most in those Countries under the protection of Roger Earl of Alby who much favoured them Year of our Lord 1178 During the Calm of this Peace Lewis who was extream feeble with Age using the same provident foresight as his Predecessors resolved to have his Son Philip Crowned but it hapning that this young Prince fell ill upon an afright for having lost his way in a Wood as he was Hunting this Ceremony was fain to be put off which was not performed till the year following In the mean time Peoples Devotion increasing towards the Reliques of St. Thomas of Canterbury from the example of King Henry who of his Persecutor was become his Adorer King Lewis passes into England prayed on his Tomb and left very rich Tokens of his Piety there behind Year of our Lord 1177 In sine Prince Philip was Anointed Crowned at Reims on All Saints day by William Archbishop of that City and Cardinal Brother to the Queen his Mother The Duke of Normandy and Philip Earl of Flanders both Pairs or Peers assisting at that Ceremony and holding the Crown upon his Head Year of our Lord 1180 Soon after Philip Earl of Flanders faithful and affectionate to King Lewis procured the Marriage of his Neece Isabella-Alix Daughter of his Sister and of William Earl of Hainault with the new King who was his God-son and treating her as his own Daughter because he had no Children he gives her in favour of this Marriage the County of Artois and the County all along the River of Lys. Year of our Lord 1180 Hardly was the joy of this Festival over when King Lewis died of the Palsy in the City of Paris the 18th or 20th of September Aged as many tell us near Seventy years but according to my Computation not above Sixty three or Sixty four whereof he had Reigned Forty three His Corps lies in St. Denis He was not very happy in his grand Designs and too effeminate or mild in Affairs that required vigour but as Pious Charitable Good Just Liberal and Valiant as any Prince in his Time He can be taxed but for two faults the one against Prudence for Divorcing his Wife the other against the Laws of Nature having supported the Rebellion of Henry's Children against their Father He had three Wives Alienor or Eleanor of Aquitain Constance of Spain and Alix or Alice of Champagne By the first he had two Daughters Mary and Alix who Married the two Brothers Henry Earl of Champagne and Thibauld Earl of Chartres and Blois By the second came Margaret Married first with Henry the young King of England and then with Bela III. King of Hungary By the third he had two Daughters Alix who was betroathed to Richard of England afterwards Married to William Earl of Pontieu Agnes Married to Comnenius the Son of Emanuel of Constantinople and a Son named Philip who Reigned Philip II. King XLI POPES ALEX. III. One year under this Reign LUCIUS III. Elected 29 Aug. 1181. S. Four years three Months URBAN III. Elected in Decemb. 1185. S. One year and near Eleven Months GREGORY VIII Elected in Octob. 1187. S. a little less then two Months CLEMENT III. Elected in January 1188. S. Three years three Months CELESTINE III. Elected in April 1191. S. Six years nine Months INNOCENT III. Elected in January 1198. S. Eighteen years six Months nine days HONORIUS III. Elected in July 1216. S. Ten years eight Months whereof seven during this Reign PHILIP II. Surnamed the Conqueror or Augustus King XLI Aged Fifteen years EVen in the Life-time of Lewis the Young Affairs began to be governed in the name of Philip and by the Administration and Care as I believe of Philip Earl of Flanders who was his Guardian his Governor and his God-father The Methods of Piety and Justice his Father and Grand-father had taken to Year of our Lord 1180 strengthen their Authority had much advanced them in their Design He was therefore Councel'd to pursue them Wherefore immediately undertaking the Protection of the Church he with a high hand went and reduced Ebles Lord of Charenton in Year of our Lord 1180 Berry Imbert Lord of Beaujeu in Lyonnois and Guy Earl of Chaalons upon Soane who oppress'd the Ecclesiasticks At the same time he began to let the Grandees of the Kingdom know how he could order and reduce them for he dissolv'd a powerful League which they had formed against him perhaps out of the jealousie they had conceiv'd of the greatness of the Earl of Flanders and forced the Earl of Sancerre who was the first that declar'd himself to fly to his Mercy Year of our Lord 1181 After the Death of his Father desiring to Sanctifie his new Reign he publish'd an Edict against such as utter those horrible Blasphemies composed or made up of the Name and Body or Members of the Son of God condemning them to pay a certain Pecuniary Mulct if they were People of Quality and to be thrown into the Water if they were meaner People Year of our Lord 1181 Prompted with the same Zeal he caused strict search to be made after all those that were accused of Heresie and sent them to the Fire expell'd all the Jews within his Territories and Confiscated their Estates suffering them to carry away only the Price of their Household-Goods His Piety appeared no less in the expulsion of Comedians Juglers and Jesters or Buffoons whom he turned out of his Court as People that serve only to flatter Vice encourage Sloath and fill idle Heads with vain Chimera's which perverts them and puts their Hearts into those irregular Motions and Passions as Wisdom and true Religion commands us so much to suppress and mortifie Princes were wont to bestow great Presents on those People and reward them with their richest Clothes But he being persuaded says Rigord his Historian That to give to Players was to Sacrifice to the Devil chose rather according to the Example of that Holy Emperor â Henry I. to make a Vow he would henceforth employ his Money towards the maintenance of the Poor Anno 1183. he encompassed the Park du bois de Vincennes with a Wall and stock'd it with Deer which the King of England sent over to him The same year Henry the young King of England died in the Castle of Martel in Quercy Perhaps by the just Punishment of Heaven for having been so often as he was at this time in Rebellion against his Father Year of our Lord 1183 Every private or particular Lord having usurped a Right of making War upon one another after either had sent his defiance there followed Murthers and continual Spoils and Plunderings For which the Bishops and some of the wisest Lords of the Kingdom had endeavour'd to find a Remedy from the year 1044. having ordained the Truce or Peace of God for those Disputes and Contests betwixt particular Men during certain times in the year and certain days of the week with most severe Punishments
way of appealing to the Councils and notwithstanding goes on and reduces Sussex and all the Southern parts excepting Windsor and Dover The Ambassadors pleaded his Cause earnestly at Rome they shewed that John was justly degraded for his Tyrannies and because he had been condemned to death for the Murther of his Nephew Arthur by the Pairs of France and made it out that the Kingdom since he was Excluded belonged to his Neece the Wife of Prince Lewis Whilst they disputed their Masters Rights he successfully employs his Sword in Conquering Essex Suffolk and Norfolk Having reduc'd them he returns to besiege Dover his Father reproaching him for having imprudently left that place behind him The Pope offended at his Progress confirmed the Sentence of Excommunication against him and although Philip protested he gave him neither Assistance nor Advice prosering even if the Church did so ordain to Confiscate his Lands nevertheless he commanded the Bishop of Sens to denounce him Excommunicate likewise and to put France under an Interdiction but the Prelats assembled at Melun declared they would not submit to that Sentence till they were more fully informed of the Popes Intentions Mean while King John who wandred about the Country hating all his Subjects hapned to dye by Poyson which as it was believ'd a Monk had given him He left three Sons very young Henry Richard and Edmond The hatred of the Englishmen towards him expired with his Life and their Affection for his Son Henry revived being their Natural Lord and one whose Innocence and Tender Age called for their Compassion so that the young Kings Affairs began to prosper and Lewis's to decline He perceiving the English forsook him one after another and his own People afrighted with the thundring Excommunications from Rome inclined to make a Truce with Henry for some Months Year of our Lord 1216 During this Suspension he returns into France to Consult with the King his Father but he fearing to exasperate the Pope refuses to see his Son and would not Confer with him but by the interposition of others Lewis upon his return into England found his Enemies Party were the stronger his Army was afterwards defeated near Lincoln and he besieged in London after that rout Wherefore to free himself from farther danger and retire with Bag and Baggage he was forc'd to Treat with Henry promising amongst other Conditions to surrender all the places he held in England to submit his Pretensions to the Judgment of the Church to use his utmost endeavour to oblige his Father to restore all what he had taken from King John in France and if he could not prevail to do it then himself when he came to the Crown Which was to promise more then he would or could perform Year of our Lord 1216 Henry Emperor of Constantinople and Brother to Baldwin who had been so likewise died Anno 1216. having Reigned Eleven years Peter de Courtenay Earl of Auxerre who Married his Sister Yolant went this year from France to take that Crown Passing thorough Italy he was Crowned at Rome with his Wife took Shipping eight days after and arriv'd in Greece but as he was crossing Thessalie having Pass-ports from Theodorus Comnenus he was made Prisoner by that perfidious Man who slew most part of those Lords that went with them and having detained him three or four years caused him cruelly to be Murthered Yolant a Heroick Woman govern'd the Empire two years after his death in which time the Lords sent to profer the Empire to Philip Earl of Nevers his eldest Son but he refused to accept it and yielded up willingly that perilous Honour to Robert his younger Brother Year of our Lord 1217 When young King Henry was fully setled in his Throne his Council sent Ambassadors into France to challenge Lewis of his Promise and re-demand the Dutchy of Normandy and other Countries taken from his Father They were answer'd with the Confiscation that had been ordered by the Judgment of his Pairs Year of our Lord 1217 18. Whilst the Eari of Montfort in vain besieged the City of Beaucaire Count Raimond brought some Forces from Arragon whither he was retir'd with which he regained several of his places and especially Toulouze which he presently fortifi'd with Intrenchments and Pallisado's Montfort went and laid Siege to it but after he had held it besieged seven whole Months he was slain in a Sally He had three Sons Year of our Lord 1218 Amaulry who succeeded him in the Rights of his Conquests Guy who was Married to Petronella Heiress to the Count of Bigorre as being Daughter of Estiennete the Daughter and Heiress of Count Centulle and Simon Earl of Leicester in England by the Grandmother Year of our Lord 1219 Amaulry was not strong enough to maintain his Conquests the King assisted him first with Six hundred Men then with Ten thousand Foot who not being yet enough to compass that business Prince Lewis upon the Popes earnest Request undertakes that Expedition the second time He happily succeeded in the taking of Marmanda on the Garonne and some other places in Angenois but not in the Siege of Toulouze because his Father recalled him fearing the Troubles that were begun in Bretagne might be created by the English on purpose to set France in a greater flame Year of our Lord 1218 19 and 20. The business was that the Earls Salomon and Conan whom Duke Peter had unjustly thrown out of their Estates being retir'd into the Forests ravaged and wasted his Country with some Bandits they had got together and at the same time the Barons revolted against him because he would arrogate to himself the Guardianship or Wardnoble of Gentlemens Orphan-Sons till they had attained to Twenty years of Age. They had Combined in a League and with Amaulry Lord de Craon very potent in Friends and Alliance who had declared War against him about a certain Castle that Duke had usurped from him This Quarrel complicated with several Interests lasted above two years and ended not but by a great Battle fought near Chastean-briand where the Duke much the weaker in numbers of Men gained the Year of our Lord 1220 Victory and made Amaulry Prisoner The Barons were not brought so low by this bloody loss but they continued the War for some Months but that was only to obtain the better Conditions Year of our Lord 1220 21 and 22. The Truce with the English being prolong'd France enjoy'd a Calm for three or four years during which Philip employ'd himself about the Walling Enlarging Fortifying building Bridges making Causeys and the like conveniencies in all the Cities that were of his Demeasns or belonging to the Crown which Expences though for the publick good was out of his own proper Fund not raised or exacted upon his Subjects but paying very justly for all those Grounds and Houses belonging to private Persons which were necessary for him to have towards carrying on these Publick Works Year of our Lord 1222
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
League the Politique Catholicks were likewise joyned with them Toré and the Vicount de Turenne managed the intrigues and all of them together demanded an Assembly of the general Estates The Queen Mother that she might amuse them had assigned an Assembly of the Notables at Compiegne to deliberate whether it would be expedient to call them and when they saw they could not make their Party strong enough at Court they resolved to retire to Sedan where the Duke of Bouillon had promis'd to give them reception month March and April The Huguenots had promised themselves so great advantage by the Duke of Alencon that they had resolved to take up Arms over all the Kingdom at the latter end of the Carnaval Rochel it self was born along with this Torrent and had for that purpose elected la Noue for their General This Man the Night between Shrove-Tuesday and Ash-Wednesday surprized Mesle and Lusignan by Escalado as Giron de Bâssay who brought Twelve hundred Men from Bearn took Fontenay and the Lord de la Case in Saintonge Royan Talmont and four or five other little Places In Daupfiné Montbrun seized upon Lorial and Liwron the which he repaired In Normandy Coulombieres and some Gentlemen of the Country upon the hopes of greater Troubles at Court and of having the Duke of Alencon shortly with them seized upon Saint Lo Montgommery who being hated in France and unwelcom in England kept himself close and under shelter of the Islands of Jersey and Guernsey sided with them took Carentan and Valognes and set all the Country thereabouts under Contribution Year of our Lord 1574 At the same time being the Tenth of March that la Noâe had made the Huguenots resolve to take up Arms it was likewise resolv'd that John de Chaumont Guitry should draw near Saint Germains en Laye with as many Horse as he could get privately together to receive and bring with him the Duke of Alencon and the two Princes But it hap'ned by whose fault it is not known that Guitry anticipated the Assignation by at least Ten days so that the Duke of Alencon being fearful and irresolute could not determine with himself to forsake the Court so suddenly and la Mole his Favorite judging so great a design could not be long conceal'd went and discover'd it to the Queen Mother About Midnight behold an Alarm over all the Court The King sends for the Duke of Alencon and the King of Navarre the first tells all not caring what became of those he had employ'd The other taxed neither him nor any Friend They give out there is a Design upon the King's Person The Men of the long Robe especially and the Women hurry to Paris all Night and the Queen her self to render the Princes more odious flyes in great disorder However the King went not till the next day and lodged himself at the Bois de Vincennes whither he carried the Duke of Alencon and the King of Navarre not yet as Prisoners but carefully observed Thus the Huguenots fell very short in their accounts and besides in a Month after they set out Three Armies to destroy them in the Provinces of Normandy Poitou and Languedoc Matignon Commanded the first the Duke of Montpensier the second the Prince Daufin his Son the third Montpensier went and cool'd his heels before Fontenay but Matignon invested Montgommery in Saint Lo's from whence making his escape he pursued and besieged him in Donfront so straitly that he constrain'd him to Surrender giving him assurance for the lives of his Men but nothing more then ambiguous and random Promises for his own This fell out four or five days before the Death of the King From thence Matignon returned to the Siege of Saint Lo carrying him thither to persuade Coulombieres who was within to Surrender but the other reproached him of Cowardize and put himself courageously in the breach and his two Sons on either side of him not above Fourteen or Fifteen years of Age both having Javelins in their hands to Sacrifice said he all his Blood for the Truth of the Gospel He died there with his Sword in hand but Fortune or Pity saved the lives of his two Sons Guitry afterwards making his Courage submit to his Prudence gave up Carentan and Lorges Son of Montgommery was detained Prisoner but escaped by the favour of one of the Catholick Commanders As to Languedoc the Queen Mother who was more bent against Danville than against the Huguenots themselves had contrived to ridd her self of that Lord by the means of James de Crussol Duke d'Vzez his Capital Enemy before the War began in those Countries Some intercepted Letters giving him notice thereof he designed to make himself Master of the Province but proceeded so slowly that he could only seize upon Montpellier Lunel Beaucaire and Pezenas He was not the less noted for it at Court Martinengue shewed an Order to all the Province whereby the King dismissed him of his Government and forbid the People to own him or the Soldiers to obey him In the Spring time when the Humors overflow the King's Distemper which had been as it were laid asleep during the Winter awaked and made the Queen sufficiently understand it was high time to seize upon and secure all those that might oppose or disturb her Regency particularly the Mareschals de Montmorency and de Cosseé To this end she order'd a Commission to be given to Christopher de Thou first President and to Peter Hennequin a President likewise to inform themselves diligently about the Conspiracy of St. Germains thereby to involve them La Mole a Favorite to the Duke of Alencon and the Count de Coconas an Italian whom he had lately introduced to the Acquaintance and Confidence of that Prince were arrested The first denied all the other flatter'd with the vain hopes of getting his Pardon and a great Reward besides told a great deal more than indeed he knew The Duke of Alencon and the King of Navarre were also examined The first answered like a Criminal stuttering and trembling the other more like an Accuser than one accused with such reproaches as put the Queen Mother out of Countenance At la Mole 's was found an Image of Wax which one Cosmo Rugiero a Florentine and famous Quack had made for him to Charm a young Damsel with whom he was in Love The Queen Mother would needs have it be believed that it was Year of our Lord 1574 made on purpose to bewitch the King he still denied it stiffly but notwithstanding he was Beheaded and Coconas with him It was said that two Princesses who were in love with them caused their Heads to be stoln and Embalmed them to preserve them as long as they could Another of their Complices was broken upon the Wheel and Rugier sent to the Galleys The Queen Mother very credulous in Matters of Divination and Sorcerers released him some time after to make use of him in his Art The Mareschals de Montmorency and de
the Disputes of the Donatists in Africk There was one at Colen in 346. which condemned Euphratas the Bishop of that City who denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ One at Arles in 353. One at Beziers in 356. One at Paris An. 362. All three for the business of the Arians The two first were favourable to them against S. Athanasius the Third condemned them One at Valence in the year 374. about Discipline One at Bourdeaux in 385. to whom Priscllians Cause having been referr'd by the Emperor Gratian that Heretick perceiving cleerly he was going to be condemned appealed to the Tyrant Maximus but it was to his great misfortune One at Treves the year following where Bishop Itacus was accused for having contrary to the Spirit of the Church prosecuted Priscillian and his Abettors to the death his Party or Cabal caused his bloody proceedings to be approved which notwithstanding were condemned by the most Conscientious Bishops One at Turin An. 397. Upon the desires of the Gallican Bishops to compose the differences about Proculus de Marseille and that of the Bishop of Arles and Vienne Proculus pretended to Ordain Bishops in some of the Churches in Provence which had been dismembred from his or himself had instituted they allowed him that Honour for himself only the Bishops of Arles and Vienna disputed the Right of Metropolitain it was divided between them by provision This Cause having been transferred to the Holy Chair and judged variously by three or four several Popes was determined by Symmachus Ann. 513. who conformably to the Sentence of Leo adjudged to Vienne only the Bishopricks of Valence Tarentaise Geneva and Grenoble and all the rest to Arles Our Margent not allowing room enough to set down all the Popes without incumbrance it was thought necessary to place them in the Page with the Kings in the same Reigns wherein they sate in the Holy Chair Though for those of this Fourth Age it seems more fit to range them here to the time of Pharamond Silvester I. therefore held the Chair from the 1 of February An. 314. till the last of December in the year 336. In the time of his Pope-ship Constantine the Great was Converted to the Faith and the Holy Nicean Council was Assembled An. 324. Marcus Governed from the 16th of January following to the 7th of October of the same year Julius the I. from the 27th of the same Month to the 13th of April of the year 352. Liberius from the 8th of May to the 3 of September in the year 367. Damasius from the 15th of that Month to the 11th of December An. 384. In 381. was the Council of Constantinople Siricius was Pope from the 12th of January to the 24th of February An. 398. Anastasius from the 14th of March of the same year till about the end of April An. 402. Innocent I. from the 14th of May to the 28th of July in the year 417. And Zosimus from the 18th of August to the 26th of December An. 418. The First Race Pharamond King I. POPES BONIFACE in December 418. S. almost Five years CELESTINE I. The 3 of Nov. 423. S. 8 years 5 Months whereof Five years in this Reign Year of our Lord 412 DURING the great Revolt of the Armoricâe or Maritime People who were those of the coast of Flanders Picardy Normandy and Bretagne which hapned towards the end of the year 412 The French King being joyned with them occupied that part of Germania Secunda named Ripuaria and the People Ripuarians or Ribarols The Romans by Treaty or otherwise left them the free Possession thereof and it was a little after this that Pharamond began to Reign We find in the Historians of those times that the French had had several Kings before him I do not speak of those of the Monk Hunibaud they being as Fabulous as the Author But we find towards the year 288. Genebaud and Atec who came to Treves to Demand a Peace of Maximian An. 307. Ascaric and Rhadagâise whom Constantine took in War and whom he exposed to wild Beasts as a punishment for that having given their Faith to Constantius his Father they had nevertheless taken up Arms again In the year 374. one Mellobaudes who being Grand Master of the Militia and Count of the Palace to the Emperour Gratian flew and vanquished Macrian King of the Almans and did the Empire many other Services About the year 378. one Richemer who had the like Office under Gratian as Mellobaudes An. 382. One Priam or Priarius whom some will have to be the Father or Grandfather of Pharamond In the year 397. Marcomir and Sunnon Brothers the first of which Stilicon banished into Tuscany and caused the other to be Massacred by his own People when he attempted to stir to Revenge the exile of his Brother And An. 414 or 415. One Theodemer Son of Richemer who was Beheaded with his Mother Ascila for having attempted against the Empire Nevertheless common Opinion hath ever begun to reckon the Kings of France from Pharamond whether because the preceding ones had never had any fixed abode in Gaul or because he re-established the Royalty amongst the French In effect it seems the Romans had in some manner subjugated this Nation and after the Treatment they had shewn to Marcomir and Sunnon and Theodemer they would no longer suffer them to have any Kings Year of our Lord 1418 He began to Reign not in 424. which is the common opinion but in the year 418. very remarkable for a great Eclipse of the Sun It may be doubted whether Pharamond be a proper Name or whether it be only an Epithet which signifies that he was as it were the Father and the Stock of the French Nation For Pharamond in the German Language imports Mouth of Generations For the manner of the inauguration of the French Kings the Lords or Chief Heads having Elected them or at least approving them set them up on a great Shield or Target and caused them to be carried into the Field where the People were Assembled in Arms who confirmed this choice with acclamations and applause The same Ceremony was practised for Emperours and Gothish Kings The Scottish Historians begin the Kingdom of Scotland An. 422. with King Fergus from whom they derive the succession of their Kings though withal they will have us believe that he only restored it and that it was first begun or formed 330 years before the Nativity of JESUS CHRIST from which time it lasted till the days of the Tyrant Maximus who ruined it about the year 378. Year of our Lord 427 The Vandals who had passed out of Gaul into Spain were from thence called into Africk by Count Boniface Revolted against the Empress Placidia They went over to the number of 80000 only under the Conduct of their King Genseric and within seven or eight years drove the Romans totally from thence and setled their own Kingdom there Year of our Lord 428 The Romans drive the French beyond
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 Meâz 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
in hand the Defence of King Hilderic whose Kingdom Gilimer had usurped sent the great Captain Belisarius thither who made an end of that Conquest in less than Six Months having happily overthrown those Arrian Barbarians in some Battles taken Carthage and received the Tyrant Gilimer upon Composition who had sheltred himself in a Fortress The Visigoths during the Wars of Burgundy and Turingia had taken divers places of Septimania The Princes Gontier and Theodebert who were Sons the former of Clotaire the latter of Thierry had Orders from their Fathers to recover them Goutier returned without doing any thing Theodebert took some Castles in the Countrey of Beziers but suffered himself to be taken also by the Beauty of the Artificious Deuteria Lady of Cabriere who received him into her Castle and into her Bed From Septimania he carried the War to Provence reckoning to have a better Market of the Ostrogoths When he had sorely snaken it and already received some Hostages from the City of Arles he received news that his Father was very sick at Mets he goes away in all diligence and arrived there some few days before he died Year of our Lord 538 Thierry Reigned a little more then 23 years and had lived about 55. He had no Son but Theodebert but a Learned Historian gives him likewise a Daughter named Theodechildus he believes it to be her that was Married to Hermegisile King of the Varni of whom Procopius relates a memorable Adventure and who being returned into France amongst many pious Works built the Monastery of St. Pierre le Vis near Sens. It is fit we observe that the Bavarois or Bojarians were under his obedience since in their Estates or General Assembly at Chaalons he put their Laws in Writing They were originally of Germany it is not certain of what Canton but that they had the same Language as the Lombards About the time of the death of Odoacer King of Italy they were come to possess that part of the Norica which lies on the Banks of the Danube and in time they also gained the Mediterranean part and Rhetia Secunda which was situate betwixt the Rivers L'Oein and the Lec so that they were bounded by Panonia Swevia Italy and the Danube Perhaps Clovis subdued them at the same time he subdued the Almains but they had always retained their Laws and a Duke of their Nation who was confirmed by the King of Austrasia he was to be of the Race of the Agilolfingues or Descendents of Agilolfe who in all appearance brought them into that Countrey CHILDEBERT in Neustria at Paris CLOTAIRE in and Neustria at Soissons THEOD'EBERT aged about 30 years in Austrasia Burgundy betwixt both  Year of our Lord 534. and 535. The Uncles of Theodebert were prepared to invade the Kingdom of his Father his diligence broke their measures After he had agreed with them by a Peace which he bought and that he in appearance had tied the knot of a strict amity with Chlidebert who promised him the Succession because he had no Children he sent for Deuteria and publickly Married her despising Wisgard the Daughter of Wacon King of the Lombards whom he had betrothed in the life time of his Father Thierry Year of our Lord 534 In this year they place the Erection into a Kingdom True or Fabulous of the Countrey of Yvetot in Normandy which was done say they by King Clotaire in satisfaction for his having with his own hand in the very Church and on a Holy Friday Killed one Gautier who was Lord of the Mannor Athalaric King of Italy dies in the age of Adolescency Amalasuinta his Mother espouses Theodad Son of Amalafrede Sister to King Theoderic and sets him on the Throne but shortly after the Ingrateful makes her away upon a suspicion of Adultery The death of Amalasuinta caused the ruine of the Ostrogoths Justinian with whom she had always kept in amity gave Command to Belisarius to revenge her death and to recover Italy At first Dalmatia the Islands of Sicily and Sardinia after that Abbruzza and Lucania the Campagnia or Terra del Lavor surrenders to him without any resistance and the City of Naples is surprized by a way thorough an Aqueduct Theodad sends an Army under the Conduct of Vitiges his Officer but the Ostrogoths who had a hatred for him elect this Vitiges who to secure the Diadem for himself puts Theodad to death and Marries Mattasuinta Daughter of Amalasuinta Year of our Lord 536 When Theodad dyed he was in Treaty with the French and proffer'd them Provence and Two thousand pound of Gold if they would embrace his Defence Vitiges being pressed by Belisarius and finding himself not strong enough to resist the Imperialists and the French put in execution what his Predecessor had projected and deliver'd Provence and the Money to the French If we must believe Procopius Justinian confirmed this Cession by his Letters Patents It seems they divided it into two Provinces that of Marseilles and that of Arles Year of our Lord 537 Theodebert made no scruple to take off both Parties that he might be the better enabled to ruine them both He had caused Ten thousand Burgundians to slip into Italy who having joyned with Oraia one of Vitiges Chiefs had helped him to retake Milan Year of our Lord 539 When he believed both parties to be much weakned he entred the Milanois with Two hundred thousand Men. The Roman Army and that of the Ostrogoths were encamped one just over against the other neer Pavia either of them thought he came to their assistance and his design was to surprize them both He therefore Assaults and Defeats the Ostrogoths and then comes thundering upon the Romans and cuts them all in pieces But a Plague and Famine soon revenged them upon him for this perfidiousness When he found his Men perished by thousands he repassed the Mountains with all speed for fear lest Belisarius who was in Tuscany should come and attaque him Year of our Lord 539 Afterwards Vitiges being Besieged by Belisarius in Ravenna omitted not to crave help of the French who promis'd to come to his assistance with Five hundred thousand Men but before they were arrived he had compounded with Belisarius and was gon to Constantinople where of a King he became an Officer to the Emperour The Visigoths in his stead chose Theodobaldus Governour of Verona and he being slain three years after they substituted the famous Totila who Took and Sacked the City of Rome twice in 547. and in 550. Year of our Lord 540 The Queen Deuteria became so furiously jealous of her own Daughter because the King her Husband began to look on her that she made her away in a cruel and ingenious manner having caused untamed Bulls to be harnassed to draw her Chariot who precipitated her from off the Bridge at Verdun into the Meuse The French who during the Two first Races and a good while in the Third had
that of Gontran and Childebert Wiser in so doing than those of Limousin who having opposed a Referendaire or Lord Chancellor so named in those times who was going to settle the Taxes or Duties in that Country and Year of our Lord 579 having burnt his Registers left themselves exposed to the Sanguinary Avarice of an Intendant or Judge whom Chilperic sent thither to chastise their Sedition Year of our Lord 597 This year Sampson eldest Son of Fredegonda died the following year Chilperic was tormented with a long and continual Fever as he was upon Recovery two Year of our Lord 580 other Sons whom he had by that Woman were afflicted with a Dissentery which was rife all over France and affected Children most generally Fredegonda believed this Sickness of her Children was inflicted by Heaven who thus avenged the Sufferings of the oppressed People she was stricken to the heart and wrought so far upon her Husband by her arguments and intreaties that he threw the Lists of all the Tax-gatherers into the Fire and recalled those that were sent abroad to collect them Year of our Lord 580 But this forced Repentance did not save the life of her two Sons as on the other hand these Afflictions laid upon her only made her the more wicked she was pierced with sorrow for the loss of all her Children and with jealousie that there was one of her Husbands yet alive begotten on Queen Audovere his name was Clavis This Prince seeing himself necessarily the Successor let fall some words of Resentment and Threatning imprudently By this she well foresaw what must become of her if he Reigned and resolved to prevent it she therefore accuses him to his Father for having poysoned her two Sons and pre-possessed him so far with this Calumny that he gave up his only Son to her Vengeance The wicked Woman causes his Throat to be cut and the Body to be cast into the River and afterwards the unfortunate Audovere to be Strangled though she wore the Sacred Vail and her Daughter Basina to be locked up in the Monastery of Poitiers after her Sattelites had deflowred her A Fisherman having found the Body of the young Prince and knowing it to be his by the long Hair buried it under a Monument of Turf from whence King Gontran afterwards transferr'd it to St. Vincents Church in Paris Two years before Chilperic had sent Ambassadors to the Emperor Tiberius to congratulate him as I believe upon his promotion to the Empire and make up some kind of League with him against the Lombards This year they brought him back all imaginable satisfaction and very rich Presents amongst others were Medals of Gold a pound in weight Year of our Lord 581 The Kingdom of Austrasia and Childebert's Person being under the Government of Queen Brunehaud the Lords of the Country despised the Commands of a Woman and lived in excessive Licentiousness Those that gave her the most trouble were Ranchin and Gontran-Boson Vrsion Bertefrey and Giles Bishop of Rheims who associated together and oppressed whom they pleased Loup Duke of Champagne a faithful Servant to his Prince and Master as Wise as Just was insufferable to them because of his good qualities they took up Arms to destroy him and he got his Friends together to defend himself The Queen had all the trouble imaginable to prevent their coming to blows even to the enduring outrageous words from Vrsion but after all she could not so well secure the Duke from their fury but he was forced to quit the Kingdom and take refuge with Gontran Year of our Lord 581 The most dangerous of these Factious Spirits was the Bishop of Rheims as he was secretly engaged and wedded to Chilperic of which he had given testimonies having formerly treacherously delivered up the City of Rheims and drawn Meroveus into the fatal snare he caused his Faction to act so powerfully that the Austrasian Lords to the prejudice of the Alliance their King had made with his Uncle Gontran obliged him to make a League with Chilperic against him The Lure was That Chilperic having at that time no Son promised the Succession to him This League being made Childebert sent to demand the half of Marseilles of his Uncle who very far from restoring it made himself Master of the other by the treachery of Dynamius Governor of Provence for Childebert After this feat Dynamius goes over to Gontran as in revenge the Patrician Mummole pushed at by some intrigues of Court ever satal to great Commanders forsakes Gontran to be of Childebert's side and sortifies himself in the City of Avignon which that King without doubt had put into his hands for his security and that from thence he might make incursions in the Enemies Country The business of Marseilles caused an absolute Rupture betwixt the two Kings Chilperic who desired this presently falls upon Gontran's Countries and the Duke Didier by his order invades Perigord and Agenois without much opposition Another of his Dukes by name Bladastes was not so fortunate against the Gascons Year of our Lord 581 or 82. For having undertaken to seek them out in their own Country to chastise them for the frequent Irruptions they made into the third Acquitaine he was hemm'd in and his Forces cut in pieces The Gascons then inhabited upon the Confines of Cantabria between the Countries of the Visigoths and the French and by their Excursions made themselves formidable both to the one and the other carrying away whatever they could meet withall and afterwards sheltring themselves again on their Mountains There was only Chilperic that made open War upon Gontran but the Patrician Mummole with the secret support of the Lords of Austrasia was contriving a dangerous Design against him There was a certain Person named Gondebaud who pretended to be the Son of King Clotaire and he might well be so considering the multitude of Wives that King had This Gondebaud not having been able to get Year of our Lord 583 his pretended Brothers the Kings to acknowledge him had retired himself to Constantinople Tiberius the Emperor then living It happened that Gontran-Boson made a Voyage into those parts it is not mentioned upon what account and he persuades this Man so much that the French wished for him and that Gontran and Chilperic having no Children he might safely come to the Succession that he resolved to return into France Tiberius having a prospect of what he might possibly attain to one day assisted him with great Sums of Money he comes ashore at Marseilles was received by the Bishop and afterwards Entertained at Avignon Year of our Lord 583 by Mummole But the same Gontran-Boson who had persuaded him to return having set himself now to persecute the Bishop and such as favoured him he wisely withdrew himself into an Island at the mouth of the Rhosne and then the Traitor seized on all his Moneys and took a Commission from King Gontran to besiege Mummole in Avignon Childebert being
Paris in which time Fredegonda knew so well how to sooth him that he took her and her Son into his Protection and ordered the Lords of Chilperic's Kingdom to repair to Vitry and acknowledge that Son for their King and to name him Clotaire however he appropriated most of the Kingdom of Paris to himself only the City of Paris excepted which he left to the young Child He afterwards employed himself in doing Justice to those that made complaints of the several violences of the deceased Chilperic and of all the Grandees belonging to that Kings Court who being unjust and griping to the utmost extremity had suffered all manner of Robberies and Spoil in them In fine believing himself Master of all France during the Minority of his Nephews he took possession of their Lands in Neustria as he pleased but in Austrasia his Power was not owned The hatred they had against Fredegonda did not diminish she durst not come out of her Asylum of Nostre-Dame wherefore he sent her to Van de Rueil near Rouen Being there in more security she began afresh to make use of Poyson and Poyniard they did several times apprehend and discover some Assassines which she was sending to Murther King Childebert and Brunehaud That Queen having detected one especially amongst the rest it was a Clerk after he had been put to many Tortures sent him back again to her in derision and she for shame and madness caused the Feet and Hands of this miserable Wretch to be cut off Two years after the beforementioned Gondebaud who was come from Constantinople Year of our Lord 535 had kept himself close and concealed in an Island at the mouth of the Rhosne Gontran-Boson the Patrician Mummole Didier Duke of Thoulouse Bladaste who had been beaten by the Gascons and some other Factious Heads sworn Enemies to King Gontran had persuaded him to take the Title of King listing him up upon the Target at Brine la Gaillarde The Lords of Childebert's Court several Bishops of Aquitain Brunehaud her self who desired him for her Husband favoured him openly enough and all the Country beyond the Garonne obeyed him The thing did particularly concern King Gontran he seared his Nephew Childebert might assist this Conspiracy which aimed at no less than to strip him it was by this Motive that he desired he would come to him and that he confirmed the Adoption before made putting his Javelin into his Hand At the same time he caused an Army to march into Aquitain under the Conduct of Leudegisile and the Patrician Egila Gondebaud knowing they approached shuts himself up with good store of Ammunitions in the strong City of Lyons de Cominges he was there besieged a while after The Fifteenth day of the Siege Mummole ever perfidious and the other Lords delivers him to the Besiegers thinking to purchase their Lives with the price of his In effect he was kill'd upon the place but they fared never the better for that Mummole was treated in the same manner as well as Bishop Sagittary as soon as they had orders from the King The City was sacked and destroy'd and remained buried in its Ruines till about the year 1005. when Bishop St. Bertrand whose name it bears Rebuilt it in the very same place but of a far less Circumference than before Year of our Lord 585 That War ended Gontran came to Paris to hold the little Clotair at the Font which was not performed this time Fredegonda keeping the Child at a distance and fearing that he desired to see it only to seize upon it and to shave it for he could not believe it was his Brothers Son so that to cure him of this doubt she sent him three Bishops and three hundred Notables who affirmed upon Oath that this little Prince was Legitimate Year of our Lord 584 and 85. The Prince Hermenigilda second Son of King Leuvigilda had Married Ingonde Daughter to King Sigebert The young Princess having Converted him to the Catholick Religion Goisuinte her Mother in Law used her outrageously Hermenigild her Husband had taken Arms against King Leuvigild his Father and being Leagued with the Sueves and the Greeks had trusted his Wife in the hands of these last Now not being able to resist his Father he had surrendred to his Mercy and the Father kept him miserably confined in close Imprisonment The Greeks seeing him detained retained his Wife also and Embarqued her to transport her to Constantinople Her Brother Childebert that he might obtain her Release of the Emperor sent a puissant Army to make War upon the Lombards but it being made up half of French and half Almains the Discord betwixt those two Nations made them trudge back again as they went without so much as seeing the Enemy Year of our Lord 585 Immediately after this it was known that Ingonde was dead in Affriâk and that Leuvigildus had caused her Husband to be Strangled King Gontran animated with a just Resentment against those Arrian Barbarians undertook to drive them out of Languedoc His Forces of the Kingdom of Burgundy besieged Nismes and those of Aquitain Carcassonne but there was so little Order and so much Licentiousness in both these Armies that they reaped nothing but shame nor did they make any feel the effects of War but their own fellow Subjects plundering and killing all the poor Peasants and indeed at their return the lower Countries being utterly destroy'd and the Bridges broken down some of them perished for Hunger others in passing over the Rivers nay above five thousand by their own Swords in the Contests one Company had against another almost every hour Year of our Lord 586 Leuvigildns broken with Age spared not either Prayers or Presents to obtain a Peace with Gontran but that King would never hearken to it he could not so soon forget the ill Treatment they had shewed to his Nephew nor the Affront he had received the year before from Recarede who had made Inroads and taken some Places in Provence Year of our Lord 587 Some while after this Leuvigildus dies but had before renounced Arrianism and his Recared or Richard professed the Catholick Religion and Established it amongst his People Year of our Lord 587 Before his Death he had practised some Intelligence with Fredegonde to rid themselves of their common Enemies he meant Childebert and Gontran who at that time were firmly united For Gontran having again declared Childebert his only Heir without making any rockoning of Clotair whom he counted a Bastard or one foisted in Fredegonda mortally hated them both and sought to thrust them out of the World Two Clerks were apprehended whom she had sent to assassinate Childebert with Poysoned Knives they were put to death by Torments their Noses Hands and Ears being cut off Year of our Lord 586 Every hour were such like Plots found out contrived by that wicked Woman Pretextat had been restored to his Bishoprick of Roüen by King Gontran she could not behold him without
intreaty he came to the Palace of Ruel and held the young Clotaire her Son at the Font for his Baptism in the Church of St. Genevieue of Nanterre which gave great Umbrage and cause of Complaint to Childebert his other Nephew Year of our Lord 593 The following year or according to others two years after this Prince being at Chaalons where he kept his ordinary Residence and had caused the Church and Abby of St. Marcel to be built he fell Sick and died the 28th of March being in the One and thirtieth or two and thirtieth of his Reign and above the Sixty eighth of his Age. Of several Children he had had by several Wives but one survived him which was a Daughter named Clotilda who was vailed It appears he left all his Lands to Childebert and little or nothing to Clotair though he were his God-father He was beyond comparison the best of the four Brothers pious Charitable a lover of Justice and of publick good respectful to the Church and Prelates taking a particular care the Canons should be observed but Inconstant Timorous Suspicious and easie to be caught by Flatteries and transported with Choler which but too frequently gave him cause to repent CHILDBERT in Austrasia Burgundy and part of Neustria and CLOTAIR in Neustria at Paris Childebert Valiant powerfully Armed and enriched by the Succession to Gontran whereof he went immediately to take Possession thought to have an easy task of Clotair a young Child and his Mother Fredegonda who was hated by all the French but this Woman Subtil and Courageous sparing neither Flatteries nor Money nor Promises regained the most alienated Minds and tied them to her Service She appeared every where carried her Son about with her and holding him up sometimes in her Arms shewed him to the Soldiers and crouds of People and did animate them with compassion of his innocence Thus with their faithful assistance and with the Conduct of her Landry Mayre of the Palace she obstructed the progress of the Enemy having surprized and defeated his Army by stratagem in a place of Soâssonnois which they called Truec The Dukes Gondouand and Wintrion Commanded it There was slain 3000 Men on their Year of our Lord 593 side which did not a little confirm the Crown to Clotair but could not however prevent Childebert from tearing away some Towns at the further part of his Kingdom The Warnes Garues or Guerins were a People of Germany whose first Habitation had been in that Countrey where is at this day the Duthcy of Mecklenburgh where there is a River which they yet call Warne which passes by Rostoc From thence they issuing out with the English the Saxons and the Heruli were come to Lodge in Friesland and in Batavia on the North of those Countreys the French held beyond the Rhine and there had setled a little Kingdom but I believe they had been conquered by Theodebert or by Clotaire I. and subjected to the Kingdom of Year of our Lord 554 Austrasia Now having Rebelled this year 594. against Childebert they were utterly extirpated either by the Sword or led away into Captivity insomuch as since that time the name of them hath never been heard of Year of our Lord 595 About the Month of October in Anno 595. Childebert and his Wife were both snatched out of the World by Sickness near the same time perhaps it was by poison from Fredegonda's Shop or of Brunehauds preparation Fredegonda being their avowed Enemy and Brunehaud put beside her Authority by her Sons age which she might possibly endeavour to recover in the minority of her Children Childebert dyed in the 25th of his age and the 20th of his Reign I know there are some Chronologists that allow him three years more as also 33 years Reign to Gontran but let us leave them to handle these Bryers and Thorns He had two Sons Theodebert and Thierry who succeeded him Theodebert had Austrasia Thierry had Burgundy and the Kingdom of Orleans CLOTAIRE II. In Neustria aged Eight years under FREDEGOND his Mother THEODEBERT King of Austrasia aged Nine or Ten years and THIERRY King of Burgundy aged Eight or Nine years  BROTHERS Vnder Brunehaud their Grandmother Year of our Lord 595 Thus in all the Kingdoms of France they were but Children that had at this time the Titles of Kings and which was worse two Women versed in all manner of crimes held the reins of Government Brunehaud ruled those of her Grand-Children by her self and by her Confidents she resided in Austrasia with Theodebert whose Seat was at Mets as Thierry 's was at Chaalons on the Soane Year of our Lord 595 Fredegond more Fortunate and also more Active then she betook her to the Field to regain Paris and the Cities on the Seine which Childebert had taken from her The Austrasians came to meet her and there were the three little Kings to be seen of whom the eldest was but Eight years at the Head of their Armies The Victory fell to Clotaire with the Cities for which he fought Year of our Lord 596 Soon after Fredegond Victorious and Triumphant but more Illustrious yet for her Crimes then by her good success dyed aged 50 or 55 years with this advantage that she left her Sons affairs in a condition to defend themselves alone Year of our Lord 596 This year or the following the Huns made inroads upon Turingia passing thorough the Behemans or Bohemians Countrey a Sclavonian People who were their Subjects Brunehaud durst hazard nothing against them but removed them by force of Money This Princess was not less cruel and vindicative then Fredegond and besides that very covetous and who making her Revenge ever tend towards the filling of her Year of our Lord 597 Purse took away the Lives of the Richest to get their Wealth Amongst others she caused the Duke Wintrion to be killed who had great Treasures he was Father of that Glosina who much against his Will did shut her self up in a Monastery at Mets where she is to this day venerated as a Saint Year of our Lord 598 This Conduct of Brunehauds became so insupportable to the Austrasians that they haled her by force out of the Royal Palace and led her even to the Frontiers of the Kingdom where they left her all alone cloathed only in Rags nigh the Castle d'Arcies upon the River Aube which parted the Kingdoms of her two Grandsons A poor Man knowing whom she was conducted her to Chaalons upon the Soane to her Son Thierry who received her both with joy and indignation at once Her Conductor for his reward had the Bishoprick of Auxerre The two young Brothers could not forget the loss of Paris and other Cities about the Seine which Clotaire had forced from them their Grand-Mother provoked Year of our Lord 599 them to call him to account and invade his Kingdom Knowing their design he comes boldly to meet them even near the Frontiers of Burgundy The two Armies fought nigh the Banks
