rmed by the earl of Derby of the great danger to which
Guienne was exposed, had prepared a force with which he intended in
person to bring it relief. He embarked at Southampton on board a fleet
of near a thousand sail of all dimensions; and carried with him, besides
all the chief nobility of England, his eldest son, the prince of Wales,
now fifteen years of age. The winds proved long contrary;[*] and the
king, in despair of arriving in time at Guienne, was at last persuaded,
by Geoffrey d'Harcourt, to change the destination of his enterprise.
This nobleman was a Norman by birth, had long made a considerable figure
in the court of France, and was generally esteemed for his personal
merit and his valor; but being disobliged and persecuted by Philip, he
had fled into England; had recommended himself to Edward, who was an
excellent judge of men; and had succeeded to Robert of Artois in the
invidious office of exciting and assisting the king in every enterprise
against his native country. He had long insisted, that an expedition to
Normandy promised, in the present circumstances, more favorable success
than one to Guienne; that Edward would find the northern provinces
almost destitute of military force, which had been drawn to the south;
that they were full of flourishing cities, whose plunder would enrich
the English; that their cultivated fields, as yet unspoiled by war,
would supply them with plenty of provisions; and that the neighborhood
of the capital rendered every event of importance in those quarters.[**]
These reasons, which had not before been duly weighed by Edward, began
to make more impression after the disappointments which he had met with
in his voyage to Guienne: he ordered his fleet to sail to Normandy, and
safely disembarked his army at La Hogue.

* Avesbury, p. 123.

** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 121.

This army, which, during the course of the ensuing campaign, was crowned
with the most splendid success, consisted of four thousand men at arms,
ten thousand archers, ten thousand Welsh infantry, and six thousand
Irish. The Welsh and the Irish were light, disorderly troops, fitter
for doing execution in a pursuit, or scouring the country, than for any
stable action. The bow was always esteemed a frivolous weapon, where
true military discipline was known, and regular bodies of well-armed
foot maintained. The only solid force in this army were the men at arms;
and even these, being cavalry, were on