THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY LEADS A GREAT FORCE, WITH THE PARISIANS, TO ST CLOUD, AGAINST THE ARMAGNACS.
THE duke of Burgundy having remained some time at Paris with his army, and having held many councils with the princes and captains who were there, marched out of the town about midnight, on the 9th of November, by the gate of St Jacques. He was magnificently accompanied by men at arms and Parisians, among whom were the counts de Nevers, de la Marche, de Vaudemont, de Penthievre, de St Pol, the earl of Arundel, Boucicaut marshal of France, the lord de Vergy marshal of Burgundy, the lord de Heilly, lately appointed marshal of Acquitaine, the lord de St George, sir John de Croy, Enguerrand de Bournouville, the lord de Fosseux, sir Regnier Pot governor of Dauphiny, the seneschal of Hainault sir John de Guistelle, the lord de Brimeu, the earl of Kent, an Englishman, with many other nobles, as well from Burgundy as from Picardy and different countries. They were estimated by good judges at six thousand combatants, all accustomed to war, and four thousand infantry from the town of Paris.
When they had passed the suburbs, they advanced in good array, under the direction of trusty guides, to within half a league of Saint Cloud, where the Armagnacs were quartered. It might be about eight o’clock in the morning when they came thither, and the weather was very cold and frosty. Being thus arrived without the enemy knowing of it, the duke of Burgundy sent the marshal of Burgundy, sir Gaultier des Ruppes, sir Guy de la Trimouille, and le veau de Bar, with eight hundred men at arms, and four hundred archers, across the Seine, toward St Denis, to prevent the enemy from there crossing the river by a new bridge which they had erected over it. These lords so well executed the above orders that they broke down part of the bridge, and defended the passage.
The duke, in the mean time, ascended the hill of St Cloud in order of battle, and at the spot where four roads met posted the seneschal of Hainault, sir John de Guistelle, the lord de Brimeu, John Phillips and John Potter75, english captains, at one of them, with about four hundred knights and esquires, and as many archers. At another road, he stationed the lords de Heilly and de Ront, Enguerrand de Bournouville, and Aymé de Vitry, with as many men as the knights above-mentioned. The third road was guarded by Neville earl of Kent76, with some picard captains; and the Parisians and others, to a great amount, were ordered to Sevres, to defend that road.
When these four divisions had arrived at their posts, they made together a general assault on the town of St Cloud, which the Armagnacs had fortified with ditches and barriers to the utmost of their power. At these barriers, a notable defence was made by those who had heard of the arrival of the enemy, under the command of their captains, namely, sir James de Plachiel, governor of Angoulême, the lord de Cambour, William Batillier, sir Mansart du Bos, the bastard Jacob, knight, and three other knights from Gascony, who fought bravely for some time; but the superiority of numbers, who attacked them vigorously on all sides, forced them to retreat from their outworks, when they were pursued, fighting, however, as they retreated, to the tower of the bridge and the church, which had been fortified.
The whole of the burgundian force which had been ordered on this duty, excepting the party who guarded the passage of the bridge, now bent all their efforts against the church. The attack was there renewed with greater vigour than before, and, notwithstanding the gallant defence that was made, the church was stormed, and many were slain in the church as well as at the barriers. Numbers also were drowned of the crowd that was pressing to re-enter the tower of the bridge, by the drawbridge breaking under their weight.
It was judged by those well acquainted with the loss of the Armagnacs, that including the drowned, there were nine hundred killed and five hundred prisoners. Among these last were sir Mansart du Bos, the lord de Cambour, and William Batillier. In the town of St Cloud were found from twelve to sixteen hundred horses that had been gained by plunder, and a variety of other things.
While this was passing, the duke of Burgundy was with the main army drawn up in battle-array, on a plain above the town: he had with him the greater part of the princes, and his spies were every where on the look-out that the enemy might not surprise him by any unexpected attack.
The engagement at the tower of the bridge was still continued by the Burgundians, in the hope of taking it; but it was labour in vain, for those within defended it manfully.
Some of the garrison sallied out on the opposite side, and hastened to St Denis, to inform the duke of Orleans of the disaster that had befallen them. He was sorely displeased thereat, and instantly mounted his horse, accompanied by the duke of Bourbon, the counts d’Alençon and d’Armagnac, the constable, the master of the cross-bows, the young Boucicaut, and about two thousand combatants, advanced toward St Cloud, and drew up in battle-array on the side of the river Seine, opposite to where the duke of Burgundy was posted, and made every preparation as if for an immediate combat. The duke of Burgundy and his men likewise dismounted, drew up in order of battle, and displayed his banner, which was most rich and splendid. But notwithstanding the eager desire which these princes showed for the combat, it was to no purpose,—for the river was between them, so that no damage could accrue to either party, excepting by some chance bolts from the cross-bows, who shot at random.
