this matter She undertook her self the Office of Nurse to this dear Son of hers not thinking it safe for where most Love is there is most jealousie and suspicion he should suck of any other Milk than her own upon this there hapned a Rencountre which being not elsewhere to be found though perhaps purposely omitted as beneath the Gravity of History cannot handsomly be here pass'd by One day when she had a violent hot fit of an Ague upon her which also lasted longer than Ordinary a Lady of Quality who either to please her Majesty or in imitation of her had taken upon her to nurse her own Son being then present and seeing the little Infant cry for the Teat took upon her the boldness to give him the Breast the Queen when the fit was over call'd for her Child and offer'd him her own Breast but the Infant put it by either because having suckt so lately he was fully satisfied or because the fresh Milk he had lately tasted made him the more sensible of the burning heat of that which his Mother now offer'd him The Reason was easie to be guess'd and the Queen her self suspected what had hapned She pretended an impatient desire of returning her thanks to the person who had oblig'd her by being so kind to her Child during her Indisposition The Lady hereupon expecting no doubt to be a Favourite own'd what she had done and told the Queen that the crying of the Infant so sensibly touch'd her that she could not forbear to give it what Relief was in her power But the Queen instead of returning her the thanks she expected cast a most disdainful look upon her and thrusting her singer into his mouth forc'd him to give up all he hadreceiv'd from her Breast This violent Carriage of the Queen gave surprise to all that beheld it whereupon not to hold them long in suspence the Queen told them they ought not to think strange of what they had seen for that she could not possibly endure that any Woman alive should have a Right to dispute with her the Quality of a Mother so stedfast her perswasion was that the nursing of Children is a great part of their Education Other Particularities of the Education of St. Lewis are not known only in general it is not unknown how great Care was taken to place such persons about him as were most capable to instruct him but however these persons were it may without any injustice to them be strongly presum'd their Abilities were not sufficient for the high Province they were set in it being in an Age when men of greatest Fame for Literature were but very indifferently learned and in a Kingdom whose Nobility at time lay under the scandal of that gross Ignorance besides that St. Lewis came too soon to the Crown to have that leisure and opportunity which were necessary for a serious Application to study He was not above twelve years and about ten dayes over of Age when his Father King Lewis the 8th who had not reign'd in France above three years resign'd him his place by an accident whose Circumstances have not been to this day sufficiently made known The most potent Feudatary of the French Monarchy next to the King of England was at that time Tibault the third who Matthew Paris calls Henry Earl of Champaign Brie Chartres and Blois the Sovereignty of which Estates had been in his Family above 400 Years and it was no less then 300 Years since one of his Ancestors got himself immortal Fame by compelling the last King of Burgundy for the putting a stop to the persecution then on foot to resign his Crown to the Emperor Conrade This Prince of all the Princes of Christendom of that time had the greatest Alliances his Mother being the Daughter and Heiress of the King of Navarre his Grandmother Sister of Philip the August King of France his great Grandmother Princess of England and her Mother of the Imperial House of Suevia He was of a large Stature handsome well made valiant and active Especially at the Exercise of the Lance which was then an Exercise and Divertisement much in use and Esteem but withal he was extreamly subject to passions which of all others are most incident to persons of his Quality and Grandure and that in so high a degree that it was hard to distinguish which was most predominant He was born a younger Brother but waited not long before he became the Eldest his Brother dying without Male Issue the Orphan Princesses he left behind found their Uncle instead of a Protector the greatest Enemy and Persecutor they had Nor had he accepted of the Tuition of them but only to gain an opportunity thereby of invading their Estates which he delay'd no longer to do then till he had made himself Master of all their strong holds The pretence he made use of to palliate his Injustice was too weak to have ever been made use of before in the like Case Namely that the Earldoms of Champaign Brie Chartres and Blois were Fiefs purely Masculine that is to say so firmly entail'd upon the Martial or Arm-bearing Sex as not to admit of any Woman whatsoever though Married to the General of an Army No less Criminal was this Earl in his amorous Inclination nor did this passion of his tend less to evil Consequences the respect he ow'd to Lewis the 8th his Sovereign and the honour he had of being so nearly related to him not restraining him from loving Queen Blanch beyond the Limits of honour and decency and whether it were that he gave way to Presumption equally with Love or that his Passion was moreover degenerated into folly or that he had entertain'd an Opinion that Secrecy would more avail to the heighthning than suppressing of his Malady or lastly that the Queens Virtue had driven him to