They on the streamlet's mossy bank reclined Beside him, and his frugal fare partook, JOAN OF ARC. THE THIRD BOOK. FAIR dawn'd the morning, and the early sun. The place being all that they had left to love. They pass'd the Yonne, they pass'd the rapid Loire, So journeying on, And drank the running waters. "Art thou bound For the Court, Dunois?" exclaim'd the aged Knight: "I left the town," Dunois replied, "thinking that my prompt speed I sought to raise new powers, and now return'd Sent by high Heaven, I seek the Court, and thence "I too," Tanneguy reply'd, To reach the o'er-hanging fruit.5 Thou seest me here The governor of Vaucouleur appointed deur gentilshommes to conduct the Maid to Chinon. "Ils eurent peine à se charger de cette commission, à cause qu'il falloit passer au travers du pays ennemi; mais elle leur dit avec fermeté qu'ils ne craignissent rien, et que sûrement eux et elle arriveroient auprès du roi, sans qu'il leur arrivât rien de fâcheux. "Ils partirent, passèrent par l'Auxerrois sans obstacle quoique les Anglois en fussent les maîtres, traversèrent plusieurs rivières à la nage, entrèrent dans les pays de la domination du roi, où les parties ennemies couroient de tous côtés, sans en rencontrer aucune: arrivèrent heureusement à Chinon où le Roi étoit, et lui donnèrent avis de leur arrivée et du sujet qui les amenoit. Tout le monde fut extrêmement surpris d'un si long voyage fait avec tant de bonheur."P. Daniel. 2 "Nil Galliâ perturbatius, nil spoliatius, nil egentius esset; sed neque cum milite melius agebatur, qui tametsi gaudebat præda, interim tamen trucidebatur passim, dum uterque rex civitates suæ factionis principes in fide retinere studeret. Igitur jam cædium satictas utrumque populum ceperat, jamque tot damna utrinque illata erant, ut quisque generatim se oppressum, laceratum, perditum ingemisceret, doloreque summo angeretur, disrumperetur, cruciaretur, ac per id animi quamvis obstinatissimi ad pacem inclinarentur. Simul urgebat ad hoc rerum omnium inopia; passim enim agri devastati inculti❘ manebant, cum præsertim homines pro vitâ tuendâ, non arva colere sed bello servire necessariò cogerentur. Ita tot urgentibus malis, neuter a pace abhorrebat, sed alter ab altero eam aut petere, vel admittere turpe putabat." Polydore Virgil. The effect of this contest upon England was scarcely less ruinous. "In the last year of the victorious Henry V. there was not a sufficient number of gentlemen left in England to carry on the business of civil government. "But if the victories of Henry were so fatal to the population of his country, the defeats and disasters of the succeeding reign were still more destructive. In the 25th year of this war, the instructions given to the cardinal of Winchester and other plenipotentiaries appointed to treat about a peace, authorise them to represent to those of France" that there haan been moo men slayne in these wars for the title and claime of the coroune of France, of oon nacion and other, than been at this daye in both landys, and so much christiene blode shed, that it is to grete a sorow and an orrour to think or here it." Henry. Rymer's Fœdera. 3 Dunois was wounded in the battle of Herrings, or Rouvrai Saint-Denys. 4 Tanneguy du Châtel had saved the life of Charles when Paris was seized by the Burgundians. Lisle Adam, a man noted for ferocity, even in that age, was admitted at midnight into the city with eight hundred horse. The partizans of Burgundy were under arms to assist them, and a dreadful slaughter of the Armagnacs ensued. Du Châtel, then governor of the Bastile, being unable to restrain the tumult, ran to the Louvre, and carried away the Dauphin in his shirt, in order to secure him in his fortress."-Rapin. A banish'd man, Dunois ! so to appease 1 De Serres says, "The king was wonderfully discontented for the departure of Tanneguy de Chastel, whom he called father; a man beloved, and of amiable conditions. But there was no remedy. He had given the chief stroke to John Burgongne. So likewise he protested, without any difficulty, to retire himself whithersoever his master should command him." 2 Richemont caused De Giac to be strangled in his bed, and thrown into the Loire, to punish the negligence that had occasioned him to be defeated by an inferior force at Avranches. The constable had laid siege to St. James de Beuvron, a place strongly garrisoned by the English. He had been promised a convoy of money, which De Giac, who had the management of the treasury, purposely detained to mortify the constable. Richemont openly accused the