before their coming having Intelligence of their Design upon her Castle had Requested King Edward's Aid which was one occasion more of this his Expedition But now the Fame of him did what was desired from his Sword for the Scots upon Report of his coming brake up their Siege and departed The mean while n Ashmele p. 646. Buchan p. 296. King Edward passed with his Army by Dunkelden thrô Athol and Murray as far as Elgin and Innernes where Scotland is bounded that way in pursuit of the Enemy if by any means he might come to a Battle But for all the Assistance from France they durst not at that time look him in the Face but o Adam Murimouth kept themselves in Forests and other Fastnesses only in the night times they would make false Alarms to terrifie the English but they knew them so well and kept such Watch that they easily prevented all their Attempts that way In the King 's Return on the left hand through Buquhan p Ashmole ibid. he took Aberdeen and burnt divers Towns and destroyed the Country but still the Scots kept aloof for they durst not hazard their only standing Forces against a Royal Army nor in common prudence could they Wherefore King Edward not relishing this dilatory Way and being perpetually both advised by his Friends and provoked by his Enemies to the French War leaving King Bailiol at S◠Johnston settled in the Goverment of that Kingdom with sufficient Forces to deal with the Scots returns himself for England resolved now either by fair Means or Force to keep the French quiet at home III. For besides q Knighton p. 2568 n. 30. p. 2569. n. 10. the Assistance King Philip had lately sent to the Bruceans in confidence of these Diversions in Scotland he began to take so much upon him that thinking those Forces sufficient to hold play with England he rashly and unjustly flies upon King Edward's Lands in France conquering surprizing and plundering Towns and Castles in Gascoigne and slaying his Subjects without any other reason but that he vow'd as he said to take revenge for his Friends the Scots Besides all these Provocations while King Edward was in Scotland he sent abroad no less than twenty six Gallies well mann'd with other Ships of War to cruise about the English Coasts for some Advantage or to make for Scotland to the Assistance of the Bruceans whereupon we find that the King who was not yet returned from St. Johnston sent forth his Commission to the Lord Geoffry Say then constituted his Admiral of the Southern and Western Sea and to the Lord John Norwich his Admiral of the Northern Sea a Copy whereof for that it proves the King of Englands Power over the English Seas I have thought fit to insert in this place translated from the r Vid. Selden's Mare Clausum l. 2. c. 23. p. 376 Ret. Secc 10 Ed. 3. Memb. 16. 27. Original The King to his Beloved and Trusty Geoffry de Say Admiral of his Fleet of Ships from the Mouth of the River Thames toward the Western Parts Greeting Whereas we have of late commanded you by our Letters that together with certain Ships out of the Cinque Ports which we have order'd to be furnished and made ready for War according to our Command you should set forth to Sea to oppose and resist certain Gallies provided and enforced with Men of War in divers Foreign Parts which as we are informed were set out toward the Parts of our Dominion to molest Us and our People or else to make toward the Coasts of Scotland for the succour and relief of our Enemies there and in regard that it hath been related by some that Gallies of that kind to the number of twenty six are newly come to the Coasts of Bretagne and Normandy and there still abide waiting as it is suppos'd to do what Mischief they can against Us and Ours or to succour our said Enemies as aforesaid We therefore calling to mind that our Progenitors the Kings of England have before these times been LORDS OF THE ENGLISH SEA on every side yea the Defenders thereof against the Encroachments of Enemies and seeing it would very much grieve us if in this kind of Defence our Royal Honour should which God forbid be lost or any way diminished in our time and desiring with the Help of God to prevent all Dangers of this Nature to provide for the Safeguard and Defence of our Realm and Subjects and to restrain the malice of our Enemies do strictly require and charge you by the Duty and Allegiance wherein you stand bound unto Us according to the special Trust reposed in you that immediately upon sight of these Presents and without any further Delay you set forth to Sea with the Ships of the Ports aforesaid and other Ships which are now ready and that in obedience to our Command you arrest those other Ships which we lately required you to arrest for our Service but so as they may be ready and provided to set forth according to our foresaid Command seeing we caused the Masters and Mariners of the said Ships to be prepared and gathered together whether they were within your Liberties or without and to cause them being well furnished with Soldiers and other Provisions to launch out to Sea with the aforesaid Ships and that with all diligence you make search after the foresaid Gallies and other Ships of War abroad against Us and stoutly and manfully set upon them if they shall presume to bend their Course for the end aforesaid either toward the Parts of our Dominion or the Coasts of Scotland And if they steal away from you so that you cannot meet with them then you are with the foresaid Ships of our Fleet without any delay to follow after the said Gallies and Ships of War set out against Us if they shall make toward our Kingdom or the Coasts of Scotland and them couragiously to destroy for the Conservation of our Royal Honour But yet we will not that you occasion any hurt or hindrance to Merchants or Others passing by Sea who have no intention either to offend Us and our Subjects or to succour our Enemies c. After all which there follows in the Commission a Power from the King to press Sea-men and some other matters of that kind the like Commission also was issued to the Lord John Norwich Admiral of the Northern Parts both bearing this Date Witness the King at the Town of St. Johnston the 16 day of August By the King himself IV. Presently after King Edward came ſ Knighton p. 2568. n. 40. Walsing hist p. 119. n. 10. back to Nottingham where he found his Parliament sitting as he had left them who had provided him towards the maintenance of his Wars in Scotland France and Gascoigne a Grant of one Twentieth or as others of one Fifteenth of their Temporalities of a Tenth or as some a Sixth of the
Sedition and the next day made Twenty of them shorter by the Head laying the rest in Prison till the Kings Pleasure might be known in that Behalf Nor was this Town only reduced hereby but other growing Seditions were nipt in the Bud being aw'd with the severity of this opportune Execution VI. This mean while fell out what we also hinted before the surprize of the King of Navarre's Person by his Father-in-Law King John Which was occasioned and performed in this Manner Since the late Reconciliation between the two Kings King John was certainly informed how King Charles of Navarre had covertly dealt with his Enemies and had imagin'd and treated on divers things prejudicial to the Interest of Him and his Realm And he heard that the Lord Lewis Earl of Harcourt had spoken injurious and undutifull Words against his Person and had in the Parliament assembled for the Kings Supplies endeavour'd what in him lay to stop the Grant of that Subsidy Wherefore being now resolved to bear these Indignities no longer on Tuesday x Frois c. 156. being the fifth of April and about the middle of Lent he took horse early before day and rode from Vernevil in Harness with his Son Lewis Earl of Anjou Philip Duke of Orleans his Brother the Lord John of Artois Earl of Eu and the Lord Charles of Artois his Brother Cousin-Germans to the King together with the Earl of Tancarville the Lord Arnold D'Endreghan Marshal of France and Others to the number of 200 Spears With this Company King John came directly to the Castle of Rouën by the Postern and would not pass thrô the Town So coming suddainly into the Castle he there found at Dinner with his Son the Dauphin in the Great Hall Charles King of Navarre Lewis Earl of Harcourt with his two Brethren John and William and the Lord De la Preux Clere the Lord Friquant of Friquant the Lord of Tournebu the Lord Graville the Lord de Maubuè and two Esquires Oliver Doublet and John Vaubaton with Others All whom he caused to be apprehended together and clapt up severally into divers Chambers of the Castle And then having sat down and dined on what was not prepared for him he took Horse again after Dinner and rode forth into the Field of Pardon But surely at this time it could not be properly so called but rather by an Antiphrasis or contrary way of Speaking For immediatly hereupon were brought thither in two Carts the Lord Lewis Earl of Harcourt the Lord Graville the Lord Maubué and Oliver Doublet Esquire all whose Heads he caused then and there to be stricken off before him without any manner of Form or Process After which their Bodies were all brought to a Gallows and there hanged up in Chains and their Heads set upon the common Gibbet of Rouën However that same Day the King acquitted all the Rest from Prison except only the foresaid Charles King of Navarre the Lord Friquant and John Vaubaton Esquire all whom he sent to Paris and imprison'd them first in the Louvre and afterward in the Chastelet but especially over the King of Navarre he set several of his most assured Friends of his Privy Council to have a strict regard unto him and sometimes he threatned him with Death it self and had him hurried about to the strong Castle of Gaillard upon the Seyne to the Castle of Arleux in Cambresis and other Places of great Strength as a Person Unsacred and not of Kingly Character VII But this Violence of King John's was followed with Bloody Consequences for immediatly thereupon Prince Philip of Navarre Brother to the imprison'd King and the Lord Godfry of Harcourt Brother to the late Earl combined in a strong League together to revenge the Outrages done against their Brethren And first Prince Philip presently seised into his hands several Castles in Normandy belonging to the King his Brother And thô King John sent unto him to deliver them back again he was so far from complying with him therein that he presently took Shipping for England where he obtain'd a present Supply under the Leading y Dudg Ear. 2 Vol. p. 70. Stow p. 259. of the Lord Miles Stapleton Knight of the Garter with the promise of a speedy Reinforcement to be headed by the Duke of Lancaster For z Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 787. before that time King Edward had constituted this Mighty Prince his Cousin Henry Plantagenet his Lieutenant and Captain-General in the Dukedom of Bretagne for the Defence of John of Montford the Duke thereof who was still under Age. And while the said Duke of Lancaster was thus preparing to assist the Duke of Bretagne and in his way thither his Kinsman of Navarre Prince Philip and the Lord Godfry of Harcourt aforesaid had brought a Frois c. 155. some Troops of English and Others the King of France's Enemies into the Isle of Constantine or Coutantine in Normandy which they fortified and held against the French King. When a little after Whitsuntide in the Month of June came over to their Aid the said Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Darby which one Person b Mezeray p. 43. Mezeray thrô Mistake accounts for two and joyn'd with Prince Philip and the Lord Godfry of Harcourt at c Knighton p. 2611. n. 60. Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 788. Montebourg in the said Isle of Constantine with 4000 Fighting Men. These altogether rode to Carentan to Lisieux and Orbec and thence to the Castle of Ponteau de Mer belonging to the King of Navarre which had been besieged for more than two Months by the Lord d Frois c. 156. Robert de Houstetout Master of the Crossbows in France and a great Number of Frenchmen But when they heard of the Duke of Lancaster's approach they quitted the Siege in great haste leaving behind them all their Military Engines and Artillery with many other Necessaries which now the English took for their own Use When the Duke of Lancaster had victual'd the Place and reinforced it with all things necessary he marched thence to Breteville belonging also to the King of Navarre and at that time likewise besieged by the French and having here done as before as well by Raising the Siege as by supplying the Place finding that the City and Castle of Eureux which had lately been taken upon Composition by the French was not worth his present Consideration because at that time the City was burnt and the Cathedral robbed as well by the Navarrois who yielded them up as by the French who gleaned after them he neglected that Place for the present and marched on the right hand to Vernevil a strong City on the skirts of Normandy and took the Town by Storm the first Day he came before it and plunder'd and fired a great part thereof After which he assaulted the Castle thrice and took it the third Day having with him a special Engine of Battery wherewith he did Wonders in demolishing the
