Fabyans cronycle newly prynted, wyth the cronycle, actes, and dedes done in the tyme of the reygne of the moste excellent prynce kynge Henry the vii. father vnto our most drad souerayne lord kynge Henry the .viii. To whom be all honour, reuere[n]ce, and ioyfull contynaunce of his prosperous reygne, to the pleasure of god and weale of this his realme amen

THE .CLX. CHAPITER.

THys seconde wyfe of Lewys was named Indith / y^e which was accusyd to the pope to be with∣in suche degre of allyaunce to hyr husbonde, that she myghte not law∣fully contynewe hys wyfe. wherfore contrary to the wyll of Leuys, by the laboure of some bysshoppes & other lordes of Fraūce, she was deuorcyd from hym / and put into a house of nonnys, and there straytly kepte.

But Lewys for a tyme susteyned thys iniuryes, to y^e ende y^t he myght know whyther his sonnes fauoured the cause or not. But in processe of tyme whan he hadde experyence of hys frendes / and of hys sonnes / he thā assembled to hym a strong hoste, and recoueryd hys wyfe malgre to all hys enmyes. For the whych dede Lothayre, wyth dyuers of the Ba∣rons of Fraunce, assemblyd theyr people / and entendyd to depryue Le¦wys from all imperyall and kyngly dygnyte. wherfore Lewys ferynge hys sonne and hys assystens / & also for the entent that he myghte assem∣ble the strength of y^e empyre: he yode vnto Magunce. And after he hadde purueyed and garnysshed hys rety∣newe / he retornyd toward Fraunce, and met wyth some of hys enemyes and them subdued / and so kepte on hys iourney tyll he came to Aquys∣grany, where he restyd hym and hys people.

Thus contynuynge thys dyssen∣cyon / the sonnes sent wrytyng to the pope than beynge named Gregory y^e fourth, requyrynge hym of ayde and counceyle to deuyse a concorde and peace bytwene theyr fader and them.

At whose request / and for to cause a naturall charyte to be quyckenyd bytwene the father & hys .iii. sonnes / he came in hys proper persone into

Fraunce, and endeuoryd hym to the vttermoste of hys wyttes to agree to the sayd parties. In the tyme of this entreaty made by the pope / I can not saye for what cause, many of the lordes / on the partye of Lowys for∣sooke hym, and fled to the sōnys par¦tye / so that the emperoure was in great feere of hym selfe, & of hys par¦son. whan Lewys had seen his fren¦des thus in tyme of hys nede refuse & flee frome hym, and lefte hym in great feere and daūger of straūgers he than thoughte better for hym to put hym selfe vnder the Rule and tuycion of hys owne chyldren, than to abyde the doute of the sayde straū¦gers. wherfore he sent vnto his sayd sonnes / requyrynge theym to pro∣uyde for his safegarde and assuryn∣ge of his person, and that he were not there oppressyd or murdryd. And within shorte space after this messa∣ge sent to theym withoute answere of them agayne receyuyd, he rode to¦warde theym smally accompanyed. where of than Lothayre and hys bro¦ther hauynge warnynge in all hom∣ble wyse encountred hym, and recey∣ued hym vppon theyr knees / and so cōueyed hym wyth all reuerēce vnto theyr pauylyon or tent. And after for a begynnyng of a peace to be stablys¦shed bytwene hym and them / he to satysfye theyr myndes, refused the forenamed Indith, and closyd her in a place of relygyon called Torton, as testyfyeth myne authour mayster Robert Gagwyne. But the Frenche boke sayth that thys dede was done by Frederyke bysshoppe or Utryke / where fore he was after pyteously slayne by such as fauoured y^e quene / and not all wythout her concent, as wytnessyth the sayd cronycle.

And whan Lewys had in thys & other thynges agreed vnto hys son∣nes / and thought hym self to be in su¦rete of theyr amyte and fauours: so∣deynly he was cōueyed vnto the mo∣nastery of saynt Medrid / or as sayth the Frenche boke he was conueyed to a towne called in Frenche Melan¦guy, wyth hys yonge sonne Char∣lys. And that done / the sayd thre son∣nes deuyded theyr fathers possessy∣ons amonge theym thre. That is to saye Lothayre the eldeste, had to his porcyon the londes of the empyre / Pepyn, the countrey of Guyan / and to Lewys the yongest, fell the coun∣trey of Bayon.

whyche mysery of the emperour whan the pope had beholden & seen / he wyth greate mornynge retorned into Iuly & so vnto Rome. In which tyme of prysonemēt of the emperour the sayd Lewys made dyteys & pys∣telles of greate sorowe and lamenta¦cyon, to the ensample of all erthlye prynces / and to the entent that hys sonnes shulde of hym haue the more compassyon and pytye. The whyche I ouer passe for length of tyme / and the rather, for in tyme of prysonemēt of Edwarde the seconde callyd Car∣naruan was by hym made a lyke cō∣playnt / where of when tyme & place comyth, I entende to expresse some parte therof.

