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
them and brought their Troops timely enough into the Field to save the State by preventing the Earl of Bologne from seizing upon his Nephew the Young King and by an Action so seasonable even to finish the War as soon as it was begun The Earl thus frustrated of his first Design fore-saw that it would not be so easie a matter as he first fancy'd to himself to Degrade his Sister-in-Law wherefore the better to make sure of his Accomplices he endeavour'd by all means possible to make them irreconcileable with the Regent He knew where the greatest part of the Kings Treasure was kept and there it was that he made his second Effort accordingly he seiz'd on it and distributed it to those of his Party with this Condition that those who were nearest to him should have the greatest share This done he led them towards Calais there to joyn the King of England who following the measures he had taken from the Male-contents was to make his Descent at that very time But there is nothing so uncertain as the managing of great Enterprizes by reason of that general concourse of different Causes whereupon they depend for success The Regent lost neither her Courage nor her Judgment at a conjuncture when on the one side she had little or nothing to hope for and on the other very much to fear Never was there known to come out of her Mouth either Complaint or Reproach She knew exactly the bad condition of her Affairs and used all the Art of Dissimulation she was capable of to conceal what she thought for fear of discouraging those faithful Persons she had remaining about her She guess'd at the Earl of Bologne's Design from the very moment he took his March and wisely gain'd her Advantage by the needless stop he made in Eureux for the hindring of his passage Moreover as she concluded that France was in all likelyhood inevitably lost if the Male-contents should joyn the English she had recourse to an Artifice which I cannot but stand astonish'd that no Historians ever yet made mention of There was in England a Person named Hubert de Bourg so considerable in all respects that he was equall'd by no Man either in Favour or Merit he had a Wit beyond the Common rate and his shape was such as what Poets use to attribute to Heroes He was at once both the most accomplish'd Cavalier and the most expert Captain of his Nation and never was there English-man a truer Lover and more Zealous Patriot of his Countrey He served both King and Kingdom to that degree that both had an equal share of Obligation to him It was by him that the Crown had been preserv'd in the Family of the Plantagenets and that England had not been made a Province to the Crown of France He defended to the utmost Normandy and Guien against Philip the August and had successively in the chief places of both these Provinces held out long Sieges and by his obstinate Resistance ruined whole Armies never yielding to come to Capitulation till such time as the very Horses were all eaten up Even the French his Enemies both admiring and honouring him for his Valour thought they could never enough commend him when they saw him here in England and how just their Commendations were he ceas'd not afterwards to give them fresh demonstrations since he alone it was who snatch'd out of Prince Lewis his hands the Conquest of this Island He it was who by his Gallantry recovered the Town of Dover and Defended it with that perseverance that all the French Forces sent against it were not able to re-take it He afterwards beat them twice once at Lincoln another time before Bedford In fine he it was who having dispos'd the English to acknowledge him set King Henry upon his Throne And as the Obligation of this King Henry was very great so His Majesties care and study to recompense him was no less he confer'd upon him all the Principal Offices in the State except that of High Admiral for he was Grand Marshal Lord High Treasurer and Chief Justiciary all at one time He bad the Charge of the Transportation of those Troops which were design'd for France which Trust while he was discharging with his ordinary care and vigilance he received at that very juncture a Present of 5000 Marks of Silver with a Letter which neatly and wittily rallied upon his Vanity by insinuating to him that to make himself the most Illustrious Person that ever England bore he who had lately settled the Crown of England upon the Head of Young King Henry his Master maugre all the Force of France ought now to make it his next business to set the Crown also upon the Head of the Young King of France against all the united Forces both of his own Subjects and of England The weakness of Humane Nature never discovers it self more plainly than when in a moment it yields to lesser Temptations when at other times it hath for a long while withstood greater This was the Case of Du Bourg who after he had been inflexible to the vast Offers of Philip the August and Lewis the 8th suffered himself at last to be overcome with a petty Present