Bretaign became an arrier-fief to the Crown of France In this State it continued till the death of Covan Earl of Bretaign who left Issue only one daughter nam'd Constance This rich Heiress was courted by many but Henry the second King of England pretended as Duke of Normandy the Right of Marriage and partly by his Authority partly by his Addresses of Courtship obtain'd her and had four Sons by her Henry Richard Geoffry and John He design'd to leave to Henry the Crown of England to Richard the Provinces of Normandy Main Anjou and Tourain which fell to him by Succession from his Father and Mother and the Provinces of Guien and Poictou which he had in Marriage by his former Wife Eleanor Between these two young Princes and the two daughters of the most Christian King Lewis the 7th there was a solemn Treaty of Marriage and the King of England had Interest enough to bring both to effect John his 4th Son was design'd for Ecclesiastical Preferment so that a Match having been propos'd between the Heiress of Bretaign and the house of England she must now of necessity be married if to any to Geoffry King Henry's third Son In fine the was married to him upon considerations meerly Political for his person was no way taking with the young Lady but his death soon deliver'd her and left her to a second Marriage more to her content for she her self then made choice of Guy de Thouars a Knight the handsomest and bravest person of his Age by whom she had but one daughter her first Husband had left her big with Child of a Son nam'd Arthur whose death was the more unhappy for that he was depriv'd thereby of such an accumulation of Successions that of England and the French Provinces thereunto appendant fell to him by the death without Issue of his Fathers two Eldest Brothers and Bretaign being his at the same time in Right of his Mother he had doubtless in prospect had he liv'd the vastest Monarchy that had been known since the partage of the Imperial Dominion of Charles the Great but John sirnamed Lackland the only Uncle who surviv'd procur'd his death to get his Estate and by this means the daughter of Guy de Thouars became sole Heiress of the Earldom of Bretaign Philip the August who taking advantage of the villany of John Lackland had reunited the Dutchy of Normandy to the Crown of France pretended that since Henry these cond King of England had power as being Duke of Normandy to dispose of the Mother he both as Duke of Normandy and King of France together had so much the better Title to dispose of the daughter The branch of Dreux was at that time the most proper branch of the Royal Family his appennage was small he had neither Office nor Government his Alliances had not enrich'd him and it was to be fear'd he might lose his Rank for want of Estate as it hapned some time since to the branch of Cortenai supposing his publih'd Genealogy be altogether exact This made Philip the August the more willing to give the Heiress of Bretaign to Peter de Dreux with this Condition that Bretaign should henceforth be immediately held of the Crown of France that is to say that it should no more do homage to whoever should be Masters of Normandy in case that Province should ever be again dismembred from the Crown The Condition was advantagious to both the new married Parties since their Estates were now no longer held in arrier fiefs nor would depend for the time to come upon a single Duke of Normandy but only upon the first of Christian Kings Nor did any one receive prejudice by it in regard Normandy was reunited to the Crown No wonder then if Peter de Dreux and his Wife accepted gladly the Condition and observ'd it in all particulars But that soon befel the new Duke of Bretaign which is but too frequent with men of slender virtue that is to say he suffer'd himself to be drawn away and transported by this flowing Tide of good fortune The large Extent of this Country of Bretaign and its advantageous Situation gave it a very sufficient Title and Merit in this Princes opinion to an absolute and independent Sovereignty besides he was pleas'd to flatter himself with this conceit that his carrying on so high a design as the shaking of the French yoke would immortalize his Name to all Posterity which great undertaking the better to accomplish he was really perswaded that his siding with the Earl of Boulogne and his Party was as fair an opportunity as he could have wisht for taking it for granted that if the Earl succeeded he could do no less than remit his homage of Bretaign in recompense of his declaring for him In case he did not succeed the Regent in revenge that she might oblige those Princes of the blood who had taken part with him to desert him would be glad to condescend to what ever they should demand of her Thus the Duke of Bretaign turn'd Rebel upon false surmises with which he fed his fancy but the most cross and untoward occurrence in his Revolt was his drawing in upon a quite contrary principle his Brother Robert de Dreux This Person had a Soul so sensible of all benefits and so prone to grateful returns that he thought he could not better testifie the high obligation he had to the Duke of Bretaign for having left entire to him the Apennage of their branch than by serving him for or against whom soever he desir'd except the King Thus he put himself under the Banner of the Malecontents by a Motive the most excusable that ever was if any excuse can be admitted in matters of Treason The last Prince of the blood that the Earl of Boulogne drew in to his Party was Robert of