The treaty which the king designed to make with the Duke of Austria, his duchess, and their dominions, was, by the mediation of the Gantois, to make a match between his son the Dauphin (who is now our king) and the daughter of the duke and duchess, in consideration of which they should give him the counties of Burgundy, Auxerrois, Maconnois, and Charolois; and in exchange he would restore to them the province of Artois, retaining only the city of Arras[74], in the same posture of defence as he had put it in; for the town was of no importance since the new fortifications had been added to the city. Before Arras fell into the king’s hands, the town was much stronger than the city, with a large ditch and thick walls between them; but now the city was in a much better posture of defence, and was held of the king by the bishop of the place; contrary to the practice of the Dukes of Burgundy (at least for above a hundred years), who had always made whom they pleased bishop, and put in a governor of the city besides: but the king, to increase his authority, proceeded in a quite different manner, caused the town walls to be demolished, and new ones to be raised about the city, which before (as I said) was weaker than the town, with great ditches betwixt them; so that in effect the king gave nothing by the treaty; for he that was master of the city could command the town when he pleased. There was not the least mention made of the duchy of Burgundy, the county of Boulogne, the towns upon the Somme, or the chastellanies of Peronne, Roye, and Mondidier. The Gantois were extremely pleased with these proposals, and behaved themselves very disrespectfully to the Duke and Duchess of Austria; and some of the other great towns in Flanders and Brabant were equally importunate, particularly Brussels; which was very remarkable, for Dukes Philip and Charles of Burgundy had always resided there, and the Duke and Duchess of Austria had their residence there at that very time. But the long ease and pleasures that they had enjoyed under the above-mentioned princes, made them so far forget both God and their sovereign, that at last they brought down misfortunes upon their heads, and occasioned their own ruin, as you shall see. CH. VI.—How King Louis was surprised with a Malady that for some time took away the Use of both his Senses and Tongue; how he recovered and relapsed several Times, and how he kept himself in his Castle at Plessis les Tours.—1479.