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MEMOIRS

BOOK FOUR

5

[i Edward IV's preparations]

A FEW words are necessary about the king of England, who had got his army at Dover ready to cross the sea to Calais. This was the biggest army with which any king of England had invaded France. All the army was mounted, and it was the best turned out and best armed that had ever gone to France, for most if not all of the nobles of England were in it. There were fifteen hundred well-horsed men-at-arms and most of them were barded and richly accoutred after our fashion; they had many followers on horseback. In their army there were more than fifteen hundred mounted archers, carrying bows and arrows, as well as large numbers of infantry, and others who both looked after all their tents, of which they had a great quantity, and attended their artillery and enclosed their camp. In the whole army there was not a single page and the English had ordered three thousand men to go to Brittany.

I have said before, but it serves my purposes to say it again, that had not God wanted to trouble the senses of the duke of Burgundy, in order to preserve this kingdom (to which he has granted more favours up to the present than to any other), who would have believed that the duke would have been so obsitnate in besieging such a strong place as Neuss, defended as it was? In all his life he had never known the kingdom of England disposed to send an army across the sea, and he recognized clearly that they would be almost useless in wars in France on their own. For if he had ever wanted to use them it would have been necessary not to let them out of his sight for one full season in order to help them to train and instruct their army in our most important methods of warfare. When the English first come over no one is more stupid or clumsy but in a very short space of time they become very good, clever and brave soldiers.

The duke did exactly the opposite and, amongst the other disservices he did them, he caused them to lose almost all the campaigning season.¹³ As for him, he had so broken up his army and it was in such poor condition and so impoverished that he dared not muster it before the English, because he had lost four thousand regular soldiers before Neuss, including the best men that he had. So you can see that God caused him to do the contrary to what he should reasonably have done and against all the he knew and understood better than anyone else only ten years previously.

ii How the king of England crossed to France and landed at Calais to wage war on the King, and what happened

When King Edward was at Dover waiting to cross, the duke of Burgundy sent him more than five hundred ships from Holland and Zeeland which had flat bottoms and low sides and were very suitable for transporting horses. They were called 'scutes¹⁴ and originated in Holland. Despite this great number and all that the king of England was able to do it took more than three weeks to transport everything from Dover to Calais, which are only seven leagues apart.¹⁵ You can thus see what difficulties a king of England encounters in crossing to France; and if the King our master had understood naval as well as he understood military matters King Edward would never have crossed, at least not that year. But the King did not understand naval tactics and those whom he had put in charge of his military affairs knew even less than he did. The king of England took three weeks to cross, and a single ship from Eu captured two or three small transports. Before the king of England embarked and sailed from Dover he sent a herald called Garter, who was a native of Normandy, to the King.¹⁶ He carried to the King a letter of defiance from the king of England in fine language and elegant style (I believe no Englishman could have had a hand in composing it!). He required the King to deliver the realm of France to him, to whom it belonged, so that he could restore the Church, the nobles and the people to their ancient liberties and remove the great taxes and burdens which the King had imposed upon them. He also declared what evils would follow in the case of his refusal, in the form and manner which was customary in such cases.

The King read the letter to himself and then he withdrew all alone into a smaller room and called the herald to him. He told him that he was well aware that the king of England had not come of his own accord but had been forced to as much by the duke of Burgundy as by the commons of England. He could equally see that the campaigning season was almost finished and the duke of Burgundy was returning from Neuss a defeated and much weakened man and that, with regard to the Constable, the King knew that he had been in communication with the king of England because he had married his niece, but warned that he would deceive Edward. He told him about the rewards he had conferred on him, saying, 'The Constable wants nothing more than to live by dissimulation and to keep in touch with everyone so as to make his profit!' He gave the herald several other reasons for warning King Edward of England to make peace with him. He also personally gave the herald three hundred crowns and promised him another thousand if peace were agreed upon. Publicly he gave him a fine piece of crimson velvet thirty ells long.

The herald replied that he would do all in his power to achieve this peace and that he believed his master would willingly entertain the suggestion: but nothing more should be said until the king of England had crossed the sea. When he had done so another herald should be sent to ask for safe-conducts so that ambassadors could come to meet him; they should apply to the Lord Howard or Lord Stanley and also to himself to help guide the herald.

There were many people in the hall whilst the King was speaking to the herald. They were all waiting eagerly to heard what the King would say or what his expression would be when he came out. When he had finished he called me in to entertain the herald until an escort had been found to accompany him back, so that no one could speak to him, and that I should give him the thirty ells of crimson velvet, which I did. The King then addressed some of the others and told them about the letter of defiance and, calling seven or eight people apart, he made them read the letter. He put on a very assured air without showing any fear because he was very pleased with the way the herald had received his proposals.

13. ^{MS. reads raison but MS. P. reads saison which seems the more likely reading.}
14. ^{In Dutch schuit.}
15. ^{This phrase added from MS. P.}
16. John Smert was Garter King of Arms at this time. Commynes has confused him with Ireland King of Arms, Walter Bellengier, a native of Dieppe, who accomplished the mission he decribes in Book 4, Chapter 7.

6

WITH regard to the invasion I must say a word or two about the Constable, who was having second thoughts about the trick he had played on the duke of Burgundy over Saint-Quentin. He already felt deprived of the King's confidence because some of his principal servants had left him. The lords of Genlis and Moy had already been well received by the King although the lord of Moy continued to pass back and forth between them.¹⁷ The King put great pressure on the Constable to come to see him and offered him certain compensation, which he was asking for the county of Guise, which had been promised to him sometime previously. The Constable was very happy to oblige, provided the King took an oath on the cross of Saint-Laud at Angers not to injure his person or to allow anyone else to do so. He alleged that the King could equally well take the oath as he had previously done for the lord of Lescun. To this the King replied that he would never take this oath but he would be happy to take any other oath the Constable wanted him to take. You can easily comprehend how perplexed the King and the Constable were when I say that for a short period there was not a day when messengers did not go from one to the other about this oath. Whoever thinks seriously about this will realize our life is a miserable one when men shorten it by such trouble and pain, writing and saying so many things which are quite contrary to their thoughts. And if those two I have just mentioned were in great difficulties, the king of England and the duke of Burgundy, for their part, were in no less. The passage of the king of England to Calais and the departure of the duke of Burgundy from before Neuss took place at about the same time, or certainly within a few days of each other. By great daily stages the duke marched with a small retinue straight to Calais to meet the king of England. He sent the army, cut to pieces though it was as you have heard, to pillage the duchies of Bar and Lorraine to save it from starvation and to refresh it. He did this because the duke of Lorraine had begun fighting after defying him whilst he was at Neuss. This was a big mistake on the duke's part, amongst the many others which he had committed towards the English. They were expecting to find him on landing with at least two thousand five hundred well-equipped men-at-arms and other great numbers of horse and foot soldiers, which the duke of Burgundy had promised them in order to make them come. He should also have started the war against France three months before their landing, so that they would have found the King much weakened and distressed. But God saw to everything as you heard.

The king of England left Calais together with the duke and they crossed the Boulounnais, marching towards Péronne where the duke welcomed them coldly, for he had the gates guarded and only allowed a few men to enter. They camped in the open, which they were well able to do because they were provided with all the necessary equipment. When they came to Péronne the Constable sent one of his men, call Louis de Sainville, to the duke of Burgundy to excuse the Constable for not giving up Saint-Quentin to him, saying that if he had done so he would have been in no position to help him any more in the kingdom of France because he would have lost all his reputation and the contacts he had with people there. But at this moment, given that he could see the king of England so close, he would do everything the duke of Burgundy wished. To convince the duke he sent him letters of credence addressed to the king of England which the duke of Burgundy was to guarantee. Over and above this, he sent a sealed document to the duke in which he promised to serve and help him and all his friends and allies, the king of England and others, against all without exception.

The duke delivered the letter to the king of England and gave his credence, exaggerating a little because he assured the king of England that the Constable would allow him into Saint-Quentin and all his other places. King Edward was quickly convinced that he was so frightened of the King that he would not dare fail to do what he had promised the duke of Burgundy. But neither the Constable's thoughts nor his fear of the King had yet led him to go so far and he hoped by using guile, as he was accustomed to doing, to humour them, and by giving them such good excuses beforehand they would still be patient and would not force him to declare himself.

King Edward and his men were not very experienced in the ways of this kingdom and proceeded about their business more clumsily, so that they could not discover so quickly the deceptions used here and elsewhere because, by nature, the English who have never left England are very choleric, as are all those who live in cold countries. Ours, as you know, is situated between hot and cold countries and surrounded, as again you know, by Italy, Spain and Catalonia on the side towards the Levant, by England, Flanders and the Champagne district. So we have characteristics of both a warm and a cold climate and for this reason we have people with two temperaments. In my opinion there is not a better situated country in all the world than France.

