at this time was found to amount to One Hundred and Ten besides those in Ireland Aquitain and Normandy King Edward now thought fitting because of his Wars intended against France to confiscate unto his own Use all the Goods of the said Priories with all the Lands Tenements Fees and Advowsons of the same Letting out their Houses to Farm as his Grandfather before him had done in the 23 Year of his Reign upon the like occasion And this was Customary not only before this but also afterwards r id Clem. Reyner in Append Par. 3. p. 146. when ever the Wars brake out between England and France for the Kings of England to seise all the Possessions of the Cluniacks and other Aliens into their Hands and to put them out to Farm to the Religieux themselves on consideration of an annual Pension But when the War ended there was full Restoration made of all again as particularly we shall find four and twenty Years hence or in the 35 of this King. VI. While King Edward was thus busied at home and his Ambassadors equally concern'd in his service abroad there Å¿ Junii 9. obiit Vt apparet ex illius Historiâ in l. dicto Time's Storeh p. 720. Alii 6 Junii ponunt died at his Palace in Valenciennes William the Third Earl of Heinalt Holland Zealand and Friseland Father to Philippa King Edward's beloved Queen who for his Great Mercy temper'd with Justice and other Princely Vertues was sirnamed the Good. One Example of his Exact Justice I shall shew whereby we may guess at his other Perfections The Deed was done not long before his Death upon a Bayliff of South-Holland t Vid. Time's Storeh p. 720. l. 7. c. 30. Engl. Atlas 4 Vol. p. 153. who had unjustly taken a goodly fair Cow from a poor Peasant which had been the sole support of himself his Wife and Children As there are some Kine in that Country which can give twenty u To enforce the truth of this Relation a little Conradus Gesner hath these Words The Oxen of the Belgian Provinces especially in Friesland and Holland are of very great stature For it hath been found by experience that one of them hath weigh'd Sixteen Hundred pounds Trey Weight And when the Earl of Hâ—ochstadt was at Machlin in Friesland there was presented unto him a Fair Large Ox which being killed weigh'd above Two Thousand Five Hundred Twenty Eight Pounds which I reckon to amount to 180 Stone and 8 Pounds Wherefore that succeeding Ages might not mistrust the Truth of so strange a Matter the said Earl caused the Picture of the said Ox to be set up in his Palace at his full Proportion with an Inscription signifying his Weight and the Day and Year when this Ox was deliver'd and killed Conrad Gesner Hist of Foursccted Beasts p. 70. Engl. folio Pottles of Milk and more in a Day The Earl lay then sick on his Death-Bed as it proved but it was his Custom never to Debar the meanest Suitors whether he was sick or well So that upon this poor Countrymans Complaint and Examination duly had the Bayliff was adjudg'd to give unto the Peasant an 100 Crowns of Gold for the great Wrong he had done him which was accordingly performed But then for his Affront to Publique Justice since he was an Officer and had thus abused the Authority entrusted to him the Earl sent for an Executioner and caused him to strike his Head off by his own Bed-side I shall only crave leave to add one more small digression of a matter happening in his Days which thô not pertinent to the History is yet well worthy Memory for its great Rarity In the Eleventh Year of this Earls Government which was the Tenth Year of the Reign of King Edward the Second of England and the Year of our Lord 1316 there happen'd even in England a great Scarcity of Corn as appears by x Walsing hist p. 83. our Historians but in this y Time's Store-house p. 720. Earls Country there was so terrible a Dearth and Famine that poor people fell down dead in the Streets for Hunger Many also were found Dead in the Highways and in Woods and Fields whither they went to seek for Herbs and Roots to stop the Importunities of craving Nature Little Children would die as they indeavour'd to suck at their starving Mothers Breasts and some Women could not refrain eating their Children In this time of Famine a certain Poor Woman of Leyden being extreamly opprest with Hunger came to a Sister of her own who was far better to pass begging of her for Godsake to lend her some Bread which she promised with Thanks to repay when it should please God to enable her The hard-hearted Sister deny'd her oftentimes notwithstanding the other was so importunate and withall told her that she was assured by her Countenance how she must needs have sufficient for her self if not to spare Hereupon the unmercifull Wretch lying both to God and her poor Sister said If I have any Bread to help my self withall I wish to God it may all instantly be turned into Stone It seems the heavy Displeasure of Almighty God laid hold on those rash Words of hers for going soon after to the Cupboard to relieve her self she found all her Loaves of Bread most plainly converted into solid stones so that she her self died for want of that which she had so wickedly deny'd her own Sister It is most credibly told us z Time's Stâ—â—ehouse ibid. that one or two of those Stone-Loaves are yet to be seen in St. Peters Church at Leyden in Memory of this most just and extraordinary Judgement However this Good Earl William King Edward's Father-in-Law having been all along a most Vertuous Prince Victorious in War Wise and Judicious Well-spoken and Learned a great Friend to Peace affable to all Men and universally Beloved after he had Governed his Provinces of Heinalt Holland Zealand and Friesland for the space of 32 Years died as before we said and with a Frois c. 29. great Pomp was buried at the Fryers in Valenciennes The Bishop of Cambray himself sang the Mass and besides the English Lords there were present many Dukes Earls and Barons of sundry Countries as well for the manifold Alliances he had abroad as for that his Fame was Singular and his Memory Dear to all Men. He was succeeded by William the Fourth his Son and Heir who had Married the Lady Joan Daughter to John Duke of Brabant giving her for her b Vid. l. 1. c. 24. §. 7. Joynture the Land of Binche upon the Haysne a fair and goodly Inheritance As for the Lady Johanna Countess Dowager of Heinalt the young Earls Mother and Sister to King Philip of France she resolved to spend the rest of her Days in a Nunnery at Fontaine on the River Scheld where being soon admitted she gave her self wholly to Devotion Almsdeeds and other Pious Offices VII And now
ever since the Battle of Sterling whatever English Archer he could lay his Hands on it was his manner to cut off his Right Hand and to pluck out his Right Eye that he might thereby be rendred Useless for the Bowe We read the like to have been done indeed by the Amazons to those Male Children which themselves brought forth before they put them away to their Fathers And surely such ungenerous Cruelty better became that fearfull and therefore less humane Sex than so Famous a Knight as this Douglas to whom it rather belonged to be fierce and cruel to those that resisted but Mercifull and Gracious to his Captives and such as he had Conquer'd At his Death however the poor Archers of the North of England rejoyced 〈◊〉 but the whole Realm of Scotland was dejected especially now she saw a Storm approaching which no humane Power was more likely to avert than this her Valiant Commander the Lord Thomas Randulph also surviving him but a little while III. But before we fall upon that Story it will not be amiss by way of Preparation to repeat the Original of the matter something whereof We remember to have spoken n p. 4. §. 5. in the first Chapter of this our History Namely how upon the Vacancy of the Crown of Scotland upon the Death of Alexander the Third the Lord John Bailiol an English Baron was by King Edward the First adjudged to have the best Right of all the Pretenders to that Realm as he that claimed from the Eldest Daughter of David Earl of Huntingdon Younger Brother to William King of Scots and Great Uncle to Alexander aforesaid And how this John Bailiol made Fealty and Homage to King Edward the First of England for the said Crown of Scotland and how afterward he withdrew his Homage thrô Counsel of the French King the Abbot of Melros and others and in the Year of our Lord MCCXCIV sent unto the Pope that thrô false suggestion he had made his Oath unto King Edward both contrary to his Dignity and against his Will and therefore beg'd to be assoyled thereof which Request the Pope granted Thus o Fabian p. 140. M. S. vet Angl. in Bibl. C. C. C. c. 223. did John Bailiol begin to Rebell against the King of England who had set him up but King Edward soon after went against him and took the Town and Castle of Barwick with the slaughter of 26700 Scots so that Bailiol was obliged to yield himself up to the Conquerour by whom he was us'd with much humanity and at last deliver'd out of the Tower of London with all the Great Lords of Scotland that were taken at Barwick and upon his Oath and theirs had a safe Conduct to go into their own Country The other Scotch Lords forgot the Oath and Assurance they had made to King Edward but the Noble King John Bailiol had rather forsake a Crown than make it heavy unto him by perjury wherefore he took his Son Edward and his Family and went over the Sea to Quimper in Bretagne and lived there a private Life upon his own Lands And voluntarily forsook his Realm of Scotland Esteeming it less than his Faith and Honour Thô the Scots in Derision called him Sr. John Turnelabard because he was so shie of offending the King of England Thus John Bailiol kept in France till he died there and Sr. Edward his Son received his Heritage doing Homage to the King of France for his Lands of Quimper This Edward had in his Service an English Esquire born in Yorkshire named John Barnby whom he loved most intirely but one day John Barnby chanced upon a quarrel to kill a certain Frenchman whereupon he fled in all hast to the Castle for safety under the Protection of his Lord and Friend The Officers follow'd and demanded him to be deliver'd up as a Felon but Sr. Edward refus'd it for that time and at Midnight sent him secretly out of the Castle and he got safe over into England But the King of France was so displeas'd with this Action of Bailiol's that he siesed on all his Lands and flung him into Prison There he lay till the Lord Henry Beaumont came into France being drove out of England by the Power of Mortimer as we shew'd before Now this Lord Henry was Earl of Buquhain in Scotland in Right of his Wife but had been forced to relinquish the said Earldom when that shamefull Peace was made between England and Scotland at Northampton wherefore he thought no better way now of Recovering his Right than by the means of Sr. Edward Bailiol whom he look'd on as the true Heir to the Realm of Scotland and so desired to get him at Liberty if by any means he might prevail so far He was very Gracious with the King of France as being of his Blood and therefore beg'd of him That he would grant him of his Grace Sr. Edward Bailiols Body until the next Parliament that he might live on his own Rents in the mean time and then stand to the judgement of his Peers This Request the King Granted and upon Sr. Edward Bailiol's delivery from Prison the Lord Beaumont privily convey'd him into England and kept him closely at the Mannor of Sandall upon Ouse in Yorkshire with his Sister Isabell of Beaumont Lady Vesci Where privately he began to retain Soldiers on all hands in order to recover his own and the Bailiol's Right And Henry Lord Beaumont having first sounded the King this Year about the beginning of August the Lord Edward p Walsing â—ypod p. 112. n. 20 Hist p. 112. 113. Bailiol being attended by some 44 Knights of Almaine Captains of a few select Bands who follow'd him for hire or at a venture to partake of his Fortune came to London to our King Edward To whom he declared How his Father had been prefer'd as the Indubitate and Right Heir to the Crown of Scotland by Edward the First of England his Grandfather That for doing Just Homage therefore to the said King Edward he had been finally deserted by his own Subjects and afterwards supplanted by Robert Bruce That if it please the King He q Hector p. 312. n. 30. also would hold the Crown of Scotland of Him as Superior Lord of that Realm that therefore he humbly requested some Assistance from his hands whereby to recover his Ancient Right and Patrimony King Edward indeed was troubled not a little at the Dishonourable Peace struck up with the Scots in his Minority but it having been made in his Name he was resolved to keep it entirely for the promised term of four Years whereof hardly three were yet fully run out In his own Person therefore he absolutely r Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 507. a. Stâ—w p. 230. n. 50. refuses to assist the Bailiol as yet or so much as to let him lead any warlike Troops into Scotland thrô his Land both having a due respect to the foresaid Peace and for
like unto Cherries but without any Stones let who can tell the Meaning of the Prodigy says Walsingham CHAPTER the TENTH The CONTENTS I. King Edward sends a fresh Embassy to the Earl of Heinalt with an account of 500 Gentlemen Voluntiers whose Captains were the Lord Walter Manny and the Lord James Audley with the success of the Ambassadors II. King Edward endeavors also to bring over the Flemings the Earl of Flanders puts to death the Lord Sigar of Courtray whereby he looses the Affections of his People who vanquish him in battle and put him to flight III. The Rise of Jacob van Arteveld in Gaunt his Popularity Power and Interest IV. The English Ambassadors make use of him to bring over the Flemings to the King their Master with their Success V. The King in Parliament creates his Son the Prince Duke of Cornwall and makes seven Earls the Prince at the same time dubbs twenty new Knights with other things relating to that Parliament and the Affairs of Ireland All the Lands of the Priors Aliens throughout England seised into the Kings Hands and by him let to farm VI. William the Good Earl of Heinalt dies an instance of his Justice and an account of a Divine Judgment upon an unnatural Sister William Son to the Good Earl succeeds the Countess Dowager goes into a Nunnery VII King Edward sends to demand the Crown of France and makes many Potent Friends in High-Germany and elsewhere King Philip seeks to draw off the Flemings to himself but in vain VIII King Philip sets a Garrison in Catsand to intercept the English Commissioners King Edward beats them out IX King Edward holds a Treaty of Peace with Philip and with his Allies for further enabling him in the War. X. The Pope intercedes The King calls a Parliament I. KING Edward the mean while not to slack his Business a 16 Decemb. Pat. 10. Ed. 3. p. 2. m. 6. Ashmole p. 646. sends a Commission to the Earl of Heinalt wherein he is stiled William Earl of Heinalt Holland and Zealand and Lord of Friseland our Father-in-Law and thereby constitutes him his Proctor to treat and agree with such Noblemen Persons of Note as he should think best touching both Alliances and Retainers He also sent Commissions with the like Power and under the same Date to William Marquis of Juliers the Kings Brother-in-Law he b Rittershusius in Tab. Com. Hollandiae Selandiae c. having married Joan Sister to Queen Philippa to Sr. John Montgomery Knight and to Doctor John Waweyn Canon of Darlington his Liegers in those Parts In April following a like Commission bearing Date the 19 of the said Month AN. DOM. 1337. An. Regni XI was issued to Henry Bishop of Lincoln William Lord Montagu and William Lord Clinton then newly made Earls and they immediately dispatch'd to the Earl of Heinalt on another Embassy far more honourable than before For it consisted of ten Great Batons and fourty other Knights c Frois c. 28. fol. 17. b. who were all fully instructed to treat further with the Earl and to article and conclude with such Lords of the Empire as by the said Earl had been nominated When they were come to Valenciennes each of them kept a great State and Port sparing for no Expence no more than if the King of England had been there in Person whereby they were highly extolled and respected by the People of those Parts In the Company of these English Knights there was a gallant Troop of young English Batchelors who had all their left Eyes hoodwink'd and clos'd up with a piece of Silk It was talk'd as if they had made a Vow to their Mistresses in England That they would never take off those Patches till they had passed into France and there performed some notable Exploit of Arms upon that Nation Some say d Lord Montaigne in his Essays l. 2. c. 25. that for all this they could never hear of any great Matter performed by any of them If not certainly 't is for want of Reading or Understanding For of this Resolute Company were no less than 500 Captains whereof were reported the young Lord Walter Manny that afterwards did Wonders in France and was the first that begun the War as we shall shew presently the young Lord Thomas Holland and also the noble Lord James Audely e Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 748. b. then not three and twenty Years of Age of whose valiant Acts and Heroick Exploits in the French Wars the Histories of both Nations make very honourable Mention In his Minority being under the Guardianship of Roger Lord Mortimer first Earl of March he was by him cheated into a Recognisance of ten thousand Marks which Debt as a Chattel became due to the King upon the Attaindure of the said Mortimer But his Majesty being soon convinced of his high Merit for thô so young he accompanied the King in all his Wars at his own Expences freely discharged him of that Summ. He bore for his Arms Gules a Fret Or and was afterwards one of that most honourable Company whom King Edward chose for his First Companions of the most Noble Order of the Garter and particularly in the Field of Poictiers he behav'd himself so eminently well that he obtain'd this Testimony of John then King of France to have best approved himself of any Knight whether French or English in Battle that day But I must not forestall the Reader by too long a Digression only this I thought necessary in order to refute the Lord Montaigne and to shew what kind of Gentlemen these were and that at least some of their Actions were not inferior to their Promises However this f Frois c. 28. f. 17. b. Vow of theirs was rumor'd as the occasion of those honourable Patches while they were at the Court of Earl William at Valenciennes thô they themselves would by no means acknowledge any such thing because the War was not yet declared These English Lords with their Company having thus for a while kept together in great splendor did notwithstanding all the while ply their Masters Business so well that by the g Ashmole p. 647. ex Rot. Aleman 11 Ed. 3. m. 9 10 11. 24 of May ensuing they had fully engaged divers of the Nobility and Others in Heinalt Gueldre and the Marquisate of Juliers to appear in the Kings Assistance against the French and withall settled the Proportion of Men and Arms wherewith each of them were to furnish the King in that Service together with the Stipends and Wages to be paid them in lieu thereof The mean time the h Frois ibid. Bishop of Lincoln taking some of the Chiefs with him rode to John Duke of Brabant who entertained them with much Honour and lighty accorded to their Motion Promising to sustain the King of Englands Quarrel to the best of his Power as well by Council as by Force of Arms That his Country should be open to his
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
debasing of Your Royal State and Dignity And althô those who make themselves more than agrees with their Condition Rulers of the Land and Your Counsellors endeavour to perswade You that Your present Proceedings will be acceptable to Your People yet we most constantly averr that after this manner which You have begun there will happen nothing less and that Your Majesty will find at last And We doubt not a little that if You proceed as You have begun You will both lose the Hearts of Your own People and of Your Allies and also Your Just and Lawfull Right and will Raise up such Evil-will against Your Person here at home that Your will not be able to Maintain Your War whereby You will give occasion to Your Enemies of Rising against You to destroy You so that You will be in Danger to lose which God forbid both Your Good Name and Kingdom Wherefore Sovereign Lord I beseech You that for the Safeguard of Your Honour and Realm and the Maintenance of Your Quarrel You would Summon together Your Lords and the Wise Men of the Land and that Your Affairs may succeed more Prosperously take their Advice without whose Counsel and Aid You can neither Conquer abroad nor Rule happily at Home And because such as are near Your Majesty are not afraid to lay Treason and Falshood to Our Charge we hereby denounce that they shall be forthwith Excommunicate and as Your Spiritual Father We beseech You so to Esteem of them And whereas it is laid to Us that by Our Evil Administration of Affairs You both lost the Town of Tournay and much Honour also may it please Your Majesty to call together Your Prelates Peers and Nobles of the Realm in some convenient place where We may securely confer with the Prelates and make strict Enquiry into whose Hands from the beginning of Your Wars the Woolls Moneys and what else was granted to this Day came and how they were used and by whose Default the City of Tournay was not Won but left in that Dishonourable Manner and that so like a Good and Just Lord You will after their Demerits punish the Culpable according to Your own Laws And as for Us We shall ever be ready to submit Our Selves to the judgement of Our Peers the State of Holy Church of Us and of Our Order as We elsewhere have frequently Written still maintained And for Gods Sake Sir believe not either of Us or of any other Your Liege Subjects any thing but Good till the Truth be explored nor be too forward to lend Your Ear to any Man For if Men should be punished without answer given or the Truth known the Judgement would still be the same both to the Guilty and to the Innocent And Sir may it please You to Consider both maturely and seriously the Great Force of Your Foreign Enemies both of France and Scotland For if the Prelates Lords and Wise Men of the Realm should all without any difference with one consent both Night and Day joyn and combine wisely together to Menage Your Weighty and Arduous Affairs to Maintain the War You have begun and to preserve Your Honour and Kingdom 't would all be little enough Nor let it displease Your Majesty most Redoubted Lord that so rudely and grosly We declare the Truth unto You For the Great Love and Affection which We bear unto Your Person and Interest and ever by the Grace of God shall bear especially because We are tho◠Unworthy the Primate of all England and thereby Your Spiritual Father doth move Us to say Command and Provide for what may turn to the Benefit of Your Soul and the Advantage of Your People The Holy Spirit save and keep You my Lord both in Soul and Body and grant You the Grace both to hear and receive Good and wholsome Advice and moreover vouchsafe to give You Victory over all Your Enemies Dated at Canterbury January the First in the seventh Year of Our Consecration by Your Majesties Chaplain John Canterbury IV. Besides this the Archbishop for the further Declaration of his Innocence and Maintenance of his Authority wrote to Sr. Robert Bourchier then Lord Chancellor of England in these Words JOHN by Divine Permission Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Legate of the Apostolick See Wisheth a Will to Conserve the Liberties of Holy Church and the Law of the Land entire For the Wise Man saith that the Truth being foreknown and foreseen doth cause Us to avoid great Dangers that else would happen Therefore We would have You understand that the Tenths of Holy Church last granted unto Our Lord the King for One Year by the Clergy of Our Province of Canterbury to be paid together with other Tythes then behind were granted on certain Conditions and certain Articles granted by Our Lord the King unto the said Clergy and confirmed by his Charter And moreover that the said Clergy for that time should not be burthen'd with any other Portion or Contribution to be made or granted unto our Lord the King. After this also in the Parliament Conven'd at Westminster on the Wednesday next after Midlent there were granted unto the King the Ninth Fleece the Ninth Lamb the Ninth Sheaf but on certain Cautions and Conditions namely that no Prelates or any of the said Clergy should be any way Obliged to the Contribution of this Ninth Part but only those who held by Barony and were bound to come to the Parliament And that the Prelates and Others of the Clergy paying the said Ninth should by no means be obliged to the Payment of the Tenth granted as aforesaid But yet certain Collectors of the Ninth of our said Province do endeavour by several Distresses to levy and raise the said Ninth of Prelates and Others of the Clergy who pay the said Tenth and hold nothing of the King by Barony nor are bound to come to the Parliament And on the other hand they exact the said Tenth of those who are obliged to the Payment of the Ninth by burthening Men of the Church contrary to God and Justice and the Grant aforesaid Wherefore we exhort and require you in the Lord that by no means You permit Religious Persons and Ecclesiasticks to be burthen'd and vexed unless according to the Form and Grant aforesaid Nor by any means yield either Counsel or Assent in prejudice of the said Charter or subversion of the Privileges and Liberties of the Church But that if any Brief Commission or Precept contrary to the Form of Magna Charta or the Privileges and Liberties aforesaid have already been issued out of the Chancery You cause them within ten days after the Receipt of these Letters as You are bound to be revoked and disanulled It is really the Will of our Lord the King to cherish and maintain the said Charter and the Privileges and Liberties of the Church as we are assured And it is not his Will nor ought to be that the Clergy should by any means be
up to King Edward of England after it had endured a Siege of Eleven Moneths within three days viz. from the b Knighten p. 2595. n. 2â— seventh of September 1346 to the 4 of August MCCCXLVII which was a Saturday and the Day that King Edward received the Keys Then the King spake to the Lord Walter Manny and the two Marshals of his Host the Earl of Warwick and the Lord Stafford afterwards Earl of Stafford saying Here Sirs take you the Keys of the Town and Castle and go and take Possession thereof in my Name and lay all the Knights and Esquires that be there in Prison but as for the Common Souldiers that came thither only for hire turn them all out of the Town as also after they are well refreshed all the Inhabitants Men Women and Children For I intend to Repeople the Town only with Englishmen So these three Lords with an 100 Men of Arms went and took Possession of Calais and secured in Prison the Bodies of Sr. John of Vienna the chief Captain Sr. John Surry Sr. Barton de Belborn and other Officers of the Garrison after which they commanded all the Souldiers to bring together their Harness into the Town-Hall where they laid it all together on an heap for they were not permitted to bear any Armour away Now the King of his wonted Goodness had already c Knighton p. 2595 〈◊〉 10. sent store of Victuals into the Town to refresh the poor Commons therewith But they were so hungry and afflicted and wasted with Famine that either thrô too much Greediness they surfeited or thrô too much Weakness were unable to digest so that by the next day at night there died of them more than 300 Persons As for the rest the King commanded them d Stow p. 244. ex Tho. de la Mere c. to be safely conveyed to the Castle of Guisnes within the French Pale when they had been refreshed with the Kings Alms and were grown strong enough to endure Travail But the most part of them thought themselves not secure e Frois c. 147. till they were got to St. Omers Thus all manner of People were turned out of the Town f Frois ibid. except one Priest and two other ancient Men who understood the Customs Laws and Ordinances of the Place and how to point out and assign the Lands that lay about the Town and the several Inheritances as they had been divided before And when all things were duely prepared for the Kings Reception he mounted his Great Horse and rode into Calais with a Triumphant noise of Trumpets Clarions and Tabours He took up his Lodgings in the Castle where he lay more than a Month all the while Fortifying and setling Affairs both there and in the Town untill g Frois ibid. his Queen was deliver'd of a Fair Daughter called Margaret of Calais who was afterwards married to the Lord John Hastings Earl of Pembroke who was Son of Laurence Hastings now living but she died before the said John her Husband without Issue both he and she being at that time but very young Speeds h Speed p. 580. §. 105. Mistake is here to be corrected who makes Queen Philippa to be big with Child of this Infant at the Battle of Durham and Walsingham i Walsing bist p. 15â— n. 3. also who fixes the time too forward by several Days making the Child to be born on the III of the Kalends of August when as the Town of Calais wherein she was born was not won till the iv of August Nor is Mr. k Sandford's Geneal Hâ—st c. p. 179. Sandford to be omitted who makes the Place of her Birth to be Windsor without any Authority but Conjecture While the King of England tarried thus at Calais he gave many fair Houses in that Town to the Lord Walter Manny to the Earl of Warwick to the Lord Ralph Stafford and the Lord Bartholomew Burwash who l Dugd. 2 Vâ—l. p. 35. also obtain'd of the King in consideration of his Services a Grant of the Marriage of one of the Sisters and Heirs of Edward St. John Son and Heir of Hugh St. John deceased and his Son Sr. Bartholomew the Younger among other things obtain'd in recompence of his Services in the Wars a Grant of the Lands of John Louvaine deceased till his Heir Nicolas Louvaine then the Kings Ward should be of full Age. And besides we find that the King gave to all his great Lords vast Allowances for their several Retinues during this Siege as particularly to the Earl of Warwick for three m Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 232. Bannerets 61 Knights 106 Esquires and 154 Archers on Horseback the Summ of 1366 l. 11 s. and 8 d. And yet Others had far greater Retinues as Henry Earl of Darby n Knighton p. 2596. n. 10. who had 30 Bannerets 800 Men of Arms and 2000 Archers and kept such Hospitality in the Camp that he expended dayly an 100 l. and 8 or 9 Marks So that after the Truce it appeared by Computation that he had spent above 17000 l. Sterling out of his own Purse beside the Wages allow'd him by the King. All which Services were graciously consider'd by the King his Master who bestowed now on him and other Lords a competent Portion of Houses they never built and of Lands they never purchased that so they might be obliged to People and defend the Town Besides all which he design'd upon his return into England to send out of London 36 Substantial Citizens with their Wives and Families to dwell in Calais as he afterwards did but the greater part of the Inhabitants came out of Kent And thus from that time Calais became a perfect Colony of Englishmen Now on the Day o 9 Aâ—gâ—lli before St. Laurence while Order was taking to preserve the Town of Calais in the English Hands there p Knighton p. 2595. n. 60. happened in the English Camp before the Town a sad and grievous Mischance of sudden Fire which devoured the Tents and Pavilions without Remedy they being for the most part made of strong Timber But this was remarkable that as the fire came near the Kings Tent as if not willing or not daring to do any harm there it flew over among other Tents consuming and destroying Victuals Wine Gold and Silver things of pleasure and necessity Bows and Arrows and other Warlike Ammunition So that the King was fain to send into England for a fresh Supply Besides there came thither about the same time an Army of q Knighton ibid. n. 10. c. 60000 Flemings to assist King Edward supposing that the King of France was still there and that a Battle would ensue between the two Kings He for his part tho now he had no need of them having already taken the Town yet by the great Gifts he bestow'd among the Captains and other Officers and the liberal Donations he gave to the Souldiers
before the Parliament where King John sat on high in the Tribunal Seat attended with his Peers the Cardinal of Bologna the Pope's Legate and divers other Prelates The Criminal having asked pardon in a formal and studied Harangue composed of Complaints and Excuses the Lord James of Bourbon h Paul. Aemyl p. 184. Brother to the Duke of Bourbon and Constable for that time was order'd to Arrest him only for Form which he did by setting his Hands upon the King of Navarre's Hands and causing him to go backwards out of the Presence and to tarry in a Chamber adjoining till further Order was taken The mean while the two Queens Dowagers of France Jane the Relict of Charles the Fair and Blanch the Relict of Philip of Valois and German-Sister to the King of Navarre on their Knees beg'd his Pardon of King John. Which being granted the Constable and Marshals introduced him again where after a grave Remonstrance from the Legate the French King declared him absolved But this Haughty Young Prince gather'd nothing but Rancour from that pompous Indignity which afterwards he shewed to the great mischief and Danger of the Realm of France For soon after this Reconciliation he stole away to Avignon as we intimated before where he began to conspire against his Native Country and althô King John upon Apprehensions of the Duke of Lancaster had again now by his Son Charles appeased his turbulent Mind yet within a while we shall see him again fly out into wonderfull Extravagances partly of his own unquiet ambitious Nature and partly being irritated by the rough Dealing of his Father-in-Law For the Year following King John i Du Châ—sne p. 675. being too far provoked with his Insolencies came suddenly upon him as he was at dinner in the Castle of Rouën with 200 Men of Arms in his Company and seised him on the Fifth of April and committed him to Prison but immediatly caused the Heads of Four of his Great Lords to be struck off in a Field by the Castle III. Till this time thô not without much ado many hazards of Relapsing constant Care of the Pope and other well-disposed Personages the unstable Truce first taken at Calais between England and France made a hard shift to hold indifferently well for the space of near upon Eight Years But now the evil Genius of France which hath heretofore been observed to extract the Original of its own Troubles from within it self began to work upon Prince Philip Brother to King Charles of Navarre to rouse the English Arms against his own Blood of France as we shall see hereafter But as yet the King of Navarre was not seised nor was his first Reconciliation as yet known to King Edward as will presently appear when we shall come to speak of his Expedition into France Now k Knighton p. 2608. n. 40. Stow p. 256. a little after Whitsuntide to wit about the end of May or the beginning of June the Truce being to expire the 24 of the said Month both Kings began to put themselves in a Posture and King Edward resolving not to be behind-hand with his Enemies prepared to send over the Prince of Wales into Gascogne attended with the Earls of Warwick Oxford Salisbury and Suffolk and 800 Men of Arms with 2400 Archers himself intending the while to wait the French Kings Motions and shortly after to joyn the King of Navarre about the Isle of Jersey Wherefore King Edward l 10 Julii Ret. Vasc 29. Ed. 3. m. 6. vid. Ashmâ—les Garter p. 671 c. constituted his Son the Prince his Lieutenant in the Dukedom of Aquitain and other Places in France whither he should happen to march as well for the Reformation of the State of that Dukedom and other Places in France as for the Recovery of his Lands and Right possest by the Rebels And by another Commission of the same Date he gave him Power to make Alliances with all Persons of what Nation Dignity or Condition soever to retain Men and pay them Wages and Rewards A third Commission gave him Power in the Kings Stead and Name to receive Homage and Fidelity from the Nobility and Others within the said Dukedom and Realm of France For the Prince's Passage thither the King assigned Richard de Cortenhale and Robert Bauldron Serjeants at Arms to arrest array and equip all the Ships and Vessels of 20 Tun and upward in all Ports and Places from the River of Thames unto Lynn as well within Liberties as without to furnish them with Men and other Necessaries and to bring them to Southampton by St. Barnaby's Day at the furthest as also to press Mariners for the Voyage at the Kings Wages and further he had given Commission to John Beauchamp Admiral of the Sea Westward and to Thomas Hogshaw Lieutenant to carry the Prince over with Power to hear and determin all Crimes and Trespasses committed on Board and to punish Delinquents according to Maritime Law and to do all other things appertaining to their Places Before their Setting forth * Knighton p. 2608. n. 57. there was seen a Prodigy in the Air which was construed to portend Victory to the English For there appeared two great Banners in the Firmament the one Gules the other Azure which were evidently observed in many Parts of the Kingdom and seem'd as it were in manner of Combating to rush violently against each other But in the end the Banner Gules overcame that which was Azure and seem'd to lay it prostrate on the Ground Soon m Stow ibid. after the Prince of Wales sailing prosperously from Seton-Haven in Devonshire landed in the Port of Garonne where he was honourably welcom'd by the Lords and Prelates of Gascogne who together with the People of that Country received him with great joy and proffer'd as unto the Son of their Liege Lord themselves and all they had and even to live and die with him on Condition that he would tarry in those Parts for their Defence King John had before this disposed his Armies in several Places about the Havens in Normandy and in other Parts to impeach the Landing of King Edward and of the Prince his Son But these Frenchmen lay so long thereabouts that together with their Auxiliaries hired from foreign Parts they wasted their own Country as bad as if they had been Enemies themselves and idly consum'd out of the French Kings Cossers so many thousand Crowns that afterwards he was so thinly attended that upon King Edwards Arrival he was not able to encounter him but fled before him burning his own Towns and destroying all manner of Provision that the English might find neither Meat nor Harbour For thô King Edward and his Son intended an early Campagne this Year yet they were both hindred by ill Weather for above fourty Days All which time the French stood ready to receive them but being with this long stay wearied out and their Provision wasted when the English came to land
forth having sent their Scouts before them who brought back word of Sr. Godfrey's being in the Field with his Navarrois as also Sr. Godfrey's Scouts brought him word of the French whom they had seen and of their Number for they had view'd them well Then said Sr. Godfrey aloud since our Enemies are coming to meet Us We will by no means flinch from them But that they may find Us ready to receive them let Us now order our selves to the best Advantage and therewithall he set his Archers in the Front and order'd his Battails at Leisure When the Lord Robert Clermont came up with his Forces and saw their Behaviour he commanded his Men to alight on Foot and being close cover'd with their broad Bucklers against the Archers to stand still and not to move forward till the Word of Command Then the Archers began to approach and shot fiercely but the Frenchmen stood the shock lying close under their Shields So that they suffer'd little or no harm When therefore the Archers had spent all their Arrows thus in vain they cast away their Bows and retired back to their Men of Arms who stood ready ranged along by an Hedge and in their Front Sr. Godfry with his Banner before him y True use of Armory in the Life of the Lord Chandes p. 57. in Bibl. Cotton being Gules two Bars Or. Then the French Archers began to shoot and having spent all their own Arrows to much more purpose than Sr. Godfry's Men had done theirs they gather'd up the Arrows which before had been shot against them and returned them now with a good will. And now the French Men of Arms began to approach and at the First meeting there was a severe and cruel Battle But Sr. Godfrey's Infantry were soon put out of order and discomfited When the Lord Godfrey saw this Misfortune he prudently drew himself into a wing of Armed Men closed about with Hedges resolving there to Dispute the point with his Enemies This being observed by the French Men of Arms who after they had baffled the Archers were Mounted again they all alighted on foot once more and encompassed the Place round searching which way they might best enter the Hedge and come at their Enemies Whereever the chief Brunt was thither came Sr. Godfrey bringing along with him Terrour to his Foes and to his Friends Assurance For he was of great strength and Courage and very Expert in Arms so that many Hundreds of the French were hurt or slain before they could win an entrance upon him But at last by obstinate Valour the Disadvantage of the place was overcome and then a most Bloody Fight ensued Nor yet would the French have had much reason to boast if Sr. Godfrey's Men had been mindfull of their Promise which was at all adventures to live and die with him But now after a short and faint Resistance the Major part of them began to flee and left him to his Destiny Sr. Godfrey being sensible of his Condition and knowing he was too far engaged to retire handsomly resolved in his Mind rather to die upon the spot than suffer himself to be taken Prisoner and reserved to some publique shame Wherefore being on foot he took a ponderous great Ax in his Hand and set fast his left leg before the other to stand more sure for one of his legs was a little crooked but he was exceeding strong in the Arms. And in this posture he fought Valiantly a good while cleaving Heads and Helmets or whatever he could reach so that none dar'd to abide his stroaks Till at last two Frenchmen Mounted their Horses and so both together ran upon him with their Spears and therewith bore him forceably to the Earth At which time those who were on foot near him thrust him into the Body under his Armour and so slew him And with him there were slain or taken every Man of his Company that remain'd about him to the Number says z Fabian p. 284. one of 800 thô others reckon as we said before that his whole Forces consisted but of 700 in all However those who fled away in the beginning escaped all safe to St. Saviour le Vicount for the Frenchmen had not leisure to pursue them for tending to Sr. Godfrey This Battle was fought on the a Lit. Dom. C. B. Tenth of November being a Thursday An o Domini MCCCLVI Some say b Fabian ibid. that Prince Philip of Navarre was present in the Field at this time and that He went not into England as we said before However he was of no moment as to the Success of the Battle but made shift it seems to escape away to the further embroiling of the Realm of France The Lord Godfrey of Harcourt being thus slain c Frois c. 173. the Frenchmen returned Conquerours to Coutances together with their Prisoners and the Spoil of the Field and soon after having quieted those Parts pretty well they returned into France to the Duke of Normandy who by that time was publiquely Proclaimed Regent of France On the d Fabtan p. 285. 4th of December following the Castle of Pont de l'Arche near unto Roüen which had long been in the Hands of Prince Philip of Navarre was after a Siege of five Months yielded up on Conditions to the Regents Captains the Navarrois not only to depart with Bag and Baggage but to receive by way of Gratuity 6000 Franks for yielding up the said Castle which Summ amounts to 600 l. Sterling every Frank being valued at two Shillings However e Frois c. 173. the Lands of Sr. Godfrey of Harcourt upon his Death fell to the King of England for he had on certain Conditions engaged them unto Him and his Heirs for ever having utterly disinherited his Nephew the Lord Lewis of Harcourt because he so tamely resented the Murder of his Uncle the late Earl of Harcourt as not to seek any Satisfaction but still continued a Friend to King John who had so unjustly murther'd him When King Edward heard News of this valiant Lords Death he was very much concern'd at the Loss but however he sent forth immediately by Sea more than 300 Men of Arms Knights and Esquires besides Archers to go and take Possession for him of St. Saviour le Vicount which alone was well worth f Frois c. 271. fol. 166. legit 400000 Franks i.e. 40000 l. sed corruptum hìc puto nam alibi astimat ad 30000 Franks tantùm cmisiâ unà Decimâ 40000 Franks or 4000 l. Sterling per annum and made the Lord. Robert Lisle his Captain over those Lands who was succeeded three Years after by the Lord Thomas Holland who dying about a Year after the King gave unto the Lord g Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 503. ex Claus 34. Ed. 3. p. 1. m. 35. John Chandos in Consideration of his manifold and notable Services a Grant for Him and his Heirs for ever of the Baronies of St. Saviour le
