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 the Constable of Fraunce wolde nat acorde that the king shul∣de go in to Almayne / bycause of the insydentes of the realme / and howe the duke of Bretaygne fournysshed his garysons & made alyaunce with the kyng of Englande and with the kynge of Nauerre / and of the army made by the englysshe men. Cap. C.xxv. (Book 125)

YE haue herde before howe the erle de Stampes was sent in to Bretayne by the duke of Ber∣rey / thynkynge to haue brought the duke of Bretayne with fayre wordes to his mynde and entensyon / But he coulde nat brynge it aboute / but retourned a¦gayne without atteynynge any thynge of his purpose. wherof they in Fraunce were great∣ly abasshed / and specially suche as were of the kinges coūsayle / for they knewe well the kyng had great desyre to go in to Almayne / to se the landes of his cosyns the duke of Iulyers / and to be reuenged of the hygh wordes and cruell defyaunces of the duke of Guerles. The wyse men of the counsayle of Fraunce suche as con∣ceyued well the mater imagyned therin great parell to the realme / for they clerely perceyued howe the duke of Bretayne wolde in no wyse condyscende to reason / but helde styll his pur∣pose. They thought it was greatly preiudy∣cyall to the honoure of the realme of Fraunce / for hym to take the constable of Fraunce / and to sette hym at raunsome at a hundred thou∣sande frankes / and to kepe thre of his castelles and a good towne. And also they sawe howe the duke of Bretayne was makynge of great alyaunces with the kynge of Englande / and knewe well howe the duke fortifyed greatly his townes and castels in Bretayne / and went aboute to get hym frendes in dyuers partyes / in so moche that many of the noble menne of Bretayne wyste nat what to do / outher to go in to Fraunce or to a byde there styll with the duke and to take his parte agaynst the kynge or the realme of Fraunce / the whiche they ne∣uer thought to do / for the moste parte of the knyghtes and Squyers of Bretaygne were alwayes good frenche / But the counsayle of Fraunce doubted that if the kynge wente out of the realme with his puyssaunce / the whiche he muste nedes do if he shulde goo in to Al∣maygne / that than the duke of Bretayne to bring in to his countrey the englysshmen / ou∣ther at saynte Malowe / at saynt Mathewes / or at Lamballe / or Camperle / or Lantriguier at Guerrando / or Bownte / or at Wennes / or on the see coste. For the englysshemen coulde nat haue a better entre in to Fraunce than by Bretayne. So that they knewe nat (the kyn∣ges honour saued) howe to breke the duke of Bretayne fro his purpose. Some of the kyn∣ges counsayle sayde / it shall be to the kynges dyshonour if he breke nat the dukes purpose / for y^e duke is nat lorde peasably ouer his owne countrey / for we thynke the lordes / knyghtes / and squyers of Bretayne wyll nat be agaynst vs / to mayntayne the dukes opynion / therfore in the name of god lette the kynge kepe on his voyage / and lette the constable and other lor∣des a byde in their countreys and defende the Realme. This opynyon was well vpholde with many of the kynges counsayle. but than some other sayde naye therto / and sayde howe the kyng coulde nat well go out of his realme without he had his constable with hym / for he

is more wyser and hathe more experyence in warre than a great nombre of other. Thus they argued. Than some other sayd / lette two of the kynges vncles go or one of them at the lest / and layde it to the duke of Burgoyne that he shulde go with two thousande speares / and syre or seuen thousande of other men of warre / and sayde / it was moste metest for hym to go / for that warre touched hym nere / bycause it moued by reasone of the duchy of Brabante / and that he shulde haue with him them of Bra¦bante / of whome he shulde fynde in nombre to the some of seuen hundred speares / and .xx. or thurty thousande of other comons of the coun¦trey of Brabante. Than a nother sorte sayde. sirs / your opynyons be nat good for the kyng wyll go / he nameth hymselfe the chyefe of this warre / for he is defyed / wherfore he muste go / consydrynge the charge is his / it is good that he go / for he is yonge / and the more he conty∣nueth the warre the better he shall loue it. than some other sayd. Who is he that is so hardy to counsayle the kynge to go in to Almayne / in to so farre a countrey / amonge theym that be hyghe and prowed people / and great parell it is to entre vpon them. And if the kynge were entred / yet it were great daunger the retour∣nynge agayne. for whan they shall knowe the kynge and all the nobles of Fraunce to be en∣tred in to their countrey / they wyll than assem¦ble all togyder / and kepe suche a countrey as they knowe / and we nat / and so they maye do vs great domage / for they are couetous peo∣ple aboue all other. And they haue no pytie / if they haue the vpper hande / and are harde and yuell handelers of their prisoners / and putteth them to sondry paynes / to compell theym to make their raunsomes the greater. and if they haue a lorde or a great man to their prisoner / they make great ioye therof / and wyll conuey hym in to Boesme / or in to Austryche / or in to Xasenne / and kepe hym in some castell inha∣bytable. They are people worse than sarazins or paynyms / for their excessyue couetousnesse quencheth the knowledge of honoure. Lette vs go and put the kynge in daunger amonge these people / and if any thynge happen to fall a mysse / as the chaunces of fortune are mar∣uaylous / what shall be sayde than? howe we haue brought the kynge thyder to betray him / and to the dystructyon of the realme / and nat for the augmentynge therof. God defende the realme fro all domage and parell. If the kyng go he muste haue parte of his noble men with hym. And if mysse fortune fall / the realme of Fraunce is loste without recouery. Therfore loke wysely if it be good to counsayle the kyng to go that voyage in to Almayne. Than some other / suche as had wysely coniected all parel∣les in their imagynacyons sayd. In the name of god lette nother the kynge go / nor yet sende thyder no puyssaunce. For though the duke of Guerles who is but yonge / and that youthe of wytte haue made hym to defye the kynge / whiche was nat done by no greate wysdome / nor good counsayle / but rather done by folissh pride of yonge people / who wolde flye or they haue wynges. And sythe he hathe thus defyed the kynge / lette hym alone and suffre hym to pursewe his desyaunce / the realme of Fraunce is great / if he entre in to the realme in any ma¦ner of wyse / the kinge shall sone be enfourmed therof / and than he shall haue a iuste cause to styre vp his people / and to go and fyght a∣gaynste hym / where so euer he fynde hym / or els to make hym flye or yelde hym in the felde / and therby the kynge shall haue more honour and lesse charge than to go in to Guerles / for suche as knowe the countrey saye / that or we can come to the duke if he lyste / we must passe a foure great ryuers / the lyste of them as great as the ryuer of Loyre at Namurs or Charite. Also they say / it is a fowle countrey and yuell lodgynges.

