The Duke of Burgundy arrived the next day with his army near a town (strongly seated upon the Somme) called Picquigny.[287] His design was to lay a bridge thereabouts over the river, and pass it with his army; but there being by accident at that time 400 or 500 archers, and some few of the nobility in the town, they resolved to march out, and dispute the passage with him. They sallied out upon a long causeway to engage him, and advanced so far, that, being repulsed, their distance from the town gave the duke’s men an opportunity of pursuing them; and they did it so effectually, that they killed a great number of them before they could recover their works, and possessed themselves of the suburbs at the end of the causeway. The Duke of Burgundy immediately planted four or five great guns to batter the town (though the town was impregnable on that side, because of the river’s running between them): however, the archers, observing that their bridge was almost finished, and expecting to be besieged as soon as the enemy had passed the river, abandoned the town, and marched away in great confusion. The castle held out two or three days, but the garrison was forced at last to surrender, and march away without their arms. This little action revived the Duke of Burgundy’s courage, so that he encamped about Amiens[288], and pitched his tents in two or three several places, giving out that he kept the field, to see if the king would venture a battle with him. At length he approached so near, that his artillery fired into and over the town; and in that camp he continued for six weeks together. There were in the town 1400 of the king’s men-at-arms, and 4000 frank-archers, and with them the constable, with all the great lords of France, as the grand-master, the admiral, the marshal, the seneschals, and a great number of persons of quality besides. In the meantime the king was at Beauvais, where he assembled a great army. The king was attended by his brother the Duke of Guienne, Duke Nicholas of Calabria[289] (eldest son of Duke John of Calabria and Lorraine, sole heir of the house of Anjou), and by the rest of the nobility of his kingdom, assembled by virtue of the arriere-ban; who, as I have been since informed, had a great curiosity at that time to find out the intrigue and mystery of this expedition, for they saw his business was far from being done, and that he was deeper engaged in war than ever he was before.