[A.D. 1457.]
CHAP. LXIX.
AN EMBASSY FROM THE KING OF HUNGARY ARRIVES AT TOURS, AND IS HONOURABLY RECEIVED BY THE KING OF FRANCE.—THE KING OF HUNGARY DIES.—THE FRENCH TAKE THE SEAPORT OF SANDWICH BY STORM.
In the year 1457, the king of France, anxious to attack his enemies, more particularly the Saracens and other unbelievers in the catholic faith, made an alliance with the potent king of Hungary, who was sovereign of three kingdoms, namely, Hungary, Poland, and Bohemia. In consequence of this alliance, the king of Hungary was to espouse the princess Magdalen, the king of France's daughter; and very many great barons, knights, and lords of the three kingdoms were sent as ambassadors to France to be present at the betrothing: even churchmen were of this embassy, such as the archbishop of Cologne and the bishop of Passau,—to the amount, in all, of six hundred horse.
When they arrived at Tours in their various dresses, the king was at Montils le Tours, a place hard by,—but the queen and princess were in Tours. The ambassadors presented to the queen a rich robe of cloth of gold, embroidered with pearls and jewels, and another, equally sumptuous, to the princess, together with a splendid waggon hung on springs[234]. Many of the principal lords of the king's household went about a league from Tours to meet them.
They were handsomely received by the king and his court, and great entertainments were made for them, especially by the count de Foix, who gave a grand feast on Thursday before Christmas, in the abbey of St Julian at Tours, where all the princes and lords of the court were present. The tables were served, in the utmost abundance, with all sorts of delicacies, such as pheasants, partridges, bustards, cranes, wild geese, rabbits without number, fat capons, six score quarts of hypocras, as well white as red, removes,—morrice dances of children dressed as savages issuing from a rock, singers, trumpets, clarions, and various devices,—insomuch that this dinner cost eighteen hundred crowns, besides the rich presents to the guests.
These feasts were continued to the ambassadors waiting for the betrothing of the princess to the king of Hungary, by procuration, soon after Christmas. But it has been truly said, that often man proposes, and God disposes; for on the morrow of Christmas-day, the melancholy news of the king of Hungary's death was brought to the king of France, which caused great sorrow to him and his whole court.
The king ordered a general mourning, and a grand funeral service to be performed, in honour of the potent king of Hungary, in the metropolitan church of St Gratien in Tours, with ringing of bells, illuminations of wax tapers in the greatest profusion, befitting the obsequies of so noble a prince.
The hungarian ambassadors took their leave of the king of France on the morrow after new-year's-day[235], and departed for their own country, taking their road through Paris, where they were grandly received,—and all the nobility then in the town went out to meet them as far as the windmill beyond the gate of St James. They had people appointed, however cold the weather was, to lie upon their carriages, which were chained up with great chains. This was a novel sight,—and the chains were fastened with a lock, the key of which one of their governors carried with him when he went to sleep. A grand funeral service was performed in the church of Nôtre Dame, with a great display of torches and wax lights.
During the stay of the Hungarians in Paris, the frost was so intense that they could not walk or ride by reason of the slipperiness of the streets, but went about in a traineau, made of wood, square and without wheels, wherever business or pleasure led them. They visited the noble and royal church of St Denis, and were received at the gate of the church by the convent in their copes, but the abbot was absent. They were presented to kiss a cross of gold set with precious stones, that contained within it a part of the true cross, and they were besprinkled with holy water and incense: in short, their reception was similar to that which would have been given to the late king of Hungary, had he been there in person. The treasures and sacred vestments of the church were displayed to them,—and they saw the bodies of the saints that had been interred in separate chapels, and the sepultures of the kings and queens of France; all of which gave them much pleasure, for they had for interpreter one of the king's pursuivants, who understood their language, and had been ordered by the king to attend on them. After their return from St Denis to Paris, they departed for Hungary.
On the 21st day of August, sir Pierre de Brézé, lord of Varenne and count de Maulévrier, accompanied by Robert de Flocques, bailiff of Evreux, with many other lords, men at arms and archers, sailed from Honfleur, to the number of four thousand combatants. And on the 25th of the said month, the lords de la Fosse and de l'Eure put to sea, and sailed for several places without meeting any adventures, nor being able to land from the roughness of the weather.
On the following Sunday, the 28th of the month, from sixteen to eighteen hundred combatants made a descent, two leagues from Sandwich in England, about six o'clock in the morning, and formed themselves into three battalions. They marched on foot two long leagues through very bad roads, until they came to a bulwark that had been lately repaired, the ditches of which were full of water. This bulwark had two towers full of archers, who were sharply attacked, and many wounded on each side. Several of the English were killed,—and the bulwark was won by storm, the English having retreated into the town.
The bailiff of Evreux, who commanded the rear-guard, remained at his post during this attack, and, when the bulwark was won, kept his position, as it had been ordered. A division came by sea before Sandwich, to the great joy of their companions on foot, seeing their handsome appearance, while the English were as much cast down. In this division was a guidon of the count de Dunois, borne by Galiot de Genouillac.
There were in the port of Sandwich a large carrack and three ships of war, into which many English had retreated, and would have continued to do much mischief to the French, if the grand seneschal of Normandy had not sent them orders to cease shooting or he would burn their vessels. It was then agreed, that they should retire in safety from these vessels, provided they ceased from hostilities, which was fully complied with.
This same day the seneschal had it proclaimed through his army, that no one, under pain of death, should touch the effects of the churches, or violate the honour of any woman, or set any house on fire, or kill any one in cold blood: all of which commands were most honourably observed.
The infantry now entered the town by the gates, and the division by sea the harbour,—when the English gave them full employment, for they attacked them in every square when they rallied after being defeated in another place. However, the French, but with great difficulty, drove them out of the town, and displayed their banners from the gates, under which the French formed themselves in battle-array: indeed, they had need so to do, for the English were increasing in strength from all the adjacent parts. They had heard that the French intended to attack Sandwich, but, from pride, they said they would not believe it until they should see them.
The English, thus increased, kept up the skirmishes before the gates for six hours without intermission, when many were killed and wounded on each side. Thirty new knights were created on this occasion, namely, Robert de Flocques, called Flocquet, bailiff of Evreux,—Thibault de Termes, bailiff of Chartres,—John Charbonnel, lord of Chevreuses, and others, who behaved very valiantly.
When it was about five o'clock in the afternoon, the French, perceiving no end to skirmishing from the numbers of the enemy constantly increasing, and that their own men were greatly fatigued from their sufferings at sea, as the weather had been against them, determined on making a retreat; for they thought they should be unable to continue the engagement during the night, considering that they had many killed and wounded, that their men had little or no refreshments during the whole day, and that the English were hourly receiving reinforcements. In this retreat, the French suffered no other loss than that of a boat, in which were twelve men at arms, that sunk, and nine of them were drowned: it was a pity, for they had that day well done their duty. May God grant them his pardon, and show mercy to all the others who fell!
If it had not been for the great quantity of wine in Sandwich, of which many archers took more than was necessary, the seneschal would have tarried there with his whole company that night. They, however, carried off much wealth, and numbers of vessels, of different sizes, that were in the harbour: in the number were three large ships of war, which cast anchor in the road, two leagues from Sandwich, and remained there until the Wednesday following: the English all the time were drawn up in battle-array, about a cannon-shot distant one division from another. The seneschal departed with his fleet on the Thursday, with numbers of prisoners and much wealth. On his arrival at Honfleur, the prisoners were ransomed, and the plunder divided.
This was a year of great scarcity in France, and of great mortality in other places.