execute upon her CLOTAIRE II. called the GREAT remains sole King Aged 32 or 33 years Year of our Lord 614 Thus for the Second time were all the parts of France restored to one hand but Clotaire himself Governed only Neustria for Austrasia and Burgundy would needs retain the Title of a Kingdom and their distinct Officers Varnaquier was Mayer of Burgundy Radom of Austrasia and they Ruled as Vice-Roys He had given the Office of Patrician or Governour in the Dutchy Transjurane to Duke Herpin a very good Man to settle things with Order and Justice The Grandees of the Countrey fearing the Reformation might extend to them caused him to be slain by the People Clotaire going expresly into Alsatia punished that crime by the death of many that were guilty The Patrician Aletea had tampered in it with Count Herpin and Lendemond Bishop of Sion beside he grew so impudent as to send to tempt the Queen by that wicked Bishop to throw her self into his Arms with all the Kings Treasure endeavouring to make her believe the King would dye that year infallibly and that he being of the Royal Blood of the Burgundians would recover the Kingdom of Burgundy The Queen sad and allarmed having related this feigned Prophesie to her Husband the Bishop made his escape into the Monastery of Luxeu He had the good fortune to obtain his Pardon by the intercession of the Abbot Eustaise but Aletea being Commanded to Court to give an account of his actions could not justify himself and paid down his Head for it Year of our Lord 614 15 and the following Clotaire heving no more Enemies made it all his business to regulate his Kingdom and establish Law and Justice All those that had unjustly been thrust out of their Estates he restored again he abolished all Imposts that had been made without the consent of the French People by Brunehaud and Thierry revok'd all excessive Grants and resumed all that had been Usurped or Alienated from the Demesnes of the Crown enlarging the Fountain of his Revenues at the same time when he eased his Subjects âor he had learned by Brunehaud's example that those people can easily forsake that Prince who oppresses them Year of our Lord 619 And likewise that he might keep Peace abroad he released the Lombards of the 12000 Crowns of Gold which they owed him for Tribute provided they paid him down in hand what was due for three years only Year of our Lord 620 Queen Bertrude a very good and most amiable Princess being dead Anno 620. he espoused Sichilda of whom he became so jealous that he caused a Lord named Boson to be killed who he imagined held too great a correspondence with her His eldest Son whether by Bertrude or by some other was then about Twelve years old He placed him under the Tuition of Arnulphus or Arnold Bishop of Mets to instruct him in good Literature and Virtue Year of our Lord 622 and 623. The Book of the Gests of Dagobert relates how one day this young Prince Hunting a Buck and that Beast taking Covert in the place where as then were the Reliques of St. Denis and his Companions a Divine power with-held the Dogs so that they could never break into the place That Dagobert some while afterwards having incurred the indignation of his Father because he had chastised the insolencies committed against him by Sadragisile Duke of Aquitain who was made his Governour or Tutor and remembring this Miracle put himself for security into the same place and that he found the same effect against those Men the King his Father sent to take him thence In acknowledgment of which miraculous protection he took the Holy Bodies out of that little Chappel which was then but ill adorned and much neglected and built them a magnificent Church and a fair Abby This Narrative to say no more is much suspected of falsity Year of our Lord 623 Austrasia more exposed to the Barbarian Nations then the other parts of France needed to have a King upon the place Clotaire gave this Kingdom to Dagobert under the Regiment of Pepin the Old who was Mayre of the Palace the Moderns call him Pepin de Landen and Arnold Bishop of Mets but reserved to himself all the Ardennes and the Vosge with the Cities of Aquitain which the Kings of Austrasia had possessed CLOTAIRE II. in Neustria and Burgundy DAGOBERT his Son in part of Austrasia aged 15 years Dagobert was 15 or 16 years of age when he began to Reign whilst he followed the wise Counsels of Pâpin and Arnold and afterwards of Cunibert Bishop of Colen his Life was an exemplar of Wisdom of Continency and of Justice Year of our Lord 624 The Nation of the Vencdes and Sclavonians inhabited originally that part of the European Sarmatia which is at this day called Prussia from whence in process of time they spread from the Scythian Sea even as far as the Elbe and from the Elbe as far as Bavaria and Hungary nay even into Greece and occupied Dalmatia and Liburnia which from their Name have to this day the appellation of Sclavonia There were above Thirty people Sclavonians those who possessed Carinthia Carniola and the other Countreys along the Danube were under the Dominion of the Avarois who were gotten into the Lands which the Lombards had forsaken when they passed over the Alpes The places near Italy obey'd the Lombards there were some of them free those that were under the subjection of the Avarois finding it heavy and tyrannical cast off the yoak and chose for their King one named Samon a French Merchant Native of the Bishoprick of Sens who Traded into their Countrey and appeared to them to be a Man of a good Head-piece It is believed be resided in Carinthia and that from thence he extended his Kingdom to the Elbe and at length to the confines of Turingia Year of our Lord 626 The fourth year of his Reign Dagobert is sent for by his Father who Marries him with Gomatrude Sister of Sicbilda his Wife The Nuptials were kept at the Palace de Clichy where his Festival ended in a quarrel between the Father and Son The last would have what his Father reserved to himself of that which belonged to the Kings of Austrasia The business put to a reference of Twelve French Lords the Son gained what he demanded except the Cities of Aquitain St. Arnold quits the Court and his Bishoprick to retire into Solitude where he passed the remainder of his most happy Life Cunibert Bishop of Colen a Prelate of great Merit took his place in the Councils of Dagobert and the friendship of Pepin Varnaquier was Deceased and his Son Godin killed by the Kings Command upon an accusation of the crime de Lâsae Majestatis brought against him by his Fathers Wife whom he had Married but was forced to part withal because such Incest was punishable with death Clâtaire assembles the Estates of Burgundy at Troyes and asked whether
needs then have been very aged but it appears rather that she was Sister to Odillon Duke of Bavaria and Widow of some Lord of that Countrey as yet very beautiful since Martel would take the trouble of bringing her unless it were some affection he had for the Neece whom indeed he was Married unto some while after After divers Wars against the People beyond the Rhine of which we have no particulars Year of our Lord 730 hapned that against Aquitain Duke Eudes had broken the Treaty made with Charles and made a League with the Sarrazin Munuza giving him for pledge of this Union his Daughter Lampagia one of the most beautiful Princesses of those times This Munuza was Governour of the Spanish Countreys on this side the Hebrus but was revolted from Iscam who was Caliph Charles who was ever on Horseback having had intelligence that Eudes moved falls immediately into Aquitain and having sacked it all as far as the Garonne severely chastised him for his breach But he was not quit for all this for at the same time as Charles went out Abdiracman or Abderame Lieutenant-General of the Caliph Iscam in Spain being entred Year of our Lord 731 in another way after he had vanquished and taken Munuza prisoner in Cerdagne with his new Spouse traversed Aquitania Tertia perhaps not without fighting the Gascons who held it and forced and sacked the City of Burdeaux In this manner it was that Eudes drew the Sarracens into France which hath given occasion to some to write that they were called in Now he durst not wait for them beyond the Rivers but was retreated on this side the Dordogne and there being reconciled with Martel he assembled his Forces staying for him to come and joyn him with his French Men. Abderame would not allow him the time but pressing still forwards passed the River to attaque him in his Camp Year of our Lord 732 The Duke stood his ground and fought him as bravely as could be but in the end was overcome with inestimable loss of People However some small portions of this great wrack were left him with which he made his Retreat and came and joyned Martel's Army which had passed the Loire and were Encamped some say near Tours upon the River of Cher others a little on this side of Poitiers Abderame following his blow after he had sacked the City of Poitiers marched Year of our Lord 732 directly to Tours to plunder the Sepulchre of St. Martin in his way he meets with Martel who puts him to a full stop The two Armys having looked with threatning countenance upon each other seven days beginning first with several skirmishes at length came to a general Battle which was given upon a Saturday in the month of October The Saracens being light and nimble charged with much briskness but being ill Armed broke themselves against the great Battallions of the French who were sheltred under their Bucklers There were great numbers slain but not 375000 as hath been said for in their whole Army there were but 80 or 100000 Men. Abderame himself the General perished there The night parted the fray and favoured the Infidels who not daring to abide another days Engagement Retreated by long Marches into Septimania the French perceived very late that their Camp was forsaken but fearing some stratagem and withal being busie in getting together and sharing the Plunder which was very rich they did not endeavour to pursue them Year of our Lord 733 This great Victory secured Christendom which would have become a prey to the Barbarians if they had gained France which was its only Bulwark but it seems Charles did not make good use of this great advantage no more then of all those others that Heaven bestowed upon him when he gained his ends he set himself upon persecuting every thing that cast but the least shaddow upon his Grandeur even the very Prelats whom he banished and imprisoned taking away not only the Treasures and Revenues of the Churches to pay his Captains but likewise bestowing on them Abby's and Bishopricks for their reward so that there were many without Pastors and Monasteries were filled more with Soldiers then with Monks The Churches of Lyons of Vienne of Auxerre were destitute of their Bishops and dispoiled of their Goods which he had given to his Martial Officers as if they had been a Prize taken from the Enemy Upon his return from Aquitain he banished Eucher bishop of Orleans with some of his Kindred First to Colen then into the Countrey of Hesbain because he defended the Rights and Possessions of the Church with too much courage Five years before he had also banished Rigobert Bishoy of Reims who had refused him his Gates when he marched against Rainfroy Year of our Lord 733 The Kingdom of Burgundy did not as yet own his Commands perhaps Arnold the Son of Grimoald whom some believe was their Duke thought to hold the Sovereignty When he had conquered the Saracens he marches directly to them and brings all the Countrey into subjection Year of our Lord 734 With the like expedition he vanquished the Frisons killed their Duke Popon who succeeded Ratbod in a great Battle subjugated afterwards the Ostergow and the Westergow these are two Countreys in West Frisia pulled down all their Temples their Sacred Groves and their Idols and covered all the Land with slaughter and destruction and the rubbish of their Ruines Year of our Lord 735 The year following a new War was kindled betwixt him and the Duke of Aquitain this Duke having been compelled to make a very disadvantageons Treaty with Charles to procure assistance against the Saracens as soon as the danger was over scorned to keep his word Therefore Martel marches a third time into his Countrey and having followed him at the very heels with his drawn Sword from place to place without being able to catch him returned home loaden with spoil The same year Death ended the misfortunes of that Duke but not those of Aquitain He had two Sons Hunoud and Hatton some add Remistang who to others appears rather to be his Wives Brother He bestowed upon Hatton the County of Poitiers for his Portion Hunoud had all the rest of the First and Second Aquitain of which he took possession as if it had been an Hereditary and Independant Estate Charles who would have no other partaker soon returned again with his Army and marching quite thorough to the Garonne seized upon Blaye and some other places so that Hunoud was constrained to submit to his Will and receive the Dutchy from him as he had before from his Father giving his Oath both to him and to his Son Pepin Year of our Lord 737 His Celerity and his Valour did let nothing escape the same year he beat the Aquitain Forces and went and setled the Governours that had disturbed the City of Lyons and a part of Burgundy and proceeding forward made sure of Provence and put Governours into Arles and
whereof 2 months in this Reign Year of our Lord 751 AFter the Estates of Soissons had Elected Pepin and as it is believed had lifted him on the Pavois and upon the Royal Throne he would needs add the Ceremonies of the Church to consecrate his Royalty and render it more august Boniface Archbishop of Ments Crowned him in the Cathedral of Soissons and anointed him with holy Oyl according to the Custome of the Kings of Israel that thereby the Word of God Touch not mine Anointed might become a Buckler to him and his Successors The Anointing and Crowning began from this time to be practised at the Inauguration of the Kings of France and hath been continued to this day Being of a very low stature the Lords had not all that respect for him which they should Having perceived it he would needs let them see by experience that he had more Courage and Vertue than those great bulks who very often have nothing but an outward appearance of bravery Those Kings took much delight in Combats of Wild Beasts and not only pleased themselves with the divertisement of such Spectacles in those Publique Entertainments they gave the People but many times in private in their own Palaces One day being at the Abbey of Ferrieres a furious Lion having grappled with a Bull whom he held fast by the Neck he said to some Lords that were about him That they must needs make him let go his hold Not one had the Courage to undertake it the very proposition affrighted them After he had observed them all and plainly perceived their astonishment he leaped down from the Scaffold his Back-Sword in his hand went directly to the Lion and at one stroak managed with as much skill as strength divided his head from his body his Sword entring even a good way into the Neck of the Bull. After this wonderful blow turning himself towards his Lords Do you not believe said he with a kind of Heroick Pride that I am worthy to Command you Year of our Lord 752 His first Warlike Expedition after his Coronation was in Saxony where he constrained the Saxons to pay every Year Three hundred Horses for a Tribute and to bring them to him into the Field of Mars or General Assembly of the French Year of our Lord 753 On his return from that Country he heard of the Death of Griffon his Younger Brother That unquiet Spirit being come out of Aquitain whither he had retired to Duke Gaifre was assassinated in the Valley of Morienne going into Italy either by some People of Pepins says our Author or by some of Gaifres who conceived some Jealousie for having been too familiar with his Wife To Childebrand Grandson of Luitprand King of the Lombards degraded by his Subjects Rachis Duke of Friul succeeded by Election who professing himself a Monk in the same Covent with Caroloman Brother of Pepin Astolphus his Brother had taken his place He finding the Emperour Constantine Copronimus full of Trouble had seized on the Exarchat of Ravenna and Pentapolis which till then had been held by the Exarchs or Vicars of the Emperour Besides he had got into his power even under the very Walls of Rome several Towns belonging to several private Lords who had made themselves as it were Soveraigns in the time of the distress and disorders of the Grecian Empire and finding all things submitted to him he had likewise a great desire to make himself Master of Rome pretending and maintaining That the Exarchat he had conquer'd gave him all the Right and Title the Emperours had enjoy'd in Italy and therefore Rome and the Popes being in subjection to the Empire were now under his Year of our Lord 753 By vertue of this pretence he marched with his Army towards Rome and sent to Summon the Romans to acknowledg him and to pay him a Crown in Gold for every head Pope Stephanus much amazed at this enterprize beseeches him to leave the Lands belonging to the Church in Peace hath recourse to the intercession of the Emperour Constantius and afterwards comes himself to Pavia to see the Lombard But finding his Intreaties nor the Emperour's Request had no influence upon him he implored the Assistance of Pepin and his Protection as Gregory III. had done that of Martel So that after he had prepared and disposed him by some Ambassadours sent before-hand he went from Lombardy into France to the great astonishment and vexation of Astolphus who however durst not detain him Year of our Lord 753 The King being unable to go so far as Morienne as he had made him hope sent to intreat him to come to Pontigon a Royal Castle near Langres Charles his Eldest Son went above fifty Leagues to meet him The Pope arrived at Pontigon the sixth day of January the King with his Wife and Children received him about a mile from the place and treated him with all manner of respect and honour But not to that degree as to walk on foot by his Horses side and hold the bridle as Anastasius hath written who in some places hath spoken of ancient times rather according to the Practice and Customs of the days he lived in then according to the naked truth After several Conferences both publique and private Pepin promised him all manner of assistance as soon as he had put his own affairs into some order and wished him in the mean time to go and repose himself in the Abbey of St. Denis in France Stephanus hath written That being fallen desperately ill and causing himself to be carried into the Church under the Bells to begg his recovery of God âe beheld St. Denis in a Vision together with the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul who miraculously restored him Which could not but be very pleasing to the French who had a singular Veneration for that Saint and to Pepin himself whose Father either out of devotion or to do like other Kings had acknowledged he was greatly beholding to the intercession of those Holy Martyrs A little while after his being recovered from his Sickness which was in the Month of July he Crowned and Anointed Pepin and his two Sons with his own hands exhorting the French to keep their Faith and from that time Excommunicating Year of our Lord 754 them if they ever chose a King of any other Race Some say that this Ceremony was performed in the Church of St. Denis before the Altar of St. Peter and St. Paul which the Pope did on that day dedicate in remembrance of the recovery of his health Others believe it was in the Abbey-Church of Ferrieres Wherever it were the Ceremony being ended Stephanus declared him Advocate or Defender of the Roman Church Astolphus well foreseeing that the Pope would bring the French upon him had by Threats obliged the Abbot of Mount-Cassin to send the Monk Carloman into France to bring Pepin his Brother upon pretence of demanding the Corps of St. Bennet which had been stolne and
after to take the Field again with the assistance of the Frisons their Allies but they were as ill handled as before In fine their two Bravest Leaders Albion and Vitikind being disheartned by so much ill success gave ear to the Friendly persuasions which the King being touched with a real esteem for their great Courage had made use of to bring to their duty Having taken their Sureties they appeared before the Estates at Paderborne and thence followed him into France where they were Baptised in his Palace of Atigny He gave the Dutchy of Angria to Vitikind who from that day forward led so good and Christian a life that some have placed him amongst the Saints From him many do derive the descent of the Race of the Capetine Kings Year of our Lord 785 At this Assembly of Paderborn Lewis King of Aquitaine came to his Father with all his Forces He often sent for him and his Brother Pepin either when he wanted them or to call them to an accompt thereby to keep them in subjection Year of our Lord 786 After Easter in the Year 786. the Army went and fell upon Bretagne whose Princes thought themselves independent and had their little Kingdom apart These likewise were compell'd after they had lost divers strong Places to submit to the Grandeur of Charles and to send several Lords to him to take their Oaths of Fidelity But not believing themselves bound to do so they kept them no longer then till they found an opportunity to violate their Faith without danger Year of our Lord 786 In the mean time Adalgise Son of the unfortunate Didier was at Sea with an Army solliciting his Brother in Law Tassillon to fall into Italy at the same time as he should land for the same purpose having made sure of Aregisa Duke of Benevent who married his Sister Charles to prevent the execution of their Designes passes the Mountains the fourth time and having taken Benevent and Capova from Aregisa who would be called King forces him to give sufficient Pledges and renounce that vain Title He had seen the Pope at his passing by Rome upon his return he saw him again Year of our Lord 786 In this Voyage to please himself he brought into France the Gregorian Singing and the Liturgy or Mass that was used at Rome and would needs abolish the Musick and Service of the Gallican Church This change begot many difficulties and stirred up Persecutions against the Ancient Galls who persisted in keeping their own Customs This good Prince was so wedded to this Singing that he made it a considerable business and a main point of Religion whereas several of the Ancient Fathers held it as a very indifferent thing Year of our Lord 787 Whilst he was last at Rome Tassillon's Ambassadors came thither to intreat the Pope to reconcile Charles perfectly to him The holy Father and the King willingly hearkned to it But when the King press'd them to name the time wherein their Master would perform what he promised they replyed that they had nothing in Commission but to carry back his answer So that the King perceiving he did not walk uprightly resolved when he got again into France to make him speak clearly Having therefore held the Estates at Wormes he drew three Armies into the Field his Son Pepin's in Italy one of the Eastern French and a third which himself Commanded Year of our Lord 787 When Tassillon saw them all upon his Frontiers the first in the Valley of Trente the second on the Borders of the Danube and the other under the Walls of the City of Augsburgh not knowing which way to turn he came with all humility to begg his pardon and delivered up Thirteen Hostages whereof his Eldest Son Theudon was one Yet the hatred he had for the French and the correspondence he held with Adalgise his Brother in Law still prompted him secretly to sollicite the Bavarian to take up Arms and to joyn in League with the Huns his Neighbours who held Pannonia which is Hungary and Austria Part of these were led by his persuasions but the rest apprehending the Calamities of War gave the King notice hereof For which cause this Duke being a second time summoned to the Assembly of Estates which met at Ingelhenin and there accused by his own Subjects and convicted of Treason was by his Peers condemned to lose his Life Howbeit the King in favour of him as being neer of Kin commuted that punishment so that both he and his Son Theudon were only Shaved and sent to the Cloister of Loresheim and then to Jumiege And at this time The Dutchy of Bavaria was Extinguished and divided into several hereditary Counties Year of our Lord 788 Out of these ruines sprung a more powerful Enemy The Huns angry for the loss of their Allie and that the French were become their Neighbours began a most bloody War with them which lasted for Eight Years together This Year let them however know what the Event was like to be for they lost three Battles against them one in Friul and two in Bavaria At the same time Adalgise having obtained some Forces of Constantine the Emperor of Greece who was netled for that Charles had denied him his Daughter Rotrude in Marriage descended into Italy by Calabria imagining the rest of the Lombards would take up Arms in his Quarrel But he was mistaken in his reckoning Grimoald Son of his Sister and Aragise Duke of Benevent whom Charles had gratify'd with the Dutchy after the death of his Father Hildebrand Duke of Spoleta Vinigisa who was so after him and some other of King Pepins Captains fought him at his going forth of Calabria and obtained an entire Victory That unfortunate man falling into their hands alive was cruelly put to death as generally most Princes are that endeavour to regain their own when they suffer themselves to be taken Year of our Lord 789 Of the German People there was hardly any but those that Inhabited along the Baltick Coasts who did not acknowledge Charlemain or held themselves Enemies to the French and their Allies Those nearest to his Frontiers were the Wilses seated on the further side of the Elbe in the Southern part of the Country He built a Fort upon that River which he strengthened with two Castles and having made an inroad even to their Principal City which they called Dragawit brought such astonishment amongst them that they all submitted without striking one blow Their chief Head named Viltzan coming forth together with the most eminent of them to take the Oath of Fidelity and offer him pledges for Security Year of our Lord 790 He spent the Year 790. in his Palace of Wormes without undertaking any Military expedition He addicted himself to works of Piety sent great Almes to the Christians in Syria Egypt and Africa who groaned under the Saracen yoak and besought the amity of those Infidel Princes thereby to oblige them to treat the Christians more mercifully Year of
over with Jewels and Stones the other being plain Gold without other Ornament Year of our Lord 817 Three Months after Leo went out of France he died at Rome the 25 th of January An. 817 a nd the Clergy Elected Paschal this man knowing the softness of the Emperor durst likewise take his Seat in the Pontificial Chair without waiting for his consent and yet excused it to him by an Ambassador sent expresly Though the Emperor was not very well pleased yet he did what was required for his Confirmation But he reproved the Romans and admonished them never to fall upon such an attempt again And yet if we believe the Partisans of the Court of Rome Paschal wrought so far upon the Emperor that he yielded up his right of confirming Popes The Sons of Godfrey demanded Peace of the Emperor It was taken to be only Year of our Lord 817 a pretence and therefore great succours were sent to Heriold Upon the demand of the Grecian Emperors Ambassadors who were come for that purpose Louis dispatched a Deputy to settle the Limits of Dalmatia between the two Emperors together with Cadolac who commanded for him in those Marches and the Sclavonians that had some interest Year of our Lord 817 The 17 th of February during an Eclipse of the Moon a Comet began to appear in the Sign of Sagittary Year of our Lord 817 Upon Holy-Thursday as the Emperor was coming out of the Church belonging to his Palace a Gallery fell down under him twenty persons of Quality were hurt but it proved to have more of fear then danger for their bruises and broken-shinns were soon healed It seemed Louis was Born rather for the Church then for the World For as he behaved himself he would have proved a better Abbot or a Bishop then a King Besides his perpetual exercise in Devotion which does not always sute with the Activity of Government he busied himself very much about the reformation of the Clergy Amongst other things in the Assembly at Aix la Chapelle he caused a Rule to be made for the Chanons drawn from the Writings of the Holy-Fathers commanded the Benedictins to observe theirs sent Commissary's into the Provinces to prevent the Simony Luxury and Pride with such other like abuses of the Churchmen and obliged the Bishops in Fine to Reform at least in outward appearance and throw aside their Belts and Embroid'red Girdles their Daggers with Hilts beset with Jewels and gingling Spurs which drew upon him the hatred of the Churchmen amongst whom the Greatest number were the worst In this assembly he Associated Lotaire his Eldest Son in the Empire and gave Aquitain to Pepin and Bavaria to Louis both with the Titles of Kingdoms Tegan Chorevesque of Treves hath written that he designed Lotaire his Eldest to be Sole Heir whether he did it before or after this partition it was a great weakness Louis the Debonnatre Emperour and King of France Eastern and Western     Lotatre King of Italy and Associate in the Empire Pepin King of Aquitain Louis King of Bavaria To this place they brought him intelligence of the defection of the Abodrites and the conspiracy of Bernard King of Italy both the attempts of the one and the other were suppressed and stifled in their Birth Bernard a young Prince had suffered himself to be possessed with an opinion that he could dethrone his Uncle This counsel came from the very Court of France where he had divers abettors who without all doubt persuaded him that all the Kingdom was his belonging to him as Son to the Eldest His design was discovered before he had time to take his measures the Forces to whom he had committed the defence or keeping of the passages to the Alpes abandoned them upon the first notice of the March of the Emperors Army and those that first set him upon this business were the first that forsook him In this distress he took the most dangerous counsel which made him come himself to Chaalons and fall down at his Feet begging his pardon This hindred not his being made a Prisoner together with all those Lords that were in his Train The Emperor being returned to Aix la Chapelle caused their process to be made The Seculars were all condemned to Death The Bishops amongst whom was Theodulfe d'Orleans degraded and consined to a Monastery Some of the first suffered the rigour of the Sentence others had their eyes put out whereof two of the most Eminent died and Bernard himself lost his life within three days after Whoever disturb the Peace of a Nation deserves death but it was too extream a rigour towards a young Prince of nineteen years and an Uncle towards his Nephew And indeed Louis had great remorse all his life nor did the French forgive him that cruelty Bernard left but one Son named Pepin and at his age he could scarce have any more at least Legitimate This same begat three Bernard Pepin and Heribert From Pepin sprang The First Branch of Vermandois The Emperor apprehending his Bastard-Brothers Charlemaine had left several might fall into the like Conspiracies caused them all to be shaved and thrust into Monasteries and sent away Adelard Abbot of Corbie and Valla his Brother The Bretons had created a King called Morman or Morvan The Emperor going thither in Person reduced all the Country in Forty days and Morman being Slain in his own Camp either by his own or by the French-men he gave them a Duke of his own At this return from this Voyage he lost his Wife Hermengard She died at Augiers leaving him three Sons Lotaire Pepin and Louis The Abodrites were Subjects and Tributaries to the French who nevertheless allowed them to have a King He whom they then had was called Sclaomir who having intelligence with the Enemies of France was seized upon by the Emperors Lieutenants and being unable to justify himself before him was banished and his Crown given to Ceadragne Son of Traciscon who had been cut off by the Danes Loup Centule Duke of the Gascons guilty of the like Crime being vanquished in a great Battel by the French Counts and afterwards taken Prisoner was likewise destituted and exiled He withdrew himself into Spain to the Court of the King of the Asturias These Commotions shewed enough the weakness of the Government Liudewit Duke of Pannonia Inferiora who sought pretences to revolt for grievances he alledged to have suffered by Cadolac Duke of Friuli threw off his Masque in the end and for three or four years gave a great deal of trouble to those Lieutenants that served the Emperor in Dalmatia Friuli and Bavaria till at length he was quite driven out of those Countries The same Year upon his return from that expedition Cadolac died upon the Frontiers and Baudry succeeded in his place In the general Assembly held at Aix Bera Count of Barcelonna being accused of Treason and thinking to justify himself by combat fell under the Sword of
Lotaire Those Lords that accompany'd Charles observing these Artifices believed the best way was to breake thorow them all with a brave resolution and advised he would march directly to him Thus the two Armies were found to be within Six Leagues of each other the City of Orleans lying between them Then the Lords on either part endeavoured to bring them to an accord as was the usual custom of the French Those of Charles's party finding themselves by much the weaker yielded to an agreement very disadvantagious whereby was left to him only by provision Aquitain Languedoc and Province with some Counties between the Loire and the Seine and it was said they should meet at the Parliament to be holden at Atigny to compose all their differences but they added this Clause that in the interim Lotaire should attempt nothing upon Charles nor Louis otherwise they should be quit of their Oathes and promises Year of our Lord 841 This Treaty finished Charles marched towards Bretagne to quell the motions of some Lords of that Country From thence he returns on his way to be at the Parliament of Atigny Lotharius had in the mean while endeavoured to shut up the passages against him broken down all the Bridges over the Seine and ordered Forces on either Shoar who coasted along incessantly Which did him no good because Charles having information that there were several Vessels at Roüen Seized them with great diligence and wafted over his Army with them His enemies betook themselves to Flight upon the first appearance of his Standard At the same time Lotharius by the advice of Albert Earl of Mets his chief incendiary and Othbert Bishop of Ments were dealing with the French Austrasians and knowing that Louis of Germany was upon his march to joyn with Charles caused some Troops to pass over the Rhine to meet him and did entice away a part of his men so that he was councell'd fearing he might lose the rest to retreat into Bavaria where it had been easy for Lotaire to have crushed him had he but pursued it Year of our Lord 841 Charles marching up along the River Seine makes his Prayers in the Church of St. Denis joynes some Troops which two or three of his Counts brought him near Montereau on Yonne beats two of the Counts that Lotaire had sent to oppose him in his March goes on to Troyes where he celebrated the Feast of Easter From thence he went to Atigny to let them know he would not neglect to meet at the conference appointed between him and Lotaire After his having remained there some days he Marched towards Chaalons and there finds his Mother the Empress Judith and those Forces she brought him out of Aquitain He had intelligence at the same time that his Brother Louis having gained a Battel against Albert Count of Mets made all possible hast to joyn with him Wherefore he goes that way to meet him Lotaire gave out a report that he fled and pursues him Mean time Louis arrives and thus the two young Brothers being united were found to be the strongest Lotaire therefore gains some days time by his feigned negotiations till Pepin who was upon the March could joyn with him When he had this re-inforcement he talked of nothing but bringing them to obedience and having a Monarchical Soveraignty All the tenders they could proffer did but confirm his resolution of having all So that they were constrained to send him word they would give him Battel the next morning about the second hour of the day which was the 25 th of June Year of our Lord 841 The two Armies being encamped against one another near the Burrough of Fontenay by Auxerre The whole Power of France all the bravest Officers and most of the Grandees and Nobility were about the Four Kings who were to be both the Witnesses and rewarders of their Actions Since the Beginning of the French Monarchy to the very day I write these Lines there hath not been so much French Blood spilt in any Battel whatever A Hundred Thousand men perished there a horrible wound and which weakned the Carlovinian-House so greatly that it could never well recover it self again The victory fell to the younger Brothers share They used it with all humility and would not give the Emperor chace for fear of spilling more blood They likewise caused his men to be buried and took care to dress the wounded as their own proclaiming a general pardon to all those that would accept thereof Year of our Lord 841 The most part of those Officers that had been with these Princes being gone away they could not reap all the Fruits might have accrued upon so notable an advantage Louis repassed the Rhine and Charles took his way towards Aquitain to drive Pepin entirely from thence But some dissention hapning in his Councels so that he acted not vigorously enough Pepin who had been brought very low and would certainly have submitted re-assumed his courage On the other hand Lotaire having gathered up his scatter'd men and raised new ones appeared soon after in Neustria where he had a great many abetters His Army and Charles's drew near each other about St. Denis the River betwixt them Charles's being the weakest saved themselves in the Forrests of Perche Lotaire pursued them but not able to compel them to a Battel he sent back Pepin whom he had called thither with his Forces of Aquitain Year of our Lord 842 The two young Brothers at their parting had appointed to meet again at soonest As soon as Charles found the way open and clear he went to the banks of the Rhine to his Brother and both of them being met the 22 th of February in the City of Strasburgh made a new League and Alliance of Friendship promising by Solemn Oath never to forsake each other This Treaty was framed and written in two Languages viz. Romance the Original of the present French and the Tudesque It mentioned that if either of the two Brothers contravened their Subjects should be no longer obliged to serve them Which was in truth to leave a gap open for them to change their Soveraign when they pleased Year of our Lord 842 This union having reassured their Subjects brought back those whom Lotaire had inveigled and encreased their Forces they sought for him to give him battel but he left the Country in so much hast that he made no stop till he was gotten to Lyons and by his slight abandoned all Austrasia to them and part of the Kingdom of Burgundy Year of our Lord 842 When they were come back to Aix the Bishops by them Assembled pronounced a Solemn Judgment whereby they deprived Lotharius of all his Portion of Lands on this side the Mountains and yet they would not admit the two Brothers till they first were assured by them that they would govern according to the Commandments of God To which having answered that they desired so the Bishops told them And we by
whereafter two years Persecution his Eyes were put out The two Brothers Louis and Charles after many persuasions used by the latter and by the mediation of the Bishops and Lords met in a place agreed upon on this side the Meuse each with a certain number of People and there divided the Kingdom of Lorrain in two without having any regard to their Nephew the Emperor Louis Whose cause the Pope still supporting sent a famous Legation to the two Brothers Louis sânt them back to Charles and he taking time to delay advanced as far as Lyons as it were to confer with the Pope but it was in effect for a quite contrary design For very far from doing his Nephew justice he likewise seized on the Kingdom of Burgundy where he met with no opposition but from Berthe the Wife of Count Gerard who sustained a Siege in Vienne and surrendred it upon composition Charles the Bald gave this County in charge to Boson Brother to the Queen Richilda his Wife whom he also made Duke of Aquitain and Grand-Master of the Porters and raised him in such sort that he was shortly after one of those that dismembred the Monarchy Year of our Lord 871 During this Voyage he had left the Lieutenancy of his Kingdom to the Arch-Bishop Hincmar who by his Genius no less powerful then daring had rendred himself very necessary He had no small ado to hinder the designs and enterprises of Carloman eldest Son of his King This Prince had some years before conspired against his Father who had made him a Deacon in despite of him and having rebelled another time he put him in Prison The Prayers of the Popes Legates who came the year before into France had got him out again but abusing this mercy he fell again to his old Practices Now being fallen the third time into his Fathers hands he caused him to be condemned to Death and then changed that Sentence to a deprivation of his sight that he might have time to repent Some time afterwards a couple of Monks craftily got him out of Prison and convey'd him to his Uncle the German King who gave him an Abbey for his maintenance But Death did not leave him long in the enjoyment of it This cursed Custome of putting out Eyes and other ways of dismembring was the invention of the Greek Princes and it hath been long practised in the West so that Vassals in their Oaths of Fidelity swore they would defend the persons of their Lords and never consent they should be maimed in any part of their Bodies About these times the Gascons desiring to collect their Forces under a Duke of their own Nation and of the Race of their ancient Dukes to secure themselves against the fury of the Normans and the revenge of Charles the Bald went into Spain to the Son of Loup Centulle whom the King of the Asturias had made an Earl in old Castille to desire and get one of his Sons The youngest after the refusal of all his Brothers accepted the Honour his name was Sanche his surname Mitarra the Saracens had bestowed it on him because he was their Ruin and their Scourge From him are proceeded the Hereditary Dukes of Gascogny who lasted near 200 years He had a Successor of the same name and surname as himself This Son was Father of Garcia Sanchez the Crooked who had three Garcia Sanchez Duke of Gascogny William Count of Fezenzac and Arnold Count of Astarack This last not Born the natural way but by an incision they made in his Mothers Flank was surnamed Non-nat Not Born The Princes of the Carlovinian Line were for the most part of weak Spirits Fools or Sottish Louis Emperor of Italy though Pious and Valiant was so Year of our Lord 872 slighted by his Subjects that they would part him from his Wife because he had no Male-Children And even Adelgise Duke of Benevent made him Prisoner and extorted from him very unjust things Year of our Lord 873 The Children of Louis the German gave their Father a great deal of trouble and seemed to punish him for the disquiet he had given to his The eldest named Charles and afterwards surnamed the Gross troubled without doubt with horror for the conspiracies he had made against him had violent fitts of Madness believing he had seen the Devil and was possessed by him He was cured of that Frenzy for some time after many Devotions and Vows over the Graves of Saints but his Brain having been once so disturbed he felt it all his life afterwards Year of our Lord 873 The Normans had seized on the City of Anger 's about four years since and setled themselves there with their Families from whence when they had a mind to it they ran about the Loire and all those other Rivers which fall into it loading their Barks with the Plunder and Pillage of all the Country Charles assisted by Salomon King of the Bretons besieged them in that City The Siege was long the Bretons by great labour bring it to an end they turned the stream of the Maine and by this means their Vessels lay all on dry ground and gave them opportunity to aproach to the foot of their Wall The Pyrats could no way have escaped if they would have forced them however the Bald so terrible had they made themselves fearing the revenge such other Parties they had abroad in divers parts of the Kingdom might take not only did them no hurt but likewise gave them the liberty to depart with all their plunder They only made a promise never to return any more into France but at their departure from thence they went and nestled themselves in an Island within the Loire from whence they continued their old Trade Towards the Month of August an unknown cause brought towards the Coast or Borders of Germany a prodigious quantity of Locusts which were about the bigness of an inch having six wings and teeth as hard as a stone In less than an hour they had eaten up all the Herbs and Greens growing in a Country of seven or eight Leagues in length and two in breadth to the very Branches and Rinds of young Trees After they had done incredible mischiefs a strong Wind hurried them into the Brittish Sea where they were drowned But dead they did no less hurt then when living the great heaps thrown by the Waves upon the Shoar infecting the Country with the Plague Year of our Lord 874 While King Salomon who was become a good Man and devout to the doing of Miracles was thinking to retire into a Monastery and leave his Crown to his Son Gueguon two of his Cousin Germans Pasteneten or Pasquitan Son of Neomene and Vrsand assisted by Wygon Son of Duke Rodolph and some French Inhabitants of Bretagne whom he had treated ill conspired against him and besieged him in his Castle of Plelan where surrendring himself and his Son upon some false promises the French put out his eyes
prisoner But soon after having made his escape out of their hands he takes Shipping and Lands in Provence whence he was conducted to Lyons From that place always defrayed in his expences by the Bishops of France he came to Troyes where he held a Council the King came likewise thither and by his hands was Crowned Emperor the seventh of September Year of our Lord 878 In this Council the Pope Excommunicated Hugh Bastard Son to King Lotaire II. and Valdrade who pretended to be Legitimate and had collected together some herds of Robbers to regain the Kingdom of Lorrain He likewise restored Hincmar Bishop of Laon permitted him to say Mass though he were blind and bestowed one half of the revenue of the Bishoprick upon him Year of our Lord 879 After the Popes departure the Stammerer going towards Lorraine conferred about Marsenne upon the Meuse with Louis King of Germany They made a Treaty by which they divided Lorrain betwixt them as it had been betwixt their Fathers and the Stammerer promised him part in Italy Neither the obedience nor affection of the Lords was firm towards him they gave little heed to his Orders and it hapned that having taken up Arms to suppress Bernard Marquiss of Gothia whose Government he had given to Bernard Earl of Auvergne he fell sick in his passage by Autun in Burgundy not without suspicion he was poysoned wherefore he sent for his Son Louis whom he put into the hands and keeping of Bernard Earl of Auvergne Thierry his great Chamberlain the Abbot Hugh and some other Lords This Hugh or Hugues was very powerful towards the latter part of the Reign of Charles the Bald under Louis the Stammerer and likewise under his Children The Stammerer being with much difficulty brought to Compeigne gave up his Soul upon Holy Friday the 19 th of April He was buried at the same place in the Abbey-Church of St. Cornille his Age was 30 or 35 years of which he had Reigned only Year of our Lord 879 one and seven Months Before his death he sent the Crown and other Regal ornaments to his Son Louis by the Bishop of Beauvais and an Earl with order to have him annointed King as soon as possible He was in his youth married to Anââarde by whom he had had two Sons this Louis of whom we speak and Carloman but as she ãâã of mean extraction the King his Father without whose consent he married her obliged him to put her away For this reason it is that some Historians say that these two Princes are Bastards After this divorce he took another named Adelaid or Alive Daughter of some English Prince and Sister to Wilfrid Abbot of Flavâgny in the Dutchy of Burgundy She was with child when he died and brought a Posthumus Son into the World Born the 17 th of September following He was named Charles the Year of our Lord 879 Simple The Western Empire remained vacant two whole years and Italy in an extreme confusion thorough the discords of the Lords and the spoil and ravages of the Saracens to whom the Pope was fain to pay Tribute We may in this Reign place the Original of the Earls of Anjou from a Lord named Ingelger the Son of a Breton named Torquat or Tortulfe on whom Charles the Bald had bestowed some Lands in Gastinois and Perretta Daughter of Hugo Labbe in marriage This Ingelger was the Father of Fulke le Roux who being made Earl of Anjou by Charles the Simple valiantly defended that Country against the Normans LOUIS III. AND CARLOMAN King XXVII At the Age of Adolescency POPES JOHN VIII 3 Years and half in this Reign MARTIN Elected in January 883. S. one Year and 20 days ADRIAN III. Elect. in January 884. S. One Year 3. Months whereof Six Months in this Reign LOVIS III. And Carloman his Brother Kings of West-France Burgundy and Aquitain CARLOMAN King of Bavaria Louis the Young King of Germany or East-France Charles the Fatt of Germany properly so called   Lorrain to both Year of our Lord 879 TO the very end of this Race we shall find nothing but factions the Kings being but their May-games and even their Creatures Thierry and the rest to whom the Stammerer had recommended his Son sent to the other Lords to meet at the general Assembly at Meaux And they reconciled the quarrels between Thierry and Boson Gauzzelin one of the Princes or great Lords of Neustria Abbot of St. German des Prez forgot not the injuries he had received by the preceding Government and having made his Party with some Bishops and Lords proposed that to heal the distempers of France they ought to bring it all under one head and for that purpose call in Louis of Germany with whom he had contrived and held intelligence as having formerly been taken Prisoner by him at the Battel of Andernac promising to bring him in and make the French accept and own his Title to the prejudice of the Bastard Sons of Louis the Stammerer For thus he called them The greatest Friends to these two Princes could no other way divert this Storm but by yielding up to the German King that part of Lorrain which the Bald and the Stammerer had possessed And ever since that Kingdom though disputed and divers times resumed by the Kings of West France yet remained at last with the Germans or Kings of East France Year of our Lord 880 Louis would not have been satisfied with less than the whole Monarchy had not his affairs pressed him to return home in hast For being informed at Mâts of the sickness of Carloman his eldest Brother who was Seized with the Palsie he posted to Bavaria to prevent him from giving the Kingdom to Arnold his Bastard Son Now Carloman died soon after and was Interred at Ottinghen in Bavaria in St. Maximilian's Monastery founded by him He had no Legitimate Children but two natural ones Arnold to whom he could leave only the Dutchy of Carinthia King Louis having even in his life time received the Oaths of his Subjects and Gisele who An. 890. married Zuendipold King of Moravia whom for that reason some have called Carloman's Son Louis III. and Carloman as beforesaid Louis and Charles the Fatt as abovesaid Year of our Lord 880 In the mean while Gauzelin and Conrard fearing to be oppressed by the other Neustrian Lords applied themselves to Lewitgarde the wife of Lewis of Germany a very ambitious Princess who sollicited her Husband so earnestly that she over-persuaded him to return once more into France with much greater strength then he at first carried Year of our Lord 880 Upon the rumour of this second Irruption the Lords caused not only Louis eldest Son of the Stammerer but also Carloman his Brother to be both Crowned in the Abbey of Ferrieres in Gastinois Year of our Lord 880 Some while after these two Brothers being at Amiens divided their Fathers Kingdom betwixt them Lewis had Neustria and Carloman the
