Daughter and Heiress of the Earl of Toulouze and also gave him the Counties of Poitou and Auvergne and all that had been conquer'd in Languedoc upon the Albigensis Year of our Lord 1241 These years the Tartars made cruel irruptions amongst others one in Hungary under the Command of Bath who was one of their Generals and one in Russia Poland and Silesia whither they were conducted by another of their Generals who was named Pera. These Barbarians were Scythians Originaries between the Caspian Sea and Mount Imaus Some make them descended from the Ten Tribes of the Hebrews who were transferr'd by the King of Assyria into those Countreys and derive their Name from the Hebrew Word which signifies Forsaken Others derive it from the River Tatar which ran thorough their Countrey and say it was given to the whole Nation of the Mogles composed of seven principal People of which they made one They were Tributaries and as we say Slaves to a Christian Nestorian Prince whose Kingdom was in the Indies he was called Prestor-John But Cingis or Tzingis-Cham set that Nation free about the end of the last age ruined the States of Prester-John and founded a very great Kingdom out of it from whence divers Colonies went forth and setled in other Countreys even in some parts of Europe The Earl of Toulouze sought out all means underhand to repair the shameful Treaty he had made with the King and therefore he consulted and contrived with James King of Arragon who was come to Montpellier and with the Earl of Provence though he were the Kings Father-in-law to Dissolve his Marriage with Sanchia Year of our Lord 1241 the Arragonians Aunt upon pretence of parentage that he might Marry the Daughter of the Earl of Provence and that his Daughter Jane whom he had perforce given to the Earl of Poitou might not be his Heiress An example that proves to any that might doubt that amongst Great ones Honour Parentage Alliance and ☞ Conscience does easily give way and stoop to their Interest and Humour Hugh Count de la Marche to his misfortune had Married Isabella the Widow of King John who had formerly ravished her from him This Womans pride would not suffer him to do Homage to Alphonso the new Earl of Poitou the King undertook to compel him and on a suddain took several of his Towns and demolish'd them amongst others Fontenay where his Brother Alphonso was wounded with an Arrow The King of Englands assistance in behalf of his Mother was too slow he and his Brother Richard landed in the River of Burdeaux The Earl de la Marche had assured them that all Poitou would rise and joyn with them upon their arrival but as his promise failed their courage failed too the King falls upon them at the Bridge of Taillebourg fighting desperately in person making them retreat as far as Xaintes and from thence to Blaye The Earl and his proud Dame being forced to forget she had been a Queen found no safety but at the Kings Feet They experimented his Goodness was as great as his Courage and although she had suborn'd Rascals to Murther him who had been discover'd and punished he pardon'd both her and her Husband keeping only two or three of their Places in his hands till he was better assured of their Obedience Year of our Lord 1243 Italy was horribly shatter'd by the Factions of the Guelphs and Gibelins The First held for the Pope the others for the Emperour Year of our Lord 1243 The jealousie betwixt the Franciscans and the Dominicans which had its Birth almost with their Orders encreased likewise proportionably with their growth Insomuch that the Pope who stood in need of them and the King St. Lewis who cherished them found it no little trouble to distribute their favours equally and hold the ballance so even that they should have no cause to take advantage of each other But both of them took much over all other Religions Orders whom they despised as more imperfect and not only set a value upon themselves for their Divinity wherein sometimes they were so meerly notional and over-subtil as it approached very near to error but likewise took upon them the functions of ordinary Pastors drawing the grists of Alms pious Legacies and Burials of rich people to their own Mills concerning themselves in the directing of Consciences and the administration of the Sacraments to the prejudice of the Hierarchy who from that time hath ever been contending with them to maintain her authority Year of our Lord 1244 The Holy See having been vacant near twenty Months Innocent IV. was elected He was thought to be a friend to Frederick but whether that Emperour had not used him well or what else it were he followed the steps of his Predecessors and began to quarrel with him upon the same score of differences The feud grew so hot that Frederic being the stronger in Italy Innocent went thence that he might with more safety let fly his Thunder against him and came into France where being arrived in December this year 1244. he called a Council at Lyons for the year following In the year 1228. the Emperour Frederic being constrained by the threats of Pope Gregory was gone into the Holy-Land where by his Reputation rather then his Sword he had so contrived it that the Sultan had given him up the City of Jerusalem but dismantled with part of the Holy-Land The Pope not satisfied with that agreement had afterwards procured other Adventurers to go who broke the Truce aforesaid to the great damage of the Christians who being mightily weakned it hapned Ann. 1244. that the Chorasmins a People drove out of Persia by the Year of our Lord 1244 Tartars others say of Arabia fell upon the Holy-Land laid it all waste ruined all the Holy places of Jerusalem and drowned them in the Blood of Christians This news was brought to St. Lewis whilst he was fallen sick at Pontoise towards the end of December All those that were about him despairing of his Life he made a vow to God if he restored him to health that he would go in person to make war against those Infidels and in truth being recover'd he took the Cross from the hands of the Legat but could not so soon accomplish his pious design Year of our Lord 1245 The Council of Lyons was open'd the Monday after St. John Baptists Feast in the Abbey de St. Just and from thence transferr'd to the Cathedral Church of St. Johns The Emperour Baldwin the Earl Raimond de Toulouze and Berenguier de Provence were present there these two solliciting for the dispensation that Raimond might Marry with Beatrix the youngest Daughter of Berenguier but the Kings of France and of England and Richard Earl of Cornwal who had Married the other three Sisters hindred the Grant of it Year of our Lord 1245 The Emperour Frederic having quitted his Affairs of Italy to come there and having in the mean time sent his
better to spoil and ruine the whole Countrey about Toulouze pull down the Houses root up the Vineyards and burn the Corn which so disheartned the Toulousains that both they and their Earl were forced to submit to what conditions he pleased Year of our Lord 1228 The Treaty was chalked out at Meaux and compleated at Paris the Earl and Deputies of Toulouze being present The Earl was deprived of all his Lands excepting some little fragments they for meer pity left him It was order'd they should all devolve to his Daughter Jane who should be Married to Alphonso the Kings Brother into whose custody she was put forthwith That the Earl should pay Seventeen thousand Marks of Silver part to the King some to the Monks de Cisteaux and the rest for a Foundation of Doctors in Divinity at Toulouze That the Walls of that City and of Thirty more should be demolish'd for performance whereof he should give Hostages and in the mean time remain prisoner That there should be an exact search after Heretiques at his charge and that for pennance he should go and make war five years against the Saracens These Articles Signed he and those of his company that had been Excommunicated were at Nostre-dames of Paris upon Good-Friday bare-footed in their Shirts to receive Absolution of the Popes Legat. That done the Earl returned prisoner to the Tower of the Louvre till he had given his Hostages About the Feast of Pentecost the King gave him the Order of Knighthood and sent him into his own Countrey The Legat went with him and setled the Inquisition which exercised great severities and was again the cause of many troubles and Massacres Year of our Lord 1228 The Male-contented could not disgest that the Government should be in the hands of two Strangers a Spanish Woman and an Italian Cardinal they therefore took up Arms again drew to their party Robert Earl of Dreux elder Brother to the Duke of Bretagne and Philip Earl of Boulogne the Kings paternal Uncle to whom they promised the Crown so that the King feared a second time to be involved by this conspiracy and had been surprized if the Earl of Champagne had not run seasonably to him with 300 * Horse-men to bring him off In Spring the Conspirators turned all their Force against the Earl of Champagne and Brie They demanded those Counties of him for Alix Queen of Cyprus Daughter of his Uncle Henry who died in the Levant and more then that called him Traytor and accused him of having poysonned the deceased King proffering to convict him by Duel a reproach that made him so black and loathsome amongst his Vassals that they joyned in League with his Enemies against him The Count finding so heavy a burthen on his Shoulders and his City of Troyes besieged implores the assistance of the Queen Regent who caused the King to march to his relief and commanded them if they had any thing to say against the Earl they should come and require justice upon him in her Court But they who would not acknowledge her Regency as if the Kingdom had been vacant elected in a private Assembly or Cabal the Lord de Coucy for King who was in great reputation for his Wisdom and Justice The Queen Regent having got intelligence gave immediate notice of it to Philip Earl of Boulogne whom they had made believe they would give the Crown to by this means she took him off from them then by divers politique contrivances made all their designs vanish but not their ill intentions Year of our Lord 1228 For a few days afterwards the Duke of Bretagne by their assistance and Councils took up Arms again and called the King of England to his aid who landed in Bretague with considerable Forces but when he saw the King conducted by the Queen Regent had taken the Castle de Belesme au Perche from the Duke which was held impregnable he Shipp'd himself again The Duke thus abandonned was constrained to betake himself to an agreement Year of our Lord 1229 The very next year he broke it but not without punishment the King having taken all his Holds and Places and gained all his Vassals and Friends shuts him up in his City of Nantes so that to get out of the Briars and make the best of a bad bargain he was forced to render him hommage of Allegiance for the Dutchy The Bretons who pretended they owed but ouly single Homage named him because of his so doing Mau-clerc as who should say Witless or wanting Judgment and Understanding Thibauld Earl of Champagne was ill rewarded for the good services he had done the Queen Regent She took in hand the cause of her Cousin Alix and condemned him to pay her Forty thousand Marks of Silver and sell to the King to raise that Money the Counties of Blois Chartres Sancerre and the Vicount of Chasteaudun Year of our Lord 1230 After all these disorders there was a calm and peace for four years which was only a little disturbed by some tumults caused by the remainders of the Albigensis and the hurly-burlies of the Scholars belonging to the University of Paris It was then the fairest Ornament of the