The boy's Froissart

by Jean Froissart

During the time of this journey the Earl Charles of Valois, brother to King Philip the Fair, was besieging La Réole, and had been there some time; for it appertained, as well as many other cities and towns, to the King of England, the father of him who besieged Tournay: so that the Lord of Manny, on his return, went to visit the Earl Charles of Valois,—as William Earl of Hainault had married the Lord Charles’s daughter,—and showed him his letters, for in these parts he was as king of France. It chanced one night, as he was returning to his lodgings, that he was watched and waylaid by the kindred of him on whose account he had performed this pilgrimage, and was murdered at a small distance from the Earl Charles’s hotel. No one knew positively who had done this deed, but the relations of the Gascon knight above mentioned were very strongly suspected: however, they were so powerful that it was passed over and excused, for none took the part of the Lord of Manny. The Earl of Valois had him buried immediately in a small chapel which at that time was without the walls of La Réole; and, when the Earl of Valois had conquered the town, this chapel was enclosed in it. The old man remembered all these circumstances perfectly well, for he had been present when the Lord of Manny was interred. When Sir Walter came to the spot where his father had been buried, with his aged conductor, he found there a small tomb of marble which his servants had erected over him; and the old man said, “You may be perfectly assured that your father was buried and lies under this tomb.” Sir Walter then caused the inscription, which was in Latin, to be read to him by a clerk, and found that the old man had told him the truth. Two days afterwards he had the tomb opened, took out the bones of his father, and, placing them in a coffin, sent them to Valenciennes in the county of Hainault, where they were again buried in the church of the Frères Mineurs, near the choir. He ordered masses to be said, and to be continued yearly.

CHAPTER XL.
The Earl of Derby conquers the Castle of La Réole.

THE Earl of Derby was more than eleven weeks besieging the castle of La Réole: the miners, however, made such advances, that they had got under one of the courts of the castle; but they could not undermine the donjon, for it was built on too hard a rock. The Lord Agos de Bans, the governor, then told his companions they were undermined, and in great danger; who were much alarmed at it, and said, “Sir, you will be in equal peril with ourselves, if you cannot find some method of avoiding it. You are our captain, and we ought to obey you. In truth, we have defended ourselves honorably, and no one can blame us if now we enter into a treaty. Will you therefore talk with the Earl of Derby, and know if he will accept of our surrender, sparing our lives and fortunes, seeing that we cannot at present act otherwise?” Sir Agos went down from the great tower, and, putting his head out of a window, made signs that he wished to speak with some one from the army. A few of the English came near him, and asked what he wanted: he replied that he would speak with the Earl of Derby or Sir Walter Manny. When this was told the earl, he said to Sir Walter Manny and to Lord Stafford, “Let us go to the fortress, and see what the governor has to say to us:” they rode therefore up to it. When Sir Agos perceived them, he saluted each very respectfully, and said, “Gentlemen, you know for fact that the King of France has sent me to this town and castle, to defend them to the best of my abilities. You know in what manner I have acquitted myself, and also that I should wish to continue it on; but one cannot always remain in the place that pleases one best. I should therefore like to depart from hence, with my companions, if it be agreeable to you; and, that we may have your permission, if you will spare our lives and fortunes, we will surrender this castle up to you.” The earl replied, “Sir Agos, Sir Agos, you will not get off so. We know that you are very much distressed, and that we can take you whenever we please, for your castle now only stands upon props. You must surrender yourselves up unconditionally, and so shall you be received.” Sir Agos, answering, said, “Certainly, sir, if we should do so, I hold you of such honor and gallantry, that you will show us every mark of favor, as you would wish the King of France should do toward any of your knights; and, please God, you will never stain your honor and nobility for a few poor soldiers that are within here, who have gained their money with great pain and trouble, and whom I brought with me from Provence, Savoy, and Dauphiné: for know, that if the lowest of our men be not treated with mercy, as well as the highest, we will sell our lives in such a manner as none besieged ever did before. I therefore entreat of you to listen to me, and treat us like brother soldiers, that we may feel ourselves obliged to you.”

The three knights withdrew to a little distance, and conversed a long time together; when, considering the gallantry of Sir Agos, that he was a foreigner, and, besides, that they could not undermine the donjon, they returned, and said to him, “Sir Agos, we shall be happy always to treat every stranger knight as a brother at arms; and if, fair sir, you and yours wish to leave the castle, you must carry nothing with you but your arms and horses.”—“Let it be so, then,” replied Sir Agos. Upon this he returned to his companions, and related what he had done: they immediately armed themselves, and caparisoned their horses, of which they had only six remaining. Some purchased horses of the English, who made them pay dearly for them. Thus Sir Agos de Bans gave up the castle of La Réole, of which the English took possession; and he went to the city of Toulouse.

