Here begynneth the thirde and fourthe boke of sir Iohn̄ Froissart of the cronycles of Englande, Fraunce, Spaygne, Portyngale, Scotlande, Bretayne, Flaunders, and other places adioynyng, translated out of Frenche in to englysshe by Iohan Bourchier knyght lorde Berners, deputie generall of ye kynges towne of Calais and marchesse of the same, at the co[m]maundement of our most highe redouted souerayne lorde kyng Henry the eyght, kynge of Englande and of Fraüce [sic] [and] highe defender of the Christen faithe. [et]c

¶Howe these thre knyghtes obtey∣ned a saueconduct of the kyng of Ca¦style for their people to passe / & howe dyuers of thēglysshmen dyed in Ca¦style / & howe the duke of Lancastre fell in a great syckenesse. Cap. C .v. (Book 105)

THus they departed fro the kynge at that tyme / and went to their lodgynges / & there taryed all y^t day & the next day tyll none than they went to y^e kyng. Now I shall shewe you what answere y^e king had of his coūsaile. This request gretly reioysed the kyng / for he sawe well his enemys wolde de{per}te out of his realme / & he thought in hym¦selfe he wolde agre therto / yet he was coūsay¦led to the cōtrary but / he sent for the .ii. frēche capitayns / sir Gaultier of Passacke and sir Willm̄ of Lignac. and whan they were come he right sagely shewed thē the desire & req̄st of y^e cōstable of the Englysshe host / and her∣vpon he demaūded of them to haue their coū¦sayle. First he desyred sir Water Passacke to speke. He was lothe to speke before other of the kynges coūsayle there / but he was fayne so to do the kyng so sore desyred hym. & so by the kynges cōmaundement he spake & sayde. Sir ye are come to the same ende that we ha¦ue alwayes said. & that was / y^t your enemys shulde wast thē selfe / they are nowe disconfy¦ted without any stroke strikyng. sir / if y^e said folkes desyre to haue comforte & refresshyng in your countre / of your gentylnesse ye maye well graūt it them / so that whāsoeuer they re¦couer their helthe / they retourne nat agayne to the Duke nor to the kynge of Portugale / but than to de{per}te the streight way in to their owne countreys: And that in the Terme of

sixe yere they arme them nat agaynst you nor agaynst the realme of Castyle. We thynke ye shall gette rightwell a safeconducte for them of the kynge of Fraunce and of the kynge of Nauerre / to passe peasably through the real¦mes. Of this answere the kynge was ryght ioyfull / for they counsayled hym accordynge to his pleasure / for he had nat cared what bar¦geyn he had made / so that he myght haue ben¦quyte of the Englysshmen: Than he sayd to sir Water Passacke. Sir / ye haue well and truely counsayled me I thanke you / and I shall do accordyng to your aduise. Than the thre Englysshe knyghtes were sent for.

Whan they were come they entred into the counsayle chābre. Than the bysshop of Bur¦ges chaunceller of Spayne / who was well langaged sayd. sirs ye knyghtes of Englād perteyning to the duke of Lācastre / and sent hyder fro his constable: vnderstande that the kyng here of his pytie and gentylnesse / wyll shewe to his enemyes all the grace he maye. And sirs / ye shall retourne to your cōstable / and shewe hym fro the kyng of Castyle / that he shall make it to be knowen through al his hoost by the sowne of a trumpet / that his re∣alme shalbe open and redy to receyue all the Englysshmen hole or sicke / so that at thentre of euery cyte or towne / they laye downe their armure and weapons: And there shall they fynde men redy to bring them to their lodgi∣ges. And there all their names to be written and delyuered to the capitayne of the towne / to thentent they shulde nat retourne agayne in to Galyce nor in to Portugale / for no ma∣ner of busynesse / but to de{per}te in to their own countreis assone as they may. And assone as the kyng of Castyle my souerayne lorde hath optayned your safecōducte / to passe through the realmes of Nauer and Fraunce to go to Calis / or to any other porte or hauen at their pleasure: outher in to Bretaygne / Xaynton / Rochell / Normādy / or Picardy. Also y^e kyn∣ges pleasure is / that all suche knight{is} or squi¦ers of any nacyon what soeuer it be / that en∣tred in to this vyage: In any wyse arme nat them selfe for y^e space of sixe yere agaynst the realme of Castyle / and that they swere thus to do whan they take the safecōducte. And of this cōposycion / ye shall haue letters open to beare to your constable / and to suche cōpany¦ons as sent you hyder. These knyght{is} than∣ked the kynge and his counsayle of their an∣swere & sayd. sir there be certayne artycles in your answere / we cā nat tell if they will be ac¦cepted or nat. If they be nat / we shall sende a¦gayne to you our heraulte / if he come nat we shall accept your sayeng. Well sirs the kyng is content (quod they of his counsayle) than the kyng went in to his chambre. And sir wa¦ter Passacke and sir Wyllm̄ Lignacke kepte styll company with the Englysshe knyghtes and brought them in to a fayre chābre / where their dyner was redy apparelled for thē / and there dyned with them. And after dyner had wyne and spyces in the kynges chambre and toke their leaue. Their letters were redy / & they toke their horses and so departed & rode to Vyle cloppes / and the next day they came to the towne of Arpent & dyned / and at night lay at Noy in Galyce / and the next daye they came to Auranche & there founde y^e constable So it fortuned that in this mean season / one of the duke of Lancasters great barons died a right valyant man / called the lorde Fitz wa¦ter: He was greatly bemooned / but agaynst dethe none maye stryue. His enterment was honorably done / the kyng of Portugale and the duke of Lācastre present. and whan these thre knyghtes were come to the Dukes lod∣gyng / they shewed all that they had done / & shewed their letters of confyrmacion of the same. Than some sayd it was a herde coue∣naunt / and some sayde nay: holdyng opinyon that it was right courtesse / perfitely consyde¦ryng the danger that they were in. These ti∣dynges anone sprede abrode in the host / how the duke had gyuen lycence euery man to de∣parte who so lyst. Than suche as were sycke and feble / desyring a fresshe ayre / de{per}ted as soone as they might / & toke their leaue of the duke and of the cōstable / and than they were truely payd their wag{is} as curtesly as might be. And some were content with fayre wor∣des / and so they departed by cōpanyes. some went to Arpent / some to Ruelles / some to vil¦cloppes / some to Noy / sōe to Medena de Cā¦po & other places: & in euery place they were welcome and brought to their lodgynges / & their names presented to the capitayne. The greattest parte of the gentylmen went to Ar∣pent / bycause in that towne there were many straungers / Bretons / frenchmen / normayns