and a poor frivolous bait of Vain glory offered him by a Foreign Princess He Equipp'd forth but half the number of Ships necessary for the Transportation of the English Army and when the Noblemen who had almost all in general provided to attend the King personally in this Expedition came to Dover to see their Goods dispos'd of on board the Ships there was not room nor Convenience found for them nor could it be doubted but that either the Knavery or Negligence of Du Bourg was the cause whereupon immediately Complaint was carried to the King Du Bourg was sent for to give an account to His Majesty but when he came he made so lame a Defence for himself that the King incens'd against him called him Old Traytor and drawing his Sword had certainly run him through the Body had not the Earl of Chester an intimate Friend of Du Bourg put by the thrust and given Opportunity to other Persons interested in the Fortune of this Favourite to interpose in his behalf and to avert His Majesties displeasure for the present In the next place they made him keep out of the way till such time as they had made his Peace which was not long for the King however touch'd in the most sensible and incurable part namely that of Ambition yet in the end suffer'd himself to be convinc'd that the old Obligations he had to this his Favourite ought to weigh with him more than the injury lately committed He gave him his Pardon freely and in some time receiv'd him into his wonted Grace and Faour The Regent encourag'd with the success of her first Project namely her obstructing with so much ease the passage of the English Army over into France put in execution a second Design as no
this matter She undertook her self the Office of Nurse to this dear Son of hers not thinking it safe for where most Love is there is most jealousie and suspicion he should suck of any other Milk than her own upon this there hapned a Rencountre which being not elsewhere to be found though perhaps purposely omitted as beneath the Gravity of History cannot handsomly be here pass'd by One day when she had a violent hot fit of an Ague upon her which also lasted longer than Ordinary a Lady of Quality who either to please her Majesty or in imitation of her had taken upon her to nurse her own Son being then present and seeing the little Infant cry for the Teat took upon her the boldness to give him the Breast the Queen when the fit was over call'd for her Child and offer'd him her own Breast but the Infant put it by either because having suckt so lately he was fully satisfied or because the fresh Milk he had lately tasted made him the more sensible of the burning heat of that which his Mother now offer'd him The Reason was easie to be guess'd and the Queen her self suspected what had hapned She pretended an impatient desire of returning her thanks to the person who had oblig'd her by being so kind to her Child during her Indisposition The Lady hereupon expecting no doubt to be a Favourite own'd what she had done and told the Queen that the crying of the Infant so sensibly touch'd her that she could not forbear to give it what Relief was in her power But the Queen instead of returning her the thanks she expected cast a most disdainful look upon her and thrusting her singer into his mouth forc'd him to give up all he hadreceiv'd from her Breast This violent Carriage of the Queen gave surprise to all that beheld it whereupon not to hold them long in suspence the Queen told them they ought not to think strange of what they had seen for that she could not possibly endure that any Woman alive should have a Right to dispute with her the Quality of a Mother so stedfast her perswasion was that the nursing of Children is a great part of their Education Other Particularities of the Education of St. Lewis are not known only in general it is not unknown how great Care was taken to place such persons about him as were most capable to instruct him but however these persons were it may without any injustice to them be strongly presum'd their Abilities were not sufficient for the high Province they were set in it being in an Age when men of greatest Fame for Literature were but very indifferently learned and in a Kingdom whose Nobility at time lay under the scandal of that gross Ignorance besides that St. Lewis came too soon to the Crown to have that leisure and opportunity which were necessary for a serious Application to study He was not above twelve years and about ten dayes over of Age when his Father King Lewis the 8th who had not reign'd in France above three years resign'd him his place by an accident whose Circumstances have not been to this day sufficiently made known The most potent Feudatary of the French Monarchy next to the King of England was at that time Tibault the third who Matthew Paris calls Henry Earl of Champaign Brie Chartres and Blois the Sovereignty of which Estates had been in his Family above 400 Years and it was no less then 300 Years since one of his Ancestors got himself immortal Fame by compelling the