been knighted that day, won their spurs in a manner which would deprive them of all pleasure in celebrating the anniversary. The earl of Montaigne came out of Calais to meet the conquerors on their return, and gave them a most joyful reception: but he sharply reproved those who, by giving way at the commencement of the action, had put the host in imminent danger. * By this time the preparations for the siege were complete, and the duke went, without any retinue of state, to Ghent and other places in Flanders, that he might expedite the march of the Flemish troops. Early in June, a general muster was made in Ghent of the force belonging to that city and its dependencies: they remained in the great market-place, where they had been drawn up, from eight in the morning till noon, and then marched out on the road to Calais: the duke accompanied them as far as the open country, and then went to Bruges, to hasten in like manner their contingent. The weather was so hot, that two of the Ghentese captains and several soldiers died of the heat. The duke had given strict orders that no marauding should be permitted; and, in consequence, while they halted at Armentieres, one-and-twenty men were hanged upon the trees in front of head-quarters for robbery. As they advanced, they took vengeance for the defeat of their countrymen in the affair near Gravelines, upon the English, but upon the property of the two persons who held the command in that unlucky affair, and who vainly represented that no blame was imputable to them, for the Flemings that day would neither listen to their advice, nor obey their orders. At Gravelines they were joined by the force from Bruges, Ypres, and other parts of Flanders. The carriages for *Monstrelet, vii. 348-352. Sueyro, ii. 281. Holinshed, iii. 187. not "To tell you what ordinance was now cast, what powder was bought, what engines were devised, what harness was provided, what victual was purveyed for this great enterprise, I will not cumber you in rehearsing every thing particularly, because the Flemings write that the provision was more than tongue could speak, or heart could think."-Hall, 181. The sieur de Comines commanded this part of the army, and Jean de Comines commanded the force from Ypres. One of these was probably father to the historian. the conveyance of their tents, and the baggage and stores, were out of number; and on the top of each, Monstrelet says, there was a cock to crow the hours. Very many peasants had been collected to draw the cannon and other engines, the artillery both of ancient and modern warfare being at this time in use. Here they were mustered before the duke and Richemont, the constable of France. There were full 30,000 men wearing helmets * and the constable is said to have been struck with admiration at the strength which the duke from one single province had brought into the field. They formed, indeed, a formidable array, if an army were to be estimated only by its numbers, and the appearance of the men. One who was not well acquainted with the composition of that army, might have judged of it the more favourably, because the Flemings made no pretension to the pomp and bravery of war, but wore plain armour; and the regularity of their encampment was beautiful, the tents of every town having their separate quarter; and in these again the various trades being separately classed and subdivided into companies, each quarter had thus the resemblance of a town, and the whole appeared at a distance like a great city. But it was soon seen that with this civic regularity, neither the principle of military disciple was to be found nor of civil obedience. A hare ran through the Bruges part of the camp; the clamour which was set up was mistaken for an alarm; the whole force took the field; and when the cause of the disturbance was understood, the appearance of this poor frightened animal † was regarded as an ill omen. That presage was confirmed when they had crossed the river, and were about to encamp for the night at Tournehem: a tempest began, of wind, and rain, and thunder, and lightning: the lightning was deemed to manifest itself portentously over the town and towers of Gra * Monstrelet, vii. 352-356. Sueyro, 282. † Monstrelet says a wolf; but Sueyro says it was a hare, and notices the evil augury which was drawn from its appearance. velines; and the force of the wind was such, that they could not pitch their tents, but were forced to take up their lodging upon the ground, and abide the brunt of the storm. * The duke himself was confident of success: he had hitherto been fortunate in all his designs, and in this, which was the greatest enterprise that had been undertaken for many years, the popular feeling had thus far entirely corresponded to his wishes; so much did the Flemings seem to have the conquest of Calais at heart. In reliance upon this feeling, he had dismissed half his Picard and Burgundian men-atarms, against the advice of experienced counsellors, who warned him that, in case of danger, he would find a handful of gentlemen worth more than all the commons of Flanders. † Perhaps he thought that more danger was to be apprehended from quarrels between this part of his army and the Flemings than from any other cause; for the manner in which the latter asserted their superiority was likely enough