by the different passions which had got the Mastery of him began to entertain an Idea of Parricide as of absolute necessity at this time He could not resolve upon attempting the Kings Life by open force at a time when he had all his Troops about him nor was the way of Assassination much more safe It was now many Ages since any of the French Monarchs had been taken off by this way so ready the Nobility had been to take part with them and to revenge all designs whatsoever put in practice against them No way was left but poison and the French who from the very first beginning of the Monarchy had had this practice in the greatest detestation began insensibly to have an inclination to it whether it were that they were of late grown more Ingenious in Malice or that they had learn'd this way of giving their Enemies a dispatch either from the Infidels against whom they had born Arms or from the Greeks with whom they had of late been more than formerly conversant What kind of poison it was that the Earl gave the King was never absolutely discovered but sure enough for the greater Secrecy of the matter such a Dose was given him as caus'd a lingring distemper The King dissembled for many dayes the violence of the Feavour which inwardly confum'd him nor did he to the very last so much resent the pain he endur'd as the disturbances likely to ensue as to publick Affairs Jealousy for its greater Satisfaction finds out peculiar wayes of taking Vengeance The Earl had the pleasure before he parted to see the King languishing on his death bed and to foresee that his leaving him in that Condition would augment his grief and vexation of Spirit However he had the confidence for all this to go and wait upon the Queen as presupposing that she could hardly suspect the true cause of her Husbands Malady or at least if she should come to under-it she would be oblig'd to conceal her knowledge because of the need she would have of his assistance in obtaining the Regency Nor was it long e're the King finding his end to draw near made his Will in which he appointed the Queen to be Governess of her Eldest Son and Regent of the Kingdom He dyed thesventh of November 1226 in the 39th Year of his Age This last Will and Testament met with no opposition on whether it were that the Princes of the Blood and Nobility of the Realm were wrought upon by those pathetical discourses which he made to them upon his death bed to oblige them to pursue his Interests or that their wavering minds had not yet fix'd upon those measures which were to be taken for a Revolt intended or had they indeed been ready for any such design they were watch'd too narrowly by the Queen to bring it to Effect For notwithstanding she was left a Widow at a Conjuncture capable of disheartning a Princess who though of wit and spirit enough yet wanted two qualifications which might render a womans Government supportable to the French Nation that is to say Credit and Experience however she endeavour'd by all means possible to inform her self of the Genius of a People she was to govern and eafily apprehended that the best way to prevent what ever designs might happen to be broach'd in France was to carry with all speed her Eldest Son St. Lewis to Reims to be there anointed King and that nothing would so much conduce as this Ceremony to keep within the bounds of their Allegiance a People prepossess'd with an opinion of his being hereby made a partaker in the Sovereign Power The extraordinary haste that was made for the King's Journy into Champaign hinder'd the Grandees and Nobles from accompanying the King with the Splendor and Magnificence usual upon such occasions notice only was given that the King was willing to dispence with the trouble and charge of those great preparations expecting their Attendance in person only without any pompous Train or numerous Retinue which in such an Affair as this would be but trouble-some and apt to breed disturbance This Ceremony was perform'd in the beginning of December 1226 by the Ministry of the Bishop of Soissons Premier Suffragan of the Archbishoprick of Reims whose seat was then vacant But Philip of France the Kings Paternal Uncle first Prince of the Blood Earl of Boulogne and Clermont whether it were that he took Exception to see himself preceded by the Peers of France at the Kings Inauguration or because the Regent had not confirm'd the Augmentation of his Appenage which was promis'd him when he gave his content to her being made Regent what ever it were he repented him of what he had done when it was but just too late to revoke it He was the first man that labour'd to destroy his own work though no man was more concern'd than himself to preserve it entire He came short in deeds of Arms both of his Father and his Brother but equall'd them both in wit and surpass'd them in Vigour and Address and though there were no other proofs then the Intreagues hereafter mention'd they are sufficient to discover him the most subtle and dextrous Prince of his Age. He represented both by word of mouth and by writing to all the Nobles of the Realm how they had been circumvented how that a Spanish Woman had found a way how to deprive them of the fruit of all their