Courtenay whom he found the more pliable to his Temptations by discontent because the branch of the Dreux had been preferr'd before his by the Match of Bretaign and to engage him the more deeply he had opportunity given him to make himself Master of certain summs of the Kings mony Raimond the 7th of that Name Earl of Tholouse sirnamed the young was before hand with the Malecontents to whom without staying for any Invitation from them he went and joyned of his own accord upon the first prospect he had of a civil war His main inducement to this proceeding for he had none of those pretences which the rest made use of was only to save himself by fishing in other mens troubled waters The Court of Rome whose Thunders ruin'd without Exception all those petty Princes upon whom they lighted was altogether inexorable toward this Prince and would not quit him of those Ecclesiastical Censures which had been pronounc'd against him though the refusal thereof was the greatest obstacle to the recovery of Languedoc This Interdiction had so powerful an ascendant upon his Subjects minds that they thought they might be very well
by the different passions which had got the Mastery of him began to entertain an Idea of Parricide as of absolute necessity at this time He could not resolve upon attempting the Kings Life by open force at a time when he had all his Troops about him nor was the way of Assassination much more safe It was now many Ages since any of the French Monarchs had been taken off by this way so ready the Nobility had been to take part with them and to revenge all designs whatsoever put in practice against them No way was left but poison and the French who from the very first beginning of the Monarchy had had this practice in the greatest detestation began insensibly to have an inclination to it whether it were that they were of late grown more Ingenious in Malice or that they had learn'd this way of giving their Enemies a dispatch either from the Infidels against whom they had born Arms or from the Greeks with whom they had of late been more than formerly conversant What kind of poison it was that the Earl gave the King was never absolutely discovered but sure enough for the greater Secrecy of the matter such a Dose was given him as caus'd a lingring distemper The King dissembled for many dayes the violence of the Feavour which inwardly confum'd him nor did he to the very last so much resent the pain he endur'd as the disturbances likely to ensue as to publick Affairs Jealousy for its greater Satisfaction finds out peculiar wayes of taking Vengeance The Earl had the pleasure before he parted to see the King languishing on his death bed and to foresee that his leaving him in that Condition would augment his grief and vexation of Spirit However he had the confidence for all this to go and wait upon the Queen as presupposing that she could hardly suspect the true cause of her Husbands Malady or at least if she should come to under-it she would be oblig'd to conceal her knowledge because of the need she would have of his assistance in obtaining the Regency Nor was it long e're the King finding his end to draw near made his Will in which he appointed the Queen to be Governess of her Eldest Son and Regent of the Kingdom He dyed thesventh of November 1226 in the 39th Year of his Age This last Will and Testament met with no opposition on whether it were that the Princes of the Blood and Nobility of the Realm were wrought upon by those pathetical discourses which he made to them upon his death bed to oblige them to pursue his Interests or that their wavering minds had not yet fix'd upon those measures which were to be taken for a Revolt intended or had they indeed been ready for any such design they were watch'd too narrowly by the Queen to bring it to Effect For notwithstanding she was left a Widow at a Conjuncture capable of disheartning a Princess who though of wit and spirit enough yet wanted two qualifications which might render a womans Government supportable to the French Nation that is to say Credit and Experience however she endeavour'd by all means possible to inform her self of the Genius of a People she was to govern and eafily apprehended that the best way to prevent what ever designs might happen to be broach'd in France was to carry with all speed her Eldest Son St. Lewis to Reims to be there anointed King and that nothing would so much conduce as this Ceremony to keep within the bounds of their Allegiance a People prepossess'd with an opinion of his being hereby made a partaker in the Sovereign Power The extraordinary haste that was made for the King's Journy into Champaign hinder'd the Grandees and Nobles from accompanying the King with the Splendor and Magnificence usual upon such occasions notice only was given that the King was willing to dispence with the trouble and charge of those great preparations expecting their Attendance in person only without any pompous Train or numerous Retinue which in such an Affair as this would be but trouble-some and apt to breed disturbance This Ceremony was perform'd in the beginning of December 1226 by the Ministry of the Bishop of Soissons Premier Suffragan of the Archbishoprick of Reims whose seat was then vacant But Philip of France the Kings Paternal Uncle first Prince of the Blood Earl of Boulogne and Clermont whether it were that he took Exception to see himself preceded by the Peers of France at the Kings Inauguration or because the Regent had not confirm'd the Augmentation of his Appenage