at-arms; the rest fled, and the duke with them. It may more properly be said of him, "That he lost his honour and his wealth in one day," than it was of King John of France, who, after a brave defence, was taken prisoner at the battle of Poictiers.

This was the first misfortune that ever happened to the Duke of Burgundy in his whole life: for by the rest of his enterprises he always acquired either honour or advantage. But what a mighty loss did he sustain that day by his perverseness and scorn of good advice! How greatly did his family suffer! in what a miserable condition it is at present! and how like to continue so! How many great princes and states became his enemies, and openly declared against him, who but the day before the battle were his friends, or at least pretended to be so! And what was the cause of this war? A miserable cart-load of sheep-skins that the Count of Romont had taken from a Swiss, in his passage through his estates. If God Almighty had not forsaken the Duke of Burgundy, it is scarce conceivable he would have exposed himself to such great dangers upon so small and trivial an occasion; especially considering the offers the Swiss had made him, and that his conquest of such enemies would yield him neither profit nor honour; for at that time the Swiss were not in such esteem as now, and no people in the world could be poorer. A gentleman, who had been one of their first ambassadors to the Duke of Burgundy, told me, that one of his chief arguments to dissuade the duke from invading them was, that there was nothing for him to gain from them; for their country was barren and poor, and he believed that, if all his countrymen were taken prisoners, all the money they could raise for their ransom would not buy spurs and bridles for his army.

But to return to the battle; the king had many spies and scouts abroad about the country (most of them despatched by my orders), and it was not long before he received an account of this defeat, at which he was extremely pleased, and if he was grieved at anything, it was because so few of the enemy had been slain. The king, for his better intelligence, and to countermine the duke's designs, had removed to Lyons; and being a prince of great wisdom and penetration, he was afraid lest the duke should, by force of

VOL. I.

arms, annex Switzerland to his own dominions. The house of Savoy was at the Duke of Burgundy's absolute disposal. The Duke of Milan was his ally.* King René of Sicily intended to deliver Provence into his hands; so that if his affairs had been crowned with success, he would have been lord of all the countries from the western to the eastern sea, and the people of France could not have stirred out of the kingdom by land without the duke's permission, if he had possessed Savoy, Provence, and Lorraine. To every one of these princes the king now sent ambassadors. The Duchess

of Savoy was his sister, but in the duke's interest; the King of Sicily was his unclet, yet he was exceedingly cautious of receiving his ambassadors, and when he did, he referred all to the Duke of Burgundy. The king also sent to the German confederates, but with some difficulty; for the roads being blocked up, he was forced to employ mendicants, pilgrims, and such kind of people. The confederate towns replied somewhat haughtily, "Tell your king (said they), it he does not declare for us, we will patch up a peace with the duke, and declare against him!" and the king was afraid they would have done so. § However, as yet he had no inclination to declare war against the duke, and was very fearful he might hear of his secret negotiations with these countries.

* A treaty between the Duke of Burgundy and the Duke of Milan had been concluded at Moncalier on the 30th of January, 1475.

† Yolande de France, sister of Louis XI., was born on the 23rd of September, 1434, married Amadeus IX., Duke of Savoy, in 1452, became a widow on the 28th of March, 1472, and died on the 29th of August, 1478.

He was brother of Marie of Anjou, the mother of Louis XI.

Louis XI. had made a treaty of alliance with the emperor and the electors in December, 1475. He confirmed it on the 17th of April, 1476. This confirmation is probably what the confederate towns now de manded.

CH. II.-How, after the Defeat near Granson, the Duke of Milan, Rene, King of Sicily, the Duchess of Savoy, and others, abandoned their Alliance with the Duke of Burgundy.-1476.

See

BUT let us now take a view of the sudden alteration of affairs after this battle, how negotiations were set on foot, and with what prudence and judgment our king managed his affairs; for it may serve as a fair example to such young princes who foolishly undertake enterprises, without any foresight, without any experience, or without consulting such persons as are capable of advising them. The first step the Duke of Burgundy made, was to despatch the Lord of Contay to the king, with many submissive and friendly expressions, contrary both to his temper and custom. what a change one hour had made in him! He entreated the king not to break the truce, excused himself for not having met his majesty at Auxerre according to the agreement between them, and assured the king that in a little time he would attend him there, or at any other place that his majesty might be pleased to name. The king received his envoy very kindly, and promised to comply with his demands; for he thought it not convenient to do otherwise at that juncture of time; as his majesty was aware of the loyalty and affection of the duke's subjects towards their prince, and that by their assistance he would quickly be recruited*; and therefore he had a mind to see the end of the war, without giving any occasion to either party of making a peace. But how kindly soever the Lord of Contay

