When they had done this, they returned to
Ghent and found nobody there who said to them, "You have done wrong."
When the nobles, knights, and squires in the count's retinue, who were residing at
Lille and elsewhere, heard these tidings, they were very much infuriated and for good reason, and they said to the
count that it was necessary for such contemptuous acts to be punished and the pride of the
Ghenters beaten out of them.
After this the
count left the knights and squires to wage war on the
Ghenters and avenge the damage they had done. Thus they got together and assembled many knights and squires of
Flanders and entreated their allies in
Hainault to aid them in exacting their revenge. They appointed the
Hase de Flandre their captain, who was the bastard son of the
count, and his eldest, a valiant and accomplished knight. This
Hase de Flandre and his companions sometimes resided at
Oudenaarde, others at
Gavere, or at
Aalst, or
Dendermonde. They harried the
Ghenters comprehensively and advanced right up to the barriers of the town, knocking down almost all of the windmills around
Ghent. In that period they wrought a great deal of havoc on the
Ghenters. In their company was a young and eager knight from
Hainault named
Sir Jacques de Werchin,
seneschal of Hainault, who performed many great deeds of arms around
Ghent and risked himself many times in an extremely foolish and reckless manner by throwing himself into combat at the barriers and two or three times coming away with their bacinets and crossbows
16. This
Sir Jacques de Werchin,
seneschal of Hainault, was a willing knight and one who was very fond of arms, and he would have proved himself to be a most valiant man had he lived longer, but he died young in his bed at the
castle of Obies near
Mortagne, which was a great pity.
SHF 2-135 sync
How the Flemish were engaged in war by the count of Flanders' noblemen, and of the death of Sir Bertrand du Guesclin, constable of France.
The
Ghenters, who found themselves under attack from the noblemen of the country of
Flanders and elsewhere, were angry and had it in mind to send an envoy to
duke Aubert, entreating him to withdraw and recall his noblemen who were harrying them. Yet all things considered, they realised that they would be wasting their time, because
duke Aubert would do nothing about it, and added to that they had no wish to irritate him nor to do anything which would anger or distress him, for they could not manage without him and his country. In the event that
Hainault,
Holland and
Zeeland were closed to them, they would consider themselves doomed, and so they abandoned this plan; but they had another: they would send a summons to any knights and squires of
Hainault possessing some inheritance or rents in
Ghent or its dependencies, that they should come and serve them or else lose their revenues. This they did, but nobody took any notice of their summons. In particular they summoned the
lord of Antoing,
Sir Hugues, castellan and heir in
Ghent, to assist them with the resources of his castlery, or otherwise he would lose his rights and they would raze his
castle at Viane. The
lord of Antoing made it known in response to them that he would gladly aid in their destruction, and that they should not place any trust in him for he would always oppose them and be their mortal enemy, and he held nothing of them, nor did he wish to do so, and would never nor ever wish to follow anyone saving his
lord, the
count of Flanders, to whom he owed both service and obedience.
pb 30 r