of Vannes, which he mastered
by conduct and address;[*] but he survived a very little time this
prosperity. The Breton noblemen of the party of Charles assembled
secretly in arms, attacked Vannes of a sudden, and carried the place;
chiefly by reason of a wound received by Robert, of which he soon after
died at sea, on his return to England.[**]

After the death of this unfortunate prince, the chief author of all
the calamities with which his country was overwhelmed for more than
a century, Edward undertook in person the defence of the countess of
Mountfort; and as the last truce with France was now expired, the war,
which the English and French had hitherto carried on as allies to the
competitors for Brittany, was thenceforth conducted in the name and
under the standard of the two monarchs. The king landed at Morbian, near
Vannes, with an army of twelve thousand men; and being master of the
field, he endeavored to give a lustre to his arms, by commencing at once
three important sieges, that of Vannes, of Rennes, and of Nantz. But by
undertaking too much, he failed of success in all his enterprises.
Even the siege of Vannes, which Edward in person conducted with vigor,
advanced but slowly;[***] and the French had all the leisure requisite
for making preparations against him.

* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 93

** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 94

*** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 95.

The duke of Normandy, eldest son of Philip, appeared in Brittany at the
head of an army of thirty thousand infantry and four thousand cavalry;
and Edward was now obliged to draw together all his forces, and to
intrench himself strongly before Vannes, where the duke of Normandy soon
after arrived, and in a manner invested the besiegers. The garrison and
the French camp were plentifully supplied with provisions; while the
English, who durst not make any attempt upon the place in the presence
of a superior army, drew all their subsistence from England, exposed
to the hazards of the sea, and sometimes to those which arose from the
fleet of the enemy.

{1243.} In this dangerous situation, Edward willingly hearkened to
the mediation of the pope's legates, the cardinals of Palestrine and
Frescati, who endeavored to negotiate, if not a peace, at east a truce,
between the two kingdoms. A treaty was concluded for a cessation of arms
during three years;[*] and Edward had the abilities, notwithstanding
his present dangerous situation, to procu