which was promis'd him when he gave his content to her being made Regent what ever it were he repented him of what he had done when it was but just too late to revoke it He was the first man that labour'd to destroy his own work though no man was more concern'd than himself to preserve it entire He came short in deeds of Arms both of his Father and his Brother but equall'd them both in wit and surpass'd them in Vigour and Address and though there were no other proofs then the Intreagues hereafter mention'd they are sufficient to discover him the most subtle and dextrous Prince of his Age. He represented both by word of mouth and by writing to all the Nobles of the Realm how they had been circumvented how that a Spanish Woman had found a way how to deprive them of the fruit of all their labours and that notwithstanding those Conquests which had been gain'd by Philip the August in a War of 50 Years to avoid falling under the English Power and the coming off with so much glory in so difficult an Enterprise they were now in danger of falling under that Yoke whereof in former times they had so universal a dread That the Queen whom they had declar'd Regent was indeed born in a Country which hitherto had neither any Antipathy nor Interest with France but that she was in Effect English and neither could nor ought to be consider'd as others wise though at a time when she took upon her the Government of the French That she was the daughter of Eleanor Princess of England and Grandchild of a Queen of the same Name who had detach'd Guien from the Crown of France to unite it to England That though she was the daughter of Alphonso sirnamed the Noble King of Castile yet she was not married to the late King Lewis as Infanta of Spain but as Princess of the Royal House of England where the Daughters are call'd to the Succession of the Crown for want of Issue Male. That this Marriage had been resolv'd on in a solemn Treaty with the English That the King of England had endow'd her with the Earldom of Eureux and 30000 Marks of Silver and therefore had reason to expect from her a Recompence proportionable to the establishment he had setled upon her That nothing less could be expected but giving back the Provinces conquer'd from King John
since he could not dive into the true cause and was not satisfied with any of those he revolved in his mind he fix'd upon that which had been suggested to him never examining the probability of it or considering that it was infinitely more ridiculous than any thing he could imagine beside Thus imputing the Queens indifference for him to the love which it was surmised she had for the Legate upon this sullen supposition he resolv'd upon the suppressing of a passion with which he was even ready to burst Upon this he entred into the Earl of Boulogne's Party and drew along with him his Brother of Arms Hugo de Dampmartin Count of Ponthieu whose Eldest Brother was Renald Count of Dampmartin Auscon Islebon and Domfront He having married the Niece of King Philip the August took the boldness and Authority upon him under pretext of this Alliance to besiege and having taken it to rase down to the ground a Castle belonging to the Bishop of Beauvais a Prince of the blood and Cousin German to the said Philip the August who glad of an occasion to bring down this Count of Dampmartin whom he knew to be the most turbulent and dangerous person of his whole Realm took speedy course with him and confiscated all his Estate The Earl thus reduc'd from his former heighth to a dependance upon others for maintenance was forc'd at last to beg the Kings pardon but in vain for all the Answer he could obtain of the King was that though he had no obligation to give an account of his actions to any one whatsoever yet nevertheless he was content to remit the hearing of all matters in Controversie to the Chamber Royal and the Barons of the Realm But this proposal relish'd not at all with the Earl for besides that he expected no other than to be condemned if they should proceed to the utmost rigour against him he knew well enough the power and credit his Majesty had in that Court where he was to plead So that seeing no other remedy he took part with the English and had the misfortune to be taken with other Prisoners at the Battel of Bovines where he had languish'd out a long Confinement though in a spatious Prison of about 22 Years his Brother the Earl of Ponthieu not being able to procure his Releasement And indeed the two last Kings Philip the August and Lewis the 8th and after them the Regent had ever held it as a sure Political Maxim that it very much imported to keep in durance all his life time that Vassal of theirs who was most potent and formidable so long as there was any advantage to he taken without any absolute violation of Justice so that there was no probability of this Earls deliverance but by force of Arms. The Earl of Boulogne promis'd Ponthieu to act with all the vigour requisite upon such an occasion for the setting his Brother free and that if it were not done before the Overtures of a Treaty of peace the said Treaty should never be concluded but upon Condition he were first releas'd The Earl of Boulogne being thus assur'd of those Feudataries who were nearest about the heart of the French Monarchy made it his next design to gain those who were more remote and more especially address'd himself to Jane Countess of Flanders and Hainault This Princess was married to Ferdinand Infant of Portugal and Eldest Son of King Sanchius who according to the Custome