whan Lewys had thus a season remayned in pryson / for so myche as the comons shulde not thynke that thys shuld be done by the authoryte of y^e thre sonnes onely: therfore they causyd a coūsayle to be callyd at the cytye of Compeyne / & there by theyr meanes and labours causyd theyr father by authoryte of spyrytuall & temporall lordys, to be discharged of all rule and domynyon, as well of the empyre as of the realme of Fraū¦ce, by authoryte of the sayd coūsayle or parliament / and after caused hym to renoūce all hys temporall habyte, and to become a munke in the mona∣stery

of saynt Matke / where he was lefte of his sonne Lothayre, not with out sure watche and kepynge.

But full often it is seen, that whā the erthlye power of man faylyth or wekyth / god of hys greate mercy the repentaunt synner to grace callyth, & hym by hys dyuyne power aydeth and strengtheth / and so he dyd thys Lewys. For after thys mysery and trybulacyon thus to hym fallen / the peple in dyuerse placys of this londe murmured and grudgyd very sore, agayne the innaturall dealynge of the sonnes agayne theyr father.

In these dayes was a greate ru∣ler in Fraunce named Guyllyam, & stuarde or constable of that lande / y^e which wyth one Egebard or Edgare a man of greate byrth and alyaunce, coūsayled togyder for the enlargyng of y^e emperour. And lastly wyth ayde of theyr frendes assembled a greate peple. And than drewe vnto them .ii. noble men of Burgoyne called Bar∣narde and Gueryn, the whyche some¦tyme had ben well cherysshed wyth the emperoure Lewys.

All thys season Lothayre had re∣styd hym for y^e more partye at Aquys¦grany. But whan he harde of the as∣semblynge of these foresayd lordes, he sped hym towarde Parys. And whan he was thyther comen / the fore¦sayd lordes sent vnto hym two noble men Rowlande and Gantelyne / the whych made request vnto Lothayre in the name of the other lordes, that it wolde lyke hym to restore hys fa∣ther vnto hys former dygnyte / wyth other thynges concernynge theyr le∣gacyon. To the whyche two lordes Lothayre gaue answere, that of hys fathers restorynge to hys fyrste or former dygnyte, no man lyuynge wolde be therof more fayne than he wolde. But y^e deposyng of hym was done by the hole authoryte of y^e land. wherfore yf he shulde be agayne re∣storyd / it must be by the same autho∣ryte, and not by hym onely. All be yt that they myghte knowe of hys be∣nyuolēce and fauour that he bare to∣warde hys father / he wylled them to stonde a parte, whyle he had some cō¦munycacyon of his lordes for y^e same mater. By reason wherof were it for fere or for fauour / the emperour was shortly after put at hys lybertye, and restoryd to all hys fyrst honoure and dygnyte / & than with great honoure conueyed to a cytye or towne called Ciriciake, where met wyth hym hys other two sōnes Pepyn and Lewys / and there restyd hym certayne dayes in makyng all feest and ioye / and af∣ter rode vnto Aquysgrany, and there restyd an other season.

In whych tyme of hys there beyng / was brought vnto hym from y^e place where she had ben prisoner, his wyfe Indyth. But whan Lothari{us} knewe that hys father had hyr agayne re∣ceyued contrary to hys mynde and pleasure / he in wrath & dyspleasure entryd the countrey of Burgoyne / & made in it sharpe and cruell warre, & executed therin many spoylynges and other inordynate dedys. The whyche cruelty to wythstande & let / hys father wyth hys sonne Pepyn wyth a greate hoste sped hym thyder warde. But anone as he had know∣lege therof / mystrustyng his strēgth, he yelded hym vnto his faders grace and mercy / whom the meke fader re∣ceyued and forgaue to hym hys tres∣passe.

And after that of hym and dyuerse of hys lordes he had taken assuryd othes and other suretyes / he thā sent the sayd Lothayre into Italy with a certayne nomber of knyghtes, to de∣fende the countrey from daunger of enemyes, and strengthynge of the straytes and mountaynes.

And that wyth other thynges or∣deryd and done for the weale of hys realme / Lewys than toke vpon hym to ryde about hys lande, to thentent that he myghte be somwhat enfor∣med of the rule of hys offycers / and how the countreys were ruled by the rulers of them. And where he found any mysgouernaunce / he punysshed the executers therof, as well y^e bys∣shoppes as other, as farre as his au¦thoryte in that behalfe stretchyd.

