Celtic
people, refused to take the oath of allegiance in the usual form, and behaved
like an independent sovereign, treating directly with the King of England
1 Marguerite of Austria, Christopher Hare.
74
STATE OF FRANCE
and the Court of
Rome. South of Brittany was Guienne, which had but recently been recovered from
the English, whose rule had been popular there ; while to the north was
Normandy, the heritage of the Plan- tagenets, still perhaps half English in
feeling.
Close by were Maine
and Anjou, which with the south-eastern dukedom of Provence, and Lorraine and
Bar to the north, belonged to the House of Anjou. In the south-west, bordering
on the Pyrenees arid Spain, were the countships of Cominges, of Foix, the dominions
of the House of Albret, of the Duke of Nemours, and of the Count of Armagnac.
In the heart of his kingdom, Louis had other feudal vassals whose loyalty was
at least doubtful—Charles of Orleans, and the lords of Bourbon, of Alenfon, of
Blois, and others.
Such was the position
which Louis XI had to face, and his one steady aim was to bring all these
conflicting interests together, and to found the unity of France upon the basis
of an absolute monarchy, a citadel in which all the outposts should be held by
loyal subjects. In order to accomplish this tremendous task it was necessary to
subjugate the nobles, to win them to his cause by every means, but at the same
time to punish any treachery on their part with unrelenting sternness. As we
know, by so doing he won a bitter meed of obloquy, while the bourgeoisie, whose
industry and fortune he encouraged, never forgave him for the heavy taxation
which he was compelled to impose upon them. Money was an absolute necessity for
King Louis XI, so ardent a lover of peace that he would always buy off an enemy
rather than fight him, and thus let his subjects, whose land had long been made
desolate by war, pay with their coins rather than their lives.
7S
We have several very
interesting letters written soon after the King’s accession which show his
accurate information and keen interest about foreign affairs. There are four
letters written in Latin to Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, with whom he had
been on such friendly terms when Dauphin. They are on the subject of various
embassies which have been sent, and there is another letter in French telling
all about the troubles caused in the House of Savoy by the compatriots of the
Duchess, Anne of Cyprus. Louis also writes to Sigismondo Malatesta, Lord of
Rimini, asking him to give his help and support to the cause of Rene, King of
Sicily, and Jean, Duke of Calabria, his son, in their attempts to recover the
kingdom of Naples. It is addressed thus: “ Illustri ac potenti Sigismundo de
Malatestis, Arimini domino, armorum- que strenuo capitaneo, amico nostro carissimo.”
In 1458, Pius II
(^Eneas Sylvius Piccolomini of Siena) had succeeded to the papal throne, and he
at once turned his attention to the abolition of the Pragmatic Sanction of
Bourges, granted by Charles VII in 1438, and which the Pope considered incompatible
with the rights of the papacy. This famous deed had secured the freedom of
canonical elections, depriving the Pope of the right of nomination to
bishoprics and benefices, and allowing each chapter to elect its own bishop,
and each monastery its prior. In point of fact, the sovereign authority of the
King was recognized, and freedom of election really meant little more than
freedom to receive recommendations from the King or others. But there was
certainly less drain of money from France to Rome.
Pius II seems to have
felt so strongly on the subject that he is said to have made overtures by his
Legate,
76
Jean Joffredi, to the
Dauphin, when he was still at Genappe. On the accession of Louis, Joffredi was
sent to him again, with the understanding that if he succeeded in his delicate
mission, a cardinal’s hat would be the reward. It was pointed out to the King
that there was so much sympathy between the aristocracy and the clergy that the
elections really gave the nobles a means of influence, and thus became a new
peril to the throne. Louis was moreover given to understand that if he made
this important concession, Pius II would always defer to his wishes about
presentations, and would also forward the cause of the House of Anjou at
Naples. By the end of 1461, the promise of Louis to abolish the Pragmatic
Sanction had been unwillingly registered by the “ Parlement ” as a royal
ordinance. Pope Pius wrote a wonderful letter of congratulation to the King,
comparing him to Constantine and Charlemagne, sending him heartfelt love,
calling him a great king, and promising that posterity will talk of him. A
sword blessed by the Pope himself accompanied this letter. Yet in the end there
was no great result, for Pius opposed Rene of Anjou, being pledged to help Ferrante
at Naples; possibly the Legate may have gone beyond his instructions. Louis was
bitterly disappointed,, and although the Pragmatic Sanction was not formally
restored, his policy henceforth was to keep the whole matter open, and to
retain all important ecclesiastical patronage in his own hands.
Louis XI was at this
time so closely identified with the interests of the House of Anjou that he
formally betrothed his baby daughter, Anne of France, to the son of Jean of
Calabria, Nicholas of Lorraine, aged thirteen. He even paid a portion of the
promised
dowry, 100,000 ecus,
but the marriage never came to pass.
Neither Rene of
Provence nor his son, Jean of Calabria, were present at the coronation of the
King, but they sent the flower of their nobility, while they were engaged in
fighting for the crown of Naples, which Alfonso of Aragon on his death had left
to his illegitimate son Ferrante. The King of France would gladly have seen a
French dynasty established on the throne of Naples; and he had already sent embassies
requesting help for his kinsman which were well received, not only by his
friend the Duke of Milan, but also by Sigismondo Malatesti of Rimini, and by
Ferrara and Venice. Jean of Calabria had been successful at Sarno on July 7,
and at San-Fabiano July 27, 1460, but he had not taken full advantage of his
victories, and meantime his enemy Ferrante had time to recover his forces.
Louis writes to the
states of Catalonia from Tours, on October 13, 1461, to express his deep sorrow
on hearing of the death of Don Carlos, Prince of Viana, “ duquel deces avons
este e sommes trks correzes et desplasants . . . et por la bonne, grande e
ferme amor qui estoit entre nous e luy. ...” In another letter written a few
days later, when he sends a promise of protection to the Catalans, he speaks
again of “la singuliere amour et dilection que nous avions . . . de nostre dit
feu frere. . . Don\ Carlos, Prince of Viana, was the eldest son of Juan II,
King of Aragon, and was rightful King of Navarre which he inherited from his
mother. He was a most interesting personality, and was distinguished in music,
painting, and poetry. He translated the Ethics of Aristotle and
wrote a Chronicle, to
beguile the long hours of imprisonment to which his father had unjustly
condemned him. He had just been welcomed with enthusiasm at Barcelona when he
died suddenly, with suspicion of poison. His sister Blanche, divorced wife of
Enrique IV of Castile, was the next heir of Navarre, and it is on her behalf
that Louis XI writes again on November 9 to the states of Catalonia, urgently
requesting that the Princess may be set at liberty. He is so much in earnest
for the “delivrance de notre dite cosine, ensemble de sondit heretage,” that
he sends a special ambassador to the Court of Juan II of Aragon, to press the
matter. This letter is important evidence on behalf of Louis XI, who has been
accused of connivance at the sad fate which befell this unfortunate lady some
years later.
In studying the
letters of Louis XI, it is striking to find how vivid and minute an interest he
takes in everything connected with his government; he desired to know
everything and he forgot nothing. Soon after his accession he wrote to the
Count de Foix commanding him to give up the little town of Mauleon-de-Soule
which he had taken from the English twelve years before. This may have drawn
his special attention to the Pyrenees, the great frontier barrier which
protected France from Spain, for we find him soon after entering into intimate
relations with the Count de Foix, and even offering his young sister, Madeleine
of France, then ten years old, as a bride for the son of Gaston de Foix ; his
father giving him several townships, and the vacant title of Prince of Viana,
with all his rights in the kingdom of Navarre if it should ever come to him.
The contract was signed at Saint-Jean-d’Angely, on
the nth of January,
1462, in the presence of the King of France, and the marriage was celebrated on
March 7th at Bordeaux, the young prince of Viana remaining with Louis, who had
become attached to him.
King Juan II of
Aragon at once sought the alliance of France, and the two Kings met, and signed
a treaty at Bayonne on May 9, by which Louis XI promised Juan of Aragon the
support of seven hundred lances at once, and four hundred later if necessary,
to subdue Catalonia. Each lance consisted of one man-at-arms, two archers, one
[swordsman, one valet, and one page. On his side, Juan engaged to pay 300,000
ecus d’or, and for this payment he gave Louis in pledge the provinces of
Cerdagne and Roussillon. He also promised to try and persuade his daughter
Blanche to enter a convent and yield her claims to Navarre. The end of this sad
story took place some years later, when the unhappy Princess, having refused,
was given up to Gaston IV and her youngest sister, Leonore, who imprisoned her
in the Chateau d’Orthez, where she died in 1465, and foul play has always been
suspected.
Louis XI fully
appreciated the advantage of having a strong hold upon Roussillon and Cerdagne,
which were to him advanced outposts of empire, from whence he might observe all
that happened in Spain. He could also form commercial relations with that
country, and in case of trouble with his nobles in the south, he would have a
base from which to attack them in the rear. We can find no evidence to justify
the common suspicion that he was indifferent to the fate of Queen Blanche,
whose kingdom of Navarre was ultimately to fall into the hands of her
half-brother, Ferdinand of Aragon.
POPE PIUS II From an
old engraving
CHAPTER V
1462, 1463
Marguerite
of Anjou seeks the help of Louis—
Louis XI TAKES
POSSESSION OF ROUSSILLON—PHILIPPE
de
Commines—Louis recovers the towns on the
Somme—Conspiracy
against the King—Death of Charles of Orleans.
Ardently
as
he desired peace, which he looked upon as the sole salvation of his country,
Louis XI found himself in the midst of strife on all sides. While doing his
utmost by diplomacy to further the cause of the House of Anjou in Naples,
another member of the same family, Marguerite, the daughter of Rene, and wife
of Henry VI, was making a desperate appeal for more substantial help. The King
was still at Bordeaux in May, 1462, when he wrote a letter to the Admiral of
France, saying that the Queen of England had arrived at Angers, and that he
wished to consult at once as to what he could do for her. “ Toutesvoyes, il est force d’entendre a son fait et de la soustenir de
tout nostre povoir, car c’est le boulvert contre le roi Edouart.” (At all
events it is necessary to attend to her case, and to maintain her with all our
power, for it is the bulwark against King Edward.)
Louis XI was in a
very difficult position, as the state of his kingdom made it most desirable for
him to be at
peace with England,
where the House of York was now victorious, Edward IV having been crowned king
in the previous spring of 1461. After the fatal battle of Towton, fought on
Palm Sunday, the hopes of the Lancastrians were almost destroyed, and the
deposed king, Henry VI, fled with his wife to Scotland. But the indomitable
spirit of Marguerite induced her to hope for success if she could obtain the
help of France ; and with this expectation, on April 3rd, 1462, she sailed from
Kirkcudbright through the Irish Channel into Brittany.
Meantime we find a
mysterious letter written by Louis to a devoted follower of his, Aymar de
Poysieu, who always went by the name of Cadorat (Tete doree), on account of his
golden hair.
‘ ‘ De par le roy.
“ Cadorat, nous avons sceu que la royne [Marguerite of Anjou] vient a
Tours, et pour ce essayez par bons moyens, et sans faire semblant, qu’elle ne
viengne point a Amboise; aussi que ma femme n’aille point devers elle a Tours,
pour rien que soit. . . .” (Cadorat, we have heard that the Queen
is coming to Tours, and I would have you try by good means, without appearing
to do so, that she come no further, and that she does not go to Amboise ; also
that my wife should not go to meet her on any account whatever. . . .”) Louis
also writes a letter to his wife, Charlotte, inviting her to come and join him
at Melun. We have no clue to the reason for his earnest desire that the two
Queens should not meet. He concluded an agreement with Marguerite on June 23rd,
by which she promised, for the sum of 20,000 livres, to appoint Jean de Foix
Governor of Calais (if it came into her power again), and it
82
would be placed in
the hands of the King of France if the money were not repaid. Louis also helped
her with a small force of men, and wrote a letter to the Chapter of Rouen
requesting that the Queen of England should be welcomed and received with as
much honour, reverence, and “bonne chiere ” as if she were “our very dear and
well-beloved consort the Queen.” In the archives of Rouen we find a very full
and picturesque account of the grand reception accorded and the procession of
town councillors on horseback who accompanied the Queen to her abode, the
“hostel du Lyon d’or, chez Regnaud de Villene, advocat a Rouen.” Marguerite
returned to Scotland and made an attempt to invade England by sea, but a
violent storm arose ; some of the ships were sunk, while others were driven on
the shores of Holy Island, off the coast of Northumberland ; and the Queen
herself barely escaped with her life in a small fishing-boat to Berwick. Still
undaunted, she soon after made another attempt by land, and entered
Northumberland with the help of the border clans. At first she was so
successful that the strong castles of Bamborough, Dunstanborough, and Alnwick
fell into her hands, but they were retaken before the end of the year, and she
herself narrowly escaped falling into the hands of her enemies. We are all
familiar with the story of the friendly robber who helped her and her son to
safety, and how they set sail from Sluys and went to Bruges, where she sought
the help of the Duke of Burgundy. He received her kindly, but would not take
her part against his ally, Edward IV ; so the unfortunate lady was compelled to
retire to a castle of her father’s in the duchy of Bar, and watch from afar the
course of events.
83
After the departure
of Marguerite from France in July, 1462, Louis XI was actively engaged in
preparation for the “campaign of Roussillon.” But first it was needful to see
to the defence of his chief towns, as it was expected that Edward IV would
invade France in reprisal of the help given to Marguerite of Anjou. Thus the
King writes giving the fullest instructions to the Bailli of Rouen, to
Toulouse, to Bordeaux, to Bayonne, to Dax and Blaye, to the Sire de Beaujen,
to the Seneschals of Limousin, of Lannes, and others, to spare no labour or
expense in strengthening the fortresses and keeping good watch. In a letter to
his uncle, the Count of Maine, in July, Louis mentions that an English fleet
has left Sandwich, but whether it is bound for Ireland or for Bordeaux is
uncertain. Meantime Roussillon and Cerdagne being in revolt, the Count de Foix
reached Narbonne with an army of more than a thousand “lances,” five or six
thousand “francs-archers,” and some good artillery. He advanced to meet the
Catalonians, induced them to leave their retrenchments and defeated them, and took
possession of several strong places in the Pyrenees. Urgent appeals reached him
from Juana Queen of Aragon, who was besieged by the Count of Palhas in Gerona
and reduced to the last extremities. The French Army succeeded in passing
through the col de Perthus, where a hundred resolute men might have held the
pass, and reached Gerona in time to save Queen Juana, while the besieging army
escaped to Barcelona. After several other successes the Count de Foix met Juan
II, King of Aragon, who congratulated him on his victories, and was amazed that
so much heavy artillery could have been transported over the mountains.
In the hour of
triumph Juan became foolhardy, and thought all things possible to him. Having
cause to complain of Barcelona, he decided to besiege that strong city so
splendidly garrisoned, and protected by the sea. The army within the walls was
four times the number of the attacking force. After three weeks of investment
no progress had be&n made, and a rumour spread that a Castilian army was
approaching. The Count de Foix thought it prudent to retreat, and Tarragona
was next besieged, but after many brave men had lost their lives, the town was
spared on making a payment of 30,000 florins.
When the campaign in
Catalonia was over, Juan II tried to persuade the French auxiliaries to join
with him in fighting against Castile, but they refused, as there was an
alliance between the King of France and Enrique IV of Castile. The King of
Aragon in his disappointment, sought to make mischief between England and
France, but his messenger was taken prisoner and the plot was discovered. Then
Juan tried to incite the city of Perpignan to rebellion, and the French
garrison was besieged in the citadel. In all emergencies of this kind, the
commands of Louis XI were always full of energy and precision. These were the
instructions which he sent at once to one of his trusted officers when a
conspiracy was supposed to be on foot. “You are on the spot. Go there (to Perpignan)
if you have not already done so. Examine closely. If you find that it is so,
let justice be done on all from the highest to the lowest. In any case you can
make sure of those you suspect, and if necessary send them to me under pretext
that they can make their excuses. With regard to the viscounts who are men-
85
tioned, tell my fair
cousin of Nemours to send them at once to me, and not to give them the places
they demand. Place all the artillery in the castle of Nar- bonne, if it is not
already there. I beg of you not to fail in this hour of need ; but remain until
the danger is over and you are completely satisfied.”
Before Christmas, the
King set forth from Touraine towards the south, that he might be nearer the
seat of war. At La Rochelle he met his mother, Marie of Anjou, who was going on
a pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella in Spain, to make sure that two
lighted candles were always kept burning there before the altar, “as the Kings
of France had vowed.” It was the last time that Louis saw her, for the dowager
Queen died at Poitiers on her return from the long rough journey.
On receiving news
that Roussillon was again subdued, the King, as was his custom, gave large
gifts to the church of St. Martin at Tours and the abbey of Notre-Dame de
Selles in Poitou. He also, at the request of the States of Guienne, established
a parliament there. While at Bordeaux he received an unexpected visit from
Antoine de Chabannes, Count of Dammartin, and expressed his surprise that his
enemy should have ventured into his presence. “ Do you ask for justice or mercy?”
added the King. “Sire, I prefer justice,” was the reply. “Then I banish you for
ever from my kingdom,” was his sentence. Louis gave him money for his journey,
as Dammartin pleaded poverty, but later, in the hope of saving his estates, he
pleaded before the courts and was condemned to imprisonment in the Bastille.
At Blister the King
went to Bayonne, where he met
86
the Count de Foix,
with his wife Leonore and his daughter Marie, and had a splendid reception. A
great conference was held here, to which Castile and Aragon sent ambassadors,
and a treaty of peace was concluded, to be followed by a general amnesty. At
the end of April, 1463, the kings of France and Castile had a stately interview
on the banks of the Bidassoa, where Louis was accompanied by his brother, the
Duke of Berry, the Count and Countess of Foix, and the Prince of Viana, the
Duke of Bourbon, the counts of Dunois and Comminges, and others. Enrique IV
came with a magnificent suite, all decked out with Oriental splendour, and
glittering with gold and precious stones on their rich brocades—a striking
contrast to the simplicity of the French King. The Treaty of Bayonne was signed
and ratified by the two monarchs, who were so strong a contrast to each other
in every way; and immediately afterwards we find Louis XI sending the
Archbishop of Bordeaux to Barcelona, to persuade the people of Catalonia to
submit loyally to the terms arranged. Louis also met the King of Aragon on May
3 at St. Jean-de-Luz, in order to make yet stronger assurance of peace.
Meantime, affairs in
Italy had been most disastrous to the House of Anjou. Pope Pius II had exerted
himself with the utmost vigour on behalf of Ferrante, and had obtained the
services of the famous captain, George Castriot, the terror of the Turks, by
whose help the battle of Troja was won on August 18, 1462. This defeat decided
the question against Jean of Calabria, who, driven from one place to another,
and seeing his partisans gradually fall away, was at length, in the next year,
compelled to leave Italy and retire to his
87
father’s estates in
Provence. As late as May 30, 1463, Louis wrote a pressing letter from Toulouse
to the Republic of Florence, praying that no support might be given to the
enemies of the Prince of Calabria, but this was of no avail, for the cause was
already lost. Louis always took the greatest interest in the affairs of Italy,
but he was wise enough to see that it was against the interest of the French
Crown to hold isolated possessions in that country, and before the end of 1463,
he actually gave up to the Duke of Milan the city of Genoa (which had belonged
to his predecessor) and a little later the town of Savona. In a long and
interesting Italian letter written at Abbeville on October 24, Louis fully
explains his reasons to Francesco Sforza, who is naturally extremely grateful.
In writing to Fog- liano, who was to take possession for him, he speaks of the
King’s greatness of soul, which makes all the glory and splendour of the “
tres-haute et tres-puissante maison de France.”
Louis XI in another
letter explains to the Duke of Milan that he would gladly have given up the
county of Asti also, but that belongs to the Duke of Orleans (inherited from
Valentine Visconti) who might be offered 200,000 ducats for it. The King sends formal
notice to the Doge of Venice that Genoa henceforth belongs to the Duke of
Milan.
While Louis XI was at
Bayonne he was called upon to intervene in the affairs of Savoy, where Duke
Louis who was in failing health, had been completely overruled by his wife,
Anne de Lusignan, formerly Queen of Cyprus. She was a woman of strong
intelligence, but perhaps too much under the influence of ministers from her
own country. She had seven daughters, of
whom the eldest was
Charlotte, wife of Louis XI, and eight sons. Of these the fifth, Philip of
Bresse, was always in rebellion against his parents, and at length he passed
all bounds, burst into the chapel of Thonon with his escort while Mass was
going on, and killed with his own hands the Duke’s viaitre d’hotel, a knight of
St. Jean of Jerusalem. He also seized the Chancellor of Savoy, and in terror of
his violence his father and mother made their escape to Geneva, where he
pursued them. The unhappy Duchess never recovered from the shock of that awful
scene, and died of grief on November n, 1462. Yolande, the sister of Louis XI,
had married the eldest son of the Duke of Savoy, and it was she who appealed to
her brother against her brother-in-law Philip. Louis wrote to her at once,
asking her to come to Chambery with her father-in-law, the Duke of Savoy, a^id
he would meet them on his return from Bayonne. He adds : “In regard of what
you tell me, that Philip of Savoy is going to Piedmont, and there might be
danger, there is none, for wherever he may travel, I have the intention of
going to seek him in person, if he does not obey my command sent him by the
said ‘ mareschal’ ” (Jean de Seyssel, mareschal de Savoie).
Yolande of France is
a most interesting personality. She was married at the age of seventeen to
Amedee, called “ le bienheureux,” afterwards Duke of Savoy, and while he spent
most of his time in devout meditation, she devoted herself nobly to the
affairs of the country. When her husband, whose health was always delicate,
wore himself out with mortifications of the flesh and pilgrimages, she ruled as
Regent, with heroic courage under the most trying circumstances. This
89
was not the only
occasion when she needed the help of her brother the King of France.
Louis did not waste
time ; he contrived that his turbulent brother-in-law should be enticed to
Chartres and then to Vierzon, where he was told that he was the King’s
prisoner, and was shut up in the castle of Loches. It was a strong measure
which has been much blamed, but the young Prince had leisure to think over the
error of his ways during his two years of imprisonment, and later, in 1471, he
entered the service of Louis XI and was ever after one of his most faithful
friends. Philip had many fine qualities which the King appreciated. He married
Marguerite of Bourbon, and l his
son, Philibert-le-Beau, was the husband of Marguerite of Austria, while his
daughter Louise was the mother 1 of Francis I of France.
Several letters of
Louis XI have already prepared us for coming troubles between himself and the
House of Burgundy ; like the far-off rumbling of distant thunder. There were
various parties and constant dissensions at the Court of Duke Philip, whose
ministers, the Croys, were all powerful with him, but his son, the Count of
Charolois, was so bitterly opposed to them, that at last he sullenly withdrew
to the castle of Gorcum in Holland. The most serious question in dispute
appears to have been the desire of Louis XI to buy back the French towns on the
Somme, which by the Treaty of Arras the Duke of Burgundy was bound to return on
receipt of
400,000 ecus d’or. Ever since his accession, this
had been the one definite aim of the King of France, for he saw that there
could be no safety for his kingdom while these frontier towns, the necessary
defences of the capital, were in the hands of a rival sovereign. An
90
TROUBLES WITH
BURGUNDY
enormous sum was
required, but Louis strained every nerve to obtain it, and we find him writing
to all the loyal towns to grant him a subsidy, and on all sides borrowing large
sums, which he scrupulously repaid later. Thus he begins his letter to the
“consaulx” of Tournay.
“Paris, 23 August, 1463.
‘ ‘ De par le roy.
“‘Tres chiers et bien
amez,’ for the good and utility of our kingdom, . . . and to replace as best we
can the things alienated by our predecessor, as at our anointing and coronation
we swore and promised, we have determined presently to buy back and rejoin to
our said dominion the towns, places, lands, and lordships of our country of
Picardy, which ‘ feu nostre tres chier seigneur et pere (que Dieu absoille),
bailla a nostre tres chier et tres-ame oncle le due de Bourgogne,’ for the sum
of 400,000 ecus, of which sum we have found means to have and take from our own
savings, up to
200,000 ecus. . . And he asks his faithful subjects
to help with the remainder.
On September 27,
Louis paid a visit to the Duke of Burgundy at his favourite residence, the
castle of Hesdin, where the arrangements already made by delegates on both
sides were ratified, and the second half of the money was duly paid on October
8. We have full particulars as to the amount raised by the different towns,
Tournay showing special zeal by contributing 20,000 ecus. The meeting between
Louis XI and his uncle appears to have been very friendly, and they even talked
about the old Duke setting forth on a crusade which Pius II was eagerly
suggesting. Antoine de Croy, who had done so much to smooth the
91
way for the ransom of
the Somme towns, was richly rewarded by the King of France who, as Michelet
says, was too poor to buy himself a new hat, and could yet raise so great a sum
as 400,000 ecus for the sake of his country.
A truce had been made
with England, and, with the help of Philip, it was prolonged until May 1, 1464.
But Edward is chary of his concessions, for in proclaiming the truce he still
calls himself “ King of England and of France.” Louis wrote from Hesdin to the
Duke of Brittany to announce this truce with England, and incidentally remarks
that it will be good “for the succour of Christendom and the expulsion of the
Turk, enemy of the Faith.”
Charles of Burgundy,
Count of Charolois, was furious at the result of the negotiations, as he had
always strongly opposed the return of the towns of the Somme, and he resolved
t?o make a desperate effort to destroy the influence of the Croys and to turn
his father against Louis. He took advantage of the presence of a spy (the
Bastard of Rubempre) at Gorcum to persuade the poor old Duke that the King of
France had. designs on them both, and Philip, in alarm, gave orders for his
departure secretly, in the night, to Lille. The Croys were in despair, for the
reconciliation, by any means, of Charles and his father would be their ruin.
It is at this point
that begin the chronicles of Philip de Commines, who entered the service of
Charles Count of Charolois at the age of seventeen. “About three days after my
arrival at Lille, the Count d’Eu, the Chancellor of France, Morvilliers, and
the Archbishop of Narbonne came there as ambassadors for the
92
TOWNS ON THE SOMME RECOVERED
King of France. . . .
Morvillier accused the Count of Charolois of having caused a small man-of-war
of Dieppe to be seized, in which was the Bastard of Rubempre, whom he also
caused to be imprisoned on pretence that his design was to have surprised and
carried him to France. ...” Duke Philip having replied that he would make
inquiry, Morvillier complained that Charles of Charolois had conspired with
the Duke of Bretagne against the King of France. . . . The next day, Charles,
“kneeling on a velvet cushion before his father,” made answer to this charge,
and defended himself, and the embassy was dismissed with apparent courtesy,
although Charles managed to give a Parthian thrust in his farewell words to the
Archbishop: “Recommend me very humbly to the good grace of the King, and tell
him that ‘ il m’a fait bien laver ’ by the Chancellor, but before the year is
out he shall repent it.” This message was given to the King which “bred a
mortal hatred between them,” the more so as Charles was very bitter about the
redemption of the much disputed towns on the Somme—Amiens, Abbeville, St.
Quentin, Roye, Montdidier, Corbie, and others. “The Count of Charolois charged
the whole matter upon the house of Croy, and his father being in extreme old
age, he drove from the palace the aforesaid lords, and took from them all the
places and things which they held in their hands.” This would be after the Duke
fell ill at Brussels the following March, when his son ruled the duchy, the
banished Croys taking refuge in France.
On June 7th, 1464,
Louis writes to the Duke of Burgundy—still his “tres chier et tres ame oncle
”—to propose that a conference should be held in Paris on
93
the 8th September
following to settle any difficulties between them. There is also on the same date
a letter from him written at Roye (one of the Somme towns) to the Duke of
Brittany, announcing that the truce with England has been prolonged until
October ist of the current year. The King writes again a week later to complain
that some English vessels have been taken by Breton corsairs in defiance of the
truce, and he demands that they shall receive redress and reparation. But the
Duke evidently gives some trouble about the matter, for the King has to write
five more letters on the subject, pointing out that both as a kinsman and a
subject, Franfois of Brittany is included in the truce. However, on the last
day of July we find a pardon granted to Jean de Launay, the Breton pirate, who
has confessed his fault and made amends. Louis at that moment was extremely
anxious to keep on good terms with England, as there was a project of marriage
between Edward IV and Bona of Savoy, a young sister of Queen Charlotte, set on
foot by the Earl of Warwick. In point of fact, Edward IV had already secretly
married for love Elisabeth Woodville, daughter of Jacqueline of Luxembourg, who
had been Duchess of Bedford. This was an act of blind imprudence on his part,
and probably cost him his throne in the end. He did not acknowledge her
publicly as his queen until the following Michaelmas.
His father-in-law,
Louis Duke of Savoy, being old and incapable, Louis XI felt himself responsible
for arranging the marriages of his wife’s sisters, and he now suggested to the
Duke of Milan that his son, Galeazzo Maria, should marry Bona of Savoy. After
much negotiation this alliance took place some years
afterwards. Her
sister Marie became the wife of the Constable of St. Pol. On the 19th of May of
this year (1464) a second daughter had been born to Queen Charlotte at
Nogent-le-Roi; she received the name of Jeanne, and was at once promised in
marriage to the two-year-old son of Charles of Orleans and Marie of Cleves,
afterwards Louis XII.
We have now reached a
most critical point in the history of Louis XI, when he gradually became aware
that a great conspiracy was being formed against him of most of his powerful
vassals, with Charles of Burgundy and the dukes of Brittany and Bourbon at its
head. It was a time of terrible anxiety and suspense, for although the King
could almost watch the league growing under his eyes, he had no certain knowledge
as to which of the men whom he had loaded with benefits would remain faithful
to him. The attitude of the Duke of Brittany had long been hostile to the King
of France, and he would willingly have transferred his allegiance to Edward IV.
Meanwhile his Court had become the refuge of all the enemies of Louis XI. The
nobles as a class could not forgive his interference with what they considered
their rights ; they found themselves as much subject to law as the poorest
serf; they were called upon to pay all feudal dues and even compelled to bear
their share in taxation. The King had actually asserted that hunting was a
royal privilege, possibly with the intention of raising money for licences, as
well as limiting the injury caused to agriculture and the tyranny inflicted on
the peasants by the game-laws.
It is well to mention
that Louis himself was so anxious not to give any cause of complaint while
enjoying his favourite sport that we find in his accounts such
entries as these : “
One crown to a poor man whose dog had been taken ; one crown to a poor woman at
Vire whose sheep had been strangled by harriers; one crown to another whose
goose had been killed near Blois by a dog ; one crown to a poor man whose corn
had been trampled near le Mans ; one crown to a poor woman whose cat had been
killed by harriers near Montlouis, in going from Tours to Amboise.” Still, we
can understand the irritation of a medieval country gentleman when there was
any fear of his only pastime, the exclusive privilege of his order, being
interfered with. He would be wretched indeed without his hunting, his hounds,
and his hawks ! We can scarcely wonder that discontent spread far and wide. The
clergy, too, had their grievances, and their loyalty could not be relied upon.
Louis XI had required from them, on pain of confiscation, an exact account and
description of their possessions and of the title by which they were held; and
this they felt was threatening and dangerous to their interests. The University
of Paris was aggrieved by the creation of provincial universities, and even the
Parlement of Paris was indignant that a rival tribunal should have been
established at Bordeaux.
The King of France,
in his anxiety for peace, summoned a great conference at Tours to discuss the
position. The Duke of Burgundy was represented by the Bishop of Tournay and the
Sire de Crequi. There were also present Charles Duke of Berry the King’s
brother, King Rene Duke of Anjou and Provence, his brother Charles Count of
Maine, Charles Duke of Orleans, Jean II, Duke of Bourbon ; the counts of
Dunois, of Nevers, of Penthievre, of Boulogne, of Foix,
96
CHARLES, DUC
D’ORLEANS From an old print
CHARLES THE BOLD,
DUKE OF BURGUNDY From an engraving by F. Bouttats
after the portrait by J. Van Eyck
To face p. 96
of St. Pol, and many
others. After the Chancellor had opened the meeting, the King made a most
eloquent speech. He insisted on the necessity of complete union between himself
and the great lords, who were the true columns of the monarchy. They have
mutual obligations. . . . He tells the story of his life, his early poverty . .
. the kind reception of his uncle, the Duke of Burgundy, to whom he expresses
his gratitude. On his accession he had found the country in the deepest
poverty. . . . He thanks God that he has been able to raise it to its present
state of prosperity; and after Providence, he owes this happiness to the
support, the zeal, and the love of the princes of the blood and the nobles.
They must help him to support the weight of the crown. What can a prince do
without the heart of his subjects? . . . He explains his political aims, and
regrets that the Duke of Brittany is not present. . . .
Rene, King of Sicily,
as the doyen of the assembly, was chosen to reply, and his speech was a
complete act of submission on behalf of all present; with one voice they added,
turning to the King : “We will serve you; .we will all live and die with you
against the world.” So they cried, and yet within a few months they fought
against him at Montl’hery !
Louis
thanked them for their goodwill, and then the old Duke of Orleans rose and made
excuse for his kinsman, the absent Duke of Brittany. He may have argued with
poetic inconsequence, that rebellion was no crime, but merely a picturesque
assertion of independence. The King in a moment of annoyance, spoke a few
sharp words of rebuke, and it so happened that within a fortnight of this
occurrence, Charles of Orleans died at the age of seventy-four. Although his
end was h 97
by no means premature
for a man who had endured so many vicissitudes, who had been taken prisoner at
Agincourt and had remaind in captivity for twenty-five years—yet some have
attributed his death to grief and mortification. His son Louis, the future King
of France, was a child of three, and he also left two daughters ; one was
Abbess of Fontevrault, and the other married Jean Viscount of Narbonne, and was
the mother of Gaston of Orleans. Like Ren6 of Anjou, Charles was a poet, and
his light rondels give lyrical expression to his own feelings, and are rich
with quaint conceits and gems of fancy. His work almost marks an epoch in the
literary history of the first dawn of the Renaissance. After his return from
his long captivity, he held a Court of song at Blois, amid gay knights and
ladies, and light-hearted merry friends such as the vagrant Villon ; he took
delightful journeys in the glowing springtide of the year ; he went floating
down the sunny Loire in a barge, playing chess in the pavilion ; and as the
years glided away, he scarcely noted how the world had changed. He was always
ready to plead for a friend who had inadvertently got mixed up with treason,
and when in his genial romantic style he took up the defence of the Duke of
Brittany at Tours, he never dreamt that the King was in such deadly earnest. So
he went homeward, sad and puzzled, somewhat broken with age, and maybe then
wrote his courtly farewell: “ Saluez moy toute la compagnie for so ended his
last “ melodious rondel.”
CHAPTER VI
146S
“Ligue du Bjen
Public” Against Louis XI—Battle of Montl’h£ry—Treaty of Conflans—Recovery of
Normandy by the King—Friendship of Louis with the Duke of Milan—Anne of France
betrothed to Nicholas of Calabria.
At
length
the blow fell, and the first deadly stroke was from the hand of the King’s own
brother. Louis XI was at Poitiers, on his way to a pilgrimage at Notre Dame du
Pont, when on the morning of Monday, March 4, 1465, Charles suggested that he
would go hunting instead. The two brothers appeared to be on the most friendly
terms, as the young Duke of Berry had just received an addition of 10,000
livres to his pension. Half an hour after the royal party had left, Charles
hastily joined the ambassador of the Duke of Brittany : all preparations were
made for his flight, and he was soon out of reach of pursuit. The foolish lad
of eighteen, vain and frivolous, had been persuaded to join his brother’s
enemies and put himself at the head of the League “ du Bien public” against
him.
