those who had often braved death in battle, could not behold this uncommon agitation of the elements undifmayed. At the same time it became fo exceffive cold, that fix thousand horfes and near one thousand men perifhed on the fpot; among others, that brave young Nobleman the Lord Guy Beauchamp, eldeft Son of the Earl of Warwick, was fo wounded, that he died a few days after at Vendofme. King Edward looked on this as a loud declaration of the Divine displeasure at his severity; alighting therefore immediately from his horse he kneeled on the ground, and made a folemn vow to Heaven, that he would now fincerely and absolutely incline his mind to peace with France on reasonable conditions: thus difpofed he encamped at a village near Chartres, called Bretigny, where the French Commiffioners attended him next day with ample inftructions, and he was content to accept of their offers of peace *.

This

*The preamble runs thus: Edward, eldeft Son of the noble King of England, Lord of Ireland and of Acquitain,

Duke

This famous treaty was negotiated by

Edward Prince of Wales,

Dauphin Regent of France,

Charles the

and their

agents, in the name of both the Kings, thefe two Princes, and all the fubjects of either realm. It was therein ftipulated, That King John fhould be reftored to his liberty, on paying for his random * three millions of crowns in gold, about one million five hundred thoufand pounds of the prefent money, which was to be discharged

Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chefter, to all who shall fee thefe prefent letters, greeting. We give you to underftand, that of all the debates and difcords whatfoever moved and commenced between our most redoubted Lord and Father the King of England on the one part, and our Cousin the King and his eldest Son Regent of the realm of France on the other part, for the benefit of peace it is accorded on the 8th of May in the year of Grace 1360, at Bretigny near Chartres, in manner and form following.

* An immenfe fum had the whole been paid, but one half of it remained unpaid at the time a fresh war broke out between the two kingdoms; when his fon Charles, then King, chofe rather to employ the money in combating the English, than in enabling them to carry on the

war.

at

at different payments. That King Edward

fhould for ever renounce all claim to the crown of France, and to the provinces of Normandy, Maine, Touraine, and Anjou, poffeffed by his Ancestors; in exchange for which he should receive, befides what he already held in Guienne and Gascoigné, the provinces of Poitou, Sainctonge, Agenois, Perigort, the Limofin, Tarbé, Cahourfin, Bigorre, Gaure, l'Angoulefmois, and other districts in that quarter, together with Calais, Guifnes, Montreuil, and the county of Ponthieu, on the other fide of France. That the full fovereignty of these provinces, as well as that of Guienne, should be vested in the crown of England; and, That France fhould renounce all title to feudal jurifdiction or homage for them. That the King

of Navarre fhould be reftored to all his honours and poffeffions. That the English fhould renounce their confederacy with the Flemish, the French their connections with the Scots. That the difputes concerning the fucceffion of Brittany, between the fa

milies of Blois and Mountfort, should be decided by arbitrators appointed by the two Kings. And, That forty hoftages fhould be fent to England as a fecurity for the performance of all thefe conditions.

This treaty being firft figned by the Prince of Wales and the Dauphin, was afterwards ratified by oath in the following manner, as defcribed by Walfingham: "At Paris in the time of low mafs, when they had thrice fang, O Lamb of God, "which takeft away the fins of the world, grant us thy peace, Charles the Dauphin,

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Regent of France, went up to the altar, "and laying his right hand on the patten "wherein lay the Holy Eucharist, and his "left on the Gofpels, he took his oath in

thefe, words: We Charles do fwear upon "the Holy Body and the Gofpels of our "Lord, firmly what in us lies to keep this

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peace and concord thus formed between "the two Kings; and by no means to go

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against the fame. So help us, &c." The

like oath was taken by the Prince of Wales, in the church of Louviers in Normandy.

The peace being thus confirmed, King Edward marched by way of Abbeville to Calais, where he gave orders for the embarkation of his troops for England: but the Prince of Wales with his divifion having marched into Normandy, that the army being thus divided may be better accommodated, the King haftened from Calais to Harfleur, where he took fhipping with his Son, and landed at Rye in Suffex on the eighteenth of May.

The King of France being now at liberty to return to his kingdom, the Prince of Wales conducted him to Calais on the eighth of July; but the money agreed for the first payment of his ranfon being delayed to the twenty-fifth of October following, the Prince with his ufual courtefy attended his royal Friend till that time, and endeavoured

P