of the Cadets of noble Families had sought his Fortune in France and behav'd himself like one of those old Knights errant so renown'd in Story and in truth he lighted upon better fortune than ever he could have hop'd for Balduin Emperor of Constantinople dying without Issue Male had left King Philip the August Tutor to his daughter Princess Jane with power to marry her to whom he thought fit The King having a good opinion of Ferdinand's Merit or else not willing to bestow her upon a French man for fear of making him too potent match'd her to this Portuguess who had not made his pretension to her but as resolving to stand in Competition with any pretenders whatsoever though their hopes were built upon never so much better a Foundation But no sooner was Ferdinand by this Match become Master of two Estates more considerable at that time than the Crown of Portugal it self but he stain'd his Reputation by a most horrible Ingratitude He suffer'd himself to be deluded by the same Renald de Dampmartin whom we have already mention'd so far as to bear Arms for the English against his Benefactor for which deservedly he had the same fate being likewise taken Prisoner at Bovines after he had receiv'd six wounds in the body by the valiant Hugode Marevil a Gentleman of Xaintogne However his being taken Prisoner troubled him nothing near so much as the course they took with him afterwards for the King who knew him to be the proudest Prince of that Age knew also what would most touch him to the quick and bring down the pride of his haughty heart he caus'd him to be led in Triumph through the Streets of Paris in which disgraceful march he was saluted with such kind of Language as the Mobile commonly bestow upon persons of his Circumstance After he had been kept for some time without any other hopes than of perpetual Imprisonment it was thought fit to give him up a Freeman to the tears and submissions of his Wife who was come to cast her self at the Kings feet and to let him live in peace only all the strong places of Flanders and Hainault were to be ras'd to the ground Hereupon he was shortly to have been releas'd upon Geoffry Son of the Earl of Brabant his standing surety for him but whether it were that Geoffry refus'd to yield to that clause of the Treaty or that the King had taken fresh displeasure from any words Ferdinand had let fall since this Negotiation he was still kept a Prisoner and his Wife thus frustrated of her hopes of seeing him again at liberty yielded to the first invitation made to her of entring into the League The Earl of Boulogne encourag'd by this so speedy and prosperous success made his next Address to two Brothers Princes of the Blood viz. Peter Duke of Bretaign and Robert Earl of Dreux As for the Duke of Bretaign he was no less oblig'd to the Crown of France then the Earl of Flanders and his Ingratitude was of no less tendency to the violation of all Right and Justice Now for the better understanding of an Entreague which hath not been sufficiently made known neither in the History of France nor of any other Nation it is to be noted that Rollando the first Duke of Normandy compell'd by force of Arms the first Earl of Bretaign to do him Homage for his Earldom in the same manner as the Dukes of Normandy have since done Homage for their Dutchies to the Kings of France that is to say
were to have the Sovereign decision of the affair in hand after they had try'd all ways which their prudence should suggest to them to bring the Parties to agreement but that above all things it was expected his most Christian Majesty should be invested with the Right of Sequestration that is should have the Title of all the Estates in Controversie deposited in his Royal hands The Rebels who found that this Expedient would not turn to any account to them rejected it and the Regent sent Forces enough into Champaign to dislodge the Earls Enemies She foresaw in the end that in pronouncing a definitive Sentence upon so nice a Process her Authority and Reputation would be much expos'd and brought into danger for that if her Sentence were favourable to the Earl of Champaign all the French would be ready to tax he of notorious Injustice especially if she should make it her business in this affair to serve her pretended Lover all the Satyrical wits would begin to let fly at her with more fury than before on the other side if she should decree the Queens reestablishment in her Estate of the house of Champaign she would be liable to be censur'd of Ingratitude toward Count Thibault to whom she ow'd her Regency at least if not her Life In short which way soever she gave her Sentence all outward appearances conduce to this perswasion that the Arrest would be subject to a review because otherwise the Duke of Bretaign and the rest of the revolted Peers would not have been assistant in it so that the business could not but go well on the fair one's side and this the Regent brought the better about by a trick which in brief was as followeth She represented to the Queen of Cyprus that the Rebels sending for her was but to make her endure a long continuance of affliction after a short flash of joy for that no sooner should she be put into the possession of her Fathers Estate by their means but she would be driven out again and that she plainly foresaw the Rebels would not be in a capacity of restoring her the second time wherefore since her engaging with them would signifie so little to her there remain'd but one Expedient by which if she would take her advice she might