PHILIP DE COMMINES
Apparently the first discussion was heard by none except the Cardinal Balue and Guillaume de Biche. Charles was willing to pledge allegiance and to promise aid to his feudal chief, but under limitations that weakened the value of his words. Nothing could induce him to renounce alliance with other princes for mutual aid, did they need it. There was a second interview on the following day. Charles held tenaciously to his position. Then there came a sudden alteration in the situation, a strange dramatic shifting of the duke's point of view.
The city of Liege had submitted perforce to the behests of her imperious neighbour, but the citizens had never ceased to hope that his unwelcome "protection" might be dispensed with; that, by the aid of French troops, they might eventually wrest themselves free from the Burgundian incubus. In spite of all promises to Charles, secret negotiations between the anti-Burgundian party and Louis XI. had never ceased. The latter never refused to admit the importunate embassies to his presence. He was glad to keep in touch with the city even in its ruined condition. He sent envoys as well as received them, and Commines states definitely that, in making his plan to visit Peronne, the fact of a confidential commission recently despatched to Liege had wholly slipped the king's mind.
In that town the duke's lieutenant, Humbercourt, had been left to supervise the humiliating changes ordered. And the work of demolition was the only industry. Other ordinary business was at a standstill. For a period there was a sullen silence in the streets and the church bells were at rest. In April, a special legate from the pope arrived to see whether ecclesiastical affairs could not be put on a better footing.
It was about the same time that the States-General were meeting at Tours that, under the direction of this legate, Onofrio de Santa-Croce, the cathedral was purified with holy water, and Louis of Bourbon celebrated his very first mass, though he had been seated on the episcopal throne for twelve years. Then Onofrio tried to mediate between the city and the Duke of Burgundy. To Bruges he went to see Charles, and obtained permission to draft a project for the re-establishment of the civic government, to be submitted to the duke for approval.
If Onofrio thought he had reformed the bishop by forcing him into performing his priestly rites he soon learned his mistake. That ecclesiastic speedily disgusted his flock by his ill-timed festivities, and then forsook the city and sailed away to Maestricht in a gaily painted barge, with gay companions to pass the summer in frivolous amusements suited to his dissolute tastes. Such was the state of affairs when the report of Louis's extensive military preparations encouraged the Liegeois to hope that he was to take the field openly against the duke.
About the beginning of September, troops of forlorn and desperate exiles began to return to the city. They came, to be sure, with shouts of Vive le Roi! but, as a matter of fact, they seemed willing to make any accommodation for the sake of being permitted to remain. "Better any fate at home than to live like wild beasts with the recollection that we had once been men."
To make a long story short, Onofrio again endeavoured to rouse the bishop to a sense of his duty. Again he tried to make terms for the exiles and to re-establish a tenable condition. It was useless. Louis of Bourbon refused to approach nearer to Liege than Tongres, and declined to meet the advances of his despairing subjects. It was just at this moment that fresh emissaries arrived from Louis, despatched, as already stated, before Charles had consented to prolong the truce.
Excited by their presence the Liegeois once more roused themselves to action. A force of two thousand was gathered at Liege, and advanced by night upon Tongres—also without walls—surrounded the house where lay their bishop, and forced him to return to Liege. Violence there was and loss of life, but, as a matter of fact, the mob respected the person of their bishop and of Humbercourt the chief Burgundian official. This event happened on October 9th, the very day that Louis rode recklessly into Peronne.
On Wednesday, October 11th, the news of the fray reached Peronne, but news greatly exaggerated by rumour. Bishop, papal legate, and Burgundian lieutenant all had been ruthlessly murdered in the very presence of Louis's own envoys, who had aided and abetted the hideous crime! To follow the story of an eyewitness:11
"Some said that everyone was dead, others asserted the contrary, for such advertisments are never reported after one sort. At length others came who had seen certain canons slain and supposed the bishop12 to be of the number, as well as the said seigneur de Humbercourt and all the rest. Further, they said that they had seen the king's ambassadors in the attacking company and mentioned them by name. All this was repeated to the duke, who forthwith believed it and fell into an extreme fury, saying that the king had come thither to abuse him, and gave commands to shut the gates of the castle and of the town, alleging a poor enough excuse, namely, that he did this on account of the disappearance of a little casket containing some good rings and money.
"The king finding himself confined in the castle, a small one at that, and having seen a force of archers standing before the gate, was terrified for his person—the more so that he was lodged in the neighbourhood of a tower where a certain Count de Vermandois had caused the death of one of his predecessors as king of France.13 At that time, I was still with the duke and served him as chamberlain, and had free access to his chamber when I would, for such was the usage in this household.
"The said duke, as soon as he saw the gates closed, ordered all to leave his presence and said to a few of us that stayed with him that the king had come on purpose to betray him, and that he himself had tried to avoid his coming with all his strength, and that the meeting had been against his taste. Then he proceeded to recount the news from Liege, how the king had pulled all the wires through his ambassadors, and how his people had been slain. He was fearfully excited against the king. I veritably believe that if at that hour he had found those to whom he could appeal ready to sympathise with him and to advise him to work the king some mischief, he would have done so, at the least he would have imprisoned him in the great tower.
