CHAP. XLII.
THE TOWN OF MELUN IS CLOSELY BESIEGED.—THE CAPTURE OF THE COUNT DE CONVERSAN.—THE DEPARTURE OF THE YOUNG KING OF SICILY FOR ROME.
THE TOWN OF MELUN IS CLOSELY BESIEGED.—THE CAPTURE OF THE COUNT DE CONVERSAN.—THE DEPARTURE OF THE YOUNG KING OF SICILY FOR ROME.
Wemust now return to the kings of France and England, and the duke of Burgundy, who having conquered Montereau advanced to Melun, to lay siege thereto, as it held out for the dauphin. They surrounded it on all sides with their army; and the king of France, accompanied by the two queens, went to fix his residence at Corbeil.
King Henry, with his brothers, the duke of Bavaria, surnamed le Rouge, hisbrother in law, and his other princes were encamped toward the Gâtinois: duke Philip of Burgundy, with all his men, the earl of Huntingdon and some other english captains were encamped on the opposite side toward Brie.
The besiegers exerted themselves to the utmost to annoy the enemy, and pointed various engines of war, cannons, bombards and such like, to batter down the walls of the town, which was commanded by the lord de Barbasan, a noble vassal, subtle, expert, and renowned in arms. He had with him sir Pierre de Bourbon, lord de Prèaulx, and another of the name of Bourgeois, with a garrison of from six to seven hundred combatants. They shewed every appearance of making a vigorous defence against all the attacks of the besiegers; but notwithstanding their exertions, the town was approached by the enemy to the very walls, by means of mines and other subtleties of war, so that their fortifications were much damaged.
On the other side of the town, the duke of Burgundy, by an unexpected and well-concerted attack, gained a strong bulwarkwhich the besieged had erected without the ditches, and which sorely annoyed the Burgundians: the duke, after the capture, fortified it against the town, and posted guards in it night and day. A bridge of boats was also thrown over the Seine, by which a free communication was opened between the two armies; and the king of England had his camp strongly surrounded with pallisades and ditches, that he might not be surprised by the enemy, leaving sufficient openings, fortified with barriers, which he had carefully guarded by day and by night. In like manner did the duke of Burgundy and the English that were encamped with him.
In this state did the siege continue for eighteen weeks, during which some few sallies, but in no very considerable force, were made by the besieged. However, a valiant english captain called sir Philip Lis a notable gentleman from Burgundy, sir Everard de Vienne, and several more, lost their lives. As the besiegers continued their attacks incessantly, great damage was done to the walls, which those in the town repaired as well as they couldwith casks filled with earth, and other sufficient materials.
The king of England had a mine carried on with such success that it was very nearly under the walls, when the besieged, having suspicions of what was intended, formed a countermine, so that great part of the enemy's works fell in, and a warm engagement with lances took place. The English erected a strong barrier on their side of the mine, at which the king and the duke of Burgundy engaged two of the Dauphinois with push of pike, which was afterward continued by several knights and esquires of each party. Then the following persons of the duke's household were created knights, Jean de Hornes, the lord de Baussigines, Robert de Mannes, and some others.
While this siege lasted, the king of England paid frequent visits to his queen at Corbeil, with whom was the duchess of Clarence, and other noble ladies from England. When the town had been thus blockaded on all sides, king Charles was brought thither to afford the besieged an opportunity of surrendering it to the king of France their natural lord; but to the summonsmade them they replied, that they would cheerfully throw open their gates to him alone, but that they would never pay obedience to the king of England, the ancient deadly enemy of France.
Nevertheless, king Charles remained some time in the camp, under the care and management of his son-in-law the king of England; not indeed with his former state and pomp, for in comparison of past times it was a poor sight now to see him. He was accompanied by the queen of France, grandly attended by ladies and damsels; and they resided about a month in a house which king Henry had erected for them near to his tents, and at a distance from the town, that the cannon might not annoy them. Every day, at sun-rise and night-fall, eight or ten clarions, and divers other instruments, played most melodiously for an hour before the king of France's tent.
In truth, the king of England was more magnificently attended during this siege than at any other during his reign, and was personally very active to accomplish his enterprise. While these things were passing, Pierre de Luxembourg countde Conversan and de Brienne, returning from this siege to his county of Brienne, and escorted by about sixty men at arms, was met by a party of Dauphinois from Meaux in Brie, namely Pierron de Lupel and others; and they being superior in numbers, carried him and his men prisoners to Meaux, where he remained until the king of England besieged that town, as you shall hear.
At this period, the queen of Sicily, widow to king Louis of happy memory, granted permission, but not without heavy sighs, to her eldest son Louis to go to Rome to be crowned king of Sicily by the hands of the pope. She gave him into the charge of the Florentines and Genoese, who had entered the port of Marseilles with fifteen gallies, trusting not entirely to their loyalty, but demanding as hostages for her son eight of the most noble barons of Naples, who had come to fetch him by orders from the cities, chief towns, and principal noblemen of the realm. This they had done from hatred to their queen, wife to sir James de Bourbon count de la Marche. She had detained her husband in prison in consequenceof her quarrels with him and his ministers.
The young king Louis having embarked at Marseilles, which was a dependance of his mother's, sailed to Rome, and there solemnly received his kingdom from the hands of the pope, although he was not then crowned. He was thenceforward styled king Louis, as his late father had been.