CHAPTER

XLIX.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY RAISES A LARGE ARMY TO COMBAT THE GHENT MEN, WHO BURN HARLEBECK*, A LARGE VILLAGE NEAR COURTRAY.-OTHER

EVENTS OF THIS WAR.

WHILE the duke of Burgundy, earl of Flanders, was waiting at Lille the answer from Ghent, he was informed of the loss of Hulst and Axel, and instantly assembled his army, with the addition of a large reinforcement from Burgundy; for he had ordered the lord de Beaumont, marshal of Burgundy, to join him. Before this army could be ready to take the field, a large body sallied out of Ghent, on the 23rd of September, for Harlebeck, a considerable village near to Courtray, which they set on fire, killing the inhabitants indiscriminately, without regard to age or sex.

The duke, on hearing this, instantly despatched his nephew, Adolphus of Cleves, with a handsome force of men-at-arms and archers, to Courtray. On his arrival, he found every one in the utmost alarm, although the Ghent men were returned home. When the duke's army was ready, he sent to Courtray the marshal of Burgundy as commander-in-chief. Sir Anthony, the bastard, was ordered to Dendermonde,-sir Simon and sir James de Lalain were sent to Oudenarde,-sir Anthony de Wissoc to Alost,-and sir Adolphus of Cleves returned to the duke at Lille. The marshal, on his arrival at Courtray, caused it to be proclaimed throughout the flat countries, that all who were inclined to the duke's party should carry their effects to strong places for their security, and more especially those who were within five leagues of Ghent. The consequence was, that the greater part withdrew with their effects to Ghent. The marshal then ordered all the prisoners from Ghent to be hanged. On the other hand, the Ghent men showed mercy to none, nor would they accept of any ransom, however great the sum offered, so deadly was this warfare now become,— but more on the side of Ghent than on that of the duke.

The marshal, learning that all the provision and wealth of the low countries had been carried into Ghent, gave orders for all the villages within five leagues of Ghent, and even as far as that town, to be burned, more particularly such as were on the roads leading to or from it; and if the Picards and Burgundians left any undestroyed, the Ghent men burned them, so that the greatest desolation afflicted all Flanders. Among other acts, sir James de Lalain made an inroad to the walls of Ghent, burned two of their mills, and carried off to Oudenarde fifteen waggons laden with corn, that were going to Ghent, for this time no sally was made against him. At another time, the marshal of Burgundy marched to Ghent, with the intent of combating the Ghent men, if they would come out, but they refused. He then returned to Poulcres, a strong castle, took the lower court by storm, and then set it on fire, because the garrison had retreated into the castle, which was too strong to be then attempted, and returned to Courtray.

On the 25th of October, sir Anthony bastard of Burgundy marched from Dendermonde, together with the garrison of Alost, which he had summoned to join him, toward Ghent, having despatched thirty of his best-mounted horsemen to show themselves before the gates and endeavour to entice the garrison to come out. The Ghent men, having had intelligence of sir Anthony's coming, were ready to sally forth, and attacked these thirty men so hardly that they were astonished. With the Ghent men were some English adventurers, who had come thither to seek fame and wealth, and were on horseback: the men of Ghent, in great numbers, were on foot, and pushed forward with such speed that the bastard was surprised at seeing them so near him. In this difficulty, he earnestly entreated his men to dismount; but, in spite of his orders and entreaties, only two men-at-arms dismounted, and three archers. I know not how it happened, but they were panic-struck, and all fled, so that with great difficulty the two men-at-arms were remounted, but the three archers were killed. The bastard, vexed to the soul, collected twenty of his men, and remained in the rear of his runaways, and saved them from further loss. It is, however, possible that this flight saved all their lives; for the Ghent men, informed, as I have said, of their intent, had Harlebeck, on the Lys, four leagues N.E. from Courtray.

assembled another body of men, who were to sally from a different gate, and destroy all the bridges the Picards would have to repass, and thus inclose them between the two divisions so that none could escape. Thus did this misfortune preserve from death sir Anthony and all his men, excepting the three archers.

