The duke of Brittany departed this life without leaving any male heirs, so that the duchy fell to his brother Arthur count de Richemont, constable of France, who reigned as duke in his stead. CHAP. LXXIII. KING CHARLES IS DANGEROUSLY ILL.--ON HIS RECOVERY, HE SENDS TO INFORM THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY THAT HE SHALL TAKE UNDER HIS WARD THE ESTATES OF THE YOUTH OF RODEMAC[237].--THE DUKE'S ANSWER.--OF THE STORMS OF WIND, FROST, AND SNOW IN THIS SEASON. At this period, king Charles of France was so grievously ill at Tours that it was thought he could never recover, and processions and public prayers were made and offered up in several parts of the kingdom for the restoration of his health. He shortly after this recovered, and then sent a gentleman of his household with credential letters to the duke of Burgundy; and, having laid them before the duke, he said, that the king of France signified to him by his mouth, that he had taken under his wardship all the lands of the youth of Rodemac, as well those in France as elsewhere. The duke instantly replied, that the lands of that youth were not in France but in the duchy of Luxembourg, and that, as he was his subject, the king had nothing to do with it. 'I would wish to know,' added he, 'whether the king means to keep the peace of Arras, which I shall not on my part infringe: tell him, I beg of you, to make me acquainted with his will, and recommend me to him; for I know that he has some in his council who are no friends of mine.' When the duke had given this answer, he sent off on the morrow a secret embassy to the king. This youth of Rodemac, whose estates lay in the duchy of Luxembourg, had always been of the party of king Lancelot, in opposition to the duke of Burgundy, and was still against him. On the other hand, the count de St Pol, in the expectation of being constable of France, had attached himself to king Charles,--so that, from these circumstances, war rather than peace was looked for between the king of France and the duke of Burgundy. In this year, the winter was so severe and long that the frost lasted from Michaelmas-day until the 18th of February, and the large rivers were so hard frozen that carriages passed over them. At length, the frost broke up with such falls of snow and rain that the country was greatly damaged by the inundations. These miseries were increased by storms of wind that blew down many houses and steeples, and chimnies without number: great damage was done to the vessels all along the coast. Toward the end of this year, there were such numerous pilgrimages of Germans and Brabanters, men, women and children, to St Michael's Mount, that the like was never seen before; nor could any one divine the reason of their being so numerous at this time, but from a sudden fit of devotion that had seized them. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 237: Rodemac. Rodemacheron, or Rodemark,--a town in Luxembourg.] [A.D. 1458.] CHAP. LXXIV.