As soon as the emperor and the princes of the empire were arrived before Nuz, they despatched a certain doctor (of great reputation among them), called Hesevare[408] (who was afterwards made a cardinal), to the king. His business was to solicit his majesty to perform his promise, and to send his 20,000 men; otherwise the Germans would accommodate matters with the Duke of Burgundy. The king promised him fair, made him a present of 400 crowns, despatched him immediately, and sent along with him to the emperor one John Tiercelin[409], Lord of Brosse; but this did not satisfy the doctor, so that there were great intrigues carried on by all sides during this siege. The king endeavoured to make peace with the Duke of Burgundy, or at least to prolong the truce, to prevent the English from landing: the King of England, on the other hand, tried to persuade the duke to raise the siege before Nuz, and (according to his engagement) to make war upon France, for the winter began to approach; on which errand the Lord Scales (nephew to the constable, and a very good knight) was sent twice, with several other ambassadors, to the duke; but the duke was perverse, as if God Almighty had infatuated his senses and understanding; for all his life long he had been labouring to get the English over to invade France, and now, when they were ready, and all things prepared to receive them, both in Bretagne and elsewhere, he obstinately persisted in an enterprise in which it was impossible for him to succeed. There was at that time with the emperor an apostolic legate[410], who passed daily from one camp to the other, to negotiate a peace. The King of Denmark also, being quartered in a small town[411] not far from the two armies, endeavoured the same; so that the Duke of Burgundy might have had honourable terms, and marched off to the King of England, but he would not accept of them. He excused himself as handsomely as he could to the English, telling them that his honour was engaged, and it would be a lessening to his reputation to raise the siege; and such like excuses. These were not the English who had reigned in his father’s days, and had behaved themselves with so much valour and conduct in the old wars with France; but these were all raw soldiers, utterly unacquainted with French affairs; so that the duke did very unwisely, if he had any design to make use of them for the future, for he would have had to lead them on, as it were, step by step, at least during the first campaign.