these retraicts here do appeare great determinatiō but small arte which neuerthelesse is very necessarie in such affayres wherto I will also adde the instruction of the souldiers For when all these three things shall concurre in one troope I doubt not but it may worke greater meruailes then the former Some will say that the Frenchmen can at this day hardly helpe themselues with the pike which is true neither do I merueile thereat for in deliuering both it and the corcelet to any man men looke to no more but whether he hath good shoulders as if it were to carie some coffer like a moyle and as for the gentrie they haue quite giuen it ouer This is the reason why I wish the restoring of martiall discipline as also that they would againe practise the pike wherewith to fight at hand and open and to leaue to the youth and poore Souldiers the handling of the harquebuze because that therewith they ordinarily fight a farre of and in couert for the one is farre more honorable then the other Captaines in ould time venturing vpon some difficult enterprise wished to haue their Souldiers not only well ordered but also old beaten warriours because their assurance is the greater For it were but an ouersight to attempt any perillous aduenture with newe men Now will I come to Instruction which is as I haue sayd merueilously requisite in extraordinary matters And yet we now see that the Souldier contemneth it and the Captaine careth not for it But admit a Souldier bee valiant and that wheresoeuer he be placed he will doe his duetie thinke you he will not doe it much better or that he will not fight more resolutly when before he hath by good reasons bene perswaded that the horse cannot force a battaile in the face likewise that for the flancke they must vse such fortification as I will hereafter set downe then if he were vtterly ignorant and wist not what might happen I thinke no man will denie it for certainly ignorance is in parte cause of the feare that many men of warre doe oftentimes conceiue For that seeing the enemie in their faces they thinke they should according to the prouerbe euen eate yron charets I know that practise teacheth to knowe the true from the false but there is much time spent therein vnlesse it bee holpen by familier and ordinarie documents which those captaines that seeke to haue the best companies doe diligently giue to their souldiers The ordering of the footmen asorenamed to withstand the hotse in the fielde For marching but 80. paces asunder and coasting each other it followeth that the head of the battaile marked A can hardly bee charged because the side of the battaile marked 3 doth flancke it as likewise the sayd head doth as much for the sayd flancke by the same reason also one of the heads of the battaile marked 2. and the flancke of the other marked D doe also succour each other by their harquebuziers so as it is very daungerous for the horse to assayle in such places which enterflancke each other But may some man say although the two battailes cannot be assaulted but each vpon two sides why is it not as good to make but one onely which cannot be assailed in any more places For it seemeth the resistance would bee more gallant because that force vnited is much greater then deuided I am of opinion that in these actions it is not so requisite to looke to the greatnesse or smalnesse of the battailes as to the difficultie and hinderance when they finde themselues assayled on euery side For it is a great aduenture but there will growe some disorder when one bodie must make defence in foure places but when they neede not to looke but to two sides the men doe frame themselues thereto with greater ease and much better order This reason shall content me for the verifying of my speech notwithstanding I could alleadge others Concerning the ordering of the battailes I would wish euery rancke to conteyne fiftie Corcelets whereof there should be seauen at the head which would make three hundred and fiftie then tenne ranckes of harquebuziers and in the middest of them the rancke of Ensignes afterward for the tayle sixe ranckes of Corcelets which in all make sixe hundred and fiftie Corcelets and fiue hundred harquebuziers placed in foure and twentie rankes For the flanckes wherein al the difficultie doth consist they should be ordered in maner following I would neuer place there any harquebuziers as hath hetherto bene vsed but make sixe rankes of three hundred Corcelets in each fiftie men which should serue to make head on those sides The enemies being néere they should march otherwise then the rest namely close and carying their Pikes vpright leaning against their shoulders which is now sufficiently in vse Whereas at the heads of the battaile when any thing is to be done in their march they trayle them which maketh much distance betweene their rankes Now these sixe ranckes when the charge is offered after they stand shall doe nothing but make halfe a turne and so continue in their array with their face to the enemie and by my aduice they should take but threescore common paces