CHAPTER XXX.-THE DUKE OF BRITTANY BESIEGES AVRANCHES WITH HIS WHOLE FORCE. -IT SURRENDERS ΤΟ HIM. HE TAKES TOMBELAINE *.-BAYEUX IS WON. -THE CONSTABLE GAINS BRICQUEBEC, VALOGNES‡, ST. SAUVEUR LE VICOMTE§.—OTHER INCIDENTS WHEN the duke of Brittany's army was returned to him, and had taken some rest, he mustered his men, and without delay began his march, well attended by artillery, to besiege the town of Avranches, which was garrisoned by four or five hundred English under the command of a captain called Lampet ||. The duke displayed great ability and courage in forming the siege, during which many skirmishes took place between the parties. This siege lasted three weeks, when the walls were so battered that the captain and garrison were reduced to surrender; but although they proposed different terms of capitulation, they could only obtain permission to march away in safety, but without arms or baggage; so that when the place was given up, they departed with staves in their hands. On the reduction of Avranches, the duke of Brittany advanced with his army to Tombelaine, which is impregnable so long as provision and stores last, for it is seated on a rock in the sea, near to St. Michael's Mount. There was in it an English garrison of from four-score to one hundred men; but they no sooner perceived the great force that was brought against them, than they capitulated to surrender the place, on being permitted to march to Cherbourg in safety with their baggage and effects. On the 16th day of May, the king of France ordered the counts de Dunois, de Nevers, d'Eu, and several other knights and esquires, to lay siege to Bayeux. In consequence they encamped near to the town, and pushed forward the siege with such vigour, by mines and battering cannon, that many breaches were made in the wall wide enough to be stormed; but the commanders were averse to this, to avoid the effusion of blood and the numberless other evils that would ensue. However, notwithstanding this laudable resolution, the ardour and avarice of soldiers to become rich induced part of the army, without orders, to storm the town twice in the same day, when many gallant deeds were done on both sides, and several were killed by arrow and culverine shots. The French were forced to retreat without success, for the storm had been only made on one side: had this measure been carried on under the direction of their officers, it must undoubtedly have succeeded. Matago, the governor of Bayeux, surprised at the valour he had seen displayed by the French at this attack, for they had slain some of the stoutest of the English, opened a treaty with the count de Dunois for its surrender; but after many parleys, he could only obtain permission for his men to march away without arms or baggage and with staves in their hands. Thus marched away, by the castle-gate for Cherbourg, all the English, to the amount of nine hundred, esteemed the most valiant of their party; but in honour of nobility, horses were given to carry their damsels and gentle ladies, and carts were also supplied to convey the most respectable of the women who followed their husbands. It was a pitiful sight thus to see from three to four hundred women, (without including children, who were very numerous,) some carrying their infants in cradles on their heads, others swinging them round their necks or in rolls of cloth round their bodies, and in a variety of other ways. On the restoration of Bayeux to the obedience of the king of France, the count de Dunois appointed a captain and other officers to govern the city, and then crossed the Orne ¶, with the count de Clermont, and there cantoned the army, to live on the country until the arrival of the count de Richemont, constable of France. He had left all his artillery at Bayeux to be ready for laying siege to Caen. In the meantime, the constable, and those in his company,—namely, the troops of the ** Tombelaine, a small island, or rock, on the coast of Normandy, between Avranches and St. Malo. + Bricquebec. Probably Bricquebosq, a village in Normandy, near Valognes. Valognes, a large town between Cherbourg and Carentan. § St. Sauveur le Vicomte, near Valognes. ¶ Orne,—a river in Normandy: it runs into the sea at Estreham. ** Guy XIV. lord, and in 1429 count of Laval, son of John de Montford, lord of Kergolay, who, by his marriage lord de Laval, the marshal de Lohéac, the troops of the admiral and of the lord de Touteville*,-gained the town of Bricquebosq for the king of France, on permitting those within it to march away with their baggage and effects. The constable then besieged Valognes, that had lately been captured by the English; but it was not long before it surrendered, for the lieutenant-governor for the king of England had turned to the French interest. He, however, obtained from the constable that the English garrison, amounting to six-score men, should march in safety, with arms and baggage, to Cherbourg. On the departure of the duke of Brittany, the constable came to Bayeux, and thence sent Sir