heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

204 THE HERALDRY OF YORK MINSTER.
Shortly after his marriage the unhappy feud which had existed
between his father, Louis, Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles VI., and his
relations, the Dukes of Burgundy, culminated in the assassination of the
former. During the life of his uncle, Philip "the Bold," the growing
virulence of these dissensions had long been foreboding something of the
sort, but on the accession of his cousin, John " the Fearless," to the dukedom,
it speedily came to pass. Louis, on obtaining, by an intrigue with
the Queen Isabel of Bavaria, the regency of the kingdom from his crazy
brother, adopted as his device a hand grasping a club full of knots, with
the motto (insinuating the sentiment with which this was regarded by the
opposite party), " I envy it."
The Duke of Burgundy, on the other hand, adopted as
his device a
carpenter's plane, with the Flemish motto, "Je poud," "I plane,"
i.e. "I hold
" " the means of smoothing the knotted club ; and this he speedily illustrated
by appealing to the Parliament, which at once represented to Charles,
through his most trusted counsellors, the folly of committing the government
to so young a man. On which the King withdrew it from the Duke
of Orleans and restored it to the Duke of Burgundy.
In April, 1404, Duke Philip died, and for a time it seemed, from
the mutual civilities which passed between them, that harmony had been
re-established between the cousins. But on November 23rd, 1407, as the
Duke of Orleans was proceeding from the Queen's to the King's apart
ments, mounted on a mule, accompanied by only two gentlemen and a
few valets, he was suddenly assailed by ruffians hired for the purpose by
the Duke of Burgundy, headed by one D'Hacquetonville. "I am the Duke
of Orleans," he cried, as a sudden blow from a battle-axe missed his head
and severed his right hand. "It is
you whom we seek," responded the
assassins with wild exultation, as they swept him from the saddle and cut
him limb from limb, exclaiming, as they completed their bloody work,
" See if the knotty mace has not been well smoothed by the plane." *
Valentine Visconti, the Duke of Milan's daughter, was at Chateau
Thierry when she heard of her husband's murder. Gathering all her family
round her, she started at once and rode to Paris through the roughest
winter known for several centuries. Beautiful and loving, the softness of
her nature had given place to poignancy of grief and fierce thirst for
vengeance. Dismounting at the door of the hostel of St. Paul, she passed
at once with her family to the royal presence, and falling down at the
feet of the King, surrounded by his princes and council, demanded the
immediate punishment of her husband's murderer. The whole court was
moved, and justice immediately promised by the Chancellor in the King's
name. But the Duke of Burgundy was successful and powerful, and months
passing away in empty promises and delays, her spirit sank under an
* Tales of a Grandfather (France). Sir Walter Scott.