say, for the Duke of Burgundy the Lord of Vergy, A.D. 1408. and for Duke William the Lord of Jeumont. In this company there were fully five thousand helmets, seven hundred crossbowmen, and five hundred archers, all men of good condition, with full twelve hundred waggons and carts laden with artillery, provisions, and other munitions of war. And on this same Saturday the Lord of Peruel and his son, who was newly made. Bishop of Liege by consent of the people of the country, forming the siege before the said town of Tret, were informed by their spies and skirmishers, who were charged with this duty, that the two dukes very powerfully accompanied were approaching and coming towards them, destroying the country. Wherefore, at once and hurriedly, they departed, raised their siege, and returned, full forty thousand fighting men, to the city of Liege, which lies five good leagues distant from their city of Tret, and there held a great conference with the other Liegois who had not been at the said siege. After this was over, it was publicly proclaimed throughout the said town in divers place by order of the Lord of Peruel, their mainbourg and governor, and of the bishop his son, that every man able to bear arms should, on the morrow morning, at the sound of the bell, be ready and prepared to sally forth from the city with the said lords to go whither they should choose to lead and conduct them. Which thing was thus done, for on the morrow, the twentythird day of September, fourteen hundred and eight, there issued forth from the city of Liege, as far as one might estimate by appearance, fifty thousand men or thereabouts, amongst whom were from five to six hundred men on horseback, well mounted and armed after the manner of the French, and the two hundred archers from England, who, as has been said, were come to serve for pay, with a great quantity of carts and ribaudequins and all other kinds of material

A.D. 1408. of war; at early morning they sallied forth from the city in very good order, having great desire to join battle with their adversaries, and following their mainbourg and bishop, who, in truth, went into the affair very unwillingly, and in part as it were on compulsion.

And the said de Peruel and their bishop his son and many of their council, had many times warned them that in joining battle with their enemies lay great peril, inasmuch as they were all or most of them noblemen, practised, suited, and accustomed to the profession of arms, and, moreover, all of one accord and desire, which the Liegois were not, he said, and it was better for them to remain in their towns and fortresses guarding them and harassing their enemies in many and divers ways, taking them at an advantage, and in process of time driving and casting them out of their country. These warnings, though right and reasonable, were not agreeable to the said commons, who, above all, trusted in their great numbers. The Lord of Peruel then seeing that warnings were out of place, led them into the open fields where he put them in good order, often warning and exhorting them very amiably to be this day of one mind and keep together without breaking up. Thus, as you hear, the Lord of Peruel, admonishing the Liegois to behave well, led them to the neighbourhood of Tongres, to which place or close by had come the night before the two dukes and their forces, already warned that the Liegois had raised their siege to come and fight them. The princes then, warned of the approach of their adversaries, the better to know their actual order chose some of their captains, the most expert of their company and accustomed to the profession of arms, and sent them to ride towards the host of the Liegeois to observe and understand the manner of their behaviour; this was on Sunday very early, and they were about two hundred horse, of whom the chief

conductor was Robert le Roux, and with him some A.D. 1408. noblemen of the marches thereabout, who did not advance without finding what they sought, and observed the said Liegeois coming, then hastily returned and reported to the princes their coming and their bearing, which was fine and good enough. And then the two dukes hearing the news diligently and without delay caused their men to be got ready and set in order of battle, and then when all were ordered and instructed each as to what he was to do, began to ride towards their enemies, and had not gone far when they spied them coming, and saw clearly their order, as did the Liegeois them, and they approached within half a league of each other before they halted. Then the dukes and their forces dismounted, for they selected a place convenient and advantageous for themselves, thinking that the Liegeois would attack them, so they formed but a single line of battle, in order the better to support and aid each other, leaving behind them their horses, waggons, and other baggage, posting as wings a great part of their archers and crossbowmen, to lead whom the Lord of Miraumond was appointed by the Duke of Burgundy, which duke was on the right flank and Duke William on the left. There the two dukes, each accompanied by his men, having given them orders and placed all in favourable positions as they had been advised to be for the best, dubbed several new knights, and kept in this order. Then the Liegeois, seeing their enemies before them, filled with pride, and esteeming the two dukes and their army as of little consequence compared with their force, began to approach them, drawing to the right towards an eminence commonly called the field of the height of Hasbain, where they halted in very fair order, bearing the standard of Saint Lambert and several other banners of their trades; and the reason why they halted in this place was because the elders of

A.D. 1408. their people said that formerly on this same spot their ancestors had gained a victory over their enemies, and they hoped this day also to have victory anew, holding the said place to be dedicated to their safety; and when they were drawn up on the said place they began to discharge several cannons which greatly harassed the Burgundians, against which they soon made provision. Between the two armies was a deep valley, and at the bottom in the centre of this was a ditch by which water ran away in rainy weather, so that when the two dukes had waited a little, seeing that from the said place and position the Liegeois would not move to attack them, they took hasty counsel with some of their knights, who were expert and accustomed to war, considering that those who make the attack are the boldest, consulted together and determined with one accord to attack their enemies immediately without waiting any longer; then all together at full speed, and in good order, and halting occasionally on account of the weight of their armour, advanced, intending to fight the Liegeois on the ground which they had chosen, and they hastened the more to do so lest they should fortify the position or increase in numbers of fighting men. Nevertheless, they had not forgotten to ordain, for breaking up the order of the Liegeois in the rear, about five hundred menat-arms and a thousand other fighting men, whose leaders were, for the Duke of Burgundy, the Lords of Croy and Hailly and the Lord of Neufville, and with them Eugueran le Bornouille, an esquire, and for Duke William there were appointed, with the above-named, the Lords of La Hamede and Ligne, and with them Robert le Roux, an esquire; these altogether advanced to the open fields as they had been ordered. And then the Liegeois, seeing this company part from the army of the dukes and retire to a distance as has been said, and verily believing that they were flying

for fear of their great number, began in all directions A.D. 1408. to cry out in their language, "Fuio, paren, fuio," that is to say, "They fly, comrades, they fly!" repeating the said words many times, but the Lord of Peruel, their leader, like a wise man and expert in deeds of war, restrained them kindly and gently in their noise and violence, saying, "My very dear friends, this company of horse which you see has thus left the main body of the enemy is not flying as you think, but "when the great company which is coming on here "in your front shall intend to attack and fight you, "those who you say are flying will quickly come on "athwart in good line, drawn up and ordered, and "will endeavour to divide and scatter you in the rear, whilst the others assault you in front, and "therefore, very dear friends, we have before our eyes "the battle which I have discouraged and strongly "counselled against, but which, with all your hearts, you have desired to have, as if you were already sure of victory. Nevertheless, as I have previously said to you, because you were not so well used to arms, nor armed as are your enemies, who are all, or the greater part of them, fitted for war, I have "advised you that it would have been advantageous for you to delay giving battle and to have guarded in your own country, your towns, and fortresses, "and often attacked, and little by little reduced those

your enemies when you had them at an advantage, "and perhaps they would have got wearied and "retired into their own country, or at least you might "have found some good opportunity; however, the day "has come which you have so greatly desired, and therefore, be all of one mind to put your hope in God " and attack your enemies boldly and courageously "in defence of your country." When these words were said by the Lord of Peruel, he wished to mount a company of men on horseback to meet those above