place, which cost many lives. The pastoureaux again assembled, with the design of passing into Palestine and delivering the holy sepulchre. But these soon became brigands, and it was necessary to punish them. After having committed numerous murders and depredations, they were nearly all slaughtered by the seneschal of Carcassonne.

Philip v. and pope John XXII. were both believers in magic. From them, under the influence of this blind credulity, issued one of the most dreadful proscriptions recorded in history. This was directed against lepers, who were accused of having poisoned the waters of the kingdom. Accordingly, all who were affected by any cutaneous disease were arrested, accused of sorcery, and put to death; the poor Jews also, suspected of being their accomplices, perished under similar tortures. In the midst of these atrocious acts, Philip fell sick; nor could the relics of the Sainte-Chapelle, which, when brought to him, he kissed devoutly, restore him to health again. He died at Longchamp, a.d. 1322.

Philip v. left four daughters, but no son; and in obedience to the Salic law, that he had himself established, his daughters were set aside, and Charles IV., or the Fair, the third son of Philip the Fair, succeeded to his brethren.

CHARLES IV.

The reign of Charles the Fair has had no historian. It is marked only by the expedition of queen Isabella of England and her son against the unfortunate Edward II. About the time of the death of Edward, whose days were ended with

S

ignominy, Charles himself fell sick, and died in the commencement of 1328. He left no offspring; but his queen being then pregnant, he directed that if the child when born should be a son, Philip, count of Valois, his cousin-german, should be his tutor and the kingdom's regent; but that if it should be a daughter, the twelve peers and barons of France should decide to whom the kingdom belonged. It was a daughter, and thus the succession of Philip the Fair was cut off from the throne.

Well has the apostle Paul remarked, that "The fashion of this world passeth away," 1 Cor. vii. 31: that is, the scenes of this life are perpetually changing.

CHAPTER VI.

THE COLLATERAL BRANCH OF VALOIS.

A.D. 1328-1498.

Section I.

PHILIP VI.

WITH the reign of Philip commenced a series of disastrous wars betwixt England and France. Hitherto the quarrels of these countries had been those of men speaking the same language; but between Philip of Valois and Edward III. they became national. The question which lit up the flames of these wars was the claim of Edward to the crown of France ;- -a claim which was considered valid even in that country by many of the doctors summoned by Philip to decide the question.

Philip Augustus, who died A.D. 1314, left three sons, who successively reigned in France; Louis, surnamed Hutin; Philip the Long; and Charles the Fair; together with a daughter, named Isabel, married to Edward II. of England. The three French sovereigns, as we have seen, died without leaving male issue; and no female being permitted to reign in France, according to the Salic law, which set forth that no female could possess an inheritance, Philip of

Valois, the nearest male heir, ascended the throne. Edward III. of England resolved to claim the kingdom in right of his mother Isabel; but the distractions of his own country presented obstacles to the immediate execution of his projects.

Philip of Valois was crowned as king Philip IV., at Rheims, in May, 1328. On this occasion, Louis, count of Flanders, attended as one of the great peers. Louis demanded the king's aid against the Flemings, the citizens of Bruges, and Ypres, who were seeking, by force of arms, their municipal privileges. Accordingly Philip marched against the Flemings, who were surrounded by his army, and slaughtered in great numbers: 13,000 are said to have fallen in the field, and 10,000 on the scaffold.

Emboldened by this victory, Philip required the king of England to come and do him homage for Guienne. Edward, who was as prudent as he was brave, obeyed; thereby virtually acknowledging Philip's title to the crown of France.

Edward, however, had not forgotten his claim to that crown. Regal honours are too precious in the sight of a man of the world to be thrown thus lightly away: the contest was only delayed for a fairer opportunity, or for some new occasion of contention. This soon offered itself. Robert d'Artois, a descendant of St. Louis, had claimed the county of Artois, and a female heir had been preferred to him by the decision of king Philip. Robert, moreover, was accused of making a waxen image of Philip, a practice of sorcerers, which he pricked, tortured, and burned; supposing that the consumption of the model would occasion the destruction of the original; for which having

refused to appear to take his trial, he was condemned and exiled.* He sought refuge first in Flanders, and then in England, where he was well received by Edward, and became his counsellor and instigator against France, with which country war was now determined.

Causes of war multiplied betwixt the two countries. Philip favoured the Scotch, with whom Edward was at war; and Edward formed an alliance with the Flemish citizens, whose count was Philip's partisan.

At this time the Flemings carried on a thriving trade with England, and preferred an alliance with that country rather than with France. Some of the citizens, however, doubted whether they ought to ally themselves with a foreign prince against their feudal lord, the king of France. Artaveldt, a brewer of hydromel, or metheglin, one of their leaders, obviated this difficulty.

He advised Edward to assume the title of king of France, which he claimed as a right. Edward adopted the suggestion; the Flemish citizens were satisfied, and war was declared A.D. 1337.

About the same time, the emperor, Louis Iv. of Bavaria, irritated against Philip, who had refused to do him homage for the fiefs which he held of the empire on the left bank of the Rhine, solemnly declared, in a diet held at Coblentz, that Philip had

It was believed in this age, that if a little waxen image were made in the likeness of any person, baptized by a priest, and pierced with a needle in the place indicating the heart, the person so represented would feel the wound and die. Demons were invoked in this operation of magic, which was called "making a voute against any one." The monarch, clergy, and people all believed in this gross absurdity.