Kingdom and the innumerable numbers of Scholars that flocked thither from all parts of Europe brought great riches to that City which in a manner made all the other Universities in Christendom submit to it Now some of them having been ill handled in some scuffle with the Citizens and not obtaining such satisfaction as they desired they all resolved to quit Paris not without having first published a great many Songs and Licentious Poems which fullied the reputation of the Queen Regent and Cardinal Romain the Popes Legat who swayed her The Duke of Bretagne and the King of England proffer'd to receive them into their Countries and to grant them great priviledges but the Kings Council fearing that capital City might be deprived of so great an advantage and benefit found means to allay their heats and keep them there Year of our Lord 1231. and the following The Inhabitants of Marseilles and the adjacent Countreys being revolted against Raimond Berenger Earl of Provence called in Raimond Earl of Toulouze to Command them because he was next Heir For we must know that Gilbert Earl of Provence and Nice had had two Daughters Faidide who Married Alphonso Great Great Great Grandfather of Raimond de Toulouze and Douce that had married Raimond Berenger Earl of Bacelonna from whom was descended the Earl of Provence now mentioned He therefore accepted of their Homage and acted as their Lord whence follow'd a War that lasted four years between those two Cousins This Earl of Provence having been harrass'd by divers Revolts and other misfortunes was at the end of his days made compleatly happy by the Marriage of four Daughters he had by his Wife Beatrix of Savoy a most Virtuous Princess For all four of them had the honour to be Married to Kings Margret who was
Nine years JOHN I. The 23 August 423. S. Two years nine Months and a half BONIFACE II. The 15 th Oct. S. One year JOHN II. In Decemb. 431. S. Three years four Months AGAPETUS In July 534. S. One year SILUERIUS In June 536. S. Four years VIGILIUS In 540 S. 15 years Thierry King of Meâ—z or of Austrasia aged between 28 and 30 years Clodomir of Orleans aged 16 or 17 years Childebert of Paris aged 13 or 14 years Clotaire of Soissons aged about 12 years Year of our Lord 511 THese four Brothers divided the Kingdom betwixt them and drew their shares by Lot Thierry had all Austrasia and the Countreys beyond the Rhine the other Three had Neustria they were all equally Kings and without dependence upon one another yet nevertheless all these parts together made but up the body of one Kingdom The Historians count their Succession by the Kings of Paris because that City hath since been the Capital of all France Year of our Lord 512. c. Five or six years successively these Princes lived in quiet the three Sons of Clotilda being yet young and perhaps the two last under the Government of their Mother it seems a little after the death of their Father the Visigoths regained from them the Countrey of Rouergne and some other Lands in the neighborhood of Languedoc France then began to be divided into Oosterrich or the Eastern part called by corruption Austria and Austrasia and into Westrich or Western part and by corruption Neustria Austrasia comprehended all that is between the Meuse and the Rhine and even on this side the Meuse Rheims Chalons Cambray and Laon. Besides antient France and all those people subdued beyond the Rhine as the Bavarois the Almains and a part of the Turingians depended upon it Neustria extended from this side the Meuse unto the Loire Aquitain was not comprised under the name of France nor Burgundy not even after it was conquer'd nor Bretagne Armorick at least the lower because it was an independent Estate Year of our Lord 516 Gondebaud King of Burgundy dyed in the year 516. He had compiled or written a Law called by his Name the Law Gombete which was long in use amongst the Burgundians as the Salique was amongst the French He had two Sons Sigismond and Gondemar The first succeeded him in all his Dominions and having been Converted many years before by the Instructions of Avitus Bishop of Vienne he abjured Arrianisme at his first coming to the Crown and brought all his People over with him to the Orthodox Faith A Danish Captain named Cochiliac exercising Piracy had made a Descent on the Year of our Lord 518. towards 519. Lands belonging to Thierry 's Kingdom near the mouth of the Rhine when he would have gotten on Ship-board again with his Plunder comes the Prince Theodebert eldest Son of Thierry who assaults him kills him and having stained both Land and Sea with the Blood of those Pirats regained all what they had seized and stollen Sigismond bad at his first Marriage espoused Ostrogotha Daughter to King Theodorick of Italy by whom he had a Son named Sigeric After the death of that Queen he took one of his Servants into his Bed who having conceived a Step-mothers hatred against the young Prince made him seem criminal in his Fathers Eyes by her frequent calumnies who caused him to be strangled with a Napkin as he was sleeping but immediately he was so struck with Remorse that he retired himself for a time to weep for this Year of our Lord 522 crime into the Monastery of d'Agaune which he himself had built or much enlarged in Honour of St. Maurice and his Companions The Divine Justice as may be well believed stirred up the French Kings to chastise him though he had married his Daughter Sister to Sigeric with King Thierry the other three Brothers forbore not to conspire his ruine being incited thereto by Year of our Lord 523 their Mother Clotilda who yet cherished in her bosome the desire to revenge her Fathers death If at least we may suspect such a thing from so pious a Princess In few days they made themselves Masters of a great part of Burgundy either by the gaining of some Battle or the defection even of the Burgundians Sigismond fearing to be delivered up by his own Subjects disguises himself like a Monk and retires to the top of an inaccessible Mountain he had not long been there but some of those he thought his most faithful Servants went and found him and advised him to quit that place as not safe and betake himself to St. Maurice's Church the most Sacred Asylum of all those Provinces when he was come almost to the Gate of that Monastery the Traitors delivered him into the hands of the French Clodomir carries him away with his Wife and Children and shuts them in a Castle not far from Orleans As for Gondemar having saved himself by flight he awhile afterwards gathers Year of our Lord 524 up his Brothers Wrecks and puts himself in possession of the Throne Clodomir could not endure it and Leagued himself with Thierry his elder Brother to compleat his overthrow Before he set forth he was resolved to rid himself of Sigismond St. Avy Abbot of Micy endeavoured in vain to prevent him by his Pious Arguments adding In the Name of God the threats of a Reprisal on his Head and his Family but he Treated him in Ridicule and caused Sigismond to be cruelly Massacred with his Wife and Children and their Bodies to be thrown into a Well The prophetick threatnings of the Holy Abbot soon had their effect It was impossible but Thierry must in his Soul have a just Resentment for the death of Sigismond his Father-in-law so that when he beheld Clodomir far engaged in the medley which was in a Battle they fought against Gondemar near Autun he forsook him and suffer'd him to perish The Burgundians knowing him by his long Royal Locks cut off his Head and fixed it on a Lance but that spectacle instead of terrifying the French inflamed their Courage and Fury they revenged his death by a horrible slaughter of the Burgundians and conquer'd a part of that Kingdom to wit that which lay nearest the Kingdom of Orleans Clodomir was aged some Thirty years he left three Sons then but Children Theobald Gontair and Clodoaldo whom Clotilda their Grand-mother took care to breed hoping that when they came to be of age their Uncles would restore their Fathers Kingdom to them Clotaire his younger Brother presently married his Widow she was named Gondiocha so little the Princes of this First Race had any consideration for their Blood being as bruitish in their Amours as in their Revenge THIERRY in Austrasia at Mets. CHILDEBERT in Neustria at Paris CLOTAIRE in Neustria at Soissons The Kingdom of Burgundy was not shared amongst these Brothers till some years afterwards and Thierry had no part of it Theoderic King of the Ostrogoths
King Lewis Aged above 45 years went Year of our Lord 951 from Loan where her Son kept her as a Prisoner and married Hebert of Vermandois Count de Troyes Son of that Traytor Hebert who made her Husband die in Prison She thus satisfied her revenge to the prejudice of her honour or perhaps made that only a cover for her incontinence LOUIS Transmarine in France Otho in Germany Lorrain Conrad in Burgundy Arles Berenger II. and Adelbert his Son in Italy Year of our Lord 950 Adeleida the Widdow of Lotaire was Beautiful and Charming she had the City of Pavia in Dowre and besides great riches and possessions much credit and many Friends as well in that Country as on this side the Mountains being the Daughter of Rodolph II. and Sister to Conrad Kings of Burgundy For these reasons Berenger sought to gain her for his Son but she couragiously rejected the proposition Upon her obstinate refusal he besieges her in Pavia took her and sent her Prisoner to the strong Castle of Garda whence the Lake hath borrowed its name She notwithstanding made her escape by the help of a Priest reduced after she was got out to live upon such Alms as the Priest begg'd for her Then retired to the Marquiss Athon her Kinsman who undertook to protect her in his Fortress of Canossa Year of our Lord 950 Presently Berenger besieges it with all his Forces The second year of the siege and the end of their provisions drew near when that Queen sent to implore the aid of King Otho and to offer him with her self the Kingdom of Italy The Love of Honour more then Love to that Lady drew this Prince thither He Year of our Lord 951 delivered her Married her because he could not otherwise enjoy her and carried her into Germany leaving his Army with Conrad Duke of Lorrain to finish that War Year of our Lord 952 This Conrad prosecuted the War so briskly against Berenger and his Son that both of them laying down their Arms came to a Conference with him and thorough his persuasions went both of them into Germany to King Otho who having treated them magnificently and taken their Oaths and made them do hommage restored to them all that Kingdom excepting only Veronnois and Friuli which he bestow'd upon his Brother Henry Duke of Bavaria The contest about the Arch-Bishoprick of Reims and some other particular Lordships had brought King Lewis and Hugh le Blanc again to Daggers-drawing But Hugh in fine whatever motive prompted him desired to confer with Queen Gerberge his wives Sister who came to meet him And afterwards treating with the King personally in Soissons he made Peace about the end of March in this year 953. Year of our Lord 953 This re-union perhaps pleased King Otho but little but he found himself not in a condition to disturb it He was too much troubled with the Civil-War made against him by his own Son Luitolf incited by Conrad Duke of Lorrain who made him jealous of a Son as yet in the Cradle which his Father had by Adeleida his second wife Otho thrust Conrad out of his Dutchy and at length brought his Son to his duty not without much hazard fighting and labour Year of our Lord 954 But Conrad obstinately rebellious turned every stone to be revenged He made a League with Berenger King of Italy as ingrateful as perfidious against