Canons out of their Churches put the Curats from their Parishes and consiscated and plundred all their Goods Then against the Laity vexing and loading the Citizens with new Imposts and unheard of Exactions tiercing or thirding the Gentry that was taking away Thirds of their Revenues and of all their Goods which had never been heard of in France The Interdiction lasted Seven Months during this time Philip sollicited the Pope so earnestly that he gave order to his Legats to take it off upon condition he should take Isemburge again and in six Months six Weeks six Days and six Hours he would have the Case of her Divorce decided by his two Legats and the Prelats of the Year of our Lord 1200 Kingdom the Friends and Relations of that Princess being assigned to defend her The Assembly was held at Soissons by Isemburges choice King Canut sent the ablest people in his Kingdom to sollicite and plead her Cause After twelve days jugling and proceeding Philip had intimation that Judgment would be against him he goes one fair Morning to fetch Isemburge from her House and setting her up on Horse-back behind him carries her thence having order'd notice to be given to the Legat not to give himself so much trouble about examining whether the Divorce he had Decreed were good or not since he owned it and would have her for his Wife Nevertheless he used her but little better then before nor did shew any more kindness besides some little Civilities to her Year of our Lord 1200 Besore the years end Agnes her Rival died having been five years with the King She had two Children by him One Son and One Daughter whom Pope Innocent III. Legitimated Died likewise Thibauld Earl of Champagne who had then only One Daughter a Minor The King would have the Guardianship-Noble but soon after the death of Thibauld his Wife was brought to bed of a Post-humus Son who had his Fathers Name and the Surname of Great The Daughter lived not long after the birth of the Posthume In those times Usury and Uncleanness Reigned bare-faced in France God raised up two great and virtuous Men Fulk Curate of Neuilly in Brie and Peter de Roucy a Priest in the Diocess of Paris to Preach against these Vices with so much power and efficacy that they reclaimed a great many Souls from those Sins and Follies Now it hapned that a few Months before the death of Thibauld Fulk who had this gift of perswading People to what he approved by his earnest Exhortations knowing there was to be a great meeting of Princes Lords and Gentlemen at a Year of our Lord 1120 Turnament or Justs at the Castle d'Ecris between Braye and Corbie went thither and exhorted them so earnestly effectually to undertake the voyage to the Holy Land that the Earls Baldwin of Flanders Henry d'Anguien his Brother Thibauld de Champagne Lovis de Blois his Brother Simon de Montfort Gautier or Gualtier de Brienne Matthew de Montmorency Stephen du Perche and several other Lords Crossed themselves nevertheless they could not set forwards till two years afterwards The reconcilation between the two Kings seemed perfect and sincere This year they conferr'd at Andeley Nay Philip had the the King of England with him Year of our Lord 1201 to his City of Paris and Treated him with all the magnificence and all the demonstrations of friendship he could desire But John had begun to contrive his own unhappiness by casting off his Wife Avice or Avoise Daughter of the Earl of Glocestre to Marry Isabel only Daughter of Aymar Earl of Angoulesme and Alix of Courtenay whom he ravished from Hugh le Brun Earl de la Marche to whom she was affianced From that time the said Lord sought all manner of ways to revenge himself for that injury He began to hold private intelligence with Philip he endeavour'd to make an insurrection in Poitou and Rodolph his Brother Earl of Eu began to commit Hostilities on the skirts of Normandy John chastised them for their Rebellion bydepriving them of their Lands especially some Castles in the County d'Eu They make address to the King of France their Sovereign Lord and demand Justice of him Upon this difference the two Kings saw one another near Gaillon where Philip who had laid his design spake high and summon'd John to appear in his Court that right might be done not only upon the complaint of Hugh but likewise of Prince Arthur who demanded Maine Anjou and Touraine Year of our Lord 1201 The Earl of Flanders and the other Lords that had taken the Cross departed for the Holy Land and as in those times there were but few Vessels upon the coasts of Provence they had taken their way by Venice where they hop'd to find a great many well fitted and there Thomas I. Earl of Savoy and Boniface Marquis of Montferrat joyned them But the Venetians would not furnish them with Vessels till they had first employ'd their Arms to recover the Cities of Sclavonia especially that of Zara for the Republique from whom they had withdrawn themselves to own the King of Hungary which retarded them above a year in those parts Year of our Lord 1201 In the year 1195. Isaac Angelus Emperour of the East had been deprived of his Empire his Sight and his Liberty by his own Brother Alexis And the Son of that Isaac likewise named Alexis had made his escape into Germany flying to Philip of Snevia pretended Emperour who had Married his Sister This young Prince having notice that there was an Army of the Crossed at Venice went thither to implore their assistance Several difficulties hindred them from going into the Holy-Land besides the Venetians hoped to find it better for their purpose to make a War in Greece because the spoil and plunder promised more gain and seemed more certain to them and more-over all the Latine Christians were ravish'd to meet with this occasion and opportunity to revenge the Treachery and Outrages the Greeks had practised since the beginning of the Holy-War They concluded therefore to turn their Arms that way upon condition the young Alexis would defray the charges of their expedition allow them great rewards and submit the Greek Church to the Obedience of the Pope To provide for the expences of his War King Philip endeavour'd to accustom the Clergy to furnish him with Subsidies and they excused themselves upon their Liberties and for that it was not lawful to employ the Moneys belonging to the Poor in prosane uses they only promis'd to assist him with their Prayers to God Now it hapned that the Lords de Coucy de Retel de Rosey and several others went and pillag'd and invaded their Lands they fly to the King for protection who in their own coin assisted them with Prayers to those Lords but as they understood one another they proceeded to worse dealing Then the Prelats redoubled their intreaties and besought him to employ his Forces
have no more war on that side but the Nobility liked rather to be under the King of France who had Employments and Offices to bestow Henry de Villars Arch-Bishop of Lyons and John de Chisy Bishop of Grenoble byass'd the Dukes mind so as to make it run that way He had therefore in the year 1343. made a Donation to King Philip of the Lordship of Daulphine and the Lands adjoyning upon condition that all their priviledges should be preserved intirely that it should be incorporated for ever in the Crown of France and that the Kings eldest Son should enjoy it and bear the Title and the Arms of Daulphine for which the King gave him Forty thousand Crowns of Gold and ten thousand Florins Rent to be levied on the Countrey Year of our Lord 1349 This year 1349. he confirmed the Contract and afterwards retired himself into a Convent of the Jacobins where he took on the Habit. The Pope tyed him to the Church by Sacred Orders fearing he might start back and gainsay the thing He received them all on Christmass-day the Subdiaconal at midnight Mass the Diaconal at Mass by break of day and the Priesthood at the Third Mass The same day he Celebrated and eight days after was promoted to Episcopacy and honoured with the Title of Patriarch of Alexandria Year of our Lord 1350 In 1350. Philip had likewise either by purchase or by engagement of James of Arragon King of Majorca the Counties of Rousillon and Cerdagna in the Pyreneans and bought of the same Prince the Barony of Montpellier in Languedoc which the House of Arragon held in Under-Fief of the Crown of France for the sum of Sixscore thousand Crowns of Gold currant Money In the Month of June of the year 1350. the Truces wer prolonged between the Kings for three years Year of our Lord 1350 Two Months afterwards Philip fell sick at Nogent le Roy perhaps of the toil and fatigue of his new Marriage very often mortal to antient people that take beautiful Wives Feeling his last hour draw near he sent for his Children and the Princes of his Blood and gave them warning and counsel to live in amity and concord with one another make a Peace if it could be had maintain good Order and countenance Justice case the People and other fine and excellent things which Princes oftner recommend to their Successors at their deaths then practise themselves while they are alive He expired the Two and twentieth day of August in the seven and fiftieth year of his age and in the Three and twentieth of his Reign Very brave in his own person more happy in