Spoil of the Field which they accounted their own The whole number of the Strangers was about e H. Knighton p. 2551. two Thousand Men of Arms besides the great Numbers of English that came in as Voluntiers above the appointed Musters such hopes had they conceived of their Prince's Conduct and Fortune The King f Frois c. 16. Grafton p. 219. assigned the Strangers convenient lodgings in the Suburbs of York but to Sr John himself and his Servants he allotted an Abby of White Monks in the said City He himself and the Queen his Mother being lodged in the stately Building called the Fryers where each of them kept house apart This g Frois ibid. S John of Heinalt was one of the most Gallant Knights in the World and he had first undertaken to defend the Queen and her Son against the Persecutions of the two Spencers even when her own Brother the King of France had deserted her quarrel so that he was very dear to the young King and his Mother and they resolv'd to entertain him in most Royal Manner Wherefore the King held all along a Great Court to do these Strangers Honour and there was every where much Plenty of Provision Good and Cheap for the City and Country were Rich and flourish'd with abundance For full six weeks did the King lie there with more than 60000 men yet all that while the price of Provision was nothing enhanced but every thing was sold as reasonable as before the Army came thither There was plenty of Rhenish Gascoign and Anjovan Wines with Pullen and other Provision at very ordinary Rates and Hay Oats and other necessaries for Horses were daily brought to the Strangers lodgings so that they were all extreamly satisfied with their entertainment But yet even this their Prosperity had like to have proved more fatal unto them then a Rout in Battel might have done For h Knighton p. 2551. presuming much hereby on the King's favour they carried themselves too Magisterially toward his Subjects whence arose such Contention as brought forth many sad effects and was not at last stinted without much bloodshed on both sides On Trinity i Frois c. 16. M.S. Vet. Angl. in Bibl. C. C. C. Cantabr c. 213. Sunday the King for the sake of these Lords Strangers held a Solemn and Magnificent Feast at the Fryers aforesaid himself being attended with 500 of his Knights to which he then added 15 more and the Queen his Mother having more than threescore Fair Ladies of the greatest Nobility and Beauty in England about her Person to pleasure the young Lord of Beaumont and his Company There was that day a most Splendid Entertainment and a truly Royal shew of whatsoever was choice and excellent And now the Ladies themselves with many Noble Virgins were meditating the various Measures their skilfull Feet were to make the pleasant Aires their sweet Voices should warble and those soft Divisions their tender Fingers should strike on the yielding strings when suddenly as soon as ever the Feast was ended a strange and hideous noise confounded the Minds of the whole Court. For the Servants and Pages of these Foreign Auxiliaries had by their k Knighton p. 2551. insolence so exasperated the minds of some English Archers who lodged among them in the Suburbs that immediately a great Fray began among them which continually rose higher new abettors successively flowing in on each side till near 3000 of the Archers being gather'd together many of the poor Heinalders were slain and the rest betaking themselves to flight were fain to enter their lodgings and there to fortifie them in the best manner they could against the Fury of their enemies Most part of the Knights their Commanders were then at Court but on the first noise of the Fray they hasted to their lodgings to defend themselves and their People Some part of the City of York in the Hurlyburly was fired many of the Heinalders slain and more hurt nor less on the English side than l Stow p. 228. M.S. Vet. Angl. in Bibl. C. C. C. ibid. 80 Archers most of them Lincolnshire men fell that day who were all buried in St Clement's Churchyard in Fosegate But at last by the Authority of the King with the earnest endeavours of the Queen Mother who loved the Heinalders dearly and by the ready assistance of the Great Men who charitably took the Strangers parts the Archers thirst of blood was slaked and the quarrel ceased for that time But that Night the Strangers who had suffer'd most not so m Knighton p. 2551. much thinking of sleep as revenge being now headed by Commanders rose privately and joyning all together set suddenly upon the Archers of Lincolnshire and Northampton for the Men of each County were Marshall'd and lodged together by themselves where they slew about 300 of them Nor in the Morning had they paid cheaply for that desperate action for more than n Frois c. 16. fol. 7 8. 6000 Archers had combined together to burn or kill them every man in their lodgings or without by Night or by Day when ever they should obtain an Opportunity But that the King to secure the Strangers from their Fury had set strong Guards about them displacing the Archers from their former Quarters they themselves hardly ever daring to sleep without good Watch their Horses ready saddled and their Arms always near at hand or upon their Backs so well they knew it behoved them to look to themselves after such a Provocation of the Common Soldiers of England Now had King o Frois c. 16 17. Edward lain at York with all this Great Army in and about the City for the space of three Weeks and when in about three Weeks more after this sedition no final agreement could be made between the King's Council and the Scotch Ambassadors p Caxton who came thither after Trinity Sunday to treat of a Peace the Marshals of the Host by the King's Command Proclaimed thrô all the Army that by the next Week every Man should be ready to March against the Enemy and that such to whom the Care was left should provide Carts and Wagons for Carriages and Tents and Pavilions to lie in the field with all other matters necessary for the King's journey toward Scotland All things therefore being by the said time provided accordingly the King and all his Barons began their March from the City of York in good Order and gallantly armed with Trumpets sounding and Banners waving in the wind In this Expedition besides those at Newcastle and Carlile already sent thither to defend the Frontiers we have made shift to recover the Names of these Worthies q Dugd. Bar. 2 Vol. p. 93. Edmund of Woodstock Earl of Kent the King's Uncle John r Id. 1 Vol. p. 184. Bohune Earl of Hereford and Essex and Constable of England Roger ſ Id. ibid. p. 145. Mortimer Lord of Wigmore William
Marches and burnt and beat down the Mills on the River Rouelle and so came by Chartreux to their Host again But certain of their Company tarried behind at Marley to get store of Forage for their Horses Now there was a considerable Castle not far off formerly belonging to the Lord Robert of Namur in Right of the Lady Isabella his Wife who was one of the Sisters of the Present Earl of Hainault but now by exchange it was again reverted to the Earl. The Garrison within this Castle perceiving how these Frenchmen loytred thus behind their fellows in great Security and that the Army was now very far off before them made upon them a sudden and vigorous Sally wherein they slew the greater part of them recover'd all their Prey and without any loss return'd in Triumph to their Castle All this g Frois c. 47. fol. 28. while the Great Battail of the French was still on the Mount Casteres till now at last that all their Detachments were return'd from all Parts thô as we have shew'd not without loss they enter'd Consultation how they should proceed farther In the end it was resolved that since they were not sufficiently numerous to Storm so Great and Populous a City as Valenciennes they should content themselves for the present with what they had already done and so return to Cambray So that Night they reach'd Monchau and Fontaine au Tertre and the Abbey pertaining to the Lady Jane of Valois Countess Dowager of Hainault There they lodged that Night keeping good Watch as being still in the Enemies Country But the next Morning they decamped betimes some of those in the Rear upon their departure setting fire on Monchau and Fontaine together with the foresaid Abbey thô it belonged to the said Lady Jane Sister to King Philip of France This when Duke John her Nephew understood he was so displeased that he commanded those who began the Fire to be hang'd up immediately After this they burnt the Town and Castle of Tryche so lately rescued to no purpose and beat down the Mills also they set fire on Prony Romeny Thyaulx and all the plain Country between Valenciennes and Cambray Then the Duke proceeded to Escandure a strong Frontier Castle of the Earl of Hainalts standing on the River Skell the Garrison whereof had been a great Plague to the City of Cambray Sr. Gerard van Sanctius being the Captain But when the Duke of Normandy had lain before the Place six days it was deliver'd up unto him not without the Admiration of all who knew its strength and therefore vehemently suspected the Captain Sr. Gerard and an Esquire of his named Robert of Marmeaulx to have play'd the Traytors in this Matter However shortly after they both suffer'd a shamefull Death upon this account at Mons in Hainalt But the Garrison of Cambray rased the Castle to the ground conveying the Stones and Timber thereof into their own Town to help them in their Necessary Reparations IX After h Frois c. 48. this Desolation of Escandure Duke John return'd to Cambray where for the present he disbanded some of his Men and others he sent to reinforce the Garrisons of Doway Lille and other places As soon as these fresh Aids came to Doway the Garrison was so encouraged that they sent forth together with them of Lille 300 Spears whose Leaders were the Lord Lewis of Savoy Amè Earl of Geneva the Earl of Villers Sr. Galeas of Bausine the Lord of Vaurain and the Lord of Vasiers All these overran with fire and sword the fruitfull Country of Ostervandt in Hainault so that they left nothing untouch'd but the strong Castles At this the Three Brethren Captains of Bouchain were extreamly concerned as those who daily saw the fire and smoak and other ill effects of the Enemies Rage but were not strong enough to oppose it Wherefore they sent to Valenciennes to tell the Governour that if in the Night he would send forth 600 Spears to joyn him they would most certainly take a Notable Revenge upon the Frenchmen who lay scatter'd abroad without any Retiring place or shelter in the plain Country But whatever they alledged those of Valenciennes durst not stir out of the Town because the Earl had strictly enjoyn'd the contrary during his absence Wherefore the French meeting with no Opposition took great Booties and fired the Town of Nyche Descoux Escaudan Hery Monteney Senain Verlain Vargny Ambreticourt Lourge Salx Ruette Neville Lieu St. Amand and all the Villages of that Country from whence they brought off much plunder But as soon as they were return'd into Garrison those of the Garrison of Bouchain went forth and burnt a Moiety of Descon which was French and the Town of Desquerchine and all the Villages that held with France as far as to the Gates of Doway Thus on both sides were the Garrisons furnished with Men of War and daily mutual Advantages and Losses were exchanged between both Parties At the same time there was a Garrison of Germans in the Fortress of Mal-Maison which was but two Leagues from the Castle of Cambresis on the Selle being placed there by the Bishop of Cambray who held with France This Fortress on the side toward Hainault look'd directly upon Landrecy whereof the Lord of Poitrel was Captain for thô the Earl of Blois own'd it once yet on certain considerations he had lately parted with it to the Earl of Hainault before the Earl had broke with France These Germans of Mal-Maison aforesaid came one day to the Barriers of Landrecy and in sight of the Town began to drive away a great Booty of Cattle that grased thereabout The Lord of Poitrel understanding thus much Arm'd himself and all his Company and rode forth to the Rescue in the Head of his Men with his Spear in his Rest still crying after the Enemy Sirs it is a shame to fly away Now the Germans of the French side had among them an Hardy and Couragious Esquire of Almain named Albert of Colen who not enduring those biting Words immediately turn'd his Horse couched his Spear and ran furiously against the Lord of Poitrel giving him such a stroak on the Target that the Spear flew all to pieces but having presently recover'd another he redoubled his stroak with so much Fury that the Spear enter'd quite thrô his Armour into his Body just to the Heart so that the Lord Poitrel fell dead from his Horse But his Companions the Lord of Bausiers Sr. Gerard Mastin and Sr. John his Brother with their Troops renew'd the Chace against the Frenchmen so briskly that most of them were slain all the Prey rescued and their own Prisoners recover'd but a very few having the Good Fortune to escape So the Hainalders return'd again to Landrecy bringing along with them as a Qualification of their Victory the Dead Body of their Captain the Lord of Poitrel in whose place succeeded the Lord of Floron Thus various were the Rencounters between the Hainalders
Villani a Person of more Credit says it was on the 28 of July But I shall hereafter take little Notice of that Mans Writing because the Authorities I shall bring and the Contexture of the Story it self will confute him among the Learned and to others I write not Thô I know he took this Account from Du Chesne and other French Authors but even them he has corrupted and mistook as any Man may observe X. These are the various Adventures which most deserve Memory during the Siege of Tournay that is for the space of Nine Weeks and upward King Edward all the while expecting to win the Place by Famine for he knew well there was a great Number of Mouths within and not much Victuals the Frenchmen as he knew presuming that the King of France would not suffer the Siege to continue so long without endeavouring a Rescue Wherefore the King of England being strongly encamped and always prepared to give or receive Battle resolved to win the City by Famine For this Wise and Pious Prince knew it would be too expensive of Christian Blood to attempt so strong a Place by Storm Some thought however that they could not have held out so long had not the Duke of Brabant secretly favour'd them and allow'd certain Quantities of Provision to be convey'd into the City thrô his Quarters nay there are who stick not to affirm that he was o Gâ—ovâ—n Vâ—llâ—niâ— 11. c. 111. p. 770. Mezeray 2 Part. 3 Tom. p. 17. brib'd and corrupted by the King of France's Money and that being therefore suspected by King Edward he most willingly admitted of a Treaty when 't was offer'd him But it may be these were only vain and undutifull Reflections cast out by the idle People of Bruges and Louvain and other Brabanders who were both ill-affected to the Cause and also grew so uneasie with this long Siege that they were not asham'd openly to ask leave of the Marshal of the Host to return home into Brabant When the Marshal heard such an unworthy Request he told them that for his part he was very well content they should go but then they must leave their Horses and their Armour behind them least those who saw them going home should say there went a sort of Souldiers who had left their General at a Siege because there were no Carpets and Perfumes in the Field With which nipping Retort they were so confounded that they never more open'd their Mouths to their Captains about that Affair And beside this backwardness of the Brabanders those Officers whom King Edward had entrusted to Collect his Taxes and other Moneys in England for his Use beyond Sea were so negligent and slow if not false in that business that they mightily perplext their Master thereby and made him borrow vast Summs upon Usury and to enter into many Disadvantagious Engagements for the Payment of his German Auxiliaries and other Necessities consequent upon the Siege Nor was King Philip of France without his Difficulties For besides that it tormented his very Soul to see his Good Towns Besieged and spoiled in a manner before his Eyes his Lords not suffering him to hazard a Battle for Revenging thereof he is said to have lost what by Skirmishes and divers Rencounters with the English and what by ill-diet and Famine which may be wonder'd at he being in his own Country especially for want of Water by the p Frois c. 63. fol. 35. evil Air hot Weather and other Inconveniences more than q Fox Monum p. 348. b. n. 60. 