When king Edward had departed from la Flamengrie, and arrived in Brabant, he set out straight for Brussels, whither he was attended by the duke of Gueldres, the duke of Juliers, the marquis of Blankenburg, the earl of Mons, the lord John of Hainault, the lord of Faquemont, and all the barons of the empire, who were allied to him, as they wished to consider what was next to be done in this war they had begun. For greater expedition, they ordered a conference to be holden in the city of Brussels, and invited Jacob van Arteveld to attend it, who came thither in great array, and brought with him all the councils from the principal towns of Flanders. At this parliament, the king of England was advised, by his allies of the empire, to solicit the Flemings to give him their aid and assistance in this war, to challenge the king of France, to follow king Edward wherever he should lead them, and in return he would assist them in the recovery of Lisle, Douay and Bethune. The Flemings heard this proposal with pleasure; but they requested of the king, that they might consider of it among themselves, and in a short time would give their answer. The king consented, and soon after they made this reply:
"Beloved sire, you formerly made us a similar request; and we are willing to do every thing in reason for you, without prejudice to our honour and faith - but we are pledged by promise on oath, under a penalty of two million florins, to the apostolical chamber, not to act offensively to the king of France in any way, whoever he may be, without forfeiting this sum, and incurring the sentence of excommunication: but if you will do what we will tell you, you will find a remedy; which is, that you take the arms of France quarter them with England, and call yourself king of France. We will acknowledge your title as good, and we will demand of you quittance of the above sum, which you will grant us as king of France: thus shall we be absolved, and at liberty to go with you wherever you please."
The king summoned his council, for he was loth to take the arms and title of France, seeing that at present he had not conquered any part of that kingdom, and it was uncertain whether he ever should: on the other hand he was unwilling to lose the aid and assistance of the Flemings, who could be of greater service to him than any others at that period. He consulted, therefore, with the lords of the Empire, the lord Robert of Artois, and his most privy councillors, who, after having duly weighed the good and bad, advised him to make for answer to the Flemings, that is they would engage, under their seals, to the agreement of aiding him to carry on the war, he would wllingly comply to their conditions, and would swear to assist them in the recovery of Lisle, Douay and Bethune; to which they willingly consented. A day was fixed for them to meet at Ghent, where the king and the greater part of the lords of the empire, and in general the councils from the different towns in Flanders, assembled. The abovementioned proposals and answers were then repeated, sworn to, and sealed; and the king of England bore the arms of France, quartering them with those of England: he also took the title of king of France from that day forward, and maintained it, until he laid it aside by certain agreement, as will be hereafter related in this book.
At this conference held at Ghent, the lords engaged the summer ensuing to make an active war in France, and promised to besiege the city of Tournay. The Flemings were much rejoiced at this, for they thought they should be strong enough to conquer it; and if it were once under the protection of the king of England, they could easily recover Lisle, Douay , Bethune and all their dependencies, which of right belonged to the country of Flanders. The lords and the council were still at Ghent, much wondering why those of the country of Hainault had not come to this conference; but such proper excuses were sent, that the king and the others were satisfied.
Things remained on this footing, when the lords took their leave, and set out for their own country. The king of England went to Antwerp; but the queen remained with the train at Ghent, where she was often visited and comforted by Jacob van Artaveld and other lords and ladies of Ghent. The king left in Flanders the earl of Salisbury and of Suffolk, who went to the town of Ypres, which they garrisoned, and thence harassed much those of Lisle and its environs. When the king's vessel was ready he embarked with a numerous attendance at Antwerp, and sailed for London, where he arrived about St. Andrew's day, 1339, and was joyfully received by his subjects, who were anxious for his return. Good complaints were made to him of the ravages which the Normans, Picards, and Spaniards had committed at Southampton; upon which he answered, that, whenever it came to his turn, he would make them pay dearly for it - and he kept his word before the end of the year.