CHARLES KING OF FRANCE, HAVING REDUCED BAPAUME TO HIS OBEDIENCE, MARCHES TO LAY SIEGE TO ARRAS, AND TO SUBJECT THAT CITY TO HIS POWER.
KING Charles of France having, as I have said, reduced the town of Bapaume, to his obedience, departed thence on the 19th day of July with his whole army, and halted at a village called Vercourt, situated on a small brook two leagues from Arras. He had left his engines of war at Bapaume, under the guard of sir Gasselin du Bos and a sufficient garrison. Sir Gasselin, as governor of the town, made the mayor, sheriffs and commonalty, take a solemn oath of fidelity to the king, and to him as his governor.
From Vercourt, the king, passing by Arras, was lodged in the town of Vailly[7]; at which place, and before the gates of Arras, there were grand skirmishes between the king's army and those within the town. They sallied out of the place in great numbers on horseback against their enemies, of whom they that day, at different times, made sixty or more prisoners, and carried them into the town, with a quantity of baggage.
In company with the king were, his eldest son, Louis duke of Acquitaine, the dukes of Orleans, of Bourbon, of Bar and of Bavaria, the counts of Vertus, of Alençon, of Richemont, of Vendôme, of Auxerre, of la Marche, of la Marle, of Eu, of Roussy, the archbishop of Sens, the bishop of Laon, and the count of Armagnac. The lord Charles d'Albreth, constable of France, was also with the king, and some other knights and esquires of the van division, consisting of three thousand men at arms at least, without including archers, so that the whole of the royal army may be estimated at about two hundred thousand persons of all sorts.
The king's quarters at Vailly were in a house which had belonged to the Templars about a cannon-shot from the town, and the duke of Acquitaine was lodged very near him. Soon after, the duke of Bourbon and others of the van division made an entrance early in the morning into the suburbs of Vaudemont, and there established themselves, in spite of the resistance from Arras, but it was not without a severe conflict.
On another day, the duke of Bar, the count de Marle and the count d'Armagnac, with the rear division, made good a lodgement on the opposite side, in the suburbs of Belle-mocte, so that the city of Arras was now so completely surrounded that scarcely a single person could venture out without being taken, although, during the siege, there were daily sallies made from the town, sometimes on foot, at others on horseback.
The besieged often made sallies from two and even three gates within an hour's time, and on these occasions, as it was afterwards known, they gained more than they lost; for, during the siege, they brought into the place upward of twelve score prisoners, and great numbers were in these sallies always left dead on the field.
One particular skirmish took place near the river Scarpe, between the suburbs of Belle-mocte and the postern of Arras, which was very fatal to the besiegers. A party from the vanguard had crossed the river on a plank, one at a time, to the number of six or seven score, purposing to make an attack on the postern; but the besieged instantly sallied forth to combat them, and drove them back to the plank,—when they, finding they could not repass without much danger, rallied and forced their enemies to retreat to the postern. At length by the valour of a man at arms, called Perceval le Grand, who was the leader of the townsmen, they were again forced to the water's edge, and so vigorously attacked that fifty at least were killed on the spot, or made prisoners: from fifteen to twenty were drowned in attempting to cross the river, whose bodies, in armour, were dragged out on the following day.
About twenty of the besieged were killed or taken in their various sallies. Among those of name made prisoners were Baugeois de la Beauvriere, the bastard de Belle, the Bastard Dembrine, and some other gentlemen from Burgundy; but they lost the greater part of their best horses in these skirmishes.
The castle of Belle-mocte, situated near to Arras, remained, during the siege, steady to the Burgundy party. The guard of it was given to sir Fleurant d'Ancre and sir Symon de Behaignon: with them was a man at arms called Jean Rose, who was strongly suspected of wishing to betray the castle for money,—and on that account was made prisoner and his effects confiscated. This fortress was well defended by the said knights, for the duke of Burgundy, although the king's army took great pains to conquer it.