The king of England, who was very pleased to receive this news from the Constable (though perhaps he had already received previously some intimation but not such a clear one), left Péronne with the duke of Burgundy, who had no men with him because they had all marched to Bar and Lorraine, as I have told you. On the approach to Saint-Quentin a large party of the English was sweeping the countryside ahead of the main army, as I heard them describe a few days later. They were expecting to hear bells rung on their arrival and to have the cross and holy water carried out to them. When they came close to the city the guns began to fire and skirmishers sallied out on foot and on horseback. Two or three Englishmen were killed and some captured there. It was a terrible rainy day and in this condition they had to march back to the main army, very out of sorts, swearing about the Constable and calling him a traitor.

Next morning the duke of Burgundy wished to take his leave of the king of England, which was a very strange thing seeing that he had been responsible for their coming. He wanted to march to his army in the duchy of Bar, claiming that he would be able to accomplish much there for the English. They are naturally suspicious and since they were so new to conditions in France they were confused and dissatisfied by this going, and they could not believe that he had an army in the field. Nor was the duke of Burgundy able to excuse the Constable's actions, in spite of the fact that he told them that all he had done was with a good end in view. They also began to get disheartened by the approach of winter and to hear them talk you would have thought that their hearts were more set on making peace than war.

17. Jean de Hangest, lord of Genlis (d. 1490), and Colard, lord of Moy.

7

AFTER these words, and when the duke wanted to leave, the English captured the valet Jacques de Grassay, a gentleman of the King's household who received twenty crowns a month. Immediately the valet was brought before the king of England and the duke of Burgundy, who were both together, and then he was put in a tent. After they had interrogated him the duke of Burgundy took his leave of the king and marched to Brabant on his way to Mézières, where he had some of his men. The king of England ordered the valet to be released because he was their first prisoner, and on his departure Lord Howard and Lord Stanley gave him a noble,¹⁸ and said to him, 'Recommend us to the favour of the King, your master, if you have an opportunity to speak to him.' With all speed the valet went to the King, who was at Compiègne, to report these words to him. But the King became very suspicious, thinking he was a spy because Gilbert de Grassay, brother of the valet's master, was then in Brittany where he was very well treated by the duke. The valet was put in irons under a strict guard for the night. Nevertheless many people spoke to him on the King's orders, and all reported that he seemed to speak very confidently and that the King should listen to him. Early next morning the King spoke to him and after he had listened to him he had him unchained, although he still remained under guard. The King then went off to eat, turning over in his mind whether or not he should send ambassadors to the English. Before he sat down at table he said a few words to me about it, for as you know, my lord [archbishop] of Vienne, our King frequently spoke very intimately to his closest advisers, as I was then and others have been since, and he loved to speak in one's ear. He recalled the words which the English herald had spoken to him, that he should not fail to send for a safe-conduct for his ambassadors to go to the king of England as soon as he had crossed the sea and the he should approach the Lords Howard and Stanley. As soon as he had sat down and thought for a while, as you know he used to do (which was a very strange habit to those who did not know him, because without knowing him they might have considered him a little stupid, though his achievements testify to the contrary), he whispered in my ear that I should leave the table and go to eat in my room, and send for a valet who served my lord of Halles, son of Jean Merichon of La Rochelle, so as to ask him secretly if he dared go to the king of England's army disguised as a herald.

I obeyed his orders immediately and was very amazed when I saw the valet because he did not seem to me to be the right size or type for such an undertaking. All the same, as I found out later, he had good judgement and a pleasant, friendly way of speaking. The King had only ever spoken to him once. This servant was very astounded when he heard what I had to say and threw himself down on his knees before me, like someone who thought he was already as good as dead. I reassured him as best I could and promised to get him some money and a job as a tax-collector on the Île de Ré. To make him feel even safer I told him that the English had suggested this, and then I made him sit down and eat with me. There were only us two and a serving-boy and little by little I instructed him in what he had to do. I had not been there very long when the King sent for me. I told him about our man and mentioned the names of some others whom I thought more suitable for the job. But he would have no other. He even came himself to speak to him and reassured him more with one word than I had with a hundred. Only my lord of Villiers,¹⁹ then Master of the Horse, and now bailli of Caen, entered the chamber with the King. When the King thought our man was resolved to do it he sent the Master of the Horse to get a trumpeter's banner to make him a coat of arms, because the King was not so fond of ceremony as some princes are that he kept a herald or trumpeter in his retinue. So the Master of the Horse and one of my servants made this coat of arms as best they could and the Master of the Horse sent for a small shield of arms from a minor herald called Plain Chemin, who belonged to the Admiral, which was fastened to our man. Secretly he was brought his boots, his clothes and his horse and he was put on it without anyone knowing about the mission. A fine leather bag was put on the pommel of his saddle in which was put his coat of arms and, well instructed in what he had to say, he set of directly for the English army.

When he had arrived there wearing his coat of arms he was arrested and brought to the king of England's tent. Asked why he had come, he said he had come on the King's behalf to speak to the king of England and that he had been ordered to speak to Lords Howard and Stanley. He was taken into a tent and given a splendid dinner. After the king of England, who was having his own dinner when the herald arrived, had left the table the herald was brought before him and he heard what he had to say. The tenor of his message was that the King had for a very long time desired a genuine friendship with him and that their two kingdoms ought to live in peace, and that never since he had been King of France had he made war or undertaken any enterprise against the king or the kingdom of England. The King excused himself for previously welcoming the earl of Warwick by saying that he had done so not to oppose him but only the duke of Burgundy. Then the King pointed out to him that the duke of Burgundy had called him over only in the hope of making a better settlement with the King when he had come. If there were some who had meddled in it, it was only in order to forward their own interests and to achieve their own ends. They were not bothered about supporting the king of England's designs whatever happened, provided they achieved their own. He also emphasized the time of year and that winter was already approaching. He was also well aware that Edward had gone to great expense and that many people in England, both nobles and merchants, wanted a war in France, but if the king of England should want peace the King would, for his part, do his best to satisfy him and his kingdom. In order that Edward might be better informed about all these matters, if he would give a safe-conduct for up to a hundred men, then the King would send him his ambassadors fully informed of his wishes. Or if the king of England would rather that the ambassadors from both sides should meet at some village halfway between the two armies, the King would be very happy and would issue his own safe-conduct.

The king of England and a number of his intimates considered these to be good proposals. A safe-conduct was given to our 'herald' as he had asked. He was given four nobles and another herald was sent back with him to collect a similar safe-conduct from the King. Next day at [Lihons-en-Santerre], a village close to Amiens, the ambassadors met together. The King was represented by the Admiral, the Bastard of Bourbon, the lord of Saint-Pierre and Jean Héberge, bishop of Évreux; the king of England sent Lord Howard, Thomas Saint-Leger and Dr. Morton, who is today Chancellor of England and archbishop of Canterbury.²⁰

I think that many might consider the King was humbling himself too much, but a wise person can judge for himself from what I have said before that this kingdom would have been in great danger had God not intervened. He disposed our King to choose the wisest course and put off his stroke the duke of Burgundy, who made so many mistakes in this affair, as you have seen, that he lost through his own fault that which he had so often wanted. There were at that time many secret intrigues afoot which would have harmed this kingdom a great deal and almost immediately, if this agreement had not been made very quickly, both from Brittany and elsewhere. I truly believe from things that I have witnessed in my lifetime that God had a special regard for this kingdom.

18. ^{A gold coin, the rose noble was worth 10s. and was first issued by Edward IV in 1465.}
19. ^{Alain Goyon (d. 1490).}
20. John Morton (c. 1420-1500), archbishop of Canterbury from 1486 and Chancellor from 1487, created cardinal of St. Anastasia in 1493.

8

i How the peace was discussed between the King and the king of England

AS you have heard, our ambassadors met together the day after the return of our herald because we were four leagues or less away from each other. Our herald was well treated and got his job in the Île de Ré, where he came from, as well as a sum of money. Several proposals were exchanged by the ambassadors. The English asked, as usual, for the crown, and at the very least for Normandy and Guyenne. They urged their cases well, we defended stubbornly. But from the first day of the negotiations the two sides were near agreement for both were anxious for a settlement. Our ambassadors returned and the English went back to their army. The King listened to their demands and the final conclusions which had been reached: these were that they should have seventy-two thousand crowns in cash before departing, that our present King should marry King Edward's eldest daughter, who is the present queen of England, and have for her maintenance the duchy of Guyenne or fifty thousand crowns, to be paid annually for nine years at the Tower of London, and at the end of that time the couple were to receive the revenues of Guyenne peacefully and our King would be free from this payment to the king of England. There were numerous other small points concerning commerce, which I will not mention. The peace between the two kingdoms was to last nine²¹ years and the allies of both sides were included and, on the English side in particular, the dukes of Burgundy and Brittany could be if they wished. The king of England offered, strangely enough, to name certain persons who he said were traitors to the King and his crown and to give written proof of this.

