Link LinkDuring the time the duke of Normandy remained in Nantes, the lords of England who were before Rennes made a vigorous assault upon that city: they had, for a long time before, prepared machines for this attack. Though it lasted a whole day, they gained no advantage, but lost many of their men. The baron d’Ancenis, the lord du Pont, sir John de Malestroit, Yvain Charruel, and Bertrand du Guesclin, then a squire, were in the town, and, as well as the bishop, defended themselves so valiantly, that they suffered no loss. Notwithstanding this, the English remained before the place, and wasted and destroyed the country round about.
The duke of Normandy left Nantes with his army, and was advised to advance towards Vannes, that he might the sooner meet the enemy; for he had heard that that town was much straitened, and in greater danger of being lost than Rennes. He and his whole army, therefore, took their route to Vannes, under the command of the two marshals and sir Geoffry de Charny: the earl of Guines, son to the constable of France, had the rearward. They continued their march until they came pretty near to Vannes, on the opposite side where the king of England was quartered: they then halted, encamped in a fine meadow, and made a large ditch in their front. The marshals, and sir Robert de Beaumanoir, marshal of Brittany, made frequent excursions; there were skirmishes on both sides, which occasioned the overthrow and death of many. The king of England sent for the earl of Salisbury, the earl of Pembroke, and the rest who were besieging Rennes. The English, and the Bretons of the Montfort party, might amount to nearly two thousand five hundred men at arms, six thousand archers, and three thousand men on foot. The French were four times that number, well conditioned and well armed. The king of England had taken such a position before Vannes, that the French could not attack him but to their disadvantage; and since the arrival of the duke of Normandy, he had not made any assault upon the town, wishing to spare his men and his artillery.
Thus these two armies lay near each other for a long time. When the winter set in, pope Clement VI. sent thither the cardinal of Preneste and the cardinal of Clermont, who made frequent visits from one army to the other, to endeavour to reconcile them; but they would not consent to a peace.1 There were frequent engagements between the faragers, and many killed on each side. The English were obliged to go out foraging in large parties, for fear of falling into ambuscades; and every time they went abroad they were in great danger of them. Add to this, that the lord Lewis of Spain, and his fleet, guarded so carefully the coast, that the English army could scarcely receive any thing from England, which made them suffer much. It was the intention of the duke to keep the king thus in a manner besieged; but the French endured much pain from the inclemency of the weather, for it rained night and day, which destroyed the greater part of their horses, and forced them to dislodge and lie in the open fields, from the great quantity of water which inundated their camp. The cardinals now exerted themselves so effectually, that a truce for three years was agreed to; and the king of England and the duke swore, as is customary, not to infringe it during that time.