CHAPTER L. THE MARSHAL OF BURGUNDY BURNS THE SMALL TOWN OF ECKELOO.THE GHENT MEN ARE DEFEATED BEFORE ALOST, WHICH THEY INTENDED TO BESIEGE. THE garrisons in Courtray and Oudenarde, knowing that there was a strong company of Ghent men in Eckeloo, which is a considerable village, three leagues from Ghent, assembled under the command of the marshal and sir James de Lalain, and marched thither in handsome array. The Ghent men no sooner saw them approach than they fled into the wood that was hard by. All could not escape, so that upwards of forty were left dead in the village. The place was then burned, because the inhabitants would not desist from carrying provisions to Ghent, nor from ringing the alarum-bell whenever they perceived any Burgundians appear. It was for this that all the villages five leagues round were set on fire, and such as the Picards left, the Ghent men burned themselves.

On the 13th of November, the Ghent men, having heard that sir Anthony de Wissoc, governor of Alost, was gone into Artois, assembled to the amount of twenty thousand on foot, under the conduct of a few English on horseback, and marched to lay siege to Alost. Sir Anthony the bastard and sir Francis the Arragonian had early intelligence of this at Dendermonde; and by orders of the bastard, sir Francis threw himself into Alost with three hundred hardy combatants. Soon afterward, the Ghent men appeared to commence their siege; but sir Francis, like a valiant knight, sallied forth with all he could collect, leaving a sufficient garrison in the town, and fell on the Ghent men so vigorously that he soon threw them into disorder, and they wheeled about and fled toward Ghent. All were not so fortunate, for there remained dead on the field eighteen English and seventeen Ghent men; and had it not been for night coming on so soon, many more would have been slain.

On the ensuing Saturday, the marshal of Burgundy advanced to the gates of Ghent, but none issued forth to combat him. On his return, twelve Picardy archers remained in his rear, with the intent of plundering whatever they could find. Having crossed a small bridge, they saw no one; but they had not advanced far before they perceived, right before them, a large body of the enemy, and some English with them. They turned about, intending to retreat, but they saw the bridge covered with a number of peasants waiting for them. On this they took heart, thinking it better to die honourably than be taken and hanged: dismounting, they fastened their horses together, and then made such good use of their bows that no Ghent man was bold enough to approach them. One of the English couched his lance, and advanced to the charge, thinking to put them into disorder; but they instantly opened their ranks for him to pass through, and then shot so briskly that his horse was wounded in several places, and he was very glad to get out of their reach. The Picards now blew their horns, as if their friends were within hearing, which frightened the Ghent men so much that they instantly ran off for their town; and the twelve archers, looking toward the bridge, saw no one, for the peasants had fled to the woods. They then remounted their horses, and returned to their companions in safety, having gained much honour by their defence against such numbers.

Another company of Picards made an excursion to Ghent, and took some of the Companions of the Verde Tente, and one of their captains, whose body was quartered, and the rest hanged.

CHAPTER LI.-MENTION

MADE OF DIFFERENT ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN THE PICARDS AND GHENT MEN. THE LATTER ATTEMPT TO SET FIRE TO SOME PARTS OF HAINAULT.THEY ARE MET BY THE PICARDS SOON AFTERWARD.

On the 2d day of December, sir Philip de Lalain, a young, bold and enterprising knight, made an excursion to the walls of Ghent with the garrison of Oudenarde. Two hundred men on horseback sallied forth out of Ghent, and a combat commenced; when one of the principal townsmen was killed at the onset, who had, a little before, taken a youth of the duke's party prisoner, and made him his page. The page, seeing his master dead, hastened to surrender himself to sir Philip, and assured him that upwards of four thousand men had sallied out at different gates to surround and make him and his party prisoners: it therefore behoved him to secure a retreat. At this moment, full three hundred men on horseback issued out of the gates, on which sir Philip began to retreat, often wheeling round to skirmish and check the enemy. Sir Philip de Lalain, his brother, having heard of his danger, hastened out of Oudenarde, with all he could collect at the moment, to his succour: he was then within a league of Oudenarde, skirmishing all the time with the Ghent men, who pursued him with great caution, that their other divisions might arrive to their support; but the Picards, noticing this, made their retreat good into Oudenarde; and the Ghent men took up their quarters for the night at an abbey half a league from that town, and on the morrow returned to Ghent.

Not long afterward, the Companions of the Verde Tente, to the amount of ten thousand, advanced into Hainault, killed many of the peasantry, and burnt from sixteen to seventeen villages without any molestation. A few days prior to this excursion, about fifty English marched out of Ghent on pretence of attacking the Picards, but they went to Dendermonde and surrendered themselves to sir Anthony, the bastard, who received them very graciously, and enrolled them among his own men.

