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The Boke of Noblesse

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Title: The Boke of Noblesse

Editor: John Gough Nichols


        
Release date: October 1, 2010 [eBook #33953]

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOKE OF NOBLESSE ***




Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Keith Edkins and
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Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they
are listed at the end of the text.

       *       *       *       *       *


THE BOKE OF NOBLESSE

ADDRESSED TO KING EDWARD THE FOURTH

ON HIS INVASION OF FRANCE

IN 1475

       *       *       *       *       *

WITH AN INTRODUCTION

BY JOHN GOUGH NICHOLS, F.S.A.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Illustration]

BURT FRANKLIN
NEW YORK

       *       *       *       *       *


  Published by LENOX HILL Pub. & Dist. Co. (Burt Franklin)
  235 East 44th St., New York, N.Y. 10017
  Reprinted: 1972
  Printed in the U.S.A.

  Burt Franklin: Research and Source Works Series
  Selected Studies in History, Economics, & Social Science:
  n.s. 17 (b) Medieval, Renaissance & Reformation Studies

  Reprinted from the original edition in the University of
  Minnesota Library.

  Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

  The Boke of noblesse.

  Reprint of the 1860 ed. printed for the Roxburghe Club.

  1. Chivalry--History. 2. Hundred Years' War, 1339-1453. 3. Great
  Britain--History--Edward IV, 1461-1483. I. Roxburghe Club, London.
  CR4515.B64 1972    394'.7'09       73-80201
  ISBN 0-8337-2524-6

       *       *       *       *       *


          THE ROXBURGHE CLUB.

                  MDCCCLX.

  THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH AND QUEENSBERRY, K.G.
                  PRESIDENT.

  THE DUKE OF HAMILTON AND BRANDON.
  THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND, K.G.
  HIS EXCELLENCY MONSIEUR VAN DE WEYER.
  MARQUIS OF LOTHIAN.
  EARL OF CARNARVON.
  EARL OF POWIS, V.P.
  EARL CAWDOR.
  EARL OF ELLESMERE.
  LORD VERNON.
  LORD DELAMERE.
  LORD DUFFERIN.
  LORD WENSLEYDALE.
  RIGHT HON. SIR DAVID DUNDAS.
  HON. ROBERT CURZON, JUN.
  SIR STEPHEN RICHARD GLYNNE, BART.
  SIR EDWARD HULSE, BART.
  SIR JOHN BENN WALSH, BART.
  SIR JOHN SIMEON, BART.
  SIR JAMES SHAW WILLES.
  NATHANIEL BLAND, ESQ.
  BERIAH BOTFIELD, ESQ. Treasurer.
  REV WILLIAM EDWARD BUCKLEY.
  PAUL BUTLER, ESQ.
  FRANCIS HENRY DICKINSON, ESQ.
  THOMAS GAISFORD, ESQ.
  RALPH NEVILLE GRENVILLE, ESQ.
  REV. EDWARD CRAVEN HAWTREY, D.D.
  ROBERT STAYNER HOLFORD, ESQ.
  ADRIAN JOHN HOPE, ESQ.
  ALEX. JAMES BERESFORD HOPE, ESQ.
  REV. JOHN STUART HIPPISLEY HORNER, M.A.
  JOHN ARTHUR LLOYD, ESQ.
  EVELYN PHILIP SHIRLEY, ESQ.
  WILLIAM STIRLING, ESQ.
  SIMON WATSON TAYLOR, ESQ.
  GEORGE TOMLINE, ESQ.
  CHARLES TOWNELEY, ESQ.

       *       *       *       *       *


TO THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS

OF

THE ROXBURGHE CLUB

THIS INTERESTING HISTORICAL TREATISE,

WRITTEN IN ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE

INVASION OF FRANCE BY KING EDWARD THE FOURTH IN 1475,

IS DEDICATED AND PRESENTED

   BY THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANT,

   DELAMERE.

June 23, 1860.

       *       *       *       *       *


{i}

INTRODUCTION.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Book of Noblesse, which is now for the first time printed, was
addressed to King Edward the Fourth for a political purpose, on a great and
important occasion. He was in the midst of his second reign, living in high
prosperity. He had subdued his domestic enemies. His Lancastrian rivals
were no longer in existence, and the potent King-maker had fought his last
field. Edward was the father of two sons; and had no immediate reason to
dread either of his younger brothers, however unkind and treacherous we now
know them to have been. He was the undisputed King of England, and, like
his predecessors, the titular King of France. His brother-in-law the duke
of Burgundy, who had befriended him in his exile in 1470, was continually
urging, for his own ambitious views, that the English should renew their
ancient enterprises in France; and Edward, notwithstanding his natural
indolence, was at last prepared to carry his arms into that country. The
project was popular with all those who were burning for military fame,
indignant at the decay of the English name upon the continent, or desirous
to improve their fortunes by the acquisitions of conquest. The Book of
Noblesse was written to excite and inflame such sentiments and
expectations.

Its unknown author was connected with those who had formerly profited by
the occupation of the English provinces in France, and particularly with
the celebrated sir John Fastolfe, knight of the Garter, whom the writer in
several places mentions as "myne autor."

Sir John Fastolfe had survived the losses of his countrymen in France, and
died at an advanced age in the year 1460. It seems not at all improbable
that the substance of this book was written during his life-time, and that
it was merely revised and augmented on the eve of Edward the Fourth's
invasion of France. All the historical events which are mentioned in it
date at least some five-and-twenty years before that expedition.

The author commences his composition by an acknowledgment, how necessary it
is in the beginning of every good work, to implore the grace of God: and
then {ii} introduces a definition of true nobility or Noblesse, in the
words of "Kayus' son," as he designates the younger Pliny.

He next states that his work was suggested by the disgrace which the realm
had sustained from the grievous loss of the kingdom of France, the duchies
of Normandy, Gascony, and Guienne, and the counties of Maine and Ponthieu;
which had been recovered by the French party, headed by Charles the
Seventh, in the course of fifteen months, and chiefly during the year 1450.
To inspire a just indignation of such a reverse, he recalls all the
ancestral glories of the English nation, from their first original in the
ancient blood of Troy, and through all the triumphs of the Saxons, Danes,
Normans, and Angevyns. Of the Romans in England he says nothing, though in
his subsequent pages he draws much from Roman history.

The next chapter sets forth how every man of worship in arms should
resemble the lion in disposition, being eager, fierce, and courageous. In
illustration of this it may be remarked, that Froissart, when describing
the battle of Poictiers, says of the Black Prince, "The Prince of Wales,
who was _as courageous and cruel as a lion_, took great pleasure this day
in fighting and chasing his enemies." So our first Richard is still
popularly known by his martial epithet of Coeur de Lyon: and that the lion
was generally considered the fit emblem of knightly valour is testified by
its general adoption on the heraldic shields of the highest ranks of feudal
chivalry. The royal house of England displayed three lions, and the king of
beasts was supposed to be peculiarly symbolic of their race--

  Your brother Kings and monarchs of the earth
  Do all expect that you should rouse yourself
  As did the former Lions of your Blood.
                      Shakspere's Henry V. Act I. scene 1.

In the following chapter the author proceeds to describe "how the French
party began first to offend, and break the truce." This truce had been
concluded at Tours on the 28th of May 1444. The French are stated to have
transgressed it first by capturing certain English merchant-men on the sea;
and next by taking as prisoners various persons who bore allegiance to the
English king. Of such are enumerated sir Giles son of the duke of
Bretagne[1]; sir Simon Morhier, the {iii} provost of Paris, taken at
Dieppe[2]; one Mansel an esquire, taken on the road between Rouen and
Dieppe, in January 1448-9[3]; and the lord Fauconberg, taken at Pont de
l'Arche on the 15th May 1449.[4] The writer is careful to state that these
acts of aggression on the part of the French, or some of them, were
committed "before the taking of Fugiers," for it was by that action that
the English party had really brought themselves into difficulty.[5]

There is next discussed (p. 6) "a question of great charge and weight,
whether it be lawful to make war upon Christian blood." This is determined
upon the authority of a book entitled The Tree of Batailes, a work which
had evidently already acquired considerable popularity whilst still
circulated in manuscript only, {iv} and which so far retained its
reputation when books began to be multiplied by the printing-press as to be
reproduced on several occasions. Our author frequently recurs to it, but
his references do not agree with the book as it now remains; and it is
remarkable that he attributes it, not to Honore Bonnet its real author,[6]
but to one dame Christine, whom he describes (see his note in p. 54) as an
inmate of the house of religious ladies at Passy near Paris. It would seem,
therefore, that he made use of a somewhat different book, though probably
founded on the celebrated work of Honore Bonnet.

The fact of wars sometimes originating from motives of mere rivalry or
revenge prompts the writer or commentator (whose insertions I have
distinguished as proceeding from a "second hand,") to introduce some
remarks on the inveterate and mortal enmity that had prevailed between the
houses of Burgundy and Orleans, which led to so many acts of cruelty and
violence at the beginning of the fifteenth century.

King Edward is next reminded "how saint Louis exhorted and counselled his
son to move no war against Christian people;" but, notwithstanding that
blessed king's counsel,[7] it is declared on the other hand that "it is
notarily and openly {v} known through all Christian realms that our adverse
party hath moved and excited war and battles both by land and sea against
this noble realm without any justice or title, and without ways of peace
showed; and consequently it might be without note of tiranny for the king
of England to defend (or drive away) those assailants upon his true title,
and to put himself in devoir to conquer his rightful inheritance."

The writer then bursts forth into a passionate exhortation to the English
nation, to remember their ancient prowess, the annals of which he proceeds
to set forth in several subsequent chapters. He enumerates the examples of
king Arthur, of Brennus, Edmond Ironside, William the Conqueror, Henry the
First, his brother Robert elect king of Jerusalem, Fulke earl of Anjou,
Richard Coeur de Lyon, Philip Dieudonne of France, Edward the First, and
Richard earl of Cornwall and emperor of Almaine. He rehearses how Edward
the Third had the victory at the battle of Scluse, gat Caen by assault, won
the field at the great and dolorous battle of Cressy, captured David king
of Scots and Charles duke of Bretany, and took Calais by siege; how Edward
prince of Wales made John king of France prisoner at Poictiers; and how the
battle of Nazar was fought in Spain.

In the following chapter it is related how king Henry the Fifth conquered
Normandy; under which head a particular account is given of the defence of
Harfleur against the power of France. Here it is that the name of sir John
Fastolfe is first introduced as an authority, in respect to a circumstance
of that siege, which is, that the watchmen availed themselves of the
assistance of mastiffs--"and as for wache and ward yn the wynter nyghtys I
herd the seyd ser Johan Fastolfe sey that every man kepyng the scout wache
had a masty hound at a lyes (_or_ leash), to barke and warne yff ony
adverse partye were commyng to the dykes or to aproche the towne for to
scale yt."

The chapter concludes with a mention of the battle of Agincourt and the
marriage of king Henry to the French king's daughter.

The following chapters (pp. 17 et seq.) contain how in the time of John
duke of Bedford, who was for thirteen years Regent of France, the victory
of Cravant was obtained by his lieutenant the earl of Salisbury; how the
duke in his own person won the battle of Verneuil in Perche; how that the
greater part of the county of Mayne, and the city of Mauns, with many other
castles, were brought {vi} into subjection; and how that Henry the Sixth,
by the might of great lords, was crowned King in Paris; after which the
writer bursts forth into another exhortation, or "courageous recomforting"
of the "valiauntnes of Englishemen."

The author now flies off (p. 20) to more remote examples, to the noblesse
of that vaillant knight Hector of Troy, to the deeds in arms of Agamemnon
the puissaunt king of Greece, and to those of Ulysses and Hercules.

He recites, from the book of Vegetius on Military Tactics,[8] how a
conqueror should especially practise three things,--the first, a scientific
prudence or caution: the second, exercitacion and usage in deeds of arms:
and the third, a diligent regard to the welfare of his people.

He next argues how men of noblesse ought to leave sensualities and
delights.

In the following chapters (p. 22 et seq.), he sets forth the King's title
to the duchy of Normandy, to the inheritance of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine,
and to the duchies of Gascoigne and Guienne.

The "historier" proceedeth (p. 25) in his matter of exhortation,
strengthening his arguments by the heterogeneous authority of master Alanus
de Auriga, of "the clerke of eloquence Tullius," of Caton, the famous poet
Ovid, and Walter Malexander. The work of the first of these authors, Alain
Chartier, seems to have been at once the source from which many of our
author's materials were derived, and also to have furnished the key-note
upon which he endeavoured to pitch his {vii} appeals to the patriotism and
prowess of his countrymen. Alain Chartier[9] had been secretary to king
Charles the Seventh, and wrote his Quadrilogue[10] in the year 1422, in
defence of the native party in France, and in opposition to the English
usurpation. Our author imitates his rhapsodical eloquence, and borrows some
of his verbal artillery and munitions of war, whilst he turns them against
the party of their original deviser.

In the subsequent pages several anecdotes are derived from Alain
Chartier[11]; and further advice is drawn from the Arbre des Batailles (pp.
27, 30), and from the treatise of Vegetius (p. 29).

It is related (p. 33) how king John lost the duchy of Normandy for lack of
finaunce to wage his soldiers; and next follows (p. 34) a long and
important chapter recounting the various truces made between the kings of
England and France, and showing how frequently they had been broken by the
French party, to the decay of the English power, except when revived by the
victories of Edward the Third and Henry the Fifth. This part of the
discussion is concluded with a representation (p. 41) of the lamentable
condition of the French subjects of the English crown, when put out of
their lands and tenements. "Heh allas! (thei did crie,) and woo be the tyme
(they saide) that ever we shulde put affiaunce and trust to the Frenshe
partie or theire allies in any trewes-keping, considering so many-folde
tymes we have ben deceived and myschevid thoroughe suche dissimuled
trewes!"

Yet, notwithstanding all these discouragements, a confident trust is
expressed that the inheritance of France will at length be brought to its
true and right estate.

The writer then proposes (p. 41) a question to be resolved by divines, How
be {viii} it that at some times God suffereth the party that hath a true
title and right to be overcome, yet for all that a man should not be
discouraged from pursuing his right. He mentions the last unfortunate
overthrow sustained at Formigny[12] in 1450, and the consequent loss of
Guienne and Bordeaux.

After which follows (p. 43) "another exhortation of the historier,"
addressed to the "highe and myghtifulle prince, king of Englonde and of
France, and alle y^e other noble princes and other puissaunt lordes and
nobles of divers astates olde or yong."

A brief recommendation ensues of the deeds in arms of that mightiful prince
of renommee Henry the Fifth and the three full mighty and noble princes his
brethren; where, in the commendation of Humphrey duke of Gloucester, the
second hand has inserted a note of his "bokys yovyng, as yt ys seyd to the
value of M^l marks, of the vij sciences, of dyvinite, as of law spirituall
and cyvyle, to the universite of Oxford."

Allusion is made (p. 46) to the order of the Garter, "founded (as yt ys
seyd) in token of worship that he being in bataile, what fortune fille,
shulde not voide the feeld, but abide the fortune that God lust sende;" of
which fellowship sir John Chandos, seneschal of Poictou, had been a right
noble exemplar. The historical reminiscences of the author then again lead
him on to the disastrous period during which the continental possessions of
England had been lost, "within the space of one year and fourteen (fifteen)
weeks, that is to wete, from the xv. day of May in the year 1449 unto the
xv. day of August in the year 1450, that every castle, fortress, and town
defensable of the said duchies were delivered up by force or composition to
the adverse party."

After a break (p. 50), in consequence of the loss of a leaf of the
Manuscript, we find ourselves in the midst of a discussion of the merits of
astrology. The author addresses himself to combat the prevalent confidence
in prophecies and in the influence of the stars: "which judgments (he
avers) be not necessarily true;" but merely contingent or likely, and, he
adds, "as likely not to be as to be." For if, he puts the case, "a
constellation or a prophecy signified that such a year or within {ix} such
a time there should fall war, pestilence, or dearth of vitaile to a country
or region, or privation of a country, it is said but dispositively, and not
of necessity or certainty; for then it should follow that the prophecies,
constellations, and influence of the stars were masters over God's power,
and that would soune to a heresy, or else to a great error." After this
pious determination upon a question that at that period presented great
difficulties, the author adds, that he believed God to have bestowed that
sovereignty upon man's soul, that, having a clean soul, he might even turn
the judgment of constellations or prophecies to the contrary disposition:
to which effect he quotes the bold assertion of the famous astrologian
Ptolemy,

_Quod homo sapiens dominatur astris._

With these sentiments, rising superior to the general prejudices of the
age, our author proceeds confidently to censure the moral causes of the
recent calamities, which in his judgment had ensued "for lak of prudence
and politique governaunce in dew time provided," and from "havyng no
consideracion to the comon wele, but rather to magnifie and enriche one
silfe by singler covetise, using to take gret rewardis and suffering
extorcions over the pore peple." On this subject he subsequently speaks
still more plainly.

This leads him to reflect upon the fate of many realms and countries that
had been ruined by sin and misgovernance: as the old Bretons were, when
driven out of England by the Saxons into Cornwall and Wales. "And where (he
exclaims[13]) is Nynnyve, the gret cite of thre daies? and Babilon, the
gret toure, inhabited now withe wilde bestis? the citeis of Troy and
Thebes, ij. grete magnified citeis? also Athenes, that was the welle of
connyng and of wisdom?" Carthage, "the victorioux cite of gret renomme,"
had been burnt to ashes by the Romans. Rome {x} herself had for the greater
part been overthrown; and Jerusalem had shared the like fate.

In the succeeding portions of his work the compiler takes much of his
matter from Roman history: which he derives from the decades of Titus
Livius, either directly, or through the medium of the "Tree of Batailes."
Tullius and Cato are also repeatedly cited.

It is unnecessary to notice here all the historical anecdotes thus
introduced, as they will at once be seen on turning over the pages; but
attention should be directed to one of the most remarkable passages in the
book, in which the writer quotes the sentiments of "myne autor," sir John
Fastolfe:--

"I hafe herd myne autor Fastolfe sey, when he had yong knyghtys and nobles
at his solasse (_i.e._ tuition), how that there be twey maner condicions of
manly men, and one ys a manlye man called, another ys a hardye man; but he
sayd the manlye man ys more to be comended, more then the hardy man; for
the hardy man that sodenly, bethout discrecion of gode avysement, avauncyth
hym yn the felde to be hadde couragiouse, and wyth grete aventur he
scapyth, voidith the felde allone, but he levyth his felyshyp detrussed (or
disordered). And the manly man, hys policie ys that (if) he avaunce hym and
hys felyshyp at skirmish or sodeyn racountre, he wulle so discretely
avaunce hym that he wulle entend [_i.e._ be sure] to hafe the over-hand of
hys adversarye, and safe hymself and hys felyshyp."

It was thus that the experienced captain sir John Fastolfe distinguished
between the rashly daring and those who bravely embarked on some feasible
and well conceived exploit. It is evident that the term "hardy" was then
sometimes understood in the sense we now call fool-hardy.[14] The author
himself uses the word "fool-hardiesse" in p. 63.

{xi}

At p. 68 will be found another anecdote of sir John Fastolfe. It shows that
the writer had access to those books of accompt which sir John had kept
when a captain in France. "I fynde (he says) by his bookes of hys purveonds
how yn every castell, forteresse, and cyte or towne, he wolde hafe grete
providence of vitaille, of cornys, of larde, and beoffes, of stok physsh
and saltfysh owt of England commyng by shyppes." It was because of his good
management in this respect that the regent and lords of the council
intrusted so many castles to his custody that he yearly had under his
command three hundred spears (or mounted men-at-arms) with their
attendants. Also in like manner he purveyed yearly for his soldiers a
livery of red and white; and equipments sufficient for any naked man that
was able to do the king and regent service. The good result of this
provision was manifested on a memorable occasion, when the duke of Exeter
was captain of the city of Paris, and Fastolfe captain of the bastille of
St. Anthoine. It happened, in consequence of the arrest of the lord de
Lisle Adam,[15] a favourite with the commons of the city, that they
suddenly took arms, and rebelled against the duke of Exeter, who found it
necessary to repair to the bastille for his defence. {xii} At his coming
the first question he asked of Fastolfe was how far he was furnished with
corn, with wheat, beans, peasen, and aveyn for horse-meat, and with other
vitail. Fastolfe replied, With sufficient for a half-year or more: which
gave the prince great "comfort," or re-assurance. So he made ready his
ordnance, and discharged the great guns amongst the rebels, with mighty
shot of arrows: by which means, and because the French king and queen, who
were in the city, also held against the rebels, the burgesses were in a
short time constrained to submit to the mercy of the duke of Exeter.[16]

At p. 69 occurs a curious chapter in the praise of agriculture, or
"labourage of the londe" as it is there termed, illustrated by a
description of the gardens and herbers of king Cyrus.

But the most important portion of the whole work, in an historical point of
view, is the chapter commencing at p. 71, intended to inforce the wisdom
and necessity of making just pay to soldiers, for eschewing of great
inconveniences that may otherwise insue. It is here admitted that in this
respect there had been more neglect in the English possessions in France
than was elsewhere known[17]: {xiii} that in consequence the people had
suffered great oppression from the soldiers taking their vitail without
payment, and that such abuses had continued unchecked for ten or twelve
years previously to the country being lost. Our author advises that the
chieftains and captains should be duly paid their wages, either monthly, as
had been usual during the time of the regent Bedford, or quarterly, and
that without any reward of courtesy, bribe, defalcation, or abridgment, or
any undue assignation; and that such payments be made content without
delay, or long and great pursuit. It appears from the writer's statements,
that the royal officers, deputies, and commissioners had not only been
guilty of the practices thus denounced, but that those officers themselves
had been needlessly numerous, living as they did upon bribery and
extortion, and neglecting the exercise of arms necessary for the defence
and protection of the territory. Oftentimes they had wasted of the
subjects'[18] livelode more than was necessary, and oftentimes had suffered
them to be menaced and beaten, and mischieved their beasts with their
weapons, so that they were nigh out of their wits for sorrow, and thus
enforced "for duresse" to forsake the title and laws of their English
sovereign. Moreover, they had been so often grievously surcharged with
paying of tasques, tails (or tolls), subsidies, and impositions, besides
their rents paid either to the crown or their landlords, and many of them
dwelling upon the marches having also patised (or compounded?) to the
adverse party in order to dwell in rest, that these innumerable charges and
divers torments had effected their uttermost undoing. The author cannot
quit these reflections without this passionate appeal to the Almighty: "Oh
God! which art most mercifulle and highest juge, soverein and just, how
maist thou long suffre this (misery) regnyng without the stroke of
vengeaunce and ponisshement commyng upon the depryvyng or yelding up of
that Dukedom?"

