of St. Pol, of Tancarville, and a numerous body of barons, knights, esquires, men-at-armis and archers, to the number of six hundred lances, and archers in proportion. The king lay the first night at St. Pierre-sur-Dive *, on the morrow at Argentan, and on the third day he came to dinner in the suburbs of Vaucelles t; after which, he instantly crossed the river by the new bridge, and was lodged at an abbey called Dardenne, where he remained during the whole siege, except one night that he passed in the abbey of La Trinité, wherein were quartered the king of Sicily, the duke of Calabria, and other lords, to the amount of a thousand lances. The king had with him twelve thousand archers on horseback, one thousand guisarmes, and armour-bearers mounted also, and two hundred franc-archers on foot, of whom the greater part were quartered in the villages round. The siege was pushed forward with the greatest diligence on the arrival of the king, and trenches were made round the town, in which every person individually exerted himself. The count de Dunois made an attack on the outworks of Vaucelles, on the river Divet, which were valorously defended; but after many gallant deeds on both sides, they were gained by the French, and numbers of the English slain, wounded, and taken, to the great dismay of their companions. From all the quarters of the French, deep mines were made even unto the ditches of the town, more particularly from the constable's quarters, which advanced under St. Stephen's, so that all the wall above fell to the ground, and the French and English could there engage hand to hand. The English, perceiving the near approach of the enemy, were CASTLE OF CAEN. THE KEEP. From Jolimont's Description Historique et Critique, et Vues des Monuments Religieux et Civils les plus remarquables du Departement du Calvados. fearful of being taken by storm, and demanded to capitulate. The king of France, moved by compassion and pity, after the example of our Lord, who desires not the death of sinners, but would rather that they would turn to their God, and considering what a loss the destruction of so fine a town would be, and the miseries that would ensue from pillaging *St. Pierre-sur-Dive,-a market-town near Trouard in Normandy. + Vancelles,-a village in Normandy, near Bayeux. The Dive separates the bishoprics of Lisieux and Bayeux, and loses itself in the Channel. the churches, violating women and damsels, and desirous also of sparing a further effusion of human blood, consented to their request, and agreed that the place should be surrendered on capitulation. In truth, the town might have easily been taken by storm, as there were many practicable breaches; but the English might have retired into the castle, and have held out for a considerable time, if they had had the courage so to do, although in the end they must have yielded to the numerous chivalry then before it. To show that the castle was tenable to those who have never seen it, I must say that it is the strongest in all Normandy, fortified with high and great bulwarks of a very hard stone, situated on a rock, and containing in extent as much as the whole town of Corbeil. It has a very strong keep, consisting of a large and high square tower, surrounded by four massy ones from the foot of the ditch to the level of the ground, the whole strengthened by a high wall all round, with towers at proper distances, and a very deep ditch cut out of the solid rock. In this castle were lodged the duke of Somerset, his lady and children, and in the town were quartered sir Robert Vere, brother to the earl of Oxford, sir Henry Radford, and others, who commanded, under the duke of Somerset,* four thousand English as the garrison of Caen. In regard to the capitulation, several conferences were held between the English and French. On the part of the king, the count de Dunois, the seneschal of Poitou, the lord John Bureau, treasurer of France, acted as commissioners ;-for the English, sir Richard Herisson, bailiff of Caen, Robert Parges, and some others;-for the inhabitants, Eustace Gaingnet, lieutenant, to the said bailiff, and the abbot of St. Stephen's,-each alleging various articles, and supporting them by their arguments. After much discussion, a treaty was concluded on the morrow of the feast of St. John Baptist, when the English promised to deliver up to the king of France the said town, castle and keep, on the first day of July next ensuing, unless they should combat and conquer the said king on or before that day, and on condition that the duke of Somerset, his lady and children, and the other English who should wish to depart with them, should be allowed so to do, and to carry away with them all their effects and furniture without molestation or hinderance. They were also to take with them their horses and armour; and for the transport of these articles, they were to be provided with vessels to convey them to England, and to no other part, on their paying the expenses provided, however, that the English gave up all their prisoners, and acquitted themselves of debt to the inhabitants of Caen, churchmen and others, without carrying away any thing belonging to them. They were also to leave behind their large and small artillery, with the exception of bows, cross-bows, and hand culverines. For the due observance of this treaty, the English delivered twelve of their countrymen, two knights of Normandy and four of the principal