FRA 
pearance: his coronation was celebrated at Rheims, and 
attended by the duke of Burgundy and the count of Cha- 
rolois. The firft emotions of the king’s gratitude for the 
protection he had met with, was difplayed in his declaring 
the count his lieutenant-general in Normandy, with a fa- 
lary of twelve thoufand crowns ; but thefe marks of 
efleem were tranfient and deceitful, and were foon fuc- 
<*eeded by an enmity between thofe rival princes which 
only expired with life. 
With an avowed contempt for the meafures of his fa¬ 
ther, the mini fiefs of the late monarch were ignominioufly 
difmiired; the count of Dammartin was committed to the 
Baftile; and the duke of Aletifon, who had been impri- 
foned for treafo.nable practices againft: Charles, was -im¬ 
mediately releafed. An inf'urreCtion of the citizens of 
Rheims was punifhed with exemplary feverity ; while an 
advantage was taken of fome towns in Picardy which vio¬ 
lated the treaty of Arras, and brought on a formidable 
confederacy againft the king. The count of Charolois 
openly complained that the perfidy of Louis had been di¬ 
rected to feize his own perfon, and that of his father the 
duke of Burgundy. To thefe princes the duke of Brit¬ 
tany clofely united himfelf; the confederacy was fwelled 
by the accefiion of the dukes of Bourbon and Nemours, 
the counts of Dunois and St. Pol, and the count of Dam- 
martin, who had efcaped from prifon. The fecret, which 
was imparted to near five hundred perfons, was preferved 
inviolably; and the duke of Berri, the king’s brother, 
foon joined the confpirators; who adorned, in 1465, the 
lofty diftinCtion of the league for' the public good. The duke 
of Brittany, to fortify his hopes, had entered into an al¬ 
liance with Edward IV. of England ; and the king of 
France, fecure and unfufpicious of the ftorm which was 
gathering, refolved to prefs the fubmiffion of the duke 
by the moli vigorous meafures. Under the piretence of 
a pilgrimage, he advanced to Poitou, a fituation conve¬ 
nient for his projefted invafion of Brittany ; but from this 
defign be was recalled to provide for his own defence ; 
the flight of the duke of Berri was the fignal for hoftili- 
ties ; and wliilft the duke of Brittany entered France on 
one fide, the count of Charolois on the other palled the 
Somme, and advanced towards Paris. 
The genius ef Louis, aCtive, penetrating, and pecu¬ 
liarly calculated to extricate him from difficulties, now 
eminently appeared. To prevent the junction of the 
Bretons and Burgundians, lie diligently pointed his march 
towards the capital, which was already infulted by the 
hoftile arms of the count of Charolois. On the intelli¬ 
gence of the king’s approach, that prince advanced to 
Montleheri, about eight leagues beyond that city. But 
while he anxioufly awaited there the arrival of his confe¬ 
derates, the prefence of the royal army compelled him to 
hazard an aCiion, (ingly and unfupported. The battle 
was obftinately difputed for above five hours; the count 
of Charolois here firft difplayed that impetuous courage 
which ever after characterized him through life; and the 
king, cool and intrepid amidft the dangers which fur- 
rounded him, extorted even from his adverfaries the ac¬ 
knowledgment of perfcnal valour. On the fide of Louis 
perifiied about fifteen hundred men ; the lofs of the count 
of Charolois was nearly equal : but that prince, though 
wounded, Hill kept the field ; while Louis, anxious to 
preferve the metropolis, haftilv entered Paris. 
