said Order is here enquired into its Original as vulgarly given exploded and one more Antient and Mystical asserted The time of this First Round Table with the manner of its Solemnity William Montagu Earl of Salisbury dies his Praise Pedigree Issue King Edwards Buildings at Windsor his Institution of the Most Noble Order of the GARTER The Names of the XXVI Founders A short View of the said most Noble Order and how many Foreign Princes c. have been thereof King Edward hears how King Philip had put to death sundry Lords of Bretagne his Friends King Philip's Cruelty to the Messenger of these News King Edward's Raillery on his Tax upon Salt. King Edward sends a Defiance to Philip But is alarm'd from all Parts to look to himself The Pope makes Don Lewis of Spain Prince of the Fortunate Islands King Edward sends Forces into Gascogne Bretagne and the Frontiers of Scotland He makes his Remonstrance to the Pope who endeavours to pacifie him A Parliament at Westminster The Earl of Darby lands in Gascogne His Acts. His Return to Bourdeaux He takes King Philip's Lieutenant before Auberoche Queen Philippa deliver'd of a Daughter named Mary John Earl of Monford acquitted his Prison The Lord Oliver Ingham dies his Issue From p. 287. to p. 312. Chap. XXIII King Edward tells the Pope that unless King Philip gives him Satisfaction he will renounce the Truce The Earl of Northampton commissioned to defie the French King. King Edward's Manifesto touching the Dissolution of the Truce His New Commission to the Earl of Darby An account of his Actions in Gascogne this Year The Lord Walter Manny finds his Fathers Bones in Reole The Castle of Reole yielded The Earl of Darby's Victorious Progress and Return to Bourdeaux From p. 312. to p. 320. Chap. XXIV Henry Earl of Lancaster dies The motives and manner of Jacob van Arteveld's Fall. The Flemings appease King Edward The young Earl of Hainalt slain The Lord John of Beaumont brought over to the French side The Lord Godfry of Harcourt revolts to England John of Monford amidst his Victories in Bretagne dies The Earl of Northampton combats Charles of Blois and routs his Army The Scots discomfited by the English whereon ensues a Truce The Death of one Lord and two Bishops From p. 321. to p. 330. BOOK II. CHAP. I. KIng Philip sends the Duke of Normandy against the Earl of Darby aliàs the Earl of Lancaster Duke John sits down before Angoulesme the Earl of Lancaster new Garrisons Ville-Franche and reinforces Aiguillon The Seneschal of Beaucaire wins Ancenis Sr. John Norwich escapes the Duke of Normandy by a quaint device The Duke of Normandy comes before Aiguillon with the Particulars of that Siege The French King's Seneschal of Guienne beaten by the Earl of Lancaster which Earl holds the Duke of Normandy short From p. 331. to p. 337. Chap. II. King Edward resolves to succour his Friends in Aiguillon calls a Parliament settles the Realm sets Sail for Gascogne but lands in Normandy and Knights his Eldest Son Prince Edward c. King Philip strengthens Caën against him A Cruel Execution done at Paris upon a Frenchman for Asserting King Edward's Right to France King Edward marches thrô Normandy King Philip prepares to encounter him King Edward takes St. Lo and Caën Rejects the Cardinals Endeavours for Peace stays at Poissy to repair the Bridge and sends a Defiance to King Philip who goes to his Army King Edward gets over the Seyne receives and replies to an Answer of King Philips to his Challenge His Progress thrô France His Princely Carriage to two Fair Ladies that were taken at Poix The Inhabitants of Poix being found treacherous are put to the Sword. King Edward endeavours to get over the Somme A French Prisoner shews him the Passage at Blanchetteaque which yet he finds guarded but goes over and discomfits Godmar du Fay who kept the Passage King Philip rests at Abbeville King Edward encamps in the Fields of Cressy and prepares to receive him From p. 338. to p. 353. Chap. III. The Number and Order of King Edward's Forces the Names of his Chief Captains He creates 50 Knights King Philip goes out of Abbeville against him The Order of the French. King Philip advances his Oriflambe and King Edward his Burning Dragon The Battle of CRESSY The Earl of Warwick sends to the King for Succour with the King's Answer The Prince of Wales having overcome several Bodies of the French marches forward against their Main Force routs the Marquess of Moravia kills the Old King of Bohemia and wins his Banner of the Ostrich Feathers King Philip flies and leaves the Victory to the English The Number of the slain on both sides An Enquiry into the Antiquity of Guns King Philip retires to Broye thence to Amiens and so to Paris The Behaviour of the English after the Victory Two Bodies of the French defeated The Conquerour takes the Spoil of the Field and care for the burial of the Dead King Edward marches from Cressy and lies down before Calais From p. 354. to p. 365. Chap. IV. The Description of Calais The strength of King Edward's Navy He lays a formal Siege to the Place Plenty of Provision in his Camp. The Earl of Warwick takes Teroüenne The Flemings besiege St. Omers Seventeen Hundred poor People being thrust out of Calais are relieved by King Edward The Copies of two Letters containing the summe of this Expedition from the Winning of Caën to the Siege of Calais The Duke of Normandy makes another attempt upon Aiguillon but to his Loss King Philip commands his Son to rise from before Aiguillon and perswades the King of Scotland to invade England The Duke of Normandy leaves the Siege of Aiguillon the Lord Manny cuts him off at the Reer His Agreement with a Prisoner of Quality The Prisoner brings him a safe Conduct and is set free The Lord Manny riding towards Calais in Confidence of this Conduct is seised by King Philip's Order But the Duke of Normandy saves his Life The Earl of Lancaster upon the Duke of Normandy's Departure takes the Field and Conquers in Sainctogne Rochellois and Poictou An Instance of this Earls Liberality and Munificence He wins Poictiers leaves it Desolate and Returns to Bourdeaux An Army of Poictevins discomfited by the English Garrison of Lusignan From p. 365. to p. 375. Chap. V. King Philip by his Ambassadors perswades the King of Scots to break with England King David resolves on a War Raises an Army and begins to march His Cruelty to an English Knight in cold blood He encamps near Durham Queen Philippa makes her Musters at York and sends an Expostulation to King David The Order and Number of the Scotch Army Also of the English with the Names of their Chief Leaders Queen Philippa encourages her Men. She beats Douglas and Graham before the Battle Robert Stuart Prince of Scotland begins the Fight but is obliged to Retreat King David is taken Prisoner by
was outed and this other put in his place twelve Barons 800 Knights 2000 Men of Arms and above 13300 Foot But on the English side there fell no more than two Knights Sr. John Gourdon and Sr. Reginald Beche and of Esquires thirty three but not one Archer nor Footman So that the extraordinariness of the Victory occasion'd Lit. Dom. P. that it was justly attributed to Divine Power and from this time the Lord Bailiol began to bear the Sirname of Conquerour This Battle was struck on the 14 of August being the x Knighton p. 2561. n. 30. Wednesday after the Feast of St. Laurence The next day in pursuance of so notable a Victory they march up to St. Johnston upon the River Tay which thô very Defensible was thrô the Consternation of the Inhabitants taken without Assault and here they found good store of Warlike Ammunition and Provision of Victuals Wherefore they thought best to Fortifie the Town for their own Use and to entrench it round with deeper and larger Ditches as not doubting shortly of an occasion to be put to defend themselves against Greater Forces which indeed came to pass accordingly For immediately after Earl Patrick of Dunbar and Archimbald Douglas came and invested the Town with an Army of 40000 Men before which time they had sent Orders to Sr. John Crab the Admiral that he should set forth with as many Vessels of War and as Great strength as he conveniently could of the sudden and therewith fall upon the English Fleet which lay in the Water of y Knighton p 2561. n. 5â— Tay but ill-defended as they imagin'd This Counsel was put in execution but missed of its desired Effect For Sr. John Crab came with Ten stout Ships of Flanders suddenly upon the English as they lay in the Harbour Sr. Henry Beaumont's Barge felt his Fury first for this he took and put all to the Sword he found there which were yet but a few and they not ready because of the suddenness of the surprise But however before they fell they made such Resistance that the rest of the English had time to Arm and Unite strongly together Which being done thô nothing equal to the Scots in number they behaved themselves so well that by plain Valour they extorted another unexpected Victory from their overweening Enemies slaying and wounding the greater Part of them and burning sinking or taking all their Vessels Their Admiral Crab himself very narrowly escaped away flying by Land and himself bearing the first News of his own Loss This Success happen'd to the English on St. Bartholomews being a Saturday on Knowledge whereof Earl Patrick and Douglas raised their Siege in Despair Because nothing was to be done effectually unless they could cut off the English from the use of the Water which by this Defeat could not now be performed After this the English deliver the Town well Fortified and Provided with a sufficient Garrison to the Custody of the Lord Duncane Macduff Earl of Fife who upon the Victory at Kingcorn had revolted from King David to the Lord Bailiol the Conquerour But shortly after he betray'd the Town again to the Bruceans requiting one Treason with another IV. The Reputation of these frequent and incredible Victories was so great that many Nobles and Gentlemen z Walsingh Hypod p. 112. n. 30 of England of their own accord flock'd thither to the service of the Lord Bailiol even at their own expence either in hopes of Prey or out of pure Courage to get Honour in the Wars or of Love to the Family of the Bailiols which had always been supported by the English Or perhaps by King Edward's allowance for the Exercise of his Gentry in the Wars Not a few also of the Scots themselves revolted to the Conquerour So that soon after on the a Walsing hist p. 114. n. 1. 5 of the Calends of October which is the 27 of September the Lord Edward Bailiol was by the English Crowned King of Scotland at Scone many also of the Prime Nobility of that Realm consenting to and assisting at the same Such weak Resistence can even so Potent a Kingdom make when those who should joyn in the Common Defence of their Country either by Disloyalty to their Prince or Faction among themselves prepare a way for a Common Enemies Success Especially when the supream Governour himself either by reason of Childhood or Unskilfulness can have no absolute Disposal of the Laws in his own Hands to any purpose Besides at this time the Scots had few or no sufficient Leaders the Lord James Douglas being as we shew'd before kill'd in Spain and the Lord Thomas Randulph who had been Protector of the King's Person and the ablest either Counsellor or Soldier in Scotland was now newly dead b Hector Bâ—ct l. 15. fol. 310. lin 70. Buchan l. 9. p. 281. Boetius and from him Buchanan would here fain make us believe that he was poison'd by a Monk at the Order and Contrivance of King Edward of England Who upon the news thereof brought to him by the said Monk invaded Scotland say they with a great Army When finding Randulph still alive thô but then dissembling health as he that had received the Poison for Anger he burnt the Poisoner and for Fear broke up his Army Thus these Egregious Historians and indeed they set off the tale wonderfull prettily but with what Truth or Honesty appears not only in that they bring no Author for what they say themselves being more than 200 years after that Age nor in that they are both very frequently found either thrô Malice or Ignorance in shrewd and palpable Errors but in that it appears from the most Authentick Records extant that King Edward the Third invaded not Scotland in Person till two years after the Death of this Lord Randulph which by their own c Buchan p. 282. ubi moritur 3º Calend. August i.e. 30 Jultit Cum Balicli Invasio centigit circa principium Augusti ut supra dictum Confession preceded even this Invasion of the Bailiol And moreover the whole Course of King Edward's Life and Reign will appear full of Acts of Generosity Honour and Magnanimity But having laid down these First Seeds of the Scotch War we shall now take a short leave of these Affairs till time calls us to consider what Fruits in their Order they brought forth and by whose Hand the chief Harvest of Honour was gather'd V. In England this mean while certain d Walsingh hist p. 113. n. 40. bold Fellows of the Realm in meer contempt of the King's Youth or by the secret instigation of some great Malecontents began to assemble themselves in considerable Bodies together And thus they kept in Woods and Forests robbing and abusing all that came near them after their own pleasure and as it is usual when Impunity accompanies Villany in a short time these Bands grew so numerous and formidable that they became a Terror and
as some say in the latter end of * Fabian p. 203. Walsingh hist p. 117. n. 20. October at the Town of St. Johnston departed out of this Life the most hopefull young Prince John Plantagenet sirnamed of Eltham in Kent the Place of his Birth who was only Brother to King Edward being the second Son of Edward the Second by his Queen Isabella Daughter to Philip le Bel King of France He was m Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 109. advanced to the Title of Earl of Cornwall by his Brother King Edward the Third and was twice by him made Lieutenant of all England upon his Expeditions the one into France the other into Scotland during his Absence But in his Action of this Year he so heated himself that he fell into a Feavour upon his return to St. Johnston and now at last died in the very Flower of his Youth being but twenty Years of Age and a Batchelour His Body being embalmed and brought into England was with great Solemnity Interr'd n Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 110. in St. Edmunds Chappel in Westminster Abbey on the Southside of the Choire and the Northside of the High Altar on the Left hand of the Door of the said Chappel Where the King his Brother raised for him a o Keep 's Monument Westm p. 66. c. Sandford's Geneal Hist p. 155 ubi the Figure of it most Noble Monument of Grey Marble set about with 24 little Images of various-coloured Alabaster and white Marble under each whereof are the blank Escutcheons remaining whereon had been as many several Coats of Arms depicted which are now wholly worn away and decayed On this Tomb lies his full Image of Admirable wrought Alabaster in his Coat Armour his Visage bare and a deep Shield on his Left Arm whereon are engraven the Arms of England within a Bordure of France having two Angels on each side supporting his Head and a Lion Couchant at his Feet Carved and finely Pictured of the same Alabaster with a Canopy covering the whole with delicate wrought Spires and Masons Work every where intermixed and Adorned with little Images and Angels according to the Fashion of those times supported by eight Pillars of white Stone of the same Curious-wrought Work But there is no Epitaph or Inscription to inform us any further The Scotch p Hector l. 15. f. 320. n. 40. c. Writers tell the manner of his Death thus that having done many abominable Cruelties in that Kingdom and especially without any Regard to Holy Places after all he came to St. John's Town where say they the King his Brother then was in the Church at his Devotions near the Altar That upon sight of him the King who had heard of all his Barbarous and Profane Cruelties question'd him somewhat about those Matters But receiving from him an harsh and undutifull Answer was so far provoked that immediately drawing his sword he there slew him with his own Hands upon the Place adding this That an Altar ought not to be a Refuge for One who had by Fire and Sword violated both Churches and Altars Certainly this Sentence which Hector puts into King Edward's Mouth was no way unbecoming a Religious Prince even thô he had perform'd such a Fact upon such a Brother as they make this Lord John to have been But this very Author forgetting Decencies and Characters at another time makes the same King as great a Profaner of Holy Places himself and yet his Friend Buchanan likes not this Story of his so well as to set his Hand to it which he very seldom scruples to do but when the Lye is too apparent For indeed King Edward was not in Scotland at the time of Prince Johns Decease and the young Lord was neither so Barbarous nor Profane as Hector feigns and besides his Death was q Knighton p. 2568. n. 30. Holinsh Scot. p. 237. n. 50. Pat. 10. Ed. 3. p. 2. m. 3. Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 109. c. Natural as all our Histories and the Records themselves agree In the r Walsingh hist p. 117. n. 20. Month of December there died also at St. Johnston the Lord Hugh Frenes who in Title of his Wife the Relict of Sr. Ebulo le Strange was called Earl of Lincoln of a Bloody Flux occasion'd by an excessive cold and indeed many other English were destroy'd by the vehement cold in those Quarters that Winter This Earl Hugh was the ſ Catal. Honor. p. 947. Third and Last Husband of Alice Daughter and Heiress of Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln but neither he nor any of her other Husbands had any Issue by her Queen Philippa of England t Sandford's Geneal Hist p. 177. Walsingh Hypod. p. 113. n. 40. this Year was deliver'd of her second Son at Hatfield who in Memory of her Father William Earl of Heinalt was Christened by that Name and sirnamed of Hatfield the Place of his Birth as was customary in those Days But this young Prince William of Hatfield lived but a short while and was buried in the Cathedral at York IX About this time as it were to usher in those grand Affairs which King Edward was now entring upon there u Ashmole p. 646. Fabian p. 203. 208. Walsingh Hypod. p. 114. Hist p. 131. n. 30. Gaguin l. 8. p. 134. Holinshead Engl. Chron. p. 900. appeared a fearfull Comet which for a considerable time darted forth its Rays with long and terrible Streams toward the East and toward the South It was look'd upon as a Forerunner both of those Wars in the Holy Land wherein the King of Armenia lost all his Country to the Turks and also of the great Devastation that followed shortly after in the Noble Realm of France Althô if they might not be divers I had rather set the time of this Comets Appearance to the Year following For x Esq Sherburne in his Catalogue of Astromers at the end of his Manilius c. we find that in the Years 1337 and 1338. there were seen either two or one and the same Comet of such a remarkable Phaenomenon that together with that which happen'd in the Year 1330 they employed the Pen of that learned Astrologer of those Days Godfry de Meldis an Oxonian to write his Book called Judicium Stellae Comatae Also this Year in a Village called Leighton about six miles Westward from Huntingdon was calved a Calf with two Heads and Eight feet if y Walsingh hist p. 119. n. 20. 30. c. Walsingham may obtain credit as there is little doubt to be made of the probability of this Matter This Winter was very sharp in England there being a hard Frost from the 27 of November to the 9 of February but no Snow at all whence Wheat became dear but other Grain grew plenty In many Parts of England the Willow-trees brought forth Flowers in January like Roses for Bigness and Colour and Elder-trees bare fruit exactly
Villant p. 862. l. 12. c. 53. September he went from Dort in Holland with a great Fleet of Valiant Souldiers gather'd from Hainalt Flanders Brabant Holland Guelderland and Juliers to take Revenge of his Rebells of Friseland For he claimed to be Lord thereof and it was indeed his by Right if the Frisons had not been of Barbarous and Unreasonable Principles But here at last it was his ill Fortune to be met by the Frisons in a narrow passage near Staveren where being unknown he was presently slain before any of his Friends could come up to his Assistance He was a Prince of high Merit and a most Famous Souldier whereof for the short time he lived u Tâ—â—e's stcrehouse p. 721. he gave many good Testimonies in his Wars against the Saracens and Moors in the Kingdom of Granada and against the French in the behalf of his Brother in Law the King of England also in his Victories in Lithuania and Livonia and against the Russian Infidels where he loaded himself with Honour and his Men with spoil and booty Lastly in his Conquest of Vtrecht and his frequent Victories over the Frisons till this unhappy encounter wherein he lost his Life He died without Issue whereupon he was succeeded by his Eldest Sister Margaret the Empress whose Son William of Bavaria was Earl after her Decease Which William Married the Lady Mathilda Daughter to Henry Plantagenet now Earl but then Duke of Lancaster by whom yet he had no Issue There was slain at the same time with this Young Valorous Earl of Hainalt his Sisters Son William x Giov. Villani p. 862. c. Marquess of Juliers and Earl of Cambridge a Lord of great Power and Valour and while he lived a sure Friend both to him and King Edward His Uncle Sr. John of Hainalt Lord of Beaumont was y Frois c. 116. not in Friseland at the time of this woefull chance but soon after coming thither when he was told of the Death of his Nephew he rag'd like a Man distracted and would immediately have taken the Field against the Frisons But he was hinder'd by his servants and especially Sr. Robert Gluves who was his Armour-bearer and by a Dutifull Violence forced him into his Ship against his Will. So he return'd into Holland with a small Company and came to St. Geertruydenberg where he found the Young Lady his Niece late Wife to the said Earl named Joan the Duke of Brabant's Eldest Daughter who being informed of this heavy loss went and lived disconsolate in the Land of Binche about three Leagues Eastward of Mons z Vid. c. 10. §. 6. p. 114. which had been assign'd her for her Dowry The Government of Hainalt was menag'd by the Lord John till the Empress Margaret his Niece came thither to take Possession in her own Person VIII After this News was spread abroad in France King Philip whom it became to be vigilant about this own Advantage began to think how he might bring over the Lord John of Hainalt to his Side now the Earl was dead with whom since his Invasion of his Lands he could never have hopes of Reconciliation But the Lord John's Resentments he knew were not so deep wherefore he spake to Guy Earl of Blois who had married the Lord John's Daughter and had by her three Sons Lewis John and Guy besides the Lord Charles whom he had by a former Venter to use his Interest with him to bring him over to the French Side and he himself also by his Royal Letters assured unto him greater Revenues in France than he had in England which he promised to assign unto him in Lands where he should think best himself But to all these Arguments the Noble Lord was wholly Deaf for he consider'd that he had spent all the slower of his Youth in the King of Englands Service and ever found great Favour and Love from him wherefore now he had no mind to leave him When the Earl of Blois saw there was no sixing on him this way he resolved to try another and first to win the Lord of Saginelles his Chief Companion and Counsellour and so by his means to work further upon the Lord of Beaumont This Man being soon gain'd as one that had no such Obligation to England it was agreed between him and the Earl of Blâ—is to make the Lord John believe that King Edward would no longer pay him his usual Pension but had absolutely refus'd upon Demand to pay it to his Use as he had been wont This Device took for the Lord John without enquiring into the Bottom of it was so displeas'd at this supposed Unkindness that he forthwith renounced his Service and Good-will which hitherto he had born to King Edward The French King hearing hereof sent immediately sufficient Deputies to him and chose him of his Council and retained him in his Service for War at certain Wages assigning him moreover in France as much Land or more than he had in England But to require the Loss of these four Friends of King Edward's Earl William his Uncle John the Marquess of Juliers and Jacob van Arteveld about a Frois c. 114. this very time came over to his Side the Couragious and Politick Lord Godfry of Harcourt Lord of St. Saviour le Vicount and Brother to John Earl of Harcourt He had been once as Dear to King Philip of France as any Lord of his whole Realm but on b Fabian p 271. Occasion of a Quarrel between his Brother and Sr. Robert Bertram Marshal of France which was hugely fomented by Partakers on both Sides he so greatly displeased King Philip that if he could have got him into his Power 't was concluded he had found no better usage than the Lord Clysson had done before But he having timely Notice from his Friends withdrew into Brabant to the Duke his Cousin by whom when all his Lands were seised on by King Philip he was advised to go into England and proffer his Service to the King there He did so and was welcome to the King who received him with large Demonstrations of Good-will and made much use of him in his following Wars And this Displeasure of his cost the Realm of France dearly especially the Dukedom of Normandy for there the sad Effects thereof were seen an hundred years after IX In the Close of the foregoing Year it may be remembred c c. 22. §. 1â— p. 312. how we spake of the Deliverance of John Earl of Montford who claim'd the Dukedom of Bretagne from Prison And that by Vertue of the Truce King Philip was obliged in a manner to give him his Liberty but it was done with this Proviso that he d â—â—bian p. 270. should not go into Bretagne nor make the least offer to intermeddle with the Affairs of that Country Notwithstanding this Tye of his Promise Earl Montford took the first Opportunity to make his Escape into England as he did about
Wherefore they took him out of Prison and suffer'd him to go an Hawking a Sport which he loved well on the other side the River Lys or Leye But still there were Persons appointed to watch him who were charged upon their Lives to look carefully to his Motions that he should not by any means steal away from them And besides his Keepers themselves were such as chiefly prefer'd the King of England's service so that he could not do the least occasions of Nature without their knowledge This new way of Imprisonment obliged the Earl to another Device he said at last as it were from his heart and of his own accord that he desired extreamly to Marry the Daughter of so Renowned a Prince as King Edward was but none of his Friends would endeavour to procure him that happy Promotion Of this immediately the Flemings sent word to the King and Queen then before Calais and appointed a Day whereon they should come with their Daughter the Lady Isabella to Bruges and they would at the same time bring thither their Lord the Young Earl and so the Nuptials should be solemnized between them in the Abbey The King and Queen x Frois ibid. Giov. Villant l. 12. c. 86. p. 894. who were well pleased with this Overture said how the Flemings had now done like true and honest Men and so prepared for the intended Meeting At the time appointed the most Discreet and Wealthy Burgesses of the Towns of Flanders came unto Bruges a Chief City of Flanders between Ostend and Sluys and brought with them the young Earl their Lord in great Pomp and State Here they found the King of England and his Queen who received them graciously The Young Earl enclin'd himself with great Demonstrations of Respect to the King and Queen and then King Edward took him by the Right Hand very courteously and lead him forward saying unto him As for the Death of the Earl your Father as God shall help me I am Innocent For I knew nothing of his being in the Field at the Battle of Cressy neither on the Day of Battle nor till the Evening of the next Day when the Heralds brought me an Account of the slain The Earl seem'd to believe this Protestation and to acquiesce in so just an excuse And thereupon other Communication succeeded and at last the Marriage was agreed and a Bond of Ensurance made certain Articles of perpetual Amity being on both sides sworn to and agreed on between Edward King of England and Lewis Earl of Flanders And then and there the Young Earl affianced the Lady Isabella King Edwards Daughter and promised on such a Day to Wed her So for that time they all brake up the Earl returning to Courtray and the King and Queen going back to the Camp before Calais where they made great Preparations against the Marriage for Jewels and costly Apparel and Presents to give away according to their Estate The mean y Frois ibid. while the Earl of Flanders pass'd away his time very pleasantly about the River Leye and seem'd so extreamly satisfied with the Person of the English Lady that the Flemings verily believing him to be in earnest took no such great heed to him as before But they did not understand the deep Dissimulation of their Lord for whatever appearance He made outwardly his Heart was wholly addicted to the French Interest and he resolved in his mind never to admit unto his Bed the Daughter of him who had sent his Father to his Grave A just Resolution had it been rightly grounded For indeed his Fathers Death ought not to have been imputed to King Edward but to his own Misfortune for taking part with King Edwards Enemies in that Battle where he was slain by chance of War and without any knowledge of the Kings as himself protested However the Earl having now obtain'd a little more liberty by reason of his fine conveyance for he made huge Preparations against the Marriage he never intended found at last an Opportunity to escape away which was done in this Manner In the Easter-week z Fibian p. 274. being that very Week that the Daughter of England was to be brought into Flanders and the Espousals to be solemnized he rode forth with an Hawk on his Fist by the River side after his Manner At last his Faulconer cast off a Faulcon at a Heron and the Earl presently cast off his Thus these two Faulcons were in chace of the Heron and the Earl followed as after his Faulcon But when he found himself to have got the start of all his Attendants with the Advantage of the Open Fields he then clap'd Spurs to his Horse and gallop'd right on till his Keepers had wholly lost him The Earl continued hard on the Spur till he came into Artois the next Province to Flanders and there he was safe Thence he rode at his Leisure into France and came to King Philip to whom he shew'd the Reasons and Manner of his Escape the King commended him and said he had done Worthily and Wisely But the Englishmen said He had falfifi'd his Oath and with the loss of his Honour and Interest betrayed and deceived them But for all this King Edward did not break with the Flemings For he saw plainly that they were extreamly offended with this Rash Action of their Lords and that they knew as little of this Cheat as himself And indeed they made their Excuse so well that either the King did really believe it or however thought best to admit of it for that time VII We must not omit a Gaguin l. 8. p. 142. Fabian p. 274. c. one memorable Matter which happen'd about this time concerning an Advocate of the Spiritual Court named Dr. Gawin de Bellomont an Inhabitant of Laon in Picardy Who intended as it was laid to his Charge to have betrayed the City of Laon to the English Which City of Laon being seated on a Mountain not far from Vermand stands very commodiously to make War upon all its Neighbours round about Now there was at that time a poor Man named Colin Tomelin who formerly had lived in good Fashion but some while before being fled from Laon for Debt had gone to Metz on the Borders of Lorrain where he made shift to live a miserable Life To this Man Dr. Gawin de Bellomont aforesaid resorted frequently and as it were in pity of his Condition relieved him considerably till at last when he thought he had him fast enough he began something to break his Mind unto him But only then told him in General that if he would be ruled by him he would not only restore him to his former Ease and Sufficiency but raise him to an Eminent Degree of Wealth and Prosperity Colin readily embraced the Offer and sware unto him Secrecy and Fidelity Whereupon Gawin shew'd him a Letter sealed up and gave it him to carry to the King of England lying as then before Calais
galled and terrified that they were easily opened to the Men of Arms. The Lord James Audely being still followed by his Four Esquires fought all Day among the thickest Ranks of his Enemies not without receiving many Wounds both in the Body and Visage as long as his Strength and Breath would hold but when toward the end of the Battle his Esquires perceived that for loss of Blood he began to faint they carried him by main force out of the Field and laid him under an Hedge hard by where they unarmed him and refreshed him binding up his Wounds as well as they could King John of France for his part is allowed on all Hands to have performed the Office both of a Good Captain and of a Valiant Knight insomuch that it is said how if the Fourth Part of his Men had followed his Example in all Probability the Victory had been his There was f Frois c. 164. He on foot defending himself and offending his Enemies with a weighty Ax of Steel in his Hands which he used with much Praise It is said g Paul. Aemyl p. 287. that Prince Philip his youngest Son also fought at this time so well by his Fathers side and in his Defence like another young Scipio that thô he was taken at last Prisoner yet for his forward Courage in War he obtain'd the Sirname of HARDY Thô surely he must needs be now but of tender Age being the Youngest of four Sons of a Father who was but then h Ano 1364. Ano Aetat 52. ergo hoc an 44. Mezeray p. 66. in the Forty fourth Year of his Age and Prince Charles his Eldest Brother was then but i Natus Anno 1336. Twenty But it might be that his Resolution gave such hopes even now as to obtain the Title of HARDY from that Complementing Age which called Philip of Valois the FORTVNATE and this King John the GOOD and his Son Charles whom no Truce nor Oaths could bind the WISE Yet I have seen another Account much more probable indeed thô not so generally attested how this Prince came by the Sirname of HARDY 'T is said k James Meyer apud Holinsh Engl. Chron. p. 976. that while he was Prisoner in England together with his Father King John being at King Edwards Table with him at Dinner this young Prince Philip among Others of the Nobility of either Nation was appointed to wait And that when a certain young Nobleman of England who attended also served King Edward first and then King John this Philip up with his Fist and gave him a Wherret on the Ear saying What dare you serve the King of England first when the King of France sits at the Table The Nobleman offended therewith drew his Dagger offering to strike the young Prince but King Edward loudly forbad him and commending the Courage of the Royal Youth said to him in French Vous estes Phillippe le HARDI i. e. thou art Philip the HARDY from which that became his Sirname But to return whence we have digressed All this while the Prince of Wales and the Lords about raged like Lions and the Archers so well bestowed their Shot that the Frenchmen were at last broken here also and a miserable Slaughter ensued all the best Men being either taken or slain thô not a few chose to save themselves by Flight among the slain were reckon'd l Frois c. 162. Knighton p. 2614. n. 20. Mezeray c. Peter Duke of Bourbon the Duke of Athens Constable of France the Vicount of Châlons the Marshal Clermont the Vicount of Beause the Lord Geoffry Charny who bore the Royal Standard this Day the Lord Eustace Ribemont whom King Edward had so generously treated at Calais some Years before the Lord Guischard de Beaujeu the Lord m Du Serres p. 22. Fabian Speed. Reginald de Carrian the Lord William Nesle the Lord de la Torre Sr. Guyventon of Chambley or Chably the Lord of Castle Gaillon the Lord of Argenton and Others of the Highest Quality to the Number of n Mezeray ibid. Fifty besides the two Earls of Germany and Others whom we have shewn to be slain before But yet this Battail was not wholly discomfited it was so numerous and the King and some Lords about him fought so couragiously thô several of their Men fled away Among the various Rencounters Chaces and Pursuits made that Day in the Field o Frois c. 163. it happen'd that Sr. Edward Renty a Valiant Knight of Artois who yet had left the Fight when he saw Things desperate was pursued as he fled a private way all alone by a certain Knight of England whose Name we cannot recover The Englishman as he gave the Chace still cried out after him Return again Sir Knight it is a shame to fly away so from a single Man. At last the Frenchman turned indeed seeing it was so that no Body else pursued him and the Englishman thought to have stricken him in the Target with his Spear but he failed For Sr. Edward swerved aside from the stroke on purpose and as he passed on in full Career lent him such a full Blow on the Helmet with his Sword that he was astonished and fell from his Horse in a Swoon Sr. Edward presently hereupon alighting came to him with his Sword drawn before he was fully recovered and said Yield your self Sir and promise to be my Prisoner whether you be rescued or no or you are but a Dead Man. When the English Knight being come to himself saw Death before him and heard these Words he accepted the Conditions and yielded to go along with him and sware himself Prisoner and was afterwards released on payment of his Ransom That same Day another French Gentleman of Picardy an Esquire named John de Helenes having forsaken the Field met with his Page who deliver'd him his Horse whereon he rode away all alone Now there was in the Fight on the English Side the Lord Thomas Barkley Son of Sr. Maurice Barkley who died before Calais for this Story cannot belong to the old Lord Thomas nor to his Son Maurice as we have intimated before tho Sr. William p Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 358. Dugdale thrô inadvertency makes him both young and old and to have won many Prisoners wherewith he built Beverstone Castle and to be a Prisoner himself at the same time this Lord Barkley I say q Frois c. 163. Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 358. being at that time a young lusty Knight who had first reared his Banner that Day pursued the said John de Helenes all alone till having followed him the space of a League the French Esquire turned back upon him laying his Sword in his Rest instead of a Spear and so came running toward the Lord Barkley who the mean while stood ready with his Arm raised to have smote him but the Esquire seeing the stroke coming turned from it and as he passed reached him such a Blow
them soon after returned into Burgundy and Sr. Seguin of Batefoile would not forsake his Garrison at Ance. But however France was in a far better Condition being thus happily purged of those noxious Humors which began to corrode and prey upon her Vitals The mean while these Companions were led by the Marquess into Piedmont where by their help he prevailed o Paulus Jovius in Galeacio secundo Matt. Villani l. 10. c. 43. c. mightily against the two Lords of Milain Galeas and Barnabo and conquer'd Alba Pompeia Pavia Novarre and other Towns Castles Lands and Fortresses belonging unto them and had several Rencounters and Skirmishes with them to his Honour and Advantage So that within a Year he obtain'd the better hand of the Brothers of Milan and had of them in a manner what he demanded Thô afterwards the said Lords by their good Policy surmounted these Matters and brought off the better part of these Companions to their own side whereupon their Dominion was enlarged and they ruled in great Prosperity as we shall shew more fully in another place VIII Nor was England much more happy all this while thô now in full Peace thô now free from all Foreign or Domestick Enemies thô now she had no such Thieves or Robbers to disturb her Quiet For there p Odor Rainal ad hunc an §. 3. John Harding c. fell in England a New Calamity this Year a Plague something like the former and which in respect thereof was called the Second Plague nothing near so Dismal and Universally Fatal as the Former but much more Destructive of the Nobility and Prelacy where ever it went. Nor was this Visitation unaccompanied with Prodigies for on the q Labbe Chron. Technica ad hunc ann M. S. vet Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantabr c. 231. Walsingh hist p. 171. habet 6 to Maii C. Lit. Dom. Pasc 28. Martii Vid. etiam Odor Rainal ad hunc an § 5. Walsing ibid. M.S. id ibid. Fabian Lanqet Stow Knighton p. 2626. Pol. Virg. l. 19. p. 385. John Harding c. 184. c. de omnibus hisce Prodigiis Fifth of May being a Wednesday the Eve of the Ascension at 14 Minutes after Ten in the Morning there happen'd a very remarkable Eclipse of the Sun which is mention'd also in the Turkish Annals and there followed such a strange Drought that there ensued great scarcity of Corn Fruit and Hay That same Month it rained Blood in Burgundy and on the 27 of the said Month at Boulogne in France there appeared in the Air a Bloody Cross from Morning until Six in the Evening at which time being seen of many it began to move and seem'd presently to fall into the middle of the Sea. After which there came forth of Woods into Towns many Foxes in the Dusk of the Evening which devoured Men alive in those parts And in the Summer of this Year both in England and France in Deserts and plain Countries there appeared suddenly at several times two Castles in the Air the One full South-East and the Other South-West whence there issued two Hosts of Armed Men the One whereof viz. That which came from the South-East bare Argent and the other Sable which engaging together the White would beat the Black but afterwards the Black recollecting their Forces would fall upon the others and extort the Victory back again And then each Party would return to the Castles from whence they came and so all things disappeared Those who are particular in these unusual Matters add that after Michaelmas the Rose-beds brought forth Roses of a perfect Growth Colour and Smell and that Crows and other Birds brought forth their young at the same time And in England on the 17 of January namely on the day of St. Anthony the Abbot there arose out of the South such an horrible and dreadfull Tempest of Wind with an Earthquake as the like was never known before for it blew down after an incredible manner strong and mighty Buildings Towers Steeples Chimneys Houses Woods Orchards and all kind of Trees bearing many a great way off with the very Roots and doing Wonderfull Harm to Churches Bells Walls Mills and Houses especially in the City of London And this Storm continued by fits more or less for the space of five some say six others eight days And in the same Year many Men Beasts Trees and Buildings were destroy'd with Thunder and Lightning from Heaven and the r M. S. vet Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 230. ad finem Devil appeared Bodily in humane shape to many People as they travelled in divers places in the Country and spake unto them to their great Affrightment Let no supercilious Critick be too rash in condemning me for inserting such Matteâ—s here as if thereby We Magisterially imposed upon the Belief of any Man. For we expect no more Credit from such an One than his Reason and Judgement may allow nor do we put any stress on these things But however think it our Duty to relate even doubtfull narrations when they are so generally attested as We find these to be Especially because there is no Age but has produced something as strange and incredible nor no Historian that pretends to be so discreet as not to take notice of such preternatural Accidents However at this time there happen'd a Second Plague which we shall spare to describe more fully any other way than from its Effects because in the First Plague which was of the same kind we were so large and so particular It took away as we said before Persons of the Highest Rank and Quality yet neither did it spare the meaner sort but especially it rag'd among Young Men and Children being less Å¿ Walsing hist p. 171. n. 36. fatal to Women as if choosing to be Cruel as well to the Better Sex as to the better part of that Sex. Whereupon 't is said t M.S. vet Ang. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 231. that afterwards the Widows of those who died took unto them husbands at random of strange Countries or Vile Condition forgetting their Estate and Families On u Matt. Villani l. 10. c. 45. p. 54. St. John's day and the day following there died little less than 1200 at London at Paris above 30000 in the whole Year and besides the many Thousands of Common People that died at Avignon there fell no less than x Matt. Villani ibid. Mezeray p. 63. Od. ric Rainal ad hunc annun §. 4. Nine Cardinals and Seventy other Prelates But here in England I shall not stand to enumerate how many of the Vulgar perished our Loss will easily appear from the Quality and Worth of those Few whom I shall now name And first of all there died a Man Worthy to live for ever even the Great High-born Valiant and Liberal Prince Henry Plantagenet who was taken away y Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 789. by the Plague on the 24 of March being
Philip heard first of this Loss Arrows prefer'd to Guns The Armies of France and Hainalt break up from before Thine l'Evesque King Robert of Sicily procures the Pope to write to King Edward to move him to Peace From p. 177. to p. 186. Chap. XVII King Edward in a Council of his Foreign Allies resolves to besiege Tournay and St. Omers He sends a Challenge to King Philip with Philip's Answer He sits down before Tournay where he is joyn'd by his Allies The Earl of Hainalt's Exploits and an Assault of the Flemings upon Tournay King Philip prepares to raise the Siege and encamps near the Town The various Rencounters during the Siege A Parliament at Westminster Scotland recovers Breath The English Allies before St. Omers possest with a Panick Fear The Difficulties of both the Kings The Pope and the Lady Jane de Valois procure a Treaty and that a Truce Both Armies break up The Truce prolonged for 2 Years The Death of sundry Great Personages The King of Spain's Victory over the Moors Queen Philippa deliver'd of a Daughter From p. 187. to p. 211. Chap. XVIII King Edward comes over in great displeasure into England where he displaces and imprisons several of his Chief Ministers of State. The state of his Quarrel with the Archbishop The Archbishops Letters to the King and to the Lord Chancellor His Remonstrance to the King and Council His Letter to the Bishop of London His Articles of Excommunication The King justifies his Proceedings in a Letter to the Bishop of London The Archbishop makes his Defence to the King. The King's Reply to the Archbishop's Defence A Parliament at Westminster The Archbishop pardon'd The Revocation of a Statute From p. 212. to p. 235. Chap. XIX King Philip brings over the Emperour to his side The Emperours Letters of Revocation to King Edward His Answer The Duke of Bretagne dying without Issue John of Monford and Charles of Blois lay claim to the Dutchy Earl Monford seises his Fathers Treasure calls a Parliament and takes in many places He goes into England and makes Homage to King Edward thereby to gain his Protection Being summon'd to appear in the Chamber of France he comes to Paris but steals away again The Dukedom adjudged to Charles of Blois King Philip confiscates the Earldom of Monford which King Edward requites with the Earldom of Richmond Charles of Blois takes his Rival and sends him to Paris The Countess of Monford renews the War. Queen Philippa deliver'd of her Fifth Son Edmund of Langley Francis Petrarch crown'd Laureat Poet. The Lord Douglas takes Striveling King Edward marches into Scotland brings the Scots to Conditions King David of Scotland returns home invades England lays siege to Newcastle but rises King Edward prepares to oppose him Durham destroy'd King David lies before the Castle of Werk The Story of King Edward's Love with the Countess of Salisbury exploded The Captain of the Castle passes by night thrô the Scotch Host to acquaint King Edward with the matter On knowledge whereof the Scots retire King Edward comes before Werk and follow the Scots A Truce between the two Kings The Earls of Murray and Salisbury acquitted From p. 236. to p. 255. Chap. XX. Charles of Blois lays siege to Rennes The Countess of Monford sends to King Edward for Succour Charles takes Rennes and besieges the Countess in Hennebond A famous Exploit done by the Countess Charles leaves half his Army with Don Lewis before Hennebond and goes with the other half to Auray Sr. Reynald of Dinant's Success against those of Rosternan Just as Hennebond is upon the point of Yielding the Lord Walter Manny arrives with the English Succours The Bishop of Leon falls off from the Countess The Lord Manny breaks the Enemies biggest Engine and beats up their Quarters Don Lewis rises in despair and goes to Charles of Blois who sends him to Dinant He takes Comper in his way The Lord Manny having retaken Comper returns to Hennebond The Men of Dinant having murder'd their Captain Sr. Reynald of Dinant yield to Don Lewis who takes and sacks Guerande Auray taken by Charles of Blois He takes Vannes and besieges Karhais The Lord Manny routs Don Lewis He attacks Rosternan the Captain of Favoet carries away two English Knights whom the Lord Manny follows but cannot recover He takes Gony en la Forest and returns to Hennebond The Countess sends to England for a Reinforcement Karhais yields to Charles of Blois who renews his siege before Hennebond Don Lewis vows to cut off the Heads of the two English Knights who were taken by the Captain of Favoet But the Lord Manny rescues them Charles leaves the Siege in despair but takes Jugon A Truce being taken between Charles and the Countess the latter comes with her Son into England The Earl of Salisbury is made King of Man by King Edward Pope Benedict XII dies Clement VI. succeeds From p. 256. to p. 267. Chap. XXI King Edward provides for the Campaign Sends the Lord Robert of Artois along with the Countess of Monford And resolves himself to pull down the Scots He enjoyns his Clergy to pray for the Success of his Arms. A Biennial Truce between England and Scotland The Lord Robert of Artois engages with Don Lewis of Spain but a storm parts them The Lord Robert of Artois lands in Bretagne and takes Vannes by stratagem The English lay Siege to Rennes The Bloisian Lords retake Vannes by storm The Lord Robert of Artois dies of his Wounds King Edward vows to revenge his Death A Parliament King Edward creates his Eldest Son Prince of Wales The Commons in Parliament complain of the Pope's Reservations The two Houses Address to the Pope The Pope writes to the King and his Council The King 's Notable Answer King Edward goes into Bretagne lays siege to Vannes Charles of Blois prepares to oppose him The King besieges him in Nantes and takes in divers Towns. The Lords of Clisson and Leon taken by the English before Vannes Don Lewis distresses King Edward's Navy John Duke of Normandy comes with an Army against King Edward The two Armies confront A Truce taken King Edward returns into England The Treaty fully ratified The Death of King Robert of Sicily of King Philip of Navarre and others The Foundation of Trinity-Hall Pembroke-Hall and Gonvill and Caius College in Cambridge From p. 267. to p. 287. Chap. XXII The Agents of France and England meet at Avignon Some Heads of the two Kings several Pleas which yet are more fully handled in the Fourth Book the fifth Chapter Paragraphs the VI VII VIII IX à p. 747. ad p. 758. but nothing done The Pope gains ground in the matter of Provisions King Edward begins his Round Table at Windsor With the Description Antiquity and gradual Encrease of that Castle King Philip sets up another Round Table at Paris But King Edward's Round Table being the Seminary of the Order of the Garter which was instituted Anno 23. Ed. 3. The
John Copland an Esquire of Northumberland The Third and last Battalia of the Scots discomfited The time and place of this Battle certainly Assign'd A Gross Mistake of Hector Boëtius the Scotch Historian How long the Fight lasted the Loss on both sides The Names of the Scotch Nobility slain and taken John Copland bears away the King of Scotland the Queen sends to him for the King She returns to York and King Bailiol and the English invade Scotland John Copland being sent for to Calais by King Edward is Knighted and Royally rewarded King David secur'd in the Tower of London The Earls of Menteith and Fife executed The Earl of Lancaster returns into England and the Queen goes over to the Siege at Calais The Pope endeavours for Peace in vain From p. 376. to p. 385. Chap. VI. A Parliament at Paris Another at Westminster The Pope writes to King Edward to perswade him to Peace King Edward's answer Odoricus Rainaldus refuted King Philip seeks to bring over the Flemings but misses his Aim The Earl of Flanders confin'd by his Subjects because he will not match with a Daughter of England King Edward reinforces the Siege of Calais The Earl of Flanders escapes into France Two Frenchmen put to Death for favouring King Edward's Right The Duke of Normandy receives a Foil before Cassel The frequent Attempts to relieve Calais frustrated The Losses and Difficulties of the English Camp. Sr. Robert of Namur enters King Edward's service before Calais An account of the Scotch Affairs since the Battle of DURHAM An account of the Affairs of Bretagne Sr. Charles of Blois taken Prisoner at the Battle of ROCHE D'ARIEN by Sr. Thomas Dagworth Roche d' Arien taken by the French and the English Garrison murder'd by the Commons of the Country The French Navy defeated Five hundred more poor People thrust out of Calais The Calisians send an Account of their Case to King Philip. The Earl of Lancaster leading a Detachment towards Amiens upon News of King Philip's March returns to Calais The French Kings strength he desires leave of the Flemings to pass thrô their Country but is refused The Flemings Besiege Aire but upon King Philip's approach rise King Philip comes to Sangate and demands Battle of King Edward with the Answer Two Cardinals obtain a Treaty which comes to nothing King Philip goes off in Despair The manner how Calais was yielded Calais settled by King Edward A Truce between the two Kings King Edward returns for England A Brush between the English and Scots of the Borders Lewis the Emperour dies King Edward chosen Emperour refuses Charles King of Bohemia succeeds The Death of William Occam and Walter Hemingford A Law-Case From p. 385. to p. 415. Chap. VII The Glory and Prosperity of King Edward's Reign corrupts the Nation A Parliament Justs and Turneaments How Avignon came to belong to the See of Rome Philip of Valois and Edward of England could cure the Kings Evil. An Order concerning the Kings Purveyors The Truce between England and France prorogued for another Year King Edward solemnises the Translation of St. Thomas c. The Earl of Flanders does Homage to King Edward but afterwards rebelling is beaten King Edward being inform'd of a Design to betray Calais goes over privately and beats the Frenchmen He presents a Rich Chaplet to the Lord Eustace de Ribemont and sets him free Having settled Calais he returns for England The Death of the Queen of France and of the Dutchess of Normandy The two Royal Widowers Marry again From p. 416. to p. 428. Chap. VIII Treats of the Great Plague that happen'd in the Year 1348. From p. 428. to p. 442. Chap. IX King Edward Founds the Chappel of St. George at WINDSOR with the Copy of his Letters for that purpose The Pope furthers the Matter by two Bulls The Progress in Building Enlarging and Beautifying the Castle of WINDSOR The Institution of the most Noble Order of the GARTER Henry Earl of Lancaster Leicester and Darby made Earl of Lincoln and sent into Gascogne The Lord Thomas Dagworth slain in Bretagne Earl Henry's Exploits in Gascogne He brings the French to Terms A Famous Combat between 30 English and 30 French. Of certain who arrived to Great Wealth and Splendour by the Wars Of Sr. Thomas Rokeby Deputy Lieutenant of Ireland and of Sr. Robert Savage and his Son Henry Savage who lived in Ulster A Grant of the Black-Prince's to the Lord Henry Eam of Flanders confirmed at this time by the King he being then newly chosen one of the First Knights of the GARTER From p. 442. to p. 448. Chap. X. Pope Clement reduces the Bonifacian Jubilee from the 100th to the 50th Year The Original of Jubilees King Edward forbids his Subjects to go to Rome on that occasion with his Answer to the Pope's Expostulation thereon The Sect of Whippers rises and is supprest King Edward's Victory over the Spaniards at Sea. King Philip of France dies King John succeeds A Duel fought before King Edward between a Knight of Cyprus and the Bastard of France King John puts the Bastard of France and the Earl of Eu and Guisnes to Death Some steps towards a Peace with Scotland in Order to King David's Redemption From p. 449. to p. 455. Chap. XI A Parliament wherein King Edward advances sundry of his Grandees to Honour The Lord John Beauchamp Captain of Calais being taken Prisoner is succeeded by Sr. Robert Herle Sr. Robert's Acts. A Truce with France Another with Spain The Lord Guy de Nesle taken Prisoner Twenty four Christians Martyr'd by the Governour of Damascus who is therefore put to Death by the Soldan of Babylon King John of France renews the Order of the STAR The Castle of Guisnes taken by the English King John seeks to recover it in vain Sr. Charles of Blois set at Liberty upon his Parole The Lord Guy de Nesse slain by Sr. Walter Bentley The Earl of Stafford Lieutenant of Gascogne beats the French. The Death of Sr. Thomas Wale Knight of the GARTER King Edward provides for the Defence of the Seas William Earl of Hainalt Marries Mathilda Daughter of the Duke of Lancaster The Duke of Lancaster gets Honour of the Duke of Brunswick King Edward prepares against the French. Pope Clement dies and the Earl of Kent Two Malefactors beheaded at London From p. 455. to p. 467. Chap. XII An Hard Winter Storms Drought and Dearth A Riot at Chester The Black Prince's Munificence King Edward Founds a College at Westminster A Treaty with Scotland A Treaty and Truce with France A Parliament The Names of the Lords summon'd thereto Another Parliament A Treaty at Avignon which begets a short Truce The Foundation of Trinity-Hall in Cambridge A Quarrel between the Town and Vniversity of Oxford Two Fryars burnt at Avignon And a Third recants at Paris From p. 468. to p. 477. Chap. XIII The King of Navarre Murders the Constable of France and Invites the Duke of Lancaster to his Assistance