and the Chief of his Council were of Scipro's Opinion to carry away the War from their own Doors into their Enemies Country King Edward and his Son John Duke of Lancaster and all his Council were fully informed of this Design of the French Kings to come and fight with them in their own Land whereat they were all extream glad and 't was fully determin'd that they should have Battle as soon as ever they came And King Edward in order to receive them had well furnish'd all the Ports and Havens of the Sea respecting Ponthieu and Normandy to welcome them at their Landing And he had in readiness an Army of an 100000 Chosen Men which he himself design'd to lead against the French which though it was now disposed about in several Places could at a Days warning be brought together XIV And besides all this he sent over his Son John Duke of Lancaster to Calais to keep the French in play on that Side there being appointed to go with him Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick Humphry Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex William Montague Earl of Salisbury the Lord Walter Manny Thomas Lord Roos the Lord Henry Percy Ralph Lord Basset of Drayton the Lord Michael de la Pole the Lord John Willoughby of Eresby the Lord Roger de la Warre Sr. Thomas Grandison Sr. Alan Boxhull Sr. Richard Sterry and divers others to the Number of 500 Men of Arms and 500 Archers on Horseback besides Footmen These Lords and Captains when all things were ready went on board at Dover and crossing the Seas arrived safely at the strong Town of Calais where they landed and took up their Lodging within the Town A little before King Edward had sent his Special Letters to the Lord Robert of Namur who p Vidd 2. c. 6. §. 10 p. §. 399. entred into his Service and Pay at the Siege of Calais and had ever since continued Faithfull to the Interest of England desiring him to come now and serve him in his Wars with a certain Number of Men of Arms. Sr. Robert then answer'd that he would be ready in whatever it should please his Majesty to command as soon as he should understand that either the King Himself or any of his Sons should either arrive at Calais or appear in the Field to War against France And accordingly now that he heard of the Duke of Lancasters Arrival at Calais he made his Summons among his Friends and Dependants and others whose Service he expected and shortly after came and joyned the Duke with 300 Men of Arms as we shall see by and by XV. It may be remembred q Frois c. 262. f. 158. how after that the Herald Chandos had declared the Prince's Pleasure to the Lord Chandos and the other Lords of England and Gascogne they all returned to Angoulesme to the Prince and that a little before their Coming the Earls of Cambridge and Pembroke were returned thither also after they had won the Fortress of Bourdeilles The Prince highly caressed and feasted them but this was not the Design he had called them back for He remembred that in the lower Poicton toward the Parts of Anjou beyond Lusson and Marevil there was a fair and strong Castle belonging at that time to the Duke of Anjou called la Roche sur You and so he sent these Lords and Captains forth to take in that They were all ready immediately and being rendezvous'd in the Field amounted to more than 3000 Spears among whom were the Principal Lords and Knights of England and Poictou as the Earls of Cambridge and Pembroke the Lord John Chandos the Lord James Audley Seneschal of Poictou the Lord Thomas Percy Seneschal of Rochelle the Lord John Greilly Captal of Busche the Lord John Montagu the Lord of Pons the Lord of Partenay the Lord Lewis of Harcourt Sr. Guischard Dangle Sr. Maubrion of Linieres the Lord of Taniboton the Lord of Pinant and divers Others all who rode forth and came suddenly and sat down before the Castle of Roche sur Yon which was not only naturally very strong but also well provided at that time with all things necessary for a long Defence as Valiant Men Victuals and Artillery The Captain of the Place was one Sr. John Blondeau set there by the Duke of Anjou who allowed him a sufficient Number of Men of War at his own Costs and Charges The English Forces planted themselves in very good Order round about the Castle and caused to be brought from the City of Thoüars and Poictiers several great Engines of Battery and other Guns and Springals wherewith they began to play against the Castle And as for Provision their Camp was abundantly supplied from Poictou and the Marches adjoyning When S◠John Blondeau saw how closely he was besieged by an Army of expert Men of War and that there was no Succour like to come to him from any Part he began to be afraid For he knew the Lords of England intended not to rise till either by Force or otherwise they should be Masters of the Place And besides there were in the Retinue of the Earl of Cambridge and of the Lord John Chandos several Knights of the Captains Acquaintance who had been heretofore in some Exploits with him some of these by Order of Council went to the Barriers and upon mutual Security obtained to speak with him At which time they handled him so cunningly for he was not Subtle thô Valiant and True enough that he agreed to render up the Castle if he should not be relieved within the space of one Month he to have 6000 Franks paid him in consideration of the Provisions and Amunition within the Castle the Besiegers not to offer them any Violence during the said Term. After this Treaty the Captain sent to the Duke of Anjou to inform him of the Matter and to require his speedy Aid also he sent to the French King and the Duke of Berry and to all others from whom he expected any Succour that either so he might save the Castle or at least be able to excuse himself if he should perchance incur any Blame afterward But for all this warning that he gave and that the Castle was fair and strong and well worth contending for it standing very conveniently if in the Frenchmens hands for the Defence of the Marches of Anjou and Tourain yet there was not the least appearance of any Succour so that at last the Month being elapsed the English Lords put the Captain in mind of his Promise for the performance whereof he had also delivered sufficient Hostages Then the Captain told his Men that since the French King and the Duke of Anjou would thus willingly lose their Fortress it could not be expected that they should keep it alone any longer And so by the Consent of the Garrison he yielded up the Place to the Earl of Cambridge who presently took Possession for the Prince his Brother and very gladly paid to the Captain the
and elsewhere to fight against the Pagans in which employment he spent several Years At the same time that the foresaid Lord of Pamiers was apprehended there were several others taken up on Suspicion of being concerned in the same Matter as Sr. John du Plessac S. Peter of Landuras and Sr. Bertram de la France who lay in Prison at Bourdeaux in great Danger thô at last by endeavours of their Friends and because nothing could be clearly made out against them they were deliver'd There ran about also a Report as if Sr. Galiard de Vignier was not free from this Treason which made People wonder much because the said Knight was then in Lombardy with the Lord of Coucy in the Service of the Church Wherefore the Pope himself afterwards excused him and so he had his Lands and Possessions continued unto him And thus jealousies and heart-burnings arose between the Prince and his Subjects and there were not wanting Evil Men to enflame Matters further Thô still there remain'd a few Genuine Sons of Honour who could not by any Arts be prevail'd upon to relinquish their old Friends the English Particularly the Lord John p Frois c. 271. de Bourbon who held part of his Lands of the Prince and had rendred him Homage therefore came upon some occasion to Paris about this time where the subtle King ply'd him with all the Arguments imaginable to make him renounce his Fealty to the Prince but this generous young Earl of Marche absolutely rejected the motion telling him that if there was no Religion a Gentleman ought to keep his Faith and Promise Of a like steady temper was another great Baron of Limosin namely the Lord of Pierre Buffierre who being then also at Paris was urged by the King to fall off from the Prince but he would by no means agree thereto But there were two other considerable Barons of Limosin who knew not how to imitate the Fidelity and Honour of those Men for they with a little tampering quitted the Prince and embraced the French King's interest their Names were Lewis Lord of Maleval and the Lord Raymund of Marvejols his Nephew who soon after began to make Bloody War upon the English from their Garrisons Whereat the King of England and his Council were extreamly displeased especially because now many Barons began to fall off only out of Wantonness and Desire of Change without the least provocation given either by his Son the Prince or Him Whereupon King Edward was advised to write Covert Letters sealed with his Seal to be convey'd by two or three of his Knights into Poictou and Aquitaine and there to be made publick in the Cities Castles and Good Towns thereabouts The mean while the Prince of Wales deliver'd out of the Prison in Agen Sr. John Champoneau the Knight who brought him the Letters of Summons from King Charles in exchange for a Knight of his called Sr. Thomas Banister who q Ashmole's Garter Plate 55. bare in a Field Argent a Cross Pateé Sable and had been taken a little before in a Skirmish in Perigort But the Doctor that came with him remained still in Prison at Agen till Sr. John his fellow-sufferer had upon his return into France collected his Ransom But since We spake of King Edward's Letters we shall here set down the Copy of them wherein we shall see that He prudently forbears the Title of France lest he might seem while he went about to compose Matters to give occasion of widening the Breach and also thereby to lessen King Charles his jealousie who already had too fast hold of those Gascogne Lords and be sure would never let them go while he despair'd of an accommodation himself The Tenor of his Letters ran thus viz. r Extat in Originali Frois Gall. fol. 226. Du Chesne p. 704. Anglicè Frois c. 272. III. EDWARD by the Grace of God King of England Lord of Ireland and of Aquitain to all those who shall see or hear these present Letters Know you that considering and regarding the Business of the Bounds Marches and Limitations of our Seignory of Aquitain stretching from end to end We have been enformed of certain Troubles Grievances and Molestations done or supposed to be done by our Right Dear Son the Prince of Wales in the said Countries Wherefore being obliged and desirous to withstand and remedy all things relating to evil Surmises Hates or Contentions between Us and our Loyal Friends and Subjects We do by these Presents announce and pronounce certifie and ratifie that of our meer Good Will and by great Deliberation of our Council of that purpose called We will and command that our Right Dear Son the Prince of Wales forbear and remit all manner of Actions done or to be done and do restore again to all such as have been grieved or molested by Him or by any of his Subjects or Officers in Aquitain all their Costs Expences and Dammages leavied or to be leavied in the name of the said Exactions Aids or Fouages And if any of our true Subjects and Friends as well Prelates as other Men of Holy Church Universities Colleges Bishops Earls Vicounts Barons Knights Commonalties and Inhabitants of Cities and Good Towns be turned to keep and uphold by evil Information and rash Advice the Opinion of our Adversary the French King We pardon them that their Trespass on Condition that these Letters once seen they return to Us or within a Month after And We desire all our Loyal and True Friends to continue still in the state they now are that as concerning their Faith and Homage they incurr no Reproach the which thing would greatly displease Us and we should see it very unwillingly And if against our Dear Son the Prince or against any of his Men they make any lawfull Complaint that in any thing they are grieved and oppressed or have been in time past We shall cause them to have amends so as of reason it may suffice to the intent to nourish Peace Love Concord and Unity between Us and those of the Marches and Limitations aforesaid And to the end that all Men should be satisfied of the Truth of the Premises We will that every Man take and have a Copy of these Presents the which We have solemnly sworn to keep and maintain upon the Body of our Lord JESVS CHRIST there being present our Right Dear Son John Duke of Lancaster William Earl of Salisbury the Earl of Warwick the Earl of Hereford Walter of Manny the Lord Percy the Lord Neville the Lord Bourchier the Lord Stafford Richard of Pemburge Roger Beauchamp Guy Brian the Lord Mohun the Lord de la Warre Allan Boxhull and Richard Sterry Knights Given at our Palace of Westminster in the Fourty Fourth Year of our Reign the fifth Day of November These Letters were sent from the King of England into the Principality and Dutchy of Aquitain and notified and published all about And Copies thereof were secretly convey'd to
he would sit and declare a Bastard preferable to the Brother of his own Lady and also to his own Lady who would have succeeded if her Brothers had died without Issue And then it is most evident that when John was thus Designed Heir the Queen Euphemia Ross was not dead as the Scotch Writers say and the King Married to his Mother For as there is extant a Grant given by the said King to Paul Metine confirming unto him a Charter Granted by the Earl of Ross Father to Euphemia wherein the said John is Witness by the Name of eldest-Eldest-Son and Heir so there is a Charter granted unto Her by the King upon the very same day of the Lands of Lochleaven both Grants bearing Date Junii 1 mo Ano. Regni Primo And it is against all sense and reason to think he could have been acknowledged Heir Apparent during her Life if he had not been Legitimate Nay further we find by our Records that x Rot. Scotiae 25. Ed. 3. m. 3. Ashmole p. 657. Vid. Hujus Hist l. 2. c. 11. §. 8. p. 445. 19 Years before this he is stiled John Eldest Son and Heir of Robert Stuart as also seven Years after he bears the same Title being ranked * Vid. Hujus Hist l. 3. c. 2. § 3. § §. 4. p. 529. First among the Hostages which lay for King David And further to put all out of Question there is extant in Fourdons History a Charter granted by King David wherein the Witnesses are Robert Stuart Earl of Strathern our Nephew John Stuart Earl of Carric his Eldest Son and Heir Thomas Earl of Mar George of Dumbar Earl of March and William Earl of Douglass So that here again Buchanan is found Tardy who says that John was created Earl of Carrick by the King his Father after the Death of Ephemia Ross when here we find him stiled Earl of Carrick by his Great Uncle King David who also attests that he was Eldest Son and Heir to his Nephew Robert and surely he could be no wayâ— byassed in the Affair But if any one shall say what need then had there been of this Act or Declaration if the Title of John had not been Doubtfull We answer that King Robert could not forget y Hector Buchan ibid. c. how William Earl of Douglas by pretending a Right from the Bailiols and the Cumins had like to have disturbed his own Coronation but that he was not allowed in his Design by his Friends And therefore to stop all Controversies for the future he thought good to fortifie his Right and the Right of his Children for ever by a National Declaration as well as by Statute And thus much for this Important Matter in this Place we now return to the Point from whence we digressed XVI This King Robert the Second of Scotland who had been well acquainted with the Power and Force of King Edward and knew what Havock of that Nation he had made in time past being now in the beginning of his Reign desirous to establish his Kingdom in Peace made a Motion for a Treaty with England which King Edward most readily embraced because of the great War that he expected from France So that at last a firm Truce and Peace was taken and settled between the two Realms to endure for the space z But for 3 years Mezeray for 14 Buchan and 9 Frois of Nine Years All which time it might be lawfull for the Scots to take Arms at their Pleasure and to serve for Wages either the King of England or of France without any Imputation of Breach of Peace So that Sr. Robert Knolles whom King Edward design'd to send into France with a Considerable Army had now with him no less than a Frois Gall. f. 231. Angl. c. 278. an Hundred Spears all Chosen Men of that Warlike Nation In relation to which Expedition b 6 Maii. Claus 44. Ed. 3. m. 15. Derse Proclamation was sent forth that all Souldiers design'd for Picardy and other Parts of France under Sr. Roberts Command he being c Rot. Franc. 44. Ed. 3. m. 14. constituted the Kings Lieutenant in those Parts should be at Southhampton by the Octaves of St. John Baptist following ready fitted to take Shipping there with him So that in the beginning of July Sr. Robert finding all things ready went on Board at Southhampton and arrived safely and landed with all his Men at Calais where he was highly welcom'd by Sr. Nicolas Stambourn Captain of the Town Here he tarried seven Days to refresh his Men and to consider what Course to take on the eighth Day early in the Morning he began to march out of Calais with an Army of d Mezeray ità sed 12000 Holinsh ego priâ—rem praefere quia dicitur Exercitus magnus M.S. vet Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 234. Walsing hist p. 179. 30000 Men among whom were 1500 Men of Arms and 4000 Archers on Horseback the Chief Captains whereof were Sr. Alan Boxhull Sr. Thomas Grandison Sr. Walter Fitz-Walter Sr. Gilbert Gifford Sr. John Menstreworth Sr. John Bourchier Sr. Hugh Meinill Sr. Geoffry Vrswell and Others The first Day they reached Fiennes but Sr. Moreau de Fiennes Constable of France was then in the Place with a sufficient Number of Knights and Esquires all well provided and ready to receive their Enemies The next Morning the whole Army faced the Castle but when it plainly appear'd that much might be there lost and little or nothing won they passed by without attempting it and marching thrô the Earldom of Guisnes enter'd the Land of Fauquenberg burning all before them till they came to Teroüenne which yet they attempted not for seeing it well provided they thought 't would be but lost Labour Then they passed the River of Lys and began to enter Artois but they never went above four or five leagues a Day because of the Infantry and their Carriages still taking up their Lodgings early in the Afternoon and near some considerable Village or other At last they drew near to the City of Arras and took up their Lodgings in the Town of Mount St. Eloy near to the said City where they tarried two Days to refresh themselves all the while destroying and burning round about as far as the Marshals durst stretch Now the French King had already provided for all the Defensible Places in those Parts as well as elsewhere strictly enjoyning his Chief Officers not to be easily tempted out to a Battle but only to stand on the Defensive part Which Order was generally obey'd and prov'd more mischievous to the English than open Opposition could have done for by this means they could get very little Provision without Blows but could never come to a Battle as they desired and expected On the third Day they left St. Eloy and passed by Arras but Sr. Hugh Meinill and Sr. Geoffry Vrsewell who were the Marshals of the English Army resolved however to
and Defensive thereby to support himself the better against the Power of England The first Opportunity accordingly he dispatch'd away his Ambassadors to the Court of France who were graciously received at Paris by the French King and there between him and these Deputies who had Procurations from King Henry ready sealed whereby they were fully Authorised to treat and to proceed effectually in all Causes in the Name of their Master in any Parliament or Council whatsoever there were accorded ordained and confirmed certain mutual Alliances and Confederations Engrossed and solemnly sworn to on both Parties them firmly to hold and maintain nor by any means to infringe or do any thing contrary thereto But that the two Kings should for ever abide firmly in mutual Unity of Peace Love and Alliance and then and there the French King sware upon the Word of a King to aid and assist the King of Castille and his Heirs in all his Business and never to make any manner of Peace or Agreement with the King of England unless he should be comprised in the same And to this League Sr. Bertram of Clequin the Constable gave much furtherance for he as Dearly loved King Henry as King Charles loved and believed him So the Spanish Ambassadors return'd back to their Master whom they found at his City of Leon in Spain and he received extraordinary satisfaction from this his Alliance with France and entertain'd less doubt of the English than before However like a Wise Prince he neglected no means of Establishing his own Affairs but began to strengthen himself by Sea and Land as One that knew foreign Amities of small force as well as of slow approach where due Care is not taken at home Nor indeed was all this his Caution wholly needless or vain For soon after John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster in Right of this his Lady Eldest Daughter to Don Pedro the last Lawfull King of Spain took upon him the style of King of Castille and Leon and l Archbishop Abbet's Description of the World p. 7. Vid. Mr Sandford's Geneal Hist p. 238. p. 253. empaled the Arms of Castille and Leon with his Ducal Coat Nor only so but some Years after began a fierce War against the Bastard Usurper of his Crown which at last could no other ways be ended but by a Match between the Sole Daughter and Heiress of John of Gaunt by this Spanish Princess and Henry Grandson and Heir of the said Henry the Bastard in whose Line and Posterity thus legitimated that Kingdom hath ever since remained XIV Before this Solemn League was thus Established between France and Spain the Pope being alarum'd with the Wonderfull Success of the Turks against Christendom used all his Endeavours to close the Breach between England and France and especially to heal the exulcerated Mind of our King Edward To which end he wrote to the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge that they would joyn to move the King their Father to dispose himself towards a Peace with France he also wrote to the King himself the Form of his Letters m Extant apud Oder Rainald ad hunâ— ann §. 3. ex Tem. 1. Fp. secr p 112. being very near the same with those which Pope Innocent VI wrote n Vid. Hujus Hist Lib. 3 c. 1. § 14. p. 517. formerly to the Black-Prince upon his Victory at Poictiers wherefore we purposely omit them in this Place But I shall here set down another Letter which this Pope sent a little before he wrote to the King to that Renowned Warrier John Greilly Captal of Busche whom he knew to be very Gracious with King Edward and of a truly Heroick Mind thô most able for War yet exorable and apt to embrace an Honest Peace o Extant apud Odoric Rainald ad hunc an §. 8. GREGORY the Bishop Servant of the Servants of God to his most Beloved Son in Christ John Captal de Busche Greeting and Apostolick Benediction The Eastern Parts being exposed to heavy Dangers and in a manner obnoxious to utter Ruine do cry unto the Vicar of Christ unto Christian Princes and other Nobles The Holy Land also being violently possessed by the most impure Saracens of a long while basely detained and polluted by their filthy Touch doth cry unto them doth open her Wounds unto them with ardent Desire expecting an healing Assistance from them Certainly when late we understood those things p p In hâ—c leco voculam quae deleo concerning the miserable Condition of the said Parts and heard also those things which our Beloved Sons the Ambassadours of the whole City of Genoa sent unto Us particularly for this purpose did declare unto Us concerning this miserable State of the said Parts We were inwardly wounded with the Compunction of bitter Sorrow For it was their Assertion that the Turks and other Enemies of the Cross of Christ being gather'd together in a great Multitude do with heavy tempests of Wars afflict waste and consume the said Eastern Parts earnestly affecting to abolish the Christian Name and Worship in those Parts nay even utterly to exterminate from thence the poor Remainders of Christianity And that unless there be made in the next March Expedition a powerfull Resistance to the fury and malice of the said Insidels there will hardly be found in those Parts to invoke the Name of Christ And 't is probably feared nay 't is by many held for certain that the foresaid Turks and other Miscreants are preparing to invade Sicily and by Consequence other Countries of the Christians Wherefore the foresaid Genoans from an inward compassion of their Hearts condoling with the sad Tribulations of the foresaid Parts and together with the Aid of other Faithfull Christians willing to comfort them with the Remedy of a speedy Assistance neither sparing their own Goods nor Persons are now Rigging forth a mighty Fleet of Gallies to pass the Seas this next March-Expedition But they do not think themselves any ways able to resist in the Premises unless they are assisted by other Christians Oh! How unpleasant is the Memory of these things to Us O how bitter the Recollection considering these and other so great Dangers of the Faithfull For while we revolve these sad things in our Mind while with sollicitous thoughts We meditate thereon our Zeal is kindled like a Fire Tears being conceived spring forth as witnesses of our Grief nor can we forbear sighing chiefly for this that as to the Readiness of hasting with so great Succours the Measure of Possibility can no ways equal as We would the vastness of our Wishes many Confusions in the Parts on this side the Sea hindring and especially the heavy Discord which long since the Grand Disturber of Peace and Enemy to Charity hath stirred up between our most Dear Sons Edward and Charles the Illustrious Kings of England and France For the allaying whereof We have destin'd to send unto the said Kings two of our
Lancaster founds an Hospital at Leicester The Pope's Opinion about the Souls of the Departed The Lord Douglas dies in Spain Edward Bailiol claims the Crown of Scotland Hector and Buchanan found tardy King Edward represses certain Outlaws A Parliament The Earl of Oxford dies John of Luxemburgh King of Bohemia conquers in Italy From p. 55. to p. 65. Chap. V. A Parliament The true Grounds of the Scotch War. A Recapitulation of the Scotch Affairs The Scots Preparations against the War from England King Edward's preparations against Scotland A Parliament at York The Earl of Gueldre marries King Edward's Sister Edmund the young Earl of Kent dies Queen Philippa deliver'd of a Daughter From p. 65. to p. 70. Chap. VI. The Lord Robert of Artois flies into England King Edward summons the Scotch King to his Homage and on his refusal defies him and lays siege to Barwick The Ancestry of James Cecil the present Earl of Salisbury A Combat The Battle of HALIDOUN where King Edward obtains a mighty Victory King Bailiol prosecutes the War in Scotland King David flies into France King Bailiol plays the King in his Absence The Death of an Archbishop a Bishop and a Lord. From p. 70. to p. 83. Chap. VII A Parliament at York King Bailiol does Homage to King Edward as likewise the Duke of Bretagne A Council at Nottingham A Parliament at Westminster King Edward designing for the Holy Land sends Ambassadors to the French King. King Bailiol displeases his Friends and growing weak thereupon reconciles them and recovers King Edward goes towards Scotland The Lord Edward Bohun drown'd From p. 83. to p. 88. Chap. VIII King Philip of Valois undertakes the Croisade but doubting King Edward sifts Him first He rejects K. Edward's Conditions The first Seeds of the French War. Hugh Courtney made Earl of Devonshire A Parliament at York King Edward's Scotch Expedition The Earl of Namur taken by the Scots and the Earl of Murray by the English John Earl of Cornwall's Success in Scotland King Philip of Valois tryes King Edward again The Scotch Nobles submit to King Edward King Philip makes frustrate their Agreement David Earl of Athol slain Two Prodigies with the Death of two great Barons From p. 89. to p. 101. Chap. IX Certain English Lords besiege Dunbar but in vain King Edward orders King Bailiol to take the Field and soon after joyns him King Philip sends a Fleet against England King Edward commissions his Admirals to defend the English Seas He heaps up Money for the War but makes fair Overtures for Peace His Considerations on the French War and the Opinion of his Council thereon His Embassy to the Earl of Hainalt The two Kings put themselves in a Posture John Earl of Cornwall dies A Scotch Tale of his death refuted The Earl of Lincoln dies The Queen of England deliver'd of her Second Son William of Hatfield A Comet with other Prodigies From p. 101. to p. 108. Chap. X. King Edward's second Embassy to the Earl of Hainalt Five hundred English Voluntiers under a Vow King Edward's Methods to reduce the Flemings The Rise and Power of Jacob van Arteveld King Edward makes his Son the Black-Prince Duke of Cornwall and creates seven Earls A Parliament Affairs of Ireland All Aliens Lands seised into the Kings Hands and let to Farm. The Earl of Hainalt dies King Edward challenges the Crown of France and makes Friends in the Empire King Philip attempts the Flemings in vain He sets a Garrison in Cadsant which King Edward beats out King Edward treats with King Philip but finding no good there treats with his Allies The Pope interceeds From p. 108. to p. 120. Chap. XI A Parliament The Cardinals with King Edward's Commissioners return into France Their Overtures rejected King Edward at Antwerp summons his Allies with whom he holds a Parliament and another at Halle He sends to the Emperour and invites his Queen over She is deliver'd at Antwerp of her Third Son Prince Lionel Thomas of Brotherton the King's Vncle dies Naturalization An Enterview between the Emperour and King Edward who is made Lieutenant of the Empire King Edward holds a Parliament in Brabant A Day limited for the Confederate Lords to joyn King Edward who keeps his Court at Antwerp The Duke of Brabant makes fair with the French King. The Black-Prince holds two Parliaments in his Father's Name and obtains a mighty Aid for him The English Navy reinforced From p. 120. to p. 125. Chap. XII King Edward prepares to open the Campaign His Letters to the Pope and Cardinals setting forth his Right to the Crown of France The Pope's Answer thereto From p. 126. to p. 133. Chap. XIII King Edward summons the German Lords to meet at Mechlin They altogether send their Defiances to King Philip. The Lord Walter Manny begins the War. The Earl of Salisbury makes an Incursion into the Bishoprick of Liege The French King's Preparations The French burn Southampton K. Edward lays siege to Cambray And on King Philip's approach rises to meet him The two Kings face one another at Vironfoss A Day appointed for a Decisive Battle King Philip steals away King Edward returns to Antwerp sends for his Eldest Son and keeps Christmass there The Pope's Letters to King Edward The King's Answer Two Parliaments at Westminster From p. 134. to p. 153. Chap. XIV King Edward holds a Parliament at Brussels where he assumes the Arms and Style of France The Reasons why he did so The Queen of England deliver'd of her Fourth Son at Gaunt King James the Second his Pedigree from him by the Mothers Side A Copy of King Edward's Letters Monitory to his French Subjects He returns into England informs the Pope of his Reasons for using the Style and Arms of France The Pope's Answer From p. 154. to p. 162. Chap. XV. The Lord Oliver Ingham routs a French Army King Philip reinforces his Navy and sends to wast the Lord John of Hainalt's Lands The Lord Walter Manny's Brother slain The French King orders an Invasion upon the Lands of the Earl of Hainalt who therefore sends him a Defiance and having revenged himself on the French makes an Allyance with King Edward John Duke of Normandy invades Hainalt King Philip procures the Pope to interdict Flanders Jacob van Arteveld invites the Earl of Salisbury to joyn him before Tournay the said Earl and the Earl of Suffolk's Eldest Son taken Prisoners sent to the French King their Lives saved by the Old King of Bohemia The Duke of Normandy's Success in Hainalt he returns to Cambray Mutual Inreads into France and Hainalt The Duke lays siege to the Castle of Thine l'Evesque The Earl of Hainalt goes to raise the Siege From p. 162. to p. 177. Chap. XVI A Parliament King Edward being inform'd of the strength of the French Navy makes himself strong takes the Sea and engages the French Fleet. His Victory at SCLUCE Neale Loring Knighted for his Valour King Edward's Letters to his Clergy How King
your Highness understand That I have unto me assenting almost all the Great Men of England with all their Apparel that is to say with Armour and Treasure exceeding much for to maintain and help your Quarrel so far forth that you shall be King again as you were before And thereto they have all sworn to me upon a Book as well Prelates as Earls and Barons c. This Letter Mortimer presently shew'd to the Queen telling her that Earl Edmund design'd to depose her Son wherefore she went to the King her Son and having shew'd him the Letter charged him on her Blessing to be avenged on him as on her deadly Enemy Upon her Importunities the King sent for him to Winchester where he was arrested thô it appears that in all the foresaid Proposals mention'd in his Confession which was thus made unto him by several Hands there was little or nothing of real Truth only these Emissaries invented those improbable Tales to abuse him or were by the same arts abused themselves so that it appears evidently but a contrivance against his Life Now to drive the matter home b Leland Coll. 1 Vol. p. 686. M.S. Vet. Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C. c. 220. ubi tota hujus rei series accuratissimè describitur Sr. John Daverill Constable of Corfe Castle discover'd that Letter written by the said Earl to his Brother the King supposing him still living which Letter being produc'd by his inveterate Enemy the Earl of March in open Parliament he was found guilty by his Peers and had Judgment of Death passed on him Now when the Earl was condemned and remanded unto Prison c M.S. id ibid. the Lord Mortimer went straight to the Queen Mother's Appartment whom he found at Dinner and having obtain'd a private Conference told her how the Earl was condemned by way of Law to forfeit Life and Limb and his Heirs to be disinherited for ever upon his own plain Confession in full Court saving the Kings gracious Favour Wherefore said he I think it best for his Execution to be hasten'd without the Kings knowledge for if he once understand the whole Matter he 'll forgive him his Death and that will turn to our great Disadvantage if not utter Confusion because he was empeached by our means Whereupon Queen Isabell being thus urged by Mortimer caused a Warrant the next morning to be sent to the Bayliffs of Winchester to see speedy Execution done for his Brother the Earl-Marshall would by no means as his Office required concern himself in that matter and he was easily dispens'd withall as well by reason of his Relation to him as for Suspicion of him For it d Joh Harding c. 178. fol. 177. b. §. 8. 9. appear'd that he was infinitely dissatisfied as were all the Lords but those of Mortimers Faction thô being terrified by so great an example they durst not intercede with the King nor shew their displeasure But as we said Command was sent to the Bayliffs of the Town to see the Work done yet none could be procur'd to perform the ungratefull Office upon him e Knighton p. 2555. n. 40. Lit. Dom. G. from morning till the evening when a Wicked ribald out of the Marshalsea to save his own life thereby severed his Head from his Body on the 19 day of March being the Eve of St. Cuthbert and a Monday Besure Mortimer so well watch'd the King that day that no body could approach to inform him either of his Condemnation or of that Warrant for his so speedy Execution For when being done he heard of it with f Dudg Bar. 2 Vol. p. 93. b. l. 3. M. S. ibid. great sorrow he caused his Body to be decently interred in the Fryers Preachers at Winchester With whom also for form were accused Stephen Gravesend Bishop of London and William Abbot of Longdon who were acquitted but Sr. g Walfingh hist p. 110. Robert Taunton with some certain Carmelite Fryers and Predicants for a cloak to the Sham were condemned to perpetual Imprisonment the Provincials of the White h Stow p. 229. Carmelite Fryers and of the Black Preaching Fryers being banished Precepts also were issued out by command of Parliament to the i Dugd. Worw p. 699. a. id Bar. 1 Vol. p. 677. b. Sheriffs of Warwickshire Dorsetshire and Hantshire for the speedy Apprehension of Sr. John Peche whose Lands also were seised but both he and they shortly after restored Beside this William Archbishop of York and William Lord k Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 153. Zouch of Mortimer were impeached but soon after acquitted and their Goods and Lands restored Sr. l Dudg 1 Vol. 445. Fulk Fitz-Warine also had his Castle of Whitington seised but the next Year the King restor'd him to the possession thereof Nay the great Henry Earl of m Knighton p. 2555. n. 40. Lancaster with several of his Friends was apprehended by order from the Old Queen and the Earl of March but whether the Matter would hold no further or that they would seem to have respect to his Age and Nobility or by chance he escaped their Hands So that not one of all this Number was brought to Death upon this Account but only this Worthy and Heroick Prince who had least knowledge of the Matter Yet when by all this great Bussle they thought they had sufficiently established the Reputation of a Plot n Dudg 2 Vol. p. 93. Proclamations were presently issued out into all the Counties of England to give Notice that the Earl was put to death and for what Reason Thus fell this Mighty Prince the King 's own Uncle and a man of Extraordinary Courage and Integrity in the Flower of his Age for he had hardly compleated twenty o Nat. Augusti 5 to An. Dem. 1302. Walsing hist p. 48. Eight Years by the Contrivances of those whom He himself before he was aware had raised to that Power It is agreed on all hands He was innocent of the matter whereof He was accus'd and that if he had not he had never yet been made guilty of Treason but by those who had been guilty of Deposing and Murdering the Old King. Yet let us a little confider whether the Hand of God might not be in all this since at first he neglected to assist his own Brother against the Rebellious insolence of his Subjects but p Walsing hist p. 101. emnes rather countenanced all their Actions with his Presence that himself should thus pay for his Inadvertency in first rashly engaging to the Dissolution of his own Brothers Authority which afterwards he more inconsiderately endeavoured to raise out of the Grave As for his own Person I find no real Stain fix'd upon him by any and the manner of his Execution shews q Knighton p. 2555. n. 40. how Dear he was to the People not to say that by the Character of those who were his Enemies we may discern him to have been Loyal and
