WOOD-CUTS: 

[Illustration:  The Procession went over the Gates——­16]

[Illustration:  ’"Thou art betrayed."’——­26]

[Illustration:  Murder of the Duke of Orleans——­38]

[Illustration:  Death of Valentine de Milan——­45]

[Illustration:  John the Fearless——­51]

[Illustration:  Already distressed——­57]

[Illustration:  Charles vi. and Odette——­71]

[Illustration:  ’"Into the River!"’——­77]

[Illustration:  The Body of Charles vi. lying in State——­84]

[Illustration:  The Shepherdess of Domremy——­90]

[Illustration:  Joan of Arc in her Father’s Garden——­91]

[Illustration:  Herself drew out the Arrow——­109]

[Illustration:  Joan examined in Prison——­128]

[Illustration:  Philip the Good of Burgundy——­144]

[Illustration:  The Constable Made his Entry on Horseback——­150]

[Illustration:  Jacques Coeur——­165]

[Illustration:  Jacques Coeur’s Hostel at Bourges——­169]

[Illustration:  Agnes Sorel——­175]

[Illustration:  Louis XI. and Burgesses waiting for News——­193]

[Illustration:  Charles the Rash——­203]

[Illustration:  Louis XI. and Charles the Rash at Peronne——­209]

[Illustration:  Philip de Commynes——­217]

[Illustration:  The Corpse of Charles the Rash Discovered——­236]

[Illustration:  The Balue Cage——­245]

[Illustration:  Louis XI. at his Devotions——­255]

[Illustration:  Views of the Castle of Plessis-les-Tours——­258]

[Illustration:  Louis XI——­260]

[Illustration:  Anne de Beaujeu——­264]

[Illustration:  Meeting between Charles viii, and Anne of Brittany——­282]

[Illustration:  Charles viii. crossing the Alps——­285]

[Illustration:  Charles viii——­293]

[Illustration:  Battle of Fornovo——­303]

[Illustration:  Louis XII——­310]

[Illustration:  Bayard——­315]

[Illustration:  Battle of Agnadello——­334]

[Illustration:  Cardinal d’Amboise——­347]

[Illustration:  Chaumont d’Amboise——­350]

[Illustration:  Bayard’s Farewell——­358]

[Illustration:  Gaston de Foix——­364]

CHAPTER XXIII.——­THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR—­CHARLES VI.  AND THE DUKES OF BURGUNDY.

Sully, in his Memoirs, characterizes the reign of Charles vi. as “that reign so pregnant of sinister events, the grave of good laws and good morals in France.”  There is no exaggeration in these words; the sixteenth century with its St. Bartholomew and The League, the eighteenth with its reign of terror, and the nineteenth with its Commune of Paris, contain scarcely any events so sinister as those of which France was, in the reign of Charles vi., from 1380 to 1422, the theatre and the victim.