The earle of Flanders with the earles of Bullen and Salisburie, doubting to lose their ships, and late gotten bootie, sailed strait into one of the Iles of Zeland called Walkeren. Then the French king constraining them of Gaunt, Bruges, and Ypres, to deliuer vnto him pledges, caused the towne of Dam, and his ships lieng there in the hauen to be burned, doubting least they should come into the hands of his enimies. This doone, he returned into France, leauing his sonne Lewes and the earle of S. Paule in garrison at Lisle and Doway, and for great sums of monie, which by agréement he receiued of the townes of Gaunt, Bruges, and Ypres, he restored vnto them their pledges. Thus saith Meire: and Matthew Paris differeth not much from him touching the successe which chanced to the Englishmen by land. ¶ Héere will I staie a while in the further narration of this matter, and touch by the way a thing that happened to king John about this present time. [Sidenote: An hermit named Peter of Pontfret, or Wakefield as some writers haue.] [Sidenote: _Sée M. Fox, tome first, pag. 331._] There was in this season an heremit, whose name was Peter, dwelling about Yorke, a man in great reputation with the common people, bicause that either inspired with some spirit of prophesie as the people beléeued, or else hauing some notable skill in art magike, he was accustomed to tell what should follow after. And for so much as oftentimes his saiengs prooued true, great credit was giuen to him as to a verie prophet: which was no good consequence that therefore his predictions comprised vndoubted euents. Naie rather, sith in this pseudoprophet or false foreteller of afterclaps, these necessarie concurrents (namelie, Si sensus atq; affectus compresserit omnes, Si spernens prorsus mortalia gaudia, sese Abdicet a curis terrenis, assiduóq; Conetur studio ad superos extollere mentem, Tunc etenim sapiens fiet, poterítq; futura Cernere, vel vigilans vel somno oppressus inerti, Hoc pacto cecinêre olim ventura prophetæ) [Sidenote: The heremit and his sonne hanged.]