One of the duke's commanders, hearing that the Ghent men were marching back from Hainault, hastened toward Ghent to meet them on their return; and, being in great force, attacked them, and slew more than two hundred the rest saved themselves in Ghent, except some prisoners the Picards had made and carried to Dendermonde.

MEDIATE A PEACE.

CHAPTER LII.-THE GHENT MEN SEND A DEPUTATION ΤΟ THE COUNT D'ESTAMPES, TO IMMEDIATELY AFTER THEY BESIEGE COURTRAY, BUT WITHOUT SUCCESS. THEY ARE NEAR TAKING PRISONER THE DUCHESS OF BURGUNDY, ON HER ROAD TO BRUGES,

WHILE the Companions of the Verde Tente were thus employed in the field, the municipality of Ghent sent to entreat the count d'Estampes to procure passports from the duke their lord, that a deputation might wait on him respecting a peace. The count succeeded in obtaining them passports; and the place of conference was fixed at Bruges, whither the duke sent some of his ministers, and the count d'Estampes as his representative. The Ghent men sent thither a deputation, with a Carthusian friar, and an ancient knight called sir Baudouin de Bos, whom they had long kept prisoner on account of their suspicions of his fidelity to them, he having declared an opinion contrary to their proceedings; and they even had him carried, with his eyes banded, to the scaffold to behead him he would have suffered death, had not some steady friends, by their exertions, prevented it. These Ghent commissioners behaved with the greatest insolence and pride on their arrival at Bruges, as if they had no way acted wrong toward their prince; and on their departure they received no answer. They all returned except the knight and the Carthusian, who refused to accompany them back and remained in Bruges. The other commissioners staid so long on their road to Ghent that the term of their passports expired, and, falling in with a body of Picards, they were made prisoners and carried back to Bruges: among them were two of the greatest enemies the duke had in Ghent.

When the men of Ghent learned that their deputies were prisoners, they sallied forth, on

the 17th of February, in great numbers, and in three divisions. In this array they came before Courtray, the marshal of Burgundy being then absent with the duke at Lille. There was at this time in the town a very valiant and adventurous knight from Picardy, called Gauvain Quieret, who, fearless of their numbers, issued out with the few people he had, and began a sharp skirmish; but he was soon forced to retreat into the town, as the Ghent men were too many he could not, however, retire without the loss of two of his men-at-arms and one archer. The Ghent men then attacked the suburbs; but they were so well defended that they gained nothing, except killing one man-at-arms: they now returned to Ghent.

On the 2d of March following, sir Anthony, the bastard, on his advance toward Ghent, fell in with a considerable body of the enemy, and charged them so rapidly that he slew more than fifty, and took many prisoners, whom he carried to Dendermonde. On the 5th day of this same month, the duchess of Burgundy left Lille, by orders from the duke, to go to Bruges. The Ghent men soon had intelligence of this; and, supposing that she would travel the straight road, they posted a strong ambuscade near that road, intending to overpower her escort, and put those who composed it to death. The duchess was informed of their plan, and consequently took a different road, and arrived safely at Bruges.

Sir Simon de Lalain, governor of Sluys, hearing that the duchess was to travel from Lille to Bruges, set out with two hundred combatants to escort her thither, and followed the main road, ignorant of the Ghent men being there. In his company was the lord de Maldeghen, a Flemish knight, well acquainted with all the roads and passes. Happening to ride at some little distance from the great road, he espied the ambush of Ghent men, who were watching the coming of the duchess, and also of sir Simon, whom they had perceived. The lord de Maldeghen instantly sounded his trumpets, as loudly as he could, that sir Simon, on hearing them, might retire; but he was too far advanced for this, being already in the midst of his enemies without perceiving it. He was sharply attacked on all sides, his banner beaten down; and he and his men were forced to show all their courage, to save their lives. They exerted themselves so manfully that, with the aid of the lord de Maldeghen, who hastened to their succour, the Ghent men were repulsed, and they continued their march in safety to Bruges, having only lost three or four men-at-arms, and from twelve to sixteen archers, which was not much, considering how severe the attack had been.