treasurer, and revenged himself thus violently. After this, he boldly declared that he would serve in the same manner any person whatsoever that should endeavour to engross the king's favour. The Camus of Beaulieu accepted De Giac's place, and was by the constable's means assassinated in the king's presence. The 3 "The duke of Orleans was, on a Wednesday, the feastday of pope St. Clement, assassinated in Paris, about seven o'clock in the evening, on his return from dinner. murder was committed by about eighteen men, who had lodged at an hotel having for sign the image of our Lady, near the Porte Barbette, and who, it was afterwards discovered, had for several days intended this assassination. "On the Wednesday before mentioned, they sent one named Scas de Courteheuze, valet de chambre to the king, and one of their accomplices, to the duke of Orleans, who had gone to visit the queen of France at an hotel which she had lately purchased from Montagu, grand master of the king's household, situated very near the Porte Barbette. She had lain in there of a child, which had died shortly after its birth, and had not then accomplished the days of her purification. "Scas, on his seeing the duke, said, by way of deceiving him, 'My lord, the king sends for you, and you must instantly hasten to him, for he has business of great importance to you and him, which he must communicate to you.' The duke, on hearing this message, was eager to obey the king's orders, although the monarch knew nothing of the matter, and immediately mounted his mule, attended by two esquires on one horse, and four or five valets on foot, who followed behind bearing torches; but his other attendants made no haste to follow him. He had made this visit in a private manner, notwithstanding at this time he had within the city of Paris six hundred knights and esquires of his retinue, and at his expense. **On his arrival at the Porte Barbette, the eighteen men, all well and secretly armed, were waiting for him, and were lying in ambush under shelter of a penthouse. The night was pretty dark, and as they sallied out against him, one cried out, Put him to death!' and gave him such a blow on the wrist with his battle-axe as severed it from his arm. So "The duke, astonished at this attack, cried out, I am the duke of Orleans!' when the assassins, continuing their blows, answered, ' You are the person we were looking for.' many rushed on him that he was struck off his mule, and his skull was split that his brains were dashed on the pavement. They turned him over and over, and massacred him that he was very soon completely dead. A young esquire, a German by birth, who had been his page, was murdered with him: seeing his master struck to the ground, he threw himself on his body to protect him, but in vain, and he suffered for his generous courage. The horse which carried the two esquires that preceded the duke, seeing so many armed men advance, He stabs the King's best friends, and then demands, As with a conqueror's imperious tone, The post of honour. Son of that good Duke Whose death my arm avenged3, may all thy days Be happy serve thy country in the field, began to snort, and when he passed them set out on a gallop, so that it was some time before he could be checked. "When the esquires had stopped their horse, they saw their lord's mule following them full gallop: having caught him, they fancied the duke must have fallen, and were bringing it back by the bridle; but on their arrival where their lord lay, they were menaced by the assassins, that if they did not instantly depart they should share his fate. Seeing their lord had been thus basely murdered, they hastened to the hotel of the queen, crying out, Murder!' Those who had killed the duke, in their turn, bawled out, Fire !' and they had arranged their plan that while some were assassinating the duke, others were to set fire to their lodgings. Some mounted on horseback, and the rest on foot made off as they could, throwing behind them broken glass and sharp points of iron to prevent their being pursued. Report said that many of them went the back way to the hôtel d'Artois, to their master the duke of Burgundy, who had commanded them to do this deed, as he afterwards publicly confessed, to inform him of the success of their murder; when instantly afterward they withdrew to places of safety. "The chief of these assassins, and the conductor of the business, was one called Rollet d'Auctonville, a Norman, whom the duke of Orleans had a little before deprived of his office of commissioner of taxes, which