Of the battle

on the sea

before Sluys

in Flanders

and all the counsels generally in Flanders. And so then all these said matters were rehearsed, sworn, and sealed; and the king quartered the arms of France with England, and from thenceforth took on him the name of the king of France, and so continued until he left it again by composition, as ye shall hear after in this book. And so at this council they determined that the next summer after they would make great war into France, promising to besiege the city of Tournay; whereof the Flemings were joyful, for they thought to be strong enough to get it, and that once gotten they believed shortly after to win again Lille, Douay, and Bethune, with the appurtenances pertaining or holden of the earl of Flanders. . . .

Now let us leave somewhat to speak of the earl of Hainault and the duke of Normandy, and speak of the king of England, who was on the sea to the intent to arrive in Flanders, and so between the into Hainault, to make war against the Frenchmen. This was king of Engon midsummer even in the year of our Lord 1340; all the land and the Frenchmen English fleet was departed out of the river of Thames and took the way to Sluys. And the same time between Blankenberghe and Sluys on the sea was Sir Hugh Quieret, Sir Peter Behuchet and Barbevaire, and more than sixscore great vessels, besides others; and there were of Normans, Bretons, Genoways, and Picards about the number of forty thousand; there they were laid by the French king to defend the king of England's passage. The king of England and his came sailing till he came before Sluys; and when he saw so great a number of ships that their masts seemed to be like a great wood, he demanded of the master of his ship what people he thought they were. He answered and said, "Sir, I think they be Normans laid here by the French king, and hath done great displeasure in England, brent your town of Hampton and taken your great ship, the Christopher." "Ah!" quoth the king; "I have long desired to fight with the Frenchmen, and now shall I fight with some of them by the grace of God and St. George; for truly they have done me so many displeasures that I shall be revenged, an I may." Then the king set all his ships in order, the greatest before, well furnished with archers, and ever between two ships of archers he had one ship with men

of arms; and then he made another battle to lie aloof with archers; to comfort ever them that were most weary, if need were. And there were a great number of countesses, ladies, knights' wives, and other damosels that were going to see the queen at Gaunt; these ladies the king caused to be well kept with three hundred men of arms and five hundred archers.

When the king and his marshals had ordered his battles he drew up the sails and came with a quarter wind to have the vantage of the sun, and so at last they turned a little to get the wind at will. And when the Normans saw them recule back, they had marvel why they did so, and some said, "They think themselves not meet to meddle with us, therefore they will go back." They saw well how the king of England was there personally, by reason of his banners. Then they did apparel their fleet in order, for they were sage and good men of war on the sea, and did set the Christopher, the which they had won the year before, to be foremost, with many trumpets and instruments, and so set on their enemies.

There began a sore battle on both parts: archers and crossbows began to shoot, and men of arms approached and fought hand to hand; and the better to come together they had great hooks and grapplers of iron to cast out of one ship into another, and so tied them fast together. There were many deeds of arms done, taking and rescuing again, and at last the great Christopher was first won by the Englishmen, and all that were within it taken or slain. Then there was great noise and cry, and the Englishmen approached and fortified the Christopher with archers, and made him to pass on before to fight with the Genoways. This battle was right fierce and terrible; for the battles on the sea are more dangerous and fiercer than the battles by land, for on the sea there is no reculing nor fleeing; there is no remedy but to fight and abide fortune, and every man to shew his prowess. Of a truth Sir Hugh Quieret and Sir Behuchet and Barbevaire were right good and expert men of war. This battle endured from the morning until it was noon, and the Englishmen endured much pain, for their enemies were four against one, and all good men on the sea. There the king of England was a noble knight of his own

136. Defiance of Philip

by Edward (1340)

hand; he was in the flower of his youth; likewise so were the earls of Derby, Pembroke, Hereford, Huntington, Northampton, and Gloucester; Sir Raynold Cobham, Sir Richard Stafford, the lord Percy, Sir Walter of Manny, Sir Henry of Flanders, Sir John Beauchamp, the lord Felton, the lord Bradestan, Sir John Chandos, the lord Delaware, the lord of Multon, Sir Robert d'Artois, called earl of Richmond, and divers other lords and knights, who bare themselves so valiantly, with some succor that they had of Bruges and of the country thereabout, that they obtained the victory; so that the Frenchmen, Normans, and others were discomfited, slain, and drowned; there was not one that scaped, but all were slain.