sometimes for his Rival The well meaning French tyred with these discords during which the Normans took their opportunity to return contrived I know not what kind of Truce between the two Kings It seems Burgundy and Aquitain Champagne and Picardy were to belong to Eudes all the rest was Charles's It troubled Arnold very much that contrary to the custom of France such Princes who were of Charlemain's Blood but only by the Female side should dismember the best Portions of his Succession He goes down therefore into Italy drives Guy de Spoleta out of all Lombardy and forces him to retire to Spoleta But he satisfied himself with that advantage only and went back into Germany Now this Guy labouring to gather an Army about Spoleta died of a bloody Flux say some though others make him to live a great while longer How-ever it were Arnold gained nothing by his Death for as he was at distance the Lords conferred the Kingdom upon Lambert his Son before Berenger his Competitor who thought to restore his own Title had time to take his measures This Lambert was Crowned Emperor and bare the Title as long as he lived In the mean time Arnold attaqued Rodolph in Burgundy beyond the Jour or Trans-jourane and put him to a great deal of trouble however he could not force Year of our Lord 895 him quite out of those Mountains Year of our Lord 895 The year following he held a Council at the Palace of Tribur which is betwixt Ottenhin and Ments on the other side of the Rhine and after that a Parliament at Wormes where King Eudes was present and upon his return Plundred the Baggage belonging to the Ambassadors whom Charles the Simple was sending to Arnold In this Assembly Arnoid with the consent of the Lords which he had very much ado to obtain got Zuentibold his Bastard Son to be accepted for King of Lorrain This young Prince embracing Charles's Party besieged the City of Laon then esteemed very important because of its advantageous situation upon a Hill But when he found Eudes returned out of Aquitain with his Army he raised the Siege and turned his back to him The Normans began again their Incursions on that unhappy Kingdom with so much the more assurance and facility as they found Eudes backward and careless to suppress them who indeed was only able to do it but left them to go on to revenge the inconstancy of the French who having made him King would not obey him as he expected and required This year Rollo or Rol one of the most considerable Leaders of those Pyrats after he found he could do nothing in England where he had tried to Land being also advertised by a Dream or divine Vision steered his course towards France and puts in at the Mouth of the Seine Perhaps he might be called in by Charles who turned every Stone to ruin his Rival As for the Empire of Italy Arnold being invited by Pope Formosus who would revenge himself for the outrages received from the Romans forced the City of Rome and having chastised them was Crowned Emperor But soon after as he was besieging the Widdow of Guy in the Castle of Fermo one of his Valets de chambre whom that subtil woman had corrupted gave him a Drink which laid him asleep for three whole days and brought him to be Paralytick for a while Year of our Lord 897 There hap'ned this year a horrible scandal in the Roman Church Formosus Bishop of Porto otherwhile degraded and condemned by Pope Nicholas was elected Pope after Stephanus VI. This was the first example in the Church and of most pernicious consequence as we find it now every day that without any necessity a Bishop is transferr'd to another See and as one may say does quit and forsake his first wife to marry another But after his death Pope Stephen VII his Successor caused him to be taken out of his Grave and having placed him in the Papal Chair dressed up in his Pontifical Ornaments reproved and told him that Year of our Lord 897 thorough his ambition he had violated the orders of the Church then condemned him as if he had been living disrobed him of his Ornaments cut off those three fingers with which he gave his Benediction and caused him to be thrown into the River Tiber with a stone about his neck Year of our Lord 898 The enterprises surprises and ren-counters between Charles and Eudes ended by the death of the latter which hapned the 3 d. of January An. 898. about the end of the 36 th of his Age and the 8 th of his Reign At his death he very earnestly desired and enjoyned his Brother Robert and the other Lords to own and acknowledge King Charles whom he hoped they should find a Prince as much deserving for his Vertues as his Birth to Rule over them He left but one Son by his Queen Theodorade named Arnold who took the Title of King of Aquitain But death soon snatcht the Crown from him before he was married or as I believe of Age enough to be so Arnold Emperor in Germany Charles alone in France Zuendibold in Lorraine Louis in Provence Rodolph in Burgundy Lambert in Italy Year of our Lord 898 The loss of the Kingdom of Lorrain did much displease the French wherefore Charles to gain their esteem endeavoured to recover it The rebellion of Duke Reinier who had been the Favourite of Zuendibold and whom that Prince had driven out of his Country did facilitate the means he therefore passed the Meuse with a great deal of company Zuendibold betakes himself to flight but soon after all his Lords coming to him he pursues him in his turn and there had been a Battel if the Lords on either Part had not procured a Truce between them Soon after an Assembly was held in the Abbey of Gorze nigh Mets which confirmed a Peace between Charles Arnold and Zuendibold Towards the end of the year Arnold died having Reigned twelve years since the Death of his Father Charles the Fatt And held the Empire only two years Year of our Lord 899 and a half He had divers Children by three several women amongst others Zuentibold and Arnold the Bad by two Concubines and Louis by a lawful Wife This last was but eight years old when his Father died Charles the Simple in France Zuentibold in Lorraine Louis in Germany Rodolph II. in Burgundy Transjurane Lambert and Berenger in Italy The German Princes immediately Crowned Louis and committed his person to the care and Guardian-ship of Otho Duke of Saxony who was married to his Sister and Arch-Bishop Haton as they did the conduct of his Army to Lutpold or Leopold Duke of the Eastern Frontiers of Bavaria From whom some make the House Year of our Lord 900 of Bavaria to be derived The Dominions of Louis were soon enlarged by the death of Zuentibold who behaving himself with much irregularity and little justice and making his chief exercise
them to retire Then made himself Master of Reims and Soissons But suffering this heat of good success to grow cool few People declared for him and even the Archbishop of Reims whom he importuned to Crown him told him that he could not do it of his own head and that it was a publick Business that is to say it required the Consent of the Lords of the Kingdom Year of our Lord 989 It was greatly Hugh's interest to gain Arnold Bastard Brother of Duke Charles to his Party To this end he gives him the Archbishoprick of Reims which was vacant by the death of Aldaberon having first taken an Oath from him in Writing but six months after his being in that Town Charles his Brother was introduced there and made himself Master by means of a Priest named Aldager and in Confederacy as was thought with the Archbishop who notwithstanding ever denied it and remained Prisoner in the hands of Charles either really or at least pretended Year of our Lord 990 At the same time William III. Earl of Poictou and Duke of Aquitain refused to acknowledge the two Kings Capet and Robert though he were Uncle to Robert by the Mother openly accusing the French of Perfidiousness and their having abandoned the Line and Blood of Charlemaine Both the Kings marched that way to bring him to Obedience and besieged Poitiers He repulsed them smartly pursues them to the Loire and there happens a bloody Engagement but the conclusion was to the Advantage of the French Year of our Lord 991 The year ensuing this Duke made War upon the Count of Anjou for Mirebalais and Loudunois and did so roughly handle him that in the end he was constrained to acknowledge him and hold them in Fief of him Year of our Lord 991 Charles living in too great security at Laon and with too much confidence in Ancelin King Hugh gained that Traitor who like another Judas upon Holy-Thursday-night opened the Gates and delivered the poor Prince and his Wife up to him He sent them away Prisoners to Senlis and from thence to Orleance where they were shut up in a Tower Year of our Lord 992 The Archbishop Arnold his Brother was taken with him The Bishops of France Assembled in Council at Reims made his Process as one that was guilty of Perjury and who had broken his Faith to King Hugh and therefore degraded him of his Prelature after which the King sent him Prisoner to Orleance to keep his Brother company Gerbert a Benedictine Monk who had been Tutor to the Emperor Otho III. and to King Robert was chosen in his place He was so Learned for those times particularly in the Mathematicks that it gave him the Reputation of a Magician amongst the ignorant Year of our Lord 993 Anno 993. William III. Duke of Aquitain made Peace with the King and owned to hold his Lands of him But another William Duke of Gascongne kept himself still independent He it was who having gained a memorable Battle against a Fleet of Normands landed in Gascongny towards the end of this Century and believing he obtained that Advantage by the intercession of St. Sever who was said to have appeared that day on a white Horse with glittering Arms fighting against the Barbarians put his Dukedom under the protection of that glorious Martyr and Erected a Church and Abby over his Tomb round about which Edifice is built that City called St. Sever Cape of Gascongny Many believe but without any certain proofs that Hugh Capet confirmed the Inheritance of all the great Estates Dutchies and Earldoms to those Lords that had usurped them and it is probable that they themselves had first given such as depended upon them to their own Vassals thereby to engage them to maintain and justifie them in their Usurpations It is certain he annexed to the Crown which had scarce any thing left in Propriety the Earldom of Paris the Dukedom of France containing all that is between the Loire and Seine and the Earldom of Orleance Amongst a very great number of Lords who enjoy'd of the Regal Rights the Eight most considerable were the Dukes of Burgundy Normandy Aquitain and Gascongne Bretagne then held of Normandy the Earls of Flanders of Champagne and Thoulouze This last was likewise Duke of Septimania and Marquiss of Gothia the Earl of Barcelonna in the Marches of Spain and the Earl of Anjou on the Frontiers of Bretagne this held of the Dutchy of France All these Lords had a great many more besides who took upon them to be Soveraigns I do not speak of the Estates that were set up in the Kingdom of Lorrain amongst others the two Dutchy's that bare that name to wit the higher or Mosellanick which retains it to this day and the lower which is Brabant Nor of those that were framed out of the Ruines of the Kingdom of Arles and that of Transjurane as the Earldom of Burgundy those of Viennois Provence and Savoy Daufine the Dukedoms of Zeringhen and Alman and divers others because those Countries were not of France but held of the Emperors of Germany who were Titularies of those two Kingdoms The Grandees of the Kingdom thought that Capet ought to suffer all from them because they had set the Crown upon his Head His Patience and Courage which he exercised diversly according as occasion required kept them from running to extremity and maintained him in his Throne One Adelbert Count de la Marche and Perigord was one of the most unruly and concerned himself in all their Quarrels Fulk Nerra had some Pretensions to the City of Tours he besieged it in his behalf The King sent and commanded him to desist Adelbert would do nothing and asking him Who was it that made you a Count He insolently replied Those same that made you a King continued the Siege and took the Town Year of our Lord 993 This year was memorable for the death of Conrad King of Burgundy William III. Duke of Aquitain and Hebert Count of Meaux and Troyes Conrad left his Estate to his Son Roldolph called the Faineant or Do-nothing William left his likewise to his Son of his own name but surnamed Fierabras and the third dying without Children to Eudes his Brother Earl of Chartres and Tours who was the first that intitled himself Earl of Champagne William IV. of that name Earl of Toulouse and of Arles turned Monk and his Son William V. succeeded him After the death of the Count of Poitou his Son being yet but young found his Country in Combustion by the Rebellion of many of his Vassals especially Adelbert who besieged Poitiers and made divers other Enterprizes but in the end he met with that fate which attends the Factious being slain at the Siege of a small Castle Boson his Fathers Brother succeeded in his Dominions Year of our Lord 994 95. The Pope could not suffer their having Deposed the Archbishop Arnold without his Authority which the Bishops of France believed to
some Method to bring Hugh in again to that See but considering that a small number could not undo what had been done by a greater and that they had notice from the Pope to clear their doubts that he had Excommunicated him in a Council held at Rome Anno 949. they broke up without proceeding any farther That of Reims in 975. wherein presided Stephen Deacon to Bennet V. Pope and Adolberon of Reims Excommunicated Thibauld who had usurped the See of Amiens In 983. that of Mount St. Mary in the Diocess of Reims where Adalberon presided confirmed the Decree made by that Bishop to put Monks into the Monastery of Mouson in the stead of those Canons that were there In the foregoing Age in many places the Canons were more desired The Humour was changed in this Gerbert solliciting with heat to have Arnold de Reims his Process made a Council was called in that same City Anno 992. where his Credit and the vehement Eloquence of Arnold d'Orleans carrying it against the Remonstrances of Abbon Abbot of Fleury and the Sentiment of Seguin de Sens who was President Arnold was deposed and Gerbert instaled in his See The Pope believing it intrenched upon his Authority if he suffer'd them to undertake this without his Order sent a Legat into France the year ensuing who first called together some Bishops at Monson then a greater number at Reims where Seguin representing the Person of the Pope it was said that Gerbert should be deposed and Arnold restored but this last being a Prisoner at Orleans Gerbert disputed it and stood his ground yet for some time and appealed to the Pope who grew more stubborn and stiff in favour of Arnold and forced the King by the threatnings of a terrible Excommunication to release him and suffer him to enjoy his Bishoprick Robert King XXXVI POPES GREGORY V. About two years under this Reign SILVESTER II. Elected in March 999. S. Four years and two Months JOHN XVIII Elected in May 1003. S. Five Months JOHN XIX Elected in Novem. 1003. S. Five years ten Months SERGIUS IV. Elected in Aug. 1009. S. Two years eight Months and an half BENEDICT VIII Elected in 1012. S. near Twelve years JOHN XX. Elected in March 1024. S. Nine years eight Months ROBERT King XXXVI Aged Twenty four or Twenty five years THis King compleat both in Body and Mind of a handsom Stature a sweet and grave Air a composed and sage Humour having been nurtur'd to Piety and good Learning by Gerbert became very knowing for that Age much more Religious and Zealous in the Service of God and as Just Charitable and Debonnaire towards his People as any Prince that ever wore a Crown And indeed God favour'd his Reign with the choicest Blessing he is wont to bestow upon those Kings who are according to his own Heart I mean with a long and happy Peace which he enjoy'd near Thirty years after some slight and petty Wars Year of our Lord 996 This year 996. died Richard I. Duke of Normandy who was past his Seventieth year He left his Dukedom to his Son Richard II. surnamed the Good Year of our Lord 997 98. William Earl of Poitou and Duke of Aquitain having War with Boson II. Earl of Perigord and de la Marche Robert was obliged to assist him as his Kindred and Vassal They both laid Siege to the Castle of Belac but their Army wanting Provisions because they were too numerous could not subsist till the taking of the Place The Chronicles of those times who are all very succinct do not give an account of the end of that War no more then of many other things Eudes Earl of Brie and Champagne prompted with great desire to have a passage Year of our Lord 999 over the Seine as he had already over the Marne thereby to go commodiously from Brie to his County of Chartres cast his Eyes upon Melun and with Money gained the Vicount or Castellaine belonging to Earl Bouchard who deliver'd it up to him Bouchard had been the favourite of Hugh Capet who had given him that Earldom and he was yet at this time Count Palatine for King Robert Wherefore this King took in hand his defence sent Richard II. Duke of Normandy his Cousin and good Friend and with him besieged the place The Battery with their Engines having made a Breach the Garrison surrendred upon Composition the Castellaine and his Wife were both Hanged on the top of a Hill near the place They did not punish Gentlemen with Death for Rebellion or Felony unless they committed Treason but in that case they hanged them in some eminent Place that Crime degrading them of all Nobility Year of our Lord 999 Poland was honoured with the Title of a Kingdom by the Emperor Otho III. who going to Gnesne to Visit the Sepulchre of St. Adalbert Martyr gave the Regal Ornaments to Duke Boleslaus The following year Hungary had the same Advantage and Honour but would receive it from the hands of the Pope to whom Prince Stephen the Son of Geisa who first embraced Christianity sent to demand the Royal Crown Year of our Lord 1000 Towards the end of January in the year 1002. the Emperor Otho aged but Twenty nine years died in the City of Rome or in Paterna not leaving any Children It was believed to be of Poyson the cursed practise thereof being much in use as I have observed in this Age thorough all the West Henry II. of that name called the Cripple Duke of Bavaria and Earl of Bamberg succeeded him by an Election of the German Princes but did not bear the Title of Emperor at least not in Italy till he had been Crowned by the Pope which was Twelve years afterwards Year of our Lord 1002 The degrees of Parentage wherein Marriage was prohibited having been extended to the Seventh besides the obstructions from Spiritual Alliance or Gossipship caused much Broil especially amongst Princes and Grandees who commonly are of Kin to one another even within that degree For so soon as a Husband or a Wife were disgusted with each other or that any one had a mind to trouble them they needed but to Article and make Oath they were of Kin within the degrees forbidden and produce Witnesses upon it to the number of nine as I believe which were not wanting or difficult to get and thereupon the Diocesan Bishop or an Assembly of Bishops if there were any greater difficulty pronounced Judgment Year of our Lord 1003 Now Queen Lutgard the first Wife of Robert being dead he was advised by Maxims of Policy to Wed Bertha Sister to Rodolph the Lazy King of Burgundy Widow of Eudes I Earl of Chartres and Mother of Eudes II. as yet but young She being of Kin in the fourth Degree and besides he having held a Child with her at the Font he thought he might prevent the inconveniency of nullity of Marriage by the Authority of the Gallican Church he called therefore his
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
mentioned and Hugh both Abbots of Clugny who being favoured by Heaven were in great credit with the Princes of this world of Thierry Bishop of Orleans Burchard de Vienne Bruno de Toul all three in the beginning of this Century and in the latter part of it Austinde d'Auch Hugh de Grenoble Arnold de Soissons and Maurille de Rouen Add to these Prelats Brune who was Institutor of that most austere Order of the Chartreux and Robert Abbot of Molesme who was Institutor or Founder of the Cisteaux For Robert d'Arbresel he is not yet in the Catalogue of Saints France was not exempted from Heresies In the year 1000 there started up a Phanatiqee Peasant named Leutard in the Burrough de Vertus within the Bishoprick of Chaalons who broke down the Images Preached that they ought not to pay Tithes and maintained that the Prophets had not always spoke those things that were good he was followed by an innumerable multitude of the Populace who believed him to be inspired of God his Bishop it was Guibin having easily convinced him and afterwards disabused those ignorant people the unhappy wretch in despair to see himself forsaken cast himself into a Well his Head foremost Some years afterwards came from Italy I know not what Woman infected with the dotage of the Manicheans which she inspired into a couple of the most Noble and most Learned Clergy-men of Orleans and those into several other people of several conditions King Robert who made his Residence in that City being informed hereof assembled a Council An. 1017. to convince them but not able to dis-infatuate them they kindled a fire in a neighbouring Field to burn them if they persisted in those Follies These obstinate Zealots far from dreading those Flames ran to them Thirteen were burnt Ten whereof were Canons of St. Croix The same severity was practised towards all of that Sect that could be discovered in any place especially at Toulouze An. 1022. But the remainders or Seeds of those ashes or as some say the frequent Commerce the French who travelled to the Levant had with the Bulgarians who were Manicheans soon after raised up this Phrensie again in Languedoc and Gascongne The error of the Sacramentaries was more subtil and therefore did not make so great a progress Joh. Scot. Erigene and other half Learned and too subtil Wits disputing about the incomprehensible Mistery of the Holy Sacrament according to the notions and terms of humane Philosophy had raised doubts and difficulties in the minds of Men touching the real presence of the Body of JESVS CHRIST in the Holy Eucharist We may believe that even in the Tenth age some scruples had been made by people contending herein since there were miracles wrought to prove it But the First that durst openly say contrary to the belief of all former ages that the Holy Sacrament was but the Figure of the Body of our Lord was Berenger Arch-Deacon of Anger 's Treasurer and Super-intendant of St. Martin de Tours As he was one of the most Learned Men of his time and had such charms in his Discourse and Entertainment that he was followed by vast numbers of Disciples for which reason his adversaries said he was a Magician he drew to his party Brââo Bishop of Anger 's and very many others who spread his Doctrine thorough France Italy and Germany Durandus Bishop of Liege and Adelman his Rector afterwards Bishop of Bresse stopt the current of it by their Writings and King Henry by his Authority so that he kept close and quiet for some years At the end whereof moving the question afresh Pope Leo IX condemned it in the Council of Rome and in that of Vercel both in An. 1050. In the last they ordered Scots Book to be burned which was the Well from whence he had drawn his error Five years afterwards Hildebrand Legat from Pope Victor II. being sent into France to reform the Clergy convened a Council at Tours where he compell'd him to abjure his Error and subscribe his Retractation For all this he desisted not from his former ways they were fain to cite him before the Council which was held at Rome An. 1059. where he was ordered to burn Scotus his Book with his own hand and Sign to a Confession of Faith composed by Cardinal Humbert but as soon as he was at liberty he renews the Dispute which lasted till the year 1079. when Gregory VII having summon'd him before another Council in Rome managed this turbulent Spirit so well that he owned and confessed both from his Heart and Tongue the substantial Conversion of the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of JESVS CHRIST Being returned into France he took up the Habit of St. Bennet for his pennance and retired into the Priory of St. Cosmo which is in an Island of the Loire about two Leagues from Tours whither he drew several Cannons of St. Martins who were enchanted with the sweetness of his Conversation He passed the rest of his days there with great austerity and died very Religiously An. 1091. aged above Fourscore years What care soever was used to reform the disorders and take away the Weeds and Darnel out of the Church yet they could never pluck up the most spreading and fruitful root of Simony I shall give you a little taste of it In a Council which the Legat Hildebrand held at Lions An. 1055. there were 45 Bishops and 23 other Prelats who without any other accusation but their own Consciences publickly avowed this crime and renounced their Benefices An example very common as to the fault but singular for the repentance I do not know any times wherein so many Churches and Abbeys were built as in these days King Robert himself founded above 20. There was not one Lord but â valued himself in so doing The most wicked affected the Title of Founders whilst they ruined the Churches on the one hand they built on the other and made their Sacrilegious Offrings to God of those things they had ravisht from the poor and needy The fancy that reigned in Mens minds at the beginning of this Century is most remarkable which was to pull down old Churches to build new nay even the fairest and noblest to erect others after their own mode This change of material Walls seemed to be a sign of that change was made in those times in the whole Face and if we may say so the Body of the Gallican Church From the Eighth Century the Popes had found out means to diminish the Authority of Metropolitans obliging them by a Decree in Council held at Ments by St. Boniface necessarily to receive the Pall at Rome and subject themselves Canonically to obey the Roman Church in all points A Profession since changed into an Oath of Fidelity under Gregory VII They had likewise attributed to themselves exclusively to all others the Right of Separating or Dissolving the Spiritual Marriage which a Bishop contracteth with his Church
others But the Popes durst not shock these Kings so rudely It was good Policy not to make so many Enemies at once to keep France in reserve as a Refuge against the Emperors and bring down the Germans first because they troubled them most The Peace between the two Kings Lewis and Henry was of no long duration The Friends of the late Duke Robert and William his Son declared for Lewis and the Earls of Anjou and of Flanders served him zealously as Thibald Earl of Champagne served Henry who was his Uncle Year of our Lord 1119 Baldwin Earl of Flanders being wounded upon an assault of the little Castle of Bures in Caux did so inflame his Wound with his Debauches that he died of it at Aumale Charles surnamed the Good Son of his Sister and Camut King of Denmark succeeded him in the Earldom of Flanders and maintain'd himself there courageously notwithstanding that Clemence of Burgundy Mother of Baldwin who was again Married to Godfrey Earl of Louvain endeavoured to make it fall into the hands of a Bastard of Flanders named William of Ypres who had Married her Neece After a world of Ravages Firings Sieges Surprizes and Plunderings of Places after two great Battles fought betwixt the two Kings one in the Plain of Bâeneville near Noyon on Andelle where the French had the worst the other near Breâeuil where the success was doubtful Pope Calixtus as the common Father being come expressly Year of our Lord 1120 to Gisors brought them to agree by persuadin them to restore what places they had taken to each other Thus the Dutchy remained to Henry who gave it to his eldest Son William surnamed Adelin in wrong of William his Nephew This Peace did not put an end to his grief and troubles For a few weeks after he lost his three Sons and with them above Three hundred Gentlemen the flower of Year of our Lord 1120 his Nobility and his best Captains It was a strange misfortune They being Embarqued at Harfleur to go into England their Seamen who were drunk split the Ship as they were getting out of Harbor And at the same time his Nephew's Friends and Partisans stirred up new Disturbances in Normandy and re-engaged the King of France to uphold them Which renewed the Desolations of that Province In Anno 1119. died Alain surnamed Fergeant Duke of Bretagne Son of Hoel who departed this Life Anno 1084. His Son Conan surnamed the Gross or Ermengard succeeded him This Alain if we believe the Historian of Bretagne prescribed certain Forms and Rules for the doing Justice in his Country where before it was administred very confusedly For he Establisht a Seneschal at Renes to whom he would have all Persons to resort unless those of the County of Nantes who had one likewise and began to hold an Assembly or Parliament which judged of Appeals from the Seneschals of Rennes and Nantes for in Matters Criminal there lay no Appeal There were no certain and fixed Officers no more then any certain times for sitting They afterwards made a President in the absence of the Chancellor and a Master of Requests Year of our Lord 1123 The death of Hugh III. of that name Duke of Burgundy to whom succeeded Odon his eldest Son who Married Mary the Daughter of Thibauld Earl of Champagne Year of our Lord 1123 The War grew hotter in Normandy betwixt the French and King Henry and was ca ried on with various success But Henry found nothing more troublesome then his Domestick Officers and Servants who had framed a Conspiracy against his Life He could confide in no body he trembled at the approach of all that came near him he died a thousand times a day for fear they would Murther him and in the night shifted Beds five or six times and changed his Guards not thinking he was safe in any place believing there were none but Enemies about him Year of our Lord 1124 The Emperor reconciled himself with the Pope and laid down the Investitures But his Wrath still boiling in him would needs discharge it self upon France Year of our Lord 1124 He had Married Matilda Daughter of the English King for that reason as likewise for the Resentment he conceived because Lewis had protected Pope Calixtus he raised a very great Army to destroy and lay that City of Reims flat with the ground where Calixtus had held the Council against him Lewis on his side resolved to draw all the Forces of his whole Kingdom together even to the very Priests and Friers so that in a short time he had 200000 Men out of the Isle of France Champagne and Picardy only The Emperor having information of these prodigious Levics found it safer for him not to come into the Country of Messin but retire At his return Triumphant Lewis brings back the Martyrs Holy Standard called the Oriflamme and deposites it again in St. Denis whence he had taken it rendred Solemn Thanks to those Glorious Saints carried their Shrines upon his Shoulders which had been taken down and exposed on the high Altar during all the time of the War and made or confirmed several Grants to that Abby especially the Fair of Lendit out of the City for they had one already within Vpon this occasion we may observe the difference there was between the Forces of France and the Kings For when he made a War for himself he could have only the People of those Countries properly in his own possession and they served but unwillingly but when it was the Kingdoms Cause or Concern all the Forces of France were in action every Lord came in Person and brought all his Subjects along with him Year of our Lord 1125 The Emperor Henry being dead the Princes of Germany brought in Lotaire Duke of Saxony who likewise retaining the Kingdom of Burgundy as united to the Empire Renold Duke of Burgundy refused to acknowledge him For which he would have deprived him of his Earldom and have bestow'd it upon Bertold Duke of Zeringhen and this begot a bloody War between these two Houses who fought till the time of Frederick I. who Married Beatrix the Daughter of Renold This year 1126. the King received the Complaints made by the Bishop of Clermont Year of our Lord 1126 concerning the Usurpations and Tyrannies of Robert Earl d'Auvergne and going Year of our Lord 1126 thither in Person forced the Earl notwithstanding the Rocks and Castles of his High-Lands or Mountains to submit to Reason Five or six years after the repeated Violences of the same Earl engaged him to make a second Expedition and besiege Montferrand The Duke of Aquitain came to relieve his Vaslal but having from the height of a Mountain taken a view of the great Strength and Forces the King had with him he sent to offer him all Obedience and brought the Earl as far as Orleans to demand Pardon and submit to all that should be injoyned him Year of our Lord 1126 Death of
Popes Legat. Afterwards the Archbishop of Sens gave him leave to explain and make good his Propositions against St. Bernard But being come for that purpose to the Council of Sens he would or durst not dispute there but appeal'd to the Pope Being on his way towards Rome to pursue his Appeal he stopt at the Abby of Clugny and there led a holy Life in the Habit of St. Bennes which he had long before taken upon him These Prosecutions were carried on by the Zeal of St. Bernard Abbot of Clervaux a Burgundian Gentleman who had raised himself to so high an Esteem for several years before amongst the Clergy the Nobility and Common People that there hapned no Cause in Matters Ecclesiastical no considerable Contest no important Enterprize wherein his Judgment was not required together with his Counsel and Mediation To shew us that the Wise and Virtuous have a more natural â Empire then that which proceeds from Power or the Institution of Man Year of our Lord 1141 The Clergy of Bourges had elected for their Archbishop one Peter de la Chastre a Person of singular Learning and Piety The King whether he did not like him or desired that Benefice for another refused to give his consent Peter would therefore have desisted but Pope Innocent enjoyned him to perform his Duty which the King obstructing it bred a great deal of trouble and grew to that height that the Pope Excommunicated the King and put the King under an Interdiction Thibauld Earl of Champagne a Lord of great Authority as well for his Power as his Vertues having intermedled somewhat too much about this business offended the King whose anger was yet more inflamed upon another occasion which was this Rodolph de Vermandois who was in effect the first Prince of the Blood but in those days that Title was not known those Princes being considered only according to the Year of our Lord 1141 42. dignity of their Lands caused his Marriage with Gerbete Cousin German to Thibauld to be dissolved upon pretence of Parentage that he might have Alix-Pernelle the Sister of Queen Alienor for his Wife The Pope at the instigation of Thibauld Excommunicated Rodolph and interdicted the Bishops that had pronounced the Divorce Lewis lays all upon Thibauld and enters his Lands in Hostile manner Thibauld has recourse to the Pope who to deliver him from that War which oppress'd him takes off the Excommunication but as soon as that was over he thunders it a second time and then the King more exasperated then before turns his Army into Champagne They take Vitry by force putting all to the Sword and setting Fire on the Church wherein three hundred poor innocent People were burnt who were got in to secure themselves Year of our Lord 1143 and 1144. At the recital of this Cruelty the Kings Bowels yearned and his Conscience was mightily troubled He mourned and dispairs St. Bernard had much ado to persuade him that he might obtain Mercy from God upon his Repentance In this Condition it was easie to persuade him to restore the Archbishop of Bourges to his See and procure a Peace for the Earl Year of our Lord 1143 and 1144. Fulk King of Jerusalem being dead Anno 1142. the Government being in the hands of Melisenda his Widow his youngest Son Baldwin and the Christians of that Country worse then the Turks their Affairs ran all into confusion so that Sangnin Sultan of Assyria tore the Principality of Edessa from them one of the four Members of the Kingdom of Jerusalem The King had before Vow'd a Voyage to the Holy-Land these sad Tidings moved both him and the other French Princes to carry them Relief St. Bernard the Oracle of those times being consulted with herein refers the business to the Pope who sent him orders to Preach the Croisade over all Christendom Year of our Lord 1146 Beginning with France he Conven'd a National Council at Chartres by whom he was chosen for Generalissimo of that Expedition but he refused the Sword and was content to be the Trumpet only He proclaim'd it every where with so much fervour so great assurance of good success and as they believed with so many Miracles that the Cities and Villages became Deserts every one listing themselves for this Service Year of our Lord 1147 The Emperor Conrad and the King were the first that took the Badge of the Cross with an infinite number of Nobility Each of these Princes had a Legat from the Pope in his Army Conrad led threescore thousand Horse he went away first and arrived at Constantinople about the end of March in the year 1147. Year of our Lord 1147 The King staid some while in France after him to receive Pope Engenius who by the Revolted Romans was forced to quit that Country He set forwards a fortnight after Whitsontide in the same year and having marched thorough Hungary and Thrace passed the Bosphorus so that the following Lent in Anno 1148. he got into Syria whilst on the other hand his Naval Force was put to Sea to meet him there Year of our Lord 1147 By Advice of his Parliament held at Estampes he left the Regency of the Kingdom to Rodolph Earl of Vermandois and Suger Abbot of St. Denis who was in great Credit at Court even from the time of Lewis the Fat. Before his departure he went according to the usual Custom into St. Denis Church to receive his Staff and Scrip the Badges of Pilgrimage and the Standard de L'Oriflamme on the Altar of the Holy Martyrs It is fit we should tell you the Kings of France of the Second Race display'd at the head of their Armies St. Martins Cope or Mantle But Capet and his Line after their great Devotion to St. Denis made use of the Banner belonging to his Church which they called Oriflamme It had wont to be carried or born by the Count de Vexin-Francois who was Hommager to the Church of St. Denis After the Kings had possession of this County they appointed some Person of great Merit and Illustrious Birth to carry it There is not that wicked or mean Artisice and Treachery but the perfidious Manuel Emperor of Greece put in practise to destroy both the Emperors and the Kings Armies Against the first he had his will by Poysoning their Meal he was to furnish them withall with Lime and Plaster and appointing such Guides as having led them a long way about which made them waste all their Provisions at last delivered them half dead and languishing into the hands of the Turks who cut them all in pieces so that there was not a tenth part of them escaped Year of our Lord 1148 The King being likewise gotten into Asia found the Emperor Conrad at Nicea where he comforted him in the best manner he could Then he marched along by the Sea-side and ran the same hazard as the other had done however he saved himself more by good fortune then
falsely maintained who had Married Anno 1186. Henry Son of the Emperor Frederic This young Prince was raised to the Empire this year 1190. The Emperor his Father having drowned himself while he was bathing in the little River of Serre between Antioch and Nicea as he was leading great succours into the Holy Land Now Constance pretended to succeed his Nephew but Tancred his Bastard Brother had excluded him and seized on the Kingdom It was he that received the two Kings at Messina where they landed in the Month of Year of our Lord 1190 March and sojourn'd there above six Months During their stay Richard had great Contests with Tancred concerning the Articles of his Sister Jane's Dowry Widow of King William He was often like to come to blows about it and had thoughts of forcing the Town of Messina In sine Philips Mediation procur'd him 60000 Ounces of Gold from Tancred whereof he had a third for his pains Year of our Lord 1190 Now Tancred whether it were true or whether by a Diabolical Artisice shew'd Richard some Letters which he affirmed to have been written to him by Philip wherein that King profer'd him all his Forces to attaque Richard and seize upon him in the night if he would at the same time fall upon him likewise Richard believed the Letters to be real and made a great stir about it Thus the two Kings were mightily exasperated against each other Richard for the design contrived against his Life Philip for the reproach against his Honour Year of our Lord 1191 Towards the end of the Winten Richard makes known to Philip that he cannot Wed his Sister for certain Reasons which he will not discover perhaps it was because old Henry his Father had kept her too long and declares to him he had betrothed Berengaria Daughter of Garcias King of Navar and that his Mother Alienor was bringing her thither to Consummate the Marriage Philip was not Transported but wisely suppressing his Anger left him to his liberty of quitting his Sister provided he would surrender those Lands he had given him for her Dowry and would at the first conveniency go along with him to the Holy-Land Also he consented to a Truce for those Countries during all the time they should remain abroad Richard accepted of the Truce willingly but refused to go so soon These were the chief causes that changed the mutual affectionof these young Kings into a cruel hatred Year of our Lord 1191 James d'Avesnes with some Flemish Forces and the remainders of the Emperor Frederic's had already besieged the City of Acre it was otherwhile called Ptolemais very considerable for its Port and its strong Walls King Philip parted from Messina in the beginning of March and landed near this place took his Quarters about the Town raised his Batteries and made a wide breach Year of our Lord 1191 In the mean time Richard putting to Sea was driven by Tempest on the Coasts of the Island of Cyprus It was then in the possession of one Isaac a Grecian Prince who having abused and pillag'd his weather-beaten Soldiers whereas he ought to have relieved them provoked his just wrath in so much that he seizes on that Kingdom and carried away an immense quantity of rich Plunder together with the said Isaac and his Wife both of them bound in Chains of Gold Year of our Lord 1191 He got not to Acre till two Months after Philip and far from promoting the taking thereof he retarded it by the continual disagreement between them The Siege lasted five Months in all and caused a great many Princes and brave Men to perish there In the end the City surrendred upon Composition importing that the Besieged should obtain of Saladine the release of all the Christian Prisoners in his hands and the true Cross which he had taken in Jerusalem for which their Lims and Lives were to be Security till performed at the Mercy and discretion of the Conquerors They were therefore together with all the Spoil equally shared betwixt the two Kings and as Saladine would not perform the first of these two Conditions and the second was not in his power because the true Cross was not to be found Richard too passionate and cholerick put seven thousand of them to the edge of the Sword who were his Prisoners and reserved not above two or three hundred of the Principal In this Siege were slain a great number of People of quality Rotrou Earl of Perche Thibauld Earl of Blois Great Seneschal and Uncle to the King and Alberic Clement Lord du Mez his Mareschal Son of another Clement who had executed the same Office Our Kings of France in those times had but one and these Clements were the first who raised or improved this Office by their favour and extended it to the Soldiery whereas before them it had nothing to do but with such as belonged to the Kings Stables Year of our Lord 1191 The contagious distempers destroy'd yet more of their Men then the Sword Philip d'Alsace Earl of Flanders ended his days in the Month of June He had no Children but only one Sister whom he had Married to Baldwin Earl of Haynault from whom were sprung two Elizabeth who was Married to King Philip and a Son of the same Name as the Father Year of our Lord 1191 King Philip being likewise seized with a long fit of Sickness which was suspected to proceed from some ill morsel because his Nails and Hair fell off resolved to return into France but to remove the jealousie Richard might conceive at his departure he made Oath he would not in the least meddle with his Lands till forty days after he were certain of his being returned into France He likewise left with him near Six hundred Horse and Ten thousand Foot with their m inainance for their three years under the Conduct of Hugh III. Duke of Burgundy After that having taken leave of his Lords he puts to Sea and being Convoy'd by three Gallies only which the Genoese furnished him withal landed in Puglia When he had somewhat recover'd his Health he sets forward on his journey with a small number of followers visited the Sepulchre of the Apostles at Rome and Year of our Lord 1191 having received the Popes Blessing parted from thence and arrived in France in the Month of December He pass'd his Christmass Holy-days at Fontaine Eblaud and from thence came to his dear City of Paris After his departure all the Forces put themselves under the Command of Richard who did so many prodigious acts of valour that they surpass the belief as well as the ordinary strength of Mankind In a word he had regained the Holy-City if Year of our Lord 1191. and 92. the jealousie of Hugh Duke of Burgundy had not obstructed his progress And indeed he had a design in his Head of forming a great Kingdom in those Countries and that none might dispute the Title with him of King of
others who named themselves the Humbled The First made profession of an Evangelical poverty the Second undertook to Preach wherever they came To contradict or countermine these two Religious Orders were instituted viz. The Friers Mineurs or Cordeliers and the Preaching Friers or Jacobins The First Foundation of that was laid in Italy by St. Francis d'Assise of the other in Languedoc by St. Dominique of the Noble Family of the Guzmans in Spain and Cannon of Osma who came into this Province with a Bishop to Convert the Albigenses Year of our Lord 1208 King Philip would have been himself in this Expedition or would have sent his Son for these Sectaries had committed some Hostilities in his Territory acknowledging his Enemy King John had he not feared a Landing of the English in Bretagne under favour of the Fort du Garplie He went not therefore beyond the Loire but Commanded the Nobility that held of him to arm themselves and take that Fort as in truth they did this year The Bishops of Orleans and Auxerre who had been sent thither with their Vassals upon this Expedition being return'd again without leave pretending not to be oblig'd to march with the Army but when the King was there in Person the King commanded their Regalia to be seized that is to say what they held in Fief of him not their Tithes Offerings and other dues necessarily belonging to People of that Function They made complaint by their Envoys to Pope Innocent III. then went themselves The Pope having examined the matter found they had failed and transgressed against the Customs and Laws of the Kingdom so that they were fain to pay a Mulct to the King to re-enter upon their Temporals Year of our Lord 1209 The number of these New-Crossed Soldiers were not less then 500000 Men not all Combatans as I believe amongst whom there were five or six Bishops the Duke of Burgundy the Earls of Nevers St. Poll and de Montfort The general Rendezvous was at Lyons about the Feast of St. John Thence going into Languedoc they assault the City of Beziers one of the strongest held by the Albigenses forced it and put all to the edge of the Sword there being slain above threescore thousand Persons Those in Carcassonne terrified with this horrible Slaughter surrendred upon Discretion thinking themselves very happy to escape naked or only in their Shirts Year of our Lord 1209 The Lords in this Army having called a Council elected Simon Earl of Montfort chief Commander in this War and to govern the Conquests they had and should make upon those Hereticks That done the Earl of Nevers returned with a great Party of those Soldiers and soon after the Duke of Burgundy with another so that Simon was left ill attended yet he maintained himself by a more then Heroick Valour and Conquer'd Mire-pâix Pamiers and Alby In so much as in a little time he made himself Master of the Albigois the Counties of Beziers and Carcassonne and above an hundred Castles Year of our Lord 1209 In these times the School at Paris flourish'd more then ever They gave it the name of University because all sorts of Sciences were universally taught there although in effect the desire to Study or Learn and the affluence of Scholars were much greater then their Doctrine A certain Priest of the Diocess of Chartres named Almaric beginning to Preach up some Novelties had been forced to recant for which he died of grief Several after his Death following his Opinions were discover'd and condemn'd to the Fire he Excommunicated by the Council of Paris his Body taken out of the Grave and his Ashes cast on the Dunghil And because they believ'd the Books of Aristotles Metaphysicks lately brought them from Constantinople had fill'd their heads with these Heretical Subtilties the same Council prohibited either the keeping or reading them upon pain of Excommunication Year of our Lord 1209 Guy Count d'Auvergne for the violence and injustice he committed against the Clergy particularly the Bishop of Clermont whom he had imprison'd was deprived of his County by King Philip and could never be restor'd again Year of our Lord 1210 The Emperor Otho grew stubborn in the defence of the Rights of the Empire and prepared to go into Italy wholly to subdue it with a mighty Army which he raised with the Money his Nephew King John had sent him upon condition that from thence he should fall upon France Thereupon he was thunder-struck with Excommunication by Pope Innocent and a little after a great part of the German Princes elected Roger-Frederick II. Son of the Emperor Henry VI. about the Age of Seventeen years and who in his Fathers Life-time had already been named King of the Romans The Pope consented to this Election and the following year Frederic who was then in his Kingdom of Sicily passed into Germany Every other while there came new Bands of Soldiers of the Cross to the Earl de Montfort even from Flanders and Germany but slipt away again within six weeks or two Months With these Recruits he carried all the Places and Castles not only of the Hereticks but likewise of other Lords The King of Arragon of whom divers in those Countries held their Lands in Under-Fiefs because of some Lordships he was possessed of wrote to the Pope about it and the Earl of Toulouze went even to Rome to make his Complaints where his Holiness receiv'd him well enough and promis'd him Justice Year of our Lord 1210 But at his return they propounded an Agreement with Montfort if he would let him have all he had already taken He could never consent to it and Milon the Popes Legat Excommunicated him in the Council of Avignon because he levied certain new Tolls upon his Lands The King of Arragon came in Person to another Council which was held at St. Gilles to endeavour to accommodate Affairs and restore the Earl of Foix and the Vicount de Bearn who were dispossess'd as favourers of Hereticks but he could not obtain any thing Year of our Lord 1211 The Toulouzain after so many mean and ruinous Submissions takes the Bit in his Teeth and puts himself in a posture to defend his own Then is he openly Excommunicated and his Lands exposed to any that could Conquer them Montfort besieges Toulouze but the grand Recruits that were come with him stealing away in a little time he is forced to raise the Siege The Earls of Toulouze and de Foix with their Confederates pursue him and besiege him in Chasteauneuf a thing incredible above 50000 Men could not overpower or force three hundred are beaten and shamefully retreat Year of our Lord 1211 The young Princes Frederick II. and Lewis eldest Son of King Philip delegated by his Father Confer at Vaucouleurs upon the Frontiers of Champagne to renew the Alliance between France and the Empire and to unite themselves more closely against Otho and against King John his Uncle two irreconcilable Enemies Renauld Earl of
A prodigious Comet appeared in the Heavens shortly after and whether it were the Sign or were the Cause or perhaps neither the one nor the other a Quartain Ague seized King Philip which continuing and wasting him near a years time did in the end bring him to his Grave Amaulry de Montfort had profer'd to give up all his Conquests in Languedoc to Prince Lewis But Philip knowing the Constitution of his Son was too delicate and tender could not give consent he should undertake so toylsom a War notwithstanding the Pope and the Clergy press'd mightily to have them make an utter destruction of those Hereticks who without any respect still aimed at their Persons Year of our Lord 1223 and Estates principally They had therefore at Paris called a grand Assembly of Prelats and Lords to compleat this business John King of Jerusalem and the Popes Legat were Assistants Philip sick as he was would needs be amongst them and went expressly from Chasteau de Pacy on the Epte where he had diverted himself When he arriv'd at Mantes the Distemper so encreased upon him that he was forc'd to stop there and some days after gave up the Ghost the Twenty fifth of July in the year 1223. The length of his days was Fifty eight years that of his Reign from his Coronation Forty four His Monument is at St. Denis whither his Corps was convey'd with great Ceremony By his Will made the year before he ordained and appointed that 50000 Livers or 25000 Mark of Silver at 40 Solz to the Mark should be put into the hands of his Executors to be restor'd and paid to those from whom it should appear he had detained or unjustly taken any thing He bequeathed likewise Ten thousand Franks to Queen Isemburge ..... to Lewis his Son to employ for the defence of the Kingdom and no other use 53500 Mark of Silver to the King of Jerusalem 2000 to the Templars and as much to the Hospitallers of St. Johns towards the Recovery of the Holy Land 21000 Livers Parisis to the Poor to Orphans to Widows and Leprous People and 20000 to Amaulry de Montfort to redeem his Wife and Children out of the hands of the Albigois He Married three Wives Isabella Daughter of Baldwin IV. Ears of Haynault Isemburge Daughter of Waldemar the Great King of Denmark and Agnes Daughter of Bertold Duke of Merania Of the first he had no Child remaining but Prince Lewis who Reign'd by the second he had none but he had two by Agnes these were Philip who had the Earldom of Boulogne by Marrying the Heiress which was Mahauld or Matilda Daughter of the unfortunate Regnauld de Dammartin and Mary who was first joyned in Marriage Anno 1206. with Philip Earl of Namur and afterwards Anno 1212. with Henry IV. Earl of Louvain and Duke of Brabant He had also a Natural Son named Peter Charlot who was Treasurer of Tours and afterwards Bishop of Noyon Of all the Kings of the Third Race he annexed most Lands to the Crown and most Power to those that succeeded him wresting Normandy the Counties of Anjou and Maine Touraine Berry and Poitou from John Without-Land he did not a little contribute on his part towards the lessening or pulling down the Earl of Toulouze and by ruining those two Princes took away the Counterpoise that balanced his own Power in the Kingdom After which he brought the Grandees more easily both to respect and fear him and the People to bear greater Burthens and Taxes then they had done under his Predecessors The French gave him the name of Conqueror which Paulus Emilius has rendred in Latin Augustus and this seemed so proper and sounded so well to all that have written since that they have follow'd and continued it and have almost forgotten the other He was well shap'd and without any Corporal defect excepting that one of his Eyes was half obscured by an Amblyopia for which some Italian Authors have called him One ey'd He was a brave Cavalier and excellent Captain laborious and active happy in his Enterprizes because he undertook with Deliberation and Counsel and executed with celerity and heat sometimes a little Cholerick and oversway'd with Passion but bating that a great Politician who knew where it was fit to use Caresses where to employ Threats whom to Reward and whom to Punish somewhat more enclined to Severity then Mercy Splendid and Magnificent highly Charitable to the Poor zealous in doing Justice to his Subjects and no less zealous in Religion taking as much care to preserve the purity of Faith by rooting out all Heresie and defend the Goods and Liberties of the Church against Usurpers as to maintain the Rights and Honour of the Kingdom and therefore he was respected by the Clergy and People as the Defender of the Church and Father of his Country It is to be observ'd that in his Reign and in his Fathers and Grandfathers there were five great Officers of the Crown that is the Grand-Seneschal in Latine Dapifer great Chamberer Butler Constable and Chancellor I believe they were in the Kings Gift who might both place and displace I do not know what the Formalities were he used or whether the Grandees and Parliament or General Assembly of Prelats and Lords had any part in the nomination but I know they were not perpetual and did in some measure resemble rather Commissions then Offices that nevertheless their Function was so necessary that whoever held those Places signed all Acts and Writings of importance so that if any one of these were vacant it was ever noted down at the bottom of such Writing or Act. The Author of the Lives of the Ministers of State hath very curiously observed that the Office of Constable was a Member taken from the Grand-Seneschal and that of Great Chamberlain from the Grand Chamberer That the Constable had no Power or Command in the Armies till about the year 1218. after Philip Augustus had long left the Office of Grand-Seneschal vacant on purpose to destroy it as I suppose because it had too great Power He likewise proves very plainly that the High-Chamberlain had the management of the Kings Treasury and that the Office of Chancellor was the lowest of the five great ones we have specified till Guerin Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and afterwards Bishop of Senlis having that Place conferr'd on him by Lewis VIII after he had held the Seal Five and twenty years together raised it to a higher pitch of Honour and Degree then ever Towards the end of this Reign Families began to have fixed certain and hereditary Surnames The Lords and Gentlemen took them most commonly from the names of their Lands and Estates they had in possession Men of Learning from the places of their Nativity and Jews when they were Converted as likewise the Wealthy Merchants from the place of their abode As for what has given Surnames to the Plebeians some had it
