Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

by seven score of the Armagnacs, who vigorously attacked him; but, after many gallant deeds were done, Troullart remained victorious. From sixty to eighty of the Armagnacs were taken or slain; and among the prisoners was sir William de Saveuse, who had followed the Orleans party, when his two brothers, Hector and Philip, were in arms with the duke of Burgundy. Thus, in this abominable warfare, were brothers engaged against brothers, and sons against fathers. After this defeat, Troullart de Moncaurel and Peter Quieriet, who had accompanied him, returned with their booty to Senlis, when, shortly after, by the exertions of the old lord de Saveuse and the two brothers, Hector and Philip, sir William obtained his liberty.

CHAPTER LXXXI.-THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY LEADS A GREAT FORCE, WITH THE PARISIANS, TO ST. CLOUD, AGAINST THE ARMAGNACS.

THE duke of Burgundy having remained some time at Paris with his army, and having held many councils with the princes and captains who were there, marched out of the town about midnight, on the 9th of November, by the gate of St. Jacques. He was magnificently accompanied by men-at-arms and Parisians, among whom were the counts de Nevers, de la Marche, de Vaudemont, de Penthievre, de St. Pol, the earl of Arundel, Boucicaut marshal of France, the lord de Vergy marshal of Burgundy, the lord de Heilly, lately appointed marshal of Aquitaine, the lord de St. George, sir John de Croy, Enguerrand de Bournouville, the lord de Fosseux, sir Regnier Pot governor of Dauphiny, the seneschal of Hainault sir John de Guistelle, the lord de Brimeu, the earl of Kent, an Englishman, with many other nobles, as well from Burgundy as from Picardy and different countries. They were estimated by good judges at six thousand combatants, all accustomed to war, and four thousand infantry from the town of Paris. When they had passed the suburbs, they advanced in good array, under the direction of trusty guides, to within half a league of St. Cloud, where the Armagnacs were quartered. It might be about eight o'clock in the morning when they came thither, and the weather was very cold and frosty. Being thus arrived without the enemy knowing of it, the duke of Burgundy sent the marshal of Burgundy, sir Gaultier des Ruppes, sir Guy de la Tremouille, and le veau de Bar, with eight hundred men-at-arms, and four hundred archers, across the Seine, towards St. Denis, to prevent the enemy from there crossing the river by a new bridge which they had erected over it. These lords so well executed the above orders that they broke down part of the bridge, and defended the passage.

The duke, in the mean time, ascended the hill of St. Cloud in order of battle, and at the spot where four roads met posted the seneschal of Hainault, sir John de Guistelle, the lord de Brimeu, John Phillips and John Potter*, English captains, at one of them, with about four hundred knights and esquires, and as many archers. At another road, he stationed the lords de Heilly and de Ront, Enguerrand de Bournouville, and Aymé de Vitry, with as many men as the knights above-mentioned. The third road was guarded by Neville earl of Kent†, with some Picard captains; and the Parisians and others, to a great amount, were ordered to Sevres, to defend that road. When these four divisions had arrived at their posts, they made together a general assault on the town of St. Cloud, which the Armagnacs had fortified with ditches and barriers to the utmost of their power. At these barriers, a notable defence was made by those who had heard of the arrival of the enemy, under the command of their captains, namely, sir James de Plachiel, governor of Angoulême, the lord de Cambour, William Batillier, sir Mansart du Bos, the bastard Jacob, knight, and three other knights. from Gascony, who fought bravely for some time; but the superiority of numbers, who attacked them vigorously on all sides, forced them to retreat from their outworks, when they were pursued, fighting, however, as they retreated, to the tower of the bridge and the church, which had been fortified.

The whole of the Burgundian force which

*Called William Porter by Stowe.

