On the 24th of July, after the reduction of Falaise, the lord Charles de Culant, grandmaster of the household, the lord de Blainville, the lord John Bureau, treasurer of France, who always had the command of the artillery, with fifteen hundred franc-archers, marched to lay siege to the town and castle of Domfront. The English garrison amounted to seven or eight hundred; but when they heard of the great body of chivalry and archers that were then in Normandy, they surrendered the place on the second day of August, on condition that they might depart in safety, with arms and baggage, for England, as, I have already recounted, many of their countrymen had before done from different towns and castles. CHAPTER XXXIII.-THE DECEASE OF THE DUKE OF BRITTANY, AND OF THE LORD GILES HIS BROTHER, WHOM HE HAD CRUELLY PUT TO DEATH BEFORE HIS DECEASE.CHERBOURG IS BESIEGED BY SEA AND LAND, AND IS TAKEN BY THE FRENCH. ABOUT the end of July, Francis duke of Brittany, nephew and vassal to the king of France, died of a natural death*. He was a great loss to the kingdom; for he was an active prince, prudent and valiant, and had greatly exerted himself, personally and with money, in the service of the king in the conquest of Normandy, as has been related. This prince was naturally attached to the king of France, as was apparent by his making war on those whom he knew to be enemies to his crown. He carried his affection so far, that he quarrelled with one of his own brothers, the lord Giles, because, in prejudice to the king of France, and without asking his permission, he had accepted the order of the Garter, and also the appointment of constable from the king of England. When the duke first heard of this, he had his brother arrested and confined in one of his castles, where he was a long time closely guarded. He had been often admonished by the duke and his other relations and friends, well wishers to France, to abandon the quarrel of the English, whom he supported against all reason, justice, and right. When gentle means had been thus used in vain, other measures were resorted to; but he would not, on any account, agree to their proposals. The duke, therefore, conceived a mortal hatred against him, and ordered him to be put to death. The duke was frequently summoned, by heralds from the king of England, to deliver up his constable, whom he detained prisoner under the guard of Arthur of Montaubant: on his refusal the English monarch sent him his challenge, which made sir Giles's case worse than before; and the duke's hatred so much increased, that it was commonly said he was strangled by two twisted towels. Thus ended the days of sir Giles, miserably and pitifully, which will be a great example to all others ‡. Of this sad transaction, however, Montauban, the wicked favourite at court; who, finding all attempts to subdue her chastity ineffectual, contrived by intrigues, insinuations, and at last by open charges, to render the lord Giles suspected by his brother. On the other hand, he stimulated that unfortunate prince to demand an extension of revenue and of power, which he took care the duke should deny him. The two brothers being by these arts alienated from each other, an open rupture ensued, which the constable de Richemont, their uncle, in vain endeavoured to heal. The lord Giles, apprehensive for his personal safety, fled to the castle of Guildo, and most imprudently trusted its defence to a company of English men-at-arms. This circumstance was soon conveyed with all possible aggravation to the king of France, who thereupon gave orders to the admiral de Coetivy to arrest him. The admiral for some time neglected this order, but at last was obliged to perform it; and the lord Giles was brought before the parliament, or assembly of the states at Rennes, where his case was fairly investigated, and himself about to be honourably acquitted, when a letter to the king of England (said to be artfully forged by Montauban himself) was found on his person, and he was immediately committed to the castle of Moncontour. While a prisoner in this place, his persecutors resorted to every wicked contrivance to remove him without suspicion Francis I. duke of Brittany, left two daughters by his second wife Isabel, daughter of James I. of Scotland. The eldest of these was Margaret, married to Francis II. her cousin; the youngest, Mary, married to the viscount de Rohan. Francis I. was succeeded by his next brother, Peter II. † Arthur of Montauban, bailiff of the Cotentin, &c., the second son of William lord of Montauban, chancellor to queen Isabel of Bavaria. So far from being put to death, (which must be a mistake of the chronicle from which the following account has been taken), this Montauban having professed at the convent of the Celestins, at Marcoussis, advanced himself in