two causes One was that Richard refused to do Hommage to Year of our Lord 1186 the King for his County of Poitou grounded perhaps on this that it held immediately of the Dutchy of Aquitain The other Henry deferr'd to surrender Gisors and other places of the Vexin which Louis VII had given in Dowre to Margaret who had no Year of our Lord 1187 Children by young Henry Philip sets upon him towards Berry took Issoudun and besieged the Castle-Ruouel The King of England and his Son came to its Relief and sent to bid Battle but the two Armies being ranged Henry's heart failed him he talks of an Agreement promises Satisfaction to Philip and leaves him Issoudun for his Expences in that War Year of our Lord 1187 The Fifth of September Lewis the first born Son of Philip came into the World for which the City of Paris expressed so much Joy that they made the whole week but one Holy-day keeping all darkness at a distance by the infinite numbers of Flambeaux every where Saladin King of Syria and Egypt who from a low Birth was raised to that high power not without great desert after his having obtained many Victories over the Christians at last tears the Holy City of Jerusalem from them whereof Guy de Luzignan was then King it was taken the Second day of October and all the Holy-Land excepting only Tyre Tripoly Antioch and some strong Holds Thus at the end of Eigthy eight years Ended the Kingdom of Jerusalem which Title after it had ambitiously passed through the Houses of divers Princes does at this day make us part of the Catholick Kings At this dreadful news which arrived towards the end of the year 1187. all the Faithful made a great moan never was any sorrow so great or so universal The Kings Philip and Henry being sensibly touched Conferr'd together at Gisors and Trie and resolved to take up the Cross with great numbers of Princes Lords and Prelats to recover those Holy Places out of the hands of the Infidels In remembrance whereof they erected a Cross in the Field where they had resolved upon this Croisade and mutually promised to leave all Disputes in the same posture they then were till after their return from this holy Expedition Year of our Lord 1188 The Month of March following Philip Assembles a Parliament at Paris where it was resolv'd by Advice of the Bishops and Barons to take the Tenths of all Goods Movables and Immovables of all Persons as well Ecclesiasticks as of the Laity excepting only the Monks de Cisteaux the Chartreux de Fontevrault and the Spittles belonging to the poor Leprous People This Impost was called the Saladine Tith Year of our Lord 1188 Whilst they were preparing with great chearfulness and courage for this Expedition Richard for I not what little Injury received of Alfonso Earl of Thoulouze renew'd the old Pretention of his Mother Alienor to that County and endeavoured to recover it by the Sword Philip to disengage his Brother-in-Law and make a Diversion falls into Berry takes all the places the English were possessed of drove out old Henry who was got thither with an Army and pursued him as far as Normandy Year of our Lord 1189 Winter brought them to a Truce In the mean time Richard falls out with his Father and threw himself into the Arms of Philip. His discontent proceeded from his Fathers delay in giving him Alix of France betroathed to him Some believe the old Man cast other looks upon her then he ought towards his Sons Wife and besides by compleating this Marriage he had been obliged according to the Contract to let his be Crowned and give him the Title of King The Physitian Rigord in the History of Philip relates That being at Argenteuil when the Moon was at Full and the Night very clear a little before day-break the Prior of that Monastery and several of the Monks saw that Planet descend in a Moment to the Earth where having rested some time it went slowly up again and took its former place Year of our Lord 1189 The following Spring Philip takes the Field Conquers all the Countrey of Mayne and the City of Mans Touraine and the City of Tours himself having as by Miracle found a Foard in the Loire which he discover'd to his Army At the same time John surnamed Without-Land the Third Son of Henry likewise takes up Arms against his Father who not knowing which way to turn himself leaves Chinon and advances towards King Philip humbly to desire a Peace Philip grants it and reconciles him to Richard upon condition that one of them should accompany him to the Holy-Land Year of our Lord 1189 But Henry as unfortunate in War as he was unfortunate in his Children overcome with shame and sorrow dies three days after he was returned to Chinon Richard succeeds him and then Philip his Brother-in-Law generously restores to him all he had Conquer'd of his excepting Issoudun and the Fiefs he held in Auvergne settling Gisors and all the Vexin for his Wives Portion The two Princes thus united in a Friendship which appeared to be very cordial and so firm that one would imagine nothing could untie or shake it fitted themselves for their Expedition to the Holy-Land appointed the Rendezvous for their Armies at Vezelay and took Shipping Richard at Marseilles and Philip at Genoa Both of them landed in Sicily but Philip not so happily as Richard a furious Tempest having forced him to throw over-board part of his Horses and his Equipage Year of our Lord 1190 Before their departure Philip with the leave and by the agreement of all his Barons left the Guardianship of his Son and the Government of the Kingdom to the Queen his Mother Alix de Champagne and to William Cardinal-Archbishop of Reims Brother to that Queen But fearing they might abuse it he left an Authentick Order in Writing Signed by the Great Officers belonging to the Crown which limited their Power and prescribed their Lesson in many cases Amongst others he would have them bestow vacant Benefices of the Regalia by the Advice of Brother Bernard who was a devout Hermit living in the Bois de Vincennes and that during his absence no Tailles should be levied by any Lords upon their Lands nor in case he should happen to dye by the Regents during the Minority of his Son Year of our Lord 1190 He likewise ordered the Sheriffs of Paris that they should take care to enclose it with Walls and Towers There were no Ditches made the Enclosure on the left hand of the River upwards hath been often enlarged and altred The Burghers of other Cities by their example were ambitious to Wall their Towns and make Ramparts for defence William the Good King of Sicily Son of William the Wicked or Bad being dead without Children Anno 1189. He had an Aunt the Daughter of King Roger named Constance who being almost Thirty years of Age not a Nun as some have
hundred Cities and Towns that were the Chief of the rest in which the Church did afterward place their Episcopal Sees Under these Cities there were yet a greater number of other Towns which they called Oppida they reckoned Twelve hundred which were Walled in when the Romans conquered Gaul but they broke down the Enclosures of most of them or let them run to ruine As for the Government of these Seventeen Provinces six of them were Consulary and Eleven were under Presidents sent by the Emperor Constantine the Great placed Counts in the Cities and Dukes in some of the Frontier Towns their Laws were according to the Roman Rights only withal as I believe some Municipal Customs they had preserved They were little vexed with the Soldiers because the Legions even to a great part of the Fourth Age lived in good order and besides there were hardly any but in the Frontier Provinces But the Countrey being Good and Rich and the People extreamly submissive they were loaden with all sorts of Exactions so that their plenty begot their misery and their Obedience aggravated their Oppression An. 330. When Constantine the Great divided the Office of Praefectus Praetorio into Four Gaul had one who had Three vicars under him one in Gaul it self one in Spain and one in Great Britain the First that held this Office was the Father of Saint Ambrose bearing the same Name as his Son This Praefect ordinarily resided in the City of Treves which for that reason was the Capital of Gaul till having been four times Sacked by the Barbarians the Emperor Honorius would needs transfer this Prerogative to the City of Arles which was afterwards dismembred and cut off from Vienne and became the Eighteenth Metropolis From Augustus to Galienus the Peace of these Provinces was not disturbed but only by two Revolts that of Sacrouir and Florus in the 23 year of JESVS CHRIST and that of Civilis Tutor and Classicus much more dangerous in An. 70. After the death of the Emperor Decius the Barbarians began to torment them by frequent Incursions The first hundred years there were none but the French and the Almans that made any on this side the Rhine but afterwards the mischief increased by the Devastations and horrible irruptions of the Vandals the Alains Burgundians Sueves Visigoths and Huns which never ended but by the ruine of the Western Empire As to the Original of the French the common opinion is that they are naturally Germans and that France is a Name which in their Language signifies Freâ— or as others say Wild and Vntameable Indeed the Authors of the Third and Fourth Age by the Name of Germans do almost ever understand or mean the French For the time wherein they first began to appear it was exactly two years after the great Year of our Lord 254 Defeat of the Emperor Decius in Mesia which hapned in the year 254. by the Goths and other People of Scythia the Goths had not begun to make themselves known till about Twelve years before when they came out of their own Countrey which was the Scythia Europâ—ea between Pontus Euxinus and the Tanais to ravage the Provinces of the Empire they were divided into Ostrogoths and Visigoths which is to say according to some Eastern-Goths and Western-Goths After that Defeat all the Enclosures of the Roman Empire being broken down and laid open on that side a Torrent of all sorts of Barbarians rouled in upon them of whom till then no mention had been made For this reason therefore amongst others and likewise because the French had much of the Manners and Customs of the Scythians as to use Bows and Arrows exercising themselves in Hawking and having many Dukes or Cans one may conjecture that they are originally Scythians But it is not possible and it 〈…〉 no purpose to tell certainly of what part because the Scythians were all Vagabonâ—s and would now be in one place and in a very short time after would be removed two or three hundred Leagues from their former Habitation Year of our Lord 256 The first time therefore that mention is made of them is in An. 256. under the Empire of Gallus and Volusian when they passed the Rhine near Mentz and that Aurelian who was then but Tribune of a Legion slew 700 of them in a rencounter and took 300 Prisoners who were sold by Out-cry After this first irruption nigh 180 years passed before they conquered or obtained by request from the Romans some Lands in Gaul viz. in the Countreys of Colen Tongres and some neighbouring Territory which hapned about the year 416 There had some Bands of them lodged themselves in a Toxandria in the days of Julian the Apostate towards the year 358 but it is not known whether they were suffered to take root there During those two Ages they continued their Incursions with various success always retiring into Germany with their Plunder they possessed the most part of the Lands which lye between the Mein and the Rhine the Weser and the Ocean sometimes more sometimes less extended according as they were stronger or weaker and were pressed upon by other Nations especially by the Almans from towards the Mein and the Saxons from the Sea-side These last coming from the Countrey named at this present Holstein seized upon Frisia and the Maritime Countreys on this side the Elbe then as the French inhabited Gaul more and more they in equal proportions got the most part of those Lands which they had held beyond the Rhine The French Nation was divided into several People the Frisii great and little Salii Bructeri Aâ—grivari Chamavi Sicambri and g Catti they had besides as I believe many more of their Alliance and several also under their Dominion Oftentimes the Romans went to attaque them in their Woods and in their Fens and thought two or three times to have destroyed them particularly Constantine the Great but they always sprung up again They had several Chiefs or Commanders Kings Princes Dukes or Generals who had no absolute Authority but in time of War Sometimes they became stipendaries to the Romans sometimes their Subjects but as soon as times changed and they found any opporunity to plunder they held themselves no longer obliged by former Treaties It is for this reason the Authors of those times accused them of Levity of Leasing and Treachery But on the other hand it is confest that they were the most warlike of all the Barbarians of great Humanity Hospitality and a People that had a great deal of Wit and Sense Very often they had some that served the Empire and others at the same time that made War against them We find many of them in all those times that were raised to the Dignities of Consul Patrician Master of the Militia Great Treasurer and the like insomuch as they Governed in the Courts of many Emperours Year of our Lord 406 c. as of the two
the Daughter of Theodoric was yet in his insancy The Fame of Clovis his Valour spread even to the East The Emperour Anastasius thereby to engage him the closer to the Empire sent him Consulary Honorary Letters and the Imperial Ornaments viz. The Purple Robe the Mantle and the Diadem Clovis having put them on in St. Martins Church Mounted on Horseback in the Portall and bestowed a Largess on the People after that day he was ever Treated with the Title of Consul and August which were not altogether useless to him towards the bringing the Gauls to better Obedience by those Titles for which they had still some reverence Theodoric King of the Ostrogoths jealous of his success takes in hand the Defence Year of our Lord 508 and 509. of his Grand-Son and sends a great Army on this side the Mountains made up of Goths and of Gepide and Commanded in Chief by the Count Ibba The French held then the City of Carcassonne besieged and the Burgundians that of Arles the first quitted their Siege and joyned the others at Arles to hinder him from passing the Rhosne There hapned many Combats and at last a bloody Battle the Count gained it having killed 30000 French and Burgundians and afterwards wrested from them all Year of our Lord 510 they had conquer'd in Provence and in Languedoc excepting Thoulouse and Vzez After this advantage Theoderic remained King of the Visigoths and having taken away the Crown and Life of Gesilac joyned what they held in Gaul and in Spain to his Kingdom of Italy till his Grandson Amalaric should be come of age Clovis fretted at these losses distemper'd with a long Fever and having the Spirit Year of our Lord 510 and 511. of a Conqueror that is to say Unjust and Sanguinary lays snares for the other petty Kings of the French who were his Kindred and rids himself of them by methods full of Cruelty and Treachery He incited Chloderic Son of Sigebâ—rt King of Colen to kill his Father and caused him afterwards to be Massacred by his own Domestiques He compelled Cararic and his Son we know not in what Countrey they Reigned perhaps it was at Triers or Arras to enter into Holy Orders and being informed that the Son expressed some threatnings he sent and caused the Throats of both to be cut He cleft in two the Heads of Ragnacaire King of Cambray and Riquier his Brother with a Battle-axe they being both delivered into his hands by their own Subjects and his Satellites assassinated Rignomer King of Mans in his own City He dyes himself at Paris the 26 th of November in the year 511. and is interred Year of our Lord 511 in the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul which he Built and where St. Genewiefue had been buried the same year his Reign was 30 years and his Age 45. Some have made him parallel with Constantine the Great and find great resemblance betwixt them both for Good and Evil. He had four Sons living Thierry Clodomir Childebert and Clotaire the first by a Concubine the other three by Clotilda and by the same also a Daughter named Clota or Clotilda who Sixteen years afterwards married Amalaric Ring of the Visigoths in Spain Under his Reign the French wholly freed themselves from the Roman Empire and became their Allies on equal terms till then as I believe they had been stipendaries or tributary to them That part of Gall which reaches from the Rhine to the Loire was called France The French measured those Lands and took the third or fourth part which they shared amongst themselves There were but two sorts of People or Conditions amongst them the Free-men and the Slaves all the Free-men bore Arms. Gall which was almost a Desert began to be re-peopled and to rebuild their Towns The Galls paid a Tribute to the French but the natural French paid hardly any thing but their personal Service These lived according to the Salique Law the Galls Conformed to the Roman Institutions These were called Romans all the other Nations which flocked thither from beyond the limits of the Empire were named Barbarians They were bred to the exercise of War from their greenest years of a good shape and stature enured to Labour strong and so nimble that they were upon the Enemy almost as soon as the Dart they had thrown against them They had left off the use of Arrows and employ'd in their stead for offensive weapons the Sword the Angon which was a Dart of moderate length having an Iron bearded Head and cheeks of Iron and the two-edged Axe which they called Francisque This might be darted as well as the Angon but neerer at hand For defensive Aâ—ms unless it were their Commanders they had only the Buckler which they managed very dextrously to shelter and Tortoise-like cover themselves when they went to make a Charge or an Assault Their whole Armies were Infantry or if there were some few Horse they served only to attend the General and carry his Orders They retained a good part of the establishment made by the Romans as the manner of raising Imposts but much lesser of providing Magazines for the subsistance of their Forces of maintaing Horses and Carriages for Travellers on the great Roads of publick Sports Horse-racing and combats of wild Beasts and their Kings believed themselves as absolute as Emperours created Dukes Counts and great Masters of their Militia nay even Patricians and perhaps the Mayers of the Palace held the Office of Praefecti Praetorii In the Fifth and Sixth age the Gallican Church received few into the Church for Bishops but Saints or such as they made so They were for the most part the greatest Lords of the Countrey who to secure themselves from the suspicions and Year of our Lord 400. unto 500. or thereabouts jealousies the Visigoths and French might have against them cast themselves into the Church as a safe Harbor or Asylum They reckon amongst the most Holy Honorat d'Arles being of the Monastery of the Isle of Lerins which bears his Name to this day Hilary his Successor and Eueheres of Lyons coming from the same place German d'Auxerre and Loup de Troyes Palladius or Palais de Bourges Brice de Tours Agnan d'Orleans Simplicius de Vienne and Mamertus his Successor This was he who instituted or rather revived those Processions or Litanies we call Rogations which all the Church hath received All these did not survive the one half of this Age unless Loup or Lupus who lived a long while after In the Second lived Apollinaris-Sidonius of Clermont Alcimus Avitus the Successor to Mamert Eleutherius of Tournay Remy de Reims the true Apostle of the French and Vaast of Arras these three survived a long time after Clovis We should not omit the illustrious Virgin Geneviefve who even in her life time was the Patroness of Paris and remaineth so still nor St. Maximin or Mesmin Abbot of Micy near Orleans which Place now bears his Name
meet him and himself went and received him at Rheims whence he had him to his Palace of Crecy upon the Oise to pass his Christmass and from thence to Aix la Chapelle to consecrate the Church The Holy Father having been there eight dayes went back again to Rome thorough Bavaria He had undertaken this Journey to complain how that Maurice Duke of the Venetians and his Son John whom he had joyned with him persecuted the Patriarch Fortunatus whom he had approved of and honoured with the Pall and also how they favoured the Grecian Emperour The City of Venice was not yet built and the Seventy two Islands that compose it together with the Country and Towns upon the Shoars of the Gulph were governed by Tribunes who counter-balanced the power of the Duke Now those Tribunes Beat and Obelier whom our French Authors of those Times call Willeric had caused themselves to be Elected Dukes by one part of the People and had driven away Maurice and John who had recourse to the Assistance of the Greeks Year of our Lord 806 These therefore and John Duke of Zara with some other Lords of Dalmatia came to the Palace at Thionville to desire assistance of the Emperour in case the Greeks should assault them Whilst he remained there he shared his Estates between his three Sons in such manner that either of them hapning to dye without Children his Portion should ☞ be re-divided betwixt the other two but if a Son were born and that the People would Elect him to succeed his Father the Uncles were to consent thereunto This partition was made all his Sons being present subscribed by the French Lords and carried to the Pope that he might likewise Sign it not to make it the more Valuable but to render it the more Authentique Year of our Lord 806 This Year the Navarois were reduced to the Obedience of the French from whom they had withdrawn themselves upon what motives is unknown to put themselves under the dominion of the Saracens The Emperour's eldest Son employ'd himself without intermission in subduing the remaining Idolatrous people in Germany The preceding Year he had gained a very great Victory over the Beheman Sclavonians or Behains they are now called Bohemians and slew their Duke named Lechon This Year he had the like advantage over the Sclavonian Sorabes who inhabited on the other side of the River Elbe At the same time his two other Brothers laboured each in his division to encrease their Limits upon the Infidels Pepin made War against the Saracens at Sea Ademar Count of Genoa lost a Battle and his Life but Bouchard Count de l'Estable obtained another very signal one Lewis with his Aquitains made his Incursions to the further Shoar of the Elbe Year of our Lord 807 Nicetas Patrician of the East sent into the Adriatique Sea by the Emperour Nicephorus to recover Dalmatia restored that Country to the obedience of his Master and re-settled Maurice and John Dukes of Venice who had been expell'd and they soon expelled all those that had taken part with France Pepin had resolved to attaque Nicetas yet he made a Truce with him for some Months perhaps because he had enough to do with the Saracens who infested the Tuscan Seas This Year 807. was seen in the Heavens two extraordinary Phenomena besides three Eclypses two of the Moon and the third of the Sun For on the last day of January the Planet Jupiter seemed to enter into the Moon who was in her 17th day and the 14th of March Mercury appeared in the diske of the Sun a little above the Center like a little black speck which lasted so eight dayes Year of our Lord 807 The Pyracies of the Normands and their Descents and Landing on the Coasts of Neustria and even in the Mediterranean became more frequent and troublesome Charlemaine one day being in Provence and seeing some of them appear was so touched with the Misery France was like to suffer by these Pyrats that he could not refrain from Tears Year of our Lord 807 The Ambassadors from the King of Persia brought him Rare Presents Tents all of Silk and a Striking Clock with wonderful Automata They were accompanied by some Monks whom the Patriarch of Jerusalem for Syria was then under the obedience of the Persians had given them to be their Guides In the East all acknowledged or honoured Charlemaine There was none but Godfrey that countermined his Grandeur and Charles desired to get into his Country not to take possession of the Ice and barren Rocks of that Northern Region but to bring those poor ignorant Wretches to the Knowledg of true Faith Year of our Lord 808 The Dane prevented him and had the confidence to attaque his Country At first he made a great bustle drove before him Traciscon Duke of the Abrodites who was under the dominion of the French took by Treachery and hanged another of their Dukes and made two thirds of those people become his Tributaries Nevertheless having lost his best Men and his Brothers Son upon the storming of a Castle being informed that Charles eldest Son to the Emperour had passed over the Elbe he retreated and spoiled or ruined his Haven at Reric whither much Goods and Merchandise had wont to be brought for fear the French should fortify themselves there He designed likewise to shut up and cover his Country of Danemark by drawing a line and making a great rampart just opposite to the Saxons Territory from that Gulph of the Sea on the Eastern part to that on the West and all along the Banks of the River Egidore or Egid and in this part of his Earthen Wall or Work he had but one Gate well flanked for the passage of Carts and Soldiers Amongst divers exploits which were done in the Marches of Spain Lewis King of Aquitain took by force of Engins and assaults the City of Tortosa in Catalonia But Count Aureolus who had the Government of those Frontiers dying the year after Amoroz a Saracen Prince of Sarragosa seized upon several Fortresses of the French protesting notwithstanding he was ready to restore these places and his own person to the Emperors disposal Whereupon a Treaty was begun during which Abular King of Cordoüa to whom these Negotiations were no way pleasing sends his Son Abderaman who craftily seized upon Sarragosa and constrained Amoroz to retire himself to Huesca Year of our Lord 808 The Truce being expired between the French and the Greeks Pepin enters into the Gulph of Venice and gave Battel to Paul who was Patrician and one of the Greeks Generals Each side pretended they had gained the Victory Year of our Lord 809 The following year Nicetas having presented him Battel near Comachio was rudely repulsed At the same time Charlemain desiring to repress the Danes incursions sent orders and materials to build a great Fort on the River Sturia at the place called Aselfelt The Gascons were again revolted Lewis being gone to Dags
with a powerful Army ruined all the Countries of the most Factious and Stubborn and gave quarter only to those that besought his Pardon From thence finding he was so far on his way he pushes on to Pampeluna where he made some stay to assure himself of the fidelity of the Inhabitants of that Country which was very uncertain Before he Filed off his men thorow the passages of those Mountains he would needs be precautioned against the Robberies of those Gascon Mountaineers some of them being already in Ambuscade by seizing on their Women and Children and hanging one of their Spies who came on purpose to observe them and give his Companions notice of their motion Year of our Lord 810 Being returned into Aquitain he mightily laboured to reform that Kingdom and especially the Ecclesiastical Order which was so much deformed the Prelates and Priests being all turned Sword-men that there were no footsteps of any Discipline remaining He not only restored it by his exemplary devout life and by his good Rules and Orders but also by the great care he took to repair or build Monasteries which were as the Seminaries of good Church-men The Author who wrote his life reckons no less then Five and Twenty or Thirty Year of our Lord 810 Pepin not able any longer to endure the double dealing of Maurice and John Dukes of the Venetians who favoured the Greeks and desiring to restore Obelier and Beat who were expelled goes out of Chiassi which is the Port of Ravenna with his Fleet and enters the Lake of Venice In the beginning he took all the little Towns which were upon the Shore then turned towards the Island of Malamauca the Dukes Seat which he found quite forsaken Maurice and John his Son having withdrawn themselves into that of Rialto and Oliuolo The Venetian Authors relate that commanding his men to Attaque those Islands with floats of Boards or Timber and the Army of the Dukes defending them it hapned that wanting knowledge of the Channels and Depths his Fleet received a notable repulse That a great number of the French were slain and stifled in the Mud and that he himself who staid in the Island Malamauca with the least part of his Forces Retreated to Ravenna carrying Obelier and Valentine who had very unluckily engaged him in this enterprise along with him In this Island of Rialto was soon after built a Palace for the Duke and in that of Oliuolo another for the Bishop and in time they joyned all those little Islands near one another by Bridges so that all these together have made the City of Venice so renowned for its wonderful situation and more for the wisdom of its conduct In the mean time Godfrey with a Fleet of Two Hundred Sail lands in Frisia pillaged the Country and exacted Tribute He bragg'd also that he would give the Emperor Battel who was encamped near the place where the Rivers Alare and Veser joyn together but instead of coming forwards he retreats back into his own Country where he was killed by a certain Son of his in revenge for having repudiated his Mother Heming his Brothers Son who succeeded him Treated a Peace with the French Year of our Lord 810 France had not their revenge for the affront received in the Gulph of Venice because Pepin a Son worthy of his Father dyed at the age of 33 Years the 29 th of his Raign in Italy He left only one Bastard-Son named Bernard who succeeded him in that Kingdom a young Prince not above Twelve or Thirteen Years old at most About the end of the following Year Charles the Eldest Son of the Emperor dyed likewise who left no Children But the preceding Spring his Father concluded a Peace with the Dane and sent Three Armies one against the Sclavonick Year of our Lord 811 Hedinons beyond the Elbe the second into Pannonia to make head against the Sclavonians for they molested the Huns very much who were Subjects to the Year of our Lord 812 French and the third against the Bretons who renouncing that obedience they had sworn to him had chosen themselves a King named Coenulph Machon The Year of our Lord 812 two first returned home loaden with Spoil and the last with the honour of having vanquished the Bretons and their new King Year of our Lord 812 Charlemain being already broken with Age and Labour the loss of his two Sons made him more inclinable to have a Peace with the Saracens in Spain with the Greeks and with the Danes Which was the more easie to be compassed for that Mahumed King of the Saracens in Spain being in War with Abdella his Brother was the year following forced to let him have a share in the Kingdom in Greece Year of our Lord 812 the Emperor Nicephorus was slain in a Battel against the Bulgarians and Heming King of Denmark being dead there was a Civil-War about the Succession between Sigifroy and Amulon or Hamildon this Nephew to Hericold and the other to Godfrey They fought a bloody Battel where both of them were slain together with Ten or Eleven Thousand men but Amulon's Party remaining Victorious Secured the Kingdom to Heriold and Rainfroy his Brothers Amidst the Multitude of Affairs which Charlemain had in all the three several parts of the World he did not forget what concerned Religion Upon the intreaty of Biorn King of Sweeden he sent some Priests thither to instruct those People in the knowledge of the Gospel Ebon a Man of a holy life established a Bishoprick there in the City of Lincopen Year of our Lord 813 Finding himself grow weaker day by day he caused his Son Lewis to come to the Parliament of Aix where he had called together the Bishops Abbots Dukes and Counts he asked them all one by one whether they would be pleased that he should give him the Title of Emperor To which all having replied yes he declared him his Partner in the Empire commanded him to go and take the Crown which was upon the Altar and put it himself upon his own head In the same Parliament he likewise declared Bernard the Son of his Son Pepin King of Italy whither he had already sent him under the Conduct of Vala or Galon Son of Bernard his paternal Uncle The death of this mighty Prince was preceded with all sorts of prodigies both in the Heavens and upon the Earth enough to astonish even those that have but little faith in such presages and give least Credit to them Whilst he was studiously employed in the Reading and the Correcting some Copies or Manuscripts of the holy Bible in his Palace at Aix a Feaver seized him and carried him out of this World the 28 th of January the Two and Seventieth year of his Age at the beginning of the 14 th of his Empire and the 48 th of his Raign His Will and Year of our Lord 814 Testament which is yet to be seen is one of the greatest Tokens of his
some Method to bring Hugh in again to that See but considering that a small number could not undo what had been done by a greater and that they had notice from the Pope to clear their doubts that he had Excommunicated him in a Council held at Rome Anno 949. they broke up without proceeding any farther That of Reims in 975. wherein presided Stephen Deacon to Bennet V. Pope and Adolberon of Reims Excommunicated Thibauld who had usurped the See of Amiens In 983. that of Mount St. Mary in the Diocess of Reims where Adalberon presided confirmed the Decree made by that Bishop to put Monks into the Monastery of Mouson in the stead of those Canons that were there In the foregoing Age in many places the Canons were more desired The Humour was changed in this Gerbert solliciting with heat to have Arnold de Reims his Process made a Council was called in that same City Anno 992. where his Credit and the vehement Eloquence of Arnold d'Orleans carrying it against the Remonstrances of Abbon Abbot of Fleury and the Sentiment of Seguin de Sens who was President Arnold was deposed and Gerbert instaled in his See The Pope believing it intrenched upon his Authority if he suffer'd them to undertake this without his Order sent a Legat into France the year ensuing who first called together some Bishops at Monson then a greater number at Reims where Seguin representing the Person of the Pope it was said that Gerbert should be deposed and Arnold restored but this last being a Prisoner at Orleans Gerbert disputed it and stood his ground yet for some time and appealed to the Pope who grew more stubborn and stiff in favour of Arnold and forced the King by the threatnings of a terrible Excommunication to release him and suffer him to enjoy his Bishoprick Robert King XXXVI POPES GREGORY V. About two years under this Reign SILVESTER II. Elected in March 999. S. Four years and two Months JOHN XVIII Elected in May 1003. S. Five Months JOHN XIX Elected in Novem. 1003. S. Five years ten Months SERGIUS IV. Elected in Aug. 1009. S. Two years eight Months and an half BENEDICT VIII Elected in 1012. S. near Twelve years JOHN XX. Elected in March 1024. S. Nine years eight Months ROBERT King XXXVI Aged Twenty four or Twenty five years THis King compleat both in Body and Mind of a handsom Stature a sweet and grave Air a composed and sage Humour having been nurtur'd to Piety and good Learning by Gerbert became very knowing for that Age much more Religious and Zealous in the Service of God and as Just Charitable and Debonnaire towards his People as any Prince that ever wore a Crown And indeed God favour'd his Reign with the choicest Blessing he is wont to bestow upon those Kings who are according to his own Heart I mean with a long and happy Peace which he enjoy'd near Thirty years after some slight and petty Wars Year of our Lord 996 This year 996. died Richard I. Duke of Normandy who was past his Seventieth year He left his Dukedom to his Son Richard II. surnamed the Good Year of our Lord 997 98. William Earl of Poitou and Duke of Aquitain having War with Boson II. Earl of Perigord and de la Marche Robert was obliged to assist him as his Kindred and Vassal They both laid Siege to the Castle of Belac but their Army wanting Provisions because they were too numerous could not subsist till the taking of the Place The Chronicles of those times who are all very succinct do not give an account of the end of that War no more then of many other things Eudes Earl of Brie and Champagne prompted with great desire to have a passage Year of our Lord 999 over the Seine as he had already over the Marne thereby to go commodiously from Brie to his County of Chartres cast his Eyes upon Melun and with Money gained the Vicount or Castellaine belonging to Earl Bouchard who deliver'd it up to him Bouchard had been the favourite of Hugh Capet who had given him that Earldom and he was yet at this time Count Palatine for King Robert Wherefore this King took in hand his defence sent Richard II. Duke of Normandy his Cousin and good Friend and with him besieged the place The Battery with their Engines having made a Breach the Garrison surrendred upon Composition the Castellaine and his Wife were both Hanged on the top of a Hill near the place They did not punish Gentlemen with Death for Rebellion or Felony unless they committed Treason but in that case they hanged them in some eminent Place that Crime degrading them of all Nobility Year of our Lord 999 Poland was honoured with the Title of a Kingdom by the Emperor Otho III. who going to Gnesne to Visit the Sepulchre of St. Adalbert Martyr gave the Regal Ornaments to Duke Boleslaus The following year Hungary had the same Advantage and Honour but would receive it from the hands of the Pope to whom Prince Stephen the Son of Geisa who first embraced Christianity sent to demand the Royal Crown Year of our Lord 1000 Towards the end of January in the year 1002. the Emperor Otho aged but Twenty nine years died in the City of Rome or in Paterna not leaving any Children It was believed to be of Poyson the cursed practise thereof being much in use as I have observed in this Age thorough all the West Henry II. of that name called the Cripple Duke of Bavaria and Earl of Bamberg succeeded him by an Election of the German Princes but did not bear the Title of Emperor at least not in Italy till he had been Crowned by the Pope which was Twelve years afterwards Year of our Lord 1002 The degrees of Parentage wherein Marriage was prohibited having been extended to the Seventh besides the obstructions from Spiritual Alliance or Gossipship caused much Broil especially amongst Princes and Grandees who commonly are of Kin to one another even within that degree For so soon as a Husband or a Wife were disgusted with each other or that any one had a mind to trouble them they needed but to Article and make Oath they were of Kin within the degrees forbidden and produce Witnesses upon it to the number of nine as I believe which were not wanting or difficult to get and thereupon the Diocesan Bishop or an Assembly of Bishops if there were any greater difficulty pronounced Judgment Year of our Lord 1003 Now Queen Lutgard the first Wife of Robert being dead he was advised by Maxims of Policy to Wed Bertha Sister to Rodolph the Lazy King of Burgundy Widow of Eudes I Earl of Chartres and Mother of Eudes II. as yet but young She being of Kin in the fourth Degree and besides he having held a Child with her at the Font he thought he might prevent the inconveniency of nullity of Marriage by the Authority of the Gallican Church he called therefore his
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
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
Military or even from Marriage that it might be the more humble and perfect S. Leo the Pope had only advised it his Successors made it a Law and the Councils of Toledo reduced it into practise towards their very Kings witness Vamba one of the most illustrious and most renowned of their Monarchs who being ordained Pennance while he was in the agonies of death not with his consent for he was deprived of all understanding but according to the custome of those times was yet obliged upon his recovery to renounce his Kingly Office Observe if you please that these Councils of Spain furnished the Popes with great advantages and presidents to bring other Sovereigns under their Command and Disposal For the Visigoth Kings being elective the Bishops had a great share in their Election and their Councils were as so many Assemblies where the Grandees and the Kings themselves were present There they corrected all the disorders of the Crown and imposed Laws upon them under the penalty of Anathema or Deposition if they infringed them The Bishops of France undertook the same thing by deposing Louis the Debonnaire and though it were a perfect Faction that Prince however did not resume the Crown but by the authority of another Assembly of Bishops Foulk Arch-Bishop of Rheims threatned Charles the Simple he would withdraw his Subjects from their Obedience if he made any Alliance with the Normans who were then Barbarians and Unbelievers Now the Popes believed it as an Article of Faith that their power was much greater then that of all the Bishops and that it had no other limitation then was express'd in the Canons of the Councils and the Decrees of the Apostolique See which never had forbid them to Depose Kings because it cannot be imagined the thoughts of such a thing could ever enter into their brains Gregory II. in Anno 730. having thundered his Anathema against Leo Isaurian suspended at least the payment of all Tribute and Obedience of his Subjects or perhaps wholly Absolved them as some pretended Moreover taking upon them as they did the Authority of creating Kings which was allowed by the ambition of such as desired that Title they imagined they might well take away the Crown from those that were unworthy since they could bestow one upon such as did deserve it There were besides all this many occasions which served not a little to confirm this opinion Amongst others the Prohibition of contracting Marriage between Kindred even to the Seventh Degree and betwixt Allies to the fourth and fifth The cognisance they took of all great Causes not only amongst the Ecclesiasticks but Temporal Princes and the Croisado's For as to the first they could easily find enough of Parentage or Alliance to dissolve a Princes Marriage and by this means made themselves formidable And for the second they were not less considerable for the power they had to judge of all Causes because all Parties have naturally a fear and a respect for their Judges and they having by this incredible affluence of Business an opportunity to employ great numbers of People it drew to their Court all those that had an ambition to be made use of by them or such as had the curiosity to be fashion'd or instructed in that most famous School of the whole Universe In effect all the greatest Wits of Europe flock'd thither to gain Employments and as we have still an Affection for those by whom we are advanced when they went from thence after they had done their Business or made their Fortune they proclaimed the Grandeur of the Popes in every Country with an ardent desire to set up their Maxims The Crusado's or Holy War made them likewise very powerful For in all the Expeditions to the Holy-Land they enjoyned Princes to list themselves they held the Soveraign Command of those Armies by their Legats and in a manner made themselves Lords of all those Adventurers not only because they exacted obedience from them but which was more because they took them under their Protection till their return which was as it were an Order of State to stop all Proceedings both Civil and Criminal In other Crusado's which were undertaken against Schismaticks and Hereticks they made it a Law That whoever were convicted of those Crimes should forfeit all their Goods Honours and Dignities In pursuance whereof they deprived those that were guilty or caused them to be deprived by Councils assembled by their Legats then gave the Spoil to such as had served well in those Expeditions without consulting the Soveraign Lords of whom they held those Estates because they durst not refuse Investiture to those whom so holy a Power had provided in that manner for But their greatest Power or Force consisted in that of the Clergy and Religious Orders Those great Bodies being in those times very firmly united for the maintenance of his Franchises and Liberties which they positively believed to be Jure Divino looking upon the Pope as a Chief Head and Potentate that would never fail them at need Indeed his absolute Authority lay heavily upon the Bishops Shoulders but when it pressed too hard they had recourse to that of the Prince as Protector of the Goods and Liberties of the Clergy Reciprocally they made use of the Power of the Pope to shield them from the Attempts of their Princes and governing themselves thus between the Power of both they endeavoured to moderate and qualifie the one by the other However they had cause to complain that the Popes took from them a good part of that Authority belonging to them as Successors to the Apostles as by drawing immediately to their Tribunal the Cognisance of all Causes not leaving them any thing almost to judge of Primarily or Originally By obliging them to give them their Oaths according to a certain Form to which Gregory VII had added some Terms which amounted to Fealty and Hommage By imposing the necessity for their going to Rome By arrogating to themselves the Right of Consecrating Metropolitans By granting Dispensations for not observing the holy Canons as if the whole Ecclesiastical Discipline depended only upon their absolute Authority By allowing Exemptions to Inferiors to withdraw them from their Obedience to their Superiors They complained moreover of their having reserved to themselves alone the power of receiving Caodjutories and that of dissolving the Spiritual Marriages of Bishops that is of separating them or putting them away from their Churches by Cession or Translation or Deposition and their taking upon themselves the disposing of most Benefices Let us say something more particular upon the chiefest of these points The differences between particular People were handled only in the Court of Rome in the Twelfth Age however when the Cause was very important or concerned the whole Church or a whole Kingdom they referr'd it to the Judgment of a Council Thus Gregory VII when the Quarrel betwixt him and the Emperor Henry V. came to be renew'd promised he would
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
Insolence upon the Popes complaint the King resolv'd to expel them from that House and gave it in charge to Suger Abbot of St. Denis who placed twelve Canons Regulars there whom he took from St. Victors Thus of a Chapter they made an Abby the first Abbot they had was named Odon As for that of St. Victor it was built in Anno 1113. or rather amplified by Lewis the Gross for before that time it was the Habitation of a Recluse a famous Doctor named Thomas de Champeaux who taught Divinity at Nostre-Dame having taken on him the Habit of that Order was Commissioned for the Government and Conduct of the new Institution and transferr'd the Divinity Schools to that place where he read till he was called thence to the Bishoprick of Chaalons Geduin his Pupil succeeded him and bare the Title of Abbot We may say in praise of this House that they never withdrew themselves from their Obedience to their Bishop but that they ever allow'd and received his Visitation and his Correction whereby they have fared so well that in Five hundred and fifty years for so long they have been there they never fell into any so great disorder as hath required a Reformation of the whole as all the rest have done who did shake off that Yoke of Lawful Authority The Order of Fontevraud of which we made mention about the end of the last Age was confirmed by Pope Paschal II. in the year 1117. The following year some Gentlemen zealous for the defence of holy Places amongst others Hugh de Paganis and Gefroy de Saint Ademar to that end Instituted an Order of Religious Kinghts who were named the Poor Knights of the Holy City then the Templers because they had their first Lodging or Quarters near the Temple of Jerusalem and for the same reason they likewise called those Houses they had in France Temples and so in other Countries Their Order received its Confirmation Rules and Habit at the Council of Troyes in the year 1127. Their Rules were contrived by St. Bernard and their Habit was to be white for the Knights and black or grey for the Servants Their number was then but small but it increased in a while to three hundred I mean of Knights alone for the Servitors were almost innumerable The Order de Premonstre was instituted in Anno 1120. by Norbert who was afterwards promoted to the Archbishoprick of Magdebourg That of the Carmelites did not begin till the year 1181. as you shall find in the other Age. The Orders of the Chartreux de Grandmont de Cisteaux were instituted in the preceding Age as we have observed They were all in great Veneration because of their austerity the two first were so still for their horrid solitariness indeed both of them were reckon'd amongst the Hermits and besides they consider'd that of Grandmont for their rigorous Poverty The Friers Converts of this last they were named the Bearded because they wore great Beards having the management of their Temporal Goods would have the Government of the Order and bring the Priests under their Ferula or Lash but in the end they lost their Cause The Chartreux have to this day preserved their Cloister and their Discipline having ever avoided all Intrigues of the World Conversation with Women and the ✚ ambition of attaining to Prelacy Three Rocks which ever have and will be fatal to other Orders These good Fathers had so much respect for the holy Sacrifice of the Mass that within their Walls they never celebrated it but upon Sundays and Holidays nevertheless they sometimes allowed those that had an earnest desire to it to say Mass every day to such as were indeed devout We must not wonder at this practise which would appear strange in these days St. Francis in his Letters which are called his Testament ordains his Brothers that but one Mass be said each day in the places where they lived according to the custom of the Church of Rome Masses were not then the best part of the Revenue and Subsistence of the Convents and poor Priests The Congregation of Clugny had been an hundred years in very high Reputation but her Monks had made themselves a litle too dainty taking too much delight in being Clothed in the finest Stuffs providing against the Heat and Cold avoiding all Labour and the open Air and seeking the Shades and Rest They heaped up Riches with both Hands got all the Cures to themselves to have the Offerings and Tythes and obliged the Chapters and Bishops to bestow the Prebendaries of their Churches upon them In so much that when the Reformation of the Citeaux appeared and those new Friers were observed to follow St. Bennets Rule literally without omitting one single point labouring with their hands refusing to acept of any Tythes and behaving themselves with great submission towards their Prelats the Reverence and Devotion of the People turned to them Thus they acquired much Wealth as well by Gifts presented to them as by their assiduous Labour there being in some of their Houses two or three hundred Friers that clear'd the Lands of the Woods and other Lets to Tillage drained the Fens and Bogs digged and planted and withall lived with great Frugality Being very poor in their beginning Pope Innocent would have them exempted from paying Tythes for their Lands a favour that was allowed to some Abbies the Lazar-Houses Canons Regulars and the Kinghts Templers and Hospitallers Now as their great Thriftiness and Gifts of Pious People did furnish them wherewith to make new Purchases the Prelats made great complaint of this Covetousness which did with-hold from them what they believed to be justly theirs by Divine Right The Monks of Clugny who were much perjudic'd or impair'd by them because they had the Tythes in divers places made loud complaints and a great stir wherever they could come to be heard so that in fine the Council of Latran which was held in the year 1115. restraining that Priviledge to the acquisitions they had already made This Difference joyn'd with the jealousie of growing too powerful prompted these two Congregations to decry each other Both of them were very Potent the Popes and Kings took their Counsels gave them notice of their good or ill success recommended themselves to their Prayers in all their great Undertakings and made them large Gifts and Presents to be Associates and Partakers of the Merits of their Societies That of Clugny had acquir'd much Renown by the desert and reputation of four or five of her first Abbots but lost a little by the irregularity of Ponce who squandred away a great part of the Wealth of that rich Abby on the contrary the Cisteaux encreased so much in Credit by the Reputation of her St. Bernard that those Monks were the Agents or the Organs of all the weighty Affairs of those times I must tell you here if I have not mentioned it already that the Will of the Parents made the
