All the famous battels that haue bene fought in our age throughout the worlde, as well by sea as lande set foorth at large, liuely described, beautified, and enriched with sundry eloquent orations, and the declaratio[n]s of the causes, with the fruites of them. Collected out of sundry good authors, whose names are expressed in the next page.

¶ The Battell foughte at Graueling in Flaunders betvvene Monsieur de Termes Generalt for Henrie the seconde, King of France, and the Conte Egmont Chiefetaine for Philip the king of Spayne, in Anno. 1558. Taken out of the Commentaries of Lewes Guicciardine.

HOte warres continuing still betwéene France and Flanders, Henrie the French K. in Iune in Anno. 1558. sent from Calice Monsieur de Termes, a valiant and experte Captaine, one of the order, and captaine of Calice, with an armie of almost nyne thousande footemen, and a thousande and fiue hundreth horsmen to roade and wast the confines of Flanders. With this ar∣mie he passing ouer the riuer of Ha, defeated a multitude of pey∣sants, and certaine handes of sduldiours that went about to em∣peach his passage, and then leauing Graueling and Burburg on his backe, he s••denly by assault tooke Lunkirke, a towne on the sea coast sixe leagues from Calice, and after he had sacked it, and left a garrison therein, he went further into the countrie, wretched∣ly wasting with fire and sworde, euen vnto Newpo••t. To represse this ••a••ing of ••••••••e••, Philip. the King of Spaine, and Duke of Bur∣gen▪ 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the ••a•••••• of Eg••••••i••▪ unto Flaunders, who ioyning at

Graueling with Monsieur Binic••urt the Campe maister, and sen∣ding for the souldiours that laye in garrison at Be••••une, Saint O∣mers, Are, Burburg, and other townes adioyning, and also re∣ceyuing a supplie of souldiours from the Duke of Sauoy, Lieu∣tenant generall for the King of all his lowe countries, and ar∣mies therein, within fewe dayes gathered togither an armie of twelue thousande footemen, and thrée thousande horsemen, be∣sides almost an infinite number of pcysants, who being enra∣ged for the losse of their goodes, and wasting of their lands, floc∣ked thicke and thrée folde from all partes vnto the campe, part armed, and part vnarmed. In the meane time Termes hauing drawne backe his power vnto Dunkirke, bicause he was cruelly molested with the goute, and smelling out that a shrewd turne was ment him, commaunded the armie to depart from Dunkirk, and to encampe within a leage of Graueling, that he might be the nearer vnto Calice. But as soone as he had intelligence that a great power of the enimies were sodenly gathered togither, & that Egmont was their general, he neglecting his torment of the goute, called for his horse, & rode incontinently vnto the campe, the which was pitched in a cōmodions and well defenced place. Nor long after, Egmont and Binicourt came in sight with their armie aranged in order of battell, & with haughtie harts lodged within an harquebusse shot of the Frenchmen, and with incre∣dible ferocitie skirmished with thē in all quarters. Then Termes calling the Captaines togither that same night, bicause he sawe that he was farre ouermatched in number of souldiours, and he was enuironed in his enimies lande, as it were with an euclo∣sure of infestuous townes, & that the power of the Burgonions did daily encrease, he concludeth to flée back vnto Calice the next day along the sea sandes when it was low water, & so to escape by the benefite of nature. At the which oportunitie, the Frenchmē, as they had before determined, came hofully vnto the mouth of the riuer of Ha, where it runneth into the sea aboue Graueling, & nowe it being low water, easily passed ouer the riuer. On the other side as soone as Egmont vnderstoode of this flight of the Frenchmen, h••spéedily passed ouer the riuer beneth the towne,

