direction of Contrenay, and from thence he went to Chasteau Regnart, then to Montargis, and finally to Gien, where he awaited some days, thinking to come to terms with the duke of Burgundy, who had demanded of him, through the lord de Charnay, that he would cause him to enter Paris, and that he would come thither in person. And upon this occasion had the king despatched to him a safe-conduct in order that he might pass without impediment through the places and the passes, which were obedient unto him, and he did so accordingly. So that when he had arrived in Paris, the said duke abided by nothing which he had promised; but there made alliance with the duke of Bedford in opposition to the king, even much stronger than he had before done. And notwithstanding all this, in virtue of the safe-conduct, he passed securely and freely through all the countries, cities, and passes then obedient unto the king, and returned into his country of Picardy and of Flanders. And the king being made acquainted with the truth, passed the river Loire, and returned to Bourges, from whence he journeyed at the request and supplication of the Pucelle; the which had before told him all that happened concerning the raising of the siege of Orleans, and of his sacred coronation, as well as of his free return, according unto the revelation of our Lord. Offering thanks unto whom, and praising 120 DIARY OF THE SIEGE OF ORLEANS. his grace, I end, by his divine grant, this present compendious treatise, intituled of the Siege of Orleans, by the English, and of the coming and the valiant feats of Jeanne la Pucelle; and how she made them depart, and caused to be crowned at Rheims, King Charles the Seventh, by grace divine, and by force of arms. NOTES. Page 1. Thinking to take the city of Orleans. Orleans, anciently Cenabum or Genabum, one of the principal cities of the Carnules, is not far distant from Chartres and Dreux, the principal seat of the Druids, or philosophic priests of the Gauls. This city derives its origin from the most remote antiquity in the annals of the civilization of the Gauls or Celts, and under the sons of Clovis was the metropolis of a kingdom. It is surrounded by plains abundantly productive of wine, grains and fruits, watered by the Loire and various other streams, and from this current the department derives its name of Loiret, of which Orleans is the capital, containing a population of upwards of 40,000 souls. The cathedral is a very fine gothic structure, and there are still traces of the ramparts and towers which anciently protected the city from assailants. Page I. Near one of the suburbs called Portereau. Portereau is a diminutive of the word Port, for in the ancient Latin records of Orleans, it is called Porticellus, a small gate or postern. It was near the suburbs of this |
