field, giving thanks to God for the victory. Edward III. stayed there for two days to see to the burying and numbering of the dead. He also ordered that the wounded should be cared for. The chief of the knights were buried in the churches near at hand. For the common soldiers the peasants dug long deep ditches, traces of which may be seen to this

day.

XXIV.

THE SIEGE OF CALAIS.

A.D. 1346-1347. .

AFTER the battle of Cressy Edward III., who had no longer a French army to fear, marched to lay siege to Calais. He hated Calais bitterly, for out of its port sailed pirate ships which plundered the English trading vessels. It was a town with very strong walls, and Edward knew that it would be impossible to take it by assault, so he determined to starve the town till it yielded to him. As this must take some time, he made preparations to enable his army to live outside Calais in comfort; and he ordered a wooden town to be built for his men to lodge in. It was laid out in streets, and the houses were thatched with straw or broom. In the middle was a market-place, and markets were held every Wednesda

and Saturday. Meat, cloth, bread, and everything that the army could need were brought from Flanders and England and sold there. Edward III. did not care to waste his men by making attacks on the strong walls of the town, for he knew that would be useless; but they often made expeditions into the country round, and came back laden with rich booty.

When the governor of Calais saw that the King of England meant to starve the town, he determined to try and hold out till King Philip could come and drive away the English. To make his provisions last longer he called together all the poorer people in the town who had no stores of their own, and sent them, 1700 in number, men, women, and children, out of the town. The English, when they saw these poor people come out, asked them why they had left the town. They answered, because they had nothing to eat. Then the King ordered that they should be allowed to pass through the army in safety, and should be given food and money.

The siege of Calais lasted a long time, and many brave deeds were done. The French several times succeeded in sending food into the town secretly by means of ships that entered the harbour. To prevent this Edward III. had a great wooden castle built to guard the port, and placed many archers in it and war engines, so that nothing could go in and out of Calais by sea. Then the men of Calais were sorely distressed, and there was terrible want of food in the town.

At last Philip gathered an army and marched towards Calais; but Edward III. posted his men so well that Philip could see no way by which he could attack the town. The

English camp was so strongly defended that he did not dare to attack it. Then he sent a message and asked Edward III. to come out and fight a general battle with him. But Edward III. answered, "I have been on this spot nearly a twelvemonth; this he knew well, and had he chosen it, he might have come sooner; but he has allowed me to stay here so long that I have spent very large sums of money, and have done so much that I must be master of Calais in a very short time; so I am not the least inclined to agree with his request. If, therefore, neither he nor his army can pass this way he must seek out some other road."

When Philip heard Edward's answer he was very disappointed. He still waited for a day or two to see whether he could find any way of drawing the English into a battle; but when he saw that it was impossible, he went away without doing anything. He was afraid to run too great risks, lest he should again be defeated as he had been at Cressy.

When the men of Calais saw the army which they hoped had come to save them, going away, they were filled with despair. It was clear that there was no hope left for them now; they were very near starvation, for they had eaten even all the cats and dogs in the town. So the governor of the town, Sir John de Vienne, mounted on the walls and made signs that he wished to speak with the English. Then Edward sent Sir Walter Manny and another of his knights to speak with him, and Sir John told how all hopes had now left them, so that if Edward III. would not have pity on them, they must perish with hunger. Sir Walter Manny had a pitiful heart, and he

tried hard to persuade Edward to deal kindly with Calais. But the King hated the men of Calais, partly because they were such a nest of pirates, and partly because they had made him spend so much time before their city. All that he would say was, that if six of the chief citizens of Calais were given up to him, and sent out of the town with bare heads and feet, with chains round their necks, and the keys of the town in their hands, he would pardon the rest of the citizens. The governor was waiting on the wall to hear what answer Sir Walter Manny would bring back, and he felt very sad when he heard these hard terins. He begged Sir Walter to wait whilst he consulted with the citizens. He went into the market-place and caused the bell to be rung, which soon brought them together. He then told them the King of England's answer, and as he spoke he wept bitterly, and they all wept with him.

After a short time the richest citizen of the town, Eustace de St. Pierre, rose up and said, "It would be a great pity to let so many people die of famine, if by any means it can be prevented. I have such trust in the grace of God, if I die to save my brethren, that I name myself as the first of the six." When the people heard him, they almost worshipped him and fell at his feet with tears and groans. It was not long before five others of the richest citizens were found willing to share his fate. The whole town wept and bewailed them, and went with them to the gate, where the governor gave them over to Sir Walter Manny. He led them at once to the King, and they fell upon their knees before him, and with uplifted hands