despair he not only took no care to hide the fury of his amorous Flame but on the contrary sought all extravagant ways imaginable to proclaim it to the World he spent a great part of his time in making Love-songs savouring more of a flashy wit than of a true Elegance or Spirit of Poetry these he made it his business to get presented to the Queen he caus'd them to be compos'd to Musick and sung to all sorts of Instruments and either to keep them from growing out of date as it generally happens when the Novelty of a thing is over or that their Memory of them might survive both the Author and the Princess for whom they were made he had them grav'd in Copper and expos'd to the sight of the whole world in the Galleries of his Palaces at Troye and Provence as if he were afraid least future Ages should be unacquainted with his folly or the time he liv'd in should want a fit Subject for Satyre Such was the excessive heighth of his Imprudence which the King was not then in a Condition to chastise he thought it better to pretend Ignorance
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
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
than to manifest his weakness by unprofitable marks of Anger The English were then in Arms for the recovery of those French Provinces which Philip the August had taken from them and France could not have hindred had the Forces which were rais'd to oppose them been disunited He stood in need of the Aid of all his Feudataries and the revolt of this Count alone had been enough to ruine the whole design Thus was the King constrain'd to carry himself toward his Rival as Criminal as he was and the Event prov'd that his Majesty had taken if not the most honourable yet at least the most profitable Expedient The Earl who was a person sufficiently Valiant had brought a considerable Addition to the French Army of choice Troops all consisting of his own Vassals and fought like a true Lover of that Age that is to say he had the Vanity to expose himself to the greatest of dangers for the Love of his Lady The English whom he was the forwardest to attaque were driven to stand upon their desence and the Towns of Niort and St. John d'Angeli which they had lately recover'd were again taken from them by force the Town of Rochel to avoid plundering submitted to the French so that at last the English disheartned by so many misfortunes were glad of a Truce The King was the more willing to agree to it as desirous to lose no occasion for the reuniting to his Realm the largest of those Provinces which had been dissever'd from it ever since the declining of the second Race Simon Earl of Monfort the greatest and most fortunate Captain of his Age had gain'd Languedoc from several petty Albigensian Princes who at that time had possess'd it but Amaureus his Son could not keep it the Albigenses recover'd again the best part of it and Amaureus chose rather to give up the rest for the Constable's Staff of France than to stand out till he was depriv'd of all without any Recompence He had yielded up his Right to the most Christian King and his Majesty being engag'd in this War as well for his own proper Interest as those of Religion had a Rendezvous in Berry of all the Forces he could bring together as well his own as those of his Feudataries with which he sate down before the Town of Avignon where the Albigenses after they were forc'd to quit the Field had brought the choice of all their Troops There was no want in the Town either of Provision or any warlike Accomodations which were then in use nor were the French without Intelligence thereof yet they desisted not from attacquing the place but by Reason of the death of the famous Guy Earl of St. Paul to whom they had been oblig'd for the victory of Bovines and of the wounding of 4000 of their men besides 2000 more slain in the ditches they were forc'd to change the Siege into a Blockade The Besieged for all this were soon brought to a Capitulation and the King found therein the Keys of all the Albigensian Towns except those of Tholouse the Year was too far advanc'd and the Souldiers too much tir'd to begin a new Siege Besides it was impossible the French Cavalry could subsist about Tholouse in regard the Albigenses had plough'd all the Meadows thereabout However it was thought expedient not to lye at too great a distance from the place for two several Reasons the one to hinder the Spaniards from drawing together those succours which they had promis'd to the Albigenses the other because the French Army consisting chiefly of those Troops which the Feudataries of the Crown had levied had they been suffer'd to march home the Spring and the best part of Summer so tardy must their return have been by reason of the length of the way would have been gone before they could have turn'd to the Siege of Tholouse Upon this account it was that the King resolv'd to take up his Winter Quarters in the Neighbouring Provinces to Languedoc and had his Head-quarters at Mont a Castle scituate upon the Frontiers of Auvergne The design was new there had scarce been any Example thereof since the Reign of the third Race in France however it might have been the occasion of shrew'd Inconveniences and the Feudataries had infallibly oppos'd it should the King have gone about to put it in execution without having first obtain'd their consent in a Council of War It was in a full Council that the King discours'd them concerning this Affair but in such Terms as on the one side represented how absolutely necessary it was for the whole Army to quarter in those places on