John of Salisbury who governed the Church of Chartres the first in the beginning of this Century and the last towards the end Godfrey d'Amiens of whom we shall speak hereafter Peter of Poitiers who courageously opposed William VIII Duke of Aquitain who would force him to absolve him of the Excommunication wherewith he was fetter'd Gilbert Poree who held the same See as Peter but Twenty five years after Arnoulf Bishop of Lisieux Robert de Beauvais he was the Son of Hugh Duke of Burgundy John surnamed de la Grille who transferr'd the Bishoprick of Quidalet to that place now called St. Malo's Simon de Noyon and Guerin de Senlis In the time of Simon whilst he was at Jerusalem with King Louis VII in the year 1146. the Church of Tournay was cut off from that of Noyon to which it had been joyned in the days of St. Medard and had for their first Bishop Anselme who was Abbot of St. Viucent of Laon Guerin de Senlis was very great in the Reign of Philp II. and of Louis VIII Keeper of the Seals under the first Chancellor under the second I shall conclude with four Bishops of Paris whose Memory ought to be dear to that great City and the whole Gallican Church Stephen de Garlande Peter Lombard Maurice and Odon These two last bare the name of Sully Maurice because he was a Native of that place but of very poor Parents Odon because he was of that illustrious House Issue of the Earls of Champagne Stephen had been Chancellor of France under Louis VI. Peter Lombard was called the Master of Sentences from that Book so well known through all Christendom and which was the Foundation of all School-Divinity Maurice had a noble Soul liberal and magnanimous He founded the Abbies de Herivaux and de Hemieres as likewise two Monasteries for Virgins Gif and Hieres and laid the Foundation of the Church Nostre-Dame one of the greatest Buildings to be seen in France Odon his Successor finisht it and founded a Monastery for Women of the Order de Cisteaux at Port Royal being assisted in that Pious Work by the Liberality of Matilda Daughter of William de Garland He laboured also to root out an ancient but ridiculous Custom which had been suffer'd in the Church of Paris and in divers others of the Kingdom It was the Holy-day or Feast of Fools in some places they called it the Festival of Innocents It was observ'd at Paris principally upon the day of the Circumcision the Priests and Clerks went in Masquerade to Church where they committed a thousand Insolencies and from thence rode about the Streets in Chariots mounted upon Theaters or Stages singing the most filthy Songs and acting all the tricks and postures the most impudent Buffoons are wont to shew to divert the Rascally and Sottish Populace Odo or Odon endeavour'd to put down this detestable Mummery having to that effect obtain'd an order of the Popes Legat who made his Visitation there but we may well believe that his desire had not its full accomplishment that Custom lasting Two hundred and fifty years afterwards for we find that in the year 1444. the Masters of the Faculties of Divinity at the request of some Bishops wrote a Letter to all the Prelats and Chapters to damn and utterly abolish it and the Council of Sens which was held in Anno 1460. does yet speak of it as an Abuse which ought to be Retrencht The Bishops labour'd assiduously to edifie and instruct the Faithful by their Works and Doctrine most part of them have left their Writings whereof many have been published the rest as yet lie hid in several Libraries And truly as this Age was not ingrateful to Persons of Merit the liberty of Elections giving them opportunities to reward them there were more Men of worth and parts to be found then had been heard of in a long time who improved the Sciences with good success and drew an incredible number of Students to learn Philosophy and Divinity at Paris Human Learning or Les belles Lettres made some Attempts and Essays to raise it self which were not altogether in vain It appears in the Writings of Hildebert of John of Salisbury and Stephen de Tournay Peter Comester or the Eater Dean of the Church of Troyes and afterwards a Monk of St. Victors compiled the Ecclesiastical History and he was called the Master of it and Elinand Native of Beauvais a Monk of Froidmont wrote the Universal History to the year 1212. in Forty eight Books We have three Latin Poets or Versisicators who are not to be despised Galternus William le Breton and Leonius The first made a Poem of Alexanders famous Exploits which he Intitled Alexandreides Le Broton in imitation composed the Philippides containing the History of Philip Augustus and Leonius made himself known by several Copies which though not very long are gentile and full of Wit He was Canon of St. Victor I shall not set down all those whom in this Age the Church put into her number of Saints but only the two Bernards the one being the first Abbot de Tiron of St. Bennet's Order and the other Abbot of Clervaux whose Wit and clear Judgment his Zeal and Piety his Conduct and Capacity in business of the greatest weight made him appear with more luster then any other in his time Three Institutors of new Religious Orders Robert Abbot de Molesme that of the Cisteaux Stephen that of Grandmont and Norbert that de Premonstre Five Bishops Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury whom I place amongst the French though he were a Native of the Valley d'Aost because he Studied in France and was Abbot du Bec Peter Abbot de la Celle then Bishop of Troyes another Peter Bishop of Poictiers Aldebert de Brabant Bishop of Liege and Godfrey Bishop of Amiens They relate an action of this last which our times would sooner wonder at then imitate It was the Mode then for such as would be Gallants to wear long Hair curled and tressed this courageous Prelat one time refuses to admit any to the holy Table who came tricked up in that fashion and that refusal put them to such shame and confusion that they all cut it off themselves chusing rather to lose that vain Ornament of their Heads then the Comfort of eating the holy Bread of Angels When he found them so well disposed he admitted those as Men and Christians whom he before had turned away as dissolute Women or Men wholly effeminated About the year 1180. the People Reverenced a certain Maiden as a Saint whose name was Elpide or Alpaida dwelling in the Village du Cudot in the Diocess of Sens who for Ten years together would swallow nothing but the Sacred Host and though a simple Country Girl had great light and knowledge of things Natural and Divine This debility hapned after a severe fit of Sickness which had turned all her Body into a corrupt and stinking purulent Matter extreamly infected I
better to spoil and ruine the whole Countrey about Toulouze pull down the Houses root up the Vineyards and burn the Corn which so disheartned the Toulousains that both they and their Earl were forced to submit to what conditions he pleased Year of our Lord 1228 The Treaty was chalked out at Meaux and compleated at Paris the Earl and Deputies of Toulouze being present The Earl was deprived of all his Lands excepting some little fragments they for meer pity left him It was order'd they should all devolve to his Daughter Jane who should be Married to Alphonso the Kings Brother into whose custody she was put forthwith That the Earl should pay Seventeen thousand Marks of Silver part to the King some to the Monks de Cisteaux and the rest for a Foundation of Doctors in Divinity at Toulouze That the Walls of that City and of Thirty more should be demolish'd for performance whereof he should give Hostages and in the mean time remain prisoner That there should be an exact search after Heretiques at his charge and that for pennance he should go and make war five years against the Saracens These Articles Signed he and those of his company that had been Excommunicated were at Nostre-dames of Paris upon Good-Friday bare-footed in their Shirts to receive Absolution of the Popes Legat. That done the Earl returned prisoner to the Tower of the Louvre till he had given his Hostages About the Feast of Pentecost the King gave him the Order of Knighthood and sent him into his own Countrey The Legat went with him and setled the Inquisition which exercised great severities and was again the cause of many troubles and Massacres Year of our Lord 1228 The Male-contented could not disgest that the Government should be in the hands of two Strangers a Spanish Woman and an Italian Cardinal they therefore took up Arms again drew to their party Robert Earl of Dreux elder Brother to the Duke of Bretagne and Philip Earl of Boulogne the Kings paternal Uncle to whom they promised the Crown so that the King feared a second time to be involved by this conspiracy and had been surprized if the Earl of Champagne had not run seasonably to him with 300 * Horse-men to bring him off In Spring the Conspirators turned all their Force against the Earl of Champagne and Brie They demanded those Counties of him for Alix Queen of Cyprus Daughter of his Uncle Henry who died in the Levant and more then that called him Traytor and accused him of having poysonned the deceased King proffering to convict him by Duel a reproach that made him so black and loathsome amongst his Vassals that they joyned in League with his Enemies against him The Count finding so heavy a burthen on his Shoulders and his City of Troyes besieged implores the assistance of the Queen Regent who caused the King to march to his relief and commanded them if they had any thing to say against the Earl they should come and require justice upon him in her Court But they who would not acknowledge her Regency as if the Kingdom had been vacant elected in a private Assembly or Cabal the Lord de Coucy for King who was in great reputation for his Wisdom and Justice The Queen Regent having got intelligence gave immediate notice of it to Philip Earl of Boulogne whom they had made believe they would give the Crown to by this means she took him off from them then by divers politique contrivances made all their designs vanish but not their ill intentions Year of our Lord 1228 For a few days afterwards the Duke of Bretagne by their assistance and Councils took up Arms again and called the King of England to his aid who landed in Bretague with considerable Forces but when he saw the King conducted by the Queen Regent had taken the Castle de Belesme au Perche from the Duke which was held impregnable he Shipp'd himself again The Duke thus abandonned was constrained to betake himself to an agreement Year of our Lord 1229 The very next year he broke it but not without punishment the King having taken all his Holds and Places and gained all his Vassals and Friends shuts him up in his City of Nantes so that to get out of the Briars and make the best of a bad bargain he was forced to render him hommage of Allegiance for the Dutchy The Bretons who pretended they owed but ouly single Homage named him because of his so doing Mau-clerc as who should say Witless or wanting Judgment and Understanding Thibauld Earl of Champagne was ill rewarded for the good services he had done the Queen Regent She took in hand the cause of her Cousin Alix and condemned him to pay her Forty thousand Marks of Silver and sell to the King to raise that Money the Counties of Blois Chartres Sancerre and the Vicount of Chasteaudun Year of our Lord 1230 After all these disorders there was a calm and peace for four years which was only a little disturbed by some tumults caused by the remainders of the Albigensis and the hurly-burlies of the Scholars belonging to the University of Paris It was then the fairest Ornament of the Kingdom and the innumerable numbers of Scholars that flocked thither from all parts of Europe brought great riches to that City which in a manner made all the other Universities in Christendom submit to it Now some of them having been ill handled in some scuffle with the Citizens and not obtaining such satisfaction as they desired they all resolved to quit Paris not without having first published a great many Songs and Licentious Poems which fullied the reputation of the Queen Regent and Cardinal Romain the Popes Legat who swayed her The Duke of Bretagne and the King of England proffer'd to receive them into their Countries and to grant them great priviledges but the Kings Council fearing that capital City might be deprived of so great an advantage and benefit found means to allay their heats and keep them there Year of our Lord 1231. and the following The Inhabitants of Marseilles and the adjacent Countreys being revolted against Raimond Berenger Earl of Provence called in Raimond Earl of Toulouze to Command them because he was next Heir For we must know that Gilbert Earl of Provence and Nice had had two Daughters Faidide who Married Alphonso Great Great Great Grandfather of Raimond de Toulouze and Douce that had married Raimond Berenger Earl of Bacelonna from whom was descended the Earl of Provence now mentioned He therefore accepted of their Homage and acted as their Lord whence follow'd a War that lasted four years between those two Cousins This Earl of Provence having been harrass'd by divers Revolts and other misfortunes was at the end of his days made compleatly happy by the Marriage of four Daughters he had by his Wife Beatrix of Savoy a most Virtuous Princess For all four of them had the honour to be Married to Kings Margret who was
Ambassadors thither before received tidings when he was got to Turin that the Pope and the Fathers had Excommunicated him with Candles extinguished and degraded him for divers things imposed upon him amongst others That he detained the Church-Lands That he had intelligence with the Saracens That he erred in divers Articles of Faith Year of our Lord 1245 After this deposition all his Affairs crumbled to nothing in an instant The Milaneses beat him the other Christian Princes took an aversion for him as an impious person even the Germans that they may not reproach the French for contributing to ruine the Empire rejected him and for King of the Romans elected Henry VII Landgrave of Hesse and Turingia when as the King in an enterview he had with the Pope at Clugny endeavour'd to make up the breach by an agreement betwixt this unfortunate Emperour and the Roman Church by virtue of a Procuration he had from him Year of our Lord 1245 This year 1245. died Raimond Berenguier Earl of Provence having by his Testament constituted Beatrix his fourth Daughter his Heiress James King of Arragon caused some Forcesto march into Provence to secure so good a party for his Son But the King of France did not intend to let a stranger run away with such a prize He therefore drove the Arragonians out of that Countrey and by consent of the Daughter as well as her Mother and her Uncles the Earl of Savoy and the Arch-Bishop of Lyons he so order'd it that she was promised to her Brother Charles who was Earl of Anjou The Marriage was not consummated till the year following Year of our Lord 1245 The same year on the First of December died also Jane Countess of Flanders without having had any Children by her Second Husband Thomas Earl of Savoy no more then by her First who was Ferrand of Portugal her Sister Margaret succeeded her This Margret had had Children by two Husbands John and Baldwin by Bouchard d'Avesue her first Husband and William John and Guy by William de Dampierre her Second These pretended that the Sons of Bouchard ought not to inherit because it had been discover'd that he was in Holy Orders when he married their Mother and for that reason the Marriage was declared null Year of our Lord 1246 Those of the first Bed observing the Mother favoured the others had recourse to the King He sent both parties to a Parliament at Peronne and therein it was ordained that those of the first Bed should have Hainault and the others should have Flanders Year of our Lord 1246 The pretended King of the Romans Henry Landgrave of Hesse being dead in Battle or of sickness the Germans who persisted obstinately under the pretence of Biety to ruine the dignity of the Empire elected the year following William Earl of Holland potent in Friends and Alliances whilst Frederic was strugling with his misfortunes and his enemies in Italy Year of our Lord 1247 and 48. The Duke of Burgundy and some French Lords were Leagued with him to defend the Liberties of their Countreys against the usurpations of the Court of Rome being supported by this League he leaves Lombardy to come to Lyons whether to invest the Pope or to molâ—ifie him by his Prayers but he was recalled by a blow the Milanese had given his bastard Son Entius whom he had left in Parma These Affairs and the great preparations for War detained the King till the month of May of this year from accomplishing the Vow he had made three years before It cannot be written in Characters â—o great as it deserves how this pious King being perswaded that Sovereigns are responsable by Laws both Divine and Humane for all the miscarriages of their Officers caused it to be published thorow ✚ all his Kingdom that whoever had suffer'd any wrong or damage by any belonging to him should make it known and he would give them satisfaction out of his own I state which was performed punctually That done and having taken leave of the Holy Martyr and given the Regency to the Queen his Mother he quitted Paris being conducted out of the City by all the Orders in Procession He took his two Brothers Robert and Charles with him the Queen his Wife theirs and an infinite number of Princes Lords Prelats and Gentlemen He received the Popes Benediction in his passage thorough Lyons thence Year of our Lord 1248 he descended by the Rhosue and going on board at Aigues-mortes in Languedoc the 25th of August set sail two days after and landed happily in Cyprus the 25th of September where he past the Winter to wait for the rest of his Forces and Ammunitions In this Island he received at the beginning of December Letters from Ercalthay one of the chief Chams of the Tartars and soon after arrived Ambassadors from the King of Armenia Ercalthay sent him word how the Great Cham and a good number of his Captains had embraced Christianity and that he had sent him with a great Army to destroy the Sultan of Balduc or Bagdet the most potent of all the Mahometan Princes The Armenian Ambassadors assured him that this news was true and that their King had vanquished with the assistance of the Tartars the Sultan of Iconia or Cogny to whom they were tributary and cast off the yoke of those Infidels Year of our Lord 1249 The Saturday after the Ascension the Holy King having drawn all his Men togther from their Winter Quarters in the Island of Cyprus and received a new reinforcement brought him by Robert Duke of Burgundy came the fourth of June into the Road before Damiata in Egypt The Saracens expected him in good order upon the Shore he landed in despite of them and made them give way They being well beaten so great a fear seized upon them that the next day they forsook the Town after they had set fire to it in several places and carried off in Boats beyond the River Nilus all their Families and the richest of their Goods The overflowing of the Nile which infallibly begins some days before the Summer Solstice hindred the Army from going on at the same time to take the City of Grand-Cairo and kept them almost till the midst of Autumn in so much idleness as brought them into all manner of debauchery and dissoluteness Year of our Lord 1249 In the Month of September Alphonso the Kings Brother arrived with new Adventurers of the Cross Raimond his Father-in-law who had accompanied him as far as Aigues-Mortes where he took Shipping with his Wife died upon his way home in the Town of Millau in Rouergne giving all the demonstrations of a hearty Repentance He was the last of the Earls of Toulouze who had Ruled over the greatest part of Languedoc above 350 years His Daughter Jane being deceased without any Child by her Husband Alphonso his Lordships were re-united to the Crown in pursuance of the Treaty made in the year One thousand two hundred twenty eight The 20th of
November the pious King parted from Damiata and marched against the Saracens who had drawn all their Forces about the City of Massoura He encamped on an arm of the Nilus formerly called Canopus and in those times the Raschit which was not foordable whilst this was doing their Sultan named Melidin hapned to dye and till his Son could come they gave the Command to the most valiant of his Emirs or Satrapes who was Farchardin Year of our Lord 1250 In sine the French having passed over the Raschit gained in two several days two Battles against the Insidels wherein St. Lewis animated with a Sampson-like Spirit and Zeal did prodigious acts of Valour but in the first which was fought in February his Brother Robert was slain pursuing too inconsiderately the flying enemy thorough the City of Massoura Year of our Lord 1250 The Christians Army being Encamped near to Pharamia to refresh themselves Melec-Sala the Son of Meledin arrives with another Army which he had obtained of the several Sultans of his Religion wherewith he so beset the Christians stopping up all passages by which they were to receive Provisions that hunger and the distemper now call'd the Scurvy or Scorbut reduc'd them to a miserable condition In this extremity it was resolv'd to lead them back to Damiata but it proved too late the Army was utterly defeated in their march and the King taken prisoner with his other two Brothers Alphonso and Charles and almost all the Officers there were but very few of his who escaped from captivity or death This misfortune hapned the 5th day of April To this grief of the good King 's the Barbarian Conquerours added an outrage which touched him yet more sensibly than either the loss of his Army or his Liberty They scourged a Crucifix before him defiled it with spitting upon it and dragg'd it thorough the Mire However the Sultan Melec-Sala took a particular care of his person so that he restor'd him to his health again He also agreed a ten years Truce with him but thereupon being murther'd by his Emirs the King was likewise in great danger of perishing in the same storm of rage notwithstanding him whom they elected for Sultan he was named Turquemir preserved him and confirm'd the Treaty By those Articles they gave both him and all the Christian Captives their liberty with leave to carry away with them all their equipage they agreed to a Truce for Ten years and left them all they held beside in the Holy Land upon condition they Year of our Lord 1250 surrendred Damiata and should set free the Saracen Slaves and give them 400000. Liures ready Money It is remarkable that this generous King not enduring they should set a price upon his Person would needs have that sum to be the ransom for the rest and the City of Damiata for his and having notice that upon payment of the said Moneys the Saracens had mis-told and taken less then was agreed by a great deal he sent them the remainder immediately It is a Fable that he should give a consecrated Host to those Barbarians for security of his Word He would have exposed himself a thousand times to death rather then have deliver'd uphis God to those impious enemies It is true indeed that they afterwards coined Moneys with a Pix stamped upon it and the Sacred Host over it and that the same Figures were wrought in some pieces of their Tapistries and to this day there are the Figures of some Chalices Graved or Carved about the Walls of Damascus or Damas perhaps they meant to let the World know by these means and preserve the memory of it to future ages what Victories they had obtained against the Christians and how they had led their God in Triumph Year of our Lord 1250 The Sum paid and Damiata restored the King and Princes were deliver'd and embarquing upon some Galleys belonging to Genoua landed at the Port of Acon but for the rest of the prisoners such as were sick being in great numbers were knock'd at head and the remainders constrain'd to pay a new Ransom or to renounce It hath been said that the Barbarians put out the Eyes of Three hundred Gentlemen and that in memory of those Noble Martyrs that St. Lewis some years afterwards Founded the Hospital des Quinze-vingsts at Paris but this is no whit mentioned in the Grant or Writings for this Foundation and I find far before this time that a Norman Duke built one of the very same sort at Rouen only it was for maintenance but of One hundred blind People Of above 30000 Fighting Men who follow'd him in this Expedition there were hardly Six thousand remaining too scanty a number for any Enterprize Notwithstanding upon the Christians carnest intreaties who belonged to those Countreys and because he knew those Barbarians would break the Truce as soon as ever he were gone he resolv'd to stay some time and in the interim sent his Brothers Alphonso and Charles home into France Year of our Lord 1250 Whilst the Emperour Frederic was again drawing his Sword to be revenged on the Pope he died at Firenzuole the 13th of December perhaps stifled or poison'd by Mainfroy one of his Bastard Sons He left the Empire and Germany to his eldest Son Conrad to Frederic his Grandson issue of his eldest Son Henry the Dukedom of Austria and to the above-named Mainfroy the Principality of Tarentum But all that Race was extinct in a few years for having say some opposed the Holy See Year of our Lord 1251 When Pope Innocent had heard of the death of Frederic he went from Lyons where he had staid Six years and a half to return again to Rome Year of our Lord 1251 Upon the news of the pious Kings imprisonment a certain Apostate Monk by name Master Hungary pretending and affirming he had a particular Mission from God went picking up all the young Countrey fellows over the whole Kingdom to go said they and deliver their Prince and the Holy Land These new Brothers of the Cross were called Pastoureaux i. e. Shepherds or Graziers The Bandits Robbers Heretiques and all manner of wicked rascally people listed themselves in this crew who took the liberty to commit all manner of disorders especially against the Clergy and against the Jews The Inhabitants of Berry with the Nobility fell upon them and routed them some of them were hanged afterwards this rabble was dispers'd and vanish'd to nothing Year of our Lord 1252 Queen Blanch afflicted for the absence of the good King her dear Son and for the sickness of her other Son Alphonso who seemed incurable ended her days at Melun the Six and twentieth of November aged above Sixty and five years Her Son having sounded the Monastery of Maubuisson of the Order des Cisteaux for her She was conveyed thither in great pomp upon the Shoulders of the chief Nobility of the Court sitting in a Golden Chair her Face bare being cloathed in her
to it daunted him so much that he came and threw himself at the Kings Feet He could not however obtain his Pardon till after he had been detained Prisoner a year in the Castle of Beaucaire At his return from the Holy Land Edward passed thorough France and did Homage to the King Being afterwards gone to visit his Countries of Guyenne Gaston de Moncado Lord of Bearn refused to render him Homage Edward seized upon his Person and kept him Prisoner in his Train for a while From whence making his escape the King of England made complaint to Philip Soveraign Lord of Guyenne This King having summon'd his Parliament and Debated the Case gave Judgment in favour of Edward and compelled Gaston to hold his Lands of him The Viscounty of Bearn was Originally a Member of the Earldom or County of Gascongny which held of the Dutchy but had been dismembred and held by Lords who were the Issue of those Dukes till it came to the House of Moncado by the Marriage of the Princess Mary Daughter of Vicount Peter and Sister of the Vicount Gaston deceased without Children This was about the year 1170. The Princess being yet a Minor having put her self I know not for what reason under the Power of Alphonso II. King of Arragon in whose Dominion she had also some Lands was obliged to do Homage for Bearn to that King and to Marry William de Moncado which Advantage Alphonso procured him as a Recompence for his having brought about the Marriage between Prince Raimond Berenger Earl of Barcelonna his Father and Petronella Daughter and Heiress of Ramir le Moyne king of Arragon The Family of Moncado is one of the Nine most illustrious of all Catalongne and are said to be Issue of a Dapifer or Grand Seneschal to Charlemain Year of our Lord 1273 The Electors displeased to see the German Empire so long in confusion met together at Francfort upon the earnest intreaties of the Pope and without any regard to the opposition King Alphonso made resolved never more to make any Emperor that was not of the German Nation So that at that very time they elected Rodolphus Surnamed Rufus who had been Master of the Palace to Othocare King of Bohemia He was Earl of Habspurg a Family which as well as that of Lorrain were the Issue of the Earls of Alsatia and the Mayre Erchinoald He was raised to the Imperial Dignity principally by the Suffrage of Vernher Archbishop Year of our Lord 1273 of Mentz the only Elector almost that knew him and whom he had otherwhile obliged in some Affair of Importance Now it was the more easie for this Elector to do him this good Office because the King of Bohemia and all the other German Princes refused this Title as being much more burthensom then gainful or honourable Year of our Lord 1273 Many and different Subjects required the Assembling of a Council The necessary Regulation for the future in the Election of Popes the Refermation of Abuses in the Church and of Morality amongst the Christians the Differences about the Grecian Empire between Michael and Baldwin and for that of Germany between Rodolph and Alphonso the hopes to unite the Greek Church to the Roman and the pressing necessity for assisting the Faithful that were remaining in the Holy Land to which the Pope had solemnly obliged himself at the time he received the news of his Election Year of our Lord 1273 For these Reasons he had Convoked a Council in the City of Lyons which lies as it were in the midst of the principal Estates of Christendom He came thither himself about the latter end of this year 1273. and was visited by the King who let him have several of his Gentlemen and Officers to serve him for a Guard Year of our Lord 1274 The Council was open'd the First day of May in the year 1274. there were present Five hundred Bishops seventy Abbots and a thousand others as well Doctors and Deputies as Chapters Gregory presided accompanied with Fifteen Cardinals The Ambassadors from the King the Emperor Rodolphus and from several other Western Princes were there Those from Michael the Emperor of Greece arrived there at the Fourth Session and prescuted some Letters from him by vertue of which they were admitted to an abjuration of their Schism and a profession to follow the Faith of the Roman Church especially about the Procession of the Holy Ghost After that the Pope owned Michael for rightful Emperor of the East and forbad Baldwin to bear that Title any longer This was the end for which Michael had feignedly desired the re-union The Election of Rodolph was likewise confirmed but not till after King Alphonso had submitted and referr'd his Right to the disposal of the Pope upon Condition he might have leave which was granted him to take the Tenths of all the Clergy in his Kingdom to make War against the Moors Thus all the Reparations whatever happens are ever laid upon the Peoples Shoulders to make satisfaction who pay for all at last There were several Constitutions concerning the Elections Provisions and the Residences of Benefices They Treated about the setling many Differences betwixt the Princes and Cities in Italy It was Ordained That the Cardinals should be hence-forward shut up in the Conclave for the Election of Popes and they made very severe Decrees against Usurers by vertue whereof the King put them all in Prison thoroughout the whole Kingdom but soon after he released them upon the payment of some certain Taxes which he imposed upon them Which was to tell the truth only the way to teach them for the future to take the greater Usury that so they might have enough both for themselves and for him They granted likewise a great many Indulgencies and Priviledges to such as listed themselves for the Holy Land or did contribute their Money towards that Expedition and they suppressed all the Orders Mendicants excepting only the Preachers and the Minors The Augustins and the Carmelites were tolerated only till a more ample deliberation Two great and Holy Scholastick Doctors died in these times St. Thomas Aquinas Year of our Lord 1274 near Terracina as he was coming to the Council and St. Bonaventure in Lyons after he had been assistant there The first was of the Order of the Preaching Friers the other of the Minors and had been made a Cardinal by Pope Gregory X. Year of our Lord 1274 Philip tired with being a Widower four years cast his Affection upon Mary Daughter of Henry and Sister of John Duke of Brabant Married her at the Bois de Vincennes in the Month of August and Crowned her the year following in the Holy Chappel of Paris on St. John Baptist's day He would needs have the Archbishop of Year of our Lord 1275 Reims perform â—he Ceremony without any regard to the right of him of Sens who was the Metropolitan The 21th of July Henry the Fat King of Navarre died at Pampeluna his
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
other Captains As for him having fought very valiantly and not giving over till the very last extremity he then escaped into Arragon then came to France where he was received by Lewis Duke of Anjou Governor for the King in Languedoc Year of our Lord 1367 and 68. The Prince of Wales gained mighty reputation amongst the Sons of Mars for having Re-conquer'd Spain in one single Battle but little Honour amongst the better sort for having restor'd a Tyrant and yet much less satisfaction or profit For after the Tyrant had held him some Months in Castille upon the promise of quickly sending him wherewith to pay his Men a Sickness got into his Army and he was forc'd to return again very ill satissied and withall very much indisposed in his Body Year of our Lord 1368 After his departure the Tyrants rage redoubled by all sorts of terrible revenge The Castillians finding they were treated more inhumanely then ever recalled Henry The Duke of Anjou and the Earl of Foix did frankly give him all the assistance they could and du Gueselin and Bernard de Bearn newly set free upon Ransom raised Men for him In few words Henry besieged Toledo the Tyrant attended with Three thousand Horse came to relieve it When he was gotten near Montiel a Village situate upon the Hills which parts the Kingdom of Valentia from New Castille Henry meets him the Battle was fought the Fourteenth of March 1369. the Tyrants Forces ran away Year of our Lord 1369 and he saved himself in the Castle of Montiel There finding himself cooped up without any hopes of escaping he adventures to come to Guesclin in his Tent imagining by force of Presents to persuade him to let him slip away Henry comes just at the same time thither either by chance or otherwise they fell to words then laid hold upon each other and tumbled on the ground The Tyrant in the end was brought undermost and kill'd The manner is not well agreed upon nor whether it were done fairly this hapned the Three and twentieth of March 1369. Thus the Kingdom of Castille remained to Henry and those descended from him who hold it to this day The Widow of the Duke of Burgundy Daughter of the Earl of Flanders and the richest Heiress in Christendom was earnestly Courted both by France and England The Father designed her â—or Edmond one of the King of Englands Sons but the Grandmother Margaret French both by Birth and Inclination opposed that Match with all her power and had a design to fortifie the House of France She therefore pressed her Son with exceeding heat even to the threatning to cut off her Breasts which had given him suck This touched him to the heart he bestowed his Daughter upon Philip the Hardy Duke of Burgundy but the Nuptials were not compleated till a year afterwards The Prince of Wales had brought nothing out of Spain but great Melancholy a Mortal Indisposition and no Money to pay off his Army He therefore lays an unusual but very small Impost upon Guyenne The Lords his Vassals discontented with him particularly the Lord d'Albret advises the Tenants to make Complaint to them Having received their Complaint they carry it to the Prince and made him some Remonstrances thereon He rejects them in a very offensive manner Whereupon they had recourse to the King of France lately their lawful Soveraign The King entertains them five or six Months in the same disposition and humour waiting a proper juncture to declare his mind He was in the mean time putting every thing in order to that purpose making sure of the Gascon Lords and German Princes with his Money whereof either of them were very greedy drew the Soldiery to his service with the same Bait by the help of Guesclin in whom they reposed great Confidence and made up a Stock of Money by the imposition of Subsidies which the Estates assembled at Paris did freely grant him and which they raised with so much order and evenness that the People were not at all oppress'd Year of our Lord 1369 When he had warily taken all his Measures and knew withal that the Prince of Wales grew daily more Hydropick he granted his Letters of Appeal to the Gascons the five principal of them being the Sire d'Albert and the Earls of Armagnac Perigard Cominges and Carmaing This was signified to the Prince personally by a Knight and a Clerk but far from consenting to this Appeal he haughtily reply'd That he would make his appearance in the same manner as he had done at the Battle of Poitiers and caused them to be taken upon their way back and kept Prisoners charging them with the having rob'd their Host Year of our Lord 1369 At the same time Charles amused King Edward with some Complaints which he sent to him as if he would have brought things to a Negotiation The King of England returned words for words not thinking the effects were so near or that the French durst undertake any thing whilst the Duke of Berry and the other Hostages were in England He thought himself absolute Soveraign in Guyenne by the Treaty of Bretigny but as on his side he had not disbanded the Soldiers and moreover had committed divers Hostilities the King pretended that Treaty was nul and dissolved and that therefore that Prince remained still a Vassal to the Crown Upon this foot it was that he sent to declare a War against him and afterwards his Parliament being assembled upon the Ascension-Eve he sitting in his Seat of Justice made a Decree by which for Rebellion Contempt and Disobedience they declared forfeit and confiscated all those Lands the King of England held in France If Edwards astonishment were great to sind a Prince who was not a Man of his hands thus dare denounce War against him who had won so many Battles his displeasure was no less when he saw this Defiance brought him not by a Person of Quality as the custom was but by a simple Valet or Servant When he understood that the Lord de Chastillon and the Count de Saint Pol had seized upon Abbeville and the rest of the places in the County of Pontieu which were unprovided That the Barons of Gascongue even before the declaration of War had defeated his Seneschal of Rovergne That the Dukes of Berry and Anjou had attaqued Guyenne one towards Auvergne the other towards Toulouze That his Son the Prince of Wales being swoln every day more and more could not act but by his Council and that several Captains and Companies took Service under the French In the interim till he could raise greater Forces he sent him Five hundred Lances and One thousand Cross-bow-men under the Command of Edmond Earl of Cambridge afterwards Duke of York his fourth Son and the Earl of Pembrook his Son-in-Law who went on shoar at St. Malo's and cross'd over Bretagne on the other hand Hue de Caurelee brought him Two thousand Men of those he had in Spain and then
was almost the only Man who was capable of revenging him for all these Affronts to this end the second day of October he puts the Sword of High Year of our Lord 1370 Constable into his hands which Moreau de Fiennes too much broken with age and toil could bear no longer but gave him few Soldiers that he might only observe the Enemy and not fight them Du Guesclin who had another aim encreased the numbers at his own expence having sold all his Jewels and rich Household Furniture he had gotten in Spain to buy up more Soldiers After he had followed and annoyed the Enemy for some time he had an opportunity to be t up one of their Quarters near the Pont Valain in the Country of Mayne By this means having broke the ice he put them to a rout then defeated them piece after piece till even Knolles himself had much ado to escape Year of our Lord 1371 From thence he turned up into Berry and drove out the English who fled into Poitou cleared Touraine and Anjou and did the like in Limosin and in Rovergne Year of our Lord 1371 He also rendred a most important piece of Service to France having brought the King of Navarre to an Enterview with King Charles In the present posture of Affairs that Prince might have done a great deal of mischief by introducing the English into Constentin where he held Cherbourgh with some other places and into the County of Evreux which was all his own But he being as irresolute as malicious he neither knew how to keep his Faith nor break it to his own advantage Though he had made a Truce the preceding year he still deferr'd the concluding of the Peace by his Artifice In fine he suffers himself to be led to it when he had least need and was contented with the City of Mâ—ntpellier which was put into his possession Upon which Consideration he renounced the English Interest at that time when it would have been more advantage not to do it Year of our Lord 1371 In the year 1367. Pope Vrban V. had made a Voyage to Rome in appearance to give some Orders for the Affairs of Italy but indeed out of anger for that the Army going into Spain had oppressed and extorted a great deal from him After he had staid there two years and an half he returned to Avignon where in short time he died the 19th of December The Cardinals placed in the Holy Chair Peter Roger who was Son to William Earl of Beaufort in Valee and Jane Sister of Pope Clement VI. In the Month of May of this same year David King of Scotland Son of Robert Bruce died without Children Thus that Crown passed into the House of the Stewarts by one Robert who was his Sisters Son He ratifi'd the Truce with the English and prolonged it for thirteen years The Maritine Cities of Flanders being all filled with Merchants had no other Interest to mind but Trade Wherefore neither considering that of their Earl nor Year of our Lord 1371 the Kings they made a League with the English thereby to secure their Commerce which appeared more advantageous from that side then from the French Within a while after the new Constable had re-conquer'd Perigord and Limosin from the English the Prince of Wales though he could not stir but in a Litter draws his Men together at Cognac and went to besiege Limoges His Hurons or Miners of which he had great numbers having thrown down a great part of the Wall into the Ditches the Town was taken by Storm He was so enraged against the Inhabitants that he took cruel Vengeance even upon the very Women and Children above four thousand of them dying by the edge of the Sword This was his last exploit in War afterwards he retired very much indisposed into England where yet he languished three years When he was gone the Affairs of the English ran every day into decay the greatest part of the Lords and Commanders in Guyenne whom his Valour and Bounty tied to his Court going over to the French Year of our Lord 1372 He had left the care of his Affairs to the Duke of Lancaster who stay'd no long time in Guyenne but went over into England to be present in a great Council which was held about the concerns on this side the Water At his departure he Married the Daughter of Peter the Cruel and stiled himself King of Castille his Brother the Earl of Cambridge likewise took the youngest Sister to his Bed Year of our Lord 1372 This was to declare a Mortal War against King Henry who besides being engaged to the Crown of France resolved as well for his own security as out of gratitude to Year of our Lord 1372 serve it with all his power He knew the English were sending an Army into Poitou Commanded by the Earl of Pembrooke he put out a Fleet of forty great Ships to Sea well stored with Canon and Fire-Arms who lay in wait for the Earl of Pembrooke at the chops of the Rochel Channel The Fight lasted two days the Eves-eve and the Eve of St. Johns Feast the Rochellâ—rs looking on in cold blood not to be persuaded by their Governor to go out to the aid of the English who in the end were overcome and all either taken or sunk The Victors carried away the Earl of Pembrooke with the rest of the Prisoners into Spain all laden with Chains This was the Custom both of the Spaniards and Germans towards their Enemies the French and English treated theirs with more generosity and civility ☜ This disaster was the utter ruine of the English Party The Constable besieged Year of our Lord 1372 and took all places with ease After he had help'd the Duke of Berry in reducing St. Severe which was believed to be impregnable he came to take possession of the great City of Poitiers that opened her Arms to him The Commanders that kept the Field were all amazed at it but much more astonished upon the defeat of the Captal de Buch who marching to relieve the City of Soubise situate at the mouth of the Charente sound himself surrounded and taken by the Spaniards whose Fleet hover'd about that Coast No Ransom nor Exchange could persuade the King to set him at liberty a second time he was shut up in a Tower belonging to the Temple at Paris where he died four years after Year of our Lord 1372 The Rochellers could never agree with the English humour scarce compatible with any Nation whatsoever they studied how to withdraw themselves from their Government and for this purpose it was that the Spaniards kept so nigh to favour their design The Castle only hindred them the Mayor bethought himself of a Wyle Having given the Captain a Dinner he presented him certain Letters Sealed with King Edwards Signet out of which he read That they were ordered to make a Muster of the Garison in the Castle and the City Militia There
War upon the English and a very beneficial diversion for France Observe we hear a great mark of the power of University of Paris as they were going in Procession to St. Catherine du Val near the Hostel of Charles de Savoisy Chamberlain to the King some of that Lords Domestique Servants quarrell'd with the Scholars and coming insolently into the Church with their Swords drawn committed great Outrage there The University prosecuted this business with so Year of our Lord 1404 much heat that by a Sentence in Parliament to whom the King referr'd it three of Savoisy's Servants were whipp'd and banished and his Hostel or House razed by sound of Trumpet excepting his Galleries where on the Gate we have seen an Inscription containing the Fact which was obliterated when they rebuilt the House It is now the Hostel de Lorrain Year of our Lord 1404 The Treasury being quite exhausted by the Duke of Orleans who was a gulph that nothing could fill up or supply fast enough he called the Council together to give Orders for some new Levies John Duke of Burgundy who had taken his Fathers place opposed it publickly and thereby gained the love of the Parisians However the plurality of Votes inducing him to a compliance with the rest they laid new Impositions upon pretence of raising great Forces The Princes had agreed to lock the Money up in one of the Towers belonging to the Palace and no one was to touch a Penny of it without the knowledge and consent of all the Duke of Orleans for all this Engagement scrupled not to come one night with a strong hand and take away the best part of it Year of our Lord 1405 The Thirtieth of April Lewis Dauphin of France and Duke of Guyenne espoused Marguerite Daughter of John Duke of Burgundy and John's eldest Son his name was Philip was betrothed to Michelle the King's Daughter Year of our Lord 1405 When Bennet was confirmed in the Papacy he vexed the Clergy as he had done before and would have Levied the Tenths but he found the University in his way who put a stop to his Undertakings In the mean time his Soldiers having consumed all his Silver even his very Plate the Duke of Orleans because he had nothing else to give him went to Avignon to press him in the behalf of the King to labour for a re-union in the Church as he had promised For this purpose he sent a Legation to Boniface where they set upon him with so many reasons to consent to the Abdication that having nothing to reply he fell sick and died upon it His Cardinals elected Cosmo Meliorat who was called Innocent VII He likewise appearing to be well enough inclined to some methods of accommodation Bennet resolved to confer with him promising himself to gain him by his skill or by the strength of his genius which was prevalent Thus he went to Nice and from thence passed in some Gallies to Genoa being accompanied by Lewis II. King of Sicilia They were scandaliz'd both at Court and in the City of Paris at the too close Year of our Lord 1405 union between the Duke of Orleans and the Queen especially since the death of Philip the Hardy whom she ever dreaded and also because they took the whole management of the Government to themselves and oppressed and loaded the Kingdom with redoubled and violent exactions The Queen they said sent one part of it into Germany and employ'd the other in all sorâ—â— of profusions whilst the Kings Children were in a pitiful equipage and himself was left to rot in his own ordure without any care of undressing him or exchanging his foul Linnen They were not only hated by the People but the other Princes the Dukes of Burgundy and Bretagne retired from Court The King having a lucid interval and understanding the reason of his Uncles absenting and heard the general complaints against the Queen and his Brother he thought it necessary to call a great Assembly and sent for the Duke of Burgundy thither This Duke thought it unfit to come without bringing a good force along with him as well for his own security as because he knew the Queen and her Duke had a design to seize upon the Kings Children and prevent that double Alliance he would contract between his and them Upon the noise of his arrival the Queen and Duke take Alarm and withdraw to Melun having left order with Lewis of Bavaria Brother to the Queen to bring away the Dauphin and even the Duke of Burgundy's Children to the Castle of Pouilly The Burgundian who was arrived at the Louver gets upon his nimblest Horse with a good guard of brave fellows gallops thorough Paris without stop or stay and made so much haste that he overtakes the Dauphin at Juvisy and brings him back to Paris with his own consent and in despite of the Bavarian Year of our Lord 1405 This Rupture was followed with justifications on the Burgundians part who gave his reasons for this action in presence of the Kings Council and the University as also for his reproaches and the drawing of Soldiers together on either side All Paris was in a perpetual Allarm the Dukes of Berry and of Burgundy fortify'd themselves in their own Houses the Duke of Orleans breathed Fire and Flames and the Burgundian omitted nothing to gain the favour of the People The Duke of Bourbon and the University labour'd in vain to make a reconciliation the King of Sicily had as ill sucess but at last the King of Navarre and the Duke of Bourbon after several goings and comings brought it about the two Princes embraced each other in Paris and swore mutual friendship with their Tongues but in their Hearts quite other things lay hid Year of our Lord 1406 England was in a bad condition by reason of the Famine that pinched her and the defeat they received by Henry Piercy Earl of Northumberland who would revenge the death of King Richard The Constable Albret and the Count d'Armagnac had taken or by Intelligence and Money got possession of above Threescore places in Guyenne The Dukes of Orleans and Burgundy undertook to drive them totally out of France the first by attaquing them in Guyenne the other about Calais to which he was to lay Siege The Duke of Orleans lost both his time and reputation before Blaye and before Bourgh the Second after very great expences durst not approach near Calais Thus neither reaped any thing but shame and the Burgundian increased his hatred against the other whom he accused of having spoiled his design by craftily hindring the Levies of those sums of Money had been allotted for the payment of his Forces Year of our Lord 1406 The valour of the Mareschal de Boucicaut encreased the power and reputation of the French not only in Italy but thorough all the Levant The City of Famagousta belonged to the Seignory of Genoa they having gained it from the King of Cyprus that King
