The Boke of Noblesse Part 17

[30] An account of the payment of these wages for the first quarter, is preserved on the pell records of the Exchequer, and an abstract printed in Rymer's Foedera, vol. xi. p. 844. It includes the names of the dukes of Clarence, Norfolk, and Suffolk, the earls of Ormonde and Northumberland, the lords Grey, Scrope, Ferrers, Stanley, Fitzwarren, Hastynges, Lisle, and Cobham, and as bannerets sir Ralph Hastings, sir Thomas Mountgomery, and sir John Astley; besides the earl of Douglas and the lord Boyd, n.o.blemen of Scotland; with many knights, esquires, and officers of the king's household.

The item to the duke of Clarence will afford a specimen of these payments: "Georgio duci Clarentiae pro Cxx hominibus ad arma, seipso computato ut Duce ad xiijs. iiij d. per diem, et pro viginti eorum Militum quilibet ad ij s.

per diem, et xcix aliis Hominibus ad Arma quilibet ad xij d. per diem et vj d. ultra de regardo, et pro mille Sagittariis [2275li.

Summa totalis,] MMMCxciij l. vj s. x d.

The payments to the Duke of Gloucester (omitted by Rymer, but extracted in Devon's Issues of the Exchequer, 1837, p. 498,) were nearly to the same amount, viz. For 116 Men at Arms, to himself as a Duke at 13 s. 4 d. per day, 60 l. 13 s. 4 d.; for six Knights, to each of them 2 s. per day, 54 l.

12 s.; to each of the remainder of the said 116 Men at Arms 12 d. per day, and 6 d. per day as a reward,--743 l. 18 s. 6 d.; and to 950 Archers, to each of them 6 d. per day, 2161 l. 6 s.--Total 3020 l. 8 s. 10 d.

Rymer has also (vol. xi. pp. 817-819) given at length three specimens of the indentures made with several persons. The first (dated 20 August 1474) is an indenture retaining sir Richard Tunstall to serve the king for one whole year in his duchy of Normandy and realm of France, with ten speres, himself accompted, and one hundred archers well and sufficiently abiled, armed and arraied, taking wages for hymself of ij s. by the day, for everiche of the said speres xij d. by the day, and rewardes of vj d. by the day for everich of the said other speres, and for everich of the said archers vj d. by the day. The next is an indenture made (on the 13th November) with Thomas Grey esquire, "for one whole year, as a custrell to attend about the king our soveraine lord's own persone, and with six archers well and sufficiently abled, armed, and arraied," his pay being xij d. by the day, an additional vj d. by the day by "meane of reward," and vj d. a day for each of his archers. The third is the indenture made with Richard Garnet esquire, serjeant of the king's tents, who was retained for the like term to do service of war "as a man of armes at his spere, with xxiiij yomen well and sufficiently habiled, armed and arraied," taking wages himself iiij s. a day, for two of the yeomen each xij d. a day, and for the remainder each vj d. a day.

[31] Ibid. pp. 837, 838.

[32] Ibid. pp. 839, 840, 843.

[33] Rymer, xi. 848.

[34] Foedera, vol. xii. p. 1. Lord Dynham had the princ.i.p.al command at sea by previous appointments in the 12 and 15 Edw. IV. See Dugdale's Baronage, i. 515.

[35] Fabyan says that "upon the iiij day of July (_an error for_ June) he rode with a goodly company thorugh the cytie towarde the see syde."

[36] Printed in the Excerpta Historica, 1831, p. 366.

[37] They are printed in Rymer, vol. xii. pp. 13, 14. This was merely a const.i.tutional form, for the prince was then only four years of age.

[38] Hall states that "he hymself with his n.o.bilitie warlikely accompaigned pa.s.sed over betwene Dover and Caleys the iiij daye of July," his army, horses, and ammunitions of war having in their transport occupied twenty days.

[39] Monstrelet in his Chronicle attempts to present a list of the princ.i.p.al English lords and knights (the latter more than fifty in number), but every name is so disfigured that they are almost past recognition: as the names he gives to the n.o.bility will show. He calls them, the dukes of Sufflocq and Noirflocq, the earls of Crodale (Arundel?), Nortonbellan, Scersebry, (Shrewsbury, and not as Buchon his editor suggests Salisbury, which t.i.tle did not then exist,) Willephis (Wilts.h.i.+re?), and Riviere; the lords Stanlay, Grisrufis, Gray, Erdelay, Ondelay, Verton, Montu, Beguey, Strangle, Havart, and Caubehem. The last name (Cobham) and that of lord Fitzwaren are among the indentures printed by Rymer in his vol. xi. pp.

844-848, already noticed in the note in p. xx.

[40] These particulars are derived from the diary kept by the _maistres d'hostel_ of the Burgundian court, which gives the following minute and curious account of the duke's movements, including the positions, not elsewhere to be found, of the English army during the months of July and August.