Otho and drew the Hungarians in twice first into Lorrain An. 954. whence they over-run even to Champagne and Burgundy and having done a world of mischief were beaten back into Italy the second into Bavaria where a most dreadful multitude got in Year of our Lord 955 together Yet Otho fought them and cut them all off after Conrad had been killed in the scuffle This was in Anno 595. Year of our Lord 954 During these troubles in the year 954. King Lewis died by a strange accident As he was going from Laon to Reims spurring to ride after a Wolfe which he met in his way his Horse stumbled and threw him so rudely on the ground that he was bruised all over These bruises turned into a kind of Leprosy which caused his death the 15 th of October in the City of Reims whither he would be carried and where he lies buried in the Church of St. Remy His Reignwas 18 years three Months and his Age 38 or 39 years Of five Sons which he had by Gerberge there were but two remaining Lotaire and Charles whereof Lotaire the eldest was about 14 or 15 years old and Charles but 15 or 16 Months The small Age of this last the poverty of the Kings who had scarce any other Towns in propriety but Reims and Laon and perhaps the interest of Hugh le Blanc were the reasons why he did not share the Kingdom with his elder as had been ever almost the Custom in the first and second Race or Line Since this time it was never equally divided amongst the Brothers the eldest alone hath had the Title of King and the cadets or younger have only had some Lands in appennage and under an entire Subjection And even of these the Kingly power being increased hath taken the Reversion for want of Heirs-males which hath not a little contributed to restore the Grandeur of the Monarchy LOTAIRE King XXXIII POPES AGAPET II. above a year in this Reign JOHN XII who was the first that changed his name introduced An. 955. S. 9 years within some Months is deposed BENEDICT V. put in by the Romans An. 964. S. some Months JOHN XIII nominated by the Empp. Otho in 964. S. almost 7 years DOMNUS Elect in 972. S. 3 Months BENEDICT VI. in 972. S. one year 3 Months BENEDICTUS VII in 974. S. 9 years and some Months JOHN XIV Elect. in July 849. S. one year one Month. Lotaire in France Otho in Germany Lorrain Conrad in Burgundy Arles Berenger and Adelbert his Son in Italy THE greatest part of the power being in the hands of Hugh he might have taken the Crown had he not feared the Forces of King Otho maternal Uncle to the Sons of the deceased King and the jealousy of the other French Lords For these reasons Queen Gerberge his wives Sister being come to him to take his Counsel he chose rather to preserve his Authority by protecting a Widdow and a Minor then by oppressing them Having therefore carried Lotaire to Reims he caused him to be Crowned the 12 th of November by the Arch-Bishop Artold Upon this occasion the young King gave the Dukedoms of Burgundy and Aquitain to Hugh le Blanc and to Hugh Capet his eldest Son who being satisfied and the Duke of Normandy likewise for their sakes it was not difficult to calm the other Lords who were less considerable These Dukes in my opinion were of two sorts in those times the one held the Cities and Lands and were become Hereditary the other were general commands over a whole Kingdom as well
Vassals judging him uncapable to succeed from the imbecillity of his understanding a defect very ordinary in the Carolovinian Race Henry left all his Three Sons under the Guardianship of Baldwin Earl of Flanders who had Married his Sister and likewise entrusted him with the Regency of the Kingdom Queen Anne his Widdow retired to Senlis where she was building a Church in Honour of the Martyr St. Vincent Her Solitude was not so Austere but she could listen to the Addresses of Rodolph Earl of Grespy who was of that neighborhood She made no difficulty to Marry him and this Second Flame had like to have kindled a Civil War not for the difference in their Qualities for the Grandees went almost equal with their Kings but because Rodolph was of Kin to the First Husband for which reason the Bishops Excommunicated that Lord but nothing could make him let go his hold of her save death which untied him from his Princess Ann. 1066. Being a Widow and destitute of support she returned to end her days in her own Countrey Philip I. King XXXVIII Aged Seven or Eight years POPES Vacancy of Three Months Alex. II. Elect 1 Octob. 1061. S. Eleven years and neer Seven Months Gregory VII Son of a Carpenter Elect in April 21. 1073. S. Twelve years One Month. Victor III. Elect in May 1086. S. about One year Four Months Vacancy Five Months Urban II. Elect in March 1088. S. Eleven years and Four Months Paschal II. Elect 12. August 1099. S. Eighteen years and Five Months Year of our Lord 1060 61 and 62. ALL quietly gave Obedience to the Regency of Baldwin the Gascons only refused to submit themselves apprehending said they lest by that Title he should destroy his Pupil to invade the Crown upon pretension that he was Married to the Daughter of King Henry He wisely dissembled this injury but two years after marched an Army towards the Pyreneans giving out it was to make War upon the Saracens in Spain and when he had passed the Garonne he stopp'd in the Rebels Countrey and brought them to their Duty without striking a blow Year of our Lord 1062 Guy Gefroy-William Duke of Aquitain believed that Gefroy Martel Earl of Anjou being dead without Children his Nephews Sons of his Sister had no right to Xaintongne He would therefore seize it and besieged Xaintes his Army was defeated by the two Brothers neer Chef-Boutonne but the following year he got another Army and took the Town from them Year of our Lord 1062 and 63. The two Brothers minded not the relieving it they were at mortal feud amongst themselves Foulk le Rechin the younger of the two gained the Lords of Touraine and Anjou who betraid his Brother Gefroy and unfortunately deliver'd him up with the City of Anger 's In the mean while the Duke of Aquitain having re-conquered Saintongne led his victorious into Spain where he forced the City of Barbastre at that time very rich and renowned The Zeal of Religion did often lead the Princes and Lords of Aquitain and Languedoc into Spain to succour the Christians against the Saracens and their assistance raised and very much supported the petty Spanish Kings Year of our Lord 1064 Edward King of England whose Christian Virtues have placed him in the number of Saints dying without Children left his Kingdom by Will and Testament to William the Bastard Duke of Normandy in consideration of the good Reception and Treatment he found in the House of Robert his Father when he was driven out Year of our Lord 1064 of his own Countrey as likewise because he was neer of Kin. But the English not affecting the Government of a Stranger gave the Crown to Harold Son of Godwin one of the great Lords of the Kingdom The Bastard on his side sought from all parts the assistance of his Friends and Allies to get himself into possession of his Right insomuch as having got by his large promises a powerful Army of Normans French Flemmings and others together he landed in England gave Battle to Harold the 14th of October who was slain in the Fight with his chief Commanders and left England to the discretion of the Conquerour A Revolution thought to be presaged by a terrible Comet which for Fifteen days blazed with three great Rays over-spreading almost all the Southern parts of the Heavens Before William past the Sea hapned the death of Conan Duke of Bretagne it was said he caused him to be poysonn'd because he claimed the Dutchy of Normandy as belonging to him by his Mother Daughter of Duke Robert Hoel who was Married to his Sister succeeded him Year of our Lord 1067. and the following The English ill-Treated by Williams Lieutenants and Officers Revolted the following years and called in the Danes to their aid but that only increased their misery and yoak for he took from them almost all their Lands and even their antient Laws introducing and imposing those of his own Countrey as he did that Language in all Courts of Justice and instruments of Law withal putting such Lords as follow'd him in possession of English Mens Estates the greatest part of them being punished or slain Thus ended the Reign of the English in that Island which hath notwithstanding retained their Name but in effect hath ever since been sway'd and is still by the Norman Blood their Kings and the greatest of the Countrey being descended and holding their Rights of this William the Bastard to whom was given the Surname of Conquerour Year of our Lord 1067 Baldwin Regent of the Kingdom of France and Earl of Flanders ended his days An. 1067. He had Two Sons Baldwin called of Monts who was Earl of Flanders and Robert who was Surnamed the Frison as being Lord of that Countrey of Friesland Year of our Lord 1069 It is observed that in the year 1069. Arnold Lord of Selne began to build the City of Ardres upon the ruines of his Castle of Selne A War did soon break out between Baldwins two Sons the Eldest thinking to devest the Younger was by him beaten and slain in the field of Battle leaving two Sons Arnold and Baldwin very young The Guardianship of these begot a bloody contest between Robert their Uncle and Richilda their Mother This Princess supported by Gefroy Crook-Back Duke of the lower Lorrain defeated Roberts Army and thrust him out of a part of his Countreys This happy success made her so haughty Year of our Lord 1068 towards her Subjects that the Flemmings Flammengant forsook her and she had none left but the Walloons and the Hennuyars The King would have made himself Judge and Arbitrator between both parties but Richilda coming to Paris with great Presents gained his Counsel and engaged him openly to take her quarrel Year of our Lord 1070 The King inflamed with the heat of Youth would needs go in person to make his first Essay in War and Arms. It proved not very successful for he was beaten and pursued Richilda taken and carried
