ir present hurry had permitted
them to observe. Philip assented to this counsel; but the former
precipitation of his march, and the impatience of the French nobility,
made it impracticable for him to put it in execution. One division
pressed upon another: orders to stop were not seasonably conveyed to all
of them: this immense body was not governed by sufficient discipline to
be manageable; and the French army, imperfectly formed into three lines,
arrived, already fatigued and disordered, in presence of the enemy. The
first line, consisting of fifteen thousand Genoese cross-bow men, was
commanded by Anthony Doria and Charles Grimaldi: the second was led by
the count of Alencon, brother to the king: the king himself was at the
head of the third. Besides the French monarch, there were no less than
three crowned heads in this engagement; the king of Bohemia, the king of
the Romans, his son, and the king of Majorca; with all the nobility and
great vassals of the crown of France. The army now consisted of above
one hundred and twenty thousand men, more than three times the number of
the enemy. But the prudence of one man was superior to the advantage of
all this force and splendor.

The English, on the approach of the enemy, kept their ranks firm and
immovable; and the Genoese first began the attack. There had happened, a
little before the engagement, a thunder shower, which had moistened and
relaxed the strings of the Genoese cross-bows; their arrows for this
reason fell short of the enemy. The English archers, taking their bows
out of their cases, poured in a shower of arrows upon this multitude
who were opposed to them, and soon threw them into disorder. The Genoese
fell back upon the heavy-armed cavalry of the count of Alencon;[*] who,
enraged at their cowardice, ordered his troops to put them to the sword.

* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 130.

The artillery fired amidst the crowd; the English archers continued to
send in their arrows among them; and nothing was to be seen in that vast
body but hurry and confusion, terror and dismay. The young prince of
Wales had the presence of mind to take advantage of this situation,
and to lead on his line to the charge. The French cavalry, however,
recovering somewhat their order, and encouraged by the example of their
leader, made a stout resistance; and having at last cleared themselves
of the Genoese runaways, advanced upon their enemies, and by their
superior numbers began to