James de Luxembourg his lieutenant, and Odet Dadic, with about thirty lances, to commence the siege of St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte, which is a handsome town, and one of the strongest in Normandy. They remained before it three days, waiting for the marshals of France and of Brittany, the lords de Touteville, de Boussac, and others. The lord Robersart, a baron of Hainault, was the governor, having with him two hundred English combatants, and on the arrival of the marshals the place was besieged in earnest. During the opening of the trenches, a valiant esquire from Berry, called John de Blanchefort, was killed by a cannon-shot, whose loss was much lamented. The garrison witnessing the approaches of the French, although unhurt by their batteries, offered to surrender, on condition that they should depart in safety with their arms, baggage and effects, and be allowed eight days for clearing the place. Thus was St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte restored to the king of France; and the marshals rode to a village called Ceaux†, within two leagues of Caen, where the constable and his company were quartered, carrying with them the English hostages for the performance of the treaty, and at the end of eight days, when the place was cleared, they were set a liberty. CHAPTER XXXI.—THE SIEGE OF CAEN.—THE KING OF FRANCE, ATTENDED BY THE KING OF SICILY AND HIS SON, THE DUKE OF CALABRIA, APPEAR BEFORE IT WITH A LARGE ARMY. THE ENGLISH, AFTER SUSTAINING MUCH DAMAGE FROM THE BATTERIES, SURRENDER THE TOWN AND CASTLE OF CAEN. On the 5th day of June, the constable and his division dislodged from Ceaux, and fixed his quarters in the abbey of St. Stephen, in the suburbs of Caen, and near to the walls. On the same day, the count de Clermont, the count de Castres, and many other lords, knights and esquires, marched their men to the quarters of the constable: they amounted to twelve hundred spears, four thousand five hundred archers, guisarmes ‡, and armour-bearers, and two hundred franc-archers on foot. The count de Dunois posted himself in the suburbs of Vaucelles, on the side toward Paris, with a large company of nobles, men at arms and archers, to the amount of eight hundred lances, and two thousand archers, guisarmes, and armour-bearers on horseback, and two thousand franc-archers on foot, so that the city was completely blockaded on its two sides. They instantly threw a bridge of communication between the two divisions over the river Orne, by which, the fourth day after, the counts of Nevers and of Eu passed a considerable body of men-at-arms and archers, and quartered them in the suburbs of Caen, toward the sea, at the abbey of La Trinité, a convent of women. They were scarcely arrived before they attacked an outwork of the town, which was valiantly defended, and many gallant deeds were performed on each side, but it was at length won by storm by the French. They soon deserted it, because it was open on the side near the walls, and it was not re-occupied by the English, for they had destroyed its communication with the town by walling up the gate. The king of France departed from Argentan §, to be present at this siege, attended by the king of Sicily, his son the duke of Calabria, the duke of Alençon, the counts of Maine, with the sister and heir of Guy XII., became lord of Laval, assumed the name of Guy XIII., and died in his passage from the Holy Land in 1415. Guy XIV. married first Isabel, daughter of John VI. duke of Brittany, and secondly Frances, the widow of the lord Giles. Q. Estouteville. Louis, grand-butler of France. +Ceaux, a small town in Normandy, near Avranches. Guisarmes, a kind of (offensive) long-handled and long-headed weapon; or, (as the Spanish visarma), a staff that had within it two long pikes, which, with a shoot or thrust forward, come forth.-Cotgrave. § Argentan. I should suppose it must be Alençon. of St. Pol, of Tancarville, and a numerous body of barons, knights, esquires, men-at-arms and archers, to the number of six hundred lances, and archers in proportion. The king lay the first night at St. Pierre-sur-Dive*, on the morrow at Argentan, and on the third day he came to dinner in the suburbs of Vaucelles +; after which, he instantly crossed the river by the new bridge, and was lodged at an abbey called Dardenne, where he remained during the whole siege, except one night that he passed in the abbey of La Trinité, wherein were quartered the king of Sicily, the duke of Calabria, and other lords, to the amount of a thousand lances. The king had with him twelve thousand archers on horseback, one thousand guisarmes, and armour-bearers mounted also, and two hundred franc-archers on foot, of whom the greater part were quartered in the villages round. The siege was pushed forward with the greatest diligence on the arrival of the king, and trenches were made round the town, in which every person individually exerted himself. The count de Dunois made an attack on the outworks of Vaucelles, on the river Divet, which were valorously defended; but after many gallant deeds on both sides, they were gained by the French, and numbers of the English slain, wounded, and taken, to the great dismay of their companions. From all the quarters of the French, deep mines were made even unto the ditches of the town, more particularly from the constable's quarters, which advanced under St. Stephen's, so that all the wall above fell to the ground, and the French and English could there engage hand to hand. The English, perceiving the near approach of the enemy, were CASTLE OF CAEN.