The two armies had been mustered in the latter days of January.  The Pope had issued a bull for the benefit of Don John, precisely similar to those formerly employed in the crusades against the Saracens.  Authority was given him to levy contributions upon ecclesiastical property, while full absolution, at the hour of death, for all crimes committed during a whole lifetime, was proclaimed to those who should now join the standard of the Cross.  There was at least no concealment.  The Crescent-wearing Zealanders had been taken at their word, and the whole nation of Netherlanders were formally banned as unbelievers.  The forces of Don John were mustered at Marche in Luxemburg; those of the states in a plain within a few miles of Namur.  Both armies were nearly equal in number, amounting to nearly twenty thousand each, including a force of two thousand cavalry on each side.  It had been the original intention of the patriots to attack Don John in Namur.  Having learned, however, that he purposed marching forth himself to offer battle, they decided to fall back upon Gemblours, which was nine miles distant from that city.  On the last day of January, they accordingly broke up their camp at Saint Martius, before dawn, and marched towards Gemblours.  The chief commander was De Goignies, an old soldier of Charles the Fifth, who had also fought at Saint Quintin.  The states’ army was disposed in three divisions.  The van consisted of the infantry regiments of De Heze and Montigny, flanked by a protective body of light horse.  The centre, composed of the Walloon and German regiments, with a few companies of French, and thirteen companies of Scotch and English under Colonel Balfour, was commanded by two most distinguished officers, Bossu and Champagny.  The rear, which, of course, was the post of responsibility and honor, comprised all the heavy cavalry, and was commanded by Philip Egmont and Lumey de la Marck.  The Marquis Havre and the General-in-chief, Goignies, rode to and fro, as the army proceeded, each attended by his staff.  The troops of Don John broke up from before Namur with the earliest dawn, and marched in pursuit of the retiring foe.  In front was nearly the whole of the cavalry-carabineers, lancers, and heavy dragoons.  The centre, arranged in two squares, consisted chiefly of Spanish infantry, with a lesser number of Germans.  In the rear came the Walloons, marching also in a square, and protecting the baggage and ammunition.  Charles Mansfeld had been left behind with a reserved force, stationed on the Meuse; Ottavio Gonzaga commanded in front, Ernest Mansfeld brought up the rear; while in the centre rode Don John himself, attended by the Prince of Parma.  Over his head streamed the crucifix-emblazoned banner, with its memorable inscription—­In hoc signo vici Turcos, in hoc Haereticos vincam.