RENEWAL OF THE WAR
It was not only the King of England whose enmity John of Valois, after
taking possession of the throne of France, had provoked by indulging
his vindictive temper. Hardly had he assumed the symbols of royalty,
when, by neglecting to pay his daughter's dowry, he involved himself
in a bitter quarrel with his son-in-law, whose friendship it was his
interest to cultivate even at some sacrifice of pride.
Now this son-in-law happened to be no less remarkable a personage
than the King of Navarre, who was also Count of Evreux, and who was
known as Charles the Bad; and he at once proved himself a potent and
unscrupulous foe. In fact, when his personal enemy, Charles de la
Cerda, was appointed Constable of France, the King of Navarre showed
his contempt for the authority of the King of France by seizing the
constable at Aigle, and putting him to death; and, when cited before
a Bed of Justice to answer for the crime, he gathered around him the
Norman nobles, who were his friends and partisans, and set the royal
summons at defiance. The quarrel, however, was accommodated, and a
reconciliation took place. But between two such men there could not
be any lasting amity. The King of Navarre was ever thwarting his
father-in-law's government, and John accused his son-in-law of doing
many things contrary to the honour of the crown and the welfare of the
realm. At length John took his kinsman at advantage, and a step which
brought matters to a crisis.
And the occasion was not ill-chosen for his purpose. Charles, the
dauphin, having been invested with the duchy of Normandy, repaired
to Rouen to take possession; and, in the great hall of the castle,
he gave a feast to the King of Navarre, to John, Count of Harcourt,
Navarre's favourite, and to other Norman nobles who were Navarre's
friends. Suddenly, in the midst of the feast, John, who had ridden from
Chartres with his marshal and his armed guards, entered the banqueting
hall, and caused the whole party, with the exception of the dauphin, to
be arrested and shut up in various chambers. Having then sat down at
table, and leisurely dined, he ordered the Count of Harcourt and four
other nobles to be carted to a field behind the castle, and executed
before his eyes. Next day, after placing their heads on a gibbet in
Rouen, he set out for Paris, carrying with him the King of Navarre,
whom he imprisoned in the Louvre.
But it speedily appeared that he had acted rashly. Avengers instantly
sprang up in the person of Philip of Navarre and Godfrey Harcourt.
Philip of Navarre was brother of the incarcerated king, and Count of
Longueville; Godfrey Harcourt was uncle of the beheaded count, and
the same Norman baron who, in 1346, acted as marshal of the English
army, and guided the English to the very gates of Paris. Both of them
immediately entered into an alliance with Edward, acknowledged him as
King of France, and did homage to him as such; and it became evident
that John had drawn on the kingdom, whose destinies he had aspired to
sway, a storm the effects of which were likely to be felt as far and
wide as that which his sire had caused by the murder of the Breton
nobles.
Ere this the truce between England and France was reckoned among the
things of the past. It was in June that the truce expired; but it was
not till the reapers had done their work, and the harvest was gathered
into the barns, that England began to arm for a renewal of the war.
Then, however, no time was lost. Three armies were mustered, and
destined to attack France from different quarters. The first, under the
king, was to land at Calais; the second, under the Prince of Wales,
in Gascony; and the third, under the Earl of Derby, in Normandy, to
co-operate with Philip of Navarre and Godfrey Harcourt.
In the autumn Edward landed with his force at Calais, having taken
with him his two sons, Lionel of Antwerp and John of Gaunt, that they
might see something of real war. But in this the young princes were
disappointed. The king, indeed, marched twenty-two leagues into the
country; and, reaching Hesdin, a strong town in Artois, he destroyed
the outworks. But no enemy appeared to give him battle; and, finding
that the country was wasted, and that an army could not be subsisted
in its march, he was fain to return to Calais, and soon after found it
prudent to abandon the idea of operations, and embark for England.
More fortunate than the king's expedition, but, like his, without
glory, was that of the Prince of Wales. It was the month of October
when the young hero landed in Gascony and raised his banner. Advancing
as far as Toulouse, he there crossed the Garonne, and threw his army
upon Languedoc. His enterprise was perilous; for the King of France
had sent thither the Count of Armagnac with a force much superior in
number; but the prince, far from being daunted by the intelligence,
pushed on the more boldly, attacked Carcassonne, marched on to
Narbonne, and, over-running the country without his foes showing their
faces, returned to Bordeaux with much plunder and a host of prisoners.
Hardly had France recovered from the alarm created by the landing of
the King and the Prince of Wales when the Earl of Derby debarked his
fighting men on the coast of Normandy, and, entering the country of
Coutantin, commenced operations in conjunction with Philip of Navarre
and Godfrey Harcourt. At first the English earl and the Norman lords
carried everything before them, taking towns and castles as they went.
But their force did not exceed four thousand men; and when John,
raising a large body of men-at-arms and infantry, came to the rescue
of his adherents, the Earl of Derby, who was then at Verneuil, found
it prudent to depart from that place, and, passing Aigle, made for
Tuboeuf.
Meanwhile, John, hurrying through Condé, marched straight to Verneuil,
and followed the earl to Tuboeuf. But there he halted, and, being
informed that he could not, with advantage, pursue farther, as there
were immense forests, in which the English and their allies could find
refuge, he turned back, and, after taking all the towns and castles
in Lower Normandy which belonged to the King of Navarre as Count of
Evreux, he returned to Paris, congratulating himself on the success of
his expedition. But, meantime, John's enemies were preparing for fresh
enterprises; and he, ere long, received intelligence which kindled his
ire.
"Sire," said a French knight, whose appearance proved the speed with
which he had been riding, "I bring you tidings of your enemies."
"Ah!" exclaimed John eagerly. "Where are they?"
"It is of the young Prince of Wales I would speak, sire," continued
the knight, who, knowing his master's fiery temper, was not without
apprehension as to the effect which his communication might produce.
"Well, the young Prince of Wales," said John--"what of him?"
"Sire," replied the knight, hesitating no longer, "the Prince of Wales
has left Bordeaux, and his army is fast advancing towards the fertile
country of Berry."
"Berry!" cried John, stamping with rage. "By God and St. Denis! I will
make him rue his audacity. I will go against him without a day's delay;
and woe to him; for I swear, by all the saints, to give him battle
whenever and wherever I can find him."