but is reconciled to the French King. The War breaks out again between England and France The Black-Prince his Exploits in Gascogne The Lord John Lisle Knight of the GARTER slain Two Letters of Sr. John Wingfields relating the Prince's Exploits King Edward goes into France obtains a Truce and returns into England Barwick taken by the Scots Queen Philippa deliver'd of her Seventh Son Thomas of Woodstock Nantes taken and Recover'd A strange Malady of Aversion The Death of Peter Lord Mauley From p. 478. to p. 489. Chap. XIV King Edward recovers Barwick King Bailiol resigns his Right and Title to Scotland into King Edward's Hands King Edward wasts Scotland but losing a great part of his Navy is obliged to return He brings Bailiol into England with him A Parliament at Paris A Sedition at Arras supprest King John of France seises the King of Navarre confines him and executes several of his Friends The King of Navarre's Brother Philip obtains Assistance from England and being reinforced by the Duke of Lancaster makes hot War in Normandy King John goes against him but upon News of the Black-Prince's being in France turns back to oppose him The Duke of Lancaster having settled Affairs in Normandy goes into Bretagne to the Dutchess From p. 489. to p. 494. BOOK III. CHAP. I. KING John prepares to go against the Black-Prince The said Prince's Victorious Progress thrô Quercy Auvergne Berry and Touraine The French King follows him Two Cardinals haste after him in hopes to reconcile Matters Some French Troops cut off by the Prince King John having Order'd his Battails a Cardinal perswades him to desist a while till he had try'd to compose Matters But the French K. demands more than the Prince would grant A Quarrel between the Marshal of France and the Lord Chandos The Cardinal despairing of Peace leaves the Field Prince Edward encourages his Men. The Names of his Chief Leaders His speech to them His New Device against the Enemy The Lord James Audley and Sr. Eustace Dambreticourt begin the Fight The Famous Battle of POICTIERS wherein King John is made Prisoner The Prince of Wales his Bounty to the Lord Audley his Obliging Deportment to the French King. He returns to Bourdeaux King Edward's Moderation at the News of his Sons Success The Pope applauds the Prince of Wales for his Humanity to the Captive King. The several claims concerning the taking of the French King adjusted The Duke of Lancaster's proceedings in Normandy and Bretagne after the Battle of Poictiers The Troubles of France freshly fomented by a Seditious Parliament The Lord Godfry of Harcourt slain The Pope stirs up the Emperour to endeavour to compose Matters between the two Kings A Diet at Metz in Lorraine Seals changed in England From p. 495. to p. 525. Chap. II. The Black-Prince brings King John of France into England King Edward receives the Captive King with much Humanity Henry Duke of Lancaster holds a Siege before Rennes The Cardinals obtaine a Truce between the two Kings King David is redeem'd and returns to Scotland The Duke of Lancaster takes Rennes by Composition Sr. Robert Knolles beats the Marshal of France in Normandy The Lord of Granville takes the Castle of Eureux by a slight The Rise of Sr. John Hawkwood and Sr. Robert Knolles The Original of a sort of Free-booters call'd Companions in France The Insolence of the Parisiens and their Provost toward the Dauphin King Charles of Navarre gets at Liberty and grows Popular From p. 525. to p. 535. Chap. III. King Edward holds St. GEORGE'S day with great Solemnity A Friendly Treaty held between King Edward and King John but 't is dash'd The Jaquerie in France with their Cruelty and Extirpation Quarrels between the King of Navarre and the Dauphin and between the Dauphin and the Provost of Paris The King and Duke reconcil'd but the Provost continues Plotting The English Navarrois revenge the Death of their Countrymen on the Parisiens The Provost designing to betray Paris is discover'd and slain The King of Navarre breaks again with the Dauphin His several Garrisons the Dauphin's Difficulties The Confusion and Miseries of France The Constable besieges St. Valery The Captal of Busche comes to the King of Navarre's Assistance The several Garrisons of the Navarrois The Lord Canon Robsart discomfits a Party of them The happy Estate of England Two Kings keep Christmas with King Edward The Death of the Queen Mother of England of the Queen Consort of Scotland and of Orcanes the Great Turk A Quarrel between the Bishop of Ely and Blanche Lady Wake And another between the Four Orders of Predicants and the two Vniversities of Cambridge and Oxford From p. 536. to p. 552. Chap. IV. A Method of Agreement pitch'd upon by the two Kings but rejected by the French Parliament Whereupon King Edward resolves for War. St. Valery yielded up to the French. Sr. Peter Audley fails in his Design upon Châlons The Earl of Roucy taken Prisoner a second time Melun besieged but the Dauphin and Navarre are reconciled The Lord Eustace Dambreticourt taken Prisoner by the French. A Judgment on a Sacrilegious Souldier The Navarrois decline suddenly Vpon Sr. Peter Audley's Death Sr. Eustace Dambreticourt is redeem'd by the Navarrois and made their Captain Sr. Robert Knolles his Expedition He retires being overmatch'd Submits to the King and obtains his Pardon The Flemings revolt from King Edward King Edward with his Four Sons and others holds a Solemn Justs in the Name of the Mayor and Aldermen of London John of Gaunt Earl of Richmond Marries the Duke of Lancaster's Daughter King Edward chooses the Place of his Sepulture in Westminster Abbey From p. 552. to p. 564. Chap. V. King Edward sends the Duke of Lancaster to Calais and follows himself with an Army of an Hundred Thousand Men. The Names of his Chief Captains with the Order of his Army The King Marches from Calais toward Rheims in Champaigne An adventure between the Lord Galahaut de Ribemont and the Lord Van Boulant The Lord Bartholomew Burwash takes the French Master of the Cross-bows Prisoner King Edward lays Siege to Rheims The Lord Eustace Dambreticourt sends relief to the English Army Several Places taken by Detachments from the Camp before Rheims The King of Navarre breaks with the Dauphin again The Lord of Gomegines taken Prisoner by the French. The Lord Bartholomew Burwash takes Cormicy and rases it From p. 565. to p. 574. Chap. VI. The Duke of Normandy's Methods to resist King Edward The French take Land at Winchelsea and having done much harm are beaten off Order taken to prevent the like for the future King Edward rising from before Rheims Marches thrô Champaigne Roger Mortimer Earl of March dies The Great Pomp and Order of the English Army King Edward is bought off from destroying Burgundy and turns toward Paris He sits down before Paris Two Treaties offer'd at in vain The King Challenges the Dauphin forth to Battle The Lord Manny
Southerland As for the former King John Baliol he liv'd at this time a retired life in France having only two Sons the Lord Edward and Henry who as yet had no Issue and therefore their Father had on certain considerations resigned and quitted and given over to King Robert his Right and Title to the Crown of Scotland so that Robert was now quit of all fear on that part and otherwise very strong in the affections of his People who were then a great and flourishing Nation And this was the state of Scotland when King Edward the Third of England came to the Crown wherefore encouraged with their former success and despising King Edwards Youth r Rich. Sâ—uthwell on the very night of that day whereon King Edward was Crowned the Scots had intended to take the Castle of Norham Å¿ Grafton p. 173. between the Marches of England and Scotland by surprize and so well they managed their design that about t Holinshead Hist Sect. p. 225 sixteen of them had already mounted the Walls but the Captain Sr Robert Manners being warned of the Matter before-hand by one of his Garrison who was a Scotchman had so well provided to receive them that of those who had mounted he took five or six and put the rest to the sword their Companions below upon this disappointment retiring This seem'd a good Omen of King Edward's future Victories over the Scots by occasion of the Lord Edward Baliol who was himself a Scotchman Presently after King Robert Bruce supposing it now a very fit season to take some advantage against his old Enemies the English during this their Kings Minority sends about u Frois c. 15. Grafton p. 218. Easter a short and brisk Defiance to King Edward and all his Realm telling them that he would shortly with his Power invade the Realm of England with Fire and Sword and there do as he had done before in his Fathers Reign at the Battle of Bannocksborn near Striveling or Sterling where the English received that mighty Overthrow we spake of by reason of those x Sr Tho. de la More Ed. 2. p. 2. Holingshead hist Scotl. p. 217. Hector and Buchan Pits into which the Scots had intrapt them unawares I must not omit that the Scotch Writers attribute the occasion of this Defiance to some fraud or other wherewith the English had lately endeavour'd to ensnare them by foul Collusion of their Ambassadours but neither can it be imagin'd what necessity the King of England should have either by fraud or force to attempt to injure the King of Scots with whom he stood on no ill Terms before his own Affairs were in any posture of Settlement nor do any of their own Historians assign what this fraud or injury was nor indeed was ever the English Nation noted so much for fineness or subtlety as for down-right Honesty and blunt valour Nor is the consideration of King Robert's Age and sickness sufficient to conclude that of necessity there must be some great Cause given that could provoke so decrepit a Man to begin a War toward the End of his Life since thô his Person was weak his Mind was strong and vigorous and Scotland was never in better case than at that time and the Generals he intended to employ were Barons of great Fidelity Conduct and Resolution and he might reasonably hope to have at least as much advantage over this Young King as he had over his Father in his Full Age when attended with a most flourishing Army Nor is any great Captain thô never so satiate with Lawrels so unambitious after all but that in his weakest condition he would lay hold on any occasion of so probable success against a professed Enemy 'T is sweet to an old Warrior to end his days among Triumphs and Victories This is certain King Edward the Third neither did nor could send any Ambassadors to him before his Coronation yet even then we shew'd before that the Scots began to break the Peace by attempting to surprize a Castle thô no less than y Hâ—linshead hist Scot. p. 224. Ashmole p. 645. ex Claus 1. Ed. 3. p. 1. m. 2. Dâ—rs Nine years were to come of the last Thirteen years Truce struck up between this Kings Father and King Robert of Scotland four years before And besidâ—â— we find that there had been since the Coronation of this Young King an Agreement for a further Treaty of Peace to be held in the Marches on the Sunday next before Ascension Day then ensuing But as I said before King Robert imagining to make an easie prey of the young Monarch neither much valued the old Truce not yet ended nor the new Agreement not yet perfected but resolves upon War. Hereupon soon after he invades the North Borders with an z Hector p. 307 b. n. 60. Army of Twenty five thousand Men a Bachan p. 273 all Horse that they might do mischief more speedily and retire with more expedition if by any necessity they should be so obliged VI. The mean while King Edward conceives an high indignation at this unprovoked Defiance and to secure himself for the future from the like Contempt immediately with all his Power addresses himself to defend his Reputation And first he b Frois c. 17. sends his Uncle Thomas of Brotherton Earl of Norfolk and Marshal of England with a choice number of Soldiers to Newcastle upon Tine who there made his Musters as he was appointed on the c Ashmole p. 645. Monday next before the Ascension in like manner the Lord Robert Hufford and the Lord John Moubray were commanded away to the Reinforcement of the Lord Anthony Lucy of Cockermouth then d Dugd. Baron 1 Vol. 565. a. Governour of the Castle and Town of Carlile At the same time the King issued out his General summons to his own People and moreover by kind letters invited his noble Friend John Lord of Beaumont in Heinalt and brother to William Earl of Heinalt by whose aid chiefly the Queen had deposed her Husband and who was but newly return'd home again to come over to his assistance about the time of the Ascension Sr John Lord Beaumont hereupon came over to the King to the City of York the place appointed for the general Rendezvous thô Newcastle also was pitch'd upon for the assembly of other Forces a week before within three days of Whitsuntide accompanied with more than fourty Lords and Knights of Heinalt Flanders and Bohemia with other Knights from Cambray and Artois to the number of Five hundred Men of Arms all well Arm'd and gallantly Mounted Soon after Whitsuntide follow'd for the sake of this John of Heinalt the Lord William Son to the Duke of Juliers or Gulick and Sr Henry Thyrry afterwards Earl of Lewis and with them another goodly Company all expecting to purchase much honour under this hopefull Young King and no less profit as well from his Royal bounty as from the
but observe by the Colour of his Face that his Death was not without many violent struglings and several that heard his dying Groans did easily guess how things were Acted But it was not then time to mutter any thing and indeed it should seem but vain to attempt to Revenge him when Dead whom they durst do no more than pitty while alive He had done many Worthy things in his Time and might have done more had he not been so miserably interrupted He founded o Antiqu. Oxon. l. 2. p. 103. Oriel College in Oxford whereof Adam Broom his Almoner was the first Provost together with * Daniel p. 218. St Mary-Hall in the said University whereof Mr. p Antiqu. Oxon. p. 370. Sandford Geneal Hist p. 153. Antiqu. Oxon. l. 1. p. 100 101. Richard Barnes Vice-president of Magdalene College was first Principal besides the House which he gave there for twenty four Carmelite Fryers Divines according to a Vow he had made in his Escape from the defeat at Sterling At his Mannor also at Langley in Hertfordshire he built a Church called the Fryers-Preachers where he Ordain'd that the Soul of his Friend Gaveston should be for ever pray'd for And where since hath been laid beside many other Princes the Body of Edmund Plantaginet Sirnamed of this Langley the place also of his Birth which Edmund was Fifth Son to our King Edward the Third and in his Time q Dagd 2 Vol. Bar. p. 155. Duke of York Earl of Cambridge Lord of Tividale together with his Lady Isabell Second Daughter to Don Pedro King of Castille Leon from whom proceeded Edward the Fourth But this Murder'd Prince having been exposed to publique View was Buried r Speed p. 566. Polyd. Virgil. Baker c. without any Funeral Pomp by the Benedictine Monks in their Abbey of S◠Peter in Glocester Where ſ Sandford's Geneal Hist p. 152 c. afterwards when the manner of his Death was found out and the Principal Actors thereof had been brought to Condign Punishment his Son King Edward the Third erected to his Memory a Fair Monument of White Stone with his Portraiture thereon of Alabaster in the second Arch and on the Northside the Altar betwixt two Pillars of the Tuscan Order About which near to the Capitals are several Figures of Stags with which they report his Corps was drawn thither from Berkley-Castle He lies there in his Robes with his Crown on his Head however in his Life it was taken from him his Scepter in his Right Hand and his Globe with a Cross thereon in his Left An Angel sitting on each side at his Head and a Lion at his Feet After this Manner about the end of the foremention'd Scotch Expedition was this Miserable King more than barbarously Murder'd in the Midst of his Age for he was hardly Fourty three Years old A Man that surely deserv'd a better end but that he had the Unhappiness to trust too much in Prosperity and to fix his Love on those who were least Worthy of it while he too rashly quarrel'd with his nearest Relations before he had made any provision against them His own Nature was very good but Evil men made a bad Use of it Mortimer and Adam Orleton that Bishop of Hereford were the Chief Causers of his Downfall for having both been guilty of High Treason against him before they were resolv'd now by any means to build their own security upon his Ruine so under the pretence of befriending the Queen they wrought her to be as much concern'd in the Treason as themselves He was of a t Catal. Honor. p. 158. Knighten p. 2531. Speed p. 560. very Elegant Composure of Body of a goodly Stature of a firm and healthy Constitution of great Strength and Activity Devout Noble and full of Natural good Propensions Liberal and Magnificent Mercifull and Generous Witty and Learned for that Age as the Verses he wrote testifie but not so soft as 't is imagin'd for no Man was more Stern and High-spirited to the Obstinate Yet we must allow him to have been more weak then wicked for he always design'd well but was deceived by Appearances He was a firm and constant Friend and a flexible Enemy a u Sr Tho. de la Mere p. 9. l. 43. strict Observer of his Conjugal Faith however ill requited In War he was not Fortunate by reason of the Envy among his Courtiers some evil he did but he suffer'd much more No King ever had fewer Taxes yet none found his People more Ungratefull so that as one well observes x Churchill p. 239. how far he wrong'd his Subjects doth not appear but how rude and unjust they were toward him is but too Manifest He was a Man every way Worthy to be a King had his Counsellours been Men of Integrity but their ill Actions made him Odious which because he would not punish in their Persons he was fain to pay Dearly for it in his own So little avails the Sacred Majesty of a King when the Multitude is too much exasperated He left behind him y Speed p. 564. c. Four Children Edward his Eldest Son that then Reign'd John sirnamed of Eltham afterwards Earl of Cornwall the Lady Joan of the Tower in time Queen of Scotland and the Lady Eleanora who was given in Marriage to Reginald Earl of Guelders His Death was soon greatly pittied and at last severely Revenged But especially the Welch z Speed p. 549. a. § 40. Nation who in Regard of his Birth among them had always held him for one of their own as in his Life time they expressed a Wonderfull Love and Loyal Affection to him so now they prosecuted his Unfortunate Death with Dolefull Elegies which neither the fear of his Murderers nor length of time could ever make them to forget The Young King his Son first heard that he was Dead at Lincoln being then upon his Return from York after the Scotch Expedition but the Manner was not yet known till his own Riper judgement discover'd the Mystery He a Knighton p. 2552. mourn'd at the News with more sincerity than his Mother who notwithstanding bore a very troubled Countenance And she and Adam Orleton and Mortimer did so terrifie his Murderers for all their producing the Letters of Commission that they were fain to fly the Land. Which many were willing they should do rather then be brought to a Tryal where they might talk more than some were willing to hear Sr Thomas Gourney three years after being taken at Marseilles in France and deliver'd up to be brought over for England in order to his Tryal was beheaded on the Sea before he came hither by private Instructions as was thought from some Grandees at Court whose Interest it was that he should not be brought to Examination St John Maltravers had the Grace to see his sin and repent heartily of it Howbeit as he lived long after he
to Favour and seemingly pardon'd but the Lord Henry Beaumont Sr. Thomas Rosselin Sr. William Trussel and Sr. Thomas Withers as not being included in this Pardon or not daring to trust to it were fain to fly the Land till the Death of Mortimer For to these Men he was implacable they being the first Persons who began boldly to challenge him for the Death of the Old King tho some of them had been concern'd in his Deposal for which this new Earl of March would gladly have had a full Revenge upon them But however upon this their flight he got many good parcels of their Lands and Possessions to be siesed on for the King's Use in name but for his own in reality V. Here because the foresaid Henry Lord Beaumont is not only mention'd on these great Accounts already but must challenge much more to be said of him hereafter as also that it may be seen what kind of Men this proud Mortimer levell'd his aim at and that I may at the same time do right to the Posterity of that Noble Personage I shall not here think it amiss briefly to touch at his Original Most of those that mention his Pedigree bring his Descent from Lewis Son to Charles Earl of Anjou t Dugd. Bar. 2 Vol. p 50. 〈◊〉 a younger Son to Lewis the Eighth King of France which Lewis Son of Charles being Lord of Beaumont in France begot of his Lady Agnes de Beaumont this valiant Lord Henry Beaumont and his Sister Isabell who was wife to John Lord Vesci of Alnwick in Northumberland and is called Kinswoman to Queen Eleanor that vertuous Consort of King Edward the First This Lord Henry married the Lady Alice one of the Cozens and Coheirs to John Cumin Earl of Boghan or Bucquain and Constable of Scotland in whose Title he afterwards obtained that Honour But whereas there are some who by mistake bring this Worthy much later into England in the company of Queen Isabella King Edward the Third's Mother this their error arose we presume from those passages of Froisard which make such frequent mention of the Lord Beaumonts assisting that Queen when it is plain that he means there the Lord John of Heinalt who was also called Lord Beaumont from another place of that name in Heinalt and besides this Lord was u Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 51. Claus 20. Ed. 2. m. 12. confin'd in England upon Suspicion at the time of Queen Isabell's Arrival And yet * Dugd. ibid. p. 50. others derive this noble Vicount Beaumont from Lewis de Brenne second Son to John de Brenne or rather Bremen the last King of Jerusalem VI. But now this Noble Lord with othes of Mortimers Enemies was fain to yield to the iniquity of the Times and to retreat into France till the Storm should be blown over Mortimer in the mean while securely basking in the sun-shine of his Prosperity as great as Heart could wish if Ambition knew any Limits to its Desires Soon after the Young King to do him further honour x Monast Angl. 2 Vol. p. 225. takes a progress toward the Marches of Wales where he gives this new Earl a visit He for his part as he was indeed descended of a very ancient and Noble Family from y Catal. Honor. p. 574. Hugh de Mortimer a Norman Baron who came into England with William the Conqueror and received of him in reward of his good Services the Castle and Lands of Wigmore was besides his natural Ambition very glorious and singularly magnificent in all his Publique Appearances But now upon this Visit 't is incredible what sumptuous Entertainments he gave his Royal Master in his Castles of Ludlow and Wigmore what Sports and Diversions in his Parks and Forests what Gallantry and Expence he exhibited in his Tiltings Tournaments and other Military Pastimes much whereof thô it might proceed from an honourable Disposition and a sense of Gratitude and dutifull Respect to his Soveraign yet as was thought not a little was upon the account of the Queen Mothers presence and that all of it in general smelt rank of a Popular Air and a vain-glorious Humour Whether it was really so or that Pride is so loathsom to all who are at a distance from it that it causes even our best Actions to be misrepresented and be view'd from the wrong Prospect CHAPTER the THIRD The CONTENTS I. King Edward summon'd to do Homage to the King of France for his Dukedom of Aquitain and the Lands of Ponthieu and Monstroile II. A solemn Just held in London for three Days together AN. DOM. 1329. An. Regni III. with the Queen's danger by the Falling of a Scaffold III. The Old Queen and Mortimer compass the death of Edmund Earl of Kent the King's Vncle with the Manner and other Circumstances IV. King Edward goes privately into France V. Soon after his Return a Son born unto him called Edward afterwards sirnamed the Black-Prince VI. Mortimer taken and executed a Parliament I. NOW was a Froisâ—c 24. M. S. Ang. C. C. C. ibid. c. 219. Philip of Valois the French King well settled in his new-acquired Throne having received all the Homages and Fealties of his Subjects and Others who held under him as Peers of France or otherwise except only of the Young King of England his Cozen who by right had ow'd him homage for his Dukedom of Aquitain and the Earldom of Ponthieu and Monstroile had not himself been Heir to the Crown of France and so Supream Lord not only of those Parts but of the Whole But King Philip being too much elevated with his good Fortune never consider'd any such thing or at least had no great apprehensions of King Edward's Courage or Conduct and therefore finding himself now in full and quiet Possession of so flourishing a Kingdom by the advice and consent of his whole Council he resolves to summon our King Edward to make his Personal Appearance before him in France there to do Homage unto him as to his Supream Lord for the Lands which he held of that Crown He therefore soon after dispatches into England the Lord of Ancenis and the Lord of Beausalt with Monsieur Peter of Orleans and Monsieur Peter of Massieres two famous Civilians which Four with all their Retinue after provision made departed from Paris directly for Whitsant where they took the Sea and arrived safely at Dover Here having tarried one day as well to refresh themselves as to unship their Horses and Baggage they rode the next day toward the Court which they heard to be as then at Windsor Being at last come thither in respect to their Master that sent them they were soon admitted to the Royal Presence where they gave the King a full account of their Errand His Majesty answer'd with good Deliberation That the Matter required advice that as for his Part very few of the Lords of his Council were then about him but if they would withdraw to London he
Town shall be rendred to King Philip to do with them after his Pleasure and as for the rest they may go come and tarry freely and have their Victuals for a days Journey but they may not supply Sainctes any otherwise than it is at this time This Treaty was followed with another made at Bois de Vincennes the Thirtieth day of May following and thereby it was further agreed that the Profits of the Land of Guyenne which for default of Homage were siesed by the late King Charles and converted to his Use after the Law shall be sequestred in the Hands of two Commissioners deputed on the behalf of either of the Kings Edward and Philip till both their Differences and Proceedings done since the Truce in the Year 1324 shall be amicably decided Finally King Edward having given that Declaration of his Homages which we have set down z P. 37. already went again in Person into France to appease the War at Sainctes At which time he requested of King Philip that he would remit unto him the Demolishing of the Castle of St. Croix and others which he then promised very Frankly to do and moreover granted unto him by a new Treaty made the 4th of July 1331 That the Town and Castle of Sainctes should be restor'd unto him in the same condition wherein they were and thirty Thousand pounds Tournois for his Interests and Damages notwithstanding the former Accord of the Ninth of March approved by his Majesty the Thirtieth day of April A Concession says Du Chesne which one would think ought to appease all disgusts whatsoever for a long time But the Murmurs which afterward began to run among the English that their King was nearer to the Crown of France than King Philip were so deeply rooted in their hearts that at last they occasion'd most Tragical and deadly Effects as we shall shew in due place V. On the a Knighton p. 2558. n. 60. seventeenth of the Calends of July being after our Account the Fifteenth of June and a Friday at b Sandford's Geneal Hist p. 181. Ashmole p. 670. ten of the Clock in the Morning the Queen Philippa of England was at Woodstock near Oxford deliver'd of her First-born Son a very Fair Lusty and well-form'd Infant who was Christened by the Name of his Father Edward Walsingham and Speed from him say indeed that he was Born on the 15 of June and on a Fryday but they place it a Year more forward both which notwithstanding are easily refuted if we consider that in the Year 1329 the 15 of June happen'd on a Thursday but this Year c Labbé Chron. Tecbn ad an 1330. G being the Dominical Letter it then indeed fell on a Fryday To which agrees that Ancient Writer d Jâ—h Tinemouth ec Aed Lambeth p. 229. John Tinemouth in his Golden History saying that this year on the Fryday before e St. Botolphi Ab. dies Junii 17. St. Botolph there was Born to King Edward his Son Edward the Fourth which Name Giovanni Villani the Florentine Historian calls him also by presuming that he would have lived to Succeed his Father So Welcome to the King was the News of his Birth that he gave to the Messenger thereof Thomas Prior a most Royal Reward and f Ashmole p. 670. Sandford Geneal Hist p. 181. ex Pat. 5. Ed. 3. p. 1 m. 33.4 Febr. 40 Marks per annum out of his Exchequer till he should settle Lands upon him to that Value And afterwards he gave very considerable Pensions to those who were concern'd in his Education as 10 pounds per annum to Joan of Oxford this Young Princes Nurse and 10 Marks annually to Mathilda Plumpton Bersatrix or Rocker to this Princely Infant Great hopes were immediately conceived of the Royal Babe by all that beheld the Beauty of his Shape the Largeness of his Size and the firm Contexture of his Body The Good Lady his Mother took such great Care of this first Dear Pledge of her Marriage Bed that she resolv'd to give him her own Breasts as indeed she did to all her Children after Yet for all that her Beauty and Flower of Youth was nothing impair'd thereby And truly it was not only the Manner of this Queen who exceeded most Ladies in the World for Sweetness of Nature and Vertuous Disposition thus to bring up her own Offspring her self But we find it Customary for the Queens of England and other Princesses to do so as well before as some time after However the Delicate Madams of our Time think it below their Care. And of the Empress g Gisb. Cuperi Apotheassis Homeri Inscripp p. 293. Theodora there is Extant a curious Medal wherein a Woman gives the Breast to an Infant with this Inscription PIETAS ROMANA whereby it is believed to be signified that Theodora gave suck to her Children her self according to the Duty of a Pious Mother which Plutarch and Favorinies do wonderfully commend This Laudable Custom was not quite laid aside in the Times of King Edward For of the Ladies of those Days in General it is observed in the Margin of h Mezeray Chr. Abbreg p. 78. vid. Bp. Taylor 's Life of the II. Jesus p. 18. ad p. 23. c. vid. lib. de Lib. Educ apud Gell. 12.1 Mezeray's History at the Year 1368 that even those of the Highest Rank were us'd to give the Breast to their Children And of the Lady Margaret Daughter of Philip the Bold Second Consort to King Edward the First this King's Grandfather this is Remarkably Observed that when i Walsingh Hist p. 46. ad An. 1301. Dugd. Bar. 2 Vol. p. 63. she gave her First-born Son Thomas of Brotherton the Milk of her own Breasts the Babe as if he had an antipathy against every thing that was French could by no means endure it but ever cast back again what he received yet when an English young Gentlewoman was brought to suckle him he took it eagerly and thriv'd kindly upon it And this because it had something of strange and unusual in it was often try'd with him but still it prov'd so that the English Lady's Breasts he freely took but his French Mother's he could never away with Whence it is reported the King his Father should say smiling God give thee Grace my Boy I see thou art right English in thy Nature and may'st one day shew thy self a notable Enemy to the French Nation Thô even this so probable Omen fail'd in part for Prince Thomas died just before the French Wars broke out as hereafter shall be declared But to return whence we have digressed The Birth of this young Prince Edward spread an universall Joy thrô the whole Land and was thought to make a good recompence for the late loss of one of the Kings Uncles Nay now as if all things conspired to make this Blessing more acceptable to the Nation a new Face of things began from this
Vol. p. 192. b. Others say to Robert Lord Vere Earl of Oxford thô the Truth is that Earl being her first Husband and dying the next Year she was afterwards taken in Marriage by the foresaid Lord Berkley Maud the Fifth Daughter of this Mortimer was married to John Son and Heir of Sr. John Charleton Lord of Powis the Sixth Daughter Blanch to Peter Lord Grandesson and lastly the Lady Beatrix was first wife to Edward Son and Heir of Thomas of Brotherton Earl of Norfolk and the Kings Uncle after whose immature Decease she was married to Sr. Thomas Lord Braose But all these Possessions and Strength of Allyance were too weak to secure him from the Wrath of an Injur'd King and the Vengeance that his Immoderate Ambition drew upon him After this Sentence thus pronounced on Mortimer the Earls and Barons with one Voice declared in Parliament that Sr. Simon Bereford e M.S. R.P. p. 10. §. 2. S. Rob. Cotton p. 6. c. Stow p. 230. Knighton p. 2558. §. 50. Brother to Justice Bereford whom others by mistake call Bedford was ever consulting assenting and assisting to the said Roger in all his Seditions Treasons Felonies and Misdemeanours and was equally with him guilty of the Murther of the late King and his principal Abettor in all other Wickedness Wherefore the like Judgment being pronounced on him the Lord Marshall in like manner saw him Executed on the Monday next after St. Thomas the Apostle being the f M.S. R.P. ib. 24 of December and Christmass Eve thô the 16 day of January is set down in g Knighton ib. Knighton whose Works swarm with such Mistakes of Names and Times and Numbers by reason of the old and imperfect Copies whence the Edition was made The same Judgment was given against Sr. John Maltravers senior Sr. Thomas h M.S. R.P. ib. §. 5. Sr. Râ—b Cotton c. Gournay and Sr. William Ogle who were all fled for Murdering the late King and large Promises were made to those should apprehend them but as for Sr. John Maltravers it was proclaim'd that whoever brought him in alive should have a thousand Marks or for bringing his Head five hundred The like Judgment passed upon i M.S. Sr. Rob. Cottons Abridgm ibid. Sr. John Daverill Captain of Corfe Castle who had been instrumental in contriving the Death of the King's Uncle late Earl of Kent and accordingly he was k Speed p. 568. b executed as he well deserved 'T is said l Stâ—w p. 230. this Sr. John Daverill was desirous to make open Confession of the manner of the late Kings Death but by the cunning of some who feared to be touched therein he was not permitted Besides all these one Sr. m M.S. Sr. Rob. Cotton ibid. Bogo of Bayonne mention'd in the preceding Confession of Edmund late Earl of Kent and so by all likelihood concerned in the Plot against the said Earls Life was by Proclamation required to be apprehended and a considerable Reward set for him that should bring him in alive or dead But that ever he was taken I do not find thô Sr. Thomas Gournay was this very Year taken at Marseilles in France and as they were bringing him over for England was by secret Order from some at Court who feared to be touched in his Confession beheaded on the Sea. In this Parliament it was n M. S. ibid. § 6. Sr. Rob. Cotton ibid. Enacted That thô the Lords and Peers of the Realm had for this time in the Kings Presence proceeded as Judges to give Judgment upon those that were no Peers yet hereafter this should be no Precedent to draw them to give Judgment on any Other but their Peers in case of Treason or Felony It was o §. 7. also Enacted That William Merton Archbishop of York Stephen Gravesend Bishop of London William Abbot of Longdon William Lord Zouch of Mortimer and many Others who had been agreed with Edmund late Earl of Kent to work the Delivery of King Edward the Second and had been thereof impeached should now be wholly Acquitted and fully Restored to all their Goods and Possessions Also p §. 8. That whosoever had took Arms with Henry Earl of Lancaster at Bedford or had been concerned in the Matter of Edmund late Earl of Kent should be released of all Fines for that reason laid upon them and that their Lands which were therefore seized into the Kings Hands should be restored with the main Profits saving that if they have any Lands of the Kings Gift the same be of the like Condition as Others who have Lands of his Gift And therefore the King pardoneth Henry q §. 9. Earl of Lancaster and all those who took part with him all Fines and Ransoms whatsoever Accordingly we find that soon r Knighton p. 2558. n. 60. after upon the fame of Mortimers Fall and the knowledge of this Pardon Sr. Thomas Lord Wake Hugh Lord Audely Henry Lord Beaumont Sr. Thomas Rosselin Sr. William Trussel Sr. Thomas Withers and the Rest whom Mortimers power had forced beyond the Seas returned from France to London where they were received as became their Loyalty being by the King freely restored to all their Lands Honours and Possessions The Å¿ M.S. p. 11. §. 10. Sr. Rob. Cotton c. Mayor of London complaining that some of the said Earl of Lancaster's Company being now pardon'd did threaten such of the Citizens as had before resisted them the King thereupon commandeth that neither Party should presume to seek any Revenge on pain of Imprisonment Edmund the t §. 11. Parl. Anno 4. Ed. 3. p. 1. M. S. ibid. §. 12. Paten 5. Ed. 3. Eldest Son of Edmund late Earl of Kent and Margaret his Mother Countess of Kent by their several Petitions require that the Record made against the said Earl of Kent may be for the Errors therein wholly Reversed Whereupon the King restores the said Edmund the Son to the Blood and Lands of the said Earl his Father whereof he died seised in Fee with Dower to the Countess saving to the King the Keeping and Wardship of the same during the Nonage of the said Edmund the Son. And to put u §. 13. Sr. Rob. Cotton a stop to all malicious and perjur'd Informers as well as to give a publique Security to Men's Minds it was now Enacted that no Peer of the Land nor other Person who had any way assisted in procuring the Death of the said Edmund late Earl of Kent should hereafter be Impeached thereof excepting only the foresaid Earl of March Sr. Simon Bereford Sr. John Maltravers senior Sr. Bogo of Bayonne and Sr. John x In M.S. Bervervil per incatiam Amanuensis apud Sr. Rob. Cotton Berveroile c. Daverill Here y M.S. p. 12. §. 14. Sr. Rob. Cotton p. 7. Richard Fitz-Alan Eldest Son of Edmund late Earl of Arundel who by the Queen Mother had been beheaded
was entituled Robert of Artois Earl of Beaumont le Roger Peer of France Lord of Conches Damfront and Mehun And as his Blood was Illustrious his Courage was undaunted and his Spirit unable to brook an Injury Now in process of time it happen'd c Gaguin Graston p. 229. c. that in a Plea of some High Concern for Lands between this Sr. Robert and his Aunt the Lady Mathilda Countess of Artois he had judgement awarded by the Court against him whether because of Letters that Sr. Robert was said to have counterfeited or for Respect to the Lady who was a Widdow or out of Envy to him who was the King's sole Favourite or thrô neglect and inadvertency or for any other cause Just or Unjust however the proceeding so much â—ncensed Sr. Robert that he could not forbear to utter in the hearing of many these High Words By me was Philip Crown'd and by me shall he be discrown'd again These rash Words had surely cost him his Head could Philip have taken him in his anger But he had wisely voided his Dominions and cast himself upon his Nephew John Earl of Namur The mean while King Philip had caused his Lady thô so near related to himself with her two Sons the Lords John and Charles to be apprehended and flung into close Prison d Graften p. 267. in the Castle of Gastenois whence he sware they should never return while they lived whatsoever he should be advised to the contrary Nor content with this he sends to the e Frois c. 2â— Bishop of Liege desiring him effectually that he would for his sake defie and make War against the said Earl of Namur unless he would deliver up Sr. Robert of Artois or expell him his Country All this the Bishop did accordingly he was so addicted to the Crown of France and thereupon the Earl was forced thô unwillingly to send Sr. Robert away Who went thence directly to his Cozen the Duke of Brabant by whom he was entertain'd with much friendship and generosity The enraged King upon knowledge hereof sends the Duke word that if he continued any longer to foster or entertain this his Enemy in any part of his Countrey he with all the Realm of France his Friends and Allies would thenceforth commence an everlasting Quarrel against him The Duke upon this Menace privately conveys this his Friend to a strong Fortress of his expecting the Issue of King Philip's Intentions But this angry Prince had so well studied his Revenge that by his Spies he was acquainted with this Finess of the Duke's Whereupon taking it very heinously to be thus impos'd on by his great Importunity seconded with round Sums of Money he engaged John of Luxemburgh King of Bohemia thô he was Cozen German to the Duke of Brabant the Bishop of Liege aforesaid the Archbishop of Colen the Earl of Gueldre the Marquis of Gulick or Juliers the Earl of Bar the Lords of Ros and Fanquemont or Valkenburgh as the Germains with several others all at one time to concurr in a common Defiance against the Duke of Brabant And accordingly all these having joyn'd the Earl of Ewe Constable of France who led a considerable Army himself defi'd the Duke of Brabant and entring his Country by the way of Esdan or Sedain on the Meuse came to Antwerp at that time the chief City of Brabant and twice over-ran the Country where they pleased with Fire and Sword. Hereupon William Earl of Heinalt out of kindness to the Duke his Kinsman sent his own Lady Joan de Valois who was King Philip's Sister together with his Brother John Lord Beaumont of Heinalt into France to entreat for Peace and to obtain a present respit from War for the Duke of Brabant At last thô not without much ado King Philip was wrought upon to vouchsafe him a Peace upon these Conditions That the Duke of Brabant should cast himself upon the favour of the Court of France and of the Kings Council of them to abide the Censure and also without fail by such a certain time absolutely to banish out of his Territories the said Robert Earl of Artois The Lord Robert being thus eagerly prosecuted from one Country to another and wholly driven to despair at last resolves to fling himself upon the more powerfull Protection of the King of England and from this time sets himself with full Bent against his own Country So dangerously impolitick is it for a Prince to declare himself irreconcilable to any Great Man before he has him in his Power For here he kindled such a Fire as the blood of more than an hundred thousand Frenchmen could not extinguish He came into England disguised like a Merchant his Stuff and Riches being all convey'd hither before about the time that King Edward held his Parliament at f Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 645. York in order to his Affairs relating to Scotland The King knew him well for g Graften p. 207 Polydor. l. 19. p. 364. both he and his Mother had formerly received much kindness at his Hands when they were persecuted by the Spencers and beside as we have shewn he was of Kin to the King by the Mother wherefore readily apprehending of what great use such a Man might prove to his future Attempts he immediately made him of his Council and assign'd him the h Frois c. 26. Speed p. 570. §. 37. Profits of the Earldom of Richmond till he should provide some other Settlement for him But of him we shall speak more anon II. King Edward before the sitting of this Parliament had upon Occasion of the foremention'd Rumours from the North sent l Ashmole p. 645. ex Rot. Pat. 6. Ed. 3. p. 3. m. 3.14 Dec. Ralph Lord Basset of Drayton and Sr. William Denham his Ambassadors to King David his Brother in Law demanding present Restitution of the Town of Barwick which his Grandfather Edward the First had held in peaceable Possession and also to summon him to come into England to render Homage unto him as Superior Lord for that his Kingdom of Scotland To which Message King David by advice of his Council return'd thus k Frois ibid. Lords it is no small wonder to Us and to all our Barons that the King your Master our Good Brother in Law should send us such a Message as here you bring us For it could never appear to us that the Realm of Scotland was of old bound or subject to England either to yield Homage or any other Service thereto Wherefore neither would the King our Father of famous Memory ever own any such thing for all the Wars that were made against him by your King's Father or Grandfather The steps of our Father we Our selves God willing intend to follow in all that is Just and Honorable even thô thereby we hazard both our Life and Kingdom As for Barwick it was l Vid. John Harding c. 172. and Speed p. 559. § 34. fairly won
ready to accompany the French King to the Holy Land in order to fight against the Common Enemies of Christendom In the discussing and debating of these Articles the King of France was so zealously bent on the Holy War and such diligence was used by his Council not one at that time daring on the suddain to contradict that in the end a full Conclusion of the Peace on the Terms proposed was agreed on and Matters proceeded so far that Proclamation was order'd to be made thereof the next day in Paris and the Towns thereabouts But whether by the Fickleness and Inconstancy of King Philip or the Advice of some Scotch Pensioner in his Council or a sense of Generosity and a Commiseration of King David's exil'd Condition or by some secret Impulse of Heaven for the sins of Christendom and the punishment of France scarce were the English Ambassadors return'd to their Lodgings but they were remanded back again to Court where presently new Scruples were started which chiefly concern'd the third Article For thô as to the second Demand King Philip stood stifly against it at first unless all the Charges his Father Charles had been at in those Gascoigne Wars were repaid him by the King of England yet that when 't was made appear that the War it self was unjust he easily remitted But now as to the third Article King Philip answer'd peremptorily That he could not either in Honour or Equity desert his Friends the Scots in this their Oppression they being his Confederates and just Men Nor ought he to esteem King Edward worthy of his Friendship while he continued War against them That himself was as all Kings ought to be a Friend to Justice from which he should never swerve either for Affinity or Advantage or any other Consideration whatsoever but that he would to his Power vex and molest all the Disturbers of the Peace of Scotland For said he there will never be perfect Peace and Quietness in Christendom till the King of France shall stand as Umpire between the Realms of Scotland and England And therefore he briefly told the Ambassadors that having better consider'd of it he was resolv'd to conclude nothing as to Peace with England unless King David also might be comprehended in the same League so as that he might be restored to his Kingdom and the Bailiol wholly excluded Surely how gallant soever this Speech might seem 't was neither modest enough prudent nor seasonable For had he temporised so far as thereby to have obtain'd King Edward's Company in this Holy War the Bailiol might easily have been ruin'd by King David's Interest alone And it was more likely that then by fair means modest Reasonings King Edward might have been wrought upon by a personal Conference than by this rash and imperious way of Prescribing For from these peremptory Words the Breach became so wide that without bloody Wars Peace was not likely to be obtained Not to say that if King Philip did really intend this Holy Expedition he was not very wise to talk so high in such a juncture and if he did not intend it he was scarce sincere enough in his pious Resolutions However the English Ambassadors replied their Commission extended not so far as to reach to King David or to make any Concession to his Advantage so the whole matter was broke off and the Breach made wider than before Now the most exact Account of the first Original of these Unkindnesses between the two Kings of England and France which is by no Historian over exactly handled is to be found only in the publique Records of the Peace ten years before this made between King Edwards Father and Charles the Fair of France a Copy whereof was then sent to Pope John XXII and afterwards from the Library of Avignon brought into the Vatican and being seen and diligently weighed by my y Odoricus Raynaldus Continuat ad Baremum tom xv Ad an Christi 1327. §. 44. Author because from the Breach thereof the Wars which exercis'd England and France for so many Ages seem'd to take their first Occasion yield us these Observations In the Year 1325. which was the 19 of King Edward the II. of England by the diligence of Qu. Isabella with her Brother K. Charles of France together with the assistance of William Archbishop of Vienna and Hugh Bishop of Orange Nuntio's from the Apostolick Seat a Peace was made between the two Realms on this Condition z L. 9. c. 314. says Villani that what had been won by Charles of Valois in Aquitain should remain wholly to the French but in the publique a Extant in Arch. Vatican ex Avenion delat sign n. 10. in Chart. Pergam Records signed with the Seal of the King of France that Condition is not expressed but very cunningly cover'd with obscure and deceitfull Circumlocutions which when the Inventers of these politick Fetches contrived then they scattered the Seeds of a most inveterate Enmity between the two Realms to the infinite Dammage of France When the French wrested the Articles to their own purpose and the English exclaim'd that they were falsly and treacherously deceived for it was added that as to those Lands the French King should determin according to Law the King of England demanding his Right And so the Quarrel was not ended But now this Condition in that Treaty is evident that the French King should set over Aquitaine to administer justice a Person of integrity and one not suspected by the King of England and so the Armies on both sides should be disbanded and the King of England on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin should meet the French King at Beauvais and do Homage to the Crown of France for Aquitain which was then to be restored entirely unto him the foresaid Lieutenant being called back And this Agreement at the instance of Queen Isabell and the Pope was by consent of the Ambassadors of both Parties unanimously established in the Year aforesaid as appears by the Letters of both the Kings But now when afterwards King Edward II had conferr'd on his Son the Dukedom of Aquitain and a while after by Civil Tumults miscarried and Edward the III succeeded in the Throne the former Wars began to bleed fresh again our Young Edward being obliged to seek that Right by Arms which by Law he could not obtain but lest the Laws of Nature and the Peace of Christendom should be violated these Discords at the instance of the Pope who sent William Archbishop of Vienna and John Grandesson Bishop of Exceter for that purpose were composed on this Condition That as soon as might be what had been taken by the English in Aquitain contrary to the Form of the foresaid Agreement should be restored and on the other side that what had been taken by the French should be rendred to King Edward the said King Edward being to pay 50000 l. Sterling towards the reparation of Dammages and those Gascoigners who
so well that they can best of all Men living advise You what Friends to have recourse to and by what means you may oblige them to your Side VI. The King was so well satisfied with this Answer that forthwith e Frois ibid. Walsingh hist p. 118. Ashmole p. 646. he sends over to his Father-in-Law that right Politick Prelate Henry Burwash Lord Bishop of Lincoln with two Banerets the Lord William Montagu and the Lord William Clinton and many other Nobles besides two other Doctors learned in the Laws All who with a fair Wind arrived at Dunkirk and thence riding thrô Flanders came to Valenciennes the chief City of Heinalt where they found the Old Earl lying on his Bed sick of the Gout and the Lord John his Brother with him They were highly entertained and respected by the Earl and his Brother for the sake of him that sent them whereupon having distinctly shew'd the cause of their coming with King Edwards Pretensions to the Crown of France and all his Reasons and Scruples on either Hand they were thus answer'd by the Earl. So God bless me as I should heartily rejoyce if King Edward's Designs might take a full and happy Effect For I rather desire the Prosperity of him who hath married my Daughter than of him who thô I have married his Sister yet never did any thing of Good for me or mine Nay he was the occasion of hindering the young Duke of Brabant from marrying one of my Daughters as he desired to do Wherefore I shall be so far from failing to aid my Dear and Well-beloved Son the King your Master that I shall always be ready to the best of my Power to further his Undertakings both by Prudent Advice and Warlike Assistance Nor do I at all doubt but that my Brother Sr. John will do the same who has not been slothfull in his Service to the King your Master before this But alas our Country of Heinalt is too too inconsiderable in respect of the flourishing Realm of France And if we of our selves should once provoke the French Arms upon us England you know is too far off to afford us any timely Assistance Upon this the Bishop of Lincoln answered thus unto the Earl. Sir We most heartily in our Royal Masters Name return you our Thanks for the great Affection you are pleased to bear unto his Affairs and humbly desire you to give our Lord the King of England your Advice whose Friendship he had best have recourse to for their Assistance in this weighty Concern especially of such who are your Neighbours and border upon the Realm of France That thereby we may not only be render'd more Powerfull to prosecute this our Master's quarrel but your Country also may be more strongly Protected against any Violence which otherwise it might suffer for our sakes Surely Gentlemen repli'd the Earl I cannot for the present think of any more Puissant in War nor more surely my Friends nor more likely to be His than the Noble Duke of Brabant his Cosin-German the Earl of Gueldre who hath Married his Sister the Bishop of Liege the Archbishop of Colen the Marquis of Juliers Sr. Arnold of Baquehen Sr. Valeran his Brother and the Lord of Faulquemont For these Lords as they are well addicted to your Masters Interest so are they the only Men that at the shortest warning can Raise the greatest Numbers of good Souldiers of any I know They are all good Captains and well enclin'd to War especially against France which is near at hand if your Master can prevail with them to begin once being all together able to serve him with 10000 Men of Arms if they may have wages accordingly And then if he please to come this way 't is but passing the Water of Oyse and he is in King Philip's Dominions VII This was the Effect of this first Essay which when King Edward heard he was well satisfied and resolved to push on the business with all Speed and Vigour possible As for those English Ambassadors who were then in France they were now remanded home because King Edward understood f Walsing Hypod p. 114. n. 1. that while they were treating of a Peace King Philip had sent a well-rigg'd Fleet to the Assistance of the Scots against him Now the Admiral of this Navy for the French was g Ashmole p. 677. David Bruce the exil'd King of Scotland who did much mischief to the English Merchants about the Isle of Wight and besides had already enter'd the Isles of Garnsey and Jarsey and put divers of the Inhabitants to the Sword. Wherefore King Edward immediately h 11 Decemb. Rot. Scot. 10. Ed. 3. m. 3. gave Commission to the Archbishop of Canterbury the Lord Henry Plantagenet Son to Henry Earl of Lancaster and others himself being then at Bothwell in Scotland so busied in the Affairs of that Realm that he could not be at the meeting appointed to treat with certain Prelates and others whom he had commanded to meet at London on Wednesday after New-years day following upon Matters relating to the Defence and safety of the Kingdom repulsion of the Enemies and other things concerning the State of the King and his Realm as also seriously and fully to acquaint them with the Kings Intensions to Ordain and do all things referring thereunto and to His Honour as if he were there Personally present Nor indeed was the King of Englands Design i Frois c. 28. wholly unknown to King Philip of France for whether by meer Suspicion or more certain Information the matter began by little and little to take wind so much that presently the Mighty Zeal for the Holy War grew cold in France of a sudden and King Philip countermanded all his Officers from making any farther Preparations till he might see whither King Edward's Designes would tend But before I proceed with those matters I shall rid my hands of some things which falling about this time are fittest here to be inserted Only I must not omit that k Od. ric Rainald ad An. 1336. § 46. Pope Benedict seeing how matters began to go between the two Kings sent by the hands of his Nuntio Philip de Camberlake his Letters bearing date the x Kal. Decemb. to both the Kings endeavouring to perswade them to an Accommodation but especially he sought to pacifie King Edward's enflamed mind and exhorted him to put away from him the Lord Robert of Artois who continually stirr'd him up to the War besides which he wrote to Queen Philippa and the Archbishop of Canterbury that they would use their endeavours to bring the King to Terms But all was too late King Edward was too far exasperated by the Insolence of his Adversary And thus the War began to break out between England and France than which hardly ever any was either of more long continuance or of more Fatal Consequence to Christendom VIII On the l Adam Marimouth 14 of September or
