THE KING OF ENGLAND ASSEMBLES A LARGE ARMY TO INVADE FRANCE.—AMBASSADORS SENT HIM FROM THAT COUNTRY.—THE ANSWERS THEY RECEIVE.
WHEN the english ambassadors were returned to England, and had reported to the king their ill success, the king, princes, and country were much displeased thereat. After many councils had been holden, it was at length resolved, that the king should raise the greatest possible force to invade France, and so sorely despoil that kingdom that the present king and his successors should be driven from it.
To provide a sufficient fleet for the transport of his army, he sent commissioners[22] into Holland and Zealand, who, on proper security for good payment, made contracts for the number of vessels that would be wanted. The king of England had prepared all manner of stores and provisions necessary for war; and in regard to the payment of the forces, adequate sums were raised: indeed, there remained an overplus of five hundred thousand nobles, in money or plate. It was determined, that the king himself, attended by the princes and the whole army, should embark to invade France as early as possible.
Intelligence of this was speedily carried to France. The duke of Acquitaine, who now governed the realm in behalf and in the name of the king his father, in consequence, held many councils, and remanded to Paris the duke of Berry, and some other lords, with whom he had several consultations to know how he should act on this occasion, for the king was then confined by his disorder. It was determined, that men at arms and archers should be assembled in various parts of France ready to march against the English the moment it should be known they were landed; that garrisons should be placed in every town and castle on the coast, and that as large sums of money as possible should be raised with all speed.
It was likewise resolved to send a solemn embassy to the king of England, to make him other offers, in answer to the demands of his last ambassadors. Those appointed for this business were the count de Vendôme, master William Bouratier, archbishop of Bourges, master Peter Fennel, bishop of Lisieuz, the lords of Ivry and Bracquemont, master Gautier Col, secretary to the king, master John Andrieu, and some others of the great council[23]. Taking advantage of the existing truce, they set out from Paris, and travelling through Amiens, Montrieul and Boulogne, to Calais, they there crossed the sea to Dover. They were in all three hundred and fifty horsemen, and continued their journey from Dover to Canterbury, where they were met by the king's harbingers, who conducted them through Rochester to London, and thence to Winchester, where the king was.
The archbishop of Bourges explained to the king, in the hall of the bishop of Winchester, and in the presence of the dukes of Clarence, Bedford and Gloucester, brothers to the king, and of the lords of the council, clergy, chivalry and populace, the object of his embassy. The archbishop spoke first in Latin, and then in the Walloon language, so eloquently and wisely, that both the English and French who heard him were greatly surprised. At the conclusion of his harangue he made offers to the king of a great extent of country in France, with a large sum of ready money on his marriage with the princess Catherine, but on condition that he would disband the army he had collected at Southampton, and at the adjacent sea ports to invade France; and that by these means an eternal peace would be established between the two kingdoms.
The assembly broke up, when the archbishop had ended his speech; and the french ambassadors were kindly entertained at dinner by the king, who then appointed a day for them to receive his answer to their propositions, by the mouth of the archbishop of Canterbury.
In the course of the archbishop's speech, in which he replied, article by article, to what the archbishop of Bourges had offered, he added to some, and passed over others of them, so that he was sharply interrupted by the archbishop of Bourges, who exclaimed, 'I did not say so, but such were my words.' The conclusion, however, was, that unless the king of France would give, as a marriage-portion with his daughter, the duchies of Acquitaine, of Normandy, of Anjou, of Tours, the counties of Ponthieu, Mans and Poitou, and every other part that had formerly belonged to the english monarchs, the king would not desist from his intended invasion of France, but would despoil the whole of that kingdom, which had been unjustly detained from him,—and that he should depend on his sword for the accomplishment of the above, and for depriving king Charles of his crown.
The king avowed what the archbishop had said, and added, that thus, with God's aid, he would act,—and promised it on the word of a king. The archbishop of Bourges then, according to the custom in France, demanded permission to speak, and said, 'O king! how canst thou, consistently with honour and justice, thus wish to dethrone, and iniquitously destroy the most Christian king of the French, our very dear and most redoubted lord, the noblest and most excellent of all the kings in Christendom. O king! with all due reverence and respect, dost thou think that he has offered by me such extent of territory, and so large a sum of money with his daughter in marriage, through any fear of thee, thy subjects or allies? By no means; but, moved by pity and his love of peace, he has made these offers to avoid the shedding of innocent blood, and that Christian people may not be overwhelmed in the miseries of war; for whenever thou shalt make thy promised attempt, he will call upon God, the blessed virgin, and on all the saints, making his appeal to them for the justice of his cause,—and with their aid, and the support of his loyal subjects and faithful allies, thou wilt be driven out of his dominions, or thou wilt be made prisoner, or thou wilt there suffer death by orders of that just king whose ambassadors we are.
'We have now only to entreat of thee, that thou wouldst have us safely conducted out of thy realm; and that thou wouldst write to our said king, under thy hand and seal, the answer which thou hast had given to us.'
The king kindly granted their requests; and the ambassadors, having received handsome presents, returned by way of Dover to Calais, and thence to Paris. They reported to the duke of Acquitaine in the presence of the members of the grand council, many knights and other persons, the ill success of their embassy. At the same time, the duke of Acquitaine and the council received letters from the king of England, dated from Winchester, containing his final answer to the proposals that had been made him.