encreasing his astonishment he sent the Earl of Nevers his Brother to the King then the Countess of Hainault his Sister and afterwards the Duke of Brabant his other Brother who made several Journeys to Court to endeavour to put some stop to the Kings wroth but nothing less would serve then the Confiscation of all his Lands Year of our Lord 1414 Happily for him the King fell ill again In this interval taking breath a little he got a Garison into Aras the Princes brought the King thither and besieged the Town It made an obstinate defence perhaps encouraged by advice from some of the Besiegers So that their Army growing tir'd and weak by Sickness the Countess of Hainault took this opportunity and sollicited the Duke of Guyenne so earnestly who had all Authority in his hands that without consulting the rest of the Princes he granted a Peace to the Duke of Burgundy This was made about the end of September but the Agreement or Articles were not Signed till the sixteenth of October at Quesnoy The Conditions were very hard upon the Burgundian That five hundred of his Men should be excluded from the Indempnity That several Officers belonging to the King the Queen and the Dauphin who favoured him should be removed That he should not come near the Court without express Order from the King under the Great Seal and by Advice of the Council It was added That for the Kings Honour his Banner should be set upon the Walls of Arras the Governor displaced and the Burghers obliged to take an Oath of Fidelity to the King Year of our Lord 1414 We have not taken notice what the English did both by Sea and Land these two last years against the French as being of little importance nor how they Conquer'd several places in Guyenne the Earl of Armagnac and the Lord d'Abret siding with them because they had been banish'd from the Court The Animosity of that Nation would allow of no Peace with France but their King Henry V. the Son of Henry IV. who died of a Leprosie the twentieth of March in the year foregoing sought to make an Alliance with the French that he might be supported against the inconstant and factious humour of his own Subjects so that the Duke of York was come into France the preceding year for that very purpose In the Month of February of this same his Ambassadors came to make Overtures and demanded Catharine the Kings Daughter agreeing to a Truce for a year to commence from the Year of our Lord 1414 second day of the same Month. A strange Rheum called the Coqueluke tormented all sorts of People during the Months of February and March and made them so very hoarse that the Bar the Pulpits and Colledges became all dumb It caused the death of most of the old People that were aflected with it Ladislaus of whom we have made mention was become Master of the whole Kingdom of Naples but as he was too much addicted to Women and besides mightily hated for his Cruelties he was this year poisoned after a Villanous manner Year of our Lord 1414 He found his Death in the Fountain of Pleasure and Life Jane II. of that name his Sister Widow of William of Austria succeeded him she was then forty years old and nevertheless her many years were so far from quenching her Passions they rather inflamed them to the highest excess The Council of Pisa had ordained that another general one should be held within three years and in the mean time was continued by Deputies At the expiration of that time John XXIII had called one at Rome for the year 1412. which being not numerous by reason by reason of the troubles occasioned by Ladislaus was put off till another time Now the Emperor Sigismund being gone into Italy in the year 1412. about some Disputes he had with the Venetians the Pope sent some Legates to him to appoint the place and time for the Council They agreed upon the City of Constance on the Rhine and as to the time the Pope assigned it on All-Saints-day of the following year Year of our Lord 1414 Notwithstanding it was not opened till the sixteenth of the Month by the Pope himself The Emperor came thither upon Christmas-Eve and sung the Epistle at the Holy Fathers Midnight-Mass being in the Habit of a Subdean The second Session was not held till the second day of March following He was present at divers afterwards array'd in his Imperial Robes Year of our Lord 1415 In this Session the Pope sitting on his Throne being turned towards the Altar read a Schedule aloud wherein he promised and gave his Oath that he would renounce the Papacy in case the two others Gregory and Bennet did renounce or happen to dye Now whether this act were by compulsion or that he had done it without reflecting on the Consequences he immediately repented and fearing lest they should take him at his word he ran away by night to the City of Schaffhausen under the protection of the Duke of Austria Year of our Lord 1415 After he had wandred some Months from one City to another forsaken by that Duke and not able to find any that could afford him a secure retreat he was taken Prisoner brought back to Constance and deposed the eighteenth of May by the Council He then made a vertue of necessity and submitted to the Sentence very calmly Gregory did likewise submit to the Judgment of the Council and gave in his Cession by Proxy Bennet only remained obstinate and kept himself shut up in his Castle of Paniscole in Arragon till the year 1424. when he ended his days Even at his death he commanded a couple of Cardinals who had all along kept him company to elect him a Successor They put a Cannon of Barcelona in his place who took upon him the name of Clement VIII and King Alphonso caused this Idol to be adored for five years in hatred to Pope Martin with whom he had some quarrel then obliged him to lay down his pretended Tittle Anno 1429. Year of our Lord 1415 The Treaty concerning the Peace and Match between France and England was yet continued and three or four solemn Embassies were sent on either side They offer'd the King of England Eight hundred thousand Florins of Gold and to give up to him fifteen Cities in Guyenne and all Limosin as a Portion for the Lady Catharine He seemed to give ear to these Propositions yet demanded every day some new thing to hinder the concluding of it His design was to fall upon France his Subjects desired it with so much passion that the whole Kingdom would have risen against him if he had not satisfi'd their longing It was suspected likewise that he was encouraged to it by the instigation and correspondence of some Traytors at least he was assured he should have but half the French to deal with it being impossible for the two Houses of Orleans and Burgundy ever to be
had taken all the pains imaginable to find out some way to reconcile the two Parties perceiving as little faith on the one side as the other he retir'd into his own Country and renewed his ancient Alliance with the English only for his Year of our Lord 1418 defence When now he thought himself out of all trouble he found himself fallen into the greatest Peril Marguerit de Clisson Widow of John de Blois Earl of Pointieurs a Woman ambitious even to the highest Crimes never left provoking her Sons she had four in all to seize upon the Person of the Duke that they might enter upon the Dutchy of Bretagne which she told them was their Inheritance The Dauphins Council offended because the Breton did not Arm himself against the English Treated underhand with these Brothers and gave them Letters and Orders to prosecute their design To effect this they made use of all sorts of means to get into the Dukes favour went to visit him at Nantes gained great Credit with him by their Respect and Complaisance in fine engage him to go and divert himself at their House of Chuntoceaux in Anjou upon the Second of February Going thither with his Brother Richard unarmed and with little Company as being unwilling to give them too great trouble Oliver the eldest of the four causes him to be set upon and taken by forty Horsemen well armed who carried them away bound Legs and Arms to the Castle of Paluan in Poitou From thence they were removed from place to place all the year round causing divers reports to be spread sometimes that they died in despair at other times that they were drowned and lastly that for a Pennance they were both gone on Pilgrimage to Jerusalem there to end their days They had made account that if they could but once catch these two Brothers they should find strength and friends enough to get themselves into possession of the Dutchy but the Act was so base that even their most devoted friends were ashamed Year of our Lord 1419 to own it All Bretagne moved with the horror of the Fact and the lamentations of the sorrowful Dutchess took up Arms and sent her above Fifty thousand Men to recover her Husband In the absence of Arthur Earl of Richmond whom the English would not set at liberty the Bretons chose Commanders of their own Nobility to lead them Chantoceaux was besieged The Duke was not then there as they had hoped but Marguerit de Clisson and one of her Sons were in it The breach being made this Womans heart failed fear seized upon her Spirits she dispatches Messenger after Messenger to her Son Oliver to intreat him if he would ever see her again alive to release the Duke The Dukes Head was a pawn sufficient enough to answer for his Mothers notwithstanding he was so weak as to let him go But he had beforehand made him sign to what Articles he would The Estates of the Country never regarded them the four Brothers were brought to their Trial who were condemned to die their Houses razed their Lands confiscated and given to great Men that so they might never be recover'd again Year of our Lord 1419 During these Brouilleries King Henry had laid Siege to Rouen from the Month of June The importance of that City and the constant fidelity of her Burghers deserved some care should be taken to relieve them They first endeavour'd it by treating with the King of England concerning the Marriage with Catharine of France by the Mediation of the Popes Legats who for that purpose carried the Picture of that beautiful Princess to him Then that Project having failed he making too high demands they got some Forces together and carried the King as far as Beauvais but they were found too weak to attempt its relief The Besieged being in the greatest extremity make their address to the Dauphin this was the fairest Jewel of the Crown which was so near being lost he took no care for it considering the place as rather belonging to the Duke of Burgundy then to France What Miseries did they not undergo Thirty thousand died of Famine hunger forced them to eat their very Bed-straw and all the Leather they could come at The King of England refusing to receive them on any other terms then at discretion they undermined five hundred Rod of their Walls and in their extremity resolved to set fire on the Timbers that propt it and then sally out of the breach both Men and Women and take their fortune either in Death or Victory This desperate Resolution gave the King some apprehension he allows them tolerable Conditions and was contented with the payment of three hundred thousand Gold Crowns and three of their Chiefs whom he should name of those one called Blanchard lost his Head Upon these Conditions he confirmed all their Priviledges He made his entry the nineteenth Year of our Lord 1419 of January The taking of this City brought in all the rest of Normandy and that Province for some few years returned to the obedience of the English from whom it had been conquer'd two hundred and fifteen years past by King Philip Augustus They did notwithstanding negotiate between the two Kings and at the same time between the two Parties of Armagnacs and Burgundians A Truce for three Months Year of our Lord 1419 was agreed upon between the two Crowns after which there was to be an Interview near Melun to conclude on the Peace and Marriage Men of most Judgment foreseeing France must be ruined if it came to that never left off till they had made Truce betwixt the two Factions The Dauphin would have had it for three years the Burgundian for two Months only his aim was that if within that time he could make a full and perfect agreement with the Dauphin they might with their united Forces fall both joyntly upon the English when the Truce expired if not he would make a Peace with them that he might be the more enabled to quell the Dauphinois The first not succeeding well he comes back to Treat with the English To this purpose there was an Interview between both Kings in a Park prepared for it near Melun in the midst whereof they had pitched a Tent for the Conference The King of France being fallen ill at Paris the Queen supplied his place and carried thither but only the first time Madam Catharine whom the King of England sought in Marriage They met in this Tent frequently almost three weeks together the King of England coming from Mantes and the Queen from Pontoise where they were lodged The Dauphins Council knowing what they treated on sought to the Burgundian for an Accommodation and flattered him with a perfect Reconciliation The Duke did ardently desire it and therefore being pleased with that hopes he stood on higher terms with the English and would scare condescend to any thing that he demanded Thus they began to shew some coldness and then were picqued
all Normandy regained by the French or to speak more properly helped to recover it self in one year and six days The King desiring the remembrance should be preserved and that eternal thanks should be rendred to God ordained general Processions should be made in the Month of September of the same year and annually hereafter upon same day that Cherbourgh surrendred Year of our Lord 1450 After the King had given Order for all the Affairs of this great Province leaving only six hundred Lances and their Archers he turned towards Guyenne and this same year open'd the passage over the Dordogne by the taking of Bergerac which was besieged and mastered by John Earl of Pontieure and Vicount of Limoges He was one of the four Sons of Marguerite de Clisson who was restored to the Estate belonging to his Family by Duke Francis pursuant to the Treaty made at Nantes in Anno 1448. As the loss of the Battle at Fourmigny made the English lose all Normandy the defeat of the Bourdelois made them lose all the rest of Guyenne Amanjeu d'Albret Lord d'Orval going to scowre about the Neighbourhood of Bourdeaux with seven hundred Horse only there came forth ten or twelve thousand Horse and Foot English and Bourdelois who ran confusedly upon him as to a certain Victory D'Orval knowing whom he had to deal with charges them briskly puts them to the rout strewed the ways and Fields with a thousand of those giddy-brain'd Fellows and carried away a great many more to Basas Year of our Lord 1452 The following Summer the King who was still at Tours having drawn together a great many Men resolved to compleat the Conquest of Guyenne much crest-faln at that shock The Count de Dunois is Lieutenant General the Count de Pontieure Foix and Armagnac attaqu'd it at the four corners the English were beaten and gave ground every where so that having no more then Fronsac Bourdeaux and Bayonne the Count de Dunois having besieged Fronsac they capitulated to surrender those three places if upon St. John Baptists-day there appeared not in the Field and near Fronsac an Army able to give them Battle Which not having been able to do they executed the Agreement excepting only as to Bayonne whom they abused with the flattering hopes that the King of England was preparing to come and relieve it Personally The French Generals made their triumphant entry into Bourdeanx the Nineteenth day of June Year of our Lord 1451 In vain did the English struggle obstinately to keep Bayonne after some assaults the apprehension of being taken by Storm obliged them also to capitulate on Friday the Twentieth of August The Governor John de Beaumont with all the Garrison were made Prisoners of War and it cost the Inhabitants forty thousand Crowns of Gold to be spared The favour of Heaven was so benign towards the French or the Peoples fancies so strong that upon that same Friday they beheld a white Cross in the Air over Bayonne which seemed to instruct them that God would have them to forsake the red Cross of England and take up that of France This place being reduced the English had nothing left them in all France but only Calais and the County of Guisnes If we search into the causes of this so suddain and wonderful a revolution we shall find it was the neglect of the English in not well providing and strengthning their places their wont of good Commanders the hatred the People had for their scornful and imperious way of Government On the other hand the union and hearty zeal of the Nobles and all the French Militia the good order and discipline in their Armies the huge stores and provision of Canons and all sorts of Warlike Engines Pioneers and Ammunitions and the new method of approaching and attaquing of Towns by Works and Trenches but above all the Civil War that Richard Duke of York had kindled amongst the English Year of our Lord 1451 and 52. That Duke knew how to make such use of the disgust that Nation had taken against the Government of Queen Marguerite who was a French-woman as to raise himself amidst their discontents up to the Throne which he pretended was due to him rather then to Henry For he descended but only by the Female side from Lionel of Clarence who was second Son of King Edward III. and Henry came but from the third Son who was John Duke of Lancaster his Paternal Great Grandfather Year of our Lord 1452 These Divisions were calmed for a while upon the intreaties of the Lord de L'Esparre deputed from the City of Bourdeaux and the Lords of the Country of Bourdelois who taking distaste at some new Impost that was laid upon them offer'd to restore that Country to the English Talbot the bravest of that Nation and the most zealous for its honour being therefore landed in Medoc with four thousand Men was brought into Bourdeaux by the Citizens the Twenty fourth day of October and about the latter end of the year having received a like reinforcement from England he made himself Master of Castillon Cadillac Libourne Fronsac and some other small places besides The Bourdelois had taken their opportunity when the King was just going to engage in a great War against the Duke of Savoy who apparently must have been upheld by the Dauphin and by conseqence had correspondence in the very heart of the Kingdom Year of our Lord 1452 The Kings quarrel to that Duke was because he had agreed the Marriage of his Daughter Charlotte and the Dauphin without his consent This was the true motive of the War but that he might have some apparent cause he had taken into his protection certain Lords belonging to the Estates of Savoy who having joyned in a League against their Princes chief Minister named John de Compeis were for ever banished by a Sentence given at Pont de Beauvoisis The King advanced even to Fores to restore them but being informed the English were landed at Bourdeaux the Duke being come to wait upon him at Feurs he suffer'd himself to be overcome by his most humble submissions and agreed to a Peace Year of our Lord 1453 The following year he marched to Lusignan in Poitou thence to St. Jean d'Angely for the recovery of Bourdelois His Army besieged Castillon Talbot coming to its relief with six thousand Men was beaten and slain together with his Son His defeat caused the surrender of the City the utter ruine of the English Party and after that the regaining of Bourdeaux For they perceiving Fronsac Libourne Langon Cadillac and all the other Towns about them were reduced the King quartered at Lermont all Relief and even all Provisions failing them surrendred upon composition which the King would never have granted them if a great mortality had not swept away his Men. However the better to curb and keep this City which the interest of Traffick and reciprocal Marriages inclined to be for the English he banished forty
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
in his City of Ast with orders to bring him a re-inforcement of eight or nine Thousand men But Lewis who had some pretensions to the Dutchy of Milan having found a fair opportunity to surprize the City of Novarre had amuzed himself there leaving the King exposed to great danger And indeed it Succeeded but ill with him for Ludovic Besieged him in it before he could have time to furnish it with Victuals Though the Kings Army were very weak yet being on it's March he sent a re-inforcement of some Companies which came to him from France commanded by Philip de Savoy Earl of Bresse and another besides who were in eight Galleys to execute an enterprize upon the Genoese The Fregoses Enemies to Ludovic and the Adornes made him believe it very easie but it fell out very ill the Genoese Year of our Lord 1495 taking his Galleys in the Port of Rapalo and the Earl of Bresse who was advanced into the very Suburbs retreating with a great deal of shame The Confederates had in their Army neer forty thousand sighting Men Francis Marquiss of Mantoua commanded them in Chief the King had not above nine thousand at most yet they durst not attack him in the Mountains but waited for him at his descent neer the Village of Fornoua in a Valley of about a Mile and a half wide where he was necessarily to pass Fornoua is a Village about nine Miles on the other side of Piacenza The King being come to Lodge there the little River of Tar was between the two Armies sent to the Confederates to demand Passage and receiving no Answer he resolved to make Way with the Sword Theyca me to Blows on the Sixth of July the Confederares in less then a quarter of an Hour were beaten back to their very Camp with the loss of three thousand of their Men The Field was the Kings and this important Victory which did not cost him above fourscore Men and a small part of his Baggage secured him the Way to Ast He arrived there the Fifteenth of the Month very much harassed and tyred not so much by the Enemy who followed him at a great distance as the Difficulties of the Ways and the Scarcity of Provisions Year of our Lord 1495 Whilst he refreshed himself and walked from Ast to Quiers and to Turin the Florence Ambassadors solicited him for the Restitution of their Towns He commanded those Captains that held them to surrender them but he was so easy and so little absolute that very far from obeying him they presumed to sell them some to the Pisans and the rest to the Venetians The Confederates after the Battle of Fornoua had sent part of their Forces to the Siege of Novarre The Duke of Orleans had not turned out the useless Mouths soon enough and had suffer'd himself to be coop'd up in hopes the King would soon come and deliver him But as he had not oblig'd him over-much and besides had more Passion for a new Amour he had begun at Quiers then for the War he made no great haste but left him to suffer the extremest Famine Year of our Lord 1495 At length however he resolved to disingage him and came to Vercel with that Design His Army encreasing every day the Enemies were afraid and hearkned to a Treaty Whilst that was concluding they permitted the Duke of Orleans and three Days afterwards his whole Garrison more then half Hunger-Starved to crawl out of the City which was left to the Charge of the Inhabitants upon condition that if they did not agree upon the Treaty the Duke should return and put himself into the Castle which some Men of his had still in their keeping Some few Days after the Treaty being almost perfected there arrived a Party of sixteen thousand Swisse who came to the French Army The Duke of Orleans insisted highly to give Battle to the Enemy the gaining of it would at least have been so of all the Milanois He had been satisfied in his Desires had there not been more apprehension of the boldness of the Swisse then the Enemies Army for being double their own Number they might have seized the King's Person if they would This consideration made them think it more Prudence to conclude with Sforza They restored Novarre to him and the Port de la Spezzia and he promised to furnish a certain number of Ships and Men for the Conquest of Naples to give Passage through his Countries to pay the King four score thousand Crowns and fifty thousand to the Duke of Orleans to make Restitution of the eight Galleys taken by the Genoese at Rapalo and to admit the French to Equip their Fleets in that Port. The King's impatience was so great he had not leisure to stay till the Execution of this Treaty as soon as it was Signed he went away with all speed to Lyons to Dance Masquerade and make Love Sforza observing him so wholly taken up with his Pleasures not in a likely-hood of returning thither suddenly did not perform one Article of the Treaty Ferdinand King of Naples did for his part take the Advantages he ought of his Absence and his Carelesness All the Princes that were in the Italian League contributed to restore him to his Kingdom The Pope and Cardinal Sforza practised to gain the Cities for him by their Intrigues especially that of Naples The King of Arragon his Relation sent him two Armies One for the Land-service commanded by Ferdinand Gonzales the Vulgar called him Gonsalvo who assumed the Name of the Great Captain the other for Sea-service by Villamiarmo The Venetians did likewise set two Armies on Foot Grimani was Chief of that at Sea and Francis de Gonzague of the other but this arrived not till the end of the Year These crafty Politicians imagined that this conjunction would in time give them the whole Empire of Italy for Ferdinand engaged Brindes and Otranto to them and soon after Grimani seized upon Monopoli Mola Siponte and Trani The French could hardly save Tarenta the City of Cajeta revolted and penn'd them up in the Castle On the other side Frederic and Gonsalvo made themselves Masters of Regio of Saint Agatha and Seminaro Aubigny shut them up in Seminaro they sallied forth to remove him and lost the Battle This might have proved the Total ruine of Frederic had Aubigny pursued his Point home but he fell Sick by the intemperance of the Climat or his own Intemperance and the French Affairs languished with him Ferdinand was more Fortunate at Sea So soon as he appear'd upon the Coast with some Ships of his own and some belonging to the Spaniard Salerna and Malfus set up his Standard the Citizens of Naples who had not dared to stir for three Days together upon the fourth besought him to send some Men on Shoar Montpensur was so imprudent as to March out of the Town to attack them No sooner was he out but they shut the Gates at his Heels and scarcely
it publickly The Faculty of Theology proceeded farther they made a Decree to receive or admit no more Doctors hereafter that did not first Swear to profess and maintain that the Virgin was conceived without any blemish or stain A great victory for the Cordeliers to have thus obliged their Adversaries to swear what they never intend to believe or practise Alms being the only Revenue of the Mendicants they endeavoured to engross the Confessions and Burials of all Seculars to themselves that so they might get pr ofit both by the Living and the Dead They had two advantages above the Ordinaries the first was the Union of their Community all labouring with one mind and never quitting the design they have once propounded to themselves the Second the exterior mortisied and singular Fashion of their Habits So that the Churches belonging to those Monasteries were ever crowded with throngs of People and the Parish Churches almost deserted the Sheep forsaking their natural Shepherds and the solid Food of their true Nursing Fathers to run after the others Spiritual dainties In the year 1409. when the 〈◊〉 came to know they had a Pope of their own Order which was Alexander V. they seemed as it were transported and out of their Senses hurrying thorow every street so verily did they imagine they should dispose of his power to their own advantage And indeed he did grant them all they desired and amongst other favours a Bull to the four Orders Mendicants which augmented their Priviledges to such an excess that the University of Paris opposed it and lopp'd off all those from their Body that made use of them The Jacobins and Carmelites renounced all right to it but the Cordeliers and Augustins stood up for them The King was fain to interpose his Authority Proclamation was made by sound of Trumpet at the Doors of their Covents forbidding them either to Preach or to Confess So that Pope John XXIII revoked that Bull and the Council of Constance annull'd all those abusive Priviledges They did not desist from carrying on their Enterprizes and maintained that one is not obliged to be at the Parish Church Masses upon Sundays and Holy-Days nor to make Offerings to the Curates upon those Days that such as were obliged to have Masses sung whether for the Living or for the Dead did not acquit themselves of that Obligation if they had it done by the Curates only for as much as he was bound to do so by his duty That the Law of God did enjoyn the paying of Tithes indeed but that it matters not to whom they are paid provided they are bestowed for pious Works That Saint Francis did regularly once a Year descend into Purgatory and take forth all those that died in his Habit or of his Order That the Friers Minors might hear Confessions without approbation of the Ordinary and provided they made Confession to them they were not obliged to confess to their Pastor no not once a Year The Council of Basile condemned these Propositions as erronious and tending to destroy the Hierarchical Order The Devotion of the Rosarie and of the Virgins Psalter instituted by Saint Dominique but afterwards disused and neglected were restored by the Preaching of the blessed Alain de la Roche a Jacobin particularly in Saxony Belgica and the lesser Bretagne and soon after confirmed by Pope Sixtus IV. You may remember to this purpose that Lewis XI ordained in his time the Devotion to be paid to the Virgin at Noon upon the ringing of a Bell. Nor must we forget now in the Year 1475. he commanded the Feast of Saint Charlemain should be Solemnized which had been otherwhile ordained by Pope Paschal upon the request of the Emperor Frederic I. and afterwards received and approved by all the Western Churches Innocent VII Pope of Rome approved the Rule of the third Order of Saint Dominique Lewis Barba Patrician of Venice Abbot of Saint Justinas at Padoua reformed the Order of Saint Bennet in 1408. and instituted the Congregation of Mount Cassin Anno 1419. Saint Bernardin of Sienna attempted to reform the Order of Saint Francis and to bring them to a more strickt Observance which divided it as it were in two Branches that of the Observantines or the narrow Sleeves and that of the Cordeliers Conventuals or of the great Sleeves Some Years after to witt in 1425. the Blessed Collect Boilet Native of Corbie a Holy Sister of Sancta Clara did likewise reform the Monastery of Nunns of her Order She died at Ghent in the Year 1447. On the contrary the Rule of the Carmelites as too austere was qualified and moderated by Pope Eugenius III. in Anno 1432. in the same manner they hold to this Day who are called Mitigated The Brangling Cobweb Scholastick Controversies still kept the upper hand in the University Their Latin was gross and had only the Termination but not the Phrases and pleasing Air of the true ancient Roman Tongue The Greek was a greater Stranger yet then the Latin and more barbarous but both of them began to be refin'd and polish'd the Latin a little before the midle of this Age in imitation of Petrarque and other Italians who after him set themselves upon the Study of Elegancy and the Greek about the Year 1460. when the learned Grecians sheltred themselves in divers Parts of the West after the taking of Constantinople Gregory Tiphernas came to Paris in Anno 1460. and presented himself to the Rector to teach the Greek Tongue and have that Reward allowed by Holy Decree which was granted Hermonyme of Sparta came soon after and taught that Language to John Reclin who took the name of Capnion then Janus Lascaris arrived and by his politeness gave a great Gusto to all the most learned Men. After that many showed their Parts as Poets Orators and Grammarians in both these Tongues The Credit of the University appeared very eminently at the time of the second Schisme as well as in the first Who was as we may say the chief Promotrice of the Pragmatick Sanction so holy and to this very Day so much regretted by good People We have hinted how the Cardinal d'Estouteville reformed the abuses of this Body in the Year 1452. and how Lewis XI gave Order to John Wesel a Cordelier to labour to banish thence those obstinate contests which were between the Realists and the Nominals Wesel having therefore Assembled the Principal Officers and Heads of the University with their Consent and Advice contrived an Edict dated the First of March in the Year 1473. at Senlis which forbid Teaching any more the opinions of the Nominals and comma nded that all such Books of theirs as were in the Libraries should be chained up lest any should come to peruse them or transport them from that place There were few Learned men in France but like Bees came out of this fruitful Hive Amongst the Divines you have John Gerson whom we have mentioned who lived
a long time in this Age and retired to Lyons where he Died in Anno 1419. The Cardinal Dailly Peter de Versailles Bishop of Meaux Thomas de Courcelles Canon of Amiens a powerful and most admirable man for his Doctrine but yet more valuable for his modesty who drew divers of the Decrees of the Council of Basil William Forteon and Stephen de Bruslefer of the Order of St. Francis John Siret Prior General of the Carmelites Martin Magistri Doctor of Sorbonne and William Chartier Bishop of Paris who was maintained in the Schools by Charles VII And was a Good and Holy Man and a great Clerk Amongst the Curious in humane Learning I find Alain Chartier Brother of William out of whose mouth proceeded so many good Sayings and grave Sentences that Margaret Stuard Lewis the Dauphins Wife finding him one Day fast asleep in a Hall where she was passing thorow with her Train would needs do him the Honour to bestow a kiss upon him I find one Charles Ferdinand who being Born blind gave himself nevertheless so much to Study that he acquired a great deal of Reputation for his knowledge in Humane Learning in Philosophy and in Divinity He took on him the Habit of St. Bennet in the Abbey de la Couture at Manse There was likewise Judocus Badius Famous for many of his Commentaries John Bouteiller advocat in Parliament Author of the Somme Rurale Robert Gaguin General of the Order of the Mathurins Library-keeper to Charles VII and after sent on divers Embassies John de Rely Bishop of Anger 's who was Confessor to Charles VIII and harangued at the Estates of Tours for the three Orders Octavian de Saint Gelais of the illustrious Family of Lusignan who was Bishop of Angoulesme and began somewhat to Purge and Beautify our French Poetry I may add Peter Reuclin and Picus Mirandolus without borrowing any thing from Germany or Italy since themselves in their Writings own they had drank in that Fountain of all Arts and Sciences our University Trithemius relates that in the year 1456. there came a young Spaniard thither named Ferrand de Cordule Doctor in Divinity who astonished the whole University by his prodigious Learning for he knew all Aristotle by rote together with all the Law-Books also Hippocrates Gallen the principal Commentators on all those Authors the Greek the Latin the Hebrew the Arabian and the Caldean Languages Judicial Astrology much sought into and Studied but very little understood was in vogue and had great access in the Closets of King Charles VII and Lewis the XI Seven or Eight of their Prognosticks are to be seen concerning each of those Kings and 't is affirmed but perhaps not till after the events that they did foretel several particulars that came to pass The most Famous of them was Angelo Catto a Native of the Dutchy of Tarentum whom Lewis XI made Arch-Bishop of Vienne The Author of the Memoirs of his Life writes that going to King Lewis XI who was then hearing Mass at Tours he foretold the defeat and Death of Charles Duke of Burgundy the very day it happened at Nancy But if that had been true Philip de Comines who Dedicates his Memoirs to him would never have omitted it Printing was brought to Paris about the year 1470. by three Germans Martin Vlric and Michael very able men in that new Art In the beginning they used Characters that imitated writing Hand then Square or Roman Letters and some time after the Gothique or Lombard Letters and at last they came to the Italick and Roman Character Physick was likewise Cultivated with more success then formerly The Doctors of that Faculty knowing that an Archer of Bagnolet very much subject to the Gravel was condemned to Death for some Crime Petitioned the King that he might be put into their hands to try an experiment whether they could cut him and draw forth the Stone or Calculuos matter Their operation Succeeded very happily and the Archer survived a long time after in good and perfect Health During this whole Age France did not furnish the Church with any one Canonised Saint but there were many Illustrious Prelats The most remarkable of those that wore the Sacred Purple were Peter Dailly Grand Maistre of the Colledge of Navarre then Bishop of Cambray John de Roquetaillade Cardinal Arch-Bishop of Rouen Vice-Chancellor to the Pope and his Legat at Boulogne Renold de Chartres Arch-Bishop of Reims William d'Estouteville who was Legat in France and reformed the University Peter de Foix Arch-Bishop of Arles who had been of the Order of St. Francis Lewis d'Albret Bishop of Cahors who was named the delight of the'Sacred Colledge John Joffredy Bishop of Arras then of Alby John de Balue Bishop of Euvreux and William Briconnet Bishop of St. Malo's who all signalized themselves in the greatest affairs the six first being of noble Parentage and rare Learning Joffredi and la Balue of mean Birth that Son of a Peasant and this of a Taylor in Saintonge the former considerable however for his Erudition but la Balue only by his Intreagues and his Fourberies The Cardinal de Foix was he that founded the Famous Colledge bearing his name at Thoulouse with five and twenty Bourses to maintain Scholars We have had a very Learned Prelat from thence whose name will be sufficiently made known to all posterity without expressing it here Amongst the Bishops we may observe James and John des Vrsins Brothers and Successively Arch-Bishops of Reims Martin Gouge Son of an Inhabitant of Bourges who was Bishop of Clermont and to ennoble himself assumed the name de Charpagnes These three lived in the time of Charles VII whose affairs Martin administred and held the Seals till the time of his Death which happened in Anno 1444. Andrew Espinay Arch-Bishop of Bourdeaux had great Credit and Employments under Lewis XI Lewis d'Amboise Bishop of Alby John de Rely of Anger 's and Octavian de Saint Gelais of Angoulesme heretofore mentioned were considerable to Charles VIII The Clergy were but little vexed with Tenths during this fifteenth Age as well for the great respect which Charles VII had for the Church as because things were as yet so uncertain that the Pope who had ever raised them at discretion could no longer do it without the Kings consent nor the King without the Popes permission or allowance which neither of them did willingly grant to each other However in time they found out an expedient to share the Dole between them and strick the Ball very regularly each in his turn LEWIS XII Surnamed The JUST AND THE Father of the People King LVI Aged XXXVI Years compleat POPES ALEXANDER 5 years during this Reign PIUS III. Elected the 22th of September 1503. S. 26 Days JULIUS II. Elected the last day of October in the year 1503. S. 9 years and 4 Months LEO X. Elected the 11th of March 1513. S. 8 years and near 9 Months whereof one year and
that the Oldest were sometimes the most passionate would essay whether amongst the youthfull there might not be found one more Temperate And for this consideration elected John de Medicis Son of Laurence who was but thirty six years of Age. He took the Name of Leo X. There were two Opinions in the Kings Council the one to make an Accommodation with the Venetians the other to regain the Emperor Stephen Poncher Bishop of Paris was of the first such as would be complaisant to the Queen stood for the second This Princess passionately desired to marry Renee her second Daughter to the Arch-Duke Charles and this Advice had carried it if she would at that very time have given her up to Maximilians Hands to breed her and had not obstinately resolved to keep her near her self till she were marriageable Ferdinand on the other side fearing lest the Venetians should renew and joyn in friendship again with France endeavoured to reconcile them with Maximilian and propounded to get Veronna to be restored again to them but the Emperor demanded prodigious Summs of Money and very crabbed Conditions So that the Venetians not being able to come to an Agreement on reasonable Terms with him condescended to a League with the Kings Year of our Lord 1513 By means of their Assistance and during the Truce he had with Ferdinand he believed he might recover the Dutchy of Milan He gave Commission for this to la Trimoville the most renowed of his Captains together with sixteen thousand Foot one thousand Men at Arms and two thousand light-Horse to whom the Venetian Army commanded by Alviane newly deliver'd by the French were to joyn in case of need At his arrival though he had not much more then the half of his Men it spread so great a Terror thorow Italy that all the Places in Milanois surrendred to him excepting Coma and Novarre in the last of which Duke Francis Sforza put himself with five thousand Swisse At the same time the Fleet which consisted of nine Galleys and some Ships having appeared on the Coast of Genoa the Fiesques and the Adornes drew near to Genoa with four thousand Men and having beaten some Soldiery whit which Duke Janu Fregoso thought to hinder their Passage from the Mountains chaced away that Duke and restored that Seigneury to the Obedience of the King having caused Antonio Adorno to be created Duke to administer in his Name Year of our Lord 1513 The injoyment of this Conquest lasted not so long as the time they had imploy'd in acquiring it La Trimoville had besieged Sforza in Novarre and made a Breach but he durst not make his Assault because the said Breach was hardly large enough and there was another Body of Swisse coming to relieve the besieged There were two Opinions that divided the Officers la Trimoville thought it best to go and meet the Swisse John Jacques Trivulcio on the contrary to avoid fighting and wait for the French Troops that were marching to re inforce them The plurality of Votes made them resolve to pursue the first and for that purpose Trivulcio with the Van-Guard should go and take his Lodgment upon that Road whilst la Trimoville should remain yet some time longer before Novarre with the Rear-Guard to expel the Swisse if they endeavour'd to make any Sallies But having some Lands of his own in the Place they had assigned him to take his Lodgment and besides being proud and haughty his Pride and Avarice made him turn another way and take his Lodgment near la Riota in a Boggy Ground and cut up and down with deep Trenches so that the Horse could be of no Service nor be able to help the Foot Year of our Lord 1513 The Swifse that were in Novarre therefore marching forth in the Night which could not have been imagin'd and having joyned the others came with much fury to charge the French Army at the first birth of Day Their Charge was received with the like courage Fifteen hundred of their Men were slain and as many wounded nevertheless they gained the Victory and hew'd all the German Infantry in pieces together with the Gascons La Trimoville wounded in the Leg retreated with all his Cavalry to Vercel and from thence to Susa The burthen of the War fell afterwards upon the Venetians they maintained it well enough but all those Cities that had given themselves up to the French returned and submitted themselves to the mercy of Sforza and were chastized for their defection by great Fines which served him to pay the Swisse The Adornes who had not yet held the Government of Genoa above one and twenty Days having not wherewith to support themselves after such a revolution made their best advantage of it They assembled the People and having declared that they would not maintain an ambitious Government to the great hazard of their Country withdrew themselves out of the City most of the People and Senate conducting them forth with Tears and Wishes for their return By the interest of Cardonna General of Ferdinand's Army and upon the Popes recommendations Octavian Fregosa was â—etled in that Principallity and not Janus who was formerly expell'd Hitherto Maximilian although he had abandoned the King had not yet formally declared himself When he found the opportunity so fair he enters into open hostility against him and then was France in more eminent danger then it had of a long time been For on the one side the Swisse extremely puff'd up by the Victory at Novarre entred by the Dutchy of Burgundy and he with the King of England fell upon them in Picardy Year of our Lord 1513 The Swisse besieged Dijon with five and twenty hundred Men to whom the Emperor had joyned the Nobless of the Franche-Comte and some German Horse commanded by Vlric Duke of Wirtemberg La Trimoville having defended it six Year of our Lord 1513 Weeks judged it better to turn this Torrent another way which after the taking this Place would have overflowed all even to Paris than to render it more violent by thus putting it to a stop He enters upon a Treaty with them and manag'd it so wisely as to send them back into their own Country obliging himself that the King should pay them six hundred thousand Crowns and should renounce the Council of Pisa and the Dutchy of Milan He had no express Order to make these conditions but thought he might be allowed to do it for the saving of all France and thereupon gave them up six Hostages two Lords and four Citizens The King refusing to ratifie this Treaty their Heads were in great danger Only the fear the Swisse had of losing the great Summs of Money he proffer'd them saved the Lives of those innocent Persons Year of our Lord 1513 At the same time about mid July the Emperor and the King of England had besieged Terovenne with above fifty thousand Men. The French Army happily enough threw a Convoy of Provisions and Ammunitions into
into their Hands and retired to Mantoua The Emperor continued the Truce for five Years with the Venetians for twenty thousand Crowns they were to pay him each Year and the King desiring to fasten and secure the Confederation with the Pope by some fresh Ties gave up into his Hands again the writing whereby he had obliged himself to surrender Reggio and Modena to the Duke of Ferrara Christendom enjoy'd a most Vniversal Calm when She was troubled with two of the most horrible Scourges or Plagues that did ever torment Her Selim the Turkish Sultan having conquer'd Syria laid Ismael Sophy's Power in the Dust extinguish'd the domination of the Mamalucs in Egypt by the utter defeat and death of Campson the last Egyptian Sultan vaunted that in quality of Successor to Constantine the Great he should soon bring all Europe under his Empire and at the same Time the Bowels of the Church began to be torn and rent by a Schisme that hitherto no Remedies have been able to take away The first Evil gave occasion for the birth of the second Pope Leo desiring to oppose all the Forces of Christendom against the furious Progress of the Turks had sent his Legates to all the Christian Princes and formed a great Project to attack the Insidels both by Sea and Land Now to excite the Peoples Devotion and get their Alms Year of our Lord 1517. 18 19. and the following and Benevolence for so good a Work he sent some according to the usual Custom in such Cases practic'd to preach Indulgences in every Province This Commission according to the allotments made of a long time amongst the four Orders Mendicants belonged to the Augustins in Germany Nevertheless Albert Archbishop of Mentz either of his own Head or by Order from Rome allots and gives it to the Jacobins The Augustins finding themselves wronged in their Interest which is the great Spring even of the most Religious Societies Camplain make a Noise and fly to Revenge Amongst Year of our Lord 1517 these there was a Monk named Martin Luther of Islebe in the County of Mansfield Doctor and Rcader in Theologie in the Vniversity of Witemberg a bold Spirit Impetuous and Eloquent John Stampis their General commanded him to preach against these Questors They furnished him but with too much Matter for they made Traffick and Merchandize of those sacred Treasures of the Church they kept their Courts or Shops rather in Taverns and consumed great part of what they gained or collected in Year of our Lord 1517 Debauches and it was certainly known besides that the Pope intended to apply considerable Summs to his own proper use Perhaps it would have been better done to prevent these Disorders only to have reremoved the occasion of his clamor but the thing seemed not worth while to trouble their Heads about it In the mean time the Quarrel grew high and was heated by Declamations Theses and Books on either side Frederic Duke of Saxony whose Wisdom and Vertue was exemplary in Germany maintained him and even animated him as well for the Honor of his new Vniversity of Witemberg which this Monk had brought in reputation as in hatred to the Archbishop of Ments with whom he had other disputes He at first began with proposing of Doubts then being hard beset and too roughly handled he engaged to maintain and make them good in the very Sence they condemned them in They had neither the Discretion to stop his Mouth or seize upon him but threatning him before he was in their Power he takes shelter and then keeping no more Decorum he throws off his Mask and not only declaimed against the Pope and against the Corruptions of the Court of Rome but likewise opposed the Church of Rome in many Points of Her Doctrine And truly the extream ignorance of the Clergy many of them scarce able to read the scandalous Lives of the Pastors most of them Concubinaries Drunkards and Vsurers and their extreme negligence gave him a fair advantage to persuade the People that the Religion they taught was corrupt since their Lives and Examples were so bad At the same Time or as others say a Year before to wit in Anno 1516. Ulric Zuinglius Curate at Zuric began to expose his Doctrine in that Swisse Canton and since almost every Year new Evangelists have arisen in such Swarms that it would be difficult to number them Year of our Lord 1518 Every Day brought forth some occasion of difference between the King and Charles of Austria the Lords de Chevres and de Boisy met at Montpellier to determine them but the Death of de Boisy made that great Work be left imperfect William his Brother Lord de Bonnivet much less wise then he held the same Rank in the Kings Favor who made him Admiral of France Year of our Lord 1518 About the same Time John Jacques Trivulcio lost it and died for Grief at the Burrough of Chastres under Montlehery Lautree his antagonist had given the King an ill impression of him upon his being made a Burgher amongst the Swisse and his Brother and others of his Kindred puting themselves into the Venetians Service There had been some Seeds of division sowed between the King of France and the King of England their Counsels before things grew to a greater height thought sit to unite them by a new Alliance The Admiral therefore going to London made a Treaty to this effect That the King of England should give his Daughter as then but four years of age to the Daufin not yet compleatly one year old That there should be a defensive League between the two Crowns and that Tournay should be restored to the King of France who should pay two hundred and sixty thousand Crowns for the Expences the English had been at there and three hundred thousand more in twelve years time besides that he should acknowledge to have received other three hundred thousand for the Dowry of the little Princess The King not having the Money ready gave six Lords in Hostage and by this means got Tournay It was likewise agreed that the two Kings should have an entre-view at their convenient time between Boulogn and Calais In Maximilian's Councel it was judged more proper for the Grandeur of the House of Austria to give the Empire to the Arch-Duke Charles his Grandson then to Ferdinand his younger Brother to whom for the same reason King Ferdinand his Grand-father would not leave his Kingdom of Arragon who bred him in his own Court. And therefore Maximilian treated with the Electors to get them to design him King of the Romans but before he had accomplished that affair he died at Lints in Austria aged sixty three years the two and twentieth day Year of our Lord 1519 of January in Anno 1519. After his Death King Francis and Charles declared themselves Aspirers or Competitors for the Imperial Crown without shewing however the lest picque against one another Of the Capetine Race none but Charles
