He went to Damme, and with him went, not only Breidel,
but 5,000 burghers of the national party, stout Clauwerts, who had
devoted themselves to regaining the liberty of their country.
[Illustration: A FLEMISH YOUNG WOMAN]
When Chatillon rode up to the walls of Bruges and demanded entrance
the magistrates agreed to open the gates, on condition that he
brought with him only 300 men-at-arms. But he broke his word, and
the town was entered by 2,000 knights, whose haughty looks and
threatening language convinced the people that treachery was intended.
It was whispered in the Market-Place that the waggons which rumbled
over the drawbridges carried ropes with which the Clauwerts who
had remained in the town were to be hanged; that there was to be
a general massacre, in which not even the women and children would
be spared; and that the Frenchmen never unbuckled their swords
or took off their armour, but were ready to begin the slaughter
at any moment. It was a day of terror in Bruges, and when evening
came some of the burghers slipped out, made their way to Damme,
and told De Coninck what was passing in the town.
That night Chatillon gave a feast to his chief officers, and amongst
his guests was Pierre Flotte, Chancellor of France, perhaps the
ablest of those jurists by whose evil councils Philip the Fair
was encouraged in the ideas of autocracy which led him to make
the setting up of a despotism the policy of his whole life.
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