the Rhine and take away the Lands they had bestowed on them in Gaul or at least a good part of it It is not certain whether this hapned in the last year of the Reign of Pharamond or the First of that of Clodion Year of our Lord 428 In this year they date the death of Pharamond who by that account had Reigned Ten years They know not his Acts the place of his Burial the Name of his Wife nor of his Children excepting Clodion who succeeded him An antient Chronicle gives him the Glory of setling the Salique Law by Four antient Lords and says they laboured in it for three Malles or Assizes It is called Salique from the Name of the Saliens the Noblest of the French People Clodion the Hairy OR Long Locks King II. POPES CELESTINE I. Three years SIXTUS III. The 26th of April 432. S. Eight years Year of our Lord 428 HE was Surnamed the Hairy or Long Locks because in my opinion he first brought in a custom that Kings and those of their Blood should wear Long Hair well Combed and Curled not only on the top of their Heads as all the Princes of this Nation had done before him but likewise on the hinder part The rest of the French had all their Hair cut round a little beneath their Ears Year of our Lord 431 It is not known whether there were yet left them any Land in Gaul It is certain that Clodion in the beginning of his Reign Inhabited beyond the Rhine and that he marched over it in the year 431. to make an irruption but he was beaten and driven back by Aetius He contained himself some years without undertaking any thing making his Residence at the Castle of Disparg on the other side of the Rhine but being informed by his Spies that there were no Garrisons in the Towns of Belgica Secunda he went thither in great diligence with his People and keeping his March private by the Forest Charbonniere which is Haynault made himself Master of Bavay and Cambray and some other adjacent places The English Saxons subdue Great Britain They had been called in by the natural Inhabitants who being forsaken by the Romans had set up Kings of their own Nation and those Kings did not find themselves strong enough to oppose the Picts and the Scots which were People inhabiting the Mountainous Countreys now called Scotland The English gave the name of England to their Conquest and set up seven Principalities of little Kingdoms which in the end were Vnited into one The Britains or Inhabitants of Great Britain being tormented with these Barbarians got together in great numbers and passed into Gallia Armorica It was then the Romans who suffered them to settle in the Countrey of Vennes and Cornualles and having in process of time extended themselves to the Bishoprick of Treguier and Leon and even to the Loire and the Confines of Anjou they gave the Name of Bretagne to that Province which it retains to this day Year of our Lord 133 The Burgundians a People of Germany or Scythia for there were of them both in the one and the other after they had remained a long time on the borders of the Rhine in Germania Prima obtained the Countrey adjoyning to Geneva of the Romans and there multiplied so much in a short time that they seized on the Province of Vienne on that of the Sequani and of the First Lyonnoise They had received the Christian Faith in Ann. 430. by the Preaching of St. Sever Bishop of Treves but some years after they fell into the Arian Heresie There were then Five several Dominations in Gaul the Romans the French the Visigoths the Burgundians and the Bretons Clodion pursuing his Conquests during the extream confusion of the affairs of the â—mpire received a great check by the valour of Aetius in the Countrey of Artois near to Vicus Helena perhaps it is Lens Nevertheless Aetius having Year of our Lord Towards 444. too much to do elsewhere did not wholly destroy him so that recovering Breath he made himself Master of Artois and enlarged his Dominion as far as the Soame having taken the City of Amiens which was his Royal Seat and of Meroveus also He likewise sent saith a Modern Author his eldest Son to besiege the City of Soissons where that Prince having lost his Life the Father was so touched that he died for Grief after he had Reigned Twenty years It was about the end of the year 447. having before constituted Meroveus Tutor to his Sons Year of our Lord 447 It is certain he left two and I find they were named Clodebaud and Clodomir Some of the Moderns give him Three whom they call Renaud Auberon and Ragnacaire and from Auberon they make Ansbert the Senator to be descended and from Male to Male Pepin First King of the Second Race But for Ansbert others have proved that he was issued of the Family of Tonnance Ferreole Prefect of the Gauls Pretorian Meroveus or Merovee King III. From whom the Kings of the First Race have taken the Name of Merovignians POPE LEO I. The 10th of May 440. S. 21 years 3. in the following Reign Year of our Lord 448 ACCording to most Authors who were nearest to these times he was not Son to Clodion but only of his Kindred It is said that his Mother bathing her self on the Sea-side a Sea-Bull came out of the Water and made her Pregnant with this Prince This Fable seems to be grounded upon the Name because Mer-veich signifies a Sea-Calfe Now whether he were only Tutor to Clodions Children or otherwise the French Elected him for their King or General Commander This was in the City of Amiens The Children of Clodion having been deprived of the paternal Succession their Mother carried them beyond the Rhine where it seems they disputed amongst themselves about that part of their Succession but in time that came likewise to Meroveus we know not how After Attilla King of the Huns who caused himself to be named the Scourge of GOD had pillaged all the Provinces of the Empire in the East and had killed his Brother Bleda to invade his Kingdom he would likewise needs plunder those of the West He crossed the Panonias and Germany entred into Gaule with 500000 Combatants under pretence of going to attaque the Visigoths in Aquitain and after he had sacked and burnt Mets Triers Tongres Arras and all those Cities that lay in his March he passed along by Paris and came and besieged Orleans The Town had already capitulated and part of his Forces were entred when Aetius General of the Romans Meroveus King of the French and Theodoric King of the Visigoths having joyned their Armies together charged them unawares and drove them thence paving all the Streets with their slain Year of our Lord 448 A little while afterwards they gave him Battle in Campis Catalaunicis which is interpreted the Plain of Chaalons in Champagne but some imagine with probability that it
a Truce upon pain of Excommunication he made Reply That he took no Rule or Law from any one in the Government of his Kingdom and that the Pope had in this case no right but to Exhort and Advise not to Command This was the first occasion of Enmity betwixt these two great Powers Year of our Lord 1296 There were two more almost at the same time The one that Boniface received the Complaints of the Earl of Flanders who implored his Justice because Philip denied to restore his Daughter to him The other for that he erected the Abby of St. Antonine de Pamiez to a Bishoprick and put the Abbot of St. Antonine into it Observe en passant that this City was other while called Fredalas King Philip was offended at this Erection and more yet with the choice of the Bishop his name was Bernard Saisset because he believed him a Factious Man and too much devoted to Boniface Nor would he suffer him to take possession and therefore Lewis Bishop of Toulouze administred in that Church for two whole years together Year of our Lord 1295 and 96. The War was still carried on in Guyenne by the Earl of Valois and the Constable de Nesle and then by Robert Earl of Artois The English had for Commanders there John Earl of Richmond and Edmond the Kings Brother To what purpose would it be to relate the taking of many petty places and the divers small Skirmishes The French say they won two Signal Victories one of them was gained by the Earl of Valois and the other by the Earl of Artois It is certain that Edmond being beaten by the first near Bayonne was forced to retire into that City where he died and the Earl of Lincoln who commanded that English Army afterwards having lost many of his Men before Daqs durst not stay for Robert d'Artois and retreated Year of our Lord 1296 In the mean while a most dangerous Storm was forming against France A League was made at Cambray by the Interest of the King of England whereinto he entred with the Duke of Brabant the Earls of Holland Juliers Luxemburgh Guelders and Bar Albert Duke of Austria the Emperor Adolphus and the Flemming himself all which sent their several Cartels of Defiance to King Philip but none of them vexed him so much as the Challenge from the Earl of Flanders because he was his Vassal The Earl of Bar began the Attaque by ravaging Champagne but he retir'd when he heard how Gaultier de Crecy Lieutenant of the Kings Army burnt and plundred his Country Soon after the Queen being advanced that way to defend her Country of Champagne he was so saint-hearted as to surrendet himself to her without making any desence They sent him Prisoner to Paris from whence he could get no Release but upon very hard Conditions For he did Homage to the King for his Earldom which he ever had pretended to hold in Franc Alleud or Free-Tenure and moreover he was condemned by a Decree of Parliament to go and bear Arms in the Holy Land till the King were pleased to recall him Year of our Lord 1297 As for Florent Earl of Holland he was kill'd by a Gentleman whose Wife he had Dishonour'd His Son John died soon after him by eating of some ill-Morsel John d' Avesnes Earl of Haynault their Cousin and nearest Relation inherited Holland and Frisland Year of our Lord 1297 The greatest burthen of the War fell upon Flanders King Philip marched into the Country with a vast Army to whom the Queen joyned her Forces after she had subdued the Earl of Bar. He took L'Isle by a three Months Siege and Courtray and Douay without much difficulty whilst on the other hand Robert Earl of Artois gained the Battle of Furnes where the Earl of Juliers was so ill handled that he died of his Wounds Year of our Lord 1297 Adolphus detained in Germany by the private Troubles the French started amongst them or the Sums of Money Philip gave him under-hand did not bring the Flemming that Relief which he expected Withall they found a way by the all-powerfulinfluence of Money to debauch Albertus Duke of Austria from the Party who brought over with him the Duke of Brabant and the Earls of Luxembourg Guelders and Beaumont As for the King of England who was there in Person and had his Navy at Damm and his Land Forces in the Country Towns he brought more inconvenience then assistance to the Flemming Besides we may add that the greatest Cities in Flanders as Ghent and Bruges had been against the making of this War and amongst them a Faction had declared for the French who called themselves the Portes-Lys or the Flower-de-Luce-Bearers Now the King being retired to Ghent with the Earl of Flanders could find no other way to Charm the Swords of the French in those Countries but by a Truce The intercession of the Earl of Savoy and Charles King of Sicilia obtained it with difficulty for them from the Tenth of October till Twelfth-day for Guyenne and to S. Andrews Holy-day for Flanders only Edward knew how to employ that time to good purpose Having passed the Sea he went against the Scots who had shaken off the Yoke and not only forced their King John and his Barons to do Homage to him a second time of which a Charter written in French was Signed and Sealed and to renounce the Alliance with France but likewise kept him Prisoner a while with some of those Lords confining them in the Tower of London resolving not to release him till he had made an end of his Disputes with the French Year of our Lord 1298 The Truce being expir'd he made ready to return into Guyenne by the Month of March in the year 1298. Nevertheless as either of these Kings had partly what they desired that is the King of France the Towns in Flanders and the King of England the Kingdom of Scotland it was not difficult for their Ambassadors who met about it at Monstreuil on the Sea Coast to prolong the Truce to the end of the year It was agreed That the Allies of both Kings should be Comprised by consequence John Balâ—ol ought to have been so but they could never obtain his liberty and that all the places Conquer'd in Flanders should be in the hands of Philip during that Truce The King of England had obliged himself by Oath to the Flemming not to make a Peace till they were restor'd but in the mean time he agreed his Marriage with Margaret the Sister to Philip and that of his Son Edward with Isabella the Daughter of that King Year of our Lord 1298 The Money that Adolphus had received on both hands from the Kings of France and England was the cause of his Ruine and on the contrary what Albertus had taken for the same end served to raise his Fortune For this last having made use of some of it to corrupt the Princes of Germany who were displeased
the Disputes of the Donatists in Africk There was one at Colen in 346. which condemned Euphratas the Bishop of that City who denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ One at Arles in 353. One at Beziers in 356. One at Paris An. 362. All three for the business of the Arians The two first were favourable to them against S. Athanasius the Third condemned them One at Valence in the year 374. about Discipline One at Bourdeaux in 385. to whom Priscllians Cause having been referr'd by the Emperor Gratian that Heretick perceiving cleerly he was going to be condemned appealed to the Tyrant Maximus but it was to his great misfortune One at Treves the year following where Bishop Itacus was accused for having contrary to the Spirit of the Church prosecuted Priscillian and his Abettors to the death his Party or Cabal caused his bloody proceedings to be approved which notwithstanding were condemned by the most Conscientious Bishops One at Turin An. 397. Upon the desires of the Gallican Bishops to compose the differences about Proculus de Marseille and that of the Bishop of Arles and Vienne Proculus pretended to Ordain Bishops in some of the Churches in Provence which had been dismembred from his or himself had instituted they allowed him that Honour for himself only the Bishops of Arles and Vienna disputed the Right of Metropolitain it was divided between them by provision This Cause having been transferred to the Holy Chair and judged variously by three or four several Popes was determined by Symmachus Ann. 513. who conformably to the Sentence of Leo adjudged to Vienne only the Bishopricks of Valence Tarentaise Geneva and Grenoble and all the rest to Arles Our Margent not allowing room enough to set down all the Popes without incumbrance it was thought necessary to place them in the Page with the Kings in the same Reigns wherein they sate in the Holy Chair Though for those of this Fourth Age it seems more fit to range them here to the time of Pharamond Silvester I. therefore held the Chair from the 1 of February An. 314. till the last of December in the year 336. In the time of his Pope-ship Constantine the Great was Converted to the Faith and the Holy Nicean Council was Assembled An. 324. Marcus Governed from the 16th of January following to the 7th of October of the same year Julius the I. from the 27th of the same Month to the 13th of April of the year 352. Liberius from the 8th of May to the 3 of September in the year 367. Damasius from the 15th of that Month to the 11th of December An. 384. In 381. was the Council of Constantinople Siricius was Pope from the 12th of January to the 24th of February An. 398. Anastasius from the 14th of March of the same year till about the end of April An. 402. Innocent I. from the 14th of May to the 28th of July in the year 417. And Zosimus from the 18th of August to the 26th of December An. 418. The First Race Pharamond King I. POPES BONIFACE in December 418. S. almost Five years CELESTINE I. The 3 of Nov. 423. S. 8 years 5 Months whereof Five years in this Reign Year of our Lord 412 DURING the great Revolt of the Armoricâ—e or Maritime People who were those of the coast of Flanders Picardy Normandy and Bretagne which hapned towards the end of the year 412 The French King being joyned with them occupied that part of Germania Secunda named Ripuaria and the People Ripuarians or Ribarols The Romans by Treaty or otherwise left them the free Possession thereof and it was a little after this that Pharamond began to Reign We find in the Historians of those times that the French had had several Kings before him I do not speak of those of the Monk Hunibaud they being as Fabulous as the Author But we find towards the year 288. Genebaud and Atec who came to Treves to Demand a Peace of Maximian An. 307. Ascaric and Rhadagâ—ise whom Constantine took in War and whom he exposed to wild Beasts as a punishment for that having given their Faith to Constantius his Father they had nevertheless taken up Arms again In the year 374. one Mellobaudes who being Grand Master of the Militia and Count of the Palace to the Emperour Gratian flew and vanquished Macrian King of the Almans and did the Empire many other Services About the year 378. one Richemer who had the like Office under Gratian as Mellobaudes An. 382. One Priam or Priarius whom some will have to be the Father or Grandfather of Pharamond In the year 397. Marcomir and Sunnon Brothers the first of which Stilicon banished into Tuscany and caused the other to be Massacred by his own People when he attempted to stir to Revenge the exile of his Brother And An. 414 or 415. One Theodemer Son of Richemer who was Beheaded with his Mother Ascila for having attempted against the Empire Nevertheless common Opinion hath ever begun to reckon the Kings of France from Pharamond whether because the preceding ones had never had any fixed abode in Gaul or because he re-established the Royalty amongst the French In effect it seems the Romans had in some manner subjugated this Nation and after the Treatment they had shewn to Marcomir and Sunnon and Theodemer they would no longer suffer them to have any Kings Year of our Lord 1418 He began to Reign not in 424. which is the common opinion but in the year 418. very remarkable for a great Eclipse of the Sun It may be doubted whether Pharamond be a proper Name or whether it be only an Epithet which signifies that he was as it were the Father and the Stock of the French Nation For Pharamond in the German Language imports Mouth of Generations For the manner of the inauguration of the French Kings the Lords or Chief Heads having Elected them or at least approving them set them up on a great Shield or Target and caused them to be carried into the Field where the People were Assembled in Arms who confirmed this choice with acclamations and applause The same Ceremony was practised for Emperours and Gothish Kings The Scottish Historians begin the Kingdom of Scotland An. 422. with King Fergus from whom they derive the succession of their Kings though withal they will have us believe that he only restored it and that it was first begun or formed 330 years before the Nativity of JESUS CHRIST from which time it lasted till the days of the Tyrant Maximus who ruined it about the year 378. Year of our Lord 427 The Vandals who had passed out of Gaul into Spain were from thence called into Africk by Count Boniface Revolted against the Empress Placidia They went over to the number of 80000 only under the Conduct of their King Genseric and within seven or eight years drove the Romans totally from thence and setled their own Kingdom there Year of our Lord 428 The Romans drive the French beyond
whom as afterwards with Childeric II. his Son she had great Interest and Power This done Grimoald confidently sets up his Son upon the Throne there are proofs of some Royal Acts he did but this attempt lost him all the veneration the Austrasians had for the memory of Pepin and gave them such horror for their Mayre and his Son that having taken them in some Ambuscades laid for them they led Grimoald to Paris to King Clovis who caused him to be put to death or as others will have it confined him to perpetual imprisonment however there was Year of our Lord 652 no more heard of him It is not said what became of his Son nor whether the Austrasians elected another Mayre Perhaps Erchinoald executed that Office in all the three Kingdoms for since the Decease of Floacat the Burgundians had created none CLOVIS II. Solus Year of our Lord 653. c. In these Minorities there being no Authority great enough to curb the Grandees they audaciously undertook to do any thing what pleased them best and most commonly deciding their quarrels by the Sword they put all the Kingdom into a combustion The Authors of those times accuse Clovis with giving himself up to the Debauchery or pleasures of the Mouth and Women and make a mighty noise for his having plucked off an Arm from the Body of St. Denis to place it in his Oratory They say he immediately fell into a fit of Madness as if he had been smote from Heaven Year of our Lord 655 and attribute to this attempt which at the worst was but an indiscreet Zeal all the mischiefs that afflicted the Kingdom of Franee during the Reigns of his Successors The same year this King aged only 21 or 22 years but having his Brain much shaken Year of our Lord 655 with frequent Convulsions dries up at the Root and dies in the spring of his age He did not Reign Seventeen years if we leave out that whole year wherein Dagobert dyed as the Authors of these times usually do but if we account from the very day he succeeded him he was entring into the Eighteenth he was interred at St. Denis His Mayre Erchinoald had amongst his Domestiques a young English Maid named Batilda of a rare Beauty but whom he had bought out of the hands of Pyrats who had stollen her away amongst some other Captives for in those days they brought great numbers from those parts he bestowed her upon this young Prince for a Wife about the year 548 or 49. and of his Slave made her the Wife of his Year of our Lord 548 King It was given out that she was of the Blood of the Saxon Princes who Reigned in England By this Batilda Clovis had three Sons Clotaire Childeric and Thierry Clotaire was saluted King of Neustria and Burgundy under the Government of his Mother and Erchinoald and Childeric made King of Austrasia whither he was Conducted and left he and his Kingdom under the management of Vlfoad Mayre of that Kingdom Thierry had no share perhaps because he was but yet in his Cradle Clotaire III. King XIII POPES VITALIANUS Elected in August 655. S. Thirteen years three Months EBROIN Mayre CLOTAIRE III. King in Neustria and Burgundy aged at most but Five years CHILDERIC King of Australia aged Three or Four years Year of our Lord 655 THe Government of the Mayre Erchinoald ended with his Life which hapned in a few Months after the death of Clovis the II or as others say a short time before Some with probability enough make him the prime stock of the House of Alsatia whence is issued that of Lorrain of these days which for Nobility yields to none in Chistendom unless that of France The French bestowed that Office upon Ebroin a man active valiant and who being greatly in friendship with the most Holy Men of those times and Founder of some Churches was held a good Man and he lived in that Reputation many years Year of our Lord 655 c. Queen Batilda Governed with as much Goodness Prudence and Justice as any wiâ—e King could have done And indeed for Ten years together there hapned no Trouble in her Sons Reign Before her time the Gauls as well those Infants that lay in their Cradles as their Fathers paid a great Tribute by Poll which restrained many from Marrying or obliged them to expose their Children the good Queen discharged them from it and forbid those Jews that used to buy such poor innocent Children and send them into Forreign Countreys to deal any longer in so inhumane a Trade Nay she bought several that those Infidels had already purchased and likewise such as had been stollen away by Thieves and sold for that purpose but she exhorted them to put themselves into Monasteries which she very greatly desired might be well Peopled She had a very particular care for all that concerned the Church For some time past the Princes had taken Money for Spiritual Promotions and the Bishops sold by Retail what they bought in the Lump She forbad that Sacrilegious Traffick Year of our Lord 656. 57 c. Besides she enriched divers Monasteries with Possessions and precious Ornaments obtained immunities for them and exemptions from Tribute built two famous Monasteries one for Women at Chelles the other for Men at Corbie on the Somme and invited many Holy persons to Court but to tell truth she gave too much access to the Bishops either for the good of the Church or her own Reputation Year of our Lord 664 or 65. Amongst the rest there were two in very great credit and esteem Leger whom she had made Bishop of Autun and Sigebrand we cannot tell of what place This last extreamly proud of the Queens Favour which gave occasion of much jealousie and ill report amongst the envious did so highly distaste the great ones that they put him to death without any form of Process or Trial. After this attempt whether they apprehended the Resentments of that Princess or had slandered and bespattered her on purpose to make her uncapable to Govern they besought her so importunately to retire that she was obliged to condescend Even those whom she had most gratified with her Goodness were of the party Some of the Grandees conducted her to her Monastery of Chelles where of a Queen she became only a simple Nun and yet was more Illustrious in her Humility then she had been in her exalted Greatness She lived till the year 686. Year of our Lord 665. c. It is to be believed that Ebroin the Mayre had managed all this contrivance that he might be left sole Governour for when the Reyns were off his Pride his Avarice his Cruelty and Treachery began to appear bare-faced He seized the Goods he took away the Offices he hunted away the Greatest that were about the Court and forbid any others to come in there without his leave Above all he hated Leger the Bishop of Autun because he was a Creature of
he forsook them the very same night and fled to his own Countrey of Burgundy He had been condemned some Months before at the Suit of the Clergy to end his days between four Walls for crimes of Impiety and of Heresie and shewing himself a most bitter Enemy to the Scholars and Heads of the University The Sedition at Rouen which hapned at the same time was called the Harelle The Populace took a wealthy Merchant and perforce gave him the Title of King then leading him in triumph about the City compell'd him to declate an abolition of all Imposts The King was counsell'd to punish the Mutiniers and not let fall any of those Impositions He began with Rouen going thither in person he caused a Gate to be beaten down that he might enter by that breach Commanded all their Arms to be carried into the Castle punish'd a great many of the Faction with death then set up the Imposts with Taxes and Fines Year of our Lord 1381 To compass their ends the more readily amongst the Parisians they pretended to listen to the intercessions of the University and a Deputation of some honest Burghers who went to wait upon the King at the Bois de Vincennes and to consent at last to the suppression of the Imposts and forgiveness for all excess committed in their Mutinies only they excepted those that had any hand in forcing the prisons of the Chastellet Under this pretence a great many were taken and the Prevost of Paris not daring to execute them publickly threw them into the River by night at several times This severity not being capable to fright the Parisians so far as to make them consent to the setling of the Imposts they fell to Treaty with them which ever proves advantageous to the Superiour against his Inferiours By this means the Court got an hundred thousand Francs of the City to whom perhaps they would have given double the sum could they have done it with Honour to have had the liberty of returning thither Year of our Lord 1382 England was not less troubled with the like Commotions having a King under age and Governours extreamly covetous Never was that Kingdom in so great danger The Commons revolted against the Nobility who in truth kept them in a most servile condition One John Valee a Priest of the Archbishoprick of Canterbury had so well catechised and instructed the Countrey fellows by divers Discourses after they had been at Church concerning the equality that God and Nature made amongst all Mankind that they conspired the destruction of the Rich and Noble To this end they flock to London in several parties under pretence of demanding justice of the King and stirred up all the Counties to joyn with them like so many packs of Blood-hounds For some Months the Citizens and Gentry durst not stir but these Russians having neither Head nor Council nor Discipline their Captains being surprized and executed they were soon dispersed and beaten home with Cudgels like so many brute Beasts Because of these disorders the English entred upon a Conference with the French to make a Peace Boulogne was the place they met in the Deputies not coming to a conclusion made only a Truce for one year during which time they went and entangled themselves in that War which Ferdinand King of Portugal made against John King of Castille The Earl of Cambridge who had married a Daughter of Peter the Cruel carried some Forces thither fancying he might regain Castille both to his own advantage and the Duke of Lancaster's his Brother France failed not to assist the Castillan and thus the French and English having a Truce in these parts made War upon each other in Spain Scarce had it lasted eight Months when the Portugais not receiving from England all that assistance they were promised claps up an agreement with the Castillans and made the English their enemies The hundred thousand Francs they drew from the Parisians was the Duke of Anjou's last hand who did not forward those Impositions but only to have the greatest share himself for his voyage to Italy whereof this was the Subject After Clements party were ruined at Rome Vrban thinking to revenge himself upon Jane Queen of Naples perswaded Lewis King of Hungary to send him Charles de Duraz surnamed Peaceable to come and take possession of that Kingdom to whom he proffer'd the investiture as being the nearest of the Males This Prince had all the obligations imaginable to Queen Jane or Joane for he was of the very same Blood as she Son of Lewis Count de Gravines who was the Son of John VIII Son of Charles the Lame and therefore Brother to King Robert She had bred him with as much care and tenderness in her Court as if he had been her own Child she had married him to the Princess Margaret her Neece she designed to make him her Successor and kept his Children at this very time in her own Family The execrable ambition for a Crown rendred him ingrateful and made him break thorough all these obligations and noble endearments The Queen finding he was coming with an intention and preparation to Dethrone her had recourse to France her first Original and adopted the Duke of Anjou for her Son and presumptive Heir in Anno 1380. King Charles the Wise after the example of St. Lewis would have spared nothing to establish his Brother in the Throne but hapning to dye the Enterprize was left in suspense In the mean while Charles lost no time for being Crowned King of Sicilia Year of our Lord 1381 at Rome in the beginning of the year 1381. he marched towards Naples where being received without opposition he besieged the Queen and her Sister Mary in the Castle del'Ovo forced them in fine to surrender after his having defeated and taken Otho of Brunswic Janes fourth Husband and caused both of them to be strangled in prison Year of our Lord 1381. and 82. Those succors the Duke of Anjou was leading to that unhappy Princess being now useless and Charles by that time setled in the Kingdom the Duke was hesitating whether he should pass the Mountains Pope Clement who had but this one way to Dethrone Vrban engag'd him by such great allurements and advantages as plainly manifested he did not care whether he ruin'd the Church both in her Spirituals and Temporals provided he could but compass his own establishment Year of our Lord 1382 It was about the end of the last year the Duke had certain news that Queen Jane was Besieg'd and caused his Forces to march towards Provence The Pope invests him with the Kingdom of Sicilia and Crowned him at Avignon the Thirtieth day of May. Jane had been dead eight days but as it was not known in a long time he gave him only the Title of Duke of Calabria The Provensals were not satisfied or consenting to the adoption of the Duke much less would they own him for their Sovereign
into Africk with the Count de Harcour the Lord de la Tremonille and other Lords and Gentlemen to the number of Eight hundred and a much greater number of Adventurers of divers Countries with whom he signaliz'd his Courage and Conduct against the Moors of Barbary The King of Armenia Minor sprung from the Blood of Luzignan flying from the cruelty of the Turks who had conquer'd his Kingdom and kept his Wife and Children in Captivity came for relief and assistance to the French Court where the King gave him Honourable Entertainment during all the rest of his days He enjoy'd it to the year 1404. then died at Paris and was interred at the Celestines Year of our Lord 1383. and 84. As to the Affairs of Naples Charles de Duras and his Captains behaved themselves so well that cutting off all Provisions from Lewis of Anjou and either following or flanking him so as to prevent his Fighting them they reduced him to the extreamest want of all necessaries even of Cloaths insomuch as this Prince who had carried away all the Kings Treasure had no more left him then a Coat of painted Cloth to wear and one Silver Bowl to drink in He had sent Peter de Craon an Angevin Lord into France to bring him Money and Succours this faithless Friend made no haste to return amusing himself at Venice with the divertisement of some Courtisans After the unfortunate Prince had waited a long time without any tidings of him he sunk under his grief and died the Tenth day of October in this year 1384. or Year of our Lord 1384 as some others will have it the One and twentieth day of September the year following The Earl of Savoy died in the month of March either of the Plague or by drinking Water out of a Fountain that had been poyson'd His Son Ame VII Surnamed Le Rouge succeeded him We must observe that this Amè VI. was the Institutor of the Order of the Collar which was composed of Love-knots together with the Symbolical Letters of the House of Savoy and had at the end a kind of a Ring or wreathed Coronet Duke Charles III. being at Chamberry Anno 1518. changed the name of this Order to that of the Annunciado to honour the Holy Virgin in that mystery which is the most agreeable to her adding Fifteen White Roses to the Fifteen Love-knots in remembrance of her Fifteen Joyes and filled the Pendant with Figures of the Annunciation Year of our Lord 1385 The unhappy remnants of the Duke of Anjou's Army perish'd by Famine and Want excepting such as dispersing by small parties retired into France begging their lively-hood and receiving more injuries and opprobrious words in their Travels then they got bits of Bread The Angevin party was not for all this quite extinct in that Kingdom it subsisted yet in the hearts of some Lords of that Countrey whereof Thomas de St. Severin was the Chief and who afterwards served very well upon occasion For this time the Kingdom rested quietly under Charles de Duraz. The Truce with the English being expired the King who began to take cognizance of his Affairs held a grand Council to deliberate whether they ought to continue it It was the interest of the Duke of Burgundy because of his Low-Countreys to have a Peace with the English but to counterpoise his Power and to flatter Year of our Lord 1385 the young Kings heat they resolved on a War and even to carry it into their own Countrey To this purpose they fitted up a great Fleet at Sluce and they sent to the Scots to oblige them to a rupture of the Truce on their side Year of our Lord 1385 By the methods the Kings Uncles Governed it appeared plainly they had a mind to suck the Peoples Blood to the very last drop The Clergy that they might secure something for their subsistance held an Assembly where they decreed that their Revenues should be divided into three parts the one to be for the maintenance of the Churches the other for Ecclesiastical Persons and the Third for the King without any mention of the Poor Pursuant to the recommendation of the late King Charles the Wise the young Kings Uncles sought a Wife for him in Germany the opinions in Council were different and divided the Duke of Burgundy carried it for Isabella Daughter of Stephen Duke of Bavaria Count Palatine of the Rhine The King Married her at Amiens the .... of July In the preceding month of April the Nuptials between John the Duke of Burgundy's Son and Marguerite Daughter of Albert Duke of Bavaria Earl of Hainault Holland and Zealand were consummate Year of our Lord 1385. and 86. The great design upon England being laid aside after a vast expence that something might come of it John de Vienne Admiral went with Threescore Sail to Scotland and there landed to attaque the English on that side He made an irruption into their Countrey and took some Castles but the savage humour of the Scots could not comply with the free liberty of the French Besides Love had invaded the Admirals Heart and Head which made him courta Lady of the Kings Parentage whereat that wh ole Court not being acquainted with those Gallantreys took such offence that he found it the best way to make his escape with all diligence Year of our Lord 1385 The obstinate Ghentois would not yet bend they had two new Leaders Francion and Atreman who hardned them against all apprehensions of punishment This obliged the King to make a third step into Flanders They had no Port could receive any English Succours but Damm the king having taken that by force and afterwards burning all the Houses round about their City the Rebels in the end began to hearken to Propositions for an accommodation being inclined by the more pacifique humour of Atreman one of their new Chiefs in despite of all the practises of John du Bois and returned to the obedience of the King and the Duke of Burgundy their Lord. This Prince quite wearied with this tedious War which ruined all his Countrey gave them a general Amnesty for all things that were past and the confirmation of all their priviledges upon condition they would renounce all Leagues and that the first that should violate the Peace might forfeit his Life and all his Goods The Treaty was Signed the Eighteenth of December A Truce was renewed likewise between France and England for some Months Charles de Duraz not being satisfied with having invaded the Kingdom of Naples went also into Hungary and usurped that upon Mary one of the Daughters of Lewis the Great his Benefactor who died Anno 1381. and Wife to Sigismund Brother of the â—mperour Wenceslaus whom he detamed in captivity with the Widow Queen his Mother After so many Treacheries and cruel Ingratitudes Heaven suffer'd him to be murther'd himself by the order of Nicholas Gato one of the Palatines of that Kingdom who was very
relished that he should upon any occasion assume the Authority to bestow the Order of Knighthood upon a Gentleman He resolved to erect the Earldom of Savoy to a Dutchy for Ame VIII and divers Authors tell us he had made choice of the City of Lyons for that purpose Year of our Lord 1416 but the Kings Officers let him know it would not be suffered wherefore he performed the Ceremony at the Castle of Montluel in Bresse out of the Territories of the Kingdom However the Letters Patents for the said Erection are dated from Chamberry the Nineteenth of February It is fit we observe that ever since the time of the Carlian Race the Title of Count or Earl was as eminent as that of Duke and it seems the Grandees liked it better since we find some who having Dutchies yet took the names only of Counts Such in France was the Count of Toulouze who held the Dutchies of Septimania and Narbonne and the Earl of Savoy did the same though he had the Dutchies of Chablais and Aouste which he did not omit amongst his Titles But as Men who in length of time change their humours and fancies had an imagination that there was something greater in the Title of Duke Ame VIII Earl of Savoy was willing to have that Title given to the Earldom he bore the name of Year of our Lord 1416 France met with nothing but misfortune upon misfortune the defeat of the Constable before Harfleur which he besieged then of the Naval Forces upon that Coast the continual Incursions of the Burgundian Troops the death of the Duke of Berry who was the only Person that could have allayed these Disorders the King of Englands second landing this was at Tonques with the loss of divers places in Normandy taken by his Forces Besides all this the earnest endeavours of both Parties to make an Alliance with him but the Burgundian with most industry and forwardness enraged that they had thrust him out of the Government and the Earl of Hainault his Cousin to get a support for the Dauphin John his Son in Law whom the Orleans Faction would deprive of his Birthright to prefer and advance Charles Earl of Pontieu his younger Brother Year of our Lord 1416 The new Governor rendred himself daily more odious by Exactions without measure equality or justice laid upon the Clergy as well as the Laity for which reason the Parisians heartily desired the Burgundians return and indeed there was a Plot discovered to have let in his Forces The chief Conspirators paid down their Heads for it the rest were imprisoned all who were suspected banished even Members of the Parliament and University the Burghers Arms seized upon their Chains taken away and the Butchers Company abolished Year of our Lord 1417 The passion for Government did so far transport the Burgundian that he Conferr'd with the King of England at Calais and renewed the Truce for his Countries only which was in some manner an obligation not to assist the King at all From thence retiring to Valenciennes he had confidence with Duke William Earl of Hainault and the new Dauphin his Son in Law They sware mutual assistance against all their Enemies So the Dauphin declared himself against the Armagnacs and promised the Duke he would never return to Court till he carried him along with him It was therefore resolv'd that the Earl of Hainault should go thither to treat of those Affairs but should leave the Dauphin at Compeigne Not being able to obtain the recalling of the Burgundian he threatned to carry back the Dauphin home with him whereupon they intended to detain him till he had given up the Dauphin but having private notice he craftily made his escape But they secur'd themselves of the Dauphin another but a more wicked way by giving him Poyson of which he died the eighteenth of April Charles his Brother a sworn Enemy to the House of Burgundy succeeded to the Title of Dauphin and of Duke de Touraine and which is more to a right of inheriting the Crown to the great satisfaction and joy of the Duke of Anjou his Father in Law who was mightily suspected to have had some hand in the removal of the two eldest out of the World that his Son in Law might Reign Year of our Lord 1417 But his joy was not long lived dying in the following Month of August He left three Sons Lewis Rene and Charles the two first had successively the Titles of King of Sicilia Charles was Earl of Maine The Kings Person the Dauphin and the City of Paris were in the hands of the Constable d'Armagnac the Queen only was some kind of counterpoise to his Power They living with much freedom and licence in her Family it was easie for the Constable Year of our Lord 1417 to fill the Kings head with jealousies against this Princess so that he commanded one named Bouredon to be taken thence and thrown into the River as a Party concerned in those Intrigues and afterwards sent away the Queen his Wife as it were a Prisoner to Tours She could never be brought to forgive him this injury nor even the Dauphin her own Son it being by his consent although he were not then above the age of Sixteen years The Queens confinement the lamentable death of the two Dauphins the displacing of a great many Officers the plundering of all the open Country by the unpaid Soldiers the depredations of the Armagnac's who robbed the very Shrines in the Churches furnished the Burgundian with specious Pretences to publish his Manifesto's and to send to all the chief Cities to desire they would be assisting towards the restoring the King to his liberty The most part of those in Champagne and Picardy with the Isle of France received him with open Arms because he put down all Subsidies However all was nothing unless he could get into Paris he marched round about it approaching or going farther off for two Months together according to the Advice he had from his Friends that were in the place Whilst he was besieging Corbeil he goes away in haste to Tours with some Troops of Horse and having had a Conference with the Queen at Marmoustier whither she was come purposely under a pretence of taking the Air he brought her with him to Troyes From that time she claimed the Regency Year of our Lord 1417 In so favourable a juncture the King of England failed not to push on his Affairs Caen Bayeux Coutance Carenian Lisieux Falaise Argentan Alenson and in fine the greatest part of Normandy surrendred themselves up to him without scarce a blow given excepting Cherbourgh which defended it self three Months and yet the Constable chose rather to see the Kingdom lost then his Authority and the Burgundian consented rather to have it dismembred by the English then governed by his Enemy In Germany there were several Companies of Vagabonds began to strowle about having no Riligon no Law no Country or Habitation their Faces
who then had the Government and prevailed with him at last to put him to death without any form of Process Which excited the hatred of all the great ones against her and made them think of ruining her that they might preserve themselves Year of our Lord 1444 or 45. King Charles was then not much above the age of forty three and the Dauphin who was already two and twenty trod upon his Heels and would have plaid the Master in so much as one day at Chinon he gave a box on the Ear to the fair Agnes There hapned another incident worse yet then this He had bargained with Anthony de Chabanes Earl of Dammartin to assassinate some body that had displeased him James Brother of that Earl who was Grand Maistre of the Kings Houshold dissuaded him from it The King coming to the knowledge of this gave the Dauphin a sharp reprimand The young Prince to excuse himself charged the Earl as having suggested this base design first to him the Earl boldly denied it in the Kings presence and offer'd to justifie himself by Combat against any of the Dauphins Gentlemen that would undertake it The King then found the malignity of his Son abhorred it and commanded him not to see him in four Months time but to go into Dauphine He retir'd with menaces and being once gone thought no more of returning but to Cantonise and Reign alone without any dependance but on his malicious fancies The City of Genoa in a few years had changed their Lords and Governors four or five times The Fregoses and the Adornes who were of their principal Citizens disputed for the Siegnory amongst themselves Barnaby Adorne had usurped it Year of our Lord 1445 with the Title of Doge Janus Fregose pretending he would put it into the Kings hands having treated with him for that purpose made use of the Forces and Money of France to make himself Master then kept it in his own hands and Year of our Lord 1446 scoffed at the French Year of our Lord 1446 The King had for a while adhered to Pope Felix or at least stood Neuter but when informed that Nicholas was elected in the room of Eugenius he would let all Christendom understand he approved his Election He sent a famous Embassy to tender his obedience which perhaps brought in the custom of those stately and expensive Embassies of Obedience which Kings now send to every new Pope Year of our Lord 1447 The Government of the Viscounts at Milan after its having lasted One hundred and seventy years ended this year by the death of Duke Philip And that Estate was claimed by divers Pretenders as either having a right or thinking it would be of great convenience and necessary for them The Emperor Frederic the Duke of Savoy the Venetians Alphonso King of Naples and Charles Duke of Orleans Now as it truly appertained to this last according to the Conditions of the Contract of Valentine his Mother he went thither with some Forces but the Milanese intending their own liberty he could get no more then only his Earldom of Ast Afterwards those People having for many years undergone much trouble and affliction by the contending Parties that strugled for the Mastery fell as we use to say out of the Frying-pan into the Fire by accepting for their Duke Francis Sforza who had Married a Bastard of Duke Philips Year of our Lord 1448 There were but little Infantry in France The King that he might have some that were good and well maintain'd ordained that every Village throughout the Kingdom should furnish him with and pay one Foot-Archer who should be exempt from all Taxes and Subsidies For which they called them the Franc-Archers These made a Body of two or three and twenty thousand Men. Year of our Lord 1448 The Truce prolonged three or four several times was not to end till about a Twelvemonth after this time a Captain of the English Party this was Francis de Surienne extreamly greedy after Prey surprized the City of Fougers belonging to the Duke of Bretagne where he met with a Booty of above Sixteen hundred thousand Crowns and at the same time the English made irruption in Scotland which was also comprehended in the Truce as well as Bretagne but they were soundly beaten there England began likewise to be imbroil'd within its self by reason of some new Tax which King Henry would raise in London which hath most commonly been the occasion or at least the pretence for a Civil War Year of our Lord 1448 The Duke of Bretagne and the Scots likewise make their complaints to King Charles for this breach of the Truce The English are summon'd to repair the damage they disown'd Surienne indeed but for the rest gave no satisfaction but put off's and delays All this was suffer'd six Months they imagine the French are afraid At length the Duke of Bretagne flies out and with the Kings consent surprizes at the same time the Pont de Larche above Rouen Conches near Evreux Gerbroy not far from Beauvais and Cognac upon the River Charente Year of our Lord 1449 By force of many Intreaties Negotiations and Menaces the King overpersuaded Felix to set his hand to the re-union of the Church He renounced the Papacy more gloriously then he had accepted of it His Conventions with Nicholas V. were such that he seemed to quit it as a thing belonging to him which he conferr'd as a favour upon his Rival For he made his demission in the Council which he had purposely transferr'd from Basil to Lausanna and after he had deposited his Pontifical Ornaments the Fathers elected Nicholas who left him perpetual Legat in all the Countries of Savoy Montferrat Lyonnois Swisserland and Alsatia and received all those Cardinals he had created into the Sacred Colledge Year of our Lord 1449 The disturbances of England continuing King Charles found the opportunity so favourable that he resolved to chace the English out of his Kingdom He had made the Earl de Foix Lieutenant of his Armies from the Garonne to the Pyrenees and the Earl de Dunois in all the Kingdom in such sort nevertheless as he rendred respect and honour to the Constable when they both met in the same place The first had Order to take all places the English held at the foot of the Pereneans thereby to block up the passage against John of Arragon King of Navarre who had made a League with them and obliged himself for a certain Sum of Money to keep and guard Mauleon de Soule for them a place very strong in those times and situate upon a high Rock For this purpose he had taken it into his protection and had placed his Constable in it The Count de Foix was Son in Law to that Prince however he had more regard to the Kings Orders then his Father in Law and scruples not to besiege it The Navarrois knowing it wanted Provisions Arm'd himself to relieve it and came within two
themselves against the revolted it had been easie for King Francis to have regained that Kingdom but he did not dream of it till the Spring following and then he sent an Army thither commanded by Andrew de Foix Lord de L'Esparre Brother of Lautree who recover'd it all in few days He met Year of our Lord 1521 no resistance but at the Castle of Pampelonna who stood out till he battered them and then surrendred upon Composition Innigo de Loyola d'Ognez a young Gentleman of Guipuscoa who had put himself into the Castle with some other Volunteers was wounded upon the Walls with a Splinter by a Cannon Shot which broke his Thigh and made him Lame all his Life After which being retired to his own House he was touched with a most fervent Zeal and Devotion and was afterwards Institutor and Head of the great and famous Company or Society of Jesus which hath extended it self into all the Parts of the World L'Esparre instead of satisfying himself with Navarre and putting it in a good Posture entred upon Castille and besieged Logrogne The Vice-Rois who returned from subduing the Rebels and who nevertheless would not have thought of assaulting him if he had not first fallen upon their Country marched Year of our Lord 1521 directly to him to fight him Now his Lieutenant General Saincte Colombe having cashier'd part of his Men that he might put half by his false Musters into his Pocket he found himself too weak and retired near Pampelonna And there he committed a second Fault greater then the first for without staying for a re-inforcement of six thousand Men who were coming to him out of France he rashly gave them Battle and was beaten for his Pains and so grievously wounded in the face that he remained blind Pampelonna and all the rest of the Kingdom was lost in as short a time as it had been reconquer'd The Emperors Councel to prevent the Revolts of the Nobility of the Country affectionate to their Natural King caused all the Castles to be demolished and dismantled all the Towns excepting Pampelonna du Pont de la Reine and d'Estella Year of our Lord 1521 This War did not contravene to the Treaty of Noyon since the six Months were expir'd but there were otherguess Subjects of hatred between Charles and Francis For this last complained that Charles did not pay him the hundred thousand Crowns as he had promis'd by the Treaty of Noyon for the maintenance of his Daughter and by consequence that he had no mind to compleat the Marriage That his Agents had spoken ill of him in the Diets and in the Courts of the Princes of Germany That he had debauched Philbert de Chaalon Prince of Orange from him and that he cabaled in Italy to put the Dutchy of Milan in disturbance Charles on the contrary was angry that he had taken under his Protection William Duke of Gueldres a sworn Enemy to his House and to the Low-Countries and said that he unjustly detained from him the Dutchy of Burgundy Francis was the more forward to undertake because he levied Subsidies as he pleased whereas Charles could get no Money without a great deal of trouble the Kingdoms of Spain and the Low-Countries having yet in those Times all their Liberties and Priviledges entire but then he was a much better Manager and made but very few idle Expences In such a disposition were they towards each other that nothing could be able to prevent them from coming to Daggers-drawing but a third Party The King of England kept himself Neutral enough and designed only to be Arbitrator The Pope did not do the same for he first Treated a private League with the King wherein he obliged himself to assist him for the regaining the Kingdom of Naples for his second Son upon condition he should bestow a part thereof upon a Nephew of the Holy FAthers and that the other Part during the Minority of the young Prince should be governed by a Legate from the Holy See Year of our Lord 1521 This was to speak properly to keep it all for himself Then three Months after he changed his Mind and turns to the Emperor's side Some believed he did this as burning with a desire of regaining Parma and Piacenza which Julius II. had possessed himself of though unjustly Others said it was that he was angry they did not receive his Bulls at Milan with submission enough nay that sometimes they rejected them with scorn Whatever it were he entred into a League with the Emperor for the mutual defence of their Countries to re-establish Francis Sforza in the Dutchy of Milan and to recover the Dutchy of Ferrara for the benefit of the Holy See to which it appertained The Lord de Chevres who was then at the Diet of Wormes having heard of this Treaty which was made without his knowledg died of grief repeating these Words often Ah! what a World of Mischiefs His Brother the Archbishop of Toledo whom he had taken along with him went out of this World sometime before him The King being at Remorentine in Berry upon Twelfth day as he was sporting and in jest attacked the Count de Sainct Pol's House with Snow-Balls who with his Companions were defending it with the same Artillery it infortunately hapned that a Fire-brand thrown by some hot-brained fellow hit him on the Head and grievously wounded him for which they were forced to cut off his Hair Now he having a very large high Fore-head and besides the Swiss and Italians wearing short Locks and long Beards he found this Fashion more pleasing to his Fancy and follow'd it His example made all France coppy this Mode who held it till the Reign of Lewis XIII when by little and little they shortned their Beards and let their Locks grow till at last they left neither Hair on the Cheeks nor on the Chin and Nature not being able to furnish them with a stock so thick and long as they fancied would be most becoming they have thought it best shave their Heads and wear Perruques of Womens more delicate and longer Hair for Ornament Year of our Lord 1520. 21. Now here begins the event of the Melancholly Prognosticks of the Lord de Chevres Robert de la Mark Lord of Sedan and Duke of Bouillon having suffer'd disgrace in the Court of France because of the many Robberies committed by his Gentsdarmes went to the Emperors whither he was enticed by the Bishop of Liege his Brother a man very powerful there Now it hapned that the Emperors Councel received an Appeal from a Judgment which the Pairs of his Dutchy of Bouillon had given in a certain Cause between the Lords de Simay and Year of our Lord 1521 d'Emery Robert being turbulent and impetuous took this for an Affront to his honour and would revenge it He came therefore to the King at Remorentin who was under cure of his Wound and his Wife having before-hand prepared the way reconciled himself to him
suffer she should be carried into England The Inhabitants of Rochel of Marennes and of the Islands were revolted upon the endeavouring to settle the Gabel in those Countries The King at his return from Languedoc passed that way to suppress that Commotion About the end of December he entred with his Forces into Rochel and caused great numbers of the Seditious Islanders to be brought before him bound and chained After he had put them into an extream Consternation he suffer'd himself to be overcome with Compassion and from a Scaffold where he was Surrounded by the Grandees of his Court he heard the most humble Request they made him by their Advocate and which they seconded with doleful Cries for Mercy and after he Year of our Lord 1543 had laid open their faults in a discourse equally Tender Majestick and Eloquent he absolutely forgave them caused all the Prisoners to be set at Liberty and all the Soldiers to be sent out of the City He would likewise that day needs be guarded and served at his Table by the Bourgeois His incomprehensible goodness ✚ cloathed them with shame and confusion and left in their Hearts and Memories a mortal regret for having ever offended him This was to chastise them indeed after a most Noble and Royal manner The Princes and Emperor of Germany had so often demanded a Council that in the Year 1536. Pope Paul III. had Indicted one at Mantoua for the Two and Twentieth of May the following Year From that time he had Prorogued it to 1538. then to 1539. at Vicenza but had yet suspended the Celebration for as long time as he should find fit In the Year 1542. he was obliged by the vehement pursuit of the Emperor who pressed him because he was so earnestly pressed by the Princes of the Empire to assigne one in the City of Trent which he did by his Bull of the One and Twentieth of May. He believed this Consideration might serve to bring the two Kings to a Peace but the War growing still hotter betwixt them there came so few Bishops to Trent that Year of our Lord 1543 he was this year 1543. forced to recal the Legates he had sent thither and refer the Celebration of the Council to a more pacifick opportunity In France and Spain they were making greater preparations for War than ever The Spaniards furnished the Emperor with above four Millions of Gold John King of Portugal who was Marrying his Daughter Mary to Philip his only Son gave him very great Sums and the King of England promised him no less This inconstant Prince who could never long agree even with himself being offended for that Francis would not renounce his obedience to the Pope and for intermedling too far about the Affairs of Scotland had made a new League Year of our Lord 1543 with the Emperor who did not in the least scruple to have a Prince in Alliance with him though he were under the blackest censures of the Church a mortal Enemy to the Holy-See and one that had used his Aunt so outrageously That he might be able to withstand so dreadful a Storm the King laid an impost upon the walled Cities for the Maintenance of Fifty Thousand men which ended not with the War as he had promised nor was revoked till under the Reign of Francis II. The Emperor going into Germany went by Sea to Italy whither he also carried Ten Thousand Spaniards in some large Ships and Galleys He could not upon the Popes earnest request refuse to confer with him They met as Bussetta between Parma and Piacenza The Holy Father endeavoured to perswade him to give up those two Cities to the Holy-See and invest his Grandson Octavius Farnese with the Dutchy of Milan since the Italian Potentates would never consent that he should retain it for himself The Emperor gave him only general words and cut the Conference off very short for fear of giving jealousie to the King of England who was subject enough to misinterpretations That Muley-Assan whom he had restored to the Kingdom of Tunis being hardly beset on all hands by the Turks who had taken from him divers of his places came to Genoa to kiss his hand and crave some Assistance Whilest he was absent one of his Sons named Amida usurped the Kingdom The unfortunate Father having given him Battle with some Forces scraped together was vanquished and taken with two more of his Sons by the Rebel who put out his Eyes reproaching him for having served his own Brothers so Afterwards this Parricide being driven out of his Kingdom by the Governour of Goletta where nevertheless he got the Mastery again some while after Muley-Assan made his escape out of Prison and took refuge amongst the Spaniards Year of our Lord 1544 In the Spring time the King gave Command to Antony become Duke of Vendosme by the Death of his Father Charles to revictual Terouane Then himself lead his greatest Forces towards the Low-Countries where he thought to make a considerable Progress while the Duke of Gueldres held the Emperors in play So that about the end of May though he were indisposed he put himself in the head of his Army which was joyned with the Troops of Antony Duke of Vendosme He roved for some Weeks all about the Country of Artois and having often changed his Mind sometimes to Fortifie L'Illiers and Saint Venant another while to besiege Avenes he fixed at last upon the Fortifying Landrecy on the other side of the Sambre After he had given the necessary Orders he came to encamp at Maroles then to refresh and repose himself at Reims where he had caused the Ladies to come to divert him Whilst he was at Maroles the Daufin employed part of the Army for the taking the Castle of Emery which is on an Island in the Sambre and the Town of Maubeuge but a while after he forsook them The Duke of Orleans likewise entred into Luxembourg regained all the Country which had been taken after his going away and amongst other the Capital City which gives it the Name The King was there in Person visited the Place and notwithstanding its vast Circumference and odd Situation would have it Fortified Such as were knowing in the Trade were against the doing of it but because it was like to be a work of great profit to him that should have the ordering of it there was an Engenier ☞ that advised it and undertooke it In the mean while the Emperor having passed out of Italy into Germany came at first to attack the Duke of Cleve and by the taking his City of Duren which he sacked and perhaps by the Assistance of his own People whom he had corrupted frighted him and all the rest of the Country so terribly that he came and craved his Pardon and promised to quit his Alliance with the French and the Title of Duke of Guelders satisfying himself with that of Administrator Which was so suddenly done that the Duke had not time
not common in France for a long time for King Henry II. was the first who wore Silk Stockings at his Sister's Wedding month June Yet till those Troubles hapned which turned the whole Kingdom upside-down under the Reigns of Charles IX and Henry III. the Courtiers did not use much Silk but after that the very Citizens began to wear it frequently For 't is a most certain Observation that Pride and Luxury does never spread so much as during Publick Calamities For which I can guess at no other reason but that it is a Curse from Heaven which ever comes hand in hand with the Plague of Civil War Now King Henry IV. believing this Manufacture might in like manner be set up at Paris treated with certain Undertakers who Built several places in the Tuilleries the Castle of Madrid and at Fontainebleau to breed Silk-Worms they sending every year into Spain for the Eggs and gave order for the planting great Numbers of white Mullberry-Trees and raising Nurseries of them in all the adjacent Parishes the Leaves of those Trees serving as Pasture for those precious Worms or Catterpillers Year of our Lord 1603 In the year 1599. he had by Edict Prohibited all Foreign Manufactures as well of Silk as Gold Silver pure or mixt at the request of the Merchants of Tours who pretended to make quantities sufficient to furnish the whole Kingdom But as those kind of Establishments accommodate only the Undertakers and incommode all others it was soon found that this Project ruined the City of Lyons which may justly be called the Golden Gate of France destroy'd their Fairs and withal diminished the Customs by one half These Considerations tendred to the King as he was never obstinate to prefer his absolute Authority to evident Reason and Demonstration he made no scruple to revoke it In the Month of June Ferdinand de Velasco Constable of Castille passed thorow France on his way to England to finish that Treaty of Peace with King James which Taxis the Ambassador in Ordinary from Spain had begun I shall here observe that he concluded it about the middle of June in the following year to the great regret of the King of France who knew by this what he was to hope for from King James a Prince heedless and timorous a Philosopher in words yet having nothing but the meen of a Soldier And who withal was not yet so well setled in England as to venture or dare to shock any one of his Neighbours month May June July c. Divers things caused great inquietudes in the King There were some which troubled his Divertisements and others that tended to the disturbance of his Kingdom The Jealousies the Queen his Wife had of his Amours the Malice of his Mistresses especially the Marchioness de Verneuil the heats of the Count de Soissons which many times broke out upon Points of Honor for the most part rather imaginary then real and the Insolency's of the Duke d'Espernon were of the first sort The procedure of the zealous Catholicks who sought by oblique Methods to engage him to ruin the Huguenots as on the opposite the Discontents of the Huguenots who endeavour'd to Cantonize that they might not be taken unprovided were of the second We shall Discourse of the two first Points hereafter As for the Count de Soissons being already much offended for that Rosny had refused to allow him a certain Impost upon Linnen-Cloath which he begg'd of the King the false Reports made to him by the Marchioness of Verneuil push'd him on to such an extremity of resentment that he talked of nothing but to be revenged by the Death of Rosny and although the King did openly enough take part with this last he could never allay the Count's Passion but by obliging Rosny to disown by a Publick Writing what he was accused to have spoken of the Count and offer to fight any Man that durst maintain the contrary The Brave Grillon had suffer'd himself to be persuaded to lay down his Command of Mestre de Camp in the Regiment of Guards the Duke of Espernon Collonel of the French Infantry took it to be his Right to Nominate the King would retrench that Right and had destin'd it for Crequy Son-in-Law to Lesdiguieres Espernon after having made all his efforts by Intrigues and by Remonstrances to maintain his pretended Right retired Male-content to Angoulesme Nevertheless being informed the King threatned to follow him he was advised to submit to his Pleasure When the King saw he acquiesced obediently he did him Justice for he order'd Crequy to wait upon him in that Country to make Oath to him and to take his Attach on his Provisions However he reserved the disposal of that Office and the like in all other the old Bodies but would have them be subject to the same Devoirs towards their Collonel That when two Companies hapned to be vacant in the Regiment he would fill up one by Nomination of the Collonel who should not be installed nor take place but from the day they had given their Oaths to that Officer and taken his Attache That as for the like Officers in other Regiments the Collonel should Nominate and he choose Captains out of those so named and as to the Lieutenants Ensign-Collonels Sergeant-Majors and their Ayds Prevosts Mareschaux de Logis and other Officers he should dispose of such by his sole Authority Which raised his Power above that of Princes and almost in a condition to make Head against the King himself month June In the Council his Ministers animated with Zeal against the Huguenots and too much persuaded of the Spanish Grandeur endeavour'd to divide the King from the Protestants to reduce him to an entire submission to the Pope to bring in the Jesuits and to unite him with Spain and Rome thereby to extirpate Calvinisme from all his Territories Taxis Ambassadour from the Catholick King offer'd Year of our Lord 1603 him all the Forces of Spain for that purpose representing that the Huguenots were the greatest Enemies to his Person and often had sollicited King Philip to help them to dethrone him He was indeed but too well informed that the Chiefs of the Huguenots as Bouillon la Trimouille his Brother in Law Du Plessis-Mornay Lesdiguieres and some Gentlemen that were his Domesticks but had quitted him when he went to Mass and almost all the Protestant Ministers had no more that Love for him which otherwhile they had shown but sighed after some other Protector He could not how-ever resolve to treat those as Enemies who had so tenderly nursed and bred him up and had Sacrificed every thing for his sake and he consider'd withal that if he could have forgot their eminent Services he must thereby have alienated from him all the Protestant Princes and have remained alone exposed to the Mercy of the same Power and Persons that had formed the League which was what they desired He chose therefore rather to restrain the hatred
Paris and Orleans and Duke of France 175 Hugh le Noir or the Black 176 Hugh the Great otherwise le Blanc i. e. the White makes a League with Hebet Earl of Vermandois against their King 176 His death his Children Hugh Capet Son of Hugh the Great 183 Earl of Paris and Orleans ib. Is made Duke of France 184 Elected and Crowned King of France 201 Why he would never put the Crown on his Head after his first Coronation 202 Of the State of the Kingdom of France at that time ib. He assocates his Son Robert to Reign with him 202 Sends his Son Charles and his Wife Prisoners 203 Re-unites the County of Paris and the Dutchy of France to the Crown ib. His death his Wives his Children 204 Hugh de Beauvais Favourite of King Robert 212 Hugh Son of King Robert Associated and Crowned by his Father His death 211 212 Hugh Earl of Vermandois chief of the second House of that name 218 Hugh Duke of Burgundy after the death of Duke Robert his Grandfather 221 Hugh de Saint Pol. 225 Hugh the Grand Brother to King Philip of France chief of the first and second Croisade his death 224 225 Hugh de Crecy 235 c. Hugh III. Duke of Burgundy his death 237 Hugh Count de la Marche is constrained to render Homage to the Earl of Poitou 303 Hugh Abbot of Clugny receives the Ornaments of a Bishop 284 Humbert with the White Hands Earl of Maurienne and of Savoy chief of the Royal House of Savoy 215 Humond Father of Gaifre resumes the Title of Duke of Aquitaine to his confusion 302 Huns make War upon the French 312 Huns Avari in Civil War I. James the Great of Arragon and the finding his Corps about the beginning of the Ninth Age. 114 James King of Arragon 312 James King of Majoraca and Minorca 320 Jane Countess of Flanders 304 Jane of Burgundy 324 Jane Queen of France Heiress of Navarre builds and founds the Colledge of Navarre at Paris 331 Her death ib. Jane of Burgundy 345 Jerusalem Kingdom its end 254 Images and the manner of Worshipping them in France 172 Imbert de Beaujeau commands the Kings Army against the Albigensis 238 Imposts excessive stir up the People to Rebellion makes them lose the respect and love they owe to their Prince 330 Indulgence general otherwise called Jubilee its institution 328 Ingonde Daughter of King Sigebert Espouses Hermenigilde Son of the King of Spain Leuvigilde 38 Her death ib. Ingratitude of Wenilon or Ganelon Archbishop of Sens. 138 Innocency justified by Combat 46 Innocent II. Pope makes War against the Duke of Puglia and is made Prisoner 240 Thwarted by an Antipope he takes refuge in France ib. He Excommunicates the King of France and puts his Kingdom under Interdiction 243 Innocent III. Pope puts the Kingdom under Interdiction 264 He Excommunicates Raimond Earl of Toloze 266 Owns the Authority of the Council and that a Pope may be deposed ib. Innocent IV. Pope takes refuge in France 303 Inquisition established in Saxony 108 Who first exercised it 264 Intendants of Justice or Law 117 Interdict pronounced against England 264 Interdict pronounced against France 259 Interest every thing yields to it amongst the great ones 302 Investitures of Benefices 236 Jourdain de l'Isle in Aquitain hanged on a Gibbet at Paris 351 Irene Empress chaced by Nicephorus 107 Isaac Angelo Emperor of the East deprived of the Empire of sight and of liberty 261 Isabella Widow of John King of England 302 Isabella of Tholoza her death 316 Isabella of France Married to Thibauld King of Navarre Her death ib. Isabella of France 327 Isabella Queen of England passes into France 351 Sent away from Court she retires again into France ib. At her return into England she revenges her self of her Husband by a most horrible treatment Afterwards chastised her self in her turn 352 Isemburge of Denmark Wife of King Philip Augustus repudiated by her Husband 277 c. Italy become a Kingdom 13 In trouble 134 Is horribly rent by the Guelfs and the Gibbelins 303 Italians inconstant 168 Judicael in Bretagne 157 Judith Daughter of Charles the Bald stolen by the Earl of Flanders 140 Judith second Wife of Lewis the Debonaire 129 Suspected and even accused of impurity 130 Ives Bishop of Chastres a great defender of the Discipline of the Canons 223 Justice exercised by such as made profession of bearing Arms under the Kings of the first Race 48 Punishment of Crimes and divers means to purge themselves of several Crimes 48 49 Justification by cold Water by hot Water and by Fire ib. L. St. Lambert Bishop of Liege Divine punishment of his Murtherer 72 Lambert Earl of Nantes 134 Lambert Son of Guy Crowned Emperor in Italy 160 Landry Maire of the Palace 41 Language natural of the first Frenchmen 50 Lasciviousness of a Prince cause of great evils 30 c. Latilli Peter Bishop of Chalons and Chancellor of France put out of his Office and imprisoned 344 Launoy John Viceroy of Navarre 323 Lauria Roger Admiral 320 Legats sent into France 230 Leger Saint Bishop of Autun Persecuted and confined in the Monastery of Luxeu 65 Re-established in his Episcopal See ib. His Eyes put out the Soles of his Feet cut away and his Lips then shut up in a Monastery 67 68 His death ib. Leo IV. Pope his death 138 Leo Emperor disputes the Worship of Images and will have them taken out of the Churches 84 Leo elected Pope 105 Ill treated at Rome has recourse to Charlemain and comes to him 105 c. Makes another Voyage into France 108 Leo Pope acts of severity his death 121 Leo VIII elected Pope in the place of John the XII 185 His death 186 Leo IX Pope comes into France and holds a Council at Reims 217 Is made Prisoner by the Normands of Italy 218 Leo Isauric Excommunicated 266 Letters of Exemption false counterfeited by certain Monks 290 Leudesia Maire of the Palace 67 Levies of Moneys of three sorts 111 Leutard an Heretick his unhappy end 228 Levigildus King of Spain causes his Son Hermenigilde to be strangled 38 His death ib. Lezignan Guy 257 Liturgy or Mass according to the Church of Rome brought into France 102 Locusts in a prodigious quantity 144 Lombards pass into Italy and establish a Kingdom 29 Descend into Provence and the Kingdom of Burgundy to their own confusion 30 Will have no more Kings and commit the Government to thirty Dukes 31 Restore Kingly Government 36 Lombards reduced to reason 186 Lorraine parted in two 143 Given to the Kings of Germany 149 The Soveraignty of that Kingdom remains in Lothaire King of France 188 Lothaire eldest Son of Lewis the Debonaire is made King of Italy and associated in the Empire 122 Lothaire King of Italy His Marriage with Hermengarde 123 Is Crowned Emperor by the Pope ib. Lothaire King of Italy seizes on the Empire of his Father and shuts him up in St. Medard at Soissons then
at the end of his dayes 730 His death 729 Description of his Person ib. His inclinations ib. Was a great Swearer 730 His Children ib. Vices Predominant during his Reign ib. Caused his Daughter to be named by Elizabeth Queen of England Chastel John wounds the King in the Mouth or the nether Lip 842 Is Condemned 843 Chastelleraud place of the Assembly of the Huguenots 871 Cemitery or Burial Place allowed the Huguenots at Paris 743 Clement VIII gives some Convents to the Recolts Church 16 th Age. Coligny the Admiral charged with the Death of the Duke of Guise 687 Joyns with the Germans 699 Is Condemned to Death and his Head proscrib'd 707 Takes several places going to Bearn 702 Comes to Court and is highly favoured 715 Is Massacred 719 Company or Society of Jesuites restored in France 907 Condé Princess loved by Henry III. 739 The King would vacate her Marriage and have her for his own Wife ib. Her death 739 Princess of Condé makes the King in Love with her 936 Is carried away by her Husband into Flanders 937 Confederation between Queen Elizabeth of England and the Huguenots of France 683 Conference between Henry King of Navarre and the Duke of Espernon 760 Confusion or amazement of those that were present at the Murther of Henry IV. 942 Councel of France betray'd 911 Courtiers Italians ruine the Kingdom of France 774 Courtiers adore not the Prince but during his Grandeur Cracovia in Uproar upon the departure of Henry III. 732 Croquants a Faction in the time of Henry IV. 840 Curates of Paris assembled to acknowledge Henry IV. 838 Curton dis-engages Florat Seneschal of Auvergne 705 D DAcier Commands a Body of an Army 703 Is made Prisoner 712 Dacier Attorney General preserves the City of Touloze for Henry III. 788 Dandelot Brother to the Admiral de Coligny imbued with the Opinions of Calvin 666 His resolution 696 Is with the Prince at Rosoy 697 Passes the River after the Battle of Paris 697 Makes up a small Army 704 Falls into Poitou 705 Declaration of the Duke of Guise against King Henry III. 769 Declarations of Henry III. against the leagued 788 Decree of the Clergy assembled at Mante declaring the Pope's Bulls against Henry IV. to be Null 850 Deputies of the pretended Reformed Churches have Permission to hold an Assembly at Mante 835 Dispair often-times more advantageous than good Fortune it self 794. 835 Desportes Abbot of Tyron a greater Courtier than a Poet though an excellent Poet for those times 818 Diego d'Ibarra Ambassadour of Spain 821 Demands the Crown for the Infanta ib. Diepe remains faithful to Henry III. 788 Acknowledges Henry IV. 801 The Difference between the Pope and the Venetians 925 Dijon sees Casimir pass by with his Germans 742 Given to the Chiefs of the League 771 Is seized by the Duke of Mayenne 787 Would return to their Obedience under the King and is hindred by the Duke of Mayenne 841 Its Reduction 844 Declaration denouncing a War against King Philip. 843 Directors and Confessors animate the People 775 Disciples of Luther Church 16th Age. Dixmude taken by the Duke of Alenson 762 Rendred to the States of the Low-Countries 763 Doctors of Paris enter into a Conference with Henry IV. 832 Dominique de Gourgues a Gascon revenges the French Massacred in Florida by the Spaniards 701 Doria General of the Spanish Galleys 713 Brings back his Vessels to Naples and forsakes the Christians 714 Doway its Seminary filled with Catholiques too Zealous 758 Dourlens taken by Orleans cause of the death of the Guises 782 Is granted to the League ib. Dourlens will needs be comprized in the Edict of the Reduction of Amiens Under King Henry IV. 839 Drougne a River where was fought the Battle of Coutras 778 Dunkirk in the hands of the Spaniards 758 Taken by the Duke of Alenson 762 Duel famous between Philipin Bastard of Savoy and the Lord de Crequy 876 Duplessis Mornay agrees Henry III. and Henry of Navarre afterwards King of France 791 D'uumvirs of Marseilles 851 E EBion his Errors renewed in the Sixteenth Age. Vide Ch. 16 th Age. Eclipses Three in one year 919 Edict to put Persons that were irreproachable into Offices of Judicature 665 Edict in favour of the Huguenots at the instance of the Queen Regent under Charles IX 675 It was the first that they ever obtained ibid. Edict against Duels 705 Edict Prohibiting foreign Manufactures 905 Edict which gives to Calvinisme the Name of Pretended Reformed Religion Edict against Duels and Bankrupts 934 Edward Prince of Portugal 752 Egmont Count his death 699 d'Elboeuf Duke Prisoner at Loches 790 Elector Frederic of Saxony vanquished and destituted of his Dutchy 937 Eleonor de Roye Wife of the Prince of Condé 658 Eleonor Daughter of William Duke of Cleves 937 Wife of Albert Federic Duke of Prussia ibid. Elgade a City of the Azores taken by Don Antonio Prior of Crato pretending himself to be King of Portugal 760 Taken by the Spaniards ib. Elizabeth de la Paix Wife of the King of Spain and Daughter of France is Poisoned 700 Elizabeth Queen of England assists the Huguenots 662 France declares War against her 689 Takes the Low-Countries under her Protection 762 Courted by the Duke of Alenson 754 Will take no Husband and the reason wherefore ib. Sends the Order of the Garter to the King 768 Puts Mary Stuart to Death 776 Sends assistance to Henry IV. 818 Sends Succours to the Siege of Amiens 860 Receives the Mareschal Biron very well 883 Her Death and her Praise 902 903 Elizabeth Daughter of Henry IV. 943 Is married to Philip IV. King of Spain ib. Emmanuel King of Portugal from whom by Daughters are issued the Dukes of Braganza 752 d'Entragues Espouses Mary Toucher Mistriss to Charles IX 876 Her Daughter beloved by Henry IV. ib. Is Condemned to be Beheaded but receives her Pardon 914 Ernest Archduke proposed to the Estates assembled at Paris to be King of France marrying the Infanta of Spain 831 Ernest of the House of Brandenburg pursues the right of his Nephew upon Cleves 939 Eseovedo Secretary of Don Juan of Austria is Poignarded 752 Espernon Duke Favorite of Henry III. designs against the Duke of Anjou 764 Makes a Party to seize upon the Duke of Guise 770 Being in the highest degree of favour advises the ruin of the Guises 775 Hinders the League from making any great Progress in Normandy 781 Was in the Coach with Henry IV. when he was Murthered 942 The Queen confides much in him 943 Causes her to be declared Queen Regent ibid. d'Espinay the Princess in the absence of her Husband defends Tournay during two Months 758 Essars d'Amoiselle beloved by Henry IV. 934 Estampes taken by Henry IV. 800 Estates assembled at Blois under Henry III. 804 Estates General of the Vnited Provinces treat with the Duke of Anjou 751 Are in Combustion The Duke of Anjou having endeavour'd to make himself Master of Antwerp they notwithstanding sends him Provisions
before Gondiochus King of the Burgundians was dead and his Four Sons Gondebaud Godegesile Chilperic and Gondemar had shared his Kingdom amongst them Now Anno 477. Gondebaud the eldest and the most knowing of all had Year of our Lord 477 Leagued himself with the Second to dispoliate the two others at first he was defeated and kept himself hid for a time then when they thought him dead he comes forth on a suddain and surrounds them in Vienne Gondemar was burned in a Tower where he was defending himself Chilperic fell into the Victors hands who caused him to be Massacred with his two Sons and his Wife thrown into the River with a Stone tied to her Neck but spared the Lives of his two Daughters They were called Sedeleube and Clotilda both of them were of the Orthodox Faith though their Father and Vnkle were Arrians The First Consecrated her self to God the other Gondebaud kept and had her bred up in his own House King Childerick upon his return from an Expedition against the Almains is assaulted by a Fever and dyes aged at least 45 years of which he had Reigned 22 or 23. He left Four Children one Son whom they named Clouis and three Daughters Andeflede who espoused Theodorick King of the Orstogoths Alboflede and Lantilda Year of our Lord 481 These two received Baptism with their Brother Alboflede being Converted from Paganism and Lantilda from the Arrian Heresie These were not Married It is conjectured that he held his Royal Seat at Tournay because in our times in the year 1654. digging under some Houses there was a Tomb discovered and amongst other singular Curiosities was found a Ring whereon his Effigies and his Name are Engraved Clovis King V. Aged Fifteen years POPES FELIX III. The 8th of March S. Twelve years GELASIUS I. in March 492. S. Four years nine Months ANASTASIUS II. the 28 th Novemb. 496. S. Two years SYMMACHUS the 20th Novemb. 496. S. Fifteen years Eight Months whereof Three years in the following Reign CLovis or Louis for 't is the same Name handsome well shap'd and personally brave was not so soon at age to Command but he undertakes a War against Siagrius Son of that Gillon who had been set up in the place of his Father Childeric he Fights him and Defeats him near to Soissons the unfortunate Man flies to Aleric King of the Visigoths for refuge but Year of our Lord 481 Clovis by Threats forces him to send him back and when he hath him in his hands he puts him to death having first secured all his Towns to himself which were Soissons Rheims Provence Sens Troye Auxerre and some others and thus there remained nothing in the hands of the Romans amongst the Gauls Year of our Lord 484 It was a Law amongst the French that all the Plunder should be brought in common month Or 485. and shared amongst the Soldiers there had been taken a precious Vase or Vessel in a Church by his People he desired as a favour they would set it apart to restore it to the Bishop who had besought him for it an insolent Soldier opposed it and gave it a blow with an Ax saying he would have his share Clovis took no notice of it for the present but a year afterwards upon a general Review he quarrell'd with him because he did not keep his Arms in good Order and cleft his Head with his Battle-Axe a bold undertaking and which made him to be the more dreaded by the French From the year 489 Theodoric King of the Ostrogoths was entred into Italy after Year of our Lord 489 various events having overcome and put to death Odoacer King of the Heruli he setled a potent Monarchy there Anno 494. Year of our Lord 489 Clovis subdues a part of the Thuringians and imposes a Tribute upon them Year of our Lord 494 His Victories and his Conquests increase his Renown and his Dominion and lift him above other Princes his Power must have been great since Gondebaud King of the Burgundians was either his Vassal or his Officer perhaps Grand Master of his Militia Towards the end of the year 491 he Married Clotilda Daughter of King Childeric and Neece to that Gondebaud who consented not to that Match but out of fear Aurelian a French Lord was the Mediator and had the County of Melun for a recompence The Almains one of the most puissant people of Germany who then inhabited Suabia part of Retia on this side the Rhine Swisserland and perhaps the Countrey of Alsatia to Strasbourg were entred in hostile manner upon the Lands of Sigebert King of Colen or of the Ribarols Clovis his Kinsman went to his assistance Year of our Lord 496 and gave them Battle near Tolbiac it is guessed to be Zulg within Ten Leagues of Colen In the midst of the Engagement his Men gave ground and ran into disorder the greatness of the danger made him then think of Praying to the God of his Wife and to make a Vow that if he delivered him from that peril he would be Baptized Immediately the Scene of the day changed his Men returned to the Charge the Enemies were put to flight and left their King and a multitude of their Army slain upon the place He hotly pursued his Victory entred upon their Countrey and without Mercy exterminated all that were on this side of the Rhine the others saved themselves Year of our Lord 496 in Italy under the protection of Theodoric King of the Ostrogoths It is to be believed that at the intreaty of this great Prince who was his Brother-in-law he suffered such as desired it to return to their own Dwellings but he perfectly subdued them gave them some Counts and a Duke to Govern them and shared their Lands amongst his Captains After this check they had no more Kings and were but inconsiderable till the time of the Emperour Frederick the II. under whom in my opinion they gave the Name to all Germany As he returned from this Expedition his Wife took care to send some Holy Men to him to exhort him to keep his Word and to instruct him in the Orthodox Faith St. Vaast who was as then but a Priest and dwelt at Verdun Catechized him by the way St. Remy Arch-Bishop of Rheims powerful in Works and Eloquence confirmed him mightily in the belief of Christianity Having therefore brought the most part of his Captains to have a good opinion of this Conversion he received Holy Baptism with great Ceremony in the Church of Rheims on Christmass day Anno 496. The Bishops plunged him in the Consecrated Lavatory Three thousand of his French Subjects followed his example and this regenerated Flock with their Leader wore the White Robe eight days together according to the Ceremony then practised in the Church Year of our Lord 496 It is said that Heaven in favour of his Conversion Honoured him and the Kings of France his Successors with many miraculous and singular Favours
and Visigoths the greatest Prince amongst the Year of our Lord 526 Barbarian Kings had he not been an Arrian being in the end become a persecutor of the Catholicks died at Rome the second of September he left his Kingdoms to two Sons of his Daughters that is to say that of Spain or the Visigoths to Amalaric and that of Italy or the Ostrogoths to Athalaric who was under the Tutelage of his Mother Amalasuinta To this last he likewise gave Provence which in those times comprehended the Second Narbonnoise part of the First Viennoise and all the Fifth and to the other the First Viennoise otherwise called Septimania and which even at that time was also known to the French under the Name of Gothia because it was poss ssed by the Goths Year of our Lord 528 Amalaric re-establisht in his Kingdom dreading the Power of the French Kings desired their Sister Clotilda in Marriage The King of Turingia perhaps it might be Basin had had three Sons Hermenfroy Baderic and Bertier The First married Amalabergue Daughter of Amalafrode who was Sister to Theoderic King of the Ostrogoths and Widow of Trasimond King of the Vandals at the instigation of this wicked and ambitious Woman not content with having taken away the Life and part of the Kingdom from Bertier he was besides Leagued with Thierry King of Metz and by his assistance had in the Year of our Lord 531 same manner Treated his other Brother Baderic This year 531. Thierry angry that he gave him no part of this last Conquest as he had promis'd him made an agreement with his Brother Clotaire to over-run Turingia Hermenfroy meets them and fights them at the first they were in some little disorder their Horses falling into pits covered with Branches and Turfs but having gotten out of the snares they drove him as far as the brink of the Onestrud where there was so great slaughter that the dead Carkasses made a Bridge over the River He narrowly made his escape out of this danger and with much ado shut himself up in a Fort. Year of our Lord 531 The Kingdom of Turingia wholly Conquer'd and Extinguished remained to Thierry Clotaire satisfied himself with the Spoil and Captives amongst whom was found the Prince Amalafroy and the young Radegonda Children of Bertier He caused Radegonda to be carefully brought up and Married her some years after but by the Council of some wicked People he caused Amalafroy to be slain and Radegonda afterwards parted from him and went and Founded the Monastery of the Holy-Cross at Poitiers where she piously ended her days Mean while Thierry being returned to his Kingdom allured Hermenfroy to his Court having sowrn he should be in all security then barbarously falsifying his Faith as they were one day walking together upon the Walls of Tolbiac there came a fellow and thrust him down from top to bottom Amalabergue the cause of all these Tragedies made her escape into Africk to her Mother The same year upon a false report blown abroad that Thierry had been slain in Year of our Lord 531 the Wars of Turingia Arcadius one of the Senators of Auvergne invited Childebert to seize upon the Town of Clermont which belonged to Thierry 's share The People and Lords being well contented to be rid of the Government of the Austrasians submitted easily to his but after finding that Thierry returned victorious he quitted Auvergne and marched into Septimania to make War upon Amalaric King of the Visigoths Year of our Lord 531 and 532. His pretences for this War were the Outrages that Arrian Prince used towards his Sister Clotilda in hatred for that she constantly persevered in the Catholick Religion Amalaric lost the Battle not far from Narbonne which was his Royal Seat and when he thought to fly to his Ships he was killed either in that City or in Barcellona by the French or by Theudis himself who succeeded him Clotaire nevertheless gained nothing but some plunder and the honour of having revenged his Sister who died on the way as he was bringing her back For Septimania still remained in the hands of the Visigoths but their Kings naturally timorous transferred their Royal Seat to Toledo to be for the future at a more safe distance from such like irruptions Year of our Lord 534 Childebert and Clotaire being associated go on to pursue Gondemar take him prisoner in a Fight lock him up in a Tower where in all probability he ended his days and invaded all that was left of his Countrey Thus the First Kingdom of Burgundy was extinguished after it had subsisted Fourscore and ten years and became united to France but it retained its Name its Laws and its particular Magistrates Its Governours were ordinarily stiled Patricians Year of our Lord 534 The two Brothers desiring to share Burgundy between them sent to the Queen Clotilda their Mother that she should let them have the three Sons of Clodomir to put them in possession of their Fathers Kingdom Clotilda did the more easily believe it because in effect they had not yet divided it amongst themselves but when they had these poor innocent Creatures in their hands they most inhumanely massacred the two eldest the Third named Clodoald or Cloud was saved by his Fathers Bravo's and after he had lain some time concealed he secured his Life by cutting off his Hair and then confining himself in a Holy Sanctuary or Retreat at the Borough of Nogent near Paris which keeps even to this day his Relicks and Name Because Thierry of Metz refused to accompany his two Brothers against Gondemar the French Austrasians angry that they should not have their share in the plunder of Burgundy threatned they would own him no longer In the First and Second Year of our Lord 534 Race they have often given themselves this liberty He was forced that he might appease them to lead them into Auvergne who were revolted from him to give themselves up to Childebert whence they brought away an innumerable multitude of Captives and all that was portable A Lord named Munderic reckoning himself of Blood-Royal acted the part of King and made the Mobile follow him as such Thierry at his return from Auvergne besieged him in the Castle de Vitry and seeing he could not gain it by force he makes use of Perjury Aregisa one of his Captains engages his Faith that he should be well received and when he was come out of the place he gave a Signal that they should fall on him Munderic perceiving it prevents him and kills him with a Dart and afterwards taking his Sword in hand together with such as had follow'd him he sold his Life at a dear rate Year of our Lord 534 The same year saw an end of the Kingdom of the Vandals and Asrick with the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia and the Baleares returned to the Empire after they had been cut off from them 107 years The Emperour Justinian under pretence of taking
Critiques have maintained that the Chronology did not agree but there is no appearance that so many Authors should or could have invented such a Fable without any necessity or ground to move them to it Cherebert King VIII POPE JOHN III. S. Ten years under this Reign CHEREBERT King of Paris aged Twenty years GONTRAN of Orleans and of Burgundy aged 36 years SIGEBERT of Austrasia aged Twenty five or Thirty years CHILPERIC of Soissons aged Twenty or Twenty five years THe Kingdom was for the Second time divided into Four for his four Sons which was the cause of infinite Civil Wars Murthers Treasons Plunderings and Calamities Before their shares were setled Chilperic the youngest of them had Year of our Lord 561 seized upon all the Fathers Treasure which was at Bresne and afterwards that at Paris but he was driven thence by the other three This done they drew Lots which gave the Kingdom of Paris to Cherebert that of Orleans and a good part of that of Burgundy to Gontran he resided at Chaalons that of Austrasia to Sigebert and that of Soissons to Chilperic Besides this each of them had a share in Aquitain as the four Sons of Clovis before Year of our Lord 562 had and also in Provence that so each of them and altogether might be obliged to maintain them with their joynt Forces The Austrasians had nominated for the Office of Mayre of the Palace a Lord named Chrodin he refused to accept of it considering that all the Grandees of the Countrey being his Kindred would have thought they might have taken the liberty of committing all sorts of violence on the People with impunity and that he could not have the severity to punish them for it He therefore advised them to Year of our Lord 565 make another choice and they relying upon his probity he recommended Gogon to them who was of his Educating and taking him by the Arms he puts them round his Neck in token that he owned him for his Superiour The Avarois a People of Hun flying the Tyranny of the Turks who were of the same Nation had forsaken their Native Soil and were come to the Service of the Emperour Justinian After his death being slighted by Justin they sought their Fortunes elsewhere and having penetrated into the heart of Germany they ravaged Turingia which belonged to Sigebert This King not fearing these Barbarians who were reckoned so terrible attaqued them neer the Banks of the Elbe and having mated them in a great Battle he sent them back again with shame to the Danube from whence they were come Chilperic in the mean time falls upon his Territory and ruined all the Countrey of Rheims Sigebert being come back repels him most vigorously and took his Son Year of our Lord 567 Theodebert prisoner with the Citty of Soissons In this same year the quarrel ended in a peace followed with the liberty of the young Prince but not a perfect reconciliation In 570. began the Kingdom of the Lombards in Italy their King Alboinus being Year of our Lord 570 Crowned at Milan this year after he had conquer'd all the Countrey from the Alpes to Tuscany excepting only the Exerchat of Ravenna which yet remained in the Empire The name of Lombards came either from their wearing of long Beards or that they were armed with long Bards which was a kind of Axe Their first Habitation was on the further Banks of the Elbe whence coming forth and having often changed their Dwellings Four hundred years together they in the end fixed themselves in Pannonia in the days of the Emperour Justinian From thence their King Alboinus a very War-like Prince and brought some Forces into Italy for the Romans Service in the time of the Funnque haarses Now they had takensuch delight in the Habitation so rich and fruitful a Land that that Great Captain being dead they all went thither with their Wives and Children in the year 568 under the Conduct of that King He likewise carried thither Thirty thousand Saxons who were willing to follow him and the remainder of the Gipedes whose Kingdom he had extinguish'd in Pannonia Year of our Lord 570 The Neighborhood soon set them together by the Ears with the French and begot a mortal Enmity between them As they were huge covetous and pussed up with their Victories they were not satisfied with the spoils of Italy but made frequent incursions into Rhetia and Provence In that very year some numbers of them in a body without a Head were sallen into the Countrey of Valais but instead of carrying away Plnnder they lost their Lives The year following they marched much stronger into the Kingdom of Burgundy Year of our Lord 571 and at the first in a bloody Battle defeated the Army which King Gontran had sent against them and slew their General This was Amat Patrician or Governour of the Province of Arles but when they would needs come again the Third time and had ransacked the Countreys about Ambrun the Patrician Mummole Successor to Amat insnared or surrounded them and having stopped all the ways by felling of huge Trees charged these Robbers so smartly that he destroyed almost the whole Army or made them prisoners Year of our Lord 562. and the following There was nothing more disorderly then the liberty which these Four Kings of France took in their Marriages Gontran after he had chosen a Servant for his Mistriss belonging to some Courtier from whom he had forced her espoused Marcatrude Daughter of Magnachaire whom he rejected in a short time afterwards to take one that waited on her she was called Austrigilda Bobilla Chilperic had repudiated Queen Andovere though he had three Sons by her for the love of Fredegonda one of the Women belonging to his Chamber Cherebert put away Ingoberge whom he had Married in the life time of Clotaire and Married with Meroflede Daughter to one that worked in Woollen and then afterwards with her Sister Marcovefe though she were under the Holy Veil and likewise with Theodegildus Daughter to a Shepherd King Sigebert on the contrary desiring a lawful Marriage and one well qualify'd espoused Brunechild or Brunehand Daughter of Atanagildus King of the Visigoths Sometime afterwards Chilperic follow'd his example and having for a short while quitted his Amours to Fredegonda demanded likewise Gelasuinta Sister to Brunebaud The Father consents to it but not without a great deal of repugnance and the obliging both himself and the chief Lords his Subjects to swear by many Oaths that he should never take any other whilst she was living Year of our Lord 570 Cherebert being gone into Xaintonge which was in his Lot dyed in the Castle of Blaye on the Garonne and was buried in the same place within the Church of St. Romain He was little less then Forty nine years and had Reigned Nine He had but three Daughters Berte by Queen Ingoberge and Berteflede and Crodielde by some Mistriss These two last were Veiled
intreaty he came to the Palace of Ruel and held the young Clotaire her Son at the Font for his Baptism in the Church of St. Genevieue of Nanterre which gave great Umbrage and cause of Complaint to Childebert his other Nephew Year of our Lord 593 The following year or according to others two years after this Prince being at Chaalons where he kept his ordinary Residence and had caused the Church and Abby of St. Marcel to be built he fell Sick and died the 28th of March being in the One and thirtieth or two and thirtieth of his Reign and above the Sixty eighth of his Age. Of several Children he had had by several Wives but one survived him which was a Daughter named Clotilda who was vailed It appears he left all his Lands to Childebert and little or nothing to Clotair though he were his God-father He was beyond comparison the best of the four Brothers pious Charitable a lover of Justice and of publick good respectful to the Church and Prelates taking a particular care the Canons should be observed but Inconstant Timorous Suspicious and easie to be caught by Flatteries and transported with Choler which but too frequently gave him cause to repent CHILDBERT in Austrasia Burgundy and part of Neustria and CLOTAIR in Neustria at Paris Childebert Valiant powerfully Armed and enriched by the Succession to Gontran whereof he went immediately to take Possession thought to have an easy task of Clotair a young Child and his Mother Fredegonda who was hated by all the French but this Woman Subtil and Courageous sparing neither Flatteries nor Money nor Promises regained the most alienated Minds and tied them to her Service She appeared every where carried her Son about with her and holding him up sometimes in her Arms shewed him to the Soldiers and crouds of People and did animate them with compassion of his innocence Thus with their faithful assistance and with the Conduct of her Landry Mayre of the Palace she obstructed the progress of the Enemy having surprized and defeated his Army by stratagem in a place of Soâ—ssonnois which they called Truec The Dukes Gondouand and Wintrion Commanded it There was slain 3000 Men on their Year of our Lord 593 side which did not a little confirm the Crown to Clotair but could not however prevent Childebert from tearing away some Towns at the further part of his Kingdom The Warnes Garues or Guerins were a People of Germany whose first Habitation had been in that Countrey where is at this day the Duthcy of Mecklenburgh where there is a River which they yet call Warne which passes by Rostoc From thence they issuing out with the English the Saxons and the Heruli were come to Lodge in Friesland and in Batavia on the North of those Countreys the French held beyond the Rhine and there had setled a little Kingdom but I believe they had been conquered by Theodebert or by Clotaire I. and subjected to the Kingdom of Year of our Lord 554 Austrasia Now having Rebelled this year 594. against Childebert they were utterly extirpated either by the Sword or led away into Captivity insomuch as since that time the name of them hath never been heard of Year of our Lord 595 About the Month of October in Anno 595. Childebert and his Wife were both snatched out of the World by Sickness near the same time perhaps it was by poison from Fredegonda's Shop or of Brunehauds preparation Fredegonda being their avowed Enemy and Brunehaud put beside her Authority by her Sons age which she might possibly endeavour to recover in the minority of her Children Childebert dyed in the 25th of his age and the 20th of his Reign I know there are some Chronologists that allow him three years more as also 33 years Reign to Gontran but let us leave them to handle these Bryers and Thorns He had two Sons Theodebert and Thierry who succeeded him Theodebert had Austrasia Thierry had Burgundy and the Kingdom of Orleans CLOTAIRE II. In Neustria aged Eight years under FREDEGOND his Mother THEODEBERT King of Austrasia aged Nine or Ten years and THIERRY King of Burgundy aged Eight or Nine years  BROTHERS Vnder Brunehaud their Grandmother Year of our Lord 595 Thus in all the Kingdoms of France they were but Children that had at this time the Titles of Kings and which was worse two Women versed in all manner of crimes held the reins of Government Brunehaud ruled those of her Grand-Children by her self and by her Confidents she resided in Austrasia with Theodebert whose Seat was at Mets as Thierry 's was at Chaalons on the Soane Year of our Lord 595 Fredegond more Fortunate and also more Active then she betook her to the Field to regain Paris and the Cities on the Seine which Childebert had taken from her The Austrasians came to meet her and there were the three little Kings to be seen of whom the eldest was but Eight years at the Head of their Armies The Victory fell to Clotaire with the Cities for which he fought Year of our Lord 596 Soon after Fredegond Victorious and Triumphant but more Illustrious yet for her Crimes then by her good success dyed aged 50 or 55 years with this advantage that she left her Sons affairs in a condition to defend themselves alone Year of our Lord 596 This year or the following the Huns made inroads upon Turingia passing thorough the Behemans or Bohemians Countrey a Sclavonian People who were their Subjects Brunehaud durst hazard nothing against them but removed them by force of Money This Princess was not less cruel and vindicative then Fredegond and besides that very covetous and who making her Revenge ever tend towards the filling of her Year of our Lord 597 Purse took away the Lives of the Richest to get their Wealth Amongst others she caused the Duke Wintrion to be killed who had great Treasures he was Father of that Glosina who much against his Will did shut her self up in a Monastery at Mets where she is to this day venerated as a Saint Year of our Lord 598 This Conduct of Brunehauds became so insupportable to the Austrasians that they haled her by force out of the Royal Palace and led her even to the Frontiers of the Kingdom where they left her all alone cloathed only in Rags nigh the Castle d'Arcies upon the River Aube which parted the Kingdoms of her two Grandsons A poor Man knowing whom she was conducted her to Chaalons upon the Soane to her Son Thierry who received her both with joy and indignation at once Her Conductor for his reward had the Bishoprick of Auxerre The two young Brothers could not forget the loss of Paris and other Cities about the Seine which Clotaire had forced from them their Grand-Mother provoked Year of our Lord 599 them to call him to account and invade his Kingdom Knowing their design he comes boldly to meet them even near the Frontiers of Burgundy The two Armies fought nigh the Banks
of the little River Arouane which glides betwixt that of Yonne and Loing and falls into the Loing close by Moret Clotaire lost the Battle and almost Thirty thousand Men and saved himself by speedy posting to Paris But he durst not stay there long for the Victors being advanced as far as Essonne he retired into the Forrest of Arelaune In fine he was constrained left he should lose all to yield up to them the greatest part of his Kingdom to Thierry all that was between the Loire and the Seine as far as the Sea and to Theoderet the Dutchy of Dentelen which was between the Oise and the Seine or perhaps between the Somme and the Oise Year of our Lord 600 601. During the controversie between the Cousins the Gascons took occasion to come and plant themselves in the Countrey of Oleron of Bearn and of Soule The two Brother Kings thought it to better purpose having vanquish'd them to make them become Tributaries then to drive them quite away and gave them a Duke to Govern them he was called Genialis But as they are a stirring People during the Civil Wars of the French they gained all Aquitania Tertia which because of them is named Gascongne Year of our Lord 601 Brunehaud had all the power in the Court of young King Thierry having made him taste the pleasure of Women and Love betimes to keep him from medling with business of State by charms of voluptuousness and out of fear leâ—t a lawful Wife if he should take one should induce him to retrench her Authority by gaining the Affections of her Grand-Son from her This year he had a Son by one of his Mistresses which they named Sigebert Though Brunehaud were a Great-Grand-Mother she was not exempted from Love nor from inspiring it in others by the opportunities she had of bestowing the greatest Favours but this she did most commonly at the expence of the richest whom she fleeced by her Calumnies and her assassinations The precedent year she Year of our Lord 602 had taken away the Life of Egila Patrician of Burgundy to enrich her self with his Year of our Lord 603 spoil She loved amongst others a young Lord named Protades of Roman extraction that is to say Gaulois and had already made him Duke des Transjurains this was not enough she must raise him to the Office of Mayer of the Palace But Bertoald who then executed it must first be put out of the way To this end she sent him to gather up the Imposts in Neustria newly taken from Clotair and as yet not well subjected Landry Mayer of the Palace soon chases him pursues him even to Orleans and Besieges him King Thierry being informed thereof Mounts on Horseback the Battle was fought at the passage over the River of Estampes most part of Landry's Men were cut off but Bertoald was slain there as Brunehaud had wished and she gave that Employment to her Protades Year of our Lord 603 At the same time King Theodebert had taken the Field to run upon Clotaire but the two Kings being there present Theodebert grants him a Peace desiring to preserve him for a time of need against his Brother Thierry who likewise and perhaps upon the same consideration did in a while after make his accommodation with Clotaire Year of our Lord 604 The Old One had not forgot the Outrage she had received by Theodebert or rather the Austrasian Lords she infinitely desired Thierry might make himself Master of that Kingdom that she might execute her Revenge She made him believe therefore that Theodebert was not his Brother but that he was the Son of a Gardiner Was it that she would have it meant he had been Supposed or Changed or that the Queen Faileube had committed Adultery with some person of that condition Upon all occasions she and her Favourite thundered it in the Ears of Thierry and laid hold of every little subject of Pique to exasperate the Spirit of that young ambitious and violent Prince Insomuch as that in fine he took up Arms to deprive his own Brother both of his Crown and Life One day as the two Armys were encamped near each other the Leudes or Vaslals of the Kings detesting this impious War endeavoured an accommodation Protades opposing it those that belonged to Thierry gathered together and notwithstanding the Intreaty and Commands of that Prince Year of our Lord 605 to the contrary went and â—lew him in his Tent where he was playing at Chess Year of our Lord 605 6. In time Brunehaud found means to sacrifice all those that had procured his Death to the Manes of her beloved Friend But notwithstanding instead of one Gallant she chose many and those the handsomest of her Court The scandal was so great that St. Didier Bishop of Lions was obliged by his Pastoral Office and Duty to make some publique Remonstrances of it to her They wrought no effect upon a Soul so plunged in the Mire of her Lust but they acquired the Crown of Martyrdom for this Holy Prelate This Second Jesabel having first caused him to be degraded and banished by an Assembly of Bishops devoted to her passion then two years after stoned to death by her Satellites Some remorse of Conscience having touched Thierry he would needs take a lawful Wife and caused Hermenberg the Daughter of Bertric King of the Visigoths to come out of Spain that he might Marry her But Brunehaud by her Witchcrafts as it was said hindred him from consummating the Nuptials and even perswaded him to send her back and most unjustly detain all that she had brought with her for him The disorders of this Court were at such a height that it was to ruine ones self not to approve of it Nevertheless the H. Abbot Colomban who feared nought but God alone spared not to conjure King Thierry to put an end to his Debauches Year of our Lord 608 by a legitimate Marriage and refused to give Blessing to his Bastards boldly assuring him that God would never suffer the Sons of Sin to Reign This Christian liberty thwarted too much the Interests and Pleasures of Brunehaud she ceased not from irritating the King her Son against the Saint till he had caused him to be plucked out of his Monastery with violence and turned out of his Kingdom At that time when she her self was driven from the Court of Austrasia she had left one of her Servants there bought with the price of Money named Bilechild a Virgin of much Wisdom and more Beauty Theodebert having Married her the kindness that Prince had for her begot the aversion of Brunehaud It hapned that this year she dyed by some ill beverage It was not known from what hand it was directed whether that old jealous Woman or her Husbands who was grown weary of her and would have another as indeed he Married Theodechild one of the same quality and condition But her death was imputed to Brunehaud as well as the War that
