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.

¶ Of the deth of Johan Lyon and of other capitaynes that the gauntoyse made / & of the good townes in Flaū∣ders: that alyed them selfe to Gaunt. Cap. C C C .lii. (Book 352)

IOhn̄ Lyon was great¦ly retoysed / whā he saw that therle of Flaunders wolde take no peace with them of Gaunte / seyng he coude cōe to no peace. And he hadde than put y^e towne of Gaunt so forewarde in warre / y^e they must nedes than whether they wolde or nat / contynue the warre than he sayd openly. Sirs / ye may se and vn∣derstande / howe our lorde the erle of Flaūders prouydeth him selfe agaynst vs: and wyll haue no peace with vs. Therfore I coūsayle you for the best that or we be more greued or opressed / let vs knowe what townes in Flaunders wyll take our parte. I dare answere for theym of the towne of Graūtmont / that they wyll nat be a∣gaynst vs / but take our parte. And in lykewyse so wyll they of Courtray / for they be within our fraunchesse: and Courtraye is oure chambre. But beholde here thē of Bruges / who be great and prowde / for by thē all this mater was fyrst moued. It is good y^e we go to them so strong / that other by fayrenesse or by rygour: we may bring them to our acorde / they all sayd: it were good it were so. Than by processe of tyme / all suche as shulde go in this iourney were made redy / and so departed fro Gawnte aboute a .ix. or. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. thousande men / and had with them great caryages. And so laye the fyrst nyght at Donse and the next mornyng they aproched Bruges / and so came within a lytell leage therof. Than they araynged themselfe in the feldes / and set them selfe in ordre of batayll / and their caryag{is} behynde them. Than Johan Lyon ordayned / that a certayne of the rulers of dyuers craftes shulde go to Bruges / & to knowe their entētes. And so they went to Bruges and founde the ga¦tes fast shytte and well kept / and there they she∣wed thentent / wherfore they were come thyder / the kepers sayd they wolde go gladly / & shewe their myndes to y^e borough maisters and chefe rulers of their towne / and so they dyd / than the rulers answerd / go and shewe theym howe we wyll go to coūsayle and take aduyse in this ma¦ter / so they returned and shewed their answere / and whan Johan Lyon harde that aunswere / he sayd / auaunce forewarde to Bruges / if we a byde tyll they take counsayll we shall nat entre but with moche payne / it is better that we as∣sayle them or they take counsayll / wherby they shall be sodēly taken. This purpose was kept / and so the gauntoyse came to the barryers and dykes of Bruges. Johan Lyon with the for∣mast mounted on a blacke courser / and incon∣tynent he alyghted / & toke an axe in his hande / and whan they y^e kept the barryers / who were nat stronge inough to make defence / sawe the gauntoyse aproche redy to gyue assaut. They went in to the stretes of the towne / and in to the market place and cryed euer as they went. be holde here the gaūtoyse redy at the gate / go to youre defence / for they arreredy to the assaute. Than they of y^e towne who were assembled to gyder to haue gone to coūsayll / were ryght sore abasshed / and had no leysar to speke to gyder / to ordayn for their besynesse / and the most part of the comynaltie / wolde that the gates shulde haue ben opened / and it behoued so to be / or els it had ben yuell with the ryche men. Than the

borough maysters & rulers of the towne with other went to the gate / where as the gauntoys were redy apperelled to make assaut. The bo∣rough maysters and rulers of Bruges / who had the gouernynge of the towne for that day / opened the wycket to speke with Johan Lyon / and so opened y^e barryers and the gate to treat. And so long they spake togyder / that they were good frendes / & so entred in all toguyder. And Johan Lyon rode by the borough mayster / the whiche became hym well. He was hardye and couragyous / and all his men clene armed folo∣wed hym. It was a fayre sight to se them entre in good ordre / and so came to the market place / and there he araynged his men in the streres. And Johan Lyon helde in his hande a whyte warderere.

SO bytwene them of Gaunt and of Bru∣ges ther was made an alyance & sworn alwayes to be good frendes togyder. and that they of Gaunt myght somou thē and lede them whyder so euer they wolde. And anone after y^e the gauntoyse were arnynged about the mar∣ket place. John̄ Lyon and certayne capitayns with him / went vp in to the hall / and ther made a crye / for the good towne of Gaunt: cōmaun∣dynge / that euery man shulde drawe to his lod¦gyng fayre and easely / and vnarme them with out noyse or mouyng / on payne of their needes and that no man dislodge other / normake no noyse in their lodging / wherby any strife shuld ryse / on the same payne. and also that no man take any thynge fro another / without he paye therfore incontynent / on the sayd payne. This crye ones made: than there was another crye made for the towne of Bruges / that euery man shulde mekely and agreable / receyue the gaun∣toyse in to their houses and to mynyster to thē vytaylles / acordynge to the comen price of the towne / and that the pryce shulde nat be reysed in no maner of thyng / nor no noyse to be made or debate moued: & all these thynges to be kept on payne of their heed{is}. Than euery man went to their houses / and soo thus ryght amyably they of Gaunt were with them of Bruges two dayes. And there they alyed and bounde them selfe eche to other surely. These oblygacyous were writen and sealed: and on the thirde day / they of Gaunt departed and went to the towne of Dan / where the gates were set open against their comyng. And there they were curtesly re∣ceyued / and taryed there two dayes. Than so∣denly a seknesse toke John̄ Lyon / wherwith he swelled / and the same nyght that y^e syknes toke hym / he supped with great reuyll / with the da∣mosels of the towne. Wherfore some sayde: he was ther poysoned / wherof I knowe nothyng nor I wyll nat speke to far therin. but I knowe well / the next day that he fell sycke / at nyght he was layed in a lytter and caried to Ardenburg he coude go no farther / but there dyed. wherof they of Gaunte were ryght sorie / and sore dis∣mayed.

