The Memoirs of Philip de Comines ... New edition

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THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMINES: CONTAINING THE HISTORY OF LEWIS XI. AND CHARLES VIII. OF FRANCE AND OF CHARLES THE BOLD, DUKE OF BURGUNDY; TO WHICH PRINCES HE WAS SECRETARY ; WITH A SUPPLEMENT ; AS ALSO SEVERAL ORIGINAL TREATIES, NOTES, AND OBSERVATIONS ; AND, LASTLY, THE SECRET HISTORY OF LEWIS XI OOT OP A BOOK CALLED Œ&f Sbcantalous Œfirom'cle : AND THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR, WITH NOTES BY THE FAMOUS SLEW AN. Faithfully Translated from the late Edition of Monsieur Godefroy, Historiographer Royal of France. To which are added Remarks on all tjie Occurrences relating to England. NEW EDITION. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON : PRINTED FOR G. AND W. B. WHITTAKER, AVE-MARIA-LANE. MDCCCXXIII. LONDON: Printed by Will i a m Clowes, Northumberland court. CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

BOOK VI.

Chap. I. Of the delivering up the Duchy of Burgundy to the King, page l. II. Of the King of France's wheedling the English after the Duke of Burgundy's death, for fear they should have interrupted him in the conquest of the territories belonging to the said Duke, p. 3. III. Of the Conclusion of the Marriage between the Princess of Burgundy aud Maximilian, then Duke of Austria, and Emperor since, p. 13. IV. King Louis, by the management of Charles d'Amboise his Lieutenant, recovers many towns in Burgundy that the Prince of Orange had persuaded to revolt from him, p. 24. The first alliance between the Swiss Cantons, viz., those of Zurich, Bern, Soleure, Lucern, Vry, Switz, Underwald above and below the Wood, Zoug, and Glaris; and France, under Charles VII., anno 1453, p. 32. A stricter alliance between Louis XI. and the Swiss Cantons, 1474. p. 33.

Chapter I

Of the delivering up the Duchy of Burgundy to the King. — 1477. JdUT to return to my history, and the continuation of these Memoirs, which, at your lordship's request, my good Lord Archbishop of Vienne, I first began. Whilst the king was busy in subduing the towns and places above-mentioned in the marches of Pi cardy, his army in Burgundy was, to all outward appearance, commanded by the Prince of Orange *, (who is still living,) a subject and native of the pro vince of Burgundy, but lately disgusted, and a second time become an enemy to Duke Charles, so that • John de Chalon, the second of that name, Prince of Orange. In the 1475, the 8th of September, he did homage to Louis XI. for the Said principality, as his father William had done; and the same day and year he did homage for certain lands lying in Dauphine, which the dauphin held from the king.

Afterwards there was an arrest of Dau phine issued out against him, by which decree the said principality was forfeited, and annexed to the dauphin's patrimony for ever, be cause the said John had committed felony against the king.— See P. Matthieu's History of Lends XI. Book xi., p. 750. Vol. II. B the king employed this Prince of Orange as a per son who had great interest both in the duchy and county of Burgundy, and was well beloved, and nobly born ; but the Lord de Craon was the king's lieutenant, and had really the command of the army ; for the king's greatest confidence was reposed in him, and not without reason, for he was a person of great wisdom and penetration, and faithful to his master, but a little too much given to avarice. When the Lord de Craon drew near Burgundy, he sent the Prince of Orange and others before to Dijon, to reason the case with them, and demand their obedience to the king.

The commissioners managed their affairs so dexterously, especially by the Prince of Orange's assistance, that not only Dijon, and all the rest of the towns in the duchy, but several also in the county of Burgundy, revolted; only Aussone, and some few other castles, remained firm and steadfast to the young princess, Duke Charles's daughter. The Prince of Orange was promised a large revenue, besides all the towns in the county of Burgundy, which were formerly in the possession of his grandfather, the Prince of Orange*, but now in dispute, by reason of a claim to them put in by his uncles, the Lords of Chasteau-Guyon f. The Prince of Orange complained, that Charles Duke of Burgundy had been partial to these lords in their claim, which having been solemnly argued before * Louis de Chalons, surnamed the Good, who, by his first wife Joan de Montbeliard, had one William, the father of John. t Louis and Hugh de Chalons, Lords of Chasteau-Guyonj children of the said Louis de Chalon, by his second wife, Eleanor d'Armaie nac. him, the duke in the midst of the whole court, gave judgment against him, much to the prejudice of the prince, at least as he pretended; upon which the prince deserted the duke's service, and went over to the king.

