le of the three estates should
give their good advice and council." After this official programme, the
king and his councillors withdrew. The estates deliberated during seven
or eight sessions, and came to an agreement "without any opposition or
difficulty whatever, that as touching the duchy of Normandy it ought not
to and cannot be separated from the crown in any way whatsoever, but must
remain united, annexed, and conjoined thereto inseparably. Further, any
arrangement of the Duke of Brittany with the English is a thing damnable,
pernicious, and of most evil consequences, and one which is not to be
permitted, suffered, or tolerated in any way. Lastly, if Sir Charles,
the Duke of Brittany, or others, did make war on the king our sovereign
lord, or have any treaty or connection with his enemies, the king is
bound to proceed against them who should do so, according to what must be
done in such case for the tranquillity and security of the realm
. . . . And as often soever as the said cases may occur, the people
of the estates have agreed and consented, do agree and consent, that,
without waiting for other assemblage or congregation of the estates, the
king have power to do all that comports with order and justice; the said
estates promising and agreeing to serve and aid the king touching these
matters, to obey him with all their might, and to live and die with him
in this quarrel."

Louis XI. himself could demand no more. Had they been more experienced
and far-sighted, the states-general of 1468 would not have been disposed
to resign, even temporarily, into the hands of the kingship, their rights
and their part in the government of the country; but they showed
patriotism and good sense in defending the integrity of the kingdom,
national unity, and public order against the selfish ambition and
disorderly violence of feudalism.

Fortified by their burst of attachment, Louis, by the treaty of Ancenis,
signed on the 10th of September, 1468, put an end to his differences with
Francis II., Duke of Brittany, who gave up his alliance with the house of
Burgundy, and undertook to prevail upon Duke Charles of France to accept
an arbitration for the purpose of settling, before two years were over,
the question of his territorial appanage in the place of Normandy. In
the meanwhile a pension of sixty thousand livres was to be paid by the
crown to that prince. Thus Louis was left with the new duke, Charles of
Burgundy, as