Saint George for England

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No sooner had the French entered the castle than the drawbridge was raised.
The English soldiers poured out from their places of concealment, and the
party which had entered the castle were forced to lay down their arms. In
the meantime the Black Prince issued with a small body of troops from a
gate near the sea, while De Manny, with the king under his banner, marched
by the sally-port which led into the fields. A considerable detachment of
the division was despatched to dislodge the enemy at the bridge of
Nieullay, and the rest, joining the party of the Black Prince, advanced
rapidly upon the forces of Jeffrey de Charny which, in point of numbers,
was double their own strength.

Although taken in turn by surprise the French prepared steadily for the
attack. De Charny ordered them all to dismount and to shorten their lances
to pikes five feet in length. The English also dismounted and rushing
forward on foot a furious contest commenced. The ranks of both parties were
soon broken in the darkness, and the combatants separating into groups a
number of separate battles raged around the different banners.

For some hours the fight was continued with unabating obstinacy on both
sides. The king and the Black Prince fought with immense bravery, their
example encouraging even those of their soldiers who were ignorant of the
personality of the knights who were everywhere in front of the combat. King
Edward himself several times crossed swords with the famous Eustace de
Ribaumont, one of the most gallant knights in France. At length towards
daybreak the king, with only thirty companions, found himself again opposed
to De Ribaumont with a greatly superior force, and the struggle was renewed
between them.

Twice the king was beaten down on one knee by the thundering blows of the
French knight, twice he rose and renewed the attack, until De Charny,
seeing Sir Walter Manny's banner, beside which Edward fought, defended by
so small a force, also bore down to the attack, and in the struggle Edward
was separated from his opponent.

The combat now became desperate round the king, and Sir Guy Brian, who bore
De Manny's standard, though one of the strongest and most gallant knights
of the day, could scarce keep the banner erect. Still Edward fought on, and
in the excitement of the moment, forgetting his incognito, he accompanied
each blow with his customary war-cry - "Edward, St. George! Edward, St.
George!" At that battle-cry, which told the French men-at-arms that the
King of England was himself opposed to them, they recoiled for a moment.
The shout too reached the ears of the Prince of Wales, who had been
fighting with another group. Calling his knights around him he fell upon
the rear of De Charny's party and quickly cleared a space around the king.

The fight was now everywhere going against the French, and the English
redoubling their efforts the victory was soon complete, and scarcely one
French knight left the ground alive and free. In the struggle Edward again
encountered De Ribaumont, who, separated from him by the charge of De
Charny, had not heard the king's war-cry. The conflict between them was a
short one. The French knight saw that almost all his companions were dead
or captured, his party completely defeated, and all prospects of escape cut
off. He therefore soon dropped the point of his sword and surrendered to
his unknown adversary. In the meantime the troops which had been despatched
to the bridge of Nieullay had defeated the French forces left to guard the
passage and clear the ground towards St. Omer.

Early in the morning Edward entered Calais in triumph, taking with him
thirty French nobles as prisoners, while two hundred more remained dead on
the field. That evening a great banquet was held, at which the French
prisoners were present. The king presided at the banquet, and the French
nobles were waited upon by the Black Prince and his knights. After the
feast was concluded the king bestowed on De Ribaumont the chaplet of pearls
which he wore round his crown, hailing him as the most gallant of the
knights who had that day fought, and granting him freedom to return at once
to his friends, presenting him with two horses, and a purse to defray his
expenses to the nearest French town.

De Charny was afterwards ransomed, and after his return to France assembled
a body of troops and attacked the castle which Edward had bestowed upon
Almeric of Pavia, and capturing the Lombard, carried him to St. Omer, and
had him there publicly flayed alive as a punishment for his treachery.

Walter had as usual fought by the side of the Prince of Wales throughout
the battle of Calais and had much distinguished himself for his valour.
Ralph was severely wounded in the fight, but was able a month later to
rejoin Walter in England.

