Edward III · Chapter
Scene I explained
In the English camp in Brittany, Lord Mountford, restored to his dukedom with Salisbury's help, pledges allegiance to King Edward and sends a coronet as a token.
What happens
In the English camp in Brittany, Lord Mountford, restored to his dukedom with Salisbury's help, pledges allegiance to King Edward and sends a coronet as a token. Salisbury, needing to reach Calais, secures a promise from his prisoner Villiers to obtain a passport from the Duke of Normandy in exchange for his freedom, testing the Frenchman's faith.
Themes in this chapter
Duty and Obedience
Mountford swears allegiance to Edward, and Villiers agrees to a conditional oath, highlighting the importance of feudal loyalty and sworn promises.
Clemency and Justice
Salisbury shows clemency by offering Villiers freedom in exchange for a service rather than demanding a heavy ransom.
Characters to notice
- Lord Salisbury
Commands the English forces in Brittany; receives Mountford's oath and devises a plan to obtain a passport to reach Calais.
- Lord Mountford
Restored to the Dukedom of Brittany with Salisbury's aid; swears allegiance to King Edward and sends a coronet as a token.
- Charles Villiers
Salisbury's prisoner; agrees to procure a passport from the Duke of Normandy in exchange for his freedom, swearing to return if unsuccessful.
Key passages
“My Lord of Salisbury, since by your aid Mine enemy Sir Charles of Blois is slain, And I again am quietly possess’d In Britain’s dukedom, know that I resolve, For this kind furth’rance of your king and you, To swear allegiance to his majesty: In sign whereof receive this coronet, Bear it unto him, and, withal, mine oath, Never to be but Edward’s faithful friend.”
Lord Mountford thanks Salisbury for helping him kill his enemy Charles of Blois and regain his dukedom, and pledges loyalty to King Edward, sending a coronet as a symbol of his oath.
Mountford formalizes his allegiance to Edward III after being restored to power.
“Villiers, thou know’st, thou art my prisoner, And that I might for ransom, if I would, Require of thee a hundred thousand francs, Or else retain and keep thee captive still: But so it is, that for a smaller charge Thou may’st be quit, and if thou wilt thyself; And this it is, procure me but a passport Of Charles the Duke of Normandy, that I Without restraint may have recourse to Calice Through all the countries where he hath to do, (Which thou may’st easily obtain, I think, By reason I have often heard thee say, He and thyself were students once together) And then thou shalt be set at liberty.”
Salisbury tells Villiers he could demand a huge ransom but instead offers freedom if Villiers uses his old friendship with the Duke of Normandy to get a passport for safe travel to Calais.
Salisbury proposes a conditional release to secure safe passage.