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arrest of Clisson by the duke,' of which Froissart gives the following lively account; attributing, however, to political motives a proceeding which appears to have been dictated by furious jealousy. Dissembling the deadly malice of his intentions under the deceitful blandishments with which the fell designs of hatred are so frequently masked, he wrote the most affectionate letters to the constable, requesting his presence, as a vassal peer of Bretagne, at a parliament which he had summoned to meet at Vannes, where his duchess was then holding her court at the castle De la Motte.2

Suspecting no ill, the constable came with other nobles and knights to attend this parliament. The duke gave a grand dinner to the barons of Bretagne at his castle De la Motte, and entertained them with an appearance of the most affectionate hospitality till a late hour. The constable of France' then invited the duke and the same company to dine with him on the following day. The duke accepted the invitation very frankly, and behaved in the most friendly manner, seating himself among the guests, with whom he ate, drank, and conversed with every appearance of good-will. When the repast was concluded, he invited the constable Clisson, the lord de Beaumanoir, and some others, to come with him and see the improvements made by him at his fine castle of Ermine, which he had nearly rebuilt and greatly beautified on the occasion of his late marriage with the princess of Navarre. The duke's behaviour had been so gracious and winning, that his invitation was frankly accepted, and the unsuspecting nobles accompanied him on horseback to the castle. When they arrived, the duke, the constable, and the lords Laval and Beaumanoir dismounted, and began to view the apartments. The duke led the constable by the hand from chamber to chamber, and even into the cellars, where wine was offered. When they reached the entrance of the keep, the duke paused, and invited Clisson to enter and examine the construction of the building, while he remained in conversation with the lord de Laval." The constable entered the tower alone, and ascended the staircase. When he had passed the first floor, some armed men, 1 Froissart. Chron. de Bretagne. ? Froissart. 3 Ibid. ♦ Ibid.

who had been ambushed there, shut the door below, seized him, dragged him into an apartment, and loaded him with three pair of fetters. As they were putting them on, they said, "My lord, forgive what we are doing, for we are compelled to this by the authority of the duke of Bretagne."

When the lord de Laval, who was at the entrance of the tower, heard the door shut with violence, he was afraid of some plot against his brother-in-law, the constable; and turning to the duke, who looked as pale as death, was confirmed that something wrong was intended, and cried out,"Ah, my lord! for God's sake, what are they doing? Do not use any violence against the constable."-"Lord de Laval," said the duke, "mount your horse, and go home while you I know very well what I am about."-" My lord," said Laval, "I will never depart without my brother-in-law, the constable."

may.

Then came the lord de Beaumanoir, whom the duke greatly hated, and asked, "Where the constable was?" The duke, drawing his dagger, advanced to him and said, "Beaumanoir, dost thou wish to be like thy master ?"-" My lord," replied Beaumanoir, "I cannot believe my master to be otherwise than in good plight."-"I ask thee again, if thou wouldst wish to be like him?" reiterated the duke.-"Yes, my lord," replied Beaumanoir. "Well, then, Beaumanoir," said the duke, holding the dagger towards him by the point, "since thou wouldst be like him, thou must thrust out one of thine eyes.""

This taunt on the personal defect of the constable came with a worse grace from the ungrateful duke, since Clisson had lost his eye while fighting bravely in his cause at the battle of Auray. The lord de Beaumanoir, seeing from the expression of the duke's countenance that things were taking a bad turn, cast himself on his knee, and began to expostulate with him on the treachery of his conduct towards the constable and himself. "Go, go!" interrupted the duke; "thou shalt have neither better nor worse than he." He then ordered Beaumanoir to be arrested, dragged into another room, and 2 Ibid.

1 Froissart.

3 Ibid.

loaded with fetters, his animosity against him almost equalling his hatred to Clisson.

