by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XII
THE TROUBLES IN FLANDERS
On re-entering the city gates they first went to an armourer's, wherethey purchased and buckled on some gilded spurs.
"Truly, Albert, I can scarce believe our good fortune," Edgar said, asthey left the shop. "It seems marvellous that though we have not servedas esquires, we should yet at seventeen be dubbed knights by the king."
"You have well deserved it, Edgar; as for me, I have but done my bestto second you."
"And a very good best it was, Albert," Edgar laughed. "'Tis true thatin the skirmish outside Aldersgate I might have managed by myself, butin the Fleming's affair and in the Tower I should have fared hardlyindeed had it not been for your help. I fancy that we have the Flemingto thank for this good fortune. You see he had already told the kingthat we were to accompany him, and perhaps he may have pointed out tohim that it might be to the advantage of his mission that we should bemade knights. He has great influence with the Court, seeing that he hasfrequently supplied the royal needs with money. First let us visit ourgood friend Sir Robert Gaiton."
The knight received them most warmly. "I heard from Van Voorden thatyou were going to Flanders with him. You are like to see stirringevents, for Ghent has long been in insurrection against the Count ofFlanders, and things are likely to come to a head erelong. Ah, and whatdo I see--gold spurs! Then the king has knighted you. That is well,indeed, and I congratulate you most heartily. I tell you that I feltsome shame that I, who had not even drawn a sword, should have beenknighted, while you two, who had fought like paladins, had not yet yourspurs, and I was glad that I had an opportunity, down in Kent, ofshowing that I was not a mere carpet knight."
"'Tis for that affair that the king said he knighted us, Sir Robert,"Edgar said. "The other matters were private ventures, though againstthe king's enemies; but that was a battle in the field, and the successput an end to rioting down there."
"I shall not forget my promise about the knightly armour," the merchantsaid, "but methinks that it were best to wait for a while. The armourthe Fleming bought you is as good as could be made, but doubtless youwill outgrow it, so it would be best for me to delay for two or threeyears. It is not likely that you will have much to do with courtlyceremonies before then, and when you get to twenty, by which time youwill have your full height, if not your full width, I will furnish youwith suits with which you could ride with Richard when surrounded byhis proudest nobles and best knights."
"We thank you, indeed, Sir Robert, and it would be much better so. Thefirst shine is not off our armour at present, and it would be cumbrousto carry a second suit with us, therefore we would much rather that youpostponed your gift."
He now went with them into the ladies' room. "Dame and daughter," hesaid, "I have to present to you Sir Edgar Ormskirk and Sir Albert DeCourcy, whom his Majesty has been pleased this morning to raise to thehonour of knighthood, which has been well won by their own merits andbravery."
The dame gave an exclamation of pleasure and her daughter clapped herhands.
"'Tis well deserved, indeed," the former exclaimed, "and I wish themall good fortune with their new dignity. How much we owe them, Robert."
"That do we," the merchant said, heartily.
"I am pleased," the girl said, coming forward and frankly shaking handswith both.
"I can scarce credit our good fortune, Mistress Ursula," Albert said."'Tis but a few months since I deemed that I was unfit for martialexercise, and that there was naught for me but to enter the Church, andnow, thanks entirely to Edgar and to good luck, I am already a knight;'tis well-nigh past belief. That meeting with you and your father wasthe beginning of our great fortune."
"That was a terrible night," the girl said, with a little shudder atthe recollection. "Heaven surely sent you to our aid."
While they were talking, Sir Robert said a word apart to his wife, andleft the room. He presently returned with a small coffer, which hehanded to her.
"It seems to me, young knights," she said, "that your equipment isincomplete without a knightly chain. My husband, I know, is going togive you armour for war; it is for us to give you an ornament forCourt. These are the work of Genoese goldsmiths, and I now, in the nameof my daughter and myself, and as a small token of the gratitude thatwe owe you, bestow these upon you."
So saying she placed round their necks two heavy gold chains of thefinest workmanship. Both expressed their thanks in suitable terms.
"When do you sail?" the merchant asked Edgar.