The next chapter (p. 74) appears to intimate that the writer personally
sympathised in the degradation of the clergy. "Moreover, (he exclaims,) in
way of gret pitee, and in the worship of God, suffre ye not the prelates of
the Chirche of that lande, as archebisshoppis, bisshoppis, abbatis,
priours, denes, archedenes, and their ministrours, to be oppressid,
revaled, ne vileyned, as in your predecessour's {xiv} daies they have been
accepted in fulle litelle reverence or obedience;" having as he alleges
been privily coerced to give to the rulers, governors, and masters of the
marches and countries great fees, wages, and rewards, for permission to
live at rest upon their livelodes. And oftentimes they were visited by
strangers of great estate, both spiritual and temporal, and particularly by
those intrusted with the administration of the laws, besides other needless
people that wasted and surcharged them, an exaction beyond the intent of
their foundation, which was merely to maintain their appointed numbers,
praying for their founders, and to feed the poor and needy in case of
necessity.

The following chapter (p. 76) is a remarkable one in respect to ancient
chivalric usages. It sets forth "How lordis sonnes and noble men of birthe,
for the defense of her londe, shulde exercise hem in armes lernyng." It is
urged that "the sonnes of princes, of lordis, and for the most part of alle
tho that ben comen and descendid of noble bloode, as of auncien knightis,
esquiers, and other auncient gentille men, while they ben of grene age,
(should be) drawen forthe, norisshed, and excercised in disciplines,
doctrine, and usage of scole of armes, as using justis, to renne with
speer, handle withe ax, sworde, dagger, and alle othir defensible wepyn, to
wrestling, to skeping, leping, and rennyng, to make hem hardie, deliver,
and wele brethed;" ... "and not to be unkonnyng, abashed, ne astonied for
to take entrepresis, to answer or deliver a gentilman that desires in
worship to doo armes in liestis, (either) to the utteraunce or to certein
pointis, or in a quarelle rightful to fight," or in time of war to defend
their sovereign and his realm. Such was the ancient custom of the kings
both of France and of England: as especially of king Edward the Third, and
of Henry duke of Lancaster. That chivalrous knight, who was accounted "a
chief auctour and foundour in law of armes," had (as the writer was told by
sir John Fastolfe) sent to him from princes and lords of strange regions,
as out of Spain, Aragon, Portugal, Navarre, and France, their children,
young knights, "to be doctrined, lerned, and brought up in his noble court,
in scole of armes, and for to see noblesse, curtesie, and worship."

This useful custom had been maintained by other noble princes and lords of
great birth; but now of late days, (continues our author,) the greater pity
is! many that be descended of noble blood and born to arms, as the sons of
knights and esquires and of other gentle blood, set themselves to "singuler
practik" and to "straunge facultees," as to learn "the practique of law or
custom of lands, or of civil matier," and so waste greatly their time in
such needless business, as to undertake the holding of manorial courts, to
keep and bear out a proud {xv} countenance at the holding of sessions and
shire-motes,[19] and "there to embrace[20] and rule among youre pore and
symple comyns of bestialle contenaunce that lust to lyve in rest." And it
is added, that whoever could put himself forward as a ruler in such
matters, was, "as the worlde goithe now," more esteemed among all estates
than he who had expended thirty or forty years of his life in great
jeopardies in the conquests and wars of his sovereign. The author pursues
the argument at greater length, as the reader will find, and expresses his
decided opinion that the high-born personages in question should rather
learn to be good men of arms, chieftains, or captains in the field, than to
be a captain or ruler at a sessions or shire-day; leaving such matters to
the king's justices and officers,[21] and that "suche singuler practik
shulde not be accustumed and occupied undewly with suche men that be come
of noble birthe,"--except (it is added on second thoughts) he be the
younger brother, having not whereof to live honestly.

The following chapter (p. 78) discusses "How officers of the law shulde be
{xvi} chosen, welle disposid and temperate men, vertuous in condicion, and
they to be protectid by lordis and noble men of birthe." There is nothing
however in this chapter so remarkable as in that which has preceded.

The author next shows (p. 79) "How over gret cost and pomp in clothing
shulde be eschewed;" in which respect he asserts that in France "alle
costius arraiementis of clothing, garmentis, and bobauncees, and the usaige
of pellure and furres they have expresselie put away:" whilst in England
the like "costues arraymentis and disguising of clothing, of so many divers
facion," had caused impoverishing of the land, and excited great pride,
envy, and wrath amongst the people.

Whether this was truly a national grievance may be doubted. It is, however,
more probable that the "pore comyns" of England had really suffered, as set
forth in the succeeding chapter (p. 80), "gret hurt and inconvenientis
because the creditours have not been duelie paid of here lonys and prestis
made to high sovereins." This, it is stated, had been oftentimes the case
in the reign of Henry the Sixth. They had advanced loans, "prests of
vitails and other merchandise," of which the payment was so long delayed
that great part of their property was previously expended, and they were
sometimes fain to defalke and release part of their dues, in order to
recover the rest. As an alternative for this inconvenience the writer
recommends a course that would scarcely have proved more efficacious. "Let
your riche tresours (he advises the king) be spradde and put abrode, both
juellis (and) vesselle of golde and silver, among youre true subgettis, and
inespecialle to the helpe and avauncement of youre conquest, and to the
relief of your indigent and nedie peple, and inespecialle to tho that have
lost theire londis, livelode, and goode in the werres, so that the saide
tresoure may be put forthe, and late it be set in money to the remedie and
socoure of this gret importunyte and necessite, and to the defens of youre
roiaume from your adversaries."

In another chapter (p. 81), having recommended the king, "after the blessed
counceile of Saint Louis," to cherish and favour the good cities and towns,
the author pursues the former argument of raising supplies, urgently
exhorting all classes to strain their utmost for that object. "Youre saide
citesins and burgeis and good comyns if they be tendred shalbe of power and
of good courage, and wille withe here bodies and goodes largelie depart to
be yoven for to resist the adversaries." Those who had not able bodies nor
usage in arms, were yet to come forth with a good courage, spiritual men as
well as temporal, and, as true Englishmen should do, "every man put forthe
of his goodes after that his power is."

With this strain the Epistle terminates, its last chapter (p. 83) being an
illustration of the same argument from the _Punica bella_ of Titus Livius,
consisting of {xvii} "A noble history of the largesse of Romaynys, how
amplye they departed ther godes yn a tym of urgent necessite, to make an
armee yn to the contree of Auffrique."

These final passages of the book, which so urgently recommend a voluntary
contribution in aid of the intended war, were certainly written in the year
1475, with which date the whole composition concludes: for it is recorded
by the historians of the day that it was on this occasion that king Edward
the Fourth, after he had already raised all the supplies he could obtain by
the ordinary methods of taxation, adopted the new device of a contribution
nominally voluntary and its amount optional, and therefore termed a
Benevolence,[22] but which eventually, when repeated, was regarded with
peculiar repugnance and discontent.



After this review of the contents of the Work, we will proceed to notice
the circumstances of the occasion for which it was professedly composed.

The English invasion of France in the year 1475 originated in the events of
1470 and 1471. The temporary deposition of Edward the Fourth from his
throne had been abetted by the aid which the King-making earl of Warwick
derived from that forger of all mischief Louis the Eleventh of France. At
that time Edward took refuge with his brother-in-law the duke of Burgundy,
a man as ambitious of aggrandisement as king Louis, but whose disposition
instigated him to pursue it by the more ordinary path of martial
enterprise. His enmity to the king of France was bitter and inveterate; and
it doubtless formed the topic of much of his discourse with the exiled
English monarch. Edward, on his part, vowed an ample revenge when the
forces of England should be again at his command: and the result was a
mutual understanding between these princes to prosecute their common
quarrel at the earliest opportunity.

Having this object in view, Edward summoned a parliament[23] in the autumn
{xviii} of 1472, in order to obtain the requisite supplies; and on the last
day of November an act was passed whereby the commons granted to the king a
force of 13,000 archers (the like number which had been granted to his
predecessor in the 31st year of his reign[24]), assigning as their motives
for so doing, that "for the wele and suerte of this your reame inward, and
the defence of the same outeward, to assiste youre roiall astate, ye
verraily entendyng, in youre princely and knightly corage, with all
diligence to youre highnes possible, all your bodely ease leyde apart, to
resiste the seid confedered malice of youre and oure seide ennemyes, in
setting outeward a myghty armee, able by the helpe of God to resiste the
seid ennemyes." The archers were to abide in the king's service by the
space of a year, each receiving the pay of six pence a day; and the commons
granted for their support a disme, or tenth part of the income from lands,
tenements, and possessions of every temporal person, not being a lord of
parliament: but, if the said army held not before the feast of Saint
Michael in 1473, the grant was to be void, and the money repaid. [25]

The lords spiritual and temporal made a similar grant, on the consideration
"that the kyng oure soverayn lord is disposed by the grace of God in his
owne persone to passe forth of this his seid reame with an armee roiall,
for the saufegarde of the same reame, and the subduyng of the auncien
ennemyes of hym and of his seid reame."[26] In the next session, on the 8th
April 1473, the commons granted to the king a fifteenth and a tenth,
because, among other causes, "that ye verraily entend, as we understond, to
aredye youre self, by all measnes to you possible, in youre moost noble
persone to goo, departe, and passe with an arme roiall to the parties
outward, to subdue by the myght of God youre and oure auncien enemyes, to
the weele of you and prosperite of this youre reame."[27]

Notwithstanding these earnest intentions and costly preparations, the
season of 1473 wore away without any embarkation for France; and, at the
close of the session on the 1st of February 1473-4, the chancellor, by the
king's command, informed the commons that the parliament was prorogued to
the 9th of May following,[28] "because in the matter of foreign war the
king was not certainly {xix} informed of the disposition of his brother of
Burgundy, and on that account he had lately sent his ambassadors to his
said brother."

The treaty with Burgundy was concluded in July 1474. The principal
documents[29] respecting it bear date on the 25th of that month, on which
day they were ratified both by king Edward and duke Charles. The former
undertook to land in Normandy, or in other parts of France, with more than
ten thousand men, before the 1st of July following (_i.e._ 1475); and the
latter agreed to support the king's part in person and with his forces, in
order to accomplish the recovery of the duchies of Normandy and Aquitaine,
and the kingdom and crown of France, from Louis, then unjustly occupying
them. The king engaged not to treat with Louis, without the consent of the
duke of Burgundy; and the duke in like manner covenanted not to treat with
him without the consent of king Edward. Henceforth Louis was to be deemed
and proclaimed their common enemy.

By further articles, dated on the next following day, the contracting
parties agreed that, when either of them waged war, they should have
liberty to demand from the other aid to the amount of six thousand armed
men; which were to be paid at the expense of the party requiring them,
unless the war were in his own defence, in which case he was to pay only
three fifths, and the other party two fifths of the soldiers' wages. By a
further treaty, also dated on the 26th July 1474, king Edward ceded to the
duke of Burgundy the duchy of Barr, the counties of Champagne, Nevers,
Rethelle, Eu, and Guise, the barony of Douzi, the cities of Tournay and
Lingon, with their dependencies, the castle and town of Picquigny, all the
towns and lordships on either side the Somme before pledged to him, and
further all the lands and lordships then possessed by Louis de {xx}
Luxemburgh count of St. Paul: retaining no feudal sovereignty over the
same, but conceding that the duke and his successors should in future be
esteemed as the sovereign princes thereof. It was further agreed that
Edward should be crowned and anointed king of France at Rheims,
notwithstanding that the county of Champagne was ceded to the duke of
Burgundy.

From this time the whole military population of England made constant and
earnest preparation for hostilities. They were retained by indenture to
serve the king for a whole year in his duchy of Normandy and realm of
France, each receiving the wages assigned to their respective ranks. These
were,--to a Duke xiij s. iiij d. by the day, to an Earl vj s. viij d., to a
Baron or Banneret iiij s., to a Knight ij s., to a Man at Arms xij d. by
the day and vj d. more as of reward, and to an Archer vj d. by the day.[30]

{xxi}

In December proclamations were made throughout England for all bowyers and
fletchers to pursue their labours with the utmost haste and diligence, the
latter to make only "shefe arrowes;" and purveyors were sent into several
circuits to superintend the delivery of their supplies.[31] Other
commissions were issued for impressing into the king's service carpenters,
wheelers, cartwrights, masons, smiths, plumbers, and other artificers; and
also for taking all ships of the burden of sixteen tons and upwards, for
the transport of the army.[32]

For all these expenses the large sums already voted by the lords and
commons in parliament, together with those granted by the clergy in their
convocation, were not sufficient. It was then that recourse was had to the
collections called Benevolences, to which allusion has been already made,
from their being so strongly advocated by the author of The Boke of
Noblesse. The process by which they were first brought into operation is
thus described by Fabyan the London chronicler:

"He sent for the mayer of London and his brethren the aldermen, and them
severally examined and exorted to ayde and assyst hym towarde the sayd
great journaye; of whiche the maier (Robert Drope, draper,) for his parte
granted xxxli. and the aldermen some xx marke, and the leest xli. And that
done he sent for all the thryfty commoners within the sayd cytie, and theym
exortyd in lyke maner, whiche for the more partye granted to hym the wages
of halfe a man for a yere, the whiche amounted to iiijli. xjs. iijd. And
after that he rode about the more part of the lande, and used the people in
suche fayre maner, that he reysed therby notable summes of money, the
whiche way of the levyinge of this money was after named a Benevolence."

"But here (adds the chronicler Hall on this subject) I wil not let passe a
prety conceyt that happened in this gathering, in the which you shall not
onely note the humilitie of a kyng, but more the fantasie of a woman. Kyng
Edward had called before hym a wydow, muche aboundynge in substance, and no
lesse grown in yeres, of whome he merely demaunded what she gladly woulde
geve him towarde his greate charges. By my treuth, (quod she,) for thy
lovely countenance thou shalt have even xxl. The kyng, lokyng scarce for
the halfe of that summe, {xxii} thanked her, and lovingly kyst her. Whether
the flavor of his brethe did so comfort her stommacke, or she estemed the
kysse of a kynge so precious a juell, she swore incontinently that he
should have xxl. more, which she with the same will payed that she offered
it.

"The kynge, willing to shew that this benefite was to hym much acceptable,
and not worthy to be put in oblivion, called this graunt of money a
Benevolence, notwithstanding that many with grudge and malevolence gave
great summes toward that new-founde Benevolence. But the using of such
gentill fashions toward them, wyth frendly prayer of their assistance in
his necessitie, so tempted theim, that they could not otherwise do, but
frankely and frely yelde and geve hym a reasonable reward."

In the spring of 1475 the season for the campaign had at length arrived;
and on the 1st of May proclamation was made that all "the lordes and
capitaignes" who were retained for the army should muster at Portsdown in
the county of Southampton on the 26th of the same month.[33] John lord
Dynham, by letters patent dated the 15th of April, was appointed to conduct
the army across the sea.[34]

The transport of the army to Calais occupied the greater part of the month
of June. The king, having left London on the 4th of that month,[35]
proceeded towards the coast through the county of Kent. On the 6th and 10th
he was at Canterbury, and on the 20th at Sandwich, where on that day he
made his will,[36] and executed the instruments by which he constituted his
son Edward prince of Wales to be Custos and Lieutenant of the kingdom
during his absence.[37] There was still some further delay, and the king
appears not to have crossed the channel until the 4th of July,[38] just one
month after his quitting London.

The king was accompanied in this expedition by his two brothers, the dukes
of Clarence and Gloucester, by the dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk, the
marquess of {xxiii} Dorset, the earls of Northumberland, Rivers, and
Pembroke, the earl of Ormond, the earl of Douglas, and lord Boyd, the
barons Grey of Ruthyn, Scrope, Grey of Codnor, Stanley, Hastings, Ferrers,
Howard, Lisle, and probably others[39]; together with a long train of
knights, among whom were sir Thomas Mountgomery and sir Ralph Hastings
bannerets and knights for the king's body, sir John Astley a banneret, sir
John Parre a knight for the body, sir William Parre, and sir Richard
Tunstall.

When the king had landed at Calais his sister the duchess of Burgundy came
thither to welcome him, on the 6th of July. She was followed by the duke
her husband on the 14th; at which time the duchess was at St. Omer's with
her brothers the dukes of Clarence and Gloucester. On the 18th the
sovereigns of England and Burgundy went together to the castle of Guisnes,
where the duke was entertained at king Edward's expense, as he had been at
Calais.[40]

{xxiv}

Meanwhile, (relates Molinet,) "the army spread itself through the
neighbouring countries, numbering about twenty-two thousand men in the
king's pay, of which the archers were badly mounted, and little used to go
on horseback. The English were then inflated with high expectations, and
thought that France might well tremble before them. They brought a new
engine of artillery in the form of a carriage, which required, to put it in
action, more than fifty horses, and it was calculated to make at every
stroke breaches both deep and wide. Many of the English, who were natives
of the duchies of Guienne and Normandy, brought with them the deeds of
purchase, and registrations duly sealed, of the inheritances and rents that
they used to possess in those duchies before their expulsion, looking
forward to recover their title and enjoyment thereof.

"The king (continues the same chronicler) drew his army towards
Fauquenbergh, where he raised the richest tent ever seen; then he moved on
Rousseauville, and stayed for two nights in the place where king Henry, the
father of his predecessor, had obtained a glorious victory over the French,
in the year 1415--_i.e._ at Agincourt; from thence he marched to Blangy,
and from Blangy towards Peronne. Supplies came to his army from the
countries and lordships of the duke of Burgundy. The English repeatedly
passed and repassed the river Somme; and the duke of Burgundy, in person
departing from Valenciennes, (where he had been honourably received, and
where many pageants had been exhibited and performed before him in
compliment to the king of England and himself,) came to view the army of
the English, whom he caused to march and countermarch at his orders, to
show his desire to lead them. The duke and king Edward, who then kept the
field, held a conference for the space of three hours. A dove was observed
to remain on the king's tent for a whole day and a half[41]: and after its
departure there {xxv} followed a terrible thunder-storm, which did great
damage to the army, by the hail stones which fell, as large as walnuts.
From that day forward the English were in trouble enough, and began to
murmur, saying that the king had kept badly the promises that had been made
to them. The time passed away without anything being accomplished. The duke
of Burgundy parted from them, and went to Lorraine, where he had left part
of his forces, to conquer the duchy and county of Vaudemont."

Our own historians have not discoursed at any length of the campaign made
in France on this occasion. It has not offered to them the attractions of a
Creci, a Poictiers, or an Agincourt; nor even presented any minor
achievement that might have inspired their eloquence or stimulated their
researches. Its laurels in fact withered under the wily diplomacy of Louis
the Eleventh; and, besides the chapter of Molinet from which the preceding
passages have been taken, it is in the pages of that monarch's vivid
biographer, Philippe de Commines, that we are most fully informed of its
transactions. Its results were entirely in correspondence with the personal
characteristics of the three sovereigns concerned. The obstinate self-will
of Charles the Rash, the luxurious indolence of king Edward, and the timid
but crafty time-serving of Louis the Eleventh, all contributed to work out
their natural effects.

When the English began to land in France, the duke of Burgundy, already
engaged in warfare with the German princes, was besieging the town of
Neuss, upon the Rhine; and, until he could effect his object there, he
would not be persuaded to leave the spot, although other projects of far
greater political importance were now at stake. Commines states that "the
lord Scales (meaning Anthony then earl Rivers, the king's brother-in-law,)
was sent twice, with several other ambassadors, to the duke[42]; but the
duke was perverse, as if God Almighty had infatuated his senses and
understanding; for all his life long he had been labouring to get the
English over to invade France, and now, when they were ready, and all
things prepared to receive them both in Bretagne and elsewhere, he
obstinately persisted in an enterprise in which it was impossible for him
to succeed."

{xxvi}

There was an apostolic legate at that time with the emperor, and the king
of Denmark was quartered in the same neighbourhood, and they both
endeavoured to negociate a peace, by which means the duke of Burgundy
might, if he would, have had honourable terms, and thus have been free to
join the king of England, but he would not accept their overtures. To the
English he excused himself as plausibly as he could, telling them that his
honour was engaged, and it would be a lessening to his reputation to raise
the siege of Neuss, with other like excuses. "The Englishmen (adds the
historian) were not the same who had flourished in his father's days, and
had conducted themselves with so much valour and skill in the old wars with
France; but these were all raw soldiers, utterly unacquainted with French
affairs; so that the duke acted very unwisely, if he had any design to make
a future use of them, for in that case he ought to have led them on, as it
were step by step, at least during the first campaign."

The earliest bad consequence that resulted to the duke of Burgundy from his
lingering at the seige of Neuss, was the loss of the three towns of
Montdidier, Roye, and Corbie, which were taken by the king of France,
shortly after the termination of his truce with Burgundy, which expired on
the 1st of May 1475. Still the duke would not quit the siege of Neuss
before the 13th of June.

In the meanwhile, king Edward landed at Calais. His army is described by
Commines as "the most numerous, the best mounted, and the best equipped,
that ever any king of England had invaded France withal. He was attended by
all the lords of England, with few exceptions. He had 1500 men of arms,
richly accoutred after the French fashion, well mounted, and most of them
barded,[43] and every one of them had several persons on horseback in his
retinue. The archers were 15,000, all on horseback; besides a great number
of footmen, and others to pitch the tents and pavilions, take care of the
artillery, and inclose the camp; and there was not one varlet in the whole
army. There was besides a body of 3000 men who were to be landed in
Bretagne."

After these particulars, Commines repeats his censures of the duke of
Burgundy's infatuated conduct, in throwing away that advantage of English
aid, which he had been labouring all his life to procure. He ought (it is
remarked) to have known that it was necessary for him to have made at least
one campaign with the English, in order to have instructed them in the
method of the French wars; for, though no nation is more raw or
undisciplined than the English on their first coming over, yet a little
time makes them excellent soldiers, equally brave and skilful. But the
duke's conduct was just the reverse; and, among other {xxvii} disadvantages
which ensued, the season was almost lost, and his own army so worn out and
diminished, that he was ashamed they should be seen, for he had lost before
Neuss 4000 of his soldiers, the very flower of his army.

