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

¶Of a treatie of a maryage bytwe∣ne the erle of Derby and the duke of Berries doughter / and howe kyng Rycharde of Englande dyde lette it by the erle of Salisbury. Capi. CC .xxxvi. (Book 236)

AS soone as kyng Ry∣charde kyng of Englande herde of the treatie of the maryage bytwene the erle of Derby and the duke of Berryes doughter / & that the parties were nerehāde accorded / he toke those newes to great dys∣pleasure / and sayd to the erle of Salisbury in whom he had great affyaunce. ye must or dayne you to go in to Fraunce with letters of credence / to our father in lawe the Fren∣che kynge / and to our frendes his brother & vncles. And shewe them fro vs / that in no wyse they conclude any treatie or alyaunce of maryage / with suche a traytour as is the erle of Derby / who wolde betray his natu∣rall souerayne lorde. And for the remynaunt of the mater ye are wyse ynough / do so ther∣in that I maye can you thanke / and that the maryage maye be broken. The erle of Sa∣lisbury sayde. Sir / I shall do ryght well your cōmaundement. But sir / if it myght be broken by some other meanes / or by some o∣ther persone / I requyre youre grace it maye so be. Sir quod the kynge excuse you natte / for I wyll and also I praye you do this mes∣sage / & whatsoeuer shall fall therof I shall sustayne you. Well sir quod the erle / sithe ye cōmaunde me so specially / and that I se the mater toucheth you nere I shall do it / tho∣ughe I be lothe therto. ye shall go quod the kynge and make haste / or this alyaunce be concluded. Than the Erle prepared for his departure. The letters of Credence written and sealed / he departed fro the kynge / who was at that tyme at Leades / and the Quene also. The erle made haste and came to Do∣uer / and so toke the See and arryued at Ca¦lays / and there founde the erle of Huntyng∣ton / who was capitayne of Calais and bro∣ther to the kynge. The Erle shewed vnto hym all his busynesse / and so taryed nat lon∣ge at Calays / but roode to Amyence and so to Parys / and all they waye that he rode he hadde good chere / and was lodged at the whyte horse. And whan he had chaūged him he wente to the kynge and to the quene / and to y^t other lordes / and delyuered his letters of credence. Whan the kyng had reed the let¦ters / he toke the erle aparte and demaunded what was his credence. The erle at length

shewed his charge / and named the Erle of Derby traytour agaynst his naturall lorde. Whan the Frenche kyng herde those wordes he was in great displeasure / for he loued so the erle of Derby / that he wolde here none y∣uell spoken of him / and toke the letters of cre¦dence agayne to the erle of Salisbury / and sayd. Erle / we beleue you well ynoughe / but our sonne of Englande is to sore moued aga¦ynst oure cosyn of Derby / and we marueyle greatly / that his yuell wyll contyneweth so longe / for we thynke he shulde be the better furnysshed if he were about hym / and to be nexte of his counsayle. Sir quod the erle of Salisbury / I do but as I am cōmaunded. That is trewe quod the kyng / we are nat dis¦pleased with you / & paraduenture our sonne of Englande knoweth more than we do: do your message as ye were charged / and so he dyde / and to the duke of Berrey also. The duke gaue none aunswere therto / but wente to the kyng and demaunded of hym what ne¦wes he hadde out of Englande. The kynge shewed hym all / as the erle of Salisburye had sayde. Vpon those newes the kyng and his vncles assembled togyder secretely. than the Frenche kynge sayd. The kynge of En∣glande by lykelyhode douteth greatly therle of Derby / or elles paraduēture he knoweth suche thynges as we knowe nat / nor can nat come to oure knowledge. And we ought ra∣ther to owe our fauoure to the kynge of En∣glande than̄e to the erle of Derby / sythe the kynge is ioyned with vs by maryage. And he wyll take it in great disdayne sythe we be enfourmed of his pleasure / if we shulde do the contrary / and marry the erle of Derby to the countesse of Ewe. It behoueth vs rather to dissymule & kepe these newes secrete / tyll the erle of Salisbury be retourned. Vpon this peynt the kyng and his vncles rested.