the king had given to him at the request of the late duke of Burgundy: from that time the said Rollet had been considering how he could revenge himself on the duke of Orleans. His other accomplices were William Courteheuze and Scas Courteheuze, before mentioned, from the country of Guines, John de la Motte, and others, to the amount of eighteen. "Within half an hour the household of the duke of Orleans, hearing of this horrid murder, made loud complaints, and with great crowds of nobles and others hastened to the fatal spot, where they found him lying dead in the street. His knight and esquires, and in general all his dependants, made grievous lamentations, seeing him thus wounded and disfigured. With many groans they raised the body and carried it to the hotel of the lord de Rieux, marshal of France, which was hard by; and shortly afterward the body was covered with a white pall, and conveyed most honourably to the Guillemins, where it lay, as being the nearest church to where the murder had been committed. "Soon afterward the king of Sicily, and many other princes, knights and esquires, having heard of this foul murder of the only brother of the king of France, came with many tears to visit the body. It was put into a leaden coffin, and the monks of the church, with all the late duke's household, watched it all night, saying prayers, and singing psalms over it. On the morrow his servants found the hand which had been cut off, and collected much of the brains that had been scattered over the street, all of which were inclosed in a leaden case and placed by the coffin. "The whole of the princes who were at Paris, except the king and his children, namely, the king of Sicily, the dukes of Berry, Burgundy and Bourbon, the marquis du Pont, the counts de Nevers, de Clermont, de Vendôme, de St. Pol, de Dammartin, the constable of France, and several others, having assembled with a large body of the clergy and nobles, and a multitude of the citizens of Paris, went in a body to the church of the Guillemins. Then the principal officers of the late duke's household took the body and bore it out of the church, with a great number of lighted torches carried by the esquires of the defunct. On each side of the body were in due order, uttering groans and shedding tears, the king of Sicily, the dukes of Berry, Burgundy, and Bourbon, each But in the hour of peace amid thy friends So he spake. Dwell thou without ambition." But when the Bastard told his wondrous tale, They journey on their way till Chinon's towers Vouchsafed to France, the old man's eyes flash'd fire, Above all Cities noted for dire deeds! "Notwithstanding the great lords after this took much pains to pacify the populace, and remonstrated with them, that they ought to allow the king's justice to take its regular course against offenders, they would not desist, but went in great crowds to the houses of such as had favoured the Armagnacs, or of those whom they disliked, and killed them holding a corner of the pall. After the body followed the other princes, the clergy and barons, according to their ranks, recommending his soul to his Creator; and thus they proceeded with it to the church of the Célestins. When a most solemn service had been performed, the body was interred in a beautiful chapel he himself had founded and built. After the service all the princes, and others who had attended it, without mercy, carrying away all they could find. In these returned to their homes."— Monstrelet, vol. i. p. 192. "About four o'clock on the 12th day of June, the populace of Paris rose to the amount of about sixty thousand, fearing (as they said) that the prisoners would be set at liberty, although the new provost of Paris and other lords assured them to the contrary. They were armed with old mallets, hatchets, staves and other disorderly weapons, and paraded through the streets shouting, Long live the king and the duke of Burgundy !' toward the different prisons in Paris, namely, the Palace, St. Magliore, St. Martin des Champs, the Chatelet, the Temple, and to other places wherein any prisoners were confined. They forced open all their doors, and killed Chepier and Chepiere, with the whole of the prisoners, to the amount of sixteen hundred or thereabouts, the principal of whom were the count de Armagnac, constable of France, master Henry de Marle, chancellor to the king, the bishops of Coutances, of Bayeux, of Evreux, of❘ Senlis, of Saintes, the count de Grand-Pre, Raymonnet de la Guerre, the abbot de St. Conille de Compiegne, sir Hector de Chartres, sir Enguerrand de Marcoignet, Charlot Poupart, master of the king's wardrobe, the members of the courts of justice and of the treasury, and in general all they could find: among the number were several even of the Burgundian party confined for debt. times it was enough if one man hated another at Paris, of whatever rank he might be, Burgundian or not, to say, There goes an Armagnac,' and he was instantly put to death without further inquiry being made."