Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 38.djvu/215

 attended the privy council, and in July sailed with the king for Normandy. He took part in the siege of Caen and in other operations during that year, being in command of the rear division of the king's army (, ii. 322;, p. 99; , p. 534), and received from the king the lordship of Auvilliers. After assisting at the siege of Falaise he accompanied the Duke of Clarence in the spring of 1418 on a successful expedition against Harcourt, Courtonne, La Rivière-Thibouville, and Chambrais (Gesta Henrici V, p. 119), and on 1 June received from the king at Bernay the grant of Neubourg and two other lord- ships, to be held by the service of presenting the iron head of a lance every Christmas at the castle of Caen (Norman Rolls, i. 34). During the siege of Rouen, begun 1 Aug., he highly distinguished himself, being posted in front of the strongly fortified abbey of St. Catherine, used as a detached fort, which yielded on 1 Sept. (, p. 61; Chronique de Normandie, pp. 188, 190). He was made warden of the New Forest, lieutenant and warden of Evreux and Alencon ({sc|Doyle}}), and in October was appointed a joint-commissioner to treat with the dauphin (Fœdera, ix. 626). The negotiations which were carried on at Alencon were fruitless. Early in 1419 Salisbury took Fecamp, Monteville, Gournay, Eu, and Honfleur, which he besieged from 4 Jan. to 12 March. In April he was appointed lieutenant-general of Normandy, and was created Earl of Perche by the service of rendering to the king each year at the castle of Caen a sheathed sword. He was engaged at Rouen in negotiations with the ambassadors of John, duke of Burgundy, and in May accompanied the king to the conference which Henry held near Mantes with the queen of France and the Duke of Burgundy (, p. 91). The king sent him in the autumn to lay siege to Meulan, joined him there, and received the surrender of the town on 6 Nov. In May 1420 he was besieging Frenay with a large force when a French army advanced to its relief, and was defeated by John Holland, earl of Huntingdon, afterwards Duke of Exeter (1395-1447) [q.v.], and in July he was present at the siege of Melun, which was not surrendered until November (, p. 244 ; Gesta Henrici V, p. 144). He attended Henry and his queen, Catherine of France, on their entry into Paris with King Charles and Duke Philip of Burgundy on 1 Dec. (, v. ii. 325). In January 1421 he was at the parliament held by Henry at Rouen, and there did homage for the earldom of Perche. When the king returned to England shortly afterwards, Salisbury remained in France to support the Duke of Clarence (, p. 204).

Soon after the king's departure he marched with Clarence and a large force into Maine and Anjou. On 21 March Clarence insisted on attacking the allied army of the French and Scots at Baugé with his cavalry without waiting for the rear division under Salisbury. He was defeated and slain, and when Salisbury came on the field of battle it was too late to retrieve the disaster. Nevertheless, he and the archers under him pressed so vigorously on the French that he was able to bring off the duke's body (, v. ii. 338). He made an attempt to relieve Alencon, but was intercepted and retreated, not without loss, to Bee. When, however, the besiegers drew off, he again took the field and advanced as far west as the immediate neighbourhood of Angers (Fœdera, x. 131). Henry V having died in France in August 1422, and Charles VI having died shortly afterwards, Bedford, the regent of France, marched with Salisbury to recover Meulan from the French. The siege lasted until 1 March, when Salisbury was appointed to arrange terms for the surrender of the place. In June he was at Paris with the regent, then newly married, who sent him to besiege the castle of Orsay ; he took it after about three weeks, and led the defenders, bare-headed and with ropes about their necks, into Paris (, v. iii. 23 ; Journal d'un Bourgeois ap. Mémoires, iii. 238). Bedford appointed him governor of Champagne and Brie, and he went to Champagne and laid siege to Montaguillon, a fortress near Provins. The place was well defended, and he had to employ a large siege-train and much ordnance. Charles intended to relieve it, but was forced to send his army to Crevant-sur-Yonne, which had fallen into the hands of the Burgundians. Salisbury was ordered by the regent to go to the relief of Crevant, and received reinforcements under the earl-marshal and Lord Willoughby. On 30 July he appeared before Crevant, made, it is said, eighty knights, and attacked the French and the Scots under the walls of the town. He commanded the left wing of his army, and crying 'St. George ! Avant banner !' dashed into the river, while Willoughby with the right wing forced his way across the bridge. Salisbury gained the bank ; the garrison sallied and attacked the besiegers in the rear, and his victory was complete. The chief loss fell on the Scots. The English and Burgundians entered the town in triumph, and returned thanks for their victory (, v. iii. 45;, Lancaster and York,