WHan the erle of Salisbury had done his message / he tooke his leaue and departed. The Fren¦che kynge was more displeased with his cōmyng than ioyfull / for he delyuered agayne the erle of Salys∣bury his letters of credence / and wolde nat kepe them / he loued so well the erle of Der∣by / who knewe of the erle of Salysburies beynge at Parys / but he sawe hym nat / for he was departed without spekyng with him and retourned to Calays / and to in to En∣glande / and shewed the kynge of Englande howe he hadde spedde. Whan the erle or Der¦by knewe that the erle of Salisbury was de¦parted fro Parys / without spekynge with hym / in his mynde he was soore displeased / and thought the matter went nat well. than his counsayle sayde to hym. Sir / shortely ye shall parceyue some other maters / that ye haue nat herde of as yet / thoughe it be kepte priuye fro you. These Frenchmen are wyse and close. It maye be so / that the kyng of En¦glande / and suche as be of his secte are dis∣pleased / with that the Frenche kyng maketh you so good chere as he dothe. And paraduē¦ture it is spoken in Englande / howe ye shul¦de mary the duke of Berryes doughter / whi¦che pleaseth nat the kynge of Englande / and therfore he wyll do what he can to breke that maryage / and if it be so ye shall shortly here therof.

LOoke as they ymagined so it was / for within a moneth after the erle of Salisbury was departed fro Pa∣rys / suche of therle of Derbies parte as had the treatie of the sayde maryage in hande. They spake agayne of the mater to the duke of Berryes counsayle / who had their charge what they shulde answere. They sayd. sirs Whan my lorde the erle of Derby is in the kynges presence / and the duke of Orlyaunce and his vncles presente / than lette my lorde the erle of Derby speke hym selfe / for we can saye no more to the mater. Therle of Derby who thought none yuell / but thought those wordes hadde ben spoken / to the entent to ha¦ue proched nerer to the poynt / for the kynge and his counsayle made hym as good chere thanne / as euer they dyde before. The Erle thought to speke in the mater / whan he sawe conuenyent tyme. And on a daye whan̄e he sawe the kyng and the lordes togyder / he be∣gan to speke of this maryage. Than the du∣of Burgoyne / who hadde the charge to aun∣swere hym sayde. Cosyn of Derby / we haue nothynge to do to gyue in maryage ouer co∣syn to a traytour. With that woorde the erle of Derby was greatly abasshed / & chaūged colour & sayd. Sir / I am here in the kynges presence / I wyll answere to this. I was ne∣uer traytour nor neuer thought trayson: & if

there be any persone y^t wyll charge me with trayson I am redy to answere / nowe or whā it shall please the kynge / here beyng present. Nay cosyn quod the kyng / I beleue ye shall fynde no man in Fraunce that wyll chalenge your honoure / for the wordes that myne vn∣cle hath spoken came out of Englande. than the erle kneled downe and sayd. Sir / I be∣leue it well. But god defende me and all my frendes / and confounde all myne ennemyes. The Frenche kynge toke vp the erle / & sayd. Cosyn / apeace your selfe / euery thynge shall tourne to the best. And whan̄e euery thynge is agreed and at peace / than̄e we maye well speke & treate of maryage / but fyrst ye must take possession in the duchy of Lancastre / for that is the vsage in Fraunce / and in dyuers countreis on this syde the See. That if a lorde shall marry by the consent of his soue∣raygne lorde / he must endowe his wyfe. and therwith they had spyces and wyne / and ces∣sed of that cōmunycacion / and euery man de¦parted to their owne lodgynges.