A

Three or four days before this skirmish took place, the Ghent men in Poulcres burned Englemonstier, a considerable village belonging to the count d'Estampes, in right of his countess. They could do no harm to the castle, for it was strong and well garrisoned. few days after this, the Ghent men again demanded passports from the duke for twenty commissioners to meet his ministers anywhere he should appoint, to consider if they could find means to put an end to this disastrous war. The good duke complied with their request, and fixed on Seclin* as the place of conference, whither he sent the count d'Estampes as his representative, and some of his ministers; but nothing was done, by reason of the insolent pride of the Ghent deputies.

Not long after the return of the deputies from Seclin, a French man-at-arms, who had offered his services to Ghent for gain, called Pierre Moreau, who also was one of their captains, collected a large company, and marched to attack Dendermonde, wherein was sir Anthony of Burgundy. The knight, having had notice of their coming, issued out to meet them, and, after killing several, forced them to retreat to Ghent.

CHAPTER LIII.-PIERRE MOREAU MAKES ANOTHER ATTACK ON DENDERMONDE.-THE GHENT MEN INVADE HAINAULT, AND COMMIT GREAT RAVAGES THERE. [A. D. 1453.]

On the 3d day of April, in the year 1453, immediately after Easter, Pierre Moreau collected a greater force than before, and made another attempt on Dendermonde, but with no better success than formerly, and, having lost from nine to ten of his men, returned to Ghent. On the 14th of the same month, the Ghent men made another irruption into

*Seclin, an ancient town in Flanders, four miles south of Lille.

Hainault, with a very numerous army, as far as Tournay and Enghien, setting fire to all villages, and slaying every one they met without opposition. To this they were incited, as it was said, by the duke's not having paid his soldiers, on which account very many had refused to serve him.

When this came to the knowledge of the duke, he issued his summons for greater levies of men than he had raised during the war; every vassal was summoned, and all who had been used to arms; for he was determined to put an end to the war; and all were to be ready by the 15th day of May. The artillery which the duke meant to carry with him to Flanders was kept in the great hall of the town-house at Lille. It happened, but it was never known how, that fire was thrown through a crack in a tower, the cellar of which served as the magazine of powder for this artillery; but mischief was prevented by a person going accidentally into the cellar, and putting it out, as it was burning the hoops of a barrel of powder. Had not this person fortunately gone thither, the town-house, artillery, and probably the whole town, would have been destroyed.

CHAPTER LIV.—THE GHENT MEN WOULD HAVE TAKEN ALOST BY STORM, HAD IT NOT BEEN WELL DEFENDED. THE THREE ESTATES OF FLANDERS ARE URGENT FOR PEACE.

On the 8th day of May, upwards of fourteen thousand infantry, and two hundred cavalry, marched out of Ghent to besiege Alost, wherein were no more than three hundred fighting men, commanded by sir Louis de la Viefville, as lieutenant to the governor, sir Anthony de Wissoc, who had that day gone to Dendermonde. Sir Louis sallied forth to meet the cavalry of Ghent, which had advanced before the infantry: a combat ensued, when some were killed, and the cavalry forced to fall back on their main body; after which the Picards retreated into the town, and the Ghent men encamped before it. When day broke, they attacked the town at four different places, and made so severe an attempt on one of the bulwarks that six men-at-arms were killed; but sir Louis hastening to its relief, he fought so valiantly that the enemy were obliged to retire, with the loss of twenty of their men. These attacks lasted full three hours, and many were killed on each side; but the Ghent men found it prudent to return to their encampment of the preceding night.

When sir Anthony de Wissoc heard of this attack at Dendermonde, he collected about six hundred Picards, and marched to offer battle to the Ghent men; but on perceiving their superior numbers and order of battle, he dissembled his intentions, and lodged his army near them for the night, intending to combat them on the morrow if he should see it advantageous for him. This same night, however, the Ghent men decamped and returned with all their baggage in safety to their town.

The

While these things were passing, a deputation of the three estates of Flanders, in conjunction with those of Bruges, waited on the duke at Lille, to request passports for certain of the Ghent men to come to him, and treat of putting an end to the war. noble duke, from his affection to them, granted their request; and soon after, twenty commissioners arrived at Lille from Ghent, who laboured so earnestly in the business that it was imagined peace must now be concluded. In this expectation the ambassadors returned to Ghent but when they had reported the preliminary terms, the commonalty refused to abide by them, and thus was the treaty broken off.

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While this negotiation was going forward, the men-at-arms whom the duke had raised were doing all possible mischiefs to his country; and no person could venture abroad without being robbed, even to the very gates of the principal towns; and this plague lasted for upwards of six weeks.