"To-morrow morning," he replied, "and the ship will unmoor at noon. Wewill come to say farewell to you in the morning."
Mynheer Van Voorden and his family were no less delighted than SirRobert Gaiton at the honour that had befallen them.
"Methinks, Mynheer," Edgar said, "that 'tis to you that we in part owethe honour the king has bestowed on us, for he said that as you had amission from him it would be well that we should have the rank ofknighthood."
"I may have said as much to the king," Van Voorden admitted, "but itwas not until Richard had himself said that he intended at the firstopportunity to knight you both. On that I spoke, and pointed out thatthe presence of two English knights with me would add weight to mywords. On which he gladly assented, saying that it had before been hisintention to do so ere you left London, had not Sir Ralph said it wouldbe better for you to earn it in the field; but as, since that time, youhad fought in a stiff battle, and done good service to the realm byputting down the insurgents in Kent, who had been the foremost in thetroubles here, he would do so at once.
"I think now that it were well you should each take a man-at-arms withyou--a knight should not ride unattended. When we get across there Iwill hire two Flemings, who speak English, to ride with your men. Youwill need them to interpret for you, and they can aid your men to lookafter your horses and armour. If the two fellows here start at once foryour homes, the others can be back in the morning."
"One of them is the man I should take with me," Edgar said. "I promisedhim that he should ride behind me as soon as occasion offered. He hasno horse, but I doubt not that I shall be able to purchase one outthere."
"I will see to that," Van Voorden said, "and to his armour. Do nottrouble yourself about it in any way. And now about your man, SirAlbert?"
"I will ask my father to choose a good fellow for me, and one who hasarmour and a horse."
"Then it were best to lose no time. There is pen and parchment on thattable. Doubtless you will both wish to write to tell your fathers ofthe honour that the king has bestowed upon you."
Both at once sat down and wrote a short letter. Edgar, after tellinghis father that he had been knighted, said:
"_Mynheer Van Voorden says it will be as well if we each take aman-at-arms with us, so I shall, with your permission, take Hal Carter,as I had arranged with you to do so when I went to the wars. He is astout fellow, and will, I am sure, be a faithful one. I hope that youwill find no difficulty in replacing him._"
Sir Ralph himself arrived at the house the next morning. "I could notlet you go without coming to congratulate you both on the honour thathas befallen you. It might have been well that it should have come alittle later, but doubtless it will be of advantage to you in Flanders,and should there be fighting between Ghent and the earl you will bemore free to choose your own place in battle, and to perform suchjourneys and adventures as may seem good to you as knights, than youwould be as private gentlemen, or esquires, following no leader, andhaving no rank or standing save that of gentlemen who have come over asfriends of Mynheer Van Voorden.
"Your mother is greatly pleased, and as for Aline, she would fain haveridden hither with me, but as I intend to return this afternoon, and asshe saw you both but two days since, I thought it best that she shouldstay at home. I have brought up with me John Lance. I thought that hewas the one who would suit you best. In some respects the other is themore experienced and might be of more value were you going on acampaign, but he is somewhat given to the ale-jug, so
I thought it bestto bring Lance, who is a stout fellow, and can wield his sword well. Heis civil and well-spoken, and as I have told him he is to obey yourorders just the same as if they were mine, I believe that you will havelittle trouble with him. His arms and armour are in good condition, andhe has been furnished with a fresh suit out of the chest.
"I saw your father, Edgar, late yesterday evening. I myself took overyour letter to him. He said that whatever a man's calling may be, it iswell that he should go into it with all his heart, and that since youhave taken to arms, it is well indeed that you should so soon havedistinguished yourself as to be deemed worthy of knighthood. He saidthat he would get another to take the place of the man you keep withyou, and he wishes you God-speed in Flanders."
At eleven o'clock, Van Voorden, his wife and daughter, mounted,together with Edgar, Albert, and their two men-at-arms; both the latterwere in body armour, with steel caps; the Fleming had secured a strongand serviceable horse for Hal. His own servants had gone on an hourbefore with three carts carrying the baggage; Sir Ralph accompaniedthem across London Bridge to Rotherhithe, where the barque was lyingalongside a wharf. The horses were first taken on board, and placed installs on deck. These Van Voorden had had erected so that the horsesshould suffer no injury in case they encountered rough weather. As soonas the animals were secured in their places, Sir Ralph said good-bye tothem all, the hawsers were thrown off, and the vessel dropped out intothe tide, the baggage having been lowered into the hold before theycame down.