labours and that notwithstanding those Conquests which had been gain'd by Philip the August in a War of 50 Years to avoid falling under the English Power and the coming off with so much glory in so difficult an Enterprise they were now in danger of falling under that Yoke whereof in former times they had so universal a dread That the Queen whom they had declar'd Regent was indeed born in a Country which hitherto had neither any Antipathy nor Interest with France but that she was in Effect English and neither could nor ought to be consider'd as others wise though at a time when she took upon her the Government of the French That she was the daughter of Eleanor Princess of England and Grandchild of a Queen of the same Name who had detach'd Guien from the Crown of France to unite it to England That though she was the daughter of Alphonso sirnamed the Noble King of Castile yet she was not married to the late King Lewis as Infanta of Spain but as Princess of the Royal House of England where the Daughters are call'd to the Succession of the Crown for want of Issue Male. That this Marriage had been resolv'd on in a solemn Treaty with the English That the King of England had endow'd her with the Earldom of Eureux and 30000 Marks of Silver and therefore had reason to expect from her a Recompence proportionable to the establishment he had setled upon her That nothing less could be expected but giving back the Provinces conquer'd from King John
since he could not dive into the true cause and was not satisfied with any of those he revolved in his mind he fix'd upon that which had been suggested to him never examining the probability of it or considering that it was infinitely more ridiculous than any thing he could imagine beside Thus imputing the Queens indifference for him to the love which it was surmised she had for the Legate upon this sullen supposition he resolv'd upon the suppressing of a passion with which he was even ready to burst Upon this he entred into the Earl of Boulogne's Party and drew along with him his Brother of Arms Hugo de Dampmartin Count of Ponthieu whose Eldest Brother was Renald Count of Dampmartin Auscon Islebon and Domfront He having married the Niece of King Philip the August took the boldness and Authority upon him under pretext of this Alliance to besiege and having taken it to rase down to the ground a Castle belonging to the Bishop of Beauvais a Prince of the blood and Cousin German to the said Philip the August who glad of an occasion to bring down this Count of Dampmartin whom he knew to be the most turbulent and dangerous person of his whole Realm took speedy course with him and confiscated all his Estate The Earl thus reduc'd from his former heighth to a dependance upon others for maintenance was forc'd at last to beg the Kings pardon but in vain for all the Answer he could obtain of the King was that though he had no obligation to give an account of his actions to any one whatsoever yet nevertheless he was content to remit the hearing of all matters in Controversie to the Chamber Royal and the Barons of the Realm But this proposal relish'd not at all with the Earl for besides that he expected no other than to be condemned if they should proceed to the utmost rigour against him he knew well enough the power and credit his Majesty had in that Court where he was to plead So that seeing no other remedy he took part with the English and had the misfortune to be taken with other Prisoners at the Battel of Bovines where he had languish'd out a long Confinement though in a spatious Prison of about 22 Years his Brother the Earl of Ponthieu not being able to procure his Releasement And indeed the two last Kings Philip the August and Lewis the 8th and after them the Regent had ever held it as a sure Political Maxim that it very much imported to keep in durance all his life time that Vassal of theirs who was most potent and formidable so long as there was any advantage to he taken without any absolute violation of Justice so that there was no probability of this Earls deliverance but by force of Arms. The Earl of Boulogne promis'd Ponthieu to act with all the vigour requisite upon such an occasion for the setting his Brother free and that if it were not done before the Overtures of a Treaty of peace the said Treaty should never be concluded but upon Condition he were first releas'd The Earl of Boulogne being thus assur'd of those Feudataries who were nearest about the heart of the French Monarchy made it his next design to gain those who were more remote and more especially address'd himself to Jane Countess of Flanders and Hainault This Princess was married to Ferdinand Infant of Portugal and Eldest Son of King Sanchius who according to the Custome of the Cadets of noble Families had sought his Fortune in France and behav'd himself like one of those old Knights errant so renown'd in Story and in truth he lighted upon better fortune than ever he could have hop'd for Balduin Emperor of Constantinople dying without Issue Male had left King Philip the August Tutor to his daughter Princess Jane with power to marry her to whom he thought fit The King having a good opinion of Ferdinand's Merit or