This cruel desertion
took the King by surprise, and was perhaps the most bitter experience of his
life, as we find from the many letters which he wrote to announce the flight of
Charles Duke of Berry. He tells the
99
mayors, aldermen, and
bourgeois of Amiens, of Rheims, of Abbeville, of Lyons, of Auxerre, of St.
Quentin, and many others, and exhorts them all to remain faithful to him, as
they have always been and as he puts his trust in them. Yet he was destined to
find that in the hour of his deepest need he stood alone in tragic isolation,
for the burghers, on whom he relied and for whom he had done so much,
maintained a strict neutrality and watched the death-struggle of the Crown with
the indifference of mere spectators. Louis had not yet fully realized the
extent of the disaster which had come upon him ; for instance, he still
believed in the loyalty of the Duke of Bourbon, and wrote thus to him :—
“Mon frkre [Jean II had married Jeanne de France, the sister of Louis],
lundi, je parti d’icy au matin pour aler fere mon voyage k Notre Dame du Pont,
et d£s que je feuz parti, demye heure apres, mon fr£re de Berry s’en partit
sans mon S9eu, et Ten mena Odet d’Aidie, et est ale en Bretaigne, et ne say qui
l’a meu a cecy. Or 9^, se il a bien fait, il le trouvera. Je vous prie, que sur
tout le plaisir et service que jamais me voulez faire, que incontinent ces
lettres veues, vous monties a cheval et vous en venez devers moy, et ne me
vueillez faillir, et vous prie que faictes mettre sus cent lances de voz pais,
et laissez le bastard pour ce faire, et vous en venez incontinent, et quant vos
gens seront prestz, je les feray paier, et k Dieu. Escript de ma main. Et
croyez Josselin de ce qu’il vous dira de ma part.—Loys.”
(My brother, I set
forth from here in the morning on my journey to Notre Dame du Pont, and as soon
as I had started, half an hour after, my brother of Berry
IOO
FLIGHT OF CHARLES OF
FRANCE
set off without my
knowledge, and was led away by Odet d’Aidie, and is gone to Brittany, and I do
not know who has moved him to do this. “Or 5a,” if he has done well he will
find it so. I beg of you, by all the pleasure and service you would ever bestow
on me, that immediately on seeing these letters you will mount on horseback and
come to me at once, and do not fail me, and I beg of you to make ready a
hundred lances of your country, leave the Bastard to do this, but you come at
once, and when your men are ready I will have them paid, and Adieu. Written by
my hand. And believe Josselin in all that he will tell you from me.— Loys.)
The Duke’s reply to
this appeal was a public letter, in which he announced that he and the other
princes had taken a vow to compel the King to reform the Government and redress
the grievances of the nation.
Louis had also
written to the Duke of Burgundy, but the old man was now completely under the
control of his son Charles, whose only answer to the courtesy of the King of
France was at once to demand subsidies from the states of Burgundy, and to
order the feudal levies to be under arms by the beginning of May. At the same
time news reached Louis that Dammartin had escaped from the Bastille, and with
the help of the Bastard of Bourbon, had seized Bourges and was calling the
nobles of Berry to arms.
All things were
against him, but in the hour of adversity Louis XI always showed true
greatness. He at once caused letters to be published through the kingdom, in
which he proved how little the princes combined against him had ever cared for
“ le Bien
IOI
public,” or for
anything but their own interests. The country had been at peace in his reign
and trade protected; now it would be laid waste by fire and sword. Doubtless
many had been led astray by fine words; let them return to their allegiance
within six weeks, and they should have free pardon.
The King then
prepared to defend himself against the dangers which threatened on every side.
His chief hope was in the difficulties and delays which must attend the
combined action of feudal armies, and he lost no time in seeking to secure the
defence of Paris, sending two of his most trusted servants, Charles de Melun
and Bishop Balue, to see to the fortifications and the garrison. The Count du
Maine was to oppose the advance of the Dukes of Brittany and Berry, while Louis
himself hoped, with his well-trained “ francs- archers ” and artillery, to
overcome the Duke of Bourbon and the rebels of the south, and then, by a rapid
return to the north, to defeat the men of Burgundy before they could join the
Bretons. This was excellent strategy; and before the end of May, Louis was in
possession of the greater part of the Bourbonnais, of Auvergne, and of Berry;
while the provinces of Guienne and Languedoc, also the counts of Foix and
Comminges, were loyal, and there was every hope that the royal forces might be
concentrated on the Somme before the army of Burgundy had crossed the frontier.
At this critical
moment, the unlooked-for treachery of the Duke of Nemours was a terrible blow,
and the defection of the Duke of Alenfon, Dunois, and above all of Jean of
Calabria was enough to crush a weaker man, but Louis rose to the occasion, and
with splendid energy he crossed the Allier, took Gannat by storm,
102
and so alarmed the
rebels in that part that they signed a promise to lay down their arms and send
envoys to negotiate. But much precious time had been lost; it was no longer
possible for the King to meet his foes on the frontiers, and it was very
doubtful if he could reach his capital in time to save it.
Meantime Charles
Count of Charolois had taken the field with an army of 1400 lances, 8000
archers, and a host of light-armed troops, cross-bowmen and others. The forces
of the King could not be more than 14,000 men all told, but they were in
splendid discipline and their military experience was far greater than that of
the Burgundians, who appear to have met with scarcely any opposition on their
way to Paris, as Crevecoeur and Arleux were retaken almost without resistance,
and Nesle, Roye, Montdidier, and Brai also surrendered. It is interesting to
follow the whole course of this campaign in the letters of Louis XI, who
constantly writes to all his captains and gives the most minute directions on
every point. At the beginning of June, his sister, Jeanne Duchess
of Bourbon, wishes to meet him with her mother-in-law, Agnes of Bourbon, sister
of Duke Philip of Burgundy, and the King sends an urgent message to his
steward: “Pour ce que je suis main- tenant fort ocupe, com me vous savez, je
vous prye, si vous me voulez james faire service ne plaisir, que vous trouvez
fasson, par bonne maniere et comme de vous, que ne viengnent point, et s’ilz
ont aucune chose a besongner devers moy, qu’ils y envoyent, et que feray
tellement qu’ilz devront estre contens. Mes faictes le si sagement, et par
telle fasson, qu’ilz ne congnoissent point que j’en sache rien.”
This is a very good
specimen of the shrewd di-
103
plomacy of Louis. But
his sister was more than a match for him, as she managed to have the interview
and tried to make terms for her husband. However, the negotiations came to an
abrupt end, and before the end of the month the Duke of Bourbon abruptly joined
the King’s enemies.
The friendship of
Louis with the Duke of Milan proved useful to him now, as his son, Galeazzo
Maria Sforza, came to his help with iooo lances and 2000 archers, and was
appointed lieutenant of the King in Lyonnais and Dauphine. Having made all
arrangements for the security of these provinces, the royal army proceeded on
its march to Paris. One of his most devoted captains, Joachim Rouhault, entered
the city with 110 lances, only just in time, as the army of Burgundy had
already reached St. Denis, and the arrival of the dukes of Brittany and Berry
was hourly expected. The King’s army had approached by forced marches, but his
wish was to avoid a battle if possible, and to throw himself into his capital.
However, he found that Charles of Burgundy had already crossed the Oise and
would seek to bar his way. Louis sent repeated orders to Charles de Melun, the
Governor of Paris, to send out men and threaten the enemy’s rear, but his
action was so weak and cowardly at the critical moment that there can be little
doubt of his treachery. Indeed, in that hour of peril the King knew not whom he
could trust, for his dearest friend might betray him at any moment.
Under these
circumstances was fought the famous battle of Montl’hery, on Tuesday, July 16,
1465, “when the two hosts both fancied themselves beaten.” So many different
accounts have been given of this en-
IO4
gagement that we may
select the story told by Louis XI himself, his own war correspondent, from the
various letters he at once wrote to his chief cities: Lyons, Amboise, Beauvais,
Poitiers, Troyes, and others.
Deparleroy. Corbeil,
17
Juillet, 1465.
“ ‘ Chiers et bien
amez,’ yesterday, at about two hours after dinner, the counts of Charolois, of
St. Pol, Atof of Cleves . . . and all their men of war, being near Montl’h&y,
fortified by their chariots, ‘fossez, ribaudequins,’ and other artillery, we
were advised to assail and combat them, and so it was done. And thanks to God,
we had the better of it, and the victory was for us, and two or three times the
said Count of Charolois fled and the greater part of his men, and the said
Count of St. Pol . . . and we remained on the field till the setting sun, and
then came to Corbeil, and our army. . . .
“(Paris, July 20.)
There were fourteen or fifteen hundred dead, and three or four hundred
prisoners, and afterwards more than two thousand dead or taken who fled towards
the bridge of St. Cloud. We have also recovered our town of Lagny, and the
bridge of St. Maxence (on the Oise), where four or five hundred were taken or
killed; whence the counts of Charolois and St. Pol have departed and have burnt
a great number of their chariots. And afterwards we retired to this our good
city of Paris, where the greater part of our men-at-arms and captains of war
have joined us . . . and the said Charolois has retired to join our brother of
Berry and the Bretons, who are disposed to draw towards the marches of
Normandy. ...” The
1 °S
King bids his
faithful subjects make good defence and he will come to their help.
From other sources we
learn that Charles of Burgundy was in great danger at one time ; he was
wounded in the throat and only saved by the gallant devotion of one of his
esquires. But the fortune of war changed, and the King—who was now almost in
sole command, as Pierre de Breze was killed—had a narrow escape, as his reserve
sent by Charles de Melun forsook him and fled. Commines remarks at this point
that “the greatest thing in the world for battles is to have thousands of
archers. In a small number, they are of no use.” It was the Scotch guard which
escorted the King to the castle of Montl’hery, while Charles of Burgundy
remained on the field of battle in great anxiety, expecting another attack at
any moment, and at daybreak he set off towards Etampes. The battle of
Montl’hery was a very doubtful triumph for either side, although the losses of
the men of Burgundy were much greater than those of Louis, who was successful
in his plan of entering Paris. Those who fled from both armies spread reports,
on one side that Charles was killed, and on the other that the King of France
was slain or captured.
When the defences of
Paris were well secured, Louis wrote at once to convoke the nobles and “francs-
archers ” from the counties which were faithful to him and to his good cities
of Rheims, of Troyes, of Abbeville, Lyons, and others, to see well to their
garrisons and to be of good cheer. He also made the Count d’Eu Governor of
Paris, and appointed Charles de Melun Captain of Evreux and Honfleur. We have
no means of knowing how far he was then under
106
suspicion. Meantime,
the Count of Charolois and the dukes of Brittany and Berry had united their
forces at Etampes, but already there was distrust and jealousy amongst them,
and Charles of Berry aroused the contempt of his more hardened companions by
deploring the number of wounded and slain in this war. However, all the princes
left Etampes together in outward amity, and after some delay they crossed the
Seine by a bridge of boats, and were scarcely encamped when Jean Duke of
Calabria arrived with a good body of horse, a small company of Italians in
complete armour, four hundred cross-bow men from the Count Palatine, and five
hundred Swiss infantry, the first seen in France. Louis had made a last attempt
to recall his old friend Jean to his allegiance, and his father Rene had also
written a touching letter recalling all that the King had done for him. But the
Duke of Calabria was too much involved to draw back now, and he was also
greatly attracted by the reckless courage of Charles of Burgundy.
On August 10, Louis
had gone to Normandy to collect forces there, and his combined enemies lost no
time in trying to persuade the citizens to submission. A deputation headed by
the Bishop went to Beaute-sur- Marne, and they were disposed to agree that the
princes should be admitted into the city with a small escort. This would have
been a fatal move, and the Count d’Eu made so formidable a demonstration with
his men-at-arms, that the envoys were obliged to put off any decision until the
good pleasure of the King should be known. On the 28th August, Louis returned
from Normandy, after seventeen days absence, with twelve thousand men, some
artillery, sixty
107
chariots of powder,
and seven hundred muids (one muid is about fifty bushels) of flour. The King
was received with the greatest acclamations, and the besieged were now able to
make sorties and capture prisoners. The experience of Louis at Montl’hery made
him unwilling to risk a general engagement, and he was quite willing to listen
to terms of peace. But the allies made exorbitant demands, such as giving the
Duke of Berry Guienne with Saintonge and Poitou, or Normandy, and even after a
personal interview between Louis and Charles of Burgundy all hope of settlement
was given up.
As the days passed
on, the situation became more serious. The country round Paris was laid waste
by the beleaguering army, more especially by the ill- paid and rapacious bands
of Armagnac and Nemours; while the presence of so many soldiers in Paris was a
severe trial to the inhabitants. News of treachery constantly arrived ; one day
it was that Pontoise had been sold by its governor, another that the gates of
the Bastille had been left open and the canon spiked. Fortunately the watch had
been doubled, and fires had been lighted in the streets to guard against a
night surprise—contrary to the advice of Charles de Melun, whose father was in
command of the Bastille. On September 27, there came tidings that Rouen had
been betrayed by the widow of Pierre de Breze, and the gates opened to the Duke
of Bourbon ; Caen had yielded after three days of siege. . . . Disasters everywhere.
“Entre tous les princes que j’ai cognus, le plus saige pour se tirer
d’un mauvais pas, c’etait le roi Louis XI nostre maitre,” says Commines. The King
knew when
108
to yield ; he bent
low before the storm, and resolved to make peace at any price. “ II aima mieux eteindre le feu de cette division du ‘ Bien Public’ par
l’argent, que dans le sang et dans les larmes de ses sujets.” Charles of
Burgundy was quite willing to treat with him, for his army was ill-supplied
with provisions, and there was ever-growing discord amongst the allies. The
soldiers were in constant expectation of attack, and there is a legend of their
mistaking a field of tall thistles for a company of hostile lances. A truce was
proclaimed on October ist, and the rest of the month was spent in
negotiations. The story is told of a meeting between the two Princes under the
walls of Paris, when Charles found that he had inadvertently placed himself in
the power of Louis, who took no advantage of it. But this incident is not well
authenticated.
One treaty was signed
at St. Maur, and another at Conflans; almost all the demands of the
confederates appear to have been granted, and we are amazed at the concessions
to which Louis submitted. Every traitor appears to be richly rewarded in lands,
honours, and money for his evil doing.
The Duke of Berry
receives the duchy of Normandy . . . and other concessions.
Charles of Burgundy
receives Amiens and the other towns on the Somme which Louis had recently made
such tremendous sacrifices to buy back; all the lands of Ponthieu and Vimeu . .
. ; also Peronne, Roye, Boulogne, and Montdidier.
The Duke of Calabria
receives Mouzon, Sainte- Menehould, Neufchatel, and other estates, besides
1,000,000 ecus d’or. Also on his account the King
IO9
renounces his
alliance with Metz and with Ferdinand of Aragon.
The Duke of Brittany
receives the counties of litampes and Montfort, and the sovereign rights which
he claims.
The Duke of Bourbon
receives several lordships in Auvergne, 100,000 ecus, the pay of 300 lances,
and other concessions.
The Duke of Nemours
receives the government of Paris and the Isle-de-France, a pension, and the pay
of 200 lances.
The Count of St. Pol
is appointed Constable of France.
The counts of
Armagnac, of Dunois, of Dammartin, and many other rebels recover all their
places and possessions, with large gifts of money.
As for the “ Bien
Public,” which was supposed to be the cause of the rebellion, a clause is inserted
that a commission shall be appointed to inquire into abuses that they may be
remedied by new edicts.
If the unfortunate
people of France had formed any expectations from this league of “le Bien
Public,” they were cruelly undeceived when they found that all these
extortionate claims of the nobles would have to be paid by their taxes. The
King made no vain complaints; he behaved to his triumphant foes with quiet
courtesy, and bore with silent courage the apparent ruin of all his hopes for
the unity and greatness of his kingdom. The grasping crew of rebels hastily
dispersed to take possession of their gains, with no aim in common but to found
so many isolated despotisms, where they would be petty sovereigns independent
of all control.
Louis had signed the
treaty extorted from him under
I IO
a solemn protest,
while the Parliament and theChambre des Comptes protested that Normandy was the
inalienable appanage of the Crown, and that they only registered the illegal
treaty under compulsion. The men of Burgundy were, however, the first to break
the conventions by surprising Peronne and taking the Count of Nevers prisoner ;
they also summoned Beauvais to surrender, whereupon the Bishop, Jean de Bar,
and the bourgeois sent the written summons to the King, who showed it to
Charles of Burgundy : “ Since we have made peace, you no doubt agree with me
that we must observe it,” was his remark. On the 21st of October we find him
writing to the men of Li6ge and sending a special ambassador to tell them of
the peace and beg them to cease all hostilities. He well knows what “dear and
special friends” they have been to him “et de tr&s bon coeur vous en
mercions. Toutes- voyes veu que l’appoinctement est prins entre
nous et . . . bel oncle de Bourgoingne et beau frere de Charolois, et que
audit! appoinctement (vous) estes comprins comme noz bons especiaulx amis, et
comme nous avons fait, k tous noz autres alliez et adherens, nous vous prions
que vueilliez deporter et desister de la guerre que avez encommenchie es pais de
nosdiz oncle et beau-fr&re. Et, quant ainsy ne se feroit, veu que de
present la guerre cesse par defa, et qu’il y a appoinctemens entre nous et les
dessusdiz, seroit a doubter que grosse armee et puissance de gens tombast sur
vostre pais, dont grans inconveniens pourroient ensuir, et k quoi seroit
difficile chose k vous de y resister, et k nous de vous y secourir. Pourquoy
vueilliez avoir sur ce bon avis et accepter de vostre part ledit appoinctement,
ainsy que plus k plain avons
in
chargie le sire de Saincte Camelle de vous dire et exposer. Donne k
Paris, le XXIe jour d’octobre.—Loys.”
(We thank you with
all our heart. . . . Seeing that a treaty is made between our fair uncle of
Burgundy and our brother-in-law of Charolois, and that you are included in the
said treaty as our good and special friends [Art. I of Treaty of Conflans says
: “all hostilities will cease between the said lords, their vassals, and their
allies and adherents of whatever condition they are, within the kingdom and
without . . .”], as we have done to our other allies and adherents, we beg that
you will draw back and desist from the war which you have begun in the land of
our said uncle and brother-in-law. And in case this is not done, seeing that at
present the war ceases over here, and that there is a treaty between us and the
aforesaid, it is to be feared that a great army and power of men will fall upon
your land, from which great inconvenience may ensue, and which it will be a
difficult thing for you to resist and for us to help you in so doing. Wherefore
I pray you to take this good advice and accept on your part the said treaty, as
we have charged the Sire de Camelle more plainly to tell and explain to you. Given at Paris, the 21st October.—Loys.)
“A nos tr&s grans, anchiens et especiaulz amis les maistres jurez et
conseil de la cite et pais de Liege.”
We see that it was
not for lack of warning that the men of Liege continued their opposition to the
Duke of Burgundy. Had they only listened to the wise advice given in this
letter, they would not have drawn down upon themselves the terrible vengeance
of Charles of Burgundy, two years later.
CHARLES OF FRANCE
OBTAINS NORMANDY
On October 30, after
the King had received homage from his brother Charles at Vincennes for the
duchy of Normandy, the peace was proclaimed in Paris at ten o’clock at night in
these words : “ Between the King, Monsieur Duke of Normandy, and other princes
of the blood, as well for their followers and their allies on both sides, the
war ceases; peace is made. ...” Charles of Burgundy departed at once, and was
well received everywhere in France by the King’s orders; he hastened to take
possession of the towns of Picardy, to their great discontent; and without
going to see his father, Duke Philip, who was in failing health, or his young
daughter Marie, whose mother had died during his absence, he at once proceeded
to attack the men of Liege.
Meantime Louis was
fully occupied in carrying out the various concessions he had promised, making
changes in the Government, settling about the taxes, giving a fresh charter to
Paris, and rewarding his faithful followers, to one of whom, Louis de Bourbon,
he gave his illegitimate daughter Jeanne in marriage. The King was at Orleans
at the end of November when he received a message from his brother Charles, who
complained of his position in his new dukedom. Louis turned to the Duke of
Bourbon who was with him, and remarked that he should be obliged to give help
to his brother, “perhaps even to take back that duchy of Normandy.” This is
what had happened. Besides the general discontent at being separated from
France, there was discord between the Normans and Bretons, while every one was
full of ambitious hopes of place and power, which it was impossible for the
young Duke to satisfy. The people of Rouen were told that
1 113
Charles was a
prisoner in the hands of Francis of Brittany, and they sallied out in force to
rescue him, whereupon the indignant Bretons took possession of the chief towns
of Lower Normandy: Caen, Bayeux, Coutances, Avranches, and others. This was the
King’s opportunity, and after endowing Masses at the cathedral, he left Orleans
and went to Chartres, but he did not keep an appointment which he made to meet
his brother at Louviers. Thomas Basin, Bishop of Lisieux (afterwards his
chronicler and one of his most bitter enemies), was with Charles, having been
one of the first to pay homage to him. Louis reached Caen on December 19, and a
few days later concluded a private treaty with the Duke of Brittany, in which
Franfois promises not to receive or help any malcontents, and to remain
neutral on receipt of 150,000 ecus. “All that the King loves, we will love; all
that displeases him, will displease us . . said the Duke.
Louis XI on his side
made other concessions; his plans were already arranged for this great purpose,
the re-conquest of Normandy, and while awaiting the rest of his army he marched
to Louviers, which surrendered to him on the most favourable conditions. From
this city he wrote on January 4 to the Vicomte de Conches, to order a supply of
“ houectes et piquois ” (hoes and spades) and a number of workmen and
pioneers, who will be duly paid. “Take care that you do not fail, inasmuch as
you fear to displease us and incur our indignation.” On the next day, the King
writes to his good subjects of Lyons to justify to them his occupation of
Normandy. The letter is extremely interesting, but it is too long to quote in
full. He begins by speaking of the “divisions
“4
and differences ” in
the kingdom, how he was compelled to give up the duchy of Normandy to his
brother Charles, many of the cities and fortresses having been already usurped;
greatly against his will, and the ordonnance and constitutions of the Kings of
France he had yielded it, for never had brother of a king received that duchy.
... At his coronation he had sworn to protect the rights of the Crown, and had
always meant to restore to it the duchy, from which it should never be parted,
as he had made express protestation at the time of the treaty. For these causes
... he had been advised by men of note, princes of the blood, and others to
enter Normandy, and to restore to the Crown of France its lawful property. . .
. “Having come to the said land of Normandy, in the greater part we have been
received with all obedience by the inhabitants, as natural sovereign and
rightful lord, and we hope so to pursue the thing, by the help of God, that it
may be fully accomplished.” Then Louis adds that, as some people might be
surprised (esmerveilles), he thought it well to write to all the chief towns of
the kingdom and explain his conduct. Also with regard to his brother, he
intends to give him a “grant, bon et notable appanage,” greater than any only
brother of a king has ever had, with which he ought to be
content
Charles of France,
deserted by the Duke of Brittany, appealed to Charles of Burgundy, whose
ambassadors readily received the King’s explanations. Louis offered his brother
the county of Roussillon, where he would be at a safe distance from his
confederates, and while Charles was considering this, the gates of Rouen were
opened to the King on
the promise of a free pardon, from which only six of the leading rebels were excepted.
Normandy was now completely recovered, and proclamation was made that it was
once more and inseparably united to the Crown of France. In this campaign the
King showed clemency to many who had opposed him : even the widow of Pierre de
Breze, who had betrayed Rouen, was forgiven. But he was implacable against
those who still thought to deceive him ; some were beheaded and others drowned
in the Loire. The castle of Chaumont, belonging to Pierre d’Amboise, who had
joined the League, was burnt and levelled with the ground, but when Pierre made
due submission, the King built up his castle again w^th his own money.
Charles of France,
who had found a retreat with the Duke of Brittany, refused Roussillon, and
asked for Champagne and le Vermandois, or else the duchy of Berry with Poitou
and Saintonge. He was a foolish incapable young fellow, who took advantage of
his brief reign in Normandy to waste a large sum of public money in luxury and
dissipation. He persistently appealed for help to Charles of Burgundy, who
sent another embassy, to whom Louis pointed out that Liege and Dinant ought to
profit by the treaty of Conflans, as it included the allies on both sides, and
that to attack those cities was to violate the peace. (Was he not aware that he
had done so himself, in re-conquering Normandy?) Louis had just cause of
complaint against his uncle the Comte du Maine, who had secretly taken part
with the Duke of Nemours, and had been more than suspected of treachery at
Montl’hery. His brother, Rene of Anjou,
116
pleaded for him in
vain ; he was deprived of the government of Languedoc, which was given to the
Duke of Bourbon. As for Charles de Melun, he was tried before the highest court
in the land, and found guilty of death for high treason.
The King returned to
Orleans, where Queen Charlotte was residing, before the beginning of March
1466, and we find him turning aside from the troubles of his throne, to write
asking the Duke of Milan to procure for him five or six little dogs from the
island of Chios, either white or red, as he hears they are excellent with
birds. The merchant house of Justiniana does business in those parts and might
obtain them. This appears to be the last letter which he wrote to his old
friend Francesco Sforza, who died on March 8 ; and we have later a number of
letters addressed by the King to various Italian states,—to Milan, to Genoa, to
Florence, Bologna, and Siena, to the Marquess of Ferrara, of Montferrat, and of
Mantua,—all expressing his deep regret at the death of the Duke of Milan, and
trusting that all help will be given towards the peaceful succession of his
son. But the next news which Louis receives is that Galeazzo Maria Sforza, when
on his way home to claim his duchy, was arrested at the foot of the Alps, at
Novalese, by order of the Abbe of Casanova. His imprisonment cannot however,
have lasted long, as, on March 24, Louis writes to congratulate him on his
freedom, “car c’cest la chose que avions plus a cceur, et que desirions le
plus.” He soon after gives orders to the Treasurer of Dauphine to pay the
troops of the Duke of Milan the sum of 6000 livres (instead of 4000 as
originally settled).
Duke Louis of Savoy
had been succeeded by his son, Amedee IX, whose wife Yolande, the sister of
Louis XI, took part at this time with the House of Burgundy. We find her
sending the Abbe de Casanova to the Venetians and the Marquess of Montferrat,
to induce them to make war on the new Duke of Milan ; and for this her brother
reproaches her. In the next letter he begs her to take into her service a
certain Antoine de Romagnano, doctor of law, who had obtained the freedom of
Galeazzo of Milan and the passage of his troops through Savoy. The King of
France is unwearied in his efforts to help the Duke of Milan, for he writes
again on his behalf to the Doge of Venice, and to the Pope, Paul II.
Having made peace
with the Duke of Calabria, Louis cannot do enough to win him entirely to his
cause. To show his esteem for the House of Anjou and his gratitude to Rene,
who had stood by him so faithfully, he now renews and ratifies the treaty of
marriage between his eldest daughter, Anne of France, now five years old, and
Nicholas, the son of Jean of Calabria. The young bride was to receive a dowry
of 487,500 livres, of which 137,500 had already been paid by her father. But
the marriage never came to pass, for the Prince of Calabria died in his youthful
prime at Nancy on July 27th, 1473.
The Count of
Saint-Pol is rewarded by the hand of Marie of Savoy, the Queen’s sister, and
the count- ship of Eu is also bestowed upon him. We are struck by the minute
personal care which Louis gives to small matters, when he has all the cares of
the realm upon him. He writes, for instance, to the city of Amboise to request
that a most hospitable reception should be
118
BETROTHAL OF ANNE OF
FRANCE
given to the Countess
of Wurtemburg, the Queen’s aunt, who is going on a pilgrimage to St. James of
Compostella. The old account-books of Amboise show that the lady arrived with
fifty-seven horsemen, and she was entertained in the hostel on the bridge for a
day and a night, “receiving grapes, apples, and pears of the said city,” at the
expense of 18 livres, 10 sols tournois, duly paid to Perrenelle, the landlady.
CHAPTER VII
I46S-7
The
Story of Liege—The “Piteous Peace”—Siege and Destruction of Dinant by the Duke
of Burgundy—Death of Philip of Burgundy—Battle of St. Tron—Submission of
Li£ge.
When
Charles
of Burgundy rode away triumphant from the walls of Paris after the Treaty of
Conflans, which had given him more than he had ever dared to expect, the next
desire of his heart was to punish the men of Liege for their invasion of Namur
and Brabant during his absence. “Quant nous aurons
fait icy, nous irons de plus belle contre ces vilains Liegois,” writes his
secretary. The
Count of Charolois crossed Champagne and Hainault, gathering fresh levies on
the way, until, when he reached the hill country of Liege, his army is said to
have numbered 28,000 men- at-arms.
What was this free
and sovereign city which had thus presumed to defy the might of the great Lord
of Burgundy? The whole story of Liege in medieval times is one long romance—too
often passing into tragedy. Standing in the midst of an amphitheatre of rugged
hills, which enclose lovely valleys and vast tracts of forests, the ancient
city looks down upon a noble river, the Meuse, which here receives the tribute
"GOOD KING
RENE,” DUKE OF PROVENCE, ANJOU, ETC.
From a portrait in
the British Museum
of its vassal
streams. But Liege did not owe its greatness to its picturesque situation. In
earlier days it had risen under the protection of its patron saint, for the
tomb of St. Lambert had been a shrine of pilgrimage until the modest chapel
raised in his honour, had grown into a stately fane. But Liege chiefly owed its
early fame and importance to the mineral treasures beneath its soil, for iron
and coal were found close at hand and were the source of its industry and
wealth. It was an ecclesiastical state, which could never pass by marriage,
inheritance, or purchase, under the nominal rule of a Prince-Bishop, with a
chapter of sixty canons mostly of noble birth. Yet in the fifteenth century
never was any municipal government so absolutely democratic as that of Liege,
where all native-born citizens above the age of fifteen had the right of
suffrage and were eligible to hold office.
All were equal, the
smaller guilds and the greater, the merchant, the artisan, and the miner ; the
vote of the apprentice had the same value as that of the master. The
Prince-Bishop himself—originally elected by the Chapter or nominated by the
Pope—had only a limited and well-defined jurisdiction. “A Prince of Liege makes
no change in the laws without the consent of the estates, and administers
justice only by the regular tribunals.” Can anything sound more perfect than
this ? And yet we are told that the different powers and interests were always
in conflict, that the turbulent spirit of the masses kept the city in perpetual
agitation, and that “civil war might almost be considered the normal condition
of society.”
We know Michelet’s
poetical description of the men of Ghent, another free, self-governed town :
“l’ouvrier
mystique, le lollard illumine, le tisserand visionnaire, echappe des
caves, pale et have, comme ivre de jeune. . . . Une banniere de
metier apparait . . . un son lugubre . . . and the great bell of the city tolls
‘ Roland ! Roland ! Roland ! ’, all take arms from the boy of twenty to the
old man of sixty, and in their passionate love of their country, “ ce grand
peuple dans leur simplicite heroique . . . alia a la mort . . . vendu, trahi.
...” This description gives us an insight into the patriotism which was a
passion, a religion, with these bourgeois for the city which was their own,
their home, their hearth, and for whose dear sake they would all die as one
man. Such fanatics in their devotion would never be easy to govern.
The Prince-Bishop of
Liege was the vassal of the Emperor, but the people had long considered the
kings of France their friends and protectors. In France they found a market for
their work; and a closer resemblance in race and language than they did with
their Flemish neighbours. Charles VII had made alliance with them and Louis XI
renewed it; and it was in a measure for this reason that they had invaded Namur
and Brabant when Charles of Burgundy was before the gates of Paris. We have
already seen in the letter sent them by a special ambassador, how urgently
Louis tried to persuade them as early as October 21 to make peace at once with
the Duke of Burgundy, but in their pride and self-confidence they delayed until
it was too late. At the present time, they were extremely unfortunate in their
Bishop. Of late years, owing to the increasing power of the Duke of Burgundy,
the see had become a benefice at his disposal, and in 1456, after the forced
resignation of Jean
122
de Heinsberg, he had
appointed his nephew, Louis of Bourbon, a dissolute lad of eighteen, who at the
time was not even in orders, but was nevertheless inducted into the
temporalities, and enthroned, when he arrived at Liege in a scarlet suit and
plumed cap.
Utterly reckless of
the city’s dismay and indignation, young Bourbon drove the staid burghers
nearly wild with his extortions and his insolent defiance of all their rights.
As soon as he met with opposition he withdrew to the border town of Huy, where
he gave himself up to every form of self-indulgence and dissipation, and not
content with this, he dared to use the last thunderbolt of the Church and place
the capital under an interdict. In vain the citizens, in wrath and despair,
appealed to the Archbishop of Cologne, to the Pope himself; the powerful
influence of the Duke of Burgundy was against them, and the sentence of
excommunication was confirmed. Can we wonder that after this, the men of Liege
looked upon Duke Philip as their deadly foe, that they rose against him at the
first opportunity, when their industry was ruined, their Government was
paralysed, and their souls and bodies in equal danger ? It can scarcely have
needed any persuasion from their ally the King of France, to induce them to
invade and devastate the lands of Burgundy.
It so chanced that
another city was still more guilty in the eyes of the Duke of Burgundy. Dinant,
only second in importance to Liege, stood on the right bank of the Meuse, where
it forms the frontier of Namur ; while on the opposite bank was placed the town
of Bouvines, its rival in trade, and for years past its bitter enemy. As war
was now raging on the frontier,
123
Dinant and Bouvines
took advantage of it to attack and annoy each other more than usual. One day a
troop of idle apprentices and other such rabble, crossed the river from Dinant
with a stuffed figure which in mockery they declared to be “your Count of
Charolois, no count indeed, but the base-born son of Bishop Heinsberg ” ; and
they left the effigy hanging on a gibbet by the town walls. This was reported
by the loyal subjects of Bouvines to their suzerain the Duke of Burgundy, who
never forgave the insult and vowed a deadly vengeance on the whole city for the
escapade of a few reckless youths.
As far as Dinant was
concerned, the war to them was simply the carrying on of an ancient feud
against the rival town which was always giving them fresh provocation. The
people of Bouvines now retaliated by hurling an effigy of the French King over
the walls of their foe, with insulting words ; but although Louis heard of
this, he took no noticey for he appears never to have punished a personal
insult.
Meantime the great
army of the Count of Charolois had entered the territory of Liege, and it was
doubtful which city he would first attack. In point of fact, he sought rather
to threaten and overawe his enemies, as now in December, it was too late in the
year for a long siege, and his men-at-arms, long behindhand in their pay, had
been already kept in the field for months beyond the term of feudal service.
Charles therefore showed himself willing to make a treaty, and the
terror-stricken men of Liege agreed at last to the most exorbitant terms. The
chief magistrates and others were to prostrate themselves before the Duke, an
indemnity of more than 400,000 florins was to be paid ;
124
Liege was to renounce
all its alliances, and accept the Duke of Burgundy as sole protector of Liege,
and behave in other ways like a conquered province. We cannot wonder that in
the city registers, this bears the title of the “ Piteous Peace,” of which the
last and most cruel stipulation is that Dinant shall be excepted. This treaty
was ratified on January 24, 1466, and Charles returned in triumph to his
father’s Court.
The Count of
Charolois had already heard about the surrender of Normandy to the King of
France, and during the following months he became alarmed and irritated on
hearing that negotiations were going on between Louis and the Earl of Warwick.
We find from a letter of the King in April, that Charles had been spreading
reports in Amiens and elsewhere that Louis was about to make war upon him.
