Among the slain were the lord l'Isle *, sir Hedoual Haul †, Thomas Aurigan, the lord de Pingulan, a Gascon knight, and thirty of the most valiant knights, as it was said, from England. Lord Molyns ‡ was made prisoner. As the French were much fatigued, and on foot, they could not pursue the enemy, so that numbers of English and Gascons escaped; and about eight hundred or a thousand retreated into Châtillon, among whom were the count de Candale§, son to the captal de Buch, the lords de Montferrant, de Rosem, and d'Anglades; the lord de l'Esparre escaped also, who had been the principal author of this rebellion. Those who could not enter the town fled by land or water, but in regard to the last, they were mostly all drowned. The count de Penthievre, the bailiff of Touraine, and several French, having at length mounted their horses, pursued the runaways as far as the walls of St. Emilion ||, killing all they could overtake. When the French were recovered from their fatigues, they buried the dead, consisting of four or five hundred on the side of the English. On the morrow, the French marshals ordered all their artillery to be brought to bear on the walls of Châtillon, to rejoice those within it; but when the townsmen saw these vast preparations, they began to humble themselves, and to lower the pride with which they were filled, by surrendering themselves to the king's will: they were estimated at fifteen hundred combatants; and the chief lords were constituted prisoners to the king. CHAPTER LXVI. AFTER THE REDUCTION OF CHATILLON THE FRENCH TAKE ST. EMILION THE KING JOINS HIS ARMY BEFORE BORDEAUX, IN WHICH WERE GREAT NUMBERS OF ENGLISH.-THAT TOWN SURRENDERS ON CAPITULATION. AND LIBOURNE. AFTER the surrender of Châtillon, the French commanders marched the army and artillery to St. Emilion, the garrison of which instantly submitted, as it was impossible to make any resistance, and were mercifully received. Thence the army advanced toward Libourne, which had not willingly turned to the English when lord Shrewsbury first arrived at Bordeaux; but the French garrison, hearing of his coming, had fled: the townsmen were, therefore, forced to submit ; and, on this account, they were admitted into favour with the king. At this time, the count de Clermont, as lieutenant-general for the king of France in Guienne and the Bordelois, kept his army on the other side of the Gironde. He had with him the count de Foix, the count d'Albreth, the lord d'Orval his son; sir Theaulde de Valpergue, bailiff of Lyon; the lord de Saintrailles, master of the horse to the king; sir Bernard de Béarn, the viscount de Turenne, the lord de Lavedan ¶, and many other captains, to the number of eight hundred lances and archers, who acted so prudently, that the English forces in that country and in Bordeaux, to the amount of eight thousand combatants, never offered them battle, nor prevented them making prisoners, or destroying convoys of provision and wine. On the 14th day of July, the counts de Clermont, de Foix, and d'Albreth, laid Thus saying, with the tears gushing from his eyes, he threw his coat of arms over the corpse, thus performing one of the ancient rites of sepulture."-Registre de Wyrkson, apud Anstis. The children of the great lord Talbot were, by his first marriage with Maud Neville, three sons, viz., Thomas, who died in his lifetime; John, who succeeded him as earl of Shrewsbury, &c.; and sir Christopher Talbot, knight. By his second marriage with Margaret, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, he had John (viscount l'Isle, so created in reference to the titles of his mother's family), who, being already signalised by his valour on many great occasions, fell gloriously, together with his father on this day. He served with two bannerets, four knights, 73 men-at-arms, and 800 archers. He left issue, Thomas viscount l'Isle, who, in 1470, was slain in a private feud with the lord Berkeley, at, Wotton-underedge in Staffordshire. + Sir Edward Hull.-STOWE. William, lord Molyns, who was killed before Orleans in 1429, left only a daughter, who was married to Robert Hungerford, Esq., grandson of Walter lord treasurer Hungerford, in 1441. This Robert Hungerford, lord Molyns, in right of his wife, was eldest son to Robert, lord Hungerford, son of Walter, and served in this year (1453) with one banneret, 2 knights, 56 men-at-arms, and 600 archers. He remained a prisoner for seven years, after which, siding with the Lancastrians, he was attainted 1 Edw. 4. and beheaded after the battle of Hexham, two years afterwards. John captal de Buch was created earl of Kendal by king Henry VI., and his descendants retained the title, metamorphosed into that of Candale, for several