"Little birds of heaven," cries the Flemish chronicler Molinet, "ye who are wont to haunt our fields and rejoice our hearts with your amorous notes, now seek out other countries; get ye hence from our tillages, for the king of the mowers of France hath done worse to us than do the tempests." All the efforts of Louis XI., his winning speeches, and his ruinous deeds, did not succeed in averting the serious check he dreaded.

On the 18th of August, 1477, seven months after the battle of Nancy and the death of Charles the Rash, Arch-duke Maximilian, son of the Emperor Frederick III., arrived at Ghent to wed Mary of Burgundy.

"The moment he caught sight of his betrothed," say the Flemish chroniclers, "they both bent down to the ground and turned as pale as death--a sign of mutual love according to some, an omen of unhappiness according to others." Next day, August 19, the marriage was celebrated with great simplicity in the chapel of the Hotel de Ville; and Maximilian swore to respect the privileges of Ghent.

A few days afterwards he renewed the same oath at Bruges, in the midst of decorations bearing the modest device, "Most glorious prince, defend us lest we perish" (Gloriosissime princeps, defende nos ne pereamus).

Not only did Louis XI.