'Given at Melun, in the year of Grace 1412, and in the 32d of our reign.'--Signed by the king from the report made to him by the council held by my lords the dukes of Acquitaine, Berry, Burgundy, Orleans and Bourbon, the counts of Vertus and Alençon, and John de Bar, with others present at it. Countersigned, 'Emau, inspector.' The English, during this time, had advanced, from the Coutantin, into the countries of Maine and Touraine, despoiling the districts they marched through with fire and sword. A grand council was held on this subject at Melun, presided by the duke of Acquitaine as the king's _locum tenens_, and at which were present the king of Sicily, the dukes of Berry, Burgundy, Orleans and Bourbon, the count de Vertus, the chancellors of France, Acquitaine, and of Orleans, the lords de Torsy, d'Offemont, with others, the provost of the merchants, the sheriffs and council of Paris,--when it was ordered, that all persons capable of bearing arms, noble or not, should assemble, properly equipped at Chartres, on the 8th day of October ensuing; at which time and place, they should receive pay for the defence of the realm, and to drive the ancient enemies of France out of the kingdom. This edict was copied, and sent to the principal seneschalships and bailiwicks of France sealed with the royal seal, by the aforesaid princes, that a sufficient force might be provided against the 8th day of October. The Parisians, as being more nearly affected, hastened to raise their levies of men at arms and archers at Paris or at Melun,--and others in the adjacent countries. Every one, on the receipt of the king's edict, assembled his quota. Had the duke of Berry and those of his party kept the engagements they had made with the English, and paid them the large sum of two hundred thousand crowns, according to their promises, they were ready to return to England, either through Acquitaine or Bourdeaux; but from the melancholy state of the country, they were unable to raise this sum by any means they could offer,--and thus their terms not being fulfilled, the English thought they might pay themselves. The king of Sicily returned, however, to Anjou, to raise men for the defence of his territories, whither the English were fast advancing. In these days, the duke of Acquitaine reinstated the eldest son of the late grand master Montagu in his office of chamberlain, and obtained, through his entreaties with the king, that all his estates should be restored, which ought to have descended to him by right of inheritance, so that, with the exception of some trifling confiscations, he regained all the patrimony he would have inherited from his father and mother.