SHF 1-301 syncThe
king of England remained all winter at the siege of Calais, and a great number of marvellous ventures took place on either side. For the duration of the siege the
king had in mind to keep the
Flemish as allies, for he had been advised that the easiest way for him to achieve his intention was through them. Thus he frequently sent to them with grand promises, telling them that if he could achieve his ends in
Calais, he would recover for them
Lille and
Douai and all their dependencies. In light of such promises, the
Flemish made a move then, while the
king of England was still in
Normandy whence he came to
Crécy and
Calais, and came to lay siege to
Béthune. At that time their captain was
Sir Oudart de Renty, who had been banished from
France. They maintained a great siege against this town and constrained it grievously by assault; yet inside in the garrison were four fine knights stationed there by
king Philippe; my lord
Geoffroy de Charny,
Sir Eustache de Ribemont, my lord
Baudouin d'Annequin, and
Sir Jean de Landas. The town of
Béthune was so well defended that the
Flemish made no conquests there, but returned to
Flanders without having achieved anything. Even though the
king of England was before
Calais, he did not cease to send messages to them and make generous promises in order to retain their friendship and diminish their opinion of
king Philippe, who was taking great pains to acquire their affection. The
king of England would gladly have seen the young
count of Flanders, who was barely fifteen years old, wedded to his daughter (Elizabeth)
Isabella.
The king's efforts were such that the commons of
Flanders agreed to it entirely, for which the
king of England was joyful, for it seemed to him that through this marriage they would be more willing to help him. It also appeared to the
Flemish that through this union they could put up better resistance against the
French, and the affections of the
English were far more necessary to them than those of the
French. Yet their lord, who had grown up among the royal family of
France and remained there still, had no desire to comply, declaring frankly that he would not marry the daughter of the man whom his father had killed [sic]
3. Elsewhere, the
duke of Brabant was directing all his energies into his wish for the young
count of Flanders to take his
daughter for his wife, promising that he would obtain for him the full enjoyment of
Flanders, by fair means or foul. And the
duke made it known to the
king of France that, if the marriage to his
daughter were to go ahead, he would bring the
Flemish round to him and turn them against the
king of England. On the strength of these promises
king Philippe consented to the marriage in question.
When the
duke of Brabant had the agreement of the
king of France, he sent his envoys to the principal citizens of the chartered towns of
Flanders who coloured the union with so many fair reasons, that the councils of the towns summoned the young
count, their lord, assuring and convincing him that if he would come to
Flanders and follow their advice, they would be his loyal friends and subjects, and surrender to him all of the rights and jurisdictions of
Flanders in a way that no count had ever possessed them before.
pb 148 v