But notwithstanding all the fair promises above-mentioned, when the Lord de Craon was in possession of all the towns and castles, and other places that the prince pretended to, in right of his grandfather, he would deliver none of them to the prince, for all the solicitation he could make. The king was sensible of the injury that was done the Prince of Orange, and wrote to the Lord de Craon about it, who kept the whole country in awe, but his majesty did not believe that the prince had either courage or interest enough to stir them up to a rebellion, as he did afterwards, at least a great part ; but I shall leave that for the present, and discourse of something more material in this place.

Chapter II

Of the King of France's wheedling the English after the Duke of Burgundy's Death, for fear they should have interrupted him in the Conquest of the Territories belonging to the said Duke. — 1477. They who shall give themselves the trouble of reading these Memoirs hereafter, and have a better knowledge of the affairs of this kingdom and its neighbouring states than, perhaps, I have, may wonder that, since the Duke of Burgundy's death to this time, which is little less than a year, I have B not mentioned a word of the English, nor of their suffering the king to seize upon those towns which were near them, as Arras, Bologne, Hesdin, besides several castles, and lie so many days before St. Omers ; the reason of it was, because, in cunning and artifice, our king was much superior to King Edward, who was indeed a brave prince, had won eight or nine battles in England, in which he had been always present himself, and fought constantly on foot, which redounded much to his honour ; but these were at several times, and depended not much upon his understanding, for upon the success of one battle, he was absolute master of course, till another rebellion or commotion disturbed him.

In England, when any disputes arise, and proceed to a war, the controversy is generally decided in eight or ten days, and one party or other gains the vic tory ; but with us, on this side of the water, affairs are managed quite otherwise ; our expeditions are to be carried on another way. The king was obliged to keep a watchful eye upon his neighbours, as well as the rest of his kingdom, and particularly upon the King of England above all, who was to be satisfied at any rate, and cajoled and amused with ambassadors, promises, and presents, lest he should attempt something that might interrupt his designs; for our master was sensible that both the nobility, commons, and clergy of England, were always ready to enter upon a war with France, being in cited thereunto, not only upon the account of an old title, but the desire of gain, for it pleased God to permit their predecessors to obtain several memorable battles in this nation, and to continue in the possession of Normandy and Guienne for the space of three hundred and fifty years, before Charles VII. gave them the first blow ; during which time they have carried over a considerable booty into England, not only in plunder, which they had taken in the several towns, but in the richness and quality of their prisoners, who were many of them great princes and lords, that paid them vast ransoms for their liberty, so that every Englishman since thought to do the same thing, and return home laden with spoils.

But this was not to be looked for in our king's days, for he would never venture the whole kingdom upon the doubtful issue of a battle, nor do any thing so rashly as to dis mount himself, and all his nobility, to fight the English on foot, as was done at the battle of Agin court; and if he had been reduced to that extremity, he would certainly have managed his affairs with more prudence and caution, as may be pre sumed from the manner of his conduct when King Edward was in France. The king found himself under an absolute necessity to caress and wheedle the King of England, and the rest of his neigh bours, whom he perceived inclinable to peace, in hopes of his money ; and therefore his pension of fifty thousand crowns was punctually paid at Lon don, and allowed it to be called tribute by the Eng 1 sh.

Besides this pension, he was obliged to pay seventy-five thousand crowns to King Edward be fore his departure from France, and this the Eng lish called a fine for that kingdom. He also distributed sixteen thousand more among the King of England's officers that were about his person, particularly to the chancellor, the master of the rolls, who is now chancellor, the high chamberlain, the Lord Hastings, a man of honour and prudence, and of great authority with his master, and he deserved it, upon the account of the faithful service he had done him ; Sir Thomas Montgomery, the Lord Howard, (who afterwards espoused King Richard's interest, and was created Duke of Norfolk,) the Lord Cheney, master of the horse ; Mr. Chalenger, and a Marquis*, who was the Queen of England's son, by her first husband.

Besides these great presents, he was also very generous to ambassadors, and whomsoever was sent to him from the English court, though their messages were never so harsh and displeasing ; so by this means he despatched them always with such fair words and large presents, that most of them went away very well sa tisfied ; and though they were certainly assured, at least some of them, that what he did was only to gain time to effect and carry on his designs, yet their private interest prevailed with them to wink at it, though highly to the detriment and disadvantage of the public affairs. To all those persons of quality above-mentioned, the king gave considerable presents, besides their pensions. To the Lord Howard, besides his pension, he gave to my certain knowledge, in less * This was Thomas Gray, the first Marquis Dorset of that name, and the son of Sir John Gray, of Grooby, slain fighting against the \ orkists, at the battle of St. Albans. than two years' time, in money and plate, above twenty-four thousand Crowns ; to the Lord Hast ings, who was King Edward's chamberlain, he gave at one time above one thousand marks in plate, and all the acquittances of every English man of quality, except the Lord Hastings, are still to be seen in the chamber of accounts at Paris.

