church, yet the soldiers could not be restrained, but fell upon them, and attempted to break open the doors. I saw the Duke of Burgundy kill one man himself at his arrival, upon which the soldiers retreated, and the church was preserved for that time; but at length all the men that had fled thither for sanctuary were made prisoners, and all the furniture was taken away. The rest of the churches, which were very numerous (for I have heard the Lord of Humbercourt, who knew the town very well, say, that there were as many masses said in it every day as in Rome), were most of them plundered under pretence of searching for prisoners. I myself was in none but the great church, but I was told so, and saw the marks of it, for which a long time after the Pope excommunicated all such as had any goods belonging to the churches in that city, unless they restored them; and the duke appointed certain officers to go up and down his country, to see the Pope’s sentence put in execution. After the taking and plundering the city, about noon the duke returned to the palace; the king had dined before he came, but expressed much joy at his good fortune, and highly applauded his magnanimity and conduct; for he knew well enough it would be carried to the duke, and he had in his heart a longing desire to be at home in his own kingdom. After dinner the king and the duke were very merry together, and if the king had been lavish in his commendations behind his back, he extolled his actions much more to his face, and the duke was not a little pleased to hear it. But I am obliged to make a small digression, and give an account of the calamities of those miserable people who fled out of the town, that I may confirm what I said in the beginning of these Memoirs, when I spoke of the misfortunes and dreadful consequences which I have observed to follow those who are defeated in battle, whether king or prince, or any other potentate whatever. These miserable creatures fled through the country of Ardennes with their wives and children. A gentleman in those parts (who till that time had been of their side), fell upon, and cut off a great party of them; and to ingratiate himself with the duke, he wrote him an account of what he had done, and represented the number both of the prisoners and slain to be much greater than in reality it was, though indeed it was very great; but, however, he made his own peace with the duke by that action. Others fled to Mezières, which is a French town upon the Maes. Two or three of their ringleaders were taken and presented to the duke (one of whom was named Madoulet), whom he ordered immediately to be put to death; and several of the rest died with hunger, or cold, or watching. CH. XIV.—How King Louis returned into France by the Consent of the Duke of Burgundy; and how the Duke treated the Liegeois and the People of Franchemont afterwards.—1468.