The Earl of Pembroke besieged in a

house at Puirenon.

THE Prince of Wales was busily engaged in war with France, when King Edward his father sent the Earl of Pembroke with a body of men to his assistance. Not very long after the Earl's arrival, Sir John Chandos, who had been appointed seneschal of Poitou, was meditating an incursion towards Anjou, and by Touraine, in order to fight the French who were there assembled, and he sent to invite the Earl of Pembroke to join him. Now the Earl had a great desire to be of Sir John's party; but his attendants and some knights of his council prevented him by saying, "My Lord, you are young and noble, and fitted to excel in arms; but be assured that, if at this moment you unite yourself with Sir John Chandos and his army, he will obtain all the glory of the expedition, and you will merely be named as his companion. You had better act for yourself, and let Sir John do his own part.

The Earl was prevailed upon, and sent an excuse to Sir John, who continued his enterprise alone.

Not long after this, Sir John, who could not remain idle, received information that the Marshal of France, with a large body of men-at-arms, was at a place called La Haye, in Touraine, and as he was very desirous to march against him, he sent in great haste to signify his intention to the Earl of Pembroke, and to beg him to accompany him. Sir John's messenger found the Earl at Mortagne, busily employed in mustering his men, and preparing as it appeared to make an excursion, and the second time also, by the advice of his council, he excused himself from joining the expedition. When Sir John heard the Earl's answer, he was sadly distressed, for he knew that it was simply pride and presumption which made him refuse. However, he merely said, "GOD's will be done," and then dismissed the greater part of his army and returned with his attendants to Poitiers.

Now I must tell you, that as soon as the Earl knew that Sir John Chandos had disbanded his army, and had returned to Poitiers, he assembled his own forces, which consisted of about three hundred English and Poitevins, and set out from Mortagne. He was accompanied in his expedition by some knights and squires of Poitou and Saintonge, as well as by some English knights who had been in Sir John Chandos's army. These men-at-arms, under the command of the Earl of Pembroke, on leaving Mortagne, took the direct road to where Sir John Chandos had been, burning and

despoiling all those parts of Anjou which he had left, or which had been ransomed by him. They halted awhile in the Loudunois to refresh themselves, and then took the road for the lands of the Viscount de Rochechouart, to which they did great damage. The French, who were in garrison on the frontiers of Touraine, Anjou, and Poitou, in all forming a very large body of men-at-arms, heard the whole truth of these two excursions, and how the Earl of Pembroke, who was a very young man, through pride would not serve under Sir John Chandos. They therefore made up their minds to conquer him if they could: for they imagined that they could more easily defeat him than Sir John. Accordingly they made a secret levy of their forces from all the garrisons, and the Marshal of France, whose name was Sir Louis de Sancerre, took the command of them. After a night's march they came to La Roche-posay in Poitou, which was in the French interest. There were in the expedition many valiant men, Sir Robert de Sancerre, cousin to the Marshal, Sir John de Vienne, Sir John de Bueil, Sir William des Bourdes, Sir Louis de S. Julien, and Carnet le Breton, in all seven hundred in number.

The Earl of Pembroke and his men, having completed the destruction of the Viscount de Rochechouart's estate, considered the excursion at an end, and had re-entered Poitou, having heard nothing of these French men-at-arms who had collected to oppose them. They had much plunder with them, and came one day about noon to a village of Poitou, called

Puirenon, where they halted and took up their quarters as if they were in perfect security. Their servants were engaged in putting their horses in the stables, and preparing supper, when the French, who well knew what they were about, entered the village with their lances in their rests, bawling out, "Our Lady for Sancerre the Marshal," at the same time attacking all they met. The noise and confusion became so great that many of the English ran to their head quarters to inform the Earl, and the lords who were with him, that the French had surprised them.

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These lords were soon armed, and sallying from their hotels collected their men as well as they were able all the men could not assemble, for the numbers of the French were so considerable, that they quite overpowered them and in this first attack more than one hundred and twenty were killed or made prisoners. The Earl and his knights soon found that they had no other remedy but to retire as quickly as they could into an old unembattled house which belonged to the Knights Templars, which had no moat, and was enclosed only with a stone wall. In this house, all who could get there in time shut themselves up: of the others, the greater part were slain or made prisoners, and their arms and horses taken.

The French were much rejoiced when they found that the Earl and his companions had escaped into the house for they said among themselves, "They must be our prisoners; for they cannot escape, and we will now make them pay dearly for the damage they have

done in Anjou and Touraine." They then put themselves in regular order and advanced to the house, being quite in earnest to assault it. It was evening when they came thither, and after they had carefully examined the place on all sides, they began the attack, which was very severe and well sustained, for the French were in great numbers, and all well tried men. Indeed, the various attempts on the house gave the Earl of Pembroke and his men enough to do. Scaling ladders were brought and fixed against the walls which some bold adventurers mounted, having their shields over their heads, to shelter them from the stones and arrows with which they were received. When, however, they had got to the top, it was to no purpose, for they there found knights, squires and men-at-arms ready to receive them with their lances and swords, with which they fought hand to hand, and made them descend much faster than they had mounted; and in addition to this, there were English archers intermixed with these men-at-arms, who shot so well that the French beneath suffered much from them.

The English continued under constant alarm, repelling these attacks until nightfall, when the French, worn out by fatigue, sounded their trumpets for a retreat, declaring that they had worked hard enough for one day, and would return to the attack on the morrow: adding at the same time, that as those within could not escape from them, they would starve them to a surrender. On returning to their quarters they refreshed themselves and made merry, for they had placed