and to shed on them some light of his holy attention.
Convocation of these Assemblies had been promised by King John to take place in December; but due to the turmoil, disorder and despondency the kingdom found itself in following the defeat at Poitiers, the Dauphin Charles thought himself to be acting wisely when he brought forward the meeting to October. In truth, he had no choice but to try to strengthen his authority, which had come to him in this misfortune, young as he was, with an army in tatters from military setbacks, and a Treasury in dire straits.
But the eight hundred deputies of the Langue d’Oil, of which four hundred were bourgeois, didn’t deliberate on the issues they were invited to discuss.
The Church has long experience of councils that elude the intentions of those who first set them up. I would like to tell the pope that this assembly looks exactly like a council that has lost its way and assumed the right to rule over everything, hurling itself recklessly into reform, taking advantage of the weakness of the supreme power.
Instead of busying themselves with the release of the King of France, our people in Paris immediately showed more concern for the release of the King of Navarre, which clearly indicates which side their leaders are on.
In addition, the eight hundred appointed an eighty-strong commission: this began to toil away in secret to produce a long list of remonstrances containing a little that is right, and a great deal that is wrong. Firstly, they demanded the dismissal and judicial trial of the principal advisors of the king, whom they accuse of misappropriating funds, and whom they hold responsible for the defeat …
On that point, I must say, Calvo … this is not to go in the letter, but just to share my thoughts with you … the remonstrances are not totally unjustified. Amongst those appointed by King John to his government, I know there are some who are worthless, and even downright scoundrels. It is natural that a man should increase his own fortune when in high office, otherwise nobody would take on the burden or the risk. But one should be careful not to overstep the limits of dishonesty and look after one’s own affairs at the expense of public interest. And above all, one must be capable. And King John, not being that capable himself, wilfully chooses people who are not capable at all …
But from that time on, armed with the remonstrances, the deputies increasingly made excessive demands. They demanded that the king, or for the time being the dauphin, govern only with advisors approved by the three estates: four prelates, twelve knights, twelve bourgeois. This council was to have the power to organize and carry through everything that the king had always done previously on his own authority; it would appoint all offices, would be entitled to reform the Court of Accounts18 and any other of the kingdom’s legally appointed bodies, could decide on a prisoner’s ransom, and on many other things as well. In truth, its aim was nothing less than stripping the king of all the attributes of sovereignty.
In this way the kingdom would no longer be governed by the one anointed and consecrated according to our Holy Religion; its helm would be entrusted to this council, deriving its entitlement only from a chattering assembly, and the whole governance of the kingdom would be entirely dependent upon it. What weakness and what confusion! Its supposed reformations … you must understand me, Dom Calvo; and I want to insist on this, as the Holy Father mustn’t be able to say that he hadn’t been warned … these supposed reforms are an insult to common sense and are redolent even of heresy.
And that men of the cloth should side with the Assembly is most regrettable, take the Bishop of Laon for example, Robert Le Coq, who like Marcel had also lost favour with the king, and is thus in close accord with the prevost. He is one of the most vehement.
The Holy Father must see that behind all this agitation is to be found the King of Navarre who seems to be leading the dance from his prison cell, and who will be making matters yet worse should he continue. The Holy Father, in his infinite wisdom, will judge it necessary to avoid intervening in any way whatever to get Charles the Bad, I mean, Monseigneur of Navarre, released from jail, as so many petitions coming from all sides must be begging him to do.
As far as I am concerned, using my prerogatives of papal legate and nuncio … are you listening to me, Calvo? I have commanded that the Bishop of Limoges be part of my retinue to be presented in Metz. He will join me in Bourges. And I have resolved to do as much with all the other bishops en route, including the dioceses pillaged and devastated by the raids of the Prince of Wales, so that they may bear witness before the emperor. I will thus strengthen my case and demonstrate how pernicious the alliance between the Kings of Navarre and England may prove to be …
But why on earth must you keep looking out of the window, Dom Calvo? Ah! It is the swaying motion of my palanquin that turns your stomach! I myself am used to it, and would even dare to say that it stimulates my mind; and I see that my nephew, Messire of Périgord, who has often kept me company since we set out, is not at all adversely affected by it. You do indeed look a little queasy. Very well, you shall get to step down. But don’t forget any of what I have told you when you take up your quill.
WHERE ARE WE NOW? Have we passed Mortemart? Not yet! It would seem that I have slept a little … Oh! How the sky darkens and how the days are shortening! I was dreaming, you see, my nephew, I was dreaming of a blossoming plum tree, a big plum tree, round and white, laden with birds, as if each flower were singing. And the sky was blue, the same blue as the Virgin’s mantle. An angelic vision, a true corner of paradise. What strange things are dreams! Have you noticed that in the gospel, no dreams are recounted, except for Joseph’s at the beginning of Saint Matthew? It is the only one. Whereas in the Old Testament, the patriarchs are forever having dreams, in the New, no one dreams at all. I have often wondered why, without being able to find an answer … Has that never struck you as rather odd? It is because you are no great reader of the Holy Scriptures, Archambaud … I see a fine subject for our brilliant scholars in Paris or Oxford to fight over amongst themselves and to provide us with voluminous treatises and discourses in a Latin so impenetrable nobody could understand a word …
In any case, the Holy Spirit advised me well in taking me out of my way via La Péruse. You saw those good Benedictine monks who wanted to take advantage of the English raid to avoid paying their prior’s commendams? I will get the enamel crucifix replaced and the three golden chalices that they hurriedly gave the English in order to avoid being pillaged; and they will settle up their annual payments.
They were naively looking to get themselves confused with the inhabitants of the other bank of the River Vienne, where the Prince of Wales’s rovers wreaked havoc, pillaging and burning, as we saw only too well this morning in Chirac and in Saint-Maurice-des-Lions. And especially in the Abbey of Lesterps where the Canons Regular19 showed great valour. ‘Our abbey is fortified; we will defend it.’ And they fought, those canons, as good and brave men that refuse to be taken. Several perished in the attack, who acted more nobly, to my knowledge, than many a knight at Poitiers.
If only all the people of France had as much heart … even so they found the means, those honest canons in their charred monastery, to offer us a copious and well-prepared dinner, which helped me sleep soundly that night. And have you noticed the look of holy cheer they wear upon their faces? ‘Our brothers were killed? They are now in peace; God has welcomed them in His leniency … If He left us here