the church, became archbishop of Bordeaux, and died in 1468. (See Moreri, art. Montauban.) This is, perhaps, a more probable statement, as well as more favourable to the memory of the duke, than that given by some other chroniclers, and hinted at in the ensuing paragraph. The lord Giles of Brittany, the youngest of the children of John VI., was brought up in the court of England; and he was accused, perhaps justly, of having imbibed prejudices contrary to the French interest from his earliest years. On his return to Brittany in 1442, his wife, (the beautiful heiress of Chateaubriant and Beaumanoir), is said to have excited the desire of Arthur de there are different accounts in Brittany. Some say, that from a quarrel between de Montauban and his accomplices, it has been discovered that they got him put to death by giving false information to the duke, expecting to gain by his decease; for sir Giles was very willing to renounce his connexions with the English, and to act as his brother pleased; but that they sent the duke information quite the reverse, as has been confessed by some of his murderers, and declared to be the truth, for which they have been tried and suffered death: some, indeed, escaped, and, for very good reasons, dare not again show themselves in that country. The siege of Cherbourg having been commenced by the count de Richemont and the other lords before mentioned, was carried on with great vigour; and the garrison was hard pressed by their mines and batteries, when a knight and esquire of Brittany were there killed. The knight was sir Pregent de Coitivy, lord of Rais, slain by a cannon-ball, to the great loss of the king, for he was one of the most valorous knights of the realm, renowned for prudence and abilities. The esquire was Tuddual le Bourgeois, bailiff of Troyes, killed by a shot from a culverine, a man of good reputation, and well acquainted with the art of war. The walls of the town were battered in such wise, from sea and land, as was never before seen; for there were batteries of bombards erected on the shore that threw immense stones, although they were overflowed by the sea at high water; but as they were covered with greased skins, in which they were wrapped, the water did no damage to the powder they were charged with, and, as soon as the tide turned, the cannoneers took away their coverings and fired into the town, to the great astonishment of the English, who had never seen such an invention. Four bombards and one cannon were burst when firing against the walls; and many gallant deeds were done on sea and land, but more to the loss than profit of the English. This caused the governor, Thomas Gouvel †, esquire, who had under him one thousand combatants, to demand a capitulation from the constable, which he obtained. The terms were, that Gouvel should surrender the town and castle to the king of France, on condition that his son should be set at liberty, who was an hostage, on his part, for the payment of the sums of money due to the king of France and to the inhabitants of Rouen. On his son being restored, he delivered up the place to the king's commissioners on the 12th of August, and marched away with his son and soldiers, with their arms and baggage, in safety to England. The king appointed the lord de Bueil governor of Cherbourg, with four-score lances and archers for its defence. Thus was conquered the whole duchy of Normandy, and its towns and castles were reduced to the obedience of the king of France in the space of one year and six days, which was a marvellous event; for never was so large an extent of country conquered in so little time, and with less shedding of blood, or damage done to the inhabitants. This was very honourable to the king of France, and to the nobles and others who had accompanied him on this expedition; and they ought to render thanks to God, to whom alone the praise and glory are due. The time of this expedition was also very favourable, and part of the success might be owing to it, for it was the year of a general pardon of sins at Rome, called the Jubilee Year. The duchy of Normandy is in length six days' journey, and four wide, containing six of violence. But his constitution resisted the effects of repeated poisons, and a charitable old woman found means long to preserve him from those of starvation. At length, however, his health gave way to the continual assault of his enemies, and he charged a priest (who attended privately to receive his confessions) to repair to the duke his brother, and summon him within forty days to appear before the tribunal of God and answer for all his injustice towards him. Still his gaolers thought the end of their charge too slow in its approaches. They therefore strangled their unhappy victim, already dying, and gave out to the world that he