generations after they had submitted to the crown of France. || St. Emilion, on the Dordogne, near Libourne, six leagues from Bordeaux. Probably Raymon-Garcias, lord of Lavedan, who married Bellegarde daughter of Arsien V. lord of Montesquieu. siege to the new castle in Medoc, and remained before it fourteer days. The governor for the king of England was a knight of Gascony, called the lord de l'Isle, who, seeing the impracticability of defending it with success, surrendered it to these lords. The French army was then marched to besiege Blanquefort*; and the count de Foix, with his brother the viscount de Lautrec, separated from it to lay siege to Cadillac†, while the lord de Saintrailles went before St. Macaire ‡, and reduced it to the king's obedience. The lord d'Albreth likewise left the siege of Blanquefort, and reduced the towns of Langon § and Villendras to obedience; so that two or three sieges were going on at the same time. To regarrison their conquests these lords had with them about a thousand lances, and a sufficiency of archers, comprehending the men of the count d'Armagnac, under the command of an esquire called L'ainé de Lange, seneschal of Rouergue. During the siege of Cadillac, the count de Clermont never quitted that of Blanquefort until it had surrendered to him. On the 16th day of July the king left the city of Angoulême, to join his army in the Bordelois: he was accompanied by the counts of Angoulême, of Maine, of Nevers, of Estampes, of Castres, of Vendôme, and many other barons, knights, and esquires, to the town of Libourne. His army was then before Fronsac, which was held by the English, who afterward surrendered it on capitulation of being allowed to go to England; and they marched out with only staves in their hands. The army then crossed the Dordogne, to subdue the country within the two rivers, and captured many towns from the English. The king advanced to Montferrant, and ordered a blockhouse to be erected against Lormond, near Bordeaux, by a part of his army, while another division was employed on the siege of the town and castle of Cadillac. On the other hand, the counts de Clermont, de Foix, d'Albreth, d'Orval, and the bailiff of Lyon, with others to the amount of one thousand lances and archers, had posted themselves near to Bordeaux, on the side of the moors, to destroy all the corn and provision, that those within Bordeaux might not reap any advantage or profit by them. On the 18th day of July the king in person led his army against Cadillac, when it was taken by storm. The first who entered was an esquire named Gonfroy de St. Hellin, bailiff of Chaumont in Bassigny; but the English retired into the castle, which was very strong. Notwithstanding the strength of the place, the English, alarmed at the great power and good order of the king's army, which consisted of a thousand spears, and a proportionate number of archers, were forced to submit. They surrendered themselves, in the month of October following, prisoners to the king, when their captain, called Gaillard, was beheaded. In the blockhouse before Lormond were posted the lord de Lohéac, marshal of France, with many other lords, knights, and captains, to the amount of fifteen or sixteen hundred spears, archers, and artillery; and near to it were anchored the king's fleet of victuallers from Brittany, Poitou, Spain, Holland, Zealand, and Flanders, which remained in the river Gironde, until Bordeaux surrendered to the king. In like manner had victuallers.been sent from England; and on their arrival the lord Cameise || had ordered their sails and stores to be landed and secured in the town, that they might not depart hospite insalutato; that is to say, without taking leave of their hosts. The English also constructed another blockhouse opposite to and higher than that of the French, although it profited them little, notwithstanding so many in the town were attached to the king of England, namely, the lord Cameise, the lord Clinton ¶, the bastard of Somerset, the *Blanquefort, a town in Guienne, near Bordeaux. +Cadillac-en-Fransadois,-seven leagues from Bordeaux. St. Macaire, on the Garonne, nine leagues from Bordeaux. § Langon,-one league from Cadillac. Camus, -or Cameise. See Dugdale. Probably Camois. The male line of this barony was extinct in the time of Henry V.; but Dugdale adds, "of this family (without doubt) was also Sir Roger de Camoise, knight, who in 22 Hen. VI. (1444) was taken prisoner in the wars of France, and there detained in great misery. Whereupon, Isabel his wife had an assignation of £40 per annum for her life, to be paid by the mayor and commonalty of London." Q. Is this the same Sir Roger de Camois released from captivity? ¶ William lord Clinton (cousin and heir of John lord Clinton, who distinguished himself in the expedition of Thomas Woodstock, 1380, and is noticed by Froissart) was in all the wars of Henry IV. V. and VI. ; in Hen. VI. he served in France with 25 men-at-arms and 78 archers; in 9 Hen. VI. with one knight, 38 men-at-arms and 300 archers. He died 10 Hen. VI. (1432) leaving his son and heir, John lord Clinton, the nobleman here mentioned; who was made prisoner in the year 1441, and, after remaining in prison for six years, was ransomed at the sum of 6000 marks. He afterwards took part with the house of York during the civil wars, and served king Edward in many of his expeditions.