parliament, together with the great want of money, and still more, of
credit in England, had rendered the remittances to Flanders extremely
backward; nor could it be expected, that any expeditious method of
collecting an imposition, which was so new in itself, and which yielded
only a gradual produce, could possibly be contrived by the king or his
ministers. And though the parliament, foreseeing the inconvenience, had
granted, as a present resource, twenty thousand sacks of wool, the only
English goods that bore a sure price in foreign markets, and were the
next to ready money, it was impossible but the getting possession of
such a bulky commodity, the gathering of it from different parts of the
kingdom, and the disposing of it abroad, must take up more time than the
urgency of the king’s affairs would permit, and must occasion all the
disappointments complained of during the course of the campaign. But
though nothing had happened which Edward might not reasonably have
foreseen, he was so irritated with the unfortunate issue of his military
operations, and so much vexed and affronted by his foreign creditors,
that he was determined to throw the blame somewhere off himself and
he came in very bad humor into England. He discovered his peevish
disposition by the first act which he performed after his arrival: as
he landed unexpectedly, he found the Tower negligently guarded; and he
immediately committed to prison the constable and all others who had the
charge of that fortress, and he treated them with unusual rigor.[*] His
vengeance fell next on the officers of the revenue, the sheriffs, the
collectors of the taxes, the undertakers of all kinds; and besides
dismissing all of them from their employments, he appointed
commissioners to inquire into their conduct; and these men, in order to
gratify the king’s humor, were sure not to find any person innocent who
came before them.[**] Sir John St. Paul, keeper of the privy seal,
Sir John Stonore, chief justice, Andrew Aubrey, mayor of London,
were displaced and imprisoned; as were also the bishop of Chichester,
chancellor, and the bishop of Lichfield, treasurer; Stratford,
archbishop of Canterbury, to whom the charge of collecting the new taxes
had been chiefly intrusted, fell likewise under the king’s displeasure;
but being absent at the time of Edward’s arrival, he escaped feeling the
immediate effects of it.
* Ypod. Neust. p. 513.
** Avesbury, p. 70, Heming p. 326. Walsing. p. 150.
There were strong reasons, which might discourage the kings of England,
in those ages, from bestowing the chief offices of the crown on prelates
and other ecclesiastical persons. These men had so intrenched themselves
in privileges and immunities, and so openly challenged an exemption from
all secular jurisdiction, that no civil penalty could be inflicted on
them for any malversation in office; and as even treason itself was
declared to be no canonical offence, nor was allowed to be a sufficient
reason for deprivation or other spiritual censures, that order of men
had insured to themselves an almost total impunity, and were not bound
by any political law or statute. But, on the other hand, there were
many peculiar causes which favored their promotion. Besides that they
possessed almost all the learning of the age, and were best qualified
for civil employments, the prelates enjoyed equal dignity with the
greatest barons, and gave weight by their personal authority, to the
powers intrusted with them; while, at the same time, they did not
endanger the crown by accumulating wealth or influence in their
families, and were restrained, by the decency of their character, from
that open rapine and violence so often practised by the nobles. These
motives had induced Edward, as well as many of his predecessors,
to intrust the chief departments of government in the hands of
ecclesiastics; at the hazard of seeing them disown his authority as soon
as it was turned against them.
{1341.} This was the case with Archbishop Stratford. That prelate,
informed of Edward’s indignation against him prepared himself for the
storm; and not content with standing upon the defensive, he resolved,
by beginning the attack, to show the king that he knew the privileges
of his character, and had courage to maintain them. He issued a general
sentence of excommunication against all who, on any pretext, exercised
violence on the person or goods of clergymen; who infringed those
privileges secured by the Great Charter, and by ecclesiastical canons;
or who accused a prelate of treason or any other crime, in order to
bring him under the king’s displeasure.[*]
* Heming* p. 339. Ang* Sacra, vol. i. p. 21, 22. Walsing. p.
153.
Even Edward had reason to think himself struck at by this sentence;
both on account of the imprisonment of the two bishops and that of other
clergymen concerned in levying the taxes, and on account of his seizing
their lands and movables, that he might make them answerable for any
balance which remained in their hands. The clergy, with the primate at
their head, were now formed into a regular combination against the king;
and many calumnies were spread against him, in order to deprive him of
the confidence and affections of his people. It was pretended that
he meant to recall the general pardon, and the remission which he had
granted of old debts, and to impose new and arbitrary taxes without
consent of parliament. The archbishop went so far, in a letter to the
king himself, as to tell him, that there were two powers by which the
world was governed, the holy pontifical apostolic dignity, and the
royal subordinate authority: that of these two powers, the clerical was
evidently the supreme; since the priests were to answer, at the tribunal
of the divine judgment, for the conduct of kings themselves: that the
clergy were the spiritual fathers of all the faithful, and amongst
others of kings and princes; and were entitled, by a heavenly charter,
to direct their wills and actions, and to censure their transgressions:
and that prelates had hitherto cited emperors before their tribunal,
had sitten in judgment on their life and behavior, and had anathematized
them for their obstinate offences.[*] These topics were not well
calculated to appease Edward’s indignation; and when he called a
parliament, he sent not to the primate, as to the other peers, a summons
to attend it. Stratford was not discouraged at this mark of neglect or
anger: he appeared before the gates, arrayed in his pontifical robes,
holding the crosier in his hand and accompanied by a pompous train
of priests and prelates; and he required admittance as the first
and highest peer in the realm. During two days the king rejected his
application: but sensible, either that this affair might be attended
with dangerous consequences, or that in his impatience he had
groundlessly accused the primate of malversation in his office, which
seems really to have been the case, he at last permitted him to take his
seat, and was reconciled to him.[**]
* Ang. Sacra, vol i. p. 27.
** Ang. Sacra, p. 28, 39, 40, 41.
Edward now found himself in a bad situation, both with his own people
and with foreign states; and it required all his genius and capacity to
extricate himself from such multiplied difficulties and embarrassments.
His unjust and exorbitant claims on France and Scotland had engaged him
in an implacable war with those two kingdoms, his nearest neighbors: he
had lost almost all his foreign alliances by his irregular payments: he
was deeply involved in debts, for which he owed a consuming interest:
his military operations had vanished into smoke; and, except his naval
victory, none of them had been attended even with glory or renown,
either to himself or to the nation: the animosity between him and the
clergy was open and declared: the people were discontented on account of
many arbitrary measures, in which he had been engaged, and what was more
dangerous, the nobility, taking advantage of his present necessities,
were determined to retrench his power, and by encroaching on the ancient
prerogatives of the crown, to acquire to themselves independence
and authority. But the aspiring genius of Edward, which had so far
transported him beyond the bounds of discretion, proved at last
sufficient to reinstate him in his former authority, and finally to
render his reign the most triumphant that is to be met with in English
story; though for the present he was obliged, with some loss of honor,
to yield to the current which bore so strongly against him.