"None were present when the words fell from the duke but myself and two grooms of the chamber, one of whom was named Charles de Visen, a native of Dijon, an honest fellow, in good credit with his master. We aggravated nothing, but sought to appease the duke as much as in us lay. Soon he tried the same phrases on others, and a report of them ran through the city and penetrated to the very apartment of the king, who was greatly terrified, as was everyone, because of the danger that they saw imminent, and because of the great difficulty in soothing a quarrel when it has commenced between such great princes. Assuredly they were blameworthy in failing to notify their absent servants of this projected meeting. Great inconveniences were bound to arise from this negligence."
Such is Commines's narrative. Eyewitness though he was, it must be remembered that when he wrote the account of this famous interview it was long after the event, and when his point of view was necessarily coloured by his service with Louis. Delightful, however, are the historian's own reflections that he intersperses with his plain narrative. To his mind the only period when it is safe for princes to meet is
"in their youth when their minds are bent on pleasure. Then they may amuse themselves together. But after they are come to man's estate and are desirous each of over-reaching the other, such interviews do but increase their mutual hatred, even if they incur no personal peril (which is well-nigh impossible). Far wiser is it for them to adjust their differences through sage and good servants as I have said at length elsewhere in these memoirs."
Then our chronicler proceeds to give numerous instances of disastrous royal interviews before returning to his subject and to Peronne:
"I was moved [he adds again at the beginning of his new chapter] to tell the princes my opinion of such meetings.14 Thus the gates were closed and guarded and two or three days passed by. However, the Duke of Burgundy would not see the king, nor had Louis's servants entry to the castle except a few, and those only through the wicket. Nor did the duke see any of his people who had influence over him.
"The first day there was consternation throughout the city. By the second day the duke was a little calmed down. He held a council meeting all day and the greater part of the night. The king appealed to every one who could possibly aid him. He was lavish in his promises and ordered fifteen thousand crowns to be given where it might count, but the officer in charge of the disbursement of this sum acquitted himself ill and retained a part, as the king learned later.
"The king was especially afraid of his former servants who had come with the army from Burgundy, as I mentioned above, men who were now in the service of the Duke of Normandy.
"Diverse were the opinions in the above-mentioned council-meeting. Some held that the safe-conduct accorded to the king protected him, seeing that he fairly observed the peace as it had been stated in writing. Others rudely urged his capture without further ceremony, while others again advised sending for his brother, the Duke of Normandy, and concluding with him a peace to the advantage of all the princes of France. They who gave this advice thought that in case it was adopted, the king should be restrained of his liberty. Further, it was against all precedent to free so great a seigneur when he had committed so grave an offence.
"This last argument so nearly prevailed that I saw a man booted and spurred ready to depart with a packet of letters addressed to Monseigneur of Normandy, being in Brittany, and stayed only for the Duke of Burgundy's letter. However, this came to naught. The king made overtures to leave as hostages the Duke of Bourbon, the cardinal, his brother, and the constable with a dozen others while he should be permitted to return to Compiegne after peace was concluded. He promised that the Liegeois should repair their mischief or he would declare himself their foe. The appointed hostages were profuse in their offers to immolate themselves, at least they were in public. I do not know whether they would have said the same things in private. I rather suspect not. And in truth, I believe that those who were left would never have returned.
"On the third night after the arrival of the news, the duke never undressed, but lay down two or three times on his bed, and then rose and walked up and down. Such was his way when he was troubled. I lay that night in his chamber and talked with him from time to time. In the morning his fury was greater than ever, his tone very menacing, and he seemed ready to go to any extreme.
"However, he finally brought himself to say that if the king would swear the peace and would accompany him to Liege to help avenge Monsgn. of Liege, his own kinsman, he would be satisfied. Then he suddenly betook himself to the king's chamber and expressed himself to that effect. The king had a friend15 who warned him, assuring him that he should suffer no ill if he would concede these two points. Did he do otherwise he ran grave risk, graver than he would ever incur again."
When the duke entered the royal presence his voice trembled, so agitated was he and on the verge of breaking into a passion. He assumed a reverential attitude, but rough were mien and word as he demanded whether the king would keep the treaty of peace as it had been drafted, and whether he was ready to swear to it. "Yes" was the king's response. In truth, nothing had been added to the agreement made before Paris, or at least little as far as the Duke of Burgundy was concerned. As regarded the Duke of Normandy, it was stipulated that if he would renounce that province he should have Champagne and Brie besides other neighbouring territories for his share.
Then the duke asked if the king would accompany him to avenge the outrage committed upon his cousin the bishop.
"To which demand the king gave assent as soon as the peace was sworn. He was quite satisfied to go to Liege and with a small or large escort, just as the duke preferred. This answer pleased the duke immensely. In was brought the treaty, out of the king's coffer was taken the piece of the true cross, the very one carried by Saint Charlemagne, called the Cross of Victory, and thereupon the two swore the peace.
"This was now October 14th. In a minute the bells pealed out their joy throughout Peronne and all men were glad. It hath pleased the king since to attribute the credit of this pacification to me."
