The chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Vol. 01 [of 13] : $b containing an account of the cruel civil wars between the houses of Orleans and Burgundy, of the possession of Paris and Normandy by the English, their expulsion thence, and of other memorable events that happened in the kingdom of France, as well as in other countriesMonstrelet, Enguerrand de
History
The chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Vol. 01 [of 13] : $b containing an account of the cruel civil wars between the houses of Orleans and Burgundy, of the possession of Paris and Normandy by the English, their expulsion thence, and of other memorable events that happened in the kingdom of France, as well as in other countries
Monstrelet, Enguerrand de
Europe -- History -- 476-1492 -- Sources; France -- History -- House of Valois, 1328-1589; Hundred Years' War, 1339-1453
‘Having been disappointed, he instantly began to practise how he could
better obtain his object; and for this end, prior to the death of the
duke of Orleans, he caused reports to be circulated throughout the
kingdom of his affection to the public weal, and that he alone was the
fittest person to govern it. When he perceived, that in spite of his
fictions, the duke of Orleans still possessed the authority he was
panting for, because he was the son of a king, and the only brother to
the king, and more fit for the government than the duke of
Burgundy,—seeing, therefore, all his plans frustrated, he conspired to
take away the life of the duke of Orleans, expecting that when he should
be made away with, no other person would dare to dispute his having the
sole government of the kingdom.
‘This is the principal cause of so barbarous a murder, notwithstanding
the arguments that have been urged in his excuse, as is well known to
all. His conduct, likewise, after the death of my late lord of Orleans,
confirms it; for instantly, on his return to Paris, he began to push
forward those that were his dependants and supporters, by depriving many
valiant and deserving men of places which they held under the king,
without any other cause but that they had been appointed to them by my
lord of Orleans, as others had been, and giving their offices to such as
he pleased, in order to gain more authority and power. He also
endeavoured to make all placemen, particularly those who had the
management of the royal treasury, subservient to him, that they might
not refuse him any thing.
‘Our adversary was most anxious to have the government of the treasury,
and obtained from it the sum of two hundred thousand livres, by warrants
thereon, or otherwise, great part of which he distributed among his
people, as is well known to the clerks of the treasury; and this was his
principal object in putting to death his rival in power, my late lord of
Orleans, namely, covetousness of the king’s money, and to give it away
and enrich his followers. It appears, therefore, that covetousness and
pride have been the springs of his actions; but, please God, he shall
not in this instance profit from them,—and the words of Job, in his
seventh chapter, shall be verified, ‘Cum habuerit quod cupierit,
possidere non poterit.’
‘My sixth and last argument is founded on the conduct of our adversary,
who, not satisfied with having murdered the late duke of Orleans,
attempts, in conjunction with his followers, to deprive him of his good
fame and renown, by defamatory libels, wherein he groundlessly and
falsely charges him with the crimes of divine and human high treason, of
which he was perfectly innocent, as has been, and shall be again
demonstrated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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