20000 Men Without any set Battle XI King Robert of Sicily being still in those Parts was wonderfully assiduous in his Negotiations for Peace The Pope by his Cardinals back'd him very close and especially by an r Odoric Rainald ad An. 1340 §. 29. Englishman one of his Chaplains named William Norwich Dean of Lincoln and Auditor of the Gauses of the Holy Palace whose Credence from the Pope contained these Heads 1. That he should advise the King not to be too much puff'd up with his Victories nor in confidence thereof to shew himself strange or difficult in admitting of Peace by two Instances of One who being 17 times beaten in War yet the 18 time obtain'd an entire and absolute Victory And of Another who having gain'd two Notable Victories was the third time utterly Defeated and overthrown 2. Secondly To advise him of the Perfidiousness of the Nation ally'd unto him as the Flemings who since they had deceived their own Natural Lord would in all probabilitie much more deceive him whom but accidentally and for the present they had received for their Lord. And that the Duke of Gueldre and the Marquess of Juliers were like to serve him only as far as they might serve their own ends And least of all should he trust to the Almaines who always use to be accounted unstable and his Grandfather the Good King Edward found by Experience their Instability in the time of his utmost Exigence 3. Thirdly Of the Excessive Power of the King of France who thô he should lose Ten Battles in his Kingdom could easily recollect People in abundance to resist any body in all probability Which yet in the King of England being in another Kingdom and in the Hands of Strangers and not attended with his own People is accounted Difficult nay Impossible And this appears by the Example of a certain King of England who formerly had more in Revenues within the Realm of France then the King of France himself had in his own Kingdom and yet was quite expelled by Degrees And especially since the said King of England's claim as to the Realm of France in which he is reputed to have no Right and as to certain Counties in which by Prescription of an Hundred Years and more the Kings of France have continually and quietly had Possession doth seem unjust Wherefore it seems that of Right he ought to be content with the Dutchy of Guien under that form whereby the Lord Edward his Grandfather held the same 4. Fourthly To put him in mind of the Fear of God which he always ought to bring to Memory by revolving in the Closet of his Breast the Processes and Censures made and set forth against the Bavarian which by the adhering to him and assuming the Lieutenantship of the Empire he is known to have incurred Upon which our foresaid Lord the Pope hath often writ to the same King as well by Exhortation as Admonition and once intended Letters unto him not as unto a Son nor as one faithfull to the Church but as one that adhered to Rebells and Infidels And especially because of the Incursions of the Enemies of the Christian Faith who had begun on all Hands to oppose Christianity as is particularly contained in the Letters of our said Lord he ought to desist from carrying on the said War. 5. Also in case that the King should say he not without Reason doubted to put himself
devised by the Pope * Gaguin l. 8. p. 139. not as a Judge but only as a Friend to the common Peace of Christendom This Truce being sworn to by King Edward of England in his own Name and by the Duke of Normandy in the Name of the King of France his Father a Time was appointed in January following to treat more fully thereof at Malestroit in Bretagne where the Plenipotentiaries of either King were then to meet And so for that time both Armies brake up and King Edward having first made an Exchange between the Lord Ralph Stafford of England and the Lord Oliver Clisson of Bretagne went with his other Prisoner the Lord Henry du Leon to Hennebond where shortly after he took Shipping for England with the said Lord Henry and seven other Noble Bretons his Prisoners Upon his Return it is said that for five Weeks together he was tossed about with Tempests upon the Sea as we observ'd it to happen usually unto him so that he expected no less than inevitable Death Being at e Knighton p. 2583. n. 10. c. last cast upon the Coasts of Spain King Alphonso's Fleet that lay cruising about those Parts made up to him but beholding the Banner Royal of England they humbled themselves to Him and begg'd his Pardon For however Don Lewis of Spain of his own head assisted Charles of Blois there was Friendship between the two Crowns at that time The f Holinshead Engl. Chron. p. 920. Dutchess of Bretagne with much ado got safe to Land in Devonshire Sr. Peter Vele and his Son Henry Vele and Sr. John Reyner were cast away together with their Ships and all therein the King himself after much difficulty landed at Weymouth and came safe to London to the Queen soon after where he set forth a Proclamation to give publick Notice of the g Ashmele p. 653. Truce late taken in Bretagne XVIII In the mean time the h Walsing hist p. 147. n. 40. Holinsh Engl. Chron. p. 920. Commissioners on both Sides met in the Priory of St. Mary Magdalene in Malestroit a Town of Bretagne where by the Mediation of the Cardinals aforesaid these Points following were fully ratifi'd agreed sign'd seal'd and sworn to viz. 1. Imprimis That certain Nobles of the Blood of both the Kings of England and of France with others having full Power and Instructions to ordain confirm and ratifie a Peace shall be sent to the Court of Rome there to treat about all and singular the Controversies and Dissentions then impending between the said Kings by the Mediation of our Lord the Pope and of the said Nobles of either Party And the Parties shall say and propose their Reasons before our Lord the Pope but not as to any final Determination of the Controversie or Pronouncing of Sentence but only in order to make a firmer Treaty and Peace 2. Item That the foresaid Nobles who shall be sent to the Court of Rome shall be in the said Court before the Feast of St. John Baptist next ensuing and that the foresaid Negotiations with the Divine Assistance concurring and the Popes earnest Diligence be fully dispatched and agreed on with the Assent of the said Nobles before the Nativity of our Lord that Term by no means being prolonged Saving that if our Lord the Pope be hindred or shall not be able to reform the Peace between the said Kings however the Truce lately taken and sworn before Vannes shall remain firm to the Term hereunder appointed and be kept inviolably by all And to the end the foresaid Negotiation shall take fuller Effect let the Truce be granted unto the Feast of St. Michael next ensuing and from the said Feast to the full End of Three Years next to come after between the foresaid Kings of England and of France and also the King of Scotland the Earl of Hainalt the Dukes of Brabant and of Gueldre the Marquess of Juliers the Lord John of Hainalt and the Nation of Flanders and all their Adherents in all their Lands from the time of the Date of this present Truce during all the Time abovesaid 3. Item that the King of Scotland the Earl of Hainalt and other Noblemen Allies of the said Kings shall send their Envoys to the said Court with full power of Assenting and Confirming according to the Treaty to be had before our Lord the Pope in what belongs unto them against the foresaid Feast of St. John Baptist saving that if any of the said Noblemen Allies of the said Kings shall neglect to send their Envoys as is Premised to the Court of Rome the said Negotiation shall by no means be deferred upon that account 4. Item The foresaid Truce shall be kept in Bretagn between the said Kings and their Adherents even thô both Parties claim a Right to that Dukedom But that during the Truce the City of Vannes shall be detained in the Hands of the Cardinals in the Name of our Lord the Pope and the Truce ended they may do what they please with the said City 5. Item The Cardinals shall diligently do their parts toward the Absolution of the Flemings by taking off the Interdiction which they had again incurred and shall curiously study and labour that a good and rational way be found out therefore The Earl of Flanders as Lord without an Umpire and as Umpire without a Superior during the Truce shall remain in Flanders yet so as that it be done with the Assent of the People of Flanders 6. Item If any in Gascoigne or elsewhere during the Truce do raise War against their Neighbours or Enemies of either Party the said Kings shall by no means either by themselves or others directly or indirectly interest themselves nor shall the Truce be broken for this But the said Kings shall diligently apply their endeavours without fraud that the Subjects of the one Party during the Truce shall not any way move War against the Subjects of the Other either in Gascoigne or Bretagne and that the Subjects of the One during the Truce shall not be permitted to make League or Friendship with the other Party and that during the Truce nothing be either given or promised for the raising or maintaining of War directly or indirectly But that this Truce be firmly kept of all as well by Land as by Sea And that in Gascoigne and in Flanders the Truce shall be Proclaimed within fifteen Days after the Date hereof and in England and Scotland within 40 Days after 7. Item That all Prisoners of either part who have been taken from between the Sunday before the Feast of St. Vincent last past unto this present Day shall be Released their Goods taken restored and themselves as Reason requires set free 8. Item That no Damages or Invasions during the Truce shall be made between the Parties in prejudice or despight of the Truce 9. Item That the said Kings and their Allies during the Truce shall remain in the same Possession
Aquitaine To all our Captains Keepers of Towns and Castles Subjects Adherents and Allies being in the Parts of France as well in Picardy Burgundy Anjou Berry Normandy Bretagne Auvergne Champaigne Maine Touraine as in all the bounds and limitations of the Demaine and Tenure of France Greeting A final Peace and accord having been made between Us and our Brother of France our Allies and Adherents comprising all the Debates and Discords that have been in time past or may be to which We have sworn on the Body of Jesus Christ and also our Eldest Son and our other Children and others of our Blood with divers Prelates Barons and Knights and the most Noble of the Realm of England and in like manner hath sworn our said Brother and our Nephew the Duke of Normandy and other our Nephews his Children and divers Prelates Barons and Knights of the Realm of France to keep the said Peace Yet lest it might so fortune or fall out hereafter that any Men of War of our Realm or of our Subjects should take upon them to do or attempt any thing contrary to the Peace in taking or with-holding Forts Towns Cities or Castles or in taking of Pillage Prisoners or Merchandise or any other thing against the Peace the which to Us would be right Displeasant and We neither may nor will suffer any such thing to pass under the shadow of Dissimulation in any manner of wise but will with all our Power in all the said things find a Remedy We therefore Will Require and Ordain by the Advice of our Council that None of our Subjects of whatsoever State or Condition they be presume to do or endeavour to do any thing contrary to the said Peace in taking any Pillage or in taking or withholding any Forts Prisoners or Goods whatsoever pertaining to the Realm of France or to our said Brother his Subjects Allies and Adherents or any other whatsoever they be And whosoever shall be thus Guilty of Doing against the said Peace and will not leave or cease so to do or will not restore again the Damages by them done within a Month after they shall be thereto required by our Officers Serjeants or Publick Persons that then by that Deed alone without any further Process or Condemnation they be all reputed for out-law'd as Men cast out of our Realm and Protection and also out of the Realm and Lands of our said Brother and all their Goods shall be forfeited to Us and to our Demaine and if they may be found within our Realm We Will and Command expresly that on them Punishment be forthwith taken as on Traytors and Rebels against Us according to what is accustomed to be done in the Crime of High-Treason without giving in that case any favour or remission sufferance or pardon And in like manner to be done to our Subjects of whatsoever Estate they be who in our Realm on this side the Sea or on the other take occupy or hold any Fort whatsoever against the Will of those to whom they should pertain or that burn or ransom Towns or Persons or commit any Robbery or take any Pillage in Violation of the Peace and in moving War within our Dominions or on our Subjects And We do hereby command and expresly enjoyn all our Seneschals Bailiffs Provosts Governors of Castles and other our Officers in avoiding of our high Displeasure and on pain of losing their Offices that they publish or cause to be published these Presents in certain notable Places within their Rules and Precincts and that this our Command once seen and heard no one be after that so hardy to remain longer in any Fort pertaining to the Realm of France and exempted from the Ordinance of the Treaty of the said Peace on pain of being proceeded against as an Enemy to Us and to our said Brother the French King and that they see all these Things be duly and punctually observed And We give all persons concerned to know that if they be negligent and fail thus to do beside the foresaid Penalty We shall cause them to make good all Dammages unto those who by their Default or Negligence shall be so grieved or endammaged And moreover We shall inflict such further Punishment on them as shall make them an Example to all Others In Witness whereof We have made these our Letters Patents Given at Calais the 24 Day of October in the Year of our Lord MCCCLX XIX Besides all this there were several other Letters of Alliance made even for the space of 15 Days together which was the time that these two Kings their Sons and Councils were at Calais all which time was chiefly spent in Conferring Devising and Settling new Ordinances not contrary to the old but such as should better explain and confirm them And for the greater Security all the Letters bare one Date All which were enrolled in the Chanceries of both the Kings but as it is tedious to refer them hither so also is it needless All these mutual Renuntiations Covenants and Agreements were drawn up sworn to and sealed at the same time but e Ashmole p. 663. ex Rot. de Tract Pacis Franc. 34. Ed. 3. n. 7. 8. not as yet Exchanged because as yet the King of France was not at Liberty and the Towns Castles and other Places could not as yet be deliver'd But it was now nevertheless agreed and promised that they should be surrendred to the Special Deputies on both Sides by Midsummer following if it might be and the Renuntiations sent at the Assumption of our Lady next ensuing to the Church of the Augustin Fryars at Bruges to be deliver'd to those deputed to receive them Or if they were not sent till Allhallontide after then they were to be deliver'd in the said Church on St. Andrews day following at which Time and Place both Kings engaged to send thither and cause to be deliver'd to the Deputies of both Parties their and their Eldest Sons Renuntiations But if they were not then deliver'd not any thing agreed on was to take Effect There was also another Instrument Dated at Calais at the same time whereby King Edward was obliged to deliver up to the French King before Candlemas come Twelve Months all those Castles and Towns which he now held being Places that by Vertue of the Treaty were not to remain with him the Particulars whereof from the Records are to be seen in my worthy Friend Esquire f P. 663. c. ex Râ—â—praed de Tract Pacis Franc. m. 5. Ashmole's Elaborate History of the Garter For the Surrender of all which the King of England made forth Commissions to several Persons bearing Date at Calais as aforesaid Now g Ashmole p. 664. ex Rot. Tr. Pacis Franc. 34 Ed. 3. n. 6. also the two Kings made a League for them their Heirs and Successors of perpetual Friendship and Alliance to become thenceforward Faithfull Friends and to assist each other against all Persons whatsoever except the