To speak of all the different expeditions and incursions the king's troops made during this siege into Artois, Ternois, and other parts, would make too long a narrative; but I shall notice that which took effect under one of the bastards of Bourbon, and other captains, with about one thousand combatants. They went on a foraging party into the county of St Pol, from which they gained an immense booty, in peasants, horses, cattle, sheep, and other things: they even advanced to the town of St Pol, in which were count Waleran, styling himself constable of France, and the countess his wife, sister to the duke of Bar. They treated count Waleran with much abusive language, and said that he only pretended to be ill, to avoid serving the king, his sovereign lord; and that he had manifested his warm affection to the duke of Burgundy by sending his nephew sir John de Luxembourg, with the greater part of his vassals, to assist him.
Notwithstanding the count heard all that was said, he would not suffer any of his men to sally out against them, for fear the king and his council should be more discontented with him, and allowed them to burn a considerable part of the suburbs of St Pol: they then returned to the king's army before Arras with their plunder.
On another day, about twelve hundred combatants assembled, and advanced toward Lucheux[8], ransacking the country as far as the town of Hesdin[9], and committing much destruction; but the garrisons of Hesdin, and of other places in the interest of the duke of Burgundy, pursued them with such activity and vigour, that they not only recovered several whom they had captured, but made many of them prisoners.
Thus at different times, were excursions made by the king's forces on parts that held out for the duke of Burgundy, by which the poorer people were sorely oppressed and ruined.
On the other hand, the garrisons of the duke of Burgundy, in his towns of Douay, Lens[10], Hesdin, Maizerolles[11], and others, made continual excursions and ambuscades against the foragers of the royal forces, and likewise against those who brought provisions to the army from Amiens, Corbie, and other parts, whom they generally robbed, killed, or made prisoners. Hector de Saveuses, a very renowned man at arms, was particularly active in his kind of warfare: he usually collected from two to three hundred combatants under his banner, and, by secretly leading them against the king's forces, acquired much fame, and was greatly in the good graces of his lord, the duke of Burgundy: his companions were usually Philippe and Louis de Wargis, Lamon de Launoy, and other expert men at arms.
The duke of Burgundy, having resolved to relieve Arras, sent for all his captains, and, having consulted them, ordered, that on a fixed day they should make an attack on the king's army at Vaudemont, where the van division was quartered, under the command of the duke of Bourbon; and the garrison was to make a sally to support them, of which they were to be timely informed. These captains assembled a force of about four thousand combatants, whose commanders were the lord de Croy, the lord de Fosseux, the lord de Jumont, the lord de Challons, sir Gautier de Ruppes, and some others, who marched their men to within about four leagues of Arras, and thence sent their scouts forward. The names of these scouts were Actis, Jacques de Breumeur, brother to Louis de Bussy, and others, whose names I have forgotten; but they were all taken by the king's army, and carried to the head-quarters. The duke of Burgundy's captains hearing of this, and supposing their intended attack would be known, were much troubled, and, without doing any thing, returned to their garrisons, to the great displeasure of the duke.
During the time the king lay before Arras, his men took the fortress of Avênes le Comte, belonging to the duke of Burgundy, and Villers le Châtel from the lord de Gournay, both four leagues distant from Arras. They were regarrisoned with a considerable force, who much harrassed the adjacent country, and gave the army intelligence of all assemblies of the enemy. All this time the town of Arras was constantly attacked by the cannons, veuglaires, bricolles, and other engines, to the great annoyance of its inhabitants, more especially on the side toward Vaudemont, and, moreover, several mines were made under the walls. One was particularly directed on this side, with the intent of forming a secret entrance to the city, but it was discovered by a counter-mine of the besieged, and a vigorous skirmish took place within it, each party being armed with lances. The count d'Eu fought with sir John de Meschastel, lord de Montagu, very valiantly, considering his youth: he had been knighted on this occasion by his brother-in-law the duke of Bourbon.
When this skirmish had lasted some time, both parties retreated to their main army. Sir Louis Bourdon and others were quartered during the siege in the abbey of Mount-St-Eloy, two leagues off Arras: it was surrounded by a strong wall, and consisted of handsome buildings,—the whole, or the greater part of which, were destroyed by them, the gratings, iron, lead, bells, and every thing portable being carried away. Thus at this time was the county of Artois most severely oppressed by the army of the king of France.