Maugis, ye sorcerer from ye ancient French : a wonderful tale from ye writings of ye mad savant of ye Maison Maugis in ye olde citie of Mouzon, France
take? Support Charlemagne and thus aid in the destruction of their
relative, or embrace the cause of Aigremont and violate their oath to
the emperor?
Said Maugis: “I propose that we leave the court, retire to the
Ardennes, and remain there to witness the result. By doing this neither
party could accuse us of treason, for until we have taken a final
decision we would have neither violated the ties of relationship nor
the laws of friendship.”
This proposition was agreed to by all, and they immediately left the
court and set out upon their journey home.
Though the motive of their sudden departure was honorable,
Charlemagne, irritated not to have the help of five men of renowned
valor, would consider no excuse and swore against them a war of
extermination.
While the court of Charlemagne was engaged in active preparations,
Aymon and his four sons gained in all haste their domains in the
Ardennes, where Edwige, the wife of the duke, received them with joy.
After the first moments consecrated to greeting, Edwige would know the
news from Paris.
Alas! the joy of the poor mother was short-lived when she was apprised
of the cause of their return.
Edwige was at the same time allied by marriage to the house of
Charlemagne and to that of Aigremont. Her course was very difficult to
choose; but having carefully reflected, she said to her husband and
sons:
“Why do you hesitate to march with Charlemagne? He is your lord and
has armed our sons; this thought should carry you to that side. The
crime of our relative is infamous and inexcusable, and think you that
the emperor, after having chastised the criminal, will not follow it
up by attacking the traitors who have aided his enemies by a passive
assistance, and who have, by so doing, diminished the forces of the
royal army?
“The crime of D’Aigremont is unpardonable. An ambassador is sacred in
all cases and it is violating those usages and those laws, recognized
by all mankind, and more, his act has plunged the king into the
deepest sorrow by cutting the throat of his son, who came in the name
of his father to claim those sacred rights a sovereign has over his
princes. If Aigremont conquers, how much will your conscience reproach
you for not having aided in the punishment of the culpable. If on the
other hand, he is vanquished, have you not good reason to fear the
conqueror, who has insults and infidelity to avenge? The best thing to
do is to take my advice, return to the emperor at once and serve him
faithfully.”
The truth and justice of these words made a profound impression on the
father and his sons, but the young knights did not relish the idea of
returning to Paris, so they formed their plans to pass some time at the
château of their father. Meanwhile, Charlemagne was actively occupied
in raising his army. In response to his call, all the peers and knights
were assembling their vassals on their estates.
May 18th was the time fixed for the assemblage of the army on the
Champs-de-Mars at Paris.
The subjects of the emperor were not a single instant behind the day
set.
On the part of the Duke d’Aigremont, he, knowing full well that the
king would never pardon his crime, gave every attention to putting
himself in defense, and made the rounds of his entire domain.
After a time he had raised a considerable army. His brothers, Gerard
de Roussillon and the Duke de Nanteuil, also joined him with a number
of soldiers.
When his army was complete, D’Aigremont deemed it wise to go out and
meet the king, before he could besiege him in his own country, having
respect for an enemy so bitter and active as Charlemagne. In fact the
king, anxious to secure his revenge, would permit no one to place
his troops. He would do that himself. He confined his advance guard
to Gallerand de Bouillon, Nemours, Gui de Baviere, Oger, Richard and
Eatonville. The rearguard was commanded by the Duke of Naimes.
The center he reserved for himself, and having made this disposition of
his forces his army set out.
Hardly had the march commenced when he was informed by a deserter of
the advance of the army of the Duke d’Aigremont to meet him, and that
he had already invaded Champagne and was laying siege to Troyes with
great activity, which news caused him to throw forward the detachments
of the Duke de Naimes, the Duke de Bouillon and Godefroy de Frise, with
orders to await the arrival of the main army, a short distance from the
besieged city.
De Roussillon, who commanded the advance guard of D’Aigremont, soon
perceived the advance guard of the king’s army and giving his war-cry,
at once charged upon them, to which the army of Charlemagne responded,
and the two armies met with a terrible shock, and so fierce was the
onset that the ground was soon strewn with the wounded and dying and
the _débris_ of arms.
The Duke d’Aigremont charged upon Oger and stretched him senseless
at his feet. Gerard and Nanteuil came quickly to join their brother,
followed by the best of their troops, and hurled themselves on the
enemy with renewed fury. Then were performed acts of the greatest
valor. Richard de Normandy, who commanded the allies, made a heroic
resistance. Spearmen from Lombardy, bowmen from Germany and Portevin,
in serried ranks offered an indestructible line of battle. One knight,
with more hardihood than the others, hurled himself against them in the
endeavor to break it, and received his death by a lance-thrust from
Gerard.
The three brothers, seeing that they could obtain no chance for success
from that side, renewed their efforts by hurling themselves on the army
of Charlemagne.
At the first shock the forces of Gallerand de Bouillon were nearly
thrown from their feet. It was a moment requiring all their tenacity.