There were no other passengers, the Fleming having secured all theaccommodation for his party. There were two small cabins in the stern,one of which was set apart for the merchant's wife and daughter, theother for their two maids. The cabin where they sat and took theirmeals was used by the merchant and the two young knights as asleeping-place. The Fleming's four men-servants and the two men-at-armsslept in a portion of the hold under the stern cabins. The wind wasfavourable, and although speed was not the strong point of the ship,she made a quick passage, and forty-eight hours after starting theyentered the port of Sluys.
"Will you tell us, Mynheer," Edgar said, as they sailed quietly downthe Thames, "how it comes about that Ghent is at war with the Earl ofFlanders, for it is well that we should have some knowledge of thematter before we get into the midst of it."
"'Tis well, indeed, that it should be so, Edgar. The matter began in aquarrel between two men, John Lyon and Gilbert Mahew. Lyon was a craftyand politic man, and was held in great favour by the earl. There was acitizen who had seriously displeased Louis, and at his request JohnLyon made a quarrel with him and killed him. The matter caused greatanger among the burgesses, and Lyon had to leave the city, and went anddwelt at Douay, living in great state there for three years, at theearl's expense. At the end of that time the earl used all the influencehe possessed at Ghent, and obtained a pardon for Lyon, and therestoration of his property, that had been forfeited for his crime,and, moreover, made him chief ruler of all the ships and mariners.
"This caused great displeasure to many, not only in Ghent but in allFlanders. Mahew, who, with his seven brothers, was the leading manamong the mariners, and between whose family and that of Lyon there wasa long-standing feud, went presently to the earl and told him that ifthings were properly managed and certain taxes put on the shipping, theearl would derive a large annual sum from it, and the earl directedLyon to carry this out. But owing to the general opposition among themariners, which was craftily managed by Mahew's brothers, Lyon wasunable to carry the earl's orders into effect. Gilbert Mahew then wentto the earl and said that if he were appointed in Lyon's place he wouldcarry the thing out. This was done, and Mahew, from his influence withthe mariners, and by giving many presents to persons at the earl'sCourt, gained high favour, and used his power to injure Lyon.
"The latter, however, kept quiet, and bided his time. This came whenthe people of Bruges, who had long desired to make a canal--which wouldtake away most of the water of the river Lys for their benefit--but whohad never been able to do so, owing to the opposition offered by Ghent,now set a great number of men upon this work. This caused a greatagitation in Ghent, especially among mariners, who feared that if theriver Lys were lowered their shipping trade would be much injured. Thenpeople began to say that if Lyon had remained their governor in Ghentthe people of Bruges would never have ventured on such action. Many ofthem went secretly to Lyon to sound him on the matter. He advised themthat they had best revive the old custom of wearing white hoods, andthat they should then choose a governor whom they would obey.
"In a few days a great number of white hoods appeared in the streets,and a popular meeting was held. John Lyon was elected leader, and withtwo hundred companies marched from Ghent to attack the pioneers diggingthe channel. These, on hearing that a great force from Ghent wasmarching against them, hastily retired. John Lyon and his forcereturned home, and the former again resumed his position as a quiettrader. The White Hoods, however, dominated the town. In a short timesome of them demanded that a mariner, who was a burgess of Ghent, andwho was confined in the earl's prison at Eccloo, should be liberated,as, according to the franchise of the city, no burgess could be triedsave by its Courts.
"This trouble Lyon carefully fostered, and as the new and heavy duesinjured the trade of Ghent, his party increased rapidly. In public,however, he always spoke moderately, remaining quietly in his house,and never going out except with an escort of two or three hundred ofthe White Hoods. An embassy was sent to the earl to ask that the rightsof the city should be respected. The earl answered them mildly, orderedthe prisoner to be given up to them, and promised to respect thefranchise of the city, but at the same time asked that the wearing ofwhite hoods should be discontinued. Lyon, however, persuaded the WhiteHoods not to accede to this request, saying that it was the White Hoodsthat had wrung those concessions from the earl, and that if theydisappeared from the streets, the franchise would be speedily abolished.