The parliament framed an act which was likely to produce considerable
innovations in the government. They premised, that, whereas the Great
Charter had, to the manifest peril and slander of the king and damage
of his people, been violated in many points, particularly by the
imprisonment of freemen and the seizure of their goods, without suit,
indictment, or trial, it was necessary to confirm it anew, and to
oblige all the chief officers of the law, together with the steward
and chamberlain of the household, the keeper of the privy seal, the
controller and treasurer of the wardrobe, and those who were intrusted
with the education of the young prince, to swear to the regular
observance of it. They also remarked, that the peers of the realm
had formerly been arrested and imprisoned, and dispossessed of their
temporalities and lands, and even some of them put to death, without
judgment or trial; and they therefore enacted that such violences should
henceforth cease, and no peer be punished but by the award of his peers
“in parliament.” They required, that, whenever any of the great offices
above mentioned became vacant, the king should fill it by the advice of
his council, and the consent of such barons as should at that time be
found to reside in the neighborhood of the court. And they enacted,
that, on the third day of every session, the king should resume into his
own hand all these offices, except those of justices of the two benches
and the barons of exchequer; that the ministers should for the time be
reduced to private persons; that they should in that condition answer
before parliament to any accusation brought against them; and that if
they were found anywise guilty, they should finally be dispossessed of
their offices, and more able persons be substituted in their place.[*]
By these last regulations, the barons approached as near as they durst
to those restrictions which had formerly been imposed on Henry III. and
Edward II., and which, from the dangerous consequences attending them,
had become so generally odious, that they did not expect to have either
the concurrence of the people in demanding the*n, or the assent of the
present king in granting them.
* 15 Edward III.
In return for these important concessions, the parliament offered the
king a grant of twenty thousand sacks of wool; and his wants were so
urgent from the clamors of his creditors and the demands of his foreign
allies, that he was obliged to accept of the supply on these hard
conditions. He ratified this statute in full parliament: but he secretly
entered a protest of such a nature as was sufficient, one should imagine
to destroy all future trust and confidence with his people; he declared
that, as soon as his convenience permitted, he would, from his own
authority, revoke what had been extorted from him.[*] Accordingly he
was no sooner possessed of the parliamentary supply, than he issued an
edict, which contains many extraordinary positions and pretensions. He
first asserts, that that statute had been enacted contrary to law, as
if a free legislative body could ever do any thing illegal. He next
affirms, that as it was hurtful to the prerogatives of the crown, which
he had sworn to defend, he had only dissembled when he seemed to ratify
it, but that he had never in his own breast given his assent to it. He
does not pretend that either he or the parliament lay under force; but
only that some inconvenience would have ensued, had he not seemingly
affixed his sanction to that pretended statute. He therefore, with the
advice of his council and of some earls and barons, abrogates and annuls
it; and though he professes himself willing and determined to observe
such articles of it as were formerly law, he declares it to have
thenceforth no force or authority.[**] The parliaments that were
afterwards assembled took no notice of this arbitrary exertion of royal
power, which, by a parity of reason, left all their laws at the mercy
of the king; and, during the course of two years, Edward had so
far reëstablished his influence, and freed himself from his present
necessities, that he then obtained from his parliament a legal repeal
of the obnoxious statute.[***] This transaction certainly contains
remarkable circumstances, which discover the manners and sentiments of
the age; and may prove what inaccurate work might be expected from such
rude hands, when employed in legislation, and in rearing the delicate
fabric of laws and a constitution.
* Statutes at large, 15 Edward III. That this protest of the
king’s was secret appears evidently, since otherwise it
would have been ridiculous in the parliament to have
accepted of his assent: besides, the king owns that he
dissembled, which would not have been the ease had his
protest been public.
** Statutes at large, 15 Edward III.
*** Cotton’s Abridg. p. 38, 39. and saw so little prospect
of success, that he would probably have dropped his claim,
had not a revolution in Brittany opened to him more
promising views, and given his enterprising genius a full
opportunity of displaying itself.
But though Edward had happily recovered his authority at home, which had
been impaired by the events of the French war, he had undergone so many
mortifications from that attempt.
John III., duke of Brittany, had, during some years, found himself
declining through age and infirmities; and having no issue, he was
solicitous to prevent those disorders to which, on the event of his
demise, a disputed succession might expose his subjects. His younger
brother, the count of Penthiev had left only one daughter, whom the duke
deemed his heir; and as his family had inherited the duchy by a female
succession, he thought her title preferable to that of the count of
Mountfort, who, being his brother by a second marriage, was the male
heir of that principality.[*] He accordingly purposed to bestow his
niece in marriage on some person who might be able to defend her rights;
and he cast his eye on Charles of Blois, nephew of the king of France,
by his mother, Margaret of Valois, sister to that monarch. But as he
both loved his subjects and was beloved by them, he determined not to
take this important step without their approbation; and having assembled
the states of Brittany, he represented to them the advantages of that
alliance, and the prospect which it gave of an entire settlement of the
succession. The Bretons willingly concurred in his choice: the marriage
was concluded: all his vassals, and among the rest the count of
Mountfort, swore fealty to Charles and to his consort, as to their
future sovereigns; and every danger of civil commotions seemed to be
obviated, as far as human prudence could provide a remedy against them.
But on the death of this good prince, the ambition of the count of
Mountfort broke through all these regulations, and kindled a war, not
only dangerous to Brittany, but to a great part of Europe. While Charles
of Blois was soliciting at the court of France the investiture of the
duchy, Mountfort was active in acquiring immediate possession of it;
and by force or intrigue he made himself master of Rennes, Nantz, Brest
Hennebonne, and all the most important fortresses, and engaged many
considerable barons to acknowledge his authority.[**] Sensible that
he could expect no favor from Philip, he made a voyage to England, on
pretence of soliciting his claim to the earldom of Richmond, which had
devolved to him by his brother’s death; and there, offering to do homage
to Edward, as king of France, for the duchy of Brittany, he proposed a
strict alliance for the support of their mutual pretensions.
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 64.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 65, 66, 67, 68.
Edward saw immediately the advantages attending this treaty: Mountfort,
an active and valiant prince, closely united to him by interest, opened
at once an entrance into the heart of France, and afforded him much
more flattering views than his allies on the side of Germany and the
Low Countries, who had no sincere attachment to his cause, and whose
progress was also obstructed by those numerous fortifications which had
been raised on that frontier. Robert of Artois was zealous in enforcing
these considerations: the ambitious spirit of Edward was little disposed
to sit down under those repulses which he had received, and which he
thought had so much impaired his reputation; and it required a very
short negotiation to conclude a treaty of alliance between two men,
who, though their pleas with regard to the preference of male or female
succession were directly opposite, were intimately connected by their
immediate interests.[*]
As this treaty was still a secret, Mountfort, on his return, ventured to
appear at Paris, in order to defend his cause before the court of peers;
but observing Philip and his judges to be prepossessed against his
title, and dreading their intentions of arresting him, till he should
restore what he had seized by violence, he suddenly made his escape; and
war immediately commenced between him and Charles of Blois.[**] Philip
sent his eldest son, the duke of Normandy, with a powerful army, to
the assistance of the latter; and Mountfort, unable to keep the field
against his rival, remained in the city of Nantz, where he was besieged.
The city was taken by the treachery of the inhabitants; Mountfort fell
into the hands of his enemies, was conducted as a prisoner to Paris, and
was shut up in the tower of the Louvre.[***]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap, 69.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 70, 71.
*** Froissard, liv. i. chap 73.
{1342.} This event seemed to put an end to the pretensions of the
count of Mountfort; but his affairs were immediately retrieved by an
unexpected incident, which inspired new life and vigor into his party.
