ページの画像
PDF
ePub

How the Emperor departed from England without having effected anything about the peace of CHAPTER XVI.

France.

A.D. 1416. THUS, as you may have heard, the emperor and the other lords above named were entertained by the King of England in his palace of Westminster, near London, where they sojourned above a whole month, during which time they were invited to many sumptuous banquets by the great princes of the country, for they often conversed together and conferred on terms of agreement; but when they saw that they could not find any way of peace or good understanding between the two kings and kingdoms of France and England, they took leave of King Henry, his brothers, and the other princes, very dissatisfied. Then having received many handsome presents, the emperor departed with his people, who as long as they sojourned under the protection of the King of England were kept free of all expense everywhere. The emperor and his followers rode straight from London to Dover, at which place they took leave of the princes of the king's household who had convoyed them, and the ship was ready, so the emperor and his company crossed over to their quarters at Calais. Then without staying long in any place the emperor rode on till he came to the Court of France, where he related to the king and the princes of his council what he and Duke William of Hainault had been able to do in England concerning the business of coming to peace, with which the king and his council were greatly provoked, for they thought that the English would not be satisfied with what they had but would soon again cross into France.

And to tell about Duke William, he set out from A.D. 1416. London about twelve days after the emperor, and

went to his own country Holland.

In this year died John, Duke of Berry, uncle of the King of France, and the duchess his wife afterwards married the Lord of Latremouille, with which Duke John of Burgundy was much dissatisfied, for at this time he had little liking for the said Lord of Latremouille. The said lady was in her own right Countess of Boulogne; but the said Duke John, being informed of this marriage, promptly sent the Lord of Fosseux, Governor of Artois, to seize the town of Boulogne and keep it in his hands. Already, however, the Lord of Moreul had been appointed to it on the part of the King of France, that he should there maintain a frontier against the English.

How the King of England sent his brother the Duke of Clarence with a powerful army to raise the seige of Harfleur. CHAPTER XVII.

DURING the same season of which we are speaking, the King of England, as the result of much deliberation in council, caused to be raised and fitted out a large and fine army, which he committed to the charge. of his brother the Duke of Clarence, to go and raise the siege which the French had laid to the recently conquered town of Harfleur, and to maintain there a frontier against them. The Duke of Clarence then with a fine fleet of vessels loaded with men-at-arms and artillery arrived at the port of Harfleur in Normandy, where by force of arms he destroyed the French ships which had long maintained a blockade before the said town of Harfleur, and a large proportion of those

A.D. 1416. in the vessels perished, and the rest were made prisoners. After the Duke of Clarence had raised the siege, and re-victualled the town, and recruited the garrison with fresh men, he returned to England very joyful at his good fortune, where he was very gladly received by the king his brother, and by all his friends.

Further, about St. Remy's day in the year 1416 the emperor, grandly attended, returned to England to King Henry, that is to say, to the town of Calais, where they met about certain matters just entered upon. Duke John of Burgundy came to them at this place of Calais, where he was honourably entertained, but as a hostage for his safety the Duke of Gloucester, brother of the King of England, came to St. Omer, where he was politely received, often visited, and continually kept in company, by the young Count Philip of Charolois, who knew well how to do it; for he was in his lifetime the most polite prince in the world; and the Duke of Gloucester thanked him much for the respect he paid him and the good company he afforded.

Duke John of Burgundy being at Calais was earnestly requested and pressed by the King of England that he should go over from being on the side of the King of France against him and his, on condition that he should share in some of the conquests he should make in France, and King Henry promised to undertake nothing against his lands and lordships, or any of his friends, allies, or well-wishers, This request Duke John would not agree to; but the truce which had formerly been settled between them, concerning the commerce between their countries and the two kingdoms, was prolonged for three years, that is to say, till Michaelmas, 1419.

And, as I was informed, the principal cause which moved the Duke of Burgundy to come to Calais was

that he desired to see the emperor and speak to him, A.D. 1416. and could find no better means of doing it, for the emperor had never come to him because of the strifes and disputes that were between him and the Orleanists. And there the Duke of Burgundy did homage to the emperor for the counties of Alost and Burgundy. Then, when he had sojourned eight days at Calais, and accomplished what he went for, he took leave of the kings and princes, and returned to St. Omer, likewise the Duke of Gloucester his hostage went back to Calais.1

The King of France and those of his council wondered greatly about this journey of the Duke of Burgundy, and held it for certain that he had allied himself to the said King of England to the prejudice of the Crown of France, about which there had never been a word but what you have heard; but Duke John of Burgundy so loved the King of France, and was so sincere that he would never comply with the requests of the King of England, although he might have had great reason to become a postulant himself at this juncture, for a large proportion of the princes of France had conceived great hatred and ill-will against him for the death of the Duke of Orleans, which could no way be well explained, and about which death there daily arose different opinions, rumours and murders; at which the King of England and his people were not displeased, and this was not to be wondered at, for if France had then been peaceful and united, the King of England would have had much to do before he could have advanced as he did; but for the sins of the French, it pleased our Lord that they should be punished.

1 Where he expressed to the king | tainment which had been given him

his brother and to the other lords

his satisfaction with the good enter

by the Count of Charolois and the
Burgundians, H.

How the Earl of Dorset with four thousand fightingmen made a raid before Rouen and in the country of Caux; and of what happened to him. CHAPTER XVIII.

A.D. 1416. ABOUT this time the Earl of Dorset, who remained at Harfleur, took the field himself on a certain day with four thousand English fighting-men, and went before the city of Rouen to make a raid; and thence he went round and round the country of Caux, where he continued for three days, and did great damage by fire and sword; but in the meantime the garrisons of the country united, their commander being the Lord of Willequier; so they found themselves about as numerous as the English, that is, three to four thousand; and the two armies met pretty near Wallemont. As soon as the French perceived the English coming, they rushed upon them so fiercely that they soon routed them, and there remained on the field at least eight hundred slain or captured, and the remainder with the said earl retreated into a garden quite surrounded by a strong thorny hedge, where they held out for the rest of the day, while the French could not get at them, without hurting themselves very much, wherefore towards evening they withdrew to a neighbouring village to eat and rest themselves. The Earl of Dorset and his men, fearing the contest of the morrow, left the said garden about daybreak, taking the most direct way they could towards Harfleur. The French being informed of their departure, very swiftly pursued, and overtook them about two leagues from Harfleur, where they immediately attacked them, expecting to do to them as they had done the day before; but it happened quite otherwise, for the English, seeing the ill-will

« 前へ次へ »