affectionate to the Princesses which hapned the Sixth day of January in the year 1386. Year of our Lord 1386 The same year the Widow-Queen and her Daughter going into the Countrey fell into the hands of Horvat Governour of Croatia one of King Charles's Partisans or Confederates who to revenge the death of his Master caused the Widow and the Murtherer Gato to be massacred He kept the Princess some time then sent her to Sigismund having first obliged her by all sorts of Oaths to pardon him Sigismund did not think himself bound by her promises and therefore having surprized him made him dye amidst a thousand torments Year of our Lord 1386 The news of Charles's Murther being brought into Italy Thomas de Sanseverin caused Lewis II. eldest Son of the deceased Duke of Anjou to be proclaimed King and Clement VII to be owned Pope Afterwards Marguerite the Widow of Charles being retired to Cajeta with Ladislaus or Lancelot her Son aged about Ten years he reduced almost the whole Kingdom and Naples it self Thus all things went on smoothly for Lewis till Mary de Blois his Mother and Governess having sent Clement de Montjoye Nephew to Pope Clement with the Title and Authority of Vice-Roy the Sanseverins thinking themselves under-valued were alienated from her Service and turned to Ladislaus Year of our Lord 1386 In the mean while Lewis was put into possession of Provence and invested with the Kingdom of Naples by Clement but it was not without great trouble before the Provensaux would acknowledge him the Kings Counsel themselves inciting them underhand to a Rebellion upon divers motives because they would have disposed them to give themselves up to France After Five or Six years Truces and petty Wars the Council resolved to attacque the English not in Guyenne only but even in their own Island For this end they made the most formidable preparations of Men Engines and Ships that ever yet were seen They bought up or hired all the Vessels they could light on from the Ports of Sweden to those in Flanders they built a City of Wood which was to be taken in pieces to shelter themselves upon their Landing The King went to Sluyce to take a view of his Army and Navy consisting in Nine hundred Vessels The Duke of Berry's envy and jealousie retarded the progress he would needs break the design because he was not the contriver In order to which he made them wait for him till the Fourteenth of September when the Seas began to appear un-navigable So the Forces drew off into Quarters part of this numerous Fleet were scattered by Tempests the English pickt up many that were wrack'd or stragled Year of our Lord 1386 There was no reason to trust the Duke of Bretagne too much because of his too many Obligations to the English and the consideration that their suppression must he his ruine wherefore they warily minded his actions but he to justify himself laid Siege to Brest which they yet held as a bridle to Bretagne The Constable assisted him in the undertaking the place was mightily streightned but when they were at the last gaspe the Duke of Lancaster who was going into Spain with great Forces made them raise the Siege The occasion of his voyage was this Ferdinand last King of Portugal had no Child but a Daughter born of a Lady whom he had taken from her Husband He caused this Girl to be owned as his presumptive Heyress as likewise the Mother had been owned Queen and married her to John King of Castille who was a Widower and had two Sons but when he died the principal Cities of Portugal apprehending the Castillan bondage had more mind to have a bastard Brother of Ferdinands for their King his Name was John Froissard names him Denis thorow a mistake instead of saying he was Grand Master of the Order D'Avis The fortune of the War was favourable to the Bastard he gained a Battle at Juberot against his adversaries the Castillans having out of an ugly jealousie suffer'd the Gascons and French to be defeated who took their part with above Eight thousand Men and then were afterwards themselves defeated Notwithstanding this advantage it was to be feared the Castillan would be able yet to crush them and therefore the Bastard sent to the Duke of Lancaster inviting him to come and pursue the right he had to the Kingdom of Castille as on the other hand the Castillian had recourse to France Year of our Lord 1386 The Duke of Lancaster passed therefore into those Countreys with a huge force conquer'd a part of Castille and struck such a terror into all the rest that King John made some overtures of Peace but he spun out the Treaty awhile expecting the French succours when he sound those did not come the Duke of Bourbon their Conductor marching very slowly he concluded the Treaty the Duke of Lancaster Sealed it by the Marriage of two of his Daughters one with the King of Portugal and the other with the Castillans eldest Son This little piece of Honour cost the English very dear the losses they suffer'd by contagious Sicknesses in Spain and afterwards by Storms in their return were so great that the Duke of Lancaster hardly carried home the sixth part of his Men and not one but in a languishing condition half dead with malady and pain At last by a just punishment from Heaven Charles the Wicked who had blown up so many flames and burnt so many entrails with his violent poysons was most cruelly burnt himself He had caused his Body to be wrapp'd all over with Sheets drenched in Spirit of Wine and Sulpher to corroborate the natural heat decay'd by his debauches this took fire I know not by what accident and broiled him to the very bones whereof he died three days after being the First of January in the year 1387. Charles called the Noble his Son succeeded him Year of our Lord 1387 The Constable Clisson and the Admiral John de Vienne had so fill'd the King's Head with the expedition for England that he makes another preparation to execute it this year The state of Affairs was very favourable all England was in combustion against King Richard because he had put mean and vile People into places of the highest Trust who bear all the sway which his Uncles could not endure nor indeed would they have the Power lodged in any other hands but their own Now when France was on the point of making advantage of these troubles the Duke of Bretagne either of intelligence with the English or without thinking of them was cause of interrupting the Enterprize this time as it had been formerly Clisson was then in Bretagne to dispatch the Forces that were at Treguier that they might go and joyn with those at Sluyce but at the same time he was Treating of the Marriage of one of his Daughters with John the Son of Charles de Blois whom he had purposely got out of the hands
Kingdom This year he held a great Assembly of Notables and Deputies of the Lords of the Estates at Orleans where it was resolved that a Peace should be endeavoured without which all designs for reformation would be useless and indeed impossible and that in the mean while the Souldiery should be all reduced into Companies established and well regulated every Gentdarm to three Horses who should be paid every Month. Before this they had seven or eight and a great number of Roguy-boys who devoured all the Country where-ever they passed Year of our Lord 1440 This reform could not be pleasing to the Grandees nor Captains who grew fat by eating up the People whose misery was their happiness They interrupted it by a dangerous Commotion which was named La Praguerie The Dukes of Alenson Bourbon Vendosme the Bastard of Orleans and divers others had a hand in it They complained that the King allowed no share in his Government but to three or four private Persons and thereupon entred into a League against his Ministers La Trimouille who was in disgrace joyned also with them that so he might by any means whatever be brought into play again at Court Year of our Lord 1440 The Conspiracy being made the Duke of Alenson hies to Niort to debauch the Dauphin who was his Godson aged but Sixteen years but Married already to Marguerit Daughter of James I. King of Scotland and turned away the Count de Perdriac his Governor and all those the King had placed about him The King ran immediately to quench this new lighted Fire after he had well provided his Frontiers against any attempts of the English he takes the Field accompanied with his Constable the Earls de la Marche and Dunois whom he had drawn off from that League with eight hundred Men at Arms and three thousand others He pursued the Leagued so smartly into Poitou and from Poitou into Bourbonnois taking all the places where they thought to stand at Bay and make Head that they were forced to give up his Son to him and come and beg his pardon on their knees Year of our Lord 1440 A marvellous change Charles Duke of Orleans who was detained Prisoner in England for five and twenty years was delivered from captivity by that hand from which he had the least hopes in the world to expect it It was by Philip Duke of Burgundy who desiring to put a final end to the mortal quarrel between his Family and that of Orleans by a principle of goodness as generous as it was politique contrived the deliverance of this Prince and helped him to pay his Ransom which was three hundred thousand Crowns These two Princes by a sincere and cordial Reconciliation quenched the mortal Enmities their Fathers had begot Philip received Charles with great honour in his Year of our Lord 1440 City of Graveline the Twentieth of November gave him his Order of the Fleece and accepted the Order of the Porcupine from him Moreover Charles Married his Niece Daughter of his Sister and of Adolph first Duke of Cleves In fine each strove to shew the other all the marks and tokens of the most sincere and perfect amity Amongst the Mareschals of France there was one Giles Lord de Raiz of an illustrious House and very valiant but a great squanderer of Wealth whose mind was so depraved that he addicted himself to all sorts of Vice and Sins both against God and Nature entertaining Sorcerers and Enchanters to find out Treasures and corrupting young Boys and Girls whom he afterwards Murther'd that he might have their Blood to compound his Charm and Spells This being a publick Scandal he was put into the hands of Justice the Bishop of Nantes made his Process the Seneschal of Renes Judge-General of that Country assistant the Cause being of a mixt nature He was condemned to be burnt alive in the Field of Nantes The Duke was present at his Execution but mitigating the Sentence he permitted them first to strangle him and then to bury his Body not much consumed by the Flames I think I do remember in his Process that there was some Crime of State against the Duke who was glad he had this occasion to revenge that offence in punishing those hainous offences against Almighty God Year of our Lord 1441 The King had laid Siege before Pontoise which charge the Parisians were to defray The City having been re-victualled three or four times by Talbot the honour of the English Commanders his heart seemed to fail and he withdrew to Poissy but observing this retreat despicable he courageously returns commanded a general assault and by his presence so animated his People that he carried it by main strength That done he went to clear all the Country of Poitou and Angoulmois of those Robbers that infested them and to effect this he turned all the pilfering Captains out of their places and put honest Men in their steads Returning thence he came to keep his Court at Limoges during the Feast of Pentecost where he received the Duke of Orleans and his Wife and gave him 160000 Franc's towards the payment of his Ransom and six thousand Livers Pension From thence he went to Gascongne saved Tartas which had Capitulated to surrender to the English if they were not relieved by a prefix'd day He presented himself Year of our Lord 1442 before the place on the Eve of St. John's day with so considerable an Army that the Enemy durst not appear St. Sever was forced Dacqs compounded so did Marmande and la Reole But so soon as the King had but turned his back the English by correspondence regained Dacqs and St. Sever. The King spent the Winter at Montauban Year of our Lord 1442 which was so sharp that all the Rivers in that Country were frozen up and kept the Soldiers in their quarters not able to stir abroad Year of our Lord 1442 Whilst he was there he secured himself of the succession to the Earldom of Cominges Matthew de Foix had for his fourth Wife Married Jean who was the Countess of it As she was very aged and had no Children by him he kept her Prisoner in a Castle to compel her to make a donation of all she had to him The King having received the good old Womans complaint fails not to take this advantage for himself and at the same price delivers her and brings her into his Court. Year of our Lord 1443 Dying shortly after in Poitiers the Earl of Armagnac who had at his second Marriage wedded a Daughter of hers by another Husband seized upon her Lands He did not hold them long the Dauphin Lewis going into that Country ensnared him with fair words and clapt him in Prison as also his Wife and his Children The Earl of Foix by his intercession got him out again but not without much trouble and a surrender of all the Lands he had usurped Year of our Lord 1443 The Eight and twentieth of the Month of August John V.