The Scotch Preparations against the War which they expected from England V. King Edward's Provision against them and a Parliament at York VI. The King's Sister Married to the Earl of Gueldre The young Earl of Kent dies The Queen deliver'd of a Daughter I. ON the 27 a M. S. Rot. Parl. p. 16. c. Sr. Rob. Cotten p. 11. c. of April being the Monday after the Feast of St. George AN. DOM. 1332. An. Regni VI. King Edward held his Parliament again at Westminster where that we may see what Prudent Care was taken in those days by that August Assembly that their Debates should not be aw'd by Fear nor disturbed by Tumults it was first by the King's Order proclaim'd that no Man on pain of forfeiting all his substance should presume to use or wear any Coat of Plate or other Weapon offensive or defensive in London Westminster or the Suburbs of the same And also that during the time of this Session no Games or other plays of men women or children should be used in Westminster to the disturbance of the Parliament Here also once for all we shall mention the Laudable Custom of Parliaments in these days whereby they had certain appointed not only to be Receivers but also Tryers of Petitions who were to enquire of matter of Fact expressed in the Petition that so it might be cleared and rightly stated before it came to be debated in full Parliament But the first day nothing more was done except the Proclamation aforesaid because the Archbishop of Canterbury and Others were not yet come After this Simon Mepham Archbishop of Canterbury and John b Vid. Gedwâ—n's Catal. Bpâ— Philipet's Catal. Chancellors Stratford Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellour of England began to open the Parliament and by way of Oration shew'd how the French King as then intended a Voyage into the Holy Land and desired the King's Company in that pious Enterprise Which caused his Majesty thus to call them together at this time Then Sr. Geoffry Scroop of Masham in the King's Presence and at his Command declared further that it was as well to redress the Breaches of the Laws and his Peace as for the Voyage to the Holy Land that he had called them together The Prelates alledging that it did not properly belong to their Function to be present at Criminal Debates with a Proviso of reserving their Rights still to themselves and Successors withdrew with the Proctors of the Clergy to consult together by themselves And the c Les Dits Countz Barâ—â—s Grauntz par eux Mesmes Ita in Recordo Earls Barons and other Grandees consulted by themselves apart as also did the Commons they at that time d M. S. p. 17. §. 9. Sr. Rob. Cotton p. 12. §. â—0 having no Speaker of their own As for the King's Voyage to the Holy Land it was thought as yet too Early for his Years and the Good of his Realm to be undertaken and therefore 't was resolv'd it should be defer'd for three Years As to the Treaty of Peace with France by way of Marriage which we mention'd in the foregoing Parliament Sr. Geoffry Scroop now declaring that the French King had assured our Ambassadors that if his Majesty would in Person go over to him in order to an amicable Conference he should find nothing but Friendship and Honour at his Hands Upon this Declaration Sr. Geoffry requiring their advice was answer'd that for those Reasons with his Majesties good liking they agreed he should pass the Seas and therefore would humbly Request him to defer his Personal Expedition into Ireland for one Year but yet so as that an Army should be sent thither And then as to matters relating to the Conservation of the King's Peace the Lords and e Les Grauntz Great Men returning declare by the Mouth of the Lord Henry Beaumont how they think fit that certain Justices be appointed in every County with Power to set Officers in every Town who by the Assistance of the Constables should apprehend all guilty or suspicious Persons and make Publique Hue and Cry. And further it was Enacted by Authority of the King Prelates Lords and Commons that sentence of Excommunication should be published in all Churches and Chappels throughout the Realm against all Breakers of the King's Peace or their Abettors And also Power was granted to dispence with all Obligations made by Word Oath or Bond relating to the countenancing or concealing of any Violators of the Peace To such an Heighth of Insolence had some ill Subjects grown in the Minority of this King that he was fain not only to go in Person to suppress them as I shew'd before but now also to draw forth both the Civil and Spiritual Sword against them But I must not here omit what I find in the Remembrances of this Parliament that in a Debate held between Sr. John Grey of Rotherfield and Sr. William de la Zouch before the King and his Council they grew to such high Words that at last Sr. John drew his Dagger upon Sr. William in the Presence For which presumption they were both commanded to Prison althô they were Barons of the Realm And being afterwards brought forth to answer the Contempt upon equal hearing the said Sr. William was acquitted but Sr. John Remanded to Prison there to remain during his Majesties Pleasure Thus like a Wise Builder did this Monarch begin with a firm Foundation as thinking it Necessary to Govern well at Home before he could Expect to Conquer abroad II. And surely now was Fate busied not a little in preparing Matter for his Sword France was not yet Ripe and Ireland was not Worthy enough to employ so Noble an Arm but Scotland to its unhappy Honour did both seem a more equal Enemy and by its Evil Genius was already hasting to rush into that War which of it self came too soon upon them But because hitherto I have not seen any Author either Foreign or Domestick that seems fully to understand the Cause of King Edward's Invading that Realm some saying he did it out of Interest which that he might do partly I shall not deny f Polyder Virgil c. others that demanding Barwick as his Right and being refus'd he made that Refusal an occasion of breaking the Peace I shall now therefore Faithfully and Distinctly set down all that I have learn'd of this Matter and leave it to the Decision of the Impartially Judicious King Edward had hitherto kept the Quadriennial Peace most punctually saving only that he hindred not those of his Subjects who claim'd Lands in Scotland which by peaceable Means they could not enjoy from using their best endeavours thô without the least help from him for the Recovery of their Right Nay we find it expresly mention'd to his Honour g Dugd. Bar. 2 Vol. p. 51. a. ex Claus 4. Ed. 3. m. 12. that these English Adventurers undertaking that War without his leave for
then in France about renewing a Truce toward a full Establishment of Peace And indeed King Philip who knew that the Lord Robert of Artois his Mortal Enemy was harboured and protected in England did not at all question but that he would do his utmost to embroil the Affairs of France nor was he ignorant what just pretences King Edward might make to his Crown beside the ancient and inveterate Antipathy that seem'd almost Natural between the two Kingdoms He gave therefore to King David the Castle of Galliard upon the Seyne to reside in during his Necessitous condition and assign'd him a truly Royal Allowance for nothing could be got from Scotland considerable enough to maintain a Port becoming the Majesty of a King. Nor was it long e're Philip sent into Scotland to those Lords who held against the English honourable Messengers with many large Promises of great Assistance both in Men and Money provided they would engage never to strike up a Peace with the King of England but by the consent and allowance of him and David their King. This Message so encouraged the Brucean Lords that they readily accepted the Motion and sware to keep the Covenant which they sent back to the French King with their Seals thereto annexed The Contents whereof were but the same with those which their King Achaius of old had made with Charlemaine King of France and which were usually from King to King renewed between the two Crowns till at last in our Fathers Days Scotland was happily united to the Crown of England Which Covenant since the Articles are but short and few it will not I hope be amiss here once for all to record y Favin's Theatre of Hon. 2 Vol. p. 79. l. 5 c. 3 1. That a firm and perpetual Alliance and Confederacy should be maintained between the Scots and French. 2. That when the English made War upon either the Scots or French they should both give mutual Succour reciprocally one to the other 3. That if it happen'd the English should war in France the Scots should then give them Succour with Men of War to be waged and maintained at the Expences of the French They also engaging to do the like for them if it happen'd the English should make War in Scotland 4. That neither Scots nor French should for the future aid or assist the English with Men Money Victuals or Advice without the consent of the Kings of both Nations under penalty of being declared guilty of High Treason 5. That the French should make no Peace or Truce with the English except the King of Scots may be comprised named and allowed therein 6. And lastly That the Covenants and Conditions above-named should be confirmed from King to King and at each Change or Succession of them that their Pragmatical Sanctions should be sealed and confirmed reciprocally on both Sides This is the summ of that ancient League with France which was now renewed again And accordingly King Philip soon after z Frois c. 33. sent into Scotland to the assistance of the Bruceans Men of War under the Command of the Lord Arnold D'Andreghan who after became Marshal of France and a Famous Warrier and the Lord Garenciers with many other Captains Knights and Esquires Besides which he a Fabian p. 200 mann'd out ten Men of War to the Reinforcement of the Scots but these meeting with a Terrible storm at Sea were driven into Flanders and so beaten that after much loss of their Stuff and Provision they were fain to return home inglorious and without effect King Edward the mean while having so happily obtained the Victory aforesaid and settled his Affairs at Barwick and thereabouts adding Piety to his Valour b Walâ—ing hist p. 114. n. 40. goes according to the Superstition of those Times with a few Attendants to visit several Places in England which were most fam'd for Sanctity and there offer'd his Thanks to God Almighty the Blessed Virgin Mother St. Cuthbert at Durham St. Edward at Westminster St. Erkenwold at St. Pauls in London St. Thomas at Canterbury and St. George at Windsor for at that beloved Seat of his he finish'd his Pilgrimage After which in * Fabian p. 200. November he again marched toward Scotland as we shall shew in the beginning of the next Chapter and kept his * Grafton p. 229 Christmas at York being still c Frois c. 26. fol. 16. attended with the Lord Robert of Artois who never ceased day nor night to set forth before him the Great Right which he had to the Crown of France and the King took pleasure to hear him But as yet matters were not fully ripe IX And now was Scotland for a while quite out of breath her Nobility being so mightily consum'd by the continual Wars and their own too great Courage and none remaining who was any way able to encounter or impeach King Bailiol who from this time had the sirname of Conquerour attributed to him So that now with his d Hector f. 316. 40. Buchan l. 9. p. 290. Army aforesaid wherein was the Lord Richard Talbot and many young Knights and Esquires of England he took in almost all Scotland diligently viewing every Place and prudently settling his Affairs for the most part furnishing his Garrisons with English as not yet daring since the late Treacherous surprize to repose much confidence in the revolted Scots whatever Submission they now pretended Only a few Castles continued true to King David in this Alteration which as they could not then be easily taken for their strength so for their Number were they very inconsiderable If any thing may be said to be so in a War when no less than a Kingdom lies at stake Hereupon King Bailiol finding himself pretty well established in his Throne e Walsing hist p. 115. M.S. vet Angl. c. summons a Parliament to meet him at Perth alias St. Johnston to which those English Lords that claim'd Possessions in Scotland came and there did their Homage to him for the said respective Lands held under him reserving still the Allegiance they ow'd to their natural Lord and Soveraign the King of England Among these was Henry Lord Beaumont Earl of Buquhan who had to wife the Lady f John Cumin Earl of Buquhan died without Issue but Alexander Cumin his brother left three Daughters his Coheirs of which this Alice the Eldest Mills Catal. Hener p. 957. Alice one of the Sisters or rather as others say Cosins and Heirs of the Lord John Cumin Earl of Buquhan and Constable of Scotland of the Lands of whose Inheritance doing Homage therefore he had g Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 50. b. Livery and Seisin in the Sixth of Edward the Second thô afterwards he was dispossessed as other English Lords were till this time This Great Lord they say did first advise King Bailiol to implore the King of England's Aid toward the recovery of his Right and till the King's
Mind might be known had conceal'd him at the Lady Vesci his sister's House The Lord Richard Talbot was now also restored to the Lands which he claim'd in right of his Lady h Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 326. Elisabeth another of the Cosins and Coheirs of the said Lord John Cumin of Badenagh Earl of Buquan as David Strabolgi Earl of Athol in Right of his Mother i Dudg 1 Vol. p. 96. Joan the other Cofin and Coheir whose Name Others reckon to be Katherine had Livery of his Lands at the same time Besides these King Bailiol gave to the Lord k Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 274. Henry Percy of Alnwick Castle in Northumberland a Grant of the Inheritance of the Pele of Loughmaban as also of Anandale and Mossetdale with all the Knights Fees and Advowsons of Churches within those Valleys in as full and ample Manner as the Lord Thomas Randulph sometime Earl of Murray ever had them And moreover of divers Lands in that Realm which had belonged to other Men of the Brucean Party The like Grants were given to Ralph Lord Nevil of Raby John Lord Moubray and Sr. l Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 184. Edward Bohun Brother to John Earl of Hereford and Essex and Constable of England all Men of great Nobility and Valour These with some few more came to this Parliament held by King Bailiol as Peers of Scotland and as owing Homage for their respective lands held of him partly to settle their own Affairs and partly m Rot. Sâ—oc 7. Ed. 3. m. 2. as Commissioners from the King of England to see those Agreements ratified and confirmed that had been made between the two Kings And in this Parliament n Holinsh Eng. Chren p. 896. were revoked and made null and void all Acts Statutes and Ordinances which the late Kings of Scotland Robert or David had made and it was enacted That all such Lands and Possessions as either of the said Bruces had given granted or confirmed to any Person or Persons whatsoever should be now taken away and restored to the former and true Inheritor Thus was David seemingly unking'd and Bailiol to all appearance fixed in the Scottish Throne but we shall quickly see him at the bottom of the Wheel again and once more King David must be lifted up thô to his greater loss and trouble But now we must shut up this Active year with a few Memorandums of Mortality For Lewis Beaumont Bishop of Durham o Gedwins Cata. Bps p. 661. departing this life in September on the 19 of December following Dr. Richard Bury formerly the Kings Tutor was consecrated Bishop in his stead in the presence of the King and Queen of England and of King Bailiol of Scotland besides 2 Archbishops 5 Bishops 7 Earls and many other Noble Personages both Lords and Ladies So obligingly Gracious was this Mighty Monarch to the Man that taught him as indeed for his great Learning and Abilities he did well deserve Also on the 12 of October following p Gâ—dâ—ins Catal. Bps p. 132. Therne's Chron. p. 2066. Dr. Simon Mepham Archbishop of Canterbury deceased at his Mannor of Magfield and was succeeded in that See by Dr. John Stratford Bishop of Winchester a Man of great Learning Judgment and Loyalty And on the 13 of the same Month Sr. Hugh Poynz q Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 2. a noble and valiant Knight and Baron of this Realm went the way of all Flesh leaving behind him Nicholas his Son and Heir from whom many worthy Branches are descended CHAPTER the SEVENTH The CONTENTS I. A Parliament held at York II. Edward Bailiol King of Scotland renders Homage to King Edward of England whereby the Scots begin first to be distasted again John Duke of Bretagne likewise renders Homage to the King of England for his Earldom of Richmond III. A Council at Nottingham which produces a Parliament at Westminster Wherein King Edward shews his Resolution to go with the French King to the Holy Land Vpon which he sends Ambassadors to the Pope and King Philip but that Design is broke IV. King Bailiol causes a disgust among his Friends whereat his Enemies take Advantage till being reconcil'd again he grows stronger However his Enemies get to a Head again and for a while prosper V. King Edward startled at the News prepares for another Expedition to Scotland in Person He arrives with his Army at Newcastle The Lord Edward Bohun Brother to the Earl of Hereford and Essex unfortunately drowned I. KING Edward of England in his March toward Scotland AN. DOM. 1334. An. Regni VIII which as we have observed he began in the November foregoing a Fabian p. 200. Grafton p. 229. stay'd to keep his Christmas at the City of York Thence he went and laid Siege to the Castle of Kilbridge which he presently took by fine force and thereupon having confer'd with King Bailiol and pretty well settled Affairs in those parts he return'd again after Candlemas b Holinshead p. 896. B. Dom. Lit. Pasc 27 Martii to York in order to hold his Parliament which he had summon'd to meet him there the next day before St. Peter in Cathedrâ being the 21 of February and a Monday the second Week in Lent. Here it was c M.S. Rec. Par l. p. 20. 21. §. 1. c. Sr. Rob. Cotton p. 15 §. 1. c. Enacted that the Great Charter of the Forest and other Statutes should be observed and that what Clauses therein were obscure should be by good Advice more fully Explain'd It was also petition'd that in every County one Justice of the Peace Learned in the Law should be appointed as Chief over the Rest before whom all Offences should be sued to the Outlawry And that these were yearly to make an Account of their Doings before the King. To which the King replying he would be advised granted that they should yearly send up an Extract of their Proceedings into the Treasury and to Encourage them the more herein undertook to d Ibid. § 4 provide that each of them should have certain and limited Fees allow'd him To the Petition that no Pardon be granted to any Outlawed by any suggestive means but only by Parliament his Majesty answer'd that the Statutes made should be observed and whereas it was Requested That Sheriffs might continue but one Year according to the Statute of Lincoln and Woodstock he told them that the Statutes made should stand and that the Chancellour and others who were appointed to make Choice of Sheriffs should name Able Men who were to continue One Year or longer according to their Demeanour It was now Enacted that the Justices of the Kings Bench and the Common Bench Justices of Assise and of the Peace in every County should Determine of false Jurors and Maintainers Moreover the King by his Letters Patents charged all Archbishops and Bishops to cause Excommunication weekly in every Parish to be Denounced against all such Offenders
Honor. p. 603. ad p. 6â—6 yet to have been and continued in this Family of the Dreuxes ever since the year 1268 in the days of King Edward the First untill this time and seven years after when upon the Death of this John de Dreux without Issue King Edward gave this Earldom to his Fourth Son o Ib. d. p. 610. John Plantagenet sirnamed of Gaunt Nevertheless thô I know not how nor when the Lord Robert of Artois had the Title of Earl of Richmond but I never could find that he had any Creation thereto But this John Dreux as we intimated just now died seven years after in the 15 of this King leaving no Issue behind him thô he had been thrice Married To whom John Earl of Montford his Half-brother succeeded in the Dukedom of Bretagne which John was Father to John sirnamed the Valiant after his Fathers decease Duke of Bretagne of whose Wars and gallant Exploits this History makes honourable mention III. Immediately after this Enterview at Newcastle the two Kings parted the One toward Scotland the Other for Windsor whence King Edward speedily issued out his Summons to the Lords both Spiritual and Temporal commanding them to meet him at Nottingham on the 10th of that instant July there with him to advise about Affairs concerning the Weal of the Realm In this Council 't was ordain'd that a Parliament should be call'd at Westminster to meet on the 24th of September or the Exaltation of the Holy Cross the day bearing some proportion with the Design which was to exalt the interest of Christendom At which time the Parliament being assembled the Pious Young King did then declare That being thereto invited by his Kinsman the Duke of Bretagne who came in Embassy from France he had formed a Resolution to march with his Cosen the French King and other Christian Princes into the Holy Land to advance the Cross of Christ against the Turks and Infidels For thô he had not as yet answer'd King Philip directly when he requested his Society in this Croisade because he had been credibly informed that King Philip about this time had victuall'd and mann'd out ten great Ships which he design'd for Scotland in pursuance of King Davids Quarrel yet forasmuch as those Vessels being miserably shatter'd at Sea were at last forced to return home without any effect and because now Scotland seem'd fully settled under the government of King Bailiol all things appearing safe from those Quarters and quiet at home himself also flourishing with Riches Honour Children and full and vigorous Youth he declares as we said before to this Parliament his Resolution to partake with Christendom in this pious and honourable Enterprise And thô he did not expresly limit the time since there can be no exact certainty before hand of such weighty and slow-moving matters yet then he appointed Dr. John Stratford Archbishop of Canterbury as his Ambassador to go to the Pope and to the French King to consider and agree with them as of other things so especially about the Time when the two Kings should set forward to the Holy Land together But for all this althô the Lord Robert of Artois could by no means prevail to divert the King from this Design to that of claiming his Right in France which he earnestly labour'd to persuade him to Yet thrô some secret Ordinance of Providence it happen'd even while this Parliament sat that by other means he was compell'd to take other Measures Which were not indeed so happy for Europe but nothing less glorious to this English Monarch IV. For King Bailiol being thus fully settled in his Kingdom of Scotland and no way fearing that his Enemies had any Ability left sufficient in the least to shake his Throne began first himself to open a way to his own Ruine by imprudently occasioning Discord among his most powerfull Friends Many of his Followers had been long disinherited of their Rights in Scotland and several interchangable Marriages happening the while among them it was utterly impossible to avoid but that some Controversies would happen in deciding matters now by adjusting all things equally And besides all this not a few who had no great Concerns in that Kingdom before could not yet but merit high Considerations from the Bailiol in regard of their late Services Among Others John Lord p Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 81. Waren Earl of Surry was now by full consent of Scotch and English Nobles created Earl of Strathern instead of Malisius the late Earl who had forfeited that his Honour by Rebellion Thô afterwards q Dagd 2 Vol. p. 51. at the sollicitation of Malisius his Friends great endeavours were used for Revocation of that Judgment and Forfeiture This was one difficult Point insomuch that King Edward of England whose clearer Judgment saw the ill Consequences of these matters had by his Letters to King Bailiol desired him that the Business might be publiquely discussed by his Nobles and Faithfull Peers of the Realm and not by such whose Fidelity might be called in question And he had also sent his Letters to Henry Lord Beaumont one of the chief of King Bailiols Council requiring him to use his utmost interest for preventing any sudden Determination in that business Considering of what ill Example it would be as also of peril to himself and others in the like case But there arose another Controversie higher than this by far For whereas the Lord Henry Beaumont had already received what he claimed in Right of his r Hector p. 316. 60. Buchan l. 9. p. 290. Lady Alice one of the Cosens and Coheirs of the Lord John Cumin Earl of Buquhan as was shew'd before now it seems her Uncle Sr. Alexander Moubray a potent Man lately brought over to the Batliol claim'd a Purparty of her Lands from the said Lord Beaumont The Cause was debated in Parliament with great heat the Lord Richard Å¿ The One was Lord Beaumont's Wife 's Sister's Husband the other Sister's Sen. vid. l. 1. c. 6. §. 9. Talbot and David Strabolgi Earl of Athol taking part with the Lord Beaumont their Kinsman and Others as their Opinions Humour or Interest lead them with the Lord Moubray King Bailiol thinking himself sure of his Old Friends and hoping now for ever to bind fast unto him this late-reconciled Enemy too rashly adjudged the matter in behalf of Sr. Alexander Moubray As it was too soon done it was too late repented of for the other Party was immediately so exasperated that in the very Parliament House they could scarce forbear flying to extremities But the Parliament hereupon being presently adjourn'd the Quarrel seem'd to sleep for a while Yet however King Bailiol who by the greatness of the Smoak perceived what a dangerous Fire was kindled doubting the worst made towards Barwick in all hast for his better security with Sr. Alexander Moubray in his company The Lord t Hecter fol. 316 60. Buchan p. 290. Richard
Rob. Cottoos Abridgment of the Records p. 143. Rex Charissimo Filio suo Richardo Principi Walliae c. But I believe this Place being thrô Age obscur'd and so left to Conjecture was for hast mistaken in that manner John Earl of Kent with any of the Blood Royal. 4. To make Restitution for any Dammage he tender'd to King Philip as much Mony as he should in reason demand 5. He also proffer'd to take a Voyage to the Holy Land with the King of France if he would restore his Lands unto him 6. To go the Voyage if he would restore but Half or Some of those Lands 7. To take the Voyage with him if he would but make Restitution after his Return Or 8. Lastly to take the Voyage singly by Himself so that at his Return he would restore him his Right These Overtures with many others which the King or his Council could think of were offer'd to the King of France in Order to a Peace with this General Proposal beside That if any one could think of any other way tending to an Accommodation He would be ready to accept thereof But all was in vain for King Philip on the contrary not only still held his Lands beyond Sea but excited and maintained the Scots against him and also by his Navy did much Mischief at Sea. I wholly here pass by the Matters of Scotland till a more convenient Opportunity for fear of interrupting the Thread of our History especially because all was done there by snatches and fits and intervalls King Bailiol with various Fortune contending to keep on his Head a Crown more full of Thorns than of Jewels X. Now the o Ashmole p. 649. Pope perceiving that the storm of War was ready to break forth to the great Hazard of the Interest of Christendom sent into England about the Feast of St. Martin p Victorelius Ciacon 1 Vol. p. 862. §. 24. p. 857. §. 4. Holinshead Engl. Chr. p. 901. c. Pedro Priest Cardinal of St. Praxeda and q Vid. Odoric Rainald ad An. 1337. §. 15. ubi Papalis Commissio his Cardinalibus facta Bertrand Deacon Cardinal of St. Mary in Aquiro to use their best Endeavours to compose the Differences now growing High between the two Kings For the more Honourable Reception of these Christian Peacemakers according to the Kings Order the Archbishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Winchester Ely Chichester Coventry and Lichfield with the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London went forth and met them on Shooters Hill. The young Duke of Cornwall with the Earl of Surrey and many other of the Nobility received them a Mile without the City and the King himself met them at the lesser Hall-door of his Palace at Westminster and carried them into the Painted Chamber where they deliver'd their Message Hereupon the King caused a Parliament to be summon'd to meet him at Westminster on the Morrow after Candlemas day r Ashmole p. 649. till which time upon the Cardinals Mediation thô Peace could not be effected a Truce was agreed on Nor ſ Odoric Rainald ad An. 1337. §. 20. yet was Peace the only business about which these Cardinals came but the Priviledges and Immunities of the Church as appears by the Popes Letter to the King bearing Date IX Kal. Julii An o Pontificatûs III. However these Cardinals thô they came to make Peace were not yet rightly prepared for the Work For they made it evidently appear that they were more concern'd for the King of France and so not fit to be as indifferent Composers of Matters between the two Kings And this was notoriously demonstrated by t Walsing Hist p. 146. Edit Franc. n. 20. Bertrand the French Cardinal in a Sermon of his ad Clerum wherein he could not forbear putting a false Gloss upon King Edward's Actions and Adorning and Gilding King Philip's cause till the Archbishop of Canterbury not able to endure his Insolence rose up and confuted all his Arguments and Publiquely declared his Assertions to be vain false and frivolous And from that time it was the Common talk in England that the King of England had a Right to the Crown of France which he intended to claim and pursue This u Gesta PPae Benedicti XII apud Besqu M.S. Bibl. Vatican sign n. 3765. in Ben. XII Odoric Rainald ad hune An. §. 30. Year on the third of June there was a certain Fryer named Franciscus de Pistorio of the Order of the Minors deliver'd over to the Secular Power and burnt as an Heretick at Venice for persisting in this Assertion That Christ and his Disciples possessed nothing either in Proper or in Common the Contrary to which Pope John XXII had determin'd in the Constitution which begins Cum inter Nonnullos CHAPTER the ELEVENTH The CONTENTS I. A Parliament the Cardinals return into France together with Commissioners from King Edward II. Whose Overtures being by the French rejected King Edward with a Fleet of 500 Ships sets sail for Flanders and arrives at Antwerp whither he Summons his Allies with whom he holds a Parliament which begets another at Halle III. King Edward sends from thence an Embassy to the Emperour Lewis of Bavaria and invites his Queen to come over from England to him she is soon after her coming deliver'd at Antwerp of her Third Son named Lionell Prince Thomas of Brotherton the Kings Vncle dies An English Lord's Son that was Born beyond Sea Naturalized IV. An Enterview between the Emperour and the King of England the latter being made Vicar-General of the Empire by the Former V. King Edward calls a Parliament of his Allies in Brabant with the effects thereof VI. A day appointed whereon all the Confederates are to come with their several Quota's to the King of England AN. DOM. 1338. An. Regni XII who keeps his Court the mean while at Antwerp The Duke of Brabant keeps fair with the French King. VII Prince Edward of England Duke of Cornwal holds two Parliaments in the King his Fathers Absence For whom he obtains a Mighty aid The English Navy reinforced with sixty Sail. I. ON the third of February or the Morrow after Candlemas-day the Parliament began where the Truce was Prorogued a Ashmole p. 649. to the First of March following b Holinshead p. 902. The Laity at the same time granted to the King the One half of their Woolls throughout the whole Realm for the next Summer which he received Graciously and also he Levied of the Clergy the whole causing them to pay nine Marks of every Sack of the best Wooll but after the Rate of the One half he took in whose hands soever it was found as well Merchants as others according to the foresaid Grant So that of the Abbey of Leicester only as c Knighton p. 2570. Knighton one of that House witnesses he had no less then 18 Sacks After d Holinshead ibid. this he
said Kingdom there are however to the Kings of France of Famous Memory who gradually Succeeded unto Philip King of France of Famous Memory Your Grandfather Daughters and their Children who as to the said Succession as is reported are nearer unto the Kings their Fathers than are You and our most Dear Daughter in Christ Isabella the Illustrious Queen of England Your Mother Daughter of the foresaid King Philip But the Custom aforesaid hath been of former time so inviolably observed and still is observed that it admits not a Succession to the said Kingdom by the Female Line But to think that by the way of force You may obtain the said Kingdom considering the Greatness and Power of the King and Kingdom of France Your Forces are by no means believed to suffice thereto And that holding and possessing nothing in the said Kingdom You make Your self to be called King of France and have assum'd the Arms thereof as is Premised it is certainly reckoned to proceed from Evil and Unrighteous Counsell But if those who perswaded You to such things endeavour to say for an Excuse that You are Lord in Flanders which is known to be in Fee of the King and Kingdom of France truly it is to be attended and considered and Your Royal Wisdom may diligently examin who and what Men and of what Condition they are who have brought You in there For in them hitherto hath the Vertue of Constancy and Loyalty never been Praise-worthy For they have often basely ejected out of Flanders it self Their Natural Lords to whom they were bound in the Debt of Loyalty violating the Covenant of Their Faith after the Pleasure of Their own Wills and if they have done this to them whom they were Naturally Obliged to Reverence what may be presumed of You ô Son and what kind of Title may thence be taken or formed We pray that Your Wisdom would discreetly consider Again consider even thô it did proceed of Good and Right Counsel that now You cause Your self to be named King of France during the Reign of Our most Dear Son in Christ Philip the Illustrious King of France who as King hath for many Years peaceably held and possessed the Kingdom of France and to whom as such for the Lands within the said Kingdom to You belonging by doing Fidelity and Liege Homage You have recognis'd him for King of France and Your Lord for the Lands aforesaid Those that hear asmuch are amaz'd d d Ascribentes in M.S. quod male legitur arbitrantes apud Oder Rainald ascribing it not to discretion but rather to Simplicity and Vanity Finally We judge it ought to be more strictly consider'd that such a Title wanting both Reality and Advantage which those are said to have perswaded You to who love you not but seek by Your Losses to make Their own Market believing to attain thereto more fully when they shall have procured You to be insnared and involved in more deep Intricacies and hazardous Necessities and Troubles is feared to be a Poysonous Root which will probably unless other Care be taken bring forth Fruits of Bitterness and Sorrow Moreover We account that You ought no less diligently to consider how many and how Great Kings Princes and Noblemen who have proceeded from the Stock of the House of France or have Affinity or Confederation therewith who opposed not themselves unto You about Your Affairs before by this Name and Title You would provoke against You and more directly incense if which God forbid You should insist thereon And the very Title might begin such a Matter which God avert whereby the Reformation of Peace between You and the said King of France might as to all humane judgement be render'd for ever impossible And also the Princes and other Subjects of the said Realm who as the vulgar report goes would expose themselves to the hazards of Death and the perpetual loss of Their Goods rather than endure the Premises would by the same Name and Title be render'd more prompt able Valiant and Couragious against You e e Ad desensâ—â—nâ—m M.S. recte Odoric aâ— defensionem â—â—lâ— for the Defence of the said King Philip and his Kingdom Nor ought You most Dear Son as We remember to have written unto You elsewhere to repose much Confidence in the Germans and Flemings for You shall find them Affable and Kind unto You as long as They can have leave to drain Your Substance but otherwise You may not confide in Their Assistance And if You peruse the Deeds of Your Progenitors how the same Germans and Flemings behaved themselves formerly towards them You will manifestly find how far You may trust unto Them. We therefore intreat Your Royal Highness and earnestly in the Lord exhort You that You would receive the Premises which We write of a Fatherly Good Will and Sincere Affection with a favourable Mind and taking them together with other Matters which as to this Point may occurr unto You into a just and considerate Discussion and Examination laying by the foresaid Title would incline Your Royal Mind to the way of Peace and Concord whereby You may be able both to attain and peaceably to keep those things which shall be Your Right a Mutual Agreement being made between You and the said King that as You are joyned with the Tye of Blood and Affinity so You may be allied in the perpetual Bond of Confederation and Love. Dated Aven III. Non. Martii Ano. Pontif. VI. Other Letters bearing the same Date were written to the King wherein the Pope chid him that being Admonished the last Year IV Id. Octob. under Penalty of Ecclesiastical Censures and other heavy Penalties to break with Lewis of Bavaria he had yet return'd no Answer to the Apostolick See and as it appears f Odâ—rit Râ—inald ad â—â—ndâ—â— A◠§. 8. â—â—â—em 6. Epist Secâ— 25â— those very Cardinals who were Nuntio's of the Apostolick See upon the Account of Peace wrote to the Pope that those Censures he had once threatned the King of England with might now be inflicted on him because he still kept the Lieutenantship of the Empire but Benedict wrote Back unto them to abstain from any such Proceedings against Edward till with the Cardinals he had more maturely weigh'd so important a business But before things went so far We shall find the Emperour himself to Repeal his former Commission given unto King Edward so that there was no further Occasion for that Papal Thunderbolt to strike England at that time CHAPTER the FIFTEENTH The CONTENTS I. The French King sends an Army into Gascoign which the Lord Oliver Ingham King Edwards Seneschal of Aquitain being too weak to match overthrows by a Stratagem II. King Philip reinforces his Navy and sends to waste the Lord John of Hainalts Lands III. Sr. Giles Manny Brother to the Lord Walter Manny slain by the Cambresins IV. The French King gives leave to the Bordering Garrisons to make an Incursion into the Earl of