Q. If this is not Umfreville earl of Angus and Kyme (as Stowe calls him)? There was at this period no Neville carl of Kent. The only earl of Kent of that family was William Nevil lord Falconbridge, created 1461. I find

had been ordered on this duty, excepting the this conjecture somewhat confirmed by the original, which is, "Ousieville comte de Kam.' It is true, that Holinshed mentions the earls of Pembroke and of Kent as being of the expedition: but he cites Monstrelet as his authority, and is therefore likely to be mistaken.

party who guarded the passage of the bridge, now bent all their efforts against the church. The attack was there renewed with greater vigour than before, and, notwithstanding the gallant defence that was made, the church was stormed, and many were slain in the church as well as at the barriers. Numbers also were drowned of the crowd that was pressing to re-enter the tower of the bridge, by the draw-bridge breaking under their weight. It was judged by those well acquainted with the loss of the Armagnacs, that including the drowned, there were nine hundred killed and five hundred prisoners. Among these last were sir Mansart du Bos, the lord de Cambour, and William Batillier. In the town of St. Cloud were found from twelve to sixteen hundred horses that had been gained by plunder, and a variety of other things.

While this was passing, the duke of Burgundy was with the main army drawn up in battle-array, on a plain above the town: he had with him the greater part of the princes, and his scouts were everywhere on the look-out that the enemy might not surprise him by any unexpected attack. The engagement at the tower of the bridge was still continued by the Burgundians, in the hope of taking it; but it was labour in vain, for those within defended it manfully. Some of the garrison sallied out on the opposite side, and hastened to St. Denis, to inform the duke of Orleans of the disaster that had befallen them. He was sorely displeased thereat, and instantly mounted his horse, accompanied by the duke of Bourbon, the counts d'Alençon and d'Armagnac, the constable, the master of the cross-bows, the young Boucicaut, and about two thousand combatants, advanced toward St. Cloud, and drew up in battle-array on the side of the river Seine, opposite to where the duke of Burgundy was posted, and made every preparation as if for an immediate combat. The duke of Burgundy and his men likewise dismounted, drew up in order of battle, and displayed his banner, which was most rich and splendid. But notwithstanding the eager desire which these princes showed for the combat, it was to no purpose.-for the river was between them, so that no damage could accrue to either party, excepting by some chance bolts from the cross-bows, who shot at random.

When the Armagnacs had remained there for some time, seeing that nothing effectual could be done, they remounted their horses and returned to St. Denis, leaving, however, a reinforcement to defend the tower of St. Cloud. On their departure, the duke of Burgundy held a council, and it was determined to march the whole army back to Paris. The duke lost this day, in slain, not more than from sixteen to twenty; but there were many wounded, among whom were Enguerrand de Bournouville and Aymé de Vitry, who had fought well, as did the lord of Heilly. In like manner, the earl of Arundel and his men behaved gallantly; and it was one of them who had made sir Mansart du Bos prisoner, but for a sum of money he resigned him to one of the king's officers. The duke of Burgundy, on his return, was received by the Parisians with great acclamations; for they had heard of his brilliant success, and they imagined that through his means they should shortly be delivered from their enemies, who oppressed them sorely. With regard to the king, the duke of Aquitaine, and the members of the grand council, prelates as well as seculars, the reception which they gave him, the princes and the captains of his army, is not to be described.

The duke of Orleans, learning that the duke of Burgundy had returned to Paris with his army, held a council with the heads of his party, when, having considered the severe loss they had suffered of the most expert of their captains, and the great power and numbers of their opponents, whom they could not at this moment withstand with hopes of success, they resolved to retire to their own countries, and collect a sufficient army to oppose any force the king and the duke of Burgundy should bring against them. This was no sooner determined than executed; for they instantly packed up their baggage, and, crossing the newlyerected bridge over the Seine, which they had repaired, and the bridge of St. Cloud, hastily marched all night toward Estampes, and then continued their route to Orleans, and to other towns and castles under their obedience. Thus, therefore, the duke of Orleans, in seeking vengeance for the death of his father, gained only disgrace and great loss of men. Such of them as were slain in the field, at the battle of St. Cloud, were there inhumanly left without sepulture, as being excommunicated, a prey to dogs, birds, and wild beasts. Some lords of his party, such as sir Clugnet de Brabant, sir Aymé de Sarrebruche, the lord de Hufalize,

and many more, passed through the county of Valois to Champagne, and thence to their own homes.

