You before have heard how the duke of Normandy, the duke of Burgundy, the duke d'Alençon, the duke of Bourbon, the earl of Blois, the constable of France, the earl of Guines his son, sir James de Bourbon, sir Lewis d'Espagne, and the other barons and knights from France, had left Brittany, after conquering the strong castle of Châteauceaux, and the city of Nantes, and had taken and given up to the king of France the earl of Montfort, whom he had confined in the tower of the Louvre at Paris. The lord Charles of Blois had remained in the city of Nantes, and in that country, which he had reduced to obedience, until a more favourable opportunity for carrying on the war than winter. When the summer was returned, the above-mentioned lords, and a great many others, came, with a large army, to assist the lord Charles in reconquering the remainder of the duchy of Brittany. They resolved to besiege the city of Rennes, which the countess of Montfort had well fortified, and placed there as captain sir William de Cadoudal, a Breton. The French lords surrounded it on all sides, and did a great deal of damage, by the fierce assaults they made upon it; but the garrison defended themselves so valiantly, that their opponents lost more than they gained. As soon as the countess of Montfort was informed of the return of the French lords into Brittany, with so great a force, she sent sir Amauri de Clisson to king Edward in England, to intreat his assistance, upon condition that her young son should take for his wife one of the daughters of the king, and give her the title of duchess of Brittany.
The king, at that time, was in London, feasting the earl of Salisbury, newly returned from prison. When sir Amauri de Clisson had made known to the king the cause of his visit, his request was directly complied with. The king ordered sir Walter Manny to collect as many men at arms as sir Amauri should judge proper, and to make every possible haste to go to the assistance of the countess of Montfort; and also to take with him two or three thousand of the best archers of England. Sir Walter, therefore, embarked with sir Amauri de Clisson: and with them went the two brothers de Land-Halle, sir Lewis and sir John, le Haze of Brabant, sir Herbert de Fresnoi, sir Alain de Sirefonde, and many others, with six thousand archers. But they were overtaken by a great tempest, and, by contrary winds, forced to remain on the sea forty days. The lord Charles, in the mean time, kept Rennes closely besieged, and harassed the citizens so much, that they would have willingly have surrendered it; but sir William de Cadoudal would not listen to them. When they had been harder pressed, and saw no likelihood of any succours arriving, they became impatient; but sir William continued firm: at length the commonalty seized him, flung him into prison, and sent information to Lord Charles that they would surrender themselves to him on the morrow, on condition that all those who were of the Montfort party might retire in safety to wherever they thought proper. The lord Charles complied with these terms; and thus was the city of Rennes surrendered, in the year 1342, in the beginning of May. Sir William de Cadoudal, not desiring to remain at the court of the lord Charles of Blois, left it, and went to Hennebon, where the countess of Montfort was, who had not had any tidings of sir Amauri de Clisson, or his company.