inhabitants, as hostages. As no succours arrived on the first day of July, the town, castle, and keep were surrendered. The aforesaid bailiff carried the keys of the keep to the French camp, and delivered them into the hands of the constable, in the presence of the count de Dunois, lieutenant-general, who immediately gave them to the count, as governor of the town and castle for the king of France. The new governor remained in the field, to see that the English took the straight road to Estrehamt; but soon after their departure, accompanied by the marshal de Jalognes, preceded by two hundred archers on foot, the king's trumpets and heralds, and having in his rear three equerries of the stables, bearing the royal banners, and the whole closed by one hundred men at arms on foot, he entered the town by the keep of the castle, and had the banners display ed from the keep and gates. Edmund Beaufort, younger brother of John duke of Somerset, (who died in 1444, leaving no male issue), was in 1431 made earl of Mortaigne, (under which title he is named in some preceding parts of this history), earl of Dorset in 1442, marquis of Dorset the year following, and duke of Somerset in 1448. He was the great support of the Lancastrian party, and was beheaded after the fatal battle of Hexham, in 1463. + Estreham, at the mouth of the Orne, four leagues from Caen. * CHAPTER XXXII. — THE KING OF FRANCE MAKES HIS ENTRY INTO CAEN, AND IS NOBLY OBEDIENCE. : DOMFRONT IS POTON DE SAINTRAILLES REDUCED ΤΟ THE KING'S On the 6th day of July, the king of France left the abbey of Dardenne to make his entry into Caen, attended by all his nobles who had been at the siege, magnificently dressed, excepting his lieutenant-general and the marshal de Jalognes, who were already in the town. He was preceded by his two hundred archers, heralds, and trumpets; and when he was near the gates the count de Dunois came out to meet him, followed by crowds of the townsmen after making their obeisances, they most humbly presented the keys of the place to the king, who graciously received them. Then came the clergy in procession, as is usual in such cases. After which the king entered the gates, four of the principal inhabitants holding a canopy over his head; and thus the king rode through streets hung with tapestry, and in some places covered over, canopy-like, amidst the shouts of the people, unto the great church of St. Peter, where he dismounted at the porch, to offer up his thanksgivings. He thence went to his lodgings, at the house of one of the burghers of the town, and remained there some days to settle with his lieutenant-general and ministers the future government and police of the place. The lord de Croy, sir John de Croy his brother, and the lord d'Arsy, came to the king while at Caen, on an embassy from the duke of Burgundy, to treat of a marriage with one of the king's daughters and the lord Charles, son to the duke, and on other weighty matters with which they were charged. On this same 6th of July the town of Falaise was besieged by Poton de Saintrailles, bailiff of Berry. He was joined on the Monday by Master John Bureau, treasurer of France, with the franc-archers to serve the artillery, of which he was grand-master. When the English heard of his approach, they sallied out and sharply attacked him; but he defended himself and his artillery well, until the lord de Saintrailles came to his assistance. and the English were repulsed to the gates. The king left Caen to attend this siege, and halted at an abbey called St. Andrew's, within a league of Falaise. The king of Sicily, the duke of Calabria, the counts of Maine‡, of St. Pol, of Tancarville, the viscount of Loumaigne, and others, were with him. The town was now surrounded on all sides; but as the king had a greater body of chivalry than necessary for the gaining such a place, the counts of Richemont and of Clermont were ordered to besiege Cherbourg. The garrison in Falaise consisted of fifteen hundred English, the very best of that nation that now remained in Normandy, under the command of two English gentlemen, named Andrew Troslet and Thomas Cathon §, lieutenants to the governor the lord Talbot. When they saw the multitude of men-at-arms, archers, and cross-bowmen, that were drawn up before them, they demanded a parley with the count de Dunois, who, by the king's orders, sent them passports, that they might explain what they required. They met on the 10th, and asked to capitulate, which the king granted; when they appointed the 22nd day of July to surrender the place, unless they should, before that day, receive reinforcements to enable them to offer battle; and on condition that the lord Talbot, who was their governor for the king of England, and who at that moment was the king of France's prisoner in the castle of Dreux, should be set at liberty, on making certain promises to the king of France. A truce was now proclaimed, to last from the 10th to the 22nd, and twelve hostages were delivered for its observance. The English were to march away with arms and baggage, in safety, for England, in case they should not be relieved on the day appointed. As no succours came to them they departed, according to the tenour of the capitulation, and delivered up the town and castle to the king, who made governor thereof Poton de Saintrailles, his master of the horse, and bailiff of Berry. * Falaise,-nine leagues from Caen. Domfront,-twelve leagues from Mayenne, eight