Militia of Burgundy and several Counts without Dukes to bring them to their Duty They fallied forth out of their Rocks and their Fastnesses and set upon the French with wonderful alacrity but after all they found it better to make use of their agility to save themselves then to Fight They were pursued without stop or stay and Fire and Sword flew after them even into their strongest Retreats till there being no other security left them but the Mercy of their Prince they promised to sall down at his Feet and submit to all his Commands I know not where some Authors have found how Aquitania Secunda was concerned in their Revolt and that Dagobert having gone thither in Person razed the City of Poitiers and sowed it with Salt in token of its Desolation If this were true it must have been because of the too heavy Imposts upon Salt that the Poitovins Rebelled Year of our Lord 635 The lucre of Plunder had likewise incited the Bretons to run upon the French Territories Eloy who was since Bishop of Noyon went and demanded Reparation of their King Judicael or Giquel Son and Successor of Jukel He found it no difficult thing to persuade that Prince that he were better come and wait on the King then have his Country over-run and plundred by the Forces that were returning Victorious out of Gascongne he brought him to the Palace of Clichy where he humbly craved pardon of Dagobert promised him for the future to prevent the like Disorders and submitted both himself and Kingdom to his disposal Year of our Lord 636 The Gascon Lords with their Duke Aighina came to the same place as they had promised the foregoing year to surrender themselves up to the mercy of Dagobert and because they dreaded his wrath they had recourse to the intercession of St. Denis and put themselves into Sanctuary in his Church The King in honour to that Saint gave them their Lives and Fortunes and they in acknowledgment laying their hands up on his Altar swore an eternal Fidelity to him to his Sons and to all his Successors Kings of France Year of our Lord 636 The whole Kingdom was in peace both within and without at this time Dagobert did not enjoy this Repose very long for the Second year he was taken with a Dysentery at Espinay which was one of his Royal Houses upon the Seine a little below St. Denis His Sickness increasing he made them carry him to that Abby where he dyed the 17th of January in the year 638. being very neer 38 years of age He Reigned in all but 16 years as I think that is Six in his Fathers life time and Ten after his death At his dying he earnestly recommended his Wife Nantilda and his Son Clovis to Ega Mayre of the Palace of Neustria and to such Grandees as were then present The great Donations he made to the most famous Churches of France deserve the unparallell'd Encomiums of the Clergy who have allowed him all the qualities of as Virtuous as Wise as Valiant and as much accomplish'd a Prince either for Peace or War as any that ever Reigned over the French The Chronology begins to be very confused and uncertain in this Reign for some will have it that he dyed An. 639. others that it was in 643. Some reckon the Sixteen years of his Reign from the death of his Father others from the year that he made him King of Austrasia I am of the opinion of the latter Gold and Silver had been very scarce and rare in France in the Reign of Clovis and his Children but since then the Expeditions they made into Italy the Pensions they drew from the Emperours of the East and as it is credible the Commerce they setled with the Nations in the Levant brought great quantities of those precious Mettles as likewise precious Stones and rich Vasa's and Ornaments insomuch that the Bravery and Luxury of the Court of France was not inferiour to the Emperours Clovis II. King XII POPES SEVERIAN Elect in 639. S. some Months JOHN IV. Elect in Decemb. 639. S. One year nine Months THEODORE Elect in Novemb 641. S. Seven years and half MARTIN I. Elect in July 649 S. Six years three Months EUGENIUS I. Elected in August 654 S. One year PEPIN and then GRIMOALD Maire SIGEBERT in Austrasia aged 8 or 9 years CLOVIS II. in Neustria aged 4 years EGA then ERCHINOALD Maire Year of our Lord 638 WE shall now henceforward behold the Royal Power in the hands of the Mayres of the Palace and all the affairs of State governed according to their capricious Fancies and their Interests Pepin delivered by the death of Dagobert who had always kept him near himself upon some Honourable pretence got again into the administration of his Office of Mayre of Austrasia Dagobert having committed the Government of that Kingdom to Duke Aldagise that Lord gave it up to him either willingly or by compulsion and he gave notice thereof to Cunibert the Bishop his old friend who was Governour to Sigebert It was perhaps for his sake that he transferr'd the Court and Royal Seat of Austrasia from the City of Mets to that of Colen Year of our Lord 638 At the instance of the Governours of Austrasia who required that the Fathers Treasures should be divided betwixt the two young Kings the Grandees both of the one and the other Kingdoms assembled at Compiegne to make the estimate and to share it Year of our Lord 639 A year after Pepins return into Austrasia he fell sick and dyed having held the Office of Mayre Seventeen years a Man as great for Honesty as Policy being one according to the Heart of God and Man By his Wife Itta whom some do name Juberge he had three Children a Son named Grimoald and two Daughters Begghe and Gertrude The First Married Ansegise the Son of St. Arnold and Father of young Pepin and being a Widow Devoted her self to God in the Monastery of Nivelle with her Mother who built it and her Sister Gertrude Grimoald with the assistance of Cunibert got himself into possession of the Office of Mayre of the Palace but Otho who was Bail or Fosterer of the young Prince and for that reason very powerful in the Kings House disputed it with him for three years In fine Grimoald to enjoy it quietly caused him to be slain by Leutaire Duke of the Almains This is the First time that Office descended from Father to Son hereafter we shall sind it Hereditary Year of our Lord 640 During this Discord and the minority of Sigebert Radulfe or Raoul Duke of Turingia sets up for Sovereign having allied himself with the Sclavonians and made a League with Fare who would needs revenge the death of Chrodoald his Father whom King Dagobert had caused to dye for his Crimes The Austrasian Lords led the Forces of their Kingdom and the King himself thither to chastise their Rebellion At first Fare having dared to come and meet
them was discomfited and laid dead upon the spot with the best part of his Men. But the end was not answerable to the beginning Radulfe being retreated with his Forces resolved to undergo all extremities in a Castle built of Wood which he had furnished with all sorts of Provisions upon a HIll nigh the River Onestrud and Sigebert having Besieged him a difference hapned amongst his Commanders some would immediately assault it others would give the Soldiers time to refresh and recruit themselves The First persisted obstinately and went up to make their Attaque the rest foreseeing what the event would be found fit to remain in their Camp and keep about the King's Person Radulfe comes forth to meet those that were climbing up to assail him beats them back and tumbled them down the steep Hill head-long with great slaughter the young King who was on Horseback could do nothing more then weep to behold them cutting the Throats of his Men in his sight Those who were about him grew so much afraid that they sent to demand permission of Radulfe that they might retire and had leave from him as a singular favour Year of our Lord 641 Ega Mayre of Neustria being dead this year of a Fever at the Palace of Cliâ—hy Erchinoald who was of Kinn to King Dagobert by his Mothers side a person who had all the Virtues that could be desired for that great Office was substituted in his place It was in the Lords of the Kingdom to elect the Mayre and in the King or his Guardian to confirm him Since the death of Varnaquier who ended his life An 607. there had been none in Burgundy Queen Nantilda having held an Assembly of the most Principal at Orleans which was become the Capital of that Kingdom recommended Floachat her neer kinsman to them who was chosen for the place Year of our Lord 642 This good Queen ended her life soon after having Governed in Neustria four years and a half without any trouble Year of our Lord 642 Year of our Lord 642 While she was alive there arose some jealousie in the Governors of Austrasia against those of Neustria and Burgundy because those would fain have joyned these two Kingdoms to their own and have put all France under the Empire of Sigebert as it had been under that of Clotaire Erchinoald and Floachat understanding their design united themselves more closely together and promised each other mutual assistance Floachat made use of this Union to ruine Villebald or Guillebaud Duke of the Transjurains his Enemy They had reconciled themselves and sworn and given mutual Faith to each other on the Tombs of Saints and divers Holy Relicks Nevertheless Floachat did not forbear having caused Guillebaud to come to an Assembly which was held at Autun to fall upon him in his Lodgings Guillebaud defended himself very bravely at length he was over-powred and slain with a great number of his friends and his Equipage rifled by Erchinoalds followers But the Murtherer as by Divine Judgment was seized with a burning Fever going down the Soan of which he dyed Year of our Lord 644 c The Sarrazins a People of Arabia who were known even in the days of Pompey the Great and who had since served the Romans in their Armies were retired into their own Countreys and had frequently made incursions upon the Empire As they were addicted to Robberies and had neither Law nor Religion they easily embraced the Mahumetan which was propagated by the Sword That Impostor lived but Ten years after he had declared himself Legislator and made no great progress having only small numbers of Soldiers rather like a Captain of Thieves or High-way Men then a Prince But in a very short time his Successors raised themselves prodigiously Abubecre the next after him broke into Syria Ann. 635. his Successor Omar took Damas with all that fair Province Ann. 636. and in a few years afterwards Phoenicia Palestine Egypt and Persia it self the last King whereof was Isdigerd infecting all those Countreys with the Superstitions of Mahomet Their Sovereign Communders were Heads of their Religion as well as of the State and they were called Caliphs an Arabian word which signifies Lieutenant that is to say of God whom they pretended to represent both in Spirituals and Temporals Year of our Lord 645 A great Famine which afflicted Neustria obliged Clovis to take the great Plates of Silver which cover'd the Tabernacle or Chappel of St. Dennis his Shrine to buy Provisions for the feeding of the Poor a pious and just Act for which nevertheless the Monks say that God did severely punish him having weakned and stupify'd his Spirits It is true he had a weak Brain and all those that descended from him were tainted with that Defect but at that time he was not above 14 or 15 years of age at most The indigency of Authors of those times is so great and the stile of such as are yet left of them so confused that we can hardly tell any thing of certainty neither Year of our Lord 650 as to their actions nor to the time Some Chronologists place in Ann. 650. the First day of February the death of Sigebert King of Austrasia who lived but little above 21 years His Merciful Humour his Devotion and Ten or Twelve Abbeys which he built in his Kingdom have acquired him a room in the Roll of Saints His Body was buried in the Abby-Church of St. Martins which he had erected in the Suburbs of Mets from whence it was transferr'd to Nancy when the French demolished it to maintain the Siege against the Emperour Charles V. in the year 1552. He had but one Son named Dagobert aged at most but two years Grimoald his Mayre of the Palace published that before he had that Child he had adopted his Son named Childebert It is not credible that he could despair of having any at the age of 19 years unless that he had made a vow of Continence and afterwards had broken that Vowagain But perhaps Grimoald proclaimed this to have some Title to usurp the Kingdom as he did when he thought he had disposed things so as he might undertake it CLOVIS in Neustria and Burgundy DAGOBERT an Infant in Austrasia Year of our Lord 651 In the mean time Dagobert the Son of Sigebert bore the name of a King a year and an half or two years in which time I meet with nothing considerable or memorable Year of our Lord 653 Towards the year 653 Grimoald imagining as it is probable that he had duly taken all his measures caused him to be shaven by Didon Bishop of Poitiers and banished and transported him into Ireland under the Guard of some people whom we may believe had all the care imaginable to keep him concealed and confined in some remote Monastery It was a long time before any news could be heard of him the Queen Imnechild his Mother sheltred her self under the protection of King Clovis with
Austrasia environned with fierce and rebellious People wanted the presence of Pepin He durst not take King Thierry with him lest he should displease the Neustrians but he left a Lord with him called Nordbert who disposed of all and gave him an account Year of our Lord 687 The French found no prejudice by this change the interest of a new Prince who desired to Establish himself being to gain the Affections of the People and indeed he repaired all the Breaches that he possibly could which had been made in the foregoing Reigns restored what had been ravished from the Church the Bishops to their Sees the Grandees in their Dignities and Lands resolved upon nothing without the Advice of the Lords and Prelates defended the Cause of the Oppressed of Widdows and Orphans and applied himself to give vigour to the Laws which are the only Shields for the weak against the mighty ones Year of our Lord 688 The second year of his general Command he drew the French Militia together and by the Advice of the great ones carried the War into Frisia and compelled the Duke or King Ratbod who revolted to render him Obedience and to pay him Tribute At his return he called a Council the place is not named wherein they Treated and Considered of the ways and means that should be taken to repress Disorders and Violence and for the defence of the Church of Widdows and Orphans He knew there were no greater Charms to make them love his Government then Piety and Justice Poor Thierry being stripp'd of the real part of his Royalty which is his just Power and reduced to be contented with a moderate Revenue in Lands ended his Year of our Lord 690 or 91. days but not his shame in the year 690. or 91. They allow him Thirty nine or forty years of Age and his Reign to be Seventeen entire that is Thirteen before Pepins Victory and four under the Power of that Mayre He had two Sons Clovis and Childebert and two Wives Clotilda and Doda unless that name of Doda were an Epithet of Crotilda who perhaps was so called because she was fat and plump His Tomb and that of this Doda are to be seen at St. Vaasts of Arras Clovis III. King XVI POPE SERGIUS Who S. four years in this Reign CLOVIS III. In Neustria PEPIN Mayre in Neustria Soveraign in Austrasia IF there had been two Kings there must have been two Mayres but Pepin would Year of our Lord 691 hold that Office alone besides he could not suffer any King in Austrasia because he held that as properly his own for this reason he gave to Clovis which was the eldest of Thierry 's two Sons the Title of King in Neustria and Burgundy but himself kept the whole Administration Perhaps the French according to their ancient Right had conferred upon him the Soveraignty of Austrasia but it is certain that all those People who were Tributary's to that Kingdom as the Turingians the Frisians the Saxons the Almains shook off the Yoak and made themselves Independents On the other hand the Aquitains and likewise the Gascons created each a Soveraign Duke of their own and the Bretons enlarged their little Frontiers Clovis according to some Reigned but two years others more probably give him Year of our Lord 694 four compleat He died about the end of the year 694. or in the beginning of 695. Year of our Lord 694 or 95. being Aged Fourteen or fifteen years and neither had seen nor done any thing that was Memorable in his Reign Childebert II. King XVII POPES SERGIUS Who S. five years and an half during this Reign JOHN VI. Elected in Oct. 701. S. three years two months JOHN VII Elected in March 705. S. two years seven months SISINNIUS In January 708. S. twenty days CONSTANTINE In March 708. S. six years whereof three iâ— this Reign CHILDEBRT II. Called the Young aged Eleven or twelve years PEPIN Mayre c. Year of our Lord 695 IN his room Pepin set up his Brother Childebert who because of his Minority was yet reduced to a lesser scantling of Allowance then his Brother had been The great Officers as the Count of the Palace the great Referendary or Chancellor the Intendant of the Royal Houses were all with the Mayre The Kings had only a small number of Domesticks which served rather as Spies and Jaylors then Officers And indeed they needed them not being ever locked up in a House of Pleasure whence they never went forth but in a Chariot drawn with Oxen and shewed not themselves to the People but once a year in the Assembly of Estates which was held the First day of March. Year of our Lord From 690 unto 700. In these days Egica King of the Visigoths had War with the French towards the borders of the third Aquitain the success we know not Norbert who was the sub-Mayre and Lieutenant to Pepin in Neustria being deceased Year of our Lord 696 and 97. Pepin caused Grimoald his young Son to be elected Mayre of that Kingdom and gave the Dutchy of Champagne to his eldest Son Drogo whom he would keep near him Ratbod King of the Frisons notwithstanding he had given his Faith and Hostages revolts a second time and is again beaten by Pepin near Dorstat There was nothing observable in the eight or nine following years Pepin besides his Wife Plectrude who was already old had taken a Concubine or if you will a lawful Wife for the French notwithstanding the sacred Canons and the Prohibitions of the Church repudiated their Wives when they pleased and Wedded others The Kings themselves according to the ancient Custom of the Germans had often many at one time This same was called Alpaide Pepin had a Son by her named Charles and since surnamed Martel Lambert Bishop of Liege a Zealous Defender of the Christian Truth having dared to reprove him several times and called that Conjunction Adultery in publick Dodon the Brother to Alpaide Assassinated him by consent of Pepin Soon after the Murtherer being eaten with Worms and enduring horrible Torments a while cast himself into the Meuse This infection of Worms was very frequent and as it were Epidemick at that time as have been St. Anthony's Fire and some other odd Diseases Year of our Lord 708 Not long after Pepin lost Drogo or Dreux his eldest Son who left two Sons Hugh and Arnold by his Wife Austrude who was the Widdow of the Mayre Berthier The Almans and Souabues made now but one People governed by the same Duke who appertained to the Kings of Austrasia or held of them But Godfrey the now Duke had cast off the Yoke to make himself independent Being dead Anno 709. Willehaire succeeded him Pepin in two Expeditions which he made thither vanquished him and triumphed over his Pride He could not wholly subdue it though so that it was found necessary to send a third Army into that Country but when Year of our Lord 711 they were just
some other Barbarians In the time of the Emperour Justin they were even then so potent that they over-awed the Avari and other Neighbouring people The Emperour Heraclius made use of them against Cosroes and they made a mighty diversion being entred into Persia a great part whereof paid them Tribute divers Years afterwards But in the Year 763. they fell upon Armenia and so spread themselves very far into Asia where they subdued even the Kingdom of Persia An. 1048. Nevertheless they had no Soveraign nor Chief General but only many Colonels till the first Croisado of the Christians in 1196. at which time they made choice of one to be the better united for their own defence and preservation CHARLES I. CALLED The Great OR CHARLEMAINE King XXIII Aged XXIX Or XXX Years POPES STEPHANUS III. S. Three Tears and Three Months ADRIAN I. Elected in Feb. 772. S. neer 24. Years LEO III. Elected in Decem. 795. S. Twenty Years Five Months of which Eighteen under this Reign Charles in Neustria and Burgundy Aged 29. or 30. Years Carloman in Austria Aged 22 Years Year of our Lord 769 DUring the Discord between the Two Brothers which lasted some Months Old Hunoud the Father of Gaifre who had put himself into a Monastery throwes down his holy Frock to take up the Title of Duke of Aquitaine and endeavoured to make that Province Revolt by the assistance of his Friends and a League he made with Loup Duke of Gascongny Charles to whose share this Province fell intreated his Brother to help him in quenching this Flame of Rebellion Carloman joyns Forces with him but in the mid-way either of himself or by the suggestions of some busy-bodies he conceives a Jealousie against his Eldest Brother and leaves him there Charles however continues on his March Year of our Lord 770 Upon the noise of his approach Hunoud flies and goes to hide himself in the farthest parts of Gascongny where he thought to find an Asylum But there is none against too great a Power The Duke of Gascongny fearing the Threatnings of Charles proved no more a Faithful Ally then he had been a Faithful Vassal but comes to meet Charles submits intirely to him and delivers up that Unfortunate Man to his disposal who notwithstanding a short while after having made his Escape got into Sanctuary at Didiers King of the Lombards Thus ended the Dutchy of Aquitaine which about Eleven years afterwards was Erected to a Kingdom by Charlemaine for Lewis the youngest of his Sons In this Expedition he built Franciac which is to say the Castle of the French upon the River Dordogne It is now called Fronsac Pepin in his life-Life-time had married his two Sons it is not mentioned to whom perhaps they were only betroathed but if they were compleatly married we must say they afterwards were divorced for their Mother obliged them to take other Wives Carloman espoused Berthe or Bertrade whom the old Annals make to be the Daughter of Didier King of the Lombards Charles likewise was married to Hildegard another of that King's Daughters notwithstanding the great opposition the Pope made even so far as to represent to him how the Lombards stunk and were infected with the Leprosie Carloman his Brother was of an odd humorous spirit which gave him a great deal of trouble But death happily delivered him in the Month of November of this Year 770. having cut the thrid of his Life in the Palace of Montsugeon nigh Year of our Lord 770 Langres at the beginning of the Third year of his Reign and the 28th of his Age. His Brother caused his Corps to be conveyed to the Abbey of St. Remy of Reims which he had greatly endowed He had one Wife named Berthe and two Sons While Charles held a General Assembly at Carbonnac most part of the Lords and Austrasian Prelats came thither to acknowledg him for their King They might do so and it must be granted that if he had not had that right he had been an Usurper The Widow of Carloman apprehending they might proceed further Year of our Lord 771 took her Children and went her way to Tassillon Duke of Bavaria Some Spanish Chroniclers to whom I know not what faith we are to give have written that besides Gaifre and Hatton Eudes Duke of Aquitaine had a Son named Aznar who considering the misfortune of his Brother passed the Hebre and having in Battle slain four petty Kings or Saracen Generals became the First Earl of Arragon It was at that time but a small Territory between two Rivers of that name whereof the City of Jacque was the Capital Charlemaine alone in all the Kingdom ONe cannot hear the Name of this Prince without conceiving some great Idea He was of a tall and becoming stature seven foot in height well shap'd in all his Limbs unless his Neck which was somewhat too thick and short and his Belly strutting out a little too much His gate was grave and firm his voice of the shrillest His Eyes were large and sparkling his Nose high and long his Countenance Gay and Serene his Complexion fresh and lively nothing of effeminate in his gesture and carriage his humour sweet facile and jovial his conversation easy and familiar He was humane courteous and liberal active vigilant laborious and very sober although fasting were prejudicial to him an enemy to Flatterers and vanity who hated huffing and new modes that were strange cloathing himself very modestly unless it were on some publique Ceremonies where the Majesty of the Kingdom ought to appear in their Soveraign At his Meals he made some read to him the History of the Kings his Predecessors or some Works of St. Augustine's took two or three hours repose after Dinner interrupted his sleep in the Night rising three or four times heard all Complaints did Justice at all Seasons even at his time of dressing himself The Spring and Summer time he spent in War part of Autumn in Hunting the Winter in Counsels and the Management of his Government Some certain hours both of the day and night in the Study of Learning as Grammer Astronomy and Theology And in truth he was one of the most Learned and most Eloquent of that Age the Works he left behind him to posterity are undeniable proofs of it With all this clement merciful charitable who maintained the Poor even in Syria Egypt and in Africa who employ'd his Treasure in rewarding Soldiers and Schollars in building publique Structures Churches and Palaces repairing of Bridges Cause-ways and great Roads making Rivers Navigable silling Sea-Ports with good Vessels civilizing Barbarous Nations and carrying the Honour of the French Nation with much Credit and Lustre into the remotest Kingdoms And who above all other things had the greatest care to regulate his People with good and wholesome Laws and bent all his Actions and Endeavours to the Welfare of his Subjects and the advancement of the Christian Religion Amongst the rest he had four very Potent Enemies to
over with Jewels and Stones the other being plain Gold without other Ornament Year of our Lord 817 Three Months after Leo went out of France he died at Rome the 25 th of January An. 817 a nd the Clergy Elected Paschal this man knowing the softness of the Emperor durst likewise take his Seat in the Pontificial Chair without waiting for his consent and yet excused it to him by an Ambassador sent expresly Though the Emperor was not very well pleased yet he did what was required for his Confirmation But he reproved the Romans and admonished them never to fall upon such an attempt again And yet if we believe the Partisans of the Court of Rome Paschal wrought so far upon the Emperor that he yielded up his right of confirming Popes The Sons of Godfrey demanded Peace of the Emperor It was taken to be only Year of our Lord 817 a pretence and therefore great succours were sent to Heriold Upon the demand of the Grecian Emperors Ambassadors who were come for that purpose Louis dispatched a Deputy to settle the Limits of Dalmatia between the two Emperors together with Cadolac who commanded for him in those Marches and the Sclavonians that had some interest Year of our Lord 817 The 17 th of February during an Eclipse of the Moon a Comet began to appear in the Sign of Sagittary Year of our Lord 817 Upon Holy-Thursday as the Emperor was coming out of the Church belonging to his Palace a Gallery fell down under him twenty persons of Quality were hurt but it proved to have more of fear then danger for their bruises and broken-shinns were soon healed It seemed Louis was Born rather for the Church then for the World For as he behaved himself he would have proved a better Abbot or a Bishop then a King Besides his perpetual exercise in Devotion which does not always sute with the Activity of Government he busied himself very much about the reformation of the Clergy Amongst other things in the Assembly at Aix la Chapelle he caused a Rule to be made for the Chanons drawn from the Writings of the Holy-Fathers commanded the Benedictins to observe theirs sent Commissary's into the Provinces to prevent the Simony Luxury and Pride with such other like abuses of the Churchmen and obliged the Bishops in Fine to Reform at least in outward appearance and throw aside their Belts and Embroid'red Girdles their Daggers with Hilts beset with Jewels and gingling Spurs which drew upon him the hatred of the Churchmen amongst whom the Greatest number were the worst In this assembly he Associated Lotaire his Eldest Son in the Empire and gave Aquitain to Pepin and Bavaria to Louis both with the Titles of Kingdoms Tegan Chorevesque of Treves hath written that he designed Lotaire his Eldest to be Sole Heir whether he did it before or after this partition it was a great weakness Louis the Debonnatre Emperour and King of France Eastern and Western     Lotatre King of Italy and Associate in the Empire Pepin King of Aquitain Louis King of Bavaria To this place they brought him intelligence of the defection of the Abodrites and the conspiracy of Bernard King of Italy both the attempts of the one and the other were suppressed and stifled in their Birth Bernard a young Prince had suffered himself to be possessed with an opinion that he could dethrone his Uncle This counsel came from the very Court of France where he had divers abettors who without all doubt persuaded him that all the Kingdom was his belonging to him as Son to the Eldest His design was discovered before he had time to take his measures the Forces to whom he had committed the defence or keeping of the passages to the Alpes abandoned them upon the first notice of the March of the Emperors Army and those that first set him upon this business were the first that forsook him In this distress he took the most dangerous counsel which made him come himself to Chaalons and fall down at his Feet begging his pardon This hindred not his being made a Prisoner together with all those Lords that were in his Train The Emperor being returned to Aix la Chapelle caused their process to be made The Seculars were all condemned to Death The Bishops amongst whom was Theodulfe d'Orleans degraded and consined to a Monastery Some of the first suffered the rigour of the Sentence others had their eyes put out whereof two of the most Eminent died and Bernard himself lost his life within three days after Whoever disturb the Peace of a Nation deserves death but it was too extream a rigour towards a young Prince of nineteen years and an Uncle towards his Nephew And indeed Louis had great remorse all his life nor did the French forgive him that cruelty Bernard left but one Son named Pepin and at his age he could scarce have any more at least Legitimate This same begat three Bernard Pepin and Heribert From Pepin sprang The First Branch of Vermandois The Emperor apprehending his Bastard-Brothers Charlemaine had left several might fall into the like Conspiracies caused them all to be shaved and thrust into Monasteries and sent away Adelard Abbot of Corbie and Valla his Brother The Bretons had created a King called Morman or Morvan The Emperor going thither in Person reduced all the Country in Forty days and Morman being Slain in his own Camp either by his own or by the French-men he gave them a Duke of his own At this return from this Voyage he lost his Wife Hermengard She died at Augiers leaving him three Sons Lotaire Pepin and Louis The Abodrites were Subjects and Tributaries to the French who nevertheless allowed them to have a King He whom they then had was called Sclaomir who having intelligence with the Enemies of France was seized upon by the Emperors Lieutenants and being unable to justify himself before him was banished and his Crown given to Ceadragne Son of Traciscon who had been cut off by the Danes Loup Centule Duke of the Gascons guilty of the like Crime being vanquished in a great Battel by the French Counts and afterwards taken Prisoner was likewise destituted and exiled He withdrew himself into Spain to the Court of the King of the Asturias These Commotions shewed enough the weakness of the Government Liudewit Duke of Pannonia Inferiora who sought pretences to revolt for grievances he alledged to have suffered by Cadolac Duke of Friuli threw off his Masque in the end and for three or four years gave a great deal of trouble to those Lieutenants that served the Emperor in Dalmatia Friuli and Bavaria till at length he was quite driven out of those Countries The same Year upon his return from that expedition Cadolac died upon the Frontiers and Baudry succeeded in his place In the general Assembly held at Aix Bera Count of Barcelonna being accused of Treason and thinking to justify himself by combat fell under the Sword of
joyned with those of the County and together made Count Sance Duke of Gascogny To whom some years after succeeded Arnold Son of Emenon or Immon Count of Perigord In the year 841. whilst the Kings were in the Field to destroy each other Hochery or Oger one of the most Famous Commanders of the Normands who commanded a Fleet of 150 Ships Burnt the City of Rouen the 14 th of May and the Abbey of Gemiege some days afterwards and for Fifteen or Sixteen years together continued his Barbarities upon Neustria and more particularly upon Bretagne and Aquitain They had also taken their course by Bretagne to make a descent The revolt of that Province opening a gap for them Louis the Debonnaire had given the Government to Neomenes descended from the Ancient Kings of those Countries and younger Brother of Rivalon Father of Salomon Now Neomene having acquired some reputation for having made head against the Normans An. 836. began to think himself worthy of the Crown belonging to his Ancestors however his design did not appear till after the Battel of Fontenay when being incited thereto by Count Lambert he openly declared himself Soveraign and drove all the French out of Bretagne unless those in Rennes and in Nantes who held out This Lambert enraged because King Charles had refused him the County of Nantes which he desired and demanded as a reward for having fought valiantly for him at the Battel of Fontenay renounced his Service and Leagued himself with Neomene with whose assistance having beaten and slain Reynold Count of Poitiers to whom the King had given Nantes he remained Master of the City But being in a short time driven thence in a contest hapning between Neomene and himself he mischievously went and fetched the Normans and brought them up the River before Nantes which they took by Escalado on Saint Johns Festival cut the Throats of most of the Inhabitants who were gotten into Saint Peter's Church Year of our Lord 844 and Massacred the Bishop at the High-Altar while he was saying Mass carried away all that were left alive and from thence went and Burnt the Monastery of the Islands which was Noir Moustier Thus Lambert became Count of a ruined City and endeavoured to maintain himself there wavering betwixt the King and Neomene unfaithful to both and beloved by neither After the division made by the Kings Bretagne being a pretended Member of West France which fell to the lot of Charles the Bald that Prince having now no enemies at home turned his Sword that way thiuking to bring Neomene to obedience But he confidently comes towards him and meeting him on his March in the Road from Chartres to Mans charged him so smartly that he put his Army to the Rout and forced him to fly to Chartres on Horse-back This advantage redoubled the Bretons Forces who made inroads upon Maine Anjou and Poitou It seems nevertheless there was some Truce since upon King Charles's intreaty Neomene drove Count Lambert out of Nantes who went and Nestled himselfin the Lower Anjou and there Built the Castle of Oudon At the same time that Charles was defeated by Neomene a Civil-War infesting Denmark the Lords of those Countries who found themselves strong at Sea amongst others Hasteng and Bier Iron-sides fell upon West France and haing forced the Guards that defended the Mouth of the Seine went up that River with their Barks They Sacked all on the right and left Shoar and Year of our Lord 845 being unable to take Paris they destroy'd all that lay without the Island Plundred the Abbey of Saint Germain des Prez and Ruined the City of Melun When they were pretty well laden with spoil they were soon tempted with Presents made them by Charles to withdraw themselves but as they returned they ravaged Picardy Flanders and Friseland and took the City of Hamburgh however observing all Germany was rising up to expel them from thence they quitted it The Priests and all Religious Orders fled before them from place to place seeking out places of safety or at least hiding places to conceal and keep the Churches Treasure in as also their Holy-Relicks towards which their devotion did so much ✚ increase when that furious Storm was over that it occasioned sometimes bloody contests between the Citizens and Nobility when the one would have them restored and the other would detain them Year of our Lord 843 Whilst Lotaire had denuded Italy of all it's Forces to lead them into France the Dukes Radelchise of Benevent and Sigenulfe of Capoua quarrelling with each other without regarding young Louis his Son called the one the Saracens of Spain to his assistance the other those of Sardinia for those Barbarians had invaded that Island and gave them entrance into Italy where having Fortified themselves â—in many places they exercised their fury for twenty years together And An. 847. pillaged the Burrough of Saint Peter and the Church of that Prince of the Apostles Which obliged Pope Leo the IV. to enclose it with a wall and quarter the Corsicans there whom the Saracens had driven from their Island Year of our Lord 846 The Nobility respected their Kings so little that Connt Gisabert dared to Steal away the Daughter of the Emperor Lotharius and convey'd her into the Dominions of Charles to marry her which gave great cause of complaint to Lotaire and much trouble to Louis of Germany to appease his resentment In Guyenne the great ones raised Forces for their private quarrels and fought in despite of Pepin In Italy in the year 844. the Clergy and Citizens of Rome had the considence to elect Sergius II. Pope without the Emperors permission who nevertheless having sent Twenty Bishops and with them some Soldiers forced the Pope to render his devoir and to acknowledge him for his Soveraign It is a Fable that this Pope first changed his Name and that before his Election he was called Swines-snowt for it was Sergius IV. had that filthy Name and he whom we here mention was called Sergius as was his Father It is held by some that it was one Octavian introduced this mysterious change who would needs be named John He was the 12th of that name Year of our Lord 846 The French being entred into Bretagne intangled themselves unadvisedly in Boggs and Fenny-grounds where they received a second blow Year of our Lord 847 While Charles was preparing for a Third expedition against that Country the terror of the Normans obliged him to agree to a peace with Neomene which nevertheless did not hold long for he began immediately again to make his inroads Year of our Lord 847. And 848. upon France For which Charles taking revenge by Fire and Sword in Bretagne Neomene did the like to all the adjacent Countries and the Territory of Rennes which did not then belong to his petty Kingdom Hitherto he had not taken the Title of King or at least had not put on the Crown The custom of those times were
defend them from the Normans they sent Deputies to Louis the Germanique to pray him to accept of the Kingdom or send his Son to them Year of our Lord 853 Whatever union or strictness of Amity there had been for ten years together between these two Brothers the German King scruples not to break it when it concerned the gaining of a Kingdom and sent one of his Sons into Aquitain to observe the disposition of those People He did not find it such as he desired there being none that concerned themselves or espoused his Interest besides the Friends and Relations of Gosbert But Charles having discovered his towards him sought the Friendship of Lotaire with whom he conferred in a Parliament holden at Valenciennes a place so situated between both their Territories that Lotaire possessed one half and Charles the other half of the City Year of our Lord 854 These two Brothers having brought themselves to a good understanding called another Parliament at Liege to which they invited Louis to advise together in common touching the general Affairs of the French Monarchy but he refused to be there Going from thence Charles passes into Aquitain and was Crowned at Limoges It is not true that he reduced it to a simple Dutchy for his Son of the same name held it for some time with the Title of a Kingdom and we find that it continued so under the first Kings of the Capetian Race Year of our Lord 855 In this year it was that after the Death of Pope Leo IV. hapned that strange adventure of Pope Joan as is said It was esteemed a very great truth for Five Hundred years together but in these latter ages the Learned nay even some of those that are separated from the Church of Rome have held it to be a ridiculous Fable The Motions of the Grace of God which when he pleases can mollifie the most obdurate hearts or perhaps the Melancholly and restless thoughts of the Emperor Lotaire a Prince Fantastical and inconstant gave him so much dissatisfaction and disgust of the Vanities and Pomp of the World that he stript himself of his Soveraignty and changed his Imperial Purple for a Frock wherewith he cloathed himself in the Abbey of Prom where he Died some Months after having ruled the Year of our Lord 855 Empire Fifteen years and the Kingdom of Lorrain Twelve reckoning from the time the partition was made amongst the Brothers He had for Wife Hermengard Daughter of Count Hughes the Coüard who brought him four Children Louis Lotaire and Charles and one Daughter named Hermengard who was stollen away by Gisabert Count of the Mansuarians Before his Abdication he shared his Lands between his three Sons giving to Louis the eldest of them Italy and the Empire wherein he had associated him in the year 851. To Lotaire the Kingdom of Lorrain and to Charles Provence and part of the Kingdom of Burgundy Louis the Germanique in Germany and Bavaria Charles in Neustria and Aquitaine Louis Emperour and King of Italy Lotaire II. King of Lorrain Charles King of Burgundy and Provence Year of our Lord 856. And 857. Upon this change all these Princes framed new leagues and new designs The young Lotaire much courted by his two Uncles joyned at last with Charles But the Emperor Louis made league with the German King who sought all manner of ways to ruin him Charles was much hated by the Grandees of his Kingdom forasmuch as out of mistrust of their affection or contempt of their small courage he bestowed his military employments upon people of Fortune rather then on them Neither was he over-much in the esteem of the people because he defended them but ill from the incursions of the Normans and Bretons and also connived at the pilferings of his Officers So that there being a grand Conspiracy contrived to set him beside the Throne they deputed some to Louis the Germanique offering to acknowledg him for their Soveraign if he would govern them with Justice and employ his Forces in their defence Therefore whilst Charles was gon to make Head against the Bretons he crosses Alsatia with an Army and comes into Burgundy where in the Palace of Pontigon he receives the Homage of a great many Neustrian Lords After that he assignes a Parliament at Atigny to receive it from all the rest and is introduced into the City of Sens by the Arch-Bishop named Wenilon or Guenilon ungrateful and treacherous to Charles his King who from a Clerk of his Chappel had made him Arch-Bishop and would needs be anointed and Crowned by his hands at Sainte Croix of Orleans Charles who was then on the banks of the Loire with his Army to make head against the Normans having information that his Brother invaded his Kingdom left those Barbarians there and advanced to Brie to fight him but when he perceived that all went on that side that his Soldiers themselves began to forsake him being afraid his own People might deliver him up he abandons his Army which quickly submitted to his Brothers commands This sudden revolution was as soon followed with one quite contrary Those that had called in the German were the first that repented and to repair one Treason by another they conspired to make him fall into the hands of Charles Which was very easy for them since having been so credulous to follow their advice he had sent away his own Forces But he discover'd their intentions and evil design early enough to escape the snare and upon the news he received of the incursion of the Venedes took therefore the opportunity to return to Germany As soon as his back was turned Charles having gotten his Friends together regained the Kingdom with as much facility as he had lost it Year of our Lord 859 The enterprize of the German gave some jealousy to young Lotaire and induced him to league himself with his Uncle Charles for their common defence In consequence of this union the Bishops of the Kingdom of Neustria and Lorraine being Assembled at Mets the 26 th of May charged Hincmar Arch-Bishop of Reims to go and summon the German to repair the wrongs he had done his Brother and meet at the approaching general Parliament where he that should be found guilty should make satisfaction and adhere no longer to those Traytors He reply'd that he was ready to appear there but having done nothing but by the Counsel of the Bishops he desired to consult with them About mid June therefore was held a Councel at Savonnieres in the Suburbs of Toul consisting of the Bishops of twelve Provinces wherein they laboured for the reconciliation of the two Brothers and Lotaire their Nephew It is not expressed upon what conditions The 16 th of that Month Charles presents them a Libel of complaints against Wenilon de Sens. It mentioned amongst other things That he was anointed King by consent of the Bishops therefore he could not be deprived of that consecration without their consent And likewise added
excommunicate and wrote very harsh Letters Year of our Lord 856 to young Lotaire threatning to deprive him of his Kingdom There is no craft nor submissions which this Prince did not put in practice to elude that Sentence But the Pope not valuing all those Arts sent a Legat into France named Arsenius who addressing himself to the German Louis called a Synod Year of our Lord 866 and taking upon him a Supream Authority declared to Lotaire that he must take his Wife again or remain excommunicated with all his Adherents The Kings his Uncles maintained this Sentence in such sort that for the time he was forced to obey But so soon as the Legat was departed France he began afresh to mis-use his Wife to threaten to make process against her for Adultery and prove that crime by combat The accused retires to the protection of Charles the Pope takes her business much to heart and excommunicates Valdrade and Duke Huebert Brother Year of our Lord 867 of this Queen rebelling against Lotaire plunders his Country kills his people and exercised all manner of cruelty till he was slain himself by Count Conrard Father of that Rodolph who was the First King of Burgundy beyond the Jour or Transjurain Salomon had fancied that the Kingdom of Bretagne though Neomene had obtained it rather by conquest then succession belonged to him because he was the Son Year of our Lord 867 of Rivalon eldest Brother to that King Thus having forgotten he was carefully and tenderly bred under his tuition he contrives a conspiracy against Herispoux his Son assaults him in the Fields then kills him in the Church to which he fled for safety and so puts the Crown all bloody upon his own head Neomene and he intitled themselves Kings of Bretagne and a great part of Gaule because in effect they possessed the Countries of Mayne and with that the lower Anjou which they had wrested from the French For this cause was Anjou divided in two Counties the one containing what is beyond the River Maine and held by these Breton Kings the other what lies on this side and remained to the French At the same time the Normans entring into Neustria by the Loire spread themselves all over Nantois Poitou Anjou and Tourraine Ranulfe Duke of Aquitain and Duke Robert the strong who was so called because he guarded those Marches against these Barbarians and the Bretons having attaqued them in a Post which they had fortified near the River were by misfortune both slain in the combat So that their Army wanting a Head though they got the advantage let those robbers get away from them Robert had two Sons very young Eudes and Robert whom we shall find to have reigned hereafter The Saracens tormented Italy no less Lotaire went thither with his Forces not only to assist the Emperor Louis his Brother but moreover by this means to deserve and gain the Favour of the Pope which was Adrian successor to Nicholas hoping in time to obtain the dissolution of his Marriage with Thietberge The Holy-Father received him very well because he assured him he had punctually obey'd to all that was enjoyned him but when both he and his came to receive the Holy Communion from his hands he obliged them all to swear it was true that he had quitted Valdrade Now it hapned shortly after that the most part of these Lords died of sickness or otherwise in such numbers and so suddenly as if they had been cut down by the Sword of an exterminating Angel and Lotaire himself was Seized with a Feaver at Luca which he drag'd along to Piacenza where he gave up the Ghost the 6 th of August Which some interpreted a divine Vengeance for the false and Sacrilegious Oath he and his Courtiers had made The Body of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament being a destroying Sword to the wicked and unworthy Communicant Year of our Lord 868 His youngest Brother Charles King of Provence endeavoured to reap his succession and was Crowned at Mets by the Bishop Adventius But he survived not long after and died without Issue He was Interred in the Church of St. Peter's at Lyons LOUIS in Bavaria and Germany CHARLES in West-France Burgundy and Lorrain LOUIS II Emperour in Italy Year of our Lord 868. And 69. Charles who then held a Parliament at Poissy informed of the death of Lotaire went and Seized on the Kingdom of Lorraine neither minding the Emperor Louis Brother of the two last Kings to whom it should have belonged nor the Mediation of the Pope who desired him by an express Legation to do his Nephew Justice The Bishops of that Kingdom being Assembled at Mets gave him the Crown And Hincmar the Arch-Bishop chief promoter of that Decree put it on his Head with the usual Ceremonies Lotaire had one Son and two Daughters by Valdrade The two Daughters were Berte and Gisele Berte was first wife to Count Thibauld Father of Hugh Count and Marquess of Provence and by her second Marriage to Adelbert Marquess of Tuscany Father of Guy and Lambert Gisele was Wedded to Godfrey the Dane who Reigned in Friseland the Son was named Hugh who when he came to Age contended for the Kingdom of Lorrain Hermentrude Wife to Charles the Bald dying at St. Denis the 16 th of October Year of our Lord 869 he married for the second time Richende or Richilda his Mistriss Daughter of Earl Buvin or Boves and the Sister to Thietberge Widdow of King Lotaire III. It was with some justice but without legal power that the Pope should take Year of our Lord 870 any cognisance of the difference about Lotaire He dispatched a second Embassy to Charles the Bald to exhort him to surrender it to the Emperor Louis otherwise he would Excommunicate him And he wrote to the Bishops that they should forbear all Communion with that King unless they would be cut off from the Church of Rome Charles reply'd modestly enough to the Legats but the French Bishops went a higher Note and the Arch-Bishop Hincmar wrote very smart Letters to Adrian His Nephew of the same name Bishop of Laon was of an other opinion and with much heat maintained all those Orders brought from the Pope He had Excommunicated a Norman Lord because he detained some Lands belonging to his Church whereof the King had given him the Benefice His proceedings were blamed and condemned by the Bishops at the Synod of Verberie he appealed to the Pope for which cause his Uncle having cited him before the Council of Attigny which consisted of the Bishops of twelve Provinces he caused his Equipage to be Plundred by the way and when he came to the Assembly forced him to renounce Year of our Lord 870 his Appeal The Pope made grievous complaint of it and would have brought the Process and the two Hincmars to Rome but the Arch-Bishop reply'd with force and hindred him This dispute went so far that the Bishop of Laon was deposed and clapt in Prison
whereafter two years Persecution his Eyes were put out The two Brothers Louis and Charles after many persuasions used by the latter and by the mediation of the Bishops and Lords met in a place agreed upon on this side the Meuse each with a certain number of People and there divided the Kingdom of Lorrain in two without having any regard to their Nephew the Emperor Louis Whose cause the Pope still supporting sent a famous Legation to the two Brothers Louis sâ—nt them back to Charles and he taking time to delay advanced as far as Lyons as it were to confer with the Pope but it was in effect for a quite contrary design For very far from doing his Nephew justice he likewise seized on the Kingdom of Burgundy where he met with no opposition but from Berthe the Wife of Count Gerard who sustained a Siege in Vienne and surrendred it upon composition Charles the Bald gave this County in charge to Boson Brother to the Queen Richilda his Wife whom he also made Duke of Aquitain and Grand-Master of the Porters and raised him in such sort that he was shortly after one of those that dismembred the Monarchy Year of our Lord 871 During this Voyage he had left the Lieutenancy of his Kingdom to the Arch-Bishop Hincmar who by his Genius no less powerful then daring had rendred himself very necessary He had no small ado to hinder the designs and enterprises of Carloman eldest Son of his King This Prince had some years before conspired against his Father who had made him a Deacon in despite of him and having rebelled another time he put him in Prison The Prayers of the Popes Legates who came the year before into France had got him out again but abusing this mercy he fell again to his old Practices Now being fallen the third time into his Fathers hands he caused him to be condemned to Death and then changed that Sentence to a deprivation of his sight that he might have time to repent Some time afterwards a couple of Monks craftily got him out of Prison and convey'd him to his Uncle the German King who gave him an Abbey for his maintenance But Death did not leave him long in the enjoyment of it This cursed Custome of putting out Eyes and other ways of dismembring was the invention of the Greek Princes and it hath been long practised in the West so that Vassals in their Oaths of Fidelity swore they would defend the persons of their Lords and never consent they should be maimed in any part of their Bodies About these times the Gascons desiring to collect their Forces under a Duke of their own Nation and of the Race of their ancient Dukes to secure themselves against the fury of the Normans and the revenge of Charles the Bald went into Spain to the Son of Loup Centulle whom the King of the Asturias had made an Earl in old Castille to desire and get one of his Sons The youngest after the refusal of all his Brothers accepted the Honour his name was Sanche his surname Mitarra the Saracens had bestowed it on him because he was their Ruin and their Scourge From him are proceeded the Hereditary Dukes of Gascogny who lasted near 200 years He had a Successor of the same name and surname as himself This Son was Father of Garcia Sanchez the Crooked who had three Garcia Sanchez Duke of Gascogny William Count of Fezenzac and Arnold Count of Astarack This last not Born the natural way but by an incision they made in his Mothers Flank was surnamed Non-nat Not Born The Princes of the Carlovinian Line were for the most part of weak Spirits Fools or Sottish Louis Emperor of Italy though Pious and Valiant was so Year of our Lord 872 slighted by his Subjects that they would part him from his Wife because he had no Male-Children And even Adelgise Duke of Benevent made him Prisoner and extorted from him very unjust things Year of our Lord 873 The Children of Louis the German gave their Father a great deal of trouble and seemed to punish him for the disquiet he had given to his The eldest named Charles and afterwards surnamed the Gross troubled without doubt with horror for the conspiracies he had made against him had violent fitts of Madness believing he had seen the Devil and was possessed by him He was cured of that Frenzy for some time after many Devotions and Vows over the Graves of Saints but his Brain having been once so disturbed he felt it all his life afterwards Year of our Lord 873 The Normans had seized on the City of Anger 's about four years since and setled themselves there with their Families from whence when they had a mind to it they ran about the Loire and all those other Rivers which fall into it loading their Barks with the Plunder and Pillage of all the Country Charles assisted by Salomon King of the Bretons besieged them in that City The Siege was long the Bretons by great labour bring it to an end they turned the stream of the Maine and by this means their Vessels lay all on dry ground and gave them opportunity to aproach to the foot of their Wall The Pyrats could no way have escaped if they would have forced them however the Bald so terrible had they made themselves fearing the revenge such other Parties they had abroad in divers parts of the Kingdom might take not only did them no hurt but likewise gave them the liberty to depart with all their plunder They only made a promise never to return any more into France but at their departure from thence they went and nestled themselves in an Island within the Loire from whence they continued their old Trade Towards the Month of August an unknown cause brought towards the Coast or Borders of Germany a prodigious quantity of Locusts which were about the bigness of an inch having six wings and teeth as hard as a stone In less than an hour they had eaten up all the Herbs and Greens growing in a Country of seven or eight Leagues in length and two in breadth to the very Branches and Rinds of young Trees After they had done incredible mischiefs a strong Wind hurried them into the Brittish Sea where they were drowned But dead they did no less hurt then when living the great heaps thrown by the Waves upon the Shoar infecting the Country with the Plague Year of our Lord 874 While King Salomon who was become a good Man and devout to the doing of Miracles was thinking to retire into a Monastery and leave his Crown to his Son Gueguon two of his Cousin Germans Pasteneten or Pasquitan Son of Neomene and Vrsand assisted by Wygon Son of Duke Rodolph and some French Inhabitants of Bretagne whom he had treated ill conspired against him and besieged him in his Castle of Plelan where surrendring himself and his Son upon some false promises the French put out his eyes
of the Treaty made with his Father and offered him to prove by thirty witnesses whereof ten should undergo the trial of cold water ten more of hot water and other ten that of burning Irons that they had on their part never infring'd it in the least The Bald petended to give ear to those justifications and agreed to a Cessation during which he made Oath he would not molest them Yet he pursued his march by narrow and unfrequented ways through the Mountains intending to surprize him near Andernack where he lay encamped and to put out his Eyes But the Bishop of Colen who was with him having in vain used all his endeavours to dissuade him from this treachery gave secret notice to Louis who put himself into so good a posture as he deseated his great Army and might have cut them all off would he but have pursued them Year of our Lord 877 The three Brothers confirmed by this victory in the Succession of their Father divided it betwixt them Carloman the eldest had the Kingdom of Bavaria to which belonged Panonia Carinthia Bohemia and Moravia Louis the second had East France or Germany and with that part of the Kingdom of Lorrain Charles had the Country of the Grisions Swisserland Souaube Alsace and the other part of Lorrain bordering on them CHARLES the Bald Emperour King of Neustria Aquitain Burgundy Provence Carloman King of Bavaria and the Title of King of Italy Louis II. of East-France Charles of Germany properly so called   Lorrain between both During all these dissentions the Normans had fair play The Bald put no stop to them but with Presents of Gold and the like which rather invited them soon after to come again then perswaded them to stay away So that while he lost himself with the imaginations of vain conquests they imposed Tribute upon West France and had it paid as themselves demanded or after their own mode the reason perhaps why they were called Truands The Saracens on the other hand tormented Italy no less they had Fortified themselves at Tarente and having made a League with the Duke of Naples sacked all to the very gates of Rome Pope John cryes out and calls upon the Bald for help and as a great favour sends him the confirmation of his Election to the Empire He goes therefore into Italy with Richilda his wife whom he led about every where The Pope comes to meet him as far as Versel Crowned the Empress at Tortona and from thence they went down to Pavia to consult with the Lords of Italy about the means to drive out the Saracens While they were there they heard that Carloman King of Bavaria approached with a great Army to resume the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire Upon the bruit of his march the Assembly dissolves the Pope flies to Rome and Charles makes hast into France But at the same time Carloman Seized with a Pannique fear turns back again to Germany Whilst the Bald was absent from his Kingdom the French Lords formed a conspiracy against him Boson himself his Favourite and Brother in Law to his Wife was of the Knot They hated him mortally and the occasion or pretence was that he raised people of mean Birth and seemed to despise the French Nation in affecting to wear his Cloaths after the Greek Mode who were their mortal Enemies It hapned therefore by the wicked contrivances of these Factious persons combining that upon his return passing by Mount Conis he was poysoned by Sedecias his Physician a Jew by Birth and reputed a Magician Accidents not un-common Year of our Lord 877 to Great ones who make use of such-like People His body was Interred at Vercel and seven years after brought thence to the Abbey of St. Denis He died at the Age of 55 years the second of his Empire and the 38 th of his Reign accounting from the Decease of his Father At he loved Pride and vain Pomp more than Solidity so Fortune in conformity to his humour made him happy in appearance but unhappy in effect she bestowed many great Lordships and but little good success upon him The best of his qualities was that he acquired great learning and gratified good Schollars with Honour and rewards seeking and sending into Greece and Asia for them to enrich France by their knowledge worthy of praise for so doing had he but taken care to provide for the necessity and security of his Country before be brought in those Ornaments His Father was blamed for raising people of a servile condition to Ecclesiastical dignities And he going farther yet advanced very mean persons to Military Employments and to such dignities as were due only to the greatest in his Kingdom This turned the whole State as it were upside-down the greatest Families sunk to nothing and the meanest were raised to the highest pitch to whom the obscurity and ignorance of those times was very favourable in concealing and preventing ☜ all knowledge of the beseness or Poverty of their Original The City and Abbey of St. Denis are obliged to this King for the Faire at Landy He had no Children by Richilda his second wife but by Hermentrude his first he had many there was but one now alive which was Louis whom they surnamed the Stammering because in truth he was so The hatred they bare to the Father was transferred to the Son he endeavoured to take it away by force of gratifications bestowing Abbeys upon some to others Lands and Employments were given but by pleasing and pacifying a few he created a world of discontents and the Princes so the great Lords were called took offence that he should grant of himself what he could not well do without their consent and in the general Assembly Year of our Lord 877 Whilst they were making divers Cabals grounding all as I believe upon this pretence that it did not appear to them that his Father had ordained he should succeed him his Mother in Law Richilda comes with all speed and brings him his Father Charles the Bald's Will by which it was manifest he had given him his Kingdom and did invest him in it by the Sword of St. Peter and the Royal ornaments which he sent to him Louis being a little better Authorised by this means the Lords agreed with him but certainly not till it had cost him a great deal And the Arch-Bishop Hincmar Crowned him in the City of Reims the 8 th day of December LOUIS II. Surnamed The Stammerer King XXVI Aged about XXX or XXXII Years POPES JOHN VIII During all this Reign and in the following Louis called the Stammerer Emperour King of Neustria Aquitain Burgundy Provence Carloman King of Bavaria Louis of East-France Charles of Germany   Lorraine to both Year of our Lord 878 IN the mean time Lambert Count of Spoleta and Albert Marquiss of Tuscany partisans of King Carloman who pretended to the Empire being entred into Rome kept Pope John VIII a
prisoner But soon after having made his escape out of their hands he takes Shipping and Lands in Provence whence he was conducted to Lyons From that place always defrayed in his expences by the Bishops of France he came to Troyes where he held a Council the King came likewise thither and by his hands was Crowned Emperor the seventh of September Year of our Lord 878 In this Council the Pope Excommunicated Hugh Bastard Son to King Lotaire II. and Valdrade who pretended to be Legitimate and had collected together some herds of Robbers to regain the Kingdom of Lorrain He likewise restored Hincmar Bishop of Laon permitted him to say Mass though he were blind and bestowed one half of the revenue of the Bishoprick upon him Year of our Lord 879 After the Popes departure the Stammerer going towards Lorraine conferred about Marsenne upon the Meuse with Louis King of Germany They made a Treaty by which they divided Lorrain betwixt them as it had been betwixt their Fathers and the Stammerer promised him part in Italy Neither the obedience nor affection of the Lords was firm towards him they gave little heed to his Orders and it hapned that having taken up Arms to suppress Bernard Marquiss of Gothia whose Government he had given to Bernard Earl of Auvergne he fell sick in his passage by Autun in Burgundy not without suspicion he was poysoned wherefore he sent for his Son Louis whom he put into the hands and keeping of Bernard Earl of Auvergne Thierry his great Chamberlain the Abbot Hugh and some other Lords This Hugh or Hugues was very powerful towards the latter part of the Reign of Charles the Bald under Louis the Stammerer and likewise under his Children The Stammerer being with much difficulty brought to Compeigne gave up his Soul upon Holy Friday the 19 th of April He was buried at the same place in the Abbey-Church of St. Cornille his Age was 30 or 35 years of which he had Reigned only Year of our Lord 879 one and seven Months Before his death he sent the Crown and other Regal ornaments to his Son Louis by the Bishop of Beauvais and an Earl with order to have him annointed King as soon as possible He was in his youth married to Anâ—â—arde by whom he had had two Sons this Louis of whom we speak and Carloman but as she 〈◊〉 of mean extraction the King his Father without whose consent he married her obliged him to put her away For this reason it is that some Historians say that these two Princes are Bastards After this divorce he took another named Adelaid or Alive Daughter of some English Prince and Sister to Wilfrid Abbot of Flavâ—gny in the Dutchy of Burgundy She was with child when he died and brought a Posthumus Son into the World Born the 17 th of September following He was named Charles the Year of our Lord 879 Simple The Western Empire remained vacant two whole years and Italy in an extreme confusion thorough the discords of the Lords and the spoil and ravages of the Saracens to whom the Pope was fain to pay Tribute We may in this Reign place the Original of the Earls of Anjou from a Lord named Ingelger the Son of a Breton named Torquat or Tortulfe on whom Charles the Bald had bestowed some Lands in Gastinois and Perretta Daughter of Hugo Labbe in marriage This Ingelger was the Father of Fulke le Roux who being made Earl of Anjou by Charles the Simple valiantly defended that Country against the Normans LOUIS III. AND CARLOMAN King XXVII At the Age of Adolescency POPES JOHN VIII 3 Years and half in this Reign MARTIN Elected in January 883. S. one Year and 20 days ADRIAN III. Elect. in January 884. S. One Year 3. Months whereof Six Months in this Reign LOVIS III. And Carloman his Brother Kings of West-France Burgundy and Aquitain CARLOMAN King of Bavaria Louis the Young King of Germany or East-France Charles the Fatt of Germany properly so called   Lorrain to both Year of our Lord 879 TO the very end of this Race we shall find nothing but factions the Kings being but their May-games and even their Creatures Thierry and the rest to whom the Stammerer had recommended his Son sent to the other Lords to meet at the general Assembly at Meaux And they reconciled the quarrels between Thierry and Boson Gauzzelin one of the Princes or great Lords of Neustria Abbot of St. German des Prez forgot not the injuries he had received by the preceding Government and having made his Party with some Bishops and Lords proposed that to heal the distempers of France they ought to bring it all under one head and for that purpose call in Louis of Germany with whom he had contrived and held intelligence as having formerly been taken Prisoner by him at the Battel of Andernac promising to bring him in and make the French accept and own his Title to the prejudice of the Bastard Sons of Louis the Stammerer For thus he called them The greatest Friends to these two Princes could no other way divert this Storm but by yielding up to the German King that part of Lorrain which the Bald and the Stammerer had possessed And ever since that Kingdom though disputed and divers times resumed by the Kings of West France yet remained at last with the Germans or Kings of East France Year of our Lord 880 Louis would not have been satisfied with less than the whole Monarchy had not his affairs pressed him to return home in hast For being informed at Mâ—ts of the sickness of Carloman his eldest Brother who was Seized with the Palsie he posted to Bavaria to prevent him from giving the Kingdom to Arnold his Bastard Son Now Carloman died soon after and was Interred at Ottinghen in Bavaria in St. Maximilian's Monastery founded by him He had no Legitimate Children but two natural ones Arnold to whom he could leave only the Dutchy of Carinthia King Louis having even in his life time received the Oaths of his Subjects and Gisele who An. 890. married Zuendipold King of Moravia whom for that reason some have called Carloman's Son Louis III. and Carloman as beforesaid Louis and Charles the Fatt as abovesaid Year of our Lord 880 In the mean while Gauzelin and Conrard fearing to be oppressed by the other Neustrian Lords applied themselves to Lewitgarde the wife of Lewis of Germany a very ambitious Princess who sollicited her Husband so earnestly that she over-persuaded him to return once more into France with much greater strength then he at first carried Year of our Lord 880 Upon the rumour of this second Irruption the Lords caused not only Louis eldest Son of the Stammerer but also Carloman his Brother to be both Crowned in the Abbey of Ferrieres in Gastinois Year of our Lord 880 Some while after these two Brothers being at Amiens divided their Fathers Kingdom betwixt them Lewis had Neustria and Carloman the
received Holy Baptism and had the Emperor for his God-Father who gave him a natural Daughter of King Lotaires II. in Marriage named Gisile and two thousand and fourscore Livers in Gold with the Dutchy of Frisia Year of our Lord 882 About the same time Louis King of West-France going to meet some Breton Princes who were bringing him an Army to march against the Normans fell sick at Tours whence being brought back in a Litter he died at Saint Denis in France the of August having Reigned somewhat more then three years Paul Emilius says that spurring his Horse to run after a pretty Maiden that fled from him into a House he broke his back riding in at the door which was too low and thereof died Carolus Crassus or Charles the Fatt Emperor King of Germany Carloman King of West-France Aquitaine and Burgundy Year of our Lord 882 His Brother Carloman immediately went from the Siege of Vienne leaving the prosecution thereof to Earl Richard to secure his Succession and head that Army which was marching against the Normans Upon his arrival at Autan he had information that those Robbers being afraid were fled out of the River Loire and a few days after he sees Richard come to him who having taken Vienne brought thither both the wife and daughter of Boson Prisoners From thence he marches against another Body of Normans who having gotten in by the Mouth of the Somme ran up as far as Laon and Reimes he charged them vigorously and one part of them were defeated the rest made their escape in their Barks by the River Aisne At this time the grand Hincmar Arch-Bishop of Reims worn out with age and pierced with grief to see his Country thus Plundred and wasted himself being forced to fly from his City threatned by those Barbarians as they were conveying him in his Litter he died at Espernay leaving the Gallican Church almost quite destitute of any Prelate that understood her Rights or took care of her discipline After the example of the Emperor Charles the Fatt Carloman his Cousin treated with the Normans to go out of his Countries compounding with them for twelve thousand Marks of Silver to do so Year of our Lord 884 Shortly after being a-hunting in the Forrest d'Iveline near Montfort a days journy from Paris he was mortally wounded by a wild Boar or as others say by a Gentleman of his Train who thought to dart the Boar. He lieth buried at Saint Denis In all he Reigned five years that is three joyntly with his Brother and two alone His Father had contracted him to Boson's daughter An. 878. But it is most likely he never did marry her Nor do we find that he had any Children For that Louis le Faineant or Do-nothing which some would bestow upon him is a pure Chimera Year of our Lord 884 As soon as the Normans had the news that he was dead they entred upon the Kingdom again subtilly interpreting according to their Genius and their own interest that the Treaty expired with his life Hugh the Abbot fought them and made so terrible a slaughter that they left France in quiet for some time CHARLES III. Surnamed Crassus or The Fatt King XXVIII Aged about L. Years POPES ADRIAN III. Nine Months under this Reign STEPHEN IV. Elect. in May 885. S. five Years and some Months whereof 2 Years 8 Months under this Reign Charles the Fatt Emperor in Italy and Germany Charles the Simple aged 7 years a Minor under the Tutelage of Hugues the Abbot in France Year of our Lord 884 IT need not be thought strange if the Western-French standing in need of a King in his Majority to command their Armies did not confer the Crown upon Charles the Posthumus Son of Lewis the Stammerer who was but seven years of Age but gave their Oaths of Fidelity to Charles the Fatt who was very potent and was not as yet observed to be weak Spirited and inclining to be distracted Year of our Lord 884 How-ever it cannot be said that they excluded the Pupil since they entrusted the Abbot Hugh the Great with his Guardianship and Education who held in Fief the Earldom of Paris and the Dutchy of France that is to say all that lies within the Seine the Loire and the Sea excepting only the Bishopricks Year of our Lord 885 Valdrade's Bastard had not quitted his pretention to Lorraine And Godfrey the Norman Duke of Frisia his Brother in Law were creating some quarrel that they might have an opportunity to restore him to the possession of that Kingdom The Emperor Charles ridd himself both of the one and the other but by unhandsome means according to the contrivance of Henry Duke of Saxony For this Henry and Guillebert or Gilbert Arch-Bishop of Colen having drawn Godfrey to a Conference at an Island in the Rhine there massacred him and all the Normans that attended And at the same time Hugh who came upon his promise of Faith and security to Ioinville was Seized an d his Eyes put out then confined to the Abbey of St. Gal. Year of our Lord 886 The fury of the Normans which began to be allayed burst out again upon this bloody Treachery and made most horrible work under the conduct of Sigefroy They entred the River Seine with 700 Barks and so great a number of other Vessels that the stream was cover'd with them for above two Leagues in length the City of Paris seated on an Island and having Bridges on either branch of the River put a stop to this formidable Fleet. The Barbarians who would needs have the passage thorough this River free held it besieged three years Year of our Lord 886 87 and 88. During all that time they tried their utmost endeavours to accomplish their ends But the Bishop named Gosslin the Abbot Ebon his Nephew the Earl Eudes whom we shall hereafter find to be King with a great many valiant Knights and the Parisians whose courage was then greater than their City defended it better then it was attaqued The besiegers did from time to time make attempts and assaulted the Towers of the two Gates from whence being repulsed would make incursions upon the adjacent Provinces still keeping the City block'd up with Forts which they had built very nigh the place Twice did the Emperor Charles send thither Henry Duke of Saxony upon the carnest intreaties of the French who deputed Count Eudes to go and implore assistance from him The first time he forced the Danish Camp and put some relief into the City which done he returned but the second riding headlong imprudently into a ditch cover'd with straw and some small branches a Stratagem often used in those times he fell into the snare and was instantly slain and stripp'd His Army finding themselves a Body without a Head returned into Germany Year of our Lord 887 At last the Emperor came in person with numerous Forces and encamped at Montmartre Yet through some discontent which hapned between
sometimes for his Rival The well meaning French tyred with these discords during which the Normans took their opportunity to return contrived I know not what kind of Truce between the two Kings It seems Burgundy and Aquitain Champagne and Picardy were to belong to Eudes all the rest was Charles's It troubled Arnold very much that contrary to the custom of France such Princes who were of Charlemain's Blood but only by the Female side should dismember the best Portions of his Succession He goes down therefore into Italy drives Guy de Spoleta out of all Lombardy and forces him to retire to Spoleta But he satisfied himself with that advantage only and went back into Germany Now this Guy labouring to gather an Army about Spoleta died of a bloody Flux say some though others make him to live a great while longer How-ever it were Arnold gained nothing by his Death for as he was at distance the Lords conferred the Kingdom upon Lambert his Son before Berenger his Competitor who thought to restore his own Title had time to take his measures This Lambert was Crowned Emperor and bare the Title as long as he lived In the mean time Arnold attaqued Rodolph in Burgundy beyond the Jour or Trans-jourane and put him to a great deal of trouble however he could not force Year of our Lord 895 him quite out of those Mountains Year of our Lord 895 The year following he held a Council at the Palace of Tribur which is betwixt Ottenhin and Ments on the other side of the Rhine and after that a Parliament at Wormes where King Eudes was present and upon his return Plundred the Baggage belonging to the Ambassadors whom Charles the Simple was sending to Arnold In this Assembly Arnoid with the consent of the Lords which he had very much ado to obtain got Zuentibold his Bastard Son to be accepted for King of Lorrain This young Prince embracing Charles's Party besieged the City of Laon then esteemed very important because of its advantageous situation upon a Hill But when he found Eudes returned out of Aquitain with his Army he raised the Siege and turned his back to him The Normans began again their Incursions on that unhappy Kingdom with so much the more assurance and facility as they found Eudes backward and careless to suppress them who indeed was only able to do it but left them to go on to revenge the inconstancy of the French who having made him King would not obey him as he expected and required This year Rollo or Rol one of the most considerable Leaders of those Pyrats after he found he could do nothing in England where he had tried to Land being also advertised by a Dream or divine Vision steered his course towards France and puts in at the Mouth of the Seine Perhaps he might be called in by Charles who turned every Stone to ruin his Rival As for the Empire of Italy Arnold being invited by Pope Formosus who would revenge himself for the outrages received from the Romans forced the City of Rome and having chastised them was Crowned Emperor But soon after as he was besieging the Widdow of Guy in the Castle of Fermo one of his Valets de chambre whom that subtil woman had corrupted gave him a Drink which laid him asleep for three whole days and brought him to be Paralytick for a while Year of our Lord 897 There hap'ned this year a horrible scandal in the Roman Church Formosus Bishop of Porto otherwhile degraded and condemned by Pope Nicholas was elected Pope after Stephanus VI. This was the first example in the Church and of most pernicious consequence as we find it now every day that without any necessity a Bishop is transferr'd to another See and as one may say does quit and forsake his first wife to marry another But after his death Pope Stephen VII his Successor caused him to be taken out of his Grave and having placed him in the Papal Chair dressed up in his Pontifical Ornaments reproved and told him that Year of our Lord 897 thorough his ambition he had violated the orders of the Church then condemned him as if he had been living disrobed him of his Ornaments cut off those three fingers with which he gave his Benediction and caused him to be thrown into the River Tiber with a stone about his neck Year of our Lord 898 The enterprises surprises and ren-counters between Charles and Eudes ended by the death of the latter which hapned the 3 d. of January An. 898. about the end of the 36 th of his Age and the 8 th of his Reign At his death he very earnestly desired and enjoyned his Brother Robert and the other Lords to own and acknowledge King Charles whom he hoped they should find a Prince as much deserving for his Vertues as his Birth to Rule over them He left but one Son by his Queen Theodorade named Arnold who took the Title of King of Aquitain But death soon snatcht the Crown from him before he was married or as I believe of Age enough to be so Arnold Emperor in Germany Charles alone in France Zuendibold in Lorraine Louis in Provence Rodolph in Burgundy Lambert in Italy Year of our Lord 898 The loss of the Kingdom of Lorrain did much displease the French wherefore Charles to gain their esteem endeavoured to recover it The rebellion of Duke Reinier who had been the Favourite of Zuendibold and whom that Prince had driven out of his Country did facilitate the means he therefore passed the Meuse with a great deal of company Zuendibold betakes himself to flight but soon after all his Lords coming to him he pursues him in his turn and there had been a Battel if the Lords on either Part had not procured a Truce between them Soon after an Assembly was held in the Abbey of Gorze nigh Mets which confirmed a Peace between Charles Arnold and Zuendibold Towards the end of the year Arnold died having Reigned twelve years since the Death of his Father Charles the Fatt And held the Empire only two years Year of our Lord 899 and a half He had divers Children by three several women amongst others Zuentibold and Arnold the Bad by two Concubines and Louis by a lawful Wife This last was but eight years old when his Father died Charles the Simple in France Zuentibold in Lorraine Louis in Germany Rodolph II. in Burgundy Transjurane Lambert and Berenger in Italy The German Princes immediately Crowned Louis and committed his person to the care and Guardian-ship of Otho Duke of Saxony who was married to his Sister and Arch-Bishop Haton as they did the conduct of his Army to Lutpold or Leopold Duke of the Eastern Frontiers of Bavaria From whom some make the House Year of our Lord 900 of Bavaria to be derived The Dominions of Louis were soon enlarged by the death of Zuentibold who behaving himself with much irregularity and little justice and making his chief exercise
it sacked all Picardy Artois Champagne and the Country of Messin often frighted Paris covered the Seine the Marne and the Loire with the Ashes of those Cities they consumed by Fire near those Streams and beat the French every where excepting at Chartres from whence they were repulsed by the protection of the Holy Virgin and the courage of Bishop Gosseaume and at Tonnere where one of their Parties was defeated by Richard Duke of Burgundy The foregoing year Lambert was killed by treachery as he was taking his pleasure in hunting by Hugo Earl of Milan The Western Empire remained vacant till the year 915. When Berenger was again Crowned by Pope John X. We may here place the Birth of the Kingdom of Arragon because about this time Sancho Abacca I. having extended his Kingdom of Navarre or Territory of Pampeluna towards Huesca and conquered all the rest of the Province of Arragon besides the Earldom of the same name which held already of him took the Title of King of Pampelune and Arragon Year of our Lord 911 In An. 911. hapned the Death of two Kings Rodolph of Burgundy beyond the Jour and Louis King of Germany The first left Rodolph II. his Son for Successor The second being only 19 or 20 years of age had only two Daughters Placidia or Plesance and Matilda who for Husbands had Conrard Duke of Franconia and Henry the Bird-Catcher Duke of Saxony and Son of Duke Otho The Lords of Lewis's Kingdom intending to bestow the Crown upon this Otho he excused himself upon the Score of his great Age and generously advised them to Elect Conrad Duke of Franconia though he had been his Enemy Charles the Simple in France Conrad in Germany Louis in Provence Rodolph II. in Trans-jurane Berenger in Italy Year of our Lord 911 Rollo the great Captain did by little and little make himself familiar and friendly with Franco Arch-Bishop of Rouen Upon his intreaties he had twice or thrice granted a Truce The design of that vertuous Prelat was to convert him Rollo's was to attain the Soveraignty and of the head of those Pirats become a Legal Prince The French Lords had much ado to suffer such a Stranger to be setled thus in the best Country of the Kingdom But the People so long and often tormented by their plundrings and continued disturbance cried out to them to put a period to their miseries Besides Robert Earl of Paris who aspired to the Monarchy desired he might remain in that Station to have his assistance in time of need For these reasons Charles made a Truce with him during which he propounded to him to give him in propriety and with the Title of a Dutchy that part of Neustria between the Sea the River of Seine and the Epte which falls into the Seine with his Daughter Gisele in marriage if he would be converted and embrace Christianity Upon these conditions Rollo was Catechised and received holy Baptism upon Easter-Eve An. 912. Earl Robert was his God-Father and named him After this Year of our Lord 912 he went and did homage to the King for the Lands he gave him and then wedded the Princess his Daughter but she lived only a short time with him and brought him no Children Thus this Province which the Romans called Lugdunensis Secunda was dismembred from the propriety of the Kings of France But not from their Soveraignty and according to the name of it's new Inhabitants took that of Normandy As this was granted to them because they knew not how to drive them out so for the same reason they were released of the Homage and dependance of Bretagne because they were indeed Masters of it and pillag'd it when ever they pleased And withal by this means it was reduced to the Soveraignty of the Crown by subjecting it under a Duke that held it of the King Year of our Lord 913 The year following Rollo failed not to demand Homage of the Bretons with his Sword in hand Duke Alain Rebre ' or the Great had been dead six years and left his Children very young Those that govern'd them rather then let them derogate from their Soveraignty carried them out of the Country with some of the greatest Nobility And since that we find no meution of them in History Count Porhouet named Mathued who had married a Daughter of Alain's the Grand went into England with his Wife Berenger Earl of Rennes and Alain de Dol having defended themselves the best they could were at last constrained to bow the Knee before the Normans and shake hands with them There were besides in divers other parts of France especially in Bretagne Anjou and the Country of Maine and the Islands in the River Loire numbers of these people but in time following the example of Rollo they took Habitations and Naturalized themselves French but not without first doing a vast deal of mischief and for a long while after the settlement of these drew in fresh swarms from Denmark and Sweden who were no less ravenous and cruel though not so formidable as the first Year of our Lord 913. and 14. All the Grandees of Germany were not satisfied with the Election of Conrard Arnold Duke of Bavaria Proud for having vanquished the Hungarians in his Dutchy rose up against him with design to make himself King and not being able to compass it pretended to stickle that Charles might have it Year of our Lord 915 That King had it ever in his thoughts to Sieze again upon the Kingdom of Lorrian Now meeting this fit juncture and the assistance of Reiner Count of Ardennâ— who was very potent in those Countries he enters into Lorrain and makes himself Master of part of that Kingdom whereof he made him Governor with the Quality of a Duke Year of our Lord 916 Duke Rollo had repudiated Pope Daughter of the Earl of Bayeux to marry the Daughter of Charles the Bald that Princess being dead he takes his former wife again by whom he had two Children William and Gerlote or Gerloc Henry Duke of Saxony rebels against Conrad gains a Battel over Everard his Year of our Lord 916 Lieutenant and gives chase to Conrad himself whilst on the other side the Hungarians over-run even to Alsace burning the City of Basle and can have no stop put to them but by Sums of Money which Conrad is forced to give them Year of our Lord 917 An. 917. Died Rollo first Duke of Normandy for ever renowned for that severe justice and exact policy he establisht within his Dominions Where the very mention of his name is able to this day to stop the Progress of Villians and bring those that are such before the judgment Seat Some put off his death to the year 924. his Son William afterwards surnamed Long-Sword Succeeded him And because he was but yet a Minor Robert Earl of Paris God-Father to his Father undertook his Tuition Year of our Lord 918 The following year hapned the Death of
his Death Seulfe Arch-Bishop of Rheims having had some contest with the Kindred of Hetto his Predecessor for having taken some Fiefs from them which they held of the Church was joyned with Hebert's Party to gain their protection and had made him a promise never to assent to any Election whatsoever but whom he pleased Year of our Lord 925 During the Reign of Rodolph of Lewes Transmarine â—nd Lotaire III. there was almost a continual War betwixt the French and the Germans for the Kingdom of Lorrain We shall mention only the great events It is certain that Rodolph reduced a great part thereof to his obedience Year of our Lord 924 They were fain this year 924. to make a Collection for the Normans as Charles the Bald had done several times partly by voluntary contribution the rest by way of a Tax The Duke of Aquitain William I. of that name the Son of Ebles did not submit himself so much as he ought to Rodolph he was obliged to turn his Sword that way William knowing his resolution advanced to the River of Loire which made the bounds of his Dutchy where after some negociations he passed the same and alighting came to Rodolph who embraced and kissed him sitting on Horse-back and the next day granted him a Truce for eight Which being expired the Duke did him Hommage and in requital had the City of Bourges and Berry restored which Rodolph had taken from him Year of our Lord 924 The Italians grown weary of Berenger bestowed the Soveraignty upon Rodolph II. King of Burgundy Trans-jurane Berenger taking no other counsel but from revenge was so unhappy as to make a league with the Hungarians and drew them into Italy Those Barbarians having sacked Mantoua Brescia and Bergamo reduced the celebrated and rich City of Pavia Capital of the Kingdom of Lombardy to a heap of ashes Two hundred of the Citizens escaping the Fire and Captivity redeemed the Walls thereof from the hands of those destroyers for eight Bushels of Silver which they had raked together out of the Ashes and Rubbish of it's ruines This money being received the Bulgarians passed the Mountains and penetrated Year of our Lord 924 even into Languedoc The same Rodolph and Hugh Count of Vienne followed them and pressed so close upon them that those Barbarians partly cut off by the Sword and the rest perishing by the Flux or Dysentery and want of Food enriched greatly those Countries with their Spoil which they came to plunder Year of our Lord 925 The year following Berenger struggling to regain the Kingdom of Italy was slain by his own People at Veronna After his death the Title of Emperor in the West was not conferr'd upon any at least by the Pope or Italians till Otho I. An. 962. By his death the Kingdom remained entirely Rodolph's but the inconstancy of the Italians who were ever hunting out one Lord and Master by another made them resign themselves to Hugh Count of Arles the Son of Brethe to ridd themselves of Rodolph Who being informed that they had Treacherously killed Burchard Duke of Swevia his father in Law withdrew himself into his own Kingdom of Burgundy not daring to attempt any thing amongst such wickedly disposed people Rodolph King of France Henry of Germany Hugh of Italy Rodolph II. of Burgundy Every year almost the Normans made Incursions Besides those that were in Year of our Lord 926 Neustria there were others in Burgundy and towards Artois and at all times they were forced to be making head against them or be in pursuit of them but they had such sure friends amongst the Grandees who would not suffer the Kingdoms grievances to be scann'd that they ever got away scot-free This year Rodolph King of France having surrounded them in a Wood in the Country of Artois they made a Furious Salley unawares in which he was wouned and had been taken without the timely assistance Count Hebert gave him Those that held the Islands in the Loire having been a long time besieged by Hugh and Hebert defended themselves so stoutly that they gave them the City of Nants for their habitation Year of our Lord 927 Notwithstanding the strickt alliance which seemed to be between King Rodolph and Hebert the City of Laon became an occasion of discord between them Hebert would have it for Otho his Son and the King desired to keep it to himself Hebert not able to get it by friendship had thoughts of gaining it by force He therefore draws Charles the Simple out of Prison and carries him to parley with the Normans who suffer'd his confinement with great impatience because he had bestow'd upon them the richest Province of France This menace having effected nothing for as much as Emma the Wife of Rodolph was obstinately bent to preserve Laon and had put her self in there he conducts him to Reims as if designing to restablish him Then was the Queen forced to let go her hold and surrender up the place to Year of our Lord 927 Hebert who being by this means appeased returned Charles to the Castle of Peronne and made a new Oath to Rodolph Year of our Lord 928 In the year 928. Hugh King of Italy came into France we do not find for what reason King Rodolph went towards Lyonnois to receive him and conferr'd with him A crew of Normans gotten into Boulenois made a double Foss or Water-graft round about Guises Afterwards Arnold Earl of Flanders gave it in Fief to Sigebert Year of our Lord 929 Commander of that Fleet who some time after stole away his daughter Eltrude but finding he came to besiege him was in so much dread of his wrath that he hanged himself and left that Woman great with child of a Son named Adolph who was since Earl of Guisnes Year of our Lord 929 Sometimes Rodolph otherwhile Hebert gave hopes of setting the unfortunate Charles the Simple at Liberty and paid him all the respects due to a Soveraign Yet only death took him out of their custody putting a period to his Captivity and unhappiness in the City of Peronna the 7 th Day of October in the Year 929. He was Interred at St. Foursy's in the same City His Reign if we reckon from his Coronation day to that of his imprisonment was 37 years his life 50. He left but one Son named Louis by his Queen * Ogina Daughter of Edward King of England Rodolph King of France Henry of Germany Hugh of Italy Rodolph II. of Burgundy Whilst King Rodolph was gone into Aquitain he had news that the Normans of the Islands in the Loire had adventured to run as far as Limosin He went and Year of our Lord 930 set upon them in the place called Dextricios we cannot well tell where that was and so hemm'd them in that not one of them returned This seasonable victory gained him great esteem amongst the Aquitains and induced them to acknowledg him with a little more submission Year of our
to Boson An. 879. There was one at Fimes in Champagne in 881. amongst whose Acts we find an exhortation and advice to King Louis Son of Louis the Stammerer to Govern well King Arnold had one held at Mets An. 888. That of Valence in Daulphine An. 890. gave the Kingdom of Burgundy Cis-jurane or Arles to Louis the Son of Boson In the same Kingdom there was one at Vienne two years after of which some Canons are remaining The same year that of Reims where Foulks Successor to Hincmar presided which ordered comminatory Letters to Baudouin or Baidwin Earl of Flanders who Invaded the Propriety belonging to the Churches The question about the Worshipping of Images and that touching Predestination had like to have divided the Gallican Church For the first it is certain there were no Bishops in all France that would have broken them or rejected the Intercession of Saints unless Claude de Turin who was so pelted on all hands that he could not stand his ground But many and those of the most Learned amongst others Jonas of Orleans and Agobard of Lyons could not consent or yeild that Images should be adored In so much that the Emperors Theophilus and Michael having sent Ambassadors into France An. 825. to consult with the Debonnaire about the means to take away that Schism which divided the Greek Church from the Roman the Bishops who were Assembled at Paris to confer about it examined the Sayings of the Fathers with their reasons and opinions on that Subject whence they did infer that the Worshipping of Images was not to be permitted They also wrote Letters conformable thereunto to be sent unto the Pope on this occasion as well in their own as in the Emperors name and others likewise for his Holyness to send to the Eastern Emperors But we do not find that these resolutions had any effect the Gallican Church hath allowed and received the Worshipping of Images and hold those of a contrary opinion to be Heretiques For the question of Predestination that made more noise yâ—t It was Godeschale the Monk a Native of Germany but who had taken his Frock in the Abbey of Orbais in the Diocess of Soissons who gave occasion for these Disputes On his return from a Pilgrimage to Rome passing by Ments he made out some propositions upon this Subject which seemed to be hard and Scandalous he was accused for Teaching that God destined or Predestinated unchangeably the reprobated to be damned as the Elect to be glorified and therefore as he was the Author of good Actions so he was likewise the Author of Sin Those on the other side for him maintained that he held no other then the Doctrine of St. Augustine St. Gregory St. Fulgentius and in fine the whole Church which is that God prepares Eternal punishments for those whom he foresees will dye in Sin without Predestinating or Inclining them to Sin However it were Rabanus Maurus Arch-Bishop of Ments adjudged him guilty of the Error whereof he was accused but because in condemning him he seemed to contradict that Proposition in General that God Predestinates to Death not knowing it was the opinion of St. Fulgentius and authorised by many of the Fathers Godeschale reproached him that his was contrary to their Sentiments There is some likely-hood this Monk did not express himself with all that respect and submission he ought to so great a Prelat and indeed being cited before the Council of Ments he presented a Petition containing an accusation against him The Arch-Bishop call'd him Make-bate and Insolent and sent him back to Hincmar his Arch-Bishop to give judgment against him Hincmar who of himself had but little mercy and was besides'something evilly disposed against the Monk because of his too confident proceedings used great severity towards him For in the Council of Crecy he caused him to be condemned for his Incorrigible obstinacy and for his having been the cause of trouble to be deposed from the Order of Priesthood whipped till he should throw his Writings into a Fire which was kindled near him then shut up in close imprisonment where he died at ten or twelve years end He persisted however in his opinions to the last and Hincmar treating him like one excommunicated deny'd him the Sacraments even at the time of his dissolution and Christian Burial after his death Now as in the Council of Crecy that the Arch-Bishop had composed four Chapters wherein he seemed to refute that Proposition of St. Fulgentius and examine and oppose some others of St. Augustin's the greatest men of those Times withstood the enterprise Amongst others St. Prudence Bishop of Troyes Servais Loup a Priest of Ments Loup Abbot of Ferrieres Ratramne a Monk of Corbie Nay even the Church of Lyons to whose judgments Hincmar referr'd himselftogether with all those of the Kingdom of Arles and his Pastor St. Remy who for his Doctrine and Ecclesiastical capacity was to be compared with the ancient Fathers Divers Councils were held and many things written on either side especially by John Scot for Hincmar and by Florus for the Church of Lyons By which say the Learned it appears they were all for St. Augustine but did not well understand themselves or explain their own meaning clearly so that the Errors they charged each other withal lay only in the different Interpretations and Sence of either Party And indeed the Councils before whom these Controversies were brought wisely suppressed them declaring that they were to be considered in a more ample manner and sober discussion Which certainly they would never have done if there had appeared any positive or notorious errors in either Party All the mischief of this Storm fell upon two Priests Godeschale and John Scotus who suffer'd because they had reflected on the Bishops The first was handled as is above-mentioned the other having been mightily baffled and despised was compelled in the end to forsake the Court and Kingdom And even after his death was condemned as the Precursor of Berenger and the Sacramentarians Rabanus and Amalarius Deacon of Treves were likewise censured or blamed in their life time for holding that villainous or filthy opinion of the Stercoranists which is not to be explained without trespassing on that respect which is due to the most Sacred of all Mysteries The Authority especially was excessively encreased ever since Pepin made use of their interest to obtain the Crown and Charlemain after the Pattern of the Visi-Goth Kings would have affairs both Civil and Ecclesiastical debated in the same Assemblies where those Bishops being the Principals often times carried things so as best pleased and served themselves But the Rebellion of Louis the Debonnair's Children against their Father and afterwards the Civil Dissentions ensuing raised their power to a higher pitch yet and put them into such a Capacity that they seemed to pretend a Right of Electing Kings like the Pope who disposed of the Empire as if it had been a Benefice depending on him It is
Italy and at her second to the Emperor Otho I. LOUIS in France Conrad in Burgundy Arles Otho in Germany Lorrain HUGH and Lotaire his Son in Italy Year of our Lord 937. 938. The second year of his Reign Lewis Transmarine took the Government in hand and sent for the Queen his Mother to come to Laon to have the Benefit of her Counsel To settle his Authority the better he first began with some petty Rebels by little and little then falls upon Hebert himself whom he thought the more easily to overcome because he was grown odious for his Treachery against Charles the Simple And indeed he gained some places very quickly But Hugh fearing they would set upon him likewise joyned with Hebert who was besides his Uncle by the Mother And because he judged there would be little security in a person that had broke his Faith he armed himself likewise with the Alliance of King Otho by Wedding his Daughter named Havida The King on his side fortified himself in a more strict Union with Arnold Earl Year of our Lord 938 of Flanders a Mortal Enemy to Hugh Artold Arch-Bishop of Reims Hugh le Noir Brother of the Defunct King Rodolph and some others but this year Giselbert Duke of Lorraine being come to the assistance of Hugh the Great his Brother in Law Arnold and the Noir negociated a Truce till the first day of January of the following year between the King and that Duke As soon as that was expired the War began afresh Whilst the King was in Burgundy to divide it with the Noir Hugh le Blanc Hebert William Duke of Normandy over-ran and Burnt the Territory's of Arnold The Bishops censures had not power enough to stop them but the Kings Return gave them more cause of dread and made them renew the Truce to the Month of June Henry the younger Brother of Otho fancied to himself that the Kingdom of Germany belonged to him he being Born when his Father was a King whereas Otho came into the World before he was so Giselbert very powerful in Lorraine and who had married Gerberge Sister to these two Princes instead of behaving himself as a Mediator between them takes part with the Younger These two Brothers in Law thus Leagued sent to King Louis to put themselves under his obedience After which Otho having beaten and forced them at a passage over the Rhine the dispair they were under made Giselbert and some other Lorrain Lords come even to Laon to do him Hommage Louis wanted but very little of having the whole Kingdom of Lorraine surrender to him he got into Alsace and was well received every where But when he came to treat those as a conquered people who had voluntarily submitted to him it soon alienated their affections Year of our Lord 939 Mean time Hugh the Great Hebert William Duke of Normandy and even Arnold of Flanders not thinking it expedient for themselves that King Lewis should make himself so potent re-allied themselves with Otho who having quitted thâ— Siege of Capremont which was Giselbert's impregnable Fortress and joyned with them easily drove Louis out of Alsatia then laid Siege before Brisac a place very considerable in those days and where they shewed notable Feats of Arms. Whilst Otho was at this Siege a party of his especially the Clergy abandoned him But Giselbert and Everard were defeated by his men at their passage over the Rhine near Andernac where the last remained dead on the spot and the other that had been the Fire-brand of all these Wars was drowned This unhoped for advantage having ruined Henry's Party he grew wise and timely yielded Year of our Lord 934 himself up to the discretion of his Brother who sent him away Prisoner for some time In the interim Brisac surrendred and all Lorrain was his the Government whereof he bestowed upon Henry himself and soon after upon Count Otho The year following King Lewis thinking to strengthen himself on that hand or perhaps gain Vassals and Friends amongst the Lorrainers married that Kings Sister Gerberge the Widdow of Giselbert by whomshe had two Children Regnier Lambert Year of our Lord 940 Count Hebert of Vermandois had by craft and force got his Son but ten years of Age to be nominated Arch-Bishop of Reims which being contrary to the Rules of the Church the Clergy placed one Artold in that Episcopal See who by consequence was an Enemy to Hebert and a great friend to the King The contest about this Arch-Bishoprick begot a War which lasted 18 or 20 years and greatly molested all Champagne Year of our Lord 940 This year after some other inconsiderable actions Hebert with Earl Hugh and Wlliam Duke of Normandy besieged Reims The Inhabitants being terrified forsook Artold and opened their Gates to them Artold thorough the like fear suffers himself to be persuaded to renounce the Arch-Bishoprick and accept of an Abbey whereof repenting again the King embraces his defence and the quarrel revived again From thence the Confederates went and planted the Siege before Laon but upon the noise of the Kings March who was returning from Burgundy they retired towards Otho and having led him as it were in Triumph to the Palace of Atigny they put themselves into his protection King Louis having refreshed Laon retires into Burgundy His strength lay that way because of Hugh le Noir who together with William Count of Poitiers accompanied him King Otho having a potent Army pursued him thither and struck Hugh le Noir with so much terror that he made Oath never to employ his Forces more against Hugh le Blanc nor against Hebert who were his new Vassals Year of our Lord 941 The next year Louis notwithstanding besieges Laon wherein was Count Hebert but it was to his own great dammage for being surprised in his Legements by his base Subjects he beheld above one half of his men slain with his own Eyes and could not save himself but by a shameful flight After which forsaken of all his Neustrian Subjects he took shelter under Charles Constantine Earl of Vienne his Cousin German being the Son of Louis the Year of our Lord 941 Blind King of Italy and Arles and a Sister of Queen Ogina's Thence he had recourse to the Pope the Lords of Aquitain and to William Duke of Normandy The Pope sent a Legat to exhort the Lords of Neustria to be faithful to him those of Aquitain came and tendred him Hommage at Vienne and profer'd their assistance And William quitting the Associates treated him magnificently in his City of Rouen and served him with his Forces as did likewise the Bretons With these Forces he sought all opportunities to fight his Enemies but they were retreated on this side the Oise and having broken down all the Bridges would not come to any Engagement Therefore a Truce was made between them Year of our Lord 942 and by the mediation of King Otho a Peace was concluded by
King Lewis Aged above 45 years went Year of our Lord 951 from Loan where her Son kept her as a Prisoner and married Hebert of Vermandois Count de Troyes Son of that Traytor Hebert who made her Husband die in Prison She thus satisfied her revenge to the prejudice of her honour or perhaps made that only a cover for her incontinence LOUIS Transmarine in France Otho in Germany Lorrain Conrad in Burgundy Arles Berenger II. and Adelbert his Son in Italy Year of our Lord 950 Adeleida the Widdow of Lotaire was Beautiful and Charming she had the City of Pavia in Dowre and besides great riches and possessions much credit and many Friends as well in that Country as on this side the Mountains being the Daughter of Rodolph II. and Sister to Conrad Kings of Burgundy For these reasons Berenger sought to gain her for his Son but she couragiously rejected the proposition Upon her obstinate refusal he besieges her in Pavia took her and sent her Prisoner to the strong Castle of Garda whence the Lake hath borrowed its name She notwithstanding made her escape by the help of a Priest reduced after she was got out to live upon such Alms as the Priest begg'd for her Then retired to the Marquiss Athon her Kinsman who undertook to protect her in his Fortress of Canossa Year of our Lord 950 Presently Berenger besieges it with all his Forces The second year of the siege and the end of their provisions drew near when that Queen sent to implore the aid of King Otho and to offer him with her self the Kingdom of Italy The Love of Honour more then Love to that Lady drew this Prince thither He Year of our Lord 951 delivered her Married her because he could not otherwise enjoy her and carried her into Germany leaving his Army with Conrad Duke of Lorrain to finish that War Year of our Lord 952 This Conrad prosecuted the War so briskly against Berenger and his Son that both of them laying down their Arms came to a Conference with him and thorough his persuasions went both of them into Germany to King Otho who having treated them magnificently and taken their Oaths and made them do hommage restored to them all that Kingdom excepting only Veronnois and Friuli which he bestow'd upon his Brother Henry Duke of Bavaria The contest about the Arch-Bishoprick of Reims and some other particular Lordships had brought King Lewis and Hugh le Blanc again to Daggers-drawing But Hugh in fine whatever motive prompted him desired to confer with Queen Gerberge his wives Sister who came to meet him And afterwards treating with the King personally in Soissons he made Peace about the end of March in this year 953. Year of our Lord 953 This re-union perhaps pleased King Otho but little but he found himself not in a condition to disturb it He was too much troubled with the Civil-War made against him by his own Son Luitolf incited by Conrad Duke of Lorrain who made him jealous of a Son as yet in the Cradle which his Father had by Adeleida his second wife Otho thrust Conrad out of his Dutchy and at length brought his Son to his duty not without much hazard fighting and labour Year of our Lord 954 But Conrad obstinately rebellious turned every stone to be revenged He made a League with Berenger King of Italy as ingrateful as perfidious against Otho and drew the Hungarians in twice first into Lorrain An. 954. whence they over-run even to Champagne and Burgundy and having done a world of mischief were beaten back into Italy the second into Bavaria where a most dreadful multitude got in Year of our Lord 955 together Yet Otho fought them and cut them all off after Conrad had been killed in the scuffle This was in Anno 595. Year of our Lord 954 During these troubles in the year 954. King Lewis died by a strange accident As he was going from Laon to Reims spurring to ride after a Wolfe which he met in his way his Horse stumbled and threw him so rudely on the ground that he was bruised all over These bruises turned into a kind of Leprosy which caused his death the 15 th of October in the City of Reims whither he would be carried and where he lies buried in the Church of St. Remy His Reignwas 18 years three Months and his Age 38 or 39 years Of five Sons which he had by Gerberge there were but two remaining Lotaire and Charles whereof Lotaire the eldest was about 14 or 15 years old and Charles but 15 or 16 Months The small Age of this last the poverty of the Kings who had scarce any other Towns in propriety but Reims and Laon and perhaps the interest of Hugh le Blanc were the reasons why he did not share the Kingdom with his elder as had been ever almost the Custom in the first and second Race or Line Since this time it was never equally divided amongst the Brothers the eldest alone hath had the Title of King and the cadets or younger have only had some Lands in appennage and under an entire Subjection And even of these the Kingly power being increased hath taken the Reversion for want of Heirs-males which hath not a little contributed to restore the Grandeur of the Monarchy LOTAIRE King XXXIII POPES AGAPET II. above a year in this Reign JOHN XII who was the first that changed his name introduced An. 955. S. 9 years within some Months is deposed BENEDICT V. put in by the Romans An. 964. S. some Months JOHN XIII nominated by the Empp. Otho in 964. S. almost 7 years DOMNUS Elect in 972. S. 3 Months BENEDICT VI. in 972. S. one year 3 Months BENEDICTUS VII in 974. S. 9 years and some Months JOHN XIV Elect. in July 849. S. one year one Month. Lotaire in France Otho in Germany Lorrain Conrad in Burgundy Arles Berenger and Adelbert his Son in Italy THE greatest part of the power being in the hands of Hugh he might have taken the Crown had he not feared the Forces of King Otho maternal Uncle to the Sons of the deceased King and the jealousy of the other French Lords For these reasons Queen Gerberge his wives Sister being come to him to take his Counsel he chose rather to preserve his Authority by protecting a Widdow and a Minor then by oppressing them Having therefore carried Lotaire to Reims he caused him to be Crowned the 12 th of November by the Arch-Bishop Artold Upon this occasion the young King gave the Dukedoms of Burgundy and Aquitain to Hugh le Blanc and to Hugh Capet his eldest Son who being satisfied and the Duke of Normandy likewise for their sakes it was not difficult to calm the other Lords who were less considerable These Dukes in my opinion were of two sorts in those times the one held the Cities and Lands and were become Hereditary the other were general commands over a whole Kingdom as well