CHAPTER XLI.
The Earl of Derby takes Castel Moron, and afterwards Villefranche, in Perigord.

WHEN the Earl of Derby had gained possession of the town and castle of La Réole, where he had spent a long time, he pushed forward, but left there an English knight to see after the repairs, that it might be put in a similar situation as when he had come before it. The earl advanced toward Monpouillant, which he instantly ordered to be attacked the moment he arrived. There were in the castle none but the peasantry of the country who had retired thither with their cattle, depending on the strength of the place. They defended themselves as long as they were able; but at last it was taken by escalade, though it cost the earl dear in the loss of many archers and a young English gentleman called Sir Richard Pennort, who bore the banner of the Lord Stafford. The earl gave the command of the castle and its dependencies to a squire of his own, called Thomas Lancaster, and left him with twenty archers. The earl then came to Castel Moron, which he attacked; but, finding he could not make any impression, he took up his quarters before it for that night. On the morrow morning a knight from Gascony came to him, called Sir Alexander de Chaumont, and said, “Sir, pretend to decamp with your army, leaving only a small detachment here before the town; and, from the knowledge I have of its inhabitants, I am sure they will sally forth to attack them. Your men will defend themselves as they retreat, and by placing an ambuscade under these olive-trees, which as soon as they have passed, one part of your army may fall upon their rear, and the other make for the town.” The earl followed this advice, and ordered the Earl of Oxford to remain behind with only a hundred men, giving him directions what he wished to have done. He then ordered all the baggage to be packed up, and to march off, as if he were going to another place. After having posted a strong ambuscade in the valley among the olives and vines, he rode on.

When the townsmen of Castel Moron perceived that the earl and the greater part of his army were marching off, they said among themselves, “Let us hasten to arm, and sally forth to combat this handful of English that stay behind: we shall soon discomfit them, and have them at our mercy, which will bring us great honor and profit.” They all agreed to this proposal; and, hastening to arm themselves, they sallied out, to the number of about four hundred. As soon as the Earl of Oxford and his party saw them coming, they began to retreat, and the French to follow them with great eagerness: they pursued them until they had passed the ambush, when those posted there advanced upon them, calling out, “Manny forever!” for Sir Walter commanded this ambuscade. One part of his detachment fell upon those that had come from the town; and the other made for Castel Moron, where they came about midnight, and found the gates wide open, for the guards thought it was their own people returning. The first-comers therefore seized the bridge, and were soon masters of the town; for the inhabitants that had sallied out were surrounded on all sides, and either slain or made prisoners. Those that had remained in the town surrendered themselves to the Earl of Derby, who received them kindly, and, out of his nobleness of disposition, respited the town from being pillaged and burnt. He made a present of it, and all its dependencies, to Sir Alexander de Chaumont, through whose advice he had gained it. Sir Alexander made his brother, who was a squire, called Antony de Chaumont, governor; and the Earl of Derby left with him his archers, and forty infantry armed with bucklers, in order to enable him the better to guard the town. The earl then came before Villefranche, which he took by storm, as well as the castle. He made an English knight, Sir Thomas Cook, governor of it. Thus did the Earl of Derby march through every part of the country, without any one venturing out to prevent him. He conquered many different towns and castles, and his army gained so much riches, that it was marvellous to think on.

CHAPTER XLII.
Jacob von Artaveld is murdered at Ghent.

JACOB VON ARTAVELD, the citizen of Ghent that was so much attached to the King of England, still maintained the same despotic power over all Flanders. He had promised the King of England that he would give him the inheritance of Flanders, invest his son the Prince of Wales with it, and make it a duchy instead of an earldom. Upon which account the king was at this period—about St. John the Baptist’s Day, 1345—come to Sluys, with a numerous attendance of barons and knights. He had brought the Prince of Wales with him, in order that Jacob von Artaveld’s promises might be realized. The king remained on board his fleet in the harbor of Sluys, where he kept his court. His friends in Flanders came thither to see and visit him; and there were many conferences between the king and Jacob von Artaveld on one side, and the councils from the different capital towns on the other, relative to the agreement before mentioned; as to which, those from the country did not unite in sentiment with the king or with Von Artaveld: they declared they never would consent to such a thing.

Jacob von Artaveld remained some little time longer with the King of England, in order to be made acquainted with all his affairs: he, in return, assured him that he would bring his countrymen over to his opinion. But he deceived himself, and did wrong in staying behind and not being at Ghent at the time when the citizens who had been deputed by the corporations of the town arrived there; for as soon as they were returned, taking advantage of the absence of Von Artaveld, they collected a large meeting of high and low in the market-place, and there explained to them the subject of the late conferences at Sluys, and what the King of England had required of them through the advice of Jacob von Artaveld.