[ocr errors]

News of this retreat was, very early on the morrow, carried to the duke of Burgundy and his captains at Paris. Some of them mounted their horses, and went to St. Denis, when all that the Armagnacs had left was seized on and pillaged: they even arrested and carried away, in the king's name, the abbot of St. Denis, for having admitted his enemies into that town. Many of the principal inhabitants were also fined, notwithstanding the excuses they offered. Others of the duke's officers went to the town of St. Cloud, which they found abandoned. Many pursued the Armagnacs, but in vain; for they had marched all night, and were at a considerable distance before the news of their decampment had reached Paris. A few days after, the king, by the advice and entreaties of the duke of Burgundy, bought the greater part of the prisoners made at the late battle, by paying their ransoms to those who had taken them. In the number was Colinet, thus surnamed by many, who had betrayed the bridge of St. Cloud to the duke of Orleans; and on the 12th day of November, he and five of his accomplices were beheaded in the market-place at Paris: his body was quartered, and the five others were hung up by the arms on the gibbet at Montfaucon.

On the 13th of the same month, a sermon was preached in the church-square, before the porch of Nôtre Dame in Paris, by a Friar Minor, in the presence of the duke of Burgundy, many princes, and a great concourse of people,—in which he said that the bulls given by pope Urban V. had been of the utmost efficacy against the rebellious subjects of the king, and publicly denounced the duke of Orleans and his party as excommunicated. They were also thus denounced in many other succeeding sermons. The ensuing day, the king heard mass in Nôtre Dame, and returned to the Louvre to dinner, when he most graciously received the earl of Arundel, and caused him to be seated at his table next to the duke of Burgundy. Many councils were held at Paris respecting this war, and on the measures the king should now adopt. It was at length determined, that on account of the winter, neither the king nor the princes should attempt anything more until the ensuing summer, but only have some able captains with a sufficient force on the frontiers, to harass and pursue the enemy, and keep him in check. In consequence, the lord Boucicaut, marshal of France, the lord de Heilly, marshal of Aquitaine, Enguerrand de Bournouville, Aymé de Vitry, the lord de Miraumont and others, were ordered on this service with a very considerable force. They marched toward Estampes and Bonneval, and those parts, having with them the lord de Ront. Bonneval, on the first summons from the above captains, surrendered to the king's obedience, and the greater part of them were lodged in the town, and in an adjoining abbey of some strength. Those of Estampes refused to surrender, for it was garrisoned by the duke of Berry, and began to make war on the troops of the king and the duke of Burgundy, by the instigation of the lord Louis de Bourbon, governor of Dourdan, who resided there.

At this period, with the consent of the duke of Burgundy, sir John de Croy, eldest son to the lord de Croy, still detained prisoner by the duke of Orleans, marched from Paris, with eight hundred combatants, for the castle of Monchas, in the county of Eu, in which were the duke of Bourbon's children and his lady-duchess, namely, one son about three years old, and a daughter by her first husband nine years old, with their nurses and other attendants. The son of sir Mansart du Bos, and the lord de Foulleuses, knight, were also there. The castle and the whole of its inhabitants were taken by sir John de Croy; and he carried them, and all he found within it, to the castle of Renty, where he held them prisoners, until his father, the lord de Croy, was released. When this misfortune was told to the duke of Bourbon, he was much afflicted; but the duchess took it so sensibly to heart that very soon after she died of grief. *

*“Que à peu près elle ne mourast de deuil." "That she was within a little of dying with grief." Mary of Berry, daughter of John duke of Berry, and wife to John duke of Bourbon (her third husband, she having been before twice a widow, first of Louis de Châtillon count of

Dunois, and, secondly, of the constable d'Eu), lived till the year 1434, when she died at Lyons. See Moreri. Her children by the duke of Bourbon were Charles, duke of Bourbon after his father,-Louis, who died young,-and another Louis, founder of the line of Montpensier.