Negotiations then in Battle hard-hearted towards his Subjects suspitious vindicative and one that suffer'd himself to be too far transported by the impetuosity of his anger He had two Wives Jane and Blanch that the Daughter of Robert II. Duke of Burgundy and this of Philip d'Evreux King of Navarre By the First he left two Sons John who Reigned Philip who was Duke of Orleans but had no posterity and one Daughter named Mary who Married John Duke of Limburgh Son of John III. Duke of Brabant By his Second he had but only one Daughter Posthumus she was named Jane who died at Beziers in the year 1373. as they were conducting her to Barcelona to marry John Duke of Girona eldest Son to Peter IV. King of Arragon The Queen her Mother survived her Husband almost Fifty years which she passed in perpetual Widdow-hood Thus under the Reign of King John there were two Queens Dowagers in France this same and Jane d'Evreux widdow of Charles the Fair who died in the Month of May Anno 1970. John I. King L. By some called the Good King Aged XLII years POPES CLEMENT VI. Two years three Months during this Reign INNOCENT VI. Elected in December 1352. S. Nine years and near Nine Months URBAN V. Elected the Eighth of October 1362. S. Eight years and above Two Months whereof one year and Six Months during this Reign Year of our Lord 1350 AFter John had assisted at the Funeral of the King his Father he was Crowned at Reims with his Second Wife Jane of Boulogue the Twenty sixty day of September From thence he came and made his entrance into Paris the Seventeenth of October sate in his Seat of Justice in Paris gave the Order of Knighthood to his two eldest Sons to some other Princes and Lords and began some shew of labouring about the Polity and the Reformation of the whole Estate The Prince having maturity of age the experience of Affairs a valour tried in occasions the example of his faults before his Eyes and four Sons that would soon be able to draw their Swords promised a happy conduct and a most flourishing Government yet having the same defects as his Father too much of impetuosity and precipitation for revenge little prudence and as little consideration for the miseries of his poor people he fell into greater misfortunes and such as did not let go their hold but stuck to him till his death The Blood wherewith he sullied the entrance of his Reign was a presage and perhaps a cause of it much likelier then the prodigious Comet which appeared this year Rodolph Earl of Eu and of Guisnes Constable of France a prisoner of War to the English ever since the Battle of Caen had made divers voyages into France Year of our Lord 1350 to procure his own deliverance and that of his Compagnons Some perswaded the King were it true or false that under this pretence he practised some contrivances in favour of the English he was then arrested by the Prevost of Paris the Sixteenth of November and the Nineteenth beheaded obscurely and without form of Process in presence of the Duke of Bourbon and seven or eight Lords of note before whom it was given out in publique he had confessed his crime His spoil was thus divided his Office of Constable was given to Charles d'Espagne de la Cerde Favourite to the King the Earldom of En to John d'Artois Son of that Robert of whom we have mention'd so much and that of Guisnes to Jane the only Daughter of the defunct whose first Husband was Gualter Duke d'Athenes and her Second to Lewis Earl d'Estampes of the Branch d'Evreux from which sprung that of the Earls d'Eu Princes of the Blood Year of our Lord 1351 That he might not be inferiour in magnificence to the English who was a sumptuous and liberal Prince who had instituted the Order of the Garter King John instituted or rather revived the Order of the Star in a famous Assembly which he held in his Palace of St. Ouyn neer Paris and ordained that whereas those Knights did formerly wear the Star upon their Helmets or Crest or hung about their necks they should now have them embroidered on their Cloaths The Chapter was held upon Twelfth-day Charles the Fifth his Son observing this Order much debased by the multitude of mean
relished that he should upon any occasion assume the Authority to bestow the Order of Knighthood upon a Gentleman He resolved to erect the Earldom of Savoy to a Dutchy for Ame VIII and divers Authors tell us he had made choice of the City of Lyons for that purpose Year of our Lord 1416 but the Kings Officers let him know it would not be suffered wherefore he performed the Ceremony at the Castle of Montluel in Bresse out of the Territories of the Kingdom However the Letters Patents for the said Erection are dated from Chamberry the Nineteenth of February It is fit we observe that ever since the time of the Carlian Race the Title of Count or Earl was as eminent as that of Duke and it seems the Grandees liked it better since we find some who having Dutchies yet took the names only of Counts Such in France was the Count of Toulouze who held the Dutchies of Septimania and Narbonne and the Earl of Savoy did the same though he had the Dutchies of Chablais and Aouste which he did not omit amongst his Titles But as Men who in length of time change their humours and fancies had an imagination that there was something greater in the Title of Duke Ame VIII Earl of Savoy was willing to have that Title given to the Earldom he bore the name of Year of our Lord 1416 France met with nothing but misfortune upon misfortune the defeat of the Constable before Harfleur which he besieged then of the Naval Forces upon that Coast the continual Incursions of the Burgundian Troops the death of the Duke of Berry who was the only Person that could have allayed these Disorders the King of Englands second landing this was at Tonques with the loss of divers places in Normandy taken by his Forces Besides all this the earnest endeavours of both Parties to make an Alliance with him but the Burgundian with most industry and forwardness enraged that they had thrust him out of the Government and the Earl of Hainault his Cousin to get a support for the Dauphin John his Son in Law whom the Orleans Faction would deprive of his Birthright to prefer and advance Charles Earl of Pontieu his younger Brother Year of our Lord 1416 The new Governor rendred himself daily more odious by Exactions without measure equality or justice laid upon the Clergy as well as the Laity for which reason the Parisians heartily desired the Burgundians return and indeed there was a Plot discovered to have let in his Forces The chief Conspirators paid down their Heads for it the rest were imprisoned all who were suspected banished even Members of the Parliament and University the Burghers Arms seized upon their Chains taken away and the Butchers Company abolished Year of our Lord 1417 The passion for Government did so far transport the Burgundian that he Conferr'd with the King of England at Calais and renewed the Truce for his Countries only which was in some manner an obligation not to assist the King at all From thence retiring to Valenciennes he had confidence with Duke William Earl of Hainault and the new Dauphin his Son in Law They sware mutual assistance against all their Enemies So the Dauphin declared himself against the Armagnacs and promised the Duke he would never return to Court till he carried him along with him It was therefore resolv'd that the Earl of Hainault should go thither to treat of those Affairs but should leave the Dauphin at Compeigne Not being able to obtain the recalling of the Burgundian he threatned to carry back the Dauphin home with him whereupon they intended to detain him till he had given up the Dauphin but having private notice he craftily made his escape But they secur'd themselves of the Dauphin another but a more wicked way by giving him Poyson of which he died the eighteenth of April Charles his Brother a sworn Enemy to the House of Burgundy succeeded to the Title of Dauphin and of Duke de Touraine and which is more to a right of inheriting the Crown to the great satisfaction and joy of the Duke of Anjou his Father in Law who was mightily suspected to have had some hand in the removal of the two eldest out of the World that his Son in Law might Reign Year of our Lord 1417 But his joy was not long lived dying in the following Month of August He left three Sons Lewis Rene and Charles the two first had successively the Titles of King of Sicilia Charles was Earl of Maine The Kings Person the Dauphin and the City of Paris were in the hands of the Constable d'Armagnac the Queen only was some kind of counterpoise to his Power They living with much freedom and licence in her Family it was easie for the Constable Year of our Lord 1417 to fill the Kings head with jealousies against this Princess so that he commanded one named Bouredon to be taken thence and thrown into the River as a Party concerned in those Intrigues and afterwards sent away the Queen his Wife as it were a Prisoner to Tours She could never be brought to forgive him this injury nor even the Dauphin her own Son it being by his consent although he were not then above the age of Sixteen years The Queens confinement the lamentable death of the two Dauphins the displacing of a great many Officers