enjoyed the crown but a short time; and, dying, left only daughters to succeed him. Charles, therefore, without a male opponent, seized the crown, and enjoyed it for some time; but he also dying, left his wife pregnant. As there was now no apparent heir, the regency was contested by two persons, who laid their claims upon this occasion. Edward the Third urged his pretensions, as being by his mother Isabella (who was daughter to Philip the Fair, and sister to the last three kings of France), rightful heir to the crown. Philip de Valois, on the other hand, put himself in actual possession of the government, as being next heir by the male succession. He was, for this reason, constituted regent of France; and the queen-dowager being unfortunately, some time after, brought to bed of a daughter, he was unanimously elected king. He was crowned amidst the universal congratulations of his subjects; received the appellation of Philip the Fortunate; and to this he added those qualities which might merit good fortune, namely, justice and virtue. Among other instances of his felicity, he might reckon that of the homage paid him by Edward, his rival, which he came to offer at Amiens. However, as strength generally inspires ambition, this homage was soon followed by a war; and Edward disputed that crown, of which he had just before declared himself a vassal. A brewer of Ghent was one of those who gave the greatest assistance to Edward in this war, and determined him to assume the title of king of France. This citizen's name was James Arteveld, a man grown too powerful for a subject; and one of those whom, according to Machiavel, kings ought to flatter or destroy. This citizen had, for some time, governed his countrymen with a more absolute sway than had ever been assumed by any of their lawful sovereigns. He placed and displaced magistrates at his pleasure. He was accompanied by a guard, who, on the least signal from him, instantly assassinated any man who had the misfortune to fall under his displeasure. With the assistance of this man, therefore, Edward resolved to undertake the conquest of France. He first however, in a formal manner, consulted his parliament on the propriety of the undertaking; obtained their approbation; received a 1338. proper supply of wool, which he intended to barter with the Flemings; and being attended with a body of English forces, and several of the nobility, he sailed over to Flanders, big with his intended conquests. A. D. A. D. Edward's first step was to assert his claim to the French crown; to assume the title of king of the country, and brand Philip, his rival, with the title of usurper. Philip, on the other hand, made vigorous preparations to oppose him; he even chal- 1339. lenged the invader to try their fortune in single combat, upon equal terms, in some appointed plain. Edward accepted the challenge; for in every action this prince affected the hero but some obstacles intervening, the war was prosecuted in the usual manner, both sides taking every advantage when it happened to offer. A. D. The first great advantage gained by the English, was in 1340. a naval engagement on the coast of Flanders, in which the French lost two hundred and thirty ships, and had twenty thousand of their seamen and two of their admirals slain. None of Philip's courtiers, it is said, dared to inform him of the event, till his jester gave him a hint, by which he discovered the loss he had sustained. This victory, together with some successful operations that soon after followed, brought on a truce, which neither side seemed willing to break, till the ambition of Edward was once more excited by the invitation of the count de Montfort, who had possessed himself of the province of Bretagne, and applied to Edward to second his claims. An offer of this kind entirely coincided with Edward's most sanguine desires. He immediately saw the advantages arising from such a proposal. He was happy in the promised assistance of Montfort, an active and valiant prince, who was closely united to him by interest, and whose co-operation might open to him an entrance into the heart of France, while he could have no hopes from the side of Flanders, as he was obstructed by the numerous fortifications which had been raised on that frontier. His flattering prospects were for a while damped by the imprisonment of Montfort; whose aims being discovered, he found himself besieged in A. D. the city of Nantes, and taken. But Jane of Flanders, his 1341. wife, soon made up for the loss of her husband. This lady, who was one of the most extraordinary women of the age, courageously undertook to support the falling fortunes of her family. She assembled the inhabitants of Rennes, where she then resided; and, carrying her infant son in her arms, deplored her misfortunes, and attempted to inspire the citizens with an affection for her cause. The inhabitants of Nantes instantly espoused her interest; and the other fortresses of Bretagne embraced the same resolution. The king of England was apprized of her efforts in his favour, and entreated to send her succours with all possible expedition to the town of Hennebonne, in which place