"In this Lyon was right, and he at once set to work to organize theWhite Hoods, dividing them into companies, and appointing a captain toeach hundred men; a lieutenant to fifty; and a sub-officer to ten. In ashort time the Bailie of Ghent, with two hundred horse, rode into thecity, the earl having agreed with Gilbert Mahew that John Lyon andseveral other leaders should be carried off and beheaded. As soon asthe bailie arrived at the market-place he was joined by the Mahews andtheir adherents. The White Hoods at once gathered at John Lyon's house,and he set out for the market-house with four hundred men. These werejoined by many others as they went. As soon as they appeared, theMahews, with their party, fled. Then the White Hoods rushed upon thebailie, unhorsed and slew him, and tore the earl's banner to pieces.His men-at-arms, seeing how strong and furious were the townsmen, atonce turned their horses and rode away.
"A search was then made for the Mahews, but they had fled from the townand ridden away to join the earl. Their houses were all sacked anddestroyed. The White Hoods were now undisturbed masters of the place;most of the rich burgesses, however, were much grieved at what hadtaken place. A great council was held, and twelve of their number wentto the earl to beg for pardon for the town. The earl received themsternly, but at their humble prayer promised to spare the city and topunish only the chief offenders. While they were away, however, Lyoncalled an assembly of the citizens in a field outside the town. Tenthousand armed men gathered there, and they at once sacked and burntthe palace of Andrehon, which was the earl's favourite residence, and avery stately pile.
"The earl, on hearing the news, called the burgesses, who were stillwith him, and sent them back to Ghent with a message to the town thatthey should have neither peace nor treaty until he had struck off theheads of all those whom he chose. John Lyon began the war by marchingto Bruges, which, being wholly unprepared, was forced to admit him andhis men, and to agree to an alliance with Ghent. He then marched toDamme, where he was taken ill, and died, not without strong suspicionof having been poisoned. The people of Ghent sent a strong force toYpres. The k
nights and men-at-arms of the garrison refused to admitthem, but the craftsmen of the town rose in favour of Ghent, slew fiveof the knights, and opened the gates. The men of the allied cities thentried to attack Tormonde, where the earl was, but were unable to takeit; they afterwards besieged Oudenarde. The Duke of Burgundy, however,interposed, and peace was agreed upon, on condition that the earlshould pardon all and come to live in Ghent. The earl kept his promiseso far as to go there, but he only stayed four days and then left thetown.
"The peace was of very short continuance, for some relations of thebailie and some other knights took forty ships on the river, put outthe eyes of the sailors, and sent them into Ghent, in return for whicha strong body marched out from Ghent, surprised Oudenarde, and stayedthere a month, during which time they hewed down the gates and made abreach in the walls by destroying two towers. After the men of Ghenthad left Oudenarde the earl went there and repaired the damage they haddone, and then marched to Ypres and beheaded many of those who hadrisen against him, and had slain his knights. In the meantime Ghentprepared for the war by sacking and destroying all the houses of thegentry in the country round the city.
"Several battles were fought, and in these the White Hoods had theworst of it, for although they fought stoutly they were greatlyoutnumbered. Bruges and Damme opened their gates to the earl, and Ghentwas left without an ally. Then Peter De Bois, who was now the chief ofthe White Hoods, seeing that many of the townsmen were sorelydiscouraged by their want of success, went to Philip Van Artevelde (theson of Jacob Van Artevelde, who was murdered by the townsfolk formaking an alliance with England) and persuaded him to come forward asthe leader of the people. On his doing so Philip was at once acceptedby the White Hoods. Two of the leaders of the party of peace were atonce murdered. As his father had been a great man and an excellentruler, Philip was joyfully accepted by the whole population, and wasgiven almost arbitrary power.