The English were, however, assisted in the transport of their horses by the
duke of Burgundy providing them five hundred flat-bottomed vessels of
Holland and Zeeland; yet, notwithstanding that large number, and all the
vessels king Edward could procure from his own ports, the passage of his
forces occupied more than three weeks: "from whence one may observe
(remarks Commines) with what amazing difficulty the kings of England
transport their armies into France; and, if the king of France had
understood maritime affairs as well as he did those of the land, king
Edward would never have crossed over, at least that year; but king Louis
had no skill in naval matters, and those to whom he committed his authority
knew less of them than himself; yet one of our men-of-war, belonging to Eu,
took two or three of their transports.

"Before the king of England embarked from Dover, he sent one of his
heralds, named Garter, who was a native of Normandy,[44] to the king of
France, with a letter of defiance, written in such an elegant style, and in
such polite language, that I can scarcely believe any Englishman indited
it. The contents were, that our king should surrender France to the king of
England, as his right and inheritance, to the end that he might restore the
church, the nobility, and the people to their ancient liberty, and relieve
them from the great oppression and burthens they groaned under; and, if
king Louis refused, it was declared that all the ensuing miseries and
calamities would lie at his door, according to the forms usual upon such
occasions.

"The king of France read the letter to himself, and then, withdrawing into
another room, commanded the herald to be called in; to whom he said,--I am
very sensible that your master has not made this invasion of his own
seeking, but at the importunity of the duke of Burgundy and the commons of
England. He then remarked that the season was visibly far spent, and that
the duke of Burgundy {xxviii} had returned from Neuss in so weak and
miserable a condition, that he would not be in a capacity to assist the
invaders; that, as to the constable,[45] he was satisfied he held
intelligence with the king of England, who had married his niece,[46] but
there was no confidence to be reposed in him, for he would deceive king
Edward, as he had often deceived himself; and, after enumerating the
favours which he had conferred upon him, Louis added, 'His plan is to live
in eternal dissimulation, to traffic with everybody, and to make his
advantage of all.' Besides these, the king used several other arguments to
induce the herald to persuade his master to an accommodation with him,
giving him 300 crowns with his own hand, and promising him 1000 more upon
the conclusion of the peace; and afterwards, in public, his majesty ordered
him to be rewarded with a fine piece of crimson velvet, thirty ells in
length.

"The herald replied, that, according to his capacity, he would contribute
all that lay in his power towards a peace, and he believed his master would
be glad to entertain the proposal; but nothing could be done until he was
landed in France, and then, if king Louis pleased, he might send a herald
to desire a passport for his ambassadors, if he had a mind to send any to
king Edward; but withal Garter desired the king to address letters to the
lords Howard or Stanley,[47] and also to himself, that he might introduce
the French herald.

"There was a host of people attending outside during the king's private
discourse with the herald, all of them impatient to hear what the king
would say, and to see how his majesty looked when he came forth. When he
had done, (continues Commines,) he called me, and charged me to entertain
the herald till he {xxix} ordered him an escort, that I might keep him from
talking privately with anybody; he commanded me likewise to give him a
piece of crimson velvet of thirty ells, which I did. After which the king
addressed himself to the rest of the company, giving them an account of the
letters of defiance; and, having called seven or eight of them apart, he
ordered the letters to be read aloud, showing himself very cheerful and
valiant, without the least sign of fear in the world; for indeed he was
much revived by what he had learned from the herald."

When the duke of Burgundy first came to wait on the king of England at
Calais, he was attended only by a small retinue,[48] having dismissed his
army into the countries of Barrois and Lorraine to plunder and refresh
themselves (the duke of Lorraine having declared himself his enemy). The
English had expected him to have joined them at their landing with at least
2500 men at arms, well provided, and a considerable body of horse and foot;
and that he should have opened the campaign in France three months before
their descent, when they might have found king Louis already harassed with
the war and in great distress.

King Edward (by the stages already described from Molinet,) marched to
Peronne, a town belonging to the duke of Burgundy. The English, however,
except in small companies, were not received within its gates, but they
formed their encampment in the adjacent fields.[49] At this place a
messenger arrived from the constable of France, bringing letters both for
the duke and the king.[50] To the former he made strong professions of
friendship and service, declaring that he would assist him and his allies,
and particularly the king of England, against all persons and princes
whatever. In his letter to king Edward he referred his good-meaning to the
duke of Burgundy's testimony. The duke communicated also to the king the
contents of his own letter from the constable, somewhat exaggerating them,
and assuring Edward that the constable would receive him into the town of
St. Quentin, and all the other towns under his control; and king Edward
really believed it, because he had married the constable's niece, and he
thought him so terribly afraid of the king of France, that he would not
venture to break his promise to the duke and himself. Nor was the duke of
Burgundy less credulous than king Edward. {xxx} But neither the
perplexities of the constable, nor his dread of the king of France, had as
yet carried him so far; his design was only to wheedle and amuse them
(according to his custom), and suggest to them such plausible reasons as
might prevail with them not to force him to declare himself openly.

"The king of England and his nobility (remarks Commines,) were not so well
skilled in artifice and subtlety as the lords of France, but went more
bluntly and ingenuously about their business; so that they were not so
sharp at discovering the intrigues and deceptions common on this side of
the water. The English that have never travelled are naturally headstrong,
as the people generally are in all cold countries."

Commines next relates how the English, when they attempted to occupy the
town of St. Quentin, were driven off with the loss of some killed and
others taken prisoners; and how on the following morning the duke of
Burgundy took his leave of king Edward, in order to return to his forces in
Barrois, pretending he would do great feats for the English; but the
English, being naturally of a jealous temper, novices on this side of the
water, and astonished at this kind of proceeding, began to entertain an ill
opinion of their ally, and were not satisfied he had any army at all;
besides, the duke of Burgundy could not reconcile them to the constable's
manner of receiving them, though he endeavoured to persuade them all was
well, and that what was done would turn to their advantage; but all the
duke of Burgundy's arguments did not pacify them, and, being disheartened
at the approach of winter, they seemed by their expressions to be more
inclinable to peace than war.

Meanwhile, king Louis was thinking upon the suggestions which had been made
to him by Garter king of arms; and a message he received from the lords
Howard and Stanley by a dismissed prisoner determined him to put them in
action. With the assistance of Commines, he tutored a clever servant to act
as a herald, equipping him for the occasion in a coat of arms formed from
the banner of a trumpeter,--for king Louis was not so stately nor so vain
as to maintain a herald in his train as other princes did.

The man was sent off to the English camp, where, on his arrival, he was
immediately conducted to the tent of king Edward. Being asked his business,
he said he was come with a message from the king of France to the king of
England, and had orders to address himself to the lords Howard and Stanley.
He was taken into a tent to dinner, and very gently entertained. When king
Edward had dined, he sent for the herald, who then said that his errand was
to acquaint his majesty that the king of France had long desired to be at
amity with him, that {xxxi} both their kingdoms might be at ease, and enjoy
the blessings of peace; that, since his accession to the crown of France,
he had never made war or attempted anything against king Edward or his
kingdom; and, as for having formerly entertained the earl of Warwick, he
had done that more from opposition to the duke of Burgundy than from any
quarrel with the king of England. He next proceeded to represent that the
duke of Burgundy had invited king Edward over, only in order to make his
own terms the better with France; and, if others had joined with him, it
was to secure themselves against their former offences, or to advance their
private objects; which when they had once compassed, they would not regard
the interests of the king of England, provided they had attained their own
ends. He represented likewise the lateness of the season, that winter was
approaching, that his master was sensible of the great charges king Edward
had been at, and that he knew that in England there were many, both of the
nobility and merchants, who were desirous of a war on this side of the
water; yet, if the king should be inclined to a treaty, his master would
not refuse to come to such terms as should be agreeable both to himself and
to his subjects; and if the king of England had a mind to be more
particularly informed of these matters, on his giving a passport for 100
horse, his master would send ambassadors to him with full instructions: or,
if king Edward should prefer to depute certain commissioners, king Louis
would gladly consent to that arrangement, and send them a passport to hold
a conference in some village between the two armies.

The king of England and part of his nobility were extremely pleased with
these proposals; a passport was given to the herald according to his
request, and, having been rewarded with four nobles in money, he was
attended by a herald from the king of England to obtain the king of
France's passport in the same form as the other; which being given, the
next morning the commissioners met in a village near Amiens. On the part of
the king of France, there were the Bastard of Bourbon admiral of France,
the lord of St. Pierre, and the bishop of Evreux. On the king of England's
side, there were the lord Howard, doctor Morton then master of the rolls
and afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, William Dudley dean of the king's
chapel, and Thomas Selynger.[51] Many overtures passed between these
negociators. The English at first demanded, according to their custom, the
crown of France; and then gradually fell to Normandy and Guienne. The
French commissioners replied as became them; so that the demands were well
urged on the one side, and well refused on the other: yet, from the very
first day {xxxii} of the treaty there was great prospect of an
accommodation, for both parties seemed very inclinable to hearken to
reasonable proposals.

King Louis was exceedingly pleased when matters had taken this favourable
turn, and he employed all his arts to bring the negociation to a peaceful
termination. He sent every hour to entertain and wheedle the treacherous
constable, and prevent him from doing any harm. He resolved to raise
without delay the money required to buy off the invaders,[52] declaring
that he would do any thing in the world to get the king of England out of
France, except putting any towns into his possession, for, rather than do
that, which had been suggested by the constable, he would hazard all.

The conclusion of the terms of the treaty was made on the 13th of August,
king Edward being then "in his felde beside a village called Seyntre,[53]
within Vermondose, a litell from Peronne," attended by his brothers the
dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, the
bishop of Lincoln his chancellor, the marquess of Dorset, the earls of
Northumberland, Riviers, and Pembroke, the lords Grey de Ruthyn, Scrope,
Grey of Codnor, Stanley, Hastings, Ferrers, Howard, the earl Douglas, lord
Lisle, the master of the Rolls, the dean of the king's chapel, the deans of
Wells and Westminster, sir Thomas Mountgomery, sir Thomas Borough, sir
William Parre, sir Richard Tunstall, Thomas Selynger, and John Elkyngton
treasurer of the king's wars; most of whom signed the public
declaration[54] of the king's determination, which is stated to have been
founded on these three considerations,--"the povertie of his armyes, the
nygh approachyng of wynter, and small assistance of his allies."

It was at the same time agreed, that the two kings should have an
interview, and swear mutually to the performance of certain articles; after
which the king of England should return to his own country, upon the
receipt of 72,000 crowns (as stated by Commines, but the amount finally
settled was 75,000), leaving the lord Howard and sir John Cheyne as
hostages until his arrival in England. In addition, pensions amounting to
16,000 crowns were promised to the privy councillors {xxxiii} of the king
of England, viz. to the lord Hastings[55] 2000 crowns a-year, to the
chancellor (Rotherham) 2000, and the remainder to the lord Howard, the
master of the horse (Cheyne), Thomas St. Leger, sir Thomas Mountgomery, and
several others, besides a great deal of ready money and plate[56] that was
distributed among the rest of the king of England's retinue.

Louis contrived to carry his corruption through every grade of his
adversaries. He purchased from one of the English secretaries for sixty
silver marks two letters which had been addressed by the seigneur d'Urfe,
who was then in the duke of Bretagne's service, (and afterwards master of
the horse of France,) one directed to the king of England, and the other to
the lord Hastings, lord chamberlain of England. They were shown to
Commines, who noticed in them this, among other expressions, That the duke
of Bretagne would do more by his intelligence in a month, than the king of
England and the duke of Burgundy both, with all the force they could make.

The duke of Burgundy, who was then at Luxembourg, having intimation of
these negociations, came in great haste to the king of England, attended
only with sixteen horse.[57] King Edward was much surprised at his
unexpected arrival, and inquired what it was that had brought him, for he
saw by his countenance that he was angry. The duke told him that he came to
talk with him. The king of England asked whether it should be in public or
private? Then the duke demanded whether he had made a peace? The king
replied, that he had made a truce for nine years, in which the duke of
Bretagne and himself were {xxxiv} comprehended,[58] and his desire was that
they should accept of that comprehension. The duke fell into a violent
passion, and in English, a language that he spoke very well, began to
recount the glorious achievements of Edward's predecessors on the throne of
England, who had formerly invaded France, and how they had spared no pains,
nor refused any danger, that might render them famous, and gain them
immortal honour and renown abroad. Then he inveighed against the truce, and
told the king he had not invited the English over into France out of any
necessity he had of their assistance, but only to put them in a way of
recovering their own right and inheritance; and, to convince them he could
subsist without their alliance, he was resolved not to make use of the
truce until the king had been three months in England. Having unburthened
himself in this manner, the duke took his leave, and returned to
Luxembourg. The king of England and his council were extremely irritated by
his language, but others who were adverse to the peace highly extolled it.

But, however dissatisfied the duke was with the truce, the constable of
France had cause to be still more so: for, having deceived all parties, he
could expect nothing but inevitable ruin. He made one more attempt to
ingratiate himself with king Edward, by offering him the towns of Eu and
St. Valery for winter quarters, and a loan of 50,000 crowns; but king Louis
immediately received intimation of this, and at once ordered the two towns
to be burned. King Edward returned to the constable this answer, "That the
truce was already concluded, and could not be altered; but, had the
constable performed his former promise (as to the town of St. Quentin), the
truce would never have been made." This answer stung the constable to the
very soul, and made him desperate on all sides.

In order to bring the treaty to a conclusion, king Edward advanced within
half a league of Amiens; and the king of France, being upon one of the
gates of the city, (where he had arrived on the 22d of August,) viewed from
a distance the English army marching up. "Speaking impartially, (continues
Commines,) the troops seemed but raw and unused to action in the field; for
they were in very ill order, and observed no manner of discipline. Our king
sent the king of England 300 cartloads[59] of the best wines in France as a
present, and I think the {xxxv} carts made as great a show as the whole
English army. Upon the strength of the truce, numbers of the English came
into the town, where they behaved themselves very imprudently, and without
the least regard to their prince's honour; for they entered the streets all
armed, and in great companies, so that if the king of France could have
dispensed with his oath, never was there so favourable an opportunity of
cutting off a considerable number of them; but his majesty's design was
only to entertain them nobly, and to settle a firm and lasting peace, that
might endure during his reign. The king had ordered two long tables to be
placed on either side the street, at the entrance of the town gate, which
were covered with a variety of good dishes of all sorts of viands most
likely to relish their wine, of which there was great plenty, and of the
richest that France could produce, with a troop of servants to wait on
them; but not a drop of water was drank. At each of the tables the king had
placed five or six boon companions, persons of rank and condition, to
entertain those who had a mind to take a hearty glass, amongst whom were
the lord of Craon, the lord of Briquebec, the lord of Bressure, the lord of
Villiers, and several others. As the English came up to the gate, they saw
what was prepared, and there were persons appointed on purpose to take
their horses by the bridles and lead them to the tables, where every man
was treated handsomely, as he came in his turn, to their very great
satisfaction. When they had once entered the town, wherever they went, or
whatever they called for, nothing was to be paid; there were nine or ten
taverns liberally furnished with all that they wanted, the French king
bearing all the costs of that entertainment, which lasted three or four
days."

On Childermas day (the 28th of August[60]) the license of the English
visitors had grown to such a height, that it was. estimated that there were
at least 9000 of them in the town. The councillors of Louis were alarmed,
and although on that day the superstitious monarch never spoke upon
business, nor allowed any one else to address him thereon, but took it as
an ill omen, Commines was induced to disturb his devotions, in order to
inform him of the state of affairs. The king commanded him immediately to
get on horseback, and endeavour to speak with some of the English captains
of note, to persuade them to order their troops to retire, and if he met
any of the French captains to send them to him, for he {xxxvi} would be at
the gate as soon as Commines. Commines met three or four English commanders
of his acquaintance, and spoke to them according to the king's directions;
but for one man that they directed to leave the town, there were twenty
that came in. In company with the lord of Gie (afterwards marechal of
France) Commines went into a tavern, where, though it was not yet one
o'clock, there had already been a hundred and eleven reckonings that
morning. The house was filled with company; some were singing, others were
asleep, and all were drunk; upon observing which circumstance, Commines
concluded there was no danger, and sent to inform the king of it; who came
immediately to the gate, well attended, having commanded 200 or 300 men at
arms to be harnessed privately in their captains' houses, some of whom he
posted at the gate by which the English entered. The king then ordered his
dinner to be brought to the porter's lodgings at the gate, where he dined,
and did several English captains the honour of admitting them to dinner
with him. The king of England had been informed of this disorder, and was
much ashamed of it, and sent to the king of France to desire him to admit
no more of his soldiers into the town. The king of France sent him word
back he would not do that, but if the king of England pleased to send a
party of his own guards thither, the gate should be delivered up to their
charge, and they then might let in or shut out whomever they pleased, which
was done accordingly.

In order to bring the whole affair to a conclusion, consultation was now
taken for the place that might be most convenient for the proposed
interview between the two kings, and commissioners were appointed to survey
it,--the lord du Bouchage and Commines on the French part, and the lord
Howard, Thomas St. Leger, and a herald on the English. Upon taking view of
the river, they agreed upon Picquigny, where the Somme is neither wide nor
fordable. On the one side, by which king Louis would approach, was a fine
open country; and on the other side it was the same, only when king Edward
came to the river, he was obliged to traverse a causeway about two
bow-shots in length, with marshes on both sides, "which might (remarks
Commines) have produced very dangerous consequences to the English, if our
intentions had not been honourable. And certainly, as I have said before,
the English do not manage their treaties and capitulations with so much
cunning and policy as the French do, let people say what they will, but
proceed more openly, and with greater straightforwardness; yet a man must
be careful, and take heed not to affront them, for it is dangerous meddling
with them."

When the place of meeting was settled, the next business was to build a
bridge, {xxxvii} which was done by French carpenters. The bridge was large
and strong, and in the midst was contrived a massive wooden lattice, such
as lions' cages were made with, every aperture between the bars being no
wider than to admit a man's arm; at the top were merely boards to keep off
the rain, and the area was large enough to contain ten or twelve men on a
side, the bars running full out to either side of the bridge, to hinder any
person from passing either to the one side or the other. For passage across
the river there was provided only one small boat, rowed by two men.

The incident in French history which suggested these extraordinary
precautions had occurred fifty-six years before; when, at a similar meeting
upon a bridge at Montereau fault Yonne, John duke of Burgundy and his
attendants were treacherously slaughtered in the presence of Charles the
Seventh (then Dauphin), in revenge for the murder of Louis duke of Orleans.
In the barricade of that fatal bridge there was a wicket, which the duke
himself incautiously opened; a circumstance which the timid Louis well
remembered, and he now repeated the story to Commines, and expressly
commanded that there should be no such doorway.

When the bridge at Picquigny was ready, the interview between the two kings
took place on the 29th of August 1475. The description which Commines gives
of it is highly graphic and interesting: "The king of France came first,
attended by about 800 men of arms. On the king of England's side, his whole
army was drawn up in battle array; and, though we could not ascertain their
total force, yet we saw such a vast number both of horse and foot, that the
body of troops which was with us seemed very inconsiderable in comparison
with them; but indeed the fourth part of our army was not there. It was
arranged that twelve men of a side were to attend each of the kings at the
interview, and they were already chosen from among their greatest and most
trusty courtiers. We had with us four of the king of England's retinue to
view what was done among us, and they had as many of ours, on their side,
to have an eye over their actions. As I said before, our king came first to
the barriers, attended by twelve persons, among whom were John duke of
Bourbon and the cardinal his brother.[61] It was the king's pleasure
(according to his old and frequent custom) that I should be dressed like
him that day.[62]"

{xxxviii}

"The king of England advanced along the causeway very nobly attended, with
the air and presence of a king." Commines recognised in his train his
brother the duke of Clarence, the earl of Northumberland, his chamberlain
the lord Hastings, his chancellor, and other peers of the realm; "among
whom there were not above three or four dressed in cloth of gold like
himself. The king wore a black velvet cap upon his head, and on it a large
fleur-de-lis made of precious stones--[probably as a compliment to the
French king]. He was a prince of a noble and majestic presence, but a
little inclining to corpulence. I had seen him before when the earl of
Warwick drove him out of his kingdom, in 1470[63]; then I thought him much
handsomer, and, to the best of my remembrance, my eyes had never beheld a
more handsome person. When he came within a little distance of the barrier
he pulled off his cap, and bowed himself within half a foot of the ground;
and the king of France, who was then leaning against the barrier, received
him with abundance of reverence and respect. They embraced through the
apertures of the barriers, and, the king of England making him another low
bow, the king of France saluted him thus, 'Cousin, you are heartily
welcome! There is no person living I was so desirous of seeing; and God be
thanked that this interview is upon so good an occasion.' King Edward
returned the compliment in very good French[64]."

{xxxix}

"Then the chancellor of England (who was a prelate, and bishop of Lincoln)
began his speech with a prophecy (with which the English are always
provided), that at Picquigny a memorable peace was to be concluded between
the English and French. After he had finished his harangue, the instrument
was produced containing the articles which the king of France had sent to
the king of England. The chancellor demanded of the king, whether he had
dictated the said articles? and whether he agreed to them? The king
replied, Yes; and when king Edward's letters were produced on our side, he
made the like answer. The missal being then brought and opened, both the
kings laid one of their hands upon the book, and the other upon the holy
true cross, and both of them swore religiously to observe the contents of
the truce.

"This solemnity performed, king Louis (who had always words at command)
told king Edward in a jocular way that he should be glad to see him at
Paris, and that if he would come and divert himself with the ladies, he
would assign the cardinal of Bourbon for his confessor, who he knew would
willingly absolve him if he should commit any peccadillo in the way of love
and gallantry. King Edward was extremely pleased with his raillery, and
made him many good repartees, for he was aware that the cardinal was a gay
man with the ladies, and a boon companion.