to have provoked resistance. The Picards were so noted for their alacrity in pillaging, that their name had passed into a word of reproach. The Burgundians were not less. expert in this branch of their military profession: but the Flemish commanders had set out with the determination of rigorously enforcing order in this respect; and, under the plea of enforcing it, the Flemish soldiers did not content themselves with replevying the spoil from the plunderers, but despoiled them of their own property also; and if complaint were made, the aggrieved party only drew upon himself additional chastisement. They suffered this in silence and in fear, "but it was most impatiently;" and if there had been any considerable body of their countrymen at hand, to have taken up their cause, the camp might soon have become a scene of bloodshed.‡ The first hostile operations were against the little Sueyro, 282. Monstrelet, 356. Barante, vi. 392. + Barante, 389. 393. Monstrelet, 357. CASTLE OF MERK TAKEN. 69 the castle of Oye. The garrison consisted of some seventy soldiers, twelve of whom sold their lives dearly, rest yielded themselves to the duke's mercy. Unhappily he had given the place and the spoil to the Ghentese, and they immediately hung nine-and-twenty of the prisoners in front of the castle, and afterwards brought forth the remainder to suffer the same fate; but the duke interposed, offended with this inhumanity, and saved them.* The castle was rased. The whole army then proceeded to take post between the castle of Merk and Calais; and the duke, making an excursion before the town with his men-at-arms, obtained some advantage over a party of the garrison who sallied out against him; and his people drove away a large booty in cattle. The Picards then assaulted Merk, which was defended by sir John Gedding, with about 200 men. The outwork was carried: the garrison displayed the banner of St. George on the side toward Calais, rung all their bells, and added loud outcries, as if calling for speedy relief; but they prepared also manfully for defence. The assailants set a strong guard round the castle, lest they should escape during the night, and in the morning brought many great engines against the walls, damaged them in several places, and then Picards and Flemings made a joint attack. Three such assaults were effectually resisted, the English throwing down stones from the battlements, and making such good use of their bows, that the assailants were glad to retreat. This resistance was not protracted so long as to exasperate an enemy already but too much disposed to exercise their power with insolence and cruelty. When the garrison saw that no movement was making for their succour, they demanded a parley, and surrendered on the sole condition that they should not be injured in life or limb: they were sent to Ghent, there to be confined till they should be exchanged for any Flemings that might be taken. The common *Holinshed, 187. Monstrelet says, that of this second party, twenty five in number, four or five only were respited at the duke's request Sueyro hangs them all, and seems to approve the execution para exemplo y terror de los-que con poca gente se atrevian à tan grande exercito. men hurried into the fort for the spoil; but some of the Ghentese stationed themselves at the gates, and taking every thing from the spoilers as they went out, laid all in a heap, saying, that the sheriffs of Ghent had ordered them to do so: when night came, they loaded the whole in carts, and carried it off for themselves. In conse quence of the complaints that were made, enquiry was instituted, and the offenders were brought before the sheriffs whose names they had abused, and they were sentenced to banishment from Ghent, and from the whole of Flanders, for fifty years. Yet, though these men were convicted of roguery against their countrymen, the sentence occasioned much murmuring, and had nearly produced a mutiny among the Flemings. Six men of that nation, and one Hollander, were found among the garrison: they were beheaded on the following day, and the fort was demolished.* The army decamping, then fixed their quarters upon the ground where, it was pretended, Jacob van Arteveld had encamped during king Edward's siege of Calais. Some false tradition had, perhaps, been devised, with the view of encouraging the Flemings as by a good omen; for that demagogue had been murdered by the people a year before the siege.† The duke, with his knights and men-at-arms, pitched his tents nearer to the town. The day did not pass without a sharp skirmish, in which La Hire, who had distinguished himself when Joan of Arc was in her career of success, and who had just come to visit the duke, was wounded by an arrow in his leg. Many engines were planted to throw stones and balls into the tower: this was returned with interest from the ramparts; and after three vain assaults, the besiegers deemed it prudent to take up their quarters at a safer distance. Frequent sallies were made, and frequent skirmishes ensued, with various fortune, the Picards displaying great courage, even when they failed of success; but for the Flemings, the praise which Monstrelet be*Monstrelet, 359-361. Holinshed, 187. It is remarkable, that M. de Barante should have overlooked this, and repeated Monstrelet's statement. |