"Since that time," went on Van Voorden, "Ghent has been straitlybesieged, and had it not been that they sent out a strong force, whobought large supplies at Brussels and at Liege, and managed to conveythem back to the city, most of the inhabitants would have died fromhunger.
"So matters stand at present. The mission with which I am charged atpresent is to see Van Artevelde, and to find out whether he, like hisfather Jacob, is well disposed towards the English, and if so, topromise that some aid shall be sent to him."
"And what are your own thoughts on the matter, Mynheer?"
"As to Ghent, I say nothing," the merchant replied. "The populationhave ever been rough and turbulent, swayed by agitators, and tyrannizedover by the craftsmen; but I can well see that it is for the interestof England that Ghent should be upheld, for these troubles in Flandersgreatly disturb both the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France, whoseinterests never run together. Again, I see that the independence ofGhent, Bruges, and other large towns is for the good of Flanders, sincewere it not for that, the country would be but an appanage of Burgundyor France. Heavy imposts would be laid upon the people, theirfranchises abolished, and the trade greatly injured; and it wouldtherefore be a sore misfortune for the country were the Earl ofFlanders to crush Ghent, for did he do so he could work his will in allthe other towns.
"These, you see, are something like your city of London; they exist andflourish owing to the rights they have gained. They curbed the power ofthe nobles, and have built up great wealth and power for themselves.Their merchants have the revenues of princes, and carry on a greattrade with all countries. You see how readily the earl fell in withMahew's suggestion, and laid heavy taxes on the shipping of Ghent. Inthe same way, were he supreme master, he and his lords could similarlytax the trade of other towns of Flanders, to the great benefit of themerchants of foreign countries. Thus, you see, as a Fleming I shouldwish to see Ghent--although I love not the turbulent town--preservedfrom the destruction that would surely fall upon it were the earl tocapture it. Why, at Ypres, not only did he kill many thousands of thecitizens in an ambush, but when he entered the town, he beheadedwell-nigh six hundred of the citizens. If he did that at Ypres, whichhad offended comparatively little, what would he do to Ghent, which haskilled his bailie, sacked and burned his palace, defied his authority,and holds out against all his force?"
"Thank you very much, Mynheer; I knew but little of the matter before,and I am glad to be so thoroughly informed in it. I see it is the samethere as it was in London when the rioters came thither; the betterclass were overborne by the baser. Had it not been for the death of Watthe Tyler, and the dispersal of his rabble, it is likely that everytrader's house in London would have been pillaged and all the betterclass murdered, as were the Flemings."
As soon as the vessel drew alongside the wharf at Sluys, a Flemishtrader came on board. He was a correspondent of Van Voorden's, and tohim the merchant had written, asking him to secure lodgings for him andhis party for a day or two. Van Voorden was well known to him, for themerchant had occasion to cross to Flanders three or four times everyyear, and his correspondent often came over to London. After greetingthe merchant, his wife and daughter, he said:
"I was in much fear for you, Van Voorden, when I heard the reports ofthe wild doings of the rabble in London, and how they speciallydirected their fury against our people, and killed very many worthymerchants. You have said in your letters to me that you had been insome danger, but that, as you would see me shortly, you would not writeat length."
"I will tell you of it anon, Rochter. First, how about the lodging?"
"As to that, there is no difficulty. It would be strange indeed wereyou to go elsewhere than to my house, which you have always usedhitherto when you passed through."
"Yes: when I was alone. Now I have my wife and daughter, and these twoyoung English knights, to say nothing of the maids and the men-at-arms."
"We can take them all without difficulty. As you know, the house is alarge one, and there are but my wife and myself and my daughter Marie.There is the room you always occupy for yourself and madame, a bed hasbeen put up in Marie's room for your daughter, the large room over itwill be allotted to these gentlemen, your maids can sleep with ours,and there is a large room in the attic for your servants and theknights' men."
"So be it," Van Voorden said, "and it will be far more pleasant to bewith you and your good wife than in a strange place. How about thehorses, of which we have six?"
"The accommodation I have for them is small, but I have arranged with afriend for the disposal of the horses in his stables, which arecommodious, and of which he makes but little use."