in length which properly should bee the same which the battaile being closed to fight may haue open by the flanckes Thus should they bee armed to withstand the horsemen which cannot bee well done but with Pikes for the harquebuze shot without couert wil easely be ouerthrowne There remaine yet two hundred and fiftie harquebuziers to bee placed in the battaile counting the Muskets whom I would wish to bee distributed into foure partes in each threescore and somewhat more to stande as it were loose before the Pikes and at the charge to arange themselues vnder those of the first ranckes on the foure sides of the battaile Some will mislike I should make the heades so weake and only of sixe ranckes of Corcelets thinking them too fewe to beare the brunt of a whole hande of horse To whom I may say that if there were tenne it were the better but I haue cut my coate after my cloath howbeit I thinke such frontes sufficient to resist the horse which may easely bée done if the men haue courage and will be sure to stand strongly and fewe battailes haue wee seene ouerthrowne by any assault of the horse at the head As for the flankes which I haue described in such sorte as before they be as strong as the heades so long as they can keepe their order And this order I would wish them to keepe in their fight First while the horse were farre of it were good the battailes did goe forwarde but seeing them readie to charge to stay to the ende the better to settle themselues in order and with good footing to beare their first brunt The first rancke of Corcelets to plant the endes of their Pikes sure in the ground and not to stirre though a horse should goare
so in others it semeth they haue contemned that which was rather to bee receiued than the same whereto they haue tied themselues As also it hath fallen out that in one selfe thing they haue be wrayed their good bad iudgement For when they might make some thing both profitable faire and easie they haue bene contented with the first and in liew of the other two haue intruded vncomelinesse and difficultie Whereof I will alleadge an example in matters of armes For where they had some reason in respect of the violence of harquebuzes dagges to make their armor thicker and of better proofe than before they haue now so farre exceeded that most of theÌ„ haue laden themselues with stithies in liew of clothing their bodies with armour Lykewise all the beautie of the horseman is conuerted into deformitie His head peece resembleth an â—ron pot On the left arme hee weareth a great gantlet vp to his elbowe and on the right a pouldron that shal scarce couer his shoulder and ordinarily they weare no Tases also in liew of Cassockes a Mandilion and no Speare Our men of armes in y e time of K. Henry made a farre fayrer shew wearing their Sallet Pouldrons Tases Cassocke Speare and Banderol neither was their armour so heauie but they might welbeare it 24. houres where those that are now worne are so waightie that the peize of them will benumme a Gentlemans shoulders of 35. yeres of age My selfe haue seene the late Lord of Eguillie and the knight of Puigreffier honourable old men remain a whole daie armed at all assaies marching in the face of their companies where now a yong Captaine will hardlie continue two houres in that state But hauing determined to treate of the order of horse I haue dwelt too long vpon this point I saie therefore that the order hetherto obserued in the aranging of them woulde be left to the ende to take another which reason willeth vs to followe as beeing the better But I doubt some will controule this proposition saying that olde customes are not rasâ—ly to be altered also that when the men of armes most flourished this was their manner of fight Likewise that sith the late Duke of Guise or the late Lord Constable who were so excellent Captains made no innouation therin it seemeth that it should be still so vsed For if alterations in matters of state as Plutarke sayth be dangerous like wise the thaâ—nging of martiall orders bringeth inconueniences But when a man hath by proofe found the profit arising by the new order and the defects of the olde is it not high time to forsake the one and laie holde of the other The Romaines who may be sayde to haue ben soueraigne masters in the art of war did many times y â— like Moreouer because the men of armes haue had good successe when they were raâ—â—ged in a haie doth it followe that now they should so range themselues No for many things haue since happened that may compell vs to change our fashions as we haue done in fortifications since the inuention of Artillerie Froissart who in his Historic treateth at large of the French warres dooth greatlye commende the horsemen of his time which was fortie yeres before the erection of the Ordonances And by his discourse it seemeth that they fought in file hee there describeth theÌ„ to be well armed mounted vpon mightie iades hauing strong speares whereby they might giue a great push I doe also suppose that they chose this order because the same horsmen consisted