By this Constitution the Regular Canons were excepted upon condition they should have a Companion to converse always with them that they might not turn absolute Brutes by daily frequenting of rude Peasants worse then solitude it self This Companion was but his second and by consequence the other who Officiated was first in respect of him for which reason they called him Prior and hence comes it that those Benefices were named Priories though in effect they are but simple Cures no more then those held by the Secular Priests There are several proofs in the Acts of the Councils and elsewhere that Pluralities were forbidden an Abuse that must be for ever condemned by true Church-men who look upon their Benefice as a Charge of Souls but ever practised by such as consider them only as a Revenue The Princes of those times did easily give way to great Revenge and run into extream Violence but when the first heat of their fury was spent they were easily persuaded to Repentance as well by the Sentiments of Christianity imprinted in their Hearts their Religion not being only meer Policy but true Faith as by the good Instructions and Arguments of their Bishops and others of the Clergy For those godly Pastors not knowing how to sooth and flatter Vice in any one much less give way to Crimes in Ruling Potentates and Grandees that ought to be Exemplary to inferiors boldly reproved them for their faults which otherwise they knew themselves must answer for at the Tribunal of the King of Kings They first made use of Admonitions which they did by word of Mouth if there were opportunity of access or else by Writing If afterwards they found the Vice incurable the Scandal continue and increase they added reprehensions and those sometimes publick and in the end let loose the Censures of the Church upon them By this Evangelical liberty assisted with the Holy Spirit they often mollified the hardest hearts and gained respect by their Apostolick constancy whilst others were but slighted and contemn'd as not having the courage to open their Mouths against the greatest Sinners When any Church was wronged in her Liberty or Goods the Priests took down the Shrines and Images of their Saints and set them on the ground either to turn the hearts of their Persecutors and bring them to Repentance or to inflame the indignation of the People against them Those that did not believe the reality of the Body of Jesus Christ in the Holy Sacrament were Hereticks but the too curious started several Questions touching the manner and the circumstances of that incomprehensible Mystery Some not being able to conceive what could become of the Sacred Body of Our Lord after they had eaten it said it passed with the rest of our Digestion Rupert Abbot de Tuit was of that opinion that the Bread and the Wine remained with the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ And it appears that Peter de Blois believed that the Cup could not be Consecrated without Water and that it was no Sacrament without the Chalice because it is a Mystical Repast and in a Supper there must be somewhat to drink as well as to eat In those times they yet Communicated in both the Species but divers and amongst others the Monks of Clugny to prevent the Profanation in case the Cup should happen to be spilt or some small drop should remain sticking on the Beard of the Communicant administred the Bread dipt in the Wine and that Bread was round and about the thickness of a Crown Now this method not seeming conformable to the institution of the Sacrament by our Saviour was often reproved and condemned by the Popes themselves who at length not being able to rectifie this abuse took the Cup wholly from the Laity Such as impugne the real Presence however are mistaken in saying that the word Transubstantiate was introduced by the Council of Latran which was held in Anno 1215 for we find it in Peter de Blois who wrote some years before but it is true that that Council authorized that Term of Transubstantiation The use of publick Pennance was yet very common the Penitents could not come into the Church nor Communicate nor receive the Blessing or the Salutation of Peace nor Shave his Beard nor cut his Hair nor put on any Linnen nor Christen a Child they eat nothing but Bread and drank only Water on Mundays Wednesdays and Saturdays in each Week But this severity was much abated by the Indulgences or Relaxations of Punishments allowed by the Canons The Popes freely bestowed these Indulgences on such as took the Cross to go into the Holy Land or against Hereticks and Schismaticks The Bishops likewise when they Consecrated any Church were not sparing to such as would come to visit them upon condition they would come the day before and give their Alms or Contribution towards the upholding and maintaining of the Fabrick They had then a particular fancy to build Subterraneal Chappels I have observed that at the building their Churches they would in the Foundations often times bury Vessels full of Silver that so when either Time or other accidents should come to destroy them they might find wherewith to rebuild them anew Also when any happen'd to fall to ruine they brought the Relicks of that Saint that was most honour'd by all the Neighbouring Countries to invite People out of Devotion to contribute largely towards another Edifice It was impossible but they should be rich for there was no one died that did not leave them some Legacy I shall observe by the way that by their Wills they ever affranchised some certain number of Slaves according to their Qualities and we may reckon this amongst others for one main cause which hath by little and little abolish'd Slavery or Servitude in France Those Persons that had committed great Sins though they were not such whom the Canons ordained to do publick Pennance yet they omitted not especially being at the point of Death to make a publick Confession and divers great Princes would needs die flat upon the Ground lying upon a Cross of Daft and Ashes some even with a Rope about their Necks others in the Habit of a Monk or Friars holy Frock and Cowle believing that Sacred Livery would shelter them against the Torments in the other World Auricular Confession had ever been practis'd in the Church Gratian examining in the second part of the Decree whether it were of absolute necessity or not after he hath mustred the Reasons on either side according to his Method seems to leave every one his Judgment free assuring us that Persons both very Devout and Pious were many for it and many against it But the Church hath determin'd it in the affirmative The Monks did not Administer the Sacraments to the Laity nor did they hear Confessions unless it were from those of their own Coat it being forbidden them by the Councils to exercise any Curial Function A certain Abbot of
cannot say how long she survived after the year 1180. but there is yet to be seen in the Parochial Church of that place her Monument and her Effigies also in Stone which over-head is crowned with Flowers The People of that Country assure us That God by divers Miracles hath approved the Devotion they have towards her Lewis VIII King XLII POPE HONORIUS III. All along this Reign and beyond it LEWIS VIII Surnamed the Lyon and the Father of St. LEWIS King XLII Aged Thirty six years compleat Year of our Lord 1223 PHilip Augustus had not caused his Son to be Crowned in his Life-time whether he had a jealousie of him or thought his Family so well Establish'd that he had no need of such precaution to secure the Crown to him He was therefore Crowned at Rheims with his Wife Blanch de Castille the Tenth day of the Month of August The King of England did not assist at his Coronation as he ought to have done in Quality of Pair of France but sent Ambassadors to summon him according to the Oath he had made at London to surrender Normandy to him with all those other Countries that had been taken from King John his Father They receiv'd for Answer That they had been Consiscated by Judgment of the Pairs and that they pretended to have the remainder likewise which he held so far were they from giving back what he demanded Year of our Lord 1022 and 1223. As the People of Languedoc did easily return again to their Natural Lord Raimond Earl of Toulouze Amaury finding himself too weak to stay in those Countries came and resigned and yielded up all the Right and Title he had into the hands of the King who for Recompence made him High Constable It was then but an Employment lasting no longer then the War So that we sometimes find such Lords on whom it hath been conferr'd two or three several times Year of our Lord 1224 Raimond Earl of Toulouze having made his Address to Pope Honorius with all imaginable submission the Holy Father sent to his Legat to call a Council at Montpellier to reconcile him with the Church After which Raimond before an Assembly of the Clergy in Languedoc promis'd and sware entire Obedience to the Roman Church sufficient security to the Clergy for restitution and the enjoyment of their Goods and Profits and the extirpation of Hereticks throughout all his Country Upon this satisfaction the Pope received him to Mercy and owned him for Earl of Toulouze Year of our Lord 1224 But as the resistance and opposition of his Subjects hindred him from making good his Promises the Pope sent a Legat to the King it was Romain a Cardinal that had the Title of St. Angelo to persuade him to undertake that Expedition which he did the more readily because it suited with his zeal and with his Interests Year of our Lord 1224 The two Kings Lewis of France and Henry of Germany eldest Son to the Emperor Frederic had a Conference at Vaucouleurs where they Treated about several Difference between the two Crowns and made divers Propositions but came to no conclusion At his return from thence pursuant to a Resolution had been taken to drive the English wholly out of France Lewis enters Poitou gains a Battle there over Savary de Mauleon General of the English in Guyenne makes himself Master of the Cities of Niort and of St. John d'Angely and generally over all the Places even to the Garonne and receives the Homage of all the Lords of those parts Year of our Lord 1224 There was nothing left but Rochelle where Savary de Mauleon defended himself for a long time expecting Relief from England In fine being basely disappointed and deceived by the King of England's Ministers who sent him Chests full of old Iron in stead of Silver to satisfie the Garison he was forced to surrender the Town the 28th day of July and afterwards pretending whether true or false that he had been Treated in England as a Person whose Faith they suspected he quitted his old Master and went to the King of France After the taking of that important City the Kings to secure it the better to themselves had as it were outvied each other in gratifying it with many great Priviledges by which means it was raised to a high pitch of Renown for its Wealth and Liberty but through their ill management of those Advantages she hath utterly lost them all in these latter times Year of our Lord 1225 The rest of Guyenne had been gained by the French if Richard Brother to King Henry had not landed at Bordeaux with a great Army which raised up the drooping Spirits He took St. Macaire near Bordeaux by Storm but la Reoule gave him a great Repulse and being inform'd that the French Army was at the River Garonne he Ship'd himself again and left order with Aimery Vicount de Touars to procure a Truce There wandred a certain Person about Flanders near this time who said he was that Baldwin Earl of Flanders and Emperor of Constantinople that had been taken Prisoner by the King of Bulgaria He related how he made his escape out of Prison and put them in mind of several Tokens and Circumstances to know him by The Flemings who mightily loved Baldwin gave Credit to this Man and put him in possession of all Flanders Year of our Lord 1225 The Countess Jane Daughter of Baldwin finding her self at a loss for her Husband Ferrand was still a Prisoner at Paris had recourse to the King who sent word to this pretended Baldwin that he should come to him at Peronne He came boldly thither but disdaining or not being able to answer the Questions put to him which he must needs have known if he were not a Cheat the King commanded him to depart his Territories within three days and gave him a safe Conduct Being afterwards forsaken by all the World he endeavour'd to escape away in a disguise but he was taken in Burgundy and carried to the Countess who after â she had made him undergo divers Tortures sent him to the Gibbet as an Impostor His Execution did not hinder malicious People from believing that the Daughter had chosen rather to hang her Father then to restore him to his Soveraignty Year of our Lord 1225 This same year the King being in Touraine the Legat went to him and obliged him to prolong the Truce with Aymery Vicount de Touars the only Nobleman that opposed the King yet in Poictou This Vicount shortly after came to Paris to render Hommage to the King in presence of the King of England's Ambassadors Year of our Lord 1226 The City of Avignon having refused the Army passage was besieged the 14th of June It defended it self obstinately Guy Count de Saint Pol one of the bravest of the Besiegers was slain there the Plague got amongst the Soldiers and the Earl of Champagne Male-content went away without leave The King nevertheless swore he would not
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
Royal Robes over her Religious Habit of that Order which she had taken some time before her death being besides and long before that time of the third Order of St. Francis according to the Devotion of those times Some modern Historians are much in doubt whether she were elder or younger then Berenguelle who was Married to Alphonso King of Leon. This had the Guardianship of her Brother Henry and that Prince being dead succeeded to the Kingdom of Castille but some have believed that it was by Usurpation upon Blanch her Sister who was then a great way off from that Countrey and they go upon this ground that amongst the Records they find Letters from nine Castillian Lords to Lewis VIII in which they own and acknowledge his Son for their King and say that Alphonso IX King of Castille had declared by his Will that in case his Son Henry died without any Heirs the Children of Blanch were to succeed by right of Inheritance but to tell the truth it does not follow from thence that Blanch was the eldest it is more probable that these discontented Lords grounded it upon this that Alphonso and Berenguelle being of kin within the degrees prohibited Pope Innocent III. had declared their Marriage to be null and the Children that should proceed from that conjunction incestuous Bastards and incapable to succeed So that upon their exclusion those of Blanch came to the succession of Alphonso IX their Grand-father and this is it that gave a Right to the Kings of France which they held a long time to the Kingdom of Castille Year of our Lord 1252 Some Months before the death of Blanch there arose a sharp contest between the Secular Doctors of Theology at Paris whereof William de St. Amour was as it were the Head and on the other part the Orders Mendicants of Preaching Friers and Friers Minors because those Monks as the others reproached them were so far from submitting to the Statutes and Discipline of the University that they aimed to make themselves the Masters The thing was obstinately debated five or six years together St. Amour got the better at Paris but the Dispute being transferr'd to Rome he was worsted and his Book was condemned not as Heretical but as scandalizing those good Fathers They had great credit in that Court and obtained great Priviledges with so much the more facility as their trampling on the Laws increased the power of the Donor and diminished that of the Bishops to whose prejudice they were granted About the beginning of this quarrel Robert de Sorbonne Doctor in Divinity and very highly esteemed by St. Lewis built the Colledge of the Poor Masters of SORBONNE under which Name the Vulgar are wont to comprehend all the Faculty of Theology of Paris In effect it is the most renowned of all those Colledges Year of our Lord 1253 In the year 1253. died Thibauld who was the Fifth of that Name as Earl of Champagne but only the First as King of Navarre His Successor in all his Estates was Thibauld II. or VI. aged Fourteen years under the Guardianship of his Mother Year of our Lord 1254 Conrad the Son of Frederic did not find himself strong enough in Germany to cope against William Earl of Holland pretended King of the Romans he was gone into Italy in the year 1251. and some time after having unhappily caused his Nephew Frederic to be strangled had seized upon his Treasure and upon his Kingdom of Sicilia But this year 1254. was himself poysonn'd by Mainfroy to whom not knowing he was the Author of his death he lest the Regency of the Kingdom and the Guardianship of his Son Conrad the Young vulgarly named Conradin aged but Three years Year of our Lord 1254 It was neer Six years since St. Lewis the King went out of France and Three years and a half that he had been in the Holy Land visiting the Holy Places with an incredible Devotion sortifying the Towns and reviving the courage and affairs of the Christians in those Countreys as much as possibly he could France destitute of any Pilot by the death of his Mother most earnestly desired his return He therefore took Shipping at the Port of Acon or Ptolemais on St. Year of our Lord 1254 Marks Eve and landed at Marseilles the Eleventh day of July Year of our Lord 1254 The King of England who was this year come into Gascongne desiring to avoid the long voyage by Sea obtained leave of the good King to cross thorough France and take Shiping at Boulogne He met the King at Chartres who from thence took him along to Paris where he Treated him Four days together with all the magnificence imaginable The joy and splendor was the greater because the four Sisters Daughters of the Earl of Provence the eldest Married to the King of France the Second to the King of England the Third to Richard his Brother and the Fourth to Charles Earl of Anjou met all there together William Earl of Holland and King of the Romans making War against the Friezelanders who were Rebels to him had lately been knocked on the Head by certain Peasants hid amongst the Reeds when his Horse was sunk into the Snow and Ice The following year being 1256. the Electors basely selling the Honour of the German Nation and their Votes to Foreign Princes gave the Empire some of them to Richard Brother to the King of England others to Alphonso X. King of Castille Richard went into Germany and sojourn'd there above two years having been Crowned at Aix la Chapelle in the year 1247. Alphonso was no way known to them but by his Money and both of them disputed their Right and Title before the Pope for divers years without eve coming to any agreement The Son of Bouchard d'Avesnes cast out by Guy Earl of Flanders and their Brothers of the Second Bed by the same Mother took Sanctuary with William Earl of Year of our Lord 1255 Holland who had vanquish'd Guy and taken him prisoner with one of his Brothers The Mother to be reveng'd had called in Charles Earl of Anjou and given him the enjoyment of Hainault and Valenciennes during his life He regained those Countreys easily enough from the Hollander because he found him fully enough employ'd against the Frisons where he was kill'd as we have related His Son Florent who succeeded him set the two Brothers at liberty for a great Ransom and St. Lewis obliged his Brother Charles to restore Hainault for a sum of Money as likewise the parties concern'd to stand to the award he had made in Anno 1246. Year of our Lord 1256 There being an universal calme thorough all his Kingdom he set himself upon the regulating it by good and wholsome Laws the banishing from it all violence and oppression the instructing others by his good examples and by all manner of Just and Holy Works undertaking the protection of the Weak the Widdows and Orphans procuring with all his
Gibbelins of Tuscany especially those of Florence and restored all the Guelphes to their Lands and Dwellings In the mean time the young Conradin had sent a Manifesto to all the Princes of Europe declaring himself to be the rightful Successor to the Kingdom of Sicily and imploring their assistance to recover that Succession of his Fathers Insomuch that with the aid of the antient friends of the House of Souaube or Scwaben and some Year of our Lord 1267 adventurers that sought their fortunes he gathered a huge Army and came into Italy about the end of October observing and giving ear rather to the importunities of the Gibbelines who pressed him to march on then the wise Counsels of his Mother who feared the unexperimented Youth of her Son scarce Sixteen years of age would be Ship-wrack'd against the fortune and courage of Charles He had brought with him out of Germany the young Frederic Son of Herman Marquiss of Baden who said likewise he was Duke of Austria being Son of a Daughter of Henry Brother to Frederic last Duke of those Countreys and withal he held himself certain of the assistance of Henry and Frederic Brothers of Alphonso X. King of Castille who upon his arrival in Italy were to declare in his favour Those Brothers having been driven out of Spain by the King Alphonso had retired themselves into Africk to the King of Tunis where they had acquir'd a great deal of reputation Money and Friends Henry having information of the progress of Charles in Italy was come to proffer him his Service with Eight hundred Horse and had lent him a considerable sum of Money In requital Charles had gotten him to be chosen Senator of Rome hut because he afterwards thwarted him in his designs of obtaining by the Pope the Kingdom of Sardinia that Spaniard was alienated from him and secretly conspired with Conradin so that he disposed the City of Rome to receive him driving thence or imprisoning all those that contradicted and when he saw him approaching near he set up his Flags and Arms upon the Gates and joyned openly with him Conradin having spent the Winter at Verona despising the Popes Thunders embarqued at the coast of Genoa on some Vessels belonging to Pisa Being landed in Tuscany he surprized and cut in pieces those Forces that Charles had left there and Year of our Lord 2268 at the same time Conrad being come from Antioch caused all Sicily to Revolt except only Messina and Palermo These prosperous beginnings betraid young Conradin and flattered him to bring him to his death while he was entring into the Kingdom of Sicily Charles quitted the Siege of Nocera and came to meet him resolved to decide the quarrel by a Battle it was fought the Five and twentieth day of August near the lake Fucin now Year of our Lord 1268 called the lake Celano the French gained it but not without much hazard and much blood Conradin Frederic Duke of Austria and Henry of Castille saved themselves by flight but being discover'd they were taken and brought back to the Conquerour After this Victory he took upon him again the dignity of Senator of Rome which he had been obliged to lay down and by the Pope was constituted Vicar of the Empire in Tuscany His Fame would have been beyond a parallel had he been but as merciful as valiant and had not exercised such mortal feverities upon his prisoners of War and such people as revolted from him Year of our Lord 1269 They were so great that being resolved to pass into Africk with St. Lewis the King not knowing what to do with Conradin and Frederic whom it was very dangerous to keep and more to set them free in a Kingdom full of Factions and Rebellion he caused their Process to be made by the Syndics of the Cities of that Kingdom Those Judges having condemned them to death as disturbers of the Churches quiet their Heads were cut off upon a Scaffold in the midst of the City of Naples the Twenty seventh day of October an execution which makes posterity tremble yet with horror but which seemed a retribution of the Divine Justice for those yet more horrible barbarities which Frederic the Grand-father of Conradin had used to all the Family of the Norman Princes Henry de Castille had his Life given him but was confin'd to a prison from whence he got not out till Five and twenty years after to return into Spain Almost at the same time this Conrad Prince of Antioch Son of one Frederic a bastard of the Emperour Frederic II. who was come from the East to the assistance Year of our Lord 1269 of Conradin and had contributed to make the Island of Sicily revolt being taken by some belonging to Charles was hanged and thus ended by the Hangmans hands that famous and glorious Race of the Prince of Scwaben of whom there have been so many Kings and Emperours I should have told you before that Conradin being upon the Scaffold after he had made bitter complaints of his misfortunes and the cruelty of his Enemies threw down his Glove in the Market-place as a token of the investiture of his Kingdoms to such of his kindred as would prosecute his quarrel a Cavalier having taken it up carried it to James King of Arragon who had Married a Daughter of Mainfroy's The abuses and the designs of the Court of Rome were grown to such a height and come to that pass that the King St. Lewis though very devout to the Holy See made this year a Pragmatique to stop the current of them in France especially touching the dispensation of Benefices This same year the Marriage of his Daughter Blanch was made with Ferdinand eldest Son to Alphonso X. King of Castille the Pope having given his Dispensation for the near consanguinity between the parties The Nuptials were celebrated at Year of our Lord 1269 Burgos Philip Brother to the Bride Edward Prince of England James King of Arragon the Bride-grooms Grand-father Alhumar King of Granada and divers other Princes and great Lords honoured the Solemnity with their Presence and it was expresly said in the Contract that if Ferdinand died before his Father her Children should represent him and succeed to the Crown The affairs of the Christians in the Levant being reduced to the last extremity by Bendocabar Sultan of Egypt the exhortations of the Pope and the zeal of St. Lewis stirred up those of the West to make one more great attempt to support them The King of Arragon and Edward eldest Son to the King of England promised to Second St. Lewis and his Brother Charles to go thither with all the force of Italy The number of Adventurers of the Cross consisted of Fifteen thousand Horse and Two hundred thousand Foot which were divided in two Armies to attaque the Saracens in two several places at once Year of our Lord 1270 The Arragonian and the English undertook to go and make War in the Holy Land the Arragonian
being Ship'd turn'd back again and only sent some Vessels Commanded by Ferdinand his bastard Son but Edward did generously make good his Vow As for St. Lewis he turned his Enterprize against the Kingdom of Tunis the conquest thereof being in his judgment the way to conquer Egypt without which they could never keep the Holy-Land Besides his Brother perswaded him to it to make Year of our Lord 1270 the coasts of Africk become Tributaries to his Kingdom of Sicilia as they had been in the time of Roger the Norman Prince Having therefore left the administration of his Kingdom to Matthew Abbot of St. Denis and Simon Earl of Nesle he left Paris as I believe the first day of March Year of our Lord 1270 in the year 1270. if we begin it in January or the year 1269. if we make it begin at Easter as they then did in France He was accompanied by three of his Sons Philip Tristan and Peter his Brother Alphonso his Nephew Robert II. Earl of Artois Thibauld King of Navarre Guy Earl of Flanders and a great number of the Nobility He was near four Months either upon his way or about Aigues-mortes where he waited some time till his Vessels were ready He went on board in the beginning of July with his Brothers and set fail the day following his Forces and the other Lords took Shipping in several Ports particularly at Marseilles the Rendezvous for the whole Fleet was appointed to be at Sardinia in the Road of Calary Year of our Lord 1270 He got first thither with four great Vessels not without meeting with very bad weather the rest arrived Eight days after him and having all held a Council together they persisted in their design to Land in Africk and secure themselves of Tunis as well because it was thought important to have that coast as for that the King of those Countreys had given them hopes he would become Christian if they would but stand by him with their Forces against his resisting Subjects but this was only to amuse them The Army being then landed on the African shore immediately took the Castle and the City of Carthage built indeed upon the ruines of that famous rival to Rome but which had nothing now that was great but its name Afterwards they besieged the City of Tunis which is situate at the further end of the Lake of Goletta five miles distant from the Sea At five weeks end from the beginning of the Siege the excessive heats of the Countrey scarcity of Water the Sea Air and the toil the Army endured having the Saracens perpetually upon them it bred the pestilential Fever and Dysentery's amongst them whereof a great many people of note dyed amongst others Prince John Tristan de Nevers and Peter de Ville-Beon Chamberlain to the King and his intimate Confident The good King himself being seized with a Flux was some days afterwards taken with a continual Fever which put an end to his glorious Labours by a happy Death Year of our Lord 1270 the 25th day of August the Seventy fifth year of his Age and the Four and fortieth of his Reign Being on his Death-bed he called for his Son Philip to leave most Excellent and most Christian-like Instructions which he had some time before drawn up and written with his own hand He had together all the Vertues of a great Saint and a great King of a true Christian and a true Gentleman He was humble to his God and fierce to the Enemies of the Faith modest and a hater of Luxury as to his particular but brave and pompous in publick Ceremonies as mild and affable in Conversation as rough and terrible in Fight and Battle prodigal to the Poor and sparing of his Subjects Money more then of his own liberal to Soldiers and Men of Learning prompted with a sincere desire to keep the Peace between his Neighbours enflamed with an incredible zeal for the glory of God and for the administring of true Justice in fine worthy to be the Model of all Princes that desire to Rule according to the will of God and the good of their Subjects Amongst his servent Exercises of Piety which never did abate in all the days of his Life he observed the Fasts Ordained by the Church with great exactness eating but once that day and if either his weakness or the unavoidable labour in business did at any time oblige him to eat twice he redeemed the Transgression according to the Canons of the Church by some great Alms feeding an Hundred Poor some other day I mean an Hundred extraordinary for he ordinarily entertain'd a very great number and served Two hundred at Table upon every great Festival day I find that every Lent he distributed Sixty three Muids of Wheat sixty eight thousand Herrings and three thousand two hundred nineteen Livers Parisis to the Monasteries and Hospitals and One hundred pence a day to other poor People And to make this Alms and Charitable Benevolence perpetual he charged his own Demeasns with it as also with many other Pious Grants and Foundations which instead of diminishing the Estate of his Successors hath been as it were a miraculous Leaven that hath increased and multiplied it It were to be wished that that great and good Ordinance he made upon his return out of the Holy Land to root out the Misdemeanours of Judges the Debaucheries of Gaming Drinking and Women were as much in our practise as it is yet in our Books I cannot omit that he did never intermedle in the naming any to Bishopricks and Abbies but left the liberty of Elections entirely free Insomuch as an Ambassador of his having brought a Bull to him from Rome which gave him the right of Nomination he was very angry with him and threw it into the Fire For the other Benefices he ever bestow'd them upon the most Worthy and never on such as were in Employments already unless they first surrendred the other He founded a great many Churches and Monasteries particularly for the Orders of St. Dominique and St. Francis several Hospitals amongst others that for the Quinze-Vingts the fair Abby of Royaumont that of St. Matthew near Rouen and the Holy Chappel in his Palace where he put in Canons and Chaplains They attribute to him the Institution of the University and the first Parliament of Toulouze It is certain he was the first who out of humility added the Sign of the Cross to the Ceremony of touching those troubled with the Kings-Evil He had Eight Children four Sons and four Daughters The Sons were Philip who Reigned and was surnamed the Hardy or Daring John Tristan who was Earl of Nevers Peter Earl of Alenson these two left no Posterity Robert Earl of Clermont in Beauvoisis who Espoused Beatrix Daughter and Heiress of Agnes de Bourbon who was so of Archembald Lord of Bourbon and of John III. Son to Hugh Duke of Burgundy From this Marriage issued the Branch of Bourbon who
all his Forces with him Year of our Lord 1289 Don Sancho King of Castille desired earnestly to have a Peace with King Philip and for that reason he would have given him up the two Sons of Alphonso de Cerda and to this intent had endeavoured to get them out of the hands of the Arragonian who kept them Now the Arragonian having denied so to do he Treated with Philip obliging himself to give the Kingdom of Murcia to the eldest of those two Brothers and some other Lands to the second The Arragonian hearing of this Treaty made haste to set them at liberty that so they might be obliged to him and continue still Enemies to Sancho In effect they were so ill advised as to refuse to stand to the Agreement which Philip their Cousin German had made for them and immediately took up Arms against the Castillan Year of our Lord 1290 Philips displeasure for being thus cantradicted by these two Brothers was craftily manag'd by the Castillan so that those two Kings had Interview at Bayonne and there made a Treaty by which Philip according the Advice of some interessed Counsellors totally abondoned his unhappy Cousins and withall yielded up and gave to Don Sancho all the rights he might have to the Crown of Castille This year Alexander III. King of Scotland dying without Children there arose a long and bloody Quarrel for the Succession between two Lords each of them pretending to be the next Heir Both of them being of the Blood Royal by their Mothers who were the Daughters of Scotland Their names were Robert Bruce and John de Baliol. This last was Originally of Normandy History does not mention of what part for there are divers places have the name of Baliol. These two Competitors having referr'd their Difference to Edward King of England he gives Judgment in favour of Baliol whether he believed his Title to be the better or whether it were because he made himself his Vassal as the Scots reproach him and had promis'd to hold his Crown of him Year of our Lord 1291 Alfir Sultan of Egypt had in the year 1288. wrested all the Cities of Tripoly Syria Lidon and Tyre with some other strong Holds out of the hands of the Christians They had nothing more left in all those Countreys but the Sea-Port Town of Ptolemais which made a Truce with the Sultan The French the Pisans the Genoese and the Venetians had each of them their distinct Quarters and Magistrates The Pope the King of Cyprus the Earl of Tripoly the Patriach of Jerusalem and the Templars contended for the Soveraignty Amidst these Divisions there was nothing but Murthers Robberies and Plunderings both within and without the City Besides all this they were so imprudent as to suffer some numbers of new Recruits that were come to them as Adventurers of the Cross to break the Truce The Sultan Mebee-Arafe who succeeded to Alfir demanded Reparation but as it was not in their power to deliver up the Violators he besieged the City and after Forty days continual attaques gained it by Storm putting to the Sword all that were within excepting only such as could save themselves on Ship-board Such was the end of the Christians Conquests in Syria and their Expeditions into the Holy Land For although the Popes have since caused the Croisado's to be preach'd for the recovery of it and several Princes and great Persons have made â âow to go thither for the same purpose Nevertheless since the loss of Ptolemais none of them have gone thither but only some Pilgrims Year of our Lord 1291 Charles the Lame was in the end forced that he might free his Children and release those Gentlemen he had given in Hostage and who were all sent into Arragon to persuade his Cousin Charles Earl of Valois to renounce the Kingdom of Arragon upon which Condition King Alphonso engaged himself to go with his Forces into the Holy Land and in his pasiage through Sicilia to do his utmost to induce his Brother James Usurper of that Island to restore it to Charles the Lame Who in the mean while gave his Daughter Clemence in Marriage to Charles de Valois and for a Portion the Counties of Anjon and Maine Year of our Lord 1291 Otheline Earl of Burgundy ready to be trod under foot by Robert Duke of Burgundy who would have the Earldom to hold of the Dutchy and do him Homage cast himself head-long into the protection of King Philip bringing to him his eldest Daughter named Jane that he might Marry her to one of his Sons and in favour of this Alliance he from that time gave him up his Earldom reserving only to himself the Revenue during his Life This Jane was afterwards Married to Philip the Long the Kings eldest Son who was then but in his Cradle and her Sister Blanch to the second who was called Charles the Fair. Year of our Lord 1291 The excessive Usury of the Italian Bankers suckt all the Substance of the poor People The King had need of Money he was glad oâ such an opportunity and pretence to do Justice to get some from them He therefore caused them all to be seized upon May-day night This was a sweet Knot or Nose-gay of May-Flowers but since under the same pretence they laid hold of many honest Merchants likewise and raised great Fines or Taxes upon them as well as upon the Blood-sucking Leeches this inquiry which in it self was just and necessary was converted into a most odious Robbery Year of our Lord 1291 It is believed that this year the holy Virgins little House at Nazareth where the Incarnation of the Word was declared to her was by Angels transferr'd to the top of a little Mountain in Dalmatia on the other side of the Adriatique-Sea That from thence three years afterwards it was brought to the hither-side in a Wood that belonged to a Widow named Loretta and that it was removed at two other times into two several places in the last whereof the Angels left it There is a Magnificent Church built there and a pretty good Town and both are called by the name of Loretta Year of our Lord 1291 The Emperor Rodolph ended his days in the Burrough of Geâinesheim near Spire the last day of September having Reigned Eighteen years He laid the foundation of the prodigious Grandeur of the House of Austria but undermined that of the Empire in Italy by neglecting to go thither and selling the Soveraignty to divers Cities of Tuscany in the year 1286. especially to that of Luca and Florence who bought it of him with their Money Year of our Lord 1292 In his room Adolph Earl of Nassau was elected the 6th of January and Crowned at Francfort a brave and generous Prince who would have maintained that Title better then any of his Ancestors had he but had as much Riches as Vertue The Peace between France and England had lasted to this time to the great satisfaction of both
a Truce upon pain of Excommunication he made Reply That he took no Rule or Law from any one in the Government of his Kingdom and that the Pope had in this case no right but to Exhort and Advise not to Command This was the first occasion of Enmity betwixt these two great Powers Year of our Lord 1296 There were two more almost at the same time The one that Boniface received the Complaints of the Earl of Flanders who implored his Justice because Philip denied to restore his Daughter to him The other for that he erected the Abby of St. Antonine de Pamiez to a Bishoprick and put the Abbot of St. Antonine into it Observe en passant that this City was other while called Fredalas King Philip was offended at this Erection and more yet with the choice of the Bishop his name was Bernard Saisset because he believed him a Factious Man and too much devoted to Boniface Nor would he suffer him to take possession and therefore Lewis Bishop of Toulouze administred in that Church for two whole years together Year of our Lord 1295 and 96. The War was still carried on in Guyenne by the Earl of Valois and the Constable de Nesle and then by Robert Earl of Artois The English had for Commanders there John Earl of Richmond and Edmond the Kings Brother To what purpose would it be to relate the taking of many petty places and the divers small Skirmishes The French say they won two Signal Victories one of them was gained by the Earl of Valois and the other by the Earl of Artois It is certain that Edmond being beaten by the first near Bayonne was forced to retire into that City where he died and the Earl of Lincoln who commanded that English Army afterwards having lost many of his Men before Daqs durst not stay for Robert d'Artois and retreated Year of our Lord 1296 In the mean while a most dangerous Storm was forming against France A League was made at Cambray by the Interest of the King of England whereinto he entred with the Duke of Brabant the Earls of Holland Juliers Luxemburgh Guelders and Bar Albert Duke of Austria the Emperor Adolphus and the Flemming himself all which sent their several Cartels of Defiance to King Philip but none of them vexed him so much as the Challenge from the Earl of Flanders because he was his Vassal The Earl of Bar began the Attaque by ravaging Champagne but he retir'd when he heard how Gaultier de Crecy Lieutenant of the Kings Army burnt and plundred his Country Soon after the Queen being advanced that way to defend her Country of Champagne he was so saint-hearted as to surrendet himself to her without making any desence They sent him Prisoner to Paris from whence he could get no Release but upon very hard Conditions For he did Homage to the King for his Earldom which he ever had pretended to hold in Franc Alleud or Free-Tenure and moreover he was condemned by a Decree of Parliament to go and bear Arms in the Holy Land till the King were pleased to recall him Year of our Lord 1297 As for Florent Earl of Holland he was kill'd by a Gentleman whose Wife he had Dishonour'd His Son John died soon after him by eating of some ill-Morsel John d' Avesnes Earl of Haynault their Cousin and nearest Relation inherited Holland and Frisland Year of our Lord 1297 The greatest burthen of the War fell upon Flanders King Philip marched into the Country with a vast Army to whom the Queen joyned her Forces after she had subdued the Earl of Bar. He took L'Isle by a three Months Siege and Courtray and Douay without much difficulty whilst on the other hand Robert Earl of Artois gained the Battle of Furnes where the Earl of Juliers was so ill handled that he died of his Wounds Year of our Lord 1297 Adolphus detained in Germany by the private Troubles the French started amongst them or the Sums of Money Philip gave him under-hand did not bring the Flemming that Relief which he expected Withall they found a way by the all-powerfulinfluence of Money to debauch Albertus Duke of Austria from the Party who brought over with him the Duke of Brabant and the Earls of Luxembourg Guelders and Beaumont As for the King of England who was there in Person and had his Navy at Damm and his Land Forces in the Country Towns he brought more inconvenience then assistance to the Flemming Besides we may add that the greatest Cities in Flanders as Ghent and Bruges had been against the making of this War and amongst them a Faction had declared for the French who called themselves the Portes-Lys or the Flower-de-Luce-Bearers Now the King being retired to Ghent with the Earl of Flanders could find no other way to Charm the Swords of the French in those Countries but by a Truce The intercession of the Earl of Savoy and Charles King of Sicilia obtained it with difficulty for them from the Tenth of October till Twelfth-day for Guyenne and to S. Andrews Holy-day for Flanders only Edward knew how to employ that time to good purpose Having passed the Sea he went against the Scots who had shaken off the Yoke and not only forced their King John and his Barons to do Homage to him a second time of which a Charter written in French was Signed and Sealed and to renounce the Alliance with France but likewise kept him Prisoner a while with some of those Lords confining them in the Tower of London resolving not to release him till he had made an end of his Disputes with the French Year of our Lord 1298 The Truce being expir'd he made ready to return into Guyenne by the Month of March in the year 1298. Nevertheless as either of these Kings had partly what they desired that is the King of France the Towns in Flanders and the King of England the Kingdom of Scotland it was not difficult for their Ambassadors who met about it at Monstreuil on the Sea Coast to prolong the Truce to the end of the year It was agreed That the Allies of both Kings should be Comprised by consequence John Balâol ought to have been so but they could never obtain his liberty and that all the places Conquer'd in Flanders should be in the hands of Philip during that Truce The King of England had obliged himself by Oath to the Flemming not to make a Peace till they were restor'd but in the mean time he agreed his Marriage with Margaret the Sister to Philip and that of his Son Edward with Isabella the Daughter of that King Year of our Lord 1298 The Money that Adolphus had received on both hands from the Kings of France and England was the cause of his Ruine and on the contrary what Albertus had taken for the same end served to raise his Fortune For this last having made use of some of it to corrupt the Princes of Germany who were displeased
Lord 1300 Boniface was grown obstinate in his design for the expedition to the Holy-Land and perswaded himself he had a right to oblige all Christian Princes to it He therefore sent Bernard Saisset Bishop of Pamiez to Philip with a charge to exhort him to this voyage and also to summon him to make good his word to the Earl of Flanders by setting his Daughter at liberty He acquitted himself of his Commissions in such high terms and it was told the King that he held discourses upon several occasions so injurious to his Person and so factious against the quiet and peace of the Kingdom that he made him be seized and kept prisoner Then their hatred ran up to the extremity the King besides all this being mightily heated by the ill reports of William de Nogaret For he informed him that when he was sent Ambassador to the Pope to acquaint him of his Alliance with the Emperour Albert he perceived that his Holiness was very ill inclined towards him that he had bad designs and that he led a scandalous life and most unworthy of the Succession to the Apostles Year of our Lord 1301 On his part Boniface dispatched the Arch-Deacon of Narbonna to Command him to set the Bishop of Pamiez at liberty and let him know there was a Bull importing that the King was under his correction for the sins he committed in his Temporal Administration as well as for others That the collation of Benefices did not appertain to him and that the Regalia was an usurpation By another Bull he suspended all the priviledges granted by his predecessors to the King to those of his House and to his Council And by a Third he ordered all the Prelats of the Kingdom should come to Rome to find out some remedy against Philips disorders and the Enterprizes he made upon the Ecclesiastical State Year of our Lord 1300 The King upon the earnest intreaties of the Clergy put the Bishop of Pamiez into the hands of the Arch-Bishoy of Narbonna his Metropolitan but he forbad the Prelats for going out of the Kingdom or the transporting of any Gold or Silver And for that point which he believed did concern his Sovereignty he thought it best to support himself with the Authority of all the Estates of his Kingdom against Boniface The Estates assembled in Nostre-Dame the 10th of April in the year 1301. Year of our Lord 1301 declared that they owned no other Superiour in Temporals besides the King and in conformity to that the Clergy wrote to the Pope as the Nobility and the third Estate did to the Cardinals who in their answers assured that it had never been the Popes intention to attribute that Superiority to himself During these quarrels a prodigious Comet appeared in the Heavens it began to shew it self in Autumn towards the West and in the Sign of Scorpio darting its Rays sometimes to the Eastward and sometimes to the Westward It was seen but one Month. The Earl of Artois Nogaret Peter Flote Chancellor to the King and the Colona's whom Boniface had thrust out of all proscribed and imprisoned exasperated all things more and more Many nevertheless were scandalized that they should contend against the Pope and therefore it was thought decent to maintain that he was not so and that by opposing his Person they did not oppose the Vicar of Jesus Christ but an ill Man that had intruded himself into the Papacy The King being therefore at the Louvre Nogaret in presence of divers Princes of the Blood and Bishops presented a Petition the Twelfth day of March accusing him of Heresie Simony Magick and other enormous crimes and demanding the Kings assistance that there might be a general Council called to deliver the Church from this oppression The Pope had dispatched into France a Cardinal named John Le Moyne a native of the Diocess of Amiens a knowing Man and very Learned upon pretence of negotiating some agreement with the King but indeed to sound the inclination of the Clergy in his favour Now being but ill satisfied with the answers the King made to his Quaeries he sent another Bull which declared him Excommunicate for having hindred the Prelats from going to Rome forbid them to admit him to the Sacraments or Mass Commanded them to be at Rome within three Months and summoned some by name upon the penalty of being deposed Year of our Lord 1302 During these Contrasto's Charles Earl of Valois was gone into Sicilia with a great Army with design to reduce it to the Obedience of Charles the Lame his Nephew He made so little progress that he thought fitter to make peace between both parties In effect he succeeded better in it then in his War The conditions of the Treaty were That Frederic should marry his Daughter Eleonor for whose Portion Sicilia should remain to him under the Title of the Kingdom of Trinacria but if he had no Children by her the Island should return to Charles the Lame or to his Heirs upon their payment of a hundred thousand Ounces of Gold Before his expedition into Sicilia he had been sent to Florence by the Pope to calm the Factions wherewith that Republick was most horribly tormented During five Months time that he remained there his Care nor his Authority could by no means prevent the Guelphs and Black from proscribing the White who were for the most part Gibbelins and from ruining their Houses Dante Aligeri one of the rarest wits of his time who was of the faction of the White though otherwise he were a Guelph was put into the number of the banished and could never obtain to be recalled He lays the fault upon the Earl of Valois for not having provided against those injurious proceedings and tried to place his revenge upon all the House of France by the cruel bitings of his Pen which certainly would have made some impression upon their posterity had there not been prooss much clearer then the Sun at Noon-day which dispelled that Satyrical calumny Year of our Lord 1302 There are some Authors that assign in this year 1302. the Invention of the Mariners Compass or Needle by one Flavio a native of Melplus However since we find some mention of it in Authors long before this timeâ we can at most but give this Flavio the honour of having brought it to greater use and perfection This same year 1302. Flanders revolted and was lost as to the French Those people irreconcileable enemies to Taxes and heavy oppressions could not endure the violence and imposts wherewith their young Governour James de Chastillon vexed and tormented them by the evil Counsels of Peter Flote a violent and most covetous Man and indeed he was one-ey'd They therefore called in William Son of the Earl of Juliers and a Daughter of âarl Guy's to be their Chief whose younger Sons with the Sons of his Brother John came into the County of Alost to support this Rising Year of our Lord 1302 The Fire began