Louis had also written in May to inform the city of Lyons that he was in
communication with Warwick only to counteract the danger of a marriage between
Charles of Burgundy and Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV. (This marriage
actually took place on July 15, 1468.) Charles now wrote an angry letter to the
King of France accusing him of offering Rouen, Caux, Abbeville, and the county
of Ponthieu to the English as the price of their help against Burgundy. Louis
left the Royal Commission to make answer and remind Charles that he had seen
all the documents, and to ask who had sent information so false and injurious
to the King’s honour. Charolois evidently wanted a pretext of any kind, as he was
about to march in force against Dinant and also Liege, where the extreme party
had risen in rebellion, beheaded the chief men responsible for the “Piteous
Peace,” and refused to carry out its
125
conditions. Louis XI
has been blamed by his enemies for not taking arms to defend these unfortunate
cities, but under all the circumstances it is difficult to see what he could
have done at this moment. He was also in close alliance with the Duke of
Bourbon, the brother of the unworthy Bishop of Liege, whose cause the Duke of
Burgundy was supporting against his rebellious subjects.
In the fifteenth
century, Dinant was the site of a flourishing town whose inhabitants were
famous throughout Europe for copper-work, not only producing beautiful organ
screens, fonts, and ecclesiastical vessels, but pots and pans for kitchen use,
called “ Dinanderie.” They had a large trade with England, where they enjoyed
the same privileges as the Han- seatic League. Behind its massive walls
defended by eighty towers, rose many fine churches and rich monasteries, while
the great foundries were ever at work to add to the wealth of “ illud superbum
et opulentum Dinantum,” as Basin calls it. Aware of its exposed situation on
the frontier, Dinant had with difficulty been persuaded to join with Liege
against the Duke of Burgundy. When that unfortunate incident occurred under the
walls of Bouvines, the ringleaders were at once imprisoned, but with the help
of the rabble they made their escape. When, in the spring of 1466, news arrived
that a powerful Burgundian army was collecting, the chief magistrates made
every effort to avert the coming storm. During the two months of suspense which
followed, ceaseless prayers and entreaties were sent by the panic-struck town
to every one who might possibly help or plead for them. At last, in
desperation, they ventured to send a direct appeal to “the most ex-
126
cellent, high, and
puissant prince, and most redoubted lord, the Count of Charolois; the poor
humble and obedient servants and subjects of the most reverend father in God,
Louis of Bourbon, Bishop of Liege, and ‘vous petis voisins et marchissans,’ the
burgomasters, council, and people of the town of Dinant. . . They offered to
make any redress for the insult, and any atonement, with the most abject
humility ; but all was of no avail. In this last dire extremity, they also
appealed to Louis XI, but we find no record of any reply.
The difficulties of
the magistrates increased daily, for they found their authority set aside by
the class who were ever ready to rebel, and, worst danger of all, the town
began to fill with outlawed bands of proscribed exiles, utterly lawless and
reckless. In a few registers of Dinant which have been
preserved, we find allusion to this peril: “Nous faisons grans doubtes que ne
puissons estre maistres du grant nombre d’estraingers qui sont icy soubz umbre
d’estre envoyes de par la cite pour la garde de la ville. ...”
On the 14th of
August, Duke Philip of Burgundy arrived in a horse-litter at Namur, where the
invading army was to muster. He had been at death’s door, but when he recovered
his faculties, one memory, one purpose was alone engraved upon his mind. The
inexpiable crime of Dinant still remained unpunished, and the last effort of
his failing life should be to carry out the deadly vengeance he had sworn.
Attended by a small escort, he made his way as far as Bouvines from whence he
could watch the fulfilment of his object. The army of his son had crossed the
river at Namur and continued its course on the right bank of the river
127
towards the doomed
city. Within the walls there was a reign of terror and all was riot and
disorder, for the outlaws, accustomed to live by violence, had taken complete
possession supported by the lowest of the populace, and many of the wise rulers
who had counselled submission were put to death.
The siege actually
began on Tuesday, August 19, after the “bombards” or siege ordnance had been
brought into position, and the usual summons by trumpet call had been met with
insulting jeers and defiance from the ruffians who crowded the walls. They were
answered by the roar of artillery which continued an almost incessant fire for
several days, until the churches were dismantled of their towers, the houses in
ruins, hundreds of the citizens slain, and a breach sixty feet long had been
opened in the walls. Now that all hope was at an end, the outcasts and freebooters
only thought of their own safety and fled like evil birds of prey to the
distant forest, leaving the unfortunate inhabitants to their fate. The passage
of the river above the town was still free, and other fugitives escaped to
spread dismay and rage amongst the allied towns, when it was too late for help.
The beleaguered city had already offered to capitulate, but had met with a
stern refusal, and now, to avert the final assault, surrendered at discretion,
in the delusive hope of mercy from the great lords of Burgundy.
The tragedy which
followed is too terrible for words : “ le mardy, le mercredy et le jeudy on ne
feit que butiner ”; the order was given in cold blood, and for three days
Dinant was sacked by a reckless soldiery which murdered all who dared to
resist. Only the women were spared and protected by supreme order of
128
DEATH OF PHILIP OF
BURGUNDY
the Count de
Charolois, but it was a cruel clemency which drove them with their children
helpless and penniless from their ruined homes, and we are told that their
cries were heart-rending. The survivors amongst their husbands and brothers
were doomed to slavery ; but Commines, an eye-witness, tells us that the
vindictive old Duke feasted his eyes upon a noyade of eight hundred men,
selected as the most guilty, who, bound hand and foot and tied together in
pairs, were drowned in the Meuse. As for the ill-fated city, it was set on
fire, and all that was not consumed by the flames was demolished and razed to
the ground, until “those who looked upon the place where it stood, could say 1
cy fust Dynant ! ’ ”
Before the work of
destruction was quite complete, Charles of Burgundy received word that the men
of Liege were advancing against him ; his men, laden with booty, were scarcely
prepared to meet a sudden attack, but the caution of the citizens lost them
their opportunity, and they agreed to make terms on the former conditions,
with an additional fine and fifty hostages given up as surety. It seems that
the Count de St. Pol, who had not scrupled to share in the spoil of Dinant, had
pleaded for leniency towards the men of Liege, the allies of the King of France
and under his protection. He himself was playing a curious double game.
The old Duke Philip
of Burgundy had enjoyed his last triumph when he watched the work of vengeance
from the walls of Bouvines, and he was carried home to Bruges where, in
preparation for his latter end, he devoted himself to religious duties and
lingered on until the following June. He is known to history
K 129
as “The Good,” but
perhaps never was this epithet less deserved if we consider his passionate
vindictive temper, and the moral character of one who “a peupte son pays de
batards.” He had a splendid funeral in the church of St. Donatus, in the
midnight blaze of 1600 torches, while the heralds broke their batons above the
bier and proclaimed his son Charles, Duke of Burgundy, of Brabant, of Limbourg,
and of Luxemburg ; Count of Flanders, of Artois, of Burgundy, of Hainault, of
Holland, of Zeeland, and of Namur; Marquis of the Holy Empire ; Lord of
Friesland, of Malines. . . .
Soon after his
accession the new Duke of Burgundy set forth in state to make his “joyeuse
entree” into Ghent and receive the homage of Flanders. All went well on his
arrival, and Charles was received with due honours, but unfortunately it
chanced to be the festival time of St. Lievin, and the next day, Monday, June
29, when the relics of the saint were brought back from the scene of his
martyrdom, crowds of drunken revellers accompanied them and made a disturbance
in the town, shouting, “ Down with the cueillotte,” an objectionable tax like
the octroi of France, which had been imposed on Ghent at its last rebellion.
The Duke, followed by a few nobles, rode out angrily into the midst of the mob
and struck one of the men with his baton. A tumult was with difficulty averted
amongst the stubborn and turbulent people; Charles addressed them from a balcony
and promised to listen to their grievances, which were at once insolently
enumerated by “ a tall rude villain,” and the Duke had no option save to grant
all that was asked. He had most unwisely brought his young daughter Marie with
him and also
130
much treasure of
jewels and plate, so that his only anxiety was to carry them away in safety
from his mutinous subjects. The success of Ghent encouraged the burghers of
Malines, Antwerp, and other places to resist their lord’s authority, while the
men of Liege had once more risen in arms against their Bishop.
Louis XI now sent the
Count of Dammartin and the Duke-Bishop of Langres as his ambassadors to mediate
between Liege and the Duke. The unfortunate burghers had found it impossible
to pay the immense fine, for the clergy and the adherents of the Bishop and the
Duke declared that they were exempt. Liege also insisted that the town of Huy,
where the Bishop had taken up his abode, should pay its share of the money. As
this demand was refused, the citizens of Liege took up arms and marched to
besiege Huy, in utter disregard of the French ambassadors’ advice. Charles had
sent a company of men-at-arms to defend the town, but Louis of Bourbon induced
the captain to use them as an escort to conduct him safely to Brussels, leaving
Huy to its fate. When news of this cowardly behaviour reached the Duke, he was
furious, and his rage was directed against Liege, which he vowed to crush to
the dust. In vain the Papal Legate interceded on their behalf as well as the
fresh ambassadors, Cardinal Balue and the Constable St. Pol, sent by the King
of France. All their entreaties were in vain, and he proclaimed war in the
barbarous fashion of old, the heralds holding in one hand a bare sword and in
the other a lighted torch, as signal of a war of fire and blood (a feu et a
sang). The hostages of Liege had been for a year in the hands of the Duke, and
it was a question what would be their fate. At length
Charles was induced
to let them return home, with the warning that if they were taken in arms, they
would receive no quarter.
Charles of Burgundy
set forth from Louvain with a great army, and on October 27, 1467, he laid
siege to the town of St. Tron, and the men of Liege marched in force—about
20,000 foot soldiers armed with pikes and culverins (a kind of musket) to
defend it. The next day a battle was fought at Brusten, a village near, and for
a time the result was doubtful, but the skill of Charles in the management of
his archers turned the tide of victory ; the half-trained soldiers of Liege
were driven back with great loss, and would have been utterly destroyed but for
the approach of night, and the marshy country intersected by ditches which
favoured their flight. They lost everything, cannons, tents, and wagons, while
St. Tron surrendered a few days later, and met with the usual fate : a heavy
fine was imposed, the inhabitants had to ransom themselves and their goods, and
the fortifications were razed to the ground.
Liege had time to
prepare for a siege, but the party for peace prevailed, and the chapter and
clergy were suffered to treat for terms. They were hard indeed, and the great
city lost its supremacy for ever. Three hundred of the chief burghers,
bare-headed and barefooted, carried in doleful procession the keys of Liege to
the Duke’s feet. The city gave up all its privileges, its corporation, its
guilds, and even its laws and customs. It was deprived of its artillery and war
material; it was to be no longer under the sovereign jurisdiction of the
Prince-Bishop, but was to take the oath of allegiance to the Duke. The
fortifications
132
were to be destroyed,
and in addition to the enormous fine previously demanded, 115,000golden “lions”
were to be paid as an indemnity.
On St. Martin’s
Feast, a dull November day, Charles rode in triumph with unsheathed sword into
the city, whose very gates were removed for his entrance and the walls broken
down. The great bell was rung which had so often summoned the burghers to meet
in their free defiance, but now they waited in trembling silence to hear their
doom from a stern conqueror. It was on their beloved city itself, on all that
made up its history, its very existence, that sentence of death was passed.
Those liberties and charters, bought in desperate strife with the life-blood of
their ancestors, were forfeited and annulled. On that pitiful day for the men
of Liege, by their own deed—the pride of life, the glory of patriotism were
trampled in the dust—a splendid past was eclipsed in the present shame, and for
their children, there would be no future.
CHAPTER VIII
1466-8
Aragon
offered to Rene of Anjou — Duke of Calabria in Spain—Armed Guilds of Paris—The
States-General meet at Tours—Charles of Burgundy marries Margaret of York —
Galeazzo Maria Sforza, new Duke of Milan, marries Bona of Savoy.
In
the
month of August, 1466, at the very time when Charles of Burgundy was carrying
out his vengeance against Dinant with fire and sword, an embassy was sent from
Catalonia to offer Rene of Anjou the crown of Aragon. After his unfortunate experience
with regard to Naples, we wonder that he could be tempted again by the bait of
a kingdom, yet even at his ripe age of fifty-seven, “good King Rene” was full
of the romantic valour of youth, and ever ready to leave his poetry, his
painting, and his gay Court at Tarascon for any wild adventure. Yet the idea
had serious justification, for through his mother Yolande he was direct heir
of Juan I of Aragon, whose brother, Martin the Humane, had taken the succession
in disregard of the rights of his nieces. The Lord of Anjou, Bar, and Provence,
with a son so distinguished a warrior as Jean of Calabria, might seem to be
well equipped for any contest.
On October 20, the
Catalan ambassadors returned
to Barcelona bearing
a favourable answer which was received with joyful acclamation. King Rene had
been earnestly requested “ in the name of God, the Holy Virgin, and St. George”
to lose no time in sending his son at once with sufficient forces. The King of
France was evidently in favour of the enterprise, as in a letter to the Duke
of Milan on October 21 he writes : “As we have declared on behalf of our very
dear and much beloved cousin the Duke of Calabria, with regard to the matter of
Barcelona . . . and as we have heard that the men of Genoa have armed certain
ships to do injury to the said Barcelona and to the prejudice of our said
cousin of Calabria, we pray that you will cause the said army to retreat, and
cause the said ships to be disarmed, and that you will suffer no harm or damage
to be done by the said Genoese or any other subjects of yours to our cousin of
Calabria, or to his people or those who take his part. ...”
Letters from the
“States of Paris” mention that “the King of Sicily has decided to go in person
to Barcelona and is making ready to depart and take possession of the new
domains which have come to him by hereditary right.” It may be interesting at
this point to quote the words in which Louis XI expressed his admiration for
his uncle Rene.
“ Depuis quelques annees, le royaume de France etait deborde et envahi
par les guerres intestines et les seditions. Un seul prince s’est trouve qui
par aucun moyen, sous aucun pretexte, n’a pu etre detourne de la fidelite qu’il
nous devait et du soin de la depense de l’Etat; c’est notre oncle bien aime, le
roi de Jerusalem, de Sicile et d’Aragon, qui avec une constance invaincue,
une volonte toujours droite, a maintenu l’antique hon- neur de ce
royaume, en a respecte et augmente le prestige, l’a arret6 enfin, sur le bord
du precipice.” (For some years past, the kingdom of France was overflowing
and invaded with intestine wars and seditions. One prince alone was found who
by no means, under no pretext, could be turned away from the fidelity which he
owed us and from the care and defence of the State; it is our well-beloved
uncle, the King of Jerusalem, of Sicily, and of Aragon, who, with invincible
courage and straightforward will, has maintained the ancient honour of this
realm, has respected and increased its prestige, has, in short, arrested its
course on the brink of a precipice.)
The Duke of Calabria
was a prince so popular for his knightly courtesy and daring courage—a very
hero of chivalry—that crowds of adventurers thronged to his standard, and at
the head of about eight thousand men, he crossed the mountain passes of
Roussillon the next spring and descended on the northern frontier of Catalonia.
Juan II was but ill prepared to oppose him ; his funds had been exhausted in
the late campaign, Gaston de Foix was taking possession of Navarre, while Rome
and Italy, threatened by the Turks, only thought of defending themselves. To
complete the King’s misfortunes, he was losing his sight; but his wife Juana
boldly put herself at the head of such troops as she could collect and besieged
Rosas in person, after taking several smaller places. Her son Ferdinand, who
afterwards married Isabel of Castile, distinguished himself at the early age of
fifteen by his gallant conduct before Gerona, where he nearly fell into the
hands of the Duke of Calabria, who
136
was besieging the
city, but was driven back with much loss. However, in the course of this
campaign and the next, Jean succeeded in conquering the fertile country
north-east of Barcelona, while in the capital itself he was welcomed with
extraordinary enthusiasm. In the autumn of 1467, he had a narrow escape of
being surprised by Juan of Aragon, as one of the city gates had been left open
for the enemy’s entrance, and the treachery was barely discovered in time. The
death of Queen Juana the next year was a great blow to her party, for her
diplomatic skill was as great as her courage and energy. Yet, in the beginning,
it was her unjust persecution of her stepson Don Carlos, to further the
interests of her own child Ferdinand, which had been the cause of all the troubles
which came upon her house. At the time when Philip, Duke of Burgundy, was
dying at Bruges, in the summer of 1467, Louis XI was using all his influence to
obtain a permanent peace with England. The Earl of Warwick had persuaded
Edward IV to send him over as ambassador to Rouen, where he was received with
much ceremony and honour. The King of France had a very high opinion of his
political genius, and hoped that he might be able to baffle the intrigues with
Burgundy. Warwick renewed the truce with France, but it was without the consent
of Edward IV, who could scarcely be induced to receive the French ambassadors
when they returned with the English Earl, for the suggested marriage of
Margaret of York with Charles of Burgundy was strongly desired by her brother.
Louis spent much of
the summer at Chartres, and we have various letters written by him with regard
to
the ship which is to
take over the Earl of Warwick from Harfleur to Sandwich, and also with regard
to the embassy which he is sending to England, to try by all means to prevent
the close alliance by marriage of England and Burgundy. The King also takes
special interest in various trade unions; he writes to suggest mayors for
various provincial towns, and with regard to the appointment of certain canons.
A terrible plague has raged in Paris, and there have been so many deaths that
Louis authorizes by letters patent all persons from other countries to come and
take up their abode in the capital, excepting such as have been guilty of
treason. He also encourages the inhabitants to enrol themselves under the
banners of their guilds, in his defence and that of their city. In the long
series of edicts of this year, we notice the confirmations of privileges for
various cities, and for corporations of students and the university,
encouragement of the silk industry of Lyons and of the fairs of that city, in
rivalry of those of Geneva.
The edict with regard
to the abolition of the Pragmatic Sanction had not yet been registered, and “
Maitre Jean Balue” worked steadily towards that end, and received his
cardinal’s hat, although he was obliged to yield to the opposition of the
Parliament and the University.
Early in August, the
King returned to Paris and the Queen joined him there, having arrived by barge
at Notre Dame, where she was received by the Parliament, the Bishop, and the
Chapter. During this visit to Paris, great feasts and entertainments were held,
and it is especially noted that the ladies wore head-dresses trailing almost to
the ground and broad sashes, having
138
VARIOUS EDICTS
given up the long
trains worn previously. Amongst these great ladies was Bona of Savoy, the
Queen’s sister, who was soon to marry the Duke of Milan. The King had set his
heart upon this marriage, and we find it often alluded to in his many letters
to Galeazzo Maria Sforza.
On the 17th of
September there was held a great review of the new armed guilds of Paris, from
the age of sixteen to sixty, to the number of 100,000. Louis on this occasion
gave them standards adorned with a white cross. There were present sixty-seven
banners of the trades, besides all those connected with the offices of state.
It was a most imposing spectacle, greatly enjoyed by the King and his Court.
This citizen army
might be needed at any time, for already a new conspiracy was forming, this
time more general than the last, for the House of Savoy and the English were to
take part in it. The ringleader appears to have been the Duke of Alenfon, so
often pardoned. He joined the Bretons, and they took Bayeux and Lower Normandy
where the castle of Caen was surprised, but they were checked at St. Lo by the
heroic courage of a woman who led the defence. The men of Normandy always rose
in their might against the yoke of strangers, whether they were Bretons or
English, and they usually succeeded. The King himself set out for
Mont-Saint-Michel, passing through Mantes to Vernon, where he met the
ambassadors of Burgundy, and by means of the Count of St. Pol a truce was
concluded on the 1st of November between the King and Charles of Burgundy for
six months. This was a great blow to Charles of France and his adherents, who
counted upon the Duke’s immediate help.
At Chartres the King
received a deputation from the Duchess Dowager and the new Duke of Milan, and
confirmed the rights he had yielded, on Genoa and Savona. He also gave Galeazzo
permission to add the arms of France to those of Milan. Louis went in person to
the siege of Alenfon, and he soon regained the whole duchy, for the Count Du
Perche, the son of Alenfon, and the inhabitants came over to his side. The Duke
of Alenfon was forgiven again, but it was not safe to trust too much to the
King’s clemency, for he could be inexorably severe, as he showed himself to
several traitors on this occasion. Louis also continued to treat with the Duke
of Brittany, who all the time was engaged in secret intrigues with Edward IV,
and had even signed a treaty promising to place him in possession of thirty
towns and fortresses, in return for the help of three thousand English archers.
But Edward was very fully occupied with affairs at home, he had little
confidence in his Breton allies, and looked upon Charles of France as a young
fool. Louis saw clearly that there was nothing to fear from England, but he
neglected no precautions, for he had enemies on every side. All the princes of
the House of Savoy were against him at this time, even his sister Yolande.
The most serious
question which he had to decide was that of the appanage which should be given
to his brother. To decide this and other matters he decided to appeal to the
nation, and the representatives of the three estates were summoned to meet at
Tours by the end of March, 1468. It was a bold move but certainly a wise one.
The assembly was opened by the King with great ceremony, most of the nobles and
bishops summoned were present or sent representatives, while
I40
THE STATES-GENERAL
MEET AT TOURS
each of the
sixty-four towns sent three laymen and one representative in orders. We have a
copy of the circular letter which the King sent round to the various cities,
and of which the record remains at Poitiers, Lyons, Rodez, and Tournay. He addresses it to “noz chiers et bien amez les gens d’eglise,
bourgeois, manans et habitans de la ville de. . . “ You know the
troubles and divisions which prevail . . . in our kingdom to the great . . .
and oppression of our poor people and our good and loyal subjects, and to our
great trouble ... by great deliberation and counsel ... we have concluded . . .
to assemble the princes of the blood and the peers of France and the three
estates of the realm to have their good advice and counsel. . . . Therefore we
wish and expressly desire that of the most notable men of the city . . . you
send to us to the number of four persons, one of the church and three [many
historians have made this two] of the laity ... to hear what shall be said to
them and shown on our part, concerning various matters, and to attend, to
labour, to hear, and conclude thereupon ... we have deliberated and concluded
to the royal authority, the honour and rights of the crown as we have sworn and
promised, and to provide for the good and use of our kingdom by good advice and
counsel, in such manner that, by the help of God, our good and loyal subjects
may live and remain under us in good justice, peace, and tranquillity. . . .”
The Chancellor, Guillaume Juvenal des Ursins, had first held the office
twenty-three years before, in the reign of Charles VII, and was a man of much
wisdom and experience. He made a learned speech, too long to quote, full of
texts from the Bible, and the sayings of poets and philosophers. Then he stated
the three
141
points on which the
King required their counsel and decision.
ist. Do the dukes of
Burgundy and Brittany owe obedience to the King like other vassals, and can
they call in the help of foreigners?
2nd. Can Normandy be
alienated from the Crown of France?
3rd. Has the King
sufficiently provided for the appanage of his brother?
These were the chief
questions discussed in that great assembly where the King presided in state,
wearing a royal robe of white damask embroidered with gold, on a raised seat,
with his lords around him, amongst whom were the lords of Nevers and Eu, the
Count of Foix, Rene of Anjou, and Cardinal Balue, while at the King’s feet sat
the little Prince of Piedmont. The great officers of the Crown were on one
side, the bishops on the other ; then came the barons, the counts, and other
nobles; and last, not least, the great body of deputies from the cities of
France.
It was unanimously
declared that nothing could excuse a vassal who rebelled against his sovereign,
and that the treaty of the Duke of Brittany with the English was a grievous
offence against the realm of France. Whenever any vassals should thus fail in
their duty, the King was authorized to take arms against them without waiting
to summon the States- General. With regard to Normandy, it was clearly stated
that “for no cause under heaven, neither from brotherly affection, nor any form
of promise, nor pretence of gift, nor fear of war or any other danger, should
the King ever agree to the separation of that duchy from the Crown.”
THE STATES-GENERAL
MEET AT TOURS
As for the appanage
of Charles of France, the whole question was gone into thoroughly, and the rule
of Charles V was considered to decide the question ;
12,000 livres de rente for each younger son,
but if it pleased the King to give his brother 60,000 livres, it should be
without prejudice for the future.
Touching the Duke of
Burgundy, the Estates mildly ventured to recommend that he should be asked to
assist in the establishment of order, and they chose a committee from their own
body to confer with him. After all these conclusions, to which was added much
praise of the King’s policy, the great assembly dispersed. One historian, who
is usually most unfavourable to Louis, remarks : “The common people always saw
in him the friend of peace, and the adversary of that nobility by which they
had been so long oppressed.” Later in the year a great reform was carried out,
by which the King declared that in future “ no office shall be forfeited by any
officer of justice, unless judgment is passed against him by a competent
court.”
The delegates sent to
announce the decisions of the States to Charles of Burgundy were very
uncourteously received ; he took no trouble to control his anger, and “gave
them no good words.” He had recently held a magnificent Chapter of the Golden
Fleece at Bruges, and felt deeply aggrieved at any reminder that he was
accountable to a suzerain lord. However, it suited his purpose to prolong the
truce with France until August 1, as he was about to celebrate his marriage, so
long projected, with Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV. We have a very full
and picturesque account of this wedding, and all the gorgeous medieval pageants
with which it was celebrated. The Lady
Margaret, after going
to St. Paul’s, rode through London behind the Earl of Warwick—on the same
horse—and received rich presents. On Friday, July i, she “shipped at Margate,”
whither she was accompanied by the Lord Scales, a gallant company of knights,
and more than eighty ladies of rank. The Lord Admiral of England himself took
charge of the sixteen vessels needed by the Princess and her suite, which
reached in safety the Flemish port of Sluys, where she met with a splendid
reception. After resting a week, the royal company travelled in barges on the
canal to Damme, a small town near Bruges, and here the marriage ceremony was
performed by the Bishop of Salisbury, assisted by the Pope’s Legate. The next
day she made a stately entry into Bruges, where the great procession met her at
the gate of Sainte-Croix, of the nobles glittering in gold and gems, all the
civic authorities in their quaint costumes, the prelates and clergy in their
robes, the foreign trading companies, archers, heralds, and countless other
gorgeous figures, to the deafening welcome of clarions and trumpets. As the
Lady Margaret, in her robe of cloth of silver and crown of diamonds, rode
through the streets hung with splendid tapestry and cloth of gold, white doves
were let loose from the triumphal arches as she passed beneath. As for the
entertainments provided, the dramatic representations in the streets, the
tournaments, the banquets, and other delights, many pages would be required to
do them justice in all their glory. It is curious to read the account given by
John Paston the younger, who had the good fortune to be in Bruges at this
auspicious moment.
We are told that at
the first banquet, on the other
144
THE OLD WHITE KING
(FREDERICK III) GIVING COUNSEL TO HIS SON By L< Beck Woodcut from Der
Weiss-Kiinig
THE KING OF THE STEEL
(CHARLES OF BURGUNDY)
AND HIS ONLY DAUGHTER
By
Bukgkmair Woodcut from Her ll'i'iss-K/tnig' To
face p. T44
side of the Duke
Charles, in his “short gowne of goldsmith's work and diamantis, perles and so
great balas (rubies), sat the Damoysell of Bourgogne,” his daughter Marie, a
girl of eleven, the heir of his great dominions, to whom her new stepmother was
always a loyal and faithful friend.
Another marriage had
taken place this year in which Louis XI was very greatly interested, that of
Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, with Bona of Savoy, the younger sister of
Queen Charlotte, who had been brought up at the Court of France. The wedding
took place at Amboise on the ioth of May, 1468, in the presence of the King and
Queen, Cardinal Balue being the officiating priest. The Duchess Dowager of
Milan, Bianca Visconti, ratified the marriage contract. She died the following
October, “more from sorrow of heart than sickness of body,” and the Italian
chroniclers accuse Galeazzo of ingratitude towards his mother. In fact, many of
them paint him in the blackest colours, and say “that he gave himself up to
unbridled profligacy and cruelty.” But we also hear of him as a liberal patron
of art and learning. He greatly encouraged the University of Pavia, and founded
a library at Milan ; he introduced printing into his duchy, and Milan is
credited with the honour of the first book produced in Italy, the Grammar of
Lascaris, a Greek professor who took refuge here after the fall of
Constantinople.
Lodovico
Sforza, the younger brother of Galeazzo, was sent by him to receive the bride
at Genoa. Amongst the many letters written by Louis XI to the Duke of Milan,
there is one written on the 26th of July, expressing his great satisfaction at
the good impression L 145
made by Bona of Savoy,
“nostra sorella e figliola, Madama Bona.” The poor lady was destined to meet
with much trouble in after years, but from all we learn about her she was very
extravagant, vain, and foolish. “Qui estoit de petit sens,” says Commines.
At the present time
the Duke of Milan was a valuable ally to Louis, whom we find writing to thank
him for the ships and troops which he has sent into Catalonia, July, 1468, and
there are also several letters asking the Duke to have everything in readiness
to commence hostilities against Savoy, as soon as the King’s troops make war on
Burgundy.
On the expiration of
the truce, the King caused his army to march against the Norman towns which
were still in the possession of the Bretons ; Bayeux, Cou- tances, and several
other towns were soon retaken, but Caen stood out with the help of a
reinforcement from Burgundy. On the other side the Marquess du Pont, at the
head of the troops from Anjou and Poitou, made a vigorous invasion of Brittany,
took Chantoce, and passed on to the siege of Ancenis. The Duke Franfois, seeing
himself in peril, called to his help the Duke of Burgundy, but his old ally was
still bound by his truce. After many days of discussion, the Duke of Brittany,
seeing no hope of support, signed a treaty of peace at Ancenis. The appanage of
Charles of France still remained to be settled, and it was suggested that Jean
of Calabria and the Constable of St. Pol should be the umpires; but “Monsieur”
refused, and remained in Brittany. Thus nothing could be settled, and new
complications arose at the last moment.
A deplorable incident
took place at this time, in
146
which Louis gave an
instance of that stern and pitiless severity which contrasts so strongly with
his frequent acts of clemency. Charles de Melun, Seigneur de Nantouillet, his
former friend and favourite, was tried by order of the King for high treason ;
he was found guilty and beheaded in August, 1468. Commines says that he did not
deserve this fate, “which befell him more by the pursuit of his enemies than by
the fault of the King.” Other rebels and traitors were freely forgiven, but
Charles de Melun had two powerful enemies —Cardinal Balue, whom he had greatly
favoured, and Dammartin, who had good cause to remember his fatal suppression
of evidence at his trial.
It was by such deeds
as the execution of Charles de Melun, that Louis made himself hated and feared
by the nobles, for who, in those days of constant treachery, could think
himself safe from discovery and a like retribution ?
The Princes of the
House of Savoy were amongst those of his kindred who turned against Louis in
the hour of his necessity. Philip de Bresse had been set free after his two
years’ imprisonment, and had received many tokens of favour, but his restless
spirit drew him into intrigues with Burgundy, and at length on June 24, at
Pont-de-Faux, he openly ratified his treaty with Duke Charles, who bestowed
upon him the collar of the Golden Fleece and a large pension, when he fled into
Burgundy, taking with him his two brothers, Louis of Savoy, Bishop of Geneva,
and Jacques Count of Romont.
But the reigning Duke
of Savoy, Amedee le Bien- heureux, the husband of Yolande of France, came on a
visit to Paris to protest against the conduct of his
two brothers and to
thank the King for his support in the matter of Montferrand. Amedee was a
pious, saintly character, quite out of place as a ruling prince in those
turbulent days, for his real vocation was the monastic life, where he could
have spent all his time unmolested in prayer and meditation. He was received
with great honour by Louis XI, who “set free many prisoners,” as the most
pleasing offering to his gentle guest.
CHAPTER IX
1468-70
Louis XI goes to P£ronne—His great Peril—Treaty with Charles of
Burgundy—Louis compelled to Join in the Siege and Destruction of LiIcge—
Treachery and Punishment of Cardinal Balue— Louis XI gives Guienne to his
Brother Charles— Louis makes Peace between Marguerite of Anjou and the Earl of
Warwick.
The truce between France and Burgundy came to an
end on July 15, 1468, and in preparation for this date, Charles of Burgundy had
collected a great army on the frontier, with a strong supply of horses, wagons,
tents, and artillery. His camp, surrounded in the usual manner by a barrier of
wagons, with an outer defence of palisades and entrenchments, lined not only
with tents, but rough houses built of clay, was almost like a fortified city. On receiving an earnest appeal from the Duke of Brittany—“Je vous prie
sur tout l’amour et l’alliance d’entre vous et moy, qu’a ce besoing me venez
secourir ; . . . car il en est temps et le plus ddligement que pourrez venez,
et sans plus delay ”—Charles crossed the Somme with a part of his army. He was
apparently about to open the campaign, when a Breton herald brought him news of
the Treaty of Ancenis, and in his fury at the defection of his ally, the Duke
at first declared that the dispatches
140
were forged, and
threatened to hang the luckless messenger.
Louis took advantage
of this moment to try and widen the breach between the former allies, and he
sent various embassies to Charles with the most favourable terms, and even an
offer of a large sum to pay the expenses of the Duke’s war preparations.
Cardinal Balue and the Constable St. Pol were sent to the enemy’s camp, and
from September 2 ist to the 29th there was much discussion, but no result. So
many different accounts are given of the events which followed, that it is
extremely difficult to find out what really happened.
Was it the
treacherous counsel of Cardinal Balue which first suggested to the King that a
personal interview with Charles would be the simplest way of settling the
matter and avoiding the war which Louis dreaded for his country more than
anything else? We shall never know, but at least Balue did all in his power to
encourage the perilous move which was vehemently opposed by Dammartin, the other
generals, and all the King’s true friends. Louis himself had a very high idea
of his own power of persuasion, and he hoped to persuade the Duke at this
crisis to break entirely with Brittany and Charles of France, and to become the
faithful friend and ally of France. So splendid a result would be worth any
effort, and Louis hastened to propose the meeting to the Duke of Burgundy, and
to ask for a safe-conduct. This was sent by Charles, in the most clear and
explicit terms.
“ Sire, if it be your
pleasure to come to this town of Peronne that we may confer together, I swear
and promise you, by my faith and on my honour, that you may come, remain and
sojourn and return in surety
. . . freely and
openly, without let or hindrance to you or any of your people, by me or any
other, for any cause that now exists or that hereafter may arise. ...” This
letter, in the handwriting of Charles, dated October 8, is still preserved in
the Public Library of Paris.
Louis, remembering
that he had recently sent two delegates to Liege “to provoke a diversion,” now
sent off an urgent message to these envoys and also to the men of Liege,
explaining fully his project of reconciliation, and strongly impressing upon
them the necessity Of peace, so the historian Garnier relates. The Duke also
appears to have sent a message to the Bishop of Liege and the Sire
d’Humbercourt, requesting them at once to retire to Tongres : “comme une
maniere de provocation.” The King set forth from Noyon with the Duke of
Bourbon, the Bishop of Lyons, the Sire de Beaujeu, the Count of Dunois,
Cardinal Balue, and St. Pol, whose conduct at this time had been more than
doubtful, as he strongly advocated this dangerous journey. The rest of the
suite consisted of eighty Scots Guards and sixty horsemen. The King was met on
the frontier by a Burgundian escort of two hundred lances, and Charles, with a
company of nobles, awaited him on the banks of a little river near Peronne.
