CH. I.—Of the Wars between the Duke of Burgundy and the Liegeois; and of the taking, plundering, and razing the town of Dinant.—1466. Soon after the pacification of the troubles of France, the Duke of Burgundy began a war against the Liegeois, which lasted for several years; and whenever the King of France had a mind to interrupt him, he attempted some new action against the Bretons, and, in the meantime, supported the Liegeois underhand; upon which the Duke of Burgundy turned against him to succour his allies, or else they came to some treaty or truce among themselves. In the year 1466[167], Dinant was taken by the Duke of Burgundy, which is a town situated in the territory of Liege, very strong for its size, and very rich by reason of the works which they make in copper, commonly called Dinanderie—namely, pots, skillets, and frying-pans, and such like ware. The Duke of Burgundy (who died in June, 1467[168]) had so great an animosity to them, that he was carried in his old age to that siege in a litter. The reasons of his displeasure were, the great cruelty which they had exercised upon his subjects in the county of Namur, and especially at a little town called Bouvines, about a quarter of a league from Dinant, there being only the River Maes between them. Not long before that, the inhabitants of Dinant had besieged the town of Bouvines, on the other side of the river, for the space of eight months, committing numerous acts of hostilities, and bombarding it continually with two brass cannon and other great pieces of artillery, battering the houses about their ears, and forcing the inhabitants to shelter themselves in their cellars, where they continued during the whole siege. It is impossible to imagine the deadly hatred that these two towns had conceived one against the other[169]: yet their children married frequently together, there being no other towns of any consideration in that neighbourhood.