taken four Pieces of Canon Then believing they were half routed he imprudently went out of his Camp where they durst never have set upon him and goes on to charge them Year of our Lord 1525 He fell upon them with so much Impetuosity that at the very first he broke in amongst their Horse and with his own hand slew Fernand Castriot Marquess of Saint Angelo but the Arquebusiers they had mixed with their Horse put his to a Stop Then comes Bourbon and Lanoy who rallied their own and gave a furious charge The Duke of Alenson who cover'd the Swisse with four hundred men at Arms betook himself to flight and retired to Lyons where some days after he died with grief and shame The Swisse lying open made but a poor Fight and then withdrew the Lansquenets or German Foot who were but three or four thousand Fought to the last moment and were all cut in pieces All the Storm fell then upon the King His Horse being kill'd under him he defended himself on Foot some time without being known But meeting and knowing Pomperan he surrendred himself to him The Baggage and Cannon were taken eight thousand of his men killed upon the place amongst others Lewis de la Trimouille the Mareschal de la Palice Francis Earl of Lambesc Brother to the Duke of Lorrain Aubigny Sanseverin and Bonnivet this last too late as it was said for the good of France and divers other Lords of Note Together with the King were taken the Mareschal de Lescun René Bastard of Savoy these two died of their Wounds Henry d'Albret King of Navarre Francis de Bourbon Earl of Saint Pol the Mareschal de Montmorency Florenges Brion Lorges Rochepot Montejam Montpesat Langey Curton and a great number besides Upon the noise of this event the Garrison that was in Milan forsook it immediately and all the Dutchy fell to the Imperialists The next day after the battle Lanoy fearing the Souldiers might Seize upon the Kings Person to secure their Pay conveyed him to the Castle of Pisqueton and Committed the Guard of him to Captain Alarcon One cannot well conceive the divers effects the news of this great event produced all over Europe It caused infinite joy in the Court of Spain jealousie in that of England an universal affliction to France together with a marvellous consternation which was not much less amongst the Italians who with all their great wisdom and politiques saw themselves exposed as a prey to the Conquerour The French besides the particular sorrow every one resented for the loss of some Kindred or dear Friend did likewise participate in the common Calamity and apprehended lest France having none to defend her now they had lost their King the Flower of their Nobility and best Souldiers should be Invaded by the Emperours Forces Bourbons and the King of Englands The Venetians very wise in Adversity did endeavour their utmost with the Pope to form a League against this Torrent They were of opinion to raise ten thousand Swisse immediately to joyn a good body of Horse with them to exhort the King of England for his own interest to come into a League with them and to inform and instruct Madame in all these points who would not fail to contribute her utmost Cares The Pope consented to all and had given order for a Courier to go into England but the Spaniards having gotten the wind of it gave him such great assurance he should have whatever conditions he desired of the Emperour that as he was very irresolute and besides feared to be put to expences and never knew how to time his business he recalled his Courier changed his mind and made a League with the Emperour The Treaty made he obliged the Duke of Albany whom till then he had amused in Tuscany to Disband all the Italian Troops he had and Ship all the French at Cornet Port to send them back to their own Country lending him some Galleys for that very purpose those the Regent had sent not being sufficient to Transport them The Emperor having received the News of Pavia with great Moderation in so much as he would not suffer them to make Bonfires saying there was greater reason to Mourn for such Victories over Christian Princes then rejoyce it gave some reason to hope that he would make the same use of the advantage he had over his Prisoner in moderation towards him And indeed when he propounded to his Council after what manner he should Treate him His Confessor pleaded that he ought to release him generously and without conditions because it would be a most Christian-like Act worthy of a great Emperour famous to all Posterity which would make the King really his inferior and become ever obliged to him and would tye him more Strictly then any Treaty they could make with him But Fredric Duke d'Alva and after him all the rest of the Council being of opinion Year of our Lord 1525 he was not to be set free till they had so weakned him that he should be hereafter unable to give them any further trouble and that the abatement of his Power would be the re-establishment of the ancient Empire over Europe the Emperour declared that he was of their mind He therefore sent the Lord de Beaurien into Italy to propose to the King who was yet in the Castle of Pisqueton the conditions he desired for his release That he should renounce to the Kingdom of Naples and the Dutchy of Milan That he should surrender up to him the Dutchy of Burgundy which was the Patrimony of his Ancestors That he should give Provence Dauâ—iné and Lyounois to the Duke of Bourbon to be joyned with his other Lands and make them an independant Kingdom That he should Satisfie the King of Englands demands To which Francis replyed That a perpetual Imprisonment would be less severe to him then those conditions That they were not in his Power because they shock'd the Fundamental Laws of France to which he was Subjected but that he offer'd to take in Marriage Eleonora the Emperours Sister to hold Burgundy in Dower and Hereditary for the Children that should be Born of that Marriage to restore the Duke of Burbon to all his Lands and to give him his Sister Margaret Widow of the Duke of Alenson to satisfie the English in Money to pay a Ransom such as King John had paid and to lend him a Land Army and a Fleet whenever he would go into Italy to receive the Imperial Crown If the Regent mother to the King was troubled with grief she was much more so with Fear She apprehended to lose the Regency which Paris and the Parliament very ill satisfied with her conduct would have put into the hands of Charles de Bourbon Duke of Vendosme But that Prince either out of discretion or fear which in this circumstance made it vertue and merit seeing his Family already too hateful in the Kings Eyes refused to take it upon him He went
three Counties and in the mean time the King declared all the Vassals in those Countries acquit and discharged from their Oathes to him from all Faith and Homage and enjoyned them to serve the King upon the Penalty of Forfeiture of their Fiefs and to be Proclaimed Rebels whereof publication to be made upon the Frontiers The Heraulds went therefore to Summon Charles by posting up Papers and making Proclamation He replied fuming with rage that since they recalled him into France he would return thither with such powerful Justifications as would Year of our Lord 1537 make the Treaties to be duely observed and in the mean while for Comparition Adrian de Crouy Count de Roeux having drawn together the Commons of the Low-Countries came and ransacked the Frontiers of Picardy This proceeding of the Kings was variously spoken of but none could approve of the Alliance he made with Solyman the Enemy of Christendom as well to defend himself against the Emperor as in hatred to the Venetians with whom he was extreamly offended for having despised his Amity and the offer he made to share Milanois with them One might nevertheless in some Measure excuse this League of a Christian King with an Infidel not only by the example of the Kings of Spain Grand-Fathers of this Emperor who had contracted the like with Mahometan Kings but even by that of the Emperor himself who had endeavour'd earnestly to do the same with Solyman so that he was no less guilty in that particular but less prevalent or skilful or less fortunate then Francis The Kings attempts did not answer this grand Arrest or Decree of his Parliament He took only Hesdin and Saint Paul and having spent his first Fire returned in the beginning of May to Paris leaving his Army with the Count de Saint Paul and order to Fortifie the City of the same name where they put three Thousand Men in Garrison So soon as he was retired the Enemies being Assembled forced that City and received that of Monstreuil upon Composition but they could gain nothing at Terouenne the Dauphin and Montmorency having got their Troops together timely enough to Relieve it as they did During this Siege a Conference was held at the Village of Bommy at the solicitation of the two Queens Eleonora of France and Mary of Hungary where the Deputies agreed upon a Cessation of all hostilities for three Months in the Low-Countries that they might endeavour to bring about a Peace Some believed the King accepted of it to Transport all his Forces into Italy pursuant to the Treaty made with the Turks who at the same time were to fall upon the Kingdom of Naples In effect the Emperor Solyman did himself lead an Army of One Hundred Thousand Men into Albania from whence he sent Lusti-Bacha and Barbarossa to Cruise upon those Coasts and discover the Country resolved to follow them as soon as they had gained any Port but when he found that the King was making War in Flanders he returned with great Indignation that he should break his word with him As for Barbarossa having no certain News of the King he was fallen upon the Island of Corfu belonging to the Venetians where finding the Places too well provided he ruined the open Country and carried Sixteen Thousand Souls into Captivity The same Summer King Ferdinand received two great Foiles by the Turks the one at Belgrade in Hungary the other before a City in Dalmatia where his two Armies besieging those two places were shamefully defeated In the Interim it hapned in Piedmont as well by the little esteem the Soldiers had of Humieres as the particular quarrels amongst the other Officers and the Mutinies of the Lansquenets the French Forces were dissipated Humieres was retired into Pignerol to wait for Supplies from France and had quitted the Field to Du Guast who had retaken several Towns and almost the whole Country of Salusses The Marquess whom we told you had so unworthily forsaken the French Party was kill'd with a Cannon Bullet at the Siege of Carmagnoles His death so enflamed the fury of the Soldiers that they forced the Place and Du Guast to revenge his death hanged the Captain The Love of Liberty could not be so soon effaced out of the hearts of the Florentines One that was of Kin to the new Duke Alexander named Laurence de Medicis slew him in his own Chamber whither he had allured him with the hopes of meeting a certain Lady for whom he had a great passion but flying as soon as the blow was given the Cardinal Innocent Cibo Son of a Sister to Leo X. who was then at Florence and Alexander Vitelli Captain of the City Guards set up a young man of the House of the Medicis in the place of Alexander where he maintain'd himself in spite of Strossy and other Zealots for their Liberties His name was Cosmo and descended of one Laurent Brother of the Grand Cosmo To gain the People he promised them at first that he would have from the City but Twelve Thousand Crowns for his Maintenance but when he was well establisht he raised it to Twelve Hundred Thousand As for Laurence de Medicis after he had wandred in divers places because Cosmo had Year of our Lord 1537 set a price upon his head he was at last stabbed at Venice by two Assasins Christierne III. King of Denmark introduced Lutheranisme into his Kingdom and turned out the Bishops but kept the Canons that he might have the bestowing of Prebends He did the same in Norway which he had Conquer'd Some years before King Gustavus Erecson had made a like change in Sweden The King being informed that his Affairs went on very ill in those Countries that du Guast besieged Humieres in Pignerol and that before the years end he would drive the French quite out of Piedmont resolved to prevent it and in some measure satisfie Solyman to go thither in Person At Lyons being fallen sick of a slight Feaver he gave order to the Daufin and to the Mareschal de Montmorency to march before-hand with the Army At first coming they forced the Pass of Sufa guarded by ten thousand men a famous exploit in War drove Du Guast to Quiers and got several advantages which drew the King himself thither with great hopes of recovering Milanois His Army was found to be above Forty Thousand Men the French were in good Heart the Enemy affrighted and their Places ill provided but it was the end of October he apprehended the inconveniences of the Season the length of some Siege the Irruption of the Flemmings and the uncertainty of accidents so fatally experimented before Pavia So that making a specious pretence of the having given his word to the Queen of Hungary that he would not do any thing that should obstruct the Peace he upon the mediation of the Pope and the Venetians granted a Truce of three Months for those Countries beyond the Mountains and prolonged that with the Low-Countries
Duke of Savoy to all his Lands but that he should retain the Towns so long as the Emperor did hold Milan and Cremona That what had been taken Year of our Lord 1545 in those Countries since the truce of Nice the Emperor had taken but one place and the King above twenty should be resigned by either party as likewise all those which had been taken in France and in the Low-Countries This Place being more Advantageous to the Duke of Orleans then to France the Daufin who could not Suffer either the Aggraâ—dising of his Brother nor the damage of the Kingdom made Protestations against it in the Castle of Fontainebleau in presence of the Duke of Vandosme the Count d'Enghien his Brother and Francis Earl of Aumale the second day of December The Kings People of the Parliament of Toulouze did so likewise as to what concerned the Rights of the Crown and the Translation of the Subjects to another Prince That which hastned the King to conclude this Treaty was not alone the instigation of the Duke of Orleans but likewise the unwelcom news he received of Boulognes Capitulating and the extreme danger Monstreuil was in The Mareschal de Biez defended the last most Stoutly though it were nothing worth but his Son-in-Law James de Coucy Vervin a young Fellow easie to be scared as having no experience Surrendred Boulogne most unworthily before it was in danger and when the Daufin was within two days March of the Place to Relieve it Nor did he forgive him for it having ever a strong conceit that he had given it up to favour the Duke of Orleans Monstreuil was saved because the Peace being concluded at Crespy the Count de Bures and de Roeux who were joyned with the Duke of Norfolk had very express Orders to retire The Daufin who had used great diligence to come to the relief of Boulogne finding it Surrendred made an attempt in the Night upon the Basse Ville which was enclosed only with a Ditch without any Wall and yet nevertheless where the English had put their Cannon and Equipage He gained it very â—asily But for want of good Order his men falling upon the Baggage the English came down from the upper Town and though much inferior in Numbers beat and drove them out but not all for there were four or five hundred remained dead upon the place This project failing the Mareschal de Biâ—z had orders to raise a Fort upon the point of Land which lies right over against the Old Tower to hinder the entrance into the Harbour but they having no Water there and it being impossible the Souldiers could abide in it by reason it lay exposed to all Wind and Weather they built another that faced the Basse-Ville or lower Town in a place called Outreaâ— but made it so small that after three Months labour they were fain to fill up the Trenches to enlarge it Year of our Lord 1545 The Affairs of Scotland being Embroiled by the King of England who whatever it cost him would have the Heiress for his Son the King took a care to assist the young one and the Queen her Mother The Earl of Lenox in the year 1543. carried some Forces thither which he sent But that Spark having gamed away the Money which was for Payment of their first Muster went over to the King of England's Service who bestowed his Neece upon him In his room were sent the Lord de la Brosse a Gentleman of Bourbon then Lorges Earl of Montgomery Captain of the Scotch Guards with some Soldiers Some Vandoâ—s were still remaining in the Valleys of the Alpes between Daufiné and Savoy There were of them in the two Burroughs of Merindol and Cabrieres the first being part of the County of Venisse the other in the Territories belonging to the King Since Luther's starting up they began to Preach publickly About the year 1536. the Parliament of Provence whereof Anthony Chassane was then Premier President had made a Decree for the punishing them This had been put by several times but this year 1545. John Menier d'Oppede who succeeded Chassanâ— that dyed suddenly being moved either out of Zeal or because one of his Tenants went away to Cabrieres without paying his Rent undertook to Execute it He raised Forces and joyning them with such as the Vice-Legat of Avignon was pleased to furnish him withal went to Exterminate those miserable creatures and made a general Massacre of all of them without distinction of Age or Sex excepting only such as made their Escape to the Rocks The preceding year Anthony Duke of Lorraine had left this World this year Duke Francis his Son followed him leaving a Son named Charles aged but two years Anthony was fain to use great skill to preserve and poyse himself between the King and the Emperor He Married one of his Daughters to Rene de Chaalons Prince of Orange and Francis his eldest Son to Christina Daughter of Christierne II. King Year of our Lord 1545 of Denmark and Dorothy Sister to the Emperor The King had conceived great jealousies upon it Nevertheless his conduct was so prudent and his proceedings seemed so cordial in his Laborious undertakings to procure a Peace between him and the Emperor that at length he was fully satisfied in him The Council was earnestly demanded for by the Emperor and by the Germans but the Catholicks desired a general one and the Protestants a National where the Pope should not be Judge In the year 1542. Paul III. had indicted it at Trent And nevertheless for divers causes he delay'd the opening of it till the thirteenth day of December in this year which was the third Sunday in Advent The Orders for the Convocation were directed to the Emperor and the King by Name but to all other Princes only in general When the King found he could not recover Boulogne either by force or by way of Treaties he believed the best means to regain it would be to attaque the King of England in his own Island He therefore sent Orders to Captain Paulin to sit his Galleys at Marseilles and bring them to the Mouth of the River Seine got ten great Genoese Ships divers of which perished at the entrance into that River and joyned all the Good Vessels he had in any of his Harbours But intending to Treat the Ladies at Dinner in his great Carrack which was the stateliest Vessel belonging to the Sea the Cooks by their carelesness set it on Fire utterly consumed it and much damnified all those that lay about her by the discharging one hundred Guns she had on Board Which greatly disordered the Feast and gave an ill presage of that expedition The Admiral Annebaut had the Command of the Fleet. He went to seek out the English upon their own Coasts and Seized upon the Isle of Wight The English after some small Firings retired between that Island and Portsmouth in a place surrounded with Banks and Rocks where there was
Bayard one of the Secretaries was Imprisoned and Villeroy his Compagnon deprived of his Employment James du Tiers and Claude Clausse Marquemont were put in their Places as in that of John du val Tresorier de l'Espargne Blond de Bochecour whose Wages or Salary was augmented to thirty Thousand Livers a certain presage of the future wasting of the Finances They likewise took away the Office of Grand Master of the Artillery or Ordnance from Claude de Tais to give it to Charles de Cossé Brisac the Lord amongst all the Courtiers the most lovely and the most beloved by the Kings Mistress Longeval accused to be of Intelligence with the Emperor redeemed himself by selling his fair House de Marchez in Laonnois to Charles de Lorrain who soon after was made Cardinal Of Twelve Cardinals that were then in France the new Ministers to be the more at large and at their own ease sent Seven of them to Rome upon pretence of Fortifying the French Party for the Election of a Pope when Paul III. who was near Fourscore years old should come to die Annebaud to satisfie to an Edict which they had purposely made that one man could not hold two great Offices was forced to quit that of Mareschal wherewith Saint André was gratified Francis I. had encreased the number of Mareschals even to Four but finding that the multitude debased that great dignity he had resolved to reduce them to two so that at this time there were but three They added a fourth which was Robert de la Mark Sedan Son in Law of Diana They made process against Odard de Biez likewise Mareschal of France and against Vervin his Son in Law They were not Condemned till the year 1549. Vervin lost his head His Father in Law an Honourable old Man and by whose hands Henry being then but Dausin would needs be made a Knight was shamefully degraded of his Office and the Order of Saint Michael He died of Grief in the Fanxbourg Saint Victor whither he had permission to retire The Earldom of Aumale was erected to a Dutchy in favour of Frances Eldest Son of Claude Duke of Guise The Dutchess d'Estampes having no more support at Court and seeing her self despised by all the World even of her own Husband chose one of his Houses for her Retreat where she yet lived some years in the Exercise of the new Religion to which her Example and Liberalities drew a great many People All the Kings Revenues being too little to satisfie the Covetousness of the new Ministers they sought to have Advice what to demand of him but the Genius of the French nor their Parliaments being yet used to suffer Monopolies and Farmers they employ'd Accusers or Informers who brought the richest Delinquents to Justice that they might enjoy their Spoils by Confiscations or by Compositions As to Things without Doors the Pope desired to have a defensive League with the King and for that end had sent the Cardinal Saint George Legate into France to give the King thanks for having promised his Natural Daughter Diana but nine Years old to his Grand-Son Horace and to negociate a more strickt Alliance with him The King gave no Positive Answer to the last Proposition his Affairs not being as yet in good Order and they suspecting his great Age and the Fidelity of his Children And indeed he was at the same time treating with the Emperor to get the Dutchy of Milan for John Lewis Farneze his bastard Son The King and the Emperor laboured separately and distinctly with the Turk the one to have a Peace with him the other to incite him to fall upon Hungary Year of our Lord 1547 as he had promised King Francis Now as on the part of France they neglected a while to send any News to Constantinople or even give notice of the death of that King the Emperor meeting no Obstruction obtained a Truce of Solyman for five Years paying him thirty thousand Crowns Tribute Annually and making him believe he held a very good Correspondence with the French and that they would have no more to do with the Port. Nevertheless Solyman desiring still to preserve his Amity with France would needs without being required have the King to be comprized in the Truce of Hungary as if he had been absolutely a Party contracting It is to be observed that in the Writings or Instrument of this Truce Solyman stiles Charles V. only simply King of Spain and the King of France the most serene Emperor of France his most dear Friend and Allie The Sixteenth of July the King being returned out of Picardy where he had been to visit the Frontiers saw at Saint Germains en laye the famous Duel between Guy Chabot Jarnac and Francis Vivonne la Chasteigneraye they quarrell'd about some certain intrigues of the Womens Jarnac had given the Lie to Chasteigneraye upon some villanious reproach of his concerning his Fathers second Wife He challenges him to fight the King permitted it causeth the Lists to be made ready and would needs be a Spectator with the whole Court He fancied Chasteigneraye would have the better whom he cherished and yet it fell out that Jarnac though much weakned with a Feavour that tormented him brought him down with a back blow he gave him on his hams They parted the Combatants but the vanquished not able to undergo so much shame in the Kings Presence would never suffer the Chyrurgions to bind up his wound but dyed of rage within a few days The King was so concerned at it that he sware solemnly never to permit the like Combats In the Month of August the Grands Jours or extraordinary Court of Justice began to be held in the City of Tours The troubles continued in Scotland The English were obstinately bent to have the young Queen for their King Edward and had gained a furious Battel against the Scots and after it taken several places The King sent therefore an Army into Scotland Commanded by Dessé Epanvillers who was accompanied by Peter Strozzi and Dandelot Brother to Chastillon They settled the Authority of the Queen Dowager stopt the Progress of the English and the year following brought the young Queen into France she was but six years of Age. Two Months before the Kings Coronation news came into France that the Protestant Princes of the League of Smalcalde were vanquish't by the Emperor in the Battel of Mulberg the twenty fourth of April That John Frederic Duke of Saxony their chief head and a Prince of great worth was taken Prisoner in the rout that the Emperor had caused him to be Condemned to lose his Head and having with much ado given him his life he detained him in Prison and had deprived him of his Dutchy to invest his Consin Maurice with it who was of the same House of Saxony and of the same Religion that all the great free Cities excepting Magdenbourgh had submitted that the Landgrave of Hesse had been forced to
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
the Parliament of Provence which they durst never have undertaken had it not been upon an assurance of the support of those that govern'd and even by their instigation particularly the Connestable who thought to involve the Cardinal de Tournon as principal Author of that Massacre he being his Capital Enemy The business was first brought before the Kings Great Council then the King took it upon himself and afterwards referr'd it to the Grand Chamber of the Parliament of Paris The Cause was Pleaded at Fifty Audiences or Hearings with great heats and vehement sollicitations After all this noise there was none but Guerin the Kings Advocate in the Parliament of Provence who paid for all those that had contributed to this Massacre He was Beheaded in the place called the Greve at Paris The Historian of Provence relates how on the day he lost his head his Picture or Effigies appeared in the palm of his wives hand traced in lines of blood and was seen by great numbers of people during several days Lewis Adhemar Earl of Grignan and Governour of Provence who had given Commission to d'Oppede to Levy Forces in his absence was like to have lost his Lands D'Oppede was sent away absolv'd having done nothing but by good order from the King but he survived not long after it and the Huguenots were revenged on him by giving out that he died of an inward fire which cruelly burnt up all his Bowels Year of our Lord 1550 and 51. The abuse of the Banquiers and of the Datary of the Court of Rome touching the resignation of Benefices were come to that pass that all the Clergy of France complained of it The King redressed this by an Edict and Charles du Moulin the most resolute of all the French Lawyers wrote a most Learned Book against the Petites Dates but which being very vehement raised so great a Storm against him amongst the Catholique Zealots for the interests of the Pope that for fear of being Treated as an Heretique he retired into Germany where he kept himself private till the rupture which hap'ned between the King and Pope Julius III. The Pic's Lords of Mirandola being at variance amongst themselves for the possession of that County Paul III. had endeavour'd to reconcile and agree them and not able to compass it had sequestred it in the hands of King Francis That King had restored it to Lewis Pic. Galeot Pic his Nephew assassinated his Uncle and Usurped it then fearing his other Relations would revenge this parricide retired to King Henry II. and had admitted a French Garrison into the place and also as it was reported had agreed upon an exchange for some other Lands in France However it were the King used it as a City properly his own and made it his place of Arms and his Assemblies in that part of the World The King wanted some occasion to interrupt the Progress of the Emperor he was over-joy'd to meet with this which follows D'Aramon his Ambassador made use of all industry with Solyman who was returned from the Persian War to break the Truce of Hungary and he wanted not considerations and motives to incite him to it for the Emperor had in Barbary taken the Cities of Mahadia and Monester from the Corsair Dragut one of the Grand Seignior's Captains and King Ferdinand held secret intelligence with Frier Georges Monk of the Order of Saint Poll a Hermit who by the testamentary institution of John Year of our Lord 1551 the pretended King of Hungary governed the Affairs and Country of Isabella and Stephen her young Son Solyman had given orders to take that Monk dead or alive the Monk having notice of it retired had cantonniz'd himself in some strong Castles he had purchased and provided from whence he began to make War upon the Queen He was reconciled and fell out again with her two or three several times and as he apprehended the power of the Turk he privately made an agreement with Ferdinand and perswaded the Widdow to restore Transilvania to him upon conditions very advantageous both for him and the Pupil if they had been observ'd But soon after Ferdinand fearing this mans inconstancy or rather that he would force him to make good what he had promised sent word to John Baptist Castalda General of his Forces to make him away which he Executed by the hands of some Assassines who went and Murthered him in a House of Pleasure to which he was retired Solyman could not suffer that Transilvania for which John had rendred him Homage should be possessed by Ferdinand He powred a very numerous Army in upon that side and almost totally Invaded it The Imperailists did not fail to publish that the King of France had drawn him thither but we find by the Memoirs of those times that he did his utmost to disswade him from making War in Hungary because the common danger re-united all the German Princes with the Emperor and it was his interest to divide them And therefore he could rather have wished that Solyman would have made use of his Sea Forces and landed in Puglia to facilitate an enterprize the French then had upon Sicily All these things make it evident that the King had firmly resolv'd to concern himself in the business of Parma by other ways and means then mediation or accommodation and that it was not the Dutchess of Valentinois that made him enter upon that War that there might be occasion to bestow some employment upon Brissac whom she loved infinitely It is true that at that Ladies request or perhaps to keep him at distance and absent from her he made him Governour of Piedmont in the place of John Caracciol Prince of Melsy whom he recalled to Court and to make up the Complement of good fortune for Brissac it hap'ned that the said Prince returning into France died at Suza and left a vacancy for a Mareschal which the King immediately conferr'd on him It sufficed the King to assist his Allies without directly breaking with the Emperour wherefore he sent to Brissac to make use of some indirect means to that end Brissac therefore disbanded a part of the Forces in Piedmont who had order to File away towards Parma over the Milanois under favour of the Truce two by two sometimes three without any weapons and by easie Journeys Gonzague mistrusting the Craft and Contrivance set Guards upon the ways who Massacred the greatest part of them so that there came not above four or five hundred to Miranda who went over by the Mountains at Genoa During this assay the Pope strove to perswade the King to abandon the Duke of Parma and the King endeavour'd to gain the Popes good Will that he might take him into his Protection But as the first had sharply replied to the Kings Remonstrances threatning him with his Ecclesiastical Thunder the French Ambassador raising the Tone of his Voice declared that the King would for no consideration whatever relinquish his
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
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
persuaded the King to discharge the Constable and on her own score reproach'd him for having said That of all the Children which King Henry had there was none resembled him but a natural Daughter of his She desired also that the Cardinal de Tournon night be recalled because She would make use of his Counsel which she thought would be the more sincere he being engaged to neither party The Guises agreed to it and indeed it would have been difficult for them to hinder it besides they believed they might be confident of him he being a capital enemy to the Constable The King of Navarre crawled along by easie journeys and made a halt at Vendosme The Princes of Condé and de la Roche Sur-Yon went even to that place to sollicite him to come to Court He came at length but too late the Guises had taken care he should be ill received they did not assign him Lodgings suitable to his Quality he must have laid on the Floor had not the Mareschal de Saint André lent him his and as soon as ever the King saw him he told him he had given the administration to his Uncles de Guise Notwithstanding all this unworthy treatment his friends exhorted him to stand his Ground the Guises bethought them of a Stratagem to make him quit the Spot They read before him in full Council some Letters from the King of Spain of whom the Queen had demanded assistance against the Factious wherewith she was threatned The Letters imported that in case there should be any found so audacious as to controll the Government the King had established he offer'd his whole power to chastise them The Navarrois easily apprehended that this might be a plausible colour and pretence for him to invade his Country of Navarre and was councell'd to go back with all possible speed to put things in good order but that he might leave the Court with some kind of reputation he got the Commission to conduct the new Queen of Spain to the Frontiers He went not however till after the Kings Coronation This Ceremony was performed the one and twentieth of September with great Pomp in the City of Reims by the Ministery of the Cardinal de Lorrain who was Archbishop thereof At their departure from thence he conducted the Queen to Navarre being accompanied by the Cardinal de Bourbon and the Prince de la Roche Sur-Yon He delivered her up to King Philips Deputies those were the Cardinal de Burgos and his Brother the Duke de l'Infantado and because it was said she should be conducted into the Territories of Spain and yet the delivery of her was at Roncevaux which is within the limits of Navarre he drew up a Protestation that it might be no prejudice to him and that from thence they might not make it a consequence that the Kingdom of Navarre was a Province dependant on Spain After this the Spaniards in recompence for his pains and care gave him fair but empty hopes to do him right concerning his Kingdom He nibled at this Bait and the Queen-Mother amused and tempted him with it as long as he lived In the preceding Month of August King Philip had left the Low-Countries and was gone into Spain by Sea where he chose his residence for all the rest of his life His Father had tenderly cherished the Flemmings and had most happily made use both of their Councils and Arms but he being bred in the imperious Air of Spain could not agree with a people that were free and such as could prodigally expose both their lives and fortunes for their Princes service but yet would not suffer themselves to be robbed of them He left as Governess over them Margaret his natural Sister Wife of Octavian Duke of Parma with whom was joyned as chief Counsellor Anthony Perenot de Year of our Lord 1559 Granvelle a Cardinal originally a Franc-Comtois but haughty and arrogant as a Spaniard At his Arrival in Spain he caused a great many to be burnt in his own presence at Seville and Valladolid of those they call Lutherans both Men and Women Gentlemen and Ecclesiastiques as likewise the Effigies or Fantosme of Constance Ponce Confessor to Charles V. who attended that Emperor till his death We must not wonder that he scrupled no more the defaming of his Fathers Memory since if we will believe some he would have made his process too and have burnt his bones for the Crime of Heresie nothing hindring him from it but this consideration that if his Father were an Heretick he had forfeited * his Estates and by consequence had no right to resign them to his Son Some weeks before the departure of the Navarrois there were two Edicts made one of them to forbid the wearing of any Fire-Arms or even long Cloaks or large Breeches that might conceal them The second revoked all alienations of the Demeasnes Both the one and the other were made at the desire of the Guises the first for the security of their Persons the second that they might prejudice or gratisie whom they pleas'd And indeed they gained many of the great ones by this means as they likewise made themselves many creatures by the creation of Eighteen Knights of the Order of Saint Michael Which so debased and vllified that Order formerly preserved with great care by the Kings of France that it was in raillery called the Coller for every Beast With the same design and that they might have Governments and Offices enough for themselves and for their friends they obliged the King to declare that he would suffer none hereafter to hold two at one time The Admiral had the Government of the Isle of France and that of Picardy he resigned the latter very chearfully believing they would bestow it on the Prince of Condé but the Guises disposed of it in favour of Brissac whom they intended to bind to their own Party The Constable endured a pulling by the Ears before he would lay down his Office of Grand Maistre of the Kings Houshold when he perceived that after fair warning they were going to use force he surrendred it to the King who conferr'd it upon the Duke of Guise All he could do was to obtain an Office of Mareschal of France which was created extraordinary for Francis his eldest Son After the Coronation they carried the King to Bar. The Duke of Lorrain his Brother in Law being come to salute him there he by Letters Patents renounced the Soveraignty he had of Barrois in favour of that Prince The Novelty and pretence of a Reformation in an Age that so much wanted it opened the hearts of the French to the new Religion and on the other hand the necessity there was to pluck up this Darnel and the like Weeds furnish'd those that governed with a fair occasion and opportunity to make themselves formidable even to the most innocent who in such junctures fear lest they should be look'd upon as Hereticks how little soever tainted The
young King believed that to execute his Fathers will was to extirpate all such as opposed the Catholick Belief to this end he Created in each Parliament a particular Chamber or Court that took Cognisance of no other matter They were named Chambres Ardentes because in effect they burned without Mercy all such as were convicted and there needed no other proof but the finding them at some Nocturnal or Clandestine Conventicle The President Saint André and the Inquisitor Demochares laboured with great diligence at Paris and sought them even in the bottom of Cellars upon the intelligence of their Spies amongst others a Taylor and two Goldsmiths who had been of that Religion Two young Men of these Mouchards or Informers deposed that in those midnight Assemblies they did eat of the Pascal Lamb and Roasted Pigg and afterwards put out the Lights and mingled in an unclean manner with those they first hapned to meet nay one of them affirmed that upon the like occasion it fell to his lot to encounter an Advocates Daughter of the Place Maubert at whose House they held such communion This calumny was spread abroad by the populace told in the Louvre and brought to the Ears of the King and Queen and though these Witnesses had been convict of falsehood by the Chancellor that did not Year of our Lord 1559 hinder it from making some impression on the Queen Thus the Religionaries being pursued and punished every where especially in the great Cities as Aix in Provence Toulouze Poitiers and Bourges began to think how to defend themselves They first made use of the Pen and scatter'd about several Libels which tended to make out that Kings ought not to be accounted Majors sooner then other Men That in the mean time it belonged to the Estates to assign them a Council and that the Princes of the Blood ought to have the first place and rank that the Laws of the Land did not admit either of Women or Strangers That the Guises were not natural French Men That besides they had pretensions upon Anjou and Provence and even to the whole Kingdom saying they were descended from Charlemain That therefore the trusting them with the Government was to hazard the whole State They added many reasons and examples to prove the administration of Cardinals had ever been very prejudicial to France That Francis I. though he made use of them yet never admitted them into the Council when it concerned the Affairs of Rome and that experience had fully enough demonstrated that the Venetian Polity which excluded all Ecclesiastiques from the management of Affairs was very wise and very prosperous These Books wanted not forr eplies Du Tillet one of the Registers in Parliament made one which at that time was torn to pieces and silenced by the multiplicity of smart answers but in another Season had the fortune to be revived and brought in credit by the Chancellor de l'Hospital and cry'd up as it had been a Law of the Land They then were labouring in good earnest for the Execution of the Articles of Peace The Mareschal de Brissac with much regret gave up the City of Valence and those in Piedmont Those that held Thionville and the places of Luxemburgh went out with curses in their Mouths against those Ministers that made that Treaty nor could any heart be so hardned as not to be touched at the lamentations and sad cryes wherewith the Corses and Siennois endeavoured to move Heaven and Earth to compassion when they had notice the French abandoned them to their severe Masters The Siennois made the last attempt their dispairing impotency could prompt them to for the defence of their liberty but in a short time they fell under the weight of the Spanish Forces who to compleat the measure of their misery delivered them over to the Duke of Florence reserving however the maritime Towns There were at Court great numbers of persons of every Province especially Martial Men who demanded either their pay or some reward The Cardinal de Lorrain who had the management of the Treasury was mightily importun'd and pester'd with them and moreover he apprehended some Conspiracy amidst the multitude Wherefore he caused an Edict to be published which commanded all such as followed the King and Court only to solicite and begg some thing of him they should forbear and withdraw upon pain of being truss'd up on a Gibbet which for that very purpose was set up in the publick place This rude treatment turned great numbers of those against him that had formerly served in the Armies A Quartan Ague tormented the King for some Months which made him uncapable of applying himself to business besides that he was naturally very weak When he came to be cured many pustules appeared on his livid Face which signified some internal indisposition He was therefore carried to Blois for change of Air whilst he staid there some in that Country by whomsover employed sought for young Infants that they might have their Blood as they gave out to make the King a Bath For which reason many will needs have it that he was infected with Naaman's Disease In the mean time they zealously prosecuted all such as were imprison'd for the matters of Religion They began with the Counsellors of the Parliament of Paris formerly mentioned Anne du Bourg having fenced a long time for his life by several Appeals to the Metropolitan of Sens then to the Primate of Lyons for he was an Ecclesiastick and a Priest in the end threw aside his Mask and boldly declared that he professed a Belief contrary to that of the Roman Church The Zealots of his opinion had push'd him on to this resolution They imagined that being a man of eminent condition of rare merit and great vertue at least as to his Morals his example would take a marvellous impression and for Year of our Lord 1559 those reasons the Parliament would never expose him to the infamy of Execution But they deceived themselves the heat of those that had taken this business in hand made them go thorough with it and there hapned an Accident besides which hastned his ruine He had excepted against the President Saint André and finding notwithstanding he still appeared he threatned him that God would restrain and compel him to keep away Now some days after it so fell out that this President going from the Palace was assassinated and shot with a Pistol and it was currently reported the first President was in danger of the like The Authors of this Murther could never be discovered tho Robert Stuart being vehemently suspected was put in Prison This incident exasperated those that Governed in such sort that Du Bourg was condemned to death and after he had been degraded of his holy Orders was burnt in the Greve they having first strangled him He went to his death with so much joy and so great shew of piety that his Execution was so far from striking any terrour it begot
it in France The time drawing near la Renaudie who forged a thousand fine imaginations upon the event of this project could not hold his tongue but opened the whole mystery to an Advocate of his own Religion named des Avenelles with whom he lodged at Paris The Advocate discover'd it to l'Allemand Vouzé a Master of Requests and l'Allemand carried him to Court to declare particularly all what he had learned of la Renaudie Upon this news the Guises first provided for the security of their own persons and without the least noise called all their trustiest friends about them gave order for the preservation of the great Cities caused the Prince and the Admiral to come to Court granted an abolition of all things past to the Religionaries excepting to those that had conspired and at the same time set Guards of Soldiers and Men belonging to the Provosts upon all the Roads leading to the Conspirators The Duke got the Title of Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom confirmed to him as well whilst the King should be present as absent and established a Company of Musquetiers on Horse-back all select Men who were constantly to attend the Kings Sacred Person Year of our Lord 1560 The Court immediately dislodged from Blois and went to the Castle of Amboise as well because that place was stronger as to break the measures of the Plotters In the mean time the Duke of Guise sent the Kings Orders into all the Provinces with exhortations to the Nobility and Officers of War to arm themselves for the preservation of the State and to the Governors to seize upon all such as should be found in Arms whether on Foot or on Horseback upon the Road of Amboise The Prince of Conde who was going to Court met the Lord de Cipierre at Orleans by whom he was informed how the enterprize was discover'd but this hindred not his Journey forward nor la Renaudie a self-will'd fellow from pursuing his design But the Court having changed their station he was fain to change the Rendezvous appointed for his Gang and this was it that made them miscarry in the execution of the contrivance Castelno de Chalosses one of the chief Ring-leaders with Raunay and Mazeres were at Nozé James de Savoye Duke of Nemours took the two last as they were imprudently walking without the Castle but Castelno and the rest got in He besieged them there and being unable to take them by force drew them out by fair promises for he gave them his word he would carry them to the King and no hurt should be done to them neither should they be confin'd to Prison But as there is no security in the faith of that Man that is not able to warrant it as soon as they were come to Amboise they were cast into a Goal and Nemours thought it a sufficient excuse to say I cannot help it La Renaudie who was in Vendosmois made his Men advance with all speed to disengage Castelno whose surrender he knew not of but as they Marched in small parties and by ways thorow the Forrests the people set there by the Kings Order to watch them easily slew them or took them Prisoners and tied them to their Horse-Tails to lead them to Amboise whither they no sooner came but they hang'd them up immediately on the Battlements of the Walls Booted and Spurr'd The day after la Renaudie was kill'd in the Forrest of Chasteau-Renaud but he first slew Pardillan his Cousin to whom the King had given command to go a-hunting after the Conspirators with two hundred Horse His Body was for some hours hanged upon the Bridge at Amboise with this writing Captain of the Rebels then quarter'd and the quarters set up in divers places The Guises press'd the Chiefs might be dispatch'd the Chancellor was of opinion they should suspend that till they had found the bottom and main drift of the enterprize and to appease the fury of those exasperated spirits it would be fit to grant a Pardon to such whose blind zeal had misled them provided they would return to their own homes in small parcels of two or three in a Company But whilst they were contending for Mercy and Clemency against the rigour of Justice and Law a Captain of the Conspirators named la Motte made an attempt to surprize Amboise which stopt the Chancellors Mouth and let loose the raynes of persecution to the utmost severity A Command was given to take all such as had been in Armes either dead or alive though they should be returning to their own homes They pardon'd very few of those they had in Hold there were hanged drowned and beheaded near Twelve Hundred the Streets of Amboise were overflowed with Blood the River choaked up with dead Corps and the Market-places planted full of Gibbets The Chief were Executed the last the Queen-Mother her three Sons and all the Court Ladies gazing out of the Windows beholding this Tragical Spectacle as a divertisement Not one of them would own or confess that the Conspiracy aimed at the Kings Person but only against the Guises Raunay and Mazeres confessed upon the Rack that la Renaudie had told them that if it had succeeded the Prince of Condé would have declared Castelno stoutly denied it and upon their confrontation gave them very significant reproaches Some writings in Cyphers seized in the Custody of la Bigne Secretary of the Conspiracy and the Examinations of certain Captains that had Command amongst them gave them light enough to believe that the Prince of Condé and the Admiral were concerned but the proofs not being clear and the Evidence only upon hear-say and those that had orders to search the Princes House finding neither Men nor Arms there he demanded leave to purge himself in full Council before the King The Queen Mother being willing to admit him he made a discourse full of Reason and Eloquence to justifie himself concerning that attempt and afterwards gave the lye to all that durst say he was guilty of it and offer'd to Fight them himself renouncing his Quality only for that purpose Year of our Lord 1560 The Duke of Guise out of a most profound dissimulation applauded his generosity and told him he was also ready to maintain his Innocency but in private he notwithstanding was of opinion he ought to be seized on The Queen Mother did not judge it convenient whether she feared the Guises might make themselves too absolute if they could but pull down the only Prince that was able to make head against them or that she apprehended lest such a detension should produce some act of desperation which might prove more fatal then the fore-going Conspiracy The danger over they wrote Letters in the name of the King to all the Parliaments Governors and great Cities giving them an account of the eminent danger the King had escaped and the signal Service the Duke of Guise had rendred him The Parliament of Paris giving Credit to it bestowed upon him the glorious
