THE KING OF FRANCE IS CARRIED, BY THE PRINCES OF THE BLOOD, TO TOURS IN TOURAINE.——PEACE IS MADE IN THE TOWN OF CHARTRES.—THE DEATH OF THE DOWAGER DUCHESS OF ORLEANS.
THE king of France left Paris, accompanied by the kings of Sicily and Navarre, the queen, the duke of Acquitaine, the dukes of Berry and Bourbon, who, with others of the blood-royal, conducted him, under the escort of a large body of men at arms, to Tours in Touraine, as his place of residence,—to the great displeasure of the inhabitants of Paris, who were so much troubled thereat that they barricadoed the streets with chains. They hastily sent to inform the duke of Burgundy, at Lille, of the king’s departure, giving him to understand that the greater part of those who had carried him away from Paris were not well inclined towards him.
This intelligence was not very agreeable to the duke, for he suspected that the king had only been conducted to Tours that his enemies might carry their measures against him more securely; for the lords who had the government knew well that the Parisians loved the duke of Burgundy, and would not that any other should have the government of the kingdom, believing, from the hints he had thrown out, that when in power he would abolish all gabelles and other taxes which oppressed the people.
The duke of Burgundy first consulted the dukes of Brabant and of Holland, and other steady friends, and then remanded his men at arms from Burgundy, who were on their march to their own country from Liege, and assembled another body from various parts. He advanced to Roye, in the Vermandois, where he mustered his men, and then marched them toward Paris. He quartered himself, on the 23d day of November, in the town of St Denis, and his forces in the adjacent country. On the morrow, as he was advancing with his men at arms in array toward Paris, two thousand or more combatants sallied out thence, and conducted him, with every mark of honour, to his hôtel of Artois.
Many of the Parisians sung carols in the squares, although all rejoicings had been strictly forbidden on his arrival, to avoid increasing the envy of the princes of the blood. Some of the king’s servants said to those who were singing carols, ‘You may otherwise show your joy for his arrival, but you ought not thus to sing.’ Notwithstanding this, all the principal citizens, and those in authority, showed him as much honour and respect as if he had been king himself.
A few days afterward, duke William, count of Hainault, arrived at Paris, well accompanied by unarmed men, and, at the request of the duke of Burgundy, set out for Tours, attended by the lords de Croy, de St George, de la Viefville, d’Olhaz, and others of the council of the duke, to negotiate his peace with the king, and the lords who had carried him from Paris. The count of Hainault was most honourably received at Tours by the king, the queen, and the other great lords; for the marriage had taken place between John duke of Touraine, second son to the king, and the daughter of the duke of Burgundy: he was also nearly related to the queen.
On the conclusion of the feasts made on his arrival, the count of Hainault and those who had accompanied him opened, in full council, the business of their mission, namely, to make peace for the duke of Burgundy. After many discussions, it was resolved, that the king should send certain persons, selected by him, to hold a conference with the duke of Burgundy at Paris, and point out to him the means of his regaining the good graces of the king.
Duke Louis of Bavaria, brother to the queen, Montagu grand master of the king’s household, and other experienced counsellors, were nominated for this purpose; and they returned with the count de Hainault to Paris, when what had passed was told to the duke of Burgundy.
As all the circumstances of this treaty were not agreeable to the duke, and as he had many suspicions respecting Montagu, he was not disposed to receive the negotiators in the way they were sent to him. He even personally made many reproaches to Montagu, who bore them patiently, excusing himself for any thing that had passed. The treaty, however, having been altered and corrected, was sent back to the king at Tours, and in the end agreed to in the manner you shall hear.
While these negotiations were going forward, and before their conclusion, the duchess-dowager of Orleans, daughter to Galeazzo duke of Milan, died in the town of Blois, broken-hearted at not having been able to obtain justice from the king and council against the duke of Burgundy for the murder of her late lord and husband, Louis duke of Orleans. The duke of Burgundy was much rejoiced at this event, for the duchess had bitterly carried on her prosecution against him.