else not willing to bestow her upon a French man for fear of making him too potent match'd her to this Portuguess who had not made his pretension to her but as resolving to stand in Competition with any pretenders whatsoever though their hopes were built upon never so much better a Foundation But no sooner was Ferdinand by this Match become Master of two Estates more considerable at that time than the Crown of Portugal it self but he stain'd his Reputation by a most horrible Ingratitude He suffer'd himself to be deluded by the same Renald de Dampmartin whom we have already mention'd so far as to bear Arms for the English against his Benefactor for which deservedly he had the same fate being likewise taken Prisoner at Bovines after he had receiv'd six wounds in the body by the valiant Hugode Marevil a Gentleman of Xaintogne However his being taken Prisoner troubled him nothing near so much as the course they took with him afterwards for the King who knew him to be the proudest Prince of that Age knew also what would most touch him to the quick and bring down the pride of his haughty heart he caus'd him to be led in Triumph through the Streets of Paris in which disgraceful march he was saluted with such kind of Language as the Mobile commonly bestow upon persons of his Circumstance After he had been kept for some time without any other hopes than of perpetual Imprisonment it was thought fit to give him up a Freeman to the tears and submissions of his Wife who was come to cast her self at the Kings feet and to let him live in peace only all the strong places of Flanders and Hainault were to be ras'd to the ground Hereupon he was shortly to have been releas'd upon Geoffry Son of the Earl of Brabant his standing surety for him but whether it were that Geoffry refus'd to yield to that clause of the Treaty or that the King had taken fresh displeasure from any words Ferdinand had let fall since this Negotiation he was still kept a Prisoner and his Wife thus frustrated of her hopes of seeing him again at liberty yielded to the first invitation made to her of entring into the League The Earl of Boulogne encourag'd by this so speedy and prosperous success made his next Address to two Brothers Princes of the Blood viz. Peter Duke of Bretaign and Robert Earl of Dreux As for the Duke of Bretaign he was no less oblig'd to the Crown of France then the Earl of Flanders and his Ingratitude was of no less tendency to the violation of all Right and Justice Now for the better understanding of an Entreague which hath not been sufficiently made known neither in the History of France nor of any other Nation it is to be noted that Rollando the first Duke of Normandy compell'd by force of Arms the first Earl of Bretaign to do him Homage for his Earldom in the same manner as the Dukes of Normandy have since done Homage for their Dutchies to the Kings of France that is to say
which was no less advantageous to their Party They laid Treason to his Charge impeaching him of the untimely death of his late Sovereign Lord King Lewis the 8th by poyson given him and offer'd to undergo the severest penalties that could be inflicted upon false accusers if they did not plainly prove him guilty of two Crimes which rendred him unfit for humane Society that is to say of high Treason against his Sovereign Lord and of being a Traitor against his Country This they urg'd with Arms in their hands and the danger which threatned the Crown from their impetuous heat was thought so considerable that all the grand Ministers of the Kings Council were of Opinion that the best way would be to give them some satisfaction The Count himself was of the same Sentiment for quietness sake and it was with his own consent that the Queen upon Treaty with them made the chief Condition of their laying down their Arms to be the Earl of Champaign's taking upon him the Croisada and setting out immediately for the holy Land attended with a hundred Knights at least to be maintain'd at his own Charge This was a very notable Expedient in regard it equally pleas'd both Parties For on the one side the Earl found it very advantageous to him in regard both his Crime met with a far gentler punishment than it really deserv'd or he could have hop'd for had he been brought to Trial and his Reputation was in a manner salv'd by going in a croud of so many innocent persons as daily went upon this Expedition upon no other motive than their most ardent zeal On the other side the Rebels also obtain'd what they desir'd for besides that they had a long time of deliverance from their Enemy and the satisfaction of having put him upon an Expedition from whence few valiant men live to return If the accusation wherewith they branded him were not made out in full it was at least in part for admitting there were among the Croisado'd Champions many innocent persons there were also many culpable and as divers Princes and Great men led Armies over into Palestine merely for the accomplishing of those religious vows they had made for the recovery of the holy places where Jesus Christ had been conversant and died for the Salvation of mankind So there were others of no less grandure who undertook this Voyage or