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.

¶ Howe that a fyue thousande gaū∣toyse yssued out of Gaunt / to fyght with therle / and with them of Bru∣ges / after the aunswere that Phylip Dartuell had shewed them. Cap. CCC. xCviii. (Book 398)

WHan Phylip Dartuell and his company: entred a∣gayne in to Gaunt. A great nombre of the comon people desyring nothing but peace / were ryghte ioyfull of their comynge / trustynge to here some good tidynges. they came agaynst hym / and coude nat restrayne: but demaūded tidyn ges / sayng. a dere sir Phylip Dartuell / reioyse vs with some good worde: let vs knowe howe ye haue sped. to whiche demaundes Phylippe gaue none aunswere / but passed by / holdynge downe his heed. the more he helde his peace / the more the people folowed hym / precyng to here some tydinges. and ones or twise as he rode to his lodgynge warde / he sayde to them that fo∣lowed hym. sirs: retourne to your houses / for this day god ayde you / and to morowe at .ix. of the clocke / come into the market place / and than ye shall here y^• tydinges that I can shewe you. other aunswere coulde they haue none of hym / wherof euery man was greatly abasshed. And whan Phylippe Dartuell was alighted at his lodgynge / and suche as had bene at Tourney with hym: & euery man gone to their owne lod¦gynges. Than Peter de boyse / who desyred to here some tydinges. came in y^• euenyng to Phy¦lyps house. and so than they two went togyder in to a chambre. than Peter demaūded of hym howe he had spedde. and Phylippe who wolde hyde nothyng fro hym / sayd. By my fayth Pe∣ter / by that therle of Flaunders hath answered / by his coūsayle sent to Tourney. He wyll take no maner of persone within the towne of Gaūt

to mercy / no more one thanne another. By my faythe quod Peter / to say the trouthe / he dothe but right to do so. he is well counsayled to be of that opynion / for they be all {per}te takers / as well one as another. Nowe the mater is come euen after myne entent. And also it was the entent of my good mayster / John̄ Lyon that is deed. for nowe y^• towne wyll be so trowbled / that it wyll he harde euer to apease it agayne. Nowe it is tyme to take bridell in the tethe. Nowe it shall be sene / who is sage and who is hardye / in the towne of Gaunt. Outher shortly the towne of Gaunt / shall be the moost honoured towne in christendome / or els the moost desolate. At the leest / if we dye in this quarell / we shall nat dye all alone. therfore Philyp / remembre your selfe well this night / howe ye may make relacyon to morowe to the people / of the determynacion of your counsayle holden nowe at Tourney. and that ye may shewe it in such maner y^• the people may be cōtent with you. For ye haue all redy y^• grace of the people / for two causes. One / is by∣cause of your name / for somtyme Jakes Dart well yo^r father / was maruelusly well beloued. The other cause is / ye entreat y^• people mekely and sagely / as the comon sayng is through out the towne. wherfore the people wyll beleue you to lyue or dye. And at the ende shewe them your counsayle / and saye howe ye wyll do thus and thus / and they wyll all saye the same. therfore it behoueth you to take good aduyce / in shewyng wordes / wheron lyeth your honour. Truely {quod} Philyppe ye say trouthe / and I trust so to speke and shewe the besynes of Gaūt. That we / who are now gouernours & capitayns / shall outher lyue or dye with honour. So thus they depar∣ted for that nyght eche fro other. Peter de boyse went home to his howse / and Philyp Dartuell abode styll in his