Her heart was buried at Paris, near that of her husband, and her body in the church of the canons at Blois. After her death, Charles, her eldest son, was duke of Orleans and of Valois, count of Blois and of Beaumont, lord of Coni and of Ast, with many other lordships:—Philip, the second son, was count of Vertus,—and John, the youngest, was named count of Angoulême. These three brothers, and one sister, thus became orphans, but they had been very well educated; yet, by the deaths of the duke and duchess of Orleans, they were much weakened in support and advice,—and several of the king’s ministers were not so zealous to prosecute the duke of Burgundy as they had been. This was very apparent in the negotiations which took place some little time after the death of the duchess, between the duke of Burgundy and the children of Orleans; for although the treaty sent by the king was not wholly to the liking of the duke, as has been said, yet it was so corrected that the parties accepted of it, in the following terms:
First, it was ordered by the king and his great council, that the duke of Burgundy should depart from Paris with his men at arms, and return to his own country, where he was to remain until a certain day, namely, the first Wednesday in February, when he was to meet the king at the town of Chartres, accompanied only by one hundred gentlemen at arms, and the children of Orleans with fifty. It was also ordered, that duke William, count of Hainault, should have under his command four hundred of the king’s men at arms, to preserve the peace. It was also ordered, that the duke of Burgundy, when he appeared before the king, should be attended by one of his council, who should repeat the words he was to say; and the duke, in confirmation of them, was to add, ‘We will and agree that it should be thus.’
Afterward, according to the tenor of the treaty, the king was to say to the duke of Burgundy, ‘We will, that the count de Vertus, our nephew, have one of your daughters in marriage.’ The duke was by this treaty to assign over to his daughter three thousand livres parisis yearly, and give her one hundred and fifty thousand golden francs.
When this treaty had been concluded, duke William set out from Paris for Hainault; and shortly after, the duke of Burgundy disbanded his men at arms, and left Paris to go to Lille, whither he had summoned the duke of Brabant his brother, duke William and the bishop of Liege, his brothers-in-law, and many other great lords.
At this period, there was a great quarrel between the duke of Brabant and duke William. It was caused by the father of duke William having borrowed in former times from the late duchess of Brabant one hundred and fifty thousand florins to carry on a war against some of his rebellious subjects in Holland, which sum the duke of Brabant had claimed as belonging to him. He had in consequence, by the advice of his Brabanters, taken possession of a castle called Heusden16, situated between Brabant and Holland.
The duke of Burgundy took great pains to make up the quarrel between these two princes, that they might the more effectually assist him in his plans, which were very extensive. After this business had been settled, and the parties had separated, duke William assembled in Hainault, according to the king of France’s orders, four hundred men at arms and as many archers. The principal lords among them were, the counts de Namur, de Conversant and de Salmes. The duke of Burgundy, conformably to the treaty, set out, the day after Ash-Wednesday, attended by his son-in-law the count de Penthievre17, and lay at Bapaume. Thence he went to Paris, with duke William, the above-named lords, the count de St Pol, the count de Vaudemont18, and several others of the nobility.
On Saturday, the 2d day of March, they arrived all together at the town of Gallardon, four leagues distant from Chartres. The Wednesday following, duke William of Holland advanced with his body of forces to Chartres, where the king then was. On the ensuing Saturday, the duke of Burgundy set out from Gallardon, to wait on the king, escorted by six hundred men at arms; but when he approached Chartres, he dismissed them all, excepting one hundred light horsemen, in compliance with the treaty, and thus entered Chartres about ten o’clock in the morning, riding strait to the church as far as the cloisters of the canons, where he was lodged.
At this same time, the duke of Orleans, in company with his brother the count de Vertus, and, according to the treaty, attended by only fifty men at arms, entered the church of our Lady at Chartres, with the king their uncle, the queen, the duke of Acquitaine, and several princes of the blood.
That the king and lords might not be pressed upon by the spectators, and that all might plainly see the ceremony, a scaffolding was erected in the church, on which the king was seated near the crucifix. Round him were placed the queen, the dauphin and dauphiness, daughter to the duke of Burgundy, the kings of Sicily and Navarre, the dukes of Berry and Bourbon; the cardinal de Bar, the marquis du Pont his brother, the archbishop of Sens, and the bishop of Chartres, with other counts, prelates, and the family of Orleans were behind the king. At the entrance of the church, by the king’s orders, were a body of men at arms drawn up in battle-array.