Nothing could be more
friendly than the meeting between these two old enemies ; they embraced each
other and then rode side by side into the town, in earnest conversation like
the dearest of friends, to the lodging prepared for the King near the castle,
which was said to be out of repair. The picturesque story is told that as he
looked out of window, “ le Roy present aux fenestres de sondit logis,” he saw
arriving
in the courtyard
below a group of his most deadly enemies, all rebels and traitors now serving
with the army of Burgundy, “and who seemed come to brave him.” For the first
time Louis realized what he had done, and a sudden panic came over him, but he
gave no other sign of it than to send a message to the Duke, asking if he might
take up his quarters in the castle itself. This request was at once granted,
and the same afternoon, he passed under the massive gateway with his few
followers between a file of the Burgundian guard, and found that the room
assigned to him was near a certain tower, in which a Count de Vermandois had
caused one of his ancestors, Charles the Simple, to be put to death. This was a
gruesome memory, but worse was to come. The conferences began the next day, and
the King of France was willing to make almost any concession if Charles would
give up his alliance with England and Brittany, but this was the very point on which
the Duke was obstinate, and no progress was made.
For the events which
followed, we will tell the story given by Commines, who was an eye-witness of
much which he relates. On the evening of October 10 news arrived at Peronne
that there had been a terrible outbreak of savage rebellion of the men of
Liege, that Tongres had been taken and sacked, the garrison slain, the Bishop
and Humbercourt murdered, and that this was all done under the command of the
agents sent by Louis. This report was very greatly exaggerated and in a measure
false, but the men of Liege had fetched their Bishop back from Tongres “without
violence,” had killed one canon whom they specially hated, and sixteen other
people. Charles of Burgundy pro-
fessed to believe the
very worst, and gave way to such violent rage that those about him feared for
the King’s life. The gates of the castle and the town were closed, the guards
doubled, and no one permitted to enter or depart. Commines, who slept in the
Duke’s chamber, says that he “did not pull off his clothes even on the third
night after this happened, but only threw himself twice or thrice upon the bed,
and then got up again and walked about. ... I walked several turns with him. .
. . The next morning he was in a greater passion than ever. . . .” During this
time Commines had done his best to soothe and calm his angry lord, but from all
we learn, Louis never had a narrower escape than during that'imprisonment in
the grim castle of Peronne.
No later study of
history can ever make us forget the vivid fancy picture of this incident with
which the “Wizard of the North” charmed our youth, in the pages of Quentin
Durward, and the impression left upon us is probably accurate in one point; the
extreme peril of the King so fully realized by him. His worst enemies, (amongst
whom I am afraid we must count Sir Walter Scott), have always given him credit
for great courage and presence of mind in adversity, and these qualities are
clearly seen in the eleven letters preserved to us, which Louis wrote during
the eventful three weeks when he was at the mercy of his most deadly foe.
There is not the
slightest trace of hurry or excitement in those which he wrote to the Duke of
Milan on October 13; in one he calmly expresses his wish to keep the Milanese
Secretary, “ maistre Albert,” to whom he dictates a long epistle written down
in Italian,
and ending with
fourteen lines in cipher, of which the key, alas ! has never been found ! The
Duke of Milan is warmly thanked for his readiness to second the King in his operations
against Savoy ; but he is specially requested to suspend all hostilities on
account of the negotiations then being carried on with the Duke of Burgundy,
which it is hoped will have a favourable issue.
On the 14th, Louis
writes to the Grand Master, Dammartin; he tells the story of his coming to
Peronne, of the conferences with his “brother” the Duke, and how “graces a
Nostre Seigneur, avons jure paix finable sollempnellement sur la vraye croix,
et promis ayder, deffendre et secourir l’un l’autre a jamais. ...” Whereupon
his brother of Burgundy gives thanks in all the churches. And as his aforesaid
brother of Burgundy has had news that the men of Liege have taken his cousin
the Bishop of Liege, whom he is determined to recover by any means “. . . il m’a
supplice et requis que, en faveur luy, aussi que ledit evesque est raon
prochain parent, lequel je suis en bon droit tenu de secourir, que mon plaisir
fust aller jusques es marches du Liege, qui sont prochaines d’icy, ce que je
luy ay ottroye . . . en esperance de brief retourner, moyennant l’aide de Dieu.
...” Then he adds instructions to Dammartin, as general of his great army on
the frontier, to disband “ l’arriere-ban et les frans archiers,” who are to be
carefully conducted home by their captains that they may do no damage.
This astounding order
may have been sent by the wish of the Duke of Burgundy, whose slightest word
was now law; or it may have been prompted by the anxiety of the King lest his
faithful captain should
attempt a rescue. In
any case, Dammartin had not the slightest intention of obeying; it is even said
that he defiantly sent word to Charles that unless the King returned, all
France would come to fetch him.
In his character of
war correspondent, Louis wrote the same mild account of his visit to Peronne
and of his willingness to aid in the rescue of his “cousin,” the Bishop of
Liege, to various cities—Senlis, Com- piegne, Poitiers, and others, bidding the
authorities see to their defences. The Treaty of Peronne, signed by both the Princes,
insisted on the full execution of that made at Conflans ; the relief of the
courts of Flanders from the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Paris, the
surrender of the King’s suzerain rights over Picardy, the sanction of the
Duke’s alliance with England, and the release of Burgundy from all fealty to
the King if the treaty were not fully executed.
It must be remembered
that by this time Charles knew what had really been done by the men of Liege,
but he still remained fiercely indignant. Michelet asks if this was mere
acting. It suited the Duke’s purpose to think that he had been betrayed, and to
keep up his blind fury so as to forget the explicit safe-conduct which he had
given. He insisted that Louis should accompany him in person to put down the
rebellion of Liege, and the King had no choice but to consent willingly, as the
friendly Commines had specially warned him to agree to everything. With all his
opportunities as an eye-witness, it must be owned that Commines is a most
tantalizing chronicler. At the critical moment of the story, when we hold our
breath in suspense, he calmly goes off into two long tedious dissertations on
general principles. “Digression sur
l’avantage que les bonnes lettres, et principalement les histoires font
aux princes et grands seigneurs.” And again: “Digression sur ce que, quand deux
grands princes s’entrevoyent pour cuider appaiser differends, telle venue est
plus dommageable que profitable.”
On October 15, the
King and the Duke set out together from Peronne in very bad weather, for the
winter was already beginning. They slept at Cambray on the 17th, and reached
Namur on the morning of the 21st, remaining there three days, during which
Louis wrote again to Dammartin, repeating his assurance that he was under no
restraint, that he was well treated, and that his messenger would tell of “la
bonne chere que nous faisons.” Louis thanks his faithful general
for having made no hostile demonstration, “car les gens de monseigneur de
Bourgoigne eussent cuide que je les eusse voulu tromper, et ceulx de par dela
eussent cuide que j’eusses este prisonnier; ainsi |par deffiance les ungs des
autres, j’estois perdu. . . .” Louis then gives directions about the removal
of the army from the frontier, and bids his general meet him at Laon, for as soon
as Liege is subdued he will leave, for the Duke “ desire plus mon retour de par
dela que je ne faitz.
. . .” Did Charles
really desire his departure?
The King has leisure
of mind to write other letters from Namur—with regard to preparation for
repelling a proposed descent of the English in Guienne, and also about an
affair which concerns the Duke of Calabria. Even when he is before Liege he
continues his correspondence with undiminished serenity; but he remarks to the
Count of Foix that when he sets forth homewards on the following Tuesday (it
proved to be a day later, Wednesday, November 2), he “will
not cease to ride
without any delay until he arrives,
‘ deli ! ’ ”
The Pope, Paul II,
who had so long opposed Liege, appears to have been induced by the King of
France to revoke all interdicts against the city and to send his Legate to make
peace between the Bishop, whose character was well known, and his flock. But
this did not suit the policy of Charles, to whose influence the worthless Louis
of Bourbon yielded, and instead of returning to Liege, where the people were
prepared to receive him with all submission, he joined the Burgundian
Governor, Humbercourt, at Tongres, and it was this treachery which roused the
fury of the men of Liege. When the Duke of Burgundy arrived to attack them with
an army “which might have conquered an emperor,” the wretched citizens—whose
walls had been razed to the ground, and whose artillery and munitions of war
had been confiscated—were absolutely at the mercy of their powerful enemy. At
the suggestion of the Legate, they sent their Bishop to intercede for them,
offering to give up all their worldly possessions, if only their lives might be
spared. But Charles, in his rage, refused to listen to any intercession, and
swore that nothing should stay his vengeance. The besieged fought with the
courage of despair ; in their first sally they were driven back with great
loss, but a few days later, they made another attack at nightfall on the camp
and slew a number of the soldiers of Burgundy. On the night of the 29th, a
resolute company of miners and colliers from the hilly district round, made a
desperate attack upon the suburb in which the King and Duke were quartered,
not far apart, and we are told that the owner of the Duke’s house was killed by
the
Scottish guard, which
always protected the person of the King. Charles has been suspected of
connivance, but probably without reason. In any case, the alarm was given and
the assailants were overwhelmed, fighting to the last.
Commines greatly
admires the courage and presence of mind of the King on this occasion. Having
once given his word, Louis fought steadily on the Burgundian side, wearing the
St. Andrew’s Cross, and crying, “Vive Bourgogne!” He used all his influence in
imploring the Duke to save the doomed city from the horrors of a sack, but
Charles only replied with an insult, and gave orders for the final assault on
Sunday, October 30, when the citizens, vaguely hoping that the day would be
respected, were off their guard, and made but little resistance. The horrors of
that awful time surpassed even those at the destruction of Dinant. All the
hapless people who could not pay a ransom to satisfy their captors, were
drowned in the river. The brutal soldiery cut down women, children, and old
men, not sparing those who had taken refuge in the churches, from which the
chalices and holy vessels were seized, even being snatched from the hands of
the priests. The wretched fugitives who escaped to the mountains were pursued
by Charles himself with malignant energy, and the places where they had taken
refuge were set on fire.
He had taken leave of
the King of France three days after the assault, when they went through the
Articles of the Peace together, and at the last moment, Louis asked what was he
to do if his brother should not be satisfied with his appanage. To this the Duke replied : “S’il ne le veut prendre, mais que vous
fassiez qu’il
soit content, je m’en rapporte & vous deux.” “Great
things followed from this question and answer, as you will hear,” says
Commines.
The whole story of
Peronne could not fail to excite the satirical wit of the Parisians, and the
King, after his three weeks of keen anxiety, felt this acutely, and was unwise
enough to show it. He ordered that all who spoke ill of the Duke of Burgundy
should be severely punished, while the names were to be taken of all owners of
magpies, jackdaws, and other talking birds, who had been maliciously taught to
cry “ Peronne! ”
The King took up his
abode again at Tours and Amboise, and we see in his many letters of this
period, the minute care which he took about all the affairs of his kingdom. We
find him making arrangements about the silk looms of Lyons, granting a great
number of remissions and amnesties, making rules for the “corps de metiers” of
Tours, Soissons, and other towns, establishing fairs and markets wherever they
were asked for, giving leave for the fortification of certain castles,
insisting upon the restitution of money and goods stolen from a certain
spice-merchant, and the record of favours accorded to the churches and abbeys
of Gap, of Lufon, of Noyon, and others.
There was a much more
painful task before the King of France. Cardinal Balue had been high in his
favour before the incident of Peronne, but he could not fail to remember by
whose advice he had walked into that trap. His suspicions were now aroused, and
were fully justified when, soon after, a messenger carrying a letter in cipher,
written by the Cardinal, was arrested near Chateaudun. When taken to Amboise
and questioned,
this Simon Belee
confessed everything. Never was treachery more complete and unpardonable. Balue
betrayed all the King’s intentions to the Duke of Burgundy, told him that
Charles of France would probably be persuaded to accept Guienne instead of
Champagne and la Brie, and advised him to prevent the reconciliation of the two
brothers by at once sending to fetch Charles by sea from the Breton coast to
the Netherlands. The letter also pressed the Duke to fortify in haste Amiens,
Abbeville, and St. Quentin, and by all possible means to win over the Duke of
Brittany and the Constable St. Pol.
On making this
discovery Louis immediately sent for the Cardinal and his friend and
accomplice, Guillaume d’Harancourt, Bishop of Verdun, who confessed all, but
Balue stood out, and sought in vain to excuse himself in a private interview
with the King at Amboise. The trial took place in the most solemn and impartial
manner, and both the Prelates were found guilty of high treason. Every judicial
form had been observed ; a deputation had been sent to the Pope, who was
surrounded by friends of Burgundy, and there were long and learned
disquisitions on the subject of the Bishops being tried only in an
ecclesiastical court. At length the King lost patience; the crime was fully
proved, and the very rank of the offenders made an example necessary, but he
shrank from inflicting the usual penalty of death. The Cardinal had once
recommended to his master an invention of some Italian tyrant: a cage of iron
eight feet square; and possibly with a grim sense of humour, Louis XI in his
most pitiless mood, ordered two of these horrible prisons to be prepared for
the guilty Prelates. Commines says
160
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that the Bishop of
Verdun invented the cage. This gave great amusement to the people of Paris, who
hated Balue, and the following heartless rondel, amongst others, was sung in
the streets :—
Maitre Jean Balue A perdu la vue De ses £v£ch^s;
Monsieur de Verdun N’en a pas plus un,
Tous sont d^pech^s.
It is only fair to
remark that these cages were fixed in large upper rooms, and were probably much
drier and more healthy than the slimy dungeons underground.
An historian always
hostile to Louis XI mentions this cruel sentence without a word of reprobation,
simply remarking that the Bishops “passed eleven years in tranquil retirement,
undisturbed by the tumults, unharassed by the temptations of the world.”
This secret fomenter
of discord having been removed, the King renewed his earnest endeavours to
make a lasting peace with his brother. He won over to his side Odet d’Aydie,
Sire of Lescun, who had great influence with “Monsieur,” and persuaded the
foolish vacillating young Prince to accept the splendid appanage of Guienne,
with Saintonge and the government of la Rochelle, while his income was raised
to
80,000 livres. After Charles had taken formal
possession of his fief and sworn fidelity, a meeting was arranged between the
brothers to complete their reconciliation. This took place on September 7,
1469, on a bridge of boats over the Skvre, on the frontier of Guienne, and we
can tell the story from the King’s
M 161
own letters. “ Dieu mercy et Nostre Dame, aujourd- ’huy, k six heures aprks
midy, nostre beau frere le due de Guienne s’est venu rendre devers nous au Port
de Berault, ainsi qu’il avoit este appoincte. Et pour ce qu’il avoit aucunes
barrieres fortes entre nous deux, il nous a requis faire tout rompre
incontinent et s’en est venu devers nous . . . et nous a fait la plus grande et
ample obeissance qu’il estoit possible de faire, et nous devons encore demain
trouver ensemble. . .
A wooden barrier had
been made as usual, with a grating of iron bars to look through, and it was through
this that the younger Prince insisted on passing. They embraced each other,
and were most cordial and affectionate, while later letters of the King speak
of their stay together and their mutual promises of future confidence. The Duke
of Burgundy was furious when he heard of their good understanding, and the more
so when his ambassadors were coldly received by the new Duke of Guienne, who
refused his offer of the collar of the Golden Fleece. The King of France, he
said, had recently instituted a new Order of St. Michael, of which he was the
first member, and he was not able to accept any other.
Towards the end of
December, Charles of France paid a visit to the King and Queen at
Plessis-les-Tours, where he was received with great joy, and was sumptuously
entertained. He had given back to the King the ring with which he was supposed
to “espouse la duchie,” and we have a curious message from Louis that the ring
is to be publicly shown and broken at the next session of the Exchequer of
Normandy. During this year, the Count of Armagnac had been in constant secret
rebellion, although so often pardoned before.
162
He had invited the
English to enter Gascony, and had promised to make them masters of that
province and of Languedoc. His undisciplined troops committed so many excesses
that at length he was summoned to appear before the Parliament, and on his
repeated refusal was attacked, defeated, and condemned. He fled into Spain,
and his estates were confiscated.
Meantime there was a
crisis in the affairs of England, for during the summer of 1469 an insurrection
broke out in the north, when Lord Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, was defeated and
beheaded. The Earl of Warwick came over from Calais with Clarence and took
King Edward IV prisoner to Coventry, where they seized Earl Rivers, the Queen’s
father, and her brother, Sir John Woodville, and put them to death. On hearing
of these events, Marguerite of Anjou, who had now been nearly seven years in
exile, took fresh courage ; she left her lonely castle at Verdun, and with her
son, Prince Edward, came in December to visit Louis XI at Tours, where her
father, King Rene, came to meet her and consult what use they should make of
Edward’s defeat. The King of France was most friendly, and every post brought
news of risings and war in England. Then came a report that Edward IV was free,
and that the Earl of Warwick had attempted to make good his flight by landing
at Calais, but had been refused admittance to the city by his own lieutenant.
His only refuge now was France, and Louis received him willingly, having
resolved upon the bold plan of making an alliance, if possible, between
Marguerite of Anjou and the man who had consigned her unfortunate husband,
Henry VI, to these
163
long years of
captivity. It was suggested that her son, the Prince of Wales, a handsome lad
of seventeen, should marry Anne Neville, the second daughter of Warwick, whose
eldest daughter was the wife of the Duke of Clarence—such were the
extraordinary complications in this tangled diplomacy.
Before the proud
Marguerite could make up her mind to such an alliance with her bitterest enemy
of past times, a great event happened for the King and France. A son was born
to Queen Charlotte at Amboise, on June 30, 1470, after so many years of hope
deferred, and throughout the land there were great rejoicings, while the Te
Deum was sung in all the churches. Never was Dauphin of France welcomed with
more joy than the future Charles VIII, and the King, in thanksgiving, made rich
presents to St. Peter’s at Rome, and other churches, more especially to
Notre-Dame du Puy, where a silver image of the child was presented. After the
baptism, at which the god-parents were the Prince of Wales and Jeanne Duchess
of Bourbon the King’s sister, most of the royal party proceded to Angers for
the wedding of the young Prince Edward with Anne Neville.
Marguerite had at
last yielded to the persuasion of her father, Rene of Anjou who, with the Duke
of Guienne and the Earl of Warwick, was amongst the guests at the quiet
ceremony which took place on July 25, 1470. The King thus mentions it in a
letter to Monseigneur du Plessis, in which he makes provision for the
maintenance of the Earl of Warwick and his men until they set sail for England.
“ Aujourd’uy avons fait le mariage de la royne
d’Angleterre et de lui, et demain espkre l’avoir du tout depesche prest a s’en
164
partir.” Louis paid all the expenses, and we find in the royal accounts
of this year: “A maistre Jehan Le Marchant, prestre, la somme de XXVII 1. x. s.
t. pour vingt escus d’or, a luy donnee par le roy . . . en faveur de ce qu’il
estoit espouser le prince de Galles a la fille du conte de Warwich.”
The King was very
anxious for the departure of Warwick, as a fleet of English and Burgundian
vessels was hanging about the coast and keeping the whole neighbourhood in
alarm. At length the Earl seized his opportunity of a thick fog, and set forth,
protected by French ships, and was so lucky as not only to escape his enemies,
but to take a convoy of fifteen merchant craft which were sold as prize of war
at Dartmouth. We are told that Louis went to Mont-Saint-Michel in order to
receive the earliest news of the enterprise. On his way back to Tours, he made
a special visit to St. Lo, to reward a certain woman who had helped in the heroic
defence of the town against the Bretons. When the news arrived of the success
of his allies, and the release and restoration of Henry VI on October 25, he
caused public proclamation to be made of his alliance with the King of England,
and his order to receive all English merchants and others without safe-conduct,
save Edward, formerly called King of England, and his accomplices.
In a few words, this
is what had happened. Edward was at York when he received news of Warwick’s
landing, and he was unwise enough to send against him Lord Montague, the
Earl’s brother, who already had a private grudge against the King, and who at
once joined his enemies. By a sudden turn of fate, Edward found himself
deserted, and was warned that in flight
was his only safety.
He rode by night to Lynn, found a ship in the harbour, and embarked at once
with no other escort than two Dutch merchant ships. In his company were his
brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Lord Rivers, Lord Hastings, and their
attendants ; they had no clothes but those they wore and no goods of any kind,
so that they were in poor case when at length they reached the Hague and
claimed the protection of the Duke of Burgundy.
A fugitive king is a
very awkward visitor, and Charles by no means rejoiced at his coming. He
privately advanced his brother-in-law 50,000 gold florins, but for fear of
arousing enmity with the new rulers of England, he publicly announced that no
one was to support him. He wrote a conciliatory letter which he sent by
Commines to the English deputy, pointing out that he was of the blood of
Lancaster, and that his alliance with Edward IV was chiefly one of commerce
which he earnestly wishes to continue. This was a subject which troubled him
much at that time, as owing to the bad treatment which French subjects had
received, Louis XI had forbidden his subjects to attend the fairs at Antwerp or
to have any dealings with the Netherlands or other domains of the Duke of
Burgundy. There was so much commerce at this period between England and the Netherlands,
that this was in truth the great safeguard for peace between the Duke of
Burgundy and the King of England, whoever he might be, for in these “Wars of
the Roses ” there were such quick transformation scenes that it is often
doubtful who was the figure-head. For the hapless Henry VI was little more than
a phantom king, a pale meek image of royalty, passive in the
166
strong hands of
Warwick the King-maker. As Chas- tellain sees him from afar : “ Y avait ung
roy assis en chaiere; autant y eust fait ung sac de laine . . . il etaut une
ombre . . . le roy estoit subgect et muet comme ung veau couronne.” (There was
a king sitting on a throne as if he had been a sack of wool ... he was a shadow
. . . the King was subject and mute as a crowned calf.”)
CHAPTER X
1470-2
Birth
of the Dauphin (Charles VIII)—Death
of Jean of Calabria—Success of Edward IV—Marguerite
of Anjou taken Prisoner, and her Son slain after the Battle of
Tewkesbury—Sixtus IV succeeds Paul
II—Death of Charles Duke of
Guienne—Invasion of France by the Duke of Burgundy-Gallant Defence of
Beauvais.
On December
13, 1470, Louis wrote from Amboise to Dam martin the “Grand Maitre ”: “Mon
frere de Guienne s’en alia hyer bien content; aussi la royne d’Angleterre et
Madame de Warvic [Countess of Warwick] s’en yront demain. Mon fr£re le connestable et le mareschal Joachim s’en partiront demain
ou samedi, et ung chascun s’en yra faire ses diligences. J’ay bien esp6rance
que de vostre part vous les ferez bonnes. . . . Monseigneur de Torcy
s’en yra demain. . .
When the Duke of
Guienne found himself no longer the heir to the throne after the birth of the
Dauphin, there was every cause to fear that he might recommence his intrigues,
and the King bestowed fresh favours upon him to ensure his allegiance. He was
still anxious to procure a Spanish bride for his brother, and
168
as Isabel of Castile
was now married to Ferdinand of Aragon, there only remained the reputed
daughter of King Enrique of Castile, Juana, known as la Beltra- neja, then nine
years old. An embassy was therefore sent to the Court of Enrique IV, which was
received with much honour, and after a great public assembly—in which the King
and Queen swore that Juana was really their daughter and she was acclaimed as
heiress of the Crown of Castile—the betrothal with the Duke of Guienne was
celebrated.
In honour of this
event Charles of France gave a great tournament, to which his brother-in-law,
the Prince of Viana, Gaston de Foix, came with a gallant company, and gained
the prize. But he paid dearly for it, as he was wounded by a lance and died a
few days later. After much dispute, it was settled that his two children,
Franfois Phoebus and Catherine of Foix, should remain in the care of their
mother Madeleine, the sister of Louis XI, who took possession of the province
to keep it for the children.
It was soon after
this, on December 16, 1470, that France lost a powerful ally in Spain, by the
sudden death of Jean of Calabria, one of the most famous captains of the age,
at Barcelona. His gallant courage and genial courtesy had won all hearts, and
as he was borne in state, with his victorious sword by his side, to the tomb of
the sovereigns of Catalonia, his bier was followed by a mourning people. He had
recently gained a great victory over Juan II, and he seemed to be on the point
of conquering all Catalonia. His death happened at a fortunate moment for the
King of Aragon, and there was the usual suspicion of poison, but apparently
without foundation. He had married Marie
169
of Bourbon, and left
one son, Nicholas of Lorraine, Marquess du Pont, who was betrothed to Anne of
France.
After his death, all
hopes of Aragon melted away from his father Rene, for the King of France was
too much engaged with more immediate dangers near home, to have any forces to
spare for his allies in the south. He had done his utmost to befriend
Marguerite of Anjou, to whom her brother’s death was a great sorrow.
War was now
inevitable between France and Burgundy, but before commencing hostilities,
Louis summoned a great council at Tours, not this time of the States-General,
but advisers of his own personal selection, and amongst them were many of the
most learned and wisest men of the kingdom. The unanimous decision appears to
have been that the King and his subjects were released from all obligations to
the Duke of Burgundy, on account of his treason and perfidy ; and it was
decided that he should be summoned to appear before the Parlement of Paris. The
audacity of such a summons took by surprise the indignant Charles, who was at
that moment trying to take possession of the Duchy of Guelders. He found
himself in a most difficult position, for he had scarcely an ally, and some of
his own nobles, such as his half-brother, the famous Bastard of Burgundy, fled
to the French Court, where they were well received. The Duke had no standing
army like that of Louis, and while he was assembling his feudal levies, the war
began in Picardy, where St. Pol took the town of St. Quentin, and Dammartin
threatened Abbeville and Amiens. Charles wrote angry letters to both the
generals, summoning
170
the Constable to
serve him as his vassal, and abusing Antoine de Chabannes, who at once sent him
the following brave reply :—
“ ‘ Tres haut et
puissant prince ’ . . . leaving aside all the subtleties imagined by the men of
law, I write as a man more used to handle the sword than the pen . . . as
touching the matter of Conflans, and that undertaking for the Bien Public,
which ought truly to have been called le Mai Public, if then I did not serve
the King, it was not by my fault. ...” He then reproaches the Duke for having
abused the confidence of the King who knew not the danger in which he placed
himself, “et vous etes empare de sa personne ; peril dont la bonte infinie de
Dieu l’a preserve, si bien que vous ne piltes venir k vos fins. Avec la grace de Dieu, ainsi en sera-t-il encore de vos intentions
obliques et occultes. ” Then he ends with : “ ‘ Tres haut et puissant
prince,’” nothing has remained to you but shame and dishonour . . . for these
things will remain an eternal memory for all princes born and to be born. ...
If I write things which displease you, and that you desire to revenge yourself
on me, I trust that before the feast ends, you will find me so near your army
that you will know how little fear I have of you. . . . These letters are written by me, Antoine de Chabannes, Comte de
Dammartin, grand-maitre de l’hotel de France et lieutenant general pour le roi
en la ville de Beauvais, lequel tres humblement vous a ecrit.”
The orders which Dammartin
had received from the King were to follow the army of Burgundy, which was now
reinforced by the fine cavalry of the feudal levies and excellent artillery, to
harass it, to cut off the foraging parties and the supplies. Above all, he was
iji
to make a strong
resistance if Amiens, which had surrendered to him, should be attacked. The
King himself was at Beauvais with the Dukes of Guienne and Bourbon, the young
Nicholas of Calabria, and a host of knights and men-at-arms, all in the most
splendid discipline. His generals pressed him to attack the Duke of Burgundy in
force, but Louis remained true to his principle not to risk his fortune to the
chance of a pitched battle, a lesson which he had learnt at Montl’hery. His
tactics were so successful that Charles before long made overtures of peace,
and a truce was concluded for three months on April 14, 1471, which left Amiens
and St. Quentin in the hands of the King. Dammartin was furious at having his
foes thus generously treated when he looked forward to nothing less than their
complete defeat, for the Duke was attacked on all sides, and had just supplied
Edward IV with men and money which he could ill spare.
This assistance was
invaluable to the cause of the White Rose, for Edward had landed in England a month
before, on March 14, and meeting with the most extraordinary success, had been
joined by fresh adherents in his victorious course until at the battle of
Barnet, on April 14, fought in a dense fog, the Earl of Warwick and his brother
were both slain, and there was nothing to prevent Edward from marching into
London in triumph, and sending the unfortunate Henry back to the Tower as a
prisoner once more. Marguerite of Anjou and her son landed at Weymouth on the
very day of the battle, having been delayed by bad weather, and her first
impulse was to seek sanctuary at Beaulieu Abbey in her
172
despair at the bad
news. But she was soon persuaded by the Duke of Somerset and other nobles of
her party, to begin a fresh campaign, and the people of Cornwall and Devon
flocked to her standard. At Gloucester the gates of the city were closed
against her, and after a fatiguing march she reached Tewkesbury, within three
miles of her enemy, King Edward. Next morning, on May 4, was fought the great
battle in which the hopes of the House of Lancaster were utterly crushed. Queen
Marguerite was taken prisoner, her son Edward was slain on the field of battle,
murdered, according to some accounts, by King Edward himself. His conduct was
certainly cruel and treacherous, for having given his oath to spare the
fugitives who had taken refuge in the abbey-church, he put them all to death
two days later. On the very night of his triumphant arrival in London, King
Henry VI died in his prison, and although it was prolaimed that his death was
caused by “pure displeasure and melancholy,” nobody believed it. A touch of
deeper tragedy is added by the fact that on that fatal night, the unfortunate
Marguerite was brought as a prisoner to the Tower, in the close neighbourhood
of the husband she was never to see again. She remained in England until the
year 1475, when, on peace being made with France, Louis XI was permitted to
ransom her for 50,000 crowns, and she returned to her own land.
The firm
establishment of King Edward on the throne of England was a great blow to the
King of France, and his enemies at once began to plot against him. The King of
Aragon, who had taken possession of Catalonia on the death of Jean of Calabria,
pre-
pared to attack
Roussillon. The Duke of Guienne left his brother’s Court, and began openly to
make advances to the Duke of Burgundy and sue for the hand of his daughter
Marie. This young Princess was the bait which her father dangled before the
eyes of all the marriageable princes of Europe, amongst whom we may mention
Charles of France, Nicholas of Calabria, Philibert of Savoy, Charles the Dauphin,
Maximilian of Austria, and others ; but although she was nominally betrothed to
most of them at one time or other, Charles had not the slightest intention of
encumbering himself with a son-in-law.
To the Duke the
revolution in England was a great triumph, and he had sumptuous rejoicings in
the city of Ghent. Edward IV freely recognized his services, and wrote to thank
him for his kind hospitality and his valuable help. But it is curious to note
that the King of England could not be induced to enter into a league founded on
the marriage of Charles of France with Marie of Burgundy, as he foresaw that in
the event of Charles ever coming to the throne of France, the addition of the
great domains of Burgundy would make him too powerful a rival.
Louis at this time
found three of his allies drawn away from him by the hope of winning the
heiress of Burgundy, young Nicholas of Calabria, the Prince of Savoy, and his
own brother, who refused to be bound by the solemn vows he had made. At last,
in despair, Louis turned to his chief enemy, the Duke of Burgundy himself, and
actually proposed the marriage of Marie, now fifteen years old, with the
Dauphin of a year, as the basis of a new alliance against Brittany and Guienne;
he also proposed to restore the towns he had taken in
Picardy. Charles was
quite willing to treat, but he insisted that the towns should be given up
before he would sign, and several months were spent in vain negotiations.
During this time Louis was called in to help his sister Yolande Duchess of
Savoy, who was held captive by her brothers-in-law. He sent the Count of
Cominges with a considerable force, and in joint command he placed his young
nephew, Charles Prince of Piedmont, who had been brought up at his Court, and
who was eager to go to the relief of his mother. But it unfortunately chanced
that the young Prince of fifteen, a most promising lad to whom his uncle Louis
was devoted, fell ill, and died at Orleans. The Count of Cominges had to
continue his expedition alone ; he surprised the castle of Aspremont by night,
and conducted the Duchess Yolande and her suite in safety to Grenoble. Through
the efforts of her brother Louis, peace was concluded in Savoy, and Philippe de
Bresse was henceforth a faithful friend of the King, who gave him command of
his troops in the south, the collar of the Order of St. Michael, and a company
of a hundred lances. Philippe married Marguerite of Bourbon in January, 1471,
and had two children, Philibert le Beau who succeeded him and married later
Marguerite of Austria, and Louise, known to history as the mother of Francis I.
In July of this year
France lost a faithful friend in Pope Paul II., who was succeeded by the
General of the Franciscans, Sixtus IV. Louis at once sent an ambassador to the
new Pope to explain the position in which the Duke of Guienne was placed, and
to oppose the dispensation for his marriage with Marie of Burgundy.
There is a curious
letter of Louis to the Seigneur du Bouchage, maitre d'hotel of his brother
Charles, written on August 18, 1471, which is worth quoting in part. “With
regard to the marriage of Foix (with Eleanore, daughter of Gaston IV de Foix)
you know the harm it would do, and for that use your five senses (Vc)
to prevent it. . . . If the Duke will only take a suitable wife, as long as I
live I will have no suspicion of him, and he shall have as much power or more
than I have in the kingdom of France. In short, Monseig- neur du Bouchage, if
you can gain this point, you will place me in Paradise ; and remain over there
as long as Monseigneur de Lescun ... if you have to feign illness, and before
you leave, put our matter in safety, if you can, I pray you. . . .” Then he
adds that he hears of the illness of Marie, but in point of fact it was her
grandmother, Isabelle of Portugal, who was desperately ill, but who lived on
till the following December.
The plague raged
through France all that autumn, and was so bad at Amboise that for some time
the Court could not go there. Charles of France, who led a most licentious and
dissipated life, was in very bad health, and a letter of the King’s has these
remarks on December 2: “ Des nouvelles de monseigneur de Guienne, il est
toujours empire depuis mes autres lettres ; et l’ont porte en litiere k une
ville qui s’appelle Jaune (Geaune, dep. Landes).” A month later Louis receives
a letter which says: “Monseigneur de Guienne is very ill, whatever they may say
(of a quartan fever), and has caused himself to be carried in a litter to
Bordeaux, and they say that from there he is going to Paris, but par ma fqy, I
do not believe it con-
176
Photo by
IV. A. Mansell Co.
HENRY VI, KING OF
ENGLAND After the painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London
sidering what I hear.
...” While all around him despaired of his life, Charles continued to send
embassies to the Duke of Burgundy, pressing that the marriage might be hastened,
and plotting on all sides.
On May 18, the King
writes to Dammartin : . Since the last letters which I wrote you, I have had
news that Monseigneur de Guienne is dying, and that there is no remedy in his
case ; and one of the most private ... he has with him has made it known to me
by express, and they do not think that he will be alive in fifteen days from
this time. ...” In point of fact the Duke of Guienne died on May 25, 1472, at
the age of twenty-three. His death was a terrible blow to all the King’s
enemies, for the weak and untrustworthy Prince had always been the pretext and
rallying point of all conspiracies. The Duke of Burgundy in his rage and
disappointment made no scruple of accusing Louis ; “il venait de faire mourir
son fr&re par poison, malefices, sortileges et invocations diaboliques; . .
.” He even went so far as to accuse the King of parricide, heresy, and
idolatry; he proclaimed a crusade against him, quoting texts from the Bible,
and offering to provide men and money. The Duke advanced no proof of
his-outrageous assertions, and gave no details of any accomplices; while the
King published no refutation. No doubt he thought it unworthy of him to
condescend to any answer to such calumnies, which no one who has studied the
whole history of Charles’ illness and death can for one moment believe. An
historian who is usually unfriendly to the King remarks: ‘ ‘ I unhesitatingly
acquit Louis of his brother’s murder. The most circumstantial witness against
him, Brantome, is worthless. . . .”