The King was overwhelmed with joy by what his representatives reported. He held a council at which I was present to discuss the matter. Some were of the opinion that it was only a trick and a deception on the part of the English. But the King thought otherwise, pointing out the weather situation, the lateness of the season, that they did not possess a single place and the bad turns which the duke of Burgundy, who had already left them, had done them. The King was certain that the Constable would not deliver to them any places because he was constantly sending messages to humour him, to sweeten his temper and to stop him from doing anything dangerous. The King also had a good understanding of the king of England's character, that he liked his pleasures and comforts very much. From this it appeared that the King spoke more wisely than anyone else present and understood clearly the the things he was talking about. He decided that the money should be raised with all possible speed and he was advised how this could be done; it was suggested that everyone should lend something so that it could be found promptly. Besides this the King said that there was nothing in the world that he would not do to boot the English out of France, except that he would never consent to giving them any land. Before doing this he would rather hazard all.

ii Here I speak about the Constable and how he sent to the King on hearing of the treaty which was being arranged between him and the king of England

The Constable became aware of these negotiations and was frightened of having enmity on all sides, since he was still perturbed about the bargain that had nearly been concluded at his expense at Bouvignes. So he often sent messengers to the King and at the moment about which I am speaking a gentleman and the Constable's servant, call Louis de Sainville, arrived at the King's court, together with his secretary, Jean Richer, both of whom are still alive. They gave their credentials first to my lord of Bouchage and me, not to the King, as the King desired.

The message they brought pleased the King very much when he was told about it because he was resolved to take advantage of it, as you shall hear. The lord of Contay, servant of the duke of Burgundy, who had shortly before been captured at Arras, as you have heard, was coming and going on parole to and from the duke. The King had promised to give him his ransom and a very large sum of money besides if he could negotiate a peace. By chance, he had just arrived back the day the two servants of the Constable appeared. The King hid the lord of Contay and me behind a great old screen which was in his chamber so that he could hear and report to his master the things the Constable and his men were saying about the duke. The King sat on a stool close by the screen so we could hear what Louis de Sainville said. The lord of Bouchage was the only person with the King. Louis de Sainville and his companion began by saying that their master had sent them to the duke of Burgundy and that they had repeatedly remonstrated with him in an attempt to get him to break off his friendship with the English. They had found the duke so incensed with the king of England that they had almost won him over, not only to desert the English but to help to rob them when they retreated. Whilst speaking these words, thinking it would please the King, Louis de Sainville began to imitate the duke of Burgundy, stamping his feet on the ground, swearing by St. George and calling the king of England Blaybourne, son of an archer by that name, and using all the insults under the sun which it was possible to call a man. The King laughed heartily and told him to speak up and repeat his story because he was becoming a little deaf. Sainville did not need to be asked twice and began with enthusiasm. My lord of Contay, who was with me behind the screen, was the most surprised man in the world and would never have believed what he had heard however one might have tried to persuade him.

The Constable's men finished by advising the King to make a truce to avoid all the great dangers which surrounded him. They said the Constable claimed to be able to secure it. To appease the English, the King should give them just one or two small towns for winter quarters; and however bad they were, they would be pleased with these. It seemed that without naming any towns they meant Eu and Saint-Valéry. The Constable thought that by this means he would be reconciled with the English and they would forgive him for refusing to deliver his own places. The King, satisfied that he had now played his part and let the lord of Contay hear the words which the Constable, through his men, used, did not give them an ungracious answer, but merely said, 'I'll get in touch with my brother and let him know my news.' Then he gave them leave to depart. [Later] one of them took me by the hand and swore that if he learnt anything touching the King's affairs he would reveal it. It grieved the King to pretend about this matter when they advised him to give up lands to the English, but, fearing lest the Constable do anything worse, he did not want to reply in such a way that they would see that he had taken offence, so he sent a messenger to him. Since it was not far a man did not take long to go there and back. The lord of Contay and I came out from behind the screen when the others had gone and the King laughed and joked merrily. But Contay had lost his patience listening to such men mocking his master, especially because of the serious negotiations they were having together. He was eager to be on his horse and away to tell his master, the duke of Burgundy, about this. Almost immediately he was dispatched. Writing out his own instructions, he obtained a letter of credence written by the King and then he left.

iii How the duke of Burgundy, warned about the bargain being arranged, hastened to the king of England hoping to stop it

Our arrangements with the English had already been agreed upon, as you have heard, since all these negotiations had been going on at the same time. The King's ambassadors who had been with the English had made their report as you heard and the English ones had returned to their king. Both sides had discussed and agreed through the ambassadors that the two kings should meet each other and that after they had done so and sworn to the treaty arrangements the king of England should return to England, after receiving seventy-two thousand crowns, and that he should leave Lord Howard and his Master of the Horse, Sir John Cheyne, as hostages until he had crossed the sea. In a separate document pensions amounting to sixteen thousand crowns were promised to the intimate advisers of the king of England. Lord Hastings got two thousand crowns a year (for which he would never give a quittance), the Chancellor got two thousand crowns, Lord Howard, the Master of the Horse, Saint-Leger, Sir [Thomas] Montgomery and others got the rest, and a lot of ready cash and plate besides was given to king Edward's servants.

The duke of Burgundy on hearing this news came from Luxembourg in haste to see the king of England. He had only sixteen followers when he arrived. The king of England was very amazed by his sudden coming and asked what brought him, as he could see the duke was angry. The duke said he had come to speak to him. The king asked him if he wanted to speak to him publicly or in private. The duke then asked if the king had made peace. The king of England told him that he had arranged a truce for nine years in which he and the duke of Brittany were included, and asked him to agree to this. The duke worked himself up into a fury and spoke in English (because he could speak the language) and cited several fine deeds done by English kings who had crossed to France and all the trouble they had taken to acquire honour there; he bitterly inveighed against this truce, saying that he had not sought to bring the English over because he had need of them but so that they could recover what belonged to them. And in order that they would recognize that he did not need their help he would not agree to any truce with our King until the king of England had been back in England for three months. After saying this he departed and went back to where he had just come from. The king of England and his council were very displeased by these words. Other people who were not satisfied by the peace praised what the duke had said.

21. In reality, seven.

9

THE king of England camped half a league from Amiens in order to conclude this peace. The King was at the gate and could see them approaching from a long way off. I tell no lie when I say the Edward's troops seemed to be very inexperienced and new to action in the field as they rode together in very poor order. The King sent the king of England three hundred wagons loaded with the best wine it was possible to find and this supply train almost appeared to be an army as large as the English one. Because there was a truce large numbers of English came to the town and behaved themselves very unwisely, showing little respect for their king since they entered it all armed, in great companies, and if our King had wanted to break his oath never would it have been easier to rout so large a company. Yet he had no other thought but to entertain them well and arrange a sound peace with them to last the rest of his lifetime.

He had ordered two large tables to be set up at the entrance to the gate of the town, one on either side, laden with all kinds of foodstuffs which would make them want to drink the wine, which was the best that could be provided. Men stood by to serve it, and not a drop of water could be seen! At each of these tables five of six fat and sleek noblemen, including the lords of Craon, Briquebec, Bressuire, Villiers and others, were sat down there ready to entertain those who wanted to drink. As soon as the English approached the gate they saw this arrangement. There were men who took their bridles and told them they must break a lance there, leading them close to the table where they were entertained in this passage of arms by the delicacies the table offered.²² They took it all in very good part. When they were in the town, they paid for nothing wherever they went. There were nine or ten taverns fully stocked with everything they needed where they could eat and drink. They asked for whatever they wanted and paid nothing; this lasted for three or four days.

ii How the Constable sent to the king of England to dissuade him from making peace with the King

You have heard how this truce was displeasing to the duke of Burgundy, but it was even more unwelcome to the Constable who saw himself in difficulties on all sides and realized he had made a mistake. For this reason he sent his confessor to the king of England with a letter of credence, in which he asked him for the love of God not to trust the King's words or promises, but only to take Eu and Saint-Valéry and camp there for part of the winter. For in less than two months he would arrange for him to be better accommodated. He gave him no guarantee but only great hopes. So that lack of money should not cause him to make a worthless agreement, he offered to lend him fifty thousand crowns and made him several other proposals. The King had already had these two towns he mentioned burnt, because the Constable had advised him to deliver them to the English. The king of England had been told about this and so replied to the Constable that he had concluded a truce and he would not change any of its terms, and that if he had kept his promise the king would not have needed to make this settlement. The Constable then lost all hope.