It was not long before the duke of Burgundy entered the church, and on his advancing toward the king, all the lords, excepting the king, queen and dauphin, rose up from their seats. The duke, on his approach to the king, kneeled down with his advocate the lord d’Ollehaing, who repeated to the king the following words:
‘Sire, behold here my lord of Burgundy, your subject and cousin, who is thus come before you, because he has heard you are angry with him, for the action he has committed against the person of the late duke of Orleans your brother, for the good of yourself and your kingdom,—the truth of which he is ready to declare and prove to you, whenever you shall please. My lord, therefore, entreats of you, in the most humble manner possible, that you would be pleased to withdraw from him your anger, and restore him to your good graces.’ When the lord d’Ollehaing had said this, the duke of Burgundy himself addressed the king, saying, ‘Sire, I entreat this of you:’—when instantly the duke of Berry, seeing the king made no reply, bade the duke of Burgundy retire some paces behind,—which being done, the duke of Berry, kneeling before the king, said something to him in a low voice,—and immediately the dauphin, the kings of Sicily and Navarre, with the duke of Berry, knelt down to the king, and said, ‘Sire, we supplicate that you would be pleased to listen to the prayer of your cousin the duke of Burgundy.’ The king answered them, ‘We will that it be so,—and we grant it from our love to you.’
The duke of Burgundy then approached the king, who said to him,—‘Fair cousin, we grant your request, and pardon you fully for what you have done.’ After this, he advanced, with the lord d’Ollehaing, toward the children of Orleans, who, as I have said, were behind the king weeping much.
The lord d’Ollehaing addressed them, saying, ‘My lords, behold the duke of Burgundy, who entreats of you to withdraw from your hearts whatever hatred or revenge you may harbour within them, for the act perpetrated against the person of my lord of Orleans, your father, and that henceforward ye may remain good friends.’ The duke of Burgundy then added, ‘And I beg this of you.’ No answer being made, the king commanded them to accede to the request of his fair cousin the duke of Burgundy. Upon which they replied, ‘Sire, since you are pleased to command us, we grant him his request, and shall extinguish all the hatred we bore him; for we should be sorry to disobey you in any thing that may give you pleasure.’
The cardinal de Bar then, by the king’s orders, brought an open Bible, on which the two parties, namely, the two sons of the late duke of Orleans and the duke of Burgundy swore on the holy evangelists, touching them with their hands, that they would mutually preserve a firm peace towards each other, without any open or secret attempts contrary to the full meaning of their oaths. When this was done, the king said, ‘We will that henceforth ye be good friends; and I most strictly enjoin, that neither of you attempt any thing to the loss or hurt of the other, nor against any persons who are attached to you, or who may have given you advice or assistance; and that you show no hatred against any one on this occasion, under pain of offending against our royal authority,—excepting, however, those who actually committed this murder, who shall be for ever banished from our kingdom.’
After this speech of the king, these princes again swore they would faithfully abide by their treaty. The duke of Burgundy then advanced to salute the wife of the dauphin, the duke of Acquitaine; and about an hour after this ceremony had taken place the duke took his leave of the king, queen, and the lords present, and set out from Chartres for Gallardon, where he dined. Many who were there were very much rejoiced that matters had gone off so well; but others were displeased, and murmured, saying, that henceforward it would be no great offence to murder a prince of the blood, since those who had done so were so easily acquitted, without making any reparation, or even begging pardon.
The duke of Orleans and his brother shortly after took leave of the king, queen, dauphin, and the lords of the court, and returned, with their attendants, to Blois, whence they had come, not well satisfied, any more than their council, with the peace that had been made.
The marquis du Pont, son to the duke of Bar, and cousin to the duke of Burgundy, who before this day was not beloved by him, on account of the murder of the duke of Orleans, followed him to Gallardon, where they dined publicly together in great friendship and concord. About two o’clock in the afternoon duke William, the count de St Pol, and other great lords, visited the duke of Burgundy at his lodgings in Gallardon, and then returned together toward Paris.
The king, the queen, the dauphin, and the other kings, princes and cardinals, arrived at Paris on Mid-Lent Sunday; and the dukes of Burgundy and of Holland, with the cardinal de Bordeaux, who was at that time in Paris, on his way to the council of Pisa, went out to meet them, followed by upwards of two hundred thousand Parisians of both sexes, eager to receive the king, singing carols, as he entered the gates, and conducting him with great rejoicings to his palace.
They were very happy that the king was returned to Paris, and also that a peace had been concluded respecting the death of the late duke of Orleans. They attributed the whole to the great mercy of God, who had permitted that such strong symptoms of a civil war should be so readily extinguished; but they did not foresee or consider the consequences that ensued.
The greater part of the Parisians were obstinately attached to the duke of Burgundy, through the hope that by his means all the most oppressive taxes would be abolished; but they did not see clearly all the mischiefs that afterward befel the kingdom and themselves,—for in a very short time, as you shall hear, a most cruel contention broke out between the families of Orleans and Burgundy.