It is interesting to
remember that about this time first began the custom of the “ Angelus,” when
Louis XI on May i, 1472, caused a great procession to be made in Paris, and
other cities, and especially entreated that henceforth at mid-day, each one
should bend a knee to the ground and say an “ Ave Maria” for the peace of the
realm. Gifts were bestowed later upon the churches in order that three times a
day the great bell might “sonner trois coups pour avertir de reciter la
Salutation angelique.” It has so long been the custom to accuse Louis of
superstition and hypocrisy, that it may seem strange to suggest that he had
deep religious feeling, and that his splendid offerings to churches, his many
pilgrimages, and his constant prayers to God, the Virgin, and the saints, were
the usual custom of devout Christians in his age. We may remember that, as a
boy of fourteen, his great anxiety was to have a “ chapelle portative.”
On the death of the
Duke of Guienne, the fief returned to the Crown of France and was at once occupied
by the royal troops, while Pierre Lord of Beaujeu, the future husband of Anne
of France, was appointed Governor of the province. The household and adherents
of his brother were well received by the King, but as Charles of Burgundy
watched the course of events from afar, his fury knew no bounds. Without
waiting for the end, he crossed the River Somme with his army at the beginning
of June, and as he advanced with fire and sword, the little town of Nesle,
defended by five hundred archers, was the first place to resist. After a day
of hard fighting, the captain saw that resistance was useless, and at
daybreak, next morning, he came forth with the Countess de Nesle to capitulate.
As he returned,
at the very moment
when his archers were told to lay down their arms, the city gates were opened
by some of the inhabitants, and the men of Burgundy rushed in and sacked the
town with every kind of violence and outrage ; even the old people, and the
women and children, who had taken refuge in the church, being ruthlessly
massacred. Some of the archers who were spared, lost their right hand, and the
brave commander was hung. “Tel fruit porte l’arbre de guerre,” said the Duke,
as he rode into the desecrated church, trampling upon the slain.
Terror-struck by this
horrible event, the garrisons of Roye and Montdidier surrendered without a
blow. When the King received news of these disasters he was at Angers on the
borders of Brittany with a large force, as he hoped to prevent the Duke
Franfois combining with Burgundy. He wrote at once to Dam- martin:—
“. . . I have good
hope that God will help us to avenge ourselves, seeing the murders committed in
the church, as elsewhere, on those who believed their lives to be safe, in
surety and confidence in the capitulation they had made. . . . P.S.—If the said
place had been dismantled ... as I ordered, this would not have happened; and
on this account take care that all similar places be ‘ rasees ’; for if it be
not done, we shall lose the people therein, “which will be to me increasing
dishonour and injury.
June 19, 1472. Loys.”
There is another very
interesting letter of Louis to St. Pol, on receiving the bad news from him,
which shows his keen interest in every detail of the war, and
179
also his advanced
ideas on strategy. . . . “ My opinion has always been that you should not hold
either Roye or Montdidier, nor place men-at-arms in any place which is not
capable of defence ; and it is no wonder if this gain of the Duke of Burgundy
makes him proud and alarms our people. By the letters which our captains write
to you, you ought not to leave men-at-arms in Noyon, but rather dismantle it
and hold Compiegne well. . . . With regard to weak places, he gains nothing
when he takes them, but weakens himself, for he is obliged to leave behind men
of his company. . . . As to what you say to me that I should advance (to you),
I ought to-morrow to hear news of Brittany if they will give up Burgundy or
not. . . . Above all (he repeats), do not leave men-at-arms in places which are
not tenable, and place as many in the field as you can to harass his host and
break his army ; and take good care of Compiegne, for the first place which can
resist him, it will be to his undoing. . . .”
Never was a truer
word spoken, as we shall see by the siege of Beauvais, which made one of the
most heroic defences ever told in history.
Charles of Burgundy
had not ventured to attack Compiegne and Amiens which had strong garrisons, but
he passed on to Beauvais, in a fertile valley surrounded by wooded hills—an
ancient fortified city, but without any garrison save some feudal levies which
had taken refuge here on the surrender of Roye. Philippe de Crevecoeur, who
commanded the vanguard, arrived before Beauvais on Saturday, June 27, 1472, and
thinking to take it at once by assault, made an attack on the Porte de Bresle,
where his cannon made a great breach. The men of France fought hand to hand
with
180
the besiegers at the
breach in the wall, “and some of the inhabitants brought kindled faggots to
throw in the faces of those who were forcing the gate, which broke out in
flame#, and caused the men of Burgundy to retreat,” says Commines, who was an
eye-witness. News of the Duke’s cruelty had roused in the citizens a passionate
determination to defend their homes to the last. They thronged the walls with
such arms as they could collect, while the women supplied them with ammunition,
and bravely joined with them in throwing down boiling water or pitch on the
heads of those who tried to scale the walls. One young girl, known to fame as
Jeanne la Hachette, especially distinguished herself; a Burgundian had planted
his standard on the battlement, when she tore it from him and hurled him into
the ditch below.
The burning gateway
still remained a barrier of impassable flames, for the inhabitants resolutely
kept up the great fire by sacrificing not only their tables and chairs, but
even the doors and wooden gables of their houses. When the Duke arrived with
his artillery, he was much incensed at this opposition, and swore to destroy
the city and leave not one soul alive in it. But he neglected one important
point, and did not invest the southern side where two small streams,
tributaries of the Oise, divide Beauvais. Meantime messengers had been sent out
in all directions, and reinforcements soon arrived from the neighbouring towns,
and could freely enter from the river side. The garrison of Noyon rode fifteen
leagues on a hot June day to help in the gallant defence, and hastened at once
to the ramparts, leaving their horses to the women’s care. At night, new
defences were built up behind the breaches in the
181
walls, and the flames
in the fiery gateway were never suffered to burn low.
The next day more
help arrived : the greater part of the garrison of Amiens, the Mareschal
Rouhault with one hundred lances, several companies with artillery, and many
gentlemen of Normandy, who were full of enthusiasm at this splendid defence. An
outdoor banquet was held in the streets to feast the defenders, and women
carried round cups of wine to the soldiers on the ramparts. All were animated
by the same gallant spirit; the city should not be taken while one living soul
remained to man the walls. The clergy bore through the streets in solemn
procession the relics of Saint Angradesma their patroness, who was believed to
have saved Beauvais when the English besieged it in vain in 1433.
For ten days longer
Charles of Burgundy continued to bombard the place, and the walls were broken
down in many parts, but provisions and ammunition of war continued to pour in,
while there were constant arrivals of fresh auxiliaries. The Provost of Paris
came with three thousand men-at-arms and some city cross-bowmen ; Rouen,
Orleans, and other cities sent all they could spare, until, as Commines says,
the garrison was strong enough to defend the hedge of a field, and needed no
fortified walls. Successful sallies were made, and the position of the Duke
became serious, for his camp was short of provisions, as Dammartin continued t»
hang on his rear and cut off his convoys, while heavy rains now flooded the
valley and made his position more difficult. At length in sullen rage, Charles
was compelled to give way, and he broke up his camp during the night of July
22, and continued his course
182
into Normandy,
carrying fire and sword wherever he went.
Louis had been
watching from afar, with intense interest, the progress of the siege of
Beauvais ; he sent various letters to encourage his good subjects, and gave
numerous orders for help of all kinds to be sent them. In thankfulness that “
Dieu m’a donne ceste ville ” he made a vow to eat no meat until a town in
silver, at the cost of 1200 ecus, should have been presented to the church of
St. Martin of Tours. Nor did he neglect to reward the gallant citizens ; they
were not to be called to the “arriere-ban,” but were to wear their war
accoutrement and stay to defend their city if need were. They were to be exempt
from taxes and to be free to choose their own mayor and other officials. As for
the brave women, they were to walk in the yearly procession of the relics of
their patron saint, preceding the men, and immediately after the clergy. They
might wear any adornments they pleased, in defiance of all sumptuary laws, on
their wedding day and at other times. Jeanne Laisne (la Hachette) was specially
rewarded ; and the King, who loved matchmaking, married her to one of his
officers, Colin Pilon, and by royal letters, exempted them and their descendants
from “ tailles, du guet et de la garde des portes.”
CHAPTER XI
1472-4
Philippe
de Commines enters the Service of Louis XI- Treaty with Brittany—Charles of
Burgundy
DISAPPOINTED
BY THE EMPEROR—LOUIS HAS TROUBLE WITH ARMAGNAC, ALEN^ON, AND Ren£ OF ANJOU—
Marriage
of the King’s Daughters, Anne to Pierre de Beaujeu and Jeanne to Louis of
Orleans— Treaty of Perpignan.
After
raising
the siege of Beauvais, the Duke of Burgundy moved by slow marches to the right
bank of the Seine, devastating the fertile and prosperous Pays de Caux from the
walls of Rouen to those of Dieppe. The crops were destroyed, the villages and
farmhouses burned, and the fortresses seized and dismantled, till by his
massacres and destruction he earned the surname of Charles the Terrible. His
obstinacy and cruelty were so great that he was a terror in his own camp, so
that some of his most trusted counsellors forsook him, and amongst them the
chronicler Philippe de Commines. The story of his flight is thus told. The Duke
had taken the little town of St. Valery on the coast, and was encamped near Eu,
when on the night between the 7th and 8th of August, 1472, his favourite
chamberlain was reported to have left the camp. The vengeance of the outraged
prince was prompt‘and decisive. At 6 a.m. on the morning of the
184
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iv. Alberti
t ABNEP.R-oooi-iTn i adn. natvt ix
kajl.octob.
CT3 CCCCXV. IN
FATR.VELJS ALBERTI II LOCVM JVrFECTVS IMIOWTOR.
Ill KAL. ApR-IL. CID
CCCC XL. Rom.*L A NlCOLAO V COROWCTV5. RIX IN5VFEK. Hvngaria . Germaniam pacat.
obit xui kal.septemb.cioccccxciji-
V <6 C— P-lul. P \'^ s**r! SJf i
FREDERICK III From an
old engraving by Van Sompel
PHILIPPE DE COMMINES
8th, Charles signed a
document confiscating all the estates of the fugitive.
From the time of his
meeting with Louis XI at Peronne, Commines had been attracted towards him, and
this feeling had been strengthened in the summer of 1471, when he had been sent
on a mission to the King of France. To forsake the master whom he had served
for ten years was a strong step for this young courtier of twenty-seven, but we
cannot tell what provocation he may have had, for he is silent with regard to
his motives. He only remarks in his Memoirs: “ About this time, I came into the
King of France’s service . . . the King was then at Pont de Ce, having
assembled all his forces against the Duke of Brittany, with whom he was at
war.”
Commines was warmly
welcomed, and Louis could not do enough to show his gratitude to the man who
had stood by him in the most perilous moment of his life, in the castle of
Peronne. He had great estates given him, the title of Prince of Talmont, and
the following January he married Helene, the daughter of the Lord of
Montsoreau, with a dowry of
20,000 ecus d’or. Henceforth Commines was a
faithful and devoted friend of the King, but he never forgot his obligations to
his former master, and always spoke of him with the utmost kindness. He was now
an eye-witness of the life of Louis, but his Memoirs were chiefly written so
long after, that we cannot always trust his statement of facts.
At this time the King
was making steady progress in Brittany; Chantoce was besieged and taken, then
the royal army attacked Ancenis on July 6, and entered the town the next day
almost without resistance. He
was advancing along
the bank of the Loire towards Nantes, when the Duke in despair, sent to beg for
help from Edward IV, who had promised to send troops to his assistance. But
Lescun, his chief minister, was always enough of a patriot to dread an alliance
with England, and he was quite willing to listen to the renewed offers of Louis.
After much discussion, during which extravagant offers of lands and money were
made to Lescun personally, he used his influence with his master to such good
purpose that a treaty was soon concluded with Brittany. Money was not spared
with Duke Fran?ois, who besides receiving a large pension, had several strong
places returned to him.
A truce of five
months was also agreed upon in November, 1472, with Charles of Burgundy, who
now found himself deserted by his allies; and this was renewed at frequent
intervals until May, 1475, when after some desultory fighting, a lasting peace
was made which endured for the rest of Charles’ life. As he had found the
French monarchy too strong for him, his ambition now turned towards the east
and the south ; “he strove to gather together province after province . . . he
would form a state which should hem in the hostile realm from the North Sea to
the Mediterranean.” In the year 1469, the Duke had already occupied Alsace,
which had been pawned to him for 10,000 florins by Sigismund Duke of Austria,
and he took possession of Guelders and Zutphen in 1473. In August of that year,
Nicholas of Calabria died suddenly of the plague at Nancy, as he was preparing
to besiege Metz. Tempted by that irresistible lure of Marie of Burgundy, the
young Prince had broken his troth with Anne of France, and his death released
the Duke of
186
Burgundy from
promises which he never meant to keep, and gave him the chance of adding
Lorraine to his dominions. Nicholas had been the last male heir of his grandmother,
Isabelle of Lorraine, and the next in succession was Yolande his aunt, who
yielded her rights to her son, Rene of Vaudemont, at this time twenty-two years
of age. He took possession on the 4th of August, and the Duke of Burgundy at
once imprisoned both Yolande and her son. She appealed to Louis, who promptly
sent an army to the borders of Lorraine, and procured their freedom.
Disappointed in this attempt, the Duke turned more earnestly to his
negotiations with the Emperor Frederick III. He had already offered the hand of
his daughter to Maximilian, the Emperor’s son, in return for being made King of
the Romans, and a princely income for Marie, but he now asked much more.
As Metz refused to
surrender its keys or receive a large company within its walls, Charles met the
Emperor at Treves, where they discussed terms for five weeks without coming to
a conclusion. Frederick was willing to receive homage for Guelders, but
Lorraine was to be restored to the young Duke Rene, as a hostage for whose
safety a nephew of the Emperor’s, then studying in Paris, was retained. Charles
certainly expected to be crowned by the Emperor, for sceptre and regal robes
and diadem were made ready, and the church of Treves was richly decorated and
provided with two thrones, one for Frederick and the other for the expectant
king. As Freeman tells the story: “ We laugh when Charles has got everything
ready for his coronation at Treves, and the Lord of the World suddenly decamps
in the night, leaving the ex-
187
pectant king of Burgundy
or Lorraine, or whatever his kingdom was to be, to go back a mere duke as he
came.” With the memory of Peronne in his mind, Frederick, having his suspicions
roused on the marriage question, sailed away quietly and swiftly down the
Moselle, and was soon out of reach of pursuit. We may imagine how furious the
imperious Duke was at thus being exposed to the ridicule of Europe.
Louis had taken
advantage of a time of peace to deal with various matters of state, of which we
find a minute account in the many letters written by him at this period. On the
death of his Chancellor, the distinguished jurisconsult Juvenal des Ursins, he
appointed as his successor Pierre Doriole, an excellent lawyer of great
independence of character, who had formerly been in the service of Charles of
France. He gives concessions to the chapters of Langres, of Notre-Dame de
Selles, and others; forbids that the men of Lyons should be taxed for lands
outside their city, institutes several new fairs, gives remissions for the
breaking of rules in the markets, and confirms all the gifts of his brother
Charles. Louis gives repeated orders that the supposed poisoners of the Duke of
Guienne should be publicly tried. We also have a curious mention of certain
French wines, which the president of the Driesche calls clairot. (Would this be
claret ?)
We next find him
dealing with several traitors, such as the Count of Armagnac, who had been
condemned by the Parliament in 1470 and then forgiven by the King, until in
1472 he took the Sire de Beaujeu and others, prisoners by treachery at
Lectourne. Here he was besieged by the royal troops and lost his life in
18S
the mejee, when the
town was given over to pillage and destruction on March 6, 1473. The Duke of
Alenfon also could never keep out of any rebellion going, and was condemned to
death by the Parliament in May, 1472, yet his royal godson forgave him again,
and he was only kept in honourable imprisonment in the Louvre. On his death in
1475, Louis secured the succession of his estates to his son Rene, Count de la
Perche. But of all traitors there was none so faithless as the Count of St.
Pol, who betrayed both the King and the Duke of Burgundy, and was destined
later to meet his just reward from them both.
Even the King’s
uncle, Rene of Anjou, although he had not openly joined the enemies of France,
had approved the dishonourable conduct of his grandson Nicholas, and was in
constant communication with the Duke of Burgundy, having taken up his abode at
Aix, to be somewhat nearer to him. Possibly his dreamy romantic character
prevented his being a serious danger, but we can scarcely wonder that when he
left Anjou to take the side of Charles, the King of France undertook the
administration of that province, so perilously near Brittany. In spite of all
his failings, our sympathies are with “Rene le Bon” in his bereaved old age,
overwhelmed by a fatality of deaths —his only son, the brave Jean ; his
brother, the Count de Maine ; his grandsons, the Prince of Wales and young
Nicholas, of whom, by the irony of fortune, Rene himself was now the heir. He
bore through life the barren title of King of Sicily, and both the crowns of
Naples and Aragon seemed at one time to be within his grasp. Yet no one could
have been more unfitted to win kingdoms by force of arms, for his chief delight
189
was ever in art and
poetry, and in quiet pastoral repose. Perhaps his happiest moments were when he
sang in the choir of his chapel, dressed as a canon, on a Gothic throne which
he had carved and painted himself. The gentle Ren6 is one of the most
picturesque figures of his period, whether sitting at his desk in a sunny
window painting birds, composing ballades and rondels, or the genial host of a
gay, pleasure- loving Court. After the death of his beloved Isabelle, “la vaillante
Lorraine, qui avait fait la guerre pour lui . . he had taken a second wife, the
charming young Jeanne de Laval, when he had attained the age of forty-seven.
It is worthy of
notice that at the very time when Rend was playing at treason with Charles of Burgundy,
Louis XI writes, on July 18, 1473, to the Chapter of Rheims, to insist that no
opposition shall be made to his appointment of Pierre de Laval, Jeanne’s
brother, as Archbishop. He had always upheld the House of Anjou in their
struggles for Naples and for Aragon, both in men and money; he had given his
uncle the collar of St. Michael, and had done his utmost to befriend the
unhappy Marguerite, whom he was soon to ransom from an English prison.
Amongst the most
important events of the year 1473 in the personal history of Louis, is the
marriage of his two daughters. We have seen how, almost from her birth, Anne of
France, born at Genappe in 1461, was betrothed to Nicholas of Calabria. There
is a legend that she always had a romantic attachment for this young Prince,
and wore his ring until her death. But this did not prevent her from making a
reasonably happy marriage with Pierre de Bourbon, Lord of
190
Beaujeu, who had been
unexpectedly chosen by her father for this great honour. He had been more than once
in rebellion, like so many other nobles, but Louis had a keen insight into
character, and having once won over Bourbon to his cause, he felt that here was
a man of royal blood, yet not too near the throne, whom he could trust to help
and protect the Dauphin in days to come. The marriage contract was signed on
November 13, 1473, and the stipulations are always that all goods are to be
returned to the Crown if there are no children of the marriage. The King gave
1,000,000 ecus of dowry with Anne, to whom he was much attached, and who had
already been made Viscountess of Thouars, and was later Countess of Gien. At
the time of her marriage, Anne was not quite thirteen and the bridegroom was
twenty-one years older, but she was a bright, capable girl, extremely well
educated, and with plenty of common sense. Pierre de Bourbon was noted for his
“douceur et humilite,” and so far as we can learn from “the fierce light which
beats upon” royal personages, the husband and wife appear to have lived happily
together. The praise of Anne, “l’Aisnee fille de France,” has been written in a
hundred verses, of which we select one :—
Pour son entree de Moulins Trois triomphes y avoit seurement,
Tous pleins de tr&s beaux musequins Et par^s tr&s richement,
Qui parloient honnestement,
Et prioient Dieu de Paradis Qu’il leur donnast un tr&s beau filz.
The little town of
Jargeau welcomed the royal married pair with such lavish magnificence that they
191
gave fetes which
lasted eight days, and the King was so pleased with their loyalty that he
bestowed upon the town “un blason de gueules charge de trois bracelets d’or,
avec le chef de France, d’azur, a trois fleurs de lys d’or.”
The story of Anne’s
younger sister is a very different one. Jeanne de France was born at
Nogent-le-Roy on May 15, 1464, into a world where she was not warmly welcomed,
for her coming was a disappointment when an heir to the throne was so anxiously
looked for. Her fate was soon decided for, a few days after her birth, Jeanne
was betrothed to Louis, the two-year-old son of Charles d’Orleans, the King’s
uncle, and before the death of the old worn-out Duke the following January, the
treaty of marriage between the two children was actually signed. “ Le mariage sera celebre lorsque les futurs seront en age competent.” The King
gives to his daughter 100,000 ecus of dowry, with the usual robes and jewels.
The Duke guarantees to her “un douaire ” of 6000 livres de rente, and for abode
in case of widowhood, La Ferte-Milan and Brie.
The two daughters had
remained for a time with their mother, and when the kingdom was in revolt
during the League of “le Bien Public,” Louis confided the care of the Queen and
the little Prindesses to the people of Amboise, and sent twenty brigandines to
protect them. When Jeanne was five years old, a chamberlain and cousin of the
King’s, Franfois de Bourbon, Seigneur de Linieres, was chosen as her “
gouverneur,” and she was taken to live under the care of his wife in the
chateau de Linieres, “au fond du Berry.” For some reason which is not fully
explained, the Queen, Charlotte of Savoy, went to live
192
JEANNE DE FRANCE,
DAUGHTER OF LOUIS XI From an old print
in Dauphine at this
time, but it seems strange that her delicate little daughter should not have
remained with her. The new home of Jeanne was a grim old castle, a fortress
with massive feudal walls and battlements, which was entered by crossing a
double rampart. After the first bridge came a high tower, “la tour du Guet,”
then the drawbridge, the moat being filled with the waters of the Arnon, while
under the towers were dungeons and oubliettes. This gloomy place of terror was
far away from any town, being five leagues from Issoudun and ten from Bourges.
(It was destroyed in 1561 by the Huguenots.)
What a
strange solitude for a fragile little girl! It is true that from the upper
court of the chateau where Jeanne took her walks, she could see below the
smiling valley of the Arnon, and look out from afar on the course of the
winding river through fertile plains to the forests beyond. We hear of the
little Princess as a silent, dreamy child, whose deformity poisoned her existence,
for she was small and crooked, with one shoulder higher than the other, though
with a pleasing, gentle face. She learnt to live alone, to look upon herself
as set apart from earth, and began to turn her thoughts early towards heaven.
At five years old she had as her confessor a certain Gilbert Nicolas, one of
the Fr£res Mineurs of Amboise, who became much attached to her and remained
faithful to her during all her troubled life. Can we wonder that in that
strange brooding solitude, Jeanne began to hear voices and to see visions? Her
guardian and his wife were kind to her, and usually remained in the country
with her although they had an hotel at Bourges ; but they were not often in the
town, where the plague raged from o 193
time to time. They
received for her living, we are told, 1200 francs a year. Once when the little
girl was recovering from small-pox, Madame de Linieres wrote to ask the Queen
if Jeanne might pay her a visit for change of air, and Charlotte wrote to the
Sire de Bouchage to ask the King’s permission. It is difficult to believe that
she arrived dressed like a peasant, with a “camelot grossier, dechi re aux
coudes et rapelasse . . .” as one writer says.
The marriage contract
was signed between Jeanne of France and Louis of Orleans on October 28, and
ratified the next day by Marie of Cleves, the mother of Louis and widow of
Charles, Duke of Orleans. We are told that the Duchess made all the opposition
she dared to this marriage, for after the death of Nicholas of Calabria she
had always hoped that Anne would be the bride of Louis her son, and not this
“femme ainsi difforme ! ” as she is said to have called the bride when she
first saw her. Poor little Jeanne had no wish for marriage ; she only longed to
devote herself to religion in the cloistered life, and when on September 6,
1476, the actual religious ceremony took place at the castle of Montrichard,
her real martyrdom began. The Pope’s permission was given, for the bride and
bridegroom were cousins-german, but neither the King nor the Duchess of Orleans
appear to have been present. The Bishop of Orleans was the celebrant, and the
Queen was with her daughter who wore a robe of cloth of gold, (afterwards made
into a chasuble).
It is difficult to
make out the exact truth with regard to the protests which Louis, now a boy of
fourteen, is said to have made, as most of the chronicles were actually written
during his reign, when he was so des-
194
perately eager to obtain a divorce and marry Anne of Brittany. But there
seems no doubt that both the children were unhappy. Jeanne went back to
Linieres after the wedding, and is reported to have said: “Je ne ouserais
parler a luy, car vous et chascun veoit bien qu’il ne fait conte de moy.”
Madame of Orleans, as she now was, never complained, but patiently endured misfortune,
loneliness, and contempt, until she was looked upon by all who knew her as a
saint—“ La bien- heureuse Jeanne.”
Always intensely interested in all that concerned the commercial
prosperity of his kingdom, we find Louis signing a treaty on August 15, 1473,
at Mont-Saint- Michel, with the deputies of the Hansa League. He confirmed all
the privileges which the League held from the kings his predecessors, allowing
the “ Osterling merchants ” to trade freely by land and water in all the towns
of France, and to have agents everywhere, giving the same freedom of exchange
to his own subjects. This treaty appears to have been partly drawn up by the
ambassadors of Scotland and Denmark, who were then with the King. On August 16,
he himself wrote to the “ excellents et magnifiques orateurs et deputes de la
hanse Teutonique presentement assembles a Utrecht ” to inform them of the
contract, and assure them of his good will. Louis suffered no political feeling
to interfere with the welfare of his subjects, or he might have objected to the
great friendship of the Hansa League with Edward IV, to whom they always gave
the title of King of England and France.
In the spring of this year, the men of Roussillon rose in rebellion
against the French, and drove them out of the strong castles of Salces and
Colliour.e; but
at Perpignan the garrison retreated to the citadel and held out there for
ten weeks, notwithstanding the fierce attack of the old King of Aragon, who, in
his turn, was besieged by a strong force under Philippe de Bresse. This
turbulent Prince, who had given so much trouble in Savoy, was quite loyal to
France now that he was in command and had plenty of fighting. Juan II, (who had
recovered his sight by an operation for cataract performed by a Jewish
physician), behaved with splendid courage and energy, until, weakened by pestilence,
the French were compelled to make a truce for two months. During this time,
Louis XI with his usual policy of diplomacy rather than war, persuaded the King
of Aragon to agree to the Treaty of Perpignan, signed in September, 1473, which
we may justly consider impracticable. It was arranged that Roussillon and
Cerdagne should be in the joint possession of the kings of France and Aragon,
and ruled by a governor chosen by them both, according to the laws, customs,
and privileges of the country ; until King Juan should have repaid the 200,000
crowns for which these counties had been pledged. This amount the King of
Aragon engaged to pay within a yean, otherwise Louis might appoint another
governor of his own choice. The two kings reserved to themselves the right to
help their former allies, should they wish to do so.
This treaty simply concerned the provinces of Roussillon and Cerdagne,
and yet their fate, which appeared settled, was never less so in reality.
1474-5
League
against Burgundy joined by the Swiss Confederation—Charles of Burgundy
besieges Neuss —War in Roussillon,which is retaken by France— Sedition at
Bourges—The Emperor, France, the Swiss, and the Duke of Lorraine combine
against Charles, who raises the Siege of Neuss—Edward IV invades France—Peace of Pecquigny—Meeting of
Louis XI and Edward IV—Treaty with Burgundy—Execution for Treason of
St. Pol, Constable of France.
We
have now reached an extremely important and interesting
historical question, about which there has been much misunderstanding. How was
it that Charles of Burgundy first found himself at war with the Swiss? We must
remember that the real extent and position of the Swiss Confederation of that
day, was very different from the present Switzerland. It was then called “ the
Great League of Upper Germany, or Swabia,” and had grown from the three
original cantons, Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden, joined in 1332 by Luzern, and
in the middle of the fourteenth century by Zurich, Glarus, Zug, and Bern. These
eight German cities and districts were united by a kind of federal bond: they
were really independent commonwealths, but formed part of the holy Roman
Empire, and were nominally subjects of
the Emperor. Instead of being, as we know them—a pastoral people of
shep'herds and mountaineers, ready to defend their combined cantons with heroic
courage, but having neither the wish nor the power to invade their
neighbours—in those days the League was an aggressive power, always extending
its borders by conquest, purchase, and alliance.
In 1469, Sigismund of Austria, a nephew of the Emperor Frederick III,
who had married Eleanor of Scotland, the sister of Margaret la Dauphine,
became involved in a quarrel with the Swiss League, through his vassals in
Alsace. Being of a peaceful disposition, when his lands were ravaged he bought
peace with the promise of 10,000 florins, and in order to obtain the money, he
pawned Alsace to the Duke of Burgundy, whose ambition was grawfied at extending
his influence. Charles sent his mattre-cC hotel, Pierre de Hagenbach, a man of
fierce and violent temper, to take possession of this new land, which he soon
drove to rebellion by his shameful abuse of his power. When complaints were
made to the Duke of his excesses, Charles is said to have only replied: “It is
enough that he suits me.” The most serious matter was his insulting behaviour
towards the Swiss, whose allies at Muhlhausen were attacked, their own
territory invaded, their merchants going to Frankfort had been seized, and the
men of Bern asserted that their messengers had been slain and their dispatches
taken. The imperial towns of Strasburg, Schleestadt, and Colmar were threatened
by Hagenbach, and the neighbouring barons of Swabia were furious at his
insults. As for his personal conduct, it appears to have been brutal and vile
beyond all words.
After his disappointment at Treves, the Duke of Burgundy went through
Lorraine with the air of a sovereign to his new dominion of Alsace, with only a
force of about five thousand Lombard mercenaries. He was not well received
although he tried to conciliate his new subjects ; but Hagenbach was always
with him, even at Ensisheim, where an embassy from Bern had come to complain of
the Governor. The Duke was looked upon with great suspicion by the Swiss
League, as his negotiations at Treves with the Emperor had convinced them that
their territory, as well as Savoy and Milan, was to be included in the proposed
Kingdom of Burgundy. The Council of Bern had warned Louis XI of this, and it
was possibly at this time that he conceived the idea of including the League in
a combination against Charles.
The unconquerable tenacity of the Swiss was known to him of old, for he
could never forget that early expedition when he, a youth of twenty-one, was
sent by his father to lead the mighty host of “ecorcheurs” to the confines of
Alsace and the Cantons, there to hurl themselves again and again upon a human
barrier dauntless and ever renewed, until they came to a miserable end. Was not
Duke Charles, in his rashness and arrogance, about to follow in the same path
of destruction ?
Sigismund of Austria, who could not see unmoved the misery of his late
dominion of Alsace, offered his alliance to Louis, who accepted it only on
condition that the Duke’s ancestral enemies—the Swiss Cantons —should be
included. Even this proved possible, and before long the Duke of Austria had
joined in a league with the free cities of Alsace, the Margrave
of Baden, Basel, and Strasburg, and the eight Cantons of which Bern,
Luzern, and Zurich were the most determined foes of Burgundy. Charles in vain
remonstrated with them, for the next move in the game was that Sigismund
received from his allies the 10,000 florins for which his dominions were
pledged, and offered the amount to redeem them. But the Duke of Burgundy
refused ; “ ce que je tiens, je garde,” was his reply. Some of the towns in
Alsace had already rebelled and driven out their Burgundian garrisons, and
there was a violent sedition at Breisach, where the people took the law into
their own hands and made the hated Hagenbach a prisoner. They summoned
twenty-seven notable men as deputies from all the towns and nobles of the
province, who after a brief form of trial condemned to death Pierre de
Hagenbach for his crimes, public and private. He was beheaded on May 9, 1474,
but it was an act of public vengeance rather than a legal execution, as his
judges had no right of jurisdiction over him. Charles of Burgundy was furious when
the news reached him, and he at once sent Etienne Hagenjbach to devastate the
whole country in revenge for %is brother’s fate.
The Duke was at this time engaged in a dispute about the archbishopric of
Cologne, with regard to which his policy appears to have been very much the
same as with the see of Liege formerly. If he could not annex the temporal
possessions, at least he wished the Archbishop to be his creature. There was
the whole Chapter and a very strong outside party against Robert of Bavaria, whom
they had expelled, but Charles supported him by force of arms.
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The Landgrave of Hesse and his brother Hermann, who had been chosen as
administrator of the diocese, were besieged by the Duke in the strong fortress
of Neuss, north of Cologne. Once a Roman military station, and now one of the
Hansa towns, Neuss stood on a solitary height above the marshy plain, from
whence the Rhine had receded for a mile or two, but was still available for
traffic by means of a deep canal which received also the waters of the Erft.
The place was well fortified with a double line of high walls, massive towers,
bastions, and gates ; while on the east side, the canal and swampy ground were
most effective in defence. The traditions of the town proudly boasted of
thirteen sieges triumphantly resisted: there was ample store of provisions, a
garrison of three thousand Hessian men-at-arms and five hundred cavalry,
besides the volunteers who came pouring in from Cologne and other cities.
This was the stronghold before which Charles of Burgundy encamped on July
30, 1474. He had a splendid army, with companies of ordonnance formed on the
French model, the finest artillery of the day, a large body of Lombard
mercenaries under the Count of Campo Basso, and about three thousand English
archers. We have a very full account of the difficult investment and
bombardment which followed, the varied fortunes of assaults and sorties, and
the splendid gallantry with which during nearly eleven long months the
beleaguered fortress was defended against the might of Burgundy.
Meantime Louis was not idle. As soon as the siege began, he sent envoys
to the League of Upper Germany with orders to specially address the city of
Bern,
201
where Nicolas von Diessbach was already bought over into his service. The
extent to which the diplomacy of the French King caused the Cantons to take up
arms against Charles of Burgundy, has always been a disputed point in history.
Freeman inclines to the idea that it was one cause amongst several, and that
the “Switenses” “might have acted as they did though Louis had never been
born.” They mistrusted the aggressive designs of Charles, the would-be King ;
they were indignant at the treatment of their new allies of Alsace ; and when
it was quite convenient to them, they prided themselves on obeying the summons
of their Emperor. But they were also poor and quite willing to accept French
gold, which was lavishly offered to them. We cannot enter into the question of
the morality of bribes at a period when, with only the rarest exceptions,
everybody accepted them. A treaty was ratified at Luzern in October, 1474,
which, as Legeay remarks, has been the basis of all the treaties since made by
France with the Swiss. It engages that the King will every year give 20,000
florins to the city of Bern, and that the League shall supply him with six
thousand men in his wars and expeditions, at his request, and that he shall pay
them at the rate of four and a half florins a month each.
A Diet had been held at Felsburg on October 9, when the deputies of the
allied towns, the French envoys, and Sigismund in person, met an imperial
embassy which brought a summons from Frederick III, calling upon the
confederates, as members of the Empire, to defend it against the aggression of
the Duke of Burgundy. The result of all this was that a message was enclosed in
a herald’s
202
staff and sent to Charles of Burgundy in his camp before Neuss. It ran
thus : “That by command of the Emperor, and in defence of Alsace, the burgomasters
. . . and commons of the League of Upper Germany declared war, whether in
attack or defence, in the day or night, by slaying, burning, and plundering.
...” When Charles saw the seal, he exclaimed in bitter rage, “ Bern, Bern !”
While the siege of Neuss engaged all the energies of Burgundy, war had
broken out again in Roussillon, for it was not to be expected that the joint
occupation would be successful. The old King of Aragon carried on the struggle
with the utmost vigour, notwithstanding his age and poverty, which was so great
that he had to pawn his fur-lined mantle in order to pay his muleteers. He
could obtain little help from his son, for civil war had broken out in Castile
after the death of Enrique IV at the end of 1474. Louis wrote several letters
at this time to Ferdinand, and in one of them, after expressing his sorrow at
the death of the King of Castile, he adds: “ But since it has pleased God to
take him ... we are consoled and very joyful that his succession has fallen to
a prince so praiseworthy and virtuous as you are. . . .” Such were royal
amenities, even to the son of a hostile king. Louis sends the most urgent
directions to his captains in Roussillon to spare no efforts in bringing the
campaign to a successful end ; and on December 5, after an obstinate resistance,
Elne was taken, and soon after one or two smaller places, which left the road
clear to Perpignan, whose conquest was absolutely necessary for the submission
of the province. Juan II was unable to do more than hover about with his small
army on the frontiers of Roussillon, and watch from
203
afar the slow progress of the siege, without being able to strike a blow
for his beleaguered capital. The men of Perpignan fought with heroism worthy of
their brave ancestors, and it was not until they were reduced to absolute
starvation that at length on March 14, 1475, they consented to an honourable
capitulation.
