of any commander.
He came forth to meet the captive king with all the marks of regard and
sympathy; administered comfort to him amidst his misfortunes; paid him
the tribute of praise due to his valor; and ascribed his own victory
merely to the blind chance of war, or to a superior providence, which
controls all the efforts of human force and prudence.[**] The behavior
of John showed him not unworthy of this courteous treatment; his present
abject fortune never made him forget a moment that he was a king: more
touched by Edward's generosity than by his own calamities, he confessed
that, notwithstanding his defeat and captivity, his honor was still
unimpaired; and that if he yielded the victory, it was at least gained
by a prince of such consummate valor and humanity.

* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 164.

** Poul. Cemil, p. 197.

Edward ordered a repast to be prepared in his tent for the prisoner; and
he himself served at the royal captive's table, as if he had been one
of his retinue: he stood at the king's back during the meal; constantly
refused to take a place at table; and declared that, being a subject, he
was too well acquainted with the distance between his own rank and that
of royal majesty, to assume such freedom. All his father's pretensions
to the crown of France were now buried in oblivion: John in captivity
received the honors of a king, which were refused him when seated on the
throne: his misfortunes, not his title, were respected; and the French
prisoners, conquered by this elevation of mind, more than by their late
discomfiture, burst into tears of admiration; which were only checked by
the reflection, that such genuine and unaltered heroism in an enemy
must certainly in the issue prove but the more dangerous to their native
country.[*]

All the English and Gascon knights imitated the generous example
set them by their prince. The captives were every where treated with
humanity, and were soon after dismissed, on paying moderate ransoms
to the persons into whose hands they had fallen. The extent of their
fortunes was considered; and an attention was given that they should
still have sufficient means left to perform their military service in
a manner suitable to their rank and quality. Yet so numerous were the
noble prisoners, that these ransoms, added to the spoils gained in the
field, were sufficient to enrich the prince's army; and as they had
suffered very little in the action, their joy and