"Le 6. Juillet la d.u.c.h.esse de Bourgoyne, qui avoit ete presque toujours a Gand, arriva a Calais vers le roy d'Angleterre son frere, qui la deffraya.

"Le 14. ce duc arriva a Calais vers le roy d'Angleterre, qui le deffraya, la d.u.c.h.esse etant pour lors a Sainct Omer, avec les ducs de Clarence et de Glocestre ses freres. Le 18. il alla au chasteau de Guines avec ce roy, qui le fit deffraiyer. Il en part.i.t le 19, et alla a Sainct Omer, ou il trouva la d.u.c.h.esse. Il en part.i.t le 22., et alla a Fauquemberghe, pres l'ost du roy d'Angleterre. Il y sejourna le 23., et en part.i.t le 24. apres dejeuner, et alla disner, soupper, et coucher en la cite d'Arras; et ce jour il mangea du poisson, a cause de la veille de Sainct Jacques. Le 27. il part.i.t d'Arras apres disner, et alla coucher a Dourlens. Il en part.i.t le 29. apres disner, et alla voir l'ost du roy d'Angleterre, et coucher en le cense de Hamencourt: la d.u.c.h.esse part.i.t ce jour de Sainct Omer, pour retourner a Gand, ou mademoiselle de Bourgoyne etoit restee.

"Le mardy premier Aout, ce duc disna en la cense de Hamencourt, coucha au village d'Aichen, pres l'ost du roy d'Angleterre. Il en part.i.t le 2. apres disner, et coucha a Ancre. Il en part.i.t le 3. apres disner, et coucha a Curleu sur Somme, pres ledit ost. Il y disna le 6. pa.s.sa par l'ost du roy d'Angleterre, et coucha a Peronne. Il y resta jusques au 12. qu'il en part.i.t apres disner, pa.s.sa par l'ost du roy d'Angleterre, et alla coucher a Cambray. Il y disna le 13. et coucha a Valenciennes, d'ou il part.i.t le 18.

apres disner, souppa a Cambray, et alla coucher a Peronne. Il y disna le 20. alla encore voir le roy d'Angleterre au mesme camp, et alla coucher a Cambray. Le 21. il disna a Valenciennes, coucha a Mons. Le 22. il disna a Nivelle, et coucha a Namur, ou les amba.s.sadeurs de Naples, Arragon, Venise, et autres se rendirent. Le 29. Aout, entreveue du roy avec le roy d'Angleterre, au lieu de Pequigny; ces princes convinrent d'une treve entre eux, et que le Dauphin epouseroit la fille de ce roy d'Angleterre."

(Memoires de P. de Cominines, edited by Lenglet du Fresnoy, 1747, vol. ii.

p. 216.)

[41] Another version of this omen of the dove will be found in the extracts from Commines hereafter.

[42] The fact of earl Rivers having repaired to the duke of Burgundy _once_, at the end of April, is confirmed by the chronicle formed from the journals of the duke's _maistres d'hoste_: "Le 29. de ce mois (Avril) le sire de Riviers, amba.s.sadeur du roy d'Angleterre, arriva vers ce duc, et en fut regale." (Appendix to the edition of Commines, by the Abbe Lenglet du Fresnoy, 4to. 1747, ii. 216.) But in the previous January we read, "The King's amba.s.sadors, sir Thomas Mountgomery and the Master of the Rolls (doctor Morton), be coming homeward from Nuys." (Paston Letters, vol. ii.

p. 175.)

[43] _i.e._ their horses protected by armour.

[44] Hall, following this part of Commines's narrative, on mentioning this English herald, adds, "whome Argenton (meaning Commines,) untrewly calleth Garter borne in Normandy, for the rome of Gartier was never geven to no estraunger." The office of Garter was at this time occupied by John Smert, who was appointed in 28 Hen. VI. and died in 18 Edw. IV. He was the son-in-law of Bruges his predecessor in the office: and there are large materials for his biography in Anstis's Collections on the heralds, at the College of Arms, but containing no evidence either to prove Commines's a.s.sertion, or Hall's denial, of his being a native of Normandy.

[45] The constable of France, Jacques de Luxembourg, comte de St. Pol.

After temporising between Burgundy and France at this crisis, he paid the penalty for his vacillation, the duke surrendering him to Louis, by whom he was decapitated before the end of the year (Dec. 19, 1475).

[46] Jacqueline d.u.c.h.ess of Bedford, the mother of the queen of England, was one of the constable's sisters. The constable was also connected by marriage with king Louis, who called him "brother" from their having married two sisters. The relations.h.i.+p of all the princ.i.p.al actors in the transactions described in the text is shown in the following table:--

Pierre Louis Charles VII. Richard Comte de St. Pol Duke of Savoy. King of France. Duke of York.

