HENRY VI. of the English. But when he saw the seeds of CHAP. dissension sown between them and the Burgundians, he willingly listened to the suggestions of his brother Arthur, who had been raised to the office of constable of France. His forces were recalled from the armies of the allies: men for the service of Charles were raised in his territories and a promise was given of open co-operation as soon as the duke of Burgundy could be detached from his allies. In formed of these proceedings, the regent poured his troops into Bretagne; they spread the flames of war to the very gates of Rennes; defeated the Bretons in several recontres; and compelled the duke to seek a reconciliation. Sept. 8. By an instrument under his seal, and those of his sons, barons, prelates, and the commonalties of his dutchy, he acknowledged Henry for his rightful sovereign, and promised upon oath to observe the treaty of Troyes, to obey the commands of the regent, and to do homage for his territories to the king of England, and to no other person. 32 Orleans. Five years had now elapsed since the death Siege of of the late monarch; and, if no addition had been made to his conquests, at least no considerable loss had been experienced. But at length in an evil hour it was determined to cross the Loire, and to attack Charles in the pro 32 Rym. x. 350. 373. 385. II. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. vinces, which had always adhered to his cause. With this view several councils were held at Paris: the regent yielded, it is said with regret, to the majority of voices and a resolution was taken to open the campaign with the reduction of Orleans.33 Montague earl of Salisbury, had lately returned from England with a reinforcement of six thousand men. After the earl of Warwick he was the most renowned of the English commanders and to him by common consent was intrusted the conduct of the siege. On the part of the French no preparation was omitted, no sacrifice was spared, to preserve the city, and annoy the aggressors. The garrison received a plentiful supply of ammunition and provisions: numerous batteries were erected on the walls and every building within the range of the cannon was levelled to the ground. Oct. 12. The earl having previously reduced several places in the neighbourhood, passed the Loire with ten thousand men, and established his head quarters on the left bank amid the ruins of a convent. His first operations were directed against the Tourelles, a castle which defended the entrance of the bridge. It was carried by Oct. 23. assault: but the garrison had previously broken down one of the arches, and had built an addi 33 3 In his letter to the king, the regent certainly appears to disclaim having given any approbation to the attempt. "Alle things prospered for you, till the tyme of the seage of Orleans taken in "hand Gud knoweth by what advice." Rot. Parl. v. 435. II. Nov. 3. tional fort at the other extremity. A few days CHAP. afterwards, as the English commander stood at a window in one of the towers of the fort, and was carefully examining the defences of the city, a shot was fired at him from the rampart. He saw the flash, and attempted to withdraw: but the ball tore away the iron of the casement, and so lacerated his face, that he died in the course of the next week. The command devolved on the earl of Suffolk, who received several reinforcements, and successively established his men in different posts round the city. They were lodged in huts, and covered from the fire of the besieged by intrenchments of earth. But the walls were of such extent, and the intervals between these posts, which were called bastiles, were so spacious, that often in the night supplies of men and provisions forced their way into the place. For that purpose Charles had established immense magazines in the neighbouring city of Blois." of Rove ray. The siege, or rather blockade, continued The battle during the winter. In the beginning of Lent sir John Falstaff left Paris with fifteen hundred men, to conduct to Orleans four hundred waggons and carts, laden with stores and provisions. He had almost reached the village of Roveray, when he received the alarm ingintelligence that the earl of Claremont was advancing 34 Monstrel. 38, 39. 1429. Feb 12. CHAP. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. to intercept him with from four to five thousand cavalry. He halted immediately, surrounded his little army with a circle of carriages; and left but two openings, at each of which he posted a strong body of archers. It was the middle of the night and for two hours the attack of the enemy was delayed by the disputes among their leaders. Sir John Stewart who commanded the small remnant of the Scots in the service of Charles, earnestly contended that the men at arms should dismount: the earl of Claremont, by the advice of his countrymen, preferred to charge on horseback. At three in the morning it was agreed that each nation should follow its own judgment. An attempt was made to force an entrance at each opening: but the cavalry were repulsed by showers of arrows: and the Scots on foot were all slain. About six hundred dead bodies were left on the field: and Falstaff continued his march in triumph to the camp before Orleans. In the spring the English resumed their operations: lines of communication were drawn from one bastile to another and the besieged, seeing themselves entirely invested, proposed, with the permission of Charles, to deliver the city into the hands of the duke of Burgundy, to be held by him as neutral during the war, for the benefit of the 35 35 In the quaint language of the times, this was called "the bat"tle of herrings:" because salt herrings formed a great portion of the provisions. Monstrel. ii. 42. II. duke of Orleans, a captive in England. The CHAP. regent refused the offer. It was but just, he said, that what had been won with English blood, should be the reward of English valour. In this determination the Burgundian acquiesced with apparent cheerfulness; but the refusal sank deep into his heart, nor was it forgotten on a subsequent occasion.36 Joan The fall of Orleans was now confidently Story of anticipated and the most gloomy apprehen- d'Are. sions prevailed in the councils of the French monarch. Many of those who had been the warmest in their professions of attachment, silently withdrew from his court: and the prince himself meditated a retreat into the distant county of Provence, when an unexpected event revived his hopes, and struck dismay into the hearts of his enemies. In the beginning of Mar. 1. March, a female in man's attire, attended by two esquires and four servants, arrived at his palace, and announced herself as the deliverer of France. This extraordinary personage, called Joan d'Acre, was a country girl, about the age of twenty, who had lived as a servant with an inn-keeper of the petty town of Neufchateau in Lorraine. But if her station were humble, her mission, so at least she believed, had been dictated to her from heaven. In her former occupation she had listened to travellers describing 36 Id. 45. |