which they called la Bicoque three Miles from Milan where there is a very spacious House and Gardens round about it enclosed with deep Ditches and Fields parted in divers places with Water Channels which are derived and brought thither according to the Custom of that Country to water their Grounds Prosper Colomna who thought the Victory secure stood his ground waiting their coming Lautrec assaulted them on three Sides himself on one Hand his Brother on the other and the Swisse in the place of most Difficulty and to gain their Cannon The two first did no great Matters as for the Swisse they attack'd with fury but the height of the Fossez stopping them the Artillery made them fall in heaps and the Arquebusiers who were placed amongst the Wheat taking them in Flank they were well paid for their rashness by the death of three thousand of theirs so that they were constrained to retire and having rejoyned the French they together returned very orderly to their Quarters at Monce The next Day their Blood being cool'd and Lautrec having passed the Addo near Tressa they even took their walk homewards thorow the Territory of Bergamo so disheartned and baffled in Courage for having met with such unconquerable resistance that for divers Years they did nothing worthy of their ancient Valor but indeed became more pliable and much more manageable then before For Lautrec having put things in Order at Cremona he retired into France to sollicite for a supply of ten thousand Men which the Admiral Bonnivet was to transport to those Countries Year of our Lord 1522 As soon as he was gone Prosper besieged Cremona and Lescun who was in the Place believing it could be no prejudice to his Honor if he made such Composition as should secure the King's Affairs without hazarding ought capitulated to leave the Place within forty Days which expir'd the six and twentieth of June with Arms Colors flying and his Artillery if within that time there did not come an Army that should pass over the River Po by force or should take some considerable Place in the Dutchy of Milan He likewise promised that all the others held by the King in Milanois should be evacuated excepting the Castles of Cremona of Novara and of Milan The time being come he got some few days more to be added having purposely started new Difficulties about the evacuation of some Castles which being setled he executed the Treaty and came back into France Before he departed he had the further displeasure of being informed how Prosper Colomna with his Army had made himself Master of Genoa and made Antony Adorna Duke the City was surprized during a conference of capitulation which is a very dangerous time and opportunity This last Blow taking away all hopes from the King of being in a capacity to gain any thing in Milanois this year he recalled those Forces he was sending and who were already got into Astesan Though the miscarriage indeed proceeded from his own Negligence in not sending Supplies till too late amusing himself in Hunting Dancing and amongst the Ladies nevertheless John de Beaulne Samblancay Surintendant of the Finances suffer'd for it Madame enrag'd that he should dare to justify before the King that she had diverted the three hundred thousand Crowns designed for Lautrec resolved to ruine him The Chancellor Duprat Minister of her revenge and who besides had some jealousy of the Credit of that grave old Man whom the King called his Father ordered a Commission to try him who condemn'd him to be hanged In the mean time they made use of all Ways and Means to get in Money Then did they begin to alienate the Sacred Demeasnes of the King they continued to sell Offices of Judicature to create great Numbers of new ones without which the Monarchy had been upheld eleven hundred years together to raise the Tallies and to lay several new Imposts Publick report accused the Chancellor for advising all these things which bred so much disorder who to flatter the Covetous humor of a Woman and the ostentation of a Young King furnished them with expedients and confidence to overthrow all the Ancient Laws of the Kingdom whereof by his Office he was Guardian and Defender Year of our Lord 1522 The King had no less to do in Guyenne and in Picardy The Emperor going into Spain thorow England had prevail'd with Henry to take his part against Francis Arriving in Castillia he soon suppressed the remainders of the Santa Junta punishing some few of the Seditious pardoning the rest and rewarding such as deserved it Particularly Ferdinand of Arragon who had refused to be Head of the League He did him great Honour and Married him to Germaine de Foix Widdow of his Grand-Father King Ferdinand who was extraordinary Rich but almost past the Age of Child-bearing With the Forces that were remainders of this insurrection and some others he made up an Army which besieged Fontarabria and the King of England Landed another at Calais having first sent a Herald to defy the King at Lyons This being commanded by his Brother in Law the Duke of Suffolk joyned with the Count de Bures Governor of the Low-Countries who had one of twelve thousand men but both these made no progress and the English were diminished one half in five Weeks time after they took the Field Year of our Lord 1522 Whilst the Christian Princes were thus engaged to their mutual destruction Solyman the Turkish Sultan who Succeeded his Father Selim II. two years since was now lodg'd upon the Ramparts of Christendom For the preceding year he took the City of Belgrade in Hungary and this year he wrested Rhodes out of the hands of the Knights of St. John's It was believed Pope Adrian might have saved it if upon his Arrival in Italy he would have sent thither the fifteen hundred Foot he brought along with him instead of ordering them to March as he did into Milan For they might have got in by the help of the Venetian Fleet then on those Seas and by the favour of those Winds which wasted in several other Vessels It were difficult to name a Siege more Famous then this same either for the dreadful numbers of the besiegers for the brave resistance of the besieged or the many and furious Assaults There were above fifty Mines and twice as many Countermines about this place It was batter'd with above six-score thousand Canon Shot so that most of it was blown up into the Air or beaten down to dust The Turkish Army consisted of two hundred thousand Men of whom above fifty thousand were Slain and as many perished by Sickness The fifth Month of the Siege the Knights having no more Gun-Powder left no Pioneers Year of our Lord 1522 nor 〈◊〉 hardly any men for defence some lying by of their Wounds or of Sickness others dropping down with over-Working and Toyling they accepted of the Capitulation proffered them by Solyman which was to go
little while he stole away from his own People who followed Francis de Montagnac Tenzane thinking it had been their Master and made his escape attended only by one Esquire named Pomperan to the Franche-Compte From thence he passed into Germany then thorow the Valley of Trent to Mantua and from that place to Genoa to conferr about the Affairs of the War with Charles de Lanoy Vice-Roy of Naples who had the general Command of the Armies after the Death of Prosper Colomna which happened about the end of this year 1523. In France Conspiracies with Strangers against the State never do any mischief when once they are discovered this bred a great deal of astonishment but produced Year of our Lord 1523 no present evil This great Prince so Wealthy so greatly Allied and so much esteemed by the Sons of War was but a single banished man when out of France No body followed him excepting his domestick Servants and five or six of his particular Friends So that the Emperor who at his first Arrival had given him his choice either to stay there to command his Army or to go into Spain to compleat his Marriage when he perceived that his revolt effected nothing feared he should have only a proscribed Person for his Brother in Law and perswaded him it were better he should stay in Italy We need not doubt but he had formed divers designs in several Provinces of France but no Commotions appearing the King either out of Policy or good nature did not make strict inquiry who were his Accomplices There were not above seven or eight taken into Custody amongst others St. Vallier la Vauguyon and Emard de Prie. St. Vallier was Tried and Condemned to lose his Head but being in the Greve the place of Execution on the Scaffold instead of the mortal stroke he received his pardon It was said that the King sent it not to him till he had robb'd his Daughter Diana as then but Fourteen years of Age of the most precious Jewel she had a very easie exchange for those that value Honour less then Life or make it consist in the Sun-shine of a Favour rather envied then innocent It was now almost a year that the Lord de Lude had bravely defended Fontarabia against the Spaniards Assaults He was so distressed by Famine that it was time to throw in Provisions the Mareschal de Chastillon who was ordered to do it Died by the way La Palice happily performed it and having drawn out the Lord de Lude and the Garrison who had suffered great Fatigues he put in all Fresh-men and for Governor Frauget a Captain of Fifty men at Arms. About the end of the Spring an Army of twenty four thousand Spaniards came and fell into Guyenne by two or three several ways and afterwards joyned Year of our Lord 1523 all in one Body before Bayonne to besiege it The City being weak their fears were great however Lautrec getting in amongst them revived their Hearts and cheered them so that they drew off after three days battering it However they did not lose their labour for bending all their Force against Fontarabia Frauget tamely surrendred it upon their first Assault for punishment whereof he was degraded of his Nobility on a Scaffold in the City of Lyons Cowardize not being worthy of death but of Infamy Neither the Emperor nor the King of England did use that diligence they ought in so great a design as that of tearing all France in pieces The Emperor did not furnish Bourbon with those Forces he had promis'd to seize upon the Dutchy of Burgundy but only twelve thousand Foot who having no Horse were easily beaten off from the Frontiers of Champagne by the Earl of Guise who was Governour there The English did not land till the Month of September the Duke of Norfolk being their General Their Army and that of the Count de Bure made up together neer forty thousand men Lewis de la Tremouille to whom the King had committed the Guard of that Frontier having but few men could only Garrison the Towns They left Terouanne which they had design'd to attaque on the left hand and taking their March between that City and Monstrevil came before Hesdin Knowing the Valiant Pontdormy was got into it they went farther on pass'd the Somme at Bray took Roye and Montdidier and brought a terror even upon Paris which was again revived by the coming in of Charles Duke of Vendosme with some Horse After all they withdrew again upon the first frosty weather yet not all above one third of the English leaving their bones there to pay their Charges When they were entring Picardy Bonnivet pass'd the Mountains The Emperor the Pope and the Venetians had declar'd against the King as we have said nevertheless this great League having but few Forces Bonnivet soon Conquer'd all the Milanois to the Tesin Prosper Colomne did not imagin that the King having so many Irons in the Fire in France should have thoughts of sending an Army into Italy He was much amazed when they inform'd him that Bonnivet was come over the Hills He appeared at the River Tesin with those few men he had to obstruct his getting over But it being Foordable in many place by reason of the great Drowths he soon had notice that the French were on the other side and retreated with his handful of men It was said that if Bonnivet had used that diligence which was requisite he might have overtaken and cut them all in pieces Or at least if he had not amused himself three or four days at Pavia he had made himself Master of Milan This delay gave Prosper time to provide So that Bonnivet lost his time in Besieging it Winter came the Plague crept into his Army and that of the Confederates encreased He was therefore fain to give ground in his turn and retire to Biagras six Leagues on this side of Milan He chose that Post because he might safely wait there for a new re-inforcement having the whole Country behind at his own disposal During these Transactions Pope Adrian died the fourteenth of September and the Cardinal Julius de Medicis cousin German of Leo X. and Son of Julian but born out of Wedlock was elected by the contrivance and other devices and ways usual in the Conclaves He took the name of Clement VII This year began the Chastisement of those who professed the new Reformation Preathed by Luther The Protestants reckon for first Martyrs for so they call them one John le Clerc native of Meaux a Wool-comber and two Augustin Monks of the Country of Brabant le Clerc was Whipt and Brandmarkt on the Shoulder with a Flower de Luce at Meaux for having said that the Pope was Antichrist and was afterwards Burnt at Mets for having beaten down some Images The two Monks suffer'd the like death at Bruxels Luther Sung their Triumphs much gladder to be their Panegyrist than their fellow Sufferer Year of our