onely of Gentrie so as euerie man woulde fight in front and neuer continue in the last ranke euerie one esteeming himselfe to be in valour no lesse than his companion as also it is to bee presumed that in those dayes other Nations obserued the lyke order Afterward when y e men of armes were erected they follow the same so continued vntil the middest of the raigne of king Henrie the second with much happie successe But toward the end of his raigne our losses taught vs that in parte they proceeded of the weaknesse of our saide order and the firmenesse of that of our enimies Then did the squadrons of speares growe into credite who as I haue heard were so aranged by the Emperour Charles who meeting our files of men of arms did easilie ouerthrow them which also the squadrons of Rheitres haue sometimes done neither is it much to be meruailed that it came so to passe for natural reason sheweth it which willeth that the strong carrie awaie the weake Also that sixe or seauen ranks of horsemen ioyned together ouerthrow one alone Some make this obiection That when a companie is so stretched forth they doe all fight whereas being in squadron scarce the sixt parte doe ioyne viz. so much as in the fore front Hereto I answere that in the aranging of a troupe we must not care so much that euerie one at the meeting strike one blow with his speare but rather that it may bee able to ouerthrowe all that come agaynst it which is much brauelyer done when it is in the squadron It may lykewise bee replyed that the squadron cannot ouerthrowe aboue fifteene or sixteene horse at the most of the troupe that standeth in a haie which is true but those shall be about the Ensigne where the Captaines and best men are placed which being carried awaie al the rest shaketh and although that parte that hath not bene touchâ— doe close vp the flankes of the squadron yet doth it small harme in that it cannot enter vpon the men that are thus in a heap vnited together who likewise in their shockes doe strike those as well as the first and breake them Yea although three or foure troupes of horse be araunged in a haie one at anothers heales yet shall a squadron ouerthrow them all almost as easilie as the boule doth many rankes of scailes So that there must be one force to withstand anotherâ— If a Captaine hauing one thousand Corcelets to set in battayle araie shoulde not make past two or three rankes of them euen the souldiours would laugh him to scorne because by reason euerie battaile must haue his conuenient thicknesse The like consideration almost is to bee had of the horse and I wonder it hath no sooner beene spied For if the two notable Captaines aforenamed had liued they woulde peraduenture haue taken order for it It is not vnknowen to those that were in y e kings armie at Vallenciens that there were nere 10000 French speares also that comming before the forte where the imperiall were intrenched I noted that a bodie of three hundred men of armes aranged in file tooke almost 1000. paces in length the rest of the horses kept an infinite ground But if the sayd 300. men of armes had bene set in 3. squadrons they would not haue occupied aboue sixe score paces in length and the order had bene far better for to the end to archieue some notable
of importaunce thereby to make them to approche with theyr armie so as they shoulde hardlie escape battayle when they are come so neere with theyr carriage footemen and artillerie For when they come but with thirtie or fortie thousande horse to succour what so is besieged they cannot by anie meanes be ouercome by reason of the swiftenesse of theyr horse which neuerthelesse dooth greatly molest a campe I woulde also lyke verie well that in tenne or twelue dayes before the armie shoulde marche the Captaines euerie other daie shoulde cast them into seuerall orders of battayle whereby to choose the best to help themselues withall when neede shoulde require For it doe much better conceiue the trueth of thinges by liuely representations than by forecast figured vppon paper And by them is the generall the better resolued in his conception and the inferiour Captaines to bee the better prouided to the practise Heerein doo wee in our pettie warres ordinarilie faile in that wee neuer looke to the ordering of battayles vntill within two dayes before wee must fight and then dooth the Generall sette downe a fayre order in writing howe bee will haue it which hee sendeth vnto the leaders of the regimentes as well of the horsemen as of the footemen For such ordering many times as beeing made ouer rashly and without ripe deliberation proueth verie vnfit It is verie requisite that a Generall bee in minde verie perfecte in the order which hee purposeth to obserue as well in the large fieldes as in the straightes least hee bee amazed or driuen into much consultation when his businesse commeth vppon him For the chiefe groundes beeing well layde if through anie accident the order bee to be altered it is easilie performed There bee some that will saie that in so dooing wee shall warne the enimie of our