she resolved to sustain the attacks of the enemy. She was not deceived in her opinion of the enemy's vigilance and activity. Charles de Blois, Montfort's competitor, anxious to make himself master of so important a fortress as A. D. Hennebonne, and still more to take the countess prisoner, 1342. sat down before the place with a large army, and conducted the siege with indefatigable industry. The defence was no less vigorous; several sallies were made by the garrison, in which the countess herself was still the most active, and led on to the assault. Observing one day that the army of Charles had quitted the camp to join in a general storm, she sallied out by a postern at the head of three hundred horse, set fire to the enemy's tents and baggage, put their sutlers and servants to the sword, and occasioned such an alarm, that the besiegers desisted from the assault, in order to cut off her communication from the town. Thus intercepted, she retired to Auray, where she continued for five or six days; then returning at the head of five hundred horse, she fought her way through one quarter of the French camp, and returned to her faithful citizens in triumph. But mere unsupported valour could not repel all the encroachments of an active and superior enemy. The besiegers had at length made several breaches in the walls; and it was apprehended that a general assault, which was hourly expected, would be fatal. A capitulation was therefore proposed, and a conference was already begun, when the countess, who had mounted on a high tower, and was looking towards the sea with great impatience, descried some ships at a distance. She immediately exclaimed that succours were arrived, and forbade any farther capitulation. She was not disappointed in her wishes: the fleet she discerned carried a body of English gentlemen, with six thousand archers, whom Edward had prepared for the relief of Hennebonne, but who had been long detained by contrary winds. They entered the harbour, under the conduct of Sir Walter Manny, one of the most valiant commanders of his time. This relief served to keep up the declining spirits of the Bretons, until the time appointed by the late truce with Edward was expired, on which he was at liberty to renew the war in greater form. A. D. 1344. He accordingly soon after landed at Morbihan, near Vannes, with an army of twelve thousand men; and being master of the field, where no enemy dared to appear against him, he endeavoured to give lustre to his arms by besieging some of the chief fortifications of the enemy. The vigour of his operations led to another truce; and this was soon followed by a fresh infraction. The truth is, neither side observed a truce longer than it coincided with their interests; and both had always sufficient art to throw the blame of perfidy from themselves. The earl of Derby was sent by Edward to defend the province of Guienne, with instructions also to take every possible advantage that circumstances might offer. At first his successes were rapid and brilliant; but as soon as the French king had time to prepare, he met with a very unexpected resistance; so that the English general was compelled to stand upon the defensive. One fortress after another was surrendered to the French; and nothing appeared but a total extinction of the power of England upon the continent. In this situation Edward resolved to give his personal aid to his distressed subjects and allies; and accordingly embarked at Southampton on board a fleet of nearly a thousand sail, of all dimensions. He carried with him, besides the chief nobility of England, his eldest son, the prince of Wales (afterwards surnamed the Black Prince), a youth of sixteen, remarkable both for his understanding and valour above his age. His army consisted of four thousand men at arms, ten thousand archers, ten thousand Welsh infantry, and six thousand Irish, all which he landed safely at La Hogue, a port in Normandy, which country he determined to make the seat of war. The intelligence of Edward's landing, and the devastation caused by his troops, who dispersed themselves over the whole face of the country, soon diffused consternation through the French court. The rich city of Caen was taken and plundered by the English without mercy; the villages and towns, even up to Paris, shared the same fate; and the French had no other resource but by breaking down their bridges to attempt putting a stop to the invader's career. In the meantime, Philip was not idle in making preparations to repress the enemy. He had stationed one of his generals, Godemar de Faye, with an army on the opposite side of the river Somme, over which Edward was to pass; while he himself, at the head of a hundred thousand fighting men, advanced to give the English battle. Edward thus, in the midst of his victories, unexpectedly exposed to the danger of being enclosed and of starving in an enemy's country, published a reward to any that should bring him intelligence of a passage over the river Somme. This was discovered by a peasant of the country; and Edward had just time to get his whole army over the river, when Philip appeared in his rear. As both armies