His entry into the fallen town was made with all the wonted Burgundian pomp.  Nothing in the proceedings occurred in a headlong or passionate manner.  A council of war was held and the proceedings decided upon.  The cruelty that was exercised was used in deliberate punishment, not in savage lawlessness.  The personal insults to his mother and to himself rankled in the count’s mind.  As one author remarks[23] with undoubted reason, it is not likely that any of those responsible for the insult were among those punished.  After the siege, “pitiable it was to see, for the innocent suffered and the guilty escaped.”

Certain rich citizens bought their lives with large sums, others were sold as slaves,[24] or were hanged or beheaded, or were thrown into the Meuse.[25] In the monasteries, life was conceded to the inmates but that was all.  All their property was confiscated.  The Count of St. Pol, now Constable of France, tried to intercede for the citizens with Philip who remained at Bouvignes, but to no result.  It might have been chance or it might have been intentional that at last flames completed the work of destruction.  The abode of Adolph of Cleves, at the corner of Notre Dame, was found to be on fire at about one o’clock in the morning of Thursday, August 28th.

That Charles was responsible for this conflagration Du Clercq thinks is incredible.[26] He would certainly have saved all ecclesiastical property which was almost completely consumed.  Indeed, Charles gave orders to extinguish the flames as soon as they were discovered, but every one was so occupied with saving his own portion of booty that nothing was accomplished and the town-hall caught fire and the church of Notre Dame.  From the latter some ornaments and treasures were saved and the bones of Ste. Perpete, with other holy relics, were rescued by Charles himself at risk to his own life.

“It was never known how the fire originated.  Some say it was due to a defective flue.  To my mind,” [concludes the pious historian],[27] “it was the Divine Will that Dinant should be destroyed on account of the pride and ill deeds of the people.  I trust to God who knows all.  The duke’s people alone lost more than a hundred thousand crowns’ value.”

Cy fust Dinant, “Dinant was,” is the sum of his description, four days after the conflagration.[28]

On September 1st, Philip, who had remained at Bouvignes while all this passed under the direction of Charles, took boat and sailed down to Namur.  It was almost a triumph,—­that trip that proved one of the last ever made by the proud duke—­and the procession on the river and the entry into Namur were closed by a humble embassy from Liege in regard to certain points of their peace.