iii Here I take up again the account of the interview of the two kings

You have heard how the English enjoyed themselves at Amiens. One evening my lord of Torcy came to tell the King that there were so many of them there that it was becoming very dangerous. The King became very angry with him and so everyone kept quiet. That day was Innocents' Day that year and on such days the King did not speak about or wish to hear about any of his affairs, and he thought it very unlucky when anyone spoke to him about them and became very angry with those who usually served him and knew his habits.²³ Yet on the morning about which I am speaking as the King was getting up and performing his devotions, someone came to tell me that there were more than nine thousand English in the town. I decided to take a chance and tell him. I entered his private chamber and said to him, 'Sire, although it is the day of the Innocents I think I must tell you what I've been told.' I informed him at length about the number of troops there and all the time more, all armed, were coming and no one dared refuse them entry for fear of antagonizing them. The King was no longer obdurate but quickly left his hours and told me that he would not observe the ritual of the Innocents that day and ordered me to get on a horse and try to speak to the English leaders, to see if they could get their men to withdraw, and that I should tell any of their captains I met to come to speak to the King; he would follow me to the gate immediately afterwards. I did this and spoke to three or four English leaders whom I knew and told them what to do. But for every individual they sent out of the town twenty entered. The King sent my lord of Gié, at present Marshal of France,²⁴ after me on the same errand and we entered a tavern where a hundred and eleven bills had been run up although it was not nine in the morning. The house was full, some were singing, some were sleeping and just plain drunk. When I saw this I thought there was no great danger and sent a report to the King who immediately went to the gate with a large retinue. Secretly he had ordered two or three hundred men-at-arms to arm themselves in their captains' houses and some to be stationed on the gate where the English were entering. The King had his dinner brought to the gatekeeper's house and invited several English nobles to eat with him. The king of England was informed of this disorder and was ashamed of it. He sent word to the King to issue orders that no one be permitted to enter. The King replied that he would never do that, but if the king of England wanted to send his own archers they themselves could guard the gate and admit those whom they liked. This was done and many of the English left the town on the king of England's orders.

It was then decided that to bring everything to a conclusion, the place where the two kings could meet each other should be considered and men should be sent to inspect it. My lord of Bouchage and myself were sent on the King's behalf and Lord Howard, Saint-Leger and a herald were sent on the king of England's behalf. Having had a good look at the river we decided that the best and safest place was Picquigny, three leagues from Amiens, where there was a strong castle belonging to the Vidame of Amiens,²⁵ although it had been burnt by the duke of Burgundy. The town is low-lying and the river Somme flows through it, although it is not fordable nor very wide at this point. The route which the King had to take to it lay through fine open countryside and on the other side the king of England could also approach it through fine countryside, although when he got close to the river there was a causeway, two good bow-shots long with a marsh on either side. For anyone coming without a safe-conduct it would have been a very dangerous road. And, without any doubt, as I said elsewhere, the English are not so subtle at negotiating or making arrangements as the French and, whatever people say, they proceed rather clumsily in these matters. But it is necessary to be a little patient and not to haggle angrily with them.

When the spot for the interview had been decided on orders were given for a sufficiently large and very strong bridge to be built there. We provided the carpenters and materials. In the middle of the bridge a strong piece of trellis-work, such as lions' cages are made from, was erected. The holes between the bars are just big enough for a man to push his arm through easily. The top alone was covered with boards to keep off the rain and it was big enough for ten or twelve people to get under it on either side. The trellis-work stretched right across the width of the bridge so that no one could cross from one side to the other. On the river there was only a small boat in which there were two men to ferry over those who wanted to cross from one side to the other.

I would like to explain the reason why the King wanted this barrier to be set up in this way so that no one could cross from one side to the other, as if it might by chance be of use in the future to someone who might find himself in a similar position. In the time when King Charles VII was a minor the realm was greatly persecuted by the English. King Henry V was besieging Rouen and had almost reduced it. The majority of the besieged were subjects to the partisans of Duke John of Burgundy who was still alive. Duke John and the duke of Orléans had a long-standing quarrel and the majority of the realm was divided into two camps ignoring the King's interests; once faction begins in a country it is difficult to stamp out and often results in disaster. Because of this quarrel I have mentioned, one duke of Orléans had already been killed eleven years previously in Paris. Duke John had a large body of troops and was marching to raise the siege of Rouen. So that he could do this more easily and safeguard himself against the King it had been agreed that the King and he should meet each other at Montereau-Faut-Yonne.²⁶ A bridge and some barriers were erected. In the middle of the barriers was a small wicket-gate which was barred on both sides, but through which one could go from one side to the other if both parties wished. The King was on one side of the bridge and Duke John on the other, each accompanied by a large number of men-at-arms, especially the duke. They set off to talk to each other on the bridge, and at the spot where they were speaking the duke had only three or four people with him. When their conversation had begun the duke of Burgundy, either because he asked to or because he wanted to pay his respects to the King, opened the gate on his side. The other side was opened and he went through with three companions. Immediately the duke was killed together with those with him and from this episode sprang, as we all know full well, many evil happenings. This is not really my part of the story, so I will say no more about it. But the King told me this story just as I have told it to you when he sent me to arrange this interview. He said that if there had been no wicket-gate at this interview of which I have spoken there would have been no occasion to summon the duke to pass through it and this great misfortune would have been avoided. It was principally caused by some of the servants of the murdered duke of Orléans (who had been killed as I told you) who held posts of authority under King Charles VII.

22. ^{This sentence depends on a play of words derived from the language of the Tournament.}
23. ^{All modern editions of Commynes have noted that Louis XI, in common with many of his contemporaries, abstained from work whenever possible on the day of the week corresponding to the day on which the feast of the Holy Innocents had fallen in the previous year. In 1474 28 December was a Wednesday and so if Commynes is correct this episode took place on Wednesday 23 August 1475.}
24. ^{Pierre de Rohan (d. 1513) became Marshal of France in 1476.}
25. ^{Jean d'Ailly, lord of Picquigny, was the bishop of Amiens's temporal representative, known as the Vidame.}
26. On 10 September 1419.

10

iThe interview

THE next day after our barriers were completed, as you heard, the two kings arrived. This was 29 August 1475. The King was first to arrive and had with him about eight hundred men-at-arms. On the king of England's side all his army was drawn up in order, and although we did not think we could see all of it we still thought that it was an incredibly large number of horsemen to have assembled together. In comparison our own troops appeared very insignificant; because, a quarter of the King's army was not there. It had been decided that each king should be accompanied by twelve of his greatest and closest advisers who had already been ordered to go to the barriers. On our side we had four of the king of England's men to observe what we were doing and similarly we had a like number of observers with the king of England. As I have told you, our King was the first to arrive and was already at the barriers. There were twelve of us with him including amongst others the late Duke John of Bourbon and his brother, the Cardinal. It was the King's wish that I should be dressed like him that day. For a long time he had been accustomed to sometimes having someone dressed like him.

The king of England came along the causeway, which I mentioned and was well attended. He appeared a truly regal figure. With him were his brother, the duke of Clarence, the earl of Northumberland and several lords, including his Chamberlain, Lord Hastings, his Chancellor and others. There were only three or four dressed in cloth of gold like King Edward, who wore a black velvet cap on his head decorated with a large fleur-de-lis of precious stones. He was a very good-looking, tall prince, but he was beginning to get fat and I had seen him on previous occasions looking more handsome. Indeed I do not recall ever having seen such a fine-looking man as he was when my lord of Warwick forced him to flee from England.

When he was within four or five feet of the barrier he raised his hat and bowed to within six inches of the ground. The King, who was already leaning on the barrier, returned his greeting with as much politeness. They began to embrace each other through the holes and the king of England made another even deeper bow. The King began the conversation and said to him, 'My lord, my cousin, you are very welcome. There's nobody in the world whom I would want to meet more than you. And God be praised that we have met here for this purpose.'

The king of England replied to this in quite good French. Then the Chancellor of England, a prelate called the bishop of Ely,²⁷ began to speak, starting with a prophecy (of which the English are never short) which related that at Picquigny there would be made a great peace treaty between France and England. And after this the letters which the King had sent to the king of England were opened; these concerned the treaty which had been made. The Chancellor asked the King if they had been drawn up as he ordered and if he found them satisfactory. The King replied that they were and so were those that had been sent to him on the king of England's behalf. And then the missal was brought and the two kings placed one hand on it and the other on the Holy True Cross. Both swore to keep what had been mutually promised, that is to say, a truce of nine years which included the allies of both parties, and to complete the marriage of their children on the terms agreed in the treaty.

After the oath had been taken our King, who was never at a loss for words, started talking to the king of England and jokingly said he ought to come to Paris, and he would dine him with the ladies and that he would give him my lord the cardinal of Bourbon as confessor, since the latter would very willingly absolve him from sin if he should have committed any, because he knew that the cardinal was a jolly good fellow.

After this conversation, or something like it, had lasted for a short time the King, who demonstrated that he had authority in this company, made us withdraw, saying he wanted to speak to the king of England alone. The king of England's men similarly withdrew, without waiting to be told. When the two kings had spoken for a little while the King called me and asked the king of England if he recognized me. He told him that he did and mentioned the places where he had seen me and that previously I had put myself to much trouble in serving him at Calais at the time when I was still with the duke of Burgundy.