The two kings asserted their respective claims to the throne of France in a number of different ways, but in none more positively than in the following letters, exchanged in 1340, soon after Edward had actually invaded France.

Philip of Valois, for long have we made suit before you by embassies and all other ways which we knew to be reasonable, to the end that you should be willing to have restored unto us our right, our heritage of France, which you have long kept back and most wrongfully occupied. And for that we see well that you are minded to continue in your wrongful withholding, without doing us right in our demand, we have entered into the land of Flanders as sovereign lord thereof, and have passed through the country. And we make known unto you that, by the help of our Lord Jesus Christ and our right, together with the power of the said land and with our people and allies, in regard to the right which we have in the heritage which you do wrongfully withhold from us, we are drawing nigh unto you to make an end of our rightful challenge, if you will come And because so great a power of assembled men which come on our side, and which we think you are leading on your side, would never long be able to hold together without doing grievous hurt to the people and to the country, which thing every good Christian ought to eschew, and especially

near.

princes and others who think themselves worthy to rule nations,

so do we greatly desire that dispatch be made. Therefore, for the avoiding the death of Christians, seeing that the quarrel is manifestly ours and yours, let the trial of our challenge be made between our two bodies; whereunto we offer ourself for the reason aforesaid, albeit that we consider well the great nobility of your person, your prudence also, and discretion. And in case that you would not choose this way, then should our challenge be made to make an end thereof by battle between yourself, with one hundred of the fittest men of your side, and ourself, with so many others of our liegemen. And if you do not agree to either of these plans, assign unto us a certain day to fight before the city of Tournay, power against power, within ten days next after the date of this letter. . .

Given under our great seal at Chin, in the fields near Tournay, the 27th day of the month of July, the year of our Lord 1340.

To this letter Philip replied as follows:

to Edward's

Philip, by the grace of God king of France, to Edward, 137. Reply of king of England. We have seen your letters which were King Philip brought into our court, sent from you to Philip of Valois, defiance wherein are contained certain demands which you make of the said Philip of Valois. And for that the said letters came not unto us, and that the said demands were not made of us, as clearly appeareth by the tenor of the letters, we make unto you no answer. Nevertheless, we have heard and perceive, by means of the said letters and otherwise, that you have entered into our realm of France, bringing great harm to us, and to our realm and to our people, led on by wilfulness and without reason and without regard to the faith that a liegeman oweth to his lord. For you did enter into our liege homage, recognizing us, as is right, to be king of France, and did promise obedience such as one is bound to promise to his liege lord, as more clearly appeareth by your letters patent, sealed with your great seal, the which we have in our hands, and which you ought equally to have with you. Therefore our intent is, when unto us it shall seem good, to cast

138. The bat

you forth from our realm, to the honor of us and of our realm and to the profit of our people; and to do this we have steadfast hope in Jesus Christ, from whom all power cometh unto us. For by your undertaking, which is of wilfulness and not reasonable, hath been hindered the holy passage beyond sea, and great numbers of Christian people have been slain, the service of God minished, and holy Church had in less reverence. And as to what you have written, that you think to have the help of the Flemings, we take it for certain that the good people and commons of the land will bear themselves in such manner towards our cousin, the count of Flanders, their immediate lord, and us, their sovereign lord, that they will keep their honor and their loyalty. And that they have hitherto erred hath been from evil counsel of people who regarded not the common weal nor the honor of the country, but their own profit only. Given in the fields near the priory of St. Andrew, under our privy seal in default of our great seal, the 30th day of July, the year of grace 1340.

The battle of Cressy (or Crécy, to give the French form) merits our attention not only on account of its military importance, but because it so well illustrates the characteristics of the two nations who were opposing one another. The French, supported by the Genoese mercenaries, enjoyed the advantage of numbers, but the English were their superiors in weapons, discipline, and generalship. Froissart also shows in the following account that the English were favored by the weather.

The Englishmen, who were in three battles, lying on the tle of Cressy ground to rest them, as soon as they saw the Frenchmen approach, rose upon their feet fair and easily without any haste and arranged their battles. In the first, which was the prince's battle, the archers stood in the manner of a herse, and the men of arms in the bottom of the battle. The earl of Northampton and the earl of Arundel, with the second battle, were on a wing in good order, ready to comfort the prince's battle, if need were.

A herse is a harrow