yE may well knowe and beleue / y^t whan the day desyred was come / that Philyp Dartuell shulde generally reporte the effect of the coūsayle / holden at Tourney. All y^• people of the towne of Gaūt / drewe them to the market place / on a wednisday in the mornyng. And about .ix. of the bell / Philyp Dartuell / Pe¦ter de Boyse / Pe•• de myrt / Fraūces Atreman & thother capitayns came thyder / and entred vp in to the comon hall. Than Philyp leaned out at a wyndowe / and began to speke / and sayde. O all ye good people / it is of trouth: that at the desyre of the ryght honourable lady / my lady of Brabante / and the ryght noble duke Aulbert / baylife of Heynalt / Holande / and zelande / and of my lorde the bysshop of Liege. There was a coūsayle agreed and accorded to be at Tour∣nay / and there at to be {per}sonally therle of Flaū∣ders. And so he certyfyed to these sayde lordes / who haue nobly aquited thēselfe. For they sent thyder ryght notable coūsaylours / and knigh∣tes and burgesses of good townes. And so they and we of this good towne of Gaūt / were ther at y^• day assigned. lokyng and abyding for the erle of Flaunders / who came nat nor wolde nat come. and whan they sawe that he came nat nor was not comynge. Than̄e they sente to him to Bruges / thre knyghtes for the thre countreys / and burgesses for y^• good townes. and they tra¦ueyled so moche for our sakes / that they went to him to Bruges / & there they founde hym / who made thē great chere (as they sayd) and harde well their message. but he answered thē & sayd. that for the honoure of their lordes / and for the loue of his suster the lady of Brabant (he sayd) He wolde sende his coūsayle to Tourney / with in fyue or sixe dayes after. so well instructed by him / that they shulde playnly shewe the full of his entencyon / and mynde. Other aunswere coude they none haue / and so they retourned a gayne to vs to Tourney. and than the day as∣sygned by therle / there came fro hym to Tour∣ney / the lorde of Ranessels / the lord of Goutris sir Johan Uillayns / and the prouost of Harle∣quebec. And ther they shewed graciously their lordes wyll / and certayne arest of this warre. howe the peace myght be had ▪ bytwene the erle and the towne of Gaunt. Fyrst / determynatly they sayd. therle wyll y^• euery man in the towne of Gaunt / except prelates of churches and reli∣gions. all that be aboue the age of .xv. yere ▪ and vnder the age of .lx. that they all in their shirtes bare heeded & bare foted / with haulters about their neckes / auoyde the towne of Gaunt. And so go a .xii. myle thens / in to the playne of Bur∣lesquans. And there they shall mete the Erle of Flaunders / acompanyed with suche as it shall please hym. And so whā he seyth vs in that case holdyng vp our handes / and cryeng for mercy. than he shall haue pytie and compassyon on vs if it please hym. But sirs / I can nat knowe / by the relacion of any of his counsayle / but that by shamefull punycion of iustyce. there shall suffre dethe / the moost parte of the people / that shall appere there that day. Nowe sirs / cōsyder well if ye wyll come to peace by this meanes or nat. Whan Philyp Dartuell had spoken these wor∣des / it was great pytie to se: men / women / and