that he might stoppe the passage of the fléeing enimie. This was done the xiij. of Iuly. Then he mette with the enimie on the front about Calice since, and in the sight of Graueling: Here when Termes sawe that he was intercluded from his intended iourney, he seruing the time, wholye prepared to fighte, and when the broade sealaye on the one side of him, but on the o∣ther a playne without any trée, bushe, hill, or any other impedi∣ment, and he coueted to haue the place of most aduantage, as much as might be, he aranged his hoste in this order: he de∣flected all his armie on the right hande northward, on the which quarter the sea flowed, and therefore did well defence the one side, but on the left hande Southwarde, he did set the wagons for a trenche, and his backe was garded with the riuer of Ha. So that the Frechmen being safe on all other sides, laye o∣pen vnto the Burgonions onely at the fronte, where before their rankes they placed all their ordinaunce, which were sixe Cul∣nerings, and thrée Falcons, yet so, that large spaces were left betwéene for the horsemen: that by this meanes, both the or∣dinance, and also the incursions of the horsemen might at once infest the enimies, both sides of which horsemen were flanked with Gascons harquebusiers. The rere warde and thirde battell consisted of Frenchmen and Lansquenettes, who stoode at the backes of the horsemen with blended rankes, Lansquenets and Frenchmen togither, that they might succour their fellowes, if that néede shoulde be. But although that Egmont had no ordi∣nance (which had bene left behinde, that they might march the more spéedily) yet he not gretly forced that his enimies did ther∣in ouermatch him, for he trusted chieflye in prowes and valor. He then knowing that the enimies had bewraied their feare by their premeditated flight, & that they ment to driue away with them a mightie bootie, cōmunicating his deuise with y^e captains, determineth incoutinētly to fight, least y^e Termes might else scape out of his hand by the cōming of freshe ayde, nothing regarding the cōmon Proue the: that we must not only giue way vnto our sheing enimie, but also make a want for him. Egmont encoura∣ging his souldiors to fight, doth thus arange thē. He deuideth al

the horsemen into fiue troupes, commaunding the light horse∣men to ryde before in thrée troupes, of whome the Earle of Pon∣teuaules a Flemming, gouerned the right wing, and Eriques a Bis∣caian the left: but the middle battell Egmont reserued for him∣selfe. Behinde the light horsemen followed & troupe of Reysters with Pistolets, and then a troupe of men of armes of the lowe Countrimen, a certaine space being left betwéene eyther of the battels. Then were all the footemen deuided into thrée hattels: the footemen were high Almaines, Nederlanders, whose regiment was greatest, and certaine bandes of old Spanishe footemen: they were led by their Colonels, Hilmaner of Mumchausen, Binicourt, and Caruatal The armie being thus aranged, Egmont cried out with a loude voyce, we haue vanquished: All that haue regarde of their owne prayse, or the glorie of their countrie, let him fol∣lowe me, and setting their spurres vnto their horses, runne in with me among the thickest of our enimies. And sodenly as soone as he had spoken the worde, be giuing the signall, ran forth. The prepared Frenchmen doe manfullye susteyne the charge of the Burgonions, and with their ordinance commit great: slaughter in the foremost rankes, so that Egmonts borse fell downe vnder him. But the Burgonions being nothing appalled with this chaunce, va∣liantly insist in their enterprise, & are caried with all their whole strength vpon the c••imie, by the admonishment and impulsion of Egment. Incontinently all y^e hattels on both sides joyne togither, they fight with swordes, launces, pykes, harquebusses, pystolets, halbards, & al other weapons. The troupes of horsmen encoūter one the other, & so likewise the footemen: finally they fight with handstrokes, setting foote to foote: whether this hapned by chaūce, or whether it was prouided by the industrie of the captains, cer∣tes it séemed a straunge and also a marueylous thing, yea vnto those that were skilfull in martiall affaires, who did plainly say, that it had not happened in our age, that any battell was fought with such equalitie of all rankes, and orders, and weapons, and ioyned togither in such indifferent sort. Thus they fought verye sharply a long and doubtfull battell. For although the Lansque∣nets stoode still, and fought not, yet the valor of the Gascons foote∣men

