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de Monseigneur le Duc de Bretagne ;* je Françoise dessusdite fais veu à Dieu et à Nostre Dame, et jure aux sainctes Evangilles de Dieu, et prometz par la foy et serrement de mon corps, et par ces presentes à mondit Seigneur du Gavre: que jamais tant qu'il vivra, n'auré autre mary ne espoux que lui; et dés à present le prens pour espoux et mary, luy promettant que toutes et quanteffois que je seray en ma franchise et liberté, seray preste et contente de l'espouser et consummer ledit marriage en saincte mere Eglise, et accomplir de ma part lesdites promesses et convenances d'entre nos seigneurs et dames, nos peres et meres, et ratiffie et appreuve par cesdites presentes lesdites promesses et convenances par eulx faictes, sans jamais aler à l'encontre. Et en temoing de ce, et affin qu'il cognoisse mieulx ma bonne voulenté, j'ai signé ceste presente cedule de mon seing manuel cy mis. A le jour de May, 1450. Françoyse."+

But to return to Gilles. In 1446, the before-mentioned Montauban, Jean Hingant, an officer of the duke's court, who had been personally insulted by the prince, and Jaques d'Espinai,§ Bishop of St. Malo, and afterwards of Rennes, all three in the confidence of the duke, and much esteemed by him, determined to work the prince's ruin. To effect this they took every opportunity of spreading reports to his prejudice. The prince, indeed, could easily have removed these calumnies, if he could but have persuaded himself to live with the duke; but being unable to control his temper, he kept at a distance from the court, and thus left the field open to his enemies, who failed not to avail themselves of the advantage. Gilles was passionately fond of shooting with the bow; and, in order to attain greater excellence, he sent to Normandy for some English archers, that he might avail himself of their instruction and superior skill. This was immediately turned to account by his enemies, who represented to the duke, and afterwards to the King of France, that Gilles had boasted he could bring over the English whenever he pleased, and that he had already garrisoned one of his strong places on the sea-coast with English archers. This was more readily believed, because the prince was known to be in great favour with * Pierre II., who succeeded Francis, kept her as a kind of prisoner, that he might enjoy her revenues. She sued him afterwards, and obtained some restitution. † Lobineau, Hist. de Bretagne, tom. ii. p. 1125.

Alain Bouchard, an almost contemporary historian, says the duke was attached to Montauban," plus que raison et nature ne permettoient." To such an extent did he carry his confidence, that he took no offence at his wife's embracing Montauban publicly. She openly avowed the greatest fondness for him, and made common cause with him against his enemies.

In 1456, when articles were exhibited against d'Espinai, we find among other charges, "propterea quod suspectus non immerito habitus est mortis Egidii fratris Ducum Francisci et Petri."-Lobineau, Hist. de Bret. tom. ii. 1173.

Henry, who, according to report, had offered to make him Constable of England. It was agreed upon by the king* and the duke, at a conference at Chinon, that as soon as the latter had taken his departure, the king would send a party of soldiers into Britanny to seize the prince, and to deliver him up into the hands of his brother as a prisoner. The duke thought by this mode of proceeding to remove all obloquy from himself, and that as Gilles was made prisoner by the soldiers of the King of France, he would be looked upon by the people as a state criminal, and consequently that no reproach would attach itself to him on account of any treatment which the prince might afterwards receive. After the arrival of the duke in Brittany, the king sent four hundred lances, under the command of De Coetivi, the Admiral of France. These reached the Chateau de Guildof on a Sunday, while Gilles was amusing himself at tennis, with some of his squires. On hearing that the soldiers were those of the King of France, he ordered the gates of the castle to be thrown open; he himself went to greet Coetivi, and asked what tidings he brought of the king. The only reply given was, "We are come to take you prisoner." They then seized the keys of the castle, laid hands on all the gold, silver, and jewels which they could find, not heeding that the latter were the property of his betrothed wife and her mother, and carried him off to Dinan, where his brother was.