chyldren wepe / and wryng their hand{is} for loue of their fathers / bretherne / husbandes / & neygh¦bours. And after this tourmēt and noyse / Phi∣lyp Dartuell began agayne to speke / and said. Pease sirs pease. and in contynent / euery man was styll. Than he began to speke / and sayde. A ye good people of Gaunt / ye be her nowe as∣sembled the moost parte / & ye haue harde what I haue sayde. Sirs / I se none other remedy but shorte counsayle. for ye knowe well / what necessyte we be in for lacke of vitayle. I am sure there be .xxx. thousande in this towne / that dyd eate no breed this. ••v. dayes passed / sirs: of thre thynges we must of necessyte do the one. The fyrst is / if ye wyll let vs enclose ourselfe in this towne / and mure vp all our gates. and thā con¦fesse vs clene to god / and lette vs entre into the churches & misters / and so let vs dye for famyn repētant of our synnes / lyke martyrs. and such people as noo man wyll haue mercy of / yet in this a state god shall haue mercy of our soules. and it shalbe sayd / in euery place where it shall be herde / that we be deed valyauntly / and lyke true people. Or els secondly / let vs all men / wo∣men / and chyldren: go with halters about our neckes in our shyrtes / & crye mercy to my lorde the erle of Flaunders. I thynke his herte wyll nat be so indurate (as whan he seyth vs in that a state) but that his hert wyll molefy / and take mercy of his people. and as for my selfe / I wyll be the fyrst of all / to a pease his displeasure. I shall present my heed / and be content to dye / for them of Gaunt. Or els thyrdly let vs chose out in this towne fyue or sixe thousande men / of the moste able and best apoynted / and let vs go ha¦stely and assayle the erle at Bruges / and fyght with hym. and if we dye in this voiage. At the least / it shalbe honourable / and god shall haue pytie of vs. and all the world shall say / that va∣liantly and truly / we haue kept & maynteyned our quarell. And in this batayle / if god wyll haue pytie of vs / as aunciantly he put his puis∣sance in to y^e handes of Nabugodonosor / duke and mayster of his chyualry. by whome the as∣syrience were discomfyted. Than shall we be reputed the moost honorable people / that hath raygned syth the dayes of the romayns. Nowe sirs / take good hede whiche of these thre weyes ye wyll take / for one of thē must ye nedes take. Than suche as were next hym / and had harde hym best said. A {ser} / all we haue our trust in you to coūsayle vs. and sir / loke as ye coūsayle vs / so shall we folowe. By my faythe {quod} Philyppe / than I counsayle you: let vs go with an army of men agaynst the erle / we shall fynde hym at Bruge. And as soone as he shall knowe of our comynge / he wyll issue out to fyght with vs / by the pride of them of Bruges / and of such as be aboute hym / who nyght and daye enfourmeth and styreth hym to fyght with vs. And if god wyll by his grace / that we haue the victory / and disconfyte our enemyes. than shall we be reco∣uered foreuer / and the moost honoured people of the worlde. and if we be disconfyted / we shall dye honourably and god shall haue pyte of vs. and therby all the other people in Gaunt / shall escape. and the erle wyll haue marcy on them. and therw^t they all answerd with one vocye. we wyll do thus / we wyll do thus. we wyll make none other ende. Than Philyppe aunswered / and sayd. Sirs / if it be your wylles to do thus / than retourne home to your howses / and make redy your harnesse. for to morowe somtyme of the day / I wyll that we departe out of Gaunt / and go towarde Bruges / for the abyding here / is nothynge for vs profytable. and within fyue dayes / we shall knowe if we shall dye or lyue with honoure. and I shall sende the constables of euery parysshe / fro howse to howse / to chose out the moost able and best apoynted men.

IN this a state euery man departed out of the market place / and made thē redy. and this wednysday they kept y^e towne so close / that nother man nor woman entred / nor issued out of the towne / tyll the thursday in the mornyng / that euery man was redy / suche as shulde de∣parte. And they were to the nombre of .v. thou∣sand men and nat past / and they had with them two hundred chares of ordynaunce / and artyl∣lary / and but .vii. cartes of vitayle / fyue of bys∣ket breed / and two tonne of wyne / for in all they hadde but two tonne / and left no more behynd them in the towne. This was a harde depar∣tynge / and they that were lefte behynde / were hardly bestadde. It was pytie to beholde them that went forthe. And they that abode behynde sayde to them. sirs / nowe at your departure / ye knowe what ye leaue behynde you / but neuer thynke to come hyder agayne / without ye come with hono^r, for if it be otherwyse / ye shall fynde here no thynge. For as soone / as we here tidyn¦ges / that ye be outher slayne or disconfytted. we shall sette the towne a fyre / and distroy our¦selfe lyke people dispayred. Than they y^t went forthe / sayd to comfort them. sirs: pray to god for vs / for we truste / he shall helpe vs and you also / or we retourne agayne. Thus these fyue

thousande de{per}ted fro Gaunt / with their small {pro}uysion. and that thursday they went and lay a myle without Gaunt / and brake nat vp their prouisyon / but passed y^• nyght / with such thyn∣ges as they founde abrode in the countre. And the friday they went forth / nat touchyng as yet their vitayle. for the forēgers founde somwhat in the countre / wherwith they passed that day. And so lodged a seuyn myle fro Bruges / & ther rested and toke a place of grounde at their de∣uyse / abyding their enemyes. And before them there was a great plasshe of standynge water / wherwith they fortifyed theymselfe on the one parte / and on the other parte with their carya∣ges. And so they passed that night.