prises, and the alluring prospect of keeping in his own coffers the money granted to him on that occasion, induced him previously to try the expedient of negociation. He accordingly sent ambassadors to the courts of France and Britanny, (March 17th, 1488,) to propose his mediation to the contending parties; and they actually concluded a truce between England and France, to continue to the 17th of January 1489. The war-taxes being not so cheerfully paid as they had been granted, the earl of Northumberland was ordered to cause them to be levied with the greatest strictness. When the people were informed of it, they became furious, broke into the earl's house and murdered him with several of his servants. Sir John Egermont placed himself at the head of the insurgents, and declared open war against Henry as a tyrant and usurper. But the king sent immediately a body of troops, who soon dispersed the rebels. Twelve of the ringleaders of that mob were hanged at York, sir John Egermont escaped to Flanders, and the tax was levied without any further opposition. In the mean time, the Bretons under the command of the duke of Orleans, rashly engaged in a general action with the French at St. Aubin, and were discomfited. The duke of Orleans, who ten years after was king of France, under the name of Louis XII. the prince of Orange, and many others of rank were taken prisoners, and the military force of Britanny was totally broken. The French army was commanded by Louis Latrimouille, against whom some base courtiers endeavouring to excite the rancour of Louis XII. when he had ascended the throne, were nobly answered by that magnanimous prince." It does not become the king of France to be the avenger of injuries received by the duke of Orleans.' By this defeat, the affairs of the duke of Britanny being almost quite desperate, he was reduced to the necessity of suing for peace, and it was stipulated by the treaty, that Charles should retain all the towns and forts he had taken, and withdraw the rest of his army out of the country, which last article he eluded. The duke died a few days after the conclusion of this peace, leaving the princess Anne, his daughter, in her thirteenth year, heiress of his dominions and distresses. Henry concluded a treaty with her, in which he engaged to send her an army of six thousand archers, on condition that she should deliver into his hands certain strong towns for the repayment of any expence whatsoever respecting these troops till they were safely re-landed in England, though he had actually received the supplies granted by parliament for these very expences: but, by a clause still more extraordinary, Henry in this treaty reserved to himself the power of observing his truce with France, which rendered these auxiliary troops as useless as expensive. The most griping usurer could not have made a harder bargain with his most necessitous debtor; in fact the English army landed in Britanny in March, 1489, where they remained very quietly till November, when they returned to England, and the campaign passed without any action. At the same period the duchess Ann and Maximilian, king of the Romans, were married secretly and by proxy with this uncommon ceremony; the prince of Nassau, Maximilian's proxy, put his naked leg into the bed where the young duchess was laid, as a kind of consummation of the marriage. Ann. 1490, 1491. Charles VIII. had formerly been affianced to Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, who being too prises, and the alluring prospect of keeping in his own coffers the money granted to him on that occasion, induced him previously to try the expedient of negociation. He accordingly sent ambassadors to the courts of France and Britanny, (March 17th, 1488,) to propose his mediation to the contending parties; and they actually concluded a truce between England and France, to continue to the 17th of January 1489. The war-taxes being not so cheerfully paid as they had been granted, the earl of Northumberland was ordered to cause them to be levied with the greatest strictness. When the people were informed of it, they became furious, broke into the earl's house and murdered him with several of his servants. Sir John Egermont placed himself at the head of the insurgents, and declared open war against Henry as a tyrant and usurper. But the king sent immediately a body of troops, who soon dispersed the rebels. Twelve of the ringleaders of that mob were hanged at York, sir John Egermont escaped to Flanders, and the tax was levied without any further oppo sition. In the mean time, the Bretons under the command of the duke of Orleans, rashly engaged in a general action with the French at St. Aubin, and were discomfited. The duke of Orleans, who ten years after was king of France, under the name of Louis XII. the prince of Orange, and many others of rank were taken prisoners, and the military force of Britanny was totally broken. The French army was commanded by Louis Latrimouille, against whom some base courtiers endeavouring to excite the rancour of Louis XII. when he had ascended the throne, were nobly answered by that magnanimous prince. "It does not become the king of France to be the avenger of injuries received by the duke of Orleans," By this defeat, the affairs of the duke of Britanny being almost quite desperate, he was reduced to the necessity of suing for peace, and it was stipulated by the treaty, that Charles should retain all the towns and forts he had taken, and withdraw the rest of his army out of the country, which last article he eluded. The duke died a few days after the conclusion of this peace, leaving the princess Anne, his daughter, in her thirteenth year, heiress of his dominions and distresses. Henry concluded a treaty with her, in which he engaged to send her an army of six thousand archers, on condition that she should deliver into his hands certain strong towns for the repayment of any expence whatsoever respecting these troops till they were safely re-landed in England, though he had actually received the supplies granted by parliament for these very expences: but, by a clause still more extraordinary, Henry in this treaty reserved to himself the power of observing his truce with France, which rendered these auxiliary troops as useless as expensive. The most griping usurer could not have made a harder bargain with his most necessitous debtor; in fact the English army landed in Britanny in March, 1489, where they remained very quietly till November, when they returned to England, and the campaign passed without any action. At the same period the duchess Ann and Maximilian, king of the Romans, were married secretly and by proxy with this uncommon ceremony; the prince of Nassau, Maximilian's proxy, put his naked leg into the bed where the young duchess was laid, as a kind of consummation of the marriage. Ann. 1490, 1491. Charles VIII. had formerly been affianced to Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, who being too young for the consummation, had been sent to Paris to be educated, and bore the title of queen of France. But that young monarch began to perceive that the conquest of Britanny, in opposition to the natives and to all the great powers of Christendom, would prove a difficult enterprize, and that the marriage of the young duchess with Maximilian appeared destructive to the grandeur and even security of the French monarchy, as that prince, possessing Flanders on the one hand and Britanny on the other, might thus, from both quarters, make inroads into the heart of the country. The only remedy for these evils, was the dissolution of the two marriages, which had been celebrated but not consummated, and the espousal of the duchess of Britanny by the king of France, was the only means of fully reannexing that fief to his crown. These mighty considerations having determined Charles to adopt that plan, the measures of the French ministry in its execution were of the utmost wisdom and secrecy; while they pressed Britanny with all the rigours of war, they secretly gained the count of Dunois, who possessed great authority with the Bretons, and engaged in the king's interest the prince of Orange, cousin german to the duchess; they gave him his liberty and sent him into Britanny, as the chief difficulty lay in surmounting the strong prepossessions of the princess against the French nation, and particularly against Charles; she had also fixed her affections on Maximilian, and as she now deemed him her husband, she considered it as the greatest guilt, and the violation of the most solemn engagement, to contract a marriage with any other person. In order to overcome her scruples, Charles restored to liberty the duke of Orleans, who, though formerly a suitor to the duchess, eagerly employed in favour of Charles all the interest he still possessed in Britanny. When this delicate enterprise was brought |