CHAPTER LXXXII.—THE KING OF FRANCE SENDS THE COUNT DE SAINT POL TO THE VALOIS, AND TO COUCY, AND OTHER CAPTAINS TO DIFFERENT PARTS, AGAINST THE ARMAGNACS. CONFORMABLE to the resolutions of the aforesaid council, count Waleran de St. Pol was sent into the Valois, to reduce the whole of that country to the king's obedience, and then to march to Coucy with a large body of men-at-arms, archers, and cross-bows. Sir Philip de Servolles, bailiff of Vitry en Pertois, was also ordered into the country of Vertus, with a considerable force, to subdue the whole of it. The vidame of Amiens was sent into the county of Clermont. Ferry d'Hangest, bailiff of Amiens, was ordered, for the above purpose, into the counties of Boulogne, Eu, and Gamaches.

The inhabitants of Crespy, the principal town of the Valois, no sooner learnt the intentions of the count de St. Pol, than they surrendered it to him, and received him handsomely. He thence advanced to the castle of Pierrefons, which was very strong, and well provided with all warlike stores and provision. On coming before it, he held a parley with the lord de Boquiaux the governor, who concluded a treaty with him for its surrender, on condition that the count would pay him, in the king's name, two thousand golden crowns for his expenses, and that the garrison should carry away all they had with them. The lady of Gaucourt, who was in the castle, retired to the castle of Coucy, where she was honourably received by sir Robert d'Esne, the governor. The count de St. Pol marched from Pierrefons to la Ferté-Milon, a very strong castle, and to Villers-Cotterêts, both belonging to the duke of Orleans: when not only these two, but all the other places in Valois, hearing of the surrender of so strong a castle as Pierrefons without making any resistance, surrendered, and returned to their obedience to the king. The count placed good garrisons in each, and then marched for Coucy, in the Soissonois, where, as I have before said, sir Robert d'Esne was governor of the castle. He had with him Rigault des Fontaines, and others attached to the party of the duke of Orleans. The governor of the town of Coucy was sir Enguerrand des Fontaines, and within it were many noblemen, who, holding a council, resolved to surrender the place, and to leave it with all their baggage.

The count quartered himself and his men-at-arms in the town and suburbs, and then summoned sir Robert d'Esne, in the king's name, to surrender the castle. This, sir Robert refused to do, saying, that the duke of Orleans had given him orders, when he appointed him governor, never to surrender it without his consent or knowledge, and these orders he had sworn to obey; that it was well provided with all kinds of stores, and plenty of provision, so that he did not fear its being taken by force; and he hoped, that before he should be induced to yield it, means would be found to restore his lord and master to the good graces of the king.- -The count, on hearing this answer, ordered the castle to be surrounded, and quartered his men as near to it as possible, keeping up at the same time a brisk cannonade. Among other expedients, the count employed a body of miners, to undermine the gate of the lower court, called la Porte Maistre Odon, which was as handsome an edifice as could be seen for twenty leagues round; and he employed companies of miners to work at the other large towers, who were so successful that, in a short time, the mines were ready to be set fire to. The governor was again summoned to surrender, but again refused. Upon which, the count ordered his men under arms, to be prepared for the storm should it be necessary; and when all was ready, fire was set to the combustibles within the mines, so that when the supporters were burnt, the whole of the tower and gate fell flat down, but, fortunately for the besieged, the inside wall remained entire, so that the besiegers were not greatly benefited. Several were killed and wounded on both sides by the fall of the towers: one of them at the corner was prevented from falling to the ground by the wall supporting it; and one of the men-at-arms remained on this inclined tower, where he had been posted to guard it, and was in great peril of his life, but was saved by the exertions of the garrison.