from Alençon. Charles of Anjou, count of Maine and Provence. § Andrew Troslet. Q. Truslow. Thomas Cathon. Q. Cawthorn. According to Stowe, Andrew Trollope and Thomas Cotton, esquires, were captains of Falaise for the earl of Shrewsbury On the 24th of July, after the reduction of Falaise, the lord Charles de Culant, grandmaster of the household, the lord de Blainville, the lord John Bureau, treasurer of France, who always had the command of the artillery, with fifteen hundred franc-archers, marched to lay siege to the town and castle of Domfront. The English garrison amounted to seven or eight hundred; but when they heard of the great body of chivalry and archers that were then in Normandy, they surrendered the place on the second day of August, on condition that they might depart in safety, with arms and baggage, for England, as, I have already recounted, many of their countrymen had before done from different towns and castles. : CHAPTER XXXIII.-THE DECEASE OF THE DUKE OF BRITTANY, AND OF THE LORD GILES HIS BROTHER, WHOM HE HAD CRUELLY PUT TO DEATH BEFORE HIS DECEASE.CHERBOURG IS BESIEGED BY SEA AND LAND, AND IS TAKEN BY THE FRENCH. ABOUT the end of July, Francis duke of Brittany, nephew and vassal to the king of France, died of a natural death*. He was a great loss to the kingdom; for he was an active prince, prudent and valiant, and had greatly exerted himself, personally and with money, in the service of the king in the conquest of Normandy, as has been related. This prince was naturally attached to the king of France, as was apparent by his making war on those whom he knew to be enemies to his crown. He carried his affection so far, that he quarrelled with one of his own brothers, the lord Giles, because, in prejudice to the king of France, and without asking his permission, he had accepted the order of the Garter, and also the appointment of constable from the king of England. When the duke first heard of this, he had his brother arrested and confined in one of his castles, where he was a long time closely guarded. He had been often admonished by the duke and his other relations and friends, well wishers to France, to abandon the quarrel of the English, whom he supported against all reason, justice, and right. When gentle means had been thus used in vain, other measures were resorted to; but he would not, on any account, agree to their proposals. The duke, therefore, conceived a mortal hatred against him, and ordered him to be put to death. The duke was frequently summoned, by heralds from the king of England, to deliver up his constable, whom he detained prisoner under the guard of Arthur of Montaubant on his refusal the English monarch sent him his challenge, which made sir Giles's case worse than before; and the duke's hatred so much increased, that it was commonly said he was strangled by two twisted towels. Thus ended the days of sir Giles, miserably and pitifully, which will be a great example to all others. Of this sad transaction, however, Montauban, the wicked favourite at court; who, finding all attempts to subdue her chastity ineffectual, contrived by intrigues, insinuations, and at last by open charges, to render the lord Giles suspected by his brother. On the other hand, he stimulated that unfortunate prince to demand an extension of revenue and of power, which he took care the duke should deny him. The two brothers being by these arts alienated from each other, an open rupture ensued, which the constable de Richemont, their uncle, in vain endeavoured to heal. The lord Giles, apprehensive for his personal safety, fled to the castle of Guildo, and most imprudently trusted its defence to a company of English men-at-arms. This circumstance was soon conveyed with all possible aggravation to the king of France, who thereupon gave orders to the admiral de Coetivy to arrest him. The admiral for some time neglected this order, but at last was obliged to perform it; and the lord Giles was brought before the parliament, or assembly of the states at Rennes, where his case was fairly investigated, and himself about to be honourably acquitted, when a letter to the king of England (said to be artfully forged by Montauban himself) was found on his person, and he was immediately committed to the castle of Moncontour. While a prisoner in this place, his persecutors resorted to every wicked contrivance to remove him without suspicion * Francis I. duke of Brittany, left two daughters by his second wife Isabel, daughter of James I. of Scotland. The eldest of these was Margaret, married to Francis II. her cousin; the youngest, Mary, married to the viscount de Rohan. Francis I. was succeeded by his next brother, Peter II. Arthur of Montauban, bailiff of the Cotentin, &c., the second son of William lord of Montauban, chancellor to queen Isabel of Bavaria. So far from being put to death, (which must be a mistake of the chronicle from which the following account has been taken), this Montauban having professed at the convent of the Celestins, at Marcoussis, advanced himself in the church, became archbishop of Bordeaux, and died in 1468. (See Moreri, art. Montauban.) This is, perhaps, a more probable statement, as well as more favourable to the memory of the duke, than that given by some other chroniclers, and hinted at in the ensuing paragraph. The lord Giles of Brittany, the youngest of the children of John VI., was brought up in the court of England; and he was accused, perhaps