'Charles, by the grace of God, king of France, to the bailiff of Amiens, or to his lieutenant, greeting.--Whereas it has come to our knowledge, that notwithstanding the very great oppressions which our subjects have suffered in various parts of our realm from the assembling of large bodies of men at arms, which the princes of our blood, and other barons, have thought proper, at different periods, to raise on their own authority,--there are still several who now continue such practices, to the great grievance of our faithful subjects. We have caused to be published and proclaimed throughout our realm, as well by messages as by sealed letters, our strict prohibition of such acts, under very heavy penalties; and we have ordered, that none, of whatever rank he may be, subject or foreigner, shall have the boldness to raise any men in future on their own sole authority, whether by way of companies or otherwise, without our special orders, or in obedience to our summons to come to serve us. 'Several of our kindred, however, contrary to these our orders, and in opposition to the treaty of peace lately concluded at Auxerre by us, to put an end to dissentions which had arisen in our family, and which they solemnly swore to observe, are now preparing to assemble large bodies of men at arms without any authority or licence from us, and to unite them with a numerous army of English and foreigners, to carry into effect their damnable purposes, which they have plotted against us and our government, according to the information we have received. 'We have been repeatedly assured that they are favoured and supported by many in an underhand manner; and to force others to join them, they harrass and despoil all who have served us, more especially those who assisted us in our late expedition to Bourges, when we considered them as enemies of the state, and marched thither with the intent of correcting them sufficiently for their outrageous conduct. 'They at this moment, as we have had sufficient information, commit every sort of violence, by killing our subjects, violating damsels, setting fire to houses and villages, and despoiling churches, and many other atrocious crimes, such as the bitterest enemies of the country would commit, and which are such bad examples that they must not longer be suffered.