into his hands having obtained it by intelligence Richard followed him close at the heels and getting into the Country almost as soon as himself made terrible havock The Earl of Chartres had his revenge the very same year carrying Fire and Sword to the very Gates of Rouen but was rudely repulsed and lost his Son in the Retreat Year of our Lord 965 Arnold surnamed the Old the Fair and the Great Earl of Flanders died in the year 965. The Son of Baldwin his Son named Arnold the Young Succeeded him under the Guardianship of Matilda of Saxony his Mother This was that Arnold who being come to Age began to Fortify the Port of Petressa or Scalas which then belonged to the Abbey of St. Berthin It is now named Calais Neighbour to Portus Iccius in these days as it is believed called Blanc Nez and very Famous in the Romans times who from thence passed over into Great Britain He thought to make good use of it against the Normand Pyrats and because he could not always be on those Coasts he gave the County of Guisnes to Adolph Son of Siffroy who had married the Daughter of Hernieulle Earl of Boulogne King Lotaire having heard of the Death of Arnold the Old went immediately into the Country to receive Hommage of the Lords and took Arras and Doway As on the other side William Earl of Pontieu took from that Minor Boulogne and Terouenne and two of his Sons were Earls each of one of those Cities Year of our Lord 966 The same year Arch-Bishop Bruno being come into France to determine some difference between his Sister Gerberge and King Lotaire with the Children and Widdow of Hugh was Siezed with a Feaver at Compiegne which he carried to Reims with him and there Died. Some Authors give him the Title of Arch-Duke of Lorraine because he commanded all the Dukes and Earls of that Kingdom And this is the first time that I find that Title in any Authors There was before this time a Marquiss and Duke of the higher or Mosellanick Lorrain which was Gerard from whom it is held the Lorrain Princes of our days are descended Some Genealogists derive it from Erchinoald Mayre of the Palace and from the same stock they make the Austrian Habspurgh-House to spring with that of Zeringhen from whence is issued the Princes of Baden The King marry's Emme or Emina Daughter of that Lotaire King of Italy Poysoned by Berenger II. and the Queen Adeleida whom the Emperor Otho made his Year of our Lord 966 Second Wife which strengthned the good correspondence between the two Monarchs of France and Germany There hapned nothing very observable during these two years unless it were that in An. 967. King Lotaire gave his Sister Matilda in marriage to Conrad King Year of our Lord 967. and 68. of Burgundy and for her Dowre bestowed the City and County of Lyons The Earl Thibauld supported by the King went and encamped before Rouen from whence he could not be forced but by the help of the Infidel Normans which the King of Denmark of Kin to Richard sent thither who having made him retreat ran Year of our Lord 969 to the very Gates of Paris The ignorance of those times was extream which is the reason that for want of Historians we scarcely find any thing and must sometimes slip over whole years without mention of any occurrences In the year 973. Died the Emperor Otho very justly surnamed the Great founder of the Germain Empire Subduer of the Hungarians and Sclavonians and who found out the Method to Quell the Italians Pride and Chain up their persidious mutability LOTAIRE in France OTHO II. Emperor of Italy and Germany Aged 21 or 22 years CONRAD in Burgundy The Reign of his Son Otho II. was neither so steady nor so happy as his own Giselbert the Husband of Gerberge afterwards Queen had a Brother named Regnier Long-neck Earl of Mons in Haynault and Valenciennes who having been taken in that City by Arch-Bishop Bruno had been confined to the Country of the Venedes and some time after two Counts named Garnier and Raginald or Renold who were in my opinion of his Kindred were invested in his Lands But his Sons Regnier II. Year of our Lord 973 and Lambert after the Death of Otho Armed themselves with the Aid of the French to be restored This begot a Bloody and most obstinate War The two Brothers defeated and slew in a Battel fought at a Village of Peronne near Binns the Counts Garnier and Renold But Otho II. immediately substituted Renauld and Godfrey two Lorrain Lords whom he invested with the Earldoms of Hainault and Valenciennes Now Year of our Lord 975 after various events the two Brothers assisted by Charles Brother to King Lotaire and Hugh Capet whose Daughters they afterwards Married got possession again of those Counties But it was at soonest not till An. 983. Year of our Lord 977 The Emperor was highly displeased that these two Sons of a Rebel should possess such large and great Feoss in his Kingdom of Lorrain in despite of him however he dissembled it having other affairs which would not allow him time to break with King Lotaire Year of our Lord 977 Which is more whether out of design to oblige him or rather to put a Barr in his way he Created Charles his Brother Duke of Lorrain a young Prince about the Age of 23 or 24 years The French had not forgot the remembrance of their Ancient right to Lorrain And the King as Son of Gerberge who of her own held very many great possessions in Capite expected that Otho his Cousin German would restore some part to him especially seeing he had given such sweet Morsels to the Bishops of Liege and Colen But not doing so Lotaire undertakes to compel him He gets unexpectedly into the Country with an Army takes the Oaths of the Lorrainers in the City of Mets and from thence marches directly to Aix-la-Chapelle Otho was diverting himself there very securely with his Family it wanted not above half an hours time to have surprised him He could do no other but only just get on Horseback and fly for his safety leaving his Dinner at the Table and all his precious Year of our Lord 978 Houshold Furniture in the Palace which Lotaire plunder'd and then scowred thorough all the whole Country In revenge of this Exploit the very same year Otho made a great irruption in France with Three-score Thousand men sacked all Champagne and that which is called the Isle of France even to Paris sending word to Hugh Capet who being Count of that City had put himself in there that he would have an Alleluya sung upon Montmartre by so many Clerks it should be heard at Nostre-Dame Those Rodomontado's were not justified by the effects His Nephew going in a Bravado to plant his Lance in one of the Gates of Paris was slain by Gefrey Grisegonnelle Earl of Anjou Winter
Lotaire I. Emperor another in Germany by Lewis his Brother named the Germanick and a third in West-France by Charles the Bald. All three ended their Reigns with a Louis that of Italy by Louis II. great Grand-Son of Lotaire that of Germany by Louis Son of Arnold and that of France by this Lewis the Faineant The Princes of this Race at their Coronation received the Sacred Unction They were almost ever on Horse-back and in the Field and had their wives with Year of our Lord 987 them Charles Martel and Pepin when they were at rest and peace held their residence at Paris and thereabout Charlemain at Aix-la-Chapelle the Debonnaire in the same place or at Thionville Charles the Bald at Soissons and at Compiegne Eudes at Paris Charles the Simple at Reims Lewis Transmarine at Laon. If we consider the causes of the ruine of this Race or Line we shall meet with five or six principal ones 1. The division of the main Body of the Estate into divers Kingdoms which was necessarily followed by Discords and Civil-Warrs between the Brothers 2. The irregular Love the Debonnaire had for his too dear Son Charles the Bald. 3. The imbecillity of most part of these Princes there not having been amongst all of them above five or six who were furnished with Sence and Courage together 4. The ravages and inroads of the Normans who ransacked France for Four-score years together and favoured the attempts of the great Lords 5. The multitude of Bastard Children which Charlemaine had who plaid the Soveraigns in those Countries allotted them for their subsistance 6. And if we will believe the Clergy the Curse of God which fell upon those Princes because they gave the Churches goods to their Lay-officers and their Soldiers of Fortune 7. One may add that this Tree bearing no more good Fruit God would pluck it up to plant another in its place infinitely more fair and more fertile whose duration shall be extended to the end of time and it's renown and glory to the ends of all the Earth End of the Second Race or Line THE THIRD RACE OR LINE Of the KINGS of FRANCE Called the Capetine Race or of the Capets First Part. Hugh Capet King XXXV POPES JOHN XV. S. Eight years and an half during this Reign GREGORY V. Elected in June 996. S. Two years eight months whereof some months under this Reign HUGH CAPET Aged Forty four or Forty five years Year of our Lord 987 THere was none of the Carolovinian Race remaining but Charles Duke of Lorrain This Prince was absent of little Merit and very ill in the minds of the French Hugh Capet on the contrary was in the heart of the Kingdom Powerful and Esteemed He held the Dutchy of Burgundy by Henry his Brother that of Normandy by Duke Richard his Nephew and that of France with the Counties of Paris and Orleance in his own hands Besides he had a Party made so that having Assembled the Lords in the City of Noyon he prevailed to be Elected and Proclaimed King about the end of the month of May. From thence he went to Reims to receive the Unction and the Crown from the hands of the Archbishop Adalberon who invested him the Third of July Not one of all those that were present at Noyon and at that Ceremony claiming for Charles but on the contrary all giving their Oaths in Writing as well as by Word of Mouth to his Enemy One might say that this poor Prince had destituted or deprived himself by rendring himself a Stranger and that this Estate could not suffer or admit a Head that was Vassal to another King Hugh might also make use of the Testament which King Lewis made in his favour but his best Right and Title was the general consent of the French People Year of our Lord 987 c. After his being first Crowned he never put the Crown more upon his Head during his whole life time because it having been predicted to him by Divine Revelation That his Race should hold the Kingdom for seven Generations he thought to prolong that Honour one Degree more by not wearing himself the Regal Ornaments that so he might not be reckoned one of the seven He did not know the number seven in Sacred Language signifies an extent to all Ages You must observe that from about the time of Charles the Simple under the name of the Kingdom of France were comprehended that of Neustria that of Aquitain and that of Burgundy at least that part of it which lies on this side the Saon and therefore when those Kings would be Crowned they were fain to call together the Lords of all these three For this reason perhaps it was that the first Capetine Kings having joyned them all under one Title took likewise upon them the Quality of Emperors unless we should say they did so not to seem inferior to the German Kings but either by some Treaty or upon some other Condition to us unknown they quitted it and contented themselves with that of King Year of our Lord 987 The same year Geofrey called Grise-Gonelle Earl of Anjou ended his days His Son Fulk surnamed Nerra was his Successor Hugh Capet six months after his Coronation desiring to have an Assistant obtained in an Assembly of French Lords which was held at Orleance that his Son named Robert should be Associated in the Throne with him He was Crowned in the same Year of our Lord 988 City the first day of January in the year 988. HUGH CAPET and ROBERT his Son Aged about Sixteen years IT is to be presumed that Prince Charles did not omit to present himself to have or demand the Crown but being come too late he was rejected by the French so that he betook himself to Arms to resume his pretended Right Amongst all the Lords of the Kingdom there were only Arnold Earl of Flanders and Hebert Earl of Champagne his Wives Father that assisted him but the first died this year having been ill handled by Capet and Hebert durst not proceed to act any farther for his Son-in-Law but under-hand Mean time the young King Robert Married Lutgarde the Widow of the Earl of Year of our Lord 988 Flanders though she were already very aged and he not yet above Seventeen years old Duke Charles had a Bastard Brother named Arnold who was a Clerk in the Church of Loan by his means he seized upon that City and upon the Archbishop Ancelin-Auberon This Ancelin was a very subtil Man but without Faith who to regain his liberty pretended to be come wholly his Friend and wrought so upon his Mind that he made him the first of his Council Year of our Lord 988 The new King knowing that Charles was in Laon came presently to besiege him reâ—olved to take it by Famine In the length of the Siege his Men not standing carefully upon their Guard Charles made a stout Sally put them to the rout burnt their Lodgments and forced
Vassals judging him uncapable to succeed from the imbecillity of his understanding a defect very ordinary in the Carolovinian Race Henry left all his Three Sons under the Guardianship of Baldwin Earl of Flanders who had Married his Sister and likewise entrusted him with the Regency of the Kingdom Queen Anne his Widdow retired to Senlis where she was building a Church in Honour of the Martyr St. Vincent Her Solitude was not so Austere but she could listen to the Addresses of Rodolph Earl of Grespy who was of that neighborhood She made no difficulty to Marry him and this Second Flame had like to have kindled a Civil War not for the difference in their Qualities for the Grandees went almost equal with their Kings but because Rodolph was of Kin to the First Husband for which reason the Bishops Excommunicated that Lord but nothing could make him let go his hold of her save death which untied him from his Princess Ann. 1066. Being a Widow and destitute of support she returned to end her days in her own Countrey Philip I. King XXXVIII Aged Seven or Eight years POPES Vacancy of Three Months Alex. II. Elect 1 Octob. 1061. S. Eleven years and neer Seven Months Gregory VII Son of a Carpenter Elect in April 21. 1073. S. Twelve years One Month. Victor III. Elect in May 1086. S. about One year Four Months Vacancy Five Months Urban II. Elect in March 1088. S. Eleven years and Four Months Paschal II. Elect 12. August 1099. S. Eighteen years and Five Months Year of our Lord 1060 61 and 62. ALL quietly gave Obedience to the Regency of Baldwin the Gascons only refused to submit themselves apprehending said they lest by that Title he should destroy his Pupil to invade the Crown upon pretension that he was Married to the Daughter of King Henry He wisely dissembled this injury but two years after marched an Army towards the Pyreneans giving out it was to make War upon the Saracens in Spain and when he had passed the Garonne he stopp'd in the Rebels Countrey and brought them to their Duty without striking a blow Year of our Lord 1062 Guy Gefroy-William Duke of Aquitain believed that Gefroy Martel Earl of Anjou being dead without Children his Nephews Sons of his Sister had no right to Xaintongne He would therefore seize it and besieged Xaintes his Army was defeated by the two Brothers neer Chef-Boutonne but the following year he got another Army and took the Town from them Year of our Lord 1062 and 63. The two Brothers minded not the relieving it they were at mortal feud amongst themselves Foulk le Rechin the younger of the two gained the Lords of Touraine and Anjou who betraid his Brother Gefroy and unfortunately deliver'd him up with the City of Anger 's In the mean while the Duke of Aquitain having re-conquered Saintongne led his victorious into Spain where he forced the City of Barbastre at that time very rich and renowned The Zeal of Religion did often lead the Princes and Lords of Aquitain and Languedoc into Spain to succour the Christians against the Saracens and their assistance raised and very much supported the petty Spanish Kings Year of our Lord 1064 Edward King of England whose Christian Virtues have placed him in the number of Saints dying without Children left his Kingdom by Will and Testament to William the Bastard Duke of Normandy in consideration of the good Reception and Treatment he found in the House of Robert his Father when he was driven out Year of our Lord 1064 of his own Countrey as likewise because he was neer of Kin. But the English not affecting the Government of a Stranger gave the Crown to Harold Son of Godwin one of the great Lords of the Kingdom The Bastard on his side sought from all parts the assistance of his Friends and Allies to get himself into possession of his Right insomuch as having got by his large promises a powerful Army of Normans French Flemmings and others together he landed in England gave Battle to Harold the 14th of October who was slain in the Fight with his chief Commanders and left England to the discretion of the Conquerour A Revolution thought to be presaged by a terrible Comet which for Fifteen days blazed with three great Rays over-spreading almost all the Southern parts of the Heavens Before William past the Sea hapned the death of Conan Duke of Bretagne it was said he caused him to be poysonn'd because he claimed the Dutchy of Normandy as belonging to him by his Mother Daughter of Duke Robert Hoel who was Married to his Sister succeeded him Year of our Lord 1067. and the following The English ill-Treated by Williams Lieutenants and Officers Revolted the following years and called in the Danes to their aid but that only increased their misery and yoak for he took from them almost all their Lands and even their antient Laws introducing and imposing those of his own Countrey as he did that Language in all Courts of Justice and instruments of Law withal putting such Lords as follow'd him in possession of English Mens Estates the greatest part of them being punished or slain Thus ended the Reign of the English in that Island which hath notwithstanding retained their Name but in effect hath ever since been sway'd and is still by the Norman Blood their Kings and the greatest of the Countrey being descended and holding their Rights of this William the Bastard to whom was given the Surname of Conquerour Year of our Lord 1067 Baldwin Regent of the Kingdom of France and Earl of Flanders ended his days An. 1067. He had Two Sons Baldwin called of Monts who was Earl of Flanders and Robert who was Surnamed the Frison as being Lord of that Countrey of Friesland Year of our Lord 1069 It is observed that in the year 1069. Arnold Lord of Selne began to build the City of Ardres upon the ruines of his Castle of Selne A War did soon break out between Baldwins two Sons the Eldest thinking to devest the Younger was by him beaten and slain in the field of Battle leaving two Sons Arnold and Baldwin very young The Guardianship of these begot a bloody contest between Robert their Uncle and Richilda their Mother This Princess supported by Gefroy Crook-Back Duke of the lower Lorrain defeated Roberts Army and thrust him out of a part of his Countreys This happy success made her so haughty Year of our Lord 1068 towards her Subjects that the Flemmings Flammengant forsook her and she had none left but the Walloons and the Hennuyars The King would have made himself Judge and Arbitrator between both parties but Richilda coming to Paris with great Presents gained his Counsel and engaged him openly to take her quarrel Year of our Lord 1070 The King inflamed with the heat of Youth would needs go in person to make his first Essay in War and Arms. It proved not very successful for he was beaten and pursued Richilda taken and carried
Italy to embark in Fuglia these conducted home the Pope and restored him to the Chair in despite of his Enemies They all got into Greece and thence passing the straight of the Hellespont or arme St. George arrived in Bithynia But those who were led by Peter the Hermit and Gautier de Saint Sauveur being ill conducted were almost all cut in pieces by Solyman Sultan of the Turks in Bithynia Year of our Lord 1096 Amongst the Chief Commanders of these Forces were Hugh the Great Brother to King Philip Robert Duke of Normandy the Earls Raimond of Toulouze Stephen de Chartres Baldwin of Hainault Hugh de St. Poll Rotrou du Perche William de Forez Rambol of Orange Baldwin of Mets Fulke of Guisnes Stephen d'Aumale another Stephen of Franche Comte William of Angoulesme Herpin de Bourges who sold his Earldom to the King Boemond Duke of Apulia Tancred his Nephew Son of Robert Guischard and above two hundred other Lords of note All these being passed into Bithynia elected for their Chief Godefroy Duke of Bouillon and the lower Lorrain Son of Eustace Earl of Boulogne An Election so glorious for him that all the Scepters of the Universe together are not comparable to it Year of our Lord 1096 For several nights together it was seen to rain down Stars by intervals but thick and very small as if some sparks had fallen from the shatter'd Orbs. Year of our Lord 1097 and 98. The City of Nicea in Bithynia was the first exploit of these Christian Adventurers The defeat of Solymans Army followed with the surrender of the places in Lycaonia Lycia Cilicia and Pamphilia the Second and the taking of Antioch which held them seven Months and cost them a great deal of Blood and Trouble the Third After they were got in they went to meet Corban or Corbaget General of the Army to the Sultan of Persia or Babylon fought him and slew an hundred thousand of his Men which weakned the power of the Turks so much that the Sultan of Egypt who was a Saracen took from them Judea and the Holy City of Jerusalem Year of our Lord 1099 He kept it but a little while the Christian Army besieged it the 9th of June and carried it by main force the 15th of July All the chief Commanders agreed to give it with all its dependencies and the Title of a Kingdom to Godfrey of Bouillon their Prime General who notwithstanding was so humble that he would never suffer them to put the Crown upon his Head nor give him the Title of King in a City where the King of Kings had been Treated like a Slave The Sultan of Egypt with reason apprehending left the Christians after so many advantages should deprive him of his Countrey likewise without which it is very difficult to preserve the Holy Land Seeing them therefore much weakned so that they had scarce 5000 Horse and 15000 Foot left he got together an hundred thousand Horse and four times as many Foot giving the Conduct of them to a Lieutenant to cut them off Godfrey the greatest Soldier of his age charged them so resolutely that he put them into disorder and slew above an hundred thousand So great a Victory gave him all Palestine one or two places only excepted Year of our Lord 1099 This year therefore commenced the Kingdom of Jerusalem under which were the County of Edessa the capital City of Media the Principality of Antioch in Celosyria and the County of Tripoly which was not conquer'd till many years afterwards upon the Maritime coasts of the Phenician Syria At that time was Caliph in Babilon Albuguebase Achamet the Son of Muquetady the Eight and twentieth of the House of Guebase Year of our Lord 1100. and 1101. The Fame of this Conquest published in the West by those Princes that returned excited such others as had not been there to go and signalize their Names They made therefore a Second Croisade composed of above 300000 Men French Almains and Italians William VIII Duke of Aquitain carried an hundred thousand two thirds of them being his own Subjects Hugh le Grand the Kings Brother and the Earl of Burgundy who had been in the first Expedition went also in this and divers Prelats and many illustrious Ladies would go this Voyage Godfrey being dead the preceding year his Brother Baldwin succeeded him in the Kingdom of Jerusalem Year of our Lord 1101 This Army took their way by Hungary and Thrace and by the straight crossed over into Asia In their passage Duke William saw the Grecian Emperour and in too lofty Language deny'd to pay him Hommage for those Lands he should conquer from the Infidels The persidious Emperour being offended in his mind ordered them such Guides who having harass'd and enseebled them by the difficulties of the bad ways and want of Food made them pass over a River where the Enemy waiting for them with advantage kill'd above Fifty thousand in one day the rest made their escape as they could in Cilicia Hugh the Kings Brother went to Tarses where he died of his wounds These Voyages to the Levant renewed and extreamly increased the hatred the Greeks had conceived against the Latins or Western People insomuch that those Traitors did them more mischief a great deal then the Infidels themselves Hereafter we shall mention no more of these Wars then what relates to our History But we must not forget to tell that they gave beginning to the use of Coats of Arms In all times every Nation bore some Figure or Symbol in their Banners or Ensigns The Roman Legions were distinguished by the different painting of their Shields or Bucklers and the different Lines traced or drawn upon them Particular Men did likewise adorn their Shields with devices which made known their birth or their brave acts or their Wit and Humour Now in these Expeditions to the Holy Land those that had such Symbols before made them more proper for them and those that had none contrived and made choice of such as might render them conspicuous and remarkable in Battle their Armour for the Head hindring them from being known by their Faces as well as to distinguish them from others And likewise that those Coats of Arms might serve them as it were for Surnames for in those days there were yet but few or none Some therefore to shew they were going in these Croisades took Crosses in their Shields of which there was infinite variety and several sorts others to make known they had been in the Levant and passed the Seas took Besants Lions Leopards or Escollop Shells Others framed their Arms of the Linings of their Mantles or Cloaks according as they were Checkie Varie Diapred Gyroned Lozanged Vndulated Paled Some there were that chose rather to charge their Field with some piece of their Arms as the Spurs Lance Maillets and Sword Several chose such things as had resemblance to the Surnames people had given them or to the Lands
they held as what they produced how situated or some particularities of their Castles or such Office they bore Some there were that chose such things as preserved the memory of their brave Feats of Arms or some singular Adventure which had hapued to them or theirs and others in fine would have such as betokened their inclination not to mention those that would needs have their Coats out of a meer fantastical Humour and without any design These glorious Marks and Badges belonged otherwhile only to the Nobility and was not the least illustrious part of the Succession of their Noble Families Now at this time every one hath them the meanest villains are the most curious herein they have not only brought the ✚ Rebus's of the little Citizens Merchants Cyphers Shop-keepers Signs and Artists tools and implements into their Coats under the shadow of Crowns Helmets and Supporters but likewise by a confidence not to be endured they have made choice of the most illustrious things and given occasion to observe that there are no better Coats then the Arms of a Villain or Plebeian Year of our Lord 1096 97 98 and 99. From the first Croisade William Rufus King of England taking the opportunity of his Brothey Roberts absenc had seized on the Dutchy of Normandy Swoln with this increase of Power he promised himself to invade France because he saw the Excommunicated King languishing in the Arms of his Concubine who besides had but one lawful Son of 15 or 16 years of age and was destitute both of Money and Friends Nevertheless this young Prince surpassing his age did by his Courage and Virtue defend himself so well three years together that Rufus was forced to leave him in Peace and retired again into England In that Countrey letting himself loose to all sorts of infamous pleasures tiranny Year of our Lord 1100 and execrable wickedness both towards God and Man he perished in a tragical manner being as he was Hunting shot with an Arrow either designedly aimed at ☞ him or by chance which pierced his very Heart Henry his younger Brother got into the Throne during the absence of Duke Robert who was still in the Holy-Land Notwithstanding the Popes Excommunications the King had renewed society with Bertrade by the consent even of Foulk her Husband being so infinitely enchanted with that Woman that he was often seen at her Feet there to receive all her Year of our Lord 1098 99 and 1100. Commands as if he had been a Slave Some of the Belgick Bishops honour'd the Kings Adultery with the name of Marriage and on their great Feasts according to ancient custom placed the Crown upon her Head to shew or signifie they did not hold her to be Excommunicated but the Popes Legats denied to communicate with him and conven'd a Council at Poitiers in July where he was Excommunicated once more William Duke of Aquitain who feared the like Treatment having committed the like fault for he entertained a Concubine and had forsaken his lawful Wife affronted and abused the Prelats greatly and perhaps his Sorrow and Repentance for it afterwards prompted him to go to the Holy Land as we have observed The King constant in his Affections solicited the Popes Favour so earnestly that he sent some Legats to re-view the Cause Year of our Lord 1101 They assembled a Council at Baugency The King and Bertrade promised to abstain from each other till the Popes Dispensation and thus the Council broke up Year of our Lord 1102 without giving any Judgment The King continued with the recommendation of the Bishops to endeavour the obtaining a Dispensation in the Court of Rome in the end he had it he was Absolved in the City of Paris and his Marriage confirmed so officacious is constancy even in things not commendable The opposition of the Bishops served only to authorize the use of Dispensations from Rome which since have been very common in all matters and occasions Young Lewis whom they named the Prince of the Kingdom and was designed King by his Father it is not specified in what year took the Government of Affairs Year of our Lord 1102 3. and the following PHILIP LEWIS Surnamed the Gross designed King aged 19 or 20 years In those times the Rights of the French were such that they could not legally arrest the Lords nor punish them with death unless it were for Treason but only deprive them of their Lands I mean those they held of the King they called them Honours This was it that gave them Licence to arme to oppress the weaker to rob and plunder and above all usurp the Goods of the Church Year of our Lord 1100 Lewis had to do first with Bouchard Lord of Montmorency against whom he embraced the Cause of the Monks of St. Denis whose Lands that Lord had pillaged and having appeared according to an assignation in the Kings Court of Justice refused to obey the Sentence or Judgment given against him therein He forced him by destroying and burning all his Villages and his Castle it self to submit to Reason In like manner he chastifed Droco or Dreux de Mouchy and Lionnet de Meun who tyrannized this over the Churches of Orleans the other over those of Beauvais Also he humbled Matthew Count of Beaumont upon Oise Son-in-law to Hugh Earl of Clermont in Beauvoisis who having half of the Lands of Luzarches in Dowry had seized upon all and had devested the good Man his Father-in-law Year of our Lord 1103 He durst or would not intermeddle with the quarrel between the two Norman Brothers Robert and Henry The First upon his return from the Holy Land demanded the Kingdom of England of his younger Brother who had usurped it after the death of William Rufus The business after three years Negotiation and War was determined in this manner Robert An. 1107. having lost a Battle at Tinchâ—bray in Normandy was made prisoner by his cruel Brother who deprived him of Sight by placing a burning Bason of Brass before his Eyes whereof he dyed in Prison Thus the whole Succession of William the Conquerer remained in Henry the youngest of his three Sons Year of our Lord 1103 In the year 1103. Lewis passed into England to King Henry I cannot tell upon what design Bertrade his Mother-in-law who could willingly have sent him out of the World sollicited Henry to make him away and this Artifice failing she caused poison to be given him at his return into France which put him in great hazard of his Life Year of our Lord 1104 The King to rid himself of the trouble brought upon him by the Family of Montlehery agreed upon a Marriage with Guy Troussel betwixt Philip his Son and bertrade to whom he gave the Earldom of Mantes on condition that Guy should deliver him the Castle of Montlehery which he did Year of our Lord 1104 At the same time or a little after Guy Lord of Rochefort Uncle of Troussel entirely possessing the Kings
it governed almost all Europe both in Spirituals and Temporals We must not omit how Robert Native of the Village d'Arbresel in the Diocess of Rennes founded the Order of Fontevralt whose Monasteries are double of Men and Women living according to the Rule and wearing the Habit of St. Bennet This Robert was at first Archdeacon of Rennes then had a particular Mission from Pope Vrban II. to Preach to the People Finding he was every where followed by an infinite multitude of either Sex he built Cells for them in the Woods of Fontevrault three Leagues from Saumur on the Confines of Poitou and then shutting up the Women apart this was perhaps after the good Advice of Gefroy de Vendosme he made a large Monastery which produced many others in each of them the Abbess Commands and she of Fontevrault is the General of the whole Order About the year 1048. began a famous Dispute between the Benedictine Monks of St. Denis in France and those of St. Himmeran of Ratisbonne these having given out a report that they had the Body of St. Denis the Areopagite and that it was bestow'd upon them by King Arnold They held a famous Assembly at St. Denis upon it where the Contenders of either side having fasted and pray'd the Shrine of this Saint was opened and there his Corps was found intire excepting one Arm which Pope Stephanus III. had carried to Rome Those of Ratisbonne would not yield for all this but always maintained their Supposition The great Zeal People then had for Reliques prompted such as hold nothing so Sacred as Money to go for some to Jerusalem and the East to steal Reliques where-ever they could come at them and oftentimes likewise to suppose and bring Counterfeit ones to make Merchandize and the great Lords gave dear Prices for them not only out of Devotion but also to enrich their Towns and Castles by the affluence of those People that came to behold them Lewis the Gross King XXXIX POPES PASCAL II. Nine years six Months during this Reign GELASIUS II. Elected in January 1118. S. One year CALISTUS II. Elected in Feb. 1119. S. Ten years ten Months HONORIUS II. Elected in Decem. 1124. S. Five years one Month and an half INNOCENT II. Elected in Feb. 1130. S. Thirteen years seven Months whereof Seven years seven Months during this Reign LEWIS the GROSS King XXXIX Aged about Twenty seven years Year of our Lord 1108 THis Prince no less Massive of Body then his Father but brave active vigilant exposing himself boldly to all Labours and all Dangers had undertaken to suppress the Pilferings and Licentiousness of the Lords They had made several Leagues against him and at that time there was one whereof Guy Earl of Rochefort was the chief Promoter and this perhaps had hindred him from being Crowned in his Fathers life time The fear of this League obliged him to hasten his Coronation so that five days after the Death of Philip he was Anointed and Crowned at Orleans by Giselbert Archbishop of Sens assisted by all his Suffragants He would not have it performed at Reims because Rodolph who was chosen Archbishop by the Clergy and confirmed by the Pope had not his approbation for which reason he disturbed him in the enjoyment and Rodolph thereupon had put the City under an Interdiction Year of our Lord 1109 The War raised by Guy de Rochefort and his Friends lasted still The new King besieged Chevreuse and other little Castles which the other party defended well Mean time Guy died and Hugh surnamed de Crescy his second Son succeeded to the Animosity of his Father Hugh Lord Puiset in Beauce mighty famous for his Robberies was of the League Eudes Ea. I of Corbeil Grandson to Earl Bouchard having refused to joyn with the Male-contents Crescy though his Brother by the Mother made him Prisoner and shut him up in the Castle of la Ferte-Baudouin The King set him free soon after taking the place partly by Intelligence Year of our Lord 1109. 1110 c. At the same time the King had War with Henry King of England and Duke of Normandy The Subject was that that Prince did not keep the Promise he made upon his doing Hommage for Normandy to pull down the Castle of Gisors built on this side the Epte a River which served as a Boundary between the Territories of the French and the Normans The Difference put to Discussion between the Deputies of the one and other side and the Parties not able to agree the Fact King Lewis offer'd to prove it by Combat Body to Body Some idle Jesters said the two Kings had best fight upon the Bridge which shook and was ready to fall Henry having refused this Challenge they came to a Battle the English lost it and their broken Remains sled to Meulan Robert Earl of Flanders pursuing them too rashly was wounded to Death His Son Baldwin surnamed a la Hache succeeded him Under the favour of this War the Male-contents drew Philip the Kings Brother to their Party The power and greatness of Amaury de Montfort his Uncle by the Mother the credit of his Mother Queen Bertrade and of Foulk Earl of Anjou afterwards King of Jerusalem his Brother heightned his courage He had two strong Holds Mantes and Montlebery the King besieged Mantes and forced it to surrender For that of Montlehery the better to keep it they would have given it to Hugh de Crescy with a Daughter of Amaury's in Marriage but the King prevented it and restored it to Milon Vicount de Troyes who had some right to it He after this attaqu'd le Puiset in favour of Thibauld Earl of Chartres who was mightily molested by Hugh Lord of that Castle and took the place together with the Lord whom he kept under a good strong Guard in Castle-Landon This War begot another Thibauld would build a Fort on the limits of the Country of Puiset the King obstructing him he maintain'd he had promised him leave to do it and therefore did him wrong which he offer'd to prove by Combat proposing his Chamberlain for Champion in his own stead he being yet too young The King on his part appointed his Grand Seneschal Anseau de Garlande but the Champions could find no Court or Judge in the Kingdom who would secure them the field of Battle Perhaps the King might underhand obstruct it The Earl therefore declares War against the King with the Assistance of Henry King of England his Mothers Brother and the Duke of Bretagne for according to the Customs of those times the Lords thought they might do it when they apprehended there was a denial of Justice With him joyned the Lords Hugh de Crescy Guy de Rochefort returned from the Holy Land Lancelin de Dammartin Payen de Mont-Jeay Rodolph de Beaugency Milon Vicount de Troyes and Eudes Earl of Corbeil To tell it in gross the King received a great deal of trouble and made them suffer so much too that
others But the Popes durst not shock these Kings so rudely It was good Policy not to make so many Enemies at once to keep France in reserve as a Refuge against the Emperors and bring down the Germans first because they troubled them most The Peace between the two Kings Lewis and Henry was of no long duration The Friends of the late Duke Robert and William his Son declared for Lewis and the Earls of Anjou and of Flanders served him zealously as Thibald Earl of Champagne served Henry who was his Uncle Year of our Lord 1119 Baldwin Earl of Flanders being wounded upon an assault of the little Castle of Bures in Caux did so inflame his Wound with his Debauches that he died of it at Aumale Charles surnamed the Good Son of his Sister and Camut King of Denmark succeeded him in the Earldom of Flanders and maintain'd himself there courageously notwithstanding that Clemence of Burgundy Mother of Baldwin who was again Married to Godfrey Earl of Louvain endeavoured to make it fall into the hands of a Bastard of Flanders named William of Ypres who had Married her Neece After a world of Ravages Firings Sieges Surprizes and Plunderings of Places after two great Battles fought betwixt the two Kings one in the Plain of Bâ—eneville near Noyon on Andelle where the French had the worst the other near Breâ—euil where the success was doubtful Pope Calixtus as the common Father being come expressly Year of our Lord 1120 to Gisors brought them to agree by persuadin them to restore what places they had taken to each other Thus the Dutchy remained to Henry who gave it to his eldest Son William surnamed Adelin in wrong of William his Nephew This Peace did not put an end to his grief and troubles For a few weeks after he lost his three Sons and with them above Three hundred Gentlemen the flower of Year of our Lord 1120 his Nobility and his best Captains It was a strange misfortune They being Embarqued at Harfleur to go into England their Seamen who were drunk split the Ship as they were getting out of Harbor And at the same time his Nephew's Friends and Partisans stirred up new Disturbances in Normandy and re-engaged the King of France to uphold them Which renewed the Desolations of that Province In Anno 1119. died Alain surnamed Fergeant Duke of Bretagne Son of Hoel who departed this Life Anno 1084. His Son Conan surnamed the Gross or Ermengard succeeded him This Alain if we believe the Historian of Bretagne prescribed certain Forms and Rules for the doing Justice in his Country where before it was administred very confusedly For he Establisht a Seneschal at Renes to whom he would have all Persons to resort unless those of the County of Nantes who had one likewise and began to hold an Assembly or Parliament which judged of Appeals from the Seneschals of Rennes and Nantes for in Matters Criminal there lay no Appeal There were no certain and fixed Officers no more then any certain times for sitting They afterwards made a President in the absence of the Chancellor and a Master of Requests Year of our Lord 1123 The death of Hugh III. of that name Duke of Burgundy to whom succeeded Odon his eldest Son who Married Mary the Daughter of Thibauld Earl of Champagne Year of our Lord 1123 The War grew hotter in Normandy betwixt the French and King Henry and was ca ried on with various success But Henry found nothing more troublesome then his Domestick Officers and Servants who had framed a Conspiracy against his Life He could confide in no body he trembled at the approach of all that came near him he died a thousand times a day for fear they would Murther him and in the night shifted Beds five or six times and changed his Guards not thinking he was safe in any place believing there were none but Enemies about him Year of our Lord 1124 The Emperor reconciled himself with the Pope and laid down the Investitures But his Wrath still boiling in him would needs discharge it self upon France Year of our Lord 1124 He had Married Matilda Daughter of the English King for that reason as likewise for the Resentment he conceived because Lewis had protected Pope Calixtus he raised a very great Army to destroy and lay that City of Reims flat with the ground where Calixtus had held the Council against him Lewis on his side resolved to draw all the Forces of his whole Kingdom together even to the very Priests and Friers so that in a short time he had 200000 Men out of the Isle of France Champagne and Picardy only The Emperor having information of these prodigious Levics found it safer for him not to come into the Country of Messin but retire At his return Triumphant Lewis brings back the Martyrs Holy Standard called the Oriflamme and deposites it again in St. Denis whence he had taken it rendred Solemn Thanks to those Glorious Saints carried their Shrines upon his Shoulders which had been taken down and exposed on the high Altar during all the time of the War and made or confirmed several Grants to that Abby especially the Fair of Lendit out of the City for they had one already within Vpon this occasion we may observe the difference there was between the Forces of France and the Kings For when he made a War for himself he could have only the People of those Countries properly in his own possession and they served but unwillingly but when it was the Kingdoms Cause or Concern all the Forces of France were in action every Lord came in Person and brought all his Subjects along with him Year of our Lord 1125 The Emperor Henry being dead the Princes of Germany brought in Lotaire Duke of Saxony who likewise retaining the Kingdom of Burgundy as united to the Empire Renold Duke of Burgundy refused to acknowledge him For which he would have deprived him of his Earldom and have bestow'd it upon Bertold Duke of Zeringhen and this begot a bloody War between these two Houses who fought till the time of Frederick I. who Married Beatrix the Daughter of Renold This year 1126. the King received the Complaints made by the Bishop of Clermont Year of our Lord 1126 concerning the Usurpations and Tyrannies of Robert Earl d'Auvergne and going Year of our Lord 1126 thither in Person forced the Earl notwithstanding the Rocks and Castles of his High-Lands or Mountains to submit to Reason Five or six years after the repeated Violences of the same Earl engaged him to make a second Expedition and besiege Montferrand The Duke of Aquitain came to relieve his Vaslal but having from the height of a Mountain taken a view of the great Strength and Forces the King had with him he sent to offer him all Obedience and brought the Earl as far as Orleans to demand Pardon and submit to all that should be injoyned him Year of our Lord 1126 Death of
William VIII Duke of Aquitain Aged Fifty six years He left his Possessions to William IX his Son who was the last Duke of those Countries The Father had Married Emma only Daughter of William Earl of Arles and Toulouze and Brother of Raimond de Saint Gilles By her he pretended to the Earldom of Toulouze but Raimond de Saint Gilles said his Brother had sold it to him before he went to the Holy Land It caused a War between William Duke of Aquitain and Alphonsus Son of Raimond and afterwards again between Queen Elionor and the same Alphonso Year of our Lord 1127 Whilst Charles most justly surnamed the Good prudently governing Flanders relieving the Poor protecting the Clergy and doing Justice to all a Family in Bruges abounding in Riches and in numbers of Men but of Servile Race taking offence for that he had commanded them to open their Granaries in the time of Famine and withall being instigated by the Bastard William of Ypres plotted the Death of this Prince So that one Morning before day-light whilst he was at Prayers in St. Donats Church at Bruges these Villains Murther'd him at the foot of the Altar The horror of the Fact and intreaties of the Nobility of the Country made the King take Horse immediately to revenge this Parricide He besieged the wretched Authors in the Church and having taken them punished the two principal very severely For one after they had put out his Eyes and cut off his Nose was bound to a Wheel planted very high where they pierced him with an infinite number of Arrows and Darts thorough every part of his Body The other was hanged on a Gallows with a Dog tied on his Head whom they beat continually that he might tear his Head in pieces All the rest who fled into the Steeple were cast down from the top to the bottom and dasht against the Ground This done he adjudged the Earldom to William of Normandy Son to Duke Robert as being the nearest or next Heir without any regard to Baldwin Earl of Hainault and to William of Ypre who pretended a Right The last obstinately strugling to carry it by force the King handled him so roughly that he took from him the City of Ypre and all the Lands he held in Flanders Year of our Lord 1128 As little gained Stephen Brother to the Earl of Champagne who was Earl of Boulogne by his Wife though the King of England his Uncle supported him in this design not so much to advance him as out of hatred to the King of France and a fear of the growing greatness of his Nephew William The King finding that with the Assistance of the Earl of Hainaults and Godfrey of Namurs Forces he had besieged Ypres led his Army into that Country again gave them Chace and secured the Country to William However the Covetousness of this Prince vexing his new Subjects with Imposts he wanted not and selling of Offices the principal Cities revolted and invited in Thierry Earl of Alsatia whom they owned for their Prince and in truth he was of the Blood of their Counts by the Female side The King therefore made a third March towards those Quarters and advanced as sar as Artois to serve William but not finding things disposed so as he expected he came his ways back again William did not lose Courage for all this He gave Battle near Alost to Thierry and put him to the rout but pursuing his Victory he received a Wound in his Arm which being ill-dress'd caused his Death and after that all the Disturbances raised in Normandy by his Partisans wholly ceased In this Kings Reign there were four Brothers private Gentlemen of the Family of the Garlands Anseau William Stephen and Giselbert who had the greatest share in the favour of the King in his Council and Offices Anseau had that of Grand Seneschal or Dapifer which he held in Fief of the Earl of Anjou who was the Lord Suzerain for in those times Offices and Dignities were granted in Fief and even the Contributions or Offerings and other Revenues proceeding from the Charity and Devotion of the Faithful Stephen who was Archdeacon of Paris was provided with that of Chancellor and Giselbert with that of Butler Now Anseau being slain at the Siege of Puiset Anno 1118. the King bestowed his Office upon William and he being dead about the year 1120. Stephen desired it rather for himself then for his younger Brother Giselbert This was a Monster that never any Reason nor any Example could justisie a Soldering-Priest making profession to spill Human Blood And indeed all good People had him in horror but his Ambition and the flattery of Courtiers who lay the fairest Colours upon the fowlest Facts stopp'd his Ears that he might not hear the just Reproaches of his Brethren nor the checks of his Conscience His Pride ascended to that height to shock Queen Alix who had Spirit enough not to endure it and it was perhaps for that reason that he would surrender his Office to Amaulry de Montfort who was Married to his Neece the Daughter and Heiress of Anseau Year of our Lord 1128 c. The King not thinking that convenient he dared to take up Arms against him and made a League with the King of England Thibauld Earl of Champagne and other of his Masters Enemies plainly demonstrating thereby that in his former Services his ✚ aim was not the good of the Kingdom but his own Grandeur The King vigorously assaulted the Castle of Livry which they had fortified they shot at him and he was wounded in the Thigh with an Arrow The smart of his Wound redoubling his Anger he forced the Castle and razed it In fine he continued to make so hot a War upon them that Stephen was constrained to renounce the Office of Seneschal But the Party being strong he thought fit to leave him that of Chancellor Year of our Lord 1129 Great toil and labour more then number of years making Lewis old he found it fitting the better to secure the Kingdom to his Family to have his eldest Son Philip Crowned Which was performed in the City of Reims the 14th of April being Easter-day in presence of Henry King of England his Vassal LEWIS the Gross and PHILIP his Son HEnry likewise having no Children by his second Wife caused his Daughter Matilda Widow of the Emperor Henry to be acknowledged and accepted of as Heiress to his Crown and Dominions and Re-Married her to Gefroy surnamed Plantagenet Son and future Successor to Fulk Earl of Anjou The Party was good and besides he made it his choice thereby to divide this House of Anjou which had given him so much trouble from the King of France's Party and joyn it to his Interest King Lewis who had defended the Churches and protected the Clergy changed his Language towards the end of his Reign because they carried themselves too haughtily towards him and would not suffer he should meddle with the
nomination of Benefices nor lay his hand upon their Revenues He turned some out of their Sees and seized their Lands Stephen Bishop of Paris and Henry Archbishop of Sens adventur'd to Excommunicate him but the Pope Honorius annulled their Censures Year of our Lord 1130 Pope Innocent II. Successor to Honorius was no sooner elected but makes himself General of an Army to compel Roger Duke of Puglia to resign that Country to him which he pretended I know not wherefore to belong to the Holy See In the beginning he overcomes Roger and blocks him up in the Castle of Galeozzo but his Son William hastning thither disingages his Father cuts the Popes Army in pieces and takes him Prisoner Now although he set him immediately at liberty again nevertheless the report of his Captivity being carried to Rome caused them to elect another Pope who took the name of Anacletus Innocent not daring therefore return to Rome held a Council at Pisa where he Excommunicated Anacletus From thence he came into France where he called another at Clermont in Auvergne His Cause had some difficulties the King assembled the Prelats of his Kingdom at Estampes to know which Party they must take St. Bernard Abbot de Cleruaux strongly maintained Innocents after his example every one embraced it Nevertheless Girard Bishop of Angoulesmes advice to whom Anacletus had restored the Legation of Aquitain that had been taken from him had so much influence upon William Duke of Aquitain that he declared himself for this Anti-Pope and persisted a year and an half in that Schism vexing those Church-men extreamly who would needs side with Innocent Year of our Lord 1131 One day being the Fifth of October as the young King Philip was riding thorough some Street of the Suburbs of Paris a Hog thrusts himself betwixt his Horses Legs who flownced and curveted in such a manner as threw him on the Ground and then ran over his Body wherewith being much bruised he died the same night To Comfort the King for this loss and the great and sensible grief it was to him and in some measure repair it he was Counsell'd to let his other Son named as himself Lewis be Crowned He carried him to Reims where the Twenty fifth of the same Month he was Anointed and Crowned by Pope Innocent who then held a Council there against the Anti-Pope Peter Laon. It seems it was at this Coronation that they reduced the Pairs or Peers who were hereafter to be assistant at those Ceremonies to the number of Twelve Six Ecclesiasticks and Six of the Laity who were chosen from amongst all the Lords and Prelats of that Quality They did not however take away from the other Pairs their Prerogative of not being Judged by any but their Pairs in matters Feodal as well Civil as Criminal Of these Twelve Pairries are remaining only the six Ecclesiasticks five of the Lay ones having been re-united to the Crown by Confiscation Marriage or otherwise and the sixth which is that of Flanders torn from them by the Emperor Charles V. LEWIS the Gross the Father LEWIS the Young his Son called the Pious or Debonnair Aged about 20 years Year of our Lord 1132 THierry of Alsatia remaining Master and Possessor of the Earldom of Flanders was admitted to render Hommage to the King who received him because it would not have been in his power to drive him out and besides he was his Kinsman Geofrey Plantagenet was come to be Earl of Anjou Fulk his Father being returned to the Holy Land to take possession of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to which he was called by King Baldwin his Father-in-Law He pressed King Henry his Wives Father very earnestly to give him Places and Money for advancement of Succession which begot such a divorce between them that Gefroy besieged and burnt Beaumont and Henry had carried his Daughter back into England had she not been in Child-bed When she was up again she fell into Dispute with her Father and parted very much discontented from him which gave him so much jealousie and anguish that being taken ill of a slow Fever and a Loosness he died the First day of December having Reigned Thirty five years Year of our Lord 1136 c. His Succession no more then his Life was without great Troubles That Stephen Earl of Boulogne of whom we have spoken his Sister Adela's Son being in England seized on that Kingdom and maintain'd himself in it as long as he lived Not content with that he likewise disputed for Normandy and almost totally dispossessed Matilda and Gefroy her Husband The unhappy Province dividing it self in favour of both Parties was ravaged by both and the King of France favouring sometimes the one sometimes the other kept it still in a Flame William IX Duke of Guyenne touched with Compunction resolved to go in Pilgrimage to St. James's in Galicia Before he went he made his Will and Testament wherein he ordained that his eldest Daughter named Alianor should Marry the young King Lewis and should bring him all his Lordships in Dowry For his only Son was dead but he had yet another Daughter called Alix-Pernelle In his Journey he fell sick and died having confirmed his Will His Corps was conveyed to St. James's in Galicia and interred in the Church and yet the Legend-makers do not stick to say That he feigned only that he was dead and stealing away so privately that his own Secretary knew not of it he went and turned Hermit in a Grotto or Cave near Florence where he macerated his Body by terrible Pennance and that it was he who instituted the Order of the Guillermins Of the same Fabrick is the Tale they make of the Emperor Henry V. saying That to do the greater Pennance for his Faults he caused it to be reported that he was dead and retired to Anger 's where he ended his days serving the Hospital but before he died discovered himself to his Confessor and was known by Matilda his Wife who was again Married to Gefroy Earl of Anjou King Lewis was likewise fallen Sick of a Diarrhea which took him upon his return from his last Warlike Expedition in which he had razed the Castle of St. Bricson on the Loire the Lord thereof using to rob the Merchants William's last Will and Testament being brought to him he accepted of the Match bestowed a gallant Equipage upon his Son and ordered a Train of many Lords and above Five hundred Gentlemen with whom he went to Bourdeaux where Elienor Resided and there Espoused her in presence of the Lords of Gascongny Saintonge and Poitou then brought her to Poitiers towards the middle of July Year of our Lord 1137 In that City he heard of the Death of the King his Father which hapned at Paris the First day of August the Thirtieth of his Reign and the Fifty eighth of his Age. His Body was carried to the Church of St. Denis Before this Prince Violence reigned Majesty and Justice were
Popes Legat. Afterwards the Archbishop of Sens gave him leave to explain and make good his Propositions against St. Bernard But being come for that purpose to the Council of Sens he would or durst not dispute there but appeal'd to the Pope Being on his way towards Rome to pursue his Appeal he stopt at the Abby of Clugny and there led a holy Life in the Habit of St. Bennes which he had long before taken upon him These Prosecutions were carried on by the Zeal of St. Bernard Abbot of Clervaux a Burgundian Gentleman who had raised himself to so high an Esteem for several years before amongst the Clergy the Nobility and Common People that there hapned no Cause in Matters Ecclesiastical no considerable Contest no important Enterprize wherein his Judgment was not required together with his Counsel and Mediation To shew us that the Wise and Virtuous have a more natural ☞ Empire then that which proceeds from Power or the Institution of Man Year of our Lord 1141 The Clergy of Bourges had elected for their Archbishop one Peter de la Chastre a Person of singular Learning and Piety The King whether he did not like him or desired that Benefice for another refused to give his consent Peter would therefore have desisted but Pope Innocent enjoyned him to perform his Duty which the King obstructing it bred a great deal of trouble and grew to that height that the Pope Excommunicated the King and put the King under an Interdiction Thibauld Earl of Champagne a Lord of great Authority as well for his Power as his Vertues having intermedled somewhat too much about this business offended the King whose anger was yet more inflamed upon another occasion which was this Rodolph de Vermandois who was in effect the first Prince of the Blood but in those days that Title was not known those Princes being considered only according to the Year of our Lord 1141 42. dignity of their Lands caused his Marriage with Gerbete Cousin German to Thibauld to be dissolved upon pretence of Parentage that he might have Alix-Pernelle the Sister of Queen Alienor for his Wife The Pope at the instigation of Thibauld Excommunicated Rodolph and interdicted the Bishops that had pronounced the Divorce Lewis lays all upon Thibauld and enters his Lands in Hostile manner Thibauld has recourse to the Pope who to deliver him from that War which oppress'd him takes off the Excommunication but as soon as that was over he thunders it a second time and then the King more exasperated then before turns his Army into Champagne They take Vitry by force putting all to the Sword and setting Fire on the Church wherein three hundred poor innocent People were burnt who were got in to secure themselves Year of our Lord 1143 and 1144. At the recital of this Cruelty the Kings Bowels yearned and his Conscience was mightily troubled He mourned and dispairs St. Bernard had much ado to persuade him that he might obtain Mercy from God upon his Repentance In this Condition it was easie to persuade him to restore the Archbishop of Bourges to his See and procure a Peace for the Earl Year of our Lord 1143 and 1144. Fulk King of Jerusalem being dead Anno 1142. the Government being in the hands of Melisenda his Widow his youngest Son Baldwin and the Christians of that Country worse then the Turks their Affairs ran all into confusion so that Sangnin Sultan of Assyria tore the Principality of Edessa from them one of the four Members of the Kingdom of Jerusalem The King had before Vow'd a Voyage to the Holy-Land these sad Tidings moved both him and the other French Princes to carry them Relief St. Bernard the Oracle of those times being consulted with herein refers the business to the Pope who sent him orders to Preach the Croisade over all Christendom Year of our Lord 1146 Beginning with France he Conven'd a National Council at Chartres by whom he was chosen for Generalissimo of that Expedition but he refused the Sword and was content to be the Trumpet only He proclaim'd it every where with so much fervour so great assurance of good success and as they believed with so many Miracles that the Cities and Villages became Deserts every one listing themselves for this Service Year of our Lord 1147 The Emperor Conrad and the King were the first that took the Badge of the Cross with an infinite number of Nobility Each of these Princes had a Legat from the Pope in his Army Conrad led threescore thousand Horse he went away first and arrived at Constantinople about the end of March in the year 1147. Year of our Lord 1147 The King staid some while in France after him to receive Pope Engenius who by the Revolted Romans was forced to quit that Country He set forwards a fortnight after Whitsontide in the same year and having marched thorough Hungary and Thrace passed the Bosphorus so that the following Lent in Anno 1148. he got into Syria whilst on the other hand his Naval Force was put to Sea to meet him there Year of our Lord 1147 By Advice of his Parliament held at Estampes he left the Regency of the Kingdom to Rodolph Earl of Vermandois and Suger Abbot of St. Denis who was in great Credit at Court even from the time of Lewis the Fat. Before his departure he went according to the usual Custom into St. Denis Church to receive his Staff and Scrip the Badges of Pilgrimage and the Standard de L'Oriflamme on the Altar of the Holy Martyrs It is fit we should tell you the Kings of France of the Second Race display'd at the head of their Armies St. Martins Cope or Mantle But Capet and his Line after their great Devotion to St. Denis made use of the Banner belonging to his Church which they called Oriflamme It had wont to be carried or born by the Count de Vexin-Francois who was Hommager to the Church of St. Denis After the Kings had possession of this County they appointed some Person of great Merit and Illustrious Birth to carry it There is not that wicked or mean Artisice and Treachery but the perfidious Manuel Emperor of Greece put in practise to destroy both the Emperors and the Kings Armies Against the first he had his will by Poysoning their Meal he was to furnish them withall with Lime and Plaster and appointing such Guides as having led them a long way about which made them waste all their Provisions at last delivered them half dead and languishing into the hands of the Turks who cut them all in pieces so that there was not a tenth part of them escaped Year of our Lord 1148 The King being likewise gotten into Asia found the Emperor Conrad at Nicea where he comforted him in the best manner he could Then he marched along by the Sea-side and ran the same hazard as the other had done however he saved himself more by good fortune then
prudence He won a Battle at his passage over the Meander but reaped little benefit for after that not standing upon his Guard he received a notable check in a narrow Pass through the Mountains At last he arriv'd at Antioch whereof Raimond Uncle to the Queen his Wife then held the Principality Year of our Lord 1148 This Raimond did all he could to oblige him to employ his Forces for the enlarging the limits of his Principality The King refusing it because he would continue his march towards Jerusalem he resolved to be reveng'd and to this purpose persuades the Queen to demand to be Divorc'd from him as being of Consanguinity within the third or fourth Degree This Princess being Fickle and Amorous and having but a mean Esteem for her Husband was easily over-sway'd by her Uncle The King could find no other remedy to avoid this scandal then by taking her away in the night time out of Antiocb and sending her before him to Jerusalem Now the Emperor Conrad after he had been at Constantinople to refresh himself was come to Jerusalem to pay his Devotions The King and he holding a Council together with the Lords in that Holy City resolved to besiege Damascus This Enterprize had no better success then all the rest by reason of the horrid treachery of the Christians of those Countries So these two Princes detesting their wickedness which outvied the Malice and abominable Vices of the very Infidels thought of nothing but their return again The Emperor having made Alliance with the Greeks against Roger King of Sicily was by them brought back into Italy Soon after the King being Embarqu'd in his Year of our Lord 1149 Fleet met the Navy belonging to those Traitors who lay in wait for him Whilst they were engaged or as some Authors tell us were carrying him away Prisoner by good fortune arrives the Fleet of Roger King of Sicily their capital Enemy commanded by his Lieutenant who made them quit their Prize having burnt taken and sunk a great many of their Vessels Alfonso Earl of Tonlouze Third Son of Raimond de Saint Gilles had also made that Voyage about the same time as the King but went all the way by Sea and landed at the Port of Ptolemais He got not far into the Country before he died having been basely Poyson'd though it could not be known who had committed the Execrable Deed. His Son Raimond was his Successor During the time of this Expedition St. Bernard was wholly employ'd in Languedoc in opposing one Henry a certain Monk that had cast off his Frock a Disciple of Peter de Bruys who Preached with much applause but with little integrity of Life as it was said of him almost the same Opinions as the Zuinglians and the Calvinists Preached in these latter Ages Year of our Lord 1148 A certain Wealthy Citizen of Lyons named Valdo did likewise about Ten or twelve years after this Preach the same things in Lyonnois and the neighbouring Provinces They called such as were Followers of Henry and Peter de Bruys Henricians and Petro-Bruysians and those Valdo Poor of Lyons or Vandois There were some Remnants of these last in the Valleys of Dauphine and Savoy when Luther began to appear Year of our Lord 1148 In the year 1148. hapned the death of Conan the Gross Duke of Bretagne Eudon Earl of Pontieure who was Married to Berthe his Daughter seized on the Dutchy to the prejudice of Hoel whom the Duke Conan had disowned for his Son From hence broke forth a War between these two Princes which two or three years afterwards was complicated with another much longer which lasted Thirteen or fourteen years at times between the same Eudon and Conan III. surnamed the Little his own Son who would needs enjoy the Dukedom because it came by his Mothers side This bad Son having recourse to Henry King of England for assistance used his Father roughly and also compell'd the Nantois who took Hoels part to forsake him we do not know what became of him at last The ill success of the Foreign Expedition which had made so many Widows and Orphans ruin'd so many good Families and unpeopled so many Countries bread Year of our Lord 1149 50. grievous Murmurings and Reproaches against the Reputation of St. Bernard who seemed to promise them a quite contrary Event So that when the Pope would two years after have had him Preach up another Croisado and obliged him to go Personally to the Holy-Land to draw the greater numbers after him the Monks of Cisteaux broke all those Measures fearing a second misfortune which might have proved greater then the first Year of our Lord 1150 The King at his return to France finding the War continued still between King Stephen and Matilda joyned his Army with Eustace Son of Stephen to besiege the Castle d'Arques Gefroy the Husband of Matilda and his Son Henry to whom the year before he had resigned the Dutchy marched to the Relief The two Armies being within sight the Lords on either side undertook an Accommodation and manag'd it so that the King who without doubt found himself to be the weaker agreed to receive Prince Henry upon Hommage who by this means was the Twelfth Duke of Normandy Towards the end of the year Gefroy ended his days at the Castle du Loir leaving three Sons Henry Gefray and William He ordained that forthwith Henry should Year of our Lord 1150 quietly enjoy the Mothers Estates to wit England and Normandy That Gefroy should have the Paternal that is Anjou Touraine and Maine with the Castles of Loudun Chinon and Mirebeau and William the Earldom of Mortaing Year of our Lord 1151 Not long after died Enstace Earl of Boulogne his Death was a means to restore Englands Peace for as much as Stephen his Father seeing himself Childless was over-persuaded it was not though till two years after to consent that when he died the Kingdom should return to Henry This Prince as English Authors tell us would have resumed the County of Toulouze in right of his Wife but Earl Raimond gained so much upon him by Marrying his Sister Constance the Widow of Earl Eustace newly dead that he confirmed to him the possession thereof The following year 1152. hapned the death of Thibauld Count Palatine of Champagne Year of our Lord 1152 surnamed the Liberal the Father of the Council and Guardian of the Poor and Orphans a Man of great Justice who notwithstanding was almost in continual War with the Kings He had four Sons and five Daughters The Sons were Henry Earl of Troyes or Champagne Thibauld Earl of Blois and Chartres Stephen Earl of Sancerre Henry Archbishop of Sens afterwards of Reims This year also died the Emperor Conrad to whom for want of Male Issue by Election succeeded Frederick I. surnamed Barbarossa Duke of Alman or Sâ—wabe his Sister Son If I do not mistake it was under this Frederick that the French began to give the Germans the name
of Allemans or Almans because this Prince being Duke of the Almans had ever both in his Train and in all Offices more of those People then of any other Country The Italians even in those days called then Tudesâ—hi as they do still Death ravisht from the King his two ablest Councellors which were Suger Abbot of St. Denis the Fifteenth of January and Rodolph Earl of Vermandois the last Prince of the second Royal Branch of that name He having no Children and his Sister being Married to Philip Son of Thierry Earl of Flanders the King who cherished this Philip left him the possession of Vermandois the Subject of a Quarrel in the Reign following Year of our Lord 1152 Whether it were jealousie or scruple of Conscience the King eagerly pursued the Separation from his Wife and obtain'd it by Sentence of the Prelats of his Kingdom whom he had called together at Baugency Immediately proceeding with integrity he withdrew his Garrisons from Aquitain to leave her that Country in freedom and gave her liberty to go whether she pleased keeping the two little Daughters he had by her with him This Woman burning with Love and Ambition Married some Months after Henry Duke of Normandy and Presumptive King of England a Prince both young hot and Red-Haired very able to satisfie her Desires As soon as Alienor was Divorced Lewis sent to demand Constance-Elizabeth Year of our Lord 1152 Daughter of Alfonso King of Castile by Hugh Archbishop of Sens who performed the Ceremony of that Marriage at Orleans and there Crowned the new Queen the Archbishop of Reims protesting in vain that this Right belonged to him only Lewis not able to endure his Vassal should go equal with him nor Henry who had so many great Lordships suffer a Soveraign above him it was imposible they should continue good Friends This last being assigned to appear in Parliament refused to come Lewis to punish him besieged and took the City of Vernon but Henry submitting out of some apprehension he yet had of King Stephen the Lords reconciled him with Lewis who restored the place to him Year of our Lord 1152 King Stephen the Usurper of the English Crown being dead Henry gets into possession of that Kingdom according to the former agreement betwixt them It was not permitted the Kings of France says Yves de Chartres to Wed any Bastards Now there went a report that Constance was such wherefore King Lewis two years after his Marriage would satisfie himself herein and under the pretence of going on Pilgrimage to St. Jago in Galicia took her Fathers Court in his way the most magnificent Prince of those times who received and entertained him Year of our Lord 1154 most Royally at Burgos and took away that suspicion he had conceived Year of our Lord 1154 Divers do in this year 1154. reckon the Death of Roger I. King of Sicily one of the most Warlike and Potent Princes of this Age. He raised the reputation and fame of the Normans to its highest pitch in so much as after him it did ever decline He had a Son named William and a Daughter called Constance the Son Reigned but with so much Injustice Avarice and Tyranny that he deserved the surname of Wicked or Bad. He prided himself most in filling his Coffers and draining his Subjects to the very last Penny Constance being an old Maid Married the Emperor Henry VI. in the year 1186. Year of our Lord 1155 Gefroy Earl of Gien on the Loire knowing himself too weak to oppose William Earl of Nevers who made a rude War upon him allied himself with Stephen de Champagne Count of Sancerre and gave his Daughter to him and for Dowry his Earldom to the Exclusion of his Son Herve The Son thus disinherited by his Father without any fault committed implored the Kings Justice who goes in Person and besieges Gien takes it upon Composition and settles him there Year of our Lord 1159 When Henry was possess'd of England Gefroy his Brother demands Anjou Touraine and Maine according to their Fathers Will but far from giving these he takes Loudun Chinon and Mirebeau from him so that he had been left without any thing had it not been his good Fortune to be chosen by the Nantois for their Earl who having forsaken Hoel stood in need of a Prince to defend them against the Assaults of Conan Year of our Lord 1158 The Enmities between King Lewis and Henry being ready to break forth the Lords found out a way to prevent it yet a while by the Alliance of Henry's eldest Son of the same name with Margaret Daughter of Lewis by his second Wife though both of them were Children and had scarce left off their Bibs The Girl was put into the Father-in-Law's hands and Lewis promis'd to bestow in Dowre with her Gisors and other places in the Normand Vexin which in the interim were trusted to the keeping of the Grand Master of the Knights-Templars to be deliver'd up to Henry when the Marriage should be Consummate The Emperor Frederick composed the Difference between Bertold of Zeringhen and Renauld about the Earldom of Burgundy in such a manner that he dismembred or cut off from it the little Country of Nuctland which is beyond Mount-Jou and the Cities of Geneva Lausanna and Sion to give them to Bertold leaving the remainder to Renauld whose Daughter and Heiress named Beatrix he Married After which keeping open Court with great Pomp at Besancon he received Hommage of all the Lords and Prelats belonging to the Earldom of Burgundy and the Kingdom of Arles who notwithstanding regarded not his Soveraignty but only to obtain a better Title to their Usurpations Those that were common Friends to both endeavour'd to procure an Enterview between him and the King of France and agreed upon the time and place but the King stung with Jealousie at the Grandeur of that young Prince or having some suspicion he would design upon his Person would go attended with a great number Year of our Lord 1159 of Soldiers which caused Frederick to withdraw very much dissatisfied Gefroy Earl of Nantes being dead without Children Conan Earl of Renes or of Little Bretagne seized on the City of Nantes King Henry Brother of Gefroy pretending it belonged to him by Succession undertakes to recover it by force of Arms. Year of our Lord 1160 Conan being hardly press'd buys his Peace by giving him his Daughter and Heiress named Constance for his Third Son by name Gefroy the same as his Uncle deceased After the Death of Pope Adrian the greater number of the Cardinals elected the Cardinal Rowland a Siennois who was named Alexander III. But the Roman People and two Cardinals only gave their Votes for Cardinal Octavian a Roman who took the name of Victor The Right of either side was dubious for on the one hand the Decrees of some Popes had referr'd the Election to the Cardinals only and on the other the Roman
People pretended they had the better Title and had most commonly maintain'd themselves in possession of it alledging the Popes could not deprive them of a Right born with the Church its self and practised in the times of the Apostles Year of our Lord 1160 King Lewis relying upon the Judgment of the Gallican Church whom he Assembled for this purpose at Estampes adhered to Alexander All the West followed his Example excepting the Emperor Frederick who with his Almans and what Partisans he had in Italy fiercely rejected him because he was Install'd without his Approbation King Henry besides the Kingdom of England held the Dutchy of Normandy which had then a part of Bretagne holding of it the Country of Maine Anjou Touraine and the Province of Aquitain His Ambition upheld by this great increase Year of our Lord 1160 of Power made him revive afresh the Right his Wife had to the County of Toulouze For this end having made Alliance with Raimond Prince of Arragon and Earl of Barcelonna he raised a great Army of Aquitains and Routiers amongst whom was Malcolme King of Scotland enter'd upon Languedoc took Mâ—issac Cahors and some other places The jealousie Lewis had of his growing Greatness moving him at least as much as Year of our Lord 1160 61. the Prayers and Intreaties of Earl Raimond his Brother-in-Law caused him to march that way and cast himself into Toulouze but he had so few with him that it was in the power of Henry to have forced that City had not the scruple of falling upon his Soveraign deterr'd him from it After which they were reconcil'd but Henry would not let fall his claim and hold of the Earldom of Toulouze till he bestow'd his Daughter Jane Widow of William II. King of Sicily on Earl Raimond In these days the cursed Crew of Routiers and Cottereaux began to make themselves known by their Cruelties and Robberies we cannot tell certainly why they were so called but they were a kind of Soldiers and Adventurers coming from divers parts as from Arragon Navarre Biscay and Brabant who wandred over all Countries and would be hired by any one that offer'd to take them provided they might be allow'd all manner of Licence The Cottereaux were most of them Foot-Soldiers the Routiers served on Horseback In the mean while Pope Alexander fearing the Emperor after he had pull'd down the Pride of the Milannois might come to Rome did not judge himself a fit match and so retired into France where he remained above three years Year of our Lord 1161 This year he held a Council at Clermont in which he did not forbear to thunder against Victor Frederick and all their Adherents Year of our Lord 1161 The most Potent and most Factious Family in all France was the House of Champagne Lewis to divide them from the English and gain them to himself takes Alix for his third Wife who was youngest Sister to the four Brothers Champenois for Constance his second Wife was dead Anno 1159. and for the two Daughters of his first Bed he gave one to Henry the eldest of the four Brothers Earl of Troyes and the other to Thibauld the second Earl of Blois Year of our Lord 1162 Pope Alexander came to Torcy on the River Loire where the two Kings Lewis and Henry received him with extream submission Both of them alighted and each taking one of the Reins of his Horses Bridle conducted him to the House prepared for him Year of our Lord 1162 A second time the Emperor came into the County of Burgundy bringing his Victor with him and a second time some endeavoured to procure a Conference betwixt him and the King to determine that Difference which made the Schism by the Judgment of a Council They agreed upon the place of Interview to be at Avignon as being the Frontier of either Prince whither the King by Oath obliged himself to bring Alexander But that Pope refusing to go there saying he could be judged by none it broke off the Conference and put the King in very great danger For the Almans having reproached him that he kept not his word plotted to way-lay him and had taken him Prisoner had not the King of England caused his Army to advance to disengage him Thence follow'd a cruel War between the Emperor and Alexander which horribly tormented Italy and out of which the Emperor could not withdraw himself but by the means of a shameful submission craving Pardon of the Pope and suffering him to set his Foot upon his Throat Which hapned in Anno 1177. in the City of Venice Year of our Lord 1163 Anno 1163. Alexander assisted at the Council of Tours Assembled by his order and there he thunders once more against Victor and Frederick He caused some Decrees likewise to be made against the Hereticks who had spread themselves over all the Province of Languedoc There were especially of two sorts The one Ignorant and withall addicted to Lewdness and Villanies their Errors gross and filthy and these were a kind of Manicheans The others more Learned less irregular and very far from such filthiness held almost the same Doctrines as the Calvinists and were properly Henricians and Vaudois The People who could not distinâ—uish them gave them alike names that is to say called them Cathares Patarins Boulgres or Bulgares Adamites Cataphrygians Publicans Gazarens Lollards Turlupins and other such like Nick-names Year of our Lord 1163 Death of Odo III. Duke of Burgundy to whom succeeded Hugh III. his Son There being Peace between the two Kings Lewis employs himself in doing Justice and suppressing Disorders The Inhabitants of Vezelay having made a Corporation would have shaken off the Abbot who was their Lord protected by the Earl of Nevers He compell'd them and their Earl to ask Pardon and break their Corporation The same year he went in Person to â—ight the Earl of Clermont the Earl du Puy and the Vicount de Polignac Lords of Auvergne who denied to forbear plundering of Churches overthrew them and brought them Prisoners to Paris where having detained them a long while he releas'd them upon giving their Oaths and Hostages In like manner he punished the Earl of Chaalons with the loss of his County because he had pillag'd the Abby of Clugny and kill'd above five hundred some Monks some Servants However the Daughter of this Man re-entred upon her Patrimony Year of our Lord 1163 Thomas Becket Chancellor of England elected Archbishop of Canterbury Anno 1163. soon lost the good favour of King Henry for divers causes and particularly Year of our Lord 1164 for stickling too fiercely in maintaining the Priviledges of the Clergy Being banished the Kingdom he retired himself in France in the Abby of Pontigny of the Diocess of Sens whence he gave much trouble to his King and suffer'd not a little himself during six years Year of our Lord 1164 Death of Victor the Anti-Pope in whose stead the Cardinals of his Party elected Guy
de Creme who named himself Paschal and was confirmed by Frederick But Alexander III. recalled by the Romans left France the year following and returned to Rome to put an end to that Schism Year of our Lord 1165 In the year 1165. Lewis had a Son born whom he believed Heaven had sent him in return of his Prayers For this reason he was surnamed Dieu-Donne i. e. Gift of God or God-Gift and after for his brave Acts the Conqueror which Paul Emilius has rendred by Interpretation Augustus and is followed in the same by all the Modern Historians Year of our Lord 1166 The Life of Conan the Little Duke of Bretagne which had been ever full of trouble ended Anno 1166. to make room for Gefroy of Normandy his Son-in-Law This Prince being yet but Fifteen years of Age remained together with his Datchy under the Guardianship of the King his father for some time after which being at liberty he begins a War against him because he would make him do Hommage for his Dukedom a Duty he required by vertue of a Treaty made by Charles the Simple with Rollo Duke of Normandy Year of our Lord 1168 Thierry of Alsatia Earl of Flanders dies at Gravelin Philip his Son governs after him Year of our Lord 1169 70. The Feud was renewed between the two Kings upon several occasions one was the Earl d'Auvergne whom Lewis as Soveraign Lord took into his protection and safeguard against Henry to whom the Earl was a Vassal holding of him in Aquitain the other the support he gave to Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury The War thereupon breaks forth and lasted for two years however it was carried on but slowly and so as the Respect either of them had for Pope Alexanders Mediation brought them to an Agreement for some time Year of our Lord 1170 These two Princes having Conferr'd together at Saint Germain en Laye concluded the Peace betwixt them and there the King of England's Sons rendred Hommage to Lewis for those Lands their Father assured to them by advance of Inheritance Henry of the Dutchy of Normandy the County of Anjou and the Office of Grand Seneschal joyned thereto from the time of Grisegonnelle as also the Earldoms du Maine and de Touraine and the second named Richard of the Dakedom of Aquitain as for the third which was Gefroy he had Bretagne by his Wife and ow'd Hommage to none but the Duke of Normandy The Kings Intercession obtained of Henry that Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury might return into England but he continuing to act with the same heat four Gentlemen of Henry's Court out of Complaisance as mean as detestable having plotted and contrived to deliver their King of him entred the Church at Canterbury where that Holy Prelat was reading Service it was on the Christmas Holy-days and Murther'd him at the foot of the Altar Year of our Lord 1171 Though the King disown'd this Murther and shewed an extream grief nevertheless Year of our Lord 1172 having given cause to commit it if perhaps he did not command it the Pope Year of our Lord 1173 made a mighty business of it from which he could not get clear without submitting to great Pennance and such Reparations and Satisfactions as was ordained by his Legats The Holy Archbishop revered as a Martyr was Canonized the following year and the frequent Miracles wrought on his Tomb attested his Holiness Year of our Lord 1173 Every year almost there was some Rupture then a Peace or Truce between the two Kings either concerning their own proper Interests or that of their Friends and Vassals Lewis had this advantage that being the Soveraign Lord he had a right of hearing the Complaints of Henry's Vassals and of making himself his Judge Year of our Lord 1173 He had stirred up many in Aquitain and Normandy but this year he Armed his own Children against him The eldest with Margaret his Wife being gone to Visit him and having staid some time in that Court had a fancy put into his Head that since he was Crowned he ought to Reign and to demand of his Father the enjoyment either of the Kingdom of England or the Dukedom of Normandy With this disposition and fretted for that his Father had taken some young People from about him who gave him such like ill Counsels he stole away one Night from him and came and cast himself into the Arms of the King Immediately all the young Nobility follows him Queen Alienor favours him his two Brothers Richard Duke of Aquitain and Gefroy of Brâ—tagne joyns with him and those whole Provinces follow their Motions The King of France takes them into his protection William King of Scotland declares for them and attaques England whither at the same time went some French Forces under the Command of Robert Earl of Leicester Year of our Lord 1174 It seemed therefore as if the unhappy Father must needs be overwhelm'd on a suddain but he overthrew all the Enemies Lewis having taken Verneuil au Perche durst not hold it and retreated before him The Earl of Leicester is defeated in England and all those that followed him either slain or taken then all the Kingdom reduced in less then Thirty days by old Henry who went thither presently after this defeat Year of our Lord 1175 The following year whilst he was doing Pennance at St. Thomas Becket's Tomb William King of Scotland his most capital Enemy loses a Battle against his Lieutenants and was taken Prisoner The Fleet of young Henry is dispersed and disabled by Tempest King Lewis who had carried Philip Earl of Flanders with him is rudely repulsed from Rouen so that finding Henry who was come over-Seas again to Relieve this City made ready to give him Battle he hearkens to a Truce for some Months Year of our Lord 1175 Whilst that lasted old Henry going into Poitou and subduing Richard the worst of his three Rebellious Sons who held that Country all the others returned to their Obedience and he enters upon a Treaty of Peace with Lewis who gave him Alix his Daughter for his Son Richard and put her into his hands to compleat the Marriage when she should be Age for it Year of our Lord 1177 The two Kings now grown old were weary of so many Wars and Disturbances Either of them had cause to fear the one the activity of his three most valiant Sons the other the weakness of his only Heir as yet too young so that they confirmed the Peace by new Oaths promised mutual friendship against all others and took up a resolution to go joyntly into Languedoc to extirpiate those Hereticks already mentioned by us But they thought it more convenient first to send the Popes Legat thither with three or four other Prelats to endeavour to reclaim them by Exhortations and Anathema's which converted and brought back a great many and kept the rest within bounds for some time These Hereticks were all called Albigensis because they propaged
most in those Countries under the protection of Roger Earl of Alby who much favoured them Year of our Lord 1178 During the Calm of this Peace Lewis who was extream feeble with Age using the same provident foresight as his Predecessors resolved to have his Son Philip Crowned but it hapning that this young Prince fell ill upon an afright for having lost his way in a Wood as he was Hunting this Ceremony was fain to be put off which was not performed till the year following In the mean time Peoples Devotion increasing towards the Reliques of St. Thomas of Canterbury from the example of King Henry who of his Persecutor was become his Adorer King Lewis passes into England prayed on his Tomb and left very rich Tokens of his Piety there behind Year of our Lord 1177 In sine Prince Philip was Anointed Crowned at Reims on All Saints day by William Archbishop of that City and Cardinal Brother to the Queen his Mother The Duke of Normandy and Philip Earl of Flanders both Pairs or Peers assisting at that Ceremony and holding the Crown upon his Head Year of our Lord 1180 Soon after Philip Earl of Flanders faithful and affectionate to King Lewis procured the Marriage of his Neece Isabella-Alix Daughter of his Sister and of William Earl of Hainault with the new King who was his God-son and treating her as his own Daughter because he had no Children he gives her in favour of this Marriage the County of Artois and the County all along the River of Lys. Year of our Lord 1180 Hardly was the joy of this Festival over when King Lewis died of the Palsy in the City of Paris the 18th or 20th of September Aged as many tell us near Seventy years but according to my Computation not above Sixty three or Sixty four whereof he had Reigned Forty three His Corps lies in St. Denis He was not very happy in his grand Designs and too effeminate or mild in Affairs that required vigour but as Pious Charitable Good Just Liberal and Valiant as any Prince in his Time He can be taxed but for two faults the one against Prudence for Divorcing his Wife the other against the Laws of Nature having supported the Rebellion of Henry's Children against their Father He had three Wives Alienor or Eleanor of Aquitain Constance of Spain and Alix or Alice of Champagne By the first he had two Daughters Mary and Alix who Married the two Brothers Henry Earl of Champagne and Thibauld Earl of Chartres and Blois By the second came Margaret Married first with Henry the young King of England and then with Bela III. King of Hungary By the third he had two Daughters Alix who was betroathed to Richard of England afterwards Married to William Earl of Pontieu Agnes Married to Comnenius the Son of Emanuel of Constantinople and a Son named Philip who Reigned Philip II. King XLI POPES ALEX. III. One year under this Reign LUCIUS III. Elected 29 Aug. 1181. S. Four years three Months URBAN III. Elected in Decemb. 1185. S. One year and near Eleven Months GREGORY VIII Elected in Octob. 1187. S. a little less then two Months CLEMENT III. Elected in January 1188. S. Three years three Months CELESTINE III. Elected in April 1191. S. Six years nine Months INNOCENT III. Elected in January 1198. S. Eighteen years six Months nine days HONORIUS III. Elected in July 1216. S. Ten years eight Months whereof seven during this Reign PHILIP II. Surnamed the Conqueror or Augustus King XLI Aged Fifteen years EVen in the Life-time of Lewis the Young Affairs began to be governed in the name of Philip and by the Administration and Care as I believe of Philip Earl of Flanders who was his Guardian his Governor and his God-father The Methods of Piety and Justice his Father and Grand-father had taken to Year of our Lord 1180 strengthen their Authority had much advanced them in their Design He was therefore Councel'd to pursue them Wherefore immediately undertaking the Protection of the Church he with a high hand went and reduced Ebles Lord of Charenton in Year of our Lord 1180 Berry Imbert Lord of Beaujeu in Lyonnois and Guy Earl of Chaalons upon Soane who oppress'd the Ecclesiasticks At the same time he began to let the Grandees of the Kingdom know how he could order and reduce them for he dissolv'd a powerful League which they had formed against him perhaps out of the jealousie they had conceiv'd of the greatness of the Earl of Flanders and forced the Earl of Sancerre who was the first that declar'd himself to fly to his Mercy Year of our Lord 1181 After the Death of his Father desiring to Sanctifie his new Reign he publish'd an Edict against such as utter those horrible Blasphemies composed or made up of the Name and Body or Members of the Son of God condemning them to pay a certain Pecuniary Mulct if they were People of Quality and to be thrown into the Water if they were meaner People Year of our Lord 1181 Prompted with the same Zeal he caused strict search to be made after all those that were accused of Heresie and sent them to the Fire expell'd all the Jews within his Territories and Confiscated their Estates suffering them to carry away only the Price of their Household-Goods His Piety appeared no less in the expulsion of Comedians Juglers and Jesters or Buffoons whom he turned out of his Court as People that serve only to flatter Vice encourage Sloath and fill idle Heads with vain Chimera's which perverts them and puts their Hearts into those irregular Motions and Passions as Wisdom and true Religion commands us so much to suppress and mortifie Princes were wont to bestow great Presents on those People and reward them with their richest Clothes But he being persuaded says Rigord his Historian That to give to Players was to Sacrifice to the Devil chose rather according to the Example of that Holy Emperor ☜ Henry I. to make a Vow he would henceforth employ his Money towards the maintenance of the Poor Anno 1183. he encompassed the Park du bois de Vincennes with a Wall and stock'd it with Deer which the King of England sent over to him The same year Henry the young King of England died in the Castle of Martel in Quercy Perhaps by the just Punishment of Heaven for having been so often as he was at this time in Rebellion against his Father Year of our Lord 1183 Every private or particular Lord having usurped a Right of making War upon one another after either had sent his defiance there followed Murthers and continual Spoils and Plunderings For which the Bishops and some of the wisest Lords of the Kingdom had endeavour'd to find a Remedy from the year 1044. having ordained the Truce or Peace of God for those Disputes and Contests betwixt particular Men during certain times in the year and certain days of the week with most severe Punishments
Jerusalem he purchas'd it of Guy de Luzignan giving him in exchange for it the Kingdom of Cyprus which the House of Luzignan held till the year 1473. as we shall observe in its due place We find frequently enough in History the apparitions of Meteors in the Air representing Battles Firing and as it were engaging one another but this year a most wonderful thing some were seen to descend upon Earth near the City of Nogent in Perche and fought in the Fields to the great terror of the Inhabitants of that Countrey Year of our Lord 1192 In the mean time Philip being returned into France remembred very well that Philip d'Alsace Earl of Flanders had promised upon his Marriage with Queen Elizabeth his Niece Daughter of the Earl of Hainault to give him after his death the County of Artois He consider'd likewise that to the Queen belonged some part of the inheritance of the said Uncle To this end therefore he goes very well attended into Flanders and forced him to give up all the Countrey of Artois with the hommage of the Counties of Boulogne Ghisnes and St. Pol which till then had ever held of the Earls of Flanders and extended as far as Neuf-Fosse This was the first leaven of that mortal hatred and obstinate feud and wars between the Flemming and French Year of our Lord 1192 Now the misunderstanding that was between Richard and the Duke of Burgundy the perpetual jealousie that King lay under lest Philip in his absence should seize upon his Lands and withal the indisposition of his Body which had been twice or thrice sorely shaken with Sickness during his stay in that Countrey would not let him remain any longer in the East Of a sudden he grew so impatient to return that he sacrificed all the fruits of his heroick Valour to that longing and pressing desire For on condition of a three years truce he renders to Saladin all those Places he had Taken or Fortified in this last Expedition Year of our Lord 1192 Some few days before Hugh Duke of Burgundy died of a fit of Sickness to whom Odo or Eudes III. his Son succeeded Year of our Lord 1192 After Richard had left what Forces he had yet remaining and such places as the Eastern Christians had still in Syria with Henry Earl of Champagne his Nephew he embarqued the 10th of October with little attendance and because he durst not pass thorough the territories of the King of France his declared Enemy he went and landed near Aquilea to pass thorough Germany But the Lords of those Countreys especially Leopoldus Duke of Austria whom he had highly offended at the Siege of Acre or Acon caused him to be so narrowly watched that notwithstanding he went disguised and travelled thorough unfrequented Roads he fell into the hands of that Duke He delivered him basely up to the Emperour Henry who kept him prisoner Fourteen Months When Philip heard of his Captivity he dispatched Messengers into Germany to negotiate with the Emperour to detain him as long as possibly he could Some Months after he sends to declare a War against him incites under hand his Brother John a Prince without Honour or Faith to seize upon the Kingdom of England and he at the same time falling into Normandy takes Gisors and some places in Vexin Some reckon this last event in Anno 1292. and by consequence before the imprisonment of Richard However it were in the month of February Anno 1193. he took the Town of Evreux which he gave to John keeping the Castle himself and went to besiege Rouen but lost his labour there Year of our Lord 1193 Queen Elizabeth his Wife had been dead about two years he demanded in Marriage the Princess Isemburge Sister of Canut King of Denmark a beautiful and chaste Princess but one that had some secret defect And indeed the first night of the Nuptials they being Married at Amiens in the beginning of the month of August he took such an aversion that he would never touch her He kept her notwithstanding some time and afterwards growing weary of that unnecessary Expence he so contrived it that the Arch-Bishop of Reims the Popes Legat with some French Bishops gave sentence of Divorce or Separation He did it upon the testimony of some Lords whom he produc'd who asserted they were of kindred within the Fifth and Sixth Degree In effect Isemburge and Philip had both of them for Great Great Great Great Grand-Father Jaroslas or Jarisclod King of Russia This Jaroslas was Father of Ann who was the Wife of King Henry I. and of Jaroslas II. whose Son was Vlodimer that had a Daughter named Isemburge wife of King Canut IV. This Canut begot Voldemar and from Voldemar came Canut V. and our Isemburge Year of our Lord 1194 Richad having in fine got himself out of Captivity in despite of all the obstacles Philip had made use of endeavour'd to revenge himself by force of Arms but having drained himself of Moneys to pay his Ransom his Exploits did not answer his Resentments During two years the two Kings reciprocally destroy'd eithers Countreys with Fire and Sword demolished a great many places and then made a Peace about the end of the year 1195. restoring on either side what they had taken from each other unless it were the Vexin which remained to Philip. Year of our Lord 1194. and 95. It hapned in this War that as Philip was passing by Blois the English who had laid themselves in Ambuscade took all his Baggage amongst which as the Grand Seignor does to this day he made them carry all the Titles or Papers belonging to the Crown Thus they were all destroy'd or lost to the great damage of the Kings affairs and the French History He caused Copies to be collected where ever they could meet with them to compleat and furnish the Treasury of his Charters or Paper-Office In the Month of March of the year 1196. the great overflow or inundations of Waters Year of our Lord 1196 especially the Seine were so terrible and frightful that Paris and the Isle of France seared a second Deluge We take notice of it because it was the greatest of any whereof the Histories of France make mention Year of our Lord 1196 The Peace betwixt the two Kings lasted hardly six Months Philip commences the War against Richard for two reasons One because he had built a Fort in the Island d'Andely on the Seine And the other because he had taken the Castle of Vierzon in Berry from the Lord to whom it belonged who claimed Justice of the King their Sovereign Lord. Year of our Lord 1197 The next year Baldwin XI Earl of Flanders grudging in his heart that Philip had taken from him the half of his Succession left by his Uncle Leagued himself with Richard against him as did likewise Renauld Son of the Count of Dammartin notwithstanding Philip had assisted him in getting the Heiress and the Earldom of Boulogue Year of our
Lord 1197 Amongst all the events of this War which amounted only to Burnings and Plunderings is to be observed what hapned to Philip de Dreux Bishop of Beauvais Cousin german to the King This Bishop being taken in the War Armed and Fighting by some of Richard's Soldiers was detained a long time in an uneasie prison The Pope would interpose his recommendation to Richard for his deliverance and in his Letters he call'd this Bishop His most dear Son But Richard having sent word back in what posture and manner he was taken and having sent his coat of Maille all Bloody with order to him that carry'd it to ask him Behold Holy Father whether this be the Coat of your Son The Pope had nothing to reply but that the Treatment they shewed to that Prelat was just since he had quitted the Militia of Jesus Christ to follow that of the World Death of the Emperour Henry As he had manifested himself as rude an enemy to the Popes as his Predecessors and besides was very odious for his cruelties Innocent III. strongly opposed the Election of Philip his Brother excommunicating all his Adherents and stood up for Otho Son of the Duke of Saxouy and a Sister of Richards who was Crowned at Aix la Chapelle so that there was a Schism in that Empire which had often occasioned one in the Church The King of England the Earl of Flanders and the Arch-Bishop of Colen supported Otho and King Philip on Year of our Lord 1197 the contrary made a League with his Rival The same year died in the City of Acre or Acon the generous Henry Earl of Champagne Titular King of Jerusalem his Nephew Thibauld or Theobald III. of that Name Earl of Blois inherited those Lands he had in France in prejudice of his Year of our Lord 1197 Uncles two Daughters The eldest was named Alix and was Queen of Cyprus and by her was born a Daughter of the same Name whom we shall find making War against Thibauld IV. The Second was called Philippa who was Married to Erard de Brienne Year of our Lord 1198 These bloody and obstinate Wars the particulars whereof cannot be brought within the compass of an Abridgement caused much mischief in France but the greatest was that Philip grew extreamly covetous and became too greedy in heaping up Treasure under pretence of the necessity of raising and maintaining great numbers of standing Forces which are truly very proper to make Conquests and new Acquisitions but some times become oppressive to the Subjects and destructive to the Laws of the Land As he was the First of the Kings of France that kept Men in pay and would have Soldiers always ready to employ them in what he pleased he set himself likewise upon making great exactions upon the People ransoming or taxing the Churches and recalling the Jews who were the introducers of Usury and Imposts But however he was very frugal and retrencht himself as much as possible knowing and considering ☜ that a King who hath great designs ought not to consume the substance of his Subjects in vain and pompous expences Year of our Lord 1199 At the end of two years War the Pope by his intercession procured a Five years truce between the two Kings during which Richard as covetous of Money as he was proud having intelligence that a Gentleman of Limosin had found a vast Treasure and carried it into the Castle of Chalus he went presently and besieged him he was wounded there with a Cross-bow and his debauchery having envenom'd his wound he died of it the Eleventh day of April in this year 1199. He had introduc'd the use of Cross-bows in France before that time Sword-men were so generous and brave that they would not owe their Victory but to their Lances or Swords they abhorr'd those treacherous weapons wherewith a coward sheltred or conceal'd may kill a valiant Man at a distance and thorough a hole Year of our Lord 1199 He had no Children therefore the Kingdom of England and the Dutchy of Normandy belonged of right to young Arthur Duke of Bretagne as being the Son of Gefroy his Brother elder then John without Land but John having seized the Money gained Richards Forces and stept into the Throne In the mean while the Earl of Flanders with his Allies regained the Cities of Aire and St. Omers It hapned that the Kings party took his Brother Philip Earl of Namur and Peter Bishop Elect of Cambray The King refusing to release this last the Popes Legat puts the Kingdom of France under a prohibition so that after three Months time he was constrained to set him free Year of our Lord 1200 The day of the Ascension in the year 1200. Peace was concluded at a solemn Conference between the two Kings between Vernon and Andeley It was warranted by Twelve Barons on either part who made oath to take up Arms against him that should break it and moreover confirmed by the Marriage of Blanche Daughter of Alfonso VIII King of Castille and Alienor Sister to King John with Lewis the eldest Son of Philip to whom King John in favour of this Alliance yielded up all the Lands and Places which the French had taken from him Each had a care to secure his Partisans John was oblig'd to receive his Nephew Arthur into favour who did hommage to him for his Dutchy of Bretagne but yet remained with Philip. Reciprocally Philip pardon'd Renauld Earl of Boulogne and some while after Treated the Marriage between his Son of his own name whom he had by his Queen Agnes and that Earls Daughter Since the repudiation of 1semburge of Denmark King Philip had kept her in a Convent at Soissons and at three years end that is Anno 1196 he had espoused Mary-Agnes Daughter of Bertold Duke of Merania and Dalmatia Pope Celestine III. upon the complaints of King Canut Brother of the Divorc'd Lady had Commissioned in the year 1198. two Legats to take cognisance of this Affair who had assembled a grand Council at Paris of the Bishops and Abbots of the Kingdom but all those Prelats being partly terrify'd and some corrupted durst give no Sentence and the Legats were suspected to favour the Cause of Agnes Afterwards the Holy Father more importunately desired to do justice had sent two more One of them in the month of Decemb in the year 1199. having called the Prelats of France to Dijon notwithstanding the Appeal interjected by Philip to the Pope pronounced Sentence of prohibiton upon all the Kingdom in presence and by consent of all the Bishops and nevertheless that he might have leasure enough to get away into some place of safety he was willing it should not be publish'd till twenty days after Christmass He had reason to fear Philips anger In effect it burst out with furty against all his Subjects against the Ecclesiasticks first whom he believ'd to be all accomplices in this injury for he drove the Bishops from their Sees cast the
to which he replied that Soldiers could not be kept without Money They soon understood what he desired and the mischief pressing hard upon them they were constrain'd to give and immediately the Lords desisted from plundering Year of our Lord 1191. and the following In the interim John King of England summon'd for three several times to answer the accusation in King Philips Court endeavour'd to gain time and made all delays But Philip finding himself strong in Men and provided with Money having no counter-poise in his Kingdom because he held in his own hands the Garde-noble of the potent House of Champagne and the Earl of Flanders was gone into the Levant had resolved to push on against him He therefore gave some Forces to Prince Arthur to pursue his Right having before betrothed his Daughter Mary to him At the same time he entred upon Normandy where he forced five or six places and received the most considerable Lords of the Countrey into favour amongst the rest Hugh de Gournay and the Earl of Alenson who assured him of their Service and their Towns Arthur on his side attaques Poitou the Earls de la Marche and d'Eu Gefroy de Luzignan and their friends being joyned with him His Grand-Mother Alienor had Year of our Lord 1201 put her self into Mirebeau he besieges her there King John hastens thither with so much diligence that he surprizes him one fair Morning napping in his Bed takes him prisoner and sends him to the Castle of Falaize Normandy and Poitou being shaken in this manner comes a Legat from the Pope who ordains the two Kings to assemble the Bishops and Lords of their Countreys Year of our Lord 1202 and by their Consultations put an end to these Disputes John would readily have consented to this Order but Philip who was not willing to give over so fair a Game obliged his who were assembled at Mantes to throw in an Appeal from the Sentence of the Legat to the Pope himself which was to gain time and continue his progress Year of our Lord 1202 The respect for Queen Alienor had still with-held King John from staining his hands in the Blood of the unfortunate Arthur Soon after her death he caused him to be brought to the Castle of Rouen he kept his Court in that City and in a very obscure night he drew him forth thence and led him to such a place that afterwards he was never seen It being justly presum'd that he had murther'd him Constance the Mother of that young Prince demanded Justice of King Philip for that parricide committed in his Territory and upon the person of one of his Vassals He caused John therefore to be summoned before his Peers or Pairs where not appearing nor sending any to excuse him he was by judgment of that Court Condemned as attainted and convicted of Parricide and Felony to lose all the Lands he had in France which should be consiscated and forfeit to the Crown and all such as should defend them reputed Guilty de Laesae-Majestatis Year of our Lord 1203 In prosecution or rather execution of this Decree Philip partly by force partly by intelligence took from him this year almost all the higher or upper Normandy whilst this unworthy lazy Man pass'd away the time with his Wife at Caen as if all had been in a profound Peace We may imagine that if he would have taken some care of his Affairs Philip could not so easily have conquer'd so many places since the single Castle de Gaillard neer Andeley situate on a Rock both very high and steep on all sides endured a Five months Siege but both Heaven and Earth had declar'd against him his friends betray'd him his Subjects became unfaithful and he meanly abandonn'd himself Year of our Lord 1204 The following year Philip made himself Master of all the Cities of the Lower Normandy almost without a blow Rouen it self which was the Capital of the whole Province environ'd with a double Wall and very affectionate to her natural Dukes After a Siege of forty days being informed by the Deputies sent to King John that no Relief or assistance could be had from him surrendred to the Conquerour upon condition he should maintain the Citizens in their Franchises and Priviledges which he agreed to and they obtained Letters or a Charter to secure it a procaution as feeble against an absolute Power as Paper is against Steel Year of our Lord 1204 Two or three other places which yet defended themselves followd the example of Rouen and so it was that in less then three years he gained all Normandy which had had Twelve Dukes of that Nation whereof John was the last who had Govern'd them about Three hundred and sixteen years At the same time William des Roches who had quitted John's party to joyn with Philip secured the Counties of Anjou du Maine and de Touraine and Henry Clement Mareschal of France conquer'd all Poitou for him excepting only Niort Touars and Rochel Year of our Lord 1205 The next year the King himself having gotten a great Train of Artillery forced the Castle des Loches and some places that remained in the hands of the English in Touraine Year of our Lord 1203 The French and the Venetians sailing to Constantinople with only 28000 Men forced the Harbour and afterwards the City though there were above Threescore thousand Fighting Men there deliver'd Isaac out of prison and caused the young Alexis his Son to be Crowned The Tyrant Alexis and his Brother-in-law Theodorus Luscaris having made their escape over the Walls retir'd to Adrianople Year of our Lord 1204 Whilst this Army of the Cross wintered about Constantinople and Isaac and his Son endeavour'd to make good what they had promis'd them for their reward the people upon whom they Levied very great sums of Money mutined One certain Alexis Ducas surnamed Murzufle Great Master of the Wardrobe to young Alexis headed the sedition seized on that Prince whilst Isaac was in his last Agonie and strangled him with his own hands Then caused himself to be Declared Emperour and went forth with the City Militia against the aforesaid Army but they were presently beaten back Constantinople besieg'd and within Sixty days taken by Storm swimming in Blood and a great part consumed by Fire The Conquerours gave power to Twelve of the chief amongst themselves to elect an Emperour upon condition That if he were a French man the Patriarch should be a Venetian and so on the contrary The intrigues of the Venetians for whose interest Boniface Marquis of Montferrat was not so convenient though he seemed most worthy of the Empire manag'd it so that the Electors conferr'd it upon Baldwin Earl of Flanders and the Patriarchat upon Thomas Morosini a Venetian After they had setled things in order within the City they easily conquer'd all what the Grecian Empire possess'd in Europe and formed several Principalities there of which the Marquis de Montferrat who married Isaac's
