THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY ASSEMBLES A NUMBER OF HIS DEPENDANTS, AT LILLE IN FLANDERS, TO A COUNCIL, RESPECTING THE DEATH OF THE DUKE OF ORLEANS.—HE GOES TO AMIENS, AND THENCE TO PARIS.
When the duke of Burgundy was at Lille, he called to him the nobles, clerks, and others of his council, to have their opinion respecting the death of the late duke of Orleans,—and he was greatly comforted by the advice they gave him. He went thence to Ghent to his duchess, and there summoned the three estates of Flanders, to whom he caused the counsellor, John de la Sancson, to explain publicly the reasons, article by article, why he had caused the duke of Orleans to be put to death at Paris; and as he was desirous that the whole should be made as public as possible, he ordered copies to be given of his explanation to all who might be desirous of having them. He then demanded, that they would afford him their aid, in case any thing disagreeable should happen to him in consequence of what he had done; and the Flemings promised they would assist him willingly.
In like manner did those of Lille, Douay, and the inhabitants of Artois, after they had heard the reasons for this death, and the duke’s request of assistance against all the world, except the king of France and his children. The reasons he assigned for causing the duke of Orleans to be put to death were the same, or nearly the same, as those of master John Petit, when, by command of the duke of Burgundy, he publicly harangued at Paris, before the royal council, and which shall, hereafter, be very minutely given.
During this time, the king of Sicily and the duke of Berry sent messengers with letters to the duke of Burgundy at Lille, whither he was returned, to require that he would meet them without fail at Amiens, on an appointed day, which they made known to him, in order to confer and consult together on what was to be done respecting the death of the duke of Orleans.
The duke of Burgundy returned for answer, by the messengers, that he would not fail to meet them; and, in consequence, he requested of the states of Flanders and Artois to lend him a sum of money, which was granted to him.
He made grand preparations for his journey, and assembled a very considerable force. When the day appointed approached, in company with his two brothers, the duke of Brabant and count of Nevers, with many other noblemen and gentry, to the amount of three thousand, excellently armed, and attended by several of his council, he went from Arras to Corbie, and, on the appointed day, entered Amiens, and lodged at the house of a citizen called James de Hanghart. He caused to be painted over the door of this house two lances,—the one with a sharp pointed head, and the other with a blunt one,—which many of the nobles of his company said was meant to signify, that he was prepared for war or peace, accordingly as it might be determined on.
The weather was exceedingly severe at this season, and the country was covered with snow, insomuch that the king of Sicily and the duke of Berry, accompanied by about two hundred horse, on leaving Paris, were forced to employ great numbers of peasants with shovels to clear the road for them. They arrived at Amiens on the day fixed upon; and the duke of Burgundy, with his two brothers, magnificently attended, went out of the town to meet them,—and mutual respects were paid on each side.
The king of Sicily was lodged at the hôtel of the bishop, and the duke of Berry at St Martin les jumeaux. At the time that these two princes left Paris, the duke of Bourbon[115], and his son the count de Clermont, much grieved and melancholy at the death of the duke of Orleans, did the same, and returned to the duchy of Bourbon.
The king of Sicily and the duke of Berry had brought with them to Amiens some of the members of the royal council, to attempt, if possible, a reconciliation between the two parties of Orleans and Burgundy, for the advantage of the king and realm; but their attempts were vain, for duke John’s obstinancy was so great that he would no way consent to ask the king’s pardon, nor require any remission for what had passed. On the contrary, he maintained that the king and his council should feel themselves much obliged to him for what he had done.
In support of this conduct, he had brought with him three doctors in theology, of high fame and reputation in the university of Paris,—namely, master John Petit, who afterwards argued it publicly at Paris, and two others. They declared, in the presence of these two princes and the royal council at Amiens, that it was lawful for the duke of Burgundy to act as he had done, in regard to the duke of Orleans,—adding, that if he had not done it, he would have been greatly to blame; and they were ready to maintain these two propositions against all who should say to the contrary.