Wisdom is by no means rashly to be call'd in Question unless that he thought it reasonable to expect as true Service from these Men as he had his Ancestors had constantly found from the Inhabitants of Gascogne and Guienne and besides being himself a Just and Gracious Prince he might have a confidence by his Good and easie Government to bind them unto him for ever as surely he did several and had done all had all been alike capeable of being justly affected with Obligations But indeed nothing is more changeable and irrational than the Vulgar and more forgetfull of Benefits IV. However thus the King of England had now the Possession and Seisin of the whole Dutchy of Aquitain even from the River Loire to the Pirenean Mountains and on the other side toward Flanders of all the Earldom of Ponthieu and Guisnes and of all the Lands which he ought to have on that side the Sea that is to say in the Realm of France by Vertue of the said Treaty And so this Year the Lord John Chandos passed over the Sea as Regent and Lieutenant for the King of England in whose Name he began to take Possession of all the said Lands and received the Faiths and Homages of all the Earls Vicounts Barons Knights and Esquires and had deliver'd unto him by the Lord James of Bourbon all the Towns Forts and other Places which were to be deliver'd by the Tenor of the Peace And every where he set Captains Constables Bayliffs and Officers such as he thought good to ordain But himself resided for the most part at Niort a strong and great Town on the Borders of Poictou standing on la Sevre Niortoise g Ita Ferrar. in Neverâ—gus i. e. Nicrt about Nine Leagues from Rochelle Where he kept a Court like a Prince having an allowance sufficient for that purpose For King Edward who understood Men as well as any King in his Days sent him thither upon the account of his Sweet and Winning Behaviour which being accompanied with exquisite Prudence and unparallel'd Courage and Conduct made him appear the fittest Person to enter first upon that Government And because he knew Authority would grow cheap without external Pomp and Splendor he allow'd him to keep an house like a Prince and set the highest Marks of Honour upon him empowring him h Asâ—â—â—le p. 7â—2 even to grant Pardons for Treason Murder and Felony the King promising to Ratifie under his Great Seal whatsoever he should do in such cases Nor was this Noble Gentleman unworthy of this Advancement For as Froisard says he was a Good Knight Courteous and Benign Well-shap'd Liberal Heroick Wise and Faithfull in all Matters And had worthily behav'd himself among all Lords Knights Ladies and Damsels so that there was no Knight in his Days more generally beloved and praised of all People V. Now the mean while i Frois c. 214. fol. 109. b. that the Deputies of the King of England were taking Possession of the foresaid Lands according to the Tenor of the Treaty there were certain other Deputies appointed by the said King on the Marches and Limits of France and elsewhere who being joyned with others commission'd from the French King for that purpose were to deliver up unto him all that which being then in Possession of the King of England ought to go now to the King of France In order thereto these Deputies began to cause all manner of Men of War to avoid and depart out of the Holds and Garrisons which they held for the Kings Command ran strictly that all such who held of England should on peril of their Lives and Goods and of being reputed as Enemies and Traytors to the said King immediately leave and deliver up such Forts as they occupied to the French King and his Deputies they being his by Vertue of the Peace Now those Captains Knights and Esquires who were natural Subjects to the King of England and who valued their Duty readily obey'd the Kings Command and rendred up or caused to be rendred the Places under them But some refused to obey pretending now to make War in the Name and Title not of King Edward but of the King of Navarre thô that King was now a Friend to the House of France There were also many Strangers great Captains and Robbers who would not depart upon any account as Almaines Brabanders Flemings Hainalders and others besides some wicked Renegadoes both of England and France who being poor thought it the best way to enrich themselves by making War still in France And moreover many Hundreds of Common Souldiers whom their Captains having resign'd up their Fortresses according to King Edwards Command had dismissed and disbanded gather'd themselves now together again as thinking it better to continue the Wars with others like themselves than to return home to their poor Trades and perhaps many of them durst not go home again they were guilty of such Villanies or so mightily in Debt These Men being thus gather'd together elected from among them new Captains the main Qualities which recommended them to their Choice besides Courage and Skill in Arms being Cruelty Lust and Love of Rapine At first they rode about in small Companies and made their general Rendezvous in Champaigne then in Burgundy where they assembled in great Numbers being called Les Tard-Venus or the Late-Comers in respect of the other Companions who had before pillaged and destroy'd the Flower of all the Country These Robbers for their first Handsell went and took by Surprise the strong Fortress of Joinville where they found great Riches for all the Country thereabouts had entrusted the best of their Goods to the strength of that Place The Spoils taken here were estimated to the Value of an hundred thousand Franks aâ—â— given up wholly to the Conquerours who kept the Castle for some time overrunning and wasting from thence the Country of Champaigne and the Bishopricks of Verdun in Burgundy and Langres in Champaigne and when they had sufficiently ravaged these Parts then they sold the Castle of Joinville to those of the Country for 20000 Franks This done they enter'd into Burgundy where they rested themselves expecting a Reinforcement of Men like themselves all which time they were not idle but practised many Villanous Deeds For they had among them several Knights and Esquires Renegadoes even of those Parts who directed where and how to get Plunder and do Mischief They lay a long while about Besancon Dijon and Beaulne chief Cities of Burgundy and robbed and commanded all the Country about for there were none to encounter them After this they took the Town of Givry in Bresse which they plunder'd and so tarried thereabout because that was a plentifull Country and daily their Numbers encreased For all the Common Souldiers that came out of English Fortresses and had leave of their Captains to go whither they pleased drew thitherward continually so that by Lent they were in all about 16000 strong Now when
and Defensive thereby to support himself the better against the Power of England The first Opportunity accordingly he dispatch'd away his Ambassadors to the Court of France who were graciously received at Paris by the French King and there between him and these Deputies who had Procurations from King Henry ready sealed whereby they were fully Authorised to treat and to proceed effectually in all Causes in the Name of their Master in any Parliament or Council whatsoever there were accorded ordained and confirmed certain mutual Alliances and Confederations Engrossed and solemnly sworn to on both Parties them firmly to hold and maintain nor by any means to infringe or do any thing contrary thereto But that the two Kings should for ever abide firmly in mutual Unity of Peace Love and Alliance and then and there the French King sware upon the Word of a King to aid and assist the King of Castille and his Heirs in all his Business and never to make any manner of Peace or Agreement with the King of England unless he should be comprised in the same And to this League Sr. Bertram of Clequin the Constable gave much furtherance for he as Dearly loved King Henry as King Charles loved and believed him So the Spanish Ambassadors return'd back to their Master whom they found at his City of Leon in Spain and he received extraordinary satisfaction from this his Alliance with France and entertain'd less doubt of the English than before However like a Wise Prince he neglected no means of Establishing his own Affairs but began to strengthen himself by Sea and Land as One that knew foreign Amities of small force as well as of slow approach where due Care is not taken at home Nor indeed was all this his Caution wholly needless or vain For soon after John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster in Right of this his Lady Eldest Daughter to Don Pedro the last Lawfull King of Spain took upon him the style of King of Castille and Leon and l Archbishop Abbet's Description of the World p. 7. Vid. Mr Sandford's Geneal Hist p. 238. p. 253. empaled the Arms of Castille and Leon with his Ducal Coat Nor only so but some Years after began a fierce War against the Bastard Usurper of his Crown which at last could no other ways be ended but by a Match between the Sole Daughter and Heiress of John of Gaunt by this Spanish Princess and Henry Grandson and Heir of the said Henry the Bastard in whose Line and Posterity thus legitimated that Kingdom hath ever since remained XIV Before this Solemn League was thus Established between France and Spain the Pope being alarum'd with the Wonderfull Success of the Turks against Christendom used all his Endeavours to close the Breach between England and France and especially to heal the exulcerated Mind of our King Edward To which end he wrote to the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge that they would joyn to move the King their Father to dispose himself towards a Peace with France he also wrote to the King himself the Form of his Letters m Extant apud Oder Rainald ad hunâ— ann §. 3. ex Tem. 1. Fp. secr p 112. being very near the same with those which Pope Innocent VI wrote n Vid. Hujus Hist Lib. 3 c. 1. § 14. p. 517. formerly to the Black-Prince upon his Victory at Poictiers wherefore we purposely omit them in this Place But I shall here set down another Letter which this Pope sent a little before he wrote to the King to that Renowned Warrier John Greilly Captal of Busche whom he knew to be very Gracious with King Edward and of a truly Heroick Mind thô most able for War yet exorable and apt to embrace an Honest Peace o Extant apud Odoric Rainald ad hunc an §. 8. GREGORY the Bishop Servant of the Servants of God to his most Beloved Son in Christ John Captal de Busche Greeting and Apostolick Benediction The Eastern Parts being exposed to heavy Dangers and in a manner obnoxious to utter Ruine do cry unto the Vicar of Christ unto Christian Princes and other Nobles The Holy Land also being violently possessed by the most impure Saracens of a long while basely detained and polluted by their filthy Touch doth cry unto them doth open her Wounds unto them with ardent Desire expecting an healing Assistance from them Certainly when late we understood those things p p In hâ—c leco voculam quae deleo concerning the miserable Condition of the said Parts and heard also those things which our Beloved Sons the Ambassadours of the whole City of Genoa sent unto Us particularly for this purpose did declare unto Us concerning this miserable State of the said Parts We were inwardly wounded with the Compunction of bitter Sorrow For it was their Assertion that the Turks and other Enemies of the Cross of Christ being gather'd together in a great Multitude do with heavy tempests of Wars afflict waste and consume the said Eastern Parts earnestly affecting to abolish the Christian Name and Worship in those Parts nay even utterly to exterminate from thence the poor Remainders of Christianity And that unless there be made in the next March Expedition a powerfull Resistance to the fury and malice of the said Insidels there will hardly be found in those Parts to invoke the Name of Christ And 't is probably feared nay 't is by many held for certain that the foresaid Turks and other Miscreants are preparing to invade Sicily and by Consequence other Countries of the Christians Wherefore the foresaid Genoans from an inward compassion of their Hearts condoling with the sad Tribulations of the foresaid Parts and together with the Aid of other Faithfull Christians willing to comfort them with the Remedy of a speedy Assistance neither sparing their own Goods nor Persons are now Rigging forth a mighty Fleet of Gallies to pass the Seas this next March-Expedition But they do not think themselves any ways able to resist in the Premises unless they are assisted by other Christians Oh! How unpleasant is the Memory of these things to Us O how bitter the Recollection considering these and other so great Dangers of the Faithfull For while we revolve these sad things in our Mind while with sollicitous thoughts We meditate thereon our Zeal is kindled like a Fire Tears being conceived spring forth as witnesses of our Grief nor can we forbear sighing chiefly for this that as to the Readiness of hasting with so great Succours the Measure of Possibility can no ways equal as We would the vastness of our Wishes many Confusions in the Parts on this side the Sea hindring and especially the heavy Discord which long since the Grand Disturber of Peace and Enemy to Charity hath stirred up between our most Dear Sons Edward and Charles the Illustrious Kings of England and France For the allaying whereof We have destin'd to send unto the said Kings two of our