on the Sea under the Command of his three Admirals Sr. Hugh Quyriel Sr. Peter Bahuchet and Nicolas Barbenoir the Genoan These were furnished with a notable Fleet of Genuans Normans Bretons and Picards who did this Winter no small damage to the Coasts of England at Dover Sandwich Winchelsey Hastings and Rye For they were more than 40000 Men in all Beside this King Philip wrote to the Lord of Beaumont-in Champaine the Lord of Bresne the h Qu. Videme i.e. Vicedâ—â—was Vidame of Chalons the Lord John de la Beau the Lords John and Gerard of Loire enjoyning them to furnish themselves with competent forces and so make an Impression upon the Lord John of Hainalts Lands burning killing and destroying without Pity because he took King Edward's Part against France These Lords did as they were Commanded and enter'd the said Lands with 500 Men of Arms appearing suddenly one Morning before the Town of Chimay a strong Town of Hainalt seated in a Wood on the little River Blanche Here they found a vast quantity of Cattle and other Prey for the Country People never imagin'd the French could have come so far without passing the Wood of Thierasche The Place was too strong however to be won by them so that setting fire on the Suburbs and the neighbouring Villages they return'd laden with Spoil to Aubenton and there divided the Booty At the same i Frois c. 44. time the Garrison of Cambray sent a small Detachment to a little strong House hard by called Relenques which also belonged to the foresaid Lord John of Hainault and was now kept by a Bastard son of his who had only 15 Men of Arms and about fourty others in his Company These few held out manfully one whole day against a continual Assault of the Cambresins but because the Ditches were so frozen that there was free Passage for the Enemy to approach to the very Walls about Midnight the Bastard and his Men in great silence trussed up all they had of any worth and setting fire to the House departed for Valenciennes whither they all came in safety Next day as the Cambresins came thither again to renew the Assault seeing all was reduced to Ashes they beat down the Walls and what remain'd to the ground and so returned III. We shew'd before k C. 13. §. 3. p. 135. how the Lord Walter Manny had taken the strong Castle of Thine l'Evesque so called because it belonged to the Bishop of Cambray over which he had set as Captain his Brother Sr. Giles Manny This l Frois ibid. Sr. Giles was a Valiant Knight and very much incommoded the Garrison of Cambray both distressing them that issued out of the Town and also boldly braving them at their own Walls Once particularly this Winter he Marched from his Garrison in the head of Sixscore Men of Arms and came to the Barriers of Cambray where the clamour rose so high and the skirmish grew so fierce that great numbers within the City were fain to run to Arms and come to the Gate to the assistance of their Fellows who were hitherto too weak for Sr. Giles and were ready to turn their backs But now upon this reinforcement Sr. Giles caused a Retreat to be sounded to his Men and so began to draw off fair and softly The fresh forces of the Cambresins issued out of the Barriers after him as they might well do both considering their own Numbers and that so strong a Place was at hand to second them Among the Frenchmen there was a young lusty Esquire of Gascoign named William Marchant who came out among the foremost into the Field well-mounted his shield about his Neck and his Spear in his Hand Him when Sr. Giles beheld he turn'd his Horse and rode up fiercely to him thinking to have slain or taken him But the Esquire held him tack gallantly insomuch that at last either by his Hands or some others for the Medley and Confusion was now at the highest Sr. Giles was stricken thrô all his Harness the Spear passing quite thrô his Body upon which he fell down to the earth Upon the fall of their Captain his Men renew'd the skirmish more fiercely but by continual Recruits from the Town they were finally overpower'd slain and put to slight The Cambresins took up the Body of Sr. Giles wounded mortally as he was and brought him with great Triumph into the City where presently they disarm'd him and got skilfull Surgeons to dress his Wound for they were very desirous to save him to be Ransom'd but for all their Care he died the next day after Then they resolv'd to send his Body to his Brethren John and Thierry for the Lord Walter the Elder was about King Edward's business which two kept Garrison at Bouchain in Ostervandt For thô at that time the Country of Hainault was not engag'd in any War saving the late Incursion made into the Lord of Beaumonts Lands yet all the Frontiers toward France were Garrison'd for fear of the Worst the times beginning to be troublesome So they prepar'd an Horse and Litter and putting his Body therein caused two Fryers to convey it to his Brethren who received him with great sorrow and saw him decently interred at the Fryers in Valenciennes where afterwards the Lord Manny m Frois c. 110. buried his Father as in due place we shall see This being performed his two Brethren John and Thierry who were also half n Id. c. 49. Brethren to the Earl of Namur went to their Deceased Brothers Castle of Thine whence they made sharp War upon those of Cambray in Revenge of the Death of their Brother IV. At that time the o Frois c. 44. Lord Godmar du Fay of Normandy was Captain of Tournay and the Country thereabout the Lord of Beaujeu was Captain in Mortagne on the Skell at the Consines of Hainault in Tournois the Seneshall of Carcasson in the Town of St. Amand on the Scarp Sr. Emeric of Poictiers in Doway and the Lord Galeas de la Bausine the Lord of Villers the Marshall of Mirepoix and Sr. Theobald of Marville in the City of Cambray All which Garrisons desired nothing more than to make an Inroad into Hainault there to rob and spoil the Country This their Desire was brought to effect by the Bishop of Cambray who being then at Paris with the King complained that the Hainalders had done him great Dammage having destroy'd and overran his Country more than any other And that the Lord John of Hainault was an apparent and known Enemy to France and the Earl his Nephew also secretly a Friend to England Whereupon King Philip as one that consider'd not how many Enemies he created to himself presently gave leave to the foresaid Garrisons of Cambresis and Tournois to make an Incursion into Hainault which they gladly did to the number of 600 Men of Arms. On a Saturday Morning they all began their March from Cambray and were met by
part of Almains and Brabanders These 3 Battails assaulted the Town at one time in three several places with much Vigour and Gallantry the Archers all the while both from within and without letting fly their Arrows and Quarrels without sparing The Earl with his Battail came up near to the chief Gate which for a while was worthily defended by the Vidame of Chalons who there and then Knighted three of his Sons and obliged his Men by words and example to do gallantly But yet at last both he and they were by the Earl beaten back again into the Town in some Confusion The Earl carrying the Barriers by fine Force and keeping them The mean while his Uncle the Lord of Beaumont was fighting with like Valour and Success at the Gate toward Chimay where after a sharp Conflict which yet was well manag'd by the Lord de la Bonne and the Lord of Bresne he forced the Enemy to retire into the Town and thereby wan both the Barriers and the Bridge also Yet what they had as it was not cheaply won was not easily maintain'd For the Besieged being beaten into the Town came now to revenge that Affront upon the Walls whence they cast down barrs of Iron Stones Timber Darts and Pots of quick Lime which did a great deal of Mischief An Esquire of Hainault had such a stroke with a stone upon his Target that it was quite cloven in sunder with the blow and his Arm so shatter'd and broken that it was long before it could perfectly be healed The next morning being Saturday the Assault was again renew'd on all sides with far more fury than before so that althô they within did their utmost to defend themselves at last all their Barriers and Defences were beaten down and the Town was carried by Force Sr. John the Earls Uncle enter'd first with great noise of shouting and Trumpets his Men of Arms beating down all before them At this dreadfull sight the Vidame of Chalons like a Noble Knight withdrew himself into a fair spacious place before the Minster where he stood with his Men in a square Battail resolved as it should seem to sell his Life dearly But as for the Lord of Bresne when he saw all was lost knowing he had so much displeased Sr. John by his late Incursion into his Lands about Chimay that if he were taken no Ransom would be accepted for his Life he determin'd to save himself by flight and presently taking a good Horse fled away without any Order upon the spur Sr. John hearing that his Capital Enemy was escaped immediately with a good Brigade of Horse sped after him but the Lord of Bresne had got the start of him so much that finding the Gate of his Town ready open to receive him he made shift to enter and close the Gates again just as Sr. John came up to the very Walls thrô eager pursuit with his Sword drawn in his hand Wherefore seeing his Enemy had escap'd him he return'd back to Aubenton but in his passage thither meeting with many of the Lord of Bresne's Men following their Master he put them all to the Sword without mercy The mean while in the Town was the young Earl and his Men hard fighting with those who were drawn up before the Minster and there the Vidame of Chalons did Wonders in Arms and so did two of his Sons and all his Company plaid this their last Stake gallantly and with honour but the Hainalders were as cunning Gamesters besides that they were more animated with Success so that at last the Vidames Party being opprest by numbers of Men no less valiant and desperate than themselves were slain upon the spot every Man not one was taken to ransom and the Vidame indeed scorn'd to be taken and his Sons were of his Mind and so they all fell with their Swords in their hands And of the whole Town not one escaped but only those who fled away with the Lord Bresne so that there died about 2000 People of the Town besides the Souldiers After this bloody Execution the Town was rifled and plunder'd and all the Goods sent away to Chimay and the residue committed to the Flames From Aubenton these incensed Warriers went to Maubert Fontaine which they presently wan and spoiled the Town and then ras'd it to the ground after that they took and burnt the Town of Aubigny and Signy the Greater and the Less and all the Hamlets thereabout to the number of above 40. And then at last the Earl of Hainalt being as the manner of War is rather overrevenged of his wrongs return'd to Mons well pleased and having satisfied his Men with Thanks and Prey gave them leave to depart for a while because the season was not yet come to keep the Field But considering that these his Actions would shortly call a War upon him from France having constituted his Uncle Sr. John Deputy Governour of Hainault Holland and Zealand he immediately shipt himself for England with design to make an Alliance Offensive and Defensive with his Brother-in-Law King Edward that so he might be the better able to withstand the Power of France But the Lord John of Hainault staid at Mons where like a good Provident Captain he took care for all Parts and retain'd Souldiers and strengthen'd all his Nephews Castles and Fortresses with Men and Ammunition And first he sent to Valenciennes the Lord of Engien the Lord of Vergny the Lord of Gomegines and Sr. Henry of Hofalize To Landrecy he sent the High-Steward of Hainalt with an hundred Spears to Bouchan in Ostervandt three Captains Brethren Knights of Almain named Courrars instead of the two Mannys who were removed to the Castle of Thine as Å¿ Huâ—us cap. §. 3. p. 164. we shew'd before To Escandure he sent Sr. Gerard van Sanckins and the Lord of Valkenburg to the Town of Avesnes the like care he took of St. Amand and of every Fortress fronting on France VI. But when King t Frois c. 46. fol. 26. Philip heard how the Hainalders had wasted the Country of Tierasche and had slain and taken his Captains and destroy'd utterly his good Town of Aubenton he presently in a great fury commanded his Eldest Son John Duke of Normandy to make a notable Inroad into Hainalt and there to harrass and destroy all the Country that the Memory of his severe Revenge might remain for ever And him we shall leave about his vast Preparations to execute his Fathers Command His Father the mean while to provide against the Storm which he expected from England reinforced his Navy greatly at this time and commanded his Admirals to cruise about the Coasts of Flanders and by no means to suffer the King of England upon his return to set Footing there on pain of their Heads And because he now understood for certain that the Flemings had made homage and Fealty to the King of England his Adversary he sent unto them a notable Prelate who pretended
side the Parliament was Prorogued till the Wednesday next after the Translation of St. Thomas Becket II. And now the King having by Wise Counsel settled his Affairs at home resolves in all haste to cross the Seas in Pursuance of his War abroad and therefore goes the first Opportunity to b Stow p. 237. Ipswich where he kept his Whitsuntide intending thereabouts to pass over into Flanders While he lay here his Brother-in-Law Reginald the Second c Walsingh hist p. 134. Duke of Gueldre sent him word by way of Caution that he should take an especial Care of his Person for that King Philip had set a Price upon his Head and had withall given so strict a Charge to his Admirals that they had sworn to present him Alive or Dead at Paris And to that end they were furnish'd with the d Knighton p. 2577. n. 10. most Gallant Armada that ever any Man living had seen For there lay as then in the Haven of Sluce near Bruges in Flanders between the Isle of Cadsant and Blankeberg more than e Fox Acts and Monum p. 347. 400 Sail whereof 200 were Great Vessels well stuff'd with Frenchmen and all manner of Habiliments of War besides Spaniards Genoese Normans and Picards all Manned with above f Frois c. 50. Ashmole p. 651. 40000 Men Wherefore it behoved him to look to himself Now John Stratford Archbishop of Canterbury having also received before this some Imperfect hint of the Strength of the French at Sea g Fox ibid. advis'd the King out of pure Love to his Person and Welfare by no means to Adventure to cross the Sea without a Royal Navy But he looking upon him as one whose blood Age had Frozen and that so he was apt to be timerous without Reason gave him an angry Check and resolv'd to set forward with what Strength he had Whereupon the Good Prelate resign'd his Chancellourship for sorrow and withdrew himself as one says from the Council Thô others h Pilipâ—tâ—s Catal Chancellors p. 39. more probably say that not till after this Expedition he was by the King in his Displeasure remov'd from his Office of Chancellour But when the Lord Morley his Admiral of the Northern Fleet sent him Word of the same and the foresaid Letters from the Duke of Gueldre made the Matter no more to be doubted then i Walsingh hist p. 134. althô he had already near two Hundred Sail yet he sent the Bishop of Lincoln to the Southward Ports and himself rode Northward to Yarmouth where he caused so many Ships more of the Cinque-Ports to be immediately equipped that now at last his Fleet consisted k Stâ—w p. 237. of 260 Vessels Great and Small all well Mann'd with Archers and Men of Arms besides those wherein many young Ladies and other Gentlewomen were to go over to see the Queen III. When he was thus provided at last on the l Ashmole p. 651. 22d of June being m B.A. Dom. Lit. the Thursday before the Nativity of St. John Baptist about the first Hour of the Day in the Name of God and St. George he departed out of the Haven of Orwâ—ll in Suffolk and set Sail for Flanders The n Knighton p. 2577. n 50. next day being the Eve of St. John Baptist and a Fryday about three of the Clock they came to the Coasts of Flanders about Blankeberg where o Frois c. 50. when King Edward p Adam Murimouth saw before him a Fleet so Numerous that their Masts and Streamers made them resemble a great Wood he demanded of the Master of his Ship what People he thought them to be To whom the Master reply'd May it please Your Majesty I take them to be Normans and others set out by the French King to Rob and spoil Your Coasts and if they may to take Your Majesties Person And among these I doubt not but We shall find those very Men who burnt Your Good Town of Southampton and took Your two good Ships the St. Edward and the Christopher Ha! said the King I have a great while desired to Fight with the Frenchmen and now by the Grace of God and St. George I shall Fight with some of thew if I may For surely they have done me so many Displeasures that I shall make them pay Dearly for all if God shall enable me Then * Knighton p. 2577. n. 50. 60. he commanded the Lord Reginald Cobham Sr. John Chandos and Sr. Stephen de la Burkin to take Land and to ride along by the Shoar to view the Countenance of the Enemy These Gentlemen rode so near that they saw all their Order and that the whole Fleet was divided into Three Squadrons being as they guess'd 400 Sail more or less all riding in the Harbour of Sluce among which they saw 19 Ships so Large they had never seen so many the like before whereof the Chief they knew to be the Christopher a Ship of England And having made this Discovery at their leisure for all Flanders was then free for Englishmen they return'd to the King who would needs for that time be Admiral of the Fleet himself and gave him an Account of what they had learn'd But by this time the Evening began to approach and therefore the King commanded to cast Anchor resolving to have the Day before him and to begin the Fight next Morning On the next day being a Saturday and the q Knighton p. 2578. Stow p. 237. Feast of St. John Baptist early in the Morning the French Fleet came forth of the Haven in good Order about the space of a r Adam Murimouth Mile approaching towards the English in Three Squadrons The French Writers indeed say that Sr. Peter Bahuchet would by no means permit them to quit the Haven but this is no way agreeable to the Fame of that Admiral the Harbour being a place too narrow for them to accept of a Battle in * Engl. Aâ—l. 4 Vol. p. 243. althô it is still accounted capable of 500 good Sail of Ships nor were they very secure there any longer than they were Masters of the Sea For the Men of Bruges King Edward's Friends were ranged in Warlike Order upon the Shoar to watch their Advantage And we find that King Edward took a Compass about in his very Address to the Fight whereby they had their Liberty to come forth So that their Opinion seems to me no better than a vain Pretence thereby to palliate the Truth About Nine of the Clock that Morning the King of England who saw well what they did and was prepared to Engage them set forward towards his Enemies He Å¿ Frois c. 50. had placed all his biggest Ships foremost being well furnished with Archers and other Souldiers and always between two Sail of Archers he Order'd One with Men of Arms He had also set one Squadron to lie aloof as well to keep the French who else might
England whom we shall shortly bring home with the King her Husband was soon m Walsingh hist p. 135. after in the Tower of London deliver'd of a Fair Daughter named Blanch who to temper King Edwards Felicities unfortunately died before she was weaned and lies buried at Westminster CHAPTER the EIGHTEENTH The CONTENTS I. King Edward in great Displeasure comes privately over into England where he displaces and imprisons several of his Chief Ministers of State. II. His Quarrel with the Archbishop with the full State of the whole Case in Epitome III. The Archbishop's Letter to the King. IV. The Archbishop's Letter to the Lord Chancellour V. His Remonstrance to the King and his Council VI. His Letter to the Bishop of London VII His Articles of Excommunication which he publishes over all his Province VIII A Copy of the King's Letters to the Bishop of London in Defence of his Proceedings against the Archbishop IX The Archbishops Answer to the King wherein he defends himself against all his Objections X. The King's Reply to the Archbishop's Defence which he sends to all the Suffragans of that Province with absolute Command to obey the Archbishop in nothing contrary to his Pleasure wherein we shall find a notable Instance even in those Times of the King's Supremacy and Jealousie of his Rights and Royal Prerogatives XI The Particulars of a Parliament at Westminster wherein at the last the Archbishop upon his Submission is fully pardon'd and received into Favour I. WE said before that upon the Truce taken before Tournay King Edward went to Gaunt and how thence he returned into England But now we are to take up that Thread again and so to proceed in a further Discourse of his Affairs While a Holingshead Engl. Chron. p. 912. b. he lay at Gaunt Lewis Earl of Flanders being now by vertue of the Truce restored to his Country came thither to visit him And for several Days he made great Cheer to him and his Queen caressing and entertaining them with magnificent Feasts and Banquets But King Edward took small Delight in such matters now his Mind ran upon the Mony which he dayly expected from England to pay off his Debts contracted beyond Sea which having long look'd for in vain pretending b Stow p. 237. that he would ride abroad for his Pleasure he went suddenly into Zealand where he took Ship privately with only his Queen and Eight more Persons of Quality in his Company designing for England But upon the Sea he met with a Storm which for three days together tossed him too and fro with great fury to the utter hazard of his Person It is said c Grafton p. 247. Fabian p. 216. that the Tempest was rais'd by certain Necromancers of France who purpos'd thereby to destroy him or at least to cool his Courage from passing the Seas any more Whatever was the Occasion this is certain that as if King Edward had been only destin'd for the Kingdom of France which he so greatly desired it seem'd fatal for him always in his Passage thither to have calm Seas and Wind at will but in his Return all things contrary so that often he endur'd many great Losses and Shipwrecks And this was his Fate while his Fortune stood fair but when he began to decline he found the Wind so contrary to him that by no means he could once set his Foot more in France However now at last this storm being happily abated on the third Night being d 30 Novem. St. Andrews he arrived safe at shoar and landed at the Tower of London about the Cock-crow The Lords that came with him and the Queen were the Earl of Northampton the Lord Nicolas Cantilupe the Lord Walter Manny the Lord Reginald Cobham the Lord John Darcy the Lord Guy Beauchamp Eldest Son to the Earl of Warwick with the Lord John Beauchamp his Uncle and two Chaplains which were also his Secretaries Dr. William Killesby and Dr. William Weston with their Servants only Upon the King's entring the Tower he found there no Guard ready but only his Children and three Servants waiting on them Wherefore in great e Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 127. Anger he sent for the Lord Nicolas de la Beche Constable of the Tower and committed him to Prison in the said place As also he served at the same time Andrew Aubry Lord Mayor of London the Lord Thomas Wake Sr. John St. Paul Keeper of the great Seal Sr. John Stonore Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench Michael Wath Henry Stratford and Robert Chickwell Clerks of the Chancery and Philip Thorp Clerk of the Exchequer All whom he sent for and imprison'd as he had done also to the Archbishop of Canterbury if he could have got him After this in several Parts of the Kingdom he caused to be taken and clapt up in divers Prisons Sr. John Poltney Alderman of London Sr. William de la Pole Baron of his Exchequer Sr. William Shareshull one of the Justices of the Kings Bench Sr. Richard Willoughby Deputy Lord Chief Justice Sr. John Shardelow and Sr. Thomas Ferrers Thô within a while after the Lord Wake was deliver'd with Honour having no Fault fix'd upon him The City of London during the Imprisonment of their Mayor was at the Kings Command govern'd by a Bayliff as will appear hereafter As for Dr. f Philipot's Catal Chancell Treas p. 34. Robert Stratford Bishop of Chichester who was then Lord Chancellour of England and Robert Northborough Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield then Lord Treasurer he immediately discharged them of their Offices threatning to send them into Flanders there to lie as Pledges for Money which he owed or if they refus'd to go to lay them in prison in the Tower. But upon the Bishop of Chichester's Remonstrance to him g Holinshead Engl. Chron. p. 912. that he would then be in danger to incure the Penalty of Pope Clements Canon De non incarcerandis Episcopis he relented and let them go free thô deprived of their Offices Sr. Robert h Philipot's ibid. p. 34. 38. Bourchier succeeding in the Place of Lord Chancellour and Sr. Richard Saddington in that of Treasurer and Dr. Killesby in the Place of Privy Seal Sr. John St. Paul the late Keeper being also discharged All the Sheriffs also of Shires and other Publique Officers were at this time removed and new ones put in their Places And certain Justices were appointed to enquire into the Faults of Collectors and other Officers concerned in the Gathering the Taxes so that few or none escaped unpunished so strictly these New Justices proceeded in their Commissions As for the i Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 146. b. Lord John Molins a Great and Noble Baron of the Realm the incensed Prince in the heat of his Displeasure flang his Body into Prison and seised all his Lands into his own Hands which thereupon were committed to the custody of Sr. John Eldred his Offence having been judged
devised by the Pope * Gaguin l. 8. p. 139. not as a Judge but only as a Friend to the common Peace of Christendom This Truce being sworn to by King Edward of England in his own Name and by the Duke of Normandy in the Name of the King of France his Father a Time was appointed in January following to treat more fully thereof at Malestroit in Bretagne where the Plenipotentiaries of either King were then to meet And so for that time both Armies brake up and King Edward having first made an Exchange between the Lord Ralph Stafford of England and the Lord Oliver Clisson of Bretagne went with his other Prisoner the Lord Henry du Leon to Hennebond where shortly after he took Shipping for England with the said Lord Henry and seven other Noble Bretons his Prisoners Upon his Return it is said that for five Weeks together he was tossed about with Tempests upon the Sea as we observ'd it to happen usually unto him so that he expected no less than inevitable Death Being at e Knighton p. 2583. n. 10. c. last cast upon the Coasts of Spain King Alphonso's Fleet that lay cruising about those Parts made up to him but beholding the Banner Royal of England they humbled themselves to Him and begg'd his Pardon For however Don Lewis of Spain of his own head assisted Charles of Blois there was Friendship between the two Crowns at that time The f Holinshead Engl. Chron. p. 920. Dutchess of Bretagne with much ado got safe to Land in Devonshire Sr. Peter Vele and his Son Henry Vele and Sr. John Reyner were cast away together with their Ships and all therein the King himself after much difficulty landed at Weymouth and came safe to London to the Queen soon after where he set forth a Proclamation to give publick Notice of the g Ashmele p. 653. Truce late taken in Bretagne XVIII In the mean time the h Walsing hist p. 147. n. 40. Holinsh Engl. Chron. p. 920. Commissioners on both Sides met in the Priory of St. Mary Magdalene in Malestroit a Town of Bretagne where by the Mediation of the Cardinals aforesaid these Points following were fully ratifi'd agreed sign'd seal'd and sworn to viz. 1. Imprimis That certain Nobles of the Blood of both the Kings of England and of France with others having full Power and Instructions to ordain confirm and ratifie a Peace shall be sent to the Court of Rome there to treat about all and singular the Controversies and Dissentions then impending between the said Kings by the Mediation of our Lord the Pope and of the said Nobles of either Party And the Parties shall say and propose their Reasons before our Lord the Pope but not as to any final Determination of the Controversie or Pronouncing of Sentence but only in order to make a firmer Treaty and Peace 2. Item That the foresaid Nobles who shall be sent to the Court of Rome shall be in the said Court before the Feast of St. John Baptist next ensuing and that the foresaid Negotiations with the Divine Assistance concurring and the Popes earnest Diligence be fully dispatched and agreed on with the Assent of the said Nobles before the Nativity of our Lord that Term by no means being prolonged Saving that if our Lord the Pope be hindred or shall not be able to reform the Peace between the said Kings however the Truce lately taken and sworn before Vannes shall remain firm to the Term hereunder appointed and be kept inviolably by all And to the end the foresaid Negotiation shall take fuller Effect let the Truce be granted unto the Feast of St. Michael next ensuing and from the said Feast to the full End of Three Years next to come after between the foresaid Kings of England and of France and also the King of Scotland the Earl of Hainalt the Dukes of Brabant and of Gueldre the Marquess of Juliers the Lord John of Hainalt and the Nation of Flanders and all their Adherents in all their Lands from the time of the Date of this present Truce during all the Time abovesaid 3. Item that the King of Scotland the Earl of Hainalt and other Noblemen Allies of the said Kings shall send their Envoys to the said Court with full power of Assenting and Confirming according to the Treaty to be had before our Lord the Pope in what belongs unto them against the foresaid Feast of St. John Baptist saving that if any of the said Noblemen Allies of the said Kings shall neglect to send their Envoys as is Premised to the Court of Rome the said Negotiation shall by no means be deferred upon that account 4. Item The foresaid Truce shall be kept in Bretagn between the said Kings and their Adherents even thô both Parties claim a Right to that Dukedom But that during the Truce the City of Vannes shall be detained in the Hands of the Cardinals in the Name of our Lord the Pope and the Truce ended they may do what they please with the said City 5. Item The Cardinals shall diligently do their parts toward the Absolution of the Flemings by taking off the Interdiction which they had again incurred and shall curiously study and labour that a good and rational way be found out therefore The Earl of Flanders as Lord without an Umpire and as Umpire without a Superior during the Truce shall remain in Flanders yet so as that it be done with the Assent of the People of Flanders 6. Item If any in Gascoigne or elsewhere during the Truce do raise War against their Neighbours or Enemies of either Party the said Kings shall by no means either by themselves or others directly or indirectly interest themselves nor shall the Truce be broken for this But the said Kings shall diligently apply their endeavours without fraud that the Subjects of the one Party during the Truce shall not any way move War against the Subjects of the Other either in Gascoigne or Bretagne and that the Subjects of the One during the Truce shall not be permitted to make League or Friendship with the other Party and that during the Truce nothing be either given or promised for the raising or maintaining of War directly or indirectly But that this Truce be firmly kept of all as well by Land as by Sea And that in Gascoigne and in Flanders the Truce shall be Proclaimed within fifteen Days after the Date hereof and in England and Scotland within 40 Days after 7. Item That all Prisoners of either part who have been taken from between the Sunday before the Feast of St. Vincent last past unto this present Day shall be Released their Goods taken restored and themselves as Reason requires set free 8. Item That no Damages or Invasions during the Truce shall be made between the Parties in prejudice or despight of the Truce 9. Item That the said Kings and their Allies during the Truce shall remain in the same Possession
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
Mist that a Man could hardly see the breadth of an Acre from him but however the King of England and his Marshals sent out u Id. Mezeray c. 500 Spears and 2000 Archers on Horseback to scour the Fields and to see whether any Frenchmen were again gather'd together Now many Inhabitants of Abbeville and St. Requier in Ponthieu with the Commons of Rouën and Beauvais had early that Morning being the Day before joyned together come into the Field not knowing of the late Discomfiture Some say that the English had reared French Colours which they had taken in the Fight whereby those Frenchmen being deceived came up to joyn them as if they had been their Friends The English immediately made them know their Errour and set upon them so lustily that within a little while they put them to Flight and chased them and slew in the Ways and among the Hedges and Bushes more than 7000 Men nor had one of them escaped if the Day had been clear They had scarce wip'd their Swords and recover'd their Order when they had an other Occasion to bestir themselves For now they met with a more formidable Number of their Enemies who were conducted by two Noble Leaders the Archbishop of Rouën and the Grand Prior of France they also being ignorant of the Overthrow given to their Friends the Day before For they had heard how King Philip intended not to fight till the Sunday and therefore came thither now to his Assistance Upon these the Day beginning now to clear the Englishmen under the Leading of the Earls of Arundel x Vid. Michael Northburgh's Letter l. 2. c. 4. §. 5. Northampton and Suffolk set with a Courage which their last acquired Victory had doubled and fought so obstinately that after a Stout Resistance they gain'd a Compleat Conquest having slain the two Leaders with 2000 of their best Men upon the Spot and pursuing the Chace for 3 Leagues together Beside these two Successes they met with several Frenchmen who had strayed in the Dark night and not knowing where the King or any of his Captains were had lain about in the Fields But their Respit was not long for now they were all put to the Sword as many as were found and sent to bear them Company who were slain the Day before Whereby it was thought that of the Commons and Footmen of the Cities and Good Towns of France there fell now four times as many as were slain on the Saturday in the great Battle XIV That same y Frois c. 132. Sunday about Noon as the King came from Hearing Divine Service the Captains of this Brigade return'd and shew'd the King what they had seen and done and how they had succeeded and assured him that there was no more Appearance of any Enemy in the Field Then the King order'd the Lord Reginald Cobham and Sr. Richard Stafford Brother to the Lord Ralph Stafford with three Heralds in their Company to go and search the Field and view the Number and Quality of the Slain For in those Days every Great Man wore a Surcoat of his Arms over his Armour to distinguish him according to his Quality These visited in Order the Bodies of all them that were slain and when they had taken a full and exact Account of every Parcel certain Men who were thereto appointed of the King spoil'd their Bodies taking their Money and Rings and what else was most valuable but with so much Decency that they left their Apparel on to cover their Nakedness All which Booty the King caused to be distributed among his Souldiers by equal Portions These Lords with the Heralds returned from visiting the Dead and brought along with them all the Spoil of the Field just as the King was going to Supper and after Supper they reported to the King a just Account of what they had found namely that there lay Dead in the Field 11 Great Princes 80 Bannerets 1200 Knights and more than 30000 of the Common Souldiers The Contemplation of this Success made a z Giov. Villani p. 879. pious Historian of those Days break out after this manner O Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts how great is thy Power in Heaven and Earth and especially in Battles Since sometimes nay very often he brings to pass that a small People and Power doth vanquish Mighty Armies thereby to set forth his own Power and to pull down the Proud and Arrogant and to punish the Sins of Kings Lords and People And particularly in this Discomfiture he shew'd his Power evidently for there were Thrice as many Frenchmen as English But yet this was not says he without just Cause that such Mischief should happen to the King of France Since among his other Offences that we may not instance in the Wrong done to the King of England and other his Lords in Usurping their Inheritance and Lordships but Ten years before being sworn to Pope John to undertake the Croisade and promising within two Years to go beyond the Seas and to regain the Holy Land he took the Tenths and Subsidies of all his Realm and yet made War against Christian Princes unjustly On occasion whereof there died and were taken Prisoners by the Saracens beyond the Seas of Armenians and other Christians above an 100000 who in Confidence of his Assistance had begun the War against the Saracens in Syria Thus far Giovanni Villani XV. The King of England kept the Field all Sunday-Night also and on the Mâ—nday Morning he prepared to March thence but a Frois c. 132. first by Proclamation granted a Truce to all the Towns thereabouts for Three Days that so the Country People might be encouraged to come forth and search the Fields of Cressy and to bury their Dead But as for the Bodies of the Kings and Great Princes he caused them to be taken up decently and conveyed along with him in solemn Pomp to Monstrevil were they were all deposited in Holy Ground in the Great Abby The King b Giov. Vill m. l. 12. c. 66. p. 878. Himself and his Chief Lords wearing Blacks at their Funerals especially for the Sake of John the Famous Old King of Bohemia whose Death he took heavily and prosecuted with Lamentations After which he sent his Body with much Honour to the Marquess his Son then at the Abby of Riscampo whence afterwards it was honourably conveyed to Luxemburgh by his Son aforesaid While the King lay thus at Monstrevil his Marshals made an Excursion towards Hesdin and burnt Campagne and Beauraine but they let the Castle alone because it required some time to win it and that Night they lodged by the River of Canche near Hesdin towards Blangy The next Day the whole Army began to March forward c Frois Knighten p. 2588. Da Chesne p. 665. towards Boulogne and by the way took St. Josse the Town of Estaples Neufchastel St. Estienne and burnt and wasted all the Country for about 8
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
besides the Prisoners who were David Bruce King of Scotland the Earl of Fife the Earl of Menteith the Earl of Southerland the Earl of Wigton the Earl of Carrick the Earl Douglas with a Brother of his the Lord James Douglas the Lord Robert Vescy the Bishop of Aberdeen and the Bishop of St. Andrews the Lord William Kinaston the Lord William Ramscy the Lord Malcolm Flemin the Lord David Banant the Lord John St. Clare the Lord William Moubray besides those of less Mark. In the Field many Spoils of great Value were taken together with the Holy-Cross of Halyrood House which was found upon the King who bare it about him in confidence of its Vertue and that thereby he should be secur'd from all Danger But he was now spoil'd both of that and other his Jewels which were found about him Now also was all the Booty recover'd which the Scots had taken in this Expedition and all the Provision which they had left for their own use at Hexham or elsewhere and the Chace of them was held as far as m Stow p. 243. Pruddo-Castle and Cerbridge for about 14 or 16 Miles together XII John Copland the Esquire of Northumberland immediately after he had taken his Royal Prey rode out of the Field with him and having Eight of his Friends and Servants in his Company all well mounted and armed never left riding till he had gotten above twenty Miles from the Place of Battle unto the strong Castle of Ogle in Northumberland on the River Blithe whereof He was Captain and then he said He would not deliver the King of Scots to any Man or Woman living but only at the Command of the King of England his Sovereign And so with great Care he apply'd himself to heal the Kings Wounds and sent for his Friends and Allies and others whom he could procure for Money or Friendship to help to defend the Castle because he well knew he must give an exact Account of this his Royal Prisoner The Queen of England tarried in the Field till toward the Evening with her Guard about her at which time most of the English Captains were returned from the Chace unto her But when she heard that an Esquire named John Copland had taken the King of Scots Prisoner and carried him away no Man could tell whither She dispatched a Pursuivant after him with Command to bring forth his Prisoner the King of Scots unto her gently admonishing him that he had not done well in carrying Him away without leave All the Remainder of that Day and the Night following the English Army kept the Field as well for their greater Honour as for the security of their Friends many whereof were still in the Chace But the Queen had Lodgings provided for her in the City of Durham After which she rode back with her Guard to York leaving Edward n Hector Buch. Aiscue's Hist Scotl. Holinsh c. Bailiol and the other English Lords of the North to prosecute the War with Scotland who forthwith entring that Land with fire and sword took the strong Castle of Hermitage for Roxborough was English before and without any Resistance subdued the Countries of Anandale and Galloway the Marches Tividale and Ethrick Forest extending their Arms to Cockburne-Peke and Sowtray-Hedge And thus for that time Scotland was subdued XIII The mean while Esquire John Copland o Frois c. 139. having received and perused the Queens Letters returned this bold Answer That as for the King of Scots he should be safely kept and he would be answerable for his forth coming upon occasion But that He was resolved to deliver him at the Command of no Man or Woman living but only at the Pleasure of his Sovereign Lord and Master the King of England This Answer did not well satisfie the Queen wherefore she sent to the King her Husband who lay before Calais Letters of Complaint desiring to know what he would have done in this case when one of his Subjects refus'd to Obey her Commands And fully enforming him of the Affairs of the Realm particularly of this last Success near Durham King Edward having received these Letters from his beloved Queen sent immediately for John Copland to come over the Sea to him to Calais which Command the Esquire most readily obey'd and having put his Royal Prisoner in safe Custody under the Hands of the Lord Ralph Nevill and other his Friends and Allies he rode thrô England till he came to the Lands end at Dover Where he went on Board a good Vessel arrived safe at the Camp before Calais and so was brought to the Presence of the King. As soon as the King saw him he took him graciously by the hand and said Ha! now welcome my Loyal Esquire that by your Hardiness have taken mine Adversary the King of Scots Sir said the Esquire kneeling if God of his Grace have suffer'd me to take the King of Scots by true Conquest of Arms I think no Man ought to look with an Evil Eye upon me For God of his Goodness may as well send such Fortune to a poor Esquire as to a Great Baron And Sir I humbly intreat Your Majesty not to be displeased with me thô I did not deliver the King of Scots at the Queens Command For Sir I held Service of Your Majesty as mine Oath is also made only to You and not of the Queen but only in Good Manners Besides I did not think fit to commit so great a Prisoner to any small Company least had he been lost by a Rescue I my self had incurr'd the forfeiture of my Head to Your Majesty and thô the Queen sent Messengers indeed yet there came no Forces sufficient to have secur'd his carrying up to London if I had deliver'd him upon Command The King took him up graciously from the ground saying John the good Service that You have done Us and your known Loyalty and Valour are of so high Merit that they must countervail your trespass So that We admit well of your Excuse and shame light on them that bear You any Envy or Evil Will. But now it is our Pleasure that within these three days You return home and upon the next demand deliver up your Prisoner to the Queen my Wife And to encourage You to pursue Honour as well as to requite this last piece of Service I hereby assign You near to your House where You shall think best 500 pounds Sterling of yearly Rent for You and your Heirs for ever Which till it shall be fully settled shall from this day forward be paid You yearly out of my Exchequer and here I make You Esquire for my Body By this we must understand him to be made Knight Banneret as Mr. p Stow ex Re cordo p. 243. Speed p. 580. Stow proves out of the Record who also shews from thence how this Annual Donation was paid viz. 400 l. out of the Kings Custom of the City of London and an 100