After this, a truce of six months was concluded with the King of Aragon,
which left France in possession of Roussillon and Cerdagne. There appear
unfortunately to have been disturbances in Perpignan after the surrender, and
Louis writes to the Seigneur de Bouchage and urges very severe treatment of
those suspected of treachery. A list was made of about two hundred names, in
which we find, “perayriers, sabattiers, marchans, tixerans, bourgeois, notaires
. . .” with notes in the margin, “bad, very bad,” and often what they were
guilty of. Word is to be left for future governors that, if traitors return,
“d’icy a vingt ans, qu’ils leur facent trancher les testes.” This command
brings out very strongly one point in the character of Louis : the cold, stern
cruelty with which he can give a command like this, which he probably thought
needful for the security of Perpignan. We shall see the same feeling in his
treatment of a sedition at Bourges, when a tax was levied upon the inhabitants
at this time, for the repair of their fortifications and other municipal expenses.
The King believed that it had a political meaning, as several old adherents of
the Duke of Guienne had been found in the city. A commission was sent to try
the rebels and a company of archers to see that the sentences were carried out.
The disturbances had broken out on Saturday, April 23,
204
1474, amongst certain “folons, vignerons boulangers, et autres gens de
mestier,” and they had beaten and mutilated the procureur of the King, the
“honourable and wise maistre Philipes Bouer,” and they had also murdered
maistre Francoys Lesguillier, who was with the said procureur that day. . . .
The King desires that the offenders shall be so severely punished that others
may take example from it, and that none may be spared. He writes several
letters, and sends the barbarous order that the bodies of those who are
executed shall be hung at their own doors for the space of a day. . . . “ Si le
faites ainsi.”
With cold-blooded calm severity, he orders later that the guilty shall be
seized anywhere, even if they be canons or members of the university; and we
can understand how this inexorable temper, which had no respect of persons,
made Louis XI hated in a way that the greatest atrocities committed in the hour
of passion and excitement, such as Charles was guilty of at Dinant, could never
have done. As a matter of fact, we are told that many of the rebels at Bourges
were ultimately forgiven.
Month after month had passed away, and spring had succeeded to winter,
yet still the gallant defenders of Neuss held out against the repeated attacks
of the enemy. But at length the host of the Empire had been roused, and fifteen
princes, sixty-five counts, and four thousand nobles of less degree had
gathered together their forces near Cologne, amounting to at least forty
thousand men. No such assembly of the feudal vassals of the Emperor had been
seen for two hundred years, and amongst the most ardent warriors were the
Archbishops of Trkves and Mayence and the
205
Bishop of Munster. A small party of the militia of the free towns had
gone forward to give the besieged the good news of their coming, by means of a
hollow ball thrown across the river, with the message: “ Neuss, be of good
comfort; thou art saved.” This was about the middle of May, when Charles had
just received a message through Earl Rivers that the King of England was
prepared to invade France, and awaited his assistance. On the slow approach of
the Emperor's army, Charles at once resolved to risk the fortune of battle
rather than retire ignominiously before the foe. With some twelve thousand men
he made a sudden attack upon the new-comers before they had time to prepare,
and with the war cry of “Our Lady, St. George, and Burgundy!” he forced the
camp, which was thrown into disorder. Hundreds of the cavalry were cut off and
fled towards Cologne, while a great number of men-at-arms were driven into the
deep water before the night fell. The next morning the Pope’s Legate had
arrived to make peace between the Emperor and the Duke, who was quite willing
to listen to him, as his only desire was now to join the King of England as
soon as possible. A truce was concluded for three days, and we are told that
for some hours the gates of Neuss were thrown open, and the besiegers were
allowed to enter as peaceful guests and see the city which had so long defied
them. The most extraordinary part of the story is that the Burgundians behaved
extremely well; they satisfied their curiosity, went to Mass in the church of
St. Quirinus, and then quietly returned to their camp without any act of
violence.
Frederick III was proud of his position as another
206
Barbarossa, and in no hurry to submit to terms of peace before having
accomplished anything with the vast forces which had taken so long to collect.
His vassals were indignant at the idea of disbanding without having chastised
the insolence of Burgundy, and the ambassadors of Louis who were then with
him, urged that he should not make peace till he had declared all the lordships
of Burgundy in the Empire to be forfeited. So Commines says, and he proceeds to
relate how the Emperor, “ who was never accounted valiant . . . but being old, had
seen much,” made answer to this suggestion, by reciting the old fable of the
hunters who sold the bear skin before killing their bear.
By the middle of June peace was at length, made, as both parties were
induced to lay down their arms, and the Legate was to decide the original
question concerning the archbishopric of Cologne. But before the two armies
parted, there was a good deal of desultory fighting between the undisciplined
troops and much loss of life. It was on June 27 that Charles broke up his camp,
and on his way to meet the King of England, he found time to convene the Three
Estates at Bruges, and to give them a good rating for not having supplied him
with more money, and for having suffered the French King to ravage the country
and take fortresses and towns in Artois and Picardy. They appear to have coldly
replied that “war was incompatible with their commerce,” and that “they were
not bound to defend any province but their own.” The Duke parted from his
Flemish people in anger, and they were never to meet again. Perhaps the time
wasted before Neuss rankled in the mind of Charles and increased his ill-
temper. On May 1, the day when the truce with Bur-
207
gundy was at an end, Louis crossed the Somme with a great army and
powerful artillery. Nothing could resist him; and the strong places of
Tronquoy, Mont- didier, Roye, Corbie, and others were either taken by assault
or surrendered at discretion. These were burnt and their fortifications
destroyed, but a great number of the inhabitants were suffered to escape to
Amiens, where we find them later permitted to carry on their trades. Had Louis
continued his victorious invasion, nothing could have stood before him ; but he
was persuaded by the treacherous advice of St. Pol, to divide his army and move
with a portion of it to defend the coast of Normandy in case of an English
invasion.
When the ambassadors of Edward IV were sent to the Court of Burgundy to
discuss plans of operation, we are told that Charles proudly pointed out to
them his splendid artillery, and exclaimed : “ Here are the keys of the cities
of France.” Upon this Le Glorieux, his fool, pretended to search for something
on the ground, and his master, always willing to humour him, asked, “What are
you looking for?” “I seek the keys of Beauvais,” was the reply. As we are
aware, the keys of Neuss were also missing. Knowing the strong determined
character of Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy, we cannot doubt that her
influence both on her husband and her brother, the King of England, had much to
do with their close alliance against France. She travelled to Calais alone, and
was the first to welcome Edward on French soil.
Some interesting letters of Louis XI will carry on the story from his
point of view. “June 30, 1475. Croisy-sur-Andelle. Monseigneur le grant
maistre;
20S
I came to Normandy, in great haste, as you know, thinking to find the
English ready to descend. But I found that the fleet had retired the day before
I arrived. . . . When I saw we were doing nothing ... I sent my people to
overrun Picardy in order to destroy the country where they would obtain provisions.
. . . And they went as far as the sea, and have burnt all, from the Somme to
Hesdin, and from there they came, ‘ tousjours faisans leur mestier ’ to Arras !
” Then he tells the story of the disastrous sortie from that town when Jacques,
the brother of the Count of St. Pol, was taken prisoner, and 1500 men of the
garrison were killed. “ At Calais there are four or five thousand English, but
they do not move, and not one of them has come to show himself to our people. I
shall remain here until I know whether the English are going to land in
Normandy or not, and I have the men-at-arms of Normandy with me, and I am
fortifying Dieppe and filling it with provisions. . . .” “July 15. Monseigneur le chancelier, je ne
vous sauroie que escripre des Anglois, car ilz n’ont fait jusques icy que
danser a Saint Omer; et ne sfavons point au vray que le roy d’Angleterre soit
descendu ; et s’il est descendu c’est a si petite compaignie qu’il n’en est
point de bruit, ne les prisonniers qui furent prins hier a Abbeville n’en
scevent riens et ne le croyent point. . . .” (I do not know what to write to you about the English, for they have done
nothing yet but dance at St. Omer; and we do not know for certain if the King
of England has landed, and if he has landed it is with such a small company
that there is no rumour, nor do the prisoners who were taken yesterday at
Abbeville know anything about it, and
P 209
they do not believe it. . < .) It is extraordinary how difficult it
was to get news in those days, for in point of fact the King of England had
landed at Calais a fortnight before.
The proposal of Edward IV to make war on France had been well received in
England, and generous supplies were voted by the Parliament and the clergy,
while large sums were also obtained from rich people by the simple plan of
benevolences; nominally free gifts, but in truth a most oppressive tax. A magnificent
army was prepared, and before embarking, Edward sent Garter king-at-arms, to
summon Louis to give up the kingdom which was his rightful inheritance. The
French King received the herald most courteously, and pointing out that peace
would really be much better than war, he gave the messenger three hundred gold
pieces and thirty yards of rich crimson velvet, which Commines specially
mentions, and adds that the herald expressed the same desire for peace, and
promised his services. When once the English army had reached Dover, it took a
long time to cross the Channel in the five hundred Dutch boats, flat and low,
suitable for the embarkation of horses, which the Duke of Burgundy had sent,
besides the King’s own fleet. Charles had tried to persuade him to land at the
mouth of the Seine, where he might help on one side, while Brittany gave
assistance on the other. But Edward felt safer in landing where he was certain
of no opposition, in his own city of Calais, where he himself arrived on July
3, 1475. He waited there nine days in company with his sister Margaret before
Charles at length made his appearance with only a small escort, not the great
army which the English had
been led to expect. He suggested that he himself should invade France by
way of Lorraine, when he would proceed to Rheims in order to meet Edward there
for his coronation. After assuring the King of England that the Count of St.
Pol, who had seized St. Quentin, would give it up to them, and travelling some
miles on the way, Charles abruptly departed. This was disconcerting, but worse
was to follow, for when the English confidently approached the stronghold of
St. Quentin, they were fired upon from the walls.
The Constable of France was playing a very dangerous game, for he had
managed to injure and insult the three princes whom he had led into his toils.
He had taken St. Quentin from Louis by treachery ; he had three times promised
to yield it to the Duke of Burgundy, and each time had at the last moment
refused to admit his troops; and now he had defied the English. We cannot
unravel his tangled policy, which was soon to meet with the fate which it had
deserved. That summer was unusually wet and stormy, and in this strange
country, laid waste so that there should be no supplies, the English began to
murmur at the treachery they had met with and the hardships which they endured.
It was this propitious moment which the King of France chose to open
negotiations with Edward who, grown stout and luxurious, was already sick of
the campaign. Commines tells the story with much detail, for he was called upon
to “disguise one of his menial servants with a herald’s coat ... as the King
was not so vain as to have either herald or trumpeter in his train.” The banner
of a trumpeter was made into a herald’s tabard, and the King’s
messenger was sent to the English camp and brought into the presence of
Edward. He said, according to his instructions, that the King of France had
always desired to have peace between the two realms, and that the Duke of
Burgundy, who had invited him over, had only done so to gratify his own selfish
ambition. The herald added that his master knew what great expense this
expedition had been, and would propose such terms as would satisfy both the
English King and his people. He asked therefore that a safe conduct should be
sent for the ambassadors of the King of France that the subject might be
discussed. These advances were favourably received ; the herald was presented
with four nobles, and it was arranged that, with proper safe- conducts, the
commissioners of both kingdoms should meet at a little village near Amiens. On
the side of the King of France there were the Bastard of Bourbon Admiral of
France, the Bishop of Evreux, the Chancellor Doriole, and others; while on the
side of England there were the Lord Howard, Thomas St. Leger, William Dudley,
and John Morton, Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury.
The terms finally agreed upon were that the French should pay 75,000
crowns for the expenses of the war, and a yearly pension of 50,000 crowns, in
two instalments, such payment to continue only during the life of either
Prince. There is to be a truce of seven years, ending at sunset on August 29,
1482, and the kings of France and England undertake to assist each other
against enemies or rebellious subjects. The Dauphin Charles is to marry the
Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV, as soon as they are both of
marriageable age, the French King engaging to settle on the
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Dauphine an income of 60,000 crowns. Louis also made a special point of
the release of Marguerite of Anjou, and agreed to pay for her a ransom of
50,000 crowns. These terms were accepted by Edward IV and his council, many of
whom had been largely bribed by Louis, who was willing to part with his money
freely, but would not yield any territory. If he could only have peace, he was
convinced that the prosperity and activity of his commerce would more than pay
back the money. Even before the treaty was signed, he made arrangements about
borrowing the large sum required, and “he was able to do this the more easily, as
he had always repaid his creditors with an honesty then most rare amongst
princes.” This is part of the letter he wrote to the Chancellor on August 23,
1475 :—
“ Monseigneur le chancelier, I send you a copy of the letters which
Monseigneur de St. Pierre has written to me, by which you will see the good
news which has come to me, for which I praise God and our Lady and Monseigneur
St. Martin. And it is necessary that we have all our sum at Amiens before
Wednesday evening, and still something more to give to private persons liite
Monseigneur de Havart and others. . . . And for that I pray you, Monseigneur le
chancelier, above all as you love my good, my honour, and that of the kingdom,”
“faites diligence et ne faillez pas k ce besoing, car si faulte y avoit, vous
me feriez ung dommaige irreparable ...” “let there be no fault, that they may
have no cause to make any rupture in that which has been appointed. ...” After
all was settled, we find Louis writing to various cities to announce what he
has
done and to ask for subsidies: HarfLeur, 400 1.1. ; Poitiers, 2000 1. t.
; Lyons, 3000 1. t. ; Orleans, Bourges, Issoudun, etc.
It was arranged that the two kings were to meet at Pecquigny on the
Somme, about three leagues from Amiens. A bridge was thrown across the river
with a wooden grating, “rather like a lion’s cage,” in the middle through which
they shook hands. Louis remarked that there was no one in the world he had so
much desired to see. Commines, who was very proud of being in the King’s
company, that day describes Edward as “ un tres beau prince et grand, mais il
commen5oit a s’engresser. . . .” (A very handsome big prince, but he was
beginning to grow fat. . . .) “They both swore to the treaty, with one hand on
a missal and the other on a crucifix, and after this they had some pleasant
talk.” The English army was entertained with sumptuous and somewhat dangerous
hospitality at Amiens, before returning to Calais and embarking once more for
England after a bloodless campaign.
Charles of Burgundy was furious when he heard of the proposed truce, and
did his utmost to oppose it, but in vain. As for the Constable de St. Pol, he
so far forgot himself as to write to Edward that he was “a cowardly,
dishonoured, and paltry king,” and this insult provoked the King of England to
betray the Count’s long course of treason to Louis. In fact, St. Pol had
betrayed all his allies in turn, and when they combined against him, his case
was hopeless. The Duke of Burgundy, to whose protection he fled, betrayed him
into the hands of the King of France for the price of a free hand in Lorraine,
and the just
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sentence of death was passed upon the Constable of France, a man of the
highest rank in the kingdom and akin to most of the sovereigns in Europe. “ Duquel dictum et sentence il se trouva fort
perpleux, car il ne cuidoit pas que le Roy ni sa justice le deussent faire
mourir.” Thus perished on December 19, 1475, one who had
sinned beyond all forgiveness, and the people of Paris rejoiced in the death of
the great noble whom they held responsible for many wars, and saw with
satisfaction that justice was meted out to the highest in the land as well as
the lowest. The wife of St. Pol, Marie of Savoy, the Queen’s sister, had died a
short time before, and was spared this last sorrow.
Only the very strongest necessity could have driven to this severity
Louis, who was usually so ready to forgive his enemies. Of this clemency he
gave an example a few days later by setting free from the castle of the Louvre,
Jean Duke of Alenin, who had so many times rebelled against him.
1475-7
Treaty
of Soleure between France and Burgundy —Charles of Burgundy invades the Swiss
Territory—Granson surrenders—Defeat of Charles— Battle of Morat, another
Victory for the Swiss —Yolande of Savoy and her Family seized by command of
Charles—Louis XI
rescues his Sister— Siege of Nancy—Defeat
and Death of Charles Duke of Burgundy—Policy of Louis XI—Occupation of Duchy of Burgundy.
On
September 13, 1475, the Treaty of Soleure was signed
between Louis XI and Charles of Burgundy, by which all hostilities were to
cease for nine years, and France gave up the alliance of the Emperor Frederick,
of Sigismund of Austria, and of Cologne, amongst many other conditions
concerning various towns and matters of commerce. This left the Duke at liberty
to carry out his latest design of annexing Lorraine, and he made a triumphant
entrance into Nancy, which he declared he would choose as the capital of his
great kingdom and his place of abode. During the time when he was engaged
before Neuss and in Picardy, the Swiss had given him much provocation, and his
mind was now set upon revenge. The Confederates had invaded Franche-Comte and
sacked Pontarlier, they had taken places belonging to
216
MAXIMILIAN TELLS HIS
FATHER (FREDERICK III) THE MESSAGE OF MARIE OF BURGUNDY By Burg km air Woodcut
from Der Weiss-Kilnig
HAWKING
By L. Beck Wend cut
from Der Weiss-Kiinig
To face p 216
the Prince of Orange in the Jura, and they had sacked and destroyed with
the greatest cruelty the towns of Morat and Estavayer. The Count de Romont,
Lord of the Pays de Vaud, was urgent in his appeal for help against his
enemies, refusing to accept any compensation from them, and Charles was only
too eager for the fray. He would listen to no
advice; as Com- mines tells us, Louis tried to persuade him to wait awhile: “le
sollicitoit fort qu’il laissast en paix ces pauvres gens de Suisse, et qu’il
reposast son armee.
. . . A riens ne voulut ledit due entendre; et ja le conduisoit son
malheur ” (begged him very much that he would leave the poor Swiss in peace,
and that he would rest his army. . . . The said Duke would listen to nothing,
and thus he was led to his misfortune). Other writers also assure us that the
King did all he could to dissuade Charles from this war, and offered to
mediate. He declared that the Swiss were the stoutest fighters in Christendom ;
had he not found it so at St. Jacques? By the advice of Louis, the Swiss sent
deputies to the Duke offering to make any amends in their power and to buy
peace at any price, although they were so poor that “the bits of his horses
contained more gold than could be found in their mountains.”
The Duke of Burgundy left Nancy on January n,
1476, and on the 23rd arrived at
Besanfon, where he ratified his treaty with the Emperor, and also gave a
definite promise that his daughter Marie, who was now nineteen, should become
the wife of Maximilian. Continuing his journey, he crossed the Jura early in
February, in bad weather, and during four days remained at the summit of the
pass while his great army, the
217
strong artillery and numerous wagons containing sumptuous treasures,
slowly crept over the snowy ridge. On the 12th, he reached Orbe and took up his
abode in the castle. On hearing of his coming, the men of Bern sent urgent
messages in every direction to summon their neighbours and allies to their
help, but at first there was but little response, until a few days later the
news arrived that Granson was besieged. The five hundred men in the garrison
all belonged to the Canton and most of them to the town itself, and now indeed
the frantic appeal, ending with “Quick! Quick ! Come ! Come ! ” met with such a
gallant arming and hurrying forth, that it was plain the spirit of the people
was roused at last.
Granson lies close to the lake of Neuchatel, at the foot of the gently
sloping base of the mountains, pathless, wooded, and with deep ravines. The
town was taken by assault on the 21st, but the garrison retreated into the
castle, which was strongly fortified, although there had not been time to
provision it. The fire of the besiegers was incessant and destructive; soon the
defences of the gates were shot away ; the main tower and the bulwarks were in
ruins, while most terrible to them of all, the unfortunate besieged saw four
vessels, coming to rescue them by water, driven back by the fire of the enemy.
All hope was now at an end for them, and the garrison surrendered under a
promise that their lives would be spared, but, apparently in a fit of fury,
Charles gave orders that they should all be hung at once, on that fatal Ash
Wednesday.
For this cruel massacre swift retribution was at hand. Two days later the
men of Bern and their allies reached the northern shores of the lake in great
force,
2 [8
consisting of picked men from the various Cantons full of a fierce desire
for vengeance, with “ Granson !” as their battle-cry. As they came over the
ridge above Vaumarcus, they were surprised to find apparently the whole
Burgundian army spread out before them and advancing towards the pass. Had
Charles expected a direct attack from his foes he would probably have remained
in his fortified camp, but he believed they would only obstruct his way to
Neuchatel. His plan now was to draw the Swiss down into the plain, where he
might surround and overwhelm them with his cavalry. This backward movement,
which occurred after some vigorous fighting, was mistaken by the Confederates
for a retreat, and as they advanced in pursuit, it so chanced that a great body
of their allies suddenly emerged from the gorge with the sun shining full on
their banners and glittering lances. Seeing the mfilee below, they raised a
mighty shout and rushed forward, whereupon the army of Burgundy in sudden
panic, thought the day was lost, and in a few minutes the greater part was in
full flight. In vain Charles and his nobles dashed into the retiring squadrons
and strove to arrest them ; all that could now be done was to cover the retreat
and by successive charges save his host from destruction, and not until the
camp was entirely deserted was he at length drawn away by some faithful
companions, almost by force, when his life was in deadly peril.
There was no very great loss of life, as the army of Burgundy was saved
by its rapid flight; but never was anything seen like the marvellous spoil left
behind in the camp. Besides the artillery, the stores, the tents, the
richly-painted banners, there were all the
219
costly treasures which the dukes of Burgundy had accumulated ; gorgeous
tapestries, hundredweights of gold and silver plate, the sword of state whose
hilt was studded with precious stones, three of the greatest historical
diamonds in the world, a profusion of other precious stones, robes of silk, satin,
and cloth of gold, an immense amount of silver coins, and more riches than we
can even enumerate. Duke Charles had doubtless looked forward to dazzling the
courts of Italy with his magnificence, which now fell into the hands of the
Cantons and is carefully recorded in their archives. But the greatest loss of
all to Charles was the “fame of his arms and the terror of his name.”
During this time, Louis was at Lyons in order to have the earliest
intelligence from the seat of war. It was a most critical time for him as
Commines says : “ The Duke of Milan was the ally of Charles of Burgundy ; he
disposed of the House of Savoy as if it were his own ; the King Rene of Sicily
wished to place the land of Provence in his hands. ... At this time there came
to the King the captain of the Italian mercenaries, one Campo Basso, who
offered to poison his master the Duke Charles, or deliver him into the hands of
the King. ...” Louis would not listen to this treachery, but at once sent word
of it to the Duke who refused to believe it. “ Parquoy vous voyez que Dieu lui troubla le sens en cet endroit.” “Quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat ” is the constant refrain of this
shrewd observer, who, although a faithful servant of Louis, always speaks with
affection of his first patron. After the defeat of Charles at Granson, most of
his allies forsook him and tried to make their peace with
220
the King of France. Ren6 of Anjou came to meet him at Lyons and was most
kindly received ; a treaty was signed between them by which Louis restored to
him the revenues of Anjou ; after Charles of Maine, Rene of Vaudemont was to be
his successor, but Provence was to return to the Crown failing direct heirs.
The King’s uncle had every reason to be grateful to him, as it was to his
generosity that he owed the ransom of his daughter Marguerite, who had been
restored to her father a few months before and had taken up her abode with him
in the beautiful castle of Reculee, near Angers. With his passionate love of
art and literature, Rene would find much to interest him in the splendid
churches of the city, which Louis had filled with rare treasures, with the rich
brocades and tapestries made by his command; and above all in the new printing
press founded by the King’s liberality in 1473) with its wonderful productions.
The Legende Doree, in folio, with the Lives of the Saints, was at that very
time being brought out. When the old Prince departed, he was laden with rich
presents, jewels, rare manuscripts, and other treasures to add to his fine
collection.
Charles of Burgundy had fallen ill with grief and disappointment, but he
had set his heart upon revenge, and nothing would turn him from his purpose.
With infinite labour and expense, he had raised before the end of May a more
powerful army than that which took to flight at Granson, and full of reckless
confidence he advanced from Lausanne against his archenemy Bern by way of
Morat. All Europe was prepared to watch with breathless interest the great
drama on the point of beginning, and on which so much
221
depended. The Emperor was full of hope, the King of Hungary of fear,
whatever might chance. Edward IV had sent his brother-in-law Rivers to be on
the spot; Yolande of Savoy, at Gex, had constant prayers and processions ;
while the Duke of Milan kept relays of couriers from his palace to the
Burgundian camp ; and Louis XI, the most interested of all, awaited the event
at Lyons.
The town of Morat is situated upon the eastern bank of the lake of that
name, about two leagues to the south-east of the lake of Neuchatel, at a point
where four roads converge, two skirting the marshy banks of the lake, and the
others leading across the densely- wooded hills to the bed of the Saane, in
different directions. Morat was besieged on June 8, and three days later an
attempt to take it by assault was repelled with great loss. Moreover the town,
still accessible from the lake, was constantly receiving fresh munitions and
reinforcements, and the garrison fought with splendid courage and endurance. As
on the previous occasion, Bern found it at first difficult to rouse the
Confederates, but once alive to the danger of Morat, there was a splendid
mustering from all the cities of the League, and on the evening of the 19th
almost all the expected levies had arrived close at hand at Ulmitz—more than
thirty thousand picked men, amongst them the gallant young Rene of Lorraine
with a small company of mercenaries. The men of Zurich were the last to arrive,
after truly heroic efforts. They had struggled into Bern in less than three
days of incessant marching, utterly exhausted; but when they learnt how urgent
was the need, they set forth again at midnight in darkness and storm, many
dropping by the way ere
222
the bridge at Gtimmingen was crossed. They entered the camp through a
lane of spears, amid shouts of welcome from the comrades who had waited for
them, at their earnest entreaty.
The delay they had caused proved, in fact, one cause of success.
Saturday, June the 22nd, was thfe anniversary of the battle of Laupen, won in
1399, and the Swiss attack being expected on this day, the troops of Burgundy
had been drawn up at dawn in battle order, in the place selected by their
leader. But after six hours of drenching rain, as no enemy appeared, they
dispersed to their quarters, laid aside their arms, and devoted themselves to
rest and refreshment. It was then, at noon, that the Swiss army suddenly broke
out from the forest and advanced with the steady impetuous courage which no
enemy could resist. The artillery of Burgundy swept down the cavalry until
their guns were taken, but the infantry pressed on towards the camp, and
against the serried ranks of spears the squadrons dashed themselves in vain.
The rout, commencing on the right wing, soon became general, for when Charles
gave the order to fall back that he might reform his troops on more favourable
ground, all concerted resistance was at an end. Yet the struggle was long and
terrible before the army of Burgundy was swept from the field ; it is believed
that two-thirds of that splendid army fell in battle, were massacred in the
pursuit for no prisoners were taken, or drowned in the waters of the lake. The
fighting lasted till the close of the long summer day, when the conquerors
returned to the camp to share the spoil, but this time they found little booty
beyond a great stock of provisions, banners, arms, and artillery.
223
/
News of the battle reached Yolande Duchess of Savoy at Gex early on the
Sunday morning, and it was confirmed before night by the arrival of the Duke of
Burgundy with a small escort of less than a hundred horse. He tried to persuade
her to accompany him to Franche-Comte with her children, and on her refusal he
gave secret orders to his chamberlain to seize the whole royal family of Savoy
on their way to Geneva. Olivier de la Marche unwillingly obeyed, but failed in
an important point, as the eldest son, Duke Philibert, escaped through the
presence of mind of his governor. This most unchivalrous and ungrateful deed
was therefore a failure.
This was the letter of congratulation which Louis XI wrote, July i6,
1476, to the “Avoyers” and counsellors of the city of Bern. “ Erlachtesten herren, ouch aller furliebsten
friind, and durch Gots gnad aller unuberwindlichesten. Illustrious lords and very special friends, by the grace of God most
invincible, we have learnt by your letters . . . that the Duke of Burgundy, our
common enemy, has criminally invaded your country with intention and will to
destroy the country entirely. . . . Seeing which God in His mercy has prevented
and has given you the victory and triumph in ordered battle, on the above . . .
and has delivered into your hands his train with all his munitions of war,
which to us has been a great comfort as a thing expected and ardently desired .
. . and to obtain at length a most happy peace, with the assistance of Him Who
procures eternal peace, and may the same deliver you from your enemies and
protect you by His goodness, for the continual increase of your name and your
lordship. ...”
When Louis heard that his sister Yolande had been imprisoned by the Duke
of Burgundy he was much disturbed, and immediately took steps to keep order in
Savoy, and also to procure the freedom of the Duchess and her family from the
chateau of Rouvres, where she was confined. When she came to him at Tours, he
received her with the utmost affection, only saluting her with: “ Soyez la
bienvenue, Madame la Bourguignonne.” “ Elle connut bien a sa visage qu’il ne se faisoit que jouer ; et
repondit bien sagement qu’elle estoit bonne Franfoise, et preste d’obeyr au
roy, en ce qu’il luy plairoit luy commander.” Commines goes on to say that the King “ordered him to supply her money
while she was at the Court and for her journey home, and to provide her with
silken stuffs. When she took leave of the King he saw to her safe escort home,
and gave her back her children, and all her places and her rings and everything
that belonged to her. They were both glad to part, and have remained since
good brother and sister until death.”
Before the Duchess left, a deputation arrived from the Swiss League, who
were splendidly received and loaded with presents, and Adrian of Bubemberg
their president, was honoured with the collar of St. Michael. An embassy also
arrived from the Duke of Brittany for the execution of a fresh treaty, of the
kind which he had so often made and broken before.
After his defeat at Morat, the Duke of Burgundy retreated to the castle
of La Rivi&re, near Pontarlier, where he spent nearly two months, a prey to
gloomy despair. Bad news reached him from every side, but when he heard that
Rene had collected an army and with the help of Alsace was invading Lorraine, Q 225
his savage rage knew no bounds, and he set himself to the difficult task
of collecting an army. He found it necessary to promise double pay in order to
keep his own men, and he could not induce the burghers of Flanders to listen to
his mandates and invectives, and advance him the large sums of money he
demanded. Meantime Rene of Lorraine was making good progress, for many of the
towns submitted to him at once as their rightful lord, and others were 'taken
after slight resistance. At last the gallant young Prince arrived before Nancy,
which was bravely defended at first by its Burgundian garrison and a company of
English archers, but when the provisions began to fail and there seemed no hope
of relief, the soldiers insisted upon a capitulation, which was readily granted
on the most honourable terms. When the Governor, the Lord of Bievres, son of
Jacqueline de Croy, rode out from the city gate, Rene bowed the knee before his
cousin and thanked him for having so well governed his duchy.
Charles was at that very time advancing to the rescue of Nancy, and he
reached Toul on October 2nd, to hear that the beleaguered city had fallen three
days before. Rene’s army was not numerous enough for a pitched battle, and he
therefore left a strong garrison in his capital, and finding that the city was
now provisioned for two months, he promised to return within that time bringing
fresh levies, or give up the struggle. His only hope was now in the Swiss
League, and he hastened to Basel, where he appealed to the assembly of
deputies. But he had much opposition to contend with, for the Pope, the
Emperor, and the King of Hungary were alarmed at the dangerous position of
226
Charles, and were doing their utmost to make peace. However, with the
help of large advances of money from the King of France, Rene was able to
enlist a paid army of mercenaries from the Cantons, and at length, after Mass
on Christmas Day, the young Duke set forth with an army which had reached the
number of twenty thousand by the time when he arrived before the walls of
Nancy. It was some weeks since the two months had expired, and the besieged
were reduced to the last extremity by famine and the terrible severity of the
winter, from which, however, the army of Burgundy outside the walls had
suffered most.
This was the moment which Campo Basso chose for his treacherous desertion
of the Duke of Burgundy, but when he attempted to join the enemy, the Swiss
refused to fight with a traitor. In vain the faithful vassals of Charles
endeavoured to persuade him to avoid an engagement in the weakened condition of
his army and to withdraw while there was yet time. But the unconquered spirit
of the Duke was that of a lion at bay, and he fiercely put aside all such
counsel; he had resolved to go forth and meet the enemy, not await their
coming.
On the “Vigil of the Kings,” Sunday, January 5,
1477, the reveille sounded before
daybreak, and under cover of darkness, the Burgundian army was led a “short
half-league” to the south-east where the road to St. Nicolas enters a forest,
near a little rivulet flowing into the Meurthe. Here Charles placed his
artillery in front on a mound commanding the road by which the foe must come,
and behind it the archers and pike- men drawn up in a square, like those of the
Swiss, while the wings on each side were composed of cavalry.
227
As he fastened his helmet, we are told that the golden lion of Flanders
on the crest fell to the ground, but he would not have it replaced. “Hoc est
signum Dei,” he said. While the morning wore away a heavy snowstorm came on,
but it passed at noon, and as the sun burst through the clouds, the troops of
Rene, whose scouts had brought news of the manoeuvre, came down the wooded hill
from an unlooked-for quarter, and of a sudden the two hostile armies were face
to face. Although the gunners were unable to turn their pieces, yet there was
time for Charles to bring forward his archers, and the attacking force suffered
severely, for their weapons caught in the brambles and they had difficulty in
making their way out. But before long the attack was general, and the
overwhelming number and magnificent valour of the Swiss levies had soon decided
the fate of the battle.
Ever in the thick of the fight, leading, encouraging, charging with
desperate courage, the image of the mighty Duke on his black horse long
remained the ideal of a splendid warrior, alike for friend and foe. Almost the
last to leave that fatal field, he was borne onward by the flying host, with a
little band of chivalrous nobles closing in around him. How he fell is still
shrouded in mystery, although many traditions have gathered round his end, in
that fearful scene of bloodshed and destruction from whence but few escaped of
the routed host. It is said that two days later his body, stripped of his
splendid armour and scarcely to be recognized, was found embedded in the mud on
the banks of the frozen stream, and buried with all reverence by Rene, the
young conqueror.
So surpassing thad been the fame of Charles of
228
Burgundy, so dazzling the glamour which clung to his personality, that we
are told it was long before his subjects really believed in his death. A fall
so great and sudden could not be possible ; their Duke was but biding his time,
and would come again to shine forth in greatness and glory.
With regard to the character of Charles, the estimate given by Freeman is
very suggestive. “The novels of Scott have led people to see nothing but an
embodiment of brute force in a man whose very mixed character is a really
instructive study of human nature. It would be an abuse of words to call
Charles either a great man or a good man ; but there were in his character
strong elements both of greatness and goodness.” He speaks of the Duke’s
inflexible will, his stern and unbending justice, combined with utter
indifference to human suffering. Of this, notable instances were seen at
Dinant and Liege, and we cannot acquit him, on various occasions, of the
treachery which is not usually associated with outspoken violence. Yet, as
Commines says, “To speak truth, he was endowed with many good qualities,” and
as we read the tragedy of his downfall, all our sympathy is with him.
