 23. The Hundred Years' War, Charles VI and the Dukes of Burgundy, On returning to Paris, the ambassadors, in presence of the King's Council and a numerous assembly of clergy, nobility and people, gave an account of their embassy and advised instant preparation for war without listening to a single word of peace. 24. They loudly declared, says the monk of Saint Denis, that King Henry's letters, though they were apparently full of moderation, had lurking at the bottom of them a great deal of perfidy, and that this King, all the time that he was offering peace and union in the most honeyed terms, was thinking only how he might destroy the kingdom and was levying troops in all quarters. 25. Henry V indeed, in November 1414, demanded of his parliament a large subsidy which was at once voted without any precise mention of the use to be made of it, and merely in the terms following, for the defence of the realm of England and the security of the seas. 26. At the commencement of the following year, Henry resumed negotiations with France, renouncing his claims to Normandy, Anjou and Men, but Charles VI and his council adhered to their former offers. 27. On the 16th of April 1415, Henry announced to a grand council of spiritual and temporal peers assembled at Westminster, his determination of setting out in person to go and by God's grace recover his heritage. 28. He appointed one of his brothers, the Duke of Bedford, to be regent in his absence, and the peers ecclesiastical and laical applauded his design, promising him their sincere cooperation. 29. Thus France, under a poor mad king, and amidst civil dissensions of the most obstinate character, found the question renewed for her, a French versus English kingship, a national independence versus foreign conquest. 30. On the 14th of August 1415, an English fleet, having on board, together with King Henry V, 6,000 men-at-arms, 24,000 archers, powerful war-machines, and a multitude of artisans and small folk, came to land near Arfleur, not far from the mouth of the Seine. It was the most formidable expedition that had ever issued from the ports of England. The English spent several days in effecting their landing and setting up their siege train around the walls of the city. It would have been easy, says the monk of Sondigny, to hinder their operations, and the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood would have worked their act with zeal, if they had not counted that the nobility of the district and the royal army commanded by the constable Charles d'Alpée would come to their aid. No one came. The burgesses in the small garrison of Arfleur made a gallant defence, but, on the 22nd of September, not receiving from Vernon, where the king and the dauphin were massing their troops, any other assistance than the advice to take courage and trust the king's discretion, they capitulated, and Henry V, after taking possession of the place, advanced into the country with an army already much reduced by sickness, looking for a favourable point at which to cross the Somme and push his invasion still farther. It was not until the 19th of October that he succeeded at Bethancourt, Neucent Quentin. Charles VI, who at that time had a lucid interval, after holding at Rouen a council of war, at which he was resolved to give the English battle wish to repair with a dauphin, his son, to Bapôme, where the French army had taken position, but his uncle, the Duke of Bérée, having still quite a lively recollection of the Battle of Poitiers fought 59 years before, made opposition, saying, better lose the battle than the king and the battle. All the princes of the royal blood, and all the flower of the French nobility, except the king and his three sons, and the dukes of Bérée, Brittany and Burgundy joined the army. The dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, and the constable d'Alprès, who was in command, sent to ask the king of England on what day and at what place he would be pleased to give them battle. I do not shut myself up in walled towns, replied Henry. I shall be found at any time and anywhere ready to fight, if any attempt be made to cut off my march. The French resolved to stop him between Agincourt and Fremcourt, a little north of Saint-Paul and Esda. The encounter took place on the 23th of October, 1415. It was a monotonous and lamentable repetition of the disasters of Caïsse in Poitiers, disasters almost inevitable owing to the incapacity of the leaders, and ever the same defects on the part of the French nobility, defects which rendered their valorous and generous qualities, and was only fruitless, but fatal. Never had that nobility been more numerous and more brilliant than in this premeditated struggle. On the eve of the battle, Marchel de Bocicourt had armed five hundred new knights. The greater part passed the night on horseback under arms on grounds soaked with rain, and men and horses were already distressed in the morning when the battle began. It was tedious to describe the faulty manoeuvres of the French army and the deplorable consequences on that day. Never was battle more stubborn or defeat more complete and bloody. Eight thousand men of family, amongst whom were a hundred and twenty lords bearing their own banners, were left on the field of battle. The Duke of Brabant, the Count of Nevers, the Duke of Barres, the Duke of Alensson, and the Constable d'Après were killed. The Duke of Orléans was dragged out wounded from under the dead. When Henry V, after having spent several hours on the field of battle, retired to his quarters, he was told that the Duke of Orléans would neither eat nor drink. He went to see him. What fair cousin, said he. Good, my lord. Why will you not eat or drink? I wished a fast. Cousin, said the King gently. Make good cheer. If God has granted me grace to gain the victory, I know it is not owing to my desserts. I believe that God wished to punish the French, and if all I have heard is true, it is no wonder, for they say that never was seen disorder, licentiousness, sins, and vices, like what is going on in France just now. Surely God did well to be angry. It appears that the King of England's feeling was that also of many amongst the people of France. On reflecting upon this cruel mishap, says the monk of Sondanie, all the inhabitants of the kingdom, men and women, said, in what evil days are we coming to this world that we should be witnesses of such confusion and shame. During the battle, the eldest son of Duke John the Feeless, the young count of Charolais, at that time nineteen, who was afterwards Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, was at the Castle of Air, where his governors kept him by his father's orders and prevented him from joining the King's army. His servants were leaving him one after another to go and defend the kingdom against the English. When he heard of the disaster at Agincourt, he was seized with profound despair at having failed in that patriotic duty. He would feign have starved himself to death, and he spent three whole days in tears, none being able to comfort him. When, four years afterwards, he became Duke of Burgundy and during his whole life, he continued to testify his keen regret at not having fought in that cruel battle, though it should have cost him his life, and he often talked with his servants about that event of grievous memory. When his father, Duke John, received the news of the disaster at Agincourt, he also exhibited great sorrow and irritation. He had lost by it his two brothers, the Duke of Parbon and the Count of Niver, and he sent forth with a herald to the King of England, who was still at Calais, with orders to say that in consequence of the death of his brother, the Duke of Parbon, who was no vassal of France and held nothing in fief there, he, the Duke of Burgundy, did defy him mortally, fire and sword, and sent him his gauntlet. I will not accept the gauntlet of so noble and puissant prince as the Duke of Burgundy, was Henry V's soft answer. I am of no account compared with him. If I have had the victory over the nobles of France, it is by God's grace. The death of the Duke of Parbon hath been an affliction to me, but to do assure thee that neither I nor my people did cause his death. Take back to thy master his gauntlet, if he will be at Boulogne on the 15th of January next, I will prove to him by the testimony of my prisoners and two of my friends that it was the French who accomplished his brother's destruction. The Duke of Burgundy is a matter of course, let his quarrel with the King of England drop, and occupied himself with the future only in recovering his power in France. He set out on the march for Paris, proclaiming everywhere that he was assembling his army solely for the purpose of avenging the Kingdom, chastising the English and aiding the King with his council and his forces. The sentiment of nationality was so strongly aroused that politicians most anxious about their own personal interests and about them alone found themselves obliged to be homage to it. Unfortunately it was, so far as Duke John was concerned, only a superficial and transitory homage. There is no repentance so rarely seen as that of selfishness in pride and power. The four years which elapsed between the Battle of Agincourt and the death of John the Fearless were filled with nothing but fresh and still more tragic explosions of hatred and strife between the two factions, the Burgundians and Almagnacs, taking and losing, retaking and re-losing alternately their ascendancy with the King and in the Government of France. When, after the Battle of Agincourt, the Duke of Burgundy marched towards Paris, he heard almost simultaneously that the King was issuing a prohibition against the entry of his troops and that his rival, the Count of Almagnac, had just arrived and been put in possession of the military power as Constable and of the civil power, the Superintendent-General of Finance. The Duke then returned to Burgundy and lost no time in recommending hostilities against the King's Government. At one time he let his troops make war on the King's and pillaged the domains of the Crown. At another he entered into negotiations with the King of England and showed a disposition to admit his claims to such and such a province and even perhaps to the throne of France. He did not accede to the positive alliance offered him by Henry, but he employed the fear entertained of it by the King's Government as a weapon against his enemies. The Count of Almagnac on his side made the most relentless use of power against the Duke of Burgundy and his partisans. He pursued them everywhere, especially in Paris with dexterous and pitiless hatred. He abolished the whole organisation and the privileges of the Parisian Butchardum which has shown so favourable a leaning towards Duke John and the system he established as a substitute was founded on excellent grounds appertaining to the interests of the people and of good order in the heart of Paris. But the violence of absolute power and of hatred robs the best measures of the credit they would deserve if they were more disinterested and dispassionate. A lively reaction set in at Paris in favour of the persecuted Burgundians. Even outside of Paris several towns of importance, Rime, Chalot, Troyes, Oxer, Amiens and Rouen itself showed a favourable disposition towards the Duke of Burgundy and made a sort of alliance with him promising to aid him in