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The chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Vol. 11 [of 13] cover

The chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Vol. 11 [of 13]

Chapter 88: CHAP. L.
By Enguerrand de Monstrelet
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About This Book

The volume offers a chronological medieval chronicle of French affairs, recording royal proclamations and appointments alongside military campaigns, territorial contests, and diplomatic exchanges with England. It describes shifting control of key regions, truces and sieges, noble rivalries and executions, municipal reforms, public ceremonies and tournaments, and episodes of urban disorder and disease. Arranged chapter by chapter, the narrative interweaves administrative decrees, battlefield accounts, legal actions, and social incidents to show how politics, warfare, and civic life interacted during a turbulent period.

CHAP. L.

THE KING OF FRANCE, WITH HIS LORDS, ENTERS FLORENCE, ACCOMPANIED BY HIS WHOLE ARMY.

On Monday, the 17th of November, the king, having assembled his whole army and train of artillery, advanced to a large palace near to Florence, where he dined. The florentine nobles, with numbers of the lower ranks, came thither to pay him their respects; which they having done, and presented him with the keys of their gates, the french army marched into the town of Florence by companies, each under its own captain, and with displayed banners, in handsome order. This lasted a long time, for there were a greater body of men under arms than the Florentines had ever before seen.

When the companies had all passed, the king, accompanied by his princes and nobles, entered the town completely armed, with his body guard and his hundred gentlemen all in armour. He was conducted, having a handsome canopy borne over his head, to the cathedral, and thence to the lodgings that had been prepared for him in the mansion of Pietro de Medici, where he and his company were more sumptuously entertained than can be imagined.

The king, the better to subjugate and keep the Florentines in check, remained some days in Florence. He marched away on the 21st, and was lodged at a large palace not far distant. The next day, Saturday, he went to St Cassant, where he remained the Sunday; and on the Monday, he advanced to Poggiobonzi[135], which is a prettily situated town, and, though small, well peopled. On the morrow, the king dined at the abbey of Aye, and thence went to his quarters in the city of Sienna.