WHan the erle of Derby was cōe to his lodgyng he was sore dis∣pleased / and nat without a cau∣se. Whan he / who was reputed one of the trewest knyghtes of the worlde (in the presēce of the frenche kyng who loued hym well / & had shewed him ma∣ny curtesies) shuld be reputed as a traytour and that those wordes shulde cōe out of En∣glande and brought by the erle of Salisbu∣rye. He was therwith in a great malencoly / his counsayle apeased hym as well as they coude / & sayd. Sir / he that wyll lyue in this worlde / must endure somtyme trouble. Con∣fort you for this tyme and be pacient / and pa¦rauenture herafter ye shall haue great ioye and glorie. And sir / of al y^e lord{is} on this syde the see / the frenche kyng loueth you best. and we se well he wolde enploye his payne to brī¦ge you to ioye. and sir / ye ought to gyue him and his vncles great thāke / in that they kept this mater secrete / tyll the erle of Salisbury was de{per}ted. yea sirs quod the erle / I thynke it had ben better it had ben shewed me in his presence / that I myght haue made a sufficiēt excuse before y^t kyng and all the lordes. thus I shall abyde styll in blame tyll the mater be otherwyse declared. Sir quod they all / tres∣passes can nat be amended at the fyrst daye. Sir suffre / let the tyme ryn: we beleue your busynesse in Englande dothe better than ye be ware of. The loue that is in the hertes of the people in Englande towardes you with their good prayers / by y^e grace of god / shall shortely delyuer you out of all daungers. This they sayd to recōfort their lorde / who was sore disconforted / and their sayeng was soner trewe than they were ware of.

ANone it was knowen in Englande howe therle of Salisbury had ben in Fraūce with the frenche kynge & his vncles / and borne letters thyder / contey∣nyng howe the erle of Derby was falsely {per}∣iured and a traytour. Of the whiche dyuers noble men and prelates were sore troubled / and were nothynge contente with the erle of Salisbury / and said generally / that he was soore to blame to take on hym the charge / to beare in to Fraunce any suche wordes / vpon as trewe a man as lyued. A daye wyll come that he shall repent the tyme / y^t euer he spake the worde. ye maye well knowe / the Lon∣doners were greatly displeased / and mur∣mured agaynst the kyng and his counsayle / & sayd. A gētyll knight erle of Derby / great enuy is there agaynst you. It is nat suffyci∣ent for the kynge and his counsayle to driue you out of the realme / but also to accuse you of trayson / to putte you to the more shame & rebuke. Well / euery thynge muste haue his tourne. Alas quod the people: What faulte or trespasse hath your children done / that the kynge taketh thus awaye fro thē their hery∣tage / whiche ought to be theirs by ryght suc¦cessyon? This thynge can nat longe abyde in this case without chaunge / nor we can nat suffre it. Thus anone after the retourne of the erle of Salisbury out of Fraunce / kyng Richarde caused a iustes to be cryed and pu∣blysshed throughe out his realme / to Scot∣lande / to be at Wynsore / of .xl. knyghtes and xl. squyers agaynst all cōmers. And they to be aparelled in grene with a whyte faucon & the quene to be there / well acōpanied 〈◊〉〈◊〉 a dyes & damosels. This feest thus holden / y^e quene beyng there ī gret neblenes / but there were but fewe lordes or noble men / for mo thā .ii. {per}tes of y^e lordes & knightes / & other of the realme of Englande had y^t kyng in suche

hatered / what for the banysshyng of the erle of Derby / and the iniuryes that he had done to his chyldren / and for the dethe of the duke of Gloucestre / who was slayne in the castell of Calais / and for the dethe of the erle of Arū¦dell who / was beheeded at Lōdon. The kyn¦red of these lordes came nat to this feest / nor but fewe other. And at the same feest the kyn∣ge ordayned to go in to Irelande / to enploy his men in that voyage / and so he departed and lefte the Quene with her trayne styll at Wyndsore / and the kynge rode to Bristowe / and there made all his prouysion / and he had ten thousande knightes and squiers / and ten thousande archers. Whan̄e the Londoners knewe that the kyng was goyng in that voy¦age they began to murmure / and said amon∣ge themselfe. Nowe gothe Richarde of Bur¦deaux the waye to Bristowe / and so in to yre¦lande / whiche wyll be to his distruction. He shall neuer retourne agayne with ioye / no more than dyde kynge Edwarde the seconde his great grauntfather / who was folysshely gouerned by to moche beleuyng of the Spē∣sers. In lykewise Rycharde of Burdeaulx / hath belued so moche yuell counsayle / that it can nat be hydden nor suffred any lengar. ∴ ∴