THE ENGLISH PROLONG THE TRUCE FOR EIGHT MONTHS.—THE KING OF ENGLAND IS BETROTHED TO THE DAUGHTER OF RÉNÉ KING OF SICILY. THE KING OF SICILY DEMANDS SUCCOURS FROM THE KING OF FRANCE.
TOWARD the end of April, and after Easter, in the year 1444, the English prolonged the truces for eight months, and at the same time betrothed the daughter of Réné king of Sicily to king Henry of England, in the hope that this measure would establish peace between the two kingdoms. The english ambassadors then returned to England, to report to their king and parliament what they had done, and to accelerate a peace.
In this state of affairs, the king of France determined with his ministers to send his men at arms, as well french as foreigners, to take up their quarters in Germany during the truce, under the command of the dauphin. In consequence the dauphin marched from Troyes in the month of July, and, by short marches, came before the town of Montbelliart in Germany, bordering on the country of Burgundy, which he laid siege to, because the bailiff of that place had made an inroad as far as the city of Langres in France, had carried away men and cattle, and done many other mischiefs, which had greatly displeased the king. The town and castle of Montbelliart surrendered on capitulation.
The king shortly after, followed the dauphin with a large army, by slow marches, to the city of Langres, whence he detached his van to a castle called Arlay, on the borders of Lorraine, held by the bastard of Vergy, who had done from thence, and others of his forts, great damages to the country of Champagne. All these castles the bastard yielded up to the king except that of Arlay, which he said he possessed as a pledge for money advanced to Réné king of Sicily: it was very strong, in excellent repair, and well victualled.
The king advanced his army to a town called Espinal, on the frontiers of Lorraine and Germany, which was held by the bishop of Metz, and the castle by the commonalty: both surrendered to the king on his appearing before them. He thence marched to Nancy. While he was there, Réné king of Sicily earnestly entreated that he would assist him to conquer the city of Metz and other towns in Lorraine, which, although his own personal domain, were in rebellion against him. The king, in compliance with his request, sent to summon Metz to surrender, otherwise he would march his army to besiege it.
The inhabitants having remonstrated on this, and declared that they were independant of the king of Sicily and of any other lord, they were closely besieged for the space of five months or more, when they concluded a treaty with the king, and the blockade was raised. During this siege, a great lord from Germany, called the lord Bourgalemoine[124], came thither, having been sent by the emperor to the dauphin, as his guide to the countries round Basil, Montbelliart, Coulombaria[125], Selestat[126], Strasbourg, Hagenau, in the district of Aussays[127], to conquer the Swiss and Germans, who had thrown off their dependance on the emperor.
The dauphin, accompanied by many lords and captains, advanced as far as Basil; but when he had come within a league of that place he was met by about eight hundred Swiss, who took possession of an hospital and garden, where, considering the smallness of their numbers, they made a gallant defence, and killed the german nobleman whom the emperor had sent as a guide to the dauphin, with several others, although they lost the greater part of their own men. The dauphin now approached Basil, and the townsmen thinking his army must be fatigued, sallied out against him; but at this affair upward of a thousand Germans were slain, and from two to three hundred made prisoners: the rest took to flight.
The dauphin next marched to the town of St Hipolyte[128] to take it by storm, but it capitulated, as did that of Vau-du-Lieure. The army began now to pillage and commit great devastations on the country round, insomuch that the Swiss and Germans rose in large bodies and killed numbers of the men. Their captains, perceiving that the whole country was rising against them, and that their leader, who was acquainted with all the passes, was dead, returned with the army to the king of France at Nancy.
With the king were Réné king of Sicily, and numbers of great lords and knights, the queens of France and Sicily, the dauphiness, and the daughter of king Réné, whom the earl of Suffolk had come with a splendid embassy to demand in marriage for the king of England. After a few discussions, every thing was agreed on; but before their departure with the new queen a magnificent tournament was held, in which the kings of France and Sicily, the lord Charles d'Anjou, the counts de Foix, and de St Pol, the lord Ferry de Lorraine, and several other great lords, tilted. These feasts lasted eight days,—and the ladies were most splendidly dressed.
The kings of France and of Sicily escorted the queen of England two leagues from Nancy, where the king took leave of his niece with many tears, and recommended her to the protection of God: their grief was so great that they could not speak. The king returned to Nancy,—but her father, the king of Sicily, accompanied her as far as Bar-le-Duc, where he and her mother took their leave of her, with floods of tears, and prayers for her welfare.
Soon after the return of the dauphin, the Germans, in contempt of their oaths, gained the towns of St Hipolyte and Vau-du-Lieure, by force, and set fire to both of them. At this moment, the archbishop of Treves, elector of the holy roman empire, and the count de Blancquemain[129], came to the king of France from the Germans, to propose a perpetual peace and alliance[130].
I had forgotten to say, that during the long siege of Metz many vigorous sallies were made by the garrison, but courageously repulsed by the besiegers. Several small castles were won by the king's troops without interrupting the business of the siege. One belonged to a gentleman called William Chance, governor of Harfleur. Two or three were held by the duke of Burgundy's men, but no attempts were made on them, because they had been given by the king of Sicily to the duke of Burgundy, as pledges for the payment of his ransom which was still owing to the duke.
The governor of Metz was a very cruel man, called John Vitout, who, during the siege, rode a small courser, having at his tail a bell which made a great noise. He did this that all might hear and know when he was riding about the town. This governor was very severe on all women who left the town to ransom their husbands that had been made prisoners by the French; for on their return, he had them drowned, because they had supplied the enemy with money. He put to death, without mercy, all french prisoners, and would not hear of a ransom or exchange. Nevertheless, the king was so benign a prince that he wished not his death nor that of his accomplices, but granted them most handsome terms of surrender. The heavy articles of the capitulation were a handsome present of gilt plate, two hundred thousand crowns for the expenses of the siege, and the acquittance of one hundred thousand florins of gold which king Réné and his predecessors had borrowed from them. On these terms they preserved all their rights and privileges from any innovation; and their quarrel with the king of Sicily remained undetermined, nor were any further measures taken towards bringing it to a conclusion.
When this matter had been settled, and during the stay of the king at Nancy, he ordered a general muster of all the troops who had marched into Germany, and of those who had served at the siege of Metz, from whom five[131] hundred of the best-appointed lances and four thousand archers were to be selected. The remainder of his army he disbanded and sent to their homes, at the same time breaking the greater part of their captains, retaining only fifteen of the most experienced,—to each of whom he gave the command of one hundred lances, and a proportionate number of archers. This was intended for a permanent establishment, to be quartered in different towns in the kingdom, and to be fed and paid in so ample a manner that for the future no soldier was to be suffered to plunder at his pleasure the country farmers or villages, as had formerly been done.
When this ordinance had been carried into effect, the king and his court went to Châlons, and there remained some time.
At this period, the king of Poland and the cardinal of St Angelo, the pope's legate, conquered, with the aid of a body of Christians, who had joined them, all Greece and Wallachia, driving the Saracens thence to the Black Sea. But shortly afterward, the sultan and great Turk raised a large army of Saracens, crossed the sea, came up with the Christians, who at that moment were but few in number, and completely defeated them. Among the dead, were slain and killed alive, the king of Poland and the cardinal, who, please God, are now martyrs in Paradise,—for they were killed while endeavouring to extend the doctrines of JESUS CHRIST[132].
On the return of the dauphin's army from Germany, the English left him, with their leader Mutago, who marched them back, for subsistence, to Normandy, then in the possession of king Henry of England.