rather Pilgrimage as a penance enjoyn'd and to obtain absolution of those Ecclesiastical Censures which they lay under And this was the case of Henry the second King of England who for his Assassination of St. Thomas of Canterbury had this penitential Voyage enjoyn'd him by Pope Alexander the third which our Earl of Champaign so willingly accepts Civil wars and the Defluctions of the body end much after the same manner that is to say by discharging themselves all at once upon the weakest part and throwing on it a greater weight than it is able to bear The French were almost brought to a right understanding yet nevertheless would not easily consent to lay down their Arms they earnestly press'd to be employ'd in prosecuting the design of Lewis the 8th and there was reason to fear lest the refusal of their demand might occasion new troubles Never was there a fairer prospect of the Conquest of Languedoc the longer the delay the greater would be the difficulty and the Interests of State were not to be neglected so long as they were seconded by those of Religion In order hereunto the Regent resolv'd to drive the Earl of Tholouse to the utmost extremity and the better to assure her self of the greatest advantage possible in all humane appearance she made it her first business to deprive this Prince whose ruine she design'd of the surest refuge he had to trust to It hath been already observ'd that the Earl of Provence was his Cousin and a Prince in like manner as himself of the house of Catalogue Languedoc had expectation of assistance more ways than one Those of Provence were in a Condition to aid them if not directly yet at least indirectly being at that time the most free from war of any people in France and their Prince the most mony'd man of any Prince in Europe Mony was the main thing the Earl of Tholouse wanted and but for the want of which he could not have wanted Souldiers notwithstanding all the Excommunications thunder'd against him from the Court of Rome Above all things therefore the Earl of Provence must of necessity be taken off him the Regent knew to be a sincere man and a most punctual observer of his word wherefore she represented to him by secret Messengers that he was now grown old and could not if he regarded his health and consider'd his true Interest engage himself in the Earl of Tholouse his quarrel without drawing an inevitable war upon Provence let him use all the faution he could That he had only our daughters and the Earl of Tholouse but one so that since the house of Catalonia was drawing toward a period he could not better consult for the honour and advantage of his Family than by making an Alliance with that of France which beyond all dispute was the noblest in the world That the Eldest of the Provencian Princesses could not be more happily matcht than with the young King of France that this proposal was not so much upon the account of her Estate as of her matchless beauty and the charming sweetness of her Nature and to evince to the Earl that this Alliance was not in the least promoted in reference to the uniting of his Estate to the Crown of France there should be a renunciation made to any such pretension upon the contract of Marriage of the King with his Eldest daughter and free leave given him to divide all he had among his three younger daughters or to give it to her of the three whom he preferr'd before the rest The Earl of Provence could never have been more easily tempted than by two such soft and obliging Proportions as the concluding his Life in Tranquility and repose and the liberty to dispose his Estate as he pleas'd For besides that he was much of the temper of those effeminate Princes who hate nothing more than business he was overtaken with the vice of those who happen to have Children in their old Age that is to say he lov'd the Princess Beatrice his youngest daughter better than any of the other three to her he design'd to leave Provence and as a man is apt for the most part to give way to the belief of what he earnestly and constantly desires he perswaded himself that in preferring the youngest he should do no wrong to the three Elder daughters since it was his intention to leave them his Treasures which he look'd upon as treble the value of his Sovereignty He fancy'd if the King of France by marrying of his Eldest daughter shewd himself an approver of what he had determin'd
Bretaign became an arrier-fief to the Crown of France In this State it continued till the death of Covan Earl of Bretaign who left Issue only one daughter nam'd Constance This rich Heiress was courted by many but Henry the second King of England pretended as Duke of Normandy the Right of Marriage and partly by his Authority partly by his Addresses of Courtship obtain'd her and had four Sons by her Henry Richard Geoffry and John He design'd to leave to Henry the Crown of England to Richard the Provinces of Normandy Main Anjou and Tourain which fell to him by Succession from his Father and Mother and the Provinces of Guien and Poictou which he had in Marriage by his former Wife Eleanor Between these two young Princes and the two daughters of the most Christian King Lewis the 7th there was a solemn Treaty