and poicteuyns / ouer whome sir Olyuer de Clesquyn was capitayne. The Englysshe∣men trusted better in them than they dyde in the Spaynyerdes / and good cause why.

THus as I haue shewed you / the duke of Lancastres army brake vp at that tyme in Castyle / and euery man sought the best for hym selfe. ye maye well beleue that this dyde greatly trouble the duke of Lanca¦stre / and great cause why. for he sawe his en∣terprise ••ore putte a backe and brought in to a herde case / Howe be it lyke a valyaunt sage price as he was / he cōforted hym selfe aswell as he myght / for he sawe well it coulde none otherwyse be. And whan the kyng of Portu∣gale sawe howe the matter went / and y^t their army was broken of / He gaue lycence to all maner of men / except a thre hundred speares that were come to serue hym. He retaygned them styll / and so departed fro Aurāche with the duke of Lācastre and his wyfe / & rode to saynt Iaques called Cōpostella. And whan the kyng and the duke were there / the kynge taryed there four dayes: And than departed with all his men / and retourned to his coun∣trey to his wyfe / who laye at Porte / a good cytie in Portugale.

NOwe shall I shewe you what befell of dyuers knyghtes and squyers / su∣che as were departed fro the duke and gone in to Castile. Dyuers that were entecte with sickenesse / for all their chaungynge of newe ayre and newe medycins / yet they coulde nat scape the peryll of dethe. Dyuers dyed in Ar¦pent / in the meane season that the king of Ca¦style sent to the kynge of Nauerre and to the frenche kyng for their sauecōductes / to passe pesably (whiche was nat soone optaygned) dyuers lordes / knyghtes / and squyers of En¦glāde dyed in their beddes whiche was gret domage / and a great losse to their countrey. In Arpent there dyed thre great barones of Englande / and ryche men. The first was sir Richarde Burle who had ben marshall of y^e dukes hoost / another the lorde Ponynges / & the thyrde the lorde Percy / cosyn germayne to the erle of Northumberlande. And in the towne of Noy dyed sir Mauberyn of Lym∣ers a poyteuyn / a ryght noble and an expert knyght. And in the towne of Ruelles there dyed a great baron called the lorde Talbot: So that there died here and there a .xii. gret lordes / and a fourscore knightes / and two hū¦dred squyers. This was a great dysconfet∣ture without any stroke stryken / and there dyed of other meane men / mo than fyue hun∣dred. And I herde it reported of a knyght of Englande / as he retourned through Fraūce (his name was sir Thom̄s Quynbery) that of fyftene hundred men of armes and foure thousande archers / that the duke of Lanca∣stre hadde brought out of the realme of En∣glande / there neuer returned agayn the halfe parte.

THe duke of Lancastre fyll in a pery∣lous sickenesse in the towne of saynt Iaques / and often tymes the brute ranne in Castyle & in Fraunce howe he was deed / and surely he was in a great aduēture of his lyfe. Thyrrey of Souuayne a squyer of honour / and squyer for y^e dukes body was taken with sickenesse and dyed at Besances / he was naturally borne of the countie of Hey¦naulte. And his brother Wyllyam of Sou∣uayn was with hym tyll he dyed / who in like wyse was in great aduenture of his lyfe. Of a trouthe there was none so hardy / so ryche / nor so tolye / but that they were in feare of thē selfe / & euery day loked for none other thyng but deth / and with this sickenesse there were none infected but alonely the duke of Lanca∣sters cōpany. Among y^e frēchmen there were none sicke / wherby dyuers murmuracyons were among the spanyerdes / sayeng / y^e kyng of Castyle hath done great grace to these En¦glysshmen to suffre them to lye and rest them in his countie / and in his good townes / But we feare it wyll cost vs greatly / for they haue or are lyke to bring in to this countrey great mortalyte. Than other wolde saye: Ah / they are christenmen as we be / there ought cōpas∣sion and pyte to be taken one of another. this was the cōmunyng among them: And true it was / y^t same season a knyght of Fraūce dyed in Castile for whom gret sorowe was made: For he was gracyous / courtesse / and hardy in armes / and was brother to sir Iohan / sir Raynolde / and sir Launcelotte of Voy / and he was called sir Iohn̄ of Voy / but howe he dyed I shall tell you. He was in a towne of Castyle / called Seghome / and laye there in garyson: he had an Impostume in his body /

and he was yonge & lusty and tooke no hede therof / but on a day lept on a great horse and rode out in to the feldes / & spurred his horse / so that by gambaldyng of the horse the impo¦stume brake in his body / and whan he was retourned to his lodgynge he was layde on his bedde sicke / and that semed well / for the fourthe daye after he dyed / wherof his fren∣des were right soroufull. ∵ ∵