- Monstrelet, vol. v. p. 20. "To add to the tribulations of these times the Parisians again assembled in great numbers, as they had before done, and went to all the prisons in Paris, broke into them, and put to death full three hundred prisoners, many of whom had been confined there since the last butchery. In the number of those murdered were sir James de Mommor, and Sir Louis de Corail, chamberlain to the king, with many nobles and churchmen. They then went to the lower court of the bastille of St. Anthony, and demanded that six prisoners, whom they named, should be given up to them, or they would attack the place: in fact, they began to pull down the wall of the gate, when the duke of Burgundy, who lodged near the bastille, vexed to the heart at such proceedings, to avoid worse, ordered the prisoners to be delivered to them, if any of their leaders would promise that they should be conducted to the Chatelet prison, and suffered to be punished according to their deserts by the king's court of justice. Upon this they all departed, and by way of glossing over their promise, they led the prisoners near to the Chatelet, when they put them to death, and stripped them naked. They then divided into several large companies and paraded the streets of Paris, entering the houses of many who had been Armagnacs, plun before, when they met any person they disliked, he was slain instantly; and their principal leader was Cappeluche, the hangman of the city of Paris. "The duke of Burgundy, alarmed at these insurrections, sent for some of the chief citizens, with whom he remonstrated on the consequences these disturbances might have. The citizens excused themselves from being any way concerned, and said they were much grieved to witness them: they added, they were all of the lowest rank, and had thus risen to pillage the more wealthy; and they required the duke to provide a remedy by employing these men in his "In this massacre several women were killed, and left on the spot where they had been put to death. This cruel butchery lasted until ten o'clock in the morning of the fol-dering and murdering all without mercy. In like manner as lowing day. Those confined in the grand Chatelet, having arms, defended themselves valiantly, and slew many of the populace; but on the morrow, by means of fire and smoke, they were conquered, and the mob made many of them leap from the battlements of the towers, when they were received on the points of the spears of those in the streets, and cruelly mangled. At this dreadful business were present the new provost of Paris, sir John de Luxembourg, the lord de Fosseaux, the lord de l'Isle-Adam, the vidame of Amiens, the lord de Chevreuse, the lord de Chastellus, the lord de Cohen, sir James de Harcourt, sir Edmond de Lombers, the lord d'Auxois, and others, to the amount of upward of a thousand combatants, armed and on horseback, ready to defend the murderers should there be any necessity. Many were shocked and astonished at such cruel conduct; but they dared not say any thing except, Well, my boys!' The bodies of the constable, the chancellor, and of Raymonnet de la Guerre were stripped naked, tied together with a cord, and dragged for three days by the blackguards of Paris through the streets; the body of the constable had the breadth of two fingers of his skin cut off crosswise, like to a bend in heraldry, by way of derision: and they were thus publicly exposed quite naked to the sight of all; on the fourth day they were dragged out of Paris on a hurdle, and buried with the others in a ditch called la Louviere. wars. It was then proclaimed, in the names of the king and the duke of Burgundy, under pain of death, that no person should tumultuously assemble, nor any more murders or pillage take place; but that such as had of late risen in the insurrection should prepare themselves to march to the sieges of Montlehery and Marcoussi, now held by the king's enemies. The commonalty made reply, that they would cheerfully do so if they had proper captains appointed to lead them. "Within a few days, to avoid similar tumults in Paris, six thousand