There was undoubtedly an immense sense of relief in Peronne when this degree of accommodation was reached. The duke was unwilling, however, to have too much rejoicing in his domains until he had ascertained for himself the state of Liege. Among the letters despatched from Peronne this October 14th, was the following to the magistrates of Ypres:16
"Dear and well beloved friends, considering that we have to-day made peace and convention with Monseigneur the king, and that for this reason you might be inclined to let off fire-works and make other manifestations of joy, we hasten to advise you that ... our pleasure is you shall not permit fireworks or assemblies in our town of Ypres on account of the said peace until we have subdued the people of Liege, and avenged the said outrage [described above]. This with God's aid we intend to do. We are on the point of departure with all our forces for Liege. Beloved, may our Lord protect you.
"Written in our castle of Peronne, October 14, 1468."
A certain G. Ruple conveyed his own impressions to the magistrates of Ypres, possibly managing to slip them under the same cover.17
"To-day, at about 10 o'clock, peace was concluded between the king and Monseigneur, and also between the king and the Duke of Berry. Here, bells are ringing and the Te Deum is sung. It is generally believed that Monseigneur will depart to-morrow. God deserves thanks for the result, for I assure you that last night the outlook was not clear." 18
The king wrote as follows to his confidential lieutenant:
"PERONNE, October 14th.
"Monseigneur the grand master, you are already informed how there has been discussion in my council and that of my brother-in-law of Burgundy, as to the best manner of adjusting certain differences between him and me. It went so far that in order to arrive at a conclusion I came to this town of Peronne. Here we have busied ourselves with the requisitions passing between us, so that to-day we have, thanks to our Lord, in the presence of all the nobles of the blood, prelates and other great and notable personages in great numbers, both from my suite and from his, sworn peace solemnly on the true cross, and promised to aid, defend and succour each other for ever. Also on the same cross we have ratified the treaty of Arras with its corrections and other points which seemed productive of peace and amity.
"Immediately after this the Duke of Burgundy ordered thanksgivings in the churches of his lands, and in this town he has already had great solemnity. And because my brother of Burgundy has heard that the Liegeois have taken prisoner my cousin the bishop of Liege, whom he is determined to deliver as quickly as possible, he has besought me as a favour to him, and also because the bishop is my kinsman whom I ought to aid, to accompany him to Liege, not far from here. This I have agreed to, and have chosen as my escort a portion of the troops under monseigneur the constable, in the hopes of a speedy return by the aid of God.
"And because it is for my weal and that of my subjects I write to you at once, because I am sure you will be pleased, and that you will order like solemnities. Moreover, monseigneur the grand master, as I lately wrote to you, pray as quickly as possible disband my arriere ban together with the free lances, and do every possible thing for the mass of poor folks; appoint well-to-do men as leaders in every bailiwick and district. Above all, see to it that they do not indulge in any new and startling conduct. That done, if you wish to come to Bohan, to be nearer me, I would be glad, so as to be able to provide for any further action that may arise. Written at Peronne October 14th.
"Loys
MEURIN.
"To our dear and beloved cousin the Count of Dammartin, grand master of France." 19
Dammartin thought that this letter was phrased for the purpose of passing Charles's censorship. He took the liberty of disregarding his master's orders; the troops were not disbanded, and he held himself in readiness to go to fetch the errant monarch if he did not return speedily from the enemy's country. His letter to the king and the unwritten additions delivered by his confidential messengers terrified his liege lest too much zeal on his behalf in France might work him ill in Liege. A week later Louis writes again:
NAMUR, Oct. 22nd.
"MONSEIGNEUR THE GRAND MASTER:
"I have received your letter by Sire du Bouchage. Be assured that I make this journey to Liege under no constraint, and that I never took any journey with such good heart as I do this. Since God and Our Lady have given me grace to be friends with Monseigneur of Burgundy, be sure that never shall our rabble over there take arms against me. Monseigneur the grand master, my friend, you have proved that you love me, and you have done me the greatest service that you can, and there is another service that you can do. The people of Monseigneur of Burgundy think that I mean to deceive them, and people there [in France] think that I am a prisoner. Distrust between the two would be my ruin.
"Monseigneur, as to the quarters of your men, you know what we planned, you and I, touching the action of Armagnac. It seems to me that you ought to send your people straight ahead in that direction and I will furnish you four or five captains as soon as I am out of this, and you can make what choice you will. M. the grand master, my friend, come, I beg you, to Laon and await me there. Send me a messenger the minute you arrive and I will let you have frequent news. Be assured that as soon as the Liegeois are subdued, on the morrow I will depart, for Monsg. of Burgundy is resolved to urge me to go as soon as he has finished his work at Liege, and he desires my return more than I do. Francois Dunois will tell you what good cheer we are making. Adieu, monseigneur, etc.
"Writ at Namur, Oct. 22nd.
"LOUIS
"TOUSSAINT.
"To our dear and beloved cousin the Count of Dammartin, grand master of France." 20
Letters of the same date to Rochefoucauld and others also declare that Louis goes most gladly with his dear brother of Burgundy and that the affair will not require much time. To Cardinal Balue he writes only a few words, telling him that the messenger will be more communicative.