Jane of Flanders, countess of Mountfort, the most extraordinary woman
of the age, was roused, by the captivity of her husband, from those
domestic cares to which she had hitherto limited her genius; and she
courageously undertook to support the falling fortunes of her family No
sooner did she receive the fatal intelligence, than she assembled the
inhabitants of Rennes, where she then resided; and carrying her infant
son in her arms, deplored to them the calamity of their sovereign.
She recommended to their care the illustrious orphan, the sole male
remaining of their ancient princes, who had governed them with such
indulgence and lenity, and to whom they had ever professed the most
zealous attachment. She declared herself willing to run all hazards with
them in so just a cause; discovered the resources which still remained
in the alliance of England; and entreated them to make one effort
against a usurper, who, being imposed on them by the arms of France,
would in return make a sacrifice to his protector of the ancient
liberties of Brittany. The audience, moved by the affecting appearance,
and inspirited by the noble conduct of the princess, vowed to live
and die with her in defending the rights of her family: all the other
fortresses of Brittany embraced the same resolution: the countess went
from place to place encouraging the garrisons, providing them with every
thing necessary for subsistence, and concerting the proper plans of
defence; and after she had put the whole province in a good posture,
she shut herself up in Hennebonne, where she waited with impatience the
arrival of those succors which Edward had promised her. Meanwhile she
sent over her son to England, that she might both put him in a place of
safety, and engage the king more strongly, by such a pledge, to embrace
with zeal the interests of her family.
Charles of Blois, anxious to make himself master of so important a
fortress as Hennebonne, and still more to take the countess prisoner,
from whose vigor and capacity all the difficulties to his succession
in Brittany now proceeded, sat down before the place with a great
army, composed of French, Spaniards, Genoese, and some Bretons; and he
conducted the attack with indefatigable industry.[*]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 81.
The defence was no less vigorous: the besiegers were repulsed in every
assault: frequent sallies were made with success by the garrison; and
the countess herself being the most forward in all military operations,
every one was ashamed not to exert himself to the utmost in this
desperate situation. One day, she perceived that the besiegers, entirely
occupied in an attack, had neglected a distant quarter of their camp;
and she immediately sallied forth at the head of a body of two hundred
cavalry, threw them into confusion, did great execution upon them,
and set fire to their tents, baggage, and magazines; but when she was
preparing to return, she found that she was intercepted, and that a
considerable body of the enemy had thrown themselves between her and
the gates. She instantly took her resolution; she ordered her men to
disband, and to make the best of their way by flight to Brest; she met
them at the appointed place of rendezvous, collected another body of
five hundred horse, returned to Hennebonne, broke unexpectedly through
the enemy’s camp, and was received with shouts and acclamations by
the garrison, who, encouraged by this reënforcement, and by so rare an
example of female valor, determined to defend themselves to the last
extremity.
The reiterated attacks, however, of the besiegers had at length made
several breaches in the walls; and it was apprehended that a general
assault, which was every hour expected would overpower the garrison,
diminished in numbers, and extremely weakened with watching and fatigue.
It became necessary to treat of a capitulation; and the bishop of Leon
was already engaged, for that purpose, in a conference with Charles
of Blois, when the countess, who had mounted to a high tower, and was
looking towards the sea with great impatience, descried some sails at
a distance. She immediately exclaimed, “Behold the succors! the
English succors! No capitulation!”[*] This fleet had on board a body of
heavy-armed cavalry, and six thousand archers, whom Edward had prepared
for the relief of Hennebonne, but who had been long detained by contrary
winds. They entered the harbor under the command of Sir Walter Manny,
one of the bravest captains of England: and having inspired fresh
courage into the garrison, immediately sallied forth, beat the besiegers
from all their posts, and obliged them to decamp.
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 81.
But notwithstanding this success, the countess of Mountfort found that
her party, overpowered by numbers, was declining in every quarter;
and she went over to solicit more effectual succors from the king of
England. Edward granted her a considerable reënforcement under Robert of
Artois, who embarked on board a fleet of forty-five ships, and sailed
to Brittany. He was met in his passage by the enemy; an action ensued,
where the countess behaved with her wonted valor, and charged the
enemy sword in hand; but the hostile fleets, after a sharp action, were
separated by a storm, and the English arrived safely in Brittany. The
first exploit of Robert was the taking of Vannes, which he mastered
by conduct and address;[*] but he survived a very little time this
prosperity. The Breton noblemen of the party of Charles assembled
secretly in arms, attacked Vannes of a sudden, and carried the place;
chiefly by reason of a wound received by Robert, of which he soon after
died at sea, on his return to England.[**]
After the death of this unfortunate prince, the chief author of all
the calamities with which his country was overwhelmed for more than
a century, Edward undertook in person the defence of the countess of
Mountfort; and as the last truce with France was now expired, the war,
which the English and French had hitherto carried on as allies to the
competitors for Brittany, was thenceforth conducted in the name and
under the standard of the two monarchs. The king landed at Morbian, near
Vannes, with an army of twelve thousand men; and being master of the
field, he endeavored to give a lustre to his arms, by commencing at once
three important sieges, that of Vannes, of Rennes, and of Nantz. But by
undertaking too much, he failed of success in all his enterprises.
Even the siege of Vannes, which Edward in person conducted with vigor,
advanced but slowly;[***] and the French had all the leisure requisite
for making preparations against him.
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 93
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 94
*** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 95.
The duke of Normandy, eldest son of Philip, appeared in Brittany at the
head of an army of thirty thousand infantry and four thousand cavalry;
and Edward was now obliged to draw together all his forces, and to
intrench himself strongly before Vannes, where the duke of Normandy soon
after arrived, and in a manner invested the besiegers. The garrison and
the French camp were plentifully supplied with provisions; while the
English, who durst not make any attempt upon the place in the presence
of a superior army, drew all their subsistence from England, exposed
to the hazards of the sea, and sometimes to those which arose from the
fleet of the enemy.
{1243.} In this dangerous situation, Edward willingly hearkened to
the mediation of the pope’s legates, the cardinals of Palestrine and
Frescati, who endeavored to negotiate, if not a peace, at east a truce,
between the two kingdoms. A treaty was concluded for a cessation of arms
during three years;[*] and Edward had the abilities, notwithstanding
his present dangerous situation, to procure to himself very equal and
honorable terms, It was agreed that Vannes should be sequestered, during
the truce, in the hands of the legates, to be disposed of afterwards as
they pleased; and though Edward knew the partiality of the court of
Rome towards his antagonists, he saved himself by this device from
the dishonor of having undertaken a fruitless enterprise. It was also
stipulated, that all prisoners should be released, that the places in
Brittany should remain in the hands of the present possessors, and
that the allies on both sides should be comprehended in the truce.[**]
Edward, soon after concluding this treaty, embarked with his army for
England.
The truce, though calculated for a long time, was of very short
duration; and each monarch endeavored to throw on the other the blame of
its infraction. Of course the historians of the two countries differ in
their account of the matter. It seems probable, however, as is affirmed
by the French writers, that Edward, in consenting to the truce, had
no other view than to extricate himself from a perilous situation into
which he had fallen, and was afterwards very careless in observing it.
