members of the royal family, and to the king himself, and
his debtors, jealous of his wealth, were eager for a chance to cause his
overthrow.

In February 1450 Agnes Sorel, the king's mistress, suddenly died.
Eighteen months later it was rumoured that she had been poisoned, and a
lady of the court who owed money to Jacques Coeur, Jeanne de Vendome,
wife of Francois de Montberon, and an Italian, Jacques Colonna, formally
accused him of having poisoned her. There was not even a pretext for
such a charge, but for this and other alleged crimes the king, on the
31st of July 1451, gave orders for his arrest and for the seizure of his
goods, reserving to himself a large sum of money for the war in Guienne.
Commissioners extraordinary, the merchant's declared enemies, were
chosen to conduct the trial, and an inquiry began, the judges in which
were either the prisoner's debtors or the holders of his forfeited
estates. He was accused of having paid French gold and ingots to the
infidels, of coining light money, of kidnapping oarsmen for his galleys,
of sending back a Christian slave who had taken sanctuary on board one
of his ships, and of committing frauds and exactions in Languedoc to the
king's prejudice. He defended himself with all the energy of his nature.
His innocence was manifest; but a conviction was necessary, and in spite
of strenuous efforts on the part of his friends, after twenty-two
months of confinement in five prisons, he was condemned to do public
penance for his fault, to pay the king a sum equal to about L1,000,000
of modern money, and to remain a prisoner till full satisfaction had
been obtained; his sentence also embraced confiscation of all his
property, and exile during royal pleasure. On the 5th of June 1453 the
sentence took effect; at Poitiers the shameful form of making honourable
amends was gone through; and for nearly three years nothing is known of
him. It is probable that he remained in prison; it is certain that his
vast possessions were distributed among the intimates of Charles.

In 1455 Jacques Coeur, wherever confined, contrived to escape into
Provence. He was pursued; but a party, headed by Jean de Village and two
of his old factors, carried him off to Tarascon, whence, by way of
Marseilles, Nice and Pisa, he managed to reach Rome. He was honourably
and joyfully received by Nicholas V., who was fitting out an expedition
against the Turks. On the death of Nicholas, Calixtus III. continued hi