Here begynneth the first volum of sir Iohan Froyssart of the cronycles of Englande, Fraunce, Spayne, Portyngale, Scotlande, Bretayne, Flau[n]ders: and other places adioynynge. Tra[n]slated out of frenche into our maternall englysshe tonge, by Iohan Bourchier knight lorde Berners: at the co[m]maundement of oure moost highe redouted souerayne lorde kyng Henry the. viii. kyng of Englande and of Fraunce, [and] highe defender of the christen faythe. [et]c.

¶The copy of the letters / sent by the kyng of Englande into Acquitayne. And howe Chasteleraut was taken / and Bell perche besieged by the fren¦chemen. Cap. CC .lxxii. (Book 272)

EDwarde by the grace of god / kyn¦ge of England and lorde of Ire∣lande and Acquitayne. To all thē that this present writynge shall se or here reed / knowe you that we consyderyng and regardyng the busynesses of our sayd marches / and lymitacions of our sei∣gnorie of Acquitayne / stretchynge fro heed to heed. We haue ben enformed y^• for certayn trou¦bles / greffes / & vexacyons / done or thought to bedone: by our right dere son the prince of Wa¦les / in the say de countreis. The whiche we are bounde to withstande and remedy in all thyn∣ges / touchynge the hates and yuell wylles / by∣twene vs and our true frendes and subgettes. Therfore by these presentes: here we anoūce / & pronoūce / certify & ratify: that we by our good wyll / and by great delyberacyon of counsayle therto called. Woll that our dere sonne y^e prince of Wales / forbere and leaue all maner of accy∣ons / done or to bedone. And to restore agayne to all suche as hath ben greued or oppressed by hym / or by any of his subgettes / or offycers in Acqtayne. All their costes / spences domag{is} / le¦uyed or to be leuyed / in y^e name of y^e sayd aydes or fo wages. And if any of our true subgettes & frendes: aswell prelates as men of holy church vnyuersiteis / collages / bysshops / erles / vycon¦tes / barons / knightes / comynalties / and men of cyties and good townes. Be tourned to kepe & holde by false informacion and symple aduyse / the opinyon of our aduersary the french kyng. We pardon them their trespas / so that after the sight of these our letters / they retourne agayne to vs / or within a moneth after. And we desyre all our true frendes / to kepe thē selfe styll in the state that they be nowe in / to saue their faythes and homag{is}: so that they be nat reproched. the

whiche thyng shulde greatly displease vs / and lothe we wolde be to se it. And if vpon our dere son̄e the prince or of any of his men / they make any laufull cōplaynt / that they be in any thyng greued or oppressed / or haue ben in tyme past. We shall cause them to haue amendes / in suche wyse that by reason shall suffice. And to the en∣tent to norisshe peace / loue / concorde / and vnite bytwene vs and all those of the marches and ly mytacions aforesayd. And bycause that euery man shulde repute this our mynde and wyll to be of trouthe / we wyll that euery man take and haue the copy of these presentes / the whiche we haue solemply sworne to kepe and maynteyne / and nat to breke them: on the precyous body of Jesu Christ. Present our right dere sonne / Jo∣han duke of Lancastre / Wyllm̄ erle of Salys∣bury / the erle of Warwyke / therle of Hertforde Gaultier of Manny / the lorde Percy / the lorde Neuyll / the lorde Bourchier / the lorde Staf∣forde / Richard of Pēbroke / Roger Beauchāp Guy Brian / the lorde of Me••••e / the lorde Da¦lawar / Alayne Boncquesell / & Richard Stry knight{is}. Gyuen at our palys at Westm̄ / y^e yere of our reigne .xliiii. the .v. day of Nouembre.

THese letters were brought fro the kyng of Englande into the principalyte & du∣chy of Acqtayne / and notifyed and publysshed all about. And the copyes sent secretly into Pa¦rys / to the vycont of Rochchoart / the lorde Ma leuall the lorde of Marneyle / & to other suche as were turned frenche. Nowbeit for all y^• these letters were thus sent and publysshed / in all the countrey of Acqtayne / I herde nat that any for all that left to do as they lyst. So that nat with standyng / dayly they turned to the frenche {per}te. And so it was / that assone as sir Loys of saynt Julyan was retourned in to the Roche of Poy say and sir Wyllm̄ of Bordes in to the garison of the Hay in Tourayn / and Carlon et to saynt Saluyn. Than secretly they made forthe a ior¦ney of mē of armes and hardy cōpanyons well mounted / and in a mornyng they came to Cha∣steleraut & scaled the towne / and had nerehand taken sir Loys of Harcourt / who lay in his bed a slepe in his logyng in the towne. And so with the s••ry / he was fayne to flye in his sherte bare∣fote and barelegged / fro house to house / fro gar¦den to garden / in great dout & feare of takyng by the frenchmen / who had scaled and won the fortresse. And so ferr he sledde / that he cāe and put him selfe vnder the bridge of Chasteleraut the whiche his men had fortifyed before. and so ther he saued him selfe / and kept him selfe there a long space. But thus the bretons and french∣men were maisters of y^e towne / and ther made a good garison / and made Carlonet capitayn. And dayly the bretons and frenchmen went to the bridge / and fought and scrimysshed with them that kepte it.