"After some further discourse to this purpose, the French king, to shew his
authority, commanded those who attended him to withdraw, for he had a mind
to have a little private discourse with the king of England. They obeyed;
and those who were with king Edward, seeing the French retire, did the
same, without waiting to be commanded. After the two kings had conversed
together alone for some time, our master (continues Commines) called me to
him, and asked the king {xl} of England whether he knew me. King Edward
said that he did, naming the places where he had seen me, and told the king
that I had formerly endeavoured to serve him at Calais, when I was in the
duke of Burgundy's service. The king of France demanded, If the duke of
Burgundy refused to be comprehended in the treaty--as might be suspected
from his obstinate answer--what the king of England would have him do? The
king of England replied, he would offer it to him a second time, and, if he
then refused it, he would not concern himself any further, but leave it
entirely to themselves. By degrees king Louis came to mention the duke of
Bretagne, who was really the person he aimed at in the question, and made
the same demand as to him. The king of England desired that he would not
attempt anything against the duke of Bretagne, for in his distress he had
never found so true and faithful a friend. Louis then pressed him no
further, but, recalling the company, took his leave of king Edward[65] in
the politest and most flattering terms imaginable, and saluted all his
attendants with especial courtesy; whereupon both monarchs at the same time
retired from the barrier, and, mounting on horseback, the king of France
returned to Amiens, and the king of England to his army. King Edward was
supplied from the French household with whatever he required, to the very
torches and candles."

By the treaty thus concluded king Edward engaged to return to England with
his army so soon as king Louis had paid him the sum of 75,000 crowns. A
truce for seven years was concluded between the two sovereigns; and they
mutually undertook to assist each other in case either prince should be
attacked by his enemies or by his rebellious subjects; and, to make this
alliance still closer, Charles the son of Louis was to wed the princess
Elizabeth, king Edward's eldest daughter, so soon as they were both of
marriageable age.

By the fourth and last article, the king of France engaged to pay annually
to the king of England, in two instalments, the sum of 50,000 crowns.

Commines states that the duke of Gloucester, king Edward's younger brother,
and some other Englishmen of high rank, being averse to the treaty, were
not present at the interview; though (he adds) they afterwards recollected
themselves, and the duke of Gloucester waited upon king Louis at Amiens,
where he was splendidly entertained, and received noble presents both of
plate and of fine horses.

{xli}

The chronicler Jean de Molinet also mentions the duke of Gloucester's
disapproval of the peace, although, as we have seen, he had signed the
preliminary articles of agreement on the 13th of August. It is by no means
inconsistent with the aspiring character of Richard duke of Gloucester--who
at this period was not twenty-three years of age--that he should have
affected to place himself at the head of the more martial and chivalrous
party of the English nobility, and that Commines had good information of
his policy in that respect.

The same delightful historian, who, not content with barren facts,
confidentially introduces his readers into the secret motives and
reflections of the actors in his story, supplies some remarkable
particulars of the sentiments of his master king Louis on the result of
this memorable interview, which form as it were the finishing touches of
his picture.

Whilst Louis was riding back to Amiens, he expressed his misgivings upon
two incidents in what had passed. One was that the king of England had so
readily caught at the idea of visiting Paris. "He is (said Louis,) a
handsome prince, a great admirer of the ladies, and who knows but that he
might find one of them at Paris, who would say so many pretty things to
him, as to make him desirous to come again? His ancestors have been too
often in Paris and Normandy already; and I do not care for his company so
near, though on the other side of the water I shall be ready to esteem him
as my friend and brother." Louis was also displeased to find the English
king so resolute in relation to the duke of Bretagne, upon whom he would
fain have made war; and to that purpose he made him further overtures by
the lord de Bouchage and the lord de St. Pierre; but when Edward found
himself pressed, he gave them this short but honourable answer, that if any
one invaded the duke of Bretagne's dominions he would cross the sea again
in his defence. Upon which the French king importuned him no more.

When Louis was arrived at Amiens, and was ready to go to supper, three or
four of the English lords, who had attended upon the king of England at the
interview, came to sup with his majesty; and one of them, the lord Howard,
told the king in his ear that, if he desired it, he would readily find a
way to bring the king his master to him to Amiens, and perhaps to Paris
too, to be merry with him. Though this proposition was not in the least
agreeable to Louis, yet he dissembled the matter pretty well, and began
washing his hands, without giving a direct answer; but he whispered to
Commines, and said that what he had dreaded was really coming to pass.
After supper the subject was renewed, but the king then put it off with the
greatest quietness and tact {xlii} imaginable, alleging that his expedition
against the duke of Burgundy would require his departure immediately.

Thus, (as our pleasant friend remarks,) though these affairs were of the
highest moment, and required the gravest caution to manage them discreetly,
yet they were not unattended by some agreeable incidents that deserve to be
related to posterity. Nor ought any man to wonder, considering the great
mischiefs which the English had brought upon the kingdom of France, and the
freshness of their date, that the king should incur so much trouble and
expense to send them home in an amicable manner, and endeavour to make them
his friends for the future, or at least divert them from being his enemies.

The next day the English came into Amiens in great numbers, and some of
them reported that the Holy Ghost had made the peace, producing some
prophecy in support of the assertion: but their greatest proof was that
during the interview a white dove came and sat upon the king of England's
tent, and could not be frightened away by any noise they could make. The
less superstitious, however, explained the incident more rationally; a
shower having fallen, and the sun afterwards shining out very warm, when
the pigeon, finding that tent higher than the others, came thither to dry
herself. This was the explanation given to Commines by a Gascon gentleman
named Louis de Bretailles,[66] who was in the king of England's service.
This gentleman was one of those who saw further than others into the state
of affairs, and, being an old acquaintance of Commines, he privately
{xliii} expressed his opinion that the French were making sport of the king
of England. During the conversation, Commines asked him how many battles
king Edward had fought. He answered nine, and that he had been in every one
of them in person. Commines then asked how many he had lost. Bretailles
replied, Never but one; and that was this, in which the French had
outwitted him now; for in his opinion the ignominy of king Edward's
returning so soon after such vast preparations, would be a greater disgrace
and stain to his reputation than all the honour he had achieved in his nine
previous victories. Commines repeated this smart answer to his master, who
replied, He is a shrewd fellow, I warrant him, and we must have a care of
his tongue. The next day Louis sent for him, had him to dinner at his own
table, and made him very advantageous proposals, if he would quit his
master's service, and live in France; but, finding he was not to be
prevailed upon, he presented him with a thousand crowns, and promised he
would do great matters for his brothers in France. Upon his going away,
Commines whispered him in his ear, and desired him to employ his good
offices to continue and propagate that love and good understanding which
was so happily begun between the two kings.

Though Louis could scarcely conceal his delight and self-gratulation at the
success of his policy, yet his timidity was continually revived when he
imagined that he had dropped any expressions that might reach the ears of
the English, and make them suspect that he had overreached and deluded
them. On the morning following the interview, being alone in his closet
with only three or four of his attendants, he began to droll and jest upon
the wines and presents which he had sent into the English camp, but,
turning suddenly round, he became aware of the presence of a Gascon
merchant who lived in England, and was come to solicit license to export a
certain quantity of Bordeaux wines without paying the duties. Louis was
startled at seeing him, and wondered how he had gained admission. The king
asked him of what town in Guienne he was, whether he was a merchant, and
whether married in England. The man replied yes, he had a wife in England,
but what estate he had there was but small. Before he went away, the king
appointed one to go with him to Bordeaux, and Commines had also some talk
with him, by his majesty's express command. Louis conferred on him a
considerable post of employment in his native town, granted him exemption
from duty {xliv} for his wines, and gave him a thousand francs to bring his
wife over from England, but he was to send his brother for her, and not go
personally to fetch her; and all these penalties the king imposed upon
himself for having indulged in too great freedom of speech.

As soon as king Edward had received his money, and delivered the lord
Howard and sir John Cheyne as hostages until he was landed in England, he
retired towards Calais by long and hasty marches, for he was suspicious of
the duke of Burgundy's anger, and the vengeance of the peasants; and,
indeed, if any of his soldiers straggled, some of them were sure to be
knocked on the head.

"Uppon the xxviijth daye of Septembre folowynge he was with great tryumphe
receyved of the mayor and cytezeyns of London at Blakheth, and with all
honoure by theym conveyed thorugh the cytie unto Westmynster, the mayer and
aldermen beynge clade in scarlet, and the commoners to the nombre of v C.
in murrey."[67]

The treacherous constable of France again turning round, in order if
possible to recover his lost favour with his own sovereign,[68] sent a
messenger to Louis, offering to persuade the duke of Burgundy to join his
forces with the king's, and destroy the king of England and his whole army
on their return. But this last shift of the baffled traitor only
contributed to confirm his ruin. King Edward communicated to Louis
(probably before this offer) two letters which the constable had addressed
to him, and related all the proposals he had from time to time made; so
that his three-fold treasons were revealed to all the princes with whose
rival interests he had endeavoured to play his own game, and they were all
alike provoked to join in his destruction.

Louis contemplated his punishment with the bitterest animosity. When he
received the overture above stated, there were only in his presence the
lord {xlv} Howard the English hostage, the lord de Coutay, who was newly
returned from an embassy to the duke of Burgundy, the lord du Lude, and
Commines, which two had been employed to receive the constable's messenger.
The king, calling for one of his secretaries, dictated a letter to the
constable, acquainting him with what had been transacted the day before in
relation to the truce; and adding that at that instant he had weighty
affairs upon his hands, and wanted such a head as his to finish them. Then
turning to the English nobleman and to the lord de Coutay, he said, "I do
not mean his body. I would have his head with me, and his body where it
is." After the letter had been read, Louis delivered it to Rapine the
constable's messenger, who was mightily pleased with it, and took it as a
great compliment in the king to write that he wanted such a head as his
master's, for he did not perceive the ambiguity and sting of the
expression.

We are now arrived at the closing reflections of Commines upon the course
which events had taken in France at this memorable crisis. "At the
beginning of our affairs with the English, you may remember that the king
of England had no great inclination to make his descent; and as soon as he
came to Dover, and before his embarkation there, he entered into a sort of
treaty with us. But that which prevailed with him to transport his army to
Calais was first the solicitation of the duke of Burgundy, and the natural
animosity of the English against the French, which has existed in all ages;
and next to reserve to himself a great part of the money which had been
liberally granted him for that expedition; for, as you have already heard,
the kings of England live upon their own demesne revenue, and can raise no
taxes but under the pretence of invading France. Besides, the king had
another stratagem by which to content his subjects; for he had brought with
him ten or twelve citizens of London, and other towns in England, all fat
and jolly, the leaders of the English commons, of great power in their
countries, such as had promoted the wars and had been very serviceable in
raising that powerful army. The king ordered very fine tents to be made for
them, in which they lay; but, that not being the kind of living they had
been used to, they soon began to grow weary of the campaign, for they
expected they should come to an engagement within three days of their
landing, and the king multiplied their fears and exaggerated the dangers of
the war, on purpose that they might be better satisfied with a peace, and
aid him to quiet the murmurs of the people upon his return to England; for,
since king Arthur's days, never king of England invaded France with so
great a number of the nobility and such a formidable army. But, as you have
heard, he returned immediately into England upon the conclusion of the
peace, and then reserved for his own private use the {xlvi} greater part of
the money that had been raised to pay the army; so that, in reality, he
accomplished most of the designs he had in view. King Edward was not of a
complexion or turn of mind to endure much hardship and labour, and such any
king of England must encounter who designs to make any considerable
conquest in France. Besides, our king was in a tolerable posture of
defence, though he was not so well prepared in all respects as he ought to
have been, by reason of the variety and multitude of his enemies. Another
great object with the king of England was the arrangement of a marriage
between our present king Charles the Eighth and his daughter; and this
alliance, causing him to wink at several things, was a material advantage
to our master's affairs.

"King Louis himself was very desirous to obtain a general peace. The vast
numbers of the English had put him into great alarm; he had seen enough of
their exploits in his time in his kingdom, and he had no wish to witness
any more of them."

When Louis went to meet the duke of Burgundy's plenipotentiaries at a
bridge half-way between Avesnes and Vervins, he took the English hostages
with him, and they were present when he gave audience to the Burgundians.
"One of them then told Commines that, if they had seen many such men of the
duke of Burgundy's before, perhaps the peace had not been concluded so
soon. The vicomte of Narbonne, (afterwards comte of Foix,) overhearing him,
replied, 'Could you be so weak as to believe that the duke of Burgundy had
not great numbers of such soldiers? he had only sent them into quarters of
refreshment; but you were in such haste to be at home again, that six
hundred pipes of wine and a pension from our king sent you presently back
into England.' The Englishman was irritated, and answered with much warmth,
'I plainly see, as everybody said, that you have done nothing but cheat us.
But do you call the money your king has given us a pension? It is a
tribute; and, by Saint George! you may prate so much as will bring us back
again to prove it.' I interrupted their altercation, and turned it into a
jest; but the Englishman would not understand it so, and I informed the
king of it, and his majesty was much offended with the vicomte of
Narbonne."

King Edward, being highly disgusted with the duke of Burgundy's rejection
of his truce, and his subsequent offer to make a distinct peace with the
king of France, despatched a great favourite of his, named sir Thomas
Mountgomery, to king Louis at Vervins, and he arrived whilst the
negociation was proceeding with the duke of Burgundy's envoys. Sir Thomas
desired, on the behalf of the king his master, that the king of France
would not consent to any other truce with the {xlvii} duke than what was
already made.[69] He also pressed Louis not to deliver St. Quentin into the
duke's hands; and, as further encouragement, Edward offered to repass the
seas in the following spring with a powerful army to assist him, provided
his majesty would continue in war against the duke of Burgundy, and
compensate him for the prejudice he should sustain in his duties upon wool
at Calais, which would be worth little or nothing in war time, though at
other times they were valued at 50,000 crowns. He proposed likewise that
the king of France should pay one-half of his army, and he would pay the
other himself. Louis returned Edward abundance of thanks, and made sir
Thomas a present of plate: but as to the continuation of the war, he begged
to be excused, for the truce with Burgundy was already concluded, and upon
the same terms as those which had been already agreed to between them; only
the duke of Burgundy had pressed urgently to have a separate truce for
himself; which circumstance Louis excused as well as he could, in order to
satisfy the English ambassador, who with this answer returned home,
accompanied by the hostages. "The king (adds Commines) felt extremely
surprised at king Edward's offers, which were delivered before me only, and
he conceived it would be very dangerous to bring the king of England into
France again, for between those two nations, when brought into contact, any
trifling accident might raise some new quarrel, and the English might
easily make friends again with the duke of Burgundy." These considerations
greatly forwarded the conclusion of the king of France's treaty with the
Burgundians.

In fact, the duke of Burgundy at last overreached his brother-in-law king
Edward, for he concluded a truce with France for nine years, whilst that of
England with France was for seven years only. The duke's ambassadors
requested king Louis that this truce might not be proclaimed immediately by
sound of trumpet, as the usual custom was, for they were anxious to save
the duke's oath to king Edward (when he swore in his passion that he would
not accept of the benefit of the truce until the king had been in England
three months), lest Edward should think their master had spoken otherwise
than he designed.

As for Edward himself, whatever selfish satisfaction he may have derived
from the result of the campaign,--such as Commines has already
suggested--it must have weakened his popularity both with his nobles and
with his people, whilst it terminated the former cordiality that had
existed with his brother of Burgundy. The king of England had now become
the pensioner of France, the great {xlviii} absorbing power of that age,
which was soon to swallow up England's nearest and best allies, the duchies
of Burgundy and Britany.

The French pension of 50,000 crowns was, as Commines relates, punctually
paid every half-year in the Tower of London; and by a treaty made in Feb.
1478-9 it was renewed for the lives of Edward and Louis, and extended for a
hundred years after the death of both princes: which seemed to give it more
directly the character of a tribute, a term that Commines says the English
applied to it, but which the French indignantly repelled. However, after
little more than four years longer, it had answered its purpose, and its
payment ceased. The English voluptuary then found himself entirely
outwitted by the wily Frenchman. After the duke of Burgundy's death (in
1477) and that of his only daughter the wife of the archduke Maximilian (in
1482) his grand-daughter Margaret of Austria was suddenly betrothed to the
Dauphin, in the place of the lady Elizabeth of England. Louis caught at
this alliance in order to detach the counties of Burgundy and Artois from
the territory of the Netherlands, and annex them to the crown of France;
and the turbulent citizens of Ghent, in whose keeping the children[70] of
their late sovereign lady were, were ready to make this concession, without
the concurrence of the children's father, in order to reduce the power of
their princes. This infant bride was then only three years and a half old;
and had consequently made her appearance on the stage of life subsequently
to the Dauphin's former contract with the English princess.[71]

Commines describes at some length the mortification experienced by king
Edward when he heard of this alliance,--"finding himself deluded in the
hopes he had entertained of marrying his daughter to the Dauphin, of which
marriage both himself and his queen were more ambitious than of any other
in the world, and never would give credit to any man, whether subject or
foreigner, that endeavoured to persuade them that our king's intentions
were not sincere and honourable. For the parliament (or council) of England
had remonstrated to king Edward several times, when our king was in
Picardy, that after he had conquered {xlix} that province he would
certainly fall upon Calais and Guines, which are not far off. The
ambassadors from the duke and duchess of Austria, as also those from the
duke of Bretagne, who were continually in England at that time, represented
the same thing to him; but to no purpose, for he would believe nothing of
it, and he suffered greatly for his incredulity. Yet I am entirely of
opinion that his conduct proceeded not so much from ignorance as avarice;
for he was afraid to lose his pension of fifty thousand crowns, which our
master paid him very punctually, and besides he was unwilling to leave his
ease and pleasures, to which he was extremely devoted."

The enervated temper of Edward's latter years is faithfully depicted in the
opening lines of one of the best-known works of our great Dramatic Poet:

  Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths,
  Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
  Our stern alarums chang'd to merry meetings,
  Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
  Grim-visaged War hath smooth'd his wrinkled front,
  And now, instead of mounting barbed steeds,
  To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
  He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber,
  To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
                      _Shakspeare's Richard the Third, act i. sc. 1._

In another place Commines attributes the death of Edward the Fourth to the
vexation he conceived at the great reverse in his political prospects,
which disclosed itself on his loss of the French alliance. This conclusion
is probably imaginary, though Edward's death certainly occurred whilst the
Dauphin's new betrothal was in progress. The treaty of Arras, by which the
arrangement was made, was signed on the 23d Dec. 1482, and the lady
Margaret was delivered to the French, and met the Dauphin at Amboise, on
the 22d of June following. King Edward died on the intervening 9th of
April, a victim, as is generally thought, to his long course of intemperate
living. It is obvious, however, that the failure of the French alliance
must have been a very serious loss to Edward's family, who were left
defenceless on his death, although he had previously contracted his
daughters to the heirs of France, Scotland, Spain, and Burgundy.

Altogether, the ruin of the house of York, if we may credit Commines, was
the eventual result of the fatal compromise made in the campaign of 1475,
and of {l} the enervating and corrupting influences exercised by the French
pensions which were then accepted by king Edward and his ministers.
Thenceforward, any hope of recovering the English provinces of France was
indefinitely deferred; the very echoes of those martial glories which had
once made the English name so dreadful in that country were allowed to die
away; the dreams of conquest were dissipated; and the hands of Englishmen
again turned to internecine contests, which resulted in the total
destruction of the royal house of Plantagenet, and the ruin of a large
proportion of the ancient nobility.

THE BOKE OF NOBLESSE, after the total failure of those more generous
sentiments and aspirations which it was intended to propagate, at once
became, what it is now, a mere mirror of by-gone days; and, considering
these circumstances, we cannot be surprised that it was never again
transcribed, nor found its way to the press.

It is with regret that I relinquish to some future more fortunate inquirer
the discovery of the author of this composition. The manuscript from which
it is printed is certainly not his autograph original; for its great
inaccuracy occasionally renders the meaning almost unintelligible. And yet
the corrections and insertions, which I have indicated as coming _a secunda
manu_, would seem to belong to the author.

I have already, in the first page of this Introduction, intimated the
possibility of the work having been composed in the lifetime of sir John
Fastolfe, and merely re-edited, if we may use the term, upon occasion of
the projected invasion of France in 1475. There are three circumstances
which decidedly connect the book with some dependent of sir John
Fastolfe:--

1. That the writer quotes sir John as "mine autour," or informant, in pp.
16 and 64, as well as tells other anecdotes which were probably received
from his relation.

2. His having access to sir John's papers or books of account (p. 68); and

3. There being still preserved in the volume, bound up with its fly-leaves,
the two letters, probably both addressed to Fastolfe, and one of them
certainly so, which are printed hereafter, as an Appendix to these remarks.

Sir John Fastolfe is not commemorated as having been a patron of
literature. In the inventory of his property which is printed in the
twentieth volume of the Archaeologia, no books occur except a few missals,
&c. belonging to his chapel. Though William of Worcestre, now famous for
his historical collections, (which have been edited by Hearne, Nasmith, and
Dallaway,) was Fastolfe's secretary, he was kept in a subordinate position,
and valued for his merely clerical, {li} not his literary, services. Sir
John Fastolfe's passion was the acquisition of property; whilst William of
Worcestre, on his part, followed (as far as he could) the bent of his own
taste, and not that of his master; being (as his comrade Henry Windsore
declared) as glad to obtain a good book of French or of Poetry as his
master Fastolfe was to purchase a fair manor.[72]

The translation of Cicero de Senectute, which was printed by Caxton in
1481, is indeed in the preface stated to have been translated by the
ordinance and desire of the noble ancient knight sir John Fastolfe;[73]
and, though Worcestre's name is not mentioned by Caxton, we may conclude
that it was the same translation which from Worcestre's own memoranda we
know was made by him.[74] Still, it was but a very slight deference to
literature, if the ancient knight approved of his secretary's translating
"Tully on Old Age," and did not make any further contribution towards its
publication.

But on the particular subject of the loss of the English provinces in
France, and the causes thereof, there can be no question that sir John
Fastolfe, the "baron {lii} of Sillie le Guillem," once governor of Anjou
and Maine, and lord of Piron and Beaumont, took the deepest interest;
considering that he had spent his best days in their acquisition,
administration, and defence, and that he was one of the principal sufferers
by their loss. He may, therefore, well have promoted the composition of the
work now before us.

William of Worcestre has the reputation of having written a memoir[75] of
the exploits of sir John Fastolfe; but this is not traceable beyond the
bare assertion of Bale, and a more recent misapprehension of the meaning of
one of the Paston letters.

{liii}

Another person whose name has occurred as having been employed in a
literary capacity for sir John Fastolfe[76] is Peter Basset[77]; who is
commemorated with some parade by Bale as an historical writer, but whose
writings, though quoted by Hall the chronicler, have either disappeared or
are no longer to be identified.