THe noble men and counsaylouts of Fraunce were thus in dyuers imagynacyons on this voyage / that the kynge wolde make in to Almayne / and surely it had ben a¦uaunsed the soner forwarde and they had nat douted the venym that myght growe by the occasyon of Bretayne / and of the duke there / that mater drewe theym a backe. And indede they had good cause to doute it / for the duke of Bretayne was well infourmed of the defy∣aunce that the duke of Guerles hadde made to the Frenche kynge / and howe that the yonge kinge Charles wolde go in to Almayne. The duke loked for nothyng els / but that the kynge shulde be ones departed out of his Realme of Fraunce / he hadde ordeyned and concluded bytwene hym and the englysshe men / to suffre the englisshe army to entre in to his countrey.

And also he had by subtyle meanes drawen to his acorde the moste parte of the good townes of Bretaygne / and specyally Nauntes / Wen∣nes / Rennes / Lentriguier / Guerrādo / Lam∣bale / saynte Malo / and saynte Mathewe de¦fyn poterne / but the noble men he coulde nat gette to his opynyon. Than the duke imagy∣ned if the lordes shulde go with the constable of Fraunce in to Almayne / thanne his warre and entente shulde the soner come to passe. He caused his townes and castels to be well pro∣uyded for / with vytayles and artyllary / and he shewed well howe he inclyned rather to the warre than to haue pease. Also he had great a¦lyaunce with Charles they yonge kyng of Na∣uerre / and the duke promysed hym / that if he might come to his entent (to haue puyssaunce of men of armes and archers out of Englāde) he wolde bringe them streight in to Norman∣dy / and recouer fyrst the good townes and ca∣stels that kynge Charles of Fraunce vncle to the kynge of Nauerre / had taken fro hym by his men / as the lorde of Coucy and outher. Of this the kynge of Nauer had great trust / and by reason therof he helde in humble loue the duke of Lancastre who was at Bayon / for by¦twene theym was great alyaunces. And of all this I sawe great apparence / as I shall shewe after.

IN the yere of our lorde god a thousande thre hundred fourscore and eyght / the se∣uenth daye of Aprell / it was concluded by the kynge of Englande and his counsayle / and by his vncles / the duke of yorke / and the duke of Glocestre / that the erle Rycharde of Arundell shulde be heed and chefe of an army on the see / with hym a thousande men of armes / and thre thousande archers / and to be at Hamton the fyftene day of May / and there to fynde his na¦uy redy apparelled. And euery man that was apoynted to go to be there redy at that daye. And the kynge of Englande on saynte Geor∣ges daye nexte after / helde a great feast at his castell of Wyndesore. And there were the chefe lordes that shulde go with therle of Arundell / and there they toke their leaues of the kynge and of the quene / and of all other ladyes / and so came to Hampton at their daye apoynted / and entred in to their shyppes the twenty day of May / whiche was a fayre clere day. There was the erle of Arundell / the erle of Notyng∣ham / the Erle of Deuonshyre / syr Thomas Percy / the lorde Clifforde / sir Iohn̄ of Ware / wyke / sir Willyam de la Selle / the lorde Ca∣meux / syr Stephyn de Libery / syr Willyam Helman / syr Thomas Moreaur / syr Iohan Dambreticourt / syr Roberte Sere / sir Peter Mountbery / sir Loys Clombo / sir Thomas Coq / syr Willyam Pulle / and dyuers other. They were of good men of armes a thousand speares / and aboute a thre thousande archers. They had with theym no horses / for they tru∣sted if they might come to their ententes to en∣tre in to Bretayne / and there to refresshe them where as they shulde fynde horses ynowe at a good price to serue them. The daye that they departed fro Hampton was so fayre and pea∣sable that it was meruayle. they drewe towar∣des Normādy nat purposyng to lande in any parte / but to passe by the fronters of Norman∣dy and Bretayne / tyll they herde other newes. They had in their nauy certayne vessels cal∣led Ballengers / who sayled on before to se if they myght fynde any aduenture / in lyke ma∣ner as knyghtes do by lande go before the ba∣taylles to dyscouer the coūtrey and enbusshes. ¶Nowe we shall leaue a season of spekynge of this army / and speke somwhat of the busy∣nesse of Guerles & Brabant / and shewe howe the siege was layde to Graue.