A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 4Guizot, François
History
A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 4
Guizot, François
France -- History
When the two kings proceeded to sign, in their tent, the treaty they had
just concluded, “the King of England,” according to Fleuranges’
_Memoires,_ “himself took up the articles and began to read them. When
he had read those relating to the King of France, who was to have the
priority, and came to speak of himself, he got as far as, ‘I, Henry,
King’ . . . (he would have said of _France and England_), but he left
out the title as far as France was concerned, and said to King Francis,
‘I will not put it in as you are here, for I should lie;’ and he said
only, ‘I Henry, King of _England_.’” But, as M. Mignet very properly
says, “if he omitted the title in his reading, he left it in the treaty
itself, and, shortly afterwards, was ambitious to render it a reality,
when he invaded France and wished to reign over it.”
After the diplomatic stipulations were concluded, the royal meeting was
prolonged for sixteen days, which were employed in tourneys, jousts, and
all manner of festivals. The personal communication of the two kings was
regulated with all the precautions of official mistrust and restraint;
and when the King of England went to Ardres to see the Queen of France,
the King of France had to go to Guines to see the Queen of England, for
the two kings were hostages for one another. “The King of France, who
was not a suspicious man,” says Fleuranges, “was mighty vexed at there
being so little confidence in one another. He got up one morning very
early, which is not his habit, took two gentlemen and a page, the first
three he could find, mounted his horse, and went to visit the King of
England at the castle of Guines. When he came on to the castle-bridge,
all the English were mighty astonished. As he rode amongst them, the
king gayly called upon them to surrender to him, and asked them the way
to the chamber of the king his brother, the which was pointed out to him
by the governor of Guines, who said to him, ‘Sir, he is not awake.’ But
King Francis passed on all the same, went up to the said chamber, knocked
at the door, awoke the King of England, and walked in.
[Illustration: Francis I. surprises Henry VIII.----44]
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