the other side testified the high Satisfaction he should take in gaining their Consents he wanted but little of his desire all the Feudataries gave their hands except the Earl of Champaign the Queen then resided at Paris and the Court was no longer able to endure her absence He thought himself sure of seeing her within a very short time And you may well imagine how it would relish with the most impatient of all men living to meet with a fresh Rencountre that should debar him the sight of his Mistress a whole Year longer Thus netled therefore as he was I am not said he in a full Council against the Complaisance of the rest of the Feudataries but for my own part I think it just to stand so far upon my Rights and Priviledges as to draw off my Troops into Brie This Answer seem'd to proceed from nothing but a haughty proud Resolution but the King was not so slow of apprehension as not to pierce into the true Reason His Majesty had just cause enough of anger against him upon such an occasion as had the rest follow'd his Example might have prov'd of fatal Consequence and left him abandon'd of all nor could he refrain from reproaching the Earl for this Affront and threatning him if he persisted longer in these Expressions to fall into his Territories with Fire and Sword The Earl who hated the King no less than he lov'd the Queen pretended that his Majesty ought to have shew'd some kind of respect toward him and have treated him rather as an Equal than as a Vassal since he was Heir to a Crown that he ought to take notice of those Menaces as serious and not words of Course considering what extremity the Kings obstinate humour had transported him to he being too exact an observer of his word in such Cases It was indeed above an Age since Brie and Champaign had been absolutely free from all the Calamities of War and such was the plenty in general of the whole Country that the French Army might have found very good Quarters there had it stood with the Interest of the Kings Affairs This Crime was the most hainous of any the Earl had been yet tax'd with but it will appear by what hath been already said that he was no Novice in committing the blackest of Enormities Moreover his imagination agitated
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
excus'd from acknowledging him their Prince with whom they were forbidden to have any Communication or Correspondence insomuch as all the relief and assistance he could get was from those infected with the Albigensian Heresie This sort of people were at that time not so numerous as the Catholicks and should the Regent take Tholouse the Capital City of that Country there would be no possibility of the Counts reestablishment So that by thus engaging himself with the Malecontents he thought on the one side let the worst come to the worst he could not be more unfortunate than he was in that wretched Estate to which h ehad been reduc'd on the other side the least success should attend his Party would conduce to the recovery of his lost Estate The Earl of Provence a Prince equally considerable and his Cousin of the house of Catalogue came in last of the French into the Earl of Bolognes Party led by Motives which only concern'd him at a distance for he had no reason to complain either of the most Christian Kings in general or of the Regent in particular against whom he could be no otherwise incens'd than by those too deep reflections he made upon what might happen for the future the French as he thought border'd too near upon Provence their Neighbourhood rendred them suspected to him when the French had a victorious King at the head of them his fear of being entangled in his Cousins Ruine kept him back from aiding him against them but after that this Warlike Prince was taken off by Death he thought that though he could not yet with safety pluck off his Vizard quite and have recourse to open Arms in defence of the Earl of Tholouse who was yet but half ejected he might at least securely act under-hand so as to engage them the sooner in a Civil War which was in a manner already begun to the end he might give Advantage to the said Earl to recover Languedoc without being Oblig'd to any one but himself The greatest part of the Princes and Nobility of France being thus corrupted by the Artifices above-mentioned the Earl of Boulogne's Faction was in all appearance strong enough not to stand in need of the help of strangers yet nevertheless it was resolv'd no Aids should be refus'd of how little necessity soever as if it were not enough for France to be torn in pieces by its own Hands but it must also borrow those of the most Ancient and Formidable Enemy King Henry the Third of England was a great Master-piece of Fortune that is to say he was equally an Object of her favourS and her frowns he had for his Father a Homicide an Atheist a Person dethron'd and under all Ecclesiastical Censures which followed him so close he could neither get Food nor Harbour but in places and among People where he was not known The Son had his share in all these Calamities but they attended him no longer than during the Life of him who had drawn them upon his own Head God who when he goes about to punish Crimes hath an Eye upon the principal Actors took pity on the House of England As soon as this Monster which it brought forth was cut off Providence was particularly concern'd for Henry the Third the Innocent Son of this so Criminal Father and settled him in the Throne of England when there was not the least likelyhood he should ever ascend it and this Affair which seem'd altogether