He

His subjects were, however, beginning to reject his demands. assembled the Estates of Franche-Comté at Salins, and stated his inten. tion to levy an army of 40,000 men, and to impose a tax of onefourth of their property on his subjects. In answer, the Estates declared that all they could offer him was a force of 3000 men, "to guard the country." The Estates of Burgundy declared at Dijon that the war was utterly useless, and that they would not involve themselves in a groundless quarrel, in which they could have no hope of success. And to crown all, the Flemings wrote to him that, if he were surrounded by the Swiss and Germans, and had not men enough to extricate himself, they would come to his relief. See Michelet's Louis XI., et Charles le Temeraire, pp. 129, 130.

was entertained by the king, the people treated him with nothing but libels and lampoons; and ballads were publicly sung in the streets, to extol the courage of the conquerors and to jeer at the conquered.

As soon as Galeas, who was Duke of Milan at that time, had received an account of this defeat, he was extremely pleased, notwithstanding his alliance with the duke; which alliance indeed was only the effect of fear, upon account of the great favour and interest which the Duke of Burgundy had in Italy. The Duke of Milan immediately sent a citizen of Milan to the king ( a person of no promising aspect), who by the mediation of others, was directed to me, and brought me letters from his master. I informed the king of his arrival, and his majesty commanded me to receive his instructions; for he was not yet reconciled to the Duke of Milan, who had forsaken his alliance, and made a new one with the Duke of Burgundy, though he and the king had married two sisters.* The design of his embassy was, to signify to the king that his master the Duke of Milan was informed that the king and the Duke of Burgundy had agreed upon an interview, in order to a final peace and alliance between them, which would be much to the prejudice of the duke his master; and he urged several arguments (but of no great force) against it: but at last, in the conclusion of his speech, he told the king that, if he would promise to make no such truce or treaty with the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Milan would pay him immediately 100,000 ducats. After the king had heard the substance of his embassy, he ordered him to be brought into his presence, and (there being nobody there but myself) his majesty spoke thus to him in short: "Here is Monsieur d'Argenton, who has told me so and so; pray tell your master I will have none of his money, and that my year y revenue is thrice as much as his. As for war or peace, I will act as I please. However, if he repents having left me to enter into a league with the Duke of Burgundy, I am content our old alliance shall be renewed and confirmed." The

*The Duchess of Milan, Bona of Savoy, was sister of Charlotte of Savoy, the second wife of Louis XI. She married Galeas Sforza, on the 9th of May, 1468, and died in 1485, after a widowhood of nine years.

ambassador returned the king most humble thanks; and concluded by his answer that he was no covetous prince; and entreated his majesty that he would cause the said alliance to be published in the same form as before, for he was sufficiently empowered to promise that his master would do the same. The king consented, and after dinner it was proclaimed*, and an ambassador was inmediately despatched from the king to Milan, where it was proclaimed with great pomp and solemnity. This was one of the Duke of Burgundy's first strokes of misfortune: and this was the first great man that abandoned his interest, who but three weeks before had sent a magnificent and solemn embassy to him to desire his alliance.

René, King of Sicily, had a design to make the Duke of Burgundy his heir, and to put Provence into his hand; and accordingly the Lord of Chasteau-Guyon† (who is now in Piedmont), and several other of the Duke of Burgundy's officers, were sent with 20,000 crowns to raise soldiers to take possession of Provence. But upon the news of this defeat, they had much ado to escape themselves, and the Count of Bresse seized upon their money. The Duchess of Savoy had received information of it also, and sent immediately to the King of Sicily to extenuate the loss, and strengthen him in his alliance. But the messengers, who were natives of Provence, were apprehended, and by that means the treaty between the King of Sicily and the Duke of Burgundy was discovered. The king our master immediately sent a good body of troops towards Provence, and despatched ambassadors to the King of Sicily, to invite him. to come to him, and to assure him he should be heartily welcome; or otherwise his majesty would be obliged to provide for his own safety by force of arms. The King of Sicily was persuaded to visit the king at Lyons, and was received

*This treaty between Louis XI. and the Duke of Milan was concluded on the 9th of August, 1476.

Hugues de Chalon, Lord of Chasteau-Guyon and Nozeroy, was the son of Louis de Chalon. Prince of Orange, and Leonore d'Armagnac. He was a man of distinguished bravery. At the battle of Granson, he twice dashed amidst the enemy's ranks and nearly succeeded in taking their standard; but his charge was unsupported, and therefore unavailing.