= = = = | | | | +-----+ +-----+-----+ +-----+-+ +-----+ | | | | | | | | | Louis Comte=Mary of Charlotte=Louis Katharine=Charles=Margaret | | de St. Pol, Savoy. of Savoy. XI. of Duke of of York.| | the Constable. France. Burgundy. | | | Jacqueline = Richard | d.u.c.h.ess of | Earl | Bedford. | Rivers. | +-+------------------------------------+ +-------+ | | | Anthony Lord Scales, Elizabeth Wydville.=King Edward and Earl Rivers. the Fourth.

[47] Afterwards the first duke of Norfolk and earl of Derby of their respective families.

[48] The narrative is continued on the authority of Commines.

[49] See the extracts from the register of the Burgundian _maistres d'hostel_ already given in p. xxiii. The English camp is described as near Fauquemberghe on the 22d of July, and near Aichen on the 1st of August. Its position near Peronne is believed to have been at St. Christ, on the river Somme, and it appears to have remained there for a considerable time.

[50] The duke was at Peronne from the 6th to 12th of August. See the note on his movements before, p. xxiv.

[51] The last was afterwards the husband of the king's daughter the lady Anne of York, and ancestor of the earls and dukes of Rutland.

[52] The prudent and conciliatory conduct of Louis XI. towards the English at this crisis seems to have had a precedent in that of his ancestor Charles V. "Le sage roy de France Charles quint du nom, quant on lui disait que grant honte estoit de recouvrer des forteresses par pecune, que les Anglois a tort tenoient, comme il eust a.s.sez puissance pour les ravoir par force, Il me semble (disoit-il,) que ce que on peut avoir par deniers ne doit point estre achete par sang d'homme." (From the end of the twelfth chapter of the second book of the Faits d'armes de Guerre et de Chevalerie par Christine de Pisan.)

[53] St. Christ.

[54] It is printed in Rymer's Collection, vol. xii. p. 14.

[55] Lord Hastings was previously a pensioner of the duke of Burgundy.

Lenglet du Fresnoy has published a letter of the duke granting to William lord Hastings a yearly pension of 1000 crowns of Flanders, dated at the castle of Peronne, 4 May 1471; a receipt of lord Hastings for that sum on the 12th July 1474; and another receipt for 1200 livres of Flanders, dated 12th April 1475. (Memoires de P. de Commines, 1745, iii. 616, 619.) Commines, in his Sixth Book, chapter ii. relates how he had himself been the agent who had secured lord Hastings to the Burgundian interest, and how he subsequently negociated with him on the part of king Louis. Hastings accepted the French pension, being double the amount of the Burgundian, but on this occasion, according to Commines, would give no written acknowledgment. In an interview with the French emissary, Pierre Cleret, of which Commines in his Book VI. chapter ii. gives the particulars at some length, he said the money might be put in his sleeve. Cleret left it, without acquittance; and his conduct was approved by his master.

[56] In the article of plate "his bountie apperyd by a gyfte that he gave unto lorde Hastynges then lord chamberlayne, as xxiiij. dosen of bollys, wherof halfe were gylt and halfe white, which weyed xvij. n.o.bles every cuppe or more." Fabyan's Chronicle.

[57] This pa.s.sionate interview must have taken place on the 19th or 20th of August: see the note on the Duke's movements in p. xxiv.

[58] We are continuing to follow the account of Commines. But the truce, which was not yet concluded, was made for seven years only; and the dukes of Burgundy and Britany were not mentioned in the articles. The duke of Burgundy, shortly after, himself made a truce with France for nine years.

It was dated on the 13th of September, only fifteen days after that of the English.

[59] Molinet says, "de quatrevingts a cent chariots de vin."

[60] The real Childermas day was on the 28th of December; but sir John Fenn, the editor of the Paston Letters, has suggested that the 28th of every month was regarded as a Childermas day; for the 28th of June, 1461, being Childermas, and consequently a day of unlucky omen, was avoided for the coronation of Edward the Fourth. From other authorities it appears that the day of the week on which Childermas occurred was regarded as unfortunate throughout the year.

[61] Molinet mentions three other names, those of the admiral, the seigneur de Craon, and the mayor of Amiens.

[62] According to our London historian, Fabyan, Louis's attire was by no means becoming:

"Of the nyse and wanton disguysed apparayll (he says) that the kynge Lowys ware upon hym at the tyme of this metynge I myght make a longe rehersayl: but for it shulde sownde more to dishonour of suche a n.o.ble man, that was apparaylled more lyke a mynstrell than a prynce royall, therfor I pa.s.se it over."

[63] Commines saw king Edward at the Burgundian court in 1470. On that occasion he gives him this brief character: "King Edward was not a man of any great management or foresight, but of an invincible courage, and the most beautiful prince my eyes ever beheld."

[64] The doc.u.ments which bear date on the day of the royal interview are these, as printed in the edition of Commines by the Abbe Lenglet du Fresnoy, 1747, 4to. vol. iii:--