[1]. It must be borne in mind that at this period the New year was reckoned from the 1st of March, and not from the 1st of January. This peculiarity has given rise to many apparently conflicting dates in mediæval history.
Spring was well advanced ere the King left his quarters at Bayeux and marched up the left bank of the Seine. Once again he had set himself a formidable task—this time the taking of Rouen, the capital of Normandy.
The city was of immense strength, occupying a splendid natural position on the north or right bank of the Seine. Lofty walls, powerfully mounted with bombards and mangonels, completely encircled the town, the battlements being pierced by six gates on the landward side, in addition to the two water-gates that abutted on the spacious quays, where ships of considerable burthen could moor after ascending the river from the sea.
Its garrison consisted of twenty-five thousand men trained to the use of arms, while the numbers of the ordinary inhabitants were largely increased by the influx of crowds of terrified country-folk who had sought a doubtful security behind the walls of the town.
The presence of the host of non-combatants was a source of weakness to the besieged, since they had to be fed and could do little service in return, while the time of year was too early for the rich harvest to be gathered and stored within the town.
Having seized and garrisoned the Pont de l'Arche, to three leagues above Rouen, the King was able to cut off all communications betwixt the city and Paris. He thereupon proceeded to erect six strong forts, one opposite each of the land-gates, connecting them by a "curtain" or line of trenches strengthened with earthworks and palisades.
The river, too, was obstructed both above and below the town, by spiked booms and sunken barges, while in addition to a fleet of English vessels that had ascended the Seine and kept guard below the city, a number of large galleys were, by dint of much manual labour, dragged overland for a distance of nearly a league, and launched once more above the town.
Having completed his circumvallation of Rouen the King, unwilling to risk a general assault, ordered a strict blockade to be maintained, and in a very short time the besiegers settled down to their task, their works assuming the appearance of a town enveloping a town. The strictest discipline was maintained: even the wild Welsh levies and the still more untrained Irish irregular cavalry were kept under perfect control, the punishment of death being inflicted upon all found guilty of plundering, and even on those who straggled beyond the lines.