Between Peronne and Namur did the party turn aside to visit the young Duchess of Burgundy, either at Hesdin or at Aire? Such is the conjecture of a learned Belgian editor, and he carries his surmise further in suggesting that in this brief sojourn was performed Chastellain's mystery of "The Peace of Peronne."21 Perhaps these verses, if put in the mouths of Louis and Charles, may have pleased the princely spectators of the dramatic poem. Mutual admiration was the key-note of these flowery speeches while the other dramatis personæ expressed unstinted admiration for the wonderful deed accomplished by these two pure souls who have sworn peace when they might have brought dire war on their innocent subjects.
"Never did David, nor Ogier, nor Roland, that proud knight, nor the great Charlemagne, nor the proud Duke of Mayence, nor Mongleive, the heir, from whom issued noble fruit, nor King Arthur, nor Oliver, nor Rossillon, nor Charbonnier in their dozens of victories approach or touch with hand or foot the work I treat of."
[The king speaks.]
"Charles, be assured that Louis will be the re-establisher and provider of all that touches your honour and peace between you and him. That he will ever be appreciator of you and avenger, a nourisher of joy and love in repairing all that my predecessor did.
[The duke speaks.]
"And Charles, who loves his honour as much as his soul, wishes nothing better than to serve you and this realm and to extol your house. For I know that is the reason why I have glory and reputation. Then if it please God and Our Lady, my body will keep from blame."
One stanza, indeed, uttered by Louis strikes a note of doubt: "Charles, so many debates may occur, so many incidents and accidents in our various actions, that a rupture may be dreaded."
Vehemently did the duke repudiate the bare possibility of a new breach between him and his liege. The whole is a pæan at a love feast. If the two together heard their counterfeits express such perfect fidelity, how Louis XI. must have laughed to himself behind his mask of forced courtesy! Charles, on the other hand, was quite capable of taking it all seriously, wholly unconscious that he had not cut the lion's claws for once and all.
[Footnote 1: See Lavisse ivii., 356.]
[Footnote 2: The letters of convocation bear the date February 26, 1467, o.s. Tournay elected four deputies. By April 30th, they had returned home, and on May 2d they made a report. The items of expenditure are very exact. So hard had they ridden that a fine horse costing eleven crowns was used up and was sold for four crowns. M. Van der Broeck, archivist of Tournay, extracted various items from the register of the Council. See Kervyn's note. Chastellain, v., 387.]
[Footnote 3: See Lavisse ivii., 356.]
[Footnote 4: Dordrecht was not among them. Her deputies held that it was illegal for them to go to The Hague. Some time later Charles received the oaths at Dordrecht. (Wagenaar, Vaderlandsche Hist., iv., 101.]
[Footnote 5: Treaty of Ancenis, September 10, 1468. See Lavisse, ivii.] One of the results of the War of Public Weal was that St. Pol was appointed constable of France.]
[Footnote 6: The original is in the Mss. de Baluze, Paris, Bibl. Nat.; Lenglet, iii., 19.]
[Footnote 7: Commines and a letter to the magistrates of Ypres are the basis of this narrative. (Gachard, Doc. inéd., i., 196.) There is, however, a mass of additional material both contemporaneous and commentating. See also Michelet, Lavisse, Kirk, etc. Chastellain's MS. is lost.]
[Footnote 8: See Lavisse, ivii., 397.]
[Footnote 9: Ludwig v. Diesbach, (See Kirk, i., 559.) The author was a page in Louis's train, who afterwards played a part in Swiss affairs.]
[Footnote 10: It was never captured until Wellington took it in 1814.]
[Footnote 11: Commines, ii., ch. vii.]
[Footnote 12: The bishop did indeed meet his death at the hands of the mob, but it was many years later.]
[Footnote 13: Le roi ... se voyait logé, rasibus d'une grosse tour ou un Comte de Vermandois fit mourir un sien prédécesseur Roy de France. (Commines, ii., ch. vii.)]
[Footnote 14: Memoires, ii., ch. ix.]
[Footnote 15: Undoubtedly Commines wishes it to be inferred that this was he. The main narrative followed here is Commines, whose memoirs remain, as Ste.-Beuve says, the definitive history of the times. There are the errors inevitable to any contemporary statement. Meyer, to be sure, says, apropos of an incident incorrectly reported, Falsus in hoc ut in pluribus historicus. Kervyn de Lettenhove three centuries later is also severe. See, too, "L'autorité historique de Ph. de Commynes," Mandrot, Rev. Hist., 73.]
[Footnote 16: Gachard, Doc. inéd., i., 199.]
[Footnote 17: Ibid., 200.]
[Footnote 18: Waer ic certiffiere dat het dezen nacht niet wel claer ghestaen heeft.]
[Footnote 19: Lettres de Louis XI, iii., 289. The king apparently never resented the part played by Dammartin when he was dauphin. His letters to him are very intimate.]
[Footnote 20: Lettres, iii., 295. (Toussaint is probably Toustain.)]