OF the dethe of Johan Lyon / all his enemyes were ryght gladde / & his frēdes sory. and so he was brought to Gaunt / and bycause of his dethe all the hoost returned. Whan the tidyng{is} of his dethe came to Gaunt / all the people were right sory / for he was well beloued: except of suche as were of the erles parte. All the clergy came a∣gaynste him / & so brought him in to the towne with great solempnyte / as though it had bene the erle of Flaunders. & so he was buryed right honorably in the churche of saynt Nycholas / & there his obsequy was done. yet for all the deth of this Johan Lyon / the alyances and promy∣ses made bytwene them of Gaunt / and of Bru¦ges: brake nat / for there were good hostages in the towne / wherfore it helde. Of the dethe of this John̄ Lyon / the erle was ryght glad / and so was Gylbert Mahewe and his bretherne / and the rulers of the meane craftes in Gaunt / and all suche as were of the erles parte. Than the erle made sorer prouysion than he dyde be∣fore in all his castelles and townes / and he sent to the towne of Ipre / a great nombre of knigh¦tes and squiers / out of y^e lyberties of Lysle and Doway / and sayd. howe he wolde haue reason of Gaunt. And anone after the dethe of Johan Lyon / all they of Gaunte aduysed / howe they coulde nat be longe without capitayns. Than they ordayned of the aldarmen of the craftes / and of the Synkquateners of the portes: four of them / acordyng to their aduyse / moost har∣dy and cruell persons / of all other. Fyrst they chase Johan Drunaur / Johan Boulle / Rase de Harsell / & Peter du Boys. And all the other people sware to mayntayne and obey them / as their capitayns / on payne of their heedes / that dyde the contrary. and the capitayns sware a∣gayne to kepe and maynteyne the honour and fraunchesses of the towne. These foure capy∣tayns styrred them of Gaunt / to go to ypre and to Franke / to haue obeysance of them / or els to slee thē all. So these capitayns and their peo∣ple

departed fro Gaunt / in good array. They were a .xii. thousande clene armed / and so came to Courtrey. They of Courtay suffred them to entre in to their towne without daunger / for it parteyned to the fraūches of Gaunt / and there toke their ease two dayes. and y^e thirde day de∣parted and went to Ipre / and toke with them two hūdred men of armes / with the crosbowes of Courtray / and so toke the way to Touront. And whan they came there / they rested & tooke counsayle / and aduysed to send thyder a thre or foure thousand of their men / and the capitayne of the whyte hattes with thē to treat with them of Ipre / and the great batayle to folowe after to confort them / if nede requyred. As it was or¦dayned so it was done / and so came to ypre and whan they of Iperre / and specyally they of the meane craftes knewe the comynge of them of Gaunt / they armed them / and toke the market place / and they were a fyue thousāde. So ther the ryche men of the towne had no puyssance. The knyghtes that were there in garyson set by the erle / went ordynatly to the gate of Tou∣ront / where as the gauntoyse were without / de¦sirynge to haue fre entre. The knyghtes and squires were redy raynged before the gate and shewed good defence / nor in dede the gaūtoyse had neuer entred without great domage / but that the auncyent craftes of the towne agaynst the knyghtes wyll / wolde that the gauntoyse shulde entre. The men of the towne went out of the market place / and so came to the gate / the whiche the knyghtes kept / and sayd. Sirs o∣pen the gate: let our frēdes and neyghbours of Gaunt entre / we wyll they shall entre in to our towne. The knightes answered / y^t they shulde nat entre / and said: howe they were stablisshed there by the erle of Flaunders to kepe the tow∣ne the whiche they wolde do to the best of their powers. sayng / howe it lay nat in the puissance of Gaunt to entre there. In somoche that wor∣des multiplyed in suche wise / bytwene the gen∣tylmen and them of the towne / that at last they cryed. Sle and beate downe thē / they shall nat be maysters of oure towne. There was a sore scrimysshe and long endured in the stretes / the knyghtes were nat of sufficyent force to resyst agaynste them of the towne / so that there were fyue knyghtes slayne / wherof two were sir Ro¦bert and sir Thomas Hundrey / the which was great domage. And there was in great daun∣ger sir Henry Dautoynge / with moche payne some of the ryche men of the towne saued hym / and dyuers other. but the gate was sette open and the gauntoise entred / and were lordes and maisters of the towne / without domage of any hurt. And whan they had ben there two dayes / and taken surety of thē of the towne / who sware in lyke maner and forme as they of Bruges / of Courtray / of Grantmont / and of Danne had done / and delyuered hostages for the same en∣tent. Than they departed right courtesly / and so went agayne to Gaunt.