-THE KEEP. From Jolimont's Description Historique et Critique, et Vues des Monuments Religieux et Civils les plus remarquables du Departement du Calvados. fearful of being taken by storm, and demanded to capitulate. The king of France, moved by compassion and pity, after the example of our Lord, who desires not the death of sinners, but would rather that they would turn to their God, and considering what a loss the destruction of so fine a town would be, and the miseries that would ensue from pillaging St. Pierre-sur-Dive,-a market-town near Trouard in Normandy. + Vaucelles,-a village in Normandy, near Bayeux. The Dive separates the bishoprics of Lisieux and Bayeux, and loses itself in the Channel. the churches, violating women and damsels, and desirous also of sparing a further effusion of human blood, consented to their request, and agreed that the place should be surrendered on capitulation. In truth, the town might have easily been taken by storm, as there were many practicable breaches; but the English might have retired into the castle, and have held out for a considerable time, if they had had the courage so to do, although in the end they must have yielded to the numerous chivalry then before it. To show that the castle was tenable to those who have never seen it, I must say that it is the strongest in all Normandy, fortified with high and great bulwarks of a very hard stone, situated on a rock, and containing in extent as much as the whole town of Corbeil. It has a very strong keep, consisting of a large and high square tower, surrounded by four massy ones from the foot of the ditch to the level of the ground, the whole strengthened by a high wall all round, with towers at proper distances, and a very deep ditch cut out of the solid rock. In this castle were lodged the duke of Somerset, his lady and children, and in the town were quartered sir Robert Vere, brother to the earl of Oxford, sir Henry Radford, and others, who commanded, under the duke of Somerset, four thousand English as the garrison of Caen. * In regard to the capitulation, several conferences were held between the English and French. On the part of the king, the count de Dunois, the seneschal of Poitou, the lord John Bureau, treasurer of France, acted as commissioners for the English, sir Richard Herisson, bailiff of Caen, Robert Parges, and some others;; for the inhabitants, Eustace Gaingnet, lieutenant, to the said bailiff, and the abbot of St. Stephen's,-each alleging various articles, and supporting them by their arguments. After much discussion, a treaty was concluded on the morrow of the feast of St. John Baptist, when the English promised to deliver up to the king of France the said town, castle and keep, on the first day of July next ensuing, unless they should combat and conquer the said king on or before that day, and on condition that the duke of Somerset, his lady and children, and the other English who should wish to depart with them, should be allowed so to do, and to carry away with them all their effects and furniture without molestation or hinderance. They were also to take with them their horses and armour; and for the transport of these articles, they were to be provided with vessels to convey them to England, and to no other part, on their paying the expenses provided, however, that the English gave up all their prisoners, and acquitted themselves of debt to the inhabitants of Caen, churchmen and others, without carrying away any thing belonging to them. They were also to leave behind their large and small artillery, with the exception of bows, cross-bows, and hand culverines. For the due observance of this treaty, the English delivered twelve of their countrymen, two knights of Normandy and four of the principal inhabitants, as hostages. As no succours arrived on the first day of July, the town, castle, and keep were surrendered. The aforesaid bailiff carried the keys of the keep to the French camp, and delivered them into the hands of the constable, in the presence of the count de Dunois, lieutenant-general, who immediately gave them to the count, as governor of the town and castle for the king of France. The new governor remained in the field, to see that the English took the straight road to Estrehamt; but soon after their departure, accompanied by the marshal de Jalognes, preceded by two hundred archers on foot, the king's trumpets and heralds, and having in his rear three equerries of the stables, bearing