I have, however, mentioned the names of William of Worcestre and Peter
Basset only from the circumstance of their being connected with that of sir
John {liv} Fastolfe; and not from there being any other presumptive proof
that either of them wrote "The Boke of Noblesse." We have no known
production of Basset with which to compare it; and as to Worcestre his
"Collectanea" and private Memoranda can scarcely assist us in determining
what his style might have been had he attempted any such work as the
present.

Altogether, The Boke of Noblesse is more of a compilation than an original
essay. It has apparently largely borrowed from the French; and I have
already shown that it was partly derived from former works, though I cannot
undertake to say to what extent that was the case. In its general character
our book resembles one which was popular in the middle ages, as the
_Secretum Secretorum_, falsely attributed to Aristotle,[78] and which was
also known under the title _De Regimine Principum_. The popularity of this
work was so great that MS. copies occur in most of our public libraries,
and not less than nine English translations and six French translations are
known.[79] A Scots translation by sir Gilbert de Hay, entitled "_The Buke
of the Governaunce of Princis_," is contained in a MS. at Abbotsford,
accompanying a version of _The Tree of Batailes_, already noticed in pp.
iii. vi.

Another work of the same class is that of which Caxton published (about the
year 1484) a translation entitled _The booke of the ordre of Chevalrye or
Knyghthode_, and of which the Scots translation by sir Gilbert de Hay was
printed for the Abbotsford Club by Beriah Botfield, esq. in 1847.

To his translations of the treatises of Cicero on Old Age and Friendship,
which Caxton printed in 1481, he also appended two "declaracyons," or
orations, supposed to be spoken by two noble Roman knights before the
senate, in order "to know wherein Noblesse restith," or, as otherwise
expressed in the title-page, "shewing wherin Honoure should reste." These
imaginary orations were the work of an Italian, who styled himself, in
Latin, Banatusius Magnomontanus.

After a time, the term Noblesse, which we here find synonymous with Honour,
and (in p. xv. _ante_) with Chivalry, in the sense of a class or order of
society, {lv} became obsolete as an English word. In the former sense, at
least, it was changed into our English "Nobleness;" and about the year 1530
we find published a "Book of Noblenes," printed by Robert Wyer, without
date.[80] This work had been translated from Latin into French, and "now
into English by John Larke." I have not seen it, but I imagine it was a far
smaller and slighter composition than the present.[81]

Ames[82] mentioned our "Boke of Noblesse" as a printed work, on the
authority of Tanner's MSS., but this was evidently a misapprehension.

It only now remains that I should describe the Manuscript, which is
preserved in the Royal Collection at the British Museum, and marked 18 B.
XXII.

It is written in a paper book, which is formed of four quires of paper,
each consisting of six sheets, and is of the size of a modern quarto
volume. The quires are marked in the lower margin with the signatures of
the scribe: the first quire consisting of six sheets, placed within one
another, and marked j. ij. iij. iiij. v. vj.; the second also of six
sheets, marked .a.i. .a.ij. .a.iij. .a.iiij. .a.v. and .a.vj.; the third,
b.1. .b.3. .b.4. .b.5. .b.6.; the fourth .c.1. c.2. c.3. c.4. c.5. c.6.
Thus it is seen that the sheet containing the leaf b.2. and the attached
leaf (b.11. as it might be called) is lost: and this loss occasions the
defects which will be found in the present volume at p. 50 and p. 68.

In front of the volume are bound three leaves of vellum, on the last of
which is fastened a slip of the like material, inscribed, apparently

  Edwarde w [iiij?]
  wych ys
    bold

On the back of the same leaf is the name of

  _Symond'_
  _Samson._

At the foot of the first paper leaf is the autograph name of

  _Lumley._

_i. e._ John lord Lumley, the son-in-law of the last Earl of Arundel, into
whose {lvi} possession the volume probably came by purchase in the reign of
Elizabeth or James the First.

On the leaf .c.2. is the autograph name of _Robert Savylle_.

On the last leaf are many scribblings, and attempts in drawing grotesque
heads and figures, apparently done about the time of queen Mary. Among them
occurs again the name of

  _Symeon Sampson p._

Also those of _Richarde Dyconson_ and _Edward Jones of Clemente in the Jor
of_ ---- and these sentences,

  John Twychener ys booke he that stellys thys booke
  he shall be hangid a pon a hooke and that wylle macke
  ys necke to brake & that wyll macke ys neck awrye

  A nyes wiffe & a backe dore makythe }
  outon tymys a Ryche man pore.       }

  In the name of the father of the Sonne and the holey Gost. So be itt.
    Jhesus nazerinus Rex iudior[=u] fillij dei miserere mei.
  Jhesus.) God save the king o^r souu'ain lorde.
    Jhesus Nazarinus. God save king p. & mary.
  O gloryous Jesu o mekest Jesu o moost sweteste Jesu have m'cye on us.

Quite at the bottom of the page is the name of

  _Edward Banyster._

       *       *       *       *       *


LETTERS ADDRESSED TO SIR JOHN FASTOLFE.

(Royal MS. 18 B. XXII. f. 44.)

From JOHN APPULTON, captain of Pontdonne and the Haye de Puis.

Mon treshonnoure et Redoubte Sr., toute humble Recommendacion primier mise,
plaise vous savoir que Jay entendu que piecha vous aviez quittie et
transporte afin de heritaige a Degory Gamel vostre terre et seignourie de
Piron pour le prix de deux mille francs lesquelx il devoit paier a chinq
annees enssuit du dit transport, cest assavoir pour la premir ann six cens
francs, et le demourant es autres quatres anns ensuit, a chacun par egalle
porcion; de la quelle chose J'entens que le dit Degory na pas acompli ces
termes ne ses {lvii} paiemens, car il nest pas tousjours prest de paier, et
est de tel gouvernement que p..... que navez eu que peu de chose de vostre
ditte s'rie dempuis quil en a eu le gouvernement. Et pour ce, mon
treshonnoure et Redoubte, Janvois grant desir davoir icelle terre afin de
heritaige si c'estoit vostre plaisir et volente. Car elle est pres de mes
et bien a mon aise. Sy vous prie et requier tant humblement comme Je puis
et comme vostre petit et humble serviteur, qu'il vous pla[ira] que J'aie
icelle terre et seigneurie de Piron par les prix et condicions dessus
descleres et que l'aviez accordee au dit Degory en cas que [sera] vostre
plaisir de vous en des faire, et que Je la puisse avoir aussi tost que ung
autre, et J'en seay a tousjours mais tenu ... car vous estes le seigneur
qui vive en monde a qui Je suis plus tenu et a qui Jay greigno' service, et
que elle me soit confe[rme?] par le Roy nostre seigneur tellement que Je ny
puisse avoir empeschement. Et je vous promet que Je vous paieray loyalment
es termes qui seront assignes sans aucune faulte, et se faulte y avez per
moy que le marchie ne fust nul, et sur paine de perdre s ... que Jen avoie
paie. Et sy est ce grant chose pour le present de deux mille Francs
attendans la guerre qui est a present ou ... a l'occasion de la prinse et
perte de la place de Grantville. Car se remede ny est mis de brief tout le
bailliage de Costentin est en voie destre destruit, et estre comme le pais
de Caulx, que Dieu ne vueille. Car se seroit grant dommaige et grant pitie.
Et pour ceste cause Jenvoie Jehan Dotton devers vous, qui est vostre
serviteur, porteur de ces presentes, auquel Jay donne pouvoir et puissance
den composer et appointier avecque vous ainsi quil vous plaira, et que
regarderez quil sera bon a faire, tout aussi comme se Je y estoie present,
et lequel vous parlera plus a plain de lestate et gouvernement de vostre
ditte seigneurie de Piron et comme elle a este gouvernee. Et pour ce que
autrefois Je vous avoie rescript de vostre terre et seigneurie de Beaumont,
que Jeusse volentiers eue se ceust este vostre plaisir et volente, pour ce
que ma terre d'Asineres est parmys la vostre et joingnent ensemble, Et en
cas que se ne seroit vostre plaisir que Jeusse vostre ditte seigneurie de
Piron, jentend' encores volentiers a icelle de Beaumont, et quil vous
pleust la mettre a prix de raison, car Je ne scay pas bien que elle peult
valloir, mes vous le savez bien, car vous en avez fait fe presn(?) et en
avez eu la desclaracion, non obstant que les terres depar de cha sy sen
vont en tres grant diminucion pour la cause dessus dict. Sy vous plaise de
vostre grace a y avoir sur le tout advis, et den faire tant que Jen puisse
estre tous jours vostre petit et humble serviteur, et comme Jay tousjours
este et seray tant que je vivray. Et se il vous plaist faire quelque
appointe des choses dessus dictes, quil vous plaise a le faire vous mesmes,
et que ne menvoiez a Raouen ne ailleurs, car les chemins sont trop
dangereux, et ne voudroie pas aler a Rouen voulentiers pour gaignier deux
cens frans. Mon treshonnoure et redoubte seigneur, Je me recommande a vous
tant humblement comme Je puis et comme vostre petit et humble serviteur, et
se il est chose que faire puisse pour vous, mandez le moy et Je
l'acompliray de tout mon cuer et volentiers, en priant le Saint Esprit
qu'il soit garde de vous et vous donne bonne vie et longue et
acomplisse(ment) de vous nobles desirs. Escript a la Haie du Puis, le
derrain jour de May. {lviii}

Mon treshonnoure et redoubte seigneur, Je vous recommande ma fille qui est
demour' veufue, et quil vous plaist qelle soit (en) vostre bonne grace et
service, et la conseiller et conforter en tous ses afaires.

  Letout vostre humble serviteur Jhon 'Appulton, cap(itaine)
  du Pont donne et de la Haie du Puis.

  (_Directed on the back_,)

  A mon treshonnoure et tresredoubte sire
  Messire Jehan Fastouf, chevalier,
  seigneur de Piron et de Beaumont
  en Normendie.



From the BAILIFFS of WINCHESTER.[83]

Right Worshipfulle Sire,--We recommande ws unto you, latyng you wete of
howre taryng that we brynge nat hoppe (up) howre money for howre ferme ys
for be cawse that we wholde receyve of howre dewte of the Cete, and of the
awnage sum of xiij. li.; the wheche money we cannat receyve in to the time
that we have a wrette to the mayre and to ws Ballys, for the Cete scholde
have of the awnage as Easter terme xx. marcs, for that the Cete grant(ed)
us to howre eryste ferme, and here a pon we tryst; and now the fermeris of
the awnage sey it pleynli that the Cete schale nat have a peny in to
Mighelmas terme but zyffe so be that ye sende us a wrytt that we mowe
brynge the fermers in to the Cheker, and ther to pay ws thys xx. marcs, for
we lacke no money but that, for the fermers makit hyrr a skowsce apon the
refuson that was thys tyme thre zere, for they fere laste they schold pay
agen, and there for they sey it they whole nat pay us no peni but in the
Cheker, also howre Mayre takyt no hede of ws, nother howe whe schal be
servyd of the mony, theirefore we pray you sende a wrett down to the Mayre
and to ws for to brynge ho(ppe, _i.e._ up) howre ferme for the halfe zere,
for dowt hyt nat ze schale be as wel payd of ws as zevr (ever) ye w(ere) of
zeny men, for in trowyf we pay of howre money more than xiiij. li. No more,
but God kepe you. I-wretyn at Wynchester the viij. day of May.

  By the baillifes of Wynchester.

  (To this letter no address is preserved.)

       *       *       *       *       *


{lix}

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

Page liv. _De Regimine Principum._--Sir John Paston (temp. Edw. IV.) had a
copy of this work, which formed part of a volume which he thus described in
the catalogue of his library:--

"M^d. my _Boke of Knyghthode_ and the maner off makyng off knyghts, off
justs, off tornaments, ffyghtyng in lystys, paces holden by soldiers and
chalenges, statutes off weere, and _de Regimine Principum_." (Paston
Letters, vol. iii p. 302.)

It is more fully described by William Ebesham, the scribe who had written
the book, in his bill of accompt, which is also preserved in the same
volume, p. 14:--

  "Item as to _the Grete Booke_.

  "First for wrytyng of the _Coronacion_ and other _tretys of Knyghthode_
  in that quaire, which conteyneth a xiij. levis and more, ij^d. a lefe
                                                            ij^s. ij^d.

  "Item for the _Tretys of Werre_ in iiij. books, which conteyneth lx.
  levis, after ij^d. a leaff                                   x^s.

  "Item for _Othea pistill_, which conteyneth xliij. levis vij^s. ij^d.

  "Item for the _Chalenges_ and the _Acts of Armes_, which is xxviij^{ti}.
  lefs                                                  iiij^s. viij^d.

  "Item for _de Regimine Principum_, which conteyneth xlv^{ti}. leves,
  after a peny a leef, which is right wele worth           iij^s. ix^d.

  "Item for rubriesheyng of all the booke                iij^s. iiij^d.

The "Treatise of Knighthood" here mentioned, may probably have resembled
_The Booke of the Ordre of Chyvalrye or Knyghthode_ printed by Caxton (see
p. liv.); and the "Treatise of War" may have been a version of _The Boke of
Fayttes of Armes and of Chyvallrye_, which Caxton also published from the
_Arbre de Batailes_, &c. as before noticed in p. vi.

The "Othea pistill" was certainly the same book which passes under the name
of Christine de Pisan, and which was printed at Paris by Philippe
Pigouchet, in 4to, under the title of "_Les cent Histoires de troye._
Lepistre de Othea deesse de prudence enuoyee a lesperit cheualereux Hector
de troye, auec cent hystoires." In every page of this book there is a
_Texte_ in French verse, and a _Glose_ in prose, which agrees exactly with
sir John Paston's description in his catalogue (where it appears as
distinct from Ebesham's "Great Book,") in this entry,--"Item, a _Book de
Othea_, text and glose, in quayers."



Page 15. _Matheu Gournay de comitatu Somerset._ This personage, whose name
has been inserted by the second hand, was a very distinguished warrior in
the French wars, and has been supposed to have been the model of the Knight
in Chaucer's Canterbury {lx} Pilgrims. His epitaph at Stoke upon Hampden in
Somersetshire, which has been preserved by Leland, describes him as "le
noble et vaillant chivaler Maheu de Gurney, iadys seneschal de Landes et
capitain du chastel Daques por nostre seignor le Roy en la duche de Guyene,
qui en sa vie fu a la batail de Beaumarin, et ala apres a la siege
Dalgezire sur les Sarazines, et auxi a les batailles de Lescluse, de
Cressy, de Yngenesse, de Peyteres, de Nazara, Dozrey, et a plusiurs autres
batailles et asseges, en les quex il gaina noblement graund los et honour
per lespece de xxxxiiij et xvj ans, et morust le xxvj jour de Septembre,
l'an nostre Seignor Jesu Christ Mccccvj, que de salme Dieux eit mercy.
Amen." (See Records of the House of Gournay, by Daniel Gurney, esq. F.S.A.
p. 681.)



Page 68. _Sir John Fastolfe's victualling of the Bastille._ This anecdote
is illustrated by the following passage of one of sir John's books of
accompt:--

  "Item, in like wise is owing to the said Fastolfe for the keeping and
  victualling of the Bastile of St. Anthony in Paris, as it appeareth by
  writing sufficient, and by the creditors of sir John Tyrel knight, late
  treasurer of the King's house, remaining in the exchequer of Westminster
  of record, the sum of                                            xlij li.

  (Paston Letters, iii. 269.)

       *       *       *       *       *


{1}

THE BOKE OF NOBLESSE.

[MS. REG. 18 B. XXII.]

       *       *       *       *       *

    The Boke of Noblesse, compiled to the most hyghe and myghety prince
    Kynge Edward the iiij^{the} for the avauncyng and preferryng the comyn
    publique of the Royaumes of England and of Fraunce.

First, in the worship of the holy Trinite, bring to mynde to calle, in the
begynnyng of every good work, for grace. And sithe this litille epistle is
wrote and entitled to courage and comfort noble men in armes to be in
perpetuite of remembraunce for here noble dedis, as right convenient is soo
to bee. And as it is specified by auctorite of the noble cenatoure of Rome
Kayus son, in these termes foloweng: "Hoc igitur summum est nobilitatis
genus, posse majorum suorum egregia facta dicere, posse eorum beneficiis
petere honores publicos, posse gloriam rei publicae hereditario quodam jure
vendicare, posse insuper sese eorum partes vocare, et clarissimas in suis
vultibus ymagines ostendere. Quos enim appellat vulgus nisi quod
nobilissimi parentes genuere."

De remedio casus Reipublicae.

[Sidenote: Anglorum nacio originem sumpsit ex nacione Trojanorum.]

[Sidenote: Nota j^{o}. quod lingua Britonum adhuc usitatur in Wallia et
Cornibea, que lingua vocabatur corrupta Greca.]

Here folowethe the evident Examples and the Resons of comfort for a
reformacion to be had uppon the piteous complaintes and dolorous
lamentacions made for the right grete outragious and most {2} grevous losse
of the Royaume of Fraunce, Duchee[gh] of Normandie, of Gascoyne, and Guyen,
and also the noble Counte of Mayne and the Erledom of Pontife. And for
relevyng and geting ayen the said Reaume, dukedoms, [and earldoms,] undre
correccion of amendement ben shewed the exortacions and mocions, be
auctorite, example of actis in armes, bothe by experience and otherwise
purposid, meoved and declarid, to corage and comfort the hertis of [the]
Englisshe nacion, havyng theire first originalle of the nacion of the noble
auncient bloode of Troy more than M^l. yere before the birthe of Crist; in
token and profe wherof the auncient langage of the Brutes bloode at this
day remayneth[84] bothe in the Princedome of Walis and in the auncient
provynce and Dukedom of Cornewale, whiche was at tho daies called corrupt
Greke.

[Sidenote: ij^{o}. lingua Saxonum alias lingua Germanorum.]

[Sidenote: Dux Cerdicius applicuit in Britania tempore Regis Arthuri, et
sic per favorem regis inhabitavit, et . . ex natione Grecorum.]

And next after the mighty Saxons' bloode, otherwise called a provynce in
Germayne, that the vaileaunt Duke Cerdicius arrived in this reaume, with
whom[85] Arthur, king of the Breton bloode, made mighty werre, and suffred
hym to inhabit here. And the Saxons, as it is writen in Berthilmew in his
booke of Propreteis, also were decendid of the nacion of Grekis.

[Sidenote: iij^{o}. Lingua Danorum ex nacione Grecorum. Rex Danorum Knott
conquestum fecit.]

And next after came the feers manly Danysh nacion, also of Grekis bene
descendid, that the gret justicer king Knowt this land subdued and the
Saxons' bloode.

And sithen the noble Normannes, also of the Danys nacion, descendid be
William Conquerour, of whome ye ben lyniallie descendid, subdued this
lande.

And, last of alle, the victorius bloode of Angevyns, by mariage of that
puissaunt Erle Geffry Plantagenet, the son and heire of Fouke king of
Jherusalem, be mariage of Dame Maude, Emperes, soule doughter and heire to
the king of grete renoune, Henry the first of Inglond, and into this day
lineally descendid in most prowes.

And whiche said Englisshe nacion ben sore astonyed and dulled {3} for the
repairing and wynnyng ayen, uppon a new conquest to be hadde for youre
verray right and true title in the inheritaunce of the saide Reaume of
Fraunce and the Duche of Normandie. Of whiche Duchie, we have in the yere
of oure Lorde M^l.iiij^cl., lost, as bethyn the space of xv monithes be put
out wrongfullie, tho roughe subtile wirkingis conspired and wroughte be the
Frenshe partie undre the umbre and coloure of trewis late taken betwyxt
youre antecessoure king Harry the sext then named king, and youre grete
adversarie of Fraunce Charles the vij^{the}.

And where as the saide piteous complaintes [and] dolorous lamentacions of
youre verray true obeisaunt subjectis for lesing of the said countreis may
not be tendrid ne herde, [they] many daies have had but litille comfort,
nether the anguisshes, troubles, and divisions here late before in this
reaume be cyvyle batailes to be had, may not prevaile them to the repairing
and wynnyng of any soche manere outrageous losses to this Reaume, whiche
hathe thoroughe sodein and variable chaunces of unstedfast fortune so be
revaled and overthrow; the tyme of relief and comfort wolde not be
despendid ne occupied so: namely with theym whiche that have necessite of
relief and socoure of a grettir avauntage and a more profitable remedie for
theire avauncement to a new conquest: or by a good tretie of a finalle
peace for the recovere of the same: but to folow the counceile of the noble
cenatoure of Rome Boicius in the second prose of his first booke of
consolacion seieng _Sed medicine_ (inquid) _tempus est_, _quam querele_.

Therfor, alle ye lovyng liege men, bothe youre noble alliaunces and
frendis, levithe suche idille lamentacions, put away thoughte and gret
pensifnes of suche lamentable passions and besinesse, and put ye hem to
foryetefulnesse. And doo not away the recordacion of actis and dedis in
armes of so many famous and victorious Kingis, Princes, Dukis, Erles,
Barounes, and noble Knightis, as of fulle many other worshipfulle men
haunting armes, whiche as verray trew martirs and blissid souls have taken
theire last ende by werre; {4} some woundid and taken prisonneres in so
just a title and conquest uppon youre enheritaunce in Fraunce and
Normandie, Gasquyn and Guyen; and also by the famous King and mighty Prince
king Edward the thrid, first heriter to the said Royaume of Fraunce, and by
Prince Edwarde his eldist son, and alle his noble bretherin, [who] pursued
his title and righte be force of armes, as was of late tyme sithe the yere
of Crist M^l.iiij^cxv. done, and made a new conquest in conquering bothe
the saide Reaume of Fraunce and Duche of Normaundie by the Prince of
blissid memorie king Harry the v^{the}. Also be the eide of tho thre noble
prynces his bretherne and be other of his puissant Dukes and lordis, being
lieutenaunt[gh] for the werre in that parties, as it is notorily knowen
thoroughe alle Cristen nacyons, to the gret renomme and[86] worship of this
Reaume.

How every good man of [worshyp yn[87]] armes shulde in the werre be
resembled to the condicion of a lion.

