majesty. Upon the death of Colpin, the English under his command began to murmur and despair of relief. They were not aware of the Duke of Lorraine's weakness, and that the Duke of Burgundy had many ways of reinforcing his army; and besides, the English, not having been abroad for a long time, had but little experience in foreign wars, and were wholly ignorant in regard to a siege. In short, they mutinied for a composition, and plainly told the governor, Monsieur de Bievres, that if he would not consent to a capitulation, they would make one without him. Though Bievres was a good knight, yet he wanted courage and resolution. He remonstrated, entreated, and begged of them to have a little patience; whereas, in my opinion, if he had hectored, and carried matters with an air of greater authority and resolution, he had succeeded better; but God had ordered it otherwise: for had they held out but three days longer, the Duke of Burgundy would have certainly raised the siege. But, in short, the governor complied with the English, and the town was surrendered* to the Duke of Lorraine, upon condition of saving their goods and sparing their persons.

The next day, or at furthest two days after the surrender, the Duke of Burgundy appeared with a very good army, considering his condition, for several of his own subjects had marched up through the province of Luxembourg to join him. The Duke of Lorraine and he faced one another†, but no action of importance happened between them, the Duke of Lorraine being too weak to attempt anything. The Duke of Burgundy, in his old obstinate way, was resolved to besiege Nancy again‡, though it had been much wiser in him not to have undertaken it at that time; but when God is pleased to change the fortune of princes, he puts these ob stinate inclinations into them. Had the Duke of Burgundy been persuaded to have garrisoned the little places about the town, as he was advised, he would quickly have reduced it to great straits, and would have forced it to surrender in a short time, for it was but ill provided with provisions, and

* On the 6th of October, 1476.

† On the 10th of October the Duke of Burgundy came up with Duke Bené at Pont-à-Mousson. Lenglet, ii. 220.

On the 22nd of October, 1476.

the multitude in the town would have presently distressed it; while he would have had time to recruit his army, and put them into quarters of refreshment; but he took quite another course.

CH. VI. Of the Count of Campobasso's great Treachery, and how he prevented the Duke of Burgundy from hearing a Gentleman who would have revealed it to him before his Execution, and how the Duke also rejected the Information that was sent him by the King.—1476.

WHILST the Duke of Burgundy was pushing on the siege of Nancy (so unfortunately for himself, his subjects, and many others who were not at all concerned in his quarrel), many of his own party began to enter into a conspiracy against him, and new enemies, as you have heard, surrounded and invaded him on all sides. Among the rest there was the Count Nicolo Campobasso, of the kingdom of Naples, who had been banished from thence for espousing the interest of the house of Anjou*, and whom, after the death of Nicholas, Duke of Calabria, the Duke of Burgundy had entertained in his service, with several other of the Duke of Calabria's servants. This count was very poor, both in money and lands ; at his first coming to him, the Duke of Burgundy gave him 40,000 ducats in ready money, to raise a troop in Italy, which was to consist of 400 lances, and to be commanded and paid by himself. From that very moment, as I said before, he began to form designs against the life of his master, and continued to carry on his secret practices to the time of which I am now speaking; for, finding his master's power declining, he began to practise underhand with the Duke of Lorraine, and such of the king's officers and servants in Champagne as were not far from the Duke of Burgundy's army. His first proposal to the Duke of

The pretensions of the house of Anjou to the kingdom of Naples date from the will of Joan I., Queen of Naples, made on the 23rd of June, 1380, in favour of Louis L, Duke of Anjou, and brother of King Charles VI of France.

Lorraine was, to delay the siege of Nancy, by not taking care to provide a sufficient quantity of provisions and ammunition, so that the army would be unable to carry it on for want of necessaries; and, indeed, it was no hard matter for him to do this, for he was entrusted with this charge, and had the greatest influence with the duke his master. With our officers he dealt more freely, and promised to take or kill the Duke of Burgundy, provided he were continued in the command of his 400 lances upon the same footing as before, and had 20,000 crowns and a good county in France besides.