Many were killed on both sides, but Charlemagne, with a prudence
that never deserted him, even in the most perilous moments, allowed
D’Aigremont and his brother to become engaged more and more until he
found a favorite moment, and then moved his troops quickly around the
flank of their forces and caught them in the rear.
The duke had been wounded by Richard de Normandy, and his life was only
saved by the fall of his horse, which tumbled under a stroke of the
sword intended for him.
Retreat now became the last resource of the army of the Duke
d’Aigremont and the order was given and the battalions that had started
out so brilliantly in the morning commenced to retire in good order.
Charlemagne at once saw the movement, and calling to him the Duke de
Naimes, Godefroy de Frise, Gallerand and many others, he ordered them
to pursue the Duke d’Aigremont and his brothers without relaxation, and
if possible take them alive that he might visit upon them the direst
vengeance.
These brave knights immediately started in pursuit of the enemy,
but the falling of night prevented their carrying out the orders of
Charlemagne.
After the terrible exertions of the day both armies needed rest. The
Duke d’Aigremont was much chagrined at his defeat. His brother Gerard,
in particular, who had been annoyed at the death of Lothaire, could
not conceal his discontent; he could not resist making the complaint
that he had made his promise to assist D’Aigremont in all things, but
nevertheless, he desired to resume the attack upon the king the next
day with all the force they could command and avenge their defeat and
Nanteuil dissuaded them.
“I think,” said he, “that we are not defending a just cause, and that
it would be better to send a deputation of our knights to Charlemagne
and ask for peace. Are we not his subjects? Besides to prevail, we must
attack him unaware. And suppose we do succeed in destroying his army,
it will only follow that we shall again be opposed by a force more
considerable than any we can assemble? No! I think the wisest course
for us to pursue is to submit.”
The advice of Nanteuil prevailed. It was agreed that the following
morning ambassadors were to be sent to Charlemagne to make terms of
peace.
Accordingly, at sunrise the next day, thirty knights, chosen from the
most experienced and from those of the highest rank, after having
received the instructions of D’Aigremont, mounted their horses and
proceeded to the camp of Charlemagne.
The king being informed of their approach assembled his army in battle
array and received them at the door of his tent. The messengers of
D’Aigremont came forward, bearing an olive branch as a sign of peace,
and kneeling before him bowed down to the earth.
“Rise!” commanded Charlemagne.
“Sire,” said Henri de Brienne, “we have come in the name of the Duke de
Beuves d’Aigremont to implore your clemency. We recognize the enormity
of our crime, and here before your majesty we would place ourselves
into your hands. We supplicate you, above all, to spare the poor people
we compelled to obey us and who were forced into complicity in our
crime. If your majesty will but say the word, the Duke d’Aigremont and
his brothers will come and submit themselves to any punishment you may
see fit to impose upon them.”
The king, trembling at the thought of being brought face to face once
more with the murderer of his son, ordered the knights to return
to their master and to have him present himself at once to receive
punishment for his crimes, accompanied by his three brothers; that
his army must surrender at discretion; that the ambassador might
have no illusions as to his formal intention not to submit to any
supplications, and that the truth of these words might be forced upon
them, he ordered, in their presence, the erection of three gibbets upon
which the three brothers were to swing.
These grim preparations completed, Charlemagne sent them back, giving
them until noon to execute his commands, under penalty of immediately
commencing hostilities.
The thirty knights returned to their camp and faithfully reported
to the Duke d’Aigremont the words of Charlemagne. There was nothing
left to do but bravely accept their fate. The order was immediately
given for the disarmament of the troops. The Duke d’Aigremont had a
difficult task in overcoming the repugnance of Gerard de Bouillon and
De Nanteuil to submitting, but they finally consented to accompany him.
It was a sad and curious spectacle to see the Duke d’Aigremont and his
two brothers on that bright and beautiful May morning, stripped to
their shirts, with heads bare, with a cord attached to their necks,
march at the head of several hundred knights, stripped to their shirts
likewise, and followed by their soldiers with heads bare, all marching
on foot along the road which separated their camp from the camp of
Charlemagne. Upon their arrival at the tent of the emperor the three
brothers with their suite and all their army kneeled to the earth, amid
a great hush from the assembled hosts.
With constrained voice the emperor bid the three brothers arise, and
sternly but silently pointed to them the way to the scaffold.
The three brothers without a single supplication obeyed in silence.
On arriving at the foot of the gibbet, the emperor, who had followed,
could no longer conceal his emotion, and for the moment the heart of
the soldier overcame the sorrows of the father. He paused and with
bitter tears filling his eyes:
“Barbarians!” cried he, “why should you have punished me so cruelly by
destroying my beloved son, a young prince who complied loyally with the
orders of his sovereign?”
D’Aigremont was deeply affected by the grief of the emperor. “Sire!”
said he, “I beg to die without delay; I realize the enormity of my
crime and that death alone can remove my disgrace.”
The executioners then approached to perform their sinister offices. The
assembled armies awaited, breathless and concerned, the end of this
powerful drama.