the plundering of all the open Country by the unpaid Soldiers the depredations of the Armagnac's who robbed the very Shrines in the Churches furnished the Burgundian with specious Pretences to publish his Manifesto's and to send to all the chief Cities to desire they would be assisting towards the restoring the King to his liberty The most part of those in Champagne and Picardy with the Isle of France received him with open Arms because he put down all Subsidies However all was nothing unless he could get into Paris he marched round about it approaching or going farther off for two Months together according to the Advice he had from his Friends that were in the place Whilst he was besieging Corbeil he goes away in haste to Tours with some Troops of Horse and having had a Conference with the Queen at Marmoustier whither she was come purposely under a pretence of taking the Air he brought her with him to Troyes From that time she claimed the Regency Year of our Lord 1417 In so favourable a juncture the King of England failed not to push on his Affairs Caen Bayeux Coutance Carenian Lisieux Falaise Argentan Alenson and in fine the greatest part of Normandy surrendred themselves up to him without scarce a blow given excepting Cherbourgh which defended it self three Months and yet the Constable chose rather to see the Kingdom lost then his Authority and the Burgundian consented rather to have it dismembred by the English then governed by his Enemy In Germany there were several Companies of Vagabonds began to strowle about having no Riligon no Law no Country or Habitation their Faces
Burgundy and the Earldom of Nevers on the one part and Bourbonnois Beaujolois Lyonnois and Forez on the other Then it proceeded a little further at Nevers in the interview of Charles Duke of Bourbon and the Burgundian whose Sister Charles had Married These two Princes having accommodated those Affairs that were between them concerning the Homage for some Lands which the Duke of Bourbon refused to render him and for which they had made a rude War for some time began to fall into discourse of the Affairs of the whole Kingdom and agreed together that there should be a Conference held at Arras to find out the best means for procuring Peace between the two Crowns and between the King and the Burgundian Year of our Lord 1435 According to this Resolution there was held at Arras the greatest and the most noble Assembly that ever this Age had heard of All the Princes of Christendom had their Ambassadors there the Pope and the Council each their Legats The Harbingers took up Stabling for ten thousand Horse This was opened the Sixth day of the Month of August Year of our Lord 1435 The Duke was obliged in honour not to Treat without the English provided they would be satisfied with reasonable Conditions They were profer'd Normandy and Guyenne if they would do Homage for them but when he found they would relinquish nothing of their Pretensions he disengaged himself from them and made a separate Treaty the Popes Legat having absolved him of that saith he had given them The Popes did often practise this believing it a part of the power which our Lord Jesus Christ had given to bind and unbind Here is the Summary of the chiefest Articles The King by his Ambassadors disown'd that he had consented to the Murther of Duke John wickedly perpetrated and by wicked Counsel for which he was sorry with all his heart Promised he would do justice and cause such as were guilty to be prosecuted whom the Duke should name to him That if they could not be taken he would banish them from the Kingdom for ever and never admit them upon any Treaty He obliged himself to build for the Soul of the deceased Duke the Lord de Novailles and of all those that died since in that quarrel a Chappelat Montereau on the place where the Body of that Duke lay interred to set up a Cross on the Bridge to found a Monastery or Chartreuse where should be twelve Friers and a high Mass that should be sung every year in the Church at Dijon To pay fifty thousand Gold Crowns at 24 Carats c. for the Goods and Equipage taken when the Duke was Murther'd Moreover he relinquished and acquitted him of all Homage due for any Lands he held of the Crown and his Service and Personal Assistance during his life Gave him to perpetuity for him and his Heirs Males and Females the Countries of Mascon and Auxerre the Lordship of St. Jengon the Bailliwick of St. Laurence the Castlewick or Chastelleny of Bar upon the Seine and as security for four hundred thousand Crowns payable at two certain terms the Chastellenies of Peronne Roye and Montdidier and the Cities of the Somme that is St. Quentin Corbie Amiens Abeville and others As also the County of Pontieu on either side the Somme and the enjoyment of the County of Boulogne for him and the Heirs Male of his Body with all the Rights of Tailles Gabelles and Imposts all profits of Courts of Justice of the Regalia and all others arising from all those Countries That the Burgundians should not be obliged to quit the St. Andrews Cross even when they were in the Kings Army That in case of any contravention of the Subjects both of the one and other of these Princes should be absolved from their Oaths of Fidelity and should take up Arms against the Infringer That the King should tender his submissions for the compleating of this Treaty into the hands of the Legats from the Pope and the Council upon pain of Excommunication Reagravation Interdiction of his Lands and all other to which the Censures of the Church can extend That to the same purpose he should give the Seals of the Princes of his Blood the Grandees of the State the most noted Prelats and the greatest and chiefest Cities Year of our Lord 1435 And to make this Reconciliation the more firm and durable there was added the promise to bestow Catharine the Kings Daughter upon Charles Earl of Charolois the Dukes Son both as yet very young Four years after they sent this Princess to the Duke of Burgundy to compleat the Marriage Year of our Lord 1435 Besides this weighty blow which amazed the English much they received another which was the death of the Duke of Bedford Regent in France after whom they never had any but Men that were very violent hare-brain'd without either prudence or conduct The French in the mean time time took Diepe by Escalado and the kind usage they shewed to the Inhabitants brought them all the places of the Country of Caux Year of our Lord 1435 At the same time which was about the last day of September died the Queen Mother Isabella de Baviere in the Hostel de Saint Pol at Paris where she lived in a mean condition since the time of her Husbands death justly hated by the French and ingratefully despised by the English Some have written that to save the expences of her Funeral they conveyed her Corps in a small Boat to St. Denis attended only by four People Her death is attributed to an inward grief occasioned by the outrageous railleries of such as delighted to tell her face that King Charles was not the Son of her Husband Year of our Lord 1435 and 36 One of the greatest faults they committed after they had refused the offers made them at Arras was their not treating the Duke of Burgundy well their giving him reproachful language and not suffering him to be Neuter as he desired but to fall on his People wherever they met them endeavouring to surprize his places and harrasing him so perpetually that at length they constrained him to become their utter Enemy The Parisians comparing the pride and wretchedness of these Strangers with the courtesie and magnificence of their Natural Kings could no longer endure them or if any thing did yet with-hold them it was some remainders of that affection they preserved for the Duke of Burgundy But this knot being broken they now sought nothing but the opportunity to free themselves from their Bondage Year of our Lord 1436 The English having therefore been beaten at St. Denis by the Constable the honest Citizens of Paris took that opportunity to treat about their surrender to him Having obtained an Act of Oblivion and the confirmation of their Priviledges in such form as they desired they introduced him by the Gate called St. James This was on the Friday after Easter When he was entred the People fell upon the English