-Dugdale. lord de l'Esparre, the lord de Rosem, and from three to four thousand English, and as many or more Gascons, one half of whom were quartered in the town, and the other half in the blockhouse, to guard their fleet. Thus were these powers employed on the same duty in their separate blockhouses from the first day of August until the 17th of October, annoying each other by every possible means. Provision began at length to fail in Bordeaux, to the great alarm of the English, as was natural; and as they daily heard of towns in all directions submitting, by force of arms, to the king, they made offers of a surrender on a fair capitulation. The king consented for two reasons: first, because he was ready to render good for evil; secondly, considering the mortality that was to be dreaded, if matters were pushed to extremities, he was glad to compound for the departure of the English on the following terms :-The city of Bordeaux was to be yielded up to him, and the inhabitants were to remain his true and loyal subjects; they taking an oath never to rebel again, but to acknowledge the king of France as their true and legal lord. The English were to be allowed to transport themselves in their own vessels to England, or to Calais, as they should please. But because some of the lords of that country and city had maliciously and traitorously sought the alliance of England, and had gone thither for that purpose, contrary to their oaths and declarations made to the king in the preceding year, who, at a very great expense and loss of men, had conquered them, the king would reserve to himself the power of banishing from the country of Bordelois twenty persons, according to his pleasure, such as had gone to England to seek the aid of the English, and particularly the lord de Duras, the lord de l'Esparre, and others. This capitulation was signed on the 17th day of October, in the year 1453. In truth, the king laboured greatly in these matters, both in body and mind; for after the aid of God, he was indebted for the peaceable recovery of this country to his own prudent conduct, and to the gracious manner with which he received those who returned to their obedience. He was also supported by his vassals and subjects with the same earnestness as if the recovery of his kingdom had personally concerned themselves. Sir Pierre de Beauveau, lord de la Bessiere, died of his wounds three days after the taking of Châtillon, which was a great loss. Sir James de Chabannes, grand-master of the household, was likewise slain there: he was much lamented, as he was a most valorous knight. The country being thus recovered, the king determined on going to Tours, after leaving for its defence the count de Clermont, his lieutenant-general, sir Theaulde de Valpergue, and sir John de Bureau, treasurer of France and mayor of the city of Bordeaux, with a sufficient force of men-at-arms, archers, and cross-bows. This was become absolutely necessary by reason of their late treacherous conduct; for, according to a maxim of law,— "Semel malus, semper præsumitur malus." It was therefore expedient to keep a heavy hand on them, that they might be under greater subjection, and prevented from rebelling again. CHAPTER LXVII. - THE GRAND TURK BESIEGES CONSTANTINOPLE, AND BATTERS THE CITY WITH HEAVY ARTILLERY.-IT IS TAKEN BY STORM. THE CRUELTIES COMMITTED THERE.