There is a curious letter written by Louis at Plessis- du-Parc, on
January 9, 1477. He had not yet heard of the death of the Duke of Burgundy, but
knew that a battle had been fought. “To the Counsellors and inhabitants of
Dijon. De par le roy. Chiers et bien amez, nous
avons s?eu l’inconvenient advenu a beaul frere de Bourgoingne, dont nous
desplaist.” (We have heard of the inconvenience which has
befallen our fair brother of Burgundy, at which we are troubled.) “And if it
were so that his person were taken or
229
dead, which God forbid, you know that . . . his daughter is our near
relation and god-daughter, whose rights we would keep in such a way as our own,
. . . and we advise you that you place yourselves in no other hands than ours,
and we will maintain the rights of our said god-daughter. ...” The King also
wrote on the same day to the Lord of Craon to take possession of the duchy and
county of Burgundy if he should hear of the Duke’s death. This was justifiable
with regard to the duchy, which was a male fief but returned to the Crown as
there was no male heir, and Louis had no right to the county of Burgundy
(Franche- Comte), and as for his suggestion of the Dauphin as the husband of
Marie of Burgundy, this would certainly cause a war with Edward IV, whose
little daughter was already called the “ Dauphine.”
On receiving certain news of the death of Charles, the King of France
wrote to the different towns in the duchy of Burgundy, pointing out that it had
reverted to the Crown by the conditions under which it was given by Jean II le
Bon to his son Philip in 1363. He had the support of the Prince of Orange and
the Bishop of Langres, who induced the burghers to accept quietly the French
occupation. In the north, the towns of the Somme were French at heart, and soon
opened their gates to Louis, some by means of a golden key. By the Treaty of Peronne,
their return by purchase had been stipulated for. Commines and the Admiral of
Bourbon were well received, both at Abbeville and St. Quentin, and also won
over Philip de Crevecoeur the Governor of Arras, while the lands of Ponthieu,
Santerre, and Vermandois made no resistance when the King himself reached
them. As for the
230
heiress of Duke Charles, she had sent a protest to the town of Dijon
against the occupation of the duchy by France, but she could make no armed
resistance, for she was detained by the burghers of Ghent, who rejoiced in
their freedom from the stern rule of Charles, and resolved to make the most of
their opportunity.
Were not the last moments of the headstrong Charles the Rash troubled by
thoughts of the young daughter whom he left powerless to protect her vast
inheritance? For in truth this was the immediate result of his overthrow. The
much-desired Marie of Burgundy, the cynosure of all Europe, to whose hand her
father had suffered so many princes to aspire, now found herself a defenceless
girl in the midst of grasping and exultant foes.
1477-81
Assassination
of Galeazzo Duke of Milan—Louis invades Franche-Comt£—Troubles in the Netherlands—The
Men of Ghent put to Death the Ministers of Marie of Burgundy—Revolt of Arras
cruelly repressed—Picardy laid waste—Marriage of Maximilian of Austria and
Marie of Burgundy —Truce with France—Failing health of Louis XI.
The tidings of another
disaster reached the King of France at about the same time as that of the
battle of Nancy. On the morrow of Christmas Day, Galeazzo Sforzo, Duke of
Milan, was assassinated at the doors of the church of San Stefano. The tragic
story is well known—how his wife Bona had a presentiment of evil and prayed him
to remain at home, and how the Duke was struck down by a courtier he had
wronged, as he entered the great doorway while the choir sang “Sic transit
gloria mundi.” It so chanced that his two brothers, Lodovico and Sforza, Duke
of Bari, were at that moment the guests of Louis XI, as, weary of inaction,
they had been travelling in France, and after visiting Angers and Paris they
had come to spend Christmas at Tours, although the Duke of Milan, so long the
friend of France, had joined the side of Burgundy. On January 9, Louis wrote to
inform the people of Poitiers of this event, as it
232
appears to have been his friendly custom to share any important news at
once with his faithful subjects.
“ Chers et bien amez, nous avons sceu puis
aucuns jours la detestable et cruelle mort de . . . feu nostre beau frere le
due de Milan, a qui Dieu pardoint . . Then he
gives particulars of the “cruel and execrable deed . . . the inhuman crime. . .
Yet after expressing all this reprobation, Louis gives an instance of his
curious cold detachment of mind by writing three days later to Poitiers,
ordering festal processions to celebrate the death of his enemies the Duke of
Milan and the Duke of Burgundy. He will openly rejoice over the downfall of his
foes in the spirit of the ancient Israelites, after having clearly expressed
his detestation of any crimes by which it was accomplished. In subsequent
letters we find that Louis proved himself a good friend to the widowed Bona,
Duchess of Milan, who was to suffer so much from her brother-in-law Lodovico,
and who was always “dame de petit sens.” It was at this time that Louis of
Orleans, afterwards Louis XII, now a boy of fourteen, tried to persuade the
King to uphold his rights to Milan, inherited from his grandmother Valentine
Visconti, and this early ambition should have proved a warning to Louis XI.
We find in other letters of this period, the extreme care which he gives
to the order and discipline of his army, and he made his treasurers swear to
pay the men punctually, to pay in money, never in kind . . . and to watch over
the interests of the inhabitants of garrisoned towns. While Louis was at
Peronne he gave audience to an embassy from the Duke of Brittany, who wished to
be reassured that the Treaty of Senlis
held good. He also received the deputies sent by Marie of Burgundy, the
leaders being two faithful ministers of Duke Charles, both of French birth: the
Chancellor Hugenot and the Lord of Humbercourt. They brought a letter signed by
the young Duchess in which she very unwisely announced that these two lords,
with Margaret of York and Adolphe of Cleves, were her four chosen advisers, by
whose counsel she would be guided. Now the estates of Flanders, and other
representatives of the mer landen, had recently met at Ghent early in February,
1477, and had compelled Marie to sign the “ Groote Privilegie,” which revoked
all the encroachments of Charles upon their privileges, and gave them
extraordinary powers of selfgovernment. She appears also to have promised to
do nothing without their advice, and to dismiss the two French lords from her
council.
But when Louis was at the cite of Arras, of which he took possession on
March 5, he received another embassy, this time from the men of Ghent, and
being in doubt of their authority to treat with him, he showed them the
previous letter of Marie, which he had not been asked to keep secret. The civic
deputies returned to Ghent full of their discovery, to find that the storm had
already broken out, and that the town was furious at the suspicion that Hugenot
was persuading their Duchess to escape to France. Their news about the letter
may have been the last straw, for Hugenot and Humbercourt, who had been
arrested on March 4, were tried three weeks later by a commission of only eight
nobles and a number of burghers, and found guilty. In vain Marie appeared
before the judges and made a touching appeal for her friends, and when they
were condemned, hurried alone into the market-place, and with tears
besought that they might be spared. But nothing could soften the vindictive
obstinacy of the citizens, and after being tortured to extract a confession,
these two noble and faithful servants of the House of Burgundy were put to
death on April 3. The Dowager Duchess Margaret of York and the Sire of
Ravestein had made their escape, for several other well-known supporters of
Burgundy were executed, and Marie herself, now deprived of her friends, was
closely watched and kept in a kind of honourable imprisonment.
Louis XI had kept Easter at Therouanne and then moved on to Hesdin, which
he took, permitting the garrison to march out with all the honours of war. From
Hesdin he wrote to the Count of Boulogne that he had taken Boulogne, and as it
was such an important place and so difficult to defend, he would not hand it
over to him, but would give him the county of Lauraguais instead as an
indemnity. Soon after this, Arras revolted with the help of some Burgundians,
who threw themselves into the town. They insulted the French garrison, hurled
defiance at the King in satirical rhymes, and succeeded in wounding him when he
appeared in person before the walls to watch the effect of his new artillery. He thus writes on the subject: “ Au regard de
ma blessure, 5’a este le due de Bretaigne qui le m’a fait faire, pour ce qui me
appelloit le roy couart...” (the coward king).
Louis probably meant that this taunt of the Duke of Brittany caused him to
expose himself rashly. The whole story of the treatment of Arras by Louis XI
remains so serious a blot upon his reign that it must be given
with full details. When the seditious party in the town rebelled against
the French occupation, they appear to have sent a deputation to Marie of Burgundy,
obtaining a safe conduct by some pretext; while at the same time a large body
of Flemish troops advanced to the help of the revolted citizens. Looking upon
this as a piece of concerted treachery, Louis ordered the deputies to be
overtaken and brought back to Hesdin, where they were tried and condemned to
death by the Provost-Marshal. Half the number were beheaded. The King thus
relates the story: “ Ceux dudit Arras s’estoient assemblez bien vingt deux ou
vingt trois pour aller en ambassade devers mademoiselle de Bourgoigne. Ilz ont este prins et les instructions qu’ilz
portoient, et ont eu les testes trenchees car ils m’avoient fait une fois
serment. II y en avoit un entre les autres, maistre Oudart de Bussy, a qui
j’avois donne une seigneurie au parle- ment; et enfin qu’on congneust bien sa
teste, je l’ai faicte atourner d’ung beau chaperon fourre, et est sus le marche
d’Hesdin la ou il preside.” (Those of Arras had
assembled, twenty-two or twenty-three to go on an embassy to Mademoiselle of
Burgundy. They have been taken with the instructions they bore, and have been
beheaded, for they had sworn an oath to me. There was amongst the others, one
M. Oudart de Bussy, whom I had made a councillor of the Parle- ment; and in
order that his head might be recognized I caused it to be adorned with a
handsome fur-cap, and it is above the market-place of Hesdin where he
presides.) This grim jest, the only one of the kind which we find in the whole
of the King’s immense correspondence, reminds us of the brutal custom of the
236
day, and especially of the Duke of York’s head with a paper crown, placed
on the walls of York by Marguerite of Anjou a few years earlier. But if Louis
thought to rule the turbulent citizens by the terror of these executions, he
was woefully mistaken, for they continued their course of conspiracy and
sedition, until at length, in 1479, he was so incensed against them that he
actually tried the desperate remedy of expelling the inhabitants of Arras,
destroying its fortifications, re- peopling it with settlers from other towns,
and changing its name to “Franchise.” But this was beyond the power of even an
absolute King; the strangers were slow to come, and the citizens returned to
their deserted homes after the Peace of Arras (1482), while Arras it remains to
this day.
We cannot exonerate Louis for this terrible act of despotism, although it
may have fallen far short of the massacre of the whole population of Dinant,
Liege, and Nesle by the Duke of Burgundy. Louis may have hoped to insure the
peace in other cities by so severe an example, but as all such universal
punishment is necessarily unjust, he committed a crime which no treachery or
rebellion can excuse.
Returning to the campaign iq Picardy of the spring of 1477, we find Louis
writing to Dammartin on May 7. “ I have taken Arras. ... I will join you with a
good company.” From this date we can trace the whole course of the King’s conquests
in Artois from the headings of his many letters. St. Omer was the only place
which held out, for Tournay, which paid a yearly sum to remain neutral, was
persuaded by Olivier le Daim to receive a French garrison at the very moment
when it was threatened by Burgundy.
The King arrived before Cambray, a free city very strongly fortified,
owing homage to the Empire. The inhabitants remembered that they had once
belonged to France and opened their gates to Louis and his suite, replacing the
Imperial eagle on their standard by the royal lilies. But when a truce was
concluded later, the King humorously suggested that the mayor had better put
his bird up again some fine night and say that it had come back with the
swallows. He retained still his jurisdiction as Viscount of Cambray. At the
siege of Bouchain, towards the end of May, 1477, Tanneguy du Chatel, the
devoted servant of both Charles VII and his son, was fatally wounded by the
King’s side, to his great sorrow. He caused the brave soldiers to be buried at
Notre Dame de Clery, by the side of the tomb prepared for himself. When
Bouchain had fallen, Le Quesnoy was next taken, and here Raoul de Lannoy
distinguished himself so greatly that the King said to him : “You are too
fierce in battle, my friend, you need a chain ” ; and then gave him the collar
of St. Michael which he was wearing. When Louis arrived before Avesnes, the
town had arranged to surrender, but the inhabitants revolted, tore up the royal
letter without reading it, and fired on the messengers. As a punishment, the
place was destroyed by fire and sword ; a most regrettable incident, but in
strict accordance with the customs of war, which was not carried on in those
days with rose-water methods.
Valenciennes and other towns of Hainault still held out, and it is very
painful to read of villages burnt and the country laid waste. In a letter
written on June 25th at St. Quentin, we find Louis writing to Dammartin : “Je
vous envoye troys ou quatre mille
238
faucheurs pour faire le gast que vous savez.
Je vous prye, mettez les en besongne, et ne plaignez pas cinq ou six pippes de
vin a les faire bien boyre et & les enyvrer. . . .” (I send you three or four thousand mowers to do the “wasting ” that you
know of. I pray you, set them to work, and do not grudge five or six pipes of
wine to make them drink well and intoxicate them. . . .”) This was to mow down
the growing crops. Another letter adds: “Show that you have seen this done
before, by Salisbury, Talbot, Escalles, and all those people.” It is quite true
that such destruction was the universal custom, but nothing can excuse such
conduct.
On July 2nd, Louis writes to send war news to the people of Abbeville,
Rheims, and other towns. “ Last Friday, the Duke of Guelders came with 10,000
or 12,000 Flemings to set fire to the suburbs of Tour- nay . . . and they were
driven out . . . and the said Duke of Guelders was struck down and carried dead
into the said town of Tournay. . . . and two days after in the battle ‘ Dieu
merci, Nostre Dame et Mon- seigneur St. Martin,’ there remained on the field
7000 to 8000 Flemings, 800 to 1000 prisoners, 800 chariots with artillery, etc.
...”
This was Adolphus Duke of Guelders who had behaved so cruelly to his
father, and who was the husband chosen by the men of Ghent for their young
Duchess. But after his death, they were willing to allow Marie to carry out her
father's last intention and marry according to her own choice, the gallant,
handsome, young Maximilian, son of the Emperor, who was now a desirable ally for
the Flemish towns, against France. This wedding, which was to have so im
portant an influence on the future history of Europe, actually took place
at Ghent on August 18th, 1477. The whole picturesque and most interesting story
has been so fully told elsewhere, that I will not repeat it here.1 A
temporary truce was concluded early in September, between Maximilian of Austria
and the King of France, which might end at any time with four days’ notice.
The close alliance between Burgundy and the Empire was a great blow to
the policy of Louis, who had other troubles at home during this year. Jean II,
Prince of Orange, his trusted general, forsook him to join the side of
Maximilian, and persuaded many towns to revolt. Then at last the King could no
longer remain blind to the repeated treachery of his early friend Jacques Duke
of Nemours, whom he had rewarded with his title and great estates, and had
spared and forgiven again and again. He was condemned to death by a solemn and
impartial tribunal and executed on August 4th, 1477. But he left a Parthian
shot behind, for in his confession he had implicated almost all the princes of
the blood and the great nobles including Dammartin, and from that time Louis
felt himself to be in such an atmosphere of perfidy and ingratitude that he was
always a prey to suspicion. Brantome says that “his grandmother told him” the
children of Nemours were placed under the scaffold, but no serious historian
has believed this horrible calumny.
Louis felt that his truce with Burgundy could not last long, and we find
in his letters that he is having new and improved cannon made, and is also in
close alliance with the Swiss League, from whom he receives 1
Marguerite of Austriat by Christopher Hare, p. 12.
240
MARIE OF BURGUNDY,
WIFE OF MAXIMILIAN From an old engraving by Suyderhoef
a large force of mercenaries. The Duke of Brittany was betrayed by a
secretary, who told Louis that he was conspiring with England; and when the
King accused him of this treachery, Duke Fran£ois made humble submission and
swore on the true cross to be faithful henceforth. He had no choice, for his
nobles were against him, and Louis had a strong army on the frontier ready to
invade his province, as there was at that moment peace with Maximilian. As for
Edward IV, he had no wish for war with Louis who paid him so well, and who,
by-keeping most of the English ministers in his pay, was sure of their support.
When Edward repeated to him the complaints of Margaret his sister, Duchess
Dowager of Burgundy, Louis replied at once that he would give the Duchess every
compensation for injury done to her towns. The truce with England, which had
been made for seven years, was now prolonged until the death of either King.
There is a curious correspondence between the King of France and the Emperor,
who cannot help his son with money or men, but writes to remonstrate with his
enemy. Louis replies in Latin letters of many pages, in which he points out that
this quarrel of Maximilian has nothing to do with the Empire; that it was by no
fault of his that the lilies of France replaced the Imperial eagle at Cambray ;
that he is amazed that at this critical moment for Christianity, threatened by
the Turks, the Emperor should encourage war, etc. etc. . . .
Louis always kept up great interest in the affairs of Italy. He wrote
friendly letters to the Doge of Venice, who saw in him an ally against the
exactions of Sixtus IV and the ambition of Naples. The men of
R 241
Florence were always the firm allies of Louis, and when on April 26,
1478, Giuliano dei Medici was murdered by the Pazzi in the church of the
Reparata, the King not only wrote to express his indignation and grief in the
strongest terms, but he sent Commines on a special embassy to Lorenzo. When the
Pope joined with Naples to invade the territory of Florence, Louis assembled a
great meeting of clergy at Orleans, where it was declared that a General
Council must be summoned to heal the abuses of the Church. This was the last
thing which Sixtus desired, and he was compelled to allow the kings of France
and England to arbitrate between him and the Republic, which was thus
effectually protected. There are a number of most interesting letters to the
Pope, Milan, Ferrara, Naples, all with the one refrain, “ Peace, peace !”
The Prince of Orange, who was now his bitter enemy, had tried to poison
him, and Louis alludes to “ le prince de Trente Deniers qui nous a voulu empoi-
sonner ...” (comparing Orange to Judas, with his thirty pieces of silver).
In Spain the diplomacy of Louis was as successful as in Italy, for he
concluded a solemn treaty with Ferdinand and Isabel on October 9, 1478, and was
thus at liberty to devote all his energies to the coming contest with
Maximilian, who broke the truce by taking Cambray. Soon after this, Dole was
taken by the French and razed to the ground, and the rest of the province was
not long in submitting. The free city of Besanfon acknowledged the King as
suzerain, and was rewarded by many privileges. The University of Dole was
re-established there. Unfortunately Dammartin, no longer having the King’s full
con-
242
fidence, had been succeeded in command of the army in the north by Philip
de Crevecoeur, who had less experience and caution. Maximilian had advanced to
besiege Therouanne and met the French army about a league south of the city at
Guinegaste, August 7, 1479. Crevecoeur, trusting to his cavalry, charged the
enemy’s horse, who were few in comparison and broke before the vehemence of his
onrush. Forgetting all else, the French general pursued the flying horsemen,
and meanwhile his “ francs-archers ” attacked the Flemish pikemen, who were
splendidly led by Maximilian, and made a steady resistance. The French
garrison of Therouanne sallied forth to help, but passing the Flemish camp on
their way, they stayed to plunderit, and to massacre the helpless camp
followers they found in it. In this it is said that the “francs- archers ”
joined, and this want of discipline lost them the hope of victory, for they
were pursued and cut down by the Flemings. When Crevecoeur and his men-at-arms
returned from the wild pursuit, it was to find their infantry scattered, and
all they could do was to endeavour to cover their retreat, leaving Maximilian
in possession.
The battle had lasted for six hours, seven thousand men are said to have
been left on the field, and, as Sismondi remarks, this battle was “like that of
Mon- tl’hery indecisive and useless to the apparent victor.” They were the only
two battles of importance in the reign of Louis XI, and both were fought
against the King’s wish. After this the system of free archers came to an end,
as a new body of heavy-armed infantry was raised to take their place, and each
town had to contribute money instead of men. This was a source of
great discontent, for the people only saw a new and heavy tax in the
carefully considered scheme by which the King hoped to improve the defence of
the realm. He met with the usual fate of all reformers—misunderstanding and
even hatred. This burden was all the heavier as at the time the health of
Louis, who had never been strong, began to fail visibly. When Commines came
back from his year of absence in Italy as ambassador, he noticed with sorrow
that he “found the King our master somewhat aged and inclined to be sickly.” In
a letter of Louis in June, 1479, to the Bishop of Albi, whom he humorously
calls “ le plus vaillans que fut oncques l’evesque Turpin,” he mentions that
he was travelling to Dijon with his niece Louise of Savoy, daughter of his
sister Yolande, whose marriage he was arranging, when he was taken ill with the
heat. After this we constantly find in his letters allusions to his health, a
desire to avoid the great heats, inquiries about the mortalites of various
places, messengers sent in advance to Dijon and elsewhere to find out if there
is an epidemic in the town, and to Auxerre to ask “s’il fait bon et sein dans
ladicte ville et si la mortalite a cessee.”
The King still continues his incessant journeys all over his kingdom, but
he has become more careful; he asks frequently for prayers for his health, and
he sends urgent orders for “ graines de genievre rouges” (red juniper seeds) to
be sent to him.
But his mental vigour is as great as ever, and we find him taking the
keenest interest in every minute detail of the administration of justice,
sending clear and positive instructions to his governors and generals, and working
for the good of his kingdom with an energy which
244
would wear out a younger man. In his anxiety not to betray the state of
his health to foreign princes, Louis shows more eagerness than ever in sending
for harriers of some famous breed from Flanders, from Brittany or Spain, he
preferred them “ de poil roux,” but he had also some white dogs ; horses from
Naples, a splendid mule from Sicily, and small ponies from Barbary, and for all
these he would pay any price “for his hunting,” although this delight of his
earlier life was now a great effort to him. He had taken deep interest in his
fleet which was now in cbmmand of an experienced admiral, who met with much
success on the coast, and in 1480 captured, on its way to Holland, the whole of
the herring fleet which supplied all Europe with salt fish.
While his own health was becoming precarious, the King felt great anxiety
about the Dauphin Charles who had always been a delicate child, and who remained
at Amboise under the care of his mother. He requires constant news of the boy,
who in 1480 had several attacks of fever and a violent cough, and he shows the
most anxious affection. Thus he writes : “ . . . Do not take Monsieur le
Daulphin out in the fields till February, and send me word to-morrow morning
how he is to-night, for having been out in the fields. . . And again: “If
Monsieur le Daulphin is in good health bring him to see me . . . and pay great
attention to him. ...” If Charles has a cough, there are the most minute
inquiries as to how he caught it, and who is to blame, and if there has been
any neglect, etc. Louis has been accused of neglecting his son’s education,
but he had excellent tutors and if he was backward in his studies, what can we
expect of a sickly
boy of ten whose health was naturally the first consideration ?
Two important events happened in July, 1480: the capture of Otranto by
the Turks, which filled all Christian Europe with dismay, and the death of
Rene of Anjou, Maine, Provence, and Bar, which brought forward the question of
succession to all these provinces. The genial old Duke had spent the last years
of his life in the peaceful serenity of his home in sunny Provence, amid the
flowers and birds, with his love of art and poetry to keep him ever young at
heart. “ Se chauffer l’hiver a la cheminee du bon roi Rene ” is a proverb in
Provence, where his memory still lives. His second wife, the fair Jeanne de
Laval, “la petite Bretonne,” was left well provided for, but his daughter
Marguerite had been a prisoner in England when his will was made, and he had
only left her 3000 ecus in one sum and 200 livres yearly. It was Louis who had
paid her ransom, and who maintained her, and after her father’s death, she
renewed her gift of all her claims on the various provinces to the King. Rene
had left Provence to his nephew, Charles Count of Maine, on whose death the
following year it was bequeathed to the Crown of France, which also held Anjou
and most of Bar. This was a great gain to France, as the command of that
southern coast was most valuable for the trade of the kingdom. Louis had much
affection for his uncle, and caused solemn funeral services to be performed in
all the great churches, and “ Masses for the repose of the soul of King Rene.”
In order to unite the Christian princes against the infidels, the Pope
sent his nephew, Giuliano della Rovere (later Julius II), as papal Legate to
mediate
246
between Louis and Maximilian, who made many difficulties, and, in fact,
the truce was only prolonged for seven months, from September 2, 1480, until
the following April. It was proclaimed in Paris by sound of trumpet, as was
the peace with England, which was renewed. The King writes to the Duchess of
Milan soon after this, to suggest that her second daughter Anna, his niece,
should marry the eldest son of Edward IV. He had a great belief in the value of
alliances to preserve peace between nations. The Dauphin Charles was at this
time promised to Edward’s daughter Elizabeth. As a curious example of the
King’s intimate knowledge of Italian politics, there is a curious letter, very
long and interesting, written to the Cardinal Giuliano, informing him that
immediately after he left Rome a plot was formed against him by the bishops of
Sebenique and Tournay, to deprive him of his legation. He was on very friendly
terms with the Legate, and at his request had given Cardinal Balue and
Harancourt Bishop of Verdun, their liberty from the Bastile cages after eleven
years of imprisonment. The progress of the Turks is very much on his mind, and
he expresses a strong wish to go and fight them as soon as he is at peace with
all his neighbours.
But all these plans and hopes were abruptly put an end to by a very
serious attack of illness at Chinon, in March, 1481 ; a slight stroke of
apoplexy, which for the time deprived him of speech and memory. His doctor,
with ideas on hygiene far in advance of his age, caused the windows to be
opened, and the King slightly recovered. Two of his attendants who, with the
best intentions, tried to keep him by force from
247
going near the window, were afterwards dismissed from the palace. Commines explains: “ II n’estoit rien dont il
eust si grande crainte que de perdre son auctorit^. . . .” He adds: “II me fit
signe que je couchasse en sa chambre . . . il voulut que je fusse tousjours
aupres de lui. . . He gradually recovered his
strength, and insisted upon seeing all his letters and dispatches and having
them answered. He had not much faith in any physicians, even Angelo Catho above
mentioned, whom he afterwards made Archbishop, of Vienne, and by whose request
Commines wrote his memoirs in after days. With little confidence in human
science, he believed much in prayers and almsgiving. We hear of his attending a
neuvaine with the Queen at the tomb of St. Martin, and each day that he heard
Mass with her, he always gave an offering of thirty-one gold crowns. One day
when he was in church, a poor clerk fell at his feet and said that he had been
a year in prison for a debt of more than 1500 livres, and this Louis paid for
him, saying, “ As I pray God for pity, it is just that I should have pity on
others.”
As soon as Louis was strong enough, he travelled into Normandy to see the
great camp which he had commanded to be established in a plain near Pont de
lArche. Here were assembled 10,000 foot soldiers, including his Swiss levies,
2500 pioneers, and 1500 of his men-at-arms, “with a vast number of tents and
pavilions and wagons to enclose all.” This was to be a practical school for
military training, a camp for war manoeuvres, and on June 2, 1481, the King was
present at a splendid review, and remained on the spot for ten days to examine
most minutely the order
248
THE BLUE KING (LOUIS
XI) TAKING COUNSEL TO SURPRISE THE WHITE KING (MAXIMILIAN)
Bv Burgkmair Woodcut
from* Der Wciss-Kilnig
MAXIMILIAN FORTIFIES
A CAMP WITH P.AGGAGE WAGONS Ky Burokmaik Woodcut from Der Wciss'Kiinig
To face p, 248
and organization of
every branch of the service. We have no space to enter into all the details of
this splendid military enterprise, but here every new invention in the way of
arms and artillery was encouraged, and we even notice a reward given for a
machine meant to open secretly the gates of towns. But this great camp could
not be maintained without enormous expense, computed at 1,500,000 livres a.
year; and unfortunately very heavy and doubtless cruel taxes were needed to
maintain it. Thus it was inevitable that every successful scheme for the protection
of his kingdom made the King more unpopular therein.
A report spread to
England that Calais was threatened by this great army, but Louis wrote to Lord
Hastings bidding him reassure King Edward on the subject of his peaceful
intentions.
1481-3
Illness
of Louis XI—Death of Marie of Burgundy —Many Letters of the
King—Peace of Arras— Marguerite of Austria betrothed to the Dauphin at
Amboise—Anne of France, Wife of Pierre de Beaujeu, appointed Regent—Last Days
of the King at Plessis — Death of Louis XI — Contemporary Appreciations of his Character.
In
October,
1481, Louis XI had a second attack of apoplexy at Tours, which seemed more
dangerous than the first, as for two hours he remained unconscious, and only
gradually recovered his speech and the use of his faculties. When he was well
enough to travel he went with his faithful Commines to the castle of Argenton,
and afterwards to Thouars for January and February. But during this time the
King received the ambassadors of Brittany and discussed their demands with his
usual acuteness, granting them the salt dues and free passage of wine which
they asked for. It is remarkable that these severe attacks of illness cause
very little break in the King’s constant letters on matters of policy,
administration, and everything connected with the good of his kingdom. He is
most urgent about the punctual payment of wages and of debts, various
appointment to lay and clerical posts, the granting of
250
privileges to towns
and permission to have fairs and markets, the remission of taxes in many cases,
a number of pardons and remissions, often for offences against himself, and
the request that lingering lawsuits, some of twenty, forty, or even sixty
years, shall at once be brought to an end. One of these law-suits gives so
curious a picture of the times that it is worthy of note, the more so as it
brings into strong relief the King’s earnest desire that absolute justice
should be administered even in a case where his sympathy is evidently with the
plaintiff.
A certain Helene de
Beaufort had been appointed Abbess of Leyme, a Cistercian convent for women, in
1459, but after some time her position was contested by the nun Jeanne Baras
and her sister Fine, assisted by their brother, the Abbe Deode Baras. There had
been much actual fighting, the Abbey being taken again and again by armed bands
; furniture, jewels, and cattle had been pillaged, royal sergeants threatened
with death, women and men, including the chaplain, cruelly ill-treated. This
had gone on for years when the King writes to the Parlement that he insists
upon a “good and brief” settlement of the matter, that he may have no need to
write again. “ Nostre bien amee Hel&ne de Beaufort,” plaintiff on the one
side, and the sisters Fine and Jehanne with D6ode Baras on the other as
defendants, for rebellion, disobedience to the orders of the Court, etc. “. . .
lesquelz ne voulons demourer impugniz, se ainsi est que a la veritd soient
trouvez telz ; maiz voulons que par vous ilz soient cor- riges, selon ce que
trouverrez la matikre disposee ” (who are not to remain unpunished, if indeed
such is found to be the truth; but we wish them to be corrected
by you, according to
how you find the matter really stands).
This does not sound
like the language of a despot, but rather of one whose sole aim is justice.
There has been a rumour that Maximilian imitates the signature of Louis, and he
gives the order on October 31, 1481, that in all matters of finance the
signature of his secretary, Thomas Berbisey, shall also be attested. He will not be looked upon as a sick man, and on November 4, he
announces : “ je m’en retourne prendre et tuer les sangliers, affin que je ne
perde pas la saison, en attendant l’autre pour prendre et tuer les Anglois. .
. The
English were supposed to be projecting an invasion.
As a personal matter,
the King asks for a hat like the one the Bishop of Valence brought him from
Rome. “ II me semble qu’il estoit de poil autre que bievre .
. . etcouvroit toutes les espaulles et toute l’eschine jusques bien avant sur
la croppe du cheval ; encore estoit il bien rebrasse devant et es coustes, et
ne falloit point de manteau contre la pluye ; et aussi pour le chault, il
valloit une petit maison. ...” (It seems to me that it was of a skin
different from beaver . . . and covered all the shoulders and all the backbone
unto far down on the crupper of the horse, and was well turned up in front and
at the sides, and one needed no mantle against the rain ; and also for the
heat, it was worth a little house.) In April, Louis paid his promised
pilgrimage to St. Claude, travelling across France and the duchy of Burgundy
almost to the confines of Savoy. Here the King heard of the death of the young
Duke Philibert of Savoy, who had not long survived his mother, Yolande of
France, and he at
once took steps to
ensure the succession of Charles the next brother, a boy of fourteen. When
Louis arrived at Beaujeu on his way home, he heard the news that Marie of
Burgundy had died at Bruges in consequence of a fall from her horse. She left
two young children, Philip and Marguerite, and the loss of his young wife, cut
off in the flower of her age, was a deep and enduring grief to the Archduke
Maximilian.1 Political troubles were in store for him, as his
children were in the power of the men of Ghent, who resolved to force him into
peace with France, as thus they would remain free, his four-year-old son being
their nominal ruler. Louis XI was quite willing to meet them half-way when they
sent deputies to suggest the marriage of Mademoiselle Marguerite with the
Dauphin, with some of the contested provinces as her dowry, thus making a
permanent alliance between France and Flanders. Maximilian was scarcely
consulted, as so far, Flanders and Brabant had not even acknowledged him as
regent for his son.
In the month of May
this year, Louis had to mourn the death of his sister, Jeanne de France,
Duchess of Bourbon, who was deeply lamented “for her great virtues and noble
qualities. “The year 1482 was a disastrous one for the country, as an epidemic
followed a great famine, and both harvest and vines had failed. There were also
great floods; the banks of the Loire were inundated, and other rivers, and
Louis was so impressed with these ravages that he exempted from taxes all the
neighbouring places. As his bodily strength declined, the King seemed to gain
in moral
1 For a
full account see Marguerite of Austria, Christopher Hare, p. 18.
energy ; never was he
so full of anxious care about the most minute details of his Government. He
writes to congratulate the governors of Provence and Burgundy on learning that
brigandage had been put down in those provinces. He has constant letters to
answer from abbeys, corporations, chapters, towns, etc., who apply for
confirmation of the gifts they have received from him, probably as they fear
that his life is drawing to a close. Louis appears to have been induced at this
time to give William de la Marck the Boar of Ardennes, some help, which he soon
withdrew on further acqaint- ance, and wrote to warn the Bishop and the states
of Liege against him. Thus he was not responsible for La Marck’s brutal murder
of the Bishop some time later.
When his
sister-in-law, Bona of Savoy, was persecuted by Lodovico Sforza, Louis used
his influence to obtain permission for her to return to Milan, where
negotiations were going on for her son’s marriage. He was looked upon as a
power in Italy, and always laboured for peace there.
He knew that his days
were numbered, and his great anxiety was to leave his young son secure of the
throne after him. On September 21, 1482, he summoned a great assembly of
nobles at Amboise, and presented to them the Dauphin of twelve, with a long
address, in which, amongst many other things, he points out his own mistake in
not having kept on his father’s ministers, and he trusts that his son will learn
wisdom from the misfortunes which followed those changes on his accession.
Later Louis of Orleans was required to take a solemn oath of allegiance to the
Dauphin, as though the King had a presentiment of future troubles. Meantime
Maximilian was beginning
to resign himself to
the idea of the peace with France which the burghers so keenly desired, for
there were troubles on every side, and he had neither money nor troops
sufficient to protect the frontiers of the Netherlands, and sustain a conflict
with Guelders, and Utrecht which had rebelled against its Burgundian bishop.
Since the end of the truce, the French army had taken Aire, invaded Luxemburg,
and threatened St. Omer. In November negotiations began openly with Louis, and
on December 23, 1482, the Peace of Arras was concluded by which the Dauphin was
to marry little Marguerite of Austria, with the counties of Artois,
Franche-Comt6, Magon, and Auxerre, and the lordships of Salins, Bar-sur-Seine,
and Noyers. After the treaty was signed the Flemish envoys attended a great
service at Notre Dame in Paris, when the Te Deum was sung, and then went to
Tours, where the King received them in a darkened room, but “death was written
on his face, although he was clothed in ermine and velvet.”
Anne of France and
her husband, the Lord of Beau- jeu, were commissioned to receive the little
Princess, and they travelled to meet her at Hesdin, where she arrived in the
care of her nurse, with a stately company before the end of May, and after a
magnificent reception in Paris, she was solemnly betrothed to the Dauphin at
Amboise on June 23, 1483.1 There were splendid festivities in honour
of this alliance which gave such an earnest of future peace, by order of the
King, who could take no part in them, for in his sick chamber at
Plessis-le-Tours, he knew that he was dying.
1 See Marguerite of Austria, p. 22
(Christopher Hare).