last by a Decree of the Twenty eighth of December maintained them in their possession protesting it was his hearty desire to augment the Rights and Priviledges of the Church rather then any way dimish or infringe them for which reason they gave him the Surname of the Good Catholick Notwithstanding after this shock the Authority of that Body hath been so much weakned especially by Appeals in all Cases that now they really believe they have more just cause of Complaints against the Secular Judges then the Seculars had in those times against them Year of our Lord 1330 France being in Peace King Philip following the foot-steps of his Predecessors had conceived a desire of undertaking an Expedition into the Holy-Land To this purpose upon his return from a Pilgrimage he made to Marseilles with a very small Attendance in performance of a Vow he had made to St. Lewis Bishop of Toulouze he visited the Pope in Avignon and discoursed in particular with him about his design Towards the end of the year he summon'd the Estates of his Kingdom and laid before them the passion he had for the Holy War By their advice he sent to demand permission of the Pope to levy the Tenths of all the Clergy in Christendom and many other things but so extraordinary that he could obtain no favourable Answer Year of our Lord 1331 The English could not well digest that Edward had so easily renounced to the Crown of France They ceased not from spurring him on opportunity seeming to present it self favourably because Scotland which France was wont to make a counterpoise to England was extreamly embroil'd For Edward the Son of John Baliol who for a long time led a private Life at his House in Normandy with a small Force had recover'd that Crown and driven out King David who was retired to the Court of France together with his Wife and Children After the death of Mahaut the Earldom of Artois sell Jane of Burgundy Wife of Philip the Long and according to the Articles of Marriage was given to Blancb her Daughter the Wife of Eudes Duke of Burgundy Robert d'Artois who could not yet forbear his pretentions to that Earldom renewed the Process and produced certain Grants under the great Seal which he said he had found by Miracle He believed the King being his Brother-in-Law and owing him so great obligation would not search too deep after the truth of it But the King because it concerned the interest of his Daughter who was much nearer to him then his Sister caused these Letters Patents to be examin'd so exactly that they were found to be false and a Gentlewoman of Artois that had counterfeited them was burnt alive for it they having accused her as being a Sorceress Robert enraged for the loss of his Process and of his Honour slew to reproaches against the King so much the more injurious as they were true and so exasperated his anger that he was pushed on to the utmost extremity against him They seized upon his Confessor whom they obliged by force or promises to bear Witness against him his Wiâe was laid hold on though she were the Kings own Sister and after some delay for want of appearing he was Banished by sound of Trumpet and Proclamation through all the Suburbs of Paris and his Estate was declared to be Confiscate He then knew there was no more quarter for him and would have taken Sanctuary at the Earl of Hainaults but the Kings wrath did not suffer him to be so near he excited the Duke of Brabant to make War upon the Hanuyer Robert not to be a Cause of the ruine of his Friend went out of those Countries and resolved to all the extremities whereunto dispair does usually hurry Men of courage he goes to the King of England and by force of blowing the Coals kindled the Flame that set all France on Fire Year of our Lord 1332 In the mean time the King of England strenghned himself with Alliances Moneys and all sorts of Ammunitions for some great Enterprize He had in his Party the Earl of Haynault the Emperor Lewis his Brother-in-Law several German Princes with the Cities of Flanders and to have the greater power in the Low-Countries and over the Princes along the Rhine he purchased at a dear rate the Quality of Vicar of the Empire The King was secure of the Earl of Flanders the Duke of Lorrain the Earl of Bar the Kings of Castille of Scotland and of Bohemia but especially of this last whom he had made fast by many several ties For besides that he had Married a Sister of his and his Son Charles born of that Wedlock had been bred in the Court of France he also Married his Daughter Bonne to John Duke of Normandy The Nuptials were compleated at Melun The Designs of the English being not yet formed gave Philip no apprehension so Year of our Lord 1332 that he was taking up the Cross for the Holy Land and with him three other Kings Charles of Bohemia Philip of Navarre and Peter of Arragon with a great number of Dukes Earls and Knights The Clergy took but small joy in it so mightily were they oppressed with extraordinary Exactions as if they had a design to ruine the Churches of France to go and restore those in Palestine Year of our Lord 1333 Upon the design of this War Philip endeavour'd to make Peace between all his Neighbour Princes he brought the Duke of Brabant to an agreement with the Earl of Flanders and the Earl of Savoy with the Dauphin de Viennois The difference betwixt the first was for the City of Malines It belonged to the Bishop of Liege and to the Earl of Guelders the Bishop had sold his part to the Earl of Flanders the Duke of Brabant claimed it saying he was the Lord of the Fief It was concluded it should remain to the Flemming unless the Duke would rather chuse to reimburse him 85000 Crowns With that was agreed the Marriage of three Daughters of the Brabanders with Lewis eldest Son of the Flemming William Earl of Holland and Renauld Earl of Guelders Year of our Lord 1333 Pope John XXII had publickly preached at Avignon That the Vision or Joyes of the Blessed Souls and the Pains or Torments of the Damned were imperfect till the final day of Judgment and endeavour'd to make this opinion pass current for the Doctrine of the Church The Faculty of Theology of Paris courageously opposed it He tried to get them to own it by two Nuncios whom he sent to them the one was the General of the Cordeliers the other a famous Jacobin Doctor The most Christian King did not judge the Pope to be infallible but order'd the question to be discuss'd by Thirty Doctors or the Faculty of Theology who confounded the Cordelier Nuncio whereupon a Decree was made and Sealed with their Thirty Seals which he sent to the Holy Father exhorting him to believe those who
Flowers upon their Heads and taking Hands with one another went into the Streets and Churches Dancing Singing and running round with so much violence that they fell down for want of breath This agitation made them swell so prodigiously they would have burst had not great pains and care been taken to swathe them with bands about their Bellies immediately such as looked on them too attentively were often infected with the same distemper Some believed it an operation of the Devil and that Exorcisms did much help them The vulgar named it The Dance of St. JOHN Year of our Lord 1375 Upon the instant and continual exhortations of the Pope the two Kings entred into a Negotiation to compose their differences For this an Assembly was held at Bruges in Flanders whither they sent their nearest Princes of their Blood and the most illustrious Lords of their Kingdoms It lasted almost two years incredible expence There was first a Truce made for a year to commence in the month of May of this year 1375. which being concluded the Duke of Lancaster and the Duke of Bretagne passed into England Bretagne not being comprehended their Duke returns with an Army of English and partly by force partly by correspondence regained St. Mahé St. Brieue and seven or eight other places whilst John d'Evreux Brother to the King of Navarre made great spoil and waste all about Kemperlay He had built a Fort thereabouts for his retreat from whence he very much incommoded that City Clisson Roban Beaumanoir and other Lords of Bretagne besieged him in it The Duke hastned thither to deliver him they quickly marched off he pursues them and besieged them in Kemperlay Now when they were just ready to be exposed to his mercy he would have shewed but little to those whom he proclaimed Traitors and Rebels a second Truce wherein they comprized him drew them most fortunately out of his hands Year of our Lord 1375 The minority of the King of France if I do not deceive my self lasted to the age of Twenty years and during all that time all Command all Orders and all Acts were made under the name of the Regent The wise King considered that an Authority so absolute might force or snatch the Crown from his Son if he left him a Minor That the people were it error or custom did not willingly acknowledge a Prince for their King till he was Crowned and that it might be feared lest the Duke of Anjou should make them believe by some former examples or presidents that they ought to chuse one that was in Majority and capable to Govern For these reasons or for others we are ignorant of he made his memorable Ordonnance by the advice of the Princes Lords Prelates University and other notable persons which imports That the eldest Sons of France as soon as they have attained to the age of Fourteen years should be held for Majors and capable of being Crowned and that they should receive the Homage and Oaths of sidelity from their Subjects This was made at the Bois de Vincennes in the month of August 1374. and verified in Parliament the Twentieth of May of the following year We must not however imagine that he believed as much King as he was that he could advance the course of Nature and give his Son the Sence and Wit that age alone can bestow since the same Year and the same Month he made a Declaration which mention'd that in case he died before his Son should have attained to the age of Fourteen years he left the Guardianship and Government of him and of his other Children as also the Government and Defence of the Kingdom to the Queen Mother she was then living and joyned with her the Dukes of Burgundy and of Bourbon with a necessary and sufficient Council of near Forty persons Year of our Lord 1376 The Popes Legats remained still constantly at Bruges and kept the Ambassadors of both Crowns there with them to labour for a Peace But the Propositions on either side being at too great a distance to be brought to a meane they obtained at least a prolongation of the Truce to the Month of April in the year 1377. In Gascongne the Earl of Armagnac thinking to take revenge upon the Earl de Foix who had beaten him increased both his shame and loss He had taken the little City of Caseres and put himself into the place without providing it with Ammunition the Earl de Foix besieges him and without striking a blow reduces him to the extreamest want but he would not agree to give him and his their Lives but upon condition that they should creep out thorough a hole made purposely in the Year of our Lord 1376 Wall which they could not do but by crawling with their Bellies upon the ground nor were they quit for all this affront the Earl of Armagnac and twenty more of the principal paid great ransoms before they could be released The King of Navarre pass'd his word for that of the Sire d'Albret Year of our Lord 1377 During the long absence of the Popes Italy had accustom'd it self to disregard and disown them The People of Rome set up themselves as several petty Tyrants to preserve some Image of their Liberty and by the same Spirit the Cities belonging to the Ecclesiastical State at the sollicitation and with the aid of the Florentines had shaken off the yoak and turned out his Apostolical Legats Gregony IX thinking to redress these disorders and besides being earnestly pressed by St. Bridget of Sweden and by St. Catherine of Sienna two persons who were thought to have a very frequent Commerce with Heaven resolved to transfer the Holy See back to Rome from whence it had been removed Seventy two years He departed from Avignon the three and twentieth of September embarqued at Marseilles and after very great dangers on the Sea Signes of the agitations that change had wrought in the Church he arrived at Rome the Twenty seventh of January following Year of our Lord 1377 King Edward in the mean while had lost the brave Prince of Wales his eldest Son who had left a Son named Richard very young and for two years past found himself much broken and his Brain decay'd with weight of continual business and contention though he were but 65 years of age This was it made him desire to have a Peace and made him willing to relinquish many Articles of the Treaty of Bretigny But death prevented the effects of that disposition and took him out of the World the 21 of June His Grandson Richard II. Surnamed of Bourdeaux succeeded him He had seven Sons whereof five only lived to Mens Estate and were Married those were Edward Lyonel John Edmond and Thomas Edward was the brave Prince of Wales for the other four the First was Duke of Clarence the Second of Lancaster both of them by the Heiresses of those two Houses and the Third Earl of Cambridge then Duke of York the Fourth
kept the Field some time but being less crafty he fell into an Ambuscade near Alexandria and was wounded to death after which his whole Army was dispersed and dwindled to nothing Year of our Lord 1392 The great desire the two Kings Charles and Richard had to joyn their Forces against the Turks brought the Duke of Lancaster to a Conference with King Charles at Amiens but the Propositions were so high on the English side that the result at last was only a Truce for a year The more the authority of the Constable and his three dependants was confirmed the more grievous was their power to the People The King's Uncles fretted and grew enrag'd the Clergy betraid by some of the Chief of their own Body were on the brink of losing their immunities had not the University from whom they were also taking away all their Priviledges bestirr'd themselves and put a stop to all School-Exercises and Preaching When they observed that all Foreigners went away from Paris and that such an Interdiction made a great noise all over Europe even those that had undertaken the ruine of that Body would needs have the honour of procuring them an Audience of the King who did them justice upon their Complaints The Support and Priviledges the Kings ever since the time of Lewis the Gross had granted to this famous University the Mother of all the rest that are in Europe the infinite numbers of Students that came thither from the remotest Countreys the strict adherence of the whole Clergy to them to whom they were a Nursery and Seminary and the Authority their Faculty of Divinty had acquired to judge of Doctrine and Matters thereto relating had rendred them so considerable that in times of confusion they were called to consult in all Affairs of Importance if not they took upon them to make Remonstrances and knew how to oblige others to follow them Year of our Lord 1392 Peter de Craon was notoriously guilty of the loss of Lewis Duke of Anjou his Lord the Duke of Berry had threatned to have him hang'd for it yet he was no less regarded at Court where the splendor of Birth and Riches easily covers baseness and crimes It hapned that he fell into disgrace with the Duke of Orleans he fancied the Constable had done him that ill Office he resolved upon revenge and one Evening the Thirteenth of June as he was coming from the King Assassinates him in St. Catherines street being assisted by Twenty Russians whom he had gotten together in his House He alterwards easily escaped out of Paris the Gates having been always left open ever since the Constable had caused them to be taken down upon his return from Flanders These wounds did not prove the death of the Constable but they were the ruine of Craon Three of the Murtherers being discover'd and taken were beheaded his Goods confiscated and given to the Duke of Orleans his House turned into a Churchyard for St. John's in Greve and his stately Seats in the Countrey demolished He could save nothing but his Person by flying to the Duke of Bretagne who kept him carefully conceal'd Some years after the King granted his Pardon upon the request of the Duke of Orleans When the Constable began to recover of his wounds both those that were his friends and such as were no way concerned called earnestly upon the King to punish this attempt There was upon this Command sent to the Duke to deliver up the Assassin he denies him to be in that Countrey the Ministers exasperate the King and perswade him to march towards Bretagne to destroy the Duke In vain did his Unclâs urge that this was but a private quarrel which ought to be legally determined by the ordinary ways and methods of Justice and that it was against the common Rights of Mankind to fall upon the Duke of Bretagne before he was proved Guilty or Condemned they could not alter that Resolution Year of our Lord 1392 Marching in the Sun-shine and great heats of weather in August his Brain already much weakned with the debauchery of his youth was discomposed with black and noxious vapours Two unexpected but frightful objects heightned and hastned his phrensy One day as he was going out of Manse passing thorough a Wood there came forth a tall black fellow all weather-beaten and ragged who laid hold of his Horses Bridle bawling out Stop King Whither goest thou thou art betray'd then vanish'd Soon after a Page who carried a Lance sleeping on horseback let it fall upon a Helmet which another carried before him At this shrill noise and the sight of the posture of the Lance the Apparition or Fantasme and its threatnings came fresh into his mind his Fancy was disturbed he imagines they were going to deliver him up to his enemy and believed all those that were about him to be Traitors This puts him into a violent fit of Fury he runs strikes kills without Rime or Reason till he fell into a Swoon They carry him bound in a Chariot back to Manse Witchcrafts and Poysonings were so frequent in those days that it was believed his malady proceeded from some such Cause The third day he recover'd his Sences and by little and little his Strength which was attributed to the publick Prayers made for him but not the full vigor of his understanding In this disorder his Uncle resumed the Government conducted him back to Paris seized upon the three Citizen Favourites who having undergone three Months imprisonment with the continual fear of being led to execution as was threatned were set at liberty by the Kings Command who ordered the greatest part of their Goods to be restored but declared them for ever incapable of holding any Office-Royal The Constable was so fortunate as to make his escape to his own Countrey in Bretagne where he most bravely defended himself against the Duke by the assistance of the Duke of Orleans and the rest of his friends The Princes gave his Office to Philip of Artois Earl of Eu. All Offices being as then but Commissions which were revocable Year of our Lord 1390 Vrban the Pope of Rome died in the Month of October Anno 1389. Boniface IX succeeded him this Pope shewed himself to be very much inclined to re-unite the Church dispatched a Frier to Clement to consult of some method to bring it about Clement puts him in prison but the University exclaimed so that he released him Clament was therefore compell'd to feign that he had a desire to put an end to that Schism But when the University had declared it was impossible to be effected without the renunciation of both Competitors he and the Duke of Berry who took his part highly broke off the Proposition But they could never stop the mouth of that Mother of all Learning and Piety from crying out against that scandal which so afflicted the whole Church Year of our Lord 1393 The 29th of January at the Nuptials of a Lady
word the Duke of Burgundy came to Paris towards the end of February at the head of Eight hundred Gentlemen all armed from Head to Foot only they did not put their Helmets on The Queen and Princes received him with all the demonstrations of confidence but they could not prevail with him to own the murther of the Duke of Orleans publickly He gave Commission for it to a Cordelier named John Petit Doctor in Divinity his Orator and obtained Audience for him in the Great Hall of the Hostel de St. Pol. This mercinary Divine endeavour'd in presence of the Princes and Council to make it appear That the Duke of Orleans had been a Tyrant every way that he was guilty of the crime de Laesae Majestatis both Divine and Humane That he had once bewitched the King another time had conspired to kill him and another to have him Deposed by the Pope That therefore his death was just and necessary It was not the Monks Harangue but necessity and danger that perswaded the Council They gave him an Act in Writing that abolished this crime and in appearance reconciled him with the Queen The King desired to put an end to the collusion of the Anti-Popes he resolved to publish an Order for Substraction the Fifteenth of May. In the mean time Pope Benedict having intelligence of it sent his Bulls to Paris forbidding him to do so upon Year of our Lord 1408 pain of Excommunication Those that brought them to wit Sancho Lupi and a Rider belonging to the Popes Stable having delivered them to the King and the Duke of Berry the Fourteenth of May were immediately seized on The Council sate three days to consider what was to be done having heard the Opinions and Remonstrances of the University the King caused a Pen-knife to be stuck into the Bulls which the Rector of the University afterwards cut in pieces Year of our Lord 1408 The Substraction was after this published and then those that brought the Bulls were tryed by Commissioners Their Sentence was severe they were drawn on a Sledge twice about the Palace-yard then mounted upon a Scaffold where being adorned with Paper Miters and clothed with long painted Vests after the Dalmatian fashion upon which Benedicts Arms were fastned they were severely reproached by a Doctor and after led back to their prison Divers Prelats and Clergy-men that sided with him were likewise sent to Goal Upon this news the two Popes who pretended to be going to Savona fled each his several way Benedict into Catalogna in a Galley and Gregory by Land to Sienna both of them forsaken by their Cardinals When the Burgundian was again returned to Artois the Dutchess of Orleans supported by the Queen who had Cantonized her self at Melun came to intreat the King that he would hear her Orator this was the Abbot of St. Denis in justification of the memory of her Husband and reparation for his death They gave him Audience in the Castle of the Louvre the King the Queen and Princes of the Blood being at the Council After this Harangue of the Widows Orator there Year of our Lord 1408 were divers Assemblies held with more animosity then zeal for Justice where in sine the Burgundian notwithstanding his Act of Abolition was declared an enemy to the State and it was ordered that Forces should be sent to fall upon him on every side and that all the ways should be strongly guarded to keep both him and all others from coming near the King He was at that instant at L'Isle in Flanders arming himself to restore John of Bavaria his Wives Brother to the Bishoprick of Liege This false Prelate who had nothing but the vain Spirit of the World deferring to take Holy Orders gave occasion to the Liegois to turn him out of the Episcopal See and to put in Thierry one of the Lord de Perruveys sons whose Original was from the House of Brabant They were not satisfy'd with having driven him out of their City but besieged him in Maestricht and had kept him blocked up for four Months When they had notice that the Burgundian had taken the Field they raised the Siege and retired but those haughty and rude People hearing that he had iu all but Sixteen thousand Men forced the Lord de Perruveys to seek him out and give him Battle They were three to one yet were they routed and cut in pieces Perruvey and his two Sons and Thirty thousand Liegois lay dead upon the place they had no quarter given them the Bishop rather a Tyger then a Shepherd could not have Blood enough to satisfy his cruel Thirst Their submission did not appease his sanguinary Rage when he was setled he fell not only upon the guilty and the ring-leaders but upon Women and Children Priests and Religious Votaries There was nothing else to be seen round about Liege and those other Cities that were Dependencies but Forrests of Wheels and Gibbets and the Meuse was choaked up with the multitude of their wretched Carkasses thrown into that River bound two and two together From hence began that implacable hatred of the Liegois against the House of Burgundy Had the Duke been worsted in that Battle all the Orleanois party were ready to have run open mouth upon him when they had received this news they found more cause to consult their own safety then his ruine The Queen did not believe her self secure in Paris She departed thence the Thirteenth of November being attended by the Duke of Bretagne her Son-in-law and took the King with her to Tours Year of our Lord 1408 The Duke informed of all particulars by the Parisians soon got to Paris with Four thousand Horse and Two thousand Foot mounted behind them they received him with great joyfulness and sent some Deputies to the King to desire he would return William Earl of Holland proffers to endeavour an accommodation A Second Peace was Treated on between both parties which being well advanced the Widow of Orleans a haughty and vindicative Princess died with grief and anger the 4th of December The Orphans were forced to consent to a reconciliation with him that had murthered their Father It was concluded in the City of Chartres about the end of the month of March The King with the Queen and the Princes being on a Scaffold in the Great Church but pallisado'd round about to hinder the People from seeing what they did the Burgundian fell on his knees before the King and pray'd him by the Mouth of his Advocate and afterwards with his own to lay aside his anger and receive him into his Favour but touching the Murther he expressed himself thus That he was ready to justifie himself The Princes that were present kneeled likewise and joyned their Requests to his Then addressing himself to the Princes of Orleans he desired them to forget what was past and harbour no revenge in their hearts After this they made them embrace and promise amity to each other and
united Year of our Lord 1415 When all his Forces were in readiness he made no scruple to declare his Pretensions and after he had written Letters full of Protestations and Threatnings to the King whom he stiled only his Cousin Charles of France he came and landed at Havre de Grace at the mouth of the River of Seine where he put on shoar six thousand Men at Arms thirty thousand Archers and all other Necessaries proportionably With these he laid Siege to Harfleur The place defended it self bravely by the courage of four hundred Men at Arms and seven or eight Lords of that Province that had thrown themselves in there In fine it was taken by assault and sacked perhaps not without some secret intelligence or at least the cowardize or baseness of the Chiefs of the French Army who took no great care to relieve them The blame fell on the Constable d'Albret In the mean time the King having set up the Oriflamme or Standard at St. Denis got his Soldiers together The English had lost a great many of their bravest Men upon their Attaques Diseases reigned in their Army and a scarcity of Provisions for they were forced to keep close together reduced them to great streights Insomuch as having held his Quarters for three weeks together along the Sea Coasts they were forced to remove and took their march towards Calais They crossed the Country of Caux the Earldom of Eu and the Lands of Vimeu with intention to pass the River Somme at Blanquetaque Year of our Lord 1415 The French Army which was as yet nothing but a multitude of Rascals pickt up in haste durst not attaque them in their march but when the King who was come in Person to Rouen had sent fourteen thousand Men at Arms and all the Princes to them excepting the Dukes of Guyenne Berry Bretagne and Burgundy it wa resolved they should go and fight them and instead of strongly guarding the passages over the Somme whereby to ruine them they went to way-lay them on the other side of the River and lodged themselves at Azincour in the County of St. Pol. The English being tired seeing the French to be four times stronger then themselves and believing they should be utterly lost if they came to an Engagement sent to profer them reparations for all damages done from the time of their landing in France But their Offers were rejected and Battle presented for the next day being the five and twentieth of October Year of our Lord 1415 The same causes that made them lose that of Crecy and that of Poitiers made them again lose this same I mean the necessity or desperate condition they reduced them unto either to vanquish or to dye their impetuous precipitation the confusion in which they fought all the Chiefs striving to be in the Head besides the ill order of their Van-guard drawn up so close that none but the first Ranks had room to stir themselves and the inconvenience of the Soil so fat and slippery with the Rain and withal so deep that they stood half way the Leg in Myre The Field was bestrewed with Six thousand of theirs and with Sixteen hundred of the English Amongst the slain were the Earl of Nevers and Anthony Duke of Brabant Brothers to the Duke of Burgundy the Duke of Alenson the Constable d'Abret the Duke of Bar the Mareschal de Boucicaut the Admiral Dampierre the Archbishop of Sens Brother of Montaigu and the Vicount de Lannois Son of the same Amongst the Prisoners the Dukes of Orleans and of Bourbou the Earls of Vendosme and Richemont and fourteen hundred Gentlemen The Army indeed Victorious but as much shatter'd as if they had been vanquish'd had much ado to crawl to Calais from whence their King Henry went over again into England Year of our Lord 1415 This great misfortune begot such Civil Discords as made the Wound much greater The Duke of Burgundy went on with his design of usurping the Government and he believed this Juncture very favourable towards it But when it came to be known that he was marched to Dijon with the Duke of Lorrain and ten thousand Horse to come again to Paris they brought the King back with speed and the Duke of Guyenne quartered Men in all the places thereabout The Burgundian being arrived at Lagny sent to the King to desire he might come to him and that the Duke of Guyenne might receive his Wife again whom he had pack'd away to entertain a Mistress He was promised satisfaction in this second thing he demanded but for the first he could never obtain it he was expressly forbidden to come near Paris but only with his own Servants There had been no security for him he found they had put all his Friends in Prison Hang'd up all his Soldiers they could light upon and sent for the Count of Armagnac his greatest Enemy to take the Constables Sword The mischief proceeded principally from the evil Counsels of certain Plagues in Court who for their private Interests promoted the differences between the Princes and plunged the young Duke of Guyenne into all Debauchery The University and Parliament made loud Complaints and moved that young Prince so much that he did promise to take some order but in few days afterwards he fell sick of a Loosness whereof he died the Five and twentieth of December not without visible marks Year of our Lord 1415 of Poyson The Count d'Armagnac being arrived at Paris the nine and twentieth of the same Month set aside the Propositions for Peace envenomed the Sore instead of healing it and made himself absolute Master of the Government having obtained the Soveraign Administration of the Treasury and the Command of Captain General of all the Fortresses with power to put in what Governors and what Garrisons he pleased After the death of the Duke of Guyenne the Succession to the Crown was to fall to his second Brother John Duke of Touraine The Earl of Hainault whose Daughter he had Married had carried him into his Country all honest Frenchmen wished he might return to inform himself in all Affairs In the mean time to gain the affection of the People and shew he was not engaged to any Party he Commanded both of them to lay down their Arms. The Burgundian who had stood gaping idly in Lagny was glad of so fair a pretence to retire He went back into the Low-Countries vexed to the very Soul that his Enemies should deride him and call him John de Lagny not much in haste The Emperor Sigismund desiring to procure the Churches Peace and also a Peace amongst Christian Princes made a Voyage into France and from thence Year of our Lord 1416 into England but without any success because the Constable refused the Truce for four years which he had propounded betwixt those two Crowns The King received him magnificently at Paris and was willing he should take his place in Parliament but it was not so well
at one another the Burgundian breaks off the Treaty and thinks of nothing now but to accommodate Affairs with the Dauphin They conferred therefore in the open Field near Povilly le Fort within two Leagues of Melun between the two Armies each of them attended by half a score Horsemen and there they made a Treaty in which they sware to love and assist each other like Brothers submitting themselves in case of any failure to the Soveraign Judgment of the Holy See After which they agreed to meet upon the Bridge de Year of our Lord 1419 Montereau Faut-yonne the Eighteenth of August each accompanied with ten Men armed to determine all their disputes in a most amicable manner The Servants belonging to the deceased Lewis Duke of Orleans particularly Taneguy du Chastel and John Louvet President of Provence procured these Interviews for no other end but to find an opportunity to revenge the death of their late Master upon him that was the Author of it They durst not attempt it at Pouilly but they put things in better order at Montereau by the contrivance of certain Barriers which being made in appearance for the mutual safety of them both served as a snare or trap to that unfortunate Prince The day being come the Dauphin arrives at Montereau the Duke made him wait almost fifteen days His friends forewarning and advice his own pressentiment all humane prudence and reasonning forbid his going thither the power of his ill destiny dragg'd him along by the horrid treachery of a second Dalila I mean the Lady de Gyac his Mistress or perhaps it was the hand of Divine Justice for the Blood of his own Cousin and so many thousands of Men as had been spilt in that Quarrel To allure him the better they delivered up to him the Castle of Montereau but wholly unfurnish'd of Provisions or Artillery From thence he descended to the Bridge with his ten Men and placed a guard at the end While he was kneeling before the Dauphin Taneguy du Chastel and some others leaping over the Barriers Massacred him by several wounds his People making but a slight defence only Nouailles Brother of Captal de Buch who was kill'd with him We must believe this act was done without the Dauphins order for he was not above Seventeen years of age and Heaven would never have permitted a Prince designed to wear the Year of our Lord 1419 Crown of France should have perpetrated so horrible and base a piece of treachery However it were the event made it appear how much those wounds did blemish his Honour and not only proved hurtful to him but almost mortal to the whole Kingdom For Philip the only Son of the deceased although a very good Prince highly undertakes to revenge his Fathers death and wanted not for means to do it All that were friends to that House all those that were discontented came and tendred their service to him compassion and horror for this Murther renewed and heated the affections even of such as were grown coldest the Parisians sent to assure him of their Services and he to gain the love of the People obtained a Truce of the English to the exclusion of the Dauphins People who were come to Rouen to desire the same thing for which they made great profers From this time the French the English and the Burgundians began to mix and live together as if they had all been but one Nation but the difference of their humours and interests would suffer no long unity amongst them Year of our Lord 1419 On the other hand the Dauphin gathered up all his Friends in the Provinces of Poitou Orleannois Berry Auvergne Lyonnois Dauphine Provence and above all thought to secure himself of Languedoc He took away that Government from the Earl of Foix and gave it to Charles Count de Clermont eldest Son of the Duke of Bourbon From these Provinces it was that he drew his Succours that maintained him Besides the Kings of Castille and of Scotland with the Duke of Milan suppli'd him in his necessities with some of their Forces Year of our Lord 1420 According to what had been agreed upon the King of England and Philp Duke of Burgundy met at Troyes where the King and Queen were and there the Peace was Treated together with the Marriage of Catharine of France with King Henry Which was first sworn to by all the Lords there present and then by all the good Cities that were of their party The Marriage was compleated the Second day of June This Treaty amongst other things contained That King Charles named and owned Henry for his Heir to the Crown of France That however Henry should not take the Title of King of France during the life of Charles but that he should have the quality of Regent and the government of Affairs That the two Kingdoms of France and England should be united and held by the same hand viz. by Henry and his Heirs but that they should not depend upon one another and should be governed according to their Laws That all Priviledges and Rights should be preserved to all Estates and to every particular Person That no Treaty of Accommodation should be made with the Dauphin without the consent of both the Kings the Duke of Burgundy and the three Estates of both the Kingdoms The two Kings afterwards with the Burgundian having taken Sens and Montereau journyed towards Paris Melun made the King of England know how much all France might cost him he was four Months before it and not able to force it Famine only did what his Sword could not The Besieged surrendred upon composition but contrary to the faith given they were all detained Prisoners At their departure from thence the two Kings made their entrance into Paris the first Sunday of Advent and the next day the two Queens The Duke of Burgundy having tender'd his complaint before them and their Councils in the Hostel St. Pol the Dauphin was summon'd to the Table de Marbre with the usual formalities and afterwards as attainted and convict of Murther was declared unworthy of all Succession namely of that to the Crown of France and banished the Kingdom to perpetuity From this Sentence given by incompetent Judges against all Right and contrary to the Laws of the Kingdom he appealed to God and his Sword and transferr'd the Parliament and University to Poitiers at which place the most illustrious Members of those two Companies did not fail to appear Thus almost every thing was double in the Kingdom there were two Kings two Regents two Parliaments two Constables two Chancellors two Admirals and so of most of the great Officers not to mention the multitude of Mareschals of France whereof each Party made seven or eight Year of our Lord 1420 This year 1420. the Portugal Navigators defray'd and encouraged by Henry Duke of Visen Son of John King of Portugal sailing at large in the Ocean found in their midway between Lisbonne and
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
Year of our Lord 1465 days after This was the 4 th of January In hatred towards that good Prince and in prejudice of the pretensions he had to Milan the King had a little while before acknowledged Francis Sforza for Duke of Milan and with that had not only given up to him all the right the French had to the Seigneury of Genoa But had also remitted and given him Savona which he yet held declaring to all the Princes of Italy that whosoever should assist the Genoese against Sforza should be his enemy So that Sforza by the support of his great name made himself master of Genoa and of all that Signeury Year of our Lord 1465 The Author of the Antiquities of Orleans says that the River of Loire was Frozen this year in the Month of June If this prodigie were true we must needs conclude it proceeded from a natural cause since Chronology demonstrates to us that the thing upon which he would have it to be a Miracle could not happen in that time as he hath put it The Breton having dispatched his Ambassadors to Tours to demand the Term of three Months carried his practises on so cunningly that his League was ready for their purpose before the King had discovered any steps of it The Dukes of Bourbon and Alenson all the other Princes of the Blood except the Counts d'Estampes de Vandosme and d'Eu almost all the Grandees and all the late Kings old Captains were in it amongst others the Duke of Nemours and the Counts of Armagnac of St. Pol of Dunois of Dammartin who made his escape from the Bastille through a hole the Mareschal de loheach the Lords D'Albret de Bueil de Gaucour and de Chaumont d'Amboise They called it a League For the Publick Good because the Princes gave it that fair pretence While the King was at Poitiers the Bastard d'Armagnack Siezed his only Brother Charles and carryed him into Bretagne All the zealous Servants of the Deceased Charles his Father flocked in to him and got him to write a Manifesto to all the Princes of France inviting them to unite with their Party for the easing of the People and the reformation of the Kingdom After the King had attempted in vain to reclaim them by fair promises and flattering words he went to strike the first blow at them who had the first declared themselves These were the Dukes of Bourbon and Dammartin who had begun the War in Berry Bourbonnois and Auvergne All Berry submitted except Bourges which was guarded by the Bastard of Bourbon Rion in Auvergne waited a Siege and sustained it John Duke of Nemours the Count d'Armagnac and Charles Sire d'Albret brought a considerable reinforcement to the Duke nevertheless he gave Ear to a Treaty with the King promising to summon his Confederates to a Peace and to abandon them if they would not accept of reasonable conditions Nemours gave his positive word to the King to side with his Party but he kept it not and the King kept the Oath he made to himself to be revenged in time and place convenient Year of our Lord 1465 In this Country the King had notice that the Count of Charolois had taken the Field with the Duke his Fathers leave who had assured him when they parted that if he fell into any danger he should not want an Hundred Thousand Men to bring him out again He knew likewise that this Count had fifteen Hundred men of Arms eight Thousand Archers and a great equipage of Artillery and Waggons that he had made his Rendevous before Paris and that the Duke of Bretagne and Monsieur were to joyn him Year of our Lord 1465 The Charolois sent the fairest pretence in the World before him the Abolition of Imposts and the publick good He burned the Seats of those Officers at all the places of Receipts and tore their Registers paid the expences of his Soldiers and kept them in good Discipline If this good order could have held all had been his own or if the Breton had come at the time appointed they had been Masters of Paris there being few Soldiers in it and many male-contented and lovers of Novelties The fear of losing Paris made the King leave his other game to get to Paris before the Charolois As soon as he had repassed the Loire the Duke of Bourbon Dammartin Nemours and Albret broke their words with him and having gotten together ten Thousand men marched to joyn with the other Confederates The Lords of the League were all to be at St. Denis towards the end of the month of June the Charolois waited for them ten or twelve days and in the interim attempted the Suburbs of Paris by several Skirmishes When he found none stirred in his favour and that he had no certain news of them nor of the Bretons march he was in great perplexity and thought to retire back again Nevertheless the Vice-Chancellor Romille a Normand and very subtil shewing him from time to time Letters from his Master which he wrote upon blanks Signed before wrought so far that he engaged him to pass the River Seine over the Bridge at St. Cloud to go and joyn the Breton towards Estampes where he thought to have met him He quartered that day at the Village of Lonjumeau his advanced Guard at Montlehery The King returning from Berry kept the same Road and came to Quarter at Chastres a League on this side of Montlehery Both Armies were mightily surprised to find themselves so near each other The Kings design was to slip aside and reach to Paris without hazarding a Battel but Peter de Breze Grand Seneschal of Normandy concerned that he should ask him whether he had not given his Hand and Seal to the Princes engaged them to fight where he was killed one of the very first Thus hapned it to be a rencounter rather then a Battel It was on Tuesday 16 th of July near Montlehery from whence it took Year of our Lord 1465 name Both Armies to speak properly had the worst and neither of them any advantage The Kings left Wing and the Burgundians right were broken and in the rout the fright was so great that there were run-aways both of the one and other Party that posted it for fifty Leagues together without baiting or looking behind them each of them declaring they had lost the Battel on their ââde The two Chiefs fought Valiantly in person the Burgundian was twice near being taken Prisoner or slain In the Evening the King tyred with being on Horse-back all the day was conducted by the Scotch-men of his Guards to the Castle of Montlehery His men seeing him no more believed him to be dead And the Count du Mayne and the Lord de Montauban withdrew themselves with Eight Hundred Lances The Burgundian Army being half broken all in a Consternation fearing a new Engagement the next day which they could not have sustained the Principal Officers were in deliberation to dislodge that
and Richard Duke of Gloucestre You have seen how he put the first to death upon some ill grounded suspicion Now thus the other revenged it upon his Children Edward before his Marriage to her by whom he had them had clandestinely espoused a woman who was yet living The Bishop of Bathe who Marry'd them reveales it to Richard who being easily persuaded that Edward's Children were not Legitimate Seized upon his two Sons the Eldest of them being but Eleven years of age and named Edward V. put to Death five or six of the greatest Lords who plainly foresaw his ill intents and then having dispatched these Two young Princes out of the World and made their Sisters to be declared Bastards he set the Crown upon his own Head all Christian Princes even Lewis XI himself having this deed in horror It is pleasant to read in History what the fear of Death and of losing his Authority made King Lewis do during the last years of his Reign The dancing of young Lasses about his House and the Bands of Musicians that play'd on Flageolets which were brought from all parts to divert him the Processions ordained over all the Kingdom for his Health the publick prayers to God to hinder the blowing of certain Winds which incommoded him a great heap of Reliques which were sent for by him from all Corners even the St. Ampoulle or Holy Oyle with which he seemed as if he would Arm himself against Death the great sway his Physician James Coctier had over him who grumbled at him as he had been his Servant and squeezed from him 55000 Crowns and many other Boons in five Months space the Baths of Childrens Blood which he made use of to sweeten his sharp and pricking Humours in fine his voluntary Imprisoning himself in the Castle du Plessis le Tours where none could enter but through a Wicket the Walls thereof being Armed with Iron Spikes and lined Day and Night with Cross-Bow-men Every hour he was upon the Brink of his Grave and nevertheless he strove to persuade them that he was well sending Embassy's to all Princes Buying up all manner of Curiosities of Forreign Country's and making it appear he was alive by the Bloody effects of his Vegeance which could not die but with him Year of our Lord 1482. And 83. His greatest hope was in a Holy Hermit called Francis Martotile a Native of Calabria Founder of the Order of Minimes whom he caused expresly to come into France upon the Fame of those wonders God had wrought by his Ministery He Flattered him Implored him fell on his Knees to him He Built too Covents for his Order the first within the Park de Plessis les Tours the second at the Foot of the Castle de Amboise that he might prolong his days But this good Man in answer talked to him of God and Exhorted him to think more of the other Life then this Feeling himself grow weaker every day he sent for his Son from Amboise gave him excellent Counsel exhorting him to be Governed by the Advice of the Princes of the Blood the Lords and other Notable Persons not to change his Officers after his Death to ease his Subjects and reduce the Leveys of Moneys to the Ancient orders of the Kingdom which was to raise none but by consent of the People He had encreased the Taxes to 4700000 Livers a Sum so excessive in â those days that the People were miserably over-burthened He died in fine the 29 th Day of August and accordingly as he had ordained was Interred at Nostre-Dame de Clery for which he had a particular Devotion The Course of Life had lasted Sixty one years compleat his Reign 22 years and one Month. Comines describes him to us as very wise in adversity very able to penetrate into the Interests and thoughts of men and to allure them and turn them to his ends infinitely suspicious and jealous of his power most absolute in his will who pardoned not mightily oppressed his Subjects and yet withal this the best of Princes in his time He had caused above 4000 people to be put to Death by divers cruel Torments and sometimes pleased himself in being a Spectator The most part were Executed without Form of Process or Trial many Drôwn'd with a Stone about their Necks others precipitated passing over a turning Plank whence they fell upon Wheels armed with Spikes and sharp Hooks others stifled in Dungeons Tristan his Creature and the Provost of his House being alone both Judge Witness and Executioner Besides his Devotion at least in appearance his persuasive and attracting Eloquence his Marvellous craft in setting his Enemies at variance with one another and unravelling their quarrels again his Liberality in recompencing the Services done for him when they hit his fancy we must not deny two things worthy of praise in him at the Latter end of his days one that he would not suffer an Ambassador which Sultan Bajazet sent to him to come nearer then Marseilles not believing one could be a Christian and have Communication with the Enemies of Jesus Christ the other that he had undertaken to reduce all the Weights and Measures to one Standard and to set up a General Custom in all the Provinces of the Kingdom I will add a Third that he resolved and intended that exact Justice should be dealt to all particular People He Instituted two Parliaments that of Bourdeaux which had been promised by Charles VII and that of Burgundy The Letters Patents for the first are Dated the 7 th of June 1462. that of the second the 18 th of March 1476. If he suffered not his Son to be brought up to good Learning it was because he apprehended to make him too knowing or hurt his delicate and tender Complexion by the Labour of Study It was not that he despised it or was altogether ignorant of it as some have believed since Comines says That he was well enough Read that he had had another sort of breeding then the Lords of that Kingdom and that according to Gaguin he understood Books and had more Erudition then Kings were wont to have Add that he much encreased the Royal Library which Charles V. had begun at Fountainbleau and which was transferr'd to the Louvre by Charles VI. That he kindly received and favoured those Learned Men who had made their escape from Greece after the taking of Constantinople That he took delight in alluring some out of Forreign Country 's with great Presents amongst others the Famous Galeotus Martius And that he gave himself the Trouble to compleat the reformation of the University of Paris by the care of John Boccard Bishop d'Auranches and a Cordelier named Wesel Gransfort a Native of Groningue Besides it is certain that the Kings of France and particularly those of the third Race have all been instructed in good Learning and loved it excepting Philip de Valois He married two Wives to wit Margret Daughter of James I. King of Scotland