In all the memorials which remain on this subject, he complains chiefly
of the punishment inflicted on Oliver de Clisson, John de Montauban,
and other Breton noblemen, who, he says, were partisans of the family of
Mountfort, and consequently under the protection of England.[***] But it
appears that, at the conclusion of the truce, those noblemen had openly,
by their declarations and actions, embraced the cause of Charles of
Blois;[****] and if they had entered into any secret correspondence and
engagements with Edward, they were traitors to their party, and were
justly punishable by Philip and Charles for their breach of faith; nor
had Edward any ground of complaint against France for such severities.
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 99. Avesbury, p. 102.
** Heming. p. 359.
*** Rymer. vol. v. p. 453, 454, 459, 466, 496. Heming. 376.
**** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 96, p. 100.
{1344.} But when he laid these pretended injuries before the parliament,
whom he affected to consult on all occasions, that assembly entered into
the quarrel, advised the king not to be amused by a fraudulent truce,
and granted him supplies for the renewal of the war: the counties were
charged with a fifteenth for two years, and the boroughs with a tenth.
The clergy consented to give a tenth for three years.
These supplies enabled the king to complete his military preparations;
and he sent his cousin, Henry, earl of Derby, son of the earl of
Lancaster, into Guienne, for the defence of that province.[*] This
prince, the most accomplished in the English court, possessed to a high
degree the virtues of justice and humanity, as well as those of valor
and conduct;[**] and not content with protecting and cherishing the
province committed to his care, he made a successful invasion on the
enemy. He attacked the count of Lisle, the French general, at Bergerac,
beat him from his intrenchments, and took the place. He reduced a great
part of Perigord, and continually advanced in his conquests, till the
count of Lisle, having collected an army of ten or twelve thousand men,
sat down before Auberoche, in hopes of recovering that place, which had
fallen into the hands of the English.
{1345.} The earl of Derby came upon him by surprise with only a thousand
cavalry, threw the French into disorder, pushed his advantage, and
obtained a complete victory. Lisle himself, with many considerable
nobles, was taken prisoner.[***] After this important success, Derby
made a rapid progress in subduing the French provinces. He took
Monsegur, Monpesat, Villefranche, Miremont, and Tonnins, with the
fortress of Damassen. Aiguillon, a fortress deemed impregnable, fell
into his hands from the cowardice of the governor. Angouleme was
surrendered after a short siege. The only place where he met with
considerable resistance, was Reole, which, however, was at last reduced,
after a siege of above nine weeks.[****] He made an attempt on Blaye,
but thought it more prudent to raise the siege than waste his time
before a place of small importance.[*****]
* Froissart, liv. i. chap. 103. Avesbury, p. 121.
** It is reported of this prince, that having once, before
the attack of a town, promised the soldiers the plunder, one
private man happened to fall upon a great chest full of
money, which he immediately brought to the earl as thinking
it too great for himself to keep possession of it. But Derby
told him, that his promise did not depend on the greatness
or smallness of the sum; and ordered him to keep it all for
his own use.
*** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 104.
**** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 110.
***** Froissard, liv. i chap. 112.
{1346.} The reason why Derby was permitted to make, without opposition,
such progress on the side of Guienne, was the difficulties under which
the French finances then labored, and which had obliged Philip to lay on
new impositions, particularly the duty on salt, to the great discontent,
and almost mutiny, of his subjects. But after the court of France was
supplied with money, great preparations were made: and the duke of
Normandy, attended by the duke of Burgundy and other great nobility, led
towards Guienne a powerful army, which the English could not think of
resisting in the open field. The earl of Derby stood on the defensive,
and allowed the French to carry on at leisure the siege of Angouleme,
which was their first enterprise. John Lord Norwich, the governor, after
a brave and vigorous defence, found himself reduced to such extremities
as obliged him to employ a stratagem, in order to save his garrison, and
to prevent his being reduced to surrender at discretion. He appeared on
the walls, and desired a parley with the duke of Normandy. The prince
there told Norwich, that he supposed he intended to capitulate. “Not
at all,” replied the governor: “but as to-morrow is the feast of the
Virgin, to whom I know that you, sir, as well as myself, bear a great
devotion, I desire a cessation of arms for that day.” The proposal was
agreed to; and Norwich, having ordered his forces to prepare all their
baggage, marched out next day, and advanced towards the French camp. The
besiegers, imagining they were to be attacked, ran to their arms; but
Norwich sent a messenger to the duke, reminding him of his engagement.
The duke, who piqued himself on faithfully keeping his word exclaimed,
“I see the governor has outwitted me: but let us be content with gaining
the place.” And the English were allowed to pass through the camp
unmolested.[*] After some other successes, the duke of Normandy laid
siege to Aiguillon; and as the natural strength of the fortress,
together with a brave garrison under the command of the earl of Pembroke
and Sir Walter Manny, rendered it impossible to take the place by
assault, he purposed, after making several fruitless attacks,[**] to
reduce it by famine: but before he could finish this enterprise, he
was called to another quarter of the kingdom by one of the greatest
disasters that ever befell the French monarchy.[***]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 120.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 121.
*** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 134.
Edward, informed by the earl of Derby of the great danger to which
Guienne was exposed, had prepared a force with which he intended in
person to bring it relief. He embarked at Southampton on board a fleet
of near a thousand sail of all dimensions; and carried with him, besides
all the chief nobility of England, his eldest son, the prince of Wales,
now fifteen years of age. The winds proved long contrary;[*] and the
king, in despair of arriving in time at Guienne, was at last persuaded,
by Geoffrey d’Harcourt, to change the destination of his enterprise.
This nobleman was a Norman by birth, had long made a considerable figure
in the court of France, and was generally esteemed for his personal
merit and his valor; but being disobliged and persecuted by Philip, he
had fled into England; had recommended himself to Edward, who was an
excellent judge of men; and had succeeded to Robert of Artois in the
invidious office of exciting and assisting the king in every enterprise
against his native country. He had long insisted, that an expedition to
Normandy promised, in the present circumstances, more favorable success
than one to Guienne; that Edward would find the northern provinces
almost destitute of military force, which had been drawn to the south;
that they were full of flourishing cities, whose plunder would enrich
the English; that their cultivated fields, as yet unspoiled by war,
would supply them with plenty of provisions; and that the neighborhood
of the capital rendered every event of importance in those quarters.[**]
These reasons, which had not before been duly weighed by Edward, began
to make more impression after the disappointments which he had met with
in his voyage to Guienne: he ordered his fleet to sail to Normandy, and
safely disembarked his army at La Hogue.
* Avesbury, p. 123.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 121.
This army, which, during the course of the ensuing campaign, was crowned
with the most splendid success, consisted of four thousand men at arms,
ten thousand archers, ten thousand Welsh infantry, and six thousand
Irish. The Welsh and the Irish were light, disorderly troops, fitter
for doing execution in a pursuit, or scouring the country, than for any
stable action. The bow was always esteemed a frivolous weapon, where
true military discipline was known, and regular bodies of well-armed
foot maintained. The only solid force in this army were the men at arms;
and even these, being cavalry, were on that account much inferior in
the shock of battle to good infantry: and as the whole were new-levied
troops, we are led to entertain a very mean idea of the military
force of those ages, which, being ignorant of every other art, had not
properly cultivated the art of war itself, the sole object of general
attention.