1 Vol. p. 802. Antwerp while the King held a Noble Turneament there on the Vigil of St. Andrew or the 29 of November 1338. The Infant was Baptised with the Name of Lionell and sirnamed from the Place of his Birth Lionell of Antwerp who became in time Earl of Vlster Duke of Clarence and a Person of Extraordinary Features of Body and which is a more aimable Beauty Valour and other Princely Endowments But as the Queens Fecundity did on one hand make the Royal Family to flourish so on the other Fatal Necessity was busied in lopping off a Princely Branch from that Regal Stem For this very z Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 64. Year the Kings Uncle Thomas Plantagenet sirnamed of Brotherton from a place of that Name in Yorkshire where he was Born being Earl of Norfolk and Marshal of England departed this Life and was a Weevers fun Mon. p. 726. buried in the Choire of the Famous Abbey at St. Edmunds-Bury in Suffolk where there was a goodly Monument erected to his Memory but it is now wholly buried in the same Ruines into which the Fatal Dissolution cast both that and many other Religious Houses He left Issue by the Lady b Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 65. Alice his first Wife Daughter of Sr. Roger Hales of Harwich two Daughters his Heirs the Lady Margaret and the Lady Alice the former first Married to the Lord John Seagrave and after to the Famous Sr. Walter Manny the latter to Sr. Edward Montague Brother to the Earl of Salisbury He is c Mill's Catal. Hâ—nor p. 510. said to have had also a Wife named Anne before the Lady Alice by whom he had a Son Edward who died without Issue and also another after her by whom he had a second Son named John who became a Monk in the Abbey of Ely. Upon his Death however the Earldom of Norfolk and Office of Marshal for want of Issue Male fell into the Kings hands by Escheat But the Lord William Montague Earl of Salisbury in consideration of his many Eminent Services both in War and Peace abroad and at home obtained presently after a d Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 646. ex Pat. fact apud Antwerp 12. Ed. 3. p. 3. m 7. Grant bearing Date at Antwerp the 15 of September of the Office of Marshal of England During this the Kings Stay in Brabant the Lady e Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 52. Eleanora Plantagenet Fifth Daughter to Henry de Torto Collo the old Earl of Lancaster and Sister to Henry Earl of Darby brought forth to her Husband John Lord Beaumont of England Son to Henry Vicount Beaumont Earl of Buquhan a Son called Henry Whereupon two Years after Sr. John the Father obtain'd the Kings Special Letters Patents declaring That notwithstanding the said Henry the Son was begotten and born in Foreign Parts yet since it was occasion'd by Sr. John's and his Lady's Attendance on the King and Queen he should be reputed a Lawfull Heir to inherit his Father's Lands as well as thô he had been born in England Now that it may appear how King Philip was much more in the Pope's Books than our Edward it is observable that when he heard of King Edwards Arrival at Antwerp as one that saw a Dreadfull Tempest of War hanging over France he wrote a f Extat apud Odoric Rainald ad hunc annum §. 55. Letter to King Philip bearing Date at Avignon V. Id. August Anno Pontificatûs IV. Wherein piously indeed he stirs him up to implore the Divine Assistance and to the end he might obtain the Favour of God to put away all things that might offend his Majesty and first to pacifie his own Conscience lest he should nourish a War within himself to desist from Oppressing the Clergy and the Poor lastly he advised him to admit of honest Conditions of Peace and upon Occasion to offer the like For whereas in that War much Christian Blood was like to be shed he would then appear clean of the Sin of all that should be shed both before God and Man but that he should not put his Confidence in the Power of his Forces but in the Divine Assistance As for his Part that he together with the Whole Church would power forth his Prayers unto God for him IV. King g Knighton p. 2571. n. 50. vid. Rebdâ—rfii Annales de hâ—c anno Edward the mean while according to the Emperors Request went forth Royally attended to give him a Meeting he being then in High Germany about 7 Diets beyond Colen But when he heard of the King of England his Brother-in-Law's Approach toward that City he also set forward with Imperial Pomp till he came to h Alii dicunt lâ—cum fuisse Confluentias alâ—i Francofurtum Cologne where he was met by King Edward The Enterview was very Glorious and Magnificent the Emperor greatly Honouring the King of England thô some i Walsingh hist p. 132. say at the first Meeting he took it ill that King Edward refus'd to submit himself to the Kiss of his Feet as it should seem Kings were wont to do to Emperours but our Edward gallantly k Selden's Titles of Hon. part 1. c. 3 p. 29. answer'd That He Himself was a King Sacred and Anointed and had Life and Limbs in his Power being accountable to none but God as Supream and Independent of all Others being also Lord of Sea and Land and Wearing no less than an Imperial Crown Wherefore he ought not to abase himself to any Mortal Potentate whatsoever This Answer was accepted And presently l Knighton p. 2571. n. 60. two Royal Thrones were erected in the open Market-place One for the Emperour the Other for the King the Emperour took his Place first and King Edward sate down by him In which Honourable Enterview there were for Assistants four Great Dukes three Archbishops and six Bishops thirty seven Earls and of Barons Banerets Knights and Esquires according to the Estimation of the Heralds Seventeen Thousand The Emperour held in his Right Hand the Imperial Scepter and in his Left the Golden Mound or Globe which denotes the Government of the World a Knight of Almain holding over his Head a Naked Sword. And then and there the Emperour publiquely declared the Disloyalty Falshood and Villany which the King of France had used towards him whereupon he defi'd him and pronounced that both He and his Adherents had forfeited the Protection and Favour they might expect from the Empire and had justly incurred whatever Displeasure might be done unto him thereby And then He m Ashmole p. 649. Frois l. 1. c. 34. f. 19. made ordain'd and constituted King Edward his Deputy and Vicar General of the Sacred German Empire granting unto him full and absolute Power over All on this side as far as Cologne Of all which he gave him his Imperial Charter in sight of all that were present The next day these two Illustrious Persons with the Great
than necessaries for War made off and escaped by their Nimble Sailing but the Edward and the Christopher stood stiffly to their Tackling and fought fiercely more then 9 Hours insomuch that on both Parts more than 600 Men were slain before the Victory could be decided But in the end wearied with Labour Wounds and Slaughter and opprest with Number they were both taken and brought into the French Havens most of the wounded English being unmercifully thrown overboard too base a Recompence for their Great Valour On the o Frois c. 37. f. 21. Stow p. 235. Holinshead p. 904. Knighton p. 2573. à n. 1. ad n. 10. Walsing hist Edit Franc. p. 146. n. 5. Fabian p. 206. c. 5 of October being a Sunday 50 Galleys of Normans Picards Genoans and Spaniards all well Mann'd and Furnish'd with Habiliments for War at 9 of the Clock in the Morning while the People were at Church came suddenly to Southampton where they sacked the Town the Inhabitants running away for fear but they plunder'd all they could lay Hands on and slew the poor people they met with and ravish'd Women and wasted the Victuals at a heavy rate Those of the Nobler sort whom they could light on they hung up in their own Houses and upon their Departure set the whole Town on Fire But by the Break of next day before they were half got to their Ships Sr. John Arundel a Valiant Gentleman of Hantshire came in upon them being accompanied with a goodly small Band of Choice Souldiers and those Townsmen who had fled from the French the Day before who thô they came too late to save their Friends came yet soon enough to Revenge them and so falling suddenly upon the Barbarous Pyrates before they could recover their Confusion which their speedy Departure put them into they slew no less than 300 of them upon the spot together with a Chief Captain of theirs the King of Sicily's Son to whom the French King had granted whatsoever he should Win or Conquer in England But for all his High hopes he was in this surprise beaten to the ground by a rough Clown who laid about him with a Flail like a Mad-man the Prince not being able to speak a Word of English cry'd p Speed's Maps in Hantshire f. 13. §. 10. out in French Rancon Rancon meaning that he desired to be taken to Ransome But the Clown nothing understanding either his Language or his Coat-Armour answering him I know thou art a Francon and therefore thou shalt die still laid on till he had thrash'd him to Death The rest of the Pyrates fled as fast as they could to their Ships but the Pursuers cut many of them short and not a few were drowned thrô their too great haste as they confusedly endeavour'd to recover their Vessels most of the Ships being hal'd off for fear the English should board them After this the Townsmen of Southampton encompassed the place about with a great Wall and q Sr. Rob. Cotton p. 20. §. 16 17. M.S. p. 27. §. 16. c. in the Parliament of which we shall speak in due season the Lord Richard Talbot was appointed Captain of the Town with 20 Men of Arms and an 100 Archers at the Kings Wages whereby they were secur'd from the like distress for the future Another time Eleven r Stow p. 235. of these French Gallies approaching to the Town of Harwich in Essex cast fire among some of the Out-houses the force whereof was so abated by reason of a strong Contrary-Wind that no great harm was done But the Town it self was too strong to be attempted with any probability of Success Thus the French Navy sought Advantages along by the Sea-Coasts once they sailed to the Isle of Wight but here they gain'd nothing being strongly resisted by the Inhabitants Thence therefore they coasted about for some more easie adventure at Hastings they burnt Fishers Cottages with their Boats and slew many Poor Labouring Men they also made great shows of a Design against the Isle of Thanet in Kent and against Dover and Folkeston but here they were able to do no great harm except to Poor Fishermen Thence sailing about to the Havens in Cornwall and Devonshire every where they Destroyed the Fishermen and their Boats and whatever Ships they found at Anchor they fired At length they enter'd Plimouth-Haven where they burnt some Great Ships and a good part of the Town But here at last they were met with by Hugh Courtney Senior Earl of Devonshire and old tough Souldier of Fourscore who came upon them with the Trained Bands of his Country and seeing at the first Brunt a few of his Men fall by reason of the French Quarrels which they shot from far he made his Men to close immediately and fall to Handy stroaks with them whereupon he soon overcame them beating them down by Heaps and so Chaced them eagerly to their Gallies when being not able to reach their Fellows by wading for they were now drawn off and stood aloof there were drown'd of them about 500. About this time there Å¿ Knight n. p. 2573. n. 40. came a Fleet of Frenchmen consisting of 20 Great Ships 15 small Ones and 32 Gallies riding before Sandwich-Haven but they durst not take Land because they saw the County Militia ready drawn up to receive them Thence therefore they tack'd about to Rye where they did much Mischief but while they were there a Squadron of English came up with them whereupon the French hoised Sail and fled before them the English all the while making after them with full Sail till they came to Bologne where they set fire to part of the Town and hang'd 12 Captains of the Fleet whom among others they had taken VI. The News t Stow p. 235. of these Hostilities of the French and especially of their Success at Southampton were brought to the King of England in Brabant while the two Cardinals u Victorelâ—us 1 Vol. p. 862. §. 24. p. 857 §. 4. Pedro de Gomez of Spain Titulo Praxedis and Bertrand de Monte Faventio Titulo Sanctae Mariae in Aquiro were yet in his Presence debating of Matters between the two Realms and urging the King to a Peace with France whereupon the King with Great Indignation turning to the Earl of Juliers and other his Friends there Present asked them If he had not great Cause to break with France If only to Revenge their Inhumane Butchery and extream Cruelty to his Poor Subjects who fell into their Hands At which the Cardinal Bertrand replyed in this Manner not without a smile betraying his Haughty Conceits My Lord said he the Realm of France is encompassed about with so strong a Line of Silk that it cannot be broken by the strength of the Kingdom of England Wherefore my Lord ô King you will do well to stay first for the Arrival of the Dutchmen and others Your Friends and Confederates the greater Part
to come from the Pope to shew them That if they would return to their Duty and own themselves to hold only of his Holiness and of the Crown of France forsaking King Edward who as he said had enchanted them then he would forgive them all their Trespasses granting unto them a General Absolution and also quit them of 2000000 of Florens in which Summ they were bound unto him by a Former Obligation and that he would further procure them many Advantagious Privileges and Franchises The Flemings answer'd That they look'd upon themselves as fully acquitted already of whatsoever they were bound in to his Holiness Since they fought not against the King of France but the Usurper of that Crown King Philip being nettled with this Answer made his Complaint to the Pope and so well handled the Matter with him that contrary to the Opinion of St. Austin who says u Neque Multitudo neque Princeps Pepuli sunt excommunicandi August in Glossa ad Matth◠c. 13. That neither a Common-Wealth nor a Prince of a People ought to be excommunicated he too easily interdicted all Flanders insomuch that no Priest there durst say or sing any Divine Service while they should continue unreconciled to the Church Whereof when the Flemings complain'd bitterly to King Edward he sent them word that when he should come among them he would bring along with him Priests out of England that should sing Mass and perform Divine Service among them whether the Pope would or no For he said He had Authority and Privilege so to do And this Answer contented the Flemings But when King Philip saw he could not win them to his side by fair means then he sent command to his Garrisons of Tournay Lisle Douay and other Frontier Fortresses to make War on the Flemings and to overrun their Country According to these Orders the Lord Godmar du Fay Sr. John du Roy Sr. Matthew du Trie Marshall of Mirepoix and divers other Lords and Knights from Tournay Lisle and Doway collected a Body of 1000 Men of Arms 3000 Crossbows and Others who all together one evening setting out secretly from Tournay and riding about six leagues Northward came early the next Morning before Courtray By that time the Sun was risen they had gather'd together all the Cattel about the Town while a Party of them rode up to the very Gates and slew and hurt all whom they found without the Walls Then they return'd homeward with all their Prey which they carried clear off and found when they came to Tournay that they had got more than 10000 Sheep and of Swine Beefs and Kine as many more VII The Flemings were extreamly fretted at this Inroad of theirs but especially Jacob van Arteveld who swore to take a bloody Revenge within a little space And presently commanded the good Towns of Flanders to get ready their Quota's of Souldiers and send them to him to Geertsberg or Mount Gerard directly between Antwerp and Tournay by such a certain day in order to go with him before Tournay He wrote Letters also to the Earl of Salisbury and the Lord Robert Hufford eldest Son to the Earl of Suffolk being then at Ipres desiring them to come and meet him there at the same time He himself against the Day prefixed went out of Gaunt with his Men of War and made his Rendezvous at Mount Gerard aforesaid being on an Arm of the Skell where he resolved to stay for the Lords of England and the Men of Frank and Bruges The foresaid English Barons thought it dishonourable to delay a Matter of such Importance especially the Flemings being so forward in what they themselves on behalf of the King their Master extreamly desired wherefore they immediately dispatch'd an Answer to Jacob van Arteveld signifying that they would not fail to be with him at such a Day There was then at Ipre a Lord of Almain named Sr. Vauflart de la Croix who for a long time had made War against the Garrison of Lille by the Dutch called Ryssel whereby he was well acquainted with all the Avenues and Passages of that Country Him now the two English Lords took for their Guide and when the time appointed drew near marched out of Ipre with 50 Men of Arms and 40 Archers in their Company But as they came toward the Town of Lille either by Treason of some among them or by the Enemies Spies their Approach was signified to those of the Town who sent out beforehand 1500 Men both Horse and Foot in three several Bodies that the English might by no means escape It is likely they had at least a strong presumption some time before of this their Coming for in such a certain place they had made a great Dike where there never was any before that their Passage might be the slower and they might not slip quickly by unperceived Sr. Vauflart had guided them well till they came to this Dike but here he began to smell a Plot and making an Halt said to the English Barons My Lords now I see well you cannot pass without peril from the Garrison of Lille For this way is but newly thus stopped and without fail they have had notice of our Coming Wherefore by my advice you would do well to turn back again and take some other way But the Lords answer'd him Nay Sr. Vauflart it shall ne're be said that we went out of the way for fear of the Men of Lille therefore ride on before in Gods-name for we have promised Jacob van Arteveld to be with him as on this day And saying so they began to move forward but then Sr. Vauflart repli'd Gentlemen you have taken me in this journey for your Guide and I have been with you all this Winter in Ipres where indeed for your kind Company and singular Favours I have been particularly obliged unto you But if the Men of Lille once appear without the Walls never expect that I should stand by you For I design to save my self as soon as I may because if I am taken by them I am sure to die for it And you must pardon me if I love my Life something better than your good Company thô you are my Friends The English Lords laughed heartily at him and said Well Sr. Vauflart if it be so we freely excuse you from further Attendance And truly just as he had imagin'd so it fell out for unawares they were even then in danger of the French Ambush who cri'd out Hold Messieurs you are not like to pass this way without our Leave and at that instant they poured in a whole Flight of Arrows upon them and came out in good Order against them The Lord Vauflart had no sooner espi'd them but he turn'd his Horse and got out of the Preass as hastily as he might and setting spurs to his Horse escap'd away But the English Captains thought scorn to flinch and so rode forward till finding themselves enclos'd with their Enemies
Simon Frasier and Earl Patrick of Dunbar The Stratagem however is told two ways and the less probable by the e Hector p. 322. n. 20. Bâ—chan l. 9. p. 298. Scotch Writers themselves which is this The Lord Douglas having acquaintance with one Walter Towers a Merchant called him into the Fryth directing him to counterfeit himself an English Merchant and to offer the Garrison Wines to sell This Towers according to his Instructions provided two Vessels of rich Wine and other Presents for the Captain desiring his leave to sell off the rest of his Goods in those Parts without any impediment or molestation That in consideration of this Favour if the Garrison wanted any thing which he had upon knowledge he would gratifie them therewith at reasonable Rates The Captain bidding him bring a certain quantity of Wine and Sea-bisket promises Admission at any time He forsooth pretending to be afraid of the Scots appointed to be there very early the next Morning That night Douglas and 12 of the most chosen and valiant Men with him disguised themselves with Seamens Habit over their Armour and having planted their Fellows in the nearest place they could with Order not to stirr till the Signal given go along with the foresaid Provision to the Castle Sr. William Douglas and Sr. Simon Frasier went first with the Cart the other Eleven were commanded to follow at some distance Being upon Call let in at the outer Gate of the Barriers which was before the Castle Gate as they espi'd the Keys of the Castle hanging on the Porters arm they suddenly slew him so that he died without one Word speaking Then in great silence they open the Castle Gate and thence gave the signal to their Fellows by the sound of an Horn the mean while they cast all their Carriages between the Doors that they might not be closed before their Fellows should come up This is Buchanan's Relation thô in some respects I know not upon what Authority different from Hector's who went before him Wherefore I rather follow Froisard an Author of credit infinitely beyond them both who thus tells the whole Matter f Frois c. 55. That Sr. William Douglas with his Companions aforesaid took to them two hundred hardy Wild Scots and went on board a Ship wherein was Provision of Corn Oats and Fuell and so they came peaceably into the Harbour of the Fryth or Forth not far from the Castle of Edinburgh That in the Night they armed themselves and all their Company disguising ten or twelve of their Choice Men and such as they had most confidence in with ragged Habits over their Armour and Hats like Country Clowns the rest of their Men they bestowed in an Ambush among the ruines of an Old Abby near the foot of the Hill. This done they that were dress'd like Clowns being yet well arm'd beneath their Rags drave up the Hill about break of day twelve Galloways laden with the foresaid Provision Being little more than half way onward Sr. William Douglas who could speak English perfectly without any mixture of the Scotch Dialect as his Father the Lord James could â—o before him and Sr. Simon Frasier disguised as they were went a little before and called to the Porter saying Sir in great fear we have brought hither Corn Oats and Fuel which if you have any need thereof we will sell you good cheap Why Marry said the Porter and we have great need thereof But it is so very early that I dare not wake the Captain nor his Steward However let them come in for I shall open the outer Gate where you shall be safe till the Steward-rises Upon this the Gate being open'd they all entred within the Barriers Sr. William Douglas first who heedfully casting his eye about espied the great Keys of the Castle hanging upon the Porters Arm. The two last Horses being laden with Coals were so order'd be like their Hamstrings suddenly cut that they fell down just at the entrance of the first Gate so that without much time and labour it could not be closed again At that instant while the Porter as he thought no harm was carelesly looking to the unlading Douglas from behind gave him so sure a stroak that without word speaking he fell down dead Then they took the great Keys and opened the Castle Gate laying all the Sacks there upon the Groundsell that it should not by any strength be closed against them but the outer Gate they cleared for their Men to come in with more ease This done Sr. William sounded an Horn and all cast away their torn Coats and drawing their Swords stood close together in shining Armour at the entrance of the Gate Upon the Signal given those that lay in Ambush mounted the Hill with all expedition being assured of Success The Watchman also of the Castle being allarm'd with the noise of the Horn look'd out and saw Men with their Weapons in their hands ascending the Hill and running toward the Castle Then he blew his Horn aloud and cri'd out Treason treason Rise rise to Arms to Arms quickly For yonder come Men of War upon us At this Alarm the Garrison began to rise and run to Arms in all hast they that first could hasting down to the Castle Gates But Sr. William Douglas and his twelve Companions so stoutly defended the Passage by the help of those Encumbrances that lay on the Threshold that the Gate could not be closed again till the coming up of the Scots Ambush Notwithstanding they within endeavour'd to defend the Castle to the utmost and hurt and slew several of the Scots but at last by the obstinate Valour of Douglas and his Men joyned to the great Surprise the English were in and their Unpreparedness many also giving all for lost without Trial the Castle was carried all that opposed being master'd and slain except the Master Sr. Richard Limesi and six English Esquires who were taken Prisoners The Scots tarried there all that Day to settle the Orders of the Castle over which they made Sr. Simon Vescy Captain with a sufficient Garrison under him The News of this Loss with the Manner thereof was brought to King Edward while he lay before Tournay During this Siege before Tournay Jacob van g Frois c. 379. fol. 257. Arteveld had a Son born in Gaunt to whom Queen Philippa of England who lay then in that City was pleased to be Godmother and gave him the Name of Philip Which Philip van Arteveld in process of time became a famous Captain of the Rebellious Gantois against the Earl their Lord as may be seen in Froisard and those who write of the Wars of Flanders in that Age. IX Now it is to be remembred that before we began to treat of the Siege of Tournay we spake of another h Vid. l. 1. c. 17. §. 1. p. 187. Army of Flemings which was appointed to sit down in like manner before St. Omers under the Conduct of the
a due State Counsel and a Treatise thereupon had with the Earls Barons and other Wise Men of our said Realm And for because We never consented to the making of the said Statute but as then it behoved Us We dissembled in the Premises by Protestations of Revocation of the said Statute if indeed it should proceed to eschew the Dangers which by denying of the same We feared to come forasmuch as the said Parliament otherwise had been without any Expedition in Discord dissolved and so our earnest business had likely been which God prohibit in Ruine And the said pretenced Statute We promised then to be Sealed It seemed to the said Earls Barons and other Wise Men that sithence the said Statute did not of our Free Will proceed the same should be void and ought not to have the Name nor strength of a Statute And therefore by their Counsel and Assent We have Decreed the said Statute to be void and the same inasmuch as it proceeded of Deed We have brought to be annulled Willing nevertheless that the Articles contained in the said pretenced Statute which by other of Our Statutes or of Our Progenitors Kings of England have been approved shall according to the form of the said Statute in every point as convenient is be observed And the same We do only to the Conservation and Redintegration of the Rights of Our Crown as We be bound and not that We should in any Wise aggrieve or oppress Our Subjects whom We desire to rule by Lenity and Gentleness And therefore We do command You that all these things You do to be openly proclaimed in such places within your Bayliwick where You shall see expedient Witness my self at Westminster the First day of October the XV Year of Our Reign This is the Famous Revocation which thô put among the Printed Statutes was meerly the Result of the Kings Prerogative Royal and yet in those days Esteemed of sufficient Force and as so afterwards confirmed by Act of Parliament as We shall see two Years hence CHAPTER the NINETEENTH The CONTENTS I. King Philip of France wins the Emperour to his side II. The Emperours Letters of Revocation to King Edward III. King Edwards answer thereto IV. The sudden Death of the Duke of Bretagne without Issue With the several Pretences of the Earl of Montford and Charles of Blois to that Dukedom V. Earl Montford seises his Fathers Treasure calls a. Parliament and goes forth with an Army to conquer his Inheritance VI. He goes into England does Homage to King Edward as true King of France for that Dukedom and implores his Protection VII On Charles of Blois his Complaint to King Philip Earl Montford is Summon'd to appear in the Chamber of France He comes to Paris but being in doubt gets secretly away again VIII The Dukedom adjudged to the Lord Charles of Blois IX King Philip promises unto him his Assistance and confiscates the Earldom of Montford which King Edward requites by giving the Earldom of Richmond unto the said Earl. X. Charles of Blois descends into Bretagne besieges Nantes and takes the Earl of Montford who is sent Prisoner to Paris XI The Countess of Montford prepares to renew the War. XII King Edward keeps his Christmas at Melros Abbey and the Earl of Darby at Roxborough whither certain Scotch Knights come to exercise Feats of Arms. XIII Queen Philippa deliver'd of her Fifth Son called Edmund of Langley His Christening solemnized with a Feast and Turneament Which is falsly said to have been for love of the Countess of Salisbury XIV A small Digression concerning Francis Petrarch the Italian Poet. XV. The Lord Douglas besieges Striveling and takes it King Edward goes against Scotland with a Royal Army The Scotch Lords offer Conditions to obtain a Truce which are accepted XVI King David of Scotland returns home again raises an Army and enters England lays Siege to Newcastle but leaves it again XVII The Captain of Newcastle rides post with the News to King Edward who prepares for Resistance XVIII King David takes and destroys the City of Durham XIX He lays Siege to the Castle of Werke the Story of King Edwards Amours with the Countess of Salisbury exploded XX. The Captain of the Castle passes thrô the Scotch Host in the Night to hasten King Edward to his Relief On Knowledge whereof the King of Scotland Retires XXI King Edward comes before the Castle of Werke and the next Day follows the Scots XXII A Truce taken between the two Kings with the several Reasons inducing them thereto The Earls of Murray and Salisbury acquitted their Ransoms I. ALL this while thô the Truce between France and England had more than Two Years to continue King Philip knowing that Truces are but Opportunities for Wise Enemies to improve to their Advantage like a Politick and Wary Prince thought good to take this time to recruit himself and to provide more strongly against a War which the Competition for a Crown seem'd to Entayl to future Ages And first after King Edward's own Method he desired to Establish himself with the Accession of some Powerfull Friends The Flemings he could by no means expect to prevail with while Jacob van Arteveld bore any Authority among them and the Earl of Hainalt was too much incensed to be wrought upon and the Duke of Brabant and other Lords of the Empire were still hamper'd in the Triple League made at Villenort Nor indeed did it seem feasable to gain any great footing in the Empire till the Emperour himself might be brought over The Emperours Friendship therefore seem'd as more considerable so upon many Accounts more attainable Lewis the Emperour had now to Wife the Lady Margaret Eldest Daughter to Jane of Valois King Philips Sister Besides he knew him extream desirous to be Reconciled to the Church if he might obtain Absolution from the Pope on no Dishonourable Conditions and King Philip had at that time the Popes Keys under his Girdle the Court of Rome being at Avignon in France The Emperour therefore he now secretly and effectually plyes by the Popes Letters and his own Ambassadors offering him both Temporal and Spiritual Advantages great Gifts and Pensions together with a Frank and easie Absolution from his long-continued Excommunication These things took with him so well that he presently sent unto King Edward these his Letters of Revocation II. a Walsingh hist p. 146. n. 30. Fox Acts and Monum p. 351. Stow p. 238. Odâ—ric Rainald ad hunc annâ—m §. 12. c. Lewis by the Grace of God Emperour of the Romans always Augustus to Edward King of England his Beloved Brother Greeting and unfeigned Love. Althô innumerable and arduous Affairs do lie upon our shoulders and We are variously and perpetually encumbred about them yet notwithstanding when the Discord arisen between You and Philip King of France our Beloved Cosin which unless it be appeased may for the future bring forth both to You and to your
These Letters were dispatch'd away b Holinshead ibid. p. 922. Sandfords Geneal Hist p. 164. Walsingh hist p. 150. n. 20 hypod p. 116. Adam Murimouth M.S. to the Pope by Sr. John Shoreditch Knight a Man of great Gravity and deep Knowledge in the Law Who coming to Avignion and being conducted into the Pope's Privy Chamber where his Holiness then sat among his Cardinals humbly presented these Letters from the Three Estates of England assembled together in Parliament The Letters being once read the Knight made Answer to what the Pope thought fit to object against them and particularly he instanced in the Deanry of York which his Holiness had lately taken up for one of the Kings Enemies Whereat the Pope with some Emotion reply'd Well well it is not unknown to Us who made and endited these Letters and We are sensible how you are not the Author But there is one who endeavours to pinch us narrowly whom we shall find a way to bring down For we understand these Affairs well enough and will not suffer them to be too nicely handled by others He added that there was a Knight of England who accustomed himself to speak derogatory to the Church of Rome wherewith he could not but be highly offended especially since he saw his Honour invaded with Impunity In conclusion he promised to answer the Letters of the Lords and Commons of England in reference to the Contents thereof Whereat the Cardinals rose up and departed in great seeming Displeasure and the Knight having taken his leave left the Court and without longer tarrying went for Bourdeaux in Guienne about other of the Kings Business Either because he was so commanded or least otherwise on some Pretence or other he might have been detained there against his Will. The Pope never theless soon after sent an Answer directed to the King in Behalf of those Cardinals for whom he had before made Provisions which now the King by vertue of his Prerogative Royal had deprived them of The Tenour whereof followeth c Antiquitates Britannicae p. 237 n. 50. Walsingh hist p. 152 n. 10. Adam Murimuth c. XI CLEMENT the Bishop Servant of the Servants of God to his most Dear Son in Christ the Lord Edward the Illustrious King of England Greeting and Apostolical Benediction Lately after the Creation of new Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church having before taken a provident and mature Deliberation We judg'd it highly requisite both for the Honour of God and of his Holy Church and also for the publick Utility that those Cardinals who partake with Us of our Labours and Burthens in dispatching those great Affairs which from all Parts as to their proper Chanel flow into the Apostolick See should also have agreeably wherewithall to supply their Necessities according to the Dignity of their State and Condition Whereupon having consider'd of the most proper and lawfull Ways and Means whereby the said Provision might with less burthen to the Churches and their Clergy be made We gave out of Ecclesiastical Benefices then vacant in sundry Realms of Christendom and also of such as should from that time be vacant unto each of the said new Cardinals for their Support our Special Grants unto such a certain Summ and under certain Forms and Limitations so distinguished as We judged might be proportionable to the several Provinces Now since unto two Cardinals born in the Dukedom of Aquitain to wit our beloved Sons d d Victorellus de Vit. Pontif. p. 894 895. concerdat cum Histericis nâ—stris Ademare of the Title of St. Anastasia and Gerard of the Title of St. Sabina Priests We have made the like Grants of Benefices within your Kingdom and Territories most Dear Son contained in Form for them and other the said Cardinals with great Deliberation ordained and they for the obtaining the said Grants have sent their Proctors and Ecclesiastick Messengers being Persons of Wisdom and Learning unto the Parts of your Kingdom of England the said Proctors and Messengers when being enter'd the said Kingdom they began there to pursue the Business of their said Lords were not only hinder'd in their said Business by the Kings Subjects and Officers but also confined and after that in very Disgracefull manner ejected the said Kingdom as We have too well understood by the too-unwelcome Relations thereof Truly most Beloved Son if the Premises which about the said Proctors We have premised are founded upon real Truth considering the sincere Devotion which You are known to bear towards the Lord and toward the Holy Roman Church your Motheâ— as the Kings of England your Progenitors of Famous Memory in their Days have born We cannot easily believe that they proceeded from your Knowledge But this is certain that not only in your said Kingdom and Territories but in a manner in all Kingdoms and Countries as well near as remote whereever the Catholick Faith flourishes We have made the like Grant to other new Cardinals Where notwithstanding except the said Rebellious Denial which if it be true We mention with grief of Heart We have hitherto heard of no manner of Refusal For We thought and still do think it sufficiently advantageous for your Royal Honour and Interest that Cardinals especially such who are naturally affected to your Royal Honour and Interest should obtain Ecclesiastical Benefices in your Kingdom and Territories Because thereby they may be induced more freely and frequently to promote your Princely Advantage And we wish to God that those who are fed with the Crums of the said Roman Church and by her have been exalted to Honours and Preferments were not too probably suspected not without a Note of most Detestable ingratitude and to their own peril to have procured the foresaid impediments unto Her Whereby they have to the great hazard of their Souls rendred themselves liable to Excommunication and other Punishments and Sentences promulged against such Persons by the Canons Which respect the happy Encrease of the Health Fame and Honour of your Majesty towards which if with Loyal Endeavours these Men had attended they would not by doing the contrary so eagerly hunt after their own filthy Lucre under the pretence of their Prince's Service Finally We entreat your Royal Excellence and most earnestly exhort You in the Lord that diligently within your Princely Breast considering the Premises and what else shall occurr to your Royal Wisdom You would graciously order those things which were done against the said Proctors and Others authorized by the said Cardinal Ademare who are reported to have been afterwards taken and confin'd to be decently amended and revoked and that your Royal Majesty would cause the said Proctors being upheld by the Royal Favour in the Prosecution of the said Affairs in the same Kingdom to rejoyce with full Security for the Reverence of God and of Us and of the said See not lending your Royal Ears to those things which may bring any Offence to God Dishonour to the said Church
came with all his Host to Nantes where he was extreamly welcom to the Lord Charles of Blois and Himself with his Lords and chief Captains lodged in the City but their Men were quartered about in the Country for both the City and Suburbs were unable to hold them and besides the Suburbs had been lately burnt by the English While the Duke of Normandy lay thus at Nantes The Earl of Salisbury and the other Lords of England who were still before Rennes made one Day above the rest a fierce and terrible Assault upon the City which endured with all possible Animosity for all that Day and yet thô they had also dives Engines and Instruments to batter and shake the Walls they gain'd no Advantage but lost many Men in the Assault Those that so well defended this Place were besides the Bishop of Rennes the Lord of Ancenis the Lord of Pontrieux Sr. John de Malestroit Sr. Owen Charnells and a young Breton named Bertram de Clequin who afterwards became the most considerable Captain of his Days and was in time Constable of France of whose notable Exploits this Work will not be silent Nor let any Man wonder that these Cities of Vannes Rennes and Nantes should hold out so stifly now against the Forces of King Edward when as we shall find them all to have changed their Lord more than once within the space of two Years For when Bretagne only fought against Bretagne the People were divided some enclining to one side and some to the other and easily altering their Minds again But now they look'd upon the English as a common Enemy and beside the Lord Charles was better provided at this time than formerly However the Earl of Salisbury continued his Siege before Rennes for all this and daily wasted and ravaged the Country round about Now when the Duke of Normandy who had well consider'd of the Business he had in hand was certainly informed how Rennes was in little or no danger but that Vannes was in much hazard of being lost it was so mightily prest by the King of England thither he resolv'd first to bend his Course and either by Battle or otherwise to raise the Siege The two Marshals of the Host the Lord Charles of Monmorency and the Lord of St. Venant led the Van the Duke himself was in the Main Body and the Lord Geoffry Charny with the Earl of Guisnes brought up the Reer In this Order they came before Vannes and lay over against the King of England in a fair Meadow between the Rivers of Claye and Vilaine and made a great and deep Ditch round about their Host but the Marshals and Van-currours of each Army met often and skirmished together XVII King Edward upon the news of their Approach had sent for the Earls of Salisbury and Pembroke to break up their Siege from before Rennes and come strait to the Camp to him which they did for he expected to have Battle with the Frenchmen at this time without fail His Forces both English and Bretons made up but about b Frois c. 98. 2500 Men of Arms and 6000 Archers and about 6000 Others on Foot beside those who were left to keep the Navy and Others in Garrisons and with the Countess at Hennebond But these few were all select Men under good Leaders strongly entrench'd in their Camp So that the French could not without Disadvantage to themselves oblige them to a Battle thô they on the other hand were four times their Number at least together with the Reinforcement of the Lord Charles of Blois from Nantes and all well appointed for the War. Thus these two Armies lay fronting one another for several Days without any Action further than some light Skirmishes For the French as was shew'd could not force the English to a Battle nor durst they attempt them in their Camp and King Edward thought it not Wisdom to leave his Defences and attack the Enemy at such odds to so great a Disadvantage as he knew the Aggressor must needs submit himself unto especially since he must then leave so strong a City at his back to second the Enemy Nor yet did he give any more Assaults to the Place because of keeping his Men fresh and entire against the time a Battle should be offer'd which then he resolv'd to accept Wherefore different Considerations deterring both Armies from Engaging the Winter began to incommode them not a little when it pleased God to incline the Heart of Pope Clement the VI. to labour earnestly for a Peace between them He had now sent thither two Cardinals c Rot. Parl. 17. Ed. 3. n. 8. vid. Claus de ced an p. 1.25 Dersc Victorell p. 892. Oderâ—c Rainald ad hunc 〈◊〉 §. 24. Peter of Palestrina or Praeneste and Annibald of Tusculum who rode daily between both Parties But as yet neither of them would accept of any equal Conditions For the French thought to keep the King there in manner of a Siege till he should even be forced to come forth and give them Battle to his great Disadvantage and the King expected that at last they must adventure to force him considering he was inferiour in Number and more conveniently encamp'd for the Weather than they Yet to say Truth both Armies endur'd their Inconveniences the French found much vexation with Wet and Cold for it rain'd upon them Night and Day whereby many of their Horses died and at last they were obliged to dislodge and remove into the plain Fields their Tents were so full of Water in the Meadow And the English thô they were more dry and warm durst not go a Foraging but in very considerable Bodies for fear of the French who infested the Country and Don Lewis of Spain so narrowly watched the Sea-coasts with his Fleet that little Provision could be brought to the Kings Army but with great Danger These difficulties prepared the Minds of both Princes and rendred them more susceptible of the Cardinals Offers Wherefore they were at last both brought to allow of a Peace for Bretagne and because the Cardinals urged that Point also to appoint a Time for a Treaty of a final Accommodation between England and France But only here the King protested that he would never allow the Pope any Power to determin of his Quarrel but added That unless a Treaty might be had both honourable to Himself and profitable for his Allies he would never consent to have the same brought before the Pope nor then neither but only as before d M. S. p. 48. §. 8 Sr. Rcb. Cotten p. 37. §. 8. Ashmele p. 653. an indifferent Friend and no Judge otherwise he would pursue his Quarrel However at last these Holy Men labour'd so effectually that they obtain'd a Truce between England and France and their Allies to hold for three Years during which time the whole Controversie then depending should be weigh'd and impartially consider'd and some equal Method of Peace
that the p Frois c. 122. Burgesses being terrified thereby to save the Lives of themselves their Wives and Children against the Mind of all the Souldiers yielded up the Town to the English and offer'd for security of their Lives all their Goods to their Discretion When the Souldiers saw the business of the Inhabitants and that against their Wills it was impossible for them to make good the Place they retired to the Castle but within two Days after were obliged to yield thô on better Conditions than the Townsmen for these obtained security for Life and Goods So the Town and Castle of Carentan were taken and all the Inhabitants sent to the Ships as Prisoners but when King q Dase res in Philip de Valois p. 7. Rosse's Continuation of Sr. Walter Raleigh p. 291. Edward understood that the Heads of some of his Friends whom the French King had murther'd were upon the Gates of that Town he commanded them to be taken down and buried Reverently And order'd both the Town and Castle as a Sacrifice to their Ghosts to be burnt and rased to the ground These things were done by the Earl of Warwicks Battalia which went along by the Sea-Coast while on the other r Frois ibid. side the Lord Godfry of Harcourt rode forth on the Kings Left Hand for he knew all the Avenues and Passages of Normandy better than any other He had in his Battalia 500 Men of Arms besides Archers and Footmen and sometimes ranged six or seven Leagues from the Kings Battail as far as the Sea-Coast Westward where Normandy looks on the Isles of Jersey and Garnesey burning and spoiling all before him with no less Hostility and Fury than the English Lords used on the other side They all found the Country very Rich and Plentifull the Granges and Barns full of Corn and Provender the Shops and Houses full of Rich Stuffs and other Goods and Commodities and the whole Country abounding with Chariots Carts Horses Swine Sheep Oxen and Poultry For there had been a long Peace and Security in those Parts The Souldiers now took of all this what they pleas'd and brought it to the King but of what Gold and Silver they found they gave no account either to him or his Officers but kept it to themselves In this manner the Lord Godfry of Harcourt and the Earl of Warwick rode forth by Day but at Night for the most part they both lay in the Kings Field or very near him When thus all things were clear'd behind as to the North-point of Normandy King Edward began to March Eastward and went directly to St. Lo in Coutantine but before he came thither he encamped by the River Vire till his two Battails might come up to him and then he proceeded VII The mean ſ Frois c. 123. while King Philip was not negligent on his Part but enforced his Summons to his Subjects and others who held of him any way and sent for all his Friends and Allies as to the Noble and Valiant Old King of Bohemia John of Luxemburgh Son to Henry the VII once Emperour of Germany and to his Eldest Son the Lord Charles Marquess of Moravia who about this time was called Caesar being advanced in Opposition to Lewis of Bavaria upon whose Death a Year after He was made Emperour King John and his Son Charles came speedily to King Philip's Assistance with a goodly Number of Bohemians Germans and Luxemburghers as did also upon the said Kings Request Ralph Duke of Lorraine King Philip's Nephew and James Son and Heir to Humbert the Old Dauphin of Vienna which two lead 300 Spears Then came the Lord John of Hainalt Lord of Beaumont who as we shew'd was lately brought over from the King of England's Service with a gallant Troop of Valiant Hainalders there was likewise Lewis Earl of Flanders who had but few Men under him and those only of the Gentry and Nobility of Flanders for the Commons of that Country held all for King Edward Thither came also James King of Majorica who being beaten out of his Kingdom by Peter King of Aragon had lately for an t Odoric Rainald ad an 1345. §. 13. 100000 Crowns of Gold sold unto King Philip of France his Right to Monpellier that thereby he might be enabled to give Battle to the King of Aragon But at this time he could not refuse with what Forces he had to Assist King Philip. While thus the French King was making himself strong on all sides he had full Information of the uncontroled Progress of his Adversary of England and sware openly That he should never return again into England without Battle And that all those Spoils Slaughters and Devastations should be dearly Revenged But many of his Auxiliary Friends came from far and so it was long before he had his full Assembly Wherefore the mean while King Edward went on without any considerable Opposition VIII The English Army still kept their first Order marching up toward High Normandy in three Battalions They went on fair and softly in Battle Array as if the Enemy was always before them and they took up their Lodgings every day early so that for the most part the whole Army except the Marshals Fore-runners was encamped betwixt Noon and Three of the Clock The Country was so Plentifull wheresoever they went that they had no need to look out for any other Provision but Wine and yet here and there they also found enough of that Althô the King to prevent the Worst had brought Provisions of all sorts along with him and besides u M.S. Vet. Latin. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantabr cui titulus Acta Edvardi Filii Edvardi Tertii he gave strict Command that none should presume to make any unnecessary waste of Victuals Drink or Forage It was no x Frois ibid. great Wonder if all the Country trembled at the sight of this Royal Army for till then they had seen nothing like War in those Parts nor knew any thing beyond the Ordinary Trainings of their Militia so that generally the People fled before the Face of the English as far as they might hear the sound of their Name leaving behind them their Houses full of Goods their Barns and Granaries full of Corn and their Cattle in the Fields for they knew not whither in that Hurry to bear them away Particularly the y M.S. Vet. Latin. id ibid. 29 Julii City of Bayeux for fear of him sending 15 Chief Citizens as their Deputies unto him and desiring to enter into his Homage and to be taken into his Protection were admitted And in this Manner King Edward rode forth burning wasting and ravaging the Country and leaving long tracks of Fire and Desolation behind him till he came to the Great Town of St. Lo the farthest z D'Avila p. 974. Port of Lower Normandy wherein were no less than Eight or Ninescore Rich Burgesses and exceeding much Drapery When the King came thither he
Leagues as also they did to the Suburbs of Boulogne After this the King with the Prince his Son went and encamped by Wissan on the Sea-side about 3 Leagues from Calais And having tarried here one Day to refresh his Army on the d Du Chesne c. Thursday being the last of August others say the e Knighton p. 2588. 7 of September he came and lay down before the strong Town of Calais which had been of old a great Nuisance both to Him and his Kingdom CHAPTER the FOURTH The CONTENTS I. The Description Scituation and Strength of Calais Which King Edward blocks up by Sea and Land The strength of his Navy II. The Calisians not yielding upon his Summons he lays a formal Siege the Plenty of Provision continually in his Camp. III. The Earl of Warwick takes Terouenne the Flemings at the same time besiege St. Omers IV. The Captain of Calais thrusts out 1700 poor and impotent People whom King Edward in pity relieves V. The Copies of two Letters written by one of the King of England's Chaplains and containing the Summ of all this Expedition from the Winning of Caen to the Siege of Calais VI. Iohn Duke of Normandy makes another Attempt upon Aiguillon but to his Loss VII King Philip sends his peremptory Command to his Son to rise from before Aiguillon and also urges the King of Scotland to invade England on that Side so to divert King Edward from the Siege of Calais VIII The true Manner of the Duke of Normandy's Leaving the Siege of Aiguillon IX He is cut off at the Reer by the Lord Walter Manny who agrees with a Prisoner of Quality to let him go free so that he will procure him a safe Conduct to ride thrô France to Calais with 20 Men only X. The Prisoner brings him the Duke of Normandy's Conduct and is himself acquitted Sr. Walter Manny riding in Confidence thereof towards Calais is by King Philips Order secured But the Duke of Normandy changes his Fathers Bloody Intentions against him and saves his Life c. XI The Earl of Lancaster upon the Duke of Normandy's Departure takes the Field and wins Towns and Castles at his Pleasure in Xaintogne Rochellois and Poictou XII An Instance of the Princely Munificence of the Earl of Lancaster XIII He wins the City of Poictiers and leaving it desolate returns by St. Jean D'Angely to Bourdeaux XIV An Army of Poictevins utterly discomfited by the English Garrison of Lusignan I. THE City a Sâ—â—n p. 243. Frois c. 133. vid. Ferrarâ—um in titulo Caletam c. of Calais thô of no considerable Extent is a famous Market-Town Rich and strongly Fortified being scituate on the Marches of Artois five Leagues Northward of Boulogne and three Westward of Gravelines and but little more than fourteen from the nearest Coast of England or Dover Castle which it directly confronts And the Sea between is by the English called the Strait of Calais and by the French La Manche It is furnished with a strong Castle and a spacious Haven where a considerable Navy may take safe Harbour and is also enclosed about with a Double Wall and a Double Ditch besides that on the West-side from Risban to Cologne it is fenced with b Marish grounds which are only passable by Xeâ—land Bridge an Arm of the Sea in a Semicircular manner This Town and Castle are reported to have been first built by Julius Caesar the Famous Roman Emperour after he had brought all France to do Homage to his Eagles As he is also said to have built the Castle of Chepstow in Monmouthshire in Venodocia or South-Wales and that of Dover in Kent when he was about the Conquest of Brittain now called England Wherefore thô it was of incredible Strength as well for its advantagious Scituation as those wonderfull Accessions of Art which made it almost Impregnable by any human Power yet because it was a most convenient Landing-place for any out of England to set Footing in France and had also by its Piracies exercised on the English Seas done many great Displeasures to King Edward and his People he resolved to lay Siege unto the Place knowing that having already given such a Blow to France if he could not be able to reduce them by Force he might yet overcome them by Famine which enters thrô the strongest Fortifications All along as the King marched hither by Land his Fleet being return'd out of England took the same way by Sea under the Command of William Clinton Earl of Huntington and then Lord High c Weever's Fun. Mon. p. 259 Admiral of England together with the Lord John Mongomery Vice-Admiral which Two at the very Instant of King Edward's Investing the Town of Calais by Land came and block'd it up also by Sea with a Mighty Navy consisting in all of d Hacluit's Voyages 1 Vol. p. 119. c. 738 Ships wherein were no less than 14956 Mariners together wich Souldiers and Provisions of all sorts accordingly II. Now the e Frois ibid. King knew that the strength of the Place and the Courage of the Garrison were likely enough to give him some trouble but considering the Opportunities he had while he lay here of receiving Assistance either from England or Flanders he resolved to starve them if they would not otherwise accept his Mercy First therefore by his Herald he Summons the Captain to yield up unto him as Rightfull King of France that his Castle and Town of Calais otherwise that he would put them all to the Sword for their Obstinacy The Captain Answer'd He knew but One King of France who had sent him thither to keep the Place for his behoof and him only was he resolved to obey being ready either to live or die in his Service Thô upon Occasion he doubted not but to have sufficient Assistance from him Upon this peremptory Answer of the Captain King Edward began to entrench himself strongly about the City setting his own Tent directly against the Chief Gates at which he intended to enter then he placed Bastions between the Town and the River and set out Regular Streets and reared up decent Buildings of strong Timber between the Trenches which he cover'd with Thatch Reed Broom and Skins Thus he encompassed the whole Town of Calais from Ruban on the Northwest side to Courgaine on the Northeast all along by Sangate at Port and Fort de Nieulay commonly by the English call'd Newland-Bridge down by Hammes Cologne and Marke So that his Camp look'd like a spacious City and was usually by Strangers that came thither to Market called New-Calais For this Prince's Reputation for Justice was so Great that to his Markets which he held in his Camp twice every Week viz. on Tuesdays and Saturdays for Flesh Fish Bread Wine and Ale with Cloth and all other Necessaries there came not only his Friends and Allies from England Flanders and Aquitain but even many of King Philips Subjects and