concerning Degrees prohibited were different according to the different Countries In the beginning in some Churches they hardly prohibited the Marrying with two Sisters or two Brothers But the Council of Agde the third of Orleance and other following Councils extended it to a Niece to the Aunt to the Brothers Widdow and the Uncles to the Wives Sister to Cousins and Cousin-Germans There were Sanctuaries in the most famous Churches which the Bishops made good to the utmost of their power Their intercession often times obtained Pardon for the greatest Criminals and whatever failings themselves did fall into they most commonly came off only with Degradation or Banishment their Brethren most times persuading the Kings to spare their Lives St. Augustin had began to persuade the Faithful to give the Tithe of their Goods for the relief and support of the Poor grounded upon this Principle That Christians were obliged to a greater Perfection then the Jews who had allowed it to the Levites The Prelates of the second Council of Tours exhorted the People to pay them to God according to the example of the Patriarch Abraham The second of Mascon ordained it as being a Right and Duty Established in the Old Testament and which they affirmed had been of a very long time observed by the Christians The Temporal Lords to whom they primarily belonged bestowed much upon the Monasteries little on the Bishops and Curats to whom notwithstanding in case they were of Divine Right they ought to belong There were â—ew Festivals observed as Holy in all Churches except Christmas Easter and Whitsuntide The noblest of the Diocess were obliged to keep them in the Episcopal City the Country Curates the same as likewise to meet as the Synod which was yearly held at a time certain The King solemnised these Holy-days in what City he pleased and the Bishops ambitiously courted and strove who should have that honour in his own Church Since that Method being altered and the Charms of the World being stronger to allure the Bishops to Court then the Duties of Christianity were to draw the Court to the Church the Kings celebrated those Festivals in their Palaces and the Bishops forsaking their Flocks went thither in greater Crowds then was desired New Cells or Hermitages were not suffered to be made nor new Congregations of Monks without the Bishops allowance An Abbot durst not run forth nor absent himself from his Monastery when he fell into any fault the Bishop might displace him and give him a Successor and if he were rebellious he was not admitted to the Communion Shame alone could not confine and keep those in their Monasteries who had Vowed and Dedicated themselves to God but the Church compell'd them to continue by all the Penalties that were in her power No Tribute or Tax was raised upon any thing belonging to the Church neither upon their Foundations their Goods nor their Persons and neither the Judges nor the Kings Receivers could exercise any Power or Jurisdiction on their Lands But those Bishops and Abbots who desired to obtain the King's or the Grandees favour and protection having begun to make them Euloges or Presents this Custom grew into a necessary Right and Duty which was afterwards exacted from them when they failed to do it voluntarily Dagobert I. King XI POPE HONORIUS I. Who S. nine years and an half during this Reign DAGOBERT I. Aged Twenty six years in Neustria Austrasia and Burgundy ARIBERT Aged Thirteen or fourteen years in part of Aquitain Year of our Lord 629 PRince Aribert being with King Clotaire when he died it might be thought that in the absence of his Brother Dagobert who was in Austrasia he might with his Fathers Treasure have raised Men and Friends enough to have seized on the Kingdom but as he was young and perhaps his Father had bequeathed him no part in the Kingdom by his last Testament it was in vain that Brunolph his Mothers Brother endeavoured to stir up the Neustrians in his behalf Dagobert used such diligence that he made himself secure of the Kingdoms of Neustria and Burgundy so that Aribert with his Uncle were constrained to go and meet him and to submit It was in the beginning of the Seventh year of his Reign in Austrasia Year of our Lord 629 Nevertheless as it were out of pity and according to the counsel of the French Lords he gave him Saintonge Perigord Agenois Thoulousam and all the third Aquitain Aribert setled his Royal Throne at Thoulouse As soon as he was acknowledged in Neustria he went to visit Burgundy which in many years had not beheld a King but was governed by Mayers neither had they had any Mayer since the death of Varnaquier Being at St. John de Laone he heard the complaints of his People rendred Justice to all his Subjects took a care to compose all their Disputes but it seems all these fair appearances were but to cover a Villanous Murther for which purpose perhaps he had undertaken this Journey For one Morning going into a Bath he commanded three Lords of the Court to kill Brunolph who had followed him though he were guilty of nothing unless being affectionate to the Interest of his Nephew Aribert they might apprehend he would be again stirring and acting something for him It seems the Neustrian and the Austrasian Lords did each of them struggle who should possess the King The first carried it from the others by taking him on the blind side and flattering him in his Passions The Queen Gomatrude was an Austrasian of Kin to Cunibert and Pepin who were present at her Wedding the Neustrians who knew the amorous inclination of their Prince persuaded him to repudiate her upon the pretence of Barrenness to Marry Nantilda one that served him By this means Ega Mayer of the Neustrian Palace got the highest place in the young Kings favour who presently dismissed Cumbert but retained Pepin still at Court not to make use any more of his Counsel but for fear he might cause the Kingdom of Austrasia to revolt his Office of Mayer of the Palace and his Vertues giving him too great a power Nantilda was soon deprived of the Affection of her Husband by another Woman Being gone into Austrasia and delighting to shew himself in his Royal Habit to those Provinces with great Pomp and a splendid Court he in her room took a very beautiful Virgin named Ragnetrude Sometime after he Married two more Women Wlfegunde and Bertechilde for Kings thought they had this Priviledge of having several and took as many Mistresses as the desire and gust of change could wish for which is infinite After he had thrown off his two prudent Governours who kept him within compass he let himself loose to all the heats of his Youth and the violence of his Soveraign Authority The first cast him into all sorts of Pleasures The second made him heap up Money and lay his griping Hand upon his Subjects Treasure as if all had been his own It
Besieged on the other hand reduced to Famine Betrand de Guesclin found an expedient to save the Dukes Oath which was That he should enter the Town with nine more and his Colours should be set up on the Gate for some hours To conclude this Treaty they made a Truce between the two parties which was to last till the year 1360. Year of our Lord 1357 The bands of Soldiers being neither cashier'd nor paid the Robbers flock'd together with all sorts of other rasâ—ally people and scowred all the Countreys about without any fear or punishment all the open Countrey lying exposed to their merciless mercy There were five or six several Gangs but the most dreadful crew of them was Year of our Lord 1357 that of one Arnold de Ceruoles who called himself the Arch-Priest he entred into the County of Avignon forced the Pope to redeem the plunder of his Lands at the price of Forty thousand Crowns and afterwards to give him Absolution and Treat him at his own Table with as much Honour as if he had been a Sovereign Prince Year of our Lord 1357 The persons Commissioned by the Estates for the administration of the Treasury made it soon apparent that they had not taken it in hand to dispossess Knaves but to have a share in that prize and pillage themselves so that their corrupt dealing no less criminal then that of the former Officers so much cried out upon did much blemish their choice and by consequence the authority of the Estates The Dauphin being therefore better fortified by the arrival of the Earls of Foix Year of our Lord 1357 and Armagnac and a great number of the Nobility did at length shake off their Tutelage and making le Coq return to his own Bishoprick his party became the strongest in Paris But immediately afterwards the Navarrois was set free from his imprisonment by the intrigues of his people who escalado'd the Castle wherein he was detained which was not done without connivance of the Lord de Pequigny to whom King John had committed the keeping of this Prince Then le Coq returns and the Council resumed greater power then formerly The Dauphin apprehended nothing so much as the malignity of that Prince exasperated by a long imprisonment nevertheless the importunities of the Council establisht by the Estates and the intercession of the two Queens Dowagers Jean and Blanch obliged him to give him a safe Conduct with which he came and lodged in the Abbey of St. Germain des Prez accompanied with a huge number of his friends Some while after having caused it to be proclaimed about the City That he would entertain the People upon St. Andrews day there came above Ten thousand Men to the Tilting-place which was between the Abbey of St. Germains and the Pré aux Clercs He mounted the Scaffold from whence the King was wont to behold Combats or Duels and there with a most pathetical Eloquence declared the injustice of nis tedious Confinement the tyrannical execution of his friends the zeal he had for the good of the Nation and above all express'd his mighty affection for the defence of Paris which was the capital City His flattering harangue tickled the People the more by reason that for some time they had met with nothing but severities The next day he was received into the City the Dauphin and he had an enterview in an indifferent place Le Coq Head of the Council the Prevost des Merchands nay even the University