Pension Yearly That in the following Month of July they should commence the War in Italy the English with Nine Thousand Foot Soldiers the French with Fifteen Thousand and Horse and Artillery proportionable That they should make known this League to the Emperor and Summon him to deliver up the Children of France and enter into the Peace of Italy If not within one Month afterwards they should declare a War against him After this Confederation the News of the Popes being taken coming the King made another with the Venetians the Fifteenth of May That they should joyntly maintain Ten Thousand Swiss and pay them alternatively by the Month That the King should send Ten Thousand Foot under the Conduct of Peter de Navarre and that the Venetians should entertain the like number of Italian Infantry The Imperial Army was near Thirty Thousand Men Hugh de Moncado and Dugast having brought thither all the Forces from Naples Had they found a General fit to employ or Command so great a Body they might have given Law to all Italy but these were nothing but Mutiny and Confusion and they were so fleshed with the City of Rome it was impossible to get them out thence The Vice-Roy and the Marquess Dugast fearing lest the Foot Soldiers should fall upon them fled away by Night the Prince of Orange remained and had the Title of General but no Power the Army would take Orders from none but themselves So that the Duke of Vrbin had a fair opportunity to come and deliver the Pope and yet he made so many delays pretending sometimes one excuse then another Advancing Retreating ranging about that at length the Pope reduced to extremity Surrendred himself the sixth day of June and because it was upon conditions impossible for him to perform amongst others to pay down four hundred thousand Ducats ready money and to deliver up Places which were not in his disposal he remained a Prisoner six whole months and in great misery under the custody of Captain Alarcon a Spaniard who formerly had the custody of King Francis During all this his Estates being guarded only by the People for as much as they were interested the Venetians his Allies Seized upon Ravenna and Cervia with the Salt-Pits Sigismond Malatesta on Rimini the Duke of Ferrara upon Reggio and Modena and the City of Florence which was almost brought under they Yoke of the Medicis threw it off and returned to their Popular State of Government The Debaucheries of the Souldiers the Nastiness of the Germans and the excessive heats of the Weather had Engendered a Plague in Rome so that those Robbers dying in heaps part of them went into the Field to take the Air. The Confederates Army diminished apace likewise and were retired towards Orvietta Year of our Lord 1527 from whence they went to the Lake of Perugia otherwhile named Trasimene In the mean time the Holy Father was in great danger as well because the Plague was got into the Castle Saint Angelo and had taken off some of his nearest Houshold Servants as because the Spanish Captains would carry him to Cajeta with his thirteen Cardinals and from thence he apprehended to be transferred into Spain The Emperour desired it most passionately and indeed they had conveyed him thither if the Prelates and Spanish Lords had not made him know they thought it contrary to Christian Piety thus to detain in Prison and like a Slave mis-use and treat the Head of all Christendom I cannot imagine after all how they could be reconciled with or judge of the proceedings of their Prince who commanded publick Processions to be made in Spain to ask of God the deliverance of the Pope as if himself had been two different Persons that is in Italy a Barbarous Persecutor and in Spain a Zealous Servant to the Holy See The Union between the Kings of France and England becoming more strict and the Emperour having refused to Surrender the Pope and the Children of France they were resolved to carry the War into Italy with all their Forces The King of England was to furnish thirty thousand Crowns in Gold per month for the payment of ten thousand Lansquenets very good men commanded by Lewis de Lorrain Count de Vaudemont and Cardinal Woolsey being come to confer with the King at Boulogne brought over three hundred thousand Crowns to lend him if he had any need of them The seventeenth of September the King having called an Assembly of the most Notable Persons of the three Estates of the Kingdom for their Advice what he should do touching the deliverance of his Children offered to return to Prison if they judged he were so obliged to do rather then act or undertake any thing prejudicial to the State The twentieth of that Month each of the three Orders separately answered That his person was the Kingdoms not his That Burgundy was a Member of the Crown whereof he was but Uâ—uâ—ructuary That ☞ therefore he could not dispose either of the one nor of the other But withal which was the true Motive for calling this Assembly they offered him two Millions of Gold for the Ransom of his Children and assured him that if it must come to a War they would spare neither their Lives nor Fortunes Lautreâ— had been named General of the Armies for the League according to the desire of the King of England but against his own will fore-seeing by experience of times past that when once they had engaged him in that employment and he gon afar off from them they would furnish him with nothing either in time or in quantity sufficient He passed the Mountains in the beginning of the Month of August with part of the Army And till the remainder were come he Besieged the Castle of Bosco in the Alexandrian Countrey where a thousand men were in Garrison which he forced to Surrender at discretion From thence he went before Alexandria which he likewise constrained to Capitulate then to Pavia which not Submitting in due time was taken by Assult and Saccaged and the Governour made Prisoner This was Lewis de Barbiana who was named Earl of Beljoyeuse At the same time André Doria a Genoese but General of the French Galleys and Caesar Fregosa with French Forces brought Genoa under the King's Obedience and Alphonso Duke of Ferrara forsaking the Emperours Alliance took that of France He was absolutely sixed by the Honour the King did him promising Renee Sister of the late Queen Claudia to his Son Hercules who notwithstanding did not Marry him till ten months afterwards which was in July 1528. They did not omit in the mean time to Treat about a Peace with the Emperour The Ambassadors of France England Venice and Sforza were at Burgos for that purpose Not being able to incline him to reason they took their leaves Year of our Lord 1527 and 28. and immediately afterwards the Heraulds from the two Kings declared War against him The Emperour having sent those Ambassadors twenty Leagues distance
necessity and many other things which the Prince buried in Oblivion before his Father was laid down in his Grave If he would have had these last things put in practice he should have made those that were to be his Sons Year of our Lord 1547 Ministers his Executors Magnificence and State Attended him to his very Tomb his Funeral was made with extraordinary Pomp Elven Cardinals were present which before had never hap'ned He was publickly by Proclamation in the Palace-Hall declared a Prince Clement in Peace Victorious in War the Father and Restorer of good Learning and the liberal Sciences He never had his Paralel in liberality in magnificence and in clemency very few to compare with him in Valour Eloquence and useful Learning He would have been a great Prince in all things had he not sometimes suffered himself to be prepossessed by the Evil Counsels of his Ministers and a passion towards women Those to render themselves all-powerful set up his Authority above the Ancient Laws of the Kingdom even to an Irregularity of Government the Women he loved being vain and prodigal changed his Noble desire of Fame to fastuosity and vanity and made him often consume in idle expences the Money he had designed for some great enterprize The Ten last Years of his Life the anxiety of his distemper made him so good a Husband that although he had made several stately Buildings in divers places had employed great Sums in purchasing rich Furniture many Jewels excellent Pictures and curious Books though he had bestowed Pensions upon all the brave Souldiers and truly learned men he could meet with and had maintained a War against all the powers of Europe for almost Thirty years yet at his death he left all his own Demeasnes clear of all Engagements Four Hundred Thousand Crowns of Gold in his Coffers and a quarter of a years Revenue ready to be paid in On the contrary his Son in the thirteen years he reigned though he sold a great many Offices newly created raised the Imposts a third part higher and gave nothing to his Favourites was yet indebted fifteen or sixteen Millions a great Sum in those days I had forgot to note that he had chosen for his Devise or Impress a Salamander in the fire with this Motto Nutrisco Extinguo I am nourished by it and I extinguish it and that he Erected into Dutchies and Pairries the County of Vendosm for Charles de Bourbon in 1514. that of Guise in favour of Claude de Lorrain in 1527. that of Montpensier for Lewis de Bourbon in 1538. The same year out of affection to Francis of Cleve he likewise gave the Title of Dutchy to that of Nevers which was before made a Pairrie by King Charles VIII Anno 1459. Till then no Erection of such great Dignities had been made but to supply the number of the Six ancient ones wherefore the Parliament made a grave and serious remonstrance to the King to hinder that of Guise but he desired to gratifie with that honour a Prince whose extraordinary vertues raised him almost equal to those of his Blood He Married two Wives Claude Daughter of Lewis XII and of Anne de Bretagne in the year 1514 and Eleonora of Austria Sister of Charles V. in the year 1530. By the first he had three Sons and three Daughters whereof none remained alive but Henry who Reigned and Margaret that was Married to Emanuel Philibert Duke of Savoy Queen Eleonora brought him no Children