The duke then called to him the sieur Bazvalen, in whom he had the greatest confidence, and ordered him to put the constable to death at midnight, as privately as possible. Bazvalen represented in vain the perilous consequences that would ensue; but the duke said "he had resolved upon it, and would be obeyed." During the night, however, his passion subsiding, he repented of having given such orders; and at daybreak sent for Bazvalen, and asked if his directions had been obeyed.' On being answered in the affirmative, he cried out, "How! is Clisson dead?"-" Yes, my lord; he was drowned last night, and his body is buried in the garden," said Bazvalen. "Alas!" replied the duke, "this is a most pitiful good-morrow. Begone, messire Jehan! and never let me see you more!"" As soon as Bazvalen had retired, the duke abandoned himself to agonies of remorse; he groaned and cried aloud in his despair, till his squires, valets, and officers of the household flew to his succour, supposing he was suffering intense bodily pain, but no one dared to speak to him, and he refused to receive food. Bazvalen, being informed of his state, returned to him, and said, "My lord, as I know the cause of your misery, I believe I can provide a remedy, since there is a cure for all things."-"Not for death," replied the duke. Bazvalen then told him, that foreseeing the consequences and the remorse he would feel if the blind dictates of his passion had been obeyed, he had not executed his commands, and that the constable was still alive. "What! messire Jehan, is he not dead?" exclaimed the duke, and falling on Bazvalen's neck, embraced him in an ecstasy of joy. The lord de Laval then entering, renewed his supplications for the life of his brother-in-law Clisson, reminding the duke, in a very touching manner, of the early friendship that had subsisted between them when they were educated together in the same hotel with the duke of Lancaster, and

1 Dom Morice's History of Bretagne.

* Ibid. A prisoner could be quietly drowned in his dungeon, by letting in the waters of the moat.

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what good service Clisson had since done him at the battle of Auray; and ended with imploring the duke to name any ransom he pleased for his intended victim. This was touching the right string, for the fury of the duke abated like that of "ancient Pistol" at the allusion to the crowns, and he demanded 100,000 florins, the strong town of Jugon, and several of the constable's castles, as the conditions of his release.

The lord de Laval then obtained an order from the duke for admittance to Clisson, for the gate of the keep was locked, and the keys were in the duke's chamber. Clisson, who was fettered down to the floor in momentary expectation of death, felt his spirits revive at the sight of his faithful brother-inlaw; and extravagant as the terms were which the duke of Bretagne had named, he offered no objection to them, verifying the Satanic aphorism, "that every thing a man hath he will give for his life." Clisson and Beaumanoir were then released from their fetters, and refreshed with wine and a plentiful repast. It should seem they had been kept on meagre fare in their dungeons in Ermine-castle till the murderous ire of John the Valiant was overcome, partly by the remorseful feelings which had disturbed his mind as soon as he supposed the crime had been perpetrated, and partly by the prospect of so much unexpected plunder as the florins, the castles, and the town which had been guaranteed as the price of his relenting.

In four days' time the conditions were performed, on the part of the constable, by the lords de Laval and Beaumanoir. The duke of Bretagne was put into possession of the town of Jugon, the châteaux Broc, Joscelin, and Le Blanc, and the hundred thousand florins were paid into his exchequer ; but, like most of the gains of iniquity, these acquisitions were of little ultimate advantage to the duke. The arrest of the constable, though it only lasted for four days, had the effect of averting the threatened invasion from the shores of England; for, as he was the commander-in-chief of the expedition, the officers of the armament, some of whom had joined it reluctantly from the first, allowed their men to disband themselves, and 2 Ibid.

1 Froissart.

before their general was released from his perilous but brief captivity within the walls of Ermine, the whole force had melted away and dispersed.

Clisson carried his complaints to the court of France; and while a general feeling of indignation was excited at the baseness of the duke of Bretagne's conduct on this occasion, there were not wanting those whose invidious feelings towards the innocent duchess led them to glance at her as the prompter of the deed, by recalling to the attention of the enemies of the house of Albret how France had been once before agitated by the assassination of sir Charles d'Espaign, the then constable of France, by her father, the late king of Navarre. Stern remonstrances were addressed to the duke of Bretagne, in the name of his young sovereign, by the regents of France; but so far from making the slightest reparation for the outrages of which he had been guilty, John the Valiant told the bishop of Langres, and the other envoys from the court of France, "that the only thing of which he repented was, that he had not slain the constable when he had him in his power." This insolent reply was followed by a declaration of war from France. "He expected nothing less," says Froissart, "but his hatred against Clisson was so great, that it deprived him of the use of his reason." In fact, the frantic lengths to which this feeling carried him can only be accounted for on the grounds of the jealousy which the incendiary insinuations of the late king of Navarre had excited in his mind. The conduct of the duchess was, however, so prudent and irreproachable, that she appears, from first to last, to have enjoyed the undivided affection and esteem of her lord. During this stormy period she resided with him at the strong castle of De la Motte; but they seldom ventured beyond the walls of Vannes for fear of ambuscades. The duke garrisoned and victualled the principal towns and castles in his dominions, and entered into a strict alliance with the young king of Navarre, Joanna's brother, whom he promised to assist in recovering his Norman dominions, if he would unite with him. and the English against the French."

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