Whilst he was driving his bargains after this manner, several of the Duke of Lorraine's officers attempted to throw themselves into the town; some of them got in, but others were taken, and among the rest one Cifron*, a gentleman of Provence, who had managed the whole affair between Campobasso and the Duke of Lorraine. The Duke of Burgundy immediately commanded this Cifron to be hanged, affirming that when a prince had once invested a town, and erected batteries to play upon it, if any endeavoured to reinforce and strengthen the garrison, they were condemned to death by the laws of war. However, this was not practised in our wars, which, in other respects, are much more cruel than those of Italy or Spain, where that custom prevails. But, right or wrong, this gentleman was to die by the Duke of Burgundy's express order. The gentleman, finding that his death was inevitable, sent to acquaint the duke that, if he pleased but to admit him to his presence, he would make a discovery of something that nearly concerned his person. Some gentlemen who heard his proposal, brought the news of it to the duke at a time when the Count of Campobasso was with him, either by accident, or else on purpose, having intelligence that Cifron was taken, and fearing he would discover all he knew; for he knew the whole intrigue from one end to the other, and that was the secret he would have discovered to the duke.

The duke answered those that brought him this message, that it was only an artifice to gain time, and that if he had anything to discover, he might tell it to them. The Count

*Suffron de Bachier, councillor and steward to King René.

of Campobasso highly applauded this answer, there being only himself, who was the chief commander in the army, and a secretary that was writing, then present. The prisoner sent word again, that he could discover it to nobody but the duke himself; upon which the duke ordered him to be carried to execution immediately, and his orders were obeyed. As he was going to the place of execution. Cifron entreated several to intercede with the duke to save his life, and he would discover a secret that was of greater importance to him than the best province in his dominions. Several of his acquaintance had compassion on him, and went to desire the duke that, for their sake, he would vouchsafe to admit him into his presence; but this treacherous count stood at the door of the wooden house in which the duke lodged, refused them entrance, and told them, "The duke commands that he be immediately executed," and sent messengers on purpose to hasten the provost; so that finally poor Cifron was hanged, to the unspeakable prejudice of the Duke of Burgundy, for whom it had been much better to have treated this unfortunate gentleman with more humanity, and heard what he had to say; for then, perhaps, he might have been alive to this day, and his house in a more flourishing condition, considering what occurrences have happened since in this kingdom.

But we have reason to believe that God had otherwise ordained it, as a punishment for his late disloyalty to the Count of St. Paul, Constable of France, of which you have heard elsewhere in these Memoirs; how he seized upon his person, contrary to his solemn promise and engagement, delivered him to the king to be put to death, and sent all his letters and contracts to serve as an evidence against him at his trial. And though the duke had just reason to bear a mortal hatred against the constable, and to pursue him even to death, yet he should have done it without breaking his faith; nor can all the reasons that could be alleged in this case extenuate the crime, or cover the dishonour that will always be a stain and blot on the duke's character; for notwith

*According to the Chronicle of Lorraine, Campobasso acted in just the opposite way. He undertook the defence of Suffron so strenuously that the duke, "who was armed, and had his gauntlets on, raised his band, and knocked the count lown." Calmet, vii. 118.

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standing the safe-conduct and protection that he granted the constable, he yet seized upon him afterwards, and sold him for covetousness, not only to obtain the town of St. Quentin and other fortresses, inheritances and moveables belonging to the constable, but also in the hope of taking Nancy the first time he besieged it; for after many excuses and dissimulations he delivered up the constable, for fear that the king's army in Champagne might interrupt his enterprise; his majesty having threatened to do so by his ambassadors, unless he should perform his articles, by which the first that took the constable was obliged to deliver him up within eight days, or to see him executed himself. But the duke had deferred his surrender for several days longer than was agreed upon between them; and the fear of being called to account for this, and of being interrupted in the siege of Nancy, prevailed with him to deliver up the constable, as you have heard.

And it is worthy of our observation, that as, in his first siege of Nancy, he was guilty of that dishonourable action towards the constable; and in his second, he ordered Cifron to be hanged (for he would not hear him, like a person whose understanding was infatuated, and his ears stopped to his own ruin)-so, in the same place he was deceived and betrayed himself by the very person in whom he reposed most confidence (and not altogether unjustly, if we reflect upon what has been said before), both in regard to the constable and Nancy. But the determination of such events depends only upon God; and I have given my opinion only to illustrate my proposition, that a good prince ought never to consent to such a base and ignominious action, whatsoever plausible reasons may be urged in vindication of it; for it often happens that those who give their advice in such an affair do it either out of flattery, or fear of contradicting their prince, though, when the thing is done, they are heartily sorry for it, knowing how liable they are to be punished in this world and the next; however, such counsellors as these are better far off, than near any prince.

Thus you have seen how God, the sole Governor of human affairs, raised up the Count of Campobasso to be the instrument of His vengeance in the case of the constable, in the same place, and after the same manner, but with more cir-“