re on the point of getting back the power which they
believed to be lost to them. On the 13th of June, 1392, the constable,
Oliver de Clisson, was waylaid as he was returning home after a banquet
given by the king at the hostel of St. Paul. The assassin was Peter de
Craon, cousin of John IV., Duke of Brittany. He believed De Clisson to
be dead, and left him bathed in blood at a baker's door in the street
called Culture-Sainte-Catherine. The king was just going to bed, when
one of his people came and said to him, "Ah! sir, a great misfortune has
happened in Paris." "What, and to whom?" said the king. "To your
constable, sir, who has just been slain." "Slain!" cried Charles; "and
by whom?" "Nobody knows; but it was close by here, in St. Catherine
Street." "Lights! quick!" said the king; "I will go and see him;" and he
set off, without waiting for his following. When he entered the baker's
shop, De Clisson, grievously wounded, was just beginning to recover his
senses. "Ah! constable," said the king, "and how do you feel?" "Very
poorly, dear sir." "And who brought you to this pass?" "Peter de Craon
and his accomplices; traitorously and without warning." "Constable,"
said the king, "never was anything so punished or dearly paid for as this
shall be; take thought for yourself, and have no further care; it is my
affair." Orders were immediately given to seek out Peter de Craon, and
hurry on his trial. He had taken refuge, first in his own castle of
Sable, and afterwards with the Duke of Brittany, who kept him concealed,
and replied to the king's envoys that he did not know where he was. The
king proclaimed his intention of making war on the Duke of Brittany until
Peter de Craon should be discovered, and justice done to the constable.
Preparations for war were begun; and the Dukes of Berry and Burgundy
received orders to get ready for it, themselves and their vassals. The
former, who happened to be in Paris at the time of the attack, did not
care to directly oppose the king's project; but he evaded, delayed, and
predicted a serious war. According to Froissart, he had been warned, the
morning before the attack, by a simple cleric, of Peter de Craon's
design; but, "It is too late in the day," he had said; "I do not like to
trouble the king to-day; to-morrow, without fail, we will see to it." He
had, however, forgotten or neglected to speak to his nephew. Neither he
nor his brother, the Duke of Burgundy, there i