DUke Loyes of Burbon / who sawe well that the englysshmen and companyons were in his countre of Burbonoise. And howe that Drtygo / Bernard de Wyst / and Bernard de la Sale / helde his castell at Bell perche / and the good lady his mother w^tin: wherof he had great displeasur. Than he aduysed hi to make a iourney and to go and lay siege to Bell percly and nat to de{per}te thens / tyll he had wonne it. Of the whiche enterprice / he desyred the frēche kyn¦ge to gyue him leaue / whiche the kynge lightly agreed vnto: sayeng howe he wolde helpe him to maynteyne his siege. Thus he departed fro Parys / and made his assemble at Molyns in Auuerne / and at saynt Porcyns: so that he had a great nombre of men of warre. The lorde of Beauieu came to serue hym with thre hundred speares / and y^e lorde Uyllers & Rosellon with a hundred speares / and dyuers other barowns and knightes of Auuergne and Forestes / wher of he was lorde by right of his wyfe / doughter to the gentyll lorde Berault erle Dolphyn. So thus the duke went & layd siege to Bell perche / and made before it a great bastyd / for his m••n dayly to drawe in to vnder couert: and so day∣ly scrimysshed with thē that were within. Also the duke had ther four great engins / the which cast night and day great stones / so that the too¦pes of the towres & houses were beaten downe and a great parte of the towres. Wherof the du∣kes mother who was prisoner within had gret feare. And sent out messangers to the duke her sonne / desyringe hym to cease his assantes / for thengins sore feared and troubled her. But the duke of Burbone / who knewe well that her re∣quest and desyre was done / by the meanes of his ennemyes. Aunswered / that in no wyse he wolde cease nor forbere what soeuer fell. And whan they within sawe / howe they were so sore oppressed / and howe that the strength of y^e fren∣chemen daylye multiplyed. For to theym was newly come sir Loyes of Sanrer / marshall of Fraunce / with great plenty of men of warre. Than they determyned to gyue knowledge of their poore estate to sir Johan Deureux / sene∣shall of Lymosyn / who lay at Soubterayne a

two lytell tourneys fro thē / and to certifye him howe the lordes of Poictou and of Gascoyne / whan they departed fro them at the iourney of Quercy promysed them on their faythes / that if they toke any fortresse in France / and after to be besieged: howe they shulde be comforted. Thus incōtynent they wrote letters / and secret¦ly by night they sent a varlet out of y^e forteresse to sir John̄ Deureur / and whan the messāger came to him / he remembred well the mater / by suche tokens as he shewed hym. And whan he had reed the letters / he sayd: he wolde gladly ayde and helpe them / and the rather to sped••: sayd he wolde go him selfe to Angolesme to the prince and to the lordes that be ther: trustyng so to enduse thē that they of Bell perche shulde be conforted / and delyuered out of parell. And so he departed fro his fortresse / and rode so lon∣ge that he came to Angolesme / wher he founde the prince / the erle of Cambridge / therle of Pē∣broke / sir John̄ Montagu / sir Robert Canoll sir Thomas Percy / sir Thomas Phelton / sir Guyssharde Dangle / the Captal of Beufz and dyuers other. Ther to them he sagely shewed / howe the companyons were besieged in the ca∣stell of Bell perche / by the duke of Burbon / the erle of saynt Poule / and other frenchmen. To the whiche wordes y^e lordes gaue good heryng and sayd: howe gladly they wolde cōfort them / acordyng as they had promysed. Of this enter price were chefe the erle of Cambridge and the erle of Penbroke. And incontynent the prince sent out his cōmaundement / that all his subget¦tes after the sight of his letts / shulde in all hast drawe to the towne of Lymoges. So than thy¦derwarde auaunsed / knightes and squyers / cō¦panyons / and other men of armes / and so cam thyder as they were commaunded. And whan they were assembled / they were mo than. xv C. speares / & thre thousande of other men of warr And so quickely they passed for the that they cāe to Bell perche / and lay on the othersyde of the towne agaynst the frenchmen / who lay & kepte styll their bastyde / the whiche was as stronge / and aswell fortified and aswell enuyroned as a towne. So that thenglisshe foragers wyst nat whyder to resorte for any forage / howbeit they had some vitayls brought fro Poyctou / whan they might conuey it. Than sir Loys of San∣xere marshall of France / signifyed the state of thenglysshmen to Parys to y^e kyng / and to the knightes that were ther / and made writynges and seadules to be set vp on the pales / and in o∣ther places sayeng thus. Among you knightes and squyers / desyring to fynde dedes of armes we certifye you for trouthe / that the erle of Cā∣bridge and therle of Penbroke & their cōpany / ar come before Bell perche / to thentent to reyse the siege ther layd by our men / who ther so lon¦ge hath endured payne. and we haue so cōstrey¦ned them within the forteresse / that of pure ne∣cessyte they must other yelde it vp / or els fyght with vs byforce of armes. Therfore come thy∣der hastely / for ther shall ye fynde noble dedes of armes. And certaynly thēglysshmen lye but in small order / and ar in suche a place that they might soone haue great domage. Thus by ex∣ortacion of the marshall / dyuers good knygh∣tes of the realme of Fraunce / auaunsed them to that part. Howe beit I knewe well that the go¦uernour of Bloyes / Allart of Toustayne with a .l. speares came thyder / & so dyd therle of Por¦cyen / and sir Hugh of Porcien his brother.