Earl of Darby was unable to keep the Field against him but that King Edward who also well knew as much chiefly at first undertook this Expedition as was generally reputed with a design to raise that Siege Thô as we have shewn he was diverted into Normandy as well by the Necessity of the Weather as afterwards by New-Counsels And also we shall presently see this Duke in the Head of a considerable Army watching King Edwards Motions which could not have been had he so unworthily deserted these Forces and betray'd them to Ruine Wherefore we shall embrace the more probable Account which x Frois c. 134. Froisard gives in this manner That when Duke John received this express Command from his Father that he should forthwith break up his Siege from before Aiguillon and with all Expedition return into France to defend his Heritage against the English he call'd his Chief Lords and Captains about him to a Council of War to know what Course he had best to take in that Juncture For as he said he had solemnly sworn never to depart thence till he had won the Castle The Lords all agreed with one Consent That since his Father commanded him he must obey notwithstanding his Oath which must be implied but Conditional since being both a Son and a Subject he was not therein at his own Dispose For his Duty to his King and Father had laid a greater and more early Obligation upon him IX According to this Advice the next Morning early he prepared to March back with his Host toward Paris having y Giov. Villani l. 12. c. 60 p. 870. sent unto the Pope to Avignon requesting to be absolved of his Oath which he had made not to part thence till he had the Castle whereupon he receiv'd the Popes Absolution It is said by z Stow p. 240. ex eo Dagd Ashmole some that Ralph Lord Stafford was at this time Captain of Aiguillon but it appears that althô indeed upon the Death of Oliver Lord Ingham he was by the King made Seneschal of Gascogne yet early this Year he Resign'd that Office into the Kings Hands and was actually in the Battle of Cressy as We have declared which Battle preceded the raising of this Siege As appears by the Confession even of those a Ashmole p. 689 c. who otherwise say the Contrary though imprudently for yet they allow the Battle of Cressy to have been fought on the 26 of August and acknowledge this Siege was not raised till the Feast of the Decollation of St. John Baptist which is known to be not till the 29 of August althô for want of comparing they make the latter to be before the former And then with what Forces could this Lord Stafford pretend to go above an 100 Miles thrô France to meet with the King at Cressy unless he left Aiguillon void We shall therefore leave these Idle Tales and go to a more probable and better attested Narration The Earl of Pembroke and the Lord Walter Manny were with some other aforemention'd Chief Captains of Aiguillon Who when they saw the Departure of the Duke of Normandy for he had b Giov. Villâ—ni l. 12. c. 60. p. 870. fired his Tents to the great Damage of those that were Infirm and the Loss of their Necessaries resolved to give him a brisk Farewell And so the Lord c Frois c. 134. Walter Manny issued out with his Banner before him and dashed in among the hindmost of the French and fell upon them with such Vigour that he slew one with another 600 of them and took about 60 Prisoners whom he brought back with him into the Fortress Of these Prisoners upon enquiry he understood how the King of England his Master had made an Expedition into France and had won a notable Victory in the Fields of Cressy and was intended to lay his Siege before Calais Hereupon f Frois c. 135. c. Sr. Walter Manny some days after fell into Communication with one of the Chief of all his Prisoners who was a Noble Knight of Normandy and both very Dear and also nearly Allied to Duke John demanding of him how much Money he was content to pay for his Ransom The Knight reply'd He would very willingly give him 3000 Crowns Well said the Lord Manny I am fully enformed that You are of Kin to the Duke of Normandy and very High in his Favour of that I am sure And if I would press upon You I am certain You could pay me 10000 Crowns But I shall deal otherwise with You and only rely upon your Faith and Promise You shall go to the Duke your Lord and endeavour to obtain of him a Safe-Conduct for me and 20 more of my Company to ride thrô France to Calais We paying courteously for all our Expences and lying but One Night in a place till We come thither and not offering the least Wrong or Violence to any soul whatsoever And if You can get this Grant of the Duke or of the King his Father I shall clearly quit You your Ransom with many Thanks For I am very desirous to see the King my Master But if You cannot procure thus much for me You shall return hither again within a Moneth and yield your Body up as my Prisoner X. To all this the Knight agreed and gave his Promise to keep the Bargain truly and honestly and so went to Paris where having found the Duke of Normandy he Obtained of him a Pass-port and Safe-Conduct for Sr. Walter Manny and only 20 Horsemen beside and therewithall returning punctually to Aiguillon upon delivery of the said Conduct he was freely acquitted of his Ransom and Imprisonment Then the Lord Walter Manny made sufficient Provision for his journey and having took leave of the Earl of Pembroke and the other English Lords and Captains left the Fortress with 20 Gallant Fellows in his Company all well Mounted and rode thrô Auvergne and when he came to any City or Town he produced his Letters and so was let pass unmolested But being come to Orleans for all his Letters he was arrested together with all his Company and hurried away to Paris where by the Kings Order they were Imprison'd in the Chastelet or Chief Prison The Duke of Normandy having got notice hereof went immediately to the King his Father and told him how Sr. Walter Manny had his Safe-Conduct wherefore he earnestly desired him to deliver him Sir said he for Gods-sake blemish not Your Royal Honour by such an Unjust and Unprincely Action I was furnished with full Power from Your own Commission to grant a Safe-Conduct or to Treat with any of Your Enemies in what Manner I should think fit Neither did I make this Grant which yet is of small consideration to an Enemy but for the sake of a Loyal and Valiant Subject who was redeem'd from Prison thereby Nor could he have been reduced into Your Power by the Force of Your
Rions their Mayor and the greater part of the Aldermen sent to the Earl of Lancaster for a Safe-Conduct whereby six of them might have security to wait upon him and Treat with him that Night or early the next Morning This latter was granted and so next Day six Burgesses were brought to the Earls Tent where presently they concluded to become good Subjects of England as long as King Edward or some of his Captains would protect them and their Town against the French King. So the Earl tarried there three Days to refresh himself and to take the Homage of all the Inhabitants After which he proceeded to Lusignan where as some say he only burnt the Town but could not win the Castle Thô on better Authority h Giov. Villani l. 12. c. 76. p. 887. it seems that both the Town and Castle of Lusignan were now taken and Garrison'd by the English as will further appear in the close of this Paragraph Thence the Earl rode to the strong Town of Niort whereof the Lord Guischard Dangle was Captain who maintain'd his Honour and the Place so well that after three Vigorous Attacks spent in vain the Earl was content to leave it and go on the Right Hand to Bourg St. Maixent where he found better Success and entring the Place by Storm put all to the Sword. The whole i Frois 136. c. Country was so terrify'd with his Name that every Man fled before him into strong Holds and Towns Defensible forsaking their own Houses and their Goods Nor was there the least Preparation made by any to stop his Career for all Knights Gentlemen and other Captains kept close in their Fortresses without making any show of presenting Battle to the English Then the Earl went forward to Monstrevill-Bonnin wherein he heard there were no less than 200 Coyners making Money for the French King. The Inhabitants were resolved by no means to yield but to Defend the Place to the extreamity Thô therein they shew'd much more Courage than Discretion if We ought not rather to call that Brutish Valour than Courage which is not guided by Discretion For the Earl with his Men of War gave them so fierce an Assault whereto he encouraged his Men by promising that every One should freely and entirely Possess what he could first light on in the City that all Opposition being soon surmounted the Place was enter'd by Storm and all within put to the Sword. And here I shall make bold to supply Froisard with a Story the truth whereof is notably attested by many thô by none yet refer'd to this Place as every Judicious Reader will easily grant it ought to be when he shall consider our Reasons XII The Relation is this that at the Assaulting of a certain Town in France the Earl of Lancaster to encourage his Men the better proposed to them as a Reward the Spoil of whatever House or Person every one should first have in his Power Now it chanced that the French Kings Mint being there one man among the rest who was but a Common Souldier and named Reth had the good hap to light upon that House wherein it was And finding there several Sacks of Coined Money besides Bullion he was almost carried beyond himself for joy and wonder But at last considering that such vast Riches were too disproportionable to his Condition and only proper for the Coffers of Kings he secur'd the entrance of the House and went and told the Earl of Lancaster desiring him to take Care and Possession thereof The Earl bad him keep what Fortune had put into his Hands for it was and should be his own But the honest Fellow finding upon a more particular search that the Immensity of the Treasure exceeded all imagination went again to the Earl protesting it was too much for any Private man to possess and that he neither would nor durst accept of it The Earl replied Fear nothing honest Archer but be content with what God hath given thee For the Treasure thou hast found cannot possibly be so much as to make me break my Word to my Souldiers Since a Prince ought not to do so for all the Treasures in the World. And hereupon some of his Captains dissallowing of that his too profuse Liberality and saying that he might without any imputation of Injustice have abundantly contented that poor Fellow with a good Part and reserved the greater Quantity for his own and his Country's Use he nobly answer'd in these k Câ—nbdâ—as â—emains in tâ—tulo Wise Speeches p. 239. Words It is not for my State to play Childrens Play to give a thing and take it back again Since he has my Word let him hold the Money if it were thrice as much This is the Substance of the Story which after so great a Man as Cambden I have not doubted to relate notwithstanding the Diversity of Authors as to the Place and Time when and where the Action was done For l Knighton p. 2585. thô Knighton says the Earl of Darby found a Pipe of Gold at Bergerac yet since we shewed before how that Place was not taken by Force but yielded upon Composition it certainly ought not to be given to the Plunder And m Frois c. 136. Froisard and n Du Câ—â—sne p. 665. Helmâ—â—cad p. 93â— Du Chesne say expresly that in Monstrevil Bonnin there were 200 Money-makers that coyned for the French King not to say that this Place being confessedly taken by Storm and the Inhabitants consequently put to the Sword all this Money must of necessity have been found Thô Froisard might not have heard of this heroick and magnificent Act of the Earl of Lancaster's thereupon XIII The Earl having repaired the Fortifications of the Castle and left a Ganison for its Defence went homeward now again but in his way presented himself before the City of Poictiers This Place was of so large Extent that his small Army was not sufficient to invest it round wherefore he laid his Siege to it but on one side and began to assault them fiercely But the Inhabitants being very numerous thô for the most part mean People and without any sufficient Number of expert Captains or choice Souldiers did yet defend themselves so well that they took but little Dammage at that time and so the English retired to their Lodgings Whereat as o Knighton p. 2592. one says the Townsmen were so puffed up with fond Conceit that the next morning they adventur'd to Sally forth with no less than a 1000 Men of Arms such as they were and a mighty number of Footmen Who scorning the small Forces of the English defied them to a Fattle But the Earl of Lancaster marched forth against them in good Order and came upon them with so much Fury beating down their Ranks with his Chosen men of Arms and terrifying them with his Archers that they presently turned their Backs with as much Dishonour as they had sallied out with
Vain-glory For they had no manner of Conduct nor Skill in matters of War any further than their ordinary Trainings of the Militia in Peace might have instructed them with The English enter'd the Town with them Pell-mell where seising immediatly upon the Gates they held them open till the Earl of Lancaster and all his Men were enter'd And this is the manner as an ancient Author witnesses of Taking Poictiers tho p Frois c. 136. c. Froisard gives a different Account thereof which is this That the English having after the first Assault rested that Night in their Camp the next Morning certain Knights and Gentlemen of the Army by the Earls Order took their Horses and coasted about the Town to view it if peradventure any where they might find it more Assaultable These upon their return reported to the Earl that they had found a Place of more easie Access than ordinary by which they doubted not to carry the City Hereupon the Earl determin'd to renew the Assault the next Day in three several Places the greatest Noise and Show to appear elsewhere but the whole stress of the Business to lie there where it was most likely to succeed Now as Froisard also witnesses there was not in the Town any Captain of Name or Experience in matters of War nor were the Inhabitants of any great Skill or Conduct in making good a Defence whatever Courage they had in holding out thus long Wherefore the Assault being on the third Day renewed according to the former Device the English who attacked the weakest part enter'd by Force and so presently became Masters of the City When they within saw this they fled away in heaps at other Gates and escaped away because the Place as not surrounded but yet there were slain more than 700 of them for at the beginning all were put to the Sword who were found both Men Women and Children And the whole City was overrun and robbed as well of what the Inhabitants had owned as of what was brought thither from Parts adjoining for better Security Several Churches and Houses of Religion were robbed and defaced and many Rapes and other Licentious deeds committed and more had been but that the Pious Earl of Lancaster commanded the contrary on Pain of Death proclaiming that no House much less Church should be fired forasmuch as he said he designed to tarry there ten or twelve Days So that the Rage of the Souldiers being thus repressed far less Harm was done than would else have happen'd but however as it falls out in such Cases there was Plundering and Mischief enough Here the Earl tarried 12 Days and might have done longer if he had so pleased for there was none to resist him all the Country was in such a Consternation During his Stay here because the Place was of too large extent to be Garrison'd without great Numbers which he could not spare at that time he resolved to leave it void and so it was Dismantled given up to Plunder and laid wholly desolate except that they forbore to fire it the Souldiers finding so much Spoil they hardly knew what to do with it insomuch that they valued nothing but Gold Silver and Feathers for Men of War. From hence the Earl returned by easie Marches to St. jean D'Angely where he tarried a while treating and caressing the Ladies and Gentlewomen of the Town with Banquets and Collations besides Gifts of Jewels and other rich Presents and he behaved himself so gallantly amid these Sports and Revels that the People said He was the Noblest Prince that ever rode on Horseback After some short Continuance here during which time he took a new Oath in the King his Masters Name of the Mayor and Burgesses of the Town to keep and defend it as the Indubitate Right and Inheritance of the King of England he took his leave and return'd by such Fortresses as he had won before to the City of Bourdeaux where having largely satisfied his Men of War with Spoil Thanks Pay and Commendation he disposed them into their several Quarters the Winter being far entred at that time XIV When the Earl of Lancaster had thus respited the Country the Inhabitants of Poictiers who had escaped repaired again thither and fell with all their might to fortifie the Place And soon after being joyned with great Numbers of their Neighbouring Friends and headed with sufficient Captains they sent forth a strong Detachment of Men of Arms and others designing to surprise Lusignan the Garrison whereof hugely annoyed them But in this their Attempt thô q Giev Villani l. 12. c. 76. p. 887. treble the Number of the English they were with great Loss discomfited and their Captain the Earl of Monferrand with many others slain Which was look'd upon as another wonderfull Instance of King Edwards invincible Fortune CHAPTER the FIFTH The CONTENTS I. King Philip by his Ambassadors prevails with the King of Scotland to break the Truce with King Edward and to invade England II. King David resolves on a War with England The Number of the Scotch Army they begin to March. III. King David's Cruelty to an English Knight in cold Blood He encamps near the City of Durham IV. Queen Philippa makes her Musters at York in order to resist the Scots She sends an Expostulation to King David who prepares for fight The Order of the Scotch Army V. The Order and Number of the English with the Names of their Chief Leaders VI. Queen Philippa encourages her Men who beat Earl Douglas and Sr. David Graham before the Battle VII The Lord Robert Stuart Prince of Scotland begins the Fight but is forced to Retreat VIII King David is taken Prisoner by John Copland an Esquire of Northumberland IX The third and last Battalia of the Scots discomfited X. The Time and Place of this Battle certainly assignned A gross Mistake of Hector Boethius the Scotch Historian XI The Duration or Time how long it lasted with an Account of the Loss on both Sides And the Names of the Scotch Nobility slain and taken XII John Copland bears away the King of Scotland to his Castle where he resolves to keep him The Queen sends to him for the King his Prisoner and She returning to York King Bailiol and the English Lords invade Scotland XIII John Copland upon refusal to deliver his Prisoner to the Queen is sent for by King Edward who upon full knowledge of his Reasons holds him excused and rewards him Royally XIV King David brought to London and put in the Tower The Earls of Menteith and Fife executed XV. The Earl of Lancaster returns into England and the Queen goes over to Calais XVI The Pope seeks to make Peace between England and France but in vain I. NOR were these all the Triumphs of this glorious Year King Edward's Good Fortune is providing another King to be Conquer'd and another Royal Army to be overthrown by his Successfull Arms. We spake in the former Chapter how King
of Archimbald Douglas who fell in the Battle of Halliden Earl of Douglas and committed to his Charge the Leading of one Brigade III. The first e Holinshead Scotl. p. 240. c. â—t ante Fortress they came to near the Borders was Lidel round which they lay encamped for three Days but on the Fourth after a Vigorous Attack carried it by fine force where they put most of those they found to the Sword But the Captain Sr. Walter Selby before he would deliver his Sword compounded with a Scotch Knight to have his Life and the Lives of his Children saved which was thereupon assured him But when King f Stow p. 243. Holinshead ibid. c. David heard of the Captains being taken he gave order that his Head should be cut off Then the Scotch Knight who had taken him began to intreat in his behalf at least that he might be admitted into the Kings Presence this with much adoe being granted the English Knight upon his knees requested that his Life might be saved for a Ransom But notwithstanding he was again adjudged to die Nor only so but the Cruel Prince commanded two of his Children to be strangled in sight of their Father and having thereby afflicted his Mind almost to Madness with rage and grief he presently caused his Head to be stricken off not allowing him so much time as to make a Confession thô like a good Christian he instantly desired that Ghostly comfort Surely that hatred is Diabolical and Implacable nor only unworthy of a Christian but even exceeding the Barbarity of Infidels which extends beyond this Life and endeavours not only to destroy the Body but also to plunge the Soul into Eternal Ruine After this Merciless Execution the Scotch Army marched to Lenercost where they spoil'd the Abbey of all its Ornaments and whatever was valuable therein and so passing the River Irthing they went by Naworth Castle and leaving Cumberland enter'd on the other side the Picts-Wall into Northumberland wasting all along with fire and sword till they came to the Priory of Hexham which was also pillaged and sacked but the Town was saved from fire by the Kings Command for he was advised to spare four Towns from fire in his Passage to York whither he thought to go without Resistance namely this of Hexham Cerbridge Durham and Darlington to the end they might serve him as so many storehouses to lay in what quantities of Victuals and Provender he should find about in the Country therewith to sustain his Army upon Necessity if he should either stay long in England or be reduced to any extremity At Hexham he lay three Days and thence Marched to Ebchester beyond the River Derwen being one of the first Towns on that side within the Bishoprick of Durham As thus he marched wasting and spoiling the Country on every side toward the City of Durham he destroyed many of the Farms belonging to the Abbey of that City and had utterly ruin'd them all had g Knighten p. 2590. n. 40. Stow p. 243. not some of the Monks who were taken thereabouts and were kept as Prisoners to be Ransomed made an agreement for themselves and the rest of their Fraternity to pay the next Day ready down a 1000 pounds Sterling on Condition they would forbear spoiling the Residue of their Mannors or their Tenents But of all others they h Knighton ibid. n. 10. took one penny for every Head and one penny for every Foot which being done they were left free but otherwise put to the sword And thus they intended to do to every Soul they should meet with even to the River Trent but that they found a stop long before At last King David came and encamped by the Wood of Beare-Park within three Leagues of Durham not far from Nevils-Cross He took up his Lodgings in the Mannor there and daily sent forth strong Detachments to fetch in Booty and to burn and destroy Houses and Villages The Spoil Desolation and Slaughter which Rapine Fire and Sword spread along before the Enemy was both Barbarous and terrible for they spared neither Young nor Old neither Church Chappel nor Monastery but in their blind fury made one General Heap of both Sacred and Profane Not so much as the Goods and Lands belonging to the Patrimony of St. Cuthbert were exempted from Rapine and Plunder as the Scotch Writers themselves confess thô not only the Monks of the Abbey dedicated to that Saint had compounded for their exemption but also as Hector says King David was strictly admonished in a Dream by no means to presume to touch any thing belonging unto his Church IV. Now the Noble Queen of England Philippa being at that time in the North-parts about York when she heard of the first Motions of the Scots was not forgetfull of the King her Husbands Honour and of the Good of his Kingdom But putting on a Spirit worthy of Her that was Confort to King Edward and Mother to the Black-Prince sent out her Summons to all the Lords and Prelates of those Parts and others left by the King for the Defence of the Borders to repair with all speed unto her The Summons were sent forth in the Name of the King of England by the Queen and the Archbishop of York and soon after there came the Lords and Captains of England with their Retinues to York to the Queen where she made her General Musters Then the Queen and the Archbishop sent away an Herald at Arms to King David requiring him to desist from further invading the Country and to return into Scotland till some Reasonable Order for a final Peace might be agreed betwixt him and the King his Master Otherwise he should be sure to have Battle to the Uttermost within three Days after i Hector Beeth l. 15. fol. 324. But that if he refused all terms of Agreement he should remember that there was in Heaven a Just God of Power sufficient to Revenge the Injuries done unto England and especially to his Servants the Priests and other Holy Persons whom he had slain with the Sword neither sparing Church nor Church-Lands nor weak Women nor Innocent Children But all this signified little or nothing to that Prince who was not only stirr'd up by his Youth and an Emulation of his Fathers Glory but also provoked to Revenge as well by the former dealings of his English Enemies as by the manifold Benefits received of his Friend of France Wherefore he sends back a Mortal Defiance and the next Day set his Men in Order to receive their Enemies if they should come forward The first Battalia he committed to the Care of the Lord Robert Stuart Prince of Scotland as being Eldest Son of King Davids Eldest Sister Margaret Bruce with whom was the Lord Patrick Dumbar Earl of March The Second was commanded by John Randulph Earl of Murray and William Earl of Douglas And the Third he Lead himself having with him the French Auxiliaries
what should be the Meaning of this That always in my Passage for France the Winds and Seas befriend me but in my Return for England I meet with nothing but adverse Storms and destructive Tempests But however at last thô not without great difficulty and the loss of many Vessels Men and Horses he arrived safely at Land on the 14 of October and soon after went to London where he was received in Great Triumph of the Mayor and Citizens and by them honourably attended to his Palace at Westminster Among those Lords and Gentlemen that having served King Edward at the memorable Siege of Calais returned now home with him I must not forget the Noble Fitz-Thomas Earl of Kildare in Ireland who g Holinshead Chron. Ireland p. 71 7â— being highly touched with a Sense of King Edwards Favours both to himself and to his Brother the Earl of Desmond went over the Sea in the Spring this Year gallantly attended with divers Lords Knights and Choice Horsemen and offer'd his Service to the King before Calais After the Winning whereof he now returned into his own Country in great Pomp and Honour XXII About the end of this Year the Lord Charles of Blois who called himself Duke of Bretagne was h Knighton p. 2596. n. 50. Frois c. 147. ad finem brought Prisoner to London by Sr. Thomas Dagworth his Conquerour and at King Edwards Command sent to the Tower where David King of Scotland was at the same time But shortly after at the Request of the Queen to whom the said Lord Charles was Cousin German he found so much favour as to be received upon his Word and Honour and had Leave to go any whither about London at his pleasure on Condition he should by no means so much as once lie out of London more than one Night at a time unless it should be where the King or Queen should then keep their Court. And sometime after he was set at Liberty i Frois pars ult c. 62. fol. 82. on Condition to pay unto the King of England 200000 Nobles for his Ransom For the true Payment whereof he left his Sons his Pledges There was also now Prisoner in London the Lord Ralph Earl of k Frois l. 1. c. 147. Eu and Guisnes Constable of France a most pleasant and noble Knight Whose Behaviour was so acceptable that he always brought his Welcom along with him wherever he went and was extreamly gracious with the King and Queen and all the Lords and Ladies of the Court of England In these l Knighton p. 2596. n. 60. Days the Nobles of the Land in all places were mightily addicted to Justs and Tourneaments and such was the Nobleness of King Edward that he permitted the French Prisoners at these Solemnities the Use and Exercise of Arms wherein they behaved themselves with much Honour But particularly the foresaid Earl of Eu and Guisnes gat great Commendation both from King Edward and his Son the Prince of Wales by whom he was held in high Respect for his Worth and Valour Nay we find that King David of Scotland thô he was confin'd as Prisoner in the Tower had such Favour from King Edward that he was also permitted at his Pleasure not only to behold but to exercise these Knightly Sports For m Ashâ—â—le p. 185. ex Rotul Liberat. Draper Offic. mâ—gn Garderch an 21. 22. Ed. 3. m. 11. penes Rememorar Regis against an Hastilude kept at Windsor he had an Harness for his Horse made of Blue Velvet at King Edwards Charge whereon was embroider'd a Pale of Red Velvet and beneath a White Rose after the Custom of that Age whereby one Knight was distinguished from another as well by the Harness of his Horse as by his own Shield and Surcoat About this time the Scotch Nobility sent to King Edward offering to Redeem their King from Captivity to whom he return'd Answer n Knighton p. 2597. n. 16. that forasmuch as they in Defiance of the Truce had made War upon him in his Absence unjustly he expected they should first give him satisfaction for all those Injuries and Damages they had done to him and his Realm in that War And this done they might proceed to the business of the Ransom Thô this Answer was but highly Reasonable it was so distastfull to the Scots that upon the Receit thereof they rose suddenly and in considerable Bodies enter'd the Marches of England where they ravaged the Country fired Villages slew poor People without Mercy and took many sleeping in their Beds whom they carried away Prisoners and set unreasonable Ransomes upon them Because of this the English Lords of the Marches Proclaim'd solemn Turneaments to be held at Barwick thereby to entice the Scots again within the English pale Who coming accordingly in their wonted Bravery were cut short in the way by a good Body of English Borderers who discomfited them and put many to the Sword. And presently after in Prosecution of this Revenge the Northern Lords went into Scotland and spoil'd and ravaged the whole Province of Carrick XXIII We have often made mention of the Emperour Lewis of Bavaria how he was Excommunicated by Pope John XXII and thô he made many Overtures in order to be reconcil'd we do not find that ever he was re-admitted into the Bosom of the Church But on the contrary it o Aâ—â—a Bâ—châ—lceti Isageg Chron. ad an 1346. c. appears that on Holy-Thursday the last Year Pope Clement Cursed him and pronounced him an Heretick and Schismatick and exhorted the Princes Electors to choose another Emperour Wherefore on the second of July Charles the Marquess of Moravia and Son to John King of Bohemia was elected at Rens in the Dioecese of Trier thô the Major part were not for him and all the Cities held for Lewis of Bavaria But now the said Lewis as he return'd p Abr. Buchelcerisageg Chron. ad hunc ann Iabbe Chron. Tech. â—d hunc an from hunting being taken with an Apoplexy fell off his Horse and soon after departed this Life on the 11 of October and was buried at Munchen a City of Bavaria By the irreconcileable Malice of his Enemies he had two Emperours Elected in Opposition to him Frederick of Austria in the beginning of his Reign and Charles Marquess of Moravia in the Latter end but for all this he Ruled the Empire in spight of the Pope's Curses and Combinations against him the space of 32 Years Upon his Death Pope Clement VI. in hate as some say to King Edward of England laboured q Knighton p. 2596. n. 30. all he could to have Charles King of Bohemia acknowledg'd Emperour hoping that thereby he would be enabled the better to Revenge the Death of his Father slain in the Battle of Cressy upon the English Nation Wherefore he sent Charles de la Cerda of Spain with his Papal Bull to the Archbishop of Colen with an Injunction to consecrate him Roman
and many others have observed But to return to Affairs at home After * Stow p. 245. Easter King Edward made an Order in Council that none of his Servants should presume to take up any Victuals of any Man against his Will nor then without paying ready Money on pain of Punishment proportionable to his Offence and being banish'd the Kings Court for ever To the Execution of which Decree Sr. Richard Talbot Lord High-Steward of the Kings Houshold was appointed to have an Eye VI. The Truce taken between the two Kings at Calais last Year drawing now toward an end upon z Ashmâ—le p. 656. ex Rot. Franc. 15. Maâ—i 22 Ed. 3 m. 13. the Pope's Letters to King Edward he was prevail'd with to depute Thomas Falstaff Arch-Deacon of Welles John Carleton Canon of Welles both Doctors of Law and Frier John de Reppes of the Order of Mount Carmel who had Commission to prorogue the Truce and to Treat of a Final Peace The Truce they accordingly prorogued for six Weeks to Commence on the 13 of September following and to be observed throughout all Picardy Normandy Artois Boulogne and Flanders But the King well perceiving the delay and backwardness of the French to close with him sincerely either for a Truce or Peace in a Claus 22. Ed. 3 p. 2. m. 8. in Derse October next drew down his Forces to Sandwich intending to pass the Seas Whereupon the French were quicken'd to a speedy agreement as to the Prorogation of the foregoing Truce b 18 Novemb. Râ—t Franc. 22. Ed. 3 an 10 from the 18 of November 1348 unto the 1 of September 1349 on News whereof the King return'd to London VII On the c Knighton p. 26â—0 Stow p. 248. Walsirgh hist p. 160 n. 20. Odor Rainald quanquaâ— hâ—c 2 post annis pen. t. 25 of October King Edward solemnized the Translation of St. Themas the Confessor once Bishop of Hereford to the great Expence and Charge of his Kinsman the Lord Nicolas Cantilupe This St. Thomas had been also of the sirname of Cantilupe being in his Life time a Gentleman of a very Noble and Ancient House as appears * Vid. Dagd 1 Vol. p. 731. by the Antiquity of their Baronage in our Records but as Bishop Godwin d Gedâ— Catal. Bps p. 457. says of a much more Noble and Excellent Mind For he was not only of a wonderfull Ingenuity and exquisite Judgement but even from a Child of great Diligence and Industry in his studies of Marvellous Exactness of Life and of incomparable Candour and Vertue His Father was William Lord Cantilupe e Mâ—tth Paris l. 17. p. 815. Dagd ibid. High-Steward to King Henry III of England a Man of great Power and Loyalty His Mother was the Lady Millicent Countess of Eureux in Normandy He first studied at Oxford and afterwards at Paris where having proceeded Master he return'd to Oxford and there apply'd himself to the Canon Law till he went out Doctor in that Faculty After this he entirely gave his Mind to the study of Divinity whereof he was to proceed Doctor in the Year 1273 Robert Kilwardby with whom he was very familiarly acquainted was then Provincial of the Friers-Preachers and Doctor of the Chair in Oxford when he was presented But before the time came that he should keep tho Act or rather the Act being by some Accident delayed till then the said Doctor Kilwardby was become Archbishop of Canterbury But this notwithstanding he vouchsafed this his old Friend the Honour to come down to Oxford to his Act on purpose and there gave him the Ceremonies of his Creation And it is observable that this Archbishop and Pâ—ofessor in his speech after the Disputation among many other great Praises which he bestowed on him affirmed that he the said Archbishop having of many Years been Confessor to the said Candidate Dr. Thomas Cantilupe had never perceived him guilty of any sin which he could judge to be Mortal Certainly either the Confessee did a little mince Matters or the Confessor was blinded with the prejudice of Friendship or some other Infirmity or the Relator did take a little too much liberty in Honour of the Man. Who notwithstanding was no doubt of great Merit every way as may appear by these manifold Honours which as so many loud Testimonials of his Vertue were heaped upon him both Living and Dead For first he was made Arch-Deacon of Stafford then Chancellour of the University of Oxford then Lord f Philipor's Catal Chancellors p. 24. Chancellour of England and afterwards Bishop of Hereford lastly a few Years after his Death Canonised a Saint For whereas in his Travels to or as some say from Rome he departed this Life at Civita Vecchia a Town of Tuscany in the Year of our Lord 1282 and was Honourably buried in the Church of St. Severus there from whence afterward his Bones were brought into England and solemnly interred in his own Church of Hereford near the East-Wall of the North-Cross-Isle where we see an High-Tomb of Marble Within a few Years after his Death there being no less than g Nâ—c Harpsfeld Hist Feel Angl. secul 13. c. 21. ex Floril ad an 1287. 163 Miracles said to be wrought by him his Fame was so great that we find h Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 92. ex Rot. Rom. 12. Ed. 2. m. 9. King Edward the Second in the Twelfth Year of his Reign and the Year of our Lord 1318 sent an Embassy to Pope John XXII about his Canonization And two Years after namely in the Year of our Lord 1320 i Oder Rainald ad an 1320. à § 43. ad §. 47. being the 13 of King Edward the Second on the XV of the Calends of May he was by the said Pope John Canonized with great Solemnity at Avignon and the VI of the Nones of October was set apart for his Festival as appears by the said Pope's Bull bearing Date at Avignon XII Cal. Maii Pontificatús nostri Anno IV. But now King Edward designing to Honour the Memory of this Holy Man took up his Bones this Year being k Nic. Harpsfield Hist Fecl Angl. secul 13. c. 21. Sixty five Years since he died and had them Honourably reposed in a Rich and Glorious Shrine of great Value This small Digression I ow'd to the Memory of this Worthy Prelate as well that the Reader might understand what kind of Man he had been whose Translation King Edward did now so devoutly solemnize as also because I believed that such a Person to whom so many of several Nations and Interests never envied the Title of a glorified Saint would much less by any Man of Modesty be envied an Honourable Mention in History VIII While King Edward was thus with as much Devotion as Splendour keeping a Feast in Memory of this Great Prelate Henry the Noble Earl of Lancaster was by him l Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 786. ex Claus
their Partners having clear'd their hands by this time came up to their Reinforcement But that the King himself his Son and the Lord Manny fought all the while in the Field by Boulogne-Gate where the main stress of the whole business lay In this part the a Pres c. 151. fol. 74. Frenchmen fought bravely indeed under the Conduct of the Lord Geoffry Charny and the Lord Charles of Monmorency and gave the Englishmen their hand full thô the King himself and his Son the Prince with the strength of the Garrison and the Flower of those he brought with him from England was engag'd against them The King sought on foot among his Enemies unknown both to them and most of his own Men under the Banner of the Lord Walter Manny which was b Vid. Asâ—â—rcleâ— Gater in Plate 46. ad p. 709. Or Three Chevrons Sable The French at their first approach stood ready to receive them with their Spears cut five foot long before them It was the Fortune of King Edward to encountre hand to hand with a strong and hardy Knight of France named Eustace de Ribemont Lord of Ribemont in Tierasche a tract in Picardy between these two there began a fierce and gallant Combat that it was a great pleasure to behold them but at last they were put asunder against their both Wills by others who on each side came between and still the Battle waxed hotter and hotter King Edward began to be chafed with this opposition and especially desired to meet singly with that Lord again who had put him so hard to it For he had twice by pure strength and weight of his stroaks upon the Kings Helmet made him bend his knee almost to the Earth At last they met together again and then the King had such apparent Advantage of him that Sr. Eustace was forced to save his Life by delivering his Sword unto him when neither knowing who nor what he was he said Sr. Knight I yield my self your Prisoner Whereupon the King who himself alone had taken him gave him to a Lord his Servant there by with a strict Charge to see him forth coming upon demand About the same time there were taken by others the Lord Geoffry Charny and his Son Sr. Geoffry himself being grievously wounded for he had all the while been among the foremost There was slain Sr. Pepin de la Gueret Sr. Henry du Bois Sr. Walter de c Fabian p. 226. Valence and Sr. Robert de Beauvais with many more The Lord Monmorency very narrowly escaped away with the Lord of Landas and others Besides those mâ—ntion'd before who escaped away at Newland-Bridge So that almost all Sr. Geoffry's Party were cut off or taken together with the Lord Edward Renty and those other twelve Knights who with an 100 Men of Arms had been surprised before and clap'd up in the Dungeon After this Victory which was happily compleated on the First day of January by Ten in the Morning the Lord Geoffry Charny d Fabian p. 226. being grievously wounded was laid forth upon a Dresser and so exposed to the Kings View who notwithstanding he knew him the Author of this Treason began to relent to behold so great a Spirit in solow a Condition and took pity of him Insomuch that he forthwith Commanded his own Chirurgeons to take the best Care they could of his Life and to look faithfully and diligently to his Wounds giving him such Restoratives as might soonest supply the Defects of Nature And they so well observ'd this Charge that having not receiv'd any Mortal hurt the Lord Geoffry was at Night able to walk and sat at Supper with therest of the Prisoners as we shall now declare XI AN. DOM. 1349. An. Regni Angliae XXIII Franciae X. The Battle being thus happily ended to the Advantage of the English King Edward return'd to the Castle of Calais and Commanded all the Prisoners to be brought thither and bestow'd in safe Custody e Frois c. 152. And then first the Frenchmen knew and saw that the King of England had been Personally in this Exploit tho disguised in Common Armour without any Rich Surcoat or other Honourable Cognisance under the Banner of one of his own Knights a Greater Honour than which did never any Sovereign Confer on a Well-deserving Subject The King most Courteously visited the Prisoners and told them He would that Night give them all an Entertainment in his Castle of Calais and accordingly at the time of Supper the Tables were spread in the Great Hall and a Magnificent and Royal Feast provided The King and his Lords were all there fresh and Richly cloathed and the Frenchmen also were as the King had order'd in the same Room making merry at least to outward appearance thô they were Prisoners The King sat down at a Table by himself at the Upper end of the Hall the Prince his Son and the Lords and Knights of England serving in the First Course But at the Second Course they also sat down on each side of the King the French Lords and Captains being all at one long Table in the midst of the Hall. There was a most Splendid Feast and it continued long and after Supper the King tarried still in the Hall among his Nobles and the Frenchmen had Wine brought to them at the Table Presently after Supper the King being bare-headed except a Rich Circlet of Gold about his Head beset with Precious Pearl rose up with some of his Chief Lords and went to look and discourse with the Frenchmen When he came to Sr. Gustry Charny he changed countenance a little and beheld him with some Signs of Displeasure and said Sr. Geoffry of Right I should owe you but small Thanks since you design'd to steal from me in the Dark that which I so fairly won by day and which cost me so dearly I am very well satisfied that I took you in the Fact For surely you thought to make a better Market than I had when you attempted to purchase Calais for 20000 Crowns But God Almighty hath in Mercy assisted Me and you have mist your aim He for his part had never a word to return both shame and an evil Conscience forbidding him and his Wounds also rendring him not well dispos'd to speak So the King left him and went to the Lord Eustace de Ribemont where he made a stand and with a joyfull and friendly countenance said unto him Sr. Eustace of all Men living You are the Knight whom I have found most Valiant and Couragious as well in offending your Enemies as in defending your self and I never in my life met with that Man that gave me so much adoe Body to Body as you have done this day Wherefore I adjudge the Prize of Knighthood unto you by Right Sentence above all the Knights of my Court. And with that the King took off the Chaplet of Pearls which he wore upon his Head being very Fair Goodly and Rich and
this latter is not a mistake of kin to the former About this time there e Ashmole p. 700. Stow ibid. Sr Thc. de la Mere. died in the parts of Gascogne on the Tuesday next after the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel Sr. Thomas Wale Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter being a Person of great Worth and Vertue So that of all the Stalls of the first Founders his first became void into which succeeded Reginald Lord Cobham of Sterborough Sr. Thomas Wale bare for his Arms Argent a Cross Sable and Sr. Reginald Cobham Gules Three Mullets Sable on a Cheveron Or. XI King f Stow p. 253 Edward understanding at this time that the Brittish Seas were infested with Pirates order'd seven Men of War to be fitted out with certain Pinnaces to attend them Of which Fleet Sr. Thomas Cook and Sr. Richard Tottlesham were Admirals who scoured the Seas about the Coasts of Picardy and Normandy and at last return'd with safety and Honour This Year g Knighton p. 2603. n. 20. William of Bavaria Son to Lewis the late Emperour of Germany and in his Mothers Right Earl of Hainalt Holland and Zealand came into England and Married by the Kings leave the Lady Mathilda Eldest Daughter to Henry Duke of Lancaster and Relict of Ralph Eldest Son of Ralph Earl of Stafford who dying three Years before left her a Fair young Widow This William was Duke of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine and lately upon his Mother the Lady Margaret her Death Earl of Hainalt c. But about six Years after upon what occasion is not known h Tune 's store-house p. 721. he fell distracted and slew a Knight with a blow of his Fist Whereupon he was shut up under a good Guard in hopes of Recovery his Brother Albert managing the Government in his stead till about 19 Years after he died in that sad Condition leaving no Issue by his Wife who continued in a manner a Widow during that long time of his Distraction XII This mean while Henry the Great Duke of Lancaster Father to the said Lady Mathilda when he saw the Truce taken between the two Realms the last Year being desirous to bestow what time was his own to the Honour of God and the propagation of Religion l Dudg 1 Vol p. 786. ex Pat. 25. Ed. 3. m. 6. obtained the Kings Licence to take a journey into Prussia there to fight against the Infidels In which Licence the King granted that in case he should depart this Life before his Return his Executors should retain all his Castles Lands and Mannors in their Hands till his Debts were discharged Together with this Noble Prince went at the same time k Monast Angl. 1 Vol. p. 728. b. n. 20. Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 550. William Lord Ros of Hamlake and several other Persons of Quality but the said Lord Ros died this Year before his Return in the 26 Year of his Age without Issue leaving Thomas his Brother Heir to his Great Inheritance then but 14 Years of Age. The Duke of Lancaster passing thus towards the Holy Land with a gallant attendance of Valiant Knights and Gentlemen was l Knighton p. 2603. n. 10. suddenly in High-Germany together with several of his Company arrested and obliged to lay down 300 Scutes of Gold for his Liberty Which affront we shall shortly find how ill he resented But however for the present he proceeded on his journey being honourably attended and convey'd from Country to Country by the special Command of those Christian Princes thrô whose Dominions he passed But before he came into Prussia he heard that a Truce for several Years had been already taken by the Christians and Pagans whereat being much displeased he returned back again the same way In his return m Knighton p. 2603. n. 30. c. Dudg 1 Vol. p. 786. b. c. Frois c. 153. Stow p. 253. Fabian p. 230. Grafton p. 292. Walsingh Hist p. 162. n. 14. being then at Cologne a certain German Knight informed him how the Duke of Brunswick was He who had caused him to be so arrested intending in favour of the King of France to have him secured and sent back unto the said King. Wherefore now he declared openly in the Cathedral of Cologne in presence of the Marquess of Juliers and many other Nobles how basely Otho Duke of Brunswick had caused him to be arrested with design to hinder his Pious Pilgrimage thô he had never given him any the least occasion of Offence as he knew having no acquaintance with him or knowledge of his Person And he affirmed that it did not become a Gentleman of Quality to deal so rudely with a Knight Stranger who had never offended him and that in case he had a mind to meddle he should find him ready to perform the part of a Souldier at any time Now when the Duke of Lancaster was safely return'd into England as he did before Ascension-day this Year these his Words were related in Order to the said Duke of Brunswick who thereupon presently sent a Challenge to the Duke of Lancaster in this form Otho by the Grace of God Duke of Brunswick Lord of Thuringen and Son to the Great Duke of Brunswick unto the Excellent Prince and Noble Duke of Lancaster Know You that the Words which You spake personally with your own proper Mouth in the Chief Church of Cologne by Name St. Peters on the Friday next after Easter last past before the Noble Prince the Marquess of Juliers and many other Worshipfull Knights and Esquires in the presence of the Citizens of the said City unadvisedly rashly and shamefully were false and by no means true Which things We will maintain by our own Body against your Body as a true and Loyal Lord is bound and obliged to demonstrate against a rash and false and wicked Man. And this We will perform between the Castle of Guisnes and St. Omers or where else the King of France our Lord shall assign a place For thither shall be brought a safe Conduct from the said King lest We should prolong the Matter Dated c. This Challenge being brought into England to the Duke unsealed n Stow ibid. lest he might expose himself to scorn by giving too much Credit to such unauthentick Letters he presently sent back unto Otho two Knights to learn the truth of the Matter and to demand thereupon his Letters Patents sealed with his Seal of Arms. Upon the return of these Knights with his Letters sealed he obtained leave of the King his Master and wrote back that by such a day he would not fail to meet him and by the Grace of God to maintain his Words in his own proper Person as Truth and Honour required Accordingly having with much adoe obtained a safe Conduct from France he furnished himself after his Quality and went strait over to Calais with 50 Knights in his Company
and a gallant Retinue At Guisnes the Lord John Clermont Marshal of France met him with a Noble Attendance of Men of Arms in the o 11 Decemb. Quindene before Christmas and gave him an Honourable Reception conducting him with much respect as far as Hesdin Where the Lord James of Bourbon Count de la Marche met him also with another Honourable Train of Gentlemen and conducted him to Paris with extream Civility At his approach to Paris he was thirdly met by a very considerable Body of Lords Knights and Gentlemen of France who came by King Johns special Command to do him Honour There was then the greatest Number of Strangers that e'r was known at Paris to behold this Combat of two such Mighty Princes all who in their several Capacities gave due Honour to the Duke of Lancaster and King John himself immediately upon his Arrival sent for him to his Palace where he gave him a Princely Reception But above all his Kinsman p This Duke Henry was Son to Henry de Torto-Collo who was second Son to Edmund second Brother to K. Edw. I and of Blanche the Relict of Henry de Champagne King of Navarre from whom also this Charles King of Navarre was descended Tho. Mills Catal. Nobility p. 319. Charles the young King of Navarre shew'd him a very high Regard and Menaged his Affairs with great diligence and application Before the day of Battle there was much agitation to reconcile these two great Enemies but all overtures were ineffectual the English Duke maintaining the Truth and Reason of his Words and the Almain utterly denying the whole Accusation Wherefore on the day appointed the Lists were ranged out in a Field called q Fabian ad hunc an p. 230. Grafton p. 292. Mezeray p. 51. le Pré aux Clercs the two Combatants were brought into the place and the King of France with his Prime Nobility and an Infinite Number of People were present as spectators All things being ready the two Knights having as the Custom of Duellists in those Days was taken their several Oaths on the r Corporall Gallice Corporall Latin. Corperale idem qued Dominicale i.e. pulvinar Sacrosanctum Synden vel linteum qâ—o corpus Dominicum tegitur Corporall that their cause was just and that they had no Charms about them and so began to address themselves to the Combat The Duke of Brunswick bore in his shield Å¿ True Use of Armory Bibl. Cottonianâ p. 58 vid. Tho. Mills Catal. Nobility p. 342. He came of Maud Eldest Daughter of K. Henry II of Engl. and Henry Leo D. of Saâ—eny whose V Son William of Winchester was Progenitor to the Dukes of Brunswick Hence this Dukes Arms so like England Gules Two Lions Passant Guardant Or and the Duke of Lancaster Gules Three Lions Passant Guardant Or being the Arms of England with a Three-pointed Labell of France Now 't is said that till now You could hardly find a more fierce or comely Man at Arms than the Duke of Brunswick nor one that promised better But presently as soon as he had taken his Oath his countenance changed and grew pale as Death whereby most People thought his quarrel was not so good as he pretended He took his Horse with a sad and ill-boading Countenance and as many spectators avouched had none of his former briskness and vigour remaining insomuch that he bare himself very awkwardly in handling his Arms and twice or thrice let fall his shield in receiving it But the Noble Duke of Lancaster sat ready Mounted with his Spear upright and his shield on his Arm in a decent and couragious manner with a sedate and resolute Countenance expecting to cope with his Adversary like a Knight who had Truth and Honour on his side so that all Men applauded his steady and gallant Behaviour Wherefore the Duke of Brunswick by advice of his Friends submitted his quarrel to the judgement of the King of France and proffer'd to withdraw his Challenge But the Duke of Lancaster absolutely refused to forsake the Combat saying How that before he had entred the Lists perhaps he might have been perswaded to an agreement but now that he was already Mounted and prepared before the King and his Nobles and such an extraordinary Confluence of People to defend the Justice of his Cause it would be an high Reflection both on himself and the English Nation if now he should depart the Lists without performing what Truth and Equity did require Wherefore he said he would not leave the Field for any Treaty or Composition whatsoever without Battle so as to derive the least umbrage of a suspicion upon his Honour Blood and Quality whereby either Himself the King his Master or his Country might suffer the least flaw in their Reputation Otherwise he would receive what Event or Fortune the Grace of God would allot him Upon this the Duke of Brunswick as a Man Conquered utterly renounced the Quarrel and refus'd the Combat without any reservation of his Honour wholly submitting himself to the award and disposal of the King of France to the great Glory of the Duke of Lancaster The Duke of Brunswick was generally more acceptable to the King and Court of France as who was much their Friend but however the Duke of Lancaster was not without his Interests among so many Honourable Persons who respected him thô an Enemy for his many Heroick Vertues and High Birth Among these his Counsellours and Abetters who stuck close to him at this time were the foremention'd Charles King of Navarre his Kinsman and Giles his Fathers Brother the Earl of Ponthieu the Earl of Flanders the Earl of Tancarville the Earl of Saltzbourg the Lord John Clermont Marshal of France the Lord James of Bourbon the Lord Lewis of Navarre the Lord Lewis Earl of Harcourt the Lord John de Chastillon and the Lord Walter his Son with many more These Persons so wrought with the Duke of Lancaster that upon Duke Otho's absolute renunciation of the Quarrel he was content to go last out of the Field After which the King at a great Feast by the help of his Nobles partakers on both sides reconciled these two Dukes and took up the Quarrel between them for ever The next day he led the Duke of Lancaster about his Palace shewing him many notable and Rich Jewels of all which he offer'd him the choice But he for his part desired only one Thorn out of the Crown of our Saviour which he brought away and afterwards gave as a Relick to his Collegiate Church of our Lady founded by himself near the Castle of Leicester The third Day after he took leave of the French King and Court and return'd home into England unto the King who was then at St. Albans where he kept his Christmas at that time and received him with great Grace and Favour XIII This pious Heroe who at last by his Religious and Noble Carriage obtained to be called the t Tho.