When the two parties had discussed this matter for some days, and when those sent by the king perceived they could not bring it to the conclusion wished for by them, namely peace, they broke up the conference, and took their departure to Paris, having first signified to the duke of Burgundy, in the king’s name, that he must not return to Paris until he was so ordered.
Duke John, however, plainly told them, he should pay no attention to this order; for that it was his intention to go to Paris as speedily as possible, to lay his charges and defence publicly before the king and the Parisians. On the morrow of the departure of the two princes, the duke of Burgundy, with his two brothers and those who had accompanied them, returned to the town of Arras, with the exception of Waleran count de St Pol, who remained for six days after them in Amiens.
When the king of Sicily and the duke of Berry, with the lords of the council, were returned to Paris, and had made their report to the king and princes, relating at length the answers which the duke of Burgundy had made, and that he had asserted the king ought to requite him in various ways for having caused the death and murder of the duke of Orleans, they were much disgusted and astonished at the great presumption and audacity of the duke of Burgundy.
It was talked of differently according to the bias of each party. Those of Orleans were much angered, and declared, that the king ought to assemble all his forces to subdue the duke of Burgundy, and punish him as his conduct deserved. While others, attached to the Burgundy-party, held a contrary opinion, thinking the duke had done a praise-worthy act toward the king and his family; and this was the opinion of the greater part of the Parisians, by whom the duke of Burgundy was much beloved. The cause of his popularity in Paris were the hopes they entertained, that through his means the heavy taxes with which they and all France were oppressed would be taken off,—which the duke of Orleans, when alive, had been so instrumental in imposing, because he had had a great share in them.
The duke of Burgundy went shortly after to Flanders, and summoned a great number of his nobles, gentry and men at arms, to prepare themselves to accompany him to Paris,—notwithstanding the king of Sicily and the duke of Berry had forbidden him, in the king’s name, to come thither until further orders. He did not, however, pay any attention to this command, but advanced, by short journeys to St Denis, whither the king of Sicily, and the dukes of Berry and Brittany, and several of the king’s council, came to visit him,—and again forbade him, in the king’s name, to enter Paris, if accompanied by more than two hundred men.
The duke of Burgundy, on this, quitted St Denis, in company with his brother the count de Nevers, his brother-in-law the count de Cleves, and the duke of Lorraine, with a very large body of men well armed, and entered Paris, with the intent of justifying his act and his quarrel with the late duke of Orleans, as well before the king as before all who might think proper to demand it of him.
The Parisians shewed great joy on his entering the town; and even little children sung carols in all the squares, which much displeased the king, the queen, and the princes then in Paris. He dismounted at his hôtel d’Artois, and was, in truth, greatly beloved by the common people; for they believed he was much attached to the good of the kingdom, and to the general weal. This made him more popular than the other princes of the blood,—and the people freshly remembered the heavy taxes that had been laid on them since the death of the late duke Philip of Burgundy, and principally, as they thought, by means of the duke of Orleans, who was exceedingly unpopular with them; and they considered his death, and the being delivered from his government, as a peculiar mark of God’s grace, not foreseeing what was afterward to befal them and the whole kingdom of France.
When the duke of Burgundy had been some days in Paris, and had learnt from his friends and partisans how he was to conduct himself, he found means to obtain an audience of the king, when the princes, clergy and people should be present, to hear his justification of the murder of the late duke of Orleans.
He went to the appointed place of audience well armed, and escorted by the princes and lords whom he had brought with him, and great crowds of Parisians. During his stay at Paris he was always armed, to the surprise of the other princes and members of the royal council, who were afraid to say any thing disagreeable to him, from his popularity with the citizens, and because he was ever surrounded by men at arms, and had his hôtel full of them; for he had quartered there the whole, or the greater part, of those whom he had brought with him. He had also a strong tower constructed of masonry[116], in which he slept at nights, and his chamber was strongly guarded. The justification of the duke now follows, and shall be literally given, as delivered by doctor John Petit.