The attention of Louis was immediately directed to fe¬ 
cure the affeCtions of the inhabitants of his capital. He 
endeavoured to infinuate himfelf into their confidence by 
that pliability of addrefs of which he was fo eminently 
mailer; he adopted manners the rnoit engaging and po¬ 
pular; he com; limented the wives and daughters of the 
■ mechanics , he promifed a repeal of every burdenfome 
import; and he extended feveral aCls of grace to retain 
the people in their allegiance. -In the mean time the 
duke of Brittany had joined the count of Charolois; and 
the confederates, in 1465, fwelled to an holt of one hun¬ 
dred thoufand men, among whom were five hundred 
N C E. CD l 
Swifs, the firft ever feen in France, fwept the open coun¬ 
try, and encamped in the villages round Paris. But they 
in vain attempted to gain pofteftiori of that city by block¬ 
ade ; conftant fupplies were introduced along the Maine, 
the Yonne, and the Seine; and the hopes of infurreCtion 
were baffled by tbe vigilance of Louis. Terms of accom¬ 
modation fucceeded a fruitlefs fiege ; a conference was 
agreed upon between the king of France and the count of 
Charolois; and in a treaty that prince obtained for him¬ 
felf and his next-heir the towns upon the Somme, which 
had already been ranfomed ; and the diftriCts of Boulogne, 
Guifnes, Peronne, Mondidier, and Roye, as a perpetual 
inheiitance. Charles, the brother of the king, received 
the duchy of Normandy, which Louis more readily grant¬ 
ed, as he was already apprifed of the revolt of Rouen. 
To the duke of Bourbon was allotted Donchery, feveral 
lordftiips in Auvergne, and a hundred thoufand crowns. 
The duke of Brittany had Montfort and Eftampes; the 
count of Dunois occupied his former military polls; the 
count of St. Pol was inverted with the fword of conftable ; 
and Anthony rie Chabannes count of Dammartin was re- 
ftored to his eftate, and became an acknowledged favour¬ 
ite of his fovereign. The league thus broken, each 
member returned to his refpeCtive domain ; while the 
king, the moment he had figned, protefted againft the 
treaty, as contrary io fhe'interefts of the crown ; and held 
himfelf in readinefs to improve every opportunity fingly 
to cruftt thofe opponents, to whofe united force he had 
reluctantly fubmitted. 
The count of Charolois had confented to an accommo¬ 
dation with Louis, that he might exert his entire ftrengtll 
againft tIre rebellious inhabitants of Liege; Edward IV, 
of England was fcarcely confirmed on his throne, which 
he had afeended by the expullion of the houfe of Lan- 
cafter; the king of France therefore feized the favourable 
opportunity to (hake off the fetters which the late trea¬ 
ties had impofed. He gained the duke of Bourbon, the 
moft able of the confederates, by a fpecious acknowledg¬ 
ment that his deferts had not been fufficiently confidered, 
and by bellowing on him the hand of Jane, his natural 
daughter, with the dowry of Ufton in Auvergne, and 
Moras, Beaurepaire, and Cornillon, in Dauphine ; while 
the difeontents between the dukes of Brittany and Nor¬ 
mandy enabled him to fecure the neutrality of the former, 
and to recover what he had unwillingly ceded to the 
latter. Charles duke of Normandy, timid in his difpofi- 
tion and feeble in his-mind, had abandoned himfelf to 
counfellors equally weak and fordid. Thefe embroiled 
him with bis royal brother; and Louis, vigorous and ra¬ 
p’d in his movements, entered the province he had fo 
lately yielded, and made himfelf mafter of Vernon, Gifors, 
Gournay, and Louviers.. Rouen opened her gates and 
implored his mercy ; and his brother Charles, deftitute 
or refources and allies, deprived of both his titles of Nor¬ 
mandy and Berri, was forced to feek fhelter in the court 
of the duke of Brittany, and even to fell his plate to pro¬ 
cure a fubfifterice. 
To attach to his interefts the houfe of Anjou, the king 
of France prefenfed to the duke of Calabria the fum of 
twenty-four thoufand livres ; but at the fame time he 
feverely piiniftied the count of Maine, whom lie difeo- 
vc-red to have held a fecret correfpondence with the con¬ 
federates. The efteCts of hope and fear, which fo en. 
tirely influence the human mind, were fuccefsfully ex¬ 
cited by the policy of Louis ; who liberally rewarded 
his adherents, and chaftifed with exemplary rigour his 
adverfaries. Yet when prudence dictated, he could dif- 
guife his refentments, nor fuffered -paflion to interfere 
with his intereft. Louis of Luxembourg, count of St. 
Pol, had diftinguifhed himfelf at the battle of Montle¬ 
heri as an aCtive general and zealous partizan of the 
league ; he had afterwards extorted from the king the 
fword of conftable ; but Louis, fenfible of bis abilities and 
fplendid connections, determined if poftible to detach 
him from the houfe of Burgundy, and to fecure his 
fidelity 