The king created the earl of Arundel constable of his army and the earls
of Warwick and Harcourt mareschals: he bestowed the honor of knighthood
on the prince of Wales and several of the young nobility, immediately
upon his landing. After destroying all the ships in La Hogue, Barfleur,
and Cherbourg, he spread his army over the whole country, and gave them
an unbounded license of burning, spoiling, and plundering every place of
which they became masters. The loose discipline then prevalent could
not be much hurt by these disorderly practices; and Edward took care to
prevent any surprise, by giving orders to his troops, however they might
disperse themselves in the day-time, always to quarter themselves at
night near the main body. In this manner, Montebourg, Carentan, St.
Lo, Valognes, and other places in the Cotentin, were pillaged
without resistance; and a universal consternation was spread over the
province.[*]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 122.
The intelligence of this unexpected invasion soon reached Paris, and
threw Philip into great perplexity. He issued orders, however, for
levying forces in all quarters, and despatched the count of Eu,
constable of France, and the count of Tancarville, with a body of
troops, to the defence of Caen, a populous and commercial but open city,
which lay in the neighborhood of the English army. The temptation of so
rich a prize soon allured Edward to approach it; and the inhabitants,
encouraged by their numbers, and by the reënforcements which they daily
received from the country, ventured to meet him in the field. But their
courage failed them on the first shock: they fled with precipitation:
the counts of Eu and Tancarville were taken prisoners: the victors
entered the city along with the vanquished, and a furious massacre
commenced, without distinction of age, sex, or condition. The citizens,
in despair, barricaded their and assaulted the English with stones,
bricks, and every missile weapon: the English made way by fire to the
destruction of the citizens; till Edward, anxious to save both his
spoil and his soldiers, stopped the massacre; and having obliged the
inhabitants to lay down their arms, gave his troops license to begin
a more regular and less hazardous plunder of the city. The pillage
continued for three days: the king reserved for his own share the
jewels, plate, silks, fine cloth, and fine linen; and he bestowed all
the remainder of the spoil on his army. The whole was embarked on board
the ships, and sent over to England, together with three hundred of the
richest citizens of Caen, whose ransom was an additional profit, which
he expected afterwards to levy.[*] This dismal scene passed in the
presence of two cardinal legates, who had come to negotiate a peace
between the kingdoms.
The king moved next to Rouen, in hopes of treating that city in the
same manner; but found that the bridge over the Seine was already broken
down, and that the king of France himself was arrived there with his
army. He marched along the banks of that river towards Paris, destroying
the whole country, and every town and village which he met with on his
road.[**] Some of his light troops carried their ravages even to the
gates of Paris; and the royal palace of St. Germains, together with
Nanterre, Ruelle, and other villages, was reduced to ashes within sight
of the capital.
* Froissord, liv. i. chap. 124.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 125.
The English intended to pass the river at Poissy, but found the French
army encamped on the opposite banks, and the bridge at that place, as
well as all others over the Seine, broken down by orders from Philip.
Edward now saw that the French meant to enclose him in their country, in
hopes of attacking him with advantage on all sides: but he saved himself
by a stratagem from this perilous situation. He gave his army orders to
dislodge, and to advance farther up the Seine; but immediately returning
by the same road, he arrived at Poissy, which the enemy had already
quitted, in order to attend his motions. He repaired the bridge with
incredible celerity, passed over his army, and having thus disengaged
himself from the enemy, advanced by quick marches towards Flanders. His
vanguard, commanded by Harcourt, met with the townsmen of Amiens, who
were hastening to reënforce their king, and defeated them with great
slaughter;[*] he passed by Beauvais, and burned the suburbs of that
city: but as he approached the Somme, he found himself in the same
difficulty as before; all the bridges on that river were either broken
down or strongly guarded: an army, under the command of Godemar de Faye,
was stationed on the opposite banks: Philip was advancing on him from
the other quarter, with an army of a hundred thousand men; and he was
thus exposed to the danger of being enclosed, and of starving in an
enemy’s country. In this extremity, he published a reward to any one
that should bring him intelligence of a passage over the Somme. A
peasant, called Gobin Agace, whose name has been preserved by the
share which he had in these important transactions, was tempted on this
occasion to betray the interests of his country; and he informed Edward
of a ford below Abbeville, which had a sound bottom, and might be passed
without difficulty at low water.[**] The king hastened thither, but
found Godemar de Faye on the opposite banks. Being urged by necessity,
he deliberated not a moment; but threw himself into the river, sword in
hand, at the head of his troops; drove the enemy from their station;
and pursued them to a distance on the plain.[***] The French army under
Philip arrived at the ford, when the rearguard of the English were
passing: so narrow was the escape which Edward, by his prudence and
celerity, made from this danger! The rising of the tide prevented the
French king from following him over the ford, and obliged that prince
to take his route over the bridge at Abbeville; by which some time was
lost.
* Froissard, liv, i. chap. 125.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 126,127
*** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 127.
It is natural to think that Philip, at the head of so vast an army, was
impatient to take revenge on the English, and to prevent the disgrace to
which he must be exposed if an inferior enemy should be allowed, after
ravaging so great a part of his kingdom, to escape with impunity. Edward
also was sensible that such must be the object of the French monarch;
and as he had advanced but a little way before his enemy, he saw the
danger of precipitating his march over the plains of Picardy, and of
exposing his rear to the insults of the numerous cavalry in which the
French camp abounded. He took, therefore, a prudent resolution: he chose
his ground with advantage near the village of Crecy; he disposed his
army in excellent older; he determined to await in tranquillity the
arrival of the enemy; and he hoped that their eagerness to engage, and
to prevent his retreat, after all their past disappointments would hurry
them on to some rash and ill-concerted action. He drew up his army on
a gentle ascent, and divided them into three lines: the first was
commanded by the prince of Wales, and under him by the earls of Warwick
and Oxford, by Harcourt, and by the lords Chandos, Holland, and
other noblemen: the earls of Arundel and Northampton, with the lords
Willoughby, Basset, Roos, and Sir Lewis Tufton, were at the head of the
second line: he took to himself the command of the third division, by
which he purposed either to bring succor to the two first lines, or to
secure a retreat in case of any misfortune, or to push his advantages
against the enemy. He had likewise the precaution to throw up trenches
on his flanks, in order to secure himself from the numerous bodies of
the French who might assail him from that quarter; and he placed all
his baggage behind him in a wood, which he also secured by an
intrenchment.[*]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 128.
The skill and order of this disposition, with the tranquillity in which
it was made, served extremely to compose the minds of the soldiers; and
the king, that he might further inspirit them, rode through the ranks
with such an air of cheerfulness and alacrity, as conveyed the highest
confidence into every beholder. He pointed out to them the necessity
to which they were reduced, and the certain and inevitable destruction
which awaited them, if, in their present situation, enclosed on all
hands in an enemy’s country, they trusted to any thing but their own
valor, or gave that enemy an opportunity of taking revenge for the many
insults and indignities which they had of late put upon him. He reminded
them of the visible ascendant which they had hitherto maintained over
all the bodies of French troops that had fallen in their way; and
assured them, that the superior numbers of the army which at present
hovered over them, gave them not greater force, but was an advantage
easily compensated by the order in which he had placed his own army,
and the resolution which he expected from them. He demanded nothing,
he said, but that they would imitate his own example, and that of the
prince of Wales: and as the honor, the lives, the liberties of all, were
now exposed to the same danger, he was confident that they would make
one common effort to extricate themselves from the present difficulties,
and that their united courage would give them the victory over all their
enemies.