the accustomed Ceremonies and Magnificence Being returned to Paris the Duke of Bretagne sent a complaint to him for having supported the Rebellion of his Subjects The Dame according to her Father's wonted Method in stead of returning him an answer Debauched his Ambassadors from his Service These were the Lord D'Vrfe whom she made Grand Escuyer and Poncet de la Riviere on whom she bestowed the Mayoralty of Bourdeaux Year of our Lord 1484 The Cardinal de Balue after his being set at Liberty went to Rome and as that Court is a Region of perpetual Intrigues he Succeeded so happily therein that in short time be got great Credit and some good Benefices He moreover prevailed with the Pope so far that after the Death of Lewis XI he sent him into France as Legat à Latere He made his entrance with so much arrogance that he made use of his faculties before ever he had the Kings consent or had presented them in Parliament to be examined whether they contained nothing contrary to the Rights of the Crown and the Liberties of the Gallican Church The Parliament offended at this bold undertaking forbid him to take upon him the Characters of his Legation or to exercise the power Notwithstanding the Kings Council after he had shewed his reasons and made his necessary Submissions gave order he should be received in that Quality with the usual Respect and Honour and that he should exercise his Functions Which he did for some days when hearing news of the Death of Sixtus he returned on his way to Rome with a Present only of a Thousand Crowns in Gold which the King gave him towards defraying the Expences of his Journey Year of our Lord 1484 The Council Establish'd by the Estates had neither Power nor Vertue the Dame de Beaujeu usurped all the Authority She turned out all those from the Kings Service as were not at her Dvotion and brought in d'Vrfe Riviere and Graville prime Chamberlain who watched and as it were beleaguer'd the young King These Folk wanting some brave daring Heroe to oppose the Duke of Orleans did likewise keep Rene the Duke of Lorrain at Court to whom they restored the Dutchy of Bar till such time as the King should be of Age to do him right for the County of Provence assigned him a Pension of 36 Thousand Livers per Annum and a company of an Hundred Lances During these disorders in France the Scene was wholly changed in England Henry Earl of Richmond after the Battel in the year 1471 where Henry VI. Lost his Crown and Liberty endeavouring to make his escape into France was by Tempest thrown upon the Coasts of Bretagne where the Duke Seized on him and detained him Prisoner in favour of Edward or rather to engage that King to protect him always against Lewis XI And indeed Edward never forsook him whatever advantage Lewis could propound to him and which was more paid him fifty Thousand Crowns yearly for his Pension When Edward Died he gave him his full Liberty and withal assisted him with Money and six Thousand Men wherewith he put to Sea having a Strong Faction in England whereof the Earl of Buckingham was Head Now it happened that a Storm having scattered his Ships the Confederacy was discover'd and Buckingham Beheaded with most of the great men who were concerned in it So that he returned and Landed in Normandy and from thence got back into Bretagne waiting for a better opportunity King Richard desiring to have him at what price soever profer'd Landays so much Money and such considerable assistance in time of need against the Breton Lords that this Perfidious and Mercinary Soul promised to deliver him up to his People The Earls Friends in England got a hint of this bargain and gave him Notice at the very nick of time when it was to be put in execution He immediately departs from Vannes under pretence of going to wait upon the Duke who was at Renes then striking into another Road made his escape with four more to Anger 's He was so closely pursued by Landays Men that he slipt thorough the passage but one hour before they came to the place The King was then at Langeais who received him very kindly And a great number of English Landing every Day in the Ports of France to joyn with him he gave him some broken Companies that were in Normandy with which he adventured over into England In fine having gained the Victory over Richard who was slain in the Field be ascended the Throne which he pretended did belong of Right to him as being the Eldest of the House of Lancaster He was indeed of that Family but at a remote distance as being but the Son of a Daughter of the Duke of Somerset's and of Edmond who was Son of Owen Tudor a Gentleman of Wales and Catherine of France who after the Death of King Henry V. her Husband was clandestinely Married to him Year of our Lord 1485 The Duke of Orleans the Duke of Bourbon likewise to whom the Constables Sword without any power was more an injury or burthen then an Honour made a new party against the Government The Duke of Bretagne Charles Earl of Angoulesme the Duke of Alenson and John de Chaalon Prince of Orenge who was Son of a Sister of the Duke of Bretagne entred into it Charles Earl of Dunois was the primum mobile The Duke of Orleans was the first that spoke and being retired to Beaugency demanded an Assembly of the Estates They immediately carried the King thither He besieged him in the place and forced him to an accomodation wherein it was agreed that the Earl of Dunois should retire to Ast in Piedmont After that they got the King to March against the Duke of Bourbon who finding him on a sudden in the midst of his Country accepted of such conditions as they would impose Year of our Lord 1485 The Soldiers they had Levied for these ends fell most of them into Bretagne The Duke of Orleans having sent all his thither for the Dukes Service the Dame sent the Kings thither also in behalf of the Lords Landays prompted as we may believe by his wicked Genius pursued the utter Destruction of the Lords with all his might and would not recede in the least from the Sentence he had obtained that they should lose both their Castles and their Heads He had raised a great Army for this purpose who had Ordersto Besiege Ancenis a place belonging to the Mareschal de Riux The Lords had taken the Field to prevent it The Armies being in sight of each other some good minded People made the Chief Commanders of the Dukes Army so Sensible how heighnous it would be in them to spill the Heart Blood of their own Friends and Kindred for the sake of the most profligate wretch in the whole World that they embraced each other mutually and agreed to joyn their Supplications to the Duke that he would be pleased
in his City of Ast with orders to bring him a re-inforcement of eight or nine Thousand men But Lewis who had some pretensions to the Dutchy of Milan having found a fair opportunity to surprize the City of Novarre had amuzed himself there leaving the King exposed to great danger And indeed it Succeeded but ill with him for Ludovic Besieged him in it before he could have time to furnish it with Victuals Though the Kings Army were very weak yet being on it's March he sent a re-inforcement of some Companies which came to him from France commanded by Philip de Savoy Earl of Bresse and another besides who were in eight Galleys to execute an enterprize upon the Genoese The Fregoses Enemies to Ludovic and the Adornes made him believe it very easie but it fell out very ill the Genoese Year of our Lord 1495 taking his Galleys in the Port of Rapalo and the Earl of Bresse who was advanced into the very Suburbs retreating with a great deal of shame The Confederates had in their Army neer forty thousand sighting Men Francis Marquiss of Mantoua commanded them in Chief the King had not above nine thousand at most yet they durst not attack him in the Mountains but waited for him at his descent neer the Village of Fornoua in a Valley of about a Mile and a half wide where he was necessarily to pass Fornoua is a Village about nine Miles on the other side of Piacenza The King being come to Lodge there the little River of Tar was between the two Armies sent to the Confederates to demand Passage and receiving no Answer he resolved to make Way with the Sword Theyca me to Blows on the Sixth of July the Confederares in less then a quarter of an Hour were beaten back to their very Camp with the loss of three thousand of their Men The Field was the Kings and this important Victory which did not cost him above fourscore Men and a small part of his Baggage secured him the Way to Ast He arrived there the Fifteenth of the Month very much harassed and tyred not so much by the Enemy who followed him at a great distance as the Difficulties of the Ways and the Scarcity of Provisions Year of our Lord 1495 Whilst he refreshed himself and walked from Ast to Quiers and to Turin the Florence Ambassadors solicited him for the Restitution of their Towns He commanded those Captains that held them to surrender them but he was so easy and so little absolute that very far from obeying him they presumed to sell them some to the Pisans and the rest to the Venetians The Confederates after the Battle of Fornoua had sent part of their Forces to the Siege of Novarre The Duke of Orleans had not turned out the useless Mouths soon enough and had suffer'd himself to be coop'd up in hopes the King would soon come and deliver him But as he had not oblig'd him over-much and besides had more Passion for a new Amour he had begun at Quiers then for the War he made no great haste but left him to suffer the extremest Famine Year of our Lord 1495 At length however he resolved to disingage him and came to Vercel with that Design His Army encreasing every day the Enemies were afraid and hearkned to a Treaty Whilst that was concluding they permitted the Duke of Orleans and three Days afterwards his whole Garrison more then half Hunger-Starved to crawl out of the City which was left to the Charge of the Inhabitants upon condition that if they did not agree upon the Treaty the Duke should return and put himself into the Castle which some Men of his had still in their keeping Some few Days after the Treaty being almost perfected there arrived a Party of sixteen thousand Swisse who came to the French Army The Duke of Orleans insisted highly to give Battle to the Enemy the gaining of it would at least have been so of all the Milanois He had been satisfied in his Desires had there not been more apprehension of the boldness of the Swisse then the Enemies Army for being double their own Number they might have seized the King's Person if they would This consideration made them think it more Prudence to conclude with Sforza They restored Novarre to him and the Port de la Spezzia and he promised to furnish a certain number of Ships and Men for the Conquest of Naples to give Passage through his Countries to pay the King four score thousand Crowns and fifty thousand to the Duke of Orleans to make Restitution of the eight Galleys taken by the Genoese at Rapalo and to admit the French to Equip their Fleets in that Port. The King's impatience was so great he had not leisure to stay till the Execution of this Treaty as soon as it was Signed he went away with all speed to Lyons to Dance Masquerade and make Love Sforza observing him so wholly taken up with his Pleasures not in a likely-hood of returning thither suddenly did not perform one Article of the Treaty Ferdinand King of Naples did for his part take the Advantages he ought of his Absence and his Carelesness All the Princes that were in the Italian League contributed to restore him to his Kingdom The Pope and Cardinal Sforza practised to gain the Cities for him by their Intrigues especially that of Naples The King of Arragon his Relation sent him two Armies One for the Land-service commanded by Ferdinand Gonzales the Vulgar called him Gonsalvo who assumed the Name of the Great Captain the other for Sea-service by Villamiarmo The Venetians did likewise set two Armies on Foot Grimani was Chief of that at Sea and Francis de Gonzague of the other but this arrived not till the end of the Year These crafty Politicians imagined that this conjunction would in time give them the whole Empire of Italy for Ferdinand engaged Brindes and Otranto to them and soon after Grimani seized upon Monopoli Mola Siponte and Trani The French could hardly save Tarenta the City of Cajeta revolted and penn'd them up in the Castle On the other side Frederic and Gonsalvo made themselves Masters of Regio of Saint Agatha and Seminaro Aubigny shut them up in Seminaro they sallied forth to remove him and lost the Battle This might have proved the Total ruine of Frederic had Aubigny pursued his Point home but he fell Sick by the intemperance of the Climat or his own Intemperance and the French Affairs languished with him Ferdinand was more Fortunate at Sea So soon as he appear'd upon the Coast with some Ships of his own and some belonging to the Spaniard Salerna and Malfus set up his Standard the Citizens of Naples who had not dared to stir for three Days together upon the fourth besought him to send some Men on Shoar Montpensur was so imprudent as to March out of the Town to attack them No sooner was he out but they shut the Gates at his Heels and scarcely
could he by going a long way about get entrance into the Castle del Ovo again From thence he descended again into the City with his Sword and Flambeau in Hand and strugled mightily to recover it but the Revolters opposed him with Retrenchments and Barricado's which they wrought upon with so much diligence both Night and Day that they coop'd him in the Castle This hapned at the same time as the Battle of Fornowa After three Months Siege and continul Skirmishes Montpensier wanted Provisions and was informed at the same time that the relief which was coming from France by Sea meeting with great Storms was driven to Legorne and there dispersed In this extremity he capitulated with the Enemy to deliver up the Castles in a Months time if he were not relieved In the mean time he bethinks himself but very late to send to Aubigny to dravv all his Forces together and come to disengage him Aubigny could not go in Person being yet sick he sent Percy who cut four thousand of the Count de Matalonas Men in pieces near Eboli Ferdinand vvas so much dismay'd that he had thoughts of Flying but the Neapolitans and the Colonnas whom fear of Punishment had made desperate labour'd so much as to make him change his Fear into Year of our Lord 1495 a Re-assurance Percy coming thither found their Intrenchments so well guarded that he could not approach the Castle whereupon he returned to Nola. Mean while Stephen de Vers whom the King had made Duke of Nola being gone into France did earnestly sollicite they would provide for the maintaining of that Kingdom the Ambassadors from the Florentines the Cardinal of Saint Peters c. and Signor Trivultio joyned their Intreaties and the French even those that had advised against the first Attempts for this Conquest declared all with one Voice that it now concerned the Honor of the Nation to preserve it and not suffer the Great Monarch of France to be braved by those Bastards of the House of Arragon Every one desired this excepting those that managed the Affairs particularly the Cardinal Briconnet who either by intelligence with the Pope or out of Sloath and Cowardize hindred the rest from acting The King might be angry with them if he pleased nothing went forward Year of our Lord 1496 The importunity of those Lords who were engaged in the Kingdom of Naples the reproaches of the French and those of his own Conscience obliged the King to resolve upon a new Effort for the Affairs of Italy He parted from Tours where he left the Queen his Wife came to Saint Denis to take his Farewell of the Holy Martyrs advanced to Lyons and gave out his Orders every where then when it was believed he would have passed the Mountains he returned Post to Tours whither the Charms of one of the Queens Maids attracted him as it were per-force These grand Preparations amounted to six Vessels loaden with Provisions and Men for Cajeta Year of our Lord 1496 Ludovic had perswaded the Emperor Maximilian to enter into Italy to embrace the Defence of Pisa which he thought by this means to get into his own Hands Upon this Expedition it was that the Pisans pull'd down the King's Statute to set up the Emperors in its stead As for the rest of this Enterprize no more then in all his others he showed neither Valor nor Perseverance and to speak the Truth he minded no more but only to make his Musters compleat that he might get the Pay and then drew off again like a Hireling The French Affairs declined from Bad to Worse Aubigny was Sick still Percy marr'd his greatest Success by his unsufferable Pride the Germans Mutined for want of Pay and the Garrisons were quite unfurnished And to compleat these Misfortunes Montpensier suffers himself to be shut up in Atella by three Armies of Venetians Spaniards and Arrogonians and for want of Provisions capitulated to Surrender the whole Kingdom in one Month. The other Chiefs especially Aubigny and Guerre refused to obey him in the execution of this Infamous Treaty As a Punishment for this Stubborness Ferdinand banished both him and all his Soldiers into the Maritime Countries where the Pestilential Air destroy'd most of them Of five thousand Men he had with him hardly did five hundred escape and Montpensier himself died at Puzzoli of Sickness or of Poison From Atella Gonsalvo passed to Calabria reduced Manfredonia and Cosenza and Besieged Daubigny in Gropoli That generous Captain defended himself so bravely that he made an honourable composition they gave him leave to carry back his Forces into France with Colours Flying but the surrender of Cajeta was comprehended in it Nothing was left the French of this glorious and suddain Conquest but a villanous Disease which cannot handsomely be named The Spaniards having gotten it in the Islands of Florida where it is almost Epidemical had brought into and infected the Kingdom of Naples with it the Women whom they had spoiled with this Venome communicated it to the French Year of our Lord 1496 Before Cajeta was Surrendred King Ferdinand Died and Frederic his Uncle ascended that mournful Throne with the good wishes and acclamations of all his Subjects Ferdinand King of Spain his own people called him so and the French in railery John Gipon made an Inroad towards Narbonna in favour of Ferdinand King of Naples Charles d'Albon Saint Andre Lieutenant for the King in Languedoc did not only repress them but in ten hours forced the City of Salses in sight of their Army The Spaniards fearing they might draw the whole burthen of the War upon themselves entred into a Conference which towards the end of the year produced a Truce for some Months Year of our Lord 1497 Several designs were set on foot and divers means considered and projected for the recovery of the Kingdom of Naples sometimes to receive Hommage and Tribute of Frederic at other times to agree with the Pope who was Lord of the Fief then to begin with the Milanois and give the conduct to the Duke of Orleans To this purpose Levies were made amongst the Swiss and the Cavalry advanced as far as Ast but the Duke refused that employment Several consultations were held afterwards some resolutions taken but no effects though the several and various interests of the Italian Princes did call every day for the Kings return and opened the Gates wide enough for his re-entrance Year of our Lord 1498 But his Health hourly diminishing as well because he was of a washy constitution and had loved the Ladies too much or perhaps some slow working poyson given him by the Italians made him lose the relish of all these Conquests nay even of those amongst the Beauties so that he now thought of nothing but how to lead a quiet and Christian life He therefore turned himself wholly towards God and applied himself to the reforming of his State He heard the complaints and causes of his Subjects
after all he detained him and sent him into Spain to Ferdinand who indeed treated him with much more humanity then he could expect after so much Treachery Year of our Lord 1501 This War ended Rauestein went with the Fleet against the Turks King Ferdinand though he were entred into the League refused to send his Ships The want of good intelligence between the French and the Venetians turned this expedition to their great shame The French having Attaqu'd Metelin's Capital City in the Island of the same name lost a great number of their Brave Men there at their return a Tempest horribly shatter'd them and such as were forced into the Islands belonging to the Venetians found them a more faithless and ruder Enemy than the Turks Year of our Lord 1501 Above all things the King desired the Alliance of Maximilian that he might have from him the Investiture of the Dutchy of Milan About the end of September the Cardinal George d'Amboise who was called the Legate the Pope having given him that Commission in France went upon that Errand to wait upon him in the City of Trent with a stately Equipage his Train consisting at least of Eighteen Hundred Horse The Emperor demanded with great instance the freedome and release of the Sforza's he agreed to that of the Cardinal Ascagnia and had his word reciprocally for a prolongation of the Truce and the Investiture but which should be only for the Kings Daughters not for the Sons Year of our Lord 1501 He made this exception because he ardently desired to have the Kings Eldest Daughter and that Dutchy in Dowry for Charles his Grand Son The Arch-Dukes Ambassadors being come to the King at Lyons that Marriage was agreed upon the Tenth of August it was again confirmed by the Arch-Duke and Jane of Castille his Wife in the Month of November in their passage thorough France into Spain They were magnificently received at Paris the Arch-Duke took his Seat in Parliament in quality of Pair of France The King and Queen entertained them at Blois Fifteen days together and caused them to be conducted to the Frontiers with all imaginable honour even with the power of granting Pardon in every City they passed thorough Year of our Lord 1502 The limits for the division of the Kingdom of Naples had not been well express'd there soon arose a Debate for the Country called Capitanata of very great importance because of the Toll for Cattle which were brought thither to Graze in Winter the French would have it to be a part of Abbruzo the Spaniards of Puglia From words they proceeded to blows the Spaniards more haughty although the weaker began the brawl in several places The two Generals the Duke of Nemours and Gongales conferring together concluded a Cessation to bring the controversie to an amicable composure but the Spaniards soon broke it again by divers Acts of Hostility In so much as the King who was then at Ast sent to the Duke of Nemours a command to make down-right War upon them since they had already violated the Peace two several times He was gotten into Italy to endeavour and take care for the preservation of his Dutchy of Milan and the Florentins his Allies and suppress the horrible Tyrannies of Coesar Borgia called the Duke of Valentinois For as to the former Maximilian had broke the Truce the Swiss threatned him with an irruption into the Milanois unless they might have Bellinzzone setled upon them which was already in their hands and the Venetians did openly enough show their hatred against him And for the latter there was a League made betwixt the Vitellozzi the Vrsini John Paul Baillon and Pandolphus Petrucci to restore Peter de Medicis to the Signory of Florence as for Coesar Borgia he brought all the Petty Princes of Italy into dispair not sparing the King of France's Allies Year of our Lord 1502 From all parts there came complaints to the King of the violent proceeding and enormous Treacheries of that Man nevertheless being as politique as wicked he knew how to appease his anger by constraining Vitellozzi with grievous Menaces to Surrender up the Towns to the Florentins and by this means gained so great Credit and Interest at Court that the King believing him a very necessary instrument for his Affairs renewed the Alliance with Alexander VI. which drew the hatred of all Italy upon him and perhaps the Curse of God with â whom it is impossible to be well whilst we joyn in Society with the wicked Whilst he was in Lombardy the Genoese invited him to honour their City with his Presence He made his entrance in great Pomp the Six and Twentieth of August and after he had tarried there Ten days returned into France The War in Naples and settlement of that Conquest which seemed almost perfected required him not to have left Italy so soon but he relied on the Truce which he thought was certainly consented to by Maximilian though indeed it was not concluded In a short time the Spaniards were driven almost out of all the places of Capitanata Puglia and Calabria and Goncales found himself shut up in Barletta without Provisions or Ammunition The War had been at an end if the Venetians had not speedily furnished him or if d'Aubigny had been believed he would have brought the whole Army to have forced him there but the Duke of Nemours divided them most unluckily into several bodies to besiege the other Towns and in the mean while Gonsales wisely timing his Affairs recovered himself Year of our Lord 1503 The Arch Duke with his Wife repassed thorow France conferred with the King at Lyons and treated an accommodation touching the business of Naples by which it was agreed that Charles the Son of Philip but one year old should be Married to Claude the Kings eldest Daughter which Queen Anne very passionately desired that for her Dowry she should have the Kingdom of Naples that in the mean time the Kings should enjoy their Divisions and that the Country which was in Debate should be Sequestred in the hands of the Arch-Duke The Ambassadors from Ferdinand his Father in Law whom he brought with him and Year of our Lord 1503 who were fully impowred Signed this Treaty and swore to it submitting themselves to Excommunication in case it were violated the Heraulds proclaimed it and the two Princes sent notice of it to their Generals The Duke of Nemours obey'd but Gonsales refused to submit to it unless he had an express Order from Ferdinand A reinforcement of two Thousand Germans which he had newly received from Maximilian the assurance he had that the Pope and the Venetians declined the Kings interest and the Information given him that four thousand French which were set on Shore at Genoa had disbanded by the failure of the Treasurers who believing the Peace was concluded had kept back their Pay raised his courage and he assured himself of being owned provided his success deserved it Till then the
taken four Pieces of Canon Then believing they were half routed he imprudently went out of his Camp where they durst never have set upon him and goes on to charge them Year of our Lord 1525 He fell upon them with so much Impetuosity that at the very first he broke in amongst their Horse and with his own hand slew Fernand Castriot Marquess of Saint Angelo but the Arquebusiers they had mixed with their Horse put his to a Stop Then comes Bourbon and Lanoy who rallied their own and gave a furious charge The Duke of Alenson who cover'd the Swisse with four hundred men at Arms betook himself to flight and retired to Lyons where some days after he died with grief and shame The Swisse lying open made but a poor Fight and then withdrew the Lansquenets or German Foot who were but three or four thousand Fought to the last moment and were all cut in pieces All the Storm fell then upon the King His Horse being kill'd under him he defended himself on Foot some time without being known But meeting and knowing Pomperan he surrendred himself to him The Baggage and Cannon were taken eight thousand of his men killed upon the place amongst others Lewis de la Trimouille the Mareschal de la Palice Francis Earl of Lambesc Brother to the Duke of Lorrain Aubigny Sanseverin and Bonnivet this last too late as it was said for the good of France and divers other Lords of Note Together with the King were taken the Mareschal de Lescun René Bastard of Savoy these two died of their Wounds Henry d'Albret King of Navarre Francis de Bourbon Earl of Saint Pol the Mareschal de Montmorency Florenges Brion Lorges Rochepot Montejam Montpesat Langey Curton and a great number besides Upon the noise of this event the Garrison that was in Milan forsook it immediately and all the Dutchy fell to the Imperialists The next day after the battle Lanoy fearing the Souldiers might Seize upon the Kings Person to secure their Pay conveyed him to the Castle of Pisqueton and Committed the Guard of him to Captain Alarcon One cannot well conceive the divers effects the news of this great event produced all over Europe It caused infinite joy in the Court of Spain jealousie in that of England an universal affliction to France together with a marvellous consternation which was not much less amongst the Italians who with all their great wisdom and politiques saw themselves exposed as a prey to the Conquerour The French besides the particular sorrow every one resented for the loss of some Kindred or dear Friend did likewise participate in the common Calamity and apprehended lest France having none to defend her now they had lost their King the Flower of their Nobility and best Souldiers should be Invaded by the Emperours Forces Bourbons and the King of Englands The Venetians very wise in Adversity did endeavour their utmost with the Pope to form a League against this Torrent They were of opinion to raise ten thousand Swisse immediately to joyn a good body of Horse with them to exhort the King of England for his own interest to come into a League with them and to inform and instruct Madame in all these points who would not fail to contribute her utmost Cares The Pope consented to all and had given order for a Courier to go into England but the Spaniards having gotten the wind of it gave him such great assurance he should have whatever conditions he desired of the Emperour that as he was very irresolute and besides feared to be put to expences and never knew how to time his business he recalled his Courier changed his mind and made a League with the Emperour The Treaty made he obliged the Duke of Albany whom till then he had amused in Tuscany to Disband all the Italian Troops he had and Ship all the French at Cornet Port to send them back to their own Country lending him some Galleys for that very purpose those the Regent had sent not being sufficient to Transport them The Emperor having received the News of Pavia with great Moderation in so much as he would not suffer them to make Bonfires saying there was greater reason to Mourn for such Victories over Christian Princes then rejoyce it gave some reason to hope that he would make the same use of the advantage he had over his Prisoner in moderation towards him And indeed when he propounded to his Council after what manner he should Treate him His Confessor pleaded that he ought to release him generously and without conditions because it would be a most Christian-like Act worthy of a great Emperour famous to all Posterity which would make the King really his inferior and become ever obliged to him and would tye him more Strictly then any Treaty they could make with him But Fredric Duke d'Alva and after him all the rest of the Council being of opinion Year of our Lord 1525 he was not to be set free till they had so weakned him that he should be hereafter unable to give them any further trouble and that the abatement of his Power would be the re-establishment of the ancient Empire over Europe the Emperour declared that he was of their mind He therefore sent the Lord de Beaurien into Italy to propose to the King who was yet in the Castle of Pisqueton the conditions he desired for his release That he should renounce to the Kingdom of Naples and the Dutchy of Milan That he should surrender up to him the Dutchy of Burgundy which was the Patrimony of his Ancestors That he should give Provence Dauâiné and Lyounois to the Duke of Bourbon to be joyned with his other Lands and make them an independant Kingdom That he should Satisfie the King of Englands demands To which Francis replyed That a perpetual Imprisonment would be less severe to him then those conditions That they were not in his Power because they shock'd the Fundamental Laws of France to which he was Subjected but that he offer'd to take in Marriage Eleonora the Emperours Sister to hold Burgundy in Dower and Hereditary for the Children that should be Born of that Marriage to restore the Duke of Burbon to all his Lands and to give him his Sister Margaret Widow of the Duke of Alenson to satisfie the English in Money to pay a Ransom such as King John had paid and to lend him a Land Army and a Fleet whenever he would go into Italy to receive the Imperial Crown If the Regent mother to the King was troubled with grief she was much more so with Fear She apprehended to lose the Regency which Paris and the Parliament very ill satisfied with her conduct would have put into the hands of Charles de Bourbon Duke of Vendosme But that Prince either out of discretion or fear which in this circumstance made it vertue and merit seeing his Family already too hateful in the Kings Eyes refused to take it upon him He went
from the Court set Guards upon them then some while after he released them and caused them to be conducted to Bayonne The King treated his Ambassador in the same manner he confin'd him to the Prison of the Chastelet and let him out a few days afterwards Now the Emperour in his reply to the Kings Herauld amongst other things said the King had broke his Faith and besides he bragged how two years before Year of our Lord 1527 and 28. he told the French Ambassador that it were more expedient and brave to decide their quarrels man to man in single combat then to trouble all Christendom and Spill the Bloud of so many poor Innocents not concerned in their disputes The â Herauld having acquainted him thereof he would justifie and clear himself of these two reproaches of Perfidie and Cowardice by a publick Act and such a one as should appear most eminently to the eyes of all Europe He caused therefore a Scaffold to be set up in the great Hall of the Palace where sitting in his Royal Robes attended by his Princes and in presence of all those Ambassadors that were then about his Court he sent for him that belonged to Spain this was Nicholas Perrenot de Granvelle a Native of mean extract in Franche Comie but a man of Brain and caused a Cartel or challenge to be read before him which gave the Emperour the Lie and demanded he should assign the place for Combat and that he would bring the Weapons thither The Ambassador excusing himself from carrying this Challenge he sent a Herald to acquaint the Emperour with it and the King of England at the same time sent him the like defiance by a Messenger of his own Some while after the Emperour sent back a Herauld to the King with his answer The King placed himself in the same posture to receive it but being informed he would appoint no place till after the King should have diengaged his word and his Children he commanded him not to speak And thus all those challenges proved nothing but fine Theatrical Shows It had been agreed between the Kings of France and England that this latter should attaque the Emperour in the Low-Countries But his Subjects having an aversion for a War against the Flemmings because it destroyed their Commerce he rather chose to lend the King thirty thousand Crowns per Month and treated a Truce for all Merchants trading between the Low-Countries France and England to have free liberty for a year Upon the News of Lautrec's marching into Italy the Emperour had sent an Order to set the Pope at Liberty but first to endeavour the tying him to strict and harsh Conditions The Treaty for his freedom being concluded with Moncado whom the Emperour had by provision made Vice-Roy of Naples in the room of Lanoy who was lately dead he would not trust himself there till the next day but that very night slipt away disguised like a Merchant having before caused his Hostages to evade who would have run a great risque Lautrec had regained almost the whole Milanois and might in a short time have mastered Milan if the Kings express orders had not enjoyned him to give up all the Places to Sforza and to go to Rome to deliver the Holy Father When he was entring upon Romagnia he heard that he was escaped and that the Imperial Army upon the report of his March had quitted Rome to go and defend the Kingdom of Naples The Plague had devoured above two thirds of that Sacrilegious Army and it was observed that within the compass of one year there were not two hundred reamining but which in divers manners had felt the refentments of Divine Vengeance He pursued these Robbers by long Marches and having overtaken them at Abbruzzo presented Battle to them They dislodged in the night with great disorder and retired into Naples It was believed that if he had followed them in at their heels he might have expected good success from their Fears but he amused himself in taking of other Places and then when he had missed of so fair an opportunity he laid Siege to Naples Year of our Lord 1528 The Confederates at the same time when he entred that Kingdom were to have fallen upon Sicilia with their Fleet which was got together at Leghorn But they were disabled by a Tempest which so grievously shattered the twelve Galleys equipped by the Venetians that they were forced to put in at Corsu to Refit Rance de Cere and Andrea Doria with the Kings Ships made a descent at Sardinia put the Vice-Roy of that Island to a rout though he had double their Number and entred Pell-mell with him into the City of Sassary which they Plundred This S uccess was the occasion of great Misfortunes For the Souldiers over-glutted with Eating died most part of the Disenterie The King Plunged over Head and Ears in Pleasures became more negligent in sending Supplyes to Lautrec And Andrea Doria having some disputes with Rance de Cere it hap'ned that this last finding more favour then the other at Court the thoughts thereof Aggravated all those other little discontents he had formerly met with from the French Year of our Lord 1528 He had in his mind as it appeared afterwards a great desire of restoring his Country to its Liberty To this end he offered the King two hundred thousand Gold Crowns to let him have the Government of it not to hold it but that he might make a Regulation and he made earnest Applications that the French should give up the City of Savonna to that State because that being the better Port would ruin Genoa and make the City become Desert But the King absolutely denyed him both the one and the other Being therefore Malecontented in his Soul at this refusal and for their not paying him the Prince of Orange's Ransom he carried his Galleys back to Genoa under colour of having been so weather-beaten that they stood in need of reparations The French Army lay Encamped before Naples from mid April Lautrec thinking to have it by Famine and for that purpose was so pressing with Andrea Doria that he sent him the Kings eight Galleys and eight more which were his own all under the Command of his Brother Philippine Upon their Arrival they took three great Vessels laden with Corn which they were conveying into City It was believed that if the Venetian Forces had come in time and had not employed themselves as they did to recover some Cities in the Golf for their Seigneury which they had lost in the time of Lewis XII Philippine and they together might have so effectually blocked up the Port that no Provisions should have been carried in to Naples which began to feel some want The Spaniards did not however get much by the bargain in making such hast to engage Philippine before the Venetians came to joyn him Hugh de Moncado had put a thousand Select Arquebusiers on Board their Fleet thinking
from the good of the Subjects and who Establisht this Maxime so false and so contrary to Natural Liberty Qu'il nest point de terre Sans Seigneur i. e. That there is no Land without its Lord. The Office of Chancellour was given to Antony du Bourg who was likewise a Native of Auvergne and President in Parliament As to the Emperor he having foreseen that Clouds and Storms were gathering together from all Quarters against him by the King the King of England the Princes of Italy and those of Germany that he might have some pretence to Arm himself Powerfully he gave out that he was going to make War upon the Famous Year of our Lord 1535 Chairadin Surnamed Barbarossa who Infested all the Coasts of his Kingdoms of Naples and Sicilia That Pyrate was a Native of Metelin he had a Brother named Horue their Father a Christian Renegade and Poor From their Youth these two Bothers had used Piracy having but one Brigantine between them both then Increasing in Vessels in Men and Money they passed into Mauritania where engaging themselves in a War that was made betwixt two Brothers for the Kingdom of Algiers under pretence of Assisting the one they made themselves Masters of both the City and Country Horue being the Eldest bore the Title of King and Conquered Circella and Bugia likewise and Dispossessed the King of Tremisen but in the conclusion he was Vanquished and Slain in the Rout by the People of that Country joyned with the Spaniards with whom that King was allied Chairadin Barbarossa his Brother Succeeded him and became very formidable in the Levant Seas in-so-much that Sultan Solyman gave him the Command of his Naval Forces There were two Brothers at Tunis Sons of King Mahomet who disputed for the Crown Araxide and Muley-Assan this last although the younger had taken the Scepter by his Fathers appointment the other to avoid his Cruelty fled to Constantinople and Implored the Protection of the Grand Seignor Barbarossa taking advantage of this occasion appears before Tunis pretending he had brought him back to restore him though indeed he left him in Prison at Constantinople By this wile he so deceived the People that he was received into the City and drove Muley-Assan thence This man had recourse to the protection of Charles V. who undertook to re-establish him Charles landed therefore in Africk with an Army of above Fifty Thousand Men took the Fort of Goletta which he kept for himself setled Muley-Assan in Tunis beat Barbarossa at Land gave him chace by Sea and delivered Twenty Thousand Christian Slaves then upon the fourteenth of August he Weighed Anchor and set Sail for Sicily where in few days he Arrived Having so journed there neer three Months he passed to Naples about the end of November Year of our Lord 1536 From thence he wrote to his Brother-in-Law the Duke of Savoy to comfort him for the losses he had sustained by the French and of his eldest Son Lewis who died in Spain These words were but a weak support against those evils which encreased upon him every day For the Bernois having declared War in January 1536. drove out the Bishop of Lausanne Seized upon that City the Country of Vund Gex Genevois and Chablais as far as the Drance the Valesans on their side Invaded the rest of Chablais from that River all above Those of Friburgh got Possession of the County of Romont and the French Army Marched at the same time to enter into Piedmont John de Medequin Captain of the Castle of Muz afterwards Marquess of Marignan and some other of the Emperors Commanders whom the Duke had sent to Guard the Pass of Suze came there too late Antonio de Leva having visited Turin and found it was not yet Tenable was not of opinion that the Duke should venture to wait for the French there He went out therefore on the twenty seventh of March with his Wife and his Son and having Embarqued his richest Goods and Artillery ân the Po retired to Vercel Turin Surrendred the third of April Whilst the Emperor was yet in Sicily he had News of the death of Duke Francis Sforza which hap'ned in the Month of October not leaving any Children by his Wife who was the Daughter of Elizabeth his Sister and Christierne II. King of Denmark Now the Dutchy of Milan being under the Power of the Emperor knowing the great Passion the King had for so excellent a Dutchy he made use of it as a Lure to amuse and lead him in a Slip if we may so express it all the rest of his Life Gravelle his Chancellour had told Vely the Kings Ambassadour that his Master would not dispose of that Dutchy till he had received Information from him how he intended to demean himself in these three particulars the first was in the War against the Turk the second the reduction of all the Christian Princes to the Catholick Religion and the third the setling of a Firm Peace throughout all Christendom He added that the Emperors desire was rather to bestow that Dutchy upon the Kings third then upon his second Son and demanded that the second might accompany him to the Siege of Algiers These two last Conditions did not please the King Upon the other three Heads he made such Replies as ought to have Satisfied the Emperor He demanded the Dutchy for Henry Duke of Orleans his second Son and offer'd to give four hundred thousand Crowns of Gold for the Investiture On this Foot he Year of our Lord 1536 sent to Vely that he should press the Emperors Resolution But that Prince gave only general Words and in the mean time put his Affairs in good Order for he made the Marriage between his Bastard and Alexander de Medicis who was one likewise and Confirmed him in the Government of Florence He made a new Confederation with the Venetians induced thereto by the Fame of his Victories in Africa and by the perswasions of the Duke of Vrbin General of their Armies He sent to his Sister Mary Widow Queen of Hungary to whom he had given the Government of the Low-Countries after the death of Margaret Widow of Savoy his Aunt as likewise to those with whom he had left that of Spain to make the greatest Levys of Men and Moneys they possibly could and himself on his part labour'd to get store of Money in Sicily and Naples and to encrease those Forces he brought out of Africa Now with promising hopes he led on Vely and the Kings Envoys even to Rome In the Month of April he made his Triumphant entrance and Sojourned there thirteen days There it was they Discovered his ill intentions and inclinations towards the King for after the Pope and he had conferred together about their Affairs he prayed him to Assemble his Cardinals and before them with Hat in hand he made a long harangue full of Invectives Complaints and Menaces against King Francis and would needs give them an account of all
suffer she should be carried into England The Inhabitants of Rochel of Marennes and of the Islands were revolted upon the endeavouring to settle the Gabel in those Countries The King at his return from Languedoc passed that way to suppress that Commotion About the end of December he entred with his Forces into Rochel and caused great numbers of the Seditious Islanders to be brought before him bound and chained After he had put them into an extream Consternation he suffer'd himself to be overcome with Compassion and from a Scaffold where he was Surrounded by the Grandees of his Court he heard the most humble Request they made him by their Advocate and which they seconded with doleful Cries for Mercy and after he Year of our Lord 1543 had laid open their faults in a discourse equally Tender Majestick and Eloquent he absolutely forgave them caused all the Prisoners to be set at Liberty and all the Soldiers to be sent out of the City He would likewise that day needs be guarded and served at his Table by the Bourgeois His incomprehensible goodness â cloathed them with shame and confusion and left in their Hearts and Memories a mortal regret for having ever offended him This was to chastise them indeed after a most Noble and Royal manner The Princes and Emperor of Germany had so often demanded a Council that in the Year 1536. Pope Paul III. had Indicted one at Mantoua for the Two and Twentieth of May the following Year From that time he had Prorogued it to 1538. then to 1539. at Vicenza but had yet suspended the Celebration for as long time as he should find fit In the Year 1542. he was obliged by the vehement pursuit of the Emperor who pressed him because he was so earnestly pressed by the Princes of the Empire to assigne one in the City of Trent which he did by his Bull of the One and Twentieth of May. He believed this Consideration might serve to bring the two Kings to a Peace but the War growing still hotter betwixt them there came so few Bishops to Trent that Year of our Lord 1543 he was this year 1543. forced to recal the Legates he had sent thither and refer the Celebration of the Council to a more pacifick opportunity In France and Spain they were making greater preparations for War than ever The Spaniards furnished the Emperor with above four Millions of Gold John King of Portugal who was Marrying his Daughter Mary to Philip his only Son gave him very great Sums and the King of England promised him no less This inconstant Prince who could never long agree even with himself being offended for that Francis would not renounce his obedience to the Pope and for intermedling too far about the Affairs of Scotland had made a new League Year of our Lord 1543 with the Emperor who did not in the least scruple to have a Prince in Alliance with him though he were under the blackest censures of the Church a mortal Enemy to the Holy-See and one that had used his Aunt so outrageously That he might be able to withstand so dreadful a Storm the King laid an impost upon the walled Cities for the Maintenance of Fifty Thousand men which ended not with the War as he had promised nor was revoked till under the Reign of Francis II. The Emperor going into Germany went by Sea to Italy whither he also carried Ten Thousand Spaniards in some large Ships and Galleys He could not upon the Popes earnest request refuse to confer with him They met as Bussetta between Parma and Piacenza The Holy Father endeavoured to perswade him to give up those two Cities to the Holy-See and invest his Grandson Octavius Farnese with the Dutchy of Milan since the Italian Potentates would never consent that he should retain it for himself The Emperor gave him only general words and cut the Conference off very short for fear of giving jealousie to the King of England who was subject enough to misinterpretations That Muley-Assan whom he had restored to the Kingdom of Tunis being hardly beset on all hands by the Turks who had taken from him divers of his places came to Genoa to kiss his hand and crave some Assistance Whilest he was absent one of his Sons named Amida usurped the Kingdom The unfortunate Father having given him Battle with some Forces scraped together was vanquished and taken with two more of his Sons by the Rebel who put out his Eyes reproaching him for having served his own Brothers so Afterwards this Parricide being driven out of his Kingdom by the Governour of Goletta where nevertheless he got the Mastery again some while after Muley-Assan made his escape out of Prison and took refuge amongst the Spaniards Year of our Lord 1544 In the Spring time the King gave Command to Antony become Duke of Vendosme by the Death of his Father Charles to revictual Terouane Then himself lead his greatest Forces towards the Low-Countries where he thought to make a considerable Progress while the Duke of Gueldres held the Emperors in play So that about the end of May though he were indisposed he put himself in the head of his Army which was joyned with the Troops of Antony Duke of Vendosme He roved for some Weeks all about the Country of Artois and having often changed his Mind sometimes to Fortifie L'Illiers and Saint Venant another while to besiege Avenes he fixed at last upon the Fortifying Landrecy on the other side of the Sambre After he had given the necessary Orders he came to encamp at Maroles then to refresh and repose himself at Reims where he had caused the Ladies to come to divert him Whilst he was at Maroles the Daufin employed part of the Army for the taking the Castle of Emery which is on an Island in the Sambre and the Town of Maubeuge but a while after he forsook them The Duke of Orleans likewise entred into Luxembourg regained all the Country which had been taken after his going away and amongst other the Capital City which gives it the Name The King was there in Person visited the Place and notwithstanding its vast Circumference and odd Situation would have it Fortified Such as were knowing in the Trade were against the doing of it but because it was like to be a work of great profit to him that should have the ordering of it there was an Engenier â that advised it and undertooke it In the mean while the Emperor having passed out of Italy into Germany came at first to attack the Duke of Cleve and by the taking his City of Duren which he sacked and perhaps by the Assistance of his own People whom he had corrupted frighted him and all the rest of the Country so terribly that he came and craved his Pardon and promised to quit his Alliance with the French and the Title of Duke of Guelders satisfying himself with that of Administrator Which was so suddenly done that the Duke had not time
to stay for the Assistance the King was sending to him Solyman did not fail of that help he had promised him for by Land he fell upon Hungary and took from Ferdinand the Cities of Strigonia and Alba and by Sea he sent an Hundred and Thirty Galleys to the King commanded by Barbarossa who after he had filled the City of Ostia and the Coast along the Popes Territories with Terror and Amazement without doing them any mischief because the Year of our Lord 1544 forementioned Paulin being with him took them into the Kings protection cast Anchor on the Coasts of Provence the Fifth of July Francis de Bourbon Earl of Enghien joyned him with two and twenty Galleys and both of them in Conjunction besieged the City of Nice the fifth day of August The City having been Batter'd from the tenth of the Month to the twentieth the Governor Andrea de Montfort abandoned it and carried all into the Castle which being Built upon a Rock and generously defended feared neither Mines nor Guns Besides the French had taken so little care to furnish themselves either with Ammunitions or Provisions for the Mouth that they soon found want of it and were forced to borrow Powder and Ball of the Turks When Barberossa therefore perceived that he lost his Reputation and Men before this Place and that moreover Andrea Doria and the Duke were coming to Relieve it he raised the Siege and retired to the Coasts of Provence He staid there all the Winter not without committing many Barbarities upon the very French themselves whom he held in scorn for their negligence and want of care even to the Treating the Count d'Enghien by the name of Youth and little pretty Minion In the Spring he asked leave of the King who wanted not much entreaty to let him be gone either being very little satisfied with the other The Siege being raised Enghien brought back his Land Forces to this side the Var and took post to find out the King upon a report spread abroad that there would be a Battle to Relieve Landrecy After his departure the Duke of Savoy and the Marquess Du Guast employ'd their Army in taking Montdevis and in Fortifying Carignan There was only a Garrison of Swiss in Montdevis who Capitulated but Du Guast brutish and perfidiously put them all to the Edge of the Sword Boutieres had abandoned Carignan and begun to demolish the Fortifications Du Guast seized upon the Place Repaired it and put in a Garrison of Four Thousand men and three Thousand more at Quiers to assist them in Case of necessity The King not being satisfied with the Conduct of Boutieres who had forsaken a place which Commanded a good part of the Country on the one side and the Plain even to Suza recalled him and gave the Command of all beyond the Mountains to the Count d'Enghien When this Prince Arrived Boutieres was besieging Yvree and was just upon the taking it he was very unwilling another should bear away the Honour of a Conquest so near at hand wherefore the Prince having sent to him for some of the Forces to Convoy him he goes and meets him with the whole Army chusing rather if we may say so to let the Prey escape then that another should have the Quarry After the Emperor had subdued the Duke of Cleves had received a body of twelve Thousand English and re-inforced his Army to the number of fifty Thousand Fighting men he came and laid Siege to Landrecy The King had put Captain la Lande into the Place with two Hundred Horse and three Thousand Foot and had ordered the Lord Desse to assist him but the Fortifications were new and apt to crumble and be beaten down and the Frosts intermingled with cold showers did equally incommode the Besiegers and the Besieged who stood in myre up to the Mid-Leg The Attacks were weak and faint the Emperor thought to gain the Place by Famine In effect they suffer'd much but when they could scarce hold any longer after a brave resistance of two Months the King went from la Fere upon the Oyse and putting himself at the head of his Army approached within two Leagues of the Besiegers The Emperor believing he would give him Battle drew his Forces from the further side of the Sambre and joyned them with those on this side so one side of the place remaining open and free the King Relieved the Garrison and provided it with all things necessary then having executed what he desired he made his Retreat by Night very securely and put his Army into Garrisons on the Frontiers Four or Five dayes after his departure the Emperor likewise marched off but not willing to loose all his time and pains and to recompence his not taking Landrecy he seized upon Cambray by Correspondence of the Bishop who was of the House of Crouy put in a Garrison as a bridle upon the Town and Built a Citadel to curb them which was Erected at the Citizens proper Charges making them believe it was to preserve them from falling into the hands of the French Year of our Lord 1544 In the Year 1544. Four great Eclipses were Visible in our Hemisphere one of the Sun which hapned upon the Four and Twentieth of February and the other three of the Moon The first being in the same Month was not a Total one but at the two others which were seen in July and November the whole Disque of that great Luminary of the Night was quite obscured During these frightful events in the Heavens Francis the first Son of Henry the Dausin came into the World the Twentieth day of January The beginning of this Year found William Earl of Fustemberg a German before Luxemburgh which he block'd up with Twelve Thousand of his Country-men For upon I cannot tell what discontent whether real or affected he had quitted the Service of France for that of the Emperor The Prince of Melfy having order from the King marched that way with his Forces and with so brave a Resolution that Fustemberg durst not stay for him but retired The Frosts were so excessive sharp that it turned the Wines into Ice in the Vessels which they were fain to cut with Axes and the Lumps were sold by the pound In Piedmont the Count d'Enghien young valiant and who with an Army of well disciplin'd Men sought only an opportunity of Fighting having taken all the Posts about Carignan began his Blocade there the first day of February The Marquess Du Guast that he might put in some Supplies thought to Seize upon Carmagnoles the Count got thither before him and left him no possibility of saving the Place but by hazarding a Battle The Kings Council having given the Count leave to venture it he observing that Du Guast was on his March to pass over the Po prevented him and passed it first himself to meet him Thus the two Armies came to engage nigh the Burrough of Cerizolles the Fourteenth of April which