The Constable knew nothing of this plot against his nephew till after the departure of the four hundred lances, when the king informed him of it. He then remonstrated so strongly on the cruelty of putting Gilles into the power of his brother, who was known to entertain such unfriendly feelings towards him, that the king was moved by his representation, and said to him," Beau cousin, pourvoiez-y, et faites diligence, autrement la chose ira mal." The Constable set forward with all speed, but did not arrive at Guildo till after the prince had been taken. He, however, went with Gilles to Dinan, and begged of the duke at least to see his brother. Not liking to refuse the Constable so reasonable a request, he consented to an interview. Gilles was conducted to the chateau, accompanied by the Constable and his own brother Pierre, who succeeded Francis in the dukedom. These knelt to the duke, and entreated with tears that Gilles should be forgiven, saying that he was more unfortunate than guilty. To the solicitations of his brother, the duke replied with

* The king was quite willing to take any means to put an end to the ducal family of Britanny, which at that time consisted only of five persons, all without children; the reigning duke, his brothers Pierre and Gilles, their uncle the Constable, and their cousin Francis-because, at their deaths without heirs, the province would become his. + The ruins of this castle still form a beautiful object.

scornful reproaches; to the others he gave weak and evasive reasons, but expressed his full determination to keep the prince a prisoner, and to bring him to trial as soon as the necessary preparations could be made. In the meantime, Gilles, under the guard of Montauban,* was continually removed to different places of confinement. The duke commanded Olivier du Breil, Procureur General of Britanny, to prepare charges against the prince. It was not till he was threatened with deprivation of his office, that he proceeded with the odious task. Heavy accusations were laid against the prince, for the violation of different young girls and women. "Soit que cela fust vrai," says Lobineau," soit qu'elles eussent esté paiées pour mentir, aux depens de leur honneur et de leur conscience." The duke then summoned his council, which was composed chiefly of his brother's enemies, to take the charges into consideration. Letters from England, which had been found at Guildo, were produced, read, and commented upon, and his own servants were examined against him. But upon all the evidence of every sort which could be obtained, Olivier du Breil merely brought forward a general accusation, without specifying any particular crime. This greatly enraged the duke, who by threats and menaces at last compelled Da Breil to lay a charge of treason and lese majesté against him. The subject was then brought before an assembly of the states. The Constable, accompanied by a number of his friends, attended at the trial; when, notwithstanding all the efforts of the duke, no condemnation followed. Still Gilles remained a prisoner. A second attempt was made to procure his condemnation, but in vain; while every opportunity was taken to prejudice the king against him. The duke finding that he had no hopes of procuring his brother's death in this way, spoke to Jean Hingant and Olivier du Meel of getting rid of him by some other means, He calculated with great certainty upon the co-operation of the former, because he had always apparently been devoted to his interests; and also because he knew him to be the declared enemy of Gilles. The enormity of the crime, however, alarmed him; and in his hesitation and agony, he sent for Du Breil, to whom he made known the wishes of the duke. Du Breil reproached him with being one, if not the chief instigator of the quarrel between the brothers, and advised him, if his remorseful feelings were indeed sincere, to quit the province for a while, and thus put himself out of the way of persuasion. This he did; † and

"Au Sire de Montauban à valloir sur son ordonnance pour la garde de Monsieur Gilles cinq cens livres." Extrait du compte de Morice de la Noe, Trésorier et Receveur Général. Lob. Hist. de Brit.

His absence was not for any great length of time; as we find afterwards that the duke employed him to conduct his duchess from Vannes, when that city was visited by the plague.