It is related by some historians,[*] that Edward, besides the resources
which he found in his own genius and presence of mind, employed also a
new invention against the enemy, and placed in his front some pieces
of artillery, the first that had yet been made use of on any remarkable
occasion in Europe. This is the epoch of one of the most singular
discoveries that has been made among men; a discovery which changed by
degrees the whole art of war, and by consequence many circumstances in
the political government of Europe. But the ignorance of that age in the
mechanical arts, rendered the progress of this new invention very
slow. The artillery first framed were so clumsy, and of such difficult
management, that men were not immediately sensible of their use
and efficacy and even to the present times improvements have been
continually making on this furious engine, which, though it seemed
contrived for the destruction of mankind, and the overthrow of empires,
has in the issue rendered battles less bloody, and has given greater
stability to civil societies. Nations, by its means, have been brought
more to a level: conquests have become less frequent and rapid: success
in war has been reduced nearly to be a matter of calculation: and any
nation, overmatched by its enemies, either yields to their demands or
secures itself by alliances against their violence and invasion.
The invention of artillery was at this time known in France as well
as in England;[**] but Philip, in his hurry to overtake the enemy, had
probably left his cannon behind him, which he regarded as a useless
encumbrance. All his other movements discovered the same imprudence and
precipitation. Impelled by anger, a dangerous counsellor, and trusting
to the great superiority of his numbers, he thought that all depended on
forcing an engagement with the English; and that if he could once reach
the enemy in their retreat, the victory on his side was certain and
inevitable. He made a hasty march, in some confusion, from Abbeville;
but after he had advanced above two leagues, some gentlemen, whom he had
sent before to take a view of the enemy, returned to him, and brought
him intelligence that they had seen the English drawn up in Bombarda
great order, and awaiting his arrival.
* Jean Villani, lib. xii. cap. 66.
** Du Cange, Glass, in verb.
They therefore devised him to defer the combat till the ensuing day,
when his army would have recovered from their fatigue, and might be
disposed into better order than their present hurry had permitted
them to observe. Philip assented to this counsel; but the former
precipitation of his march, and the impatience of the French nobility,
made it impracticable for him to put it in execution. One division
pressed upon another: orders to stop were not seasonably conveyed to all
of them: this immense body was not governed by sufficient discipline to
be manageable; and the French army, imperfectly formed into three lines,
arrived, already fatigued and disordered, in presence of the enemy. The
first line, consisting of fifteen thousand Genoese cross-bow men, was
commanded by Anthony Doria and Charles Grimaldi: the second was led by
the count of Alençon, brother to the king: the king himself was at the
head of the third. Besides the French monarch, there were no less than
three crowned heads in this engagement; the king of Bohemia, the king of
the Romans, his son, and the king of Majorca; with all the nobility and
great vassals of the crown of France. The army now consisted of above
one hundred and twenty thousand men, more than three times the number of
the enemy. But the prudence of one man was superior to the advantage of
all this force and splendor.
The English, on the approach of the enemy, kept their ranks firm and
immovable; and the Genoese first began the attack. There had happened, a
little before the engagement, a thunder shower, which had moistened and
relaxed the strings of the Genoese cross-bows; their arrows for this
reason fell short of the enemy. The English archers, taking their bows
out of their cases, poured in a shower of arrows upon this multitude
who were opposed to them, and soon threw them into disorder. The Genoese
fell back upon the heavy-armed cavalry of the count of Alençon;[*] who,
enraged at their cowardice, ordered his troops to put them to the sword.
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 130.
The artillery fired amidst the crowd; the English archers continued to
send in their arrows among them; and nothing was to be seen in that vast
body but hurry and confusion, terror and dismay. The young prince of
Wales had the presence of mind to take advantage of this situation,
and to lead on his line to the charge. The French cavalry, however,
recovering somewhat their order, and encouraged by the example of their
leader, made a stout resistance; and having at last cleared themselves
of the Genoese runaways, advanced upon their enemies, and by their
superior numbers began to hem them round. The earls of Arundel and
Northampton now advanced their line to sustain the prince, who, ardent
in his first feats of arms, set an example of valor which was imitated
by all his followers. The battle became for some time hot and dangerous,
and the earl of Warwick, apprehensive of the event, from the superior
numbers of the French, despatched a messenger to the king, and entreated
him to send succors to the relief of the prince. Edward had chosen his
station on the top of the hill; and he surveyed in tranquillity the
scene of action. When the messenger accosted him, his first question
was, whether the prince were slain or wounded. On receiving an answer in
the negative, “Return,” said he, “to my son, and tell him that I reserve
the honor of the day to him: I am confident that he will show himself
worthy of the honor of knighthood which I so lately conferred upon him:
he will be able, without my assistance, to repel the enemy.” [*] This
speech, being reported to the prince and his attendants, inspired them
with fresh courage: they made an attack with redoubled vigor on the
French, in which the count of Alençon was slain: that whole line of
cavalry was thrown into disorder: the riders were killed or dismounted:
the Welsh infantry rushed into the throng, and with their long knives
cut the throats of all who had fallen; nor was any quarter given that
day by the victors.[**]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 130.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 130.
The king of France advanced in vain with the rear to sustain the line
commanded by his brother: he found them already discomfited; and the
example of their rout increased the confusion which was before but too
prevalent in his own body. He had himself a horse killed under him: he
was remounted; and, though left almost alone, he seemed still determined
to maintain the combat; when John of Hainault seized the reins of his
bridle, turned about his horse, and carried him off the field of battle.
The whole French army took to flight, and was followed and put to the
sword without mercy by the enemy, till the darkness of the night put an
end to the pursuit. The king, on his return to the camp, flew into the
arms of the prince of Wales, and exclaimed, “My brave son persevere in
your honorable course: you are my son! for valiantly have you acquitted
yourself to-day: you have shown yourself worthy of empire.” [*]
This battle, which is known by the name of the battle of Crecy, began
after three o’clock in the afternoon, and continued till evening. The
next morning was foggy; and as the English observed that many of the
enemy had lost their way in the night and in the mist, they employed a
stratagem to bring them into their power: they erected on the eminences
some French standards which they had taken in the battle, and all who
were allured by this false signal were put to the sword, and no quarter
given them. In excuse for this inhumanity, it was alleged that the
French king had given like orders to his troops; but the real reason
probably was, that the English, in their present situation, did not
choose to be encumbered with prisoners. On the day of battle, and on the
ensuing, there fell, by a moderate computation, one thousand two hundred
French knights, one thousand four hundred gentlemen, four thousand men
at arms, besides about thirty thousand of inferior rank:[**] many of
the principal nobility of France, the dukes of Lorraine and Bourbon, the
earls of Flanders, Blois, Vaudemont, Aumale, were left on the field of
battle. The kings also of Bohemia and Majorca were slain: the fate of
the former was remarkable: he was blind from age; but being resolved to
hazard his person, and set an example to others, he ordered the reins of
his bridle to be tied on each side to the horses of two gentlemen of his
train; and his dead body, and those of his attendants, were afterwards
found among the slain, with their horses standing by them in that
situation.[***] His crest was three ostrich feathers; and his motto
these German words, Ich dien,--“I serve;” which the prince of Wales and
his successors adopted in memorial of this great victory. The action
may seem no less remarkable for the small loss sustained by the English,
than for the great slaughter of the French: there were killed in it only
one esquire and three knights,[****] and very few of inferior rank; a
demonstration that the prudent disposition planned by Edward, and the
disorderly attack made by the French, had rendered the whole rather a
rout than a battle, which was indeed the common case with engagements in
those times.