of Marriage and the King of England had Interest enough to bring both to effect John his 4th Son was design'd for Ecclesiastical Preferment so that a Match having been propos'd between the Heiress of Bretaign and the house of England she must now of necessity be married if to any to Geoffry King Henry's third Son In fine the was married to him upon considerations meerly Political for his person was no way taking with the young Lady but his death soon deliver'd her and left her to a second Marriage more to her content for she her self then made choice of Guy de Thouars a Knight the handsomest and bravest person of his Age by whom she had but one daughter her first Husband had left her big with Child of a Son nam'd Arthur whose death was the more unhappy for that he was depriv'd thereby of such an accumulation of Successions that of England and the French Provinces thereunto appendant fell to him by the death without Issue of his Fathers two Eldest Brothers and Bretaign being his at the same time in Right of his Mother he had doubtless in prospect had he liv'd the vastest Monarchy that had been known since the partage of the Imperial Dominion of Charles the Great but John sirnamed Lackland the only Uncle who surviv'd procur'd his death to get his Estate and by this means the daughter of Guy de Thouars became sole Heiress of the Earldom of Bretaign Philip the August who taking advantage of the villany of John Lackland had reunited the Dutchy of Normandy to the Crown of France pretended that since Henry these cond King of England had power as being Duke of Normandy to dispose of the Mother he both as Duke of Normandy and King of France together had so much the better Title to dispose of the daughter The branch of Dreux was at that time the most proper branch of the Royal Family his appennage was small he had neither Office nor Government his Alliances had not enrich'd him and it was to be fear'd he might lose his Rank for want of Estate as it hapned some time since to the branch of Cortenai supposing his publih'd Genealogy be altogether exact This made Philip the August the more willing to give the Heiress of Bretaign to Peter de Dreux with this Condition that Bretaign should henceforth be immediately held of the Crown of France that is to say that it should no more do homage to whoever should be Masters of Normandy in case that Province should ever be again dismembred from the Crown The Condition was advantagious to both the new married Parties since their Estates were now no longer held in arrier fiefs nor would depend for the time to come upon a single Duke of Normandy but only upon the first of Christian Kings Nor did any one receive prejudice by it in regard Normandy was reunited to the Crown No wonder then if Peter de Dreux and his Wife accepted gladly the Condition and observ'd it in all particulars But that soon befel the new Duke of Bretaign which is but too frequent with men of slender virtue that is to say he suffer'd himself to be drawn away and transported by this flowing Tide of good fortune The large Extent of this Country of Bretaign and its advantageous Situation gave it a very sufficient Title and Merit in this Princes opinion to an absolute and independent Sovereignty besides he was pleas'd to flatter himself with this conceit that his carrying on so high a design as the shaking of the French yoke would immortalize his Name to all Posterity which great undertaking the better to accomplish he was really perswaded that his siding with the Earl of Boulogne and his Party was as fair an opportunity as he could have wisht for taking it for granted that if the Earl succeeded he could do no less than remit his homage of Bretaign in recompense of his declaring for him In case he did not succeed the Regent in revenge that she might oblige those Princes of the blood who had taken part with him to desert him would be glad to condescend to what ever they should demand of her Thus the Duke of Bretaign turn'd Rebel upon false surmises with which he fed his fancy but the most cross and untoward occurrence in his Revolt was his drawing in upon a quite contrary principle his Brother Robert de Dreux This Person had a Soul so sensible of all benefits and so prone to grateful returns that he thought he could not better testifie the high obligation he had to the Duke of Bretaign for having left entire to him the Apennage of their branch than by serving him for or against whom soever he desir'd except the King Thus he put himself under the Banner of the Malecontents by a Motive the most excusable that ever was if any excuse can be admitted in matters of Treason The last Prince of the blood that the Earl of Boulogne drew in to his Party was Robert of Courtenay whom he found the more pliable to his Temptations by discontent because the branch of the Dreux had been preferr'd before his by the Match of Bretaign and to engage him the more deeply he had opportunity given him to make himself Master of certain summs of the Kings mony Raimond the 7th of that Name Earl of Tholouse sirnamed the young was before hand with the Malecontents to whom without staying for any Invitation from them he went and joyned of his own accord upon the first prospect he had of a civil war His main inducement to this proceeding for he had none of those pretences which the rest made use of was only to save himself by fishing in other mens troubled waters The Court of Rome whose Thunders ruin'd without Exception all those petty Princes upon whom they lighted was altogether inexorable toward this Prince and would not quit him of those Ecclesiastical Censures which had been pronounc'd against him though the refusal thereof was the greatest obstacle to the recovery of Languedoc This Interdiction had so powerful an ascendant upon his Subjects minds that they thought they might be very well
