ry end. There is no doubt that he plunged into
the thick of the fight and risked his life in a reckless manner,
but there is absolute uncertainty as to how he met his death. It is
generally accepted that the last person to see him alive was one
Baptista Colonna, a page in the service of a Neapolitan captain. This
lad, with an extra helmet swung over his shoulder, found himself
close to the duke. He saw him surrounded by troops, noticed his horse
stumble, was sure that the rider fell. The next moment, Colonna's
attention was diverted to himself. He was taken prisoner and knew no
more of the day's events. The figure of Charles of Burgundy disappears
from the view of man. A curtain woven of vague rumour hides the
closing scenes of his life.

At seven o'clock the victorious Duke of Lorraine rode into the rescued
city and re-entered his palace. At the gates was heaped up a ghastly
memorial of the steadfastness of the burghers in their devotion to
his cause. This was a pile of the bones of the foul animals they had
consumed when other food was exhausted, rather than capitulate to
their liege's foe. To ascertain the fate of that foe now became Rene's
chief anxiety, and he despatched messengers to Metz and elsewhere
to find out where Charles had taken refuge. The reports were all
negative. The first positive assurance that the duke was dead came
from young Baptista Colonna, whom Campobasso himself introduced into
Rene's presence on Monday evening. The page told his tale and declared
that he could point out the precise place where he had seen the Duke
of Burgundy fall. Accordingly, on Tuesday morning, January 7th, a
party went forth from Nancy to the desolate battlefield and were
guided by Colonna to the edge of a pool which he asserted confidently
was the very spot where he had seen Charles. Circumstantial evidence
went to give corroboration to his word, for the dozen or more bodies
that lay strewn along the ground in the immediate vicinity of the pool
were close friends and followers of the duke, men who would, in all
probability, have stayed faithfully by their master's person, a
volunteer bodyguard as long as they drew breath. These bodies were all
stripped naked. Harpies had already gathered what plunder they could
find, and no apparel or accoutrements were left to show the difference
in rank between noble and page. But the faces were recognisable and
they were identified as well-known nobles of the Burgundian court.
Separ