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 131.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 131. Knyghton, p. 2588.
*** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 130. Walsing. p. 166.
**** Knyghton, p. 2588.
The great prudence of Edward appeared not only in obtaining this
memorable victory, but in the measures which he pursued after it. Not
elated by his present prosperity so far as to expect the total conquest
of France, or even that of any considerable provinces, he purposed only
to secure such an easy entrance into that kingdom, as might afterwards
open the way to more moderate advantages. He knew the extreme distance
of Guienne: he had experienced the difficulty and uncertainty of
penetrating on the side of the Low Countries, and had already lost much
of his authority over Flanders by the death of D’Arteville, who had
been murdered by the populace themselves, his former partisans, on his
attempting to transfer the sovereignty of that province to the prince of
Wales.[*] The king, therefore, limited his ambition to the conquest
of Calais; and after the interval of a few days, which he employed in
interring the slain, he marched with his victorious army, and presented
himself before the place.
John of Vienne, a valiant knight of Burgundy, was governor of Calais,
and being supplied with every thing necessary for defence, he encouraged
the townsmen to perform to the utmost their duty to their king and
country. Edward, therefore, sensible from the beginning that it was
in vain to attempt the place by force, purposed only to reduce it by
famine; he chose a secure station for his camp; drew intrenchments
around the whole city; raised huts for his soldiers, which he covered
with straw or broom; and provided his army with all the conveniences
necessary to make them endure the winter season, which was approaching.
As the governor soon perceived his intentions, he expelled all the
useless mouths; and the king had the generosity to allow these unhappy
people to pass through his camp, and he even supplied them with money
for their journey.[**]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 116.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 133.
While Edward was engaged in this siege, which employed him near a
twelvemonth, there passed in different places many other events: and all
to the honor of the English arms.
The retreat of the duke of Normandy from Guienne left the earl of Derby
master of the field; and he was not negligent in making his advantage of
the superiority. He took Mirebeau by assault: he made himself master of
Lusignan in the same manner: Taillebourg and St. Jean d’Angeli fell into
his hands: Poictiers opened its gates to him; and Derby, having thus
broken into the frontiers on that quarter, carried his incursions to the
banks of the Loire, and filled all the southern provinces of France with
horror and devastation.[*]
The flames of war were at the same time kindled in Brittany. Charles of
Blois invaded that province with a considerable army, and invested the
fortress of Roche de Rien; but the countess of Mountfort, reënforced by
some English troops under Sir Thomas Dagworth, attacked him during the
night in his intrenchments, dispersed his army, and took Charles himself
prisoner.[**] His wife, by whom he enjoyed his pretensions to Brittany,
compelled by the present necessity, took on her the government of the
party, and proved herself a rival in every shape, and an antagonist to
the countess of Mountfort, both in the field and in the cabinet. And
while these heroic dames presented this extraordinary scene to the
world, another princess in England, of still higher rank, showed herself
no less capable of exerting every manly virtue.
The Scottish nation, after long defending, with incredible perseverance,
their liberties against the superior force of the English, recalled
their king, David Bruce, in 1342. Though that prince, neither by his
age nor capacity, could bring them great assistance, he gave them
the countenance of sovereign authority; and as Edward’s wars on the
continent proved a great diversion to the force of England, they
rendered the balance more equal between the kingdoms. In every
truce which Edward concluded with Philip, the king of Scotland was
comprehended; and when Edward made his last invasion upon France, David
was strongly solicited by his ally to begin also hostilities, and to
invade the northern counties of England. The nobility of his nation
being always forward in such incursions, David soon mustered a great
army, entered Northumberland at the head of above fifty thousand men,
and carried his ravages and devastations to the gates of Durham.[***]
But Queen Philippa, assembling a body of little more than twelve
thousand men,[****] which she intrusted to the command of Lord Piercy,
ventured to approach him at Neville’s Cross near that city; and riding
through the ranks of her army, exhorted every man to do his duty, and to
take revenge on these barbarous ravagers.[*****]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 136.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 143. Walsing, p. 168. Ypod.
Neust p. 517, 518.
*** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 137.
**** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 138.
***** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 138.
Nor could she be persuaded to leave the field, till the armies were
on the point of engaging. The Scots have often been unfortunate in the
great pitched battles which they fought with the English; even though
they commonly declined such engagements where the superiority of numbers
was not on their side: but never did they receive a more fatal blow than
the present. They were broken and chased off the field: fifteen thousand
of them (some historians say twenty thousand) were slain; among whom
were Edward Keith, earl mareschal, and Sir Thomas Charteris, chancellor:
and the king himself was taken prisoner, with the earls of Sutherland,
Fife, Monteith, Carrick, Lord Douglas, and many other noblemen.[*]
Philippa, having secured her royal prisoner in the Tower,[**] crossed
the sea at Dover; and was received in the English camp before Calais
with all the triumph due to her rank, her merit, and her success. This
age was the reign of chivalry and gallantry: Edward’s court excelled in
these accomplishments as much as in policy and arms: and if any thing
could justify the obsequious devotion then professed to the fair sex, it
must be the appearance of such extraordinary women as shone forth during
that period.
[Illustration: 1_223_calais.jpg CALAIS]
{1347.} The town of Calais had been defended with remarkable vigilance,
constancy, and bravery by the townsmen, during a siege of unusual
length: but Philip, informed of their distressed condition, determined
at last to attempt their relief; and he approached the English with an
immense army, which the writers of that age make amount to two hundred
thousand men. But he found Edward so surrounded with morasses,
and secured by intrenchments, that, without running on inevitable
destruction, he concluded it impossible to make an attempt on the
English camp. He had no other resource than to send his rival a vain
challenge to meet him in the open field; which being refused, he was
obliged to decamp with his army, and disperse them into their several
provinces.[***]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 139.
** Rymer, vol. v. p. 537.
*** Froissard, liv. i chap. 144, 145.
John of Vienne, governor of Calais, now saw the necessity of
surrendering his fortress, which was reduced to the last extremity by
famine and the fatigue of the inhabitants. He appeared on the walls,
and made a signal to the English sentinels that he desired a parley.
Sir Walter Manny was sent to him by Edward. “Brave knight,” cried the
governor “I have been intrusted by my sovereign with the command of this
town: it is almost a year since you besieged me; and I have endeavored,
as well as those under me, to do our duty. But you are acquainted with
our present condition: we have no hopes of relief; we are perishing with
hunger; I am willing therefore to surrender, and desire, as the sole
condition, to insure the lives and liberties of these brave men, who
have so long shared with me every danger and fatigue.” [*]
Manny replied, that he was well acquainted with the intentions of the
king of England; that that prince was incensed against the townsmen of
Calais for their pertinacious resistance, and for the evils which they
had made him and his subjects suffer; that he was determined to take
exemplary vengeance on them; and would not receive the town on any
condition which should confine him in the punishment of these offenders.