also troubled England the Kings William and Henry maintaining it was a Right and Prerogative of their Crown and in all times possessed by their Ancestors For which cause Anselme Arch-Bishop of Canterbury had lost his See but at last that difference was composed An. 1107. upon condition the King should for ever relinquish the Investitures in the Church and that reciprocally the Bishops should render him Hommage This was to speak properly nothing but the changing of terms for he that doth Hommage is a Vassal and receives and holds of him to whom he renders it And indeed the Popes could have wished that the Bishops had not done it to Lay-Princes and they had expresly forbid it to those in France but the resolution King Lewis the Gross and his Successors shew'd in this point obliged them to relaxe They durst not at the same time contend both with this great Kingdom and Germany they must leave some place of shelter in time of need and besides they did not so much trouble their Heads to lessen France with whom they had no contests for Dominion as to pull down the Emperours who being very powerful in Italy had still an aim of restoring their Imperial Throne in the City of Rome Besides France was better united and by consequence more difficult to be subdued then the Empire where the Subjects as well those of Germany as those of Italy and the Kingdom of Arles being divided amongst themselves and having all different Interests have at length ruin'd that vast body by their Jealousies and Rebellions It was for this reason the Popes made it their business so much to lessen that power and it is certain that all other Princes of Europe growing jealous of it as the most formidable then in being joyned willingly with the Popes to suppress it The defence of the Holy See and the Authority of the Church admitting a specious pretence to side with them This reflection is not useless Now to return to our Narrative Henry V. sunk under all this weight as his Father had done before In the beginning his Presence made things prosper in Italy but when after various success he was driven thence his burden was left to the mercy of Calistus who confined him to a perpetual imprisonment Then he himself tir'd with the daily Admonitions and Remonstrances from all parts and not able to wade through the many Conspiracies and Rebellions which hourly threatned to or'ewhelm him yielded the Cause at last He utterly renounced the Investitures and promised to leave the liberty of Elections to the Ecclesiasticks This was in Anno 1122. The scandal and persecutions which these Schismes caused in Christendom gave occasion in my opinion for that false prediction which was spread abroad in those days That the world was near its end and the Kingdom of Antichrist was then begun St. Norbert and some other persons of an irreâ—ragable Sanctity preach'd it as a most certain Truth which was but little doubted and begot so much terror that Pope Paschal who fled into France to avoid persecution staid some time in his journey at Florence to see what the event of this dreadful report would come to Soon after the agreement Henry V. being dead without Children the Empire was given to Lotbarius Duke of Saxony and after him to Conrade Those two Princes left the Popes in quiet and made no breach of Peace with them So that there was no more fear of Schisme on that side The Church having rested in tranquillity for eight years began to be disturb'd again by another most dangerous division for after the death of Honorius II. which hapned in the year 1134. two contrary Factions or Interests in the Sacred Colledge elected each a Pope on the same day One the Cardinal Gregory who took the name of Innocent the II. The other the Cardinal Peter Leonis who called himself Anaclet This last had been a Monk at Clugny a scurvy commendation for him to the Order of the Cisteaux which was then become the most predominant in France His Right if examined in due form appeared the best but his ambitious and haughty proceeding spoil'd his Title the great Gifts ☞ he made of things belonging to the Church to make himself Master of Rome gave just cause to believe there was somewhat of Simonie in his promotion and that he deserved not the Popedom since he bought it Many good people were of opinion so says John of Salisbury that in the like contests they ought to have owned neither of those concurrents but have elected a Pope anew who had not privately made any interest for the Popedom which is of such a nature as well as all other Benefices that whoever bribes for it renders himself unworthy of it And indeed King Lewis VII wavered for some time betwixt both parties and assembled the Council of Estampes to resolve him which of the two was the Legitimate The perswasions of Henry II. King of England had already a little inclined him towards Innocent the Council of Estampes fully determin'd it that Council having been satisfied by the discourses of St. Bernard who with much zeal and vehemence set forth the Right and Merits of that Pope After so solemn a decision most of the Princes in Europe declared for him there was only Roger Duke of Apulia and William Duke of Aquitain that supported Anaclet The First that he might have a Pope convenient for him and more easie to be managed then his predecessors the Second having been perswaded by Gerard Bishop of Angoulesme that his Election was Canonical It was thrown in Gerards Teeth that at first he had been of the contrary party but his spleen because he was not continued in his Legation of Aquitain by Innocent drove him to side with Anaclet who indeed confirmed it to him It was one of the handsomest and indeed most profitable employments the Court of Rome could bestow for besides the three Aquitains both Touraine and Bretagne were comprehended in it I divide Bretagne from Touraine because the former had its Arch-Bishop apart this was the Bishop of Dole who since the insurrection of Neomene took upon him to be the Metropolitan The often reiterated complaints of the Metropolitan of Tours and the sollicitations of the Kings of France in the Court of Rome could not obtain a Judgment in this matter for a long while but Philip Augustus tyr'd with their long delays prosecuted it with so much resolution and talked so high that Innocent III. determin'd it by a definitive Sentence in An. 1198. which restored Dol and the other Bishopricks of Bretagne to the Metropolis of Tours We find in the Life of St. Bernard how he withdrew Duke William from espousing the party of Anaclet so that there was none for him but Roger Duke of Apulia on whom Anaclet conferr'd the Title of King of Sicilia upon condition to pay an acknowledgment of Six hundred Crowns yearly to the See of Rome The Kingdom of Sicilia comprehended the
Island so named Apulia Calabria and some other neighbouring Countreys which Roger held in Italy Now although William Duke of Aquitain had suffer'd himself to be brought back to the Obedience of Innocent II. in the year 1135. yet Gerard nevertheless stood up obstinately for Anaclet to the end of his days but some while after he was found dead in his Bed horribly black and blew and swoln About three years after viz. in An. 1138. Anaclet died also his Relations placed another Cardinal in his stead to whom they gave the name of Victor In fine Innocent found it better to buy his peace of them then to leave these Divisions smothering and smoaking any longer and when they were agreed Victor laid down the Tiara and cast himself at his Feet Notwithstanding Roger held out still some time not owning him for Pope because he would not own him for a King till having taken him prisoner in War An. 1193. he came fairly to an agreement with him and got the Title of King confirmed to him Frederick I. being come to the Empire young haughty and ambitious as he was undertook to recover its dignity to which the easiness of Pope Anastasius seemed to chaulk out a way but Pope Adrian IV. who succeeded Anastasius resolv'd to obviate his designs and keep him under as his dependant Hence proceeded a mortal enmity betwixt them which however came not to an open rupture but made Frederick more plainly sensible that it was necessary to have a Pope at his Devotion Adrian being dead An. 1159. it hapned that all the Cardinals excepting three elected Cardinal Rowland who took the name of Alexander III. but whilst he was shewing some kind of unwillingness to accept the Popedom those three that were not for him Elected immediately the Cardinal Octavian who was named Victor The Emperour having notice of it favour'd him first underhand thereby to frighten Alexander and bring him to his bent then openly when he found he could not lead the other as he pleased So he causes his Election to be authorised by the Council of Pisa which he had call'd by his own authority after the example of former Emperours and employ'd all his Interest to perswade other Princes to adhere to him The Kings of France and of England who had been at war having now agreed assembled their Bishops Abbots and Barons the one at Beauvais and the other at Newmarket to discuss the right of the two concurrents the Legats both of the one and other side having been heard Alexander was approved by all and Victor Excommunicated This hapned in the year 1161. The good Title and Right of the former was this year confirmed by a great number of miracles as many Authors write and yet there is one affirms likewise that God wrought some in favour of Victor after his decease In the mean time this last being most powerful in Rome Alexander seeks his refuge in France and remained there three years at the end whereof his Affairs going in a better method in Italy the Clergy and People call him back to Rome An. 1164. To defray the Expences of his journey he was sorced to impose a Year of our Lord 1164 Collection on the Gallican Church Year of our Lord 1164 The same year Victor his Rival died in the City of Luca. Some Prelats of his Faction being assembled at the same place gave the Popedom to one of those two Cardinals that had elected him which was Guy de Crema He lived five years and deceased An. 1170. Those of his party substituted another I cannot tell what Abbot not known but by his debauches they call'd him Calistus III. and Frederick supported him as he had done the two others At the same time there were great stirs in England King Henry stickling to preserve certain pretended Rights which he called Customs of the Kingdom and Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury not to suffer them as being contrary to Ecclesiastical liberty It would be thought strange in these days if a Bishop should hold his Head up so high against his Prince for the like cause but then the best of Men were perswaded that such Liberties were the pillars of Religion The contest lasted seven or eight years and ended not but by the death of the Archbishop who was murther'd in his Cathedral in the year 1170. and the Kings penitence which was so great and so publick that the Church was edified more by such an example then it had been scandaliz'd by his offence The Emperor Frederick was not more fortunate then the two Henrys so that being shatter'd by the Popes Thunder-bolts and more severely yet by his ill fortune driven out of Italy and apprehending the sudden Revolt of Germany he could find no other way to save himself but to ask pardon of the Holy Father and prostrate himself at his Feet to gain his Absolution which was done at Venice in An. 1177. His Anti-Pope Calistus did as much the following year throwing himself at the Feet of the same Alexander Afterwards Frederick had again some Disputes with the Popes Lucius Vrban and Clement III. of that name but he was reconcil'd to Clement and lived well enough with the See of Rome to the time of his death Henry VI. his Son was Crowned by Celestine III. in the year 1191. He undertook nothing directly against the Popes but yet he suffer'd himself to be Excommunicated for detaining Richard King of England prisoner and for not restoring the Money he had extorted from that Prince to purchase his liberty He died without Absolution Anno 1197. Let us now speak of Heresies About the end of the Twelfth age the opinions of one named Rousselin had made a great deal of noise He said the three Divine Persons were three separate or distinct things as three several Angels were but in such sort nevertheless that all three had but one and the same Power and one and the same Will and that if custom would permit it one might say that they were three Gods or otherwise it would follow that the Father and the Holy Ghost had been incarnate These Sophistical impieties were condemned in a Council held at Soissons notwithstanding the Author did not refrain Teaching in private and perhaps he might have made a greater progress if there had not been some watchful persons amongst the rest Yves de Chartres who broke his measures I cannot tell whether it were the same against whom St. Anselme when he was but Abbot du Bec. wrote his Treatise of the Incarnation of the Word which he sent to Pope Vrban II. to examine An. 1094. About the year 1125. one Tanchelin the most profligate of all Mankind infected Brabant and the neighbouring Countreys with his Errors he asserted that the Ministry of Bishops and Priests was a cheat and that the Communion of the Holy Eucharist availed nothing to our Salvation He drew people after him by the magnificence of his Feasts and the pomp of his dress
the Empire and that the election of the Grandees belonging to it could make but a King unless their own Authority would honour it with the Title of Emperour This belief was grounded upon what they had done for Pepin and Charlemain whom indeed they first dignified with the Title of Patrician and afterwards conferred that of Emperour upon Charlemain As for this point they carried it cleerly against the Emperours The example of Henry VI. puts it out of all doubt for when he took the Imperial Crown at Rome in the year 1191. Pope Celestine III who was upon a Scaffold and sitting holding it between his Feet threw it down upon the ground to shew it lay in his power to overthrow it and the Cardinals having caught it in their hands put it upon the Emperours Head who was below and on his knees waiting that favour with submission But the Popes could not so easily gain a fourth point which was to hinder the Bishops from paying Homage to their Temporal Sovereigns They opposed this submission because they thought it unworthy that those Sacred Hands which were employd in the operations of the most Holy Mysteries of Religion should be touched or pressed by Hands profane Now although Sovereign Princes especially the Kings of France had a great reverence for all that came from the Holy See they could not for all that yield them this point nor that concerning the franchise of Goods and Persons For King Lewis VI. would not suffer Rodolph to re-enter the Arch-Bishoprick of Bourges till he had done him Homage which Yves de Chartres excused to Pope Paschal upon the apprehension of a greater inconvenience And that Pope having granted a Bull at the requisition of the Clergy of France which prohibited upon pain of Excommunication all Bayliffs and Prevosts belonging to the King the exacting any Loan of poor Clerks the said King wrote Letters full of heat to Yves threatning he would take the Goods of any Clerks wherever he could find them if that Bull were not revoked I cannot say what hapned upon this There was a Maxim set up in those ages which gave the Popes an indirect Dominion over Princes and right of animadversion on their Government which was that although they did not believe the Princes depended upon them for things Temporal they thought they had good ground considering the Spiritual to judge whether their actions were good or evil to admonish them to correct them to forbid them things they held unlawful and command them to do what they thought was just When two Princes made War they concern'd themselves to bring them to a Truce to refer their business to Arbitration and oblige them to debate it in their presence King John pressed upon by Philip Augustus had recourse to Innocent III. who wrote thereupon that being proposed to the Government of the Universal Church he found himself obliged by the command of God to proceeed in that Affair according to the Rules and Forms of the Church and to pronounce the King of France to be an Idolater and a Publican if he did not make his Right appear before him or his Legat. For although said he it did not belong to him to judge of the Fief yet he had right to take cognisance of the Sin and it appertained to the Holy See to correct all persons of what quality soever they could be and if they proved refractory to his Commands to employ the Power and Arms of the Church These were the Excommunications and also the Interdictions cruel remedies which took away the use of the Sacraments and the Divine Service from the Living and sometimes the very Burials from the Dead They were perswaded it was part of their Duty to provide against all publique scandals of their paternal care to help and protect all the oppressed and of the grandeur of their Tribunal to do justice to the whole World So they received the complaints of all that were under oppression nay they would go to meet them as it were and take cognisance of what injustice Princes used towards their Subjects and of their new exactions They sometimes denounced Anathema against those that levied them and sometimes exposed the Goods and Estates of these they Excommunicated as a Prey and gave Command to seize their Persons and bring them into slavery The Sovereigns were not exempted or secure against these Thunder-claps for whether by virtue of an opinion commonly received in those days but in my judgment not to be maintained or made out that the Excommunicate have lost all Titles to their Estates or whether they did not believe the Government of Catholique people was not to be left in the hands of Princes revolted from the Church they proceeded even to the deposing them declaring their Subjects Absolv'd of all the Oaths they had taken and forbid them longer to obey them Gregory VII began to exercise this Authority against the Emperour Henry IV. He would have practis'd the same towards Philip I. King of France For he once wrote to all the Grandees of the Kingdom to hinder the excess he committed especially towards those Merchants that went to great Fairs And another time he threatned to dissolve those Bonds and Obligations of Fidelity which tied his Subjects to him if he did not forbear the sale of Benefices and suffer the elect Bishop of Mascon to enter upon his Bishoprick Victor II. did in effect Excommunicate him in the Council of Clermont Other Popes Excommunicated and deposed the Emperours Henry V. Frederick I. and Frederick II. and have attempted the like things against divers other Crowned Heads It is admired that Popes who had so great a reputation for their goodness particularly Gregory VII and Alexander III. should have undertaken such things which seem so contrary to the Maxims of the Ancient Fathers and the Innocency of former ages We must therefore know that these supposed Letters of the First Popes upon which they founded a new Cannon right had made their Predecessors believe even from the end of the Eighth Century that their Authority and Power over the Faithful had no limits that in quality of universal Pastors they had Power to lay Commands or to forbid any of the Faithful in any thing that concerned their Salvation and the promotion of Religion to admonish them and afterwards punish them if they did not obey That if the predecessors of Gregory had not made use of this power against Emperours it was because those Princes were then more regular and the Popes of those times involved in great troubles but on the contrary Henry IV. had made himself execrable by his infamous Vices And Gregory was venerable through all Christendom for his Virtues I shall presume to add that there was even some things in the preceding Ages that might give some colour to what that Pope did undertake For in the Sixth the Church had assumed power to exclude those who were enjoyned publique pennance from exercising any function Civil or
let them see by that Equipage to what a vile Condition those holy Assemblies were reduc'd Most of those held in France during this Age were called either by the Popes themselves or by their Legats The Popes were Personally present in Six Paschal II. in that of Troyes Anno 1107. and there the Simoniacks and the Laicks that conferr'd Benefices were Excommunicated Gelasius held one at Vienne in the year 1119. where he thundred his Anathema against the Emperor Henry V. and 〈◊〉 Anti-Pope Calistus II. his Successor Guy Archbishop of Vienne did the same thing in that of Rheims the following year which had been denounced by Gelasius Those that made sale of things Sacred and took Money for burying the dead for the Crisome and Baptism were likewise Excommunicated Innocent II. held one at Clermont in Anno 1130. and another at Rheims in Anno 1131. where he fulminated the Anti-Pope Anacletus and his Adherents Eugenius III. did Celebrate one at Rheims in the year 1137. where divers excellent Regulations were decreed And Alexander III. one at Tours in Anno 1163. where he gave an acount of his Election and proved the nullity of Octavian's his Rival These are a good part of those called by the Legats One at Troyes in Anno 1104. in which the Bishop of Senlis was accused of Simony by some ill designing People but the Bishops rejected them as no good Evidence He desired nevertheless to purge himself from that suspicion by Oath before the Legat to which he was admitted Two Cardinal Legats assembled one at Poitiers in Anno 1109. to reform the Manners and Habits of the Clergy They were forbidden to take any Benefice from the hands of the Laity The Abbots to use Gloves Sandals or the Ring Monks to Exercise Parochial Function as to Baptise or to Preach which nevertheless was allowed to the Regular Canons There was one at Vienne Anno 1112. where Godfrey Bishop of Amiens was President in Quality of Legat because the Archbishop Guy had no very fluent Tongue The Emperor Henry V. was Excommunicated there As were also those guilty of Simony and such of the Laity as gave the Investiture of Benefices There were three in the year 1114. one at Soissons one at Beauvais and another at Rheims to Excommunicate Henry V. and Burdin his Anti-Pope One at Toulouze in Anno 1124. which condemned certain false Brothers or counterfeit Monks who declaimed against the Temporal Riches and Incomes of the Church and against the Sacraments One at Troyes Anno 1127. where the Order of the Templers was confirmed The Abbots Stephen de Cisteaux and Bernard de Clervaux were assistant there and the latter drew up the Rules of that Order of Knights Templers There was one Assembled at Estampes in the year 1130. to condemn the Anti-Pope Anacletus One likewise at Jouars the same year to avenge by Canonical Punishments the Murther of the B. Thomas Prior of St. Victors Another at Soissons Anno 1136. which condemned the Errors of P. Abailard One at Sens four years after for the same business King Lewis the Young was present there Another at Vezelay in Burgundy in the year 1145. for the Expeditioin to the Holy Land That of Paris in the year 1147. confuted the Opinions of Gilbert Poree Bishop of Poictiers who REcanted before Pope Eugenius at Rheims after the Council was dissolved which had been held in that City That of Fleury in the year 1151. was to annul the Marriage of King Lewis VII and Alienor of Aquitain In that of Auranches in Normandy Anno 1173. the Legats gave for the second time the Absolution for the Murther of St. Thomas of Canterbury to Henry II. King of England That of Alby which was in Anno 1176. condemned the Heresie of the Albigensis In that of Dijon which was held about Michaelmas in the year 1197. the Legat from Pope Innocent III. put the whole Kingdom of France under an Interdiction to comple Philip Augustus to quit Agnes de Merania whom he had Espoused in prejudice of Isemburge his Lawful Wife In that of Sens which was held in the year 1198. the Abbot of St. Martins of Nevers and the Dean of the great Church of the same City being present were convicted of the Heresies of the Popelicans the Abbot deposed the Dean suspended and both of them sent to Rome We hardly find above three or four that were called by the Kings order and the Authority of the Bishops of France Amongst others one at Rheims Anno 1109. one at Estampes Anno 1130. and two at Paris the first in the Year 1186. the other in 1188. Both of them were called by King Philip to consider of the best means to relieve the Holy-Land and in the last they agreed to raise the Tenths which was called the Saladine Tythe That of Estampes was called by King Lewis VII to judge whether of the two Popes they were to own either Innocent or Victor That of Rheims was by the proper motion of the Bishops of that Province to do right to Godfrey Bishop of Amiens against the Monks of St. Valery He had made discovery that certain Letters of Exemption by them obtained of the Holy See were false their Cause was worth nothing in France they transferr'd it to Rome and found such Advocates there as obtained a Sentence to their advantage The Bishops complained to the Assembly We find in the LX VIII Epistle of Peter de Blois that sometimes the like counterfeit Letters were discovered These were declared such by the Council Thus it is related by Nicholas Moine of Soissons who has written the Life of this holy Bishop A modern Author hath endeavour'd to invalidate this Narrative by contradicting of the Dates of times assigned his proofs may be examined Monastick Discipline was in its vigour in the newly Establisht Orders but some of the ancient Monasteries as well of Men as Virgins and the old Canons were greatly in disorder having run into much irregularity Sometimes there were Bishops that took care to reform them by gentle means but when the Debaucheries were too great they put Regular Canons or some new Monks in those places There were time out of mind some Canons in the Church St. Genevieve du Mont which was called the Chapter St. Peter and who upon the Recommendation of King Robert had been exempted from dependance on the Bishop and immediately subject to the Holy See it hapued that Pope Eugenius being lodged in their House a Quarrel arose between them and his Officers these would needs take away a rich Silk Carpet which the King had made a Present of to his Holiness to cover the place he kneeled on at Prayers the others pretending it ought to be left to their Church From words they came to blows the Canons fell upon the Popes Officers so rudely that several of them were hurt the King himself had like to have been so while he was endeavouring to prevent the Scuffle For punishment of this
decamp till he brought the Besieged to Reason in so much that on the Assumption-day they were reduced to a Capitulation They gave up two hundred Hostages their Walls were pull'd down their Moats and Grafts fill'd up and three hundred Houses with Turrets demolish'd These were Inns belonging to Gentlemen who had the like at Toulouze and other great Cities in those Provinces Going thence the King went into Provence and all the Towns surrender'd to him within four Leagues of Toulouze The Season growing bad and he somewhat tender of Constitution he takes his way back towards France leaving the Conduct of his Forces and the Government of those Countries in the hands of Imbert de Beau-jeu Year of our Lord 1226 Upon his return one of the Grandees of the Kingdom whom History has not dar'd to name caused some Poyson to be given him whereof he died at the Castle of Montpencier in Auvergne upon a Sunday being the Octave of All-Saints He had Year of our Lord 1226 lived Thirty nine years and had Reigned three and about four Months He is buried at St. Denis by his Father The Clergy because of his Piety and his Chastity reported that his Sickness proceeded from his too great Continence for his Wife did not go with him and that he chose rather to dye then make use of an unlawful Remedy they presented him for Cure As he foresaw things in a posture that threatned great troubles after his death he took the Oaths and Seals of Twelve Lords that were about him that they should cause his eldest Son to be Crowned and if he failed they should put the Second in his stead By his Wife Blanche de Castille he had nine Sons and two Daughters there were but five Sons alive Lewis Robert Alphonso Charles and John According to his Will and Testament Lewis Reigned Robert had the County of Artois and propagated the branch of that name Alphonso had that of Poitou and Charles that of Anjou From him sprung the first Branch of Anjou John dyed at the age of 14 years Of the two Daughters only Isabella was left who having been promised to divers Princes and grown to be an old Maid took on the Holy vail and shut her self up the year 1260. in the Monastery of Longchamp between Paris and St. Cloud which the King her Brother founded for her Saint Lewis King XLIII Aged Eleven years six Months POPES HONORIUS III. Five Months GREG. IX Elect in April 1227. S. Fourteen years Five Months CELESTINE IV. Elect in Sept. 1241. S. Eighteen days Vacancy of Twenty Months INNOCENT IV. Elect in June 1243. S. Eleven years Five Months and a half ALEXANDER IV. Elect in Decemb. 1254. S. Six years Five Months URBAN IV. Son of a Cobler of Troyes Elected about the end of August 1261. S. Three years Thirty four days CLEMENT IV. Elected in Feb. 1265. S. Three years and about Ten Months Vacancy of Thirty five Months from Dec. in the year 1268. the Cardinals not agreeing amongst themselves in the Conclave about the Election THis is the Third Minority in the Capetine Race and the First wherein a Year of our Lord 1226. in Novembre Woman had the Regency Blanche de Castille a stranger but courageous and able undertook it and carried it being assisted by the Counsels of Romain the Cardinal Legat who had great power with her and grounded upon the Certificates of some Lords who attested that her Husband being on his Death-bed had ordered that he would have his eldest Son with the Kingdom and all his other Brothers be left to her Guardianship and Government Immediately before the Lords had time to contrive any obstacles to her Regency Year of our Lord 1226 she drew all the Forces she possibly could together and with them went and caused her eldest Son Lewis to be Crowned in the City of Rheims The Episcopal See being vacant the Bishop of Soissons who is the Suffragant performed the Ceremony It was on the First day of December The Lords of the Kingdom had been invited thither by Letters but the greatest part refused to come amongst others Peter Duke of Bretagne Henry Earl of Bar his Brother-in-law Hugh de Luzignan Earl de la Marche Thibauld Earl of Champagne Hugh de Chastillon Count de St. Pol and divers others They were framing a League amongst them demanding that the Regent who was a Stranger should give security for her good Administration that whatever had been taken from the Lords during the two last Reigns should be restored to them and such as were prisoners should be released especially Ferrand Earl of Flanders Year of our Lord 1226 After her departure from Rheims notwithstanding the severity of the Winter she marched towards Bretagne where lay the strength of the League The Confederates being not yet ready avoided what mischief they could by a Retreat but she followed so close at their heels that the Earl of Champagne fell off from the party then the others entred into a Treaty and promised to appear in full Parliament which was to be held at Chinon and which at their request was removed to Tours then to Vendosme Year of our Lord 1227 In that Parliament which was held in the Month of March a Peace was patched up between the Regent and the Lords but the same year they being assembled at Corbeil plotted to surprize the King as he was coming from Chastres to Paris their design had infallibly succeeded if the Queen Regent had not been informed and cast her self with the King into Montlehery The Citizens of Paris having taken up Arms went thither to guard him and brought him back with joyful acclamations to their City The Earl of Champagne was the man that had given this private intelligence to the Queen This young Prince had a pretence of Love or Gallantry for her rather out of some Court-like vanity then for the power of her charms she being a Woman of above Forty years of age she knew how to make her own advantage of his folly and wished him to continue amongst those discontented People that he might betray all their intrigues to her Year of our Lord 1227 The King of England would needs concern himself in this quarrel and promised them his assistance and the Earl of Toulouze taking his opportunity during these Brouilleries and Stirs had got possession again of all his Places The Queen Regent fearing this Flame might be blown too high renew'd a Treaty with the Princes of this League whom by that means she kept from farther proceeding all this year and in the mean while she confirm'd the Alliance with the Emperour Frederick made a Truce with the English for a Twelve-month and came to an agreement with the Duke of Bretagne who gave his Daughter to be Married to a Son of hers named John Thus the Earl of Toulouze was left alone Imert de Beau-jeu having received a notable re-inforcement bethought himself instead of taking the Castles one by one it would do
being Ship'd turn'd back again and only sent some Vessels Commanded by Ferdinand his bastard Son but Edward did generously make good his Vow As for St. Lewis he turned his Enterprize against the Kingdom of Tunis the conquest thereof being in his judgment the way to conquer Egypt without which they could never keep the Holy-Land Besides his Brother perswaded him to it to make Year of our Lord 1270 the coasts of Africk become Tributaries to his Kingdom of Sicilia as they had been in the time of Roger the Norman Prince Having therefore left the administration of his Kingdom to Matthew Abbot of St. Denis and Simon Earl of Nesle he left Paris as I believe the first day of March Year of our Lord 1270 in the year 1270. if we begin it in January or the year 1269. if we make it begin at Easter as they then did in France He was accompanied by three of his Sons Philip Tristan and Peter his Brother Alphonso his Nephew Robert II. Earl of Artois Thibauld King of Navarre Guy Earl of Flanders and a great number of the Nobility He was near four Months either upon his way or about Aigues-mortes where he waited some time till his Vessels were ready He went on board in the beginning of July with his Brothers and set fail the day following his Forces and the other Lords took Shipping in several Ports particularly at Marseilles the Rendezvous for the whole Fleet was appointed to be at Sardinia in the Road of Calary Year of our Lord 1270 He got first thither with four great Vessels not without meeting with very bad weather the rest arrived Eight days after him and having all held a Council together they persisted in their design to Land in Africk and secure themselves of Tunis as well because it was thought important to have that coast as for that the King of those Countreys had given them hopes he would become Christian if they would but stand by him with their Forces against his resisting Subjects but this was only to amuse them The Army being then landed on the African shore immediately took the Castle and the City of Carthage built indeed upon the ruines of that famous rival to Rome but which had nothing now that was great but its name Afterwards they besieged the City of Tunis which is situate at the further end of the Lake of Goletta five miles distant from the Sea At five weeks end from the beginning of the Siege the excessive heats of the Countrey scarcity of Water the Sea Air and the toil the Army endured having the Saracens perpetually upon them it bred the pestilential Fever and Dysentery's amongst them whereof a great many people of note dyed amongst others Prince John Tristan de Nevers and Peter de Ville-Beon Chamberlain to the King and his intimate Confident The good King himself being seized with a Flux was some days afterwards taken with a continual Fever which put an end to his glorious Labours by a happy Death Year of our Lord 1270 the 25th day of August the Seventy fifth year of his Age and the Four and fortieth of his Reign Being on his Death-bed he called for his Son Philip to leave most Excellent and most Christian-like Instructions which he had some time before drawn up and written with his own hand He had together all the Vertues of a great Saint and a great King of a true Christian and a true Gentleman He was humble to his God and fierce to the Enemies of the Faith modest and a hater of Luxury as to his particular but brave and pompous in publick Ceremonies as mild and affable in Conversation as rough and terrible in Fight and Battle prodigal to the Poor and sparing of his Subjects Money more then of his own liberal to Soldiers and Men of Learning prompted with a sincere desire to keep the Peace between his Neighbours enflamed with an incredible zeal for the glory of God and for the administring of true Justice in fine worthy to be the Model of all Princes that desire to Rule according to the will of God and the good of their Subjects Amongst his servent Exercises of Piety which never did abate in all the days of his Life he observed the Fasts Ordained by the Church with great exactness eating but once that day and if either his weakness or the unavoidable labour in business did at any time oblige him to eat twice he redeemed the Transgression according to the Canons of the Church by some great Alms feeding an Hundred Poor some other day I mean an Hundred extraordinary for he ordinarily entertain'd a very great number and served Two hundred at Table upon every great Festival day I find that every Lent he distributed Sixty three Muids of Wheat sixty eight thousand Herrings and three thousand two hundred nineteen Livers Parisis to the Monasteries and Hospitals and One hundred pence a day to other poor People And to make this Alms and Charitable Benevolence perpetual he charged his own Demeasns with it as also with many other Pious Grants and Foundations which instead of diminishing the Estate of his Successors hath been as it were a miraculous Leaven that hath increased and multiplied it It were to be wished that that great and good Ordinance he made upon his return out of the Holy Land to root out the Misdemeanours of Judges the Debaucheries of Gaming Drinking and Women were as much in our practise as it is yet in our Books I cannot omit that he did never intermedle in the naming any to Bishopricks and Abbies but left the liberty of Elections entirely free Insomuch as an Ambassador of his having brought a Bull to him from Rome which gave him the right of Nomination he was very angry with him and threw it into the Fire For the other Benefices he ever bestow'd them upon the most Worthy and never on such as were in Employments already unless they first surrendred the other He founded a great many Churches and Monasteries particularly for the Orders of St. Dominique and St. Francis several Hospitals amongst others that for the Quinze-Vingts the fair Abby of Royaumont that of St. Matthew near Rouen and the Holy Chappel in his Palace where he put in Canons and Chaplains They attribute to him the Institution of the University and the first Parliament of Toulouze It is certain he was the first who out of humility added the Sign of the Cross to the Ceremony of touching those troubled with the Kings-Evil He had Eight Children four Sons and four Daughters The Sons were Philip who Reigned and was surnamed the Hardy or Daring John Tristan who was Earl of Nevers Peter Earl of Alenson these two left no Posterity Robert Earl of Clermont in Beauvoisis who Espoused Beatrix Daughter and Heiress of Agnes de Bourbon who was so of Archembald Lord of Bourbon and of John III. Son to Hugh Duke of Burgundy From this Marriage issued the Branch of Bourbon who
King having read it stood much amazed It must be some Intelligence he gave to the King of Castille Whatever it were he was made a Prisoner carried to Paris thence transferr'd to the Castle of Janville in Beausse then some days afterward brought back again to Paris where he was Hanged on the publick Gallows in the presence of the Dukes of Burgundy and Brabant and of Robert Earl of Artois Guilty enough had he committed no other Crime but the bewitching his King and fettering both his Sacred Person and Mind in his Artificial Snares The Fortunes of all those whom he had advanced were utterly ruined the Bishop of Bayeux his Brother-in-Law made his escape to the Pope where he remained a long time in Exile Year of our Lord 1277 The boundless Ambition of Charles King of Sicilia aspired to all He thought to hold all Italy by the Offices of Senator of Rome and Vicar of the Empire he was contriving the Conquest of the Grecian upon the right Baldwin had to it whose Daughter he had taken for his second Wife and this year 1277. he purchased the Title of King of Jerusalem of the Princess Mary Widow of Frederic Bastard of the Emperor Frederic the II. and Daughter of Raimond Rupin Prince of Antioch and Melisinda Daughter of Aymeric de Lusignan King of Cyprus and Jerusalem This Kingdom had been already annexed to Sicilia by the Marriage of Yolante de Brienne who was Heiress to it and since it hath ever remained so annexed Year of our Lord 1278 But the Pope the Emperor Rodolph and the Emperor Michael Conspired together to put a stop to that Grandeur which run up too fast and threatned to stifle theirs And besides the Pope it was Nicholas III. of the House of Vrsini who not only did not desire to have to so Potent a Neighbour but withall was cruelly offended for that having demanded one of his Daughters for one of his own Nephews Charles had received his insolent Proposition with raillery and contempt Year of our Lord 1278 At the same time the power of Rodolph mightily increased by the Victory he gained over Othocare King of Bohemia who was left dead in the Field Of the Spoils of that Prince whose Domestick he had been he got the Dutchy of Austria and invested his Son Albertus in it His Posterity have still preserved it and have taken the name of it as more illustrious then that of Habspurg Year of our Lord 1278 Not to thwart the Pope who sought to pick a Quarrel Charles quitted the Title of Senator and that of Vicar He wanted but little in Anno 1279. of losing Provence likewise Queen Margaret Widow of St. Lewis his Sister-in-Law disputed it with him as being elder Daughter of Earl Raimond Berengier and implored assistance of the Emperor of whom that County was held because of the Kingdom of Arles Notwithstanding the business being brought to Examination Provence was left to Year of our Lord 1279 Charles upon Condition of doing Homage to the Emperor whose Daughter Clemence should likewise be Married to the Son of his eldest Son His Name was Charles as was his Fathers and Grandfathers Year of our Lord 1279 Edward King of England crossed over Seas with Alienor his Wife and came to King Philip at Amiens to Treat of their Affairs Philip agreed he should have the Earldom of Agenois and surrendred up that of Pontieu which belonged to Alienor by right of her Mother She was Jane the Wife of Ferdinand III. King of Castille and Daughter of the Earl Simon and Mary Daughter and Heiress of William likewise Earl of Pontieu Reciprocally Edward renounced the Dutchy of Normandy but retained Thirty Livers Rent upon the Exchequer or Court of Justice of the Province John otherwhile Lord of the Island de Procida had been devested of his Estate by Charles for having tamper'd in some Conspiracy Being therefore prompted by a cruel Resentment he framed the design to bring the King of Arragon as Heir to the House of Scwaben by his Mother into the Kingdom of Sicilia and made so many Journeys backwards and forwards to the Pope the Emperor and the Sicilians that he brought the Project to his desired issue Year of our Lord 1281 Mean time Pope Nicholas who had projected for the most part what we shall find to break out in those Countries hapned to die and a French Cardinal it was Simon de Brie was Elected in his room he was named Martin IV. This last knew nothing of the Tragical design contrived by his Predecessor and had intentions quite contrary but it being already put in motion he found the effect of it before ever he could foresee the blow The Death of Nicholas did not discourage the Conspirators the Lord de Prochyda continuing his Voyages disguised like a Monk brought from Constantinople Three hundred thousand Ounces of Gold to the Arragonian who was ready to put a great Naval force to Sea under pretence of making War upon the Saracens and had the Craft the better to conceal his intentions to borrow Twenty thousand Gold Crowns of King Philip and even as some say of Charles himself whom he was going to Dethrone Year of our Lord 1282 He lay for some time upon the Coasts of Africa to favour the Enterprize agreed upon and in the mean while Charles neglected the Advice was given him to stand upon his Guard and be aware and employ'd all his Forces for the Conquest of the Eastern Empire in which he did not succeed very well his Fleet having been worsted at Sea by that of the Emperor Michael Whilst he is thus lull'd asleep by his ill fate the Sicilians upon an Easter-day at the first ringing of the Bell to Vespers cut the Throats of all the French that were in the whole Island which they did execute with so much fury and rage that the good Friers Jacobins and the Cordeliers did with pleasure wash their hands in Blood and Murthered their unhappy Enemies at the very Altars The Fathers ripping up the Wombs of their own Daughters if great with a French Child and dashing little Infants against the Rocks They killed Eight thousand in two hours space and pardoned but only one by reason of his rare Probity He was called William des Pourcellets a Gentleman of Provence Year of our Lord 1282 Charles who was at this time in Tuscany more enraged then frighted at so terrible a blow Arms himself powerfully by the assistance of the Pope and the King of France which was brought him by the Earl of Alenson and besieges Messina That City terrified with the glittering of his Arms and the Fulminations of the Holy See would have surrendred at the very first and all the Island afterwards if his just Wrath could have received them to any Mercy but that Prince being grown inexorable dispair puts some courage into their faint hearts and the arrival of the Arragonian who landed at Palermo about the end of August and was
much that he died at Perpignan the 6th day of October He was in the beginning of the Five and fortieth year of his Life and the Sixteenth of his Reign His Flesh and Bowels were interred in the Cathedral of Narbonne and his Bones brought to St. Denis If we consider his Qualities he was Valiant Good Liberal Just and very Pious but too simple and too easie to be deceived If his Conduct it was not over-happy in those undertakings he made abroad but for his Enterprizes at home they could not succeed better for his Kingdom since it grew rich and flourishing by a Peace of Fifteen years continuance without any vexation of Imposts and the maintenance of a most exact and speedy Justice By Isabella Daughter of James I. King of Arragon he left two Sons those were Philip and Charles The first Reigned the second was Earl of Valois and Father of a Philip who came to the Crown By his second Wife Mary de Brabant he had one Son and two Daughters the Son was Lewis Earl of Euvreux From him sprang the Branch of Euvreux into which the Crown of Navarre was brought by Marriage The Daughters were Margaret and Blanch Margaret was Married in the year 1298. to Edwardâ— King of England Blanch having been twice Contracted once with John de Namur eldest Son of Guy Earl of Flanders the other time with John d'Avesnes Earl of Ostrevant eldest Son of John d'Avesnes Earl of Haynault Married at last in the year 1298. to Rodolph Duke of Austria eldest Son of Albertus the Emperor by whom she had a Son but both the Mother and the Child were Poysoned in the City of Vienna Anno 1305. Philip IV. King XLV POPES HONORIUS IV. Eighteen Months Vacancy Nine Months and an half NICHOLAS IV. Elected the 22th of February 1288. S. Four years one Month and an half Vacancy Two years three Months CELESTINE V. Institutor of the Celestines Elected the 5th of July 1294. S. Five Months and an half BONIFACE VIII Elected the 24th of Decemb. 1294. S. Eight years nine Months and an half BENNET XI Elected the 20th of October 1303. S. Eight Months seventeen days Vacancy Eleven Months CLEMENT V. Elected the 5th of June 1305. transfers the See into France S. Nine years wanting five weeks PHILIP IV. Surnamed the Fair King of France XLV and of Navarre also by his Wife Aged Seventeen years and some Months Year of our Lord 1286 After Philip had brought back into France the remainder of the Army and conveyed his Fathers Bones to St. Denis he went to be Crowned at Rheims by the hands of the Archbishop Peter Barbet the Sixth day of January with the Queen his Wife Year of our Lord 1286 Guy de Dampierre had succeeded in the Earldom of Flanders after the death of his Mother and had done Homage for it to Philip the Hardy but neither his Mother nor himself for want either of will or power had not as yet caused the Articles to be Sworn to and Ratified which were made in the year 1225. between Philip Augustus and Ferrand because in truth they were very destructive and ruinous to the Flemmings This year the King having threatned Guy if he did not perform it without delay to own him no longer for his Vassal but to declare a War the Cities and Commonalty of the Countrey were so alarmed and scared that they obey'd his Will and Pleasure Ever since the death of Philip III. Edward King of England had omitted no endeavour to confirm the Treaties with his Successor In the year 1286. being landed in France about Pontieu he was received at Amiens by several Lords whom the King sent to meet him from thence he came to Paris where he was Treated magnificently was present at the Parliament which was held after Easter and going from thence about Whitsontide went by Land to Burdeaux The apparent cause of his Voyage was the desire he had to Compose the business of the King of Arragon because Alphonso the eldest Son and Successor of Peter had Married his Daughter Alienor He forgot not likewise to press earnestly he might have some reparation for Normandy and those other Countries which both his Father and himself had renounced but could obtain nothing in either of these two points Being returned to Burdeaux he solemnly received the Ambassadors from the Kings of Castille of Arragon and of Sicilia all Enemies to France which gave no little jealousie to Philip. John de Launoy Vice-Roy for Philip in Navarre continued the War against the Arragonians But a Lord of the Country named John Corbaran whom he had entrusted with the Command of the Armies having been worsted by their Forces a Truce was agreed upon between the two Crowns The King of England laboured very seriously to Compose the Difference between the Kingdom of France and that of Arragon and Sicilia To this purpose he Conferr'd with Alphonso and Olâ—ron de Bearn and afterwards took the pains to make a Voyage into Sicily that he might Treat with James the Brother of Alphonso who as we have related had seized upon that Island The Negotiations of the King of England were somewhat retarded by the Progress some French Lords had made in that Island But the rest who were going thither to compleat that Conquest being beaten and taken at Sea by Lauria the Admiral they gave a more willing Ear to what was propounded Year of our Lord 1288 The Treaty was carried on so well that Charles the Lame was set at Liberty promising he would bring it so about with the Earl of Valois that he should renounce the Kingdom of Arragon and with the Pope that he should invest James of Arragon in that of Sicily which his Brother Alphonso should yield to him For security whereof Charles gave his Three Sons and Fifty Gentlemen of Quality as Hostages When he was deliver'd from his Imprisonment he did not hold himself obliged to make that good which he had been forced to promise on the contrary being in France he exhorted the Earl of Valois not to desist from his Right to the Kingdom of Arragon and going afterwards into Italy he got himself to be Crowned by the Pope who was then at Geronsa King of Sicilia both on this side and beyond the Fare So that James of Arragon perceiving the Treaty was broke fell upon Calabria where the City of Catensana had revolted in his favour Robert d'Artois laid Siege to it James and his Admiral Lauria hastned to its relief and being beaten went and blocked up Gaieta thinking to make a Diversion but Charles and Robert followed at the same time and besieged the Besiegers so straightly that they reduced them to Famine Then the Sicilian caused I know not how the Popes Legat to intervene who demanded a Truce for two years and Charles not well informed of the extremity wherein his Enemies were consented to it a little too easily at which Robert was so incensed that he retired into France and carried
Nations when the accidental Quarrel of an English Mariner with a Mariner of Normandy upon the Coast of Guyenne where they had landed to take in fresh Water set them against one another First Ship and Ship endeavour'd to plunder or take what they could singly on each side then they brought Fleet against Fleet. The English had the worst their King Edward demanded restitution of such Merchants Goods as had been made Prize in these Scuffles Philip on the contrary Summons him to appear in his Court of Parliament as his Vassal Edward sent his Brother Edmund but Philip not satisfied with that caused him to be declared Contumacious and ordered his Lands should be seized Year of our Lord 1292. 1293. In Execution of this Decree the year following the Constable Rodolph de Nesle seized several Cities in Guyenne and even that of Bourdeaux which was the Capital Thus a Riot between Private Men blew their little Sparks of Contention into a flame of War which one may say proved very fatal to France since it gave way to the overthrowing of her ancient Laws and Liberties and the introducing and establishment of divers Charges and Subsidies on the People The increase and burthen whereof is ordinarily followed with Revolutions and Seditions as it fell out this year by a great Commotion hapning at Rouen but which had the same end and event as all the like Enterprizes generally come to that is to say the Hanging of the most froward and hottest and the Banishment or Ruine of the rest Year of our Lord 1294 The King of England vexed at the loss of those places in Guyenne sollicited all Princes against France particularly the Emperor Adolph with great Sums of Money and Guy de Dampierre Earl of Flanders with the hopes oâ— the Marriage of his Son Prince of Wales with Philippetta that Earls Daughter Adolph sent to defie the King in haughty language but they gave him no other answer but a Sheet of white Paper For which he shewed no other Resentment but by Threats and so turned his Arms against some German Rebels Year of our Lord 1294 As for Guy having been allured to Paris with his Wife and Daughter by Letters from the King fraught with Expressions of Kindness he was much amazed to find himself made a Prisoner there It is true that about a Twelve month after himself and his Wife were set at liberty but his Daughter they kept still to break the Measures of that Match too pernicious to the French Year of our Lord 1294 In the year 1294 the Cardinal Benedict Cajetan by intrigues or by deceit and fourbery obliged Pope Celestin to resign the Popedom and by the same Methods got himself to be elected he was named Boniface VIII His Ancesters were Originally Catalonians and had taken the name of Cajetan because they first dwelt near Cajeta before they transplanted themselves to the City of Anagnia where he was born Year of our Lord 1294 At his advancement to that Dignity he endeavours to mediate a Peace between all Christian Princes He could not procure it between France and England but he setled that between Arragon and France King Alphonso was dead and James his Brother succeeded him It was agreed that Charles Earl of Valois should renounce the Kingdom of Arragon wherein he had been invested by Pope Martin V. upon which Condition the Arragonian repudiating Isabella de Castille for being too nigh of Kin should Marry his Laughter set the three Sons of Charles the Lame and other Hostages at liberty and surrender Sicily and what he had Conquer'd in Abruzza but Frederic his younger Brother to whom Alphonso had by his last Testament will'd that Kingdom got himself to be named King by the Sicilians Since then that which we call the Kingdom of Sicilia was dismembred in two that beyond the Fare which was the Island and that on this side which they called the Kingdom of Naples They were again re-joyned in Anno 1503. and are to this day in the same hands Year of our Lord 1295 The Sons of Charles the Lame being set at liberty the eldest named Charles entred into the Order of the Friers Minors The following year he was by the Pope promoted to the Archbishoprick of Thoulouze which he accepted not of till after he had made his Vows The King of Englands heart was much set upon two things the one to Subject the Kingdom of Scotland and the other to recover the Tows in Guyenne He thought the first was pretty well advanc'd having obliged Baliol to render him Homage and to compass the second he prepared a mighty Fleet and had strengthned himself with Friends and Alliances But Philip to prevent his designs induced the King of Scotland already threatned by his Subjects who scorned to subject themselves to the English to break the Treaty he had made with Edward and Allie himself with France and for security of this new Bond of Alliance he promised to give the eldest Daughter of the Earl of Valois to his eldest Son whose name was Edward At the same time he caused the People of Wales also to rise who out of a wild and untamed humour for Liberty were easily heated and drawn into the Field The great devastations and spoil they made this time in Pembrook-shire and thereabout broke all the King of England's Measures He was forced to go in Person that way to stop their progress and lay aside the business of Guyenne till he had quell'd those hot and stubborn old Enemies as he did having overmaster'd almost all of them in four Months time About this time the Principality of Milan and Neighbouring Cities was fixed and perpetuated in the Family of the Vicounts to which Otho Vicount Archbishop of Milan contributed not a little Matthew his Brothers Son was created the first Year of our Lord 1295 Duke this year 1295. and took the Investiture of the Emperor Adolph who likewise gave him the Vicarship or Vicegerency of the Empire in Lombardy Year of our Lord 1295 In Pistoya a City in Tuscany as then powerful enough it hapned that the rich and numerous Family of the Cancellary were divided in two Factions the one of the White the other of the Black The first joyned themselves with the Guelphes the second with the Ghibelins and that fury and madness spread over all Italy and caused insinite Seditions and Murthers Year of our Lord 1295 Pope Boniface was Proud Haughty Imperious and Undertaking he thought all the Princes of the Earth must bow to his Commands but he found a Philip of France at the head of them a young Prince of no very patient Humour more Potent then any one of his Predecessors and who had a Council consiting of People that were Year of our Lord 1295 stout and impetuous So that Boniface who ardently pursued the Design he aimed at to oblige all Kings to the Holy War having sent to tell both him and the King of England that they must make
fill his own Coffers and to enrich his Family with more Lands Employments and Benefices then a faithful and disinteressed Servant ought to do So the People had extream troubles and vexations to undergo one of the greatest was the changing of Moneys they had made it light and weak of too base allay and put too high a value then they would set them at a lower rate the loss was great the people of Paris mutined pillag'd and ruined the House of Stephen Barbet Treasurer from thence ran to the Temple where the King lay and committed a hundred insolences there but the sedition over a great many were hanged in several places The Templers were observed to have contributed to this mutiny it was believed they had done it because having a great deal of Money they lost much by this abating the value of the Coine It is likely that the King who never forgot an injury kept the remembrance of this in his mind and it was one motive that induced him to revenge himself upon the whole Order In compleating the peace with the Flemmings several Articles were changed or added amongst others it was allowed that the King might banish Three thousand of the most factious that the Cities of Ghent Bruges Ipre l'Isle and Douay should be dismantled and that if the Countrey in general or any particular person offended the King or his Officers they should immediately be liable to the thunderings of Ecclesiastical censures Year of our Lord 1307 Lewis Hutin the Kings eldest Son visits his Kingdom of Navarre fallen to him by the death of his Mother and is Crowned at Pampelona the Fifth of June Before his return he took off the two Heads of the Factions that had much troubled Navarre these were Fortunio Almoravid and Martin Ximenes de Aybar The effect of that secret promise the Pope had made to the King began to appear in his revenge upon the Templers The too great riches of those Knights their unsufferable pride their covetous and disobliging behaviour towards such Princes and Noblemen as went into the Holy-Land the little esteem they made either of Temporal or Spiritual Power their dissolute and libertine Humours and rendred them obnoxious and very odious and furnished those with a specious pretence who were resolved to exterminate them Year of our Lord 1307 This year therefore upon the discovery and confession of some villains amongst themselves the greatness of whose crimes or the desire of the Kings mercy and reward had prompted to it the King by consent of the Pope whom he had newly held conference with at Poitiers caused them all to be laid hold on in the same day the Twelfth of October thoroughout the whole Kingdom seized their Goods and took possession of tho Temple at Paris and of all their Treasures and Writings The Great Master whose name was James de Molay a Burgundian being sent for by Letters from the Pope to come from Cyprus where he valiantly made War upon the Turks presented himself at Paris with Sixty Knights of his Order amongst whom was Guy Brother to the Dauphin de Viennois Hugh de Peralde and another of the principal Officers They were all arrested at the same time and their Process was immediately made excepting the three I have mentioned whom the Pope would reserve to his own judgment Fifty of them were burned alive in a slow Fire but who denied at their deaths what they had confess'd upon the wrack Without doubt they were guilty of many enormous crimes but not perhaps of all the things I cannot tell whether I should say horrible or ridiculous that were imposed upon them and laid to their charge in general In the mean time upon King Philips importunity the Templers were likewise seized on in all the other States of Christendom and severely punished yet not with death in many places This prosecution lasted to the year 1314. Year of our Lord 1307 As Edward I. was going to make War upon Robert Bruce who disputed for the Crown of Slotland he died upon the borders of that Kingdom His eldest Son Edward II. succeeded him but was neither like his own Father nor his own Son but only in Name This Prince suffered himself to be Governed first by his Favourite Peter Gaveston then by the two Spencers caused great troubles and commotions in his Kingdom Year of our Lord 1307 This year the first lineaments of the Helvetian Alliance were rough-drawn in a generous conspiracy of the Three Cantons of Swits Vren and Vndervald against the oppressions of the Lieutenants for the House of Austria who possessed the Duchy of Scawben But it was not till the year 1315. that they drew up conditions in writing and got them confirmed by the Emperour Lewis of Bavaria Year of our Lord 1308 In Anno 1308. the Emperour Albert was slain near Rhinfeldt under the antient Castle of Habsbourgh by the conspiracy of John the Son of Rodolph Duke of Scawben whose Countreys he kept from him King Philip importun'd the Pope extreamly to make the Empire fall into the hands of Charles Earl of Valois but the Pope dreading the too great power of the House of France sent to the Electors to make haste so that they named Henry Earl of Luxemburg who was the Eighth of that Name Year of our Lord 1308 The Sixth of May Charles the Lame King of Sicilia on this side the Fare a Prince unfortunate in War but very illustrious in Peace and highly beloved of his Subjects ended his Life and Reign in his City of Naples He had nine Sons the Eldest was named Charles Martel the Second Lewis and the Third Robert The First was King of Hungary by Mary his Mother Daughter of King Stephen IV. but he was dead before his Father having left a Son whom they named Carobert Successor in his Kingdom The Second was Bishop of Toulouze For the Third which was Robert a great question was started between him and Carobert to wit which is preferable to the Succession either the eldest Son or the Uncle and whether the Son represented the Father to succeed his Grandfather The Lawyers of those times and the Pope himself as well upon motives for the publique good as Reasons and Grounds of Right and Title were for the Nephew the Pope admitted him to Homage Invested him and Crowned him in Avignon the first Sunday of the Month of August Observe that Carobert had two Sons Lewis and Andrew that Lewis was King of Hungary after his Father and of Poland by his Wife Elizabeth Daughter of Ladislas and that Andrew Married to his great misfortune Jane I. Queen of Sicilia Daughter of Charles Duke of Calabria who was Son of King Robert As likewise that Lewis had two Daughters Mary Queen of Hungary who Married Sigismond of Luxemburgh afterwards elected Emperour and Heduige Queen of Poland who was Married to Jageston Grand Duke of Lithuania in which Family that Kingdom remained till the year 1572. Year of our Lord 1310 The
had been erected by Pope Nicholas IV. and by the Kings Letters Patents in the year 1289. The others of this Kingdom which are now Ten in number Anger 's Poitiers Bourges Bourdeaux Cahors Valence Caen Reims Nantes and Aix were instituted in the following ages and at several times Now the University of Paris which excepting that of Toulouze was as yet the only singular one in France drew thither or bred there all that were then Men of Parts and Learning Albert the Great Thomas Aquinas Vincent de Beauvais all three of the Order of the Preaching Friers John Gilles or Joannes Aegidius who was also of the same Order Rigord of the Order of St. Bennet and Chaplain to Philp Augustus and Richard of Oxford all three Philosophers and Physitians James de Vitry Cardinal John de Sacrobosco who excelled in the Mathematiques Roger Bacon an English man by birth and of the Order of St. Francis a very subtil Genius and thoroughly versed and accomplished in all manner of Learning particularly in Chymistry in whose Works is to be found the secret for making Gun-powder Michael Scot who to acquire the knowledge of these Arts more perfectly and that of Astronomy and the Mathematicks Learned the Oriental Languages Alexander de Halez Bonaventure his Disciple and a long time after him John Duns Scotus all three of the Order of the Friers Minors and great Scholastiques Scotus lived Ten years in the following age they called him the Subtil Doctor and he was so indeed He was excited to some Opinons opposite to those of St. Thomas as their two Orders were which produced in the Schools those two Sects the Thomists and the Scotists They also reckon amongst the Learned Guy le Gross and Gilles de Rome famous Lawyers the first had been Married and yet became Pope the other was an Augustine Monk then Arch-Bishop of Bourges he lived many years in the age following and wrote Anno 1302. in favour of Philip the Fair against Boniface demonstrating that the Popes Authority does not extend to Temporals Robert de Sorbonne a native of the Village of that Name near Sens William de St. Amour and Christian de Beauvais born in those places and rough adversaries of the Friers Preachers and Minors William III. and Stephen II. Bishops of Paris Henry de Grand a famous Doctor in Divinity Hugh the Cardinal William Arch-Bishop of Tyre and Chancellour to St. Lewis Many of these Learned persons joyned a Holiness of Life to their exquisite knowledge The Church implores the Suffrages of Albert the Great of Thomas Aquinas and of Bonaventure as likewise of Peter de Chasteau neuf of the Order de Cisteaux and Legate from the Pope Martyr'd by the Albigensis in the year 1208. Of Bertrand Bishop of Cominges who rebuilt that City to which the name of its Restorer hath been given Of William de Nevers who daily fed Two thousand Poor Of Stephen de Die in Dauphiné taken out of the Order of the Chartreux Of Gefroy de Meaux who renounced his Bishoprick and retired himself into the Monastery of St. Victor in Paris which then was as it is now at this day most flourishing in Doctrine and Piety Of William de Valence under whom the Bishopricks of Valence and Die were united in the year 1275. and of Robert de Puy This Man very Noble for his Birth and much more so for his Virtue being slain by a Gentleman whom he had Excommunicated for his Crimes the People in revenge razed all the Houses belonging to the Murtherer and the King banished both him and all his Race out of the Kingdom We ought to add to this immortal company Eleazar de Sabran a Gentleman of Provence Earl of Ariâ—n whose perpetual celibacy in Marriage made him the compagnon of Angels and his charitable liberalities the Father to the Poor Yves Priest Curate and Official of the Diocess of Treguier in Bretagnc a good Lawyer and who by a more noble interest then that of Money was ever the Advocate of the Indigent and the Orphan The Men of that Calling own him for their Patron but imitate him seldom He died in the year 1303. Amongst those that wear the Crown of Glory in Heaven the great King Saint Lewis who wore the Royal Crown here below and his Nephew of the same name the Son of Charles II. King of Sicilia are of the highest rank This last buried the Grandeurs of this World in the Sack-cloath of his pennance turning Monk of the Order of St. Francis from whence he was drawn out againsth is Will to be made Bishop of Toulouze He died in the year 1298. Lewis X. called Hutin King XLVI Aged XXV or XXVI years Vacancy which began at the end of the Reign of Philip the Fair and lasted in all Two years Three Months and a halfe AS soon as Philip was dead his eldest Son Lewis succeeded him but he could not get to be Crowned at Reims till the Third day of August in the following year as well because he waited for his new Spouse Clemence Daughter of Charles Martel King of Hungary as because all the Kingdom was in combustion for the vexation of Imposts and the alteration of Moneys Year of our Lord 1314. and 15. Though he were in his majority and had been employ'd in Affairs for divers years nevertheless Charles de Valois his Uncle put himself in possession of the Authority displaced many Officers to advance his own Creatures and there being no Money to be found for the expences of the Coronation he upon that score took occasion to inquire into and examine the Officers of the Treasury especially Enguerrand de Marigny with whom he before had some rude bustlings Enguerrand sent for before the King to give an account of the Treasury had the impudence to tell him who was his Masters Uncle that he had had the greatest part and even to return him the Lie That Princes Sword had punished him at the same time if Heaven had not reserved him for a more infamous chastisement He was therefore seized upon some weeks after as he was coming to the Council this was on the Tenth of March put in prison in the Tower of the Louvre and from thence transferr'd into that of the Temple The prosecution being slow it was discover'd that his Wife abused by some Enchanters sought to bewitch or charm the King and make him languish to death by means of some waxen Images Those rascals being taken the King gives him up to the Law There were four chief Heads of accusation against him his having alter'd the Coins loaden the people with Taxes stollen several great sums and degraded the Kings Forrests His Process was made in the Bois de Vincennes by the Lords Pairs and Barons of the Kingdom who condemned him to the Gallows the Saturday before the Festival of the Ascension The Saturday following he was transferr'd from the Temple to the Chastelet and from thence they carried him to Montfaucon Where
on the highest part of the Gibbet with the other Thieves he was hanged His immense Riches sufficiently proved the Justice of this Sentence Afterwards those Receivers or Officers of the Treasury who were of his gang were laid hold on and several put to the Wrack they would confess nothing however so well those Caterpillars know how to wind up their bottoms desiring rather in the greatest extremity to lose their Lives then part with their Money They carried on this search even to his very friends and particularly Peter de Latilly Bishop of Chaalons and Chancellor of France He was accused of giving the Morsel that is to say of having poysonn'd the Bishop his Predecessor and also the late King He was put out of his Office and left a prisoner in tbe hands of the Arch-Bishop of Reims his Metropolitan The execrable Custom of Poysonning was grown very common in France and it grew so in my opinion because the Ministers of the deceased King had been so extream Violent and vindicative This Prelat accused of so Villanous a Crime was referr'd to the Judgment of the Bishops of his Province To that end there was a Council Assembled at Senlis in the Month of October of this year 1315. where the Archbishop of Reims was present with his Suffragans The Party accused upon his request and according to Law was first redintegrated to his Liberty and his Bishoprick and afterwards it having been proved that four Women had been Convicted and Punished for Poysonning his Predecessor he was absolved fully and wholly Year of our Lord 1315 The Gentry and Commonalty of the Country of Artois having divers causes of Complaint against their Countess Mahaut the King sent for her in presence of Ame the Great Earl of Savoy and obliged her to give him her Hand that he might take notice of it Year of our Lord 1315 This Ame the Great was one of the most considerable Princes of his time He acquir'd the Title of a Prince of the Empire which was granted him by the Emperor Henry VII in Anno 1310. He increased his Territory with the Lordships of Bresse and Baugey by his Marriage with Sibilla the only Daughter of Guy Lord de Baugey as likewise with a part of the little Country of Revermont by Purchase of the Duke of Burgundy who had it of Humbert Dauphin of Viennois and the Earldoms of Ast and Yvree the first whereof came to him by the Concession of the Emperor Henry VII the second by the voluntary subjection of the People His Wisdom made him reign in all the greatest Courts in Europe the Emperors King Philip's of France Edward King of England's and made him find the Art to be so much a Friend to all these Princes who were at great variance that he became the perpetual Mediator concerning those Differences which Interest and their Jealousie bred amongst them Year of our Lord 1316 The Truce with the Flemming being at an end about the very time of the Coronation the King assembled his Forces and whilst on the other side William Earl of Hayâ—ault ravaged the Country along the Scheld he besieged Courtray The unseasonable Weather did what the Flemming durst not undertake and forced him to raise the Siege but the infinite havock and spoil the Soldiers made caused a horrible Famine in Flanders About the end of the Month of May in the year 1316. King Lewis began to feel the effects of those Poysonnings grown so rife in France They had given him a Dose so violent by what hand was not known that it carried him off the Fifth day June An Accident which the Vulgar thought to be presag'd by a Comet which had Year of our Lord 1316 display'd its terrible Train in the Heavens the One and twentieth of the Month of December before He died at the Bois de Vincennes the Nineteenth Month of his Reign and the Eight and twentieth of his Age. He left Clemence his second Wife with Child being four Months gone By his first which was Margaret Daughter of Robert II. Duke of Burgundy he had had a Daughter named Jane to whom belonged the Kingdom of Navarre and the Counties of Brie and Champagne but the Kings Philip the Long and Charles the Fair found out pretences to detain them REGENCY without a KING for Five Months Year of our Lord 1316 WHen Lewis Hutin left this World Philip the Long Earl of Poitiers his Brother was at Lyons where in pursuance of his Orders he laboured to make them elect a Pope to supply the See that had been vacant for above three years He had employ'd himself with so much zeal that at length he got all the Cardinals to Lyons and had shut them up in Conclave in the Jacobins Convent They had been there together some days when the news was brought him of the death of Hutin this made him return to Paris with diligence after he had left the guard of the Conclave with the Earl de Fores. After the end of fourty days the Cardinals could come to no other agreement about the election of a Pope then to refer it to the single Vote of James Dossa a Cardinal Bishop of O Porto who without hesitation named himself to the great astonishment of the whole Conclave who notwithstanding let it pass so He took the name of John the Twenty second of that name He was of the Country of Quercy the Son of a poor Cobler but very Learned for those times The Succession of the Males to the Crown was established not by any Written Law but by the inviolable Custom of the French nevertheless because in all other Kingdoms and in great Fiefs the Daughters succeeded and that in France of a long time no occasion had been offer'd to exclude them The Friends and Parents of little Jane particularly Eudes Duke of Burgundy Brother of her deceased Mother were on the Watch pretending the Crown belonged to her in case the Fruit of Queen Clemences Womb should come to no Perfection In the mean time they named Philip the Kings Brother for Regent till the time of her delivery Philip V. King XLVII POPE JOHN XXII Elected the 7th day of August 1317. S. Eighteen years and Three Months whereof Five years under this Reign PHILIP V. Called the Long because he was Tall King of France XLVII and enjoying the Kingdom of Navarre Aged Twenty six years Year of our Lord 1316 THe Fifteenth of November the Queen brought a Son into the World whom they named John but he went out of it again eight days after He was buried in St. Denis and in the Funeral Pomp was declared King of France and Navarre Which hath given some occasion to some Modern Authors to increase the number of the Kings of France and to call him John I. Year of our Lord 1317 Then the Dispute touching the Crown was renewed with more heat then before Charles Earl of Valois seemed to favour little Jane and the Duke of Burgundy her Uncle claimed and
Lord 1327 Alphonso of Castille surnamed de la Cerda who had brought some Forces against them was fallen sick in that Country from whence being returned to Court he died in the Village of Gentilly near Paris at the Inn of the Duke of Savoy He had a Son named Charles who was afterwards Constable but the cause of great Mischiefs At the request of the Romans who were troubled that their City was deprived so long of the presence and emolument of the Papacy Lewis of Bavaria had passed the Mountains in Year of our Lord 1324 and the following the year 1324. without coming to any agreement with the Pope Thus these two great Powers set all Italy in a flame the Guelphs and the Gibbelins by their Factions renewing their horrible Tragedies Year of our Lord 1327 France it self felt it in the excessive Levies the Pope made upon the Churches to maintain that War and to revenge himself upon the Milanois the most obstinate of all the Gibbelins and his worst Enemies At the first beginning the King opposed it with vigour but he relaxed as soon as the Pope had permitted him to levy the Tenths upon his Clergy for two years together Thus both the one and the other taught their Successors to share those Sacred Goods between them and gave the Church a Wound which is so far from closing up that it grows wider every day Year of our Lord 1327 Upon Christmas-Eve of the year 1327. King Charles grew sick at the Bois de Vincennes and after he had languished six weeks died at last on the First day of February Aged Thirty four years having swayed the Scepter Six years and one Month. He oppressed the People as his Father and his Brother Philip had done Though Year of our Lord 1328 he were otherwise of a Nature very liberal and gentle and loved to take Counsel of those he thought to have the clearest Judgments and most honesty having ever about him Noblemen and Prelats of known Prudence ☜ He Married three Wives The first was Blanch Daughter of Othenine Earl of Burgundy who being proved faulty he was contented only with a Divorce and chose to cover her Shame under a Sacred Veil The second was Mary Daughter of the Emperor Henry VII who having hurt her self when going with her first Child died with the Fruit of her Womb. The third which was Jane Daughter of Lewis Earl d'Evreux her Uncle had only two Daughters whereof the one named Mary survived her Father but a few years and the other which was Posthumus and was called Blanch Married Philip Duke of Orleance Son of King Philip de Valois REGENCY AS Charles the Fair had no Male Children and that his Wife was pregnant the Regency of the Kingdom and Guardianship or Care of the Fruit to come were given to Philip eldest Son of Charles Earl of Valois and the nearest Male to the deceased King whom it was said had so ordained it in his Testament and last Will. Year of our Lord 1328 in April Two Months afterwards the Queen was delivered of a Daughter she was named Blanch who in due time was Married as we have hinted Thus dried up at the Root and perished the whole Descent of Philip the Fair. Whereupon one might say as a famous Author hath done That the Divine Providence would not permit that those who had sacked the Kingdom by so many Exactions and Violences should have any Descendants that should possess it were it not that the Branch of Valois hath used them yet worse then they had done The end of the First Volume A Chronological Abridgment OR EXTRACT OF THE HISTORY OF FRANCE By the Sieur de Mezeray TOME II. Beginning at King PHILIP de VALOIS and Ending with the Reign of HENRY II. Translated by John Bulteel Gent. LONDON Printed for Thomas Basset Samuel Lowndes Christopher Wilkinson William Cademan and Jacob Tonson Philip VI. King XLIX The Second Part of the Third Race The first Collateral Branch POPES JOHN XXII Near Seven years under this Reign BENEDICT XII Son of a Miller of Saverdun in the Country of Foix Elected the 20th of December 1334. S. Seven years four Months CLEMENT VI. Elected the 14th of May 1342. S. Ten years seven Months whereof Eight years and three Months during this Reign PHILIP VI. De Valois Surnamed the Fortunate King XLIX Aged Thirty six years Year of our Lord 1328 ALthough Edward King of England had been excluded from the Regency during the Queens being with Child he did not hold himself excluded from the Kingdom when that Princess had brought forth only a Girle He agreed most readily that the Daughters could not attain to the Crown of France because of the imbecillity of their Sex neither did he claim it for his Mother but he maintained that the Sons of the Daughters having not that defect were not incapable and that on this score they ought to prefer him being a Male and Grandson to Philip the Fair before Philip de Valois who was but his Nephew Year of our Lord 1328 The Pairs and high Barons were called together at Paris immediately after the death of Charles upon this great Question Both Parties made their private and underhand Interests with all the pains and craft imaginable Robert d'Artois Earl of Beaumont whose Quality Eloquence and Reputation could do a great deal in that Assembly employ'd himself with all his might for Philip as thinking the advantage that Prince would receive by his Interest might be of service to himself in his Cause against Mahaud In fine his vehement Persuasions the force of the Salique Custom very conformable to the Law of Nature and that aversion the French had for the Government of a Stranger obliged the Assembly to preserve the right of the Males and to declare that the Crown belonged to Philip. Edward acquiesc'd in the Sentence and confirmed it by several Acts during some years Year of our Lord 1328 Philip was Crowned at Reims with the Queen his Wife the Eight and twentieth of May upon Trinity-Sunday He was surnamed the Fortunate because Death had taken his three Cousins out of the World to set the Crown upon his Head The Estates of Navarre having sent to intreat he would send them back their Lawful Queen and the King her Husband he granted their just Request having taken the Advice of his Lords whom he called together in Council upon a business of that weight However he still detained Brie and Champagne giving to the Queen of Navarre and her Husband several Lands in exchange which all together were to yield the same Revenue as those two large Counties They were not Crowned at Pampelonna till the Fifth of March in the following year Year of our Lord 1328 Since the time of Hugh Capet there was no Reign so much stained with the Blood of War as this same The beginnings were signalized by the gaining of the famous Battle of Mont-Cassel The great Cities of Flanders had mutinied against their Earl Lewis
Windore Charles Prince of Duras who was likewise of the blood of the Kings of Sicilia and had espoused Mary the Sister of Jane was Counsellor and Author of this infamous act Jane was not innocent well might she lament and sigh her cries and tears signified less towards her justification then her subsequent Marriage with Lewis her Cousin-German a lovely Prince and according to her desires made for her conviction Lewis the Great King of Hungary being come into Italy to revenge the death of his Brother Andrew and to get the Kingdom Treated Charles de Duras in the same manner as they had used King Andrew He would have done the like to the Princess and her fair Husband had they fallen into his hands for which reason she fled away in good time to her County of Provence and her Husband soon after her The Pope shewed her great respect but taking advantage of the extreme necessity she was reduced unto he got from her the City and County of Avignon for which he was to give but Fourscore thousand Gold Florins of Florence but over and besides this bargain he approved her Marriage with Prince Lewis who in requital ratified this sale It belongs to the Lawyers to judge whether the minority of this Queen and the Edicts she afterwards made to declare null all alienations of the Lands in Provence which had been made as well in the Reign of Robert as by her self whilst she was yet a Minor do not make this Contract void and null but the Emperour Charles IV. confirmed it and wholly freed this County from the subjection of the Empire of whom it held as being an Under-Fief of the Kingdom of Arles We ought to know that when the Earls Alphonso de Toulouze and Raimond Berenger of Barcelona married the two Daughters of Gilbert â—arl of Provence and parted his Succession between them whereof Alphonso had all from the Durance to the Lisere with the Title of a Marquisate and Raimond what is from the Durance to the Sea with that of an Earldom they likewise divided the City of Avignon betwixt them and that the Kings of France as Successors to Alphonso de Poitiers Brother of St. Lewis who married the Heyress of Toulouze had enjoy'd the one moity till the year 1290. When Charles the Fair gave it to Charles II. King of Sicilia upon the Marriage of Charles de Valois his Brother with Margaret the Daughter of that King The Lords of Montmorency de Charny and others who commanded the French Forces in Artois and Picardy thinking it might not be amiss to recover Calais during the Truce held some intelligence with Aymery of Pavia a Lombard Captain in that City but the double-hearted Traitor gave ear to them only to surprize them he gave notice of it to Edward who desiring to be of the party passed the Sea with â—ight hundred Men at Arms that this great draught might not break out of the Net so that when it came to be put in execution they found themselves unfortunately caught in the toyl with the Twenty thousand Crown bargain and a thousand select Men whereof One hundred of them who had engaged themselves in a Tower belonging to the Castle and the rest who waited for entrance were charged and cut in pieces after a brave defence In the Month of August of the year 1348. there appeared on the side of Paris a kind of Comet or Star extraordinary Luminous the Sun being not then Set it appeared as not very far distant from the Earth the following night it was thought to be much greater and divided in several Rayes but soon after it disappeared Year of our Lord 1348 France was miserably tormented all manner of ways it had undergone a horrible Famine Anno 1338. and after that the spoil the Soldiers made had caused every thing to be held excessive dear and kept the whole Kingdom in great scarcity This year 1348. A cruel Plague made all the Provinces desolate the Exactions worse then all these Plagues together ruined the People utterly and by I know not what curse the more the Taxes were increased the more indigent was the King Year of our Lord 1348 There never had been any Plague more furious and destructive then that in Ann. 1348. It was universal over all our Hemisphere there was neither City nor Village nor House but was infected It began in the Kingdom of Cathay Anno 1346. by a vapour that was most horrible stinking which breaking out of the Earth like a king of subterraneal Fire consumed and devoured above Two hundred Leagues of that Countrey even to the very Trees and Stones and infected the Air in such manner that there fell down millions of young Serpents and other venemous Infects From Cathay it passed into Asia and Greece thence into Africk afterwards into Europe which it ransacked throughout to the very utmost bounds of the North. The venome was so contagious that it infected by the very sight It was observed to last Five Months in its full force and rage where once it had got footing Those that suffered least by the Sword of this exterminating Angel could hardly save one Third of the Inhabitants but in many places it did not leave above the Fifteenth or the Twentieth person alive Year of our Lord 1348 Money was wanting they set upon squeezing the Officers of the Treasury amongst others Peter des Essards the Kings Treasurer was condemned to the sum of a hundred thousand Gold Florins which was moderated to the half Afterwards to stop the peoples Mouths and daily complaints they chose out for the management of the Treasury two Bishops two Abbots and four Knights and they expelled all the Italian Usurers called Lombards out of the Kingdom The principal Lottery-Money they had lent was taken and confiscated to the King this was but about Four hundred thousand Livres but their Use-Money which was two Millions was remitted to the Owners Year of our Lord 1348 Queen Jane Daughter of Robert Duke of Burgundy being dead in the year 1349 King Philip though he were yet in mourning weeds took fire for Blanch Daughter of Philip King of Navarre He had sent for her to be Married to his Son but he liked her best for himself and did wed her Year of our Lord 1349 There had been for many years a mortal War between the Earls of Savoy and the Dauphins de Viennois The Dauphin Humbert feeble in Body and Courage not able to endure the continual Attaques of Amé VI called the Earl Verd and besides being very melancholy for the loss of his only Son withal over Head and Ears in debt and having no love for his kindred bethought himself of giving up his Countrey to some great potentate who might plague and put the Savoyard to as much trouble as he had put him His inclination was to make an accommodation with the Pope the People could have wished to be under the Government of the Savoyard that they might
Bourdeaux and carried away the King and his Son along with him tg ether with a prodigious number of prisoners Charles the Dauphin Lieutenant then Regent Aged some XXI years Year of our Lord 1356 THere being no Authority left in the Kingdom and the King before his departure having not setled any thing in order all was in a most horrible confusion The Dauphin at the first took only the quality of Lieutenant upon him he believed it belonged to the general Estates to provide for the Government of the Kingdom and the redemption of the King and therefore having called them together at Paris the Fifteenth of October he propounded these two things to them But that hapned then which ever happens in such great disorders where the people have been evilly treated in their prosperity Instead of assistance he met with nothing but complaints and sharp rebukes They would deliberate of nothing in the presence of his Commissioners they demanded to have the Chancellor set aside this was Peter de la Forest Archbishop of Rouen Simon de Bucy First President and six or seven Officers more that had mis-mannaged the Treasury They would have him set the King of Navarre at liberty and would have him be governed and guided by a Council they chose for him upon which conditions they promised to maintain Thirty thousand Men but which should receive their pay from their own hands In the mean time they set up a Council for the Government of the Kingdom whereof Robert le Coq Bishop of Laon was the Chief and Commissioned People that were at their own Devotion to manage the Treasury The Dauphin not being able to perswade them to condescend to any other method nor bias their resolutions made use of some wile to break up that Assembly and upon divers pretences obliged the Deputies of the several Cities to return Afterwards he dispatched others to all the Bailywicks and Seneschals Courts to demand a subsistence of them severally hoping that none in particular would dare to refuse him what when altogether they had boldly denied During this confusion every one imagined now was the proper time to recover their Rights and Priviledges The Nobility began to make Alliance with the Cities The Dauphin found out the way to prevent that union and draw them to himself The Cities on the other hand grew jealous of the Gentry so that to preserve themselves from being pillaged by the Soldiery who had all manner of Licence allowed them they began to fortifie especially at Paris where they chained their Streets repaired their Walls made good their Ditches and enclosed all that quarter of the Street St. Anthoine and St. Pol which before was but the Suburbs Stephen Marcel Prevost des Merchands and Ronsac the Sheriff had full power over the People and govern'd them at their own pleasure Year of our Lord 1356 The unfortunate Gefroy de Harcourt had sold his Lands in Normandy to the English to enjoy it after his decease disinheriting Lewis his Nephew because he would not take up ARms against his own Countrey He had some Forces at St. Sauveur le Vicomte from whence they made their incursions to the Suburbs of Caen and even to Evreux The Estates assembled at Paris had sent four Captains thither to make head against him he marching into the Fields to meet them near the City of Coutances was there defeated and slain had he been taken alive they would have made him pay down his Head upon a Scaffold he chose rather to dye with his Sword in hand The Duke of Lancaster and Philip of Navarre who made War in Normandy with Philip d'Evreux not being able to pass over the Loire to assist the Prince of Wales amidst the danger he was in before the Battle of Poitiers were fallen down into Bretagne The Duke laid Siege to Rennes the Third of December in this year 1356. but Year of our Lord 1356 the place was so well defended that he could make nothing of it in Ten Months time After the example of their Sovereign who had studied more the enlarging of his ☜ power then the publique good every one took care now of his particular interest and overturned all that lay in his way to attain his own ends The Deputies whom the Dauphin had sent into all the Provinces brought nothing back but grievances the only Countrey of Languedoc because they had been less oppressed by Taxes then the rest testified a publique sorrow for the captivity of their Prince and proffer'd to maintain Five thousand Horse for his Service the others refused every thing but what should be ordained by the Estates Year of our Lord 1356 The Dauphin had Commanded some new Money to be Coined but being gone to Metz to confer with the Emperour Charles IV. his Cousin who stood up mightily for the interests of the House of France the Duke of Anjou whom he had left at Paris was compell'd by Stephen Marcel to forbid the carrying it on Year of our Lord 1357 Wanting some publique Authority to get himself to be declared Regent he had summoned the Estates upon the Fifth of February to meet at Paris at the Cordeliers but could obtain no more from them then he had done the former time They forced the Chancellor la Forest to lay down the Seals turned out all the principal Officers of the Treasury caused all their Goods to be seized and inventoried and upon the warm Remonstrances of Robert le Coq Bishop of Laon removed all the Great Officers of the Kingdom even those of the Parliament excepting Sixteen The Dauphin not finding what he reckon'd on Adjourn'd the Assembly till Fifteen days after Easter Whether it were the inconveniency of that time of the year or the greediness and covetous humor of the Gascons each one of them demanding as much reward as if he alone had gained the Battle and taken the King which hindred the English from removing him out of Bourdeaux he passed all the Winter there but Served and Treated as if he had been in his own Courr Year of our Lord 1357 About the beginning of April they transferr'd him into England where he was entertained with as much Honour and Respect as if he had gone over only to pay a kind visit to King Edward They made him a publique entrance at London he was mounted upon a White Horse a mark of Sovereignty and the Prince of Wales on his left hand upon a little Hackney They lodged him in the Savoy palace the King the Queen and the Grandees visited him and gave him all sort of liberty In the mean time the Popes instant mediation obtained a Truce for two years between both Crowns in which John de Montfort and Philip d'Evreux were not comprehended The Duke of Lancaster had sworn not to rise from before Rennes till he had gotten in and planted his Banners upon their Ramparts whist his Army was in apprehension Year of our Lord 1357 of a second Winter and the
which was the selling his Daughter to John Viscount of Milan for Six hundred thousand Gold Crowns in Marriage with his Son Galeas Although the Crown of France and its Sovereignty came to the Eldest wholly and was not to be divided amongst the younger Brothers yet they assigned a share of Lands to them which was entirely theirs which descended to the Daughters as well as to the Sons and which they might dispose of as properly their own Now the King to keep the Body of his Kingdom in more strength and not suffer his great Provinces hereafter to be as it were dismembred by such partage or by any Treaty united inseparably to the Crown the Dutchy's of Normandy and Burgundy Year of our Lord 1361 and the Earldoms of Toulouze and Champagne by Writings made at the Castle of the Louvre in the Month of November in the year 1361. Year of our Lord 1361 In the foregoing Easter Holy-days Death had snatched away the young Philip Duke of Burgundy and in him extinguished the first Branch of those Dukes which had produced Twelve and lasted 330 years He left no Children Margaret of Flanders his Wife being as yet but Eleven years of age and he but Fifteen He was Grandson of Duke Eudes IV. and Son of that Philip who was slain at the Siege of Aiguillon and of Jane of Boulogne who for Second Husband married King John and died the last year Year of our Lord 1361 The Lands belonging to this Prince which came by his Mother returned to the Heirs of that Line which were the County of Artois and the Franche Comte to Margaret Daughter of Philip the Long and the Countess Mahaut and Wife of Robert Earl of Flanders by consequence Grandfather of the Wife this young Duke Poilip had Married Boulongne and Auvergne went to the House of Boulongne as for the Duthcy of Burgundy the Navarrois challeng'd it as being the Son of Jane Daughter of Queen Margaret who was the Wife of King Lewis Hutin and eldest Daughter of Duke Robert Father of Eudes IV. Duke of Burgundy but the King laid his hand upon it as being said he nearer of kindred by one degree being Son of the Second Daughter of Duke Robert whereas the King of Navarre was but Grandson of the eldest Some will say that he did not understand his Rights well and that he should have reaped this Dutchy as he was Sovereign and have maintain'd that Burgundy was a Masculine Fief which reverted to him for want of Heirs-Males Year of our Lord 1361 The Soldiers of all the parties did not evacuate the places without a great deal of trouble and committed the same depredations and Robberies as during the War The Gascons and the Bretons rambled all over Anjou Poitou and Tourain for pillage and plunder and those Bands that were named the Tard-Venus or Late-Comers led by some Gascons having in the same manner treated Champagne Burgundy Masconnis and Lyonnois in a Battle at Brignais near Lyons defeated James de Bourbon Count de la Marche whom the King had given Orders to chastise them for their Thefts after that they divided themselves into two parties whereof one was hired for Money to go into Italy by the Marquis de Montferrat who was in War with the Viscounts of Milan the others fastned on Masconnois and never let go their hold till they were fully gorged like blood-sucking Leeches Year of our Lord 1361. and 62. Those that levy'd the Taxes and Gabelles tormented the People no whit less then the other Robbers The burthen and grievance was so great that infinite numbers of Families quitted France and sought elsewhere for a more easie livelyhood and subjection Such as did know how to secure themselves from all these miseries did not know where to find an Asylum against the Pestilence which for seven or eight years growing worse and worse upon divers returns seized indifferently upon all sorts of People both in City and Countreys There fell by it this year nine Cardinals and Seventy Prelats in the Popes Court and above Thirty thousand People in Paris The Jews were recalled into France for the fifth time another plague added to the Imposts the Pestilence and Famine Year of our Lord 1362 It was the Right or to â—speak properly a practise suffer'd time out of mind amongst the French that they might make War one upon another for their particular quarrels the King forbid it among all his Subjects till all the enemies were quite out of the Kingdom He afterwards added to this Order a prohibition of all Duels Challenges c. as well during the Peace as in time of War Notwithstanding his defence he durst not take notice of the cruel War that was renew'd between the Earls de Foix and d'Armagnac because he feared it might offend the King of England to whom they were Vassals for those Lands in contest between them We had omitted to take notice before how the difference for the Succession of Gaston de Bearn had given birth to this bloody War between these two Houses That Gaston who died Anno 1289. had by Mate Countess of Bigorre four Daughters Constance who married William the Son of Richard of England King of Germany from whom there came no Children Margaret who was the Wife of Roger Bernard Earl of Foix Mate of Gerauld Count d'Armagnac and of Fezenzac and Guillemette of Don Pedro Son of Don Pedro King of Arragon and Brother to James II. That the first and the last left no Children behind them that Gaston their Father by his Testament made them all sharers of the Lands he had in France as well as those in Catalonia and that in case the first dyed without Children he then gave Bearn to the Second who was Countess of Foix. Neither had we observed how Mate Countess of Armagnac finding her self wronged by this Testament had refused to approve thereof That in Anno 1294. Bernard her Son for her Husband Geraud was dead accused the Count de Foix of having falsified it and called him to try it in Combat or Duel in the Court of King Philip the Fair. That by Decree of Parliament in the year 1295. the two parties were admitted to Combat in the City of Gisors but when they were come into the Field the King caused them to be put out again and annull'd the Duel by taking upon him to let them know That this private feud should surcease according to the Law or Rights of the Kingdom during the publique War between the French and the English That the same King in the journey he made to Languedoc Anno 1303. finding he could not bring the parties to an amicable composition made a Decree to settle and regulate their pretensions to which Margaret Countess de Foix her Husband being deceased would not obey That the death of Guillemete the youngest of the four Sisters occasioned new debates and that Philip King of Navarre endeavour'd to determine them Anno 12â—9 by a Sentence of Arbitration
came about twice as many from such as held places in Normandy and Mayne which they sold to go and joyn with him The four bravest Captains he had about him were the above-named Caurelee Eustace d'Auberticour a Hennuyer John Chandois Seneschal of Poitou Thomas Piercy Seneschal of Rochel and Robert Knolles all English To the last of these four he gave the Command of his Forces To the force of Arms the Wise King joyned the power of Religion and Eloquence which can do all things on the hearts of the People He ordered Fasts and Processions to be made over all his Kingdom and sometimes he went himself bare-footed with the rest When at the same time the Preachers made out his Right and Title with the justice of his Cause and the injustice of the English Which had two ends the one to bring back again those French Provinces which had been yielded by the Treaty of Bretigny the other to make those that were under him willing to suffer the Contributions and all other inconveniencies of War The Archbishop of Toulouze alone by his Persuasions and Intrigues regained above fifty Cities or Castles in Guyenne amongst others that of Cabors The King of England would have practised the same methods on his part and sent an Amnesty or general Pardon to the Gascons with an Oath upon the Sacred Body of Jesus Christ to raise no more new Imposts but all this could not reclaim those minds that had bent themselves another way Divers incursions were made by the French into Guyenne and Poitou and by the English into the Neighbouring Countries and in one of them these last took Isabella de Valois the Widow Dutchess of Bourbon and Mother to the Queen of France at her Castle of Bellepeche in Bourbonnois She was afterwards exchanged for the Prince of Wales his Knight The Earls of Cambridge and Pembrook marched even to Anjou and there took the strong Castle de la Roche-sur-Yon from whence they scowred all the Country as they likewise did that of Berry having gained the City of St. Severe which is situate in Limosin upon that Frontier But on their side they suffer'd more loss by far then all this came to the most considerable being that of Chandois who was unfortunately slain in a Rencounter near the Bridge of Lensac in Poitou Besides the ordinary Troops which they called Companies the Lords and Gentlemen often came together and of their own accord drew themselves into a Body for some great Enterprize or else to make Incursion then after such a Riding so they then called it they returned back to their own homes again King Charles had undertaken to raise an Army that should land some Forces in England his Brother Philip was to Command it and they were to take Shipping at Harsleur When he was ready to go on board the Vessels the news was brought him that John Duke of Lancaster King Edwards third Son was landed at Calais and made inroads upon the French Country He was advised to quit his design and turn his force that way Lancaster seeing him in the Field posted himself upon the Hill de Tournehan between Ardres and Guisnes Philip encamps right against him as either to attaque or surround him but before he had been long there grew weary and disbanded his Men. Thus Lancaster had leisure and opportunity to over-run the Country of Caux even to Harfleur and at his return the Country of Pontieu where he took Prisoner Hugh de Chastillon Master of the Cross-bow-men who had seized upon that Country in the name of the King At the same time the Dukes of Guelders and Juliers moved by the Charms of English Sterling Coyn sent to defie the King who soon set up the Duke of Brabant and the Count de Saint Pol to coap with them as taking fire upon some particular Interest There hapned a furious Battle between both Parties at Baeswilder betwixt the Rhine and the Meuse which brought those Princes very low On the one side the Duke of Juliers was slain on the other the Duke of Brabant was taken Prisoner The Emperor his Brother released him and made up the Quarrel Year of our Lord 1369 The Estates being Assembled the Seventh of December granted to the King an Imposition of a Sol or Penny per Liver upon Salt of four Livers upon every Chimney in the Cities and thirty Sols in the Country as likewise upon the sale of Wine in the Country the 13th in Gross and the 4th upon Retail and upon entry at Paris fifteen Sols for every Pipe of French Wine and twenty four per Pipe for Burgundy Wine To which the Cities joyfully consented as knowing these Levies would be well managed and cease again with the War Year of our Lord 1369 The same year 1369. Hugh Aubriot Prevost des Merchands caused the Towers of the Bastille to be built near the Gate St. Antoine the same as we find them at this day Year of our Lord 1370 The first years War had not produced any very considerable event the two Kings prepared themselves with all their might to perform greater matters the second All the four Brothers of France having held Counsel together resolved that the Duke of Anjou and the Duke of Berry should attaque Guyenne that the former should enter about Toulouze in that part that lieth betwixt the two Seas the other about Berry in Limosin and that they should both joyn at Limeges to besiege the Prince of Wales there Year of our Lord 1370 To this effect they thought fit to recal du Guesclin out of Spain where King Henry had bestow'd upon him the Earldom of Molines and the Lands of Soria He came upon the Kings first commands and having joyned the Duke of Anjou took as he was upon his march the Towns of Moissac Tonneins Aiguillon and other Castles less considerable along the Garonne On his part the Duke of Berry made himself Master of Limoges more by his Intelligence with the Citizens and the Bishop who betrayed the Prince of Wales though his Gossip and very good Friend then by his Sword After this the two Brothers knowing that the Prince too Politick to suffer himself to be cooped up had taken the Field discharged their Soldiers Year of our Lord 1370 The King of England on his part had sent the Duke of Lancaster with some Companies of Men at Arms and Archers into Guyenne and given the Command of all his Army about Picardy to Robert Knolls It consisted of above Thirty thousand Men. His march struck a terror through all France even to the Loire for they sacaged Vermandois Champagne and la Brie burnt all round about Paris made the sound of their Trumpets eccho in the very Gates of the Louvre while neither the smoak of those Incendiaries nor the noise of their Martial Musick could move the wise King to hazard any thing nor let one Soldier go out to the Enemy Year of our Lord 1370 Du Guesclin
After all the King coming to know of the capacity of that Duke took the Government of the Province from him and bestow'd it on the Earl of Foix. Whether the King were ignorant of the disposition of the Bretons or thought he could change them he sent for the Lords of that Countrey and screw'd a promise from them that they should assist the Duke of Bourbon and those other Chiefs he would send into Bretagne to execute the Decree against their Duke But the Lords on the contrary sent for him to come thither and stood by him so effectually with their Forces and such as he brought over with him from England that they restored him to most of his Towns This was the greatest and almost the only shock this wise King met with in all his Enterprises He was so transported and sensibly touched that he Commanded all Year of our Lord 1380 the Bretons who should refuse to serve against the Duke to go out of his Kingdom and shewed more severity towards some of them then was agreeable to his nature But this usage did only strengthen the party for the Duke and draw those over to his service that were at that time the ablest Men of the French Armies He durst not even upon this occasion make use of the valour of his Constable who would but unwillingly have drawn his Sword for the destruction of his native Countrey he chose rather to send him into Guyenne to cleer some places from whence the English and certain crews of vagabonds by their connivance foraged the Countrey of Auvergne After the taking of some Castles and beating some of those Bands whilst he was besieging one of them in Chasteau-neuf de Randan between Mendes and le Puy in Velay he was assaulted by a Fever whereof he died the Thirteenth of July his very Name compleated the Work the Besieged surrendred and brought and laid the Keys upon his Coffin The King upon the refusal of Enguerrand de Coucy gave the Constables Sword to Oliver de Clisson Compagnon and Countrey-man of the Deceased no less valiant then the other but very unlikein all things else Unjust Proud Covetous and Cruel Bretagne was then the Theater of War the King had resolved to throw in all his Armies there when he was constrain'd to quit the World and all his Designs Some years before Charles the Bad had caused some poyson to be given him the violence whereof a Physitian belonging to the Emperour Charles IV. had allayed by opening an issue in his Arm to discharge part of its venome that issue being stopt it took his Life away He died in the Castle of Beaute upon the Marne which is beyond the Bois de Vincennes the Sixteenth of September the Sixth Month of the Seventeenth year of his Reign and the Four and fortiethof his Life His Tomb is to be seen at St. Denis his Heart was carried to the great Church of Rouen because he had been Duke of Normandy and his Bowes to Maubuisson and laid by the Body of the Queen his Mother Upon his Death-bed this Wise King could not forget his care for the Kingdom he confirmed the Law concerning the Majority left the Government to Lewis Duke of Anjou his eldest Brother with a Council and the Guardianship and Education of his Son Charles to the Dukes of Burgundy and of Bourbon Commanding them most expresly to take off the Imposts to make some agreement with the Duke of Bretagne if it were possible and to Marry his Son into some potent Family of Germany In all his Conduct there appeared much solidity of Judgment and marvellous clearness of Wisdom and Understanding a great deal of Moderation and Goodness much Frugality and Aeconomy and yet Magnificence and liberality upon occasion He had been carefully bred in the Study of good Learning by Nicholas Oresme a Theologian of Paris and Dean of Rouen whom he made Bishop of Lisieux and indeed he had as much affection for the Sciences and for Learned Men as aversion for Comedians Juglers Buffoons and all those sorts of People who under the pretence of Divertisement corrupt the bravest Souls He delighted to hear the Truth from the Mouths of honest Men and although ☞ he merited the loftiest praises he could hardly endure any and despised them because in all times Courtiers have given the very same both to good and to bad Princes The expences of his Wars did not hinder his Magnificence from shewing it self in the Buildings of the Castle du Bois de Vincennes which subsists to this day and that of the Louvre the other parts whereof we have seen demolished to make room for tho proudest Structure that ever Architecture raised upon Earth but which how great soever it can be shall yet be much less then the King that undertakes it But above all his Virtues the fear of God and zeal to Justice did shine in him to a supream Decree the care of which being the noblest Function of a King he took pleasure in dispensing it himself and very often came to hear the Pleadings in his Parliament where he made them admire his Reasoning and Eloquence speaking so fully to the Subject in hand that there was nothing left for his Chancellour or Attorney-General to say He left considerable Treasures behind him in Lingots of Gold and rich Furniture It is a Problem in the Politiques whether he did well in heaping it up In point of Justice it is none if they may make Millions of People miserable to enrich one single Man And in truth his memory is not exempt from all blame on that side but they throw it upon the Cardinal of Amiens one of his principal Counsellors His Name was John de la Grange an obdurate Soul ambitious and covetous whose great possessions fully demonstrate that he caused the Subsidies to be doubled meerly out of design to enrich himself By Jane Daughter of Peter Duke of Bourbon and Isabella de Valois a Princess much accomplish'd both in Body and Mind he had two Sons Charles who Reigned Lewis who was Duke of Orleans and six Daughters who all dyed very young Charles VI King LII Called by some The Well-beloved King Aged near XII years POPES URBAN V. S. at Rome Nine years One Month during this Reign And CLEMENT VII in Avignon S. Fourteen years during this Reign BONIFACE IX at Rome Elected the Second of November 1389. S. Fourteen years Eleven Months BENNET XII Peter de Luna in Avignon Elected the Twenty eighth of September 1394. S. till his Deposition in Anno 1409. INNOCENT VII at Rome Elected the Seventeenth of Octob. 1404. S. Two years and Twenty two days GREGORY XII at Rome Elected the last of November 1406 till his Deposition by the Council of Pisa 1409. ALEXANDER V. in 1409. S. Ten Months JOHN XXIII Elected the Seventeenth of May 1410. S. Five years Deposed at Constance Ann. 1414. Vacancy from the year 1414. to the year 1417. MARTIN V. Elected the Tenth of November 1417.
