THE CHAINS ARE TAKEN AWAY FROM THE STREETS OF PARIS.—THE PARISIANS ARE KEPT IN GREAT SUBJECTION.—OTHER ROYAL EDICTS ARE PROCLAIMED.
WHEN the duke of Burgundy, as has been said, was returned to his own country, Taneguy du Châtel, who had lately been appointed provost of Paris, and Remonnet de la Guerre, were commissioned by the dukes of Berry and of Orleans to take down all the chains that had been affixed to the different streets and squares in Paris, and carry them to the bastille of St Antoine and to the castle of the Louvre. They also seized the arms of the burghers and inhabitants, and carried them to the said fortresses, riding daily through the streets attended by a strong force, and followed by cars and carts, which conveyed the arms and chains to the places appointed for receiving them. There was not, at that period, any burgher who dared even to carry a quarter-staff.
The same men at arms kept a very strict watch day and night at the gates and on the walls, at the expense of the inhabitants, without attention being paid to their complaints, or placing the smallest confidence in them. They were consequently very much discontented, and sore at heart, when they saw how they were treated; and many now repented that they had put themselves under the government of the enemies of the duke of Burgundy, but dared not shew it openly.
In regard to the duke, various edicts were issued against him, charging him with attempting to seduce the king's subjects from their obedience. One, addressed to the bailiff of Amiens, was as follows:
'Charles, by the grace of God, king of France, to the bailiff of Amiens, or to his lieutenant, health and greeting.
'Whereas it has come to our knowledge, that John our cousin of Burgundy, our rebellious and disobedient enemy, has written, and sent at different times, sealed letters, as well to our good town of Paris as to many others within our realm, with the intent to seduce and deceive our subjects, and enable him to accomplish the damnable enterprise which he lately formed of marching a large army into Paris. We have, by our letters, expressly commanded, that no one, whatever may be his rank, should receive any of these letters from the duke of Burgundy; and should any have been received, that no answer whatever should be made to them, but that they should be sent to us, or to our chancellor, to do by them as we shall think expedient.
'This said duke of Burgundy, continuing his damnable projects, has lately sent certain letters-patent, sealed with his privy seal, to our town of Paris, which he has caused to be fixed secretly in the night-time to the gates of several churches, and in other public places of the said town, as well as to several others within our realm, as we have heard, by which he declares that he had marched to Paris solely with the intention of delivering us and our very dear and well-beloved son, the duke of Acquitaine, from the bondage in which he said we were held. The said duke further declared, that he would never abandon his attempt until he should have restored us and our dear son to the full enjoyment of our free will and government. These assertions, and others made by the said duke of Burgundy, are, thanks to God, groundless, and notoriously false; for neither ourself nor our dear son have been or are under any subjection whatever, nor are our honour, our justice, or the state of our government, any way wounded or diminished,—but ever since the departure of the duke of Burgundy from Paris we have governed peaceably, freely, without any hindrance or contradiction. This, however, we were but little able to do, after the horrible murder committed by this said duke on the person of our well-beloved brother Louis, duke of Orleans, whose sins may God pardon! We do now govern, and have governed, our kingdom, since the departure of the aforesaid duke, according to our pleasure and the right that belongs to us, and have been constantly obeyed in all things, humbly and diligently, by all those of our blood and lineage, like as good relations, vassals and loyal subjects should do to their king and sovereign lord, excepting alway the duke of Burgundy, who, contrary to our orders and positive commands, has assembled great numbers of men at arms and archers, and, like an enemy, has marched them to the walls of Paris, having in his company many traitors and murderers, and other criminals against our royal majesty.
'With such persons, and others who have been banished our realm for similar crimes, the said duke, persevering in his wickedness, attempted to enter Paris, to seize on and usurp (all that he has written to the contrary in his letters notwithstanding) the government of us, of our eldest son, and of the whole kingdom, and to appropriate to himself the finances, as he long did to our very great displeasure, and to the loss of the kingdom, after the said murder by him committed; for the said Burgundian and his adherents are known to have had and received sixty hundred thousand francs and upwards,—for which, and various other causes, more fully explained in our ordinances, we have declared him a rebel, a violator of the peace, and, consequently, an enemy to us and to our whole kingdom.