[Footnote 21: Kervyn ed., Œuvres de Chastellain, vii., xviii. See poem, ibid., 423. The MS. in the Laurentian Library at Florence bears this line: "Here follows a mystery made because of the said peace of good intention in the thought that it would be observed by the parties." Hesdin is, however, a long way out of the route between Peronne and Namur, where the party was on October 14th. It would hardly seem possible for journey and visit in so brief a time.]
It was in the midst of heavy rains that the journey was made to Namur and then on to the environs of Liege. Grim was the weather, befitting, in all probability, Charles's own mood. The king's escort was confined to very few besides the Scottish guard, but a body of three hundred troopers was permitted to follow him at a distance, while the faithful Dammartin across the border kept himself closely informed of every incident connected with the march that his scouts could gather, and in readiness to fall upon Burgundian possessions at a word of alarm, while he restrained his ardour for the moment in obedience to Louis's anxious command.
By the fourth week of October the Franco-Burgundian party were settled close to Liege in straggling camps, separated from each other by hills and uneven ground. Long was the discussion in council meeting as to the best mode of procedure. Liege was absolutely helpless in the face of this coalition. Wide breaches made her walls useless. Moats she had never possessed, for digging was well-nigh impossible on her rocky site covered by mud and slime from the overflow of the Meuse. On account of this evident weakness, the king advised dismissing half the army as needless, advice that was not only rejected immediately but which excited Charles's doubts of the king's good faith. Over a week passed and feeble Liege continued obstinate, while each division of the army manoeuvred to be first in the assault for the sake of the plunder. But advance was very difficult, for the soldiers were impeded in their movements by the slime. Wild were some of the night skirmishes over the uneven, slippery ground and amidst the little sheltering hills.
On one occasion, "a great many were hurt and among the rest the Prince of Orange (whom I had forgotten to name before), who behaved that day like a courageous gentleman, for he never moved foot off the place he first possessed.
The duke, too, did not lack in courage but he failed sometimes in order giving, and to say the truth, he behaved himself not so advisedly as many wished because of the king's presence."1
There is no doubt that Charles entertained increasingly sinister suspicions of his guest. He thought the king might either try to enter the city ahead of him and manage to placate his ancient allies by a specious explanation, or else he might succeed in effecting his escape without fulfilling his compact. At last Charles appointed Sunday, October 30th, for an assault. On the 29th, his own quarters were in a little suburb of mean, low houses, with rough ground and vineyards separating his camp from the city. Between his house and that of the king, both humble dwellings, was an old granary, occupied by a picked Burgundian force of three hundred men under special injunctions to keep close watch over the royal guest and see that he played no sudden trick. To further this purpose of espionage, they had made a breach in the walls with heavy blows of their picks.
The men were wearied with all their marching and skirmishing, and in order to have them in fighting trim on the morrow, Charles had ordered all alike to turn in and refresh themselves. The exhausted troops gladly obeyed this injunction. Charles was disarmed and sleeping, so, too, were Philip de Commines and the few attendants that lay within the narrow ducal chamber. Only a dozen pickets mounted guard in the room over Charles's little apartment, and kept their tired eyes open by playing at dice.
On that Saturday night when Charles was thus prudently gathering strength for the final tussle, the people of Liege also indulged in repose, counting on Sunday being a day of rest, that is, the major part of the burgher folk did within city limits. But another plan was on foot among some of the inhabitants of an outlying region. An attack on the Burgundian camp was planned by a band from Franchimont, a wild and wooded district, south of the episcopal see. The natives there had all the characteristics of mountaineers, although the heights of their rugged country reached only modest altitudes.2
These invaders were fortunate in obtaining as guides the owners of the very houses requisitioned for the lodgings of the two princes. Straight to their goal they progressed through paths quite unknown to the foe, and therefore unwatched. The highlanders made a mistake in not rushing headlong to the royal lodgings, where in the first confusion they might have accomplished their design upon the lives of Louis and of Charles or at least have taken the two prisoners. But a pause at a French nobleman's tent created a disturbance which roused the archers in the granary. The latter sallied out, to meet with a fierce counter-attack. In order to confuse them the mountaineers echoed the Burgundian cries, Vive Bourgogne, vive le roy et tuez, tuez, and they were not always immediately identified by their harsh Liege accent.
The highlanders were far outnumbered by the Burgundians, and it was only by dint of their desperate courage and by reason of the pitchy darkness and of the locality with its unknown roughness that the former inflicted the damage that they did.
Commines and his fellows helped the duke into his cuirass, and stood by his person, while the king's bodyguard of Scottish archers "proved themselves good fellows, who never budged from their master's feet and shot arrow upon arrow out into the darkness, wounding more Burgundians than Liegeois." The first to fall was Charles's own host, the guide of the marauders to his own cottage door. There were many more victims and no mercy. It was, indeed, an encounter characterised by the passions of war and the conditions of a mere burglarious attack on private houses.
Quaking with fear was the king. He thought that if the duke should now fail to make a complete conquest of Liege, his own fate would hang in the balance. At a hasty council meeting held that night, Charles was very doubtful as to the expediency of carrying out his proposed assault upon the city. Very distrustful of each other were the allies, a fact that caused Philip de Commines to comment,3 "scarcely fifteen days had elapsed since these two had sworn a definitive peace and solemnly promised to support each other loyally. But confidence could not enter in any way."