for a farther tye toma ke this agreement sure they stipulated the Marriage of a Daughter of the Burgundians with Philip Count de Vertus the Second of the Three Brothers Year of our Lord 1409 The Peace concluded the King returned to Paris and the Burgundian to the Low-Countreys From whence coming again about the month of July he took the whole Government upon him and to give some satisfaction to the People whose affection he had gained in shewing his dislike against Taxes he caused the Council to call the Financiers to Examination and Account The most of them got off for Money but it cost John de Montaigu his Life who had been Sur Indtendant He was a man of mean birth Son of a Citizen of Paris whom the Kings favour without any great desert of his had raised to the Office of Grand Maistre of his House and his Brothers one to the Arch-Bishoprick of Sens the other to that of Paris His immense Riches which never are acquired without crime did blind this little fellow and drew the eyes of all great Men upon him insomuch as he bad married his Son to a Daughter of the Constable d'Albret and his Daughters to the greatest Lords of the Kingdom Though he had been very serviceable in negotiating the Treaty of Chartres nevertheless the Duke of Burgundy and the King of Navarre conspired his destruction because he had given the advice to carry the King to Tours They caused him to be accused of divers hainous crimes taking their opportunity when the King who loved him was in one of his Fits of Folly he was Arrested by Peter des Essards Provost of Paris examined by Commissioners of Parliament and cruelly tormented on the Rack His sufferings could not draw one word from him however his Head was chopt off at the Halles At his death he freely of his own accord confessed his depredation of the Kings Treasure which in it self contains all the greatest crimes The Trunk of his Body was hanged on a Gibbet his Head planted upon a high Pole Afterwards the Vicount de Lionnois had interest enough to re-abilitate his memory and having caused the Body to be taken from Montfaucon with an honourable convoy or attendance of Priests and Torches carried it to the Celestines Church at Marcoussy which he had founded Year of our Lord 1409 At this examination of the Officers it was ordered that all the Receivers should Account before the Earls de la Marche de Vendosme and de St. Pol and that till the had so done nothing should be allowed without Receipts and Vouchers The Treasurers were likewise all put out and the management thereof was given to some Citizens who were esteemed rich and less interessed Thus the Princes strove to gain the affection of that Queen of Cities For the same reason they renewed all their former Priviledges and the Provostship of Marchants of which they had till now only given them the keeping and they also granted them but to such only as were Natives the priviledge of holding Fiefs with the same Franchise as any Gentleman The Kings sorrow was very great when upon his recovery he heard of the death of Montaigu whom he had tenderly loved But there being no way to recall things past he would consider of what was to come Having therefore assembled the Grandees of the Kingdom he told them that he desired when he was at any time ill the Queen should take cognisance of Affairs and upon her default the Dauphin Duke of Guyenne whom he discharged from being under the conduct of his Mother but would that he should Govern with the Councils of the Dukes of Berry and of Burgundy This last usurped all the Authority Year of our Lord 1409 Whilst the Mareschal de Boucicaut was gone to Milan to receive that State under the Kings Protection and Government for John Galeazo chose this rather then that of the Marquis de Montferrat and Facin Can de l'Escale who had halfe subdued it the Marquiss to prevent him in it had caused the Genoese to rise up in Arms by means of the Gibbeline party They massacred all the French within their City forced the Cittadel and called him in to be their Lord but soon after they threw him out as they had done Boucicaut Year of our Lord 1409 Maugre the fulminations of the two Anti-Popes Maugre the Councils each of them had called Gregory in the Patriarchat of Aquilea and Benedict at Perpignan that Assembly which the Cardinals of both parties had summoned was open'd at Pisa the Five and twentieth of March. The Anti-Popes having been cited to appear there and all the Forms observed the Substraction was first order'd then they declared Schismatiques and Hereticks and Faculty given to the Cardinals to elect another Their Suffrages agreed in favour of Cardinal Peter Philargi called of Candia because a Native of that place He was named Alexander V. During the Schism Ladislaus King of Naples had seized upon Rome and the Lands of the Church which was the cause why the Council and the new Pope Alexander more willingly invested Lewis of Anjou with that Kingdom and gave him the Command Year of our Lord 1409 of Lieutenant-General of the Church In the beginning he had good success regained all the places that Ladislaus had usurped and drove him out of Rome but the end was not alike Year of our Lord 1410 The Eighteenth of May or according to others the First of June the Emperour Robert dyed at Oppenheim in Bavaria The Electors divided into two parties whereof one elected Sigismund de Luximbourgh King of Hungary the other his Cousin Josse Marquis of Moravia This last dying soon after all the Suffrages joyned for Sigismund Alexander V. had been a Cordelier Frier upon this consideration he granted a Year of our Lord 1410 new Priviledge to the Four Orders of Mendicants to Administer all the Sacraments in the Parishes and receive the Tythes iâ— they were bestow'd on them The University of Paris much offended at this Novelty retrenched all these Orders from their Body unless they would renounce this Bull. The Jacobins c ..... and Carmelites who found themselves feeble obey'd this Decree The Cordeliers and the Augustins remaining refractory were deprived of the Pulpit and Confessional of which the Jacobins made advantage as the Cordeliers had done upon their being in disgrace Pope John XXIII revoked all these Priviledges and reduced all things to the same condition they were in before We find amongst Historians that in these times there were many bloody Battles fought betwixt Birds of all sorts even amongst the smallest as Sparrows and amongst the domestique ones which proceeded from certain minute Bodies spread in the Air which pricked and irritated them in such measure as provoked and Year of our Lord 1410 pushed them on to discharge their anger upon one another This year 1410. in the Countrey of Hainault the Storks were observed to League with the Hernes and Pyes
the Fortunate Islands a little Island which they named Madera because it was full of Wood or Materials fit for building From thence steering along the exteriour coasts of Africa they there discover'd several large Countries and in time sailed to the East-Indies which till then were unknown at least those parts towards the Sea Pope Martin and after him his Successors bestowed upon the Portugals all those Lands by them discover'd or to be discover'd from the Cape which lies at the end of Mount Atlas to the Indies When the King of England had sojourned some weeks at Paris he laid Siege to the City of Meaux the only place the Dauphin had left upon the Rivers of Seine and Year of our Lord 1420 Marne After a three Months brave defence the Besieged capitulated the ninth of May the Inhabitants had their lives and liberties but all the Soldiers were sent Prisoners to divers places where they let them cruelly perish for hunger The Bailiff named Lewis de Gas had his Head cut off in the Halles at Paris The City taken King Henry went into England to draw over a new supply of Men and Money So great was the fondness of the French for the Conquest of the Kingdom of Naples that Lewis Duke of Anjou forgetting those disasters of his Father and Grandfather and abandoning his own Country to the mercy of the English suffers himself to be cajolled by the promises of the Pope and Sforza who called him to dispossess Queen Jane a Princess lost in her Reputation by her continual Galantries Year of our Lord 1421 or Amours The Affairs of Lewis being in a pretty good posture in that Country Alphonso King of Arragon who held the Island of Sicilia undertakes the protection of Jane she having adopted him her Son Sforza does reconcile himself to her and in a word there was nothing left for the poor Angevin but the way to walk home again Year of our Lord 1421 One of the first seeds of division between the English and the Duke of Burgundy was about Jacqueline Countess of Hainault Holland Zealand and Friseland After the death of John Dauphin of France they had Married her to John Duke of Brabant Son of Anthony and Cousin German to Duke Philip but the young Gossip not being satisfied with her second Husband a Man of little merit prosecuted for a Divorce and consederated with some Captains to carry her away as it were by force into England where she Married Humphrey Duke of Gloucester Brother of King Henry This undertaking turned much to the contempt of Philip who besides observed that the English began to treat him with more pride and endeavour'd so to settle their affairs as they might have no further need of him Year of our Lord 1421 The War was very hot in every Province on this side the Loire particularly in Champagne Picardy and in the Countries of Perche Maine and Anjou The Duke of Clarence Brother to King Henry having got together eight or ten thousand Men went and besieged Bauge in Anjou John Earl of Bouchain a Scot and the Mareschal de la Fayette marched to its relief gave him battle and won it He was slain upon the place with two thousand of his Men the rest escaped through the Country of Mayne into Normandy This Earl of Bouchain had brought three or four thousand Men from his own Country to the Dauphins service in recompence he gave him the Constables Sword Year of our Lord 1421 The Field being clearly left to the French the Dauphin accompanied with his new Constable and the Duke of Alenson regained some places in the Countries of Perche and the Chartrain In the mean time Henry being come back from England with a great reinforcement and in a rage and fury for the defeat and death of his Brother did endeavour all that was possible to meet with the Dauphin He marched by Chartres and Chasteaudun lodged in the Suburbs of Orleans and not meeting him in the Field but a violent Dysentery that took off three thousand of his Men he falls upon the City of Dreux which being surrendred upon Composition he goes to rest himself at Paris and sends over his Queen who was great with Child to be deliver'd in England Year of our Lord 1421 Whilst he lay at the Siege of Dreux an honest Hermit unknown to him came and told him the great evils he brought upon Christendom by his unjust ambition who usurped the Kingdom of France against all manner of right and contrary to the will of God wherefore in his holy name he threatned him with a severe and suddain punishment if he desisted not from his Enterprise Henry took this exhortation either for an idle whimsey or a suggestion of the Dauphinois and was but the more confirmed in his design Year of our Lord 1422 But the blow soon followed the threatning for within some few Months after he was smitten in the Fundament with a strange and incurable Disease the acuteness of its pain made him go to Senlis to seek for cure The Queen his Wife was a while before this returned out of England having brought forth a Son to whom they gave the same name as his Fathers Both she and her Husband made their entry with great splendour into Paris and kept open Court at the Louvre upon the Feast of Pentecost each Crowned with their Royal Diadems but the People that went to see the Ceremony had cause to regret regret the liberalities of their ancient Kings and detest the niggardliness or pride of the English who gave them none of their good Cheer nor did vouchsafe to profer them one Glass of Wine The Dauphin in the mean time had besieged the City of Cosne on the Loire and the place had capitulated to surrender if they were not relieved by a prefixed day with an Army able to give them battle The Duke of Burgundy got a great number of Men to go thither the Dauphin being informed of his march did not think fit to stay for him but raised his Siege Year of our Lord 1422 The King of England though already indisposed was gotten into his Litter that he might be present at this memorable Action While he was at Melun his distemper encreased so much that he could proceed no further but made them bring him back to Vincennes where he died the eight and twentieth day of August He had only one Son who was named Henry he left him to the education of the Cardinal of Winchester his Uncle who bred him in England gave the Government of that Kingdom to the Duke of Gloucester and the Regency of the Kingdom of France to John Duke of Bedford to whom he recommended above all things to give content to the Duke of Burgundy never to make any Peace with the Dauphin unless Normandy were yielded to be left in full Soveraignty to the English and not to release those Prisoners that were taken at the Battle of Azincour till his Son were
Orange and from thence into the Franche-Comte from whence he was conducted into Brabant The Duke of Burgundy received him as the Son of his Soveraign and assigned him twelve thousand Crowns for his use and the Castle of Gueneppe within four Leagues of Bruxels for his oridinary Residence Year of our Lord 1457 Whatever noble Reception and Entertainment he met with in that Country he had not been long there before he sowed division between the Father and the Son having gained the Lords of the House de Crouy who governed the Father and countenancing and abetting them against the Son who could not endure them The first year of his sojourning there they brought Charlotte of Savoy to him to Consummate his Marriage by whom a Son was born about three years afterwards who died Year of our Lord 1456 The Kings wrath discharged it self upon John Duke of Alenson the Dauphins God-father This Prince returning from Dauphine where he had been to brew some Intrigue with his God-son and having contrived I know not what League with the English to make some disturbance in favour of them was seized and imprisoned in the Castle de Loâ—hes Year of our Lord 1457 In the year 1457. as it is usual after a long War to squeeze the Finances of what they have sucked in during the publick Calamities the King called those to account who had managed the Treasury One John Xancoins Receiver General convicted of misdemeanour and of having detained sixty thousand Crowns was banish'd for ever his Goods consiscate and the fair Houses he had built bestowed upon the Count de Dunois Year of our Lord 1458 Two years after the imprisonment of the Duke of Alenson for it required all that time to find out proofs the King convened his parliament and his Pairs at Montargis to make his Process They laboured three Months in it he being at Baugency The business not going on with that expedition as he desired he removes the Assembly to Vendosme where he intended to be present At last by a Sentence of the Tenth of October they condemned the Duke to lose his Head and confiscated all his Estate The King gave him a pardon for his life but took the best of his Lands and sent him back Prisoner to Loches Year of our Lord 1458 The Twenty sixth of December of the same year was the last of brave Arthur's days Earl of Richmond Constable of France who had likewise been Duke of Bretagne a year and an half by the death of Peter the Simple second Son of his eldest Brother He had no child and so the Duthy went to Francis his Nephew Son of Richard Earl of Estampes his younger Brother Charles of Anjou Earl of Mayne had the Office of Constable The same year the Twenty seventh of June Alphonso King of Arragon and Sicilia pass'd into the other World At his death he left the Kingdom of Naples then called Sicilia on this side the Fare to Ferdinand his Natural Son Rene of Anjou finding this a fair opportunity to pursue his right against him before he could be well setled sent John Duke of Calabria his Son into those Countries This Prince guided by the destiny of his Predecessors had very prosperous beginnings and an unfortunate end Year of our Lord 1459 Since the taking of Constantinople the Duke of Burgundy had for two or three times made shew as if he would employ his Forces and Person against the Insidels We may fee in Oliver de la Marche the Vows which he and the Lords in the Assembly of Bruges made on the Peacock at a stately Banquet all this vanish'd into Air together with the Wine and Mirth of the Feast Year of our Lord 1459 As little did Pope Pius II. this was Aeneas Sylvius succeed in his Project which was to unite and engage all Christendom against the Turks In order to which he had convened a General Assembly at Mantoua where appeared Ambassadors from all Soveraign Princes and the War was resolved upon with great designs but without any effect The French Ambassadors returned but ill satisfied the Pope not condescending to favour Rene in his pretence to the Kingdom of Naples but threatning to Excommunicate the King upon the score of the Pragmatick whereupon John Dauvet Attorney General of the Parliament made Protestations and appealed to the future Council Year of our Lord 1458 and 59. The Duke of Tork had for the second time vanquish'd and taken King Henry Prisoner afterwards Queen Margaret with the aid of the Scots slew that Duke in Battle and deliver'd her Husband but Edward Son of that Duke having brought other Forces tried fortune once more and defeated the Queens Army under the Walls of York Then Henry being fled into Scotland and Queen Margaret into France he was Crowned King in the year 1461. This was the first Act of the Tragedy between the Houses of York and Lancaster that of York wore the White Rose and Lancaster the Red. Year of our Lord 1460 and 61 It was now thirteen years that the Dauphin had been absent from the Court his Father sent often for him which he cared not to obey he often called upon the Duke of Burgundy to send him back telling him he nursed and hugged a Serpent which when well warmed in his Bosom would one day make him feel his mortal Sting He sometimes proceeded even to threaten the Duke and stirred up divers of his own People against him who finding himself so harrass'd sent at last a smart Message desiring him to consider whether he would maintain the Peace of Arras or not For this time therefore the King left him quiet but two years after his Counsel or his own Resentment pressing him he was about to go and fetch him with an Army However he changed his mind again and thought it were better punish him by advancing Charles his second Son to the birth-rights of eldership according to the power the Kings of the first and second Race had had Which no doubt he would have put in execution had not the Pope strongly dissuaded him or perhaps if he could have had time enough to dispose the minds of the French Nation to admit of such a change Year of our Lord 1461 While he was at Meun on the Yeurre in Berry he had notice that his Domesticks had plotted to take away his life The poor Prince after that thought he saw nothing but poyniards and poyson His apprehensions were so great that not knowing from what hands he might take his food without danger he refrained from eating some days after which it was not in his power when he would have done it to swallow any thing So that he died of hunger the Two and twentieth of July about the midst of his Sixtieth year and near the end of the Nine and thirtieth of his Reign Never Prince had greater Traverses or more potent Enemies nor overcame them more gloriously After he had driven those out of France that
d'Imbercourt They likewise called in the Bishop of Liege the Duke of Cleves and the Son of the Count de St. Pol. They were all divided about the marriage of the Princess Ravastein desired to have her married to his Nephew the Son of the Duke of Cleve The Chancellor Hugonet and the Lord d'Imbrecourt to the Dauphin and the Gauntois to some German Prince The Deputies from these were gone to the King of France in behalf of the States of Flanders and said they had full power to negociate a Peace The King shewed them maliciously some Letters from the Princesses Council which mentioned the quite contrary Their brutish Pride believed the Council plaid upon them and prompted them immediately to revenge As soon as they were return'd to Gaunt they laid hold on Hugonet and Imbercourt made Process against them under pretence of some concussions and cut off their heads not being moved with the humble Prayers and Intreaties or the abundant Tears of their Princess who with dishevel'd Hair came to the place of Execution to Implore the Lives of her two faithful Servants With the same fury they took away Ravastein and the Dutchess Dower from her gave her a Council of their own chusing and drew Adolph of Guelder out of Prison to command their Forces Ever since the War for the Publick Good the King had always had a Mortal desire for revenge against James de Armagnac Duke of Nemours This Lord after the Death of the Count d'Armagnac had retired himself into the strong Castle of Carlat in Auvergne in the year 1476. Peter de Bourbon-Beajeu had order to take him He could not have compassed it by force he makes use of fraud giving his Faith he should have no hurt yet nevertheless he brings him to the Bastille About seven or eight Months after the Parliament had orders to proceed against him Those men of honesty could not find any thing charged upon him sufficient to make him Guilty the King sends them to Noyon the 20 th of June to teach them their Lesson and put out of their places such Counsellors as refused to conclude he deserv'd Death The rest returning to Paris Chancellor Peter Doriole presiding they condemned him the 4 th of August to lose his Head and the same day the Sentence was put in Execution The King would have his two Sons who were yet but Children stand under the Scaffold that their Fathers Blood might run down upon their Heads Year of our Lord 1477 The Flemmings and the Duke of Bretagne earnestly Sollicited the King of England not to suffer the Heiress of Burgundy to perish without assisting her but the King amuzed him still with the Marriage of the Dauphin to his Daughter and spared neither Presents nor Pensions to all that were about the King who besides was over-burthned with Fat too much addicted to his pleasures and who feared dangers greatly because he had greatly suffer'd His Brother George Duke of Clarence having medled too much in his affairs or for some other cause which was never known fared but very ill he caused him to be drowned in a But of Malmesey In these times Oliver le Daim the Kings Barber who made himself a man of great importance had taken a Commission to reduce the City of Gaunt thinking he had much Credit amongst them because he was a Country mans Son of those parts The Gauntois baffled him as he deserved Retreating thence he by surprize got the Kings Forces into Tournay that from thence he might molest the Flemmings The Gauntois having taken Arms went Head-long to attack this place But they were ill handled and Adolph de Gueldres killed in their retreat This was about the beginning of July Year of our Lord 1477 It had been their design that he should Marry the Princess who very glad to be so deliver'd from him resolved in fine to determine which to take of the many that aimed to get her She therefore chose Maximillian Son to the Emperor Frederic to whom she had plighted her Faith in her Fathers Life time The Marriage was Consummated at Gaunt about the end of July He was so poor that his Wife was forced to be at the charges for the wedding for his Equipage and the maintenance of his Servants At first she got no advantage by a Husband who had no assistance from his Father very covetous nor his Uncle Sigismond rich enough in money but of a very poor Spirit Nevertheless upon the consideration of his Father who was Emperor the King being entred into some Conferences with him found it fit to grant him Truce for a year and to restore to him Quesnoy Bouchain and Cambray which were in the Territories belonging to the Empire Others say they drove out the French Garrisons and rendred themselves to Maximillian The Lord de Craon this was George de la Trimoville who commanded the Kings Army in Burgundy treated the Prince of Orange ill and did not restore him to his Lands as the King had promised notwithstanding he had express orders This was the cause that the Prince joyned himself again with Claude de Vaudrey and some other Noble-men of the Country and led away almost all the Province from him It is true that the Battel he afterwards lost nigh Montguyon brought back the Dutchy but the War did not end there as to the County Amongst other events the Lord de Craon shamefully raised the Siege before Dole The King was so angry that for this and his plundrings he set him aside and put Charles d'Amboise Chaumont in his place This man laid the foundation of the first League which the Kings of France have had with the Swisse He stipulated that the King should give a Pension of 20000 Livers yearly to the Cantons and as much to some particular people for which they should furnish him with six Thousand men to be paid by him and should give him the first Rank amongst all their Allies at which they made some difficulty because the Duke of Savoy had ever held it The Truce being expired Maximillian caused some Forces to enter Burgundy who more by the Factions of the People that regretted their ancient Princes then by their own proper strength took Beaune Chastillon Bar Semur and divers other places with so great facility that if the Emperor Frederick had assisted his Son never so little he had at that time re-conquered all the Dutchy The Lord d'Amboise who had money and men in abundauce chased them almost as easily out again as they gotten in and thereupon the Truces were renewed for some Months The Kings of France had for a long time had a good number of Gentlemen Pensioners to attend and to Guard them King Lewis encreased the number and gave them a Captain ✚ His impatience to know speedily all that passed in every part of his Kingdom was the occasion of setling the Posts and Couriers who for a long time were only for the Kings Service Italy had divided it self in
could he by going a long way about get entrance into the Castle del Ovo again From thence he descended again into the City with his Sword and Flambeau in Hand and strugled mightily to recover it but the Revolters opposed him with Retrenchments and Barricado's which they wrought upon with so much diligence both Night and Day that they coop'd him in the Castle This hapned at the same time as the Battle of Fornowa After three Months Siege and continul Skirmishes Montpensier wanted Provisions and was informed at the same time that the relief which was coming from France by Sea meeting with great Storms was driven to Legorne and there dispersed In this extremity he capitulated with the Enemy to deliver up the Castles in a Months time if he were not relieved In the mean time he bethinks himself but very late to send to Aubigny to dravv all his Forces together and come to disengage him Aubigny could not go in Person being yet sick he sent Percy who cut four thousand of the Count de Matalonas Men in pieces near Eboli Ferdinand vvas so much dismay'd that he had thoughts of Flying but the Neapolitans and the Colonnas whom fear of Punishment had made desperate labour'd so much as to make him change his Fear into Year of our Lord 1495 a Re-assurance Percy coming thither found their Intrenchments so well guarded that he could not approach the Castle whereupon he returned to Nola. Mean while Stephen de Vers whom the King had made Duke of Nola being gone into France did earnestly sollicite they would provide for the maintaining of that Kingdom the Ambassadors from the Florentines the Cardinal of Saint Peters c. and Signor Trivultio joyned their Intreaties and the French even those that had advised against the first Attempts for this Conquest declared all with one Voice that it now concerned the Honor of the Nation to preserve it and not suffer the Great Monarch of France to be braved by those Bastards of the House of Arragon Every one desired this excepting those that managed the Affairs particularly the Cardinal Briconnet who either by intelligence with the Pope or out of Sloath and Cowardize hindred the rest from acting The King might be angry with them if he pleased nothing went forward Year of our Lord 1496 The importunity of those Lords who were engaged in the Kingdom of Naples the reproaches of the French and those of his own Conscience obliged the King to resolve upon a new Effort for the Affairs of Italy He parted from Tours where he left the Queen his Wife came to Saint Denis to take his Farewell of the Holy Martyrs advanced to Lyons and gave out his Orders every where then when it was believed he would have passed the Mountains he returned Post to Tours whither the Charms of one of the Queens Maids attracted him as it were per-force These grand Preparations amounted to six Vessels loaden with Provisions and Men for Cajeta Year of our Lord 1496 Ludovic had perswaded the Emperor Maximilian to enter into Italy to embrace the Defence of Pisa which he thought by this means to get into his own Hands Upon this Expedition it was that the Pisans pull'd down the King's Statute to set up the Emperors in its stead As for the rest of this Enterprize no more then in all his others he showed neither Valor nor Perseverance and to speak the Truth he minded no more but only to make his Musters compleat that he might get the Pay and then drew off again like a Hireling The French Affairs declined from Bad to Worse Aubigny was Sick still Percy marr'd his greatest Success by his unsufferable Pride the Germans Mutined for want of Pay and the Garrisons were quite unfurnished And to compleat these Misfortunes Montpensier suffers himself to be shut up in Atella by three Armies of Venetians Spaniards and Arrogonians and for want of Provisions capitulated to Surrender the whole Kingdom in one Month. The other Chiefs especially Aubigny and Guerre refused to obey him in the execution of this Infamous Treaty As a Punishment for this Stubborness Ferdinand banished both him and all his Soldiers into the Maritime Countries where the Pestilential Air destroy'd most of them Of five thousand Men he had with him hardly did five hundred escape and Montpensier himself died at Puzzoli of Sickness or of Poison From Atella Gonsalvo passed to Calabria reduced Manfredonia and Cosenza and Besieged Daubigny in Gropoli That generous Captain defended himself so bravely that he made an honourable composition they gave him leave to carry back his Forces into France with Colours Flying but the surrender of Cajeta was comprehended in it Nothing was left the French of this glorious and suddain Conquest but a villanous Disease which cannot handsomely be named The Spaniards having gotten it in the Islands of Florida where it is almost Epidemical had brought into and infected the Kingdom of Naples with it the Women whom they had spoiled with this Venome communicated it to the French Year of our Lord 1496 Before Cajeta was Surrendred King Ferdinand Died and Frederic his Uncle ascended that mournful Throne with the good wishes and acclamations of all his Subjects Ferdinand King of Spain his own people called him so and the French in railery John Gipon made an Inroad towards Narbonna in favour of Ferdinand King of Naples Charles d'Albon Saint Andre Lieutenant for the King in Languedoc did not only repress them but in ten hours forced the City of Salses in sight of their Army The Spaniards fearing they might draw the whole burthen of the War upon themselves entred into a Conference which towards the end of the year produced a Truce for some Months Year of our Lord 1497 Several designs were set on foot and divers means considered and projected for the recovery of the Kingdom of Naples sometimes to receive Hommage and Tribute of Frederic at other times to agree with the Pope who was Lord of the Fief then to begin with the Milanois and give the conduct to the Duke of Orleans To this purpose Levies were made amongst the Swiss and the Cavalry advanced as far as Ast but the Duke refused that employment Several consultations were held afterwards some resolutions taken but no effects though the several and various interests of the Italian Princes did call every day for the Kings return and opened the Gates wide enough for his re-entrance Year of our Lord 1498 But his Health hourly diminishing as well because he was of a washy constitution and had loved the Ladies too much or perhaps some slow working poyson given him by the Italians made him lose the relish of all these Conquests nay even of those amongst the Beauties so that he now thought of nothing but how to lead a quiet and Christian life He therefore turned himself wholly towards God and applied himself to the reforming of his State He heard the complaints and causes of his Subjects
Honorable of those People in the Town-Hall and pardoned their Crime in the name of the King The other Cities were Taxed but according to their faculties and at such moderate Sums that they were rather Subsidies then any punishment Year of our Lord 1500 The apprehensions the King had of Maximilian hindred his Forces from drawing out of Milanois to go about the Conquest of Naples Whilst he was treating to renew the Truce with him he sent a Party of them under the conduct of the Lord de Beaumont to subdue the City of Pisa in favour of the Florentines and another Party commanded by Yves d'Allegre to Caesar Borgia to assist him in turning out the Vicars of Romandiola As for Beaumont having been beaten off upon three assaults at Pisa finding his Swiss Mutined and the Florentins not very diligent in supplying him with provisions as they had engaged to do he leaves that City at Liberty and takes his march towards Milan Borgia without striking one blow drew into his Nets the Cities of Pesaro and Rimim Fayano maintained a Siege three times but at the last their courage failed and it Surrendred But this was not till the year after The protection which the King granted to Bentivogle and the Florentins kept him from laying Hands likewise Year of our Lord 1500 upon Bologna and Pisa as he had a great mind to do This year the 25th of February on St. Mathias day Charles Son of Philip Arch-Duke of Austria and of Jane of Spain Daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella came into the World and near the same time the little Prince Michael went out of it as it were to yield up the Birth-right to him This Michael was Son of Isabella eldest Sister of Jane and Wife of Emanuel King of Portugal who died before her Child The Pope gave Emanuel permission to Marry the Third who was named Margaret Year of our Lord 1500 The Centenary Jubilé ended this fourteenth Age. After it had been Celebrated at Rome Alexander sent it into the Provinces and made use of this Pious juncture to animate the Christian Princes to league themselves against the Turks who in favour of Ludovic had made cruel irruptions in Friuli Whilst the Venetians were employed in the Milan Wars and withal had taken from them the City of Modon and Coron in Peloponese It seemed as if Heaven invited the Christians to this enterprize for during the Years 1500 and 1501 all Germany and the Low-Countries saw the shapes of Crosses of all Sizes not only in the Air but likewise on their Cloathes especially on their Linnen as their Shirts Night-caps Napkins and Sheets They were of a confused Colour and most times appeared Bloody and could not be scowred out with Soap but vanished by little and little So many Authors of those Countries testifie this Prodigy that it may be believed without too much Credulity Nor would it be an impossible thing to deduce some reasons for it from ordinary causes And we may boldly say that they were so disposed by the Soveraign Master of the Vniverse who fore-seeth all things that the effects which they produce though they be purely natural may however when they draw our Eyes to consider the singularity of them with attention forewarn us of his Holy will or presage what is to come King Lewis had strength enough to have Conquer'd the Kingdom of Naples without help And yet he was so ill advised as to share it with Ferdinand King of Arragon and thus allowed of a Partner with him in Italy where he was absolute Master Ferdinand's division was Puglia and Calabria the King had Naples Terra del'Avoura and Abbruzzo Ferdinand had for a long time devoured all that Kingdom in his hopes for he pretended that Alphonso the Great Brother of John his Father could not give it to Ferdinand his Bastard but he concealed this desire of his with a profound dissimulation in so much as although he had shared in the Spoil of the unfortunate Frederic he still made a shew as if he would assist him thereby to have the fairer opportunity to oppress him To this purpose he sent the great Captain to him who under pretence of securing some places of safety for a Retreat upon occasion made them give him two or three of their best Towns which he detained when the Treaty with the French came to be declared Year of our Lord 1501 In order to this Conquest Daubigny the Count de Gajazza and the Valentinois commanded the Kings Army by Land Philip de Cleves Ravestein commanded that by Sea which rendevouz'd at Genoa Frederic having no aid but from Fabricia Columna Constable of the Kingdom did make no long resistance When the French had forced Capoua where seven or eight Thousand Persons were Massacred and Naples and Cajeta terrified at the cruel fate of that City had afterwards surrendred he came to a Treaty with Daubigny and Nemours whereby he agreed to give up all those Towns in the division made for the King within six days They suffer'd him to keep the Island of Ischia for six Months to retire whither he pleased and to take away any thing out of the Castles of Naples excepting the Cannons belonging to Charles VIII Being reduced to this condition having no Kingdom and his relation Ferdinand having betray'd him under colour of assistance he thought he had no other game to play but to cast himself upon the Kings mercy He had a safe conduct given him to go into France where he was received with much Humanity and obtained a Pension of thirty Thousand Crowns which was continued to him even after the French were driven again out of Naples In the French Army there were a great many young Princes and Lords that went Volunteers Amongst others Lewis eldest Son of Gilbert Earl of Montpensier It is related of him that going to pray to God over his Fathers Tomb at Puzzeoli reflecting in his thoughts upon the miseries he had endured and the deplorable manner of his Death his blood was so moved thereby that he was put into a Feaver of which he Died at Naples thereby demonstrating that to be a false belief and observation That Love ever descends towards our Posterity but never ascends to our Parents Gonsalvo on his side had as little trouble in Conquering the other part of the Kingdom Frederic had put his Son Alphonso into Tarenta which he thought impregnable having left the care of his Son and of the place to the Earl of Potentianne and Leonard Bishop of Rodes These two Captains finding no hopes of Succours capitulated in good time and promised to surrender the place in four Months Had they held it but six the quarrel that happened between the French and Spaniards had saved it and with it their young Prince This surrender compleated the Conquest of the Kingdom Gonsalvo had sworn to that young Prince upon the Holy Eucharist that he would give him the liberty to retire whither soever he pleased yet
after all he detained him and sent him into Spain to Ferdinand who indeed treated him with much more humanity then he could expect after so much Treachery Year of our Lord 1501 This War ended Rauestein went with the Fleet against the Turks King Ferdinand though he were entred into the League refused to send his Ships The want of good intelligence between the French and the Venetians turned this expedition to their great shame The French having Attaqu'd Metelin's Capital City in the Island of the same name lost a great number of their Brave Men there at their return a Tempest horribly shatter'd them and such as were forced into the Islands belonging to the Venetians found them a more faithless and ruder Enemy than the Turks Year of our Lord 1501 Above all things the King desired the Alliance of Maximilian that he might have from him the Investiture of the Dutchy of Milan About the end of September the Cardinal George d'Amboise who was called the Legate the Pope having given him that Commission in France went upon that Errand to wait upon him in the City of Trent with a stately Equipage his Train consisting at least of Eighteen Hundred Horse The Emperor demanded with great instance the freedome and release of the Sforza's he agreed to that of the Cardinal Ascagnia and had his word reciprocally for a prolongation of the Truce and the Investiture but which should be only for the Kings Daughters not for the Sons Year of our Lord 1501 He made this exception because he ardently desired to have the Kings Eldest Daughter and that Dutchy in Dowry for Charles his Grand Son The Arch-Dukes Ambassadors being come to the King at Lyons that Marriage was agreed upon the Tenth of August it was again confirmed by the Arch-Duke and Jane of Castille his Wife in the Month of November in their passage thorough France into Spain They were magnificently received at Paris the Arch-Duke took his Seat in Parliament in quality of Pair of France The King and Queen entertained them at Blois Fifteen days together and caused them to be conducted to the Frontiers with all imaginable honour even with the power of granting Pardon in every City they passed thorough Year of our Lord 1502 The limits for the division of the Kingdom of Naples had not been well express'd there soon arose a Debate for the Country called Capitanata of very great importance because of the Toll for Cattle which were brought thither to Graze in Winter the French would have it to be a part of Abbruzo the Spaniards of Puglia From words they proceeded to blows the Spaniards more haughty although the weaker began the brawl in several places The two Generals the Duke of Nemours and Gongales conferring together concluded a Cessation to bring the controversie to an amicable composure but the Spaniards soon broke it again by divers Acts of Hostility In so much as the King who was then at Ast sent to the Duke of Nemours a command to make down-right War upon them since they had already violated the Peace two several times He was gotten into Italy to endeavour and take care for the preservation of his Dutchy of Milan and the Florentins his Allies and suppress the horrible Tyrannies of Coesar Borgia called the Duke of Valentinois For as to the former Maximilian had broke the Truce the Swiss threatned him with an irruption into the Milanois unless they might have Bellinzzone setled upon them which was already in their hands and the Venetians did openly enough show their hatred against him And for the latter there was a League made betwixt the Vitellozzi the Vrsini John Paul Baillon and Pandolphus Petrucci to restore Peter de Medicis to the Signory of Florence as for Coesar Borgia he brought all the Petty Princes of Italy into dispair not sparing the King of France's Allies Year of our Lord 1502 From all parts there came complaints to the King of the violent proceeding and enormous Treacheries of that Man nevertheless being as politique as wicked he knew how to appease his anger by constraining Vitellozzi with grievous Menaces to Surrender up the Towns to the Florentins and by this means gained so great Credit and Interest at Court that the King believing him a very necessary instrument for his Affairs renewed the Alliance with Alexander VI. which drew the hatred of all Italy upon him and perhaps the Curse of God with ✚ whom it is impossible to be well whilst we joyn in Society with the wicked Whilst he was in Lombardy the Genoese invited him to honour their City with his Presence He made his entrance in great Pomp the Six and Twentieth of August and after he had tarried there Ten days returned into France The War in Naples and settlement of that Conquest which seemed almost perfected required him not to have left Italy so soon but he relied on the Truce which he thought was certainly consented to by Maximilian though indeed it was not concluded In a short time the Spaniards were driven almost out of all the places of Capitanata Puglia and Calabria and Goncales found himself shut up in Barletta without Provisions or Ammunition The War had been at an end if the Venetians had not speedily furnished him or if d'Aubigny had been believed he would have brought the whole Army to have forced him there but the Duke of Nemours divided them most unluckily into several bodies to besiege the other Towns and in the mean while Gonsales wisely timing his Affairs recovered himself Year of our Lord 1503 The Arch Duke with his Wife repassed thorow France conferred with the King at Lyons and treated an accommodation touching the business of Naples by which it was agreed that Charles the Son of Philip but one year old should be Married to Claude the Kings eldest Daughter which Queen Anne very passionately desired that for her Dowry she should have the Kingdom of Naples that in the mean time the Kings should enjoy their Divisions and that the Country which was in Debate should be Sequestred in the hands of the Arch-Duke The Ambassadors from Ferdinand his Father in Law whom he brought with him and Year of our Lord 1503 who were fully impowred Signed this Treaty and swore to it submitting themselves to Excommunication in case it were violated the Heraulds proclaimed it and the two Princes sent notice of it to their Generals The Duke of Nemours obey'd but Gonsales refused to submit to it unless he had an express Order from Ferdinand A reinforcement of two Thousand Germans which he had newly received from Maximilian the assurance he had that the Pope and the Venetians declined the Kings interest and the Information given him that four thousand French which were set on Shore at Genoa had disbanded by the failure of the Treasurers who believing the Peace was concluded had kept back their Pay raised his courage and he assured himself of being owned provided his success deserved it Till then the
French had the advantage but fortune turned her back upon them on a suddain the King neglecting to make the necessary provision relying upon the Arch-Dukes faith and the Spaniards recruiting his Forces during this mock-Peace Besides all this the rashness of the French Generals who imprudently engaged the Enemy and fought with more of fury then conduct lost all d'Aubigny who ought to have drawn things out in length and waited the French Supplies made hast to fight the body of their Army Commanded by Hugh de Cardonna Emanuel de Benavide and Antonio de Leva This was on the one and twentieth Year of our Lord 1503 of April near Seminara in Calabria and in the same place where a few years before he gained a memorable Victory he now met a contrary fate His defeat did in some manner oblige the Duke of Nemours to try his fortune and endeavour to vanquish Gonsalvo before this General should be joyned with the victorious Army He fought him near Cerignoles in Puglia the eight and twentieth of the same Month and had yet more misfortune then d'Aubigny for he was slain upon the place and d'Aubigny had made his escape to Angitola 'T is true he was immediately besieged there and in few days forc'd to capitulate and agree that all his Men should quit that Kingdom himself remaining a hostage till that were fully performed After this Gonsales had nothing that could hinder him from going whither he would Naples open'd her Gates to him the thirteenth of May and received him with acclamations of Joy the French Soldiers that were there retiring into the Castles The Cities of Capoua and Aversa followed the example of Naples Amidst this grand revolution the constant fidelity of Peter Caracciole Duke of Malfy deserved singular commendation he refused all the advantageous conditions which Gonsales proffer'd him and chose rather to lose all his Lands and go out of that Kingdom with his Wife and Children then to be wanting in his Faith to the French The Chasteau Neuf or New-Castle did not hold out long Peter de Navarre having made a breach by springing of a Mine the Garison was so astonished at this unknown new-thunder which burst out of the Earth that they surrendred Year of our Lord 1503 upon composition a Day before the Arrival of the Kings Navy which brought two Thousand men and a great quantity of all sorts of provisions The Castle del'Ovo held three Weeks longer and was likewise taken by the same invention You may therefore observe that in this War Peter de Navarre a Soldier of Fortune bearing the name of his own Country taught them the way of filling a Mine with Gun-Powder to blow up their Walls whether of his own invention or rather he bringing it to greater perfection For it was said that he had seen it practised by the Genoese at Serazenella when they besieged it upon the Florentins in the year 1487. where the Mine having only crackt the Wall because it was not deep enough nor enough charged they had laid aside this invention as of little use or effect But that he having observed their mistakes and the cause why it miscarried corrected them and had found the way to make them very useful There yet remained several places in possession of the French as Aquilea and the Rock of Evander some others in Abruzzo and Venouza in Puglia where the brave Lewis d'Ars and the Duke of Malfy had put themselves in after the Battel of Cerignoles Also Rossana Matelona Sanseverina and two or three other Cities belonging to the Lords of the Angevin Faction still held for the Party And as the Battel of Cerignoles was rather a rout then a defeat Yves d'Alegre had carried off four thousand Foot and four hundred Men at Arms whom he had quartered about Cajeta to refresh themselves This place being strong and withal a Sea-Port to receive Succours from France Gonsales went and laid Siege before it to shut up that back door d'Alegre immediately put in all the men he had left him and defended himself well enough till the Arrival of the French Army The Arch-Duke at his parting from Lyons was gone to visit the Duke of Savoy his Brother in Law He was not afraid upon the receipt of all this news to return to the King at Blois This was a great Testimony of his good conscience and integrity or a very bold and confident dissimulation He omitted nothing that might seem to justify him sent away immediately to Gonsales and wrote earnestly to his Father in Law In fine he demeaned himself so fairly that the King believed he acted with sincerity and prayed him not to apprehend that he would tax him with it For if his Father in Law had committed a piece of Treachery he would in no wise act like him but would rather a Kingdom should be lost which he was able to regain then to lose his honour which can never be retrieved Year of our Lord 1503 In the mean time Ferdinand would not yet clearly discover his intentions to his Son in Law he designed to hold him in suspence that he might hold the King so too lest he should make hast to relieve the Castles of Naples and Cajeta which still held out But when Philip had made known to him by a Courier that he should not leave the Court of France till he had fully satisfied the King in this matter he sent ambassadors thither who diowned his proceedings as having exceeded his Commission which however was not true And after this thinking to gain time by new Forberies they made a new proposition which was to surrender the Kingdom to Frederic but the King would hear nothing from a Prince in whom there was no Faith and commanded them to depart the Kingdom As for the Arch-Duke he treated him still civilly and suffered him to return into Flanders Year of our Lord 1503 That this affront might not rest upon France the King had resolved to shock Ferdinand with all his might and power And to this purpose he set four Armies on Foot three at Land and one for the Sea The greatest of the Land Armies commanded by la Trimoville and composed of eighteen thousand Foot and near two thousand Men at Arms were to recover the Kingdom of Naples and the other three to attack Spain The first commanded by the Lord d'Abret and the Mareschal de Gie were to make an irruption towards Fontarabia this consisted of five thousand Foot Swiss and French and about one thousand Men at Arms. The second conducted by the Mareschal de Rieux almost twice that number had order to enter by Roussillon The third was a Naval Army who at the same time were to scower the Coasts of Catalongne and of the Kingdom of Valentia and take care that nothing should be convey'd from Spain to the Kingdom of Naples Year of our Lord 1503 La Trimoville who was upon the march with his Forces moved slowly for most part of the Italian Lords
he had scraped together in his Hereditary Estates and amongst the People of the Low-Countries in superfluous Expences was with much ado got thither upon the earnest Sollicitations of the Pope who desired to have him in Italy to Counter-ballance the Power of the King He assigned him a day whereon he was to be at Guardia which is on the Confines of the Valley of Trent and Milanois to discourse with the King but because in the mean Time the Inhabitants of Treviso had denied Entrance to a Governor whom he sent thither and set up the Venetian Colours he made his Excuse upon this fresh Accident that he could not be at the Rendezvous This resistance of Treviso made the Venetians find they had with too much hast abandoned what they possessed in the Terra Firma This grain of Hope and Comfort dispell'd their fear Maximilian's slowness gave them time to take breath and their Courage began to rouze after they had by repeated Supplications the meanest and most abject that can be imagined mollified the Pope so much as to admit and hear their Ambassadors whatever Instance or Arguments the Emperors and the Kings could urge to the contrary But nothing was so favourable to the Recovery of their Affairs and to the Ruine of the Emperor as the Kings departure who notwithstanding promised to assist him with five hundred Men at Arms for whilst he neglected to take Order for the preserving his Places and minded not to gain the Affection of the People nor Curb and keep them in Awe by strong Garrisons they had partly per-force partly by Surprize regained the most important City of Padua This was about the time the King returned into France Year of our Lord 1509 The Emperor who had none but vast Designs had projected to besiege Venice and crush that Republick in the very Head but this was neither the Popes nor the Kings intention but by delaying it too long he had not the opportunity to do it the King and Ferdinand having called home their Naval Forces Besides it concerned his Reputation to recover Padua in which the Confederates but particularly the French assisted him pursuant to the Treaty of Cambray He laid Siege to it with six and thirty thousand Foot 1800. Men at Arms and a thousand light-Horse but there were in the Town twelve thousand Foot two thousand Horse two hundred Sons of Noble Venetians Volunteers every one of them resolved to be buried in a City the preservation or loss whereof decided the Fate of the Republick And indeed they defended themselves so bravely that the Emperor decamped the seventeenth day of the Siege and having disbanded almost all his Troops retired greatly inraged with the Confederates Nevertheless a more strict Alliance between the King and him was again cemented he wanting his Assistance to get satisfaction of Ferdinand who kept back all the profit of the Administration of the Kingdoms of Spain They both referr'd this difference to the Councel of France which ordained that Ferdinand in case he had no Children should have the Administration of Castille but should annually pay fifty thousand Ducats to the Emperor and as much for the maintenance of the Pupil Year of our Lord 1510 In the mean time his Holiness was reconciled to the Venetians notwithstanding the Kings and the Emperors remonstrances and took off their Excommunication having imposed what Conditions he pleased upon them He was daily more and more alienated from the King and every Hour forged some complaint or other against him for things of no consequence and most commonly without any just Grounds On the contrary the King sought all means and opportunities to regain his Good-Will but his Care and good Offices proved ineffectual as to that purpose his Holiness creating him Enemies in every Corner For at the same Instant he solicited the Swisse against him by his Instrument Matthew Schiner Bishop of Sion whose vehement Harangues moved and agitated that Savage People as a Storm of Wind blows the Leaves He likewise animated the Young King of England Henry VIII who mightily dâ—sirâ—d to signalize his Name and Advancement to the Crown by some Glorious Enterprize To which he was likewise prompted by Ferdinand his Father in Law who desired to embarass the King fearing he should tear the Kingdom of Naples from him Henry's Father was dead the Year before about the one twentieth of April A small occasion of Interest served to bring Julius into the Field Alphonso Duke of Ferrara had some Salt-pits at Comachio and the Pope was in possession of those of Cervia This last had wont to vend his Salt in Lombardy but Alphonso Year of our Lord 1510 had treated with the King to furnish him at a much cheaper Rate Now Augustin Ghisi Farmer of the Popes Salt-Pits having complained of it to his Holiness he commanded the Duke to break off this bargain with the King and upon his refusal began to make War upon him with design as it appeared to embroil the King and have an occasion to quarrel with him The Swisse on their Side sought to make some brawl they demanded some old Debts and an Augmentation of their Pensions of twenty thousand Livers yearly It had been no more then â—his Summ alone all the time of Lewis XI and now was raised to sixty thousand The addition they pressed for was not considerable considering the great danger they could put Milan into but they proceeded in such an insolent manner that the King believed himself obliged in Honour to refuse them He would also let them see that he could do well enough without them having engaged the Vallies of Sion and the League of the Grisons to his Service They were so offended at this his slighting them that they devoted themselves entirely to the Pope under this specious Title of Defenders of the Holy See for a thousand Florins Pension for each Canton The Lord de Chaumont Governor of the Milanois going to the Assistance of the Ferrarois drove the Venetians out that Dukes Country and by the taking of several Places brought their former Terror again upon them Thereupon the â—ive and twentieth day of May died at Lyons George d'Amboise the wise and prudent pilot of France a Minister without Covetousness or Pride a Cardinal with one single Benefice who having no other aim for Riches but to encrease the Publick Store heaped up for himself a Treasure of Benedictions to all Posterity Every one mourned him excepting Julius who alone rejoyced for having ascended the Holy Chair as he had done by Steps not altogether Canonical he apprehended lest if the King had become strongest in Italy this Cardinal might have made his Process and degraded him for it It might be thought that his hatred being now no longer enflamed by that Object should have extinguished of its self but on the contrary being now freed from those Fears which somewhat daunted him it broke forth with all its Violence and yet without any ill Effect for that
the prospect he had of what would be squander'd and wasted in Luxury and vain Prodigallity by Francis I. after his death he sighing said Ah! we labour in vain this great Boy will spoil all Two Male Children he had by Anne of Bretagne died in the Arms of their Nurses There were only two Daughters left Claude who was married to Francis I. and Renee who in Anno 1528. was by that King married to Hercules Duke of Ferrara a petty Prince whom he made choice of purposely that he might not be able to contend with him for the Dutchy of Bretagne FRANCIS I CALLED The Great KING AND THE Father of Learning King LVII Aged XX Years and about four Months POPES LEO X. near seven Years under this Reign ADRIAN VI. Elected the 4th of January in the Year 1522. S. 1 Year and above eight Months CLEMENT VII Elected the 29th of November 1525. S. 10 Years and above 10 Months PAUL III. Elected the 13th of October 1534. S. Years and one Month whereof 12 Years and a half under this Reign Year of our Lord 1515. in January THis is the third time in the Capetine Race that the Scepter for want of Male-Children in the direct Line passes in a collateral Line Lewis I. Duke of Orleans had two Sons Charles who was Duke of Orleans after him and John who was Earl of Angoulesme Lewis XII was the Son of Charles and from John came another Charles who was Father of Francis I. who succeeded to Lewis XII He was crowned at Reims the five and twentieth of January and took the Title of Duke of Milan with that of King of France When this Prince appeared on the Throne in the Flower of his Youth with the Meene and Stature of a Hero with wonderful dexterity and address in all the noble Exercises of a Cavalier Brave Liberal Magnificent Civil Debonnaire and well Spoken he attracted the Adoration of the People and the Love of the Nobility and indeed he had been the greatest of Kings if the too high Opinion of himself grounded upon so many fair Qualities had not inclined him to suffer himself to be entangled in the Snares of Women and the Flatteries of Courtiers who corrupted his Mind and made it spend its self most in outward vain Glory and superficial appearances His first Cares were to seek the Alliance and Amity of the Princes his Neighbours The King of England taking yet to Heart the Infidelity of Ferdinand his Father in Law continued the Peace with him on the same Conditions as he had made with his Predecessor and to last during both their Lives The King sent back Queen Mary to him who afterwards married the Duke of Suffolk The Arch-Duke likewise being thereto obliged by the Flemmings who in no wise would have a War with France and besides judging there might be danger to let things stand without any Colligation between France and England sent the Count of Nassaw Ambassador to him who after he had rendred the Homage due for the Counties of Artois and Flanders treated a perpetual confederation between the two Princes Year of our Lord 1515 The Band and Knot that was to tye this fast was the Marriage in future of his Master with Renee the Queens Sister It was stipulated under terrible Oaths and great pains of refusal on either Part for which Francis stak'd down the Faith of several great Lords and twelve of his best Cities for security The Conditions were six hundred thousand Crowns of Gold and the Dutchy of Berry for her and for her Children That she should renounce to the Succession of Father and Mother namely to the Dutchies of Milan and Bretagne and that the King should be engaged to assist the Arch-Duke with Men and Ships to go and take Possession of the Kingdoms of Spain upon the Death of Ferdinand his Grand-Father It would have been very easie also for the King to have confirmed the League made by his Predecessor with the Venetians but Ferdinand refused the continuation of the Truce unless upon the same Conditions as the last which was that he should not meddle with or touch the Dutchy of Milan Which the King not having accepted of the said Ferdinand the Emperor the Swisse and Sforza Duke of Milan made a League which imported That to compel the King to renounce that Dutchy the Swisse should attack France by the way of Burgundy That in order to it they should receive three thousand Ducats Monthly from the other Confederates and that King Ferdinand should fall with a powerful Army into Guyenne or Languedoc The Pope for whom they had left room in this League did not enter till the Month of July when he found that the King who had kept this design conceal'd all the Winter marched in good earnest to pass the Mountains Upon his access to the Crown he supplied the Offices of Constable and Chancellor with two Persons whereof one caused great mischiefs to France in this Reign only and the other was the occasion of such as were felt then and perhaps may last to all the following Ages He gave that of Constable to Charles de Bourbon who afterwards stirred up great Troubles against him and that of Chancellor to Antony Duprat at that Time first President of Paris who to furnish the Prodigal and conquering Humor of a young King with Money suggested to him the Sale of Justice by creating a new Chamber of twenty Counsellors in the Parliament of Paris and so proportionably in all the others to augment the Tailles and lay new Imposts without waiting the Consent or Grant of the Estates as was the ancient Order and Practice of the Kingdom Year of our Lord 1515 All the Apparel for War being ready the King went to the City of Lyons where he staid some time till Trivulcio and the Lord de Morete with the Mountainers whom the Duke of Savoy had sent to them could find a Passage over the Alpes for his Troops which were arrived in Dauphine For the Swisse who had posted themselves at Suza and those Parts hindred their way by Mount Cenis and the Mount of Genevra which begin both in that Place The Popes Army and that belonging to Ferdinand were encamped on the other side of the Po towards Piacenza and Parma and Prespera Columna had come and lodg'd himself with a thousand Horse in Villa Franca which is within seven Leagues of Saluzzes where he thought himself very secure When with incredible difficulty and by meer strength of Arms Trivulcio had made them sling and hoyst the Artillery over the tops of the Mountains and from thence with no less toyl let them down again in the Country of Saluzzes the King's Forces passed the Alpes at Dragonniera Roquepavier and other Passes which are nigh Provence La Palice who was passed one of the first having correspondence Year of our Lord 5115 with some Inhabitants of Villa-Franca used so much Skill and Celerity that he surprized Prospera as he was sitting down
to the King but he judged it was not convenient for his Majesty to enter into it 〈…〉 had the Castle likewise which he ordered should be Besieged by the 〈…〉 and Peter de Navarre As soon as he came first into Italy the Pope had feignedly begun to Treat with him After the Battle of Marignan he was in so great haste thorough fear that he treated without disguise not waiting the Resolutions of the Swisse Diet nor the Emperors who earnestly conjured him not to do so Amongst other Articles the King took into his protection his Person the Ecclesiastical Estate Julian and Laurence de Medicis and the Estate of Florence obliged himself that from that Time forward the Milanese should be furnished with Salt from Cervia consented free Passage should be allowed for the Vice-Roy of Naples Forces to retire promised not to assist or protect any of his Feudataries against him Reciprocally the Pope was to withdraw the Soldiers he had sent to the Emperor against the Venetians and surrender Piacenza and Parma to the King and Modena and Reggio to the Duke of Ferrara The Constable not relying solely upon the Success of those Mines with the which Peter de Navarre had vaunted to take the Castle of Milan in a Month made use of Money which does its effect more certainly then Gun-Powder and corrupted some Captains so that they began to Mutiny The Swisse Cantons assembled at that time at Zuric were just sending away a powerful Relief to Sforza and the Pope who had not yet concluded his Treaty would not have failed to joyn his Troops and those of Naples but Moron who was all the Councel the unfortunate Sforza had persuaded him to make a Composition with the King He yielded him all his Rights to the Dutchy conditionally he should have a certain Summ of ready Money to pay his Debts thirty thousand Ducats Pension to be paid him in France or given him in Benefices with a Cardinals Cap and several other Conditions for his Servants and such as had been of his Party The Treaty signed he came out of the Castle and was conducted into France by some Lords little bemoaned for being fallen from that high Degree of Soveraignty because the exravagancy of his Mind and his more then brutish Vices had rendred him unworthy of it The Castle being surrendred nothing more opposed the Conqueror Hugh de Cardonna with Ferdinand's Army retired to the Kingdom of Naples and the Pope dissembling his displeasure for the restitution of those Places he had been obliged to make went to Bologna to confer with the King face to face He arrived there the nineteenth of December and the King two days after On the Morrow he rendred him Obedience his Chancellor Antony du Prat pronounced the Words bare-headed and on his Knees the King standing by cover'd Year of our Lord 1515 confirmed them by bowing his Head and Shoulders After that they lock'd themselves up for three Days together in the Palace There it was that the young King for vain hopes and by the Advice and Counsel of his Chancellor condescended to abolish the Pragmatick and to make the Concordat Whereby the Pope conceded to the King the right of nominating to Bishopricks and Abbeys in all the Territories of the Kingdom of France and Dauphine and the King granted to the Pope the Annates of those great Benefices upon the foot of their currant Revenue which were augmented above the one half since the discovery of the Indies The Holy Father very free of other Folks Money made him a Present of two Tenths upon the Clergy and the Title of Emperour of the East But the King refused the last At the same Time the renewed Alliance with the Swisse was concluded notwithstanding the Contrivances of the English It was upon these Conditions That they should serve France with and against all excepting the Pope the Emperor and the Empire That they should surrender the Valleys of Milanois That the King should pay them six hundred thousand Crowns and should continue to them their Pensions Five of the Cantons did at that time refuse to Sign to this Year of our Lord 1515 When the King had taken Care for the security of Milan where he left the Constable with seven hundred Men at Arms and ten thousand Foot Soldiers he parted from Bologna the fifteenth of December and by great Journeys came to his Mother and his Wife who staid for him at Lyons Year of our Lord 1516 His happy Progress and his new Alliances kindled the greater jealousy in the Emperor King Ferdinand and the King of England his Son in law in so much as they 〈…〉 common Consent to make a War upon him both in Italy and France at the 〈◊〉 time To which the King of England was inclined with the more heat and â—â—erness as being incensed for that the King hindred him from governing the young King and the Kingdom of Scotland by such People as were dependant on him But as they were taking their Measures for this Design it hapned that King Ferdinand as he was going to Seville died in the little Village of Madrigalet the two and twentieth of February of a Dropsy occasioned by a Beverage which Germain his Wife had given him to enable him to get Children Guichardin making his Elogy says there was nothing to be reproved in him but his not observing or keeping his Word and that as for the Avarice they reproach him with it was manifest at his Death he was not stained with it because he left but very little Money in his Coffers He adds that this Calumny proceeded from the corrupt judgment of Men who more applaud the Prodigality of a Prince which oppresses and grinds his Subjects then the good Husbandry of One that thriftily manages their Substance as a good and careful Father of his Family ought to do He left the Government of Arragon to his Bastard Son Bishop of Saragossa and that of Castille to Francis Ximenes Cardinal Bishop of Toledo His Daughter Jane was Distracted still and shut up in a Castle where she clambred along the Walls and crawled up the Tapistry Hangings like a Cat. Four Months after on the six and twentieth of June John d'Albret who might have made some stirrs in the Kingdom of Navarre whence Ferdinand had turn'd him out ended his Days in a Village in Bearn Catharine de Foix his Wife survived him but eight Months Their Son Henry aged but fourteen years inherited the Title of that Kingdom of which he had nothing left him but the little Parcel on this side of the Pyreneans Year of our Lord 1516 The Death of Ferdinand gave King Francis the opportunity and desire of marching his Armies into the Kingdom of Naples which in this juncture was half revolted He imagined that Charles having need of him for a Passage that he might go and take Possession of the Spanish Dominions and withal being under the apprehension of some trouble in the Succession to
Earl of Valois had hitherto desired it The Swisse denied Francis their Intercession with the Electors the Pope pretended to favor him but he was not either for one or other Year of our Lord 1519 of these two Princes because they were too Potent and if he recommended Francis it was to get the Suffrages from Charles and by this Intrigue to turn their Eyes and Thoughts toward some other German Prince The Electors for the same reason were in suspence a good while at the beginning the Palatine Triers and Brandenburgh seemed to be for Francis and the latter promised to gain the Archbishop of Ments his Brother likewise But when he had singer'd his Money and it came to give their Votes Ments pleaded stoutly for Charles and Brandenburgh seconded him Triers kept his Word The reputation of his Victories in Italy spake advantageously for the King and the War the Turks threatned Germany withal ought to have made him more considerable then Charles who had as yet done nothing and promised but little more But he was not of the German Nation besides the more he seemed to merit the more they feared he would reduce the German Princes to a low condition as his Predecessors had reduced those of France and if there were apprehensions of oppression on either Hand it did not appear so visibly on Charles's side nor seem to be so neer in likelihood from him who was five years younger then the other and of no very promising Genius In fine upon all these considerations and with three hundred thousand Crowns brought even a year before into Germany and not distributed but to good purpose Charles carried it and was elected at Francfort the twentieth of June being at that instant in Spain whither he was gone almost two years before Though King Francis set a good face upon it yet this refusal went to his Heart and he could not but imagine that Charles being Master of so many great Estates would revenge the Injuries done to his Grand-father and those of the House of Burgundy For this reason he applied himself with more care to gain the friendship of the Pope and the King of England but the Pope followed Fortune and invested Charles with the Kingdom of Naples notwithstanding the constitution of his Predecessors which forbid that the said Kingdom and the Empire should be in the same Hand Year of our Lord 1520 The election of Charles of Austria hastned the enterview of the King and Henry of England This was done in the Month of June between Ardres and Guines The two Kings equally Pompous and Vain made their magnificence appear to the highest profusion Francis expended more there then the Emperor did at his Coronation and put his Nobless to great inconveniences who ever imitate their Princes but more readily in their Excess then in their Wisdom This enter-view was called the Camp of Cloath of Gold After they had saluted each other on Horse-back they went into a Pavilion erected expresly with two or three Ministers of State belonging to either King and there talked a few Moments about their Affairs That done they left the care thereof to them and spent ten or twelve days together in Feastings and Turnaments at Nights Francis returned to Ardres and Henry to Guines Before they parted they confirmed their Treaty by solemn Oath upon the the Holy Communion which they received together But soon after Francis who too credulous built already on the Amity of the English might plainly perceive what stress he was to lay upon so jealous and so inconstant a Foundation Charles V. coming from Spain by Sea to the Low-Countries that from thence he might go to Aix to take the Crown passed first over into England and saw Henry with less splendor and perhaps more Fruit then he For the King of England promis'd him that in case any Difference hapned between him and Francis he would be Arbitrator and declare himself Enemy to him that would not stand to his Award or Judgment His Intention was not to joyn with either the one or the other but to keep himself in the midst and be sought to by them both giving them to understand that he could make the Ballance sway to that side he turned to As he seemed to point out to King Francis at their late enter-view at Ardres where over his Tent Door he had caused the Figure of an Archer to be placed with these Words He that accompanies or joyns with him is Master This was the Method he used all his Life The two and twentieth of October Charles was crowned at Aix la Chapelle and assigned a Diet at Wormes for the Month of January following In the mean time not staying for the Judgment of of the Assembly being at Colen he condemned Year of our Lord 1520 Year of our Lord 1520 Luther's Books to the Fire as Heretical but this so hasty proceeding he made more Friends and Defenders then Enemies In revenge Luther without respect either for Pope or Emperor was so confident as to burn the Book of the Decretals which he asserted to be contrary to the Word of God in several Passages he had extracted from them Year of our Lord 1520. 21. The Spaniards grew angry that their King had left them to go into Germany andbesides they could not endure the Government of the Flemmish for after the Death of that memorable Cardinal Ximene he left the Administration of Affairs to the Lord de Chevres They complained that those Strangers heaped up all their fairest Pieces of Gold and that they took into their Hands or sold the greatest Offices and the richest Benefices amongst others the Archbishoprick of Toledo wherewith the Lord de Chevres had provided his Brother Some Grandees of that Country who thought to do their business in the absence of a Prince whom they esteemed of little Courage kindled the Fire and made a League which they called la Sancta Junta Toledo and the greatest Cities came into it and the Chief Officers that commanded their Forces were John de Padillia and Antonio d'Acugno Bishop of Zamora They had a Design of giving the Kingdom of Arragon to Ferdinand Son of that Frederic that died in France and to make him come in with some Colour would marry him to Jane the Frantick Mother of Charles V. whom they siezed upon but whether he doubted the event or stood upon the Honor of keeping his Faith he rejected the proposition and would not stir out of the Castle where Charles V. had left him In the mean while the Vice-Rois of Castille and Arragon with the rest of the King's Servants having armed themselves against the Rebels lopp'd off by little and little the Branches of that Party and then fell'd it almost quite down by the defeat of their united Forces and the deaths of Padillia and the Bishop both slain in that Battle Now whilst the Vice-Rois had drained the Garrisons of most of the Places in Navarre to defend
forth with Bag and Baggage and all their Galleys and Vessels that were in Port. He made his entrance upon Christmass-Day Year of our Lord 1523 The Grand Master Peter de Villiers-l'Isle-Adam to whose conduct and Heroick Vertue the greatest Honour of this Generous defence was due setting Sail with his Knights and four thousand of the Inhabitants as well of that as of the Islands depending on it retired to Candia where he Winter'd From thence he went to Sicilia and three months after to Rome the Pope giving those Knights his City of Viterbo for their Retreat Six Years after in Anno 1530. they placed themselves in the Island of Malta The Emperor bestowed it upon them to cover his Kingdom of Silicia and they accepted it with the consent of all other Christian Princes in whose Territories their Order had any Lands or Possessions Year of our Lord 1523 The loss of Rhodes being partly occasioned by Pope Adrian's Fault it concerned him in Honour to repair it Therefore upon that consideration and to make his name glorious he employ'd all his cares to procure a Peace or at least a Truce betwixt all Christian Princes that so they might make War upon the Insidels with their united Force Francis would yield to nothing but a Truce and that a very short one this did not sute with the Popes designs So that not being able to overcome him by his Exhortations nor by the threats of the English nor upon the consideration that he made himself odious to all Christendom he would needs bring him to it by Force and thus of a Common Father he became a Partial and open Enemy Prompted with this Spirit he acted so powerfully with the Venetians that he broke them off from his Alliance and made a League with them the Emperor and the King of England to thrust him out of Italy The King had therefore all the great powers of Christendom against him nevertheless his passion to recover Milan did so over-rule his mind that he was resolved to go thither in Person at the Head of his best Men had not the Conspiracy of the Duke of Bourbon which he happended to discover kept him back And though this did strangely embarass him yet he sent Bonnivet thither with an Army For divers years past Madame had sought all opportunities of doing some displeasure to Charles de Bourbon and the Chancellor and Admiral employed themselves most willingly to gratifie both her passion and their own For Bonnivet Year of our Lord 1523 imagin'd if he could ruin him he should have the Connestables Sword and the other had a secret grudge against him for having denied his Family some Favour in Auvergne It did not satisfie Madame that she had deprived him of the Chief Functions of his Office and hindred his Marriage with Renee the Kings Sister she had process against him likewise in Parliament to strip him of the Dutchy of Bourbon and the other great Estate of Susanna his Wife who Died without Children in the year 1521. The Succession whereof as she pretended did belong to her as the next Heiress Indeed she was Daughter of Margaret and Philip who was Lord of Bresse and afterwards Duke of Savoy and that Margaret who was Daughter of Charles I. Duke of Bourbon and Sister to Peter who had the same Dutchy after John II. his Brother and was Father of this Susanna above mentioned As for Charles de Bourbon he was Son of Gilbert Earl of Montpensier who was Son of Lewis Uncle of Duke Peter and by consequence he was farther removed than she But besides that he made it appear by very ancient Titles by Solemn Judgments and Decrees and by many Examples that the Lordship of Bourbon was a Feif Masculin he shewed likewise how in his Contract of Marriage with Susanna he was acknowledged the right Heir of that House and as for the other Estate there was a mutual donation between him and his Wife by vertue whereof he enjoy'd it 'T is true that Susanna was then in minority and not authorized by the Judge but she was authorized sufficiently by the presence of King Lewis XII the Cardinal d'Amboise and four or five and twenty Princes Bishops and Eminent Lords He believed his cause would have been very good in any other times and against any other Party But as soon as they Commenced this process he imagin'd it was before resolved and concluded and that he must Infallibly be cast before Judges who were all Creatures of Madame's or of the Chancellor And this last Affront which reduced him to extream inconveniences blinded him so with rage and revenge that without any consideration of what he was and what he might come to be he casts himself into the Emperor's Arms having Treated with him by the assistance of the Lord de Beaurien Son of Adrian de Crovy Count de Rieux The King of England came into this Treaty It imported That all three were to share France betwixt them That Bourbon should have the Ancient Kingdom of Arles with the Title of King and as a Seal to this Alliance the Emperor should give him his Sister Eleonor who was the Widdow of Emanuel King of Portugal Bourbon had a particular pretension of his own Head to Provence because Year of our Lord 1523 Rene Duke of Lorrain had yielded up the right he had to Anne of France the Mother of Susanna and Anne by her Will and Testament had given it to him Now while the King was at St. Peter le Monstier on the Confines of Nivernois and Bourbonnois two Normand Gentlemen Matignon and d'Argouges Houshold-Servants belonging to the Connestable discovered all their Masters correspondence to him He would needs be satisfied from his own Mouth saw him in the City of Moulins and told him his whole mind The Connestable owned that he had been Sollicited by the Count de Rieux but stiffly denied that he had given any ear to it They would perhaps have laid hands on him if they durst But indeed the attempt would have been dangerous in the midst of his own Country for he was mightily beloved by the People and the Nobility and the King had but four thousand Foot with him and five hundred Horse so he only commanded him to follow the Court. The Connestable taking his Litter under pretence of some indisposition went easy Journeys At la Palice he had news that a Decree was made the of August which put his Estate under Sequestration thereupon he dispatches Huraut Bishop of Autun his Confident to the King to beseech him to stopt he execution of it and to assure him that this favour would bind him for ever to his Service but he was informed they had stopp'd the Bishop six Leagues from that place Then flying from the King's indignation he retired to his Castle of Chantelle where all his richest Goods were And there having intelligence that four thousand men were coming to besiege him he went forth by Torch-light When he had Rode a
Lord 1524 Bonnivet Subsisted near upon two months in his Post near Biagras But when the Enemy had surprized Vercel upon him which cut off his Provisions and forc'd Biagras he was constrained to retire towards Turin Charles de Bourbon Chief of their Army followed him in the Rear Bonnivet having a Wound in his Arm got away before for fear of falling into his hands and hastening forwards in a Litter left the charge and care of the retreat to Bayard and to Vendenesse Brother of La Palice They acquitted themselves generously but both of them were Slain by Musquet Shot It is said that Bayard finding himself so wounded in the Reynes that he could sit no longer on Horseback caused his men to set him on the ground with his Face turned towards the Enemies and that Bourbon finding him in this posture and condition and telling him that he very much bemoaned and pittied him he answer'd That it was rather himself was to be pittied for having taken up Arms against France which had given him Birth and had so tenderly bred him That ☞ he should remember that of all those that had born Arms against their Country their ends had been Tragical and their memory Shameful The rest of the Army being not pursued retired towards the Alpes the Swiss returned to their own Country by the Valley d'Aoste the French by Turin Near Suse they met Claude Duke of Longueville with four hundred men at Arms and heard they were making new Levies of Swiss to come and joyn them And thus it was that King Francis never sending his Supplies in time and always in small Parties was at vast expences and did not do his business throughly After the departure of the French Forces the Confederates easily regained those places they yet held the Castle of Novara Surrendred to Sforza Loda to the Duke of Vrbin and Alexandria to Ferdinand d'Avalos Marquiss of Pescara It is observed that in this War of Italy they began to make use of such great and ponderous Musquets that two men were fain to carry them one after the other they loaded them with round Pibbles and fired them lying upon a Rest These were the Ruin and Destruction of the Men at Arms who before this feared nothing but the Canon Notwithstanding all this ill Success Madame did so well manage and prepare the Kings mind in favour of Bonnivet that he laid all the blame upon the blind Baggage Fortune and received him into as great Favour as he had been before Thus this Favorite governing him almost absolutely inclined and perswaded him to raise a huge Army and to go in Person to carry on this War imagining that if he succeeded the Honour would be attributed to his Councils if not then the Kings disgrace would wipe out the Stains of his former Misfortunes Clement the VII in the beginning of his Pope-ship had sent Legates to the Emperour the King and the King of England to bring them to a Peace or at least to a Truce The King would have a Truce for two years the Emperor a Peace for ever the King of England neither a Peace nor a Truce because Thomas Woolsey Cardinal Bishop of York had put it into his head that by the correspondence and means of Charles de Bourbon he might be able to make good the pretensions of his Ancestors to the Kingdom of France With this prospect he made a new Treaty with the Emperor wherein it was said That Bourbon entring into France with his Forces of Italy the King of England should furnish him with one hundred thousand Crowns a month from the first of July to the last day of December unless he rather chose to land there himself there with a good Army In which case the Governours of the Low-Countries should furnish him with what Artillery was necessary and four thousand Foot That at the same time the Emperor with his Spanish Forces should make an Irruption into Guyenne That the Pope and the Princes of Italy should be invited to contribute towards the expences That Bourbon should be restored to all his Lands and that he should have the Kingdom of Arles but that he should own the English to be King of France He absolutely refused this last condition as the Pope and the Venetians to contribute any thing As to the remainder the Treaty held good For immediately Bourbon having drawn together all the Forces the Emperor had in Italy entred into Provence with thirteen hundred Foot and three thousand Horse His design was not to Stop there he intended after he had taken La Tour or the Tower of the Port of Toulon the City of Aix and some others to Year of our Lord 1524 go directly to Lyons from thence into Berry imagining the Nobility of his own Countries would flock to him and increase his Army that the People very much oppressed with new Impositions would cast themselves into his Arms and that by thus taking off the payment of Taxes and Subsidies he should deprive the King of the chief and true Sinews of War But the Emperors Council who aimed at their Masters ends not at Bourbons obliged him in despite of his former project to besiege Marseilles He there found a strong Garrison and men well resolv'd his Attaques did not advance much in six weeks time In the interim the King had leasure to set his Army on Foot which he had not designed to raise till the following Spring and to send part of them into Provence under the Conduct of La Palice He seized upon Avignon Scoffing at the Enemy who had neglected this City and from thence when he heard the King was Marching with the other part of the Army he advanced to Salon de Craux Bourbons was ruin'd by the length of the Siege and the want of pay for the English had paid him but for one month and the Emperor could not Supply him with those German Recruits he had promised him wherefore having notice that the King was parting from Avignon to come and Assault him he re-imbarqued part of his Cannon and retired in great haste The least success carried King Francis much further then either prudence or the uncertainty of events could warrant Being informed that Milan was wholly destitute of Forces and withal knowing that the Estates of Castille had refused money to the Emperor that the Confederate Estates of Italy would not aid him and that the King of England had raised no Souldiers although it were now the month of October he resolved to follow Bourbon by long Marches and perswaded himself that if he could but either reach him or get before him nothing could be able to hinder him from regaining that Dutchy The most knowing of his Officers approved not this resolution They considered it was upon the coming in of Winter for mid October was past that they left France exposed to the Incursions of the English the Flemmings and the Spaniards and the concealed Practises of Bourbon Many did likewise
think it an ill Omen to this undertaking that he was clad in Mourning for his Wife who died the twenty eighth of July But he stop't all their mouths by saying openly that they did not please him by speaking against it and knowing that his Mother was hastning from Avignon to disswade him he avoided meeting her but left her the Regency of the Kingdom The advantage both of the one and the other Army consisted in their diligence it was who should be the nimbler The King arrived at Vercel at the same time the Enemies got to Alba whence they got in two days to Parma having marched six and thirty miles in one day They had resolved to keep Milan and were Encamped at Binasque But upon the approach of his Van-Guard they abandoned that City to retire towards Loda His old Commanders were of opinion he should not leave off pursuing them for they were put to their last Shifts and shewed themselves half conquered throwing away their Arms as they marched and if these were but dispers'd there had not one place been left them but Pavia and Cremona with the Castle of Milan which wanting Provisions would have Surrendred in a short time Bonnivets advice was contrary and carried it The King left La Trimouille with six thousand men in Milan to Besiege the Castle and went to lay Siege before Pavia the 27 th day of October The Revolution of these Affairs in Milan appeared much greater then they were at Rome Pope Clement began to treat a new Confederation with the King in Secret and in the mean time propounded a Truce to both the Princes The Emperor who was then in Spain having heard his Envoy to whom the Regent had given passage through Provence and Languedoc did not reject it for he saw the King of England instead of lending him money demanded that again which he had advanced and the Venetians fearing the encrease of his Power or the Kings Forces denyed to renew their Alliance with him But the King flatly refused it as if it must have robb'd him of an assured Conquest He thought himself already so certain of Milan that he made a Detachment of ten thousand Foot and six hundred men at Arms with some Horse of his own Army under the Conduct of John Stuard Duke of Albany to go and Conquer the Kingdom of Naples and soon after he sent again four thousand more to Savonna commanded by the Marquiss de Salusses to make War upon those of Genoa Year of our Lord 1524 There is great likely-hood though the Italians deny it that it was upon the Sollicitation of Pope Clement not that he would have had Francis hold that Kingdom and the Milanois together for that were to have placed the Holy See between two Barrs but because he hoped to procure some great matters for himself by the help of the French Forces Perhaps the King fancied that Lanoy who was the Vice-Roy would quit all other Interests to preserve that and that he would draw all his men out of Milan to follow the Duke of Albany but he not only did not fear that so small an Army could take a Kingdom where there were so many strong places but he ceased from all apprehensions concerning Pavia and refused to hear any more of a Truce At two months end the Siege was found to be no more advanc'd then the first day The Garrison was strong the attaques feeble and languishing there was often want of Powder and always want of Order In the mean time Charles de Bourbon returned from Germany with a Supply of ten thousand Foot and a thousand Horse from the Frenche-Compte and joyned Lanoy's Army neer Loda These made up together seventeen thousand Foot seven hundred men at Arms and as many light Horse besides the Francontois With these they resolved to try all manner of ways to put some relief into Pavia which however was in no danger yet unless it were from their own Garrison who were ready to Mutiny for want of Pay Year of our Lord 1525 There was between Pavia and Milan almost in the mid-way a little place called Castle Saint Angelo which would have cut off their Provision had they left it behind them Bonnivet having confided so Important a place to an Italian he wanting either courage or sidelity quitted the Town as soon as they began to Batter it and retreated into the Castle which he Surrendred the same night After the taking of so Important a Post the wisest Captains were of opinion the King should raise the Siege and retire to Birasque They remonstrated to him that the Army of the Enemy being not paid would disperse within fifteen days that his own was a third part weaker then they made him believe that two thousand men who were coming to him by Savona were cut off by the way that the three thousand Italians of John de Medicis Disbanded themselves since their Commander in Chief being wounded upon an Assault was carried out of the Camp that six thousand Grisons had left him upon pretence of going back to defend their own Country where James de Medequin a Milanese Captain of the Castle de Muz had purposely and perhaps by their own Agreement surprized Chiavenna which is as it were the Key All these Arguments and Reasons were too weak to draw him from thence Bonnivets obstinacy and the shame he fancied it would be to quit his design after he had with so many Magnificent Speeches proclaimed that he would take the place or die before it obliged him to stay there and as we may say bound him Hands and Feet to deliver him up to his ill fortune There was not above two hundred paces distance betwixt the two Armies The Enemies could keep theirs together no longer for want of pay and withal they observed there was nothing but confusion in the Kings and that the flatteries of the Favorites sway'd more then the Councils of the oldest Captains this made them take the resolution to go and present the King Battle who was lodged in the Castle of Mirabel in the midst of Pavia Park and if he refused it to enter into the Town draw forth the Garrison that could hold out no longer and leave a new one in their room The night of the 23 d. or 24 th of February they drew near the Park Wall and having thrown down about threescore fadom of it marched directly to Mirabel this being a little before the break of day Although the Kings Guns were planted in a place of advantage yet could they do but little Execution during the obscurity but when it grew light they began to thunder upon their Rear insomch as it broke their Ranks and made them run into a Hollow way The King observing this disorder from his Camp which lay high was transported with joy at the same instant word was brought him that the Squadrons of the Duke of Alenson and Philip de Chabot-Brion had defeated a great body of Spaniards and
about him he wrote likewise to the Pope the King of England and the Venetians The Assembly of Notables he called at Cognac said the same and the Estates of Burgundy did absolutely refuse to change their Lord though in appearance he pressed them to it as much as he could Then the Emperor trembling with Rage and Shame perceived that his evil Council with his own greediness had deceived him and hearing that all Italy was but ill disposed towards him he sent away Bourbon with his Galleys giving him Money and the Government of Milan to which he joyned the hopes of adding the Title of that Dutchy when he should have utterly dispoliated Sforza if he could convict him of the Crime of Felony He likewise sent Hugh de Moncado to the Pope to endeavour to satisfie or rather amuse him and commanded him to pass thorough France with order to go no farther if the King would give him up Burgundy Ever since the Treaty of Madrid there had been a League in hand with the King of England and the Princes of Italy which sometimes was laid aside and then again revived when the King was informed by Moncado that the Emperor was absolutely resolved to have the Dutchy of Burgundy and no other condition in exchange he was constrained to conclude it for fear they should comply with the Emperor It was proclaimed the Twenty Eight of June at Cognac between the King the Pope the Venetians the Florentins and Sforza to procure the Release of the Kings Children restore the Kingdom of Naples to the Holy-See and maintain Sforza in the Dutchy of Milan the King reserving nothing to himself in Italy but the City of Genoa Lanoy who had followed the King to sollicite the execution of the Treaty of Madrid seeing the quite contrary took his leave and retired having first summon'd him to return to his Imprisonment according to his Parole given All seemed to favour the Confederates the People of Milan were revolted upon the cruel and proud avarice of the Spaniards their Troops were all shattered and reduced almost to nothing and the Marquess du Guast had not sufficient authority to restrain them But of all the Members of this League there were none but the Venetians that did in part perform their Obligation the Pope proceeded slowly and ambiguously Sforza suffer'd himself to be amused by the Spaniards Artifices and the King aiming at nothing but to disengage his Children did not carry things on Vigorously Besides he hardly ever acted any thing but by fits the pleasures of Women and Hunting made him forget all business He never gave any Orders but when it was out of Season and when he had begun to repair the fault at a double expence he would let all fall again and give over in a moment Thus his Army conducted by the Marquess de Salusses could not get thither till September and his Galleys from Marseilles did not joyn early enough with Year of our Lord 1526 Doria's to regain the City of Genoa and prevent Bourbons Landing But which was the worst Francis de la Rovere Duke of Vrbin General of the Venetian Forces out of certain jealousies for the future and old resentments of time past against the House of the Medicis who had otherwise deprived him of his Dutchy and who still reserved some pretensions would not by any means advance the Popes Affairs too much He might with ease have relieved the Castle of Milan the Burghers would have Seconded his Design and driven out the Spaniards had they been assisted but he left them exposed to the violence of their cruel hostes who miserably saccaged them and tormented them so grievously that many to escape out of their hands gave themselves a voluntary death Afterwards those People that belonged to the Pope and Sforzas men pressed him so earnestly that he could not refuse to approach Milan and either besiege the City or force the Circumvallation about the Castle But Charles de Bourbon being got in with Eight Hundred men only he decamped by Night and obliged the other Commanders to follow him in so much as Sforza reduced at last to the extremest Famine Surrendred the Castle the Twenty Third of July to Charles de Bourbon not renouncing to the Dutchy however and reserving a certain Revenue to himself and the liberty of going to the Emperor to make out his own Justification In all the rest of this War the Duke of Vrbin behaved himself after the same manner he by his Malicious delayes retarded the reduction of Cremona which had Capitulated made them lose the opportunity of forcing Milan after he had received a re-inforcement of Fourteen Thousand Swiss and Five or Six Thousand French whom the Marques de Salusses brought him and that of taking Genoa for which Andre Doria required but Fifteen Hundred men which he would never send him The Colomnes Enemies of Pope Clement and incited by the Imperialists had taken up Arms against him he had raised men likewise to defend himself then suffering himself to be lull'd asleep by a deceitful Peace he disbanded them About the end of October they got into Rome with Three or Four Thousand Men gathered together the Cardinal Pompey Colomna having conspired to kill him and invade the Holy-See which had been Executed if he had not timely made his Escape into the Castle Saint Angelo Having miscarried in this they plundred his Palace and even Saint Peters Church then besieged him in the Castle Hugh de Moncado who was apparently the contriver or abettor of this Conspiracy became the mediator for an Accommodation Which doing he constrained Clement to Treat with them to renounce the League for Four Months and to withdraw his Forces Five Weeks after that is to say about the end of November he being ashamed of his base Cowardliness excommunicated the Columnas and degraded the Cardinal Pompey In the mean while Lanoy who returned from Spain had time to bring Soldiers from Naples Towards Hungary there happened a great and mischievous business to the House of Austria They would fain have made the World believe that Francis had occasioned it and that it was he had drawn the Infidels into those Countries Solyman falling upon that Kingdom the young King Lewis was forced by the General of his Army he was named Paul Tomore a man of Quality and one who having a long time born Armes was turned Monk of the Order of Cordeliers and then promoted to the Archbishoprick of Colacse in the Vpper Hungary to give him Battle It was upon the Twenty Ninth of August in the Plains of Mohac's where he was overcome and drowned in the Neighbouring Marshes All the Flower of his Nobility were Slain there and afterwards the whole Country over-run by the Turks and drenched with the blood of near Three Hundred Thousand of his poor Subjects That was but the beginning of the Calamities of that unhappy Kingdom Ferdinand the Emperors Brother founding himself upon the Right and Title of Anne his
