53,
containing fifty-six leaves of parchment" (La Marche, ii., 340 note).
It is possible that all the authors refreshed their memory with this
account, which seems to have been merely a copy.]

[Footnote 5: Laborde, i., 127.]

[Footnote 6: II., 361.]

[Footnote 7: The text says in the Burgundian or recluse fashion.
_Beguine_ is probably the right reading.]

[Footnote 8: Mathieu d'Escouchy (ii., 222) gives all the vows as
though made then, and differs in many unessential points from La
Marche's account.

[Footnote 9: Du Clerq, ii., 203.]

[Footnote 10:'"Michel dit que le gigot de la cour etait rompu."--La
Marche, i., ch. xiv.]

[Footnote 11: Chastellain, iii., 20, note.]

[Footnote 12: "Toute fois que ce ne soit pas sans moy."]

[Footnote 13: The original, signed, is in the _Archives de la
Cote-d'Or,_ B. 200. _See_ Du Fresne de Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles
VII_., v. 470.]

[Footnote 14: Chastellain, iii., 23, etc.]

[Footnote 15: Chastellain, iii., 24]

[Footnote 16: The chroniclers differ as to this date. Chastellain
(iii., 25) says the first Sunday in Lent. D'Escouchy (ii., 270, ch.
cxxii) the night of St. Martin. Alienor de Poictiers, Hallowe'en _(Les
Honneurs de la Cour_, p. 187). The last was one of Isabella's ladies
in waiting.]

CHAPTER IV.

BURGUNDY AND FRANCE

1455-1456.

The duke's journey failed in accomplishing its object, but it proved
an important factor in the development of the character of Charles of
Burgundy. The opportunity to administer the government in his father's
absence changed him from a youth to a man, and the manner of man he
was, was plain to see.

His character was built on singularly simple lines. Vigorous of
body, intense of purpose, inclined to melancholy, he was profoundly
convinced of his own importance as heir to the greatest duke in
Christendom, as future successor to an uncrowned potentate, who could
afford to treat lightly the authority of both king and emperor whose
nominal vassal he was.

The Ghent episode, too, undoubtedly had an immense effect in enhancing
the count's belief in his father's power, in causing him to forget
that the communes of Flanders did not owe their existence to their
overlord. As yet, Charles of Burgundy had not met a single check to
his self-esteem, to his family pride. As a governor, he probably
exercised his brief authority with the rigour of one new to the helm.

"And the Count of Charolais bore himself so