impossible by all the Intrigues of Policy was brought to pass almost in a moment and that without either Trouble or Molestation or Expence or Blood There remain'd nothing now but to recover those Provinces of France which had been won from England by Philip the August And Henry thought now to compass that without striking a stroak which he in vain attempted by force of Arms in the Reign of King Lewis the 8th viz. the re-uniting those Provinces to the Crown of England and that by pretending to take part with the Seditious French supposing the Regent finding it impossible to oppose him and at the same time to defend her self from those that went about to degrade her would immediately upon notice of his Landing in France with a puissant Army seek for an Accommodation and offer him all that had been taken from the English on Condition he would turn those Arms against the Rebels which he had design'd for their assistance So that he had no sooner receiv'd the Earl of Boulogne's Message which was meerly to sift out of him whether or no he inclin'd to concern himself in the bickerings which were beginning in France but he rais'd a far more puissant Army than any of his Predecessors had ever led against any of the most Christian Kings moreover under pretence of Obliging the Male-contents the more he undertook to Command the Army in Person and to be at all the Charges of Levying and Transporting sporting it but the real truth is his going in Person was rather to hinder them from Treating with him by Writing choosing rather by his Personal presence to have an Ear open to such Propositions as he presum'd the Regent would soon make to him Behold here the whole Foundation of the League concerted under the Minority of St. Lewis never was there any one so Potent or so cunningly driven on since the establishment of the French Monarchy nor can the Abilities of Queen Blanch be any way better understood or express'd than by the recounting of those Intrigues by which she wound her self out of the most troublesome Exigences that ever Heroick Vertue was reduc'd to and made a shift to preserve the Crown in all its lustre for the King her Son The Male-contents had carried their Affairs with so much precaution and Secrecy that the Court had not the least Intelligence of them and all the suspicion the Regent had was only grounded upon two actions subject enough to a dubious construction the one was the great care which the Earl of Bologne took to Fortifie Calais the Town of his Apennage and the usual place of Landing for the English The other was the re-inforcement of the Garisons which the Duke of Bretaign had put at the request of the late King into the Castles of St. James Beuron and Belesm As there was just reason to apprehend that these two Innovations happened not but upon some Mysterious account the Regent took an occasion hereupon immediately to bethink her self of her own safety and not knowing as yet either the number or the quality of those that had combin'd for her Destruction all that her Prudence could suggest to her was to give Order to those Military Officers who had most eminently testified their Fidelity to her Husband to raise what possible Force they could 'T is hard to resolve whether it were by Choice or good hap that matters succeeded according to her wish but this is certain that they acquitted themselves like Men of Honour in the Commissions she gave
them and brought their Troops timely enough into the Field to save the State by preventing the Earl of Bologne from seizing upon his Nephew the Young King and by an Action so seasonable even to finish the War as soon as it was begun The Earl thus frustrated of his first Design fore-saw that it would not be so easie a matter as he first fancy'd to himself to Degrade his Sister-in-Law wherefore the better to make sure of his Accomplices he endeavour'd by all means possible to make them irreconcileable with the Regent He knew where the greatest part of the Kings Treasure was kept and there it was that he made his second Effort accordingly he seiz'd on it and distributed it to those of his Party with this Condition that those who were nearest to him should have the greatest share This done he led them towards Calais there to joyn the King of England who following the measures he had taken from the Male-contents was to make his Descent at that very time But there is nothing so uncertain as the managing of great Enterprizes by reason of that general concourse of different Causes whereupon they depend for success The Regent lost neither her Courage nor her Judgment at a conjuncture when on the one side she had little or nothing to hope for and on the other very much to fear Never was there known to come out of her Mouth either Complaint or Reproach She knew exactly the bad condition of her Affairs and used all the Art of Dissimulation she was capable of to conceal what she thought for fear of discouraging those faithful Persons she had remaining about her She guess'd at the Earl of Bologne's Design from the very moment he took his March and wisely gain'd her Advantage by the needless stop he made in Eureux for the hindring of his passage Moreover as she concluded that France was in all likelyhood inevitably lost if the Male-contents should joyn the English she had recourse to an Artifice which I cannot but stand astonish'd that no Historians ever yet made mention of There was in England a Person named Hubert de Bourg so considerable in all respects that he was equall'd by no Man either in Favour or Merit he had a Wit beyond the Common rate