The house of Mynheer Rochter surprised the young knights by its size.It was massively and strongly built, and apparently there was nopressure for room, as was the case in the busy streets of London. Thehall was of great size, panelled with a dark wood, and with a flooringso smooth and polished that both knights narrowly escaped falling, onstepping on it for the first time. A great staircase led to the familyapartments upstairs. The main room would have held four of either thoseof Van Voorden or Sir Robert Gaiton in London, and the rest of thehouse was on the same scale. All was dark, massive, and rich, with anair of great comfort. The furniture and floors were polished until theyreflected the light from the casements, and heavy rugs and carpets werestretched in front of the fire-places and windows, and at other pointswhere the family were accustomed to sit.
There were heavy curtains to the windows, and others before the doors,so that all draught should be cut off. Although not so handsome as therooms of the two merchants in London, everything was so substantial,well kept, and comfortable, that the two friends were greatly struck byit. It was now October, and great wood fires blazed in the hall belowand in all the upstairs rooms, and these quite dispelled any air ofgloom that might otherwise have been caused by the darkness of thefurniture.
"Truly, Edgar," Albert said, in a low tone, while the ladies weretalking together, "I think that I shall change my vocation once again,abandon the cutting of throats, and establish myself as a Flemishmerchant."
"It would be years before you could acquire the necessary knowledge,"Edgar laughed, "to say nothing of the capital required for thebusiness; but truly the comfort of this house is wonderful, and it isclear to me that, although we Englishmen have learned to fight, we aremightily behind others in the art of making our lives comfortable."
Before the meal was served the friends went upstairs to their room,took off the rough clothes in which they had travelled, and apparelledthemselves in the plainest of their two suits. When dinner wasannounced they went into a room leading from that in which they hadbefore been. As the numbers were equal, the four gentlemen each offeredhis hand to a lady, and led her to the table. It was almost dark now,and the room was lighted with many wax candles, which were novelties tothe young knights. Tallow candles had indeed come into partial use atthe beginning of the century, but they had never seen wax used, save onoccasions of great ceremony in the churches. It was now for the firsttime that Frau Rochter obtained a fair view of the faces of her guests.
"You are young indeed, gentlemen, are you not, to have attained therank of knighthood?" she said; "but I believe that in England 'tis atitle that goes with the land."
"It is so," Van Voorden said, before either of the young knights couldreply; "but in this case it has been won by distinguished bravery, forwhich King Richard himself bestowed knighthood upon them. No one cantestify to their bravery more strongly than ourselves, for it wasthanks alone to them that my life certainly, and probably those of mywife and daughter, were preserved on that evil day in London," and asthe meal proceeded he gave a full narrative of the manner in which theyhad defended his house while his wife was removed from her sick-bed andcarried down to the hiding-place below. "It was not only for thissingle act of bravery that they received knighthood. Young though theyare, they saved the life of a worshipful London citizen--who has sincehimself become a knight--when he had fallen into the hands of a partyof robbers. When the Tower was in the hands of the rioters, they,without assistance, killed seven men who had entered the ladies'chamber; and, lastly, they rode, with two knights and fiftymen-at-arms, at a mob consisting of some two thousand of the worst ofthe rebels, and entirely defeated them with the loss of five hundred,and it was for this last act that they were knighted."
"Mynheer Van Voorden omits to say," Edgar added, "that it was largelyto his own good offices that we owe the honour."
"I said nothing to the king but what was true and just," the merchantreplied; "and he told me that he had already determined to promote youon the first opportunity; indeed, even had I not spoken I believe thathe would have done so before we left London."
"I am sure that they deserved it if it had only been for what they didfor us," his daughter said, warmly. "Several times, while you weregetting mother down the stairs, I ran out to the landing and lookeddown at the fight. It was terrible to see all the fierce faces, and theblows that were struck with pole-axe and halbert, and a marvel that twoyoung men should so firmly hold their ground against such odds."
"We all owe them our lives assuredly," Madame Van Voorden said. "Had itnot been for them, undoubtedly I should have died that day. I was verynear to death as it was, and had I seen my husband slaughtered beforemy eyes, it would have needed no blow of knife to have finished me."