death he
had refused to act as their regent in France. Then there was the
affair of the Countess Jacqueline which very nearly brought about an
open rupture.[1363] For many years the House of Burgundy had been
endeavouring to gain control over the Low Countries. At last Duke
Philip attained his object by marrying his second cousin, John, Duke
of Brabant to Jacqueline of Bavaria, Countess of Hainault, Holland and
Zealand, and Lady of Friesland. Jacqueline, finding her husband
intolerable, fled to England, and there, having had her marriage
annulled by the Antipope, Benedict XIII, married the Duke of
Gloucester, the Regent's brother.

[Footnote 1362: Dom Plancher, _Histoire de Bourgogne_, vol. iv, pp.
lvi, lvii. E. Cosneau, _Le connetable de Richemont_, pp. 114 _et
seq._]

[Footnote 1363: Dom Plancher, _Histoire de Bourgogne_, vol. iv, proofs
and illustrations, p. lv.]

Bedford, as prudent as Gloucester was headstrong, made every effort to
retain the great Duke in the English alliance; but the secret hatred
he felt for the Burgundians burst forth occasionally in sudden acts of
rage. Whether he planned the assassination of the Duke and the Duke
knew it, is uncertain. But at any rate it is alleged that one day the
courteous Bedford forgot himself so far as to say that Duke Philip
might well go to England and drink more beer than was good for
him.[1364] The Regent had just tactlessly offended him by refusing to
let him take possession of the town of Orleans.[1365] Now Bedford was
biting his fingers with rage. Regretting that he had refused the Duke
the key to the Loire and the heart of France, he was at present eager
to offer him the province of Champagne which the French were preparing
to conquer: this was indeed just the time to present some rich gift to
his powerful ally.[1366]

[Footnote 1364: De Barante, _Histoire des ducs de Bourgogne_, vol. v,
p. 270. Desplanques, _Projet d'assassinat de Philippe le Bon par les
Anglais_ (1424-1426), in _Les memoires couronnees par l'Academie de
Bruxelles_, xxxiii (1867).]

[Footnote 1365: _Journal du siege_, p. 70. _Chronique de la Pucelle_,
p. 270. Morosini, vol. iii, pp. 20 _et seq._]

[Footnote 1366: Monstrelet, vol. iv, pp. 332, 333. De Beaucourt,
_Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. ii, p. 36, note 7.]

Meanwhile the great Duke could think of nothing but the Low Countries.
Pope Martin had declared the marriage of the Countess Jacqueline and
Gloucester to be invalid; and Glouc