Source.—"Le recouvrement de Normendie," par Berry, Herault du Roy, printed in Reductio Normannie, pp. 245 et seq. (Rolls Series, 1863.)

[Note.—The author of this and other extracts relating to the loss of Normandy was Jacques le Bouvier, surnamed Berry, the first King-of-Arms of Charles VII. of France.]

The duke of Bretagne everywhere sent to all his subjects, well-wishers, friends and allies, asking them to be so good as to help him to avenge himself upon the English, and to help him to recover his town of FougÈres. And on this occasion to please the said duke of Bretagne, M. Jehan de Bressay, knight, a native of the country of Anjou, Robert de Flocques, esquire of the country of Normandy, bailly of Evreux, Jacques de Clermont, esquire of the country of DauphinÉ and lord of Mannay, and Guillaume le Vigars, esquire, made the attempt to take the town and castle of Pont de l'Arche, on the river Seine, by means of a merchant of Louviers who often took a cart by the said Pont de l'Arche to go to Rouen, which is about four short leagues above it.... And the said merchant, with two others, upon a day in the month of May, being the Thursday before the Ascension of our Lord, set out from Louviers and went to take his cart, as he had often done, through the town of Pont de l'Arche, pretending that he was taking merchandize to Rouen; and in passing he asked the porter of the castle to be so good as to open the gate of the castle for him very early next morning, and he would give him a good gratuity, for he made him believe that he wished to return speedily to Louviers for some merchandize. And so the merchant passed through the town; and he returned about the hour of midnight, accompanied by many of the said ambuscade on foot; and they lodged at an inn in the country, adjoining the castle. They entered into the said inn secretly, where they found the wife in bed alone, (who was exceedingly terrified), for her husband was absent on his business. And when it drew near daybreak, the said merchant went all alone to call the said porter, who came to open the gate of the castle and the bulwark for him, as he had promised the day before; and immediately two persons came out of the inn to come to the bulwark along with the merchant, of whom the said porter was apprehensive when he saw them approach. But the said merchant told him that they were people of Louviers, and then he was satisfied. Then the merchant entered with all his wares, leaving the cart upon the bridge until such time as he had thrown upon the ground for his (the porter's) reward, two bretons and a placque; and as he was stooping to gather them, the merchant killed him with a dagger.... The men of the castle heard the noise, and an Englishman came down in his night-shirt, (a handsome fellow, young and brave), who attempted to raise the bridge of the said castle, because he saw that the said bulwark was already lost; but the said merchant hastened to go to him, and killed him before he could raise the bridge, which was a pity, for he was one of the bravest and most active young men of his party. And thus the castle was won.

And then all the foot-soldiers went along the bridge making great shouts, to enter the town which they took; for the greater part of the inhabitants were still in their beds, excepting one Englishman, who valiantly and for a long time defended the gate of the bridge, to hinder them from entering; but in the end he was killed and the town taken.