After the surrender of Gaston de Béarn, Edward I turned about and went north, to deal with the situation at Limoges. On 10 May 1274 he entered the town and was received in ‘processionnellement’ (truimphal parade) by the bourgeois. Shortly after his arrival, abbots of the principal monasteries begged him to restore peace with the Viscomtesse.
Edward was wary of provoking an open breach with the French court, so he dispatched messengers to Paris. While he awaited their return, the soldiers of the Viscomtesse started to attack the bourgeois again. The Limousin was reduced to a pitiful state by this private war:
“All prices on commodities had increased; mortality was extreme; people had never seen so many robbers along the roads nor had they ever seen so many corbels (fortifications) defending the towers of churches.”
- Histoire de France, XXI
 |
| The tomb of William de Valence |
The bourgeois continued to beg Edward to defend them. He would do nothing until word arrived from Paris, so went off hunting in the mountains instead. When he came back, on 5 June, he found his messengers had returned empty handed. Philip refused to grant a truce, or even a letter.
The ball was left in Edward’s court. On 7 June the bourgeois made one last desperate plea and threw the keys of the city down before him. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Edward gave way to tears and released the people of Limoges from the oath they had given him. He could not, he said, disobey the King of France, but neither would he abandon those who wished to retain their fealty to the English crown.
His solution was to depart from Limoges, but leave most of his soldiers behind to defend the city. On 7 July his uncle William de Valence arrrived with two hundred English men-at-arms and an engineer, who started to construct war-machines. A few days later Valence led an army of Englishmen and bourgeois militia to attack the Viscomtesse.
No comments:
Post a Comment