The King asked him what he should do to please him if the duke of Burgundy did not keep the truce, because he had replied very arrongantly about it, as you have heard. The king of England replied that he should approach him about it again and that if he did not want to accept it he would fall in with whatever the two of them decided. Afterwards the King mentioned the duke of Brittany, who was the real reason for his beginning this conversation, and asked a similar question about him. The king of England replied, begging him not to want to make war on the duke of Brittany, and saying that in his moment of need he had never found such a good friend. The King left it at that and with the most gracious and friendly words to each of his men. So both of them left the barrier at the same moment, or as near as makes no difference, and mounted their horses. The King went to Amiens and the king of England went back to his camp; everything that was needed even down to torches and candles was sent to him from the King's household. The duke of Gloucester, the king of England's brother, and several others, who were not pleased by this peace, were not present at this conference. But later they reconciled themselves to it and shortly afterwards the duke of Gloucester came to visit the King at Amiens and the King gave him some very fine presents, including plate and well-equipped horses.

ii How, after the interview of the two kings of France and England, the King retired to Amiens and what happened next

As the King was riding along the road away from this interview he spoke to me about two points. He found the king of England so disposed to come to Paris that he was displeased and said, 'He's a very handsome king and is very much one for the women. He could meet some artful female in Paris who knew how to speak such fine words that she would make him eager to return.' He also said that his predecessors had spent too much time in Paris and Normandy; Edward's company was worth nothing on this side of the Channel but on the other he would like him very much as a good brother or friend. Again, the King was suspicious because he had found him a little obdurate when he spoke to him about the duke of Brittany. He would have very willingly won him over so that he would allow war to be waged in Brittany. And he had sounded him out again through my lords of Bouchage and Saint-Pierre. But when the king of England saw himself cornered he said that if anyone waged war in Brittany he would cross over at once and defend the duchy. On hearing his reply no one said another word to him about it.

When the King returned to Amiens and he was wanting to eat, three or four of the king of England's advisers, who had helped draw up this peace treaty, came to dine with him. Lord Howard began to whisper in the King's ear that if he liked he would find some way to persuade the king, his master, to come to Amiens, or perhaps even as far as Paris, in order to make merry with the King. Although this offer was scarcely pleasing to him he appeared to be very happy and began to wash²⁸ without making any lengthy reply to this proposition. But he whispered in my ear that what he had predicted had actually happened; it was this offer. They were still speaking about it after supper but as skillfully as it was possible to do so this proposal was turned down, with the excuse that the King had to leave with all haste to go and confront the duke of Burgundy.

Although these matters were very important and every effort was made on both sides to conduct them wisely, nevertheless several amusing things happened which should not be forgotten. And no one should be amazed, seeing the great evils which the English have committed in this realm and all too recently, that the King busied himself and spent money on getting rid of them in an amicable way so that he could still keep them as friends for the future or, at least, so that they would not make war on him.

The day after our interview a large force of English came to Amiens and we were told by some of them that the Holy Spirit had made this peace, for all of them were steeped in prophecy. And the thing which made them say this was that a white pigeon had been on the king of England's tent on the day of the interview and however loud the noise in the army was he had not wanted to move. But others were of the opinion that it had rained a little, then the sun had come out and the pigeon had perched on this tent, which was the tallest one, to dry itself. I was given this reason by a Gascon gentleman, called Louis de Bretelles, who was a servant of the king of England and very displeased by this peace. And because he had known me for a long time he spoke confidentially to me and said that we would be making fun of the king of England. I asked him how many battles the king of England had won. He replied that there had been nine at which he had been present. Then I asked how many he had lost and he told me he had lost only one that was the one which we were making him lose, and that he thought the shame in sending him back in this fashion was greater than the honour he had gained in winning the other nine.

I recounted this to the King who said to me that Bretelles was a very debauched scoundrel and it was necessary to stop him from talking. He sent to fetch him to dinner and he made him eat with him. He made him some very good and attractive offers if he would remain in France. And when he saw he would not stay he gave him a thousand crowns in cash and promised him he would look after some of his brothers who lived on this side of the Channel. I spoke a few words in his ear so that he would put himself out to encourage the love which had sprung between the two kings.

There was nothing in the world that the King feared more than that he would let slip some word which would make the English think that they were being mocked. And by chance the day after the interview, when he was in his private chamber with only three or four of us present, he let escape a few jesting words concerning the wines and presents which he had sent to the English camp. On turning round he saw a Gascon merchant who had lived in England. He had come to ask for a licence to export a certain quantity of Gascon wine without paying the King's dues, which was a thing which would greatly profit the merchant if it was granted him. The King was very shocked when he saw him and wondered how he could have got in. He asked him from what town in Guyenne he came and if he was married in England. The merchant replied that he was but that he did not have many valuable possessions there. Immediately, before he left there, the King assigned a man who conducted him to Bordeaux. I spoke to him at the King's command and he was given a good office in his native town and the right to export the wines which he had asked for together with a thousand francs in cash to bring his wife over. And the King sent one of his brothers to England so that he did not have to go. So the King condemned himself to this fine, knowing full well he had said too much.

27. ^{Commynes has confused Thomas Rotherham, Chancellor of England and bishop of Lincoln, and William Gray, Treasurer of England and bishop of Ely.}
28. Reading laver for lauer.

11

i The manoeuvres of Saint-Pol and the English retreat

THE day about which I am speaking, the day after our interview, my lord the Constable sent Rapine, one of his servants (to whom the King later did much good and who was a good servant of his master), with letters to the King. He ordered my lord of Lude and me to hear his credence. For my lord of Contay had already come back again in connection with the business concerning the Constable about which you have heard tell before. The Constable no longer knew which way to turn and he considered himself as lost. The words which Rapine spoke to us were very humble, relating that his master knew full well that many adverse reports had been made about him but that the King ought to have known from experience that he had never intended to commit any offence. To convince the King of his good will he would enter into negotiations to force my lord of Burgundy to help plunder the king of England and all his company if the King wished. It was all too apparent from Rapine's manner of speech that his master was completly without hope. We told him that we had reached a good settlement with the English and we did not want any more wrangling about it. My lord of Lude, who was with me, went so far as to ask him if he knew where his master's ready cash was. Since Rapine was a very good servant [and would report it to him], I was amazed that this question did not make the Constable flee. He must have realized his position and what was being prepared for him, especially considering the danger which he had been in only a year before. But during my life I have seen few men either here on in other countries who knew the time to flee. Some have no hope of obtaining a welcome and refuge in neighbouring countries, others love their possessions, wives and children too well. And these reasons have been responsible for the downfall of many a powerful man.

After we made our report to the King he called for a secretary. There was no one with him except Lord Howard, servant of the king of England, who knew nothing about what fate was being prepared for the Constable, the lord of Contay, who had come back from being with the duke of Burgundy, and the two of us who had spoken to Rapine. The King dictated a letter for the Constable, telling him what had been done the day before and about the truce and that he was tied up in a great deal of very important business and had a real need of a head like his. Then, turning to the Englishman and my lord of Contay he said to them, 'I don't mean that we should have the body but that we should have the head and the body remain behind.' This letter was given to Rapine. He thought it was very good, as he considered what the King said was very friendly, that he had a great need of a head like that of his master. But he did not understand the true purpose of these words.

The king of England sent the King letters of credence which the Constable had written him, together with an account of all the propositions which he had ever made to him. So you can see into what sort of position he had got himself between these three great men because each of them desired his death.

The king of England after receiving his money took a direct route to Calais, making good daily progress because he feared the hatred of the duke of Burgundy and that of the country people. And in truth when any of his men strayed one always remained behind in the bushes! As he had promised, he left my Lord Howard and Sir John Cheyne, Master of the Horse of England, as hostages until he had crossed the sea.