last King of Burgundy for the putting a stop to the persecution then on foot to resign his Crown to the Emperor Conrade This Prince of all the Princes of Christendom of that time had the greatest Alliances his Mother being the Daughter and Heiress of the King of Navarre his Grandmother Sister of Philip the August King of France his great Grandmother Princess of England and her Mother of the Imperial House of Suevia He was of a large Stature handsome well made valiant and active Especially at the Exercise of the Lance which was then an Exercise and Divertisement much in use and Esteem but withal he was extreamly subject to passions which of all others are most incident to persons of his Quality and Grandure and that in so high a degree that it was hard to distinguish which was most predominant He was born a younger Brother but waited not long before he became the Eldest his Brother dying without Male Issue the Orphan Princesses he left behind found their Uncle instead of a Protector the greatest Enemy and Persecutor they had Nor had he accepted of the Tuition of them but only to gain an opportunity thereby of invading their Estates which he delay'd no longer to do then till he had made himself Master of all their strong holds The pretence he made use of to palliate his Injustice was too weak to have ever been made use of before in the like Case Namely that the Earldoms of Champaign Brie Chartres and Blois were Fiefs purely Masculine that is to say so firmly entail'd upon the Martial or Arm-bearing Sex as not to admit of any Woman whatsoever though Married to the General of an Army No less Criminal was this Earl in his amorous Inclination nor did this passion of his tend less to evil Consequences the respect he ow'd to Lewis the 8th his Sovereign and the honour he had of being so nearly related to him not restraining him from loving Queen Blanch beyond the Limits of honour and decency and whether it were that he gave way to Presumption equally with Love or that his Passion was moreover degenerated into folly or that he had entertain'd an Opinion that Secrecy would more avail to the heighthning than suppressing of his Malady or lastly that the Queens Virtue had driven him to despair he not only took no care to hide the fury of his amorous Flame but on the contrary sought all extravagant ways imaginable to proclaim it to the World he spent a great part of his time in making Love-songs savouring more of a flashy wit than of a true Elegance or Spirit of Poetry these he made it his business to get presented to the Queen he caus'd them to be compos'd to Musick and sung to all sorts of Instruments and either to keep them from growing out of date as it generally happens when the Novelty of a thing is over or that their Memory of them might survive both the Author and the Princess for whom they were made he had them grav'd in Copper and expos'd to the sight of the whole world in the Galleries of his Palaces at Troye and Provence as if he were afraid least future Ages should be unacquainted with his folly or the time he liv'd in should want a fit Subject for Satyre Such was the excessive heighth of his Imprudence which the King was not then in a Condition to chastise he thought it better to pretend Ignorance
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
excus'd from acknowledging him their Prince with whom they were forbidden to have any Communication or Correspondence insomuch as all the relief and assistance he could get was from those infected with the Albigensian Heresie This sort of people were at that time not so numerous as the Catholicks and should the Regent take Tholouse the Capital City of that Country there would be no possibility of the Counts reestablishment So that by thus engaging himself with the Malecontents he thought on the one side let the worst come to the worst he could not be more unfortunate than he was in that wretched Estate to which h ehad been reduc'd on the other side the least success should attend his Party would conduce to the recovery of his lost Estate The Earl of Provence a Prince equally considerable and his Cousin of the house of Catalogue came in last of the French into the Earl of Bolognes Party led by Motives which only concern'd him at a distance for he had no reason to complain either of the most Christian Kings in general or of the Regent in particular against whom he could be no otherwise incens'd than by those too deep reflections he made upon what might happen for the future the French as he thought border'd too near upon Provence their Neighbourhood rendred them suspected to him when the French had a victorious King at the head of them his fear of being entangled in his Cousins Ruine kept him back from aiding him against them but after that this Warlike Prince was taken off by Death he thought that though he could not yet with safety pluck off his Vizard quite and have recourse to open Arms in defence of the Earl of Tholouse who was yet but half ejected he might at least securely act under-hand so as to