Chronicle of Enguerrand de Monstrelet Volume 6

Chronicle of Enguerrand de Monstrelet Volume 6 is in Chronicle of Enguerrand de Monstrelet.

Chapter 6.20. The Duke of Bedford marches a large army to keep his appointment before Ivry.—That town and castle surrender to him.

History relates, that about the 8th day of August in this year, the duke of Bedford assembled a considerable force of men-at-arms and archers, under the command of the earls of Salisbury and of Suffolk, the lord Willoughby, and several other captains, as well from Normandy as elsewhere, to the amount of eighteen hundred men-at-arms and eight thousand archers. He marched them to be present at the surrender of Ivry, of which mention has been made, and arrived before that place on the eve of the Assumption of our Lady.

That whole day he remained in battle array, expecting his enemies, who were very numerous, and but three leagues distant, and amounting to eighteen thousand combatants, under the command of the duke d'Alençon, the counts d'Aumale, de Yentadour, de Tonnerre, the earls of Douglas, Buchan, and Murray, the viscount de Narbonne, the lord de la Fayette, and many other lords and princes of great renown. They sent off forty of their most expert and best mounted men, to reconnoitre the enemy, — who, having observed the duke of Bedford's army in such handsome array, hastened back, but not without being closely pursued by the English, to relate what they had seen. The French lords, finding they had not any way the advantage, turned about, and marched in a body to the town of Verneuil in Perche, which was in the possession of the English, and gave the inhabitants to understand that they had completely defeated the English army, and forced the regent to fly with a very few attendants. On hearing this the garrison opened the gates of Yerneuil, and showed them all obedience in the name of king Charles. After the surrender of the place, passports were granted, according to the stipulations of the treaty, to the English within it who were sent with their baggage to the duke of Bedford.

Gerard de la Pailliere, governor of Ivry, seeing the hour for hie relief was passed, waited on the duke, who was in the front of his army expecting the enemy, and presented to him the keys of the castle, demanding at the same time, in conformity to the articles, passports for himself and his men, which were instantly granted. The duke, in the presence of Gerard, pulled out some letters, and, showing them to him, said, "I perceive that eighteen great barons attached to my lord king Henry, have this day failed in their promises of bringing me succour." Their seals were affixed to these letters; and immediately afterwards, four gentlemen of Gerard's friends were put in confinement as security for them.

The duke of Bedford now ordered that the French should be pursued by a body of men,j under the command of the earl of Suffolk, to the amount of sixteen hundred combatants. The earl marched to Damville, and thence to Breteuil in Perche, within two leagues of Yerneuil, where the whole of the French force was. The duke went with the remainder 6i his army to Evreux, whither the earl of Suffolk sent him information that the whole of thej French army was in Yerneuil. The duke, on hearing this, advanced with his force to join the earl of Suffolk, and offer them combat. Yerneuil had belonged to the English, — but, as I have before said, the French gained it by the false information of their having defeated the English. This battle took place on the 16th day of August, in the manner you shall now hear.

Chapter 6.21. The Duke of Bedford combats the French before Verneuil.

Battle of Verneuil

When the duke of Bedford had gained the town and castle of Ivry, he appointed a knight of Wales, renowned in arms, governor, with a sufficient garrison to defend them. He detached the earl of Suffolk in pursuit of the French, who had advanced to within three leagues for its relief, and went with the rest of his army to Evreux. He there received intelligence that the French had won Yerneuil by stratagem, and were with their whole force within it. He instantly dislodged, and marched for Yerneuil; but the French, having had information thereof, made all haste to prepare for his reception, and drew their men up in battle array without the town, ready for the combat. They only formed one grand division, without any advanced guard, — and ordered the Lombards, with others, to remain on horseback, xuider the command of the borgne Oamwan, du Rousin, Poton, and La Hire, to break the ranks of the enemy on their flanks and rear. The grand battalion of the French was on foot, — which being observed by the duke of Bedford, he ordered his army to be formed in the same manner, without any vanguard, and not having any party on horseback. The archers were posted in front, each having a sharp-pointed stake stuck in the ground before him; and the stoutest of these men were placed at the two ends of the battalion, by way of wings. Behind the men-at-arms were the pages, the horses, and such as were unfit for the combat. The archers tied the horses together by their collar pieces and tails, that the enemy might not surprise and carry them off. The duke of Bedford ordered two thousand archers to guard them and the baggage.

