The arrival of the Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of King Philip, soon enabled the French troops to act once more upon the aggressive by besieging Edward, encamped before Vannes. The two armies were suffering severely from the inclemency of the weather. The Duke of Normandy dreaded the reinforcements which were expected by the English. Edward foresaw that his provisions would shortly be exhausted, when the legates of the Pope arrived, and, by dint of their exertions, a truce of three years was arranged; the siege of Vannes was then raised. Notwithstanding the truce, the war still raged in Brittany. King Philip of Valois aroused a widespread feeling of indignation by arresting, at a tournament, several Breton nobleman, Oliver de Clisson, among others, and by causing them to be beheaded without trial, as guilty of relations with the English. The head of Clisson was sent to Nantes; but the king had created an implacable foe in the person of Joan of Belville, the widow of Clisson, who immediately armed all her vassals and soon vied with Joan de Montfort herself in courage and intrepidity. The Countess had recently had the satisfaction of seeing her husband, who had escaped from prison, where he had been incarcerated for six years. He brought with him, from England, a small body of troops, which he landed at Hennebon in the middle of September, 1345; but his health was impaired, and he died on the 26th of the same month, naming King Edward guardian of his son. [Image] Van Artevelde At His Door. {299} Hostilities recommenced openly. During the truce the two kings had made preparations for a desperate struggle. Among the means which King Philip had devised for the purpose of filling his coffers, was the monopoly of salt. "It is indeed by the _Salic_ law that Philip of Valois reigns," said Edward. "The King of England is but a wool merchant," was the reply at the court of France. The parliament had granted fresh subsidies, recommending merely to the king that he should put an end to the war promptly either by battle or by treaty.