History of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (Volume 1) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1863. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... for encountering his enemies in detail. His forces consisted chiefly of the small regular army first established by his father, and of the feudal levies of Dauphine and Savoy. Retaining under his own command the gseater portion of these troops, he had hastened southward to attack the Duke of Bourbon--who had imprudently commenced the war before his allies were on the march-- hoping, as there were few fortified places in the province, to overrun it and crush the rebellion in a few weeks. In the mean time he expected the Count of Maine, a member of the house of Anjou, brother of Rene, to hold the Bretons in check; while Nevers, in like manner, was to obstruct the advance of the Burgundian army through Picardy until the king could go thither in person. The celerity of his movements and the vigour of his attack would have ensured the success of this plan, in spite of the coldness and secret disaffection of Nevers and Maine, had it not been for the desertion of the Armagnaes. He had struck the half-drawn sword from the weak hand of his opponent, when he found himself obliged to turn against his treacherous friends. The time thus lost rendered his designs abortive. The Count of Maine had no intention of fighting. The part he aspired to play was that of a mediator. Himself a prince of the blood, his only desire was to find a means of reconciling the unhappy differences between the members of the royal family--in other words, of disarming the king and placing him at the mercy of his enemies. He retired before the forces opposed to him; the Count of Charolais encountered as little resistance from Nevers; and thus from the west and north two armies were about to effect a junction under the walls of the capital. If they gained an entrance, the crown of France was lost to L...