at this present in the Hands of Italians and other Strangers what they be and of what Value and how every of the said Benefices are named and how much every of them is worth by the Year not as by way of Tax or Extent but according to the true and full Value of the same As also to know the Names of all and singular such Strangers as are now Incumbents or occupy the same and of every of them Likewise the Names of all those whether English or Strangers of what State or Condition soever they be who have the Occupation or Disposal of any such Benefices with the Fruits and Profits of the same on the Behalf or by Authority of any of the foresaid Strangers by way of Farm Title or Procuration or by any other way or means whatsoever and how long they have occupied or disposed of the same and withall if any of the said Strangers be now resident upon any of the said Benefices We command you as heretofore We have done to send Us a true Certificate of all and singular the Premises into our High Court of Chancery under your Seal distinctly and openly before the b b Whitsunday fell this Year on the 21 of May. Lit. Dom. A. Pascha 2 April Feast of the Ascension of our Lord next coming without further delay returning also this our Writ at the same time Witness our Self at Westminster the 16 Day of April in the 48 Year of our Reign of England and of France 35. By Vertue of this Writ Certificate was accordingly sent up to the King into his Chancery out of every Dioecese in England of all such Spiritual Livings as were then in the Occupation either of Priors Aliens or of other Strangers whereof the Number is said to have been so great that it would take up several sheets of Paper to set them all down Wherefore it seem'd high time for the King to seek a Remedy in that Case either by Treaty with the Pope or otherwise considering what a vast proportion of the Revenues of his Realm was by this means convey'd away being either employ'd to the Relief of his Enemies or however of such who were neither his Subjects nor Friends An Instance whereof may be seen in Mr. Fox his Acts and Monuments at the last Year of the Reign of King Edward III. II. Shortly after the Return of the said Certificates the King sent Mr. John Wickliffe who was afterwards an Eminent Reformer in England and at that time Divinity Professor in the Famous University of Oxford together with certain others his Ambassadors beyond the Seas with full Commission to treat with the Pope's Legates concerning the foresaid Matters and other Affairs then depending between his Holiness and the King. The Tenor of their Commission runs thus viz. Rex * Fox Acts Men. p. 554. al. Edit p. 390. Vniversis ad quorum notitiam praesentes literae pervenerint c. The King unto All to whose knowledge these Present Letters shall come Greeting Know Ye that We reposing assured Confidence in the Integrity and Abilities of the Reverend Father John Bishop of Bangor and other our loving and Loyal Subjects as Master John Wickliffe Reader of the Divinity Lecture Master John Guttern Dean of Segovia and Master Simon Multon Dr. of the Law Sr. William Burton Knight Master John Belknap and Master John Honington have directed them as our Ambassadors and special Commissioners to the Parts beyond the Seas giving unto our said Ambassadors and Commissioners or to any Six or Five of them among whom I will that the said Bishop shall be One full Power and Authority with special Command to treat and consult mildly and charitably with the Legates and Ambassadors of our Lord the Pope touching certain Affairs about which We before have sent the said Bishop William Vghtred Monk of Durham and Master John Shepey to the Apostolick See and to make full Relation of all things done and transacted in the said Assembly That all those things which may tend to the Honour of Holy Church and the Advancement of our Crown and this our Realm may by the Assistance of God and the Wisdom of the Apostolick See be brought to good effect and accomplished Witness our self at London the 26 day of July in the 48 Year of our Reign These Commissioners were met at Bruges about the beginning of August by the Pope's Nuntio's Bernard aliàs Benedict Bishop of Pampelone and Ladulph or Rodulph Bishop of Senigaglia and Giles Sancho Provost of the Church of Valenza Who were likewise commission'd from the Pope to treat c Odor Rainald ad hunc annum §. 21. quem vide sis Concerning the Liberties of the Church of England and of the Prelates and other Ecclesiastical Persons of the said Realm of England But this Treaty held off and on for about two Years after when at last it was concluded d Walsingh hist p. 184. n. 10. Churchill's Divi Britannici p. 36. that for the future the Pope should desist from making use of Reservations of Benefices and that the King should no more confer Benefices by his Writ Quare Impedit But as to the Elections aforesaid concerning which Ambassadors had been sent to the Court of Rome the Year before there was nothing mention'd in this Treaty The Reason whereof was ascribed to the Politick Dealing of some who knew they could more easily attain to the Episcopal Dignities which they aim'd at by the Court of Rome then by due and regular Elections that is rather by Money Favour and Interest than by any true Worth or Merit of their own III. But now 't is time to see what Deeds of War were performed this Year or rather what Advantage France gain'd and what Losses England suffer'd for things were grown to that pass at this time Soon e Frois c. 311. fol. 192. after Easter the Duke of Anjou being at Perigueux raised a great Army consisting of 15000 Footmen besides a considerable Number of Genoüese and Crossbows and the most part of all the Barons and Knights of Bretagne Poictou Anjou and Touraine with whom also the Constable of France was joyned and several Lords of Gascogne as the Lord John of Armagnac the Lords of Albret and of Perigort the Earls of Cominges and of Narbonne the Vicounts of Carmaine and of Villemur and of Talart the Earl Dauphin of Auvergne the Vicount of Mende the Lord de la Barde Sr Robert of Charde and the greater part of the Lords of Auvergne and Limosin With this Great Army the Duke of Anjou marched towards High Gascogne and came before Mont de Marsan which having took he proceeded to St. Sever whereof an Abbot was Lord who thô the Town was strong yet doubting to lose it by force fell to treat with the Duke of Anjou telling him that his Town and Fortress was but a small Matter in respect of other Towns and Castles in High Gascogne whither he suppos'd his Highness
his Sisters sake whom David the present King of Scotland had married as also because the old Queen and the Lord Mortimer had at the time of making that Peace at Northampton oblig'd the King in a Å¿ Knighton p. 2560. n. 20 30 40. c. Bond of 20000l to be forfeited to the Pope in case of any Hostility or Breach made on his part till the full terme of four Years should be accomplished But as for those English Adventurers who claim'd Lands in Scotland which were now forfeited for their Non-residence according to an Article of the foresaid Peace of Northampton after King Edward t Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 51. a. had in vain sent to the Earl of Murray then upon the Lord u Buchan l. 9. p. 282. An. 1331. Thomas Randulph's death Guardian of that Realm by reason of King David's Minority on their behalf he gave them his leave or rather a tacit Connivance for nothing was expresly said in their own Names upon their own Titles and at their own charges to make War in the company of the Lord Edward Bailiol against the present King of Scotland till they might have their Injuries redressed Of these we find the Lord Henry x Dugd. Bar. 2 Vol. p. 51. Vicount Beaumont Earl of Buquhain the y Id. ibid. p. 96. young Lord David Strabolgi Earl of Athol who had been a Ward to the said Lord Beaumont the Lord Gilbert z Id. 1 Vol. p. 507. Vmphravil Earl Angus Henry a Harding c. 178. fol. 178. b Lord Perey who claimed Galloway Thomas b Dudg ibid. p. 541. Lord Wake the Lord Fulk Fitz-Warine Ralph c Knighton p. 2560. Lord Stafford in the Title of William Lord Zouch d Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 267. Henry Lord Ferrers of Groby John e Id. ibid. p. 127 Lord Moubray and Sr. Alexander Moubray his Kinsman the Lord f Knighton p. 2560. Richard Talbot AN. DOM. 1331. An. Regni V. a famous young Warrier Sr. Roger Swinnerton and several other Lords and Knights who raised their Friends and Tenants and as many as desired to purchase Honour or prey in the Wars All who taking the sea at g Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 51. a. Ravenspurr in Yorkshire for the King would not allow them to pass thrô his Land they arrived at Kingcorn in Scotland not far from Dunfermlin The Scots had beforehand intelligence of this their Design and so were not unprovided of Forces to impeach their Landing They had sent forth no less than h Tinemouth fol. 229. Knigh. p. 2560. n. 40. Waisingh hist p. 113. n. 10. Stow p. 230. n. 50. M.S. praefat 10000 Men under the Command of Duncan Macduff Earl of Fife the Lord Robert Bruce Earl of Carrick King David's Bastard brother and Sr. Alexander Seton eldest Son to the Lord Alexander Seton of whom more hereafter The Lord Bailiol's Forces were very small as appears from the highest account of them some as i Buchan l. 9. p. 283. Buchanan confesses reckoning them but 600. which he rather thinks should be 6000. But another of more Honesty and therefore of more Authority says they were no more then k Knighton p. 2560. n. 66. idem Joh. Tinemouth fol. 229. M.S. ve Ang. in Bibl. C.C.C. c. 223. 2500 which small number being furnished with so many gallant Leaders must needs be pretty considerable since Discipline and Courage might very well make up their Defects as it is well known to those who either understand the Art Military or have read those many Instances of the like nature abounding in History Accordingly the Valiant Lord Bailiol thô he saw these more numerous Forces ready to impeach his Landing resolved not to loyter away the time in cruising and coasting about but forthwith to discharge his Vessels in that very place for he was not ignorant of the Worth of his Men and what high Hopes they entertain'd as those who fought with him for no less than a Kingdom Withall he discreetly consider'd how this however too great a Match as to his Numbers was the smallest Force he could expect to meet with in Scotland but that if here he prevail'd the reputation of the Victory would be of no small moment but easily procure Friends to his Quarrel and Terror to his Arms. This well-grounded Resolution was so well favour'd by Fortune that before his Men of Arms could touch the land the Scots being gall'd by the Archers a few Footmen also making upon them a brisk Impression at the same time gave back in Great confusion and were soon thereupon totally routed no less than 900 of them being slain together with an hopefull young Gentleman Sr. Alexander l Bachan l. 9. p. 283. Hector l. 15. f. 312 n. 40. c. Eldest son to the Lord Alexander Seton Upon this success the Bailiol marched directly toward the Abbey and Town of Dunfermlin wherein they found good store of Provision and other necessaries for Men of War And among other things m M.S. 〈…〉 500 Great staves of fine Oak with long Pikes of iron and steel which the Bailiol took and deliver'd to the strongest of all his Men. Soon after at a place called Gledesmore this small resolute Band of English not yet consisting of above three or four Thousand in all met with more than 40000 of the Scots to oppose them But for the present they were hindred from joyning by a Deep Water being the River of Erne that ran between both Armies For the Citizens of St. Johnston n M.S. prâ—â—f ibid. c. when they heard how the Earl of Fife was discomfited by the Bailiol were much terrified and brake down all their Bridges which they had made over the Water of Erne so that the English could not get over but stood all that day in Battle Array fronting the Enemies on the Banks of the said River But the Lord Bailiol could not dispose himself to rest the night following his Spies had brought him word of the negligence of the Enemies in their Camp and his Courage made him conceive high Hopes of success if he took his Opportunity wherefore having assembled all the Chiefs together he said Now Dear Lords ye know that we are surrounded with Enemies on all sides who if they may have an Advantage against us there is nothing to be expected but Death And I verily believe that by tarrying here the remainder of this Night we should only contribute to out own ruine For the Power of Scotland may every day wax and encrease but it will not be so with us unless we gain Reputation by our Courage althô we are but a small People in respect of them Wherefore I pray you for Godsake let us be hardy and couragious and resolve with all our might to fall upon the Scots this night and prove our selves the Aggressors whereby we shall daunt their minds especially now they are weary with their long March and all