'Whereas several of our subjects and vassals may perchance be ignorant of these said things, and therefore not believe them; and because the said Burgundian, by his written letters, may publish false and wicked lies as may deceive our said vassals, and prove of the utmost detriment to us, our kingdom, and to our faithful and loyal subjects: we being therefore desirous that every person may be fully ascertained of the truth, and in order to counteract such false and damnable lies, do thus publicly signify and make known, that the matters which the said Burgundian has written and published, either by himself or his adherents, are detestable lies, spread abroad to seduce and deceive our people, and to enable him to succeed in his damnable design.
'It is therefore our determination, with the aid of God, to oppose this duke by every means in our power, and to reduce him, his abettors, accomplices and adherents, under such subjection as befits vassals who are disobedient to their lord and sovereign. Such is our will, and we shall never depart from it. We therefore command and strictly enjoin, under pain of our displeasure, that you instantly do proclaim, in the most public manner, these presents in every place within your bailiwick where such proclamations are usually made, so that no one may plead ignorance thereof.
'You will likewise forbid, in our name, all our vassals within your jurisdiction, on the faith, loyalty and obedience they owe us, and under pain of being reputed rebels, and suffering the punishments due to such, henceforward to receive any letters from the said duke of Burgundy, his adherents or allies. Should any letters be sent them, we order that they do not open them, nor make any communications thereof—but that they do bring them sealed up to our trusty and well-beloved chancellor, for him to do therewith as he may judge proper.
'And we, by these presents, do absolutely forbid them, under pain of the aforesaid penalties, in any way to advise, comfort or support, or show favour to the said duke of Burgundy, his partisans or allies, that they may prove themselves faithful and obedient subjects to us, as they are so bounden; otherwise, they shall be punished like rebels, to serve for examples to all others.
'Given at Paris, the 17th day of February, in the year of Grace 1413, and of our reign the 33d.' Thus signed by the king, on the report of his grand council, and countersigned 'E. Mauregard.'
Shortly after, another edict was issued against the duke of Burgundy, and proclaimed throughout the kingdom at the usual places, the tenour of which was as follows:
'Charles, by the grace of God, king of France, to the bailiff of Amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting.
'Whereas it is so notorious to all our subjects that none can pretend ignorance thereof, that John, our cousin of Burgundy, has lately advanced to the walls of our good town of Paris, with a large body of men at arms and archers, contrary to our positive orders, and in defiance of our will and pleasure, solemnly made known to him, as well by ambassadors as by sealed letters from us: that he captured the town of St. Denis, and made of it a bulwark against our city of Paris, marching thence to the walls of our said city with displayed banners, and sending his scouts to the gates thereof: that he has seized and retains the possession of many of our towns by occupying them with a force of men at arms, more particularly Compiegne and Soissons: that he has now under his orders a very numerous army within our kingdom, to our great prejudice and to the oppression of the realm: that he has published certain declarations, as a colour for this disobedient and rebellious conduct, which are all of them perfectly false and malicious, his intention being to attempt gaining admittance, by fair or foul means, into our good city of Paris, to do his pleasure on us, our very dear companion the queen, our well-beloved son the duke of Acquitaine, and on others of our blood and lineage within the said city, and consequently to regain the whole government of the kingdom, in like manner as it is notorious he did formerly usurp it, and by his tyrannical domination caused irreparable injuries to those connected with us by blood, the inhabitants of the town of Paris, and in general to the whole kingdom.
'For these causes, we have branded him, all his adherents, partisans and allies, as rebels to us and enemies to our kingdom. Fie is now departed from our town of St. Denis, and we know not what road he has taken; but we have sent you letters to enjoin you to proclaim throughout your bailiwick, that none be so daring, under pain of corporal punishment and confiscation of effects, as to serve or join him in the army which he has raised; and should there be any within your jurisdiction who, in defiance of these our orders, shall have joined the said duke, we order you to seize their persons, and confiscate their estates which lie within your bailiwick, for our use.