was so great, that they supplied the others dastardie, & with their strength susteyned almost all the brunt and force of the bat∣tell: for the Lansquenets standing still, as it were men separa∣ted from them, and left a certaine space of, the Gascons flewe vp∣pon the vrging Burgonions, they resisted them, and with haughtie heartes receyued their anpression. The French horsemen also en∣countred, but more slowly and dissolutely than their wont is, nei∣ther as it became Gentlemen of their qualitie, although that ac∣cording vnto the maner of that nation they were chosen men, and very well and brauely appointed with all furniturie and horses. Moreouer, whyle that they fought so valiantly, and with so great contention of heartes, that neyther partie woulde turne their fa∣res, a straunge & marueylous chaunce happened: for at the same time ten Englishe shippes chaunced to sayle by, who descrying the encounter when they were in the maine sea, made towarde them, and it being full sea, came neare vnto the shore, and with their ordinance did beate the side of the French armie, the which we solde you before, lay full vpon the sea. The French men be∣ing dismayed with this sodeyne chaunce, began to be in greate feare, distrusting that mo shippes woulde come vnto them. But on the other side, the Burgonions pressed the more instantly, & when they had defeated the horsemen, anon after they also disordered the footmen, and so at the last quite ouerthrew and defeated all the whole French power, not without great honour generally of all orders, but chiefly of the light horsemen, and particularly of Eg∣mont, who deserued the high commendation both of a wyse chief∣taine, and also a valiant souldiour, through whose approued no∣ble courage, and valiant heart that notable victorie was chiefly gotten, but yet so that the rest of the Captaines deserued singu∣larprayse, as Monsieurs Binicourt, Renty, Rues, Enriques, Ponte∣uauls, Font••ynes, Hilmaner of Munichausen, and Caruaial. On the other side Thermes who had the ouerthrowe, is reproued of many for carelesnesse & also slouth, for that he had ouerlong deferred his returne, and had not at the least remoued his campe the night be∣fore the fatall fielde: for the report was, that he of couetousnes ••eking to get a very rich bootie of the spoyle of Flaunders, did

pretermit a fit oportunitie of frée regresse: But some doe af∣firme that he stayed in Flaunders by the Kings commaunde∣ment, to whome, the rumor was, that the King had appoynted to sende aydes. But howsoeuer the matter was, doubtlesse Termes erred in this, that he suffered himselfe to be intercluded by that meanes, and after a sort to be oppressed. But of the number of the slayne, there were diuers reportes, as it al∣wayes happeneth in the bruites of the people: but we dili∣gently enquiring the truth, haue hearde of men most worthye of credite, and of those souldiours that were present at the bat∣tell, that there was a publike note taken of about one thou∣sande fiue hundreth slayne in the battell. But of them that fledde, farre the moste were slayne by the peysantes, who had gotten them into the streyghtes, through which the discomfi∣ted Frenchmen did séeke to escape. Besides the greate slaugh∣ter, foule ignomie also happened vnto the Frenche men: for the Flemmishe women as well of the townes as countrie, lyke Lacedemonian viragoes, assembled togither in great troupes, and when they metts with a French man, they woulde rayle vpon him for that he had wasted Flaunders, spoyled their townes, and burnt their houses, and when one of them coulde not kill him, manye of them woulde flée vpon him, and piti∣fully teare him with their nayles, or beate him well and thrifti∣ly with their Distaues. That in the meane time they maye be wrapped in déepe silence, whome eyther the riuer swallowed vppe, or the sea and tyde ouerwhelmed. But the English men leauing their shippes at anker, rowed in the long Boates vnto the shore, and tooke alyue about two hundreth of those Frenchmen that swimmed in the sea, whō although they might haue drowned, yet moued with swéetenesse of glorie, they did take vp into their Boates, that thereby they might as it were partakers and helpers of that hattell, be able to shewe at home in Englande sure witnesses of so famous a victorie: the whiche few they hauing gotten of many, did vnto their ignomie trans∣port into their coutrie, as it were for a triumph. Moreouer, of those that being intercluded from flight, were taken prisoners,

(of wh••••••e there were a great number) these are numbred for the chiefe: first of all, the Lorde Termes the Generall of the ar∣mie and Captaine of Calice, who had receyued a grieuous wounde, not onely in his fortune, but also in his bodie, and with him the Lordes Danebault Villebon, and Simarpont, and ma∣nye other menne of verye good qualitie, whome for breuities sake we doe passe ouer in silence. Moreuer, they lost all their ensignes, ordinance, munition, bagge, and baggage, and all the furniture of the campe, and also all the bootie that they had gotten in Flaunders fell vnto Egmont and the Burgonions. There 〈◊〉〈◊〉 slaygie on Egmont his part fine hundreth and not aboue. But among them was Monsieur de Pelew a noble manne of the lawe countrie, with some number of horsemen and footemen that were of great marke, and accounted among the chiefe. Those thrée handes whome we tolde you Termes had placed in Lunkinke, when that he departed vnto the campe, he commaun∣ded to sacke and sire the towne, and streyghtwaye to followe him, the which they did, but being intercluded by the victors Burgonions, they were slayne euery man. This noble victorie no doubte did muche represse the insolencie and ferocitie of the Frenchmen, that then had a great power in the Duchie of Luxenburg, and made the French king verye glad to incline vnto peace, the whiche did take effecte within fewe moneths after.