Then he thought to close the king
of England between Abbeville and the river of Somme, and so to fight
with him at his pleasure. And when he was at Amiens he had ordained a
great baron of Normandy, called sir Godemar du Fay, to go and keep the
passage of Blanche-taque, where the Englishmen must pass or else in
none other place. He had with him a thousand men of arms and six
thousand afoot, with the Genoways: so they went by Saint-Riquier in
Ponthieu and from thence to Crotoy, whereas the passage lay; and also
he had with him a great number of men of the country, and also a great
number of them of Montreuil, so that they were a twelve thousand men
one and other.
When the English host was come thither, sir Godemar du Fay arranged
all his company to defend the passage. The king of England let not for
all that; but when the flood was gone, he commanded his marshals to
enter into the water in the name of God and Saint George. Then they
that were hardy and courageous entered on both parties, and many a man
reversed. There were some of the Frenchmen of Artois and Picardy that
were as glad to joust in the water as on the dry land.
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