had died of a cold. He was at that time not thirty years of age. The confessor executed his commission as he met the duke returning from the siege of Avranches; and Francis, struck to the heart by error and repentance, actually died on the fortieth day from the date of the summons. Montauban and Olivier de Mêele, his principal agent in the murder, fled upon the duke's death, to a convent of Celestins; but they were both dragged from their sanctuary by the orders of duke Peter, and of the constable, and hanged at Vannes. Frances, the widow of the murdered prince, and the innocent cause of his death, brought him no children, and was afterwards married again to Guy XIV. lord of Laval. Such is the account of some chronicles, as abridged by Moreri in his Dictionary, art. Bretagne. * Rais. Q. Retz? Pregent de Coetivy, admiral of France, was lord of Retz in right of his wife, Mary, the daughter of the marshal de Retz. + Thomas Gouvel. Q. Thomas Gonville, Esq., captain of Cherbourg.-STOWE. Normandy, is bounded on the east by Picardy and bishoprics and one archbishopric, and one hundred towns and castles, not including those which have been destroyed by the fortune of war. The king ordered six hundred lances, with a proper proportion of archers, to remain in the duchy for its defence, and sent the remainder into Guienne. He then set out for Tours, where he arrived in the month of September, and there resolved in council that a general thanksgiving, with processions, should take place in all the churches throughout the realm on the 14th day of the ensuing October, and every year afterwards on the 12th day of August, for the happy success of his arms, and the expulsion of his ancient enemies the English from his duchy of Normandy. CHAPTER XXXIV.—THE AUTHOR PARTICULARISES THE VALOUR OF SEVERAL OF THE NOBLES IN THE CONQUEST OF NORMANDY. THE KING OF FRANCE SENDS THE COUNT DE PENTHIEVRE, AS HIS LIEUTENANT, INTO GUIENNE. WERE I to attempt particularising every valiant man and his gallant deeds, on the reconquering of the duchy of Normandy, it would tire my reader's patience; but still I must mention some of the most renowned, for the benefit of those who, in future times, may peruse this account of the reduction of that duchy. In the first place, the king of France had placed his army on a most excellent establishment; and, as it was a novelty, it is worth describing. He had supplied all the men-at-arms and archers with good and secure habiliments, namely, the men-at-arms with cuirasses, greaves, salades*, and swords mounted with silver, as well as the lances which their pages bore; each man-at-arms had three horses, for himself, his page, and his varlet, which last was armed with a light helmet, a brigandine+, jacket or haubergeon‡, battle-axe or guisarme. Every man-at-arms had attached to him two archers on horseback, dressed in brigandines, greaves, and salades, the greater part of which were ornamented with silver; or wanting these, they had strong leathern jackets and haubergeons. The soldiers, when on service, were always paid monthly, and under such strict discipline that none dared to seize anything unpaid for, nor to make prisoners, or ransom man or beast, unless they belonged to the English or to their friends. It was lawful to make plunder of whatever was their property, but not otherwise. The chief captains on this expedition were the count de Dunois, lieutenant-general for the king, the counts de Nevers, de Castres, d'Eu, de St. Pol, the lord de Culant, grand-master of the household, the lords d'Orval, de Touteville, de Blainville, de Beauveau, de Bueil, de Beaunoir, de Moy in the Beauvoisis, the marshal de Jalognes, the seneschal de Poitou, John of Lorraine, Poton de Saintrailles, the bailiff of Evreux, Robert Conigan§, and very many other great lords, knights, and esquires, who most valiantly conducted themselves, regardless of all the pains and discomforts they were bodily put to on several occasions. In like manner the king had made ample provision of all sorts of artillery for his defence, and for the attack of towns and castles. He had the greatest number and variety of battering cannon and bombards, veuglaires, serpentines, crapaudines, culverines, and ribaudequins, that had ever been collected in the memory of man; and never king had such a train so well supplied with ammunition and every implement for battering towns, nor so numerous a body of men and horses to draw them. These received their pay daily, and were under the command of master John Bureau, treasurer of France, and of his brother Jasper Bureau, the Isle of France; on the south, by Maine and Perche; on the west, by the ocean; on the north, by the Channel, which separates it from England. It contains seven dioceses, or bishoprics,-Rouen, Bayeux, Avranches, Evreux, Sées, Lisieux, and Coutances,-in which are computed 4189 parishes, and 80 abbeys, &c.