In the mean time, the constable, and those in his company,—namely, the troops of the lord de Laval, the marshal de Lohéac, the troops of the admiral and of the lord de Touteville,—gained the town of Bricquebosq for the king of France, on permitting those within it to march away with their baggage and effects. The constable then besieged Valognes, that had lately been captured by the English; but it was not long before it surrendered, for the lieutenant-governor for the king of England had turned to the french interest. He, however, obtained from the constable that the english garrison, amounting to six score men, should march in safety, with arms and baggage, to Cherbourg.
On the departure of the duke of Brittany, the constable came to Bayeux, and thence sent sir James de Luxembourg his lieutenant, and Odet Dadic, with about thirty lances, to commence the siege of St Sauveur le Vicomte, which is a handsome town, and one of the strongest in Normandy. They remained before it three days, waiting for the marshals of France and of Brittany, the lords de Touteville, de Boussac and others.
The lord Robersart, a baron of Hainault, was the governor, having with him two hundred english combatants,—and on the arrival of the marshals the place was besieged in earnest. During the opening of the trenches, a valiant esquire from Berry, called John de Blanchefort, was killed by a cannon-shot, whose loss was much lamented. The garrison witnessing the approaches of the French, although unhurt by their batteries, offered to surrender, on condition that they should depart in safety with their arms, baggage and effects, and be allowed eight days for clearing the place. Thus was St Sauveur le Vicomte restored to the king of France; and the marshals rode to a village called Ceaux[92], within two leagues of Caen, where the constable and his company were quartered, carrying with them the english hostages for the performance of the treaty,—and at the end of eight days, when the place was cleared, they were set at liberty.
FOOTNOTES:
[86] Tombelaine,—a small island, or rock, on the coast of Normandy, between Avranches and St Malo.
[87] Bricquebec. Probably Bricquebosq, a village in Normandy, near Valognes.
[88] Valognes,—a large town between Cherbourg and Carentan.
[89] St Sauveur le Vicomte, near Valognes.
[90] Lampet. Q. Lambert?
[91] Orne,—a river in Normandy: it runs into the sea at Estreham.