ormandy, the Lord of Harecourt and
the Chamberlain of Tancarville. The cause of their strife was a mill, of
which the Dwarf of Harecourt, assisted by forty of his people in arms,
had taken forcible possession, mistreating the vassals of the
Chamberlain. The latter, incensed at the outrage, summoned his friends
and attendants; and, having collected them to the number of two hundred,
marched upon Lillebonne, where the Lord of Harecourt and the Dwarf, his
brother, were at that time residing. Many and bitter were the reproaches
uttered on either side; and severe was the contest that followed; for
the Lord of Harecourt issued from the barriers with all his forces, and
they defended themselves valiantly; and several lives were lost. The
king, on receiving the tidings, was greatly discomforted, and bade the
Sieur Enguerrand de Marigni summon the offending parties to appear
before him. It chanced most untowardly, that they met as they were
travelling towards the court; and the Lord of Harecourt attacked the
Chamberlain, and with his gauntlet put out his left eye, and then
returned to his own people. No sooner was he of Tancarville healed, than
he repaired to the royal presence, and defied the Lord of Harecourt to
single combat. The pledge was accepted by M. Charles de Valois, brother
of the king, on behalf of his friend. On the other hand, M. Enguerrand
de Marigny, privy counsellor of the monarch, maintained that Harecourt
had been guilty of treason. This was denied by M. Charles, to whom
Enguerrand in consequence gave the lie; and the former took the affront
so cruelly to heart, that Enguerrand, brave man as he was, was
afterwards hanged in consequence of it. When the conditions of battle
were arranged, the Lord of Harecourt came into the field with his armor
emblazoned with fleurs-de-lys; and the combatants fought with the utmost
valor, till the Kings of England and of Navarre, who were present,
besought the monarch of France to stay the fight; for that it would be
great pity that two so valiant chiefs should fall by each other's hand.
Upon this, the king cried 'Ho!' and both parties were satisfied; and
peace was made between them by the foreign sovereigns, in the year
1300."

The same circumstance is related, though with some trifling variations
in the details, by Masseville, in his _History of Normandy_, a work of
which almost every volume bears frequent testimony to the greatness of
the house of Tancarville. This family en