The battle of Calais and the chivalrous bearing of the king created great
enthusiasm and delight in England, and did much to rouse the people from
the state of grief into which they had been cast by the ravages of the
plague. The king did his utmost to maintain the spirit which had been
evoked, and the foundation of the order of the Garter, and the erection of
a splendid chapel at Windsor, and its dedication, with great ceremony, to
St. George, the patron saint of England, still further raised the renown of
the court of Edward throughout Europe as the centre of the chivalry of the
age.

Notwithstanding many treaties which had taken place, and the near alliance
which had been well-nigh carried out between the royal families of England
and Spain, Spanish pirates had never ceased to carry on a series of
aggressions upon the English vessels trading in the Bay of Biscay. Ships
were every day taken, and the crews cruelly butchered in cold blood.
Edward's remonstrances proved vain, and when threats of retaliation were
held out by Edward, followed by preparations to carry those threats into
effect, Pedro the Cruel, who had now succeeded to the throne of Spain,
despatched strong reinforcements to the fleet which had already swept the
English Channel.

The great Spanish fleet sailed north, and capturing on its way a number of
English merchantmen, put into Sluys, and prepared to sail back in triumph
with the prizes and merchandise it had captured. Knowing, however, that
Edward was preparing to oppose them, the Spaniards filled up their
complement of men, strengthened themselves by all sorts of the war machines
then in use, and started on their return for Spain with one of the most
powerful armadas that had ever put to sea.

Edward had collected on the coast of Sussex a fleet intended to oppose
them, and had summoned all the military forces of the south of England to
accompany him; and as soon as he heard that the Spaniards were about to put
to sea he set out for Winchelsea, where the fleet was collected.

The queen accompanied him to the sea-coast, and the Black Prince, now in
his twentieth year, was appointed to command one of the largest of the
English vessels.

The fleet put to sea when they heard that the Spaniards had started, and
the hostile fleets were soon in sight of each other. The number of fighting
men on board the Spanish ships was ten times those of the English, and
their vessels were of vastly superior size and strength. They had,
moreover, caused their ships to be fitted at Sluys with large wooden
towers, which furnished a commanding position to their crossbow-men. The
wind was direct in their favour, and they could have easily avoided the
contest, but, confiding in their enormously superior force, they sailed
boldly forward to the attack.

The king himself led the English line, and directing his vessel towards a
large Spanish ship, endeavoured to run her down. The shock was tremendous,
but the enemy's vessel was stronger as well as larger than that of the
king; and as the two ships recoiled from each other it was found that the
water was rushing into the English vessel, and that she was rapidly
sinking. The Spanish passed on in the confusion, but the king ordered his
ship to be instantly laid alongside another which was following her, and to
be firmly lashed to her. Then with his knights he sprang on board the
Spaniard, and after a short but desperate fight cut down or drove the crew
overboard. The royal standard was hoisted on the prize, the sinking English
vessel was cast adrift, and the king sailed on to attack another adversary.

The battle now raged on all sides. The English strove to grapple with and
board the enemy, while the Spaniards poured upon them a shower of bolts and
quarrels from their cross-bows, hurled immense masses of stone from their
military engines, and, as they drew alongside, cast into them heavy bars of
iron, which pierced holes in the bottom of the ship.

Walter was on board the ship commanded by the Black Prince. This had been
steered towards one of the largest and most important of the Spanish
vessels. As they approached, the engines poured their missiles into them.
Several great holes were torn in the sides of the ship, which was already
sinking as she came alongside her foe.

"We must do our best, Sir Walter," the prince exclaimed, "for if we do not
capture her speedily our ship will assuredly sink beneath our feet."

The Spaniard stood far higher above the water than the English ship, and
the Black Prince and his knights in vain attempted to climb her sides,
while the seamen strove with pumps and buckets to keep the vessel afloat.
Every effort was in vain. The Spaniard's men-at-arms lined the bulwarks,
and repulsed every effort made by the English to climb up them, while those
on the towers rained down showers of bolts and arrows and masses of iron
and stone. The situation was desperate when the Earl of Lancaster, passing
by in his ship, saw the peril to which the prince was exposed, and, ranging
up on the other side of the Spaniard, strove to board her there. The
attention of the Spaniards being thus distracted, the prince and his
companions made another desperate effort, and succeeded in winning their
way on to the deck of the Spanish ship just as their own vessel sank
beneath their feet; after a few minutes' desperate fighting the Spanish
ship was captured.