of the populace were sent to Montlehery under the command of the lord de Cohen, sir Walter de Ruppes and sir Walter Raillart, with a certain number of men at arms, and store of cannon and ammunition sufficient for a siege. These A horror and a warning to all lands; In Paris now The Invader triumph'd. On an infant's head "Beloved of Heaven," Then said the Son of Orleans to the Maid, "Lo these the walls of Chinon, this the abode Of Charles our monarch. Here in revelry He of his armies vanquish'd, his fair towns Subdued, hears careless and prolongs the dance. And little marvel I that to the cares Of empire still he turns the unwilling ear, His strong holds taken, and his bravest Chiefs knights led them to Montlehery, where they made a sharp attack on the Dauphinois within the castle. The duke of Burgundy, after their departure, arrested several of their accomplices, and the principal movers of the late insurrection, some of whom he caused to be beheaded, others to be hanged or drowned in the Seine; even their leader Cappeluche, the hangman, was beheaded in the market. place. When news of this was carried to the Parisians who had been sent to Montlehery, they marched back to Paris to raise another rebellion, but the gates were closed against them, so that they were forced to return to the siege." Monstrelet, vol. v. p. 47. To what is it owing that four centuries should have made so little difference in the character of the Parisians? "Charles, in despair of collecting an army which should dare to approach the enemy's entrenchments, not only gave the city of Orleans for lost, but began to entertain a very dismal prospect with regard to the general state of his affairs. He saw that the country in which he had hitherto, with great difficulty, subsisted, would be laid entirely open to the invasion of a powerful and victorious enemy, and he already entertained thoughts of retiring with the remains of his forces iuto Languedoc and Dauphiny, and defending himself as long as possible in those remote provinces. But it was fortunate for this good prince, that as he lay under the dominion of the fair, the women whom he consulted had the spirit to support his sinking resolution in this desperate extremity. Mary of Anjou, his queen, a princess of great merit and prudence, vehemently opposed this measure, which she foresaw would discourage all his partizans, and serve as a general signal for deserting a prince who seemed himself to despair of success; his mistress too, the fair Agnes Sorrel, who lived in entire amity with the queen, seconded all her remonstrances.". Hume. So as he enter'd cried the haughty fair, A fugitive's fate; when thou hast lost thy crown Fit only like the Merovingian race On a May morning deck'd with flowers 2, to mount Go, Charles and hide thee in a woman's garb, "L'on fait honneur à la belle Agnès Sorel, Demoiselle de Touraine, maîtresse de ce Prince, d'avoir beaucoup contribué à l'encourager en cette occasion. On lui fait cet honneur principalement au sujet d'un quatrain rapporté par Saint Gelais, comme aiant été fait par le Roi François I. à l'honneur de cette Demoiselle. "Plus de louange et d'honneur tu mérite, 2 "Here in this first race you shall see our kings but once a year, the first day of May, in their chariots deckt with flowres and greene, and drawn by four oxen. Whoso hath occasion to treat with them let him secke them in their chambers, amidst their delights. Let him talke of any matters of state, he shall be sent to the Maire." - De Serres. Fuller calls this race "a chain of idle kings, well linked together, who gave themselves over to pleasure privately, never coming abroad, but onely on May-day they showed themselves to the people, riding in a chariot, adorned with flowers, and drawn with oxen, slow cattel, but good enough for so lazy a luggage."- Holy Warre. "Ces Rois hideux en longue barbe espesse, Enflez d'un fard qui le vulgaire trompe."-Ronsard. 3" Long hair was peculiar to the kings in the first ages of the French monarchy. When Fredegonda had murthered Clovis and thrown him into the river, the fisherman who found his body knew it by the long hair."