Homage of England Wherefore they heartily desired the King of England and his Council to consider of it and to propose unto them such Conditions as they might accept and not demand of them things so inconsistent and impossible and which appeared unto them far worse than Death This Request being but reasonable was back'd with a Truce and thus Matters rested for a while in those Parts V. Now k Odor Rainal ad hunc annum §. 15. Stow p. 254. Pope Innocent the VI being newly settled in the Pontifical Chair when he saw Matters tending towards a Rupture between the two Realms of England and France interposed his Endeavours to make up the Breach and sent l Innoc. VI. Tom. 1. Epist Secret p. 22. Et an 1. Epist Curial l. 2. Epist 29 30 31. Guy Bishop of Porto and Cardinal of Bologna in his Name to promote the Treaty of a Final Peace in Order to which he empower'd him by his Papal Letters the Tenour whereof followeth INNOCENT the Servant of the Servants of God to his Venerable Brother Guy Bishop of Porto c. Among other things which by the Office of our Apostolick Service are incumbent on Us this We especially desire that between our Most Dear Sons in Christ the Illustrious Kings John of France and Edward of England the Fewel of Dissention being withdrawn Peace and Concord may be reformed Tranquillity may flourish the happiness of Quiet may abound and a Pacifick State may continue Considering therefore that You who as an earnest Well-Wisher to the Premises have at our Good Pleasure gone to the Parts of France and there Personally tarry do zealously interpose Your Diligence to the Reformation of the said Peace and Concord desiring also that if by his Grace who is the Author of Health and Peace Your Intention being as to the Premises conformable to ours may obtain a desired effect those things which shall be done may be firmly Ratified We grant unto your Brotherhood of whom in this and other things We have full Confidence in the Lord by the Apostolical Authority by Vertue of these Presents full and free Power of Confirming approving and Ratifying by the Authority aforesaid the Treaties and Conventions of the said Peace and Concord between the said Kings and also the Princes Lords Great Men Aiders and Followers of them and their Adherents nevertheless after that the said Treaties and Conventions shall by Gods assistance be finished and by the said Kings and others aforesaid freely received and approved of receiving from them and every of them Covenants Oaths and Submissions for the entire observation of the said Treaties and Conventions and of restraining the Contradictions by Ecclesiastical Censure without any Appeal notwithstanding if to them or any of them either together or severally it hath been granted by the Apostolick See that they should not be interdicted suspended or excommunicated by Apostolick Letters making full and express mention and Word by Word of such a Grant. Dated at Villeneufe of the Dioecese of Avignon III Id. Maii Ano. Pontif. 1 mo Besides this Cardinal Pope Innocent m M. S. in Bibl. Vatican sign N. p. 2040. apud Oder Rainald ibid. sent several other Prelates to both the Kings in Order to bring this Peace to its Perfection So that at n Stow ibid. M.S. Vet. Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 229. last it was agreed That the King of England should resign acquit and renounce all the Right he had or claimed to the Crown of France transferring it entirely to the French King and his Heirs in Consideration whereof He the said King of England should receive and enjoy the whole Dukedom of Aquitain with the City of Calais and the whole Counties of Artois and of Guisnes for Himself and his Successors Kings of England without ever doing any Homage or making any acknowledgement for the same to the Kings of France or without holding them in any subordinate Manner otherwise than he held the Crown of England it self namely of God alone To these Conditions thus agreed on King Edward yielded his Consent and for a firm Conclusion of the Premises Ambassadors were sent as well from him as from the French King to the Court of Rome then at Avignon A Truce being taken the mean while to be kept in England France Gascogne and Bretagne till Easter next ensuing during which time it was hoped a full and final Peace would be established But we shall defer the Prosecution of that Matter to its proper Place and speak of what happen'd at home before the Truce was in any forwardness VI. On the 15 of July o M.S. Ret. Parl. p. 70. Sr. Rob. Cotton p. 83. King Edward sent forth his Writs of Summons to his Lords to meet him in Parliament at Westminster on the * Lâ—t Dom. F. Monday after the Feast of St. Matthew or the 23d of September following these being the Names of those to whom the Writs were directed Edward Prince of Wales Henry Duke of Lancaster William Bohun Earl of Northampton Humphry Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex Hugh Courtney Earl of Devonshire William Clinton Earl of Huntington Richard Fitz-Alan Earl of Arundel Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick John Vere Earl of Oxford Gilbert Vmphraville Earl of Angos Robert Hufford Earl of Suffolk William Montague Earl of Salisbury Ralph Stafford Earl of Stafford John Lord Mowbray Henry Lord Piercy Ralph Lord Neville Richard Lord Talbot Robert Lord Morley Walter Lord Manny William Lord Hunting field Thomas Lord Berkley Thomas Lord Lucy Peter Lord Morley the Fifth Reginald Lord Cobham Reginald Lord Grey John Lord Willoughby of Eresby Roger Lord Chandos John Lord Charleton William Lord Zouch of Harringworth John Lord Bardolph William Lord Deincourt John Lord Tibetot John Lord Fitz-Walter Walter Lord Fauconbridge William Lord Greystock William Lord Dacres Thomas Lord Musgrave Thomas Lord Bradestan John Lord Grey of Rotherfield John Lord Grey of Codonore John Lord Darcy of Knayth Roger Lord Mortimer of Wigmore Robert Lord Colvile Bartholomew Lord Burwash Senior Guy Lord Brian Nicolas Lord Seimour Geoffry Lord Say. Michael Lord Poynz John Lord Beauchamp of Somerset John Lord Beauchamp of Warwickshire William Lord Ferrers John Lord Lisle of Rugemont Nicolas Lord Cantilupe John Lord Furnival Nicolas Lord Burnel Edward Lord Montague Thomas Lord Vghtred Robert Lord Scales Henry Lord Scroop John Lord Cobham Thomas Lord Braose James Lord Audley Thomas Lord Holland Bartholomew Lord Burwash Junior Warden of the Cinque-Ports On the p Sr. Rob. Cotton's Abridgement p. 81. c. Monday aforesaid the Parliament being met Proclamation was made in Westminster-Hall that the Three-Estates warned thereto might take their ease from Wednesday until Friday then ensuing On which Friday Sr. William Shareshull the Lord Chief Justice shew'd that the Assembly was called for that the Staple should be removed from beyond the Seas and appointed within the Realm But for that we shall refer the Reader to the Statute of the
the Earl of Warwick Thomas Son to the Earl of Oxford and John Son to the Lord Moubray On the 2d of November or rather on All-Saints Day which is the First as we shall prove by and by the King began his March from Calais towards St. Omers whither he heard the King of France was come from Amiens wasting all the Country as he went. As he was between Guisnes and Ardres there came to him h Frois c. 155. the Marshal D'Endreghan the Lord Bouciquault and Others from King John that i R. Avesbâ—ry Holinsh Eng. Chron. p 951. a. n. 20. under pretence of Discoursing Him they might take a full view of all his Forces And accordingly they returned with such a Report of his Strength that the French King was now determin'd not to hazard a Battle with him But rather to pass on before k Knighton p. 2610. n 60. breaking the Bridges behind him and gathering up or destroying all sorts of Provision that so the English might be forced for want thereof to return back for that time Whereupon l R. Avesbury Holinsh Eng. Chron. p 951. a. n. 30. Walsingh hist p. 263. M.S. vet Ang. in Bib. C.C.C. Cantabr c. 229. as he design'd it came to pass for King Edward was so streightned thereby that he was obliged to return to Calais his Army having drank nothing but Water for three Days and all other Provisions being extream scarce The French Writers and Froisard m Frois c. 155. ibid. Mâ—zeray ad hunc an c. also himself for I am resolved to dissemble nothing say that King John by these Messengers offer'd King Edward to fight him either Body to Body or Power against Power whensoever himself should appoint but that King Edward declin'd the Offer and so went home again for England Surely I desire by no means to rob the French Nation of any real Flower of Honour but neither do I think it the part of a just Historian to receive any thing without an exact Scrutiny or to let Improbabilities and Indecorums to pass without the least Remark thô never so well attested It is evident both by the Challenge which King Edward sent formerly to this Kings Father as from sundry Authors of both Nations we n Vid. Lib. 1. c. 17. §. 2. p. 188. have shewn and from the nature of that Princes Circumstances as well as his ordinary Custom that it was better for him in his own Opinion to make a quick Dispatch of the War to which Opinion it must be allow'd his Courage was no way wanting so he could not have been brought over so often in Person without his own Will and that it was ever his Aim to obtain a Battle and that when offer'd he never refused to accept it and if he had had been laugh'd at by all the World since his only way was to win the Crown he claim'd by Fighting Nor was King John a better Man at Arms or better furnished for the War than his Father Philip or King Edward who was now in the Prime of his Manhood being but 43 Years old either of less Courage or Art or Strength either of Person or People than when he sent his Chartel of Defiance to King Philip of Valois That he should need to decline the same at this time And thô for this Assertion of theirs they bring no Record nor Authority but the Word of one ancient Author who might herein be misinformed yet we shall add to these our Reasons a more Authentick Testimony from our Records of Parliament which to establish my Opinion most expresly o M.S. Rot. Par. p. 86. n. 9. Sr. Rob. Cottons Abridgm of the Recor. p. 90. n. 9. ad an 29. Ed. 3. n. 9. witness That on All-Souls Day the King marched toward his Enemy and profer'd him Battle which his Enemy by all means refused Wherefore having wasted and spoiled the Country seeing his own Army languish he returned to Calais where he made Honourable Peace and so came back into England to his Parliament Which he had summon'd to sit at Westminster on the p i.e. 12 Novemb Morrow after St. Martin the Bishop Now Froisard who happen'd by some Misinformation to give the first Authority to this Story q Frois c. 155. ibid. doth yet witness with Others that King Edward rode with a great Host as far as Hesdin where he brake up the Park and burnt the Houses within and about it thô he entred not either the Town or Castle And then as our Writers agree for want of Provisions he returned back to Calais on St. Martins Day being the r These to be taken inclusively For St. Martin the Bishops day is on the 12 of November and St. Martin the Pope's on 13 but this not meant here Eleventh after his Setting forth according to those who say He set forth on the 2d of November but the r These to be taken inclusively For St. Martin the Bishops day is on the 12 of November and St. Martin the Pope's on 13 but this not meant here Twelfth according to the Records which affirm how he marched forth of Calais on All-Souls or All-Saints Day That same Day being * Lit. Dom. D. a Thursday and the 12 of November the Å¿ R Avesbury Holinsh Eng. Chron. p 951. n. 40. a. Constable of France and other French Gentlemen came indeed to the end of the Causey of Calais with Credential Letters offering unto the King of England in presence of the Duke of Lancaster the Earl of Northampton and the Lord Walter Manny to give him Battle on the Tuesday next following in answer to which Challenge the said Lords of England having full Power and Authority so to do offer'd unto the Constable in the King their Masters Name that he the said King of England to avoid shedding of Christian Blood would fight with the French King their Master Body to Body so to decide his Right or if that Offer should not take place then the two Kings to select Three or Four Knights apiece such as should be the nearest in Blood unto them and together with these to try the Matter But when both these Offers were rejected the English Lords offer'd to give Battle to the whole French Army either the next Day being Friday or on Saturday the Day after whether they would but the Constable and his Fellows continuing still in their first Demand refused both those Days Then at the last the English Lords said how they accepted of Tuesday the Day by them assign'd on this Condition That if they did not bring the King of England to a Battle on that Day then they would engage to yield themselves Prisoners to the French so that they would likewise undertake to yield themselves if their King kept not the promised Day To this equal but unexpected Proposal when the Constable of France having nothing ready to reply had made some Demurr at last upon
pressing he flatly refused to make any such Bargain So that the English Lords perceived plainly how their Enemies meant not to afford them Battle as at first they pretended but only by Delays to seek Advantages and to put their Master to Charges thereby to make him weary of the War. However because of the Season of the Year the Commissioners on both Sides made shift to strike up a Temporary Truce t Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 787. to endure till Easter which done they parted asunder without any more medling for that time King Edward stayed at Calais however till the Tuesday u 17 Novemb. following at which time having paid the Lords Strangers their appointed Wages because he saw no appearance of having Battle given him he embarqued for England where the next day he happily arrived and came to his Parliament then sitting at Westminster VI. This x M.S. Rot. Par. p. 85. §. 1 4 5 6. c. Sr. Rob. Cotton p. 90. c. Parliament first began to sit on the Day of St. Martin the Bishop being the very Day on which the King return'd to Calais from pursuit of his Enemies but upon the Account of the Kings Absence as well as for other Causes had been Adjourned first from the said 12 of November to the 23d and after from thence to 25th by which time the King was returned to his Parliament But before we enter upon this Affair it will not be amiss to dispatch other Matters out of the way in order to clear some Passages which follow Besides what we mention'd and the approach of Winter there was a further Reason why King Edward made so much haste home into England for while he was yet in Artois he had News brought him How on the Sixth of November the Scots came very early one Morning to Barwick and having by Surprize taken the Town thô with the Death of only three or four Englishmen whom they found upon the Watch they seised on all the Goods and Persons therein except those who had got into the Castle But the Castle they could not take the Bridge being drawn up Thô notwithstanding they held the Town as their own till King Edward drove them away as we shall shew in due place Now before King Edward was come into France King John had y Hector Bret. l. 15. f. 325. n. 40. c. Buchan l. 9. p. 303. Holinsh hist Scotl. p. 242 Knighton p. 2611. n. 1. c. sent the Lord Eugenie Garenciers with a select Number of Frenchmen and 40000 Crowns in Gold into Scotland to encourage that People to invade England thereby to give a Diversion to King Edward as soon as ever he should have left his Kingdom Whereupon Patrick Earl of March and the Lord William Douglas being accompanied with Fourty French Captains of Name beside the Lord of Garenciers marched silently towards Barwick and in a certain convenient Place not far off the two Earls planted themselves in a strong Ambush Then Sr. William Ramsey of the Dalehouse according to Order with 400 Light-Horse in his Company began to drive a great many Head of Cattle near the Town to decoy the Garrison into their Ambush The Souldiers of the Town seeing such a Booty sallied out under the Command of Sr. Thomas Grey as was expected and hardly pursued after the Cattle and their Drivers till e'r they were aware they fell into the Scotch Ambush where being suddenly surrounded after a stout Resistance they were all slain except Sr. Thomas Grey their Captain with his Son Sr. John Dacres and a few more Esquires and Gentlemen whom they kept to Ransom Thô the Scots themselves lost in this Skirmish several Persons of Quality as Sr. John Haliburton Sr. James Turnbull and Others z Hector l. 15. f. 325. n. 62. Hector says certain Frenchmen bought of the Scots the English Prisoners and then presently put them to the Sword in revenge of their Friends and Parents slain by them at Cressy and elsewhere But this I 'll not believe the French being naturally a People of more Honour Early the next Morning the Scots encouraged with this Victory approached the Town of Barwick and when the Watch was in a manner overcome with Sleep set their Ladders to the Walls mounted and enter'd the Place Those few English whom they found ready they fell upon and slew thô not without loss to themselves for by their Acknowledgment there fell on the Scots side Sr. Thomas Vaux Sr. Andrew Scot of Balvere Sr. John Gourdon Sr. William Sinclare Sr. Thomas Preston and Sr. Alexander Moubray And of the English Sr. Alexander Ogle the Captain of the Town Sr. Everard Grey and Sr. Thomas Piercy Brother as they say to the Earl of Northumberland thô as yet that Title did not belong to that Name and in the Genealogy of the Lord Piercy there is no mention of a Brother of his so named in those Days But 't is usual with the Scotch Historians to create Men and Titles and then to slay them to advance as they imagin the Honour of their Nation I 'll give but one Instance of Hectors Ignorance or at least indiligence speaking of the Battle of Poictiers which happened a little after he says a Hector Boet. Sect. Hist l. 15. f. 327. l. 27. c. The same time these things were done in Scotland Richard the Son of Edward the Third Prince of Wales He who afterwards as King of England succeeded in his Fathers Place having conquer'd John King of France and bringing him into England c. We may well expect wonderfull intelligence from this Man as to the Families of the English Nobility who is so grosly ignorant of the Name of the Greatest Prince Son to the Greatest King that England ever produced But to return Whatever the Manner was of Winning Barwick the Scots are said at this time b M.S. vet Ang. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 229. to have slain no more of the English but only those who resisted But when King Edward heard of the Loss of the Town he forthwith hasted into England to his Parliament as we shew'd before where for the ardent desire he had to recover the Town and save the Castle he tarried but three Days before he began to march for Scotland and yet in that time the Parliament performed Matters worth our Notice Of which now we shall speak briefly Only we must not forget c Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 741. ex Rec. v. Stow p. 255. b.n. 46. c. that the Lord William Greystoch who had been constituted Captain of the Town of Barwick but was absent at the time of its Taking did then much incurr the Displeasure of the King therefore But it being clearly proved that his Absence was occasion'd by the Kings Command for he attended the King personally into France as he was order'd at the request of Queen Philippa he obtained his Pardon VII At the Opening of this Parliament d M.S. Rot. Par.
Archbishop of Rheimes the Nobility by the Duke of Athens and the Good Towns by the Mouth of Stephen Marcel Provost of the Merchants at Paris That they were according to their Duty ready to live and die with their King and to spend both their Bodies and Goods in his Service only they required sufficient time to deliberate and advise together which the King granted them And the mean while viz. on the seventh of December He created his Eldest Son the Lord Charles who was Dauphin of Vienna Duke of Normandy for which he receiv'd his Homage the next day Now the Estates having seriously considered upon the Kings Requests and the Necessity of his Affairs consented to find him for One Year at their own Costs and Charges 30000 Fighting Men with all their Warlike Furniture Provision and Apparel but because the Sum of Money which at first they reckon'd sufficient for that Exploit together with the Gabel of Salt were both by many question'd to fall short they appointed to meet again on the First day of March following to enquire into the Matter and to make up what should then appear deficient The Progress of which Affair We shall refer to its proper place lest We should be carried too far abroad when We are called upon to stay at home But being brought to the end of this Year We shall now think of concluding this Chapter when We have after our usual Method inserted two or three occurrences which are most properly ranged in such places where they may appear without disturbing the Order or Coherence of greater Matters IX On the sixth of January or after the Roman way of reckoning l Walsingh hist p. 163. Knighton p. 1608. n. 33. Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 169. Sandf Geneal p. 227. on the VII of the Ides of the said Month in the beginning of this Year 1355 King Edward received from the Hands of Heaven a lively Young Prince for a New-years Gift this being his seventh and youngest Son was born at the Kings Palace at Woodstock about seven Miles from Oxford Whereupon he bore the sirname of Woodstock being at the Font named Thomas and became in time Earl of Buckingham and Duke of Gloucester and was a Prince of High Stomach and Resolution King Edward upon the Queens m Stow p. 255. a Purification of this her Seventh Son held in her Honour a Solemn Justs and Tourneament at Woodstock where were present the greater Part of the Nobility of England It is said n Mezeray ad hunc ann 2 Part. 3 Tom. p. 41. Frois c 154. f. 76. that on Shrove-Tuesday this Year at Night contrary to the Truce then in being two and fifty English Men took the Castle of Nantes in Bretagne by Scalado But the Lord Guy of Rochefort the Captain thereof who was at that time in the City was so well provided that he retook it again that same Night and cut them all to pieces without pity because they had so falsly violated the Truce This Summer o Knighton p. 2609. n. 40. ad n. 54. there raged a most strange and unaccountable Infirmity in England which was attributed rather to the Malignity of Evil Spirits than to any natural Cause For People of a sudden grew mad and went out of their Wits in most parts of the Realm whether they were in Towns or in Fields and so they ran about distracted to Woods and Groves to hide themselves as Wild Beasts avoiding the Company of Men And some ran out of the Fields to the Towns and out of Towns to the Fields void of all Care or Conduct and could hardly be laid hold on and some wounded themselves with knives and snapt and bit at those who endeavour'd to catch them And many were carried into Churches and there they lay bound till they might obtain ease from God by Prayer And in some Churches you might see ten or a dozen sometimes more sometimes less in this Condition so that it was a great Pity to behold their case But they soon recover'd by this means and the Malady was not lasting This Year p Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 735. Peter Lord Mauley V. of that Name deceased upon the Festival of St. German in the Sixty sixth Year of his Age leaving behind him Peter his Son and Heir then Twenty four Years old called Peter VI. de Malolacu or Mauley who follow'd his Valiant Fathers steps thrô all the hazardous Paths of Glory CHAPTER the FOURTEENTH The CONTENTS I. King Edward goes into Scotland and recovers Barwick AN. DOM. 1356. An. Regni Angliae XXX Franciae XVII King Edward Bailiol resigns his Right and Title to the Crown of Scotland to King Edward of England II. King Edward ravages about in Scotland but losing a great part of his Navy is obliged to return III. He brings along with him the Bailiol into England IV. A Parliament at Paris with a Famous Tax therein ordained V. A Sedition at Arras prudently supprest VI. King John seises on the Person of the King of Navarre puts him in Prison and executes several of his Friends VII Prince Philip Brother to the King of Navarre obtains Assistance from England and being afterwards reinforced by the Duke of Lancaster makes hot War in Normandy VIII King John goes against him but upon News of Prince Edwards Invasion in another part goes back to oppose him IX The Duke of Lancaster having settled Affairs in Normandy goes into Bretagne to the Dutchess I. THE Parliament at Westminster of which we spake in the preceding Chapter being ended about the Feast of St. Andrew a Knighton p. 2611. n. 10. Holinsh p. 951. b. n. 34. King Edward immediately set forward for Scotland and rested not till he came to Newecstle where he solemnized the Nativity of our Saviour At which time He received Letters from his Valiant Son the Prince of Wales containing a full account of his late Exploits in Gascogne as we have declared On the b Holinsh p. 954. M.S. vet Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 230. 14 of January King Edward having his Army encamped near the Town of Barwick and his Navy ready in the Haven to assail the Scots that were now therein enter'd into the Castle himself with some of his Guard that being still in the hands of his Subjects designing to let down the Bridge and fall in upon the Town that way while the Army from without attempted the Walls The Lord Manny also at the same time being busie in springing a Mine thereby to get entrance by Craft if Force should fail Upon this the Scots within being terrified with these dreadfull Preparations and seeing it impossible to hold out against such Forces and so various attacks began to capitulate desiring only to be secured of Life Limb and Liberty and they would forthwith yield up the Town Which Conditions the King accepted But the c Hector Boeth l. 15. fol. 325. n. 75. Buchan l. 9 p. 304. Scotch Writers say
on the Vambrace of his Sword Arm that the Lord Thomas his Weapon not being chained fell out of his Hand to the ground Whereupon he alighted suddainly from his Horse at the place where his Sword lay but as he stooped to take it up the French Esquire pricked at him from his horse with his Rapier and thrust him thrô both the Thighs in which he was not armed so that he fell down not being able to help himself Then John alighting first seised the Englishman's Sword which lay still on the ground and therewith came to him demanding whether he would yield or no Sr. Thomas said Who are you that I may know whether 't is fit to yield and what is your Name Sir said he I am called John de Helenes and am an Esquire of Picardy but who are you Truly replied the Knight my Name is Thomas and I am Lord of Barkley a fair Castle on the River of Severn in Gloucestershire upon the Marches of Wales Well Sir said the Esquire then you shall be my Prisoner and I shall take care to heal you of your Hurts and bring you to my House in safeguard I am content said the Knight for you have won me by the Law of Arms and so he sware to be his Prisoner Rescue or no Rescue Then the Esquire drew forth his Sword out of the Knights Thighs and the Wounds being open he carefully wrapped and bound them up and set him on his Horse again and so brought him fair and softly to Chastelleraut about four Leagues farther where he tarried above a Fortnight for his sake till the Cure was pretty forward And then he hired him a Litter and so brought him at his ease to his own House in Picardy Here he tarried more than a Year till he was perfectly whole and upon his Departure he engaged to pay for his Ransom six thousand Nobles for the payment of which Summ r Ex Aâ—tographo apud Castrum de Berkley vid. Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 358. Henry Duke of Lancaster and the Lord Frank van Hall became his Sureties and so this Esquire was made a Knight by the Profit he had of the Lord Berkley Surely the Rencounters of Love and War as Froisard observes are very variable But especially this Battle of Poictiers was so full of sundry strange and memorable Circumstances that it is as difficult to recite them as no doubt it would be pleasant to read them But we shall pursue the end of the Matter since we cannot attain to many more Particulars at this Distance but what we have already drawn from Writers of that Age and other Good Authorities All this while the Battle endured thô apparently now enclining to the English for notwithstanding all those Great Men fell in Defence of the King their Master as became Valiant Souldiers and Loyal Men yet still the French King had a Knot of gallant Souls about him who disputed the Point so well as if they alone intended to attone for the Baseness of those who by turning their Backs had lost the Day But now the English and Gascogne Lords by their importunate Valour had beat down the Standard-Royal of France and slain the Bearer thereof as we said before and while many of the Enemies discouraged hereat fled away toward Poictiers they push'd on the Victory so home that now they won the last Stake also In the first Breaking of the Press near the King were taken the Lord James of Bourbon Earl of Ponthieu the Lord John of Artois Earl of Ewe and Charles of Artois his Brother Earl of Tancarville these were taken under the Banner of the Lord John Greilly Captal of Busche and Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter there were taken also the Captain of Poictiers and the Seneschal of St. Omers the Lord of Bodenay the Lord of Ventador the Earl of Vendosme the Earl of Mons and the Lord Arnold Cervoles commonly called the Arch-priest most grievously wounded and many other Knights and Esquires At which time a great part of this Battail fled away but were closely pursued by a Party of Gascoigners and English even unto the Gates of Poictiers Here many were slain and beaten down Horse and Man for those who defended the City when they beheld the Enemy so near closed their Gates upon their Friends for fear of being lost themselves Wherefore in the street before the Gate was horrible Murther so that the Frenchmen being now neither able to fly nor to resist Å¿ Frios c. 164. yielded themselves as far as they might discern an English Man whereby several Archers had four five or six Prisoners apiece The Lord of Pons a great Baron of Poictou was there beaten down in the street and slain with many other Lords Knights and Esquires The mean while the Kings Battail was grievously handled and there were taken about the Kings Person the Earl of Rochechoüart the Vicount of Narbon the Lord of Xaintogne the Lord of Montendre the Lord John Santerre who had the repute of one of the best Knights in France but he was so very much hurt that he never had his Health after There fell among the Dead the Lord Guischard D'Angle who was afterwards recover'd and leaving the French Side became a Valiant Servant to King Edward and at the Coronation of his Successor was made Earl of Huntington and in King Edwards Time Knight of the Garter But this Day he fought with singular Valour even to the hazard of his Life by the French Kings side But the Lord Geoffry Charny before he dy'd had an whole Tempest of War thundring upon him till he fell beneath it for all the Force of the English press'd upon him because he bare the Kings Standard-Royal and besides he had in the Field a Banner of his own which was Gules Three Eschutcheons Argent But now the French Kings Battail was quite open'd whereby the Frenchmen were so mingled among their Enemies that sometimes one Gentleman of France had four or five Men upon him at once There the Lord of Pompador was taken Prisoner by the Lord Bartholomew Burwash and the Earl of Dammartin was slain by the Lord Reginald Cobham and among 'um the Valiant Lord Geoffry Charny was there wounded to Death with whom the Standard of France also fell to the ground Then every Man press'd hard to take the King and such as knew him cry'd out Sir yield your self or You are but Dead There was then among the English a Knight of Artois retain'd for Wages in the King of England's service called Sr. Dennis of Morbeque who had served King Edward about five Years because in his Youth he was fain to fly the Realm of France for a Murder that he had committed at St. Omers It happen'd so well for this Man that he was near the King when he was e'n ready to be taken wherefore he stept forth into the Preass and by the strength of his Body and Arms made way up to the French King
and said in good French Sir yield your Person The King looking on him said To whom shall I yield And where is my Cousin the Prince of WALES If I might see him I would speak with him Sr. Denis answer'd Sir he is not hereabout but if it please You to yield to me I shall bring You to him Why Who are you then said the King Sir said he I am Denis of Morbeque a Knight of Artois but I now serve the King of England because I am banished the Realm of France and have forfeited all I had there Then the King gave him his Right Gauntlet saying Vnto you I yield my self But still there was so great a Crowding among those who pretended to have taken him that the King and his youngest Son Philip who now shared in his Fathers Fortune could not be suffer'd to go forward The mean while the Prince of Wales who was Couragious as a Lion took great Delight and Pleasure all that Day to Fight and break the Power of his Enemies and so did the Lord John Chandos who never stirr'd from the Prince's side all the time of the Fight He never troubled himself to take any Prisoners thô never so Rich but leaving that as too mean a Consideration for him he wholly apply'd himself to Fighting and Chacing and Destroying the Frenchmen Whereever any strong Body of the Enemy appear'd thither went the Prince and my Lord Chandos and brake their Ranks and brought them to Confusion and then leaving others to perfect the Conquest they removed to another Quarter where they did the like Thus the Noble Prince of Wales had much trouble and pains before he won the Garland but toward the end of all about the time that King John was taken the Lord Chandos said unto him Sir methinks it would be convenient for your Highness to rest here a little and to set up your Standard on High in this Bush that your Men may draw hither about your Person for they are very much scatter'd abroad And I can see no more Banners nor Penons of the French in the Field Wherefore please Sir to take some rest now and refresh your self a little For You are too much heated and chased with this Days service Hereupon Sr. Walter Woodland was order'd to set up the Prince's Standard on High in the Bush and Trumpets and Clarions began to sound a Retreat and the Captains hasted to obey the Summons The mean while the Prince pull'd off his Helmet and the Knights of his Body and those of his Chamber were ready about him and a Pavilion of Red Silk was pitch'd up for him and then Drink was brought forth for the Prince and such Lords as were about him whose Number still encreased and as they return'd from the Chace there they tarried with their Prisoners in their Company When the two Marshals were come back to the Prince he demanded of them whether they knew any tidings of the French King. They answer'd Sir We hear of nothing certain as to that Point but We verily believe he is either Dead or taken for We are sure he is not gone out of the Field Then the Prince said to the Earl of Warwick and the Lord Cobham Sirs I require You to ride forth and learn what You can as to this Matter that at Your return We may know the Certainty These two Lords took their Horses again and departed with an Hundred Spears from the Prince and rode up a little Hill to view more plainly about them over the Field From whence they might perceive a Flock of Men of Arms coming together toward them very wearily Now among these was the French King on foot in great Danger of his Life for the Englishmen and Gascoigners who had taken him perforce from Sr. Denis of Morbeque were now his Masters and among these some said I have taken him nay said others but I and I and I have taken him and thus the Chief Men and those of most Power contended about him Wherefore He to avoid the Danger that might ensue said Pray Gentlemen contend not thus about me 〈◊〉 Conduct me and my Son Civilly to my Cousin the Prince and concern not your selves who it was that took me For I am so great a Lord as to be able to Enrich you aâ—â— who make any such pretence These Words somewhat pacified them but yet as they went along they could not forbear making a noise and a brawling about the taking of the King. But when the two foresaid Lords of England saw and heard that noise and strife among them they rode up to them and said Sirs what is the Matter that You contend so one with another My Lords said one of them it is for the French King who is here taken Prisoner and there are more than Ten Knights and Esquires who challenge to themselves the Taking of Him. Then the two Marshals open'd the Preass and commanded aloud in the Prince's Name that no Man whatsoever be so hardy to make any noise or to approach the Kings Person unless they were so ordered Then every Man made way for the Marshals and they alighted and did Reverence to the King and after that conducted Him and his Son in Peace and Safety to the Prince of Wales X. Now this mean while t Frois c. 165. that the Earl of Warwick and the Lord Cobham were sent away by the Prince to enquire after the French King the Prince demanded of the Lords about him if any of them knew what was become of the Lord James Audley and it was told him that being grievously wounded He lay there in a Litter hard by By my Faith said the Prince for his Hurts I am heartily sorry but go and see if he can conveniently and without Danger be brought hither or else I will make him a Visit where he lies At this two of the Princes Knights went to the Lord Audley and said Sir the Prince desires mightily to see You and if You can't go to him he says he 'll come hither to You. Ah! sirs said the wounded Knight I heartily thank the Prince that he would vouchsafe to think on so mean a Souldier as I am And therewithall he called Eight of his servants and caused them to carry him softly in his Litter where the Prince was When the Prince saw him he took him in his Arms and kissed and caress'd him highly saying Sr. James I ought in especial manner to Honour You For by your Valour this day You have merited the High Esteem of Vs all and You are justly reputed the most Heroick and Couragious of all others Ah! Sir said the Knight You say as it pleaseth You I would it were so indeed but alas if I have this day done any thing beyond my ordinary way in the service of such a Prince and to accomplish my Vow it ought not to be ascribed to any particular Prowess in me Sr. James said the Prince both I my self and all others acknowledge
Foundation of an Honourable Name which should be venerable to late Posterity XIII And thus did Edward the BLACK-PRINCE now doubly dyed Black by the Terrour of his Arms continue his March without b Frois c. 169. the least Opposition thrô Porctou and Saintogne till he came to Blaye where he passed over the River Garonne and so came in Safety and Honour to his Chief City of Bourdeaux It can hardly be imagin'd with what extravagant Joy and Triumph and Honourable Feastings and splendid Pageants this Victorious Prince was received into that City both by the Clergy and Laity all Sorts of People extolling his Praise and rejoycing in his Presence From hence the c Polyd. Virgil. p. 384. Prince wrote Letters into England to the King his Father giving him a full but modest Account of his Success and promising God willing the next Spring to bring over his Royal Prisoner into England For by that Time he would have his Navy well equipped and furnished with Men of War. King Edward was wonderfully pleased with this extraordinary Success of his Sons but when the News of the Victory was divulged among the People Men were almost beside themselves for Joy the Conduits ran with Wine Bonfires were continually flaming Songs and Musick Plays Feasts and Wakes were in all Places Thus the Vulgar But the King d Vid. Odor Rainalâ—ad hunc an §. 7. Matt. Villant l. 7. c. 21. P. Virgil. l. 19. p. 381. Frois ibid. Himself like a Wise and Religious Prince who knew the Instability of Fortune even before he felt it Himself by the Example of the French Kings so suddain and unexpected Fall not only return'd his own Thanks to God Almighty for so signal a Victory e Matt Villani l. 7. c. 21. but summon'd his Lords together to whom he seriously declared that this Victory was not obtain'd by any Vertue or Power of his Son or Subjects but by the Grace of God alone wherefore he enjoyned them all neither by Feasting nor otherwise to express any loose Joy or Vain-glory. And at the same time he further enjoyned Simon Islip Archbishop of Canterbury and John Thoresby Archbishop of York that for Eight Days together they should thrô their several Provinces use Publique Processions and Prayers for the Souls of those who fell in the Battle and also return solemn Thanksgivings to God for so signal a Mercy vouchsafed unto the English Nation by which instance of Moderation he gain'd no less Glory to Himself than his Son had done by his Victory XIV Presently after the Battle of Poictiers the Cardinal of Perigort applied himself again to the Victorious Prince in order to settle some kind of Agreement between the Two Realms At first it is said Å¿ Froisae 169. fol. 85â— that the Prince would not vouchsafe to speak with him or so much as to see his Face because of the Chastelain of Emposta and others of his Retinue who were found to stand against him in the Battle of Poictiers For he could not believe as yet but that the Cardinal sent them thither However when the Cardinal saw the Prince's Strangeness and understood the true Cause thereof he made use of the Mediation of the Lord of Chaumont the Lord of Monferrant and the Captal of Busche who were his Cousins protesting unto them in Verbo Sacerdotis that he was not consenting to that Action of his Men. And these Lords spake so much in the Cardinals Behalf and gave the Prince so many Reasons that at last he was content to hear what the Cardinal could say for himself And he having once gain'd that Point excused himself so discreetly that the Prince and his Council had no further Suspicion of him Whereupon he recover'd the Princes good Opinion and redeemed his Men at reasonable Ransoms For the Chastelain himself was set but at a Thousand g Frank 2â— Franks which makes an 100 l. Sterling which Summ he afterward paid From this time the Prince received the Holy Father with so much Sweetness and Humanity that he could not but highly commend him therefore in his Letters to the Pope wherein also he set forth the Princes Moderation which he shew'd toward the King of France Insomuch that his Holiness sent his Letters to the Prince wherein he exhorted him yet farther to shew Clemency to the Conquered and amidst his Triumphant Fortune to accommodate his Mind to Peace and to return Thanks to God Almighty As appears more largely from the Letters themselves the Tenour h Odo Raiâ—al all hanc ann §. 8. 9. ex Tâ—n 4. Epist Secret. p. 2â—1 c. whereof followeth INNOCENT the Bishop Servant of the Servants of God to Edward Prince of Wales Eldest Son of our most Dear Son in Christ the Illustrious King of England Greeting and Apostolical Benediction Althô O Son You may as we probably believe after the manner of the World glory in the Felicity of your Successes yet we hold undoubtedly that as one Devout toward God and derived of Parents devout also toward him You do with reverence refer the Glory of your Triumphs and the Honour of your Victories to God your Creator from whom is all Victory and all Triumph We hold that in them you consider the Effusion of human Blood We hold that you regard the Peril of Souls and that therefore you do so much the more humble your Self in the sight of your God by how much as a wise and prudent Person you may plainly perceive that for those you ought to return him Thanks for these to beg Pardon of him For althô the same God who bestows his Gifts as he pleases hath made you Glorious with the Titles of Victories and the Pomp of Triumphs yet he doth detest the Slaughter of his People nor would have the Rancor or Hate the Right or Wrong of Rulers to be compensated with the Destruction of faithfull and innocent Subjects Which we in serious Meditation weighing with out selves nothing doubt nay perhaps we are certain that You by how much you have received more prosperous things of the Hand of the Lord are so much the more prompt to Peace so much the more favourably enclin'd to Concord Especially since it is usual for Powerfull Men who follow Goodness that Prosperity doth rather stir them up dayly to Mercy that Success doth rather induce them perpetually to Gentleness For Goodness is never taken notice of in any One but onely when it is in his Power to be Cruel the Sweetness of Clemency is rarely known unless when it might deal severely Power therefore gives occasion to Clemency and a Cause also to Goodness This Occasion therefore and this Cause We require of You since you are able to express it and for a Peace to be by the Help of God reformed between our most Dear Son in Christ John the Illustrious King of France whom the Event of War hath brought into your Prison and your Self we confidently approach your Highness
found by the German Princes Of which Matter thus Rebdorf In the Month of November the said Emperour being invited by the Lords and Burgesses of France after the foresaid Battle of Poictiers came to the City of Metz where he demanded of the Inhabitants the Rights of the Empire and the Keys of the City And thither came from Pope Innocent the Cardinal of Perigort and the King of France's Son the Emperours Nephew who fled out of the said Battle with many Men of Arms and a great Number of Nobles both of Germany and France were there with him and tarried with him during the Festival of our Lords Nativity But of the Peace there made between Wenceslaus Duke of Brabant and Lewis Earl of Flanders and of the Laws promulged at this time by the Emperour we shall not say any thing those Matters being foreign to our Purpose The Curious Reader may refer himself for that to the m Rebdorf in Aâ—nal ad hunc annum Albert. Argentin in Chron. Lib. Priv. Rom. Eccl. Tom. 1. p. 401. Fat. etiam in Arce St. Angel. inter Collect. Platin. Tâ—m 3. p. 103 128. 156. apud Goldast in Collect Constit Imperial Tom. 1. in Carolo IV. vid. Odor Rainal ad hunc annum §. 12. 13. Authors quoted in the Margin On the * Fabian p. 285. Tenth of December certain Coins of less value than usual which the Duke of Normandy by Advice of his Council upon the account of his Necessities had caused to be made were proclaimed thrô Paris to be Currant Money whereat the Commons yet were further incensed So that two Days after Stephen Marcell Provost of the Merchants went to the Louvre there to speak with Prince Lewis Earl of Anjou whom the Duke of Normandy had left his Deputy-Regent upon his going to Metz to visit the Emperour his Uncle as we have seen Here the said Provost and the Rest with him desired the young Earl to stop the Course of those new Monies for otherwise the People would think themselves obliged to stop it themselves At last after a day or two's Delay and a long Contest the young Earl was fain to yield thus much to the Provost and the rest of those humble Petitioners as to stop the Money till the Dukes further Pleasure might be known for which Purpose Messengers were immediately posted away to learn the Dukes Resolution as to that Point And he thô for a while he stood firm to his first Resolution was in the end compelled to stop the Proceedings and to comply with the outragious importunities of the Rabble XIX And thus we shall end this Remarkable Year when we have subjoyned two short Observations which to Philologers may perhaps seem not useless It hath been an old Report that as Scipio Africanus that Noble Roman Commander was observed first to have brought Barbers into Rome so our Black-Prince is said n Stow p. 263. this time in Complaisance to the French Nation to have begun and authorised a Fashion which hath continued ever since of shaving the Beard and letting the Hair of the Head grow contrary to the Primitive use of the English Nation Thô I must acknowledge this Relation agrees not well with the ancient Pictures of Men of that Age And the learned Antiquary Esquire Ashmole some Years since described unto me a Medal which he supposed to have belonged to one of the Princes Great Horses whereon he was figured Praying in Armour save that his Helmet was off and having a considerable Grown Beard Nor is it altogether unworthy our Observation o Dugd. Warw. p. 672. ex Joh. Rous Hist M.S. de Reg. in Bibl. â—otton p. 253. that after this Taking of King John of France the Lords and Gentlemen of England began generally to leave off that ancient Usage of bearing their Effigies on Horseback in their Seals and set their own Arms only in the Reverse of their Seals on little Shields CHAPTER the SECOND The CONTENTS AN. DOM. 1357. An. Regni Angliae XXXI Franciae XVIII I. Prince Edward brings King John of France and the rest of his Prisoners taken at the Battle of Poictiers into England their Passage thrô London King Edward receives the Captive King with great Honour II. Henry Duke of Lancaster continues the Siege before Rennes the Cardinals obtain a Truce between the two Kings III. King David released of his Imprisonment returns into Scotland and settles Affairs IV. At King Edwards Command the Duke of Lancaster raises his Siege from before Rennes having just before taken the Town on Conditions V. Sr. Robert Knolles beats the Marshal of France in Normandy VI. The Lord of Granville takes the Castle of Eureux from the French by Stratagem VII The Rise of Sr. John Hawkwood and Sr. Robert Knolles VIII The Original of a sort of Free-Booters called the Companions in France IX The Insolence of the Parisians and their Provost towards the Dauphin X. King Charles of Navarre being got out of Prison foments the Disorders and grows Popular I. MOST part a Frois c. 173. f. 86. Mat. Vill. l. 7. c. 58. 66. Knighton p. 2615. n. 13. Walsingh Hyp. p. 124. Hist p. 164. Speed p. 582. Polyd. Virgil. l. 19. p. 381. c. of the preceding Winter the Victorious Edward Prince of Wales busied himself in Equipping a Navy to convey his Royal Prey and the rest of the French Prisoners safely into England During his intended Absence in the Parts of Aquitain he left behind him certain Valiant and Loyal Captains to defend the Country until his Return namely the Lord de la Bret alià s Albret the Lord of Mucidan the Lord de L'Esparre the Lord of Pamiers and the Lord of Rozan with certain Troops both English and Gascoigners And so on the b Lit. Dom. A. Pascha 9. April Pestum D. Georgii 23 April 24 of April being a Monday and the day after St. George in the Third Week after Easter he set Sail for England with certain Lords of Gascogne and most of his English Captains about him The French King was in a good Ship by himself lest he should conceive any Offence or Molestation but he was well guarded with no less than 200 Men of Arms and 2000 Archers who sailed close by him for the Prince had been informed how the Three Estates by whom France at that time was governed had laid ready in the Ports of Normandy and Crotoy two Great Navies to receive him upon his approach toward England and if they might to take away the King of France and rescue him But no such Matter appeared afterward thô the Prince was detain'd at Sea Eleven days On the Twelfth Day from his first Setting out viz. on the c Knighton in vigilia St. Joh. ante Pert. Lat. quod idem est Walsing id c. 5th of May he landed at Sandwich in Kent and not as some say at Plymouth in Devonshire where he tarried two Days to refresh
d Asomole's Gartor p. 697. ex Rot. 31 Ed. 3 m. 5. Dat. 18. Novemb. granted unto the Lord Thomas Holland Earl of Kent the Custody of the Fort and place of Cruyck in Normandy part of the Kings late Conquests with all the Revenues thereunto belonging to hold durante Bene placito And a Command was given to Sr. Donald Heselrige Sr. Lewis Clifford and Sr. Walter Mewes to deliver them up to him or his Lieutenant accordingly III. We have declared largely enough how King David of Scotland was taken Prisoner also at the Battle of Durham and ever since that he wanted his Liberty being e Knighton p. 2616. n. 13. at this time in the Tower of London But now upon the Conclusion of the foresaid Truce between England and France the Cardinals together with the f Non enim ad Archiep. erecta est haec sedes ante Sixtum IV. P P. qui id fecit Ano. 1471 Bishop of St. Andrews in Scotland began to enter into a serious Treaty with King Edward about the Delivery of King David from his Long Imprisonment Which Treaty was not a little further'd by the Prayers of Queen Joan of Scotland King Edwards Sister So that at last on the g Rot. Sect. 31. Ed. 3. m 2. Dâ—rso Vid. Ashmole's Garter p. 658. 3d of October there met at Barwick Commissioners on both sides namely John Thoresby Archbishop of York Thomas Hatfield Bishop of Durham Gilbert Welton Bishop of Caerlile the Lords Henry Piercy Ralph Nevill Henry Scroop and Thomas Musgrave on King Edwards part and William Bishop of St. Andrews Thomas Bishop of Cathnes Patrick Bishop of Brechin Chancellour of Scotland Patrick Earl of March Robert de Irskin and William Levington Knights Deputies of Robert Stuart Guardian of Scotland on the other Part Between whom these Articles were agreed on viz. Imprimis h Knighton p. 2617. n. 40. Du Chesne p. 680. That King David should never after bear Arms against the King of England within this Realm nor either Counsel or Abett any of his Subjects so to do 2. Item That King David upon his Return into Scotland should use his utmost Endeavour to persuade his Lords and Others to agree that the Crown of Scotland might be held in Fee and by Homage of the King of England But that if the Scots could not be brought to yield to that yet however King David should swear solemnly to observe the Peace with the King of England punctually and duly 3. Item That King David should oblige and bind himself and his Heirs and the whole Realm of Scotland to pay unto the King of England and his Heirs within i Thô we find 24000 Marks of the said Summ upon Arrears 27 Years after Vid. Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 277. ex Rot. Sect. 7. Pic. 2. m. 8. ten Years after the Sum of one hundred thousand Marks Sterling 4. Item That King David in the mean time deliver unto King Edward Twenty good and sufficient Pledges and Hostages for the Performance of these Covenants as namely the Lord John Eldest Son and Heir to the Lord Robert Stuart and Nephew to King David and together with him the Earls of Southerland Douglas Murray and Mar and Fife the Baron of Vescy Sr. William Cathanes and Twelve others All who were to abide in England as Prisoners and Hostages for the King their Lord till the said Summ be fully paid and acquitted 5. Item That a Decennial Truce in England Scotland and the Isle of Man be inviolably kept between the two Realms on pain of Forfeiture of Body and of Chattels and that after ten Years the Scots might be free to choose Peace or War as they should like best Of these Articles there were made Indentures and Publick Instruments sealed with the Seals of both the Kings and so King David after almost 11 Years Imprisonment had his Liberty and rode homeward with his Queen Joan Sister to King Edward who attended him like a loving Wife all the time of his Confinement and came to Barwick on the Feast of St. Michael where they were met by several of the Scotch Nobility who brought along with them one Moiety of the Summ agreed on for their Kings Ransom and the Hostages who were to remain in England till the Remainder should be paid And then according to the Fifth Article above-written the Decennial Truce between the Scots and English was solemnly Proclaimed For all along till now whatever Truce was taken between the two Nations there was none entirely observed but either by the Robberies of the Borderers on Land or the Piracies of private Men by Sea was continually interrupted by the Scots Thô King Edward many times was content in a private manner to correct these Disorders without infringing the Publick Peace Particularly this very Year even while the two Kings were labouring what in them lay for an Everlasting Concord k Knighton p. 2617. n. 30. three Scotch Pirates with no less than 300 chosen Men of Arms went cruising about the Coasts of England to trepan Merchants and such as they could get they slew and rifled doing that way much Mischief But about Michaelmas there arose an high and strong Wind which drove them and many English Vessels also as well of War as others all together into Yarmouth Haven where it pleased God the Scots were taken every Man and brought to a just account for all their Piracies 'T is said of this King David l Speeds Maâ—s Nottinghamshire c. 34. §. 6. fol. 65. that during his Captivity here in England being much part of the Time confined in Nottingham Castle he left behind him in a Vault under the Castle curiously engraven with his own Hands on the Walls which were of Rock the whole Story of the Passion of our Saviour For which one says that Castle became as famous as formerly it had been for Mortimers Hole But He being now acquitted of his Imprisonment like a just Prince sets himself seriously to perform the Articles of Agreement between him and his Brother-in-Law of England and first according to a private Promise made unto King Edward he rased and demolished the Castles of Dalswinton Dumfres Mortoun and Durisdere Then m Holinsh Chron. Scotl. p. 243. he called a Parliament where he enacted sundry Laws for the Punishment and Disgrace of those who had fled from the Battle of Durham as in a Parliament n Holinshead ibid. p. 240. preceding that Battle he had very liberally rewarded all such as had either been Notable for their Actions or Sufferings in his Service among whom says Hector Boethius his Ancestor Hugh Boece in Consideration of his Fathers Death on his Account in the Action at Duplin was made Inheritor of the Barony of Balbrid the King giving unto him in Marriage the Heiress of the said Barony But now on the Contrary he was as Severe in punishing the Cowardise or Disloyalty as he thought it of those who had deserted him in the