pressed the Dauphin so home to give him satisfaction that he was sain to agree to all he pleased However when he would have gone into his Towns thinking to take possession those that commanded there for the King refused to deliver them up to him or his Commissaries Year of our Lord 1358 Upon this refusal he begins the War anew Had the English assisted him considerably he would have over-turned the whole Kingdom but having dropt an expression in his speech to the People That he had more right to the Crown of France then those that disputed for it they lent him no more assistance then to enable him to draw the War to a great length that so each party weakning and tiring the other might both of them be forced to submit to that yoak the English designed to lay upon them Year of our Lord 1358 That zeal the Prevost des Marchands had for the publique liberty meeting with too great oppositions degenerated perhaps in despite of him into a manifest and most pernicious faction The mark or distinction was a kind of a Hood party-colour'd Red and Blue which he bestow'd for New-years-Gifts upon the People of Paris Who being divided and wavering in their Affections applauded sometimes the Dauphin who made Speeches in publique to them then straightway wheel'd about to their Magistrate whom they judged to be honest in his designs and anon they became indifferent to either Year of our Lord 1358 For the third time the Estates were called together at Paris the Dauphin designing to make himself Master of them drew some Forces about the Town the Navarrois had some likewise who kept the Field This troublesome neighbourhood did greatly incommode the City of Paris and all that lay neer it Marcel cast the fault upon the Dauphin and he discharged himself and laid it on the Navarrois Upon this brangle a Partisan of Marcels named Perrin Macé a Changer belonging to the Treasury Massacred John Baillet Treasurer of France and the Deed being done retired into the Church St. James de la Boucherie The Dauphin commanded the Mareschal de Clermont John de Chaalons Seneschal of Champagne and the Prevost of Paris to drag him thence by force and put him into the hands of Justice They haled him out and the Prevost of Paris caused his Hand to be cut off and sent him to the Gibbet The Churches were then inviolable Sanctuaries the Clergy and People grew into heats because they had pluck'd a Criminal from the feet of the Altar and the Bishop of Paris Excommunicated those that had committed this attempt After this Marcel having armed Three thousand Trades-men who all wore those party-colour'd Hoods entred into the Palace where the Dauphin Lodged and caused those three Lords to be murther'd in his presence This was not all he compell'd him to own the Fact in an Assembly of the Estates which was held at the Augustins and in Parliament to suffer the Navarrois to return to the City and to give him Lands and great satisfaction for damages notwithstanding the other Cities refused to joyn with Paris in any thing otherwise then for the Kings service Year of our Lord 1358 After the Navarrois had remained for some time in Paris and thought he had well secur'd himself of them going forth again to give some Order touching his Affairs he was no sooner out of Town when the Dauphin to lose no time caused himself to be declared Regent by the Parliament After that
had a design to recover it by force and to this end had besieged it the Mareschal having armed himself to relieve it the Grand Master of Rhodes undertook to make an acommodation Year of our Lord 1406 Whilst they were in Treaty the Mareschal employ'd his Arms against the Turks After he had conducted the Emperour Manuel from Modon to Constantinople he went and besieged the City of Scandeloro which he took by assault Then the Peace with Cyprus being made he turned his designs towards the coasts of Syria because he had War with the Sultan of Egypt for some Merchants Goods which that Barbarian had taken from the Genoese The Venetians jealous of their prosperity and watchful of the Mareschals actions gave speedy notice by a nimble vessel to all the Ports upon that coasts So that where ever he would have gon on shoar he found them armed and well provided to receive him Thus he missed Tripoly and Sayeta but he took Baruc which he carried by storm This good success encreased the Venetians rage so much that lying in wait for him upon his return having discharged the greatest part of his Men and Ships Charles Zeni who commanded their Gallies set upon him without any War declar'd How weak soever he was he defended himself so stoutly that they could not force him but they took three of his Gallies wherein was Chastean Morand and Thirty Kinghts of Note The mournful Letters these prisoners sent to the Court because they knew the Venetians never set any free whom they had taken till the Peace was made and their friends lamentations to the Princes and the Kings Council wrought so much that they sent to the Mareschal not to revenge himself for this Treachery but allow of those excuses the Venetians made The Mareschal knowing they were contrary both to the Truth and his own Honour published a Manifesto directed to the Duke and to Zeni relating the whole Fact in a quite different manner giving them the Lye and challenging them to a Combat either One to One or Ten against Ten all Knights or either of them in a single Galley to which no answer was made Year of our Lord 1406 The University of Paris did not desist from pursuing the re-union of the Church and had in order to it dispatched some Deputies to Rome to Innocent but Bennet endeavour'd to break these measures by his intrigues in the Court of France The Cardinal de Chalan his Envoye was but ill receiv'd yet he for a while hindred the Decree the Parliament were about to make against the University of Toulouze who had embraced the defence of that Pope and written Letters in his favour injurious both to the King and his Council but that of Paris addressing themselves to the King with as much zeal obliged the Parliament at last to give Sentence That the said Letters should be burnt at the Gates of Toulouze Lyons and Montpellier and those that wrote them should be proceeded against Notwithstanding theycould not obtain that substraction so many times demanded Year of our Lord 1406 During these Transactions Innocent the Pope of Rome dies and his Cardinals elected Angelo Coraro a Venetian called Gregory XII but obliged him both by Oath and Writing to abdicate the Papacy when Benedict would do the same and to give notice of this condition to all Princes He at first comply'd with his Promises and sent an Embassy to his Competitor for the Union They agreed upon the City of Savonna for their Conference all necessary Orders for their security and for their conveniencies were issued out and the King omitted nothing that might be helpful sending his Ambassadors to labour in it who were well received every where But the two Anti-Popes each on Year of our Lord 1407 his part sought difficulties and delays denying to meet personally and endeavouring to put things off by a thousand tricks Bennet shusfled a long time before he would give up his Abdication in Writing Gregory yet longer about his security and the way he should go Sometimes he pretended he must go by Sea another while it must be by Land finding out most incomprehensible difficulties in adventuring either way Year of our Lord 1407 The Duke of Burgundy notwithstanding his feigned reconciliation which he daily coloured over with new marks of confidence causes the Duke of Orleans to be assassinated The executioner of this so abhorred a Fact was a Norman Gentleman named Rodolph d'Oquetonville animated by a particular resentment for that the Prince had put him out of an Office he held under the King Upon the 23 or 24th of November in the night time as the Duke returned from visiting the Queen who was then in Child-bed mounted upon a Mule with only two or three Servants about him he who had Six hundred Gentlemen his Pensioners the Murtherer who waited for him in the Street called Barbette accompanied with Ten or a Dozen more like himself First gave him a blow with a Battle-axe which cut off one hand and then a Second that cleft his Head in two the rest likewise mangled him with divers wounds and left him lying in the Street This done they all saved themselves in the Duke of Burgundy's House having strowed the way with Calthrops and set fire to a House that they might not be pursued Upon the first noise of this Murther the Burgundian put a good face upon it and went to the Funeral of the deceased bemoaned him and wept for him but it being mentioned in Council that search should be made in all Princes Hostels for the murtherers the horror of this crime did so confound him that he took the Duke of Bourbou aside and confessed to him that he was the Author of it Afterwards being come to himself again he went from thence and the next day fled into Flanders with his Cut-throats His retreat with his threatnings gave some apprehension that he would put the Kingdom into a flame and every man feared the like treachery might fall upon his own Head And for this reason instead of prosecuting him they sought by all mean toa ppease him The Duke of Berry and the Duke of Anjou King of Sicilia took a journey to Amiens to confer with him he came to them well attended his ill act leaving him no security but force and promised to return to Paris and justify himself before the King provided they kept no Guards at the City Gates Year of our Lord 1407 In the interim the Dutchess of Orleans who was at Blois when her Husband was murthered came to Paris with her Sons she had three Charles Philip and John the eldest was not above Fourteen years old to make her complaints to the King He gave her the Guardianship of her Children but durst not promise to do her justice for fear of over-turning his Kingdom The disconsolate Widow knowing therefore that her Husbands murtherer was returning retired with her young ones to Blois Year of our Lord 1408 According to his