the duke upon being told of his departure, merely said, "Let him go, he is a coward, and good for nothing." Olivier du Meel fell into the plans of the duke without hesitation; and, after consulting with Robert Roussel, the chief of the duke's household, they concluded that the most easy as well as the most effectual way of removing the prince would be by poison.* One Jean Rageant was sent to Lombardy, to procure some for their purpose. On his return well furnished with the necessary drugs, some experiments were made with them upon animals, all of which succeeded admirably, to the great satisfaction of Du Meel. They were then tried upon the prince, being mixed in the soup which was served to him at dinner. As it was their intention to bring about a gradual death, it is probable that the doses were not sufficiently strong; or it may be, that the strength of the prince's constitution enabled him to withstand their pernicious effects; at any rate the attempt proved vain. In the meantime his friends continued to make great efforts to procure his release. They took an opportunity of informing the king, that the unfriendly feelings of the duke towards his brother took their rise from a demand which the prince had made for a larger portion of his father's property than the duke was willing to give that this quarrel had been fomented and increased by Montauban and his accomplices for their own purposes-that the prince, by the violence of his temper, had given offence to some of his brother's favourites, who missed no occasion of irritating the duke against him-and, above all, that his future wife was extremely rich, and had excited the cupidity of them all. While these representations were made to the king, the friends of Gilles were busied in endeavouring to influence the council; and Guillaume de Rosynvinen promised the members of it ten thousand crowns, if they procured the liberty of the prince. Induced by this bribe and by the influence of others, the council advised the king to send the Admiral of France, Pregent di Coetivi, to bear an order to the duke to release Gilles.

The admiral hastened to Vannes, and had an interview with the duke, who, not being able to oppose the commands of the king, gave the necessary papers to set the prince at liberty. Immediately on receiving them, De Coetivi set out for Montcontour, where Gilles was then confined. In this matter the duke is accused of dissimulation, and the admiral is strongly suspected of having been bribed by the enemies of the prince, who, on hearing what had been done by the council, took fresh measures to prevent his release. Scarcely had the admiral quitted Vannes,

* It is not improbable that Montauban himself might have been of this council. He was of the family of Visconti by the mother's side, and is supposed to have inherited from her the Lombard vices of the age, poisoning, assassination, &c.

when a letter was given to the duke, purporting to come from Henry VI., King of England, demanding the liberty of the prince, and threatening, in case of a refusal, to send an army to enforce compliance. This letter was forged by one Pierre de la Rose, who had been a long time in England, and knew the style of the despatches of that court. No sooner was this received, than the duke forwarded it to the king, and sent off messengers to contradict the order for his brother's release. The admiral feigned great surprise at this change in the duke's intentions, but left the poor prince in the custody of his keepers, who immediately removed him to the more retired Chateau de la Hardouinae.

His enemies now began to be weary of delay. They had tried an accusation, which, had it been successful, would have deprived him of his honour, as well as of his life—in this they failed. Then they had recourse to poison, which did not operate upon him. Even the lengthened and close confinement to which he was kept, with all its attendant discomforts, so insupportable as they thought to a prince of his rank and age, did not appear to affect him so prejudicially as to give them hopes of seeing him die soon enough for their purposes. At last they resolved to put him to death by violent means. The fear of the consequences, however, made them anxious, if possible, to procure the sanction of the duke. The prince had repeatedly written to his brother in respectful language, promising submission to him, denying and renouncing all alliance with the English. These letters never reached their destination, but in their stead others were substituted full of defiance and reproaches. Irritated on the receipt of one of these forgeries, the duke gave utterance to language which was easily interpreted into a wish for his brother's death. The chancellor, Louis de Rohan, who had married a niece of Montauban, drew up, as if coming from the king, an order to put the prince to death, and took it to Eon le Boudoin, the keeper of the seals, to have the seal of the chancery put to it. This Fon refused to do, whereupon the chancellor himself affixed the seal, and sent it to the Chateau de la Hardouinae. The duke, in all probability, knew nothing of this. When his keepers received the order they deliberated how to put it into execution; and fearing any appearance of violence, they resolved to starve the prince. To accomplish this they shut him in the lowest part of a tower of the chateau, forbidding every one to take him either bread or water. There was a grated window in this chamber which opened towards the ditch which surrounded the building. The cries of the prince entreating the passers by for food were continually heard, but no one dared to give him any. At last a poor woman, who lived near the chateau, taking pity on him, let herself secretly down into the ditch, and daily placed upon

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