THE KING AND HIS GRAND COUNCIL SEND FORCES TO ATTACK THE BURGUNDIANS.—OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED.
TRUE it is, that after the destruction of the castle of Tonnerre, as has been mentioned, many men at arms and archers, who had been there employed, formed themselves into a company of full seven thousand horse, and committed much mischief on the country around, as well on the territories of the king in the Auxerrois as elsewhere.
In consequence, the king and council ordered the lord de Gaucourt, and Gassilin du Bos, to march against and conquer them. They obeyed, and so vigorously pursued them that from two to three hundred were killed or made prisoners. These last were carried to Paris, and confined in the prisons of the Châtelet, whence, after a short time, they were brought to trial, and some of them executed, but not before the king had paid their ransoms to those who had taken them.
The commanders of these marauders were Jacqueville, Fierbourg, and some others, who, when they heard that the king was sending a force against them, retired into the duchy of Burgundy.
Not long after, Sir Jeninet de Pois, nephew to sir James de Châtillon, lord de Dampierre, and admiral of France, going to the duke of Burgundy, attended by only two hundred lances or thereabout, was attacked, killed and robbed of every thing. Only one man, named Tambullan, of his whole company, escaped, and he saved himself by flight: all the rest were slain or taken. This action was very displeasing to the duke of Burgundy.
In like manner Hector de Saveuses, who had made a successful war on the king's forces, when before Arras, was captured when on a pilgrimage to Liance[19], and carried to Paris: had it not been for the earnest solicitations of the countess of Hainault, he would have been executed. Philip de Saveuses, his brother, had also made prisoners of Henry de Boissy, lord de Chaulle, and Eustace Dayne, lord de Sarton, who had warm friends among the king's ministers; and they exerted themselves so effectually for their liberty, that Hector was given in exchange for them.
These, and many similar facts, shewed that, notwithstanding the peace of Arras, there was very little security in the kingdom for travellers or others: for the Orleans party had so surrounded the persons of the king and the duke of Acquitaine, that those attached to the duke of Burgundy or his allies were deprived of all share in the government, and treated very harshly. This treatment, however, was but a retaliation for what the Orleans party had suffered when the Burgundians were in power.
Peace was somehow or other preserved; and the countess of Hainault came, with a noble attendance, through the Vermandois, Noyon and Compiegne to Senlis: the deputies from Flanders followed her, handsomely escorted; and last came the duke of Brabant, with the chief ministers of the duke of Burgundy, namely, the bishop of Tournay, the lord de Ront, sir William Bouvier, governor of Arras, master Thierry du Roy, and some others.
The council of the king of France requested them to proceed to Paris, for the purpose of more conveniently discussing the subject, which was complied with by all except the countess of Hainault, who had been forbidden by her lord and husband to go farther than Senlis, where she had been very honourably received by the dukes of Acquitaine and Berry, who had come from Paris to meet her. She was visited by other princes of the blood, and even by the duchess of Bourbon, who with the consent of her duke, had come from Clermont to entertain her, and remained in her company until she quitted Senlis.