This Lord Hastings was at that time high cham berlain of England, (an office of great reputation, and executed singly by one man.) It was with great difficulty and solicitation, that he was made one of the king's pensioners: at the time when I was in the Duke of Burgundy's service, I had brought him over to his interest, and he allowed him a pension of a thousand crowns a year. Upon my telling our king what I had done, he employed me to try what I could do to bring him over to his interest, for he had been his particular enemy in the Duke of Burgundy's time, was since a favourer of the young Princess of Burgundy, and was once like to have prevailed with the King of England to cross the seas once more to assist the princess : I began our amity by letters ; the king allowed him a pension of two thousand crowns per annum, which was double to what had been paid him by the duke, and sent one of the stewards of his house, called Peter Cleret, with it ; giving him ex press order to take his receipt, that hereafter it might appear upon record, that the lord chamber lain, chancellor, admiral, master of the horse, and several other great lords of England, were at the same time pensioners to the King of France.

This Peter Cleret was a cunning man, was privately admitted to the lord chamberlain, at his house in London, and having delivered his compliments from the king, presented his two thousand crowns in gold, (for to foreign lords of great quality, the king never gave any thing else.) The chamberlain having received the gold, Peter Cleret desired his lordship would be pleased to give him a receipt for it ; the lord chamberlain scrupling to do it, he repeated his request, and entreated him that he would give him only three lines under his hand, directed to the king his master, lest his majesty should think he had embezzled it himself, for he was of a very suspicious temper. The lord chamberlain seeing he persisted, (though his demand was but reasonable,) replied, " Monsieur Claret, what you desire is not unreasonable, but this present proceeds from your master's generosity, not any request of mine ; if you have a mind I should receive it, you may put it into my sleeve, but neither letter nor acquittance you are like to have of me ; for to be free with you, Monsieur Peter, it shall never be said for me, that the high cham berlain of England was pensioner to the King of France, nor shall my hand be ever produced in his chamber of accounts."

Cleret urged the matter no farther, but left the money and returned his answer to the king, who was highly displeased at Cleret's not bringing his receipt, but he com mended and valued the lord chamberlain above all the King of England's ministers ever after, paid him his pension constantly, and never asked for his receipt. In this posture were affairs between the King of England and our master: however, the King of England was earnestly solicited to assist the young princess, and the king sent several embassies to our master, to press him either for a peace, or a cessation of arms : for some of the privy council, and the parliament, (which is of the same nature of our convention of the three estates, composed of several persons of wisdom and penetration, who came out of the country, and were not pensioners of France as the rest were,) pressed hard, that the King of England would interpose vigorously for the Princess of Burgundy ; urging, that we did but dissemble with them, and amuse them with hopes of this marriage, as it very plainly appeared : for at the treaty at Piquigny the kings had mu tually sworn, that within the space of a year, the King of England's daughter should be sent for, and delivered into the hands of the King of France's ambassador : and that though the King of France had permitted her to be styled dauphiness, yet the time was elapsed, and no lady was sent for.

But all the arguments they made use of, could not prevail with King Edward, and for several reasons. King Edward was a voluptuous prince, wholly ad dicted to his pleasures and ease ; and having been, in his former expeditions, reduced to great straits and necessities, he had no mind to involve himself in a new war on this side the water : the fifty thousand crowns being also punctually paid him in the Tower, softened his heart, and hindered him from concerning himself in that affair. Besides, his ambassadors were always bribed, entertained so nobly, and left the French court so well satis fied, that no exceptions could be taken ; though the king's answers were always uncertain, in order to gain time ; assuring them still, that in a few days he would send a considerable embassy of his own, which would satisfy their master in every point.

As soon as the King of England's ambassadors were returned, about three weeks or a month after, sometimes more, sometimes less, (which in such cases is a great matter,) the king our master would send his; but always new persons, and such as had not been employed in any overture with the English before, to the end, that if any thing had been promised by their predecessors, but not after wards performed, they might pretend ignorance, and not be obliged to give them an answer. The ambassadors, who were sent into England, used their utmost endeavours to possess King Edward of the good inclinations of the King of France, and they managed that affair so cunningly, that he sate still, and never endeavoured to give the least assistance to the Princess of Burgundy : for, in deed, both the King and the Queen of England were so ambitious of the match with their daugh ter, that upon that account, not to mention se veral others, the king was willing to wink at proceedings ; these and take no notice of the remonstrance that was made him by several of his privy council, and the commons assembled in par liament, who represented to him, how prejudi cial it would be to the interest of the whole nation.