Charles gave Louis permission to retire to Namur and wait until the duke had reduced the recalcitrant burghers once for all. Louis thought it wiser to keep close to Charles's own person until they parted company for ever, and the morrow found him in the duke's company as he marched on to Liege.
"My opinion is, [says Commines], that he would have been wise to depart that night. He could have done it for he had a hundred archers of his guard, various gentlemen of his household, and, near at hand, three hundred men-at-arms. Doubtless he was stayed by considerations of honour. He did not wish to be accused of cowardice."
Olivier de la Marche, also present as the princely pair entered Liege, heard the king say: "March on, my brother, for you are the luckiest prince alive." As they entered the gates, Louis shouted lustily, "Vive Bourgogne," to the infinite dismay of his former friends, the burghers of Liege.
The remainder of the history of that dire Sunday morning differs from that of other assaults only in harrowing details, and the extremity of the pitilessness and ferocity manifested by the conquerors. Charles had previously spared churches, and protected the helpless. Above all he had severely punished all ill treatment of respectable women. Little trace of this former restraint was to be seen on this occasion. The inhabitants were destroyed and banished by dozens. Those who fled from their homes leaving their untasted breakfasts to be eaten by the intruding soldiers, those who were scattered through the numerous churches, those who attempted to defend the breaches in the walls—all alike were treated without mercy.
OLIVIER DE LA MARCHE
The Cathedral of St. Lambert, Charles did endeavour to protect. "The duke himself went thither, and one man I saw him kill with his own hand, whereupon all the company departed and that particular church was not pillaged, but at the end the men who had taken refuge there were captured as well as the wealth of the church."
At about midday Charles joined Louis at the episcopal palace, where the latter had found apartments better suited to his rank than the rude huts that had sheltered him for the past few days. The king was in good spirits and enjoyed his dinner in spite of the unsavoury scenes that were still in progress about him. He manifested great joy in the successful assault, and was lavish in his praises of the duke's courage, taking care that his admiring phrases should be promptly reported to his cousin.4 His one great preoccupation, however, was to return to his own realm.
After dinner the duke and he made good cheer together. "If the king had praised his works behind his back, still more loud was he in his open admiration. And the duke was pleased." No telling sign of friendship for Charles had Louis spared that day, so terrified was he lest some testimony from his ancient protégés might prove his ruin. "Let the word be Burgundy," he had cried to his followers when the attack began.
"Tuez, tuez, vive Bourgogne."
There is another contemporaneous historian who somewhat apologetically relates the following incident of this interview.5 In this friendly Sabbath day chat, Charles asked Louis how he ought to treat Liege when his soldiers had finished their work. No trace of kindliness towards his old friends was there in the king's answer.
"Once my father had a high tree near his house, inhabited by crows who had built their nests thereon and disturbed his repose by their chatter. He had the nests removed but the crows returned and built anew. Several times was this repeated. Then he had the tree cut down at the roots. After that my father slept quietly."
Four or five days passed before Louis dared press the question of his return home. The following note written in Italian, dated on the day of the assault, is significant of his state of mind:
LOUIS XI. TO THE COUNT DE FOIX
"Monseigneur the Prince:
"To-day my brother of Burgundy and I entered in great multitude and with force into this city of Liege, and because I have great desire to return, I advise you that on next Tuesday morning I will depart hence, and I will not cease riding without making any stops until I reach there.6 I pray you to let me know what is to be done.
"Writ at Liege, October 30th.
"LOYS
"DE LA LOERE."
Punctilious was Louis in his assurances to his host that if he could be of any further aid he hoped his cousin would command him. If there were, indeed, nothing, he thought his best plan would be to go to Paris and have the late treaty duly recorded and published to insure its validity. Charles grumbled a little, but finally agreed to speed his parting guest after the treaty had been again read aloud to the king so that he might dissent from any one of its articles or ever after hold his peace.
Quite ready was Louis to re-confirm everything sworn to at Peronne. Just as he was departing he put one more query: "'If perchance my brother now in Brittany should be dissatisfied with the share I accord him out of love to you, what do you want me to do?' The duke answered abruptly and without thought: 'If he does not wish to take it, but if you content him otherwise, I will trust to you two.' From this question and answer arose great things as you shall hear later. So the king departed at his pleasure, and Mons. de Cordes and d'Émeries, Grand Bailiff of Hainaut escorted him out of ducal territory."7
"O wonderful and memorable crime of this king of the French [declares a contemporaneous Liege sympathiser.]8 Scarcely anything so bad can be found in ancient annals or in modern history. What could be more stupid or more perfidious, or a better instance of infamy than for a king who had incited a people to arms against the Burgundians to act thus for the sake of his own safety? Not once but many times had he pledged them his faith, offering them defence and assistance against the same Burgundians. And now when they are overwhelmed and confounded by this Burgundian duke, this king actually co-operates with their foe, to their damage, wears that foe's insignia and dares to hide himself behind those emblems, and assist to destroy those to whom he himself had furnished aid and subsidies with pledges of good faith! I am ashamed to commit this to writing, and to hand it down to posterity, knowing that it will seem incredible to many. But it is so notorious throughout France and is confirmed by so many adequate witnesses who have seen and heard these things that no room is left for doubt of their veracity except to one desiring to ignore the truth."9
November 2d is the date of Louis's departure. It needs no stretch of the imagination to believe the words of his little Swiss page, Diesbach, when he says that on reaching French soil Louis dismounted and kissed the ground in a paroxysm of joy that he was his own man again.10 Devoutly, too, he gave thanks to God for helping him in his need. Still this joy was concealed under euphemistic phrases in his correspondence. On November 5th, he wrote again to the Duke of Milan from Beaumont:
"We went in person with the duke against the Liegeois, on account of their rebellion and offence, and the city being reduced by force to the power of the duke, we have left him in some part of Liege as we were anxious to return to our kingdom of France."