And therfor, in conclusion, every man in hym silf let the passions of
dolours be turned and empressid into vyfnes of here spiritis, of egre
courages, of manlinesse and feersnesse, after the condicion of the lion
resembled in condicions unto; for as ire, egrenesse, and feersnesse is
holden for a vertu in the lion, so in like manere the said condicions is
taken for a vertue and renomme of worship to alle tho that haunten armes:
that so usithe to be egre, feers uppon his advers partie, and not to be
lamentable and sorroufulle after a wrong shewed unto theym. And thus withe
coragious hertis putting forthe theire prowes in dedis of armes, so that
alle worshipfulle men, whiche oughte to be stedfast and holde togider, may
be of one intencion, wille, and comon assent to vapour, sprede out,
according to the flour delice, and avaunce hem forthe be feernesse of
strenght and power to the verray effect and dede ayenst the untrew
reproches of oure auncien adversaries halding uppon the Frenshe partie,
whiche of late tyme by unjust dissimilacions, undre the umbre {5} and
coloure of trewis and abstinence of werre late hadde and sacred at the cite
of Tairs the .xxviij. day of Maij, the yere of Crist of
M^l.iiij^cxliiij^{to}. have by intrusion of soche subtile dissimilacion
wonne uppon us bethyn v yeres next foloweng withyn the tyme of [the
last[88]] trieux the said Reaume and duchees, so that in the meane tyme and
sethe contynued forthe the saide trewes from yere to yere, to this land
grete charge and cost, till they had conspired and wrought theire
avauntage, as it approvethe dailie of experience. And under this they bring
assailours uppon this lande and begynneris of the trewis breking.

How the Frenshe partie began firste to offende and brake the Trewis.

[Sidenote: Tempore Regis H. vj^{th}.]

First by taking of youre shippis and marchaundises upon the see, keping men
of noble birthe undre youre predecessoure obedience and divers other true
lieges men prisoneris under arest, as that noble and trew knight ser Gilis
the Duke is son of Bretaine, whiche for his grete trouthe and love he hadde
to this youre Royaume warde, ayenst all manhode ungoodely entretid, died in
prison. And also before the taking of Fugiers ser Simon Morhier knight, the
provost of Paris, a lorde also of youre partie and chief of the Kingis
counceile, take prisoner by Deepe and paieng a grete raunson or he was
deliverid. And sone after one Mauncelle a squier, comyng fro Rone, with
.xx. parsones in his company, to Deepe, pesibly in the monythe of Januarij
next before the taking of Fugiers, were in Deepe taken prisoneris
wrongfullie undre the umbre of trewis. And sithen the lord Faucomberge take
prisoner by subtile undew meanys of a cautel taken under safconduct of
youre adversarie at Pountelarge the xv day of Maij, the yere of Crist
M^l.iiij^cxlix. And also the said forteresse of Pountlarge take the said
day be right undew meanys taken uppon the said lorde Faucomberge contrarie
to the said trewis, {6} forging here colourable matieris in so detestable
unjust quarellis. For reformacion of whiche gret injuries conspired,
shewed, and doone, alle ye put to youre handis to this paast and matier.
Comythe therfor and approchen bothe kyn, affinitees, frendis, subgectis,
allies, and alle wellewilleris. Now at erst the irnesse be brennyng hote in
the fire thoroughe goode courage, the worke is overmoche kindelid and
begonne, thoroughe oure dulnesse and sleuthe slommering many day, for be
the sheding of the bloode of good cristen people as hathe be done in youre
predecessours conquest that now is lost: is said be the wordis of Job:
Criethe and bewailethe in the feelde, frendis and kyn, take heede pitously
to your bloode.

A question of grete charge and wighte,[89] meoved first to be determyned,
whethir for to make werre uppon Cristen bloode is laufulle.

[Sidenote: 1: p^{a}]

[Sidenote: 2: ij^{da}]

[Sidenote: 3: iij^{d}]

But first ther wolde be meoved a question, whiche dame Cristyn makithe
mencion of in the seconde chapitre of the Tree of Batailles: whethir that
werres and batailes meintenyng and using ben laufulle according to justice
or no. And the oppinion of many one wolde undrestond that haunting of armes
and werre making is not lefull, ne just thing, for asmoche in haunting and
using of werre be many infinite[90] damages and extorsions done, as
mourdre, slaugheter, bloode-sheding, depopulacion of contrees, castelles,
citees, and townes brennyng, and many suche infinite damages. Wherfor it
shulde seme that[91] meintenyng of werre is a cursid deede: not dew to be
meyntened. As to this question it[92] may be answerd that entrepruises and
werris taken and founded uppon a just cause and a trew title is suffred of
God, for dame Cristen seiethe and moevithe, in the first booke of the Arbre
of Bataile, how it is for to have in consideracion why that princes shuld
maynteyne werre and use bataile; and the saide dame Cristin saiethe v.
causes principalle: thre of them {7} bene of righte: and the other tweyne
of vallente. The first cause is to susteyne right and justice; the second
is to withestande alle soche mysdoers the whiche wolde do foule[93] greif
and oppresse the peple of the contre that the kyng or prince is gouvernoure
of; the thrid is for to recuver landes, seignories and goodes [that] be
other unrightfully ravisshed, taken away be force, or usurped, whiche
shulde apperteine to the kyng and prince of the same seignorie, or ellis to
whome his subgettys shuld apparteine [and] be meinteined under. And the
other tweyne be but of violence, as for to be venged for dammage or griefe
done by another; the othir to conquere straunge countrees bethout[94] any
title of righte, as king Alexandre conquerid uppon the Romayne: whiche
tweine last causes, though[95] the conquest or victorie by violence or by
roialle power sownethe worshipfulle in dede of armes, yet ther ought no
cristen prince use them. And yet in the first thre causes, before a prince
to take an entreprise, it most be done be a just cause, and havyng righte
gret deliberacion, by the conduyt and counceile of the most sage approuved
men of a reaume or countre that the prince is of: and so for to use it in a
just quarelle as[96] the righte execution of justice requirithe, whiche is
one of the principalle iiij. cardinall virtues. And if that using of armes
and haunting of werre be doone rather for magnificence, pride, and
wilfulnesse, to destroie Roiaumes and countreis by roialle gret power, as
whan tho that wolde avenge have noo title, but sey _Vive le plus fort_,
[that] is to sey, Let the grettest maistrie have the feelde,--

    [In this place the following insertion is made by a second hand in the
    margin:]

Lyke as when the duc off Burgoyn by cyvyle bataylle by maisterdom expelled
the duc of Orlyance partie and hys frendis owt of Parys cytee the yere of
Christ M^l.iiij^cxij, and slow many thowsands and[97] hondredes bethout
title of justice, but to revenge a synguler querel betwen both prynces for
the dethe of the duc off Orlyans, {8} slayn yn the vigille of Seynt Clement
by Raulyn Actovyle of Normandie, yn the yeer of Crist M^l.iiij^cvij^o. And
the bataylle of Seynt-clow besyde Parys, by the duc of Burgoyn with help of
capteyns of England owt of England, waged by the seyd duc, was myghtly
foughten and had the fielde ayenste theyr adverse partye. Albeyt the duc of
Orlyance waged another armee sone aftyr owt of England to relyeve the
ovyrthrow he had at Seyntclowe. And the dyvysyon betwene the duc of
Orlyance and the duc of Burgoyn dured yn Fraunce continuelly by .xj.
yeerday, as to the yeere of Crist M^liiij^cxviij, yn wyche yeere Phelip duc
of Burgoyn, a greet frende to the land, was pyteousely slayn at Motreaw,
and the cyte of Parys ayen taken by the Burgonons; lord Lyseladam
pryncipalle capteyn and the erle of Armonak conestable sleyn by the comyns
the seyd yere. (_End of the insertion._)

in soche undew enterprises theire can be thought no grettir tiranny,
extorcion, ne cruelte [by dyvysyons[98]].

How seint Lowes exorted and counceiled his sonne to moeve no werre ayenst
Cristen peple.

[Sidenote: Seynt Lowys. 1270.]

And the blissid king of Fraunce seint Lowes exhortid and comaunded in his
testament writen of his owne hand, that he made the tyme of his passing of
this worlde the year of Crist M^l.cclxx to his sonne Philip that reigned
after hym, that he shulde kepe hym welle, to meove no werre ayenst no
christen man, but if he had grevously done ayenst him. And if he seke waies
of peace, of grace and mercie, thou oughtest pardon hym, and take soche
amendis of hym as God may be pleasid. But as for this blessid kingis
counceile, it is notorily and openly knowen thoroughe alle Cristen Royaumes
that oure[99] adverse party hathe meoved [and] excited werre and batailes
bothe by lond and see ayenst this noble Royaume bethout any justice [or]
title, and bethout waies of pease shewed; and as forto {9} defende them
assailours uppon youre true title may be bethout note of tiranye, to put
yow in youre devoire to conquere youre rightfulle enheritaunce, without
that a bettir moyene be had.

A exortacion of a courageous disposicion for a reformation of a wrong done.

[Sidenote: Exclamacio.]

O then, ye worshipfulle men of the Englisshe nacion, which bene descendid
of the noble Brutis bloode of Troy, suffre ye not than youre highe auncien
couragis to be revalid ne desceived by youre said adversaries of Fraunce at
this tyme, neither in tyme to come; ne in this maner to be rebuked and put
abak, to youre uttermost deshonoure and reproche in the sighte of straunge
nacions, without that it may be in goodely hast remedied [as youre
hyghnesse now entendyth,[100]] whiche ye have be conquerours of, as ye[101]
to be yolden and overcomen, in deffaute of goode and hasty remedie,
thoroughe lak of provision of men of armes, tresour, and finaunce of
suffisaunt nombre of goodes, in season and tyme convenable to wage and
reliefe them. For were ye not sometyme tho that thoroughe youre gret
[prowesse,[102]] corages, feersnes, manlinesse, and of strenght overleid
and put in subgeccion the gret myghte and power of the feers and puissaunt
figheters of alle straunge nacions that presumed to set ayenst this lande?

How many worthi kinges of this lande have made gret conquestis in ferre
contrees in the Holy Lande, and also for the defence and right of this
lande, and for the duche of Normandie.

[Sidenote: Arthur.]

[Sidenote: Brenus.]

[Sidenote: Edmondus Ironside.]

[Sidenote: Willelmus Conquestor.]

[Sidenote: Henricus primus fundator plurimorum castrorum.]

[Sidenote: Robertus frater Henrici primi, electus Rex de Jherusalem, sed
renuit.]

[Sidenote: Fulco comes de Angeu, Rex Jerusalem.]

[Sidenote: 1131.]

[Sidenote: De Ricardo Rege primo in terra sancta.]

[Sidenote: Archiepiscopus Cant', Robertus Clare comes Glouc', comes
Cestr'.]

[Sidenote: Philippus Rex Francie, vocatus Deo datus, in terra sancta.]

[Sidenote: Edwardus Rex primus.]

[Sidenote: Sanctus Lodowicus rex Francorum obiit in viagio antequam
pervenit ad terram sanctam.]

[Sidenote: Ricardus Imperator Alemannie et comes Cornewayle.]

[Sidenote: Edwardus primus rex.]

And for an example and witnes of King Arthur, whiche discomfit and sleine
was undre his banere the Emperoure of Rome in bataile, and conquerid the
gret part of the regions be west of Rome. And many othre conquestis hathe
be made before the daies of the said {10} Arthur be many worthi kinges of
this roiaume, as Brenus, king Belynus' brother, a puissaunt chosen duke,
that was before the Incarnacion, wanne and conquerid to Rome, except the
capitoile of Rome. And sithen of other victorious kinges and princes, as
Edmonde Irensede had many gret batailes [and] desconfited the Danes to safe
Englond. And what victorious dedis William Conqueroure did gret actis in
bataile uppon the Frenshe partie [many conquestys [103]]. And also his son
[kyng[103]] Harry after hym defendid Normandie, bilded and fortified many a
strong castelle in his londe, to defende his dukedom ayenst the Frenshe
partie. And how victoriouslie his brother Roberd did armes uppon the
conquest of the holy londe, that for his gret prowesse there was elect to
be king of Jherusalem, and refusid it for a singuler covetice to be duke of
Normandie, returned home, and never had grace of victorie after. And to
bring to mynde how the noble worriour Fouke erle of Angew, father to
Geffrey Plantagenet youre noble auncetour, left his erledom to his sonne,
and made werre upon the Sarasynes in the holy land, and for his noble dedis
was made king of Jherusalem, anno Christi M^l.cxxxi. As how king Richarde
the first, clepid Cuer de lion, whiche in a croiserie went in to the holy
londe, and Baldewyne archebisshop of Caunterburie, Hubert bisshop of
Salisburie, Randolfe the erle of Chestre, Robert Clare erle of Gloucestre,
and werreied uppon the hethen paynemys in the company of king Philip
Dieu-donne of Fraunce, whiche king Richard conquerid and wanne by roiall
power uppon the Sarrasyns in the yere of Crist M^l.c.iiij^{xx}vij^o. and
toke the King of Cipres and many other gret prisonneris. Also put the londe
of Surie in subjeccion, the isle of Cipres, and the gret cite of Damask
wanne be assaut, slow the king of Spayne clepid Ferranus. And the said king
Richard kept and defendid frome his adversarie Philip Dieu-donne king of
Fraunce, be mighty werre made to hym, the duchees of Normandie, Gascoigne,
Gyen, the countee[gh] of Anjou and Mayne, Tourayne, {11} Pontyve, Auverne,
and Champaigne, of alle whiche he was king, duke, erle, and lorde as his
enheritaunce, and as his predecessours before hym did. Also in like wise
king Edward first after the Conquest, being Prince, in about the yere of
Crist M^l.ij^c.lxx, put hym in gret laboure and aventure amonges the
Sarrasins in the countye of Aufrik, was at the conquest of the gret cite of
the roiaume of Thunes. [Yn whiche cuntree that tyme and yeere seynt Lowys
kyng of Fraunce dyed, and the croyserye grete revaled by hys trespasseinte,
had not the seyd prince Edward ys armee be redye there to performe that
holy voyage to Jerusalem, as he dyd wyth many noble lordes off
England.[104]] Also fulle noblie ententid about the defence and saufegarde
of the gret cite of Acres in the londe of Sirie, that had be lost and
yolden to the Sarrazins had not [hys armee and[104]] his power bee, and by
an hole yere osteyng and abiding there in tyme of gret pestilence and
mortalite reigning there, and by whiche his peple were gretly wastid, where
he was be treason of a untrew messaunger Sarrasin wounded hym in his
chambre almost to dethe, that the souldone of Babiloyne had waged hym to
doo it, becaus of sharpe and cruelle werre the seide Edwarde made uppon the
Sarrasines, of gret fere and doubte he had of the said prince Edward and of
his power; whiche processe ye may more groundly see in the actis of the
said prince Edwarde is laboure. And his father king Harry thrid decesid
while his son was in the holy londe warring uppon the Sarasines. And how
worshipfullie Richard emperoure of Almaine and brother to the said king
Henry did gret actis of armes in the holy londe uppon the Sarasynes and in
the yere of Crist M^l.ij^c.xl. And overmore the said king Edwarde first
kept under subjeccion bothe Irelond, Walis, and Scotlond, whiche were
rebellis and wilde peple of condicion. And also protectid and defendid the
duchees of Gascoigne and Guyen, his rightefull enheritaunce.

{12}

How King Edward [the] thrid had the victorie at the bataile of Scluse, and
gate Cane by assaute, and havyng the victorie at the batelle of Cressye
[and wanne Calix by sege.[105]]

[Sidenote: T. Regis E. iij^{cii} et ejus filiorum.]

[Sidenote: Comes de Ew captus. Comes Tankervyle captus.]

[Sidenote: Cressye.]

[Sidenote: Comes Derbye.]

And sithen, over that, how that the most noble famous knighte of renomme,
king Edwarde the thrid, the whiche, with his roialle power, the yere of
Christ M^l.ccc.xl. wanne [the day of seynt John baptiste[105]] the gret
bataile uppon the see at Scluse ayenst Philip de Valoys callyng hym the
Frenshe King and his power, and alle his gret navye of shippis destroied,
to the nombre of .xxv.M^l. men and CCxxx^{ti}. shippis and barges. And also
after that, in the yere of Crist M^l.iij^c.xlvj. the said king Philip
purposid to have entred into Englond and had waged a gret noumbre of Genues
shippis and other navyes. And the said king Edward thrid thought rather to
werre withe hym in that countre rather: tooke his vyage to Cane withe
xij^c. shippis, passed into Normandie by the Hagge,[106] wynnyng the
contrees of Constantine [from Chyrburgh[105]] tylle he came to Cane, and by
grete assautes entred and gate the towne, and fought withe the capitaine
and burgeises fro midday till night; where the erle of Eu, connestable of
Fraunce, the erle of Tancarville, and others knightes and squiers were take
prisoneris: but the castelle and donjoune held still, where the bisshop of
Baieux and othre kept hem; and than the king departid thens, for he wolde
not lese his peple [by segyng yt.[105]] And after that the yere of Crist
M^l.iij^c.xlvj descomfit the said king Philip and wanne the feelde uppon
hym at the dolorous and gret bataile of Cressy in Picardie the .xxvj. day
of August the said yere, where the king of Beame was slayne the son of
Henry the Emperoure, and alle the gret part of the noble bloode of Fraunce
of dukes, erlis, and barons, as the erle of Alaunson king of Fraunce is
brother, the duke of Lorraine, the erle of Bloys, the erle of Flaundres,
the erle of Harecourt, the erle of Sancerre, the erle of Fennes, to the
nombre of .l. knightis sleyne, as well as to othre gret {13} nombre of his
liege peple, as in the .39. chapitre of the Actis of the said King Philip
more plainly is historied. And also the full noble erle of Darby, havyng
rule under the said king Edwarde in the duchie of Guyen, hostied the said
tyme and yere, and put in subjeccion fro the towne of saint Johan
Evangelist unto the citee of Peyters, whiche he wanne also, be the said
erle of Derbye is entreprises.

How David King of Scottis was take prisoner.

[Sidenote: David Rex Scotorum captus est apud Doraham.]

And in the said king Edward tyme David king of Scottis was take prisoner,
as I have undrestond, at the bataile beside Deram upon the marchis of
Scotlond.

[Sidenote: Karolus dux Britanniae captus est per E. iij^{m}.]

[Sidenote: Calicia capta est eodem tempore per Edwardum iij^{m}.]

[Sidenote: Calicia reddita est in manus Regis Edwardi iij.]

[Sidenote: Edwardus princeps cepit Johannem vocantem se Regem Franciae
a^{o}, d'ni M^{o}ccc^{o}lvj^{o}.]

[Sidenote: Edwardus Rex Angliae iij^{us} retribuit xx.M^{l}.li. Edwardo
principi filio suo.]

[Sidenote: Karolus filius Regis Johannis Fraunciae ac nominando se pro duce
Normandiae captus est.]

[Sidenote: Edwardus princeps navim ascendit cum Johanne nominando se pro
rege Franciae et applicuerunt prope Dover iiij^{o}. die Maij, a^{o} d'ni
M^{l}. &c.]

[Sidenote: De redempcione Johannis dicentis [se] Regem Franciae.]

[Sidenote: De bello de Nazar.]

[Sidenote: Chandos.]

[Sidenote: Beauchamp comes.]

[Sidenote: D'n's Hastyngys.]

[Sidenote: D'n's Nevyle.]

[Sidenote: D'n's Rays.]

[Sidenote: Rad's Hastyngys ch'l'r.]

[Sidenote: Tho's Felton.]

[Sidenote: Robertus Knolles.]

[Sidenote: Courteneyes. Tryvett.]

[Sidenote: Matheu Gournay.]

[Sidenote: Et quam plures alii milites hic nimis diu ad inscribendum.]

[Sidenote: Bertl's Clekyn, locum tenens adversae partis, captus est
prisonarius.]

And also the said king kept Bretaine in gret subjeccion, had the victorie
uppon Charles de Bloys duke of Breteine, and leid a siege in Breteine to a
strong forteresse clepid Roche daryon, and kept be his true subjectis.
After many assautes and grete escarmisshes and a bataile manly foughten,
the said duke was take, and havyng .vij. woundes was presentid to the said
king Edward. And he also wanne Calix after, by a long and puissaunt sieges
keping[107] by see and be londe; and they enfamyned couthe have no socoure
of king Philip, and so for faute of vitaile yeldid Calix up to king Edwarde
the .iiij. day of August in the yere of Crist M^l.ccc.xlvij. And also put
Normandie gret part of it in subgeccion. And therto in his daies his eldist
sonne Edward prince of Walis the .xix. day of Septembre the yere of Crist
M^l.iij^c.lvj had a gret discomfiture afore the cite of Peyters uppon John
calling hym King of Fraunce, where the said king was taken prisoner, and in
whiche bataile was slaine the duke of Bourbon, the duke of Athenes, the
lord Clermont, ser Geffrey Channy that bare the baner of the oriflamble,
and also take withe king Johan ser Philip duc [le hardye[108]] of Bourgoine
his yongist sonne, and for whois raunson and othres certaine lordes {14}
king Edwarde rewarded the Prince xx.M^l.li. sterlinges. Also taken that day
ser Jaques de Bourbon erle of Pontieu [and] Charles his brother erle of
Longville, the kingis cosins germains, ser John Meloun erle of Tancarvile,
ser William Meleum archebisshop of Sens, the erle Dampmartyn, the erle
Vendosme, the erle Vaudemont, the erle Salebruce, the erle Nanson, ser
Arnolde of Doneham mareshalle of Fraunce, and many other knightis and
gentiles to the nombre of M^l.vij^c. prisonneris, of whiche were taken and
sleine .lij. knightis banerettis. And the kingis eldist sonne Charlis
calling hym duc of Normandie, the duc of Orliauns the kingis brother, the
duc of Anjou, the erle of Peiters that after was clepid [Johan[109]] the
duc of Berrie, the erle of Flaundris, withe a few other lordis, withdrewe
hem and escapid from the seide bataile. And sone after, the yere of Crist
M^l.iij^c.lvij. the .xvj. day of Aprill the said prince Edward with king
Johan tooke the see at Burdeux to Englond, and londed the .iiij. day of
Maij and came to London the .xxiiij. day of Maij, the said king Edwarde his
father meeting withe king Johan in the feelde, doing hym gret honoure and
reverence. And after in the yere of Crist M^l.iij^c.lxvij the month of Maij
the said king Johan was put to finaunce and raunson of thre millions of
scutis of golde, that two of them be worth .j. noble, of whiche was paied
sex hondred thousand scutis be the said king Johan comyng to Calix, and in
certein yeris after was obliged under gret seurtees, as it is declared in
the articulis of the pease finalle made betwene both kingis, to be paied
400,000 till the said thre hondred M^l crones[110] were fullie paied,
whiche as it is said was not parfourmed. And, after that, the said prince
Edwarde and Harry that noble duke of Lancastre had the bataile of Nazar in
Spaine withe king Peter ayenst the bastarde Henry callinge hym King of
Spain, haveng lxiij M^l. fighting men in his host, and hym descomfit,
voided the feelde, and many a noble knighte of Englonde and of Gascoigne
and Guyen withe many othre worshipfulle gentiles quite hem righte manlie,
and amongis {15} many goode men of chevalrie ser John Chandos avaunced hym
chief in that bataile [havyng the avauntgard[111]], for he had in his
retenu M^l.ij^c penons armed and x.M^l. horsmen; and ser William Beauchampe
the erle of Warwik is sonne, lorde Hue Hastinges, lord Nevyle, lorde Rais a
Breton lorde of Aubterre, withe many Gascoignes there also: ser Raufe
Hastingis, ser Thomas Felton, ser Roberd Knolles, withe many other notable
of the chevalrie of Inglonde, passed the streit high monteyns of Pirone by
Runcyvale in the contre of Pampilon, going from the cite of Burdeux into
Spaine, and ser Hughe Courtney, ser Philip Courtnay, ser John Tryvet,
[Matheu Gournay de comitatu Somerset[111]]. And there was take ser
Barthilmew Clekyn the Frenshe kingis lieutenaunt for the werre prisoner,
also the Mareshalle of Fraunce, the Besque, with many othre notable lordis.
Whiche bataile of Nazar was in the yere of Crist M^l.iij^c.lxvj. the thrid
day of Aprille.