“Consider,” replied Vienne, “that this is not the treatment to which
brave men are entitled: if any English knight had been in my situation,
your king would have expected the same conduct from him. The inhabitants
of Calais have done for their sovereign what merits the esteem of every
prince; much more of so gallant a prince as Edward. But I inform you,
that, if we must perish, we shall not perish unrevenged; and that we
are not yet so reduced but we can sell our lives at a high price to the
victors. It is the interest of both sides to prevent these desperate
extremities; and I expect that you yourself, brave knight, will
interpose your good offices with your prince in our behalf.”
Manny was struck with the justness of these sentiments, and represented
to the king the danger of reprisals, if he should give such treatment to
the inhabitants of Calais. Edward was at last persuaded to mitigate the
rigor of the conditions demanded: he only insisted, that six of the
most considerable citizens should be sent to him to be disposed of as he
thought proper; that they should come to his camp carrying the keys of
the city in their hands, bareheaded and barefooted, with ropes about
their necks: and on these conditions he promised to spare the lives of
all the remainder.[**]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 146.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 146.
When this intelligence was conveyed to Calais, it struck the inhabitants
with new consternation. To sacrifice six of their fellow-citizens to
certain destruction for signalizing their valor in a common cause,
appeared to them even more severe than that general punishment with
which they were before threatened; and they found themselves incapable
of coming to any resolution in so cruel and distressful a situation. At
last, one of the principal inhabitants, called Eustace de St. Pierre,
whose name deserves to be recorded, stepped forth, and declared himself
willing to encounter death for the safety of his friends and companions:
another, animated by his example, made a like generous offer: a third
and a fourth presented themselves to the same fate; and the whole number
was soon completed. These six heroic burgesses appeared before Edward in
the guise of malefactors, laid at his feet the keys of their city, and
were ordered to be led to execution. It is surprising that so generous
a prince should ever have entertained such a barbarous purpose against
such men; and still more that he should seriously persist in the
resolution of executing it.[*] [7] But the entreaties of his queen saved
his memory from that infamy: she threw herself on her knees before him,
and with tears in her eyes begged the lives of these citizens. Having
obtained her request, she carried them into her tent, ordered a repast
to be set before them, and, after making them a present of money and
clothes, dismissed them in safety.[**]
* See note G, at the end of the volume.
** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 146.
The king took possession of Calais; and immediately executed an act of
rigor, more justifiable, because more necessary, than that which he had
before resolved on. He knew that notwithstanding his pretended title to
the crown of France, every Frenchman regarded him as a mortal enemy: he
therefore ordered all the inhabitants of Calais to evacuate the town,
and he peopled it anew with English; a policy which probably preserved
so long to his successors the dominion of that important fortress. He
made it the staple of wool, leather, tin, and lead; the four chief,
if not the sole commodities of the kingdom, for which there was any
considerable demand in foreign markets. All the English were obliged to
bring thither these goods: foreign merchants came to the same place in
order to purchase them: and at a period when posts were not established,
and when the communication between states was so imperfect, this
institution, though it hurt the navigation of England, was probably of
advantage to the kingdom.
{1348.} Through the mediation of the pope’s legates, Edward concluded a
truce with France; but even during this cessation of arms, he had very
nearly lost Calais, the sole fruit of all his boasted victories. The
king had intrusted that place to Aimery de Pavie, an Italian, who had
discovered bravery and conduct in the wars, but was utterly destitute
of every principle of honor and fidelity. This man agreed to deliver up
Calais for the sum of twenty thousand crowns; and Geoffrey de Charni,
who commanded the French forces in those quarters, and who knew that,
if he succeeded in this service, he should not be disavowed, ventured,
without consulting his master, to conclude the bargain with him. Edward,
informed of this treachery, by means of Aimery’s secretary, summoned the
governor to London on other pretences; and having charged him with the
guilt, promised him his life, but on condition that he would turn the
contrivance to the destruction of the enemy. The Italian easily agreed
to this double treachery. A day was appointed for the admission of the
French; and Edward having prepared a force of about a thousand men,
under Sir Walter Manny, secretly departed from London, carrying with him
the prince of Wales; and, without being suspected, arrived the evening
before at Calais. He made a proper disposition for the reception of
the enemy, and kept all his forces and the garrison under arms. On the
appearance of Charni, a chosen band of French soldiers was admitted at
the postern, and Aimery, receiving the stipulated sum, promised that,
with their assistance, he would immediately open the great gate to
the troops, who were waiting with impatience for the fulfilling of his
engagement.
{1349.} All the French who entered were immediately slain or taken
prisoners: the great gate opened: Edward rushed forth with cries of
battle and of victory: the French, though astonished at the event,
behaved with valor: a fierce and bloody engagement ensued. As the
morning broke, the king, who was not distinguished by his arms, and who
fought as a private man under the standard of Sir Walter Manny, remarked
a French gentleman, called Eustace de Ribaumont, who exerted himself
with singular vigor and bravery; and he was seized with a desire of
trying a single combat with him. He stepped forth from his troop and
challenging Ribaumont by name, (for he was known to him,) began a sharp
and dangerous encounter. He was twice beaten to the ground by the valor
of the Frenchman: he twice recovered himself: blows were redoubled
with equal force on both sides: the victory was long undecided; till
Ribaumont, perceiving himself to be left almost alone, called out to his
antagonist, “Sir Knight, I yield myself your prisoner;” and at the
same time delivered his sword to the king. Most of the French, being
overpowered by numbers, and intercepted in their retreat, lost either
their lives or their liberty.[*]
* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 140, 141, 142.
The French officers who had fallen into the hands of the English, were
conducted into Calais; where Edward discovered to them the antagonist
with whom they had had the honor to be engaged, and treated them with
great regard and courtesy. They were admitted to sup with the prince of
Wales and the English nobility; and after supper, the king himself came
into the apartment, and went about, conversing familiarly with one or
other of his prisoners. He even addressed himself to Charni, and avoided
reproaching him, in too severe terms, with the treacherous attempt which
he had made upon Calais during the truce: but he openly bestowed the
highest encomiums on Ribaumont; called him the most valorous knight that
he had ever been acquainted with; and confessed that he himself had at
no time been in so great danger as when engaged in combat with him.
He then took a string of pearls, which he wore about his own head, and
throwing it over the head of Ribaumont, he said to him, “Sir Eustace,
I bestow this present upon you as a testimony of my esteem for your
bravery; and I desire you to wear it a year for my sake. I know you to
be gay and amorous; and to take delight in the company of ladies and
damsels: let them all know from what hand you had the present. You
are no longer a prisoner; I acquit you of your ransom; and you are at
liberty to-morrow to dispose of yourself as you think proper.”
Nothing proves more evidently the vast superiority assumed by the
nobility and gentry above all the other orders of men, during those
ages, than the extreme difference which Edward made in his treatment of
these French knights, and that of the six citizens of Calais, who
had exerted more signal bravery in a cause more justifiable and more
honorable.