II. to the duke of Bedford by Charles, with the ad- CHAP. vice of his council. But Charles survived this transaction only a few days (and his death gave Oct, 21. to the English interest a shock from which it never recovered. Many of the French nobility had adhered to Henry out of deference to the will of their sovereign: but when this check was removed, their affection, and with it their obedience, reverted to the dauphin, the real representative of their native monarchs. That prince was not slow to profit by the event. On the first day after he had received the news of his father's death, he wore mourning on the second he assumed the insignia of royalty with the title of Charles VII. king of France. As Rheims was in the possession of his enemies, he was anointed and crowned at Chartres. The ceremony operated as a charm, and drew crowds to his standard.6 duke of Bedford, On the other side the regent, a prince not in- Conduct of ferior to his late brother in abilities, superior in the more amiable qualities of the heart, did not neglect the interests of his nephew. He obtained from the duke of Burgundy the warmest assurances of support: and prevailed on the duke of Bretagne to signify his approbation of the treaty of Troyes. The three princes met at Arras. They swore to love each other as bro- April 8. thers; to aid each other against the attacks of 1423. CHAP. II. Battle of his enemies; to protect the poor and defenceless against all oppression; and to unite their efforts to remove the scourge of war from the soil of France. To cement this friendship, the dukes of Bedford and Bretagne married each a sister of the duke of Burgundy, and then separated to raise forces in support of the common cause." The Loire formed the line of demarcation between the opposite parties. To the south of that river every province, with the exception of Gascony, had espoused the cause of Charles: to the north Anjou and Maine professed to be neutral; and the garrisons of a few insulated fortresses adhered to their native prince: but the rest of the population, with the inhabitants of the capital, acknowledged the authority of the regent. It was not long before the flames of war were rekindled. The country was pillaged by both parties: towns were taken and retaken and the fortune of the belligerents was nearly balanced by alternations of defeat and success. The most brilliant event in the campaign was the battle of Crevant on the Yonne. An An army of French with the Scottish auxiliaries had formed the siege of that town, and to relieve it four thousand men at arms under the earl of Salisbury were ordered to join the Burgundians at Auxerre. The regulations 7 Rym. x. 280. II. for the combined army, before it left that city, CHAP, are an interesting monument of the military discipline of the age. It was ordered that the soldiers should love and treat each other as brothers that the van guard should consist of one hundred and twenty men at arms, with the same number of archers taken in equal portions from each nation: that when orders were given to dismount in the presence of the enemy, disobedience should be punished with instant death that all the horses should be conducted half a league into the rear, and such as were found within that space should be forfeited; that if any man should leave his station in the line, he should suffer death; that no prisoners should be made till the victory was certain, under the penalty of the death of the prisoner, and also of the captor, if he offered resistance: that every archer should be furnished with a long pole sharpened at both extremities; and that each man should carry with him provisions for two days. The enemy occupied an eminence; but were drawn from their advantageous position by the manœuvres of the allies, who dismounting from their horses, and marching on foot in their armour, attempted to make themselves masters of the bridge. For three hours the two armies stood facing each other divided only by the river: at length the English forced Monstrel, ii. 7. II. CHAP. their way to the opposite bank, and were followed by the Burgundians. The Scots, who bore the brunt of the battle, were almost annihilated and the French suffered severely from the garrison, which assaulted them in the rear. The victors entered the place in triumph, carrying with them the French and Scottish commanders, each of whom, after losing an eye in the contest, had been made prisoner.9 Charles receives succour. This defeat threw a gloom over the prospects of Charles: but it was quickly removed by the arrival of powerful reinforcements from Italy and Scotland. The duke of Milan sent to his assistance a numerous body of Lombards: and the earl Douglas landed in the port of Rochelle with five thousand men. The king, in testimony of his confidence and gratitude, selected his body guard from the Scottish auxiliaries; and, as he had already granted to Stewart of Darnley, the French lordships of Aubigny and Concressault, he gave to Douglas the still more April 19. valuable dukedom of Tourraine, which had belonged to himself before his accession. The Oct. 8. duke of Albany, the regent of Scotland, and the 16. Scottish nobility, swore in the presence of the 1423. March. 26. French ambassador to maintain the ancient alliance between the two countries, and promised, what it was not in their power to enforce, that 9 The French commander was the count of Ventadour, the Scottish the earl of Buchan, or Stewart of Darnley. Both were afterwards ransomed. Monstrel. ii. 8. Ford. xvi. 25. Hall, f. 83. their king, in the event of his liberation, should CHAP. ratify their engagements.10 II. and mar Scotland. The necessity of interrupting the harmony Liberation between France and Scotland had now become riage of evident: and with this view the English ministry the king of proposed to king James to treat with them respecting his release from captivity. The offer was joyfully accepted: the Scottish envoys were permitted to join their sovereign and after Sep. 10. much negociation it was mutually agreed, that the king should be set at liberty, and that in return he should forbid his subjects to enter into the service of France;" should pay by instalments, in six years, the sum of forty thousand pounds, as a compensation for his expenses during the time of his detention;12 and should give hostages as a security till the whole of the money were paid. To attach the Scottish prince more firmly to the interests of England, it was wished to marry him to an English princess: and the 10 Du Tillet, 135, 126. Douglas was made the king's lieutenant and commander of the French armies, Apr. 19, 1424. Ibid. 11 As James could not enforce the return of the Scots already in France, they were excepted from the benefit of the treaty. Rym. x. 331. 12 The maintenance of James had been fixed by Henry V. at 7007. per annum; which in nineteen years would amount to 13,300. There can be no doubt that of late his expenses had considerably increased. (See Rym. x. 293. 296.) But it is probable that so large a sum was demanded under that pretence, because it could not decently be claimed as a ransom. The English commissioners had private instructions to accept of 36,000, if the Scots objected to 40,000. Id. x. 295. |