affected delayes did continue to defeat their hopes of the General one so often promised Moreover the Governors were enjoyned to watch there might be no factious Meetings and to su spend their pursuits for matters of Religion if no other Crime were complicated with it This was to begin a Toleration Things being thus regulated every one had order to retire home Great was the Alarm at Rome when they heard mention made of holding a National Council in France Pius IV. omitted nothing to disswade the King from it He represented to him as a great grievance that the Gallican Church would re-establish the Pragmatique and by consequence the Elections whereby the Royal dignity and prerogative would be much eclipsed and diminished He intreated the King of Spain to interpose his Interest and Credit with him to prevent a mischief he reckoned so prejudicial to his Pontifical Authority And all these Engines proving too weak to obtain a revocation of those resolutions taken in Council he could find no other expedient to avoid it but by a General Council He was a while in suspence whether to call one wholly new or whether he should continue the same his Predecessors Paul III. and Julius III. had Prorogued All considered the advice for continuation seemed best And he caused publication to be made that the Council should re-commence on Easter-day the following year Year of our Lord 1560 The two Brothers Anthony and Lewis de Bourbon did not appear at the Assembly of Melun for two Months before Anthony was retired to Gascogne and his Brother was gone to visit him Being there in much greater security they settled their Affairs and projected the means and methods to make themselves the stronger and set aside the Guises These having many faithful and trusty Servants Spies well paid and all rewards and punishments in their own hands quickly discover'd their Stratagems and blasted them before they could be ripe for Execution The Princes made use of one named la Sague an Imprudent man who Communicated his Secrets to a Camerade of his with whom he had born Arms in Piedmont This Fellow whispers it to the Mareschal de Brissac who tells it to the Duke of Guise So that as la Sague was returning into Gascogne he was Seized with a great many Letters Fear of the Rack or hopes of reward unty'd his Tongue Himself put them in the way how to read some of them by wetting the Paper where before there was no Footsteps of any Writing appear'd The most Criminal were those from Francis de Vendosme Vidame of Chartres an Enemy to the Duke of Guise so he was laid hold on and shut up in the Bastille Some time after he was transfer'd from thence but under a strong Guard to his own House where he Died of grief if not by the Debauchery of his Youth Bouchard who was Chancellor to Anthony without any other instigation but his own faint-heartedness did likewise reveal all the practises of the Prince of Condé and the means he made use of to engage his Brother He thought hereby to secure himself but they Seized upon him and put him in Prison at Saint John d'Angely where he was kept very close that they might have his Evidence when time Served There appeared in the mean time divers Commotions in the Provinces which shewed that the whole Body of the Religionaries were on the point of making a general rising for in Normandy whither the Admiral had been dispatched they met and Preached Publickly The two Brothers Anthony and Paul Richend Mouvans endeavoured to make themselves Masters of Valence of Montelimard of Romans in Dauphiné and of the Cities of Aix and Arles in Provence but the Lord de Maugeron made them fail in their enterprize Anthony was slain in a tumult at Draguignan Paul made his escape into Swisserland In like manner Charles du Puy Montbrun making use of the Religionaries in his dispute for the Government of Dauphiné at la Mothe Gondrin was routed by his Adversary and ran away stark naked yet got safe to the Swiss Country Maligny of the House de Ferriere who belonged to the King of Navarre attempted also to Seize upon Lyons causing his Soldiers to Ship in man by man and he had compleated his work if N. Dapchon Abbot de Savigny who was Governor in the absence of the Mareschal de Saint André his maternal Uncle had not discover'd his Plot and put the Bourgeois in Arms. Maligny was glad to make his escape and the Abbot apprehending some worse Event set open the Gates that he might be gone quietly The Mareschal de Saint André going thither to search into the bottom of the design caused above fifty of those rash undertakers to be executed The Princes promised themselves a much stronger Cabal in the Assembly of Estates then the Guises nevertheless their Friends were of Opinion they ought not to rely upon that but come so well Armed to Court as to be in a Condition either to drive them thence or make them perish there To this purpose they had given orders on all hands but their Letters and practises having taken Air the Guises made use of the Kings Name to fortify themselves sent for all the Established Company 's and put forth a Declaration to all Governors of Provinces commanding them to punish the disturbers of the publick Peace according to the utmost severity of the Edict with power to Suspend and displace such Officers as had conniv'd or shew'd any indulgence towards the Factious Besides all this they sent to command the Princes to come to Court only attended with their Houshold Servants to justify themselves of such matters wherewith they were charged so that to speak truly they left them but a very ill-boding passage to enter much more like a Prison Door then a Gate of the Louvre They resolved however to come The Cardinal de Bourbon their Brother being deceived first was an Instrument to deceive them withal the Dignity of their Birth seemed an inviolable safe-conduct to them So that the King of Navarre refused seven hundred Gentlemen of Poitou who offer'd to attend him and above Year of our Lord 1560 fifteen hundred Soldiers who were in a readiness in several Provinces telling them his innocency was his sufficient security and he would give them no cause to suspect he came with any design to offer violence to the King or to the Estates In his Journey he received notice from several hands that the Guises having scared the King and the Queen Mother with the pretended Conspiracy revealed by la Sague were more Masters at Court then ever and had put them upon the extreamest resolutions However he went forward not duely weighing the wise Councils of Marillac Archbishop of Vienne who having endeavour'd all that was possible to diswade him died with Grief and the fear he justly had conceived lest the Guises whom he had already highly offended should revenge themselves upon him The Sixteenth of October the King
Funeral Of so many Lords and so many Bishops as were then at Orleans there were none but Sansac and la Brosse who had been his Governors and Lewis Guillard Bishop of Senlis who was blind that conducted his Corps to Saint Denis His Heart was left to the Church named Saincte Croix at Orleans The Guises excused their not attending it upon the necessity there was for them to stay with their Niece to comfort her But they were not exempted from reproach such as had more sence of Honour then Ambition much blamed them for not paying that little devoir to him from whom they had received so much honour And indeed some body tack'd a Paper upon the Pall that cover'd his Coffin wherein were these words Taneguy du Chastel where art thou This Taneguy as was well known tho banished from Court during the Reign of Charles VII his Master came generously back again thither to make a Funeral for that King at his own charges shewing his gratitude thereby and making it appear to all the World that his thankfulness for the favours he had received were above his fear of the resentments of Lewis XI a mortal Enemy to the memory and Servants of his own Father The Constable who had been sent for several times but crept along slowly by little Journeys having heard the tydings of the Kings death doubled his pace and Arrived the Eight of the Month of December at Orleans Entring into Year of our Lord 1560 the City he made use of the power belonging to his Office and commanded away the Guards that were at the Gates threatning to send them to the Gallows if he found them any more besieging or investing the King in that manner in a time of Peace and in the very heart of his Kingdom As for the Prince though he had free liberty as soon as ever the King expir'd nevertheless he refused to go out of Prison till he knew who were the prosecutors against him and who his accusers There were none durst undertake to play so desperate a Game and the Guises replied that all had been done by express Command of the King but did not produce any Order by vertue whereof he had been so prosecuted So that Thirteen dayes afterwards he came forth and went to Ham in Picardy attended with Honour and respect by those very men that had served as Guards upon him in his Confinement CHARLES IX King LX. POPES PIUS IV. Five Years under this Reign PIUS V. Elected the 7 January 1566. S. 6 Years 3 Months and 24 dayes GREGORY XIII Elected the 13. of May 1572. S. 13. Years wanting one Month whereof two years under this Reign Year of our Lord 1560. in December THose hopes many had conceived that King Francis II. being near the time of his compleat Majority might possibly extinguish all the Factions were now by his death changed into a just fear of finding them rather more enflamed and heightned from a Sedition to a Bloody War wherefore the Tumults increasing every day they made hast to Assemble the Estates from whom the silly vulgar expect a redress of all their grievances and troubles The first Session was held the Thirteenth of December in a great Timber Hall expresly built in the place called l'Estape The Chancellor begun it with a Speech becoming his gravity He blamed the violent proceedings in matters of Religion told them the only means to reclaim such as went astray was a good exemplary Life and sound Doctrine exhorted them earnestly to lay aside the injurious names of Lutherans Huguenots Papists and desired every one to forbear all hatred and own no passion but for the publick good in which consists the benefit of all particular Persons There was nothing else done at this first meeting only the three Orders were sent to confer together about their Papers and Instructions Some who were inspired with a bolder zeal had a mind to confer the Regency upon the King of Navarre but withal to leave the Education of the young King to his Mother to set bounds to the Government and make choice of a good Council for the management of all Affairs of State The Queen Mother took the Allarm caused the Kings Council to make a Decree which forbad the Deputies to intermeddle with the Government and made use of so many intrigues that the Navarrois a Prince very inconstant and irresolute was perswaded to confirm what he had promised her during the Imprisonment of his Brother Year of our Lord 1561 The second of January was the second Sessions of the Estates The three Orders made their Harangues John de Lange Advocate of Bourdeaux spake for the Third Estate James de Silly Earl of Rochefort for the Nobility and John Quintin a Canon of Autun and Doctor en Decret for the Clergy The two first laid great stress and weight upon the Vices of the Ecclesiasticks the cause of all the disorders The last endeavour'd to defend them retorted all upon the new Sectaries and reflected particularly upon the Admiral who demanded reparation Year of our Lord 1561 Quintin was obliged to do it in a set Speech at the closing up of the Estates Whatever accord there could be between the Navarrois and the Regent yet there was danger that the Estates if they consider'd their power might put some Fetters upon this Woman who was a stranger and besides they began to perceive that the Princes were forming parties and tryed to foist in certain propositions for their own interests or concerning their private quarrels Amongst others the King of Navarre put them upon calling for an account of the Finances and a particular of all the Gifts bestowed in the Reign of Henry II. himself proffering to surrender all that were given him This touched the Constable and the Mareschal de Saint André more then the Guises as having expended more in the Kings Service then they had gained The Regent soon perceived where it pinched and joyning them to her self upon this consideration easily adjourned the Estates to the Month of May and the City of Pontoise and ordained that she might be at less Charge and trouble to bribe them that there should come but two Deputies from each Government In the Month of February the King being come to Fountainbleau the Prince of Condé appeared there with a slender attendance that he might give them no jealousie The next day being admitted to the Privy-Council and having spoken of his innocency he asked the Chancellor whether there were any proofs against him the Chancellor answered No and all the Princes and Lords having testified that they were satisfied of his innocency the King commanded him to take his Seat The Council did after make a Decree which declared him wholly innocent and sent him back to the Parliament of Paris to get a more Authentique one as he did in a few days afterwards The courage of the Guises did not sink upon the rise of their enemies they were supported by the Catholick Party and
that means cut off the greatest head of the Faction The Queen would not have it so the Duke of Guise himself thought the enterprize too difficult and favouring the Parisians in what they most desired was of opinion they should lay Siege to Rouen The Army Arrived there about the Twentieth of September and just in a nick of time to hinder that Progress the Huguenots might have made with the help of the English For on the same day a Treaty of Confederation was signed between Queen Elizabeth and them at Hampton-Court specifying that she should furnish them with Six Thousand Men one half to be put into Havre de Grace which should be delivered to her and which she should keep for the King and was to serve for a place of retreat and refuge to the Huguenots which in a few days afterwards was Executed The Fort Saint Catherine was taken by Storm The City maintained their Attaques with all possible Resolution They proffer'd them such composition as was reasonable enough and for three several times the Queen Mother hindred the Duke of Guise from giving the Assault being perswaded by the prudent Coun sel of the Chancellor that nothing can be more prejudicial to a Soveraign then to make Conquests upon himself and pillage his own Cities But when they found the Besieged did continue to reject with Stubbornness those favours and that mercy they were importuned to accept the Kings Council gave the Duke lieve to let loose the Reynes to Victory He therefore gave a general Assault the Five and Twentieth of October Their resistance was not equal to their obstinacy they abandoning all at the first Shock The Soldiers pillaged them above eight dayes together which proved the more cruel because they were extreamly rich Montgomery who had a Galley lying there ready upon all occasions it was one of the Kings which hapned to put into Rouen when the Huguenots master'd the Town soon got aboard of it with his Friends together with the English The Slaves to whom he had promised their Liberty rowed with such force that it slid quite over the Chain they had laid cross the River at Caudebec They hanged up John du Bose d'Esmandreville President of the Court of Aydâ—s two Councellors belonging to the City Marlorat the Minister and Eight or Ten Captains amongst others du Cros who had been Governor of Havre de Grace and deliver'd the place up to the English By way of Reprizal or Retaliation the Prince caused the Heads of some Catholicks to be cut off that were in his Hands amongst others John Baptist Sapin Councellor of the Parliament of Paris and John de Troyes Abbot of Gastine who were taken in Vendosmois as they were on their way to Spain from the King Giles leu Maistre first President of the Parliament revenged the Death of Sapin who was his Nephew upon some unfortunate Huguenots that were Prisoners in Paris whom he sent to the common Place of Execution These retaliations had gone on to infinity if the Captains of the Catholick Party who apprehended the like Reprisals should they have fallen into the Enemies power had not engaged their Chiefs to desist from such kind of Process and to make good the usual Rules of War and Martial Customes and Laws The Five and Twentieth of October the King of Navarre had been wounded in the Trenches while he was making water by a Musquet shot in his left Shoulder The City being taken he would needs be carried in his Bed by his Year of our Lord 1562 Swiss Soldiers to make a Triumphant entrance thorough the breach His wound was not Mortal but his too assiduous entertainment of the Damoiselle du Rouet one of those Sirenes the Regent employ'd to enchant that poor Prince withal heated his blood too much after which his impatience to be Cured making him venture by Boat to Paris he was seized with a Trembling and afterwards fell into a cold Sweat the Symptomes of approaching death as indeed it proved for the Boat stopping at Andelis he there resigned his last breath the Seventeenth day of November shewing himself in this last Act as he had done in all the other Four wavering and irresolv'd between the Catholick Religion and the Confession of Ausbourg but discovering enough the bad opinion he had of the Government by an express order he gave to fore-warn his Wife from coming to the Court to stand well upon her Guard and Fortifie her places The trouble the Prince was in for the bloody Conquest of Rouen was yet augmented by the unwelcome News brought him from Guyenne Duras had raised Five Thousand Men for him in that Country this Army of Fellows pickt up at random and most Robbers living without order were charged by Montluc and cut in pieces near the Burrough de Vere between Perigueux and Sarlat Which brought the Prince two great dis-advantages the one that he lost this considerable Supply the other that Montluc's Forces having nothing else in those Parts to fear joyned with the Kings Army some dayes before the Battel of Dreux There have been many Volumes Printed of all the Minute passages in every Province particularly in Guyenne Languedoc and in Daufiné the surprising taking and retaking of Towns a World of little Fights and Skirmishes the Barbarities and Massacres committed on both sides the Insolencies and furious rage of the People which to say the truth they were but too much and too highly provoked unto by the Huguenots in divers places I shall therefore only observe in gross that Sommerine for the Catholick Party made a rude War in Provence against his Father the Count de Tendes who held with the Huguenots That in Daufiné the Baron des Adrets having taken up Armes for these and the Count de Suse for the other pursued each other by turnes very close and smartly and that the Baron made himself Terrible by his enormous Cruelties Precipitating Massacring and Drowning without Faith or Compassion such as resisted him in any place That Tavanes a zealous Catholiâ—k having retaken Chaalon and Mascon preserved for a time all Burgundy from being any further involved in the Civil War That Normandy was all laid waste and desolate the higher by reason of the Sieges of Rouen and Havre and the lower by the Count de Montgommery and the Breton Troops which the Duke d'Estampes had brought in thither to make head against him That Joyeuse preserved one part of Languedoc in the Ancient Religion That Montluc as we may find in his Commentaries rendred the King great Service in Guyenne but that he exceeded the bounds even of severity it self against the Huguenots I shall add that their Party had the disadvantage almost every where unless in Languedoc where they held all the best Cities excepting Toulouze which intending to seize upon in the Month of May they were drove thence after an obstinate Fight of many dayes and the loss of Three Thousand of their Men not reckoning about Two Hundred more who were
When he had consider'd therefore that it was a foolish enterprize to take Paris for Corbeil he decamped the 12th day of December and took his March towards Normandy to joyn with the English who were at Havre and receive some English Money to pay his Germans ready to Mutiny The Triumviri followed him so close that at his seventh or eighth halt the two Armies found themselves engaged to give Battel near the City of Dreux the twentieth of December In the beginning the Huguenots had some advantage they defeated the main Battel of the Catholicks took part of their Cannon and even the Constable being wounded with a Pistol Bullet in the Face but they afterwards falling upon the Baggage and their gross of Reserve which consisted of twelve hundred Reistres disbanding likewise to get their share the Catholicks had their full revenge The Duke of Guise in appearance commanded only his Company of Gentdarmes and a Body made up of some friends of his who were Voluntiers and yet his desert and quality made his advice and counsel pass for Orders The Mareschal de Saint André led the Van-Guard the Duke who stood on a rising Ground and reserv'd himself for the Crowning of that Day beholding the Enemies scatter'd and scarce keeping any order detached some parties from that Body to charge the Infantry who were defrauded of their Cavalry then Marching himself turned upon their Horse and put them to the rout The Prince of Condé who never gave Ground was taken Prisoner by Danville the Constables second Son the Reisters trotted away into a Neighbouring Wood the Admiral joyned them with Four Hundred Horse whom he had rallied and with these was resolved if the Germans had but had so much courage to have begun the Charge afresh the next day They Counted Eight Thousand dead upon the place as many almost of the one party as of the other The Field of Battel remained to the Duke of Guise who did not judge it fitting to pursue the Admiral but left him to make his retreat towards Orleans whither they caused the Constable immediately to be carried fearing he might be rescued from them In the Fight the Mareschal de Saint André being by a great Body of Horse made Prisoner of War while he pursued the Victory too eagerly was kill'd with a Pistol-shot by a Cavalier named Bobigny-Meziere Son of a Register belonging to Paris whom he had used too ruggedly in some Ren-contre The Duke of Guise rendred all imaginable honour to the Prince of Condé they supped and lay together with so many demonstrations of amity that one would have guessed they had laid aside and forgotten all their quarrels to live together like Cousin-Germains as they were in intire confidence as they had before done under the Reign of Henry II. When the main Battel of the Royal Army was first defeated there were some run-aways that rode Whip and Spur even to Paris Proclaiming that all was lost Of these was d'Ossun who had acquir'd the name of brave in the Wars of Italy and indeed the rage he fell into afterwards when he found his mistake had so betray'd his courage as to blemish the Lustre of all his former Actions himself condemned himself to death and underwent the execution of his own Sentence by an obstinate resolution never to eat or drink more Upon the first news the Dutchess of Guise who had a numerous Court about her found her self abandoned in a moment and as for the Queen without being overmuch moved or concerned She only said well we must then pray to God in French began highly to caress those that were friends to the Prince and the Novel Opinions But next day the contrary being certified by a Cloud of Eye-Witnesses Letters from the principal Officers the crowd about the Dutchess of Guise was greater Year of our Lord 1562 then ever the Huguenot Cabal play'd the Diver the Catholick one took the upper-hand and clapp'd their wings and crowed the Queen ordered Bon-fires to be made though with some reluctance and gave with all the apparent willingness she could counterfeit the command of the Army to the Duke of Guise on whom the Army themselves had already conferr'd it Year of our Lord 1563. January In like manner the Princes Army intreated the Admiral to accept of the Office of General When he had refreshed himself for some days at Paray he descended into Vendosmois and crossing the Loire at Baugency lodged his Men in the Countries of Soulogne and in Berry where he knew the Duke of Guise would have Lodged his in order to the Siege of Orleans which was resolved upon Having left his Brother Dandelot in the City with Two Thousand Soldiers as many Inhabitants well arm'd and a great number of Nobility he repassed the Loire at Gergeau and takes his way towards Normandy In that Country he ransomed divers little Towns for Sums to entertain his Men received the Money from England and Muster'd his Forces Being invited by the Huguenots of Caen he besieged the Castle wherein was the Duke of Elboeuf Brother of the Duke of Guise and N. de Bailleul Renouard whom he had taken at discretion had not the important news from Orleans obliged him to return that way Year of our Lord 1563. February and March The Duke of Guise had laid Siege to it the sixth day of February 1563. The Queen was at Bangency and had shut up the Prinâ—e whom she still lugg'd along with her in the Castle of Onzain Already the Suburbs were lost with â—ight hundred of the besieged already the Bridge-Tower was gained and the Huguenots in such consternation they could expect no help but some sudden blow from Heaven or from Hell when a Gentleman named John Poltrot Meré prompted by a fatal and detestable Zeal for the defence of his Religion watching his opportunity when the Duke of Guise who had been to meet his Wife returned to the Siege mounted upon a Mule and slenderly attended shot him with a Pistol into the shoulder whereof he died six days after In so much reputation even amongst his Enemies as to be allowed the most generous Prince of his time and the best head in Christendom endued with all the heroick vertues and scarce tainted with any vice either as Prince or Courtier The Murtherer after he had rid hard all night thinking he was far enough from thence found himself by day-break at the Bridg d'Olivet his Horse being tyred he went into a House to repose himself where the same Morning he was taken by one of that Dukes Secretaries Interrogated what were the Motives who the Instigators made him commit that Crime he said as to the first his zeal for Religion had push'd him on to destroy him whom he judg'd to be their Persecutor touching the other point he varied much accusing sometimes one sometimes another but in all his Answers and Confessions and at his very death he taxed the Admiral That Lord to little purpose purged
accused him in Parliament of dangerous opinions and sentiments concerning matters of Faith got him confined to a Prison but the King by a Decree of Council set him at Liberty with an injunction to write no more without his express Order and Permission and forbid the Parliament to take any Cognisance of this matter The Five and Twentieth of July the Feast day of the Apostle Saint James the great the Emperor Ferdinand I. Brother of Charles V. died at Vienne of a lingring Feaver attended with a Dropsie He had lived Sixty one years and governed the Empire Seven yeaers Maximilian his Eldest Son who was already King of the Romans succeeded him month July The whole Kingdom was full of Factions and Tumults from all quarters complaints were brought to the King of the one and the other Party The Queen Mother desiring to know the Strength of the Huguenots and the different dispositions of Mens minds or having some more secret design under deck thought good to take a Progress with the whole Court to every City in the Kingdome taking along with her the King Alexander Monsieur the Elder of his Brothers and leaving Hercules the youngest at Bois de Vincennes The Prince of Condé had retired himself to his House de Valery Year of our Lord 1564. and 65. The Court began their promenade about the end of Winter visited Champagne Barrois Bourgongne Lyonnois Provence Languedoc Guyenne making solemn Entries in all the great Cities and arrived at Bayonne the Tenth day of June of the following year 1565. Year of our Lord 1565 During the Kings absence a controversie between the Cardinal de Lorraine and the Mareschal de Montmorency Governor of Paris and the Isle of France was very near breaking out into another War The King had forbid all his Subjects wearing of any Arms the Cardinal notwithstanding had a Licence under the Great Seal to have a Guard that might bear them The Mareschal knew it well enough but he expected the Cardinal should send to Compliment him upon it and the Cardinal pretended that it belonged to the Mareschal to pay him that Civility Now when upon his return from the Council of Trent the Cardinal would have passed thorough Paris with the Duke of Aumale his Brother and the Duke of Guise his Nephew the Mareschal de Montmorency knowing he drew near the City sent to Command him by a Prevost des Mareschaux to make his men give up their Arms the Cardinal went on the Mareschal well Accompanied goes to meet him charged him in the Street Saint Denis The Duke d'Aumale was gone by Saint Martins Gate The Cardinals People were scatter'd here and there and he escaped into a Shop with his Nephew At Night they went all to the Hostel de Clugny which was the Cardinals House The next day the Mareschal passed and repassed in a bravado before his Door The City of Paris being just on the point to rise the Prevost des Marchands on behalf of the Parliament endeavour'd to find out some means for an Accommodation between them He prevail'd with the Cardinal to go out of Town and with the Mareschal to permit that Princes Guard to wear their Arms according to the Kings Licence a Copy whereof he shewed The Duke d'Aumale nevertheless hovering about Paris with a numerous Train of Friends whom he had called to him the Admiral was likewise sent for by the Mareschal his Cousin and brought a Thousand or Twelve Hundred Gentlemen along with him and thus both Parties being in Armes it was feared every Moment they would charge each other but the King having heard the Complaints of both sides sent a Command they should lay down their Armes to which they obey'd The Queen Mother being so nigh the Frontiers of Spain desired to see her Daughter Isabella de la Paix Wife of King Philip II. The King sent his Brother the Duke of Anjou to meet her who being attended with the Flower of the French Court passed over the River Marquere which is beyond Saint John de Pied de Port and parts the two Kingdomes met the Queen at Arvanis and accompanied her to Saint Sebastians where Ferdinand Alvara de Toledo Duke d' Year of our Lord 1565 Alva came and waited on her with a great Attendance He brought the Order of the Golden Fleece for the King who went to receive his Sister at the Banks of the River Bidasso and there gave his hand to help her out of the Boat The Queen Mother had past over the River whether so agreed upon or impatient to embrace her Daughter whom they set upon a Palfrey Monsieur and the Cardinal de Bourbon walking on each side and so led her to Bayonne where she remained about Three weeks with her Mother During that time all what the Luxury and Pomp of the Court of France which surpasses all others in those profusions could invent and contrive for Balets Feastings Carousels and Bravery were employed to let them see theirs was as stately and proud and much more ingenious then that of Spain The Queen Mother would have had it thought this residence of the Court at Bayonne was only to divert her Daughter but her design was quite another thing For under pretence of going to visit her by means of a close Gallery purposely built from one House to the other she every Night held Communication with the Duke of Alva and the event did afterwards plainly discover that all those Conferences tended to make a secret Alliance between the two Kings to extirpate the Protestants month July c. The Huguenots who had piercing Eyes and quick Ears imagined the Duke of Alva had advised the Queen to draw them all together to some great Assembly and dispatch them without Mercy They said likewise that he let these words fall That the Head of one Salmon is worth more then all the Frogs in a Marsh and they believed that even at the Assembly of Moulins the Queen had then given the fatal blow if all things necessary thereto had concurred as she desired Now whether these things were true or imaginary it is certain they lost all that little Credit and Confidence there had been between them so that they could never afterwards take any measures with her and thus the Spaniard attained the end he aimed at and so greatly desired which was to maintain an irreconciliable Division in France The Court at their departure from Bayonne passed by Nerac where they restored the Exercise of the Catholick Religion which Queen Jane d'Albret had banisht thence visited afterwards Agenois Perigord Angoumois Poitou and Anjou and from thence going up the River of Loire came and concluded the year in the City of Blois and assigned an Assembly of the Grandees of the Kingdom and the first Presidents of the Parliaments in the City of Moulïns for the Month of January in the following year 1566. This was Memorable for the Famous Siege of Malta which was fiercely Attaqued by the Turks four
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
Cannon by reason of the Marshes he repassed the Creuse and Vienne and came and lodged at Fae la Vineuse When Monsieur had remained fifteen days at Celles and Chinon and his Forces whom he had given leave till the fifteenth of October and those of Poitiers whom the Duke of Guise had refreshed in Tourain were returned to his Camp he Year of our Lord 1569 passed the Vienne drawing towards Loudun As soon as the Admiral had notice thereof he decamped from Faye and went towards Mirebeau Monsieur instead of following him gets before and taking a cross way meets him near Montcontour which i◠a Castle upon a high Ground with a small Town lying on the descent at the foot of which Hill runs the River of Diue scarce fordable though but narrow Betwixt this River and that of La Thoüe the Admiral had encamped his Army extending it a little more towards the small City of Ervaux about two Leagues thence Monsieur having passed over above the head of the Diue the two Armies put themselves in Battalia with intention to fall on That of the Huguenots was led to fight by necessity and dispair the tedious length of the War being ruinous to their Families to their Party that under Monsieur out of a desire of gaining honour because they reck'ned themselves the third part stronger With these intentions they were ranged in those fair and spacious Plains intersected with several Valleys and rising Grounds which are of much use in a day of Battel It is observed that the Ground the Catholick Army stood on was called Champ-Papaut and that which the Huguenots possess'd Champ Piedgriss Both the one and the other although they had divided their Armies into Van-Guard and Batalia's had notwithstanding disposed their Men in such sort that they might all fight at the same time The Engagement began about eight in the morning upon a Monday the third of October and lasted two hours The flight of the French Foot on the Huguenots side the ill condition their Horse were in the good order Tavanes put Monsieurs Army in and the Valour of the French Nobility who accompanied that young Prince gave the Catholicks an entire Victory Their Enemies lost only three hundred of their Horse but with them four thousand Lansquenets and five thousand of their French Infantry almost as many Camp-Boyes all their Artillery and the greatest part of their Baggage without which an Army can scarce subsist long The Lords de la Noüe and Dacier were taken Prisoners On the Catholick side few of their Foot were slain but above six hundred Horse most of them Reisters Almost as many were wounded The Admirals German Horse conducted by the Counts Ludovic and Mansfeld retreating in excellent order stopt the pursuit of the Catholicks and got to Ervaux and from thence to Parthenay which is six great Leagues from Montcontour They arrived there at ten a Clock that night and the day following went to Niort The Wisdom and Courage of the Admiral never shewed it self so much as in times of adversity the greatest difficulties enlightned him and dangers made him become more firm Besides that great shock which would have made any other let go the helm he had reason to expect attempts against his own person from all hands the Parliament of Paris had Condemned him to death and promised to those that could bring him before them either alive or dead fifty thousand Crowns in Gold for a reward which should be paid by the Town-Hall of Paris The Vidame of Chartres and the Earl of Montgommery were also condemned to lose their Heads and all three Executed in Effigie at the Greve About that time a discovery was made that one of his Valets de Chambre named Dominique d'Alva would have poyson'd him The wretch was hanged with a Writing which stiled him Betrayer of the Cause of God his Country and his Master The same night the Battel was lost having held a Council with his Officers he sent to the Princes of Germany the Queen of England and the Swiss giving them an account of what had passed diminishing the loss as much as he well could and craving assistance both of Men and Money because upon their success depended the welfare of all other Protestants These orders dispatched he retired towards Niort to refresh his Men in Saintonge the Countries of Aunis and Gascongne making account to provide the places so well in those Countries as should hold the Royal Army in play and allow him time to recruit his own The King did not wholly succeed as he projected for the Garrisons in Poitou finding themselves at too great a distance from any relief agreed together to retire crossed over Berry and went to la Charité upon the Loire which Sansac had Besieged two several times in vain The Baron de Mirembeau surrendred Luzignan upon composition Partenay was abandoned soon after the Army was gone thence and Niort likewise when the Lord de Mouy who undertook to defend it was slain by a Pistol-shot discharged at him by Francis de Louviers Year of our Lord 1569 Moreuel This devoted Assassin went from the Catholick Camp to the Huguenots to kill the Admiral and not finding an opportunity would needs execute it upon this unfortunate Lord and then made his escape to the Duke of Anjou as then at Chandenier The Protestant Forces who retired to la Charité had accommodated themselves with divers little places in Berry and Nivernois nay even in Soulogne and Beausse whereby they commanded all the roads of Lyons Paris and Orleans Those of Languedoc and Daufiné had cantonized themselves in Auvergne at Orillac Some of their Commanders had surprized Nismes in Languedoc by an Aqueduct the Grate whereof they broke open and others in Burgundy were become Masters of the City de Vezelay by means of scaling-Ladders which they set up just at the break of day the most opportune and dangerous hour for attempts of that kind Sansac Besieged them twice in the last but without success The best counsel the Catholicks could take after the Battel of Montcoutour was to pursue the Princes Forces without intermission and so utterly disperse and break them but that old Maxim That we must leave no Garrison of the Enemies behind being not well understood made Monsieur fall upon the Siege of Saint Jean d'Angely the loss of which he imagin'd would be the ruine of the Huguenots in all those parts Captain Piles of the House of Clermont was in the place with many of the bravest Officers and Two Thousand Soldiers The Siege being formed the King came to the Camp upon the sixteenth of October The resolution the valour and the indefatigable labour of the besieged rendred the place much more difficult to be gained than its fortifications at first nothing less was talked of but putting all those to the Sword that were within But when upon several assaults they found it would cost them too much time and blood to
likewise to Marry the King who was in his One and twentieth year His Mother with vast and Chimerical designs rowling in her Head had some thoughts thereby to acquire the Kingdoms of Scotland and England of getting for him Mary Stuard his Brothers Widdow Then finding Affairs did not succeed well with her she next made her Address to gain Queen Elizabeth for him and propounded a League with her in Order to a Conquest of the Low-Countries This Negotiation lasted near two years at the end whereof Elizabeth having made answer That the King was too great and too little That is to say too great a King to go and dwell in England and too young for her who was Eight Year of our Lord 1570 and Thirty years old the Queen cast her Eyes upon another Elizabeth daughter of the Emperor Maximilian II. a good and virtuous Princess but whose Innocency for she was scarce 16 and whose Simplicity could create no jealousie in her The Match had been propounded the foregoing Year The Marriage being contracted by Proxy he sent his two Brothers and with them the Duke of Lorraine the Duke of Guise and of Aumale to receive his Spouse at Sedan and himself went to Mezieres where the Archbishop of Trier put her into his Hands The next day being the Six and Twentieth of November the Nuptials were Celebrated in the same place At his return from thence being at Chantilly he gave Audience to the Ambassadors of the Protestant German Princes who came to Congratulate with him for the Peace he had granted his Subjects and to exhort him to maintain it shewing him plainly by many reasons and examples the Errour and mistake of those who aver that the Calm of Peace and a diversity of Religions are incompatible and cannot be maintained or made to live quietly together in the same Kingdom With this year ended in Spain the War with the Moors after it had lasted above three years The obstinate remainders of the Moors mixed with some Jews were revolted and had created a King then he being Slain another The Marquises de Montdjeu and de loz Velez Commanded in the beginning of this War John of Austria Bastard Son of Charles V. and then the Duke of Sesse continued it and afterwards Lewis Duke d' Arcos finished it This last was the Chief of the House of Ponce de Leon. Year of our Lord 1570. and 71. The Queen Mother had the Alliance with England much in her Head or at least she feigned so the better to lull and blind the Huguenots and hinder Queen Elizabeth from lending them Assistance She therefore makes a fresh overture of Marriage between that Princess and her Second Son the Duke of Anjou Now whatever intention she had she neither spared cajolleries nor addresses nor advantageous offers to the Queen nor caresses and presents to her Ministers to win their Hearts They proceeded even to the Treating about the Conditions there was but one they could not agree upon that the Duke might have the exercise of the Catholick Religion in England at least in his own Chamber This difficulty put the business to a stop till the Massacre on Saint Bartholomews which broke it absolutely off In these years 1570. and 71. was that memorable War between the Turks and the Venetians for the Island of Cyprus Selin who succeeded Solyman his Father having a design to build some Mosques and some Hervan-Sarays or Hospitals his Muâ—ty had told him that he might not do it but with the Spoils conquer'd from some Christians Consulting then which way he should bend his Force the desire he had to possess a Country that produced excellent Wine after which he was very Liquorish made him determine to Conquer the Island of Cyprus which bears of the best in the World His pretence to break with the Venetians who were in Possession was that they allowed those Pirates to harbour in their Ports who plyed and robbed upon the Coasts of Asia and Syria and that their Governors did not shew him that respect they ought He likewise added as some kind of Title which those Barbarians however do but little regard that the Kingdom of Cyprus was a Dependance on that of Egypt which his Predecessors had Conquer'd from the Mamalukes The Bashaw Mustapha who Commanded Selim's Army Landed on the Island with Fifty Thousand Men in the month of July and laid Siege to Nicosia a Mediteranean City Seated at the Foot of the Mountains and very well Fortified The Venetians set out an Hundred nimble Galleys and Eleven great ones but the Plague having destroyed above one half of their People that manned them and the Bashaw Piali General of the Turkish Galleys being in those Seas they durst not go near the Island So that after a Siege of Eight and Forty dayes the City was taken and Nicholas Dandolo who Commanded was Slain at the taking of a Fort. Mustapha ordered his head to be cut off and planted upon the top of a Pike within sight of Famagusta In the mean time Marc Antonio Colonna and Doria this General of the King of Spain Galleys the other of the Popes had joyned the Venetian Armada and lay Year of our Lord 1571 upon the Coasts of Caramania together making up above Two Hundred Galleys and great Vessels but Doria failed them at need and upon the News of the loss of Nicosia carried back his Fleet to the Kingdom of Naples In the following Spring Famagusta the Capital of Cyprus and the best Port in the Island was assaulted Marc Antonio Bragadin defended it with extraordinary Valour and did not Surrender it till the utmost extremity Mustapha enraged at his too long and too great resistance satisfied his Faith and cruelly caused him to be flea'd alive after they had cut off his Nose and Ears Bragadin appeared more invincible yet under his Torments than in his Fighting and Triumphed over the Treachery and Cruelty of his more than brutish Enemy by his generous Sufferings At the instant pursuits of Pope Pius V. at length a League was concluded between him the King of Spain and the Venetians their Vessels or Fleet together made up Two Hundred Twenty Five Galleys Sottili Six Galleasses and Twenty Five great Ships Whil'st the Chiefs were contending with each other about Place and Authority Famagusta was lost Don John of Austria Bastard Son of the Emperor Charles V. Commanded the Forces of Spain Marc Antonio Colonna the Popes and Sebastian Venier those belonging to the Venetians Don Juan was declared Generalissimo and in his absence Colonna was tohave the same Authority Venier having craftily engaged Don Juan to enter the Gulf of Lepanto otherwise called the Gulf of Corinth a famous Battel ensued the most Memorable that ever the Christians Fought upon the Sea It was within the Streight between those little Islands named the Echinades and the main land some Threescore Miles off the Promontory Actium so Famous by that Battel which decided the Roman Empire betwixt Octavius Caesar
