How king Edward was crowned and how Sir Jean de Hainault was given four hundred pounds sterling in revenue. And how the king of Scotland challenged the young king of England.
Just as it had been agreed by the great barons and councils of the chartered towns, so it was done, and the young
king Edward, who has since had such propitious fortunes in arms, was crowned with the royal diadem at the
Palace of Westminster near
London. It was in the year of grace and of our Lord 1326, on Christmas Day, and at that time he was almost sixteen. He attained that age at the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. There at Westminster he was greatly honoured and served by the noble knight
Sir Jean de Hainault, and by all of the princes and noblemen in the land. All those companions, who had remained by his side were given many rich jewels. And so the king and his companions sojourned there in great feasting and in the convivial company of all the lords and ladies present, until the Feast of the Epiphany, upon which he heard news that the
king of Bohemia, the
count of Hainault, his brother, and a great many lords of
France were arranging to be at
Condé-sur-l'Escaut, at a tournament which had been proclaimed for that place.
Whereupon
Sir Jean de Hainault would not linger (to appeal to him was useless), so great was his desire to be at the tournament and to see his noble brother the count, along with those other lords of his country who would surely be present, and especially the most noble and open-handed king to reign at that time, the gracious
king Charles of Bohemia.
When the young
king Edward, my lady the
queen his mother and the barons who were present saw that he did not wish to stay a moment longer, and that no entreaty could detain him, they reluctantly gave him leave to go. The young
king Edward, on the advice of my lady his
mother, gave him four hundred pounds sterling, one pound for every penny of heritable rent, to be held of him and to be paid each year in the town of
Bruges. He also gave to
Philippe du Chastel, his chief squire and principal adviser, one hundred pounds sterling in rent, to be paid as stated above, and furthermore he delivered to him a large sum of money to cover his costs and those of his company to return to their land; and he gave him a large detachment of knights to escort him as far as
Dover and provided him with a free passage. The ladies, even the
countess of Warenne, sister of the
count of Bar, and several other ladies, presented them with an abundance of rich and beautiful jewels on their departure. When the aforementioned
Jean de Hainault and his company had reached
Dover, they immediately boarded vessels to cross; such was their desire to arrive in good time for this tournament which was to take place at
Condé.
pb 11 v