The English were now everywhere getting the best of their enemies. Many of
the Spanish vessels had been captured or sunk, and after the fight had
raged for some hours, the rest began to disperse and seek safety in flight.
The English vessel commanded by Count Robert of Namur had towards night
engaged a Spanish vessel of more than twice its own strength. His
adversaries, seeing that the day was lost, set all sail, but looking upon
the little vessel beside them as a prey to be taken possession of at their
leisure, they fastened it tightly to their sides by the grappling irons,
and spreading all sail, made away. The Count and his men were unable to
free themselves, and were being dragged away, when a follower of the count
named Hennekin leapt suddenly on board the Spanish ship. With a bound he
reached the mast, and with a single blow with his sword cut the halyards
which supported the main-sail. The sail fell at once. The Spaniards rushed
to the spot to repair the disaster which threatened to delay their ship.
The count and his followers, seeing the bulwarks of the Spanish vessel for
the moment unguarded, poured in, and after a furious conflict captured the
vessel. By this time twenty-four of the enemy's vessels had been taken,
the rest were either sunk or in full flight, and Edward at once returned to
the English shore.

The fight had taken place within sight of land, and Queen Philippa, from
the windows of the abbey, which stood on rising ground, had seen the
approach of the vast Spanish fleet, and had watched the conflict until
night fell. She remained in suspense as to the result until the king
himself with the Black Prince and Prince John, afterwards known as John of
Gaunt, who, although but ten years of age, had accompanied the Black Prince
in his ship, rode up with the news of the victory.

This great sea-fight was one of the brightest and most honourable in the
annals of English history, for not even in the case of that other great
Spanish Armada which suffered defeat in English waters were the odds so
immense or the victory so thorough and complete. The result of the fight
was, that after some negotiations a truce of twenty years was concluded
with Spain.

CHAPTER XX: POITIERS

After the great sea-fight at the end of August, 1350, England had peace for
some years. Phillip of France had died a week before that battle, and had
been succeeded by his son John, Duke of Normandy. Upon the part of both
countries there was an indisposition to renew the war, for their power had
been vastly crippled by the devastations of the plague. This was followed
by great distress and scarcity owing to the want of labour to till the
fields. The truce was therefore continued from time to time; the pope
strove to convert the truce into a permanent peace, and on the 28th of
August, 1354, a number of the prelates and barons of England, with full
power to arrange terms of peace, went to Avignon, where they were met by
the French representatives. The powers committed to the English
commissioners show that Edward was at this time really desirous of making a
permanent peace with France; but the French ambassadors raised numerous and
unexpected difficulties, and after lengthened negotiations the conference
was broken off.

The truce came to an end in June, 1355, and great preparations were made on
both sides for the war. The King of England strained every effort to
furnish and equip an army which was to proceed with the Black Prince to
Aquitaine, of which province his father had appointed him governor, and in
November the Prince sailed for Bordeaux, with the advance-guard of his
force. Sir Walter Somers accompanied him. During the years which had passed
since the plague he had resided principally upon his estates, and had the
satisfaction of seeing that his tenants escaped the distress which was
general through the country. He had been in the habit of repairing to
London to take part in the tournaments and other festivities; but both he
and Edith preferred the quiet country life to a continued residence at
court. Two sons had now been born to him, and fond as he was of the
excitement and adventure of war, it was with deep regret that he obeyed the
royal summons, and left his house with his retainers, consisting of twenty
men-at-arms and thirty archers, to join the prince.

Upon the Black Prince's landing at Bordeaux he was joined by the Gascon
lords, the vassals of the English crown, and for three months marched
through and ravaged the districts adjoining, the French army, although
greatly superior in force, offering no effectual resistance. Many towns
were taken, and he returned at Christmas to Bordeaux after a campaign
attended by a series of unbroken successes.