with a great Fleet which carried Ten Thousand Men and at the same time Felix of Wirtembergh entred by Land upon Milanois with a like number The Potentates of Italy did all bow down to this Power and the Pope himself came to Bologna to receive him But the Emperor informed of Solyman's irruption in Hungary durst not use all his Power to oppress them but on the contrary yielding to their Intreaties he resettled Francis Sforza in the Dutchy of Milan and agreed with all the other from whom he drew vast Sums of Money Year of our Lord 1529. and 30. There were none but the poor Florentines who remained exposed to the resentments of the Pope because they refused to submit themselves to the Medicis who were but private Citizens no more then the rest The Emperor lent him his Forces to Besiege their City who having defended themselves for Eleven Months in vain imploring the help of France and their ancient Confederates Surrendred upon Composition the Fifth of August in the following Year and were reduced under the Dominion of the Medicis although by the Treaty it was said that the Pope should Establish no Government that should be contrary to their Liberty Year of our Lord 1529 During these troubles between the two greatest Powers of Christendom Solyman snatched away the best part of Hungary The pretended King John had called him to his aid making himself his Subject and his Tributary but the Tyrant instead of putting him into possession of the Kingdom took for himself the Cities of the five Churches Alba Royal where were the Sepulchers of their Kings Buda Strigonium and Altemburgh After these Conquests he laid Siege to Vienna but in a Months time the scarcity of Provisions and the approach of Winter made him dislodge He raised his Siege the Fourteenth of October after he had lost near Threescore Thousand men and took his March towards Constantinople threatning to return the next year with a much greater force Those that adher'd to the doctrine of Luther acquired this year the Surname of Protestants because there having been a Decree made by the Arch-duke Ferdinand and other Catholick Princes in the Diet of Spire in favour of the ancient Religion and to hinder the progress of theirs they protested against it and appealed to the Emperor and to a General or National Council Year of our Lord 1530 The following year appeared their Confession of Faith which is called the Ausburgh Confession because they presented it to the Emperor in the Assembly which was held in that City to endeavour to pacifie and allay the differences in Religion Luther had composed it in Seventeen Articles Melancton explained and enlarged them The Affairs of Hungary and Germany not permitting the Emperor to be long absent the Pope gave him the Imperial Crown at Bologna with the same Ceremonies as if he had been at Rome The Emperor affected to pitch upon the Twenty fourth day of February for this great Ceremony as being his Birth-day and the day likewise of the taking of King Francis at Pavia Having sojourned there till the Two and Twentieth of March he returned into Germany and before he left Italy erected the Marquisate of Mantoua to a Dutchy in favour of Frederic Gonzague who merited a greater Title if Year of our Lord 1530 his Territory could have born it They had much adoe in France to make up the Twelve Hundred Thousand Crowns promised by the Treaty of Cambray for the Release of the Kings Children The Mareschal de Montmorency carried them to Endaya and the first day of June exchanged them for the two Princes in the same place and in the same manner as they did the Father The King went to meet them as far as Verin which is a Nunnery in the Launds of Bourdeaux near the Mount de Marsan In the same place he Married Eleonora the Emperors Sister who had sent her to him with his Sons The year following in the Month of March she was Crowned at Saint Denis and the City of Paris graced her with a Magnificent Entry This Princess aged thirty Years and rather ill-favour'd then handsom never possessed the heart of her Husband but that she might be consider'd gained the respects of the Mareschal de Montmorency who at that time governed the King and the Kingdom The Catholicks and Protestants had agreed in the Assembly at Ausburgh to call a Council that might put an end to their differences and the Emperor had given his assent because he would make use of this Proposition to awe the Pope In effect he was so alarmed at it that he wrote to the Kings of France and England that he would do all they would desire provided they hindred the Council In the mean time the Catholicks of Germany finding their Religion endanger'd made a League amongst themselves in the Month of November Which gave occasion to the Protestants to frame one likewise at Smalcalde about the end of the following Month. Year of our Lord 1531 The first effect of the Catholicks League was that by their help the Emperor got his Brother Ferdinand to be Elected King of the Romans who was already so of Hungary and Bohemia it was upon the Fifth of January in the Diet of Colen without having any regard to the oppositions of John Duke of Saxony and the Remonstrances of other Protestant Princes who being yet more alarmed upon this Election sent to the Kings of France and England to implore their Assistance They willingly granted it and Entred with them into a League but only to defend their Lands and the Rights and Liberties of the Empire The English promised to furnish them with Fifty Thousand Crowns monthly if they were Assaulted and the French deposited an Hundred Thousand Crowns in the hands of the Bavarian Princes to Levy Men in case they found reason for it or were necessitated thereto During the calmes of Peace to the Love for Ladies he joyned the Love of Learning The good King Lewis XII had caused him to be bred in the Colledge of Navarre and although he had made but a very small progress in the Latine Tongue nevertheless the little smattering he had gave him a great Gusto for the Sciences especially Astronomy Physick Natural History and Law He kept near him the ablest men in all the Kingdom who studied to make handsome and Methodical discourses to him upon all those parts of Learning most commonly whilst he sat at Dinner sometimes in his Walks or in his Closet and he improved so well by those entertainments that he became as knowing as the greatest Masters In acknowledgement of those Inestimable benefits he raised many of them to Offices and showred Presents and Pensions upon the rest Nor did they advance his Affairs a little by their Services and render his Name Illustrious to the Eyes of all Nations by their Works so that in spite of Fortune he gained most Renown though his rival flourish'd with more Success He instituted the Royal or
from the good of the Subjects and who Establisht this Maxime so false and so contrary to Natural Liberty Qu'il nest point de terre Sans Seigneur i. e. That there is no Land without its Lord. The Office of Chancellour was given to Antony du Bourg who was likewise a Native of Auvergne and President in Parliament As to the Emperor he having foreseen that Clouds and Storms were gathering together from all Quarters against him by the King the King of England the Princes of Italy and those of Germany that he might have some pretence to Arm himself Powerfully he gave out that he was going to make War upon the Famous Year of our Lord 1535 Chairadin Surnamed Barbarossa who Infested all the Coasts of his Kingdoms of Naples and Sicilia That Pyrate was a Native of Metelin he had a Brother named Horue their Father a Christian Renegade and Poor From their Youth these two Bothers had used Piracy having but one Brigantine between them both then Increasing in Vessels in Men and Money they passed into Mauritania where engaging themselves in a War that was made betwixt two Brothers for the Kingdom of Algiers under pretence of Assisting the one they made themselves Masters of both the City and Country Horue being the Eldest bore the Title of King and Conquered Circella and Bugia likewise and Dispossessed the King of Tremisen but in the conclusion he was Vanquished and Slain in the Rout by the People of that Country joyned with the Spaniards with whom that King was allied Chairadin Barbarossa his Brother Succeeded him and became very formidable in the Levant Seas in-so-much that Sultan Solyman gave him the Command of his Naval Forces There were two Brothers at Tunis Sons of King Mahomet who disputed for the Crown Araxide and Muley-Assan this last although the younger had taken the Scepter by his Fathers appointment the other to avoid his Cruelty fled to Constantinople and Implored the Protection of the Grand Seignor Barbarossa taking advantage of this occasion appears before Tunis pretending he had brought him back to restore him though indeed he left him in Prison at Constantinople By this wile he so deceived the People that he was received into the City and drove Muley-Assan thence This man had recourse to the protection of Charles V. who undertook to re-establish him Charles landed therefore in Africk with an Army of above Fifty Thousand Men took the Fort of Goletta which he kept for himself setled Muley-Assan in Tunis beat Barbarossa at Land gave him chace by Sea and delivered Twenty Thousand Christian Slaves then upon the fourteenth of August he Weighed Anchor and set Sail for Sicily where in few days he Arrived Having so journed there neer three Months he passed to Naples about the end of November Year of our Lord 1536 From thence he wrote to his Brother-in-Law the Duke of Savoy to comfort him for the losses he had sustained by the French and of his eldest Son Lewis who died in Spain These words were but a weak support against those evils which encreased upon him every day For the Bernois having declared War in January 1536. drove out the Bishop of Lausanne Seized upon that City the Country of Vund Gex Genevois and Chablais as far as the Drance the Valesans on their side Invaded the rest of Chablais from that River all above Those of Friburgh got Possession of the County of Romont and the French Army Marched at the same time to enter into Piedmont John de Medequin Captain of the Castle of Muz afterwards Marquess of Marignan and some other of the Emperors Commanders whom the Duke had sent to Guard the Pass of Suze came there too late Antonio de Leva having visited Turin and found it was not yet Tenable was not of opinion that the Duke should venture to wait for the French there He went out therefore on the twenty seventh of March with his Wife and his Son and having Embarqued his richest Goods and Artillery â—n the Po retired to Vercel Turin Surrendred the third of April Whilst the Emperor was yet in Sicily he had News of the death of Duke Francis Sforza which hap'ned in the Month of October not leaving any Children by his Wife who was the Daughter of Elizabeth his Sister and Christierne II. King of Denmark Now the Dutchy of Milan being under the Power of the Emperor knowing the great Passion the King had for so excellent a Dutchy he made use of it as a Lure to amuse and lead him in a Slip if we may so express it all the rest of his Life Gravelle his Chancellour had told Vely the Kings Ambassadour that his Master would not dispose of that Dutchy till he had received Information from him how he intended to demean himself in these three particulars the first was in the War against the Turk the second the reduction of all the Christian Princes to the Catholick Religion and the third the setling of a Firm Peace throughout all Christendom He added that the Emperors desire was rather to bestow that Dutchy upon the Kings third then upon his second Son and demanded that the second might accompany him to the Siege of Algiers These two last Conditions did not please the King Upon the other three Heads he made such Replies as ought to have Satisfied the Emperor He demanded the Dutchy for Henry Duke of Orleans his second Son and offer'd to give four hundred thousand Crowns of Gold for the Investiture On this Foot he Year of our Lord 1536 sent to Vely that he should press the Emperors Resolution But that Prince gave only general Words and in the mean time put his Affairs in good Order for he made the Marriage between his Bastard and Alexander de Medicis who was one likewise and Confirmed him in the Government of Florence He made a new Confederation with the Venetians induced thereto by the Fame of his Victories in Africa and by the perswasions of the Duke of Vrbin General of their Armies He sent to his Sister Mary Widow Queen of Hungary to whom he had given the Government of the Low-Countries after the death of Margaret Widow of Savoy his Aunt as likewise to those with whom he had left that of Spain to make the greatest Levys of Men and Moneys they possibly could and himself on his part labour'd to get store of Money in Sicily and Naples and to encrease those Forces he brought out of Africa Now with promising hopes he led on Vely and the Kings Envoys even to Rome In the Month of April he made his Triumphant entrance and Sojourned there thirteen days There it was they Discovered his ill intentions and inclinations towards the King for after the Pope and he had conferred together about their Affairs he prayed him to Assemble his Cardinals and before them with Hat in hand he made a long harangue full of Invectives Complaints and Menaces against King Francis and would needs give them an account of all
for the like time This was Proclaimed at Carmagnoles he present the Eight and Twentieth of November Both Princes got by it to the loss of the unfortunate Duke of Savoy because either of them remained in Possession of what they were seized on The King made Montejan his Lieutenant-General in that Country and William du Bellay Governor at Turin Year of our Lord 1538 When he was come back into France he honoured Montmorency who was a Mareschal and Grand-Maistre with the Constables Sword the Tenth of February He also raised Annebaut and Montejan to the Offices of Mareschals of France which were vacant the one by the promotion of Montmorency to that of Constable the other by the death of the Mareschal de Florenges who ended his days soon after the Siege of Saint Quentin These Offices were limited to the number of four only which the Kingdom encreasing have likewise been encreased to three or four times as many The same year the Chancellor Anne du Bourg lost his life by a strange accident Being with the King who made his Entrance into Laon there was so great a croud of Horses that he was thrust off from his Mule and trod under foot whereof he died His Office was given to Charles Poyet Son of an Advocate of Angiers and then a President in Parliament There was a second Conference at Locate to Treat of a final Peace The Deputies could agree to nothing but a prolongation of the Truce for six Months but the Pope who ardently desired to reconcile the two Princes fearing left their Division should hinder the effects of a great League which he the Emperor and the Venetians had concluded at the beginning of the Year against the Turks dispatched two Legates to them and sollicited them so earnestly that both of them resolved to meet at Nice and to accept of those Offices of Mediation which he proferr'd He came the first thither about the end of May the Emperor almost at the same time to the Port of Villa-Franca and Francis with the Queen his Wife to Villa-Nuova some days after The Duke found himself mightily perplex'd the Pope desired to Lodge in the Castle and that the Garrison might be drawn out the Emperor would have had it so but the King advised the Duke underhand to beware of it for that he would else disoblige him He followed the Kings Counsel and went to visit him the third day of the Month the Emperor took some jealousie upon it and yet for fear of loosing him Treated him the better in all appearance The Pope therefore Lodged in the Town the Emperor held Conference with him in a Tent under the Castle the King saluted him apart but the Princes saw not each other Was it that the Pope desiring to treat under Hatches the Year of our Lord 1538 Marriage of his Nephew Octavian Farnese with Margaret the Emperors Bastard and that of his Niece Victoria with Anthony Eldest Son of Charles Duke of Vendosme kept them thus assunder fearing lest the one should discover what he was negotiating with the other or else perhaps it was that the Emperor apprehending if he saw the King he must be obliged to promise him in express words the Dutchy of Milan and the Pope knowing it might possibly let the King understand it was only to amuse him What ever it were this Conference produced nothing but a prolongation of the Truce for Nine years but the Emperor promised the King to see him at Aigues-Mortes in Languedoc before he returned to Spain It was Queen Eleonora who procured this Enter-view The Emperor came and Dined in the Kings-House the next day the King went to Visit the Emperor in his Galley where he was entertained in like manner The subject of their entertainment was not known but they were observed to embrace so closely and shew such Signes of Amity for two dayes they were together that the most sharp-sighted were deceived and imagined it was in good earnest Three Months after the King was grievously Tormented with a troublesome Ulcer which hapned in that part the Physicians name the Sutura or Seame between the Testicles This they said was the effect of some ill adventure he had with the beautiful Ferronniere one of his Mistresses This Womans Husband enrag'd at that abuse which the Courtiers reckon only a piece of Gallantry contrives to go to some leud place and Infect himself that he might spoil her and Convey his revenge thus to his Rival The unhappy Woman died the Husband recover'd by timely Remedies the King had all the bad Symptomes and his Physicians treating him rather according to his Quality then his Distemper he had some Relicks remaining upon him all his Life the Malignity whereof did much discompose the sweetness of his disposition and made him Melancholy suspicious and hard to be pleased but to say truth more exact sparing and sticking closer to his business Year of our Lord 1539 The remainder of this Year he made several excellent Edicts amongst others That the Curates should keep a Register of all Christnings and that hereafter all Decrees and other Acts of Justice should be no more drawn up in Latine but in French If the Emperor continued to heap his marks of Affection on the King it was but to hinder him from embracing the Protection of the Ghentois They were revolted because of some new Imposts which Queen Mary Governess of the Low-Countries had laid upon them particularly upon Wines and had Massacred some of her Officers after which expecting no pardon they went on to that Degree that this Year they sent Deputies to the King to Intreat he would receive them as their Soveraign Lord and they promised provided only that he would own them to hazard Fifty Thousand Men in Battle against the Emperor But this same King that had with so great formality newly confiscated Flanders and Artois not only accepted not of their submission for fear of violating the Truce but also by an excess of generosity gave the Emperor notice of it The Rebellion growing in strength day by day it was to be apprehended that all Flanders would follow the example of Ghent and that the King of England might accept what the French had refused Nothing but the presence of the Emperor was capable of allaying this furious heat but the danger was too eminent to pass thorough Germany where it would have been in the power of the Protestant Princes to have stopp'd him and it was no less to have gone by Sea He intreated the King therefore to allow him passage thorow France and to obtain it he began to Lure him with the Dutchy of Milan In the Council every one was for granting him passage but not without having a writing under his hand and good Securities The Constable de Montmorency by what motive it is not known was not of that opinion and argued that he ought not to be setter'd by any Conditions This Sentiment appearing full of generosity highly pleased the
open he present and bare-headed This done he was shut up in the great Tower of Bourges from whence he could not get out till he had given up almost all he had for his Fine At last he dyed in the City of Paris oppressed with poverty Ignominy and old Age So unhappy that even in this his Lamentable condition he was not pittied When he was Imprisoned the King gave the Seals to Francis de Montolon President in parliament a Person of rare probity a vertue hereditary in his Family The Constables favour did not last long after the loss of Poyer the King forbid him the Court in the year 1542. and would never recal him so long as he lived In the time of this his retirement he built the castle of Esc ouan Common same attributes the cause of his disgrace to the Council he gave for the Emperours passing through France which proved not so much to the Kings advantage as was imagined Perhaps the Cardinal of Lorrain and the rest of his Enemies made use of that reproach to give his Master an ill opinion of him Or perhaps the King conceived some jealousie at his sticking so close to the Dausin who by embracing the interests of that young Prince opposed the raising of the Duke of Orleans and by secret Combinations hindred the Emperour from giving him his Daughter with the Dutchy of Milan which he could not do without holding Correspondence with Strangers and indeed it was said that he in Clandestine manner Suffered the Courtiers of that Prince to travel thorough France Whatever it were the King began to think it dangerous to have men of too great parts in the Administration of Affairs and therefore committed them to the Cardinal de Turnon and the Admiral Annebaut Persons of no Extraordinary Genius or Sagacity but of affections less Interested and wholly devoted to him Year of our Lord 1540. and 41. Whilst the Emperor was at Ghent Martin Duke of Cleve came to demand the investiture of the Dutchy of Guelders You must know that Charles last Duke of Guelders dyed Anno 1537. and William Duke of Cleve and Antony of Lorraine as kindred of the Defunct had pretensions to that Dutchy The Lorrainer was the nearest being the Son of a Daughter of that House notwithstanding the Estates of the Countries called in William to be their Mainburgh he survived but one year and Martin his Son took the Administration Now the Emperour who desired to joyn this piece to the Low-Countries having denyed him the investiture he came into France and put himself under the Kings protection who made him Marry Jane Daughter of Henry d'Albret King of Navarre Year of our Lord 1541 The Nuptials were celebrated the year following at Chastelleraud with such Profusion as cost the poor People dear by encreasing the Gabelle and therefore was called the Salted Nuptials But the Bride being but eleven years of Age the Marriage was not consummated and the Fathers and Mothers never having consented caused it to be dissolved The years 1540. and 1541. were spent almost in nothing but intrigues and Negociations After the truce of Nice the King of England bestirr'd himself mightily he feared lest by the mediation of the Pope the two Kings should agree together to fall upon him He might the Justlier apprehend it because his cruelty had drawn the hatred of most of his own Subjects upon him For he had Invaded and broken open the Monasteries even those of the Nuns which much incensed their Parents who were forced to maintain them he had taken away all Abbey-Lands Abolished the order of Malta and caused the Memory of St. Thomas of Canterbury to be Condemned and his Sacred Bones and Reliques to be Burnt Having therefore reason to fear he courted the Emperor and the King divers ways He offered the first to Marry his Niece Widow of Sforza Duke of Milan to the other he propounded to assist him in the recovery of that Dutchy and promised to declare whenever he should desire it Another while he proffered the Emperor to give his Eldest Daughter she was named Mary to the Brother of the King of Portugal but he would not Marry her as Legitimate for would he have bestowed her as such the King would willingly have taken her for his second Son As for the Emperor he employed all his intrigues to three ends the one was to recover the good Will of the Protestant Princes another to make the Turk believe there was a good and perfect Correspondence between him the King of France and the King of England and the third to amuse the King with new offers he made to give the Low-Countries under the Title of the Kingdom of Belgica to Charles Duke of Orleans whom he called his God-Son The King gave no Faith to this Proposition and replyed that he did not demand his Hereditary Countries but should be contented to have his own again But Solyman was so allarmed at this pretended Union of the three Kings that he flew out against Francis called him Ingrateful and Fickle-pated and had like to put Rincon his Ambassador to death If the Emperor had his hands full of business with the Protestants of Germany his Brother Ferdinand had yet a harder task with the Turks in Hungary John Earl of Sepus had agreed with Ferdinand Auno 1536. upon condition that the part he then was possessed of in the Kingdom should be his during Life with the Title of King and that after his death it should be re-united to the other but contrary to his word he Married with Jane Daughter of Sigismond King of Poland and had a Son by her when he died After his Decease which hap'ned in the year 1540. Ferdinand would Seize upon that part the Widow to maintain her Son had recourse to the Turk thus broke out that Flame of War again which compleated the ruin of Hungary For in the year 1541. Roquandolf General for Ferdinand lost a great Battle near Buda against the Bashaw Mahomet Then Solyman himself coming with a dreadful Army Seized Treacherously upon the Widow and the Orphan and the City of Buda which they held Year of our Lord 1541 It was believed that if the Emperor had immediately joyned his Forces with his Brothers he might have saved Hungary but he was labouring an Accommodation with the Protestants to whom after several Conferences he granted a second Interim and Reciprocally having given them very ill Impressions of King Francis he obtained all he desired from them For the Diet promised him great Supplies against the Turks declared the Duke of Cleve an Enemy to the Empire engaged to contribute to the Restauration of the Duke of Savoy and forbid all Subjects belonging to the Empire from Listing themselves in the Kings Service With all this instead of Marching towards Hungary to make head against Solyman he carries the War into Africa against the Pirat Barbarossa which many interpreted a flight rather then an attaque He Landed and laid Siege to
was upon the Easter Monday The Victory fell intirely to the French they Slew two Thousand of the Enemies upon the Place took their Artillery their Baggage great quantity of Ammunitions four Thousand Prisoners without the loss of any more then two Hundred men in all The Lord de Boutieres who returned into Piedmont upon the rumour there would be a Battle Termes Montlue and de Thais had the greatest share in the honor of that day The first Commanding the Van-guard the second the Light-horse the third the Forlorn-hope and the last the French Bands that is to say the Infantry The nobless of the Court whom a desire of honour had brought thither in post hast shewed that day very great feats of Valour The next day some were Knighted in the Field of Battle amongst others Gilbert Coiffier la Bussiere a Gentleman of Auvergne who having bravely Fought in the first Ranks received this honour from the hands of the Count d'Enghien as likewise from Boutieres and de Thais Which I mention that we may know the Customs of those times and observe that Knight-hood might be Confer'd upon the same man by several Persons one after another The Marquess wounded in the Knee escaped to Milan with Four Hundred Horse only Amongst his Equipage were found several Chariots full of Shackels and Padlocks designed to have chained the French withal so certainly did his pride make him confident of Victory The fruits of this days success were the City of Carignan and all the Marquisate of Montferrat excepting Casal Milan had followed it had the King but sent Supplies of Men and Money but so far was it from this that he recalled Two and Twenty Ensignes of Foot who made up Twelve Thousand Men of whom he stood in need for the defence of the Kingdom being informed that the Emperor who had made a League with the English was drawing a vast Army together near the Rhine and that both were to fall upon France at the same time And indeed the Kingdom found it self this year in great danger these two potent Princes had divided it betwixt them and had projected to joyn their Armies before Paris to saccage that great City and from thence ravage all to the Loire They would have made up together Fourscore Thousand Foot and two and twenty Thousand Horse It is certain that if the Emperor had come directly to Paris he had found Francis all in disorder for having promised himself Year of our Lord 1544 that Luxembourgh would make a long resistance he had not much hast'ned the coming of the Swiss But the good Fortune of France had so disposed things that being tempted by the facility he found in his March of taking Luxembourg which Francis d'Angliure d'Estauges Surrendred very lightly then afterwards the Castle of Commercy the City was burnt Ligny and Brienne he fixed upon the Siege of Saint Disier the three and twentieth of June Saint Disier contrary to the expectation of all men resisted six Weeks by the Valour of that la Lande who had before so generously defended Landrecy That brave Captain was there slain upon the Rampart the Count de Sancerre whom the King had joyned with him took the Command as Chief He finding himself at the end of his Ammunition obtained a suspension of Armes for Twelve dayes which being expired and no Assistance coming he Surrendred the Place From thence the Emperor sent notice to the King of England that he was Marching towards Paris and Summon'd him to be there according to Agreement But the King of England by his Example having resolved also to Conquer some Places sent him for answer that he would advance as soon as he had taken Boulogne by the Sea Coast and Monstreuil He was then before Boulogne with twenty Thousand men and the Duke of Norfolk his Lieutenant before Monstreuil with ten Thousand English and twelve Thousand Flemmings whom the Counts of Bures and de Roeux had brought thither The Emperor not being able to make him remove from thence desired at least he would allow him his Army being much weakned to save his honour by a Truce To which he consented but for his own part refused to hear of such a thing He had a mind to let them see that of himself he was able to make Conquests in France In the mean while the Emperor descended along the Marne and entred so far into Champagne that the Forces of the Daufin watching him close and cutting off his Provisions and Forrage on all Sides he found himself in very great danger of Perishing with his whole Army There were at that time two Parties at Court one for the Daufin the other for the Duke of Orleans This last saved him Anne de Pisselieu the Kings Mistress opposite to Diana de Poitiers who was for the Daufin loved the Duke of Orleans mightily and studied his Interest to the prejudice of his Brothers that he might be her support when the King chanced to fail her This Woman too Credulous looking on the Emperor as already Father in Law to that Prince revealed all the Secrets of the Kings Council to him and it was she who brought it so to pass by means of Nicholas de Bossu Longueval that he made himself Master of Espernay and of Chasteau-Thierry where he met with Provisions in abundance without which all had been lost Fear had like to have depopulated all Paris when it was known that he was in Chasteau-Thierry and that his flying Parties came as far as Meaux some fled to Rouen others to Orleans all the Roads were throng'd with Carts loaden with House-hold Goods Women and Children and that which encreased the disorder was a many Herds of Rascals that Robb'd these poor People The King sent Claude Duke of Guise to Paris to encourage them and himself came thither soon after But the Emperor instead of approaching it took to the left and went to Soissonâ— Being lodged in the Abby called Saint John de Vignes which is in the Suburbs the propositions for a Peace were set on Foot A Jacobin Monk of the Noble House of the Guzmans in Spain mentioned it first to the Kings Confessor The Daufins Party would have none those for the Duke of Orleans pusht it on with extraordinary importunity the King sided with the Latter The Deputies being therefore Assembled at Crespy in Luonnois concluded it the eighteenth of the Month of September The Principal Articles were that the Emperor within two years should at his own choice either give his Daughter or the Daughter of Ferdinand to the Duke of Orleans and for Dowry the Dutchy of Milan or else the Low-Countries and the Counties of Burgundy and of Charolois That if he gave Milan he should keep the Castles of Milan and Cremona till a Child were born of that Marriage That the King should renounce to the Kingdom of Naples and to Milan in case the Emperor gave the Low-Countries to the Duke of Orleans That he should restore the
differences It was called the Interim It contained 26 Articles whereof two were favourable to the Protestants those were a liberty of Marriage for their Priests and the use of the Cup for the Laity This accommodation pleased neither the one nor the other Party nor was received but by force and compulsion The Emperors ill will towards the King discover'd its self but too much by several tokens particularly the death of Volgesperg Mentel and Volfius German Captains whom he seized upon in their houses and caused them to lose their heads by the Hangman making it criminal for that they had raised some Troops to assist at the Kings Coronation He would at that very time have given him a taste of his good affection by declaring an open War had he not been hindred by three grand Obstacles one of them being his indisposition for he was much tormented with the Gout perhaps complicated with some other distemper for which he used Guajacum the other that he durst not so soon leave Germany held in obedience meerly by his presence and the third that Solyman in the instrument of the Truce had comprehended the King in these terms that he was not only his Friend but also a Friend to his Friends and Enemy to his Enemies Henry King of England had ordained that his Son Edward should succeed him to the Crown that he failing Mary should attain to it and after her Elizabeth whom he had by Anne Bullen He had left the Government of the Kingdom and of young Edward to twelve Lords but the eleven yielded up their authority to Edward Sâ—ymour Earl of Hereford and Duke of Somerset his maternal Vncle who by this means was Regent or Protector of England This Duke being imbued with the Opinions of Zuinglius laboured in such sort with the help of Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury who was a Lutheran that by an Ordonnance of Parliament held in the Month of November he caused the exercise of the Catholique Religion to be abolished and introduced another Medly of the Opinions of Calvin and those of Luther Year of our Lord 1548 Whilst the King was taking his measures and before he would adventure to shock so potent an Enemy as a Victorious Emperor he thought fit under colour of making a Progress through his Kingdom to visit Champagni Burgundi and Lyonnois making his entrance into all the Cities with Prodigious Magnificence especially into Lyons He proceeded even to Piedmont and every where carefully stored his Frontier Towns in case Philip the Emperors Son who was just gone into Italy should have some untoward design but he stayed little there Year of our Lord 1548 At his return being in the City of Moulins the Eighteenth of October he Celebrated the Nuptials of Anthony de Vendosme with Jane d'Albret Daughter of the King of Navarre whose former Marriage with the Duke of Cleve was easily vacated as not having been consummated After the defection of that Francis Marquiss de Salusses who as we have seen before perished at Carmagnoles King Francis would not seize upon the Marquisat of Salusses which was forfeited to him and confiscate for the Crime of Rebellion and Felony but had invested his younger Brother named Gabriel in it This being dead without Children and there remaining no lawful Heirs of that House as I believe Henry seized upon the said Fief as holding of Daufiné to which it remained United till the Year 1587. that Charles Emanuel Duke of Savoy seized it as having some pretensions upon it During the Kings absence a furious flame of Sedition was kindled over all Guyenne because of the Gabel and Garners for Salt set up amongst them by Francis I. and the violence committed upon that Score by the swarms of Officers and Satellites against those poor people The Commotion began in Saintonge by some Villagers who beat and hunted them away their number increased to Sixteen Year of our Lord 1548 Thousand Men well Armed who chose Leaders among themselves Another Gang headed together in Angoulmois who seized upon Angoulesmâ— as the former did upon Saintes then they quitted those places to scour about the Countries committing all the cruel and villainous acts such brutish souls were capable of These two Kennels of Blood-Hounds being joyned were received into Bourdeaux by the Populace constrained the Captain of the Castle and him that commanded the Town the Presidents and Counsellors of Parliament to march in the Head of them in Sea mens habits and inhumanely Massacred Tristan de Moneins Lieutenant to the Governor of the Province It was parâ—ly his own fault for he was so imprudent as to come to Bourdeaux without bringing a sufficient number of the Nobless with him he amused himself with commanding his Souldiers to out-face and make mouths at those People and then afterwards went out of his Castle du Ha to the Mairâ— to Treat with those Furies After they had spent their first fire they dispersed in a few days The Parliament Year of our Lord 1549 having resumed their Authority severely chastised some of them It was to be feared that if they had in cold blood consider'd the horror of their Crime the dispair of Pardon would have cast them into the arms of the English the Kings Counsel therefore thought requisite to amuse them with fair words and to promise them a general Amnistie and the revocation of the Gabelle but having put all in good order he fail'd not to send the Connestable and the Duke d'Aumale thither with two small Armies each consisting of Four or Five Thousand Men to punish them The Duke passed by Saintonge Poitu and Aulnis without exercising any great severities and came to Langon but the Connestable descending from Languedoc whereof he was Governor along the Garonne with a courage whetted by revenge for the Murther of Moneins who was his Kinsman was not so mild For having joyned him at that place and marching to Bourdeaux he caused thirty fathom of their Wall to be broken down that he might enter at the breach which was on the Tenth day of August when he was within he first disarmed the Bourdâ—lois and placed his Canon and his Souldiers in the Markets and at the opening of the Streets then caused present process to be made against the whole City by Stephen de Neuilly Master of Requests This man extremely violent by Sentence of the Twenty Sixth of October declared it guilty of Rebellion and therefore all their Priviledges forfeited of Majoralty Sheriffalty and Jurisdiction Condemned them to maintain two Galleys for the Governor to furnish the two Castles with â—mmunitions and to pay Two Hundred Thousand Livers as a Fine besides took away their Bells suspended the Parliament which was so for a whole year Ordered their Town-Hall should be razed and a Chappel built on the same place where they should pray for the Soul of Moneins that the Jurats with an hundred of the most noted Citizens should dig up the Corps of that Lord
Allies especially the Duke of Parma Moreover he protested that during those troubles he would not send his Bishops of France to Trent that he did not own that Council to be general and Legitimate but for a combination contriv'd and carried on for the interests of some particular people This Declaration being made he retired to his house and soon after quitted Rome Two Months afterwards James Amiot Abbot of Bellozane went on the Kings behalf to Trent to make the very same protestations to that Assembly which the King called Consessus not Concile The Prelates did however hold their Sessions and made divers Decrees The rumour of the Protestant Princes Army dispers'd it in the Month of April the following year In the mean time the King judged it the highest piece of folly to furnish the Enemy wherewith to make a War forbid upon grievous penalties all his Subjects to carry either Gold or Silver to Rome or any other place under the obedience of the Pope but at the same time he made a most severe Edict Dated the Five and Twentieth of June at Chasteau-Briand for the discovering and punishing Year of our Lord 1551 the Religionaries in his Kingdom Who observed from that very time as they have ☜ experimented ever since upon the like occasions that no time can be so bad and rude to them as when the Court of France is embroiled with that of Rome A little before this the Pope had sent into France Ascanius de la Coma his Sisters Son to make his last Essay to disswade the King from protecting Parma and Miranda Ascanius was received at the Court with the same civilities they give to Princes and amused a long time with put offs and delays whilst those of Parma prepared themselves when he returned to Rome without having obtained any thing Gonzague besieged Parma and John Baptista de Monte the Popes Nephew Miranda Thus the War was begun between the Pope and the King The Enemies being strongest in the Field Horatio Duke of Castro and Strozzi General of the Italian Bands durst not go to attaque them but they made such terrible havock about Bologna that the Pope moved with the cries of his Subjects sent to his Army to hasten to their assistance Thus they raised the Seige and fifteen days after they began it anew but however with as little success as at the first time When Aramon had disposed Solyman to a rupture he returned into France to get fresh and more punctual Orders As he was going to Constantinople he found the Turks Navy being put to Sea had En passant taken and pillaged the Fort of Goza at Malta and that they were gone to Besiege Tripoli in Barbary which was held by the Knights of that Order The grand Master prayed him to go and find out Sinan Bassa who commanded the Fleet to divert him from it and perswade him to the Besieging of Africa or Mahadia for the which he had express orders but Sinan who knew this a more easie Prey and Conquest then the other would not believe him but kept him as it were by force till the place had surrendred At the same time the Kings Navy consisting of near Forty Galleys and commanded by the Prior of Gapoua after they had cruised upon the Coasts of Spain were come to block up Andrea Doria and the Emperors Galleys in Nice and in Villa-Franca They might easily have forced him had not they fallen into a strange hurly-burly about I know not well what amongst themselves which made the Prior retire to Malta under pretence of going to serve his Order they being without a Chief In the mean while Doria received a recruit of Men and Galleys and by that means escaped the greatest danger he ever was in It appeared to the King that the Emperor was so embarass'd on all hands as there could be no danger now in Marching against him with Ensigns display'd for besides that he had the Turks on his back the Princes of the Empire were upon their Guard against him fearing least he should undermine their liberties and had openly refused to Elect his Son King of the Romans because they would not have two at the same time They had likewise declared that though his Brother should lay down that Title and Quality as he endeavour'd to oblige him to do they would do nothing in it Withal he was in no good condition as to his health repeating at that time his seventh Remedy by way of Dyet to rid him of his noxious and peccant humours and there was great probability he would for the future be much more in his Bed then on his Horse-back Taking therefore his measures hereupon he resolved to a War against him and sent to Brissac to begin the rupture in Piedmont by taking of some places to Francis de Cleves Duke of Vendosme to enter into Artois and Hainault The Season was already far advanced the two last only ransack'd ten or twelve Leagues of those Countries and raised some small Forts Vendosme failed in a design upon Arras which was discover'd by one of his Spies who had made himself drunk in a Tavern but Brissac took Quiers and Saint Damian At the noise of this Gonzague quitted the Siege of Parma and assembling all his Forces near Ast resolved to give him Battel but the brave countenance of Brissac who presented it several times made him of another mind At Sea the Baron de la Garde General of the French Galleys having met with four great Ships fraighted with rich Goods took them and in the Month of December the Count de Carces who commanded in his absence pursued fourteen large Vessels which were carrying the Goods and Furniture belonging to Ferdinand King of Hungary and the Queen his Wife to the Port of Villa-Franca Year of our Lord 1551 and there fought them so resolutely that he made prize of every one of them Doria who Convoy'd them with his Galleys not daring to come near to assist them But on the German side there was something else contriving of much more importance You may remember how the Emperor by a cavil rather besitting a little Cheat then a great Prince had laid hands on the Landgrave of Hesse he had kept him Prisoner now almost five years the intercession of the German Princes and Duke Maurice his Son in law having been ineffectual to the obtaining his liberty Notwithstanding the Emperor made use of Maurice to reduce the other Protestants and that Prince had held Magdeburgh besieged almost a year the only great imperial City remaining that had not yet bowed under the Yoak The King being made acquainted of his inward discontent Treated a League with him with Albret Marquess of Brandenburg and some other Protestants The Catholique Princes were glad and lent a helping hand It was concluded in the Month of October of the Year 1551. but was not ratified till the Month of January in 1552. By this Treaty it was agreed that the King should
of great advantage to him Upon this followed a sharp Fight which was on the thirteenth of August between the Villages of Marque and Fauquemberg where the conduct and courage of the Duke of Guise who was engaged in it did signalize it self above all the other Chiefs The Emperor having the worst of it was advised to sound a retreat Some pieces of his Canon and Two Thousand of his Men remained in the Field of Battel However the King for want of Provisions raised the Siege and after he had sent once more to defie the Emperor discharged a part of his Army and returned to Paris giving what Souldiers were left to the Duke of Vendosmes Charge This Prince had no little task to cover the Frontiers for the Enemy who were thought to be gone into Winter Quarters took the Field again and made a shew of Besieging Dourlens then Abbeville ransacked the Country as far as Saint Riquier from thence went up along the River of Autie and feigning to have their Eye upon Monstreville set themselves upon fortifying the Village of Mesnil which lies in a Marsh upon the little River of Canche a little beneath old Hesdin which they had demolished the year before The Duke of Savoy would have it called Hesdin-Fert adding to the name of the place the Devise of his House to make known that he was the Founder of it This Campagne ended the exploits of the Emperor He was too much wasted and weakned by continual defluxions to be any longer capable of undergoing those fatigues and make head against a youthful King whom he always found on Horseback Besides the mis-understanding that was between him and his Brother gave him much more trouble then his distemper and corporal pain This younger Brother besides that he was not contented with his share but demanded some augmentation was in great wrath that he had mow'd the Grass under the Feet of his Son Maximilian King of Bohemia in the design he had to get Mary Queen of England for the Emperor had pretended to aid him and in the mean time got her for his own Son Philip. This wrangling went so far that Maximilian's Nephew had like to have made War upon him He sought the Alliance of the German Princes for this very purpose and hearkned to the Kings Envoyez who proffer'd him his However the mediation of their common friends appeased that Domestique Quarrel The same night the Battel of Renty was fought came news to the Camp of the Battel at Mercian in Siennois which much allayes the Emperors trouble and grief and the joy of the French Now before we speak of this Event we must in gross relate the success of that War At the beginning the Duke of Florence who equally feared the Imperialists and the French and would prevent the ruine of his Year of our Lord 1554 Country had sought to find a Medium to compose the difference which was out that Sienne should remain free in its dependance on the Empire and amity with France But the Pope whose Interest he made use of did not act cordially The Holy Fathers aim was to bring that Estate under the power of the Emperor because he made him or at least left him room to believe and hope that he would invest Fabian Son of his Brother Baldwine with it therefore of his own head he added one condition to those of the Duke of Florence which she well knew the Siennois would never accept which was that a Cardinal to be named by him should be put into the City to serve as Chief for that Republique with a Garrison of Twelve Hundred Men. The Emperor on his part was not sorry this Negotiation broke off that he might have an employment for Peter de Toledo and remove him from being Vice-Roy of Naples where his ill Conduct had caused most dangerous Tumults about the business of the Inquisition This Lord had not been a Month in Tuscany but he died Garsias his Son took the Command of the Imperial Army Duke Cosmo having refused it Paul de Termes Commanded then in that Country for the King The Imperialists having Twenty Thousand Foot in that Mountainous Region gained most of the places as well along the Sea-shore as the Valley of Chiana but they got nothing but Blows at Montalcini Thereupon they had notice the Turks Fleet was at Sea and that on the other hand Brissac had gained great advantages in Piedmont this news obliged them to send back the best part of their Forces to the Kingdom of Naples and into Milanois Cosmo was much astonished he saw himself forsaken by the Imperialists after he had broken with the King It was believed he would then willingly have complied had they known how to press him in that juncture but they gave him time to recover himself of his first fears and resolve to stand it out come what would In which he was the more confirmed for that the great Turkish Fleet Commanded by Dragut and joyned with the French Galleys of whom the Baron de la Garde was General having made a descent upon the Coasts and in the Island of Elbe took only some little places and durst not attaque either Piombino which is on the Terra-firma nor the Fortress of Porto-Ferrario which he had built in the Island From thence that Armada passed to Corsica carrying thither Termes and the greatest part of the French Commanders and Nobility who quitted Sienna imagining there was no further danger These passages hap'ned in the Year 1553. but in 1554. the King sent thither Peter Strozzi newly made Mareschal upon the Death of Annebaut to Command his Forces in the place of Paul de Termes This employment was procured him by the Queen to whom he was related but by obliging her Cousin she ruined the Kings Affairs For as Strozzi was a mortal Enemy to the Medicis Cosmo fancied he had expresly made choise of him to renew the intrigues for the liberty of the Florentines and to encourage them to shake off their Yoke so that being exasperated to the highest degree he observed no measures but openly declared against the French and against Sienna The Cardinal of Ferrare who had the intendance General of the Government for the King at Sienna took likewise some umbrage and Jealousie at this Mareschals Arrival who notwithstanding endeavour'd to condescend to him in all things insomuch that from that Minute he grew very careless neglected to carry on those practices and negotiations France then had as well at Rome as with the other Princes of Italy and let slip all those means and opportunities wherewith they might have kept things still in very good order and condition Cosmo had chosen for General of his Forces John Jacques Medequin Marquiss of Marignan who embraced this opportunity to make the World believe he was of the House of the Medicis though he were but the Son of a Maltostier or Tax-gatherer Having invested Sienna by the taking of several small places round about
intelligence of a School-master whom the desire of Gain had wrought upon to shew them a certain place where they might scale it It was upon a Shrove-tide Festival when Figuerba and all the Nobility of the Spanish Army were come thither to make a Carousel The City being taken Figueroa cast himself into the Citadel the Mareschal caused it immediately to be batter'd and in a few days forced it to capitulate Year of our Lord 1555 Queen Mary and the Cardinal Pool her Cousin fearing lest the quarrel betwixt the two Kings should embroil the English in a War earnestly desired to procure a Peace between them Their great instances engaged them to send Deputies betwixt Calais and Ardres to treat They Arrived there the one and twentieth of May. For their accommodation several Tents were set up containing a large Hall in the midst of them having four Gates one to the East for the Popes Legates one at the West part for the English Ambassadors one in the South for those of France and one on the North for the Emperors The two Princes according to the Proposals made by the English agreed well enough about the referring all their differences to the judgment of the Council but the King declaring he would not restore the Duke of Savoy till the Emperor surrendred up Navarre to Jane d'Albret and Piacenza to the Farneses the Assembly broke up without concluding any thing Neither the one nor the other were very well prepared for a War so that this Summer past without any great exploits The Imperial Army after several Marches and Skirmishes employ'd themselves in fortifying the Burrough of Corbigny upon the Meuse which they named Philip-Ville Martin Van Rossen Mareschal of Cleves who commanded it dying of the Plague the Prince of Orange succeeded him in that employ Beyond the Alpes after the capitulation of Siena they likewise took the Port-Hercole The French succeeded ill at the Siege of Calvi in Corsica The Mareschal de Brissac took Vulpian and though but little assisted by the Court made head bravely against the Duke d'Alva who succeeded Figueroa This Duke could bring Five and Twenty Thousand Men into the Field notwithstanding he received an affront before Saint Ia being forced to raise his Siege Year of our Lord 1555 The Five and Twentieth day of May Henry d'Albret King of Navarre died at Hagetmar in Bearn The King had a great desire to seize upon the rest of that petty Kingdom and to give Anthony de Bourbon who had Married the Heiress some Lands in exchange but Anthony hast'ned to go and take possession of it and his Wife found means to preserve it notwithstanding the perswasions and treachery of her Officers The King was so fretted at it that he dismembred Languedoc from his Government of Guyenne to bestow it on the constable he refused to give that of Picardy which Anthony surrendred upon his going away to Lewis Prince of Conde his Brother and gratify'd Coligny with it After his departure it hapned that la Jaille being gone to make incursion in Artois with a party of the Arriere-band was upon his return cut in pieces by Hausimont Governor of Bapaume a slight shock which yet so terrified the French that they put their Men in Garrisons About the same time the Diepois having Information that two and twenty great Flemmish Vessels were returning from Spain loaden with rich Goods went and laid in wait for them about Dover and not staying to fire at them went directly aboard Their Vessels were little and low the other large and high built so that they maul'd them with Shot and Granado's from above The Fight lasted six hours hand to hand at length some of them took Fire which burnt half a dozen of either Ships and parted them sooner then otherwise they would have done Jane Queen of Spain Widdow of Philip the Fair and Mother of the Emperor Charles V. died in Spain the Twelth of April Aged 73 years She had been lock'd up as one distracted ever since the death of Philip her Husband however the Estates still reserved the Title of Queen of Spain for her which in all publick instruments was joyned with that of the Emperor her Son This Great Prince finding his Body grown weak and his head crazy not being any longer able to support either the heavy burthen of worldly Affairs nor his own decayed Cottage Resolved in a Council of Women these were his two Sisters to renounce his Soveraignty Having therefore sent for his only Son Philip King of England to come to him to whom the year before upon his Marriage he had already given the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicilia and since that also the investiture of the Dutchy of Milan he assembled the Estates of the Low-Countries at Bruxels the Five and Twentieth of October and there he Created him first Chief of the Order of the Fleece then he resigned up those Provinces to him A Month after in the same City in presence of the Governors and Deputies of his other Estates whom he had called thither for that purpose he yielded up and remitted to him all other his Kingdoms and Seigneories as well in Europe as in the new World He had nothing now left him but the Empire which he held yet a year hoping to oblige his Brother Ferdinand to resigne that up likewise to his Son In the Month of March of this same year Pope Julius III. ended his life Marcel II. who was Elected in his place held it but one and twenty days and they Elected the Cardinal John Peter Caraffa Aged fourscore and one year old He was Son of the Count de Matalone in the Kingdom of Naples and they called him Theatin because he had been Archbishop of Theati and had there instituted the Order of Clerc's Regulars who took their name from that City Many because of the resemblance of the habit have confounded the Jesuits with them His religious life and austere manners which made the World affraid of a severe reformation were immediately changed into a proud and a luxurious huffing vanity He was of a haughty heart and a stubborn Spirit and yet suffer'd himself to be circumvented by his Nephews and led any way as they pleased Amongst the rest he had two Sons of his Brothers these were Charles who had born Arms for the French under the Mareschal Strozzi and Alphonso Count de Montorio greatly desirous to raise themselves the first very proud and rash the second more mild and moderate To this he gave the Government of the Church Lands and to the other a Cardinals Hat The Uncle and the Nephews for divers injuries received hated the Spaniards and by a necessary consequence all those of that party especially the Duke of Florence and the House of the Colonnas who besides all this have ever been averse to the power of the Popes Year of our Lord 1555 Being therefore prompted by this resentment and that spirit so ordinary in many of the Papal
and Pensions for his Nephews and Friends That the Duke of Ferrara and in his absence a Prince whom the King should name should have the General Command of the Armies This League was held secret for some time the Cardinal de Lorrain at his going to Rome had by his fair words drawn in Hercules de Ferrara to be an Allie but his eloquence had not the same power over the Venetians The Cardinal Nephew did likewise employ motives of interest and those of fear He propounded to give them Ravenna in pawn and Puglia when it was conquer'd threatning in case they did not make a League with him to call in the Turks which they dreaded above all things but all this could not move them On the other hand King Philip foreseeing the Pope would by his Sentence endeavour to deprive him of the Kingdom of Naples and Excommunicate him prepared to assemble all the Cardinals together at Pisa to declare the promotion of the Pope not Canonical and by that means invalidate all that he should do to his prejudice He had thirteen or fourteen very sure on his side without reckoning such others as he might gain besides In the mean time the Duke of Alva informed of those Treaties after he had taken order for the Affairs of Milanois and Piedmont passed by Sea into Tuscany where he conferr'd with the Duke of Florence and from thence went to the Kingdom of Naples At the same time the King who had resolved upon the rupture wrote to his Ambassador at Constantinople his name was la Vigne that he should speak of it to Solyman as if he did it for his sake and by that means endeavour to procure a considerable assistance Solyman much pleased to find that a new flame was breaking forth in Christendom promised wonders and made his Fleet put out to Sea But it served the French only to clear themselves in some sort For an Agent of the Kings named Codignac who was discontented going over to the Spaniards had given the Turks some jealousie upon the Kings designing to make himself Master of Italy as if he from thence intended to pass into Greece as Charles VIII would have done and to encrease their apprehensions he discover'd to them I know not what kind of ancient Prophesies which threaten that the Franc's shall overthrow the Empire of the Crescent Year of our Lord 1555 Though this League were concluded before the end of the year 1555. it did not hinder but by the mediation of Mary Queen of England and Cardinal Pool the King and the Emperor were inclined and at last brought to agree upon a general and trading Truce for five years It was treated at Vaucelles near Cambray the fifth of February in Anno 1556. The Emperor contributed much to it Year of our Lord 1556 very well satisfied that this calm consolidated the new begun Reign of his Son When the Cardinal Caraffa heard of this Truce he made a great complaint to the King that they had abandoned the interests of his House that they left it exposed to the vengeance of the Spaniards and the Florentines He demanded that for security the King would at least be pleased to put those places into the hands of the Pope which were yet left him in Sienna He imagined that by this means he should be sought to by those Princes and that they would be glad to buy his amity and when the King had refused them he importun'd his Uncle so much that he condescended he should go Legate into France to dispose the King to break the said Truce He came in a proud Equipage but concealing his Design and giving out it was to labour for a Peace between the two Crowns He saluted the King at Fontainbleau made him a Present of a Sword and an Hat which had been blessed by the Pope and entertain'd him in private with his grand Designs The King was very irresolute but in the end the Legates vast promises and the opinion he possess'd him with that nothing was able to resist his power and withal the artificial address of Valentinois who had already made Alliance with the Guises by giving one of her Daughters to the Duke of Aumale with the intrigues of the Queen who desired a War in Italy to employ her Kinsman the Mareschal de Strozzi there thrust him into the Precipice and made him resolve to declare a War against the Spaniard But before this the Council thought expedient to send to the Emperor and to King Philip to admonish them to recall the Duke of Alva and his Forces out of the Territories of the Holy-See They had already taken divers places there and even the City of Ostia which the Nephews had neglected to provide The Legate made his entrance into Paris with the Magnificence usual on such Ceremonies At Court and in the City he shewed himself a Cavalier to the Nobility a Gallant in the Ladies Company of a merry humour amongst the gay people made Courtship to the Dutchess of Valentinois and gave her extraordinary fine Presents both from his Holyness and from himself The Queen being brought to Bed of Twin-Girls he had the honour to be Godfather to one of them and gave her the name of Victoria as expressive of the great advantages the League between the Pope and the King would acquire in Italy but soon after this presage vanished with the life of that Princess In the mean time whilst the Army they were to send into Italy was making ready they gave Strozzi orders to assist the Pope to whom they sent Three Thousand Men under the Conduct of Montluc who made the Duke of Alva retire from the Neighbourhood of the City of Rome Then when they had fathom'd Philip's intentions by his haughty reply they judged it was high time the Duke of Guise should pass the Alpes At the beginning of March a Comet with a flaming Train was visible in the Eight Degree of Libra and lasted but twelve days only The Emperor fancied this Phaenomena called him to the other World so that not being able to gain his Brother to a consent of yielding the Empire to his Son he Commissioned some Ambassadors to carry his Renunciation to the Electoral Colledge However they went not till two years after because of the War new breaking out between the two Crowns and Three of the Electors were dead That done he Embarqu'd at Sudburg in Zealand about the beginning of September and went into Spain where he retired into the Covent of Saint Just of the Order of the Hieronymites which is in the midst of a delicious Valley surrounded with high Rocks in the Province of Estramadura eight Miles from Placentia near the Burrough of Scarandilla It is believed this was otherwhile the place of Sertorious his retirement He reserved no more to himself of all his great Train and his large-possessions but twelve Men a little Horse to ride out for Pleasure and Air and one Hundred Thousand
granted him Three Millions of Gold as he demanded It was raised upon things and by Methods the least burthensome to the Kingdom One cannot too often or in too large Characters make mention of a couple of Edicts which were made this year The one to retrench the abuses of Clandestine Marriages The other to secure the Lives of Poor Infants born out of Wedlock This ordained that Women and Wenches who had concealed their great Bellies and could not make proof that their Children had received Baptism and Burial should be Condemned to Death as Convicted of Murther and making them away The other vacated all Marriages made by the Children of any Family without the consent of their Father and Mother unless the Sons when they so contracted were above Thirty years of Age and the Daughters Five and Twenty And to put the stronger curb upon the amorous fancies of young giddy People they added the Penalty of Disinheritance The particular Interest of the Constable procured this last Edict His eldest Son had engaged himself with the Damoiselle de Pienne a very beautiful Woman and of a good House by verbal Contract The Father who desired to disengage him from her to match him with the Kings natural Daughter widdow of Horatio Farnese had for this purpose applied himself to the Pope and had sent his Son to Rome to sollicite that Affair but finding the too rigid Pope put off the decision and delay'd him he was advised to seek his remedy in France and impetrated this Edict of the King And that it might effectually serve his turn he had caused to be added to it that seeing it was founded upon the Law of God it should have a retroactive effect or retrospect Now his Son having declar'd in Court that the promise he made to the Damoiselle was but conditional if his Father would consent which he would not do the Parliament declared that the Engagement was null and of no value after which he Married the Kings natural Daughter This Wedding being over the Constable went to Saint Quentin where he lost the Battel his Liberty and his favour almost to boot Year of our Lord 1558 The first time of their meeting the Assembly of Estates participated in the general joy for the happy exploits of the Duke of Guise whose success surpassed the very hopes and expectation of all the World In eight dayes time being from the first of January to the eight he had taken Calais and in a few dayes more the Town of Guisnes which was razed and that of Hames The Governor of Calais was kept Prisoner with Fifty Persons of Note but all the rest were turned out both Soldiers and Inhabitants Edward III. had done the very same to the French when he gained it from them two hundred and ten years before Thus were the English wholly expell'd out of France they not having one foot of Ground left them and this was the fruit they reaped by the Alliance their Queen had made with Spain upon which the Pope said very ingeniously That the loss of Calais was the Dower of that Princess Such as were enviers of the Duke endeavour'd to diminish his Fame by attributing the first design of this enterprize some to the Constable others to the Admiral which might well be true but their mouths were stopt when about the latter end of the following Spring he gained the strong Town of Thionville which cover'd and secured Mets and enlarged the Frontiers on that side It surrendred the two and twentieth of June the Mareschal de Strozzi was slain in the Trenches by the shot of a great Arquebuse or Musquet discharged on a Rest His Staff was bestowed on the Lord de Termes The rumour of his great exploits was not likely to comfort the Constable in his Captivity or rejoyce his friends who saw him eclipsed by a young Prince whose vertue captivated Fortune as it did the Affections of the people and men of the Sword From this Hour the jealousie that was between those two Houses proceeded to the forming of two contrary parties in the Kingdom as we shall find Whilst he was in Luxemburgh the Mareschal de Termes esteemed a great Soldier took Dunkirk and Bergue ravaged all that Coast and at his return besieged Graveline at that time but little fortified Hearing Count Egmont was marching towards him with an Army twice stronger then his own he repass'd the River Aa at low water but Lamoral doubling his pace and getting over much higher was then before him and forced him to give Battel near the Sea-side The multitude of the Enemies and the horrible Tempests of Canon-shot poured by Year of our Lord 1558 Broad-sides from Ten English Ships which hap'ned to lye on that Coast overwhelmed the French who fought as desperadoes Almost all of them perish'd and Termes was taken Prisoner This check did again heighten the glory of the Duke of Guise as if he had been the only man in whose hands the Kings Sword could be prosperous But that which raised his Authority yet higher was the Marriage of the Queen of Scots his Neece with the Daufin The Nuptials were solemnized at Paris the Four and Twentieth of April and the Ambassadors who were sent into Scotland with the Deputies harangued before the Estates so effectually that they granted the Daufin the Crown and the rest of the Regal Ornaments which the English had denied to Philip. In the Month of February the Ambassadors of Charles V. carried his Renunciation to the Flectors assembled at Franckfort who upon the Fourteenth of March transferr'd the Empire to Ferdinand and swore faith and obedience to him The Pope approved not this Election and maintain'd it was null as well as the Rennnciation of Charles V. because they had not the approbation of the Holy-See either for the one or the other for he pretended they had no right of Election but in case of death only and besides the Princes that had Elected him had forfeited that power by their Heresies His head was so possess'd with this opinion that he did all he possibly could to make the King of the same mind and renew a League with him against the House of Austria And though he could find no body that would support him in this Sentiment he persisted therein notwithstanding to his death which hap'ned in the Month of August of the following year But Pius IV. his Successor confirmed the Imperial Dignity to Ferdinand His Brother Charles V. after he had lived two years in the solitude of Saint Just was seized with a desperate Ague which carried him off the one and twentieth of September the Fifty Ninth year of his Age. A Comet that appeared the thirteenth of August in Berenices hair the Tail turned towards Spain was as a Flambeau lighted to lead the way to his Funeral Pomp. The Summer come the two Kings took the Field with the two most numerous Armies that had been on foot in all this Age and encamped near
when they could find a person of quality to head them such as was Dandelot or the Admiral his Brother This year that question was decided at Venice which the Spaniards had moved to the French concerning precedence or rank Doctor Francis Vargas had been there in the quality and with the Function of Ambassador for Charles V. Emperor and King of Spain After the abdication of the Emperor and about the end of the year 1556. Philip recalled him giving notice however to the Seigneory that he would send him again suddenly During his absence Loyola whom he had left in his stead pretended to hold the place of Ambassador for the Emperor the French Ambassador this was Dominique Bishop of Lodeve would have no such thing allowed and bestirred himself so that Loyola durst never appear at any Ceremonies In the year 1557. Vargas being return'd again pretended to keep the same station he had before saying he had never been revoked but he of France maintained he had since he had had his Audience of Congé and received the Present given to Ambassadors that moreover Charles V. had absolutely devested himself of the Empire without reserving to himself one inch of its Lands and that therefore he had now nothing to negociate or trouble his Brain withal but the looking after and managing his Clocks The business was off and on for almost a whole year then hap'ned the shock at Saint Quentin which much startled the minds and turned the thoughts and cares of the Ministers of France to things of a more important and pressing nature The Venetians grounded their doubts upon Charles V. being still Emperor but when that pretence came once to be remov'd by the Election of Ferdinand which was in the year 1558. they had no apparent reason to hesitate They knew well enough the King had most reason on his side but they durst not own it and would very fain have referr'd it to the decision of the Pope saying it belonged not to them to make themselves Judges between two such great Princes The pretensions of Philip was not as yet to gain the upper hand of France but only to hang up the dispute upon the hedge and stand on equal termes The Venetians had made a Decree in the Councel des Pregadi that the Ambassadors of both Kings should be present at none of their Ceremonies till the controversie were first judged at Rome so greatly did they apprehend to offend Philip Nevertheless when they observed the Kings Affairs began to look with a promising face again and Novailles Bishop of Dacqs the Ambassador from France pressed them without intermission and by strong Arguments and Reasons and threatnings to be gone they at length revoked the Decree and ordained that he of France should hold the first rank according to ancient custom and usage They sent for him therefore to assist at the Ceremony they made upon the day of the Visitation being the second of July This was eight dayes before the death of the King The Peace being made all relented and grew soft and slack in France the Constable was already more then Septuaginary besides ever unfortunate in War the Mareschal de Saint André brave in his Person but softned by luxury and voluptuousness the King if we may so say dared by the Hawk and baffled as who had beheld his Kingdom in extream danger the Guises loaden with Honour and glad there was no occasion to keep them at too great a distance from the Court where they were omnipotent especially since the Marriage of their Niece with the Daufin Some have reproached them perhaps without any reason that from that time they began to entertain secret Correspondencies with the Spaniard or at least to have a great deal of Complaisance for him that they might out-do the Constable in this very point too who seemed to have relinquished much of the Interests of France for his own Whatever it were the Government at this time changed their Maximes in two points whereof one was touching the Affaires of Italy the other the Alliance with the Turks For they resolved as to the first not to intermeddle with it any more And for the other to renounce it wholly likewise as a thing very prejudicial to Christendom of little benefit and very scandalous to France and which hindred the Princes of Germany from reposing an intimate confidence and joyning in a strickt tye with them Year of our Lord 1559 So that under pretence of gaining their Amity they obliged him to send Ambassadors to the Diet of Ausburg to assure them he never had any real Alliance with the Turks and that he was resolved to renounce it Totally The Agents of the House of Austria endeavour'd to make good advantage of this Compliment at the Port Solyman could believe nothing till he had received certain News of the Peace between the two Crowns Then he released Ferdinands Ambassador whom he held in Prison and immediately made a Peace with his Master and yet to make it appear he had still some concern for France he obliged that Prince to be a Friend to his Friends and Enemy to his Enemies The five and twentieth of January the Pope displeased with the ill-behaviour of the Caraffa's his Nephews and principally because they attempted to hold him in Captivity after he had declaimed against them with all his might in a Consistory stript them of all their Offices and Dignities and expell'd them from Rome which furnished Pius IV. his Successor with a pre-judgment to make Process against them though he were indebted to them for his Pope-dome which he gained by their contrivance The Cardinal Caraffa was strangled in the Castle Saint Angelo John Count de Montebel his Brother and the Count d'Alifan Brother of the Wife to that John had their Heads cut off A lesson ☜ written in Letters of Blood to teach their Fellows if they would reflect on it to use that power with more moderation which is so frail and tottering There was neither City nor Province nor Profession where the novel opinions had not got footing men of the Gown men of Learning and the Ecclesiasticks themselves against their own Interest suffer'd themselves to be charmed with them punishments did but make them scatter and encrease and enflame their Zeal the more So that several of the Parliament some out of a more tender and merciful nature others because they had embraced them were of the mind to moderate those to severe prosecutions The King knowing this sent for Giles le Maistre first President and two others with the Procureur or Solicitor General and commanded them to execute his Edict of Chasteau-Briand with the utmost severity Le Maistre makes report to the whole Company of the Kings Commands as they were arguing upon that Subject and most voices inclined towards a mitigation the business being in good forwardness behold the King having notice as it was presumed from Le Maistre comes into the Parliament this was on the
the one and then with the other In the midst of all these a young King as weak in mind as in body exposed to the first occupier and the prize contended for the Government of the Kingdom As for the Guises they were Five Brothers the Duke the Cardinal de Lorraine the Duke d'Aumale the Cardinal de Guise and the Marquess d'Elbeuf we are not to make any reck'ning of the three last because they acted nothing but by the inspiration and motion of the other two The Duke drew his Party to him by the Reputation of his Valour his Liberality and his Affability the Cardinal de Lorraine by his Eloquence and his Learning They were notwithstanding of very different humors the Duke moderate just undaunted in dangers the Cardinal hot undertaking and vain puffed up with good success but trembling and faint-hearted at the least frowns of Fortune Amongst the Princes of the Blood there was Anthony King of Navarre Lewis Prince of Condé the Duke of Montpensier and the Prince de la Roche-sur-yon Anthony was a voluptuous and fearful Prince and more considerable for his Quality then his Power Lewis was Valiant Hardy and one the greatness of whose Courage and meanness of whose slender Fortune made him fit to undertake every thing Anthony did not stand firm but abandoned his younger Brother to his Year of our Lord 1559 very death he fluctuated in doubts of Religion and was neither a good Catholick nor right Lutheran His Brother followed the Opinions of Calvin The Guises seized upon the Kings Person because he had Married their Niece Mary Steward Queen of Scotland and upon the favourable pretence of the Catholick Religion The others made sure of the Male-contents the disbanded Souldiers and the protection of the Religionaries whose dispair was yet much greater and stronger then their numbers The Mareschal de Saint André a Lord as brave as witty and polite but very Luxurious and over-head and ears in debt devoted himself wholly to them and promised the Duke to bestow his Daughter upon which of his Sons he pleased with all the Estate belonging both to him and his Wife reserving only the clear revenue during their term of Life This he did fearing to be devoured by his Creditors should he ever happen to be expell'd the Court. The Constable a great temporiser and who had wont to be prime Minister of State could not stoop now to be Inferior He admitted the flatteries and caresses of both Parties but at length adhered to the Guisians in hatred to the novel opinions being perswaded by his Wife and second Son that the Title he bare of the first Christian Baron would not allow him to linck himself with those who did impugne the Catholick Religion The Duke of Montpensier and the Prince de la Roche Sur-Yon though both of the House of Bourbon were led by the same motives and did not so much respect the proximity of Blood as the name of the Ancient Church and the King from whom they would not start aside for any other Consideration whatsoever A motive directly contrary to the Constables cast the Admiral de Coligny and his Brother Dandelot Colonel of the French Infantry on the side of those Princes who favour'd the new Religion of which they were thoroughly convinced and perswaded besides that they had the Honour to be Allied to the Prince of Condé For he had Married Elenora de Roye Daughter of one Magdelain de Mailly who was their Sister by the Mothers side she and they being Born of Louisa de Montmorency who was first Married to Frederic du Mailly Then to the Mareschal de Chastillon Father of these two Lords When King Henry II. received his hurt the Queen Mother was in suspence a day or two whether to joyn with the Constable or the Guises She looked upon both the one and the other as her Enemies being all Allied to the Dutchess of Valentinois whom she hated mortally though in her Husbands Life-time she feigned to love her even to the height of confidence But she thought her self much more affronted by the Constable then the Guises because it was he that had last adventur'd to contract an Alliance with that Woman Besides the Guises utterly abandoned her notwithstanding the repugnance of the Duke d'Aumale who was her Son in Law and withal they promised this Queen so much Service and so great Submission that she resolved to stand by them To which me may add that being Uncles to the young King as they were it might perhaps have been out of the reach of her power or interest to have set them aside When the Constable perceived his Game was near lost he sent in all post hast to the King of Navarre to press him to come and take that Place and Authority his Birth justly claimed under the young King but that Prince who was slow and irresolute and who withal did not much confide in him because he had once advised the deceased King to seize upon the remainder of his petit Kingdom did not make much hast This signal fault and after this his strange irresolutions and the weakness of his Conduct during all this and the following Reign may be accounted indirectly amongst the principal and main causes of all the Troubles and Misfortunes that befel the Kingdom of France Wherefore the Guises having gained the Mastery at Court the King declared to the Parliaments Deputies when they came to wait on him That he had committed the direction of his Affairs to them that is to say the Intendance or Over-sight of all the Affairs of War to the Duke and that of the Finances or Treasury to the Cardinal Being thus establish'd they consider'd of removing out of the way all those that might be obnoxious They left the Constable and Mareschals of France no more Commission but to Bury the late King and sent the Princes of Condé and de la Roche Sur-Yon into Spain the first to carry the Coller of the Order to King Philip the other to get the Treaty of Peace confirmed They likewise banished the Dutchess of Valentinois from the Court but first obliged her to restore and deliver up the Jewels and the rich Furniture and Year of our Lord 1559 Goods the late King had bestowed upon her and took away her fair House of Chenonceaux to accommodate the Queen-Mother in exchange for the Castle of Chaumont upon the Banks of the River Loire Desiring by embellishing the face of their new Government with a shew of Goodness and Justice towards the publick to condemn the Government past they took the Seals from Bertrandi Cardinal and Archbishop of Sens whose reputation was not of the best and restored them to the Chancellor Ol vier a person really of a much more then ordinary merit and of great probity but who soon perceived they had recalled him to servitude rather then to a freedom of function in the highest Office of the Kingdom The Queen-Mother in the mean time
Title of Conservator of the Country In the mean while the Coligny's observing they were looked upon with a very evil Eye at Court withdrew themselves and the Queen order'd the Admiral to go and quiet those Commotions that were beginning in Normandy and to enquire and search out the real causes that he might make report thereof to her The horror of this Conspiracy and so much blood as had been spilt in punishing it so deeply wounded the Heart of Francis Olivier who had a tender and most humane Soul that he fell sick upon it and died The Cardinal de Lorraine had cast his Eye upon John de Morvilliers Bishop of Orleans but the Queen prevented him and desired the King to give that Office to Michael de l'Hospital at least she made some body tell him that he owed that favour to her although the Cardinal would needs perswade him it came by his means l'Hospital did afterwards make it plainly appear the Obligation was from the Queen by his so closely sticking to her Interest The Cognisance of all matters and Crimes relating to Heresies had hitherto belonged to the Parliaments who five years before had contended mightily to preserve the same Now as there were many Councellors and of the most Learned who were imbued with those Novelties the Cardinal de Lorraine got all such causes to be transmitted to the Bishops by an Edict of the Month of May at Ramorantin in Berry To which the new Chancellor consented to prevent a greater evil the Inquisition which that Cardinal and the Court of Rome endeavour'd to introduce in France with the same power it hath in Spain In France they had hitherto called those that professed the new Religion Lutherans though in many points they did not follow the Doctrines of Luther Some did more properly name them Sacramentaries because they denied the Reality of the Body of our Lord in the Holy Sacrament This year they applied the name of Huguenots to them which sticks upon them still The Origine of it is uncertain there are those that say it took its birth at Tours and they derive it from the name of Hugon because those Novators made their Mid-night Assemblies at the Gate Hugon or because they went abroad only during the darkness like Goblins or Spirits by them called King Hugon and which according to the fabulous reports of those People stalked about the Streets of that Town in the Night time For my own part I think I have good Proof that it comes from a Swiss word which signifies League but corrupted by those of Geneva and from thence it Travelled into France with the Religionaries themselves who were so called in those Countries After Queen Catherine had Fortified her self by the Councils of the Chancellor de l'Hospital she was precautioned as well against the Guises as against the Princes of the Blood And as she would always keep to that Maxime of her House as a Rule to walk by Divide and Reign she studied to continue the troubles that she might still find a Party to rely upon and make them balance one another And if either side grew too ponderous she put more weight into the other Scale to bring them to an equalibrity Thus observing the absence of the two first Princes of the Blood and the Coligny's who were gone to their own homes left the Guises in too great Credit she began to lend a more favourable ear to the Huguenots and even to read some Writings they address'd to her for their justification With the same prospect or to dive into the designs and interests of the Grandees she Summoned them all to Fountainbleau upon the twentieth of August under colour of taking their advice upon the present State of affairs as it was otherwhile Year of our Lord 1560 the Ancient and necessary Custom and Method of the Kingdom of France The Constable the Admiral and Dandelot went thither with a Train of Eight or Nine Hundred Gentlemen The Assembly lasted only four Sessions They were held in the Queen Mothers Closset the King being present The first day the King and then the Queen his Mother having in few words declared the occasion of their being called which was to find out some remedy for the Troubles caused by differences in Religion and to root out those abuses that sprung up so fast in all the Orders conjured those that were present to give their opinions and speak their thoughts without passion or interest The Chancellor did more at large lay open what the distempers and disorders were and the Remedies they might apply When he had ended the Admiral advanced and falling on his knees before the King presented him some Petitions not signed by any one but which he said he had received in Normandy which implored the Kings mercy and begged he would put some stop to the prosecutions against the Reformed and allow them some Churches and the free exercise of their Faith Thereupon John de Montluc Bishop of Valence being desired to give his advice spoke with more freedom then any Enemy of the Church of Rome durst have done of the abuses and vices of the Clergy particularly the Bishops Forty of them having been seen at one time together at Paris wasting their precious time in sloathful idleness or forbidden pleasures praised the devotion in singing of Psalmes and Hymnes in French rather then wanton Ayres and Songs Blamed the severity Inflicted upon People guilty of no other Crime but a perswasion of what they believed to be really good and concluded it best to refer the decision of those Controversies to a National Council there being little hopes of a General one and the reformation of the disorders in the State to an Assembly of the Estates General Marillac Archbishop of Vienne spake to the same purpose and added several things too picquant against the Guises The Cardinal de Lorraine a Prelate of a sublime Eloquence took the Counterpart against these two Bishops and by weighty reasons shewed there was no need of any Council and that the Prosecution ought to be carried on against the Sectaries As to the other point he was of opinion to call the Estates together He also gave an account in gross of the Administration of the Treasury as his Brother the Duke of Guise of his Conduct in the Government justifying himself against the Calumnies imputed to him especially his having Armed the King against his Subjects by setting up a Guard for him as he had done for which he laid all the blame on those that were the Authors of the late attempts and disturbances The result of all was an Edict the Four and Twentieth of August which Summoned the Estates of the Kingdom to meet in the City of Melun upon the Tenth day of December and ordained the Bishops to come to the King the Tenth of January to such place as the King should prescribe to consult of a fit time and place to hold a National Council in case the Pope by
maintaining the ancient Religion they laboured to set up an absolute and unlimited power over those Provinces who owed no further obedience then according to their Laws and Priviledges The procedure of the Cardinal de Granvelle who treated the Grandees of the Country very imperiously exasperated them yet more Divers Conspiracies were contrived against him the fear of which forced him to retire to Besanson but his Spirit Reigned in Flanders still and perswaded the Council of Spain not to abate in the least but proceed and carry on the work with the utmost severity The Council of State of the Order of the Fleece and Governors of the Provinces wherein Margaret Dutchess of Parma Governess of the Low-Countries presided thought good to send Egmont into Spain to represent the ill Consequences that would attend the publication of their too severe Edicts He returned with fair words and great caresses but Philip sent Orders to the Governess to publish the Council of Trent and set up the Inquisition The States of Brabant opposed it the Religionaries heated the people the Governess apprehending a revolt was constrained to put forth a Declaration which revoked the Inquisition and would not suffer the Council to be published but with restrictions conformable to the Priviledges of the Country But the Populace for the most part pre-possest with the Doctrine of the Sectaries were not satisfied with that but threatned to fall foul upon the Nobility in so much as the Lords of the Country dreading their fury or pretending so assembled at Gertrudemberg and made a League amongst themselves for the preservation of their Liberties The Governess being much amazed at this Conspiracy the Count de Barlaimont who hated them mortally told her they were only a Company of Gueux The Conspirators hearing of it took that Epithet or word for the name of their Faction and began to wear upon their Coats the figure of a wooden Porringer or Dish with this Inscription Servants of the King even to the Budget Immediately as if that had been the Signal for their rising the Religionaries broke loose in every part of the Country They began to hold Assemblies to destroy and break in pieces all what the Catholicks esteem most sacred and to seize upon some Towns as the Huguenots of France did formerly with whom they had kept intimate correspondence for several years Year of our Lord 1566 and 67. Of two Opinions debated in the Council of Spain touching the Method to extinguish this Flame Philip chose that of the Duke d'Alva as most suitable to his mercyless humour and his desire of absolute authority which was to use the utmost severities to quell those Tumults and not to receive the people to any kind of Mercy till they had given up their Priviledges their Estates and even their Lives to his discretion Wherefore after he had pretended for three Months together that he would go personally thither to settle that people he sent the Duke of Alva with Orders to execute those sanguinary resolutions of which he was the Author He Marched by Savoy Bress the Franche-Comté and Lorrain with the Forces of Milanois and of the Kingdom of Naples Whilst he was yet in Italy he advised Queen Catherine to arm on her part to exterminate the Huguenots at the same time as he would destroy the Gueux In effect she raised six thousand Swiss and ordered the Governors of Provinces to send the Companies already on foot called d'Ordonnance and to levy new ones but it was under pretence of Coasting the Duke to observe and hinder him from undertaking any thing upon the Frontiers of the Kingdom Before he left Spain the Marquiss de Bergue and Floris de Montmorency Montigny were arrested having been sent on the behalf of the States of the Low-Countries to make their Remonstrances to King Philip. The first died either of grief or some morsel prepar'd for the purpose the second had his head cut off though both of them were very stanch Catholicks which made it apparent that the Council of Spain intended no less against the liberty of the Low-Countries then against the new Religion Year of our Lord 1567. June c. Now it is certain that the Duke of Alva's Army kindled the flame of Civil War again in France The Huguenots seeing them march imagin'd That the Pope and the House of Austria had conspired their ruine that this design was evident because they every day restrained them more and more of that liberty which had been granted them by Edicts so that it was almost reduced to nothing Year of our Lord 1567 that the people fell upon them in all places where they were the weaker and where they were able to defend themselves the Governors made use of the Kings Authority to oppress them that they dismantled those Cities that had favour'd them that they built Citadels there that they could not have justice done them either in Parliaments nor by the Kings Council that they Massacred them impunitively that they restored them not to their Estates and Employments These were in substance the complaints they carried twice or thrice to the Prince of Condé and Coligny who having met them two several times still answered them that they must endure any thing rather then take up Arms again That a second disturbance would make them become a horror to all France and the particular object of hatred to the King in whose mind it would make so deep an impression of prejudice against them in his blooming youth as nothing hereafter would be able to blot out But when one of the Chief Persons about the Court had given them certain notice that it was resolved on to seize upon the Prince and the Admiral the first to be detained a perpetual Prisoner the other to be brought to the Scaffold Dandelot the boldest of them made them resolve not only to defend themselves but to attack their Enemies by open force and to that purpose drive away the Cardinal de Lorrain from the King and cut the Swiss in pieces this was their first aim but no man alive nay not themselves could have told to what height their success might have carried them had it proved such as they desired The little City of Rosoy in Brie was Assigned for Rendezvous of the Nobility of the Party on the eighth and twentieth day of September The Prince with the Admiral Dandelot and the Count de la Rochefaucaut seized upon it without any difficulty there being Arrived several Gentlemen from divers parts one by one till they made up the number in all of Four Hundred Masters They had a mind to surprize the Court which was then at Monceaux on the Feast day of Saint Michael when the King was to have held the Chapter of his Order but the Queen having Information that they were upon their March immediately retired with the King to Meaux And to give her Swissers time who were quarter'd in the Neighbouring Villages to get into the