represented to them the greatness of the danger the King was in and the more effectually to move her audience she gave frequent interruptions to her Speech with tears and sobs and after she had thus mollified their hearts she prick'd them on with the thoughts of what immortal glory would attend them in being the Instruments of their Monarchs Preservation Moreover she gave them to understand how little hazard they would run provided they made haste since the Rebels who design'd to seize upon the King at the passage of Estampes would fall into their mouths without going farther the Colonels then having assur'd her that they would presently go and get their Companies together and hasten their March she provided experienc'd under-Officers to order and conduct them The Parisians arriv'd at Montleher sooner and with greater force then could have been imagin'd and having drawn up in a large Battalion they set the King in the midst of them and brought him back along with them to their Town before the Rebels had determin'd what measures were to be taken to oppose them But by the same way that the Earl of Champaign came to know their design they came to know that it was he who discover'd it to the Regent However the extraordinary desire which they had to be reveng'd of him did not yet so far blind them but that they foresaw it would be incomparably more advantageous for them to make use of the natural inconstancy of this Prince and to draw him once more over to their Party than unseasonably to endeavour his present mischief The Duke of Bretaign who had no Children but one Daughter whose beauty was charming enough to raise the drooping Spirits of an ill treated Lover had she not been endow'd besides with a Province of large Extent offer'd the Earl of Champaign provided he would take part with the League to put into his possession the Princess of Bretaign and to permit him either to espouse her himself or to bequeath her to some other Prince of his house This offer as advantageous as it was the Earl refus'd whether it were that he was not yet perswaded that the Regent consider'd him no otherwise then as a property to be made use of or as hoping the two last Services he had render'd her would produce at length the Effect which he had in vain expected by all his former assiduities once more he made his Love tryumph over his Ambition and all the fruit he drew from these Temptations was to advertise the Regent thereof to the end she should be sensible that if he yielded not she was the sole cause The Rebels more offended at his refusal than they had been at his deertion conceiv'd so implacable a malice against him that they left the Regent to her quiet and repose and resolv'd to turn their Arms against Champaign they conspire his ruine by a particular Treaty and as they foresaw that the Regent was too much oblig'd to abandon him to people whom he had not quitted but for her they found a pretext so plausible that she durst not apparently assist him without committing a notorious piece of Injustice Divine Providence had not utterly abandon'd the two Nieces of the Earl of Champaign though defrauded of their Right by their Uncle The Eldest nam'd Alice had the fortune to be married to Hugo de Lusignan the first of that Name King of Cyprus The goodness of Henry Father of this Princess doubtless procur'd her this Match and the Lord of Joinvile the most credible of all the Historians that write of St. Lewis hath a passage concerning this matter which it will not be from the purpose here to abbreviate Henry Earl of Champaign the Eldest Brother and Predecessor of Thibault was of so free and liberal a disposition to give to all sorts of People especially the poor that he was thence sirnam'd the Large that is to say large hearted or bountiful He had no particular Favourite only there was one Artaud a Citizen of Troyes who had insinuated into his familiarity whether it were that there was some conformity in their humours or that the Earl had the more consideration for Artaud in regard he was the richest of his Subjects One day when they were together at Church a poor Gentleman presented his two daughters to the Earl and besought him to bestow something upon them to marry them off They were handsome and of an Age so fully ripe for Marriage that in case they stay'd much longer unprovided for it was to be fear'd their virtue might be in danger Artaud knew well enough that the Prince his Exchequer was much exhausted and brought low and as he had many times taken upon him to answer for the said Earl without