The following spring the war recommenced, and a diversion was effected by
the Duke of Lancaster, who was in command of Brittany, joining his forces
with those of the King of Navarre, and many of the nobles of Normandy,
while King Edward crossed to Calais and kept a portion of the French army
occupied there. The Black Prince, leaving the principal part of his forces
under the command of the Earl of Albret to guard the territory already
acquired against the attack of the French army under the Count of Armagnac,
marched with 2000 picked men-at-arms and 6000 archers into Auvergne, and
thence turning into Berry, marched to the gates of Bourges.

The King of France was now thoroughly alarmed, and issued a general call to
all his vassals to assemble on the Loire. The Prince of Wales, finding
immense bodies of men closing in around him, fell back slowly, capturing
and levelling to the ground the strong castle of Romorentin.

The King of France was now hastening forward, accompanied by his four sons,
140 nobles with banners, 20,000 men-at-arms, and an immense force of
infantry. Vast accessions of forces joined him each day, and on the 17th of
September he occupied a position between the Black Prince and Guienne. The
first intimation that either the Black Prince or the King of France had of
their close proximity to each other was an accidental meeting between a
small foraging force of the English and three hundred French horse, under
the command of the Counts of Auxerre and Joigny, the marshal of Burgundy,
and the lord of Chatillon. The French hotly pursued the little English
party, and on emerging from some low bushes found themselves in the midst
of the English camp, where all were taken prisoners. From them the Black
Prince learned that the King of France was within a day's march.

The Prince despatched the Captal de Buch with 200 men-at-arms to
reconnoitre the force and position of the enemy, and these coming upon the
rear of the French army just as they were about to enter Poitiers, dashed
among them and took some prisoners. The King of France thus first learned
that the enemy he was searching for was actually six miles in his rear. The
Captal de Buch and his companions returned to the Black Prince, and
confirmed the information obtained from the prisoners, that the King of
France, with an army at least eight times as strong as his own, lay between
him and Poitiers.

The position appeared well-nigh desperate, but the prince and his most
experienced knights at once reconnoitered the country to choose the best
ground upon which to do battle. An excellent position was chosen. It
consisted of rising ground commanding the country towards Poitiers, and
naturally defended by the hedges of a vineyard. It was only accessible
from Poitiers by a sunken road flanked by banks and fences, and but wide
enough to admit of four horsemen riding abreast along it. The ground on
either side of this hollow way was rough and broken so as to impede the
movements even of infantry, and to render the maneuvers of a large body of
cavalry nearly impracticable. On the left of the position was a little
hamlet called Maupertuis. Here on the night of Saturday the 17th of
September the prince encamped, and early next morning made his dispositions
for the battle. His whole force was dismounted and occupied the high
ground, a strong body of archers lined the hedges on either side of the
sunken road; the main body of archers were drawn up in their usual
formation on the hillside, their front covered by the hedge of the
vineyard, while behind them the men-at-arms were drawn up.

The King of France divided his army into three divisions, each consisting
of 16,000 mounted men-at-arms besides infantry, commanded respectively by
the Duke of Orleans, the king's brother, the dauphin, and the king himself.
With the two royal princes were the most experienced of the French
commanders. In the meantime De Ribaumont, with three other French knights,
reconnoitered the English position, and on their return with their report
strongly advised that as large bodies of cavalry would be quite useless
owing to the nature of the ground, the whole force should dismount except
300 picked men designed to break the line of English archers and a small
body of German horse to act as a reserve.

Just as the King of France was about to give orders for the advance, the
Cardinal of Perigord arrived in his camp, anxious to stop, if possible, the
effusion of blood. He hurried to the King of France.

"You have here, sire," he said, "the flower of all the chivalry of your
realm assembled against a mere handful of English, and it will be far more
honourable and profitable for you to have them in your power without battle
than to risk such a noble array in uncertain strife. I pray you, then, in
the name of God, to let me ride on to the Prince of Wales, to show him his
peril, and to exhort him to peace."

"Willingly, my lord," the king replied; "but above all things be quick."

