Link LinkThus by this tempest was the engagement at sea interrupted, between the lord Robert and lord Lewis and their fleets. It is difficult to say to whom the honour belongs; for they separated unwillingly, on account of the badness of the weather. The English, having landed near Vannes, disembarked on the sand, their horses, provisions, and arms. They then ordered their fleet to make for Hennebon, and determined to lay siege to Vannes. The lords Hervé de Léon and Olivier de Clisson were in it, as governors for the lord Charles of Blois: the lords of Tournemine and Loheac were there also. When they perceived that the English were coming to besiege them they looked well to the castle, their watch-towers, and gates; and at every gate they posted a knight, with ten men at arms and twenty archers among the cross-bows. To return to the lord Lewis and his fleet, who were, all that night and the morrow until noon, violently driven about by the tempest, and in very great danger: they lost two of their ships, with all that were on board. The third day early, the stormy weather abated, when the knights asked the sailors which was the nearest land; who answered, the kingdom of Navarre: and the masters of the vessels said, the tempest had driven them more than one hundred and twenty leagues from the costs of Brittany. They cast anchor, and waited for the return of the tide. When flood came, they had a tolerable fair wind to carry them towards La Rochelle. They costed by Bayonne, but did not touch there: and falling in with four vessels belonging to Bayonne, which were coming from Flanders, they attacked and took them, and put all whom they found on board to death. They made for La Rochelle, and, in a few days, came to Guerrande, where they landed; and, having heard that the lord Robert d’Artois was laying siege to Vannes, they sent to lord Charles, who was at Rennes, to know how he would have them act.
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The lord Robert, as you have heard, was before Vannes, with a thousand men at arms, and three thousand archers. He overran, burnt, and destroyed all the country round about, as far as Dinant and Goi la Forêt, so that no one dared remain in the flat country. During this siege of Vannes, there were many skirmishes and attacks at the barriers of the town, the inhabitants of which were eager to defend themselves. The countess remained all the time with lord Robert at the siege. Sir Walter Manny, who had continued in Hennebon the whole time that the countess was in England, gave up the charge of it to the lord of Cadoudal; and taking with him sir Yves de Tresiquidi, a hundred men at arms, and two hundred archers, came to the army before Vannes. Soon after his arrival, the town was assaulted in three places at once; and the English archers shot so thickly, that scarcely any one dared to show themselves at the battlements. This combat lasted a whole day, and many were killed and wounded on both sides. Towards evening, the English retired to their quarters, and the inhabitants to their houses, quite tired, when they disarmed themselves: but the army did not do so; they only took off their helmets, and drank once to refresh themselves. Presently after, by the advice of lord Robert, the army was drawn out again in thee divisions: two of them were led to that part of the town where they intended to make the strongest assault, and the third was ordered to remain quiet, until the engagement should have lasted some time, which would probably bring all the inhabitants to that quarter to defend themselves: they were then to advance to the weakest part of the place, and, being provided with rope ladders and iron hooks, they were to attempt to scale the walls and conquer the town. This was executed. The lord Robert marched with the van division, and skirmished close up to the barriers: the earl of Salisbury did the same at another gate: and because it was very late, to alarm the inhabitants more, they made great fires, so that the flames lighted the whole town; which made many think their houses were on fire. They cried out “Treason! treason! arm yourselves;” for many were already gone to rest, as they had worked hard in the day time. They got up as quickly as they could, and ran, without any order, and without speaking to their captains, to the part where the fires were. The lords also, who were in their hôtels, armed themselves. In the midst of this bustle, the earl of Oxford and sir Walter Manny advanced, with the third division, to a part where there was no guard; and, having fixed their ladders, mounted them, with their targets on their heads, and entered the town very quietly, without the French or Bretons, who were within it, having the least suspicion until they saw their enemies in the streets. They then all took to flight, each to save himself: their captains, not having time to get into the castle, mounted their horses, and, passing through a postern, gained the fields, to save their lives: happy were those who could by this means escape. However, the four knights mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, saved themselves, and a part of their people; but all who were encountered by the English were slain or made prisoners. The town of Vannes was overrun and sacked; all sorts of people entered into it; and the countess of Montfort made her entry there with lord Robert d’Artois, to her great joy.
