THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY SENDS HIS HERALD TO THE KING OF FRANCE IN PARIS.—THE ANSWER HE RECEIVES.—THE SIEGE OF MONTLEHERY,—AND OTHER MATTERS.
DURING the time when the duke of Burgundy was encamped at the withered tree on Mont-Chastillon, before Paris, he sent one of his heralds called Palis, who was afterward Flanders king at arms, with letters to the king and the dauphin of France. On his arrival at the gates of Paris, he was led to the count d'Armagnac and the king's ministers, who bade him address the dauphin, and give to him his letters, for that he could not be admitted to the presence of the king,—which he did, shortly detailing the object of his mission from the duke of Burgundy.
The dauphin, who had been well instructed what answer he was to make, replied in a great rage, 'Herald, contrary to the will of my lord the king and of us, thy lord of Burgundy has already destroyed several parts of the kingdom, and, by his persevering in his conduct, he plainly shews that he is not our wellwisher as he signs himself. If he be anxious that my lord and ourself should consider him as our relative, loyal vassal and subject, let him march to combat and conquer the king of England, the ancient enemy of this realm, and then return to the king, when he shall be well received. Let him no longer say that my lord the king and ourself are kept in servitude at Paris, for we both of us enjoy our full liberty and authority; and do thou be careful that thou repeat what we have just said, aloud to the duke of Burgundy, and in the presence of his army.'
After this speech, the herald returned to his lord, and repeated to him what the dauphin had said, which made no great impression on the duke, for he considered it as the speech of those who governed the king.
When the duke perceived that he could not gain admittance to Paris, and that his partisans in that city were unable to perform what they had promised him, he decamped from Mont-Chastillon, with his whole army, to lay siege to Montlehery. The inhabitants, knowing the power of the duke, and thinking they should not be supported, entered into a treaty to surrender the castle, if within eight days they were not succoured by the king or the constable. They sent information of this treaty to the constable, but it was of no avail, for no succours were sent,—and they delivered up the castle conformably to their agreement.
In like manner were reduced to the obedience of the duke of Burgundy the castles of Marcoussy, Dourdan, Palaiseau, and some other forts in the neighbourhood. During the siege of Montlehery, the duke detached a part of his army to the castle of Doursay, who lodged themselves in the town, in front of the castle, and there pointed some cannons to batter the walls and conquer it; but a large body of the constable's men attacked their quarters at break of day, and slew the greater part of them. Those who escaped fled to the quarters of the duke of Burgundy, crying, 'To arms! for that the enemy were marching in great force against them.'
The duke instantly drew up his army in battle-array on the plain, as if the enemy had been in sight. The leaders of the detachment sent to Doursay were the lord de Salines, the lord de Toulongeon, and some other captains from Burgundy; and at this surprise were made prisoners sir Geoffroy de Villers, a knight from the Rethelois, with fifty other gentlemen.
While this was going forward, the duke dispatched sir Elyon de Jacqueville John de Guigny, John du Clau, and other captains, with sixteen hundred combatants to Chartres,—which place with Estampes, Gallardon, and other towns and forts, surrendered to the duke of Burgundy. Jacqueville remained governor of Chartres. In like manner, sir Philip de Fosseux and Robert le Roux were sent to the lady de la Riviere at Auniau, who promised that she would not admit any garrisons into her forts of Auniau and Rochefort, that would carry on war against the duke of Burgundy or his wellwishers.
At this time, numbers of towns, castles, and noble men joined the duke, in the expectation that he would succeed in his enterprise and obtain the government of the kingdom. In the towns which submitted to his obedience, he would not allow any taxes to be raised excepting that on salt, which gained him great popularity among the inhabitants and peasantry of the countries round. He also sent letters to many of the principal towns in France, of the following tenour.
'John duke of Burgundy, count of Flanders and Artois, palatine of Burgundy, lord of Salines and Mechlin. Very dear and good friends, you have known, from melancholy experience, the miserable system of government which is adopted in this kingdom, as well with regard to the king as the country, by those who have seized the management of our lord the king, without respect or care for his royal majesty; but, forgetful of every thing, they have impoverished his estate, and his own personal wealth, which formerly acquired for him great renown among Christian princes. His government was, anciently, celebrated for the equity of the courts of justice, which was administered indiscriminately to the poor as well as to the rich; but the present ministers have so greatly neglected it that it has fallen off, and is now directed according to their pleasure, while all parts of his majesty's dominions are in a state of anarchy, and a prey to the bitter enemies of the kingdom, by the destruction of the nobles and other supporters of the dignity of the crown.
'Heavy taxes, under various pretences, have been and are raised, to the great vexation and ruin of the nobility, clergy, citizens and commonalty, who groan under them.