order whereby hee maye prouide to preuent vs. I graunt if wee still vse but one forme it may be so But when wee practise sundrie wee shall put all men in doubt which we will cleaue vnto sauing the Generall who is to reserue the best in memorie For the well ordering of this armie it were good to haue the aduice of such Captaines as hauing serued in Hungarie doe by experience best knowe the most conuenient formes And sith I am entered so farre into this point I am content for the satisfying of those y t be curious to deliuer my opinion concerning whatsoeuer may serue agaynst these barbarous people In this case we are to cōsider of two kinds of coūtries y e one large y e other straight Concerning y e large or plaine as we terme it which is the most parte of Hungarie the battayle may be so aranged that the enimies innumerable strength of horse which wil amoūt to 200000 at the least shall not without great losse endomage them and verie hardly breake them The order were to dispearse the horsemen among the footmen as vpō the like consideration the late Duke of Guize did at the battel of Dreux I woulde therefore make a strong bodie of my armie consisting of eight battayles of footmen each comprehending 2500 pikes so as the sayd rankes should euerie of them containe ninetie men be 28. men thick besides the Ensignes to the flanks wold I ioyne 1000 harquebuziers They should be all ordered in an equal front with sufficient spaces to set in araie 2000. horse in foure squadrons each of them of fiue hundred men fortie horse in front two somewhat for warder than the other two These seauen spaces might serue them for places of aduantage and assured retraits to fall into order againe for it would be too hot to come vpon them into place where they should be so succoured by the harquebuzerie and pikes yea in my minde it were meere rashnesse Likewise in as much as the flankes of the battayles are not commonly armed but with harquebuziers which is but a weake defence against a great armie of horse I would thinke it were good both the flankes of the two battayles standing vppon the wings of the armie to bee fortefied with some other instrumentes like vnto those which the Duke of Alua inuented and vsed when the Prince of Orenge passed ouer Meuse or better which might be easily brought thether by two hundred pioners and those should suffice for one of each flanks as for the rest they shall neede none as well for that the force of this order shall supplie that want as also because it would be ouercumbersome On the right and lefte point without the battayles should stand at each sixe thousand horse euery squadron of one thousand and in two bodies the one to support the other And if anie man aske wherefore I make them so great I saie it is because the Turkes as I haue heard doe make theirs especiallie in any great combats of fiue or sixe thousand speares which swallowe vp three hundred horse as a lion would doe a mouse And therefore we must sette strength agaynst strength Then woulde I diuide my 5000. harquebuziers into ten troopes placing sixe as it were for the aduenturers at the heads of the battayles toward the wings and the other foure at the taile I would also place two thousand harquebuziers on horseback at y e head of the horsemen vpon the wings to serue in the first skirmishes Thus doe ye see in this great bodie 28000. horse 20000. Corcelets 13000. harquebuzes aranged which as I thinke will not take aboue 4000. cōmon paces in length wherin there is no great disproportion and I haue thus stretched it out to the ende to debarre the enemie from all hope of enclosing it There would be likewise in y e first ranke of this great front almost 1900. men which is sufficient The rest of the men I would thus appoynt I would make two small bodies which should be set in aray 800. paces behinde the two winges of the armie because the first shockes doe begin there In either of them would I place 4500. Corcelets in two battailes and 2500. Harquebuzes then in the spaces and poynts 4000. horse in eight squadrons which for the two bodies would amount vnto 22000. men euery wherof should stirre when they perceiued any of the first troopes to yeeld for vndoubtedly they should so make them to holde fast I would also place betweene these two troopes and 500. paces behinde them 3000. horse in three squadrons whom the Emperour or in his absence his Lieutenant should accompanie when it were requisite to fight And this should be the Holy ancker as we tearme it which should vpon great necessitie moue forward Yet doe there remaine 1000. Corcelets 2000. Harquebuzes and 1000. Reistres or Hungarian horsemen that should be appoynted to the keeping of the Campe which the Pioners should fortifie with small trenches for the safegard of the cariages for if through negligence the enemie who might appoynt twentie or thirtie thousand horse to doe the feate should peraduenture be suffered to