Vicounty d'Vzes in Languedoc for Anthony de Crussol As simply Dutchies the Vi-county of Toüars in Poitou for Lewis de la Trimouille the Seigneury of Roüanais for Claude Gouffier Boisy The same Vices of Wantonness Luxury Impiety and Magical Abominations which reigned under Henry II. triumphed over Charles IX with an uncontrouled Licence But besides those Disorders Treacheries Poisonings and Assassinates became so common that it was made a Sport to take away the life of any man if they could reap but the least advantage by it I do not speak of that Murthering and Bloody Spirit which had possess'd the Minds of men divided in Opinions of Religion Before this Reign it was wont to be the Man's part both by Example and Courtship to persuade and tempt the Women to Galanteries but now since amorous intrigues were joyned with the greatest Mysteries of State the Women ran after the Men The Husbands laid the Bridle in their Necks either out of Complaisance or Interest and besides those that delighted in Variety found their own Satisfaction in this liberty which instead of one Wife furnished them with an Hundred As to Magick it is certain the Queen Mother had puzled her Brain with those impious Curiosities She was so fond as to wear Characters and Spells about her There are some yet preserved in being which are marked upon a thin Skin supposed to be of a Still-born Child People of vain and light Fancies were easily inclined to follow her example A Priest named des Eschéles who was Executed at the Grove for having conversed with Evil Spirits accused Twelve hundred more of the same Crime So sayes my Author I know not whether we may believe him for such as have once filled their heads with these Crude and Melancholy Imaginations thinks every little Trick to be the Operation of Demons and Sorcerers Interregnum of Three Months Year of our Lord 1574 SO soon as King Charles his Eyes were closed up by the cold hand of Death the Queen Mother wrote to all the Governors that he had left her the Regency and obliged even the Duke of Alencon though a Captive as he then was to give his Declaration But it was admired that in a Post-script she gave an account of the Sickness and Death of the King saying She did thus to take away all such Scruples as some might have conceived The same day she dispatched a Courier into Poland and the next day a second to give notice thereof to her Dear Son and intreat him earnestly to return as soon as he possibly could Those from the Prince of Condé had got the start of hers and given so hot an Alarm at Cracovia that the King being narrowly observed it might be thought no easie task to steal away from so many Eyes as were upon him The Queen Mother in the mean time was put to no little trouble to preserve her Authority amidst that great Confusion of Affairs and the general Hatred of all Men. Her Enemies having lost all respect together with their fears defamed her with biting Satyrs the People talked insolently of her Conduct and these Universal Murmurings made it plainly appear that all were ready to run open mouth upon her Notwithstanding all this loud noise did not much startle her she having the Heads of every Faction in her Power and Custody The Mareschals were strongly guarded in the Bastille by City Companies who every day relieved each other And for the two Princes she had removed them from the Bois de Vincennes to the Louvre where she not only secur'd them by Soldiers who carefully watched their Motions and by Windows double barr'd about all their Lodgings but also by the Charms of her beauteous Maids into whose Apartment they had liberty of access at all hours to make their Chains seem the lighter and the time of their Captivity less tedious and rude Matignon had with much regret put Montgommery into her hands the Parliament was commanded to make his Process The Death of King Henry II. which she desired to revenge upon this Noble-man was rather his Misfortune than his Crime what he had acted during the three Civil Wars was pardoned by the Edicts of Pacification so that they could charge him with nothing but this his last taking up of Arms nevertheless in his Sentence they added That it was for carrying the English Colours when he came to relieve Rochel He was Condemned to be Drawn in a Tumbrel to the Greve and there to lose his Head his Posterity to be degraded of their Nobility month June c. They put him to cruel Torment on the Rack to make him discover the Complices in the pretended Conspiracy of the Admiral The Tortures could force nothing from him but Complaints for having violated the Faith they had given him He went to Execution all over bruised in his Body but with so Serene a Countenance and such Tranquility of Mind as would have merited much Commendation in a better Cause and Pity for any one that had been less Cruel This great example of Severity was rather to intimidate the factious about the Court than the Huguenots for after the Saint Bartholomew nothing could frighten them The Juncture was very favorable but they had no Princes nor Persons of Quality to Head them they wanted Money and the People in their great Cities as Nismes Montauban and Rochel would not confide in the Nobility And to say truth most of the Gentry sought but to be hired if they could but have Money enough bid for their Service She did not think fit to attaque them towards Poitou nor Guyenne they being there too numerous and strong but she renewed some Negociations with la Noüe and their other Chiefs which concluded in a Truce for the Months of July and August During that time they had leave to hold at Millaud a general Assembly of the Provinces of Guyenne Daufiné and Languedoc to consult of some Expedients for the Treating of a general Peace Gramont had been sent into Bearn to reduce it to the ancient Religion Being in the Castle of Haguenau where he assembled the Nobility the young Baron of Arros surprized him there in the boldest manner that can be possibly imagined This Gentleman prompted to so desperate an Undertaking by the Persuasions of Year of our Lord 1574 his Father who was Fourscore years of old and Blind entred the Castle as did the other Gentlemen with Ten or Twelve resolute Fellows and when he saw his opportunity falls a Charging all that stood before him slew scatter'd and made the amazed Crowd to fly and carried off Gramont Prisoner The Army of the Prince Daufin being entred into Daufiné a Party of his Van-Guard was cut off at the Bridge de Royans by Montbrun who afterwards failed in an Enterprize upon Die The Prince Daufin had a Design to clear that Country of all those Places the Huguenots held there he gained two or three of them then ran himself aground before Livron
all possibility of discovery who the Authors were that had encourag'd him to commit the Crime but the young Prince of Orange causing him to be searched found Spanish Letters in his Pockets which plainly told them who he was While the Prince was under Cure the Duke made his Entrance at Bruges and at Ghent in this last City he received the Ornaments of Earl of Flanders Some days after he discover'd the horrible Conspiracy of Nicholas Salsede Son of another Salsede month April c. Originally a Spaniard and a fugitive from his Country for some Crime who had taken up his habitation in France It was he that had made War against the Cardinal de Lorrain in the Country of Messin for which he was Murther'd on the bloody St. Bartholomews The Son was also banish'd from France for having burnt a Gentleman of Normandy in his own House who had accused him about false Money This Fellow therefore pretends to devote himself to the service of the Duke of Anjou with a whole Regiment raised at his own expence but the Prince of Orange who had ever a watchful Eye discover'd that he held some Intelligence with the Duke of Parma Thereupon they seize him as likewise one certain Francis Basa an Italian also a Bânquier named Baldwin and some others It was said they had plotted to seize upon divers places to deliver them up to the Prince of Parma and had formed some attempt upon the Persons of the Duke of Anjou and the Prince of Orange The bottom of this mistery could never be certainly known because Basa after his having for fear of the Rack or otherwise discover'd very strange things Murther'd himself in Prison and the wretched Salsede varied two or three times upon his Interrogatories and involved so many Persons in his Crime who were known to be Innocent that no certain Judgment could be drawn from his Confessions It was believed he did so on purpose to be carried to Paris in hopes the Duke of Parma Year of our Lord 1582 would rescue him on the way but Bellievre conducted him thither with so much precaution that he deluded the Dukes Spies and frustrated the expectation of the Criminal The King caused him to be examined divers times by his Parliament Men and placed himself in a Chamber near at hand to over-hear what he would say he sung the same note as he had done in Flanders which startled the King so much that he knew not whom to confide in any longer seeing no body about him but such as were accused The Parliament condemned him to be drawn by four wild Horses The Sentence being pronounced as they were leading him to the Chappel there was as some affirm a certain Frier on the Steps who whispering somewhat in his Ear made him retract all what he had confess'd thereby leaving the Judges and the King in greater perplexity then ever month June July c. The States had but little Money and a great many Garrisons to maintain so that the Duke of Anjou's Army could not be above four or five thousand Men this Campagne which he divided into three small Bodies to cover the out-skirts of the greater Cities That of the Duke of Parma though consisting of more then Thirty thousand could take but four or five small Castles which were of no great importance For besides that he was obliged to leave the one half of his Forces to Garrison his places when he would have invested Bruxels he was assaulted by famine Artois and Hainault being so eaten up that they could furnish him with no Provisions and then when he attempted to get into the Country of Waes the Duke of Anjou shut up the passage after which divers contagious Maladies the inundations of Waters by breaking of the Dykes and such like inconveniencies constrained him to go into Winter Quarters The passion the Queen Mother had for conquering new Kingdoms had prompted her to cast her Eyes upon Portugal But not succeeding in her pretended claim she fancied she might accumulate the Right and Title of Anthony with hers And for this reason she had drawn him into France where the King received him with much honour and gave a smart reply to the Spanish Ambassador who made great instance he might be turned out thence that France had ever been the refuge of the unfortunate and that he should never be persuaded to violate the sanctity of an Asylum so inviolably maintain'd by all his Predecessors He therefore permitted his Mother to raise Forces in his Kingdom to pursue her Rights and to Equip as many Vessels as she pleased which she laboured in with great application all the whole year 1581. Year of our Lord 1582 The same Religious Monks who had persuaded the Islands of the Azores to declare for Anthony were grown so insolent of their power that they disturbed all by their Tumults and did nothing but put the People into such rage and heats as produced no good The Governor whom Antony had sent thither it was Emanuel de Sylva his Favourite whom he created Count de Torres-Vedras was more frantick and much more wicked yet then they So that Landerean whom the Queen had sent with Eight hundred Men till the rest of the Army was in readiness endeavouring to give him moderate Council he set all his Engines at work to ruine him even to the suborning of Rascals to assassinate or poison him month June c. The French Navy parted from Belle-Isle in the Month of June Strossy was Admiral Brissac Vice-Admiral Saincte Soulene a Poitevin commanded a Squadron Don Antonio went in this Fleet together with the Count de Vimiosa the only Portuguese Lord that stuck to him in his misfortune They landed in the Island St. Michael the only one of all the nine which held for the Spaniard forced eight hundred Men that would have hindred their coming ashoar defeated Noguera a Spanish Captain who had drawn three thousand Soldiers together and marched directly into the City Elgade but Anthony instead of Storming the Castle which would have made him absolute Master of those Islands and would have given him the opportunity and advantage of intercepting their India Fleet wherewith he might have maintained the War two or three years amused himself in playing the King amidst the acclamations of the light-headed Populace and in the mean while the Spanish Navy arrived Commanded by the Marquiss de Santa Crux who cast Anchor under shelter of the Castle d'Elgrade to wait an opportunity of fighting them The French Forces out-numbred them both for Ships and Men but there was no less disorder and mis-understanding amongst them then jealousies and quarrels there being many Volunteers on board most of the Captains having set out their month July Ships at their own charges and the Generals though Valiant were so careless and negligent that their Commands carried no Authority nor did their examples give any vigour or encouragement to their Men. When they came to engage which was on
Fellow not able to get away revealed the whole Conspiracy They found twelve Soldiers concealed in the House of a Chanoine who were all Hanged and with them twenty seven as well Priests as Monks in their Ecclesiastical Habits There flocked People from all parts to the Siege of Paris some that till now had been irresolute were brought in for fear of sinking with a Party they believed could never rise again others in hopes of Plunder believing Paris would be left a Prey Year of our Lord 1590. June and July and that they should get Mountains of Gold many by the express Order of the King The Prince of Conty brought the Forces of Poitou Touraine Anjou and Maine Humieres sent a Party of those of Picardy and the Vicount de Turenne being recover'd of a great fit of Sickness was brought in a Litter at the head of a thousand Horse and four thousand Foot The King was not without great disquiets the interests and desires of the Catholicks and Huguenots were very different for the gaining of Paris The former as we have observed wished he might get in by an Accommodation the others would have it by force All agreed in this one point that they were much dissatisfied with him because the Catholicks urging him to become a Convert and the Huguenots to revoke the Edict made against them by Henry III. he could not as yet satisfie either the one nor the other so that from complaining they fell to caballing and conspiring In this perplexity he had about the end of May given a Pass-port to some Deputies of Paris to find out the Duke of Mayenne and exhort him to Peace but by what motive I know not presently recalled it again A Month after finding the Siege drew out in length and the disturbances caused by the two Parties in his Army increased more and more he consented to a conference betwixt the Legat and the Marquiss de Pisany newly returned from his Embassy at Rome It was held in the Hostel de Gondy in the Fauxbourg St. Germains but the Propositions on either part were so far distant that the Cardinal de Gondy who was present could find no medium to bring them any thing near a conclusion After the first fifteen days of the Siege the People beginning to find some scarcity they made a review of all Provisions in every House and they commanded all those month May and June that had more then for two Months to carry the overplus to the Markets and to the Bakers by this means they had Bread at six blanks the pound three weeks together During which the Populace allured by those distributions the Spanish Ambassador under-hand made of Pensions to the most Factious and publickly to the Rascality of some handfuls of half Sols stamped with the Arms of Castille spent their time in singing and dispersing Songs of false news which Madam Montpensier forged from day to day to amuse the Citizens At six weeks end which was the midst of June Wheat came to be at double the price and a fortnight after failed them all of a sudden Then their hunger spoiled their Mirth and turned their lewd Songs into sighs and groans The poor subsisted some days with Bread made of Bran then fed upon Herbs whereof they found good store in many Gardens Those to whom they had committed the oversight of these things had not taken timely care to send away such People as were unserviceable whose number amounted to above five and twenty thousand These were poor Peasants or Handycraftsmen to whose lot the bitter Potion first did chance to fall One day great Crowds of them were gathered together at the Gate St. Victor Year of our Lord 1590. June hoping to get out by a Pass-port they had sent to the King for but his Council dissuaded him from allowing that favour When those Wretches saw he had refused it they made so horrible an out-cry as much startled the whole City They resolved therefore in the first place to take some order to supply their present necessities and for this purpose went to search all the Clergymens Houses and Convents who â were found to be provided even the very Capucins for above a twelve-month they were therefore enjoyned to bestow Food twice a day on all that were in want of Bread They reckoned seven thousand Families that purchased it for their Money and five thousand that had no other Money but their grateful Thanks The said time expired their Miseries began to grow greater then before they bethought them of husking and grinding of Oats to make Potage and because Wine failed in the Cabarets they invented and distributed I know not what kind of Beverage made with Oatmeal and Roots In the Month of July Bread rose to a Crown the pound weight the Septier of Wheat above sixscore Crowns one Sheep a hundred Livers and other things in proportion Amongst the Poor Dogs Cats and Mice were greater dainties then month July formerly Partridge or Hares old Unguents Candles Grease and the most fetid Oyls were used for seasoning their Broths of Herbs or Grass For want of Aliments they were fed with Processions particular and solemn Vows imposed upon them Prayers of forty hours long Sermons twice a day several Fraternities and Spiritual Assemblies withall various and false coined Intelligence and approaching hopes which though prepared for them a thousand several ways to fit their Palates and stay their Stomachs proved notwithstanding so thin a Diet as afforded but slender nourishment There are strange things related of this Famine Perhaps they may have added somewhat to the truth of the Stories but certain it is above ten thousand People perished for want of Food And yet of these poor Wretches some were so persuaded of the justice of their Cause and the glory of Martyrdom that they crawled to the Gates of the Churches there to surrender up their Souls to Almighty God others were so cowardly they rather chose to starve in their own Houses then die bravely with their Swords in hand Some few only leaped over the Walls and stealing thorough the Enemies Guards retired to certain Officers who were their Friends These being for the most part some Servants of the Kings did implore his Clemency with such repeated importunities that he gave leave for three thousand of those wretched Ghosts to come out of the Town divers whereof were choak'd so soon as the compassionate Soldiers gave them Bread to eat The said Commanders perceiving by this that the King would not use the extreamest severity took the confidence to let some numbers of them daily pass by when they were upon the Guard nay many did even send in small refreshments to their Acquaintance to their old Landlords and most particularly to the Ladies and by their example the common Soldiers conveyed Meat Bread and runlets of Wine over the Works in exchange whereof they received good Cloth and rich Stuffs at an easie rate It is believed that this
Mareschals Staff to him The Duke who would needs get this prey to make his own Composition the better quarrel'd with him one day in the Streets of Rheims and ran his Sword into his Belly By his death he became Master of Rheims and having withall the Cities of Rocry St. Dizier and Ginville he procured a very advantageous Treaty For they gave him four hundred thousand Crowns in Silver the Government of those Places besides that of Provence The last not so much to gratisie him as to dispossess Espernon and perhaps that they might ruine one another thereby Burgundy which hitherto had remained almost entirely for the Duke of Mayenne began to give him the slip Auxerre Mascon and Avalon broke his Bonds Dijon and Beaulne were upon the point to do the same when he flew thither with his Light-Horse Now perceiving he could contain them no longer by fair he used foul means and severity caused in Dijon the Heads of James Vernes who was the Mayor to be âut off and Captain Gau's razed the Suburbs of Beaulnâ doubled the Garison Year of our Lord 1594 and fill'd up all the Gates excepting one Moreover to preserve the rest of the month November Province he persuaded the Spaniards to make a sudden War on that side Meer necessity kept him yet in Confederacy with those dangerous Friends He knew the Duke of Feria and Diego d'Ibarra imputed all this decadency of Affairs to his treachery which could indeed be justly imputed to nothing but his slowness and irresolution He knew they hated him so mortally that when he went to the Arch-Duke Ernestus after the Siege of Laon they had deliberated to take off his Head as a Traytor and seeing the Arch-Dukes Council would not concur in that point they had essay'd to rid their hands of him by Poyson or by Poniard And indeed some imagin'd it was he who first to revenge himself for their unhandsom Treatments possess'd the Kings Council by such Friends as he had amongst them with the design of declaring War against them and that he had privately made his Treaty with the King However it were the Party was strong enough in Council to persuade him to a Rupture The Huguenots desired it out of that perfect hatred they still bear to the Spaniards The Catholicks to divert the Huguenots from their Contrivances by giving them this satisfaction and such Employments as would have been improper to entrust them withall upon any other Service The honest Frenchmen to unite all hearts together revive their affections for their Country and consound all the remainders of Factions and Cavils about Religion in the more zealous prosecution of this common Quarrel The Politicks in fine to make a strong Revulsion without of that Venom which caused so much mischief within and to employ the Enemies of the Kingdom in quenching a Fire at their own homes in stead of suffering them to blow the Coals continually in France It was therefore resolved in the Kings Council to carry the War into their Country and because Hainault and Artois were known to lie the most exposed to that ruine which must follow upon a Rupture between the two Crowns it was judg'd fit to write to the principal Cities of those Provinces that if they could not prevail with the King of Spain to withdraw his Forces out of the Territories of France and if they did not forbear to make War upon his Subjects and the Cambresians whom he had taken into his protection he was resolved quickly to make them feel the weight of his Arms. It is held that three Persons did more especially inspire the King with this design Gabrielle d'Estree his Mistress Balagny and the Mareschal de Bouillon Gabrielle that Year of our Lord 1594 he might Conquer the Franche-Compte for her Son Caesar Balagny that he might month November plunder Hainault and Artois the Mareschal for two ends the one to maintain himself in the Seigneury of Sedan the other to give an opportunity to Prince Maurice of Nassaw his Brother in Law to fix his Grandeur by securing the liberty of the United-Provinces For we must know that Charlote de le Mark the Mareschals Wife hapning to die some Months before without Children he retained that Principality by vertue said he of a Testamentary Donation she had made to him and the acquisition of the right of the Duke of Montpensier and had very lately betroathed Elizabeth the Sister of Prince Maurice He vaunted of having Correspondents ready to spring their Mines in the Country of Luxembourg Balagny promised to make a great breach in Artois and Sancy was positively confident of prevailing with the Swiss to Conquer the Franche-Compte The Duke of Lorrain too offer'd towards this Expedition four thousand Men commanded by Tremblecour and Aussonville In effect they did enter the Comte at the very beginning of the following year but it was against his interest and contrary to his intention Neither did they do any thing but make some incursions very ruinous to the poor People except it were their taking the little Towns of Vezou Luxeu and Jonville month December The King made his approaches to the Frontiers of Artois imagining to have had some good success there the severity of the Winter brought him back to Paris and almost to a tragical death For the same day he arrived which was the Seven and twentieth of December at six in the Evening while he was in his Mistresses Chamber at the Hostel du Bouchage and stepped forward to embrace Montigny he received a stroke with a Knife on the lower Lip which broke one of his Teeth Immediately they seized upon a young Fellow who was thrusting into the Crowd and by his scared Countenance they knew it must be he had made the attempt His name was John Chastel Son of a Woolen-Draper dwelling before the great Gate of the Palais aged about Nineteen years a melancholy Spirit who said in his Interrogatories That he was prompted to commit this Crime because finding himself laden with hainous and unpardonable Sins and imagining he could not avoid the Torments of Hell he had thought at least to diminish them by this attempt which he believed to be a Meritorious Act for that said he the King not being reconciled to the Church could be nought but a Tyrant He confessed likewise that he had made his Exercises in the Colledge of Clermont under the Jesuits and that Year of our Lord 1594 they had often led him into a Chamber of Meditations where Hell was represented month December with several most frightful Figures This disposition added to the injurious Libels against Henry III. and against the King now Reigning found in the Chamber of John Guignard one of the Fathers of the Society and whereof he was the Author and likewise the remembrance of the zeal which some amongst them had manifested for the interests of Spain and some Maxims their Preachers had published against Kings and against the ancient Laws of the
kindled in the Kings Breast This she did so well second on her part that in fine by her betwitching innocency and modesty and by her inviting denials she engaged him to give his promise he would Marry her if within that year she brought him a Son Upon this assurance and after a shower of Gold worth a hundred thousand Crowns he had his full liberty He soon after gratified her with the Lands of Verneuil and the Title of Marchioness We do not know whether for his honour we should believe he did intend to make good his word but Sillery and the Cardinal d'Ossat went so far on with their Treaty for Mary de Medicis that they put it beyond his power to recall it He therefore Year of our Lord 1599 month November sent Alincour Son of Villeroy to Rome under colour of returning thanks to the Pope for the justice he had done him concerning the business of his Marriage with Queen Margaret and to acquaint him with that he desired to Contract in the House of Medicis After this Complement he intreated his Holiness to vouchsafe that Sillery and he might go to Florence to see the Princess and Negotiate that Affair which was much more advanced then they discover'd to him It is incredible how much the Marchioness of Verneuil was vexed and afflicted to see her self fallen from the fairest hopes of a Crown yet she dissembled it and hid her trouble under the borrowed countenance of content but the Count d'Auvergne her half Brother as much out of the Malignity of his Nature as Resentment sought to revenge this injury and joyned with the Malecontents we have before mentioned These together conspir'd to coop the King up in a Prison to rob him of his Crown and give it to some other Prince of the Blood Many have been of opinion the Duke of Savoy had a hand in the contrivance or that at least having some hint of it he had undertaken to come into France to try what advantage he might be able to reap thereby What ever design he had he descended along the Rhosne by Boat to Lyons and then from Rouane to Orleance In this last place he was received by the Duke of Nemours upon his way betwixt that and Fontainebleau by the Mareschal de Biron and two Leagues nearer by the Duke of Montpensier At Pluviers he took Post a little month December after mid-night with seventy Horses in company and arrived at Fontainebleau the Fourteenth of December about eight in the Morning where he found the King just ready to mount his Horse to have gone and met him After he had entertain'd him there for six days together with the Divertisements of Hunting Gaming and Promenades he took him to Paris upon the One and twentieth of the Month. He offer'd him an Apartment in the Louvre but the Duke giving him thanks went and lodged at the Hostel de Nevers Year of our Lord 1600 There is no Art no Wyle of the ablest Politicks or experienc'd Courtiers but he made use of to succeed in his design and this may be affirm'd that if the end did not month January answer his desires yet his Conduct surpass'd his Reputation He made Court to the King with great Complaisance but without the least servility for he accompanied his Respects with a becoming liberty and the Submissions or Condescentions he tendred were of such a sort as did no way eclipse his Quality One might observe a more then ordinary grace and grandeur in all his actions He express'd a great esteem and kindness for all the Grandees of the Kingdom gave a civil and obliging Reception Year of our Lord 1600 to all the Kings Officers entertained the Ladies with much wit and gallantry and month January shewed every where a Royal liberality In his New-years-Gifts especially he made this Characteristique Vertue of a Prince most plainly appear he bestowed rich Presents on the whole Court who by the Kings permission accepted of them and after so wonderful a profusion which seemed to have exhausted all his Coffers they were amazed to see him at a Ball he made cover'd all over with Jewels valued at above Six hundred thousand Crowns With all this he gained nothing of the King Upon the very first Discourse he held with him he found what condition his hopes were in In the beginning he endeavour'd to lay open his Soul that he might gain some affiance and after he had with much eloquence made all imaginable protestations of service and adherence intreating him to receive both himself and Children into his protection he fell a complaining of the Spaniards then propounded the Conquest of Milan and of the Empire and to make discovery of the Friends the Intelligence and the Means he had for that purpose We may believe his Tongue was then guided by his Heart for he was much picqued with the little regard the Spaniards had for his Interest at Vervins and besides his Wife Sister to Philip III. which was the only Link had ty'd him to that Crown died the foregoing year However it were the King heard him attentively and gave him thanks for his good will but after all told him the restitution of the Marquisate ought to precede all those designs and that they would consider the other Affairs when once this point was over Each time the Duke renew'd the charge he was repulsed in the same manner This inflexibility so he called it put him into amazement and despair yet on his Face appeared no symptomes but of inward satisfaction as the King likewise on his part continuing the civilities he owed his Guest took care he should be diverted the most agreeably they possibly could All the Grandees had the Bouquet to treat him each in his turn and amongst the Singularities of France the King led him to his Parliament and to a hearing in the Grand Chambre where a Cause upon a most extraordinary Subject was pleaded which gave full scope to the Clients Advocates to exercise their Eloquence as also to the Kings his name being Lewis Servin After the Pleading was over the First President treated the two Princes most Magnificently at his own House Notwithstanding these demonstrations of a seeming amity their humours as different Year of our Lord 1600 as their Interests maintained the discord of their minds and so increased it month January that either of them sometimes let fall words mingled with discontent and bitterness One day the Ambassador of Spain came to the Duke and openly hit him in the teeth with a most bloody reproach saying the King had assured him he was come purposely into France to persuade him to make a War upon Spain The Duke was offended in the highest degree with the King but not daring to question him designed to revenge himself upon the Mareschal de Biron who as yet passed for his Favourite Being therefore one day a Hunting he takes the Mareschal aside and begins to complain of the King in very sharp
in revoked and converted it into a moderate Subsidy For Imposts though they be Year of our Lord 1602 abolished like Wounds do ever leave some cicatrice and ill-favour'd Scar behind them Whil'st the King was in Poitou the Parliament the Chambers assembled after a Mercuriale and chiefly at the instance of the President Seguier seconded by the Examiners ordained that all Advocates or Attorneys pursuant to the 161 Article of the Estates at Blois should at the end of all their Briefs or Writings put down the particulars of all they had received for their Fees and give a Certificate of what they had gained from their Clients for their Pleadings He made this Decree the Thirteenth of May upon the desire the King had to reform the gross Abuses in Law-States and upon Complaint made to him by the Duke de Piney of an Advocate that had demanded Fifteen hundred Crowns of him to Plead one Cause The Advocates refusing to obey there was a second which enjoyned those that would not Plead to make such Declaration to the Register after which they were forbidden to exercise their Profession upon peine de faux i. e. Loss of Life and Estate month May. The Morrow after this had been pronounced in full Court they all went by two and two out of the Chamber of Consultations to the Number of 307. and going to the Registers laid down their Caps and declared that they obey'd The Palace or Court was dumb for Eight or Nine days Some of the Courtiers persuaded the King to leave them in that humor which they would have been weary of âooner than himself But having Business of much greater weight than this and the Brouillery beginning to look like a Commotion he would needs determine it and caused an Order to be dispatched which restored the Advocates to their Function and commanded them to return to the Bar and obey the first Article Which was only for the Formality For the Judges themselves who made it wink'd at it and let it fall to nothing It was with much reason suspected that the Commotions in Guyenne were a Train leading to those other Mynes contrived by the Mareschal de Biron and it looked as if at the same instant that he was to spring them the Spaniards were prepared to give the Assault and enter upon the Kingdom For they had raised a numerous Army by Land which was kept upon the Frontiers and were fitting another for Sea under the Command of Juan de Cardonna They gave out that the first was to be sent into Flanders and the second to execute some Enterprize upon Algiers by the assistance of the King of Fez But it was apprehended rather to be designed against Burgundy and to surprize some Sea-port Town in Provence The Spaniard shewed plainly enough by his Treatment of Alexander Caretta Marquiss de Final who was comprised in the Number of the King's Allies that he cared not over-much to observe the Treaty of Verwins for Fuentes seized upon Final having paid the Garrison of that place for Ten or twelve Musters that were due to them The very Old-Age of that poor Lord who was near upon Fourscore and his being destitute of Children gave him the Confidence to make this Vsurpation for which the good Man never had any other Satisfaction but only I know not what Pension allow'd him in the Kingdom of Naples The fear of some terrible Event keeping the King in perpetual alarms he came back from Poitou to Fontainebleau that he might search into the bottom of the Conspiracy believing that if once it were but laid open it would not be so month May. dangerous And therefore he would needs at what rate soever have Laffin be brought before him who was privy to the whole Secret We have told you what cause of discontent this man had against Biron It is conjectur'd he had given notice to the King of all his Practises for a long while before this time at least it is most certain he had thoughts of doing so and of providing himself with Evidence to verifie his Accusation And this they ground it upon Biron had with his own hand written a Project of the Conspiracy Laffin perswaded him it was dangerous to keep it by him and that he needed but to have a Copy Biron gives it him to Transcribe in his presence When he had done so he rowls up the Original between his hands like a ball and cast it into the Fire but Biron not minding it further the negligence of a great Lord he craftily draws it out agen and puts it into his Pocket So that some will needs believe this man over-whelm'd with Debts Year of our Lord 1602 Crimes and other Misfortunes soothed the passionate Mareschal in his Designs on purpose to make a fortune by betraying his Secrets and that if he would he might easily have prevailed with him to lay them all aside especially after the Queen was deliver'd of a Son For amongst the Letters the Mareschal had written to him there was one that said That since God had bestowed a Daufin upon the King he would think no more of his former Follies and pray'd him to return When Biron understood Laffin was press'd upon by the King to go to Court he sent a Gentleman to put him in mind of his Oathes to let him consider he had his Life and Honor in his hands to intreat him above all things to burn all his Letters and Papers and to rid himself of a certain Curate whom they had employ'd in some ill-favour'd Business Laffin being come to Fountainebleau revealed all to the King gave him all the Letters and Papers and named the Conspirators to him amongst whom he involved so many Persons of Quality even Rosny that the King amazed at the greatness of the Peril was for some time in much doubt whom to confide in His secret Council thought convenient to dissemble in respect of many of the accused and indeed there lay no other proof against them but the Depositions of Laffin It had been the ready way to have set all France on a flame should they have fallen upon so many great ones at once it was safer much to allow them time to repent than to have put them to the necessity of seeking their particular safety in a desperate general Rebellion And therefore ãâã all the Letters Laffin produc'd they publish'd none but those which made mention of Biron only month May. there were Five and twenty of them The King gave them into the Custody of the Chancellour who for fear they should be lost sowed them within the lining of his Doublet All this was done before the King went to Poitiers During his Voyage Peter Fougeu Descures and then the President Janin being sent into Burgundy labour'd to dispose Biron to come to Court His Conscience his Friends those Prognostications wherein he put much confidence divers ominous Presages the pressing haste of those that would have him go dissuaded him On the
an Affront to all Crowned Heads and a violation of the Security due to every Ambassadour month Decemb. Going to the King to redemand himb he was at first but ill received Sometimes he talked high as representing a great Monarch then chang'd his tone into a softer note as knowing his Secretary ran the hazard of being put upon the Rack The King without appearing overmuch concern'd shewed him what Crime his Secretary had committed and made him sensible that such who debauched and Year of our Lord 1606 corrupted his Subjects to commit Treason against his State were those that violated the Rights of People not he who only secur'd a man that had so visibly abused it The Ambassador having no reply to make to so just a reproach fell upon great Complaints and instanced that the King sent Men and Money to maintain the Hollanders and had attempted to stir up the Morisco's in Spain whereof there was proof said he in the Confessions of divers Criminals that had suffer'd Death in those Countries To the first point the King made the same answer he had formerly given upon the same Subject To the second he said it was an Artifice of the Council of Spain who by the extremity of Tortures had forced those Suppositions from the mouths of some unhappy wretches Executed for other Crimes or had thrust them into their forged Wills and Testaments thereby to have matter to recriminate with some appearance of Truth After divers Replications on either part the King assured the Ambassador that his Secretary should have no wrong done to him and that he would send him the whole result of the Process to see whether he would own it or not month Decemb. During all this Month the Entertainment of the Politicians in their Conversations and the subject of their Writings was to discuss to what Latitude this Security of Ambassadors and their Servants did extend and in what cases they ought to be subjected to the justice of that Country wherein they did reside In the mean while the two Prisoners were interrogated the Secretary confessed all and when they had clearly Convicted him and gotten sufficient proof from him to Convict Merargues the King forbad the Parliament to proceed any further with him and some few days after sent him back to the Ambassador with a Copy of the whole Process But as for Merargues they went thorow with him for an Arrest or Sentence of the Nineteenth of the Month made him lose his Head in Greve and Condemned his Body to be cut in four Quarters which they set up over the four principal Gates of Paris and sent his Head to Marseilles to be there planted upon one of their Gates month February Amidst the Divertisements of the Court to whom the Birth of a second Son of France administred new cause of Festivity the King was seriously minded to restore the Duke of Bouillon upon his entire and not conditioned submission It was nigh upon four years he had been out of the Kingdom and by his Apologies Negociations and the intercession of divers Princes of his Religion had contended with the King not as to his Duty which he said he was ever ready to pay but his Innocency and Honor which he was obliged to maintain In effect they could not Convict him of any Conspiracy not even of the last though there was some reason to suspect him guilty of all The King knew he had stopt his ears at the instant Sollicitations of the Spaniards He remembred the eminent Services he had rendred him in his most pressing Necessities and he desired he might do him more yet hereafter in the shock he intended to give the House of Austria On the other hand he well knew that this Mareschal so long as he was absent from Court would ever keep the Huguenot Party in suspition and it somewhat concerned his Honor to make all Europe see they being well informed of this Affair that it was not without good ground he had so used him Now the only way to satisfie together both his Reputation and his Clemency was to engage him to come and crave his Pardon and Surrender his City of Sedan into his hands which he would needs have in his Power at least for some days that the whole world might understand the Mareschal held both his Life and Fortune from his Bounty The Mareschal did at length resolve to acknowledge he had failed he named his faults however Imprudence and Precipitation rather than Infidelity And though he expressed an impatient desire to wait upon the King yet he excused his coming till all those Clouds and Foggs of Crimes wherewith he had been charged were utterly dispersed it being as shameful for a Master to make use of any Servant while under such ill-favour'd Circumstances as for the Servant to have been wanting in his Fidelity due to so great a Monarch He apprehended no hurt from the King but only from the Counsels of Sully for as he believed him his Capital Enemy he imagined he would persuade the King to keep Sedan and that the apparent Benefit of the State would excuse and cover the Venial Sin of breaking his word Year of our Lord 1606 Him whom we have hitherto named Rosny shall be henceforward called the month February Duke of Sully because at the beginning of this year the King honour'd him with the Title of Duke and Pair which he annexed to the Lands of Sully purchased by this Lord since his favour The Letters Patents were sealed the Nineteenth of February and verified the last day of the Month in Parliament whither the new Duke went to be received accompanied as one who had both the King's Treasury and favour to befriend him and invite them The Business was brought to that pass that the King finding himself in Honor absolutely engaged to have Sedan and the Mareschal obstinately bent not to be dis-seized nothing remained but force that could determine the Controversie In the Council Villeroy and Sully were of different Sentiments concerning this Enterprize Sully openly persuaded the King to go in Person to Sedan Villeroy endeavour'd to hinder it but by more private ways To this end he made the difficulties appear very great the Consequences worse the place impregnable the Mareschal's Correspondence both without and within the Kingdom very dangerous He represented how all the Huguenot Party was ready to rise all Germany ready to take up Arms all England to put to Sea to support it that he had numerous Levies in Swisserland and the Low-Countries who would begin their March upon the first beat of Drum But the King slighted all these Apparitions as vain and airy Fantosmes and if month April they had been real Bodies he ought to have hastned to prevent them When he was gotten to Donchery which is within a League of Sedan with his Forces and had himself taken a view of the place the Mareschal who had still kept his Negociation on foot demanded to confer with Villeroy before
days after about the same hour as at first all of a sudden a great Light appeared in the Air towards the West as if to light the Scene and give the Spectators the Pleasure of a Combat wherewith the Demons of the Air if we may believe so would entertain the Court and out-vie their Divertisements For they formed as it were Regiments of Horse and Foot charging with impetuosity some tumbled off their Horses and others trampled underfoot many Musquets and Pistols discharged at each other the Fire and Smoak Year of our Lord 1606 were visible nothing was wanting but the report others laid hands on and grappled together and did not quit their hold till one was overthrown This imaginary Battel lasted above an hour then vanish'd in a moment In the general Abolition or Pardon which the Financiers had been constrain'd to purchase to deliver themselves from the pursuit of the Chamber-Royal the Crime of Forgery had been excepted as it should ever be Some Informers People of no Credit nor Habitation and indeed owning themselves for Counterfeits imagined that this Exception would be of advantage to frighten the said Officers and make them befriend and stand by them in all their villanious Cheats They first felt their Pulses several times thinking to squeeze somewhat from them but they were hugely deceived those Harpies whose greatest pleasure â is in flaying the rest of Mankind stand in less fear of Death and would sooner suffer it themselves than lose one single hair of their head When these Rascals perceived they slighted and scoffed at their menaces they insisted so far on it to the King and promis'd him such Mountains of Gold upon this inspection that he set up a Chamber or Court of Justice to proceed against such as should be accused of Forgery This Court to give the greater terror began with such severity as filled the Houses with Garrisons the Market-places with Gibbets and Effigies and Foreign Countries with Run-aways who went to voluntary Banishment but the most guilty having timely got their Necks out of the Collar and carried subsistence enough along with them to wait till the Torrent were past began to treat at that safe distance and employ'd part of their Spoil and Theft to gain Friends and Protectors who by divers methods allay'd the heat of their Prosecutions and spun things out to great length well knowing the King was soon weary and easily gave over when he once met with the like difficulties Just so did it fall out and when they heard him begin to complain of the great cry and little wool the Queen Mother implored his Mercy for these wretches and at the same time they offer'd to redeem themselves and bid up to Six hundred thousand Crowns The Richer sort advanced the whole Sum but re-imbursed themselves doubly by those Taxes the Court allowed them upon the little ones who had but pilfer'd â In so much as Honest men were of Opinion these greater Sponges ought to have been squeezed again and the Taxers a second time Taxed Before the year ended the Marriage of Eleonora Sister of the young Prince of Conde was compleated with Philip Eldest Son of William Prince of Orange and Earl of Nassaw He was sent Prisoner into Spain by Duke d'Alva in the year 1568. and having remained there divers years recover'd his liberty by renouncing the Protestant Religion In the mean time Blacons a Huguenot Gentleman had got possession of the Government of Orange with design said he to keep it for him and in effect Anno 1599. knowing he was at Genoa with the Arch-Duke Albert and the new Queen of Spain he went thither to carry the Keys of the place to him and invite him to come and take possession as he did yet did he not leave it intirely at his disposal for fear said he lest the Prince being a Catholick should misuse the inhabitants who were not so Now the King in favour of the said Princes Marriage with Eleonora compelled Blacons to restore that Principallity to him and also confirmed its independance by very express Letters Patents Year of our Lord 1607 We have but few things to collect in this year 1607. unless some perhaps desire we should observe that the King pursued his wonted pleasures of Love Gaming and Hunting That he had at certain times his fits of the Gout and observed to dyet himself as he was wont to do every year That upon the Popes request he sent the Order of the Holy-Ghost to Alincourt his Ambassador at Rome to conferr it with all possible Solemnity on Duke Sforza and the Duke de Saint Gemini of the House of the Vrsins dispensing them from the obligation of making proof of their Nobility as the Pope had dispensed him from the Statute of that Order which prohibits the conferring it upon Strangers That he had a Second Son born the Sixteenth of April who bare the Title of Duke of Orleans and dyed four years after before the Ceremonies of Baptisme month May. That in the Month of May a Chiaux brought him a Compliment and Letters from the Grand Signior Mahomet That in the Month of July he re-united all his own particular demeasnes to the Crown of France Year of our Lord 1607 That on the twenty sixth of September a Comet appeared whose long and large Train did point directly to the Sun it being of the magnitude of Jupiter and the colour of Saturn It 's motion at first was so swift as in few days within its own Circle which was very great it ran nine degrees and more this velocity diminishing dayly together with its magnitude it disappeared at the end of October That the grand Master of Maltha sent a Bone of the Foot of Sainct Euphemia Virgin and Martyr to the Doctors of the Sorbonne who otherwhile had chosen her for their Patroness and that the University went in a Body to the Temple where the Ambassador of the Order lodged to receive that Sacred Treasure That as to the concerns of one named la Motthe who was accused of being an accessary in the Murther of Francis de Montmorency Halot committed by the Marquiss d'Allegre at Vernon in the year 1593. and who had obtained Letters of abolition from the King and for his greater Security had lifted up the Shrine of Sanict Romain at Rouen there was great dispute before the Kings Council about this Priviledge by some Advocates of Parliament who to speak truth were but little skill'd in the antiquities of France The Grand Council gave an Act to the Kings Ministers of this opposition that had been made as to the allowance of the said Priviledge and then by a Decree of the six and twentieth of March 1608. having regard to the Kings pardon banish'd the accused for nine years from Court as also from Normandy and Picardy and condemned him to some reparations and to some Amende or Fine The King made likewise this Modification or Proviso in the Priviledge of Sainct Romains for