being thought ill of for his pains so upon this occasion he smartly told the Gentleman that the Earls Liberality had already brought him so low that he had hardly any thing left to give There is nothing so ungrateful to the quality of a Prince as Poverty and therefore nothing so ill to be brook'd by them as the reproach thereof The Earl now incens'd at the too much liberty or to say better sauciness of Artaud told him he lyed and that he had yet enough to give if it were but an Artaud and at the instant of his pronouncing the word Artaud he made signs to the Gentleman to seise upon the Citizen and to demand what Ransome for him he pleas'd The Gentleman accordingly took hold of him carryed him away to Prison and there detain'd him till he had paid 500 Livres which serv'd for Portions for the two Damsels The Rebels took hold of Count Henry's Liberality to concern themselves in his behalf to their own advantage maintaining that it was a thing not to be endur'd to see the Eldest Daughter of him who had reliev'd so many poor People kept out from her hereditary Estate and accordingly offer'd their assistance toward her reestablishment The Queen of Cyprus took them at their word and the Champaigneses seing them enter their Countrie with two Armies one commanded by the Duke of Bourgogne the other by Hugo de Lusignan Earl of March let open the gates of all their Towns before Earl Thibault could bring up the Army Royal to their succour The Rebels success gave them opportunity to take new measures they abandon'd all the pretence they had formerly made use of against the Regent and declar'd themselves her Majesties most humble Servants they protested they had taken Arms only to restore the Queen of Cyprus to that Estate she layd claim to they offer'd to lay down their Arms as soon as their most Christian Majesties should have beheld with satisfaction and approbation the reestablishment of this Princess and to decide the difference between her and her Uncle by a fair combate presuming there were no less than 300 Knights as well on the one side as the other Their Majesties accepted the submission of the Rebels with this reserve that they
large Province as long as he liv'd and let him know withal that she design'd nothing less than to keep the Princess his daughter out of her hereditary possession on the contrary she would take care to preserve it entire to her Posterity It was her opinion the Princess could not be better provided for than by being espous'd to Alphonso of France Earl of Poitou being of the same Age with her neither did she demand any other Security for the Earls performance of his word but that the Princess should be brought up at Court She insisted indeed to have the Articles of Marriage inserted in the Treaty of peace and thereby handsomly took occasion to have this one Article slip'd in viz. that in Case both the young married Persons should dye without Issue Languedoc should be again united to the Crown of France as indeed it hapned Her pretence for this Article was that no person might receive any prejudice since St. Lewis was to espouse the Eldest Daughter of the Earl of Provence presumptive Heiress of the Princess of Tholouse and in Truth she in such fort concerted this great Affair which gave jealousie to all the world that no body could find any cause to murmur at it The Earl of March by this means was gain'd and his only daughter contracted to John of France the King 's youngest Brother Thus the Earl of Bretaign was left alone in the League whose obstinacy was that he chose rather to be expos'd the sole Mark of all the French Forces now united together than to accept of those advantageous Conditions offer'd him by the Queen The very Civilities she shew'd him at a juncture of time when all things seem'd to conspire his ruine exasperated the spirit of this Capricious Person and because the Consciousness of his own guilt represented to him all kindnesses and good Offices done him as Counterfeit he consequently fancy'd what the Regent did to oblige him to be but meer Formality and done only to draw him into a farther snare and upon this false presumption he instantly went and treated with England The Regent was soon advertis'd hereof and resolv'd to lose no time in driving on the business to a Head the Winter began to come on very sharp and the time was overpast for setting out the English Fleet to Sea for the relief of Bretaign which was now brought to do Homage to the King of England the French encouraged by the presence of their most Christian Majesties went directly and after a short Siege took the Town of Anger 's which King Lewis the 8th having taken from the English had put into the hands of the Bretons The Queen had no sooner dispatch'd what she went about in Anjou but with the same Expedition and Diligence as she had march'd thither she return'd and laid close Siege to Belesme the Capital City of Perch and the strongest place the Enemy then had It was thought impregnable but the Rams and other Engines of Battery having at last thrown down the Walls made it appear to be otherwise The besieged came to Capitulation but not till such time as the Besiegers were almost tir'd with continual labour