justly, of having imbibed prejudices contrary to the French interest from his earliest years. On his return to Brittany in 1442, his wife, (the beautiful heiress of Chateaubriant and Beaumanoir), is said to have excited the desire of Arthur de there are different accounts in Brittany. Some say, that from a quarrel between de Montauban and his accomplices, it has been discovered that they got him put to death by giving false information to the duke, expecting to gain by his decease; for sir Giles was very willing to renounce his connexions with the English, and to act as his brother pleased; but that they sent the duke information quite the reverse, as has been confessed by some of his murderers, and declared to be the truth, for which they have been tried and suffered death : some, indeed, escaped, and, for very good reasons, dare not again show themselves in that country. The siege of Cherbourg having been commenced by the count de Richemont and the other lords before mentioned, was carried on with great vigour; and the garrison was hard pressed by their mines and batteries, when a knight and esquire of Brittany were there killed. The knight was sir Pregent de Coitivy, lord of Rais, slain by a cannon-ball, to the great loss of the king, for he was one of the most valorous knights of the realm, renowned for prudence and abilities. The esquire was Tuddual le Bourgeois, bailiff of Troyes, killed by a shot from a culverine, a man of good reputation, and well acquainted with the art of war. The walls of the town were battered in such wise, from sea and land, as was never before seen; for there were batteries of bombards erected on the shore that threw immense stones, although they were overflowed by the sea at high water; but as they were covered with greased skins, in which they were wrapped, the water did no damage to the powder they were charged with, and, as soon as the tide turned, the cannoneers took away their coverings and fired into the town, to the great astonishment of the English, who had never seen such an invention. Four bombards and one cannon were burst when firing against the walls; and many gallant deeds were done on sea and land, but more to the loss than profit of the English. This caused the governor, Thomas Gouvel †, esquire, who had under him one thousand combatants, to demand a capitulation from the constable, which he obtained. The terms were, that Gouvel should surrender the town and castle to the king of France, on condition that his son should be set at liberty, who was an hostage, on his part, for the payment of the sums of money due to the king of France and to the inhabitants of Rouen. On his son being restored, he delivered up the place to the king's commissioners on the 12th of August, and marched away with his son and soldiers, with their arms and baggage, in safety to England. The king appointed the lord de Bueil governor of Cherbourg, with four-score lances and archers for its defence. Thus was conquered the whole duchy of Normandy, and its towns and castles were reduced to the obedience of the king of France in the space of one year and six days, which was a marvellous event; for never was so large an extent of country conquered in so little time, and with less shedding of blood, or damage done to the inhabitants. This was very honourable to the king of France, and to the nobles and others who had accompanied him on this expedition; and they ought to render thanks to God, to whom alone the praise and glory are due. The time of this expedition was also very favourable, and part of the success might be owing to it, for it was the year of a general pardon of sins at Rome, called the Jubilee Year. The duchy of Normandy is in length six days' journey, and four wide, containing six of violence. But his constitution resisted the effects of repeated poisons, and a charitable old woman found means long to preserve him from those of starvation. At length, however, his health gave way to the continual assault of his enemies, and he charged a priest (who attended privately to receive his confessions) to repair to the duke bis brother, and summon him within forty days to appear before the tribunal of God and answer for all his injustice towards him. Still his gaolers thought the end of their charge too slow in its approaches. They therefore strangled their unhappy victim, already dying, and gave out to the world that he had died of a cold. He was at that time not thirty years of age. The confessor executed his commission as he met the duke returning from the siege of Avranches; and Francis, struck to the heart by terror and repentance, actually died on the fortieth day from the date of the summons. Montauban and Olivier de Méele, his principal agent in the murder, fled upon the duke's death, to a convent of Celestins; but they were both dragged from their sanctuary by the orders of duke Peter, and of the constable, and hanged at Vannes. Frances, the widow of the murdered prince, and the innocent cause of his death, brought him no children, and was afterwards married again to Guy XIV. lord of Laval, Such is the account of some chronicles, as abridged by Moreri in his Dictionary, art. Bretagne. *Rais. Q. Retz? Pregent de Coetivy, admiral of France, was lord of Retz in right of his wife, Mary, the daughter of the marshal de Retz. + Thomas Gouvel. Q. Thomas Gonville, Esq., captain of Cherbourg.-STOWE. Normandy, is bounded on the east by Picardy and |