You have heard at the beginning of this account about English affairs, how the king was not very enthusiastic about this expedition. For even whilst he was still at Dover in England before boarding ship for the crossing he had begun negotiations with us. Two reasons made him cross to this side: first, all his kingdom wanted an expedition such as they had been used to in times gone by and the duke of Burgundy had put pressure on them to do it; secondly, he did it in order to reserve for himself a good fat portion of the money which he had raised in England for this crossing. For as you have heard the kings of England raise nothing except from their own demesne, unless it is for war with France. The king had thought up another ruse to satisfy his people. He had brought with him ten or twelve of the richest and most important citizens from London and other English towns; they were amongst the leading figures of the English commons and were those who had given the most support to this expedition and the raising of this powerful army. The king had them lodged in fine tents, but it was not the kind of life to which they were accustomed and they soon tired of it. They thought that three days after crossing over they would have to fight a battle. The king of England did his best to increase their doubts and fears and to make them yearn for peace so they would help him, when they had returned to England, to stifle the complaints that might be caused by his return. For no king of England since King Arthur had led so many people across the Channel at one time. He returned very quickly as you have heard. Much of the money which he had raised in England for the payment of his troops was left to him. So he achieved most of his intentions. He was not cut out to endure all the toil necessary for a king of England to make conquests of France. At this time our King was well prepared for defence, although he could not have provided adequately against all his enemies, because he had too many. The king of England had another great desire; to accomplish the marriage between Charles VIII, who reigns today, and his daughter. This marriage made him gloss over many things which have since turned out to be the great profit of the King.

ii How the King, after coming to terms with the king of England, did the same with the duke of Burgundy in order to obtain peace on all sides

When the English, except the hostages who were with the King, had re-corssed the sea, the King set off in the direction of Laon to Vervins, a small town on the borders of Hainault. The Chancellor of Burgundy and other ambassadors, with the lord of Contay, were at Avesnes to represent the duke of Burgundy. On this occasion the King really wanted a general peace. The huge number of English had frightened him because he had in his time seen what they could achieve in this kingdom and he did not want them to return. The King received a message from the Chancellor asking him to send his representatives to a bridge half way between Avesnes and Vervins and that he and his companions could be there. The King replied that he himself would come, although some to whom he spoke about this advised him against it. Nevertheless he went and took the English hostages with him. They were present when the King received the ambassadors, who came with a large retinue of archers and other soldiers. For the moment they had no other conversation with the King and they were taken off to dine.

One of the Englishmen began to regret making the treaty and told me at a window that if they had seen many such men with the duke of Burgundy perhaps they would not have made peace. My lord of Narbonne, who is today lord of Foix,²⁹ heard these words and said to him, 'Were you so simple that you thought that the duke of Burgundy didn't have a great number of such men? He simply sent them off to refresh themselves. But you were so anxious to return that six hundred pipes of wine and a pension from the King sent you quickly back to England.'

The Englishman became very angry and said, 'It's true what everyone told us, that you would make fun of us. Do you call the money which the King gives us a pension? It's a tribute, and, by St. George, you might talk so much about it that we'll come back.' I interrupted this argument and turned it into a joke, but the Englishman was not satisfied and he spoke a word to the King about it. He became very angry with the lord of Narbonne. The King would not speak at length to the Chancellor on this occasion and it was decided that they would come back to Vervins. This they did and they came with the King. When they had arrived at Vervins, the King appointed Sir Tanguy du Chastel and Master Pierre d'Oriole, Chancellor of France, to treat with them and others. Both sides remonstrated greatly with each other and everyone sought to uphold his own party. Our representatives came to make their report to the King, saying that these Burgundians were arrogant in their speech but they had put them in their place, reporting what answers they had given them. These displeased the King, who told them that all these answers had been given many times before and that it was not a question of final peace but merely a truce, that he did not want anyone to speak to them in such terms again and the he himself wished to speak to them. He summoned the Chancellor and the other ambassadors to his chamber. Only the late Admirmal, the Bastard of Bourbon, my lord of Bouchage and I remained there with him. He concluded a valid truce for nine years with each side returning to the position it had formerly held. But the ambassadors petitioned the King not to proclaim it yet in order to safeguard the oath which the duke had sworn not to make peace until the king of England had been out of the realm for a certain time, so that it would not seem that he had accepted the king of England's truce.

The king of England was very angry because the duke had not wanted to accept his truce. He had been informed that the King was arranging a separate one with the duke. So he sent a knight called Sir Thomas Montgomery, who was very close to him, to the King at Vervins at the moment when the King was negotiating this truce, about which I have spoken, with the duke of Burgundy's men. Sir Thomas requested the King not to arrange any other truce with the duke except that which he had already made. He also begged him not to deliver Saint-Quentin to the duke and proposed to the King that if he wanted to continue the war against the duke, Edward would be happy to cross over again and support him in the next season, provided that the King recompensed him for him for the losses he would suffer, because the wool customs would be worth nothing to him (this duty could easily amount to fifty thousand crowns). He also suggested that the King should pay for half his army and the king of England should pay for the other half. The King thanked the king of England profusely and gave Sir Thomas some plate, but excused himself from waging war by saying that the truce had already been agreed and that it was exactly the same as the one which the two kings had agreed upon for nine years, except that the duke wanted separate letters. He made his excuses as well as he could in order to appease the ambassador, who returned home together with those who had stayed as hostages.

The King was greatly astonished by the offers which the king of England had made him -- I had been the only one present to hear them. Clearly it appeared that it would be a very dangerous thing to bring the king of England over again because it never takes much to set the French and English quarrelling when they find themselves together. Then it would be easy for them to make a new agreement with the Burgundians. So the King's desire to conclude this truce with these Burgundians intensified.

29. Jean de Foix, viscount of Narbonne, second son of Gaston IV of Foix, and count of Foix 1483-1500.

12

WHEN the truce had been concluded the question of the Constable arose again and, to state matters briefly, the proposals which had been discussed at Bouvignes, and which I spoke about earlier, were taken up again. The sealed documents concerning this affair were exchanged. By this deal the duke was promised Saint-Quentin, Ham and Bohain and all that the Constable held from the duke, including all his moveables (wherever they were). The plan was to besiege him in Ham, where he was, was discussed and agreed upon. The first to take him was either to bring him to justice within eight days or deliver him to the other.

Soon people began to get worried about this plot and even the most powerful of the Constable's men, such as my lord of Genlis and several others, started to leave him. The Constable, who knew that the king of England had handed over his letters and revealed what he knew of his intrigues and that his enemies had been responsible for the truce, became exceedingly frightened. He sent to the duke of Burgundy to beg him to send a safe-conduct so that he could come and speak to him about the things which concerned him most closely. At first the duke prevaricated but in the end he issued one.

This powerful man had already thought a great deal about where he could safely flee to because he had been informed about everything and had seen copies of the documents which had been drawn up against him at Bouvignes. Once he spoke to some of his servants who were from Lorraine and decided to flee with them to Germany, taking, because the way was very safe, a great sum of money to buy a place on the Rhine and to stay there until he could come to terms with one of his opponents. On another occasion he resolved to hold on to his strong castle of Ham, which had cost him so much because he had built it to defend himself in just such an emergency and it was provided with as many supplies as any castle I have ever come across. Yet he could not find men prepared to stay with him because all his servants had been subjects either of the King or of the duke. Perhaps because his fears were so intense he did not take them into his confidence sufficiently. I certainly believe that he would have found some, indeed a great number, who would not have abandoned him. He had less to fear about being besieged by two princes than by one alone, for it would have been impossible for both armies to agree.

His last resort was to go to the duke of Burgundy, using this safe-conduct. He took with him only fifteen or twenty horses and went to Mons in Hainault where the grand bailli of Hainault, the lord of Aimeries, his very best friend, lived. There he stayed awaiting news from the duke of Burgundy, who had started waging war on the duke of Lorraine because he had been defied by him whilst he was besieging Neuss and also because he had suffered great losses in his lordship of Luxumbourg [at Lorraine's hands].

The duke of Burgundy was soon informed by the King himself of the seizure of Saint-Quentin in order to quash any hopes he might have entertained of recovering it through the Constable. As soon as the duke heard this news he ordered the lord of Aimeries, his grand bailli of Hainault, to guard the town of Mons in such a way that the Constable could not escape and to order him not to leave his lodgings. The bailli did not dare refuse so he did this. Nevertheless the guard was not so close as to prevent one man escaping if he wished to do so.

What can we say about Fortune? This man's lands were situated between those two great enemy princes. He held some very strong places and he had four hundred well-paid men-at-arms whom he could enrol and muster as he pleased. He had already controlled them for twelve years. He was a very wise, valiant and experienced knight. He had a large store of ready cash. Yet he found himself in this predicament lacking courage and any means of escape! It could well be said that fickle Fortune had turned against him. But to put it more accurately we must reply that such strange mysteries do not proceed from Fortune and that Fortune is nothing but a poetic fiction; rather it must have been God who abandoned him, considering all the things I have said before, let alsone those I have not mentioned. It it were a man's place to judge, which it is not, especially not mine, I should say that what logically ought to have been the cause of his punishment was that he had always tried with all his power to prolong the war between the King and the duke. From this he derived his great authority and his high position and he had little to do to maintain this conflict between them because by nature their characters were different.

It would be a very ignorant man who believed that Fortune, or something similar, could simultaneously lead³⁰ such a clever man into bad graces of these two princes (who never in their lives had agreed on anything but this) and, more particularly, into disfavour with the king of England, who had married his niece and who had great affection for all his wife's relations, especially those belonging to the Saint-Pol family. It is most likely, indeed certain, that he must have alienated himself from the grace of God to have become an enemy of these three princes and to find himself without a single friend who dared to give him a night's lodging. Not Fortune but God had taken a hand in this. And so it happened and will happen to many another who after great prosperity falls into great adversity.