reinstating the King in his freedom and lordship and the realm in its freedom and just rights. The Count of Armagnac was no more tender with the court than with the populace of Paris. He suspected, not without reason, that the Queen, Isabel of Bavaria, was in secret communication with and gave information to Duke John. Moreover, she was leading a scandalously licentious life at Vincennes and one of her favourites, Louis de Beaux-Rédon, a nobleman of Auvergne and her steward meeting the King one day on the road, guided the King cavalierly and hastily went his way. Charles VI was plainly offended. The Count of Armagnac seized the opportunity and not only did he ferment the King's ill humour but talked to him of all the irregularities of which the Queen was the centre and in which Louis de Beaux-Rédon was, he said, at that time her principal accomplice. Charles, in spite of the cloud upon his mind, could hardly have been completely ignorant of such facts but it is not necessary to be a King to experience extreme displeasure on learning that offensive scandals are most public and on hearing the whole tale of them. The King, carried away by his anger, went straight to Vincennes, had a violent scene with his wife and caused Beaux-Rédon to be arrested, imprisoned and put to the question and he, on his own confession it is said, was thrown into the Seine, sewn up in a leather sack on which were inscribed the words, let the King's justice run its course. Charles VI and Armagnac did not stop there. Queen Isabel was first of all removed from the council and stripped of all authority and then banished to Tour where commissioners were appointed to watch over her conduct and not to let her even write a letter without their seeing it. But royal personages can easily allude such strictness. A few months after her banishment, whilst the despotism of Armagnac in the war between the King and the Duke of Burgundy was still going on Queen Isabel managed to centre the Duke through one of her servants, her golden seal, which John the Fearless well knew with a message to the effect that she would go with him if he would come to fetch her. On the night of November 1st 1417 the Duke of Burgundy hurriedly raised the siege of Corpe advanced with a body of troops to a position within two leagues from Tour and sent the Queen notice that he was awaiting her. Isabel ordered her three custodians to go with her to Mass at the Convent of Mar Moutier outside the city. Scarcely was she within the church when a Burgundian captain, Hector de Savos, presented himself with sixty men at the door. Look to your safety, madame," said her custodians to Isabel. Here is a large company of Burgundians or English. Keep close to me," replied the Queen. Hector de Savos at that moment entered and saluted the Queen on behalf of the Duke of Burgundy. Where is he? asked the Queen. He will not be long coming. Isabel ordered the captain to arrest her three custodians and two hours afterwards Duke John arrived with his men at arms. My dearest cousin," said the Queen to him, I ought to love you above every man in the realm. You have left all at my bidding and I come to deliver me from prison. Be assured that I will never fail you. I quite see that you have always been devoted to my lord, his family, the realm and the Commonwealth. The Duke carried the Queen off to Chartres and as soon as she was settled there on the 12th of November 1417 she wrote to the good towns of the kingdom. We, Isabel, by the grace of God Queen of France, having, by reason of my lord the king's seclusion, the government and administration of this realm by irrevocable grant made to us by the said my lord the king and his council, are come to Chartres in company with our cousin, the Duke of Burgundy, in order to advise and ordain whatsoever is necessary to preserve and recover the supremacy of my lord the king on advice taken of the Proudhon, Vassals and Subjects. She at the same time ordered that Master Philippe de Morphilly, heretofore councillor of the Duke of Burgundy, should go to Amiens, accompanied by several clerics of note and by a registrar, and that there should be held there by the Queen's authority for the bailiwics of Amiens, Vamendois, Tournai and the Countship of Pontieu, a sovereign court of justice in the place of that which there was at Paris. Thus, and by such a series of acts of violence and of falsehoods, the Duke of Burgundy, all the while making war on the king, surrounded himself with hollow forms of royal and legal government. Whilst civil war was thus penetrating to the very core of the kingship, foreign war was making its way again into the kingdom. Henry V, after the Battle of Agincourt, had returned to London and had left his army to repose and reorganise after its sufferings and its losses. It was not until eighteen months afterwards, on the 1st of August, 1417, that he landed at Touc, not far from en fleur, with fresh troops, and resumed his campaign in France. Between 1417 and 1419, he successively laid siege to nearly all the towns of importance in Normandy, to Cayenne, Bayeux, Falaise, Evreux, Coutons, Légl, Saint-Lô, Cherbourg, etc. etc. Some he occupied after a short resistance, others were sold to him by their governors. But when, in the month of July 1418, he undertook the siege of Rouen, he encountered their long and serious struggle. Rouen had at that time, it is said, a population of 150,000 souls which was animated by ardent patriotism. The Roueners, on the approach of the English, had repaired their gates, their ramparts and their moats, had demanded reinforcements from the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy, and had ordered every person incapable of bearing arms or procuring provisions for ten months to leave the city. Twelve thousand old men, women and children, were thus expelled and died either round the place or whilst roving in misery over the neighbouring country. Poor women gave birth unassisted beneath the walls and good compassionate people in the town drew up the newborn in baskets to have them baptised, and afterwards lowered them down to their mothers to die together. Fifteen thousand men of city militia, four thousand regular soldiers, three hundred spearmen and as many archers from Paris, and it is not quite known how many men at arms sent by the Duke of Burgundy defended the Rouen for more than five months amidst all the usual sufferings of strictly besieged cities. As early as the beginning of October, says Montstrelle, they were forced to eat horses, dogs, cats and other things not fit for human beings, but they nevertheless made frequent sorties, rushing furiously upon the enemy to whom they caused many a heavy loss. Four gentlemen and four burgesses succeeded in escaping and going to Beauvais to tell the king and his council about the deplorable condition of their city. The council replied that the king was not in a condition to raise the siege but that Rouen would be relieved within on the fourth day after Christmas. It was now the middle of December. The Roueners resigned themselves to be waiting a fortnight longer but when that period was over they found nothing arrived but a message from the Duke of Burgundy recommending them to treat for their preservation with the King of England as best they could. They asked to capitulate. Henry V demanded that all the men of the town should place themselves at his disposal. When the commonality of Rouen heard this answer they all cried out that it was better to die altogether soared in hand against their enemies than place themselves at the disposal of Yonder King and they were for shoring up with planks a loosened layer of the wall inside the city and having armed themselves and joined all of them together men, women and children for setting fire to the city throwing down the said layer of wall into their motes and getting them gone by night whether it might please God to direct them. Henry V was unwilling to confront such heroic despair and on the thirteenth of January 1419 he granted the Roueners a capitulation from which seven persons only were accepted. Robert Deliver, the Archbishop's vicar general who from the top of the ramparts had excommunicated the foreign conqueror Doudetot, Bailey of the city Jean Seigneux, the mayor Alain Blanchardt, the captain of the militia crossbowmen and three of the burgesses the last named the hero of the siege was the only one who paid for his heroism with his life the Bailey, the mayor and the vicar bought themselves off. On the nineteenth of January at midday the English king and army made their solemn entry into the city it was two hundred and fifteen years since Philip Augustus had won a won by conquest from John Lackland King of England and happily his successors were not to be condemned to deploy the loss of it very long. End of chapter 23 part 6 Chapter 23 part 7 of volume 3 of a popular history of France from the earliest times this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org volume 3 of a popular history of France from the earliest times by Francois Guiseaux translated by Robert Black Chapter 23 The Hundred Years War Charles VI and the Dukes of Burgundy part 7 these successes of the king of England were so many reverses and perils for the count of Armagnac he had in his hands Paris, the king and the Dauphin in the people's eyes the responsibility of government and of events rested on his shoulders and at one time he was doing nothing at another he was unsuccessful in what he did whilst Henry V was becoming master of nearly all the towns of Normandy the constable with the king and his army was besieging Sennlis and he was obliged to raise the siege the nuggets of Pope Martin V had said about establishing peace between the Burgundians and Armagnacs as well as between France and England they prepared on the basis of the Treaty of Eris a new treaty with which a great part of the country and even of the Burgesses of Paris showed themselves well pleased but the constable had it rejected on the ground of its being adverse to the interests of the king and of France and his friend the Chancellor Henry de Marles declared that if the king were disposed to sign it he would have to seal it himself for that as for him the Chancellor he certainly would not seal it Bernard of Armagnac and his confidential friend Tanaghi du Chatel a Breton nobleman, provost of Paris were hard and haughty when a complaint was made to them of any violent procedure they would answer if it were the Burgundians you would make no complaint the Parisian populace was becoming every day more Burgundian in the latter days of May 1418 a plot was contrived for opening to the Burgundians one of the gates of Paris Perennay Leclerc son of a rich iron merchant having influence in the quarter of Saint Germain de Pré stole the keys from under the bolster of his father's bed a troop of Burgundian men and arms came in and they were immediately joined by a troop of Parisians they spread over the city shouting Our Lady of Peace Hurrah for the King Hurrah for Burgundy let all who wish for peace take arms and follow us the people swarmed from the houses and followed them accordingly the Armagnacs were surprised and seized with alarm Tanaghi du Chatel a man of prompt and resolute spirit ran to the dauphins wrapped him in his bed clothes and carried him off to the Bastille for the first time the count of Armagnac towards whose house the multitude thronged left by a back door