-Gazetteer. * Salades,-light helmets or head-pieces. + Brigandine,-armour consisting of many-jointed and scale-like plates, very pliant and easy for the body. Haubergeon, a little coat of mail, or only sleeves and gorget of mail. $ Conigan. Q. Cuningham ? commander of the Scots auxiliaries. || Ribaudequins, huge cross-bows, fourteen feet in length. Veuglaires, serpentines and crapaudines-different sorts of fire-arms, greater or less. both of whom suffered many difficulties during the sieges of the different towns and castles, for they were very active and attentive to their duty. It was wonderful to see their diligence in planning and forming the trenches and mines that were opened at almost every siege during this expedition; for, to say the truth, there was scarcely any place that surrendered on capitulation, but what might have been won by storm, had not the king, out of his benign nature, insisted on the contrary, to prevent the effusion of blood and the total ruin of such places and their inhabitants. The late duke of Brittany was the leader of the conquest of lower Normandy, having with him his uncle the count de Richemont, constable of France, the late Pregent de Coictivy, lord of Retz and admiral of France, who laboured hard at the business, the count de Laval, the lord de Lohéac, marshal of France, his brother de Montauban, marshal of Brittany, Geoffry de Couvran, James de Tilly, bailiff of the Vermandois. Tuddual le Bourgeois was of this party during his life. To find supplies for the support of the king's armies, and for the better government of this duchy of Normandy, the lord de Trainel, chancellor of France, the lord de Gaucour, sir Thibaut de Vaulpergue, bailiff of Lyon, sir James Cœur, counsellor, and master of the king's wardrobe, exerted themselves greatly; the last, in particular, employed every means in his power to prevent the soldiers, who were daily increasing, from being disappointed of their regular monthly payment. Sir John du Bar, lord of Baugey, and sir John Harduyn, treasurer of France, gained great credit, and all others who laboured at this time in the service of the king. When king Charles of France, the seventh of the name, had thus, by the divine grace, and his puissant chivalry, made the conquest of the duchy of Normandy, which had been occupied about thirty years by his ancient enemies the English, and had replaced all the strong castles and principal towns with sufficient garrisons, and regulated the government of each, confiding always in the grace and mercy of the King of kings, who wills that every one should have his own, as is declared in that chapter of St. Matthew's gospel, where our Lord says to the pharisee, "Render unto Cæsar the things that be Cæsar's, and unto God the things that be God's ;" he consequently resolved to march an army into Guienne against Bordeaux, which had been occupied by the English time immemorial, contrary to all reason and justice, and in direct contradiction to the said gospel. The nobles and people of this country have ever been rebellious against the French kings, at least for two hundred years, which is a long lapse of time, although it forms part of the realm of France. The king, desirous to act with prudence and circumspection, summoned a council of his principal barons and knights on the 5th day of September, in the year 1450, in the city of Tours, where the matter was fully discussed in their presence, and also in the presence of the princes of his blood and the chief prelates of the realm. It was then determined to send a force into Guienne, after proper provision had been made for the defence of Normandy, which was entrusted to the constable, having under him some Norman knights and esquires, together with six hundred spears and a body of archers, paid monthly,—and a great number of franc-archers were likewise ordered thither by the king. The government of the city of Rouen and the country of Caux was given to sir Pierre de Brézé, grand seneschal of Normandy. The king then arranged the army that was to invade Guienne and besiege Bergerac *, situated in the county of Perigord, on the river Dordogne. He appointed the count de Penthievre and de Perigord, viscount de Limoges, his lieutenant-general in those parts, who accepted the command of this siege, and departed thither, accompanied by sir Charles de Culant lord de Jalognes, marshal of France, Poton de Saintrailles, bailiff of Berry and master of the horse to the king, with many other knights, esquires, and others, to the amount of five hundred lances, and archers in proportion. They commenced the siege with great vigour, insomuch that on the arrival of master John Bureau with his train of artillery, the garrison, alarmed at their numbers