accordingly orders were given out that at a certain signal (which was the firing of one great gun alone, then of two serpentines presently after, and then discontinuing), without farther orders they should begin the assault on one side, as the duke designed to attack them on the other by eight in the morning. That night (as was concluded) the duke disarmed himself, and ordered all his army to do the same, and to refresh themselves, especially those in the barn. At that instant (having been informed of our design) the Liegeois resolved to make a sally upon our quarters, as they had done before upon the other side.

CHAP. XII.

How the Liegeois made a desperate Sally upon the Duke of Burgundy's Quarter, where both he and the King were in very great Danger.

1468.

In this chapter I shall show you an example, by which you may observe, that the greatest prince or potentate may suddenly fall into dangerous inconveniences, occasioned by a small number of their enemies; from whence it may reasonably be inferred that all enterprises ought to be well weighed and considered, before they are put in execution. This city had not one soldier in their garrison, but men of their own territories, nor one man of quality or good officer among them; for those few whom they had were all killed and wounded two or three days before. They had neither gate, nor wall, nor fortification, nor one piece of cannon, which was good for anything. Their garrison consisted only of their own townsmen, and 700 or 800 foot from a small mountain at the back of the town called the country of Franchemont, but they had always had the reputation of being valiant and stout soldiers. They were now arrived at the height of desperation, and having no hopes of relief, since the king had come in person against them, they resolved to make a general sally, and put all to u venture, for they looked upon themselves as lost.

It

was concluded, that by the ruins of the walls which were behind the Duke of Burgundy's quarters, all their choicest troops should sally, which were 600 of those from the country of Franchemont, led and conducted by the masters of the two houses where the King and the Duke of Burgundy were quartered; near to which houses, by a crack in a great rock, they might march securely before they were perceived, unless they discovered themselves by any noise. Though there were several scouts by the way, they were not discouraged, imagining they should either kill them, or be at the king's or duke's quarters as soon as they should give the alarm. Besides, they presumed their two guides would conduct them directly to their own houses, where (as is said before) the king and the duke were quartered; and not halting anywhere by the way, they hoped they might be able to surprise them, and either kill or take them, before their guards could come in to their assistance. Having not far to march, they supposed they should be able to make their retreat, or if the worst came to the worst, they could but die, and they were contented to lose their lives in such an undertaking; for without it, as is said before, they found themselves utterly ruined. It was also ordered that all the people of the city should sally out of the gate which opened into the great street of our suburbs, with loud shouts and cries, hoping by that means to defeat that body of forces that were posted in the suburbs, and to obtain a complete victory, or a glorious death. Had they had 1000 menat-arms, all regular forces, their attempt would have been great, and I question not but they would have succeeded in it, since with those few which they had, they were very near effecting their designs.

According to the resolution that had been taken, at about ten o'clock at night, the 600 men from Franchemont sallied forth by the breaches of the walls, seized upon the most of our outguards and put them to the sword (among whom there were three gentlemen of the household of the Duke of Burgundy), and certainly if they had marched on directly, and made no noise till they had arrived at the place where they designed, they had slain both those princes in their beds, without any great opposition. Behind the Duke of Burgundy's quarters there was a tent in which the

present Duke of Alençon* lay, and with him the Lord of Craon; they stopped there for some time, thrust their pikes through the tent, and killed some of the servants. This giving an alarm to the whole army, some few ran to their arms, several got up, and leaving their tents, ran immediately to the two houses, where the king and the duke were quartered. The barn I mentioned before, where the duke had posted 300 men-at-arms, being close to both houses, they gave them some thrusts with their pikes out of the holes which had been made for the convenience of their sallies. Not full two hours before this attack, these gentlemen had pulled off their arms to refresh and prepare themselves for the assault the next day, so that most of them were unarmed, though some few had clapped on their cuirasses upon the uproar at the Duke of Alençon's tent, and attacked the invaders through the doors and the holes which they had made, and were the only body of troops that preserved those two great princes; for by this delay, several others had time enough to arm, and make head against them. I and two gentlemen more of his bed-chamber lay that night in the Duke of Burgundy's chamber (which was very small), and above us there were twelve archers upon the guard, all of them in their clothes, and playing at dice. His main guard was at a good distance, and towards the gate of the town. In short, the master of the house where the duke was quartered, having drawn out a good party of the Liegeois, came so suddenly upon the duke, that we had scarce time to put on his cuirass and breast-plate and clap a steel cap upon his head: as soon as we had done it, we ran down the stairs into the street, but we found our archers engaged with the enemy, and much ado they had to defend the doors and the windows against them. In the street there was a terrible noise and uproar, some crying out, "Vive le Roi!" others, "Vive Bourgogne!" and others, "Vive le Roi, et tuez!" It was some time before our archers and we could

