DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31962#0321
tt €albdtp.
SiR HuGH CALVELEY, or Calverley, of Lea, in Cheshire, was a most eminent soldier in
the reign of Edward the Third, and his successor Richard the Second. In 1350 we
hnd him one of the combatants in the celebrated pitched trial of arms, or
fought between thirty men-at-arms on the English side, and thirty on that of
the Bretons, called, in allusion to the number of the champions on either party, the
Battle of Trente. Sir Richard Brembre commanded the English hand, and Marshal
Beaumanoir the French. Among the companions of the valiant Calveley (twenty of whom
were English, the rest foreigners) were, Sir Robert Knolles, also a most distinguished
knight, Croquart the Freebooter, the gigantic Hulbitee, and Thomelin de Billefort, so
called from his wielding an enormous weapon of the axe kind. Sir Richard Brembre was
slain hghting hand-in-hand with the famous Bertram du Guesclin ; Calveley, Knolles, and
Croquart, the poor remains of the English party, were taken prisoners to the Castle
of Josselin.^
In 1364 Calveley was in the battle of Auray, in Britanny, fought on a plain between that
town and Vannes, which decided the adverse claims of John de Montfort and Charles de
Blois to the Duchy of Bretagne, by the defeat and death of the latter. John Lord Chandos,
who commanded the English force which supported the cause of De Montfort, assigned
to Calveley the command of the reserve. Calveley's brave spirit had no relish for this
post, and he exclaimed, "For God's sake, my Lord, give this charge to some other, for
I desire but to hght among the foremost!" Chandos, however, explained that the
success of the day depended on the reserve; and Calveley, by his hrm deportment in
covering and rallying the troops, when pressed by their enemy, mainly contributed to
the victory.
When the Black Prince marched into Spain to support Pedro the Cruel against his
bastard brother, Henry of Transtamare, Sir Hugh Calveley was with his army. He
pushed forward in advance of the Prince's force, and narrowly escaped being captured by
the enemy; for, having lodged for the night about a league from the English army,
his attendants at sunrise were bringing him his armour, when they were suddenly
* Mrs. Charles Stothard (now Mrs. Bray), in her Tour through Normandy and Britanny, so replete with
illustrations of English History, as connected with our wars in France, describes the very spot on which this
battle occurred, a desert heath between Josselin and Ploermel, in sight of both towns. A broken cross still
marks the identical place, bearing the inscription, " A la memoire perpetuelle de la Bataille de Trente, que
Msr leMarechal de Beaumanoir a gaignee dans ce lieu Tan 1350." See "Letters written during a Tour
through Normandy, Britanny, and other Parts of France, in 1818, including local and historical Descriptions,
&c. with numerous Engravings after Drawings by Charles Stothard, F.S.A. Longman and Co. 1830. p. 216.
75
SiR HuGH CALVELEY, or Calverley, of Lea, in Cheshire, was a most eminent soldier in
the reign of Edward the Third, and his successor Richard the Second. In 1350 we
hnd him one of the combatants in the celebrated pitched trial of arms, or
fought between thirty men-at-arms on the English side, and thirty on that of
the Bretons, called, in allusion to the number of the champions on either party, the
Battle of Trente. Sir Richard Brembre commanded the English hand, and Marshal
Beaumanoir the French. Among the companions of the valiant Calveley (twenty of whom
were English, the rest foreigners) were, Sir Robert Knolles, also a most distinguished
knight, Croquart the Freebooter, the gigantic Hulbitee, and Thomelin de Billefort, so
called from his wielding an enormous weapon of the axe kind. Sir Richard Brembre was
slain hghting hand-in-hand with the famous Bertram du Guesclin ; Calveley, Knolles, and
Croquart, the poor remains of the English party, were taken prisoners to the Castle
of Josselin.^
In 1364 Calveley was in the battle of Auray, in Britanny, fought on a plain between that
town and Vannes, which decided the adverse claims of John de Montfort and Charles de
Blois to the Duchy of Bretagne, by the defeat and death of the latter. John Lord Chandos,
who commanded the English force which supported the cause of De Montfort, assigned
to Calveley the command of the reserve. Calveley's brave spirit had no relish for this
post, and he exclaimed, "For God's sake, my Lord, give this charge to some other, for
I desire but to hght among the foremost!" Chandos, however, explained that the
success of the day depended on the reserve; and Calveley, by his hrm deportment in
covering and rallying the troops, when pressed by their enemy, mainly contributed to
the victory.
When the Black Prince marched into Spain to support Pedro the Cruel against his
bastard brother, Henry of Transtamare, Sir Hugh Calveley was with his army. He
pushed forward in advance of the Prince's force, and narrowly escaped being captured by
the enemy; for, having lodged for the night about a league from the English army,
his attendants at sunrise were bringing him his armour, when they were suddenly
* Mrs. Charles Stothard (now Mrs. Bray), in her Tour through Normandy and Britanny, so replete with
illustrations of English History, as connected with our wars in France, describes the very spot on which this
battle occurred, a desert heath between Josselin and Ploermel, in sight of both towns. A broken cross still
marks the identical place, bearing the inscription, " A la memoire perpetuelle de la Bataille de Trente, que
Msr leMarechal de Beaumanoir a gaignee dans ce lieu Tan 1350." See "Letters written during a Tour
through Normandy, Britanny, and other Parts of France, in 1818, including local and historical Descriptions,
&c. with numerous Engravings after Drawings by Charles Stothard, F.S.A. Longman and Co. 1830. p. 216.
75