with a Sword on the Blade whereof were some Latin Verses engraved which invited him to that expedition Year of our Lord 1462 There was a rude War between Henry King of Castille and John King of Arragon This last had by a Treaty of accommodation given Catalogna to Charles Prince of Viana Son of his first Bed and therefore his principal Heir His Mother in Law harrass'd him so much that he once more fell out with his Father and took up Arms. He was again defeated and taken Prisoner The Catalonians making an insurrection in his favour forced his Father to set him at Liberty but the same day of his deliverance he Died of a Morsel which his Mother in Law had caused her own Physician to give him After his Death the Catalonians being revolted against John and having degraded him as the Murtherer of his Son Charles The King of Castille assisted them It was not the zeal of justice that led him to it but the desire of Siezing those places in Navarre which were for his purpose Mean while John that he mught have Men and Money in this pressing necessity had engaged the Counties of Roussillon and of Cerdagne to the King of France for 300000 Crowns Gaston de Foix Brother in Law to the Castillian and Son in Law to the Arragonian brought these two Princes to refer their differences to the judgement of the King who then was at Bourdeaux to treat of the Marriage of Magdelin his Sister with Gaston de Foix Count of Viana When he had heard the reasons of either party from the mouths of their Ambassadors he pronounced his Sentence of Arbitration but it satisfied neither the one nor the other any more then his enterview with Henry King of Castille satisfied either the French or Spaniards These scoffed at the Niggardlyness and mean and simple countenance of King Lewis who was cloathed only in coarse Cloth had a short and straight Garment on and wore a Madona of Lead in his Cap The others had an indignation at the Castillian Arrogance and the Pride of the Count de Lodesme Favourite of Henry But it is true that their King condescending as he ought to the Majesty of France passed over not only the River Bidasso which seperates the two Kingdoms to come to the King but likewise advanced two Leagues within his Dominions and came even to the Castle of Vterbia where they conferred together At his return from this Voyage Lewis found that the Lords de Crouy Father and Son had so well managed the mind of Philip Duke of Burgundy with whom they could do any thing that he consented to render up to him the Cities of the Somme for the 400000 Crowns The business was of importance and indeed for fear the Duke should find out some excuses to retract his word he caused the money to be immediately sent to Hesdin and went thither himself The surrender being executed he would shew himself in the Low-Countries where his Soveraignty was but little acknowledged He visited Arras was received at Tournay and went as far as l'Isle where the Duke came and saluted him The City of Tournay which had never owned any other Dominion but that of France sent three Thousand Citizens forth to meet him each of them having a Flower-de-Luce embroidred with Gold just upon his Heart Lewis Duke of Savoy waited for him at St. Cloud to make complaints of the disobedience of Philip his young Son who more sprightly then Amedea his elder Brother had gained the affections of the Nobility and was making his way to invade the Crown The King commanded Philip to come to him he immediately did so upon the Faith of a safe conduct which hindred not his being Arrested and then his sending him Prisoner to Loches He was detained two years to give his Father time to settle his affairs and authority and establish his eldest Son in the Succession The hatred betwixt the King and the Charolois was augmented more and more There are five or six principal causes taken notice of The surrender of the places in the Somme the kind reception the King made the Lords of Croüy whom the Charolois had driven from his Fathers Court and Country for that reason moreover the Kings endeavours to lay a Tax or Gabelle upon Burgundy contrary to the Articles of the Traty of Arras and the favour he manifested to the Count d'Estampes who was accused to have intended to poyson the Duke and his Son Year of our Lord 1463 At the same time the Chancellor de Morvilliers a Man vehement and bold went on the Kings behalf to forbid the Duke of Bretagne to Style himself any more Duke by the Grace of God to Coyn any money or to raise any Taxes in his Dutchy The Duke taken unprovided acted cooly and promised all but demanded time to Assemble the Estates of his Country and in the mean while he diligently negociated with the Burgundian by Romille and with all the Grandees of the Kingdom whom he knew to be highly discontented The Habits of Fryers Mendicatns especially of the Cordeliers served to make the Messengers of these intrigues pass securely up and down The Charolois had chosen Gorcum in Holland for his ordinary residence the Bastard de Rubempre slunk privately into that Port with a small Vessel being disguised like a Merchant to Sieze and carry away alive or dead this Romille the Engine of all these designs or perhaps the Count de Charolois himself However it were the Count having discover'd it caused him to be imprisoned and gave notice thereof to the Duke his Father who was going to Hesdin to Confer with the King Upon this intelligence the Duke retires in hast his People gave out that there had been a design to Sieze upon the Father and the Son both at the same time the Preachers entertained their Auditors with it and Oliver de la Marche Made mention of it in Terms which hugely offend the Kings Honour To justify himself against these reproaches the King sent Morvilliers his Chancellor and some Lords to make great complaints to the Duke and demand reparation The Chancellor did it in such high words and Soveraign expressions that he seemed to design rather to exasperate then to compose differences And indeed the Cound de Charolois said to one of the Ambassadors at their departure that before one year were past he would make the King repent it The King thought he had time to subdue the Breton before Philip whom Age render'd unwieldy could Dream of stirring He therefore called the Grandees of the State together at Tours to make them know what reasons he had to undertake it Charles Duke of Orleance first Prince of the Blood whould needs speak there of the disorders of the Kingdom as his Age his Reputation and his Rank obliged him to do but his Remonstrances grated the Ears of the King and were received with anger and contempt In so much as he died for grief within two
Salusses Gonsales being encamped on a Moorish ground called otherwhile Palus Minturniae within a League of their Bridge put them to a full stop and made them pass their Winter in very cold and untenentable Lodgings The inconveniencies of the Season almost ruined their Army and the sharkings of the Commissaries to whom the ruin of Armies is profitable compleated it The best of their Officers died of Sickness and on the contrary the Enemies encreased their numbers by the additions of the Vrsini The Marquiss understanding they had passed the Gariglian to come and attack him he retreated to Cajeta Year of our Lord 1504 Gonsales besieged him immediately the Marquiss finding a Horrible Famine would sooner be with him then any relief made his capitulation the first Day of the year 1504. It imported that the Soldiers might go free away either by Sea or Land and that all Prisoners should be deliver'd up without Ransom Gonsales interpreting this in his own Sence and Mode excluded such as belonged to the Kingdom of Naples Lewis d'Ars would not be comprehended in this Treaty but retreated with Trumpets sounding and Colours flying quite through all Italy The cause of these Misfortunes was laid at the Doors of the Financiers John Heroet Intendant of the Finances was condemned to Banishment with so much the greater Justice as being in the King's Favour he nevertheless had a greater Love for Money which is the real and only true Soveraign of those people then for the Honour of so good a Master The three Armies which Lewis had sent against Spain put him only to expences without any Progress The Naval one scowred the Coast of Castille and Valentia then retired to Marseille and for the two Land ones that which was commanded by Alain d'Albret and