Than Indith consyderynge the emperoure fell into greate age / and hyr sonne and his Charlis by name, had as yet no suffycyent landes nor possessyons to maynteyne any estate wyth: she compassed many wayes in hyr mynde, how she myghte acheue hyr entent, and to brynge it to good purpose. where fynally by counceyll of hyr frendes, to y^e ende to purchase the loue and fauour of Lothayre / she axed of hyr lorde and husbonde, that the sayd Lothayre myghte be tutour and gyder of hys yonge sonne Char¦les. Of this request y^e emperour was very glad, and graunted hyr, hyr pe∣ticion. And so it fell soone after, cer∣tayne messengers came to the empe∣roure from Lothayre hys sonne. To the whych whan Lewys had gyuen answere to such maters as they were sent fore, and gyuē vnto them other instruccyons / he sent them forthe a∣gayne, and with them certeyne other to wylle his sayd sonne to come vnto hym in as goodly wyse as he myght. But at that season he excusyd hym by sykenesse / and whan he was reco∣uered he fayned an other excuse.

In thys meane tyme worde was brougth to the emperoure, that hys sonne Lothayre had greued y^e chyrch of Rome / and takyn from it certeyne possessyons. wherewyth Lewys be∣ynge before amoued, sent vnto hys sonne / cōmaundynge hym in sharpe wordes, y^t he shulde haue in mynde the othe before by hym made / & that he shulde in exchewynge his dysplea¦sure, make restytucyō of all thynges that he before hadde taken from the chyrch / the whyche cōmaundement Lothayre promysed to obey in all wyse. And where Lewys was deter∣myned to haue gone vnto Rome, to haue sene y^e sayd promesse fulfylled / & also to haue spoken wyth the pope for dyuers maters nedefull for the chyrche: he was lette by occasyon of Danes or Normannes, y^t than had newly inuaded the lōdes of Fraūce / the whyche he shortly after expellyd and droue out of hys londys.

And that done, the emperour yode vnto Aquysgrany / where by the fren¦des of Indith & other of the nobles of Fraunce, the emperour gaue vnto hys yongest sonne Charlis a porcyō of y^e empyre, whyche after shall more clerely appere. And soone after at a counsayle holdyn at Cirycyake, be∣fore namyd in the presence of his son Lewys / he gaue to hym the order of knyghthode, & adournyd hym wyth kynges clothynge.

And ouer all thys in the presence of many lordes of Fraunce / he gaue to the sayde Charlys the hole coun∣trey of Neustria that now is named Normandye. Of whyche honoure and gyftes though hys moder were ioyous and gladde / yet hys brother Lewys was therewyth nothynge contentyd, whyche of Indith and of hyr frendes was well appercey∣uyd and knowen. wherefore as she before tyme had done / than of newe she made request vnto hyr lorde and husband, that he wolde of hys moste especyall grace graunte vnto hyr, that Lothayre myghte haue the go∣uernaunce of hyr sonne Charlys / the whych of hym was the seconde tyme graunted. Uppon whyche graunte

thus to her made / the emperour sent vnto hys son Lothayre pleasaūt let∣ters, wyllyng hym in all goodly hast to resorte vnto hys court. The which obeyenge hys fathers commaunde∣ment / retourned into Fraunce short¦ly after the receyte of the said letters, and came vnto his father to the citye of Uernayse, of whome he was ioy∣ously receyued. And after he hadde a season dwellyd with the emperour, he gaue vnto hym the coūtrey of Au¦stracy / the whyche countrey as shall after be shewyd in thys Lotharius story, was after his name named Lo¦rayne. But a parte of the sayde pro∣uynce or countrey that stretchyd to∣warde Hungrye / the sayde Lowys gaue vnto his yongest son Charlys. And immedyatly after thys gyftes before many lordes confermyd / the emperoure in presence of the sayd lor¦des, toke Charlys by the hande, and delyueryd hym vnto his brother Lo∣thayre / wyllynge and straytly char∣gynge hym that he shulde take hym vnto his cure, and be to hym as cu∣ryouse as he wolde be vnto hys own chyld, and to guyde hym and his pos∣sessyons, as the father shulde guyde the chylde. And to Charlys he com∣maunded that he shulde take & obey hym as his father, and loue and wor¦shyppe hym as his brother / y^e whych vppon eyther partye was promysyd to be obseruyd. And shortly after the sayd Lothayr with his brother Char¦lys, toke congy of father and mo∣ther, and returned agayn into Italy.

About this tyme dyed Pepyn the seconde sonne of Lewys, and duke of Guyan / the whych yf all shuld be expressyd, putte his father to great trouble and vexacyon / wherfore for hym was made the lesse mournynge. This left after hym a son named Pe¦pyn, of whome somwhat the storye spekyth after. But now I wyll re∣tourne to Lewys the thyrde sonne of the emperoure.