in case it were not given there should be injury done unto him I wrote likewise that God should do him injury and approved it This I now revoke as false Heretical and Blasphemous CHAPTER the THIRTEENTH AN. DOM. 1355. An. Regni Angliae XXIX Franciae XVI The CONTENTS I. The King of Navarre murders the Constable of France and invites the Duke of Lancaster to his Assistance The Duke sets forth in order thereto but hearing how the Kings of France and Navarre were agreed returns home again II. The manner how that Reconcilement was made III. The War breaks out again between England and France Prince Edward goes over into Gascogne with his Exploits there The Lord John Lisle slain IV. Two Letters of Sr. John Wingfield's setting forth the Particulars of the Prince's Expedition V. King Edward goes into France obtains a Truce and returns into England VI. Barwick taken by the Scots VII A Parliament at Westminster VIII A Parliament at Paris IX The Birth of Prince Thomas of Woodstock The City of Nantes in Bretagne taken and recover'd A strange Malady of Aversion from Company The Death of Peter Lord Mauley the Fifth of that Name I. WHen we spake of the Combat that was to have been perform'd between the Dukes of Lancaster and Brunswick we mention'd among other things how extraordinary kind his young Kinsman Charles King of Navarre was then unto him Now the Occasion of this Prince's Coming to Paris at that time was to marry the Lady Jane one of the Daughters of King John de Valois But surely whatever Alliance or Affinity he had or might seek to have with France he became an Occasion of many great Calamities to that Kingdom For a Mezeray ad avn 1353. as he was the most winning and obliging in his Address of any Man living being adorn'd with Vigour Beauty Eloquence Courage Affability and Liberality beyond all Men so he made the worst use of these natural Excellencies and rendred them pernicious by his Ambitious Temper and the secret Delight he had in all kind of Mischief From the time of his Marriage he never ceased to pursue his Pretensions to the Countries of Brie and Champagne but especially to that of Angoulesme But Charles de la Cerda of Spain Constable of France to whom the King had given the latter disswaded him from proffering any Equivalent by way of satisfaction in that Point Whereupon the Navarrois retires discontented into his Earldom of Eureux in Normandy and b Gaguin Frois c. 154. Meâ—eray Paul. Aemyl p. 184. Du Chesne p. 673. there understanding that the Constable was then in his Castle in the Town de L'Aigle he enterprised a design as bold as execrable For on the Sixth of January taking unto him certain armed Knights he caused them to scale the Castle early about break of Day and there by them the Constable was murder'd in his Bed. This done he avowed the Fact by justifying himself in his Letters to King John and his Council and in the mean time thô being the Kings Son-in-Law he endeavour'd to reconcile himself to his Favour yet either to secure himself against the worst or by making himself formidable to extort a Pardon he was very busie in making Musters in fortifying his Castles and inviting several Neighbour Princes to a League against France And althô a Treaty of Reconcilement had been begun and to all seeming appearance established by that time between the French King and him as we shall shew by and by yet when he heard how the Duke of Lancaster was as we shew'd in the preceding Year at the Court of Avignon c Frois c. 154. fol. 76. a. he also made shift to get thither where secretly he d M.S. Ret Par. p. 85. n. 6. Sr. Rob. Cotton p. 90 confer'd with his Cousin the Duke of Lancaster at which time he complain'd to the said Duke of several Dammages done unto him by the French King and gave him his Oath that he would most willingly enter into League with the King of England and for Assurance of the same would endeavour when the Truce was once ended to joyn him at Jersey with all the Power he should be able to raise And in the beginning of this Year he e Stâ—â— p. 255. sent among Others his Uncle Giles of Champagne to the Duke of Lancaster with Letters heartily beseeching him to come into Normandy with all speed to his Aid and Defence and to receive his Oath of Fidelity to serve King Edward against all Men. The Duke accordingly with the Kings leave f 〈◊〉 p. â—â—9 gather'd a great Navy together which was rigged and made ready at Rutherhive alià s Radriffe being furnished with Provision of Victuals for one Quarter of a Year and the whole Fleet consisting of fourty Sail had all their chief Streamers beaten with the Arms of the said Duke of Lancaster who was appointed with a great Power of chosen Men of Arms and Archers Lord Admiral of the Navy But few or none of his Men knew whither he was bound The Tenth of July he sailed to Greenwich between which and Sandwich he was held till the 15 of August the Wind for the most part all that while continuing at West and South-west which was contrary to this intended Course At length with much Difficulty he came to Winchelsea and thence to the Isle of Wight And it was generally concluded that he design'd for Normandy to support the King of Navarre in his Quarrel against the French King But hearing now certain News of that Kings Reconciliation with France he returned home again to the King his Master II. Now to set forth the Inconstancy of this Navarrois Prince we shall here remember what we promised a little before the manner of his first Reconcilement which was this When King John saw by his Levying of Men and otherwise that Despair of Pardon might drive him to desperate Courses prejudicial to Him and his Realm especially in this doubtfull Juncture he thought to dissemble the Matter and by Flattery to bring him within his Power But g Frois c. 154. f. 75. c. Mezeray p. 40. ad an 1354. this jealous Prince could by no means be allured to come to Paris till he had made most secure and advantageous Conditions for himself As that King John should render him Lands equivalent to Brie and Champagne and an Independency of his Earldom of Eureux from all Others but the King only also he demanded a full and absolute Pardon for all those who had an hand in the Constable's Murther and besides all this a good round Summ of Mony and several other Lands and Advantages and moreover the Lord Lewis Duke of Anjou the Kings Second Son in Hostage for his Security All which King John was fain to grant him being thereto perswaded as well by the Navarrois his Friends as by the Necessity of his own Affairs Whereupon in March following he came to Paris and appeared
and Robbers and Delinquents against the Laws of his Kingdom and as such out of his Protection nor could he justifie them And further there is found rather an instance of King John's Insincerity in this matter for the same n Knighton p. 2619. n. 24. Author assures us that when the English Ambassadors were returning from Avignon having compleated their Business it was found out that King John contrary to his Oath had sent Letters into France importing That whatsoever he had agreed to for Convenience sake in the present Necessity of Affairs it was never in his Mind to part with one Foot of the Land of France unto the King of England And the Bearer thereof was taken at Sea and upon Search these Letters found about him sealed with King John's Privy Seal Upon notice of this double Dealing King Edward thought fit to confine him a little more closely and so first order'd him to be convey'd to Hereford Castle from whence the next Year o Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 168. 1 Vol. p. 3â—â— Heimâ—â— Engl. Chron p. 964. Knightâ—n ibid. Ashmole p. 659. his Keeper Sr. John Kirketon was order'd to remove him to Somerton-Castle in Somersetshire where also for some time he remain'd under Custody of the Lord William Deincourt and Sr. William Colvile who therein supplied the Place of his Brother the Lord Robert Colvile he being indisposed at that time And lastly he was removed thence to the Tower of London his Son Philip being constantly with him But as we said before these Removes were made the next Year when King Edward was in France III. The mean while as if all the Vials of Gods Wrath were now to be poured out all together upon that unhappy Prince's People there arose in France another Plague more terrible than any hitherto mention'd For whether on occasion of the Oppression of the Great Men or the intoâ—erable Presumption of the Poor soon after the Deliverance of the King of Navarre p Frois c. 182. f. 88. c. Mezeray Da Serres c. a sort of Rascally Clowns began their seditious Assemblies in Beauvoisin and Brie about Soissons and the River of Marne which threatned a total Destruction to all the Nobility and Gentry of France For they prov'd just such Levellers as some twenty three Years after in the Days of King Richard II Wat Tyler and Jack Straw were here in England At first they were not passing an Hundred or such a matter who gathering together out of the little Villages without any Head or Captain and being met somewhere in Beavoisin said among themselves How their Nobles Knights Esquires and Gentlemen were a shame and burthen to the Land and that it would be as laudable to destroy them for their Villany as profitable for their Wealth And they all cried out that it was true and said with one Voice A shame on him that doth not his best to root out all the Gentlemen of the Land. Being thus suddenly gather'd and agreed without either Captain or Weapons except what their own ungodly Madness armed them with as Prongs Staves and the like they went forthwith to a Knights house hard by which having broke up they slew him and his Lady and all his Children great and small and fired the House upon them which done they proceeded to another House a Castle where they took the Captain thereof a Knight and bound him fast to a Stake and ravished his Wife and his Daughter before his Face and then slew the Lady and her Daughter and the rest of his Children and lastly tormented the Knight himself to Death and burnt and beat down the Castle the like whereof they did to several other Castles and Gentlemens Houses And still as they went on they encreased like a rowling Snow-ball so that presently they were grown to above 6000 in Number for all ungracious Villains like themselves fell to them Wherefore all the Gentlemen about the Country with their Wives and Children fled away before them ten or twenty Leagues off for their better Security leaving both their Houses and Goods at the discretion of these base Rascals Thus did this disorderly Multitude range about robbing and burning of Houses Palaces and Mansions murdering and tormenting all Gentlemen they could lay their hands on and ravishing young Ladies and Gentlewomen and committing such horrid Villanies as can hardly be imagin'd And he of their Company who was most daring and exquisite in Câ—uelty and Wickedness had the highest Esteem among them At first they had no Head to follow or obey but now there was found among them one Jaques of Clermont in Beauvotsin who was so diabolically excellent at these Damnable Inventions of doing Mischief that as the most ungracious of all they chose him for their King and Captain naming him Jaques the Good-Man And thence their whole Tribe obtain'd to be called q Cotgrave in his Dictionary says they had the name of la Jaquerie or les Jaquiers from a short Country Jacket worn in those days 〈…〉 hâ—c arridet Opinâ—e the Jaquerie This incarnate Devil of a King having first cruelly slain a Noble Knight of those Parts caused him to be spitted and roasted at a Fire in sight of the Lady his Wife and Children and after that ten or a dozen had in most shamefull manner violated the Lady they compelled her to eat her Husbands Flesh and then put to Death both her and her Children And at this rate they raged and prevailed in Beauvoisin about Corbie Amiens and Mondidier destroying and burning more than threescore good Houses and Castles And at the same time the like Fury seised the Peasants and other villanous Wretches in Brie and Artois but especially in Brie so that all the Ladies Knights and Esquires of those Parts were fain to fly away to Meaux on the Marne for their Defence And among them were the Dutchess of Normandy and the Dutchess of Orleans the one Sister in Law and the other Daughter in Law to King John with several other Ladies and Gentlewomen all who were obliged to fly thither for preservation of their Lives and Honours And all the Country on each side the Marne as between Paris and Noyon and about Soissons and Cressy en Valois and on the other side as far as Mortmireil and Espernay was overrun by these Wretched Creatures and more than an hundred Castles and strong Edifices belonging to the Nobility and Gentry utterly defaced and ruined Wherefore the Gentlemen of Beauvoisin Corbois and Vermandois being alarum'd at the horrible Outrage of these People sent to their Friends in Flanders Hainalt Brabant and Luxemburgh for their Assistance Whereupon being speedily re-enforced they took Courage and rode about the Country in strong Bodies and whereever they met with any of these ungracious Levellers they slew them without Mercy and hanged them on the trees in Clusters and surely it was high time to take them up for if they had all been joyned together they had
with unspeakable Boldness presently upon their coming assaulted the Town passed the Ditch mounted the Walls and took it the first Night When immediately the Lord Bartholomew who commanded in Chief knowing the strength of the Castle set a good Number of Pioneers at Work promising them Large Wages if they hasted to finish their Task effectually These Men encouraged thus by their Lord began to Work night and day till at last with much obstinate labour they had gone far under the Great Square Tower still setting up huge Props of Oak as they went along and canying the Earth out in the night So that the Besieged knew nothing of their being undermin'd In about sixteen days the Miners having done their Work so that the Tower was ready to fall when they pleased their Captains went to Sr. Bartholomew and assured him of their Success whereat he was well content but commanded them to proceed no farther till they heard from him For he was resolv'd in his Mind to try all fair means to reduce the Place before he would fire the Mine as thinking it more Honourable for a Christian Captain to overcome his Enemies than to destroy them Wherefore taking along with him the Lord John Botetourt he went toward the Castle and made offer to speak with some of those within The Chief Captain there at that time was one Sr. Henry de Vaulx a Knight of Champaigne who came to the Battlements of the Castle and demanded what they would have Sr. Bartholomew answer'd Captain I would that You forthwith yield your selves and all You have into my Hands for else You are no better than Dead Men upon my Word Pray how said Sr. Henry That 's a pleasant Matter indeed And therewith he began to smile We are proof against the hardest Siege and You ask us to yield up simply But surely Sir We are not so low either in Wit or Courage as You take us to be Well said Sr. Bartholomew then your Blood must lie upon your own Heads For if You knew in what Danger You are at this time You would yield up simply without any more adoe But if You have no Faith You cannot be saved Why Quoth Sr. Henry what Danger are We in I see none Unless it be that We are like to lose your good Company because You despair to take us Sir said the English Captain that You may then understand your Condition come forth your self with so many more as You please and I 'll shew You how I have You all at my mercy And after that if You shall be minded to hold the Castle upon my Honour You shall have liberty to return back unhurt and there to take your Fortune Sr. Henry with three more of his Captains came forth in confidence of the English Knight's Word and went to him and there he shew'd them all the Mine and how their great Tower stood only on Stages and Props of Timber When Sr. Henry saw this most imminent Danger in which both He and all his Men were he said with much Submission Honourable Sir it is true We were all at your Dispose when we thought our selves most secure Surely this Favour of yours extended to us proceeds from a Noble and Generous Spirit We therefore henceforth yield our selves and all We have to your pleasure Then Sr. Bartholomew took them as his Prisoners and all the Rest within the Castle and sent in Men to take all the Goods and what was of any Value and that done he caused Fire to be put into the Mine to burn the Props and at last the Tower clave insunder with an hideous Noise and fell suddenly into Ruines Look You now said Sr. Bartholomew to Sr. Henry and mark if I did not tell You the Truth Sir reply'd He We thank You for this great Courtesie For if some other had such an Advantage over us We should not have fared so well Thus was the strong Castle of Cormicy taken and overthrown and the Prisoners brought to the Camp before Rheims CHAPTER the SIXTH AN. DOM. 1360. An. Regni Angliae XXXIV Franciae XXI The CONTENTS I. The Duke of Normandy's Method to resist King Edward the French take land at Winchelsea and after doing much harm are beaten away II. The Kings Lieutenant in England takes Order against the like Mischief for the Future III. The King of England rises from before Rheims and marches in Hostile manner thrô Champaigne The Lord Roger Mortimer Earl of March dies IV. The great Pomp and Order of the English Army V. King Edward is bought off from destroying Burgundy and turns toward Paris VI. He sits down before Paris two Treaties offer'd at in vain Whereupon the King challenges the Dauphin forth to Battle the Lord Walter Manny skirmishes at the Barriers a remark on Mr. Stow. The King resolves for Bretagne and to renew the Siege before Paris at a better season VII A Party from Paris worsted by an English Ambush VIII The great Miseries of France with the Predictions of a certain Fryar concerning the same IX The Dauphin finding a necessity for Peace sends overtures after King Edward who being moved by a Remarkable Tempest enclines to accept them A Treaty had thereupon X. A True and Authentick Copy of the Famous Peace made at Bretigny near Chartres XI The two Eldest Sons of England and France solemnly sworn to uphold the Articles of the said Peace with the Manner thereof The Parisians not staying till the Conclusion of the Peace buy certain Fortresses of the English XII King Edward returns for England shews King John the Copy of the Agreement and sends him over to Calais XIII The Pope quickens King Edward to finish the Peace King John's difficulties for want of Money XIV King Edward goes over to Calais and consummates the Peace XV. The Copy of King Edward's Letters of Renuntiation wherein he lays down his Title to France XVI The Copy of King John's Renuntiation of certain Lands and Territories in lieu thereof XVII The Names of the Grandees sworn on both sides XVIII The Copy of King Edward's Orders to all his Captains enjoyning them to deliver up their Respective Places to the French King. XIX Other things relating to the said Peace and also a step to reconcile the two Pretenders to Bretagne XX. King John's joy at his Freedom and the mutual Friendship of the two Kings King John takes his leave of King Edward and goes to Boulogne XXI King Edward returns with the Hostages for England where he gives Order for their favourable usage The Pope congratulates the French King his Liberty XXII The Death of the Earl of Oxford of the Earl of Northampton of the Earl of Hereford and Essex of the Earl of Warwick's Brother and of Thomas Holland Earl of Kent Also of the King of Cyprus I. IF any Man should ask me what the Duke of Normandy what the Lords and the Captains of France and what the Three Estates of that Kingdom did at this time now that
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
their Last Leave of each other with Kissings and Embracings King Edward return'd to Calais but John from that time left his Horse and would go by way of Pilgrimage on Foot to our Lady of Boulogne to pay his Vows for his Delivery the Prince of Wales and two of his Brethren Lionel and Edmund bearing him Company At Boulogne they were all received with great Joy by the Duke of Normandy who tarried there for them and after Dinner the French King and all the Great Princes and Lords of England and France there present went on Foot to the Church of our Lady where with great Devotion they made their Offerings and then returned to the Great Abby which was furnished to receive the French King and the Lords of England The next Day the King of France m Dr. Spencers M.S. Dr. Stillingfleets M.S. ubi C. piae Latt ita Dat. set forth sundry Commissions Proclamations Copies of the Peace and Renunciations all bearing Date at Boulogne 26 of October being of the same Nature with the Letters and Papers afore-mentioned and on that same Day the Prince of Wales and his Brethren with all their Company took leave of King John and return'd to Calais to the King their Father XXI As for King Edward now that he had so happily effected his Designs on the last of October he went on Board and set Sail for England with the Princes his Sons and the Hostages of France in his Company being Thirty of those Fourty mention'd in the XV Article only Lewis King Johns Son who then had but the Name of Earl was now lately by his Father made Duke of Anjou and Maine and John his Brother at that time Earl of Poictiers was now made Duke of Auvergne and Berry because the Earldom of Poictiers by Vertue of the Peace belonged to King Edward On the First of November early in the Morning the King of England landed safely at Dover and two Days after went to Canterbury where he made his Offerings at the Shrine of St. Thomas and return'd his Thanks to God for bringing his Wars to so happy a Conclusion He came not to London till the Ninth of November at what time he gave Command * Frois c. 113. ad fineâ—â— to all his Officers on certain Penalties that they should bear themselves kind and favourable to the Lords of France his Hostages and to the Burgesses of the Good Towns and all their Company and upon occasion to take their Part and defend them from all Affronts Injuries and Abuses whatsoever Which Command of the Kings was punctually observed so that the Frenchmen took their Preasure about the City and used Hunting and Hawking and rode into the Country to take the Air and went to Masks and Balls and visited the Ladies and Gentlewomen without any Controul they found the King so Courteous and Free unto them On the 27 of November the Pope directed his Letters Gratulatory to the King or France wherein he sets forth his own great Joy at the News of his happy Delivery advises him to cherish and observe the Peace with King Edward to respect the Clergy to follow Justice to defend the Poor to admit Sage and Prudent Persons to his Council to repress Pillagers and those who robbed both Church and State. The Copy of which Letter is to be seen n Odor Rainal ad hunc ann §. 4 in Odoricus Rainaldus bearing Date Aven V. Kal. Decemb Anno Pontificatús VIII XXII And now we have ended the most Remarkable Matters of this Great Year but we must not forget to shew how God Almighty usually tempers the Felicities of this Life with Losses and Afflictions as thô so happy and honourable a Peace was established with England several High and Noble Personages to her great Loss went now unto their latest Homes besides all those of the Nobility and Others who died by that strange Tempest before Chartres and besides the Lord Roger Earl of March whom we have already shewn to have departed this Life on the 26 of February at Rouvray in Burgundy On the o Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 193. ex Escu 34 Ed. 3. n. 84. Leit Catal. Hen. p. 686. ubi tanen per errcrem dicâ—tur chiâ—sse ano. 1358. 24 of January there deceased in the English Army before Rheims the Noble and Valiant Lord John Vere Earl of Oxford Lord of Bolebec Lord and Baron of Samford and Lord High-Chamberlain of England in the 47 Year of his Age being succeeded in his Lands and Dignities by the Lord Thomas Vere his Eldest Son and Heir at that time 23 Years old So that 't is a Mistake in Walsingham and in Stow who for want of Judgment follows implicitly others Errors where Thomas Earl of Oxford is said to have died at this time whereas it should be John who was Father to Earl Thomas On the p Dugd. 1. Vol. p. 186. 16 of September there also died the High-born and Noble Lord William Bohun that Martial Earl of Northampton Lord High-Constable of England and Knight of the Garter who was younger Brother to Humphry Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex Knight also of the same Glorious Order and Son to Elisabeth the q Catal. Honor. p. 1071. Speed p. 552. Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 183. Seventh Daughter of King Edward the First of England whose two Sisters by the same Daughter of King Edward were married the Eldest to James Butler the Fast Earl of Ormond of that Name from whom is descended the present Thrice-Noble Duke of Ormond and the Second Sister was married to Hugh Courtney First Earl of Devonshire Shortly r 15 Octobr. an 1361. vid. Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 185. Catal. Honor. p. 1074. after his Brother Humphry Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex departed also this Life without Issue so that his Titles were added to Humfry Bohun Son and Heir of this William Earl of Northampton but he dying some thirteen Years after left only two Daughters so that the Male Line of this Noble Family became thereby extinct On the Å¿ Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 231. Ashmole p. 695. Stow p. 264. Second of December there died that Valiant Warrier Sr. John Beauchamp Younger Son to the Earl of Warwick Constable of Dover Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and one of the Founders of the most Noble Order of the Garter He was buried betwixt two Pillars on the South-side of the Middle Isle in the Body of St. Pauls Cathedral in London where he had a Noble Monument vulgarly by Mistake called Duke Humphry's Tomb the Sculp whereof is yet preserved t Dugd. Hist Paul. p. 52. in Sr. William Dugdale's History of St. Pauls In his Life-time u Stow's Survey Lond. p. 408. he had built the fair House in the Parish of St. Andrew near Baynards Castle where he usually resided But this being after his Decease sold to King Edward III was made use of for the Kings Great Wardrobe and the Parson of the Parish
making his Complaint that Sr. John to build this House had pulled down many small ones which paid him Tithes the King ordained that House to pay the Parson in lieu thereof 40 s. per annum for ever On the x Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 74. c. 28 of the said Month died the Noble and Valiant Lord Thomas Holland Knight also of the Garter and in Right of his Wife Earl of Kent and Lord Wake thô it doth not appear that ever he had any Creation to that Dignity His Wife was that celebrated Beauty of the Age Joan commonly called the Fair Maid of Kent Daughter of Edmund Plantagenet Sirnamed of Woodstock Earl of Kent and after the Death of her two Brothers Edmund and John who died successively without Issue Countess of Kent But Common Historians call her Countess of Salisbury the small Foundation whereof We shall now examine This Lord Thomas Holland y Liber Islep dict in Arch. Cantuar. Bibl. Vid. Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 74. had first made a Contract with her upon which as he afterwards alledged Carnal Knowledge did ensue Whereupon understanding while he was in France that William the second Earl of Salisbury had a purpose to Wed her by his Petition to Pope Clement VI he complain'd of this injurious Design fairly representing his own Precontract and the knowledge he thereupon had of her But that for all this the said Earl taking Advantage of his Absence in Foreign Parts had made a second Contract with her and unjustly detain'd her from him At this his Holiness having sully discussed the Matter gave Sentence for him and accordingly he enjoy'd her the Earl of Salisbury as it seems acquiescing therein by an after Matriage z Catal. Honor. p. 1044. with Elizabeth second Daughter of John Lord Mohun of Dunstor Castle By this Princely Paragon he left behind him a Catal. Honor. p. 765. two Sons Thomas Holland Earl of Kent who lived many Years after John Holland in time Earl of Huntington and Duke of Excester and a Daughter Maud first Wife of Peter Courtney Nephew of Hugh Courtney first Earl of Devonshire and after his decease Married to Valeran Earl of St. Paul. The Incomparable Widow Mother of these Children was now about two and Thirty Years of Age but her Vertues were so singular and her Charms so strong and attractive that still she made shift to Captive no less a Man than him that had taken King John Prisoner for the Black-Prince took her to Wife the Year following as in due place We shall see At this time b Odor Rainal ad an 1360. §. 13. Hugh King of Cyprus died leaving his Kingdom and the Defence thereof to his Son Peter Hugh the Son of an Elder Son Guy being put by This King Peter was a Man of great Valour and Fortune in the Wars against the Saracens of whom We shall shortly have an occasion to take some Notice CHAPTER the SEVENTH AN. DOM. 1361. An. Regni Angliae XXXV The CONTENTS I. King Edward causes all his Lords and Prelates to swear to uphold the Peace and sends Ambassadors to the Pope for a confirmation of all II. The manner of King John's Reception at Paris after his long Imprisonment III. The unwillingness of the Frenchmen to admit of King Edward's Government IV. King Edward being put in Possession of all the Lands which were to fall to him by the Treaty makes the Lord John Chandos his Lieutenant in those parts the said Lords Praise and Character V. The English Garrisons deliver'd up to the French King many of the common Souldiers whereof joyning together turn Robbers They begin to do much mischief about Champaigne and Burgundy VI. King John sends against them the Lord James of Bourbon whom they overthrow VII Their formidable Progress the Pope fearing their Insolence procures them to be drawn off into Italy VIII A second Great Plague in England the strange Prodigies forerunning it It s excessive Fury it sweeps away the Good Duke of Lancaster the Lord John Moubray and Three other Lords with six Bishops and the Archbishop of Armagh IX The Black-Prince Marries the Lady Joan Countess of Kent X. Prince Lionel made the Kings Lieutenant of Ireland with his Behaviour in that Place XI King Edward restores unto the Priors Aliens what he took from them in the Eleventh Year of his Reign I. KING Edward of England a Walsing hist p. 170. n. 40. M. S. vet Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 231. having kept his Christmass in great Splendor at Woodstock near Oxford went after the Holydays to his Parliament which he had summon'd to meet him at Westminster on the b Stow p. 264. 24th of January Where he communicated unto the Three Estates all the Articles and the whole Process of the Peace which he had made with the King of France Both Houses were entirely satisfied with the whole Affair and on the last of January the Archbishop of Canterbury with great Solemnity celebrated the Mass of the Holy Trinity returning Thanks to Almighty God in which Service there was this small but comprehensive Scripture c 2 Cor. c. 13. v. 11 c. Brethren rejoyce be Perfect be of good Comfort be of one Mind live in Peace And the God of Love and Peace shall be with you The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all Amen After Mass the King and his Sons standing up in presence of the French Hostages Torches being lighted and Crosses held over the Eucharist and Missale all those of the Peers who had not sworn already to keep the Peace took now their Oath which also they read from Papers or Scrolls written and signed with their own Hands the Archbishop beginning thus viz. We Simon Archbishop of Canterbury do swear upon the Holy Body of God and his Holy Gospel firmly as much as in Vs lies to keep the Peace and Concord agreed on between the two Kings and to do nothing contrary thereto This being done every Man as he had taken the Oath gave up his Paper to the Kings Notaries to be laid up as a Witness to Posterity After the same Method King John made his Lords and Estates of Parliament to swear to uphold the said Peace to their Power and thereupon sent his Ambassadors to the Pope for his Apostolical Sanction and surer confirmation thereof As also King Edward did the like on his part and among his Ambassadors We find the Lord Guy d Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 151. Brian to be One. And thus at last was this Peace as fully established and as strongly bound on Earth as Humane Wisdom or Authority could Devise or secure II. But we should say something more particularly of the French King and his Affairs We waited on him from Calais to Boulogne and there left him thô he did not stay long in that place for in the e Frois c. 214. beginning
Wisdom is by no means rashly to be call'd in Question unless that he thought it reasonable to expect as true Service from these Men as he had his Ancestors had constantly found from the Inhabitants of Gascogne and Guienne and besides being himself a Just and Gracious Prince he might have a confidence by his Good and easie Government to bind them unto him for ever as surely he did several and had done all had all been alike capeable of being justly affected with Obligations But indeed nothing is more changeable and irrational than the Vulgar and more forgetfull of Benefits IV. However thus the King of England had now the Possession and Seisin of the whole Dutchy of Aquitain even from the River Loire to the Pirenean Mountains and on the other side toward Flanders of all the Earldom of Ponthieu and Guisnes and of all the Lands which he ought to have on that side the Sea that is to say in the Realm of France by Vertue of the said Treaty And so this Year the Lord John Chandos passed over the Sea as Regent and Lieutenant for the King of England in whose Name he began to take Possession of all the said Lands and received the Faiths and Homages of all the Earls Vicounts Barons Knights and Esquires and had deliver'd unto him by the Lord James of Bourbon all the Towns Forts and other Places which were to be deliver'd by the Tenor of the Peace And every where he set Captains Constables Bayliffs and Officers such as he thought good to ordain But himself resided for the most part at Niort a strong and great Town on the Borders of Poictou standing on la Sevre Niortoise g Ita Ferrar. in Neverâ—gus i. e. Nicrt about Nine Leagues from Rochelle Where he kept a Court like a Prince having an allowance sufficient for that purpose For King Edward who understood Men as well as any King in his Days sent him thither upon the account of his Sweet and Winning Behaviour which being accompanied with exquisite Prudence and unparallel'd Courage and Conduct made him appear the fittest Person to enter first upon that Government And because he knew Authority would grow cheap without external Pomp and Splendor he allow'd him to keep an house like a Prince and set the highest Marks of Honour upon him empowring him h Asâ—â—â—le p. 7â—2 even to grant Pardons for Treason Murder and Felony the King promising to Ratifie under his Great Seal whatsoever he should do in such cases Nor was this Noble Gentleman unworthy of this Advancement For as Froisard says he was a Good Knight Courteous and Benign Well-shap'd Liberal Heroick Wise and Faithfull in all Matters And had worthily behav'd himself among all Lords Knights Ladies and Damsels so that there was no Knight in his Days more generally beloved and praised of all People V. Now the mean while i Frois c. 214. fol. 109. b. that the Deputies of the King of England were taking Possession of the foresaid Lands according to the Tenor of the Treaty there were certain other Deputies appointed by the said King on the Marches and Limits of France and elsewhere who being joyned with others commission'd from the French King for that purpose were to deliver up unto him all that which being then in Possession of the King of England ought to go now to the King of France In order thereto these Deputies began to cause all manner of Men of War to avoid and depart out of the Holds and Garrisons which they held for the Kings Command ran strictly that all such who held of England should on peril of their Lives and Goods and of being reputed as Enemies and Traytors to the said King immediately leave and deliver up such Forts as they occupied to the French King and his Deputies they being his by Vertue of the Peace Now those Captains Knights and Esquires who were natural Subjects to the King of England and who valued their Duty readily obey'd the Kings Command and rendred up or caused to be rendred the Places under them But some refused to obey pretending now to make War in the Name and Title not of King Edward but of the King of Navarre thô that King was now a Friend to the House of France There were also many Strangers great Captains and Robbers who would not depart upon any account as Almaines Brabanders Flemings Hainalders and others besides some wicked Renegadoes both of England and France who being poor thought it the best way to enrich themselves by making War still in France And moreover many Hundreds of Common Souldiers whom their Captains having resign'd up their Fortresses according to King Edwards Command had dismissed and disbanded gather'd themselves now together again as thinking it better to continue the Wars with others like themselves than to return home to their poor Trades and perhaps many of them durst not go home again they were guilty of such Villanies or so mightily in Debt These Men being thus gather'd together elected from among them new Captains the main Qualities which recommended them to their Choice besides Courage and Skill in Arms being Cruelty Lust and Love of Rapine At first they rode about in small Companies and made their general Rendezvous in Champaigne then in Burgundy where they assembled in great Numbers being called Les Tard-Venus or the Late-Comers in respect of the other Companions who had before pillaged and destroy'd the Flower of all the Country These Robbers for their first Handsell went and took by Surprise the strong Fortress of Joinville where they found great Riches for all the Country thereabouts had entrusted the best of their Goods to the strength of that Place The Spoils taken here were estimated to the Value of an hundred thousand Franks aâ—â— given up wholly to the Conquerours who kept the Castle for some time overrunning and wasting from thence the Country of Champaigne and the Bishopricks of Verdun in Burgundy and Langres in Champaigne and when they had sufficiently ravaged these Parts then they sold the Castle of Joinville to those of the Country for 20000 Franks This done they enter'd into Burgundy where they rested themselves expecting a Reinforcement of Men like themselves all which time they were not idle but practised many Villanous Deeds For they had among them several Knights and Esquires Renegadoes even of those Parts who directed where and how to get Plunder and do Mischief They lay a long while about Besancon Dijon and Beaulne chief Cities of Burgundy and robbed and commanded all the Country about for there were none to encounter them After this they took the Town of Givry in Bresse which they plunder'd and so tarried thereabout because that was a plentifull Country and daily their Numbers encreased For all the Common Souldiers that came out of English Fortresses and had leave of their Captains to go whither they pleased drew thitherward continually so that by Lent they were in all about 16000 strong Now when