'To obviate and reform these and similar abuses, we have taken up arms, as it is well known to you; for we have frequently and publicly summoned these ministers to desist from such practises declaring that otherwise we should ourselves provide a remedy, for the benefit of our said lord the king, so that an adequate provision might be made for his establishment, his kingdom be better governed, and the lost territories recovered.
'And again, while we were lately before Paris, we sent our herald to our said lord the king, with sealed letters, in which we repeated the grounds of our conduct, supplicating him that we might be permitted to approach his sacred person, and make offer of our personal services to him as to our sovereign lord; but the present ministry would not allow these letters to be given to our said lord, and sent them back to us. They forbade our herald to return again, and continue their usual mode of government to the destruction of the realm and of all his majesty's loyal subjects, because they know that we are averse to their measures which are daily becoming from bad to worse. It is this which engages us to persevere in our resistance whatever may be the consequences thereof, that they may no longer continue their wicked practices, and that commerce may have free course, and the kingdom may be governed according to justice. Such is our firm intention that we may loyally acquit ourselves; for it has been pronounced by the holy court of Rome, that it behoves us to attend to the government of the kingdom, considering the unfortunate state of the king and the youth of the dauphin, rather than the count d'Armagnac, or those who style themselves council to the king. In confirmation of this, we have annexed to these presents the decree that was pronounced by the holy college in the presence of a very learned doctor, our ambassador to the court of Rome.
'We therefore summon you in the name of our said lord, and earnestly request you on our part, that you take the above subjects into your serious consideration, and form such conclusions as may be honourable to our aforesaid lord, and to the preservation of his lineage and dominions; and that all his subjects may enjoy peace and justice, and that these our intentions may be adopted by you, is the earnest object of our wishes.
'We request, that on the 20th day of October next ensuing, you would depute to us not less than two well-instructed persons, at whatever place we may be, with whom we may advise with sufficient powers to form any treaties in your names, and in those of the prelates, chapters, and all dependances on your jurisdiction.
'Be careful that herein you fail not, from the love you bear our aforesaid lord, ourselves and his realm. Should you desire any thing from us, you have but to mention it and we will do it to the utmost of our power. Written at Montlehery, the 8th day of October.'
Underneath is a copy of the schedule from the college of cardinals, annexed to the duke of Burgundy's mandatory letter.
'I Lievin Nevelin, doctor en decret, ambassador from the sacred college of cardinals, to the most mighty and puissant prince my lord the duke of Burgundy, have presented to him, on the part of the sacred college, letters sealed with three seals, namely, that of the dean of the cardinal-bishops, of the dean of the cardinal-priests, and of the dean of the cardinal-deacons, which are my credential letters, and which I have explained to my lord the duke, by offering to him from the sacred college the words of the holy prophet David, 'Domine refugium factus es nobis;' that is to say, 'Lord, in times of trouble we seek refuge in thee.' In continuing my discourse from the above text and for many reasons comparing the sacred college to king David, I have laid before my said lord of Burgundy the state of the holy council of Constance, and the labours of the cardinals to restore union to the church.
'I afterward explained to him, that all Christendom was now united, except as it were a single grain in a bushel of wheat, namely, the dominions of the count d'Armagnac, who still obey Pietro della Luna, and whose adherents have been declared schismatics and guilty of heresy. I then explained, that I was sent by the sacred college as ambassadors to him, not simply as duke of Burgundy, but as the representative of the crown of France, and to whom the government of that country legally belonged, to make to him certain requests and propositions from the sacred college; and I mentioned the reasons why I was deputed to him, and not to the king, to my lord the dauphin, the count d'Armagnac, or to the king's ministers. These reasons were, as the sacred college bade me inform him, because my lord the king was overwhelmed with a sore disorder, because my lord the dauphin was too young in years, and because the count d'Armagnac had relapsed into schism, and some of the king's ministers, adherents to the count, were suspected of being schismatics also.
'True it is, that the said count d'Armagnac has not been pronounced schismatic; but at the public sessions of the council, when Pietro della Luna was dethroned and declared schismatic and heretic, he was personally accused by the king of the Romans, and the procureur-fiscal of the said council, and has since relapsed into schism, notwithstanding the frivolous excuses made in his behalf by master John Gerson.
'I made three requests to my said lord of Burgundy; the first was, that he would be pleased to have in his protection the sacred college, the pope, and the proceedings of the said general council, by guarding and maintaining them in their ancient rights, liberties and privileges. Secondly, that should any one write, or cause to be written in time to come, any things against the said holy college or pope, he would not give faith to such writings. Thirdly, that my said lord would approve of whatever acts the said sacred college should issue, as well touching the election of the pope as the reformation of the holy church.' At the end of this schedule, the said Lieven had put his sign-manual.