well taught do delight much more in heauenly for they know that a Prince loueth to day hateth to morow but y e God neuer hateth those whom he hath registred for his in y e booke of life but loueth theÌ„ with a most perfect loue Another plesure also y t ensueth this is wheÌ„ y t which a man hath gotten he vseth by rules of vertue For if I be a magistrate haue preserued diuers innocents froÌ„ vniust oppression that my prince fauoureth me and I haue reported the trueth vnto him eyther that hauing had wealth I haue releeued those whome pouerty was ready to thrust downe into their graues will not all this be vnto me an occasion of greater ioy then if I had vsed these commodities to hurt my enimies to eate more delicate morselles or to be costly clothed all ouer to make men gaze vpon me as vpon as vpon an Oxe crowned whom men vse to leade vp and down the streetes I referre it to the iudgement of the wise A Christian shal also finde further occasion to reioyce when by outward benefites as well his mind as body are freed from sorrow sufferance which proceede of the want of these goods but this is with a moderate ioy which continueth and resembleth a calme and stil running water wheras the ioy of the Libertines doth rather resemble the inundations of a swift streame I dare affirme that euen the bodily pleasures I speake of such as are lawfull which they so storme for are not so pleasaunt vnto them as vnto those whome they take to be so entangled in sorowe The first place will I attribute vnto those which they receiue in taste and feeling which are the two senses that they seeke soonest to satisfy notwithstanding nature hath placed them further from the vnderstanding then the rest as those which are most repugnaunt thereto In this carrier doe I already perceiue some not only running but euen dying after one Flora or Lays but in their such pursuites yea and enioyings they shall hardly perswade me that their pleasures doe surmount their paynes for if there be any purgatory in the worlde a man may say that it is there One cryeth out that he burneth another that he freezeth one will goe hang him-selfe another will banish him-selfe thus doe they pay beere for such wares Such loues wil some man say do not pierce so violently but I say yes For vnchaste flames doe burne where the shame-faste do but heate onely Againe after they haue enioyed their purpose what followeth two very contrary effectes according to the diuersities of humors For we shal sée some not to loue women but euen to worship them as Goddesses submitting them-selues to such vile bondage that easily they growe moste vilely to vnworthy actions Is not this then a worthy pleasure that maketh the soule so sencelesse astonied Others contrariwise after they haue once tasted of this foode doe disdayn it not to the end to taste no more but to long after chaunge Wherein they very well declare the vanity and shortnesse of bodily delights Yet is not the tragedy ended the mischéefe whereof we may say to consist in the Catastrophe For most of those that haue best played their parts do finde themselues rewarded according to their works namely with debility of members gowtes pockes paines in the stomache and which is more their life is shortned and their hearts and mindes weakened These be the fruites that growe in this goodly garden of pleasure which these our masters doe so honor where in the beginning they gather a fewe roses but after they haue a while sported them-selues they step before they be aware into a Laberinth of pricking thorâ—s the comming foorth whereof is perillous and the torment perpetuall Now let vs match vnto these such men as desire honest pleasures so shall we the better see the difference betweene them WheÌ„ in theyr youth the sparkes of purest loue haue somewhat warned their minds they seeke 〈…〉 eet obiects vsing for theyr load starre honestie and for their quadrant the remainder of their reason Being thus guided they escape shipwracke and oftentimes haue a verie calme nauigation I meane those which lawfullie doe labour after lawfull things haue their pleasures not full of launchings foorth but seasoned with sweetnesse replenished with steadfastnesse and such as leaueth behinde it neither remorse nor repentance as do the others These amities may also be tearmed the kirnelles which bring forth the fayre great families whose end is ordinarily crowned with contentation Neyther doe those men that are taken with the furies of Bacchus gouerne themselues any better than these disciples of Venus For some there are whom a man cannot saie to be borne to liue but to liue to eate and drinke others are not so deeply plunged in this gluttonie but in lycorousnesse and delicacie The first are so disposed that their belly seemeth to be a cauldron and theyr stomack a turne for they be continuallie nayled and chained to the table where they fill both the one and the other vntyll the loade be so waightie that it ouerturneth his man or carie him away vpon all foure But who so should thinke them to be any whiâ— ashamed therof shal be greatly deceiued for they account it a great glorie after their long strife in so sweet a combat to be caried away triumphantly into a bed where they