and his shape was such as what Poets use to attribute to Heroes He was at once both the most accomplish'd Cavalier and the most expert Captain of his Nation and never was there English-man a truer Lover and more Zealous Patriot of his Countrey He served both King and Kingdom to that degree that both had an equal share of Obligation to him It was by him that the Crown had been preserv'd in the Family of the Plantagenets and that England had not been made a Province to the Crown of France He defended to the utmost Normandy and Guien against Philip the August and had successively in the chief places of both these Provinces held out long Sieges and by his obstinate Resistance ruined whole Armies never yielding to come to Capitulation till such time as the very Horses were all eaten up Even the French his Enemies both admiring and honouring him for his Valour thought they could never enough commend him when they saw him here in England and how just their Commendations were he ceas'd not afterwards to give them fresh demonstrations since he alone it was who snatch'd out of Prince Lewis his hands the Conquest of this Island He it was who by his Gallantry recovered the Town of Dover and Defended it with that perseverance that all the French Forces sent against it were not able to re-take it He afterwards beat them twice once at Lincoln another time before Bedford In fine he it was who having dispos'd the English to acknowledge him set King Henry upon his Throne And as the Obligation of this King Henry was very great so His Majesties care and study to recompense him was no less he confer'd upon him all the Principal Offices in the State except that of High Admiral for he was Grand Marshal Lord High Treasurer and Chief Justiciary all at one time He bad the Charge of the Transportation of those Troops which were design'd for France which Trust while he was discharging with his ordinary care and vigilance he received at that very juncture a Present of 5000 Marks of Silver with a Letter which neatly and wittily rallied upon his Vanity by insinuating to him that to make himself the most Illustrious Person that ever England bore he who had lately settled the Crown of England upon the Head of Young King Henry his Master maugre all the Force of France ought now to make it his next business to set the Crown also upon the Head of the Young King of France against all the united Forces both of his own Subjects and of England The weakness of Humane Nature never discovers it self more plainly than when in a moment it yields to lesser Temptations when at other times it hath for a long while withstood greater This was the Case of Du Bourg who after he had been inflexible to the vast Offers of Philip the August and Lewis the 8th suffered himself at last to be overcome with a petty Present and a poor frivolous bait of Vain glory offered him by a Foreign Princess He Equipp'd forth but half the number of Ships necessary for the Transportation of the English Army and when the Noblemen who had almost all in general provided to attend the King personally in this Expedition came to Dover to see their Goods dispos'd of on board the Ships there was not room nor Convenience found for them nor could it be doubted but that either the Knavery or Negligence of Du Bourg was the cause whereupon immediately Complaint was carried to the King Du Bourg was sent for to give an account to His Majesty but when he came he made so lame a Defence for himself that the King incens'd against him called him Old Traytor and drawing his Sword had certainly run him through the Body had not the Earl of Chester an intimate Friend of Du Bourg put by the thrust and given Opportunity to other Persons interested in the Fortune of this Favourite to interpose in his behalf and to avert His Majesties displeasure for the present In the next place they made him keep out of the way till such time as they had made his Peace which was not long for the King however touch'd in the most sensible and incurable part namely that of Ambition yet in the end suffer'd himself to be convinc'd that the old Obligations he had to this his Favourite ought to weigh with him more than the injury lately committed He gave him his Pardon freely and in some time receiv'd him into his wonted Grace and Faour The Regent encourag'd with the success of her first Project namely her obstructing with so much ease the passage of the English Army over into France put in execution a second Design as no
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
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
were to have the Sovereign decision of the affair in hand after they had try'd all ways which their prudence should suggest to them to bring the Parties to agreement but that above all things it was expected his most Christian Majesty should be invested with the Right of Sequestration that is should have the Title of all the Estates in Controversie deposited in his Royal hands The Rebels who found that this Expedient would not turn to any account to them rejected it and the Regent sent Forces enough into Champaign to dislodge the Earls Enemies She foresaw in the end that in pronouncing a definitive Sentence upon so nice a Process her Authority and Reputation would be much expos'd and brought into danger for that if her Sentence were favourable to the Earl of Champaign all the French would be ready to tax he of notorious Injustice especially if she should make it her business in this affair to serve her pretended Lover all the Satyrical wits would begin to let fly at her with