66 HISTORY OF FRANCE. [chap. In the November of 1407 there was another reconciliation. John and Lewis swore to lay aside malice, and then re- ceived the Holy Sacrament together. Lewis was probably in earnest ; for, though worthless and selfish, he was not vindictive ; but the fierce John had already decided on sweeping him from his path. A few nights later, on the 23rd of November, the Duke of Orleans, when leaving the queen's abode, was attacked in the streets of Paris by eighteen men, and killed on the spot. The Duke of Burgundy, though making no secret of his guilt, tried to take his seat in the council, but the doors were shut against him, and he went off to Lille. In vain did the Duchess of Orleans throw herself at the king's feet with her children, imploring justice on the murderer ; the helpless Charles could only weep with her ; no one else heeded the death of his worthless brother. In February, Duke John was received at Paris with a triumphal procession, and em- ployed a friar named John Petit, a doctor of the Univer- sity, to preach a sermon justifying the murder of a tyrant by examples from sacred and profane history. Letters of pardon, of the Duke's own dictation, were actually wrung from the poor king, and though, when John was called away by a revolt at Liege, a sermon was preached condemning the murder, and the pardon annulled by the Parliament, he had only to return to have everything at his feet, and the Duchess Valentina died of grief. 18. The Armagnacs and Burgundians, 1401. — The cause was taken up by Bernard, count of Armagnac, a descendant of the old dukes of Gascony, and father-in- law of the new Duke Charles of Orleans. From him the Orleans party took the name of Armagnacs, and adopted his badge, a red cross. The Dauphin Lewis, eldest son of Charles, joined this party, and, backed by a fierce troop of Gascons, he carried on a desultory warfare with the Burgundians. The white cross of Burgundy was the badge of most of the Parisians, and the guild of butchers, under a man named Caboche, seized the Bastille, and took all the offices into their own hands. Oddly enough, the butchers were in league with the doctors of law of the University. The States-General were settled, and a good code of laws, known commonly as the " Cabochin Ordi- nance," was put forth in 141 3. But a reaction followed. Tlie Armagnacs wore called in ; the butclicrs were put to flight, John of Burgundy was driven out, and the sons of
