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When the king of France had been informed, that the Hainaulters had burned the country of Tierache, and killed his knights, and destroyed the town of Aubenton, he ordered his son, the duke of Normandy, to collect a number of forces, make an incursion into Hainault, and destroy that country in such a manner, that it might never recover from it. The duke replied, that he would cheerfully undertake this. The king then ordered the count de Lisle, a Gascon, who was at that time near his person at Paris, and whom he much loved, to collect forces, and march towards Gascony, as lieutenant for the king of France, with the intent of making some severe reprisals on Bordeaux, in the Bordelaise, and upon all the places which held or belonged to the king of England. The count obeyed the kings order, and left Paris for Toulouse, where he made his preparations to fulfill his commission, as you will see in it's proper time and place. The king of France sent large reinforcements to the armament he had at sea, and ordered his captains to watch the coast of Flanders attentively, and on no account to suffer the king of England to pass over or land in Flanders; for, if they did so by their fault, he would certainly punish them by death.
When king Phillip heard that the Flemings had done homage to the king of England, he sent to them a prelate, as from the pope, to say, that if they would acknowledge him as king of France, and abandon the king of England, who had enchanted them, he would forgive them all their misdoings, release them from the large sum of florins which, by an old obligation, was to to him; and more over grant them, under his seal, many profitable franchises in France. The Flemings returned for their answer, that they held themselves quit and absolved from every thing that they owed the king of France. Upon this the king made heavy complaints to the pope, Clement VI., who issued such a tremendous excommunication against them, that no priest was daring enough to celebrate divine service there. The Flemings made remonstrances on this to the king of England; who, to appease them, said, that the first time he should cross the sea, he would bring with him priests of his own country, who should say mass for them, whether the pope would or not, as he had a power of so doing, and this satisfied them.
When the king of France saw that he could not make the Flemings retract their opinions, he commanded those in garrison at Tournay, Lisle, Douay, and the neighbouring castles, to make war upon them, and overrun their country. Upon which sir John de Roye, at that time in Tournay, and sir Matthew de Trie, marshal of France, together with sir Godemar du Fay and many other knights, collected a thousand men, strongly armed and well mounted, with three hundred cross-bowmen, as well from Tournay, as from Lisle and Douay: they set out from Tournay one evening after supper, and marched so expeditiously, that they came before Courtray about day-break, and before sunrise had collected all the cattle thereabouts. Some of their light-horse advanced to the gates of the town, and killed and wounded many in the suburbs: they then retreated without loss, and placed the river Lys, on their return, between them and the booty, which they had carried off that day. They brought into Tournay more than 10,000 sheep, and of swine, beeves, and kine, as many more.
The Flemings were sore vexed at this; and Jacob von Arteveld, who was at that time at Ghent, swore that this expedition should be revenged upon Tournay and it's neighbourhood. He gave immediate orders for the different towns in Flanders to collect forces, and to send them to him at a fixed day before Tournay; he also wrote the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk, who were at Ypres, to beg that they would draw towards that quarter to meet him. He then set out from Ghent, accompanied by great numbers, and came to a place called the Geertsberg, between Oudenarde and Tournay, where he halted, to wait for the two earls, and those of the Franc and Bruges.
When the two earls received the letters, they would not for their honour's sake make any delay, but sent to inform Von Arteveld, that they would be with him at the appointed time and place. They soon set out from Ypres with about fifty lances and forty cross-bowmen and took the road where he was waiting for them. They continued their route; but as they were forced to pass near the outskirts of Lisle, it was soon known in that town: accordingly, fifteen hundred horse and foot were secretly armed, and sent out in three divisions to lie in wait, so that these lords might not escape from them. The earls and their company followed the guidance of sir Vauflart de la Croix, who had long made war on th people of Lisle, and still continued to do so whenever he had an opportunity: - it was for this purpose he was come to Ypres. He thought himself quite certain of guiding the earls in safety, as he was well acquainted with all the roads in those parts; and he would have succeeded now, if those of Lisle had not thrown up a great trench near their town, which was not there before.
When sir Vauflart came to this trench, and saw that their road was cut off, he was quite astonished, and said to the earls, "My lords, we cannot go further this way, without putting ourselves in the power of those of Lisle; on which account my advice is, that we turn about and seek another road." But the lords replied, "Nay, sir Vauflart, God forbid that we should go out of our way for those of Lisle! Ride on, therefore, for we have promised Jacob von Arteveld, that we would be with him some time this day." The English rode on without care, Sir Vauflart said to them, "It is true, my lords, that you have taken me for your guide in this expedition, and I have remained with you all this winter at Ypres, and have many thanks to give you and all your attendants; but if it should happen, that those of Lisle make a sally upon us, do not fancy that I shall wait for them, for I shall save myself as fast as I can. If by any accident I should be taken, my head would pay for it, which is much dearer to me than your company." The lords laughed heartily, and told him they would excuse him, if he should do so. And as he imagined, so it fell out: for, by not taking more precaution, they were surprised by one of the parties from Lisle, who cried out, "Stop! stop! you cannot pass here without our leave:" and immediately the lance-men and cross-bowmen fell upon the English.
As soon as sir Vauflart saw what was going on, he took care not to advance further; but turning about as quickly as possible, galloped out of danger. The two earls fell into the hands of their enemies, and were taken as if in a net; for the ambuscade was placed between hedges and ditches in a very narrow road, so they could neither advance nor retreat to gain the open country; however, when they saw their mischance, they dismounted, and defended themselves as well as they could, killing and wounding a great many of their opponents; but it was all in vain, for fresh forces from Lisle were continually pouring upon them. They were therefore taken prisoner; and a young brisk esquire of Limousin, of the name of Raymond, nephew to pope Clement, was killed for the sake of his beautiful armour, after he had surrendered himself, which made many good men angry. The two earls were kept prisoner in the market-place at Lisle, and afterwards sent to the king of France, who promised, that those of Lisle should be well rewarded for the good service they had done him1. When Jacob von Arteveld received this news at Geertsberg, he was much enraged, and giving up all thoughts of his expedition, disbanded his Flemings, and himself returned to Ghent.