and took refuge at a mason's where he believed himself secure in a few hours the Burgundians were masters of Paris their chief, the Lord of Eel-Adam had the doors of the hostel of St. Paul broken in and presented himself before the King How fair is my cousin of Burgundy said Charles VI I have not seen him for some time that was all he said he was set on horseback and marched through the streets he showed no astonishment at anything he had all but lost memory as well as reason and no longer knew the difference between Armagnac and Burgundian a devoted Burgundian, Sir Guy de Barre was named provost of Paris in the place of Tanaghi du Chatel the mason with whom Bernard of Armagnac had taken refuge went and told the new provost that the constable was concealed at his house and was hurried made the constable mount behind him and carried him off to prison at the Châtelet at the same time making honourable exertions to prevent massacre and plunder but factions do not so soon give up either their vengeance or their hopes on the 11th of June, 1418 hardly twelve days after Paris had fallen into the hands of the Burgundians a body of sixteen hundred men issued from the Bastille and rushed into the streets Saint Antoine and Ra for the King the Dauphin and the Count of Armagnac they were Tanaghi du Chatel and some of the chiefs of the Armagnac who were attempting to regain Paris where they had observed that the Burgundians were not numerous their attempt had no success and merely gave the Burgundians the opportunity and the signal for a massacre of their enemies the little band of Tanaghi du Chatel was instantly repulsed, hemmed in and forced to re-enter the Bastille with a loss of four hundred men to the defense there so he hastily made his way out taking the Dauphin with him to Mellon the massacre of the Armagnacs had already commenced on the previous evening they were harried in the hostelries and houses they were cut down with axes in the streets on the night between the 12th and 13th of June a rumor spread about that there were bands of Armagnacs coming to deliver their friends in prison they are at the Saint Germain gate said some no, it is the Saint Marceau gate said others the mob assembled and made a furious rush upon the prison gates the city in Burgesses will have no peace was the general saying so long as there is one Armagnac left hurrah for peace hurrah for the Duke of Burgundy the Provost of Paris the Lord of Eel-Adam and the principal Burgundian chieftains galloped up with a thousand horse and strove to pacify these madmen numbering, it is said, some forty thousand they were received with a shout of a plague of your justice and pity a cursed be he whosoever shall have pity on these traitors of Armagnacs they are English they are hounds they had already made banners for the King of England and would feign have planted them upon the gates of the city they made us work for nothing and when we asked for our due they said you rascals haven't you a suit to buy a cord and go hang yourselves in the devil's name speak no more of it it will be of no use whatever you say the Provost of Paris durst not oppose such fury as this do what you please said he the mob ran to look for the constable Armagnac and the Chancellor de Marles in the palace tower in which they had been shut up and they were at once torn to pieces amidst ferocious rejoicings all the prisons were ransacked and emptied the prisoners who attempted resistance were smoked out they were hurled down from the windows upon pikes held up to catch them the massacre lasted from four o'clock in the morning to eleven the common report was that fifteen hundred persons had perished in it the account rendered to Parliament made the number eight hundred the servants of the Duke of Burgundy mentioned to him no more than four hundred it was not long before the fourteenth of July that he, with Queen Isabelle came back to the city and he came with a sincere design if not of punishing the cutthroats at least of putting a stop to all massacre and pillage there is nothing more difficult than to suppress the consequences of a mischief of which you dare not attack the cause one Bertrand head of one of the companies of butchers had been elected captain of Saint Denis because he had saved the Abbey from the rapacity of a noble Burgundian chieftain Ector de Savus the Lord, to avenge himself had the butcher assassinated the Burgesses went to the Duke to demand that the assassin should be punished and the Duke who dares neither ascent nor refuse only partially cloak his weakness by imputing the crime to some disorderly youngsters whom he enabled to get away on the twentieth of August an angry mob collected in front of the chateau shouting out that nobody would bring the armoniacs to justice and that they were every day being set at liberty on payment of money the great and little chateau were stormed and the prisoners massacred the mob would have liked to serve the best deal the same but the Duke told the rioters and the prisoners up to them if they would engage to conduct them to the chateau without doing them any harm and to win them over he grasped the hand of their head man who was none other than Capelouche the city executioner scarcely had they arrived at the courtyard of the little chateau when the prisoners were massacred there without any regard for the promise made to the Duke he sent for the most distinguished Burgesses and consulted them as to what could be done to check such excesses for them and deploring them he sent for the savages once more and said to them you would do far better to go and lay siege to Monterrey to drive off the king's enemies who have come ravaging everything up to the Saint-Jacques gate and preventing the harvest from being got in readily they answered only give us leaders he gave them leaders who led 6,000 of them to Monterrey as soon as they were gone Duke John had Capelouche and two of his chief accomplices in the first place by his own apprentice but the gentry sent to the siege of Montelet did not take the place they accused their leaders of having betrayed them and returned to be a scourge to the neighborhood of Paris everywhere saying that the Duke of Burgundy was the most irresolute man in the kingdom and that if there were no nobles the war would be ended in a couple of months Duke John set about negotiating with the Dauphin and getting him back to Paris the Dauphin replied that he was quite ready to obey and serve his mother but that it would be more than he could stomach to go back to a city where so many crimes and so much tyranny had but lately been practiced terms of reconciliation were drawn up and signed on the 16th of September 1418 at Saint-Marre by the Queen, the Duke of Burgundy and the Pope's Legates but the Dauphin refused to ratify them the unpunished and long continued massacres in Paris had redoubled his distrust toward the Duke of Burgundy he had moreover just assumed the title of Regent of the Kingdom and he had established at Portier a Parliament of which Euminal de Zersin was a member he had promised the young Count of Armagnac to exact justice for his father's cruel death and the old friends of the House of Orleans remained faithful to their enmities the Duke of Burgundy had at one time to fight and at another to negotiate with the Dauphin and the King of England both at once and always without success the Dauphin and his council though showing a little more discretion were going on in the same alternative and unsatisfactory condition clearly neither France and England nor the factions in France had yet exhausted their passions or their powers and the day of summer revengeance was nearer than that of real reconciliation nevertheless complicated, disturbed and persistently resultless situations always end by becoming irksome to those who are entangled in them and by inspiring a desire for extrication the King of England in spite of his successes and his pride determined upon sending the Earl of Warwick to Provence where the King and the Duke of Burgundy still were a truce was concluded between the English and the Burgundians and it was arranged that on the 30th of May 1419 the two kings should meet between Mont and Mellon and hold a conference for the purpose of trying to arrive at a peace a few days before the time Duke John set out from Provence with the King, Queen Isabel and Princess Catherine and repaired first of all to Pontoise and then to the place fixed for the interview on the borders of the Seine near Mellon where two pavilions had been prepared one for the King of France and the other for the King of England Charles the sixth being ill remained at Pontoise Queen Isabel, Princess Catherine and the Duke of Burgundy were already there he went to meet the Queen saluted her took her hand and embraced her and Madame Catherine as well Duke John slightly bent his knee to the King who raised him up and embraced him likewise this solemn interview was succeeded by several others to which Princess Catherine did not come the Queen requested the King of England to state exactly what he proposed and he demanded the execution of the Treaty of Bretagne the session of Normandy of Vassalage of whatever should be seated by the Treaty a short discussion ensued upon some secondary questions there appeared to be no distant probability of an understanding the English believed that they saw an inclination on the Duke of Burgundy's part not to hasten to a conclusion and to obtain better conditions from King Henry by making him apprehensive of a reconciliation with the Dauphin Henry proposed to him for the purpose of ending everything by himself alone and it took place on the third of June Cousin said the King to the Duke we wish you to know that we will have your King's daughter and all that we have demanded with her else we will thrust him out of his kingdom and you too Sir answered the Duke you speak according to your pleasure but before thrusting my lord and myself from the kingdom you will have what will tire you we will make no doubt and you will have enough to do with the probability of an understanding and they parted with no other result than mutual displeasure some days before on the 14th of May 1419 a truce of three months had been concluded between the Dauphin and the Duke of Burgundy and was to lead to a conference also between these two princes it did not commence before the 8th of July during this interval Duke John had submitted for the mature deliberation of his counsel the question whether it were better to be in exile to the Dauphin amongst his official counselors opinions were divided but in his privacy the lady of Jack whom he loved and trusted mightily and Philip Jossiqois who had been at first his chamber attendant and afterwards custodian of his jewels and of his privy seal strongly urged him to make peace with the Dauphin and the Pope's fresh legate the Bishop of Lawn added his exhortations to these home influences there had been fitted up at a league's distance from Mellon on the embankment of the ponds of Verre a summer house of branches and leaves hung with drapery and silken stuffs and there the first interview between the two princes took place the Dauphin left in displeasure he had found the Duke of Burgundy haughty and headstrong already the old servants of the late Duke of Orléans impelled by their thirst for vengeance were saying out loud they were guided by arms when the lady of Jacques went after