* René, Count du Perche, son of Jean-le-Beau and Marie d'ArMagnac, succeeded his father in the dukedom of Alençon in 1476: and died on the 1st of November, 1492.

† George de la Tremoille, Lord of Craon, Lieutenant-General of Champagne and Brie, was the son of George, Lord of La Tremoille, and Catherine, Lady of L'Isle Bouchard. He died in 1481.

beat the enemy from the doors, and get out of the house: we knew not in what condition the king was, nor whether he was for or against us, which put us into a great consternation. As soon as we were got into the street, by the help of two or three torches we discovered some few of our men, and could perceive people fighting round about us, but the action there lasted not long, for the soldiers from all parts came in thronging to the duke's quarter: the duke's landlord was the first man of the enemy's side that was killed (who died not presently, for I heard him speak), and with him his whole party (at least the greatest part of them) were cut in pieces.

The king was also assaulted after the same manner by his landlord, who entered his house, but was slain by the Scotch guards. These Scotch troops behaved themselves valiantly, maintained their ground, would not stir one step from the king, and were very nimble with their bows and arrows, with which it is said they wounded and killed more of the Burgundians than of the enemy. Those who were appointed, made their sally at the gate, but they found a strong guard to oppose them, who gave them a warm reception, and presently repulsed them; they not being so good soldiers as the others. As soon as these people were repulsed, the king and duke met, and had a conference together; seeing several lie dead about them, they were afraid their loss had been greater than really it proved to be; for upon examination, they found they had not lost many men, though several were wounded; and without dispute, if they had not stopped at those two places, and especially at the barn (where they met with considerable opposition), but had followed their guides, they had killed both the king and the Duke of Burgundy, and in all probability would have defeated the rest of the army. Each of these princes retired to his quarters greatly astonished at the boldness of the attempt; and immediately a council of war was called, to consult what measures were to be taken the next morning in relation to the assault, which had been resolved upon before. The king was in great perplexity, as fearing that if the duke took not the town by storm, the inconvenience would fall upon him, and he would either be kept still in restraint, or made an absolute prisoner; for the duke could not think

himself secure against a war with France, if he should suffer him to depart. By this mutual distrust of each other, one may clearly observe the miserable condition of these two princes, who could not by any means confide in one another, though they had made a firm peace, not a fortnight before, and had sworn solemnly to preserve it.

CHAP. XIII.

Of the storming, taking, and plundering the City of Liege; together with the Ruin and Destruction of the very Churches. -1468.

THE king, to free himself from these doubts, about an hour after his return from the sally (which I mentioned before) to his quarters, sent for some of the duke's officers that had assisted at the council of war, to know the result of it; they told him it was resolved that the town should be stormed next morning in the manner that was concerted before. The king made several grave and judicious objections, and such as the duke's officers approved of very well; for they were all apprehensive of the assault, in respect of the great numbers of people in the town, and the signal proofs they had given of their courage not two hours before; so that the officers seemed inclinable rather to defer it for some days longer, and to endeavour to have taken it by composition. They came immediately to the duke's quarters, and made a report of all the king had said unto them, and it was my fortune to be present. They represented all the king's fears, and their own too, but supposing the duke would not take it so well from them, they fathered it all upon his majesty. The duke took it extremely ill, and replied, that the king raised those difficulties only to preserve the town: besides, he told them, that it was impossible his design should miscarry, because they had no artillery within, nor walls without, to defend them; that their fortifications and their gates were demolished, and therefore he was resolved to delay no longer, but to storm the town, as had been concluded before. However, if the king pleased, he might retire to Namur, and stay there till the town was taken; but for his own part he would not