When the Armagnacs had remained there for some time, seeing that nothing effectual could be done, they remounted their horses and returned to St Denis, leaving, however, a reinforcement to defend the tower of St Cloud. On their departure, the duke of Burgundy held a council, and it was determined to march the whole army back to Paris. The duke lost this day, in slain, not more than from sixteen to twenty; but there were many wounded, among whom were Enguerrand de Bournouville and Aymé de Vitry, who had fought well, as did the lord of Heilly. In like manner, the earl of Arundel and his men behaved gallantly; and it was one of them who had made sir Mansart du Bos prisoner, but for a sum of money he resigned him to one of the king’s officers.
The duke of Burgundy, on his return, was received by the Parisians with great acclamations; for they had heard of his brilliant success, and they imagined that through his means they should shortly be delivered from their enemies, who oppressed them sorely. With regard to the king, the duke of Acquitaine, and the members of the grand council, prelates as well as seculars, the reception which they gave him, the princes and the captains of his army, is not to be described.
The duke of Orleans, learning that the duke of Burgundy had returned to Paris with his army, held a council with the heads of his party, when, having considered the severe loss they had suffered of the most expert of their captains, and the great power and numbers of their opponents, whom they could not at this moment withstand with hopes of success, they resolved to retire to their own countries, and collect a sufficient army to oppose any force the king and the duke of Burgundy should bring against them. This was no sooner determined than executed; for they instantly packed up their baggage, and, crossing the newly-erected bridge over the Seine, which they had repaired, and the bridge of St Cloud, hastily marched all night toward Estampes, and then continued their route to Orleans, and to other towns and castles under their obedience.
Thus, therefore, the duke of Orleans, in seeking vengeance for the death of his father, gained only disgrace and great loss of men. Such of them as were slain in the field, at the battle of St Cloud, were there inhumanly left without sepulture, as being excommunicated, a prey to dogs, birds, and wild beasts. Some lords of his party, such as sir Clugnet de Brabant, sir Aymé de Sarrebruche, the lord de Hufalize, and many more, passed through the county of Valois to Champagne, and thence to their own homes.
News of this retreat was, very early on the morrow, carried to the duke of Burgundy and his captains at Paris. Some of them mounted their horses, and went to St Denis, when all that the Armagnacs had left was seized on and pillaged: they even arrested and carried away, in the king’s name, the abbot of St Denis, for having admitted his enemies into that town. Many of the principal inhabitants were also fined, notwithstanding the excuses they offered. Others of the duke’s officers went to the town of St Cloud, which they found abandoned.—Many pursued the Armagnacs, but in vain; for they had marched all night, and were at a considerable distance before the news of their decampment had reached Paris.
A few days after, the king, by the advice and entreaties of the duke of Burgundy, bought the greater part of the prisoners made at the late battle, by paying their ransoms to those who had taken them. In the number was Colinet, thus surnamed by many, who had betrayed the bridge of St Cloud to the duke of Orleans; and on the 12th day of November, he and five of his accomplices were beheaded in the market-place at Paris: his body was quartered, and the five others were hung up by the arms on the gibbet at Montfaucon.
On the 13th of the same month, a sermon was preached in the church-square, before the porch of Nôtre Dame in Paris, by a Friar Minor, in the presence of the duke of Burgundy, many princes, and a great concourse of people,—in which he said that the bulls given by pope Urban V. had been of the utmost efficacy against the rebellious subjects of the king, and publicly denounced the duke of Orleans and his party as excommunicated. They were also thus denounced in many other succeeding sermons.
The ensuing day, the king heard mass in Nôtre Dame, and returned to the Louvre to dinner, when he most graciously received the earl of Arundel, and caused him to be seated at his table next to the duke of Burgundy.
Many councils were held at Paris respecting this war, and on the measures the king should now adopt. It was at length determined, that on account of the winter, neither the king nor the princes should attempt any thing more until the ensuing summer, but only have some able captains with a sufficient force on the frontiers, to harrass and pursue the enemy, and keep him in check. In consequence, the lord Boucicaut marshal of France, the lord de Heilly marshal of Acquitaine, Enguerrand de Bournouville, Aymé de Vitry, the lord de Miraumont and others, were ordered on this service with a very considerable force. They marched toward Estampes and Bonneval, and those parts, having with them the lord de Ront.
Bonneval, on the first summons from the above captains, surrendered to the king’s obedience, and the greater part of them were lodged in the town, and in an adjoining abbey of some strength. Those of Estampes refused to surrender, for it was garrisoned by the duke of Berry, and began to make war on the troops of the king and the duke of Burgundy, by the instigation of the lord Louis de Bourbon, governor of Dourdan, who resided there.
At this period, with the consent of the duke of Burgundy, sir John de Croy, eldest son to the lord de Croy, still detained prisoner by the duke of Orleans, marched from Paris, with eight hundred combatants, for the castle of Monchas, in the county of Eu, in which were the duke of Bourbon’s children and his lady-duchess, namely, one son about three years old, and a daughter by her first husband nine years old, with their nurses and other attendants. The son of sir Mansart du Bos, and the lord de Foulleuses, knight, were also there. The castle and the whole of its inhabitants were taken by sir John de Croy; and he carried them, and all he found within it, to the castle of Renty, where he held them prisoners, until his father, the lord de Croy, was released. When this misfortune was told to the duke of Bourbon, he was much afflicted; but the duchess took it so sensibly to heart that very soon after she died of grief77.