the Dauphin who from infancy had also been very much attached to her and she, going backwards and forwards between the two princes was so affectionate and persuasive with both that she prevailed upon them to meet again and to sincerely wish for an understanding the next day but one they returned to the place of meeting attended each of them by a large body of men at arms the Duke of Burgundy went on bended knee the Dauphin took him by the hand embraced him and would have raised him up know my lord said the Duke I know how I ought to address you the Dauphin assured him that he forgave every offence if indeed he had received any and added cousin if in the proposed treaty between us there be ought which is not to your liking we desire that you amend it and henceforth we will desire all that you shall desire make no doubt of it it was the reappearance of cordiality and the treaty was signed it was really a treaty of reconciliation in which without dwelling upon the suspicions and imaginings which have been engendered in the hearts of ourselves and many of our officers and have hindered us from acting with concord in the great matters of my lord the king and his kingdom and resisting the damnable attempts of his and our old enemies the two princes made mutual promises each in language suitable to their rank and connection to serve one another mutually as good and loyal relatives and bat all their servants if they saw any hindrance there too to give them notice thereof according to their bound and duty the treaty was signed by all the men of note belonging to the houses of both princes and the crowd which surrounded them shouted Noelle and invoked curses on who so ever should be minded henceforth to take up arms again in this damnable quarrel when the Dauphin went away and they parted with every demonstration of amity the Dauphin returned to Touraine and the Duke to Pontoise to be near the king who by letters of July 19th confirmed the treaty and joined general forgetfulness of the past and ordained that all war should cease save against the English there was universal and sincere joy the peace fulfilled the requirements at the same time of the public welfare and of national feeling arriving from the kingdom the foreigner who aspired to conquer it only the friends of the Duke of Orléans and of the Count of Armagnac one assassinated twelve years before and the other massacred but lately remained sad and angry at not having yet been able to obtain either justice or vengeance but they maintained reserve and silence they were not long in once more finding for mistrust and murmuring grounds or pretext which a portion of the public showed a disposition to take up the Duke of Burgundy had made haste to publish his ratification of the treaty of reconciliation the Dauphin had let his weight the Parisians were astonished not to see either the Dauphin or the Duke of Burgundy coming back within their walls and at being as it were forgotten and deserted amidst the universal making up they complained that no armed force was being collected to oppose the English and that there was an appearance in which at this time there was no captain of renown they were still more troubled when on the 29th of July they saw the arrival at the Saint-Denis gate of a multitude of disconsolate fugitives some wounded and others dropping from hunger, thirst and fatigue when they were asked who they were and what was the reason of their desperate condition we are from Pontoise they said the English took the town this morning they killed or wounded all before them happy he who so ever could escape the Dauphin's never were Saracens so cruel to Christians as yonder folk are it was a real fact the king of England disquieted at the reconciliation between the Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin and at the ill success of his own proposals at the conference of the 30th of May proceeding had vigorously resumed the war in order to give both the reunited French factions a taste of his resolution and power he had suddenly attacked and carried Pontoise where the command was in the hands of one of the most valiant Burgundian officers Ile-Adam, surprised and lacking sufficient force had made a feeble resistance there was no sign of an active union on the part of the two French factions for the purpose of giving the English battle Duke John, who had fallen back upon Troy sent order upon order for his vassals from Burgundy but they did not come up public alarm and distrust were day by day becoming stronger Duke John it was said was still keeping up secret communications with the Seditions in Paris and with the King of England why did he not act with more energy against this latter, the common enemy the two princes in their conference of July 9th near Mellon had promised to meet again a fresh interview appeared necessary in order to give efficacy to their reconciliation Duke John was very pressing for the Dauphin to go to Troy where the King and Queen happened to be the Dauphin on his side was earnestly solicited by the most considerable Burgesses of Paris in order to ensure the execution of the Treaty of Peace which had been sworn with the Duke of Burgundy the Dauphin showed a disposition to listen to these entreaties he advanced as far as Montereau in order to be ready to meet Duke John as soon as a place of meeting should be fixed end of chapter 23 part 7 chapter 23 part 8 of volume 3 of a popular history of France from the earliest times this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org volume 3 of a popular history of France from the earliest times by Francois Guiseaux translated by Robert Black chapter 23 the Hundred Years War Charles VI and the Dukes of Burgundy part 8 Duke John hesitated from a resolution even more than from distrust it was a serious matter for him to find himself more and more by his own proper motion against the King of England and his old allies amongst the populace of Paris why should he be required to go in person to seek the Dauphin? it was far simpler he said for Charles to come to the King his father Tanigidou Chateau went to Troy to tell the Duke that the Dauphin had come to meet him as far as Montereau and with the help of the Lady of Jacques persuaded on his side to Brysir Seine who had drawn thus near their agents proposed that the interview should take place on the very bridge of Montereau with the precautions and according to the forms decided on in the Dukes household many of his most devoted servants were opposed to this interview the place they said had been chosen by and would be under the ordering of the Dauphin's people of the old servants of the Duke of Orléans and the Count of Armagnac at the same time four successive messages came from Paris who took his resolution it is my duty said he to risk my person in order to get it so great a blessing as peace whatever happens my wish is peace if they kill me I shall die a martyr peace being made I will take the men of my Lord the Dauphin to go and fight the English he has some good men of war and some sagacious captains Tanigidou and Barbazin are valiant knights then we shall see which is the better man of the Flanders or Henry of Lancaster he set out for Bray on the 10th of September 1419 and arrived about two o'clock before Montereau Tanigidou Chateau came and met him there well said the Duke on your assurance we are come to see my Lord the Dauphin supposing that he is quite willing to keep the peace between himself and us as we will also keep it all ready to serve him according to his wishes my most dread Lord he is well pleased with you and desires henceforth to govern himself according to your counsels you have about him good friends who serve you well it was agreed that the Dauphin and the Duke should each from his own side go upon the bridge of Montereau each with ten-minute arms of whom they should previously forward a list the Dauphin's people had caused to be constructed at the two ends of the bridge strong barriers closed by a gate about the center of the bridge a lodge made of planks the entrance to which was on either side through a pretty narrow passage within the lodge there was no barrier in the middle to separate the two parties whilst Duke John and his confidants in concert with the Dauphin's people were regulating these material arrangements a chamber attendant ran in quite scared shouting out my Lord look to yourself without a doubt you will be betrayed the Duke turned towards Tanigidou and said God's holy name are you quite sure of what you've told us for you would do ill to betray us my most dread lord answered Tanigidou I would rather be dead than commit treason against you or any other have you no fear I certify you that my lord meaneth you no evil very well we will go then trusting in God and you rejoined the Duke and he set out walking to the bridge on arriving at the barrier on the castle side he found there in front of him Sire de Beauvo and Tanigidou Chateau come to my lord said they he is awaiting you gentlemen said the Duke you see how I come and he showed them that he and his people had only their swords then clapping Tanigidou on the shoulder he said here is he in whom I trust and advancing towards the Dauphin who remained standing on the townside at the end of the lodge constructed in the middle of the bridge and bent his knee to the ground my lord said he after God my duty is to obey and serve you I offer to apply there too and employ therein my body my friends my allies and well-wishers say I well he added fixing his eyes on the Dauphin fair cousin answered the prince you say so well that none could say better rise and be covered conversation thereupon ensued between the two princes the Dauphin complained of the Duke's delay in coming to see him for eighteen days he said you have made us await your coming in this place of Montereau this place a prey to epidemic and mortality at the risk of and probably with an eye to our personal danger the Duke, surprised and troubled resumed his haughty and exacting tone we can neither do nor advise ought said he save in your father's presence you must come thither I shall go when I think proper said Charles to you we two together the king will be content with then he reproached the Duke with his inertness against the English with the capture of Pontoise and with his alliances amongst the promoters of civil war the conversation was becoming more and more accurate and biting in so doing added the Dauphin you were wanting to your duty my lord replied the Duke I did only what it was my duty to do yes you were wanting repeated Charles in these words that the looker's on also waxing wroth Tannagy Duchetel told the Duke that the time had come for expiating the murder of the Duke of Orléans which none of them had forgotten and raised his battle axe to strike the Duke Syrd and Nevaille who happened to be at his master's side arrested the weapon but on the other hand the Viscount of Narbonne raised his over Nevaille saying whoever stirs is a dead man before the barriers at the end of the bridge heard cries of alarm slay slay Tannagy had struck and fell the Duke several others ran their swords into him and he expired the Dauphin had withdrawn from the scene and gone back into the town after his departure his partisans forced the barrier charged the demfounded Burgundians sent them flying along the road to Bray and returned on to the bridge and would have cast the body of Duke John after