The killing of the marshals in the Dauphin’s bedroom
Excerpt from Chronique des règnes de Jean II et Charles V, ed. R. Delachenal, 4 vols., (Paris, 1910-20),
I: 148–9.
On Thursday, the 22nd of February 1358, in the morning, which was the second Thursday of
Lent, the prévôt des marchands [Étienne Marcel] had all the masters of Paris assemble in arms at
Saint-Eloy, near the palace. One estimates that there were nearly 3,000 there, all armed. And
around the hour of tierce [around 9 a.m.], a lawyer in Parlement, called master Regnaut d’Acy,
who was going from the palace to his house, which was near Saint-Landry, was killed near the
church of the Magdalene in the house of a patissier, where he ducked in when he saw that they
wanted to kill him, and he had such and so many wounds that he quickly died without speaking.
And soon after the prévôt and many of his company ascended to the bedroom of my lord the
Duke [of Normany, the Dauphin Charles] to whom the prévôt said words along these lines:
‘Lord, do not be dismayed by the things that you see, for it is mandated and necessary that it
should be done.’ And as soon as these words were said, some of the company of the prévôt
attacked my lord Jean de Conflans, marshal of Champagne, and killed him, near my lord the
Duke’s bed and in his presence. And some others of the prévôt’s company attacked my lord
Robert de Clermont, marshal of the Duke of Normany, who had retreated to another private
chamber of my lord the Duke, but they followed him and killed him there. And my lord the
Duke, who was terrified by what he was seeing, begged the prévôt to save him, for all his officers,
who had been in his bedroom, had fled and left him. And then the prévôt said, ‘Lord, you have
nothing to fear’. And the prévôt handed him his cap (chaperon), which was one of the caps of the
city [Paris], bicolored red and deep blue (pers), the blue on the left; and he took the cap of the
Duke, which was of a rich, dark brown material with a gold fringe (brunette noire à un orfrois d’or],
and he wore it all that day and my lord the Duke wore the prévôt’s cap. And soon after this,
some of the prévôt’s company took the bodies of the 2 knights [the marshals] and most
inhumanly dragged them, past my lord the duke, up to the court of the palace, before the block
of marble; and there they remained splayed out and uncovered, in the view of those who wished
to see them, until well after dinner, and there was not a man who dared move them.
Remission for Jean de Monteux, called from Courteray
(AN JJ 86, no. 238, fol. 84)
Charles, eldest etc., Let it be know to all now and in the future that around last Candlemas, Jean
de Monteaux, called from Courteray, squire, living at Cepoy in the bailliage of Sens, sent his wife,
who was seriously infirm and ill, to Paris in order to have counsel and advice from the physicians
and experts in such matters, so that she could be made well and cured from the said infirmity
and disease and since she could not be healed quickly, the squire had to set up house in Paris and
have his children and part of his goods come, too, both on account of his wife, who had come
to the very end of her life, and for fear of the enemies of the realm, who during that time were
overrunning the countryside around Montargis. And since during the rebellion in Paris of some
traitors and ill-wishers of the crown of France, my lord [the king] and us [the Dauphin], who
fraudulently and wrongly every day exhorted and induced the people and the commune of the
city by their words to many thing which were against the honor of the realm, of my lord, and us,
the aforementioned squire really did not dare to leave the city nor to separate himself from his
children and goods, but was constrained to have, take, and wear the bi-colored caps (chaperons
partiz) of the city, to arm himself with the city’s inhabitants and to go to the gatherings and
assemblies that were taking place. On account of which, our dear and faithful knight and
councilor my lord Louis de Beaumont, then captain of the town of Montargis seized and had
seized all the squire’s moveable goods which were probably worth about 300 moutons and kept
them for himself and his own uses. And it was thus that since we came to our said city of Paris
and its inhabitants came back to good and true obedience to my lord and us, and on good and
mature deliberation with our council, we, having ordered that all nobles and other people of the
country who had fled and taken refuge and safety, along with their wives and children and their
goods, and who during the rebellion, were resident in the city and who had, under constraint,
been at some of the gatherings in arms or otherwise, could not be accused or [judicially] pursued,
now or in times to come for any criminal matter, remitted, quit & pardoned everything fully and
wish all forcible manner of pursuit (voie de fait) and criminal pursuit to be foreclosed as it relates
to this. On account of which, the aforementioned squire has had us specially [as an individual]
supplicated that since he has always been and is a well-wisher of the realm, the crown of France,
my lord and us, and [is] a person of good reputation and renown, of respectable life and honest
dealings and without any infamy, and did not come to the city in order to commit any offense
