How the French flung a Servant over the Walls into Auberoche.
servant, they hung the letters round his neck, thrust him into one of the machines, and flung him into Auberoche. The valet fell quite dead amid the other valets of the castle, who were much terrified at it.
About this time the Earl of Perigord, his uncle Sir Charles de Poitiers, the Earl of Carmain, and the Lord of Duras, mounting their horses, rode as near to the walls of the castle as they could, and, calling out to those within by way of derision, said, “Gentlemen, inquire of your messenger where he found the Earl of Derby, and whether he is prepared to assist you, since your man was so eager to quit your fortress, and has returned as quickly.” Sir Frank van Halle replied, “By my faith, gentlemen, if we be so closely confined in this place, we will sally forth whenever it shall please God and the Earl of Derby. I wish to heaven he were acquainted with our situation, for, if he were, the proudest of you all would be afraid of standing your ground; and, if you will send any one to give him this information, one of us will surrender himself to you, to be ransomed as becomes a gentleman.” The French answered, “Nay, nay, matters must not turn out so. The Earl of Derby, in proper time, shall be made acquainted with it; but not until our engines have battered your walls level with the ground, and you shall have surrendered yourselves to save your lives.”—“That, for certain, will never happen,” said Sir Frank van Halle; “for we will not surrender ourselves, should we all die upon the walls.” The French lords then rode on, and returned to their army. The three English knights remained in Auberoche, quite confounded by the force of these engines, which flung such quantities of stones that in truth it seemed as if the thunder from heaven were battering the walls of the castle.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The Earl of Derby makes the Count of Lisle and nine more Counts and Viscounts Prisoners before Auberoche.
ALL these speeches, the treatment of the messenger, the contents of the letters, and the perilous situation of Auberoche, were known to the Earl of Derby by means of a spy he had in the French army. The earl therefore sent orders to the Earl of Pembroke in Bergerac to meet him at an appointed place and hour; and also to the Lord Stafford and Sir Stephen Tombey, who were at Libourne. The Earl of Derby then, accompanied by Sir Walter Manny and the forces he had with him, took the road to Auberoche as secretly as possible; for he had guides who were acquainted with all the by-roads. They came to Libourne, where they waited a whole day for the Earl of Pembroke; but hearing no tidings of him, and being impatient to succor their friends who were so distressed, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Oxford, Sir Walter Manny, Sir Richard Hastings, Sir Stephen Tombey, the Lord Ferrers, and other knights, set out from Libourne: riding all night, they came on the morrow within two leagues of Auberoche. They entered a wood; when, alighting from their horses, they tied them to the trees, and allowed them to pasture, in expectation of the arrival of the Earl of Pembroke. They waited all that morning, and until noon, in vain, not knowing what to do; for they were but three hundred lances and six hundred archers, and the French were from ten to twelve thousand men. They thought it would be cowardice to suffer their friends to be lost, when they were so near them. At last Sir Walter Manny said, “Gentlemen, let us who are now here mount our horses, skirt this wood, and advance until we come to their camp: when we shall be close to it, we will stick spurs into our horses, and, with loud shouts, fall upon them. It will be about their hour for supper; and we shall see them so much discomfited, that they can never rally again.” The knights present replied that they would all do as he had proposed. Each went to his horse, re-girthed him, and tightened his armor: they ordered their pages, servants, and baggage to remain where they were.
They advanced in silence by the side of the wood until they came to the other end, where the French army was encamped in a wide valley, near a small river: they then displayed their banners and pennons, and, sticking spurs into their horses, dashed into the midst of the French and Gascon forces, who were quite confounded and unprepared for this attack, as they were busy about their suppers, many having set down to table. The English were well prepared to act; and crying, “Derby, Derby forever!” they cut down tents and pavilions, and slew and wounded all that came in their way. The French did not know where to turn, so much were they surprised; and when they got into the plains, if there were any large body of them, the archers and crossbow-men made such good use of their weapons that they were slain or dispersed. The Count de Lisle was taken in his tent, badly wounded; the Earl of Perigord in his pavilion, and also Sir Charles his uncle; the Lord of Duras was killed, and so was Sir Aymery de Poitiers, but his brother the Earl of Valentinois was made prisoner. Every one took to his heels as fast as he could; but the Earl of Comminges, the Earls of Carmain, Villemur, and Bruniguel, the Lords de la Barde and de la Taride, with others, who were quartered on the opposite side of the castle, displayed their banners, and, having drawn up their men, marched for the plain: the English, however, who had already defeated the largest body of the army, fell upon them most vigorously. In this engagement many gallant deeds of arms were performed, many captures made, and many rescues. As soon as Sir Frank van Halle and Sir John Lendal, who were in Auberoche, heard the noise, and perceived the banners and pennons of their friends, they hastened to arm themselves, and all those that were with them; when, mounting their horses, they sallied out of the fortress, made for the plain, and dashed into the thickest of the combat, to the great encouragement of the English.
Why should I make a long story of it? All those who were of the Count de Lisle’s party were discomfited, and almost all taken prisoners or slain. Scarcely any would have escaped, if night had not closed so soon. Nine earls and viscounts were made prisoners, and so many barons, knights, and squires, that there was not a man at arms among the English that had not for his share two or three. This battle before Auberoche was fought on the eve of St. Laurence’s Day, in the year 1344. The English treated their prisoners like friends: they received many upon their promises to surrender themselves by a certain day at Bordeaux or Bergerac. The English retired into Auberoche; and the Earl of Derby entertained at supper the greater part of the prisoners,—earls, viscounts, barons, and knights. They gave thanks and praises to God for having enabled them to overcome upward of ten thousand men, when they themselves were not more than one thousand, including every one; and to rescue the town of Auberoche, in which were their friends, that must have been captured in two days’ time. On the next morning, a little after sunrise, the Earl of Pembroke arrived with three hundred lances and four thousand archers. He had been informed of the event of the battle as they came along, and said to the Earl of Derby, “Certainly, cousin, you have neither been courteous, nor behaved honorably, to fight my enemies without waiting for me, seeing that you had sent for me; and you might have been assured that nothing should have prevented my coming to you.” The earl replied, “Fair cousin, we were very anxious for your arrival, and we waited for you from the morning until vespers. When we saw no appearance of your coming, we dared not wait longer; for, had our enemies been informed of our arrival, they would have had the advantage over us. But now, thanks to God, we have conquered them, and we pray of you to help us in conducting them to Bordeaux.” They remained that day and night in Auberoche: on the next day early they were armed and mounted, and set off, leaving there a Gascon knight in their interest, as governor, named the Lord Alexander of Chaumont. They took the road to Bordeaux, and carried with them the greater part of their prisoners.