stripping it into the river he then withstood them and had it carried to a mill near the bridge next day he was put in a popper's shell with nothing on but his shirt and drawers and was subsequently interred at the church of Notre Dame de Montereau without winding sheet and without pall over his grave the enmities of the Orléans and the Arminyaks had obtained satisfaction but they were transferred to the hearts of the Burgundians after twelve years of public crime and misfortune the murder of Louis of Orléans did not be in its turn wherever the direct power or the indirect influence of the Duke of Burgundy was predominant there was a burst of indignation and vindictive passion as soon as the Count of Carolais Philip afterwards called the good heard at Ghent where he happened at that time to be of his father's murder he was proclaimed Duke of Burgundy Michelle said he to his wife sister of the Dauphin Charles was given to tears but the new Duke calmed her by saying that nothing could alter the love and confidence he felt towards her at Troy Queen Isabelle showed more anger than anyone else against her son the Dauphin and she got a letter written by King Charles the 6th to the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy begging her, her and her children to set in motion all their relatives friends and vassals to avenge Duke John at Paris on the 12th of September the next day but one after the murder the Chancellor, the Parliament the Provost Royal the Provost of Tradesmen and all the Counselors and Officers of the King assembled together with great number of nobles and Burgesses and a great multitude of people who all swore to oppose with their bodies and all their might the enterprise of the criminal breakers of the peace and to prosecute the cause of vengeance and reparation against those who were guilty of the death and homicide of the late Duke of Burgundy independently of party passion such was in northern and eastern France the general and spontaneous sentiment of the people the Dauphin and his Counselors in order to explain and justify their act wrote in all directions to say that during the interview Duke John had answered the Dauphin with mad words he had felt for his sword in order to attack and outrage our person the witch as we have since found out he aspired to place in subjection but through his own madness met death instead but these assertions found little credence and one of the two knights who were singled out by the Dauphin to accompany him on to the bridge of Montereau Sire de Barbizon who had been a friend of the Duke of Orléans and of the Count of Armagnac said vehemently to the authors of the plot you have destroyed our master's honor and heritage and I would rather have died than be present at this day's work even though I had not been there to no purpose but it was not long before an event easy to foresee counterbalance this general impression and restored credit and strength to the Dauphin and his party Henry V. King of England as soon as he heard about the murder of Duke John set himself to work to derive from it all the advantages he anticipated a great loss said he is the Duke of Burgundy he was a good and true knight and an honorable prince but through his death we are by God's help at the summit of our wishes we shall thus in spite of all Frenchmen possess Dame Catherine whom we have so much desired as early as the 24th of September 1419 Henry V. gave full powers to certain of his people to treat with the illustrious city of Paris and the other towns in adherence to the said city on the 17th of October was opened at Eris a congress between the plenipotentaries of England and those of Burgundy on the 20th of November a special truce was granted to the Parisians whilst Henry V. in concert with Duke Philip of Burgundy was prosecuting the war against the Dauphin on the 2nd of December the bases were laid of an agreement between the English and the Burgundians the preliminaries of the treaty which was drawn up in accordance with these bases were signed on the 9th of April 1420 by King Charles VI and on the 20th communicated at Paris by the Chancellor of France to the Parliament and to all the religious and civil royal and municipal authorities of the capital after this communication the Chancellor and the premier president of Parliament went with these preliminaries to Henry V. at Pontoise where he set out with the division of his army for Troy where the treaty definitive and complete was at last signed and promulgated in the Cathedral of Troy on the 21st of May 1420 of the twenty-eight articles in this treaty five contained its essential points and fixed its character first the King of France Charles VI gave his daughter Catherine in marriage to Henry V. King of England second our son King Henry placed no hindrance or trouble in the way of our holding and possessing as long as we live and as at the present time the crown, the kingly dignities of France and all the revenues, proceeds and profits which are attached there too for the maintenance of our state and the charges of the kingdom third it is agreed that immediately after our death and from that time forward the crown and kingdom of France with all their rights and appurtenances shall belong perpetually and shall be continued to our son King Henry fourth whereas we are at most times prevented from advising by ourselves and from taking part in the disposal of the affairs of our kingdom the power and the practice of governing and ordering the common wheel shall belong and shall be continued during our life to our son King Henry with the counsel of the nobles and sages of the kingdom who shall obey us and shall desire the honor and advantage of the said kingdom fifth our son King Henry it is possible to bring back to their obedience to us all and each of the towns, cities, castles, places, districts and persons in our kingdom that belong to the party commonly called of the Dauphin or Amrignac this substitution in the near future of an English for the French kingship this relinquishment in the present of the government of France to the hands of an English prince nominated to become before long her king this authority given to the English prince to prosecute in France against the Dauphin of France a civil war this complete abdication of all the rights and duties of the kingship of paternity and of national independence and to sum up in all one word this anti-French state stroke accomplished by King of France with the cooperation of him who was the greatest among French lords to the advantage of a foreign sovereign there was surely in this enough to excite the most ardent and most legitimate national feelings they did not show themselves promptly in the blaze the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries after so many military and civil troubles had great weaknesses and deep-seated corruption in mind and character nevertheless the revulsion against the Treaty of Troy was real and serious even in the very heart of the party attached to the Duke of Burgundy he was obliged to lay upon several of his servants formal injunctions to swear to this peace which seemed to them treason by his brother Louis Bishop of Theroin over to it it is your will, said they we will take this oath but if we do we will keep it to the hour of death many less powerful lords who had lived long while in the household of Duke John the Fearless quitted his son and sorrowfully returned to their own homes they were treated as armoniacs but they persisted in calling themselves good and loyal Frenchmen the most decisive and the most helpful proof of this awakening of national feeling was the ease experienced by the Dauphin who was one day to be Charles the Seventh in maintaining the war which after the Treaty of Troy was in his father's and his mother's name made upon him by the King of England and the Duke of Burgundy this war lasted more than three years several towns amongst others Mellon, Croteau, Meux, Saint-Réquis and the Dauphin-Pierre offered an obstinate resistance to the attacks of the English and the Burgundians on the 23rd of March, 1421 the Dauphin's troops commanded by Syre de Lafayette gained a signal victory over those of Henry V whose brother, the Duke of Clarence was killed in action it was in Perche, Anjou, Maine on the banks of the Loire and in southern France that the Dauphin found was no journey made by Henry V at Paris in December, 1420 with his wife, Queen Catherine King Charles the Sixth Queen Isabelle and the Duke of Burgundy was not, in spite of gallows and acclamations, a substantial and durable success for him his dignified but haughty manners did not please the French and he either could not or would not render them more easy and amiable even with men of note on a camp on war business the King considered that he did not present himself with sufficient ceremony Is that the robe of a marshal of France? Sir, I had this whitey-gray robe made to come hither by water aboard of send-boats Ha! said the King look you a prince in the phase when you speak to him Sir, it is the custom in France that when one man speaks to another of whatever rank and prescence that other may be in the face it is not our fashion said the King and the subject dropped there a popular poet of the time Alan Cattier constituted himself censor of the moral corruption and interpreter of the patriotic paroxysms caused by the cold and harsh supremacy of this unbending foreigner who set himself up for King of France and had not one feeling in sympathy with the French Alan Cattier's quadriac in which France personified implores her three children the clergy, the chivalry and the people to forget their own quarrels and unite to save their mother whilst saving themselves and this political pamphlet getting spread about amongst the provinces did good service to the national cause against the foreign conqueror an event more powerful than any human eloquence occurred to give the dauphin and his partisans earlier hopes towards the end of August 1422 and two stout hearted to delude himself as to his condition he thought no longer of anything but preparing himself for death he had himself removed to Vincent called his counselors about him and gave them his last royal instructions I leave you the government of France said he to his brother the Duke of Bedford unless our brother of Burgundy have a mind to undertake it for above all things I conjure you not to have any dissension with him I will give you from it the affairs of this kingdom which seem well advanced for us would become bad as soon as he had done with politics he bad his doctors tell him how long he had still to live one of them knelt down before his bed and said sir be thinking of your soul it seemeth to us that saving the divine mercy you have not more than two hours the king summoned his confessor with the priests of the temple of the Miserere but a diffusenter Murie, Jerusalem that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up he made them stop ah said he if God had been pleased to let me live out my time I would after putting an end to the war in France reducing the Dauphan to submission or driving him out of the kingdom in which I would have established a sound peace have gone to conquer Jerusalem the wars I have undertaken have had the approval of all the proper men I commenced them and have prosecuted them without offense to God or peril to my soul these were his last words the chanting