This pious and reasonable Request King Edward granted but as for the Tender of his Service in the Wars he said he hop'd to have no more occasion of making War in France there being now such a likelihood of a lasting Peace to be established between the two Nations But shortly after he heard a Walsing Hyp. p. 125. n. 10. Knâ—ghton p. 2618. n. 60. how the French indeed were willing to pay unto him 600000 Florens in Part of the Three Millions for the Redemption of their King but they refused to deliver him such Hostages as he demanded for his Security Which when he understood being extreamly incensed he sent word to the Estates of France that then they should look to themselves and be ready to receive him by the time wherein the Truce was to expire King David of Scotland tarried several Weeks with his Queen at London having his Lodgings prepared in the Gray-Fryers now called Christ-Church During his Stay there were many friendly Entercourses between him and the two Kings of England and France King Edward feasting and caressing them in Royal Manner for it was not till the next Year that King John was closely confin'd thô we have mention'd it before Particularly this Year he kept his Christmas with them both at London where he sat between the two Kings at one Table and not as some report between the two Captive Kings in Ostentation of his great Fortune for as it appears these two Kings were not Captives together in England during any one Christmas at all King John being brought Prisoner into England in May and King David being released the September following But King David as his Guest might now be reasonably expected to sit at his Table And King John as Davids Friend and Edwards Cousin to have so much Respect shewn unto him for that time at least Besides since Pride is so loathsome especially to them over whom she insulteth it is not to be imagin'd that these two Kings should ever after so entirely love and respect King Edward as they did had he entertain'd them with such supercilious Haughtiness at this time That Monarch's Soul was elevated to such a degree of Generosity that he absolutely reigned in the Hearts of these two Princes who came after they were at Liberty of their own Accord to visit him as a Friend as we shall shew in due Place XIV This b Sandfords Geneal hist p. 146. Walsingh hist p. 165. Stow's Chron. p. 264. Survey of London p 421. Knâ—ghton p. 2618. n. 54. Year the Lady Isabella the Queen Mother of England who was Daughter to Philip the Fair King of France and Sister to Lewis Hutin Philip the Long and Charles the Fair all successively Kings of France departed this Life in her great Climacterical or 63d Year after almost 28 Years Confinement because of her Concern in the Ruine of King Edward the II her Lord and Husband Her Punishment was easie and temper'd with Respect for all the while she had a liberal Allowance of 4000 l. per annum and freedom enough thô under the Eye of a Keeper and the King her Son did once a Year at least pay her a Visit and often shew'd her many notable Diversions and Princely Recreations Alan Buchet in his Annals of Aquitain and nom him c James Meyors Annal. Flandr l. 12. p. 152. James Meyor says that being big with Child by Mortimer she was presently put to Death by her Son Edward but the Notoriety of this Falshood appears not only from the concurrent Testimonies of all Authors and Records but especially from thus that besides many others at divers times we shall find Pope Innocent the IV to direct his Letters unto her bearing d Extant Tom. 4. Epist Secret. p. 158. vid. Odor Rainal ad ann 1356. §. 4. al as Date Avin XIV Kal. Julii An o Pontif. W. i.e. An o Dom. 1356. Wherefore let those Authors look to their Credit as well as they can 't is certain they wanted Care or Honesty but to return This Queen was married to King Edward the II in the 12 Year of her Age was his Wife 20 Years and his Widow about 31 being as was thought a Widow of her own making And yet truly I am persuaded partly from the Consideration of her long and happy Life after as well as from many other Circumstances apparent from the History that upon her first coming with Armed Force into England she had no design in the World against the King her Husband but only against the Spencers But that Mortimer and Others who were already obnoxious to the Law upon the account of Treason for their own Security drove her on so far by their Cunning that she was not able to retire And afterwards when the King was deposed they so terrified her with making her believe that if ever he recover'd his Crown he would certainly burn her that she complied with the Design for his Destruction However she proved occasionally almost Fatal to her Native Country of France her Birth affording that Title to King Edward which in those Days produced a War of above Fourscore Years Continuance wherein besides many thousand great Losses that Realm suffer'd three Memorable Defeats as at Cressy and Poictiers under King Edward and at Agencourt under King Henry the V. And even unto this Day the Kings of England are from her furnished with a just Pretence whenever they shall please to resume a Quarrel with that Kingdom She died at the Castle of Risings near London on the Wednesday before St. Bartholomew's Day being e Hoc ann G. Dom. Lit. the 22d of August An o Dom. MCCCLVIII having first lived to see her Son the most Glorious Prâ—nce of all Europe and the Right which she had convey'd unto him to be in a manner asserted by the Decision of God Himself in the Captivity of the French King by the Valour of her Grandson the Prince of Wales She was most honourably interred on the 27th of September following being a Thursday in the Midst of the Quire of the Gray-Friers now called Christ-Church in London under a magnificent Tomb of Alabaster The Church not being yet dedicated Queen Joan also of Scotland sirnamed Joan of the Tower Sister to King Edward of England and Daughter to Queen Isabel aforesaid deceased toward the end of this Year without Issue But that it is better to leave an Honourable Report than Children behind And certainly if King David her Husband had never been oppressed with Adversity she might have been accounted happy but then she had never been extolled with that Commendation which her Vertue and Conjugal Affection doth claim from all Posterity For f Holinsh Scotl. p. 244. during the seven Years Exile which King David had formerly led in France when he was expelled his own Kingdom by the English Forces she would by no means forsake Him oâ— his Fortune but faithfully and constantly adhered to him both then and
to this Point may refer themselves to the Authors quoted in the Margin of this latter part of the Chapter CHAPTER the FOURTH The CONTENTS I. AN. DOM. 1359. An. Regni Franciae XX. Angliae XXXIII A Method of Agreement pitch'd upon by the two Kings but rejected by the French Parliament whereupon King Edward resolves for War. II. St. Valery yielded up to the French. Prince Philip coming too late to its Rescue hardly gets off well III. Sr. Peter Audley attempts Chalons but gains little IV. The Earl of Roucy taken by the Navarrois a second time V. Melun besieged but the Quarrel is ended by the Reconciliation of the King of Navarre and the Regent VI. The Lord Eustace Dambreticourt taken Prisoner by the French. VII A strange Judgment upon a 〈◊〉 for Sacrilege VIII The Garrisons of the Navarrois decline suddenly IX Vpon the Death of Sr. Peter Audley Sr. Eustace Dambreticourt is redeemed by the English Navarrois and made their Captain X. Sr. Robert Knolles his Expedition he retires being overmatched Submits to the King and obtains his Pardon XI The Flemings revolt from King Edward XII A solemn Just held by King Edward his Four 〈◊〉 and Nineteen Great Lords in the name and stead of the Lord Mayor and Aldâ—râ—â—â— of London XIII John of Gaunt marries the Duke of Lancasters Daughter XIV King Edward chooses the place of his Sepulture in Westminster Abbey I. NOW on the Feast of St. John Baptist or the 24th of June the Truce between England and France which from the Battle of Poictiers had been continued till then with expectation that a full Peace should be established thereby was wholly a Frois c. 2â—1 f. 107. â— expired And thereupon all the Garrisons in France as well Navarrois as English began to make War in the Title of King Edward as before most of them had done in the Title of the King of Navarre who was now again outwardly reconciled to the Dauphin But least any way should be left untir'd for the prevention of those Miseries which are necessarily attendant upon War. Some Months before the Expiration of the said Truce King b 〈◊〉 f. ibid. Dâ— Chesne p. 681. D. 〈…〉 lyd 〈…〉 19 p. 3â—3 Edward with his Son the Black-Prince and King John with the Lord James of Bourbon held a friendly Treaty at London between themselves only Where at last a Peace was consented to and agreed on between both the Parties on these Conditions viz. 1. That Aquitain should remain entirely to King Edward and his Heirs for ever together with Gascogne Poictou Touraine Santogne Perigort Quercy Limosin Angoulesmois Calais Guisnes Boulonois and the Earldom of Ponthieu without any Resort or Homage or Tribute to be paid therefore even as Absolutely as he held his Kingdom of England 2. Item That King John should pay four Millions of Crowns of Gold for the Ransom of Himself and the other French Lords Prisoners that is to say three Millions for Himself and the Fourth for the Lords of France In Consideration of all which King Edward would give over and wholly remit all his Right in and to the Dutchy of Normandy Anjou and Maine and renounce and lay aside the Right which he had to that Crown and never after take upon him the Stile Quality or Title of King of France This Agreement was Signed and Sealed by both the Kings on the 24 of March and a Copy thereof sent into France to the Duke of Normandy by the Lord James of Bourbon and the Lord Arnold D'Endreghan which latter was still a Prisoner and lately before returned into England having obtained leave to visit France upon Parole These Lords crossing the Seas landed at Boulogne whence they rode to Paris where they found the Duke of Normandy and his Council together with the King of Navarre unto whom they produced King Johns Letters The Regent having perused them asked Counsel of the King of Navarre who remitted him to the Three Estates who being assembled it seem'd unto them that the Conditions of the Agreement were too grievous to be born whereupon with one Voice the King of Navarre and the Dauphin also concurring they returned this final Answer unto the two Lords That the Contents of the Letters which they had brought were so prejudicial to them and to their Country that they had much rather endure far greater misery than they had already done than ever suffer so considerable a loss and empairment of the Realm of France and that they could not either in Honour or Conscience desire the Liberty of their King himself when it could not be effected without Enslaving the Kingdom When this Answer was brought to King John into England he shook his Head for Anger and said Ah! Son Charles Son Charles You are lead by the King of Navarre who is too cunning for you and will deceive Fourty such as you are And therewithall turning to King Edward who was present he said Sir the fatal Obstinacy of my infatuated People is providing another Trophy for your Victorious Arms You must again shew them the Effects of War before they will understand the Advantages of Peace But thrice-unhappy I who cannot be at Liberty till I see my Subjects once more vanquished nor can oblige them to their Duty but by the Arms of my Conquerour King Edward was of himself sufficiently enraged at this Dealing of the French and sware that when the Truce was expired They should see War in the Bloodiest shape that he could dress it in Surely said he before next Winter be past over I shall invade the Realm of France with such a Power and shall tarry there so long that I will either end the War to my Satisfaction or make Peace to my Pleasure and Honour And then he sent Word to the Dauphin to look to Himself for when the Truce was out he would most certainly give him a Visit at Paris to see how able he was for a War which himself had thus pull'd upon his own Head. At which time he set about the greatest Preparations that ever he had made before in all his Life About which we shall now leave him for a while and resume somewhat of those Matters which we left unfinished in the preceding Year II. We then shew'd as we remember how the c Frois 〈◊〉 1â—â— f. 1â—4 Constable of France and the Earl of St. Paul with the Lords and Knights of Picardy Artois Ponthieu and Boulonois had sat down before St. Valery where they held a long and hard Siege and made many brisk Assaults employing at the same time Engines of Battery and other Instruments of War. Among other Chances that fell during this Siege it happen'd that the Lord of Baugency approaching the Castle one day in a Vessel to consider of its Strength that way was stricken with a Springal and slain Wherefore this Siege continued from the beginning of August 1358 untill March this Year the besiegers designing to reduce the Place by
graciously of the Prince just upon their taking leave they declared also unto him their great necessity to which their long stay in those parts had reduced them Desiring that his Highness would please to consider their Condition And he promised to do them what kindness he could Whereupon they all rode on to Calais-ward and the Prince marched after his Father Within two days the King sent three Knights to the Strangers then at Calais with this Message That he had not brought with him Treasure enough to fulfill their Desires and to answer his own Designs too But if they would bear him Company and partake with him in what should happen at a venture then if good Fortune should fall they should have their proportion on condition they demanded no Wages nor Reparation for any loss or damage For said the Messengers you know your selves that more than Three Parts in Four of you came hither of your own heads only and the King our Master hath brought with him enough of his own Subjects to serve for this Expedition This answer was not over-pleasing to the Strangers who had taken much pains and spent their Money and some had engag'd to leave their Horse and Arms for satisfaction in their Quarters But more than this they could not now obtain of the King except that he sent them indeed as much Money as might suffice to carry them home into their own Countries Yet for all this some of those Lords went again to the King to serve him on his Conditions for they thought it dishonourable to turn home again after such Preparations without doing any thing III. Thus King Edward marched forward with this great Army consisting of above an 120000 Men in all his Constable Roger Lord Mortimer Earl of March the second of that Name riding on before him with 500 Men of Arms and 2000 tall Archers Then followed the King with 3000 Men of Arms and 5000 Archers on Horseback besides Welchmen and others on Foot after him were 500 lusty Pioneers with Mattocks and Pick-axes to level the ways and make them fit for the Carriages Then came all the Carriages consisting of n Frois c. 2â—â— Holâ—â—h p. 965. 6000 Chariots Carts and Waggons every Cart having to it at least Four good Horses brought out of England to carry Provision for the Army and many other usefull things some such as had been seldom seen before in any Camp such as Hand-mills to grind their Corn Moveable Ovens and Forges the one to bake their Victuals and the other to make shoes for Horses and the like After all the Carriages came the Prince of Wales with his Three Brethren and their several Retinues of whom were 2000 Spears and 4000 Archers on Horseback besides the Infantry Bill-men and Bow-men all ready ranged for Fight But they marched not above Four Leagues a day because of their Footmen and Carriages In this manner it was that they were met by the Duke of Lancaster and the Lords Strangers in a fair Plain between Calais and the Abbey of Liques and immediately as I said joyn'd by the Duke and those Germans and other Strangers whom the King of England had retain'd And here I shall take leave to present unto the Reader the Names of the most eminent Leaders in this Army than which a Fairer never passed the Sea out of England either before or since that time as well such as came over with the King as those who went with the Duke of Lancaster before him First the most Magnificent and Invincible Monarch EDWARD the Third King of England and France and Lord of Ireland Then his Four Sons Edward of Woodstock Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester Sirnamed the BLACK-PRINCE Lionel of Antwerp Earl of Vlster and afterwards Duke of Clarence John of Gaunt Earl of Richmond and Edmund of Langley afterwards Earl of Cambridge and Duke of York these were the Kings Four Sons the Fifth being a Child was left in England There was also Henry Plantagenet Duke of Lancaster the Kings Cousin-German Roger Lord Morttmer Earl of March Constable of England Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick and Robert Hufford Earl of Suffolk Marshals of the Host Ralph Stafford Earl of Stafford William Montagu Earl of Salisbury and King of Man Humphry Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex and William Bohun his Brother Earl of Northampton and John Vere Earl of Oxford o Dugd. 1. Vol. p. 193. vid. â—and ad 〈…〉 fro Barenrgio who indeed went not over with the King by reason he had not made his Will but that being done he followed him soon after Besides these Princes Dukes and Earls there were these Lords that follow Dr. John Synwell Bishop of Lincoln and Dr. Thomas Hatfield Bishop of Durham the Lord Henry Piercy and his Eldest Son Sr. Henry who was afterwards the first Earl of Northumberland of that Name the Lord Ralph Nevill of Raby the Lord Edward Spencer Nephew to the late Lord Hugh le Despencer the Grandchild a most Noble and Warlike young Gentleman the Lord John Chandos the Lord Walter Manny the Lord Reginald Cobham the Lord John Grey of Codonore the Lord John Moubray the Lord Roger de la Ware the Lord Thomas Felton the Lord John Willoughby the Lord James Audley the Lord Ralph Basset of Drayton the Lord John Charleton the Kings Chamberlain the Lord Bartholomew Burwash the Lord John Fitz-Walter the Lord Edmund Pierpoint the Lord John Botetourt St. Richard Pemburge Sr. Nele Loring Sr. Stephen Cossington Sr. Hugh Hastings Sr. William p Dugd. Warw. p. 538. Trussel and many others too Long to Name besides the Lords and Gentlemen Strangers among whom were Sr. Henry Eam of Flanders with 200 Spears in his Retinue Sr. Frank van Hall with as many more Sr. Reginald Boulant with 60 Spears besides 500 Germans under the Marquess of Nuys and others whose Names I had rather omit than set them down as I find them unorthographically The Army rode thrô Artois passing by the City of Arras and took the same way which the Duke of Lancaster had gone before But they found nothing to live on in the plain Country for what had been left undestroy'd was gather'd into strong Towns. Tho besides the Continual Depredations made about in the Country by the Men of War the Earth had lain in a manner untill'd for three Years together So that if Oats and Wheat had not been brought out of Hainalt and Cambresis to supply those parts the People of Artois Vermandois Laonnois and Rhemois had died for Hunger Nor was King Edward ignorant of all this before he came out of England wherefore he made such wonderfull Provision of all things necessary except only of Oats Hay and Straw for which he made as good shift as he could But that which made the want of Litter more grievous was that soon after his coming the Weather was very Rainy and the Ways began to be deep which prov'd a great trouble both
Knighton ibid. Du Chesne p. 682. Guil. Paradin Annal. de Bourgogne l. 2. p. 345. seven Weeks all which time he never offer'd to attack the Place For he knew well it would have been either wholly in vain or very expensive of his Subjects Blood. But by this time being wearied out with this tedious way especially because Forage was so difficult to be got that his Men began to lose their Horses and to want Victuals themselves he resolved now to rise from before the Place and marched forth in good Order the way that leadeth to Châlons in Champagne which passing by he proceeded toward Troyes and encamped about Mery sur Seyne all his Host covering the Face of the Country for above 8 Leagues together While the King lay here the Constable went with the Vantguard to attempt St. Florentin where Sr. Edward Renty was Captain but after a great Assault made in vain he gave it over About which time the King came up to him and departed thence to Tonnerre in Burgundy which City he took by Assault but the Castle he could not win For the Lord Moreau de Fiennes Constable of France and Sr. Baldwin Danequin Master of the Crossbows were there in Garrison with a great Number of chosen Men. But because the King found here 3000 Vessels of Wine he was pleased to tarry there five whole Days to refresh his Army in which time thô he gave many Assaults to the Castle he was yet never the nearer Thence passing over the River Armancon he refused the way on the Right Hand and went a little declining to the Left to Noyers which he took without any Assault for their Lord and Captain was still a Prisoner in England ever since the Battle of Poictiers Thence n Frois Holinsh Ashmole p. 660. c. he marched to Mont-Real and so to Avallon on the River Cousson where he tarried from Ashwednesday to Midlent because of the great Opportunity he found thereabout of receiving Supplies of Provision for his Army from a valiant English Esquire named John Argentine who bore for his Arms Azure an Escutcheon of Pretence Argent This Man had won the Town of Flavigny not far thence wherein he found sufficient Provision of all Sorts to serve the whole Army for a Month and accordingly he constantly supplied the King therewith Besides which his Marshals and Van-currours overran the Country wasting and ravaging all about and they also brought in much prey daily During the Kings stay here namely on the 26 of February o Lit. Dom. ED. Pascha 5 April being the Thursday in Quadragesima there departed this Life at the Town of Rouvray on the Coussin near Avallon in Burgundy the Noble and Valiant Young Lord Roger Mortimer Earl of March and Constable of the English Army leaving behind him one onely Son named Edmund then about nine Years of Age Upon whose Death we find p Rot. Franc. 34. Ed. 3. m. 45. vid. Ashmole's Garter p. 695. p. 692. that the King made the Lord John Beauchamp Brother to the Earl of Warwick Constable of the Army as also of Dover-Castle and of the Cinque-Ports the Letters Patents bearing Date apud Avallon in Burgundiâ Primo Martiâ— IV. Now the q Frois c. 210. f. 103. b. King and his Chief Lords had with them in this Expedition as we said before besides the usual Carriages Hand-Mills to grind their Corn Ovens to bake Bread Meat or Pasties Spits and Cauldrons to roast or boil and Forges to make Shoes for their Horses And over and above all this there were brought in Carts a sort of little Boats made artificially of Leather every one being able to hold Four Men to row on Ponds or in Rivers and to fish in them at their Pleasure Which Device proved both pleasant and very convenient to the Lords of England during the season of Lent. The King had also for his Diversion thirty Faulconers on Horseback with Hawks and sixty Couple of Hounds and as many Grey-hounds besides those Hawks and Hounds which his Sons and the Chief of the Nobility had wherewith they hunted and hawked by the River at their Pleasure And during all this Expedition from the time they left Calais till their coming to Chartres where the famous Treaty for Peace was set on foot the whole Army was divided into three Great Battalia's every Battalia subdivided into three Bodies each whereof lodged a-nights well-nigh a League from each other The Duke r Knighton p. 2623. n. 50. Matt. Villani l. 9. c. 85. p. 559. c. of Lancaster and the Earls of Northampton and Salisbury were in the first Great Battail the King Himself in the Second and the Black-Prince with his Three Brethren in the Last V. While King Edward lay thus at Avallon Å¿ Frois ibid. Paradin Annales de Bourgogne l. 2. p. 346. Mezer. Holinsh p. 965. Fabian p. 238. Speed Matt. Villani l. 9. c. 82. 84. p. 557. c. Philip the young Duke of Burgundy by Advice and at the Request of all the Country sent unto him in order to a Treaty Sr. Anselme de Saulieu Chancellour of Burgundy Sr. John de Vienne who had defended Calais so worthily against King Edward and Sr. Hugh de Vienne his Brother Sr. John Derie Sr. William de Thoraise and Sr. John de Mont-martin These Lords found King Edward in so good an Humour that they presently obtained this Composition That the King of England giving Security for Himself and all his Subjects not to ravage rob or commit any Hostilities within the Territories of Burgundy for the space of three Years then following in Lieu whereof the Duke should pay unto the King in ready Money the Summ of t De hac Summà variant Autheres Knighton Da Chesne Froi 200000 Motons Mat. Villani 100000 Motons Paradin 200000 Florens Walsingh M. S. vet Angan Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. 70000 Florens Paul. Aâ—â—yl 100000 numm 〈◊〉 â—elyd 〈…〉 non 〈…〉 sed 〈…〉 Speed. altiâ—ae meâ—â—â— sentiunt 200000 Florens of Gold which amounts to 35000 l. Sterling Besides which the Burgundians were to administer to the King and his People whatever Provision of Victuals or other things they wanted for their Money Some suppose n Matt. Villani l. 9 c. 82. 84. p. 557. 558. that the Burgundians having little Love at this time for the House of France and verily believing that King Edward would attain the Crown of that Realm entred a Secret Alliance with him on Condition that then the Duke of Burgundy should be the First Peer of France However when this Agreement between the King and the Duke was sealed and engrossed and mutual Security given the King of England decamped from before Avallon intending directly for Paris and so he passed the River of Yonne at Coulogne beside Vezelay and the Army spread along by the River almost to Clamecy at the Entry of Nivernois Which x Mezeray ad hinâ— ann
Easter-Day Whereas Easter-Day that Year tell on the 5 of April and on the 1â— of April which was the Monday after Faster K. Edward left Paris Thô Mr. Ashmole thrô haste pastâ—r over this Fault of Stows Day being very dark and misty together with a great quantity of Hail there happen'd so bitter a Cold that several Men died as they sat on their Horses wherefore unto this time says my Author that Day is called the Black-Monday But this no doubt is a mistaken Relation of that horrible Storm and Cold which the King met withall afterwards as we shall shew in due Place These Actions being over the Lord Walter Manny returned to the Army which tarried still in those Fields all that Day and the Night following But the next Morning being a Monday and the 13 of April seeing no Provocations could bring the Dauphin to a Battle and that it was morally impossible to force otherwise than by Famine so great a City which was not only now well fortified but l Fabâ—an p. 239. ex Chron. â—â—anc furnished with great plenty of Souldiers besides the vast Numbers of Inhabitants the King therefore resolved to rise from thence till a more favourable season and the mean while to go forth with Fire and Sword through Beauce and le Maine till he came into Bretagne where having refreshed his Army he intended to return to the Siege of Paris in July or August at the furthest and so to famish them by a long Siege For as we shew'd before He had made a Vow never to return into England till he had brought France to his Terms either by Fair means or by Force Accordingly on the Monday after Easter m Frois c. 211. fol. 1â—4 he raised his Camp and began to march towards Mont-lehery VII The mean while certain Knights of England and of Gascogne having found a convenient place determin'd with themselves to lie in Ambush For they expected that among so many Valiant Lords and Gentlemen then in Paris some of them would not fail to follow the Army thô only to cut off straglers and such as lag'd behind Accordingly by the Kings Order the Ambush was laid in an empty old house about 3 Leagues from Paris consisting of 200 chosen Men of Arms English and Gascogners under these Captains the Lord Nevill the Lord Moubray Sr. Richard Pontchardon the Captal de Busche Sr. Edmund de Pamiers and the Lord of Courton the Three first of England and the other of Gascogne Now when the Frenchmen within Paris had seen the Decamping of the English Army it was thus discoursed among certain young Knights and Gentlemen there Surely it would be well worth our while to make a sally as secretly as we may and to follow the English Army at a distance for it s more than probable we may happen to win some notable Advantage Hereupon the Design was embrac'd by the Lord Ralph de Coucy Sr. Ralph de Ravenal the Lord of Monsault the Lord of Helay the Chastelan of Beauvais the Begue of Vilaine the Lord of Beaujeu the Lord Flamone du Roye Sr. Peter of Savoy and others to the Number of an n Vid. Frois c. 211. fol. 104. l. â—or 22. 150 Spears in their Company They fallied out in good order all very well Horsed taking the way of Bourg la Reine till they had passed beyond the English Ambush With that the Ambush brake forth from behind them and follow'd after them crying St. George England The Frenchmen look'd back in great surprize to be so taken tardy but when they saw there was no flinching they stood their ground with a ready Courage setting themselves in the best Order to receive them on the points of their Spears The Rencountre was very rough and many on both sides were reversed on the Earth for they were all well Horsed Such as could mounted again and after this brunt with Spears they drew their Swords and fell in among one another giving and receiving several rude stroaks so that the Action deserved more Spectators For many Noble Deeds of Arms were performed at this time and the Battle lasted for a while doubtfull On the English part the Captal of Busche is said to have approved himself most eminently that day as also on the French side the Lord of Ravenal fought like a truly Valiant Knight for he gave many gallant proofs of his Skill and Courage under his own Banner till his Standard-Bearer being slain he himself was taken Prisoner For now the English and Gascogners prevail'd so that the Victory was clearly theirs Thô indeed they exceeded the French in Number about one Fourth Part. The other seeing the Scales turn against them fled away directly toward Paris thô continually they were fain to face about and fight as they fled they were so closely pursu'd And if the English had not doubted a Rescue from Paris now that their Horses began to be weary every Man of them had been either taken or slain But upon that account they were content to follow the Chace no farther than Bourg la Reine where they took Nine Knights and Esquires more and having by this Success a little secur'd the Reer of the Army from the French Pursuers they return'd with what they had got to Mont-lehery where the King lay that Night and then very courteously set their Prisoners to their Ransom permitting them to go that same Night whither they pleased only engaging their Faith to pay them by such a time at the utmost On the English part o Dadg Bar. 2 Vol. p. 16. ad an 34. Ed. 3. m. 12. ex Aâ—tâ—gr penes Cler. Pâ—il we find about this time that the Lord Roger de la Warre was taken Prisoner by Monsieur John Haubert but that it was in this Action I have no warrant to affirm Thô this was the very last that we hear of till the Gates of Janus were shut in that Kingdom Now King Edward's p Frois c. 211. c. Design as we have already intimated was to march for the present into Beauce and so keeping along by the River of Loire to go into Bretagne q Pâ—l Virgâ— 19. p. 383 n. 4â— to the end he might subdue it wholly on the behalf of the young Earl of Montford his Son in Law for him to hold it of the Crown of England and the mean while to refresh his Army for now that Country had enjoy'd a long respite from the Wars Which done he thought to return about August at the time of Vintage and lay a formal Siege to Paris because of the Oath which he had made before his Departure out of England namely that he would never return alive till he had reduced France to terms agreeable to his Honour VIII And over and above the great Army he led along with him r Frois c. 211. fol. 104. he had sundry Garrisons in Champaigne and Brie in Picardy Normandy and almost over all the Realm of France besides
rendred to the King of England and his Heirs And the two Kings shall convey resign and leave the one to the other for ever all the Right that each of them hath or may have in all those things which by this Present Treaty ought to remain or to be rendred to each of them And the two Kings shall confer and appoint together at Calais concerning the Time and Place where and when the said Renuntiations shall be made 13. Item To the end that this Present Treaty may be the more briefly accomplished it is agreed that the King of England shall cause the King of France to be convey'd to Calais within three Weeks after the Nativity of St. John Baptist next coming all just Impediment ceasing at the expence of the King of England excepting the Charges of the Houshold of the King of France 14. Item It is agreed that the King of France shall pay to the King of England Three Millions of Crowns of Gold two whereof countervail a Noble of the Money of England and there shall be paid to the said King of England or his Deputies six Hundred Thousand Crowns at Calais within Four Months to be counted after the King of France shall arrive at Calais And within a Year thence next following shall be paid Four Hundred Thousand Crowns such as aforesaid at the City of London in England and from thence every Year next following there shall always be paid Four Hundred Thousand Crowns more such as aforesaid in the said City till the whole Three Millions shall be fully paid 15. Item It is agreed that at the Payment of the said six Hundred Thousand Crowns at Calais and on the Delivery of the Hostages here under-named to the King of England within Four Months accounting after that the King of France shall come to Calais as is said with the Town Castle and Fortresses of Rochelle and the Castles Fortresses and Towns of the Earldom of Guisnes and all their appurtenances and Dependencies the Person of the said King shall be wholly acquitted from Prison and come into his own Power without any Impeachment but he shall not arm himself nor his People against the King of England till the time that he shall have accomplished what he is obliged unto by this present Treaty And the Hostages as well Prisoners taken at the Battle of Poictiers as others who remain for the King of France are as followeth That is to say Monsieur Lewis Earl of Anjou Monsieur John Earl of Poictiers Sons to the King of France the Duke of Orleans Brother to the said King the Duke of Bourbon the Earl of Blois and Lewis his Brother the Earl of Alenson and Monsieur Peter of Alenson his Brother the Earl of St. Paul the Earl of Harcourt the Earl of Porcien the Earl of Valentinois the Earl of Brayne the Earl of Vaudemont the Earl of Forest the Vicount of Beaumont the Lord of Coucy the Lord of Garencieres the Dauphin of Auvergne the Lord of Hangest the Lord of Monmorency Monsieur William de Craon Monsieur Lewis of Harcourt and Monsieur John de Ligny And as for the Names of the Prisoners taken at the Battle of Poictiers they are these Philip of France the Earl of Eu the Earl of Longeville the Earl of Ponthieu the Earl of Tancarville the Earl of r Ità Corrigo Ligny apud Du Chesne authoritate M. SS Anglici Doctoris Spencer quod legit Oigny Latini Doctoris Stillingfleet quod legit expressè Joigny Praeter quodillius nomen inter Captivos apparet uti probâsse meminimus Joigny the Earl of Sancerre the Earl of Dammartin the Earl of Ventadour the Earl of Salebruche the Earl of Auxerre the Earl of Vendosme the Lord of Craon the Lord of Derual the Marshal D'Endreghan and the Lord of Aubigny 16. Item It is agreed that the said Sixteen Prisoners who are to remain Hostages for the King of France as is said shall by this means be discharged of their Imprisonment without paying any Ransom for the time past in case they have not already agreed on some certain Ransom by Covenant made before the Third day of May last past And if any of them be out of England and shall not render himself as an Hostage at Calais within the First Month after the said three Weeks following the Feast of St. John all just Impediment ceasing he shall not at all be discharged his Prison but shall be Constrained by the King of France to return into England as Prisoner or to pay the Penalty promised by him ſ Du Chesne incurred by his Default in not returning if he did not return 17. Item It is agreed that in lieu of the said Hostages which shall not come to Calais or which shall die or depart out of the Power of the King of England without leave the King of France is obliged to send others of a like Estate with them as near as may be within three Months next after that the Bailiff of Amiens or the Mayor of St. Omers shall be certify'd hereof by Letters of the said King of England 18. And the t Du Chesne hunc articulum pracedenti adjungit Nos sequimur M. SS suprâ citata King of France at his Departure from Calais may take in his Company Ten of the Hostages such as the two Kings shall agree upon And it shall suffice that of the foresaid Number of u This shews that in the XV Article where in all the Copies French English and Latine 't is read Charles of Blois or his Brother and the Earl of Alenson or Monsiceur Peter of Alensen his Brother in both places it should be and for or as I have corrected it or else the Number of the Hostages amounts but to 38 and not to 40 as it is here expresly said Fourty there shall remain the full Number of Thirty 19 Item It is agreed that the King of France within Three Months after he shall be gone from Calais shall send unto Calais for Hostages Four Persons of the Town of Paris and Two Persons of every other of the Towns whose Names follow that is to say of St. Omers Arras Amiens Beauvais Lille Douay Tournay Rheims Châlons Troyes Chartres Tholouse Lyon Orleans Compiegne Rouën Caën Tours and Bourges and that they shall be the most sufficient of the said Towns for the accomplishment of this present Treaty 20. Item It is agreed that the King of France shall be brought from England to Calais and shall stay at Calais Four Months after his coming but he shall not pay any thing the First Month because of his Keeping But for every other Month following that he shall stay at Calais thrô default of himself or of his Subjects he shall pay for his Keeping six Thousand Ryals such as are current at this present in France before his Departure from Calais and so proportionably for the time he shall stay there 21. Item It is agreed that as soon as may
who shall rebell or will not accord to the Premises the said Kings shall use all their said Power of Body Goods and Counsel to reduce the said Rebels to true Obedience according to the Form and Tenor of the said Treaty And moreover the said Kings shall submit themselves their Heirs and Realms to the Correction of our Holy Father the Pope that he may constrain by Sentences and Censures of the Church and other due ways Him who shall rebell according as Reason shall require And among the Confirmations and Securities aforesaid the said Kings and their Heirs shall renounce by Faith and by Oath all War and all Proceedure of Fact And if thrô the Disobedience Rebellion or Power of any Subjects of the Realm of France or any just Cause the King of France or his Heirs or any of them shall not be able to accomplish all the Premises the King of England and his Heirs or any of them shall not nor ought not to make War against the said King of France nor his Heirs nor his Realm but both together shall endeavour to bring the Rebels to true Obedience and to accomplish the Premises And if any of the Realm or Obeisance of the King of England will not restore the Castles Towns or Forts which they hold in the Realm of France and obey the Treaty aforesaid or for just cause cannot accomplish that which He ought to do by this present Treaty neither the King of France nor his Heirs nor any for them shall make any War upon the King of England or his Realm but both together shall put to their Power to recover the Castles Forts and Towns aforesaid and to be a Means that all Obedience and Accomplishment may be done to the foresaid Treaties And there shall also be done and given of the one Party and of the Other according to the Nature of the Fact all manner of Confirmations and Securities that they can think on or devise as well by the Pope and the College of the Court of Rome as otherwise perpetually to hold and preserve the Peace and all other Matters here-above recorded 38. Item It is agreed by the present Treaty and Accord that all other Accords Treaties or Conferences if any have been made or debated in time past shall be null and of no Force and altogether made void neither may the Parties at any time relieve themselves nor make any Complaint the one against the other on occasion of the said Treaties or Accords if any such hath been as is said 39. Item That this present Treaty shall be approved sworn and confirmed by the two Kings at Calais when they shall be there in Proper Person And after that the King of France shall be gone from Calais and shall be within his own Power the said King of France within one Month next following his said Departure shall make Letters Patents Confirmatory of the same and such others as shall seem necessary and shall send and deliver them at Calais to the said King of England or his Deputies in the said Place And also the said King of England when he receives the said Letters Confirmatory shall deliver back his Letters Confirmatory like unto them to the King of France 40. Item It is agreed that neither of the Kings shall procure or cause to be procured by Himself or Others that any Innovations or Grievances he done by the Church of Rome or others of Holy Church whosoever they be against this present Treaty upon either of the said Kings their Coadjutors Adherents or Allies whatsoever nor upon their Lands or Subjects by occasion of War nor for other Cause nor for Services which the said Coadjutors Adherents or Allies have done to the said Kings or any of them And if our said Holy Father the Pope or any other would do so the two said Kings shall hinder it to their Power sincerely without fraud 41. Item Concerning the Hostages which shall be deliver'd to the King of England at Calais and concerning the Manner and Time of their Departure the two Kings shall determin at Calais XI These Articles being thus agreed on first by the Commissioners of King Edward and of the Regent of France were also after that allowed by both the Principals thô the Regent is said to have yielded thereto in a manner by Force and Constraint because he saw the Realm was no longer able to subsist amidst those Desolations and Ruines which the War brought However sending back the Testimony of his Hand and Seal that he had consented thereto in order to the full Completion of this Treaty a Truce was taken to continue between the two Kings their Adherents and Confederates from that time to the Feast of St. Michael then next following and from thence on for a Year that so all Matters in order to a firm and perpetual Peace might be duely and rightly devised and established The mean while till King John might be at Liberty only the two Eldest Sons of the Kings were solemnly sworn to uphold and maintain this Agreement aâ—d first the Prince of Wales ordained on his Part y Tillet has six and Fab. Four Barons of England that is to say the Lord Ralph Stafford Earl of Stafford the Lord Reginald Cobham the Lord Guy Brian and the Lord Roger Beauchamp of Bletso who were received into Paris as Messengers from Heaven all the Bells ringing and the People thronging the streets as to see a Triumph all the Street where they passed z Du Chesne p. 692. C. being spread and tapistred if we may believe it with Cloth of Gold. They went straight to the Palace where the Regent his Brethren and their Uncle with many Lords and Prelates received them honourably Du Chesne says that here in the Great Hall in presence of all the People the English Lords made their Oath and sware in the Name of the King their Master and of his Sons upon the Holy Eucharist and upon the Holy Evangelists to accomplish and hold the said Articles From the Hall they were conducted to a Magnificent Feast and from thence to the Chappel where the Regent shewed them many Jewels and Relicts and presented them with one Great Thorn which was believed to have belonged to the Crown of our Saviour After this they return'd and the Regent on his Part deputed Four Nobles of France who went immediately after to Louviers in Normandy where at that time the Prince of Wales was and there made for him the same Oath in Presence of the said Prince But it is my Opinion that these Lords on each Side went rather to take the Oath first of the Dauphin and then of the Black-Prince as most other Writers affirm the manner whereof a Walsingh hist p. 167. Hypod. p. 127. vid. Odor Rainal ad hunc annum §. 1. Fabian p. 241. c. Walsingham thus describes That at Paris in the time of Low Mass when they had thrice sang O Lamb of God which takest away the
Pope and the Emperour And moreover they made a solemn Renuntiation to all Wars against each Other their Heirs and Successors Realms and Subjects to both which League and Renuntiation their Eldest and other Sons signed and divers of the Nobility on both Sides were sworn And then also a Proclamation issued forth from King Edward to Thomas Holland Earl of Kent and to all other Captains of Towns Castles Forts c. held for the King in France for them to give Notice to all Places within their Command of this Peace and final Accord thus made between the two Kings After h Frois c. 213. all these Articles Letters and Commissions were made devised finished and deliver'd by the Advice and Consent of the Councils of England and France so that as to that Point both the Kings were well contented then they fell into a close Communication concerning the Lord Charles of Blois and the Lord John of Montford and their several Claims to the Dutchy of Bretagne for each pretended the whole and sole Right to that Heritage Some have been so bold in venting their Opinions as to say that King Edward and his Council were not over-warm in this Matter and surely in meer Policy he might well enough be supposed something cool For if now the Wars of Bretagne should be shut too there had been no Vent left for those many boistrous Troops which as yet lay in several Garrisons and upon their resigning those Fortresses must needs otherwise have filled England with Theeves and Robbers But certainly whoever impartially observes the honourable and sincere Practices of King Edward upon all Occasions and duly compares them with what relates to this Matter in the Articles and Letters foregoing will not so rashly attribute the ill Success of the Treaty of Bretagne to King Edwards Insincerity but rather to the Impracticableness of the Affair it self Since two such Valorous Young Princes had so fair a Pretence to so Noble a Dukedome that there could hardly remain any Prospect of deciding the Controversie without the Sword or the Death of one of the Parties But however it was when now upon Conference this New Treaty seem'd so hard to be brought to any good Issue Henry Duke of Lancaster who was a most valiant and expert Souldier but chiefly favour'd the Earl of Montford and wish'd his Advancement spake these words to the King of France in Presence of the King of England and the greater Part of both the Kings Councils Sir said he the Truce that was taken before Rennes between the Lord Charles of Blois and the Earl of Montford is not yet expired but is still to hold to the first Day of May next coming The King of England my Master here present by Advice of his Council and with Consent of my Lord the Prince his Son shall before that time send the Young Duke the Lord John of Montford with certain of his Council into France to your Majesty with full Power and Authority to confer and determine about the Right which the said Lord John ought to have as succeeding his Father in the Dutchy of Bretagne So then by You and your Council and by Ours together some agreeable Way may be taken between them for the better Security of which Affair I think it would be well to prolong the said Truce yet farther till the Feast of St. John Baptist next following According to this Device of the Dukes so it was done and concluded and the Truce relating to Bretagne prolonged to the Feast of St. John Baptist and then they fell to other Matters XX. And i Frois c. 213. f. 108. now that the Peace between England and France was fully confirmed King John was so elevated with the Assurance of Returning into his Country that he then first seem'd sincerely to rejoyce since his being taken Prisoner He shew'd unto King Edward such an hearty Good-Will that it appear'd plainly to have no mixture of Dissimulation and to his Nephew the Prince of Wales he declared all the endearing Signs of Royal Love and Affection that might be As also King Edward and his Son the Prince were exceeding Frank Generous and obligingly Open unto him These two Illustrious Monarchs who from this time till Death parted called themselves Brethren as a mutual remembrance of their Brotherly Amity gave now unto Four Knights of either Party such as chiefly in their stations had promoted this Peace 8000 Franks of Yearly Revenues for them and their Heirs for ever King John giving the said Summ to Four Knights of England and King Edward a like Revenue to Four Knights of France And at the same time because the Lands of St. Saviour le Vicount in Coutantine in Normandy were the King of Englands Right by a Deed of Gift and Sale from the Lord Godfry Harcourt deceased which Lands were not comprised in the Ordinance of the Treaty of Peace so that whoever held those Lands must do Homage therefore to the French King King Edward k Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 503. now in respect of the many Laudable and Heroick Services of that Valiant and Renowned Knight the Lord John Chandos gave unto him and his Heirs for ever a Grant of the Baronies of St. Saviour le Vicount aforesaid of Daunvers and Dongeville as also of the Lands and Knights Fees of St. Mary de Montefarsellis and Romilly and of all other the Lands and Possessions of the said Godfry of Harcourt Which Princely Gift King John at the Request of King Edward confirmed now unto the said Lord John Chandos he doing Homage therefore unto him bating that Allegiance which he owed unto his Master the King of England And now when all the foresaid Agreements were as well made and devised and as firmly established as Human Wit could contrive so that it seem'd by reason of the sundry strict and solemn Engagements Counter-bonds and mutual Obligations between the two Kings and their Sons that the Peace would prove everlasting and when the Hostages were all come to Calais and the 400000 Crowns of Gold were paid down to the King of England and the remaining 200000 secured which was the First Payment then King Edward made a most Royal and Magnificent Supper for the French King within the Castle of Calais at which the Black-Prince and his Three Brethren Lionel John and Edmund with the Greatest Lords and Barons of England served the two Kings bare-headed After Supper the two Kings bad each other Good Night in the most Obliging Manner imaginable King Edward remaining still in the Castle and King John going to his Lodgings in the Town which had been prepared for him upon his being set at Liberty The next Morning l Fabian p. 243. being the 25 of October and a Sunday King John and all those who were to go with him took his leave of Calais and rode forth of the Town in the Forenoon King Edward himself conveying him a Mile onward of his Way and then the two Kings took
the Grand Prior of France the Lord Boucâ—quault Sr. Tristram de Magnilieu Sr. Peter and Sr. John Villers Sr. John de Auneville Sr. Nicolas de Bracquemont and divers other Lords Knights and Esquires Many of our Writers seem too indiscreetly to surmise as if one Occasion of King John's coming to England at this time was for Love of the Countess of Salisbury which Opinion the Noble Lord of b In hiâ— Play 〈◊〉 the black-Prince Orrery hath lately authorised with his excellent Pen. But it is to be consider'd that my Lord wrote a Poem for Delight and not an History for the Establishment of Truth wherefore he is not to be accused And yet Sr. Richard Baker and others of his Character are by no means to be pardoned who so lightly make such unwarrantable Roflections without weighing the Matter If they mean by the Countess of Salisbury the First Earl Montagu's Lady that was Madam Catharine Daughter of the Lord Grandison and she was dead c Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 647. above 12 Years before this time If they refer to the Fair Lady of Kent so much talk'd of we have shewn how she was two Years since married to Prince Edward and it appears that she was now with him in Aquitain of which King John could not be ignorant And if they shall be forced to own the Lady Elizabeth Daughter to the Lord Mohun of Dunstor d Dugd. ibid. p. 648. who only was at this time Countess of Salisbury and Wife to the Second Earl Montagu let them bring the least shadow of Authority or shew that ever they themselves thought upon that Person before and I yield But otherwise I must profess that I cannot without Resentment see the Honour not only of a Noble Lady but also of two Kings John and Edward who are both said to have been in Love with her thus shamefully traduced by Men of either no Industry or no Honesty But to proceed King John of France when all things were ready for his Voyage and the Mariners told him the Wind stood fair for England e Frois c. 219. f. 114. went on Board and set sail from Boulogne with his Guard and other Attendants about the hour of Midnight and arrived safely at Dover about Ten the next Morning being the Day before the Vigil of the Epiphany or the Fourth of January f G F. Lit. Dom. which was a Thursday in the Year of our Lord MCCCLXIV II. King Edward was at that time with his Queen and the whole Court at Eltham in Kent about 8 Miles from London to which Place News was brought him of King Johns Arrival Hereupon he presently sent forth certain Honourable Knights of his Court to bid him Welcome and to conduct him forward on his way as the Lord Bartholomew Burwash Sr. Alan Boxhull Sr. Richard Pemburge and Others who rode Post to Dover where they found King John and in their Masters Name gave him Welcome saying How the King of England was extreamly satisfied with the obliging Honour of that Royal Visit King John replied he never doubted of a Welcome from his Dear Brother of England The next Day they all mounted their Horses and rode to Canterbury where having din'd King John would needs visit the Cathedral where he offer'd a Rich Jewel at the Shrine of St. Thomas and there they tarried the remainder of that Day On the Sunday Morning they set forth all together toward Eltham where the King of England was with a great Number of his Nobility ready to receive his Dear Brother of France On Sunday after Dinner King John came thither where he was highly caressed and embraced by the King and Queen of England and between that and Supper-time there was nothing but Princely Diversions of Dancing Singing and Carolling But especially the young Lord Ingelram of Coucy set himself forth to entertain the two Kings and danced so pleasantly and sang so sweetly that he extreamly satisfied the Whole Presence and wan the Commendations both of the French and English Nobility who were all delighted to behold and hear him for all that ever he did became him wonderfully At this time the Lady Isabella Eldest Daughter to King Edward began to cast her Affections upon that Gallant Lord and became so serious therein that shortly we shall find it a Match Soon after the Court removed from Eltham toward London but in the way the Lord Mayor and Aldermen with an Honourable Retinue met the two Kings on Black-Heath and so conducted them over the Bridge thrô the City with Sounding of Trumpets III. King John was conducted to the Savoy in great Honour where he was lodged with those Hostages that were of his Blood as the Duke of Orleans the Duke of Berry and the Duke of Bourbon the Earl of Alenson the Lord Guy of Blois the Earl of St. Paul and divers Others He was well entertain'd among these his Relations with whom he constantly conversed at the same time making and receiving frequent Visits to and from King Edward of England King David of Scotland King Peter of Cyprus King Waldemar of Denmark Albert Duke of Bavaria Lionel Duke of Clarence John Duke of Lancaster and Edmund Earl of Cambridge many Sumptuous and Princely Sports and Banquets passing among them And the City of London was at that time so flourishing that not only the Lord Mayor but most of the Aldermen in their Turns had the Generosity and Ability to invite and entertain all these Great Kings and Potentates singly and together as Occasion served Particularly Sr. Henry Picard g Stows Survey of London p. 87. 255. d b. a Merchant Vintner of Gascogne who some Years before had been Lord Mayor of London one Day made a Splendid Feast at his own House now called the Vintry over against St. Martins Church at which Entertainment were present the Kings of England Scotland France Denmark and Cyprus the Duke of Bavaria the Chief Hostages of France and King Edwards Sons excepting the Black-Prince then in Aquitain and many of the Chief Nobility of England And after Dinner he kept his Hall for all Comers that were willing to play at Dice and Hazard his Lady Margaret at the same time keeping her Chamber for the Entertainment of the Princesses and Ladies IV. King John went h Frois c. 219. f. 114. b. as often as he pleased privately by Water to visit King Edward at his Palace of Westminster and both the Kings when upon their Communication they were put in mind of the Lord James of Bourbon who was slain two Years before at the Battle of Brignais near Lyons greatly bewailed his Loss as who was a Person of a most agreeable Conversation in all Noble Company The French King had brought with him into England a i Knighton p. 2627. n. 20. Moiety of one Million of the Three he was engaged to pay for his Ransom and desired that some of the Hostages might be deliver'd but that King Edward
not Wherefore now the King sent the Duke of Burgundy with a 1000 Spears more to reinforce the Siege so that now they made up in all 3000 Men of Arms besides Others These held frequent Skirmishes with the Besieged wherein both Parties suffer'd considerably but especially those of the Garrison who were not in all a Thousand Men. And the Duke of Burgundy to encourage his Men the more at one Sally of the Navarrois made many Knights Bannerets who at that time raised their Banners as Robert of Alenson Son to Charles Earl of Alenson who being King Philips Brother was slain at the Battle of Cressy about 18 Years before the same Honour had Sr. Lewis of Auxerre Son to the Earl of Auxerre who died at the same time and younger Brother to the present Earl. Thus the Siege continued to the great Terror of that Garrison who were so mightily streightned therewith that they would willingly have yielded up the Fortress upon Composition but that the Duke refused them so much Grace I 'll have them yield up absolutely to my Pleasure says he I have already taken away from them the use of the River so that they must expect no more Provision that way Let them stand out longer at their utmost peril XIX Now Prince Lewis of Navarre knew of all these Difficulties his Friends were in and having ravaged a while at his Pleasure in the Marches of Auvergne he ardently desired to raise the Siege before la Charité He had already 2000 Fighting Men but not thinking them sufficient to cope with the Duke he sent into Bretagne to Sr. Robert Knolles Sr. Walter Hewet Sr. Matthew Gournay and other Valiant Knights and Esquires of England then in those Parts to come and serve him in this Action These Knights would all very willingly have come to his Aid but they were already engaged in the Siege before Auray a Town of Lesser Bretagne about 3 Leagues from Vannes Westward towards Blavet For now the two Pretenders to the Dutchy of Bretagne having rejected all terms and Methods of Reconciliation flew out into open Hostility the Lord Charles of Blois making his Musters at Nantes and the Lord John of Monford laying Siege at the same time to Auray So that when the Lord Lewis of Navarre saw that he could not obtain the Service of those English Knights who now assisted the Earl of Monford in the said Siege he returned by Command of the King his Brother to Cherburgh leaving la Charité to her Fortune But however this Garrison had the good Luck to escape by the same Occasion which had hindred their Relief For immediately after Prince Lewis was retired into Normandy because Sr. Charles of Blois might be more powerfully aided the King of France sent to the Duke of Burgundy commanding him to receive the Garrison of la Charité their Lives saved on condition they would swear not to bear Arms on the King of Navarre's Behalf for three Years to come Thus the Garrison had their Lives saved but were fain to leave all their Goods behind and so being secur'd by the Dukes Safe Conduct went away on foot thrô the Realm of France And then the old Inhabitants whom they had before frighted away to the City of Nivers came back again to their former Habitations and the Duke returned with Honour to Paris CHAPTER the ELEVENTH The CONTENTS I. The French King assists Charles of Blois and King Edward at the same time sends Help to John of Monford both who prepare to decide their Right to the Dukedom of Bretagne by Battail II. Charles of Blois marches forth of Nantes against John of Monford III. Who prepares to receive him IV. The Frenchmen order their Men. V. And the Lord John Chandos orders his English giving a Reserve to be menaged by Sr. Hugh Calverley VI. The Lord of Beaumanoire obtains a Truce between the Parties for one Day in order to bring them to some Agreement VII The Lord Chandos breaks off the Treaty and both Sides prepare for Fight VIII The famous Battle of Auray fought between Charles of Blois and John of Monford wherein the latter wins the Day and the Dukedom by the Death of the former IX The Number of the slain and Prisoners on both Sides X. Earl Monford weeps over the Body of Charles of Blois with the Character and Praise of the said Charles XI Earl Monford gives Truce to the Country to come in and bury their Dead he returns to the Siege before Auray the Kings of France and of England diversly affected with the News XII A Treaty for a Match between the Daughter and Heiress of Lewis Earl of Flanders and Edmund Earl of Cambridge King Edwards Fifth Son being pretty forward is suddainly dash'd by the French Kings subtlety XIII The Christians obtain a Cadmean Victory against the Turks and Infidels I. KING a Frois c. 224. f. 120. b. c. Charles of France at the Request of his Cousin the Lord Charles of Blois had yielded to lend him towards the Conquest of his Inheritance a Thousand Spears and besides that he wrote to Sr. Bertram of Clequin who was then in Normandy enjoyning him by all means on sight of his Letters to go as strong as he could into Bretagne to the Aid of his Cousin Charles of Blois against his Antagonist Sr. John of Monford Sr. Bertram having received the Letters was glad at his heart to be thus commanded to what he so earnestly desired himself for he always took the Lord Charles to be his only Lawfull Lord and true Duke of Bretagne Wherefore as speedily as he could he went out of Normandy into Bretagne with his own Retinue only and such Troops as he could raise of himself the Marshal Bouciquault prosecuting the War in Normandy in his stead He found the Lord Charles of Blois and his good Lady at the City of Nantes in Bretagne to whom he was extream Welcome for this his seasonable and eminent Succour Then they held a Council of War what Course they had best take for there was the greater part of all the Lords and Knights of Bretagne come thither to the Lord Charles his Assistance whom they all reputed and held for the True Duke of Bretagne And they were all of Opinion that 't was best to go and raise the Siege of Auray and fight Earl Monford if he would abide it Thither also were come many Great Barons of France as the Earl of Auxerre the Earl of Joigny the Lord of Franville the Lord of Prye the Beague of Villers and many other Lords Knights and Esquires But of these Preparations there were brought Tidings to the Earl of Monford who together with the Lord b Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 32. Walsing hâ—st p. 174. William Latimer of England lay now at the Siege before Auray and how the Lord Charles had purchased many Powerfull Assistants out of the Realm of France besides the great Forces he had gather'd up in Bretagne Wherefore immediately