Queen Mothers Closet The Duke of Anjou the Duke of Nevers the Bastard d'Angoulesme the Keeper of the Seals Birague the Counts de Tavanes and de Rais were of it There upon the Report made by the Gentleman it having been consider'd that if the Admiral escaped they should fall into greater perplexities then ever it was concluded that both he and all the Huguenots should be dispatched excepting the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde It hath been said that at the first they spake only of the Chiefs and principal Men but that the King after he was with much adoe perswaded to resolve upon it added swearing in his wonted manner Well then since it must be I will not have one left alive to reproach me with it They then gave out Orders to Execute such their Resolution that same Night and the Duke of Guise was made the Chief Manager as well because the People had more Confidence in him as because he was animated with the Resentment of the death of his Father and had drawn together a great number of People Armed for that purpose Wherefore about Ten a Clock at Night he sends for Year of our Lord 1572 the Swiss Captains of the Five little Cantons and some of the French Companies orders them to put themselves all in Armes and to John Charon Prevost des Marchands as also to Marcel who was newly out of that Employment to Arm the Citizens and first draw them together within some Houses then bring them into the Market places to light Flambeaus in all their Windowes to wear a white Scarfe or Linnen on their left Arm and a Cross of the same upon their Hats and when they were in readiness then to begin the Butchery at a Signal given them by Ringing out the great Bell belonging to the Palace which is not wont to be used but upon some extraordinary Occasion of rejoycing The Orders given he returned to the Louvre where the Queen Mother the Duke of Anjou Nevers and Birague used their utmost Endeavors to resolve the King's Mind for the nearer he came to the Moment of Execution the more he was troubled in his Soul so that the very Sweat ran down his Forehead and his pulsation was like one in a Feaver They had much adoe to force a positive and precise consent from him but as soon as ever they had obtained it the Queen Mother hastned the Signal above an hour and caused the Bell to be rung at Saint Germains de l'Auxerrois as the Alarum agreed upon When he heard this and the report of some Pistols fired at the same time he was so moved that he sent orders they should forbear a while longer but word was brought back that they had proceeded too far and indeed the Duke of Guise had caused both the Admiral and Teligny his Son in Law to be Massacred in their Lodgings and the fierce Woolfs being unchained and let loose ran to every House and filled all with Blood and Slaughter To draw the Picture of this Horrible Massacre in little it lasted seven whole dayes the three first which was from Sunday the Feast of St. Bartholomew till Tuesday in it's greatest fury the other Four till the Sunday following with somewhat more of abatement During which time were Murthered near Five Thousand Persons by divers sorts of Deaths and many by more then one amongst others Five or Six Hundred Gentlemen Neither the Aged nor the tender Infants were spared nor Women great with Child some were Stabb'd others hewn in pieces with Halberts or Shot with Muskets of Pistols some thrown Head-long out of the Windows many dragged to the River and divers had their Brains beaten out with Mallets Clubs or such like Instruments Seven or Eight Hundred had thrust themselves into the several Prisons hoping to find shelter and protection under the Wings of Justice but the Captains appointed for this Execution caused them to be haled out and brought to a place near la Valeé de Misere or the Valley of Misery where they beat out their Brains with a Pole-Axe and then cast them into the River A Butcher going to the Louvre upon Tuesday told the King that he had dispatched an Hundred and Fifty the Night before and a Gold-Wyre drawer often boasted shewing his Arm that he had kill'd Four Hundred for his share The most Eminent of the Massacred besides the Admiral and Teligny were the Count de la Rochelfoucaud the Marquess de Renel Brother by the Mother to the Prince de Porcean the Baron de Lavardin Beaudiné Brother of Dacier Francis de Nonpar Caumont la Force and his Eldest Son the brave Piles Francis de Quellevé Pontivy Brion Puviant Pardaillan Montalbert Valavoire Guerchy Peter de la Place First President of the Court des Aydes Francour the King of Navarres Chancellor and Lomenie Secretary to the King Who could believe it of so many Valiant Men not one died with his Sword in Hand besides Guerchy and of Six or Seven Hundred Houses that were plunder'd but only one that made Resistance The Earl of Montgomery and about a Hundred Gentlemen who either more suspicious or more happy then the rest had Lodged themselves in the Fauxbourg Sainct Germain hearing the hideous noise that was made all over the City and being privately informed of what passed could not possibly believe it they fancied that the Guisians together with thâ—â—eople had Attaqued the Louvre and ran to the Water-side to crose over by Boat but perceiving some small Vessels full of Soldiers making towards them for they could not find the Keys of the Gate Bucy soon enough and the King himself from the farther side of the River with his great Fowling-piece endeavouring to bird them they fled back to their Lodgings and getting immediately on Horse-back most of them without Boots some even in their drawers made their escape with all possible speed into Normandy Year of our Lord 1572 Those that were Lodged in the Louvre it self were not spared After they had disarm'd and hunted them out of the Chambers they lay in they cut the Throats of them all one after another and exposed their Bodies stark naked at the Gate of the Louvre the Queen Mother being at a Window feasted her Eyes with the horrid Spectacle This deluge of Blood swallow'd up many Catholicks likewise who were dispatched by Order of the Higher-Powers or at the Instigation of some particular Persons It was enough to make them Huguenots if they had Money or a wished for Employment or vindicative Enemies or impatient heyres Some called this Massacre The Paris Matins as they had formerly called that in Sicily Anno 1281. The Sicilian Vespers Whatever diligence they used to find out the Huguenots there were more escaped then were killed for number Divers saved themselves by Money by Friends by good hap and by their craft the Duke of Guise in his own Hostel sheltred above an Hundred of those he believed he might bring over to his
chiefly in that Country Year of our Lord 1573 The Three Armies destined against the Huguenots did but little La Chastre succeeding ill in his Attaques upon Sancerre at the end of Three Months turned the Siege into a Blocade Danville instead of taking Nismes as the Cities of Lyons and Thoulouze did heartily wish because they paid and maintain'd his Army set upon the little City of Sous-Mieres whether with design not to succeed or otherwise I know not for he knew very well they plotted the Ruine of his House and he put as little Confidence in the Kings Council as they did in him He therefore ruined his Army before it and raised the Siege after he had lost Two Thousand men with Henry de Foix Count de Candale slain upon an Assault This Lord had Married his Sister and brought him Twelve Hundred Gascons Villars and la Valette cleared Gascongne of several small Garrisons but could not take Cossade and were constrained to disband their Troops who lived so licentiously that the Commons rose up in Arms to fall upon them The greatest efforts were at the Siege of Roâ—hel Strossy and Biron had invested it the preceding year all the Forces of the Kingdom were come thither and Monsieur himself Arriving there in the Month of February had brought along with him all that were bravest and greatest about the Court the Duke of Alencon month February c. his Brother the Duke of Montpensier all the Guises the Duke of Nevers and even the King of Navarre the Prince of Condé and the Mareschal de Cossé for fear lest they should make some stir elsewhere in favour of the Huguenots After several fruitless Conferences after that la Noüe not being able to perswade the Rocheliers to submit was come out of the Town and they had chosen Six Captains in his sted Monsicur began to express his mind by the roaring Mouths of his Cannon having Four-score in Battery against them In this Siege it was made more manifest then in any other of these last Ages that there is nothing which the perswasion of 〈◊〉 and Religion does not overcome and nothing that can overcome it It lasted Eight Months to reckon from the time of the Blocade the Baron de la Garde had begun within a Month after Saint Bartholomew the City during that time sustained Five and Thirty ☜ Thousand Cannon shot Nine grand Assaults above Twenty lesser ones near upon Seventy Mines very frequent Conspiracies as well by contrivance of some that were Rich who feared to loose their Wealth as by some of the Gentry who have ever some particular engagements at the Court and seldome desert it but in expectation of being called back again to the Cost of whatever Party they Espouse The People labour'd with so much heat that they raised a double Terrass and digged a deep Retrenchment at the place where they batter'd the Town before they could make their breach Besides their men were perpetually making Sallies the Women went along every where with them some to Fight others to carry necessaries and refreshment carry off and dress the wounded and gather up the Spoil others again to throw kettles of scalding Liquor or Oil melted Pitch red hot Iron Hoops Bricks Stones Timber Loggs and the like upon the Assailants heads Their Courage did not fail them though the Assistance from England which Montgommery was to have brought failed them After a long expectation in mid March they appeared but very Slender for as much as the Mareschal de Rais as well by the Intrigues he forged in England as the Pensions the King bestowed on Queen Elizabeths Councellours had notably hindred him from obtaining Year of our Lord 1573 so considerable a Supply as was promised Finding the choice Mâ—n of the Besiegers Army had put themselves into the Kings Ships and the Channel stopt up with an Estacade which they could not gâ—t over but at Spring-Tydâ—s â—e weighed Anchor and went and seized upon Bâ—ll-Isle But hearing the Count de Rais was coming against him with a dozen Ships he quitted it after he had plundred it and retired to the Isle of Wight The Count de Rais under pretence Bâ—ll-Isle wanted some Lord to defend it manag'd his Interest so that the King by his Soveraign Authority caused it to be substracted and dismembred from the demesne of the Abbey of Saincte Croix de Quimperlay and erected it to a Marquisate to bestow it upon him During all the Siege of Rochel those within enjoy'd a perfect health they had established a very good order for the distribution of their Provisions so that they had enough for two Months longer when they were deliver'd For though they were but meanly furnished with Corn they had great Stores of Flesh and Salt-Fish and the Sea shewing her self Charitable and Merciful to that Town which she hath ever looked upon as her Nurse-Child threw upon the Owze infinite quantities of Shel-Fish for the Subsistance and Relief of the Poor On the contrary the Besiegers were under all sorts of inconveniencies the neglect of discipline and the desolation of the Country round about them had caused extream scarcity of Provisions and Forrage in their Camp and a most terrible Infection which bred frequent and contagious distempers But the complement of all those Evils was their general Division which held the Royal Army in perpetual agitations and ready to cut one anothers Throats like Cadmus his Soldiers There were of three sorts of People the Malecontents the Gentlemen were most of them so with the Queen Mother who governed all by two or three Strangers Covetous Proud and without Faith the Faithful these were the Huguenots who had not quitted their Religion but to avoid the ruine of their Houses or for some Interest at Court had followed Monsieur and the New ones whom the fear of being Massacred had forced to go to Mass though they did not believe in it Out of some of each of these was a Club or Party made whom they named the Politiques and these had together agreed that without any more mention of Religion they would demand the Reformation of the State and expulsion of Strangers Amongst the Catholicks the Montmorencies Biron and Cossé were the Chief Heads these were linked together above a Twelve month before the Saint Bartholomew The Duke of Alencon a Prince ambitious and unquiet despised for his low Stature and his ill Meen had desired to be one and having in his tender Youth taken some Impression of the New Religion from those that Educated him had tied himself in strickt Amity with the Admiral believing by that means to make a Party strong enough to equal the Credit of the Duke of Anjou and get some share in the Govâ—â—â—ment To which he was thrust on by the Ambition of his Favourites and by his Sister Margarets Spleen much offended the Duke of Anjou slighted her after he highly cherish'd her Divers considerations proceeding from jealousie suspicions and fear had withheld the
The Duke of Alenson out-braved by the Favourites had plotted to get away the King having notice of it causes both him and all those that were suspected to have given him such advice to be seized but the next day upon the Queen-Mothers intercession pardon'd him and to compleat the favour did likewise set the other prisoners at large That done as if he had nothing more to fear he gave himself wholly up to idleness passed the Night-time in Feasting and Balls the Morning in adjusting his Cloaths or placing his Furniture to the best advantage and invent new modes the Afternoon in divertisements amongst the Ladies and the Evening in Gaming While he lived in this great security the Duke his Brother deceives those that were commanded to watch him and slipping away one evening the Fifteenth of September reached the City of Dreux where Bussy who had forsaken the Court brought him a great deal of company At his going away he declared himself an enemy to the House of Guise and openly protested to revenge the death month Septemb. of the Admiral and of Molle his Favourite Amongst the Cloaths in his Wardrobe he kept a Doublet belonging to the last and had sworn he would wear it on a day of Battle If the Duke of Montpensier would have joyned with the Duke of Nevers or have lent him his Forces he might have hindred from passing the Loire and getting into Berry For all Montpensiers refusal he had a great mind to charge them and marched with great speed to intercept him but the Queen-Mother sent a Courier with an express Order under her own hand which commanded him not to pursue them any further she fearing her Son might perish in the Fight Upon the noise of the Duke of Alensons evasion great numbers of the Nobility flocked to him from all parts amongst others Ventadour Turenne and the wise La Noüe In the mean while the Prince of Condé had finished his Treaty with Casimir who raised him Eight thousand Reisters and Six thousand Swiss upon this conditition Year of our Lord 1575 amongst other things that they should make no Peace without his consent nor until they had obtained of the King the Government in chief of Mets Toul and Verdun for him Toré having contributed Fifty thousand Crowns towards these Levies they could not refuse to let him have Two thousand Reisters and Five hundred Foot to carry the Duke of Alenson by way of advance but the Duke of Guise Governour of Champagne charged and defeated them near Chasteau-Thierry He was there wounded in the left Cheek with a Musquet-shot the scar remained all his life-time a very Glorious mark of Honour to the Catholiques and very becoming in a Ladies Eyes also who believe that such as are brave in the Field of Mars are ever so in the Camp of Venus too Toré made his escape to the Duke of Alenson in Berry by the swiftness ☜ of his Horse and thither his Infantry got safely by a brave retreat of above Thirty Leagues It was suspected that the Duke of Alensons evasion was contrived by the Queen-Mother thereby to keep up two parties in the Kingdom and render her self necessary between both The Huguenots growing every day more suspicious imagined she had sent him amongst them to divide and so to ruine them However it were most of the great ones were very well pleased with it and she had employment enough cut out for her self as she desired She therefore presently hies after him taking along the Mareschals of Montmorency and Cosse whom she had released from their imprisonment to make use of that credit they had with him Montmorency prevailed so far by his interest as to bring the Duke to the Castle of Champigny belonging to the Duke of Montpensier where she cajoled him so finely that he consented to a truce of Six Months beginning from the Two and twentieh of November That done she returns to Court leaving the said Mareschal there to dispose him to a final accommodation It was agreed by this Truce that the King should give to the Duke by way of security the Cities of Angoulesme Niort Saumur Bourges and la Charite and to the Prince of Conde Mezieres The Governours of Bourges and Angoulesme having refused to be diseised of their places the Queen-Mother returns again to her Son month Decemb. and managed him so well that she obliged him to accept of Cognac and St. Jean d'Angely in exchange after which the Truce was published the Two and twentieth of December There was however nothing as yet that tended to a Peace the King made great Levies both of Men and Money but the City of Paris instead of furnishing him with the sums he desired paid him with Remonstrances which relished of reproaches and did but too evidently let him know the little esteem they had of his Government Some Bourgeois however paid Taxes not so much out of good Will as the fear they had of the Reisters and to exempt their Countrey-houses from quartering of Soldiers wherewith they were menaced month January The Negotiations for Peace continued still this stopt the Prince of Conde and Casimir in Lorrain all the month of January at the end whereof being tired with the variety and uncertainty of such Propositions as were made them they descended into Bassigny crossed over Burgundy within sight of Langres Dijon and Beaulne passed the Loir at Marsigny les Nonains and extended themselves between that River and the River of Allier having gained the Bridge de Vichy Auvergne avoided that month February inundation which would have destroy'd it by a Present of Fifty thousand Crowns and by ordering Markets to serve them with Provisions where-ever they passed The Duke of Mayenne who commanded the Royal Army durst not approach the Princes any nearer then within two days march When the King perceived they were resolved to come directly to Paris he recalled his own and quarter'd them about it but this remedy which he thought sit to provide against their fears excited the Parisians complaints they fall a crying out that they ought not thus pursue the only Brother of the King and that it was a high piece of cruelty to drive a Son out of the House To these out-cries were added the Duke of Montpensiers refusal to take upon him the Command of the Royal Army the little zeal the Grandees express'd to serve the King in this occasion and a much more surprising accident then all these which was the evasion of the King of Navarre about the end of February This Prince having a long while suffer'd himself to be flatter'd with the hopes of the General-Lieutenancy and the deluding charms of some Court Syrens escaped at last from Senlis whither he was gone under pretence of a Hunting-match and retired to Poissy from thence to Alenson afterwards to Vendosme Two hundred Gentlemen month February coming there to meet him he travelled by long journeys into Guyenne where his quality of Governour and
they believed verily they should have had the stronger party as they had at Orleans They reck'ned besides the Deputies of their own Religion and that Faction they should also have the Politiques whom the Duke of Anjou's Interest and the enemies to the present Government would introduce They knew not that the Duke of Anjou was tempted from them nor did they consider they had not their Admiral de Coligny that over-ruling Genius who at a pinch could work with new and unknown Springs and Engines of a wonderful effect nor that fraternal unity without which no great design can ever prosper Thus it was not very difficult for the Queen-Mother and the Guises employing their Practises and Moneys in the Provinces which the Italian Maltostiers willingly furnished because they apprehended to be called to account for their depredations by the Estates to obtain the election of Deputies wholly at their devotion and to chalk all their business for them according to their own private Instructions which they sent into the Provinces insomuch as it was openly said that they ought not to keep their Faith with Heretiques the Huguenots but break the Edict which they had extorted by force which some began to confirm by effects Honoré d'Albert called Captain Luynes having turned Toré out of the City du Pont St. Esprit and put a Garrison into the place to secure that passage over the Rhosne By mid November most of the Deputies were come to Blois made their Complements to the King the Queens the Duke of Anjou and the Chancellour met each Order apart elected their Presidents the Clergy Peter d'Espinac Archbishop of Lyons the Nobility Claude de Beaufremont Senescey The Third Estate Nicholas i'Hullier Prevost des Marchands at Paris spent the rest of the Month in regulating month November their Sessions communicated to each other the substance of their Papers of Instructions and went all to receive the Holy Communion in St. Nicholas Church After which the several Governours were called upon according to their ranks month December Year of our Lord 1576 Things thus in order the First Session was held upon Thursday the Sixth of December in the great Hall belonging to the Castle The King after he had saluted them by pulling off his Bonnet and a little inclination of his Head made a handsome and eloquent Speech wherein having represented the grievances of the Nation and the great need there was of healing those wounds and fractures he protested that all his Desires and Thoughts tended thereunto as the only safe harbor for his Reputation and Happiness and exhorted them to joyn Hearts and Hands with him in so good a work assuring them upon the Faith and Word of a King that he would cause all such Orders and Regulations they should think fit to make in that Assembly to be inviolably observed and put in execution and would never give or allow of any dispensation ✚ to the contrary His Harangue did not appear more eloquent and moving then that of his Chancellour Birague was tedious and ridicule For after some excuse for his old age and his ignorance of the Affairs of France because he was a stranger he spun out a long discourse of the power of the King and tired his Auditory with the fulsome praises of the Queen-Mother then concluded by demanding Money to which they were but very little disposed The Sentiments of the Estates were neither agreeable to the intentions of the King nor those hopes the Huguenots had conceived In these Assemblies there were always some old Stagers who put the rest in mind of the antient and natural Rights of the People against which they cannot imagine there lies any prescription These Men obliged the Arch-Bishop of Lyons to demand of the King the Ratification of all those points which had been resolved upon by the Three Orders The King fancied this was done by some contrivance of the Authors of the League who desired he should give up part of his Authority to the Estates that so they might receive it from their hands again Year of our Lord 1577 It is most certain his Favourites had stamp'd a deep impression of jealousie in his mind concerning the Duke of Guise which did the more easily affect him when he consider'd what proffer that Duke made him to hinder him from going into Poland and he must from that very time have conspired his ruine if he believed there were any Truth in certain Memoires which were spread about and which they said had been carried to Rome by an Advocate in Parliament named David when he went to solicite for the Popes Bull to settle Paul de Foix in the Arch-Bishoprick of Thoulouze They contained divers Reasons to be urged to perswade the Pope to degrade the House of Capet who had usurped the Crown and to re-establish in the Throne the Year of our Lord 1577 descendants of Charlemain that is to say the Guises and withall the way and means to execute so great a design Some would needs believe those Memoires were supposed and the most equitable think if they were real they were only the product of that Advocates black melancholy exasperated by some damage he had suffer'd from the Huguenots There is great likelyhood that either the Minions the Huguenots or the Queen-Mother all mortal enemies to the Guises had forged them as it is most certain they reported and set on foot many other calumnies to render them odious And truly the Guises were not behind hand in flinging the like dirt upon them and for this reason we must not give too much credit to the Writings and Relations of those times unless we ☞ do very curiously examine them However it were the King finding the Estates grew hot upon the matters of Religion and that they were upon the point of demanding a Head for the League and about to name one to him who without doubt must have been the Duke of Guise he would needs be so himself and Signed it with his own hand made all the Grandees Sign it and sent it to Paris and into the Provinces with Orders for all persons to do the same Thus of a King he became chief of a Cabal and of their common Father an enemy to one part of his Subjects This was not enough the more vehement who by virtue of their popular outcries and pretended grievances are wont to draw on others mightily press'd for a Revocation of the Edict and sounded an Alarm to War by the months of Versoris and Bigot two Deputies the first for Paris the other for Rouen and also the Bishops as well for the same end as for the interest of their own Grandeur demanded the publication of the Council of Trent The Chapters opposed this last point and the particular Deputies of the King of Navarre and Prince of Condé protested a nullity if they revoked the Edict of Pacification Soon after the Estates having besought the King not to suffer any other Religion but the Catholique
the Respect and Affection they had born him which the Heads of the League took advantage of and confirmed their aversion and contempt of him Towards which the insolence of his Favorites did not a little contribute by setting themselves above Princes making the Grandees follow them and absolutely disposing of all Affairs month In August Sebastian King of Portugal having lost a great Battle against the Moors as may be seen in the History of that Countrey and never appearing aftewards whether he were slain there or otherwise Henry his great Uncle who was Cardinal and Arch-Bishop of Evora took the Crown which belonged to him as being the nearest Prince of the Blood We must know that Sebastian was the Son of Prince John Son of King John III. Son of King Emanuel That this Emanuel besides King John had three other Sons Lewis Duke of Beja the Henry of whom we speak and Edward Prince of Portugal and two Daughters Isabella who was Mother of Philip II. King of Spain and Beatrix who was Mother of Philibert Emanuel Duke of Savoy That Lewis had a natural Son named Don Antonio Prior of Crato That from Edward sprang two Daughters Mary Wife of Alexander Farnese First of that Name Duke of Parma and Mother of Rainutio and Catherine Wife of John Duke of Braganza Year of our Lord 1578 Now as Henry was very infirm and almost Septuaginary all those who pretended to the Crown after his death began from that time to mak their parties and interest and proclaim their Titles Wherefore omitting the Pope and the Abbot de Clervaux who shewed by some old Titles that the said Kingdom had submitted to their Sense and Homage there presented themselves Philip King of Spain Philibert Emanuel Duke of Savoy Rainutio Farnese Catherine Wife of John of Braganza and Anthony Prior of Crato As for Philipebert he yielded it King Philip who was issue of the eldest of Emanuels two Daughters and demanded only they should have a regard to his Right in case Philip died before him They said that Rainutio his Mother being dead as she then was could not dispute it with Catherine he being one degree remoter then she The question remained therefore between Philip and Catherine It was most certain that Philips Mother had she been living would have been excluded by Catherine but as she was dead her Son Philip pretended they ought not now to have any regard to that but that he and Catherine being at equal distance for both of them were Germain to Sebastian he was to be preferr'd because he was the Male. As for the right of Anthony King Henry made no account of that because he had a perfect hatred for him and his Father as it was said had by his Will declared him illegitimate nevertheless all the People the Clergy and the Friers excepting only the Jesuits who were perswaded that the grandeur of the House of Austria was the main and truest support of the Catholique Religion were entirely for him Amongst the Contenders Queen Catharine de Medicis was also a Stickler perhaps to make the World believe she was of a Family good enough to pretend to the succession of a Kingdom And thus she founded her right Alphonso III. King of Portugal about the year 1235. Married one Matilda Countess of Bolognia then did repudiate her to take a Wife much younger She said he had a Son named Robert by that Matilda but to his prejudice and wrong had left the Inheritance to the Children by this second Wife That from the said Robert came the Counts of Bologna from whom she was descended But this derivation besides the injury it did to all the Kings of Portugal from the time of Alphonso and to all the Pretenders that were issued from them as necessarily qualifying them Bastards and Usurpers was false in the most essential point for Matilda had no Child by Alphonso and Robert was Son of a Sister to that Queen Year of our Lord 1579 The most apparent Right according to the Lawyers of Coimbre who ought to know better then any others the Laws and Customs of those Countries was that of Catharine Wife of the Duke of Braganza And indeed the Nobility and the Estates to whom the resolution of all Questions of such importance do most properly belong inclined that way but Henry was so weak he durst not declare in her favour but engaged himself for Philip and that the more readily as finding the Duke of Braganza grew slack withall his Confessor persuading him that the glory of God and the advancement of the Catholick Religion required it Year of our Lord 1580 Upon this he happens to die the last day of January in the year 1580. having Reigned seventeen Months Philip who had prepared himself to make good his Title by force did immediately order the Duke of Alva to enter Portugal with a good Army Anthony was already proclaimed King but could not make head against him the Forces he had got in haste together being raw unexprerlenc'd Men were worsted the first time and quite dispersed the second So that having nothing left him on Land and the Sea beating him churlishly back every time he endeavour'd to set sail he was forced to disguise himself under a Monks Hood and hide himself for eight Months in several places the Portuguese not discovering him though Philip had promised fourscore thousand Crowns to any that would produce him At length finding his opportunity he embarqued on a Vessel which transported him into Holland from whence he came to the Court of France All the Islands of Azores excepting that of St. Michael which submitted to Philip remained still firm to his Party by means of certain Monks who were mightily increased there These Islands are usually called Terceres from the third which is the greatest of them all there are nine in number As to the Duke of Braganza he agreed with King Philip who gave him the Office of Constable of the Kingdom but in our days his Grandson John happily raised himself again and was restored to the Crown according to a wonderful Prophecy which may be seen in the first Volume of the Annals of the Cisteaux i. e. White Friers composed by a Religious Spaniard of that Order some years before that miraculous Revolution The Order of St. Michael had been in great reputation and request under four Kings but during the Reign of Henry II. the Women had made it Venal and in those Year of our Lord 1579. January of Francis II. and Charles IX Queen Catharine had rendred it so contemptible that the Nobility never demanded it but for their Servants or Valets This year the King without abolishing the former instituted another named the Order of the Holy Ghost to which it serves as a necessary disposition He declared himself Soveraign Head and for ever united the Soveraignty of it to the Crown of France He solemnized the Feast on the first day of January in the Church of the Augustins
Mother he relaxed so far as to gâ—ve Commission to that Princess to go to Espinay find out the Duke of Guise and Treat with him His Order was she should oblige him to lay down his Arms before she entred upon any Negociation on the contrary the Duke of Guises design was to gain time that he might draw his Forces together Which he craftily practised for ten or twelve days together then in short told her neither himself nor Friends would quit their Arms till they were satisfied in their demands and immediately took Horse to meet his Reisters who were then upon the Frontiers Scarce was he out of sight when Rubempre either for not being well paid or for being so by both sides labour'd to debauch the old Cardinal de Bourbon from him no sooner had he a hint of it but he returned in post-haste to prevent it In the mean while the King of Navarre puts forth Manifesto's to shew the justice of his Cause in one of which he offer'd the Duke of Guise to decide this Quarrel between them two Year of our Lord 1585 with such number of Seconds and in such place the Duke would make choice of either within or out of the Kingdom But the Duke was too wary a Man to be picqued with a bravado which would have reduced the general Cause to a particular one he protested he honour'd the Birth and Merits of the King of Navarre that he had no contest against him and that he only concerned and interested himself for defence of the Catholick Religion These Manifesto's however had a great effect upon the Spirits of such as were not then engaged to either Party and brought in great numbers and besides the Forces of the League were beaten and dispersed in divers Provinces the Duke of Montpensier cut off five hundred Men commanded by the Baron de Drou who lived at discretion in his Dutchy of Chastelleraud the Duke of Joyeuse beat along before him the Troops of the Duke d'Elbaeuf from Touraine even to Normandy where they were totally dispersed and Espernon getting on Horseback as soon as he was cured of an Imposthume above his Jaw on the left Cheek pursued four thousand Men who had their Rendezvous about Orleans so smartly that they could never form themselves into a Body The heat of those who had declared for that Party began to cool the Volunteers to retire to their own homes upon pretence of an approaching Peace the Kings Servants to draw many by secret practises and the Huguenots to raise Forces under-hand by the Kings tacite permission The Guises perceiving that such Negociations were ruinous to them and that it was for those very ends they spun out the Treaty to such length address'd a Petition to the King demanded an Edict against the Religionaries and protesting they were joyned together for no other purpose and thereupon rashly break off the Conference mount their Horses and put new warmth and spirit into their Party principally those who dwelt in great Cities and such as were of the Clergy who had most dependance upon Rome The King whom they had made believe that the whole Party was unhing'd and scatter'd fell from the greatest security into the greatest consternation He sends the Queen Mother Order to conclude with them upon any terms whatever For this a Conference was held at Nemours between her and the Duke of Guise Espernon would needs be present fearing lest his Head or his proscription should be one Article of the Treaty and this necessity of the times made that haughty Spirit stoop though contrary to his usual custom but the Duke would take no advantage unless it were to shew him more civility and more respect with design perhaps either to get him on his side or else render him suspected by the King Year of our Lord 1585 They did not only give the Heads of the League that Edict they demanded against the Religionaries this was in the Month of July and the full command of the Armies month July to execute the same but also the Cities of Chaalons St. Disier Reims Toul Verdun Soissons Dijon Beaune St. Esprit Rue in Picardy Dinan and Concarneau in Bretagne To the Cardinals of Bourbon and of Guise the Dukes of Guise of Mayenne and d'Elboeuf each of them a Company of Arquebusiers on Horseback for their Guards an hundred thousand Crowns to build a Citadel at Verdun and double that Sum to pay off the Men they had levied in Germany as likewise a discharge for what Moneys they had taken of the Kings Hitherto the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde had lain quiet without stirring in appearance the publication of this Agreement gave them cause to League themselves anew with the Mareschal de Montmorency whose ruine must necessarily have followed theirs and to send also into Germany for the raising of Lansquenets and Reisters Now the King being just ready to be crushed betwixt two potent Parties who were going desperately to engage each other could think of no other expedient to avoid that destruction but to draw the King of Navarre to him to serve as a Bulwark against the League He therefore sent some Deputies to tempt him a second time but he could not be wrought upon neither to return to the Communion of the Church of Rome nor to suspend the Exercise of his own Religion for six Months much less to surrender the Cities he held for security He only promised to meet at a Conference with the Queen Mother when they could agree upon the place of Interview Though Orders were given out to prosecute the Huguenots in all parts of the Kingdom nevertheless in several Provinces the Governors knowing the Kings intentions did not much press the execution of the Edict Montmorency and Chastillon restrained Languedoc Matignon made no great haste to do any thing in Guyenne but only took care to prevent the King of Navarre from making any stirs The Huguenots had no other general word but Vive le Roy and white Scarfs with the Flower-de-Luce for their Liveries As to the rest they were weak enough every where unless it were in Daufine and Poitou In Daufine Lesdiguieres who had put all things in order in good time month September and October took Chorges Montelimar and Ambrun and in Poitou and Saintonge the Prince found himself in a capacity to besiege Brouage Whilst he lay before it news was brought him how three Captains had seized on the Year of our Lord 1585 Castle of Anger 's having by a base and cruel piece of treachery kill'd the Governor who was their Friend but they were immediately besieged by the Citizens then by Brissac and Joyeuse The Prince thought it would be a noble exploit to gain a place at that time so considerable he would needs go himself with the best part of his Forces but not willing to abandon the Siege of Brouage he left a small Naval Army there in the Canal and fifteen hundred Men in the
But the next day he was much amazed to hear that whilst she flatter'd him with the fairest hopes the King following her Council or perhaps his own Fears had made his escape in great disorder by the new Gate to the Garden of the Tuilleries and from thence to the Monastery of the Feuillants where he took Horse That night he went and lay at Trapes near Versailles and the next day at Chartres his Officers followed in a great hurry The Queen-Mother staid at Paris not to pacify those disturbances but to keep things in such a tottering posture that they might ever stand in need of her Mediation and Interposition From Chartres the King wrote to all the Cities and Governours the Duke of Guise from Paris to his friends and partisans The Stile of the former was languishing and fearful on the contrary that of the Duke of Guise and the League Victorious and triumphant They said the day of the Barricadoes was a day resplending with the protection of the Lord of Hosts and conjured the other Cities to joyn with them as Members to their Head To make themselves most sure of Paris they set aside the antient Prevost des Marchands and the Eschevins seize upon the Bastille and the Arsenal as in the Provinces they seized on several Towns the Duke of Aumale upon all in Picardy excepting Boulogne which he attempted in vain three times the Cardinal de Guise on Reims and Chaalons as their friends would have made themselves Masters of the greater part of those in Normandy if the Duke of Montpensier who was gone to take possession of that Government had not prevented them The Queen-Mother ceased not to Treat with the Duke of Guise to which end she made use of the Dutchess of Montpensier whom she cajoled with the hopes of Marrying the old Cardinal de Bourbon These two joyning together perswaded the Duke of Guise to reconcile himself to the King and for this purpose obliged the Leaguers after they had made Processions to appease the wrath of God to go in the Habits of Penitents to Chartres to crave pardon of the King They were conducted Year of our Lord 1588 thither by Henry de Joyeuse who was called Father Angel representing our Lord at his going to Mount Calvary with all the Trinkets and Persons they employ'd in those days to act the History of the Passion Thus travested they went to seek the King who was then at Church and coming before him cast themselves upon their knees and with a loud voice cried out for Mercy For the same end the Parliament sent their Deputies some few days after to let him know they were most sensibly afflicted and concern'd to find he had forsaken his Louvre and to beseech him to return and avert his just vengeance from falling on the Heads of his Subjects He answered to the First that if he designed to ruine the Parisians as they would have made the People believe it was in his power to reduce them to ashes and to the Latter that he would Treat the Inhabitants of Paris as Children that had offended their Father not as Slaves After Dinner having sent again for the Latter he charged them to threaten the Parisians that he would take away their Sovereign Courts if they persisted in their Factious humour Then three days afterwards he sent a Master of Requests to the Parliament to assure them he was resolved to assemble the Estates-General before the expiration of the year that he would carefully endeavour the Reformation of his Kingdom and assure them of a Catholique Successor It is not certainly known what motive obliged him to engage so far but the Duke of Guise judg'd it fit to press him upon that point He therefore caused a Petition to be presented to him in the name of the Princes of the City of Paris and of all the good Catholiques who did beseech him to send for that purpose the Duke of Mayenne into Daufiné with one Army and to march himself into Guyenne with another leaving the Command of Paris to the Queen-Mother to forget the Barricadoes and other irregularities to confirm the Election of the Prevost des Marchands and the Eschevins and above all to put away the Duke of Espernon and la Valete his Brother who countenanced the Heretiques Those enemies Espernon had in the Kings Council greedily embraced this occasion to annoy him the Queen-Mother clubs with them and all together made such an impression on the King that he sent him word He must stay a while away and not come near him or the Court. The Duke did not take himself to be out of Favour for all this He came to wait upon him at his return out of Normandy the King would not admit him to the Council but Commanded him to retire to his Government of Angoumois Before he departed he surrendred up that of Normandy Year of our Lord 1588 and indeed he could not have held it the King bestow'd it upon the Duke of Montpensier One would have thought his absence might have calmed the Tempest In effect the King shewed himself more willing to come to an accommodation but this appeared to be only a design to get some places out of the hands of the League especially Havre and Orleans It was upon the score of Havre that he went to Roüen but Villars who held it a haughty Man and who had engaged his Word to the Duke of Guise soon cut off all his hopes of gaining it As for Orleans Entragues who was Governour thereof did not positively deny to give Obedience to the Orders brought him by Schomberg to render it to the King The Duke of Guise was then just on the point of concluding his Treaty with the King when he heard they were dealing with Entragues he made great instance that City should be one amongst the rest which he demanded for security The King resisted a long time upon this particular at last he was forced to condescend to it but afterwards by a subtilty more ingenious then becoming a great Prince he said they had mistaken in transcribing the Order from the Secretary and that it was there the City of Dourlans not Orleans and this contest was one of the main subjects which led him to the greatest extremities against the Duke of Guise month July However upon this foot was the Treaty made of the Month of July which besides that City granted to the Princes of the League Bourges Dourlens and Monstreüil withal left in their keeping for Four years those places that had been given them by the Treaty of Nemours permitted those others who had declared for them to remain in the same condition they were in Continued their Prevost and Eschevins des Marchands at Paris for two years more and allowed them many other things of good advantage At the same time appeared at Sea that formidable Armado of Philip of Spain which he set forth for the Conquest of England They had been seven years
Party but only Chaalons for the Inhabitants having received information of the death of Guise before the Governor had any notice which was Rosne assembled together and turned him out From thence he went to Sens where his presence was requisite to fortisie his Friends then to Orleans where he found the Citadel surrendred to his Party afterwards to Chartres who received him with extraordinary month February joy and lastly to Paris where he arrived the Tenth day of February That vast number of People were yet so furiously enchanted with the memory of the Duke of Guise that they would needs bestow the Title of King upon this Brother but he did not find himself sufficiently bottom'd to accept of so high a Dignity He consider'd that besides the divisions it would necessarily have begot betwixt him and the other Chiefs who were content to be his Companions but not his Subjects the Spirits of the Authors of that grand Revolution tended rather to establish a Democracy then a Monarchy Wherefore he presently labour'd to diminish their Power encreased the Council of Forty with fourteen more wholly at his own devotion and admitted not only all the Princes of the League but likewise the Presidents the Kings Attorneys and Sollicitors in Parliament the Prevost des Merchands and Eschevins that he might carry things by Multitude upon occasion Then not able to endure this curb by any means breaks it quite the following year when he was going to give the Battle of Yury Year of our Lord 1589 Notwithstanding it was that Council had confer'd upon him the command of month March the Armies and the Quality of Lieutenant General of the State and Crown of France but he gave them little thanks for it because they limited his Power to the meeting of the General Estates which was to be upon the Fifteenth of July His Commission was verified in Parliament the Seventh of March and he took the Oath before the President de Brisson They caused new Seals to be made a great one for Council Affairs and a little one for the Chanceries and Parliaments either of them had on one side the Flower-de-Luce as was usual but on the other an Empty Throne with these words about it The Seal of the Kingdom of France Now to make a real Union of this Party as they had the name and to link all the Cities to them that had declar'd already and intended to declare he made an excellent Reglement which being sent into the Provinces brought others into him Especially Laon where John Bodin the Kings Attorney in that Court prevailed so by his Interest and Eloquence that it was accepted having made it clear that the joyning of so many Cities ought not to be called Rebellion but Revolution that this was a just one against an Hypocrite and Tyrant King that Heaven it self seemed to authorize it because States have their periods as well as Men and the Reign of Henry III. ought to be the Climacterical to France he being the LXI King since Pharaemond who according to the Vulgar Account was the first King of the French To this pretended Order succeeded a general Disorder an universal Robbery thorough the whole Kingdom seizures of Goods sales by outcry Imprisonments Ransoms and Reprizals The Offices Benesices and Governments were divided into two or three private Families were even divided within themselves the Father bandying against the Sons Brothers against Brothers Nephews against their Uncles Nothing was to be gained but by those that had nothing to lose those that had wherewithal were obliged to spend it but the Thieves gained on both hands They nestled themselves in old Castles or in small Towns from whence they bolted out to pillage the Neighbouring Countries took up the Kings Rents made private Persons compound for theirs enjoy'd the Churches Revenues and thus enriched themselves with great ease and little danger month March In the beginning of March the King not finding himself secure at Blois retired to Tours He first took out his Prisoners from the Castle of Amboise sent the Cardinal de Bourbon to Chinon whereof Chavigny an ancient Gentleman was Governor the Prince of Joinville who from henceforward was and called himself Duke of Guise to Tours and the Duke d'Elbaeuf to Loches The Duke of Mayennes Affairs as we may say did do of themselves For even in the Month of February the Cities of Aix Arles and Marseilles offended at the Kings restoring la Valete to that Government took the Oath for the League but he in the mean while passed his time at Year of our Lord 1589 Paris where he and his Officers consumed in fruitless Expences the Moneys assessed month March upon the Country with the Confiscations and Sequestrations of the Politicks and Huguenots Estates While that Duke was in the greatest hurry of his Affairs it hapned that four or five of his Friends and Intimates being in debauch with some Ladies of Pleasure in the Hostel de Carnavalet one of them seeing him pass by ran after him and haled him in almost by force he did not stay above half an hour with this Company yet made a shift to get and carry that away with him that forced him to keep his Chamber several weeks after but being in haste he had time to take only palliative Remedies So that the venom remaining still in his Blood rendred him more slow lumpish and melancholy and in his Person stupified the activity of his whole Party In the Month of March John Lewis de la Rochefoucaut Count de Randan debauched Rion and part of Auvergne whereof he was Governor he had drawn the whole Country after him if some Lords as Rostignac Saint-Herem Allegre Fleurat Canillac and Oradour amongst whom d'Effiat having the Kings particular Orders had acquired great credit had not opposed their courage and skill against his Interest and Faction The Duke of Mercoeur having balanced a while debauched likewise all Bretagne excepting only Vitre the Nobility of the Country were cantonized there against him and whilst he besieged it Renes escaped from him Gefroy de Saint Belin Bishop of Poitiers and the Mayor and some other Leaguers stirred up that Town which however did not yet declare for the League Limoges remained under obedience of the King Pichery retained the City of Anger 's in despite of Brissac who had put them upon rising and reduced them by means of the Castle where he commanded Matignons prudence defeated the Conspiracy of the Leaguers who were beginning to Barricade themselves at Bourdeaux but he durst not search it to the quick the Combination being too general and so thought it sufficient to hang two or three of the most Zealous Since the King of Navarres return to Rochel he had taken Maran and then Niort by Escalado Some few days after hapned the Murther at Blois but that made no alteration in the conduct of his Affairs neither did it oblige him to discontinue his War The Cities of Loudun Thouars Monstreuil L'Isle
