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

Anno dn̄i. xiii.C.xlv.		Anno dn̄i. xiii.C.xlvi.
	Iohn̄ Croydon.
Geffrey wychyngham.		Anno .xxi.
	wyllyam Clopton.

IN this .xxi. yere, kyng Edward helde hys parlyament at west∣mynster about the tyme of lent. And in the moneth of Iuly folowynge, he toke shyppynge and sayled into Nor¦mandy, & landed as wytnesseth the Frēche cronicle at a place in that pro¦uynce named in Frenche la Hougne sent Uast, with .xi.C. sayles greate & small, y^e .xii. day of y^e foresayd moneth of Iuly. And anone as he was lāded, he cōmaunded hys people to waste y^e countrey before them. And by the le∣dyng of a knyght called syr Godfrey Harcourte / he was broughte vnto a towne called Melly, and from thens vnto Mountboure, where the kynge wythe all hys people rested hym a season.

In the whyche tyme the sayde syr Godfrey brent & spoyled the coūtrey of Cōstantyne there nere adioynyng. Than kyng Edward departed frō y^e foresayd towne, & went vnto a strōge towne called Karenten or Karenton / the whyche he gate wyth the castell

to the same belongynge. And so con∣tinued his iourney, y^t vpō the .xx. day of y^e sayde moneth of Iule, he layed hys syege before the cytye or towne of Caen. wherin were at y^e daye chyef capytaynes, the bysshop of Bayen, y^e erle of Ewe, the lorde of Turnebu, wyth other dyuerse knyghtes & men of name. Than kyng Edwarde com∣maunded that the sayd towne shulde be assayled / y^e whych was done with so great force, & specyally with suche stronge and cōtynuall shot, that the Frenchmē forsoke the wallys & drew them towarde the castell. And in pro∣cesse after longe & cruell fyght, y^e En∣glysshemen entred the towne, & there toke prysoners. Amonge the whyche there was taken y^e cōstable of Fraūce & the kynges chaūberleyne. Than the Englysshemen spoyled and pyl∣led the towne of Caen / and bare the pyllage vnto theyr shyppes, whyche after was conueyed by them into En¦glande. whan kynge Edwarde had thus spoyled and brent a parte of the towne of Caen, & forced the bysshope of Bayen & the other capytaynes to take the castell for theyr refuge / con∣siderynge the strength of the same he departed thens, and so sped hym to∣warde the cytye of Roan chefe & prin¦cypall cytye of Normandye. But the Frenche kynge with a greate power was in thys whyle comē vnto Roan̄, & had broken the brydges, and stop∣ped the passages in suche wyse, that kynge Edwarde was fayne to leue y^e way / so that he costed toward Parys and came to a stronge towne called Uernon, & from thens to a towne na¦med Amyrlene / at whych townes he was resysted & loste some of hys sou∣dyours. And the .xii. daye of Auguste he came to a towne named Poysy, & taryed there .vi. dayes / and from thēs yode vnto saynt Germayn. And euer syr Godfrey de Harcourt byeng in y^e vawarde, brent the townes & spoyled the coūtrey as he went

And lyke as kyng Edwarde with hys hoste thus passed the coūtrey to∣warde Parys / so in lyke maner the Frenche kynge with hys power, pas∣sed or helde hys way towarde y^e sayd cytye / beynge so nere sundry tymes, that eyther hoste had syght of other. But the ryuer of Seyne was euer be¦twene them, so that for it they myght nat ioyne in batayll. whan kyng Ed∣warde was comyn to a towne called saynt Clowe / he set fyre therin, which was sene vnto Parys. whyche put y^e cytezeyns in great fere, in so moch as wytnesseth the Frēch cronycle, that if the Frēch kyng had nat ben there pre¦sent / the cytye shulde haue be yelden vnto kyng Edwarde. Thā kyng Ed¦ward seynge he myght nat passe the ryuer of Seyn towarde y^e citie of Pa¦rys, occupyed all y^e chefe palaysys & royall Manours, where the Frenche kynges were accustomed for to so∣iourne and lye at / & dranke the wyne & occupyed suche stuffe & necessaryes as he there fande. And at hys depar∣tyng set fyre vpō them, & cōsumed the more parte of them. As at poyzy one, at saynt Germayne an other, and at Mount Ioy the thyrde / & brente the towne of Poyzy, reseruyng an house of nunnes, whyche was founded by Phylyp le Beawe father vnto kyng Edwardes wyfe. Here ye shal vnder stāde that the auctours or wryters fa¦uoureth theyr owne nacyon. For the Englysshe wryters say, that y^e Frēch kyng fledde / & brake the brydges as he went, to the ende that the Englysh hoste shuld nat wynne to the French men to gyue vnto thē batayll. And y^e Frenche boke sayeth, that kynge Ed¦warde fled, & wolde nat abyde batayl with the Frenche men / wherefore the Frēch kyng brake the brydges to the entent that y^e Englyssh mē shuld nat