he sent word thereof into the Principality of Aquitain to the English Knights and Esquires of the Princes Court but especially to the Noble Lord John Chandos desiring him and them heartily now at this great and last Pinch to send him a Competent Assistance not doubting but that in Bretagne they should find many a fair and honourable Adventure for which all men of Honour ought especially to seek toward the Advancement of their Names When the Lord John Chandos who greatly desired the Prosperity of this Noble Earl saw how earnestly he wrote unto him he went immediately and asked leave of the Black-Prince his Lord and Master who told him He was well content that he should go to the Assistance of his Dear Brother-in-Law because said he this is no Breach of the Peace between England and France For the Frenchmen in like manner take Part with Sr. Charles of Bloic against the Earl of Monford and have a Licence so to do from the French King himself And thus much was expresly agreed on in the c Vid. l. 3. c. 6. §. 10. Art. 22. p. 588. XXII Article of the Peace of Bretigny that if the two Parties cannot be reconciled the Friends of either of them shall aid either Party as they please without any impeachment from the said two Kings or without incurring or bearing any dammage blame or reproach for the cause aforesaid With this answer Sr. John Chandos was extreamly satisfied and provided accordingly desiring several Knights and Esquires both of England and Aquitain to bear him Company in this his Attempt Thô but a few Gascogners I know not upon what Grounds for 't is evident they lov'd him well went with him but several English Knights that were there except such whom the Prince's Service detain'd embraced the Invitation heartily So having collected 200 Spears and as many Archers Voluntiers for the Prince would not appear in the Matter he lead them thrô Sainctogne and Poictou till passing the Loire he entred into Bretagne and came safely to the Siege before Auray Here he found the young Earl of Monford who received him with great joy as who divin'd himself a Victory from his Coming and so did Sr. Oliver Clisson Sr. Hugh Calverley Sr. Robert Knolles Sr. Walter Hewet Sr. Matthew Gournay and others both English and Bretons who all generally concluded there could no ill Success fall unto them now that they had the Lord Chandos in their Company Upon the account of whose Reputation in Arms sundry Knights and Esquires of England passed the Sea being desirous to advance their Honour in Fighting against the Frenchmen all who came in good time before Auray where they were heartily welcome to the Earl of Monford and some of them brought d True Use of Armory in Bib. Cotton Lord Chandâ—s his Liâ—e p. 62. Letters from the King of England directed to the Lord Chandos wherein he was required to take particular care of his most Dear Son Monford and in time of Battle constantly to attend his Person And now the whole Number of English and Bretons amounted to about 2000 Men of Arms and about 900 Archers on Horseback besides Footmen II. All this while Sr. Charles of Blois was in the City of Nantes where he made his Musters and gather'd together Men of War from all Parts where he could procure them for Love or Money For he had perfect Intelligence of all the Earl of Monfords Preparations But especially he required all those Lords Knights and Esquires of Bretagne who had already own'd his Cause and Title and rendred Homage unto him as to their Lord to come now and help him to defend his Inheritance against his Enemies Upon these Summons there came unto him the Vicount of Rohan the Lord of Rochefort the Lord of Leon the Lord of Raix and the Lord of Rieux the Lord of Malestroit the Lord of Quintin the Lord of Avaugeur the Lord of Lodeac the Lord of Ancenis the Lord of Lomine the Lord of Ponto and Sr. Charles of Dinant with divers others whose Names we cannot at such a Distance recover All these together with their several Retinues were quarter'd in the City of Nantes and in the Villages thereabout and together with the Aid from France consisted of 4500 Men of Arms besides Crossbows and Footmen These Lords in a Council of War advised the Lord Charles now that he was so strong not to waste any more time there but presently to march forth against his Enemy and give him Battle This Counsel the Lord Charles resolved to pursue and being now ready to march the sprightly and Masculine Lady his Wife the Lady Jane Daughter of Guy Earl of Pentebria who was Elder Brother to John of Monford stept forth and said these Words unto him in presence of Sr. Bertram of Clequin and many other Lords and Knights of France and Bretagne Sir You are now going to fight for mine Inheritance and your own for what is mine is yours also which the Earl of Monford claims wrongfully and without cause God Almighty knows And all the Lords of Bretagne here present know very well that I am indubitate Heiress thereto Therefore my Dear Lord and Husband I heartily require of You not to make or accept any Composition Agreement or Treaty of Peace with Earl Monford unless the whole Body of the Dutchy shall be yielded to remain entire with Us and our Heirs for ever This her Husband promised to do and then saluted and took leave of his Dutchess as they call'd her and so directed his march toward Vannes At which place he made an Halt as well to refresh his Army as to inform himself of his Enemies behaviour and to advise how to get some advantage in ordering his Men. Here there was much altercation and debate among his Council for certain of the graver sort who were wholly sway'd by Christian Principles of Charity made such friendly Overtures that the Lord Charles of Blois who was of a sweet and Candid Disposition had perhaps been perswaded to accept of a Peace and to Divide the Dukedom had he not been so adjured by the last Words of his Lady and also now set on by the encouragement of the Hotter sort of his Captains that he absolutely declared he neither could nor would propose or admit of any such kind of Treaty III. Now between Vannes and Auray where the Earl of Monford held Siege it was about the space of Three Leagues so that News was presently brought to the Earl that the Lord Charles of Blois was coming with the goodliest Company of Men armed at all Points that ever was seen in France At these tidings the Englishmen rejoyced greatly the better sort for the opportunity of gaining Honour and the Companions for the occasion of reaping benefit For being almost bankrupt with the long Peace they desired nothing more than War in hopes of Spoil and Riches Then they all made ready their Harness with great exactness new furbished their Spears
to Calais where they took the Sea all together and Landed at Dover where at that time the King was with certain of his Council ready to receive them and to Treat further with the Earl of Flanders about the Consummation of the foresaid Affair This was the occasion of the Kings being there at that time when the foremention'd Pursuivant came and brought him the News of the Victory near Auray Whereat the King was wonderfully pleased and all the Court the Earl of Flanders being no less glad than any of them because of the Advancement of his Cousin German the Earl of Monford which must needs happen thereby Thus King Edward tarried with the Earl of Flanders at Dover for the space of Three Days which were spent in Royal Feastings and Princely Recreations And then Matters concerning which they met being adjusted He took his solemn leave of the King and sailed back for Flanders being attended to Bruges by the Duke of Lancaster and Earl Edmund his Brother But yet this Intended Match was soon after d Walsing hist p. 128. n. 40. broke off by the French Kings envious Policy he craftily hindring the Pope from granting a Dispensation and then he never left Courting the Earl of Flanders till he had given his Daughter in Marriage to that Kings Brother Philip Duke of Burgundy Notwithstanding which it appears e Rot. Franc. 39. Ed. 3. m 9. Vid. Dagd 2 Vol. p. 154. that the Year following Sr. Nicolas Tamworth Knight and John Wyn Esquire were sent by King Edward to all the Nobles and other his Friends beyond the Seas to sollicit their Help for expelling those Strangers who had invaded the Lands of Burgundy Nivers and Reth of Right belonging to the Countess of Flanders and her Son which were to return unto Edmund Earl of Cambridge and to the Dutchess of Burgundy Daughter to the same Earl of Flanders in regard of that Matrimonial Contract made betwixt them as the Record doth manifest XIII This Year on the Feast of All-Saints f Walsingh hist p. 174 n. 20. there was fought a great Battle on the Plains of Turkey between the Christians and Pagans where the Christians after a long and doubtfull Fight obtain'd a Bloody and Cadmean Victory For on their side there fell the Great Master of the Hospital of Rhodes and one or two Kings and of the meaner sort to the Number of 5210 But of the Infidels there were slain more than 40000 of their Men of Arms besides an incredible Number of the Common Souldiers The Chief Captains of the Heathens were the Soldan of Babylon and the King of Turkey Kinstut or Keystut the King of Lithuania Janibech King of Tartary King Baldoc and King Belmarine three whereof were slain in the Field and the King of Lithuania's Son g Dugd. 1 Vol. Bar. p. 233. id in Warwickshire p. 317. a. was taken Prisoner by Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick who afterwards brought him into England and made him a Christian calling him Thomas after his own Name as being at that time his Godfather But whereas Walsingham says that among other Christian Princes I King of Hungary was slain at this Fight there is a double mistake for it should be written L in stead of I that King's Name being Lewis and it is most certain that he lived many Years after h Vid. Odor Rainal Câ—ntin Baron Tom. XVI Tom. XVII as will appear to any that shall enquire CHAPTER the TVVELFTH The CONTENTS I. John of Monford having taken Auray goes before Jugon which yields thence to Dinant which at last yields also then he invests Quimpercorentin II. The Prisoners taken in the Battle of Auray secur'd for fear of new stirs while Earl Monford takes in all Bretagne III. The French King perswaded to admit John of Monford for true Duke of Bretagne AN. DOM. 1365. An. Regni Angliae XXXIX sends unto him to try him He has King Edwards leave to hold the Dukedom of France and so Bretagne is settled in Peace and John Monford sirnamed the Valiant own'd Duke thereof IV. Peace made between the French King and the King of Navarre by Vertue whereof the Captal of Busche is acquitted his Prison the French King endeavours to win him but in vain V. The Death of the Lord Lewis of Navarre VI. A Parliament at Westminster VII King Edwards Buildings and the Foundation of Kings-Hall in Cambridge now called Trinity College VIII The Pope Demands the Annual Fee which King John of England engag'd to pay to the Apostolick Chamber and orders King Edward upon his refusal to be cited to answer the Contempt at the Court of Rome Which Matter the King refers to his Parliament IX The Lady Isabella Daughter to King Edward given in Marriage to the Lord Ingleram de Coucy X. The King punishes the Lord Chief Justice and others his Justices for Male-Administration of the Laws XI The King of Cyprus takes Alexandria in Egypt but is forced to leave it again XII Dr. Thoroton twice corrected XIII The Earl of Warwick returns into England with the King of Lithuania's Son his Prisoner whom he makes a Christian and stands his Godfather naming him Thomas after his own Name I. BEing now enter'd upon the Thirty Ninth Year of King Edwards Reign it will be necessary for the understanding of what follows to set down an account of Matters which happen'd in the close of the foregoing Year namely after the Battle of Auray And we shall find that the Earl of Monford upon that notable and entire Victory return'd a Frois c. 228. fol. 128. unto the Siege of that Fortress which he follow'd with greater application than ever before and made a Vow not to Rise thence till he had the Besieged at his Devotion And surely those within were much diminished in Courage thô not in Provision for they had lost in the late Battle their Captain Esquire Henry of Tintineac together with Fourty Men of Arms the very Flower of all their Garrison Wherefore since now they could not expect any further Succour they at last resolved to yield while they might hope to obtain tolerable Conditions and so they began to enter a Parly with the Earl to that purpose The Earl was not willing to lose much more time here and besides he knew not how other Places stood affected to him and he had a mind to try the Country while the Terrour of his Arms was fresh on which Considerations he received them to Mercy and gave them leave to depart with their Goods for they would not yet own his Authority or submit to his Government Having now placed in Auray a good Garrison of his own he rode on with his Army which encreased daily Men of Arms and Archers continually flocking to him Nay the very Bretons who before rejected his Yoke being now won by the Reputation of his Sword came in to him apace especially the Bretons Bretonant or those of Lower Bretagne First he marched
therefore King Edward sent his Letters of Proclamation commanding them on their Allegiance to go out of France and no longer to infest that Kingdom Some few obey'd but others made answer that as they held nothing there of the King of England so neither for him would they leave their Garrisons and that Livelihood they had got with so much labour The King was so enraged at this piece of Insolence that immediately he prepared to Chastise them in Person with a Royal Army But when the French King heard of his vast Preparations he began to fear lest after he had destroy'd the Companions he himself might be prey'd upon by him to the hazard of his Crown under colour that he ought to pay the Wages of the Army or by whatever other pretence a Conquerour should please to make Wherefore he now again sent to him desiring him to desist and keep at home At which affront the King was so displeas'd that he sware by the Virgin Mary Never to stir again about aiding the King of France no thô the said Companions should endeavour to thrust him out of his Kingdom But yet soon after these outlaw'd Captains having at the King of England's Command deliver'd up their Fortresses and Castles were content to go along with Sr. Bertram of Clequin into Spain upon an occasion of which we shall discourse more fully by and by As yet the Wise Men of France could find no way to purge the Land of them but they saw evidently that unless they could think of a Remedy and a speedy One too either by beating them or buying them out of the Realm they would shortly prey upon the very Vitals of France and perhaps of a good part of Christendom for they were reckon'd to be about 60000 Fighting Men And by Success they were like to be augmented with new accessions of Men of their own ungracious Principles At that time ſ Vid. Odor-Rainal ad hunc ann §. 3 c. Lewis the Valiant King of Hungary having at Buda made an Alliance with John Palaeologus the Greek Emperour who requested his help against the Turks made great Preparations for the War and among others desired much to have these bold Fellows in his Service And thereupon t Frois c. 229. fol. 125. b. wrote to Pope Vrban V then at Avignon and to the French King and also to the Prince of Wales shewing how desirous he was to employ these Warriers in a more Righteous Cause against the Enemies of Christ and to give them good pay So these Three Grand Personages agreed together and offer'd the Companions Gold and Silver and free Passage and the Pope's Pardon but nothing would do they were not so devout to change their Quarters when they were well and they said they would not go so far to fight when they might do it nearer at home For they were well informed by some of their own Company who had already been in Hungary that in those Parts there were such straits that if among any of them they should meet with an Enemy they could never escape but must inevitably die a shamefull Death with which words whether true or false they were so terrified that they absolutely refused to go thither When the Pope and the French King saw they could not be rid of them this way they knew not what course to take till at last another occasion offer'd it self as we shall shew in the following Book more largely The End of the Third Book THE HISTORY OF King Edward IIId. BOOK THE FOURTH CHAPTER the FIRST The CONTENTS I. The Character and Manners of Don Pedro Sirnamed the Cruel King of Castille and Leon He is Excommunicated by the Pope and his Bastard Brother made Legitimate The Companions and others joyn to go and Depose him Sr. Bertram of Clequin being their General II. Don Pedro provides to oppose this Army but being forsaken of all flies to Seville thence to Portugal and thence escapes into Galizia where he absconds a while III. Don Henry the Bastard Conde of Trastamare is by General Consent accepted and Crowned King his Acts Liberality and Designs IV. Don Pedro advis'd to implore the Protection of the Black-Prince sends his Letters Supplicatory unto him for that purpose V. While the said Prince is fitting out a Fleet to fetch Don Pedro from Galizia to Aquitain in safety Don Pedro himself arrives at Bayonne VI. Prince Edward receives him with much Humanity VII The Prince's Council give their Reasons why they would not have him to meddle with Don Pedro with the Prince's Reasons why notwithstanding he thought himself obliged thereto VIII Don Pedro's great Promises to the Prince's Souldiers and Captains the Prince calls a Parliament of his Barons of Aquitain Which Parliament advises him first to learn his Fathers pleasure therein IX King Edward directs his Letters to the Prince and his Council wherein he Wills him to take in hand the Defence of the Exil'd King and Commands all his Subjects of those Parts to be aiding unto him in that his Vndertaking X. The King of Navarre his Friendship being found necessary to this Affair is on certain considerations brought over Don Pedro engages by Oath Bond and Pledges to make suitable Returns to the Prince XI A Copy of a Famous Grant of King Don Pedro's to King Edward and the Prince and to the Kings of England and their Eldest Sons for ever whereby the Memory of this Favour of the Prince's might be Honourably Recorded in Spain to all Generations XII Prince Edward sends to his Captains then in the Bastards service commanding them home the Bastards surprize at the News of the Prince's Design Sr. Bertram of Clequin gives him Counsel and hasts back into France to raise him Friends XIII Divers Opinions concerning this Vndertaking of the Prince's XIV The Bastard renews his Alliance with the King of Aragon which occasions great difficulties to the Companions that came out of Spain with Design to serve the Prince XV. Prince Edward sends the Lord Chandos to retain the Companions in his service and to get the Earl of Foix his leave that they might pass thrô his Country XVI The Prince's zeal for the War and his Methods for raising Money The Lord of Albret promises to bring a 1000 Spears to the service XVII The Companions being Besieged in Montauban beat the French Lords with a great overthrow XVIII They get at last into the Principality where yet they cannot forbear doing much Mischief XIX James King of Majorica comes to Bourdeaux to beg the Prince's aid against the King of Aragon who withheld Majorica from him XX. The Prince by advice of his Council having Men enow otherwise countermands 800 of the Lord Albret's 1000 Spears which prov'd the first occasion of Discontent to that Gascogne Lord. I. AT this time a Frois c. 229. fol. 126. a. there Reigned in Castille a Kingdom of Spain Don Pedro the Son of Alphonso the Eleventh who because of his many Barbarous
your Father as being a part of the Remainder of King John's Ransome And Sir at this time collect by your Interest among your Friends all the Money you can possibly for you will find need enough without Taxing or Assessing your Subjects for while you keep their Hearts you cannot be poor This and several other prudent Directions were readily followed by the Prince who soon after caused Two parts in Three of all his Plate to be melted down and coined into Money to be bestowed liberally among his Men of War and he sent also into England to the King his Father for the foresaid 100000 Franks King Edward who well knew what an important matter his Son was going about and how Expensive his Design must needs be granted him the said Summ at the first word and presently directed his Letters to the French King willing him to pay the Money to the Princes Use And accordingly the 100000 Franks were paid upon sight of King Edwards Letters and so brought to the Prince who distributed all among his Souldiers One day as Prince Edward was in his Chamber in the City of Angoulesme together with certain Lords and Knights of England Poictou and Gascogne after many pleasant Discourses and Raileries and other Diversions they fell again to touch upon the Expedition then in hand and this was in that while that the Lord Chandos was gone to treat with the Earl of Foix and the Companions of which we spake but now At last the Prince turned his head toward the Lord of Albret and said My Lord of Albret with what number of Men of Arms can you furnish Vs in this Expedition Why Sir replied he if I desire my Friends I shall easily find you a Thousand Spears and yet leave enough at home to defend my Land. Well said the Prince that 's nobly spoken and so turning himself towards the Lord Thomas Felton and other Knights of England he continued in English By my Faith a Man ought to set a Value upon that Land where there are such Barons as can serve their Lord with a 1000 Spears apiece and so turning again to the Lord of Albret he said in Gascogne Sir I retain them all to do me service in this Expeditiou Sir said Albret in the Name of God I am well content and shall not fail It was necessary not to have omitted this seeming small Matter because even hence there afterward arose an occasion of great Mischief as we shall see anon XVII It may not here seem amiss to say something about those Companions who were either Friends to the Prince of Wales or retained for his Service These Men met with many Difficulties before they came into the Principality and at last were fain to part into three Companies The greatest of the Three went coasting Foix and Bearn the Second from Catalunna thrô Navarre and so toward Armagnac all with the Consent and by the Favour of the King of Navarre the Earl of Albret the Earl of Foix and the Earl of Armagnac In the third Company which consisted chiefly of Gascogners were about 3000 who for convenience of Forage were fain to divide themselves in lesser Numbers 300 or 400 in a Body and so having with much adoe passed thrô Aragon into Languedoc they continued their March toward the Bishoprick of Thoulouse till at last a part of them came to Montauban At that time the Seneschal of Tholouse was a French Knight named Sr. Guy Dazay who hearing that the Companions were making that way that they rode divided into small Companies and that in all they were not above 3000 and yet were very weary with Travel but ill armed indifferently horsed and worse ordered then he said how he would never suffer any such Fellows to come into the Parts of Tholouse nor into the Realm of France but rather God willing he would meet them by the way and fight them So he sent word of his Resolution to the Lord Amorry Earl of Narbonne to the Seneschals of Carcassone and of Beaucair and to all Knights Esquires and Officers thereabouts requiring their Aid to defend the Frontiers against these Villanous Companions Those to whom he sent made haste to shew their Compliance by coming as soon as might be to Tholouse so that in all they made up 500 Spears Knights and Esquires besides 4000 Others all who took the Field about Montauban which was seven Leagues from Tholouse and when they were all met under the Conduct of the Earl of Narbonne they encamped near the said City of Montauban which at that time was under the Prince of Aquitain and he had set there a Valiant English Captain named Sr. John Combes The French Lords presently upon their coming sent their Van-Currors to ride before Montauban hoping so to entice out the Companions a Party whereof he knew to be then within the Fortress but they had particular notice of the Numbers of the French and so this Plot was in vain Sr John Combes for his part wonder'd greatly when he saw the Frenchmen come thus with an Army into the Princes Lands and so demanded by an Herald if he might be permitted to speak freely with the Frenchmen who allowing thereof he asked them who sent them thither and for what reason they took upon them to invade the Lands of the Prince who was a good Friend and Neighbour to them and to the Realm of France Sir said they we have no Commission to return you any Answer But to satisfie you of our Reasons if you will either go or send to our chief Leaders they no doubt will know what to say to your Demand Well Gentlemen said the Captain then I desire you to procure me a safe Conduct whereby I may have assurance of going unto them and returning again without Impeachment or else let them send me word plainly by what Title they will make War against me for if I knew the Certainty I would send word thereof to my Lord the Prince who I question not will quickly apply a due Remedy The Marshals of the French Host promised to do thus much for the English Captain and so they returned and told all his Words to their General who presently granted a safe Conduct for Sr. John Combes and Six Eight or Ten to come along with him and sent it to Montauban Having got the Safe Conduct Sr. John left the City with Five more in his Company and went to the French Camp where he found the French Lords who expected him and had well consider'd what to say unto him After Salutation past on both sides Sr. John demanded of them for what Cause they had sent their Van-Currours up to his Fortress and came with such an Army before Montauban which they knew belonged to Prince Edward They told him how they intended not to invade any Person or to begin a War but that they were resolved to pursue their Enemies to destruction whereever they heard they should be Sirs said the Knight who are these
contradict the Ordinance that was so deliberately devised by my Council By God it shall not go as he imagines let him stay at home if he will for without his 1000 Spears I trust in God to accomplish my Design with Honour Then as it usually happens when Princes are angry their servants rather than mitigate the Passion are apt to enflame it higher some English there present said Sir Don't You yet know the Minds of these Gascogners nor how proud and insolent they are and that they bear Vs but small love and never did otherwise Don't You remember how loftily they bare themselves towards You here in your City of Bourdeaux when King John of France was first brought hither For they said then and spake it plainly that by their aid alone You obtain'd that Glory in taking the French King and this they stuck too so stiffly that You was fain to treat with them for some while before they would consent that you should convey him into England But at that time you thought it convenient to comply with them thereby to keep them in Obedience At these Words the Prince held his Peace but he thought nevertheless of what he himself knew to be true This was the first occasion of Difference between the Prince of Wales and the Lord of Albret so that the said Lord was at that time in great Danger For the Prince was High and of a great Spirit and terrible in his Anger for he disdain'd not to have all Men at his Command that were his Subjects and held of him But when the Earl of Armagnat Uncle to the Lord of Albret heard of the Prince's Displeasure he made haste to Bourdeaux and together with the Lord John Chandes and the Lord Thomas Felton so wrought with the Prince that he reconcil'd him to his Nephew on condition that he should bring but 200 Spears and no more With which notwithstanding the said Lord of Albret was not fully pleased in his Mind nor the Men which he was obliged to leave behind and indeed he never after loved the Prince so heartily as he had done before But now he saw since there was no other Remedy that it was requisite for him to dissemble and conceal his trouble as well as he might But these hidden Sparks some time after brake out into such a flame as raised a Mighty Fire over all the Principality of Aquitaine which occasionally embroiled the two Realms of England and France as we shall see in due place CHAPTER the SECOND AN. DOM. 1367. An. Regni Angliae XLI The CONTENTS I. A Second Son born to the Black-Prince who was in time King of England by the Name of Richard the Second II. Prince Edward begins his March is joyn'd by the Duke of Lancaster Matters adjusted between the Prince and the King of Navarre III. The Prince passes the Pirenean Mountains the Order of his Army and the Names of his Chief Captains IV. Don Henry the Bastard prepares to oppose him and sends his Expostulation and Defiance unto him V. The Lord Thomas Felton rides before the English Army and takes Navaret The King of Navarre suffers himself to be taken Prisoner so to avoid passing with the Prince into Spain Salvatierra yield to the Prince VI. The Lord Thomas Felton beats up the Bastard's Quarters and sends Intelligence to the Prince Don Henry goes forward to meet the Prince but makes an Halt at St. Miguel The Prince expects him at Victoria VII The Earl of Sancelloni Don Henry's Brother beats up the Prince's Quarters and discomfits and takes Sr. Thomas Felton and all his Company VIII The Discourse thereupon had in the Spanish Camp. IX The Prince passes the River Ebro and sends an Answer to Don Henry's Letters X. Don Henry's Resolution XI The two Armies move forward the Order and Number of the Spaniards XII The Lord Chandos made a Banneret the Princes Prayer before the Fight The famous Battle of Najara commonly called Nazars in Spain where the Black-Prince gives the Bastard a Mighty Overthrow XIII The City of Najara taken The Time and Place of the Battle XIV The Number of the slain on both sides XV. The Prince causes Don Pedro to give a General Pardon to all his Subjects XVI Don Pedro rides to Burgos and is follow'd by the Prince where all Spain comes in and submits to her King. XVII The Prince demands his Souldiers Pay of Don Pedro who goes to Seville to raise Money but sends none XVIII The great Renown of the Black-Prince after this Victory XIX England rejoyces and France repines at the News XX. The Bastard having escaped from the Battle gets some Forces together and invades the Principality but is beat off by the Lord James Audley XXI The Black-Prince by reason of a sickness in his Army it forced to return home without his Money XXII The Bastard retires into Aragon The first Change of King Edward's Fortune XXIII The Danish Fleet beaten by the English XXIV The Death of Don Pedro the Justiceer King of Portugal I. WHile thus the Prince of Wales was busied at Bourdeaux in his Preparations for the Spanish War and daily expected the Arrival of his Brother the Duke of a Frois c. 233. f. 133. sed conser cum eodem Froi p. penult Lancaster the Beautifull Princess his Dear Consort fell in Travail on the Day of the Three Kings of Colen commonly called the Epiphany b Lit. Dom. C. Anno 1367. being the Sixth of January and as that Year went a Wednesday On which Day about the hour of c Frois tâ—tius Historiae capite ultimo Ten of the Clock in the Morning the said Princess was by the Grace of God deliver'd of a Fair Son to the great joy of the Prince and all his Court. On the Friday after at Noon he was Christen'd in the Church of St. Andrew in the City of Bourdeaux by the most Reverend Father in God Elias Archbishop of the same Place Richard Bishop d Frois c. 233. f. 133. of Agen in Agenois and James King of Majorica being his Godfathers thô e Sandford Geneal Hist p. 191 ex Walsing cum tamen is uno in loco viz. Hypod. p. 129. Richardus Rex Majoricarum alio in loco viz. Hist p. 175. Ricardus Rex Navarriorum Sed Navarrus erat Carolus Majoricae Rex Jacobus dictus ut quivis facilè intelligat some thrô mistake instead of the Bishop say it was Richard King of Navarre when 't is evident to any strict Enquirer that Charles was the King of Navarre's Name at that time and long after King Don Pedro was then at Bayonne expecting the coming of the Prince so that he could not be concerned at this Solemnity Thô f Chronica W. Thorne p. 2142. n. 16. sed ibi pro Majoricae legitur Portugalliae vid. Ashmole p. 676. Others say that this Young Prince had no less than Three Kings for his Godfathers as Pedro King of Spain Charles King of
go along with them as far as Peyrehourade a Town standing on the Gave which was nearer to the Prince and that thither the Prince and King Don Pedro should come to meet him and confer with him and so renew the former Covenants and clear what was left Doubtfull and determine how far either Party was to act or to expect And all this was thus contrived by that subtle King of Navarre that he might be the more certain of what was granted him before because he thought the Covenants were not as yet particular enough Wherefore thô indeed all was meant toward him bonâ fide yet he who himself was so great at overreaching others was now carefull to provide against a Trepan before he exposed his Country to the Mercy of another A thought not at all unreasonable if it had not been rendred unnecessary by former Precautions which were indeed binding enough but that Persons who have but little Integrity to boast of themselves are usually apt to misconster the most candid Intentions of those they deal with However upon this new Agreement the Duke of Lancaster and the Lord John Chandos having brought the King of Navarre as far as Peyrehourade left him there and rode on to the Prince and King Don Pedro then at Dax and shew'd them how they had succeeded The Prince and the King were well pleased with what they had done and soon after rode to Peyrehourade where they found the King of Navarre with the chief of his Council Here they all fell to a serious and close Debate and then it was certainly and particularly made out what every Man was to do or to look for the last Treaty was both renew'd and explain'd and it was positively and punctually set down what and how much the King of Navarre should possess in Castille and Don Pedro paid unto him the promised Summ of 20000 Franks and sware perpetual Love and Amity with him This done they parted all Friends and then the Army might pass when it should please the Prince for all the Avenues were left open and unguarded and Victuals was provided thrô all the Realm of Navarre to be had for ready Money The King of Navarre went after this to his City of Pampelona and the Prince of Wales with his Brother the Duke of Lancaster and King Don Pedro returned to Dax where they tarried a few days longer For at that time there were many Knights and Lords of Bretagne Poictou and Gascogne not yet come up to the Prince's Host but they tarried behind hitherto because it was not fully known that the Prince would be able to pass that way till the Conclusion of this last Treaty Nay in France it was confidently reported Men usually giving themselves liberty of foretelling what they desire should fall out that the Prince would not be able to pass that way at all but that the King of Navarre would in that place break the Neck of his Expedition which yet happen'd directly otherwise When therefore the Princes Knights who were still behind knew for certain that the Passages were now open then they quicken'd their March forward with all possible Hast for they were sure the Prince would not tarry long now nor return home again without Battle Thither came to the City of Dax the Lord Oliver Clisson of Bretagne with a gallant Company of Men of Arms thither also came the Noble and Valiant Lord John de Greilly Captal of Busche with a goodly Band of Spears and last of all with an evil will came the haughty Lord of Albret leading 200 Men of Arms and all the time of this Expedition he kept company with the Captal of Busche to whom notwithstanding he shew'd no manner of Discontent Now all the Substance of the Alliances and Confederations made last at Peyrehourade was presently known in France for there were Messengers and Spies perpetually going and coming who always reported what they saw or heard But when Sr. Bertram of Clequin who was then with the Duke of Anjou was assured how the Streights of Navarre were open'd and that the Prince was passed he quicken'd his Summons and raised all the Friends he could in Bretagne and in France for he knew the Business would not be decided now without Battle Then presently he took his way toward Aragon desiring to come to King Henry as fast as he could and all his Men followed by great Marches after him such as he had listed and enrolled besides many others out of France and other Places who went to advance their Honour or their Fortunes III. Now k Frois c. 234. fol. 134. between St. Jean Pié de Port and the City of Pampelona there are streight and dangerous Passages under the Pirenaean Mountains so that there may be found there more than an hundred Places in each whereof an Hundred Men might be thought able to defend the entrance against all the World. And yet besides these Difficulties there was another which proceeded from the Cold and Distemper of the Season for those Mountainous and unequal Passages being constantly bleaky and expos'd to Wind and every way less fit for travel were now rendred more difficult and uneasie upon the account of the Weather and unkind season It being but about the end of February when Prince Edward began to pass the Pirenean Hills However knowing that the whole Army could not pass at once he order'd that the Three main Divisions should take three several Days for their Passage On the Monday went the Vaward of the whole Army led by John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and Brother to the Prince of Wales and the Lord John Chandos High-Constable of Aquitain who had twelve hundred Penons of his Arms namely in a Field l Ashmole's Garter p. 708. Plate 21. sed Froisard a field Argent c. Cui assentit Author Vitâ—e Domini Joh. Chandos in Bibl. Cotton p. 79. Or a sharp Pile Gules In the Front of this Battail marched the two Marshals of Aquitain Sr. Guischard D'Angoulesme commonly called Sr. Guischard Dangle and Sr. Stephen Cossington With whom was the Great Banner of St. George being the Red Cross of England In the Duke of Lancaster's Battail were Sr. William Beauchamp Lord of Bergavenny and Fourth Son to the Earl of Warwick the Lord Ralph Nevile who had in that Expedition 30 Spears at his own Charges because of his great Winnings at the Battle before Auray with him went his Eldest Son Sr. John Nevile Sr. William Clayton Sr. John Tyrrel Sr. Hugh Hastings Sr. Robert Cheney Sr. Richard Causton Sr. Robert Briquet Sr. William Boteler or Butler of Oversley in Warwickshire Sr. John Willoughby Sr. Garses of the Castle Sr. Emery de la Rochechoüart and Gerard de la Motte All these Lords and Captains with their Penons were under the Rule of the Lord John Chandos except those whom the Duke of Lancaster brought along with him out of England over whom he was Sovereign Captain and these amounted in all to
Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 232. in the Month of June there appeared in the Northern Sea a great Navy of Danes who purposed to come into England and overrun rob and slay as their Ancestors had done in the time of the Saxon Kings But they were encountred and met with at Sea by a good Fleet of English Mariners and other Valiant Men who overthrew and scatter'd them and made them return inglorious into their own Country But among others there was a Mighty and Strong Ship called the Denmark which being oversailed by the Englishmen was taken and sunk and in her was found the High-Steward and other Great Officers and Lords of Denmark who being brought into England were by Order from the King and Council cast into Prison Shortly after there came certain Danish Deputies to negotiate for the Delivery of the foresaid Lords of their Country with their Goods but receiving an answer no way pleasing unto them they return'd home again having left behind them in their Inns written on Scrolls and Walls this threatning Verse Yet shall Danes Ering you n Despair or Loss ab AS Wanian to Diminish wanes Which Rhymes being seen by an English Poet he immediately wrote underneath them Here shall Danes o i.e. Fetch or find Frett their * Destruction Banes. XXIV And now We shall close close up this Active Year when We have first made mention of the Death of a Person whose Memory ought not to be forgotten This was Don Pedro Son of Alphonso the Brave King of Portugal who for his love to Equity obtain'd the Honourable Sirname of The Justiceer This Man that p Joseph Teixera de Origin Regum Portugallix he might remove the Fuel of Contention compell'd the Lawyers Pleaders and Proctors of his Kingdom to till the Land thô he himself was a most strict Observer and Maintainer of the Laws He punished two Forsworn Traytors by causing the Heart of One to be thrust out at his Breast and of the other out at his Back both which at his Command were torn in pieces It is attributed unto him as his Familiar saying q Vid. Marian. l. 17. c. 9. Odor Rainald ad hunc ann §. 19. that a Prince did seem unworthy of the Name of a King on what day he had done no Grace or Kindness to any Body AN. DOM. 1368. An. Regni Angliae XLII He died this Year having Reign'd Nine Years as many Months and Eight and Twenty Days and left behind him his Son Hernando or Ferdinando who r Odor Rainald ibid. soon after sent his Complement to the Pope after the Custom of Christian Kings newly come to the Crown and received an answer full of Good Counsel and Ghostly Admonitions CHAPTER the THIRD The CONTENTS I. Prince Lionel is married to the Lady Violantis Daughter of Galeacius Duke of Milain with the Magnificence and Splendor of the Nuptials II. He falls sick his Testament Death and Burial III. A Parliament at Westminster IV. The Archbishop of Canterbury made Cardinal V. A strange Relation of a Sea-Woman taken in the Zuyderzee VI. Sr. Bertram of Clequin by a pretty Conveyance obtains to be admitted to Ransom VII The Companions waiting for their pay prove troublesome to the Principality But at the Prince's Command they depart and go into France where they do much Mischief VIII The Prince to recruit his exhausted Stores ordains a Tax throughout Aquitain which occasions a Revolt of some Malecontents I. IN the Fourtieth Year of King Edward it may be remembred how We spake of an Overture made by Galeacius the second Duke of Milain unto the said King about a Match to be struck up between the Daughter of the said Duke and Prince Lionel second Son living to the said King Edward The Negotiation concerning this Affair had been carried on till this time when all Conditions were fully adjusted on both sides among which these were not the least considerable a Paul. Jovius in Galeacio 11. p. 151. That together with the Lady Violantis Prince Lionel should receive 2000000 Florens of Gold together with the Cities of Mons Regalis or Mondovi and Alba Pompeia by the Name of a Dowry I shall not here be particular in relating how the two Brethren Dukes of Milain Galeacius and Bernabo recover'd from those troubles whereunto John Marquess of Monferrato had some Years before cast them Nor shall I insist on the Eminent Worth and Military services which Sr. John Hawkwood an English Knight performed for them in those their Wars with such considerable Advantage that Duke b Paul. Jovius in Barnabâ p. 159. Bernabo gave unto him the Lady Donninia one of his Natural Daughters in Marriage with a Portion of 1000000 Florens Let it suffice for this place that the two Brethren Dukes being assisted by this Valiant Knight Sr. John Hawkwood began again to flourish in great Prosperity which that they might the better preserve to their House and Family it was thought fit to enter Affinity with King Edward of England at that time by many Degrees the most Powerfull and Renowned of all the Princes in the World. And so when all things were fully adjusted the Marriage c Sandford's Geneal Hist p. 220. was concluded at Windsor on the 25 of April at which time the King acquitted the Duke of Milain of 10000 Florens by him paid in consideration of the said Treaty and then with all speed the Prince made his Preparations to go over the Sea and to consummate his Nuptials It is said d Joh. Harding c. 186. fol. 186. that the two Dukes of Milain the Marquess of Monferrato the Dukes of Venice Mantua and Florence the Lords of Genua Pisa and other chief Princes of Italy had with the unanimous Consent of the whole Senate of Rome sent their Ambassadors to King Edward before this to assure him that upon this Marriage of his Son Prince Lionel with the Duke of Milain's Daughter all the Princes and States of Italy should own him for their Lord and by their joynt Interest at last raise him to the Title and Dignity of Emperour For besides the Reputation of the King his Father's Glory he himself was generally fam'd and extoll'd for one of the most Accomplish'd Personages in the World. Of Stature he was beyond the Ordinary Proportion of Men Tall and streight as a Palm-Tree exceeding Well-set Shap'd and Featur'd in his Chamber Modest and Gentle as a Virgin Affable Sweet and Pleasant in Conversation but Bold and Fierce as a Lion in the Field So that for all Accomplishments of Mind and Body he had not his Fellow in all England except only his Elder Brother the Prince of Wales than whom he was yet eight Years younger being now in the very Flower of Manhood in the Thirtieth Year of his Age. Thus about the latter end of April the Lord Lionel Duke of Clarence and Earl of Vlster Third Son born but the Second living of King Edward the Third
e Frois c. 239. fol. 143. Fabian p. 250. M.S. vet Ang. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 233. departed out of England with a Princely Equipage and set sail for France being received at Boulogne by several Persons of the Highest Quality and by them conducted to Paris At some distance from the City he was met by the Dukes of Berry and Burgundy and the Lord Ingleram of Coucy Earl of Bedford his Brother-in-Law who convey'd him to the Louvre to the Presence of the King of France his Lodgings being provided in the Kings own Palace The first day he din'd and supp'd with the King at his own Table the next day he dined with the Queen at another of the Kings Houses near St. Paul and having danced after dinner with the Ladies and passed his time in such Amorous Gallantries and Recreations as young Princes usually divert themselves with in presence of that agreeable Sex he was again by the two foresaid Dukes of Berry and Burgundy conducted back to the Louvre where he supped with the King that Night also On the day following the two Dukes entertain'd him in like Manner at One of their Houses named Artois in Paris and the Day after he dined and supp'd again with the Queen and on the next Day being a Thursday he took his leave of the King and Queen who gave unto him and to the Chief of the English Lords in his Company sundry Gifts to the Value of 20000 Florens And so he was convey'd as far as Sens in Champaigne by the Earl of Tancarville and other Noblemen and from thence to the utmost Bounds of France by Knights and Gentlemen of that Kingdom to whom at parting he gave several Rich Gifts with many thanks Having thus passed thrô France he came into Savoy where he was very kindly received at the City of Chambery by the Generous Earl of Savoy whose Sister the Lady Blanch was Wife to Galeas Duke of Milain and Mother to the Lady Violantis Prince Lionel's Espoused Lady Having tarried there three Days which were all spent in Magnificent Entertainments Balls and Dancing with the Ladies and Gentlewomen he took his leave and began to set forward the Earl himself bearing him Company to Milain Where he saw his Niece Daughter to Duke Galeas given in Marriage unto Prince Lionel in the Famous Cathedral of Milain on the 29 Day of May f Lit. Dom. B.A. Pasch 9. April being a Monday and the next day after the Festival of the Holy Trinity in the Year of our Lord MCCCLXVIII Duke Galeas in Honour of this his Son-in-Law g Paul. Jovins in Galeatio 2 do p. 152. ex co Stow p. 267. Sandford p. 220. is said to have spent such abundance of Treasure as seem'd to surpass the Magnificence of the most Wealthy Monarchs For not to mention all the Sumptuous Feasts Balls Justs and Tourneaments and other stately and divertive Spectacles set forth on this occasion nor to summ up the great and large Gifts which were given to the Lord Edward Spencer and more than 200 other English Gentlemen who came out of England to wait on the Prince the Marriage Feast alone was so extraordinary that We may by that Conjecture the Largeness of Duke Galeas his Soul the full satisfaction he had in this Match and the Abundance of his Coffers For in that One Feast where Francis Petrarch the Laureate Poet of Italy was present being for Honour of his Learning seated among the Guests of the Highest Quality there were above 30 Courses of service upon the Table and between every Course as many Presents of unusual Magnificence intermixed all which John Galeas the Duke's Son and Prince of the Chosen Youth that waited that day presented unto Prince Lionel as they were brought up to the Table In one Course were presented Seventy Good Horses richly Adorned and Caparizon'd with Silk and Embroider'd Furniture and in the other Courses came up Vessels of Silver Ger-Falcons Hounds Armour for Horses Costly Coats of Mail shining Breastplates of Massy Steel Corslets Helmets and Burganets adorned with High and Rich Crests and Plumes Surcoats embroider'd with costly Jewels Knights Girdles and lastly Pictures of Gold beset with Gems and Purple and Cloth of Gold for Mens Apparel in Great Abundance And such vast Provision was there at this Feast that the Meats which were brought from the Table would have plentifully sufficed 10000 Men. II. But while the Accomplished Young Prince lived with his New Lady after the Manner of his own Country in continual Sports and Revellings besides the more boistrous Exercise of Tourneaments as forgetting or not regarding his Change of Air and what Diet was most proper for the Italian Clime within Five Months after his Marriage he fell into a grievous Sickness in the City of Alba Pompeia now called Longeville in Italy in the Marquisate of Monferrato in Piedmont in the House of his Father in Law the Duke of Milain Whereupon perceiving his Disease to be Mortal by h Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 167. Sandford p. 221. his Testament bearing Date there upon the Third of October 1368 he bequeathed his Body to be buried in England in the Convent Church of the Augustine-Fryars at Clare in Suffolk before the High-Altar and gave thereto a Black-suit with all the Appurtenances as also his Black Cloth Embroider'd To his Lady Violantis He bequeathed his Vestment with Gold Coronets and all that belonged thereto Item to Sr. John Bromwick Knight his Courser called Ger-Falcon to Dr. John Capell his Chaplain a Girdle of solid Gold therewith to make a Chalice in Memory of his Soul to Thomas Waleis the Circle of Gold wherewith his Brother the Black-Prince was created Prince and to Edmund More the Circle wherewith he himself had been created Duke that we may pass over the many other Great Legacies which he gave to the Lord Edward Spencer Thomas Newborne Esquire and others then attending him in Italy And so being at that time i Vid. Ashmole's Garter c. One of the Companions of the most Noble Order of the Garter he finally departed this Life k Sandford Dugd. ex Escaet 43. Ed. 3. p. 1. n. 23 c. on the Vigil of St. Luke the Evangelist being a Tuesday and the 17 day of October the same Year not without suspicion of being * Knighton p. 2629 n. 50. poisoned by some subtle Italian trick to prevent that Glory which perhaps some Envy'd that he should attain He left behind him only One Daughter his Heir by Elizabeth his First Wife called Philippa then but l Sandford p. 222. 13 Years of Age and soon after given in Marriage to Edmund Mortimer the Third Earl of March of that Great Family from whom by the Mothers side came Edward the IV. Thô for the present he was deposited in the Chief Church of Pavia a City of Milain yet soon after according to his Testament his Body was brought over into England by Thomas Newborne
of Armagnac the Lord of Albret the Earl of Perigort the Earl of Cominges the Vicount of Carmaine the Lords of Cande De la Barde and Pincornet all who made heavy Complaints to the King how the Prince of meer Pride and Presumption would tread them under his Feet and raise new and unheard of Taxes upon their Lands which they said they would never suffer considering their Resort was to the Chamber of France Wherefore they humbly desired that the Prince might be summon'd to make his Appearance in the Parliament Chamber before the Peers of France there to Answer concerning those Grievances and Innovations which he had began to exercise against them The French King was not unwilling to entertain these Gascogners who thus required Justice of him as of their Sovereign Lord lest otherwise they should seek for Redress in some other place and so he should for ever lose the Sovereignty over them And on this account he at last condescended to their Request thô half against his Will for he could not but see that an open War would ensue thereby which he was very loath to move first at least without some plausible Pretence Besides at that time he saw his Realm not a little molested with the Companions and other Enemies and also he consider'd that his Brother the Duke of Berry with many others were still Hostages in England Wherefore he thought to deal wisely and get first his Hostages home and be fully provided of all things and to try the Hearts of the People thoroughly before he could absolutely resolve to summon the Prince of Wales And accordingly there were such subtle devices used that before any open Breach was made most of the Hostages got out of King Edward's Power as we shall see hereafter Particularly Prince John g Frois c. 244. Duke of Berry having received a private hint of these Matters obtain'd of King Edward to return into France and there to recreate himself among his Friends and Relations for the space of One Year but he order'd his Affairs so cunningly by his frequent excuses and the like that he drove off the time till the War was open and then he thought himself freed from all obligations of Returning And the Lord Guy of Luxemburgh Earl of St. Pol made shift by much subtlety to get into France without taking his leave of King Edward This Man was an Implacable Enemy to the English Nation so that he could neither endure to hear nor speak a good Word of them and now he urged on King Charles as much as he could to take the Gascogne Lords into his Protection for he verily believed that if once the Prince of Wales should be summon'd a War would most certainly ensue And to this Opinion of the Earl of St. Pol agreed several of the Chief Prelates Earls Barons and Knights of France who added how the King of England had not truly kept the Peace to which he had sworn and sealed according to the Tenor of the Treaty made at Bretigny near Chartres and afterwards confirmed at Calais For they said it was manifest how the English had hated and molested the Realm of France more since the Peace was made than ever they had done before And Sir said they what We now averr You shall find to be true if it will please You to cause the Charters of the Peace to be inspected and read before You even such as the King of England and the Prince his Son are by Faith and Oath obliged to perform Hereupon King Charles to be the better enformed of all the Truth and that he might not suffer any Encroachment upon the Rights of his Realm caused all the Charters of the Peace to be brought into the Council-Chamber and heard them read over more than once the better to consider and weigh the Point and Articles therein comprised Among others there was found One Letter on which the King and Council stood most because it seem'd to speak more clearly and plainly of what they now look'd for the Tenor whereof ran thus viz. EDWARD by the Grace of God King of England Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine to all who shall see these present Letters Greeting Know that in the final and last Accord and Peace made between Us and our Right Dear Brother the French King are contained two Articles comprised in the form following The First Where it is said how the foresaid Kings are bound to cause to be confirmed all the said Articles comprised in the Peace by the Bishop of Rome they to be deliver'd from the Court of Rome confirmed by Sentence touching the full Perfection and Accomplishment of this present Treaty unto each of the said Parties at least within three Weeks after the French King shall be arrived at Calais and also how to the intent that these Articles and Treaties passed may be more firm and stable there shall be made certain Bonds and deliver'd as followeth that is to say Letters sealed with the Seals of both the Kings and their Eldest Sons such as should be devised by the Councils of both the Kings And also the said Kings and their Children and others of the Prime Nobility to the Number of Thirty on either Part should swear that they would strictly observe and cause to be observed to their Power all the said Articles accorded and agreed on and perform the same without fraud or deceit And also that both the Kings and all their Friends and Allies should do their utmost to bring all Rebels to Obedience according to the form and true Intent of the Peace And also that both the Kings should submit themselves and their Realms to the Correction of the Bishop of Rome to the end that he should oblige by Ecclesiastical Censures those who should otherwise refuse to comply with this Peace and Accord And further both the Kings and their Heirs by Oath and Promise should renounce all Graces and Absolutions of any thing herein agreed to by them And thô by Disobedience Rebellion or Force of any of the Subjects of the French King the said King should be hindred from performing all the said Articles yet neither shall the King of England nor his Heirs for all that make any War upon the Realm of France but both Kings shall joyn together to bring those Rebels to Obedience and to acquiesce in the said Peace and Concord And thô the Subjects of the King of England should refuse to yield up any Towns Castles or Fortresses which they held in the Realm of France and which by reason of the Peace ought to be deliver'd or what any other Cause should hinder that the King of England could not perform what he ought by reason of this Treaty to perform yet the King of France shall not make War therefore upon the Dominions of the King of England but both the Kings shall joyn together to reduce those Rebels to Obedience and by force to recover such Towns Castles and Fortresses and to