come off with honour That she had but one Son who in regard he was oblig'd to reside in Cyprus would not be able to preserve the Inheritance of Champaign any long time though she her self should leave the peaceable possession of it to him that her daughters would never find Matches in Cyprus answerable to their quality that therefore it would be much better for her by yielding to an accomodation with Count Thibault to receive a present summ of mony and such a portion of Land in France as would put her into a capacity of matching her daughters into Sovereign houses than by standing out to be reduc'd to a Condition of having nothing to give them The Queen of Cyprus was not without those failings which are usual with persons of little or no experience in the World she despair'd of ever bringing to pass those affairs in which she was bauk'd at first and had too much impatience in the midst of ill fortune to wait the turning of the Tide She had entertain'd a belief that it was not the will of God she should ever be Countess of Champaign because she had twice in vain made her pretensions to it and in the heat of this perswasion she consented to a Treaty without communicating the affair to any of those that had been the occasion of sending for her over into France She was contented to accept of 40000 Livres of ready mony and the Counties of Brienne and Joigni for all she pretended to of her Fathers and Mothers Estates Earl Thibault was not so indiscreet to refuse an agreement which was of such advantage to him but he wanted money and the summ he was to raise was so considerable that his Subjects harrass'd by the quartering of so great Forces as had lately been among them were not able to furnish him and no less unable to assist him were the rest of the Feudataries his friends so that if it were any where to be had it must be had out of the Kings Exchequer but the Regent was too prudent to take any thing out from thence but upon very good Terms and what ever obligations she and the King her Son had to the Earl when all things came to be weigh'd in the ballance of Truth it would easily appear that he had done them as much harm as good having poison'd the Father of the one and the Husband of the other His power too great for any Vassal gave him the boldness to commit this crime and the only way to be reveng'd on him for it was to reduce him to such a Condition that his Successours should never dare to have any thoughts of the like attempts as not being able to execute them with Impunity In short the design in hand was to weaken the house of Champaign and this present occasion was too favourable to be neglected The Regent waited the time when this Summ should be desir'd of her and when the business was mov'd she made answer she was ready to lend provided such Security were given for the repayment thereof as was fit to be accepted by a King's Mother and Governess The Earl offer'd her Majesty to engage those Counties he possess'd in the heart of the Kingdom but it was answer'd him that this kind of Engagement would be subject to grand Inconveniences and hazards both as to the repaiment of Principal and Interest and the care which was to be had to repair wastes and make Improvements that it became a Governess to avoid as much as possibly she could all kind of Embarasments in the affairs of her Pupil In fine if the Earl had a mind to sell she was willing rather to purchase than to lend mony The Earl saw well enough that they went about to ruine him in so subtile a manner as that he should have no certain foundation or pretence of complaint he was a man of too much sense and spirit not to be troubled to see himself thus dealt with and to find by these proceedings that the Regent was far from ever having any inclination for him but it was no time now to declare his resentment and he foresaw that in case he refus'd to relinquish a part of his Inheritance he should be sure to lose all Upon which he consented to sell the King his Earldoms of Charters Blois and Sancerre and the Viscountship of Chateaudun and out of the money of this sale Her Majesty deducted 40000 Livres which she paid immediately to the Queen of Cyprus The Rebels by this Transaction being frustrated of the pretence they had of treating the Earl as an Enemy and on the other side not being able easily to resolve upon forgiving him found out another Expedient
which was no less advantageous to their Party They laid Treason to his Charge impeaching him of the untimely death of his late Sovereign Lord King Lewis the 8th by poyson given him and offer'd to undergo the severest penalties that could be inflicted upon false accusers if they did not plainly prove him guilty of two Crimes which rendred him unfit for humane Society that is to say of high Treason against his Sovereign Lord and of being a Traitor against his Country This they urg'd with Arms in their hands and the danger which threatned the Crown from their impetuous heat was thought so considerable that all the grand Ministers of the Kings Council were of Opinion that the best way would be to give them some satisfaction The Count himself was of the same Sentiment for quietness sake and it was with his own consent that the Queen upon Treaty with them made the chief Condition of their laying down their Arms to be the Earl of Champaign's taking upon him the Croisada and setting out immediately for the holy Land attended with a hundred Knights at least to be maintain'd at his own Charge This was a very notable Expedient in regard it equally