Fabyans cronycle newly prynted, wyth the cronycle, actes, and dedes done in the tyme of the reygne of the moste excellent prynce kynge Henry the vii. father vnto our most drad souerayne lord kynge Henry the .viii. To whom be all honour, reuere[n]ce, and ioyfull contynaunce of his prosperous reygne, to the pleasure of god and weale of this his realme amen

Francia. THE .CCXXX. CHAPITER.

LEwys the sonne of the fyrste Phylyp beganne hys reygne ouer the Frenchemen, in the yere of our lorde .xi. hundred & .vii. to reken his begynnynge from the deth of his father / and the .vi. yere of the fyrste Henry then kyng of England. This Lewys as before is touched, was ad¦mytted to the rule of the land certayn yeres or hys father dyed, and was surnamed Lewes the great for gros∣senesse of his body.

Anon as this Lewys had fynyshed the obsequy of the funerallys of hys father / he wythoute taryenge called a counsayll of hys lordes spyrytuall and temporall at the cytye of Orle∣aunce / where of the byshoppe of the same see wyth other adioynynge, he was solemnly anoynted & crowned. But not wythout grudge of the arch¦byshoppe of Raynes / for so mych as of custome the Frenche kynges vsed there to be crowned.

Soone after the coronacyon of Lewys / Guy le Rous, and Guy de Cressy his sonne, whych before tyme hadde ben at debate and warre with Lewys, and Lewys had from them taken y^e castel of Gurnaye / this Guy le Rous wyth hys sonne seynge they might not preuayle agayn the kyng, awayted theyr tyme and season, and espyed when Endo hys owne broder and erle of Corbueyll went forth on huntynge, and toke hym, & as a pry∣soner kept hym in the castell of Baw¦dum. whereof the cause was, for so myche as the sayde Endo wolde not assyste nor ayde y^e sayd Guyle Rous his brother agayne the kynge. when thys was knowen, anon the frendes and tenauntes of the sayde erle shew¦yd this mater vnto the kynge / bese∣chynge hym that he wolde ayde and assyste theym to recouer theyr natu∣rall lorde. wherunto the kynge gran̄ted / and forth wyth sent a knyght or captayn of his named Auncelyne, ac¦companyed with .xl. horsmen before / for so myche as yt was shewyd vnto

the kyng, y^t such as had y^e rule of the castell wolde receyue suche persones as were sent from hym, and delyuer the castell wyth the prysoner vnto them. Uppon whyche appoyntemēt thys Ancelyne as before is sayd was sent to entre this castell. But all con¦trary to the former {pro}mise made / this Auncelyne was betrayed and taken, and many of his men slayne, & hym selfe set in prison, where the sayd erle of Corbuayll was. wherof when the kynge was enfourmed / he was pas∣synge greuously dyscontent. wher∣fore in all haste he sped him thyther, & compassed y^e castell wyth a stronge syege / and those that were wythin de¦fended them manfully. In the tyme of the whyche syege nother Guy the fader, nor Guy hys sonne, were with in the sayde castell of Baudum.

But Guy y^e son as a lusty and iu∣perdous knyght / put hym self in ad∣uenture dyuers wayes and tymes to haue entred the sayde castell for com¦fort of his men / but all was in vayn. Fynally the kynge made so sore and cruell assautes, that he wan the fyrst warde wyth great dyffycultye, and after the hole / and delyueryd the erle and Auncelyn his stewarde, y^e which were in great doute of theyr lyues. And such as he toke prysoners of the soldyours / some he put to deth, and some he prisoned to theyr lyues ende, to the terrour and fere of other.

In processe of tyme after at a place called the Roche of Guy, whych one Guy of olde tyme had buylded / dwel lyd at this daye one of that stocke na¦med also Guy, the whyche hadde to wyfe a fayre and good woman, the doughter of one wyllyā a Norman. whyche wyllyam entendynge to dys¦heryte the sayde Guy, and to be lord of that stronge place / vppon a tyme when the sayde Guy was in y^e chyrch or chapell to here his dyuyne seruyce entred the chyrche wyth a certayn of harnessed knightes vnder theyr man tellys, and fell vppon hym and all to hewe hym. wherof herynge the wyfe / ranne as a madde woman, and fell vppon her husbande, to the entēt to saue hym from the strokes. But the tyrauntes were so cruell, y^t they forbare nothynge of theyr cruel tye / but wounded her wyth her hus∣bande, so that both were slayne / and that done entred the castell, and slew all suche as they found therin. when this willyam fader to y^e wife of Guy, or broder to her as affermeth maister Robert Gagwyne, was possessed of y^e castell of Guyon / he thought ther∣by to rule all the countrey enuyron. But the gentylles and commons he rynge of thys shamefull murder / as∣sembled thē to gither / & of one mynde whyle some of them yode to the kyng to enfurme hym of that cruell dede, the other prepared abyllementes of warre, and layde syege to the sayde castell. The kynge Lewys he∣rynge of this shamfull dede, and the wynnynge of so stronge an holde, fe¦rynge the rescue of Englishmen and Normans, leste that castell by that meane myghte fall in theyr handes / sent his commyssyon vnto the rulers of that countrey, chargynge theym wyth all dylygence to assaute that place. And yf they myght wynne yt / to put the executours of that murder vnto moste shamefull deth. whyche commaundement receyued from the kynge / stronge assaute & cruell was made, & manfully yt was defended. But the losse ran to theym of the cas∣tell / so that in processe of tyme when this willyam conceyued well that he myght not contynue the defence ther¦of, he began to treate & agreed, that yf he myghte haue free yssue for hym and hys, & assuraunce that he wyth his knyghtes myght go quyetly vn∣to