and activity, surrendered Bergerac to the king of France. The English marched away with their horses, arms, and baggage, and the inhabitants that chose to remain were, on taking the oaths of allegiance, to remain unmolested in their different occupations as before. The count de * Bergerac,-seven leagues from Perigueux. Penthievre then marched his army into the winter quarters that had been allotted him, and sir Philip de Culant remained governor of Bergerac, with a garrison of one hundred lances and a body of archers. On their march they came before a castle called Jansac *, situated on the Dordogne, with the intent of besieging it; but they won it by storm, with the loss of seven or eight of their men killed and wounded: about thirty-five of the English were slain, and the rest made prisoners: the castle remained under the obedience of the king of France. The army advanced thence without delay to the town of St. Foy, on the same river, which surrendered without hesitation. Pursuing their good fortune, they came before the town of Chalaist, and besieged it for some time; but the English garrison, amounting to fifty lances, alarmed at seeing so large an army before it, delivered up the place, on condition that they should march away in safety, with arms and baggage. On their departure, Pierre de Louvain was made governor of it. On the 26th day of October in this year, master John de Xancoins, receiver-general of the royal finances, was arrested, and confined prisoner in the castle of Tours, for having, as it was currently reported, wickedly employed for his own use the king's finances; so that his majesty was greatly distressed to pay the troops in Guienne; and had he not found extraordinary means of raising money for this purpose, his plans against that country would have failed. During his imprisonment, he was examined by some of the great council and others skilled in matters of finance, and convicted, on his own confession, of high treason. He owned having taken very large sums of money from the king's treasury, and that he had made many erasures in his accounts which convicted him guilty of forgery,-a capital offence! and he would have suffered the penalty, had not the king's mercy converted the matter into a civil suit,-following in this the example of our SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, who declared that "he wished not for the death of a sinner, but would rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live." The capital part of the offence being thus done away, he was sentenced by the mouth of the chancellor, to be imprisoned for a certain time, and his property confiscated to the king; from which the king gave to the count de Dunois a handsome house that he had built at Tours. Xancoins was also condemned to pay to the king the sum of sixty thousand gold crowns, which seemed but a trifling fine for the immense sums he owned to have pillaged from the treasury for his own pleasures. James Carrier, his clerk, was confined at the same time with him, but in a separate prison, for having been an accomplice in the crimes of his master, and for having erased numerous articles in the account of receipts, through the instigation of the enemy of mankind, and converted many sums from the king's profit to his own; for all of which, he would have suffered the sentence due to such capital crimes, had not the king's mercy been extended also to him. CHAPTER XXXV.-THE LORD D'ORVAL DEFEATS THE MEN OF BORDEAUX.-DUKE PETER OF BRITTANY DOES HOMAGE TO THE KING OF FRANCE. THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY ATTEMPTS TO LAY A TAX ON SALT THROUGHOUT FLANDERS. On the last day of October in this year, the lord d'Orval, third son to the lord d'Albreth, set out from Bazas‡ with his companions, and from four to five hundred combatants, to invade the peninsula of Medoc §; and they halted for the night to refresh themselves in a forest within two leagues of Bordeaux. On the morrow, All-saints-day, they were early mounted, thinking to enter the peninsula, when they received information from Bordeaux, that from eight to nine thousand persons on horseback and on foot, as well soldiers as others, were on their march to combat them. The lord d'Orval did not for this abandon his enterprise, but drew up his men in order of battle, although so greatly inferior in numbers to the English, who were under the command of the mayor of Bordeaux. His light troops showed a good countenance, advancing in battle-array, and made prisoner a gentleman from Jansac. Gensac. Several villages in Gascony of that from the Garonne, capital of the Bazadois, twelve leagues from Bordeaux. name. + Chalais, a town in Perigord, near La Grolle. § Medoc,-a country of Guienne, near the sea, in the Bordelois : it is not fertile. Esparre is the capital. |