1417.

som. The gendarmes on their way to the army committed equal excesses in plundering the people, who fled to the woods for shelter from both classes of marauders, and remained wholly indifferent about the issue of the contest, only desiring that whichever party prevailed, the war might speedily cease. When Armagnac on Louis's death took possession of the government, he plainly showed that no appeal would be made either to the Parliament or to the States. In Languedoc, where he possessed many fiefs, he strictly forbade his lieutenants or superintendents to hold any assembly; and afterwards, when the Parliament of Paris addressed him to urge a reconcilement with the Burgundian, he peremptorily refused, drove 300 persons of note, including many Parliament-men, into banishment, and considered that he had thus obtained a preponderating majority in all their deliberations. Yet still he avoided asking their sanction, or that of the States, to any levy of taxes; he preferred despoiling the churches of their plate, seizing the treasures amassed by the Queen, raising the denomination or lowering the standard of the coin, and extorting money from the inhabitants of Paris, the zealous partisans of his adversary. The Burgundian availed himself skilfully of these oppressive acts to obtain an advantage over his rival; he used the Queen's authority to annul the Armagnac Parliament at Paris, to summon another at Troyes, and to repeal all the taxes which Armagnac ad imposed. But he also by the same authority

1418.

assembled the States of Languedoc, prelates, nobles, and towns: he appealed to them for supplies, but also desired their advice upon the state of public affairs. This proceeding gained over to his side the whole of that country; with the exception of Beaucaire and Avignon, it became all Burgundian. It cannot be doubted that the States likewise granted him a supply, though of this no precise information has reached us. The recognition of that body was plainly owing, not so much to the English invasion as to the conflict between the two great parties which divided France. Armagnac having taken one course, the Burgundian took the opposite.

When the Treaty of Troyes had surrendered the kingdom to Henry, the Burgundian's suc- 1420. cessor, Philip, found no support of that disgraceful settlement from his own barons or his towns; they would on no account swear to maintain it. The confederates, therefore, Philip, the Queen, the Regent Henry, and their tool, the unhappy King, convoked the States at Paris in order to obtain a sanction to their proceedings. The Parisians, in their factious zeal against the Armagnacs, had at once declared their approval of the treaty. The States met under the presidency of Charles, who was said to have a lucid interval; they were directed to deliberate in their several chambers; and in a few days they returned with an unqualified answer in favour of the treaty, declaring it to be the Law of the Monarchy.

Z

They further agreed to adopt whatever measures the King and his council should recommend; and under pretence of restoring the standard of the coin, they were asked to approve of a heavy tax on all the subjects of the Crown. The Ordinance made on this occasion was in the name of the Regent as well as the King, and purported to be by the advice and consent of the Three Estates. It may be recollected that by the treaty Henry bound himself, both as Regent and when King, to advise with the nobles and wise men of the realm, to preserve their rights and those of the towns and communities, and to impose no taxes save in cases of necessity, and to a reasonable amount. The Regent Bedford, after his brother's death, did not assemble the States to obtain either a recognition of Henry VI.'s title or supplies for the war; but he called a meeting of notables, lay and clerical, for both those purposes. They granted an aid; but when he asked for a restoration to the Crown of all the lands granted to the Church during the last reign, the clergy treated the proposition as sacrilege, and Bedford was obliged to withdraw it. Here, then, it should seem that the embarrassments of the government imposed some restraint upon the royal authority.

Charles VII., upon taking the management of affairs into his own hands, pursued an entirely different course from that of Armagnac in the provinces which he still held. He assembled the States-General at Bourges, and those of Languedoc at Carcassonne, asking from them a re

1423.

cognition of his title upon his father's death, and a supply for the expenses of the war. Both requests were willingly complied with; but a complaint of judicial abuses accompanied the grant, and Charles issued an Ordinance to redress the grievance. It was prepared by a commission of prelates and lawyers, and must be regarded as an important result of the difficulties in which the Crown was placed, and a concession obtained through the popular assembly. Another step in the same direction was afterwards made by the Parliament at Poictiers, whither Charles had transferred the Parliament of Paris. That body refused to register an Ordinance giving the Pope the power of nominating to benefices. The ground of the refusal was that the Ordinance had been surreptitiously obtained by the Romish clergy, and in derogation of a former Ordinance of Charles establishing the independence of the Gallican Church.

1425.

As his embarrassments increased he more frequently appealed to the States; but he found great difficulty in obtaining their attendance from the disturbed state of the country. Sometimes no meeting could be held; sometimes they met, but in small numbers. Of their proceedings the accounts, where any have reached us, are both meagre and contradictory. Among the statements which can be relied on is one, that the Assembly in Languedoc, having made a very inconsiderable grant to Foix, Charles's lieutenant, and he having attempted to raise 22,000 livres beyond the sum given, though

1427.

to be expended in the service, the States remonstrated, and the additional collection was suspended by a Royal Ordinance. The States General assembled at Mehun some time before had shown very little of the same jealousy. They complained of the expenses occasioned by the army and of the outrages which it committed; but granted a general taille, and, expecting not to be often again assembled, declared their readiness to support the King with their lives and fortunes, in whatever measures he might adopt, and without being called together. It is manifest that they did not wish to meet, and were well assured no imposts would be levied without their assent. That Charles took this view of their proceeding is obvious, because he never acted upon the licence which they had affected to give him, and made repeated attempts to convoke them again. After several failures, he induced them to assemble by offering them the full power of discussing all public affairs, and 1428.. thus at length obtained a meeting. The States of all the provinces met at Chinon, and granted him a supply of 400,000 livres, to be paid by the nobles and clergy, as well as the tiers état; but they also demanded that the Parliament of Paris (now sitting at Poictiers) and that of Toulouse (sitting at Béziers on account of the plague) should be united. This was accordingly done by an Ordinance which continued in force for thirteen years; and it proves the weight which the States of Languedoc had in the Assembly. Other demands were