After his death she retired into the Low-Countries to the Emperor her Brother who in Anno 1555. carried her into Spain She died at Bajadox in the year 1558. Aged about Threescore Years HENRY II. King LVIII Aged about XIX Years POPES PAUL III. Two Years and above 7 Months under this Reign JULIUS III. Elected in February 1549. S. 5 Years 1 Month and a half MARCELLUS II. Elected in April 1555. S. 22 dayes PAUL IV. Elected in May 1555. S. 4 Years 2 Months and a half Year of our Lord 1547 HENRY came to the Crown upon the same day of the Year that he came into the World The Robes and other preparations for the Ceremony of his Coronation not being got ready before Mid July he received not the Sacred Unction till the Five and Twentieth of that Month by the hands of Charles de Lorraine who was Archbishop of Reims Claude Duke of Guise and Frances de Cleves Duke of Nevers preceded Lewis de Bourbon Duke of Montpensier though a Prince of the Blood because their Pairres being more Ancient by some years the first represented the Duke of Guyenne the second the Earl of Toulouze but Montpensier the Earl of Champagne only This King had been without defects as he was without disquiet had his Soul been framed as compleatly as his body His noble Stature his Serene and goodly Visage his pleasing aspect his dexterity in all brave exercises his agility and bodily strength were not attended with that firmness of Mind Application Prudence and the Sagacity requisite in one that is to command He was naturally good and had inclinations to do justice but he never possessed himself and because he would do nothing he was the cause of all those Evils they Committed who governed him The Constable de Montmorency whom he immediately called to Court Frances Earl of Aumale who was Duke of Guise after the death of his Father and James d'Albon Saint André whom he made Mareschal of France had the best share in his Favour He considered the first as his principal Minister the two others as Favorites but all even the Queen her self bowed before his Mistress This was Diana de Poitiers Widow of Lewis de Brezé and whom he had made Dutchess of Valentinois She meddled with all she could do all That it might be known she Reigned he would have it appear in all his Turnaments on his House-hold goods in his Devises or Impresses and even on the Frontispieces of his Royal Buildings by placing every where a Crescent with Bows and Arrows which were the Symbols of that unblushing Diana Year of our Lord 1547 One might think this love of a young King for a Woman of Forty Years and who had three or Four Children by her Husband must have been indeed an Inchantment without Charmes She was unjust violent and haughty towards such as displeased her but otherwise ready to do good and very liberal her wit mighty agreeable and pleasing but her hands more yet because she bestowed often and much and with a very bon-grace The King loved her because she was so sensible of Love and this temperament did sometimes lead her elsewhere to seek out the full measure of her delights as she found in him the fulness of Honour and Riches Under a new Government there is a new face of Court They left Frances Oliver in the Office of Chancellor whereof he was very worthy but they took away the Administration from the Cardinal de Tournon and Annebaut
each other Philip on the River of Antie and Henry along the Somme They lay there almost three Months without having any other Ren-contre besides one Skirmish because they were then upon propositions for an Accommodation The Popes Nuncios made the first mention of it the Constable and the Mareschal de Saint André whose favour was in a languishing condition at Court got Philip to give some Ear to it making use for that purpose of the interest of the Duke of Savoy who could no way be restored to his Estates but by a Peace Christierne Dutchess of Lorrain equally obliged to either King as Aunt to the first and nearly Allied to the second having newly given her Daughter Claudia to the Duke his Son promoted it with much industry and went with all the Messages to and fro so that at length she brought it to a Conference between their Deputies where her self and her Son assisted as Mediators Which proved a great reputation and honour to them both in all the Courts of Christendom Two Months before which was in October the Constable was freed from his imprisonment upon his parole and came to wait upon the King at Amiens who received him with inexpressible demonstrations of affection even to the making him lye in his own Bed It is said that this Lord having had notice the Kings affection towards him declined very much recover'd it again by the Credit of the Dutchess of Valentinois he seeking her Alliance and treating of a Match between his Son Danville with Antoinetta Daughter of Robert de la Mark and Frances de Brezé who was the Daughter of that Dutchess He had already agreed with the Spaniards on all the Articles of Peace but fearing lest he might alone be charged with the reproach of a Treaty so disadvantageous he contrived it so that the King upon the winding of it up should joyn with him the Cardinal Lorrain Mareschal de Saint André John de Morvillier Bishop of Orleans and Claude de l'Aubespine Secretary of State The Conference began in the Abbey of Cercamp the fifteenth of October and from that time the two Kings dismissed their Forces The difficulty concerning Calais was the greatest Remora Queen Mary would by all means have it again the King would needs keep it Thereupon that Princess hap'ned to dye without Year of our Lord 1558 any Children of a Dropsie caused by her infinite grief for the loss of that place and the little esteem her Husband had for her The fifteenth of November was the day of her decease and the sixteenth that of the Cardinal Pool her dear Cousin who had taken great pains to restore the Catholick Religion in England About this time the two Princes made a Truce for two Months then their Deputies parted Elizabeth succeeded Mary pursuant to the Will of Henry VIII Philip did yet for some time carry on the interest of Elizabeth then abandoned them lest they should prejudice his own He had likewise some design of Marrying her or at least to get her for his Uncle Ferdinand's second Son but the King who had great reason to hinder that Alliance and not suffer Elizabeth to take that Crown which he believed did belong to his Sons the Dausins Wife so ordered it that the Pope received the Envoy sent by that Princess to him but ill and treated her as illegitimate This injury made her determine openly to embrace the Religion of the Protestants who made no doubts concerning her and to repeal all Acts made by Mary and corroborate and revive those of Edward and put them in force Year of our Lord 1559 The Deputies from the two Crowns met again towards the end of January at Cateau in Cambresis where in few days they came to a final agreement on all the Articles Elizabeth fearing to be left alone sent her Deputies thither also By the Treaty between France and Spain that of Crespy and the preceding were confirmed The two Kings mutually restored all they had taken from each other for eight years past The King restored the Duke of Savoy to all his Lands and Estates yet still reserved the right he had but whilst that could be examined by Commissioners on either part which was to be done within three years time he kept by way of pawn or Security Turin Pignerol Quiers Chivas and Villeneuve of Ast Moreover he quitted all those he held in Tuscany to the Duke of Florence and those in Corsica to the Genoese gave his Sister Margaret in Marriage to the Duke of Savoy with Three Hundred Thousand Crowns in Gold and his Daughter Isabella to King Philip with Four Hundred Thousand The people who always desire Peace at what price soever testified a great deal of joy The Constable and the Mareschal de Saint André stood in need of it to recover their former favour which was in the wain but the Guisian party the sage Politiques the whole Nobility highly blamed it as a manifest juggle or Cheat whereby France was looser of one hundred ninety and eight strong places for three only which were given them these were Han le Catelet and Saint Quentin When Queen Elizabeth found the Treaty went forward and the Deputies for King Philip who pretended to mannage her concerns but acted very coldly obtained nothing for her advantage or interest She would needs Treat upon her own single account She got little more by it It was agreed that the King should either render up Calais to her and the re-conquer'd Country or if he liked it better pay her the Sum of Five Hundred Thousand Crowns which being referred to his own choice there was no doubt but he would keep that place which is the Key of his Kingdom During the Treaty the Spaniards God knows for what design exhorted the King very zealously to exterminate the new Sectaries and hinted that there were many of them even in his Court its self and of great quality amongst others Dandelot about whom they found some Books of that sort when they took him at Saint Quentin Upon which the King sent for him and asked him what he thought of the Mass Dandelot made him a very criminal reply which enraged him so greatly that he was almost in the mind to have kill'd him He commanded him to be made a Prisoner and put Blaise de Montluc into his Office a creature of the Duke of Guises The Constable his Uncle had very much ado to get him out of Prison and restore him It was suspected to be the Effect of a certain Conference held between the Cardinal de Lorrain and the Cardinal de Granvelle that by this Stratagem the first had a design to weaken the Constable by ruining his Nephews or to render Year of our Lord 1559 him suspected of Heresie if he protected them and that the other had a design of Setting the great Families of France to Daggers-drawing and of stirring up a Faction by making the Religionaries grow desperate believing they would joyn in a body
the one and then with the other In the midst of all these a young King as weak in mind as in body exposed to the first occupier and the prize contended for the Government of the Kingdom As for the Guises they were Five Brothers the Duke the Cardinal de Lorraine the Duke d'Aumale the Cardinal de Guise and the Marquess d'Elbeuf we are not to make any reck'ning of the three last because they acted nothing but by the inspiration and motion of the other two The Duke drew his Party to him by the Reputation of his Valour his Liberality and his Affability the Cardinal de Lorraine by his Eloquence and his Learning They were notwithstanding of very different humors the Duke moderate just undaunted in dangers the Cardinal hot undertaking and vain puffed up with good success but trembling and faint-hearted at the least frowns of Fortune Amongst the Princes of the Blood there was Anthony King of Navarre Lewis Prince of Condé the Duke of Montpensier and the Prince de la Roche-sur-yon Anthony was a voluptuous and fearful Prince and more considerable for his Quality then his Power Lewis was Valiant Hardy and one the greatness of whose Courage and meanness of whose slender Fortune made him fit to undertake every thing Anthony did not stand firm but abandoned his younger Brother to his Year of our Lord 1559 very death he fluctuated in doubts of Religion and was neither a good Catholick nor right Lutheran His Brother followed the Opinions of Calvin The Guises seized upon the Kings Person because he had Married their Niece Mary Steward Queen of Scotland and upon the favourable pretence of the Catholick Religion The others made sure of the Male-contents the disbanded Souldiers and the protection of the Religionaries whose dispair was yet much greater and stronger then their numbers The Mareschal de Saint André