-A REMEDY PROPOSED TO RESIST THE TURK On the 4th of April, after Easter, in this same year 1453, Morbesant, son of Orestes, great lords in Achaia, advanced near to Constantinople, and, on the 5th day of this month, besieged that city all round with two hundred thousand men ; sixty thousand of whom were archers, and from thirty to forty thousand cavalry. About a fourth part of them were armed with haubergeons and coats of mail, others after the French manner; some in the *M. du Cange says that this chapter must be compared with Phrautzes. This chapter, containing the hearsay account of transactions which took place at a considerable distance from the kingdom of France, abounds, as it might be expected, with errors, the correction of which, as they occur, would be a task equally laborious and unprofitable. Whoever wishes to make himself acquainted with the Bulgarian manner, and in different fashions. Many had helmets of iron, and others were armed with bows and cross-bows. The greater part, however, of the sixty thousand were without any other armour than targets and Turkish blades. The remaining hundred were composed of merchants, artisans, followers of the army, pillagers, and destroyers of the country. There were very many bombards and culverins made use of at this siege; and one particularly large bombard, that shot stones twelve spans and four fingers in circumference, weighing eighteen hundred pounds. These bombards shot daily from one hundred to sixscore times; and this thundering lasted for fifty-five days, expending a thousand weight of powder each day, which was necessary for the numerous culverins that were employed. The Turk had likewise a fleet of sixteen or eighteen galleys, and from sixty to eighty galiots, having each eighteen or twenty oars, and from sixteen to twenty small barks, called palendrins*, to transport horses in, and plenty of gun-carriages. When the siege had been regularly formed, Sangombassa †, principal minister to the Turk, and who had the greatest credit and authority with him, had transported over land, the distance of two or three miles, from sixty to eighty galleys, and other armed vessels, into the Melse Mondagarin‡, near to Pera, and between the two cities. The Turks could not by any other means enter the harbour of Constantinople, as the Bosphorus and the straits of the Dardanelles were strongly guarded by the Christians, who were so posted that they could relieve each other when attacked. The commander of this expedition was a Turk called Albitangoth §, who broke through four of the Genoese ships. The Turk appointed another commander to surround the city by sea and land. Constantinople is a very strong city, of a triangular form, twenty miles in circuit on the land side, and five miles wide from the land boundary to the harbour and gulf. The walls on the land side are very strong and high, having barbicans and loopholes on the top, well fortified without by the ditches and ramparts. The principal walls are from fifteen to twenty-two fathoms high: in some places six, and in others eight fathoms wide the outworks are twenty fathoms high and three in thickness, and the ditches ten deep. The city contained from twenty-five to thirty thousand persons, and six thousand combatants. In the harbour were thirty ships and nine galleys, to defend the chain that had been thrown across it: of this number were two armed vessels, and three merchant ships, from the Venetians; three belonging to the emperor,—and one to sir John Justinian, a Genoese in the pay of the emperor. Constantinople, although besieged by sea and land, and strongly battered by bombards and cannon, held out for fifty days, during which a captain of one of the galleys, in conjunction with others ordered on this service, attempted to set fire to the Turkish fleet; but the galley was sunk by a heavy stone from a bombard, and the others ran on the sharp stakes with which the Turks had fortified the van division of their fleet. On the land side, Sangombassa, king of the Albanians, had in his army many who had been accustomed to work in gold and silver mines,—and he ordered them to open fourteen mines under the walls of the city, to throw them down. As these mines were opened at a distance from the walls, the Christians countermined them, and at times stifled the Turks in their mine with smoke, or suffocated them with stinks: at other times they drowned them, by introducing water suddenly on them, or destroyed them by fighting hand to hand. Sangombassa constructed a high and strong tower of wood that overtopped the walls, and threw across an arm of the sea a bridge of boats one thousand fathoms in length and seven wide, for the army to cross, besides erecting other smaller towers that were both light and strong, and could be moved from one place to another when wanted. There were daily skirmishes, in which many were slain on each side, but for one that was killed in the town one hundred were destroved of the besiegers. At this siege were many Greek Christians, and others from different parts, who, although subjects to the Turk, are not constrained to renounce their religion: they therefore pray to and adore God at their pleasure. There were besides several captains and powerful Turks, who, out of spite to Sangombassa, as he oppressed them much, gave information to those in * Palendrins,-palendric,-a flat boat.