17th August 1424. Very many new knights were now created on both sides; and when all was ready, these two powerful armies met in battle, about three o'clock in the afternoon, on the 16th [17th] day of August. The English, as usual, set up a grand shout as they advanced, which alarmed the French much; and the conflict raged with the utmost violence for three quarters of an hour; and it was not in the memory of man that such armies had been so long and warmly engaged without victory declaring for either of them. That division of the French which had been ordered to remain mounted to attack the rear of the English, while the combat was going on, came to the horses and baggage of the enemy, but could make no impression from the resistance of the guard of archers: they however seized some of the cavalry and baggage, with which they fled, leaving their army fighting on foot. The archers, then, finding themselves thus disembarrassed from the enemy, vrere fresh to join their companions in the front, which they did with loud shouts.

The French now began to fail; and the English, with great bravery, broke through their ranks in many places, and, taking advantage of their success, obtained the victory, but not without much effusion of blood on both sides; for it was afterward known by the kings-at arms, heralds, poursuivants, and from other persons worthy of belief, that there were slain of the French, and left on the field of battle, from four to five thousand, great part of whom were Scotsmen, and two hundred made prisoners.

On the part of the English sixteen hundred were killed, as well from England as from Normandy, — the 'principal persons of whom were two captains of the name of Dudley and Charleton. The following is a list of those of name who fell on the side of the French: — Jean count d'Aumale, the son of the count de Harcourt, the count de Tonnerre, the count de Ventadour, the earl of Douglas¹, sir James Douglas his son, the earl of Buchan, at that time constable to king Charles, the earl of Murray, the lord de Graville the elder, the lord de Montenay, sir Anthony Beausault, Hugh de Beausault his brother, the lord de Belloy² and his brother, the lord de Mauny, the lord de Combrest, the lord de Fontenay, the lord de Bruneil, the lord de Tumblet, the lord de Poissy. From Dauphiny, the lord de Mathe, the lord de Rambelle. From Languedoc and Scotland, sir Walter Lindsay, sir Gilles de Gamaches³, Godfrey de Malestroit, James Douglas, sir Charles de Boin, sir John de Vretassc, sir Gilles MarteL the son of Harpedame, sir Brunet d'Auvergne, sir Raoul de la Treille, Guy de Fourchonivere, sir Pochart de Vienne, sir John de Murat, the lord de Vertois, sir Charles de Gerammes, Dragon de la Salle, the lord de Rambouillet, the bastard de Langlan, the viscount de Narbonne, whose body, when found on the field, was quartered, and hung on a gibbet, because he had been an accomplice in the murder of the late duke of Burgundy; the lord de Guictry⁴, sir Francis de Gangeaux, sir Robert de Laire, sir Louis de Teyr, the lord de Foregny, Moraut de la Mothe, sir Charles d'Anibal and his brother Robinet d'Anibal, Pierre de Courreillcs, sir Aymery de Gresille, Andrew de Clermont, sir Tristan Coignon, Colinet de Vicomte, Guillaume Rem on, sir Louis de Champagne, Peron de Lippes, sir Louis de Bracquemont, the lord de Thionville, the lord de Rochebaron, sir Philip de la Tour, and Anselin de la Tour.

The principal prisoners were, the duke d'Alen9on, the bastard d'Alençon, the lord de la Fayette, the lord de Hormit, sir Pierre Herrison, sir Louis de Vaiicoiirt, Roger Brousset, Hucliet de St. Mare, and Yvon du Puys; but there were numbers of others whose names I cannot remember. When the duke of Bedford had gained this important victory at Yerneuil, he assembled his princes and captains around him, and with great humility, with uplifted hands and eyes, he returned thanks to the Creator for the great success he had given him. The dead were then stripped, and whatever was valuable taken away.

Note 1. Archibald, earl of Douglas, father-in-law to the earl of Buchan. Made duke of Touraine, and lieutenant-general of France, in order to give him precedence over his son-in-law the constable.

Note 2. Peter, lord of Bellay, &c., third son of Hugh VII who was killed at Azincourt.

Note 3. John de Renault, lord of Boismenard, father of Joachim de Ronault, marshal Gamaches, and son of Giles, lord of Boismenard, was killed at this battle.

Note 4. Charles de Chaumont en Vexin, son to William lord de Guictry, before mentionedde

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The duke encamped that night round Verneuil, and appointed a strong guard to prevent any surprise from the enemy. On the morrow, the French within the town and castle were summoned to surrender. They were so much terrified by the defeat and carnage of their army that they instantly obeyed, on condition that their lives and fortunes should be spared. The lord de Rambures, governor, was also permitted to depart. After the duke had re-garrisoned Verneuil and its castle, he marched his army into Normandy.