Besides, the queen herself was afraid the marriage should be broken off, which began al ready to be laughed at in England, especially by such as were desirous of war. But to clear up this matter a little more, the king our master never designed to consummate this marriage, by reason of the disproportion in their years ; for the young lady*, who is now Queen of England, was much older than the dauphin, who is now King of France +. So that a month or two were spent in sending ambassadors from one court to another, and such artifices and amusements were made use of purely to gain time, and hinder the English from an opportunity of declaring war against him : for certainly, had it not been in hopes of this marriage, the King of England would never so tamely have suffered our king to have taken so many towns as it were under his nose, without endeavouring to have defended them ; and had he appeared at first for the young Princess of Burgundy, our king being so fearful of bringing any thing to a hazard, would not have encroached so far upon the dominions of the House of Burgundy, nor have weak ened it so much.

My design in writing of these transactions, is, to shew the method and conduct of * Her name was Elizabeth, who afterwards was married to Henry VII., by which match the Houses of York and Lancaster were united. f Charles all human affairs, by the reading of which such persons as are employed in the negotiation of great matters, may be instructed how to manage their administrations ; for though their judgment may be great ; yet a little advertisement sometimes does no harm. This I have been assured of, that if the Princess of Burgundy would have been per suaded to have married Earl Rivers, the Queen of England's brother, they would have furnished her with a considerable number of troops ; but that marriage was looked upon to be very unequal, for he was but an Earl * of a slender estate, and she the greatest fortune of her time.

Many over tures and bargains were made between the Kings of England and France ; among the rest the King of France offered, that if he would join with him, and come over in person, and invade the Low Coun tries, which belonged to the Princess of Burgundy, his majesty would consent that the King of Eng land should have all Flanders for his share, and hold it without homage, and the province of Brabant besides, in which the King of France would en gage to reduce four of the chief towns at his own expense, and afterwards deliver them up to the King of England. Besides, he proffered, (to lessen his charge in the war,) to pay ten thousand of the King of England's troops for four months together ; to provide him a large train of artillery, horses, and carriages, to convey them, upon condition the * This was Anthony WoodviUe, Earl Rivers, not of ancient no bility, since his father, Richard WoodviUe, was but a commoner, till made Earl Rivers by King Edward.

King of England would invade Flanders, whilst he made war upon them in another place. The King of England's answer was, that the towns in Flan ders were large, and not easy to be kept when they were taken, and Brabant was the same ; besides, the English had no great inclination to undertake that war, upon account'of the commerce that was betwixt them ; but since the king was so generously inclined, as to allow him a share in his con quests, he desired he would give such places as he had conquered already in Picardy, as Bologne, and others ; upon surrendering up of which, he would be ready to declare on his side, and, if he would engage to pay it, send an army to his assistance. This was a wise and politic answer.

Chapter III

Ofthe Conclusion of the Marriage between the Princess of Burgundy, and Maximilian then Duke of Austria, and Emperor since. — 1477. After this manner, (as I said before,) transactions were managed between the two kings, ours designing nothing but to gain time, by which means the Princess of Burgundy's affairs began visibly to decay ; for of those few soldiers that remained after her father's death several revolted from her to the king, especially after the Lord des Cordes had quitted her service, and carried several others along with him. Some were forced to leave her, because their estates or abodes lay very near, or were within the towns which had declared for the king : Others, in hopes of preferment ; for in that respect no prince was so noble and generous to his servants as he. Several commotions and parties discovered themselves daily in the great towns, and particularly in Ghent, of which his ma jesty was still jealous, as you have already heard.

Several husbands were proposed to her, and every body was of opinion, there was a necessity of her marrying, to defend those territories that she had left, or, (by marrying the dauphin,) to recover what she had lost, and settle all in a general peace. Several were entirely for this match, and herself as earnest for it as any body, especially before the letters presented by the Lord d'Hymbercourt and the chancellor to the king were betrayed to the ambassadors from Ghent. Some opposed that, and urged the disproportion of their age, the dauphin being but nine years older, and besides engaged to the King of England's daughter ; and these were mighty friends to the Duke of Cleves. Others recommended Maximilian the emperor's son, and at present King of the Romans. The princess herself had conceived an extreme hatred against the king, ever since he discovered and delivered the letters ; for she looked upon him as the occasion of the death of her two principal ministers of state, and of the dishonour and surprise that was put upon her, when the letters were delivered to her publicly in the council, as you have heard before.

