54S 



LOUIS Xf. 



to all who had used force against him in the service 

 of his father, excepting seven, whom he did not name. 

 I le swore not to increase the taxes, and immediately 

 broke his oath. The ministers of his father were 

 dismissed, and men of the lower orders barbers, 

 tailors, &c. assumed their places. Insurrections 

 broke out at Rheims, Alengon, &c., in consequence 

 of his imposition of new taxes, in violation of his 

 oath ; but they were soon quelled, and followed by 

 many executions. Louis now made a tour through 

 the south of his dominions, supported the king of 

 Arragon in his usurpation of Navarre, and obtained 

 the cession of Roussillon and Cerdagne. His policy 

 became more and more evident. Whilst he pretended 

 to reconcile contending parties, he secretly instigated 

 them against each other ; and, whenever he had a 

 meeting with a foreign prince, he corrupted his cour- 

 tiers by bribes, and established secret correspondences 

 with them : instances of this are to be found in his 

 conduct as arbitrator between Castile and Arragon 

 (1463), at his meeting with Henry IV. of Castile, on 

 the Hidassoa, and, at an earlier period, at tlie court 

 of the duke of Burgundy ; he even formed the de- 

 sign of seizing the duke of Burgundy and the count 

 of Charleroi. His vassals rebelled against him on 

 account of his treatment of Francis II., duke of 

 Brittany, whom he attempted to deprive of his 

 rights. The duke, being taken by surprise, had 

 promised everything required of him, but encouraged 

 the dukes of Lorraine, Bourbon, Alentjon, Nemours, 

 Burgundy, find the king's brother, the duke of Berri, 

 to conclude the ligue du Men public, which, in 1465, 

 began open hostilities. The Burgundians besieged 

 Paris, and the king could force his way to his capital 

 only by means of the battle of Montlhery. But Louis 

 extricated himself, on this as on other occasions, by 

 artful treaties, which he never observed longer than 

 lie was compelled to. He consented to yield Nor- 

 mandy to his brother, part of Picardy to Burgundy, 

 Jic. ; but, no sooner was the league dissolved, than 

 he declared that Normandy could not be severed from 

 France, and forced his brother to seek refuge in 

 Brittany. The duke, however, was too weak singly 

 to maintain the struggle against the king, and signed 

 a sort of capitulation just as Charles the Bold, the 

 young duke of Burgundy, approached with an army 

 to his relief. Louis, who might have risked a battle 

 with Charles, preferred negotiation, which, however, 

 proceeding slowly, he requested a passport from the 

 duke of Burgundy, and actually went to visit him at 

 Feronne. He had, just before, secretly instigated 

 the people of Liege to rise, and promised them aid. 

 Charles, having discovered this act of treachery, was 

 furious with rage, and hesitated three days (during 

 which he kept the king in prison) as to what course 

 he should adopt. Nothing but the aversion of 

 Charles to take the life of a king, and the greatest pre- 

 sence of mind on the part of the latter, who asserted 

 his innocence under the most solemn oaths, saved 

 him.* He was obliged to accompany Charles to 

 Liege, and to witness the pillage and slaughter of 

 which he had been the cause. A peace was concluded 

 on favourable terms for Charles and his allies ; but, 

 when Louis returned to Parts, he used every artifice 

 to evade its fulfilment. He had promised to cede 

 Champagne to his brother, but persuaded him to take 

 Guienne instead. The duke of Burgundy, irritated 

 at this conduct, secretly concluded an alliance with 

 England and Brittany. Meanwhile, Louis XI. had 

 become the father of a prince (afterwards Charles 

 VIII.), and the duke of Guienne had lost all hope of 

 ascending the throne of France. He, therefore, re- 



Oar readers are acquainted u-ith the fine representation of 

 flu.-, ,?i'iie by Sir Walter Scott, in ha Quentiu Durward. 



his connexions with Burgundy. Louts ob- 

 tained information of these proceedings, and soon 

 after, the duke of Berri died of poison administered 

 in an apricot. It never has been doubted that the 

 king was the perpetrator of the crime, though lie 

 ordered masses to be said for the deceased. The 

 duke of Burgundy openly accused him of the murder 

 of his brother, and also of an attempt on his life, 

 whilst Louis charged Charles with a design of as 

 sassinating him. The war broke out between them 

 with renewed fury, but an armistice was soon after 

 concluded, in which the duke of Brittany was in- 

 cluded. The king of Arragon, who had also waged 

 war against Louis, was not a party to this treaty, and 

 the French king now turned his arms against that 

 prince, from whom he wrested a large extent of 

 territory. He sent the cardinal Jouffroi against 

 the count of Armagnac, who atoned for his con- 

 stant rebellions by a terrible death. During the ar- 

 mistice, Charles had attacked Neuss, with great loss. 

 Louis united with the emperor Frederic III. and 

 the Swiss, and attacked Burgundy, in 1475. He 

 concluded a truce of seven years with Edward 

 IV. of England, who had hastened to assist 

 Charles, by the promise of a sum of money and a 

 pension, and of marrying the dauphin to an English 

 princess. Burgundy and Brittany soon after con- 

 cluded another armistice with him, by which St 

 Quentin was ceded to Louis, and the connetable 

 count St Pol was given up to him. After the death 

 of Charles the Bold (q. v.), before Nancy, in 1477, 

 Louis took possession by force, of a considerable part 

 of his dominions, as vacant fiefs of France, and re- 

 jected the proposed marriage of the daughter of 

 Charles, then twenty years old, with the dauphin, 

 who was but ten years of age. Maximilian, son of 

 the emperor Frederic III., obtained the hand of that 

 princess, with a part of her dominions, and defeated 

 the forces of Louis at Guinegate in 1478. After 

 protracted negotiations, peace was finally concluded, 

 Dec. 23, 1482, Mary being then dead, and the city 

 of Ghent remaining faithful to her heirs, Margaret 

 and Philip. It was agreed that the dauphin should 

 marry Margaret, and receive the counties of Artois 

 and Burgundy, &c. , and that Philip should receive 

 the remaining territories. In 1481, Louis, who had 

 been twice affected by apoplexy, haunted by the 

 fear of death, shut himself up in his castle of Plestis- 

 It-s-Tours, endeavoured to conceal the state of his 

 health, loaded himself more than ever with images of 

 saints and relics, continued to commit crimes and ask 

 pardon for them from sa bonne dame, sa petite mai- 

 tresse (the virgin) and died at last, Aug. 31, 1483. 



The great object of Louis was the consolidation of 

 France, the establishment of the royal power, and the 

 overthrow of that of the great vassals. He has often 

 been blamed for neglecting to marry the dauphin to 

 Mary of Burgundy, and aUowing her to be united to 

 an Austrian prince ; also for not taking the oppor- 

 tunity to marry the dauphin to Joanna, daughter of 

 Ferdinand and Isabella, which would have made 

 Charles VIII. heir of Spain and America. But Cha- 

 teaubriand says, that mere increase of territorial do- 

 minion was never the policy of Louis. He refused 

 the investiture of Naples, and, when the Genoese 

 oiTered to take him for their sovereign, he answered, 

 " The Genoese give themselves to me, and I give 

 them to the devil." His great object was to over- 

 throw the feudal aristocracy, and make himself 

 absolute; and lie neglected no opportunity and spared 

 no crime to effect his purpose. The chronicles of 

 the time enumerate four thousand people who per- 

 ished on the scaffold, or by the gibbet, during his 

 reign. Tristan, his chief hangman, was his favourite. 

 His ministers and companions were of the lowest 



