CHAPTER I: THE CONTRAST
Look here upon this picture, and on this, The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
HAMLET
The latter part of the fifteenth century prepared a train of futureevents that ended by raising France to that state of formidable powerwhich has ever since been from time to time the principal object ofjealousy to the other European nations. Before that period she had tostruggle for her very existence with the English already possessed ofher fairest provinces while the utmost exertions of her King, and thegallantry of her people, could scarcely protect the remainder from aforeign yoke. Nor was this her sole danger. The princes who possessedthe grand fiefs of the crown, and, in particular, the Dukes of Burgundyand Bretagne, had come to wear their feudal bonds so lightly that theyhad no scruple in lifting the standard against their liege and sovereignlord, the King of France, on the slightest pretence. When at peace, theyreigned as absolute princes in their own provinces; and the House ofBurgundy, possessed of the district so called, together with the fairestand richest part of Flanders, was itself so wealthy, and so powerful, asto yield nothing to the crown, either in splendour or in strength.
In imitation of the grand feudatories, each inferior vassal of the crownassumed as much independence as his distance from the sovereign power,the extent of his fief, or the strength of his chateau enabled him tomaintain; and these petty tyrants, no longer amenable to the exerciseof the law, perpetrated with impunity the wildest excesses of fantasticoppression and cruelty. In Auvergne alone, a report was made of morethan three hundred of these independent nobles, to whom incest, murder,and rapine were the most ordinary and familiar actions.
Besides these evils, another, springing out of the long continued warsbetwixt the French and English, added no small misery to this distractedkingdom. Numerous bodies of soldiers, collected into bands, underofficers chosen by themselves, from among the bravest and mostsuccessful adventurers, had been formed in various parts of France outof the refuse of all other countries. These hireling combatants soldtheir swords for a time to the best bidder; and, when such service wasnot to be had, they made war on their own account, seizing castlesand towers, which they used as the places of their retreat, makingprisoners, and ransoming them, exacting tribute from the open villagesand the country around them--and acquiring, by every species of rapine,the appropriate epithets of Tondeurs and Ecorcheurs, that is, Clippersand Flayers.
In the midst of the horrors and miseries arising from so distracted astate of public affairs, reckless and profuse expense distinguished thecourts of the lesser nobles, as well as of the superior princes; andtheir dependents, in imitation, expended in rude but magnificent displaythe wealth which they extorted from the people. A tone of romantic andchivalrous gallantry (which, however, was often disgraced by unboundedlicense) characterized the intercourse between the sexes; and thelanguage of knight errantry was yet used, and its observances followed,though the pure spirit of honourable love and benevolent enterprisewhich it inculcates had ceased to qualify and atone for itsextravagances. The jousts and tournaments, the entertainments andrevels, which each petty court displayed, invited to France everywandering adventurer; and it was seldom that, when arrived there, hefailed to employ his rash courage, and headlong spirit of enterprise, inactions for which his happier native country afforded no free stage.
At this period, and as if to save this fair realm from the various woeswith which it was menaced, the tottering throne was ascended by LouisXI, whose character, evil as it was in itself, met, combated, and ina great degree neutralized the mischiefs of the time--as poisons ofopposing qualities are said, in ancient books of medicine, to have thepower of counteracting each other.
Brave enough for every useful and political purpose, Louis had not aspark of that romantic valour, or of the pride generally associated withit, which fought on for the point of honour, when the point of utilityhad been long gained. Calm, crafty, and profoundly attentive to hisown interest, he made every sacrifice, both of pride and passion,which could interfere with it. He was careful in disguising his realsentiments and purposes from all who approached him, and frequently usedthe expressions, "that the king knew not how to reign, who knew not howto dissemble; and that, for himself, if he thought his very cap knew hissecrets, he would throw it into the fire." No man of his own, or of anyother time, better understood how to avail himself of the frailtiesof others, and when to avoid giving any advantage by the untimelyindulgence of his own.
He was by nature vindictive and cruel, even to the extent of findingpleasure in the frequent executions which he commanded. But, as no touchof mercy ever induced him to spare, when he could with safety condemn,so no sentiment of vengeance ever stimulated him to a prematureviolence. He seldom sprang on his prey till it was fairly within hisgrasp, and till all hope of rescue was vain; and his movements wereso studiously disguised, that his success was generally what firstannounced to the world the object he had been manoeuvring to attain.