recouer new forces And then they knowe verie well these two great Captaines White Claret to be inuincible also that the brauest must of force stoope vnto them as a Pigmean might do to Hercules In opinioÌ„ they consent with that good fat Abbot of olde time who when his friendes tolde him that such lyke exercise would shorten his daies made them this answere My friends take no thought for me for as it is an honor to a good knight to die in the battayle so it is an honour to an Abbot to burst at his table I will not speake of the pleasure that they take in these continual and reiteratedtepasts because they bee but too wel knowen especiallie to such as haue trauayled some partes of the North countries where such excesses are more common than with vs albeit it might beseeme those that are endued with pietie and yet doe practise it to leaue the abuse thereof to the Libertines of whom we speak The second sort are not so disordinate as these but do intertain themselues with much more ciuilitie and desicacy and in liew of swallowing downe all that they eate drinke they will onely taste of it to the end thereof to haue the longer delight before they be satisfied These men be somewhat carefull to hide the filthinesse of dronkennesse but most diligent to seeke meanes of diuersitie of all meats that by such varietie their appetites may find more delight If they can meete with a good cooke he is better thought of among them than euer was Plato or Aristotle in the Academy of
a few dayes after This quailed their oâ—rages and hope of all the souldiours in his armie to see themselues depriued of so notable a Generall Insomuch that the Queene beeing wearie of so many miseries and notable slaughters vndertooke the treatie of peace and thence foorth was there nothing but patleyes on eyther side vntill it was concluded wherein the Lorde Prince of Condie and the Lorde Constable were the chiefe instrumentes and dealers Nowe let vs speake of the 〈◊〉 Admiralls expedition who fearing the forcing of Orleance â—e solued wholie vppon diligence as also in sixe dayes hee marched 〈◊〉 〈…〉 ie leagues with his power of horsemen who consisted of two thousand Reisters fiue hundred French horse and one thousande â—â—arqâ—ebuziers on horsebacke as also they had onelie one thousande and two hundred horses but no cart for their carria 〈…〉 In this sort we vsed such diligenee that sometimes we preuented the fame of our comming in diuerse places where wee ariued The sayde Lorde Admirall beeing come to Cane assaulted it with the helpe of certaine English men whome the Earle of Warwicke Beauois la Nocle who were in Newhauen had sent him The Castle being furiously beaten did yeelde vppon composition Therein was the Marquez of Elboeuf to whome wee vsed all curtesie Our Reisters also receiued their paie which they liked better than the Normandie Cidre and as wee prepared to returne to sucâ—our Orleance the Prince of Condie writ to the Admirall that the peace was concluded which news conuerted his desire to fight into another desire namely to visite his house This was the end of the first ciuill warre which had continued a whole yeere A tearme that seemed rather long than short to the natural impatiencie of our nation which in some places ouerflowed in cruelties more meeâ—e for barbarous people than Frenchmen whereof the Protestants did indure the most part And this peace did many good men like of a great deale the better because it ended all these inhumanities The second troubles Of the causes of the taking of armes in the second troubles Also how the purposes where vpon the Protestants had built themselues proued vaine MAny are the writings that haue beene published in iustification of the leauie of armes in the yeere 1507. as also others contrariwise to condemne them whereof such histories as intreate of things passed haue at large discoursed to the which all such as gladly woulde exactly search the particularities of all these publike actions are to haâ—e recourse For my part I am content briefly vpon this point to touch some such as are as true as the same that haue ben published which I haue learned of those that on the one side had in part the conduct of the affaires The edict of pacification concluded before Orleance had greatly satisfied almost all France as well in appearance as in effect because thereby all miseries ceasing euerie man inioyed rest with safetie of bodie libertie of minde Howbeit the hatred enuy of some as also the mistrust of others was not quite extinguished but lay hidden and vnperceiued But as time doth commonly bring all things to perfection so these seeds together with many worse brought forth such fruit as returned vs into our former discords the chiefe of the religion who looked to the safetie as well of theÌ„selues as of other made a general collection of all that was wrought stil practised against them affirming that vndoubtedly their enemies endeuoured by little and little to vndermine them then euen at once to giue them their deaths wound Of the causes that they alleaged some were manifest