St. George for England: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers Read online

  ST. GEORGE FOR ENGLAND:

  A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers.

  by

  G.A. HENTY,

  Author of "With Clive in India," "Under Drake's Flag," "The YoungCarthaginian," "Bonnie Prince Charlie," etc., etc.

  Eight Page Illustrations by Gordon Browne.

  ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF SIR WALTER.]

  New York:A. L. Burt, Publisher.

  PREFACE.

  MY DEAR LADS:

  You may be told perhaps that there is no good to be obtained from talesof fighting and bloodshed--that there is no moral to be drawn from suchhistories. Believe it not. War has its lessons as well as Peace. Youwill learn from tales like this that determination and enthusiasm canaccomplish marvels, that true courage is generally accompanied bymagnanimity and gentleness, and that if not in itself the very highestof virtues, it is the parent of almost all the others, since but few ofthem can be practiced without it. The courage of our forefathers hascreated the greatest empire in the world around a small and in itselfinsignificant island; if this empire is ever lost, it will be by thecowardice of their descendants.

  At no period of her history did England stand so high in the eyes ofEurope as in the time whose events are recorded in this volume. Achivalrous king and an even more chivalrous prince had infected thewhole people with their martial spirit, and the result was that theirarmies were for a time invincible, and the most astonishing successeswere gained against numbers which would appear overwhelming. Thevictories of Cressy and Poitiers may be to some extent accounted for bysuperior generalship and discipline on the part of the conquerors; butthis will not account for the great naval victory over the Spanish fleetoff the coast of Sussex, a victory even more surprising and won againstgreater odds than was that gained in the same waters centuries laterover the Spanish Armada. The historical facts of the story are all drawnfrom Froissart and other contemporary historians, as collated andcompared by Mr. James in his carefully written history. They maytherefore be relied upon as accurate in every important particular.

  Yours sincerely,

  G. A. HENTY.

  CONTENTS.

  PAGE

  CHAPTER I. A Wayfarer 1

  CHAPTER II. The Hut in the Marshes 18

  CHAPTER III. A Thwarted Plot 36

  CHAPTER IV. A Knight's Chain 54

  CHAPTER V. The City Games 72

  CHAPTER VI. The Melee 89

  CHAPTER VII. The Young Esquire 107

  CHAPTER VIII. Off to the Wars 126

  CHAPTER IX. The Siege of Hennebon 145

  CHAPTER X. A Place of Refuge 164

  CHAPTER XI. A Stormy Interview 180

  CHAPTER XII. Jacob van Artevelde 196

  CHAPTER XIII. The White Ford 214

  CHAPTER XIV. Cressy 232

  CHAPTER XV. The Siege of a Fortalice 250

  CHAPTER XVI. A Prisoner 267

  CHAPTER XVII. The Capture of Calais 285

  CHAPTER XVIII. The Black Death 303

  CHAPTER XIX. By Land and Sea 319

  CHAPTER XX. Poitiers 336

  CHAPTER XXI. The Jacquerie 353

  CHAPTER XXII. Victory and Death 372

  ST. GEORGE FOR ENGLAND.