CHAP. VII.
POPE MARTIN ADJOURNS THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.—THE KING OF ENGLAND CONQUERS PONT DE L'ARCHE.—OTHER MATTERS.
POPE MARTIN ADJOURNS THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.—THE KING OF ENGLAND CONQUERS PONT DE L'ARCHE.—OTHER MATTERS.
Atthis period, pope Martin, with the consent of the holy council of Constance, adjourned that council to the month of April in the year 1423, to be held in a convenient city, which should be named by him or his successor in proper time. The pope then departed from Constance, and was conducted from the palace of the bishop by Sigismund emperor of Germany and king of Bohemia, walking on foot, and holding the bridle of his mule. When he was without the town, the pope mounted his horse and went to Geneva, where he held his court for three months.
At this same time, king Henry of England advanced to Louviers in Normandy, which had submitted to his obedience, and thence went to quarter himself at the abbeyof Bomport, of the order of Cisteaux[3], very near to Pont de l'Arche, of which place sir John de Graville was governor for the king of France. King Henry sent sir John de Cornwall to summon him to surrender it, but the lord de Graville replied that he would not: upon which Cornwall said, 'Graville, I pledge my word, that in spite of you or of your men I will cross the Seine. Should I do so, you shall give me the best courser you have; and if I fail, I will present you with my helmet of steel, which I will prove to be worth five hundred nobles.' After this conversation and engagement, they parted mutually pleased with each other.
Sir John de Graville sent in haste to all parts for reinforcements of men at arms to guard the fords of the river, and among them came sir James de Harcourt, who happened at that time to be at Estampigny. Several other gentlemen, and many lords, came to his aid, to the amount of eight hundred combatants, and full twelve thousand of the common people.
On the morrow, as Cornwall had promised, he came to the banks of the Seine, and embarked on board eight small boats, attended by his son, fifteen years of age, sixty combatants, one single horse, some small cannons, and military stores: he made for a little island that was in the middle of the stream, whence he could fire at the enemy who guarded the opposite shore. But although the French were so many as I have said, they did not even attempt to make any defence, but instantly fled in the utmost disorder, every man escaping as well as he could.
Sir John de Graville returned to Pont de l'Arche, sir James de Harcourt to Estampigny, and the commonalty fled to the woods. Sir John de Cornwall and his men seeing all this from the island re-imbarked in their boats, and landed without opposition. He immediately created his son a knight; and shortly after, others of the English crossed also in these boats, to the number of about a thousand combatants, part of whom followed sir John de Cornwall, to skirmish before Pont de l'Arche, and the rest scoured the country round. Sir John de Cornwalladdressed sir John de Graville, and said, that he and his countrymen had badly acquitted themselves, to suffer him and his small company to cross the river, when they were so very numerous, declaring, that if he had been in his situation with only his sixty English, he would have defended the landing against the united forces of the kings of France and of England.
When the English who had passed the river were re-assembled, they fixed their quarters in the abbey of Mortemer, in the forest of Lyons. The whole of the country of Caux were much alarmed, and not without cause, when they learnt that the English had passed the Seine.
The next day the king of England ordered his brother the duke of Clarence to cross the river with four thousand combatants, and to invest the town and castle of Pont de l'Arche on all sides. He had also a bridge thrown over the Seine, on the side leading toward Rouen, that he might cross whenever he pleased; and this bridge was called the Bridge of Saint George.
After three weeks siege, sir John de Graville surrendered the town and castleto the king of England, on condition that he and his men might depart in safety with their baggage. Thus king Henry was master, to pass the Seine at his pleasure; and he placed a strong garrison in Pont de l'Arche, in dread of whom the greater part of the peasantry fled the country with all their effects.
FOOTNOTES:[3]Cisteaux.—An order of white friars (instituted in the year 1090,) who under their uppermost white habit wear a black one and red shoes.—Cotgrave.
[3]Cisteaux.—An order of white friars (instituted in the year 1090,) who under their uppermost white habit wear a black one and red shoes.—Cotgrave.
[3]Cisteaux.—An order of white friars (instituted in the year 1090,) who under their uppermost white habit wear a black one and red shoes.—Cotgrave.