the said Duke of Hainalt and yet by many other Ties were they obliged to the English Interest and each of them was by Covenant retain'd to serve King Edward with a 1000 Spears apiece at their own Charges And therefore they not only advised the King now to bring over Duke Albert but they also Themselves joyn'd their Perswasions so that what by their Means and the English Gold he was at first won to declare himself for England But when the Lord of Cominges who was then in the Court of France heard thereof he hasted into Hainalt where he menaged Matters so cunningly with the Lord John Verchin Seneschal of Hainalt by whose Advice all the Dukes Matters were chiefly order'd and who in his Heart lov'd the Interest of France beyond that of England that by the Concurrence of the Earl of Blois and the Lord John of Blois his Brother together with the Lord of Ligny and the Lord of Brabanson who were all well belov'd with the Duke and Dutchess of Hainalt King Edward's Design was wholly quash'd and the labour of his Ambassadors overthrown Thô even they could obtain no more of the Duke than this that both He and his Country would stand Neuter in the Affair and the same Answer was also return'd by the Lady Jane Dutchess of Brabant For at that time her Husband was absent being in France where he contracted secretly a League with that King. VI. And surely King Charles of France who was a notable Politician had secretly prepared himself many Friends both in Hainalt and Brabant almost two years before and had brought over to his Interest the greater part of the Chief Counsellors and Friends of all the Great Lords of both Dukedoms And now to put the better Gloss upon his renewing the War and to make his Cause more plausible in the Eyes of the World he copied out divers Extracts of the Letters relating to the Peace made at Bretigny and ratified at Calais and therein he set forth the Substance of what he according to his Obligation had done and of what the King of England and his Children had not done thô by Oath and Honour bound thereto All along producing such Articles and Points as made for Himself and against King Edward but cunningly concealing smothering or colouring what made to a contrary purpose So that his Cause seem'd only just and the English bare all the Blame And also he privately caused certain Learned in the Laws to be Feed to set forth their Opinions at large concerning the Right of the French King against the King of England both as to the Matter of the Crown and also to the Superiority and Resort of Aquitain and there are yet f M.S. Reverendi Dr. Joh. Spencer S.T.P. C.C.C. apud Cantab Magistri Decani Ecclesiae Cathed Eliensis Extant two Discourses on that Point written by two Famous Doctors of those Days belonging to the University of Bononia in Italy whose Names were John de Lyana and Richard de Salicete Many of which Papers and others of the like Nature together with his own Letters the French King procured to be published in the Courts of all the Princes and Great Lords his Neighbours the better to prepare them to allow of his Quarrel So that King Edward to save his Credit was obliged also to use his Pen against this New sort of Enemy and to justifie and defend his Claim and to prove the Breach of the Peace to lie wholly at the French Kings Doors which he performed notably by his Letters sent into Germany and other Places where he valued his Reputation or thought to have any Friends From which Humour of both the Kings g Paul. Aemyl p. 294. c. Paulus Aemylius rather ambitious to shew his Rhetorick than Historical Fidelity has invented two notable Declamations which he ingeniously enough fancies to have been said before Charles the Emperour and his Son Wenceslaus the one by an English Orator in Behalf of his Masters Cause and the other by a Frenchman who holds the contrary opinion Whereas if that Author had consulted Decorum he would have remembred that King Edward often protested to acknowledge no Mortal whether Pope or Emperour as Judge of his Controversie and that he had but little Reason to expect to find the Emperour any thing favourable to him since he slew his Father at the Battle of Cressy and could not be ignorant how mightily he was addicted as well as more nearly allied to King Charles and the House of France Wherefore we who religiously endeavour to avoid these Gaudy Vanities thô we have Matter enough of Authentick Arguments to fill up a Speech or two yet preferring the venerable simplicity of Truth to all the Fucoes of Vain-Glory shall here set down the Arguments on both Hands as they were then really stated by the Best Lawyers of both Kingdoms in which doing 〈◊〉 where our Authorities cannot be seen our Faith be called in question We declare not only that our selves are wholly ignorant in this as well as many other Sorts of Learning but that the Ancient Copies are to be seen in Latine in a M.S. of the Reverend Dr. Stillingfleet Dean of St. Pauls and in English in another M.S. of the Reverend Dr. Spencer Dean of Ely and Master of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge which English Copy appears to have been with much Care translated from the other by some Person of Quality for the Use of that Most Noble Prince of Wales Henry Eldest Son to King James the First And to omit the several Preambles touching Succession of Women and Succession by Representation as also touching Distance of Degrees and Collateral Succession I shall the readiest way come to the Matter but first thô in some measure we have more than once stated the Case before it is necessary for Evidence sake here again to set down the Matter of Fact as it happen'd in the Realm of France Videlicet That King Philip Son of St Lewis King of France had two Sons lawfully begotten Philip the Fair and Charles of Valois And that the said Philip being Eldest after the Death of his Father obtain'd the Kingdom and that Charles deceased leaving behind him Philip of Valois his Son lawfully begotten That afterwards Philip the Fair begat Three Lawfull Sons Lewis Philip and Charles and also One Daughter named Isabel who was married to the King of England and brought forth Edward the Third whilst the foresaid Philip Grandfather to the said Edward remain'd alive That at last Lewis and Philip Brothers to Isabell being Dead without Issue Male King h This to be favourably taken for Philip died first and then his Three Sons in order succeeded Arguments for the French Kings Right Philip their Father also died That after him reigned the foresaid Charles his only Son surviving who likewise died without Issue Now according to the State of the Fact the Question doth rise in Law to be this The Lady Isabell next
English who were not ignorant thereof took care of all their Traps neither venturing to ride loosely nor to leave the High-ways for fear of Ambushes they constantly Marched in Battle Array as ready for Fight And in this Manner they rode thrô Vimeux and the Earldom of Eu and entred into the Archbishoprick of Râ—üen and passed by Dieppe till they came in sight of Harfleur where they began to pitch their camp but the Earl of St. Paul had gotten into the Town beforehand with 200 Spears Three Days the English lay before the Place but gave no Assault for they saw this Succour rendred their Design fruitless so on the Fourth Day they began to Decamp and returned thrô the Lands of the Lord Stouteville where they burnt and destroy'd most part of his Country and wasted the Region called le Pais de Caulx whence they took their way thrô le Vexin Normand and having left severe Marks of their Displeasure whereever they came at last they approached toward Oisemont to repass the River of Soame at Blanchetteaque XXIX At this time the Captain of Abbeville for the French King was Sr. Hugh de Chastillon Master of the Crossbows of France who perceiving that the Duke of Lancaster Designed to pass the Soame Armed himself and only Ten or Twelve more of his Men with whom he took Horse saying How he would go and visit Rouvray and see how the Gate there was Defended because if the English passed that way they should not say but that it was carefully provided for This was done early in a Morning and it was a great Mist for it was now the bleaky Month of November At the same time there was in the Army with the Duke of Lancaster a Valiant English Gentleman named Sr. Nicolas Lovaine who had been Seneschal of Ponthieu for the King of England but was taken Prisoner as We shew'd the Year before by Sr. Hugh de Chastillon who Ransomed him at 10000 Franks This Ransom stuck grievously in his stomach and he sought all Opportunities to make a Reprisal It chanced so well for him that this very Morning whereon Sr. Hugh de Chastillon went abroad so slightly attended this St. Nicolas Lovaine had left the Army with Twenty Men of Arms in his Company as One that knew all the Passages Streights and Avenues of the Country for he had been acquainted thereabout for the space of three or four Years even during all the time of his Government For once therefore he resolv'd to venture himself between Abbeville and the Castle of Rouvray And so he rode by a little streight Passage thrô a Marish and planted himself and his Men among certain old waste and broken Houses but they stood so near to Abbeville that a Man would never have suspected that any English Men durst have laid an Ambush in that Place However here Sr. Nicolas and his Men lay close observing as well as they could with their Eyes and Ears who ever should pass that way backward or forward At last came Sr. Hugh of Chastillon thrô the same narrow way with Ten or Twelve Men in his Company himself all Armed except his Helmet which his Page bare after him riding on his Masters great Courser and so he passed over a little River that was there thinking to go and speak with the Crossbow Men that kept the Gate to know what they heard of the English By that time the Mist was pretty well clear'd up and Sr. Nicolas Lovaine saw and knew him perfectly and could not have been better pleas'd if One had given him 20000 Franks Then he came out of his Ambush and said to his Men Come on now Sirs lustily yonder 's the Man I look for 'T is the Master of the Crossbows whom I desire to have above all Men living And with that he couched his Spear in his Rest set spurs to his Horse and came upon Sr. Hugh de Chastillon all of a sudden and said aloud Yield your self Chastillon or You are but a Dead Man. Sr. Hugh much wonder'd whence these Men of Arms should come so suddenly upon him for he had not time to clap on his Helmet nor to mount his Courser which his Page rode on while he us'd a light Gelding So that being sensible of his Disadvantage he asked who he should yield to Sr. Nicolas answer'd to your old Acquaintance Lovaine There Sr. Hugh was fain to yield himself but in taking of him and his Men there was slain a Valiant Citizen of Abbeville called Laurence Denson which was a trouble to Sr. Hugh but 't was his own fault for he made Resistance When Sr. Nicolas had taken Sr. Hugh de Chastillon he said unto him Come on Sr. Hugh See yonder there Marches the Duke of Lancaster and his Men who intend to pass the Soame hard by And thus Sr. Nicolas Lovaine by good Fortune took Sr. Hugh de Chastillon Master of the Crossbows of France and Captain of Abbeville for whose Loss the said City was much troubled but the Duke of Lancaster and the English were well pleased And afterward Sr. Nicolas made him pay a Ransom of Twenty Thousand Franks which was Double the Sum Sr. Hugh had before extorted from him XXX That Day the Duke of Lancaster passed the River of Soame at Blanchetteaque after which he Marched toward the strong Town of Rue on the Maye and so to Montrevil till at last by several Journeys he return'd again in safety to Calais But the Renowned x Walsing hist p. 178. n. 40. M.S. vet Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 233. Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick died in the way of the Plague as some say thô I am not enclin'd to Credit that any more than what the same Author says of his frighting away the French Army and of his going up as far as Normandy and wasting the Land of Caulx whereas we find the Duke of Lancaster the Head of this Expedition and the Earl one of his Marshals But Walsingham flourish'd in a time when the House of John of Gaunt was commonly hated and slander'd as it was in the Days of Richard the Second so that no doubt common Report did more readily attribute all Successfull Matters to any other than to the said Duke of Lancaster However that part of this Great Earls Character deserves our Credit where t is said that he hardly left his Equal behind him for Courage and Loyalty His Death happen'd y Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 234. on the 13 of November in the 62d Year of his Age and his Body was afterwards brought over into England and Solemnly interred in the Midst of the Choire of the Collegiate Church of Warwick according to the Direction of his last Will and Testament Where his Tomb is still to be seen with the Statues of him and his Countess in White Marble excellently Cut the Sculp of which Monument is to be seen in Sr. William Dugdale's z P. 318. Antiquities of Warwickshire He left many Children
to go and joyn the Duke of Berry with all his Retinue of Men of Arms Knights and Esquires Whereupon he took the first opportunity of leaving Paris and took the way toward Orleans to go into Berry to the Duke And yet all this while the Companions on the French side kept the Field holding Frontier War against the English in Rouvergue and Quercy and did much Mischief daily in the Country thereabout as on the other hand Sr. Lewis of St. Julian and Carlonet the Breton were ready on the Marches of Poictou to take all Advantages they could think on IX Against all these Preparations of France we shall see by and by what Provision the Black-Prince made but over and above all that King Edward who saw his own Honour and Right concern'd in this War made against his Son was as vigilant on the other hand and resolved to set forth two considerable Armies also on his part First he order'd his Son John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster with 400 Men of Arms and 4000 Archers to go into the Principality of Aquitaine to his Brothers Assistance For he verily believed that the French King would turn the greatest stress of his Arms that way But yet by Advice of his Council he sent another Army into Picardy under the Command of Sr. Robert Knolles in this bearing testimony to the former Choice of the Prince his Son who had made that Great Captain one of his Generals And He for his part nothing puff'd up with the Approbation of two such Illustrious Personages went roundly and wisely about his business making haste to go as strong as he might for Calais thence to make an Impression into France in such a manner as to gain a Confirmation of the Esteem his Sovereign had for him by a pitch'd Battle with the French which he thought they would not refuse And that he might have the greater Authority the King gave him Commission to pardon Rebells and to treat with such as were willing to submit or to accept of Conditions or come to the Peace of the King as likewise the c Ashmole p. 675. ex Ret. Vasc 44. Ed. 3. m. 5. Duke of Lancaster on his part had another Commission to receive into Favour and wholly to pardon such of his Cities Castles Towns and Inhabitants as well in Aquitaine as other parts of France as should return to his Obedience and to do and exercise all Power given in his said Commission with the Consent of the Prince if Present and in his absence as the King's Lieutenant to do what the King himself could do if personally there And that Care might be taken in Civil Affairs the King reserving still to Himself the Sovereignty and Resort in those Territories sent a Blank d Dat. 10 Junii Ret. Vasc 44. Ed. 3 ibid. Commission for the Prince to insert the Names of such as he should think fit to appoint for Judges or Delegates to hear all Causes as well Criminal as Civil upon Appeals from the Prince's Court But of the Success of these Armies We shall speak hereafter About this time the Lady Isabella of Valois Mother to the Duke of Bourbon was deliver'd out of Prison in Exchange for Sr. Simon Burley by the menagement of Sr. Eustace Dambreticourt who as he had e Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 95. obtain'd the good Fortune of Marrying the Young Widow of John late Earl of Kent became a perpetual servant to that Charming Sex which had so highly grac'd him So that by his obliging Deportment to this Lady of Bourbon he not only obtain'd her Good Word ever after but also thereby extreamly gratify'd the Duke her Son who in time found an opportunity to repay this his Kindness and moreover he gain'd no small Favour thereby from the French Queen her self who sent him a most Rich Present with her particular Thanks X. Now there f Frois ibid. had been for some time a Treaty on Foot between the French King and the King of Navarre who lay then at Cherbourg in Normandy For the King of France was advis'd by any means to make sure of that Inconstant and Troublesome Man and to bring him off from the King of England his Council telling him That it was no time to make War with the King of Navarre for he should find his Hands full enough with the business of England and that therefore on occasion he had better recede from a part of his Right to please that froward Prince than by leaving him in Discontent to set him upon Counsels highly Prejudicial to the whole Realm of France For if Navarre should once permit the English to enter his Fortresses of Cherbourg or Coutances which was much to be feared they might e'n do what they pleased in Normandy By these and the like Reasons the French King was perswaded to hold a good Correspondence with the King of Navarre even upon any Terms whatsoever So that going himself to Roüen he sent from thence unto him the Archbishop of that Place and the Bishop of Enreux the Earls of Alenson and Salebruce Dr. William Dorman and Dr. Robert de Lorraine who found him at Vernon a City of Normandy about Eight Leagues from Roüen on the other side the Seyne Here they were well feasted by the King of Navarre and on Security given obliged him to bear them Company back to Roüen where he was expected by his Good Brother the French King. And here in short Articles were drawn up the Peace made and all Former Alliances and Confederations with France renewed engrossed sworn to Signed and Sealed The King of Navarre at the same time renouncing all Obligations of Love and Friendship made at any time before between himself and the King of England and engaging upon his Return into Navarre to send and defie both the Prince of Aquitaine and his Father In sign of which new Agreement the King of Navarre went with full Confidence along with the French King from Roüen to Paris where again all former Obligations were renewed and mutual Faith and Friendship solemnly repeated not without many extraordinary Caresses Feasts and Entertainments After all which the King of Navarre took his leave of Paris having left his two Sons Charles and Peter with the King their Uncle as Pledges of his Faith and he himself not daring after this to go thrô the Principality rode to Mompellier whence he went into the Earldom of Foix and so came at last into his own Country where for a while We shall leave him XI It may be remembred how the Duke of Anjou for his part had undertaken to invade Guienne by the way of Agenois for he extreamly hated the Prince of Wales and the whole English Name and Nation He was now making his Rendezvous at Tholouse where he only tarried for Sr. Bertram of Clequin who came at last by the King of Spains leave and then Anjou began his March. At which very time the Duke of Lancaster went on board at
was called the RESTORER OF FRANCE unless perhaps he had Command from the King so to do which is not unlikely However the Earl of Salisbury having taken a convenient Plat of Ground before Brest when he saw that the French and Bretons moved not forward sent an Herald to the Constable who being brought before him said Sir my Lord the Earl of Salisbury and the other Lords of England send you Word by me who am an Herald of Arms how they understand that some while since you laid siege to the Castle of Brest and how certain Treaties and Compositions were made between you and those of the Garrison importing that if they were not relieved by such a Day which is now at hand then they should deliver up the Town and Castle into your Hands Wherefore Sir may it please you to know that they are now come before Brest to keep their Day and to defend the Place And for your part they expect you should repair to meet them which if you shall do they promise you Battle without fail But if you refuse thus much then they require you to send them again such Hostages as you have upon this Account The Constable answer'd subtlely Herald whereas you tell us how the English are come to give us Battle you bring us good News and are therefore Welcome You shall tell your Masters also that we are more desirous to fight with them than they can be with us but yet they are not in that Place where the Treaty was confirmed and authorised Therefore let them know that if they will come hither without fail we will present them with Battle This the Politick Constable spake because he knew it impossible for them to go as far as Nantes where the Treaty was made on Foot since it was more than 40 leagues off from Brest With this Answer the Herald return'd to the Earl of Salisbury who thereupon sent him back again with another Message which he thus deliver'd Sir I am come again to you from my Lords and Masters to whom I have related your first Answer from Point to Point But Sir they say how they are Men of the Sea and being lately come thence have no Horses with them and that they are not accustomed to travel far on Foot. But this they say that if you will send them your Horses they will come to what Place you will appoint and give Battle to keep touch with you No more haste than good Speed reply'd the Constable we are not in the humour to do our Enemies such a Kindness as to send them our Horses it would surely be a small piece of Wisdom so to do And yet if we had such a Purpose we should demand good and sufficient Hostages which should be responsible for our Horses again Sir said the Herald I have no Orders to say any thing as to that Matter But this Sir they commanded me to tell you that if you will not yield thus much you cannot lawfully detain the Hostages which are in your Hands Wherefore Sir in sending them back you will do honourably as you ought to do The Constable said he was not advis'd to do any such thing and so the Herald return'd to the Earl of Salisbury before Brest When he heard that the French would neither give him Battle nor restore the Hostages he was extreamly displeased but however there he tarried till the Day was expired and he found that the Constable did but dodge with him The next Day following the limited time he entred Brest and revictuall'd the Town and reinforced the Garison greatly after which he return'd to his Ships to keep the Marches and Frontiers on the Sea-coasts as he had been commanded by King Edward to do On the other side when the Constable saw that the English came not forward to fight him which indeed he never thought they could do he said the Hostages were all his Prisoners because the Appointment was not truly kept for the Earl of Salisbury had newly reinforced and victuall'd the Garrison and so he sent the Hostages to Prison Which Procedure of the Constable's was certainly more full of French Fineness than of any True Honour or Heroick Courage When the Earl of Salisbury was gone and Brest fully secured Sr. Robert Knolles rode away from Brest with certain Good Men of Arms and went straight to his own Fortress of Derual News thereof came presently to the Constable and the Duke of Anjou who were then at Nantes whereupon they supposed as indeed it happen'd For soon after Sr. Robert sent them word that he would keep no such Agreement as his Men had made in his Absence without his Leave seeing they had no sufficient Authority so to do When the Duke of Anjou heard this he resolved to go Personally and besiege Derual but the Prosecution of this we shall refer to another more proper Place and speak now of the Duke of Lancaster XIII This Valiant Prince r Frois c. 310. f. 190. with the Duke of Bretagne in his Company and an Army of above 30000 Men whereof there were 3000 Men of Arms and 10000 Archers landed safely at Calais about the beginning of July the same Expedition being design'd the Year before but that it was put off for that time by reason of the Business of Thoüars In this Army besides the two Dukes of Lancaster and Bretagne there were the Earls of Warwick Stafford and Suffolk the Lord Edward Spencer one of the Greatest Barons of the Realm at that time Constable of all the Host the Lord Robert Willoughby the Lord Michael de la Pole the Lord Ralph Basset of Drayton the Lord Ralph Basset of Sapcote the Lord Thomas Holland the Canon Robsart the Lord Henry Percy the Lord Lewis Clifford the Lord William Beauchamp the Lord John Falvesle the Lord John Burwash the Lord John Mohun Sr. Richard Ponchardon Sr. Walter Hewet Sr. Stephen Cossington Sr. John Bourchier Sr. Matthew Gournay Sr. John Harpedon Sr. Robert Twyford Sr. Matthew Redmayne Sr. Geoffry Say Sr. Thomas Spencer Sr. Thomas Fowkes Sr. Hugh Brudnel Sr. Nicolas Gascogne Sr. Geoffry Werkesly Sr. Thomas Emerton Sr. John Chandler Sr. Philip Cambray Sr. Lionel Dautrey and many Others whose Names at this Distance are not easily recoverable The French King who knew beforehand of all this mighty Preparation against him had provided sufficiently for the Defence of his Cities Towns Castles and Fortresses in Artois Picardy and Vermandois having well stock'd them with Souldiers as Frenchmen Bretons Burgundians Picards Normans and divers that belonged to the Empire The Duke of Lancaster having staid a while at Calais to refresh his Men and to fit the Carriages whereof there was in Abundance began on the 20 of July to march from Calais in three Great Bodies as well order'd as possibly could be devised First went the Battails of the Marshals who were the Earls of Warwick and Suffolk Then came the two Dukes of Lancaster and Bretagne and with them a
Manny at the same time resigning his Lands also had the Earl of Pembroke and all the other Prisoners rendred back For whom they were now to make their Bargain as well as they could For the Ransom of the Lord Thomas Percy the strong Castle of Liziniac was yielded up to the French But the manner of the Lord Gutschard D'Angoulesme's Redemption was thus It may be remembred how we shew'd before that the Lord of Roy was still a Prisoner in England and likely enough to continue so because King Edward loved him not Now this Lord who was of High Birth and Estate had no Children but only one Daughter a Fair young Lady his Sole Heiress During his Imprisonment at this time his Friends proffer'd this Lady in Marriage to Sr. Oliver Manny a Knight of Bretagne Sr. Bertram of Clequin's Nephew on Condition he could obtain the Delivery of the Lord of Roye by Exchange for any one or more of his Prisoners Whereupon Sr. Oliver Manny sent to King Edward of England to know what Knight next the Earl of Pembroke he would have deliver'd in Exchange for the Lord of Roye The King hereupon intimating his particular Esteem for Sr. Guischard Dangle the Exchange was made and Sr. Oliver Manny married the Lord of Roye's Daughter with which Fortune he was so well pleased that he procured the other English Lords and Knights with all the rest of the Prisoners to be deliver'd for very easie Ransoms But as for the Earl of Pembroke p Frois ibid. no less than 6000 Florens of Florence were set on his Head for which certain Merchants of Flanders engag'd being to pay the Money at Bruges upon News of his safe Delivery at Calais 'T is q Walsingh hist p. 185. n. 20. thought the Spaniards upon his leaving them had given him a Dose For soon after this Bargain for his Redemption he began to be so extream sick that the Constable of France fearing the loss of his Money by his Death made hast to convey him by easie journeys from Paris in an Horse-litter But a Feaver came so violently upon him that he died by the way at Arras and so the Constable lost his Money He departed this Life on the r Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 577. ex Esc 49. Ed. 3. n. 70. sixteenth Day of April in the Year of our Lord 1375 being the following Year till the beginning whereof this business of the Prisoners was not settled He left behind him Å¿ Dugd. ibid. p. 578. one Son his Heir named after his Name John then but two Years old and an half and not born when his Father was taken Prisoner Which young Child proving of a very forward Vertue exceeding Hopefull and Towardly was afterwards in the Flower of his Youth being but seventeen Years of Age slain in a Tilt by an unlucky slip of Sr. John St. John's Lance to the great Regret of the King and of the whole Court because he was a Person of so Noble a Disposition as well as Extract and in Courage Bounty and Courtesie exceeded most of his Age and Dâ—gree I do not love to trample upon the Dead and to kill them again in their Reputation But for Example sake we must not conceal what some have observed to have been the occasion of these Judgments upon this Noble Earl and his Family It is first said t M.S. in Bibl. Bodlei K. 8. Cant. 186. b. that ever since Emery de Valence Earl of Pembroke and Ancestor of this Hastings sat among those who gave Sentence of Death against Thomas Earl of Lancaster in the Days of King Edward the Second none of the succeeding Earls of Pembroke ever saw his Father so as to be sensible of him nor any Father of them saw his Child or but an Infant But as for this Earl John whom we observe to have been taken Prisoner on the Eve of St. John Baptist which it seems is the Festival of St. Ethelred the Virgin many in those Days took occasion thence to censure that he was thus pursued by God's Judgments for the injury he had done to the Church of that Holy Virgin at Ely in a Cause depending betwixt the Church of St. Edmundsbury and that before his last Departure out of England And that the Money so lost did no more good forasmuch as it had been extorted from Religious Houses and the Clergy Thô surely u Walsing ibid. n. 26. Walsingham is too precise in fixing his Death also on the Day of the same Virgin Saint since it appears by Record to the contrary as we have shewn But x Walsing hist p. 182. Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 577. others attributed this ill Success to his having lead an Adulterous Life being a Married Man also because he had in Parliament attempted an Infringement of the Churches Liberties and persuaded the King to lay heavier Taxes upon the Clergy than on the Laiety for the support of his Wars Which practice of Pilling and Polling the Church however the Temporal Lords were pleased therewith yet what Success ensued thereupon saith y Walsingh hist p. 182. Walsingham not only England but the whole World doth know I dare not accuse the Earl of these Crimes because 't is evident how the Monks in those Days were apt to attribute every Mischance that a Man met with to the Hand of God stretch'd out for their sakes wherefore I leave the Discussion of this Matter to the judgment of the Reader However the Earl of Pembroke dying thus in the Flower of his Age having then seen but twenty seven Years His Body was brought over into England and buried first in the Choir of the Fryers-Preachers at Hereford but afterwards for the Summ of an 100 l. Translated to the Grey-Fryers near Newgate in London now called Christ-Church This Earl John z Pat. 51. Ed. 3 m. 29 per Inspeâ—imus Esc 49. Ed. 3. n. 10. Claus 49. Ed. 3. in Dorso in the Fourty Third Year of King Edward having obtained Licence for that purpose of the King made a Feoffment to Walter Amias and others of all his Castles Lordships Lands and Mannors in England and in Wales to certain Uses Which Feoffment being left seal'd up in the Hands of his Feoffees to be kept till his Return from beyond the Seas was now upon his Death deliver'd up to the Kings Council who thereupon opening it found that in case he died without Issue of his Body the Town and Castle of Pembroke should come to the King his Heirs and Successors and the Castle and Lordship of Bergavenny and other his Lands in England and Wales to his Cousin William Beauchamp his Mothers Sister's Son in Fee provided he would bear his Arms and endeavour to obtain the Title of Earl of Pembroke But in case he should decline so to do then his Kinsman William Clinton to have them on the same Conditions IX There died a Jacob Meyer Annal. Flandr l. 13. p. 193. c. this Year the Famous
that the Marshal should play the Master there as he had begun even althô he said Nay At last after much crowding they all got thrô and came into our Ladies Chappel where the Duke and other Barons sat themselves down with the Archbishop and other Bishops John Wickliff standing before them according to the usual Manner ready to answer what should be objected unto him The Lord Marshal first brake silence desiring Mr. Wickliff to sit down and alledging that he had many things to answer to and therefore had need of some Repose But the Bishop of London said He should not sit down there for neither was it according to Law nor Reason that He who was cited there to appear to answer before his Ordinary should sit down during the time of his Answer but rather stand These Words created others and they brought forth more the Bishop standing upon the Privilege of his Place and Function and the Marshal on his own and the Duke's Authority so that many bitter words and Menaces passed on both sides to the great Offence and Scandal of the People But then the Duke began to take the Marshals part and warmly chode the Bishop who was not a whit behind hand with him so that the r Erubuit Dux quod non petuit praevalere litigio hist Men. D. Albani ibid. Duke was asham'd to find himself worsted by the Bishop and threatned that he would shortly bring down the Pride not only of him but of all the Prelacy of England and to the Bishop he said Sir You are too bold and all in Confidence * He was a Younger Son to Hugh Courtney second Earl of Devonsâ—ire of that Name and of the Lady Margaret Daughter to Humphry Behun Earl of Hereford and Essex Eighth of that Name by his Wife Elizabeth Daughter of King Edward the First His Parents were both now living thô the Earl his Father died on the 2d of May this Year of your Parents who yet will not be able to help you they shall have enough to do to help themselves To whom the Bishop reply'd That he ought to be bold in declaring the Truth but that his Confidence was not in his Parents nor in any Mortal Man but in the living God alone in whom he trusted Then the Duke softly whisper'd to one that sat next him how he had rather drag the Bishop out of the Church by the Hair of his Head than take this at his Hands However this was not utter'd so softly but that some of the Londoners overheard him who being enraged thereupon cry'd out that they would never see their Bishop so abused but rather lose their Lives then that any one should draw him out of his Church by the Hair. Upon this Contention that Council was dissolved before Nine of the Clock and the Duke with the Lord Percy return'd to the Parliament then sitting at Westminster Wickliff being easily dismiss'd thô not without a Prohibition neither to preach nor write any more in defence of those Articles which were objected to him VII 'T is said that that same day before Dinner there was put up in Parliament by the Lord Thomas of Woodstock the Kings youngest Son and the Lord Henry Percy Marshal of England a certain Bill as in the Kings Name importing that the City of London should no more be govern'd by a Mayor but by a Captain as in times past And that the Marshal of England should have the sole ordering of Arrests within the said City as elsewhere with many other Articles tending to the Diminution of the Liberties of London Which Bill being read there stood up a Worthy Patriot Alderman John Philpot one of the Burgesses of that City who spake so notably against the said Bill and pleaded so strongly in behalf of the Charters and Privileges of that Famous Metropolis that immediately the Bill was flung out of the House and the Name of Alderman Philpot much set by I can find no Warrant for this indeed in the Records of the said Parliament which we have faithfully exhibited before and therefore dare not absolutely lean to the belief thereof But whether it was really so or only cunningly nois'd abroad by some seditious Arts to stir up the People however we find that the next day the Londoners assembled in Council to consider of the Matter and also how far the Power of the Marshal extended not forgetting to take notice of the Affronts put upon their Bishop the Day before While thus the Chief Citizens were entertain'd with sober Debates and perhaps only prepar'd some Petition or Remonstrance to shew unto the Parliament in the behalf of their City the Commons understanding that One of their Body was then in Prison in the Marshals House which stood within their Liberties being secretly animated by some considerable Beautefeus whom for several Reasons I cannot with others believe to have been the Lord Guy Bryan and the Lord Walter Fitz-Walter went immediately in great Fury to the House of the Lord Percy where breaking up the Gates they took out the Prisoner by force and burnt the Stocks wherein he had been set in the midst of the City Then they sought for the Lord Percy for whom all Corners and Privy-Chambers were searched and the Beds and Hangings torn in pieces with their Bills and Javelins But He it seems was at that time happily out of the way being together with the Duke of Lancaster invited to Dinner by one John of Ipres at his house Å¿ Stow's Survey of London p. 260. called Ipres-Inne in Knight-Riders Street of which the Londoners knew nothing but thought they were at the Dukes House called the Savoy and so posted thither in great fury But one of the Dukes Knights observing this madness of the People went in great haste to the Place where his Lord the Duke was and when for all his Knocking he could not be admitted he said aloud to the Porter whose name was Haveland Hark you Haveland If you love my Lord the Duke and your Life open the Gate At these Words he was let in and in great fear told the Duke that there were infinite Numbers of Armed Men searching for him so that if he had not a Care that day would be his last At this the Duke leap'd so hastily from his Oysters that he hurt both his Legs against the Form Wine was offer'd but he could not drink for haste and so fled at a Back gate with the Lord Henry Percy and taking a Barge at the Thames never left Rowing till they came to an house near the Mannor of Kennington where at that time the Princess-Mother of Wales lay with her young Son Richard before whom he made his Complaint against the outragious Insolence of the Citizens And the Princess promised him to take such Order in this Matter as should be to his Content The mean t Fox Acts Mon. p. 394. while the Commons of London had beset the Dukes House called the Savoy where
a certain Priest began to question them about the Reason of this their unusual rage and concourse He was answer'd by some of them that they sought for the Duke and the Lord Marshal to get them to deliver Sr. Peter de la Mare whom they wrongfully detained in Prison To this the Priest answer'd again more boldly than wisely That Sr. Peter said he is a false Traytor to the King and worthy to have been hanged long since At these words the Rabble cry'd out upon him with a terrible shout saying that he was a Traytor and so falling upon him wounded him to Death VIII Nor in all likelihood had the Tumult thus ceased had not the Bishop of London leaving his Dinner at the first News of this Disturbance come to them at the Savoy and putting them in mind of the solemn season of Lent with much ado perswaded them to go home and be quiet However as they were returning to the City seeing they could do no harm to the Dukes person who was now out of their Reach they began to wreak their Anger on all that they could find belonging unto him and taking his Arms in the most shamefull manner they hung them up Reversed in divers parts of the City as if he had been a Traytor Nay when One of the Dukes Gentlemen came riding thrô the City with a Plate of the Dukes Arms about his Neck these Men not enduring such a sight flang him from his Horse tore away his Cognisance from him and had certainly served him as they had served the Priest but that the Mayor came opportunely to his Rescue and sent him home safe to the Duke his Master So hatefull at that time was the Duke of Lancaster to the Londoners IX When the Princess understood how ill-affected the Londoners stood unto the Duke she sent unto them Three of her Knights Sr. Aubrey de Vere Sr. Simon Burley and Sr. Lewis Clifford to entreat them to be reconciled unto the Duke They for their parts answer'd how for the Honour of the Princess they would obey and with all Reverence be ready to do whatever she should please to require But however this they said and charged the Messengers to tell the Duke as much by word of Mouth that they were resolved that the Bishop of Winchester and Sr. Peter de la Mare should be brought to their Answer and judged by their Peers So that either they might be acquitted If they were Guiltless or if culpable receive their due according to the Laws of the Realm At the same time the Mayor and Common-Council of London sent certain u Daniel's hist p. 359 c. of their Chief Citizens to the Old King to make their Excuse concerning this Tumult protesting that they themselves were no way privy thereto but upon the first Knowledge sought by all means to suppress the same Which they could not do because the whole Commonalty was in a Commotion upon an Information that their Liberties should be taken from them by Parliament The King told them that it never enter'd into his heart to infringe their Liberties it was rather his Desire to enlarge them And therefore he willed them to banish all needless fear occasion'd by too easie Credulity and to return and endeavour to keep the City in Quiet which they did being well satisfied with this Answer We shall not here dwell on the minuter parts of this Story nor shew what Indignation and Grief the Duke conceived hereat nor what means and suit the Londoners were fain to make to the King his Father for their Liberties nor what Rhymes and Ballads were made upon the Duke in London nor how the Bishops at the Duke's instance were obliged to excommunicate all his Defamers nor how at last he was revenged of these contumelious injuries having caused the Mayor and Aldermen to appear before the King where they were sharply rebuked for their Misdemeanor by the Grave Oration of Sr. Robert Ashton the Kings Chamberlain in presence of the King Archbishops Bishops the Kings Children and the Chief Nobility of the Realm nor how they were then and there enjoyned at the Publique Charges of the City to make a Great Taper of Wax which with the Dukes Arms set upon it should be brought in solemn Procession to the Church of St. Paul there to burn continually before the Image of our Lady Nor how at last in the beginning of the next Kings Reign the Duke and the Londoners were fully reconciled together with the Kiss of Peace and the said Reconciliation published in the Churches of St. Paul and Westminster to the great joy of the whole City Nor shall I speak any farther of John Wicklisse x Odor Rainal ad hunc an §. 4. Walsingh hist p. 201 c. how the Pope wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury and to the Bishop of London to convene him once more and how the Princess of Wales deliver'd him nor how lastly he was fain to retire into Bohemia where he spread his Doctrine For these Matters do neither in their own Nature nor Time agree with our present Design X. All these things I pass over as Matters either foreign or of small Moment so likewise I leave in silence the y Vid. M. S. Vet. Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 238. Riot made between the Earl of Warwicks Men and the Abbot and Monks of Evesham as also z Fox Acts Men. p. 394. the hurlyburly made at Laneham in Suffolk against Henry Spencer the Warlike Bishop of Norwich and other trivial Matters And haste now to an end of King Edward's Life and our Labour About this time Sr. John Menstreworth that false Knight of whose abominable Treason We a Vid. Hujus hist l. 4. c. 7. §. 23. 24. p. 809 c. spake in the Fourty Fourth Year of this King was suddenly b M.S. vet Ang. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 239. Walsingh hist p. 189. Fabian p. 262. Holinsh p. 998. surprised by certain Englishmen in Pampelone a City of Navarre and being presently sent over into England was now tryed before the Mayor and other the Kings Justices in the Guild-hall at London where these things were proved home upon him namely That being entrusted by his Sovereign Lord the King and having received considerable Sums of Money to pay the Kings Souldiers therewith he had falsly and like a Traytor kept the Money to his own use also that he had maliciously occasion'd a Dissention and Discord in the Kings Army and thereby gave the Enemy advantage against them Whereof being accused unto the King and fearing the Punishment due unto him therefore like a false and forsworn Traytor he fled into France unto the Kings Enemies and there was sworn unto the French King and conspired against his Natural Lord and Master undertaking to direct the Spanish Navy and bring them into England to the Confusion and Destruction of his Native Country Of all which he was fully convicted and
valiant Men and could not be surpris'd because they durst not yet take their rest without very good Watch and a strong Guard as well for doubt of the Common Enemy as for fear of the English Archers whom they had so incens'd as we shew'd before Let any man of Reason consider whether it be possible for such a Company of Horsemen to pass even to the heart of such an Army and repass again with little or no dammage being all the while attended with such Noise and Tumult What no Trenches to hinder their Progress No Troops appointed to secure the Watch and to walk the Rounds None ready to draw a Sword or to let an Arrow slip from a Bow If not one was slain what made Douglas go off with so small an Execution when Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans made shift to kill twenty thousand Persians in one night Or why did he not come with the whole strength of his Army then as Hector saies he might have slain them every Mothers Son But having made this Tryal which succeeded better than he could imagin and finding the Army began to be Roused he sav'd his own Men and went off Why Even the Womanlike Army of e Herodot l. 7. Justin l. 2. Orosius l. 2. c. 9. Xerxes to which an enemy cannot compare the English could make a shift to stop the return of as noble a General as Douglas thô attended with three hundred Spartans and seven hundred Others as brave Fellows no doubt as those Scotchmen who yet fell silently upon the Persians without any noise or warning at all It cannot be that the English should then be either so effeminate or so negligent or so overcome with surfits at that time that they could not with half this Noise be allarm'd so as to rouze up and rally together and intercept these bold Intruders I rather therefore believe that Earl Douglas intended a crafty and more probable and no less honourable Undertaking of destroying the Kings own Person whose Tent he might easily have observed by some Penon or Cognisance and so hoped to put the English Army to the rout upon loss of their General as the Assyrians fled upon the Death of Holofernes That he intended to secure his Retreat by these select and fleet Horses which were sufficient to skirmish with any Troop that should suddenly pursue after him And it is f Knighton p. 2552. said by a diligent Historian of those very Days who had seen and known and g Id. p. 2627. heard King Edward discourse that Douglas came into the Camp by stealth aiming to find out the Kings Pavilion and that being descried by some of the Watch he said always in English as if he had been one of the Rounds No Ward Ha! St. George And so not being question'd he came at last to the Tent Royal where he stew the Kings i Tinemouth Aur. Histor in aedilus Lambeth f. 229. Chamberlain and after that a stout loyal Soul his Chaplain who ran toward the King to wake him but was slain in the endeavour as he also interpos'd his own Body to prevent the blow aim'd at the King. With this rude shock the Valourous Young King awakes and immediatly snatches his good Sword which hung ready-naked at his Beds head and leaps out on the other side the Bed to oppose this bold Adventurer who seeing now his work not likely to be clearly performed and doubting there had been too great noise already retires but just before the Kings Tent was filled with his faithfull Subjects by many of whom he is strait persu'd on all hands But whether by some connivance of Mortimers or that himself had well consider'd all the Avenues of the Camp being a most expert Commander or that his readiness in English made him not perceived or that Fortune loves to be propitious to them that court her gallantly Douglas himself escapes clear off thô very k Tinemouth ibid Knighton p. 2552. n. 10. hardly but many of his Men were left behind Either of these ways in my opinion makes equally for the honour of that valiant Scotch Lord but this latter as it wants not good and ancient Attestors so to me it seems upon many accounts much more probable than the other However the Action of this night taught the English to keep more sure Watch and Ward for the future and some certain Troops held their appointed Posts standing in Harness all night by turns but every day they skirmished each Part dividing their losses and gains almost equally For the Scots never came over to the English otherwise they had been surrounded with good Bands of Men and so all taken or slain but the English ever ventur'd over with Gallantry enough and generally they had the better but when the Scots sent out more numerous Detachments from their Main Body which because they were fewer in number than the English they did not often for they doubted if too much they broke their Array that the whole English Forces would follow the Skirmishers This was the manner of both Armies for about twenty four l Ashmele p. 645 days in all when it chanced a Scotch Knight of some quality was taken prisoner and brought before the King and his Barons where being roughly menaced and strictly examin'd he at last with much ado confessed in what evil Condition the Scots at that time were and being prest yet further he told them how their Generals had ordain'd that the same night every one should be ready arm'd and follow the Banners of the Lord Douglas but what to doe as it was by the Council kept secret so the Knight ingenuously protested that he was wholly ignorant Upon this the King withdrawing to Council it was concluded by all because the Lord Douglas was now the Leader of this Enterprize that they certainly intended to give them a general Onset as that night on each Flank of the Army as expecting to find Success answerable to the late Undertaking their Dispair thrô so long a siege attended with such difficulties making them resolve at one Blow to hazard all For the Knight had confessed a great Famine among them Then three great Battails were ordain'd the One to stand before the Camp toward the Enemy the other Two facing about on each side to receive them both on right and left if occasion should be Great Fires also were appointed to be kindled on all Parts that they might avoid confusion or surprize the better and the Watches were placed at several distances and Scouts sent out to inform the Host of the Enemies motions the Watch-word was given and the Servants and Pages were order'd the while to keep their Masters Lodgings with their Horses ready Sadled in their hands And thus accordingly they stood all Night in Battle Array till the first approach of Morning when two Scotch Trumpeters being taken by the Scout-watch and by them brought to the King and Council spake freely for they were
taken voluntarily in this manner Ye Lords of England why do you stand thus to your Arms watching here to no purpose For on peril of our heads your Enemies are marched clear off Before Midnight they began silently to leave their Camp being not described by you by reason of the dark Moonless night advantaged with the Covert of a Wood. So that by this we believe them no less than three or four Miles onward of their way only they left us two behind to shew you what course they had taken Upon this it was concluded but folly to think of pursuing them any farther since they had got such a Start and were much more expedite for Travail but chiefly because they understood that the Scots were in such want that of necessity they must hasten back into their own Country and that by reason of the approach of Winter for Harvest was done even in those Parts they could not make another Expedition that year Nor was it the least consideration that their former Troubles had cost them more m Buchan p. 277. Men and Horses than some just Battels might have done besides their late continual Watchings and other hardships had rendred them all unfit to pursue such n Praedones vages Buch. Vagabonds To these Reasons all agreed but for fear of any deceit they still detain'd the two Trumpeters and held on their former Order till near Prime But when it plainly appeared that the Scots were indeed escaped then every Man had leave to retire to his Lodgings while the Lords went to counsel with the King there to advise how to proceed further In the mean time many of the English out of curiosity or hopes of Prey mounted their Horses and passing the River came and view'd the Scotch Camp Those who expected prey were much deceived but they who came out of curiosity were well satisfied For there they found more than o Frois c. 18. fol. 10. b. Hecter p. 308 lin 42. Bachan p. 277. five hundred Oxen and Deer ready kill'd because they themselves could not drive them before the Host at that rate as their Flight required and that they might do little good to the English There were also ready stretch'd on stakes over fire-places three hundred Caldrons made after their way of skins with the hair still on them all full of Water and Flesh ready to be boiled and more than a thousand Spits with meat ready to be roasted on them there were also found ten thousand Pair of old Shoes in this rich Camp all made of raw Leather with hair on them which the Scots in their hast had left behind Among the rest there were p Frois ibid. Hector ibid. five poor English Prisoners thô Buchanan after his qualifying manner says but two fast bound to Trees with their Legs broken but yet alive of whom now their Countrymen took charitable care John q Harding c. 177. fol. 176. Harding agrees with many and says that the Scots were held in manner of a Siege by the English but in the way of their Escape he is more particular and tells us that on one Part there lay a broad and wide moorish Ground so deep with mire and so broad that the English whether by the management of some or oversight of all wholly neglected to guard that Place as accounting it impassable That the wily Scots provided secretly Planks laid upon Faggots and joyn'd close over which they went in the Night still drawing them up as they passed and those that follow'd laying down fresh ones and then in like manner drawing them after that the English might not pursue them by the same means so that according to the French Proverb r Cotgrave in Marets Ils se sont sauve par les Marets with much ado they came off thrô the Marishes I determin not how they should be so well provided of so much matter or how so great a Work could be done in so small a Time thô no Man can tell how long before this Design might be resolv'd on because the Author we follow in this understood the nature of those Northern Parts as perfectly as any Man living and so his Authority herein is no way contemptible The ſ Frois c. 20. fol. 11. b. Scots that very day after a great journey of two and twenty Miles thrô a wild Country without any stay or rest for fear of an Encounter repassed the River of Tyne near Carlile and the next day leaving Northumberland on their Right hand they rode thrô a small part of Cumberland into their own Country where they presently disbanded Thus befell of this Expedition with all the vast expence and these great and formidable Preparations Our Historians as many of them following the vain opinions of the Vulgar betray much weakness and passion are angry with this bad success and find some dishonour hereby to reflect on the King wholly attributing all to the Treason of Mortimer and others But whoever seriously reflects upon this account of it here given which is the most exact and full that I could any ways discover may rather see it was the Hand of God and the subtlety of the Enemy created all this trouble Nor can I imagine how by any means Mortimer could hold intelligence with the Scots unless he trusted many of those who kept watch which was too hazardous a matter for any man in his right senses to do since if but one or two of many had discover'd it notwithstanding his great Credit with the Queen Mother and the King he must needs have been torn in pieces But because t Walsing hist p. 112. n. 30. MS. C.C.C. Dug 1. vol. p. 146. b. Walsingham and others among other Articles lay this to his Charge that he was an Impediment to the Kings Honour at Stanhop-Park in restraining the English from falling on the Scots I shall not omit such circumstances as I have met with that seem to make against him as to that point And first it is said that he the u Knighton p. 2551. n. 40. said Roger Mortimer with Queen Isabel and Edmund Earl of Kent being then in France upon certain Conditions made some certain Covenant with the Scotch Ministers there then residing upon which encouragement the Scots proceeded to this War and that Earl Douglas perform'd that bold action by Night in the English Camp by the x Id. p. 2552. n. 10. connivance and underhand assistance of certain in the Kings army of whom Mortimer ought to be accounted Chief and that the Scots escaped away not without the Treason of certain of the English Army and lastly in the y Id. p. 2558. n. 10. ex Rot. 4. Ed. 3. c. Eleventh Article laid afterwards to his Charge in Parliament 't is said that he converted the whole sum of Money which the Scots gave afterwards upon the Establishment of a Peace to his own use the King not enjoying any part thereof