intend to the Cause of our Saviour which is neglected and may thereby be attributed to the great shame and ignominy of every Christian King thô never so well deserving But we know not for what Offence it happens that from the meek Offers of Peace from whence Friendship ought to arise there hath grown a Swelling of greater Anger and Obstinacy in our Persecutors Mind against Us Thô God and our Conscience bearing Us witness We have not provoked Him by any one fact or attempt made by Us against Him. Nay the Eyes of all the World our publique Witnesses do see with how many and great Indignities our foresaid Persecutor who stiles himself King of France doth daily wound and defalcate Us and our Rights He is at this Present an Invader and unjust Usurper of the Realm of France it self which is known to belong to Us by all true Right of Succession not having been asham'd to withhold by Force that Crown which he ought rather to claim by Law and Equity We being called and heard thô We were a Male and it could no way be doubted but that We were a Person principally concern'd in the Matter and Our Right was as Notorious in that very Realm as it is founded on the Law of Nature The matter of Fact being Evident that Philip of Famous Memory late King of France Father of Charles King of France last-deceased and of the most Serene Lady Isabella Queen of England Our Mother was our Grandfather And that to the same Charles at the time of his Death no Male living of those who together with him descended from the same Philip was nearer than Our Selves And thô the Female Person by Custom Anciently observed in that Kingdom be rendred uncapable of inheriting that Crown this Law being principally intended for the Good of the Realm that under a frail Womans Government the Kingdom should not fall to ruine thô it excludes the Person of the Woman doth not yet exclude the Person of the Male descending from the Woman thus excluded d d Here a Clause of which I can make no good Sense is left out Beside by the foresaid Law the Female Frailty is excluded from the Kingdom that the Realm may be more Advantagiously provided for and the nearest Male be admitted Or else let him be admitted rather to that Right who doth not primarily proceed from the Mother so excluded but is to be look'd on as a Nephew propagated Originally from the Grandfather otherwise there would follow another absurdity of Injustice that the Collaterals of the same Line should be excluded and a more Remote Kinsman call'd in when by the very Natural Law of Nations Brothers and Sisters and their Children are in mutual Succession still Prefer'd to other Collaterals of another Line And thence the said Law arose in Favour of Kings and Hate of the Females Inability to Reign not that by the Injury done to the Female an Occasion also should be taken of Injuring the Male Descendant Nor yet is it to be thought that the intention of this Law could be so unjust as to condemn the Mother and the Son being of another Country Nay rather on the contrary by that very Judgement of the Law whereby the Mother is remov'd from the Succession the Son being seated in his Mothers Place and supplying her deficiency the Succession devolves unto him Just as a Son steps into the Right and Degree of his Father deceased so as to be admitted to the Succession of his Father among his Fathers Brethren Then well may the disconsolate Mother thô by the foresaid Rigour of the Law divested of her Royal Inheritance Rejoyce again and be Comforted that her Son is so substituted in her Place Nor then is Affliction added to Affliction which the Sacred Consideration of the Law abhorreth as we see even where the Law hath not laid an easie Burden of Affliction but a case in the Law which condemns that customary Law that yields the goods of shipwrack'd Persons to another Because it there expresly corrects it by this reason that we should avoid adding to Affliction much more for that very Reason is it forbid Let it therefore satisfie this Law of France that from a Mother more then Pregnant who yet was not made a Woman by any of her own fault but by necessity of Nature it fully cuts off the Root of Royalty And that so the Mother by the Law of her Disherison doth expresly suffer as it were a certain Shipwrack But let it not also be cruelly and against all Right concluded that she is in the Person of her disinherited Son to suffer a second and a worser Shipwrack or that without a Fault the Punishment should be doubled when even where a Fault is the Punishment ought to be mitigated Otherwise if because the Mother is not Lawfully admitted to the Throne the Son must be understood to be Lawfully expelled from the Throne Then had not the Kingdom of the Jews of Right belonged to the Holy Jesus which is against the Foundation of our Faith to assert Who notwithstanding he was the Son of God begotten in a Mystery without the Company of a Man of a Female of the Royal Stem of David even of the Virgin Mary who her self was not admitted to the Kingdom nor perhaps ought she to be admitted yet by the undoubted certainty of Faith became the True and Lawfull King of the Jews And God forbid that this Royal Succession of King Jesus should be either an untying or breaking of the Legal Observance since he came not to break the Law but to fulfill it Wherefore this most Excellent Instance of Lawfull Succession by Right of the Mother may reasonably put to silence the pretended Reasons of the Enemies of our Right in the said Kingdom of France That the Saviour of the World and We a Poor Mortal Sinner whom parity of reason as to this reconciles together may not be separated as to Our Lawfull Degree and Order of Succession by any vain Constitution or forced Interpretation of humane Laws And yet for all this there was not only not any due Citation of Us made nor our Defence thô in a Matter so highly Prejudicial to Our Right admitted but also Our Proctors who instantly desired that they might Legally appear for Us and Our Title were so far from being allowed an equitable Hearing as that they were rudely and unjustly repelled with horrible Menaces of no less than present Death Wherefore their Procedure thô the Deed of the Twelve Peers of France hinders Our said Title nothing at all since as to Us who were then Weak and in Our Minority they laying by the part of indifferent Judges perform'd the Office of Thieves and Robbers Whose Process thus made against Us to Our Prejudice even Our very Minority renders invalid in the Law. For neither could it have been effectual had it been made against an Adult Person that Just Defence being so deny'd which to every Freeman is allow'd
Glory of your Family And all this notwithstanding we have never offended You nor have done any thing against You althô we have also understood that it hath been falsly and deceitfully suggested to you by those who neither love You nor your Safety nor your Honour how we gave out of our Chamber a great quantity of Money to our Most Dear Son in Christ the Illustrious King of France in Aid of his War and also granted unto him the Institution of all Ecclesiasticall Persons in all Churches of his Dominions which Matters are known to be void of all manner of Truth For such things were never demanded of Us nor should we by any means have granted them had they been never so instantly requested of Us nor did we grant the Tythes to the King of France against You but against the Germans adhering to Lewis and Enemies to the foresaid Roman Church who were then even ready to invade the Realm of France as the common and known Report went as is expresly contained in the Grant of the said Tithes For it was not our Intention to administer fuel of Discord against You or to help them with any Supply but rather extreamly desiring that both your Kingdom and the Kingdom of France should enjoy Peace and Concord Unanimity and Prosperity We have to that purpose by our Letters directed to your Highness and to the said King of France and by our Legats de Latere Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church sent to those Parts with most ardent Desires travailed and cease not yet nor shall cease to travail that between You and the said King and both your Realms the serenity and brightness of Peace may shine forth Yet You O Most Dear Son giving as it seems credit to the foresaid false and lying Suggestions have shew'd your Self an Enemy and Persecutor of Us and of the said Roman Church and do invade and usurp the Honours and Rights of Us and of the said Church to whom the Government and Administration of the Roman Empire it being void as now it is known to be do of full Right belong by molesting the Prelates and Ecclesiasticall Persons who persist as is premised in due Devotion and Fidelity to Us and by endeavouring to withdraw them to the Obedience of the said Lewis being as is premised sententially condemned of divers Heresies Schisms and other Crimes and by the just Judgment of God and the Church deprived of all Kingly and Imperial Right if ever any hath or did belong unto him to perform a Recognisance and Homage or to You in his Name by attempting to induce them by coactive Methods and Comminations But I would to God O Son before you involve your self any further in these most dangerous and detestable Matters that you would seriously consider and set before the eyes of your Mind with mature Deliberation the hazardous Labyrinths and knotty Snares into which some who are more sollicitous about their own than your Affairs by their subtle and most exquisite Arts endeavour to involve You and to lay a Burthen upon you which by all means they desire to rid themselves of not easily supportable if you diligently attend the Circumstances nor without the hazard of your utter Ruine Nor would We have you ignorant how that our foresaid Predecessor in a certain Constitution made formerly by him with the Advice and Counsel of his said Brethren did promulge Excommunications and other heavy Sentences against all and singular of what State Dignity or Condition soever they should be whether Patriarchal or any other Superior as Pontifical or Royal who without the special Licence of the Apostolick See should presume to assume the Name of Vicar or of any other Office within the Lands of the said Empire it being void as then it was and now also is void as was premised or being assumed to retain it beyond the space of two Months or being laid down to reassume it any ways If they should remain refractory and would not obey and intend to the same We therefore who toward You O Son could not shut up our Bowels of Fatherly Compassion but are inwardly touch'd with Grief of Heart seeing such things devised as tend to the detriment of You and of your Honour and Estate Fame and Safety do entreat your Magnificence require and more earnestly exhort you in the Lord nevertheless persuading you by sound and fatherly Counsel that taking the Premises together with what else may occurr unto you into serious Consideration and moreover holding for certain and remembring that the said Lewis as we premised is neither King nor Emperour and that nothing which he hath done or shall do as long as he hath been and shall be bound by the said Processes Penalties and Sentences was or is valid or of any Authority Stress or Moment and that it is dangerous and very much to be feared by You to commit your Self to the uncertainties and hazards of War especially being involved in all the foresaid Processes Penalties and Sentences from which you cannot be deliver'd but only by the Apostolick See which has expresly kept in her own hands the Absolution therefrom and so becoming a Persecutor and Enemy of God and the said Roman Church From which things the Lord of Mercies protect and defend You. You should also consider diligently that thô it is natural for Man to sin yet perseverance in Sin ought to be reckon'd Diabolical and proper to Devils and that from these horrid Errors to which perhaps you have declined being seduced by the Serpents subtlety before they grow more deadly and stink worse and putrifie in the sight of God and Men We desire You to hasten back and to direct your feet in the right Way pleasing God and agreeable to your Condition Safety and Honour and rather than despise the Decrees of the said Cardinals who sincerely love You and your Realm to acquiesce in the mutual Reformation of Peace between You and the said King it being a thing so pleasing to God and desirable to Men. And surely it seems to Us that althô the Office of the said Vicarship might now have lawfully been assigned yet it would not become your Honour who are such and so Great a King and Prince and are known in the world to be ennobled with such a Royal Name and Title to be called the Vicar of any Temporal Lord whatsoever How much less then did it or doth it become your Eminence to be called his Vicar who as often aforesaid hath no Authority at all but is alas defiled with the blemish of so many Crimes and involved in such and so many heavy Penalties and Sentences together with all his Adherents And now know O most Loving Son that if you shall acquiesce in these our wholsom Admonitions thô You have been so moved as to fall We will effectually reach forth our Gracious Hand as far as by Gods Assistance we shall be able to raise You up again But otherwise We cannot forbear since
should be forthwith raised the One consisting of the Men of Gaunt and Bruges and other Flemmings a Fabian p. 212. with a certain Number of English Archers b Du Chesne p. 651. making up in all 55000 Men which being commanded by the Lord Robert of Artois was to lay Siege to St. Omers And the other consisting of King Edward's own Forces with the rest of his Allies was to sit down before Tournay in like manner The Lord Robert of Artois was soon ready for his Task and went accordingly thô not so soon but that King Philip before his Arrival had sent thither the Duke of Burgundy named c Favine l. 4. c. 3. p. 6. Eudes the IV with many other Lords Captains and Men of Arms to the Reinforcement of the Earl of Armagnac Who Arrived there accordingly d Gaguin l. 8. p. 137. with two and fourty Ships furnished with Souldiers and Provision of all Sorts As for King Edward it was resolved that he should set forward with his Forces by e 22 Julii Magdalene-tide then next ensuing and lay Siege to the City of Tournay And that thither all the Lords of the League should repair to him with their several Forces except the Lord Robert of Artois aforesaid Sr. Henry Eam of Flanders and the rest who were to lie before St. Omers All these things being thus fully Established the Council brake up and every one address'd himself to the performance of this Agreement Now King f Frois c. 53. fol. 30. b. 31. a. Du Chesne Philip of France had presently secret Information of the greater part of the Resolutions of this Council Whereupon besides his foremention'd Provision for St. Omers he sent to Tournay the Chief of all his Men of War as Ralph Earl of Ewe and his Son the Young Earl of Guisnes Gaston Phoebus Earl of Foix and his Brethren Emery Earl of Narbon Sr. Emery of Poictiers Sr. Geoffry Charny a Valiant Young Lord of whose Exploits this History will not be silent with these he sent the two Marshals Sr. Robert Bertrand and Sr. Matthew de la Trie Sr. Gerard de Montfaucon the Lord of Caieux Seneschal of Poictieu the Lord of Chastelan and Sr. John Landas and many other Valiant Knights and Esquires to the Number of g Fabian p. 212. 4000 Men of Arms and h Gievana Villan l. 11. c. 111. p. 769. 