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Soon after the surrender of Rennes, and when the inhabitants had performed their homage and fealty to lord Charles of Blois, he was advised to set out for Hennebon, where the countess of Montfort resided; for as her husband was safe confined at Paris, if he could but get possession of her person, and of her sons, the war must be concluded. The countess had with her in Hennebon, the bishop of Léon, uncle to sir Hervé de Léon, who was attached to lord Charles, and had ever been so since the capture of the earl of Montfort; sir Yves de Tresiquidi, the lord of Landreman, the before-mentioned sir William de Cadoudal, the governor of Guingamp, the two brothers de Quirich, sir Oliver, and sir Henry de Spinefort, and many others. When the countess and her knights heard that their enemies were coming to besiege them, and that they were hard by, they ordered the alarm-bells to be rung, and every one to arm himself for defending the town. Lord Charles drew near to Hennebon, and then encamped his men. Some of the youths among the Spaniards, French and Genoese advanced to the barriers to skirmish; which those from the town seeing, sallied out to meet them; so there was a sharp conflict, and the Genoese lost more than they gained. About vespers, they all retired to their different quarters. On the morrow, the lords determined to make an assault on the barriers, to see what mien those within had, and to try to gain some advantage. On the second day, therefore, they made so very vigorous an attack upon the barriers early in the morning, that those within made a sally: among them were some of their bravest, who continued the engagement till noon with good courage; so that the assailants retired a little to the rear, carrying off with them numbers of wounded, and leaving behind them a great many dead. When the lords of France perceived their men retreat, they were much enraged, and made them return again to the assault more fiercely than before: whilst those of the town were in earnest to make a handsome defence.
The countess, who had clothed herself in armour, was mounted on a war-horse, and galloped up and down the streets of the town, entreating and encouraging the inhabitants to defend themselves honourably. She ordered the ladies and other women to unpave the streets1, carry the stones to the ramparts, and throw them on their enemies. She had pots of quicklime brought to her for the same purpose. That same day, the countess performed a very gallant deed: she ascended a high tower, to see how her people behaved; and, having observed that all the lords and others of the army had quitted their tents, and were come to the assault, she immediately descended, mounted her horse, armed as she was, collected three hundred horsemen, sallied out at their head by another gate that was not attacked, and, galloping up to the tents of her enemies, cut them down, and set them on fire, without any loss, for there were only servants and boys, who fled upon her approach. As soon as the French saw their camp on fire, and heard the cries, they immediately hastened thither, bawling out, “Treason! Treason!” so that none remained at the assault. The countess seeing this, got her men together, and, finding that she could not re-enter Hennebon without great risk, took another road, leading to the castle of Brest, which is situated near. The lord Lewis of Spain, who was marshal of the army, had gone to his tents, which were on fire; and, seeing the countess and her company galloping off as fast as they could, he immediately pursued them with a large body of men at arms. He gained so fast upon them, and wounded or slew all that were not well mounted; but the countess, and part of her company, made such speed that they arrived at the castle of Brest, where they were received with great joy.
On the morrow, the lords of France, who had lost their tents and provisions, took counsel, if they should not make huts of the branches and leaves of tree near to the town, and were thunderstruck when they heard that the countess had herself planned and executed this enterprise: whilst those of the town, not knowing what was become of her, were very uneasy; for they were full five days without gaining any intelligence of her. The countess, in the mean while, was so active that she assembled from five to six hundred men, well armed and mounted, and with them set out, about midnight, from Brest, and came straight to Hennebon about sun-rise, riding along one of the sides of the enemy’s host, until she came to the gates of the castle, which were opened to her: she entered with great triumph, and sounds of trumpets and other warlike instruments, to the astonishment of the French, who began arming themselves, to make another assault upon the town, while those within mounted the walls to defend it. This attack was very severe, and lasted till past noon. The French were killed and wounded to no purpose. They next retreated, and held a council whether the lord Charles should not go to besiege the castle of Aurai, which king Arthur had built and inclosed. It was determined he should march thither, accompanied by the duke of Bourbon, the earl of Blois, sir Robert Bertrand, marshal of France; and that sir Hervé de Léon was to remain before Hennebon with a part of the Genoese under his command, and the lord Lewis of Spain, the viscount of Rohan, with the rest of the Genoese and Spaniards. They sent for twelve large machines which they had left at Rennes, to cast stones and annoy the castle of Hennebon; for they perceived that they did not gain any ground by their assaults. The French divided their army into two parts: one remained before Hennebon, and the other went to besiege the castle of Aurai. The lord Charles of Blois went to this last place, and quartered all his division in the neighbourhood; and of him we will now speak, and leave the others. The lord Charles ordered an attack and skirmish to be made upon the castle, which was well garrisoned: there were in it full two hundred men at arms, under the command of sir Henry de Spinefort and Oliver his brother.
The town of Vannes, which held for the countess of Montfort, was four leagues distant from this castle; the captain whereof was sir Geoffry de Malestroit. On the other side, was situated the good town of Guingamp, of which the captain of Dinant was governor, who was at that time with the countess in the town of Hennebon; but he had left, in his hotel at Dinant, his wife and daughters, and had appointed his son, sir Reginald, as governor during his absence. Between these two places there was a castle2 which belonged to the lord Charles, who had well filled it with men at arms and Burgundian soldiers. Girard de Maulin was master of it; and with him was another gallant knight, called sir Peter Portebœuf, who harassed all the country round about, and pressed these two towns so closely that no provisions or merchandize could enter them, without great risk of being taken; for these Burgundians made constant excursions, one day towards Vannes, and another day to Guingamp. They continued their excursions so regularly that sir Reginald de Dinant took prisoner, by means of an ambuscade, this sir Girard de Maulin and thirty-five of his men, and at the same time rescued fifteen merchants and all their goods, which the Burgundians had taken, and were driving them to their garrison, called la Roche Perion; but sir Reginald conquered them, and carried them prisoner to Dinant, for which he was much praised.
We will now return to the countess of Montfort, who was besieged by sir Lewis of Spain in Hennebon. He had made such progress by battering and destroying the walls with his machines, that the courage of those within began to faulter. At that moment, the bishop of Léon held a conference with his nephew, sir Hervé de Léon, by whose means, it has been said, the earl of Montfort was made prisoner. They conversed on different things, in mutual confidence, and at last agreed, that the bishop should endeavour to gain over those within the town, so that it might be given up to the lord Charles: and sir Hervé, on his side, was to obtain their pardon from the lord Charles, and an assurance that they should keep their goods, &c. unhurt. They then separated, and the bishop re-entered the town. The countess had strong suspicions of what was going forward, and begged of the lords of Brittany, for the love of God, that they would not doubt that she should receive succours before three days were over. But the bishop spoke so eloquently, and made use of such good arguments, that these lords were in much suspense all that night. On the morrow he continued the subject, and succeeded so far as to gain them over, or very nearly so, to his opinion; insomuch that sir Hervé de Léon had advanced close to the town to take possession of it, with their free consent, when the countess, looking out from a window of the castle towards the sea, cried out, most joyfully, " I see the succours I have so long expected and wished for coming." She repeated this expression twice; and the town’s-people ran to the ramparts, and to the windows of the castle, and saw a numerous fleet of great and small vessels, well trimmed, making all the sail they could towards Hennebon. They rightly imagined, it must be the fleet from England, so long detained at sea by tempests and contrary wind.