How King Henry the v. conquerid [Normandy and Fraunce[111]].

[Sidenote: De Henrico quinto.]

[Sidenote: Nota quomodo Rex Henricus V^{te}. obtinuit Harefleet.]

[Sidenote: De extrema defensione ville Harflue contra potestatem Franciae et
de fame ibidem.]

[Sidenote: Nota, qualiter per civitates et mare obtinuit.]

[Sidenote: Bellum supermare et le[gh] carrikes.]

[Sidenote: Nota de bello apud Agincourt.]

[Sidenote: Henricus Rex duxit in uxorem filiam Regis Fraunciae.]

And sithe now late the noble prince[112] Henry the v^{te}. how in his
daies, withyn the space of .vij. yere and .xv. daies, thoroughe sieges
lieng, [[113] wan the towne of Harflete bethyn .xl. days, made Thomas
Beauford then erle Dorset hys oncle capteyn of yt. And the seyd erle made
ser John Fastolfe chevaler his lieutenaunt wyth M^l.v^c soudeours, and the
baron of Carew, wyth .xxxiij. knyghtys, contynuelly defended the seyd toune
ayenst the myghty power of Fraunce by the space of one yere and half aftyr
the seyd prince Herry. v^{te}. departed from Hareflue. And the seyd towne
was beseged by the Frenshe partye by lond and also by see, wyth a grete
navye of carekys, galeyes, and shyppis off Spayne, tille that yn the meene
tyme Johan duc of Bedfor(d), the erle of Marche your moste noble
antecessour, accompanyed wyth many other nobles, wyth a puissaunt armee of
shypps, fought wyth the carrekys and shypps lyeng at Seyn hede before
Hareflue, were {16} taken and many one sleyn and drowned; and so vyttailled
Harflue yn grete famyn, that a wreched cowys hede was solde for vj s. viij
d. sterling, and the tong for xl d., and dyed of Englysh soudeours mo then
v^c. yn defaut of sustenaunce. And the second voyage after wythynne the
tyme before seyd Johan erle of Hontyndon was made cheif admyralle of a new
armee to rescue Harflue, beseged of the new wyth a grete navy of shyppys
and carekys of the Frenshe partye, [which] were foughten wyth and ovyrcom
throw myghty fyghtyng; and of the new vitailled Hareflue, the seyd erle
Dorset then beyng yn England at the Emperour comyng hedre, called
Sygemondus. I briefly title thys incident to th'entent not to be foryete
how suche tweyn myghety batailles were foughten uppon the see bethyn one
yere and half, and how the seyd toune of Hareflue was deffended and kept
ayenst the puyssaunt power of Fraunce beseged as yt were by the seyd tyme;
and as for wache and ward yn the wynter nyghtys I herd the seyd ser Johan
Fastolfe sey that every man kepyng the scout wache had a masty hound at a
lyes, to berke and warne yff ony adverse partye were commyng to the dykes
or to aproche the towne for to scale yt. And the seyd prince Herry
v^{the},[114]] albeit that it consumed gretlie his peple, and also by
batailes yeveng, conquerid [the towne of Harflete[114]], and wanne bothe
the saide Duchie of Normandie first and after the Roiaume of Fraunce,
conquerid and broughte in subjeccion and wanne be his gret manhode, withe
the noble power of his lordis and helpe of his comonys, and so overleid the
myghtie roialle power of Fraunce be the seide sieges lieng, first in his
first viage at Harflete, and in the second viage he made manly besegid
Cane, the cite of Rone, Falleise, Argenten, Maunt, Vernonsurseyne, Melun,
Meulx, Enbrie, and at many other castellis, forteressis, citeis, and townes
to long to rehers. Also had gret batailes on the see ayenst many grete
carekkis and gret shippes that beseiged Hareflue after it was Englisshe.
And had a gret discomfiture at the bataile of Agincourt in the yere of
Crist M^l.iiij^cxv. {17} at his first viage, where many dukes, erlis,
lordis, and knightis were slaine and take prisoneris that bene in
remembraunce at this day of men yet livyng. And after allied hym to the
Frenshe king Charlis .vj.^{te} is doughter, because of whiche alliaunce
gret part of the roiaume of Fraunce were yolden unto hym his obeisaunce.
And now also in the said noble conquest hathe be kepte undre the obediaunce
of Englisshe nacion from the begynnyng of the said late conquest by .xxxv.
yeris be continued and kept by roialle power, as first be the noble and
famous prince Johan duke of Bedforde, regent and governoure of the roiaume
of Fraunce by .xiij. yeris, with the eide and power of the noble lordis of
this lande, bothe youre said royaume of Fraunce and duchie of Normandie was
kept and the ennemies kept ferre of in gret subjeccion.

[Sidenote: Joh'es dux Bedforde.]

How that in Johan duke of Bedforde tyme be his lieutenaunt erle of
Salisburie had the victorie at the batelle of Cravant.

[Sidenote: Bellum de Cravant.]

[Sidenote: Thomas Montagu comes Sarum.]

[Sidenote: Will's Pole comes Suff'.]

[Sidenote: Dominus Willughby.]

[Sidenote: Vindicatio mortis ducis Clarenciae.]

[Sidenote: Secunda vice punicio mortis ducis Clarenciae.]

In profe wherof how and in the first yere of the reigne of king Harry the
sixt, at whiche tyme his seide uncle toke uppon hym the charge and the name
of Regent of the roiaume of Fraunce, that had the victorie at the bateile
of Cravant, where as at that tyme Thomas Montagu the noble erle of
Salisburie, the erle of Suffolke, the marchalle of Bourgoine, the lord
Willoughebie, withe a gret power of Phelip the duke of Bourgoine is host,
holding the partie of the said Johan regent of Fraunce, duc of Bedford,
withe the eide and help of the trew subgettis of this lande, had the
overhande of the ennemies assembled to the nombre of .ix. M^l. Frenshemen
and Scottis at the said bataile of Cravant in the duchie of Bourgoine,
where there were slayne of the ennemies to the nombre of .iiij. M^l.,
beside .ij. M^l. prisonneris take, of whiche gret part of them were
Scottis, the erle Bougham being chief capitein over them;[115] which late
before were the cause of the male-infortuned journey at Bougee, where the
famous {18} and victorious knight Thomas duc of Claraunce, youre nere
cousyn, for the right of Fraunce, withe a smale company of his side, withe
the Scottis to a grete nombre there assembled among hem in the feelde, was
slayn, withe many a noble lorde, baron, knightis, squyers of Englond, that
never so gret an overthrow of lordes and noble bloode was seene in no
mannys daies as it was then. Aboute the nombre of .ij^c. l. cote-armes
slaine and take prisoneris as yt was seyd, be the saide Scottis holding
withe youre adverse party of Fraunce, whiche God of his infinite goodenes
sone after at the saide batelle [of] Cravant, and after at the bateile of
Vernell, was sent a chastisement upon the saide Scottis for theire
cruelltie vengeable and mortelle dethe of the said victorious prince, duke
of Claraunce, and of other of his noble lordis and knightis.

How Johan duke of Bedforde had yn his owne parsone the batelle of Vernelle.

[Sidenote: 1423.]

[Sidenote: Batelle of Cravant.]

[Sidenote: Batelle of Vernoyle.]

[Sidenote: 1424.]

Also in the said daies, sone after the saide batelle of Cravant, in the
yere of Crist M^l.iiij^c.xxiij., the .iij. yere of King Harry the sext, the
.xvij. day of August, the said Johan duke of Bedford had a gret
discomfiture and the victorie upon your adversaries of Fraunce and of
Scottis at the batelle of Vernelle in Perche, where as Johan cleping hym
duc of Alaunson, lieutenaunt for the Frenshe partie, was take prisoner that
day, and the said erle Bougham of Scotlonde, marchalle of Fraunce, whiche
was cause of that noble prince Thomas duke of Claraunce dethe, was in the
said bataile overthrow and sleyne, and the erle Douglas made duc of
Tourayne, aswelle as his sonne and heire that was in the feelde at
Shrewisburie ayenst king Henry the .iiij^{the}, and another tyme being
ayenst the said Johan duc of Bedford at Homeldonhille in Scotlond, was also
slaine at the said batelle, withe many other grete lordis of the Frenshe
partie slayne and taken prisoneris at the said bataile. {19}

How that the grettir part of the counte of Mayne, the cite of Mauns, withe
many other castellis, were yolden.

[Sidenote: Mayn.]

[Sidenote: Redempcio Joh'is dicentis [se] ducem de Allunson pro .clx.
M^{l}. salux bene solutis ultra alia onera suarum expensarum.]

And, overmore, not long after, youre auncien enheritaunce in the counte of
Mayne, the cite of Maunce, conquerid and brought be the said regent duc of
Bedforde, withe the power of his lordis and helpers, in subgeccion, [by the
erle of Salysbery, lord Scalys, ser John Fastalf, ser John Popham, ser N.
Mongomery, ser Wylliam Oldhalle, chevalers, and many othyr noble men of
worshyppe.[116]] And whiche counte of Mayne was accustomed sithen to be in
value yerely to the eide and helpe of the werres of Fraunce, and to the
releve of the kyng ys subgettis obeisauntes lyvyng uppon the werre for the
furtheraunce of that conquest, .x. M^l. li. sterlinges. Also the said
regent of Fraunce, with the power of youre noble bloode and lordes, wanne
the feeld at the forseid grete bataile of Vernelle in Perche ayenst the
power of the Frenshe adverse party of Fraunce, being assembled to the
nombre of .xl. M^l. fighters of the Frenshe partie; and there Johan cleping
hymsilf duke of Alaunson, lieutenaunt to Charles the .vij. calling hym
Frenshe king, taken prisonner, withe many other lordis, barons, and
knightes, and noble men of worship, whiche paied to the said regent duc of
Bedforde for his raunson and finaunce allone .clx. M. salux, beside his
other grete costis and charges, whiche was a gret relief and socoure to the
eide of the conquest, whiche bataile was in the yere of Crist
M^l.iiij^c.xxiiij., the seyd .iij^d. yere of the reigne of king Henry sext.

[Sidenote: Nota bene pro titulo Regis Henrici sexti.]

How that Henry the sext was crouned king be the might of grete lordes.

[Sidenote: Coronatio Regis Henrici sexti.]

[Sidenote: De magna fama regni Angliae tempore regis Hen. vi^{th}]

And he also, for a gret act of remembraunce to be had in writing, was
crouned king of Fraunce in the noble citee of Paris, in the yere of Crist
M^l.iiij^c.xxix., the .ix. yere of his reigne, withe right gret solennyte
amongis the lordis spirituelle and temporelle, and be the gret mighte and
power, as well in goodes and richesse, of his graunt {20} oncle Henry
cardinalle of Englande, byshop of Wynchester, and by the gret mighte and
power of his uncle Johan regent of the roiaum of Fraunce, duc of Bedforde,
being present at that tyme to their grettist charge and cost to resist
theire gret adversarie of Fraunce calling hym Dolphin. For sethen the
roiaume of Englonde first began to be inhabite withe peple was never so
worshipfulle an act of entreprise done in suche a case, the renoume of
which coronacion spradde thoroughe alle cristen kingis roiaumes.

[Sidenote: A courageous recomfortyng.]

[Sidenote: Exortacio militaris.]

O then ye most noble and cristen prince, for notwithestanding gret
conquestis and batailes had in the said roiaume be the famous knight king
Edwarde the thrid, he never atteyned to that souvraine honoure but by
valiauntnes of Englishe men, whiche have in prowes avaunced hem, and
governed so nobly as is before briefly historied and specified, be youre
saide noble, puissaunt, and vailaunt progenitours in divers regions, and
inespecialle in Fraunce and Normandie, and in the duchie of Gascoigne and
Guyen, that this sodenly wern put oute of by usurpacion ayenst alle trouthe
and knyghthode. Now therfore, in repairing this undew intrusion uppon yow,
mantelle, fortifie, and make yow strong ayenst the power of youre said
adversaries of Fraunce. For now it is tyme to clothe you in armoure of
defense ayenst youre ennemies, withe the cotes of armes of youre auncien
feernesse, haveng in remembraunce the victorious conquestis of youre noble
predecessours, the whiche clothing many histories, cronicles, and writinges
witnessithe moo than myn simple entendement can not suffice to reherse in
this brief epistle.

Of the noblesse of Ectour and other mighty kinges of Grece.

[Sidenote: Nota de exemplis aliorum nobilium.]

[Sidenote: Hector.]

[Sidenote: Agamemnon.]

[Sidenote: Ulixes.]

[Sidenote: Hercules.]

[Sidenote: 1. j.]

[Sidenote: 2. ij.]

[Sidenote: 3. iij.]

And also let be brought to mynde to folow the steppis in conceitis of noble
courage of the mighty dedis in armes of the vaillaunt knight Hector of
Troy, whiche bene enacted in the siege of Troy for a perpetuelle
remembraunce of chevalrie [that your noblesse ys decended of[117]]. Also of
the dedis in armes of Agamemnon the {21} puissaunt king of Greece, that
thoroughe cruell and egre werre ayenst the Trojens bethin .x. yere day
conquerid the gret cite of Troie. In like wise of the famous knight Ulixes,
that alle his daies dispendid in marciall causis. And of the .xij.
puissaunt entreprinses and aventurous dedis that Hercules, as it is figured
and made mencion in the vij^{the} metre of the .v. booke of Boecius, toke
uppon hym, putting himself frome voluptuouse delites and lustis, being
subget to grete laboure, wynnyng renomme and worship; whiche .xij.
entreprinses of Hercules, albeit it be thought [but a poesye[118]]
impossible to any mortalle man to doo or take uppon hym, as for to bereffe
the skyn of the rampant lion, wrestlid withe Antheus and Poliphemus, the
gret giauntes, and hym overthrew, he slow the serpent clepit Ydra, made
tame the proude beestis clepid Centaurus, that be of halfe man and halfe
best, and many soche wonderfulle entreprises as is wreten that Hercules
did, whiche is writen in figure of a poesy for to courage and comfort alle
othre noble men of birthe to be victorious in entreprinses of armes. And
how, in conclusion, that there is no power, puissaunce, ne strenght, who so
lust manly [wyth prudens[118]] put forthe hymsilf may resist and
withestande ayenst such gret entreprises.

How a conquerour shulde use in especialle thre thinges.

[Sidenote: A conqueroure shuld use iij thinges.]

[Sidenote: j.]

[Sidenote: ij.]

And, as Vegecius in his booke of Chevalrie counceilithe that a conquerour
shulde use thre thinges in especialle whiche the Romains used, and alle
that tyme they had the victorie of here ennemies, that is to wete, The
first was science, that is forto undrestonde prudence, to seene before the
remedies of bonchief, or the contrarie; The second was exercitacion and
usage in dedis of armes, that they might be apte and redie to bataille whan
necessite fille; the thrid was naturalle love that a prince shulde have to
his peple, as doing his trew diligence to doo that may be to the comon wele
of his peple, whiche is to be undrestonde in the executing of justice
egallie. And for to kepe them in tranquillite and pece within hemsilfe.

{22}

[Sidenote: Menne of noblenesse shuld lefe sensualites and delites.]

How men of noblesse ought lefe sensualitees and delites.

Let it no lenger be suffred to abide rote, no forto use the pouder and
semblaunce of sensualite and idille delites, for Water Malexander seiethe,
that voluptuous delitis led be sensualite be contrarie to the exercising
and haunting of armes. Wherfor, like and after the example of the boore
whiche knowethe not his power, but foryetithe his strenghte tille he be
chafed and see his owne bloode, in like wise put forthe youre silf,
avaunsing youre corageous hertis to werre, and late youre strenght be
revyved and waked ayen, furious, egre, and rampanyng as liouns ayenst alle
tho nacions that soo without title of right wolde put you frome youre said
rightfulle enheritaunce. And where is a more holier, parfiter, or a juster
thing than in youre adversary is offence and wrong-doing to make hym werre
in youre rightfull title, where as none other moenys of pease can be hadde.
And therfore considering be this brief declaracion that youre right and
title in alle this royaumes and contrees is so opyn--

[Sidenote: Mentio brevis de titulo ducatus Normandiae.]

Here is briefly made mencion of the first title of Normandie, and how frely
it holdithe.

[Sidenote: Nota pro titulo ducatus Normanniae.]

[Sidenote: Richardus dux Normandiae cepit in bello Lodovicum regem Franciae,
qui resingnavit totum titulum Ricardo de ducatu predicto.]

[Sidenote: ccccc.^{th}xxx.v^{te}.]

[Sidenote: Arma ducatus illius.]

For as youre first auncien right and title in youre duchie of Normandie, it
is knowen thoroughe alle cristen landes, and also of highe recorde by many
credible bookis of olde cronicles and histories, that William Conqueroure
descendid frome duc Rollo, after cristned and called Roberd, that came out
of Dennemarke aboute the yere of Crist .ix^c.xij., was righte duke of
Normandie by yeft of Charlys the symple, king of Fraunce, [who] maried his
doughter to Rollo and gave hym the saide ducdome. And after Richarde due of
Normandie, in the yere of Crist .ix^c.xlv. in plaine batelle before the
cite of Rone toke Lowes king of Fraunce prisoner, and the said Lowes
relesid the seide dukedom to the said Richarde and to alle his successours
to holde frely in souvereinte and resort of none creature but of God, as in
act therof is made mencion that was sene and rad uppon this writing. {23}
And after the said William Conquerour being king of Englond, of whome ye
and youre noble progenitours bene descendid and entitled this .v^c.xxxv.
yere, and beere in armes by the saide duchie of Normandie in a feelde of
gulis .ij. libardis of golde.

[Sidenote: Nota de tempore quo Rex Angliae intitulatus ducatui de Angew et
comitatui Mayne.]

How long the king is entitled to the righte enheritaunce of Angew and
Mayne.

[Sidenote: Matildis filia et heres Henrici primi copulata fuit imperatori,
et quo mortuo copulata fuit Galfrido Plantagenet, et ex ea Henricus .ij.
natus est.]

[Sidenote: 1127.]

[Sidenote: Angew. Nota, pro titulo ducat' Andegav'.]

And that as for youre next enheritaunce that fille to youre seide
progenitoures and to you in the duchie of Anjou and countee of Mayne and
Tourayne, it is also notorily knowen among alle cristen princes and be
parfit writing how that dame Maude, whiche was doughter and soule heire to
that puissaunt king Henry the first, that after she weddid was to the
emperoure of Almayne; after his decese the saide Maude emperesse was maried
the yere of Crist .M^l.cxxvij. to Geffry Plantagenest son to Fouke king of
Jherusalem, that was erle of Anjou, of Mayne, and Toreyne, by whome the
saide Maude had issue that most famous king in renome Henry the seconde,
whiche be right of his moder Maude was right king and enheritoure of
Englonde, also duke of Normandie seisid. And be right of his foresaide
father Geffrey Plantagenet was bethout any clayme or interupcion right
enheritour and seisid of the said countee of Anjou, Mayne, Toreyne
continued this .iij^c.xlvij. yer. [And the noble actys of the seyd erles of
Angew wyth her lynealle dessentys ben wryten yn the cronicles called _Ymago
historiarum_ that maister Raffe de Diceto dene of Poulys yn seynt Thomas
Canterbery days wrote notablye. And therfore the armys of the noble erlys
that for her prowesse were chosen king of Jerusalem wold be worshypped,
because yowr hyghnes ys descended of the eyr masle, that ys to wete of
Geffry Plantagenest erle of Angew, and the countee of Mayne by maryage was
unyoned to the erledom of Angew to longe to wryte.[119]]

{24}

[Sidenote: Gyen.]

Here is made mencion of the title of Gascoigne and Guien, and how long agoo
passed possessid.

[Sidenote: Nota, pro titulo Vasconiae.]

[Sidenote: M^{l}.cxxxvij.]

[Sidenote: Alienora et Aliciae filiae et heredes Will'mi ducis Guion.]

[Sidenote: Nota, divortio facta inter regem Franciae et Alienoram.]

[Sidenote: Henricus ij^{d'} Angliae rex superduxit Alienoram filiam et
heredem Willielmi ducis de Guien circa M.cxlvj^{ad}]

[Sidenote: Nota pro titulo Henrici ij.]

[Sidenote: Nota bene, Karolus vij rex Fraunciae primo intrusionem fecit in
ducatum Normanniae, Gascon, Guion, etc. circa annum M^{l}iiij^clj.]