10000 Footmen the City it self affording no less than 15000 Fighting Men effective Now therefore when this Great Recruit was come to Tournay the Captain thereof the Lord Godmar du Fay was wonderfully satisfied and so joyning all together they immediately took all Care possible to supply and furnish the Place with Provision of Salt Wine Flesh Fish Wheat Oats Attillery and what else might seem Necessary for the Maintenance of a Town Besieged II. Nor was King Edward himself unwilling that his Intentions should be known in France But according to the Law formerly Established with his Allies in Flanders besides his Defiance made last Year he sends i Walsingh hist p. 135. Edit Franes p. 149. n. 21. before he goes to the Siege of Tournay his Charter of Defiance to King Philip the Tenour whereof from the k Adam Murimouth Original French runs thus l l Id. Adam Mâ—rimouth Walsingh lote citato Fabian p. 212 Fâ—x Acts Monum p. 348. Sandford p. 161. Du Chesne p. 651. Mezeray p. 16. c. Edward by the Grace of God King of England and of France and Lord of Ireland to the Right Noble and Puissant Lord Philip Earl of Valois Sr. Philip of Valois We have long and often peaceably demanded of You by Our Embassadors in the most Reasonable manner we could devise that You would restore unto Us Our Lawfull Right and Inheritance of the Crown of France which all this while You have with great Injustice and Violence detained from Us And whereas We well perceive that You intend to persevere in the same injurious Usurpation without returning any Satisfactory Answer to Our just Demands We give You to understand that We are entred into the Land of Flanders as Sovereign Lord thereof and are now passing thrô the Country And We further signifie unto You that by the help of Our Saviour m m Haec verba videntur alludere ad illud DIEU Eâ— MON DROIT i.e. God and my Right which words are still under the Arms of the Kings of England c. Jesus Christ and Our Righteous Cause with the Forces of the said Country Our Subjects and Allies We purpose to recover the Right which We have to that Inheritance which You by Your injurious Violence detain from Us. And therefore are We now approaching toward You to make a quick decision of this Our Rightfull Challenge if You also will do the like And forasmuch as so great an Army as We bring with Us on Our part supposing You also on Your Part to do the like cannot remain long in the Field without great Destruction both of the People and Country which thing every Good Christian ought to avoid especially Princes and others who have the Government of the same We are desirous by as short dispatch as may be to meet and therefore to prevent the Mortality of Christians since the Quarrel apparently belongs to You and Me let the Controversie between Us be fairly decided by Our own Persons Body to Body to which thing We offer Our Selves for the Reasons aforesaid that the Great Nobility and Valour of each other may be seen of all Men. But if in case You shall not vouchsafe this way then let Us end the Dispute by the Battle of one Hundred of the most sufficient Persons of Your Party and as many of Mine which each of Us shall bring into the Field But if You will not admit either of the One or of the Other way then that You will Assign unto Us a certain Day before the City of Tournay which Day to be within Ten days next after the Date of this Our Letter wherein to Combat both of Us Power against Power We offering unto Your Choice these above specifi'd Conditions as We would have all the World to know not of any Malice Presumption or Pride in Our Selves but for the Causes aforesaid and to the intent that the Will of Our Saviour Jesus Christ being declared between Us two Peace and Unity might grow more and more among Christians the Power of Gods Enemies may be abated and the Bounds of Christendom be enlarged and enfranchised Wherefore consider hereupon with Your Self which of Our foresaid Offers You will accept and by the Bearer of these Our Letters send unto Us quick and speedy Answer Given under Our Great Seal at Chyn upon the Skell near Tournay the n n Sandford p. 161. Fox 27 Julii Fab. 15 Julii Alii diem non assâ—gnâ—nt 17 Day of Julii A. D. 1340. This Letter was some Days after thus
that neither you nor they have forgotten how We being formerly exalted to the Regal Throne in the years of our tender Youth and desiring at our first Undertaking that Royal Charge to be directed by wholsome Counsels did call unto Us John then Bishop of Winchester and now Archbishop of Canterbury because We supposed him to excell others in Loyalty and Discretion and have made use both of his Spiritual Advice in Matters concerning the Health of our Soul and also of his Temporal in Affairs relating to the Augmentation and Conservation of our Kingdom Nay he was by Us received into such Familiarity and experienc'd so much of our Favour towards him that he was called Our Father and next unto the King adored of all Men. Now afterwards when by Right of Succession the Kingdom of France was devolved unto Us and by the Lord Philip of Valois de facto manifestly usurped the same Archbishop by his Importunities perswaded Us to make a League with the Lords of Almain t t Et aliis quod habe◠l. Antiqu. Brit. emittit Walsingh and others against the said Philip and so to expose Our Selves and Ours to the Expences of War promising and affirming that He would see Us abundantly supplied out of the Profits of our Lands and elsewhere adding moreover that We should only take Care to provide Men of Courage and Skill sufficient for the War for he himself would effectually procure such Summs of Money as should both Answer our Necessities and the Souldiers Pay. Whereupon having passed the Seas we set Our Hand to Great undertakings and with marvellous Expence as it behoved made Our Warlike Provisions and bound Our Selves in vast Summs of Money to our Confederates in confidence of the Foremention'd Aid promised unto Us. But alas since We put Our Confidence in the Staff of a broken Reed whereon according to the u u Isai 36. v. 6. Prophet if a Man lean it will go into his Hand and pierce it being defrauded of Our wish'd for Aid of meer Necessity We were compelled under heavy Usury to contract the Insupportable Burthens of Debt and so breaking off Our further Expedition for that time were Obliged to desist from Our Enterprises so Valiantly begun against Our Enemies and to return into England Where having made Relation to the said Archbishop of Our manifold Vexations and Misfortunes and thereupon calling a x x Vid. l. 1. c. 16. §. 1. p. 177. Parliament the Prelates Barons and other Liege Subjects of Our Kingdom gave Us the Ninth of their Corn Lambs and Wooll besides a Tenth granted Us by the Clergy which Subsidy had it been faithfully collected and obtained in due time had not a little availed toward Our said Warlike Expedition the Payment of Our Debts and the confusion of Our Enemies nay it might probably have sufficed to have answer'd all as many then supposed The said Archbishop then again promised Us diligently to use his Endeavours as well in the Collecting the same as also in procuring other things necessary for Us. Whereupon giving credit to his promises and having Recruited Our Forces with a Navy collected for that purpose We set Sail for Flanders and upon the way buckled in a fierce Sea Fight with Our Enemies who had combin'd to the Destruction of Us and of Our English Nation But by the Mercifull Bounty of him who Ruleth both the Winds and Seas and not by Our own Merits We obtain'd over the Numerous Multitude of those Enemies a Glorious Victory and Triumph Which done passing forward with a Great Army for the Recovery of Our Rights We encamped near the most strong City of Tournay in the Siege whereof being very much busied and even wearied with continual Toyl and Charges We silently waited in daily Expectation hoping that however by means of the said Archbishop Our promised Aid would at last come to relieve Us in Our so Many and so Great Necessities At length being frustrated of Our conceived hope thô by many Messengers and divers Letters We fully signified to the said Archbishop and other Our Counsellors joyned in Commission with him Our Necessities and the sundry Inconveniences we were exposed to for want of the promised Aid aforemention'd as also the Great Advantage and Honour which We saw We might easily obtain by a seasonable supply of the said Moneys We yet received no Advantagious Answer from them Because minding their own business and wholly neglecting Ours they palliated their own Idleness not to say Fraud or Malice with painted Glossings and frivolous Excuses like those Mockers who as y y C. 28. v. 10. 13. Isaiah says deridingly Scoff and say Precept upon Precept Precept upon Precept Line upon Line Line upon Line Here a little and there a little So that alas while a near hope of Triumphing over Our Enemies most graciously smil'd upon Us We were even then for want of Necessary Supplies constrained against Our Will to submit to accept of a Truce to the shamefull Hinderance of Our Expedition and the no small Joy of Our Adversaries Returning thereupon into Flanders both Empty of Money and Full of Debt neither Our own Purses nor Our Friends being sufficient to discharge Our Necessities and to pay off Our Foreign Auxiliaries We were compelled to plunge Our Selves into the Devouring Gulf of Usury and to submit Our Shoulders to the various Burthens of Insupportable Debts At last Our Faithfull Friends Companions of Our Labours and Partakers of Our Troubles came unto Us with whom We carefully consulted for a desired Remedy whereby We might happily obtain some Fair Weather after this so Great Storm of ill Fortune These All agreed that the sad protracting of Our Wars and the manifold Inconveniences proceeding from Our Want of Supply happen'd all thrô the Fault or Negligence not to say Malice of the said Archbishop to whose Discretion We had committed the Affairs of Our whole Kingdom They the while much Admiring and Murmuring at Us because Our Royal Goodness had so long left unpunished the Insolence of the said Archbishop and other Our Officers Saying that if We would not apply a speedy Remedy to these Evils They must of Necessity withdraw from Our Service and go back from their Alliance made with Us And this certainly must needs redound to the Subversion of Our Kingdom Our own perpetual Infamy and the Eternal Reproach of the English Nation which God Our most Mercifull Father of his Infinite Goodness Graciously forbid to come to pass in Our Days as the Anchor of Our hope is immoveably fixed on him Whereupon intending the due Correction of Our Officers some of them whom for many Reasons We suspected Guilty of Male-Administration Subversion of Justice Oppression of Our Subjects of Bribery and other Heinous Offences We have as We might do caused to be removed from their Offices Others also of Inferior Degree being culpable in the Premises We have committed to safe Custody least should they enjoy their wonted Liberty the Execution of
Almighty preserved all the rest And surely since neither French nor English nor any other Writer are more particular in this Point and it is most c Vt patet ex Dugd. 2 Voll de Baronagio certain that not one of the English Nobility fell that Day it is to be look'd upon as a Remarkable Instance of Divine Favour to King Edwards Arms. XI One d Mezeray ad hunc an p. 26. Author only and He a very late One presumes on his own Authority to Averre that King Edward brought into this Battle Four or Five pieces of Cannon which did no small Execution but scatter'd an Infinite Terrour and Confusion among the Frenchmen for this says He was the First time that ever those thundring Engines were seen in the Wars of Europe Of which Deadly Machines both because they may be menaged by Persons of no Force or Courage and also cannot be resisted or eluded by any Natural Power or Conduct We may justly say as e Plutarch's Apopthegms Archidamus the Son of Agesilaus said of a certain Engine brought out of Sicily O Hercules now is the Valour of Mankind at an End But as my Design is not presently to admit every thing thô back'd with never so great Authority of Person if otherwise the Matter it self is void of truth or probability So neither shall I conceal what I have found as to the Antiquity of this Wonderfull Invention of Guns whatever Use the Reader may make thereof against my self For in such a Case the Love of truth ought to overballance all other Respects And thô the first Publique Use of Guns that We read of hath been generally held to be about the Year of our Lord 1380 as Magius or 1400 as Ramus in a Battle betwixt the Venetians and Genouese fought at Clodia-Fossa in which the Venetians so galled their Enemies that thô they saw Wounds and Death fly among them yet they knew not how it came or how to avoid it as Witnesseth Platina in the Life of Vrban the VI. And thô Laurentius Valla in a Book which as he says himself he wrote in the Year 1438 affirms that the f Nuper inventa est Machina quam Bombardam vocant Gun grew in Use not long before his time yet my g Dr. Hakewili's Apology of the Power and Providence of God c. l. 3. c. 3. p. 322. Author says he hath seen the Copy of a Record that Great Ordnance were brought by the French to the Battery of a Castle or Fort called Outwick near Calais and then in the Possession of the English whereof One William Weston was Captain who in the First of Richard the Second being question'd in Parliament for yielding up the Place doth in his excuse alledge that the Enemy brought to the Battery thereof Nine pieces of Great Cannon whereby the Walls and Houses of the said Castle were in divers places rent in sunder and sorely batter'd And in another place he calls the said Pieces most Huge Grievous and Admirable Ordnance And this his Answer h M. S. Rot. Parl. Sr. Rob. Cotton's Exact Abridgement Ano. 1 Rich. 2. n. 38. c. Sr. Robert Cotton says if it was true as it was not disproved was very Reasonable Notwithstanding he was for the same Surrender adjudged to Death and sent back to the Tower from whence he came because without Commission he yielded up the Place whereas he took upon him the Defence of the same And this Surrender happen'd in the last Year of King Edward the Third Predecessor to the said King Richard the Second And i Fran. Petrarch de Remediâ—s utriusque Fertunae l. 1. Dial. 99. p. 84. Erat haâ— Pestis nuper rara ut cum ingenti Miraculo cerneretur Nunc ut rerum pessmarum deciles sunt animi ita communis est ut unum quedlibet genus armorum Petrarch who died above three Years before King Edward the Third says of these Guns This Pestilent Device was lately so rare that it was look'd on with great Astonishment Now as Mens Minds are very apt to learn the Worst it is as Common as any other sort of Arms. Nay more than so we are credibly informed that a Commission is to be seen for making of Salt-Peter in Edward the Thirds time and another Record of Ordnance used in his Days some Twenty Years before his Death Nay We can go Higher yet and refer to that part of the Record of the k M.S. Rot. Parl. p. 34. §. 40. Sr. Rob. Cotten p. 24. §. 4â— 14 Edw. 3. Vd l 1. c. 16. §. 1. p. 179. 14 Year of this Kings Reign six Years before the Battle of Cressy in which is mention made of Thirty two Tuns of Powder And thô We are able to trace the Original of Guns thus High yet surely it doth not appear by any other Author except Mezeray that King Edward brought any such thing into the Field at this Battle The first time that Old Writers say he used them was at the Siege of Calais where thô he might be allowed to bring such Machines against Walls with more Generosity than Men Yet We shall shew hereafter that he only intended to reduce that Place by Famine and not to win them by Assault or Battery Nor can We find that during at least the greater part of his Reign any such Engines on either Part were brought into the Field or planted against any Castle or Fortress which doubtless would have been had they been well known at that time in these Parts or had either of those Princes been minded to make use of such inhuman Executioners No! Hitherto Men fought like Men and thô those Devillish Engines I grant were invented something about perhaps before this time yet either for a while they were not known or at least not made use of But if these Instruments were so Wonderfull to that Age how much more Admirable is the later Invention of our Days of Guns that are not actuated by Sulpher or any Combustible Matter but only by Wind. Of which a late * Dr. Burnet's Letters p. 265. Letter from Nâ—migen 20 May 1686. Author says thus There is in Basile a Gunsmith that maketh Wind-Guns and he shewed me One that as it received at once Air for 10 shot so it had this Peculiar to it which he pretends for his own Invention That he can discharge all the Air which may be parcelled out in 10 shot at once to give an home blow These are terrible Instruments indeed and it seems the Interest of Mankind to forbid them quite since they can be employed to assasine Persons so dextrously that neither Noise nor Fire will discover from what Hand the shot cometh But to return XII King Philip of France retired as We have shewn out of the Battle under favour of the Night Having not above l Frois c. 130. Giov. Villani l. 12. c. 66. p. 877. sixty Persons in his Company of whom only Five
