'The duke of Burgundy then accused them (and published falsely, contrary to all resemblance of truth, as we are fully informed and assured), that they and others of our blood, being in their company, wished to deprive us of our royal estate and dignity, and make a new king of France. And under pretence of these lies and charges, contrary to all truth, he raised our people against them, wishing to cover his wicked intentions and quarrel with lies, whence, as every one knows, so many and serious misfortunes have arisen. 'Under pretext of this warfare, the duke of Burgundy has caused to be arrested and confined in our prison of the Châtelet at Paris, and elsewhere, numbers of considerable gentlemen, knights and squires, because he charged them with being favourable to the wellwishers of the party of our nephews, or inclined to others of our blood and lineage in their company: many whom he thus imprisoned he made suffer the cruellest tortures, and then put them to death without a shadow of reason or justice. 'Some he starved to death in prison, denying them confessors or any of the ecclesiastical sacraments, throwing their bodies into the fields to be devoured by dogs, birds, or wild beasts, without allowing them to have Christian burial, or that their new-born children should be baptised, which is expressly against our religion. In these transactions, the most horrid and unheard-of cruelties were committed. 'Under cover of this war, which neither was nor ought to have been ours, but his own, and personal to himself, this Burgundian caused excessive and extraordinary taxes to be raised on our people, by tallies, loans, and other means; such as seizing the treasures of churches, the deposits in our courts of parliament, Châtelet, and elsewhere, which had been there placed for the advantage of widows, and children under age, or for the purpose of completing purchases or repayment of mortgages. 'The said Burgundian also made great depreciations in our coin, by which he gained large sums of money, but to the severe loss of us, our people, and the public welfare. By these and other equally fraudulent means has he reaped very considerable profit, and for these two or three years last past has applied to his own benefit the money of our people, amounting to ten hundred thousand golden florins at the least, as has been clearly demonstrated to us by the statement of the accounts, without any part of it being employed for our service. 'This has caused a failure and total stoppage of commerce, so necessary to us and our kingdom, for some time past; consequently the revenues of our domain and taxes have been shamefully diminished, as is notorious to all.