When the Constable had been arrested the King sent word to the duke of Burgundy either to deliver him or carry out the terms of the agreement. The duke replied that he would do so and had the Constable brought to Péronne and placed under close arrest. The duke of Burgundy had previously take several places in Lorraine and the Barrios and was already besieging Nancy, which defended itself very boldly. The King had a large number of troops in Champagne. This made the duke afraid because there was no stipulation in the truce that he could attack the duke of Lorraine, who had retreated to the King's court. My lord of Bouchage and other ambassadors strongly urged the duke to keep his promise. All the time he said he would, but the period of eight days within which he ought to have surrendered him or brought him to justice was extended to more than a month, since he saw that he was under pressure. He feared that the King might prevent him from carrying out his plans in Lorraine, which he very much wanted to bring to a successful conclusion so that he would be able to travel from Luxumbourg to Burgundy, and so that all his lordships would be joined together (because by possessing this small duchy he would be able to go from Holland almost to Lyon on his own lands). For these reasons he wrote again to his Chancellor and the lord of Humbercourt, about whom I have already said enough, both of them enemies and opponents of the Constable, ordering them to go to Péronne. There on a day he would appoint they were to deliver the Constable to those whom the King sent, because the two of them had full authority in his absence, and he ordered the lord of Aimeries to deliver the Constable to them.

In the meantime the duke attacked Nancy vigorously although the valiant garrison defended it bravely. One of the duke's captains, the count of Campobasso, a native of the kingdom of Naples exiled for his Angevin sympathies, had already been in touch with the duke of Lorraine. For my lord of Lorraine, who was the closest relative and heir of the house of Anjou, had already found a means to win him over. Besides, the count was very friendly to the Angevins whose side he supported in Naples. This was the reason for his exile, and it made him deceive his master in the interests of the duke of Lorraine. He promised to prolong the siege by ensuring that the things necessary for the capture of the town were in short supply. This he could easily do because he was the most important man in the army at this time and a man, as I shall shortly show, who caused his master a great deal of harm. But this was only a foretaste of the misfortunes which later befell duke of Burgundy.

I believe that the duke expected to take Nancy before the day arrived for the delivery of the Constable and then he would not have handed him over. On the other hand had the King got control of the Constable he might have done more to help the duke of Lorraine than he was doing, because he had been informed about the count of Campobasso's intrigues, but he was not doing anything to speed them up. There were several reasons why he was not obliged to allow the duke a free hand in Lorraine had he not wished to do so. He had a considerable number of troops garrisoned near Lorraine.

The duke could not take Nancy before the day he had appointed for his men to surrender the Constable. Thus once the appointed day had arrived they carried out their master's orders willingly, because they hated the Constable very much, and they handed him over at the gates of Péronne to the Bastard of Bourbon, Admiral of France, and my lord of Saint-Pierre, who took him to Paris. I have been told by some that three hours later messengers arrived in a great hurry from the duke ordering his men not to deliver the Constable, but it was too late.

At Paris the Constable's trial began. The King put great pressure on the court. Officials were appointed to conduct the trial. The king of England's evidence against the Constable, which you heard about before, was examined. Finally the Constable was condemned to death and all his possession confiscated.³¹

30. ^{Reading guider rather than garder, following MS. P.}
31. He was executed on 19 December 1475.

13

i The disloyalty of the duke towards the Constable

THIS surrender was very strange, and I do not say this to excuse the Constable's faults, nor to blame the duke of Burgundy because he had caused him much injury. But there was no need for the duke of Burgundy, who was such a great prince and from a very renowned and honourable family, to have given him a safe-conduct in order to capture him, and it was a most cruel thing, because of avarice, to hand him over to a certain death. After this very shameful act it was not long before the duke began to suffer. Having regard for the things which God has done in our time and does every day, it seems that He does not want to let anything pass unpunished; one can obviously see that these strange happenings were inspired by Him, because they are outside the natural course of events and are His sudden punishments, visited especially on those who themselves use violence and cruelty, and who are not normally insignificant people but those with very great possessions or princely authority.

For a long time during the hundred years or so in which four members of the family had reigned, the house of Burgundy had flourished. They were as much respected as any other ruling house in Christendom because others, who were greater than they were, have suffered various afflictions and misfortunes whilst they have experienced continuing happiness and prosperity.

The first oustanding ruler of this family was Philip the Bold, brother of Charles V, ³² who married the count of Flanders's daughter, countess of that county and Artois, Burgundy, Nevers and Rethel.³³ The second was John.³⁴ The third was good Duke Philip³⁵ who annexed to his territories the duchies of Brabant, Luxembourg, Limbourg, Holland, Zeeland, Hainault and Namur. The fourth was this Duke Charles, who after his father's death was one of the richest princes in Christendom with a greater quantity of fine jewels, tableware, tapestries, books and linen than could have found in the three greatest houses [of Europe]. There were many other houses which had more ready cash because Duke Philip had not raised any taxes for a long time. Nevertheless Charles inherited more than three hundred thousand crowns in cash. He also found himself at peace with his neighbours, but this did not last long. Yet I do not want to lay the blame for starting the war on him alone, because many others too had a part in it.

Immediately after his father's death, willingly and under little pressure, all his lands separately granted him an aid to last ten years which might amount to three hundred and fifty thousand crowns a year, not including Burgundy. At the moment when he handed over the Constable he was still raising three hundred thousand crowns by it. Moreover he had more than three hundred thousand crowns in cash, while all the goods which he received from the Constable were not worth eighty thousand crowns because in ready cash he had only seventy-six thousand crowns. So there was very little justification for committing such a grave fault.

ii Here the author speaks about what the duke of Burgundy did after the Constable's death and whilst the truce with the King lasted, and how everything went wrong for him and he fell into misfortune after the delivery of the Constable (despite his safe-conduct and his seal), and about the causes of the war which broke out between the duke and the Swiss in which the battles of Granson and Morat took place

God set up for the duke an insignificant enemy who was still very young and had little experience of anything.³⁶ God also arranged that a servant in whom the duke implicitly trusted at that time should wickedly turn against him and make him entertain suspicions of his faithful servants and subjects. Are these not the very same methods God employed in the Old Testament when he wanted to change the fortunes of some from good to bad, from prosperity to adversity? The duke's heart never softened and until his death he thought that all his good fortune proceeded from his own understanding and virtues.

Already before handing over the Constable he had become highly distrustful of his subjects or held them in great contempt, since he had sent for a thousand Italian lances and quite a large number of them were with him at the siege of Neuss. The count of Campobasso had four hundred armed men or more under him. He was landless for, because of the wars which the Angevin family had been waging in Naples and as he was one of their servants, he had been banished from the kingdom and lost his lands. He spent most of his time in Provence with King René of Sicily or with Duke Nicholas, son of Duke John, after whose death the duke of Burgundy had welcomed into his service several of his servants, especially all the Italians like this man I have named, Giacomo Galeotto, a very valiant, honourable and loyal gentleman, and several others.

As soon as the count of Campobasso went to Italy to raise his company, he received from the duke a subvention of forty thousand ducats. Passing through Lyon he struck up an acquaintance with a doctor called Master Simon of Pavia, through whom he let the King know that, if he would do certain things which he asked of him, he would be prepared, on his return, to deliver the duke of Burgundy into his hands. He said the same thing to my lord of Saint-Pierre, who was then the King's ambassador in Piedmont. When he had returned and his men-at-arms were garrisoned in the county of Marle, he again proposed to the King that as soon as he had joined his master in the field he would not fail to kill him or take him prisoner, explaining how he would do this. It was true that the duke often rode around his army on a small horse with few attendants and he could not fail to kill or capture him. He made still another proposal that if the King and duke should happen to find themselves fighting a battle against each other he would change sides with his troops, on certain conditions which it stipulated. The King had nothing but contempt for this man's wickedness and decided to be perfectly frank with the duke of Burgundy, letting him know all about this through the lord of Contay, who has been mentioned previously. But the duke did not believe it, thinking that the King had done this for some ulterior purpose, and he showed the count even greater affection. You can see from this that God disturbed his judgement in this instance and prevented him from seeing the clear signs which the King had pointed out to him. As much as this man I have just described was evil and disloyal, so Giacomo Galeotto was good and loyal, and after living for a long time he died with great honour and renown.³⁷

32. ^{Charles V, king of France 1364-80.}
33. ^{Margaret married Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy (1363-1404), on 19 June 1369.}
34. ^{John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy 1404-19.}
35. ^{Philip the Good 1419-67.}
36. ^{René, duke of Lorraine, aged twenty-four in 1475.}
37. Giacomo was killed fighting for Charles VIII at the battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier, 28 July 1488.