great Guns they lowred their Pikes and surrendred their Colours which were immediately restored to them again by the generosity of the King who desiring to oblige the whole Nation wrote a very civil Letter to the Cantons The Duke of Mayenne after he had performed all the Duties of a great Commander and brave Cavalier drew part of his Men over the Bridge then caused it to be broken down and with that remnant escaped to Mantes The Inhabitants were willing to receive his Person but not quarter his Troops but made them go thorough ten by ten Nemours Aumale and some other Chiefs with what they could rally retired to Chartres over the Plain The Duke attributed the loss of this Battle to his Flemish Men at Arms who were heavy and unskilful as well the Men as their Horses to the temerity of Count Egmont who commanded them to the mistake of the Vicount de Tavanes who being short-sighted ranged the Squadrons so near each other that there was not space enough in the intervals for the Reisters to wheel about and draw up again in the rear of the rest and above all to the cowardize of those very Reisters who having at first given ground fell into the Dukes Squadron and continuing still to wheel off during the whole fight fell upon the others likewise and so put them into disorder For fear of being pursued he had broken down the Bridge of Yvry and there hapned the greatest slaughter of the run-aways the Reisters defended themselves a while in the Burrough but were all knock'd on the Heads The King having past the River at the Ford of Anet was come to Lodge at Rosny which is a League beyond Mantes His approaches startled the Inhabitants of that Town the Duke perceived by their looks there would be little security for him there and for that reason retired speedily to St. Denis The Plain of Yvry was not the only place wherein destiny to speak like the Vulgar declared for the King the same day it gave him in Auvergne another advantage of great importance and such as wholly confirmed his Affairs in that Province The Count de Randan had surprized the Town of Issoire and built a Citadel the Gentlemen Royalists and the Citizens of Clermont who in hatred to those of Rion Year of our Lord 1590. March had a great deal of Zeal for the Kings Party surprized the City by their intelligence with a Consul and besieged the Citadel Florat Seneschal of Auvergne Commanded on this occasion Randan comes to relieve the Citadel and invested both him and his Party in the Town The Lords of that Country amongst others Rostignac the Kings Lieutenant the Vicount de Lavedan the Baron de Chaseron the Marquiss de Curton who commanded the little Army and d'Effiat came to disengage their Friends This could not be without a Battle it was very obstinate but in fine the Leagners were overthrown It cost them five hundred Men whereof there were an hundred Gentlemen and amongst the rest the generous Count de Randan who being taken Prisoner died of his Wounds in Issoire Those of the Citadel having heard of this defeat capitulated and the Victors returned in great triumph to Clermont The Duke of Mayenne was no sooner parted from Mantes but that City and that of Vernon turned their backs upon him It was said that if he could but have left a good Garison there he had stopt the King upon the Banks of the Seine and made his Victory vanish In effect he had neither Implements nor Ammunitions to make a Siege nor could he keep the Nobility with him any longer who upon the rumour of a Battle came in all haste to him without any Equipage The Wise la Noue was of opinion he should go directly to Paris where the Victory of Yvry had wonderfully raised the courage of his Friends and depressed that of the Seize the Mareschal de Biron most prevalent in the Council of War and d'O Surintendant of the Finances hindred it The first as it was said because he feared lest the King whom he treated as his Scholer should free himself if we may so say from the power of his Ferula and have the less regard of him if his business came to be dispatched so soon The second because he desired rather to reduce Paris by violent means For he judged that in case it were so the King would have just cause not only to take away the Cities Revenue but likewise extort great Ransoms from them and lay such Imposts as he pleased Now whatever motive he had he rested fifteen days at Mantes in which space the League did a little recover out of their astonishment calmed the Peoples fears and repaired their leaks Their Chiefs that they might gain more time made some Proposals for an Accommodation Villeroy first entred into Conference with Plessis Mornay in the Castle of Suindre near Mantes the Legat procured another at Noisy le Sec between the Cardinal de Gondy and the Marâ—schal Biron and was also present himself All very ineffectually for them because the King without any delay prepared himself to besiege Paris Year of our Lord 1590. March and April He had already taken Lagny Provins Monstereau Bray on the Seine and Melun Some false intelligence put him upon attempting the City of Sens but he was repulsed by Chanvallon with the loss of three hundred Men. From thence he came and seized on the Castle and Bridge of Sainct Maur des Fossez the Five and twentieth day of April having fifteen thousand Foot and little less then four thousand Horse Then Paris found they were block'd up That innumerable and confused multitude of People without Heads at least not absolute without foresight without Discipline who apprehended no danger because they understood it not and who relied upon their great numbers and strength had made no provisions for the Belly nor for War neither had the Chiefs taken any care to provide against either publick or private necessities When it came into their thoughts it was too late the Countries about them had no Corn nor Forrage all the Bridges beneath the City were in the Kings power and the Marne could furnish them with little because the Harvest that year had been very ill in Champagne They had scarce any other Stores but three thousand Muids of Corn and ten thousand Muids of Wine which Givry suffer'd to pass the Bridge of Chamoy for a present bestow'd upon him of ten thousand Crowns and out of a secret Complaisance he had for Mademoiselle de Guise with whom he was mightily smitten month May. The Duke of Mayennes Orders and their Necessity confer'd the Government of the City on the Duke of Nemours his Brother by the Mother a young Prince of an active boldness and great vigour He had then no Men of note about him but the Chevalier d'Aumale brave but wild and untractable and of Soldiers only twelve hundred Lansquenets as many French and a thousand Swiss
Fellow not able to get away revealed the whole Conspiracy They found twelve Soldiers concealed in the House of a Chanoine who were all Hanged and with them twenty seven as well Priests as Monks in their Ecclesiastical Habits There flocked People from all parts to the Siege of Paris some that till now had been irresolute were brought in for fear of sinking with a Party they believed could never rise again others in hopes of Plunder believing Paris would be left a Prey Year of our Lord 1590. June and July and that they should get Mountains of Gold many by the express Order of the King The Prince of Conty brought the Forces of Poitou Touraine Anjou and Maine Humieres sent a Party of those of Picardy and the Vicount de Turenne being recover'd of a great fit of Sickness was brought in a Litter at the head of a thousand Horse and four thousand Foot The King was not without great disquiets the interests and desires of the Catholicks and Huguenots were very different for the gaining of Paris The former as we have observed wished he might get in by an Accommodation the others would have it by force All agreed in this one point that they were much dissatisfied with him because the Catholicks urging him to become a Convert and the Huguenots to revoke the Edict made against them by Henry III. he could not as yet satisfie either the one nor the other so that from complaining they fell to caballing and conspiring In this perplexity he had about the end of May given a Pass-port to some Deputies of Paris to find out the Duke of Mayenne and exhort him to Peace but by what motive I know not presently recalled it again A Month after finding the Siege drew out in length and the disturbances caused by the two Parties in his Army increased more and more he consented to a conference betwixt the Legat and the Marquiss de Pisany newly returned from his Embassy at Rome It was held in the Hostel de Gondy in the Fauxbourg St. Germains but the Propositions on either part were so far distant that the Cardinal de Gondy who was present could find no medium to bring them any thing near a conclusion After the first fifteen days of the Siege the People beginning to find some scarcity they made a review of all Provisions in every House and they commanded all those month May and June that had more then for two Months to carry the overplus to the Markets and to the Bakers by this means they had Bread at six blanks the pound three weeks together During which the Populace allured by those distributions the Spanish Ambassador under-hand made of Pensions to the most Factious and publickly to the Rascality of some handfuls of half Sols stamped with the Arms of Castille spent their time in singing and dispersing Songs of false news which Madam Montpensier forged from day to day to amuse the Citizens At six weeks end which was the midst of June Wheat came to be at double the price and a fortnight after failed them all of a sudden Then their hunger spoiled their Mirth and turned their lewd Songs into sighs and groans The poor subsisted some days with Bread made of Bran then fed upon Herbs whereof they found good store in many Gardens Those to whom they had committed the oversight of these things had not taken timely care to send away such People as were unserviceable whose number amounted to above five and twenty thousand These were poor Peasants or Handycraftsmen to whose lot the bitter Potion first did chance to fall One day great Crowds of them were gathered together at the Gate St. Victor Year of our Lord 1590. June hoping to get out by a Pass-port they had sent to the King for but his Council dissuaded him from allowing that favour When those Wretches saw he had refused it they made so horrible an out-cry as much startled the whole City They resolved therefore in the first place to take some order to supply their present necessities and for this purpose went to search all the Clergymens Houses and Convents who ☞ were found to be provided even the very Capucins for above a twelve-month they were therefore enjoyned to bestow Food twice a day on all that were in want of Bread They reckoned seven thousand Families that purchased it for their Money and five thousand that had no other Money but their grateful Thanks The said time expired their Miseries began to grow greater then before they bethought them of husking and grinding of Oats to make Potage and because Wine failed in the Cabarets they invented and distributed I know not what kind of Beverage made with Oatmeal and Roots In the Month of July Bread rose to a Crown the pound weight the Septier of Wheat above sixscore Crowns one Sheep a hundred Livers and other things in proportion Amongst the Poor Dogs Cats and Mice were greater dainties then month July formerly Partridge or Hares old Unguents Candles Grease and the most fetid Oyls were used for seasoning their Broths of Herbs or Grass For want of Aliments they were fed with Processions particular and solemn Vows imposed upon them Prayers of forty hours long Sermons twice a day several Fraternities and Spiritual Assemblies withall various and false coined Intelligence and approaching hopes which though prepared for them a thousand several ways to fit their Palates and stay their Stomachs proved notwithstanding so thin a Diet as afforded but slender nourishment There are strange things related of this Famine Perhaps they may have added somewhat to the truth of the Stories but certain it is above ten thousand People perished for want of Food And yet of these poor Wretches some were so persuaded of the justice of their Cause and the glory of Martyrdom that they crawled to the Gates of the Churches there to surrender up their Souls to Almighty God others were so cowardly they rather chose to starve in their own Houses then die bravely with their Swords in hand Some few only leaped over the Walls and stealing thorough the Enemies Guards retired to certain Officers who were their Friends These being for the most part some Servants of the Kings did implore his Clemency with such repeated importunities that he gave leave for three thousand of those wretched Ghosts to come out of the Town divers whereof were choak'd so soon as the compassionate Soldiers gave them Bread to eat The said Commanders perceiving by this that the King would not use the extreamest severity took the confidence to let some numbers of them daily pass by when they were upon the Guard nay many did even send in small refreshments to their Acquaintance to their old Landlords and most particularly to the Ladies and by their example the common Soldiers conveyed Meat Bread and runlets of Wine over the Works in exchange whereof they received good Cloth and rich Stuffs at an easie rate It is believed that this
War A Peace would have blasted all their ambitious pretensions and they could no longer carry on the War without a King nor maintain and support a King without the assistance of Spain To this effect they deputed the President Janin to that Prince who gave him favourable Audience twice and afterwards sent him to confer with one of his Ministers By whose discourse the President discover'd the intentions of Philip which were to Assemble the Estates General that they might bestow the Crown of France upon him that should Marry his Daughter Isabella as the nearest Princess of the Blood Royal upon which condition he promised to send such numerous Forces into France as should drive out the the King of Navarre and withal offer'd ten thousand Crowns per Month to maintain the Duke of Mayenne He founded his hopes upon the charms of his Gold the affections of the Seize and the Cabals of the Friers Mendicants and other Religious Orders very powerful and at that time devoted to Spain by whose means he hoped to gain the greater Cities The Pope aimed at the same thing and treated the Seize as Men of great importance He fancied the time was now come to suppress all Heresies and that his Popeship might not lose the glory of it he resolved to joyn his Spiritual with the Temporal Power to destroy them He put forth two Monitories the one month March directed to the Prelats and Ecclesiasticks the other to the Nobility Magistrates and People By the first he Excommunicated them if within fifteen days they did not withdraw from the Obedience Territories and their Attendance on Henry de Bourbon and within fifteen more deprived them of their Benefices By the second he exhorted them to do the same if not he would turn his Paternal goodness and love into the severity of a Judge In both of them he declared Henry of Bourbon Excommunicate Relapsed and as such fallen from all right to his Kingdoms and Seigneuries Marcellin Landriano the Popes Referendary was the Bearer of them and contrary to the sentiments of the Duke of Mayenne published them in all the Cities of the League about the end of the Month of April month April To the same end the Pope raised Eight thousand Foot and a thousand Horse of whom he made his Nephew Hercules Sfondrata General and to make him the more Year of our Lord 1591. May. worthy that Command he invested him with the Dutchy of Montemarcian with most solemn Ceremony in the Church of Sancta Maria Major About this time the Marquiss de Maignelay who had promised the King to return to his Obedience with la Fere upon Oyse whereof he was Governor was assassinated in the midst of the City by the Vice-Seneschal of Montelimar named Colas and the Lieutenant of the Duke of Mayennes Guards who left the Government of it to Colas The King going to Compeigne to favour this Reduction very angry it was prevented came back to Mantes From thence he put in execution an Enterprise he had upon the City of Louviers It was taken at noon day by the Mareschal Biron Raulet having greatly contributed to this Exploit had the Government of it Fontaine-Martel Governor of the place and Claude de Saintes Bishop of Evreux were taken Prisoners Martel redeem'd himself by paying a Ransom the Bishop for being too hot was detained in Prison and there died The Popes Bull had scarce any other effect but to excite the Huguenots to demand an Edict give an opportunity to those of the third Party to advance and strengthen their Cabal and provoke the Parliaments of the one and the other Party to make bloody Decrees The Chamber of Chaalons a Member of that which was sitting at Tours by a Decree of the Sixth of June cancell'd and revoked them as null abusive scandalous seditious full of Impostures contrary to the Holy Decrees Canons Councils and the Rights of the Gallican Church ordained they should month June be torn and burnt by the hands of the Hangman that Landriano should be apprehended ten thousand Livers Reward to whomsoever should deliver him to Justice forbidding all the Kings Subjects to lodge or harbour him as likewise to carry either Silver or Gold to Rome or to sollicite the Provisions or Expeditions of Benefices And an Act to be given to the Sollicitor General for the appeal he was to bring to the next Council legally Assembled The Kings Council were divided into two parts the one sat at Tours where the Cardinal de Vendosme presided the other at Chartres with the Chancellor de Chiverny the King assembles them together at Mantes to deliberate on so important an Affair After he had heard their opinions he puts forth a Declaration in the Month of July month July wherein he gives notice to his Parliaments that all other things laid aside they should proceed against Landriano as they should in justice see cause and exhorted the Prelats to meet and advise together according to Holy Decrees that the Ecclesiastical Discipline might not be lost nor the People destitute of their Pastors Year of our Lord 1591 On the other hand he thought convenient notwithstanding the vehement oppositions of the Cardinal de Bourbon to grant a Declaration in favour of the Huguenots which revoked all Edicts that had been put forth against them with the Judgments that had ensued thereupon and restored revived and confirmed all the Edicts of Pacification but then added these words by provision only and until such time as he should be able to re-unite all his Subjects by a happy Peace This clause served as a Vehicle to make it pass in the Parliament of Tours As to the business of the Bulls this Company thundred lowder yet then the Chamber at Chaalons and out-vying them declared Gregory an Enemy of the Churches Peace and Union Enemy to the King and State adhering to the Conspiracy of Spain favourer of Rebels and guilty of the Parricide of King Henry III. On the contrary that of Paris pronounced That this Decree was null and of no force made by People without power Schismaticks and Hereticks Enemies to God and destroyers of his Church ordered it should be torn in full Audience and the Fragments burnt on the Marble Table by the Executioner of the Haute Justice The Clergy also assembled at Mantes pursuant to the Kings Declaration They were to examine the Popes Bulls and to settle some Orders for the Provisions of Benesices As to the first point the Assembly made a Decree which declared the said Bulls to be null unjust suggested by the Enemies of the Kingdom protesting notwithstanding that they would not depart from their obedience to the Holy See month August To the second they propounded many Expedients The Archbishop of Bourges this was Renauld de Bealne made a motion of creating a Patriarch in France and he believed his Quality of Primat in the absence of the Archbishop of Lyons who was for the League would acquire him that Dignity
others propounded to summon a National Council The King was very glad they mentioned those two Expedients which would frighten the Pope but he indeed would allow of neither the one nor the other so that nothing was resolved upon Soon after this Assembly was transfer'd to Chartres because the Duke of Mayenne Year of our Lord 1591 had made an attempt to surprise the City of Mantes and the Prelats that were there month July During the four Months they sat the King besieged Noyon He invested it the Four and twentieth of July Three Reliefs that endeavour'd to get in being beaten and the Vicount de Tavanes who commanded one taken Prisoner the Duke of Mayenne resolved to put in some himself with all his Forces He had Two thousand Horse and eight thousand Foot who shewed the greater eagerness to fight because the Kings Army were fewer by a third part but the Spaniards refused to follow his motions and obliged him to pass the Somme for security The Besieged finding themselves abandoned parlied and made their Composition to quit the place the Eighteenth of August if they were not relieved The day being come they surrendred month March c. There was no Province so embroiled as Provence The Marsellois had refused the Duke of Savoy and then received him by the practises of the Countess de Sault the Second day of March His success did not answer the reputation of his Forces It was but an ill presage of his Expedition the defeating a Body of his Army commanded by the Count de Martinengues at Esparton de Palieres He had block'd up Berte with several Forts La Valete too weak to relieve it called Lesdiguieres to his aid these two joyned together razed them but Lesdiguieres being recalled into Daufine for fear of the Popes Forces who were passing that way the same Martinengues and the Count de Carces blocked it again The Duke of Savoy was then gone into Spain whence he brought fifteen Galleys loaden with Ammunition and a thousand Natural Spaniards He landed them at Cieutat and put his Galleys into the Port of Marseilles but found things mightily changed there since his departure One Lewis de Casaux who had raised his Credit in that City by means of the Money the Duke had given him to distribute and by the practises of the Countess found so much relish in ruling the Roast that he became absolute Master of Marseille so that he alone made their Consuls The following year he put Lewis d'Aix into the Office of Viguier and joyned him in his Government He made the People believe the Duke would reduce them to slavery and awe them with two Citadels whereas they ought to preserve their Town for a most Christian King who was to be chosen by honest Frenchmen and that he had order from the Duke of Mayenne to look after it The Duke spared nothing to gain him he order'd his Galleys to retire to Genos Year of our Lord 1591 to take away all Umbrage from the Marseillois threw and squander'd away a great month August deal of Money amongst that fickle People to no purpose and finding all was in vain he went to Aix to press forward the Blocade of Berre The Count de Carces by Intelligence with the Inhabitants got three hundred Men privately into the place Mesplez who was Governor of it beat them back and drove them out with incredible valour and surrendred not till the Twentieth of August but it was after the enduring two assaults and giving so many proofs of his vertue the the Duke who had been Spectator offer'd him the General Lieutenancy of his Army if he would have entred into his Service There ended the Conquests of the Duke of Savoy after this he met with nothing month September almost but Disgraces Amadea his Bastard Brother who had six or seven thousand Men some being of the Popes Forces very ill Soldiers had besieged the Fort of Morestel which would have contributed much towards the regaining of Grenoble He there suffer'd a notable loss Lesdiguieres having drawn his Men together was not satisfied he had made him 〈◊〉 his Siege but went and attaqued him at Pontchara where he was intrencht broke in upon him routed him kill'd three thousand of his Men upon the place the Eighteenth of September and the day following took two thousand Italians at discretion who were fled into the Castle of Avalon His Soldiers massacred three hundred the remainder he sent packing to their own homes with white Staves in their hands In the mean time a kind of feud was crept in between the Duke and the Countess de Sault he believed she obstructed his designs and she imagined he despised her because he had refused to give her the Government of Berre for her Son La Valete on the one side and Casaux on the other both for their own ends increased that Discord and made him be ill thought of by the People who greatly suspected him month October especially when he had master'd the City of Arles by means of Biord Lieutenant in the Seneschaussee Now when he perceived he could be at no certainty with the Countess he caused both her and her Son to be apprehended but she was so fortunate as to make her escape in the habit of a Swiss and her Son like a Peasant and took Sanctuary at Marseille He would needs have her again per force and to that end surprized the Abby St. Victor but Casaux who desired no better opportunity to render him odious to the People constrained his People to dislodge and retire out of Cannon-reach To compleat his misfortune he received another shock He besieged Vinon which hindred the bringing of Corn to the City of Aix the Town lay as it were open there being in many places nothing but a bare Wall of dry Stones laid upon one another but Mesplez was in it and that was a good Bulwark This brave Captain Year of our Lord 1591 sustained his attaques for three days together and gave la Valete time to come to his month December relief The Duke as much the more numerous went forth to fight him but lost a great many of his Men and all his Bagage which hapned the Fifteenth of December Afterwards many of the places that had sided with the Duke renounc'd him However he persisted in his design and the engaging himself in greater Expences though he found by the loss of six or seven thousand of his Men slain in several Rencounters and a million of Gold thrown away in Presents that it was very difficult though he were brave and the Prince the most discreet and most liberal in the World to get any advantage against so many great Warriers with such unexperienc'd raw Soldiers as his were or fix the inconstant humour of the Provencaux month August The Kings prosperity was disturbed by the unexpected accident of the Duke of Guises evasion who made his escape from the Castle of Tours where he was Prisoner
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
Kingdom and the opinions was held of them that by means of their Colledges and Auricular Confessions they perverted the minds of the Youthful and of the tender Conscienced which way best pleased them gave occasion to the Parliament to involve the whole Society in the same punishment due for the Crimes of particulars Thus by one and the same Decree which was pronounced the Nine and twentieth of the Month and executed by Torch-light they condemned John Chastel to suffer the pains accustomed for the like Parricides and Ordained that the Priests and Scholers of the Colledge of Clermont and others calling themselves of the Society of Jesus as being Corrupters of Youth Disturbers of the Common Peace and Enemies to the King and State should within three days leave their House and Colledge and in fifteen the whole Kingdom and that all what belonged to them should be employ'd to pious uses accordingly as the Parliament should dispose of it Some other Parliaments following the same Sentiments with this of Paris banish'd them by a like Decree but that of Bourdeaux and that of Thoulouze refused to conform to it so that they sheltred themselves in Guyenne and Languedoc till they were recalled By another Decree John Guignard having owned his Defamatory Writings was condemned to be Hanged not for the having made them but for having kept them By another also John Gueret under whom Chastel had gone thorough his Courses of Philosophy and the Father of this wretched Parricide were banished the Kingdom the first to perpetuity and the second for nine years and it was Ordained his House should be demolished and in its place a Pyramid of Carved Stone to be erected which should contain the cause of it Upon one of the four Faces was the Decree engraven and on the other three divers Latin Inscriptions in Verse and Prose in detestation of the Memory of that horrid Attempt and that Doctrine which was held to have been the occasion of it Year of our Lord 1594 month December Now the term the King had prefixed to the Hennuyers and Artesians being expir'd without their giving him any answer he caused a Declaration of War to be published against King Philip and his Subjects it hapned some weeks after that the Arch-Duke Ernest Governor of the Low-Countries died the One and twentieth of February King Philip committing the Administration to Peter Henriques Guisman Count de Fuentes till he had otherwise disposed of it The Duke of Nemours having made his escape from the Castle of Pierre-Encise disguised in the habit of a Valet and carrying the Pan of his Closs-stool got immediately on Horseback and with his Friends and three thousand Swiss lent him by the Duke of Savoy took several Forts round about Lyons whereby he thought to famish that great City but the Constable de Montmorency who brought a thousand Maistres and four thousand of the Kings Foot having received Order to remain in that Country Year of our Lord 1595 shut up the Duke himself in Vienne so close that his Swiss weary of the great month January want they endured retired into Savoy to the Marquiss de Trefort General of that Dukes month December in 1594. and January c. Army who far from being able to relieve him was forc'd to let the Constable Soldiers winter in Bress where they had taken Montluel Year of our Lord 1595 Whilst the Duke of Nemours was gone to the Constable of Castille with design of engaging him to come into Lyonnois Disimieu his most intimate Confident to whom month April he had committed the Guard of Pipet chief Castle of Vienne treated his Accommodation the Twelfth of April drew his Men into the Town and invited the Constable thither who took the Oaths of the Inhabitants Nemours who thought this bosom Friend had been proof against all Temptations was like to have lost his wits when he heard of this infidelity Such as were inclined to believe the worst and who judge of others actions by their own interpretation which is too often true said the motives that guided Lisimieu had more of self-interest then duty and chose rather to call him Traitor to his Friend then faithful to his King And even when Nemours fell sick whether for grief or some other cause they reported he had given him a Fig to prevent his Resentment month January Really this Prince was invaded by a strange malady and almost like that of Charles IX Blood flowed in great quantities from his Mouth His more then ordinary courage did for some time resist the violence of this Distemper but when he was so much attenuated that he could no longer stand upon his Feet he desired to be carried to his Castle of Anecy in Savoy and there having languished for some Months in such a dismal condition as drew tears from the Eyes of every one that beheld him he resigned up his Soul about mid July aged twenty eight years The Marquiss de Sainct Sorlin his Brother succeeded him in the Dutchy of Nemours and other Territories and soon after came to an agreement with the King month February The Duke of Mayenne had not so much love for him as to be grieved but the pejoration of his Affairs brought grief enough upon him from elsewhere In the Month of February the Inhabitants of Beaulne to whom the King the preceding year had granted a four Months Truce fell upon that Garison the Duke had re-inforced and called the Mareschal de Biron to their aid who then besieged the Castle Year of our Lord 1595 month February de Monstier-Sainct Jean hard by This Mareschal having forced three hundred Soldiers who yet defended themselves in the City to capitulate laid Siege to the Castle which surrendred within a Month having in vain expected the Duke of Mayenne month April would have joyned his Forces with the Duke of Nemours to deliver them The Cities of Autun and Aussonne finding his declining condition did also quit his Party the first by the advice and management of their Maire the second by a Treaty Senecay made with the King who left him the Government of it By the example of Beaulne the Inhabitants of Dijon took Arms in the beginning of May and finding themselves too weak to drive out the Garison had recourse to Biron who gained all the Quarters of the Town and at the same time besieged the month May. Castle and that of Talon which was within a quarter of a League whither the Count de Tavanes had retired The Constable of Castille named Ferdinand de Velasco was descended into the Franche-Comte in the Month of April with an Army of Fifteen thousand Foot and three thousand Horse This Mareschal apprehended lest he should fall upon his back with all his Forces the Constable de Montmorency had the same fear upon him and both these press'd the King extreamly to advance that way His Mistress by her Caresses made him resolve it She desired he might conquer the Franche-Comte for her
of Balagny and had no less contempt then hatred for him after the check he received before Senlis Rhosne well acquainted with their discontent and having great intelligence in the City advised Fuentes to besiege it and that the French might not be able to bring relief in a Body to take in Dourlens first There were but few within the place notwithstanding Fifteen hundred Horse and Foot did make a shift to get in and at the same time the Count de Sainct Pol the Mareschal de Bouillon and the Admiral de Villars joyned together to succour it They had above four thousand Men and the Duke of Nevers was not above a days march distant with twelve hundred more but as there was no unity amongst those Chiefs and they disdained to obey that Duke they hastned to relieve the place before he joyned with them Fuentes encouraged by Rosne went to meet them at first the Mareschal made a very stout Charge but having the worst he falls to a retreat and the Admiral who staid behind to make another Charge engaged so far amongst the Enemies that they surrounded and took him Prisoner with fifteen or twenty Gentlemen of note and all his Foot were cut in pieces The Spaniards killed him and Sesseval in cold Blood for they are not wont to pardon any who having once been under their Pay shall take up Arms against them The King gave the Office of Admiral to Damville the Constables Brother and the Government of Havre to the Chevalier d'Oyse Brother of the deceased but restored the City of Rouen to perfect liberty having ordered the Fort St. Catharine to be demolished As the jealousie between Bouillon and Villars occasioned this loss that between the Duke of Nevers and Bouillon caused a more bloody one While Nevers excused himself Year of our Lord 1595 from undertaking the Command because they had reduced things into so ill-favoured month July a condition that he could reap no honour by medling with it and on the contrary Bouillon did all he could to thrust it upon him thinking thereby to shelter his Reputation under anothers name and amidst his fears and suspicions marched giddily about the place without attempting any thing it hapned eight days after the Battle that the Besieged who fought very well yet defended themselves but ill for want of Ingeniers unfortunately suffer'd the Enemies to force in upon them The Spaniards gained the Castle by a general assault upon a Bastion and made great slaughter of the Garison that was within it From thence they descended into the Town where finding no resistance they massacred all as well the defenceless Women and the Children as the Armed Men the raging Soldiers running thorough every Street and crying This is the Revenge for Ham. They gave no quarter but to seven or eight whereof Haraucour Governor of the City was one The Pavement was strewed with the Bodies of above three hundred Gentlemen who were gotten in and two thousand Persons more It is incredible how great the Spaniards joy was to find by this experiment it was possible for them to beat the French by fine force who till now were ever wont to beat them so but that which raised their hearts and spirits more yet was that at the very same time they had news from the Low-Countries that Mondragon who commanded their Army there in the absence of Fuentes had forced Prince Maurice to raise his Siege from before Groll in the Country of Overissel and having afterwards encamped near him boasted that he would hinder him from undertaking any thing all the rest of the Campagne So after they had setled Hernand Teillo Protocarerro Governor in Dourlens hover'd some days upon the Frontiers of Picardy and put a fresh Convoy into la Fere they marched towards Cambray full of the confidence of their taking it For consolation of these losses the King was informed his Affairs advanced very successfully at Rome After the Duke of Nevers was gone thence dissatisfied Pope Clement having notice that in France they had renewed the Proposition for making a Patriarch there relaxed somewhat of his severity and finding of late the King did not much sollicite him he began to apply himself to the King He wrote to the Cardinal de Gondy to renew that Negociation sent the Jesuit Possevinus to Lyons to confer about it with the Constable and with Bellievre and order'd the Cardinals Year of our Lord 1595 Protectors of the Chartreux Capucins and Minimes to command those Orders to month July mention and name the King in their Prayers which they had not hitherto done The Huguenots and even the Politicks were of opinion they ought to make him postulant in his turn and run after what he had rejected nevertheless considering the great Consequences the King resolved to send some Deputies of Rome and give them an express Procuration to Treat about the Conditions of his Absolution and to receive it in his name For this purpose he made choice of James David Du Perron and joyned Arnold d'Ossat with him as then but a simple Priest yet a Man of rare prudence and great merit who had before Negociated a long time in that Court It was said of the latter he had the talent to insinuate into the most Refractory and charm them to listen to him of the other that he left no room for reply if they would but hear him with attention so great was the rapidity and force of his Reason that he did not only persuade but he compel'd The multiplicity of Affairs that interven'd in the Kings Council having obstructed Du Perrons dispatch four Months together the Spanish Faction had a fair opportunity to make the Pope believe they scoffed at him and when this Agent did come contrary to their hopes they practis'd all their subtilties and laid what stress they could upon the ill success at Dourlens to hinder both him and d'Ossat from being admitted to Audience Then when they had been received which was about mid July and the Pope having taken advice of the Cardinals in private had declared month July in Consistory that two thirds of the Votes were for allowing Absolution to the King they were reduced to the starting of new difficulties about the manner endeavouring sometime to persuade it ought to be given at the Tribunal of the Inquisition then to crowd in some Expressions that wounded the King and at another time to propound some Formalities which should submit both him and his Kingdom to the Soveraignty of the Pope The Court of Rome was easily induced to lay hold of this last the bare prospect did so please them as they employ'd all their Arts and Engines to persuade the Kings month July and Aug. Agents to deposite his Crown in the hands of his Holiness who after the Absolution pronounced would have placed it upon one of their Heads again They got over this difficulty happily enough but three more rubs were thrown in their way the one that the
during which time might bring forth some favourable occasion to change the Scene or turn the Tide another way But this Dame as crafty as themselves made no great haste to serve them but on the contrary would let them know her intercession only could save them When therefore the Dutchess of Mercoeur presented her self one Morning at the Gates of Anger 's she was rudely turned back and forced to retire to Pont de Ce but when her Pride thus humbled had taught her to refer her self wholly to the will of the fair Dame she was the very same day sent for and the King soon moved with the Tears of that obliging Sex and very ready to grant what his Mistress requested allowed the Duke an Edict almost as honourable as he could have expected when his power was greatest For having taken care in the Preface of it to excuse him though after his Reconciliation with the Pope nay even after the coming of the Legat into France he had not submitted to him supposing he acted in that manner for some reasons that respected the preservation of Bretagne which must have run the hazard of being invaded by Strangers whilst the Forces of France were employ'd upon the Frontiers of Picardy He declared That he held him and all those that had follow'd his Party for good and faithful Subjects restored them to their Estates and Commands Revoked all Judgments given against them Confirmed all such as had been made by the Members of Parliament and Presidial Courts of that Party Year of our Lord 1598 Moreover he gave the Duke Two hundred thirty six thousand Crowns Reparations month April for his Warlike Expences and Seventeen thousand Crowns Pension Besides this a permission to sell of the Corn that was in store to the value of Fifty thousand Crowns The keeping of the Castles of Guingamp Montemort and Lamballe Pass-ports for the Spaniards who lay in the River of Nantes to retire and power to keep the Places and Forces he then had till a Month after the Verification of this Edict Not to mention several other the like Conditions as those granted in the Edict for the Duke of Mayenne The Price of so honourable a Treaty was his Daughter whom the King in few days betrothed to his Son Caesar He had legitimated and enriched him with the Dutchy of Vendosine to be by him held with the same Rights and Advantages as the preceding Dukes had enjoy'd and with a promise to give him within four years wherewith to redeem all its Lands that had been alienated Which the Parliament verified without drawing any consequence for such other Lands as were of the Kings Patrimony which by the Laws of the Kingdom were re-united to the Crown from the moment he attained it The Treaty made the Duke of Mercoeur came to Anger 's to salute the King who received him as his Sons Father in Law The Contract for this future Marriage was sealed in the Castle belonging to the said Town and the Fiancailles or Betrothings were celebrated in the same place with as much Pomp as if he had been a Son of France The Cardinal de Joyeuse not disdaining to perform the Ceremony From Anger 's the King descended to Nantes and from thence went to Renes where the Estates of Bretagne were held He fojourned about two Months in those two Cities employing that time in putting every thing in good order for the quiet and security of the Province and collecting Twelve hundred thousand Crowns the greatest part whereof was given him by the Estates of that Country Whilst he was at Nantes he finished the business of the Huguenots Their Deputies being come to him at Blois he made them follow him thither and had put them off till after his Treaty with the Duke of Mercoeur That Treaty being perfected he would yet have made some further delay but they press'd it so home that he could scarce find any reasonable Excuse And besides he apprehended lest their despair should in the end put them upon some undertaking that might retard the Peace with Spain and give the Leaguers a plausible pretence to re-unite and take up Arms again This Consideration above any thing else obliged him to grant them the Edict which from the name of that Town is called the Edict of Nantes Year of our Lord 1598 It contains Ninety two Articles which are almost the same as those in the foregoing Edicts granted to them but it is more advantageous in that it opens them a Door to Offices of Judicature and Finance There were added fifty six other Articles which are called Secret the most important being that which left them several Places of Security besides all those they already held This Edict is that Safe-guard under which they have lived to this very hour in security and quiet and freely enjoy'd the Exercise of their Religion The King durst not send it to the Parliament to be verified till the Legat were out of the Kingdom so that it came not thither till the following year They labour'd incessantly at Vervins about the Peace the French did not insist so much now on Cambray although they had not yet passed by that Article The Arch-Duke impatient to consummate his Marriage with the Infanta Clara-Eugenia hastned as much as possible he could the grave pace of the Spaniard and obliged his Deputies to step over many trivial things Had it not been for the Allies of France the Treaty had been finished in less then three weeks The King demanded a two Months Cessation of Arms for them that they might send their Ambassadors the Spaniards refused it absolutely and upon this Contest the violent Spirits belonging to eithers Court the chief Commanders of their Armies and those that desired troubled Waters did not fail to press for a Rupture with all their might and interest but it availed nothing the two Princes were of a contrary disposition In the mean time the English Ambassadors arrived at Court which as then was at Nantes they did not shew themselves much averse to the Peace for the difficulties did not concern them but the States from whom they had Orders not to separate Now those would have none at all knowing too well the Peace could not be made without some prejudice to their liberty for which they had fought almost thirty years and without which they neither valued their Estates nor Lives chusing rather therefore to hazard all then to lose the Recompence of so much Labour Blood and Treasure One thing besides confirmed them yet more in this generous Resolution which was a Dispatch they intercepted coming from the King of Spain which gave his Deputies Order not to comprise them unless upon Condition to restore the Roman Religion over all their Country to reduce it to an absolute Obedience and fill up all Offices with Catholick Magistrates Year of our Lord 1598 Whereupon there were no Efforts no Offers but they made to the King to persuade month April him to continue
make him the more obstinate in the Retention of the Marquisat assured him the young Prince would come and assist him in Person at the head of Fifty thousand Men But these were but words for the Duke of Lerma who month May and June govern'd him being no Martial Man would be sure not to engage him in a rupture that would have disturbed his Favour and consumed the Revenue which ☜ he quietly disposed of during the Peace The Duke's delays and the Discourses he held of the Severity they had shewed him in France made it plain enough that he had no desire to execute the Treaty Wherefore the King consenting to a Prolongation till the end of July did not however omit to advance towards Lyons that so his approaches might both hasten the said Restitution and at the same time the Preparations for War he was making to compel him His Council who were much divided about this Enterprize detained him above Fifteen days at Moulins where he arrived at the beginning of July and in the mean time the Billets Doux or Love-Tickets from month July the Marchioness of Verneuil his Mistriss and the Intrigues of the Ministers of his Pleasures recalled him daily to Paris That Lady passionately desired he would be at her Labour believing if she brought him a Son there might be some hopes yet to persuade him to perform his Promise He was more than a little enclin'd to return and give her Satisfaction when the hand of Heaven if we may say so broke the Charm and set this Prince at Liberty for one day after many violent Claps of Thunder a Flash of Lightning breaking into the Chamber of the Marchioness and passing under her Bed she was so horribly frighted that she was presently deliver'd of a dead Child The Duke thought he should find contrivances enough to amuse the King till Winter Roncas and the Marquiss de Lullins propounded the Restitution to him but at the same time demanded the investiture of the said Marquisat for one of the Duke Sons This demand was no better received from their Mouths than it had been from the Dukes at Paris and Roncas sent back to him again was commanded to let him know the King 's great dissatisfaction On the other hand Foffeuse whom the King at the same time dispatched to the Duke to know his utmost resolution brought back word That nothing was to be done unless they month July left out of the Treaty Savignan and Pignerol Roncas however returning some days after assured that his Master intended to restore the Marquisat upon the Conditions expressed in the Treaty of Paris which he the Marquiss de Lullins and the Archbishop of Tarantaise Ambassador in Ordinary of that Duke gave in Writing under their Hands Upon that the King gave Commission to Bruslard and to Janin to Negociate with those Three concerning the Articles When they had fully setled them Roncas who had the Secret excused himself for signing them till he had first shew'd them to his Duke The King allows him some days too for this but the Duke who desired nothing but to gain time instead of sending Roncas back to Lyons sent only a Courier who carried an Order the other two should Sign but which was only Verbal Year of our Lord 1600 These Deputies after they had Signed started up some new Difficulties to spin it out yet longer they demanded that the King as the most Powerful should first commence the Restitution he satisfied as to that by offering them Hostages They afterwards desired him to Name the Governor he meant to send to the Marquisat for that in the Treaty of Paris it was said That he should place none there that was an Enemy to the Duke To solve this difficulty he named N. de Poisieux le Passage whom the Duke could not reasonably suspect being Brother in Law to Count de la Roque his Grand Escuyer and immediately ordered him to March with Nine hundred men to go and take Possession of the Citadel of Carmagnoles The Articles agreed to by the Deputies expressed that the Duke should render it the Sixteenth of August The King doubted not of it he was much astonished when he was informed he refused to ratifie them and that on the Seventh of the month August Month he had plainly declared that the most Cruel War in the World would be more honorable to him than the Execution of so Shameful a Treaty He was therefore forced to recal le Passage Nevertheless the Duke did again send the Patriarch of Constantinople to Lyons to assure him he was disposed to Surrender the Marquisat upon certain new Conditions which he had contrived But it was now too late to shuffle the King quite tyred with these Dedalian intricacies had sent to declare War and was advanced to Gren ble The Patriarch came to him the Fifteenth of August most carnestly to besâ—ech him in the Name of the Pope month August not to rekindle that Flame again which his Holiness had with so much care extinguished He received no other satisfaction but only he assured him he desired nothing but to recover his own and sent him to confer with his Council at Lyons It did not seem that he had Forces sufficient to undertake this War and that was the thing which deceived the Duke of Savoy Indeed he began it at first with not above Seven or Eight thousand Men at most but he had given such good Orders that this Snow-ball encreased more than one half in very short time He divided these Forces in two Bodies the one to enter upon Savoy towards Chambery the other to fall into Bresse This was Commanded by the Mareschal de Biron and the other by Lesdiguieres a great Commander for those Mountainous Countries Rosny's Diligence provided so well for Ammunitions and Cannon having convey'd them by Water that in the end of July he had in those Parts forty Pieces of Cannon and wherewith to make Forty thousand shot And indeed he omitted nothing in this Expedition to show himself worthy the Office of Grand Master of the Ordnance wherewith the King had newly honoured him having also Establish'd it an Office of the Crown Two years before he had likewise given him that of Grand-Surveyor of the High-ways knowing him to be careful and orderly and that he would take great pains in repairing and maintaining the Roads for conveniency of Carriage which in effect he performed extreamly well In one and the same day being the Twelfth of August Biron took and pillag'd the City of Bourg by forcing his way thorow one of the Gates with a Petard and Crequy seized on that of Montmelian The Savoisiens suspected the Count de Montmajor who Commanded in the first did betray it some French on the contrary imagined Biron had purposely given him notice of his Enterprize that it might miscarry for 't is certain that the former had put himself in a posture of Defence standing to his Arms the whole Night as if he