It was while
arrangements were being made for this marriage that Edward IV had died somewhat
suddenly on April 9, 1483 ; and his anger and disappointment at the slight to
his own daughter are by some writers supposed to have hastened his death. Yet
it is doubtful if there had been a formal engagement, and the English King had
never been a faithful ally of Louis, always ready to help Brittany and Burgundy
against him, and refusing him to the last the title of “ King of France.” But
when Richard III had seized his nephews and usurped the throne of England,
Louis refused to reply to his letters or receive his ambassadors. These events
only deepened his own anxiety for the future of the young Dauphin, on whom all
his hopes were fixed. The great aim of the dying King was to secure peace on
all sides. He endeavoured to save the Chancellor of the Duke of Brittany,
Guillaume Chauvin, and adopted his children, whom he brought up at Tours. On
the death of his nephew, Franfois Phoebus, the King of Navarre, at the age of
fifteen, he maintained the rights of the young sister Catherine to succeed him
; this Princess, who married later Jean d’Albret, was the ancestress of Henry
IV. Thus alike in Savoy and in Navarre, Louis protected the children of both
his sisters.
Rene of Lorraine was
conciliated by the gift of several towns and was now on the most friendly
terms; in Italy the influence of Louis was respected, and only Brittany
remained full of intrigues and secretly hostile. Only recently, Duke Franfois,
an old man now with two very young daughters by his second wife Marguerite of
Foix, had wished to marry his eldest daughter Anne to the heir of Edward IV,
and was
256
Photo by
Bruckman
MAXIMILIAN I
After the painting by
P P. Rubens
now seeking some
other disturbing alliance. But Louis had gained the goodwill of the great
nobles of Brittany. Pope Sixtus was completely reconciled and could refuse the
King nothing. When Louis wished to have a visit from the saintly hermit
Franfois de Paule, it was the Pope who persuaded him to leave his cell in
Calabria, and he used his authority to persuade the priors of St. Remy of
Rheims to send the sick man the “sainte ampoule” (miraculous oil), and also
caused many other relics to be brought. Although the King’s health grew worse,
and he was so “thin and changed, a very skeleton,” the stream of his letters remains
as constant as ever. There was so much to do and so little time remaining to
him. Again there are remissions, rewards, grants to towns of various
privileges, fairs, and markets. Anne de Beaujeu and her husband are much with
him and he likes them to take part in the government. He sends frequent
offerings to churches and asks for the prayers of the faithful.
Louis
takes great pleasure in the simple piety of the hermit, and as he eats neither
meat nor fish, the King writes to Languedoc on June 29: “de lui envoyer pour le
sainct homme des oranges douces et des poires mus- cadelles.” He is no longer
able to enjoy his favourite sport of hunting, but he still takes keen interest
and pleasure in all kinds of birds and beasts, and he also tries to acclimatize
foreign plants. He sends minute directions about his white peacocks, we hear of
galleys coming to Provence with strange and savage beasts, amongst others, some
lions no bigger than foxes which are called “adits.” He has elks and reindeer
sent from Sweden and Norway, and he is especially grateful to the s 257
Duke of Ferrara for
sending, at his request, “a leopard which takes hares well,” evidently one of
those hunting leopards or cheetahs of which Lorenzo dei Medici was also so
fond. Louis sends fine sporting dogs in exchange, for he never could endure to
receive a gift without making a suitable return. From his sick room he is still
the absolute ruler of France, and woe to any one who thinks to take advantage
of his infirmities. Thus the Archbishop of Tours, when he was asked to pray to
God for the King’s health, thought it a good opportunity to remonstrate against
the taxes and interference with prelates; but he was at once told that “ il
n’avoit que faire de s’en mesler plus avant. . . .” There is a coalition
amongst the bakers in the south to sell the bread too dear, which he very
promptly stops as well as various exactions of his officers. As late as the
month of August, he renews his treaty with the Hansa League. Yet he appears to
have submitted to much from the hands of his doctors, especially one, Jacques
Coictier, who extorted from his master over 50,000 crowns during the last five
months of his life.
With the eager desire
of Louis to finish so many important works which he had begun, while he was watching
death approach step by step, we do not wonder that he sent for musicians,
“jouers de doux et bas instruments,” to beguile the long hours of suffering and
isolation. For in those latter days he was lonely indeed in that grim castle
with its towers and moats, its strong defences, and the archers keeping watch
and ward night and day, and only a few of his most intimate circle admitted to
his presence. He could not forget how many violent deaths there had been of
late amongst great princes ; yet after all, the
258
protection of such a
strongly guarded castle was not unusual in those days of feud and faction.
The King’s life was
drawing to a close. On Monday, August 25, he had a third attack more violent
than the others, and although he slowly recovered his faculties, he knew that
the end had come, and sent at once for his son-in-law, Monseigneur de Bourbon.
To him he solemnly entrusted the care of his son the Dauphin, who was at
Amboise, sending him a special message, and giving further directions with
regard to his attendants. He also sent all his falcons and his hunting
establishment to Amboise, for he had now done with the things of this world. In
looking back upon his past life, it struck him that he had perhaps abused his
influence with Louis of Amboise to obtain his inheritance to the prejudice of
his family, and that he had also possibly had no right to certain lands of La
Tremoille. He therefore requested that his son should be asked to restore these
possessions, and as Talmont had been given to Commines, he was to have 2000
livres de rente instead. Legeay gives his authorities for believing that the
King sent for the Queen his wife, his nearest kindred, and the Princes of the
Blood, once more recommending to them the care of his son, and then with fresh
hope and courage prepared for his end.
When he was abruptly
told that death was at hand, his reply was simple and full of trust:
“J’esp&re que Dieu m’aidera.” “He bore himself patiently and wisely to the
last, never complaining, though his sufferings were great, and attending
devoutly to the last offices of the Church,” says one of his enemies. His mind
was full of the “poor people of France,” who had
so much need of a
good peace. It was on Saturday, August 30, 1483, between seven and eight in the
evening, that Louis XI passed away with the closing words of the Te Deum on
his lips: “Lord, in Thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded.” He was
sixty- one years of age, and had reigned for twenty-three years.
The King was buried,
as he had desired, at Notre Dame de Clery, where on his tomb was placed the
monument for which he had given full directions more than a year before. He
wished to be represented on his knees with clasped hands before the image of
“Notre Dame,” the face to be a likeness, with the nose long and aquiline,
wearing the collar of St. Michael and a sword, with his dog by his side.
After reading the
account of Louis XI’s death, we cannot help feeling that he was strong in the
conviction that he had fulfilled his mission as he understood it, and that
until his last breath he was occupied with the destiny and prosperity of his
country. A brave end may follow upon an evil life, as, for instance, during the
brief excitement of a death upon the scaffold, conscious of the breathless interest
of a gazing multitude. The supreme test is when man, in full and clear
possession of his faculties, watches the slow approach of death on a bed of
sickness. Then indeed is his inmost soul revealed, and the mask of dissimulation
falls.
It appears that for
long after his death a very different opinion prevailed, with regard to Louis
XI, from that to which we are accustomed. Thus, at the meeting of the deputies
of France at the States- General, five months after his death, this was the
strain
260
in which Maitre Jean
de Rely, Canon of Paris, the chosen orator, addressed the young King Charles
and the great assembly: “Blessed be God who put this desire for concord in the
heart of the King, your late father, who has thus left this kingdom in peace
and in great union. Blessed may he be for having rooted out the causes from
whence division could spring. The French people is bound to pray God for him,
as he has left us the legacy of peace which our Lord gave to His disciples. . .
. Having always before our eyes this great union in which he has left this
kingdom, and the labour which he imposed upon himself all his life to attain
it, do not let us be ungrateful. ...”
He was even
represented as a saint on the doorway of the church of the Carthusians at
Tours, and with him were Louis IX, the Virgin, and the arms of France.
Commines, who knew the King so intimately, writing his Memoirs in later days
when flattery would be quite wasted, solemnly declares that “God had created
Louis XI wiser, more generous, more virtuous than other men, and that there
were in him more qualities suitable to a king and a prince than in any others.”
Again: “o God alone belongs perfection; but when in one prince, virtue and good
qualities far outweigh all faults, he is worthy of high memory and praise. ...
I dare well say of him to his honour that it does not seem to me that I have
ever known any prince who had fewer vices than he had. ...” In these words
Commines possibly alludes to his own positive declaration that after the death
of the Dauphin’s infant son Joachim, in 1459, his moral character was without
reproach. During the interval between his two marriages. Louis is believed to
have
261
had four illegitimate
daughters; three of them he acknowledged, and provided for with suitable marriages.
His reign was a great
contrast to that of his father Charles VII, for the French Court was in high
repute and estimation, and the Queen, Charlotte of Savoy, was without a rival ;
an unusual distinction for a royal lady of those days. She was a simple, pious
woman, not very attractive or interesting, and although we find her present at
great festivals and stately receptions, she preferred a quiet life at Amboise,
where she spent most of her time in later years. There is evidence that the
King frequently visited her there, from the headings of his edicts and letters,
and she constantly accompanied him in his frequent pilgrimages. When some of
her subjects wished to make her a present after her own heart, they caused a
beautiful and curious manuscript to be illuminated, showing the sanctuary of
Notre-Dame-du-Puy, and the pilgrimages which she had made there with the King
(Bibliotheque Nationale, No. 8004).
The Queen did not
long survive the loss of her husband ; she died on December 1, 1483, at Amboise,
and was buried by his side in Notre-Dame-de-Clery. Her daughter Jeanne, the
unfortunate wife of Louis d’Orleans, was with her during the last months of her
life, and is specially mentioned in her mother’s will, where we do not find the
name of the great Anne of France. Possibly the Queen had less sympathy with her
capable determined elder daughter, than with the gentle, saintly Jeanne.
Amongst other personal property Charlotte left forty-seven dresses of satin,
velvet, and cloth, many of them richly trimmed with pre-
262
cious furs ; a
quantity of valuable jewels and a fine library.
A few more
contemporary appreciations of the late King will be interesting.
Commines esteems
Louis XI to have been “one of the three greatest men who have reigned for a
hundred years.” The other two were Mahomet II and Mathias Corvinus, King of
Hungary. Curiously enough, Francis Bacon expresses the same opinion later in
his eulogy of Henry VII, although he makes another selection, for he says:
“Louis XI, Ferdinando, and Henry may be esteemed the tres magi of kings of
those ages.” It may be well to give a few remarks of usually unfriendly
historians. Thus Pierre Mathieu says: “In this prince, faith was without
superstition or hypocrisy ; clemency without fear ; justice without cruelty;
prudence without cunning; he was liberal without prodigality, skilful without
artifice or dissimulation.” Claude de Seyssel remarks: “Many of his
contemporaries speak incessantly of this King, of his deeds and his sayings,
and praise him up to the skies, saying that he was the wisest, the most
powerful, the most generous, and the most fortunate King of France. . . .”
Barante says: “That there was in him a savoir-faire, a knowledge of men and
affairs, a prudence, an intelligence far above other princes, a genius capable
of understanding everything.”
With regard to the
keen intelligence of Louis there has never been any difference of opinion. The
chief distractions of his exile as Dauphin at Genappe were literary. He joined
the University of Louvain as an associated member, and there made the'
acquaintance of the learned Vasselius Gansfortius, whom he brought
263
to Paris later. In
those days of his poverty there was no sacrifice which he would not make to
procure rare manuscripts, of which he had a splendid collection, and he was
always ready to befriend the learned men who had recently been compelled to
flee from Constantinople. In his home at Genappe he formed a small academy,
where his friends and men of letters of his acquaintance met together to read
out, each one in turn, amusing stories after the style of Boccaccio who was the
fashion at that day. They were called the “ Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles,” and were
often burlesque and coarse, but very useful for the improvement of the French
language, as was the later Heptameron of Marguerite of Valois which was not
much more refined.
It has been remarked
that in the immense number of letters preserved, written by Louis XI, there is
an elegance of expression which is not found in his contemporaries. He
dictated them himself to any notary’s clerk who chanced to be at hand, for
Brantome tells us that he did not always take a secretary about with him. Yet
he certainly had an Italian secretary with him at Peronne. But the most
interesting literary work of Louis XI was the Rozier des guerres, which is the
only part left to us of a great general history which he caused to be written
for the instruction of his son, and of which much was his own work. He tells us
that history is the most direct lesson for all, especially for kings. “The
record of things past is the most profitable, as well to console, advise, and
comfort us against adversity, as to avoid the inconveniences before which
others have fallen, and to encourage us to do well like the best. . . . For it
is a great pleasure
264
and pastime to recite
past things ; to know how, in what manner and in what time, have befallen
losses, conquests, and the taking of towns and countries. . . .” Again he adds:
“The world teaches those who dwell in it by those who have left it ; death is a
light thing to him who is certain that good will come to him afterwards. . . .
The public matter is far above the individual interest by which often the
public good is prevented. . . . When kings and princes have no regard to the
law, they take away from the people that which they ought to have left ... in
fact, they make the people serfs, and lose the title of king, for no one should
be called king who does not reign over free men (Francs).”
We must not omit to
mention the material advantages which Louis XI procured for France. His great
desire was to bring order into the finances, the army, and the navy of France,
which he first created ; and to improve in every way the administration of
justice. He devoted constant thought and labour to the advancement of commerce
and the establishment of new industries, such as silk and woollen manufacture,
and we remember the encouragement which he gave to the planting of mulberry
trees. The invention of the art of printing and the setting up of printing
presses received from Louis the greatest encouragement; one was set up at Metz,
1471 ; Lyons, 1473 ; Angers, 1477 ; Poitiers, 1479; Caen, 1480; and Troyes,
1483. He delighted in the arts of painting and drawing which enriched the
beautiful manuscripts of the time, and was a liberal patron to Jean Fouquet,
who painted on wood as well as miniatures on parchment. A Florentine,
Francesco Florio, a great admirer of Fouquet,
265
speaks of Louis as
“justissimus princeps.” He also spread the taste for music, by introducing
organs into churches and monasteries. In the way of science he encouraged the
serious study of surgery, and he gave every facility for the working of mines.
He took great interest in the making of ports and harbours, and also the
building of dykes and other public works. By his care the royal library was
greatly increased ; he sought out learned men and encouraged them to come to
his universities ; in short, we may say that he prepared the way for the
French Renaissance of letters, of which perhaps Charles of Orleans and Villon
were amongst the earlier poets.
The Italian blood
which Duke Charles had inherited from his mother, Valentine Visconti, mingled
with the Valois strain, produced a gentle dreamy poet. Amongst the slight
charming lines which he wrote, is one little- known rondel, which strikes a
deeper note of pensive longing. It may have taken birth in his mind in the
placid evening of his days as, with his gay retinue around him, he journeyed
from one stately home to another. A fragment of the poet’s work will tell us
more than pages of description.
En la forest de Longue Attente Chevauchant par divers sentiers,
M’en voys, ceste an nee presente Ou voyage de Desiri^rs !
Devant sont allez mes fourriers Pour appareiller mon logis,
En la cit^ de Destin^e,
Et pour mon cueur et moy ont pris L’ostellerie de Pensee.
With regard to
Villon, whose tuneful days ended at the accession of Louis XI, perhaps his
masterpiece is
266
the well-known “
Ballade des Dames du temps jadis,” the long Roll-Call of Dead Ladies, with the
haunting refrain—
Mais ou sont les neiges d’antan ? (ante annum)
Amongst prose writers
of this reign, the historian, Philippe de Commines, Sire d’Argenton, has no
rival. We have already alluded to the “Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles,” to which
Louis as Dauphin had himself contributed.
The splendid gifts of
the King to churches and abbeys may have done much to encourage the ecclesiastical
architecture of the fifteenth century, which was chiefly devoted to the
beautifying and perfection of buildings already in existence. Thus we note the
splendid portal of Bayeux Cathedral, the nave of that of Troyes, Saint Ouen in
the city of Rouen, Notre- Dame-de-Clery, and many other beautiful instances of
carved work. But still more was done at this period in the way of civic
architecture, when the watchful protection of Louis gave ample scope to the
vigorous life and energy of the towns; and everywhere the stately
hotel-de-ville rose as an emblem of newly- born municipal power, as. for
instance, at Compi&gne, Douai, Bethune, St. Omer, Noyon, St. Quentin,
Dreux, Orleans, Saumur, and Evreux. Such were the fruits of that growing peace
and prosperity whose full harvest the King did not live to see.
Review
of the Life of Louis XI—Cause of his Unpopularity—Enmity of the Burgundian
Chroniclers —Some Attempt to trace the Origin of the Evil Repute in which the
King’s Memory is held.
We cannot
close the story of Louis XI without some endeavour to trace the origin of the
“concert of maledictions” which have assailed his memory in later days.
Perhaps a remark of the Abbe Le Grand, who devoted a lifetime to the study of
this period, may point out the primary cause of this reprobation. “As it was
needful for Louis XI, in order to establish law and order in the kingdom, to
punish various great lords, even princes of the blood, such as the dukes of
Alenfon and Bourbon—the King being also the persistent enemy of the great House
of Burgundy—and as all these lords and princes had chroniclers in their pay, we
cannot wonder that the King of France received from them the character of a
sanguinary tyrant.” We must also remember that, after Charles VIII, another
branch of Valois succeeded to the throne in the person of Louis XII, who had a
personal hatred for Louis XI, who carried out a policy in Italy absolutely
opposed to his, and at the same time encouraged an aristocratic reaction.
Unfortunately for the
King it was not only with the great nobles as a class that he was unpopular,
26S
but also with the
bourgeoisie of France, the mass of the common people for whom he had laboured
and struggled all through his reign, and on whose behalf he had spent himself,
lived a life of personal poverty and sacrifice, and grown old before his time.
They could not forgive him the heavy taxation, severely enforced, which was the
inevitable price they had to pay for peaceful security in their lives and their
homes, freedom from their oppressors the proud feudal lords, and equal justice
for rich and poor. Men soon forget the sorrows of the past, and at the death of
Louis it was almost a generation since the horrors of war had raged in their
midst, and the unpaid mercenaries, the “ 6corcheurs ” ravaged all they held
dear, looking upon it as their right to “manger le bonhomme.” All this had
become a dim memory of bygone days, while the hated collector of taxes was a
grim reality in their midst. There was no glamour about King Louis XI to appeal
to the imagination of his subjects. He laboured so earnestly for peace, that
they had no glorious victories to applaud, bought with the bitter payment of
their blood and tears. The people had no gay and splendid Court to gape at and
admire, very few costly entertainments, and no extravagance paid for by their
labour. Homely in person and badly dressed, Louis, it was said, could not
afford a new hat, but there was always money forthcoming for the good of the
country.
Before he came to the
throne, while he still served his novitiate as Dauphin, his clear insight had
convinced him that peace was the one thing absolutely needed for his
distracted land; and so great was his horror of war and the hopeless misery
which it brings
269
in its train, that he
was always ready to avoid it by any sacrifice of mere money. To ensure peace it
was needfid to be strong, and for this purpose he gradually formed a splendid
and powerful army, with the finest siege and field artillery in the world, and
a navy which could hold its own against England and Holland. All the frontier
towns were strongly fortified and provided with sufficient garrisons ; he had
extended his borders where ther^ was danger of invasion, and the great feudal
lords h^d bf^n compelled to acknowledge the immediate authority ofjthe Crown.
More than once he had bought the towns of the Somme in Picardy, and had at last
regained them by force. The Duchy of Burgundy was united to France as well as
Roussillon and Perpignan, which brought its defences down to the barrier range
of the Pyrenees, while Provence, Anjou, and Maine were now incorporated in the
kingdom. Such increase of strength was a magnificent guarantee for peace, but
it was impossible that all this should have been accomplished without money,
and for the most part the people of France were glad to enjoy the blessing of
peace, but bitterly grudged the price. Had Louis XI lived a few more years, no doubt
he would have greatly diminished the burden of taxation, as, unlike his
inexperienced young son, he would never have wasted immense sums on a fruitless
campaign in Italy.
Having thus shown how
Louis missed to a great extent the love of his people, we will consider the
various chroniclers of his time, ar.d the light in which they regarded him. We
will take first the writers who dwelt at the Court of Burgundy, whose devotion
towards the “great Duke of the West” caused them to
270
find nothing worthy
of praise which did not tend to his glory and honour. Georges Chastellain, Jean
Molinet, Olivier de la Marche, Mathieu de Coucy, and Jacques Meyer were all in
their way poets as well as historians. They were not only prepared to hate
Louis XI as the enemy of their Duke Charles, but they could only despise a King
who had no delight in tournaments and sumptuous festivals, and was like a
simple bourgeois in his tastes.
The Chronicles of
Chastellain, written in grandiloquent style, show constant enmity to Louis ;
indeed, in his life of Duke Philip of Burgundy, Chastellain actually hints
that the Dauphin had sought to hasten his father’s death by witchcraft; and he
never fails to repeat any calumny until, in 1475, his Chronicle is interrupted
by death. Yet this author could write with charm and sympathy, as when he seeks
to comfort Marguerite of Anjou by pointing out the heroic serenity of her
father Rene . . . “ ne quelle mutation en as veu . . . parquoy sa vertu
s’en trouve moins clere? . .
Jean Molinet, Canon of
Valenciennes and Librarian, later, of Marguerite of Austria, followed in the
same line, and amongst other slighting remarks, taunted Louis XI by saying that
“he would rather lose 10,000 ecus than one archer.” Olivier de la Marche was
the chamberlain of Charles the Bold, and his Memoirs cover the period from 1435
to 1492. Legeay points out that this man, who was employed by his master to
kidnap Yolande of Savoy and her family, was not likely to have any scruples in
his devotion to the cause of Charles and his hostility to all his enemies.
Mathieu de Coucy and Jacques Meyer were both under Bur-
271
gundian influence,
and gave the blackest interpretation to every action of Louis.
Duke Franfois of
Brittany and Jean of Alenfon had also their historians, who were only too ready
to repeat and believe any calumny against the suzerain who compelled their
princes to submission. Thomas Basin, Bishop of Lisieux, is another writer whose
career gives the key to his prejudiced account of Louis XI. He strongly
supported Charles of France in his rebellion against his brother, and aspired
to rule both Normandy and the young Duke, but when Charles lost his new duchy,
Basin sought the favour of the King, who not only forgave him, but sent him to
Perpignan as Chancellor of Roussillon, and gave his brothers important posts.
This was in 1648, but for some unexplained reason, possibly a quarrel with the
Minister Balue, the Bishop forsook his see, and fled to Geneva, where he is
said to have joined a conspiracy against France. In any case, Thomas Basin was
henceforth the deadly enemy of the King, and in his learned Latin history of
the reigns of Charles VII and Louis XI, he praises the father far beyond his
deserts, while no words are strong enough for his execration and hatred for his
late master, Louis.
Robert Gaguin,
General of the Mathurins, who made a failure of his mission to Burgundy in
1477, appears to take his revenge in attacks on Louis in his Latin works
published after the King’s death. On the other hand the Chronique Scandaleuse
of Jean de Troyes was only scandalous in name, and he is a contemporary witness
of great value. The fantastic title was chosen and a few imaginary anecdotes
were inserted, most probably, to give the book the appearance of a
272
PHILIPPE DE COMMINES
From an old print^
romance, as the
writing of history was the exclusive privilege of a court chronicler. Of
Philippe de Com- mines, the true historian of this period, we will speak more
fully later.
So much for
contemporary writers, but when we reach the reign of Louis XII, there was no
surer way of gaining the favour of this King than by speaking evil of Louis
XI. It was also necessary to prove that the marriage with Jeanne was by cruel
compulsion, as Louis of Valois had determined to divorce her and marry Anne of
Brittany. Claude de Seyssel, Bishop of Marseilles, undertook the task of
justifying his patron, and in order to exalt Louis XII he has no scruple in
depreciating all the most honoured names amongst former kings of France, and
repeats every slander of earlier writers against Louis XI. As Etienne Pasquier says : “Claude de Seyssel a moins fait le
panegyrique de Louis XII que la vie medisante de Louis XI.” Other
writers follow in his train, with endless calumny and satire. The Abbe le Grand
remarks: “It is on the partial testimony of these authors that an idea has been
formed of the reign of Louis XI far removed from the truth. With constant
ill-will they have distorted ... all his good deeds ; denied all his good
qualities; and in exaggerating beyond measure all that might be found fault
with in his character, in his appearance and his ‘ manikre d’etre,’ they have
made an odious and entirely conventional type, but contrary to the reality.” Le
Grand devoted his life to historical work, and his thirty-one volumes of
Pieces, still in MSS. in the Bibliothkque Nationale, have been most valuable to
all students of this period.
As time passed on,
this tendency to romance became
T 273
still stronger, for
in the gay satirical Court of Francis I, it was much more entertaining to laugh
at Louis XI than to examine the truth of every amusing story about him. The
Sire de Brant6me clearly saw this, and being also a champion of the aristocracy
and well grounded in Burgundian chronicles, he followed the taste of the day,
and delighted the Court and the town with his lively fictions; “fables
recueillies d’abord par un ennemi, puis, repandues par le conteur gasfon
Brantome,” as Michelet says.
In the reign of Henry
IV, Pierre Mathieu, historian and poet, received the command to write the
King’s life. “Compilateur mediocre, (plus sentencieux quel veridique,” he had a
sense of dramatic effect, and wanted a contrast to set off his master, and he
therefore chose Louis XI, repeating all the old calumnies in order to exalt
the character of Henry IV. Andre Duchesne, selected by Richelieu as historiographe,
was one of the earliest writers to make a conscientious study of former
history, and he certainly renders justice to Louis XI. After this we have a
succession of historians, Varillas, Mezeray, the President Henault, Daniel,
Garnier, Duclos, and others, who all follow the line of least resistance, and
for the most part take their account of Louis from the Burgundian chroniclers
and their followers. The Academician Duclos worked to some extent from the MSS.
of Le Grand, and his Preuves are his best works.
A modern French
writer is very indignant with Sir Walter Scott for holding up to ridicule and
detestation a King of France in Quentin Durward; and he points out amongst
other errors that Tristan l’Hermite, who had been Provost-Marshal of Charles
VII and Louis XI,
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died some years
before the latter King, and had long previously resigned his office. But we are
too grateful to the Wizard of the North for the pleasure he has given us, to
expect from him historical accuracy. M. de Barante, who also wrote early in the
last century, is a serious and important historian, but he writes the lives of
the dukes of Burgundy, and possibly by the constant study of Burgundian
chronicles, he becomes imbued with their prejudices, although he contradicts
some of the most atrocious calumnies against Louis, and says of him that “those
who had lived in the confidence of the King were drawn to him in profound
attachment and admiration.” He also remarks that “one cannot refuse him the
credit of having made the kingdom greater than ever, of having earned the
respect of all Christendom, of having added to the crown Burgundy, Artois,
Provence, Anjou, Bar, and Roussillon.” Yet M. de Barante never forgave Louis
for having been the enemy of Burgundy.
Michelet is a name of
great weight and importance, and he was a profound student of the fifteenth century.
He was no flatterer of princes, but the passionate advocate of a martyred
people, when he speaks of the towns of Flanders ruined and destroyed by the
dukes of Burgundy. Can we ever forget that vivid, pathetic image of the weaver
of Ghent starting forth from his dim workroom as the great bell Roland tolls to
summon the metiers; “ l’ouvrier mystique, le lollard illuming, le tisserand
visionnaire. . .” This picturesque historian does indeed dismiss as fables most
of the horrible calumnies against the King, but if he had studied the royal
letters he would have appreciated more the deep, unceasing love of Louis for
his
27s
people—the bourgeois
of the towns, the toiling mass of his poorest subjects—for whose sake, as
Michelet owns, he “closed the barriers of France on every side and founded
perpetual peace.”
To obtain a just
estimate of Louis XI we must go back to the man who lived in his most intimate
society, who knew him best and of whom Ronsard writes :—
. . ni pour due ni pour roi
II n’a voulu trahir
d’historien la foi.
From the time when
Philippe de Commines fled from the Court of Burgundy to enter the service of
Louis XI, he was a constant witness, keen, intelligent, and watchful, of every
action of his master. He was no flattering court historian seeking to win
favour from his sovereign, for his Memoirs were only written some years after
the death of Louis, when he could look back without favour or prejudice upon
the past. Comparing him to Joinville, Sainte-Beuve speaks of him as a “prud’
homme.” This word includes all the virtues, wisdom prudence, courage, skill . .
. civil honesty, and “le comme il faut. . . .” “Good faith breathes in all that
he tells us. This good faith is with him a kind of raciness which animates his
words and always inspires him with the most truthful and picturesque
expression. One feels that he would not lie even to increase our admiration for
the hero whom he desires to make us love.”
Montaigne admires his
simple, truthful narration, the authority and gravity with which he represents
Louis, “ de bon lieu, eleve aux grandes affaires.” Sleidan, who translated the
Memoires into Latin, holds Commines up as a model, “only praising those of his
276
country and his
prince as truth required.” As we have already seen, Commines never swerves in
his allegiance to the memory of Louis XI as a great and good man. He is not
blind to any defects of his master, and he may be sometimes forgetful and
inaccurate in small matters of detail, but the firm, undoubting estimate of his
royal friend’s character with him only became mellowed by time, and he gives
us the solemn assurance that “he has never seen a better prince.” We are the
more inclined to believe his testimony, as his Memoires were written at the
request of Angelo Catho, Archbishop of Vienne, who had also known the King
intimately and would be quick to notice any false appreciations.
On modern writers
concerning Louis XI it would be far beyond the scope of this work to dwell
fully, but I feel sure that the recent publication, by the Societe Historique
de France, of the Letters of Louis XI will have a great influence on the
opinion of future historians. Kirk’s History of Charles of Burgundy is so well
known from Freeman’s Essay, that I need only allude to it as an encyclopaedia
of all that the chroniclers of Burgundy have said in favour of Duke Charles
and to the discredit of his enemy, Louis XI.
But as the great
archivist M. Etienne Charavay remarks : “To all these writers an indispensable
element of information has been wanting : the correspondence of the man whose
private and public life they were relating.”
Of the more recent
school of French history, Urbain Legeay is the most thorough and scholarly in his
massive work on the critical rehabilitation of his hero Louis XI, published in
1874. Professor of La
277
Faculte des Lettres
at the University of Grenoble for the greater part of his life, he devoted more
than ten years of indefatigable study to the original documents relating to the
history of the period. As he says in his Preface: “Sans parti pris . . .
apres avoir cherche dans des milliers de volumes, nous avons voulu etre juste
pour Louis XI comme pour ses contemporains. II nous a semble que tout homme,
ffit-il roi, qui a fait ainsi, pour servir utilement sa patrie, le sacrifice
des joies de la vie, meme de sa popularite, et s’est livre pour
l’accomplissement du devoir au plus dur labeur, a droit a nos respects et a
notre gratitude.” (Without prejudice . . . after having searched through
thousands of volumes, we desire to be just to Louis XI as to his
contemporaries. It has seemed to us that any man, even if he were a king, who
has thus made the sacrifice of all the joys of life, even of his popularity, to
serve his country aright, and who to fulfil his duty has devoted himself to the
hardest labour, has a right to our respect and our gratitude.)
Legeay points out the previous deplorable condition of France: “La
noblesse ne se piquait que d’une valeur brutale et se croyait tout permis. Le
soldat mal paye ne vivait que de brigandage. Le paysan n’etait point en surete
dans sa maison. On ne pouvait marcher qu’arm6. On n’entendait parler que
d’assassi- nats, de violences de toutes sortes. ...” (The nobles only
prided themselves on brutal valour, and thought all things permitted to them.
The soldier, badly paid, only lived by brigandage. The peasant was not safe in
his own house. One could not travel without being armed. Nothing was talked of
but assassinations and violence of all sorts. . . .)
Still fresh in the
minds of men was the deplorable end of Jeanne d’Arc, of Jacques Coeur; the
death of Gilles de Bretagne; the conduct of Adolphe de Gueldres towards his
father; the atrocious cruelty of the dukes of Burgundy towards the town of
Flanders which demanded too loudly their ancient privileges ; crimes, violence,
and injustice on every side— an age of such brutality as in these milder days
of rose-water methods we cannot possibly realize. “ Qu’on ne se s’etonne done pas que dans la justice du regne de Louis XI
il y ait encore trace de se qui se passait avant lui. Ce qui doit etonner, au
contraire, e’est le progres qu’il fit faire a la justice en respectant les
formes et en proclamant l’inamovibilite des juges. N’a-t-il pas dit au
parlement, par lettres patentes, de rendre bonne justice, nonobstant tout ecrit
qu’on pourrait, par importunite, avoir obtenu de sa complaisance?” “A
l’envisager au point de vue des interets materiels, en le voyant introduire en
France tout ce qu’il peut rever d’arts utiles florissant ailleurs, abaisser
toutes les entraves qui nuisent a la circulation interieure ou a Pexportation
de tous les produits, creuser des ports, faciliter l’exploitation de nos mines,
ameliorer les communications par terre et par eau, creer l’institu- tion des
postes, encourager le travail par son exemple, atteindre de son regard les
actes les plus minutieux de l’administration, enfin stipuler dans ses traites
la Iiberte la plus etendue meme au sein de la guerre, on ne peut s’empecher
d’admirer cette activite si bien inspiree.” (We should not be
surprised that in the justice of the reign of Louis XI there is still some
trace of what happened before his time. On the contrary, that which should
surprise us is the progress
279
which justice made
with him, for he caused its forms to be respected, and proclaimed the
immovability of the judges. Has he not commanded the Parlement, by letters
patent, to render strict justice, notwithstanding any writing which might have
been obtained by importunity, from his good-nature?
Looking at him from
the point of view of material interests, seeing him introduce into France all
that he can imagine of useful arts flourishing elsewhere, laying low all the
obstacles which interfere with internal circulation or the exportation of all
products, making ports, aiding the working of mines, improving communication by
land and water, creating a postal service, encouraging labour by his example,
keeping a watchful eye upon the minutest acts of the administration, finally
stipulating in his treaties for the fullest liberty even in the midst of
war—one cannot do otherwise than admire this activity so well inspired.)
Such is the estimate of this earnest seeker after truth, who quotes M.
Bardoux : “ Ce fut done la un grand regne, prince deja moderne, il pense que
les traites et les rkglements valent mieux que les coups de lance.”
I cannot do better
than end with the last word spoken on the subject in England, on page 415 of
the Cambridge Modern History, Vol. I, “The Reformation.” “ One figure stands
out above all others, Louis XI, the only one who both reigned and governed.
Whether we condemn or condone the remorseless vigour with which he pursued his
public acts, whether we regret the absolute monarchy which he established, or
accept it as the only possible salvation of France, we cannot deny to him the
name of great.
280
“Great he was in
intellect and in tenacity of purpose, great in prosperity and even greater in
misfortune. Whatsoever he did had its determined end, and that end was the
greatness of France.
“The universal
condemnation which he has incurred may be ascribed chiefly to two causes : the
unrelenting sternness with which he visited treachery in the great, and the
severity of the taxation which he found it necessary to impose. The world was
shocked by the fate of Jean d’Armagnac, Jacques de Nemours, Louis de St. Pol,
Cardinal Balue, and by the cynical methods which achieved their ruin. Looking
back without passion, we pronounce their sentence just. The burden of taxes was
cruel, and the stories we read in Brantome and elsewhere . . . are probably not
without foundation. These methods may be supposed to have been required to
bring the enormous taxes in. . . .
“In the struggle for
life and death in which France was engaged, those taxes and perhaps those
executions saved her ; the King’s crimes were national crimes, and national
crimes are not to be judged by the standards of domestic morality. The France
of Louis XII is the justification of Louis XI.”1