pleas'd both Parties For on the one side the Earl found it very advantageous to him in regard both his Crime met with a far gentler punishment than it really deserv'd or he could have hop'd for had he been brought to Trial and his Reputation was in a manner salv'd by going in a croud of so many innocent persons as daily went upon this Expedition upon no other motive than their most ardent zeal On the other side the Rebels also obtain'd what they desir'd for besides that they had a long time of deliverance from their Enemy and the satisfaction of having put him upon an Expedition from whence few valiant men live to return If the accusation wherewith they branded him were not made out in full it was at least in part for admitting there were among the Croisado'd Champions many innocent persons there were also many culpable and as divers Princes and Great men led Armies over into Palestine merely for the accomplishing of those religious vows they had made for the recovery of the holy places where Jesus Christ had been conversant and died for the Salvation of mankind So there were others of no less grandure who undertook this Voyage or rather Pilgrimage as a penance enjoyn'd and to obtain absolution of those Ecclesiastical Censures which they lay under And this was the case of Henry the second King of England who for his Assassination of St. Thomas of Canterbury had this penitential Voyage enjoyn'd him by Pope Alexander the third which our Earl of Champaign so willingly accepts Civil wars and the Defluctions of the body end much after the same manner that is to say by discharging themselves all at once upon the weakest part and throwing on it a greater weight than it is able to bear The French were almost brought to a right understanding yet nevertheless would not easily consent to lay down their Arms they earnestly press'd to be employ'd in prosecuting the design of Lewis the 8th and there was reason to fear lest the refusal of their demand might occasion new troubles Never was there a fairer prospect of the Conquest of Languedoc the longer the delay the greater would be the difficulty and the Interests of State were not to be neglected so long as they were seconded by those of Religion In order hereunto the Regent resolv'd to drive the Earl of Tholouse to the utmost extremity and the better to assure her self of the greatest advantage possible in all humane appearance she made it her first business to deprive this Prince whose ruine she design'd of the surest refuge he had to trust to It hath been already observ'd that the Earl of Provence was his Cousin and a Prince in like manner as himself of the house of Catalogue Languedoc had expectation of assistance more ways than one Those of Provence were in a Condition to aid them if not directly yet at least indirectly being at that time the most free from war of any people in France and their Prince the most mony'd man of any Prince in Europe Mony was the main thing the Earl of Tholouse wanted and but for the want of which he could not have wanted Souldiers notwithstanding all the Excommunications thunder'd against him from the Court of Rome Above all things therefore the Earl of Provence must of necessity be taken off him the Regent knew to be a sincere man and a most punctual observer of his word wherefore she represented to him by secret Messengers that he was now grown old and could not if he regarded his health and consider'd his true Interest engage himself in the Earl of Tholouse his quarrel without drawing an inevitable war upon Provence let him use all the faution he could That he had only our daughters and the Earl of Tholouse but one so that since the house of Catalonia was drawing toward a period he could not better consult for the honour and advantage of his Family than by making an Alliance with that of France which beyond all dispute was the noblest in the world That the Eldest of the Provencian Princesses could not be more happily matcht than with the young King of France that this proposal was not so much upon the account of her Estate as of her matchless beauty and the charming sweetness of her Nature and to evince to the Earl that this Alliance was not in the least promoted in reference to the uniting of his Estate to the Crown of France there should be a renunciation made to any such pretension upon the contract of Marriage of the King with his Eldest daughter and free leave given him to divide all he had among his three younger daughters or to give it to her of the three whom he preferr'd before the rest The Earl of Provence could never have been more easily tempted than by two such soft and obliging Proportions as the concluding his Life in Tranquility and repose and the liberty to dispose his Estate as he pleas'd For besides that he was much of the temper of those effeminate Princes who hate nothing more than business he was overtaken with the vice of those who happen to have Children in their old Age that is to say he lov'd the Princess Beatrice his youngest daughter better than any of the other three to her he design'd to leave Provence and as a man is apt for the most part to give way to the belief of what he earnestly and constantly desires he perswaded himself that in preferring the youngest he should do no wrong to the three Elder daughters since it was his intention to leave them his Treasures which he look'd upon as treble the value of his Sovereignty He fancy'd if the King of France by marrying of his Eldest daughter shewd himself an approver of what he had determin'd