a place that he wold chose / he wold then delyuer the castell wyth all that was therin. The whyche requeste of dyuerse of the hedde captaynes was graunted and sworne. But so soone as the castell was delyuered, and the Frenchemen entred / the multytude not wythstandynge the former pro∣myse and othe, fell vppon the sayde wyllyam and his soudyours, & them put vnto deth by many cruell tormē¦tes / & fynally caste all theyr careyns into the ryuer of Sayne, vppon the brynke wherof the sayde roche and castell was standynge.

And shortely after this, ensued the warre betwene this Lewys & kynge Henry of Englande, as yt is before shewyd in y^e .x. yere of y^e sayde Henry. And after the warre ended betwene these two prynces / Hugh Puyssake a man of great myght at those dayes in Fraunce, rebelled agayne y^e kyng / and warred greuously vppon or a∣gayn the countesse of Chartres / and robbed and pylled the chyrches of y^e countrey, as well as other places / so that the sayd coūtesse with her yonge sonne Thybaude, were fayne to seke socoure of the kynge. wherfore the kynge called a counsayll at hys citye of Meleyne / where agayne the sayd Hugh many greuous complayntes were put. But for so myche as y^e sayd Hugh at that tyme was not present, to make answere vnto such thynges as then was layde to his charge / the kynge commaunded that the castell of Terry or of Thoree in all haste shulde be manned & vytayled, to the ende that by the comforte & strength of that castell, the kynge yf nede re∣quyred myght lay syege to the castell of Puyssake, for so mych as that one was nere adioynynge vnto y^e other. In whych passe tyme the sayd Hugh was somoned to appere before the kynge and his counsayll / but he refu¦sed to appere.

when the kynge was enfourmed of the garnyshyng of y^e castell of Thor∣re, and of the disobedyence of Hugh / he assembled a stronge hoste, and cō∣passed the castell of Puyssake with a syege / and set Thybaude son of the countesse vppon that syde that stode towarde the prouynce of Chartres, so that stronge assautes and cruell warre was made on euery parte. what shulde I make longe processe / to tell of the ferefull shot of the gon∣nys vppon bothe partyes, or of the sharpe shot of Arowes, the castynge of stonys, or scalynge of the wallys, or fyllynge of the dyches, the fyryng of the gates, or yet the mortall and cruell fyght on bothe partes / nor of y^e manyfold dede bodyes & maymed, by reason of y^e sayd assautes / or yet y^e manasses or mockes, or great bosus or crakes vsed of the souldyours du¦rynge this syege. But fynally after the kynge hadde lyen before the sayd castell a certayne of tyme, he wanne yt by pure force, and toke the sayde Hughe wyth hys accessaryes. The whyche he commaunded to be kepte as prysoners in the castell of Thorre for a season. Then the kynge caste downe the sayde castell of Puyssake to the grounde, excepte a lytle towre made of tymber, the whyche he reser¦uyd for a lodgynge. And that done some of the forsayd prysoners he put to deth, and some he dysherityd after the grefe of theyr offence. And so this foresayd countesse of Charters with her sonne Thybaude was in quyete of theyr countrey and castell of Puys¦sake belongynge to the sayde erle∣dome. But howe yt was / in pro∣cesse of tyme folowynge thys Thy∣baude entended to haue reedyfyed there a newe castell / wherby as the kinge was enformed, he wold haue encroched thynges appertaynynge

to the crowne of Fraunce / wherfore the kynge wythstode yt. For this / a grudge fell betwene the kynge and erle Thybaude / so that in processe dedely warre was made betwen thē. The whyche contynued in such wise to theyr both damages / that fynal∣ly the warre was agayne reuyued betwene kynge Lewys and kynge Henry, as in the .xvii. yere of the rey∣gne of the sayde Henry is declared, by meane of thys warre betwene the kynge and this erle Thybaude. wherof the cyrcumstaunce wold axe a longe leysure to reherse, as yt is shewyd in the frenche storye. But fy∣nally this erle Thybaude loste none honour / all be yt that the frenche cro¦nycle wonderfully fauoreth y^e party of the Frenche kynge, that the rea∣der maye well apperceyue, Quis pin xit leonem.