for they had as hard a task to defend themselves from the rigours of the Season as from the Arms of the besieged the extremity of Cold causing such a Paralytick Distemper among them that those affected therewith could hardly escape death the only way was to sit basking continually by a good fire side Thus through one or other obstacle their Majesties found it a difficult matter to march their Army into Bretaign and this probably was the main Reason why they sought out another Expedient for the putting an end to the War The Regent sent to the Nobility of Bretaign and represented to them that their Lands would certainly be laid waste if they did not immediately put themselves under the Kings Protection that the danger she warn'd them of was very near at hand and that their Duke would not be able to help them then she made her Address to the Parliament of France and requir'd to have Bretaign put into the King's hands the Parliament yielded to her demand and acquitted this Province of their Homage to their Duke who thereupon was depriv'd of the principal Refuge he had to trust to and his Troops now no longer consisting of such Gentlemen as held of him by any Tenure of Land drop'd away by degrees and were all dispierc'd in a short time He was driven in fine to this Dilemma either to keep himself shut up in some strong Town or to pass over into England the first of these two extreams would infallibly bereave him of his Liberty if not of Life also the second by forcing him to quit his Party would reduce him to a private Condition Those who by chance or accidentarrive to Sovereignty more grievously resent a fall than those whom a natural Title and the Laws have invested with a power of Reigning Thus streightned and perplex'd he resolv'd at a Venture to submit to whatever the Regent would impose upon him and in Conclusion came off with the Surrendry of the Lands which the house of Bretaign possess'd in France besides the Dutchy and giving in Security both for himself and his Heirs that the said Dutchy should from that time forward never hold of any but the Crown of France The firname of Mauclerk stuck upon him to future Ages for having so ill taken his measures with the French Rebels and with the English that in the end he was left alone to bear the whole bront of the Controversie And now Queen Blanch had no more to trouble or obstruct the quiet administration of Her Regency but through the vain Attempts of those that labour'd to oppose Her was so much the more strongly fix'd and establish'd therein FINIS A Catalogue of some Novels and Plays Printed for R. Bentley and S. Magnes NOVELS 1 ZElinda a Fam'd Romance 2 Happy Slave in three Parts 3 Count Brion 4 Count Gabales 5 Hatag or the Amours of the King of Tamaran 6 Madam Lavalier and the King of France 7 Madam and the Duke of Guise 8 Madam Colonna's Memoires 9 Queen of Majork two Parts 10 Don Sebastian King of Portugal 11 Heroine Musquetier 12 Princess of Cleves 13 Obliging Mistress 14 Fatal Prudence 15 Princess of Fez. 16 Disorders of Love 17 Triumph of Love 18 Victorious Lovers 19 Almanzor and Almanzaida 20 Earl of Essex and Qu. Elizabeth 21 Neopolitan or the Defender of his Mistress 22 Nicostratis 23 Amorous Abbess 24 Homais Queen of Tunis 25 Pilgrim in two Parts 26 Meroveus Prince of the Blood Royal of France 27 Life of the Duke of Guise 28 Extravagant Poet. 29 Memoires Gallant 30 Instruction for a Young Noble Man PLAYS 1 Tartuff or the French Puritan 2 Forc'd Marriage or the Jealous Bridegroom 3 English Monsieur 4 All mistaken or the Mad Couple 5 Generous Enemies or the Ridiculous Lovers 6 The Plain-Dealer 7 Sertorius a Tragedy 8 Nero a Tragedy 9 Sophonisba or Hannibal's Overthrow 10 Gloriana or the Court of Augustus Caesar 11 Alexander the Great 12 Mithridates King of Pontus 13 Oedipus King of Thebes 14 Caesar Borgia 15 Theodosius or the Force of Love 16 Madam Fickle or the Witty False One. 17 The Fond Husband or the Plotting Sisters 18 Esquire Old-Sap or the Night-Adventures 19 Fool turn'd Critick 20 Virtuous Wife or Good Luck at last 21 The Fatal Wager 22 Andromache 23 Country Wit 24 Calisto or the Chaste Nymph 25 Destruction of Jerusalem in two Parts 26 Ambitious Statesman or the Loyal Favourite 27 Misery of Civil War 28 The Murder of the Duke of Glocester 29 Thyestes a Tragedy 30 Hamlet Prince of Denmark a Tragedy 31 The Orphan or the Unhappy Marriage 32 The Soldiers Fortune 33 Tamerlain the Great 34 Mr. Limberham or the Kind Keeper 35 Mistaken Husband 36 Notes of Morocco by the Wits 37 Essex and Elizabeth or the Unhappy Favourite 38 Virtue Betray'd or Anna Bullen 39 King Leir 40 Abdellazor or the Moor's Revenge 41 Town-Fop or Sir Tim. Tawdery 42 Rare en tout a French Comedy 43 Moor of Venice 44 Country Wife 45 City Politicks 46 Duke of Guise 47 Rehearsal 48 King and no King 49 Philaster or Love lies a Bleeding 50 Maids Tragedy 51 Grateful Servant 52 Strange Discovery 53 Atheist or the Second Part of the Soldiers Fortune 54 Wit without Money 55 Little Thief 56 Valiant Scot. 57 Constantine 58 Valentinian 59 Amorous Prince 60 Dutch Lovers 61 Woman Rules 62 Reformation 63 Hero and Leander 64 Love-Tricks 65 Julius Caesar 66 Fatal Jealousie 67 Monsieur Ragou FINIS