There were also a very great number of noblemen, knights and esquires, who did their homages to the king for the estates they held from him in different parts of the kingdom. When the three brothers had requested certificates from the king of the duties they had performed, they took leave of him, and departed for their hôtels.
These same days there arrived at Paris, and in the adjacent villages, full six thousand fighting men, in obedience to the summons of the duke of Burgundy and his brothers, under the command of Jean sans pitié[91], bishop of Liege, and the count de Cleves. This force was collected to oppose the duke of Orleans, should he attempt any insult against them; for they were well informed of his not being well pleased that they had forced his nephew, the dauphin, to return to Paris, nor with the petition they had made to the king. What raised his indignation the more, and especially against the duke of Burgundy, was his knowledge that the charges in this petition attached more to him than to any other of the princes of the realm.
The duke of Orleans, not knowing what turn these matters might take, nor what measures might be pursued against his person, ordered men at arms from all quarters to his assistance. In the number, sir John Harpedanne came with his men from the frontiers of the Boulonois. From other parts came the duke of Lorraine and the count d’Alençon[92] with a large body of men, who were quartered at Melun, and in that neighbourhood, to the amount of fourteen hundred armed with helmets, besides a great multitude of other sorts.
The whole country round Paris, the Isle of France and Brie, were sorely oppressed by the men at arms of both parties.
The partisans of the duke of Orleans bore on their pennons the motto, ‘Je l’envie;’ and the duke sent messengers to the queen and to king Louis[93], who was preparing to set out for his kingdom of Naples with a powerful body of men at arms, to come to him at Melun. The king, leaving his own business, went thither, and had a conference with the queen and the duke,—after which he returned to Paris, with the intention of negotiating between the two parties.
He held many consultations with the dukes of Berry and Bourbon, and the king’s council, to attempt a reconciliation between the dukes of Orleans and Burgundy. Whilst this was passing, the duke of Orleans wrote letters to many of the principal towns in the kingdom, complaining that many defamatory and injurious reports against his person and honour had been very industriously spread through Paris, which ought not to obtain any credit until he should make answer to them. In like manner, he wrote to the university of Paris, sending ambassadors to require that the matters in dispute between him and the duke of Burgundy should be argued before them, and that they should decide which of the two was to blame.