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to enter or go forth, and they were very melancholy, A.D. 1399. especially those of the city of Bordeaux, for King Richard was born and brought up among them, so they loved him well, and whenever the people of Bordeaux came to him he received them sweetly and joyfully, and was disposed to grant all their requests and wishes, wherefore they said when the certain news came to them. "Ah! Richard, noble king, by "God, you are the bravest of your kingdom; the "Londoners have hatched this harm and embarrass"ment against you; they could never have loved you, "and still less since you allied yourself by marriage "with the king of France than before. This is such

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a great misdeed that we cannot and will not suffer "it. King Richard, they have had you for king twenty-two years, and now they have degraded you "and condemned you to death, for since you are in prison and they have crowned the Duke of Lancaster king, they will put you to death."

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Thus ran the lamentations throughout the city of Bordeaux, so much so that a very valiant English knight who was Seneschal of Bordeaux wrote down and made note of all the words and expressions of regret which the men of Bordeaux, Dax, and Bayonne uttered, and how that they were on the point of turning French. These letters having been written and sealed up, he engaged a trusty servant of his and managed that he obtained a ship and equipped it for sea, which arrived with a fair wind in Cornwall. The messenger then hastened on his journey till he came to London where king Henry then was, holding a Parliament with the Londoners, who by arrangement took the letters, for they were addressed generally to the king and the Londoners, and they were opened and read, and the king and the Londoners took counsel thereupon; but I should tell you that the Londoners answered them as people who were in

A.D. 1399. nowise dismayed. "It will never be that the people "of Bayonne, Bordeaux, and Dax will turn French

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men, for they could not live in their danger, nor "could they bear their tricks; they are and remain "with us freely and at their ease; but if the French. were to rule them they would be taxed and retaxed. "two or three times a year, which thing they have "not been accustomed to, and it would be too hard "to begin now. Added to this, these three cities are " enclosed, and surrounded by great lords who are "good and loyal Englishmen and have ever been so, "as the Lord of Pommiers, the Lord of Mucident, "the Lord of Douras, the Lord of Landuras,1 the "Lord of Rosem, the Lord of Landurem,2 and many "other barons and knights, through whom they would always have war ready to hand, nor could they issue or sally forth from their homes without being taken, 66 so withal that the Seneschal has written to us in "confidence, we make no doubt that they would never turn Frenchmen, nevertheless we will send men of valour and prudence, and one whom they "love and know well, for he formerly governed "them, and this shall be Sir Thomas Percy." As they proposed, so so they did, and Sir Thomas Percy was requested and ordered by the king and the Londoners to go on this journey and to attend to the business of the said country. Sir Thomas Percy made no refusal, and arranged to depart as soon as possible, but it was about Christmas time when the sea is rough and tempestuous, so he made his preparations in good order in Cornwall for the nearest port of Bordeaux, and there were of his retinue two thousand men-at-arms, and four thousand archers. In his company were Sir Thomas Percy his

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1 The seigneur de Chepane omitted in A.

2 Languerem in printed texts.

3 In confidence in printed texts.

nephew, Sir Hugh Hastings, Sir Thomas Colville, A.D. 1399. Sir William Lisle, Sir John Grailly, natural son of the Captal du Buch, Sir William Drayton, Sir William Daubrecicourt, and Sir John [Daubrecicourt], and many others, the Bishop of London, and Master Richard Rohalle; and they waited till the middle of March before they embarked.

At this time, before the English lords came to Bordeaux, the Duke of Bourbon arrived in the city of Agen to treat with the people of Bordeaux, and he did so well by fine speeches and good promises, that the councils of the cities of Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Dax sent men to the city of Agen, where the duke honourably received the messengers and with ornate language and stuffed full of promises gave them to understand that if they would submit themselves to the King of France he would grant them all that they wished, and whenever they came to Paris or any other place of France, all their requests should be immediately complied with, and he promised them many things, so that they answered that on their return to the above-named cities they would lay before the councils and the people thereof what they had heard from him, and they would advise and deliberate on what should be done thereupon. In this state the people of Bordeaux returned to their countrymen, to whom they pointed out and declared. what pertained to the matters of treaty between them and the Duke of Bourbon, which were broken off and came to nothing, for the commonalties of the cities above named considered their affairs, and how that the kingdom of France was vexed and harassed with taxations, hearth moneys, and all kinds of villainous exactions by which money could be extorted or got, and they spoke thus:"If the French "ruled over us they would hold us to these usages;

A.D. 1399." it is far better worth

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our while to be with the English, who rule us freely and generously, than "to submit ourselves to subjection to the French; "and if the Londoners have deposed King Richard "and crowned King Henry what matters it to us? "We have always got a king, and the news is "abroad that the Bishop of London and Sir Thomas

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Percy will be presently here, who will let us know "the truth. We have more commerce in wines, wools, "and cloth with the English, than we have with the French, and if we lean more naturally to the

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English let us take good care that we make no treaty of which we may repent." Thus they repented and broke off the treaties of the people of Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Agen with the French, and nothing was done in the matter. Thus then the Bishop of London and Sir Thomas Percy with their cargo, men-at-arms, and archers, arrived at the harbour of Bordeaux, whereat many, who wished to live in their former state, rejoiced, while some others were angered who would have been well pleased to advance the cause of the King of France; and these English lords together took up their quarters in the Abbey of Saint Andrew, and when they saw their opportunity they laid before the commonalty of Bordeaux the state of England, and the reason why they had come over, and they succeeded so well that all were appeased and contented at Bordeaux, and equally so in Dax, Bayonne, and elsewhere; so these cities and all the dependencies of Bordelois remained English, and it would have taken a great deal to make them French.

How the King of France sent Sir Charles de Labrech and Sir Charles de Hangiers to England.

CHAPTER V.

IT was considered and advised in France in the hotel A.D. 1399. of the king (inasmuch as he was seen to be in great grief and anger at what had happened to King Richard of England, his son-in-law), that he should send certain eminent and prudent nobles to England to see and inquire into the position of the queen; and Sir Charles de Labrech and Sir Charles de Hangiers were requested and charged to go there, who willingly obeyed the king's command, so they settled their affairs and departed from Paris, and journeyed on till they got to Boulogne, where they stopped, for they had sent on a herald to King Henry, because, although there was a truce between France and England, they did not like to put to sea without safe-conducts. King Henry, who felt himself much beholden to the King of France, consulted his council, at which it was conceded, and answered the French herald that it was the good pleasure of the king and his council that the two French knights should come to England by the direct route, and not go elsewhere, save by leave. The herald returned to Boulogne and told his lords what he had obtained for them, which pleased them greatly, for otherwise they could not have gone. So they embarked and sailed with so favourable a wind that they arrived at Dover, where they found one of the English king's knights. whom he had sent there to receive and entertain them, which he did very honourably; which knight they had formerly seen in Paris with King Henry, at that time Earl of Derby, so they were the sooner on good terms with him; they were well and honourably lodged in the town of

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