In January, 1469, Guillaume Toustain, the brother of the faithful secretary Aloysius Toustain, who had written several of Louis's letters from Liege, goes to Pavia to finish his studies, and Louis writes to the Duke of Milan asking him to assure his protégé a pleasant reception in the university.
The ratification of the treaty took place duly at Paris on Saturday, November 19th, and the king also sternly forbade the circulation of any "paintings, rondels, ballads, songs, or defamatory pamphlets" about Charles.11 The same informant tells us that loquacious birds were put under a ban.
"And on the same day in behalf of the king, and by virtue of his commission addressed to a young man of Paris named Henry Perdriel, all the magpies, jays, and chouettes, caged or otherwise, were taken in charge, and a record was made of all the places where the said birds were taken and also all that they knew how to say, like larron, paillart, etc., va hors, va! Perrette donnes moi à boire, and various other phrases that they had been taught."
Abbé le Grand thinks that "Perrette" was meant for Peronne instead of a mistress of Louis of that name. But this conjecture seems the only basis for the very deep-rooted tradition that Peronne was a word Louis could not bear to have uttered.
"In the way of justice there is nothing going on here, [wrote one Anthony de Loisey from Liege to the president of Burgundy], except every day they hang and draw such Liegeois as are found or have been taken prisoners and have no money to ransom themselves. The city is well plundered, nothing remains but rubbish. For example I have not been able to find a sheet of paper fit for writing to you, but with all my pains could get nothing but some leaves from an old book." 12
Charles decided that nothing should be left standing except churches and ecclesiastical buildings. On November 9th, before the final fires were lit, he departed from the wretched town and went down the left bank of the Meuse to an abbey on the river, where he paused for the night. Four leagues distant from the city was this place, and from it were plainly visible the flames of the burning buildings on that grim St. Hubert's Day—a day when Liege had been wont to give vent to merriment.
"From all the dangers that had encompassed him, Charles escaped with his life, simply because his hour had not yet struck, and because he was God's chosen instrument to punish the sinning city," is the verdict of one chronicler who does not spare his fellow-Liegeois for their follies while he profoundly pities their fate.13
Out of the many contemporaneous accounts a portion of a private letter from the duke's cup-bearer to his sister is added:14
"Very dear sister, with a very good heart I recommend myself to you and to all my good friends, men and women in our parts, not forgetting my beaux-pères, Martin Stephen and Dan Gauthier. Pray know that, thanks to God, I and all my people are safe and sound. As to my horses, one was wounded and another is sick in the hands of the marshals at Namur, and the others are thin enough and have no grain to eat except hay. The weather, has, indeed, been enough to strike a chill to the hearts of men and horses. Since we left Burgundy there have not been three fine days in succession and we are in a worse state than wolves.
"You already know how we passed through Lorraine and Ratellois without troubling about Salesart or other French captains, nor the other Lorrainers either, although they were under orders to attack us, and were no more afraid of us than we of them. As we approached the territory of Hainaut, M. the duke sent Messire Pierre de Harquantbault15 to us to show us what road to take. He told us that the duke had made a treaty with the king, who had visited him, news that filled us with astonishment....
After skirmishing for several days we reached the faubourgs of Liege and remained there three of four days under arms, with no sleep and little food, and our horses standing in the rain with no shelter but the trees. While we were thus lodged, the king and the duke with a fair escort arrived and took up their quarters in certain houses near the faubourg. [... Constant firing was interchanged for several days. Sallies were essayed and men were slain.]
"Finally a direct attack was made on the king and Monseigneur and there were more of their people than ours and that night Monseigneur was in great danger. The following Sunday at 9 A.M. we began the assault in three separate quarters. It was a fine thing to see the men-at-arms march on the walls of the said city, some climbing and others scaling them with ladders. The standards of monseigneur the marshal and monsgn. de Renty who had been stationed together in the faubourgs, were the first within the said city which contained at that moment sixteen to eighteen thousand combatants, who were surprised when they saw their walls scaled.
"In a moment we entered crying 'Burgundy' and 'city gained.' Ever so many of their people were slain and drowned in their flight. We flew to reach the market-place and the church of St. Lambert where a number of prisoners were taken and thrown into the water. Our ensign stood in the midst of the fray on the market-place, in the hopes that they would rally for a combat but they rallied only to flee. While we held our position on the square several were created knights.... All the churches—more than four hundred—were pillaged and plundered. It is rumoured that they will be burnt together with the rest of the city. Piteous it is to see what ill is wrought.... [The king] stayed in the city with Monseigneur two or three days. Then he departed, it is said for Brussels to await my said lord. It is a great thing to have seen the puissance of my master, which is great enough to defeat an emperor. I believe the Burgundians will shortly return to Burgundy.