a Lord as brave as witty and polite but very Luxurious and over-head and ears in debt devoted himself wholly to them and promised the Duke to bestow his Daughter upon which of his Sons he pleased with all the Estate belonging both to him and his Wife reserving only the clear revenue during their term of Life This he did fearing to be devoured by his Creditors should he ever happen to be expell'd the Court. The Constable a great temporiser and who had wont to be prime Minister of State could not stoop now to be Inferior He admitted the flatteries and caresses of both Parties but at length adhered to the Guisians in hatred to the novel opinions being perswaded by his Wife and second Son that the Title he bare of the first Christian Baron would not allow him to linck himself with those who did impugne the Catholick Religion The Duke of Montpensier and the Prince de la Roche Sur-Yon though both of the House of Bourbon were led by the same motives and did not so much respect the proximity of Blood as the name of the Ancient Church and the King from whom they would not start aside for any other Consideration whatsoever A motive directly contrary to the Constables cast the Admiral de Coligny and his Brother Dandelot Colonel of the French Infantry on the side of those Princes who favour'd the new Religion of which they were thoroughly convinced and perswaded besides that they had the Honour to be Allied to the Prince of Condé For he had Married Elenora de Roye Daughter of one Magdelain de Mailly who was their Sister by the Mothers side she and they being Born of Louisa de Montmorency who was first Married to Frederic du Mailly Then to the Mareschal de Chastillon Father of these two Lords When King Henry II. received his hurt the Queen Mother was in suspence a day or two whether to joyn with the Constable or the Guises She looked upon both the one and the other as her Enemies being all Allied to the Dutchess of Valentinois whom she hated mortally though in her Husbands Life-time she feigned to love her even to the height of confidence But she thought her self much more affronted by the Constable then the Guises because it was he that had last adventur'd to contract an Alliance with that Woman Besides the Guises utterly abandoned her notwithstanding the repugnance of the Duke d'Aumale who was her Son in Law and withal they promised this Queen so much Service and so great Submission that she resolved to stand by them To which me may add that being Uncles to the young King as they were it might perhaps have been out of the reach of her power or interest to have set them aside When the Constable perceived his Game was near lost he sent in all post hast to the King of Navarre to press him to come and take that Place and Authority his Birth justly claimed under the young King but that Prince who was slow and irresolute and who withal did not much confide in him because he had once advised the deceased King to seize upon the remainder of his petit Kingdom did not make much hast This signal fault and after this his strange irresolutions and the weakness of his Conduct during all this and the following Reign may be accounted indirectly amongst the principal and main causes of all the Troubles and Misfortunes that befel the Kingdom of France Wherefore the Guises having gained the Mastery at Court the King declared to the Parliaments Deputies when they came to wait on him That he had committed the direction of his Affairs to them that is to say the Intendance or Over-sight of all the Affairs of War to the Duke and that of the Finances or Treasury to the Cardinal Being thus establish'd they consider'd of removing out of the way all those that might be obnoxious They left the Constable and Mareschals of France no more Commission but to Bury the late King and sent the Princes of Condé and de la Roche Sur-Yon into Spain the first to carry the Coller of the Order to King Philip the other to get the Treaty of Peace confirmed They likewise banished the Dutchess of Valentinois from the Court but first obliged her to restore and deliver up the Jewels and the rich Furniture and Year of our Lord 1559 Goods the late King had bestowed upon her and took away her fair House of Chenonceaux to accommodate the Queen-Mother in exchange for the Castle of Chaumont upon the Banks of the River Loire Desiring by embellishing the face of their new Government with a shew of Goodness and Justice towards the publick to condemn the Government past they took the Seals from Bertrandi Cardinal and Archbishop of Sens whose reputation was not of the best and restored them to the Chancellor Ol vier a person really of a much more then ordinary merit and of great probity but who soon perceived they had recalled him to servitude rather then to a freedom of function in the highest Office of the Kingdom The Queen-Mother in the mean time
Prevost des Marchands and the Eschevins went a good way into the Fauxbourg to receive him and made him a Harangue the Governess replied to it In the Month of April a difference arose which was like to have embroiled all month April Provence between the Archbishop of Aix Paul Huraud de l'Hospital and the Parliament A Priest had forced a little Boy of Six or Seven years old the Parents giving information the Arch-bishops Official or Chancellor order'd that the Parties should proceed before him but upon the Parents appeal the Parliament ordained one of the King's Judges should have the hearing of it In fine month April the Priest by Sentence was Condemned to such Death as his Abomination deserved Before Execution the Parliament summon'd the Archbishop to degrade him but as in Provence the Ecclesiasticks were wont to enjoy the same Privileges and Franchises as those of Italy enjoy'd the Archbishop complaining they had infringed the Liberties of the Church excommunicated all such Councellors as had been assisting in this Prosecution forbid any within his Diocess to administer the Sacrament to them and sent a Brief to all the Churches containing their several Names This Scandal was the greater as hapning to be near the time of Easter The Parliament offended with this proceeding cited the Archbishop and upon default of Appearance declared his Brief calumnuous and his Excommunication null and abusive ordained he should take it off and enter the same in the Court Register or upon Record within three days in default whereof he should pay Ten thousand Crowns fine In the mean time the Archbishop was obstinate to persist and the Parliament to compel him the People were divided into two Parties and grew hot even to the danger of some great Commotion Nevertheless the Parliament having order'd a seizure of the Archbishop's Temporal Estate the only Bridle for the Clergy when they more value their Revenues than either their Duty or their Dignity he soon complied took off his Excommunication month May. purely and simply and sent to his Diocesans to receive those Judges to the Communion whom he had deprived Year of our Lord 1602 The following year in the Month of March almost the like Scandal hapned at month March Bourdeaux The Archbishop who was the Cardinal de Sourdis a hot-brained man had demolished an Altar in the Church Saint André his Cathedral without communicating it to the Chapter The Canons endeavouring to Rebuild it were drove away somewhat too rudely by his People The Parliament took the Cause in hand and upon their Complaint put the Mason in Prison who had pull'd down the Altar The Cardinal breaks the Prison doors and takes him thence Some days after the Parliament assisted by the Jurats who came with a strong hand caused the Altar to be Rebuilt The Cardinal was so enraged that the Sunday following being informed the first President by Name Godfrey Malloüin Sessac and the President Verdun were hearing Mass in the Church of Sainct Project he went thither with his Archiepiscopal Crosier and the Holy Sacrament and there Excommunicated them by Bell Book and Candle The Parliament in great wrath for the injury done to all their Body by this affront to their Head made a Decree which enjoyned him to revoke his Censures and to cause the same to be published in the same Church upon the Penalty of Four thousand Crowns Fine forbidding all Bishops to use the like for the future to any Judges for doing their Office upon Pain of Ten thousand Crowns The King having received the Complaints of either Parties brought the Business before himself and there kept it to allay the heats on either hand There were divers Reglements published this year necessary to discharge the King's Debts and make the Money circulate Amongst others the Suppression of the Triennals created upon necessity of the Siege of Amiens and their Reimbursement by the Ancient and Alternatives They did however reserve those of the Espargne Parties Casuelles Extraordinaries for War and some others The Prohibition against Transporting Gold or Silver out of the Kingdom or exposing any more Foreign Coin except Pistols and Reals of Spain Another forbidding the wearing of Gold or Silver upon their Cloaths or to squander away that precious Metal in guilding The King authorized this last by his own Example and look'd very sowrely upon a Prince who presumed to appear before him with that Gawdry This Reformation did much discountenance the Gossips and Year of our Lord 1601 Gallants and was reckoned one of the Publick Grievances by that sort of Cattle who have no other Perfections but what they borrow from the Lace-man ✚ and the Taylor The most Universal cause of all the Disorders and Corruptions sprang from Luxury the extraordinary Taxes first brought forth and Nursed this proud and dainty Monster tho'to say truth both of them were as yet but in the Cradle The Contractors and Exchequer-men having abundance of Money which for the most part cost them but the dash of a Pen did lay it out in all manner of Vanity And most of the Gentlemen who were picked to equal those foolish Expences did by over-swelling and strutting burst themselves like the Frog in the Fable Then when they were so ruined and had nothing left to sell but their Honour they Married with those Fellows Daughters to get great Portions which they could not have met with in Houses of Repute or Quality not considering that from such corrupted Blood nothing but a corrupt and vicious generation ☜ could proceed It was therefore become most necessary to repress the insolency of these Robbers and their Pillage or unlawful Gains that caused it The King for that purpose establish'd a Royal Chamber composed of Judges of known and approved integrity selected from amongst the Masters of Requests belonging to his Parliament and the Cour des Aides of Paris The People who are easily fed with vain hopes imagined that the Gallows would soon do them Justice upon those Robbers under the specious title of Officers and that their Spoil would be restored at least in part to such as had been fleeced by them but by vertue of great Presents and Intrigues they found out able Mediators for some of the greatest Lords many fair Ladies together with the Ministers of the King's Pleasures attaqu'd the Clemency of that good Prince with so many Engines and Importunities that he admitted those Rascals to Composition after the Chamber or Court had sat till the year 1604. and so punish'd them only in their Purses and that but very lightly Thus the Publick far from receiving that Satisfaction they so justly expected had the displeasure to find this Inspection served only to secure that booty to them who had so unmercifully rifled the Kingdom Nor could they distinguish the Innocent few as they were from the Guilty since not the most wicked but the more weak were the most roughly handled The Adventures of a Man who said he was Sebastian King of Portugal