and that if he staid four or five dayes longer he would have no way left him to make his Retreat Coligny penetrating into the designes they were contriving against them came to the Castle of Tanlay belonging to Dandelot his Brother From thence going to the Prince both of them parted from Noyers with a Convoy of a Hundred and Fifty Horse only in the midst of whom a Melancholly Spectacle were their Wives and Children the most of them as yet in their Nurses Armes or not out of their hanging Sleeves The better to conceal their Retreat the Prince wrote a long Letter of Complaints and Remonstrances to the King declaring he would wait for an answer to it In the mean time he hastned forward and pass'd the River of Loire at a Ford right against Sancerre Scarce was he on the other Shoar when the Burgundian Troops who pursued him appeared on the hither side at Saint Godon The River was at that time Fordable but the next day it swell'd so high that it left them no passage to get over to follow him Which the Huguenots cry'd up for a Miracle Year of our Lord 1568. September c. Blaise de Montluc Governour of Guyenne and the King's Lieutenants of Limosin and Perigord were up in Armes to intercept his Passage and the Mareschal de Vielleville upon the rumour of his March came to Poitiers to know what business led him thither He out-stript them all by his diligence and Arrived at Rochel the Eighteenth of September The Queen of Navarre Jane d'Albret came there soon after with her two Children Henry Prince of Bearn and Catherine The Cardinal de Chastillon who was at his Castle of Brosle in Beauvoisis not being able to get to his Brother thorow so many of the Enemies Provinces made his escape by Sea into England There is reason enough to believe that the Prince or rather the Admiral who was the primum Mobile of the Party had taken his measures long before for the Huguenots Captains Flock'd to Rochel from all Parts as if appointed at that very time and Queen Jane brought him near Four Thousand Men. Dandelot who was in Bretagne had gotten about the like number together out of the Provinces of Normandy Mayne and Anjou who were joyned by Montgomery la Noüe and some others All these together after some Ren-counters they had with Sebastian de Luxemburg Martigues passed the River Montgomery having very luckily lighted on a Ford for them the Duke of Montpensier who Commanded the King's Forces in that Country nor Martigues ever offering to obstruct it Year of our Lord 1568 Together with their Swords both the one and the other made use of the fair pretence of Justice The Prince drew up the Form of an Oath whereby all those of his Party engaged upon their Faith to follow and obey his Commands for the Defence of their Religion and to pursue the Cardinal of Lorraine to the utmost whom they supposed to be the Author of the War and their sworn Enemy The Manifesto for his taking up Arms which he published at the same time expressed the very same thing It was necessary to set up some mark to Level at not daring in the least to pretend any Controversie with the King or the Queen his Mother On the other side an Edict was set forth by the King whereby he promised to take all the Huguenots of his Kingdom into his Protection as much as any other his Subjects and assured them they should have due Justice done for all the Injuries had been Committed against them provided they would quietly remain in their own present dwellings But afterwards when the Queen and the Cardinal de Lorraine perceived that this favour was interpreted by them as an Artifice which tended to oppress them separately one after another did but the more animate them to run after the Prince from all Parts they put forth another quite contrary which prohibited the exercise of any other Religion but the Catholick and commanded all Huguenot Ministers to leave the Kingdom within Fifteen dayes By a third all such of them as held any Offices or Employments were enjoyned to Surrender the same up to the King The Parliament added in the Verification That no Person from that time forward should be admitted into any Office that did not first make Oath to live and die in the Catholick Religion During the Month of October the Prince and his People got themselves into possession of most of the places in the Countries of Aulnis Saintongne Angoumois and Poitou excepting Poitiers They had proved happy in all their enterprises if their Forces to the number of twelve Thousand Men who came from Daufiné Languedoc and Guyenne Commanded in Chief by Dacier had not received a shrewd Check at their Marching out of Perigord Mouvens a valiant Soldier but too presumptuous had lodged himself alone with three Thousand Men upon some pick he had with Beaudiné Brother to Dacier the Duke of Montpensier who was gone into that Country to hinder their joyning with the Prince gave Brissac order to fall upon him whilst himself would Skirmish with Dacier that he might not relieve him Dacier knowing how things stood sent to Mouvens not to stir out of his Quarters that day for there he could not be forced but he did not observe those Orders for Brissac making as if he retired Mouvens would needs be going that day so that he fell into an Ambuscade laid ready for him in his March He was there slain with a Thousand of his Men the rest saved themselves in the Neighbouring Woods Dacier pickt up a Thousand of them the day following the remainder were scattered or knocked on the Head by the Peasants The Prince going as far as Aubeterre to meet Dacier it was then Montpensier's turn who before pursued him to retreat to Chastellerand When the Duke of Anjou Arrived at the Kings Army they were found to be four and twenty Thousand Foot and four Thousand Horse the Princes were less in number by a fourth part but all resolute men who having forsaken their Families and Estates had no other hopes but in the keeness of their Swords So that the Prince relying on their Valour sought all opportunities to give Battle The Duke of Anjou avoided it for the same reason but was in honour obliged to keep the Field The severities of the Winter Season could not perswade them to go into Quarters till at length their men overcome by the extremity of Cold refused to contend any longer with the Frosts and Snowes Above Eight Thousand on both sides died by the many inconveniencies they met withall The Prince wanted Money without which he could not long maintain his Forces to plunder was both very odious and casual what those Huguenots that staid at home could contribute to the Cause so the Party called it was inconsiderable In this great necessity they were mightily relieved by a Loan of Sixteen Thousand Crowns of Gold disbursed by the
that of Prince did secure him of all the Nobility and the best places upon his first arrival Laverdin had promised him to seize upon Mans and Chartres by the assistance of Roquelaure Lieutenant of his Company d'Ordonnance Fervaques was to have done the same at Cherbourg but both of them failed of their Enterprizes month March The Princes Army having cross'd the Bourbonnois joyned the Duke of Alensons near Moulins the Eleventh day of March and both of them mustered in the Plain Year of our Lord 1576. March de Souzé where the Prince having made an excellent harangue to the Duke of Alenson with that Eloquence which is natural to the Princes of that House resigned the Command of the whole Army to him It consisted of above Thirty thousand of the best Men that one should see notwithstanding with these great Forces no great matter was undertaken For the marvellous dexterities of the Queen which the Huguenots termed Enchantments the extravagant and changeable humour and designs of the Duke d'Alenson and the usual rough temper of the Reistres made them halt at every step Withal great discords were crept in among their Chiefs for the Consistorial Huguenots would not conside in the Duke of Alensons Council wholly composed of People both interressed and persidious The Duke had taken some jealousie upon the King of Navarre's going away the Prince of Conde was no less troubled that he was not the Chief Commander of that Army which had been the fruits of his own labour and care And Damville who had formed his Tetracby in Languedoc apprehended to see his Authority swallowed up by the Princes and which was more the Money he had for his own purposes collected in Languedoc and which his Wife had with much care and covotousness locked up as prisoners of the better sort in her own Coffers All joyn'd together they might have had whatever they desired the Duke of Alenson might have obtained a good part of the Kingdom for Appenage and the Princes such Governments and Pensions as they would the Huguenots a firm and solid Peace ☜ and inviolable securities but a way was found out to divide them with baits of particular Interests which however cannot be attained with so much advantage by any other method as a strickt union of the whole party in all its members The most easy to be taken off was the Duke of Alenson as appeared at the Conference they had at Moulins concerning a Peace However nothing was there concluded but only the sending of some Propositions to the King by John de Laffin Beauvais and William Dauvet Darenes After the Council had examined them with great deliberation but without any fruit the Queen-Mother returned a second time to her Strayed Son so she called him who was in the Abbey of Beaulieu near Loches in Touraine taking along with her the Mareschal de Montmorency in whom that Prince had a great deal of confidence and a great Troop of very fine Women whom she set forth in all her Negotiations as Lime-twigs or Nooses to catch those with whom she Treated Year of our Lord 1576 Prince Casimir obstructed the accommodation for some time he obstinately persisting to have the Government of Mets Toul and Verdun in chief and would have had the Churches belonging to the Catholiques to be in common for the Huguenots without the trouble and charge of building any others The Queen-Mother having discoursed him in private found an expedient to stop his Mouth and satisfy him by promising great sums of Money to make him desist from those demands So that the Treaty was finished the Ninth of May and Signed the day following The Edict month May. was drawn the Fifteenth and verified in Parliament the same day the King being present that there might be no cause of delay It were much more advantageous for the Huguenots then the precedent ones for it allowed them the free exercise of their Religion which from that time forward was to be called The pretended Reformed Religion over all the Kingdom without exception either of time or place provided they had the permission of the Lords of those places allowed them places for burial of their dead especially that of the Trinity at Paris Moreover the faculty of being admitted to all Offices and into Colledges Hospitals and Spittles Forbid the making any search or inquisition after such Priests and Monks as were Married amongst them and declared their Children Legitimate and capable of succeeding and inheriting their Estates and Moveables expressed great sorrow and regret for the Murthers committed on the St. Bartholomew exempted the Children of such as were then Massacred from the Arrier-ban if they were Gentlemen and from Tailles if they were Plebeian revoked all Sentences given against la Molle Coconas John de la Haye Lieutenant-General in the Presidial of Poitiers as also those whereby they had condemned the Admiral Brequemaut Caevagnes Montgomery Montbrun and others of the Religion owned the Prince with Damville and his Associates for his good Subjects Casimir for his good Allie and Neighbour and accounted all what they had done as done for his Service Granted to the Religionaries that they might have equal justice done to them Chambers My-Parties in each Parliament and for places of security Beaucaire and Aigues-Mortes in Languedoc Perigueux and le Mas de Verdun in Guyenne Nions and Serre in Daufiné Issoire in Auvergne and Sene la Grand Tour in Provence They promised also to Prince Casimir the Seignieury of Chasteau-Thierry in Principality a Company of an hundred Men at Arms the Command of Forty thousand Reistres Twelve thousand Crowns of Gold in Pension Seven hundred thousand Crowns Year of our Lord 1576 of Silver ready Money for the payment of his Army and Rings and Jewels in pawn for the rest To the Prince of Conde the effectual enjoyment of the Government of Picardy whereof he had the Title already and Peronne for his place of Residence The conditions for the Duke of Alenson were the best they gave him in augmentation of his Appenage the Countreys of Berry Tourain and Anjou with the right of nomination to consistorial Benefices as his Brother Henry formerly had and besides an hundred thousand Crowns Pension month October The greatest difficulty was to find the Money they wanted for Casimir to whom they had assigned the Bishoprick of Langres for Quarters where he lived German-like while waiting for his Pay They sent Peter de Gondy Bishop of Paris to Rome to ask consent of his Holiness to alienate as much as amounted to Fifty thousand Livres Rent of the Demeasnes Ecclesiastical the Holy Father agreed to the Demand and gave a Bull directed to the Cardinals of Bourbon Guise and Est and to some other French Prelates the Parliament verified it but without approving that clause which mention'd That the distraction should be made even manger the Possessors The Duke of Anjou so we shall name him henceforward whom we have hitherto called
Catholick Religion and Union with the Holy See Immediately the King named the Duke of Nevers and four or five other Persons of rare Merit as well Churchmen as some of the Robe for this Negociation and the Duke of Mayenne on his part chose the Cardinal de Joyeuse and the Baron de month August Senescay but he dispatched them not till three Months after and in the mean time suffer'd himself I know not how to be re-engaged with the Spaniards by a new Oath he took never to depart from the Holy Vnion not to Treat with the King of Navarre whatever Act of a Catholick he should perform and to proceed to the Election of a most Year of our Lord 1593 month August Christian King upon Condition they would furnish him with Twelve thousand Foot six thousand Horse by them maintained and some other Conditions But at the same time fearing lest they should contrive some new Projects with the Estates he sent part of the Deputies back into the Provinces under colour of informing the People of the present posture of Affairs As for the residue of this Assembly they remained in Paris till the Reduction of the City being maintained by the King of Spain who allowed them Eight thousand Crowns a Month. He could not so easily get off from the Leâ—a s instances who demanded the Council of Trent might be received entire by the Gallican Church Although the Parliament and the Chapters opposed it he was fain to give him this satisfaction by a Declaration which was deliver'd to the Estates but he eluded the Execution having first drawn this Assurance from him That if there were any thing relating to the Immuâ—ities and the Franchises of the Kingdom that ought to be maintain'd his Hâ—liness being required to allow the simâ— should make no denial or difficulty month August The Truce in the mean time put a stop to theiâ— proceedings in the Provinces It made the Duke of Aâ—ercoeur raise his Sieâ—e of Moâ—t o nour drew the Royalists from that of Poitiers which Bâ—issac most valiantly defendeâ— and â—reed the Ca tle of Cavours from the Duke of Savoy This Prince had been handled very ill by Lâ—sdiguieres and had likewise the misfortune some Months before to lose Roderick de Toledo General of the Milanese and Neapolitan Forces sent him by the King of Spain who was utterly defeated and slain at the descent of the Mountain which extends towards the Douere near the Village of Salbeltran Espernon had missed of surprizing Marseille but reduced Arles and from thence came the Five and twentieth of June to encamp before Aix where he built on the Hill St. Eutrope which commands the Town a great Fort or rather a Camp for the circumference was so vast that his whole Army lodged in it It seemed also as if he would make it a Counter-City having created two Consuls who wore Hoods and managed the Government of it He thinking to force Aix by this means did not punctually observe the Truce but doubled the Garison in his Fort and continued to stop all their Provisions The King who could ill suffer that a Man he did not love should establish himself by force in that Province made up a private Party to dispossess him He chose Lesâ—iguieres to be the Head and joyned six Gentlemen of Provence with him Oraison St. Cannat Valavoire Crotes and Buoux who were Governors of the places of Manosque Pertuis St. Maximin Digne and Forcalquier The absence of the Duke d'Espernon who was gone to Pezenas in Languedoc to confer with the Constable de Montmorency and the hatred the Provenceaux bare against him did marvellously favour their Enterprise As soon as Lesdiguieres had sent to Year of our Lord 1593 month August or shewed the Letters of Credence the King wrote to each of these five Gentlemen and had explained his intentions and meaning they all made a private League with the Count de Carces excepting Buoux who refused to open his Commission and remained in the Dukes Service The day appointed all by consent drove out the Gascons and the Espernouists from their places and the Count de Carces and those of Aix broke the Truce Escarrevaques and Souliers his Father in Law did likewise stir up the People of Toulon and besieged the Citadel which they took by the help of two hundred Slaves month October to whom they gave their liberty Signarc who commanded there fell by the Sword with all his Garison but Esgarrevaques his Enemy was first wounded by a Musquet Shot of which he died Upon the rumour of this Rising Tarascon and almost all the other Towns declared against Espernon nothing was wanting to compleat the Enterprize but to shut up his Passage by the Rhosne and the Durance so that he should not have been able to return into the Country but they not minding to give Orders for it in due time he got again into his Fort and became strong enough to make them feel the smart of their imprudence When the Truce above mentioned was concluded the greater part of the Prelats Counsellors of State and such as were of the Parliament nay even some of the Deputies of the Estates had secretly tendred their Respects to the King either Personally or by the mediation of some Friends While the King was hovering about Paris one day the Seven and twentieth of August he being at Melun they happily discover'd an Assassin Suborned by some Leaguers who had undertaken to kill him with a Knife His name was Peter Barriere a Native of Orleans Aged Twenty month August seven years a Waterman by profession first then a Soldier The Prevost de l'Hostel made his Process there was not sufficient proof against him and the Torture of the Rack could not force him to own any thing but the Confessor who stood by him at his death prevailed with him to discover all He was condemned to have his Hand cut off holding the Knife in it his Flesh to be torn with red hot Pincers then broken alive and after he was dead to be burnt and his Ashes scatter'd in the Air. The King had frequent notice of the like Conspiracies most part contrived by Monks or Church-men and therefore a Peace was the only Soveraign Remedy that could allay the madness of so many Frantick Spirits he most earnestly desired to compass it and offer'd the Duke of Mayenne quite ruined as he was greater advantages yet then he had done when his Affairs were most flourishing but that Duke would not Treat till the Pope had given the King Absolution and besides he had not Strength enough to break those Bonds the Spaniards had cast upon him he Treated therefore at the same Instant both with the King and with them Year of our Lord 1593 Mean while to provide against all Events he endeavour'd to seize upon Lyons month August and joyn it with Burgundy imagining perhaps that he of the two Kings with whom he should agree might leave him that Country
During the Truces the Marquiss de Belle-Isle being gotten into Mount St. Michel intending to surprize it was kill'd by a Captain of his own Party whose name was Ker-Martin He thought that by carrying the Keys of that place to the King he should in recompence have at the least a Mareschals Staff After the Kings intentions were made so manifest to the Provenceaux that they had no room left for doubt the Provisions for the Duke of Guise being registred in Parliament and sortified by a thundring Decree against Espernon and all his Adherents those that had follow'd him only as their Governor forsook him and such others as Year of our Lord 1596 were closest riveted to his interest much shaken Being diffident of every one he month January changed some Governors amongst others Anchot de Mesplez whom he put out of St. Tropez one of his best places In effect Mesplez was the Man for the King who had Orders not only to dispossess him of the Province but also underhand to hinder Lesdiguieres from taking root there Which he shewed plainly enough when Lesdiguieres having besieged Cisteron and being on the point of forcing it he treated with the Governor Ramefort and got into the place with three hundred Men to defend it against him Now although Lesdiguieres did very well know this cross Game was dealt him by a higher hand he omitted not to continue his Services which every where succeeded prosperously and took five or six places more from the Espernonists but when he observed his progress redoubled the jealousies of the Duke of Guise and the Provenceaux and that he could now make no further advantage either as to his own Affairs nor the Kings he returned into Daufine upon some pretence the juncture of those times offer'd him When the Duke of Guise was become Master of all the Forces of the Province he month January and February did alone what he would not have done with a Companion and soon quieted the Province labouring at the same time to drive out the Savoyards and the Duke of Espernon and to reduce the City of Marseilles The Savoyards held yet two places there Grace and Berre he recover'd the first by means of two Captains who kill'd the Commander of it and block'd up the other with two Forts However a while after one Captain Alexander Governor of the last making a great Sally slew all the Men that were in those Redoubts and razed them so that he preserved the place for the Duke till the Treaty of Vervins The Reduction of Marseilles was the more important work several designs which they made trial of for this purpose had all miscarried Famine and Misery had mightily wrought upon and disposed the meaner People to a change but the Duumvirs Lewis d'Aix and Charles de Casaux stood but the more upon their guard and having offended so many People by their violence and severity that they could hope for no security amongst a generation so inclined to Resentment they rather chose to treat with the King of Spain who promised to give them two Dutchies in the Kingdom of Naples then with their natural King They had therefore to this end dispatched three of their Confidents to Madrid and in the mean time had obtained of John Andrea Doria Prince of Malfy a succour of twelve hundred Men brought to them in four Galleys by his Son with hopes of a much greater number in a few days Year of our Lord 1596 This Re-inforcement could not prevent their ruine which proceeded from that month February cause whence they could least expect it that is to say from a Bourgeois named Peter Libertat who was one of the most intimate Friends to Casaux in so much as he had intrusted him with the Guard of the Port Royal. This Man originally a Corsican Valiant daring and one that desired to raise himself by some brave Action having long before prepared his Party treated with the Duke of Guise to receive him into the City provided they would give him the Office of Viguier a Patent of Nobility for him and his the Government of Nostre-Dame de la Garde and fifty thousand Crowns in Silver When he had gotten his Securities they appointed the Seventeenth of February for execution That day the Duke of Guise approached the City within half a League and much nearer yet placed in Ambuscado some Troops commanded by Alamanon In the Morning Lewis d'Aix going out of the Royal Gate as his custom was with some Arquebusiers to search round the Walls Libertat who was there upon the Guard with his People pulls up the Draw-bridge and shuts him out Casaux was within the Town and not knowing they had put this trick upon Lewis d'Aix came with some belonging to him towards the same Gate as usually Libertat goes to meet him charges him and kills him Lewis d'Aix in the interim gets over the Walls being Craned up by a Rope and a Basket draws together a good number of his Friends amongst others the two Sons of Casaux and with these he comes and attaques Libertat and regains the Port. But the Advocate Bernard whom the Duke of Mayenne after his Treaty had sent to the Duumvirs to persuade them to return to their Obedience goes forth into the Street with his Pike in Hand and a white Handkerchief in his Hat followed by five or six noted Citizens crying out Vive le Roy In a quarter of an hour he got near a Thousand Men together and at the same time Alamanon advances from without with three hundred Soldiers upon whose appearance Lewis d'Aix loses courage falls back and gets into the Fort St. Victor the two Sons of Casaux threw themselves into the Fort de la Garde the Spaniards leap into the Water to recover their Galleys and stand off to Sea In fine the Duke of Guise is received into the City and his presence so astonishes those that had Cantonized themselves in their Towers and Forts that they immediately surrendred at discretion Year of our Lord 1596 Thus this great City was brought to its Obedience in less then two hours time without effusion of any other Blood but that of Casaux and three more As to Lewis month February d'Aix and the Sons of Casaux the first escaping by night from his Fort fearing to be deliver'd up by his Soldiers and the others having been turned out of theirs by one of their best Friends who desired to deserve his pardon to their cost they all retired to Genoa where they ended their miserable lives in want and contempt Marseilles reduced the Duke of Guise bent all his Strength against the Duke of Espernon As he was coming to the relief of the Citadel of St. Tropes which Mesplez had besieged de Guise charged him so impetuously that he forced him to repass the River of Argence which he did with so much precipitation that the greater part of his Troops were drowned or knock'd at Head month March As vain were
day the Three and twentieth of April gives three Assaults The Besieged sustained two not without great loss Bidossan was kill'd in the second After this it was time to yield but Campagnoles by an excess of bravour would needs stand a third His Soldiers did not second his Resolution they gave ground and threw away their Arms to save themselves some here some there Such as could get into the Sanctuary of the Churches or avoid the first fury saved their Lives all the rest to the number of above seven hundred were put to the Sword It had been no great difficulty for the King to have made the Spaniards perish for want in Calais had he been assured the English would have served him faithfully but as he had not too much reason to confide in them he returned to the Siege of la Fere having first re-inforced the Garisons of Ardres Monstreuil and Boulogne La month April Fere might have held out much longer by the ordinary rules had it not been for the Consideration of Colas the King of Spain had given Order to Osorio not to stay till the utmost extremity for fear he should be obliged to deliver that Man up to the King so that although he had nothing to fear for at least a Months time he made Year of our Lord 1596 his Capitulation the Fifteenth of May to which Colas Signed Count de la Fere. month May. But in the interim the Archduke marching out of Calais the Third day of May to compleat his Exploits attaqued Ardres a little place but very strong and very considerable for that it covers Calais The Count de Belin and Montluc had shut themselves in to defend it and there were Fifteen hundred fighting Men nevertheless the horrible Slaughters of Dourlens and Calais had so much terrified those Soldiers that they trembled even while they defended themselves It hapned likewise by misfortune that Montluc in whom they had some confidence was slain by a Cannon-ball and afterwards the Basse-Ville was gained and most of those in it knock'd on the Head in heaps just at the entrance into the Upper-Town by reason those that stood there to guard it being more affrighted then the others had let down the Port-cullice and exposed them to the fury of the Besiegers Afterwards Rosne begins to thunder upon the Bastion with his great Artillery which begot so horrible and universal a dread amongst the Soldiers that they even leaped over the Walls or ran and hid their Heads in Cellars Belin himself most extreamly affrighted demanded Composition and surrendred the place the One and twentieth of May. Which having done maugre the Governor named Isambert du Bois-Annebout and without taking advice of the other Captains he ran great hazard of his Life at Court This was the sixth place the Spaniards conquer'd in one year from the French not so much by their own as the Valour of Rosne and about a hundred desperate Frenchmen more who knowing themselves utterly excluded from all pardon and favour endeavour'd to make the King regret them and the Spaniard consider them Now it fortun'd happily for France that the Archduke at his return to Flanders besieging Hulst in the Country of Waes Rosne was there kill'd in an Assault which hapned in the Month of August month August So many losses on the neck of one another the Frontier laid open in four or five places the Sea shut up the robberles of the Soldiers the surcharge of Tailles and Imposts caused an incredible consternation in the minds of the People awakened the Factions of the League and favour'd the Contrivances of the Grandees These well foreseeing that the too sudden establishment of the Regal Power would be the month June ruine of their own suborned the Duke of Montpensier a young and easie Prince to propound to the King That it would do well to give the Governments in propriety to those that held them thereby to engage them to contribute with all their might to the defence of a State in which they really had a share One may well imagine that this Expedient did not over-much please the King nevertheless he treated this Year of our Lord 1596 Prince in such a manner as seeming angry rather with those who had engaged him month June to deliver this Message then with him he put him first into a confusion and then furnish'd him with Reasons enough even to confound them likewise if ever they made mention again of the like to him The Huguenots gave him no less disquiet then did the Grandees of his Kingdom he could not grant them the Edict they craved without offending the Pope and they month July and Aug. to secure themselves deliberated to chuse them a Protector and establish an Order amongst them which realy would have formed as it were another State in the heart of the Kingdom After his Conversion they look'd upon him as a Prince whose interest was to destroy them they interpreted all the Excuses he made for not yet being able to satisfie them as studied Artifice and the remembrance of things past gave them just apprehensions for the time to come And indeed they forsook him in the midst of the Storm and held more Synods and Assemblies in these three last years then in the thirty five precedent The King was labouring at that time to re-unite all the Protestants his Allies in one League against the House of Austria these discontents of the Huguenots cast great coldness and suspicion upon their Spirits so that the German Princes did all excuse month September and October themselves excepting the Count Palatine and the Duke of Wirtemberg who notwithstanding gave him only good words Bouillon and Sancy had much ado to engage the Queen of England who at length made it Offensive and Defensive The King and she obliging themselves reciprocally to send four thousand Men into eithers Country if they were assaulted and to make no Peace or Truce with the Spaniard but by mutual consent The Hollanders entred into it likewise with great willingness and alacrity by a Treaty made the last day of October and promised to march into the Field upon the Frontiers of Artois or Picardy with Ten thousand Foot and fifteen hundred Horse The Kings Army was so tired with the Siege of la Fere that he was fain to send them to refresh themselves in the Provinces reserving only some Troops with which the Mareschal de Biron made three several irruptions into Artois He made horrible devastation in that Country by Fire and Sword as well in revenge of the cruel spoil month June July c. the Archduke had made in Boulonois after the taking of Ardres as to teach him hereafter to make a fairer War In the Month of July a Comet was discover'd in the Heavens whose light appeared sometimes pale and faint otherwhile more clear and lively it had a long Train that did extend towards the East and South Another Prodigy appeared in France at the
beginning of the year Francis de la Ramee a young Man so called being the name of a Gentleman with whom he had been bred in Poitou pretended to be lawful Heir to the Crown He said he was Son of Charles IX and Elizabeth of Austria and fancied that Catharine de Medicis stole him in his Cradle sent him out of his Country pretending he was dead that so her dear Son Henry III. might succeed Now being come I know not how out of Poiton into Vermandois he lodg'd himself in a Peasants House who assisted him in acting this Comedy and bare Witness of many Apparitions which this young Man pretended to have frequently seen There was great probability this Farce Year of our Lord 1596 was contrived and countenanced by some Grandees of the Kingdom and perhaps they would have carried it on a great way and perplexed the King a long time with it had not the thrid of it been cut in time A Counsellor of Parliament who hapned to be upon the place having caused this pretended Prince and his Paranymph to be apprehended they were both carried to Reims where they were condemned the first to the Gallows the other to be present at the Execution The Parliament of Paris upon his appeal confirmed the Sentence and added that the Body of la Ramee should be burnt and the Ashes cast into the Air. This was executed in the Greve the month March Eighth day of March The Parties condemned having been first obliged to own the Imposture openly Those things which pained the King most were how to content the Zealous Catholicks month September and October and the Court of Rome who were concerned how he would behave himself after his Absolution to find wherewith to defray the Expences of his Armies amidst the present distractions and miseries of his People and to redress and remedy the inconveniencies we have mentioned For satisfaction touching the first point he received the Popes Legat with all Affection and Reverence and took care the Prince of Conde might be instructed in the Catholick Religion The Mother of this Prince having been justified by the Parliament of Paris followed her Son in his Religion as she followed him in his Fortune and made her abjuration at Rouen at the feet of the Legat. This was Alexander de Medicis Cardinal and Archbishop of Florence a Prelat who coming into France with a Pacifique Spirit appeared as much an Enemy to all hot-headed Zealots as a true lover of Peace and the good of this Kingdom For the other two points the King could find no way more ready or effectual then to call a great Assembly of all the Kingdom but it was only of Notables chosen out of the Grandees Prelats and Officers of Justice and of the Finances or Treasury for that of the General Estates would have been too delatory and tedious and then as month November much as the wisest Politicians have otherwhile loved them so much the Princes of these latter times did dread them This meeting was held in the great Hall of the Abby St. Ouin at Rouen The King began the first Session on the Fourth of November with a Speech that was Pathetick Concise and Sententious in which they were over-joy'd to hear these Expressions truly worthy and becomming a good King whatever motive put them into his Mouth That he had not called them thither to follow him blindfold in what he ✚ should desire but to take their Councils to believe them to pursue them in short to put himself under their Tutelage The Chancellor set forth the urgent necessity of Affairs and demanded speedy assistance The Deputies made ready their Papers for the Reformation of the State and upon this occasion the Officers of the Robe and Finances made it appear by their demeanour that their power and interest was going to exceed all other Ranks and Orders as they have done even to these very times Year of our Lord 1596 Many excellent Reiglements were made and they named Commissioners to see them executed who were to undertake it till the meeting of another the like Assembly month December which was to be held at the end of three years All Orders made in such ☜ Assemblies for the publick good turn quickly into Air and nothingness while the Impositions and those Taxes as oppress the Subjects are sure to become permanent and therefore such as were of the Kings Council believing these Commissioners were but so many Spies and Controllers of their Actions did soon elude all their care and diligence herein but did not in the least forget most punctually to put those Orders in execution that were made for the raising of Money to wit the Postponing or to say better retrenching all Officers Wages for a year and the Imposition of a Sol per Liver upon all Merchandize entring into any enclosed Town excepting Wheat The first brought in a present Supply but the second produced much more trouble and difficulty then Money Year of our Lord 1597 Neither King Philips Body or his Mind had vigour enough to follow his swift-footed Fortune or carry the prosperity of his Arms so far as possibly they might have month January c. been in the present conjunctures As he began to languish and decay he desired the short remainder of his days might be free from all ponderous Cares and Troubles and besides he much longed to leave the Low-Countries at least to his dear Daughter Isabella Eugenia since not able after the expence of so many Millions to obtain the Crown of France for her He gave therefore greedy Ear to the Propositions of Accommodation made to him by his Holiness and had given long and favourable Audience to the General of the Cordeliers named Bonaventure de Calatagirone who was come to wait on him on behalf of the Pope He afterwards sent him to the Archduke Albert who made him go into France and from thence he returned again to Flanders So that the Treaty was much advanced when an accident of the greatest astonishment to France interrupted it and brought this Kingdom again into extremity of danger Hernand Teillo Governor of Dourlens who in the Body of a Dwarf had a more then Gigantine courage being well informed of the ill order observed by the Inhabitants of Amiens in the guarding of their Gates for they would admit of no Garison formed an Enterprize upon the Town and having communicated it to the Arch-Dukes Council obtained four thousand Men to put it in execution The Tenth of March a little before Nine in the Morning while all the People were at Church sixteen Soldiers disguised like Peasants and commanded by a Captain named d'Ognane enter the Gate de Montrescut some carrying Nuts others Aples and the Year of our Lord 1597 rest driving a Cart loaden with Straw One of the first lets fall a Bag of Nuts month March purposely untied to amuse the Guard and at the same time the Cart advances upon the Bridge of the second
took part with him and had the generosity to console him The Council of Spain were in dispair for that the French passed in great numbers to the Service of the Hollanders and every year the King furnished those Provinces with six hundred thousand Livers in ready Money These succours had put King Philip to so great an expence that not knowing where to get any more Cash he laid an Impost of thirty per Cent. upon all Goods imported into his Dominions or exported thence The King could not suffer such exaction which enriched his Enemies to the loss of his Subjects he prohibited all Commerce to the Low-Countries and Spain and observing that the appetite of gain tempted the Merchants who for the most part value no other Soveraign but their Interest to infringe his Laws he added great penalties to it This was to begin a rupture the Spaniard set a good face upon it as if they much desired it but under-hand sollicited the Popes mediation who put an end to this dispute by perswading them to take off the new impost oâ— the one hand and the prohibition on the other Not daring openly to revenge himself upon the King he endeavoured at least to contrive some private means to perplex and displease him Taxis his Ambassador had concern'd himself in the intrigues of the Morchioness de Vernevil Balthazar de Suniga who succeeded him follow'd his Foot-steps and held secret correspondence with five or six Italians who absolutely governed the Queen particularly Conchino Conchini a noble Florentine and Leonora Galigay a Bed-Chamber woman to that Princess whom Conchini had Married She was the homeliest Creature about the Court and of very abject birth but that great Empire she had over her Mistress repaired all the defects both of her person and condition The King as weak in his passions and domestick Affairs as valiant and rough in War had neither the heart to reduce his Wife to obedience nor to rid his hands of his Mistresses who were cause of all his Domestick broils Those little Italian people to render themselves more necessary exasperated the spirits they should have allay'd and by the malignity of their Reports and Councils encreased the Queens discontents so that instead of reclaiming the King by alluring Caresses for he would be flattered and endeavouring to regain his affection with the same Arts others made use of to steal it from her she made him loath her Society with her Eternal grumblings and bitter reproaches This contest betwixt Man and Wife was the perpetual business of the Court their Confidents were no less busily employ'd in these Negociations then the Council was in the most important Affairs of State and this disorder lasted as long as their Marriage being sometimes quieted and laid asleep for a few days then wak'd and rouz'd agen by fresh occasions and accordingly as those Boutefeux thought fit month March April c. The Marchioness on her part crafty and coquette used all her artifice to maintain those fewds which maintain'd her felicity Amongst her Jests with which she made the King merry she often mixed some insolencies against the Queen and upon divers occasions would make her self her equal spake meanly of her extraction and then would counterfeit the Gate her gestures and her way of speaking These offences did so much heighten the resentments of this Princess that she with outragious Language threatned a severe Revenge the Marchioness having reason therefore to apprehend more then a bare affront and withal displeased with the King for not taking her part made use of an artifice common enough amongst those Female Politicians when designing to revive a dying passion She feigned to be touched with a remorse of Conscience and Christian sorrow the fear of God said she would suffer her no more to think of what was past but only to do penance for it and that of her own life and Childrens forbid her to see the King in private She went yet farther and begged leave of him to seek a Sanctuary out of the Kingdom for her and hers This Artifice had not at first its effect for the Holy time of Easter approaching he was resolved to take her at her word and to give her leave to retire into England where she might have the Duke of Lenox her neer Kinsman to support Year of our Lord 1604 her but not to carry her Children As to the rest to qualifie the Queens discontent he desired she should surrender up the Promise of Marriage he had given her and with which she made so much noise shewing it to any one that had the curiosity to see it His intreaties were not prevalent enough he was obliged to make use of his Authority together with Twenty thousand Crowns in Money and the hopes of a Mareschal's Staff for the Father Upon which Conditions she deliver'd it in the presence of some Princes and Lords who verified and witnessed in Writing that it was the Original After all this the Queen being satisfied and the Marchioness appearing no more the Tempest seemed to be allay'd when the King discover'd that Entragues Father of the said Lady and the Count d'Auvergne had contrived a dangerous design with King Philip's Ambassador It was to convey the Marchioness into Spain with her Children which was negociated with Balthazar de Suniga Ambassador from the Catholick King by the management of a certain Englislr Gentleman named Morgan It was reported whether true or false how the Count d'Auvergne having acquainted the Spaniards with the Promise of Marriage the King had given the Marchioness had made a seoret Treaty with them by which King Philip promised his assistance to set her Son in the Throne And to that purpose would furnish them with Five hundred thousand Livers in Money and order the Forces he had in Catalogne to March and second the Party who were to Cantonize in Guyenne and Languedoc Nay much more was mention'd month June c. but few believed it as that the Count had framed an Attempt upon the Life of the King and that he was to dispatch him when he came to visit the Marchioness then seize upon the Daufin Now after the Death of l'Hoste the Count finding the Intrigue began to be discover'd retired into Auvergne upon pretence of a Quarrel which hapned to him at Court The Business being taken into Deliberation by the Council some gave their Opinions he ought to be treated like the Mareschal de Biron but the King would by no means proceed after that manner The example would have been of Consequence to his Bastards So that the Constable and the Duke de Ventadour the former Father in Law to the Count and the other his Brother month July in Law found it no difficult matter to get a Pardon for the Life of that wretched Man upon condition however that he should Travel three years in the Levant When he thought himself out of Danger he offer'd the King if he would he pleased to give him
his full Liberty to continue his Correspondence with the Spaniards that he might discover all their Secrets and give him a true account thereof The King seemed to confide in his Promises soon discover'd that he neither kept Faith with him nor his Enemies but juggled with both Thereupon he Commands him to Court The Count excuses it till he had his full and authentick Pardon they sent it to him but with this Clause That he should come to the King He could not find in his heart to relye upon the word of a Prince whom he had so often deceived so that the King resolved he should be Apprehended month July in Auvergne The Count stood much upon his guard and thought there was no Man in the world able to surprize him being so well fore-warn'd Notwithstanding Nerestan and the Baron of Eurre having inticed him into the Field to be present at the Muster of a Company of Gens-d'armes belonging to the Duke of Vendosme surrounded and dismounted him and took him in such manner month Septemb. c. as is at length related by the Historians of those times At the same time Entragues and his Wife were seized in their House at Malesherbes and the Marchioness in her Hostel at Paris The Count was brought to the Bastille and Entragues to the Conciergerie or Common-Goal of Paris It was necessary that all the world might see and know the Spaniards still maintained Factions in France The King therefore commanded his Parliament to proceed against these Criminals The event we shall shew in the next years Transactions Another Faction also did much discompose the King's Thoughts He could not deny the Hugenots leave to Assemble at Chastelleâ—ant and it was to be feared the Intrigues of the Mareschal de Bouillon and Credit of the Duke de la Trimouille month May. and du Plessis Mornay should put them upon Resolutions contrary to his will and interest But Rhosny under colour of going to take Possession of his Government of Poiton broke their measures And la Trimouille falling into Convulsions and then languishing died some while after Aged not above Four and Thirty years He was a Noble-man of great Courage and of most eminent Qualities Year of our Lord 1604 but not of such as suited with a Monarchick state The King diverted himself amidst all these Intrigues with Buildings and other such like Occupations when his leisure would give him leave as tended to the improvement of his Kingdom King Henry III. had begun the Pont-Neuf having built two Arches and brought the Pyles for the rest above the Water mark Henry IV. finish'd it so that People began to pass over about the end of the preceding year He carried on the Works also of the Louver Galleries the Castles Sainct Germain en Laye Fontainebleau and Monceaux which last he had bestow'd upon his Wife After his Example all the Great and the Rich fell to Building the City of Paris was visibly enlarged and embellished The Hospital Sainct Lewis was Erected for such as were infected with the Plague Some private people undertook the Place or Square Royal and others offer'd to make a much finer one in the Marese du Temple They likewise offer'd at many Projects to make several Rivers Navigable which either had never yet been so of else were now choaked up and to open a Communication between the greatest by means of the lesser lying nearest together with some new Channels where it should be necessary to carry it from the month May. one to the other They proffer'd to joyn the Seine to the Loire the Loire to the Soane and the Garonne with the Aude which falls into the Mediterraneum neer Narbonne The Conjunction of these two last would have made that of the two Seas As for that of the Seine and the Loire Rhosny undertook it drawing a Channel from Briare which lies on the Seine to Chastillon above Montargis upon the River Loin and falls into the Seine at Moret In this Channel they Collected all the Waters of the adjacent Rivolets designing to make Two and thirty Sluces to retain and let them go by flashes when needful to convey their Boats He Expended above Three hundred thousand Crowns but the change of Government made this design to miscarry though very much advanc'd It was a long while after taken up again and compleated at last In the Month of October a new Phenomena was observed in the Heavens which appeared four Months together It was at first taken for the Planet Venus because although it exceeded all the other Stars in Magnitude and Splendour yet had it no Tail but Observation soon found it was different from that Planet for they both appeared at the same time John Kepler a very Learned Mathematician wrote a Treatise of its Motion according to the Rules of Astronomy without troubling himself or the World to no purpose like the Judicial Prognosticators who upon this Apparition and the Conjunctions and Oppositions of some other Planets hapning this year and such as were to happen the year following made as is usual divers strange and terrible Predictions month March c. There was for about two Months an extream Scarcity in Languedoc and which would have caused a horrible Famine had they not been furnished with Wheat from Champagne and Burgundy by the Rivers of Soane and the Rhône The Plague also raged in several Provinces of France the soregoing year it had afforded Death a most plentiful Harvest in England When the Plague was ceased in those Countries King James hold his first Parliament in London to whom having made a Gracious and Royal Speech concerning the happy Union of the two Kingdoms the Affection he had for his Subjects the Laws and Regulations they were to make he desired of his Parliament and they granted it That from thence forward the Kingdoms of England and Scotland should be joyned into one Body under the Denomination of GREAT BRITAIN otherwhile used by the Romans Whereupon was Coined that Medal bearing this Inscription HENRICUS ROSAS REGNA JACOBUS His Speech was full of excellent things amongst others That he did not believe as Flatterers would fain persuade their Princes that God bestowed Kingdoms upon Men to satisfie their unruly Lusts and Pleasures but to take care of the Peace and Welfare of the People That the Head was made for the Body not the Body for the Head The Prince for the People not the People for the Prince month March c. The Subtil Scholiasts have so great an itch to bring every thing into Dispute that some Jesuits moved this year three Questions at Rome which begot great Contentions in Year of our Lord 1604 that Court and greater Scandal thorow-out all Christendom The First That it was not an Article of Faith to believe that Clement VIII was Pope which so enraged the Holy Father as without the Intercession of the Spanish Ambassador the Society had been in great Danger The Second That Sacramental Confession might be made
to Paris especially after she knew the month August Queen was the Mother of several Children failed not that she might merit that favour to concern her self very much in discovering the contrivances of the Count d'Auvergne whereof she gave punctual accounts to the King so that in fine he resolved to grant her request She arrived then at Paris in the Month of August and they assigned her the Castle of Madrid in the Bois de Boulogne to lodge in She staid there six weeks thence removed her Lodging to the Hostel de Sens but there an odd accident hapning to one of her Minions who was killed in the boot of her Coach by a young Gentleman in dispair because that Gallant had ruined his Family as to the favour they had from that Princess She quitted that unfortunate Hostel and purchased another in the Fauxbourg Sainct Germain near the River and the Pré au Clerc where she began a great foundation of Buildings and Gardening There it was she kept her little Court the remainder of her days odly intermixing voluptuousness with devotion the love of Learning with that of Vanity Christian Charity and Injustice for as she had the Ambition to be often seen at Church to converse with learned men and to bestow the Tythe of her Revenues upon Friers and Monks she also took a pride in fresh Galanteries inventing new divertisements and never paying her just Debts Pope Clement VIII by diving too far into the profound questions concerning Grace which have no bounds nor bottom did by the study thereof as it was said so over-heat his Brain as kindled a Feavor in his Blood whereof he dyed the third day of month March March There were two Factions in the Conclave that of the Aldobrandines and another of the Montaltes The Cardinal de Joyeuse having made himself head of the French Cardinals and of some other indifferent ones mated them both so well with this flying party that he disposed them to Elect the Cardinal Alexander de Medicis month April who would needs be named Leo XI this was upon the first day of April They made Bon-fires for joy at the Court of France and all over the Kingdom in consideration of the Queen but the news of his death extinguish'd them as soon almost as◠they were lighted for he survived but five and twenty days The regret was by so much the more sensible as their joy had been short liv'd and he had raised their hopes and expectations Then the two Parties renewed their intrigues in the Conclave with more heat and application then before the Cardinal de Joyeuse by his prudent conduct calmed them a second time They having on either part made use of all the little policies and stratagems employ'd in the like cases he contrived it so that the plurality of Votes month May. fell upon the Cardinal Camillo Borgheze who was Elected the sixteenth day of May and took the name of Paul V. Whilst all Italy had both their Eyes and Hearts attentively fixed upon these Cabals Peter Gusman de Toledo Count de Fuentes Governor of Milan thought this a proper time to forge his Chains intended for them and would needs make an Essay of his grand design first on the Petty Princes bordering upon his Government then upon the Grisons He commanded the President and Treasurers of Milan to summon the first month May June c. to attend them to do homage as feudataries of the Dutchy and to hear themselves condemned to restore the Lands they had there usurped He first of all Attaqu'd the Malespines as being the feeblest but they failed not to call upon the Princes of Christendom to assist them and to make the World acquainted by their Apologies that if this Claim of the Spaniard were allowed of there was no Potentate in Italy could be exempt neither the Dukes of Parma or Modena the Genoese or the Venetians the Duke of Tuscany nor even the Holy See insomuch as by their lowd out-cryes they made him let go his hold As to the Grisons the Condé being angry at the new League was made between them and the Seigneory of Venice he put forth Edicts which broke their Commerce with Milan without which it is impossible for those Leagues to subsist and to quell them absolutely he built a Fort called by his own name upon a high Rock which commanded the entrance into the Val-Teline and the Valley of Chiavenna to serve not only as a bridle to those people and stir up the Valtelines against them who being all Catholicks disdained that Protestants should Lord it over them but also to have free passage and communication with Tyrol and other hereditary Countries belonging to the House of Austria The Swiss whose resolutions are slow and heavy did not bestir themselves so soon as they ought to have broken this uneasie Curb which gave a check to the whole body Year of our Lord 1605 of their Leagues the Fort was complated with five great Royal Bastions and the Spanish Faction so encreased amongst the Grisons as caused most pernicious divisions and made them run great hazard of their liberty It was impossible but the remembrance of so many injuries the King received from the Spaniard and so many Conspiracies which by their instigation had been formed against his person must give him some resentment he verily believed too that his life would be more secure in an open War then such a treacherous and insidious Peace wherefore his thoughts both day and night were rowling on the means to destroy that House much more an Enemy to his particular person yet then to the Kingdom of France But as he was guilty of that fault month May June c. incident to the tender hearted not to be able to conceal his thoughts from women he had communicated this design to his Wife who having at that very time a too strict correspondence with the Spaniards did eternally bait and importune him to wave it and enter into a League with them and with the Pope But far from yielding to her he re-allied himself with the Protestant Princes and was endeavouring to draw the Duke of Savoy and the Duke of Bavaria to Club in the design promising the first to help him in Conquering the Kingdom of Lombardy and the second to assist him with Money and Credit to make his Interest to attain the Empire when Rodolphe who was already old should cease to live These negociations lasted three or four years before he could succeed Having such vast designs he notwithstanding was at prodigious expences in building Gaming and Mistresses Such as imagine that all the Actions of Princes tend to some certain concealed ends would have it that he was glad to find his example made the Grandees run upon those Rocks so that being wholly taken up with vain amusements softned by dalliance and impoverished by excessive expence they could neither spare the time nor means to contrive any Brouilleries It is very certain that many
of them lost so much at play they were not in a condition had they intended it to make any considerable disturbance I have heard it affirm'd that a refined Italian having bought up all the Dice that were in Paris and furnished the Shops with false ones made for his purpose fell in with the Court Gamesters and knowing exactly which would run high or low made a prodigious gain which he shared with Persons of the highest Quality However it were the huge Sums the King expended in these three Articles not including those he employ'd on other more necessary ones those which he had issued out for the payment of his debts and redeeming part of his demeasnes and those also which he collected and heaped up for the carrying on the projects he had conceived could not possibly be raised without grinding his people whatever care and Methods he took Besides he was too easie in granting to his Courtiers and Ladies either new Monopolies or new Imposts and made Gifts that were of profit to particulars but which tended to the general ruine Moreover the Nobility and old Commanders were discontented in their minds to see him by little and little reduce the Companies d'Ordonnance and the old Regiments to so narrow a condition and instead of keeping those old bodies full and compleat he gave Pensions to above twelve hundred men who most commonly were chosen rather upon recommendation then for their merit The Cardinal d'Ossat had otherwhile taken the liberty to presage that these discontents would become universal and one day break forth into some great disorders Some Sparks of it were to be seen in the Provinces of Quercy Perigord and Limosin The Servants of the Duke of Biron furiously bent to revenge the month June July and August death of their Master employed all sorts of means 〈◊〉 render the Kings person odious and contemptible and to stir up the people against the pretended violence of the Government The friends of the Mareschal de Bouillon whether they had orders from him or acted by their own proper motions believing he would own them if they succeeded made divers Assemblies of the Nobility and gave earnest Money for the levying of Soldiers but in such pitiful Sums that it plainly appeared this advance-money came out of some little private Purse only And yet to give life to their Partisans they every hour reported some forged news of the Mareschal sometimes affirming that if they held together but till the Month of October some great matters would be done in favour of him another while that they should find him in France sooner then his friends imagined or his Enemies desired Then that the reason of his stay was but to bring such Year of our Lord 1605 Forces with him from Germany as would be able to enter into the very heart of the Kingdom and bide Battel in the open Field Besides all these Rumours which at so great a distance made the Rebellion appear a hundred times more formidable than it really was the King had frequent notice that the Spaniards held Intelligence and had Designs upon the most important Frontier places as Toulon Marseilles Narbonne Bayonne and upon Blaye He apprehended also lest the whole Party of the Reformed Religion should embrace the Mareschals defence and by the Directions of so able and knowing a Person should be inclined to form a separate Republick in the Kingdom for they talked of setting up Councils in each Province of not admitting such as were Officers of the Kings to any Consultations that concerned the Good old Cause to make Orders and Regulations for raising of Men and Moneys and to make Leagues with Strangers To these Dangers he opposed the Cares of Rhosny who having had Interest and Credit enough to preside in their Assembly of Chastelleraut stifled all Motions of Affairs of that Nature and besides mightily qualified the hottest amongst them by presenting to them on the behalf of the King a Brevet dated the Eight of August which prolonged their holding the Places of Security for Three years When all was out of danger on that Side the King prepar'd himself about the end of August to take a Journey into the Provinces where the Fire was kindling and to clear the way before him he order'd Ten Companies of the Regiment of month September October and November Guards and Four or Five Troops of Horse to March Commanded by the Duke of Espernon with two Masters of Requests John Jacques de Mesme Roissy and Raimond Vertueil Fueillas The first went to take Information in Limosin the second in Quercy but caused all the Prisoners to be brought to Limoges Bouillon's Friends could never have believed they durst have attaqued his Castles because they were comprised amongst those places of Security granted to them of the Religion they were much startled when they found that consideration could not protect them Bouillon being informed of it sent them Orders to Surrender upon the King 's first Demand As to themselves the wisest preferring a timely retreat before an obstinate stay withdrew some as Rignac and Vassignac to Sedan others to other places of Safety Many had recourse to the King's Clemency and purchased their Pardon by discovering the whole Series of the Conspiracy the Cities they were to have Surprized the Places where they were to be Armed those that had promised to declare for them and many more Particulars which being thorowly examined had little other foundation but their own credulity and foolish imaginations Nor was any thing produced in Writing against the Duke of Bouillon nothing appearing but the Evidence of such people whose profligate reputation destroy'd the Credit of what they would have asserted The more Unfortunate fell into the hands of Justice Roissy made their Process assisted by Ten Councellors of the Presidial Five or Six paid down their Heads which were planted over the Gates of Limoges the Bodies burnt and their Ashes dispersed in the Air. Some others were hung up in Effigie But these Executions were not till after the King had been gone a Month who seeing the Fire was put out returned to Paris towards the end of November As he was going to Limosin being at Orleans he took the Seals from the Chancellour de Bellieure to give them to Sillery but still left him the honor to be Chief of the Council a sorry Comfort for so great a Disgrace and which gave Bellieure occasion to say That a Chancellour without the Seals is a Body without a Soul At Paris the King met with new cause of disquiet the Business of the City month Novemb. Rents and the Demands of the Assembly of the Clergy As for the first he had of a long time resolved to Suppress those Rents or Revenues for the creation whereof no Money had been given and to redeem such as had been purchased at a mean price To this purpose he had named Commissioners who were the Presidents de Thou Nicolai and Calignon a Master of
Accompts and a Treasurer of France and in the manner these did proceed none could have just cause of Complaint But when he had named others and it appeared by their management the Council had a design either to destroy or much lessen that Fond which was the clearest subsistence of many Families in Paris the interessed who Year of our Lord 1605 were numerous had recourse to the Prevost des Marchands he being as it were their Guardian This was Francis Miron a man of Courage and Probity and who had no other interest but his Duty and the Honor of his Office He took up the Business with some heat spake very resolutely in the Town-Hall and wrote to the King who was then at Fontainebleau Those of the Council who had a Pique against him for his great resolution too stiff in their opinion imputed as a Crime that he should mention Nero in some Discourse of his and insisted much with the King to have him apprehended The Bourgeois were ready to take up Arms in defence of their Magistrate although he protested he would rather chuse to die than be an occasion of the least disorder It was a great happiness for the City of Paris to have so good and so wise a King as Henry who having in other occasions thorowly tried the Fidelity and Candour of Miron and it being withal his Method to give People time to calm and cool themselves and repent of their rashness he would not push things on to extremity which must have engaged him to severe Chastisements So that the Tenants referring themselves wholly to this good natur'd Landlord and Miron having explained himself with all the Respect and Humility due from a Loyal Subject to his Soveraign he stopt all further proceeding touching their Rents As to the rest Paris does owe this acknowledgment to the honor of Miron that in his Office of Lientenant Civil and of Prevost des Marchands they never had a Magistrate so exact in settling of the City Government their Markets and what else was necessary or that so warmly espoused the Peoples interest or took more pains and care about the Revenue and Rights belonging to them to clear their Debts keep up that Splendour becoming the Capital City of the Kingdom as also to beautifie and furnish it with things that were at once an Ornament and of Publick Advantage The several Streets enlarged many new Paved and made shelving to convey away the Dirt and Water Eight or Nine stately Conduits or Fountains still casting forth their plentiful Streams the River improved with Wharffs Keys and watering places divers little Bridges in places convenient a new Gate at the Tournelle that of the Temple repair'd and open'd after it 's having been shut up above Forty years will be lasting marks and tokens of it to all Posterity But there was nothing so noble as the Front of the Town-Hall which seemed to have been left imperfect for Two and seventy years space to give this Magistrate an opportunity of making it the Monument of his Fame and to exercise his Generosity by employing all the Profits of his Offices to put it into that condition wherein we behold it to this very day As to the Assembly of the Clergy that Body having recovered much force and vigour the Complaints and Demands they had to make to the King were very great Hierosme de Villars Archbishop of Vienne presented the Assemblies Papers to him and was the Mouth of the whole Assembly He made a long discourse upon those vexations the Church suffer'd on all hands the infamous Trade of Benefices Simoniacal Bargains Pensions paid to Lay-men and frequent Appeals as gross abuses He said the cause of all those Disorders was the refusal they had hitherto met with for Publishing the Council of Trent That it was strange the Kingdoms of the Earth which are but as the baser Elements of the Terrestrial Globe should substract and withdraw themselves from the benign Influence of the Church which is the Coelestial World That the things which pass away on the wings of Time should hinder the Fruits of an Eternal duration That they should make Divine Reason stoop and truckle to Humane Policies and if we may so express it subject God in a manner to the Wills of Men. As to the Reception of the Council of Trent the King would not be Positive That it could not quadrare with the Reasons of State and the Liberties of the Gallican Church On the contrary he declared that he desired it as much as they and was very sorry it met with so great Difficulties That he would spare neither his Life nor Crown for the Honour and Exaltation of the Church And as concerning Simonies c. they must lay the blame upon those that practis'd it not upon him for he made no Trade of Bishopricks like the Favorites of his Predecessors but bestow'd them gratis and upon Persons of Merit He afterwards at leisure made distinct replies to all their Papers and amongst other things granted them by an Edict the liberty of redeeming such things as formerly belonged to them and had been sold for little or nothing without due Year of our Lord 1605 form or the Solemnities thereto requisite They were not satisfied with this but must have another to empower them to redeem in what manner soever they had been sold Yet the Parliament put in this Modification or Proviso That it should not extend to the prejudice of any who had been in Possession Forty years upon a legal Title There hapned this year Three Eclipses two of the Moon The first upon the Four and twentieth of March the second the Seventeenth of September and one of the Sun the Second day of October It began about One of the Clock afternoon and for two whole hours caused such a darkness that it seemed as it were Night the disk of that great Luminary being totally obscured by the Moon which appeared black and edged with a circle of light quite round month Decemb. The Astrologers after their wonted manner Predicted it would have most terrible Effects If the Fougade in England had not failed they would have made the world believe that this Phenomena did Prognosticate it Some English Catholicks accustomed to contrive Conspiracies during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth being much incensed against King James for that though at his first coming he had given them fair hopes of enjoying greater liberty than ever in their Religion yet did now keep as severe a hand over them as any before Plotted to destroy both him and all the most eminent of the Kingdom by a Blow the very thoughts whereof begets a horror Robert Catesby and Thomas Percy were the principal Authors These knowing the Parliament was to Sit at Westminster hired the Neighbouring Houses and then some Cellars under the very place of their Meeting filled them with Barrels of Gun-Powder which they cover'd with Coals and Faggots and intended to set Fire thereto when the Houses of
Privilege as Princes of his Blood immediately next those who really were so It had been already for some years past that the Duke of Savoy dis-satisfied with the Spaniards as well for that they had not allotted his Wife so good a share as her Sister Isabella as also because they did not assist him in due time and place sought to make his Fortune better on the French side and omitted no opportunity of renewing the Propositions for the Conquest of Milan In the year 1607. the Cardinal de Joyeuse at his return from Venice and Anno 1608. Vaucelas who had been sent to Turin to congratulate the Duke upon the Marriage of his two Daughters with the Dukes of Mantoua and of Modena brought the King some hints of it but he did not then confide enough in him or did not judge it yet time to declare himself This year Bullion being gone into Savoy upon some other Affairs had order to declare his intentions to the Duke and likewise to propound the Conquest of Milan for himself excepting only some places he should leave to the Venetians as being very commodious for them The Duke opening both ears to such fair proffers Bullion brought Lesdiguieres to discourse with him And from that time was a League concluded between the King and the Duke Offensive and Defensive of which the Marriage of his Son with the eldest Daughter of France was to be as it were the Seal and Guarantie The design to reduce the House of Austria within the limits of Spain and its Hereditary Countries was never out of the King's thoughts Most of the Princes in Christendom and above all the Protestants did eternally sollicit him to go about it His Commanders desired it to have Employments and the Huguenots push'd the wheel forward thereby to prevent any League between the two Crowns which undoubtedly would have tended to exterminate them On the contrary the Catholicks in whom some leaven of the old League was yet remaining omitted nothing that might divert him they believed it to be even a work of Piety to lend a helping hand to his Pleasures that so his glass might run on in soft and idle hours but though in other things he relied much on their Council he seldom discover'd his Resolutions nay hardly made any mention to them of any thing concerning this great Enterprise and if he had delay'd it hitherto it was but because he would take all his Precautions and make all the necessary preparations before he would declare himself Year of our Lord 1609 He had been fain for this purpose to settle a perfect Tranquillity in his own Kingdom giving the factions time to cool and be extinguished and the two Religions to become more compatible as absolutely expedient He had been fain to discharge his Debts restore that Credit which the male-administration of the Treasury had forfeited and moreover make Provision of Moneys Ammunitions Arms Artillery and select Men and engage on his side all the Princes and States he possibly could The Kings of Sweden and Denmark had given him their Parol at least four years since The Vnited Provinces at the making of their Truce assured him they would break it when ever he should desire it besides the Duke of Savoy the Protestant Princes of Germany and several Imperial Cities The Duke of Bavaria entred into this League upon the assurance that the Election to the Empire being made free they would make him King of the Romans The Venetians were promised some Cities in Milanois and those of the Kingdom of Naples on the Adriatick Gulf To the Swiss the Country of Tirol the Franche-Comté and Alsace The Pope did even suffer himself to be hook'd in provided they would help him to re-unite the Kingdom of Naples to the Holy See which would have afforded him most excellent means for accommodating his Nephews Thus would all the Princes of Christendom have furnish'd themselves with the Spoil of the House of Austria and the King that the World might not have the same cause of Jealousie against him as they justly had against the House he was going to help them Plunder would not have retained one inch of Ground for himself but have been content with the Glory only of this brave undertaking for his share After this as there are now bounds to so noble a race of Honour he designed when he should have setled the Limits and Pretensions of the Christian Princes established a firm Peace and Union amongst them and formed a general Council for this Christian Republick they should employ all the Forces of it to ruine the Mahometan Tyranny These Designs without doubt were not above his Courage or his Power but perhaps of an extent longer than his life and his health being as he was Aged Six and fifty years subject to the Gout of which he had frequent Fits and obliged every year to run thorow a course of Physick once at least and oft-times twice ☞ Love if it be permitted to say so would needs have a hand in the Enterprize and lend his Flambeau to help kindle this War as he hath lighted almost all the greatest that ever have consumed Mankind Henrietta Charlotta Daughter of the Connestable de Montmorency and of Lonisa de Budos his second Wife appeared no sooner at Court but she out-shined all other Beauties there The first time the King saw her was in a Masque or Balet where she represented a Diana and held a Dart in her hand She then inspired him with Sentiments quite contrary to those which that chaste Goddess should inspire mens Hearts withal The Confidents of this Prince's Passions the young Charmers Parents even those Petticoat Politicians about the Queen who thought by this new to turn off all his old Mistresses were disposed to serve him in this Courtship All flatter'd and soothed his Passion but she alone that could ease him he fancied he might o'recome her by raising her to the highest rank in the Court next the Queen and in that Prospect married her to the Prince of Condé Young and Poor who held all from his Power and Bounty and had as yet neither Governments nor any Employment but who being what he was and withal accomplish'd both in Body and Mind might with a little more complaisance have been in a capacity to have obtained the Noblest Commands in the Kingdom The Nuptials were solemnized at Chantilly in the Month of March The Duke of Vendosme having attained the Age of Sixteen years the King was impatient to Consummate his Marriage with Francis de Lorrain only Son of the month March deceased Duke of Mercoeur The Mother and some of the Virgins Kindred had ever made great opposition in the end Father Cotton extremely persuasive and insinuating disposed them to give the King this Satisfaction The Fiancailles or Betrothing was made the precedent year And in this the Marriage month July was celebrated at Fontainbleau the Ninth of July It was about this time of rejoycing that the King
Heresies already sowed in France For Anno 1492. the Morrow after Corpus-Christi Day a Priest who was hearing Mass at Nostre Dame snatched away the Host from the Celebrator after the Consecration and cast it on the ground to trample it under foot And in Anno 1502. a Picard Scholar Native of Abbeville committed the like Fact on Saint Lewis's Day in the Holy Chappel Both were seized immediately and some days after burnt alive in the Market aux Cochons without any signs of Repentance the first having his Tongue torn out the second his Hand cut off upon the very place where they brake the holy Wafer King Lewis XII having a great contest with Pope Julius II. demanded a general Council to reform the Church both in its Head and in its Members and caused one to be assembled at Pisa by the Suggestion and with the assistance of certain Cardinals dissatisfied with that Pope The said Council was soon driven from thence and retired to Milan from whence they were likewise forced to remove and came to end their days at Lyons That whole Affair was very ill managed the Pope opposed him with another Council which he assembled at Lateran and this being grown the more powerful did in the end constrain Lewis XII to renounce his and those Cardinals and Bishops that had been the Promoters of it to humble themselves before his Holiness to obtain Absolution The Officers of the Parliament of Provence having been all excommunicated by the Pope in this Council because they had hindred the execution of his Orders if they had not approved of the others and because they acted daily several things which in those times were taken to be designs The King desired they might submit and that Lewis de Souliers his Ambassadour to the Council having their special Procuration should in their Name formally disown all they had done against the Liberties of the Church against the respect due to the Holy See promise that for the future they would be more circumspect that they should ratifie this Submission within four Months and that he should desire their Absolution which was granted them The same Council had likewise cited the Prelates of France to come and shew the reasons why they still justified and maintained the Pragmatique It is probable they would to his Decrees have opposed or alledged the Liberties of the Gallican Church but Francis I. very far from supporting them did himself abandon that which his Predecessors had defended with so much resolution and firmness and passed or agreed to the Concordat with Leo X. of which we have made mention in the year 1516. The smart of so great and desperate a wound made the Clergy the Parliament and the University cry out in vain those two great Powers being now joyned together valued not their Complaints The Clergy had protested to take all Opportunities for the making of Remonstrances to the King for the Re-establishment of Elections this they pursued very well four or five times under King Henry III. and Henry IV. but at length they grew weary whether believing they were no longer obliged to labour to no end or that several of the Bishops gave it over in Charity to themselves as ☜ knowing they should never have attained the Preferments they enjoy'd if the right of Elections had been restored The Authors of the Novel Opinions spared no pains to convey and plant their Doctrines in the remotest Provinces Printing was a great help to bring their Works to light and make them spread the Zealots were at the charge of Printing and Dispersing them and the Country Pedlers whom they paid very well had always some of these new-fashion Wares in their Packs which they shewed for great Rarities to the curious and inquisitive Their Disciples crept into the Universities where under colour of teaching the Law or Greek or Hebrew they instilled their Doctrine into the hearts of the younger fry Others more polite and more dexterous insinuated into the Society of Women and studied to gain their favour that they might gain their belief Thus they gained an Absolute Power over Anne de Pisseleu Dutchess d'Estampes Mistriss of Francis I. over Margaret Queen of Navarre and over Renée of France Daughter of good King Lewis XII There were others who endeavour'd to get into the Houses of such Bishops as they believed to be most susceptible of their fancies James le Fevre Native of Estaples a little Town in Boulonois who was not Doctor in Divinity at Paris as many will have it at least he is not to be found in the Registry of that Faculty William Farel a Daufinois Arnold and Gerard Roussel Picards fell in about the year 1523. with William Briconnet Bishop of Meaux and entangled his Mind so with those dangerous Opinions that he began to own and Preach them There was the same year in that City a Wool-Comber by Name John le Clere who had the Impudence to say That the Pope was the Anti-Christ he was Whipped for it by the hands of the Hang-man and Banished the Kingdom This Punishment corrected him not he went to Mets to vend his Wares and was there Burnt for having broken down some Images Lewis Berquin Artesian by Birth a powerful Genius according to the Sentiment of Erasmus suffer'd a like Death at Paris the One and twentieth of April in Anno 1528. Now the Bishop of Meaux being charged with the Crime of Heresie retracted upon the first Admonition having before-hand sent away his Doctors amongst whom Arnold was so terribly scared that he continued a good Catholick ever after Gerard made his escape to Luther Farel went to Zuinglius at Zurich and le Fevre to Nerac to Queen Margaret The two others came also thither some time after and there began to form a new Church wherein they used no Mass nor observed the Canonical hours for Prayer but communicated by taking Bread and Wine and giving it to all that were present in the same manner said they as Jesus Christ and the Apostles had practised Before and after they made Sermons wherein they explained the Word of God They called it Preaching and their way of taking the Eucharist Manducation The Queen went amongst them and sometimes led her Husband thither who was very submissive to her Will and no less Zealous against the Authority of the Pope because that had furnished the Spaniard with a fair pretence to Invade the Kingdom of Navarre In the mean time Anthony Duprat Archbishop of Sens Cardinal and Legate Year of our Lord 1528 employ'd the whole Authority both of the Church and King to restrain this licentiousness he assembled a Provincial Council in the City of Paris Anno 1528. where appeared Six of his Suffragants and a Delegate from the Seventh They there propounded the Catholick Doctrines and condemned Luther's they Prohibited all Nocturnal Assemblies and the Reading of any Heretical Books with Excommunication against them their Abettors and Adherers On their part
being assisted in this good work by two Religious Carmelites who had their first Convent near the same City Pope Clement VIII separated them from the mitigated Anno 1693. and allowed them to have their Province apart and to chuse their Superiors amongst themselves upon condition however to acknowledge the General of the Order They came not into France till the year 1505. Their Convent in the Faux-bourg Saint Germain the first that ever they had in the Kingdom was Built Anno 1611. The Reformed of the Hermites of St. Augustin who are called at Paris les Petits Peres i.e. the Little Fathers was instituted at the General Chapter of that Order held at Madrid Anno 1588. From thence some went and settled themselves in Italy and from Italy six or Seven were brought into France in the year 1595. by William d'Avencon Arch-Bishop of Embrun who loged them at the Priory of Villars Benoist in Dauphiné They were not Established at Paris till the year 1609. first in the Faux-burg St. Germain where Queen Margaret Order'd a Convent to be erected for them which they left to the Augustines Reformed who hold it still then near the Gate Montmarte where they have built another The great care which the Friers De la Charité took by receiving in as also tending and administring to the Sick deserves we should make mention of them The Blessed Ican de Dien Native of the Diocess of Evora in Portugal a simple Man without Learning but inflamed with a Charitable zeal towards helping the poor sick began this Congregation in Spain about the year 1570. He went daily about the Streets and into many Houses exhorting all good Christians to bestow their Alms and having frequently these words in his mouth Do good Brethren whilst you have the time for which cause in Italy they named these Votaries Fatte ben Fratelli Pious V. Confirmed it by his Bull of the first of January 1572. Clement VIII reformed it and Paul V. made it a Religious Order obliging them to the three usual Vowes and a special fourth which is to tend the sick under the dependance notwithstanding and under the Correction of the Ordinaries The Congregation of Feuillents sprung from the Order of the Cistertians and began not till the year 1586 in the Abbey of Feuillents which is in the Diocess of Rieux within six Leagues of Toulouze It had for Author John de la Barriere who being Abbot Commendatary of that place had taken on him the Habit of a Frier Sixtus V. approved it Clement VIII and Paul V. allowed them particular Superiors King Henry III. Founded a Convent for them in the Fauxbourg Saint Honoré near the Garden of the Tuilleries and Anno 1587. John de la Barriere brought thither three-score of his Friers They went then all bare-footed but have since worne Sandals or Galochees They have but three Prvinces in France and some thirty Monasteries As every Age and every Generation hath its particular gusto and productions this sixteenth Century was very fertile in Congregations of Clerc's Regulars who are a kind of midling species between Monks and Priests Such are those of the Theatins the Somasques the Clerc's Minors the Ministers of the Infirmaries the Schools of Piety the Clerc's Regulars of Saint Paul called Barnabites the Oratorians of Rome and the Jesuites this last much more potent and of greater extent then all the rest together I shall observe en passant that one of these Fathers a man very devout named John Leon a Flemming by Birth and Regent in the lower Classes of their Colledge at Rome assembling those Scholars who were desirous to add Piety to Erudition gave beginning to their Congregation of the Virgin which hath been found so good and useful that they have not only made of them for their Scholars but also for the honester sort of Citizens and even in some places for Artisans Of all the Clerc's Regulars none have come into France but the Jesuits the Barnabites and the Theatins These last we not established till in our time under the Regency of Queen Anne of Austria It is well known that Saint Ignatius was Institutor of the Company of Jesus how it began in the year 1534. and how it was approved by Pope Paul III. and by his Successors We may elsewhere relate upon what conditions they were admitted into France the oppositions formed against their reception and the great and frequent Traverses they have undergone divers times It shall suffice at this moment to say that they have filled the whole Earth with the loud report of their names and the Books they have composed both for the advancement of Religion and of all polite Learning The Barnabites had been wished for in France by King Henry IV. to have employed them for the Instruction of Youth and to have substituted them in place of the Jesuits after they were empelled They came not then but about six years after their General sent some of his Order to labour for the Conversion of Bearn yet did not they take root in this Kingdom till a long time afterwards they have here fifteen or sixteen houses in most of which they have Colledges to teach all manner of good Learning Their first establishment was at Montargis Anno 1620. And two years after they had one at Paris near the Palace Their Congregation took Birth at Milan and was instituted by three Gentlemen two of that City another of Cremona They went by the name of Barnabites because they established themselves in Barnaby's and the Church they built there was Consecrated to God under the name of that great Apostle Let us now speak of the Religious Orders of the other Sex We omitted in the end of the last Age how in Anno 1594. John Tiâ—â—eran a Cordelier having moved and even melted the most obdurate hearts and converted many Ladies of Pleasure by his Preaching founded an Order Des Filles Repenties to the honour of Saint Magdalene which was to receive such who by the Mercies of God should be brought to forsake and abhor their sins For which reason they were called Penitents There came in at the very first two hundred and twenty and as the number encreased so much that the Revenue was not sufficient they allowed many to go about the Town to crave the Almes of the Charitable and well disposed people Which lasted till the year 1550. when by reason of many inconveniencies they were shut up in a most strict confinement Lewis Duke of Orleans who was afterwards King gave them his Hostel of Orleans near Saint Eustache where they remained till Anno 1572. that Queen Catherine dislodged them to build a Palace there and transferred them to the Chappel Saint George in the Street Saint Denis which till then belonged to the Order of Saint Magloire Queen Jane Daughter of King Lewis XI being parted from King Lewis XII her Husband and retired to the City of Bourges had now no further
the French and the Venetians joyned together 262 Returns from the hands of the Latins into that of the Greeks 309 Constantius Count and Patrician in Gall. 3 Crimes how punished amongst the ancient French Divers means to purge themselves thereof 49 Crimes they justified themselves by Combat Croisades and beyond-Sea Expeditions advantageous to Popes and Kings but disadvantageous to the great Lords and the People 224 First Croisade and their happy Exploits 224 25 Croisade preached over all Christendom 223 Croisade for the recovery of the Holy Land 260 Croisade against the Albigeois 264 Croisades affirming the Popes Authority 262 Croisade new of French Lords for the Holy Land 301 Croisade new by St. Lewis for succouring the Christians in the Levant 312 Croisades during the Thirteenth Age. 336 Cunibert Bishop of Colen 56 D. Dagobert Son of Clotaire the miraculous protection of his Person 45 Builds the Abby of St. Denis ib. His Father gives him the Kingdom of Austrasia 46 His Marriage quarrel between the Father and the Son ib. Dagobert I. of that name King of Neustria Austrasia and Burgundy 54 He gives part of Aquitain to his Brother Aribert 54 Too much licence in his Marriage ib. Remains sole King after the death of his Brother Aribert 55 Establishes his Son Sigebert King of Austrasia 56 Disposes of Neustria and Burgundy in favour of his Son Clovis ib. Subdues the Gascons and brings them to reason 57 His death ib. Dagobert Son of Sigebert King of Austrasia shaved and banish'd 60 Is recalled and acknowledged King of Austrasia 66 His death 68 Dagobert II. King of France 77 The Danes and Normands infest the Coasts of France 106 Continue their Piracies 211 St. Denis Areopagite his Corps found intire in the Monastery of St. Denis in France 233 Devotion and Piety admirable in our ancient Kings of France 73 St. Didier Bishop of Lyons suffers Martyrdom 43 Didier King of the Lombards conceives the design of abating the power of the Popes and making himself Master of Italy excites Troubles and Schisms in the Church of Rome 98 Causes of particular enmity between him and Charlemain 98 Is dispossest of his Estate 99 His death ib. Didier is elected King of the Romans after the death of Astolphus Anno 755. Differences between Hugh de Vermandois and Artold for the Archbishoprick of Reims 180 Difference between King Lotair and the Children of Hugh the Great 184 Dispensations their beginning 182 Dissentry horrible in France 34 Divorce of a Marriage the cause of great Troubles 243 Dol in Bretagne made a Metropolitan 134 Brought again under that of Tours 274 Dominion Example of an enraged passion for Dominion 296 Dominicans their Institution and Establishment 339 Dreux Bishop of Mets. 127 Drogo or Dreux Son of Pepin 72 Drogon Duke of Bretagne his death 184 Dutchy of Lorrain given to Godfrey Earl of Verdin Bouillon and Verdun 209 Dutchies of two sorts in France 183 Duel proposed to the King by his Subjects 235 E. Ebles Count of Auvergne and Poitou and Duke of Aquitaine 170 Ebles Baron de Roucy a famous Warrier humbled and brought to reason 227 Ebon Bishop of Reims deposed and degraded 128 Ebroin Maire of the Palace perfidious and wicked 62 69 Is shaved and confined to the Monastery of Luxieu 64 Quits the Monastery to take up Arms. 67 His retreat into Austrasia he there supposes a false Clovis in the place of King Thierry whom he feigns to be dead 67 Causes St. Leger to attaqu'd in his City of Autun puts his Eyes out and shuts him up in a Monastery ib. Is received Maire of Thierries Palace 68 Great Tyranny his death 69 Eclipse of the Sun 213 Ecclesiasticks go to Rome to visit the Holy Places 269 Edmund Brother of Edward King of England his death 326 Edward eldest Son of the King of England goes to make War in the Holy Land 312 Edward Son and Successor of Henry King of England 315 At his return from the Holy Land passes thorough France ib. Passes by Sea and comes to the City of Amiens 319 His Voyage to Burdeaux by France 322 Employs himself to accommodate the differences betwixt the Kingdoms of Arragon and Sicilia 323 A Riot between some particular People makes him break the Peace with France 324 325 Makes a powerful League against France 326 Attaques the Scots and brings them under his Laws 327 Marries with Margaret of France 330 Makes Peace with the King of France 331 His death 334 Edward Son of King Edward Marries Isabella of France 327 Edward II. King of England 332 His Contest with Charles the Fair King of France 351 Odious to his People by reason of his Favourites his unfortunate end 352 Ega Maire of the Palace of Neustria his death 58 Election and the Investiture of the Popes in the power of the Emperor Otho 186 Election of Popes 3â—6 Elections to Benefices 285 Emma Queen of France 168 Emma or Emina Wife of King Lothaire 198 Empire Rome when it ended 13 Empire troubled about the Election of an Emperor after the death of Henry VI. 259 Empire of Greece difference between Michael and Baldwin determined 318 Empire ruined by its dis-union Engelberge Wife of the Emperor Lew's of Italy 156 Enguerrand de Marigny his unhappy end 336 Enterprise of the Pope upon the Bishops of France 203 Enterview of the three Kings of France of Germany and of Burgundy 170 Enterview between Lewis Transmarine and Otho of Lorraine 180 Enterview of the Emperor Henry and King Robert 211 Enterview and Enterparlance of the Emperor Henry III. and Henry King of France 217 Enterview of the King of France Lewis the Young and the Emperor Federic 247 Enterview of the Kings of France and Arragon 308 Enterview of the two Kings of France and England in the City of Amiens 319 Enterview of the Kings of France and Castille at Bayonne 323 Enterview of the King of France and the Emperor at Vaucouleurs 328 Eon de L'Estoille His ignorance passes for a great Prophet is apprehended his death 291 Erchinoald Maire of the Palace 61 Era or manner of accompting of the times by the Mahometans 47 Estate of the Gallican Church after the Conversion of Lewis or Clovis the Great 50 The Fourth Age. 4 During the Fifth and Sixth Ages 17 The Seventh 73 The Eighth 112 The Ninth 170 The Tenth 205 The Eleventh Age or Century 228 Eudes Duke of Aquitaine 80 Makes a League with the Sarecens of Spain and draws them into France 81 c. His death 82 Eudes Count of Paris and Duke of France succeeds in the Estates of Hugh the Great his Brother 155 Is raised to his Dignity and declared King of West France 156 Defeats and cuts the Normans in pieces 157 Quarrel betwixt him and Charles the Simple 159 His death 160 Eudes first Earl of Champagne 203 Eudes Count de Pontieure 211 Eudes Son of King Robert Earl of Champagne disputes the Crown with Henry his Brother 214 Reduced to reason 215 Undertakes
the Mathematicks 203 Deposed 204 Gibellins in Italy 348 Giles Bishop of Rheims degraded of his Bishoprick and banished to Strasburgh 40 Gillon is elected King of France in the place of Childeric 12 Revolt of the French against him 13 Godfrey King of Denmark undertakes against the French 109 Descends into Frisia and pillages the Country ib. Godfrey of Buillon Head of the first Croisade to the Holy Land elected King of Jerusalem his glorious Exploits 224 c. His death Gondebaud King of Burgundy 15 Conquers the two Narbonnensi 16 The Armor between the Seine and the Loire unite with the French 15 Gondebaud calling himself Son of Clotaire comes from Constantinople into France to reap the Succession of his Father his unhappy end 35 38 Gondebaud a Monk employs himself for the deliverance of the Emperor Lewis the Debonnaire 126 Gondemar King of Burgundy 21 Gondioche King of the Burgundians his death and his Kingdom divided amongst his four Sons 13 Gontran King of Orleans and of Burgundy takes too much licence in his Marriage 29 Leagues himself with Chilperic against Sigebert their Brother 32 Adopts his Nephew Childebert and places him in his Throne 33 Seizes upon the Kingdom of Paris and a part of Neustria 37 Takes Fredegonda into his protection ib. Gontran King of Orleans makes War against the Visigoths in Languedoc 39 Effects of the inconstancy of the mind 40 His death ib. Gotelen Duke of Lorraine 221 Goths and their Country divided into Ostrogoths and Visigoths 2 Gregory II. Pope opposes the Emperor Leo stoutly in defence of Images 84 Gregory III. Excommunicates the Emperor Leo. Gregory VII menaces Philip King of France to Excommunicate him if he do not reform himself 221 Gregory VIII Antipope 272 Gregory IX Pope in contest with the Emperor Violent proceeding His death 301 Gregory X. Pope 315 Griffon Son of Charles Martel by his Brothers shut up in Chasteauneuf in Ardenne 84 Is set at liberty by Pepin his Brother 87 Grimoald Maire of the Palace of Austrasia 58 Causes the young King Dagobert to be shaved and sets his Son upon the Royal Throne 60 Grimoald Son of Pepin Espouses the Daughter of the King of Frisia 77 Assassinated and slain 78 Guelphes and Gibbelins two Factions in Italy 303 Girard de la Guette a Financier of Paris advanced to the Gallows 350 Guy Duke of Spoleta Emperour of Italy 156 Chaced out of Lombardy 160 His death ib. Guy of Burgundy dispoiled of those Lands he held in Normandy 2 6 Guy-Geofrey-William Duke of Aquitaine Re-conquers Saintonge then passes into Spain against the Saracens 220 His death 222 Guy Earl of Auvergne deprived of his Earldom 265 Guy Count de Saint Pol. 298 Guy Earl of Flanders vanquish'd and made Prisoner 308 Guy de Dampiere Earl of Flanders 322 Is held Prisoner at Paris with his Wife and Children 325 Guy Earl of Flanders is restored to his County Guy Brother to the Daufin of Vienne a Templer burnt alive 336 Guyemans a faithful Friend of King Childeric's 12 H. Hatred mortal between William of Normandy and Arnold Earl of Flanders 127 Hatred mortal of the Flemmings against the French its beginning 257 Hebert Count of Vermandois His death 162 Hebert Count of Meaux and of Troyes his death 178 Henry Duke of Friuly falls into the Country of the Huns. 105 Henry Duke of Saxony comes to the relief of Paris his death 155 Henry the Bird-Catcher King of Germany 165 His death 170 Henry II. called the Lame Emperour 208 Henry Duke of Burgundy his death 209 Henry Son of King Robert is Crowned and Associated by his Father 212 213 Henry King of France surmounts his Enemies 214 Chastises the Felony of the Sons of the Earl of Champagne his Nephews 216 Expedition of small effect in Normandy 217 He assists the Duke of Normandy against his rebel Subjects ib. Coldness between his Majesty and the Earl of Anjou ib. Divers Emparlances with the Emperor Henry III. 218 Second Expedition into Normandy unsucsessful Causes his eldest Son Philip to be Crowned 218 His death his Wife his Children 218 219 Henry IV. Emperor in contention with the Popes 209 Seized by his Son Henry his death ib. Henry V. Emperor in contention with the Popes Pascal II. and Galasius for the nomination to Bishopricks 223 Is Excommunicated ib. Reconciled to the Pope 234 Arms powerfully against France to his confusion ib. Henry King of England in contention with the King of France 234 235 Is obliged to make Peace with him 236 Renewing of the Quarrel ib. Loses his three Sons at Sea 237 Conspiracy of his Domestick Officers against his Person ib. Declares his Daughter Matilda Heiress of all his Estates In contention with his Son in Law the Earl of Anjou his death 240 Henry Duke of Normandy Espouses Alienor 246 Gets into possession of the Kingdom of England ib. Henry King of England becomes very powerful undertakes against Languedoc for the County of Tholoze 247 Makes War again upon the King of France 249 Arms his own Children against him ib. Accused of the Murther of the Archbishop of Canterbury 250 In debate with the King of France 254 Takes up the Croisade for the recovery of the Holy Land His death 255 Henry the Young takes up Arms against the King of England his Father 252 His death 253 Henry VI. Emperor 256 His death 259 Henry Earl of Champagne Generalissimo of the Christians in the Holy Land 257 His death 259 Henry IV. deprived of the Empire by his Son 272 His ill conduct ib. Henry V. Emperour the cause of a Schism 272 Forces the Pope to agree to what he pleases 273 Renounces the Investitures ib. His death ib. Henry VI. Emperour is Excommunicated 275 Henry pretended King of the Romans his death 304 Henry of Castille takes up Arms against Charles of Anjou King of Sicilia 311 Henry III. King of England comes into France and treats with the King for Normandy and other the Lands his Predecessors had been possessed of 310 Feud with the Barons of his Kingdom ib. His death 315 Henry the Fat King of Navarre 315 His death 317 Henry Count of Luxemburg is elected Emperor 334 Passes into Italy his death 335 Hermengarde Empress her death 123 Hermenegilde takes up Arms against the King of Spain her death 38 Peter the Hermit a Gentleman of Picardy 223 Hildebrand Popes Legat in France 229 Hildegarde Queen of France 102 Hilduin Bishop of Liege unsaithful to his Prince 205 Hinomar Bishop of Laon deposed and persecuted 142 Reabilitated 161 Hinomar Archbishop of Reims 139 His death 153 Hoel Son of the Duke of Bretagne Assassinated 184 Hoel Duke of Bretagne 221 Disputes the Dutchy of Bretagne against Eudes de Pontieure 244 Abandoned by the Nantois 247 Honorius II. Pope his death 239 Hugh Son of Valdrade 151 Hugh Bastard of Valdrade ib. Hugh the Great Tutor to Charles the Simple 155 Hugh King of Italy comes into France 168 Hated of his Subjects 170 Hugh le Blanc Earl of