his Blood should yield to try a Combat before a King his Enemy was mortally displeased at him and thô he had gain'd such Honour both in the Holy Wars and in the late Duel absolutely deny'd to admit him into his Presence But after a few days having with much adoe and earnest Intercession obtain'd admittance the said Lord Thomas as one that was desirous to shew himself a true Subject and so to recover his Brothers favour besides his declaring the necessity which the Christian Lords had put upon him to go into England began among his excuses highly to extoll the Generosity of King Edward and to shew how justly his Fame was spread throughout the whole World Nor did he forget to commend his Equity which he had shewn in his cause not at all accepting the Person of the Cypriote althô it was well known what a Friend he was to the King of Cyprus himself but Prefer'd and Honoured and Rewarded me said he thô I am a Frenchman and Brother and Servant to you my Lord the King of France These Words the Noble Earl of Ewe and of Guisnes and Constable of France then Present not knowing how distastfull they were to King John confirmed by his own experience and rose up and shew'd among other instances n Knighton p. 2607. n. 1. c. how far that Noble King had banish'd all envy and hatred from his Bâ—east insomuch that lately in a solemn Tourneament at Windsor he had not only admitted him being a Prisoner to that Honourable Exercise but gave him an allowance of all necessary accoutrements and at last rewarded him with a Rich Pâ—ize and new had sent him home upon his Parole in trust of a small Ransom and other as Negotiator for the Redemption of others than a Prisoner himself whereby said he I am put in a Capacity to serve your Majesty as I served your Father or blessed Memory These true Praises of King Edwards Princely Disposition enflam'd the envious heart of lâ—ing John with Madness so that immediately without any in thâ—â— consideration or process of Law he caused them both to be apprehended and sâ—ung in Prison and the third day after o Frois c. 159. Me. 〈◊〉 ad 〈◊〉 namely on the 19 of November to be beheâ—ded by night in the Presence of the Duke of Bourbon and seven or eight other Lords of Note before whom the Earl of Ewe is said to have confessed certain points of Treason whereof he stood guilty But however all the Treason that Envy it self could lay to the Bastards Charge was only that as he was bound by Oath to 〈◊〉 the Christian Princes in the Holy War he had accordingly committed his cause to the Arbitration of the King of England And as for the Earl of â—â—we whatever at that time was devis'd to blacken him he was notoriously a Person of such Gallantry and had already so eminently signaliz'd his Loyalty that to this day it could never be believed that he could be really guilty of any manner of Treason tho some rather by way of conjecture than proof pretend to colour the Matter that his require passing too and fro between England and France which he did in order to hasten the Redemption of his Fellow-Prisoners was with Designs in favour of the 〈◊〉 Others say p Stâ—w p. 251. that he was suspected of being over Familiar with the French Queen and that therefore King John after the fall of these two Great but Unfortunate Gentlemen famished his Queen to Death thô she was Daughter to John of Luxemburgh that Noble King of Bohemia who lost his Life at the Battle of Creâ—â— in the cause of France But this is a most false and irrational Story for King Jâ—hus first Wife q L. 2. c. 7. §. 13. p. 427. who indeed was Daughter to the said King of Bohemia died as we shew'd two Years before And his second Wife his Queen at this time who was Daughter to William Earl of Boulogne lived in his Favour and died not till many Years after However the Earl of Ewe's Lands and Honours r Frois c. 153. Mezeray ibid. Mâ—rtâ—â— p. 125. Knight n ibid. c. were parcell'd out to otheâ—s his Office of Constable of France in January following was by the King confer'd on the Lord Don Carlos de la Cerda of Spain whom already he had made Earl of Argulesme his Earldom of Eu he gave to the Lord John of Artois Eldest Son to Sr. Robert of Artois of whose Revolt from France and Friendship to King Edward we have spoken in the first part of this our History Only the Earldom of Guisnes he left with the Lady Jane sole Daughter of the Defunct Earl of Ewe who was then Married to Walter Duke of Athens and after his Decease to Lewis Earl of Estampes of the house of Eureux from whom are derived the present Earls of Eu Princes of the Blood. VIII About this time the Scots not yet agreeing to redeem their King David who was still a Prisoner here nor admitting of any just offers of Composition but rather provoking the King of England farther by their Insolencies Cruelties and Depredations He for his part considering that the Truce with France would either be soon ended by violation or of its own course sent his Å¿ Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 160. p. 275 p. 294. Commissioners viz. Dr. Thomas Hatfield Bishop of Durham the Lord Ralph Stafford the Lord Henry Piercy and the Lord Ralph Nevill to treat with the Lord Robert Stuart Prince of Scotland and other Nobles of that Realm then met at York about a firm and final Peace between the two Nations And this Treaty was held on with good hopes of Success even till the end of the next Year for we find that it was at last between them agreed t Rot. Sectiae 25. Ed. 3. m. 3. Ashmole p. 657. that upon the coming into England of the young Lord John Eldest Son and Heir of Robert Stuart and several other young Noblemen Hostages for the said King he himself should be permitted to go into Scotland and upon his return back the Hostages should be deliver'd The Kings Letters of safe Conduct to the Hostages and of Power to certain Commissioners to receive them and to take King Davids Oath for his Return and the Command for his safe Custody at Newcastle till the Hostages were all come bear date the 5 of September an 25. Ed. 3. to continue in force till the Quindena of the Purification next following and on the 3 of November after they were renewed with a further term even to the Feast of St. Philip and James ensuing According to this agreement the Hostages being come and disposed into the Castles of York and Nottingham King Edward sent his Command u Râ—s Sectiae 25. Ed. 3. m. 3. bearing date the 5 of October to Sr. John Copland High-Sheriff of Northumberland the same who first took the King of Scotland
Craon Briciusgauth pro Bouciquaut prâ—pter 〈◊〉 M. SS Codicum leg tur Three Lords aforesaid namely the Lord of Craon the Lord of Bouciquaut and the Hermit of Chaumont besides the Captain of the Garrison who was there before and 240 Men of Arms the common Souldiers being let go and in this whole Expedition before the Battle of Poictiers there are p M.S. vet-An giiâ—in Biblieth C.C.C. Cantabr c. 23â— reckon'd to have been taken in all more than 6000 Men of Arms about in the Country as the Prince journey'd all whom he sent away Prisoners to Bourdeaux to be ransomed After the Taking of Romorantin the Prince marched on as before thrô the Parts of Touraine and Anjou on this side the Loire destroying the Country all before him till he came to the Place which was ordain'd to be remarkable to all Posterity for a Victory of his III. The French King q Fro s c. 159. f. 79. c. having already compleated his Musters at Chartres began his March about this time and went thence to Blois upon the Loire in quest of the Prince Where having tarried two Days he passed the River with all his Host a great Part whereof went over at the Bridge of Orleans Mehun Tours and Saumur or where else they might for all the other Bridges but those of the Good Towns were broken down by the French to hinder the Prince's Passage From Blois King John marched to Amboise and the day following to Loches where he heard how the Prince of Wales was on the Borders of Touraine and designed to return by Poictou to Bourdeaux For he had perpetual Information sent him in dayly by several expert Knights of France who continually coasted the English to observe their Countenance and Behaviour Hereupon King John marched from Loches to la Haye en Touraine resolving to give the Prince of Wales Battle with an Army consisting of 20000 Men of Arms Lords Knights and Esquires all muster'd and past for Men of Arms among whom were twenty six Dukes and Earls and more than 120 Banners with the Kings Four Sons who were all but Young as Charles Duke of Normandy and Dauphin of Vienna Lewis Duke of Anjou John Duke of Berry and Philip who shortly after purchased the Sirname of Hardy and became in time Duke of Burgundy At that instant Pope Innocent VI sent the Lord Talayrand Cardinal of Perigort and Nicolas Cardinal r Haec nomina tituli ecrum v. Victerell 1 Vol. p. 911. ad p. 923 Odâ—r Rainal Titulo Sancti Vitalis into France to treat of Peace between the French King and all his Enemies First between him and the King of Navarre for whose Delivery they had often before laboured hard with King John when he lay before Bretevil but all in vain and then to use their utmost Endeavours to compose Matters between England and France When these Cardinals came to Tours they heard how the French King was in eager Pursuit of the English wherefore they both made haste to the City of Poictiers for that way they understood both the Armies were bound The mean while the King hearing that the Prince made haste to get home and doubting lest he should escape his hands departed with all his Host from la Haye en Touraine and rode to Chauvigny on the River of Vienne where he tarried that Thursday with his Men in and about the Town between the two Rivers of Creuse and Vienne The next Day he passed the Vienne at the Bridge thinking to find the English before him on the other side but he was mistaken for they were encamped by a little Village higher on the Right hand of Poictiers But for all that King John pursued after with great heat and confidence and with him there passed the Bridge more than 60 Thousand Horse besides those that passed over higher at Chastelleraut who also took their way directly to Poictiers On the other hand Prince Edward had no certain knowledge where his Enemies were thô he concluded they were not far off because his Men could find no more Forage Whereby he began to be in great Want and then the English Souldiers repented much that they had made such Havock and Destruction as they had done before in Berry Anjou and Touraine and yet had laid up but small Provision for themselves against â—n evil Day IV. All that Friday being the day that the King passed the Vienne at Chauvigny Å¿ Frois ibid. censer cum Knighten p. 2614. n. 50. there tarried still behind in the Town three Great Lords of France the Lord Ralph de Coucy the Earl of Joigny and the Lord of Chauvigny Marshal of Burgundy with part of their Troops to the number of 240 Men of Arms. These early on the Saturday morning also passed the Bridge after the King who was then about three Leagues before and they took their way among Bushes by the side of a Wood which leadeth to Poictiers That same Morning Prince Edward had dislodged from about a little Village hard by called Bonmatour at which time he sent before him certain Currours to try if they could meet with any Adventure and to get Intelligence whereabout the French Army was These were in number sixty Men of Arms all excellently well mounted under the Leading of Sr. Eustace Dambreticourt a young Gentleman Son to the Lord Sanchio Dambreticourt who was Knight of the Garter with whom was joyned the Lord John de St. Guislain another Native of Hainalt and soon after their setting forth they met by chance with the Three French Lords aforesaid as they rode along by the side of the said Wood. The Frenchmen presently knew them for their Enemies wherefore they strait clap'd on their Helmets display'd their Banners and came a good round Trot toward the Englishmen But they seeing their Design and withall how far they exceeded them in Number determin'd to fly and suffer the French to pursue as knowing the Prince with his Horse was not far behind So they turned their Horses and took down by a Corner of the Wood with the Frenchmen at their Heels upon the Spurr crying out their Martial Cries with great Clamour But as they pursued thus eagarly unawares they came where the Prince was with his Battail expecting some News from those whom he had sent forth for that Purpose The Lord Ralph de Coucy rode so forward that he was suddenly under the Princes Banner where after a couragious Resistance he was taken Prisoner together with the Earl of Joigny and the Lord of Chauvigny and an t M.S. vel Ang. in Bibl. C. C C. Cantab. c. 230. Hundred Men of Arms as many more being slain only about Fourty escaped away by reason of the Covert of the Wood. This was the first lucky praeludium to that Famous Victory which was already destin'd for the English From these Prisoners Prince Edward fully understood the Condition of his Enemies and how they followed him so near that he could not