escape hys daūger. But howe it was as sayth an other wryter called Iohn̄ Froysarde / the commons of Fraūce thought it a greate dyshonoure vnto all the lande, that the Englyssh hoste shuld so passe thorough the harte or myddell of Fraunce / and to occupye the kynges chief lodgynges, & nat to be foughten with of all that season. whych myght nat be after the opiniō of the sayd common people, wythout great treason of suche as were nere about the kyng. Thā kyng Edward was so closed by reason of brekynge of brydges, y^t he was forced to drawe backe, and to reedyfye the brydge of Poyzy. The whiche was repayred in so stronge wyse, that he & hys hoste passed there ouer withoute parell. Howe be it that in the tyme of repay∣rynge of it, the French kyng sent thy¦der .ii.M. men to let the sayde werke. But the archers kept theym of wyth theyr shot, in so sharpe maner, that y^e more partye of them was slayne, and the werke {per}fyghted as aboue is sayd Than kyng Edwarde entred the coū¦trey of Pycardy / & the French kynge remoued frome saynte Denys vnto saīt Germains, & frō thens to a town called Aubeuyle in Poyteau, & from thens to Antoygne. In thys whyle kyng Edward with baner dysplayed came vnto the cytye of Beauuayze, & assayled the towne. But the towne was wel garnisshed with soudyours which defēded theyr enemyes vygou¦rously. wherfore kynge Edwarde cō∣syderynge, he myghte nat lyghtely wynne that towne, sette the bulwer∣kes on fyre / and so departed thens, & yode vnto a place called in Frenche Soygnouile or Blāke Tache. where he passed the water of Sum vpon a frydaye the .xxv. daye of August, and lodged hym & hys people nere vnto a forest called Cressy or Crecy. wher∣of whan the French kyng was ware anone he sped hym frome the fore na¦med towne of Antoygne vnto Au∣beuyle agayne. where after he hadde refresshed hym and hys people, he rode vnto an abbey faste by the fore∣named towne of Cressy.

In thys passe tyme, Iohn̄ duke of Normandy and sonne of Phylyp de Ualoys, whyche as in the precedyng yere is towched, layd hys syege vnto the castell of Aguyllon, herynge that hys father was thus warreyed wyth the kyng of Englande / brake vp his syege, and came with hys strengthe vnto hys father.

THese .ii. greate hostes thus lod∣ged within lytle compasse, nere vnto the forenamed towne of Cressy / vpon the saterdaye folowyng the feaste of saynt Bartholmewe, be∣ynge the .xxvi. day of the monethe of August, eyther cruelly assayled other and foughte there a mortall & sharpe batayll. whereof in the ende kynge Edwarde gloryouslye was victoure, and chaced the Frenche kynge / and slewe in that fyght after the sayenge of moste wryters, the kynge of Bohe¦my or Beame sonne of Henry y^e Em∣peroure, vii. or the. eyght, the duke of Loreyne, the erle of Alenson brother vnto the Frēche kynge, Charles erle of Bloys, the erles of Flaunders, of Sancer, of Narcourt, and of Fyen∣nes, wyth dyuerse other to the noum¦ber of eyght bysshoppes and erles, & xvii. lordes of name / and of baneret∣tes, knyghtes, and esquyers, beyōde the noumber of .xvi. hūdreth / so that as concludeth the Frenche hystorye, in that batayll was slayne the floure of the Chyualrye of Fraunce, and of the cōmons vpō .viii.M. men / & that the realme of Fraūce that day sustey¦ned such confusiō, that the lyke ther∣of had nat be sene many yeres passed /