more fury than before on the other side if she should decree the Queens reestablishment in her Estate of the house of Champaign she would be liable to be censur'd of Ingratitude toward Count Thibault to whom she ow'd her Regency at least if not her Life In short which way soever she gave her Sentence all outward appearances conduce to this perswasion that the Arrest would be subject to a review because otherwise the Duke of Bretaign and the rest of the revolted Peers would not have been assistant in it so that the business could not but go well on the fair one's side and this the Regent brought the better about by a trick which in brief was as followeth She represented to the Queen of Cyprus that the Rebels sending for her was but to make her endure a long continuance of affliction after a short flash of joy for that no sooner should she be put into the possession of her Fathers Estate by their means but she would be driven out again and that she plainly foresaw the Rebels would not be in a capacity of restoring her the second time wherefore since her engaging with them would signifie so little to her there remain'd but one Expedient by which if she would take her advice she might come off with honour That she had but one Son who in regard he was oblig'd to reside in Cyprus would not be able to preserve the Inheritance of Champaign any long time though she her self should leave the peaceable possession of it to him that her daughters would never find Matches in Cyprus answerable to their quality that therefore it would be much better for her by yielding to an accomodation with Count Thibault to receive a present summ of mony and such a portion of Land in France as would put her into a capacity of matching her daughters into Sovereign houses than by standing out to be reduc'd to a Condition of having nothing to give them The Queen of Cyprus was not without those failings which are usual with persons of little or no experience in the World she despair'd of ever bringing to pass those affairs in which she was bauk'd at first and had too much impatience in the midst of ill fortune to wait the turning of the Tide She had entertain'd a belief that it was not the will of God she should ever be Countess of Champaign because she had twice in vain made her pretensions to it and in the heat of this perswasion she consented to a Treaty without communicating the affair to any of those that had been the occasion of sending for her over into France She was contented to accept of 40000 Livres of ready mony and the Counties of Brienne and Joigni for all she pretended to of her Fathers and Mothers Estates Earl Thibault was not so indiscreet to refuse an agreement which was of such advantage to him but he wanted money and the summ he was to raise was so considerable that his Subjects harrass'd by the quartering of so great Forces as had lately been among them were not able to furnish him and no less unable to assist him were the rest of the Feudataries his friends so that if it were any where to be had it must be had out of the Kings Exchequer but the Regent was too prudent to take any thing out from thence but upon very good Terms and what ever obligations she and the King her Son had to the Earl when all things came to be weigh'd in the ballance of Truth it would easily appear that he had done them as much harm as good having poison'd the Father of the one and the Husband of the other His power too great for any Vassal gave him the boldness to commit this crime and the only way to be reveng'd on him for it was to reduce him to such a Condition that his Successours should never dare to have any thoughts of the like attempts as not being able to execute them with Impunity In short the design in hand was to weaken the house of Champaign and this present occasion was too favourable to be neglected The Regent waited the time when this Summ should be desir'd of her and when the business was mov'd she made answer she was ready to lend provided such Security were given for the repayment thereof as was fit to be accepted by a King's Mother and Governess The Earl offer'd her Majesty to engage those Counties he possess'd in the heart of the Kingdom but it was answer'd him that this kind of Engagement would be subject to grand Inconveniences and hazards both as to the repaiment of Principal and Interest and the care which was to be had to repair wastes and make Improvements that it became a Governess to avoid as much as possibly she could all kind of Embarasments in the affairs of her Pupil In fine if the Earl had a mind to sell she was willing rather to purchase than to lend mony The Earl saw well enough that they went about to ruine him in so subtile a manner as that he should have no certain foundation or pretence of complaint he was a man of too much sense and spirit not to be troubled to see himself thus dealt with and to find by these proceedings that the Regent was far from ever having any inclination for him but it was no time now to declare his resentment and he foresaw that in case he refus'd to relinquish a part of his Inheritance he should be sure to lose all Upon which he consented to sell the King his Earldoms of Charters Blois and Sancerre and the Viscountship of Chateaudun and out of the money of this sale Her Majesty deducted 40000 Livres which she paid immediately to the Queen of Cyprus The Rebels by this Transaction being frustrated of the pretence they had of treating the Earl as an Enemy and on the other side not being able easily to resolve upon forgiving him found out another Expedient