CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Earl of Derby conquers Bergerac.
WHEN the Earl of Derby had remained at Bordeaux for about fifteen days, he was informed that the barons and knights of Gascony were in Bergerac: he therefore one morning marched that way with his army, and ordered his marshals, Sir Walter Manny and Sir Frank van Halle, to push forward. The English marched that morning no more than three leagues, to a castle called Montcroullier, which belonged to them, and was situated a short league from Bergerac. At this castle of Montcroullier they tarried that day and night. The day following, their scouts were sent as far as the barriers of Bergerac; and on their return they related to Sir Walter Manny that they had reconnoitred the position of the French, which did not appear to them any thing very formidable. This day the English dined early; and during the repast Sir Walter Manny, addressing himself to the Earl of Derby, said, “My lord, if we were good knights, and well armed, we might this evening partake of the wines of these French lords who are garrisoned in Bergerac.” The earl answered that it should not be his fault if they did not. When their companions heard this they said, “Let us hasten to arm ourselves; for we will ride toward Bergerac.” It was no sooner said than done: they were all armed and mounted in an instant. When the Earl of Derby perceived such willingness in his men, he was exceedingly joyful, and cried out, “In the name of God and of St. George, let us march to our enemies!” They then rode on, with banners displayed, during the greatest heat of the day, until they came to the barriers of Bergerac; which was not a place easily to be taken, for a part of the river Dordogne surrounded it. The French lords who were in the town, seeing the English coming to attack them, said they should be well received, and sallied forth in battle-array: they had with them a multitude of foot-soldiers, and country-people badly armed. The English made their approaches in close order, so that they were plainly to be distinguished by the townsmen, and the archers began to shoot thickly. When the foot-soldiers felt the points of the arrows, and saw the banners and pennons glittering in the air, which they had not been accustomed to see, they fell back upon their men at arms. The archers continued to shoot with great quickness, doing much mischief to them. The lords of England then advanced, mounted on their excellent coursers, with lances in rests, and, dashing into the midst of their infantry, drove them down at pleasure, and killed and wounded the French men at arms in abundance; for they could not in any way exert themselves, as these runaways had blocked up the road.
Thus were those of Bergerac driven back again to the suburbs; but with so much loss that the first bridge and bars were taken by storm, and the English entered with them. Upon the pavement were many knights and squires slain and wounded, and many prisoners made of those who came forward to defend the passage. The Lord of Mirepoix was slain under the banner of Sir Walter Manny, who was the first that entered the suburbs. When the Count de Lisle saw that the English had got possession of the suburbs, and were knocking down and killing his people without mercy, he and the other lords of Gascony made a handsome retreat towards the town, and passed the bridge with great difficulty. At this place the engagement was very severe, and lasted a considerable time: the noblemen of France and of England, named in the preceding chapters, combated most valiantly, hand to hand. Neither knight nor bachelor could there conceal himself. Sir Walter Manny had advanced so far among his enemies, that he was in great danger. The English made prisoners of the Viscount de Bousquetin, the Lords of Châtillon, of Chateauneuf, and of Lescun. The French retreated into the fort, let down the portcullis, and, getting upon the battlements, began to throw stones and other things to drive their enemies away. This assault and skirmish lasted until vespers, when the English retreated, quite weary, into the suburbs which they had won; where they found such quantities of provision and wine as might on occasion have lasted them most plentifully for four months.
When the morrow dawned, the Earl of Derby had his trumpets sounded, and his forces drawn out in battle-array, to approach the town, and make a mighty assault, which lasted till noon. They had not much success; for they found that there were within it men who defended themselves valiantly. At noontide the English retreated, perceiving that they only lost their time. The lords then assembled in council, and determined to attack the town on the side next the river, for it was there fortified only by palisades. The Earl of Derby sent, therefore, to the fleet at Bordeaux for vessels, which he ordered to come to him up the Dordogne: there were upward of sixty barks and other vessels lying at Bordeaux, that came to Bergerac. In the evening of the following day the English made their arrangements; and at sunrise all those who were ordered to attack the town, as well as the fleet, were quite ready, under the command of the Lord Stafford. There were many knights and squires who had requested to be on this expedition, in hopes of preferment, as well as a body of archers. They advanced in haste, and came to some large round piles placed before the palisades, which they flung down. The townsmen, seeing this, went to the Count de Lisle, the lords, knights, and squires who were present, and said to them, “Gentlemen, we pray you to take heed what you are about; for we run a great risk of being ruined. If the town be taken, we shall lose all we have, as well as our lives. It will therefore be much better that we surrender it to the Earl of Derby, before we suffer more damage.” The count replied, “We will go to that quarter where the danger is; for we will not consent to surrender it so easily.” The Gascon knights and squires came, therefore, to defend the palisades; but the archers who were in the barks kept up so vigorous an attack with their arrows, that none dared to show themselves, unless they chose to run the risk of being either killed or wounded. In the town there were with the Gascons two or three hundred Genoese cross-bow-men, whose armor shielded them from the arrows. They kept the archers well employed all the day, and many on each side were wounded. At last the English who were in the vessels exerted themselves so much that they broke down a large piece of the palisade: those of Bergerac then retreated, and requested time to consider if they should not surrender the place.