At length, when the count de St. Pol had been before this castle of Coucy about three months, a treaty was entered into between him and sir Robert, that he would surrender the castle on condition that he and his garrison should depart unmolested whither they pleased, with all they could carry with them, and should receive, for their expenses, twelve hundred

crowns, or thereabout. When this was concluded, the governor marched off with about fifty combatants, the principal of whom were his son, le Baudrain de Fur, knight, Rigault des Fontaines, before mentioned, and Gaucher de Baissu. The lady de Gaucourt departed also in their company. Sir Robert and the greater part of his men went and fixed their residence at Creve-coeur and in the castle of Cambresis. The count de St. Pol, on the surrender of the castle, appointed sir Gerard de Herbannes governor, with a sufficient garrison. There were with him on this expedition, his nephew, John of Luxembourg, the vidame of Amiens, the lord de Houcourt, and many other nobles and esquires from Picardy, especially such as were his vassals. Having finished this business so successfully, he returned to the king at Paris, who, in consideration of his good qualities, and as a remuneration for his services, nominated him constable of France. The sword of office was delivered to him, and he took tle usual oaths, in the room of the lord d'Albreth, who had been dismissed therefrom, being judged unworthy to hold it any longer.

In like manner, the lord de Rambures was appointed master of the cross-bows of France, in the place of the lord de Hangest, who had been dismissed by the king. The lord de Longny, a native of Brittany, was made marshal of France, on the resignation, and with the consent, of the lord de Rieux *, who was superannuated.

CHAPTER LXXXIII.-SIR

PHILIP DE SERVOLLES, BAILIFF OF VITRY, LAYS SIEGE TO THE CASTLE OF MOYENNES.--OTHER PLACES ARE BY THE KING'S OFFICERS REDUCED TO HIS OBEDIENCE.

IN regard to the county of Vertus, the moment sir Philip de Servolles came before the town of that name, it surrendered to the king,—and in like manner all the other places in that county, excepting the castle of Moyennes. In this castle were sir Clugnet de Brabant, his brother John of Brabant, sir Thomas de Lorsies, and many more, who would not on any account submit to the king. The bailiff of Vitry consequently laid siege to it, and made every preparation to conquer it by force. It was, however, in vain; for the garrison were well provided with provision, artillery and stores of all kinds, so that they little feared the besiegers, and very frequently cut off their detachments. The siege lasted for upwards of three months; and at the end of this time, sir Clugnet and sir Thomas de Lorsies, mounted on strong and active coursers, followed by two pages, set out from the castle,—and, galloping through the besieging army, with their lances in their rests, passed safely, striking down all opposers, escaped to Luxembourg, and went to sir Aymé de Sarrebruche to seek for succour. But they did not return with any assistance; for a few days after, John of Brabant was made prisoner in a sally from the castle, and, by order of the king and council, beheaded in the town of Vitry. After this event, the remainder of the garrison surrendered themselves to the king's obedience, on stipulating with the bailiff that they were to have their lives and fortunes spared. He instantly new-garrisoned the castle.

Thus was that whole country reduced to the king's obedience: and that of Clermont followed the example, by surrendering to the vidame of Amiens without making any resistance. The garrisons in the different towns and castles that had done great mischief to the surrounding country, withdrew with all their baggage, under the protection of passports, to the Bourbonois, and were replaced by the king's troops. The bailiff of Amiens was equally successful at Boulogne-sur-mer, which, with all the adjacent places, surrendered, excepting the castle of Boulogne,-the seneschal of which, by name sir Louis de Corail, a native of Auvergne, would not yield it without the permission of his lord, the duke of Berry, who had intrusted it to his guard. The bailiff, however, with his men, destroyed the draw-bridge, and filled up the ditches, so that no one could enter or come out of the castle. A parley took place between the governor and bailiff, when the first was allowed to send to his lord, the duke of Berry, to know if he would consent that the castle should be given up to the king, and hold him discharged for so doing. The duke, in answer, bade him surrender the castle

* John II. lord of Rieux and Rochefort. According to Moreri's catalogue, two mareschals were created this year,

Louis lord of Loigny, and James lord of Heilly, commonly called Mareschal of Aquitaine.

« ZurückWeiter »