CHAP. LV.
AFTER THE REDUCTION OF CHÂTILLON, THE FRENCH TAKE ST EMILION AND LIBOURNE.—THE KING JOINS HIS ARMY BEFORE BORDEAUX, IN WHICH WERE GREAT NUMBERS OF ENGLISH.—THAT TOWN SURRENDERS ON CAPITULATION.
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 siege to the new castle in Medoc, and remained before it fourteen 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 thence marched to besiege Blanquefort[158]; and the count de Foix, with his brother the viscount de Lautrec, separated from it to lay siege to Cadillac[159], while the lord de Saintrailles went before St Macaire[160], and reduced it to the king's obedience. The lord d'Albreth likewise left the siege of Blanquefort, and reduced the towns of Langon[161] 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.