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pb 10 v
From there the pope travelled to Avignon and made his arrival known to the king of France and his brothers, who were all glad of it. The duke of Anjou, who was residing at that time at Toulouse, came to pay him a visit and upon his arrival the pope bestowed on him all of the gifts which the queen of Naples had vested in him. The duke of Anjou, who always aspired to power and great honours, received the gifts magnificently and accepted them for himself and his heirs. He told the pope that, as soon as he could, he would take such a force there as would enable him to stand firmly against all the enemies besetting the queen of Naples. The duke of Anjou stayed with the pope for more or less a fortnight and then returned to Toulouse, to the duchess, his wife, and pope Clement remained in Avignon and gave command of his men-at-arms to Sir Sylvestre Budes, Sir Bernard de la Salle, and Florimont, to harry and harass the Romans. SHF 2-100 syncAt this time in the marches of Tuscany and Italy there was a valiant knight of England named Sir John Hawkwood. He did and had done many great feats of arms there in the past, and had left the kingdom of France when peace was made and declared between the two kings at Brétigny near Chartres. At that time he was a poor young knight and knew that returning to his own country would not be of any profit to him. When, in accordance with the peace treaties, all manner of men-at-arms were forced to vacate the kingdom of France, he made himself captain of a troop of companions known as the Latecomers and they went into Burgundy.
A great many such troops gathered there: Englishmen, Bretons, Gascons, Germans and company men of all nations. Hawkwood was one of the foremost leaders along with Birkhead and Creswell, by whom the battle of Brignais was fought, and who assisted Bernard de la Salle in capturing Pont-Saint-Esprit with Bernard de Sorges. When they had harried and harassed the land for quite some time, along with the pope and the cardinals, a treaty was arranged with them through the agency of the marquis of Montferrat, who was at war at that time with the lords of Milan. The marquis led them over the mountains after he had paid them sixty thousand francs, of which Hawkwood received ten thousand for himself and his troop. When they had won the war for the marquis, some returned to France because Sir Bertrand du Guesclin, the count of La Marche, the lord of Beaujeu, and the marshal of France, Sir Arnoul d'Audrehem, led them off to Spain to fight for king Enrique against king Pedro. Pope Urban V also had a hand in sending them there. Sir John Hawkwood and his company remained in Italy and pope Urban engaged them against the lords of Milan for as long as he lived, as did pope Gregory who reigned after him. This Sir John Hawkwood also brought about the lord of Coucy's victory against the count of Vertus and the Lombards. Some say, and rightly so, that the lord of Coucy would have been thoroughly routed by the Lombards and the count of Vertus had it not been for Hawkwood, who came to his aid with five hundred warriors because the lord of Coucy was married to the daughter of the king of England, and not for any other reason. Sir John Hawkwood was a seasoned knight, renowned in the Italian marches where he performed many great deeds of arms. pb 11 r