Many more such words and others besides, which I neither heard nor could know, were spoken by the
king of France to his brothers. His son, the dauphin
Charles, was present and the
duke of Anjou absent, for the
king of France was most desirous that the others should deal with the management of the affairs of the kingdom of
France, and the
duke of Anjou, his brother, was excluded because he was highly suspicious of him. He sensed his envy and was fearful of the risk, but although the
king of France banned him from his death bed and distanced him from the affairs of
France, the
duke of Anjou did not move very far away at all for he had messengers forever coming and going assiduously between
Angers and
Paris, who reported to him on the king's condition. The
duke of Anjou also controlled some of the king's men by whom he acquainted himself day by day with the king's health and business, and on the very last day, when the
king of France departed this life, he was in
Paris and so close by his chambers that he heard for himself everything that you have just heard recounted. However, we will now follow the
English and record their progress on the march, and which route they took before they entered
Brittany, and so on.
SHF 2-166 sync
Of the lord of Hangest, who escaped, and how the lord of Mauvoisin was captured by the English, and of the death of king Charles of France, which was a pity.
When the
earl of Buckingham and all of his companies departed the
forest of Marchenoir in the county of
Blois, they marched in the direction of
Vendôme, towards the
forest of Coulommiers.
As they rode close by
Vendôme, the vanguard was riding out in front, for it made sense for them to do so, and thus
Sir Thomas Trivet and
Sir William Clinton came to be riding together with around forty lance. On the road they encountered by chance the
lord of Hangest, who was making his way to
Vendôme with a company of thirty lance. The
English grasped at once that they were
French and spurred their mounts on vigorously towards them, lances lowered. The
French, who found themselves outnumbered, had no desire to wait for them, for they were near
Vendôme. And so they galloped to that place to get to safety, with the
English in hot pursuit, and the French ahead of them.
Robert de Hangest, the
lord's cousin, was brought down there with lance blows, and
Jean de Montigny,
Guillaume de Lannoy, and five or six others were immediately surrounded and were forced to give themselves up, or meet a worse end. The
lord of Hangest came to the barrier at such an opportune moment as to find it open. He dismounted and went in, then took up his sword and placed himself valiantly in a defensive position. Little by little all of his companions gathered and as soon as they arrived, they dismounted and joined the defence. However, twelve of them were taken prisoner before the
English withdrew. This is how the event played out. That same day
Sir Robert Knolles and his company were riding and encountered the
lord of Mauvoisin. The
English and
French threw themselves at each other for they were relatively equal in numbers. The
lord of Mauvoisin and his company were not ready to take flight and fought on foot with great devotion, but finally
Sir Robert Knolles captured him and made him his prisoner.
pb 44 v