Congress at anger and contempt: officious friends were not wanting to widen the breach by their malicious suggestions; and so marked and public was the alienation of the two princes, that when the cardinal of Winchester laboured to effect a reconciliation, and had brought them both within the walls of St. Omer, he could not induce them to speak to each other. This propitious opportunity was not lost by the ministers of Charles, who employed every expedient to detach the Burgundian from his allies. He had now taken ample revenge for the murder of his father his prejudices and his interest were intimately connected with the cause of his native sovereign; and the wishes of his council and subjects ran in the same channel. If he still adhered to a league which he now hated and condemned, it was in consideration of his oath not to make peace without the consent of the English. To remove the difficulty it was suggested in a conference between him and his brothers-in-law, the duke of Bourbon, and the constable of France, to attempt a general pacification under the mediation of the pope, as the common father of the christian princes. To this proposal Eugenius IV. gladly acceded and in 1435 was held the congress of Arras, the most illustrious meeting for political purposes, which Europe had yet witnessed. The duke of Burgundy, the most magnificent prince of the age, summoned to his court all the nobility of his states: the pontiff was represented by the cardinal of Santa Croce; and the council of Basil, which was then sitting, by the cardinal of Cyprus: the interests of the young Henry were supported by his great uncle cardinal Beaufort, with twenty-six Monstrel. ii 90. colleagues, half French and half English and Charles sent a legation of twenty-nine noblemen and ministers, at the head of whom were the duke of Bourbon and the constable. To these were added envoys from the kings of Sicily, Norway, Denmark, and Poland, from many of the princes of Germany and Italy, and from the cities of Flanders and the Hanse towns. The first days were spent in feastings, tournaments, and parties of pleasure: but even in these the cordiality between the Burgundians and French was sufficiently apparent to awaken the jealousy and apprehensions of the English. The cardinal of Santa Croce opened the conferences with a common-place harangue on the ravages and evils of war; and projects and counter projects were exchanged for several days: but the pretensions of the two courts were so opposite and opposite and extravagant, that every hope of pacification speedily vanished 2. Both the cardinals, mediators, and the Burgundian ministers had been gained by the French. The former openly blamed the inflexibility of the English: the latter had prepared for signature a treaty of amity between their master and Charles. To spare himself the mortification of witnessing so unfavourable a transaction, the cardinal of Winchester, with his colleagues, departed from the scene of negociation: and a fortnight afterwards peace was proclaimed between France and Burgundy. The Peace beconditions had been dictated by Philip; that Charles France and should express his sorrow for the murder, and engage to punish the murderers of the late duke; and should surrender to Philip several fortresses as a security for the payment of four hundred thousand crowns. As soon as the treaty had been signed, the French negociators Rym. x. 611. 2 Rot. Parl. iv. 481. I tween Burgundy. 1435. Sept. 26. Subsequent events of the war. Death of the duke of Bedford. Sep. 14. falling on their knees in presence of the duke, begged 1 To detail the complex but unimportant operations of the war during the ten following years, would be a tedious and intricate task. The leading particulars under different heads may suffice to gratify the curiosity of the reader. 1. Before the dissolution of the congress of Arras, the duke of Bedford expired at Rouen. He left the reputation of a prudent statesman, and a brave and experienced general : and his name was long and respectfully remembered by his enemies as well as his countrymen. He was buried in the cathedral on the right hand of the high altar and when some years later it was suggested to Louis XI. to remove his bones to a less honourable situation, the monarch angrily replied : « I will not war << with the remains of a prince who was once a match for « your fathers and mine; and who, were he now alive, would make the proudest of us tremble. Let his ashes 1 Monstrel. ii. 108-119. Meyer, 323. : « rest in peace, and may his soul.' the Almighty have mercy on 2. To the duke of Bedford succeeded Richard duke of York but before his arrival Paris had returned to the obedience of its native sovereign. The citizens had always been attached to the Burgundians; and with them were willing to transfer their services from Henry to Charles. The gate of St. Jacques was betrayed in the night to Adam de Lisle, and the count de Dunois : chains thrown across the streets prevented the arrival of the English: the lord Willoughby with the garrison retired into the bastile: and an honourable capitulation freed the capital from the dominion of strangers. The duke landed in Normandy with eight thousand men. He soon reduced the towns which had revolted or surrendered to the enemy; and John lord Talbot, afterwards earl of Shrewsbury, by his activity and courage restored the reputation of the English arms. He defeated near Rouen a body of French, who had been invited by the treachery of the inhabitants; and soon afterwards, taking advantage of a fall of snow, surprised the town of Pontoise by a body of men, who dressed in white had concealed themselves in the ditch. Thence he spread desolation and terror to the very walls of Paris." Loss of 1436. April 13; with the 3. The duke of Burgundy intended to remain neutral: Hostilities the insults of the English and the inclination of his duke of subjects dragged him into the war. He proved, however, Burgundy. a feeble enemy. Some of his nobles refused to assist him, on the ground of the fealty which they had sworn to the king of England: nor is it improbable that he himself felt some scruple on the same account. This is certain, that he never could be induced to face an Stow, p. 475. Hall, 129. 2 Monstrel. ii. 127. 1436. July. Aug. 3. A famine. 1439. English army. At the request of the people of Flanders he undertook to reduce Calais : and the duke of Glocester, who had been ordered to relieve it, sent the Burgundian a challenge to fight in the open field: but four days before his arrival Philip had retired with precipitation into his own territories. It was in vain that he was followed by Glocester, to whom Henry, as king of France, had ridiculously granted the earldom of Flanders, forfeited, as it was pretended, by the treason of the Burgundian 1. The next year Philip besieged with similar success the town of Crotoi, at the mouth of the Somme. To succour that fortress Talbot marched from Normandy with a small army of four thousand men. They spent the night at St. Valery: the next morning they plunged into the water at Blanchetaque; and, though it reached to their breasts, crossed the ford without accident. Astonished at their boldness the besiegers retired within their lines, and the duke withdrew to Abbeville. Talbot ravaged the country with impunity the Burgundians mutinied in the camp; and the garrison seized the opportunity to pursue them to a considerable distance. 2 4. In 1437 the duke of York was recalled, and sucJuly 16. ceeded by Beauchamp, surnamed the good, earl of Warwick, with the title of lieutenant-general, and governor of France3. His short administration (for he died at Rouen in less than two years) was not distinApr. 30. guished by any remarkable event. Instead of the ravages of war, both countries were exposed to a more dreadful scourge in the combined operation of famine and pestilence. 4 Rym. x. 653. 4 In England the value of wheat rose to what was then considered |