they saw themselves so considerable they began to ordain among them Captains and Leaders whom they promised to obey in all things For even wicked Societies cannot hold together without Order And the Chief of their Captains were these Sr. Seguin de Batefoil a Knight of Gascogne who had no less than 2000 Fighting Men Taillebert of Talleboton Guyot du Pyn the little Mechin Battailler the Wicked Hanekin Francois the Burgrave de Lesparre Nandon de Bergerac the Burgrave de Boure the Burgrave of Bretuel Nucharg Aberdenny a Scot Bourdonnel a German Bernard de la Salle an Hainalder Lortingo de la Salle his Kinsman Robert Briquet Edmund of Ortigo Sr. Garses du Chastel Gironet de la Baulx Carnelle and Others Who being thus gather'd together about Midlent resolved to go to Avignon to give the Pope and Cardinals a Visit more for the love of Prey than Devotion for whatever Treasure the Church might then have in Heaven they laid up some Treasures also on Earth as well as Men of the World. Wherefore these Late-Comers went thitherward thrô the Land of Masconnois intending for the Earldom of Foretz or Forestes that plentifull Country and towards Lyon on the River Rhosne VI. When King John heard of all this and how these Robbers daily encreased and ravaged his Realm he was infinitely displeased for his Council told him that without a speedy remedy these Evil Companions might encrease so strangely as to be able to do more Mischief than ever was done by the Englishmen themselves in time of War Wherefore they advised him to send against them a well form'd Army without any more delay Then the King wrote his Special Letters to his Cousin the Lord James of Bourbon k Mezeray Earl of la Marche who was at that time in the Town of Mompellier in Languedoc having newly put the Lord John Chandos in Possession of divers Lands Cities Towns Castles Forts and other Places thereabout belonging to the King of England by Vertue of the Peace as we said before The King in his Letters desired his Cousin of Bourbon to be his Chief General to muster Souldiers to a sufficient Number till he should find himself able to keep the Field and then go forth and fight against these Companions and root them out The Lord of Bourbon immediately on receipt of these Letters went Post to the City of Agen in Agennois whence he issued out his Letters and sent Messengers into all Parts desiring and commanding in the Kings Name all Knights and Esquires to come to him ready appointed for the War which was done accordingly For this Lord James of Bourbon was generally beloved over all France so that every one obey'd him readily and drew to the Place of General Rendezvous towards Lyon on the River Rhosne from Auvergne and Limosin from Provence and Savoy and from the Dauphiné de Vienne and moreover many Valiant Knights and Esquires were sent from Burgundy by the Young Duke who was not yet dead With all these Forces the Lord James of Bourbon marched forth from Lyon and the Parts of Masconnois and Beaujolois and entred the Earldom of Forestes where his Sister was Lady in Right of her Children for the Earl of Forestes her Husband was then newly dead Wherefore she govern'd the Country by the Hands of Sr. Reginald of Forestes her Husbands Brother who received the Lord James of Bourbon and his Company with great joy and feasted him to his Power as did also his two Nephews who presented their Service to their Uncle the Earl of la Marche to ride with him in Defence of their Country against the Companions who were by this time about Charolle and Tornus drawing thitherward For when they understood how the Frenchmen were gathering together to suppress them their Captains presently went to Council to advise how to maintain themselves At this time they found their Number to be no less than 16000 Fighting Men wherefore they said among themselves Let us then go boldly against these Frenchmen who are so desirous to find us out and let us fight them at some Advantage if we can or else without for we are enough If Fortune favour us at this time we shall be rich for ever as well by the Prisoners we shall take as by the Booty of the Field and also we shall gain such Reputation to our Arms that none hereafter will dare to withstand us and if we lose we have no more to care for Being thus agreed they dislodged and went up the Mountains designing to pass into the Land of Forestes and to come to the River of Loire but in their way they found a Good Town called Charlieu in the Bailywick of Mascon where they made a fierce Assault which lasted an whole Day yet the Place was so well desended by the Gentlemen of the Country that they could win nothing there Then they marched forward sending abroad several Detachments to scour the Country of Beaujolois where having done considerable Dammage they entred the Bishoprick of Lyon. In their March they would be sure to take some small Hold or other every Day where they lodged usually for the Night following making sad Havock of all things whereever they came One day particularly they took a Castle called Brignais about three Leagues from Lyon with the Lord thereof and his Lady in the Place and there they lodged and refreshed themselves and here they were certainly informed how the Lords of France were drawn into the Fields and stood ready to receive them The Lord James l Frois c. 215. fol. 110. of Bourbon was now again return'd to Lyon when he understood that the Companions drew near him apace having won the Castle of Brignais and many other Holds and brought the Country into great Desolation At this News he was extreamly displeased because he was Guardian to his Nephews the Earl of Forestes Sons and had the Care of their Lands Wherefore he drew into the Field and muster'd his Men and found them to be an Army sufficient to cope with the Enemy but first he sent out his Currours to view the Face of the Enemy and to consider well their Number and their Order and where he should surely find them In the mean time these subtle Companions had taken a Mountain at Brignais near Lyon where they so order'd themselves that they could not be perfectly view'd and so the best Armed Troops were conceal'd behind and the Residue who were worse armed and a far smaller Number stood ready ranged along in Order of Battle on the Hill side These Men only were seen by the Lord of Bourbons Currours whom they permitted leisurely to view them thereby to feed them with an Errour that might prove their Bane Being come back to the Earl of la Marche these Men told him what they had discover'd saying to him and the Lords about him Sirs we have seen yonder Company your Enemies and have viewed them well to our Power and all things
the occasion yet for the Eminence of the Person I shall not pass by the Murder of Sr. John Copland the same who at the Battle of Durham took the King of Scotland Prisoner as we have shewn already This Valiant and Worthy Gentleman upon what Quarrel doth not appear was this Year k Knighton p. 2626. n. 30. murder'd by the Lord John Clifford of Ewyas who thereupon was forced to fly the Land and could by no means obtain his Pardon till about 15 Years after or the last of King l Dagd 1 Vol. p. 341. Edward when upon the Testimony of divers English Peers in Parliament of his singular Valour and of his special Services in the Wars in France the King at last upon the instant Request of the said Peers and Commons of England then assembled in Parliament gave him his Charter of Pardon CHAPTER the NINTH The CONTENTS I. King John of France on the Death of the Duke of Burgundy without Issue takes Possession of the Country and goes to visit the Pope at Avignon Pope Innocent VI dying Urban V succeeds II. The King of Cyprus comes to Avignon to get and against the Saracens A Combat fought there A Croisade proclaimed whereof the King of France is made the General III. The King of Cyprus visits the Emperour the Emperours Opinion concerning the Holy War The King of Cyprus goes to other Christian Princes IV. King Edward allowing the French Hostages some Liberty the Duke of Anjou makes his Escape V. The Kings of Cyprus and Denmark and the Duke of Bavaria come into England King Edwards Answer to the King of Cyprus upon his demanding Assistance for the Holy War. VI. A Parliament at Westminster VII A Convocation wherein the excessive Number of Holydays are retrenched VIII The Death of the Dutchess of Clarence of Edward Bailiol once King of Scotland and of the Bishop of Bath and Wells IX A Man who after execution at the Gallows recover'd is pardon'd by the King. X. The King of Cyprus and the Shrine of St. Hugh of Lincoln robbed XI King David of Scotland comes into England upon a Visit A long and hard Frost I. AN. DOM. 1363. An. Regni Angliae XXXVII IN the preceding Year King John of France undertook a Journey to Avignon to visit the Pope and Cardinals but he chose to ride through the Dukedom of Burgundy because that Provence was newly fallen unto him by the Death of Philip the young Duke Grandson of Duke Eudes the VI and Son of that Philip who was slain at the Siege of Aiguillon and of the Lady Jane of Boulogne who afterwards was married to King John and died the Year before this her Son. In a Favine le Parisiens Theater t' Honour l. 4. c. 3. p. 7. his Person was extinct the First Branch of the Dukes of Burgundy being of the House of France which had produced no less than twelve Dukes and had lasted the space of 330 Years For this young Prince died b Paradin Annal Burgund l. 2. p. 348. about Easter 1362 without Issue himself being but Fifteen and his Lady Margaret of Flanders not above Eleven When therefore King John c Frois c. 216. fol. 112. was ready for his Journey and had appointed his Son Charles Regent and Governour during his Absence he began his Progress from Paris about the latter end of July 1362 having with him in his Company his Cousin the Lord John of Artois Earl of Tancarville the Earl of Dampmartin the Lord Bouciquault Marshal of France and many other Grandees Having by small Journeys and great Expence rode thrô Burgundy he came in the beginning of September to Villeneufe without Avignon where Lodgings were provided for Him and his Attendants He was entertained with great Magnificence of Feasting by the Pope and the whole College of Cardinals and many interchangeable Visits were made between the King and Them But in the heighth of all d Labbei Chronl Techn ad ann 1362. Pope Innocent the VI having sat Nine Years Eight Months and Twenty Days departed this Life at Avignon on the Twelfth of September Whereupon there arose much Difference among the Cardinals about Choosing of a new Pope for each of them aspired to the Dignity himself especially the Cardinal of Boulogne and the Cardinal of Perigort who were by far the Greatest and had most powerfull Friends Wherefore after much Altercation the rest of the Cardinals agreed to put the Decision of the Matter to these Two who finding thereby that neither of them could obtain the Papacy themselves agreed together that neither any of the rest should have it but rather that they would pitch upon some other Indifferent Person There was at that time in the Parts of Lombardy one e Vid. Odor Rainal ad ann 1362. §. 6. Ciacon cum Victor p. 925. c. who was employ'd thither by Pope Innocent about Affairs with the Lords of Milain named William Grisant by some named Grimoardi Abbot of St. Victor of Marseille a Devout and Holy Man of unblameable Life and eminent Learning who was called Anglicus whereupon f Walsing hist p. 172. many have believed him an English Man thô I rather believe he might obtain that name because he was a Gascogner and so by Birth subject to the King of England This Man the Two Ambitious Cardinals chose rather out of Envy to their Fellows than thrô any Love to Him or his Vertue He g Labbei Chron. Techn ad ann 1362. Lit. Domin B. was elected on the 28 or as Some say on the last of October and Crowned on the Sixth of November following being a Sunday at which time he took the Name of Vrban V. It is said of him h Walsingh hist p. 172. that having long waited at the Court of Avignon in fruitless expectation of Preferment he complained to a Friend of his saying I believe verily if all the Churches of the World should fall there would none fall upon my Head. Whereupon this Friend of his coming to visit him after his Coronation said all smiling You lately complain'd most Holy Father that if all the Churches in the World should fall yet none you thought would fall upon your Head. Behold now how God hath disposed things for all the Churches in the World are now fallen upon your Head together Soon i Frois c. 216. fol. 112. after this Mans Creation King John heard News that Peter of Lusignan King of Cyprus intended shortly to come to Avignon to give his Holiness a Visit and that in order thereto he had already passed the Sea whereupon he resolved to tarry still at Avignon till his Coming being very desirous to see him because of the great Renown he had heard of him both for his Valour and Piety and particularly of the great Honour he had won in the War against the Saracens and that among other his Successes he had lately taken from them Sattalia the chief City of Pamphylia and
would not grant However King John tarried still in England disporting himself and taking his Pleasure in and about London and Westminster his chief Residence being at the Savoy at that time k Knighton p. 2627. n. 10. one of the Faitest Mansions in England belonging to the Duke of Lancaster And the late Duke Henry had bestowed no less than 52000 Marks thereon King David of Scotland came also to pay some part of his Ransome and hoped to prevail with King Edward to acquit him of the Remainder but he could not obtain that Point The King of Cyprus having purchased a Choice Band of English Gentlemen Volunteers and received many large Presents from King Edward l Frois c. 218. repassed the Seas with King Waldemar of Denmark in his Company and went to Boulogne and thence to Amiens where he found the Duke of Normandy and his Council by whom he was hugely caressed and related unto them his Success in England and how he had left King John in Health whereat they were all pleased Having been here a while he said That for all this he thought he had neither done nor seen any thing of Moment untill he should have seen the Prince of Wales adding that by the Grace of God he would go and visit him and the Lords of Poictou and of Aquitain The Regent approved of his Resolution but desired him at his Return to come thrô France and visit his Father whom by that time they expected from England King Peter promised to do thus much and so took his leave and rode toward Beauvais and passed the River of Seyne and so thrô Perche and Tourain over the Loire till he came to Poictiers where he was informed how the Black-Prince was at his City of Angoulesme The Prince was then busie in providing a Solemn Feast Justs and Tourneaments which he design'd to hold with Fourty Knights and as many Esquires for the Love of his Beautifull Princess who was just then brought to Bed of an Hopefull Son called Edward after his Fathers Name When Prince Edward heard how the King of Cyprus was coming to visit him he sent forth the Lord John Chandos with a great Number of Knights and Esquires of his Court to meet and conduct him forward which they did accordingly And so King Peter was honourably convey'd to Angoulesme where he was received by the Prince with all the Demonstrations of Joy and Respect imaginable He found himself also extream Welcome to all the Lords of England and of Poictou and Sainctogne such as were then at the Princes Court namely to Sr. John Chandos to Sr. Thomas Felton and his Brother Sr. William Felton Sr. Thomas Beauchamp Sr. Simon Burley Sr. Neal Loring Sr. Roger Delaware Sr. Richard Pountchardon Sr. Baldwin Frevile Seneschal of Saintogne and many more besides the Lords of Aquitain as the Vicount of Thoüars the young Lord of Pons the Lord of Partenay Sr. Guischard D'Angle and Others The King of Cyprus was highly feasted and caressed by the Prince and the Lords of his Court and when he had tarried there about a Month the Lord John Chandos rode with him thrô the Country to divert his Mind and shew him what was Curious and worth Observation He was Nobly entertain'd at Rochelle and other Places by the English Governors there and having visited the Country all about in the most Remarkable Places he returned again to Angoulesme at what time the Prince held the foresaid Solemnity in Honour of his Princess with great Pomp and Splendour and a Glorious Retinue of Men of Arms. The sight of these Mens valiant Justings made the King desire to have some of their Company along with him against the Infidels And so after the Solemnity of the Feast was over he accosted the Prince and the Lords of his Court shewing unto them distinctly the Principal Reason of his Coming thither namely How he had taken upon him the Red Cross which he wore and how the Pope had by his Authority confirmed it and what Honour and Privileges remain'd for those who should joyn with him in this Expedition and how the French King and the Lord Talayrand the Cardinal and divers other Great Lords and Princes had devoutly sworn to embarque in the same Enterprise Then the Prince and his Knights answer'd him kindly and said How truly it was an Expedition well worthy the Consideration of all Men of Honour and that by the Grace of God when once the Matter was enter'd upon and the Passage laid open he should not be alone but should find among them those that would be glad at any Rate together with Religion to advance their Honours With these Words the King of Cyprus was well pleased and so being laden with Gifts from the Prince and Princess he took his leave the Lord Chandos at the Princes Command waiting upon him to the Bounds of the Principality But the Lord m Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 232. Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick the Lord Thomas n Iâ—â—reton Nâ—ttingh p. 116 ubi John male pro Thoâ—â—as Roos and divers o Walsing hist p. 174. other Stout Barons of England and Gascogne went quite thrô with design to aid him in the Wars in the Holy Land Being no less than 300 Select Horse Knights and Esquires besides Archers and others their Friends and Servants who at the request of the Pope hand Letters of Safe-conduct from the Governour of Dauphiné and le Viennois to pass without any molestation or interruption through those Parts Sr. James de Arteville being appointed with Ten Officers in his Company to guide and conduct them to the Limits of Piedmont V. The mean while King Peter having sent them before returned to Paris where he thought to have found the French King but he mist of his Expectation For that Prince was not returned out of England but lay dangerously sick at his Lodgings in the Savoy at London and every day grew worse and worse to the infinite Regret of King Edward and his Queen For all the Physicians agreed that his sickness was Mortal All this was not unknown to the Duke of Normandy who was at Paris being Regent in his Fathers Absence for the Lord Bouciquault was return'd from England to inform the Dauphin in what a Desperate Condition the King lay The King of Navarre also was fully acquainted with the News but was very little concerned at it for he hoped to make War more easily in France if King John should die and it is to be noted that this unquiet Prince p Mezeray p. 62 pretended a Right to the Dutchy of Burgundy which King John had already seised into his Hands but because the Inhabitants so earnestly desired a Duke of their own he designed to give it to his youngest Son Philip at his return out of England for he lov'd him the best of all his Children because he stuck so close to him at the Battle of Poictiers Being therefore desirous to take hold of the
while the Duke of Burgundy had held Siege before Marcheville whereby by he so streightned the Garrison that at last they were content to yield up the Town their Lives and Goods saved which Conditions being granted them they departed The Duke order'd Sr. Bouciquault Marshal of France and Sr. John de Vienna Marshal of Burgundy to take possession of the Town over which he set an Esquire of his named William of Chartres with Fourty Men of Arms and so departed and went to Cameroles to which he laid Siege because it stood in the plain Country and had been a very troublesome Neighbour to the Inhabitants of Chartres While this Siege lasted the Lord John de la Riviere who had the Second Division consisting of 2000 Spears laid his Siege to Aquigny near to Louviers in the County of Eureux wherein was a Garrison of English Normans Frenchmen and Gascogners all Navarrois who had held that place ever since the Battle of Cocherel and now maintain'd it with great Obstinacy for they had good store of Ammunition and Provision of all sorts and yet notwithstanding they were at last so streightned that they were fain to yield up the Castle their Lives and Goods saved After which they went with all they had and were by the Lord de la Riviere's Conduct safely convey'd to Cherburgh where they remain'd The Lord de la Riviere having Garrison'd Aquigny marched directly toward the City of Eureux but there he was not able to prevail And now the Duke of Burgundy had constrained the Garrison of Cameroles to yield up to his pleasure which done all the Souldiers Strangers he took to Mercy but as for those Frenchmen whom he found among them because they had been Renegado's Robbers and Enemies to their King and Country he hanged them up every Mothers Son. And then certain of the Chief Burgesses of Chartres came unto the Duke humbly desiring that of his Goodness and as a reward for the Engines of Battery which they had lent him he would please to grant unto them the sole Disposal of the Fortress of Cameroles which had formerly been so troublesome to them To this request the Duke readily agreed and then the Burgesses immediately set Labourers at Work who rased the Castle down to the ground After this the Duke went to the Castle of Dreux on the River Blaise in the plain Country of Beausse which was a Nest of the Companions likewise all whom having carried the Place by fine force he caused to be put to the Sword. Thence he marched to Preux and invested it round and gave many vigorous Assaults before he could obtain any advantage at last the Besieged thought best to yield their Lives only saved but as for their Goods they all fell to the Conquerour with whom also the Frenchmen found therein were detained Prisoners When the Duke had taken possession of this place he committed it to the Custody of Sr. Peter du Bois a Knight of Beausse whom he order'd to repair the Fortifications and defend the Place After this he went to Chartres where he tarried five days to refresh himself and his Men and then he laid his Siege to Connay a Castle that had been troublesom to the whole Country and caused six great Engines of Battery to be raised up against it XVII But while he did these things his Enemies gave him sundry Diversions For the Lord Lewis of Navarre overran all the Low-Country of Auvergne and brought those Parts into much Distress for thô he kept the Field there was none to oppose him Those also of the Garrison of la Charité did what they pleas'd round about them And the Earl of Monbelliard likewise with his Allies of Almain was entred into the Dutchy of Burgundy by the way of Bezancon where he began to ravage over all the Country in revenge that his Pretences to the said Dukedom were not allowed but another was brought in over his Head. Upon News of these unexpected Commotions in Burgundy the King sent to the Duke commanding him immediately to raise his Siege from before Connay and come back to Paris in order to march into Burgundy against the new Invaders The Duke however his own Dominions were in danger was not a little concerned at this Message because he had made a solemn Vow not to rise from before Connay till he should be Master of the Place But now those of his Council told him That since the King sent for him he might lawfully depart notwithstanding his Vow for that no Vow could cancell that previous Duty wherein he was bound to his Prince Hereupon he resolved to quit the Siege but making as yet no shew thereof he sent his Marshal to demand of the Besieged whether they would yield up absolutely to the Dukes Pleasure or no They returned Answer No they would not do that but however on Condition they might have their Lives and Goods saved they were now content to yield The Offer was gladly accepted and they permitted to depart with Bag and Baggage After which the Duke having deliver'd the Castle to a Knight of Beausse called Sr. Philip of Artenay with Order to repair the Fortifications went from thence to Chartres where he left the greater Part of his Forces under the Care of the Earl of Auxerre the Lord Bouciquault and Sr. Lewis of Sancerre and so rode forth to Paris with Sr. Lewis of Alenson the Lord of Beaujeu the Lord John de Vienna and all the Burgundians in his Company and went thence to the King his Brother whom he found at Meaux in Brie and there he tarried but one Day On the Morrow he rode on till he came to Troyes in Champaigne Thence he went to Langres and still as he proceeded he enforced himself with Men of War. At Langres he was met by a considerable Body of Burgundians who to their Power had maintained themselves hitherto against their Enemies and were now extream glad of their Lord the Dukes so seasonable coming among them The Chief Captains of these Troops were the Arch-priest the Lord of Chasteau Villain the Lord of Grancy the Lord of Vergny the Lord of Sobournon the Lord of Rugemont Sr. Hugh de Vienna the Bishop of Langres and a Wealthy Man called John of Boulogne with others Being thus enforced he marched against his Enemies who made at least 1500 Spears and yet durst not abide him but retired beyond the Rhine Notwithstanding he followed them beyond Monbelliard burning and destroying the Earls Lands as he went and so having sufficiently revenged his Wrongs for that time he returned with most of his Troops to Paris XVIII This mean while King Charles his Brother had sent the Lord Moreau de Fiennes his Constable and his two Marshals Sr. Bouciquault and Sr. Moron de Branville with a goodly Number of Men of Arms to go and lay Siege to la Charité on the River of Loire which they did and skirmished almost every Day with the Besieged But as yet prevailed
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
Earl by some English Title which all the Lords yielded to be very convenient Whereupon the King by his Letters Patents bearing e Dugd. 1 Vol. Baron p. 761. b. Date the same XI of May advanced him to the Title of Earl of Bedford and for the better support of himself and his Lady Isabell gave him a Grant of a 1000 Marks per annum to be paid him out of the Exchequer as also Thirty Marks more out of the Issues of the County of Bedford to be Yearly paid by the Sheriff of that Shire At that time f M.S. Ret. Par. c. ut suprà Sr. Thomas Ludlow Chief Baron of the Exchequer declared before the whole Parliament how William the Son and Heir of William Stephens who held diversly of the King in Capite as of the Crown had by Writ of Aetate probanda sued out Livery out of the Kings hands whereas the said William the Son for a long time should be within Age as by a prolix Schedule doth appear Whereupon the whole Parliament upon sight of the said William the Son judged him still to be within Age and therefore took Order that all his Hereditaments so sued out of the Kings hands should be forthwith reseised into the Kings hands till his full Age and that all Obligations Charters Statutes Recognisances and all other Writings made by the said William the Son should be null and void This done the King gave thanks to the Three Estates and licensed every One to depart and so this Session ended II. Galeacius or Galeas the Second Duke of Milain and Elder Brother to Duke Bernabo g Paul. Joviâ—s in Vitis Princip Mediolanens p. 151. being a Person of a truly Royal Spirit had already Married his Son John Galeas to the Lady Isabella Sister to the King of France and now for the more sure Establishing of his Affairs design'd to match his Beautifull Daughter Violantis with King Edward of England's Son Prince Lionel Duke of Clarence To that purpose he began to make some Overtures about this time insomuch that King Edward sent over to him an Embassy whereof the Lord h Dugd. 1 V. l. Baron p. 186. Humphry Bohun Earl of Northampton Hereford and Essex was the Principal Person to adjust Matters fully and equally on both sides The Effect of which Embassy we shall take notice of hereafter III. Dr. Simon Islip Archbishop of Canterbury i Godw. Catal. Bpsp. 142. riding to Magfield this Year his Horse chanced to fling him into a Miry Pool So being very wet however he continued his journey till he came to the said place Being there and having changed his Apparel he fell asleep but at his waking found himself in a Palsie and so within a few days died viz. on the 26 of April 1366. This Man k Vid. Anton. Wood Antiqu. Oxon. l. 2. p. 246. p. 338. founded a College in Oxford then called Canterbury College but since that it hath been mightily augmented and enlarged and bears the name of Christ-Church being at this time One of the most Magnificent Colleges in the whole World. This College the said Archbishop endow'd with good Possessions appropriating to the same the Parsonages of Pagham and Magfield but some Ages after the Famous and Munificent Cardinal Woolsey took it in as a part of his College and lastly that and this was accounted the Foundation of King Henry VIII so that now it is wonderfully encreased and is still acquiring New Magnificence and Beauty every day Archbishop Islip being thus dead the l Godâ— ibid. p. 143. Monks of Canterbury chose Dr. William Edington then Bishop of Winchester for Archbishop but he declin'd the Dignity saying as it is reported That Canterbury was the Higher Rack but Winchester the better Manger Whereupon Simon Langham then Bishop of Ely was translated to that See and John Barnet Bishop of Bath and Welles went to Ely and Bath and Welles was given to a Chaplain of the Black-Prince named Dr. John Harewell 'T is observable that Dr. Simon Langham m Philipet's Catal Chancell Treas p. 37. on the day of his Consecration demanded and had Homage of the Earl of Stafford of Sr. Thomas Ross Sr. John Tyrrell Sr. Robert Brockhill and Sr. Ralph Sr. Leger for their Lands which they held of the See of Canterbury But of this Great Prelate we shall speak more largely hereafter IV. In these n Frois c. 229. fol. 125. days there was still in France a Mighty Number of Warlike Companions who after the Wars of Bretagne were ended knew not what to do but however were so wickedly frugal that they had rather do Mischief than be idle The scene of all their Extravagances was the unhappy Realm of France which they called their Chamber for they durst not do any harm in Aquitaine the Land would not suffer them And to say the truth the greater part of their Captains were Gascogners or Englishmen Subjects of King Edward or the Prince his Son there were but a few Bretons and Runagate Frenchmen Wherefore many French Lords began to murmur against King Edward and the Prince and said among themselves how they did not acquit themselves fairly to the French King Since they did not do their utmost to destroy these kind of People who now began to be unsufferable For the Duke of Anjou had lately gone against them with an o Knighton p. 2628. n. 60. Dugd. 2 Vol. Baron p. 148. Army of 15000 Men all whom Sr. Nicolas Dagworth their General vanquished and put to slight and took many Prisoners among whom were the Duke of Orleans and the Duke of Anjou himself It is reported of this same Sr. Nicolas who was a Baron of England and Son to the Famous Sr. Thomas Dagworth of whom we have spoken heretofore in this History p Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 148. ex â—eland Collect. Vol. 1. p. 826. M.S. in Bibl. Bodleian that with Thirteen English Horse he fought sixty French near to Flavigny in Burgundy and by means of certain Chariots which he made use of for his Defence they being placed in a Circle whereinto he could enter at pleasure utterly vanquished them But that he Headed the Companions at this time against the Frenchmen proceeded from the great desire he had to Revenge the Blood of his Father who about 17 q Vid. Lib. 2. c. 9. §. 6. p. 445. Years before had been basely murder'd by the French in time of Truce However King Charles of France and his Nobles being terrified with this great Success of the Companions r Walsingh hist p. 175. n. 10 c. sent to King Edward of England desiring him to interpose his Authority against the Fury of these Men who were for the most part English or at least under his Dominion For it was so provided in the Articles of the Peace at Bretigny that if the Souldiers should refuse to acquiesce both the Kings should joyn together to compell them First
and reasonable for the Prince to take upon him the Protection of the King of Spain and thereupon Credential Letters were framed directed from the King of England and his Council to the Prince of Aquitaine and his Council and the Duke of Lancaster had leave to go over to visit and confer with the Prince his Brother whom he desired to serve in this Expedition So the Messengers returned with these Letters and the Duke in their Company and came to Bourdeaux where they found the Prince and Don Pedro to the former of whom they deliver'd their Letters from the King his Father Upon this a new day was forthwith assign'd for the Parliament to sit again at which time there assembled at Bourdeaux all the forenamed Lords of Aquitaine and Others that were Summon'd thereto And then the King of England's Letters were openly read in full Parliament The Purport was this That the King and his Council were well pleased that the Prince his Son should in the Name of God and St. George seriously undertake to restore King Don Pedro to his Throne and Heritage which his Bastard-Brother had wrongfully taken from him without either Law or Reason and as it appeareth traiterously deposed him That the King thought himself obliged to wish his Son to do thus much for his Cousin the King of Castille not only for the sake of Justice and Honour but also for the Common Interest and Right of Kings and especially because of certain Alliances Treaties and Confederations heretofore made between them which imported a mutual Assistance in case of Necessity if either Party were thereto required Wherefore he desired all his good Friends and Subjects in those Parts to be Aiding and Assisting to his Son the Prince in that Matter as well as if he himself were there and undertook the Expedition in his own Person When the Nobles and Captains of Aquitaine heard these Letters read dictinctly and perceived the pleasure of the King and of his Son the Prince their Lord then they all readily gave in their answer with one consent Sir We shall gladly obey the Command of our Sovereign Lord the King of England and of Your Royal Highness it being our Duty so to do and therefore We now declare that in this Expedition We shall readily serve both Your Highness and also King Don Pedro. But Sir We desire to know from whom We are to expect our Wages for it will be difficult to oblige Men of War to go abroad into a strange Country without such kind of Considerations Then the Prince turned his Face to Don Pedro and said My Lord O King You hear what our Subjects say Pray please to answer them Your self as to this point For it is your Concern so to do To this Don Pedro answer'd Most Dear Cousin as far as the Gold Silver and other Treasure which I have brought hither with me and I 'll assure You 't is not the Thirtieth Part of what I 've left behind as far as that will go I shall now immediately resign that entirely to your Dispose to be bestowed among our Friends your Subjects And for what shall remain if God Almighty send Us Success I shall make full amends in all things of this Be this Honourable Assembly my Witness Sir said the Prince You say well and as Circumstances stand We can expect no more of You. As for the Remainder therefore I my self will be indebted to these Gentlemen and pay them as occasion shall require all which my Lord O King I shall lend unto You expecting to be repaid upon our good Success in Castille Hereupon Don Pedro renew'd his Promise to be more than Just in all manner of liberal Retributions acknowledging with many fair expressions of Gratitude the extraordinary Favour Grace and Courtesie which the Prince had been pleased to shew unto him X. Now in this Council there were many Noble Personages of great Experience in Affairs of that Nature and who especially understood the difficulties usually attending an Expedition into Spain Such as the Lord John Chandos the Lord John Greilly Captal of Busche the Earl of Armagnac the Lord of Pamiers and others who had been more than once in Spain to help the Good King Alphonso against the Moors These all concluded that it was absolutely necessary if they resolved to go into Spain to bring over the King of Navarre to their side For they could not pass but thrô his Country over the Pyrenean Mountains by the streights of Roncevaux Which Passage it was doubted whether they might obtain because Charles the Present King of Navarre and Don Henry the Bastard had lately made a strict Alliance together After much altercation upon this point also the Parliament was prorogued to another day when they were to meet in the City of Bayonne about six Leagues from the Confines of Navarre and the Prince was by his Ambassadors to request the King of Navarre's Presence at that Assembly So the Prince sent unto him the Lord John Chandos and the Lord Thomas Felton who behav'd themselves with such Discretion and gave him such Reasons that he faithfully engaged both by word of Mouth and also under his Hand and Seal not to fail on the appointed day of being present at the Parliament at Bayonne And with this News the two Knights returned to the Prince The day appointed being come there came to Bayonne King Don Pedro Edward Prince of Aquitaine and of Wales the Captal of Busche the Earl of Armagnac the Lord of Albret and all the Barons of Gascogne Guienne Poictou Quercy Rovergue Sainctogne and Limosin and thither also came Charles the King of Navarre in Person to whom the Prince and King Don Pedro shew'd extraordinary respect the rather because they design'd to prepare him for their opinion This Parliament sat thus at Bayonne five days together For the Prince and his Friends had much adoe to perswade the King of Navarre he being a Person of that temper as to be stiff and almost inexorable when he saw any One stand in need of him But at last when he consider'd the great Power of the Prince and that He who now desired him if too much provoked might compell him on certain considerations he was content to renounce the League he had made with Henry the Bastard and sware and promised under his Hand and Seal Peace Love and firm Alliance and Confederation to King Don Pedro as likewise Don Pedro did unto Him by the Prince of Wales his menagement and contrivance The Latter as true King of Castille engaging by Covenant then Engrossed and Sealed to give and restore unto the King of Navarre and to his Heirs for ever all the Land of y An Oregne Groigne as it lies on both sides the River and also all the Lands of Salvatierra with the Town Castle and all the Appurtenances Also the Town of St. John Piè du Port and the Marches thereabout which Lands Towns Castles and Seigniories he had before violently
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
that other 15000 Gennettours were disposed about as Wings in the First and Last Battails So that in all Don Henry had this day on his side no less than an 121000 Men one with another When all was rightly order'd He leap'd on a Strong Mule after the usage of that Country and rode about from Battail to Battail and from Squadron to Squadron with gracious and sweet Words praying and desiring every Man that day to do his utmost to defend and maintain his and their Right and Honour that they should remember how they were better Men and more numerous than their Enemies and that their Cause also was more just and as he spake he appeared so wonderfull Cheerfull and Magnanimous that every Man was glad to see him look so well and gather'd Matter of Courage to himself from so good a sign When Don Henry had thus encouraged his Men he return'd to his own Battail at which time the Sun began to rise and then he order'd his Banners to advance forward for he thought it more for his Honour to meet his Enemies than to expect them Rev. de Johanni Balderston S.I.P. Tutori suo sumÌ„e Colendo Coll EmÌ„anuelis apud Cantabr Magistro Socijsq ejusdem Coll Tabulam Hanc EDVARDI Principis Nigri Cognomi â—mati Gratitudinis â— Honeris ergo DDD Iosua Barnes Thô born unto and Meriting a Crown Unequal Fate allotted me a Grave Yet by my â—â—rmes Don Pedro gain'd his Thâ—â— To make a King than to bee Ones more strâ—â—â— XII As thus the two Armies approached near together the Prince went over a little Hill in the descending whereof he saw plainly his Enemies marching toward him Wherefore when the whole Army was come over this Mountain he commanded that there they should make an Halt and so fit themselves for Fight At that instant the Lord t Frois c. 237. fol. 133. Vid. Favine l. 7. c. 12. p. 270. Ashmole p. 42. Selden's Tit. Hon. p. 790. 791. c. John Chandos brought his Ensign folded up and offer'd it to the Prince saying Sir here is my Guidon I request your Highness to display it abroad and to give me leave to raise it this day as my Banner For I thank God and your Highness I have Lands and Possessions sufficient to maintain it withall Then the Prince took the Penon and having cut off the Tail made it a Square Banner and this done both He and King Don Pedro for the greater Honour holding it between their Hands display'd it abroad it being u Vid. l. 4. c. 2. §. 3. p. 698. Or a Sharpe Pile Gules as we have shew'd before and then the Prince deliver'd it unto the Lord Chandos again saying Sr. John behold here is your Banner God send you much Joy and Honour with it And thus being made a Knight Banneret the Lord Chandos return'd to the Head of his Men and said Here Gentlemen behold my Banner and yours take it and keep to your Honour and Mine And so they took it with a Shout and said that by the Grace of God and St. George they would defend it to the best of their Powers but the Banner remain'd in the hands of a gallant English Esquire named William Allestry who bore it all that Day and acquitted himself in the service right Honourably And now all the English and Gascogners quitted their Horses and ranged themselves on Foot in their former Order and so both Armies began a little to advance at which time the Prince of Wales having his Visor up x Frois ibid. lifted up his Eyes to Heaven and joyned his Hands together and said O Very God Jesu Christ who hast formed and created me grant by your Benign Grace that I may obtain this Day Victory of mine Enemies as what I do is in a Righteous Quarrel to sustain and aid this King whom they have Excluded from his Inheritance Which gives me the Courage to advance my Self against them thereby to re-establish Him in his Realm And therewithall being full of Faith and Courage he laid his Right Hand upon King Don Pedro who was next by him and said Sir King You shall know this Day whether ever you shall have any thing of the Kingdom of Castille or not Therefore advance Banners in the Name of God and St. George And just then the Duke of Lancaster and the Lord John Chandos approached their Enemies at which time the Duke said to Sr. William Beauchamp Lord of Bergavenny and Fourth Son to the Earl of Warwick Sr. William behold yonder our Enemies This Day you shall see me a good Knight or else to die in the Quarrel And with that Word he began to joyn Battle with Sr. Bertram of Clequin and the other Frenchmen and Aragonians and Strangers of divers Countries At the first Encounter there was a terrible Medley with Spear and Shield and for a certain while neither could open the others Ranks or prevail in the least so that many a noble Feat of Arms was performed and many a Man of Arms reversed and cast to the Earth who never after could be relieved Now while these two Battails of English and French were thus contending for the better the other were resolved not to stand long aloof but came on apace and joyned together with great Fury And first the Prince of Wales Himself with whom were Don Pedro King of Castille and the Lord Martin Carre who represented the King of Navarre's Person brought up his Main Battail and came against the Earl of Sancelloni and his Brother Don Sancho the Bastards Brethren But it seems he brought such Terror along with him that at the very first Shock the Earl and his Brother were so strangely surprised with Fear y Frois ibid. that they fled away suddenly they knew not why without either Order or Array with no less than 3000 Spears in their Company So that immediately that Battail was open'd and discomfited for the King of Majorica the Captal of Busche the Lord Oliver Clisson and their Battail follow'd on after the Prince and slew and hurt them at a prodigious Rate while the Prince who aim'd at a greater Matter marched directly forward and joyned freshly with the Third and Last Battail of the Spaniards where King Henry himself was with above 60000 Men Horse and Foot. Here the Fight began to be fierce and cruel indeed for the Spaniards and Castillians had Slings wherewith they whirled stones at such a rate that they clove and brake many an Helmet therewith and hurt and overthrew many a Man to the Ground The mean while the Archers of England shot fiercely from their Long Bows and slew many and did much Mischief both to Horse and Man. The one Party cried Castille for King Henry and the other St. George Guienne for the Prince of Aquitaine All this while the first Battail of England fought stifly being well match'd by the Frenchmen and here the Duke of Lancaster the Lord John Chandos the two Marshals Sr.
