"Is there no gentleman among you who would perform some feat of arms for the love of his lady? If there is, then here I am, ready to go forth fully armed and mounted to tilt with the lance three times, to land three blows of the battle axe, and three strokes of the dagger. So let there be someone who can undertake such a feat, and all for his lady. Now let us see amongst you
Englishmen if there be any of you in love."
This
French squire was named
Gauvain Michaille and his words and request were circulated among the
English. Then an
English squire stepped forward, an able companion and excellent jouster called
Joachim Cator, who said,
"Yes, I will gladly oblige him, so have him come forth from the castle at once."
The
lord of Fitzwalter, marshal of the host, approached the barriers and said to
Sir Guy le Baveux who was there,
"Have your squire come out here, for he has found someone who will happily oblige him, and we will assure him his safety in all respects."
Gauvain Michaille rejoiced at these words, and armed himself immediately with the help of the lords who equipped him fully, and mounted a fine horse which they gave to him. Then, attended by two others, he came forth from the castle, his varlets carrying three lances, three battle axes and three daggers. I can assure you that the
English stared at him as he emerged, greatly outraged by the exploit, for they never thought that a Frenchman would dare to fight man-to-man.
There were also three sword strokes to be part of this venture, and
Gauvain had three brought with him for fear of any
SHF 2-160 syncbreaking.
The
earl of Buckingham who was already at his lodgings was informed by the heralds of this contest and declared that he should like to see it, so the
earl of Stafford and the
earl of Devon mounted up beside him. The assault on
Toury came to a halt as a result of this combat and all of the
Englishmen withdrew to watch the joust.
When the
earl of Buckingham and the lords had arrived, the Englishman who was to joust, named
Joachim Cator, was brought forward. He was in full armour and mounted on a fine steed. When they were at the spot where the joust would take place, they took their positions on either side, and they made way for them, and each had his well shod lance held out to him. They took up their shields, lowered their lances, spurred their mounts, and charged towards each other as straight as they could without appearing in any way to hold back. At the first pass they missed one another due to the high-spiritedness of their horses. At the second pass they struck, but only a glancing blow, so the
earl of Buckingham exclaimed, as it was the end of the day,
"Whoa, whoa!" and said to the constable, the
lord of Latimer, "Make them desist. They have done enough of this for today. We shall make them conclude their activity elsewhere when we have more leisure than we have now, and take care that no harm befalls the
French squire, for he should be as well looked after as our own men.
pb 41 v