against the honor of my lord and us, but only for the reasons expressed above, we desire to
provide the necessary and gracious remedy [to his legal problems]. And we, considering the
things said above and the good and agreeable services provided by the said squire to our dear
grandmother, the Queen Jeanne de Bourgogne, whose soul is with God, whom he served for
around 30 years, both in her household chancery and elsewhere, to this Jean de Monteaux, we
have remitted and quit and pardoned all corporal, criminal and civil penalty which he could have
incurred on account of this in regard to my lord or us, and by this present [letter] we remit, quit,
and pardon [him] in this case by special grace, certain knowledge, full power and the royal
authority, of which we have the use, restoring him fully to his good reputation, to his country
and to his goods. So given in mandate by this present [letter] to the bailiff of Sens and to all the
other justicers, officers & commissioners of my lord and us who are at present [holding office]
or who will in the times to come, or to their lieutenants and to each of them as it pertains to him,
that they make the present remission and grace to him and allow him to perpetually and
peacefully enjoy it, and that they do not constrain or molest him against the tenor of this letter
nor suffer him to be constrained or impeded or molested in body or in goods in any manner, by
having rendered and restored all his goods that were taken by the said messire Louis or others
for this reason, the which [goods] we fully deliver by the tenor of this letter, and let him harvest
and store his goods that are in the fields, work or have [someone] work and cultivate his lands
and vineyards and take care of his needs and marketing without impediment. So that this should
be a firm and established thing forever we have had our seal affixed to this. Saving in other
things the right of my lord and us and of anyone else in all of it. Given at Paris, in the year of
grace 1358 in the month of August.
For my lord the regent at the relation of his council.
Villains (?)
December 1364, Remission for Jean Bouquet of Pontpoint
(AN JJ 96, no. 425, fol. 145, edited in S. Luce, Histoire de la Jacquerie d’après des document inédits, new
edn. (Paris, 1895), no. 62).
Charles, etc. Let it be known, etc. We have received the supplication made to us on behalf of
Jean Bouquet, of the town of Pontpoint, stating that, during the time of the commotion between
the nobles and the nonnoble people of the flatlands of the Beauvaisis, the aforementioned
supplicant and up to 34 others of the aforementioned town of Pontpoint, because they were
afraid of the nobles, fled the town and went into the quarries of a place called Pourray, and after
this, in order to safe-guard themselves from the aforementioned nobles, they established one of
them as a watchwoman (guette) to guard and watch so that no one came upon them (unawares) in
order to hurt them. Soon after, this watchwoman went out of the quarries and saw two men with
swords and shields who were walking through the vineyards that were near the aforementioned
quarries, and who seemed to be looking for some people. So the aforementioned watchwoman
(la dicte guette) went back into the quarries and told her companions, of whom five or six then
came out to see and find out who these two men were. And as soon as the two men saw those
who had come out of the quarry, they came toward them, and everybody went back inside the
said quarry. Then some of those from the quarry asked the two men where they were from, to
which [question] they responded that one of them was from Compiègne and the other from
Choisy. And then those of the quarry said to one another these words, ’They are spies. Let’s kill
them!’ To which the two men said that they were not [spies], and that they were fleeing for fear
of the gentlemen; and while he was saying this, some of those from the quarry took their shields
and swords, and as they were lifting them they found that one of them had a bicolored cap
(chaperon) hanging from his belt under his coat, by which [sign] they [those from the quarry]
believed themselves to be betrayed and that these were the gentlemen’s spies. So one of those
from the quarry called Watier Thullier, moved by anger, hit and killed one of the two men
mentioned above, and when the other man saw this, he fled and went to Pont-Sainte-Maxence
and to Pontpoint, where the gentlemen were. As a consequence, a large number of armed men
soon after came and rode toward the quarry and when they found those inside they killed a great
part of them.
On account of all this, the aforementioned supplicant has had supplication made to us that as
regards the parts of this in which he might be considered guilty or an accomplice to the deed,
and considering the general remission that we issued upon our return to Paris … we should wish
to extend our grace to him, and we, inclined to his supplication, have quit, pardoned and
remitted this Jean [from all criminal penalties; reserving the right of the civil party to legal pursuit
for damages] and we restore him to his good reputation… so given in mandate to the bailiff of
Senlis and all our other justiciers….
Given at Paris in the year 1364 in December.
By the king, at the relation of the council, in which Monseigneur de Châtillon and Philippe de
Troismons, knights, were present.
H. D’Aunoy