'Notwithstanding these explicit orders, you have been, as we have heard, very dilatory and negligent in obeying them, and have paid but little attention thereto: should this have been the case, we are, and not without reason, much displeased. We therefore again command, and most strictly enjoin, on penalty of dismission from your office, that on the receipt of these presents, you do proclaim them, or cause them to be proclaimed, in all the accustomed places within your bailiwick, so that no one, whatever be his rank, may think of joining or serving the duke of Burgundy, in the army which lie has assembled; and that all who may have joined him may instantly return to their homes, under pain of suffering corporal punishment and confiscation of effects.
And whereas it is notorious, that many persons within your jurisdiction have joined the duke of Burgundy, and that others are his supporters and abettors, who, contrary to our pleasure, have murmured and continue discontented, attempting also to deceive and seduce our people from their allegiance, and endeavouring, as we have heard, by every possible means, to advise and comfort the said duke of Burgundy: we therefore enjoin you, under the penalties aforesaid, to take instant possession of all their effects, moveable and immoveable, within your district, and wherever they may be, for us and in our name. You will act in like manner to all whom you may know to be favourable to the said duke of Burgundy, and partisans in his abominable and traitorous designs.
'Nevertheless, if you can lay hands on any of their persons, you will instantly arrest them wherever they may be, except in sanctuaries, and immediately inflict such corporal punishment on them as they may have deserved. Should you not be able to do this, summon them to appear, under penalty of banishment and confiscation of effects. You will also command, by proclamation, all who are bound to serve us, to hasten to join us with as numerous a body of men at arms as possible, that we may effectually oppose the duke of Burgundy and his accomplices, reduce them to the obedience they owe us, and punish them according to their misdeeds, and the tenour of those letters which we have before addressed to you. Do you be careful to execute punctually and diligently these our orders, that we may not proceed against you for disobedience.
'Given at Paris the 20th day of February, in the year of Grace 1413, and of our reign the 33d.' Thus signed by the king, on the report of the grand council held by the queen and the duke of Acquitaine. Countersigned, 'J. du Châtel.' It was proclaimed in Amiens and its bailiwick by orders of the bailiff and his deputies on the last day of February and the following days.
Letters patent were also sent to the nobles of Artois from the king, and to those who had attended the duke of Burgundy in his march to Paris from the bailiwicks of Amiens, Tournay, and the Vermandois; and to those who had remained at home were sent letters sealed with the small round seal. The first letters, in the king's name, forbade these nobles, under pain of the before-mentioned penalties, to accompany, or to give counsel or aid, to the said duke of Burgundy, and commanded them to prepare themselves and their horses to serve the king against this Burgundian and his abettors. By the second, they were ordered to collect as large a force as they could, and advance to Paris and join the king there, or wherever else he might be, that he might be enabled to impugn and humble the duke of Burgundy, his partisans and advisers.
These letters were forwarded to the bailiff of Amiens by the chancellor, who sent them, according to orders, to the provostships and bailiwicks, for the guards in each to deliver them to those within their districts to whom they were addressed. These guards were to receive hostages, if possible, and send them to Paris, and they were to write word what other securities they had obtained. Should they not receive any, nor letters of acknowledgment, they were also to write this, that it might be known who had and who had not received these letters from the king.
About this time, the bishop of Paris, at the request of the university, sent to the duke of Burgundy, to know whether he would avow those arguments which master John Petit had advanced by his desire against the late duke of Orleans. The duke, in reply, told the messengers, that he would neither avow nor support the said master John, saving his just rights. On this answer being carried to Paris, it was ordered by the bishop and the inquisitor of the faith, that the aforesaid arguments should be condemned, and publicly burnt in the presence of the clergy, and of whoever else might choose to witness it. When this was done, it was proposed that the bones of the said master John Petit should be sought for in the town of Hêdin, where he had died,—for it was intended to burn them in the same place where his arguments had been burnt,—but in the end nothing more was done.