the royal banners, and the whole closed by one hundred men at arms on foot, he entered the town by the keep of the castle, and had the banners displayed from the keep and gates. * Edmund Beaufort, younger brother of John duke of Somerset, (who died in 1444, leaving no male issue), was in 1431 made earl of Mortaigne, (under which title he is named in some preceding parts of this history), earl of Dorset in 1442, marquis of Dorset the year following, and duke of Somerset in 1448. He was the great support of the Lancastrian party, and was beheaded after the fatal battle of Hexham, in 1463. + Estreham, at the mouth of the Orne, four leagues from Caen. CHAPTER XXXII. — THE KING OF FRANCE MAKES HIS ENTRY INTO CAEN, AND IS NOBLY IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF IT. OBEDIENCE. * .1 DOMFRONT IS REDUCED ΤΟ THE KING'S On the 6th day of July, the king of France left the abbey of Dardenne to make his entry into Caen, attended by all his nobles who had been at the siege, magnificently dressed, excepting his lieutenant-general and the marshal de Jalognes, who were already in the town. He was preceded by his two hundred archers, heralds, and trumpets; and when he was near the gates the count de Dunois came out to meet him, followed by crowds of the townsmen after making their obeisances, they most humbly presented the keys of the place to the king, who graciously received them. Then came the clergy in procession, as is usual in such cases. After which the king entered the gates, four of the principal inhabitants holding a canopy over his head; and thus the king rode through streets hung with tapestry, and in some places covered over, canopy-like, amidst the shouts of the people, unto the great church of St. Peter, where he dismounted at the porch, to offer up his thanksgivings. He thence went to his lodgings, at the house of one of the burghers of the town, and remained there some days to settle with his lieutenant-general and ministers the future government and police of the place. The lord de Croy, sir John de Croy his brother, and the lord d'Arsy, came to the king while at Caen, on an embassy from the duke of Burgundy, to treat of a marriage with one of the king's daughters and the lord Charles, son to the duke, and on other weighty matters with which they were charged. On this same 6th of July the town of Falaise was besieged by Poton de Saintrailles, bailiff of Berry. He was joined on the Monday by Master John Bureau, treasurer of France, with the franc-archers to serve the artillery, of which he was grand-master. When the English heard of his approach, they sallied out and sharply attacked him; but he defended himself and his artillery well, until the lord de Saintrailles came to his assistance. and the English were repulsed to the gates. The king left Caen to attend this siege, and halted at an abbey called St. Andrew's, within a league of Falaise. The king of Sicily, the duke of Calabria, the counts of Mainet, of St. Pol, of Tancarville, the viscount of Loumaigne, and others, were with him. The town was now surrounded on all sides; but as the king had a greater body of chivalry than necessary for the gaining such a place, the counts of Richemont and of Clermont were ordered to besiege Cherbourg. The garrison in Falaise consisted of fifteen hundred English, the very best of that nation that now remained in Normandy, under the command of two English gentlemen, named Andrew Troslet and Thomas Cathon §, lieutenants to the governor the lord Talbot. When they saw the multitude of men-at-arms, archers, and cross-bowmen, that were drawn up before them, they demanded a parley with the count de Dunois, who, by the king's orders, sent them passports, that they might explain what they required. They met on the 10th, and asked to capitulate, which the king granted; when they appointed the 22nd day of July to surrender the place, unless they should, before that day, receive reinforcements to enable them to offer battle; and on condition that the lord Talbot, who was their governor for the king of England, and who at that moment was the king of France's prisoner in the castle of Dreux, should be set at liberty, on making certain promises to the king of France. A truce was now proclaimed, to last from the 10th to the 22nd, and twelve hostages were delivered for its observance. The English were to march away with arms and baggage, in safety, for England, in case they should not be relieved on the day appointed. As no succours came to them they departed, according to the tenour of the capitulation, and delivered up the town and castle to the king, who made governor thereof Poton de Saintrailles, his master of the horse, and bailiff of Berry. * Falaise,-nine leagues from Caen. + Domfront,-twelve leagues from Mayenne, eight from Alençon. Charles of Arjou, count of Maine and Provence. § Andrew Troslet. Q. Truslow. Thomas Cathon. Q. Cawthorn. According to Stowe, Andrew Trollope and Thomas Cotton, esquires, were captains of Falaise for the carl of Shrewsbury |