engage them the sooner in a Civil War which was in a manner already begun to the end he might give Advantage to the said Earl to recover Languedoc without being Oblig'd to any one but himself The greatest part of the Princes and Nobility of France being thus corrupted by the Artifices above-mentioned the Earl of Boulogne's Faction was in all appearance strong enough not to stand in need of the help of strangers yet nevertheless it was resolv'd no Aids should be refus'd of how little necessity soever as if it were not enough for France to be torn in pieces by its own Hands but it must also borrow those of the most Ancient and Formidable Enemy King Henry the Third of England was a great Master-piece of Fortune that is to say he was equally an Object of her favourS and her frowns he had for his Father a Homicide an Atheist a Person dethron'd and under all Ecclesiastical Censures which followed him so close he could neither get Food nor Harbour but in places and among People where he was not known The Son had his share in all these Calamities but they attended him no longer than during the Life of him who had drawn them upon his own Head God who when he goes about to punish Crimes hath an Eye upon the principal Actors took pity on the House of England As soon as this Monster which it brought forth was cut off Providence was particularly concern'd for Henry the Third the Innocent Son of this so Criminal Father and settled him in the Throne of England when there was not the least likelyhood he should ever ascend it and this Affair which seem'd altogether impossible by all the Intrigues of Policy was brought to pass almost in a moment and that without either Trouble or Molestation or Expence or Blood There remain'd nothing now but to recover those Provinces of France which had been won from England by Philip the August And Henry thought now to compass that without striking a stroak which he in vain attempted by force of Arms in the Reign of King Lewis the 8th viz. the re-uniting those Provinces to the Crown of England and that by pretending to take part with the Seditious French supposing the Regent finding it impossible to oppose him and at the same time to defend her self from those that went about to degrade her would immediately upon notice of his Landing in France with a puissant Army seek for an Accommodation and offer him all that had been taken from the English on Condition he would turn those Arms against the Rebels which he had design'd for their assistance So that he had no sooner receiv'd the Earl of Boulogne's Message which was meerly to sift out of him whether or no he inclin'd to concern himself in the bickerings which were beginning in France but he rais'd a far more puissant Army than any of his Predecessors had ever led against any of the most Christian Kings moreover under pretence of Obliging the Male-contents the more he undertook to Command the Army in Person and to be at all the Charges of Levying and Transporting sporting it but the real truth is his going in Person was rather to hinder them from Treating with him by Writing choosing rather by his Personal presence to have an Ear open to such Propositions as he presum'd the Regent would soon make to him Behold here the whole Foundation of the League concerted under the Minority of St. Lewis never was there any one so Potent or so cunningly driven on since the establishment of the French Monarchy nor can the Abilities of Queen Blanch be any way better understood or express'd than by the recounting of those Intrigues by which she wound her self out of the most troublesome Exigences that ever Heroick Vertue was reduc'd to and made a shift to preserve the Crown in all its lustre for the King her Son The Male-contents had carried their Affairs with so much precaution and Secrecy that the Court had not the least Intelligence of them and all the suspicion the Regent had was only grounded upon two actions subject enough to a dubious construction the one was the great care which the Earl of Bologne took to Fortifie Calais the Town of his Apennage and the usual place of Landing for the English The other was the re-inforcement of the Garisons which the Duke of Bretaign had put at the request of the late King into the Castles of St. James Beuron and Belesm As there was just reason to apprehend that these two Innovations happened not but upon some Mysterious account the Regent took an occasion hereupon immediately to bethink her self of her own safety and not knowing as yet either the number or the quality of those that had combin'd for her Destruction all that her Prudence could suggest to her was to give Order to those Military Officers who had most eminently testified their Fidelity to her Husband to raise what possible Force they could 'T is hard to resolve whether it were by Choice or good hap that matters succeeded according to her wish but this is certain that they acquitted themselves like Men of Honour in the Commissions she gave
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