the Mareschal de Gie only saluted the Walls of Fontarabia then disbanded thorough the Contests of the two Chiefs and perhaps out of the little affection the Lord d'Albret had for the King's Service by reason of the Differences formerly between them in Bretagne when they courted the Dutchess Anne such as remained went to joyn the third which besieged Salses These having batter'd the Place forty Days together King Ferdinand arrives with thirty thousand Men which made them raise their Siege After this there was a Truce between the two Kings as to their Countries of France and Spain by the mediation of Frederic Ferdinand made him believe that he was ready to restore the Kingdom to him if Lewis would consent and propounded to bestow his Sister in Marriage upon Alphonso she was Widdow of Ferdinand the Young King of Naples Year of our Lord 1504 The Kings discontent and trouble for so much ill success for the loss of his reputation and for his not being able to detect and unravel all these Spanish Fourbes and Intrigues were so great as cast him into a fit of Sickness which brought him to extremity The Queen believing him dead thought of retiring her self into Bretagne and sent away her Equipage The Mareschal de Gie having stopt it incurr'd her indignation she could never forgive this in him who was born her Subject and prosecuted him Criminally with that heat that the King was forced to send his Process to the Parliament of Toulouze as the most severe in the Kingdom where notwithstanding they could find no Colour to condemn him to any other Punishment but to be banished from Court The Spaniard using still the same Artisices had sent his Ambassadors into France together with those of the Arch-Duke his Son to Treat of a Peace But as they offer'd nothing that was satisfactory they were dismissed and the King made an Alliance with the Emperor and with the Arch-Duke By this Treaty they confirmed the Marriage of his eldest Daughter or of the Second in case the Elder died with Prince Charles which he caused to be signed by Francis de Valois his presumptive Successor to the Crown and other Princes of the Blood and Grandees of the Kingdom The Emperor gave him the investiture of the Dutchy of Milan for him and for his Children as well Males if he had any as his two Daughters provided he paid 120000 Florins payable in two Six Months a pair of Gold Spurs every Christmas-day and an assistance of five hundred Lances when the Emperor should go to take the Imperial Crown at Rome Year of our Lord 1504 About this time hapned the death of Frederic King of Naples who was now fully undeceived of the fraudulent hopes given him by Ferdinand and shortly after towards the end of the Year hapned that of Isabella Wife of Ferdinand a great and generous Princess and indeed the Spaniards lift her above all other Heroines Year of our Lord 1505 Her death changed the Interests of all Princes The Power of the Arch-Duke being augmented by the Kingdom of Castille and the Alliance of Henry King of England whose eldest Son Arthur had married his Sister Catharine began to create some fears in Lewis some confidence in Maximilian and some kind of jealousy in Ferdinand himself who perceived that his Son-in-law would not leave the Administration of Castille to him as Isabella had ordained by her Testament By these motives the King and he made Peace which they fastned with some Ties Ferdinand married Germain Daughter of John de Foix Vicount of Narbonne and of Mary the King's Sister who gave him his share of the Kingdom of Naples in Dowry upon condition it should all fall to her Husband if she died the first but should return to the King if she survived and brought no Children Year of our Lord 1505 Those banished from Naples and the Gentlemen of the Angevin Faction were restored to their own the Queen Widdow of Frederic went out of France and retired to Alphonso Duke of Ferara her Relation Year of our Lord 1506 This hindred not Philip from passing into Spain with his Wife The Castillans soon flocked to this Young Prince Handsome Liberal and who had married their Soveraign Ferdinand was forced to give way to him and to go out of Castille never to return so long as Philip lived Very happy yet that he left him the Indies and the Kingdom of Naples whither he made haste because Gonsales would have put it into the Hands of Philip finding he could not usurp it for himself as he could heartily have desired Year of our Lord 1506 The Great Lords of France and other most notable Persons having considered the Inconveniencies that would flow from the Marriage of the King 's Eldest Daughter with Charles of Austria assembled of their own proper mouvement as they said in the City of Tours where the King was and intreated him to give her to Francis Duke of Valois his presumptive Heir which he granted them forthwith and they contracted the two Parties the eight and twentieth day of May. A fresh Affront which Maximilian might add in his Red-Book where he wrote down all those Injuries the French had done him Like
provide for the security of the Frontier Towns The fright and terror was greater yet then the loss We know not what it might have produced if the Duke of Savoy had marched directly to Paris or if a design he had upon Lyons had been well managed but as to the first Philip would not suffer him to march in any further fearing lest under those advantageous circumstances a certain negotiation that he had set on foot the preceding Winter should end in an Accommodation with the King which would have restored him to his Country and by consequence have unhinged him from the Spanish Party And as for the enterprise upon Lyons the Baron de Polvilliers who was to have favour'd it with Fifteen Thousand Germans did but only enter into Bresse and marched out again immediately The Duke of Savoy was therefore much against his will forced to stick to the Siege of Saint Quintin King Philip came thither in Person fifteen days after which was upon the seven and twentieth of August and brought Ten Thousand English and as many Flemmings France had been lost if they had pursued their point and indeed Charles V. having received the news of this important Victory asked the Courier if his Son were in Paris The Admiral having staid too long by three or four days to Capitulate saw the Town stormed at five several breaches and was taken Prisoner with Dandelot his Brother who got away the following Night Philip's Army passed the remainder of the Campagne in taking the Catelet Han and Noyon and about the end of Autumn was wasted away about the one half the English being withdrawn their haughtiness not agreeing with that of the Spaniards and the Germans for want of pay A good part of these came over to the Kings Service During the Universal trouble which flowed from the loss of Saint Quintin the Religionaries had the Confidence to Assemble in the Night time at Paris in a House at the upper end of the Street Saint Jacques One named John Masson was the first that was Instituted Minister in this City in the year 1555. The People who observed them coming out thence fell upon them and took above a Hundred amongst whom were Persons of Quality nay even some Maidens belonging to the Queen They were charged with strange Crimes it was said they Year of our Lord 1557 rosted young Children and after they had made very good chear the Lights were all put out and so Men and Women mingled together A good number of them were burnt but the rest disputed their Lives so well by recusation of Judges and other delay 's and put-offs that they had time to get Letters from the Prince Palatine and the Swiss Protestants who interceeded for them The King standing in need of their Swords was obliged to relent somewhat of his severity Amidst the fear and dispiritedness all France lay under particularly Paris it is believed that if but only a Thousand Horse had appeared on this side the Oyse that great City would have remained a desart They laboured hard therefore to fortifie it the King gave Orders to raise Twelve Thousand Swiss and Eight Thousand Germans sent to all French Men Nobles or not who had formerly served in the War to come to Laon to the Duke of Nevers to Brissac and the Governor of Mets to send him part of their old Companies and to the Duke of Guise that quitting all other designes he should return with his Army He was likewise advised to have recourse to Solyman La Vigne his Ambassador made instant Suit to that Prince to lend him two Millions of Gold and send his Naval Force to him but with Order they should Winter in his Ports of France because they lost the best of their time in going and coming As to the Money Solyman excused himself by Pleading that they were forbidden by their Law to lend any to Christians for which reason he had already refused it to King Francis but for his Fleet he promised he would send a very powerful one very well Equip'd to act joyntly with the Kings or else separately as they would appoint or desire Whilst these things were negociating in the East the great Cities of France opened their Purses freely enough to the King Paris furnisht him with Three Hundred Thousand Livers and the rest in proportion Fifty Lords of note proffer'd him to keep and defend Fifty