and y^t be people and men of no repu¦tacyon, as archers, by the vyolence of theyr importune shot, whych hors nor man myght stande agayne. Thā the Frenche kyng with a small com∣pany fledde sore hurte vnto a towne called Broy, & lodged there y^e nyght folowynge. And kyng Edwarde be∣ynge warned that an other hoste of enemyes was commynge towarde hym / abode styll in the same feelde, & set good watches, & made great fyres thorough the hoste, and so cōtynued tyll the monday folowynge. Upon whyche day in the mornynge apered to them a new hoste of Frenche men / to the whych they gaue batayle, and slewe of them more in noumbre thā was slayne vpō the saterday before. But of capytaynes or men of name the auctor reherseth none.

Than kyng Edwarde gaue great thankes vnto god of his tryumphāt vyctory / and after departed frō that towne of Cressye, and toke hys waye towarde Moustruell, and from thēs to Boleyne, and lastlye to Caleys. wherof than was capytayne vnder y^e Frenche kyng a Burgonyō knyght named syr Iohn̄ de Uyēne / to whom kyng Edwarde sent that he shuld de¦lyuer vnto hym the sayde towne of Caleys. But for the kynge receyued from hym no comfortable answere / he immedyatly layde hys syege vnto the sayd towne, whych was vpon the thyrde day of the moneth of Septē∣bre / & there abode a certayn of tyme in makynge of assautes to the same. In whyche tyme and season the erle of Derby lyenge at Burdeaux, and hauynge the rule of Gascoyne and Guyan / wan dyuerse townes & hol∣des from the Frenchemen, as the townes called Sayntez in Poyteaw saynt Iohn̄ de Angely, and y^e towne of Poytyers. In the whyche he had excedyng treasoure and rychesse / soo that he & hys sowdyours were great¦ly enryched, by the pyllage that they wan in those townes and coūtrey to them adioynaunt. And whā the sayd erle had spoyled the sayd townes, & brent a greate parte of the foresayde cytye of Poytyers, and the kynges palays within the same / he than at hys pleasure retourned vnto Bur∣deaux.

In thys passe tyme also, the Frēch kyng to the entente to haste kyng Ed¦warde into Englande / sent Dauyd le Bruze some tyme kynge of Scot∣tes, into y^e lande with a strōge army. The which gathered vnto hym such lordes and knyghtes of Scotlande as before tymes fauoured hys party and with them entred the boundes of Northumberlande, & spoyled that countrey without pyte. But it shall apere by other auctoures, that thys Dauyd le Bruze at thys daye hadde recouered the crowne of Scotlande / and that Edwarde de Bayloll was than dede, whych before was kynge. Than it foloweth whan the archebis¦shop of yorke with other lordes than lefte in Englande, herde tell that the Scottes were thus entred the lande anone the sayd archebysshppe, with syr Henry Perse, syr Rafe Neuyle, & syr Gilbert Umfreyle knyghtes, and other gentylmen aswell spyrytuall as other, apparayled theyin in theyr best maner and sped them towarde y^e Scottes / so that they mette with thē and gaue vnto them batayll vpon y^e euyn of saynt Luke or the .xvii. daye of Octobre in a place faste by Durhā called at that daye Neuyles crosse. where god shewed to the Englysshe men suche grace, that they scōfyted y^e Scottes, and slew of them great foy¦son / and toke prysoners the sayd Da¦uid le Bruze, syr wyllyam Dowglas syr Thōlyn Fowkys, with other of y^e nobles of Scotlande / the whyche

shortely after were surely conueyed vnto the towre of London, and there kepte as prysoners.

whā kynge Edward from the .iii. day of Septembre as before is sayd, hadde by sondry tymes assayled the towne of Caleys, and sawe well he he might nat shortly wynne it / he pro¦uyded for hī & hys people to lye there all y^e wynter folowynge / so y^t for the lodging of hym & his hoste, he made so many houses & lodges, that it se∣med an other Caleys. wherfore in {pro}∣ces of tyme duryng y^t syege, of the vy¦telers & suche as dayly resorted vnto y^e kynges hoste, it was named newe Caleys. where y^e kyng in proper per∣sone abode al the wynter folowyng, & the more parte of the next somer as after shall apere.

Notes

• Cane con¦quered.
• Affeccyō of Historiogra∣phers.