The
princess was intent on securing the full amount that she had asked the
count of Foix to give her, but the
count was very shrewd and perspicacious where his interests were concerned. Suspecting, perhaps, that it was all to do with the
count of Armagnac's ransom, he stood firm and said,
"My lady, for a lowly knight such as I, occupied with the building of towns and castles, the gift I am offering should do well enough."
When the
princess realised she would gain nothing more she said,
"
Count of Foix, I request and entreat you to let the
count of Armagnac off the hook."
"My lady," replied the
count. "I must submit to your entreaty. I told you that if the boon you asked of came to no more than fifty thousand francs then I would grant it. The
count of Armagnac owes me two hundred and fifty thousand, and at your entreaty I give you the fifty thousand."
That was the end of the matter. The
count of Armagnac gained fifty thousand francs at the request of the
princess of Aquitaine. After spending three days with the
prince and princess of Aquitaine, the
count of Foix returned to his own country.
SHF 3-6 sync
Third Book, Chapter 6 [1369-1388-(1383)]
How the garrison of Lourdes assailed the land of Bigorre, and the capture of Artigat.
I, master
Jehan Froissart, make mention of these affairs for the reason that, when I was in the
county of Foix and
Béarn, I passed through
Bigorre. There I enquired about everything that had happened of which I had not been informed. I discovered that while the
prince of Wales and Aquitaine was residing at
Tarbes the mood took him to visit the
castle at Lourdes, three leagues away amid the mountains.
When he had arrived at
Lourdes and had examined and explored the town, the castle and the country round about, he was full of as much praise for the strength of the place as for its position on the border with several countries, for
Lourdes men could easily invade the kingdom of
Aragon as far as
Catalonia and
Barcelona. The
prince immediately called a knight of his household to him in whom he had great confidence and who had served him loyally. This knight was called
Sir Pierre-Arnaut de Béarn, an expert man-at-arms and cousin of the
count of Foix.
"
Sir Pierre," said the
prince. "Upon my arrival in this country, I appoint you
castellan and captain of Lourdes and
governor of the land of Bigorre. Protect this castle well so that you may give a good account of it to my lord and father and to me."
"Certainly my lord," said the
knight. There he pledged his faith and homage, and the
prince gave it into his possession.
Now, you are aware that when the war was renewed between the
king of France and the
king of England, as it can be found earlier in this history,
count Guy de Saint-Pol and
Sir Hugues de Châtillon, master of the crossbows at that time, captured the town of
Abbeville and the whole country of
Ponthieu. Two great barons of
Bigorre, who are or were named
Sir Monaut de Barbazan and the
lord of Antin went over to the
French and seized the city, town and castle of
Tarbes, for they were weakly defended on behalf of the
king of England.
The
castle of Lourdes remained under the command of
Sir Pierre-Arnaut de Béarn, who would not have surrendered it under any circumstances; instead he fought back hard against the kingdom of
France, and sent for daring companions from
Béarn and
Upper Gascony to assist in the war, and many able men at arms came to him.
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