retired at night, for at that time the houses, even of the greatest lords, were almost all built entirely of wood, and, without doubt, he feared he might be burned in his bed.

The queen, who was fearful of her own safety, quitted Paris with her children, leaving her husband, who was then suffering from an attack of his distemper, in the hands of the duke. He remained until the king was sufficiently recovered to answer his purpose, and then, after making him grant him a full pardon for his crime, which if the king had had the full use of his faculties it is not to be imagined he would have done, he returned to attend to the affairs of his own country, where he was engaged in a dispute which his adversaries hoped might prevent him from interfering in the affairs of France.

CHAPTER IV.

WARS OF THE BURGUNDIANS AND ARMAGNACS.

THE queen and the Duchess of Orleans now returned to Paris; a formal answer was made to the accusations brought against the Duke of Orleans; the king promised that justice should be done, and annulled the pardon he had granted; the Parisians began to declare themselves on the side of the Orleans party; and all things seemed to promise well, when suddenly news arrived that the Duke of Burgundy had obtained a most unlooked-for success against his opponents, the rebellious citizens of Liege, and was in greater force than ever. immediate change took place in the opinions of the turbulent Parisians, among

An

whom the butchers, the most powerful of all the city companies, or societies of trades, declared for him.

the Dukes of Berri and

The queen, and Bourbon, carried

off the king to Tours, and the Duke of Burgundy entered Paris in triumph. He soon contrived to reconcile himself with the Duke of Berri, and the two agreed to share the government between them.

The Duke of Burgundy now began to exercise the greatest severity against all who had been servants of the king, and were attached to the Orleans party; and, with the aid of his Parisians, put several of them to death in a violent and illegal manner, without trial or sentence. He obtained the appointment of guardian to the dauphin, and as such took possession of his person; and now thinking that his power could not be shaken, he began to neglect the Dukes of Berri and Bourbon, who had

hitherto stood by him, and at last so far affronted them that they retired to their estates, and, soon after, joining the Duke of Orleans, the Count of Armagnac, the Lord Charles d'Albret, the High Constable of France, and other lords of the Orleans party, they formed an alliance together for the purpose of driving the Duke of Burgundy from power, and punishing him for the murder he had committed. The Count of Armagnac possessed a good deal of influence in Paris, especially among the carpenters, and his friends there were called Armagnacs; and this term was afterwards given to all the Orleans party, which was not very agreeable to many among them, as Armagnac was by no means the man of the greatest consequence on that side; but the name still continued in use, and the war which now followed was then, and has ever since been, known as that between the

Burgundians and Armagnacs. This league against the Duke of Burgundy was effected in the year 1410. "The Duke of Burgundy," says Monstrelet, an old chronicler, who wrote the history of these wars, "resided in Paris, and ruled there more despotically than any other of the princes; affairs were solely carried on by him and his partizans, which, doubtless, made many very jealous of him."

The war was now carried on fiercely, and with great cruelty on both sides, and the whole country suffered dreadfully in consequence. Each party in turn plundered and burned in town and country, and the poor people suffered equally, whether the troops called themselves friends or foes. They seemed to forget they were human beings, and even lords and noble gentlemen committed deeds too horrible and shameful to be named. The following verses were