had for some time been in sight of each other, nothing was so eagerly expected by both parties as a battle; and although the forces were extremely disproportioned, the English amounting only to thirty thousand, the French to a hundred and twenty thousand, yet Edward resolved to indulge the impetuosity of his troops, and put all to the hazard of a battle. He accordingly chose his ground, with advantage, near the village of Crecy; and there determined to wait with tranquillity the shock of the enemy. He drew up his men on a gentle ascent, and divided them into three lines. The first was commanded by the young prince of Wales, the second was conducted by the earls of Northampton and Arundel; and the third, which was kept as a body of reserve, was headed by the king in person. As his small army was in danger of being surrounded, he threw up trenches on his flank, and placed all his baggage in a wood behind him, which he also secured by an entrenchment. Having thus made the proper dispositions, he and the prince of Wales received the sacrament with great devotion; and all his behaviour denoted the calm intrepidity of a man resolved on conquest or death. He rode from rank to rank with a serene countenance; bade his soldiers remember the honour of their country; and by his eloquence animated the whole army to a degree of enthusiastic expectation. It is said also by some, that he first made use of artillery upon this occasion, and placed in his front some pieces, which contributed not a little to throw the enemy into dis order. On the other side, Philip, impelled by resentment, and confident in his numbers, was more solicitous of bringing the enemy to an engagement than prudent in taking measures for the success of it. He was advised by some of his generals to defer the combat till the ensuing day, when his army would have recovered from their fatigue, and might be disposed into better order than their present hurry permitted them to observe. But it was now too late; the impatience of his troops was too great to be restrained; they pressed one upon the other, and no orders could curb their blind impetuosity. They were led on, however, in three bodies to oppose those of the English. John, king of Bohemia, conducted the first line, in which were included fifteen thousand Genoese cross-bow-men, commanded by Anthony Doria; the second body was led by the count d'Alençon, brother to the king; and Philip himself was at the head of the third. About three in the afternoon the famous battle of Cre 1346. cy began, by the French king's ordering the Genoese Aug. 26, archers to charge; but they were so fatigued with their march, that they cried out for a little rest before they should engage. The count d'Alençon, being informed of their petition, rode up, and reviled them as cowards, commanding them to begin the onset without delay. Their reluctance to begin was still more increased by a heavy shower which fell that instant and relaxed their bow-strings, so that the discharge they made produced very little effect. On the other hand, the English archers, who kept their bows in cases, and were favoured by a sudden gleam of sunshine that rather dazzled the enemy, let fly their arrows so thick, and with such good aim, that nothing was to be seen among the Genoese but hurry, terror, and dismay. The young prince of Wales had presence of mind to take advantage of their confusion, and to lead on his line to the charge. The French cavalry, however, commanded by the count d'Alençon, wheeling round, sustained the combat, and began to hem the English round. The earls of Arundel and Northampton now came in to assist the prince, who appeared foremost in every shock, and, wherever he appeared, turning the fortune of the day. The battle now raged around him, and the valour of a boy filled even veterans with astonishment. But their surprise at his courage could not give way to their fears for his safety. As the two earls were apprehensive that some mischance might happen to him in the end, an officer was despatched to the king, desiring that succours might be sent to the prince's relief. Edward, who had all this time, with great tranquillity, viewed the engagement from a wind-mill, demanded, with seeming deliberation, if his son were dead; but being answered that he still lived, and was giving astonishing instances of his valour; "Then tell my generals," cried the king, "that he shall have no assistance from me; the honour of this day shall be his; let him show himself worthy the profes sion of arms, and let him be indebted to his own merit alone for victory." This speech, being reported to the prince and his attendants, inspired them with new courage; they made a fresh attack upon the French cavalry, and count d'Alençon, their bravest commander, was slain. This was the beginning of their total overthrow the French, being now without a competent leader, were thrown into confusion: the Welsh infantry rushed into the midst of the conflict, and despatched with their long knives those who had survived the fury of the former onset. It was in vain that the king of France seemed almost singly to maintain the combat: he endeavoured to |