of Psalms was resumed around him and he expired on the 31st of August 1422 at the age of 34 a great soul and a great king but a great example also of the boundless errors which may be fallen into by the greatest men when they pursue with arrogant confidence their own views for getting the laws of justice in the kingdom on the 22nd of October 1422 less than two months after the death of Henry V Charles VI King of France died at Paris in the 43rd year of his reign as soon as he had been buried at Saint Denis the Duke of Bedford Regent of France according to the will of Henry V caused a herald to proclaim Long live Henry of Lancaster King of England and of France the people's voice made very different proclamation it had always been said that the public evils proceeded from the state of illness into which the unhappy King Charles had fallen the goodness he had given glimpses of in his lucid intervals had made him an object of tender pity some weeks yet before his death when he had entered Paris again the inhabitants in the midst of their sufferings and under the harsh government of the English had seen with joy their poor mad king coming back amongst them and had greeted him with thousandfold shouts of noel they lay in state for three days with the face uncovered in a hall of the hostel of Saint Paul and the multitude went thither to pray for him saying, ah, dear Prince never shall we have any so good as thou word never shall we see thee more accursed be thy death since thou dost leave us we shall never have ought but wars and troubles as for thee thou goest to thy rest as for us we remain in tribulation and sorrow we seem made to fall into the same distress as the children of Israel and the inhabitants of the city in Babylon the people's instinct was at the same time right and wrong France had yet many evil days to go through and cruel trials to endure she was, however, to be saved at last Charles VI was to be followed by Charles VII and Joan of Arc End of Chapter 23 Chapter 24, Part 1 of Volume 3 of a popular history of France from the earliest times this is a Libravox recording are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Libravox.org Volume 3 of a popular history of France from the earliest times by François Guizot translated by Robert Black Chapter 24 The Hundred Years War Charles VII and Joan of Arc 1422 to 1462 Part 1 whilst Charles VI was dying at Paris Part 1 was on his way back from Saint-Ange to Barrie where he usually resided on the 24th of October, 1422 at Méhance-sur-Yèvre he heard of his father's death for six days longer from the 24th to the 29th of October he took no style but that of regent as if he were waiting to see what was going to happen elsewhere in respect of the secession to the throne it was only when he knew that on the 27th of October not without some little hesitation and ambiguity recognized as King of England and of France Henry VI son of Henry V lately deceased that the Dauphin Charles assumed on the 30th of October in his castle of Méhance-sur-Yèvre the title of King and repaired to Bourges to inaugurate in the cathedral of that city his reign as Charles VII the confidence and hopes of the people he passed for an indolent and frivolous prince abandoned to his pleasures only one whose captivity there was nothing to foreshadow and of whom France outside of his own court scarcely ever thought at all some days before his secession he had all but lost his life at Rochelle by the sudden breaking down of the room in the Episcopal Palace where he was staying as a resident messenger sent by some of his partisans had arrived at Bourges to inquire if the prince were still living at a time when not only the crown of the kingdom but the existence and independence of the nation were at stake Charles had not given any signs of being strongly moved by patriotic feelings he was in person a handsome prince and handsome in speech with all persons and compassionate towards poor folks says his contemporary prince and he had no heart for war if he could do without it on ascending the throne this young prince so little of the politician and so little of the knight encountered at the head of his enemies the most able amongst the politicians and warriors of the day in the Duke of Bedford whom his brother Henry V had appointed Regent of France and had charged to defend on behalf of his nephew Henry VI a child in the cradle would appear more unequal or native king more inferior to foreign pretender sagacious observers however would have easily discerned in the cause which appeared the stronger and the better supported many seeds of weakness and danger when Philip the good Duke of Burgundy heard at Eris that Charles VI was dead it occurred to him immediately that if he attended the obsequies of the English king of France he would be obliged of Charles VI to yield precedence to John Duke of Bedford Regent of France and uncle of the new king Henry VI he resolved to hold aloof and contented himself with sending to Paris Chamberlains to make his excuses and supply his place with the Regent on the 11th of November 1422 the Duke of Bedford followed alone at the funeral of the late king of France and alone made offering at the mass alone he went the people of Paris cast down their eyes with restrained wrath they wept says a contemporary and not without cause for they knew not whether for a long, long while they would have any king in France but they did not for long could find themselves to tears two poets partly in Latin and partly in French Robert Blondel and Alan Cartier whilst deploring the public woes excited the popular feeling conspiracies soon followed the songs one was set on foot at Paris in the city to King Charles VII but it was stifled ruthlessly several burgesses were beheaded and one woman was burned in several great provincial towns at Troy's and at Rem the same fervent showed itself and drew down the same severity William Proust Superior of the Carmelites was accused of propagating sentiments favorable to the Dauphin as the English called Charles VII being brought in spite of the privileges of his gown before John Cauchon Lieutenant of the Captain of Rem related probably to Peter Cauchon Bishop of Beauvais who nine years afterwards was to sentence Joan of Arc to be burned he stoutly replied never was English king of France and never shall be the country had no mind to believe in the conquest it was undergoing and the Duke of Burgundy the most puissant ally of the English so clearly went on alluding to the final alliance he had accepted such being the disposition of conquerors and conquered the war though still carried on with great spirit could not and in fact did not bring about any decisive result from 1422 to 1429 towns were alternately taken lost and retaken at one time by the French at another by the English or Burgundians petty encounters and even important success and reverses on both sides at Crevant-sur-Yan on the 31st of July 1423 and at Vernue in Normandy on the 17th of August 1424 the French were beaten and their faithful allies the Scots suffered considerable loss in the latter affair however several Norman lords deserted the English flag refusing to fight against the king of France on the 26th of September 1423 at La Gravelle in Maine the French were victorious and du Gousclin was commemorated in their victory Anne de Laval granddaughter of the Great Breton Warrior and mistress of a castle hard by the scene of action sent thither her son Andrew de Laval a child of twelve years of age and as she buckled with her own hands the sword which his ancestor had worn she said to him he who soared this was the boy received the order of knighthood on the field of battle and became afterwards a marshal of France little bands made up of volunteers attempted enterprises which the chiefs of the regular armies considered impossible Stephen de Vignole celebrated under the name of La Hire resolved to succour the town of Montages besieged by the English Anyang Duneau the bastard of Orléans joined him on arriving September 5th 1427 between the walls of the place a priest was encountered in their road La Hire asked him for absolution the priest told him to confess I have no time for that said La Hire I am in a hurry I have done in the way of sins all that men of war are in the habit of doing whereupon says the chronicler the chaplain gave him absolution for what it was worth and La Hire this day as much as thou wouldst have La Hire do for thee if he were God and thou art La Hire and Montages was rid of its besiegers the English determined to become masters of Mont Saint Michel au Pèrel de la Mer that Abbey built on a rock facing the western coast of Normandy and surrounded every day by the waves of ocean the 32nd Abbot Robert Jovallet promised to give the place up to them and went to ruin with that design his monks John and Nalt being elected victor general by the chapter and supported by some valiant Norman warriors offered an obstinate resistance for eight years baffled all the attacks of the English and retained the Abbey in the possession of the king of France the inhabitants of La Rochelle rendered the same service to the king and to France in a more important case on the 15th of August 1427 an English fleet of 120 sail it is said appeared off their city and the troops aboard the Rochellees immediately levied upon themselves an extraordinary tax and put themselves in a state of defense troops raised in the neighborhood went and occupied the heights bordering on the coast and a bold Breton sailor Bernard de Cacobanne put to sea to meet the enemy with ships armed as privateers the attempt of the English seemed to them to offer more danger than chance of success and they withdrew to the seaport remaining to the crown almost everywhere in the midst of a war as indecisive as it was obstinate local patriotism and the spirit of chivalry successfully disputed against foreign supremacy the scattered fragments of the fatherland and the throne in order to put an end to this doubtful condition of events and of minds the Duke of Bedford determined to aim a grand blow at the national party in France and at her king after Paris and Roix England was the most important city in the kingdom it was supreme on the banks of the Loire as Paris and Roix were on those of the Seine after having obtained from England considerable reinforcements commanded by leaders of experience the English commenced in October 1428 the siege of Orleans the approaches to the place were occupied in force and Bastille's closely connected one with another were constructed around the walls as a set off in the middle of France La Hire, Dounoy, Zantres and the Marshal Lafayette threw themselves into Orleans the garrison of which amounted to scarcely 1200 men several towns Borg, Portier and La Rochelle sent thither money munitions and militia the state's general assembled at Chineau voted an extraordinary aid and Charles VII called out the regulars and the reserves assaults on the one side and sorties on the other and besieged quite felt that they were engaged in a decisive struggle the first encounter was unfortunate for the Orleans in a fight called the Herring Affair they were unsuccessful in an attempt to carry off a supply of victuals and salt fish which Sir John Falstaff was bringing to the besiegers being a little discouraged they offered the Duke of Burgundy to place their city in his hands that it might not fall into those