The cardinal at once hastened to the English camp; he found the Black
Prince in the midst of his knights ready for battle, but by no means
unwilling to listen to proposals for peace. His position was indeed most
perilous. In his face was an enormously superior army, and he was moreover
threatened by famine; even during the two preceding days his army had
suffered from a great scarcity of forage, and its provisions were almost
wholly exhausted. The French force was sufficiently numerous to blockade
him in his camp, and he knew that did they adopt that course he must
surrender unconditionally, since were he forced to sally out and attack the
French no valour could compensate for the immense disparity of numbers. He
therefore replied at once to the cardinal's application, that he was ready
to listen to any terms by which his honour and that of his companions would
be preserved.

The cardinal returned to the King of France and with much entreaty
succeeded in obtaining a truce until sunrise on the following morning. The
soldiers returned to their tents, and the cardinal rode backward and
forward between the armies, beseeching the King of France to moderate his
demands, and the Black Prince to submit to the evil fortune which had
befallen him; but on the one side the king looked upon the victory as
certain, and on the other the Black Prince thought that there was at least
a hope of success should the French attack him. All, therefore, that the
cardinal could obtain from him was an offer to resign all he had captured
in his expedition, towns, castles, and prisoners, and to take an oath not
to bear arms against France for seven years. This proposal fell so far
short of the demands of the French king that pacification soon appeared
hopeless.

Early on the Monday morning the cardinal once more sought the presence of
the French king, but found John inflexible; while some of the leaders who
had viewed with the strongest disapproval his efforts to snatch what they
regarded as certain victory from their hands, gave him a peremptory warning
not to show himself again in their lines. The prelate then bore the news
of his failure to the Prince of Wales. "Fair son," he said, "do the best
you can, for you must needs fight, as I can find no means of peace or
amnesty with the King of France."

"Be it so, good father," the prince replied, "it is our full resolve to
fight, and God will aid the right."

The delay which had occurred had not been without advantages for the
British army, although the shortness of provisions was greatly felt. Every
effort had been made to strengthen the position. Deep trenches had been dug
and palisades erected around it, and the carts and baggage train had all
been moved round so as to form a protection on the weakest side of the
camp, where also a rampart had been constructed.

Upon a careful examination of the ground it was found that the hill on the
right side of the camp was less difficult than had been supposed, and that
the dismounted men-at-arms who lay at its foot under the command of the
Dauphin would find little difficulty in climbing it to the assault. The
prince therefore gave orders that 300 men-at-arms and 300 mounted archers
should make a circuit from the rear round the base of the hill, in order to
pour in upon the flank of the Dauphin's division as soon as they became
disordered in the ascent. The nature of the ground concealed this maneuver
from the enemies' view, and the Captal De Buch, who was in command of the
party, gained unperceived the cover of a wooded ravine within a few hundred
yards of the left flank of the enemy. By the time that all these
dispositions were complete the huge French array was moving forward. The
Black Prince, surrounded by his knights, viewed them approaching.

"Fair lords," he said, "though we be so few against that mighty power of
enemies, let us not be dismayed, for strength and victory lie not in
multitudes, but in those to whom God give them. If He will the day be ours,
then the highest glory of this world will be given to us. If we die, I have
the noble lord, my father, and two fair brothers, and you have each of you
many a good friend who will avenge us well; thus, then, I pray you fight
well this day, and if it please God and St. George I will also do the part
of a good knight."

The prince then chose Sir John Chandos and Sir James Audley to remain by
his side during the conflict in order to afford him counsel in case of
need. Audley, however, pleaded a vow which he had made long before, to be
the first in battle should he ever be engaged under the command of the King
of England or any of his children. The prince at once acceded to his
request to be allowed to fight in the van, and Audley, accompanied by four
chosen squires, took his place in front of the English line of battle. Not
far from him, also in advance of the line, was Sir Eustace D'Arnbrecicourt
on horseback, also eager to distinguish himself.

As Sir James rode off the prince turned to Walter. "As Audley must needs
fight as a knight-errant, Sir Walter Somers, do you take your place by my
side, for there is no more valiant knight in my army than you have often
proved yourself to be."

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