causes him to be degraded after his publick Pennance 127 128 Lothaire King of Italy difference between him and Charles his Brother touching their shares after the death of their Father 134 Reconciliation with Charles his Brother 138 Changes his Imperial Purple for a Friers Frock ib. His Wife and Children ib. Lothaire II. of Lorraine 139 He repudiates Thietberge his Wife to Espouse Valdrade and that made a great deal of noise 140 The said Marriage annull'd and he Excommunicated by the Pope 141 Passes into Italy against the Saracens his death by Divine Punishment 142 His Children ib. Lothaire Son of the King of Italy 179 Lothaire King of France 183 His Marriage with Emma or Emina Daughter of Lothaire King of Italy 187 Enterprize upon Lorraine 188 Repels and chases the Germans out of France where they had made an irruption 189 Repasses into Lorraine Causes his Son Lewis to be Crowned and to Reign with him ib. His death 189 Lothaire Duke of Saxony elected Emperor 238 Lothaire II. Emperor his death 243 Louis of Aquitaine passes into Italy to the assistance of his Brother Pepin 104 Besieges and takes Narbonne and Tortosae 106 c. Louis or Lewis the Debonaire his coming to the Crown 120 Purges the Court of Scandal ib. His Coronation and of the Empress Hermengarde His continual exercises of Piety and Devotion 122 Concerns himself in the reformation of the Clergy and draws upon him the hatred of the Churchmen 122 Associates Lothaire his eldest Son in the Empire and shares for his other Children ib. Severely punishes the King of Italy his Nephew who had conspired against his Person and his Complices 122 123 Causes all his Bastard Brothers to be shaved ib. Reduces Bretagne to a Dutchy ib. Marries a second Wife after the death of Hermengarde ib. Marries all his Sons 124 Subdues the Bretons ib. Gives occasion of discontent to his Children who conspire against him and shut him up Prisoner in the Abby St. Medard of Soissons 125 c. Does publick Pennance and is degraded 126 c. Is re-established in his Royal Throne 128 Divides again his Estates of France Eastern and Western 129 His death his Wives his Children 130 Of his great care in regulating all that concerned the advantage and administration of the Church the discipline of the Clergy c. 170 Louis Son of Lewis the Debonaire is made King of Bavaria 122 Louis King of Bavaria embraces the Cause of his Father Lewis the Debonaire afterwards turns against him 126 Louis Emperor King of Italy 138 Louis the Germanick usurps Neustria upon his Brother Charles 139 Divides Lorraine with him 142 Troubled and disquieted by his Children 144 His death ib. Louis the Emperor and King of Italy despised by his Subjects 138 Makes a League with Lewis the Germanick against Charles the Bald. 139 Difference about Lorraine 143 Is despised of his Subjects ib. His death 144 Louis the Stammerer Emperor and King of Neustria or West France Aquitain and Burgundy 148 Is Crowned Emperor by Pope John ib. His death 149 Louis III. and Carloman his Brother Kings of West France Burgundy and Aquitain 148 c. Death of Lewis 152 Louis Son of Boson seizes upon Provence 156 c. Louis Son of Arnold Emperor of Germany and King of Lorraine 162 His death 163 Louis the Blind King of Provence 170 Louis IV. called Transmarine is recalled from England owned and Crowned King of France 175 6 Abandoned of all his Subjects in Neustria is constrained to save his life by a shameful flight 177 Makes a Peace and is reconciled to his Subjects 179 Seizes Richard Duke of Normandy ib. His precipitate revenge draws great difficulties upon him 178 Is carried Prisoner to Rouen ib. Is restored to liberty 179 Brouilleries in France 180 c. Is reconciled with Hugh le Blanc and they make Peace together 181 His death ib. Louis King of Aquitain chastises the Revolt of the Gascons 110 Associated to the Empire and declared Emperor by Charlemain his Father 111 Louis King of France called the idle or Lazy Marries a Princess of Aquitain named Blanch. 198 His death ib. Louis called the Gross Son of King Philip designed King takes up the Government of Affairs 226 Passes into England 227 Betrothed to Luciane Daughter of Guy de Rochefort 227 His pretended Marriage with Luciana broken by the Pope ib. Quarrels and brouilleries with his Subjects 234 Defeats the English in Battle about Gisors 35 Renewing of the War between those two Princes 236 Strongly opposes the Emperors Efforts who would needs be revenged because he had protected Pope Calixtus II. 236 c. Reduces the Count d'Auvergne to reason 238 Revenges the Parricide committed on the Person of the Earl of Flanders 239 Causes his Son Philip to be Crown'd ib. Becomes an Enemy to the Clergy his Subjects and is Excommunicated 239 c. His death his Wives his Children 241 Lewis the Young Crowned in the life time of his Father Lewis the Gross 240 Louis the Young he Marries Alienor Daughter of the Duke of Aquitaine ib. Establishes Justice and secures the publick safety 242 Is Excommunicated and his Kingdom put under an interdiction by the Pope 243 Receives Pope Eugenius into France 244 Takes the Cross and goes into the Holy Land ib. His return into France 245 Repudiates Queen Alienor and Marries the Daughter of Alphonso VII King of Castille 243 Goes to St. Jago in Gallicia out of Devotion 246 Difference with Henry King of England for the County of Touloze 248 He makes Alliance by Marriage with the House of Champagne 249 Suppresses the disorders of his Kingdom ib. Enters into War again with the King of England their Reconciliation ib. Takes the protection of the King of England's Children against their Father 250 Passes over into England and goes to visit the Tomb of St. Thomas of Canterbury ib. His death his Wives his Children 251 Louis VIII King of France his Birth 254 Parlies with the Emperor Federic II. 266 His Coronation at Reims 295 Enterview with Henry Son of the Emperor Federic 295 Crosses himself against the Albigenses and makes War upon them in Person 296 His death his Wife and his Children 296 297 St. Louis King of France his Coronation 298 Great disturbances in the State at the beginning of his Reign ib. c. He Vowes to make War against the Infidels 303 Voyage to the Holy Land 304 c. His Army entirely defeated and he made Prisoner of War by the Infidels 305 Is set at liberty with all the rest of the French Prisoners 306 Whether it be true he gave a Consecrated Wafer as a pawn for his Word 305 He visits the Holy Places in the Holy Land 307 His return into France ib. He entertains the King of England magnificently ib. Regulates his Kingdom by good Laws and exercises himself in good Works 308 Endeavours to accommodate Affairs between the Barons and their King Henry 309 Undertakes a new Crosade for relief of
Wife and Marries Bertrade 223 Is Excommunicated because of this new Marriage by the Bishops by the Pope and by a Council at Poitiers ib. Braved by the Lord de Montlehery ib. In fine obtains a dispensation in the Court of Rome is absolved and his Marriage is confirmed 226 His death his Wives and Children 227 Philip Brother of King Lewis the Gross sides with the discontented Party 2â—5 Philip Augustus King of France his Birth 249 His Coronation 250 His Marriage with Isabella Alix 251 He begins his Reign and Government with Piety and Justice 252 He withdraws Vermandois from the hands of the Earl of Flanders 252 He sends succours to the Holy Land and causes the Croisade to be preached 253 Difference between him and the King of England 254 Takes the Cross on him with the King of England for the recovery of the Holy Land 255 Gives chace to the King of England who was entred upon France ib. His Voyage to the Holy Land Order for the Regency of his Son and Kingdom during his absence ib. Difference intervened between him and Richard King of England 256 Takes the City of Acre or Ptolemais ib. Falls sick and returns into France 257 Withdraws the County of Artois from the hands of the Earl of Flanders ib. Declares War against the King of England 258 Repudiates Isemberge his Wife then takes her again ib. Reconciles himself with John King of England 259 Endeavours to accustom the Ecclesiasticks to furnish him with Subsidies 261 Conquers all the Territories of King John which held of the Crown 261 c. Philip the Fair King of France Marries the Queen of Navarre 320 Is Crowned at Reims 322 Accommodates and makes Peace with the Castillian 323 Causes search to be made amongst the Banquers 324 Opposes the designs of the King of England for the subjecting of Scotland and recovering the Cities in Guyenne 325 Is offended with Pope Boniface 326 A great Conspiracy against him 326 Makes War in Flanders his progress 327 c. Confers with the Emperor Albertus 328 Enters into a quarrel with the Pope and hinders the French Prelats from going to Rome whither the Pope sent for them 329 Is Excommunicated by the Pope ib. Takes up Arms to chastize the Rebellion of the Flemings 330 Treats a Peace with the English ib. Makes a Voyage into Guyenne and Languedoc 331 Fore-arms himself against the Bâ—lls of Bâ—niface ib. Assists at the Coronation of Pope Clement at Lyons 332 Appears at the General Council of Vienne in Daufine ib. Undertakes War against the Flemings His three Sons Wives accused of Adultery His death his Wives and Children 336 Philip of Alsace Earl of Flanders his death 257 Philip of Dreux Bishop of Beauvais is held Prisoner 258 Philip Earl of Boulogne 299 Philip Emperor assassinated 264 Philip the Hardy King of France 314 Returns from Afric into France ib. He Arms against the King of Castille in favour of the Princes of Navarre his Nephews 316 Takes up Arms and passes the Pyrenean Mountains against the King of Arragon 320 His death his Wives and his Children 321 Philip the Long espouses Jane of Burgundy 324 Philip d'Euvreux 348 Philip the Long King of France 347 His Wife accused of Adultery 336 Brouilleries in the State 348 His death his Children 349 Philip de Valois passes into Italy against the Gibbelins 348 Philippa Daughter of the Earl of Hainault 352 Peter Son of King Lewis the Gross chief of the House of Courtenay 241 Peter Duke of Bretagne takes Arms against the King 296 Surnamed Mauclerc or Illiterate or Witless 300 His death 301 Peter Earl of Alencon 312 Peter Earl of Arragon Crowned King of Sicilia 317 A villanous and shameful slight 320 Is Excommunicated and degraded by the Pope ib. His death 321 Peter Abbot of Cane refuses the Miter 270 Planet Mars not visible in a whole year 105 Plectrude Widow of Pepin intrudes into the whole Government of France 78 She is constrained to quit the Government to Charles Martel 79 Poissy Gerard Financier 254 Politicks Hereticks 276 Poland honour'd with the Title of a Kingdom 209 Ponce Abbot of Clugny by his Debauches loses the Reputation of his Order 279 Papeliâ—ans Hereticks their Forces and Erâ—ors 276 Popes of the Fourth Age. 5 Popes when they began to change names at their creation 136 Memorable example of their Soveraign power and of an extream severity 209 Of their Elections 247 Have a right to exhort not to command the Kings of France 326 Acts of Temporal Soveraignty they assumed on all occasions during the Thirteenth Age. 337 They would raise themselves above all Soveraigns 293 Gilbert Porct Bishop of Poitiers condemned 289 Port-Royal its foundation 83 Portugal of a Dutchy made a Kingdom 243 Pragmatick of St. Lewis 312 Pretextat Archbishop of Rouen 32 Restored to his See and assassinated 38 Prior of the Monastery of Gristan his History 288 Primacy of the Church of Lyons over the four Lyonnoises 232 Prince that oppresses his Subjects is easily abandonned by them 45 Prince dispoiled of his Estate because of his ill Conduct 161 Priviledges of Monks 282 Bring a Scandal to the Church Buy it off dearly at Rome ib. Prodigy unheard of of Snakes and other Serpents who fought most obstinately 2â—8 Protade Maire of the Palace 43 Provenceaux rise against their Earl and Lord. 301 Provisions of the Pope 236 Petro Brusians Hereticks 276 Puisset Hugh 235 Q. Quarrel between Thierry and Boson 146 Quarrel for the Archbishoprick of Reims 177 c. Quarrel and hatred of the â—arls of Charâ—res and Flanders against the Normans 186 Quarrel famous between the Pope and the Emperors 223 Quarrel between Robert Duke of Normandy and Henry his younger Brother for the Kingdom of England 226 Quarrel of the Popes with the Emperor Henry IV. 227 c. Quarrel between the Bishops and the Monks for the Tenths 228 Quarrel between the Emperor and the Pope for the investiture of Bishopricks 236 Quarrel between the Secular Doctors of Theology and the Orders of Religious Mendicants 307 Quarrel of the Count d'Armagnac and the Lord de Casaubon 315 Quarrel bloody and long for the Succession of the Crown of Scotland 323 Quarrels Little particular Riots do often produce very great Quarrels 325 Qâ—iâ—alet Bishoprick transfer'd to St. Malo's Church of the Twelfth Century R. Rabanus Maurus Archbishop of Ments 173 Race Carolovinian and the end of it Causes of its ruine 198 199 Rachis King of the Lombards turns Monk 91 Leaves his Monastery whither he is forced to return again Radbod King of the Frisians 72 Radegonda Sainct 22 Raillery that cost very dear 222 Raimond Earl of Tolose principal Favourer of the Hereticks in Languedoc is Excommunicated 264 Reconciles himself to the Church 295 Is brought to reason 299 Raimond Earl of Toloze pretends to be Lord of the Marsellois c. 300 Raimond Prince of Antioch Rainfroy Maire of the Neustrians 79 His death 81 Rambold of Orange 224 Ranulf Duke of Aquitaine
Rapes The Emperors Daughter taken away 136 Rebellion of the Sorabes 121 Of the Gascons ib. Of the Bretons 124 Rebellion of Children against their Father punished 144 Rebellion of the Earl of Poitou and Duke of Aquitain 184 Rebellion punished 211 Rebellion of the Aquitains against their Duke 216 Rebellion of the Children of the King of England 250 Reconciliation of the two Brothers Lewis and Charles and their Nephew Lotaire 140 Reformation of Monasteries and Religious Houses 205 Regency of a Woman causes great troubles in the Kingdom 298 Regency of the Kingdom without a King 345 Reliques of St. Denis and his Companions 45 Reliques of Saints carried for Ensigns of War 216 Remistang hanged 94 Remond Count of Tolouse 224 Renauld de Dampmartin 259 Renauld Earl of Boulogne suspected of Intelligence with the English refuses to obey the King 266 Reputation of Isemburge of Denmark by King Philip Augustus 257 Of Havoise of Glocester by King John without Land 261 Retreat of many great Persons into the Monasteries 112 Revolt of Verdun 15 Of Auvergne against their King Thierry 22 Revolt of the Saxons chastised 46 Revolt of the Visigoths in Septimania 65 Revolt of the Turingians the Frisons the Saxons and the Almans who shook off the Yoak of the French 71 The same the Aquitanians and the Gascons ib. Revolt of the Frisons 72 Revolt of Aquitaine 95 Of the Saxons 98 Revolt of the Gascons chastised 107 Of the Duke of Benevent 108 Revolt of Panonia inferior 123 Revolt in Aquitaine 158 Revolt of the Neustrians against their King 177 Of the Normans against their young Duke Richard 178 Revolt in Lombardy 186 Revolt of a Son against his Father 227 Revolt and rising of the Flemings against their Count. 299 Revolt of the Romans against Pope Eugenius 244 Revolt of the Marseillois against the Earl of Provence attended with a long War 300 Revolt and general conspiracy of all Sicilia against the French 319 Reims otherwhile Metropolis of Liege Church of the Twelfth Age. Richard Duke of Normandy 178 Taken away by King Lewis the Transmarine is industriously saved both he and his Dutchess 178 Richard Duke of Normandy in War with the Earl of Chartres 187 Richard without Fear Duke of Normandy his death 204 Richard I. Duke of Normandy his death 208 Richard II. called the Good Duke of Normandy his death 212 Richard III. Duke of Normandy 212 His death 213 Richard Duke of Aquitaine betrothed to Alix of France 250 Richard Duke of Aquitaine takes Arms against the King of England his Father ib. Richard Earl of Poitou refuses his Homage to the King for his County of Poitou 254 Richard Earl of Poitou He quarrels for the County of Tolose and strives to invade it by force of Arms. 255 Falls out with the King of England his Father ib. Richard King of England before Earl of Poitou 256 He accompanies the King of France in his Expedition to the Holy Land ib. Great mis-understanding happens betwixt these two Princes ib. His admirable progress in his Voyage 257 Quits the Holy Land to return to his own Kingdom and is taken Prisoner in Germany ib. Had great Wars with the French 258 His death 259 Richard Brother of Henry King of England lands at Bourdeaux with a potent Army 296 Richard pretended King of the Romans 309 His death 315 Richilda Wife of Charles the Bald is Crowned by the Pope 145 Richilda Countess of Flanders 221 Robert the Strong or the Valiant the Stock of the Capetine Race 140 His death his Children 142 Robert elected and Crowned King of France to the prejudice of Charles the Simple 165 His death ib. Robert Earl of Troyes and of Chaalons 184 Robert I. Duke of Burgundy Chief of the first Race of the Dukes of Burgundy 214 His death 215 Robert called the Frison Earl of Flanders his death 221 Robert King of France 202 He Marries Lutgarde for his first Wife and for his second Bertha Sister of Rodolph the idle King of Burgundy 202 209 Excommunicated by the Pope because of his second Marriage 209 Recovers by the Sword the Dutchy of Burgundy which Otho-Guilliame had usurped ib. Marries for his third Wife Constance Blanche 210 Addicts himself wholly to works of Piety ib. Causes his Son Hugh to be Crown'd 211 Re-joyns the County of Sens to his Domaine ib. Admirable patience 212 Act of Bounty or Goodness more then Royal. ib. He refuses the Kingdom of Italy for his Son ib. Causes his Son Henry to be Crowned after the death of his Son Hugh ib. Institutes by his Authority a Bishop at Langres 213 His death and his Children ib. Robert becomes Duke of Normandy by a fratricide 212 Assists King Henry against his Enemies 215 Constrains the Bretons to do him Homage ib. His death ib. Robert Guischard a Normand Conquers Calabria 218 Robert called of Jerusalem Earl of Flanders 222 Robert Duke of Normandy ib. One of the Chiefs of the first Croisade 224 At his return from the Holy Land he demands the Kingdom of England of Henry his Brother who had seized it during his absence his death 227 Robert Earl of Flanders his death 235 Robert Earl of Auvergne tyrannizes the Bishop of Clairmont is reduced to reason by the King 238 Robert Son of King Lewis the Gross chief of the House of Dreux 241 Robert Earl of Dreux 299 Robert Earl of Glocester 243 Robert Earl of Artois chief of the Branch of that name 297 Accompanies King Lewis in his Voyage to the Holy Land 304 His death 305 Robert II. Earl of Flanders 312 Robert Earl of Clairmont in Beauvaisis Original of the Branch of Bourbon 313 Robert Earl of Artois 315 Commands an Army for the King in Navarre 318 Robert Earl of Artois makes War in Flanders 327 Robert Earl of Flanders 335 Robert de Bethune Earl of Flanders breaks the Truce 348 Rochefort Guy makes War upon his King 234 Rochel taken from the English 296 Rodolph or Ralph King of Burgundy Transjurane and Arles his death 214 Rodolf his Election to the Empire confirm'd 316 Rodolf Rufus elected Emperor Rodolfe Emperor his death 324 Roger Duke of the Normands of Italy passes from thence into Sicilia against the Saracens and makes himself Master of all the Island 221 Roger Earl of Foix. 315 Roger Duke of Pouille or Puglia Crossed by the Pope who makes War upon him 239 The first King of Sicilia 241 Roger I. King of Sicilia his death 246 Roger de Lauria a famous Captain 331 Roger de Mortimer 352 Roger Earl of Alby favours the Albigensis 278 Rollo Rol or Rodolf Chief of the Normands makes himself Master of part of Lyonnois 164 First Duke of Normandy his Conversion to Christianity and his Marriage ib. His death ib. Romain Cardinal Legat Favourite of Queen Blaâ—ch of Castille 140 Rome rebelleth against the Pope 272 Rotrou du Perche 224 Rousselin his Heresies 276 Routiers a sort of Soldiers 248 Routiers Bandits and Robbers favour the Hereticks 249 S. Sacramentaries Hereticks
of Bretagne though promised in Marriage to the Arch-Duke Maximilian she afterwards espouses the King of France 515 Anne Queen of France Wife of Lewis XII her death 554 Anne of Bolen Marries the King of England Henry VIII 591 Beheaded 605 d'Annebaut Mareschal of France 607 d'Annebaut Admiral goes to seek out the English upon their own Coasts 619 Anthony Duke of Brabant 420 Anthony Duke of Lorraine his death and his Children 618 Anthony de Bourbon King of Navarre 642 d'Aramon Ambassador of France to the Great Solyman Sultan of the Turks 629 Archambaud de Grailli Captal de Buch gets into possession of the County of Foix by the Sword 418 d'Armagnac the Count shamefully treated by the Count de Foix. 394 Passes into Lombardy against the Vicount John Galeas 413 Renders himself absolute in the Government of the Kingdom 433 Is held Prisoner at Paris 435 Those of his Faction pillaged and ill treated is restored to his Goods and Offices 494 His death ib. c. d'Armagnac James Duke of Nemours Beheaded 500 d'Armagnac the Bastard 484 Arming a dreadful Navy prepared against England without Success 409 Army Naval against the English 619 Arnaud de Corbie Connestable 428 d'Arras the Cardinal Commands the Kings Army 495 d'Ars Lewis a brave Soldier 541 Artewelle James dextrous undertaking and politick 362 His unhappy end 365 Assembly of the Clergy upon the complaint of the Kings Judges 358 Another at Paris for the defence of Pope John XXII 359 Assembly of the Estates general of France 379 Assembly of the Notables at Paris 428 Assembly of the Notables at Orleans 434 Assembly of the Grandees of the Kingdom at Tours 483 Assembly of the Estates general at Tours against Monsieur the Kings only Brother and against the Duke of Bretagne 489 Assembly of the three Estates upon the Subject of the deliverance of the Children of France Prisoners in Spain 587 Assembly of Ausburgh 593 Avarice of the Captains and Chief Commanders of the Army 's 565 d'Auberticourt Captain Ravages Picardy 379 d'Aubigni 518 c. Commands the Army of King Lewis XII in the Conquest of the Kingdom of Navarre 536 Avignon rendred to the Pope 367 d'Aumale Duke commanded to punish the Seditious in Guienne 627 Austria Erected to an Arch-Dutchy 513 B BAjazeth defeates the Christians in Hungary 417 Is himself defeated and taken Prisoner by Tamberland ib. c. John Baillet Treasurer of France Massacred 377 Balue the Cardinal Legate in France insolent arrogance 491 Betrayes King Lewis XI ib. Is held Prisoner Banquiers and Datary of the Court of Rome great abuses 629 Bar de Philip goes into Hungary against the Turks 418 His death 433 Barbazan a great Captain 453 Barbarossa falls upon the Island of Corfu and destroys the open Country 606 Comes upon the Coasts of Provence 615 Battle famous of Mont-castle in Flanders 358 Battle of Caen. 366 371 Battle of Poitiers between the French and the English glorious to the latter 374 Battle of Brignais 381 Battle of Azincourt 432 Battle of Varnes in Hungary 460 Battle of Fourmigni 463 Battle of Montleherry betwixt King Lewis XI and the Count de Charolois 485 Battle of Granson between the Burgundians and the Swiss 499 Battle of Montguion in Burgundy 501 Battle of Fornoue 522 Battle of Seminare in Calabria between the French and the Spaniards 538 Battle of Aignadel 545 Battle of Orange in Bretagne 513 Battle of Cerignoles in Puglia between the French and the Spaniards 538 Battle of Ravenna 550 Battle of Novarre 553 Battle of Guinegaste ib. Battle of Saint Quintins otherwise of Saint Laurence fatal to France 647 Battle of Mulberg where the Protestant Princes of Germany were vanquished 625 Battle of Cerizolles to the advantage of the French 616 Battle of Marcian to the disadvantage of the French 639 Bavaria Lewis Emperour treats the Pope ill his ill Conduct 359 Robert of Bavaria and Count Palatine is elected Palatine 418 Beauvais Besieged by the Duke of Burgundy and generously defended by the Women as well as by the Men. 494 Belgrade gained by the Turks 572 Bennet XII Pope 361 His Death 364 Bennet XIII Pope of Avignon 424 His Death 432 Betford or Bedford Duke Regent of the Kingdom of France 440 Blois Charles de vanquished in the Battle of Auvray loses the Day the Dutchy and his Life 385 Boniface IX elected Pope of Avignon 414 Caesar Borgia Duke of Valentinois Marries Charlote d'Albret 533 His unhappy End 541 Bourbon James Earl de la Marche 381 Bourgogne Dutchy united inseparably to the Crown ib. The said re-union annulled in favour of Philip the Hardy to whom the said Dutchy was given 382 The E. of Buckingham Lands at Calais with a Potent Army and Marches into Bretagne 402 John II. Duke of Bretagne without Children provides for the Preservation of the Dutchy 361 Bretagne in great Trouble after the Death of Duke John II. 363 c. Subjected to the Obedience of the King 392 In Troubles 511 United to the Crown 594 Bretons disjoyn from the French and recall their Duke refugiated in England 397 Contend with each other about the Marriage of their Princess Anne 514 Brunswick Duke Henry elected Emperour 418 Bull of Pope Julius exposing the Kingdom of Navarre as a Prey to the first Occupier 544 Bull Golden Bull. 373 Bureau de la Riuiere favorite of Charles VI. Bures Governor for the King beyond the Alpes 572 Bussy d'Amboise slain in the Battle of Marignan 559 C CAen the Castle taken and retaken in one Night 373 Calais besieged in vain upon the English 456 Calvin his Birth and the establishment of his Sect. 597 Cambray taken by Intelligence with the Emperour 551 Captains and Generals of Armies The Checks they receive is many times caused by the malice of those who are of the King's Councils 450 Cardinals in great Numbers in France 625 Cartels or Challenges of Defiance between the Kings of England and France to the Emperour 588 Castille falls under the Dominion of Philip Archduke of Austria 542 Chairadin Barbarossa ravages the Coasts of Naples and Sicilia 600 Is beaten by Sea and Land by the Emperour Charles V. ib. Charles of Bohemia elected Emperour 367 Charles King of Navarre being discontented retires from Court 372 Charles IV. Emperour Crowned in Rome 373 Charles V. Surnamed the Wise King of France 384 Makes a memorable Ordonance for the Majority of Kings at Fourteen years 393 His Death and his Elogy 398 His Wife and his Children 399 Charles the Wicked King of Navarre his unhappy end 410 Charles the Noble King of Navarre ib. Charles VI. King of France 400 His Death 441 Charles VII King of France his Coronation 447 A strange Accident which hapned to him ibid. His Death and his Children 467 468. Charles VIII King of France his Marriage with Margaret of Burgundy 504 Declared Major at Fourteen years his Coronation 508 His Triumphant Entry into Rome 520 His Death 525 Of Saint Charlemaine 529 Charles the Fifth formerly Charles
Armies beyond the Alpes his noble Exploits and glorious Death 550 Francis I. King of France heretofore Duke of Valois 556 Seeks the Alliance and Amity of his Neighbour Princes 527 Passes the Mountains for recovering the Milanois his happy Progress 558 c. Renews the Alliance with Charles of Austria 562 Birth of a Daufin ib. Renews the Alliance also with the English 563 Aspires to the Empire after the Death of Maximilian ib. Is hurt with Jeasting and Sporting 566 Sends an Army into Italy 569 Spaniards enter upon Guienne the English into Picardy 572 575 Drives the Imperialists out of Provence pursues them into Italy and lays Siege to Pavia 578 Is made Prisoner of War before Pavia and transferr'd to Spain 579 Is set at Liberty 582 Unites Bretagne to the Crown 594 Makes an Alliance with Solyman against the Emperour and the Venetians 606 Gives passage thorow France to the Emperour Charles V. to go into Flanders and does him all the Honour imaginable 608 Demands reparation of him for the Murther of two of his Ambassadors declares War against him and does attaque him in five several places 612 Carries his greatest Forces towards the Low-Countries and makes a considerable Progress there 614 Attaques the English in his own Country 619 Joyns in league with the Protestant Princes of Germany 620 His Death his Elogie his Wives and his Children 620 621 G GAbelle taken off from Guienne 640 Galeas John his Death 518 Gaunt Revolt and rising the Gantois 465 Gaston Phebus Earl of Foix makes the King his Heir 373 His Death 413 Gaucourt Lewis Prisoner of War 448 Governor of Daufiné beats the Duke of Savoy and the Prince of Savoy 452 Gentdarmerie reduced all into Companies d'Ordonance 457 Genoa puts its self under the Obedience of the King of France 416 Falls under the Dominion of Fregosa 460 Revolts against the King of France who brings them to reason 543 Is surprized by the Italians 572 Brought again to obey the King 587 Restored to Liberty 590 Geneva Revolt drives out their Bishop and changes their Government and Religion 599 Besieged in vain by the Duke of Savoy ib. Genoese relieved by the French against the Barbarians of Tunis 412 Revolt against France 551 Restored to obedience of the King 552 Gentlemen Pensioners of the King 501 Gonsalvo Ferdinand Great Captain 523 Federic de Gonzague first Duke of Mantoua 580 Ferdinand de Gonzague Governor of Milan 623 Gravelle Chancellour of the Empire 600 Gregory XI Pope restored to the See of Rome 394 His Death 396 Gregory XII Pope of Rome 422 Grignan Governor of Provence 618 The M. du Guast Governor of the Milanese for the Emperour 604 Defeated in Battle makes his Escape to Milan 616 Causes two Ambassadors of France to be killed 612 Guerin Kings Attorney in the Parliament of Provence 629 Gueschin Bertrand defeats the Navarrois 384 Made Prisoner in the Battle of Auroy 385 Brings from Spain the Bastard Henry de Castille against King Peter the Cruel his Brother 387 After is vanquish'd and taken Prisoner ibid. Is recalled from Spain by K. Charles 390 Is made Connestable of France his happy Progress 391 Secures all Bretagne for the King of France 392 His Death 397 c. Guienne is all regained by the French from the English 463 Gueldres Adolf Chief of the Gantois Forces 500 501 Guise the Duke Commands the King's Army in Italy 643 c. Guise Claude Duke at the Battle of Marignan 558 The C. de Guise Governor of Champagne repels the Germans 575 The D. of Guise refreshes with Men and Ammunition the City of Peronne 604 de Gyac 437 Beheaded 450 H. HAbits and their Reformation 386 Hangest de Hugueville 427 Harcourt Geffrey calls the English into Normandy 374 Harcourt Lewis Count Beheaded ib. Harfleur taken by Assault and Sacked by the English 418 Henry of Castille rises against King Henry his Brother to his Confusion 386 Denies his Brother in his turn and seizes on the Crown 387 Defeated again in Battle retires into France ib. He returns into Spain and remains King of Castille by the Death of his Brother 388 Henry of Castille defeats the English in a Sea Fight 391 Henry IV. King of England his Death 431 Henry V. King of England he Besieges and takes Rouen and Masters all Normandy 435 c. Marries Catherine of France 439 His Entry and his Coronation in Paris 440. ib. His Death ib. Henry VI. is Proclaimed and Crowned King of France 454 Marries the Daughter of Renee of Anjou 459 Causes Humphrey Earl of Glocester to be put to Death 460 Is vanquish'd by the Duke of York saves himself in Scotland 467 Is set at Liberty 492 Henry VII King of England His Death 547 Henry VIII King of England sees King Francis I. and they make a League betwixt them 594 Causes his Marriage with Catherine of Arragon to be dissolved and Espouses Anne of Boulen 595 Withdraws himself wholly from the obedience of the Pope and declares himself Head of the Church of England 596 Sollicites the French in vain to break with the Pope 597 His Cruelties draw the hatred of his Subjects upon him 611 Henry II. King of France 622 Seeks the Preservation of the Alliance with the Turks 625 Visits the Provinces of his Kingdom 626 Rupture between his Majesty and Pope Julius III. 630 c. Sollicites Solyman to break the Truce in Hungary ib. Quarrels openly with the Emperor 631 Makes a League with the Princes of Germany 632 Makes divers Edicts to procure and raise Money even on the Churches 632 Seizes upon Lorrain and gets the Cities of Mets Toul and Verdun ib. Takes divers places in Luxemburgh 633 Design against Naples miscarries 634 Great arming to small purpose 636 Ravages Brabant Hainault Cambresis the Country of Namur and Artois 638 Makes Peace with the Spaniard 651 Pursues the Religionaries most curelly 653 His Death and his Children 654 Heresies which appeared during the Fourteenth Age. 445 And infected France in the Fifteenth 527 Hesdin forced demolished and razed by the Imperialists 637 Hesse Landgrave takes the quarrel of the Dukes of Wittemburgh Hungary attaqued and desolated by the Turks 597 Humbert Daufin of Viennois makes a Donation of his Seignory of Daufiné to the King of France 369 Humieres Governor for the King beyond the Mountains 606 John Huss burnt alive 435 I JAcqueline Countess of Hainault Holland Zealand and Frizeland is carried away by the English 440 La Jacquerie 378 La Jaille beaten in Artois 642 Jane Queen of Sicily causes her Husband to be Strangled 368 Jane of Burgundy Queen of France her Death 369 Jane or Joan Queen of Naples dethroned by Charles de Duraz. 404 Her Death ibid. Jane or Joan II. Queen of Naples 431 Jane or Joan the Pucelle Chaces the English from before Orleans 451 Carries the King to Reims to be Crowned 451 Her other Exploits 452 c. She is taken Prisoner of War at the Siege of Compiegne by the English her Death
453 Her Memory justified 466 Jane Queen of Naples her death 448. 454 Jane Queen of France takes upon her the sacred Vail in a Convent 534 Jane of Castille loses her Wits 642 Jane Queen of Spain her Death 642 Indies West by whom discovered 516 517 John I. King of France 371 Defeated and vanquish'd in Battle and taken Prisoner by the English near Poitiers 374 Makes Peace with the English and is set at Liberty 380 Repasses into England 382 His Death his Wives and his Children 383 John XXII Pope degraded and another substituted in his place 359 His Death 361 John King of Arragon in War with the Castillian 482 John d'Albret King of Navarre deprived of his Kingdom by the Arragonians 551 Innocent VI. Pope 372 Innocent VII Pope of Rome 420 his Death 422 Innocent VIII Pope favours Reneé Duke of Lorrain against Ferdinand King of Naples 514 Inquisition cause of great Troubles in the Kingdom of Naples 625. Interim granted to the Protestants of Germany 610 Investiture granted to King Lewis XII of the Milanois by the Emperour 541 Investiture of the Kingdom of Naples given by the Pope to Ferdinand of Arragon 547 Isabella de Valois Dutchess Widdow of Bourbon made Prisoner by the English 389 Isabella of Bavaria Queen of France claims the Regency 435 c. Her death 456 Isabella of Bavaria Wife of King Charles VI. the too strict Union of this Princess with the Duke of Orleans gives a Scandal 421 Held Prisoner and afterwards gotten away by the Duke of Burgundy 435 Isabella Queen of Arragon her Death 542 Iscalin Paulin afterwards called the Baron de la Garde goes on behalf of the King to Solyman at Constantinople 612 Italy divided into two Factions for the Pope and for the Duke of Milan 629 Jubilé Centenary celebrated 536 Julius Pope 541 Recovers Bolognia upon John Bentivoglio 543 Enemy of France 547 He Leagues and Arms against the Venetians 545 Reconciled with them 546 Quarrels with the Duke of Ferrara about some Salt-Pits 547 Sollicites the Swiss and the King of England against France ib. Besieges the City of Miranda in Person 548 His Death 552 Julius III. Pope 628 Leagues with the Emperour against the Duke of Parma and the Count de la Miranda 629 Breaks with the King of France 630 c. Juliers the Duke kill'd in a Battle 389 Juvenal John Chancellor 430 K KNoles an English Captain 379 L LAdislas seizes upon Rome and the Lands of the Church 425 Ladislas the Young King of Hungary 460 Landgrave of Hesse Prisoner 624 Languedoc the Government of it given to the Lord de Chevreuse 416 Lanoy 583 Vice-Roy of Naples 584 Laon the Cardinal de Laon his Death 411 Lautrec bravely defends Bayonne 575 General of the Armies of the League in Italy his Exploits 587 c. Governor of the Milanois his Death 590 Lancaster Duke Lands at Calais with an English Army traverses and runs thorow all France without doing any considerable Exploit 387 Lands at Calais and over-runs the Country of Caux 388 Enters France in Arms. 427 Passes into Spain and Conquers a part of Castille 408 League of the King with the Venetians the Florentines and Sforsa for the deliverance of the Pope and the Children of France that were Prisoners 420 League of the Princes against the House of Burgundy 426 League the first the Kings had with the Swisse 501 League and rising of the Spaniards called the Santa Junta 565 League Holy League in England to prevent a Schism League offensive and defensive between the Pope the King of France and the Holy See 605 Leon King of Armenia flying from the cruelty of the Turks takes refuge in France 408 Leo X. Pope 552 His Death 552 D Leve Anthony General for the Emperour in Piedmont 602 Liege in great Troubles about the Election and Establishment of a Bishop 424 Taken by Storm sacked and burnt by the Duke of Burgundy 490 Implacable hatred of the Liegois against the House of Burgundy 424 Limoges taken by Storm by the English 392 Loire the River Loire frozen in the Month of June 484 Lorain Charles Cardinal raises himself and his House very much 629 c. Longueville Duke Prisoner in England 554 Lewis or Lovis of Bavaria Emperour Excommunicated by the Pope degraded from the Empire his Death 367 Lowis the Great King of Hungary Revenges the Death of the King of Sicilia his Brother 368 Lovis Duke of Anjou seizes on the Regency after the Death of Charles V. c. 400 His Death 408 Louis Duke of Orleance Brother of King Charles VI. 412 Is assassinated by order of the Duke of Burgundy 423 The Dutchess his Wife comes from Blois to Paris to complain to the King 424 c. Louis II. Duke of Anjou invested with the Kingdom of Naples 426 Louis of Anjou King of Sicily 430 Louis of Anjou King of Naples 454 His Death ib. Louis XI King of France his return from Flanders and his Coronation at Reims 481 Ill Conduct in the beginning of his Reign 482 His Death his Elogy his Wives and his Children 505 506. Louis King of Hungary vanquished by the Turks 584 Louis or Lewis XII King of France heretofore Lewis Duke of Orleance 532 His Marriage with Jane Daughter of Lewis XI declared null 534 Makes Peace and Alliance by Marriage with the King of England His Death 554 Louysa of Savoy Mother of King Francis I. Regent of the Kingdom during the Voyage of her Son into Italy 580 c. Her Death 594 Luther and of his Defection and going out of the Church the Birth of Lutheranisme 562 Lutheranisme introduced in Sweden in Denmark and Norway 606 Lutherans sought after in France 575 Punished ib. Called Protestants 562 Louret President of Provence 449 Luxury breeds from Desolation 374 M Perrin MAcé 377 Island of Madera's discover'd 439 Mahomet takes the City of Constantinople by force 465 His Death 503 Majority of the Eldest Sons of France Memorable Ordonance 393 c. Mantoua from a Marquisate erected to a Dutchy 592 Marcellus II. Pope 642 Mareschals of France 623 Margaret of Burgundy marries the Daufin of France 504 Margaret of Scotland Queen of France Her Death 506 Margaret of Austria Wife of Charles VIII is sent back into Germany to Maximilian her Father 516 Margaret Sister of King Francis I. passes into Spain 581 Marriage of Charles VI. with Isabella of Bavaria and of John of Burgundy with Margaret of Bavaria 408 Marriage of the Daufin of France with the Daughter of the Duke of Burgundy and the eldest Son of the Burgundian with Michel of France 421 Marriage of Catherine of France with the King of England 439 Marriage of Margarite of Anjou with the King of England 459 Marriage of King Lewis XII with Mary Sister of the King of England 544 Marriage of Philip of Spain with Isabella of France 654 Of the Duke of Savoy with Margaret Sister of King Henry II. 653 Mary Queen of England her Death 651 Mary Queen
of France Wife of Lewis XII 554 Takes the Duke of Suffolk for her second Husband 568 Mary Queen Widdow of Hungary Governess of the Low-Countries 601 Mary Princess of Scotland 613 Mary Queen of Scots great Troubles in Scotland for her concern 618 Brought into France 624 Mary Queen of England declares War against France 646 William de la Mark called the Wildboard of Ardenne Beheaded 504 Marseilles Besieged by the Imperialists without Success 577 Martin V. Pope transfers the Council of Siena to Basil 448 Prince Maurice 631 Maximilian Emperour Besieges Terouene 502 Maximilian is Elected and Crowned King of the Romans 510 His Death 563 Maximilian King of Bohemia in contest with Charles V. his Uncle 638 Meaux Besieged and taken by the English 440 Medicis Peter chaced and banished from Florence 520 Medicis Laurence invested in the Dutchy of Vrbin 561 The Medicis restablished in Florence 591 Laurence de Medicis Assassinates and kills the Duke of Florence his unhappy end 606 Cosmo de Medicis Duke of Florence ib. Declares himself against the French and against Siena 640 Melfe the Prince of Melfe or Malsy 616 Mercier Sieur de Novain Favorite of King Charles VI. 411 Milan conquer'd by King Lewis XII and by the Venetians 534 The investiture granted to Lewis XII by the Emperour 542 Abandoned by the French 550 c. Regained by the French and as soon lost for them 552 Falls under the Dominion of the Emperour 578 Mines the way to fill them with Powder to blow up a Wall 539 Pic Mirandulus his Death 520 Moncado Vice-roy of Sicilia slain in Fight 589 Moncins Governor of Guyenne Massacred by the Bourdelois 627 John de Montaigu Favorite of Charles VI. 411 Montargis surprized by the English 453 Montecuculi drawn by four Horses for Poisoning the Daufin 603 John de Montfort remains sole Duke of Bretagne by the death of Charles de Blois 385 Defeats in Battle Charles de Blois abandons Bretagne and retires to England 367 Returns into Bretagne 393 Montmorency a Town not inconsiderable burnt 379 Montpelliers Mutinies of the People because of the Imposts 397 John de Montaigue Surintendant punished with Death 425 Montpensier the Duke made a Prisoner of War 647 Moscovy 502 Muley-Assan King of Tunis dispoiled of his Kingdom by his Son who puts out his Eyes 456 Mutinies and Popular Commotions because of the Imposts and excessive Subsidies 402 403 c. N NAples Kingdom conquer'd by the French and soon after retaken from them 521 Strange Revolution against the French who are driven out of that Kingdom 538 C. of Nassau Prisoner of War 512 The C. of Nassau Ambassador in France 557 Enters into Champagne and Besieges Mouson 567 Makes an irruption upon Picardy Louis of Navarre 603 Navarre Usurped by Ferdinand of Arragon 551 Reconquer'd by the French but soon lost again 565 The D. of Nemours General of the Army for the King in the Kingdom of Naples 537 Slain in the Battle of Cerignoles 538 I. Earl of Nevers goes to the Assistance of the King of Hungary against the Turks 417 Nice Besieged in vain by Barbarossa 615 Nicholas I. Antipope 359 Nicholas the Pope is owned in France 461 The Duke of Normandy Commands a very Potent Army with small Success 365 Normandy over-run and ravaged by the English 374 United inseparably to the Crown 381 Falls under the Power of the English 437 Is wholly regained from the English 463 Is put under the Power of a new Duke 487 Brought to the Obedience of the King 488 O OBservance strickt of the Order of Saint Francis 443 Officers maintain'd in their Offices 489 The mutation of Officers a Cause of great trouble ib. Oliver de Blois attempts upon the Person of the Duke of Bretagne 436 He and his Brothers Condemned to Death 437 Oliver Francis Chancellour of France 623 Orange Prince 510 Orange Prince Prisoner of War 513 Is made Lieutenant for the King in Bretagne ib. General of an Army without Power 586 Order of the Star Instituted or rather renewed abandoned to the Chevalier du Guet 372 Order of the Garter Instituted 371 Order of the Collar its Institution 408 Order of Saint Maurice Instituted 526 Orleans Besieged by the English succour'd and deliver'd by the Pucelle Joane 450 Orleans Charles Duke set at Liberty 458 Orleans John Bastard Earl of Dunois and great Chamberlain his Death 492 Orleans Charles Duke his death 483 Orleans Louis Duke Espouses the Princess Jane of France 503 Orleans Louis Duke Chief of the Council 508 Makes a League and a new Party against the State with the Duke of Bourbon and others 510 Absents far from Court retires into Bretagne forms a new Party against the Government and raises Forces ib. Is made Prisoner of War 513 Commands the French Ships in Italy 519 c. Duke of Orleans second Son of France Commands an Army in Luxemburg his Exploits 612 c. His Death 619 Regal Ornaments 441 Ottranto taken by Assault by the Turks 503 Retaken by the Christians ib. P PAlavicini Manf. 569 De la Palisse Mareschal of France 567 His Death 579 Ambrose Paré Chyrurgeon 619 Paris enlarged and fortified 375 Is oppressed and suffers strangely during the Contest and War between the Houses of Orleans and of Burgundy 426 c. Reduced to obedience of King Charles VII 464 Blocked up by the Princes 486 In great Astonishment 604 Parisians Enterprize upon the City of Meaux to their Confusion 378 Stick to the King of Navarre ib. Divided into Factions Insolence insupportable 377 c. Mutiny because of Imposts take up Arms Arm themselves with Iron Mallets for that reason named Mallotins 403. c. Chastized severely 406 Arm and range themselves under Colonels and Captains 488 Parliaments of Bourdeaux and Burgundy their Institution 506 Parliament of Paris made Semestre 640 Parliament of Bretagne Established ib. Parma Subject of a War between the Pope and the King of France 629 630 c. Pavia Besieged by the King of France 577 c. Taken by Assault and Sacked by the French 585 Paul III. Pope 597 Mediator of a Peace between the Emperour and the King and confers with them 607 608 His Death 628 Paul IV. Pope 642 Makes a League offensive and defensive with the King against the Spaniard 644 Strips the Caraffes his Nephews of all their Offices and chaces them out of Rome 653 Paulin a brave Captain 618 Pembrook E. Lands in Bretagne over-runs Anjou and Poitou 388 Vanquish'd in a Naval Fight by the Spaniards and taken Prisoner 391 The C. de Perigord Archambauld Talegrand Condemned to Death 418 Perpignan surprized by the Spaniard or King of Arragon Philip de Valois King of France 357 Sends to the Navarrins their lawful King and Queen 358 The English declare War against him 361 His advantage over his Enemy 362 Makes a Truce with Edward ib. Becomes hated of the Nobility 365 Is Defeated 366 His Death 370 Philip King of Navarre his Death 365 Philip of Navarre calls the
of Soissons and Paris in Neustria CHILDEBERT II. called the Young aged Five years in Austrasia Year of our Lord 575 The death of Sigebert was followed with a suddain and general Revolution the Austrasians raised the Siege of Tournay and having joyned with those who were at Vitry they retired in confusion the Neustrians returned to the Obedience of Chilperic and Brunehaud found her self surrounded and cooped up in Paris where she then was with her Children and knew not how to get thence But the wisdom of the Duke Gombaud the greatest Lord of Austrasia found out a way to save the Pupil Childebert having let him down over the Walls in a Basket and put him into the hands of a faithful Person who himself carried him into the City of Mets. Already some of the Austrasians had made their Composition with Chilperic but the rest being assembled together in great numbers according to their custom set the young Prince upon the Royal Seat on New-years-day and put him under the protection of Gontran so that Chilperic lost his hopes of invading that Kingdom but he seized upon that of Paris and banished Brunehaud to Rouen and her two Daughters to Meaux Year of our Lord 576 He had sent Meroveus his eldest Son by Queen Audovere to seize upon Poitou which belonged to the Kingdom of Childebert Meroveus instead of putting this design in execution went to Tours and from thence to Rouen where he suffered himself to be so much surprized with the charms of Brunehaud as then aged at least 28 years that he Married her Pretextat Bishop of Rouen God-father to the young Prince making the Marriage The Father hastens thither and having by deceitful words drawn those so newly Wedded out of a Church where they had taken shelter he set a Guard upon Brunehaud and carried his Son away with him Mean time the Austrasian Lords who were come to submit to him returned again to Childebert Godin amongst others who to carry somewhat with him that might bid him welcom armed the Champanois and made himself Master of Soissons where he wanted but little of surprizing Fredegonda Chilperic was quickly there vanquishes him and re-takes the Town but Fredegonda believing that Godin had not undertaken so bold an enterprize without the participation of Meroveus and Brunehaud obliged her Husband to confine that young Prince and a while after to force him to turn Priest and send him to the Monastery of Aunisse which is called now St. Calas the name of its first Abbot The Austrasians demand their Queen Brunehaud with so much earnestness that Year of our Lord 576 he sent her to them and yet he could not forbear to invade the Lands of Childebert His Son Clovis took the Town of Saintes but the Duke Didier going to besiege that of Limoges met in his way the Patrician Mummole whom Gontran sent to Year of our Lord 577 defend the Country belonging to his Pupil the Fight was so obstinate that there were slain Thirty thousand on both sides three parts of them were Didier's who saved himself with much ado About the same time Meroveus escaped from the Monastery and secured himself in the Church called St. Martins of Tours prompted thereto by Gailen his most intimate Confident who was come to visit him and drawn by Gontran-Boson who had sheltred himself in that place as we have related The Step-Mother Ferdegonda favoured this Boson for the same reason that Chilperic would put him to death and maintained a private Commerce with him that he might destroy Meroveus as he had made his Brother Theodebert to perish The young Prince having notice that Fredegonda sought by all means to take away his life did not find himself there in security He goes out from thence accompanied with this Boson whose treachery he knew not of and would go to find out Brunehaud but the Austrasians refused to admit him he remained then some time concealed and a Vagabond in Champagne After which this Boson and Giles Bishop of Rheims upon the pretence of delivering up the City of Teroüenne to him made him fall into their Ambuscades surrounding and taking him Prisoner in a Village of which they gave immediate notice to Chilperic he went thither with Year of our Lord 577 all diligence but found that his unfortunate Son was dead he had been Poynarded by the order of Fredegonda who made him believe that apprehending he should be put to tortures he had borrowed the helping hand of Gailen his favourite to dispatch him A while before the Bishop Pretextat his Godfather was accused before the Bishops assembled in Councel at Paris where no proofs appearing strong enough against him touching what was alledged he suffers himself to be induced by two false Brothers upon an assurance the King would pardon him to confess more than they could desire for which he was banished to an Island near Coustances but with hopes of returning because he pretended he had not been degraded though they had placed Melantius in his See Death having snatched away the two Sons which Gontran had by Austrigilda his second Wife although he were not above the age of getting Children not being above Fifty he desired the Austrasians to bring his Nephew Childebert to him and Adopted him having placed him in his Royal Seat These two Princes being thus allied sent to Chilperic to demand their part of the Kingdom of Paris and declared War against him Chilperic did but scoff at them diverting himself in building of Cirques or places for publick Spectacles at Paris and at Soissons where he would have entertained the People with Chariot-races could he have found Charioteers that had skill enough The Bretons about the year 441. had possessed themselves of Vannes afterwards Year of our Lord 578 Clovis had taken that place again and likewise the Cities of Nants and Rennes at that time governed by Roman Captains This year 578. Waroc or Guerec a Count of Bretagne had the boldness to seize again upon Vannes which appertained to the Kingdom of Chilperic and march up to the French who were encamped on the Banks of the River Vilain They had some Companies of Saxons or Sesnes-Bessins in their Army one night he passes the River and beat up their Quarter but three days afterwards finding himself too weak for so potent an Enemy he desires Peace swore fealty to the King and renders up the City of Vannes upon condition he should remain Governor A short while after he again seizes it and so long as he lived put the French to a great deal of trouble Chilperic and his wicked Wife Fredegonda over-burthened the People with Imposts they had taxed an Amphore of Wine upon every half Acre of Vineyard several other Charges upon things of another kind and a Tribute upon the head of every Slave and indeed a kind of Poll-money for every Freeman insomuch that their Subjects ran away out of the Kingdom as a place of Torment and peopled
that of Gontran and Childebert Wiser in so doing than those of Limousin who having opposed a Referendaire or Lord Chancellor so named in those times who was going to settle the Taxes or Duties in that Country and Year of our Lord 579 having burnt his Registers left themselves exposed to the Sanguinary Avarice of an Intendant or Judge whom Chilperic sent thither to chastise their Sedition Year of our Lord 597 This year Sampson eldest Son of Fredegonda died the following year Chilperic was tormented with a long and continual Fever as he was upon Recovery two Year of our Lord 580 other Sons whom he had by that Woman were afflicted with a Dissentery which was rife all over France and affected Children most generally Fredegonda believed this Sickness of her Children was inflicted by Heaven who thus avenged the Sufferings of the oppressed People she was stricken to the heart and wrought so far upon her Husband by her arguments and intreaties that he threw the Lists of all the Tax-gatherers into the Fire and recalled those that were sent abroad to collect them Year of our Lord 580 But this forced Repentance did not save the life of her two Sons as on the other hand these Afflictions laid upon her only made her the more wicked she was pierced with sorrow for the loss of all her Children and with jealousie that there was one of her Husbands yet alive begotten on Queen Audovere his name was Clavis This Prince seeing himself necessarily the Successor let fall some words of Resentment and Threatning imprudently By this she well foresaw what must become of her if he Reigned and resolved to prevent it she therefore accuses him to his Father for having poysoned her two Sons and pre-possessed him so far with this Calumny that he gave up his only Son to her Vengeance The wicked Woman causes his Throat to be cut and the Body to be cast into the River and afterwards the unfortunate Audovere to be Strangled though she wore the Sacred Vail and her Daughter Basina to be locked up in the Monastery of Poitiers after her Sattelites had deflowred her A Fisherman having found the Body of the young Prince and knowing it to be his by the long Hair buried it under a Monument of Turf from whence King Gontran afterwards transferr'd it to St. Vincents Church in Paris Two years before Chilperic had sent Ambassadors to the Emperor Tiberius to congratulate him as I believe upon his promotion to the Empire and make up some kind of League with him against the Lombards This year they brought him back all imaginable satisfaction and very rich Presents amongst others were Medals of Gold a pound in weight Year of our Lord 581 The Kingdom of Austrasia and Childebert's Person being under the Government of Queen Brunehaud the Lords of the Country despised the Commands of a Woman and lived in excessive Licentiousness Those that gave her the most trouble were Ranchin and Gontran-Boson Vrsion Bertefrey and Giles Bishop of Rheims who associated together and oppressed whom they pleased Loup Duke of Champagne a faithful Servant to his Prince and Master as Wise as Just was insufferable to them because of his good qualities they took up Arms to destroy him and he got his Friends together to defend himself The Queen had all the trouble imaginable to prevent their coming to blows even to the enduring outrageous words from Vrsion but after all she could not so well secure the Duke from their fury but he was forced to quit the Kingdom and take refuge with Gontran Year of our Lord 581 The most dangerous of these Factious Spirits was the Bishop of Rheims as he was secretly engaged and wedded to Chilperic of which he had given testimonies having formerly treacherously delivered up the City of Rheims and drawn Meroveus into the fatal snare he caused his Faction to act so powerfully that the Austrasian Lords to the prejudice of the Alliance their King had made with his Uncle Gontran obliged him to make a League with Chilperic against him The Lure was That Chilperic having at that time no Son promised the Succession to him This League being made Childebert sent to demand the half of Marseilles of his Uncle who very far from restoring it made himself Master of the other by the treachery of Dynamius Governor of Provence for Childebert After this feat Dynamius goes over to Gontran as in revenge the Patrician Mummole pushed at by some intrigues of Court ever satal to great Commanders forsakes Gontran to be of Childebert's side and sortifies himself in the City of Avignon which that King without doubt had put into his hands for his security and that from thence he might make incursions in the Enemies Country The business of Marseilles caused an absolute Rupture betwixt the two Kings Chilperic who desired this presently falls upon Gontran's Countries and the Duke Didier by his order invades Perigord and Agenois without much opposition Another of his Dukes by name Bladastes was not so fortunate against the Gascons Year of our Lord 581 or 82. For having undertaken to seek them out in their own Country to chastise them for the frequent Irruptions they made into the third Acquitaine he was hemm'd in and his Forces cut in pieces The Gascons then inhabited upon the Confines of Cantabria between the Countries of the Visigoths and the French and by their Excursions made themselves formidable both to the one and the other carrying away whatever they could meet withall and afterwards sheltring themselves again on their Mountains There was only Chilperic that made open War upon Gontran but the Patrician Mummole with the secret support of the Lords of Austrasia was contriving a dangerous Design against him There was a certain Person named Gondebaud who pretended to be the Son of King Clotaire and he might well be so considering the multitude of Wives that King had This Gondebaud not having been able to get Year of our Lord 583 his pretended Brothers the Kings to acknowledge him had retired himself to Constantinople Tiberius the Emperor then living It happened that Gontran-Boson made a Voyage into those parts it is not mentioned upon what account and he persuades this Man so much that the French wished for him and that Gontran and Chilperic having no Children he might safely come to the Succession that he resolved to return into France Tiberius having a prospect of what he might possibly attain to one day assisted him with great Sums of Money he comes ashore at Marseilles was received by the Bishop and afterwards Entertained at Avignon Year of our Lord 583 by Mummole But the same Gontran-Boson who had persuaded him to return having set himself now to persecute the Bishop and such as favoured him he wisely withdrew himself into an Island at the mouth of the Rhosne and then the Traitor seized on all his Moneys and took a Commission from King Gontran to besiege Mummole in Avignon Childebert being
Earl of Buckingham and afterwards Duke of Gloucester He had also Four Daughters Isabella who Married the Earl of Bedford Jane who was Wife to the King of Spain Mary that was so to John de Montfort Duke of Bretagne and Margaret to the Earl of Pembrook This great multitude of Children was his strength during his life-time and the ruine of England after his death Year of our Lord 1377 The Wise King had not consented to suspension of Arms but to prepare himself the better Therefore he would hear of no more Propositions and making himself assured of the event o◠the War he began it anew with five Armies He sent one into Artois One into the Countreys of Berry Auvergne Bourbonnois and Lyonnois One into Guyenne One into Bretagne and kept the Fifth near himself as a reserve Year of our Lord 1377 to assist either of the other Four that might stand in need of it They were Commanded by the Dukes of Burgundy of Berry and of Anjou Oliver and the Constable all which behaved themselves so well that the English could not preserve any places of importance but Calais in Belgica Bourdeaux and Bayonne in Guyenne and Cherbourgh in Normandy which was sold to him by the Navarrois Year of our Lord 1378 The eldest Son of that King named Charles as himself was had a great desire to see the King of France his Uncle his Father was just then upon the point of concluding a bargain with the English very disadvantageous to France which was to give them some Lands and Places he held in Normandy and to take the Dutchy of Guyenne in exchange for the defence whereof they were to furnish him every year with Two thousand Men at Arms and as many Archers to be paid by them When his Son therefore went to see his Uncle he would needs take this opportunity to brew some Plot or Conspiracy in France and even to poison the King He had therefore placed about his Son the most crafty and most wicked Men he could pick out amongst others la Rue his Chamberlain and du Tertre his Secretary but was so unadvised withal as to send the Captains of his best places of Normandy His design was discover'd or perhaps prevented the King caused his Son and his Captains to be seized and la Rue and du Tertre to be put into the hands of Justice The Son whatever intercession could be made remained a prisoner Five years the Captains were not set free till the places they belonged to were surrendred to the King du Tertre and la Rue had their Heads cut off At the same time some Forces were sent into Normandy and took all his Holds to the number of Ten or Twelve excepting Cherbourgh which after a long Siege remained still in English hands and immediately dismantled them The Duke of Anjou pressed the English very home likewise in Guyenne The taking of Bergerac and the gaining of a Battle which was fought near the little City of Aymet where almost all the Chiefs and Barons of Gascongne remained prisoners made himself Master of all the Places above the two Rivers the Dordogne and the Garonne Three things weakned the English so much that they had neither the Sence nor Courage nor Forces and Strength to defend themselves One was the Minority of their King aged but Thirteen years the Second a great Plague which depopulated England and the Last the incursions of the Scots who had broken the Truce being incited to it by the King and upon condition of a hundred thousand Gold Florins with the Pay for Five hundred Men at Arms and as many Sergeants Year of our Lord 1377. and 78. The Pope ceased not to exhort the King of France to make Peace and pressed the Emperour Charles to make use of his intercession The Emperour whether out of affection for the Royal House of France or to take measures to secure the Empire to his Son Wenceslaus or for some other subject desired to visit that Court though he were very much tormented with the Gout The King sent two of the most illustrious Earls and two hundred Horse to meet him at Cambray where he kept his Christmass the Duke of Bourbon to Compiegne and two of his Brothers to Senlis himself went beyond the Suburbs of St. Denis to receive him and lodg'd him in his Palace All the time he was in France he entertained him with all the magnificence imaginable paid him all manner of Respects unless such as denote a Sovereignty and which hereafter might give a Title to some imaginary pretences For this reason when they received him into any City they did not ring their Bells nor bring their Canopy of State such as made Speeches did not forget to tell him it was by order of their Sovereign and at his entrance into Paris the King affected to be mounted upon a White Horse and ordered a Black one for the Emperour He came in thither the Fourth day of January and went out thence the Sixteenth returning by the way of Champagne Year of our Lord 1379 During his abode in the Court of France he gratify'd the Dauphin with the Title of Vicar irrevocable of the Empire by Letters Patents Sealed with a Seal of Gold and by others he likewise gave him the same Office for Danphiné with the Castles of Pipet and Chamaux which till then he was possessed of in the City of Vienne Since that we do not read that the Emperours have concerned themselves any more in the ✚ Year of our Lord 1378 Affairs of that Kingdom of Arles nor touching Daupiné which have remained in compleat Sovereignty under the Kings of France who indeed even long before did not acknowledge the Emperour Gregory XI had scarcely been Fourteen Months at Rome when either of Melancholy or otherwise he fell ill of a detention of Urine whereof he died the Seventh of March having declared in his agony that he foresaw grievous troubles and that he did heartily repent his having rather given credit to deceitful Revelations then followed the certain light of true knowledge and good understanding There were in all in the Roman Church three and twenty Cardinals six whereof remained still at Avignon and one was gone upon a Legation Of the Sixteen that were in Rome there were Twelve of them French-men and four Italians all of them foreseeing that the Roman Populace would force them to elect a Pope of the Italian Nation agreed amongst themselves that they would elect one feignedly only to avoid the fury of the People and another in good earnest whom when they were gone thence they would own for the true Pope During this Convention the heat and violence of the People growing more terrible then they Year of our Lord 1378 could have imagined they named the Cardinal Bartholomew Boutillo a Native of Naples Arch-Bishop of Barry in that Kingdom who immediately took himself to be lawful Pope and assumed the Name of Vrban VI. The Cardinals in the
mean time were forced to dissemble till they could have fit opportunity to declare the Truth and to write Letters to all Princes that his Election was Canonical however they gave notice to the King of France that he should give no faith to their Letters till they were out of danger But when upon pretence of avoiding the extream heats in Rome they were retired to Anagnia being moreover offended at the proud deportment of Bartholomew they made the Truth of the matter of Fact known to all Princes admonished Bartholomew three several times to desist from pretending to the Papacy since he well knew they had no intention to elect him and afterwards they proceeded judicially against him and declared him an intruder That done they retired to Fundy under protection of the Earl of that place and there elected one of the six Cardinals Year of our Lord 1379 that had remained in France This was Robert Brother of Peter Earl of Geneva whose Courage was as high as his Birth He took the Name of Clement VII France after several Assemblies had been held of the most Learned of the Clergy and the most judicious Prelats and Nobility adhered to Clement the Kings of Castille and of Scotland who were his Allies did the same the Earl of Savoy and Jane Queen of Naples also although in the beginning she had protected his Competitor But all the rest of Christendom owned Vrban the Navarrois the English and the Flemmings out of spite to France the Italians to preserve the Papacy in their Year of our Lord 1378 and 79. Nation the Emperour in acknowledgment because that Pope before he was ever required had made haste to confirm the election of Wenceslaus his Son the King of Hungary that he might have a pretence to dispoliate the Queen of Naples and the rest for divers interests Peter King of Arragon remained Neutre At first Clement was well armed and in a condition to over-top his adversary having in his service one Sylvester Bude a Captain of Bretagne with Two thousand old Adventurers of that Nation who took the Castle St. Angelo defeated the Romans in Rome it self and made themselves Masters of the City But after another famous Captain who was an Englishman and was named Hacket otherwhile Head of the ✚ Bands of the Tard-Venus and now in the service of Vrban had vanquished and taken him prisoner Clements Affairs went on so ill that he was driven out of Italy and retiring himself to Avignon left his Rival sole Master of Rome This Schisme lasted Forty years either party having great Persons Saints Miracles and Revelations as they said and even such strong Arguments and Reasons on his side that the dispute could never be decided but by way of Cession that is by obliging the two Contenders to abdicate the Papacy so that it is great boldness to call those Anti-Popes who during this Schisme held the See at Avignon Year of our Lord 1379 The death of the Emperour Charles IV. fell out upon the Nine and twentieth of November in the year 1378. in the City of Prague the 63 year of his age Wenceslaus his Son who was elected King of the Romans in the year 1376. succeeded him in the Empire and the Kingdom of Bohemia a Prince deformed both in Body and Soul Year of our Lord 1379 It was a kind of Rebellion in the Earl of Flanders to own any other Pope then his King had done and indeed he shewed him ill will for it and more yet towards the Breton who encouraged him in his obstinacy Besides it had so fortuned that the Flemming by the Counsel of that Duke had caused one of his Envoyes to be staid who was passing thorow his Countrey on his way to Scotland to incite Robert Stewart to break the Truce with the English The King made complaint to the Flemming and Commanded him to drive the Breton out of his Countreys but the Flemming having taken advice of his People who assured him of Two hundred thousand Combatants in case he were attaqued refused to give him that satisfaction The Breton nevertheless went out of Flanders and took refuge in England The place of his retreat aggravated his crime the King orders him to be summoned to appear in Parliament to be judged by his Pairs Not presenting himself he was declar'd by Sentence of the Ninth of December attainted of the crime of Felony and all his Lands as well in Bretagne as all others he held in the Kingdom consiscated for having defied the King his Sovereign Lord and for having entred the Countrey in Arms with the enemies of the Kingdom That which in appearance seemed likeliest to ruine this Duke raised him The Bretons who for a thousand years past had so generously fought for the liberty of their Countrey having discover'd that the King designed more against the Dutchy it self then the Duke alone and that he would take it away from the guilty only to apply it to himself began to complain to withdraw from their affection to the French to re-unite amongst themselves and to make divers Leagues and Associations between the Cities and the Nobless Even the Widow of Charles de Blois by Counsel of the friends of her House sent to protest against that Decree and alledged that Bretagne was not subject or liable to consiscation because it was not a Fief and that if the Dukes had submitted their persons by obliging themselves to certain Service it was not their power to subject their Countrey This year a most cruel War was kindled in Flanders which lasted Seven years The interior cause of this inflammation was the Luxury of the Nobility and the dissolute and excessive expences of the Earl the occasion was a quarrel that rose between one called John Lyon and the Matthews who were six Brothers both the one and the other were very powerful amongst the Navigators or Mariners and between the Cities of Ghent and Bruges for a certain Canal or River which those of Bruges would needs make The Earl took part with these and was cause that John Year of our Lord 1379 Lyon formed against him a faction of White Hats in the City of Ghent He sets up the Matthews to oppose and countermine them John Lyon was found to be the stronger and pushed the contest on to the utmost extremity The Duke of Anjou was mighty greedy of Money and a great exactor his People by his Order or upon their own Authority having laid some new Imposts upon the City of Montpellier which was under his Government but of the Propriety of the King of Navarre the People mutined and killed Fourscore of them amongst which number were his Chancellour and the Governour The Duke hastned thither with some Forces and caused a most horrible Sentence to be given for punishment of that crime but it was moderated almost in every point by the intercession of his Holiness excepting against the Authors of that Sedition who paid down their Heads for it
called him Blasphemer in so much as Beze was asham'd of it and endeavour'd to excuse himself to the Queen and filed his rough and grating Proposition a little smoother It had been resolved to reduce all the dispute to two heads the one of the true Church the other about the Eucharist The Sixteenth of September the Cardinal de Lorrain made a discourse as learned as it was eloquent and full of solid reasonings both upon the one and other point which he concluded with this that there could be no re-union of the Sectaries with the Church if they did not believe the reallity of the Body of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist The other Prelates rising up applauded this proposition declared they would live and dye in that belief he had explained and besought the King and Queen to persevere and to defend it protesting they would break off the Colloquy if the Ministers refused to yield that point It was continued nevertheless for sometime longer The Four and Twentieth of September Beza strained hard to reply to the Cardinals discourse then entred into dispute with the Catholick Doctors as did his Companions afterwards each in his turn Father Jacques Laynes a Spaniard and Superiour General of the Jesuits whom the Cardinal de Ferrara the Popes Legat who arrived not till a good while after this Conference was begun had brought along with him would not confer with the Ministers but treated them with the epithets of Wolves Monkeys and Serpents and boldly told the Queen that it did not belong to her to hold Assemblies for matters concerning Religion especially since the Pope had convocated a Council The disputes were not discontinued for all that till in fine the alteration having so exasperated and heated their spirits that they were capable of nothing but downright quarrelling they broke up the Conference the five and twentieth day of November month November Some believed the Cardinal de Lorrain had chiefly promoted this who having some kind of correspondence with the Lutherans of Germany thought to make himself head and as it were Pope of that Party opposed to the Roman Church which however as to the exteriour differs not much and in this prospect had promised them to engage the Ministers of France by this Colloquy to subscribe to the Ausburg Confession And indeed towards the end of the Colloquy there came some Lutheran Ministers to Paris and the King of Navarre overpersuaded by the Lawyer Francis Baudouin Tutor to his Bastard-Son joyned with that Church but seeing those of France held at too great a distance and made the difference too wide the Cardinal de Lorrain dispairing to bring his ends to pass became equally an utter enemy both to the one and the other As in this Colloquy the Huguenots had for the first time the liberty allowed them to dispute the controverted Articles of Religion they thought they might have every where that of exercising it and began to open their Temples in every Year of our Lord 1561 Province The Queen-Mother in retribution of the services paid her by the Admiral lent him or feigned to lend him her helping hand in many occurrences and even sent orders to the Kings Ambassador at Rome to be instant with the Pope and Cardinals for obtaining the Communion in both Species and the allowance to pray to God in French which she could not obtain perhaps because as she demanded it openly she obstructed it underhand The Triumviri could not endure the great credit the Admiral was in and retired from Court making Religion the pretence of their discontent The King of Spain who affected the Title of Catholick express'd a great deal of Anger for that they favoured the Huguenots and particularly against the King of Navarre thereby to have a Salvo Conscientiae not to do him right concerning his Kingdom and a pretence to intermeddle with the Affairs of France to which he was invited by some of the most eminent in whom the passion to govern and to supplant their Enemies was more prevalent then love to their Native Country or the honour of this State A short while before a Priest was taken going into Spain with a Petition to King Philip in the name of the Catholicks together with certain very dangerous instructions He was carried to the common Goal The Parliament considering the quality of the persons involved in this business durst not search too deep but thought fit only to condemn him to make amende honorable in full Audience bare-head and his feet bare with a Torch lighted in his hand and to be shut up between four Walls in the Convent of the Chartreux Likewise a Batchellor of Sorbon named Tanquerel having maintained some Thesis wherein he asserted the Pope had an absolute power over all Kings as well in Temporals as in Spirituals and that therefore he might depose them if they deserved it the Parliament ordained that he should make amende honorable and because he absented himself it was said the Beadle of the Faculty should do it for him in the School of the Sorbon before a President two Counsellors and the Sollicitor General and in presence of the Dean and Doctors who were enjoyned to be there upon pain of forfeiting all the Priviledges to them granted by the Kings The Holy Fathers greatest fear was lest he should lose his Authority in France by a National Council the interest of the King of Spain was to gain some Authority by rendring himself necessary and that of the Regent to preserve her own and encrease it The King of Navarre shared in this with her and therefore they could never well accord but all the rest endeavoured to adjust themselves with that Prince The Constable served as mediator to reconcile him with the Duke of Guise and he to bring him to a correspondence with the Pope and the King of Spain His Sentiments concerning Religion were a great obstruction nevertheless they had the Art to manage him so well that they brought him to their bent They propounded to him first if he would repudiate Jane d'Albret his Wife as he might lawfully do said they because she was an Heretick that then he should be Married to Queen Mary Steward who would bring him the Kingdoms of Scotland and of England and when they found he could not resolve upon that Divorce they gave him verbal assurances that the King of Spain would give him up the Island of Sardinia which they described to him as a Country abounding in all things of delight and use in recompence of Navarre This charming illusion was the bait that drew him into their snare Year of our Lord 1562 January In the Month of January of the Year 1562. the Regent who desired to support her self by the Huguenots got an Edict in their favour containing amongst other things the revocation of that in July permission for them to Preach in all parts of the Kingdom excepting in Wall'd Cities namely in Paris An Assembly of the Notables authorized it the
Parliament of Paris verified it not without great difficulty and with this Clause in consideration of the present juncture of the times but not approving of the new Religion in any manner and till the King should otherwise ordain The other Parliaments prescribed several modifications When the Triumviri had absented themselves the Admiral appeared most powerful at Court and was effectually so for some days but he afterwards lost himself in the Queens good opinion by his own fault For too much prosperity having made him lay open his heart too much he would needs make it appear to her the strength of the Huguenots was much greater then in truth they were demanding Temples for Two Thousand One Hundred and Fifty Congregations Year of our Lord 1562. February He did it with intent to persuade her that she might find amongst them strength enough to maintain her self against all the World She pretended to believe it and charged him to take an account how many Men those Churches upon occasion of necessity could furnish her with fit to bear Arms but they prudently denied to discover their whole strength and in the mean time the Queen imagined he would have her depend solely upon his Credit so that she put her self upon her Guard towards him and resolved though she did make use of him yet not by subjecting her self Now he and the Prince of Condé observing withal a potent League was preparing to attack them believed it was lawful to joyn the German Princes to their party since their Adversaries had taken the Spaniards into them The Duke of Guise and the Cardinal his Brother having notice of it labour'd with great assiduity to prevent such assistance themselves went to Savern to discourse with the Duke of Virtemberg from whom the Prince hoped to get a considerable party They craftily feigned a great propensity to Luthers Doctrine and made him believe that if they had but some good correspondence with the German Princes who generally were of that Church they would bring both the Catholicks and Zuinglians to reason and by that means restore the Church to Unity The Duke of Wirtemberg was cajolled with this specious pretence and sell from the Huguenots the more readily for that in truth the Lutherans hate them but little less then the Roman Catholicks do themselves At his return from Saverne the Duke of Guise having sojourned some days at his Castle of Joinville was desired by his Confederates to come speedily to Paris because the Huguenots being countenanc'd by the Regent the Prince of Condé the Admiral and their Governor the Mareschal de Montmorency would needs be uppermost They were permitted to Preach in the Fauxbourg Saint Merceau and in that of Saint Antoine the Chevalier du Guet or Captain of the Watch had order to Guard them with his Archers and they had disarm'd the people of Paris for fear they should run open-Mouth upon them which had so raised their courage that the Priests could not carry the Holy Sacrament along the Streets without danger of an up-roar month March About the latter end of the foregoing year there hap'ned a great Tumult in the Fauxbourg Saint Marceau where they broke open the Church Doors of Saint Medard pull'd down the Images kill'd divers persons and dragged the Priests most shamefully to Prison because some Catholicks had abused a man whom they sent to bid them leave off jangling their Bells which hindred their hearing the Minister The Parliament having taken Information upon complaint of either party found the Huguenots guilty and punish't their insolency with the death of two or three of them Now the first day of March as the Duke of Guise was passing thorough the little Town of Vassy it hap'ned that some quarrel arose between some that were of his Train and the Huguenots who held their meeting in a Grange and he going thither to pacifie them was wounded on the Cheek with a stone His people seeing his face all bloody their rage grew to such a height that they slew near threescore of them and wounded above two hundred This is what the Huguenots have called the Massacre of Vassy and which in effect proved as it were the first signal to all those bloody Wars for Religion which afterwards afflicted this unhappy Reign though it were a pure accident without any design or fault in the Duke of Guise After he had taken with him the Cardinal his Brother in his passage by Reims he came to Mantueil his friends came to him in Crowds and the Constable sent to Complement him In the mean time the Prince of Condé was gone to Monceaux to make Complaint to the King about the Murthers at Vassy The Regent found her self mightily perplext She promised the Huguenots to do them justice wrote to the King of Navarre who was at Paris to provide for the safety of the King and Kingdom sent for the Duke of Guise to come to Court without any Company and enjoyned the Mareschal de Saint André to repair to his Government of Lyonnois But the Navarrois sharply reproved the Huguenot Deputies who carried him the complaints from those of Vassy the Duke of Guise replyed that he was busie and could not yet appear at Court and the Mareschal told the Queen to her face that in the posture things then stood he could not abandon the Kings Person Year of our Lord 1562. March Shortly after the Duke of Guise came to Paris attended by a Thousand or Twelve Hundred Horse His Enemies would have made it a Crime de Laesae Majestatis for having Marched in by the Gate Saint Denis thorough which the Kings make usually their Entry as likewise because the Prevost des Marchands and the Eschevins who went out to meet him made him a Speech and the People made loud Shouts and Acclamations as to the King It is not credible the Queen had any suspition that the Duke aimed at the Crown but she imagined that he and his Confederates intended to snatch the Government out of her hands This apprehension putting her into extream trouble she had recourse to the Prince of Condé who was retired to his House and wrote several Letters to recommend her Son to him as likewise the Kingdome and her self with expressions so affectionate and so full of Compassion hinting that the Confederates kept her in Captivity as gave him just cause to arm himself though he had not had the least inclination to it Their principal aim was to bring the King back to Paris that they might have him entirely at their devotion The Prevost des Marchands who was for them came to Melun to request it of the Queen and demand the Parisians might have their Armes again restored to defend themselves against the Huguenots The last particular was granted and the other was promised in time convenient mean while the Confederates so contrived it that the Commission for the Government of Paris was given to the Cardinal de Bourbon the Mareschal de
TABLE OF THE KINGS OF FRANCE Contained in this FIRST PART PHARAMOND King I. Page 6 About the year 418. CLODION the Hairy King II. 8 Anno 428. MEROVEUS or MEROVEC King III. From whom the Kings of the First Race have taken the name of MEROVIGNIANS Anno 448. 10 CHILDERIC King IV. 12 Anno 458. CLOVIS King V. 14 Towards the end of the year 481. CHILDEBRT I. King VI. 20 Anno 511. in December CLOTAIR I. King VII 28 Anno 558. CHEREBRT King VIII 29 Anno 561. CHILPERIC King IX 31 Anno 570. CLOTAIR II. King X. 37 584 in Octob. DAGOBERT I. King XI 54 Anno 628. CLOVIS II. King XII 58 Anno 638. CLOTAIR III. King XIII 62 Anno 655. CHILDERIC II. King XIV 64 Anno 668. THIERRY I. King XV. 67 Anno 674. CLOVIS III. King XVI 71 About the year 691. CHILDEBERT II. or the Young King XVII 72 About the year 695. DAGOBERT II. or the Young King XVIII 77 Anno 711. CHILPERIC II. King XIX 79 Anno 716. THIERRY II. called de Chelles King XX. 81 About the year 721 or 22. INTERREGNUM 83 739. CHILDERIC III. called the Senceless or Witlâ—â—s King XXI 86 Anno 743. Second Race of Kings who have Reigned in France and are named CARLIANS or CAROLOVINIANS Anno 752. PEPIN named the Brief King XXII 90 Anno 768. about the end of September CHARLES I. called the Great or Charlemain King XXIII 96 Anno 814 in February LOUIS I. called the Debonnaire or Pious King XXIV Pag. 120 Anno 840 in June CHARLES II. surnamed the Bald King XXV 131 Anno 877. LOUIS II. surnamed the Stammerer King XXVI 148 Anno 879 in April LOUIS III. and CARLOMAN King XXVII 150 Anno 884. CHARLES III. called Crassus or the Fat King XXVIII 154 Anno 888. EUDES King XXIX 157 Anno 893. CHARLES called the Simple King XXX 158 Anno 923 in July RODOLPH King XXXI 167 Anno 936 in January LOUIS IV. called Trâ—nsmarine King XXXII 175 Anno 954 in October LOTAIRE King XXXIII 183 Anno 986 in March LOUIS the Slothful King XXXIV 198 Third Race of the Kings of France called the CAPETINE Line or of the CAPETS 987. in June HUHG CAPET King XXXV 201 Anno 996. ROBERT King XXXVI 208 Anno 1033 in July HENRY I. King XXXVII 214 Anno 1060. PHILIP I. King XXXVIII 220 Anno 1108 in July LEWIS the Gross King XXXIX 234 1137 in August LEWIS called the Young King XL. 242 1180 in September PHILIP II. surnamed Augustus King XLI 252 Anno 1223 in July LEWIS VIII surnamed the Lyon King XLII 295 Anno 1226 in November SAINT LEWIS King XLIII 293 1270 in August PHILIP III. surnamed the Hardy King XLIV 314 1285 in October PHILIP IV. surnamed the Fair King XLV 322 LEWIS X. called Hutin King XLVI 344 1316. REGENCY without a King for five Months 345 A TABLE Of the Principal Matters contained in this FIRST TOME ABbies and Monasteries built and founded in great numbers in France Pag. 73 74 75 Abbies and Bishopricks during the Eighth Age. 115 Peter Abailard is condemned by the Council of Sens and seized at Clugny 276 Abderame marches through Aquitania Tertia forces and sacks the City of Bourdeaux 81 Is vanquish'd and slain in Battle near Tours 82 Abbots refuse obedience to the Bishops 283 Abbots of the Order of St. Bennet take the Ornaments of Bishops ibid. The humble and truly Religious Friers refuse them ibid. Abbot of St. Riquier the first Frier that dared to Confess and preach without permission of the Ordinary 287 Abrodites tributaries to the French 123 Abulas King of the Moors 221 Abuses turned to advantage of the Popes 283 Acre or Ptolemais a Town and Sea-Port of Syria assaulted and forced from the Christians 324 Adalgise Son of Didier endeavours in vain to recover the Kingdom of Lombardy 100 103 His death ibid. Adelbert Marquiss of Yvrée 162 Adelbert Count de la Marche and Perigord 203 Adeleida or Alix second Wife of Louis the Stammerer 149 Adeleida Widow of Lotaire King of Italy sought in Marriage by Berenger 181 Marries Otho King of Germany and Lorraine ibid. Adeleida Daughter of Robert Espouses the Earl of Flanders 213 Adolphus Earl of Nassaw elected Emperor Pag. 324 He sends to defie the King of France in a haughty manner 325 Is deposed his death 327 Adrian Pope 142 Concerns himself in the difference of Lorraine between Charles the Bald and the Emperor Lewis 143 Adultery severely punish'd 336 Aetius General of the Romans in Gaul defeats Attila King of the Huns in Battle and chaces him 10 His death 11 Agnes of France Married to Robert Duke of Normandy 313 Aimer Earl of Poitiers 158 Aix la Chappelle built by Charlemain 105 The Alani and other barbarous People make an irruption amongst the Gauls then pass into Spain 3 Alain of Bretagne defeats and cuts the Nâ—rmans in pieces 1â—7 Alain called Twistbeard Duke of Bretagne his death his Children 184 Alain Fergeant Duke of Bretagne his death 237 Alaric King of the Visigoths besieges and takes Rome his death 3 St. Albert Bishop of Liege his History 292 Albert Arch-Duke of Austria removes â—i Corps from Reims by permission of Lewis XIII ibâ—d Albert Duke of Austria is elected Emperor 327 He renews the Alliance of the Empire with France 3â—8 His death 334 Albigenses Hereticks their Original 277 Are condemned ibâ—d Rejected the New Testament ibid. Albon de Fleury 205 Aletea Paâ—rician punished with death 45 Alexander III. Pope his feigned modesty cause of a Schism 278 His Election confirmed by the Gallican Church as also by the Anglicane ibid. Seeks an Asylum in France ibid. An Emperor and a pretended Pope at his Feet who had disputed that dignity with him 274 Alexander III. King of Scotland his death 323 Alsiel Sultan of Aegypt 324 Alphonso I. Duke of Portugal proclaimed King who was the first King of Portugal 243 Alphonso Count of Toulouze makes a Voyage to the Holy Land his death 245 Alphonso Count of Poitou 297 He Marries the Daughter of the Count de Toulouze 299 Honoured with the Girdle of Knighthood 302 Leads a re-inforcement of Croisez or Crossed to St. Lewis in the East 305 306 Alphonso X. King of Castille elected Emperor 307 He gives up his right to the Empire 316 Alphonso Brother of St. Lewis his death 312 315. Alphonso King of Castille almost wholly dispossest of his Estates his death 320 Alphonso King of Arragon 321 Alphonso of Castille named de la Cerde his death 352 Alexis Son of Isaac Emperor of the East 261 His unfortunate end 262 Alienor Wife of King Lewis the Young 240 Alienor Daughter of William IX Duke of Aquitain Marries Lewis the Young 241 Repudiated by the King she Marries Henry Duke of Normandy and Presumptive King of England 246 Alix Queen of Cyprus 259 Alix Pernelle Daughter of King Lewis the Gross 241 Alix third Wife of Lewis the Young 248 Alix of France betroathed to Richard of England cause of the quarrel
between him and the Father in Law 255 Alix of Champagne Regent of the Kingdom 255 Alliance by Marriage between the Kings of France and England 247 Alliance of France confirmed with the Emperor Frederic 299 Alliance of Scotland with France 325 Alliance of the Empire renewed with France 328 Alliance of Scotland renewed with France 348 Amalaric King of the Visigoths 22 Amalasunta cause of the ruine of the Ostrogoths 24 Amaury Count de Montfort made Constable 295 Arnold Amaulry Inquisitor against the Albigeois 239 Amaulry or Aimery Doctor of Paris teaches a new and scandalous Doctrine 337 Amee the Great Count of Savoy and Prince of the Empire augments his Estate by several Seigneuries 345 Of the St. Ampoule or Holy Oyl 15 Anaclet Antipope 239 Anger 's taken by the Normans and retaken 144 Anjou divided into two Counties 141 Anne Widow of King Henry Marries again the Count de Crespy 219 Anseau de Garlande great Seneschal or Dapifer 239 Ansegise Archbishop of Sens. 145 Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury banished 289 St. Anselme writes a Treatise of the Incarnation ibid. Ansgard Wife of Lewis the Stammerer 149 St. Anthony the establishment of his Order in France 233 Apostolick Hereticks 276 Appeals to the Court of Rome 51 Archembault Lord of Bourbon 236 Archbishops at what times the Metropolitans took that Title 114 Archbishop of Reims a great debate between the Bishops of France between Artold and Hugh Son of Hebert Count of Vermandois 206 Of the same again between Arnold de Reims and Gerbert 206 207 Archbishop of Rouen named Primate of Normandy 232 Aribert King of a part of Aquitain 54 His death 55 Arles of the Ancient Rights and Preheminencies of its Archbishop in Gaul 50 Arles Kingdom united to that of Burgundy Transjurane 169 Arles the Temporal Seigneury belongs to the Archbishop of it 335 Great Naval Army 296 Of Coat-Arms and the beginning of their use 225 Armand Clerk of the City of Bress causes Rome to rebel against the Popes 272 Arnold King of Germany of Bavaria and Lorraine 156 Drives Guy of Spoletta out of all Lombardy 160 Arnold Emperor his death his Wife and Children 161 Arnold Count of Flanders 168 Arnold the Fat Count of Flanders 164 Arnold Earl of Flanders does cause the Duke of Normandy to be treacherously slain 178 Arnold the old Earl of Flanders his death 186 Arnold Archbishop of Reims degraded of his Dignity 204 Restored 207 Count d'Argues takes up Arms against the Duke of Normandy to his confusion 144 Of the County of Arragon and its Original 97 Arragon Kingdom its Original 163 Artois made a County and Pairie 301 Artois adjudged to Mahaut in prejudice of Robert grandson of Robert of Artois 347 Robert of Artois commands the Kings Army in Flanders is defeated and slain 330 Artold Archbishop of Reims 179 Arthur Duke of Bretagne 256 Takes up Arms against John without Lands who takes him Prisoner then Assassinates him 262 Asylum in Churches 53 Assembly general appointed in May no more for the future in March 124 Assemblies three sorts of great Assemblies 117 Assembly at Aix la Chapelle 122 Assembly or Parliament of Nimeghen 126 Of St. Martin 126 Assembly general of Franefort 127 Assembly general or Parliament of Mets. 139 Assembly of Coblents 140 Assembly of Meaux 150 Assembly general of Tribur 155 Assembly Synodal of the Bishops of Gaul and Germany at Verdun 180 Assembly of Prelats at Estampes 240 Assembly of the Estates of the Kingdom at Paris 329 Assize of Count Geofry Law for the Partage amongst the Bretons 254 Astolfus King of the Lombards seizes the Exarchat of Ravenna c. makes himself Master of Rome 91 Is constrained by the French to desist from his Enterprize and to restore the Exarchat c. 92 His death 93 Ataulfe King of the Visigoths passes in Gallia Narbonensis 3 Athalaric King of Italy 21 His death 24 Attila King of the Huns surnamed the Scourge of God enters into Gaul is there beaten and vanquished and forced to retire 10 His death 11 Avari ravage Turingia 29 Avari seize upon Lombardy 46 Avari are those of Austratia 104 Are wholly subdued 106 Avarice insupportable of the Ecclesiasticks during the eight Century 116 d'Aresnes John Earl of Hainault becomes Earl of Holland 326 Augustines Friers their Institution and their Establishment 340 St. Avi Abbot of Mici 21 Avignon besieged and taken by King Lewis VIII her Walls thrown down and Moats fill'd up 296 Austerities at the Article of death 288 Austrasia and its extent 20 Austrasia given to Dagobert by King Clotair and the Conduct of Pepin the old Maire of the Palace 46 Austrasians despise the commands of Brunehaut during the minority of King Childebert 34 Will not endure the Government of a Woman 78 Beaten by the Neustrians 78 Austria falls into the hands of the Emperor Rodolph 316 B. Baliol John declared King of Scotland 323 Is vanquish'd by the English taken Prisoner and constrained to renounce his Alliance with France 327 Set at full liberty but despised by the Scots 330 Banners belonging to the Church formerly used in time of War as their Standards 216 Bankers and of their excessive Usury and Extortion 324 Barcelona besieged and taken by the French 107 Bastards not admitted to Prelacy by the Holy Canons 210 The Kings of France not allowed to be Married to a Bastard 246 Bastards Adventurers of Gascongny 352 Battles 32 33 35 Battle between the Armies of Clotair II. and Thierry King of Burgundy in the year 599. 42 Battle near Toul and Tobiae 44 Battle of Tetry 69 Battle of Vinciac in Cambresis 79 Battle very famous near Tours wherein the Saracens were beaten and utterly defeated 82 Battle of Sigeac 83 Battle near Periguex 94 Battle very bloody at Fontenay 132 Battles in the Air. 134 Battle lost by the Romans 185 Battle near Monstreuil Bellay 211 Battle of Tinchelray in Normandy 227 Battle between the French and the English 234 Battle between the Flemings and the French to the disadvantage of the last 330 Battle very bloody between the French and the Flemmings to the loss of the last 331 St. Batilda Queen of France her Elogy 60 61 Bavarians and their Original and establishment in Bavaria under the obedience of France 23 Baldwin or Badouin Earl of Flanders steals away the Daughter of Charles King of Neustria 140 Baldwin the Bald Earl of Flanders 162 164 Baldwin with the Beard Earl of Flanders chaced from his Estates by his Son is restored by the Duke of Normandy 212 Baldwin surnamed the Frisonian chaced his Father 212 Baldwin Regent of the Kingdom of France and Earl of Flanders his death 218 220 221 Baldwin King of Jerusalem 222 Baldwin of Hainault 224 Baldwin XI Count of Flanders makes a League with the King of England against France 257 358 259 Baldwin Earl of Flanders takes up the Cross for the Holy Land 261 Is elected and declared Emperor of Constantinople 263 His death ibid. Baldwin an Impostor pretending