not far from the company of soldiers and not behind it, as usual. He himself came toward the Constable and all the Grands who accompanied him, on a splendid dapple-grey which was worth two thousand Thalers, passed before the company and showed it how well he knew to ride a horse. He then invited the Constable and all these Lords into a field, close to the village, for an excellent meal under the tents which he has allowed to erect very artfully upon tree branches.
He led his company out of Bordeaux to their usual place of garrison in Xaintonge, and went home where the wedding of the young Marquis of Espinay with his daughter would be celebrated, for which occasion an innumerable crowd of foreigners were to be found, who all would be treated with the best and the most expensive meals. He also arranged more than ten delicate honour cases relating to some brave and courageous noblemen and officers from the neighbourhood; and if he found them somehow very confused; hence, he knew well to oppose and to emulate them with each others, by means of the great skillfulness which he has acquired in the surrounding of representatives from so many nations and already for a long time, so that people from all sides, even the Marshalls of France who constituted the highest tribunal in matters regarding the honour of French nobility, turned to him for this kind of matters.
Hardly eight days after the wedding, Vieilleville would be summoned to the court where he also took with him the young Espinay, for he did not neglect any occasion to show himself, and he presumed that people, immediately after the King's coronation, would take again Boulogne from the Englishes. One day, Marshall Saint Andrew's son-in-law, Apechon, besides the Lords of Sennecterre, Biron, Forguel and La Roue came to him and gave an affidavit, signed by the King, offering him and the bringers of the affidavit the belongings confiscated from all the Lutherans in Guyenne, Limousin, Quercy, Perigord, Xaintonge and Aulny. They wanted to bring him in advance this affidavit to be even more certain of receiving this considerable present which after deduction of all the costs of collecting the belongings, could bring everyone twenty thousand Thalers. Vieilleville thanked them for thinking about him in this occasion, declared however, that he would never enrich himself through such a hateful and sad means, for such proceedings were only about humiliating the poor people and ruining so many good families through false complaints.
The Constable has hardly left this country for eight days with his huge army which has caused so many damages; and he held it to be below his dignity and against the Christian duty to cause even more misery to the King's poor subjects; and he would rather lose fortune than have his name dragged to the tribunal because of these confiscations.
He added, “for our names will be registered in all the parliaments, and we will have the reputation of feeding ourselves upon people's misery; for twenty thousand Thalers, we will burden ourselves with the curses of so many women, young ladies and children who must die in hospital, which means that we might as well throw ourselves voluntarily into hell! We will turn all the tribunal officers whose services we will demand, into our opponents and deadly enemies.“
He then took his knife and cut the paper at the spot where his name appeared on the affidavit; then Apechon who became so red of shame, did also the same with his name, and also Biron; all three left and threw the document on the floor. The others, however, who have counted so much on this piece of paper, were very reluctant to consider Vieilleville's scruples, took the affidavit anyway and tore it thousand pieces while proffering some gross swearings.
Shortly afterwards, Boulogne would be besieged by the King whereby Vieilleville and his son-in-law Espinay were also present. One day, he recalled that as he was an envoy in England, the Duke of Somerset has made to him some taunting remarks about the Frenchs' bravery. Vieilleville offered, in that respect, to Lord Espinay to wear his best armour as if on the day of a tournament. He dressed himself in the same way, took three more noblemen with him and rode with this retinue, totally in silence, towards the gates of Boulogne. The herald sounded his trumpet, and people asked what he wanted. He asked whether the Duke of Somerset was in the city, and asked to tell him that Vieilleville was here and wanted to duell with him. It would be answered him that the Duke was sick in London, even if it meant that he was in Boulogne. He then asked if another high-ranking, bold Knight would be taking his place; but no one showed up. “Then, at least,” he said, “maybe one of Mylord's sons will measure himself with a young Lord from Brittany, Espinay, who is still not twenty. May such a young man come to fight, so that we do not have to besiege the camp again, without having measured ourselves in a fight; for the honour of our nation is at stake if no one shows up.”
Finally, Lord Dudley's son showed up on a beautiful Spanish horse with a splendid retinue. As soon as one person in Vieilleville’s retinue saw him, he said to Espinay: “This Lord is yours; don't you see how he rides the English way, he almost moves the saddle with his knees. Sit firmly on your horse and do not lower your lance earlier than when you are three or four steps before him, for if you lower it before, its tip will point downward, then you will lose the opportunity of the moment, for your eye will be blinded by the visor.” Both sides would then agree that he who throws down his enemy, should take him captured with his horse and equipment.
Then, each fighter would take his place, fetch his lance, ready to fight each other; the English intruded and let his lance fall, just for a short moment. Espinay then gave him such a strong blow on the side, that his lance broke. Tailladé, one person from Espinay’s retinue, immediately jumped on the horse and seized Dudley’s Spanish horse; the others pulled him from the soil, the trumpet sounded the victory, and then, the Frenchs rushed with their captives to their camp and left the Englishes rather in confusion.
The King has, in the meantime, already received news of the battle and prepared to receive them with many Grands. Hardly have they seen the King, that they descended from their horse, and Espinay presented his captive and delivered him to the King; this one, while giving Espinay the captive back again, pulled his sword and inducted him into a Knight.
Soon afterwards, a terrible storm necessitated the King to cease the siege of Boulogne and to pull back his army. The young Dudley proposed now to Lord Espinay, as they went further into the land, to determine his ransom; he could not travel further with the Frenchs and has some pressing occupations to care about in England. One person from his retinue took Espinay on the side and said to him that Dudley was in love with Count of Bedford's daughter and that everything was ready for their marriage. As Espinay heard this, he said to Dudley that he can go, if so it pleases him; he only asked him to remember that the House of Espinay does not go to war to become rich, for they have already enough fortune, but rather for the honour and the old glory of their family. Hence, he wanted very much him to accept four of his most beautiful English steed; a generosity which left Dudley no less than admirative.
The german Princes have decided in Augsburg to send an envoy to France, to motivate the King to assist them against the Emperor (Charles V) who held severely captive some Princes and treated them in an outrageous manner. The envoy consisted of the Duke of Simmern, Count of Nassau whose son, later on, would be known as the famous Prince William of Orange, and other excellent lords and scholars. People sent them to Saint Dizier and gave them all the needed comfort; for they travelled only five to six hours a day, and in truth, before lunchtime, after which they always remained at the same place until nine or ten o'clock in the night; during this time, people ought not to bother them. They have also chosen this route diligently to be able to drink to satiety, for the best wine countries of France are situated between Saint Dizier and Fontainebleau.
Vieilleville would be sent to meet this envoy when it was in Moret, two hours from Fontainebleau, to welcome them in the King's name; the whole envoy was very well pleased, particularly as he attended to its members very well. He learned that Count of Nassau was one of his relatives; this one turned himself particularly to him, as he was very skilled in trade and also spoke the French language very well. One day, as Vieilleville had for lunch many of the envoy, among others two members of the Imperial Court of Justice in Speier and the Mayors of Strasbourg and Nuremberg, Count Nassau took Vieilleville aside to tell him more precisely about their mission. This interview has lasted already for almost one hour when the four judges and mayors became impatient and started to speak in German with the Count in a very dry tone. This one, however, ridiculed their rage in a very skilled manner, while he said out loud in French, a language which they did not understand: “Do not be surprised, my Lord, that these Germans are so irritated,