Incentive to Industry by beholding in him an Example to what Height of Eminence Preferment and Dignity Laborious Vertue can ascend thô little advantaged by Birth or external Splendour And also what an Excellent way those Men take as well of Instructing Posterity as of preserving and embalming their own Names to future Generations who by Charitably disposing of the Goods of Fortune toward the Advancement of Piety Learning and Good Manners treasure up unto themselves a Rich Reward both of Worldly Fame and of Eternal Glory But to return to our Purpose VI. While q Frois c. 245. thus Matters began apace to ripen towards a War the Prince of Wales who was fully resolv'd to come Personally to Paris in the Head of a Great Army the next Summer sent word to all the English Captains and Gascogners whom he knew his Friends to be ready by such a time to come to his Service and also to those Captains of the Companions who came out of Spain and were now about the River Loire he sent word that they should not leave those Parts because he expected very shortly to find Work for them of which News they were all very glad But so it was that this Great Soul which us'd so well to inform these Warlike Bodies began now to bend beneath his own Weight and bore about him a Mortal War of his own a certain Fatal Distemper which some r Du Chesne 〈◊〉 Walsingh sed nil tale apud Wals say was brought upon him by Charms and Incantations others that he contracted it first in Spain either by reason of the Infection of that Air or from some lingring Poison which 't is thought that Perfidious and Ungratefull Tyrant Don Pedro gave him for a Requital of that Crown to which he had restored him I know there are some who have not stuck to say that this Poison was given him by his Brother John of Gaunt so to make way for himself to come to the Crown But surely at that time when the Prince was last with John of Gaunt Prince Lionel an Elder Brother to John was alive and besides that the Prince had two Sons now living the said Lionel had a Daughter also all who were before him as to the Succession I cannot nor dare so readily admit Popular slanders against the Persons of such Noble Princes But however it was Prince Edward was by this time so reduced that he could hardly endure to ride on Horseback whereat his Men were extreamly cast down and his Enemies took the greater Courage For the French King was fully informed of his Distemper however it came and the Physicians and the Chirurgeons of France began already to pronounce boldly that the Prince was sick of an Incurable Dropsie VII Now when Sr. John Chapponeau and the Doctor were taken and arrested by the Seneschal of Agenois and Sr. William Molineaux and clap'd up in Prison as we shew'd before the Gascogne Lords upon whose account they suffer'd as the Earl of Armagnac the Lord of Albret the Earl of Cominges the Earl of Perigort the Vicount of Carmain the Lord Bertram of Cande the Lord de la Barde and the Lord of Pincornet being now in their own Country and hearing of this Arrest of the Messengers took it in horrible Disdain for in their Name and for their cause were they sent Wherefore they all concluded to revenge it as soon as they might and to begin the War for they said so great an Affront was not to be suffer'd Within a while they understood how Sr. Thomas Wake the Seneschal of Rouvergue was to ride to Rodez the Chief City of that Province to strengthen his Fortress there and for that purpose on such a Day to come with 60 Spears from Agenois Upon this Information at the time appointed they laid an Ambush of 300 Spears to make sure of Sr. Thomas and his Company But of all this the Seneschal knew nothing so that at the expected time he came riding on with 60 Spears and 200 Archers till a little beyond Molieres he fell into the Ambush which suddenly brake out upon him and presently discomfited his Men most whereof were slain or taken but ſ Du Chesne p. 700. Du Chesne speaks too largely when he says that he and all his Men were cut in pieces For many of his People after the Civil Custom of those days were taken to Ransome and he t Frois c. 246. himself by the Goodness of his Horse escaped away alive and got to the Castle of Montauban and so the Gascogne Lords return'd home again for that time with their Prisoners The Prince of Wales was then at Angoulesme whither the News presently slew that his Seneschal of Rouvergue was discomfited by the Earl of Perigort and others who had occasion'd him so disgracefully to be summon'd into the Court of France He was highly displeased at the Report and sware that it should be dearly Revenged on those who had done him this signal Affront and on their Lands and People Then he wrote presently to the most Valiant Lord John Chandos who at that time resided in Coutantine at St. Saviour le Vicount commanding him immediately upon sight of his Letters to come unto him Sr. John Chandos who was always ready to obey where it was his Duty made all the Expedition imaginable and came to Angoulesme to the Prince who was very glad of his Arrival Soon after the Prince sent him with certain Troops of Men of Arms and Archers to reinforce the Garrison of Montauban and thence to make War upon the Gascogners and Frenchmen who dayly encreased and overran his Lands At his coming Sr. Thomas Wake left Montauban and went as before he had intended to Rodez and Victuall'd and New-fortified the City and Castle as also he did to the strong City and Castle of Millaud on the Tarne in the Marches of Mompellier in Languedoc and in all places where he saw most need he set good store of Archers and Men of Arms. The mean while the Lord John Chandos lay at Montauban to keep the Marches and Frontiers there against the French and with him were several other Great Lords and Captains such as the Prince had sent thither along with him namely the most Noble and Warlike Lord John de Greilly Captal of Busche the two Brethren of Pamiers Sr. John and Sr. Henry the Soldiche de L'Estarrac the Lord of Partenay the Lord of Pons Lewis Earl of Harcourt the Lord of Pinant the Lord of Taniboton Sr. Richard of Pontchardon All which Lords and Knights made frequent Inroads into the Lands of the Earl of Armagnac and of the Lord of Albret who by Aid of other Lords of their Gang made shift to keep the Frontiers against them So that sometimes this side had the Advantage and sometimes the other as evermore the adventures of War are various VIII But all this while the subtle Duke of Anjou lay still at Tholouse and made not the least offer to
first very loth to part with him but Sr. Eustace shew'd him so many Reasons that he was forced to give him his leave So Sr. Eustace went on Board with all his own Troops and arrived safely at St. Malo whence he rode to Nantes there to pass the River of Loire all which was done not without the Consent of the Duke of Bretagne who yet otherwise stood neuter in the Case Thence he rode into Poictou and thence to Angoulesme to the Prince who received him gladly for he was one of the Best Captains of the Age. He had not been long there but the Prince sent him away to reinforce the Lord Chandos and the Captal of Busche who lay then at Montauban keeping the Frontiers against the French And to them Sr. Eustace was heartily welcome IV. The mean while the Knights of Picardy held their Rendezvous with design to go and assault the strong Town of Ardres which was about three French leagues from Calais about five from Graveling and from St. Omers four leagues Northward The Captains of these Forces by the French Kings Command was the Lord Moreau de Fiennes Constable of France and Sr. John Werchin Constable of Hainalt who made up no less than a 1000 Spears all Knights and Esquires besides Common Souldiers Being thus strong they went and lay down before the Fortress of Ardres which at that time was sufficiently provided with Englishmen and all things necessary wherefore the Garrison valued not the Siege a straw but were ready at their Defences as Occasion required and were at all Points well assured althô the Frenchmen had promised not to leave them till they should be Masters of the Place After two or three Days the Frenchmen Picards and Hainalders drew out into the Field ready armed for the Assault in fresh and terrible Array and so they set upon the Town in several places together with great Fury but nothing at all to their Advantage For many of them were slain and more wounded but no Man could tell of any Winnings they either then had or were like to have Wherefore on the fifth Day after their first coming thither they left Ardres little weaker in its Garrison but much stronger in the Resolution which the Enemies Despair of Prevailing had left behind And so that Expedition fell to nothing for all the Souldiers had leave to depart for that time to their several Homes V. A fairer Success crown'd the Arms of those Frenchmen who lay before Realville in Quercy for together with the Companions of their side they amounted to no less than 12000 Fighting Men besides 3000 of the Duke of Berry's Men lead by Sr. John of Armagnac Sr. John de Villemur the Lord of Beaujeu and other Knights of Auvergne and Burgundy who lay at least within two Days journey of them being ready to reinforce the Siege if need should be Now the Lord John Chandos and the Captal of Busche Sr Guischard Dangle Sr. Eustace Dambreticourt and other English Captains that kept the Frontiers at Montauban were well informed of all the Particulars of this Siege of Realville and of the great Number of Enemies with whom of themselves they were no ways able to cope and at the same time not hazard the loss of their own Garrison And yet they could not by any means perswade the two young Earls of Cambridge and Pembroke to break up for the present their fruitless Siege which they held still before Bourdeilles and to come and joyn them to save their Friends Which certainly had been more for their Honour and Advantage too for then having a pious and an honourable Work they might have returned to the Siege laden with Glory and a Civic as well as Triumphal Crown So the Frenchmen before Realville not only cast with their Engines night and day but set their Pioneers at work also who at last causing an huge Pane of the Wall to fall down the Town was enter'd and all the English within put to the Sword which was a great Pitty for among them were many Valiant Esquires But as for the Townsmen who were French-born they were taken to Mercy on Condition to be thenceforth True and Faithfull Subjects to the Crown of France And so the French Lords and Captains having set there New Officers with a good Garrison to defend the Place went away and took up their Quarters about in the Country of Quercy and Rouvergue to refresh themselves more at ease But the Companions of that part went to Cahors and thereabouts from whence they overran and infested all the Country as much as own'd the English the Names of their Captains were Edmund of Ortingo Perot of Savoy Ralph Braye the little Mechlin Arnold of Pons and others aforemention'd But the Earl of Perigort the Earl of Lisle the Vicount of Carmain the Earl of Cominges and other Gascogne Lords were fain to return into their several Countries For in Perigort lay the two Earls of Cambridge and Pembroke and on the other side Sr. Hugh Calverley Sr. Robert Briquet Sr. John Freville Nandon of Bergerac Sr. Ralph Camois the Bourg of Bartuel the Bourg de l'Esparre and all the Companions on the English side made sharp War and ravaged with Fire and Sword in and about the Lands of the Earl of Armagnac and of the Lord of Albret VI. All this while Sr. Thomas Wake that Valiant Seneschal of Rouvergue gallantly maintain'd for his Master the Black-Prince the City and Castle of Millaud which is about a Days journey from Mompellier and thô all the Country about him was soon after turn'd French yet still he held the Place maugre all his Enemies for about a Year and an Half afterward besides another good Fortress hard by In all which time he made many Excursions upon his Enemies to his Honour till Sr. Bertram of Clequin put him out of all as we shall see hereafter Because by reason of the Prince's sickness and the several small Armies of the Enemy the War was thus carried on by Parcels in many Places at once we hope the Judicious will pardon us for thus handling Matters as indeed they were acted by Piece-meal which yet we shall endeavour to do as exactly as the Nature of the thing will allow While the e Frois c. 255. f. 154. Earls of Cambridge and Pembroke lay thus before Bourdeilles there were in the Marches of Poictou Sr. John Bull Sr. William Bourde Sr. Lewis of St. Julian and Carlonet the Breton with more than 1200 Fighting Men who imagin'd and studied day and night how to get Towns and Fortresses in Poictou by Surprise Assault or Scalado One time above others they gat by surprise and Scalado the Castle and Fortress of la Roche de Pozay on the River of Creuse at the Entrance of Poictou about 2 leagues from la Haye en Touraine and near Chastelleraut on the Vienne At this loss all the Country of Poictou was in a Consternation for here the Frenchmen put a good Garrison having
Licence From whence he obtain'd Obedience from the Souldiery Good-will from the Country People and Love from his Prince by whom he was Honour'd with the Seneschalsy of Poictou While he bare that Office the Commons were not opprest with unjust exactions nor vexed with the Rapines or frequent Incursions of the Enemy to all which they were abundantly exposed after his Death In the Battles of Since of Cressy of Poictiers of Auray of Najara and others he gain'd much Renown as will appear by several Passages of this History however at last by Mischance he received his Fatal Wound at Lussac He was Honourably interred in the Fortress of Mortimer where he died leaving no Issue of his Body behind him for he was never Married Whereupon i Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 503 ex Rot. Fin. 50. Ed. 3. m. 21. Ashmole p. 704. ex Commun Term. Mich. an 3. H. 5. Elizabeth and Eleanor two of his Sisters the Latter being then the Wife of Sr. Roger Collings and Isabell Daughter to Margaret the Third Sister at that time Married to Sr. John Annesley were found to be his next Heirs Thus Rest Immortal Heroe for thy Name Shall last till Heaven and Earth's devour'd by Flame And thô Base Envy at these Works repine Yet even they shall if Mortals can Divine Live for the Great Black-Prince's Sake and Thine II. Upon the Death k Frois c. 271. fol. 166. of the Renowned Lord John Chandos who left his Dear Lord the Prince of Wales Heir to all that he had in Normandy which amounted to the Yearly Revenue of 40000 Franks or 4000 l. Sterling the Lands of St. Saviour the Vicount fell into the King of England's Hands to bestow as he should think fit Wherefore he gave the Charge and Government thereof to a Knight of his House a Valiant and Expert Leader called Sr. Alan Boxhull who l True Use of Armory in the Life of the Lord Chandos p. 108. Ashmole Plate 52. bare for his Arms in a Shield Or a Lion Rampant Azure cover'd with a Fret Argent he to defend the Place and to menage the Revenues thereof for the Profit of the King and of the Prince To him shortly after succeeded William Lord Latimer who bare * Ashmole Plate 42. Gules a Cross Pateé Or and being Steward of the King's Houshold was before the end of this Year m Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 32. made Lieutenant Captain and Governour of the Castle Town and Vicountie of St. Saviour And the Office of High Seneschal of Poictou being void also by the Death of the Lord Chandos the Prince of Wales gave it to Sr. Thomas Piercy a Gentleman of Great Valour and Experience n Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 285. who was Younger Brother to Henry Lord Piercy and afterwards was created Earl of Worcester Soon after the Frenchmen who were taken Prisoners at the Bridge of Lussac having by the Assistance of the French King in whose Service they were taken paid the several Ransoms which were set upon them returned all back again to their several Garrisons as Sr. Lewis of St. Julian Carlonet the Breton Sr. William Bourde and others of whom we shall say more anon At this same time there were several Barons and good Knights of France who became very much concerned when they saw the War of the two Crowns grow hotter and hotter every day especially the Lord Ingelram Coucy whom it affected deeply for he had a Fair Inheritance in England as well upon his own account for his Fathers had been Barons of that Realm ever since the days of King John of England as by the Lady Isabell his Wife who was Daughter to King Edward Which Lands he must not only Renounce but prove ungratefull to his Friend and Father-in-Law if he should serve the King of France and yet on the other hand he would seem no better than unnatural and a Traytor if he should bear Arms for England against the King of France to whom he was both an Ally and Subject And yet he thought to stand Neuter would be to befriend neither but rather to disoblige both Wherefore he took a Fourth Course resolving for a time to bid Farewell to France and to go and Travel abroad to inform his mind and to seek Adventures So having discreetly taken his leave of the French King he set forth with a small Retinue and went into Savoy where he was Honourably received by the Earl and by the Barons and Knights of his Court. Having spent some time there he rode forward into Lombardy and went to the Lords of Milain Galeas and Bernabo to whom he was welcome In the same Manner thô upon another occasion the Lord Edmund of Pamiers one of the most Loyal Knights in the World went away from the Prince's Service the reason was this In those days when there were so many Lords of Gascogne and others who daily revolted from the Prince to the French King's side it could be no otherwise but that the Prince and his Officers should be very jealous of the Faith of those who gave but the least umbrage of Discontent But however it was in this case whether only Suspicion or something more solid the Lord Thomas Felton o Frois Vol. 2. c. 1. Gallice c. 318. fol. 199. B. Angl. who was Seneschal of Bourdeaux for the Prince of Wales and so consequently Lieutenant for the King of England caused the Lord William of Pamiers and a Lawyer his Secretary and one of his Council named John Coulon a Native of Bourdeaux to be apprehended and flung into Prison Being brought to their Tryal it was proved home upon them as was then affirmed that the said Lord of Pamiers had covenanted to yield himself and all his Castles to the Protection of the French King and had actually deliver'd his Castle of Fronsac into the French Hands of all which the said Lawyer and Counsellour were conscious and accessary thereto wherefore neither the Lord of Pamiers nor his Clerk nor the other having any thing to say why sentence of Death should not proceed against them they were all three condemned by the Judgement of the Lord of L'Esparre and other Loyal Gascogners and openly beheaded in the City of Bourdeaux before an infinite concourse of People to the astonishment of many But especially those of the Lord of Pamiers his Kindred took this Execution hainously and upon this occasion it was that the most Gallant and Noble Knight in the World Sr. Edmund of Pamiers Uncle to the foresaid Lord William of Pamiers left Bourdeaux and Bourdelois resolving however in his Mind neither for that nor any other Provocation on Earth to turn Traytor to his Lord the Prince of Aquitaine but with all he took the Death of his Nephew so ill that he sware never from that time to bear Arms for the King of England or his Son the Prince while he lived And so he went on divers Pilgrimages to Cyprus to the Holy sepulchre
of Galizia A little after whose Departure on that very Day of St. John Baptist there came by Land to Rochell a great Number of Men of Arms English and Gascogners who as yet knew nothing of this Mischance of their Friends They had only heard that for certain the Spiniards lay before Rochell with design as it should seem to block it up and therefore they came thither now to preserve the Place The Chief Captains of these Men were the Noble Lord John Greilly Captal of Busche Sr. Beras du Launde Sr. Peter of Landuras the Soldiche of Estarrac Sr. Bertram de France and of Englishmen the Lord Thomas x Vid. de his Barenibus Dug Bar. ad ecrum nomina Percy the Lord Baldwin Frevile the Lord John Devereux Sr. Richard Ponchardon Sr. Walter Hewett Sr. William Fermin and others When these Lords and Knights with their Troops which were to the Number of six hundred Men of Arms were come to Rochell the Citizens made them extream Welcome as it should seem For as then they durst not shew the Malice of their Minds But when Sr. James of Surgeres had inform'd them of the Spaniards Victory by Sea in which Engagement he himself had been taken and ransomed these heavy Tidings all the Barons and Knights took mightily to Heart and thought themselves the most unfortunate Men Living that they had not come thither time enough to their Friends Assistance But they were beyond measure displeased that they had lost the Earl of Pembroke and Sr. Guischard Dangle However there they tarried certain Days to consider how they should now proceed and because the Seneschal of Rochell Sr. John Harpedon was taken by the Spaniards the Captal of Busche as being one of the Duke of Lancasters Chief Deputies in those Parts constituted Sr. John Devereux Seneschal of Rochellois of which We shall speak hereafter VI. Many French Writers talk of one Owen or Evan which they corruptly call Yvan making him to be Son to a Prince of Wales whom say they King Edward the Third put to Death and gave the Principality to his Son Edward the Black-Prince But those that are better acquainted with the Welch Story can tell that Lhewellin ap Griffith the last Prince of Wales of the Brittish Blood died without Issue being slain at Buelht in the Days of King Edward the First Grandfather to our Edward in the Year of our Lord MCCLXXXII which was full 90 Years before this time That indeed y Lloyd's Hist of Wales p. 374 one Madoc of the Kindred of the said Lhewellin rebelled afterwards but being taken was kept a perpetual Prisoner in the Tower or as some say submitted and was received into Favour on Condition he would bring in another Rebel named Morgan and put him into the King's Hands which he did That z Lloyd ibid. p. 382. ex Rot. Turr. Edward of Carnarvon afterwards King Edward the Second was by his Father stiled Prince of Wales and received the Homage of several Lords and other Free-Holders of Wales That his Son Edward of Windsor in time King of England by the Name of Edward the Third about the Sixteenth Year of his Fathers Reign was in a Parliament holden at York created Prince of Wales and Duke of Aquitain thô as a Vid. huâ—us Hist l. 1. c. 1. § 2. p. 2 we shew'd before he is no where found to have used the former Title of the two But this is most certain that his Son the Black-Prince in the b Vid. huâ—us Hist l. 1. c. 3. § 5. p. 45. l. 1. c. 21. §. 9. p. 273. Seventeenth Year of his Fathers Reign was created Prince of Wales and that by this means Wales was ever after joyned to the Crown of England even to this Day From all which it appears that this Owen however otherwise commendable was but a Counterfeit as to this Point And yet it might be no ill Policy for the French Kings to entertain him as being a Declared Enemy to the English Having thus by a sincere Antidote taken away the Venom of this Upstart Prince's Pretensions I shall now proceed to shew what Use the French King made of him at this time in his Affairs It was reported that our King Edward the Third took one Edmund Prince of Wales who was never else heard of and beheaded him that his young Son this Owen forsooth being by some means or other brought over into France was nourished up by King Philip of Valois as a Child of Honour in his own Chamber That he bare Arms for King John at the Battle of Poictiers but that after the famous Peace at Bretigny he retired into Lombardy Whence upon the Renewing of the War between the two Realms he came back again and offer'd his service to King Charles against the English The King received him gladly and advanced him in his Court committing to his Charge certain Troops of Souldiers particularly this Summer he gave him 4000 Men and sent him to sea against England VII Prince Owen for so however We will take leave to call him went on â—oard having imbarked his Men at Harfleur in Normandy and so set Sail taking his Course to the left hand for the Isle of Garnsey the Governour whereof for the King of England was Edmund Ros a Valiant and Hardy Esquire When this Gentleman heard how the French had took land in the Isle and that Owen of Wales was their Leader he made his Summons immediately thrô the Country resolving to march forth against him and to give him Battle The whole Isle is not c Speeds Maps p. 94. above 36 Miles in Circuit But however what with his own Men and the Inhabitants he presently raised 800 Fighting Men and so came and presented Battle to Owen of Wales The Fight proved fierce and obstinate on both sides but at last the Englishmen who were far outnumbred by the Enemy were discomfited and fled leaving behind them 400 dead upon the Spot Ros himself with the rest made shift to retire into a strong Fortress about two leagues from the place of Battle called Cornet-Castle which he had exceedingly fortified and victuall'd before and there he resolv'd to expect what God would please to send him After this Victory Prince Owen rallied his Men together and went directly and laid siege to the Castle of Cornet whither he heard Edmund Ros the Captain was retreated But the Place was so strong and as we shewed before so well provided that it was not to be won without much time and labour wherefore Owen sat down before the Castle It was in the time of this Siege that the late unhappy Adventure fell to the Earl of Pembroke and the Lord Guischard Dangle and their Men in the Haven of Rochell as we have related At the News whereof the French King was extream glad and assumed the greater Courage to pursue the Wars in Poictou and elsewhere For now he thought when the Good Towns and Cities of those Parts did
the Lords Clisson Tournemine Beaumanoir and Rochefort Sr. William of Bourdes Sr. Oliver Manny Sr. Reinald of Limosin Geoffry Ricon John de Lansonet Alan de St. Pol Carswell and other Captains all who with their several Retinues went before St. John D'Angely which they prepared to assault But the Inhabitants seeing how fast the whole Country fell away and despairing of any timely Succour now their Chief Governour the Captal was taken Prisoner yielded themselves and voluntarily engag'd for the French Interest After this they presented themselves before Angoulesme which submitted in the same manner and this Example was followed by Taillebourg a Town of Sainctogne from whence they went and lay before Sanctes the Chief City of that Province where they were two Days without any Success Because their Captain Sr. William Ferenton resolved as he said not so lightly to yield up so considerable a Place but rather to stand stoutly to his Defence But there was within the Bishop of that See who was a perfect Frenchman and made such Harangues to the Citizens that they siezed the Captain and threatned to kill him unless he would agree to deliver the Town So thrô fear he was obliged to consent but on this Condition that He and his Men might go away freely without any Harm or Impeachment And thus was Sainctes also given to the French and Sr. William Ferenton with his Men had safe Conduct to go to Bourdeaux XVII Now the Spanish Fleet of which we spake lay still at Anchor before the City of Rochell with Owen of Wales and many Bretons and French among them And all the while the Rochellers held under-hand Treaty with them for they durst not openly declare their Minds while the Castle remain'd in English Hands Wherefore also they had hitherto dissembled till by little and little the main Strength of the English Garrison had left them while they went to prevent the Loss of other Places As particularly the Lord John Devereux had lately gone to reinforce the City of Poictiers with fifty Spears having left the Castle of Rochell in the Custody of Philip Mansel an English Esquire who had with him in Garrison about an hundred Men of Arms more Now at this time there was a Burgess Mayor of the City a subtle Man and a secret Enemy to the English named John Chaudron who having one day in a close Caball assembled the Chief of his Faction said unto them My Friends We see dayly how our Neighbours turn to the French side and because We delay to do the same I sear We shall be shortly so strictly beleaguer'd as well by Land as now by Water that We shall not tell which way to stir nor dare to put our Heads out of the Town Wherefore in my Opinion 't would be good to take heed betimes and to consider how We may Reduce this Castle into our Power which hath been so great a Curb unto Vs heretofore Surely at this time it is but meanly provided with Men and honest Philip Mansel the Captain has no great Wit to boast of I intend therefore to tell him how I have received a Command from the King of England to cause all the Inhabitants of the City that bear Arms to appear in the Field and be exercised at the time and place as I shall tell him That I may take their Musters and view their Number and the Goodness of their Horses and Armour as also of those within the Castle and so send word thereof unto the King. And hereupon I shall Command him in the King's Name to come forth of the Castle and to make his Musters together with Vs which I believe he will not scruple to do as I shall handle him And if so We will be provided of an Ambush of 200 Men of Arms lying among the Old Walls without the Castle which Ambush stepping in between him and the Bridge shall cut off his Return The mean while others shall be ready to compleat the Design and so We shall take them at our pleasure and be Masters both of them and also of the Castle This project was agreed on and kept secret till one day the Mayor who was Author of the Invention invited Philip Mansell to come and dine with him and several Burgesses also most whereof were then of the English part but they knew nothing of the Plot. There was a great and Splendid Dinner indeed and many things relating to the King of England's Affairs were at that time discussed and the Mayor acted his part very well But after Dinner he produced a Letter with King Edward's Broad Seal appendant to it the better to perswade Philip Mansell to believe him whom he knew to be ignorant of Letters And Philip for his part saw and knew the Seal very well but he could not read a Word whatever he pretended by looking on In short the Mayor took the Letter and read it unto him as he pleased otherwise than it was written the unlearned Captain looking over him all the while as if he read along with him thereby to conceal his Ignorance which yet the Cunning Mayor knew well enough Then he said to Esquire Mansell Captain by the Tenor of this writing You see and hear how our Sovereign Lord the King hath Commanded Me and also You by Me to make our joynt Musters Wherefore in the King's Name I now require You to come forth to morrow Morning and take a View of your Men as I likewise according to my Duty shall do The Captain who suspected no harm in the least said he would be ready to do his Duty and so took his leave and return'd to the Castle That same Night before Day the Mayor took 200 Men of Arms and laid them in an Ambush near the Castle among the Ruines of old Walls that were without and at such an Hour he caused the Watch-Bell to be sounded and all the Inhabitants to be Armed On the other hand Philip Mansell having Armed Eighty Chosen Men marched forth of the Castle in good Order at the Head of them toward the Field where the Rendezvous was to be But when he was once pass'd the old Walls the Ambush rush'd forth and placed themselves between him and the Bridge and then he saw he was betray'd However he fac'd about Couragiously upon them hoping by force to recover an entrance into the Castle again But then came the Mayor upon his Reer with the Commons of the City to the Number of 2000 Fighting Men So that the English being thus unequally match'd and assailed from before and behind were compelled to yield only for safeguard of their Lives They could obtain nothing further But for all that the Castle was not yet won For Esquire Mansell had left behind 20 Valiant Men still in the Place besides their servants Valets and Officers of the Castle who seeing their Captain thus intercepted had by this time drawn up the Bridge again and shut the Gates Whereupon the Mayor being exceedingly enflam'd
come and yet heard no News of the King. However to acquit themselves to their Power they sent to the Barons of Poictou that were in Thoüars this Message by certain Knights Right Dear Sirs we are sent hither unto you from the Loyal Lords of Gascogne and of England who remain under the Obedience of the King of England to let you know that there are come from Niort above twice twelve hundred Men of Arms ready prepar'd to aid and assist you in all manner of respect Only Sir they desire to know from you whether in the Absence of the King of England and of his Children you will accept of their Assistance or no. As for them they are ready if so it please you to adventure their Lives and Fortunes together with you The Barons of Poicton heartily thanked the Lords of England and of Gascogne who had made them so kind a Proffer but they desired time to consider what in that Case was to be done At first they could not agree for the Lord of Partenay who was a Principal Member among them would have them accept of the Assistance of these Lords who as he said represented the King of England But most of the other Lords were of a contrary Opinion saying How they had sealed and sworn to this Agreement that if by such a Day the King of England or one of his Sons did not appear there Personally in the Field then they should submit themselves to the Obedience of the French King. Upon this Resolution the Lord of Partenay went away to his Lodgings in deep Displeasure but the next Day he was so wheedled by those of the adverse Party that he also became of their Mind And so with one Consent they returned this Answer That they thanked them heartily for their Good-will Notwithstanding the King of England or one of his Sons must needs be there in Person according to the Treaty whereto they had sworn and sealed This Answer was no way pleasing to the English and Gascogners about Niort but they could no ways hope to save them who were thus disposed not to be saved by them XXIII On the Eve of St. Michael there came from Poictiers to hold their appointment before Thoüars the Constable of France the Dukes of Berry Burgunay and Bourbon the Lord Oliver Clisson the Vicount of Rohan the Dauphin of Auvergne the Lord Lewis of Sancerre the Lord of Sully and other Great Lords of France to the Number of 10000 Men of Arms besides others This vast Army stood ready ranged in Battle Array in the Field before Thoüars on the Eve and all the day long on the Feast of St. Michael and against Night they withdrew to their Tents But on the Morrow in the Morning the Constable and the Dukes sent to the Knights of Poictou within Thoüars demanding of them to deliver up the City according to their Promise and Oaths in that behalf made To these Summons 't was answer'd how they would shortly come to Poictiers and there submit themselves and all their Lands to the Protection of the French King. This Answer seeming sufficient to the Lords of France they brake up from before Thoüars and the Dukes dismist the greater part of their Army only retaining such competent Forces as they had before they expected King Edward's Arrival Among others the Lord Clisson was appointed by the Constable to go with 200 Spears and attempt Mortaigne on the Severe Nantoise which as then held for England having within sixty Men of Arms for its Defence under the Command of an English Esquire named James Clare The Lord Clisson being come before the Place began a fierce Assault whereat he himself was present but for all that he wan little or no Advantage but at Night was fain to retire to his Camp. The Captain within seeing himself thus put to it sent out secretly to the Lords of England and Gascogne then at Niort telling them that if they would send any Troops thither before Morning he would receive them into his Fortress whereby they might easily pass thrô the Castle into the Lord Clisson's Camp who had with him but 200 Men of Arms. Upon this Notice certain Lords went that Night from Niort with 500 Men of Arms in their Company and so rode on toward Mortaigne being very desirous to entrap the Lord Clisson if they could But there was a spy who knew all their purpose for he came out of Niort with them that Evening and so rode on upon the spur before and came to the Lord Clisson whom he found at Supper and said to him Sir Your Enemies to the Number of 500 Men of Arms have left Niort and are coming upon you apace With that the Lord Clisson thrust away the Table from him and arm'd himself with all speed and mounted his Horse and rode away hastily with all his Company leaving the greater part of the Carriages behind and never stopt till he came to Poictiers And the English having thus failed of their design return'd to Niort in great displeasure Soon after which having left Sr. Dangouses and Sr. John Creswell in garrison there the other great Lords and Captains brake up their assembly at Niort Sr. Walter Hewet with some few more returning into England and all the rest to Bourdeaux But as they went they burnt and ravaged in the Lands of the Lord of Partenay who was lately turn'd French at Thoüars Thus all the Country of Poictou was reduced under the French except a few Fortresses as Niort Les Esars Mortimer Mortaigne Lusignan La Motte Achart La Roche Sur Yonne Gauzar La Tour Landry Mexis and some others which made divers Excursions and Inroads among their Neighbours sometimes chacing and sometimes being chaced themselves XXIV Now the a Frois c. 306. f. 186. sed Gallice f. 254. Lord John of Monford Sirnamed the Valiant who had hitherto full and quiet Possession of the Dukedom of Bretagne his Competitor Charles of Blois being slain as We have shewn was infinitely displeased at these Losses of his Old Friends the English Both Gratitude and Honour made him rather love their Interest since it was truly said that the King of England had advanced him to what he was and that he had had nothing had it not been for Him who all along had made Powerfull War in his behalf and had lent him vast Sums of Silver and Gold and given him his Daughter also in Marriage Wherefore the Duke himself would rather have held his Lands of King Edward than of the French King But the Major part of the Lords Knights and Esquires of that Country were for France in their hearts especially the Lord Clisson the Lord de la Val and the Vicount of Rohan who were the Chief Lords of all that Country and these doubted not to assure the Duke to his Face that he must expect no service of them unless he continued true to France Sir said they as soon as We shall once perceive that You resolve
to take part with the King of England against our Sovereign Lord the French King We will all forsake your service and take our leave of Bretagne But for all this Declaration of theirs the Generous Prince could not conceal the Courage of his heart but told them plainly they did wrong both to him and to the King of England and that if they should continue to forget their Country and Him he hoped to bring it again to their Remembrance and other high Words he spake unto them which they resolved to take no notice of till they should find him acting against France And the French King who by his Arts had debauched the Faith of all the Lords of Bretagne and other the Duke's Friends except that of Sr. Robert Knolles who continued firm and unshaken had instructed them that as soon as ever they should see the Duke begin to take Arms they would send him word thereof and he would provide a Remedy But the Duke who saw by these Words of his Lords and other evident Circumstances how they suspected him and had a constant Eye upon all his Actions began to doubt lest some of them should proceed to seise upon his Person and so send him to be a Prisoner at Paris as his Father had been before Wherefore he sent secretly to King Edward representing the Danger he was in from his own Subjects and desiring him that he would send him some Troops for his Defence upon occasion The King who always lov'd him entirely sent him 400 Men of Arms and as many Archers under the Command of the Lord John Nevil who arrived at St. Mahè de Fine poterne and lodged there in the Town without doing any Injury or Violence for they all lived regularly and paid justly for what they had And the Duke never offer'd to put them into any Fortress but let them Quarter there all that Winter The Lords of Bretagne however took great Indignation at this Action of their Lord's that in spite of them he had brought Englishmen into their Country wherefore they fortify'd their Castles and began to stand upon their Guard breathing nothing but War and Defiance against the Duke and his Adherents and in this ticklish Posture stood the Affairs of Bretagne all this Winter Before this b Sâ—ndfâ—rd's Geâ—â—â— Hist p. 243. Dagd 2 Vol. p. 11â— e. c Pâ— 46. Ed. 3. n. 35. namely on the 25 of June John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and King of Castille and Leon had resign'd into the Hands of the King his Father his Earldom of Richmond with all the Castles Mannors Lands and other Perquisites thereto belonging In lieu whereof he had a Grant in general tail bearing Date the same Day of the Castle Mannor and Honour of Cykehill and several other Castles Mannors Advousons Free-chases Bayliwicks and Privileges mention'd in the Patent besides the yearly Farm of 200 Marks which the Abbot and Covent of St. Maries at York ought to pay for the Mannor of Whitgift And this Exchange and Resignation was made for the sake of the Duke of Bretagne whose e Vid. Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 46. Câ—tâ—l Hâ—n p. 58â— Ancestors had been Earls of Richmond from the time of William the Conquerour and Alan Fergaunt Earl of Bretagne For as it appears that the Year d Rot. Franc. 45. Ed. 3. m. 7. foregoing upon a certain Agreement then made between King Edward and John Duke of Bretagne the King had granted unto the said John in general tail divers Lands and Castles in Aquitain to be held of the Prince of Aquitain by Homage as also the whole Dukedom of Bretagne to be held of the King himself as King of France by Homage he rendring unto the King divers Lands and Castles So now upon a e Pat. 16. Ed. 3. p. 2. m. 33. Vid. Sr. Will. Dudg Bar. 1 Vol. p. 52. further Agreement betwixt the King and Him for the special Affection which the King bore unto him as the Words of the Patent do import and to the end that He and the Heirs of his Body should keep those Covenants which were then newly made betwixt them the King gave unto him and to his Lady and their Heirs lawfully begotten the Castle Town and Honour of Richmond in Yorkshire with all the Castles Mannors and Lands thereto belonging as also the Earldom of Richmond which John of Gaunt had now resign'd XXV But the most Heroick Prince of Wales thô not yet brought to extremity perceiving by this time that it was hardly possible for him to recover any tolerable Degree of Health again f Selden's â—â—tl Hon. p. 493. ex Rot. Vaye surrendred up into his Fathers Hands his Principality of Aquitain with all his Right and Title thereto the Surrender bearing Date V Octobris in the Fourty sixth Year of the King his Fathers Reign and the Year of our Lord MCCCLXXII From which time the King govern'd those Countries again by Lieutenants as he had before he gave it to his Son the Prince This Year there deceased Three Famous English Gentlemen the One was the good Old Warrier Ralph Stafford Earl of Stafford and Baron of Tunbridge who died on the last of August having arrived to the Age of Threescore and Ten For he was g Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 159. a. found to be one and twenty in the Seventeenth Year of King Edward the Second or the Year of our Lord 1323. He was an Eminent Commander of approved Valour and Conduct and now dropt into the Grave full of Age and Glory being Honourably interred in the Priory of Tunbridge in Kent He left behind him Hugh Lord Stafford his Son and Heir who being h Dugd ibid. p. 161. at that time 28 Years of Age but long before in Action followed the steps of his Noble Father in his Valiant Exploits against the Enemies of his King and Country The other was i Weever's Fun. Mon. p. 234 Stow p. 269. Sr. William Molineux who had done Valiantly in France and elsewhere and was made Knight Banneret by the Black-Prince at the Battle of Najara in Spain He died this Year at Canterbury being then newly come out of France about the Feast of St. John Baptist The last was Sr. John de Magnavillâ commonly called Sr. John Mandevil Knight and Doctor of Physick a Man Worthy of Immortal Memory He was k Sr. Richard Baler Pitzaus p. 511. of an Ancient and Honourable Family born at St. Albans but from his tender Years did so addict himself to Study that he seem'd to have no taste for any thing but Learning and Experimental Knowledge as well Divine as Humane He set not any Value upon his High-Birth or Alliance for l Wâ—rner's Albiâ—ns England p. 267. some say He married a Cousin of King Edward's but resolved to Cultivate his Mind and to ennoble his more precious Part with Wisdom Having therefore as the best Preparative furnish'd himself with a Competent Knowledge in the Scripture he directed