April May and June Mean time the King of France who had received notice from the States that they had accepted of a Truce fearing the business should be managed to the disadvantage of his interest resolved that he might share in the Negociation and make himself as Arbitrator to send thither the President Janin one of the best heads in his Kingdom and Paul Choard Bazenval to labour jointly with Elias de la Planche Russi whom he had sent Ambassador to the States in the stead of Busenval by communicating with the said States and fortifying them with their conceils The King of England likewise would needs have his Ambassadors there and by his example the King of Denmark and the Protestant Princes but those of France arrived there the eight and twentieth of May those from England not till the Month of July and the others about the end of the year The Ratification of Spain carried to Madrid being brought agen to the Hague with some alterations but not all those the States had mentioned did not fully content them Those that desired not the Peace took occasion from thence and from some other incidencies to frame such Obstructions as made them spend four Months in contests only Notwithstanding in the beginning of November the States upon the instances of Father Ney went on to the Negociation month Novemb. and Decemb. but put this down for an immoveable and fixed point That they should not in the least touch upon the foundation of their Liberty and their right of Soveraignty which they had acquired at the Expence of all that was dear to them in the world Now because the Truce expired in January they left it to the discrâtion of the Arch-Dukes to prolong it for a Month or Six Weeks In these Messages too and fro was this whole year almost wasted It is held that one of the Considerations which hastned most the Council of Spain to accept of this Truce was their fear of losing the Indies and their Maritime Forces for the Hollanders had taken from them and Burnt within three years above Thirty great Galioons and now newly had defeated their Admiral Year of our Lord 1607 Don Juan Alvarezd'Avila in the very Port of Gibraltar the Five and twentieth month April day of April This Exploit may well be counted one of the most brave and resolute that ever was performed on the Seas Jacob de Heemskerk Commanding the States Fleet consisting of Twenty six Vessels attaqued that of Spain though above a third part stronger than his own and under shelter of the Cannon both of the Town and Castle He pursued the Admiral quite through the Enemies Fleet having given Command not to fire one Gun till they came Yard arm to Yard arm Upon this neer approach the Valiant Hollander had his Legg taken off by a Cannon Ball whereof he died about an hour after but in the interim harangued those with such force that were about him and gave such good Orders that his Men month April gained the Victory Burnt or Sunk the Spanish Admiral wherein d'Avila was and Twelve Ships more took Two hundred Prisoners amongst whom was the Son of d'Avila and kill'd above Two thousand Men whereof above Fifty were Persons of Quality This signal overthrow fill'd all Spain with mourning and carried a very hot Alarm even to Madrid It was believed that if the Victors had pursued their blow they might have forced Gilbraltar and Cadiz too but they retired to Tituan a place upon the Coast of Africa belonging to the King of Fez to refresh and to repair themselves Year of our Lord 1608 We are now in the year 1608. which is to this day called the Great Winter year for the Cold which began to be very bitter on Sainct Thomas's Day lasted above two Months without relenting in the least degree excepting one or two days and congealed or if we may so express it petrified all the Rivers froze most of the young Vine-Roots and other tender Plants starved above half the Wildfowl and Small Birds in the Fields great numbers of Travellers on the Roads and near a fourth part of the Cattle that were housed as well by its violent sharpness as for want of Forrage It was observed that the heats of the following Summer did almost equal the Severities of the Winter and yet the year might be reck'ned amongst the most plentiful The Thaw caused no less damage than the hard Frost had done the Cakes of Ice in the Rivers destroy'd a world of Boats Keys and Bridges The Waters raised by the sudden melting of the Snows drowned the Valleys and the Loire breaking down its Banks in many places made a second deluge in the Neighbouring Campagnes Year of our Lord 1608 That which hapned at Lyons is a wonder worthy to be described There was month February a mountain of Ice-Cakes accumulated on the Saone before the Church de l'Observance the whole City trembled for fear lest upon breaking loose it should carry away the Bridge and therefore made Publick Prayers to avert that Misfortune and Damage a simple Artisan undertook to make it break into little shivers and swim away by degrees without any disorder for a certain Sum of Money agreed upon by the Magistrates of the Town To this effect he on the Shoar right against it lighted two or three small Fires with half a dozen Faggots and a few Coals and falls a muttering certain words Immediately this prodigious glaciated Rock burst with a noise like the report of a Cannon into an infinity of pieces the greatest not exceeding four or five foot But this poor fellow instead of receiving his Reward was in danger of receiving severe Punishment for the Divines said That the thing could not possibly be so done without some operation of the Devil so that his Recipe or Charm was burnt publickly in the Town-Hall Ten or Twelve years after he brought his Action in Parliament for his Reward I could never learn the success of it Henry last Duke of Montpensier after he had languished two years with a Hectick Feaver reduced to suck a Nurses Breast expir'd about the end of February His only Daughter a little before his Death was Contracted to the King 's second Son who dying young she afterwards Married the third whom we have seen Duke of Orleans he came into the world the Five and twentieth of March following Henrietta Catherine de Joyeuse Widdow of Henry re-married some time after to Charles Duke of Guise In the Month of May Charles Duke of Lorraine a good Prince liberal and pacifick passed from this life to the other and had for Successor his eldest Son Henry Duke of Bar and Marquis du Pont. Some perhaps would take it amiss should I forget that the Duke of Neuers sent on an extraordinary Embassy to the Pope to tender him the filial Obedience made his entrance into Rome upon the Five and twentieth of November the most magnificently that ever had been known upon
from which the Reader may draw what consequence he pleases the one That when they had taken him seven or eight Men were seen to come up with their drawn Swords who cried aloud he deserved â and ought to be cut in pieces presently and then immediately sheltred themselves in the Crowd the other That he was not presently put into Goal but into the hands of Montigny where they kept him two days in the Hostel de Rais with so little care that all sorts of people spake with him and amongst others a Frier who had great Obligations to the King having accosted him and called him My Friend said to him he should have a care of accusing honest people There were in the Kings Coach the Dukes of Espernon and of Montbason the Mareschals de Lavardin and de Roquelaure and the Marquesses de la Force and de Mirebeau these Lords being allighted and having cover'd his face and drawn the Curtains made them drive back towards the Louvre and commanded at their Entrance they should call out for a Chyrurgeon and some Wine that it might be believed he was not yet dead They laid his Bleeding Corps upon a Year of our Lord 1610 Bed with negligence enough and he was there exposed for some hours to any that would see him but attended or regarded only by those who had no great interest of Fortune at the Court All such as were in hopes of any thought more upon their own Affairs than on him who could now do no more for them Thus was there but a moment space between their Adorations and Oblivion â The pressing necessity of Affairs obliged the Queen to disband her Sorrows and dry up her Tears she left the care and present management of all Affairs to such as she confided in most particularly to the Duke of Espernon and the Mareschal de Lavardin We shall show in the following Reign if the times will permit us how the Court wholly changed it's Face the Government its Maximes the Ministers their designs How the Orders which Henry the Great had established were renversed his Oeconomies dissipated his faithful Servants turned out of doors and his Alliances forsaken to take up new ones so that France which was so lately triumphant and Mistress of Europe saw her self almost reduced month May. under the Government and Direction of Spain and the Agents of the Court of Rome who were the Oracles of the Regency It must however be acknowledged that it proved very happy both for the quiet and the ease of the People in general So soon as the King was dead the Duke of Espernon ran to order the Companies of the Regiment that had the Guard to seize upon the Gates of the Louvre sent for the rest who were quarter'd in the Fauxbourgs to come and post themselves upon the Pont-neuf in the Street Daufine and about the Augustins thereby to invest the Parliament and compel them if requisite to declare the Queen Regent The President de Blanc-mesnil who then held the Afternoon Audience broke off upon the dreadful rumour of the King 's being wounded but durst not or would not stir from thence And in the mean time the President Seguier whom the Duke of Espernon had been with for his advice and assistance came thither immediately with a good number of his Friends So that the Company was assembled to serve the Duke in his Design Amidst that innumerable and confused multitude of People wherewith Paris was then thronged who were of so great diversity of Humours and Interests amidst the Animosities betwixt the Catholicks and the Huguenots the Feuds amongst the Grandees the Suspitions which the one cast upon the other concerning this Murther the specious pretence there was to animate the People to revenge the Death of a Prince so greatly and generally beloved and the avidity of the Rascally sort to be Plundering it is manifest that the least spark of Sedition would have set all Paris in a flame and the more easily because the Bourgeoisie had their Arms in readiness having Mustered twice or thrice a Week for above a Month to be prepared for the entrance of the Queen The Prudence of her Magistrates I mean the Prevost des Marchands and the Lieutenant Civil did most happily obviate those Disorders The first was James Sanguin the second Nicholas le Jay a man of great Sence and who had acquired a great deal of Credit amongst the Citizens because he made the Honor of his Office to consist in serving the Publick well Both appeared every where about the Streets amused the populace with divers reports exhorted the considerablest Bourgeois to keep them in awe managed every thing so wisely and gave such excellent Orders the one Commanding the Captains of every Precinct the other the Commissaries Archers and Huissiers to be in a readiness that nothing was able to make the least disturbance Henry IV. died in the midst of the Fifty seventh year of his Age three Months before the end of the Two and twentieth of his Reign leaving three Sons and three Daughters by Mary de Medicis his Second or rather his only Wife since the Marriage between him and Margaret de Valois was declared Null The eldest named Lewis hath reigned the second had no Baptismal Name and died within the fourth year of his Childhood he bare the Title of Duke of Orleans The Third had it likewise and the Name of John Baptista Gaston The three Daughters were called Elizabeth Christian and Henriette-Maria The eldest was Wife of Philip IV. King of Spains the second of Victor Amedea Prince of Piedmont then Duke of Savoy after the death of Duke Charles his Father the last of Charles I. King of Great Britain The number of his Natural Children did by much surpass his Legitimate ones for besides those whom he would not or could not well own he had Eleven S ix Year of our Lord 1610 by Gabriella d'Estree which were Caesar Duke de Vendosme Lewis Francis and Isabella these three died young Alexander Grand Prior of France and Catharine Henrietta Wife of Charles Duke de Elbaeuf Two by Henrietta de Balsac d'Entragues to wit Henry Duke de Verneüil and Bishop of Mets at present Governor of Languedoc and Gabriella Wife of Bernard de Nogaret Duke de la Valette then Duke of Espernon one only by Jacqueline de Bueil which was Anthony Count de Moret And two Daughters by Charlotta des Essars a private Gentlewoman They were named Jane and Mary Henrietta the former was Abbess of Fontevrault and the latter of Chelles It may be seen and judged by the course of his whole life whether he justly merited the Title they gave him of Great with that of Arbitrator of Christendom There were some would needs reproach him That he loved Money too well and that to gather it he exposed his Kingdom to the avidity of Partisans who amongst a great number of odd Projects they put him upon made him establish the Paulete or
unlawful Cabals and an unworthy Traffick of which they had undeniable Proofs before them Nevertheless such as were sincere and well meaning men amongst them moderating this difference found out an expedient to compose matters but which in truth did in some sort prejudice one advantage France had ever been in possession of But she knew how to recover her former right afterwards and to maintain it The Cardinal de Lorraine had now no other thought but to hasten the conclusion Year of our Lord 1563 of the Council that he might return into France to settle the Affairs of his House He went to wait on his Holiness at Rome with whom he had long and private Conferences and after he came back to Trent he acted altogether in concert with the Legates In so much as the said grand Assembly which during the space of twenty seven years and under the Pontificat of Five Popes had been interrupted and resumed divers times finally ended on the second day of December in the year 1563. To the unexpressible satisfaction of his Holiness who thereby was deliver'd of many great fatigues and far greater apprehensions of the diminution of his absolute power The Decisions have been received in France as to the points of Faith but not those for Discipline there being many that infringe the Rights of the Crown the Liberties of the Gallican Church the authority of the secular Magistrate the Priviledges of the Chapters and Communities and divers usages received in the Kingdom and if several of their Reiglements are practised it is not by vertue of the Decrees of that Council but of the Kings Ordonannces Year of our Lord 1561 c. Whilst that was held Calvinisme which the Edicts of King Francis I. and Henry II. had suppressed began to appear again publickly under the favour of those conjunctures we have before specified The Edict of July deliver'd them from the dangers of death the Colloquy of Poissy gave them confidence to Preach openly the Edict of January the Liberty of Exercise and the accident of Vassy the occasion to take up Arms. From thence followed infinite Murthers Robberies Destruction of Churches Burnings Prophanations and Sacrilegious Out-rages Those people inraged for that they had burned so many of their Brethren revenged it cruelly upon the â Clergy as many as they caught they cut off their Ears and their Virilia some were seen to wear them upon strings hung round like Bandeliers They spared Year of our Lord 1563 not the Sepulchres of Saints nor even the Tombs of their own Ancestors they burned all the Reliques of which notwithstanding as by a Miracle we now find as many as ever and broke in pieces all the Shrines and Sacred Vases to get the Gold and Silver that enriched them From all which impieties this good at least accrued to the publick that they Coyned good store of Money but one thing was a loss without any the least profit and never to be repaired to wit the destruction of the ancient Libraries belonging to Abbeys where there were inestimable Treasures for History and for the works of Antiquity The Clergy in these Wars sustained likewise great damage in their Temporal Estates for besides that the Huguenots invaded them in many places the Kings also constrained them four or five several times to alienate much Lands for great Sums of Money to be employ'd towards the expences of their War and gave them so short a time that they were forced to sell at a very mean rate Shall we â say these distractions were their ruine or their reformation since it is certain that as those riches serve them for a decent and necessary subsistence when they are moderate so are they the chief cause of their corruption when excessive and that when ever the Church had the least then was she always the most holy and pure When Francis Duke of Guise was Assassinated near Orleans the Queen-Mother and the Huguenots being on either hand delivered from that approaching ruine wherewith he threatned them were easily inclined to a Peace The Queen and the Prince her Prisoner treated it personally the Edict was dispatched to Amboise the nineteenth of March 1563. This was the first of the seven granted them by King Charles IX and Henry III. for so often did they take up Arms sometimes being thereto necessitated otherwhile out of choice and design The Massacre of Saint Bartholomew which in all probability should have utterly quelled them did but rather encourage them to undergo all future extremities since it left them no other prospect to save themselves but by hazarding their All. Now this first Peace in 1563. displeased his Holiness so much that he resolved to discharge his wrath upon those whom he believed to be the most dangerous Enemies of the Catholick Religion in France particularly upon Jane d'Albret Queen of Navarre who had banish'd it out of her Kingdom and pull'd down all the Churches and upon some Prelates who manifestly countenanced Huguenotisme Year of our Lord 1563 He had a mind to Summon the Queen before the Council and to have made her process at that grand Tribunal but foreseeing the Emperors Ambassadors would soon oppose it as they had done in the like Case concerning the Queen of England he resolved to cite her to Rome and caused the Citation to be posted up at the Gates of Saint Peters Church and at the Inquisition declaring if She did not make her appearance that her Lands and Lordships should be proscribed and that She should personally incurr all the penalties provided against Hereticks As for the Prelates he gave orders likewise to the Cardinals of the Inquisition to cite them to Rome upon a day certain and if they appeared not personally to carry on their process to a definitive Sentence which he would pronounce in his secret Consistory The Inquisitors by vertue of this Command cited Odet de Coligny Chastillon Cardinal Bishop of Beauvais but who had quitted his Purple to follow the fortune and opinions of his Brothers and bare the Title of Count de Beauvais N. de Saint Romain Arch-Bishop of Aix John de Montluc Bishop of Valence John Anthony Carracciol of Troyes John de Barbanson of Pamiez Charles Guillard of Chartres Lewis d'Albret of Lascar Claude Reyne of Oleron John de Saint Gelais of Vzez and Francis de Nouilles of Acqs. In the same number they might very justly have placed Peter du Val Bishop of Sees who was of the same sentiments with Montluc After these Proceedings in the Court of Rome the Pope pronounced the Sentence against the Cardinal de Chastillon whereby he declared him an Heretick Seducer Schismatick Apostate and one perjur'd degraded him of his Cardinalship deprived him of Offices all Dignities especially the Bishoprick of Beauvais which he held of the Holy See exposed him to all the faithful that could apprehend him deliver him up to justice The Cardinal to shew that he depended no way on the jurisdiction of the
be in their own power He therefore took this Business mightily to heart and dispatched the Abbot Leon to France with an order to the Prelates to Assemble in Council about that Affair and to Seguin Archbishop of Sens to Represent his Person amongst them Year of our Lord 994 Hugh complained opposed it and held good some time against this Enterprize But a new born Royalty could not but comply and yield at last to those Orders for fear of being quickly tumbled down again The Council which was held at Reims deposed Gerbert and restored Arnold to his See after three years imprisonment Gerbert withdrew himself to his Disciple King Otho who bestowed upon him the Archbishoprick of Ranonna from whence some years after he was raised to the Holy Chair Year of our Lord 994 In the year 994. the unhappy Charles died in Prison at Orleance It is not said what became of his Wife but he two Sons Otho and Lewis and two Daughters Gerberge and Hermengarde All these Children went to the Emperor Otho III. The eldest enjoyed the Dutchy of the lower Lorrain some years and died without Heirs The other is not mentioned Hereafter we shall take notice to whom his Daughters were Married Year of our Lord 994 and the following King Hugh as well as Pepin and all such Princes as set up by a new Title amongst People that are not perfectly Barbarians was truly Religious Devout and a lover of the Church and Church-men gave up all the Abbies he held and surrendred the Right of Election to the Clergy and Monks By his Example those Lords that possessed Church-Lands as their own Patrimony not only restored them but for Restitution of their unjust Enjoyment and Detention founded divers Monasteries which they peopled with reformed Monks who certainly were much less good and more interested then the former had been Year of our Lord 996 He ended his Life Anno 996. the 29th of August or according to others the 22th of November aged about Fifty five years having Reigned nine years and some months He was buried at St. Denis If he Married Blanche the Widow of Lewis last Carolovinian King he had no Children by her but by his first Wife Adeleide Daughter according to some of William II. Duke of Aquitain he had a Son named Robert and three Daughters Haduige or Avoye Wise of Renier IV. Earl of Monts and of Haynault Adelais Wife to Renand I. Earl of Nevers and Gisle who Wedded Hugh I. Earl of Pontieu to whom she brought the City of Abbeville in Marriage Year of our Lord 996 The same year 996. Richard surnamed Sans Peur or without Fear Duke of Normandy ended his days in his Palace of Fâscamp aged Sixty four years of which he had Reigned nine and was Interred before the Portal of the Church there His Son Richard II. succeeded him About these times that Sacred Fire which they named the Burning Sickness and had otherwhile made great destruction broke out and kindled again cruelly tormenting France especially for two Ages It seized again on a suddain and burnt the Intrails or some other part of the Body which fell off piece-meal Happy were those that escaped with the loss of a Leg or an Arm. This caused many great Donatives to be given to those Saints whose help they believed they had received in the midst of their dreadful Torments as likewise the frequent sounding of Hospitals for such as were infected with this Distemper The Calamity which Anno 994. destroyed in Aquitain Angoumois Perigord and Limosin above 40000 Persons in a few days time wrought at least this good that the Grandees who had troubled this Province by their private Feuds fearing the Wrath of God made a Solemn Oath amongst themselves to do Justice to their Subjects and for this end formed a Holy League which drew other Provinces by their Example to do the like It was likewise in this Age that Pilgrimages to the Holy Land grew very Frequent I mean amongst the Seculars for the Monks and Clergy-men travelled to those Holy Places from the time of King Clovis If the Tenth have deserved the name of the Iron Age which is commonly bestow'd upon it must have been for the continual and very Bloody Wars between the Western Princes and for the terrible Devastations of the Normans the Hungarians and the Saracens but if they called it so for the ignorance and irregularity of their Manners it was rather in respect to the Church of Rome where in truth there were horrible Disorders and Crimes then those of France and Germany It is certain that the Bishops and Abbots notwithstanding the Prohibitions of Princes and Councils bore Arms and went to the Wars a Custom which passed into a Law and Obligation and lasted a long time in the third Race That several were plunged into Vanity Luxury and Dissolution and lived rather like Princes of this World then Apostles of Jesus Christ That those Wars which scourged them made them yet but more worthy of Chastisement for the Disorders and Licentiousness they fell into That their Manners run to ruine with their Buildings and that as there hardly remained any Monastery or Church entire so there was scarce any Discipline left not even amongst the very Monks That in fine many Churches were without a Pastor for example there was but one Bishop in all the Country of Gascongny who enjoyed the Revenue of six or seven Bishopricks But after all these Ruines they began before the middle of this Century to gather up the broken pieces or fragments and reform the behaviour of the Clergy as well as rebuild their Churches William Duke of Aquitain and Auvergne having founded the Monastery of Clugny in the year 910. and St. Mayeule having raised as it were a Nursery of Religious good Men they took some Plants from thence to stock and furnish those Abbys which the Princes re-edifi'd This Abbot and Odillon his Successor furnished at least twenty or thirty who remained still in submission to their common Mother and formed the Congregation of Clugny As much did William Abbot of St. Benigne at Dijon as likewise Abbon de Fleury to some others about Aquitain Subordinations which may procure much good and perhaps much greater evils St. Gerard of the Blood of the Dukes of Lorrain having embraced a Monastick Life reformed Eighteen or twenty Adalberon Bishop of Metz Brother to Frederic first Earlo Bar made a Regulation in those of his Bishoprick amongst others in that of Gorze and at St. Arnold from whence he expelled the Canons who were grown disorderly to place Monks in their stead Abbon de Fleury going to settle his Reformation in the Monasteries of Squirs upon the Garonne which therefore was called the Rule and in the Language of that Country La Reovle and near to which was built a City of that name was knock'd down by a Sedition which the Gascon Monks of that place and the Women had raised against him Amongst the Bishops there
understood Divinity better then did the Canonists of the Court of Rome So that the Pope perceiving his Opinion was not well received and entertained said he had propos'd it only by way of Disputation or Argument Year of our Lord 1334 He died the year following leaving an immense Treasure scraped together by his exactions made upon the Clergy of France Peter Fournier Cardinal of very mean and low birth but greatly eminent for his Moderation and Frugality succeeded him in the Holy See and took the name of Benedict or Benet XII Year of our Lord 1335. and the following Arthur II. Duke of Bretagne had married two Wives the First was Mary Daughter and Heiress of Guy Vicount Limoges The Second Yoland Daughter of Robert IV. Earl of Dreux and one Beatrix Daughter and Heiress of Amaury V. Earl of Montfort by Mary came three Sons John II. who was Duke after his Father Guy who had for his part the Earldom of Pontieure and from whom came a Daughter named Jane and Peter who died without Children Of Yoland came a Son named John who had the Earldom of Montfort as his Great Grandfather by the Mother had Duke John II. having no Children and his Brother Guy being dead in the year 1330. leaving only a Daughter which was Jane it was easie to foresee that great troubles would arise for the succession of the Dutchy between this Daughter and John de Montfort for this last pretended that he was one degree nearer then she was and besides being a Male he ought to exclude her Now as Duke John had a particular affection for the House of France from which he was descended by the Male line he had it in his thoughts to avoid the destruction of Bretagne for to exchange this Dutchy with the King for that of Orleance or to leave it in Sequestration in his hands to restore it to which of the pretenders he pleased The Lords of the Countrey not able to endure either of these two methods he bethought him of Marrying his Niece to Charles de Chastillon Brother of Lewis Earl of Blois and Nephew by his Mother to King Philip de Valois upon condition he should take the Name the Motto and the Coat of Arms of Bretagne The Marriage was consummate in Anno 1339. The Duke kept him with him and Treated him as his presumptive Successor John de Montfort dissembling those pretences he had to the contrary Year of our Lord 1336 Edward having attained to full majority prompted by his own great courage and the Favours Fortune had newly bestowed in a Victory over the Scots was easily led by the continual instigations of Robert d'Artois animating him to recover the Kingdom of France by the Sword He thought it convenient to begin with complaints and accused Philip before the Pope for having ravished that Crown from him during his Minority The Pope having given him no other Answer but an exhortation not to disturb a Prince who had taken on him the Cross for an expedition to the Holy Land the young King impatient of such long delay sent to defie King Philip. All his Allies every one in particular except only the Duke of Brabant accompanied his Year of our Lord 1336 Cartel with their own and the Bishop of Limoges was the bearer Some time before the King having intelligence that they were preparing to make the Rupture went to Avignon with John Duke of Normandy his eldest Son to visit the Holy Father Benedict XII as well to justifie himself of the accusations of the King of England as to cut out work for the Emperour Lewis of Bavaria by rendring his agreement with the Pope more difficult Year of our Lord 1336 The defiance being signified Gautier de Mauny began first by opening the War on the Flanders-side surprizing the City of Mortagne not the Castle then that of Thin l'Evesque which he kept to bridle Cambray that shew'd it self for the French The King of England's Lieutenants likewise began the War in Saintonge by the taking of the Castle of Palencour the Governour whereof for having but poorly defended himself lost his Head at Paris Thus the expedition to the Holy Land was broken off the King called back the Forces he had at Marseilles and kept the Genoese in his pay the best Men for Sea-service in those days with theirs and the assistance of the Castilians he sent a Naval force to the coasts of England where they did a great deal of mischief there being no less then Sixty thousand of them under pay Year of our Lord 1336. and 37. At the same time his Land-Army commanded by Rodolph Earl of Eu and Guisnes his Constable entred Guyenne and gained the Lands of the Vicount de Tartas The Earl de Foix who succeeded him in that employ did likewise conquer many other petty places Year of our Lord 1337 The Cities of Flanders whereof Ghent is as it were the Head hesitated some time between the fear of the power of the French and the distress and indigence the English drove them into expresly having prohibited the carrying to them any Wools out of England into their Countrey but when an English Army had deseated one of theirs in the Island of Cadsant James d'Artevelle whom Edward had gained by the power of Money and Presents mtroduced his Ambassadors into Ghent and Treated his Alliance with that City This Artevelle was a private Brewer and Beer-Merchant but crafty undertaking and politique who had acquired almost the absolute Government in Flanders and maintained Agents in all the Cities So that the Earl could not possibly stop the torrent and was constrained to quit the Countrey Year of our Lord 1338 During all this Edward who after the Declaration of War had returned to his own Island came and landed at Scluse with an Army and Fleet of Four hundred Sail went by Land to Colen to confer with the Emperour who confirmed the Title of Vicar of the Empire to him and promis'd to attaque France with the Forces of Germany provided he might have such great sums of Money as he demanded Year of our Lord 1338 At his return from Colen he encamped some days before Cambray an Imperial City but wherein the Bishop had suffer'd Prince John the Son of King Philip to enter Finding he could do little there he passed the Scheld to give the King battle The two Armies were nigh each other about the Village of Viron-fosse in Cambresis The King much the stronger in appearance forbore to give battle because Robert King of Naples a great Astrologer had sent him word that in what place soever he should venture to fight the English he should lose the day and run his Kingdom into an extream danger The remainder of the year was spent in picquering and sending forth small parties to make inroads upon one another Year of our Lord 1339 For the Flemmings as the three Cities of L'sle Douay and Orchies stuck much in their Stomachs they proffer'd their Service to
Milan thereupon came news of the taking of Fontarabia and he refused to ratify the Treaty unless they would restore that place to him This would have created no trouble if as soon as they had taken it the wise counsel of Claude Duke of Guise had been followed who would have had it razed and the materials brought to Andaye right over against it on the hither Shoar of the River Bidasso But Bonnivet full of the vain desire to perpetuate the Glory of his Conquest which he exalted as high as that of any Kingdom persuaded the King to preserve it and by this means a Fantastical and Ambitious Minister involved the Kingdom of France in a War of eight and thirty â Years The King was encamped on the Banks of the Scheld when the Courier brought him the Treaty of Calais He remained there some Days but finding the Floods so great and the Ways so bad that it was impossible for him to relieve Tournay he retired into Picardy having left part of his Men with the Constable and the Duke of Vendosme who took Hesdin and some Castles of small Importance Being at Compiegne he sent Word to Champroux who commanded in Tournay to make his Composition the most honorably that he possibly could as he did the first of December after a three Months Blockade and Siege In Italy the Pope and Emperor not having been able to make Genoa and Milan revolt by the Intrigues of the Banished proceeded to open force Lautrec who was Governor of Milanois was come into France to compleat his Marriage with the Daughter of N. d'Albret d'Orval and the Mareschal de Lescun his Brother supply'd his place This Man furnish'd the Pope with a pretended Cause who could find out no just one to break with the King His Brother and himself being haughty and severe had proscrib'd many of the Milanese Jeremy Moron who had been Senator of Milan under Lewis XII and mightily cherish'd by that King was of the number being picqued for that Francis I. had refused to make him Master of Requests Lescun having notice that these Exiles were assembled together at Reggio went thither with fifteen hundred Horse and endeavour'd to surprize the Town The Pope made loud Complaints in the Consistory and protested that Francis having violated the Alliance that was betwixt them he thought himself no longer obliged to keep it but he would Year of our Lord 1521 by no means confess that he had broken it first that his Gallies were gone to surprize Genoa and that he had an Army in readiness to enter upon Milan under the command of Prosper Colomna and Frederic Gonzague Marquiss of Mantoua whom he had inviegled from the Service of the King of France The Tricks and Stratagems of the Exil'd were ineffectual as well as the Voyage of the Popes Gallies Manfroy Palavicini one of their Chiefs was taken when he thought to take Coma and Octavian Fregosa took such good care of Genoa that nothing stirr'd In the mean time the King perceiving that he must have a War on that side sent Lautrec thither This Lord knowing the prodigal Humour and negligence of the King refused to go till he could have the three hundred thousand Crowns to march along with him which had been assigned him but Madame and those that governed the Treasury promised him so positively even with the most Sacred Oaths to send them immediately after him that he condescended and parted without them And then indeed just what he feared hap'ned the King having lost the sight of him lost the remembrance of him too and Madame who hated him diverted that Fund to other uses The Enemies had besieged Parma Lescun had thrown himself in with five thousand Men but two thousand forsook him Lautrec knowing he was in danger advanced to the River Taro which is within seven Miles of it to relieve him At the same time News was brought to the Enemy that the Duke of Ferrara had taken Friul and Saint Felix and that he might come and get both Reggio and Modena from them upon this apprehension they raised their Siege and returned to Sainct Lazare Their Germans for want of Pay abandon'd them in their March and in this disorder there had been an end of their Army if Lautrec had but followed and charged them smartly He was accused for having committed another Fault likewise The Enemies having passed the River Po had lodged themselves in the little Town of Rebecque situate on the Oglio four Miles from Pontevique which is Land belonging to the Venetians They believed themselves to be in security there because the Venetians though Confederate with the King would not open their City Gates to the French but they were mistaken for they suffer'd Lautrec to enter This General having a Strength equal to theirs had infallibly defeated them had he but drawn neer their Camp and pent them up close for by this means they could not have had room to draw up in Battalia nor could they have staid there above two or three days wanting Ovens to bake their Ammunition-Bread but he amusing himself with fiâing upon them from Pontevic they quietly stole away in the Night and repassed the Oglio Hitherto they had given ground to the French but now their Strength increasing they are going to give them Chace The ten thousand Swisse which the Cardinal de Sion had obtained of the Cantons for defence of the Pope and the Holy See after long deliberation whether they should follow him into Milanois because that was to contravene their Alliance with the King did at last joyn them near Gambara There hap'ned at the same time another thing very prejudicial to the French The Lords of the Leagues had sent Couriers to command the Swisse both of the one and the other Army that they should return for that it was scandalous to the Cantons to have their Ensignes set up publickly in two Camps that were Enemies to each other Now those that carried these Orders to the Confederates Army were corrupted and stopt in their Journy but the others went on directly to the French Army and delivered those Commands to such Swisse as were there So that they immediately withdrew and the most part without saying Adieu but not so much out of Obedience as hopes they should get some Money of the Confederates Lautrec receiving none from France nor being able to raise enough in Milanois to satisfy them With what Forces he had left he got to Cassan having left a Garrison at Cremona and at Pizzigton then after the Enemy had passed the Adda under the favor of the little Town of Vaury which they seized upon he retired to Milan but he held it not long For they being come to lodge at Marignan one Day the nineteenth of November when they believed they could not stir out of their Quarters nor draw their Cannon so bad was the Weather so rotten and deep the Ways while he was walking about the Streets unarmed and
his Brother Year of our Lord 1521 Lescun in Bed tyred with his former Day 's labour he was amazed when towards the Evening they attacked the Suburbs and gained it the Venetians that had the Guard there basely abandoning it At the same time the Burghers of the Gibeline Faction let them into the City but the Spaniard revenged the French and made that faithless Town pay dearly for their defection plundring them for eight days together He then drew together round about the Castle all the Men he had and after he had put Men enough into it instead of charging the Enemy whilst they were in disorder and separated he resolves to retire the same Night to Coma and thence to the Country of Bergamo Soon after Coma was taken by the Marquiss of Pescara Parma abandoned by the too precipitate Order of Lautrec and Piacenza delivered by her Citizens to the Confederates The over-joy for so much good Success moved Pope Leo so much that the very Night he received it he was seized with a kind of a Feavor of which or of some other more hidden Cause he died at Rome the first Day of December Now he having projected this War and furnished Money for maintaining of the Army it might be judg'd that upon his Death the French should have recover'd their advantage seeing they had still in their Hands all the best Places in the Dutchy the Castle of Milan Cremona Piacenza Novarra Alexandria seven or eight strong Forts and the City of Genoa the Colledg of Cardinals troubling themselves so little with those Affairs that the Duke of Ferrara easily regained all the Towns that Leo had taken from him Francis Maria the Dutchy of Vrbin and moreover that of Camerin which he wrested from John de Varane and Baillon the City of Perugia But the Affront they received at Parma being beaten off by a very few Soldiers and People half armed gave other Towns the greater Courage to resist them After which the two Armies rested near sixs Week without undertaking any thing the French for want of Men and indeed both of them for want of Money Year of our Lord 1522 The Holy See having been vacant more then two Months by reason of the Discords which the interests of particular Men and the division of their Affections between the King and the Emperor occasioned in the Conclave the Cardinals elected Adrian Florent Cardinal Bishop of Tortosa a Hollander by birth who had been Tutor to the Emperor and at that time Governed Spain all the World nay they themselves after it was done wondring how out of I do no know what giddy Fancy they should go so far off for one that thought but little of them as indeed till now they had as little thought upon him He came not to Rome till the twenty ninth day of August following Whilst the Armies lay quiet Prosper Colomna took great care for every thing that was necessary to preserve Milan both for the Fortifications and the Provisions as also for Soldiers and principally to dispose the People to make an obstinate Defence Which he did as well by the hatred he encreased in them against the French representing the Severities they had used towards them and the extreme Resentment and Revenge their Nature would prompt them to if they should ever regain that Place from whence they had been so shamefully beaten out as by the Affection he inspired them withal for Francis Sforza second Son of Ludovic and Brother of Maximilian For the deceased Pope Leo had designed by the Emperor's consent to restore him to his Father's Dutchy but he was yet at Trent expecting a Levy of eight thousand Germans to conduct him thither Upon this notwithstanding the Cabals of the Imperialists the discords between the Cantons some of them being for the King others for the Emperor and the contrary interests of the particular Chiefs amongst them they had granted the King in one of their Diets a Levy of twelve thousand Swisse who marched into Lombardy by Mount Saint Bernard and Saint Godards Mount under the conduct of Honorius Bastard of Savoy Grand Maistre of France and Galeas de Sanseverin Grand Escuyer Soon after John de Medicis came into the King's Service also and joyned his Army with three thousand Soldiers With two such considerable re-inforcements and raising of some Italian Troops Lautrec thought he might do Wonders against the City of Milan if he posted himself about it in the Neighbourhood either by cutting off their Supplies and Provisions or by assaulting them in that consternation he believed the People would be in upon his approach When he had been there already some Days and his hopes to gain it either by Famine or by Assault were reduced to the Forms of a long Siege he had information that Francis Sforza having left Trent with his Lansquenets and crossed Veronois and the Mantouan Territory was arrived at Piacenza and that the Marquiss of Mantoua had joyned him with his Horse to convoy him to Pavia where he was to wait a favourable opportunity to get to Milan Then he decamped and posted himself upon the Cassine which is within three Leagues of Milan to hinder his Passage and put the Venetians into Binasque for the same purpose When he had been there some while he had news that his Brother was returning from France with Money and some Infantry which were Landed at Genoa he sent four hundred Lances and seven Thousand Swiss to Guard him Lescun came to Novarre whose Castles still held out for the French and turning their great Guns upon the Town plaid upon it so suriously that he entred it by force upon the third Assault But this delay of some days favour'd the passage of Duke Sforza who marching by an uncouth Rode got into Milan and infinitely encreased the Courage of the Inhabitants and their hatred against the French by the remembrance of the mild Government of the Dukes his Predecessors Year of our Lord 1522 When he was gone from Pavia Lautrec caused it to be besieged It was better furnished with Men then he expected his Soldiers were beaten off upon all their Assaults and the great Rains which made the Tesin to overflow and its Stream become so Rapid that they could not bring up any Boats famished his Army He decamped therefore and advanced as far as Monce to receive the Money sent him from France While the Treasurer that brought it was at Aronca and could not get forwards because a Party of the Enemy had lodged themselves upon their Way the Swisse impatient to receive their Arrears demanded leave either to be gone or to fight the Enemies Army without considering that they were intrenched in a Place where nothing could be gained but Blows Lautrec finding he could not with-hold them any longer neither by his Promises nor the consideration of the Posture they were in hazarded the Battle wherein he foresaw all the disadvantage would fall upon them The Enemies were posted in a Farm
Indulgence made Paris subsist some weeks the longer for it Year of our Lord 1590. July In the mean while the Politicks and Royalists were every day making Parties to deliver up the City to the King or to make the People rise and mutiny but they were so narrowly watch'd that all their Projects miscarried They wanted but little of succeeding one day about the end of July when being assembled at the Palais they took up Arms and began to cry out Peace or Provisions It is certain that if Nemours and Vitry had not ran presently thither all were inclining that way The Seize made such grievous complaint to the Parliament that they condemned a couple to the Gallows it was a Father and his Son who were both Hanged on the same Gibber the miserable fruit of Civil Wars The dangers of this day of Peace or Provisions struck so great a fear into the Chiefs of the League that they consulted about a Conference for a Peace Whilst they were deliberating upon it the King to spur them forwards attaqu'd their Suburbs and gained them all in one night The Cardinal de Gondy and the Archbishop of month August Lyons having secur'd themselves of a Pass-port the sixth day of August went and waited on him at St. Anthoine des Champs where they found him surrounded by great numbers of the Nobless They set on foot again with many notable additional Reasons the Proposition they had already made to him by other hands That he would grant them a Truce so as they might go to the Duke of Mayenne and dispose him to treat joyntly with them The King on his part proposed to them that if they would make their Capitulation to surrender within ten days and sign it immediately he would condescend to their demand That time seemed too short for them so they returned without concluding any thing Some Captains had been often of opinion to attempt Paris by main strength but the King was ever averse to it for besides that he was not certain to carry it he feared if his Men should force their way the Huguenots in revenge of the St. Bartholomew might put all to Fire and Sword that such a deluge must destroy some of his best Friends there and the greatest and richest Treasure of his Kingdom be rifled in one day whereof none should reap any benefit but the rapacious Soldiery For these reasons and because he promised himself day after day to reduce it by some Confederacy from within or at least by Famine for his Parasites made him believe it yet in much worse condition then in truth it was he either durst not or would not run so great a hazard He held himself so secure of gaining his ends that without making any Efforts or troubling his Head about the assistance they expected he diverted himself in seeking Year of our Lord 1590. August new Mistresses even within the Monasteries with as great security and leasure as if he had been quietly lodged in his Louvre By his example most of his Officers having little or no employment spent their time in the like Conquests and such as could not otherwise have any bought Parisian Ladies of Pleasure who disabled some in the service and corrupted the faith of many others The same day of the Conference at St. Anthoine the Duke of Mayenne arrived at Meaux with five or six thousand Men most of them Cavalry drawn out of Lorrain Champagne Cambresis and Picardy From thence he sent word of his arrival to the Parisians and gave them hopes of the sudden coming of the Duke of Parma who for two Months did not move whether foreseeing that in his absence the Prince of Orange would over-run part of his Conquests of the Low-Countries or feared King Philip would appoint him a new Successor or that he doubted the success of this Expedition However it hapned they were fain to send a very express and reiterated Order out of Spain to make him march He took for this purpose Twelve thousand Foot three thousand five hundred Horse and fifteen hundred Wagons loaden with Ammunition departed from Valenciennes the sixth day of August and advanced to Meaux by prefixt Stages encamping after the Roman mode in such places as he had caused to be exactly survey'd and which he compared with his Maps at every turn The King who thought he never durst have stir'd out of the Low-Countries nor engage himself so far in France was much astonished when he had certain notice of his arrival there the Two and twentieth of August and that having reposed his Army four or five days he was come to lodge at Claye After he had held several Councils and heard their divers opinions upon so important a business he raised his Siege the Nine and twentieth of the Month with intention to challenge him to Battle and oppose his Attempts There was above Chelles a place very commodious and very advantageous to Encamp the two Armies had the same design of seizing on it The Kings Light Horse beat off those of Parma and there it was that the said Duke having from an eminence beheld and observed the number and disposition of the Royal Army changed the desire he once had of fighting them and instead of the Musquet and Pike made his Soldiers take up the Matock and Spade to intrench with all speed in the neighbouring Marish Now to demonstrate that he did not act at random but that he walked by the just Rules of Military Art he had publickly reported and even told the Herauld the same thing who was sent from the King to defie him to Battle that he would oblige Year of our Lord 1590. September him to raise his Siege of Paris and would open one of the Rivers by forcing a Town even in his sight After therefore the two Armies had remained six days close by each other upon the seventh there hapning a great Fog and the Duke having first seized on the chief Posts near Lagny he attaqued that place by Cannon Shot the River betwixt The breach made in a short time he throws a Bridge of Boats over gives an assault and gained it so soon that the Troops which the Mareschal d'Aumont was leading about by the Bridge at Gournay within two little Leagues below it could not get thither time enough It then seemed as if the chance were turned the Parisians who had fasted so long had Provisions in abundance brought them from Beausse by Carts and on the contrary the Kings Army for the taking of Lagny deprived him of the River of Marne and the valiant Duke of Nemours scowring the Country cut off all Convoys by Land began to feel some want and were three or four days without any Ammunition Bread Then the Soldiers fell a murmurring and were ready to mutiny the Chiefs accuse one another for the ill managment of the Siege of Paris the Nobility desire to be dismiss'd since there was no likelihood of a Battle the hatred between the Catholicks