On the part of the king of England were sir William de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, master Adam Moleyns, keeper of the king's privy seal and dean of Salisbury, sir Robert Roos and others[122].
Several conferences were holden to conclude a general peace,—but so many difficulties arose that it was found to be impracticable at present to bring it about, and the meetings were continued until the terms of a truce were agreed to, the articles of which were as follow:
'Charles duke of Orleans and of Valois, count of Blois and of Beaumont, lord of Coucy and of Oisy, Louis de Bourbon, count of Vendôme and of Chartres, grand master of the royal household of France, Pierre de Brésé, lord de la Varenne and of Bressac, seneschal of Poitou and of Anjou, Bertrand de Beauveau, lord of Precigny, knight, counsellor and chamberlain to the most excellent king of France, our most redoubted lord and sovereign, to all to whom these letters may come, greeting.
'Conformably to the frequent requests and solicitations of our holy father the pope, and latterly by a renewal of them through his ambassador, the reverend father in God the bishop of Viese, to the king, our redoubted and sovereign lord, that he would condescend to take speedy measures for the accomplishment of a lasting peace, or long truce, with the most high and potent prince his nephew, king of England, who, on his part has sent hither, with full powers to treat of the same, certain lords as his ambassadors, namely, William de la Pole earl of Suffolk, master Adam Moleyns keeper of his privy seal, doctor of laws and dean of Salisbury, sir Robert Roos, sir Thomas Hors[123], knight, Richard Andrews, one of his secretaries.
The king our redoubted lord, from his reverence to God, and from the compassion he has ever felt for the afflictions and distresses the poorer people have so long suffered from each contending party, and to prevent the longer continuance thereof and likewise to avoid further effusion of human blood, has liberally condescended to treat on these matters with the aforesaid ambassadors from his nephew the king of England, and has been pleased to commission us to act on his part in the said business, giving to us letters with full powers to treat of the same.
'Charles duke of Orleans, &c. Be it known that we have assembled, for several days, in the town of Tours, to treat of a peace or truce with the ambassadors from England; and at their request, in the full persuasion that we may in the end conclude a final and lasting peace between our redoubted lord and sovereign and his aforesaid nephew, for the two kingdoms, of France and England, have consented and agreed to a truce in the name of our sovereign lord, conformably to the powers granted to us, with the before-mentioned earl of Suffolk and the other ambassadors from England, on the following terms.
'A general truce on the part of the king, our sovereign lord, and his kingdom, as well by sea as by land, his vassals and subjects, including those most powerful princes the kings of Castille and Leon, of the Romans, of Sicily, of Scotland, the dukedoms of Anjou, Bar and Lorraine, the dauphin of Vienne, the dukes of Orleans, Burgundy, Brittany, Bourbon, Alençon, the count du Maine, and generally the whole of the princes of the blood-royal of France, and all allies of our sovereign throughout Europe: including, likewise, all their vassals, subjects and adherents, provided they be not of suspicious character to either party, and shall wish to be included in this truce,—promising, at the same time, on oath, to preserve the truce inviolate, and to make reparations for any infractions that shall be committed. This truce shall take effect throughout the kingdom of France in manner following. In the duchy and country of Gascony, and in the sea-ports and adjacent isles, on the 15th day of May next ensuing, at sunrise, and in all other parts of the kingdom. But in regard to the sea, the truce shall not commence on the coasts of England, Ireland and Wales until the first day of July at sunrise,—and throughout the other parts of the dominions of the said high and potent prince, nephew to our said lord, on the same day and hour.
'With respect to the allies on each side, the truce shall take effect from the moment they shall have signified their acceptance to either of the parties. It shall be sufficient for the acquittal of the king, our sovereign lord, that he declare the acceptance of any of his allies to the person who shall have the government of the territories of his nephew, the king of England, on this side of the sea in Guienne or Normandy. And it shall be sufficient for the said high and potent prince his nephew, king of England, to make similar declarations to the court of parliament of Paris. This truce shall last until the complete revolution of the year, which, according to the usual mode of counting in France, will be on the first day of April, in the year 1445, before Easter-day.
'Item, during this truce, our sovereign lord will put an end to all warfare between the two kingdoms and their allies; and the said high and potent prince, his nephew, shall not aid or abet any of the king's subjects in designs prejudicial to his honour or dignity. In like manner will our said sovereign act towards the said high and puissant prince his nephew.