out our Lady of Ribemont return'd again upon them and then there began a fierce Medley many being overthrown on both sides The Lord of Chinon had in his hand an heavy Plummet of lead wherewith he batter'd Helmets and fell'd to the Earth such as he could light on For he was a big and strong Knight and well-form'd of his Limbs But at last he himself receiv'd such a stroke on the Helmet that he had fallen to the ground had he not been held up by an Esquire next unto him But the Blow grieved him while he liv'd which was not long after Several English Men wondred to see the Lord of Chinon's Banner For it was t True Use of Armory in the Life of the Captal of Buschâ— p. 151. Vid. Ashmole's Garter Plate 39. Mill's Catal. Honâ—r p. 440. of six Barrs Varry and Gules so that it seem'd the same with the Lord of Coucy's Earl of Bedford for he bare Barry of Viverry and Gules which made the English say to one another How is this that the Lord of Coucy hath sent Men hither against us since he ought to be our Friend This was an hard Rencounter and fiercely fought on both sides but at last the English had the worst most of them being taken or slain but a few escaped back again The Lord of Bossut took two Brethren a Knight and an Esquire named Pennenorts Prisoners and Sr. John Bull had two more with whom they returned Presently after the whole English Army marched by Ribemont without any Assault or Skirmish And by the Duke of Lancaster's Order they forbare to commit any Hostility in the Lands of the Lord of Coucy because he was then in Lombardy fighting for the Church against Duke Bernabo of Milain and concern'd himself nothing with the Wars of France Thence the English Army went and encamped in the Valleys of Laon and thereabouts between Bruyeres and Crespy having done much harm in the Lands of Laonnois Thô indeed the French King had beforehand caused all the Moveables and Provision in the Plain Country to be withdrawn into strong Fortresses most whereof were so well defended that the English could expect but little Advantage in Assaulting them Nor did the Duke of Lancaster much care to busie himself and lose his time in Attacking of Paltry Towns which would revolt as soon as ever they were won He rather desired that the French King would send out an Army against him that so the Fate of the two Kingdoms might be fairly decided in open Field But that Politick Prince ne'r intended any such matter but gave strict Command to the Constable and all his other great Captains that they should not upon any account adventure to engage with the whole Power of the English but only follow them close at the Heels and to keep them as short as might be And thus it was done the Frenchmen lying in strong Fortresses at nights and ever in the Day-time following the English Army aloof but they knowing how narrowly they were watched on all Hands rode close together the Constable of the Host with a good Number of Chosen Men securing the Reer One Morning the English Army having pass'd Soissons a City between Picardy and Champaigne there were sixscore English Spears forerunners of the Army that in ravaging about the Country fell suddenly within the Danger of an Ambush of Burgundians and Frenchmen the Captains whereof were Sr. John de Vien the Younger Sr. John Bull Sr. William Bourdes Sr. Hugh Porcien Sr. John of Coucy the Vicount of Meaulx the Lords of Ravenal and Bonne and others who with 300 Spears had all along coasted the English watching to find some Advantage against them And that Night they lay in the Field where they made an Ambush in a little Wood hard by Soissons near which the sixscore Englishmen aforesaid pass'd early next Morning to seek for Prey and Plunder the Main Army being lodged a little behind them As soon as they were pass'd this Wood the Frenchmen came forth of their Ambush and display'd their Banners and Penons preparing to engage them When the English saw so considerable a Body of the Enemy so near unto them they faced about and stood still to consider what course to take but first of all they sent Advice to the Army which was not far behind Now there was a very considerable Captain among the English whose Name in Froisard is corruptly written Sr. Walter Manny whereas by n Vid. Lib. 4. c. 9. §. 1. p. 827. c. his own Confession that Noble Lord died at London the Year before This Gentleman whatever his true Name was being not far thence as soon as he heard of the Matter leap'd suddenly on his Horse with Spear in Hand but thrô haste without either Helmet or Visor and so rode thither rashly and without consideration his Men following as fast as they could but there in the heat of the Fray this Knight was stricken thrô the Neck and fell down Dead the other English fought Valiantly but they were overpower'd and all taken or slain except a few that very hardly escaped These English Knights were there taken Prisoners Sr. Matthew Redmayne Sr. Thomas Fowkes Sr. Hugh Brudnel Sr. Thomas Spencer Sr. Thomas Emerton Sr. Nicolas Gascogne Sr. John Chandler Sr. Philip Cambray Sr. John Harpedon Sr. Matthew Gournay Sr. Robert Twyford Sr. Geoffry Say Sr. John Bourchier Sr. Geoffry Werkesley Sr. Lionel Dautrey and of Esquires William Dautrey John Galliard Thomas Bradley Henry Monford Guy Hewet John Meinil William Gostwick John Flamstead Thomas Solerant William Quintin Robert Boteler Robert Audeley Ralph Stanley and Thomas Archer When News came to the English Host how their Forerunners were engaged the Marshals made haste to send them a Reinforcement they themselves moving after with a strong Battalion But all was too late the Matter by this time was wholly over and the French and Burgundians had quitted the Field with all their Prisoners so that the English knew not where to find them This was the Issue of that Rencountre which happen'd near to Ouchy le Chasteau not far from Soissons on the 20 day of x Ità substituo pro Froisâ—rdi Feurier quia Dux Lancastrâ—ae hanc expeditionem Julio mense aggressus finâ—êrat eandem ante Natalem Domini Cuare corruptâ— sit necesse est October in the Year of our Lord MCCCLXXIII After these two Losses at Ribemont and Ouchy le Chasteau there fell no other adventure to the Duke of Lancaster worth the mention For thô still the Army was fain to go thrô many a straight and hazardous passage yet ever afterwards they rode all together or at least in stronger Parties when they went to Forage The Duke of Burgundy and other Lords of France watching all Opportunities to cut them off And still as the French King shew'd any Discontent when he heard of the Havock they made about in the Country his Council would say unto him Sir suffer a
after the Death of King Edward I suppose that being very dextrous in humoring the old King and tending him carefully in his sickness she thereby prevail'd so upon him as to be able to influence his Favour more powerfully than others of Higher Condition Whereupon thô she did much good and took thence many Advantages to assist the Oppressed she was in the end only rewarded with these Envious Reflections for her Labour Thô the Year k 2 Ric. 2. n. 36. Vid. Sr. Rob. Cotton's Abridg. p. 177. Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 510. after Sr. William Windsor and his Lady pray'd a Revocation of this Judgement for the Errors therein and at last by their Attourneys Edmund Clay and Robert Brown obtain'd a Reversal of the same CHAPTER the TVVELFTH The CONTENTS I. St. Saviour le Vicount being prest by the French Compounds II. AN. DOM. 1375. An. Regni Angliae XLIX Franciae XXXVI King Edward sends his Son Edmund Earl of Cambridge along with the Duke of Bretagne with his Conquests in those Parts The Duke of Bretagne lies down before St. Brieux III. While the Lords of Bretagne on the French side besiege Sr. John Devereux in New-fort who is rescued by the Duke IV. The Duke of Bretagne having an Advantage over his Rebel Lords is forced by a Truce to lose it and so returns into England V. The Death of the Lord Edward Spencer VI. A Treaty between King Edward and King Robert Stuart of Scotland VII The French take St. Saviour le Vicount notwithstanding the Truce VIII Esquire Katrington that deliver'd it up challenged of Treason loses the day IX Some English Vessels taken by the Spaniards X. The Death of two Earls two Acts of Charity I. ABOUT the Declining of the last Year a Frois Anglicè c. 312. fol. 194. sed Gallicè fol. 264. b. when the Knights of Bretagne and Normandy had taken in Becherel according to the Composition made that if it was not rescued by the Feast of All-Saints it should then be yielded up by the French Kings Command they all went and laid Siege before St. Saviour le Vicount in Coutantin in Normandy which once belonged to the Lord John Chandos but after his Death was given by the King to Sr. Alan Boxhull who was at that time in England having committed the Town of Coutances together with the Fort of St. Saviour to the Custody of an English Esquire named Thomas Katrington He had now for his Assistants two Valiant Knights Sr. Thomas Cornet and Sr. John Burroughs and Three Brethren Mauliverers with about Sixscore other Valiant Men. But Sr. John de Vienne Admiral of France kept the Sea-Coasts near those Parts and about the Mouth of the River Carentan to hinder Provisions from being brought to them by Water while the Lords and Knights of Bretagne and Normandy Besieged the Fort by Land with a very Great Army the Constable himself and Sr. Lewis of Sancerre Marshal of France being there together with the Earl of Harcourt the Dauphin of Auvergne Sr. John Bull Sr. Mouton de Brianville and many other Men of Name The Constable caused his Engines to be reared up against the Fortress and put the Besieged very hardly to it But however the Captain Esquire Thomas Katrington held out Valiantly against them all till about the beginning of March when being much streitned by the continual playing of Engines among which 't is probable that there were Pieces of Ordnance at this time he began to enter a Treaty with the French and in short obtain'd a Truce to endure to Whitsuntide in the Year of our Lord MCCCLXXV b Pasch 22. April Lit. Dom. G. which was about Fourteen Weeks after on this Condition that unless within that term the Frenchmen should be fought withall and the Siege raised they should then yield up the Fort their Lives and Goods saved So the French Army lay still before the Place but committed nothing of Hostility all the while Now Katrington in making this Agreement had respect unto the Duke of Bretagne whom he expected shortly there to raise the Siege for he heard He was preparing then to return into Bretagne with an Army out of England as now we shall shew leaving Esquire Katrington's business to another time II. While the Frenchmen c Frois Anglicè c. 313. fol. 194. sed Gallicè f. 265. lay at Siege before St. Saviour le Vicount and the Negotiators of England and of France were yet at Bruges in consultation about a Peace the Duke of Bretagne who having left his Lady in the strong Castle of Auray was gone over into England as we shew'd before did daily importune his Father-in-Law the King for some Powerfull Assistance against his Enemies At last the King said unto him My Fair Son I know well that the Love of Me hath overballanc'd all your own Concerns and that for my sake only You are cast out of your Lands and Princely Inheritance But rest You satisfied with this that You shall most surely recover all again For I will never make Peace with the French King unless You may be comprised therein and entirely restored to your Dominion The Duke humbly thanked him for this his Gracious Promise and the King resolv'd to do as he had said For he presently fell to raise competent Forces which he intended to send into Bretagne with his Son-in-Law the Duke giving him Commission to act as his Lieutenant and at the same time joyning his Son d Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 154. Ashmole p. 667. Edmund Earl of Cambridge in Commission with him in the Lieuteanncy of France and other Foreign Parts And on the e Rot. Franc. 48. Ed. 3. m. 7.18 Novemb. 18 of November of the preceding Year Commands were sent forth to arrest Ships for the Passage of these Forces into Bretagne to be ready at Dartmouth and Plimouth with all speed thô notwithstanding the earliness of these Preparations they went not till the f Claus 49. Ed. 3 m. 46. Spring of this Year The Rendezvous was at g Frois ibid. Southampton where the Duke found 3000 tall Archers who by the Kings Command were all paid their wages for half a Year besides whom there were no less than 2000 Men of Arms Knights and Esquires the Chief whereof besides the Duke himself and the Earl of Cambridge were these the Lord Edmund Mortimer Earl of March Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick Hugh Stafford Earl of Stafford the Lord Thomas Holland Earl of Kent Eldest Son to the Princess of Wales by her former Husband the Lord Edward Spencer the Lord John Mohun the Lord Michael de la Pole the Lord Hugh Hastings the Lord Thomas Grandison Sr. Nicolas Camois Sr. Richard Pontchardon Sr. John Lascels Sr. Edward Twiford and many more of the English Nobility and Gentry for h 8 May Claus 49. Ed. 3. m. 46. Vid. Ashmole's Garter p. 667. whose Good Success Publick Prayers were appointed to be made With these Forces the Duke of
a like Distance from each other In the year 1346 being then in the Sixteenth Year of his Age he obtain'd that Memorable Victory at Cressy in Ponthieu in the Year 1356 being the 26th of his Age he took King John of France Prisoner at the Battle of Poictiers in the Year 1366 he undertook the Quarrel of Don Pedro upon which Account he Triumphed at Najara in Spain being then Thirty Six Years Old and now lastly in the Year 1376 being the Fourty Sixth of his Age he left this World for a better His last Will and Testament was finish'd k Ashmoles Garter p. 676. ex libro in Offic. Principal Cant. vecat Sudbary f. 90. b. but the Day before his Death all the former being then rendred void wherein he disposed of his Body to be buried in the Cathedral of Canterbury called Christchurch And such was his Care of those who had done him Service that he charged his Son Richard by his Will to continue unto them all the Payment of those Pentions which he had given them But 't is not material to reckon up here the Various Legacies that he gave as Silk-Beds Horses Armour Gold and Silver besides what he dedicated to Holy Uses as he had done many things of that nature in his Life-time We shall only remember the Names of his Executors as they were appointed in his Will viz. his Brother of Spain the Duke of Lancaster William of Wickham Bishop of Winchester John Harewell Bishop of Bath and Wells William Spridlington Bishop of St. Asaph Robert Walsham his Confessor Hugh Seagrave Steward of his Lands Sr. Alan Stokes and Sr. John Fordham And thus fell this Victorious Prince in whose l Walsing hist p. 186. M.S. vet Ang. in Bibl. C.C.C. Cantab. c. 238. Fall the Hopes of all England seem'd to be cast down While he lived they feared no Invasion they doubted no Warlike Encounter He never march'd against any whom he overcame not never besieged any City which he took not All Nations both Heathen and Christian dreaded his Fortune and Conduct in War as of another Hector nor did his * Churchill's Divi Britan. p. 245. Wisdom any way come short of his Courage Both which were equall'd by his Exemplary Justice Clemency Liberality Piety and Moderation Vertues but seldom sincerely embraced by Persons of High Condition He was a Prince m Daniel's hist p. 256. of whom we never heard any Ill nor received any other Note than of Goodness and the Noblest Performances that Magnanimity Generosity Courage and Wisdom could ever shew Insomuch as what Praise can be given unto Vertue is due unto Him. King n Frois c. 314. fol. 195. b. Gaâ—lic f. 266. b. Charles of France because he was of his Kindred performed his Obsequies in most Solemn Manner in the Holy Chappel of the Palace at Paris the greater part of the Prelates and Peers of his Realm being present A little before which time the Truce between the two Realms was again o Ret. Franc. 50. Ed. 3. â—â— 16. 21. prolonged unto the First Day of April which was to be in the Year of our Lord 1377. The mean while King Edward was sorrowfully busied with the unwelcome Cares of his Son's Funeral the last Office he could pay unto Him but p Polyd. Virg. p. 399. that 't is believed thrô Grief at this Loss that he was the rather content to loose Himself by following him sooner into the other World for we shall find that he surviv'd him but a Year and Thirteen Days Nor did he properly live that while neither for presently upon the Death of his Son he retired to Eltham in Kent endeavouring to concoct this hard Morsel of Providence thô it was every day ready to break his Heart The Body of this Famous Warrier being Embalmed lay in State and was then wrapped up in Lead to be kept till Michaelmas next coming that so it might be interred with the Greater Solemnity in the Presence of the Parliament as both Houses had desired And accordingly at Michaelmas He was carried in a stately Herse drawn with 12 Horses thrô the City of London over the Bridge the Whole Court and the Two Houses of Parliament attending him in Mourning till they came to Canterbury where he was buried with Great Solemnity in the Cathedral of Christ-Church as Himself had order'd in his Will on the South-side and near the Shrine of St. Thomas Becket and over his Grave was shortly after erected a Stately Monument of Grey Marble with his Pourtraiture lying thereon of Copper Gilt The Ends and Sides whereof are garnished with Escutcheons of Copper enamel'd with his Arms and Devises the One being the Arms of France and England Quarterly with a Labell of Three Points and the Other the Ostrich Feathers commonly called from Him the Prince's Arms with the Word Doumont on the Former and Ich Dien on the Latter On an Iron Bar over the Tomb are placed the Helm and Crest Coat of Mail and Gauntlets and on a Pillar near thereunto his Shield of Arms richly Diapred with Gold all which He is said to have used in Battle The Figure of this Noble Monument is exactly delineated in q Sandford p. 188. Mr. Sandford's Genealogical History of the Kings of England On the Monument there is this old French Epitaph circumscribed on a Fillet of Brass beginning at the Head * Extat apud Sandford â—â—l Weever's Fan. Mon. c. viz. By Gist le Noble Prince Monsleur Edward aisnez Filz du Tresnoble Roy Edward Eiers Iadis Prince d' Aquitaine de Galles Duc de Cornwaille Comte de Cestre qi mojust en la Feste de la Vrinite qestoit le viii jour de Juyn l'an de Grace Mill Trois cenz septante sisine Laime de qi Dieu tit Merrit Amen That is in English Here lieth the Noble Prince the Lord Edward Eldest Son to the Thrice Noble King Edward the Third late Prince of Aquitaine and of Wales Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester Who died on the Feast of the Trinity which was the Eight Day of June in the Year of Grace MCCCLXXVI On whose Soul God have Mercy Amen To which is added this French Rhyme beginning at the South-side of the Tomb and running on at the Foot of the North-side Tu qi passez oue bouche close Par la ou ce Torps repose Entent ce qe te dirai Si comme te dire le scay Tiel comme tu es autiel fu Tu seras tiel conune je su De la mort ne pensai je mie Cant comme javoy la vie Entre avoi grand Richesse Dont je y fis grand Noblesse Eette Mesons grand Tresor Draps Chivaux Argent Dr. Mes ore su jeo poures chetiss Perfond en la * An Terre tre gis Grand Beaute est tout allee Ma thar est tout gastee Moult est estroit ma Meson En
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
time to appear and all publique Affairs happily succeeded henceforward both to the King and his People Doctor Walter k Holinst Eng. Chron. p. 1002. Burleigh or Burley who had been bred up in Merton College in the famous University of Oxford was at this time of such Fame for learning and piety that he was taken into Queen Philippa's Service at her first coming into England and became her Almoner still encreasing in great Estimation at Court Insomuch that when this Young Prince Edward was able to learn his Book this Doctor was appointed to be his Tutor whereupon Simon Burley who was son to Sr. John Burley a near Kinsman of the Doctors was admitted among other young Gentlemen to be School-fellow with this Hopefull Prince By which occasion he wan so much upon the Princes Favour that afterwards by his means he was advanced to great Honour being in time made Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter and also had the Government and Education of the Prince's Son Richard of Bourdeaux comitted to his Trust As for the Young Prince Edward the King his Father by l Ashmole p. 670. Sand-Geneal Hist p. 181. ex Cart. 7. Ed. 3. m. 4. ex Pat. 7. Ed. 3. p. 1. m 13. his Charters dated the Eighteenth of May in the Seventh Year of his Reign when he was but in the Third Year of his Age granted unto him by the Title of Edward his most Dear and Eldest Son the County of Chester the Castles of Chester Beston Rothelan and Flint and all his Lands there as also the Cantred and Land of Englefield with their Appurtenances to him and his Heirs Kings of England together with all Knights-Fees Advowsons Liberties Royalties and all other things belonging to the said County Castles Lands and Cantreds as well in England as in Wales and the Marches thereof as fully and under the same Conditions as himself had received them before he was King from which time he had the Title of Earl of Chester added to his Style But intending to enable him yet better to maintain this his Dignity the next day the King gave him all the Corn as well in Granges as growing on the Ground as also all the Arms Victuals Cattle Goods and Chattels in all the said Castles Lands and other Places to him before granted together with all Debts Arrearages of Accounts and other Services due to himself But in the m Cart. 11. Ed 3. n. 55. Eleventh Year of his Reign and the Seventh of this Princes Age upon the Death of John of Eltham Earl of Cornwall the King created him Duke of Cornwall as appears by his Charter of Creation bearing Date the 17 of March the same Year investing him by the Sword only which was the first Precedent for the Creation of the Title of Duke with us in England At the same time the King setled upon him divers Mannors and Franchises expresly set down in the said Charter for the better support of his Ducal State and Honour all which thô some lay in other Counties were thereby made part of the Dutchy of Cornwall And further by Letters Patents dated the same day he granted unto him the Stanneries in Cornwall together with the Coinage of Tynn and all the Issues and Profits thence arising as also the Profits and Perquisits of the Courts of the Stanneries except only a 1000 Marks granted to William Montagu then Earl of Salisbury and his Heirs out of the Issues thereof till Lands were provided for the said Earl of that yearly Value And afterwards granted that all the Castles Honours Mannors Lands and Tenements belonging to the Dukedom or Earldom of Cornwall which were held in Dower or for term of Life or Years whose Reversions belonged to the King should remain to this Prince as Duke still as they fell and to the Eldest Sons of him and his Heirs as Dukes of the foresaid Dukedom After this in the Parliament held in the Seventeenth of this King his Father he n 12 Maii Car. 17. Ed. 3. m. 24. n. 27. Created him Prince of Wales and invested him with a Coronet a Gold Ring and a Silver Rod And the better to support his State as Prince of Wales he gave him several Lands which are all particularly enumerated in a Writt directed to William Emeldon to deliver them unto this Prince or his Attourney He also gave him all Debts and Arrears of Foreign Rents due to himself for what cause soever in North-Wales and South-Wales to the time of his being created Prince of Wales as also all Victuals Arms Horses and other Cattel Goods and Chattels in all the Castles and Lands which he held by the Kings Grant. After all which this Noble Prince was made Knight of the Garter at the First Institution of that Famous Order and lastly Prince of Aquitain in France and for his Courage and Conduct his Policy and Courtesie became in time the most Renowned Captain in the World being for his Dreadfull Deeds in War as most agree sirnamed by the French le Neoir or the Black-Prince VI. In these Days the Young King of England finding himself a Father began indeed to play the Man and thô he was then but 18 Years of Age takes a resolution to govern his Realm no more by Others but Himself in Person hearing and learning the Truth in weighty Affairs and distributing Justice and Mercy to such who should lay the best claim to either But while Mortimer held his present Station 't was not possible the King should be Master of his own Purposes Now therefore to him we hasten who seems already to have been too long free from that Vengeance which always pursues ambitious and bloody Traitors Of his Treachery and Cruelty we had no small Instances before But by a certain fatal Ordinance that wicked Men must of themselves advance and further their own Ruine his insupportable Arrogance and too opiniative Security thence proceeding was the chief Occasions of his suddain Downfall In the Quindenes of St. Michael the King holding a Parliament at Nottingham Mortimer appear'd in such splendour and so well attended that he became both the Envy and Terror of all the Kings Friends no man durst name him by any other Title than his new-acquired but much-envy'd one the Earl of March And his Interest and possessions bound those to him whom his Power could not move For in these days he bore such sway that he obtain'd whatever he had a mind to as appears by these following Grants from the Young King who by his o Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 146. Cart. 4. Ed. 3. n. 64. Charter dated this Year besides all he had got before granted unto him the Castle and Mannor of Hanley with the Chaces of Malverne and Cors in the Counties of Worcester and Glocester also the Town of Wiche in Worcestershire with the Castle of Clifford and Mannor of Glasebury part of the Possessions of Hugh Spencer the younger not yet free from
no less than Rebellion Thô six years after the King being appeas'd he was again received into Favour and restoration of all his Lands made unto him The Archbishop of Cantorbury had surely felt as hard Measure as any of them if not worse But by meer chance he was then gone from Lambeth and when he understood what indignation he had incurr'd wisely kept aloof till the Storm was over As we shall shew at large hereafter Certainly k Holinshead ibid. p. 913. at this time the Kings Mind was beyond Measure exasperated against those whom he had intrusted to levy Monies here in England and to send it over to him into Flanders Because thrô their Neglect when he was just upon the point of obtaining Tournay he was forced to accept of a Dishonourable Truce as Himself complains in his Letters which we shall see by and by And truly 't was a great Pity if thrô the Avarice Fraud or Treason of his Officers at home these things happen'd thus For he was thereby enforced as it were to consent to lose the fairest Opportunity and to let a certain Victory slip thrô his Fingers even then when his Friends were yet uncorrupted and in Presence And verily I doubt not but this was an Occasion which made the Emperour and the Lords of Germany for the most part to fall off from him shortly after Because they saw his Money come in so slowly at this great Exigence Wherefore not unreasonably doth honest Walsingham l Walsingh hist p. 135. n. 25. bemoan That so Worthy a Prince should from his own Subjects find such unworthy Dealing For as he truly adds if in very deed they had scann'd and exactly weigh'd with themselves the Acts of all the English Kings from the First Monarch to that Day they would not have found that ever this Island brought forth a Prince of such Mature Vertue at so unripe an Age he not having compleated 28 Years II. Now that we may State the Archbishops Case Right We are to take Notice that as he was at first a great Promoter of the Wars with France so lately m Antiq. Brit. p. 223. c. by the Perswasions and Threats of the Pope he was brought over to be at least cold in the Affair Whereby he mightily incensed the Minds of all Men against him who abhorr'd this Weakness and Inconstancy These things being known while King Edward lay before Tournay Henry Burwash then Bishop of Lincoln and Sr. Geoffry Scroop Lord Chief Justice who both when living secretly maligned the Archbishop inflam'd the Kings Mind more vehemently against him and laid to his Charge no less than flat Treason and that he had Conspired with the French King. Upon these Presumptions and urg'd by his Necessities the King as we shew'd came Incognito into England and Landed about One in the Morning at the Tower of London without the least Rumour or Suspicion any where gather'd of his Arrival There a Council of those about him being held it was at last resolv'd that the Archbishop of Canterbury the Bishop of Chichester Chancellour of England and the Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield Treasurer with others abovenamed being forthwith taken up by the Kings Guard and Officers into Custody should be brought before the King to render an Account of what they had done in his Absence In the Morning early certain of the Guard were at Lambeth but the Archbishop by chance had gone thence the day before Whereupon the Officers returning over the Water to London took up the Bishops of Chichester and Coventry with the rest abovenamed and brought them away to the Tower. This being nois'd abroad the Archbishop hies him to Canterbury but is follow'd by Sr. Nicolas Cantilupe who being sent by the King together with one John Faringdon a Publique Notary to Register Notes of what should be done with the Archbishop in the Kings Name warn'd the said Archbishop That whereas he had bound himself to Foreign Merchants under Penalty of forfeiting his Goods to see such Summs of Money paid as the King had borrow'd for the Maintenance of his Wars and that the King being disappointed of those Moneys for the receiving whereof he had put his entire Confidence in him had met with an Interruption in his Warlike Affairs and the Kings Army with the Lords of the Realm there present had been reduced to a want of things Necessary for War He would now either presently pay that Money to those Creditors who perpetually call'd upon the King and his Lords or would go into Flanders there to Answer the Creditors in Foreign Court and deliver himself up into their Custody till the whole Summ for which he had bound himself should be discharged This Message being thus deliver'd the Knight in presence of the Notary demanded an Answer The Archbishop said that he must deliberate in Matters of that Moment before he could give in his Reply whereupon the Knight withdrew And now when the Archbishop saw how he was not only in Danger of losing all his Fortunes but also his Life and Good Name he began roundly to deal with the King by his Letters advising him to take unto him better Counsellors to beware of Flatterers and Misreporters of other Mens Lives and Actions and being engaged in Wars abroad not to disturb the Peace at home But when by these Letters and other Suasory means he could not pacifie the King he began from the Pulpit to Preach unto the People concerning his Integrity and Fidelity both to the King and Kingdom Insomuch that having call'd an Assembly of the Clergy and Layety together in the Metropolitan Church of Canterbury he took his Text out of the n Ecclesiasticus c. 48. v. 12. Apocryphal Scriptures Non pertimuit Principem Potentiâ nemo vicit eum And here in a long and various Drscourse he commended Thomas Becket once Archbishop of Canterbury who withdrew himself from Secular Affairs to the Government of his Church But he blamed himself for that laying aside the Care of his Flock he had been wholly taken up in Menaging the Kings Affairs The Punishment whereof he declared with Tears that for his Merits towards the King and Kingdom being brought into Envy and Danger of Death he now most justly suffer'd But for the future he promised to be more Diligent in the Government of his Province Sermon being thus ended he published certain Articles of Excommunication intending thereby to Guard himself from the Kings Power with the Dreadfull Ceremony of Bell Book and Candle the Bells Ringing Dolefully and the Candles being suddenly Extinguished with a Stench In these Articles all such were Excommunicated as should disturb the Peace and Tranquillity of the King and Kingdom all Layicks who should lay Violent Hands on the Persons Lands Goods or Houses of Clergymen all those who should violate the Liberties of the Church all who by any device should lessen the Privileges granted to the Barons in Magna Charta all who should raise
Vicount Daunvers and Dongeville as also of the Lands and Knights Fees of St. Mary de Montefarsellis and Romilly and all the other Lands and Possessions of the said Lord Godfrey of Harcourt Whereupon the Lord Chandos built anew the Castle of St. Saviour and for its better Defence frequently resided there in Person as we shall see hereafter XVIII Now the h Odor Rainal ad hunc annâ—m §. 10. c. Pope being extreamly sollicitous to deliver the French from their present Consternation and to avert their impending Miseries thought fit to make use of Charles the Emperour towards a Settlement of Affairs and sending unto him Androine Abbot of Clugny exhorted him to be a Mediator between the French and English telling him that the Glory of that Great Work was reserved only for him and that the Cardinals his Nuntio's would joyn their utmost Endeavours But with what Grief he was affected at the Captivity of King John will appear best from his Letters the i Yom. 4. Epist secret p. 202. apud Oder Rainald ibid. Copy whereof followeth INNOCENT the Bishop Servant of the Servants of God to his most Dear Son in Christ CHARLES Emperour of the Romans always Augustus With such bitterness O most Dear Son and with a sting of such vehement Sorrow are our Heart and Bowels wounded at the news of the Misfortune of our most Dear Son in Christ the Illustrious King of France which we believe to have come to You before the Receipt of these Presents that our Spirit hath almost failed us our Vigour is dried up and in a manner all our Senses are lost For who that is of a sound Mind who that has but his Senses who that has but a Heart of Flesh who that has any Humanity about him would not burst forth into Tears would not sigh from the bottom of his Heart would forbear grieving would refrain weeping would cease lamenting And indeed who could withhold from sighing at the Effusion of so much Christian Blood at the Fall of so many Nobles at the Ruine of so many faithfull People and which is more deplorable at the hazard of so many Souls For we believe that none has an Heart so stony which the hearing of these things would not break that none is so obdurate whom they would not melt and mollifie none so rocky whom the Consideration thereof would not soften And whereas among the manifold Afflictions to which upon this account and otherwise we are obnoxious we awaken with a sense of Grief our sleeping Mind to a necessary Reparation of this Misfortune althô in a manner wholly desperate of all Humane help and Assistance unto Him we lift up our Eyes darkned with sorrow unto Him we raise up the sight of our afflicted Soul unto Him we pour forth devout Prayers and Supplications who commands the Sea and the Winds and at whose Nod the breath of Tempests is allay'd that He being moved with gracious Compassion at so many grievous Scourges of his People extending from on high the Hand of his Power would vouchsafe to deliver us from these tempestuous Waves and after the multitude of the Sorrows in our Heart rejoyce our Soul with his Consolations And we hope in him that althô upon the account of our sins he refuses to lend his Ear unto our Prayers he will yet at least take pity of the Calamities of his People whom he hath redeemed with the gracious Effusion of his own Blood. And hence it is that firmly beleeving it proceeded from the Goodness of the same our Redeemer that You who only of Mankind can apply a necessary Remedy to these more acute Distempers are in this time of Confusion retired into the utmost Parts of your Empire next unto the Realm of France We address our selves unto You That by the vertue of your Diligence and Prudence you would asswage the sury of these Storms and by the benefit of a calm Peace remove the inconveniences of War and Hostile Commotions earnestly requiring you by Him thrô whose Providence you are raised to the Imperial Dignity that taking the Premises and other things which for brevity sake we omit into due consideration for the Reverence of God the Conservation of your Weal and Honour the prospect of a general Advantage and the Contemplation of our Intercession You would not delay but hastily come down to prevent the Desolation of Catholick People to hinder the Destruction of Christians and to avert the Hazard of Souls For unto You this Glory unto You this Honour unto You this Praise is reserved of the Lord For You are by Blood allied unto the Parties You thô you be nearer to the One will yet justly respect the Cause of Both and encline your eyes to Justice and not to Affinity You are likely to be an Effectual Umpire of Peace and a Promoter of Concord as well on the Account of your Imperial Dignity as of your Good-will and Charity There also You shall have our Venerable Brother Talayrand Bishop of Alby and our beloved Son Nicolas of the Title of St. Vitalis Priest-Cardinal Nuntio's of the Apostolick See whom you will find usefull Fellow-Labourers after this Good Thing and by whose Counsels and Help you may be directed and aided in what shall occurr Concerning which because we have deliver'd certain Matters unto our Beloved Son Androine Abbot of Clugny in the Diocese of Mascon to be reported unto your Clemency by Word of Mouth We pray you more earnestly that you would give full credit to his Relations on our Behalf Dat. Aven V. Non. Octobr. An o Pontificatûs nostri IV. Upon the Receipt of these Letters the Emperour k Matth. Villani l. 7. c. 46. summon'd a Diet to sit at Metz then an Imperial City in the Country of Lorraine standing on the Moselle to which Place he came a little before Christmas with Imperial Pomp and no less than 20000 Horse attending him He was served at Table by the Duke of Brandenburgh and other Princes of Course appointed to the said Service There came thither to meet him among Others his Nephew Charles Duke of Normandy Dauphin of Vienna and Regent of France to move him to put to his helping Hand in these Confusions For the Realm was at that time not only at a loss from the Terrour of the English War their King being Captive and the Flower of their Nobility slain but also from the Civil Broils then reigning For the King of Navarre's Brother infested Normandy in Revenge of his Brothers Confinement The Commons also raged against the Nobility because they judged that by their Treason or Cowardise the King was taken With which Note of Infamy the Heir of France himself was aspersed who together with his Troops after a slight Resistance fled away and forsook his Father To this Diet l Matt. Villani l. 7. c. 46. at Metz there came also Ambassadors as well from England as from France but no effectual way of Concord could then be