of Vannes,
supported the siege with great courage and fortitude, knowing that
Charles of Blois and the King of France were collecting a great army for
his relief. Uniting their forces they advanced towards the town. Before
the force of the French, 40,000 strong, the Earl of Norfolk had fallen
back and rejoined the king, but even after this junction the French
forces exceeded those of Edward fourfold. They advanced towards Vannes
and formed a large entrenched camp near that of the English, who thus,
while still besieging Vannes, were themselves enclosed by a vastly
superior force. The King of France himself arrived at the French
camp. The French, although so greatly superior, made no motion toward
attacking the English, but appeared bent upon either starving them out
or forcing them to attack the strongly entrenched position occupied by
the French.

Provisions were indeed running short in the English camp, and the
arrival of supplies from England was cut off by a strong fleet under
Don Louis, which cruised off the coast and captured all vessels arriving
with stores. At this moment two legates, the Cardinal Bishop of Preneste
and the Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum, arrived from the pope and strove
to mediate between the two sovereigns and to bring about a cessation of
hostilities, pointing out to them the scandal and desolation which their
rivalry caused in Christendom, the waste of noble lives, the devastation
of once happy provinces, and the effusion of innocent blood. Going from
camp to camp they exhorted, prayed, and reproached the rival sovereigns,
urging that while Christians were shedding each other's blood in vain,
the infidels were daily waxing bolder and more insolent. Their arguments
would have been but of little use had either of the monarchs felt sure
of victory. King Edward, however, felt that his position was growing
desperate, for starvation was staring him in the face, and only by
a victory over an immensely superior force in a strongly entrenched
position could he extricate himself. Upon the part of the French,
however, circumstances were occurring which rendered them anxious for
a release from their position, for they were not without their share
of suffering. While the English army lay on a hill the French camp was
pitched on low ground. An unusually wet season had set in with bitterly
cold wind. The rain was incessant, a pestilence had destroyed a vast
number of their horses, and their encampment was fl