Edward followed up his victory by the siege of Ca lais, which employed him near a twelvemonth. But while lie was engaged in this enterprize, the Scots un der David Bruce entered Northumberland with an ar my of 50,000 men, and carried devastation and terror to the gates of Durham. Queen Philippa, in the ab sence of her husband, undertook the defence of the kingdom, and, with a very inferior force, ventured to give battle to the enemy at Neville's Cross. The Scots were routed with great slaughter, and King David was taken prisoner. The Queen having secured her rot aI captive in the Tower, proceeded to Calais, and there, by her prudence and humanity, did more for the ho nour of her husband and of the kingdom, than by the victory which she had so lately won. John of Vienne, the brave governor of Calais, had, during a lengthened siege, resisted all the attempts of the English with the greatest ability and courage. But despairing of relief, and being reduced to the last extremity by famine and fatigue, lie offered to surrender the fortress, upon con dition that Edward would ensure the lives and liberties of its brave defenders. Edward had been incensed by their stubborn resistance, and had resolved to take ex emplary vengeance on them. lie was prevailed upon, however, to mitigate his severity; and only insisted that six of the principal citizens should be delivered up to his resentment, with ropes about their necks, and the keys of their city in their hands. These conditions ap pcared even more hard than their general destruction ; and the inhabitants were lost in despair, when Eustace de St Pierre offered himself the first victim for the safe ty of his friends. Five others soon followed his exam ple ; and these heroic men were led like malefactors to the tent of the English monarch. They laid the keys of Calais at his feet, when he gave the barbarous order for their execution. But the entreaties of Philippa saved his memory from disgrace. She obtained the pardon of these gallant burgesses, and having entertained them in her own tent, dismissed them with presents. In order to secure the possession of this important for tress, Edward emptied the town of its inhabitants, and repcopled it with English, which was probably the means of preserving this conquest so long to his succes sors. A truce was soon after concluded between the two sovereigns, and Edward returned in triumph to England.
The general joy occasioned by these successes, how ever, was on a sudden damped by a destructive pesti lence, which had discovered itself in the north of Asia, and had spread over the whole of Europe. Its malig nity was such, that wherever it appeared a third of the inhabitants perished ; and in London, during one year, there were buried in Charter-house church-yard 50,000 persons. This severe calamity, which afflicted equally the two contending nations, served to prolong the truce; out scarcely had it subsided, when the flames ofwa'r again began to rage.
John had succeeded his father Philip in the throne of France, but though possessed of many accomplishments, great personal courage, and the nicest sense of honour, he was deficient in foresight and prudence. His king dom was torn by intestine commmotions, which at last kindled into open rebellion. Edward, ever ready to take advantage of every disturbance in the rival kingdom, de termined to support the French malcontents. The Black Prince entered France on the side of Guienne, and ra vaged with impunity the whole of Languedoc, while his father, with a numerous army, overran and plundered the open country between Calais and St Omer. Young Edward, encouraged by his past success, took the field in the following spring with 19,000 men, and attempted to penetrate through France, and join the Duke of Lan caster in Normandy. But finding the bridges on the Loire broken down, he was on the point of returning, when he was intercepted near Poictiers by the French monarch, at the head of an army five times his number. Seeing all retreat impracticable, the Prince chose his ground with the most consummate skill, and prepared for battle. But sensible of his desperate situation, he listened to the mediation of the Cardinal of Perigord, and offered to purchase his retreat, with the cession of all the conquests which he had made in this and the for mer campaign ; and farther, engaged not to serve against France for seven years. John, however, required that he should surrender himself a prisoner, with a hundred of his attendants. Edward indignantly replied, that, what ever might be his fate, England should never be obliged to pay his ransom. All hopes of accommodation being thus cut off, both sides left their cause to the decision of the sword. The English army was stationed at the extremity of a narrow defile, covered on each side by hedges, which Edward had lined with archers, through which the enemy must pass before he could take advan tage of his numbers. As the French advanced, they were
annoyed on each side by the English archers, against whom they were unable to retaliate, and were soon thrown into confusion. An ambush of 600 men under Captal de Buche, also attacked them in the rear, which spread such a panic, that the greatest part of their army took to flight. King John with his divisioitaione, maintained his ground, and attempted to retrieve by his valour the fortune of the day; but being at last deserted by his cavalry, and spent with fatigue, he was overpowered by numbers, and taken prisoner with his youngest son, who had been wounded while fighting valiantly in defence of his father. The French monarch was received by the conqueror with every mark of sympathy and respect. Instead of being puffed up with exultation at his unexpected suc cess, he ascribed his victory not to his own merit, but to a superior Providence, which controuls all the efforts and prudence of men ; and at a repast which he ordered to be prepared for the royal prisoner in his own tent, he stood behind the king's chair as if he had been one of his retinue, and repeatedly refused to take a place at table. Such unassuming modesty and genuine heroism, excited the admiration even of his enemies, and has add ed more to the glory of his name than all his military achievements.
The victory of Poictiers was followed by a truce for two years; and, in the following spring, the Prince of Wales conducted his prisoner to England. They land ed at Southwark, and entered the capital amidst an im mense concourse of spectators. The captive king rode a white charger splendidly caparisoned, while his con queror attended him upon a black palfrey. John expe rienced the same generous treatment from the father which he had received from the son; but was led by his misfortunes to submit to a treaty, which would have ruin ed and dismembered his kingdom. He agreed to restore all the provinces which had been possessed by Henry II. and his two sons, without any obligation of homage or fealty. This pernicious treaty, however, was rejected by the Dauphin, who had assumed the government upon the captivity of his father, and who was resolved to main tain the integrity of his dominions. Edward endeavour ed to compel him to submission ; and entering France with 100,000 men, laid waste the provinces of Picardy and Champagne, and advanced to the gates of Paris. The prudent Dauphin, sensible of his inability to with stand such a force in the field, had resolved to act upon the defensive. He filled all the considerable towns with proper garrisons and stores, and shut himself up in the capital. Unawed by the presence of the enemy before his gates, he maintained his resolution; and Edward, af ter desolating the open country, found it prudent to ac cept more moderate terms of peace. The treaty of Bre tigni was accordingly concluded, by which it was stipu lated, that King John should pay three millions of crowns of gold for his ransom, about 1,500,0001. of our money; that the King of England should for ever renounce all claim to the crown of France, and to the provinces of Normandy, Maine, Touraine, and Anjou, and should receive in return the full sovereignty of Guienne, with the provinces of Poictou, Xaintonge, l'Agenois, Peri gort, the Limousin, Quercy, Rovergue, l'Angoulnois, and other districts in that quarter, also Calais, Guisnes, Montreuil, and the county of Ponthieu; and that France should renounce all title to feudal jurisdiction or homage, or appeal from them. These terms, though severe and very disadvantageous to France, John, as soon as he had regained his liberty, prepared to execute with the most setupulons fidelity; but he found considerable difficulty in accomplishing his honourable intentions, from the great reluctance which many of the towns and vassals in the ceded provinces shoved in submitting to the domi nion of England. That no endeavours, however, might be wanting on his part, to adjust all differences between the two kingdoms, he resolved to take a journey to Eng land; and when his council endeavoured to dissuade him from this step, and hinted their displeasure at his anxie ty to fulfil a treaty which necessity alone had forced him to accept, he made this memorable reply, "That though good faith were banished from the rest of the earth, she ought still to retain her habitation in the breasts of princes." This good prince died while in England, and was succeeded by his son Charles the Wise, who had more political pi udence, but less integrity than his father.