and some secret Concerning the first they consisted in the razing of sundrie townes and the building of Citadels in the places were they had their publike exercise also in murthers in sundrie places coÌ„mitted the slaughter of diuerse notable Gentlemen whereof they could haue no iustice In the ordinarie threats that shortly they should not lift their heads so high especially in y e comming of Suitzers albeit the Duke of Alua was already passed into Flanders vnder a cloked feare of whose passage they were leauied And for the secret they propounded certaine intercepted letters comming from Rome Spaine wherin the purposes that should be put in execution were more plainly discouered The resolution concluded with the Duke of Alua at Bayon to root out all the Huguenots in France and the Rogues in Flaunders whereof they were aduertised by such as were not doubted of All these things with many more that I omit did greatly waken those that were loth to be taken sleeping and I remember that the chiefe of the religioÌ„ met thrise at Vallery Chastillon whether came 10 or 12. of the notablest Gentlemen to determine vpon these present wars also to seeke some lawfull honest meanes of safetie among so many terrors without proceeding to the vttermost extremities Howbeit rather by the counsaile of the L. Admirall than of anie other euery one was desired a while to haue patience for that in so waightie affaires as these which brought with them many mischiefes men ought rather to be drawen by necessitie than to runne headlong vpon will withal that in short time they should see more But at thirde meeting which was within a moneth their braines were better heat as well vpon the considerations aforesayde as thorough new aduices giuen them namelie one which the Prince and Lord Admirall did affirme to proceede from a Courtier greatly affected to the Protestants who assured them that there had bene a secret counsayle holden wherin it was determined to seaze vpon them two the one to be put to death the other to be kept prisoner at the same time to place 2000. Suitzers at Paris two thousand at Orleance the rest to bee sent to Poictiers Then to disanull the Edict of pacification and to make an other vtterlie contrarie thereto and not to doubte thereof This was easie to be beleeued and the rather for that alreadie they see the Zuitzers who they had beene so ofâ—en promised should bee sent backe march toward Paris Wherevpon some more sensitiue and impatient than the rest grewe into these speeches What shall wee tarrie vntill they come and binde vs hande and foote and so drawe vs vnto their scaffoldes at Paris there by our shamefull deaths to glutte others crueltie What aduice shall wee yet expecte Doe wee not alreadie see the foraine enemie march armed toward vs and threaten to bee reuenged on vs as well for so many iniuries done to them at Dreux as also for those harms which in our defences we haue done to the Catholikes Haue wee forgotten that aboue three thousand of our religion haue since the peace endured violent deaths for whome whatsoeuer our complayntes wee can haue no redresse but friuolous aunsweres and fraudulent delayes Yet if it were our Kings will wee shoulde bee thus iniuried and contemned wee might peraduenture the better beare it But sith
the peace least they should haue remayned ouer weake Heerevppon they sometimes discoursed in this manner That the most of their French forces abandoning them they should be driuen to stand vpon their defence but it would bee a great disgrace vnto them in that it now was the time of yeere that armies vsed to take the field To part with their Reisters whome they should distribute in their townes they would not doe it for so they shoulde deuoure themselues likewise to lodge them in a fortefied campe that remedie would last but a while To be briefe that they must trie the hazarde of a peace Then could they haue wished to haue had some townes for the assurance therof but when they requested anie other pledge than the edicts oathes promises they were dismissed as men that did despise or contemne the authoritie roiall which caused them to accept that which was vsuallie offered Thus did the Protestants dismisse their strangers retire into their houses and euery man perticularly lay awaie their weapons weening at the least the common sort that the Catholiks would haue done the like who were content onely to promise it but in effect to performe nothing but remaining still armed kept the townes passages ouer the riuer so as within two moneths after they had the Protestants as it were at their discretions Yea some of them that insisted most vppon peace were forced to saie We haue committed follie and therefore must not thinke much to tast thereof albeit this drinke be like to be verie bitter The third troubles Of the Protestants diligent retrait in the last troubles also of the Lord of Martigues braue resolution when he came to Saumure HUmane affaires are subiect to many alterations for the better representing of the inconstancie whereof the Ethnikes haue figured a