The duke of Burgundy had now declared war against the Germans, and had marched an army to lay siege to Nuys, a good town near Cologne, on the Rhine, where he and his army remained long. The king sent an embassy into Brittany, composed of the chancellor, Philip des Essars, and others, who on their return, brought with them sir Pierre de Morvilliers, formerly chancellor of France, who had attached himself to the late duke of Guienne, and on his death had sought an asylum in Brittany. The Burgundians, notwithstanding the truce, took the city of Verdun, in Lorraine, of which the king was protector; and to recover it, he sent thither three hundred lances, and four thousand franc-archers, under the command of the lord de Craon, and others. The Burgundians took also by storm a town in the Nivernois called Molins en Gibers, whither, likewise, the king sent men at arms and artillery. The Burgundians, however, regardless of the truce, never failed, when any favourable opportunities offered, to oppress the subjects, towns, and countries of the king of France. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 48: Nuys,--a town in the department of the Roer, in the present divisions of France.] [Footnote 49: A village. The place of meeting was on a barricaded bridge, near to La Fere, three leagues from Noyon.] CHAP. XVIII. KING EDWARD SUMMONS THE KING OF FRANCE TO RESTORE TO HIM THE DUCHIES OF GUIENNE AND NORMANDY.--GOOD NEWS FROM THE FRENCH ARMY IN ARRAGON.--SOME ARRAGONIANS BEHEADED.--THE KING'S PHYSICIANS OPEN A MAN ALIVE, AND RECOVER HIM.--OF THE FEAST OF ST CHARLEMAGNE, KING OF FRANCE.--OF THE LOSSES OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY BEFORE NUYS, AND OF THE CONQUESTS GAINED OVER HIM IN PICARDY AND BURGUNDY.--SOME BARONS EXECUTED AT PARIS.--THE REDUCTION OF THE TOWN OF PERPIGNAN. King Edward about this time, sent his heralds to the king of France, to summon him to restore the duchies of Guienne and Normandy, which he claimed as his property,--and in case of refusal, to declare war against him. The king gave his answer to these heralds, and sent by them, to king Edward, the handsomest courser in his stables; and he, moreover, sent him by Jean de Laslier, his harbinger, an ass, a wolf, and a wild boar, with which the heralds returned to their own country. In November, the king came near to Paris, and was lodged at Ablon sur Seine, at Vincennes, Haubervilliers, and other places. He thence went to the house of master Dreux Budé, examiner to the court of chancery, called Bois-le-Comte, while the archbishop of Lyon, the lord de Beaujeu, and others of his court, were lodged at Mietry, in the Isle of France. The king, from Bois-le-Comte, went with the above-named lords to Château Thierry, where he made some stay. About the 12th of December, he came to Paris, for the feast of Christmas, and performed his devotions on that day in the church of Nôtre Dame.