10 - How the prince declared that the Marshal of France deserved to die and how the plea was decided by a court of knights

Summary

On the following day, which was a Sunday, all the prisoners who had been captured during the battle were brought before the prince because King Pedro asserted that some of them, against whom he had already passed sentence, should be handed over to him so that justice might be carried out. Amongst these there appeared the Marshal of France, a man of over sixty years of age, and whom the prince, when he saw him, declared to be a traitor and a breaker of oaths, and who thus deserved to be put to death. The marshal answered him, saying: ‘My lord, you are the son of a king, and I shall not answer you in the way that I could in this matter, but I am no traitor or breaker of oaths.’ The prince said that he wished a group of knights to sit in judgement on the case and that he would prove what he said against him. The marshal agreed, and twelve knights of different nationalities were installed as judges.

Speaking against him, the prince stated that in the battle of Poitiers, which he, the prince, had won, and in which the King of France had been taken prisoner, the marshal had also been captured and put up for ransom. He had solemnly sworn, on pain of being deemed a traitor and breaker of oaths, that, unless it were in the company of the King of France or some other member of the royal house whose coat of arms bore the Fleur-de-Lys, he would never take up arms against the King of England or against the prince until his ransom were paid, which it still had not been. ‘Now, the King of France did not participate in this recent battle, nor did any member of his royal house; nevertheless, I see you bearing arms against me without having paid what you had agreed, wherefore you have committed a felony.’

On hearing this, many thought that the marshal had acted very badly and that he could not avoid being put to death on that account. The prince told the marshal to mention, freely and openly, everything that he could think of to defend his reputation and honour, since this was a matter of war between knights. The marshal answered that everything which the prince had said was true.