On the very day that this battle took place, a number of knights and esquires from Normandy and the adjacent parts deserted from the duke's army, although they had before sworn loyalty and obedience to him. For this offence, some of them were afterwards severely punished in their bodies by the duke, and all their estates and effects confiscated to the use of king Henry. In the number were, the lord de Choisy and the lord de Longueval.

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bout this time the lord de Maucour was taken, who had been implicated by the lord de Longueval, and others accused before master Robert le Jeune, bailiff of Amiens; he was beheaded by orders from the council of king Henry, in the town of Amiens, his body hung on a gibbet, and his fortune confiscated to the king. In like manner was afterward taken Pierre de Recourt, implicated likewise with the above, by one named Raoul de Gaucourt, who sent him to sir John de Luxembourg; and sir John sent him to Paris, where his body was quartered, and parts of it hung up at the usual places.

Very soon was intelligence of this unfortunate battle carried to king Charles, who was sorely affected at the destruction of his princes and chivalry, and for a long time was mightily grieved, seeing that all his plans were now unsuccessful.

Chapter 6.47. The English invade Brittany, where they do great damages.—other matters.

This year, the earl of Suffolk and sir Thomas Rampstone, on account of the duke of Brittany having joined king Charles, made an inroad on his duchy with about twelve hundred combatants, and advanced even to Rennes, where the duke resided. They committed great waste, and made a very considerable booty in prisoners and effects, with which they returned to a large village in that country, called Tintenarch. On the morrow, they marched back to lower Normandy with all they had gained without any opposition.

1427 Battle of Saint-James

Soon afterward, sir Thomas fixed his quarters in a small town, called St James de Beuvron, which had been destroyed; but he had it repaired and refortified to serve him as a post to carry on the war against the Bretons, for it was but half a league from their country. Sir Thomas was deputy to the earl of Suffolk, the governor of lower Normandy, and thence he led the English on different excursions through Brittany, carrying on a severe warfare. The duke, to oppose them, assembled a large force of his nobles, whom he gave in charge to his brother the count de Richemont, lately made constable of France. The count led them straight to St James de Beuvron, which he instantly besieged, and commenced his operations with a grand skirmish. Having surrounded it on all sides, he established his quarters, and had his engines pointed against the walls, which greatly damaged them. He attacked the place by storm [on 6th March 1427], which lasted for a considerable time very sharply. A party of Bretons from the lower parts of the duchy had been posted below the town, near to a pond; and to get near the walls, it was necessary to cross the head of this pond, which was very narrow. There was beside it a small bulwark under the command of an english knight, sir Nicholas Bourdet, having with him from sixty to eighty combatants, and near to it was one of the town-gates well guarded by the English. When these Bretons were descending the ditch in great numbers to attack the walls, they heard on each side of them the English shouting, 'Salisbury! Suffolk!' which threw the Bretons into great confusion. Sir Nicholas, seizing the opportunity of their dismay, vigorously fell on them, and, meeting scarcely any defence, put to death or drowned in the pond from seven to eight hundred, and made about fifty prisoners. The English won eighteen standards, and one banner. News of this defeat was speedily carried to the count, who was storming the town on the opposite side. He was much hurt at the intelligence, and ordered the retreat to be sounded, for the siege had been raised on the other side of the place. When the count had collected his men together, he held a council on what should now be done, and it was resolved, that considering the great loss they had sustained, it would be prudent to march away, which was carried into effect; but he waited until midnight, when he returned to the town of Fougeres in a disorderly manner, leaving behind great quantities of provision, stores, bombards, and other artillery. Sir Thomas, with his six hundred men, for he had no more, and the greater part of them were wounded, remained in the town very much rejoiced at his good fortune; and he caused all the things the enemy had left behind them to be brought thither. Two days after this affair, the earl of Suffolk joined sir Thomas with fifteen hundred combatants, whom the latter conducted with some of his own men, to a strong monastery that soon surrendered. The earl thence advanced farther into the country, toward the city of Dol, with the intent to reside there. In the mean time, the duke of Brittany sent a poursuivant with letters to the earl, to request that he would consent to a suspension of arms, according to the inclosed terms, which being agreed to, he remanded sir Thomas and his men, who returned to St James de Beauvron with a very rich booty.

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