Besides, it was that, which gave the Gantois a pretence and confidence to banish so many of her servants, to remove her mother-in-law and the Lord de Ra vestein from about her, and put her maids of ho nour into such a consternation, that not one of them durst open a letter without first shewing it to the Gantois, nor speak any thing to their mistress, but in their hearing. This disgust made the princess carry herself very shy and strange to the Bishop of Liege*, who was of the house of Bour bon, and a great promoter of this match with the dauphin, which certainly would have been very honourable and advantageous for the princess, had it not been for the extreme youth of the dauphin ; but the bishop was very indifferent in the matter, removed to Liege, and that affair was laid wholly aside. Without dispute it must have been a very difficult matter to have managed that negotiation to the satisfaction of both parties ; and I am of opinion, whoever had undertaken it, would have gained but little credit by it in the end.

However, (as I have been informed,) a council was held about it, at which Madam Hallewinf first lady of the bed-chamber to the princess, was present, who being asked her opinion about the dauphin, replied, " That there was more need of a man than a boy; That her mistress was capable of bearing a child, which was what her dominions wanted more than any thing else." Some condemned the lady for answering so abruptly,, others commended her, alleging that what she spoke was purely in re- * Louis de Bourbon, son of Charles Duke of Bourbon and Agnes of Burgundy. t Joan de la Clite, lady of Comines, at that time widow of John Lord of Hallewin, and cousin to Philip de Comines. lation to that marriage, and the necessity of her lady's dominions ; so that now the Only talk was, who should be the person.

I am verily persuaded, that if the king had been inclined to have had her marry the Count d'Angoulesme *, who is now living; she would have consented to it, so desirous was she to continue her alliance with France, but God thought fit to appoint her another husband, for reasons unknown perhaps to us, unless it might be, that it might occasion great wars and confu sions on both sides, which could not possibly have happened, had she married the Count d'Angou lesme ; but by this match the provinces of Flanders and Brabant sustained great miseries and afflictions. The Duke of Cleves was at the same time in Ghent with the princess, making friends, and trying all arts, which he thought might contribute to the marriage between the princess and his son, but she had no inclinations to that ; for the humour of the young gentleman neither pleased her, nor any person about her court.

At last a marriage was proposed between her, and the emperor's son, the present King of the Romans, of which there had formerly been some overtures between the em peror and Duke Charles, and it was concluded be tween them. The emperor had in his custody a letter written by the young lady, at her father's command, under her own hand, and a diamond ring of considerable value. The design of the letter, was to acquaint his imperial majesty, that in • The author means Charles, father of King Francis I. obedience to her father's commands, she promised to accomplish the marriage with his son the Duke of Austria, in the same form and manner, as her father the Duke of Burgundy should think fit to prescribe. The emperor sent ambassadors * to the princess, who was at Ghent; but, upon their arrival at Brussels, orders were sent to them to stop there, and commissioners should be sent thither to receive and answer their demands.

This was only a contrivance of the Duke of Cleves, who was extremely unwilling they should come to Ghent, and endeavoured to send them back again dissatisfied; but the ambassadors went on, for they had intelligence in the princess's court, or, at least, the Duchess Dowagers had, who was removed from the princess, as you have heard before, upon occasion of the letter. This old lady, as I have been since informed, advised them to proceed in their journey notwithstanding these letters ; gave them instructions how they were to behave themselves upon their arrival at Ghent, and assured them that the young princess, and the greatest part of her court, were willing enough for the match. Upon this in formation, the ambassadors advanced, and taking no notice of the orders which they had received, * These ambassadors, according to the Memoirs of Monsieur Oliver de la Marche, were, the Duke of Bavaria, George de Baden Bishop of Mets, George Hester chancellor of the duchy of Austria, mentioned before.

Book IV. Chap. II. and one Doctor William Mortingal. t Margaret, daughter of Richard Duke of York, and sister to Ed ward IV., King of England, third wife of Charles Duke of Burgundy. Vol. II. C went directly for Ghent, at which the Duke of Cleves was highly offended ; but he knew nothing as yet, of the inclination of the court ladies. It was resolved that the princess should give them audience, and, after they had delivered their em bassy, let them know that they were very welcome, that she would acquaint her council with their de sires, and order them to return her answer ; and, that the princess should not concern herself any farther about it. The ambassadors being admitted to a public audience, presented their credentials, and then delivered their embassy ; which was only to let her highness know, that the marriage had been concluded formally between the emperor and her father, and that by her own consent and ap probation, as appeared by the letter under her own hand, which they produced, and the diamond ring which had been sent as a pledge of the said marriage.