In like manner, the avarice of Louis gave way to apparent profusion,when it was necessary to bribe the favourite or minister of a rivalprince for averting any impending attack, or to break up any allianceconfederated against him. He was fond of license and pleasure; butneither beauty nor the chase, though both were ruling passions, everwithdrew him from the most regular attendance to public business and theaffairs of his kingdom. His knowledge of mankind was profound, and hehad sought it in the private walks of life, in which he often personallymingled; and, though naturally proud and haughty, he hesitated not,with an inattention to the arbitrary divisions of society which was thenthought something portentously unnatural, to raise from the lowest rankmen whom he employed on the most important duties, and knew so well howto choose them, that he was rarely disappointed in their qualities.Yet there were contradictions in the character of this artful and ablemonarch; for human nature is rarely uniform. Himself the most false andinsincere of mankind, some of the greatest errors of his life arose fromtoo rash a confidence in the honour and integrity of others. When theseerrors took place, they seem to have arisen from an over refined systemof policy, which induced Louis to assume the appearance of undoubtingconfidence in those whom it was his object to overreach; for, in hisgeneral conduct, he was as jealous and suspicious as any tyrant who everbreathed.
Two other points may be noticed to complete the sketch of thisformidable character, by which he rose among the rude, chivalroussovereigns of the period to the rank of a keeper among wild beasts,who, by superior wisdom and policy, by distribution of food, and somediscipline by blows, comes finally to predominate over those who, ifunsubjected by his arts, would by main strength have torn him to pieces.
The first of these attributes was Louis's excessive superstition, aplague with which Heaven often afflicts those who refuse to listen tothe dictates of religion. The remorse arising from his evilactions Louis never endeavoured to appease by any relaxation in hisMachiavellian stratagems [on account of the alleged political immoralityof Machiavelli, an illustrious Italian of the sixteenth century, thisexpression has come to mean "destitute of political morality; habituallyusing duplicity and bad faith." Cent. Dict.], but laboured in vain tosoothe and silence that painful feeling by superstitious observances,severe penance, and profuse gifts to the ecclesiastics. The secondproperty, with which the first is sometimes found strangely united, wasa disposition to low pleasures and obscure debauchery. The wisest, orat least the most crafty sovereign of his time, he was fond of low life,and, being himself a man of wit, enjoyed the jests and repartees ofsocial conversation more than could have been expected from other pointsof his character. He even mingled in the comic adventures of obscureintrigue, with a freedom little consistent with the habitual and guardedjealousy of his character, and he was so fond of this species of humblegallantry, that he caused a number of its gay and licentious anecdotesto be enrolled in a collection well known to book collectors, in whoseeyes (and the work is unfit for any other) the right edition is veryprecious.
[This editio princeps, which, when in good preservation, is muchsought after by connoisseurs, is entitled Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles,contenant Cent Histoires Nouveaux, qui sont moult plaisans a raconteren toutes bonnes compagnies par maniere de joyeuxete. Paris, AntoineVerard. Sans date d'annee d'impression; en folio gotique. See De Bure.S]
By means of this monarch's powerful and prudent, though most unamiablecharacter, it pleased Heaven, who works by the tempest as well as by thesoft, small rain, to restore to the great French nation the benefits ofcivil government, which, at the time of his accession, they had nearlylost.
Ere he succeeded to the crown, Louis had given evidence of his vicesrather than of his talents. His first wife, Margaret of Scotland, was"done to death by slanderous tongues" in her husband's court, where,but for the encouragement of Louis himself, not a word would have beenbreathed against that amiable and injured princess. He had been anungrateful and a rebellious son, at one time conspiring to seize hisfather's person, and at another levying open war against him. For thefirst offence, he was banished to his appanage of Dauphine, which hegoverned with much sagacity; for the second he was driven into absoluteexile, and forced to throw himself on the mercy, and almost onthe charity, of the Duke of Burgundy and his son; where he enjoyedhospitality, afterwards indifferently requited, until the death of hisfather in 1461.
In the very outset of his reign, Louis was almost overpowered by aleague formed against him by the great vassals of France, with the Dukeof Burgundy, or rather his son, the Count de Charalois, at its head.They levied a powerful army, blockaded Paris, fought a battle ofdoubtful issue under its very walls, and placed the French monarchy onthe brink of actual destruction. It usually happens in such cases,that the more sagacious general of the two gains the real fruit, thoughperhaps not the martial fame, of the disputed field. Louis, who hadshown great personal bravery during the battle of Montl'hery, was able,by his prudence, to avail himself of its undecided character, as if ithad been a victory on his side. He temporized until the enemy had brokenup their leaguer, and showed so much dexterity in sowing jealousiesamong those great powers, that their alliance "for the public weal," asthey termed it, but in reality for the overthrow of all but the externalappearance of the French monarchy, dissolved itself, and was never againrenewed in a manner so formidable. From this period, Louis, relievedof all danger from England by the Civil Wars of York and Lancaster,was engaged for several years, like an unfeeling but able physician,in curing the wounds of the body politic, or rather in stopping, now bygentle remedies, now by the use of fire and steel, the progress of thosemortal gangrenes with which it was then infected. The brigandage of theFree Companies [troops that acknowledged no authority except that oftheir leaders, and who hired themselves out at will], and the unpunishedoppression of the nobility, he laboured to lessen, since he could notactually stop them; and, by dint of unrelaxed attention, he graduallygained some addition to his own regal authority, or effected somediminution of those by whom it was counterbalanced.