they treat the good Catholicks After his Confinement unless at those times when he fell into perfect raving his mouth was ever full of Reproaches Imprecations and Rodomontado's Year of our Lord 1602 When they came to interrogate him he disown'd the Project then owned it without any necessity denied and then confessed divers Facts and upon this so ticklish an occasion whereas the wisest speak but by Monosyllables he launched into tedious Discourses and thereby often and very much entangled himself As to the Witnesses he reproached them not till after he had heard their Depositions though he had been fore-warn'd that if he had any thing to object it must be before-hand Thus he owned Laffin for an Honest man and his good month June Friend Then when they had read what he deposed he Curs'd him as the worst of all Mankind a Sorcerer a Traytor and a Sodomite Had he said this in due time it might in some measure have weakned his Evidence He said that if Renazé had been alive he could have testified the contrary and justified him he did not imagine he was so near at hand and was much amazed when they read his Deposition and brought him to confront him This fellow had made his escape from the Prison at Quiers with his Keepers so opportunely one would have guess'd the Duke of Savoy was of Intelligence with the King The Witnesses alone Convicted him for most of his Writings were dated month July before the Pardon the King had granted him at Lyons All things being ready they led him to the Parliament to give Judgment He was convey'd thither by Boat with a strong guard The Chambers were assembled the Chancellour presided not one of the Dukes or Pairs were there although they had been summon'd in due form He defended himself somewhat better there than he had done before his Commissioners They gave him full liberty and time to Plead and this time he did Plead as he had often Fought that is he did wonders All the strength of his defence consisted in an endeavour to make it out that the Will without any Effect or a Design without an Overt act was not punishable that his Services ought to over-poise and excuse some transports of passionate and indecent words and thoughts that had no farther consequence And above all he laid his main stress upon this that the King had Pardon'd him in the Cordeliers at Lyons To these Reasons and Arguments he added so lively a Representation of his brave deeds and so many Motives for Compassion that he drew Tears from the Eyes of some of his Judges and if they had at that instant given their Opinions perhaps he might have found some mercy but they having then not time enough to take all their Votes the Business was deferr'd till Monday in the mean while he was remanded to the Bastille On Monday while the Judges were in Consultation an Order was brought them under the Great Seal whereby he revoked the Pardon he had given him by word of mouth at Lyons Some of his Ministers finding the Prisoner stood so much upon that and apprehending his fury if he should escape prevailed with the King to make the said Revocation though it were a thing altogether unnecessary and somewhat contrary to his Natural Clemency The Judges as one Man gave all their Votes for his Death They declared him Convicted of High-Treason for Conspiracies against the Person of the King Designs upon the State and Treaties with the Enemies and Condemned him to have his Head cut off in the Greve his Estate confiscate to the King the Dutchy of Biron to be Extinguish't and those Lands and others if he had any which were held of the King reunited to the Crown The Sentence being brought to the King he put off the Execution till the next day and changed the place from the Greve to that of month July the Court in the Bastille Which to his Friends was interpreted as a Favour though it was purely an effect of the fear they had of some Commotion not so much amongst the common People as the Soldiery who loved him most entirely Upon Tuesday the last day of July about Noon the Chancellour with some Councellors of State and of the Parliament went to the Bastille to put the Sentence in Execution So soon as Biron saw him he cried out he was a Dead man and asked if there were no Pardon The extravagancies and the transports he shewed in this last Scene where his Courage ought to have shew'd its force if he had had any demonstrates enough that some who dare venture into dangers with Bravery because they have a prospect of overcoming have not the resolution to stare Death in the face when there 's no possibility of escaping The Year of our Lord 1602 Chancellour having given Order they should lead him to the Chappel he gave ☜ himself up to Cries to Complaints and to Reproaches protested his Innocency summon'd the Chancellour to appear at the Bar of Almighty God accused the King of Ingratitude and Injustice After he had thus spit all his fire and venom he fell into the other extreme his too great love of life flatt'ring him yet with a faint beam of Hope made him beseech his Judges to intercede once more for him and made him even beg the favour of Rosâ—y though he esteemed him his most mortal Enemy Then when he found they all were deaf and dumb to his requests he fell into more fury than before They had at first no little trouble to bring him to that condition a Criminal should be in to hear his Sentence pronounced yet he heard it patiently enough excepting those words which accused him of having Conspired against the Person of the King this he could not endure but cried out That was False and he persisted to his very death that he was innocent as to that point It was a mighty laborious task the Doctors had to prepare and dispose him to his Death he had scarce any settled intervals They thought fit not to tye him lest that should put him out of all his Senses When they led him to the Scaffold the sight of the Executioner put him into a new rage He would not let him touch him nor tye a Handkerchief over his Eyes he bound it on himself and then unbound it again two or three times At last the Executioner took his time and blow so dexterously as made his Head fly off at one stroke As it was full of Fire and Spirits it was observed to make two Rebounds and cast forth a much greater quantity of Blood than came from the whole trove of his Body His Corps month July was interred in the Church of Sainct Paul with a marvellous Confluence of People who flocked thither from all Parts and served for his Funeral train He was of a middle Stature and for Corpulence gross enough had black Hair beginning to turn grey his Physiognomy cloudy and ominous his Conversation rough
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
the future That whomsoever the Chapter should nominate to lift or take up the said Shrine should be bound to take out Letters of Pardon under the Great Seal that so this favour might be derived indeed from the Prince and proceed in a judicial order We shall pass by these things and many others the like to observe the management of two very important Affairs without doors wherein the Kings Authority and Prudence had the best share I mean the difference between the Pope and the Seigneory of Venice and the Truce between the Spaniards and the States of the United-Provinces As to the first His Holiness complained for that the Seigneory Year of our Lord From 1605 to 1606. had put a certain Canon to death convicted of ravishing a Girl of Eleven years old and then cutting her Throat for that they detained two other Ecclesiastiques in Prison a Canon and an Abbot the first for having inchiostré that is to say besmear'd a door belonging to a Kinswoman of his with Ink which is the highest affront in those Countries because she had refused to consent to his infamous desires The second because he was Accused of incest with his own Sister of Assassinates Poysonings Robbery on the High-ways Magick and of many other Crimes He was offended yet more at three or four Decrees made by them against the honour and the liberty of the Church By one in 1602. they had excluded the Lords Spiritual under what title or pretence soever from the right of emphyteutique prelation By a second of the year 1603. they had forbidden the building of any Church Convent or Hospital without permission of the Senate upon pain of banishment for such as transgress'd and confiscation of the Ground and Edifice By a third of the year 1605. they extended that Decree made first only for the City of Venice in the year 1536. to all the Cities and Territories under their obedience viz. That no Ecclesiastique should be allowed to leave bequeath or engage any Goods to the Church and if it were found that they possessed any of that sort the said Goods should be distrained and the value restored to whom it should belong To which was added That henceforward none should give any Estate in Lands to the Clergy nor to the Religious Orders without the consent of the Senate who would allow of it upon good consideration still keeping and observing the same solemnities as are observed upon the alienation of the publick demeasnes The two first Decrees were made in the time of Clement VIII the third was renew'd during the vacancy of the Holy See Paul V. declared to the Ambassador of the Seigneory That he would have this last to be abolished The Ambassador having Year of our Lord 1605 written thereof to the Senate received for answer to his Holiness That the said Decree contained nothing that was contrary to the Ecclesiastical Liberty that it respected only Year of our Lord 1606 the Seculars over whom the Republick had a Sovereign Power That it was not just that such Lands as maintained the Subjects of the State and was to bear the Charges should fall into Mortmain and that the Senate had ordained nothing therein but Year of our Lord 1607 what the Emperors Valentinian and Charlemain the Kings of France from Saint Lewis even to Henry III. Edward III. King of England the Emperor Charles V. and several others most Christian Princes had ordained in the like matters But the Pope very far from taking these reasons for currant payment demanded moreover that they should deliver up the Prisoners to him and sent two Briefs to his Nuncio for Martin Grimani Duke of the Seigneory which ordained him to do both the one and the other under pain of Excommunication and interdiction When these Briefs arrived at Venice the Duke was in his agony so that they deferr'd the opening of them till the Election of a new one who was Leonard Donati Vnder the Authority of this Duke the Senate made answer to the Pope That they could find nothing in the Decree nor in their own conduct that did any way deviate from the respect they owed to the Holy See or which was not of the rights of their Soveraignty in temporals At the same time they nominated Duodi Ambassador Extraordinary to go and declare the reasons for their so doing to his Holiness In the mean time he from France it was Fresne Canaye and the Cardinal Delfini made use of all their skill to allay the Popes indignation but on the one side the Cardinals of the Spanish Faction and on the other the Catholick Kings Ambassador Ferdinand Paceco Duke d'Ascalona puff't him up and heated him with specious motives of Religion and Honour The Cardinals did this to cast the good man into some Embarass hoping the troubles of such a perplexed business would shorten his days As for the Duke of Ascalona he sought to revenge himself for some resentment he had against the Venetians and thought hereby to give his Master an opportunity that might signalize his power in Italy The extraordinary Ambassador from the Seigniory coming too late sound all things in a flame and notwithstanding all the respects he could tender to the Cardinals and all the Arguments and Reasons he could urge he saw some time after a Bull posted up in the publick places of Rome declaring that the Duke and the Senate had by their undertakings against the Authority of the Holy See the rights of the Church and the priviledges of the Ecclesiastiques incurred those Censures contained in the Holy Canons the Councils and the Constitutions of the Popes ordained them to deliver up the Prisoners into the hands of his Nuncio declared their Decrees null and invalid enjoyned they should revoke them raze and tear them out of their Archives and Registries and cause it to be proclaimed throughout all their Territories that they had abolished them and this within four and twenty days which he allowed as the utmost time And in case they obeyed not he declared Excommunicate them their Abettors Counsellors and Adherents And if after the four and twenty days prefixed they did abide the Excommunication with stubbornness then he aggravated the Sentence and subjected the City and State of Venice to interdiction This made Duodi retire from thence without taking his leave of the Pope bringing along with him Nani the Ambassador in Ordinary from the Seigneory month May c. This thundring Bull was sent to all the Bishops within the Territories of the Seigneory to publish it the number of those that obey'd was the lesser the Senate had taken such good order there that this great flash of Lightning could set no part on fire divine Service went on still in the open Churches and the Sacraments were administred as before The Ancient Religious Orders stood firm but most of the new ones quitted that Country particularly the Capucins and the Jesuits both very strictly tyed to his Holiness interest the latter having
from which the Reader may draw what consequence he pleases the one That when they had taken him seven or eight Men were seen to come up with their drawn Swords who cried aloud he deserved ☞ and ought to be cut in pieces presently and then immediately sheltred themselves in the Crowd the other That he was not presently put into Goal but into the hands of Montigny where they kept him two days in the Hostel de Rais with so little care that all sorts of people spake with him and amongst others a Frier who had great Obligations to the King having accosted him and called him My Friend said to him he should have a care of accusing honest people There were in the Kings Coach the Dukes of Espernon and of Montbason the Mareschals de Lavardin and de Roquelaure and the Marquesses de la Force and de Mirebeau these Lords being allighted and having cover'd his face and drawn the Curtains made them drive back towards the Louvre and commanded at their Entrance they should call out for a Chyrurgeon and some Wine that it might be believed he was not yet dead They laid his Bleeding Corps upon a Year of our Lord 1610 Bed with negligence enough and he was there exposed for some hours to any that would see him but attended or regarded only by those who had no great interest of Fortune at the Court All such as were in hopes of any thought more upon their own Affairs than on him who could now do no more for them Thus was there but a moment space between their Adorations and Oblivion ☜ The pressing necessity of Affairs obliged the Queen to disband her Sorrows and dry up her Tears she left the care and present management of all Affairs to such as she confided in most particularly to the Duke of Espernon and the Mareschal de Lavardin We shall show in the following Reign if the times will permit us how the Court wholly changed it's Face the Government its Maximes the Ministers their designs How the Orders which Henry the Great had established were renversed his Oeconomies dissipated his faithful Servants turned out of doors and his Alliances forsaken to take up new ones so that France which was so lately triumphant and Mistress of Europe saw her self almost reduced month May. under the Government and Direction of Spain and the Agents of the Court of Rome who were the Oracles of the Regency It must however be acknowledged that it proved very happy both for the quiet and the ease of the People in general So soon as the King was dead the Duke of Espernon ran to order the Companies of the Regiment that had the Guard to seize upon the Gates of the Louvre sent for the rest who were quarter'd in the Fauxbourgs to come and post themselves upon the Pont-neuf in the Street Daufine and about the Augustins thereby to invest the Parliament and compel them if requisite to declare the Queen Regent The President de Blanc-mesnil who then held the Afternoon Audience broke off upon the dreadful rumour of the King 's being wounded but durst not or would not stir from thence And in the mean time the President Seguier whom the Duke of Espernon had been with for his advice and assistance came thither immediately with a good number of his Friends So that the Company was assembled to serve the Duke in his Design Amidst that innumerable and confused multitude of People wherewith Paris was then thronged who were of so great diversity of Humours and Interests amidst the Animosities betwixt the Catholicks and the Huguenots the Feuds amongst the Grandees the Suspitions which the one cast upon the other concerning this Murther the specious pretence there was to animate the People to revenge the Death of a Prince so greatly and generally beloved and the avidity of the Rascally sort to be Plundering it is manifest that the least spark of Sedition would have set all Paris in a flame and the more easily because the Bourgeoisie had their Arms in readiness having Mustered twice or thrice a Week for above a Month to be prepared for the entrance of the Queen The Prudence of her Magistrates I mean the Prevost des Marchands and the Lieutenant Civil did most happily obviate those Disorders The first was James Sanguin the second Nicholas le Jay a man of great Sence and who had acquired a great deal of Credit amongst the Citizens because he made the Honor of his Office to consist in serving the Publick well Both appeared every where about the Streets amused the populace with divers reports exhorted the considerablest Bourgeois to keep them in awe managed every thing so wisely and gave such excellent Orders the one Commanding the Captains of every Precinct the other the Commissaries Archers and Huissiers to be in a readiness that nothing was able to make the least disturbance Henry IV. died in the midst of the Fifty seventh year of his Age three Months before the end of the Two and twentieth of his Reign leaving three Sons and three Daughters by Mary de Medicis his Second or rather his only Wife since the Marriage between him and Margaret de Valois was declared Null The eldest named Lewis hath reigned the second had no Baptismal Name and died within the fourth year of his Childhood he bare the Title of Duke of Orleans The Third had it likewise and the Name of John Baptista Gaston The three Daughters were called Elizabeth Christian and Henriette-Maria The eldest was Wife of Philip IV. King of Spains the second of Victor Amedea Prince of Piedmont then Duke of Savoy after the death of Duke Charles his Father the last of Charles I. King of Great Britain The number of his Natural Children did by much surpass his Legitimate ones for besides those whom he would not or could not well own he had Eleven S ix Year of our Lord 1610 by Gabriella d'Estree which were Caesar Duke de Vendosme Lewis Francis and Isabella these three died young Alexander Grand Prior of France and Catharine Henrietta Wife of Charles Duke de Elbaeuf Two by Henrietta de Balsac d'Entragues to wit Henry Duke de Verneüil and Bishop of Mets at present Governor of Languedoc and Gabriella Wife of Bernard de Nogaret Duke de la Valette then Duke of Espernon one only by Jacqueline de Bueil which was Anthony Count de Moret And two Daughters by Charlotta des Essars a private Gentlewoman They were named Jane and Mary Henrietta the former was Abbess of Fontevrault and the latter of Chelles It may be seen and judged by the course of his whole life whether he justly merited the Title they gave him of Great with that of Arbitrator of Christendom There were some would needs reproach him That he loved Money too well and that to gather it he exposed his Kingdom to the avidity of Partisans who amongst a great number of odd Projects they put him upon made him establish the Paulete or
decimations for Leo did grant them so easily to the King that ever since the Pope his Successors have made no difficulty to do the same and have suffer'd them to become very common and frequent Such was the State and disposition of things when Luthers Schisme began first to appear The great noise it made soon stifled all the lesser disputes particularly that between the Orders of Saint Francis and Saint Dominique about the Conception of the Virgin-Mary which hath been since revived by the Dominicans stiff adherence to the Doctrine of Saint Thomas It likewise put an end to those which some Monks of Colen had raised against John Reuchlin who called himself Capnion Occasioned thus A certain Pseffercorn Renegado Jew had advised the Emperour Maximilian to cause all the Hebrew Books of the Rabins to be burnt not with design this counsel should be put in execution but to oblige the Jews to redeem the Writings of their learned Doctors with great Sums of Money of which he pretended to have his share Reuchlin very Skilful in the Hebrew Tongue having been consulted with by the Emperour upon this Subject was of a contrary Sentiment and put down his Reasons in Writing Pseffercorn mad he should hinder him of his Prey wounded his Reputation with biting Satyrs and some Monks of Colen taking up the cause and quarrel of this Fourbe because he had been Baptized in that City caused his Adversarie's Book to be burnt It is sufficiently known what Martin Luther was an Augustine Monk Native of Islebe in the County of Mansfeild Professor in Theology in the new University of Wittemberg Founded by Frederic Elector and Duke of Saxony who loved and valued him for the volubility of his Wit and his Eloquence He was a chearful Man and of very gay humour but too vehement and too intemperate in Speech extremely Confident who never retracted and delighted too much in the Musick of his own Commendations and Applause The occasion that brought him into the Lists is known likewise and that he was not excited to it but by the interest of the Wallet because the Preaching of the Croisade had been committed in Germany to the Jacobins against the ancient Custom which ever allotted it to the Augustins in those Countries In the beginning he Preached only against the abuse of those Indulgences by that means to ruin the Trade of the Jacobins who vended them but being pusht onward from Dispute to Dispute he was transported so far that he declared himself wholly against the Roman Church Anno 1520. 'T was the Protection of Frederic Duke of Saxony then esteemed the wisest of the German Princes and the Applause of the Nobless of Franconia that emboldned him to set up the Standard of Rebellion So long as Frederic lived he durst make no change in the outward form of Religion nor quit his habit of a Year of our Lord 1524 Monk but after his Death which hapned in the year 1524. Duke John his Successor being absolutely intoxicated with his Eloquence permitted him every thing He therefore cast off his Froe and Three years afterwards Married an un-vailed Nun. Then cutting at large as we may say in the whole piece he shaped a Religion after his own Mode which he changed added to or retrenched so long as he lived So that one may say he had no steady or certain belief and those Articles he framed were rather dubious than Dogmatical although he published them as Oracles He died at Islebe Anno 1546. the Six and twentieth of February revered of all those who followed his Doctrine as a great Apostle and on the contrary detested by the Catholicks as an Hereslarque and the publick Incendiary of Christendom Some time before he thus Un-masqued himself there had appeared several Preachers who fell foul upon the Vices of the Prelates and the Court of Rome threatning them with Divine Punishment as horrible as sudden and near at hand A Constitution of Leo X. made in the year 1516. which forbids them Preaching the like things of the farcing their Sermons with Tales Prophecies Revelations and Miracles is an evident proof thereof Luther's Credit drew after him one Party of the Augustins startled many more and rendred all of them so suspected that the Pope was like to have abolish'd the whole Order This pretended Evangelical Liberty open'd the Cloister Gates to many other Monks especially in Germany un-vailed great numbers of Nuns let loose the People against the Church-men and push'd on the Nobility to seize upon their rich Possessions But Luther did not remain long sole Head of this Revolt for whether it were he gave rise to these Motions or whether some malign influence disposed mens Minds thus to Brouilleries and Contention there arose in a short time a Prodigious quantity of new Doctors and of novel Sects who destroyed the one the other yet notwithstanding agreed all in these Six points The first That they directly shock'd the Superiority of the Pope The second That they would admit no other Judges of the Articles of Faith but the Holy Scriptures only The third That they rejected certain Books of it some more others fewer which they said were not Canonical The Fourth That they retrenched several Sacraments The Fifth That they held several Novelties concerning Grace and free Will And the Sixth That they denied Purgatory Indulgences Images Prayers to Saints and many Ceremonies of the Church After his Death the Confusion was incomparably greater It would be endless to enumerate all the Authors the Names and the Whimseys of these different Sects there were some that received the Errors of Ebion of Manes of Year of our Lord 1547. c. Paulus Samosatenus of Sabellius of Arius of Eutyches and other ancient Hereticks There were such who finding no firm footing or foundation any where did only acknowledge there was one God the Creator of all things these were called Deists Others going farther and making a last effort of Impiety denied there was any other Divinity besides Nature alone The furious Irruptions of the Turks into Hungary and the fatal Discords amongst the three greatest Princes of Christendom Charles V. Francis I. and Henry VIII were very favorable to these Sowers of new Seeds For whil'st Christendom was affrighted at the Ravages of the Infidels and every where in Divisions they had not the leisure to consider of these disputes And then Charles V. standing in need of the Princes of Germany to resist Francis I. and to get the Empire to be settled upon his Son which he could never obtain would not prosecute them to the utmost or totally destroy them as he might have done after the gaining of the Battel of Mulberg On the other hand Francis I. his Rival openly supported them and entred into League with them though at the same time he burnt the Sacramentaries in his own Kingdom Add thereto the difficulties the Popes made for the holding of an Oecumenical Council whose Authority perhaps
had been adjudged to a Lady as being given her in Dower with an express Declaration that after her Decease the Heirs should enjoy it in equal proportions That many Bishopricks were without Bishops and their Goods usurped by prophane Persons that of neer eight hundred Abbeys to which the King named there were not an hundred Titulary or Commendatory Abbeys and that of those the greater part did but only lend their names to others who in effect enjoy'd the Revenue Thus were the Churches without Pastors the Monasteries without Religious Votaries the Votaries without Discipline the Temples and Sacred Places fallen to ruine and converted to Dens of Thieves When the Clergy perceived they were thus left a prey to all the World and that the Licentiousness of a Civil War exposed their Goods to the first occupier the Catholicks falling on them with no less greediness then the Huguenots they endeavour'd to re-unite themselves for their own security and the Bishops were forced to reside in their Bishopricks if not to feed their Flocks yet at least to preserve wherewith to feed themselves Before this necessity they ran from them as dismal Solitudes the divertisements of Paris and Servitude at Court were a more pleasing exercise History observes how Anno 1560. John de Montluc Bishop of Valence speaking his mind freely one day in the Kings Council complained how forty had been seen at once in Paris wallowing in all manner of Debaucheries and Idleness Therefore the Parliament enjoyned them by a Decree to return to their Bishopricks and to perform their Duties otherwise they should be constrained to it by Seizure of their Goods and Equipage But perhaps considering after what way they lived there for the most part their absence might be less scandal to their Flocks then their residence ☜ would have proved In this Age were not made any new Orders of Monks I shall however mention that of the Minimes which began in the precedent Saint Francis a Native of Paolo in Calabria was the Institutor of it and did plant it in France at the time he was called thither by King Lewis XI Pope Sixtus IV. approved it in 1473. And Julius II. Confirmed it in 1506. All those of the Mendicants renewing their Ancient Fervour and Discipline some sooner others later begot divers Reformations That of Saint Francis which hath ever been more abounding than any other in diversity of Habits and Observations of Rules produced three new Branches that of the Capucines that of the Recollects and that of the Piquepusses That of the Augustines did likewise produce one which is the Hermites of Saint Augustine as the Carmelites also produced the Congregation of those named Deschaux I pass by in silence that of the Dominicans or Jacobins Reformed and that of the Augustins deschaussez or Barefooted forasmuch as they belong to the Seventeenth Age. And to speak first of the Recollects we must know that there having been at divers times many different Congregations in the Order of Saint Francis who vaunted each the observing the Rule of their Patriarch in its greatest purity and simplicity Leo X. had ordained that they should all be comprised and reduced into one under the name of the Reformed That notwithstanding there were yet many more of them who affected to be more rigid then the rest and to observe the Rule litterally pursuant to the Declarations of Nicholas III. and Clement V. That in the year 1531. Clement VIII caused certain Convents to be assigned by the Superiors of the Order where they placed those that had the Spirit of Piety and Recollection for which cause they were named Recollects The Cities of Tulle in Limosin and of Murat in Awvergne were the first in France who allowed them any Convents some Religious Friers having brought this Reformation out of Italy about the year 1584. they had one at Paris at present they have in the several parts of the Kingdom neer an Hundred and fifty which are divided into seven Provinces The Original of the Capucins so named from the extraordinary form of their Capuchon or Hood was thus In the year 1525. a Frier Minor Observantin named Matthew de Basci of the Dutchy of Spoleta a Votary in the Convent de Montefalconi affirming that God had commanded him by a Vision to the exercise of a more severe Poverty and that he had shewed him the very manner how St. Francis was cloathed cut out a long pointed Hood or Capuche* and such a Habit as the Capucins now wear and retired himself into Solitude by permission of the Pope Some others prompted by the same Spirit joyned with him to the number of twelve The Duke of Florance gave them a Hermitage in his Territories and so by little and little his band increased to that number that in the year 1528. Pope Clement VII approved this Congregation under the name of Friers Minors Capucines Pope Paul III. confirmed it Anno 1536. with permission to settle in any place and gave them a Vicar General and Officers and Superiors Such as have believed that Bernardinus Ochius who Apostatized and went over into the Camp of the Philistins or Hereticks was the Institutor of so Holy a Congregation were very ill informed perhaps the advantage he had of being once their General and one of the first and most noted of those that embraced this Reformation hath caused the mistake In the Reign of Charles IX they were received into France and had first a Convent at Meudon which the Cardinal de Lorrain caused to be crected for them and another little one in the place called Piquepuz where now are the Religious Pentients of the Tiers or third Order of Saint Francis King Henry III. transferr'd them from that place into a Convent he caused to be Built for them in the Faux-burg Sanct Honoré They have nine Provinces in this Kingdom and above four hundred Convents The Tiers Order of St. Francis named the Penitents were in the beginning only a Congregation of Secular Persons both of the one and the other Sex but some while after they were made regular Now in the following Ages being extreamly relaxed one of the Society named Vincent Massart a Parisian undertook to Reform them about the year 1595. The first Convent of this Reformation was built in the Village of Franconville between Paris and Pontoise and the second in the place called Piquepuz at the end of the Faux-burg Saint Antoine whence the vulgar hath named them * Piquepusses This Order is divided in four Provinces and hath about three-score Convents Pope Eugenius IV. having thought fit to mitigate the Rule of the Carmelites the said mitigation having made them fall into a too great relaxation Saincte Theresia a Nun of this Order in the Convent of Auilla in Castille the place of her Birth brought them again to their former Austerity She began with the Sisters for whom she built a Monastery at Avile Afterwards she undertook to restore the Men likewise
of Luxembourg which was Philip Bishop of Mans one of the House of Longueville i. e. John Bishop of Orleans one of the House of Albret which was Amanjeu Bishop of Lascar one of the House of Gramont who was Bishop of Poitiers then Arch-Bishop of Toulouze named Gabriel one of the House of Strozzi he was called Lawrence Bishop of Beziers one of the House of Joyeuse this was Francis Arch-Bishop of Toulouze he lived in the Reigns of Henry III. and Henry IV. and Strozzi in the time of Charles IX Almost all the rest to the number of near twenty were likewise persons of Quality and attained to this eminent dignity some though but very few by their merit only as John du Bellay Bishop of Paris and George d'Armagnac Son of Peter Baron of Caussade Bastard of Charles last Earl of Armagnac the most part by knowing how to make their Court or because allied to those in favour as Philip de la Chambre Adrian de Goussier Boissy Brother of Arthur Grand Maistre of the Kings Houshold John le Veneur Bishop of Lisieux and Grand Almoner of France James d'Annebault Brother to the Admiral of that name Claude de Longvic Givry Bishop of Poitiers Anthony Sanguin whom they called the Cardinal de Meudon Odet de Chastillon Nephew of the Connestable de Montmorency and George de Amboise second of that name likewise Arch-Bishop of Rouen as his Uncle was As for Peter de Gondy Son of the Mareschal de Rais and Bishop of Paris he was Created Cardinal upon the recommendation of Queen Catherine as also René de Birague a Gentleman of Milan who together with this dignity he had the Office of Chancellor of France There were some others of meaner Birth who arrived at this dignity by means of their employments in the Finances or in the Law as Anthony Duprat John Bertrandi and Philip Babou la Bourdaisiere But it was neither Blood nor favour that cloathed Arnold Dossat and Jacques Davy du Perron with the sacred Purple it was the recompence of their services of their great capacity and of their rare erudition Dossat was but the Son of a Peasant in the Diocess of Auch and du Perron of a Huguenot Minister of the lower Normandy but a Gentleman We have known a Natural Son of the first who died Curate of Mesnil-Aubry within four Leagues of Paris There was likewise a great number of Illustrious Bishops concerning whose promotion one may say the same things as have been hinted of that of the Cardinals I observe at Sisteron Lawrence Bureau an excellent Preacher for those times he had been a Religious Carmelite and Confessor to King Charles VIII and Lewis XII At Treguier John du Calloüet a famous Doctor in the Civil and Canon-Law he died Anno 1504. At Lucon Peter de Sacierge whom Lewis XII made Chancellor and President of Milan At Marceilles Claude de Seissel a Savoyard by Birth whose Writings are very well worthy to be read being every ☜ where inter-spersed with those wholesome Maxims which only can procure immortal Fame to Princes and felicity to their Subjects he was afterwards Arch-Bishop of Turin At Renes Bernard Bochetel who served as Secretary to the Kings Lewis XII and Francis I. but in fine touched with some remorse of Conscience or by some other motive he quitted his Bishoprick whose functions in effect are ☞ not altogether compatible with the employments at Court. In the days of these said Kings I find at Paris then at Sens Stephen Poncher a Tourengeau by Birth who had been President in Parliament Chancellor of Milan and of the Kings Order and Keeper of the Seals of France Under Francis I. at Riez then at Vence and afterwards at Aurenches Robert Cenault at Mascon Peter Castellan Great Almoner of France And at Maguelone William Pelicier These three were raised upon the consideration of their Learning Castellan was he who with Budeus put the brave King Francis upon the design of instituting the Regis Professors at Paris and who chose the first whereof Pelicier was one In the time of Henry II. I find at Lavaur Peter Danez whom Francis I. had called from the University of Bourges where he professed the Greek Tongue to make him Tutor to his Daufin And at Vienne Charles de Marillac who died in the year 1560. for the great fear he had leâ—t the House of Guise against whom he had let his Tongue ramble too freely should draw him within the Noose and Guilt of Heresie or Accuse him of some Conspiracy In the time of Charles IX and Henry III. there was at Mans Charles de Angennes ☞ Ramboüillet in whose praise it is said that during his Nine and twenty years holding that See he never gave one Cure but upon the score of Merit and Integrity having for that purpose made a Register of all those whom he thought most deserving and capable At Nevers Arnold Sorbin who was Surnamed de Sainte Foy because he had been Curate of a Parish so named he passed for a great Divine and a very Eloquent Preacher At Orleans John de Morvillier Native of the City of Blois Queen Catherine made him one of the King's Council where he was ever opposed to the Chancellour de l'Hospital because he aspired to get the Seals as in effect he did At Auxerre James Amiot Native of Melun of very mean Extraction but a man of exquisite Literature Henry II. made him Preceptor to his Children and Abbot of Bellosane afterwards Charles IX one of his Disciples gave him the Bishoprick of Auxerre At Valence John de Montluc who was too wavering in the Faith though very Learned and withal a very dexterous Negociator At Tours Simon de Maille a profound Theologer and well read in the Fathers who was taken out of the Order of the Cistertians where he was Abbot to be promoted to an Archbishoprick At Air Francis de Foix Candale Uncle of the Duke d'Espernon's Wife thorowly versed in Humane Learning in the Philosophy of Trismegistus and of Plato and in Chymistry At Chaalons Pontus de Thiard both Poet and Mathematician a singular Talent who died Aged Fourscore and four years At Evreux Claude de Saintes a vehement Preacher and a Divine of great Reputation and at Senlis William Rose who had likewise made himself very famous by his Sermons These two were Passionate Leaguers Saintes was taken in Louviers with the City by the Royalists Anno 1591. and carried to Caen where he died in Prison having ran great hazard of making his Exit on a Scaffold for his Writing and Preaching against Henry III. Rose had many shocks to undergo likewise after the Decadence of the League but he at length did fortunately extricate himself and exchanged his Bishoprick with him of Auxerre At Clermont was Bishop Anthony de Saint Nectaire who employ'd himself much in the intrigues of Catherine de Medicis And at Sees Peter du Val in whose time the Chanons of his
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
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
228 c. Saint Amour William great quarrel with the Orders of the Friers Mendicants 307 Saintonge the subject of a great War 208 Saladin King of Egypt tears the holy City of Jerusalem out of the hands of the Christians 254 Saliens ancient People of the French 7 Salomon seizes on the Kingdom of Bretagne 140 His unhappy end 144 Sanc first of the Hereditary Dukes of Gascongne 137 Sanche Duke of Castille makes a Peace with the King of France 323 Saracens become Mahometans 59 Saracens of Africa become the Masters of Spain 77 Saracens pass from Spain into France and make some Conquests there 80 They enter into Languedoc and destroy all that Country 83 Wherefore called Moors 83 They over-run all Provence and lay it waste ib. Torment Italy 146 Savari de Mauleon General for the English in Guyenne 296 The Saxons revolt 52 Throw off the Yoak of the French Dominion 79 Divided into several People ib. Made Tributary to the French 91 Entirely subdued become Christians 108 Schism in the Church caused by the dispute concerning the Worshipping of Images 84 Sclavonians have a quarrel with the French Austrasians 55 Make inroads upon Turingia 56 Sergius II. elected Pope without permission of the Emperor 136 He was not the first who changed his name but Sergius IV. ib. St. Ademar Institutor of the Order of the Templers 290 Sicilia a Kingdom its beginning and extent 242 243 By what means Sicilia fell under the Dominion of the Kings of Arragon 310 Dismembred in two 326 Siege and taking of Angens 144 Sigebert King of Austrasia chastises the Avari out of Turingia 29 Marries Brunehaud 30 Unfortunate taking upon the City of Arles 31 War with Chilperic his Brother 31 Assassinated and slain 32 Sigebert Bishop 62 Sigeric King of the Visigoths 4 Sigismund King of Burgundy abjures Arianism and receives the Orthodox Faith 20 Causes his Son Sigeric to be Strangled his retreat into a Monastery 21 His unhappy end ib. Silingi a barbarous People 4 Silvester II. Pope Example of extream severity 209 Simon de Montfort does Cross himself to go into the Holy Land 260 Simon Count de Nesles Regent of the Kingdom in the absence of St. Lewis the King 312 Of Simony 18 Bishops of Bretagne accused and convicted of that Crime 136 Prelats in France who voluntarily renounced their Benefices for this cause 229 Simplicity too great in a Prince 167 Sobrarve a little Territory in the Kingdom of Arragon 125 Sorabes reduced to reason 121 Spencers Hugh Father and Son Favourites of the King of England 351 c. Their unhappy end 352 Stilicon Massacred 4 Succession of Males to the Crown by preference to the Females 346 Suedes embrace the Christian Religion 110 Suevi over-run and ravage Gaul and then pass into Spain 270 Swiss Their generous Conspiracy against the oppressions of the Lieutenants of the House of Austria 334 T. Tanchelin his errors Church of the Twelfth Age. Tancred Son of Rebert Guischard 224 Tancred causes great discord between the Kings of France and England 256 Tartars make their irruptions their Original 302 Tassilon Duke of Bavaria and his Son Theudon shaved and confined to a Monastery 103 Te Deum Sung by the Benedictins in time of Lent 231 Templers their Institution and Confirmation Church of the Twelfth Age. Are utterly exterminated and their Order abolished throughout all Christendom 333 Thassilon Duke of Bavaria gives an Oath of Fidelity to King Pepin 93 Theodad King of the Ostrogoths his death 23 Theodald Maire of the Neustrians Theodald Son of Grimoald his death 78 Theodebald King of Mets. 25 His death 26 Theodebert Son of Thierry makes War in Languedoc then named Septimania 24 Theodebert Son of Thierry succeeds to the Crown of his Father and makes War against Clotair his Uncle 24 25 Carries his Arms into Italy his death his Children 24 Theodebert Son of Chilperic his death 32 Theodebert King of Austrasia vanquished in Battle and exterminated with his whole Race 43 Theoderic King of the Visigoths joyns with the Romans against Attila his death 10 11 Theoderic King of the Ostrogoths establishes the Kingdom of Italy 14 Theoderic King of Italy passes into Gall and comes to relieve the Visigoths against the French and the Burgundians and becomes King of the Visigoths 16 His death 21 Theudis King of the Visigoths in Spain his death 25 Thibauld Earl of Chartres and Tours 216 Thibauld Earl of Chartres declares War against the King 235 Thibauld Earl of Champagne falls into the Kings disgrace and is severely handled 243 Thibauld Earl of Blois and Chartres 245 Thibauld Earl of Champagne his death 246 Thibauld Earl of Champagne 260 Thibauld Earl of Champagne difference about Alix Queen of Cyprus his Cousin 299 Thibauld Earl of Champagne becomes King of Navarre 301 Thibauld Earl of Champagne becomes Chief of a new Croisade His death ib. Thibaud King of Navarre 312 His death 315 Thierry King of Austrasia otherwise of Mets treacherously abandons Clodomir his Brother 20 c. Makes himself Master of Turingia 21 Chastises the Auvergnats who had revolted against him ib. His death ib. Thierry King of Neustria and of Burgundy 64 He is shaved and confined to the Monastery of St. Denis ib. Recalled and resetled in his Royal Throne 6 Fights unfortunately against Ebroin Maire of the Palace and falls into his hands His death his Wife and his Children 70 Thierry called de Chelles King of France 81 His death 83 Thierry Earl of Alsatia disputes the Earldom of Flanders and remains sole Master and Possessor 168 Thierry of Alsatia Earl of Flanders he passes into the Holy Land 243 Thierry first Earl of Holland 146 Thierry Earl of Alsatia and Flanders his death 249 Thibauld III. Earl of Blois 259 Thibauld Earl of Champagne 296 A Conspiracy against him 299 Tietgaud Archbishop of Triers deposed and Excommunicated 140 St. Thomas Aquinas his death 316 Thomas Prior of St. Victor assassinated in the Arms of a Bishop Church of the Twelfth Age. Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury undertakes the defence of the Church is assassinated in his Cathedral ib. Thuringia falls under the Dominion of the French 22 Title of King of Jerusalem annexed to that of Sicilia 319 Treason divinely punished 178 Translation of a Bishop from one See to another condemned 160 Trebisond Kingdom its beginning 263 Truce between the French and the Saracens of Spain broken 123 Truce or Peace of God established in France to prevent Factions Murthers and Robberies 253 Truce with the English and the Fleming 327 Truce with the English 299 Truce granted to the Flemings 330 Trincavel Son of the Earl of Beziers comes hostily upon the Kings Territories 301 Toloze County subject of a War 138 Subject of a great quarrel between the Kings of France and the Kings of England 248 Totila King of the Ostrogoths his death 26 Touars Guy Duke of Bretagne 263 Tournay erected to a Bishoprick Church of the Twelfth Age. Troubles and Factions in Normandy
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
likewise somewhat to clear before him concerning the great Affair of the point of Grace with the Dominicans wherein they ran no less hazard should they miscarry then to be charged with temerity and errour month June July c. Whilst both parties were thinking to arm the one to attaque and the other to defend themselves their men of Learning began the War by divers writings which they sent picqueering abroad The most Signal that appeared on the Theatre for the Republick were Pol Soave of the Order of the Servites vulgarly called Fra Paolo John Marsile a Neapolitan Doctor in Theology and Fulgentius of the same fraternity with Pol Soave on the opposite Cardinal Bellarmine and the Cardinal Baronius appeared the most zealous defenders of his Holiness After these had dealt the heaviest blows a confused multitude of meaner Authors tilted at one another the meanest Lawyers and Canonists presuming according to the party they espoused either to restrain or extend the Authority of the Pope beneath or above the Council and Canons and to discourse of the power of Princes and the boundaries of their Dominion It was to be feared lest a more dangerous shock should follow the Pope drew his Forces together in the Dutchy of Spoleta and had given the general Command of them to Rainutio Farnese Duke of Parma He had promis'd himself to make his Censures Year of our Lord 1606 more biting with the sharp edge of his Sword and at first breath'd nothing but Battels and Sieges but these were old mens flashes which grew cold and drooping as soon as he began to feel the burtâ—â—â— of the expence the cares attending so great an enterprize and the perpleâ—ity he had run himself into The two most potent Princes of Christendom the Kings of France and Spain outvied each other in offering their Assistance but he perceived plainly that they at the same time treated with the Venetians and designed only to make an accommodation and gain the honour and credit to themselves The Spaniard had sent him a very obliging Letter and dispatched Francis de Castro Ambassador extraordinary to Venice The King of France also dealt with his Holiness by Alincour his Ambassador in Ordinary and towards the end of the year ordered the Cardinal de Joyeuse to go to the Venetians to Negociate the Treaty which was already much advanced by Fresne Canaye his Ambassador in Ordinary Year of our Lord 1607 The Cardinal found nothing so difficult as the re-establishment of the Jesuits the Senate perswaded they had not only animated the Pope to lay the interdiction but also month January stirred every stone and tried all possible means to debauch the people and the other religious Orders had caused information against them touching other Criminal matters and as if they had been Convicted banished them from all their Territories by a solemn Decree Wherefore they stood stifly upon it not to open the Door again for their re-admittance at least till such time as by a deportment wholly contrary to the former they had taken away all just cause of suspicion and jealousie month February As to the rest of the conditions they soon agreed upon them The Senate made a Vote to resign the Prisoners and not execute their Decrees till both Parties were satisfied therein to revoke all their Edicts made against the Interdiction and recall all the Religious Orders that had retired themselves excepting the Jesuits Reciprocally the Pope passed his word to take off the Censures and receive the Seigneury into his paternal affection Joyeuse and d'Alincourt Procurators for the King in this mediation promised to subscribe to these conditions and to become security to his Holiness for performance and his Holiness upon the receipt of this writing from their hands was to give Joyeuse power to take off the Censures month March The Cardinal de Joyeuse went post to Rome with these Articles The day after his Arrival which was the Eighteenth of March the Pope having admitted him to Audience did again make great Efforts at least in appearance for the restoration of the Jesuits for it concern'd him in honour not to forsake them visibly since they had been expell'd for his quarrel The Cardinal did as good as undertake to obtain this point if they would leave the business absolutely to his management but the Pope did not think that convenient The Cardinal du Perron who was then at that Court upon some other account employ'd his Eloquence to perswade him he ought not to break off the agreement for the Jesuits sakes since their return was not positively denied but only deferred The Pope pretended to yield to his ponderous reasons but it appeared at last that Du Perron's was a needless debate on that point since the Spaniards as was after known bad secretly obtained of his Holiness that he would make no further instance but for fashion-sake only whereof they failed not to give the Senate Notice They had had all the share they could desire in the secret inward managing of this Affair but they endeavour'd likewise to have the outward publick transacting The French would never suffer et which proved none of the least difficulties in the compleating it For these Urafty Politicians resolving to have a hand in 't or to break it sometimes demanded that the taking off the Censures should be done at Rome otherwhile essay'd to have some new Clause added to the Popes Brief Then again they endeavour'd to perswade they ought to oblige those Bishops that had not obey'd to come to Rome and defire absolution of his Holiness None of these succeeding they try'd to allarme him by spreading a report the Senate would protest against the surrender of the Prisoners but the Cardinal de Joyeuse secur'd him from that apprehension Having made all these attempts in vain they demanded that the Cardinal Sapate who had zealously stickled for the interests of his Holiness might be associated with the Cardinal de Joyeuse for the executing of the Brief But Joyeuse told them plainly he would sooner leave all as it was then suffer any other whoever he were to partake this honour with him month April Wherefore thus was their Affair determined After the Cardinal was returned to Venice and had consulted with the Seigneory they appointed the one and twentieth of April for the Action In the morning of that day before any other thing was done the two Pâ—â—soners were brought to the Dukes House and theredeliver'd into the Year of our Lord 1607 hands of a Doctor Commissioned by his Holiness for that purpose in the presence of several Witnesses That done the Cardinal entred alone into the Senate when he had been there some time they called in two Witnesses before whom he caused the Brief of interdiction and Excommunication to be read by a Herauld After which he gave absolution in due form with the sign of the Cross to the Senate and to all those that had incurr'd the said Censures An Act thereof