"I paid my respects to my said lord, who received me very well. At present I am listed16 among those whose term is almost expired and I am ready to follow him wherever he wishes until my service is out, which will be soon. I would have written before had I had any one to send it by. Pray write me about yourself by the first comer. Praying our Lord, beloved sister, to keep you. Written in Liege, November 8, 1468.
"JEHAN DE MAZILLES."
This sober letter and other accounts by reliable witnesses agree as to the terrible havoc wrought in the city by the assault on October 30th and by determined and systematic measures of destruction, both during Charles's ten days' sojourn for the express purpose of completing the punishment and after his departure. Yet the result assuredly fell short of the intention. The destruction was not complete as was that of Dinant. Vitality remained, apart from the ecclesiastical nucleus intentionally preserved by the duke.
Having watched the tongues of flame lap the unfortunate city, Charles turned with his army towards Franchimont, that rugged hill country which had proved a nest of hardy and persistent antagonists to Burgundian pretensions. Jehan de Mazilles is in close attendance and gives further details of the pitiless fashion in which Charles carried out his purpose of leaving no seed of resistance to germinate. Four nights and three days they sojourned in a certain little village while there was a hard frost and where, without unarming, they "slept under the trees and drank water." Meantime a small party was despatched by the duke to attack the stronghold of Franchimont. The despairing Liegeois who had taken refuge there abandoned it, and it was taken by assault. A few more days and the duke was assured that Liege and her people were shorn of their strength. When the remnant of survivors began to creep back to the city and tried to recover what was left of their property, many were the questions to be settled. Lawsuits succeeded to turmoils and lingered on for years.
In the lordly manner of conquerors Charles, too, demanded reimbursement for his trouble in bending these free citizens to his illegal will. The reinstated bishop wanted his rents and legal perquisites, all difficult to collect, and many were the ponderous documents that passed on the subject. How justly pained sounds Charles's remonstrance on the default of payment of taxes to his friend, the city's lord!
"Therefore [he writes,] in consideration of these things, taking into account the terror of our departure to Brussels last January, we decide, my brother and I, that the payment of both gabelle and poll tax must be forced, and that we cannot permit the retarding of such taxes under any colour or pretence. At the request of our brother and cousin we order the inhabitants of the said territories to pay both gabelle and poll tax, all that is due from the time it was imposed and for the time to come, under penalty of the confiscation of their goods and their persons."
It was the old story of bricks without straw—taxes and rents for property ruthlessly destroyed were so easy. To this extent of tyranny had Duke Philip never gone, and undoubtedly the treatment of Liege was a step towards Charles's final disaster. So much hatred was excited against him that his adherents fell off one by one when his luck began to fail him.
No omen of misfortune was to be seen at this time, however. That month of November saw him master absolute wherever he was and he used his power autocratically. At Huy, he had a number of prisoners executed. At Louvain, at Brussels, he gave fresh examples of his relentlessness as an overlord.
[Footnote 1: Commines, ii., ch. xi. It was not far from the place where another Prince of Orange tried to cross the Meuse exactly a hundred years later.]
[Footnote 2: The story of the "men of Franchimont" is questioned. Commines is the only authority for it.]
[Footnote 3: II., ch. xiii.]
[Footnote 4: Commines, ii., ch. xiii.]
[Footnote 5: Oudenbosch, Veterum scriptorum, etc. Amplissima Collectio, ed. E. Martene, iv. Rerum Leodiensim. Opus Adriani de Veteri Busco, p. 1343. The writer acknowledges that the story is hearsay.]
[Footnote 6: "Non cessero di cavalchare senza fare demoia alcuna. Lettres,iii., 300.]
[Footnote 7: Commines, ii., ch. xiv.]
[Footnote 8: "O prœclarum et memorabile facinus hujus regis Francorum."]
[Footnote 9: Basin, Histoire des règnes de Charles VII. et de Louis XI., Quicherat ed., ii., 204. This also appears in Excerpta ex Amelgardi. De gestis Ludovici XI., cap. xxiii. Martene's Amplissima Collectio, iv., 740 et seq.]
[Footnote 10: Quoted in Kirk, i., 606, note.]
[Footnote 11: Jean de Roye, Chronique Scandaleuse, ed. Mandrot, i., 220.]
[Footnote 12: Comines-Lenglet, iii., 83.]
[Footnote 13: Johannes de Los, Chronicon, p. 60. Quia hora nendum venerat. De Ram, "Troubles du pays de Liége."]
[Footnote 14: Commynes-Dupont, Preuves, iii., 242. Letter of Jehan de Mazilles to his sister.]
[Footnote 15: Hagenbach, later Governor of Alsace.]
[Footnote 16: Conte aux escros. This word strictly applies to the prisoners on a jailer's list—evidently used in jest.]