The remainder of that day and night was granted them, upon condition that they should not attempt to repair the breaches; and every one retired to his quarters. The lords of Gascony held that night a long council; and about midnight, having packed up all their baggage, they set out from Bergerac, and followed the road to La Réole, which is not far distant, whose gates were opened to them; and there they took up their quarters.
The English, on the morrow morning, re-embarked on board their fleet, and came to the part where the palisades had been broken down. They found in that place great numbers of the townsmen, who entreated the knights that they would beseech the Earl of Derby to have mercy on them, and allow them their lives and fortunes, and thenceforward they would yield obedience to the King of England. The Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of Oxford replied that they would cheerfully comply with their request; and went to the Earl of Derby, who was not present, and related to him what the inhabitants of Bergerac had desired of them. The Earl of Derby answered, “He who begs for mercy should have mercy shown him: tell them to open their gates, and let us enter, and we will assure them of safety from us and from our people.” The two lords returned, and reported what the earl had said. Upon which the townsmen went to the market-place, where every one, men and women, being assembled, they rang the bells, threw open the gates, went out in procession to meet the Earl of Derby, and with all humility conducted him to the church, where they swore homage and fealty to him, acknowledging him as their lord, for the King of England, by virtue of a procuration which he had with him.
CHAPTER XXXV.
The Count de Lisle, Lieutenant for the King of France, in Gascony, lays Siege to the Castle of Auberoche.
WE will now return to the Count de Lisle, whom we left in La Réole. As soon as he was informed that the Earl of Derby had returned to Bordeaux, and had taken up his residence there, he did not think it probable he would undertake any more expeditions this season. He sent letters therefore to the Earls of Perigord, of Carmain, of Comminges, of Bruniguel, and to all the barons of Gascony that were in the French interest, to desire that they would collect as many people as they could, and come with them properly armed, by an appointed time, to meet him at Auberoche, as he intended to besiege it. They all obeyed his summons; for he was as a king in these parts of Gascony. The knights who were in Auberoche were not aware of this until they found themselves so closely besieged on all sides that no one could go out of the garrison without being seen. The French brought from Toulouse four large machines, which cast stones into the fortress night and day; and they made no other assault: so that in six days’ time they had demolished all the roofs of the towers, and none within the castle dared to venture out of the vaulted rooms on the ground-floor. It was the intention of the army to kill all within the castle, if they would not surrender themselves unconditionally.
News was brought to the Earl of Derby, that Auberoche was besieged; but he did not imagine his friends were so hard pushed. When Sir Frank van Halle, Sir Alain de Finefroide, and Sir John Lendal, who were thus besieged, saw how desperate their situation was, they asked their servants if there were not one among them who would, for a reward, undertake to deliver the letters they had written to the Earl of Derby at Bordeaux. One from among them stepped forward, and said he would be the man who would cheerfully undertake the commission, not through lust of gain, but from his desire to deliver them from the peril they were in. The following night the servant took the letters, sealed with their seals, and sewed them up in his clothes. He was let down into the ditches: when he was at the bottom, he climbed up the opposite side, and took his road through the army, for he could not avoid passing through it. He was met by the first guard, but was not stopped, for he understood the Gascon language well, and named one of the lords of the army, as if belonging to him; so he was suffered to pass on: but he was afterwards arrested, and detained under the tents of some other lords, who brought him to the main watch. He was interrogated, searched, and the letters found upon him, and guarded until morning, when the principals of the army assembled in the tent of the Count de Lisle, where the letters were read. They were rejoiced to find that the garrison were so much straitened that they could not hold out longer; and, seizing the