CHAP. LXXV.
KING HENRY REDUCES MEAUX TO HIS OBEDIENCE.—THE EXECUTIONS THAT TAKE PLACE IN CONSEQUENCE OF ORDERS FROM HIM.
KING HENRY REDUCES MEAUX TO HIS OBEDIENCE.—THE EXECUTIONS THAT TAKE PLACE IN CONSEQUENCE OF ORDERS FROM HIM.
Theking of England was indefatigable at the siege of Meaux, and having destroyed many parts of the walls of the market place, he summoned the garrison to surrender themselves to the king of France and himself, or he would storm the place. To this summons they replied, that it was not yet time to surrender,—on which the king ordered the place to be stormed. Theassault continued for seven or eight hours in a most bloody manner: nevertheless, the besieged made an obstinate defence, in spite of the great numbers that were attacking them.
Their lances had been almost all broken; but in their stead they made use of spits, and fought with such courage, that the English were driven from the ditches, which encouraged them much. Among the besieged who behaved gallantly must be noticed Guichart de Sisay; and his courage and ability were remarked by king Henry, who, after the reduction of the place, offered him a large sum if he would take the oaths and serve him; but he would never listen to the proposal, and remained firm to the dauphin.
Many new knights were made by the English at this attack, such as John Guigny, a Savoyard, and the bastard de Thiam, who had formerly been a great captain in the free companies under duke John of Burgundy. There were also at this siege, under the king of England, the lords de Châtillon and de Genlis, with many others of the french nobility.
From the commencement of this siege until the last moment, when they had no longer any hopes of relief from the dauphin, the besieged poured torrents of abuse upon the English. Among other insults which they offered, they had an ass led on the walls of the town, and, by beating it, made it bray, and then cried out to the English, that it was their king calling out for assistance, and told them to go to him. This conduct raised the king's indignation against them.
During the siege, a young knight, son to sir John Cornwall, and cousin german to king Henry, was killed by a cannon shot, to the great sorrow of the king and the other princes; for, although he was but a youth, he was very well behaved and prudent.
Toward the end of April, the besieged, having lost all hopes of succour, and finding they could not hold out longer, offered to enter into terms of capitulation. King Henry appointed his uncle the duke of Exeter, the earl of Warwick, the count de Conversan and sir Walter Hungerford, his commissioners for this purpose. On thepart of the besieged were nominated sir Phillip Mallet, Pierron de Luppel, John d'Aunay, Sinader de Gerames, le borgne de Caucun, John d'Espinach and Guillaume de Fossé. They had several conferences, and at length agreed to the following terms:
First, on the 11th day of May, the market-place, and all Meaux, was to be surrendered into the hands of the kings of France and England.
Item, sir Louis de Gast, the bastard de Vaurus, Jean de Rouvieres, Tromagon, Bernard de Meureville, and a person called Oraches, who had sounded the trumpet during the siege, were to be delivered up to justice,—and such punishment was to be inflicted on them as they might deserve.
Item, Guichart de Sisay, Pierron de Luppel, master Robert de Gerames, Philip de Gamaches and John d'Aunay, were to remain in the power of the two kings until all the forts held by them, or their allies, in the realm should be given up; and when that was done, they were to have their liberty.
Item, all the English, Welsh, Scotsand Irish, subjects to the king of England who had assisted in the defence of the place, were to be delivered up to the two kings.
Item, all other persons, as well men at arms as burghers, were to have their lives spared, but to remain prisoners to the two kings.
Item, the count de Conversan was to be acquitted of all his engagements to Pierron de Luppel respecting his ransom; and the latter was to promise that he would hold him acquitted of the above, without fraud or malice.
Item, the besieged, within eight days preceding the surrender of the town, were to carry all their effects to an appointed place, without any way injuring them, and to deliver inventories thereof to commissaries named by the said kings. They were to carry all relics, ornaments, or church-furniture, to a separate place.
Item, they were to deliver up all prisoners, whether confined in the market-place or in other forts, and acquit them of their pledges.
Item, they were not to suffer anyperson to quit the place before the surrender of the town, and, in like manner, were not to permit any one to enter it, unless so ordered by the kings.
Item, for the due observance of these articles, the besieged were to give assurances signed with the hand and seal of one hundred of the principal townsmen, four-and-twenty of whom were to remain as hostages so long as the two kings might please.
Item, on the signing this treaty, all hostilities were to cease on each side.
Matters now remained in this state until the 10th day of May, when the substance of the above articles was put into execution by commissaries appointed by the two kings, who sent off the prisoners under a strong guard. Some of the principal were carried to Rouen, and thence to England, and others to Paris, where they were confined. The whole of the prisoners of war might be about eight hundred; and their commander in chief, the bastard de Vaurus, was, by king Henry's command, beheaded, and his body hung on a tree, without the walls of Meaux, called thenceforth Vaurus's Tree. This Vaurus had, in his time,hung many a Burgundian and Englishman: his head was fixed to a lance, and fastened on the tree over his body.
Sir Louis Gast, Denis de Vaurus, master John de Rouvieres, and he who had sounded the trumpet, were beheaded at Paris,—their heads fixed on lances over the market-place, and their bodies hung by the arms to a gibbet. All the wealth found in Meaux, and which was very great, was distributed according to the pleasure of king Henry. He was very proud of his victory, and entered the place in great pomp, and remained there some days with his princes to repose and solace himself, having given orders for the complete reparation of the walls that had been so much damaged by artillery at the siege.