BOOK FIVE

1

i Louis XI, Charles the Rash and the Swiss

WHEN the duke of Burgundy had conquered all Lorraine and received from the King Saint-Quentin, Ham and Bohain, together with the Constable's goods, he negotiated with the King about meeting him at Auxerre, at an interview on the river which was to take place on a bridge like that made at Picquigny for the meeting between the King and King Edward of England. Messengers passed back and forth drawing up plans for the meeting. The duke wanted to allow his army to rest because the men were very exhausted by the siege of Neuss and the war against Lorraine. The remaining men he wished to send to garrison certain places, near to the cities of Berne and Fribourg, belonging to the count of Romont¹ and others and which he wanted to attack both because they had done the same to him whilst he was besieging Neuss and also because they had helped to take the county of Ferrette away from him, as you have heard, and had deprived the count of Romont of part of his lands. The King was very eager to seek this interview and requested the duke to rest his army and to leave the poor Swiss in peace.

The Swiss, realizing that the duke was so close to them, sent their envoys and offered to return whatever they had taken from the count of Romont. For his part, the count of Romont urged the duke to come to help him in person. The duke ignored the wisest counsel and that which could be considered the best in these circumstances, considering the time of year and the state of his army, and decided to go to attack the Swiss. He made an agreement with the King and letters were exchanged to the effect that they would not argue further about the question of Lorraine. After the duke had left Lorraine with his army, he entered Burgundy where the ambassadors of these Old German leagues, called the Swiss, came to meet him once again, bringing more generous offers than before. Besides restitution, they proposed to abandon all the alliances which offended him, in particular the one with the King, to become his allies and to serve him against the King with six thousand men for a very small payment whenever he wanted them to do so. But the duke would not listen to any of this; already misfortune was leading him on.

Basle, Strasbourg and the other Imperial cities along the river Rhine, which are commonly called the New Alliance in this region, were formerly enemies of the Swiss and had supported Duke Sigismund of Austria, to whom they had been allied at the time when he had been fighting the Swiss, but since then they had joined the Swiss and had formed an alliance for ten years, as had Duke Sigismund. This alliance had been negotiated under the King's guidance, at his suggestion and expense, as you read elsewhere, when the duke of Burgundy lost possession of the county of Ferrette and Sir Pierre de Hagenbach, the duke's governor in the county, was killed at Basle. Indeed Hagenbach was the cause of this misfortune which proved to be so very serious for the duke because from it sprang all his other troubles. A prince should be very careful in choosing a governor for a territory recently incorporated into his lands, because instead of treating them very kindly, exercising good justice and ruling them better than they had been ruled in the past, Hagenbach did exactly the opposite, subjecting them to great violence and extortion. For this he, his master and many a wealthy man suffered.

The alliance which the King had negotiated, which I have mentioned, proved to be very profitable to him and more so than most people realize. I believe that it was one of the wisest things he ever did and one of the most damaging to his enemies. For once the duke of Burgundy had been defeated there was no one left who dared to resist him or to oppose his wishes; I mean from among his own subjects and those living in his kingdom, because all the rest only followed in the duke's footsteps. So it was a great achievement to get Duke Sigismund of Austria and the New Alliance to ally with the Swiss when they had been enemies for so long, although he did not achieve this without incurring great expense and a great deal of negotiating.

ii Here I speak about the battle of Granson and how the duke of Burgundy was defeated

After the duke had deprived the Swiss of any hope they had of coming to terms with him, they returned to warn their people and to prepare to defend themselves. The duke led his army into the district of Vaud in Savoy which the Swiss had captured from my lord of Romont, as it has been stated, and he took three or four places belonging to my lord of Châteauguion,² which the Swiss held but were defending badly. From there he went to lay siege to a place called Granson which also belonged to the lord of Châteauguion. The Swiss garrison there consisted of seven or eight hundred carefully chosen men because the town was close to their lands and they very much wanted to defend it. The duke had a large army because soldiers from Lombardy and subjects of the house of Savoy were joining him constantly, and he preferred foreigners to his own subjects because he could hire good mercenaries in large numbers. But the Constable's death encouraged his distrust of his own subjects and aroused other doubts in his mind about them. His artillery was very powerful and good. The duke surrounded himself with great pomp in his army in order to impress the ambassadors who came from Italy and Germany. He had with him all his best jewels and much of his plate, as well as a large amount of other furnishings. He had conceived equally extravagant plans concerning the duchy of Milan, where he expected to find some partisans.

After the duke had besieged Granson and bombarded it for some days the garrison surrendered unconditionally and he had them all killed. The Swiss had all assembled, although there were not a large number, as I was later told by several of them, because they cannot raise from their lands the numbers one often imagines; this was even more the case then than at present because since then the majority have foresaken labouring to become soldiers. But few of their allies had joined them because they had been constrained to hurry to the defense of Granson and whilst they were still mounting the campaign they learned of the deaths of their comrades.

The duke of Burgundy, against the advice of those whom he consulted, decided to advance and confront them at the foot of the mountains where they still were. This was very much to his disadvantage, since the army was already in a favourable position to await their attack, being protected by his artillery on one side and having a lake on the other; it seemed unlikely that they would have been able to do him any harm.

He had sent a hundred archers to defend a certain pass facing this mountain. They met the Swiss. So he himself advanced whilst the major part of his army was still in the plain. The advance guard decided to return and join up with the rest. The common soldiers, who were all behind them, though that the vanguard was taking to flight and they themselves began to flee. Bit by bit the whole army began to retreat towards the field. Some performed their duties very well, but, to cut a long story short, when they reached their camp they made no attempt to defend themselves but took to flight. So the Germans captured his camp, his guns and all the very numerous tents and pavilions belonging to the duke and his men, as well as an enormous amount of other goods because they saved nothing but their own lives. All the duke's great jewels were lost but only seven men-at-arms were killed on this occasion. All the rest, including the duke, fled. It is better to say about him that he lost honour and riches that day than it is to say this about King John of France, who was captured fighting valiantly at the battle of Poitiers.

This was the first calamity and misfortune ever to befall the duke. From all his other enterprises he had drawn either honour or profit. What a blow he received that day for being stubborn and ignoring advice! What a blow his family fortunes suffered that day and what a state they still are in at present and probably will be for a long time come! So many people who only the day before had negotiated with him and pretended to be his friends now declared themselves his enemies! And what was the cause of this war? A cartload of sheepskins which my lord of Romont had taken from a Swiss passing through his lands!

Had God not abandoned the duke it is not very clear why he should have risked so much for so little, considering the proposals which he had received and that by attacking such men he could acquire no significant possession or glory; at that time they were not so highly thought of as they are now and there was no poorer people. I heard a knight, who had been one of their first ambassadors to the duke, say that he had told him, when they had presented arguments to dissuade him from waging this war, that the duke could not gain anything by fighting them because their land was very barren and poor, no fine prisoners could be taken, and that he thought that the spurs and bits of the horses in the duke's army were worth more than all the money they would be able to raise for ransoms if they were captured.

To return to the battle: the King was very soon informed of what had happened because he had numerous spies and messengers in that district, most of whom I had dispatched, and he was extremely happy with the news and was only displeased by the small number of men who had been killed. The King, in order to be more frequently informed and to be able to give orders which would harass the duke, moved here to Lyon³ to carry out his plans. For the King, who was wise, feared that the duke would force the Swiss to become his allies since the duke disposed of the house of Savoy as if it were his own, the duke of Milan was his ally and King René of Sicily was willing to hand over Provence to him. If all of this had happened he would have held lands from the North Sea to the Mediterranean⁴ and, if the duke did not want the inhabitants of our kingdom to leave it, they would have been unable to do so, except by sea, since he would have held Savoy, Provence and Lorraine.

The King sent embassies to every one. One went to his sister, my lady of Savoy, who supported the duke. Another went to his uncle, King René of Sicily, who scarcely listened to his messengers but reported everything to the duke. The King sent envoys to these German leagues, but only with the greatest difficulty because of the state of the roads. It was necessary to send beggars, pilgrims and similar men. The towns replied haughtily, saying, 'Tell the King that unless he openly declared his position, we'll make an agreement and declare ourselves against him.' He was afraid that the duke would find out about the messengers he was sending around the country.

1. ^{Jacques de Savoie, count of Romont, d. 1486.}
2. ^{Louis de Chalon, killed at Morat 1476.}
3. ^{cf. Introduction.}
4. depuis la mer du Ponant jusques a celle Levant -- literally, from the Western sea to the Eastern sea.

Go to:

• Introduction, Further Reading, Manuscript Abbreviations & Maps

• Prologue, Book One, Chapters 1-11

• Book One, Chapters 12-16; Book Two, Chapters 1-9

• Book Two, Chapters 10-15; Book Three, Chapters 1-6

• Book Three, Chapters 7-12; Book Four, Chapters 1-4

• Book Four, Chapters 5-13; Book Five, Chapter 1

• Book Five, Chapters 2-15

• Book Five, Chapters 16-20; Book Six, Chapters 1-2

• Book Six, Chapters 3-12; Glossary

  Text copyright © [1972], Michael Jones. This edition is still a work in progress. We are grateful to Professor Jones for permission to place this edition online while he completes a review of the text, and will correct any errors found by Professor Jones on completion of this review.