Still the King of France was surrounded by doubt and danger. The membersof the league "for the public weal," though not in unison, were inexistence, and, like a scotched snake [see Macbeth. III, ii, 13, "Wehave scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it."], might reunite and becomedangerous again. But a worse danger was the increasing power of theDuke of Burgundy, then one of the greatest princes of Europe, and littlediminished in rank by the very slight dependence of his duchy upon thecrown of France.
Charles, surnamed the Bold, or rather, the Audacious, for his couragewas allied to rashness and frenzy, then wore the ducal coronet ofBurgundy, which he burned to convert into a royal and independentregal crown. The character of this Duke was in every respect the directcontrast to that of Louis XI.
The latter was calm, deliberate, and crafty, never prosecuting adesperate enterprise, and never abandoning one likely to be successful,however distant the prospect. The genius of the Duke was entirelydifferent. He rushed on danger because he loved it, and on difficultiesbecause he despised them. As Louis never sacrificed his interest to hispassion, so Charles, on the other hand, never sacrificed his passion,or even his humour, to any other consideration. Notwithstanding the nearrelationship that existed between them, and the support which the Dukeand his father had afforded to Louis in his exile when Dauphin, therewas mutual contempt and hatred betwixt them. The Duke of Burgundydespised the cautious policy of the King, and imputed to the faintnessof his courage that he sought by leagues, purchases, and other indirectmeans those advantages which, in his place, the Duke would have snatchedwith an armed hand. He likewise hated the King, not only for theingratitude he had manifested for former kindnesses, and for personalinjuries and imputations which the ambassadors of Louis had cast uponhim, when his father was yet alive, but also, and especially, because ofthe support which he afforded in secret to the discontented citizens ofGhent, Liege, and other great towns in Flanders. These turbulent cities,jealous of their privileges, and proud of their wealth, were frequentlyin a state of insurrection against their liege lords, the Dukes ofBurgundy, and never failed to find underhand countenance at the courtof Louis, who embraced every opportunity of fomenting disturbance withinthe dominions of his overgrown vassal.
The contempt and hatred of the Duke were retaliated by Louis with equalenergy, though he used a thicker veil to conceal his sentiments. Itwas impossible for a man of his profound sagacity not to despise thestubborn obstinacy which never resigned its purpose, however fatalperseverance might prove, and the headlong impetuosity which commencedits career without allowing a moment's consideration for the obstaclesto be encountered. Yet the King hated Charles even more than hecontemned him, and his scorn and hatred were the more intense, that theywere mingled with fear; for he know that the onset of the mad bull, towhom he likened the Duke of Burgundy, must ever be formidable, thoughthe animal makes it with shut eyes. It was not alone the wealth of theBurgundian provinces, the discipline of the warlike inhabitants, andthe mass of their crowded population, which the King dreaded, forthe personal qualities of their leader had also much in them that wasdangerous. The very soul of bravery, which he pushed to the verge ofrashness, and beyond it--profuse in expenditure--splendid in his court,his person, and his retinue, in all which he displayed the hereditarymagnificence of the house of Burgundy, Charles the Bold drew into hisservice almost all the fiery spirits of the age whose tempers werecongenial; and Louis saw too clearly what might be attempted andexecuted by such a train of resolute adventurers, following a leader ofa character as ungovernable as their own.
There was yet another circumstance which increased the animosity ofLouis towards his overgrown vassal; he owed him favours which he nevermeant to repay, and was under the frequent necessity of temporizing withhim, and even of enduring bursts of petulant insolence, injurious tothe regal dignity, without being able to treat him otherwise than as his"fair cousin of Burgundy."
It was about the year 1468, when their feuds were at the highest, thougha dubious and hollow truce, as frequently happened, existed for thetime betwixt them, that the present narrative opens. The person firstintroduced on the stage will be found indeed to be of a rank andcondition, the illustration of whose character scarcely called for adissertation on the relative position of two great princes; but thepassions of the great, their quarrels, and their reconciliationsinvolve the fortunes of all who approach them; and it will be found,on proceeding farther in our story, that this preliminary chapteris necessary for comprehending the history of the individual whoseadventures we are about to relate.