And than for to be put in remembraunce of youre auncien enheritaunce,
verray right and title in youre duchies of Gascoigne and Guien, withe the
countrees, baronnyees and seignouries therto belonging. It is in like
fourme knowen of highe recorde, enacted in divers cronicles, as amongis
many other historialle bookis of auctorite, that aboute the yere of Crist
.M^l.cxxxvij. William the duke of Guien died bethout heire masle, uppon his
voiage he made to seint James, havyng .ij. doughters and heires, called
Alienore, the second Alice, and king Lowes of Fraunce in his yong age, by
the agrement of Lowys le gros his father, spoused the said Alienor, to
whome the said duchie was hole enheriter. And after the said king Lowes
came to yeris of discretion, the archebisshoppis of Sens, of Rayns, of
Rone, and of Burdeux, withe others barouns, made relacion to the said king
Lowes that the saide Alienor was so neere of his blode that he might not
laufullie be the chirche kepe her to wiffe, so be theire counceile they
bothe were departed laufully, and the said king Lowes maried after that
Constance the king of Spayne doughter. And the said Alienor the duches of
Gascoigne and Guien went to Burdeux. Than came the forsaid king Harry the
seconde of Englande, that was the Erle of Anjou is sonne and heire, and
wedded the said Alienor about the yere of Crist M^l.cxlvj. by whome he was
duke of Gascoigne and Guien, and his heires after hym, of whom ye bene
descended and come right downe. And the said king Henry the seconde bare in
armes frome that day forthe the saide libarde of golde withe the other two
libardis of the same that is borne for Duke of Normandie. So in conclusion
he was, be right of his moder dame Maude, the empresse, king of Englonde
and duke of Normandie, and, be right of his father Geffry Plantagenest,
erle of Anjou and of Mayne and Torayne; be right of his wiffe dame Alienor,
duke of Guien; of whiche duchie of Gascoigne and Guien your noble {25}
progenitours have continually be possessid and seased of, this
.iij^c.xxviij. yere complete, tille that by intrusion of youre said
adversarie Charlis the vij^{the}. of Fraunce have disscasid yow in or about
the monithe of June the yere of Crist M^l.iiij^c.lj., as he hathe late done
of youre enheritaunce of Fraunce and Normandie and of the counte of Mayne,
thoroughe umbre of the said fenied colour of trewes, ayenst alle honoure
and trouthe of knighthode.

How the historier procedithe in his matier of exhortacion.

[Sidenote: Nota bonum concilium.]

[Sidenote: Magister Alanus de Auriga dicit.]

And for to think to alle cristen nacions for to fight in bataile if the cas
require it soo, that youre said enheritaunce can not be recuverid by none
other due meane of pease, bothe for youre defens for the recuverey of youre
roiaume of Fraunce, duchie of Normandie, and sithen sone after the duchie
of Gascoigne, that alle cristen princes opynly may know it is youre verray
true enheritaunce, and for salvacion of youre enheritaunce by undew menys
lost; for that yt ys wryten by [maister Aleyn Chareter, _id est_ de Auriga,
in hys boke of Quadrilogue, secretaire to Charlys le bien amee, the yere of
Crist .1422. yn thys termys: "Ayenst Herry the .v^{th}., named kyng," yn
provokyng the adverse partye to werre ayenst the seyd king Herry. How[120]]
the famous clerke of eloquence Tullius seithe in his booke of retherique
that, like as a man recevethe his lyving in a region or in a countree, so
is he of naturall reason bounde to defende it; and law of nature, as welle
as law imperiall whiche is auctorised by popis and emperours, wol
condescend and agre to the same. Also Caton affirmithe withe the said
Tullie. Therfor late not this gret and importune losses now by infortune
and of over grete favoure and trust put to youre adversaries, fallen ayenst
this lande undre the umbre and coloure of trewes and abstinence of werre
late hadde and taken at Towris atwixen Charlis the .vij^{th}. youre
adversaire of Fraunce and your predecessour {26} Harry the sext, and now
uppon the exercise and usaige of bataile and left by so little a tyme,
forto discomfort or fere to a new recovere. Not so: God defende that! for
the famous poet Ovide seiethe that who so levithe the pursute and foloweing
of good fortune for one mysaventure, it shalle never come to hym. And
namely the said Water Malexander agreithe hym to the same saieng, and
affermyng that good courages of hertis be not mynissed, broken, ne lessid
for disusage and levyng armes for a litille season, nether for sodeyn
recountres and hasty comyng on, be force of whiche one mysadventure may
folow.

[Sidenote: Nota quod pro defectu excercicii armorum mala sequentur
exercitui Romanorum.]

How for the defaute of exercise of armes the gret nombre of Romains were
scomfited by men of Cartage.

[Sidenote: Syr Alanus de Auriga.]

[Sidenote: Notand' est.]

[Sidenote: Nota de cede Romanorum.]

[Sidenote: Nota de annulis inventis super digitos Romanorum occisorum.]

A, mercifulle God! what was the losses of the Romayns, whiche in defaute
and by negligence lost by a litille tyme left the exercise of armes was
fulle gret ayenst the doughty men of Cartage, whan alle the puissaunce of
the Romains were assembled in bataile, where that were so many noble men
and coragious peple, the whiche were innumerable, assembled and joyned in
bataile, that men say was betwene Camos and Hanibal prince of Cartage, the
whiche discomfit before duke Camos in Puylle be suche power that the ringis
of golde take frome the fingers of ded bodies of the said Romains, whiche
were men of price and renomme, and Titus Livius seiethe in his booke of
Romayne batailes were extendid and mesurid to the quantite of mesure of
.xij. quarters or more, whiche Hanibal brought withe hym to his countre of
Cartage in signe of victorie.

[Sidenote: Nota de experiencia armorum ex parte Romanorum.]

How after the seide gret descomfiture that a few nombre of Romans expert in
werre (_unfinished_)

But the worthy Romains, for alle that, left not the hope and trust of
recovering on another day, whan God lust, onnere and fortune, theyme so
exercised daily armes, [and] after accustumyng hem ayene {27} to werre,
were by experience lerned and enhardid, that, as by the exorting and
comforting of one of theire princes, he assembled another time in bataile
ayenst the litille residue that were left of the said Romayns, and by
subtile craft of wise policie and good conduyt in actis of werre they fille
and tooke uppon theym and charged theym so moche that by unware of theire
purveiaunce met withe the said Haniballe at certen streightes and narow
places fille into the handis of Romains, to the gret discomfiture and
destruccion of Haniballe his gret oost of Cartage.

[Sidenote: Exercitium armorum excedit divicias.]

How men of armes welle lerned and excercised is of a grettir tresoure then
any precious stones or riche tresour.

Dame Cristen saiethe in the first booke of the Tree of Batailes that there
is none erthely thing more forto be allowed than a countre or region whiche
be furnisshed and stored withe good men of armes well lerned and exercited;
for golde, silver, ne precious stones surmountethe not ne conquerithe not
ennemies, nother in time of pease wardithe the peple to be in rest, the
whiche thing a puissaunt man in armes dothe.

How a few nombre of the Romains that were expert and connyng in the werre
descomfited .c.iiij^{xx}.M^l. of Frenshemen that the prince of hem tolde
and set right litille by.

[Sidenote: Magister Alanus de Auriga. Id est compilam de libro suo.]

[Sidenote: In multitudine gencium non consistit victoria, ut infra. Nota
bene.]

[Sidenote: Averaunces. D'n's Talbot. D'n's Fauconberge. Harflete.]

[Sidenote: J. dux Som', Ed's Dors'. Cane.]

[Sidenote: Fastolf. Harynton.]

[Sidenote: Nota bene et applica.]

Also ye may consider by example of king Bituitus of the countre of Gaule
clepid Fraunce, the whiche went ayenst the Romains withe an hondred and
fourescore thousande men of armes; and he saw so few a companie of the
Romains comyng that he despraised hem, and seid of gret pride that there
were not inoughe of the Romains for to fede the doggis of his oost:
neverthelesse, that few company were so welle excersised and lerned in
armes that there were ynoughe whiche overcome and destroied the said king
of Gaule and alle his gret {28} oost; whiche storie may be verified in
every bataile or journay atwix youre adversarie of Fraunce and youre
predecessoures entreprises this .xxxv. yeres that continued in possession
frome king [named[121]] Henry the .v. is conquest till it was lost: for at
the bataile of Agincourt descomfited by seid king Henry the .v.^{th} [wyth
a few nomber.[121]] And at the bataile of the see ayenst the carrakes
descomfited by Johan duke of Bedforde and the erle of the Marche being
principalle cheveteins also in that bataile [wyth a few nombre yn
comparison of the grete Frensh navye.[121]] Also at the journay of
Kedecause descomfited be Thomas Beauforde erle Dorset after was duke of
Eccestre; [the erle of Armonak conestable of Fraunce beyng aboute x.M^l
fyghtyng men ayenst aboute .ix^c. accompanyed wyth the erle Dorset.[121]]
Also at the bataile of Cravaunt descomfited by [Johan duc of Bedford as by
hys lieutenaunt[121]] Thomas Montague the erle of Salisbury and Roberd
[lord[121]] Willugheby chiefeteynes. And at the bataile of Vernelle fought
and descomfited by Johan regent duke of Bedforde, the said erle of
Salisbury and the erle of Suffolke, [lord Wyllughby, lord Pownynnys, ser
John Fastolf, and many other noble men yn armys.[121]] Also at the bataylle
of Roveraye foughte [ayenst the bastard of Burbon, the bastard of
Orlyance,[121]] be ser Johan Fastolfe, ser Thomas Rempstone, chiefteins,
upon the vitailing the siege of Orliaunce. Also at the rescue of the cite
[of] Averaunces fought by Edmonde duke of Somerset and the erle of
Shrewisburie and lorde Fauconberge chiefeteins. And at the second wynnyng
of Hareflete fought [beseged[121]] by Johan duke of Somerset, by Edmund
erle of Dorset, and the erle of Shrewisbury, at the rescue of Cane fought
by ser Johan Fastolfe and ser Richarde Harington, and his felouship,
[ayenst .xxx.M^l. men.[121]] And so in many other [sodeyn jorneys and[121]]
sharpe recountres sodenly met and foughten, to long to write here. And also
for the gret part at any maner bataile, journey, enterprise, [seges,[121]]
and rescuse of places, it hathe bene alway seen that the power of Fraunce
have be in nombre of peple assembled ayenst youre power {29} by double so
many, or by the thrid part, yet youre right and title have bene so goode
and fortunat, and men so well lernid and exercised in armes, that withe few
peple have descomfited the gret multitude of your adverse partie.

How Vegesse in his Booke of Chevalrie also gretly recomendithe exercise in
men of armes.

[Sidenote: Vegescius de re militari.]

O then, seith Vegecius in his Booke of Chevalrie, therbe none that knowethe
the gret merveilles and straunge aventures of armes and knighthode, the
whiche be comprehendid and nombred in dedis of armes, to tho that be
exercised in suche labouris of armes, that withe wise conduyt prudently can
aventure and hardely take uppon theym such sodein entreprinses on hande.

[Sidenote: Animacio.]

[Sidenote: Concideracio.]

O then, ye noble Englisshe chevalrie, late it no mervaile be to yow, in
lessing youre courage ne abating of your hardiesse, they that ye renew
youre coragious hertis to take armes and entreprinses, seeing so many good
examples before yow of so many victorius dedis in armes done by youre noble
progenitoures, and that it hathe be a thing to moche left discorage you
not; for, thoughe that ye were in renomme accepted alleway withe the most
worthi as in dede of armes, but now at this time ye ben take and accepted
in suche marcialle causes that concernithe werre on the left hande, as
withe the simplest of price and of reputacion. And it is to suppose that it
is rather in defaute of exercising of armes left this .xxiiij. yere day
that the londes were lost, thoroughe the said coloure of trewes, and for
lak of good provisions bothe of artillery and ordenaunce for the werre and
soudeyng to be made in dew season, and for singuler covetice reignyng among
some peple endowed with worldly goodes, that can not depart but easily
withe finaunce [wagyng[122]] and soulde theim in tyme of nede, then for
defaut of good corage and manhode, whiche is to deme werre never feerser ne
corageouser to dedis of armes, so they may be cherished and avaunced
therafter, as ben at this day.

{30}

How dame Cristen counceilithe to make true paimentis to sowdieris.

[Sidenote: Hic nota optime pro solucione soldariorum.]

[Sidenote: Nota concilium.]

[Sidenote: Nota bene, ne forte.]

For ye shalle rede in the first part of the Arbre of Batailes, where dame
Cristen exhortithe and counceilithe that every chieftein and capiteyne of
men of armes ought to have goode paimentis and sewre for assignacion of
paiment for his sowdieris for so long tyme that he trustithe to endure and
be souded in that voiage and armes; for to that singlerly before thing alle
chieveteyns shulde have regarde, by as moche as it is the principalle and
chief cause of the good spede and conduit of here entreprise, and the
undoing and mischief of it [the contrarye[123]], if the paimentis be not
duely made to the soudeours; for late it be put in certein that no
cheveteyn can not have ne kepe long tyme good men of armes eville paied or
long delaied, but discoragethe them as sone as paiment failethe, and
takethe theire congie and licence of theire prince, if they can have
licence, orellis they departethe bethout licence. And also of overmoche
trust and avauntage gyven to your adversaries be this dissimiled trewes as
otherwise. And also when that the cheveteins take more kepe to good than to
worship [and] using justice. And as welle as in defaute of largesse to
youre obeissauntes, not rewarding ne cherisshing youre obeissauntes
subgettis yolden and sworne stedfastly abiding under your obeissaunce, but
suffring them to be oppressid and charged unduely in divers wises, as well
by over gret taskis and tailis rered uppon them, and therto they finding
bothe horsmete and mannysmete to youre soudeours riding be the contre
without contenting or agreing hem, becaus of nompower of youre said men ben
not paide of here wages and soude, by lak of simple payment [caused the
rather the ducdom of Normandy to be lost.[123]]

[Sidenote: Nota peroptimum concilium istud.]

[Sidenote: Inquiratur pro libro illo, bonum est.]

[Sidenote: Nota bene, ne forte.]

[Sidenote: Nota bene.]

[Sidenote: Dux Bedfordiae.]

[Sidenote: Nota bene.]

[Sidenote: Exhortacio.]

[Sidenote: Nota bene.]

[Sidenote: Exhortacio ad observandum ordinacionem principis in bello.]

[Sidenote: Verba m'ri Alani de Auriga.]

And the same dame Cristen in the .xiiij. chapiter seiethe that a noble good
cheveteyn, whiche wolbe a leder of a felowship in werre, he must use
justice to Goddis pleasure; and that he may stand in the grace and favoure
of the worlde, and of his retenu and {31} of other peple undre hym, that
the said chieftein must pay his men of soude so justly and truly, bethout
any defalking [or] abbregging of here wagis, that they have no nede to lyve
by pillage, extorcion, and rapyn uppon the countreis of here frendis that
be yolden undre obeisaunce of here prince. And be this way the ost may
never faut, for then the ost shalbe furnished of alle costis coostis[124]
commyng withe vitailes inoughe; so that it be provided that marchauntes and
vitailers may surely passe and come, and that a payne resonable be made,
that uppon forfeiting that payne no man take vitaile beforce without
payment made in hande, as the proclamacions made by Henry the .v^{the}.,
that victorious prince, in his host. [And also the statutes made by Johan
regent of Fraunce, duc of Bedford, by a parlement at Cane, yn the .ij^{de}.
yeere of [blessed[125]] Henry .vj^{te}., named kyng, uppon the conduyt of
the werre, that I delyvered to your hyghenes enseled, the day before your
departyng out of London, that remayned yn the kepyng of ser Johan Fastolfe
for grate autoritee, a. iij.[126]] And that no damage or offence be done to
the marchauntes. It is fulle gret jupardie and perille to an oost where as
covetise of pillage and rappyne reignithe among men of armes more than
theire entencion is to kepe and meinteine the right of theire prince's
partie. And the worship of chevalrie and knighthode ys that they shulde
peine hem to wynne. And suche as ben of that inordynat condicion of
covetise and rappyne oughte rather be clepid pilleris, robberis,
extorcioneris, than men of armes chevalerous. In example the said dame
Cristen puttithe that the men of armes of the countre of Gaule, whiche now
is Fraunce, that had in a tyme a discomfiture and the overhande uppon the
Romains, being assembled withe a grete oost embatailed upon the river of
Rosne in Burgoyne; and the men of Gaule had wonne gret praies and good, as
horse harneis, vesselle of golde and of silver gret plente; but as to the
worldly goodes they set no count ne prise of it, but cast it into the
river. And in semblable wise it was saide of Johan duke of Bedforde, then
regent, that the day he had the victorie at the {32} bataile of Vernaile,
he exhorted, making an oration to his peple, that they attende not to
covetise, for no sight of juelx and riches of cheynes of golde or nouches
[or] ringis cast before hem or left in the feelde, to take them up, whiche
might be the losse of the feeld, tille God had shewed his power and
fortune; but onely to worship and to doo that that they come for. And so be
the jugement of God had the victorie withe gret worship and riches, be the
raunsonyng of prisoneris, and be rewardis of the said regent in londis and
goodis to every man for theire welle doing that day, rewarded in lifelode
of londes and tenementis yoven in the counte of Mayne to the yerely valeu
of .x.M^l. marcs yerely, whiche was .lx.M^l.li. Turneis, as it is of record
to shew; the whiche was don aftyr the Romayns' condicion, seeing that thei
set so litille by goodis dispising but onely by worship, the whiche the
saide Romains were gretly astonied and dred her power, for thei saw it
never done before. And wolde Jhesus for his highe grace that every prince,
chieftein, or captein wolde be of so noble condicions as is before made
mencion of! I have be credibly enfourmed by tho as were present in bateile
withe the fulle noble and victorius prince of renomme king Henry the
.v^{te}. youre cousin and antecessour, used the saide counceile among his
ostes. And also at the bateile of Agincourt be the exortacion of that
forseyd noble prince Henry the .v^{the}. counceiled to set not be no
tresure, praies, ne juelx and vesselle of golde and of silver, aswelle of
tho that were his there lost, ne of the juelx that he wonne, but only to
his right and to wonne worship. And that also fulle noble prince youre
cousin Johan duke of Bedforde, another victorius prince, folowed his
steppis tho daies that he was regent of the roiaume of Fraunce, and whan
his chariottes of his tresoure and vesselle at the bataile of Vernelle in
Perche was bereved frome hym by Lombardis and other sowdieris holding youre
adverse partie, he comaunded the oost embatailed not forto breke ne remeve
[theyr aray[127]] for wynnyng or kepyng worldly goodis, but only to wynne
worship in the right of Englonde that day, whiche he hadde the victorie to
his grettist renomme.

{33} But yet it most be suffred paciently the fortune that is gevyn to
youre ennemies at this tyme, and late the case be taken for a new lerning,
and to the sharping of goode corages, to the refourmyng and amendement of
theire wittis. For the saide Ovide the lawreat poet saiethe that it
happithe often times that mysaventures lernithe tho that bene conquerid to
be wise. And so at other times in actis and dedis of armes that for lak of
providence or mysfortune were overthrow, enforcethe hem to be conquerours
[another seson.[128]] Here is yet noone so gret inconvenient of aventure ne
mysfortune falle at this tyme, but that it hathe be seene fallen er now [yn
kyng Johan dayes and in kyng Edward iij^d day, as yn hys gret age put owt
of Normandye and off many castells and townes yn Gyen by kyng Charlys the
.v^{te}.[128]]

[Sidenote: Defectus pecuniae ad solvendum soldarios fuit causa una
prodicionis ducatus Normanniae.]

How the duchie of Normandie for lak of a sufficient arme waged in due time,
that king Johan [of England[128]] had not sufficiently wherof to wage [his
peple,[128]] he lost the duchie of Normandie.

[Sidenote: Infinita mala ex sensualitate corporis.]

[Sidenote: .1203.]

For a like mysfortune and overthrow fille unto us for defaute of providence
and helpe in dew tyme, and sensualite of lustis of the bodie idely
mispendid, and for lak of finaunce and goode[gh] to soude and wage goode
mennys bodies over into Normandie and other contrees, ande thoroughe the
umbre of trewes, the hole privacion of your duchie of Normandie, and of
Angew, Mayne, and Torayne, and a gret part of Gascoigne and Guyen, was in
king Johan daies by king Philip dieudonne of Fraunce, the yere of Crist
.M^l.ij^c.iij^o. in the monithe of Maij began.

{34}

[Sidenote: Treugae pluries infractae.]

How many divers times trewes that were taken betwene king Richarde the
first, king Johan, and king Edward the thrid at the finalle peas generalle
betwene tho kinges and the Frenshe kinges, were afterwarde be the Frenshe
partie first broken.

[Sidenote: Nota fallacias Francorum in rupcione treugarum; vide et attende
bene.]

[Sidenote: Treuga pessima a^{o} Xp'i 1259.]

[Sidenote: De infinitis dampnis ex ilia treuga sine pace.]

[Sidenote: De pluribus treugis sine effectu durationis.]

[Sidenote: Edward ij^{d}.]

[Sidenote: Nota pro titulo regis.]

[Sidenote: Effectus maritagii Isabellae reginae heredis regni Franciae.]

[Sidenote: Edwardus ij^{us} duxit Isabellam filiam et heredem Karoli regis
Franciae a^{o}. X^{l}. M^{l}.ccc.xxv^{t}i.]

And thus undre the coloure of trewes at divers times taken atwixt youre
noble progenitoures king Henry the seconde, and also divers treties taken
betwene the said king Johan and king Philip, and also sondry tymes trewes
taken betwene king Richarde the first and the Frenshe king Philip
dieudonne. And notwithestanding so oft tymes trewes and alliaunces taken
and made betwene the forsaide kinges of Englonde and of Fraunce, alle waye
whan the Frenshe partie coude have and fynde any avauntage or coloure to
breke here trewes they did make new werre ayenst this lande. Also there was
another trewes made at Paris the monithe of Octobre the yere of Crist
M^l.cclix. betwene king Henry the thrid and Lowes king of Fraunce, the
whiche king Lowes haveng grete conscience that he heelde bethout title of
right the duchie of Normandie, the counte of Angew, Mayne, and Toureyne,
out of the handis of the kinges of Englonde, therfore toke a trewis withe
king Henry the thridde; and the saide king Lowes graunted and confirmed to

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