of the English and Philip the Good accepted the offer but the Duke of Bedford did not accept the offer he didn't care, he said, to beat the bushes for another to get the birds Philip, in displeasure, withdrew from the siege the small force of Burgundians he had sent the English remained alone before the place which was every day harder pressed and more strictly blockaded the besieged were far from foreseeing what sucker was preparing for them End of Chapter 24, Part I Chapter 24, Part II of Volume III of a popular history of France from the earliest times by Francois Guiseaux translated by Robert Black Chapter 24 The Hundred Years' War Charles VII and Joan of Arc 1422 to 1462, Part II This very year on the 6th of June was the beginning of a new history of France and it was the beginning of a new history of France and it was the beginning of a new history of France the first city in France on the 6th of January 1428 at Dom Remy, a little village in the Valley of the Mus between Neuf Chateau and Van Couleur on the edge of the frontier from Champagne to Lorraine the young daughter of Simple Tillers of the Soil of good life in repute herself a good, simple, gentle girl no idler of the Commune, was fulfilling her sixteenth year. It was Joan of Arc, whom all her neighbours called Jeanette. She was no recluse. She often went with her companions to sing and eat cakes beside the fountain by the gooseberry bush under an old beach, which was called the fairy-tree, but dancing she did not like. She was constant at church, she delighted in the sound of the bells, she went often to confession and communion, and she blushed when her fair-friends taxed her with being too religious. In fourteen twenty-one, when Joan was hardly nine, a band of Anglo-Burgundians penetrated into her country, and transferred thither the ravages of war. The village of Delmer-Mey and the little town of Van Couleur were French, and faithful to the French kingship, and Joan wept to see the lads of her parish returning bruised and bleeding from encounters with the enemy. Her relations and neighbours were one day obliged to take flight, and at their return they found their houses burned or devastated. Joan wondered whether it could possibly be that God permitted such excesses and disasters. In fourteen twenty-five, on a summer's day at noon, she was in her father's little garden. She heard a voice calling her at her right side in the direction of the church, and a great brightness shown upon her at the same time in the same spot. At first she was frightened, but she recovered herself on finding that it was a worthy voice, and at the second call she perceived that it was the voice of angels. "'I saw them with my bodily eyes,' she said, six years later, to her judges at Rouen, as plainly as I see you, when they departed from me I wept, and would feign have had them take me with them. The apparitions came again and again and exhorted her to go to France for to deliver the kingdom. She became dreamy, wrapped in constant meditation. I could endure no longer,' said she at a later period, and the time went heavily with me as with a woman in travail. She ended by telling everything to her father, who listened to her words anxiously at first and afterwards wrathfully. He himself one night dreamed that his daughter had followed the king's men and arms to France, and from that moment he kept her under strict superintendence. "'If I knew of your sister's going,' he said to his sons, I would bid you drown her, and if you did not do it I would drown her myself.' Joan submitted. There was no leaven of pride in her sublimation, and she did not suppose that her intercourse with celestial voices relieved her from the duty of obeying her parents. Attempts were made to distract her mind. A young man who had courted her was induced to say that he had a promise of marriage from her, and to claim the fulfillment of it. Joan went before the ecclesiastical judge, made affirmation that she had given no promise, and without difficulty gained her cause. Everybody believed and respected her. In a village hard by Domry she had an uncle whose wife was near her confinement. She got herself invited to go and nurse her aunt, and thereupon she opened her heart to her uncle, repeating to him a popular saying which had spread indeed throughout the country. Is it not said that a woman shall ruin France, and a young maid restore it? She pressed him to take her to Van Calour's to Sir Robert de Baudricourt, captain of the Ballywick, for she wished to go to the Dauphin and carry assistance to him. Her uncle gave way, and on the thirteenth of May, fourteen-twenty-eight, he did take her to Van Calour. I come on behalf of my lord, said she, to Sir de Baudricourt, to bid you to send word to the Dauphin to keep himself well in hand, and not give battle to his foes, for my lord will presently give him succor. Who is thy lord? asked Baudricourt. The king of heaven, answered Joan. Baudricourt set her down for mad and urged her uncle to take her back to her parents with a good slap on the face. In July fourteen-twenty-eight, a fresh invasion of Burgundians occurred at Daumermy, and redoubled the popular excitement there. Shortly afterwards, the report touching the siege of Orléans arrived there. Joan, more and more passionately possessed with her idea, returned to Van Calour. I must go, said she, to Sir de Baudricourt, for to raise the siege of Orléans. I will go, should I have to wear off my legs to the knee. She had returned to Van Calour without taking leave of her parents. Had I possessed, said she, in fourteen-thirty-one, to her judges at Rouen, a hundred fathers and a hundred mothers, and had I been a king's daughter, I should have gone. Baudricourt, impressed without being convinced, did not oppose her remaining at Van Calour, and sent an account of this singular young girl to Duke Charles of Lorraine, at Nancy, and perhaps even, according to some chroniclers, to the king's court. Joan lodged at Van Calour in a wheel-rights-house, and passed three weeks there, spinning with her hostess, and dividing her time between work and church. There was much talk in Van Calour of her, and her visions and her purpose. John of Metz, also called John of Novelampont, a knight serving with Sir de Baudricourt, desired to see her, and went to the wheel-rights. What do you hear, my dear, said he, must the king be driven from his kingdom and we become English? I am come hither, answered Joan, to speak to Robert de Baudricourt, that he may be pleased to take me, or have me taken to the king. But he pays no heed to me or my words. However, I must be with the king before the middle of Lent, for none in the world, nor kings, nor dukes, nor daughters of the Scottish king, can recover the kingdom of France. There is no help but in me. Assuredly, I would far rather be spinning beside my poor mother, for this other is not my condition. But I must go and do the work, because my lord wills that I should do it. Who is your lord? The lord god. By my faith, said the knight, seizing Joan's hands, I will take you to the king, god-helping, when will you set out? Rather now than to-morrow, rather to-morrow than later. Van Calour was full of the fame and the sayings of Joan. Another night, Bertrand de Pouligny, offered, as John of Metz had, to be her escort. Duke Charles of Lorraine wished to see her, and sent for her to non-see. Old and ill as he was, he had deserted the duchess his wife, a virtuous lady, and was leading anything but a regular life. He asked Joan's advice about his health. I have no power to cure you, said Joan, but go back to your wife and help me in that for which god ordains me. The duke ordered her four golden crowns, and she returned to Van Calour, thinking of nothing but her departure. There was no want of confidence and goodwill on the part of the inhabitants of Van Calour in forwarding her preparations. John of Metz, the night charged to accompany her, asked if she intended to make the journey in her poor red rustic petticoats. I would like to don man's clothes, answered Joan. Subscriptions were made to give her a suitable costume. She was supplied with a horse, a coat of mail, a lance, a sword, the complete equipment, indeed, of a man at arms, and a king's messenger and an archer formed her train. Baudrecourt made them swear to escort her safely, and on the twenty-fifth of February, fourteen twenty-nine, he bade her farewell, and all he said was, Away then, Joan, and come what may. Charles the Seventh was at that time residing at Chinon in Torain. In order to get there Joan had nearly a hundred and fifty leaks to go, in a country occupied here and there by English and Burgundians, and everywhere a theatre of war. She took eleven days to do this journey, often marching by night, never giving up man's dress, disquieted by no difficulty and no danger, and testifying no desire for a halt, save to worship God. Could we hear Mass daily, said she to her comrades, we should do well. They only consented twice, first in the Abbey of Saint-Durban, and again in the principal church of Auxerre. As they were full of respect, though at the same time also of doubt towards Joan, she never had to defend herself against their familiarities, but she had constantly to dissipate their disquietude, touching the reality or the character of her mission. Fear nothing, she said to them, God shows me the way I should go, for there too was I born. On arriving at the village of Saint Catherine de Fairboy, near Chinon, she heard three Masses on the same day, and had a letter written thence to the king, to announce her coming, and to ask to see him. She had gone, she said, a hundred and fifty leaves, to come and tell him things which would be most useful to him. Charles VII and his councillors hesitated. The men of war did not like to believe that a little peasant girl of Lorraine was coming to bring the king more effectual support than their own. Nevertheless some, and the most heroic amongst them, Dounoye, La Hire, and Zontrai, were moved by what was told of this young girl. The letters of Sir de Baudrecourt, though full of doubt, suffered a gleam of something like a serious impression to peep out, and why should not the king receive this young girl whom the captain of Van Calour had thought at a duty to send? It would soon be seen what she was and what she would do. The politicians and courtiers, especially the most trusted of them, George de la Tramoye, the king's favourite, shrugged their shoulders. What could be expected from the dreams of a young peasant girl of nineteen? Influences of a more private character and more disposed towards sympathy, Yolande of Aragorn, for instance, queen of Sicily and mother-in-law of Charles VII, and perhaps also her daughter, the young queen, Mary of Anjou, were urgent for the king to reply to Joan that she might go to Chenant. She was authorised to do so, and on the 6th of March, 1429, she with her comrades arrived at the royal residence. At the very first moment two incidents occurred to still further increase the curiosity of which she was the object. Quite close to Chenant, some vagabonds, it is said, had prepared an embuscade for the purpose of dispoiling her, her, and her train. She passed close by them without the least obstacle. The rumour went that at her approach they were struck motionless and had been unable to attempt their wicked purpose. Joan was rather tall, well-shaped, dark, with