Places at their own expence It was then he really found that the French are the best People in the World and that it was both hard-heartedness and ill Polity to vex them by extraordinary Imposts since they would bleed so freely for the necessities of the State When the Duke of Guise had received the Kings orders to return he Councell'd the Pope to make his Accommodation The Holy Father made it honourably as he could wish in such a juncture For it was agreed they should surrender up all his Places to him that he should absolve the Duke of Alva and the Colonnas and that that Duke should ask his Pardon in the name of King Philip The King had foreseen that the Duke of Ferrara would also make his Accommodation wherefore that he might not do it without his participation and to his prejudice he sent him word he approved of it The Caraffas base and perfidious Friends did already Treat with the Spaniards to Invade the Ferrarois and to share it between them The Duke d'Alva made his entrance into Rome upon the very same Horse with the same honours and as great demonstrations of joy expressed by the Nephews as the Duke of Guise had done This Duke having sojourned ten or twelve days in a Castle of Strozzi's near Rome whilst the Pope was making his Treaty took Shipping at Civita-Vecchia with Two Thousand Select men and some of his best Officers and left the Conduct of the rest of the Army to the Duke d'Aumale his Brother who brought it back into France by Bolonnois Ferrarois the Country of the Grisons and Swisserland The return of the Duke of Guise seemed to have brought back with him the Courage of the Kings drooping Councel and of his flying Forces They proposed to give him the Title of Vice-Roy which being thought too ambitious they gave him that of Lieutenant-General of the Kings Armies within and without the Kingdom which was verified in all the Parliaments After he had saluted the King he had order to go to Compiegne and draw the Army together Thus did the ill-fortune of France prove to be his good fortune and the falling of the Constable his exaltation The King now wanted nothing but Money for this he Assembled the Estates at Paris the sixth of January in the year 1558. since King Johns time they have served for little else but to encrease the Subsidies It was this time thought fit to divi de them into four distinguishing the third Estate from the Officers of Justice Year of our Lord 1557 and the Treasury They altogether
Kings promise the Council were divided upon it The Duke of Nevers Governour for the King beyond the Alpes who was gone to the Bathes d'Acqui in Monâ—â—â—rrat for his wounds sent a long Remonstrance to the King to disswade him from it His main Reasons were the Right of Conveniency and Self-Interest which he confirmed by the examples of many Princes who never did restore what was more advantageoâ—s if kept The King much applauded his Zeal but however whether prompted by generosity and the honour of making good his Word or that he really thought Year of our Lord 1574 Justice was a Virtue that obliged Princes as well as private persons he would needs restore the three places to the Duke of Savoy and ordained Henry Grand Prior of France his Bastard-Brother and Fises Secretary of State to go and make the said Evacuation As for the Duke of Nevers he not only demanded a discharge of his Government beyond the Alpes and an Act importing Tâ—at nothing of this restitution should ever hereafter be imputed to him nor to his but likewise made his protestations in the Council established in those forreign parts and in the Parliament of Grenoble and obtain'd a Decree that his Protest should â—e Registred in those Courts and an Inâ—â—rument for his discharge should be allowed him At the beginning of his Reign the King made several excellent Regulations for the Officers of his House for those that were to come into his Chamber the times to give Audience and Petitions to be presented to him Touching these last he order'd the Petitioners should draw them Ticket-wise in few words which he would answer himself then deliver them to a Secretary of State for their dispatch These Orders held but a short while he grew weary of observing them and they left off presenting any Placets or Tickets to him wâ—â—n they found it was but time lost in addressing themselves to him when such Grants were disposed of by another power There were two parties in his Council the one who above all things labour'd for Peace and the Reformation of the State the other were for exterminating the Huguenots at what rate soever The Chancellor de L'Hospital had been once the Head of the First Paul de Foix Christopher de Thou First President and Pibrac succeeded him in those Sentiments and Inclinations Morvilliers was of the Second a very good Man but addicted to new Devotions and one that follow'd the motions of Forreign Cabals which having their rise in Spain and at Rome made Religion subservient to the exaltation of their own Power This Second Party being found conformable to the interest of the Mother-Queen was the more prevalent and made them resolve on a War against the Hugnenots In Poitou Montpensier besieged Lusignan he could not take it till four Months after and demolish'd it In Daufiné his Son attaqued the little Town of Pousin which interrupted the commerce between Lyons and Marseilles by the River Rhosne as Livron hindred it by Land The place being reduced to extremity St. Romain gets into it Year of our Lord 1574 by broad day-light under the favour of a brisk combat and the night following happily led out all the Soldiers and Inhabitants The next day the Besiegers set it on Fire Being just on the point to besiege Livron the Queen-Mother ordered the Command of the Army to be given to the Mareschal de Bellegarde This was because she would not have all the power in the House of Bourbon and withal she thought by this means to break off the correspondence and amity which was between Bellegarde and Damville whom she had undertaken to ruine It was for this purpose she carried the King to Avignon the better to stir up Languedoc and entangle the said Lord in some artificial Negotiation In this perplexity and confusion of Affairs Galantry was the most serious occupation of the Court. By this means the Queen-Mother bred and maintained continual jealousies between the King of Navarre and the Duke of Alenson and thought likewise to captivate the King her Son with Beauties Fetters The Dame de Chasteauneuf his antient Mistriss and two other Maids belonging to the Queen-Mother seemed to have some little share in his Heart but it was the Princess of Conde that Reigned in full possession there He had resolv'd to Marry her and to that end labour'd to vacate her Marriage with the Prince for his crime of Heresy for she continued still a Catholique ever since the dismal St. Bartholomew Though the Queen had neither perswasive Language nor power enough to prevail with him to lay aside this design yet death came to her aid and cutting the thred of that fair Princesses Life put an end to that pernicious prosecution leaving great cause of doubt to the more suspicious how it should just fall out at that very nick of time The grief the King resented was almost mortal he mournâ—d three whole days without either eating or drinking And when they had prevailed with him to live not by consoling him but by pretending to increase his sorrows it was some time before he would cast his Eyes on any but the most melancholy Objects dark Rooms dejected Countenances wearing even at the taggs of his Rubans and on his Shooe-knots little Deaths-heads then after a while recover'd himself all on a sudden rowzed up his drooping Spirits and was so much ashamed of his own effeminate weakness that he endeavour'd to perswade the world there must have been some enchantment in it Year of our Lord 1574 This death hapned whilst he was yet at Lyons During his stay at Avignon the Court was afflicted for that of the Cardinal de Lorrain Some said it came by a grievous cold he had taken by walking barefoot in the Procession of Penitents others imagined it was from the steams of some poysoned Flambeaux carried purposely before him Bellegarde in the mean time did not much advance before Livron he was forced to detache a party of his Men to go and make head against Montbrun who very much harassed Daufine On the other hand Damville had besieged and taken St. Gilles whence the thundering of his Cannon was heard in Avignon and afterwards having taken Aigues-Mortes by surprize he threatned to pass the Rhosne insomuch as the King finding his Presence in that Countrey only made his Authority seem despicable returned by way of Lyons As he passed along the Camp that was before Livron the besieged railed and called after him in outrageous Language and he had the displeasure of not being able to revenge the insolency His Forces were so shatter'd that he gave Orders to raise the Siege spreading a report that he wanted them to attend and assist at his Coronation Thus he stumbled at the very entrance into his Kingdom and gave his own Aâ—thority and Power so rude a shock as made it ever after in a weak and staggering condition Year of our Lord 1575. January and February He parted from Lyons