turning whéele whereon things are sometime vp and sometime downe and who so list well to note the dissimilitude of the ground of this warre with the former shal perceiue the same For in the former the Protestants did preuent and proudlie assayle where in this they were preuented and retired vpon shamefull necessitie abandoning those Prouinces and Townes which before had serued for their preseruation When they see tenne companies of footmen brought vnto Orleleance they well knew that their businesse went amisse but most of all were they moued to departe the Prouinces about Paris because the Prince had like to haue beene besette in his owne house by sundrie companies of men of armes and footemen that easily approched towarde him Himselfe also hauing giuen aduice heereof to the Admirall and other his neerest neighbors did together with them and their families retire to Rochel by wading through the riuer of Loyre at an vnaccustomed foode Likewise he warned the Protestants farther off to take armes and sauing themselues so well as they might to drawe towarde him seeking passage ouer the riuer by foord or boate The Catholikes scoffinglie tolde him that he néeded not haue taken so hotte an allarum also that they had practised nothing agaynst them whereto he answered that hee had rather leaue them the neasts than they shold haue caught the birds also that if he had wel remembred their promise to be reuenged for Meaux like wise that they would make the brethren ru 〈…〉 e when theyr turne came he wold haue departed sooner that he might haue gone an easier pace These were their common speeches for the grauer matters on either 〈◊〉 are written in the histories I know that warre is miserable and with all bringeth many mischiefes but this vile small peace that lasted but sixe monethes was farre worse for the Protestants who being murthered in their houses durst not defende themselues These and other matters prouoked and disposed them to seeke theyr safetie in assembling together The Lord of Andelot being in Britaine was aduised to assemble all the power that he might and to march into Poictou wherevppon he gaue them order to meete him in Anieow which was done and when all were come together his troope consisted of no lesse than a thousand good horse and two thousand harquebuziers wherewith hee turned his head to the riuer of Loyre to the end to seeke some commodious passage But the same daie that bee came to the shoare therof there fell out an vnlooked for aduenture wherfro the Catholikes escaped with honour Hee was lodged verie scatteringly as hauing no greate allarum of enemies and had giuen the Captaines of his troopes charge after they were ariued in their quarters to seeke for some foorde or wadeable place but two houres after they were lodged the Lord of Martigues who was going to the Duke of Montpensier at Saumure was aduertised that a number of Protestantes without naming of anie were come to lodge in his way Now hee hauing alreadie passed a small riuer called Sorgne by boat thoght it to late to retire therfore y t it was requisit he make way with the sword whatsoeuer sh 〈…〉 ld happen his cariages he had sent awaie on the other side of Loire and his troop consisted of three hundred speares and fiue hundred harquebuzieres Also in as much as hee was driuen to march a long a banke of earth which kept in the riuer where there coulde but tenne men or sixe horses passe in front hee placed at his head an hundred Gascogne harquebuziers of his garde and two bundred others his horsemen in the the middest then the rest of his footmen behinde and fiftie speares for scourers This done he sayde vnto them Companions and friendes the Protestants are vppon our waie wee must eyther goe ouer them or bee lost for flie wee cannot Let euerie man therefore prepare to fight well with his arme and march gallantlie with his feete to winne Sanmure wee haue but eight small leagues thether and shall not bee in safetie before we come there This sayde they all promised not to fayle in theyr dueties and in this resolution they marched on The two first troopes that hee mette were two companies of horsemen that were taking their lodgings whome hee easilie scattered and Captaine Boisuert was slayne in the fight There hee hearde that the Lorde of Andelot was at hande wherevppon hee hasted the more to preuent him But not withstanding whatsoeuer his diligence hee founde him horsed with a fewe men as hauing had the allarum by some runawayes There was giuen a braue charge wherein the Lord of Martignes lieuetenaunt was slayne and the Lorde of Andelot forced to permitte him free passage He suffered not his souldiours to spoyle the carryages that stoode in the waies but made them to march on Within one league of the same place hee mette a companie of Captaine Cognees horse marching whome with harquebuze shotte hee sent backe a pace agayne a quarter of a league from Rosiers there mette him two hundred harquebuziers whome the Lorde of la None sent towarde the allarum to succour the rest but the Lorde of Martigues footemen beeing