a look of composure, animation, and gentleness. A man at arms, who met her on her way, thought her pretty, and with an impious oath expressed a coarse sentiment. Alas, said Joan, thou blasphemous thy god, and yet thou art so near thy death. He drowned himself, it is said, soon after. Already a popular feeling was surrounding her marvellous mission with a halo of instantaneous miracles. When her arrival at Chenant she at first lodged with an honest family near the castle. For three days longer there was a deliberation in the council as to whether the king ought to receive her. But there was bad news from Orléans. There were no more troops to send thither, and there was no money forthcoming. The king's treasure, it was said, had but four crowns in the chest. If Orléans were taken, the king would perhaps be reduced to seeking a refuge in Spain or in Scotland. And promised to set Orléans free. The Orléans themselves were clamorous for her. D'Noix kept up their spirits with the expectation of this marvellous assistance. It was decided that the king should receive her. She had assigned to her for residence an apartment in the tower of the Coudre, a block of quarters adjoining the royal mansion, and she was committed to the charge of William Belie, an officer of the king's household, whose wife was a woman of great piety and excellent fame. On the 9th of March, 1429, Joan was at last introduced into the king's presence by the Count of Vendôme, High Steward in the Great Hall on the First Story, a portion of the wall and the fireplace being still visible in the present day. It was evening, candlelight, and nearly three hundred nights were present. Charles kept himself a little aloof amidst a group of warriors and courtiers more richly dressed than he. According to some chroniclers, Joan had demanded that she should not be deceived and should have pointed out to her him to whom she was to speak. Others affirmed that she went straight to the king whom she had never seen, accosting him humbly and simply like a poor little shepherdess, says an eyewitness, and according to another account making the usual bends and reverences as if she had been brought up at court. Whatever may have been her outward behavior, gentle dauphin she said to the king, for she did not think it right to call him king so long as he was not crowned. My name is Joan the maid. The king of heaven sendeth you word by me that you shall be anointed and crowned in the city of Rem, and shall be lieutenant of the king of heaven, who is king of France. It is God's pleasure that our enemies the English should depart to their own country. If they depart no evil will come to them, and the kingdom is sure to continue yours. Charles was impressed without being convinced, as so many others had been before, or were as he was on that very day. He saw Joan again several times. She did not delude herself as to the doubts he still entertained. Gentle dauphin, she said to him one day, why do you not believe me? I say unto you that God hath compassion on you, your kingdom and your people. St. Louis and Charlemagne are kneeling before him, making prayer for you, and I will say unto you, so please you, a thing which will give you to understand that you ought to believe me. Charles gave her audience on this occasion in the presence, according to some accounts, of four witnesses, the most trusted of his intimates, who swore to reveal nothing, and according to others completely alone. What she said to him there is none who knows, wrote Alan Chartier, a short time after, in July 1429, but it is quite certain that he was all radiant with joy there at, at a revolution from the Holy Spirit. Sir Wallop, after a scrupulous sifting of evidence, has given the following exposition of this mysterious interview. Sir de Boisie, he says, who was in his youth one of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber on the most familiar terms with Charles VII, told Peter Sala, giving the king himself as his authority for the story, that one day, at the period of his greatest adversity, the prince, vainly looking for a remedy against so many troubles, entered in the morning alone into his oratory, and there, without uttering a word aloud, made prayer to God from the depths of his heart that if he were the true heir, issue of the house of France, and a doubt was possible with such a queen as Isabella Bavaria, and the kingdom ought justly to be his, God would be pleased to keep and defend it for him, if not to give him grace to escape without death or imprisonment, and find safety in Spain or in Scotland, where he intended, in the last resort, to seek a refuge. This prayer, known to God alone, the maid recalled to the mind of Charles VII, and thus is explained the joy which, as the witnesses say, he testified, whilst none at that time knew the cause. Joan by this revelation not only caused the king to believe in her, she caused him to believe in himself, and his right entitle. Though she never spoke in that way as of her own motion to the king, it was always a superior power speaking by her voice. I tell thee, on behalf of my lord, that thou art true heir of France, and son of the king. Whether Charles VII were or were not convinced by this interview of Joan's divine mission, he clearly saw that many of those about him had little or no faith in it, and that other proofs were required to upset their doubts. He resolved to go to Portier, where his council, the parliament, and several learned members of the University of Paris were in session, and have Joan put to the strictest examination. When she learned her destination, she said, in the name of God, I know that I shall have tough work there, but my lord will help me. Let us go then for God's sake. On her arrival at Portier, on the 11th of March, 1429, she was placed in one of the most respectable families in the town, and of John Rabouteau, Advocate General in Parliament. The Archbishop of Rem, Reginald de Chartres, Chancellor of France, five bishops, the king's counsellors, several learned doctors, and amongst others Father Seguin, an austere and harsh Dominican, repaired thither to question her. When she saw them come in, she went and sat down at the end of the bench, and asked them what they wanted with her. For two hours they set themselves to the task of showing her, by fair and gentle arguments, that she was not entitled to believe. Joan, said William Amory, Professor of Theology, you ask for men at arms, and you say that it is God's pleasure that the English should leave the Kingdom of France, and depart to their own land. If so, there is no need of men at arms, for God's pleasure alone can discomfort them, and force them to return to their homes. In the name of God, answered Joan, the men at arms will do battle, and God will give them victory. Master William did not urge his point. The Dominican Seguin, a very sour man, says the Chronicle, asked Joan what language the voices spoke to her. Better than yours, answered Joan. The doctor spoke the limousine dialect. Do you believe in God? he asked, ill-humoredly. More than you do, retorted Joan, offended. Well, rejoined the monk, God forbids belief in you without some sign tending thereto. I shall not give the king advice to trust men at arms to you, and put them in peril on your simple word. In the name of God, said Joan, I am not come to portier to show signs. Take me to Orléans, and I will give you signs of what I am sent for. Let me have ever so few men at arms given to me, and I will go to Orléans. Then, addressing another of the examiners, Master Peter of Versailles, who was afterwards Bishop of Mu, she said, I know, nor A, nor B, but in our Lord's book there is more than in your books. I come on behalf of the King of Heaven to cause the Siege of Orléans to be raised, and to take the King to Rem that he may be crowned and anointed there. The examination was prolonged for a fortnight, not without symptoms of impatience on the part of Joan. At the end of it, she said to one of the doctors, John E. Rote, heavy paper in ink, write what I shall say to you. And she dictated a form of letter which became, some weeks later, the manifesto addressed in a more developed shape by her from Orléans to the English, calling upon them to raise the Siege and put a stop to the war. The chief of those piously and patriotically heroic phrases were as follows. Jesu Maria. King of England, account to the King of Heaven for his blood royal. Give up to the maid the keys of all the good towns you have taken by force. She has come from God to avenge the blood royal, and quite ready to make peace, if you will render a proper account. If you do not, so I am a war chief. In whatsoever place I shall fall with your folks in France, if they be not willing to obey. I shall make them get thence, whether they will or not, and if they be willing to obey I will receive them to mercy. The maid cometh from the King of Heaven as his representative, to thrust you out of France. She doth promise and certify you that she will make therein such a mighty ha-ha, a great tumult, that for a thousand years hitherto in France was never the like. Duke of Bedford, who you call yourself region of France, the maid doth pray you and request you not to bring destruction on yourself. If you do not justice toward her, she will do the finest deed ever in Christendom. Right on Tuesday in the great week, Easter week, March 1429, subscribed, harkened to the news from God and the maid. At the end of their examination the doctors decided in Joan's favour. Two of them, the Bishop of Custris, Gerard Machet, the King's Confessor, and Master John E. Rowe, recognized the divine nature of her mission. She was, they said, the virgin foretold in the ancient prophecies, notably in those of Merlin, and the most exacting amongst them approved of the King's having neither accepted nor rejected with levity the promises made by Joan. After a grave inquiry there had been discovered in her, they said, not but goodness, humility, devotion, honesty, simplicity. Before Orléans she professes to be going to show her sign, so she must be taken to Orléans, for to give her up without any appearance on her part of evil would be to fight against the Holy Spirit, and to become unworthy of aid from God. After the doctor's examination came that of the women. Three of the greatest ladies in France, Yolande of Aragon, Queen of Sicily, the Countess of Gokur, wife of the Governor of Orléans, and Joan de Mortimer, wife of Robert Le Maicon, Baron of Trove, were charged to examine Joan as to her life as a woman. They found therein nothing but truth, virtue, and modesty. She spoke to them with such sweetness and grace, says the Chronicle, that she drew tears from their eyes, and she excused herself to them for the dress she wore, and for which the sternest doctors had not dreamed of reproaching her. It is more decent, said the Archbishop of Embrun, to do such things in man's dress, since they must be done along with men. The men of intelligence at court bowed down before this village saint, who was coming to bring the King in his peril assistance from God. The most valiant men of war were moved by the confident outbursts of her patriotic courage, and the people everywhere welcomed her with faith and enthusiasm. Joan had, as yet, only just appeared, and already she was the heaven-sent interpretus of the nation's feeling, the hope of the people of France. End of Chapter 24 Part 2