-Du Cange's Melse Mondagarin. Q. the sea of Marmora ? Glossary. + Sangombassa Q. § Albitangoth. Q. the town, by letters fastened to arrows and by all other possible means, of what was going forward in the camp. Among other things, the Christians were informed of the Grand Turk having held a council of his ministers and principal persons for four whole days; and that in this council a captain, called Colombassa *, had advised the raising of the siege, saying to the Turk, “Thou hast done thy duty: thou hast already given many great battles to the Christians, and at each time numbers of thy people have fallen. Thou seest from the fortifications and defence of the city that it is impregnable,-insomuch that the more thou sendest to attack it, so many more are left dead before it. Those who have mounted the walls have been repulsed or slain,—and thy ancestors never had the power nor the inclination to advance so far as thou hast done, which ought to satisfy thy ambition, without wishing the total destruction of thy people." So much was said by others, in consequence of this harangue, that the Turk doubted within his own breast whether he should return and erect two columns on the spot where he then was, to proclaim to the world that he had done more than any of his predecessors had ever undertaken, and to inform posterity that no Turk had ever before dared to approach so near to Constantinople. Sangombassa was of a contrary opinion, and thus addressed the Turk: "Thou hast shown thyself the strongest. Thou hast overthrown part of the walls; we will completely destroy the remainder. Only let us give one more determined attack,— and, if we then fail of conquest, we will submit to act according to thy pleasure." He expressed himself with so much warmth and earnestness, that the Turk consented to his proposal; and intelligence thereof was conveyed into the town, with exhortations to hold out with courage for a few days longer, and the siege would assuredly be raised. The Turk, being resolved to storm the city, ordered a solemn fast to take place three days before the time fixed on, in honour of the God of Heaven, whom alone he adores. It was kept very strictly for the three days, none of the army eating anything during the daytime; but at night they feasted, and their camp and fleet were then illuminated with a multitude of torches, so that land and sea seemed on fire : they added loud music with drums and other instruments, for with trumpets they were ill provided. When the time arrived for the storming, both parties seemed determined on victory or death. The attack began very slowly in the evening, and the Turk had made the following arrangement of his forces:-Siglardy†, captain-general of Turkey, was posted, with twenty thousand men, at the gate of Pucchi, where was the heat of the battle: Sangombassa, with about a third of the army, was posted at the gate of St. Romain, about a mile distant from Pucchi. Ebbigabeth, governor-general of Greece, was placed on the side of Galigaria‡, near to the emperor's palace. The greater part of the mines were two miles distant from St. Romain. The renegade Albanian, Sangombassa, was posted on the other side of the canal near to Pera, with other renegade Christians; for, in these countries, many daily recant from their religion. At the commencement of the attack, the Christians defended themselves well, particularly at St. Romain, which was the weakest part of the walls; for lately good part had been damaged, and even thrown down. The heavy cannon and the culverins kept up so brisk a fire that breaches were made of many fathoms wide in several places; and the firing was so incessant that the sky could scarcely be seen for the thickness of the smoke. The besieged instantly repaired the breaches with old casks and bags of earth, and defended themselves as well as they could. At this spot was sir John Justinian, who behaved with great courage indeed, the whole city placed their dependence on his abilities. As a last effort, the Grand Turk now advanced thither in person, with two banners and ten thousand chosen men for his guard, besides an infinity of Turks, with scaling-ladders, moveable wooden castles, and other engines. The attack was become very bloody: the ditches were filled, and the walls scaled. At this critical moment was sir John Justinian wounded by a ball from a culverin, and carried off to be dressed, after he had resigned his command to two Genoese gentlemen. The Turks pursued their success,—and the Christians, seeing themselves overpowered, and that sir John Justinian had quitted his command, which they mistook for his having fled, abandoned the walls, and ran away. Thus did the Turks Galigaria. Q. Galata ? • Colombassa. Q. † Siglardy. Q. |