'In God's name, not by a lawful wife,' he replied. 'Though he does have two fine young bastard sons who are knights,
Sir Yvain and
Sir Gracien, whom you will see and whom he loves as well as himself.'
'Has he never married, then?'
'He has,' he replied, 'and he is still, but
my lady of Foix does not reside with him.'
'So where does she reside, then?' I asked.
'She lives in
Navarre,' he replied, 'for the
king of Navarre is her cousin, and she is the daughter of the late
king Louis of Navarre.'
'And did the
count of Foix have no children by her?'
'Oh yes he did,' said he. 'A fine
son, the pride of his father and of the country, for through him the land of
Béarn, which is disputed, could have been settled, because the lad's
wife was the sister of the
count of Armagnac.'
'May I ask sir, what happened to this
young man?' I said.
'Yes,' he replied, 'but not now, for it is too long a tale and we have arrived at the town, as you can see.'
With that I left the
knight in peace, and shortly afterwards we arrived at
Tarbes where we were lodged comfortably at the Star
Inn of the Star. We remained there for the whole of that day, for it is a hospitable town in which to rest oneself and one's horses, with a generous provision of hay, oats and water from the fine river that flows there.
SHF 3-15 sync
Third Book, Chapter 11 [1388]
How the count of Foix was unwilling to accept the county of Bigorre from the king of France, receiving instead only the castle of Mauvezin.
After mass the following day, we mounted our horses and left
Tarbes, riding towards
Ger, a town which has always defended itself most bravely against the garrison of
Lourdes. We passed it by and straightaway entered the country of
Béarn. The
knight stopped there on the plain and announced, 'This is
Béarn.'
We were at a crossroads, unsure as to which way to ride, to
Morlaàs or
Pau. In the end we took the road for
Morlaàs. Riding through the heathland of
Béarn which is tolerably level, I asked, in order to engage him in conversation once more,
'Is the town of
Pau near here?'
'Yes,' he replied. 'I will show you the bell tower, but it is much further away than it seems, for it is very difficult terrain to negotiate as the ground is clayey and sodden. For anyone unacquainted with the country, it would be folly to attempt to go through it. Below are the
town and castle of Lourdes.'
'Who is the present captain?' I asked.
'
Jean de Béarn, the brother of the late
Sir Pierre, is the captain and self-styled seneschal of
Bigorre on behalf of the
king of England.'
'Indeed,' I said. 'And does this
Jean ever visit the
count of Foix?'
He replied, 'He has not visited him since the death of his
brother, but his other companions, the likes of
Pierre d'Antin,
Raymon-Arnaud de Rostan,
Arnauton de Sainte-Coulombe and others, go whenever they have the opportunity.'
'Has the
count of Foix made any reparation for the
knight's death? And has he since shown any signs of distress about it?'
'Yes, very much so,' said the
knight. 'Though what reparations he has made have taken the form of secret penances, masses and prayers. Then again, the
count has staying with him the son of the man who calls himself
Jean de Béarn, a young and gracious squire whom he loves dearly.'
'Holy Mary!' I said to the
knight. 'Since the
duke of Anjou was so eager to obtain
Lourdes, he must have been very pleased with the
count of Foix for killing a knight, his own cousin no less, to satisfy his wishes.'
'By my faith, that he was,' he said, 'for shortly after his arrival, the
king of France sent to this country
Sir Roger d'Espagne together with a president of the
Paris parliament with fine letters patent, engrossed and sealed, testifying to his gift of the
county of Bigorre during his lifetime, but stating in addition that it was necessary and indeed appropriate for him to become the king's liegeman and to hold the county of the
French crown.
pb 217 r