-- Mezeray. "Nay, Agnes!" Charles replied, “reproach me not! I have enough of sorrow. Look around, See this fair country ravaged by the foe, My strong holds taken, and my bravest friends Fallen in the field, or captives far away. Dead is the Douglas; cold thy gallant heart, Illustrious Buchan! ye from Scotland's hills, Not mindless of your old ally distress'd, Came to his succour; in his cause ye fought, For him ye perish'd. Rash impetuous Narbonne ! Thy mangled corse waves to the winds of Heaven,1 Cold, Graville, is thy sinewy arm in death; Fallen is Ventadaur; silent in the grave Rambouillet sleeps. Bretagne's unfaithful chief Leagues with my foes; and Richemont2, or in arms Defies my weak controul, or from my side, A friend more dreaded than the enemy, Scares my best servants with the assassin's sword. Soon must beleaguer'd Orleans fall. But now A truce to these sad thoughts! We are not yet So utterly despoil'd but we can spread The friendly board, and giving thee, Dunois, Such welcome as befits thy father's son, Win from our public cares a day for joy. At a later period the custom seems to have become general. Pasquier says, "lors de mon jeune aage nul n'estoit tondu, fors les moines. Advint par mesadventure que le roy François premier de ce nom, ayant esté fortuitement blessé à la teste d'un tizon, par le capitaine Lorges, sieur de Montgomery, les medecins furent d'advis de la tondre. Depuis il ne porta plus longs cheveux, estant le premier de nos roys, qui par un sinistre augure degenera de ceste venerable ancienneté. Sur son exemple, les princes premierement, puis les gentilshommes, et finalement tous les subjects se voulurent former, il ne fut pas que les Prestres ne se meissent de ceste partie. Sur la plus grande partie du regne de François premier, et devant, chacun portoit longue chevelure, et barbe ras, où maintenant chacun est tondu, et porte longue barbe." "Le Viscomte de Narbonne y périt aussi, et porta la peine de sa témérite, qui avoit eté une des principales causes de la perte de la battaille. Le duc de Betfort aiant fait chercher son corps, le fit écarteler et pendre à un gibet, parce qu'il passoit pour avoir été complice de la mort du duc de Bourgogne."-P. Daniel. 2 Richemont has left an honourable name, though he tied a prime minister up in a sack and threw him into the river. For this he had a royal precedent in our king John, but Richemont did openly what the monarch did in the dark, and there is some difference between a murderer and an executioner, even though the executioner be a volunteer. "Il mérita sa grace (says Daniel), par les services qu'il rendit au roi contre les Anglois, malgré ce prince même. Il fut un des principaux auteurs de la réforme de la milice Françoise, qui produisit la tranquillité de la France et les grands victoires dont elle fust suivie. L'autorité qu'il avoit par sa charge de I should have smiled, Dunois," the King replied; To rescue us, when all our strength hath fail'd! Deliverance can be hoped for. Is my person "That it cannot be, "Here then," rejoin'd the King, "we have a test To the true Prince whom she is sent to serve : Be spared the shame of farther loss incurr'd connétable, jointe à sa fermeté naturelle, lui donna moyen de tenir la main à l'observation des ordonnances publiées par le roi pour la discipline militaire; et les examples de sévérité qu'il fit à cet égard, lui firent donner le surnom de justicier. Etant devenu duc de Bretagne, quelques Seigneurs de sa Cour lui conseillèrent de se démettre de sa charge de connétable, comme d'une dignité qui étoit au-dessous de lui. Il ne la voulut pas, et il faisoit porter devant lui deux épées, l'une la pointe en haut, en qualité de duc de Bretagne, et l'autre dans le fourreau le pointe en bas, comme connétable de France. Son motive pour conserver la charge de conné table, étoit, disoit-il, d'honorer dans sa vieillesse une charge qui l'avoit honoré lui-même dans un àge moins avancé. On le peut compter au nombre des plus grands capitaines que la France ait eus à son service. Il avoit beaucoup de religion, il étoit libéral, aumônier, bienfaisant, et on ne peut guères lui reprocher que la hauteur et la violence dont il usa envers les trois ministres." 3" Yet in the preceding year 1428, the English women had concerned themselves somewhat curiously in the affairs of their rulers. There was one Mistris Stokes with divers others stout women of London, of good reckoning, well-ap parelled, came openly to the upper parliament, and delivered letters to the duke of Glocester, and to the archbishops, and to the other lords there present, containing matter of rebuke and sharp reprehension of the duke of Glocester, because he would not deliver his wife Jaqueline out of her grievous imprisonment, being then held prisoner by the Duke of Burgundy, suffering her there to remain so unkindly, and for his public keeping by him another adultresse, contrary to the law of God, and the honourable estate of matrimony.'"-Stowe. |