As soon as the King was fourteen or fifteen years old, at which age he was crowned[193], the Duke of Lorraine[194] came to him to demand the duchy of Bar, which King Louis XI. had kept from him, and the county of Provence, which King Charles of Anjou, his cousin-german, dying without issue, left to Louis XI. by his last will and testament.[195] The Duke of Lorraine laid claim to it, as being son to the daughter of René, King of Sicily, Duke of Anjou, and Count of Provence, and alleged that the King of Sicily had highly injured him, for that the said Charles of Anjou was but his nephew, son of his brother, the Count du Maine, whereas he was descended from his daughter. But King Charles pretended that Provence could not be transferred by will to a daughter. The conclusion of this affair was, Bar was restored for a sum of money, which the king demanded; and the Duke of Lorraine being in great favour, and having many friends at court (especially John, Duke of Bourbon, who was old, and desirous to marry his sister[196]), had a lucrative post[197] and the command of a hundred lances given him by the king, and a pension of thirty-six thousand francs for four years[198], during which time his title to Provence was to be examined into. I was one of the council[199] which was chosen for this purpose, partly by the King’s relations, and partly by the three Estates of the kingdom. Stephen de Vers, whom I mentioned before, and who had got some estate in Provence, and who had in his head the expedition to Naples, persuaded the King, young as he was, to declare (in the presence of his sister, the Duchess of Bourbon[200]) to the Count de Comminges, the Lord du Lau (who were both likewise of the council), and myself, that we should have a care he did not lose the county of Provence; and this was done before the above-mentioned agreement was made.